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warc | 201704 | Save Food Initiative is about ‘Zero Hunger Challenge’ of UN to sustain 7 billion people now (9 billion by 2050), as 3rd of global food production is either wasted or lost, leading to 1 out of 7 people sleep in hunger and over 20,000 children <5 year of age die daily from hunger, while 870 million people are undernourished. The way forward is to reduce massive loss and waste inherent in today’s food systems.
It is evident that by reducing food waste
, we can save money and resources, minimize environmental impacts and, most importantly, move towards a world where everyone has enough to eat.
Global host for WED 2013 is Mongolia
, one of the fastest growing economies aiming for a transition to a green economy and a green civilization.
It has been observed that people in Mongolia waste less food and its traditional and nomadic life have some ancient answers to the modern-day challenge of food waste. There are ideas from Mongol General Chinggis Khan’s as ‘borts to gallop’, and the tradition methods like aaruul, etc.!
So, THINK . EAT . SAVE! | 1,089 | 647 | 0.001601 |
warc | 201704 | The Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) has been awarded a half-million-dollar grant from the federal government to enhance its tribal court and to create a new wellness court to address “the devastation of alcohol and other drugs,” a tribal official said Thursday.
Laurie Perry-Henry, judiciary coordinator for the Aquinnah Wampanoag tribal court, said a portion of the three-year, $567,236 grant would be used to create a comprehensive approach to substance abuse offenders that combines close supervision and drug testing with treatment, rehabilitation and community support.
The wellness court concept is borrowed from several tribes in the West, including in Alaska, which have had success with programs for people charged with drug and alcohol offenses that challenge them with structure and accountability as well as surround them with tribal values and a spiritual path to healing. The operation of the courts is guided by each Indian nation’s culture, tradition, common practices and vision.
Studies have shown that getting tribal legal systems working closely with other community resources can help reduce substance abuse and integrate offenders more broadly into tribal life, Ms. Perry-Henry said. She said she knew of no other wellness courts in the Northeast.
“Our court is like a traditional peacemaking court, so we try to settle issues rather than be punitive,” she said.
The Wampanoag tribe is one of about 150 American Indian and Alaskan Native nations across the country to share in $118.4 million in 2011 Justice Department grants designed to help native populations reduce crime and improve law enforcement. Grant applications were due in April, and grants were announced this week by the U.S. Attorney’s office.
The Aquinnah Wampanoag tribal court, under the supervision of judicial chief F. Ryan Malonson, has jurisdiction over a range of civil issues that occur on tribal lands. The 2011 grant builds on two three-year grants received last year from the Justice Department by the tribe, Ms. Henry-Perry said. One grant for $265,000 helped establish tribal court programs in child welfare, landlord-tenant issues and juvenile delinquency. Another grant for $171,000 is being used to set up a sex offender registry, she said. (The tribe also received a third grant last year for victims’ services, but that is administered separately, she said.) The grant program was streamlined this year so tribes could only submit a single application.
U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz of Boston, who announced the grant on Wednesday, said in a statement that the funds were being provided “to enhance and continue a traditional tribal justice system which is designed to articulate Aquinnah Wampanoag values, enable greater tribal self-governance, strengthen the economic and cultural health of the tribe, and build tribal court capacity at the local and state levels.”
Awards made under the program are in eight “purpose areas,” including public safety and community policing, methamphetamine enforcement, justice systems and alcohol and substance abuse, corrections and correctional alternatives, violence against women, elder abuse, juvenile justice and tribal youth programs.
Ms. Ortiz said the Wampanoag tribe has “developed solid strategies that exude their genuine desire to strengthen and preserve the integrity of the tribe.”
The Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) received federal recognition in 1987, creating a government-to-government relationship with the federal government. According to its Web site, there are currently 1,099 members enrolled in the tribe, of which 68 live on tribal lands in the town of Aquinnah and 298 live in Dukes County. | 3,749 | 1,808 | 0.000565 |
warc | 201704 | The main purpose for creating the dark Web was to provide access to encrypted and untraceable information. Within the last several decades, it has evolved into an area containing illegal content, damaging to businesses and individuals.
Accessing the content inadvertently is possible, presenting a security threat more dynamic than phishing scams or unscrupulous Websites. In addition, traditional security measures are bypassed, leaking more information than by utilizing traditional networks. The result is malware installation and hackers with free reign to your personal information.
A disconnect exists between wanting to browse the Internet in privacy and keeping your information and network safe. Generally speaking, dark Web users are treated with suspicion even though some of the content it houses is entirely legitimate.
Dark Web Versus Deep Web
The dark Web is the term for seedy corners of the Web, where users interact online without the concern of being detected by authorities. For the most part, the sites existing in the dark Web are guard by encryption devices that permit users to visit them anonymously. The deep Web is a broader concept. It refers to all online content that is not accessible to search engines.
Dark Web purposes: buying and selling drugs, discussing and selling hacking techniques and services, and trading child pornography Dark Web technologies: not inherently good or bad because both dissidents in repressive regimes and whistleblowers use the procedure to hide their identities Deep Web purposes: databases that are not available to the general public, including private information from social media sites and academic papers that are not indexed Deep Web technologies: most content is harmless and a result of unindexed pages
The dark Web is the principal area of issues for businesses because content is hidden deliberately from browsers. Unidentified access is a prerequisite to its use. For that reason, users are frequently those who do not want their Internet activity monitored and who use it as a prime outlet for the placement of illegal content.
The Onion Router (Tor) Network
The Onion Router (Tor) Network is a technology that allows users free access to the dark Web. The Tor interface consists of thousands of servers located worldwide. Volunteers who run it hope to sustain, nurture, and support privacy rights. It makes traffic anonymous by passing it through a series of proxy networks, altering identifying data such as IP addresses and locations of users.
Tor-based browsers work by automatically bouncing communications from various Tor servers before reaching their destination. The method makes it nearly impossible to trace the origin of the traffic back to the user.
Tor, created with financial support from the United States Navy in an effort to promote the free flow of information, provides processes for accessing information censored by other governments, including:
Hidden physical locations that thwart tracing techniques Illegal activities undetectable by authorities Restricted social media sites in countries such as Iran and China Bitcoin
Setting up an illegal drug marketplace that accepts conventional credit cards would most likely be ineffective. The credit card merchants would bar someone offering unlawful services from obtaining an account, and customers would worry about the likelihood of their credit cards being linked to their real identities. The digital black market requires the virtual equivalent of cash so that clients cannot reverse charges after delivery of the products or services.
Bitcoin provides the same transactional anonymity as a cash sale. In addition, no one is in charge of the Bitcoin network, which removes the possibility of any authority from blocking illicit transactions. However, that does not necessarily protect buyers and sellers from being tracked by authorities. In fact, every Bitcoin transaction is publicly available, allowing authorities to tie patterns to real-world identities.
It is essential to know that Bitcoin networks exist for both legal and illicit purposes. Myriad legitimate businesses accept Bitcoin. The attraction of criminals to Bitcoin is similar to the reason that they prefer cash: anonymity.
Governmental Involvement With Privacy Concerns
The government is unlikely to ever fully suppress the dark Web because of the high demand for the products and information offered on these Websites. Also, there will invariably be individuals willing to accept the risks associated with meeting that market.
Shutting down the underlying technologies that make the dark Web possible, such as Tor, would remove vital protection of activists seeking to avoid detection and whistleblowers around the globe.
Reasons that the government limits involvement with privacy concerns include:
Protection of whistleblowers and dissidents Potential of producing significant innovations in the payments business People will find others ways to use the Internet for illicit purposes Access to unlinked database queries and odd file formats Access to current news without censorship The right to speak openly without fear of persecution A robust and sturdy statistical analysis tool of bridges and relays Greater user base, increased capital, and higher black market competition Hosted blogs from countries without the ability for candid thought exchanges Secure file sharing tools
For the most part, the surface Web contains all the devices and services that the average user requires. In contrast, the dark Web is a useful tool for avoiding media censorship and a potent and practical resource for academic scholars.
Growing Trends Amidst Media Speculation
The expanding trend of dark Websites creates a tremendous risk of the exposure and malicious use of personal and enterprise data. Cybercriminals use the dark recesses of the Web to create pages that appear to be legitimate, such as disguising them to resemble search engines and account logins. However, after extracting as much information as possible from users, the data is used to compromise confidential data and business secrets.
A large amount of media speculation exists surrounding the dangers of the dark Web. It is necessary to understand the facts regarding the dark and deep areas of the Web because the security risks contained in them are hidden, dynamic, and virtually unrecognizable.
In the end, the deep Web is an essential source of content and information. Nevertheless, the brief journey to the dark Web could compromise your online and business identity before you realize that it has happened and after it is too late to remedy the situation.
Top image ©GL Stock Images | 6,706 | 3,062 | 0.000328 |
warc | 201704 | Just decades ago, there were no proven ways to prevent diabetes and its complications. In 2013, this disease can be delayed or prevented with more advances being discovered to control diabetes. Because of ongoing progressive research, people with diabetes today have a lot to be thankful for.
Once upon a time it was inevitable for people to suffer complications from diabetes. Insulin from cows and pigs was administered along with drugs that caused low blood sugar and weight gain. Many people were allergic to animal insulin. Urine testing was done rather than blood testing, which was far less accurate. Culprit genes were not yet identified. There were no national efforts to combat obesity and encourage physical activity. Today there are simple ways to help prevent or delay diabetes. For example, losing 5 to 7 percent of your body weight and exercising 5 days a week for 30 minutes can make a big difference. The Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) funded by NIH offers educational campaigns to help people at risk take steps to prevent diabetes through lifestyle changes. People learn being overweight or obese can lead to diabetes and other complications such as heart disease. Patients also have improved tests to monitor their blood glucose levels throughout the day to achieve better levels. Blood glucose testing takes just a few seconds with less blood required than 10 years ago. The process is faster, simpler and almost painless. Recognition of the importance of A1C levels led to better forms of insulin and improved diabetes medications. Many times blood glucose can be lowered without weight gain. Some medicines target the metabolic abnormalities of type 2 diabetes to help prevent or delay the need for insulin. Patients who need insulin get a healthier synthetic version and also have access to rapid-acting insulin. Administration methods are simple to use at work, home or anywhere the patient goes. Innovative insulin pumps are easy to use and ensure the patient receives the right dosage of insulin throughout the day. Progressive drugs have been developed to prevent and control diabetes. For example, studies revealed the medication Metformin helped reduce the development of diabetes by over 30 percent. People with diabetes also know maintaining tight blood sugar control matters. Keeping A1C levels below 7% can prevent or delay diabetes nerve complications. Physicians and patients are now aware of lipid control and blood pressure reduction to minimize diabetes large vessel complications. People with diabetes use blood pressure monitors at home to report any abnormalities to their health care providers. Advanced technology makes it simple to monitor blood pressure and blood glucose levels anytime of the day. People eat a healthier diet including vegetables, fruits, low fat dairy, whole grains and protein. They know to steer clear of saturated fats, sugar and processed foods. They realize the importance of daily exercise and maintaining a healthy weight. Self-management is an essential way to help prevent and treat diabetes. Since 1992, improvements in risk control have added at least one year to the lifespan of people with diabetes. Better treatment has also helped to improve the quality of life by reducing complications such as lower limb amputations, blindness, coronary heart disease and kidney failure. Urine tests are done to detect kidney disease with less than 10 percent of patients developing kidney failure. Additionally, Medicare now covers diabetes education and blood glucose monitoring materials. People can now get the knowledge and help they need to control the disease. Patients are advised to schedule regular appointments with health care providers such as ophthalmologists, podiatrists, dentists and dietitians to prevent related health issues. The future is also bright because research has identified almost 40 gene regions associated with the increased risk of type 2 diabetes. This can help researchers and physicians develop new ways to prevent and treat diabetes. More money is being devoted to diabetes research to improve treatment methods and lower the cost for patients.
Just a few decades ago, people with diabetes felt little hope after hearing the diagnosis. Today innovative methods help to prevent diabetes and related complications as well as treat it more effectively. Knowledge is power and ongoing research continues to improve the quality of life for people with diabetes. | 4,466 | 1,993 | 0.000502 |
warc | 201704 | The name can sound a little daunting, but chemical peels have proven to be an effective anti-aging wrinkle treatment to improve the look and feel of aged skin. Women who have undergone this wrinkle treatment have reported the reduction of wrinkles, sun spots, acne scars, and uneven complexion. A chemical peel
A facial chemical peel is a wrinkle treatment
Chemical Peel Procedure
The doctor or aesthetician will start by cleansing your face to remove any makeup, dirt, and oil. The skin is then prepped for the wrinkle treatment
They will let the acid penetrate for a few minutes while also carefully monitoring the skin to make sure that you are not having any adverse reactions to the wrinkle treatment. Then, a neutralizer is wiped over the face, followed by a serum and finished off with a sunscreen. Sunscreen and adequate sun care is extremely important for your skin after a chemical peel treatment, as it will be more prone to harmful UV damage.
What Can I Expect?
During your chemical peel wrinkle treatment,
Recovery time and results really depend on the type of chemical peel wrinkle treatment you’re getting. Recovery from a mild glycolic acid peel can take as little as a week, but the results aren’t as drastic and you will more than likely need multiple sessions. On the other hand, the much stronger phenol peel delivers more drastic, noticeable results, but recovery can take as long as three months—as first, the skin will appear red (as if severely sunburned) and crusty, after which it will start to flake and scab before clearing up.
How Does This Wrinkle Treatment Work?
A chemical peel wrinkle treatment accelerates cell turnover and helps to reveal a youthful, more radiant layer of skin, while also diffusing scars and wrinkles. When the top layers of skin are peeled away, the imperfections on it are removed as well.
To attain the best results of this wrinkle treatment, a series of three or more peels is usually required. Chemical peels can also be done on other areas, such as your arms, back, and neck. The chemical peel wrinkle treatment is not recommended for those who smoke or who are prone to cold sores.
Source(s) for Today’s Article:
Bailly, J., “The Facts About Skin Treatments,” Oprah web site; https://www.oprah.com/style/The-Facts-About-Skin-Treatments/1, last accessed August 20, 2013. Barrymore, J., “Chemical Peels: What You Need to Know,” Discovery Fit and Health web site; https://health.howstuffworks.com/skin-care/beauty/skin-treatments/chemical-peels.htm, last accessed August 20, 2013. “Chemical Peel Demonstration,” YouTube, December 8, 2010; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yp8x9Xh1JA, last accessed August 20, 2013. | 2,735 | 1,350 | 0.000758 |
warc | 201704 | The expected rebound in housing data now that winter weather has abated failed to materialize as the latest permits and housing starts data missed expectations by a wide margin. Building permits fell by -5.70% month over month compared to a -2.00% contraction forecast with housing starts climbing a meager 2.00% in contrast to the estimate of 15.90% expansion. The time for blaming the weather on poor figures has passed and highlights that the housing economy still is not on firm footing and remains on a knife edge. Meanwhile, Federal Reserve members continue to talk up higher interest rates with Vice Chair Stanley Fischer highlighting that “markets can’t depend on Fed staying on hold forever.” The big reaction in financial markets was a move to the upside in gold as commentary sent the dollar tumbling. | 829 | 500 | 0.002042 |
warc | 201704 | Kolomaznik, Karl Bailey, David Taylor, Maryann
Submitted to: Journal of American Leather Chemists Association
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/29/2006
Publication Date: 5/1/2007
Citation: Kolomaznik, K., Bailey, D.G., Taylor, M.M. 2007. Deliming of un-bounded and bounded lime from white hide. Journal of American Leather Chemists Association. 102(5):158-163.
Interpretive Summary: During the processing of hides to leather, the lime which had been applied to the hide during the unhairing step needs to be reduced. Traditionally, this lime has been extracted chemically. In order to have a more environmentally benign deliming (less chemicals and water usage, lower cost), we investigated the potential of sequentially washing the hides in pure water followed by an application of an appropriate deliming solution, both of which will ultimately remove the unbound lime as well as bound lime. Thus, the objective of this study was to determine the optimal wash parameters as well as chemical additions using a mathematical physical process model. The absorption and diffusion of bound and unbound lime were determined experimentally. The information obtained from these experiments was inserted into the process model and the most economical process parameters for deliming were determined. | 1,337 | 711 | 0.001415 |
warc | 201704 | I’m glad to see Klee Aiken offer his thoughts on cybersecurity, and I share his suspicion of intrusive surveillance. But it’s for this very reason that I’m raising alternative uses of ‘big data’, and I fear Klee’s assessment of the potential role for government neglects several key issues.
To begin with, I’m not particularly confident the private sector will prove capable of protecting their own systems as cyber security becomes more burdensome. I’d welcome Klee’s input on this point, but I see a classic example of market failure behind industry’s lagging response to the system-wide costs inflicted by malware. After all, the US government has been announcing plans to foster more security-conscious behaviour since 2003, and yet they’re still waiting for any meaningful changes which can keep pace with new dangers.
Klee suggests that we should put this sense of urgency in perspective, given the implications of more government control. But he does so by drawing a spurious line between ambitious counter-terrorism programmes and cybersecurity on the grounds that the latter are private sector based. I can think of several terrorism analysts in the 80s and 90s who would have been tickled pink by his suggestion that their field comprised a ‘traditional’ area of national security. How times change!
Threats, and by extension security, are largely matters of perception. The September 11 attacks are representative of this, in that they jolted the US public into a new frame of thinking about the definition of national security. This is why the fallout from routine terrorism activity in India has less strategic impact than in relatively untouched Australia, and it’s why Klee can assert that counter-terrorism surveillance is more critical than monitoring computer networks.
But for how long? Can we afford to remain sanguine about the severity of cyberweapons in the future? We should push back against doomsday thinking, but in my view, it’s worth thinking about more effective arrangements now, if only so that we’re more prepared in the case of a truly shocking event down the line. What’s the risk, for example, that a rogue nation like North Korea unleashes a malware attack which leads to financial panic, and we overreact? Excessive cyber security measures taken in response to disaster could harm our strategic objectives. I don’t mean to be flippant, but a ‘cyber 9/11’ might lead to a ‘cyber Guantanamo’ in the absence of more preparation and thinking.
So I’d like to hear more from Klee about the limited model of big data security he outlined. Rather than involve the government in direct monitoring, he argues this would confine data mining to local operators with safeguards to avoid disclosure of information. But I have some reservations: by this stage it seems we’re back to thinking in terms of tracking terrorists, not examining cyber threats. In the James Baker address I cited (PDF), he argues that the content of digital transmissions, not just metadata, will be needed to understand complex malware. Will ‘need to know’ filtering systems in ISPs prove sufficient in real time, when cyber threats are so innovative and immediate? Metadata provided on inquiry won’t reveal as much as we’d like it to, and probably not within the short time span necessary to avert damage.
In any case, as long as we’d like to conduct targeted investigations, Klee admits these ISPs would retain enormous volumes of digital information. But while we need more work on the privacy issues this raises, as he says, we must also consider the real potential for abuse that this arrangement would open up in the meantime. I think that big data of this nature would be more worrisome for our liberal society than government monitoring. Paul Pillar has valuable things to say about the risks and incentives that could influence the private and public actors who are privy to large volumes of personal data. His view is that the balance comes out in favour of government: we have no idea how ISPs conduct internal monitoring of their employees to obey ‘need to know’ filtering, and rule breaking is more easily detected in public agencies scrutinised by the media and politicians. Personally, I’d place more faith in public servants undergoing routine security checks than Telstra technicians.
Klee would likely respond that an unwieldy system could be misused by intelligence agencies because they’re afforded secrecy, and I agree. That’s why I’m talking about a security framework under a civilian department. We can better avoid abuses of power by locating this authority inside the Attorney General’s office, not the ASD. I don’t know what the best system would look like, but this seems like a reasonable place to start.
If we step back from the daily hype of the Snowden affair, it appears there’s been no serious abuse of lawful authority by intelligence agencies. The controversy is about transformational shifts in policy that were initiated behind closed doors, and overseen by bodies without the technical skills to properly scrutinise their activity. This is of less concern if government ministers operated a cybersecurity system along clearly defined lines which are subject to parliamentary accountability. Think tax returns, not Watergate.
David Schaefer is a sessional tutor in the School of Global, Urban and Social Studies at RMIT University. | 5,570 | 2,695 | 0.000385 |
warc | 201704 | Guest editor Anthony Bergin
The Antarctic Treaty is a successful and effective international instrument, providing a stable framework for over half a century of collaborative governance. It provides a means for geopolitical interests to be managed within the framework of international collaboration and commitment to avoiding discord, and is given effect by the number of non-claimant states acceding to the treaty. But an increasing number of accessions to the treaty and its associated instruments (the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR)) and requests for Antarctic Treaty Consultative Party (ATCP) status will bring their own challenges.
The accession of Malaysia in October 2011—formerly a leading critic of the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS), though not of the principles of peace and science embedded in the Antarctic Treaty—is a useful example here. Malaysia’s critique of the Antarctic Treaty and the ATS—referred to as the ‘Question of Antarctica’—contributed to the ATS undergoing fundamental reform, with the ATCPs simultaneously addressing the challenges of environmental management and the scientific imperatives that come with it and opening up the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM) while maintaining control over the system and its processes. The entry of new states to the system, with the accession of Pakistan to the Antarctic Treaty in March 2012, and the purported interest of Iran in such action provides evidence of ongoing interest in the ATS.
I recognise that the Antarctic Treaty and ATS have faced significant pressures and challenges since coming into force and that similar pressures and challenges will arise in the future. These challenges are important in the evolution of the ‘Treaty system’ and can be constructive as long as the parties accept and maintain commitments to the norms and values of the treaty, as embedded in the ATS. Australia has a major role in ensuring that these norms and values are maintained.
For instance, the nature of decision-making within the ATS mediates any substantial conflicts but this point should not be downplayed. The long-running tensions between Argentina and the United Kingdom on the status of the Falkland Islands/Malvinas (and South Georgia and South Shetland Islands) are both an example of pressures and of how those pressures are managed within the ATS. The increasing engagement of Asian states like Malaysia provides opportunities and challenges for the Antarctic Treaty in the ‘Asian Century’. Such engagement will help maintain the relevance of the ATS, reduce the longstanding criticism of the system as a rich industrialised nations ‘club’, and broaden the base of scientific endeavour and collaboration. Challenges will arise as new entrants commit to the formal processes and adjust to the norms and values of the system
Australia has a major role to play here. It has formal responsibilities to ensure the ongoing viability of the ATS, first as an important actor in the negotiation of the Antarctic Treaty and original signatory to the treaty and, secondly, but more specifically, as depository state for the CCAMLR. Australia took a leadership role during the negotiation of the Madrid Protocol and in the establishment and operation of the Committee for Environmental Protection under the protocol. With France it has undertaken a major effort to increase accessions to the Madrid Protocol and to ensure that this instrument provides a focus to the ATS. It has provided support to new entrants to the ATS, and should continue this support. Australia’s longstanding science program provides important opportunities to partner states and its experience on the continent is invaluable—its expertise has been sought by China as it establishes its program on the continent.
As in the past, challenges will arise from within and from outside the ATS. The challenges may be more symbolic—treaty parties can expect ongoing and increased scrutiny of their actions by non-governmental groups, and can be expected to press for more open access to the ATCM, and for broadening of observer status within the system. More substantive pressures may arise from the increasing intersection of the ATS with other regimes, and where the past practice of ‘quarantining’ issues (for example, whaling, world heritage listing or United Nations involvement) outside the ATS is less successful than it is currently. Issues currently more closely linked to the ATS agenda such as tourism, biological prospecting and marine protected areas provide insights—the system can manage them but perhaps not as quickly or in the directions that outside critics wish.
Australia has a significant role to ensure the ongoing development of the ATS and should use its good standing to help manage pressures from within and without the ATS; the former as new and emergent issues face the ATS, the latter from issues and actors (states and non-governmental organisations) external to the ATS. At the same time it should continue to be active in developing the agenda in ATCM and CCAMLR forums and work with a range of parties to advance this agenda.
Marcus Haward is with the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies at the university of Tasmania. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. | 5,395 | 2,369 | 0.00043 |
warc | 201704 | Published: Jan 2000
Format Pages Price PDF (244K) 10 $25 ADD TO CART Complete Source PDF (3.5M) 169 $55 ADD TO CART
The microwave photoconductive decay (μ-PCD) and the surface photo voltage (SPV) techniques are proved to be powerful methods in the qualification of semiconductor bulk materials. They are applied best for standard wafers with homogeneous material quality. However, both methods have their limitations when measuring epitaxial layer (epi) wafers or silicon on insulator (SOI) structures. In its conventional realization the SPV measurement is limited by the active layer thickness. On the other hand an epi layer grown on highly doped substrate typically does not generate high enough signal in a μ-PCD measurement.
The aim of the present work is the introduction of a new, improved microwave photoconductive decay technique with sensitivity exceeding that of the conventional techniques by orders of magnitude. It is shown that such a method is not only able to provide material quality in case of epi and SOI structures but can help also in the qualification of interface properties.
Data are presented to show the above statement including maps of contamination distributions in epi structures.
Keywords:
silicon, epitaxial wafer, carrier lifetime, surface/interface recombination velocity
Author Information:
Pavelka, T
Managing director, Budapest, Committee/Subcommittee: F01.06 DOI: 10.1520/STP13491S | 1,463 | 834 | 0.001229 |
warc | 201704 | Research suggests that autism may result from environmental factors that act during prenatal development. One idea is that a pregnant woman's diet could influence prenatal brain development, perhaps in a way that increases autism risk. Relatively little research has been dedicated to understanding how maternal dietary factors could influence brain development in offspring. One interesting dietary factor is intake of omega-3 fatty acids, which are found in fish and nut oils; these fatty acids may act in the brain to promote neural growth. Dr. Santagelo's fellow will determine whether women with low intakes of omega-3 fatty acids during pregnancy have increased risk of having a child with autism. The women studied will be from The Nurses' Health Study II cohort, a large cohort of over 100,000 female United States nurses who have been followed prospectively since 1989. The information collected on this group includes medical, obstetrical, and prospectively collected dietary factors, including omega-3 fatty acid intake. In 2005, over 800 women in the cohort reported having had a child with an autism diagnosis. This study will compare omega-3 fatty acid intakes in women with children with autism to the intake of women without children with autism in order to characterize the relationship between maternal diet and risk of autism. What this means for people with autism: This study may specify a prenatal environmental factor that influences autism risk, help prevent new cases, and define new treatment approaches. | 1,532 | 748 | 0.001339 |
warc | 201704 | Saraswat Churna is ayurvedic churna or powder used for nervous system disorders. it is useful in Alzheimer’s disease, vmania, epilepsy and mental disorders.
Ingredients of Saraswat Churna:
Kustha, ashwagandha, ajmod, jirakTrikatu, akandi patha, Shankhpushpi, Banch & Saindhava
Therapeutic use of Saraswat Churna: To nourish and improve the nervous system Brain Tonic and stimulant Loss of memory and poor mental activities Use in mania, epilepsy Alzheimer’s disease Mental weakness Nervous strain Hemiplegia Dose of Saraswat Churna:
¼ to ½ tea spoonful(1-2gm) twice a day with honey and ghee or as directed by the physician.
How to Buy Saraswat Churna:
Saraswat Churna is manufactured by Baidyanath Pharma and You can buy it from medical store or online. | 782 | 450 | 0.002305 |
warc | 201704 | Session to focus on health care payers' organizational preparedness NEW YORK, April 4, 2013 — Treasury Services business is hosting a Webinar on Thursday, April 11, at 2 p.m. EDT to familiarize public and private payers in the healthcare space with operating rules for electronic funds transfers (EFTs) and electronic remittance advices (ERAs) under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
Featuring Vince Marzula, managing director and head of BNY Mellon's Healthcare iRx SolutionsSM team, and Mike Trilli, senior industry analyst for health insurance and payments with Aite Group, the one-hour session will explore methods that healthcare payers can use to reduce operational costs and improve provider relationships while also meeting their EFT and ERA compliance requirements under the ACA.
Registration information on the Webinar is available at http://www.videonewswire.com/event.asp?id=92857.
One of the biggest challenges for insurance companies in the health care space, including both health care and property & casualty insurance payers, is the time and labor expense associated with patient claim remittance delivery and payments. These costs can be reduced through the use of electronic funds transfers (EFTs) for healthcare claim payments and electronic remittance advices (ERAs), electronic files that contain claim payment and remittance information. Operating rules for the use of EFTs and ERAs are stipulated under The Affordable Care Act (ACA), and numerous states are mandating health care-related payment process changes for P&C companies. BNY Mellon has developed a timely and cost effective solution that meets the new ACA requirements and provides clients with access to an 800,000+ provider network for receiving electronic payments and remittances. The solution will be described in more detail during the Webinar.
"EFTs and ERAs are an important step in the right direction for insurance payers, but designing a solution well suited to their particular situation for meeting EFT and ERA mandates under the ACA can be challenging," said Susan Skerritt, executive vice president and global head of Business Strategy and Market Solutions for BNY Mellon's Treasury Services business. "With the compliance deadline only nine months away, it's important to engage health care payers in a dialogue that begins with two simple questions: 'Are you prepared?' and 'How can we in the banking community with specialized payment solutions help?'"
BNY Mellon Healthcare iRx Solutions are designed to support our healthcare payer and provider customers in their efforts to maximize their financial strength by improving operating margins, cash flow, and decision making through the use of integrated data analytics, payments and efficiency.
With locations on six continents and an extensive global network of correspondent financial institutions, BNY Mellon's Treasury Services group delivers high-quality performance in global payments, trade services and cash management. It helps clients optimize cash flow, manage liquidity and make payments more efficiently around the world in more than 100 countries. The company is a top-five participant in both the CHIPS and overall funds transfer markets, and is a recognized leader in the delivery of private-label treasury services solutions for banks and other large institutional clients.
BNY Mellon is a global investments company dedicated to helping its clients manage and service their financial assets throughout the investment lifecycle. Whether providing financial services for institutions, corporations or individual investors, BNY Mellon delivers informed investment management and investment services in 36 countries and more than 100 markets. As of December 31, 2012, BNY Mellon had $26.2 trillion in assets under custody and/or administration, and $1.4 trillion in assets under management. BNY Mellon can act as a single point of contact for clients looking to create, trade, hold, manage, service, distribute or restructure investments. BNY Mellon is the corporate brand of The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (NYSE: BK). Additional information is available on www.bnymellon.com, or follow us on Twitter @BNYMellon. | 4,202 | 1,973 | 0.000509 |
warc | 201704 | Chicago intends to do what no American city even remotely its size has ever pulled off – get a municipal broadband network built.
There isn’t a city in the country that doesn’t want better broadband infrastructure. Several cities, tiring of waiting for the market to create those networks, have attempted to build their own. The biggest ones have all failed, usually for one of two reasons: Some never got beyond the proposal stage, blocked by commercial interests complaining about the competition; of the few that actually got built, most were unable to monetize their networks. Chicago is trying a different route. “Chicago has no interest in being an Internet service provider, so the competitive issue is gone,” explained John Tolva, the city’s CTO. The city’s primary concern is economic development, and broadband is only one among several means to that end. So the city currently has out a request for interest (RFI), asking for ideas for how private interests can build and operate a gigabit fiber ring to connect a combination of a dozen existing and developing technology neighborhoods. The ring should support free Wi-Fi access in public places and should also be expandable to provide broadband access to underserved neighborhoods. The city will sift through the responses to the RFI, then craft a request for proposals (RFP). It would expect responses to the RFP by early next year and to begin implementing the plan shortly thereafter. “The only requirement is that the network has to be open,” Tolva explained. The ultimate idea is to “create options. Options drive down prices.” The idea sounds very much like the line-sharing plan imposed a decade ago on DSL providers, who responded to the edict with savage bitterness, but Tolva said that even the incumbent commercial providers in Chicago – AT&T and Comcast – are receptive to the approach. Referring to AT&T and Comcast, Tolva said, “I am certain they will be part of the solution.” The city is volunteering use of unused capacity on existing municipal broadband infrastructure, with the expectation that the contractor will fill in the gaps in the ring. Chicago will offer access along water and sewer lines, some of which will be dug up for routine maintenance, with more digs specifically for the broadband project. Who will benefit? Companies like coffee wholesaler Intelligentsia, which has equipped all of its growers with iPads so that they can keep in contact with their supply chain. Intelligentsia started out in a warehouse in a neighborhood without high-speed broadband. “We have a pipeline of technological talent coming out of our universities,” Tolva said. “They’ll need a platform upon which to innovate. This will be part of it.” | 2,821 | 1,414 | 0.000734 |
warc | 201704 | This is a series of NASA Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite images taken over a 10 year period, 2000-2010, showing the extent of deforestation in the State of Rondonia in western Brazil over that period of time.
This NASA animation of the Five-Year Average Global Temperature Anomalies from 1881 to 2009 shows how temperature anomalies have varied in the last 130 years. The color-coded map displays a long-term progression of changing global surface temperatures from 1881 to 2009. Dark red indicates the greatest warming and dark blue indicates the greatest cooling.
In this activity, students reconstruct past climates using lake varves as a proxy to interpret long-term climate patterns. Students use data from sediment cores to understand annual sediment deposition and how it relates to weather and climate patterns.
This video is about Greenland's ice sheet, accompanied by computer models of the same, to show how the ice is melting, where the meltwater is going, and what it is doing both on the surface and beneath the ice.
In this activity, students develop an understanding of the relationship between natural phenomena, weather, and climate change: the study known as phenology. In addition, they learn how cultural events are tied to the timing of seasonal events. Students brainstorm annual natural phenomena that are tied to seasonal weather changes. Next, they receive information regarding the Japanese springtime festival of Hanami, celebrating the appearance of cherry blossoms. Students plot and interpret average bloom date data from over the past 1100 years.
In this activity, students estimate the drop in sea level during glacial maxima, when ice and snow in high latitudes and altitudes resulted in lower sea levels. Students estimate the surface area of the world's oceans, use ice volume data to approximate how much sea levels dropped, and determine the sea-level rise that would occur if the remaining ice melted.
This video on phenology of plants and bees discusses the MODIS satellite finding that springtime greening is happening one half-day earlier each year and correlates this to bee pollination field studies.
In this activity, students work with climate data from the tropical Pacific Ocean to understand how sea-surface temperature and atmospheric pressure affect precipitation in the tropical Pacific in a case study format. | 2,403 | 1,177 | 0.000853 |
warc | 201704 | Tobacco - The importance of relevant information on risk Darby SC.
Although it has been widely accepted since the 1960s that smoking cigarettes carries a substantial health risk, worldwide mortality from tobacco-related diseases is increasing rapidly at the beginning of the 21st century. To provide the motivation to control this epidemic there is a continuing and pressing need for information on the risks of tobacco consumption that Is accurate, up to date, locally relevant and imaginatively presented. | 510 | 329 | 0.003057 |
warc | 201704 | Christmas weight gain is NOT inevitable! Just because you are off work for the holidays and surrounded by lots of yummy (but sometimes unhealthy) food doesn’t mean you need to end the year regaining the fat you lost previously.
We’ve all made this mistake in the past but, with my help, I think we can make this Christmas different. Here are my top seven tips for avoiding Christmas weight gain.
1. Downsize your plates
Meals at Christmastime are often bigger than your usual meals. You’ll probably have a starter, a main course, and a dessert. It’s no wonder it’s so easy to gain weight!
Make Christmas meals less fattening by having smaller portions.
Don’t put your smaller portions on regular-sized plates, though – you’ll make them look less filling and not so appetizing. Instead, serve your smaller meal on a small-sized plate to make it look bigger than it really is.
This simple trick has been shown to prevent overeating so use smaller bowls and even smaller glasses too.
2. Keep the evidence
When it comes to things like wrapped candies, bottles of beer, or trips to the all you can eat buffet, it’s very easy to lose track of how much you have consumed. This can lead to accidental overeating – especially if you are distracted by the TV, friendly conversation, or simply the Christmas spirit.
Instead of eating mindlessly, make sure you keep the evidence of what you have eaten in sight, so you don’t lose track. For example, put candy wrappers in plain view, keep your empty beer bottles on your table, or use a fresh plate each time you visit the buffet tables. That way, the evidence of what you have consumed will be obviously visible, and that may remind you not to overeat.
Sugar Free Christmas Dessert Recipes
Healthy and Delicious, Sugar Free, My favorite Christmas Dessert Recipes here.
3. Drink a large glass of water before your meal
Water is calorie-free and filling – it causes stomach distension which means it stretches your stomach and fools your brain into thinking you are full. Drinking a large glass of water before you sit down to eat will prevent overeating. You’ll still enjoy your meal, but you won’t want to eat as much as normal. You can also drink water between courses, so you feel fuller, faster.
4. Sit next to a healthy eater
Peer pressure is a wonderful thing and knowing that someone may be judging your food choices could stop you from overeating, drinking too much, or making unhealthy food choices. If you go out for a Christmas meal with your friends, try to sit next to or opposite someone you know to be a healthy eater. This may be enough to help prevent you from eating too much or making fattening food decisions.
5. If you slip up, don’t binge
Despite your best intentions, you may slip up, and either eat too much or make unhealthy food choices; you are only human after all! Don’t worry about it – it’s normal. However, don’t make the problem worse by turning an inconsequential little slip up into a weeklong junk food binge.
Instead, acknowledge your slip up and then make sure your very next meal is healthy and low in calories. Don’t make things worse by continuing to overeat.
6. Fill up on veggies, veggies, and more veggies
Vegetables are staples of most Christmas meals, but many of us mistakenly go easy on them, so we have more space for fattening foods. Don’t make that mistake! Instead, fill your plate with veggies and only add small amounts of those foods you know to be fattening – anything deep fried, rich, fatty meats, potatoes, rice, pasta, and bread.
Vegetables contain a lot of water and fiber which are filling without being fattening so make them the cornerstone of your meals.
The best veggies are cruciferous veggies such as broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kale and winter greens as they are particularly low in calories. A large portion of this type of vegetables will provide as few as 100 calories. Steam them, roast them, boil them, or eat them raw – it doesn’t matter. Just fill up on veggies to reduce the amount of food you want to eat.
7. Don’t neglect your workouts
Your gym may be closed during the holidays, however, if you skip your workout and eat more than usual, weight gain is almost inevitable. Just because your gym is closed doesn’t mean you can’t exercise. You’ll just need to be creative. Here are some terrific ways to exercise even if your gym is shut for the holidays.
Go for a brisk walk or jog Clear the snow Play a team sport Do a bodyweight workout at home (coming soon …) Jump rope Ride your bike Do some gardening Follow a workout DVD (like 21 Day Fix) or YouTube video Play a game with your kids
No matter what workout you usually do, you should have no trouble finding an activity that elevates your heart rate and increases your metabolism for 20-30 minutes per day. Exercise not only burns calories, it makes you think more healthily too, and that may be enough to strengthen your willpower so that you eat healthily too.
Conclusion
Don’t become another Christmas weight gain casualty. You’ll only need to diet extra hard when New Year rolls around. Instead, do your best to maintain your weight so that your New Year’s Resolutions are not all about weight loss. | 5,368 | 2,477 | 0.000419 |
warc | 201704 | This smoothie is as nutritious as it is tasty and refreshing. The combination of flax seeds, berries and bananas means it’s packed with fiber, healthy fats, vitamins and antioxidants and the orange juice gives a nice sweet/sharp taste. Make sure you use orange juice that is NOT made from concentrate though or, better still, squeeze your own. Not so keen on soya milk? No worries – use regular skim milk instead.
Ingredients
2 tablespoons whole flax seeds
½ cup orange juice ½ cup unsweetened soya milk 1 cup frozen mixed berries 1 small banana Directions
Place all the ingredients in your blender pitcher and blend on low and then high for 30-seconds. Add ice to make the mixture thicker. Either serve immediately or store in a thermos to drink later. Why would you spend $484 on a top blender? my answer here, and my recommendations of the best blenders for smoothies under $200.
Nutritional breakdown
Calories: 346
Protein: 7.5 grams Carbohydrate: 70 grams Fat: 7.3 grams Fiber: 6.9 grams | 1,021 | 620 | 0.00166 |
warc | 201704 | 200mm wafer starts seen increasing through 2015.
February 06, 2014 -- Nearly all new fab upgrade and construction activity has to do with 300mm wafer processing, but there is still plenty of life remaining in 200mm fabs according to data in the 2014 edition of IC Insights’ Global Wafer Capacity report. Not all semiconductor devices are able to take advantage of the cost savings 300mm wafers can provide. Therefore, fabs running 200mm wafers will continue to be profitable for many more years to produce several types of ICs such as specialty memories, image sensors, display drivers, microcontrollers, and analog products (200mm fabs are also used for manufacturing MEMS-based “non-IC” products such as accelerometers). These devices can be manufactured in fully depreciated 200mm fabs that were previously used to make ICs that are now produced on 300mm wafers.
Figure 1 shows that between December 2013 and December 2018, the share of the industry’s monthly wafer capacity represented by 200mm wafers is expected to drop from 31.7% to 26.1%. However, in terms of the actual number of wafers used, an increase in 200mm wafers is forecast through 2015 followed by a slow decline through the end of 2018.
Wafers measuring ≤150mm are also forecast to increase slowly throughout the forecast period to meet the growing demand for products such as general-purpose analog chips that can be cost-effectively manufactured on the smaller wafers.
For the most part, 300mm fabs will continue to be limited to production of high-volume, commodity-type devices like DRAMs and flash memories, complex logic and microcomponent ICs with large die sizes, image sensors and power management devices; and products manufactured by foundries, which can fill a 300mm fab by combining wafer orders from many sources. IC Insights projects that more than 105 wafer fabs will be producing 300mm wafer fabs in 2018. This number includes pilot- and volume-production class fabs, but not R&D facilities. Also, “phases” are counted as separate fabs (e.g., TSMC’s Fab 14 currently has four phases for a total of 180K wafers/month).
Figure 1
Report Details: Global Wafer Capacity 2014 and The 2014 McClean Report
Additional information and forecasts of the IC industry’s wafer fab capacity through 2018 are provided in IC Insights’ Global Wafer Capacity 2014—Detailed Analysis and Forecast of the IC Industry’s Wafer Fab Capacity report. Released in December 2013, the Global Wafer Capacity report assesses the IC industry’s capacity by wafer size, minimum process geometry, technology type, geographic region, and by device type through 2018. The report also includes detailed profiles of the companies most likely to build 450mm wafer fabs and gives detailed specifications on existing wafer fab facilities. Global Wafer Capacity 2014 is priced at $4,290 for an individual user password. A multi-user worldwide corporate license is available for $6,990.
Further details on IC economics and capacity trends are provided in the 2014 edition of IC Insights’ flagship report, The McClean Report—A Complete Analysis and Forecast of the Integrated Circuit Industry. This highly regarded service features more than 900 pages and more than 400 tables and graphs that provide the user with a thorough analysis of IC industry trends throughout the year. A subscription to The McClean Report includes free monthly updates from March through November (including a 250+ page Mid-Year Update), and free access to subscriber-only webinars throughout the year. An individual-user license to the 2014 edition of The McClean Report is priced at $3,490 and includes an Internet access password. A multi-user worldwide corporate license is available for $6,490. | 3,800 | 1,755 | 0.000583 |
warc | 201704 | The other day, I read a post in which someone wrote that he had to take a “ton of insulin” to cover some carbs in his meal, and he disclosed the exact dose. The funny thing is, I have often taken that amount to cover my meals. Admittedly, they were higher carb meals, but I never really thought of it as being a “ton” of insulin. When you read something like this, you can’t help but wonder if you are doing something wrong on a regular basis. I suddenly felt that maybe I was out of line in taking that particular dose at a normal meal.
I quickly reminded myself not to try to compare myself to another person with diabetes. Still, these feelings prompted me to examine the way I’ve been eating lately. Am I eating too many carbs at each meal and thus taking too much insulin? Between my busy, stressful job and taking care of my kids, I don’t always take the time to plan lower-carb meals. I just grab something to eat and dose my insulin accordingly.
I really feel like I should rein in my carbohydrate intake a bit, not because I’m ashamed of my insulin usage, but because I notice less fluctuation in my blood sugar and feel better when I eat a few less carbs. I tried eating a low-carb diet once, but it didn’t last long at all. Working with different dosages to find the right one for a low-carb meal sometimes led to low blood sugars that required me to shovel in the carbs. That is definitely not the outcome I wanted. Besides, I do love carbs, and sometimes I feel ill when I restrict them too much.
I believe in consuming healthy carbs like whole grains, beans, and starchy vegetables. I know I shouldn’t go wild with highly processed sugary carbs, but really, no one should. There is a time and a place for having goodies, like birthdays or holidays. For a long time, I was eating about 20 to 30 carbohydrates per meal, and that worked pretty well for me, my weight, and my blood sugars. I have been more lax about those restrictions lately, and I’m trying to get focused again on my carb intake.
We are all different, and there is nothing wrong with that. Regardless of how many carbohydrates you choose to eat and what your nutritionist says is best for you, you should never feel defective for taking a different amount of insulin than other people with diabetes. Everyone is different. Insulin-to-carb ratios vary greatly in people with diabetes, and only your doctor can decide what works best for you. Our goal with diabetes is to have stable blood sugars, and doing what works for you to reach that goal is all that matters, not what your neighbor with diabetes is doing. | 2,651 | 1,283 | 0.000798 |
warc | 201704 | When do children begin to sweat and have BO?
Dr. Greene’s Answer:
If you look at a classroom of 4th grade children or 8th grade children, you will quickly notice that children develop at very different rates. The differences depend partly on genetics and partly on the environment (obesity, for instance, sometimes triggers earlier puberty).
Girls typically begin to have underarm odor and perspiration anytime after the 8th birthday and boys anytime after they turn 9. If these changes happen earlier, or haven’t happened by 13 in girls or 14 in boys, it’s wise to check-in with their pediatrician to be sure that everything is on track. | 658 | 406 | 0.00254 |
warc | 201704 | I have one period approximately every two months and they're very very heavy and what I want to know is how much blood is too much blood and can I do anything to lighten the flow maybe drink more water? Or take a certain vitamin? I'm asking because one super plus tampon does not do me good but for about 5 minutes I have put two sometimes three tampons Inn at one time only to be right back in the restroom having to change them in 30 minutes or so I have a lot of very very large blood clots also and I want to know if this is normal this amount of bleeding and clotting.
Responses (1)
It doesn't sound normal to me at all. The amount of fluid from menstruation is only about 80ml to 140ml (about 3 to 5.5 fluid ounces). Many women don't believe this but it happens to be true. Having 3 super tampons leaking through after 30 minutes is not natural at all. For starters you need an iron supplement as you are likely anemic.
Then, see a gynecologist as the answer is likely to be an hormonal issue. A competent female GP might be an alternative but I would stick with a specialist after a GP consult maybe where he/she will refer you to someone qualified.
Good luck and take care.
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warc | 201704 | Health Highlights: April 6, 2011
Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay:
USDA Proposes New Meat Safety Rule
A proposal to require meat producers to delay shipments to grocery stores while federal inspectors complete tests was announced Tuesday by the Obama administration.
Periodic checks for dangerous bacteria are conducted by U.S. Department of Agriculture inspectors at thousands of meat-packing and processing plants across the United States each year, the
Wall Street Journal reported.
In a news release, the USDA said it "inspects billions of pounds of meat, poultry and processed egg products annually," and believes that "44 of the most serious recalls between 2007 and 2009 could have been prevented" if the proposed "test and hold" rule had been in place.
The tests usually take 24 to 48 hours to complete and many large meat producers already delay shipments while the tests are conducted, the
Wall Street Journal reported.
Officials believe the new regulation would "result in fewer products with dangerous pathogens reaching store shelves and dinner tables," according to Elisabeth Hagen, USDA undersecretary for food safety.
-----
Human Gene Patents Subject of Appeals Court Hearing
A legal case that could affect the patenting of human gene sequencing is being heard by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington.
The case involves Myriad Genetics Inc. patents for identifying people's risk for breast and ovarian cancer. The patents make the company the exclusive U.S. provider of genetic screening tests for the diseases, the
Wall Street Journal reported.
Last year, a federal judge invalidated Myriad's patient claims after the American Civil Liberties Union launched a lawsuit challenging the patenting of gene sequences.
A decision by the appeals court is expected in the coming months, the
Journal reported.
-----
Updated Guidelines to Prevent Bloodstream Infections
Health care worker education/training and cleaning a patient's skin with an antibacterial scrub are among the major recommendations included in updated guidelines to protect American hospital patients from bloodstream infections.
The use of maximal sterile barrier precautions and avoiding routine replacement of certain catheters are also among the main areas of emphasis in the health care provider guidelines issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee.
The guidelines were created by a working group led by clinical scientists from the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center Critical Care Medicine Department, along with 14 other professional organizations.
"Preventing these infections is an excellent example of how hospitals and other health care facilities can improve patient care and save lives, all while reducing excess medical costs," CDC Director Dr. Thomas R. Frieden said in a CDC news release.
Posted: April 2011 | 3,045 | 1,545 | 0.000655 |
warc | 201704 | The government should create a new fund to plug an impending shortfall in the finance that is available to small businesses who are being turned down by commercial banks (more…)
Posts Tagged ‘small businesses’ Sadiq Khan launches small businesses roadshow Royal Mail Advises Small Businesses on Capitalising on Black Friday
New research from Royal Mail, released today reveals that UK SMEs are under-prepared for Black Friday (more…)
• Albion Ventures’ third Albion Growth Report shows that 61% of SMEs predict growth over the next years
• SMEs focused on boosting productivity, tapping into new markets but are struggling to find skilled staff
• Reliance on bank funding plummets from 76% in 2013 to 49% (more…)
Small businesses should not underestimate the value of more mature employees; that is the advice of researchers from the Newcastle University Institute of Ageing during Small Business Advice Week. (more…)
All businesses need cash to fund growth, but even big companies have little spare capital to reinvest when their value is tied up in orders and assets. (more…)
Small businesses feel less confident about future under new government and doubt election promises will be keptTuesday, May 26th, 2015
New research reveals more small businesses feel less confident about their future under the new government than those who feel more confident, and many aren’t convinced it will keep its election promises. (more…)
• Increase in demand for finance as more businesses seek alternative funding
• LDF expanding leasing book to fund more SMEs
The number of small businesses asking the Financial Ombudsman Service to intervene in disputes over bank loan and overdraft facilities has jumped by a third (more…)
Over one million small businesses across the country will be able to access significant savings with the new Employment Allowance, which came into force this April. The scheme, which will mean eligible employers will save up to £2,000 a year on their employer National Insurance Contributions (more…)
– A quarter of British small businesses cite sustainable business practices as one of their top priorities for the coming year
– A third expect to increase their investment in sustainable business practices over the next five years (more…)
2013 was a hopeful year for SMEs. Medium-sized businesses contributed £300 billion to economic growth according to the CBI, while the Federation of Small Businesses reported that confidence was high among small businesses (more…) | 2,618 | 1,269 | 0.00083 |
warc | 201704 | Cotton, Christopher Li, Cheng McIntyre, Frank Price, Joseph
Year of Publication:
2015
Series/Report no.:
Queen's Economics Department Working Paper 1342
Abstract:
A number of recent studies show that males may increase their performance by more than females in response to competitive incentives. The literature suggests that such a male competitive advantage may contribute to observed gender gaps in labor force pay and achievement. Understanding which factors may be driving these gender differences is essential for designing policies that promote quality. Using a game theoretic model of contests, we consider a variety of explanations for the male competitive advantage that have been proposed in the empirical and experimental literature. Comparing the testable predictions of the model with the empirical evidence from past papers, we reject explanations involving male over-confidence, misperceptions about relative ability, and some types of preference differences. Explanations involving female under-confidence and differences in risk aversion are consistent with the significant evidence. Two explanations provide perfect matches to observed performance patterns: (i) males are better than females at handling competitive pressure, and (ii) males enjoy competition more or have greater desire to win than females. | 1,334 | 720 | 0.001397 |
warc | 201704 | Enter a search term such as “mobile analytics” or browse our content using the filters above.
That’s not only a poor Scrabble score but we also couldn’t find any results matching “”.
Check your spelling or try broadening your search.
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Please try again later. Back in the early days of mobile commerce there was frequent debate over whether businesses should opt for a mobile site or a mobile app.
Fortunately most businesses and marketers now realise that there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach and that the two platforms aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive.
However we do occasionally still see businesses launching apps without properly considering the functionality that will be most appealing and useful to their customers.
Data from our new Mobile Commerce Compendium shows that, more than anything else, consumers want to be rewarded with exclusive offers if they download a retail app, with 38% of respondents selecting this as an important feature for smartphone apps.
In your opinion, what are the two most important features that smartphone retail apps should offer?
What functionality should you offer?
The lure of exclusive offers is clearly very appealing to consumers, however very few major ecommerce retailers actually use this tactic.
Offering an exclusive deal might be a good way of initially encouraging people to download an app, but the likes of Amazon and eBay would probably harm their businesses in the long term
if they were seen to be giving mobile customers preferential treatment.
Personally I think that mobile apps are the perfect platform for customer loyalty schemes as they give customers a convenient way to collect and redeem points.
B&Q recently launched a new loyalty app that is
a great example of how businesses can drive footfall and encourage purchases through mobile, despite the app’s limited functionality.
Barcode scanners are also a useful tool for customers and could become more important as ‘showrooming’ becomes more common.
The survey found that a majority of smartphone owners
(57%) now use their device to search for information while out shopping, with 63% of this number saying they compared prices with another retailer.
Barcode scanners make this process incredibly simple as shoppers can compare prices in seconds, so online retailers could potentially benefit from offering this functionality within their mobile app.
This is backed up by the fact that a quarter (25%) of smartphone owners have scanned a QR code in-store.
The data comes from a Toluna survey of 1,000 UK consumers, the full results of which are included in our new Mobile Commerce Compendium. This 125 page guide contains tips and advice on how mobile can be used in-store and as part of a broader multichannel strategy, as well as mobile commerce and mobile search. | 2,942 | 1,446 | 0.00071 |
warc | 201704 | Fourth grade students are challenged with increasingly complex math and writing assignments. This year involves expanding analysis skills, solving long division problems, and writing book reports. Children can develop the attributes necessary to tackle the challenges of fourth grade by working through worksheets, workbooks, and educational activities on a regular basis. Support your child's learning experience with these educator-approved resources, perfect for growing minds. | 482 | 308 | 0.00326 |
warc | 201704 | Keywords: palm stone, adsorption, carboxylic acid, tartaric acid, salicylic acid, oxalic acid, mandelic acid, malic acid, batch sorption, biosorption, date pits, metal removal, copper, zinc, cadmium, heavy metals, equilibrium, isotherms, wastewater treatment, water pollution
Carboxylic acids-modified palm stones as sorbents for metal ions using single and multi-metal aqueous solutions
Natural palm stone has been modified in order to enhance its sorption capacity for different metal ions. The palm stone (PS), or date-pits, was treated with different carboxylic acids, namely carboxylic acid (CA), tartaric acid (TA), salicylic acid (SA), oxalic acid (OA), mandelic acid (MND) and malic acid (MA). Batch sorption tests were carried out using single, binary or tertiary metal systems composed from copper, zinc and cadmium. In single metal systems, the sorption of metal ions by modified date-pits stone was always higher than that of the unmodified date-pits. The best sorbents used in this work for the removal of Cu, Zn and Cd from their individual solution are SA-PS, CA-PS and MA-PS, respectively. For multi-metal systems, OA-PS and TA-PS can be considered as the best candidates for metal removal. Equilibrium is achieved in a contact time of about an hour. The amount adsorbed was dependent on the process conditions; it increased with an increase in pH, initial metal concentration and amount of sorbet. The Freundlich model agreed very well with the equilibrium isotherm experimental data. | 1,505 | 738 | 0.001359 |
warc | 201704 | Continuous duty gen-sets provide base-load power generation in diverse applications around the globe. However, high fuel costs and engine maintenance are pain points felt by operators. A low-maintenance path to significant fuel savings and lower emissions is what the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) had in mind when they approached ElectraTherm to integrate the company’s Green Machine waste ...
By ElectraTherm
Need help finding the right suppliers?
Try XPRT Sourcing. Let the XPRTs do the work for you | 515 | 354 | 0.002881 |
warc | 201704 | Five weeks before they hope to sign off on a pact to curb global warming, more than 60 environment and energy ministers gather in Paris from Sunday (8 November) to narrow political rifts.
The three-day huddle seeks to target areas of possible compromise ahead of a year-end summit in the French capital tasked with inking the first-ever universal agreement to rein in climate-altering greenhouse gases.
It will be a chance for ministers to examine a rough draft of the deal that remains little more than a laundry list of opposing options, despite months of haggling.
“It… can help build understanding and trust between ministers, which will be essential in the end game at Paris,” said analyst Jennifer Morgan of the Washington-based World Resources Institute think-tank.
The 30 November – 11 December Conference of Parties (COP) ? the 21st such gathering ? will be opened by more than 80 heads of state and government including US President Barack Obama, China’s Xi Jinping and Narendra Modi of India.
The idea is for leaders to provide political impetus for the final round of talks by rank-and-file negotiators and their ministers.
The “pre-COP” meeting from Sunday to Tuesday (10 November) brings together all the negotiating blocs, and includes top envoys from all major carbon polluting nations ? China, the United States, the European Union, India, Brazil and others.
It is the third such ministerial meeting in Paris this year, and will tackle make-or-break issues such as burden-sharing for slashing emissions and climate finance.
“The ministers are expected to provide political guidance to help the Paris climate conference reach a successful outcome,” said Mohamed Adow of Christian Aid, which defends poor countries’ interests at the talks.
“The French COP21 presidency needs the ministers… to set the negotiations on course to success.”
As one EU diplomat put it, the ministerial meeting is aimed at providing a “landing zone” for the leaders who will open the summit a few weeks later, and “defuse” potential sticking points at the earliest possible stage.
Last-minute deals
According to the rules, ministers cannot alter the 55-page blueprint for the Paris deal, crafted by bureaucrats over years of technical talks.
But they can anticipate the last-minute deals that will be needed to unlock an agreement.
The overarching goal is a global pact on curbing emissions to limit average Earth warming to two degrees Celsius over pre-Industrial Revolution levels.
The last negotiating round in Bonn in October saw squabbles along well-rehearsed fault lines of developed vs developing nations.
Developing countries insist rich ones should lead the way in slashing emissions because historically they have emitted more pollution.
Developing nations also want assurances of financing to help decarbonise their economies and shore up defences against the impacts of superstorms, drought, flood and sea-level rise.
But industrialised countries point the finger at emerging giants such as China and India spewing carbon dioxide as they burn coal to power expanding populations and economies.
These crux issues will ultimately be settled at the political level.
“The ministers have only the second week of the COP to reach agreement on a number of difficult issues, so the pre-COP gives them a head start on that,” said Martin Kaiser, head of international climate politics at Greenpeace.
“Paris will be a legal climate agreement, and only political leaders can deliver that.”
Much work lies ahead outside the 195-nation UN climate forum, including a G20 summit in Turkey this month where the thorny issue of climate finance will be discussed.
The Paris pact will be supported by a roster of national carbon-curbing pledges, but over 150 commitments submitted to date place Earth on track for warming of about 3 C, analysts say.
Last month, scientists said the first nine months of 2015 had been the hottest on record worldwide.
Background
Negotiations on climate change began in 1992, and the UN organises an annual international climate change conference called the Conference of the Parties, or COP.
The 20th COP took place in Lima, Peru, from 1 to 12 December 2014, and Paris is hosting the all-important 21st conference in December 2015.
The participating states must reach an agreement to replace the Kyoto Protocol, the object of which was to reduce CO2 emissions between 2008 and 2012.
The EU’s contribution to the UN agreement is based on deal reached by EU leaders in October 2014. It sets out a binding emissions reduction goal of at least 40% by 2030 compared to 1990. The objective is described in the agreement as “a binding, economy-wide reduction target, covering all sectors and all sources of emissions, including agriculture, forestry and other land uses”.
Agreeing on a UN framework, whether legally binding or not, is the priority between now and December.
The international community hopes to ratify the agreement at the 21st Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC (COP 21) in Paris in December 2015.
The EU's negotiating mandate was formally adopted in September.
Timeline 10 November: Finance ministers meet in Brussels 30 November-11 December: 21st yearly session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 21) in Paris | 5,400 | 2,589 | 0.000398 |
warc | 201704 | CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- A study co-written by a University of Illinois business professor shows that higher wages are associated with lower levels of employee theft, shedding light on the impact that compensation practices have on shaping employee honesty and ethical norms in organizations.
Using data sets from the convenience-store industry, Clara Xiaoling Chen, a professor of accountancy, and co-author Tatiana Sandino, of the University of Southern California, found that after controlling for each store's employee characteristics, monitoring environment and socio-economic environment, relative wages - that is, wages relative to those received by other employees performing similar jobs in the same sector and region - were negatively associated with employee theft.
While previous studies have focused on the effect of higher wages on employee effort or turnover, Chen and Sandino document the effect of higher wages on employee theft as measured by cash shortage and inventory shrinkage.
"There's actually very little research on the effect of wages on employee theft," Chen said. "A seminal study conducted in the field has examined what happens after a firm cuts workers' pay. What's different in our paper is that there's no such shock as a pay cut, whose effect is typically short-lived and does not persist. The fact that we can document the relation in our study using cross-sectional data suggests that the effect of wages on employee theft can persist over time."
The researchers argue that paying relatively higher wages discourages employee theft for two reasons. First, employees receiving higher wages are less inclined to commit theft because they wish to retain their higher-paying job or as a gesture of positive reciprocity. Second, firms that offer relatively higher wages may attract a higher proportion of honest workers.
There is also a "wage tipping point" for employers to consider, when the cost of paying more toward employee wages is greater than the cost of employee theft.
"An interesting result of our study is that the benefit of reducing the amount of employee theft accounted for by cash shortage and inventory shrinkage does not, by itself, outweigh the cost of paying a wage premium," Chen said. "It accounts for about 39 percent of the cost of a wage increase. If you add other benefits like reduced turnover, reduced training costs and greater efforts, the benefits of paying a wage premium may outweigh the costs. So an employer may find it beneficial to raise employee wages if other benefits from wage increases translate into at least 61 percent of the cost of the wage increases."
The researchers also found that relatively higher wages promote social norms so that co-workers were less likely to collude to steal inventory.
"We show that the effect of relative wages on employee theft is more pronounced when there are multiple workers," Chen said. "Relative wages influence the type of norms that develop among the co-workers. So in industries or businesses that use multiple workers to staff a store or a retail outlet, it's even more beneficial to pay a wage premium."
Although compensation practices can shape the social context of a work group, Chen cautions that the study does have some limitations.
"The measures we used to capture employee theft are not perfect because, for instance, inventory shrinkage could also be a result of customer shoplifting," she said. "But it's the best we could get, because it's very difficult to get an exact measure of employee theft. That's why there needs to be more research done in this area."
The results of the study have important practical implications for managers, as employee theft accounts for $200 billion in losses for U.S. businesses annually.
"Our research provides systematic empirical evidence that wage premiums do play a role in reducing employee theft and fostering more ethical norms within an organization," Chen said. "The takeaways from our study are likely to apply to other types of retailers, such as restaurants, department stores and drug stores, and to service or consumer products firms with similar monitoring environments, where the payoffs from stealing are not disproportionately high relative to potential wage premiums."
If an employer can't afford to pay higher wages, Chen says there are other ways to induce positive reciprocity among employees.
"You can show that you care about the workers, and you can find other ways outside of compensation to recognize their efforts," she said. "Paying employees higher wages is not the only way to cultivate positive reciprocity, but it certainly is a good way to foster employee loyalty and honesty."
The research will be published in a forthcoming issue of the
Journal of Accounting Research.
Editor's note: To contact Clara Xiaoling Chen, call 217-244-3953; email cxchen@illinois.edu.
The article, "Can Wages Buy Honesty? The Relationship Between Relative Wages and Employee Theft," is available online. | 5,024 | 2,234 | 0.000452 |
warc | 201704 | The people on the other side are vociferous, scary almost.
What a difference a year makes ... Just 12 months ago to the day I was waxing lyrical about all 2016 had in store for us using that old Chinese curse of “may you live in interesting times” as a springboard.
Hang on a minute while I put on my Mystic Meg hat and make a prediction for 2017.
A year ago, who would have prophesised Donald Trump would be President of the US or that Britain would pull the lever to allow us to leave the EU?
I’m not familiar with the works of Kafka, but after a run-in with a major telecom company I am now achingly familiar with the concept.
Hard on the heels of last week’s appalling news that standards of reading and science in Scotland’s schools are declining, we learn youngsters across the North-east are falling dramatically below expected levels of reading, writing, numeracy and listening and talking.
It used to be said that the Scottish education system was second to none.
Would you believe it, there’s been a miracle on Union Terrace Gardens ...
It's looking like there is light at the end of the tunnel for our beleaguered oil and gas industry.
What's among the first utterances you hear from politicians when jobs are lost?
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas ... which is, quite frankly, ridiculous.
Society is definitely changing and not necessarily for the better.
Is the North-east capable of seeing beyond the oil and gas game?
I have been a gadget geek all my life, drawn to anything new and shiny, especially if it lights up and does stuff.
With only 30 shopping days to Christmas and Black Friday at the end of the week, retailers look as if they're going to have a bumper time In the run up to the big day.
One of the ingredients required of a politician is to be able to think on your feet – or waffle, to put it another way.
As the oil downturn grinds on relentlessly, more and more folk are hurting.
Forty years ago this weekend, in typically Messianic form, Ally MacLeod led Aberdeen to a League Cup triumph with a 2-1 win over Celtic at Hampden Park ... and the Dons disciples took him to their hearts.
Fix room sounds fairly innocuous, doesn’t it ... nothing to see here, move along please. But the fix rooms being proposed for Glasgow are where the powers-that-be want addicts to go to inject safely, under supervision, maybe even with medical grade heroin.
The batteries are now totally recharged ready for the run-up to Christmas and the New Year, following our return from a cruise in the Caribbean, which I’d been promising Helen for quite a while.
Do you remember the days when local authorities didn’t outsource work?
They do say travel broadens the mind ... although in my case it just cemented a long-held belief.
Common sense prevailed with the naming of the polar research ship Sir David Attenborough.
You can never underestimate the power of human stupidity.
It was around 20 years ago that a supply teacher told me too much of his time was taken up on disciplinary issues. | 3,087 | 1,684 | 0.000609 |
warc | 201704 | Uruguay Expat Country Guide This information is provided to offer guidance to those seeking to live and work overseas. For more information we recommend that you speak with your national government Foreign Office (or equivalent).
Uruguay may be a small country but it is big on personality. Well-known as one of the liberal Latin American countries, it also ranks highly for freedom of the press, resilience of the government and even per capita wealth. Little wonder, then, that Uruguay is sometimes referred to as the “Switzerland of South America”.
This is particularly notable bearing in mind Uruguay’s chequered past, where its territory has been repeatedly fought over by the Spanish, Portuguese, Brazilians and Argentinians among others.
Uruguay finally declared independence in August 1825 and today offers a relatively high standard of living, together with large swathes of beautiful natural habitat filled with wildlife. Indeed, even the name “Uruguay” is believed to mean “river of the colourful birds”.
Climate
Uruguay’s climate is quite unique. Unlike many of its neighbours, Uruguay is characterised by gentle rolling plains and low hills rather than the monumental mountains to be found elsewhere. This geography has two distinct impacts on the Uruguayan climate.
Firstly, this even altitude means a far more moderate temperature is to be found than in more mountainous neighbours. While seasonal fluctuations in temperature are experienced, snow is almost unheard of in Uruguay.
Secondly, the lack of mountains means there is little to block strong winds. As a result Uruguay is not only known for its occasionally strong winds, but also the way in which climatic changes can occur rapidly. The winds blowing off the Argentine pampas can turn an otherwise warm and sunny day to a bracing chill in minutes.
January marks the height of summer in Uruguay, where temperatures sit comfortably in the upper 20’s, sometimes nudging 30’C. Autumn is almost as pleasant, as the temperatures moderate slightly before winter rolls in. July marks the mid-point of Uruguay’s winter, with temperatures typically hovering around 12’C for some weeks, before Spring finally makes itself felt.
While the odd chill can flow in on the winds, overall Uruguay is known for its pleasant year-round climate which makes visiting, or even relocating to, Uruguay a very tempting opportunity.
Culture
The first-known culture in Uruguay are the native Charrua people. However “modern” Uruguay’s story really begins in the 1500s with the arrival of colonists from Spain and Portugal, who brought Western farming practices and Spanish culture to Uruguay.
However this was far from the end of the story; as Spain finally pulled out of Uruguay – and the remaining population envisaged independence – so Argentina and Brazil both laid claims to the land. Tensions led to the Argentine-Brazilian War of 1813, which resulted in stalemate before a tactical retreat was negotiated by the British government.
Today, in contrast to many South American countries, with their proud heritage of native tribes, the vast majority of Uruguayans trace their ancestry back to European origins. Additionally, due to the range of countries which have impacted Uruguay’s culture, today one can find traces of Italian, British and Portuguese culture sitting alongside the dominant Spanish elements.
Perhaps it is this great mixture of cultures living cheek-by-jowl which has led to a far more liberal and accepting culture than is found in many other Latin American countries. Indeed, Uruguay gave women the vote some years before France, while cannabis use is legal for Uruguayan citizens. Same-sex marriage and abortions are also legal in Uruguay; unusual for traditional Spanish colonies with their traditional Roman Catholic faith.
Two of the most over-riding aspects of Uruguay’s culture are football and farming. Despite its diminutive size as South America’s second smallest country Uruguay has developed world-wide acclaim for their football (soccer) skills. Indeed Uruguay took part in the world’s very first international football tournament and since then has won the FIFA World Cup twice.
In terms of farming Uruguay is one of the world’s largest producers of soybeans, horse meat and beef. Indeed, there are more cattle on a per capita basis in Uruguay than anywhere else in the world.
Lastly it is interesting to note that Uruguay maintains one of the “greenest” economies in the world, with an estimated 95% of their electricity supply coming from renewable resources.
Language
With Uruguay’s Spanish heritage it is little surprise that her official language is Spanish. As with some other ex-Spanish colonies, however, the Uruguayans have made the language their own, introducing a number of unique accents and words.
As a result it may take time for experienced Spanish speakers to pick up on Uruguay’s unique version on the language. This is especially so near to the Brazilian border where a unique mixture of Portuguese and Spanish is spoken; a language known as “Portunol”.
For English-speakers you will find yourself well serviced in the capital Montevideo, as well as the more popular tourist areas. However in more rural areas it will generally be necessary to dust off that school-child Spanish. Fortunately the Uruguayans are known for their friendly attitude towards foreigners, and your stuttering attempts at speaking the language will likely be met with equal amounts of encouragement and good-humour.
Transportation
As with many other South American countries the most ubiquitous form of transport in Uruguay are public buses. The service is reliable, the network is extensive and the prices are more than reasonable. That said, be aware that buses can be busy, resulting frequently in “standing room only”. For this reason it is often wise to book bus tickets in advance for longer trips, in order to be certain of comfortable seat.
While Uruguay does not maintain a passenger rail service, an alternative solution for those who would rather avoid buses comes in the form of local taxis. These are generally regarded as a safe method of transportation, with almost all taxis prominently displaying their meters. Unlike some other countries, where hailing a taxi can feel like running the gauntlet, it is therefore an entirely less intimidating prospect in Uruguay.
Visitors planning to make use of local taxis should take note that it is normal for surcharges to be added for baggage, so choose your belongings carefully to avoid an unpleasant surprise. Also please be aware that as in some other countries the rates tend to go up after dark and on weekends, so the same journey can cost different amounts, depending on the time and day of travel.
Alternatively it is reasonably easy to drive oneself in Uruguay. Most Western visitors will be able to drive on their native driving license; there is no need to apply for an International Driving Permit or exchange your license for the local equivalent. Note that driving in Uruguay, however, isn’t cheap. Fuel, for one thing, can be surprisingly pricey. The benefit of this is that major roads in Uruguay are generally quite empty and, thanks to their lack of use, are maintained in good condition.
If you opt to hire or buy a car in Uruguay there are a few rules that you should be aware of. Firstly it is a legal requirement to keep your headlights on and to drive at all times with both hands on the steering wheel. This means no fiddling with the radio or air-conditioning, and certainly no texting. All passengers must wear a seat belt and each vehicle must by law carry a first aid kit.
It is interesting to note that virtually every service station in Uruguay is “full service” so you will need enough basic Spanish to communicate with the attendant on arrival.
Lastly visitors keen on driving in Uruguay should note that as of 2016, the Uruguayan police force have introduced a zero-tolerance approach to drink driving. The police can and do pull over drivers to breathalyse them, so don’t be tempted to take any chances.
Healthcare
On the one hand Uruguay’s healthcare system follows the model used by most other countries; a somewhat understaffed and overstrained public healthcare network, operating alongside a premium private healthcare system.
Expats living and working in Uruguay can gain access to the public healthcare system if they are in possession of an ID card. Visitors, however, will need to pay for their care, whether they opt for the lower-cost public route or for a private facility.
What is perhaps rather unusual is that access to private medical facilities can be gained through a number of avenues. Firstly, of course, one can pay out-of-pocket for care, though be aware that private care in Uruguay tends to be very expensive. The second option is of course to invest in a travel insurance or expat healthcare policy.
However it is the third route which makes Uruguay unusual. Private hospitals and clinics in Uruguay operate what is known as a “
mutualista” – essentially a medical mutual fund. One pays a fixed monthly sum into the program, and then gains discounted access to private medical care as required.
Note that
mutualistas operate on a co-payment system, so while any treatment you need will be discounted, it will still require some form of “top-up”. Additionally, of course, mutualistas only gain you access to treatment in Uruguay, thus offering lower levels of overall protection than one might with a fully-featured expat health policy.
In truth, most expats and tourists opt to “jump the queues” found in most public facilities, and instead opt for either a
mutualista or expat healthcare policy. In this way they can gain access to private facilities. Not only are the queues shorter, but English-speaking doctors are also far more prevalent in the private sector. Indeed, for English-speaking expats the British Hospital in Montevideo is considered the “gold standard” of care in the country.
In terms of the risks that visitors face there is good news and bad. Uruguay’s largely temperate climate means that it is not malarial. Equally a small number of Dengue Fever outbreaks have been experienced recently. For this reason mosquito avoidance should be considered a critical element of travel in Uruguay.
Alongside this risk, medical authorities currently recommend vaccinations for Tetanus and Hepatitis A. Note, however, that the vaccination recommendations change regularly so we would advise expats and travellers alike to check the latest advice with their GP some 6-8 weeks before the expected date of travel.
Money
As with many ex-Spanish colonies, the monetary unit in Uruguay is the “Peso”. This is further divided into one hundred “Centavos”.
Accessing Uruguayan Pesos is rarely a problem; many banks will exchange currency for you, or ATMs may be used. Many of the teller machines found in Uruguay willingly accept debit cards and credit cards from around the world, and credit cards are widely accepted in shops, restaurants and hotels.
It is worth mentioning when discussing money in Uruguay that many expats are surprised at the costs of many items here. While locally-produced items such as Uruguayan meat and vegetables are very reasonably priced, many imported goods are hit with sizeable duties on arrival. As a result purchasing items such as technology (cell phones, laptops etc.) and motor vehicles can be surprisingly expensive.
Schooling
For such a culturally-developed country it should come as no surprise that Uruguay’s schooling system also stands among the best in South America. Literacy rates are impressively high and pupils at public schools generally receive a comparatively high quality of tuition. That said, expat parents should be aware that while both public schools and universities are free to attend, lessons are generally taught in Spanish.
For this reason many expat parents rely on the surprisingly diverse range of international private schools to be found in and around Montevideo. Notable examples of private schools with strong reputations among expats include the Uruguayan American School, St David’s School and The British School.
Food & Drink
One of the best reasons to visit Uruguay as a tourist is the incredible food on offer, which puts many of its neighbours to shame. That said, this is not a country where vegetarians will find it easy, as many common dishes are heavy on the meat.
This should come as no surprise, with Uruguay’s global strength in the production of beef, lamb and pork, not to mention its long coastline providing a mouth-watering selection of seafood. Uruguay is notable for being one of the top consumers of red meat in the world.
In general the Uruguayan menu has been described as “high on butter and meat, but low on spices”.
If you consider yourself a barbecue aficionado then you’ll think you’ve died and gone to heaven when sampling the national dish. Known as “Asado” this dish is essentially a vast plate of barbecued meats, typically including beef, ribs and sausages.
Also popular is “Chivito” – a large steak sandwich which may be supplemented with anything from bacon, to cheese, to fried eggs or salad. It is the ultimate “take away” food for a hearty day of exploring Uruguay.
Unique to Uruguay is the “Morcilla Dulce”, a food stuff made from dried blood combined with citrus peel and nuts to give it more texture and complexity. This may or may not be served as part of your Asado.
It is interesting to note that the long-term Italian expat community have also had an impact on the cuisine of Uruguay. Pizza and pasta are commonly-observed fair on restaurant menus across the country.
One of the most ubiquitous desserts comes in the form of “Dulce de Leche”, literally meaning “sweet of milk”. Here sweetened milk is gently heated, leading to it thickening and changing colour. In appearance one can think of a thick caramel milkshake. This sweet, sticky liquid is used in many forms, such as for filling pastries, gluing together wafers or just eaten plain with a spoon.
The national drink of Uruguay is “Mate”, made from the leaves of the Yerba Mate plant. Interestingly this drink is rarely available from cafes and restaurants, and is more likely to be home-brewed. Most commonly drunk out of a hollow gourd, through a metal straw, Mate is considered a social drink to share with friends and work colleagues. As a result you should be duly flattered if offered any by an associate.
Lastly no discussion of Uruguay’s cuisine would be complete without a mention of their exceptional wine industry, which is growing at break-neck speed. If you enjoy your wines you could do a lot worse than sampling some of the local produce, which is both reasonably-priced and full of character.
Safety
Uruguay is an intriguing country from a safety perspective. Generally-speaking it is quite a safe country with lower crime rates than many other South American countries. Note, however, that such accolades are comparative, and crime still exists, especially in Montevideo. Here bag snatches and pick-pocketing are experienced with frustrating regularity, though violent crime is far less common.
Drivers should also take care when parking overnight in Montevideo as cars are regularly broken into after dark. If possible, seek out car parks with security or park your vehicle in a garage for safety.
What makes Uruguay such a fascinating country is that alongside this generally law-abiding population, the country also boasts one of the largest prison populations anywhere in the world. Here human rights violations are reputedly commonplace, and suspects may be held indefinitely without charge. This is perhaps not the image many of us have of any otherwise liberal and relatively wealthy country.
The truth is, therefore, that visitors will want to be certain to avoid such a situation at all costs. This means, for example, avoiding the intake of alcohol before driving. Additionally, while Uruguay’s tolerance of cannabis use has led to it being seen as a utopian ideal by some people, the reality is that drug-use applies only to Uruguayan citizens. Visitors found in possession receive an altogether response.
Places to Visit
Uruguay benefits from a tempting combination of stunning beach resorts, together with historic architecture. With such a long and illustrious history there really is something for everyone in Uruguay; from upmarket seaside resorts to sleepy coves, from mega fortresses to cobbled colonial towns. Read on for some of the top places to visit while you’re in Uruguay…
Colonia del Sacramento
Colonia del Sacramento represents one of the best-preserved colonial towns in South America. Originally founded by Portuguese settlers in 1680, today the UNESCO-listed historic quarter provides a glimpse of days gone by. Interestingly it’s not just the town itself which is notable; Colonia del Sacramento is also based on a small peninsula in the river, making for some incredible views. Visit to stroll around the historic landscape, amble along cobbled roads, and browse the traditional arts for sale here.
Punta del Este
It would be difficult to imagine such a contrast to Sacremento’s subtle charm. Punto del Este is a modern beach resort; in essence Uruguay’s answer to San Tropez. From stunning beaches to top-class restaurants, from hotels to water sports, it’s little wonder that “Punta” has become known as the “Monaco of South America”. If you fancy putting your feet up, and topping up the tan with a cocktail then Punta del Este is
the place to be. Punta del Diablo
If you tire of the glitz and glamour of Punta del Este then Punta del Diablo represents an entirely more laid-back beach resort. A popular backpacker destination, the relaxed atmosphere and sleepy “fishing village” feel present a perfect opportunity to kick back and relax with a cold beer.
Fortaleza de Santa Teresa
This pentagonal fortress was built by the Portuguese in 1762. Today a trip here allows one to sample yet more of Uruguay’s colonial history. The views from the top of the fortifications are exceptional; however it’s not just the huge fortress itself which is a draw. Santa Teresa is also based within a beautiful protected park, offering tempting hiking opportunities. There is also a beautiful beach just next door too, if you fancy relaxing at the end of your exertions.
Museo Andes 1972
In 1972 a plane carrying Uruguayan high school children crashed on route to Chile. Astonishingly, 16 of those on the plane survived 72 days in freezing Andean conditions to arrive home safely.
This museum tells the story of the crash, and the battle for survival. Far from the depressing experience you might be expecting, visitors report a fascinating, sensitive and even inspiring message of courage and survival in the face of adversity. Little wonder that it is one of the highest-rated tourist sites in all of Uruguay according to Trip Advisor.
For more information on moving abroad visit www.gov.uk/knowbeforeyougo. Of course, if you’re planning on travelling abroad please ensure you have adequate expat travel insurance. | 19,642 | 8,402 | 0.000122 |
warc | 201704 | Lab Exam #3 Clinical Correlation
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Is an localized bulging or ballooning of the wall of an artery. They occur when an artery wall becomes weakened, and if large enough can compress adjacent structures or worse, may rupture. Many of these occur in cerebral arteries or in the aorta and if ruptured produce sever bleeding, stroke, and even sudden death.
Aneurysm
Is chest pain or discomfort pressure or squeezing. It is not a disorder itself but a symptom, usually of coronary artery disease.
Angina
Is an irregular heartbeat caused by defects in the heart's conducting system. These can be categorized by speed, rhythm, and parts of the conducting system affected.
Arrhythmia
Is an abnormally slow but regular heart rate less than 60 beats per minute, caused by malfunction of the SA or AV node. Symptoms include weakness, dizziness, and shortness of breath. This is normal in well-trained athletes.
Bradycardia
Is an abnormally fast but regular heart rate greater than 100 beats per minute. There can be many causes, some of which are defects in the SA or AV nodes, damage to the myocardium from a heart attack, or external substances such as medication, alcohol, caffeine or illicit drugs.
Tachycardia
Is a rapid uncoordinated heartbeat. These occur when contractions of the myocardium in heart chambers is asynchronous, producing a chamber that "quivers" rather than contracts. Depending on the chamber where the problem, they are atrial or ventricular.
Fibrillation
Is a medical emergency since it can halt blood ejection from the heart and produce circulatory failure and death.
Ventricular fibrillation
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation and electronic devices are used to treat ventricular fibrillation
Defibrillators
Is a congenital narrowing of the aorta. It most often occurs near the junction of the ductus arteriosus.
Coarctation of the Aorta
Is a condition in which plaques made of cholesterol, fat, and calcium build up in the walls of coronary arteries.
Coronary Artery Disease
Plaque formation in arteries is a progressive disease, which can occur in any large or medium-sized artery.
Atherosclerosis
Is a procedure in which a blood vessel from another part of the body is surgically attached to a coronary artery to bypass an area of blockage.
Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting
Is a blue tint to skin and mucous membrane produced by oxygen deficiency in systemic blood. There are many causes such as heart failure and lung disease.
Cyanosis
Is bleeding, either internal or external, resulting from trauma or rupture of blood vessels.
Hemorrhage
Is high blood pressure.
Hypertension
Is a localized tissue death due by lack of arterial blood supply. It is the end result of ischemia.
Infarction
Is death of areas of myocardium due to coronary artery disease commonly referred to as "heart attack".
Myocardial Infarction
Is decrease in blood flow to organs or tissues caused by complete or partial blockage of an artery. In the hear occurs with blockage of coronary arteries and severe blockage can produce infarction and/or arrhythmias.
Ischemia
Is an opening in the septum that separates the right and left side of the hear.
Septal Defect
Is a hole in the interatrial septum caused by failure of the fetal foramen ovale to close completely after birth.
Atrial Septal Defect
Is caused by incomplete development of the interventricular septum, usually the membranous part. It is the most common type of congenital heart defect.
Ventricular Septal Defect
Are disorders involving valves of the heart that impact the heart's ability to pump blood effectively to the lungs or tissues of the body and cause the heart to work harder.
Valvular Heart Disease
Is a failure of the valve cusps to open fully. Oftentimes the cusps fuse together, producing a narrow central opening. It causes turbulence in blood flow and audible vibrations that are heard through a stethoscope as murmurs.
Stenosis
Is a failure of the valve to close completely, usually produced by inflammation that causes enlargement of cusps or scarring of the edges of cusps. The net result is valve cusps that don't meet with one another snugly either because they are too big or have become inflexible.
Valve Incompetence
Occurs when the blood supply to part of the brain is compromised either by blockage or rupture of an artery. Often occur in branches of the middle cerebral artery that supply the internal capsule.
Cerebrovascular accident or Stroke
A blood clot that forms locally within a vessel and does not move.
Thrombus
A blood clot formed elsewhere in the body that break loose and floats downstream.
Embolus
Is a fancy term for nosebleed = hemorrhage in the nasal cavity.
Epistaxis
Is a mass of clotted blood outside of a vessel, is a result of hemorrhage into tissue or spaces inside the body. A bruise is a this visible through the skin.
Hematoma
Is an accumulation of clotted blood in the potential space between skull bones and dura mater. Trauma to the head in the region of the "temple" can fracture the skull and rupture the underlying middle meningeal artery.
Epidural Hematoma
Is an increase in pressure within the hepatic portal vein and its tributaries caused by blockage of blood flow within the liver or perhaps a tumor associated with the pancreas.
Portal Hypertension
Is the formation of a clot within a blood vessel.
Thrombosis
Is a clot formation in one or more of the deep veins of the lower limb, often in the calf. It occurs when blood clots in areas where blood flow is slow due to muscular inactivity, extended bed rest, or weakened vessel walls.
Deep venous thrombosis
It can be dangerous since clot could break loose and migrate to the lungs to obstruct a pulmonary artery, a life-threatening condition.
Pulmonary embolism
Are twisted, dilated veins. They are common in the lower limb, since veins here experience constant pressure from standing and blood must flow against gravity.
Varicose veins
Is a blood draw obtaining a blood sample from a patient by puncturing a superficial vein with a needle and collecting blood in a syringe.
Venipuncture
Is swelling of tissue due an abnormal accumulation of tissue fluid. There are many causes including heart failure, liver or kidney disease, and malfunctions of the lymphatic system.
Edema
Is a swelling of lymph nodes. The usual cause is a viral infection but swelling may also be due to bacterial infections or cancer.
Lymphadenopathy
Are a family of cancer that develop from lymphocytes and involves lymphoid tissue, especially lymph nodes. Hodgkin's disease which is characterized by the presence of a distinctive large cell within lymph nodes called a Reed-Sternberg cell.
Lymphomas
Are the first set of lymph nodes to receive metastatic cancer cell from an involved organ. These are the guards that watch over an organ their inflammation is an indication of infection or cancer in a particular organ.
Sentinel nodes
Is an acute inflammation of the appendix. As the inflammation progresses and the appendix enlarges pain shifts to the right lower quadrant of the abdominal wall in the area external to the appendix.
Appendicitis
Surgical removal of appendix
Appendectomy
Is the pathologic presence of excess fluid in the peritoneal cavity, often caused by liver disease such as cirrhosis.
Ascites
Is a chronic inflammatory condition of the lier in which hepatocytes are destroyed over time usually by alcoholism or viral infections and replace by connective tissue.
Cirrhosis
Is the name of the procedure when the colon is cut and the proximal end is brought to the surface of the abdominal wall serving as a substitute anus. Thus, feces leave the body through this newly created orifice.
Colostomy
Is a type of inflammatory bowel disease causing inflammation and ulceration of the inner lining of the alimentary canal, most often the ileum or colon. Its cause is unclear, but it may be autoimmune in nature, possibly an abnormal response of the immune system to a bacterium or virus.
Crohn's Disease
Is a condition describing many small pouches bulging externally from the alimentary canal, most commonly from the sigmoid color, through weak spot in the wall.
Diverticulosis
The pouches may become infected by bacteria or plugged with fecal material. Inflammation of the pouches.
Diverticulitis
Are concretions made from bile salts, cholesterol, or calcium carbonate that from in bile.
Gallstones
Removal of the gallbladder
Cholecystectomy
Is a disorder in which there is frequent reflux of acid from the stomach into the esophagus.
Gastro-Esophageal Reflux Disease (GERD)
Are swollen veins in the wall of the anal canal. They can be caused by increased pressure on the rectum and anal canal when straining to pass hard feces out of the body or by chronic elevated abdominal pressure due to obesity or pregnancy.
hemorrhoids
Is an inflammation of the liver usually caused by a viral infection. The liver enlarges and its functioning becomes impaired.
Hepatitis
Is the protrusion of a part of the stomach through the esophageal hiatus of the diaphragm.
Hiatal Hernia
Occur when the abdominal esophagus and cardia of the stomach slide upwards into the esophageal hiatus whenever intra-abdominal pressure is raised.
Sliding Hiatal Hernias
Occur when the fundus of the stomach is wedged into the hiatus and lies next to the lower thoracic esophagus.
Para-esophageal hernias
Is yellow coloring of the skin, mucous membranes, and sclera of the eye. It is caused by excess amounts of bilirubin a substance produced by the breakdown of hemoglobin when worn red blood cells are destroyed in the spleen.
Jaundice
Is inflammation of the peritoneum caused by bacterial infection.
Peritonitis
Is inflammation of tonsils due to viral or bacterial infection. Most cases are due to a virus, such as the Epstein-Barr virus that causes mononucleosis.
Tonsillitis
Are sores in the lining of the stomach or first part of the duodenum, caused by erosion of the mucosa. Since damage to the mucosa is caused by gastric juice which contains HCl and the enzyme pepsin.
Ulcers or Peptic Ulcers
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Home > Flashcards > Print Preview | 10,358 | 4,456 | 0.000227 |
warc | 201704 | Referrals are a cost effective way for advisers to either move into the equity release advice space, or expand their existing equity release business, according to The Equity Release Council.
Nigel Waterson, chairman of the Equity Release Council says building strong relationships with clients is essential.
He says: “It is a good way of increasing inbound referrals, as past and present customers often have friends who are in a similar situation who may be considering equity release.”
“Advisers should ensure their peers within the industry are aware of their capabilities in advising on equity release, so the adviser will be at the forefront front of other professionals' minds when customers enquire about equity release.”
How to get more equity release referrals:
Improve your network
Membership of the Equity Release Council is recommended by Joanna Fowler, head of product at Saga Money and Andy Wilson, an equity release specialist adviser and director of Lincoln-based Andy Wilson Financial Services.
Ms Fowler says advisers who are members of the ERC are listed in its directory, which potential customers can refer to.
The Equity Release Council runs networking events at its exhibitions and conferences, and it offers its members the chance to attend CPD accredited workshops.
There are also many available online to help advisers build up their knowledge and expertise in this area.
For example, Aviva for Advisers has several useful calculators, contact details and documents on its website.
Think ‘beyond’ retirement
Roger Marsden, managing director of Aviva Equity Release says equity release has traditionally been based around retirement income needs, but increasingly younger homeowners, those between 55 and 64 are considering equity release.
Ms Fowler says advisers who had clients with tax liabilities might also want to consider equity release.
“If a customer is looking for inheritance tax advice or when a customer is looking at pension and retirement planning, advisers should start to think outside the box and consider if equity release could be the right option for these customers.”
Dean Mirfin, technical director at Key Retirement, comments that clients looking to take out a mortgage in later life might need to be steered towards equity release.
He explains: “There are a number of lenders who offer traditional mortgages for those in later life, but often affordability criteria rules many retirees out. In this situation equity release can be a solution for some.
"Ultimately both mortgage and equity release advisers need to be aware of the different product options to enable them to recommend the best option to meet their client’s needs or refer to the relevant adviser.”
Work with a partner
Advisers who are starting out in equity release may prefer to work directly with an equity release specialist.
Andrea Rozario, chief corporate officer at equity release specialist Bower Retirement, says these advisers may have an existing client base that fits the demographic of equity release or they may build up a network of introducers who do do not wish advise on equity release and will therefore pass over their leads. | 3,239 | 1,484 | 0.00069 |
warc | 201704 | Address:
Strategic Management Tools and Mapping Products:
Targeting the Small Wetlands Acquisition Program (SWAP) in Minnesota
The purpose of the SWAP is the conservation of small wetlands and associated upland habitats in the conservation of breeding waterfowl, while providing collateral benefits to migrant waterfowl and other species of wetland and grassland dependant migratory birds.
With these program goals in mind, the HAPET has developed a set of tools for targeting the acquisitions of Waterfowl Production Areas (WPAs) and conservation easements. The tools enable managers to assess the potential population benefits of the conservation of every 40 ac parcel within Minnesota 's Wetland Management Districts (WMDs) for
Wetland restoration and protection, based on
Integrity of the existing wetland complex
Predicted landscape-scale nest success; and
Grassland restoration and protection, based on
Landscape-scale duck pair potential (accessibility to upland nesting hens)
Contribution to a Type I Grassland Bird Conservation Area
To develop these criteria in a spatial context, we developed and applied a series of models.
Integrity of the existing wetland complex - Characteristics of wetland complexes affect the functionality of individual wetlands they encompass, particularly for species that use small wetlands. Logistic models predicting probability of wetland use based on the wetland complex within a 2 mi radius and wetland size were developed for a suite of dabbling duck and diving duck species and black terns using 10 years of 4 mi 2 survey data. For each species, wetland size was fixed at 2 ac and models were applied to wetland data modified from the National Wetlands Inventory. Individual species data were then merged to assess the relative potential of 2 ac wetlands, in their existing wetland complex context, to support multiple species. This composite data layer was interpreted as an index to existing wetland complex integrity. Predicted nest success - It is not desirable to restore wetlands for waterfowl in landscapes where nests have a low probability of hatching. Nest success was predicted as a function of the amount of grass in the landscape using the following function. This model was applied to a digital data layer of percent grass in a 2 mi radius (described elsewhere).
The index for wetland complex integrity and nest success were each rescaled from 0-100 and summed to develop an index to priority for wetland restoration and protection (likewise, rescaled from 0-100).
Duck pair potential - This is a thunderstorm "map" of access of upland nesting waterfowl hens to existing or potential grassland habitat. The derivation of this data layer is described elsewhere on this web site. Contribution to a Type I GBCA - The acres needed to create a Type I GBCA was an intermediate product of the GBCA delineation process (described elsewhere). Acres needed were subtracted from 640 ac (the minimum area of the Type I GBCA) as an index to grassland patch size and blockiness (greater being better for both).
Duck pair potential and contributions to a Type I GBCA were each rescaled from 0-100 and summed to develop an index to priority for grassland restoration and protection (likewise, rescaled from 0-100).
Lastly, composite indices of priority for wetland restoration/protection and grassland restoration/protection were summed to create an overall SWAP priority index (rescaled to 100). An Excel spread sheet of a legal description and the raw data and derived indices for every 40 ac parcel in Minnesota 's WMDs was developed and distributed to WMDs. Managers are advised to use either the wetland restoration/protection priority score, the grassland restoration/protection priority score, or the overall SWAP priority score, depending on the nature of the proposed acquisition or management actions.
Diving Duck Management Priority Areas and Guidelines
Use SWAP priority designation for wetland protection/restoration/enhancement
Target wetlands >=90 ac
As SWAP wetland priority goes down, size should go up
View other Strategic Management and Mapping products:
The Effect of Woody Vegetation on Grassland Nesting Birds
Working Lands Initiative | 4,226 | 1,748 | 0.000576 |
warc | 201704 | This report presents findings from a process figure evaluation of a pilot of recorded pre-trial cross-examination (s.28).
Detail
This includes analysis of monitoring data collected during the pilot, interviews with practitioners involved and interviews with witnesses.
Section 28 (s.28) of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 (YJCEA) allows vulnerable and intimidated witnesses to video record their cross-examination before the trial. This forms part of a range of measures to support vulnerable or intimidated victims and witnesses (other than the accused) to give their best evidence and help reduce some of the anxiety of attending court. Section 28 was piloted in Leeds, Liverpool and Kingston-upon-Thames Crown Courts from December 2013 for child witnesses under the age of 16 and those eligible for assistance by reason of disability. A process evaluation was undertaken to help understand whether the pilot processes worked as intended and to help inform decisions on whether and how best to roll out s.28 more widely after the pilot. | 1,060 | 588 | 0.001709 |
warc | 201704 | Civil Investigation of Fraud (Code 9): historical record: general: introduction to civil investigation of fraud
This guidance deals with a procedure for civil investigation of fraud (CIF), effective within HMRC from 1 September 2005 under Code of Practice 9, for dealing with cases where there is a suspicion of serious fraud or dishonesty across either the direct or indirect tax regimes (or both). The CIF procedure must only be operated by officers authorised to use it within HMRC.
For the avoidance of doubt, the introduction of CIF replaces New Approach, including Notice 730 and other Customs, Excise and Environmental taxes CEP procedures and Hansard.
Cases registered under any of the procedures listed above prior to 1 September 2005 will continue to be dealt with under the respective existing instructions; for example New Approach [VAT Information Sheet 01/02] and Hansard (Code of Practice 9).
The CIF procedure is designed to stimulate a full disclosure of irregularities. It is important to demonstrate that we have an open mind and have not ruled out the possibility of an innocent explanation. CIF gives taxpayers a choice. They may either fully co-operate with the process, and respond by making a full disclosure of irregularities, or they may deny irregularities or simply make no response at all. CIF will only be used in cases where there is a suspicion of serious fraud.
The investigation will be conducted with a view to the recovery of tax and interest and the imposition of a civil penalty, and not with a view to prosecution. The CIF procedure offers the taxpayer an inducement and the opportunity to make a full disclosure of all irregularities in recognition of which increased penalty reduction will be given. If we are satisfied after the investigation that the disclosure is full and complete, matters will proceed to a monetary settlement. Within the procedure we explicitly state that the decision to adopt the approach and provide information is entirely voluntary on the part of the taxpayer, ensuring compliance with the Human Rights Act Article 6 (HRA).
The detail of our evidence/concerns will not be disclosed to the taxpayer, as the CIF procedure is an opportunity for the taxpayer to make a full disclosure. We will, however, need to indicate the tax regime(s), direct taxes or indirect taxes or both, under which our concerns lie. In the case of indirect taxes only, it will also be necessary to distinguish between the head(s) of tax or duties (eg VAT, Excise & Alcohol) that gives rise to our concerns. This not only preserves the integrity of the system but also reduces our exposure to challenge under the Human Rights Act and allegations of “fishing”. It also reduces the risk of criticism as a result of a taxpayer spending significant time and money investigating a tax area where we have no concerns and no irregularities exist.
The decision to adopt a case under the CIF procedure is an important one because, once we make a challenge under these civil procedures (rather than criminal procedures), there can be no question of reverting to a criminal investigation for the conduct giving rise to the specific tax offences. It is therefore important to ensure robust systems are in place in relation to the adoption of cases (including an interface with Criminal Investigation(CI)) and that there is a clear audit trail (including all necessary computer entries) on the decision making process.
(This content has been withheld because of exemptions in the Freedom of Information Act 2000) Operational Framework Document(This content has been withheld because of exemptions in the Freedom of Information Act 2000)
This guidance applies to the taxes listed below, providing a single procedure to deal with the full range of tax irregularities that may be identified in any single entity.
VAT Income Tax Corporation Tax NIC Capital Gains Tax Inheritance Tax Landfill Tax Excise Duty [Alcohol, Tobacco and Oils] Climate Change Levy Aggregates Levy Insurance Premium Tax Air Passenger Duty PAYE Customs/International Trade duties (commercial)
The CIF procedure will not apply to Customs/International Trade Civil Investigations into non-commercial fraud, carried out at ports and airports. | 4,259 | 1,902 | 0.000529 |
warc | 201704 | Ukranian president Viktor Yanukovych dedicates construction of new protective cover for damaged Chernobyl reactors
To mark the 26th anniversary of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear plant accident, Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych presided at a ceremony at the site of the ruined nuclear plant in which a new construction project is being launched. The country will build a new protective cover over the plant that when completed will enable the safe dismantling of the destroyed reactors which still contain “hot spots” of radiation contamination.
The new cover will be 108 meters high, 250 meters aide and 150 long. It will involve the use of 20,000 tons of steel and will be a great improvement over the temporary cover that was constructed following the accident.
According to World Nuclear News President Yanukovych hailed the project as: “A historic event in the transformation of the Object Shelter into an ecologically safe system: the construction of the arch of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. This project’s successful implementation will ensure that the surrounding area becomes environmentally safe and that there are no radiation leaks into the atmosphere.”
Up to last year’s meltdown of three Japanese Fukushima nuclear reactors in the aftermath of a 9.1 magnitude earth quake and resulting tsunami, the Chernobyl reactor meltdown had been considered as the world’s worst nuclear accident. Anti-nuclear power advocates, such as Australia’s Dr. Helen Caldicott are still saying that the Fukushima accident was worse than Chernobyl.
What is worrisome regarding the Chernobyl plant is that its status as a symbol of what can happen if a nuclear plant reactor does melt down may become less relevant if the Chernobyl plant is dismantled or even rehabilitated, as may also be the case.
Although some Ukranians have returned to the area where radiation levels are low,other areas, especially the immediate vicinity of the plant itself may never again be suitable for human habitation.
This should be a good warning to countries here in the Middle East like Jordan who want to use nuclear energy to produce electricity. Jordan appears to want to use nuclear energy to “jump forward for energy development” by using atomic energy. Saudi Arabia too.
In the cases of both Chernobyl and Fukushima, nuclear energy is not that safe. Even if only desired for peaceful purposes and not the make weapons, nuclear energy is a very dangerous direction. Chernobyl may finally be rendered safe by the installation of the new canopy, the damage has already been done and will continue to be felt for many years to come.
More on Chernobyl and other nuclear plant disasters:
Jordan Jumps Forward on Energy Development
Dr. Helen Caldicott: Fukushima Nuclear Blast Much Worse Than Chernobyl Worst Case Scenario Realized as Three Fukushima Reactors Melt Down Will Nuclear Radiation Vaccine Transform Hazzards of Nuclear into Energy Innovation? | 2,995 | 1,432 | 0.000713 |
warc | 201704 | Cisco introduced new developments with security partners and information-sharing techniques under its Cisco Security Technology Partner Ecosystem. Enabled by a new context information-sharing framework called Platform Exchange Grid (pxGrid), this new ecosystem brings a “strength through integration” mindset to the fragmented and silo-prone network security landscape.
Cisco is providing partner IT systems with a unified context and control platform they can integrate in the form of its network wide policy management platform, Identity Services Engine. ISE delivers a unified, real-time source of control for identity and endpoint devices, policy context and network access across a customer’s network, expanding the intelligence the customer can use in concert with its IT infrastructure to discover, defend and remediate threats.
Cisco Security Ecosystem partners that integrate with ISE increase their efficiency of operations and accelerate the ability of their IT staff to resolve network issues. The ecosystem also extends to partner products the ability to reach into the Cisco network infrastructure to execute policy actions on users and devices — such as quarantine and blocking network access.
ISE is central to the Cisco Security Ecosystem because of its distinguishing ability to create partnership hooks in a variety of areas. It already is a focal platform for mobile device management partnerships, and Cisco is creating the Cisco Security Threat Defense Ecosystem — a new integration with leading SIEM (security information event management) and threat defense systems.
SIEM and threat defense partners include IBM, Lancope, LogRhythm, TIBCO LogLogic, Splunk and Symantec. Cisco plans additional ISE-centered security partner ecosystems in the future to further extend identity and device awareness throughout the IT infrastructure.
Like many other network systems, SIEM and threat defense systems often have limited insight to real-time user identity or endpoint device type in their security analyses. This is critical because these are among key attributes for effectively handling things like employees bringing their own mobile devices to work.
Through ISE, the Cisco Security Threat Defense Ecosystem integrates with SIEM and threat defense systems to create policies and analytics based not just on network patterns but also on type of device and class of user.
The Threat Defense Ecosystem also makes security more actionable, integrating SIEM and threat defense with a central policy point instead of being another silo. This provides consistent cross-platform user/device visibility and control — all from a single screen.
Furthermore, the Threat Defense Ecosystem gives Cisco leadership in securing unified wired and wireless networks, which the company calls Unified Access, an intelligent network platform that can enable connected experiences and operational efficiencies. Unified Access is the business foundation to support the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) trend, and the Internet of Everything (IoE).
Also today, Cisco announced it is making Platform Exchange Grid (pxGrid) available for early adoption by ISE integration partners. Designed for cross-vendor adoption, ISE is the first platform to adopt pxGrid at Cisco, enabling it to share its context as well as consume context from ecosystem partners for use in network policy.
An innovative approach, the pxGrid platform-independent framework enables customizable, many-to-many sharing between any third-party platforms that adopt pxGrid. Cisco will pursue standardization of pxGrid via relevant industry standards organizations in 2014.
Dave Frampton, vice president and general manager, Cisco Secure Access and Mobility Product Group, comments: “Until now, SIEM/threat defense systems have lacked a complete picture of mobility and BYOD security risks, but with our new ecosystem they can use ISE network telemetry to correlate user, device and policy context with their traditional threat defense data sets. In addition to identifying new categories of possible threats on the network, they can now also target suspicious mobile devices and start creating device- or user- or group-specific analytics for additional scrutiny. By incorporating unique real time network and device context from ISE, they now have a single source of truth all from one screen. This consolidation helps them sort through suspicious events faster and take focused remediation action versus having to literally look at five different screens and manually connect the dots.” | 4,598 | 2,043 | 0.000495 |
warc | 201704 | Brain Injury – St. Louis Workers Compensation Lawyer If you are suffering from any type of brain damage as a result from a work related injury, you are entitled to receive workers’ compensation benefits in Missouri.
Brain damage which results from a work related accident or incident is not always easy to define. Medically speaking, brain damage is considered to be any injury that causes the destruction or deterioration of brain cells. Severity differs greatly from case to case as well as the symptoms, and its cause could be from any type of trauma to the head.
If you are suffering from any type of brain damage as a result from a work related injury, you are entitled to receive workers’ compensation benefits in Missouri for the treatment of your condition as well as any wages lost as a result. Depending on the severity, you could also qualify for disability benefits, which ensure that you are able to receive benefits for the rest of your lifetime if it is found that the condition is irreversible. If you are
unsure of what you qualify for or if you are having a hard time receiving your workers comp benefits after a brain injury, contact the Law Office of James M. Hoffman for a free and private consultation. What Type of Missouri Workers are at Risk for Brain Damage?
Work related brain injuries are most often the result of a blow to the head. This type of injury could come from a fall, or from being struck by a falling object. Construction workers, cable installers and individuals who drive as a part of their work duties are most susceptible. The most important thing to understand is that no matter how mild the injury may seem, it should still be reported to a supervisor and examined by a doctor. There is no predictability when it comes to a brain injury, and what appears to be just a mild bump now could quickly turn into something more serious in just a few hours.
How is Brain Damage Diagnosed?
Diagnosing a brain injury will depend heavily on the types of symptoms you are experiencing. Your physician will check for signs of speech impairment, memory loss, and vision problems. They will also ask about any loss of consciousness after the accident. Imaging tests such as MRI and CAT scans will be performed to look for signs of swelling and bleeding on the brain. In many cases, it is impossible to tell the extent of the injury right away until the brain begins to heal.
With severe brain damage, life altering debilitating issues are common. These could result in permanent behavioral, cognitive and physical disabilities. For some, dependency on others for care could last a lifetime.
What Should You Do if Diagnosed With Work-Related Brain Damage?
If you did not report the incident or accident which caused the brain damage to your employer, you should do so as soon after the diagnosis as possible. Treatment for brain injuries can be very expensive, and you will want to make sure that all expenses are covered from the start.
Due to the complexity of a brain injury, and the varying severity and symptoms that go with it, you may find that the workers’ compensation insurance will make attempts to stop your benefits before you are fully recovered. In this case, be sure to contact our offices and get expert legal advice on what steps to take next.
When a Brain Injury Leads to Permanent Disability
Employees who are permanently injured from a work related incident are entitled to benefits for the rest of their life. In the case of a brain injury, where ongoing care is often necessary, medical benefits may also be provided. The only way to ensure that you are receiving the maximum amount of your rightful workers compensation benefits is by having a qualified workers compensation attorney look at your specific case.
Workers’ Compensation Benefits for Brain Injuries
Our legal team has a strong history of helping injured workers get the medical attention and financial compensation that they need. Contact our St. Louis, Missouri workers compensation law firm to ensure that your rights are protected. Please call
(314) 361-4300 or toll free at (888) 872-6795. You can also complete our Online Case Evaluation Form. | 4,206 | 1,886 | 0.000536 |
warc | 201704 | Chronic pain is an extremely common problem, affecting about one third of Americans. Many different conditions can result in chronic pain, including headache, low back pain, cancer pain, arthritis pain, and nerve pain. In addition, in certain chronic pain conditions, there is an increased likelihood of suffering from additional painful conditions, such as with chronic fatigue […]
I never thought I would be an advocate for pain medication access. I have been clean from alcohol and non-opiate drug abuse for 17 years. I am an active member of a 12 step fellowship. I sponsor women and have a sponsor. I regularly attend meetings. For most of my recovery I was anti-pain medication. […]
Chronic pain in North America is a major problem for men and women alike, affecting about one-third of adults. Many people of both genders do not receive adequate treatment for their pain. This causes great personal suffering, as well as high costs to the economy through direct health care costs and loss of work productivity […]
When we salt our food, we rarely think of salt as a crucial aspect of our physiology. In particular, we think it has absolutely nothing to do with anything other than taste and we certainly do not think of hormones. In this short post, I would like to clarify a few myths about salt and […]
A multitude of reports have emerged in recent years denoting the over use of pain killers and other medications. With narcotic pain killers, in particular, data suggest a four-fold increase in opioid use since 1999, and over 100,000 deaths by opioid overdose during same time period. The data also indicate a close correspondence between the increase in prescriptions […]
Bang, bang, BANG…do you hear that? That’s the sound of nails being hammered into a coffin. No, I’m not trying to be morbid, nor am I in the process of creating a funeral soundtrack. To explain to you what in the world I am talking about, please consider the following current news articles: “Doctor Admits […] | 2,049 | 1,066 | 0.000965 |
warc | 201704 | Here is a collection of highlights from this week’s news stream as reported by HPCwire.
2010 INCITE Awards Announced
The 2010 “INCITE” Program awards were announced this week, and they’re the largest yet — nearly 1.7 billion processor hours on the Department of Energy’s world-class supercomputers will be shared among 57 research projects. This year’s INCITE program brings us a step closer to scientific breakthroughs in biofuels, nuclear power, medicine and climate change. To help explain the significance of the award to the non-technical among us, the announcement cited a combined computing power equal to 135,000 quad-core laptops. The 57 winning applicants will be able to perform simulations and virtual experiments that would otherwise be impractical in the “real” world.
U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu, who announced the awards, made the following statement: “The Department of Energy’s supercomputers provide an enormous competitive advantage for the United States. This is a great example of how investments in innovation can help lead the way to new industries, new jobs, and new opportunities for America to succeed in the global marketplace.”
The projects include both academic and commercial endeavors. Partnerships with companies such as GE and Boeing are in place that use advanced computer modeling for the development of better wind turbines and jet engines. Other projects will work toward designing more efficient solar cells, developing fusion energy systems, and increasing the effectiveness of medications for slowing the progression of Parkinson’s disease.
The Innovative and Novel Computational Impact on Theory and Experiment (INCITE) program is the U.S. government’s premier supercomputing allocation. It is open to all scientists and projects are selected competitively based on their potential to advance scientific discovery. INCITE is supported by the DOE’s Office of Science and managed by the DOE Leadership Computing Facilities at the Department’s Argonne and Oak Ridge National Laboratories.
The Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility (OLCF) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory has been awarded 950 million processor hours and will host thirty projects with the power of the Jaguar supercomputer, a Cray XT5 capable of 2.33 petaflops of peak performance power.
Four projects from Argonne National Laboratory have been awarded a total of 65 million hours of computing time on Argonne’s Blue Gene/P (“Intrepid”) supercomputer. As well, Argonne scientists will participate in six other projects (led by other instutions).
Going back to the laptop comparison, Jaguar has a computational capacity of approximately 109,000 laptops, and Intrepid is roughly equivalent to 26,000 laptops.
OLCF Director of Science Bronson Messer, remarked on the high quality of the submissions: “This year’s group of proposals was probably the best we’ve seen to date. The final list of awardees is a collection of projects that we believe will have remarkably high scientific impact through the use of leadership computing resources.”
A detailed listing of awards is available here (PDF).
Optical Chip Technology from IBM Could Be Key Exascale Enabler
IBM researchers have announced a breakthrough that allows computer chips to communicate using pulses of light instead of electrical signals. The new technology — called CMOS Integrated Silicon Nanophotonics — integrates electrical and optical devices on the same piece of silicon, resulting in smaller, faster and more power-efficient processors.
Nanoscale silicon photonics offers immense technical advantages over current copper interconnect technologies and promises to meet the increasing bandwidth demands of high-performance computing systems. Indeed, this latest advance could hold the key to exascale computing – supercomputers that are one thousand times faster than today’s petasflop-level machines.
This breakthrough comes after a decade of development at IBM’s global Research laboratories and signals a new era in chip communication. Placing optical devices and functions directly onto a silicon chip offers more than 10X improvement in integration density over current technologies. What’s more, the new chips can be manufactured in a standard CMOS foundry and do not require any special tools, making it cost-effective.
Dr. T.C. Chen, vice president of Science and Technology at IBM Research, reports:
“The development of the Silicon Nanophotonics technology brings the vision of on-chip optical interconnections much closer to reality. With optical communications embedded into the processor chips, the prospect of building power-efficient computer systems with performance at the exaflop level is one step closer to reality.”
In an article at PCWorld, Will Green, a silicon photonics research scientist at IBM, reported that this latest breakthrough puts IBM on course to building an exascale computer by 2020.
Dr. Yurii A. Vlasov, manager of the Silicon Nanophotonics Department at IBM Research, offers more details:
“Our CMOS Integrated Nanophotonics breakthrough promises unprecedented increases in silicon chip function and performance via ubiquitous low-power optical communications between racks, modules, chips or even within a single chip itself. The next step in this advancement is to establishing manufacturability of this process in a commercial foundry using IBM deeply scaled CMOS processes.”
IBM’s stated goal is to integrate ultra-compact nanophotonic circuits onto the die to allow for the manipulation of light signals similar to the way electrical signals are manipulated in computer chips. The end game here is the creation of a 3D-integrated chip, a viable next-generation chip technology that promises to postpone the much-prophesized death of Moore’s Law. | 5,959 | 2,753 | 0.000376 |
warc | 201704 | Afghan President Ashraf Ghani issued a presidential decree this week reaffirming the government’s commitment to freedom of expression and protection of media workers. The decree commits the government to expedite investigations of journalists killed since 2002 and to make the results of these inquiries public.
Afghan journalists have heard this before. In December 2014, Afghanistan’s chief executive officer, Abdullah Abdullah, pledged decisive action to protect journalists from attack and to prosecute those responsible for such crimes. Yet the attacks have continued.
Still, the decree signals official support for the country’s media in the wake of recent targeted killings of journalists. A January 20 suicide attack on a minibus in Kabul killed seven journalists affiliated with Tolo TV, an entertainment channel affiliated with Tolo News, Afghanistan’s first 24-hour news channel. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, which it described in a statement as “revenge” for “false allegations” made against the insurgent group. Ten days later, unidentified gunmen in Nangarhar province killed Afghanistan National TV and Radio network reporter Haji Mohammad Zubair Khaksar. Khaksar’s murder followed a series of threats against journalists in the area issued by a radio station linked to local insurgents who claim affiliation with the armed group Islamic State, also known as ISIS.
Ghani’s decree constitutes a symbolic challenge to such killings. But if he’s serious about protecting media freedom, he needs to muster the political will to stop threats and attacks on Afghan journalists by pro-government forces. The most recent statistics from the Afghan Journalists Safety Committee, an independent monitoring organization, indicate that government officials and pro-government individuals and groups continue to be responsible for the vast majority of the threats and violence against journalists. Apart from rare exceptions, the Afghan government has failed to investigate or prosecute incidents of violence against journalists. The government has also significantly restricted the media, unlawfully interrogated journalists, and blocked them from reporting from certain areas. The presidential decree doesn’t explicitly note the prevalence of such abuses. But it commits “the defense and security organs” to training their personnel on “the rights and obligations of the relevant institutions and the rules of appropriate behavior with media workers,” without providing any specific details.
Ghani should make sure his government investigates attacks on journalists and prosecutes those implicated. The government should also work with Afghan journalists, media organizations, and media monitoring groups to establish a mechanism for journalists to report threats and violence against them.
These measures are no panacea for the perils facing Afghan journalists. But they’ll signal that the government is firmly on the side of protecting media freedom, rather than undermining it.
More Reading Dispatches | 3,123 | 1,461 | 0.000705 |
warc | 201704 | Medicare Advantage
The Medicare system is facing unprecedented care and cost challenges. An aging population, medical cost growth and inefficiencies in care continue to stretch our nation’s resources, burden taxpayers and threaten economic well-being. Medicare Advantage can help Medicare overcome its challenges and achieve the goal of high-quality, affordable and accessible healthcare for seniors and people with disabilities.
Why does the healthcare system need a strong and stable Medicare Advantage program?
Aligned incentives: Medicare Advantage plans are paid a flat fee per member per month, so they have an incentive to integrate care, operate efficiently, and keep people healthy and out of the hospital. Medicare fee-for-service pays only based on the volume of care provided, and is designed primarily to process claims, not to be a coordinated health program in the same way as Medicare Advantage. Quality and outcomes: Medicare Advantage plans have proven their ability to deliver patients higher-quality care, according to a 2010 study in The American Journal of Managed Care. These plans also get patients more of the services they need, notes a 2013 article in Health Affairs magazine. Beyond these benefits, Medicare Advantage plans prevent more hospitalizations, readmissions, and other complex care that are among the biggest cost drivers in the health system, according to a 2012 article in The American Journal of Managed Care. Innovative approaches: Medicare Advantage plans have pioneered many of the innovations that policy experts say the healthcare system needs, including integrated delivery systems, care coordination, an emphasis on primary care, and value-based approaches to paying doctors, hospitals, and other healthcare professionals. Humana Medicare Advantage members served by physicians under value-based care arrangements had 7% fewer inpatient hospital admissions per thousand members in 2015 compared with members who were treated by providers in traditional fee-for-service relationships. Widespread adoption: Nearly 30% of Medicare beneficiaries choose Medicare Advantage, with more than 17 million currently enrolled. The vast majority of enrollees stay with their plans once they join and report high rates of satisfaction, notes the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission. A safety net: A large percentage of low-income patients and minorities rely on Medicare Advantage plans as a vital health resource, according to a 2013 study by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. They are the types of enrollees that can benefit the most from the plans’ level of access to high-quality, coordinated care.
Medicare Advantage requires reliable funding and a regulatory environment that allows health plans to innovate, improve patient outcomes and lower costs for the entire health system. Strength and stability in the Medicare Advantage program is essential for its millions of beneficiaries, for those who will enroll in the future, and for the Medicare system as a whole.
January 1, 2017
To learn more about how Humana’s Medicare Advantage programs benefit patients, look at this article. | 3,158 | 1,450 | 0.000695 |
warc | 201704 | National Walk @ Lunch Day
With just 30 minutes and a pair of comfortable shoes, it’s possible for anyone to fit physical activity into a busy schedule. That’s the inspiration behind National Walk @ Lunch Day.
On the last Wednesday in April, Independence Blue Cross (Independence) hosts one of the largest National Walk @ Lunch Day events in the greater Philadelphia region, encouraging people to turn a working lunch into a walking lunch.
A brisk, 30-minute walk can help people:
Decrease the risk of heart attack and type 2 diabetes Maintain a healthy weight Improve muscle tone Reduce stress 1
Even though National Walk @ Lunch Day only happens once a year, employers can encourage their employees to make good health a priority every day by implementing a worksite wellness program with help from Independence. A worksite wellness program can help reduce health care costs by keeping employees motivated to make healthier lifestyle choices.
Stay Connected Throughout the Year
Connect with Independence for health and wellness tips, company news, information on our community events, and more:
1. Source: Mayo Clinic, “Walking: Trim your waistline, improve your health” | 1,201 | 659 | 0.001556 |
warc | 201704 | Export success in Australian manufacturing Traditionally Australian manufacturers were not major exporters. Under ‘McEwenism’ manufacturers typically sold to the domestic market and only ventured overseas when the business cycle was slow in Australia. It was left to our primary producers and resource industries to earn the lion’s share of our export dollars. Tim Harcourt, chief economist, Australian Trade Commission
With economic reform over the past two decades, protection has been largely removed and manufacturers have been encouraged to be more international in their business outlook. Many commentators thought this would mean the end for Australian manufacturing. Furthermore, the idea that Australian manufacturing could become exporters, they said, was laughable. Surviving domestically was thought to be hard enough.
So what happened? Economic research from the Reserve Bank of Australia shows how the manufacturing sector has been internationalised over the past decade. Bank economists Jacqui Dwyer and Justin Fabo found that export orientation in Australian manufacturing in the 1990s increased at the same time that tariff protection has been reduced.
What were the main factors?
First, there were tariff and quota removals. Manufacturers had to become competitive to survive and in some cases, prosper.
Second, exchange rate falls helped manufacturers gain a ‘beach-head’ in new overseas markets. Basically, manufacturing businesses undergo various fixed costs to establish themselves in overseas markets. They stay in these markets (even if the exchange rate rises) in order to establish their brand and reputation. Once they have done so, they recover the costs sunk into establishing themselves and often make it possible for other Australian exporters to also enter the market. This establishes a permanent presence in the market and raises the 'natural rate of exporting' for Australian business.
Thirdly, globalisation increased intra-industry trade. So export orientation occurred as well as import penetration within industries. Global supply chains and outsourcing also opened up opportunities for manufacturing exports amongst small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs).
Recent Austrade research also supports the Reserve Bank findings. In the ‘Knowing and Growing the Exporter Community’ report launched by Trade Minister Mark Vaile this year, manufacturing featured prominently. Manufacturers appeared in Australia’s ‘Top 20’ fastest export industries – with sectors such as prefabricated building materials, wine manufacturing, shipbuilding and motor vehicle body and automotive component manufacturing playing a prominent part. Many manufacturers were generating ‘knowledge-based’ exports – that is, there was a high level of technology and highly skilled labour used in the production process.
A feature of the Austrade research was the rise of the ‘born globals’ in the exporter community. Born globals are businesses that export almost from the date of establishment rather than waiting to succeed in the domestic market first. Manufacturing accounted for 57 per cent of all ‘born global’ exporters in Australia (compared to 32 per cent of total exporters). An example of a ‘born global’ manufacturer is Lochard, a Melbourne-based world leader in airport noise and flight monitoring. Martin Adams, Lochard’s, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), who started the company in 1990, recognised that there were only a limited number of airports in Australia so the company had to ‘go global’ from the beginning.
The company is highly committed to exporting. Martin Adam’s says: “We have always been willing to drop everything and jump on a plane at a moment’s notice” and the company now brings in $20 million in export sales to the UK, US, Asia, the Middle East and South America.
What does this mean for workers in the manufacturing industry? Labour market data from the Australia Bureau of Statistics (ABS) shows that having more manufacturing exports is good news for workers. Prompted by Austrade research on the labour market characteristics of exporters, the ABS looked at its manufacturing census. Most interest has been in manufacturing given its labour intensity and traditional role as a large-scale employer of Australian workers.
The census in 1998-99 surveyed just over 45,000 firms or ‘management units’ in the Australian manufacturing industry. The management units employed just fewer than 977, 500 employees. Exporters represented only 16 per cent of all manufacturing firms in the survey but accounted for just over half (52 per cent) the total number of employees.
In terms of wages, the wages bill for the exporters was $22,449 m compared to $15,678m for non-exporters. On average, manufacturing exporters paid $44,600 per employee compared to $33,101 for non-exporters. Manufacturing exporters (as in the Austrade research) were more committed to training than non-exporters, out-spending them by a ratio of almost 2.3:1. This data supported earlier Austrade research showing that, on average, exporters paid higher wages, provided better working conditions, more education and training and more job security than non-exporters. This finding occurred across industry and for small, medium and large businesses.
In conclusion, the dour predictions about Australian manufacturing have proved to be overly pessimistic. Change has occurred, and it has been difficult for some and more rewarding for others. However, the export orientation of manufacturing did take place and its success has often surprised some of the more optimistic observers. A strong manufacturing export sector is good for business, good for workers and ultimately good for the Australian community as a whole. Let’s hope this success can continue given the importance of manufacturing exporting to the Australian economy and the hard work done by manufacturing industry players in the past to establish the outward looking, innovative, progressive export industry that we see today.
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warc | 201704 | From Rio to Freo: Are we going nuts for Brazil? Is it now officially the ‘age’ of Brazil, with the charismatic and populous South American nation picking up the rights to host both the FIFA World Cup in 2014 and of course the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016?
Is Brazil, after many false starts, looking like it will fulfil its promise of being one of the world’s great economic powerhouses? Some have predicted that by the times of the Rio Olympics Brazil will be the fifth largest economy in the world (as compared to ninth largest today depending on how it is measured).
Of course, the world has constantly waited (and hoped) for the economic rise of Brazil. Distinguished commentators such as US economic historian Charles Kindleberger, often predicted the Brazil would be the next big thing in the world economy and Brazil's recent economic performance to stave off the worst impacts of the global financial crisis (GFC), has given some reasons for the Brazil boosters to feel optimistic. Brazil's most recent economic surge has come under the stewardship of presidency of Luiz Inaico Lula da Silva, known affectionately as 'Lula'. In 2002, on my first visit to Brazil, there were mixed feelings about Lula as he was about to run for the presidency for the fourth time for PT, (translated as 'the Workers party'), the party he founded during the return to democracy. In Sao Paulo, there were doubts about his agenda, but in Rio de Janeiro and particularly in the southern state of Porto Alegre, a PT stronghold, where I spoke at the World Social Forum there was a lot of support. In the end, Lula won the election and also managed to be re-elected again in 2006 with a comfortable majority. Over this time, Brazil has had to face a number of economic and social crises that have been both external and domestic in nation. When Lehman Brothers failed, and the sub-prime spread throughout the world, the markets looked closely at Brazil, which after all, had experienced a major financial crisis as recently as 1998 under Lula's predecessor, Fernando Cardoso. But of all the emerging economies, Brazil has performed reasonably well in the GFC. The credit crunch didn't knock much of a hole in the 'BRIC' (Brazil, Russia, India and China) wall, although one of the 'BRICs', Russia has had its usual share of financial difficulties. So why has Brazil done well? Trade is one reason. Lula has resisted the protectionist impulses of some of his populist supporters and Brazil has actively forged strong relations with other emerging countries not just in Latin America but also in Asia and Africa. This has been part of Brazil's 'South-south' strategy, although Lula has played a key role in engaging with the developed economies too at the G20. Given Brazil's large domestic market, (exports are only 15 per cent of GDP) it is to their credit that they have pursued an open trade agenda. Whilst China drove Australia's export growth in the middle of this year, Brazil too has benefited from 'bamboo shoots' as well as 'green shoots'. According to Banco Santander, 79 per cent of Brazilian exports to China are agriculturally based, though Brazilian exports to the rest of the world are more focussed on energy and manufactures. Another reason is that Brazil only needed a modest stimulus package, at around 1.5 per cent of GDP, to keep the engine running in the GFC. The work on economic reform and his predecessor Cardoso to embrace fiscal discipline, inflation targeting, and a floating exchange rate, meant less spending was needed during the credit crunch. The Brazil of 2009 looks very different from the Brazil of 1979, when most South American countries experienced financial instability and its associated political fall out. Brazil is now different and foreign investors and trading partners are treating it accordingly. So what are the opportunities for Australia? According to Greg Wallis, Australian Senior Trade Commissioner in Sao Paulo, "traditionally Australians have thought of Brazilians as competitors in primary exports, but increasingly we are collaborators in a whole range of industries from oil and gas production, to agribusiness, ethanol, biotechnology and financial services. "People in Australia often don't know that Brazil is a sophisticated economy. For example, Brazil's major export to Australia is passenger airplanes from Embraer." But as Wallis points out: "It's as much an investment story here now as it is a trade story." Bi-lateral has surged by 58 per cent over the past year and there are now over 500 exporters to Brazil with major Australian players like Pacific Hydro, Mincom, all playing a role in Brazil, and Brazilian giants such as JBS and Vale investing in Australia. Wallis believes, that whist there is still "much to do to get Brazil on the radar in Australia" big events like the World Cup and the Olympics in Rio will help and "Brazil's similarities in Australia in agriculture and resources means that investment in clean energy and related technologies to reduce emissions is spurring activity by both countries – often in concert." And according to Cristina Talacko, the head of the Australian-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, climate change is creating more collaboration between the two countries from Rio to Freo (Fremantle). "Many of our members are involved in environmental industries and with the challenges of Copenhagen occupying the minds of the world's leaders and with both countries having a strong clean energy focus, Australia and Brazilian companies will be part of the solution," she explains. In 2010, it will be Lula's last year. In 2002, the year of Lula's first election (after 3 tries), Asia hosted the world cup for the first time – in Korea and Japan – and Brazil won for a record fifth time. In 2010, it is Africa's turn as South Africa is the host and Brazil is again a chance to win, as always. Lula over his term has worked very hard on Brazil's economic links with both Asia and Africa. But after South Africa 2010, Lula will be gone (there is a two term limit on the Brazilian presidency like in the USA), and Brazilians will be pondering Lula's legacy (rather than 'Lula's lunacy' as was predicted by some of his detractors when I interviewed them in Sao Paulo 2002). Of course, one legacy of Lula, will be the fact that Brazil won the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics under his watch, so we're guaranteed two big parties – Brazilian style of course – but hopefully there'll be an economic legacy from his term as well. A sound legacy would be one in which Brazil engaged with the world, drove economic growth for the region and for the emerging nations, and reduced the terrible crime and poverty that exists in the 200 million strong nation. For one thing, I am sure, Charles Kindleberger would be glad to have been proved right about Brazil, once and for all. Source: Australian Trade Commission Have your say... Comment Guidelines
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warc | 201704 | Title The Cost of Parenting
Nadia Taha has two interesting articles on the economic price of parenting in
The New York Times this week. Her thoughts have evoked emotional responses, both in the comments to the second article and in blog comments. Many commenters seem offended by the idea that an emotional decision such as parenting should be reduced to a balance-sheet issue. And I agree that this is unfortunate. In countries that underwrite healthcare, childcare and education, financial barriers to parenting are less of a consideration. But in the US, parenting is expensive, both in terms of money spent and in terms of lost income and missed career opportunities if one or both parents cuts back on work hours to take care of the child. This is true even for those of us who don't feel the need to provide our children with "the very best of every[material]thing," who might even believe that showering them with expensive merchandise would run counter to the child's optimal emotional and psychological development. I have done very few things in my life as rewarding as parenting. I have very few relationships that are as deep and important as the one I have with my son. But that is in part because I am who I am (not all that ambitious) and he is who he is (a brilliant, fascinating and loving person) and in part because we are comparatively lucky—we have good health insurance, fairly solid employment, and access to good public education. Many others aren't so fortunate, and I can't fault them for taking economics into consideration when making this critical decision. Read more by Topics Opinions on Inside Higher Ed Inside Higher Ed’s Blog U What Others Are Reading Viewed Past: Day Week Month Year | 1,734 | 929 | 0.001086 |
warc | 201704 | The story might seem familiar: A core curriculum had been in place, but, over time, its core became hard to find. Many of the classes counting toward distribution requirements also served as portals into majors (introduction to psychology, say), the “undertow” increasingly pulling core course content into disciplinary folds. “That was the way things were, I guess you could say, entropy-ing over a period of time,” explains Terry Halbert, Temple University’s director of general education and a professor of legal studies in the Fox School of Business.
That entropy-ing has ended, with a new general education curriculum in place at Temple this fall. The general education program, which comprises about a third of the undergraduate experience, requires students to take 11 courses in nine areas, including a four-course foundation in reading, writing, humanities and math. The curriculum is characterized in part by a focus on interdisciplinary study and a thematic approach that Halbert hopes will keep the curriculum fresh and full of what she calls “the gen ed spirit” -- even as time goes by.
The curriculum includes four themes: Community Based Learning, Globalization, Sustainability, and, most notably, the “Philadelphia Experience.” The final theme was developed organically: About half of the original 101 new general education courses designed and proposed by faculty included taking students into Temple’s urban locale. “So we started to tout it as a theme,” Halbert says. “It’s actually the strongest one at this point.”
Just over 10 years ago, in 1997, one in five students said they were coming to Temple “in spite of” its Philadelphia location, according to Halbert. In 2007, that statistic was down to 1 in 20, and 60 percent called the surrounding city a very important positive factor in their decision to attend the university.
“They’re consciously interested in our city. They come here because of it,” says Halbert. Of the "Philadelphia Experience" theme, she says, “From an educational point of view, from a purely gen ed perspective, I like it because I know that the students already find this place interesting. So it’s the hook that we can use to make it more likely that they care about what they’re doing.”
Halbert stresses a more explicit focus on teaching in the new curriculum. "Before it was all about the content, what should the content be. And now it's at least as much about how we teach," she says.
New courses with Philadelphia-rooted components include one on “Sacred Space,” where students will visit the Japanese House and Garden [1] in Fairmount Park and the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul [2], and “Criminal Behavior,” where they’ll assess potential high-crime spots. There’s a “Religion in Philadelphia” course, and William W. Cutler’s class on higher education in American society [3] includes fieldwork assignments at Temple and other close-by college campuses.
“It gets them on their feet and out into the world. Freshmen, for the most part, they’re looking for a college experience that’s not just intellectual but fun,” says Cutler, a professor of history and also of educational leadership and policy studies.
“They’re pretty green,” he says of first-semester freshmen. “They don’t understand how higher education works. They don’t understand how it reflects larger themes and larger cultures. There are so many ways you can use the city and the environs to underscore the themes I’m going to teach.”
Speaking more broadly of the new general education curriculum, Cutler contrasts Temple's approach with standard distribution requirements, in which students are required to take a certain number of courses in a variety of disciplines or divisions. "It's not distribution, a little bit of this and a little bit of that, that's being sought after, but rather an attempt to take those pieces and make something larger out of them," he says.
Nevertheless, the move into a more interdisciplinary realm has raised some questions. “I think there are still some faculty who are concerned about pedagogy versus content," says Karen M. Turner, the director of Temple's broadcast journalism sequence and the Faculty Senate president. Turner recently completed a three-year term on the university's general education committee.
"The intent of the executive committee that I sat on so many years was to ensure there was that proper balance. It’s great to have wonderful pedagogy but you also have to have wonderful content, and to have that marriage," says Turner.
“Because I sat on the committee, I saw the hard work that we all did in trying to really take something that was hard to wrap your arms around and really develop it into something concrete. It was almost like birthing. I think that it turned out fine, but as with anything there’s always tweaking that needs to be done."
To fulfill the general education curriculum [4], Temple students will take three courses in common: a required four-credit reading and writing course, and a two-course sequence in the humanities. With nearly $5.5 million in new support from centralized university funds, sections of the writing course will be capped at 20 students, and the humanities courses at 25, Halbert says. Students also select one of six quantitative literacy courses, the fourth and final component of what’s considered to be the curriculum’s foundation.
Beyond that, students take seven general education courses for “breadth." Students select two courses from the science and technology category, and one each in arts, human behavior, race and diversity, U.S. society, and world society. | 5,892 | 2,776 | 0.000379 |
warc | 201704 | Before you throw yourself headfirst into looking for outdoor shoes online for next weekend's hike, stop and think about what shoes you need, as opposed to which ones will match your outdoor clothing.
Start off by asking yourself these questions: Where are you going? Will the terrain be muddy, snowy, rocky, smooth or full of puddles? How long are you going for? The longer your trip, the more supportive and durable your shoes should be. What will the weather be like? If you live in Britain, accurately forecasting the weather will be an impossible task, but getting a vague idea will mean you can prepare for all eventualities. How experienced are you at hiking? Beginners need more support than more experienced hikers, who usually have stronger feet, ankles and legs.
Once you've answered these questions you can begin to think about what category of walking shoes is most suitable for your activity and level of ability. To make things simpler, we've grouped together shoes by average weight. The key is to choose the correct amount of support at the lightest possible weight.
Let's start with the lightest: approach shoes are snug and supple and are used mainly for scrambling up rocks, as opposed to long hikes. Trail running trainers are also rather light and can be used for longer expeditions if worn by experienced hikers. They are not very durable and offer little support, but their light weight means the wearer wastes less energy dragging around a heavy load and can therefore focus more energy on actually going somewhere.
Now for the medium weighted shoes: hiking shoes are usually offer a medium amount of support, whereas hiking boots are usually a little heavier and support the ankle better. These have more resistance to mud and water than hiking shoes. Finally, in the "heavy" category we have backpacking boots and their upgrade: mountaineering boots. Both types are heavy, hardwearing and supportive - ideal for beginners on long hikes with heavy rucksacks. Mountaineering boots are often used in snowy or icy conditions.
Another factor to take into consideration when choosing outdoor shoes is the materials they contain: leather uppers tend to be durable and waterproof, but they're a bit on the dear side and are less breathable than cheaper synthetic uppers made from polyester, nylon or faux leather - these wear out quickly and may let water in more easily, but don't let that put you off synthetic fabrics! You can buy shoes with a waterproof membrane, though these will not let your feet breathe much during warmer weather, so, before you buy, think carefully about what weather you'll be walking in. Next, the midsole: EVA midsoles are spongy, lightweight and cost-effective, but they aren't as durable as firmer and more expensive polyurethane ones. The choice of midsole all depends on the terrain: rocky routes will require more durability than grasslands.
Last but not least, the size and fit. An outdoor shoe should be snug enough for your heel not to slip out but your toes shouldn't touch the end of the shoe. It is generally recommended that you buy half a size larger than your everyday footwear because your feet swell more while hiking, but take into account that sizes vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, so look into the size thoroughly. Having said that, if you find that your shoes are a little too wide or too narrow, try buying thinner or thicker socks and insoles. When it comes to avoiding blisters and friction burns, 1mm could make all the difference. All in all though, it's much better to ask for size advice before you buy. Here at Keller Sports we can guide you through the different sizing systems and help you choose the right shoes for you - and not only for outdoors! We sell tennis shoes and running shoes too; why don't you check them out? | 3,819 | 1,861 | 0.000539 |
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Word Count:1,097 Pages:6 1/6 The past decades their has been a dramatic increase of womenparticipating in the labour force from countries all over theworld including Canada In 1950 one Canadian worker in five wasa woman By 1980 this percentage had doubled and women areexpected to make up more than 44 percent of the labour force bythe end of this centuryThe increase in female participation started occurringduring the 1970s This increase also caused the largest babyboom that the Canadian female labour force had ever witnessed In North America it is common for women to have part-time orsummer jobs and the participation rate of teenage girls is high It is also mostly high throughout the world in places as UnitedKingdom because of the fewer women going to school But inplaces like France Italy and Japan the female participationrate is very low In most of the countries the labour force ismost participated in the age groups between 20 and 24 Thelabour force of mature women is very high in Sweden because ofthe encouraged day care facilities which also provides thefemales with legislation that provides them with excellentbenefits In Japan there is a drop in female economic activitythe reason why is it affects their marriage and the care of theironly childAn observation of labour force participation rates in Canadashow that female rates rose a lot between 1971 and 1981 whilethe male rate rose unnoticeably The increase in the femaleparticipation rate was found in all age groups except in olderwomen For women aged 15 to 19 the rate was as almost as high asthe men But the largest increase was in the age group of 25-44years old where the rate rose almost 50 percent This meantthat the participation rates of the females had become more alikewith the menFamily status also influenced the female participation ratebut later on during 1981 it had a more less affect than in 1971According to statistics just over one quarter of married womenwith young children were working but this later
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warc | 201704 | Successful B2B lead gen requires having a solid strategy, a well-structured approach and a set of properly focused activities – all designed to attract the attention of prospective clients. Using a top b2b lead gen software helps as well!
The Concept of B2B Lead Generation Strategies
B2B lead generation is generally defined as the process of identifying prospective customers (leads), with the intention of
encouraging their transition from leads to customers.
Every sales process begins with finding a potentially interested person (a lead). Leads are typically contacts that have expressed a need for your product and are willing to learn more about your offer. In other words, they are open to a potential sales possibility.
After potential leads are initially discovered, the next phase of the process involves qualification of the leads as potential clients (prospects). This step requires evaluation and research. Prospects can be viewed as sales-ready leads.
The qualification of prospects is one of the most complicated parts of the sales process due to the wide generalization of the term ‘prospect’. This can result in poor generation of leads (like spam or ill- strategized telemarketing), where the targeted population may not really be interested in the product.
Therefore, a serious lead generation campaign must focus on creating
qualified leads that are truly interested in your products. Why is B2B Lead Gen So Important?
Qualified leads are essential if you want your products to sell.
Good b2b lead generation tactics involves generating interest in your products within a target population, coupled with a good strategy that effectively conveys your message across proper channels and networks. This, in turn, generates demand and promotes brand awareness.
Logically enough, companies which take the aspect of lead generation seriously are able to increase their revenues and expand their businesses more easily. Also, b2b lead generation helps you establish and maintain
a relationship of trust with your prospective clients.
Given its importance, you may want to consider outsourcing this process by hiring a professional agency. Lead generation agencies are ideally equipped, both in terms of methodology and expertise, to devise and execute a successful b2b lead generation campaign, yielding hot leads.
Choosing the right B2B lead generation method
Hiring the right B2B lead generation marketing agency can make a huge difference for your business. The right agency:
Puts you in charge of the process. The agency works with you every step of the way, keeping you in the loop about how your leads are being generated. This way, you can judge the efficacy of the agency’s practices for yourself. Effectively promotes brand visibility through a variety of strategies, targeting a number of different sources. This results in increased target client traffic. They understand the difference between lead generation for B2B and lead generation for B2C. Has the capacity and ability to deliver quality and eager-to-buy leads, while focusing on your return of investment. The Art of Generating Targeted & Qualified Leads
While on the subject of effective B2B lead generation, it’s important to mention that the creation of relevant content aimed to attract prospects to your site is the best way to go. The proper distribution and promotion of said content
to your target audience is equally important.
In other words, the message you wish to get across should be properly shaped and defined, so that it speaks to your potential buyers in the best possible way, thus attracting their attention.
There are lots of methods and strategies for generating qualified leads, with
some being more successful than others,
Here is a short overview of what works best:
Telemarketing – an effective technique, although considered somewhat outdated and often linked to a negative image. Unlike earlier forms of telemarketing, modern agencies implement well-designed and properly targeted campaigns, making it an effective b2b lead generation source.This method collects immediate feedback from your prospects, giving you the opportunity to learn what they like and dislike, and how to qualify them.
Search engine optimization involves identification of target keywords and creation of relevant content around them. SEO yields superior lead volume and a high percentage of quality leads.
Elements of a Good B2B Lead Generation Marketing Plan
A well-structured B2B lead generation plan helps guide prospects towards you. It also yields promising leads. To achieve a good plan, you must first identify your target audience, determine people’s needs and find out where they search for possible solutions to their needs. A good plan should include a specific,
measurable and achievable set of goals, based on your sales and revenue trends.
How to Automate Your b2b Lead Generation Efforts with Software
As a small business, lead generation is critical. But this, like everything else, takes time. Your plate is already full without adding several hours a week for b2b lead generation and nurturing.
You can remove some of this burden by automating your efforts. Whether you take the semi-automatic route or choose to go on full autopilot, implementing a system can make your lead generation easier and more efficient.
The end goal is to have a system that can produce and nurture your leads without any day-to-day input from you.
Here is a walkthrough of the Leadfuze B2B lead gen software:
B2B Lead Gen Software: How to send successful cold emails B2B Lead Gen Software: Cold Email Template & Example B2B Lead Gen Software: Automation Will Save Us All
You may be considering automating some of your sales processes, but are unsure of whether you need it or if it’s right for your business. Let me tell you, automation is worth implementing for its time-saving capabilities alone.
You, as the business owner, can spend a little time setting up a system once, then sit back and watch as new leads are produced, contacted, and nurtured every day. This leaves your time free to be spent on other crucial tasks or just taking a quick minute for yourself.
The other benefit of lead generation automation is that it keeps your sales funnel full. Many small businesses stop generating leads when they are currently booked solid. But once they finish their existing projects, they have no more new ones to fill the pipeline. This is what causes the ebb and flow of income in many small businesses.
By automating your lead gen efforts, you can ensure that your team will always have something to work on. More projects = more income, and having consistent income can mean a lot less stress for the business owner.
B2B lead gen software: Semi-Automatic
If you’re not ready to go on full autopilot or if you’re not sure that you
can automate your lead process, I suggest going the semi-automatic route.
This involves using a suite of tools to vastly reduce the amount of time you spend finding, contacting, and nurturing leads.
Start by having a list of prospects created for you by a freelancer on Upwork, Fiverr, or another site. You can request as many contacts as you’d like from your freelancer, but I suggest starting with 50-100 to see if the freelancer is any good or if your ideal prospect profile needs to be adjusted.
While you’re waiting, create an email template to use when you contact the list. Be sure to include some spots for personalization. I like to use brackets around the sections that will be changed, so I know exactly what needs to be updated before each email gets sent.
Once you have your list, use an add-on like Boomerang to batch your emails. Boomerang lets you write emails now, but schedule them to be sent later. So you could write 50 emails Saturday evening, but not send them out until Monday morning. This is a godsend for those who run short on time during normal business hours.
B2B lead gen software: Full Autopilot
If you want to go even farther, you could hire a virtual assistant to handle the initial cold emails. Have the same person or firm find your list and email it. They find the prospects, write the emails, and contact the list. All you do is approve the information at each step.
If you choose this route, take your time selecting a firm or VA. Since they’ll be handling the initial customer contacts, you’ll want to be sure that they completely understand what you are asking of them and how it should be completed.
Another option for full automation is to find an existing company that specializes in b2b lead generation and cold emailing. Using a company rather than a freelancer means that you won’t have to worry about improper English, unqualified prospects, or lack of personalization.
LeadFuze is one of the few full-service companies out there that can handle everything about your lead generation. You can generate your list of prospects, email them using a custom email sequence, and focus exclusively on the prospects that have expressed interest in your product or service.
Which B2B Lead Gen Strategies Should I Use?
Whether you choose batching an email list or a full-service company, automating your lead generation efforts can save you tons of time while producing more leads than you could come up with yourself.
I firmly believe that every small business can benefit from some amount of automation, but not every business will be able to use the same process. Each industry is different.
The semi-automatic route may be the best course of action for businesses where the potential prospect pool is small, such as billion dollar companies. If your campaign is targeting a small group, you probably need a large percentage of your prospects to respond, so greater personalization is necessary.
Can a B2B Lead Generation Marketing Agency Help Your Startup?
You have set up your startup and now,
it’s time to sell. But, there’s one last thing to do before you get into the game – you have to get to know your competition. If you rush into things headfirst, it won’t take long until you realize that you’re running a marathon against established companies – ones with bigger marketing and sales teams driving lots of leads.
As a startup, you can easily fall into the trap of trying to sell to
everyone. Although you may have a great product or service that people need, not everyone is ready to buy it. And, the last thing you can afford is trying to sell it to unqualified customers. This is why you need to focus your efforts on proper B2B lead generation.
How startups can improve lead generation ideas
Lead generation is a process that requires being
proactive in your efforts to increase sales. New technologies open opportunities for viral marketing, but nothing can bring as many customers to a startup as established lead generation methods. They are the most effective way to maximize return on investment when you have a limited marketing budget. Essentially, you can improve b2b lead generation for your startup in three steps… 1. Find the right companies to sell to
Every good lead generation marketing plan starts with research. As a startup, you have to find out who has the biggest need for the products or services that you have to offer. You need to justify your b2b lead generation efforts by focusing them
only on the companies that are a right fit. This may sound like a big challenge, and it really is. But, it also brings long-term benefits for the growth of your startup.
Take some time to get to know your potential customers. Look for ways to establish a base for constructive communication with them. Engage with people to learn more about their needs and the ways in which your offerings can help them.
2. Build sales relationships based on trust
Sales, at their core, are all about establishing and maintaining trust. Therefore, lead generation for B2B requires demonstrating credibility and professionalism. But, how can you do this when you have just started your business? The best way to build trust is to be open about your company and your team. Be prepared to share details about the experience you have in the industry. In order to sell your products and services, you must first sell your company’s image.
Another good way to earn the trust of your customers is to show them you are ready to align your offerings to their needs. You don’t have to be pushy, though. Develop engaging communication with your potential customers and see if you can find solutions to their needs. Make it clear that your goal is to establish mutually beneficial business partnerships.
3. Track, evaluate and nurture your leads
One of the biggest mistakes that startups make is focusing
on B2B lead generation. But, sales are not strictly just aboutgenerating leads. In order to be successful, you have to develop a consistent way to track, evaluate, and nurtureleads, too. Startups typically don’t have the budget to invest in a customer relationship management system, but they can use other ways to manage their leads.
You can use a spreadsheet or a piece of paper, if you have to. It’s not about the technology you use, but the
effort to keep track of your customers’ feedback. Keep track of all your interactions with every single customer. Based on the notes you have, you need to evaluate and rank your leads. Based on the rankings you make, you’ll get a clear picture of how to nurture every particular lead. How a B2B lead generation marketing agency can help your startup
Basically, a digital marketing agency focused on lead gen can help your startup by simplifying the steps for improving lead generation. As a startup, both your financial and human resources are limited. The lack of time for lead generation and nurturing is just another issue. Therefore, you need to find fast and cost-effective ways to organize your lead generation processes.
There are many ways in which a b2b lead generation software can help you grow your startup. The following are all ways in which we, at LeadFuze, help our clients achieve great results on a daily basis.
Automating the sales processes
A b2b lead generation service can help you automate your sales processes. You’ll have a tool for generating and nurturing leads without having to give your input on a daily basis. This way, you can use the time to focus on other important aspects of your business.
Moreover, the automation of your lead generation process will always keep your sales funnel full. Your sales team will always have a project to work on. As soon as they finish their current tasks, there will be new leads waiting in the funnel to be taken care of. This will increase your income and decrease your worries.
Finding the right leads in new ways
As a lead generation marketing agency, we constantly look for new ways to help you grow your business.
The latest additions to our b2b lead generation armory are two new ways to track down your leads.
The first way includes a laser targeted search for specific job titles and industry types. We can help you find the email address of the specific people you need to talk with. Second, you could provide a list of your targeted companies’ URLs. As soon as you provide the list for us, our software will find ways to detect the right contact emails. The third way consists of using a third-party relationship.
Creating emails that get responses
All you need to do here is help us understand your offerings and your target market. Then, you can sit back and count the leads coming your way. Based on our knowledge and experience, you can create a conversational outreach cold email and follow-up emails, that encourage responses from interested prospects.
Then you can craft a smart schedule to send the emails for you. You can be sure that your prospects will regularly receive emails, which is ideal to increase open rates.
Saving salespeople’s time
This can save a lot of time for your salesman since they won’t be wasting time gathering and organizing data about your leads. They’ll always have the leads evaluated and ranked, ready to be contacted.
Lead Generation for Bootstrapped B2B Software Startups
Finding good leads is crucial to any business, but is especially critical for startups. More leads = more business. And when you’re getting a new venture off the ground, getting those first few clients can really boost your confidence in yourself, as well as your business.
But leads aren’t always easy (or cheap) to come by. If you’re running low on leads, try this list of b2b lead generation techniques specifically for bootstrappers.
I’ve ordered the techniques from easiest to hardest, but that doesn’t mean that the easiest ones are the least fruitful. Every industry is different and in fact, you may find the exact opposite is true for your business (lucky you!).
Referrals
Word-of-mouth is incredibly powerful, so this is a great place to start even if you only have a few clients. Why not ask them if they know any other businesses that might be in need of or benefit from your service?
Not only can this provide a strong list of leads, it gives you a way to break the ice with your new prospects. Simply mention your current client’s name or business when you first reach out as a way to warm up your cold email. This provides instant social proof for your new prospect, and makes it easier for them to say yes to your offer.
Cold Email
Your favorite, right? At LeadFuze, we love the virtues of cold email, and for good reason! Done properly, cold email can be a potent way to generate leads. However, done incorrectly, it can come off as spammy and impersonal.
I like cold email because it is one of the easiest lead generation techniques to scale. You can only ask for so many referrals, but you can always generate more lists of prospects to email.
Remember to always personalize your cold emails with your contact’s name, among other things. Doing so takes only a bit longer than sending an impersonal batch email, but can make a world of difference in your response rates.
Social Media
The jury is still out on whether social media can really provide good ROI for B2C companies, but I think that it can be very impactful for B2B leads, if you know where to look.
LinkedIn
This is where I start for B2B leads. LinkedIn has the most affluent users of any of the major networks. Plus, LinkedIn is built to be professional. No cat pictures or Vine videos here. The big problem I see is that most people don’t know how to use LinkedIn for b2b lead generation.
Here’s a hint: join groups! You can be a member of up to 50 groups at one time. The key to this is to join the groups where you’ll find your potential customers, not your competitors.
Finding your first few groups should be easy. Just check out your current clients’ profiles and join the groups that they are members of. Once you’ve done that, you should have a clearer picture of the groups that will be useful for you and you can search for them on LinkedIn.
Joining the right groups makes it so much easier to contact new prospects, because being in a group allows you to message any other member in that same group, even without the LinkedIn Premium membership.
Twitter
Twitter is the best platform for reaching high-level influencers in your industry. With the exception of major celebrities, most people maintain their own Twitter accounts and view their feed daily.
Using a site like Topsy.com, you can find the influencers in your category and reach out to them directly. I wouldn’t pitch them on your business immediately, but Twitter is a great way to get your foot in the door.Twitter is the best platform for reaching high-level influencers in your industry. Click To Tweet
The 500-pound gorilla. You just can’t ignore Facebook. But rather than trying to contact people through their individual accounts, I highly recommend finding your way into some private groups for people with shared interests.
Ready for the “Big Time”? Enter your email below for tips on how to leverage all of these methods to create the ultimate b2b lead generator: a live, in-person event.
Content Marketing
If referrals are the hare of lead generation, then content marketing is the tortoise. It can take quite a while to build a loyal following that is ready to buy, but here are some quick tips to get there sooner:
Be regular.Pick a schedule and stick to it. People are creatures of habit, and a regular content posting schedule makes it easy for your blog to become a part of their routine. Let your personality shine through.Don’t be bland. Bland is boring. Let all your quirks and eccentricities come through in your writing. Use a subscribe button.Make sure you are capturing your readers’ emails somewhere, so you can follow up with them later. Give away some of your best work for free.Doing so builds trust and gives prospects a reason to keep coming back. Plus, when they know how good you are, it’s easier to sell them on your services. Just be sure to capture their email in exchange for the bonus. Webinars
Now we’re getting into a method that requires a significant time investment. Producing a webinar can be a lot of work, but extremely rewarding. A major benefit of webinars is that you can often team up with other entrepreneurs to create a unique offering. This doubles the exposure and is a win-win situation for all parties involved. You get new leads, your partners get new leads, and your prospects get multiple opinions and views on the subject of the webinar.
Your budget may be small, but your b2b lead generation efforts don’t have to be. Using a combination of the above tactics will give you the best odds of success. But don’t spread yourself too thin. Pick 1 or 2 to concentrate on, instead of all of them. Doing so will allow you to maximize the lead potential of each method before moving on to the next.
In-person events can offer amazing lead generation opportunities, if you’re willing to invest the time. Drop your email here for tips on how to host a successful event for you and your prospects.
Conclusion
A good B2B lead generation agency ensures ROI. This is important because your efforts should actually generate
sales, not just leads. To ensure a good ROI: Review and update your lead database to ensure the leads are legitimate; Make sure your marketing and sales teams cooperate and work very closely; Assign sales teams specialized in lead generation to follow up with your leads regularly. | 22,793 | 9,017 | 0.000113 |
warc | 201704 | Rare and dramatic attention to military sexual trauma (MST) suffered by male servicemembers marked a hearing Wednesday by the Senate Committee on Armed Services’ Subcommittee on Personnel. The two-and-a-half-hour session was devoted to examining the links between MST, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and suicide while serving as a platform for Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s campaign for Senate passage of her signature
Military Justice Improvement Act.
Chairing the hearing, the New York Democrat opened the proceedings with the tale of a constituent – a young Navy man named Heath Phillips – who, according to Gillibrand, was sexually assaulted by male shipmates during an alcohol-infused night ashore and was subsequently victimized again by his fellow sailors and, ultimately, by his command.
“The sexual assaults continued aboard the ship, and when his commanders allowed these assaults by his shipmates to continue without any repercussions, Heath went AWOL,” Gillibrand said. “Ultimately, he accepted an other-than-honorable discharge to end his torture. Not only was he suffering from PTSD, which led him to flee the ship, but he now is not eligible for VA benefits. It is stories like these that motivated me to hold this hearing.”
The first witness to testify at the hearing was retired Marine Lance Corp. Jeremiah Arbogast., who is crippled not from combat injuries from his deployment in Afghanistan, but from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The young Marine says he had tried to commit suicide as a result of his own military sexual assault experience – being raped by a staff sergeant -- and its aftermath. “I was humiliated at the thought of my helplessness as a man and a fellow Marine took advantage of me sexually,” Arbogast said.
After reporting the crime, Arbogast said he was made to confront his rapist in person on several occasions in hopes of eliciting a confession. During one such meeting, Arbogast was required to “wear a wire” – a recording device. Eventually the perpetrator admitted his guilt, was arrested and put on trial. Found guilty of lesser charges, he was discharged from the service. However, he served no jail time and, according to Arbogast, refused to register as a sex offender. The ex-staff sergeant’s whereabouts are reportedly unknown, leaving Arbogast still in fear of his attacker.
The subcommittee hearing also examined the efficacy of the Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs medical treatment and management of MST victims. To this point, Arbogast said that in his view, VA is deficient in providing male-specific counseling and what treatment is offered does nothing to address the stigma felt by male MST survivors.
“I joined the Marines for the opportunity to serve my country as an honorable man,” he said, “Instead, I was thrown away like a piece of garbage.” He did, however, laud his caregivers for the “top rate” treatment of the spinal cord injuries that resulted from his suicide attempt. It is care that he, as a service medical retiree, receives as a beneficiary of TRICARE, the military health insurance program.
Next to testify was Jessica Kenyon, a former Army private. After being sexually assaulted, Kenyon said she was disciplined for taking time to seek treatment for her emotional injuries, ostracized by her fellow soldiers and ignored by her commanders. This, she said, caused her to leave the Army and “currently suffer from severe depression, bouts of insomnia, debilitating memories and thoughts, triggers of all sorts, anger, chattering in my head, and constant anxiety to the point where I am forced to use all of my concentration to appear normal, which hinders my ability to read, write, have a conversation, or remember things in the short term." Nevertheless, Kenyon now volunteers on behalf of fellow military sexual trauma victims and their families. She has, by her count, counseled “thousands” – despite her own lingering emotional ills.
Kenyon said she considers MST uncommonly severe in its psychological effects. She drew a parallel between sexual attacks from fellow servicemembers in a supposedly self-protective community and incest. She likened the MST experience to being assaulted by one’s brother and then reporting the attack to one’s father. This prompted witness-senator exchanges concerning persistent reports of lower-level commanders excusing or inadequately punishing MST perpetrators if they happened to be long-term or personally favored servicemembers. “We are going to get rid of the good soldier defense, you can be assured of that,” said Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill.
The senators also touted the worth of the year-old Special Victims Counsel program whereby MST victims are assigned an active-duty attorney from their service, This dedicated legal counsel represents the injured throughout the course of any legal proceedings that follow the report of a sexual assault. This program, pioneered by the U.S. Air Force, is designed to distance MST victims from their immediate command structure to help prevent unfairness in the adjudication of their cases.
Also discussed during the hearing was the desirability of a much favored but repeatedly delayed seamless medical and service record transfer system shared by the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs. This would dramatically reduce the time between DoD and VA treatments for MST victims. Heads nodded as Sen. Angus King pronounced, “In many cases, treatment delayed is treatment denied.”
DoD and VA also produced witnesses at the hearing. First to speak was Dr. Margret Bell, VA’s director for Education & Training, National Military Sexual Assault Support Team. She presented a clinical and statistical report confirming that MST results in high incidences of PTSD and depression. Other witnesses told of the two departments’ progress in addressing MST in recent years, though one statement drew a sharp response from Gillibrand.
Dr. Nathan Galbreath, the senior executive advisor to the DoD’s Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office, began telling of the greater number of reports of MST being filed by victims, thus answering longstanding criticism that stigma and fear have kept most victims silent. “I would offer to you that the system we have in place today is not the system we had in place a even a few years ago,” he said. “I believe that the increase in the number of reports have come from people who believe what our commanders are doing is correct…”
“Dr. Galbreath, wo out of 10 rape victims are reporting today,” interrupted Gillibrand, “ I would not pat yourself on the back for two out of 10. Granted, according to your number, we know there (are) more reports, but we don’t have the base number so we don’t know if it’s the same thing that happened between 2011 and 2012 where total reports were up but the incident rates skyrocketed so, in fact, the (reporting) percentage went down. So, please, before we have the evidence and data, we should not be patting ourselves on the back on any level. Please do not say we’re succeeding.”
“We have a long way to go,” Galbreath responded, “You’re absolutely correct.”
At hearing’s end, Gillbrand thanking the two MST victims for their courage in testifying and offering gratitude to the DoD and VA witnesses, acknowledging their obvious concern for those who suffer military sexual trauma and their departments’ commitment to providing improved care for victims and appropriate punishment for their attackers.
The American Legion has long advocated on behalf of the victims of military sexual trauma, as reflected in resolutions adopted by Legion leadership. One,
Resolution No. 26, addresses a concern expressed during the subcommittee hearing. As a result of their service-connected emotional injuries, some victims of MST express symptoms and behaviors consistent with a diagnosis of personality disorder and are thus separated from service unfairly or denied post-service medical care due to the nature of their discharge. The Legion resolution calls for a study of Department of Defense policies and procedures related to such cases.
Another Legion Resolution,
No. 295, addresses MST on a broader scale, asking DoD and MST to intensify their efforts to provide appropriate training of counselors and encourage greater numbers of victims to report sexual assaults in order to assure proper justice and treatment for them. | 8,681 | 4,027 | 0.000257 |
warc | 201704 | Milk 'could' combat diabetes Curtin University researchers have revealed protein fragments from milk could help combat and reduce the risk of developing Australia's fastest growing chronic disease, type 2 diabetes.
Professor Phillip Newsholme, head of Curtin's School of Biomedical Sciences and leader of the project, said the research had a number of findings and direct implications for those diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.
"In type 2 diabetes, the pancreas makes insulin, but it is not produced in the amount your body needs and it does not work effectively," Professor Newsholme said.
"Our study demonstrates how consumption of a protein found in milk called whey — a highly digestible source of protein found in many dairy products — impacts positively on the pancreatic cells, helping them to release more insulin.
"This in turn helps to regulate blood glucose levels and could aid in the management of type 2 diabetes."
The findings, featured in the July issue of the
Journal of Nutrition, involved cellular tests and an eight-week study in mice.
The research was conducted in collaboration with the University College of Dublin, the University of Limerick and Teagasc Food Research Centre in County Cork, Ireland.
"We will need to conduct further studies in people with diabetes to confirm the results but the initial findings are promising and indicate that milk, or milk derived products, may be useful in type 2 diabetes management." Professor Newsholme said.
Approximately one million Australians have been diagnosed with diabetes. The prevalence of type 2 diabetes, in particular, rises with age and is higher in men than in women.
The total annual cost for Australians with type 2 diabetes is up to $6 billion including healthcare costs, the cost of carers and Commonwealth government subsidies.
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warc | 201704 | Abstract
Abstract Cecina is an intermediate moisture meat produced and consumed to a large extent in Mexico. Four samples of cecina coming from different States of this country, were tested for water activity, colour, texture, fat, protein, moisture and chloride content. Sensory and microbiological analyses were also performed. Different fabrication methods for producing cecina were identified, involving large variations in the formulation of the product. There was a significant difference ( P < 0·05) among samples regarding fat and chloride content, colour and texture. Differences in colour and saltiness were recorded through sensory analysis. Microbiological analysis showed higher counts than those recommended in the Mexican Official Standard for chopped and raw meat, due to poor sanitary conditions during production and marketing. | 853 | 487 | 0.002073 |
warc | 201704 | The
Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act requires all postsecondary institutions receiving federal aid to publish and distribute Annual Security Reports (ASRs) by October 1 each year that include specific campus crime statistics and policies. In addition to making the data available to current students and employees, colleges and universities must submit crime statistics to the U.S. Department of Education and notify prospective students and employees that the report is available, along with a description of the contents and the opportunity to request a copy. "...the institution must provide a notice to prospective students and prospective employees that includes a statement of the report's availability, a description of its contents, and an opportunity to request a copy. An institution must provide its annual security report and annual fire safety report, upon request, to a prospective student or prospective employee. If the institution chooses to provide either its annual security report or annual fire safety report to prospective students and prospective employees by posting the disclosure on an Internet Web site, the notice described in this paragraph must include the exact electronic address at which the report is posted, a brief description of the report, and a statement that the institution will provide a paper copy of the report upon request."
In 2013, Congress reauthorized the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) (Public Law 113-4), which among other things amended the Clery Act to require institutions to include statistics on domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking in their ASRs, as well as include plans for certain policies and procedures around the issue. After concluding negotiated rulemaking on the issue in the Spring of 2014, the U.S. Department of Education published final rules October 20, 2014. As stated in guidance from the Department, institutions were asked to make a good-faith effort to comply with the statutory provisions by October 1, 2014, while final regulations will become effective July 1, 2015.
Helpful Guidance for Admission Offices in Complying with the Clery Act The U.S. Department of Education compiled a list of suggested resources to help support the sharing of resources postsecondary institutions may use to inform and tailor their campus sexual assault training and prevention efforts. The White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault released its first report in April 2014 and continues to update guidance and model policies for schools to use in working to comply with the Clery Act. The Clery Center for Security On Campus assists colleges and universities in Clery Act compliance. The website includes resources that can aid institutions as they work to meet the campus safety and security requirements. U.S. Department of Education Campus Security webpage. This resource includes links to the Handbook for Campus Safety and Security Reporting, training resources, information on the statute, regulations, and data on campus crime. The Higher Education Compliance Alliance resource also includes a wealth of information on the Clery Act within its' campus safety webpage. Occasionally in response to complaints, media incidents, or internal audits, the U.S. Department of Education conducts reviews to determine if institutions are in compliance with the Clery Act requirements. On this page you can access these reports (by year or by school), as well as, accompanying documentation which may include the complaint, school response, or fine action that resulted from the program review.
Expand / Collapse All | 3,681 | 1,588 | 0.000631 |
warc | 201704 | Warfarin-related intracranial hemorrhage carries a high mortality and poor neurological outcome. Rapid reversal of coagulopathy is a cornerstone of medical therapy to halt bleeding progression; however the optimal approach remains undefined. Prothrombin complex concentrates have promising features that may rapidly reverse coagulopathy, but remain relatively unstudied. We aim to review the literature regarding the use of prothrombin complex concentrates in patients with warfarin-related intracranial hemorrhage. A comprehensive review of the literature was conducted using PUBMED and Google Scholar databases to identify the use of PCC in patients with warfarin-related intracranial hemorrhage. The characteristics abstracted included the type of PCC, dosing, study design, type of intracranial hemorrhage, changes in the INR, and adverse effects. Prothrombin complex concentrates are heterogeneous in regards to factor concentration. PCC consistently reversed the INR in patients with intracranial hemorrhage. There is some evidence that PCC may reverse the INR more rapidly compared to fresh frozen plasma. Serious adverse effects were uncommon and included mainly thromboembolism. PCC has features which make it a promising therapy for patients with warfarin-related intracranial hemorrhage, and deserves more rigorous study in prospective-randomized controlled trials. | 1,378 | 648 | 0.001545 |
warc | 201704 | Cost-push inflation is caused by an increase in the cost of production. It therefore follows that to decrease the inflation rate the cost of production must be decreased. This can be done by decreasing profit margins, increase productivity, decreasing wages, etc. In the AD-AS model the aggregate supply curve (AS) shifts left. The end result is that inflation declines, production increases and unemployment decreases.
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Want more info about Inflation: Dealing with cost-push inflation?Get free advice from education experts and Noodle community members. | 640 | 359 | 0.002812 |
warc | 201704 | Cash vs. stocks and shares
If we compare equity growth rates taken from the 2015 Barclays Equity Gilt Study against the average interest rates* for cash ISAs over the past five years we can see that, overall, stocks and shares generally delivered greater growth**.
We'd like to remind you that past performance is no guarantee of future performance and when you invest in stocks and shares the value of the account can decrease as well as increase, which means that you or your child could get back less than you paid in.
With cash accounts, whilst generally more secure, the cost of living (inflation) generally increases over time, so the final amount probably won't buy as much in the future as it could now. The information provided below is for your reference only and is based on general market information, not our own data from our own investment funds or for our products.
The information we provide should help you to make an informed decision as OneFamily doesn't provide advice. If you're not sure whether one of our products is suitable for you or your child, it's worth speaking to an independent financial advisor (IFA). You can find one at unbiased.co.uk
For more information about how OneFamily's funds have performed over the past five years you can download factsheets for the relevant fund. | 1,317 | 706 | 0.001424 |
warc | 201704 | Exploring the Random Phase Approximately for materials chemistry and physics
This proposal focuses on improved accuracy for the delicate energy differences of interest in materials chemistry with the fully nonlocal random phase approximation (RPA) in a density functional context. Could RPA or RPA-like approaches become standard methods of first-principles electronic-structure calculation for atoms, molecules, solids, surfaces, and nano-structures? Direct RPA includes the full exact exchange energy and a nonlocal correlation energy from the occupied and unoccupied Kohn-Sham orbitals and orbital energies, with an approximate but universal description of long-range van der Waals attraction. RPA also improves upon simple pair-wise interaction potentials or vdW density functional theory. This improvement is essential to capture accurate energy differences in metals and different phases of semiconductors. The applications in this proposal are challenges for the simpler approximations of Kohn-Sham density functional theory, which are part of the current “standard model” for quantum chemistry and condensed matter physics. Within this project we already applied RPA on different structural phase transitions on semiconductors, metals and molecules. Although RPA predicts accurate structural parameters, RPA has proven not equally accurate in all kinds of structural phase transitions. Therefore a correction to RPA can be necessary in many cases. We are currently implementing and testing a nonempirical, spatially nonlocal,more »
Authors:
[1] Temple University, Philadelphia, PA (United States) Publication Date: OSTI Identifier: 1183045 Report Number(s): Final Report: DOE-Tulane University-SC0007989 12SC002374 DOE Contract Number: SC0007989 Resource Type: Technical Report Research Org: Tulane University, New Orleans, LA (United States). Administrators of the Tulane Educational Fund Sponsoring Org: USDOE Nevada Operations Office (NO); USDOE Office of Science (SC) Country of Publication: United States Language: English Subject: 74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS; 75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY random phase approximation
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warc | 201704 | Lysosomes are a relatively modern discovery in cell biology; they were observed by British cytologist and biochemist Christian de Duve (1917–2013) in the early 1950s. In 1955, after six years of experiments, de Duve was convinced that he had found an organelle that had not been previously described and was involved in intracellular digestion (lysis)—he named the organelle a lysosome. This organelle was the first to be described entirely on biochemical criteria; the results were later verified using electron microscopy. In 1974, de Duve, Belgian biologist Albert Claude (1898–1983), and Romanian cell biologist George Palade (1912–2008) shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their work detailing the functions of the lysosome. | 768 | 481 | 0.00214 |
warc | 201704 | Modern Meterology Radar
What is a radiosonde?
The idea of using balloons to aid in the study of the atmosphere was first explored by the French when, in 1784, a hot air balloon was used for this purpose. It took a long time, however, before the practice came into common use. More commonly thought of as a “weather balloon,” radiosondes (“sonde” is French for “probe”) are collections of weather-detecting instruments attached to a balloon that is released into the upper atmosphere. They were first used in Europe during the 1920s and 1930s. Radiosondes typically measure temperature, moisture, and wind speeds, and they often include small, battery-powered motors. More modern radiosondes—called “rawinsondes”—include a radar reflector so they can be more easily tracked.
Radiosondes reach elevations that can take them into the stratosphere. Once it reaches its maximum height, the balloon will burst and the instrument package will be carried safely down on a parachute. Another way to deploy a radiosonde is by dropping it from an airplane. When this is done, the device is called a dropsonde. Rocketsondes—weather probes mounted on rockets, as one might guess—may also be used on occasion. There are over 800 radiosonde launch sites around the world, with the probes being launched at midnight and noon. Data is generally shared by meteorologists around the world. | 1,435 | 773 | 0.001355 |
warc | 201704 | The difference between investing successfully and unsuccessfully is huge. Why do some investors succeed while others fail? The answer is knowledge. Knowledge takes the chance out of investing. It is being aware of the big picture, of what drives investment markets. Knowledge will see you maximise the returns from your investments.
Martin Hawes reveals eight investment secrets, including Buy Quality, Buy for Yield and Market Action, Reaction and Over-reaction, all of which will ensure a healthy investment outcome. ISBN: 9780143008446 Publication Date: 01 / 01 / 2008 | 574 | 368 | 0.002732 |
warc | 201704 | I found out that surgeons don't guarantee their work and it is more likely that I will need another surgery down the row. And if there is a revision needed, I will have to pay for it. That worries me a lot because I will have to come up with a double amount of money compare to the quoted amount. What are the complications in breast augmentation that usually need a revision? And how to avoid those complications? Thank you.
What Are the Complications in Breast Augmentation That Lead to a Revision? Doctor Answers 8 Reducing Breast Augmentation Revisions
There are two main problems that cause revision of breast augmentation. By far, the greatest problem is using the wrong size implant. I believe this is usually due to lack of communication between the patient and surgeon. You need to know exactly what you wish and convey it precisely to your surgeon. Your surgeon, in turn must discuss your desires at length with you and guide you to the corrrect choice. The second problem is how the inplant is placed. If the pocket is not made properly, the implant can displace (or may never be in the right position). If the incision is not large enough to accomodate the implant selected, the implant may be injured trying to get it in. This can lead to rupture. (Most ruptured implants, when examined after removal show evidence of old injury.) You, therefore, need to do three things. First decide exactly what you want. Secondly, make sure your surgeon discusses your desires thoroughly with you and you are comfortable with the decision. Thirdly, make sure your surgeon has a redo rate less than 3%. (Good studies have shown that this is very possible with careful planning and technique. This is far below the generally reported rates of 12-20%.)
How often does breast implant surgery need revision?
It's not that plastic surgeons don't "guarantee their work," it's that we can't guarantee that patients will follow our directions exactly and completely!
Well, not really, but you get the idea! Any surgeon who "guarantees" anything as variable as a surgical procedure and patient happiness must be charging much more than the rest of us. Most ethical, reputable, and experienced plastic surgeons (American Board of Plastic Surgery-certified) offer revision surgery for no or reduced surgeon's fee, plus the cost of new implants (if needed) and anesthesia.
I always tell my patients that since I have to show up and do the no-surgeon's-fee operation it actually "costs" me what I would have otherwise earned if I were operating on a "paying" patient. Plus, the patient has to pay more than what they did for their initial surgery, meaning BOTH of us suffer a bit when a re-do or touch-up surgery is necessary. NEITHER of us are really interested in that, nor am I interested in the damage to my reputation among patients who might talk to my patient requiring or requesting additional surgery. That is a direct "hit" to my bottom line and my ability to attract patients to my practice.
Sure, if I was a plastic surgeon who operates at a University or major health care institution, I might be on a salary, and other than my own drive to do good work, there is no direct damage to my salary or my referral base, so the incentive to do "our best work" may be greater for someone in private practice.
But, the bottom line in avoiding the need for re-do surgery is choosing not only an ABPS-certified plastic surgeon (not a "cosmetic surgeon" with certification by boards that have little or no training in plastic surgery, or "bogus boards"), but one who has extensive experience in breast augmentation (does more than 100 per year, not just a few dozen).
The main reason patients request revision is size change (almost always larger), followed by position improvement, capsular contracture, and symmastia. Implant deflation occurs only with saline implants, and I recommend switching to silicone gel implants (the latest generation cohesive) should this occur.
Some doctors will tell you that "every" breast implant patient will require re-operation at some point in their life, but this is, IMHO, an exaggeration that is designed to make you think seriously about this surgery (as if you weren't already serious)! This happens truly infrequently in my practice, so I understand your concern, but the reality is somewhat different from your worries. Best wishes!
Complications of breast augmentation
Choosing to undergo breast augmentation is a life decision. Implants are medical device and do not last forever. If you get implants and live long enough, you will at some point in your life have to have one or both of your implants changed. Implants wear out and either rupture or deflate. There are also things that may make it necessary to have surgery sooner rather than later. Revisional surgery may be necessary for size change, capsular contracture, implant failure, implant malposition, asymmetry, hematoma, infection that may require implant removal for a period of time (luckily rare). Going to a plastic surgeon with good training, certification, and in depth experience with breast augmentation will minimize but not eliminate the possibility of these complications. Following all your surgeon's instructions helps to and is just as important. I hope this helps.
You might also like... Breast Augmentation Revisions
The most common revision is malposition of the implant. I personally have to take care of this problem 3-4 times a year, but that is out of about 200 augmentations a year. When this occurs I eat the cost and the patient pays nothing. Still, I always tell a patients that I cannot guarantee my work. I would recommend that you discuss with your surgeon what his policy is on revisions. I have come across surgeons that will charge the patient even a surgeon fee to correct an issue that is clearly the surgeons fault. Most reputable surgeons however will stand behind their work and be fair with you. Make sure that you see a Board Certified Plastic Surgeon.
Gary Hall,MD
Breast augmentation complications
Fortunately, complications after breast augmentation requiring additional surgery are relatively rare. One of the most common causes of reoperation is capsular contracture which usually occurs within the first two years of surgery. Other causes of reoperation include hematoma (bleeding), infection, deflation/rupture, implant malposition, and dissatisfaction with size. It is impossible for a plastic surgeon to "guarantee their work" because so many variables are outside of their control. Other contributing factors to the final result include patient compliance, the status of the patient's immune system, medical problems, and normal wound healing. Although, it may be troubling for some patients to hear, complications can still occur even when a patient is perfectly healthy and the surgeon performs a flawless operation.
Why revise breast implants
The most common cause for breast implant revision is a change in size, most often to a larger implant. Though this is not really a complication, better communication can reduce the revision rate. The common complications we note on this site are implant malposition, and breast asymmetry, followed by capsular contracture. Some of these issues such as implant postion the surgeon has better control over, and issues such as asymmetry require compromises. Fortunately 'real' complications such as bleeding or infection are quite rare.
Best of luck, peterejohnsonmd.com
Causes for breast revision surgery
Breast revision surgery is due to several reasons. The most common of these is dissatisfaction, wanting a change in size, or change from saline to silicone implants.
Breast implants are not lifetime devices. The warranties on most breast implants are for a term of 10 years. Due to the nature of implants, some secondary surgery is likely at some point in the patient’s lifetime. Among these reasons for revision is implant deflation or rupture. Other common reasons for breast revision surgery include capsular contracture – which requires release of scar tissue through capsulectomy or switching from saline to silicone implants due to rippling problems or just a desire for a softer, more natural feel.
Breast changes can be caused by many things such as; pregnancy, weight gain, weight loss, age-related issues, results of previous surgery due to poor implant placement or other problems such as double-bubble, symmastia,(where the breasts merge together in the middle) or bottoming out.
Hope this helps! Good Luck!
Breast Augmentation and Complications?
Thank you for the question.
You are wise to consider the potential complications associated with breast augmentation surgery.
Some of these complications or undesirable results of breast augmentation surgery that may require revision surgery include: infection, bleeding, rippling/ probability, encapsulation, asymmetry, leakage/deflation, interference with mammography, loss or change of nipple/areola sensation, inability to breast-feed, implant malposition/displacement, unsatisfactory size or cosmetic results...
Some of these complications and/or undesirable results of breast augmentation surgery are avoidable, some are not.
Patients should weigh the potential risks/complications associated with the procedure against the potential benefits when deciding whether to proceed with the operation or not. Careful selection of a well experienced board-certified plastic surgeon will be important.
I hope this helps.
These answers are for educational purposes and should not be relied upon as a substitute for medical advice you may receive from your physician. If you have a medical emergency, please call 911. These answers do not constitute or initiate a patient/doctor relationship. | 9,806 | 4,143 | 0.000243 |
warc | 201704 | Executive Summary
This November, Coloradoans will make a critical decision about the future fiscal responsibility and tax policy in their state. Colorado, through its Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR), has emerged as one of the leaders in cutting taxes and restraining the growth of government that has nearly bankrupted many other states—returning $3.25 billion to taxpayers between 1997 and 2001. As a result, half of the states in the nation have followed its lead and introduced similar measures.
Proponents of Referenda C and D are arguing that the state is in dire straits and needs more money to survive. They paint a scary picture indeed; one in which hospitals, schools and libraries will close, where 911 emergency services will shut down and police and fire departments will be left without the tools and resources needed to function. While fear mongering may be a brilliant communications and public relations strategy, it is not an accurate depiction of the situation. It presupposes that every dollar spent by the state of Colorado is both spent well and importantly. While the services in Colorado may be performed efficiently, there is always room for improvement. In addition, over the years the state has taken on new responsibilities and started new programs. Rarely do old programs get phased out or eliminated. There certainly must be
some functions government can stop providing.
The states of Washington and South Carolina have developed a budget process that identifies all government services by activity, rather than by agency, and categorizes them according to a set of pre-established goals. Special teams of policy experts, state agency employees, private citizens, and other stakeholders analyze and rank the activities in order of priority and effectiveness. The administration then “purchases” (funds) the activities from the top of the list down until all available revenues have been used up, leaving the lowestpriority activities for better economic times and eliminating duplicative, poor-performing, unnecessary, or otherwise wasteful activities. Texas engages in performance-based budgeting and utilizes a Sunset Advisory Commission to recommend eliminating programs that are duplicative or have outlived their purpose. The federal government has developed the Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART) to evaluate programs based on their purpose, strategic design, management, and results.
A cursory view of the Colorado state budget reveals several items that are not priorities of government that should be considered for suspension, reduction, or even elimination. The following are just a few examples that would equate to at least 10 percent of the amount needed to offset the added tax revenues called for by Referendum C:
Reduce economic development programs such as International Trade and Tourism offices and the Colorado Tourism Office in half - $6,000,000 in savings. Suspend state funding of the Colorado Council on the Arts - $500,000 in savings. Increase Medicaid copayments to federal allowable levels – approximately $10,000,000 in savings. Reduce state funding of the State Fair by one-half - $4,000,000 in savings. End Agricultural Markets Division (marketing subsidies) - $400,000 in savings.
Again, these five program changes get Colorado more than 10 percent of the funding that proponents of Referenda C and D say Colorado needs to provide vital services. A rigorous review will find numerous other low-priority programs.
Quite simply, the sky is not falling. If there are high-priority programs and services in need of funding, there are plenty of savings to be found to pay for them. Colorado should take a more rational approach to budgeting by following the example of so many private individuals and families—and, increasingly, other governments—and fund government services by prioritizing wants and needs. The adoption of performance-based budgeting and an activity-based prioritization funding model would help Colorado decisionmakers to more easily identify the governmental activities most important to Coloradoans and make difficult trade-off and cost-benefit decisions. It would result in the provision of better, more efficient services while allowing Colorado to protect taxpayers and maintain fiscal responsibility. | 4,332 | 2,092 | 0.000483 |
warc | 201704 | The KitchenAid instant hot water dispensers work by heating water from the cold water supply line and saving it in a reservoir. This reservoir maintains the temperature of the hot water until it is needed.Continue Reading
Instant hot water dispensers have a built-in heating element. When water is brought in from the cold water supply, this element activates. It remains on until the water has reached the needed temperature. The specially designed reservoir ensures that the water remains at the desired temperature until it is called upon. This process is similar to the operation of hot water heaters.
In order for the instant hot water dispenser to work, the device must be connected to an electrical line. KitchenAid models accomplish this by connecting the device to a standard electrical outlet. This electric current allows the heating element to reach the desired temperature. If the device stops producing hot water, the power source may be the cause. Resolving this problem involves checking the plug and breaker.
The hot water reservoir is a limited resource. As a result, using a lot of instant hot water may cause the supply to be diminished. The device should refill in 15 to 20 minutes. As a result, projects which require a large amount of hot water are not easily accomplished using the instant hot water dispenser.Learn more about Small Kitchen Appliances | 1,380 | 651 | 0.001542 |
warc | 201704 | Continue Reading
To whitewash a fence, first create a heater mixture of crushed limestone and water. Once this mixture has cooled and cured, it is then applied to the fence to create a durable exterior coating. Whitewash mixtures are very adhesive and become both hard and dense once they have cooled. Adding corn starch, wheat flour and other substances to the mixture is a common way to achieve the desired color. Whitewash is typically used as a cost-effective alternative to paints.
Create the whitewash mixture in a durable container such as a wooden or galvanized-steel bucket. Fill the bucket halfway with water before adding lime and stirring the mixture with a wooden rod or paint stirrer. The mixture should sit overnight before removing any excess water and stirring the remaining mixture. Salt is then added at a ratio of approximately one cup per gallon of water used and the mixture is again stirred until it achieves a thicker consistency. Create only enough mixture as needed, and add powdered milk or paperhanger’s wheat paste to keep the lime from resettling to the bottom. Apply the mixture to the fence with a disposable whitewash brush.
Whitewash cures through a chemical reaction with the carbon dioxide found in the atmosphere to form calcium carbonate. Whitewash mixtures are suitable for a wide range of exterior surfaces and are especially effective on adobe-like materials.Learn more about Outdoor | 1,434 | 743 | 0.001355 |
warc | 201704 | From: Lorrie Topolin
SEC Chairman Christopher Cox
Dear SEC Chairman Cox,
Please do the right thing! Most of us will not be able to count on Social Security to allow us to get by in our so called "golden years". We are told to save for our own retirement, and we do, but then we are not sure now that we can even count on this!
Mutual funds are an increasingly important savings vehicle for tens of millions of working Americans like me. We are the owners of these funds and we bear the risks if they are dominated by self-interested insiders. We look to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to protect us. I am writing to express my strong support for the proposed rule requiring that mutual fund boards have an independent chairperson and at least 75 percent independent directors. These rules were among the most important reforms adopted by the SEC in the wake of the mutual fund trading and sales abuse scandals.
A recent study by AFSCME and The Corporate Library found mutual funds provide a rubber stamp for excessive management pay, supporting more than three-quarters of all management pay proposals. Ninety percent of institutional investors think the current system overpays executives. We need independent directors to stand up to the excesses of the money managers.
The Investment Company Act requires that mutual funds be managed in the interests of their shareholders. Requiring independent directors and chairpersons will help ensure this safeguard for the small investor, to make sure the little person gets a fair shake.
Sincerely,
Lorrie Topolin | 1,583 | 842 | 0.001197 |
warc | 201704 | CANCER PREVENTION STUDY-3 (CPS-3)
Research today for a cancer-free tomorrow.
The Cancer Prevention Study-3 (CPS-3) is helping to create a world with less cancer...and more birthdays. CPS-3 is a grassroots effort where local communities from across the country can support cancer research not just through fundraising efforts, but also by participating actively in this historic research study.
The American Cancer Society’s Epidemiology Research Program is inviting men and women between the ages of 30 and 65 years who have never personally been diagnosed with cancer to join this historic study. The ultimate goal is to enroll at least 300,000 adults from various racial/ethnic backgrounds from across the U.S. The purpose of CPS-3 is to better understand the lifestyle, behavioral, environmental and genetic factors that cause or prevent cancer and to ultimately eliminate cancer as a major health problem for this and future generations.
Participation is easy and enrollment is available in your local community. Local enrollment is being made possible in partnership with Anderson Regional Medical Center & Mississippi Power Company. Your initial enrollment requires two steps and will involve the following:
After scheduling your enrollment appointment, you will receive a confirmation e-mail with instructions to go online and complete your first, most comprehensive survey. This survey will ask you questions regarding medications you are taking, family history of cancer, lifestyle and other behaviors. This survey should be completed prior to your appointment time. At your appointment, you will be asked to sign an informed consent form, complete a brief survey, as well as provide a waist circumference measurement and a small blood sample (similar to a doctor’s visit). The blood sample will be taken by a certified, trained phlebotomist. Your appointment should last approximately 20 - 30 minutes.
Enrollment is taking place at:
Anderson Regional Medical Center Health & Fitness Center Auditorium 2124 14th Avenue Meridian, MS 39301 May 15, 2012 - 12:00 pm - 7:30 pm Mississippi Power Company Auditorium 2401 11st Street Meridian, MS 39301 May 16, 2012 - 10:00 am - 1:30 pm Anderson Regional Cancer Center Classroom 1704 23rd Avenue Meridian, MS 39301 May 17, 2012 - 4:00 pm - 7:30 pm May 18, 2012 - 7:00 am - 11:30 am
Following enrollment, you will periodically receive mailed surveys at home every few years to update your information. You will also receive annual study newsletters to update you on research taking place in the Cancer Prevention Studies.
Confidentiality is of the upmost importance to us, and we will make every effort to protect the privacy of study participants. We have multiple procedures in place to safeguard personal information that is collected. All personal information and any individual results of blood analyses that may be performed will be kept strictly confidential by American Cancer Society research staff. There will be no cost to you to participate.
For more information about CPS-3, please visit www.cancer.org/cps3 or email cps3@cancer.org or call toll-free 1-888-604-5888. | 3,151 | 1,561 | 0.000645 |
warc | 201704 | Onions (Allium cepa) are widely used as a flavor agent ingredient in culinary preparations to bring specific cooked onion notes. In this study, three traditional types of preparations—sué, sautéed, and pan-fried onions—were used to investigate their differences in aroma profile. Headspace solid phase micro-extraction (HS-SPME) and gas chromatography (GC)… (More) | 391 | 277 | 0.003878 |
warc | 201704 | Filter Results: Publication Year
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Recent advances in technology have allowed application of transesophageal echocardiography to intraoperative care of critically ill patients. Early clinical application primarily involved evaluation of left ventricular regional wall motion. However, valid intraoperative use of transesophageal echocardiography should also encompass systematic assessment of… (More)
Swan-Ganz catheterization can facilitate intra-operative management of critically ill patients. The derived data lacks specificity, however, and, as such, is frequently misleading. This disadvantage, combined with recent advances in echocardiography imaging techniques, has resulted in increasing application of transesophageal (TE) two-dimensional… (More)
We have previously reported a standardized stepwise transesophageal echocardiography transverse plane (monoplane) patient examination sequence suitable for intraoperative use. Biplane transesophageal echocardiography furnishes images of the heart and great vessels in both transverse and vertical planes. This report describes a seven-step vertical plane… (More)
The use of transesophageal echocardiography for intraoperative management of critically ill patients allows for routine evaluation of foramen ovale patency. The high prevalence of preoperatively unrecognized flow-patency of this structure has led investigators to emphasize the potential for paradoxical embolization in any patient undergoing anesthesia. This… (More)
This workshop describes a 10-step sequence of transverse plane two-dimensional transesophageal echocardiographic views of the heart and great vessels that constitutes a basic standardized examination capable of being performed by a beginning practitioner.
We have previously reported a standardized 10-step sequence of monoplane (transverse plane) transesophageal two-dimensional echocardiographic views and a standardized 7-step vertical plane examination, both suitable for expeditious intraoperative use by the beginning practitioner. A multiplane transesophageal examination involves transverse plane views,… (More)
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warc | 201704 | Filter Results: Publication Year
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BACKGROUND Radical radiotherapy is commonly used to treat localised prostate cancer. Late chronic side-effects limit the dose that can be given, and may be linked to the volume of normal tissues irradiated. Conformal radiotherapy allows a smaller amount of rectum and bladder to be treated, by shaping the high-dose volume to the prostate. We assessed the… (More)
Image distortion is an important consideration in the use of magnetic resonance (MR) images for radiotherapy planning. The distortion is a consequence of system distortion (arising from main magnetic field inhomogeneity and nonlinearities in the applied magnetic field gradients) and of effects arising from the object/patient being imaged. A two stage… (More)
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warc | 201704 | Filter Results: Publication Year
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Nocardial infections are commonly encountered in patients with immunocompromised states. Cerebral nocardiosis is an uncommon clinical entity, representing only 2% of all cerebral abscesses. It has a higher mortality rate, especially for multiple cerebral lesions in immunocompromised hosts following systemic infections. However, an optimal treatment policy… (More)
STUDY DESIGN This is a retrospective case series. OBJECTIVE Tropical pyomyositis of erector spinae muscle (ESPM) is a rare muscular infection which may extend into the intraspinal canal to become spinal epidural abscess (ESPM-SEA). If left untreated, it may cause catatrophic spinal cord dysfunction and lead to irreversible paralysis. A series of eight… (More)
Primitive neuro-ectodermal tumors (PNET) are rare malignant brain tumors, mostly undifferentiated, that tend to spread through the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Extra-pineal supratentorial PNET in adults are very rare. Published guidelines for adult PNET were not available until 2011, and at our institute surgeons and oncologists did not have consensus on… (More)
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warc | 201704 | “Each day of our lives we make deposits in the memory banks of our children.”
–Charles R. Swindoll
Although there might never seem to be enough time to do anything these days, new research suggests that parents are actually spending more time now with their children than they did back in 1965. Fathers’ time has nearly tripled from 2.6 hours a week spent with kids in 1965 to 7.2 in 2010. Mothers’ time with children rose from 10.5 hours a week to 13.7. How that time is spent appears to make all of the difference, at least from a cognitive standpoint.
A study published in the April issue of the
Journal of Marriage and Family showed that the quality of time spent with mothers, not the quantity, was more strongly associated with cognitive outcomes and educational placement. In fact, time with parents was shown to be detrimental when working parents were physically but not mentally present for their children. These latest findings corroborate previous studies that reported that how mothers and fathers spend time with their children (over 1 year of age) matters more than the actual amount of time spent together. Three simple rules:
Three simple rules for working parents to remember about family time include:
1) Make time: Schedules and/or daily routine and habits may require an adjustment phase. 2) Be mentally present: Children are extremely intuitive and will know immediately when a parent is inattentive. In addition to having detrimental effects on cognitive outcomes, a parent who is physically but not mentally present can be detrimental to a child in a multitude of other ways. Attentive parents connect with their children, are good listeners and convey love to their children. 3) Fill in the gaps: Children today are bombarded with information from many different directions, much of which is fueled by corporate interests as opposed to the best interest of children and families. Kids need parental guidance to sort all the information, fill in the missing gaps and make moral sense of it all. Make the most of time with these essentials
After work, other activities loom, including homework, social events, sports, dinner, laundry, daily hygiene routine, prayer, preparation for the next day, and so on. Some of these activities can be done simultaneously while incorporating other essentials:
Reading: Read whatever they read, only read it together. Let them share their opinions about it. Read their writing. Read what they may not otherwise read, such as historical and religious texts or storybooks. Stories and lessons can be applied to their lives. Puppet shows or mini-plays can be fun to create, depending on the age group. Gardening: Gardening provides a learning experience, food, a grounding effect, an opportunity for children to initiate conversation or to work together in comfortable silence. Gardening can be as small as a seed in a cup, or managing a whole garden or farm. More urban communities and schools now have gardens where children can be exposed to this essential element of life. Shopping: Whether or not gardening is an option, grocery shopping affords the opportunity for both fun and learning, particularly the produce section. A fun game could be “eating the rainbow,” in which the goal is to eat something natural from all of the colors of the rainbow every day. Principles of budgeting and value shopping can be taught at the same time. Cooking: An essential element of parenting and great fun as well, cooking provides quality family time and a chance to incorporate a garden-to-table mentality. Learning the art of healthy cooking and the science of baking are lessons that will last a lifetime, as will the memories made in the process. Walking: Daily exercise is essential, and walking after dinner is a great opportunity for quality time. If the overall mood in the house is not conducive to quality time, taking a walk together provides a change of scenery. Enjoying music: Music can do wonders. Playing or listening to music can help lift moods or turn mundane chores, such as dinner cleanup, into quality time. Warning: Spontaneous singing and dancing may occur! Playing: Finding time to play together every day may not be realistic for everyone. But family play on a regular basis is essential because play is essential, and parents make excellent playmates. With play comes laughter, and the development of a sense of humor. Humor is also essential. Telling jokes, playing charades or board games, and shooting baskets are some examples. Roundtable activities: Sitting around a table minimizes power struggles and can enhance cohesiveness. Artwork, homework, financial planning, brainstorming and other projects are suited to a roundtable approach. Including children in family finances can begin at an early age. Summary:
Although modern families face many challenges, spending quality time together is still possible for most. For working parents, making time to be physically and mentally present for their children is the priority. Spending quality time with the kids after work improves cognitive outcomes, opens educational opportunities and makes happy memories that will last a lifetime.
Written by Dana Connolly, Ph.D., Sovereign Health Group writer | 5,274 | 2,467 | 0.000409 |
warc | 201704 | Exhaust Mounts
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Exhaust Mounts, also sometimes referred to as Exhaust Hangers, are basically like rubber bands that are used to attach your Exhaust System to the underside of your vehicle. Exhaust Mounts are loops usually made out of rubber or a bonded metal and rubber composite. Using good quality, good fitting exhaust mounts are going to prevent damage to your exhaust and vehicle. This will save you from any unwarranted damage to your Exhaust System and vehicle.
Helping to eliminate excessive movement in the exhaust, Exhaust Mounts will prevent the exhaust from hitting the car body, or the pavement, which can contribute towards cracking the exhaust manifold.
Common problems that are a result of a tired or split Exhaust Mounts are the exhaust hitting or banging the underside of the vehicle and the back axle. These will be easy to identify as every time you drive over a bump or uneven surfaces there will be a noisy bump.
It’s worthwhile upgrading your Exhaust Mounts when upgrading your Exhaust to an aftermarket Performance Exhaust System. Using a damaged or poor quality Exhaust Mount can result in the Exhaust dislodging which can cause extensive damage. Having a brand new damaged Exhaust System is the last thing you want. A small investment to ensure the protection and top performance of your Exhaust System.
Mackay is an 100% Australian owned company formed in 1932. Their attention to detail and quality and their use of 3D scanning technology means every mount is ensured precision measurements. Mackay Exhaust Mounts are the perfect solution to noise and vibrations coming from an Exhaust System that isn’t mounted properly or is being held by a damaged or underperforming existing Exhaust Mount. Mackay Exhaust uncompromising standards of excellence in product development, material formulation and production ensure a stiffer more durable Exhaust Mount than original mounts.
SuperPro Exhaust Mount Bush Kits deliver premium stabilisation and protection of Exhaust Systems. Custom engineered in Australia SuperPro Exhaust Mount Bushes are made from a blend of Polyurethane instead of standard rubber as used in many other mounts. SuperPro’s Exhaust Mount Bushes help to eliminate exhaust rattle, reducing any added stress that your system often experiences when not using quality bushes and mounts. SuperPro Exhaust Mount Bush Kits reduce abrasion, temperature resistance and harshness providing a reliable and safe solution for holding your Exhaust in place. | 2,570 | 1,188 | 0.00085 |
warc | 201704 | They're all vocab words subtype of rejected children who are passive, socially awkward, and overwhelmed by social anxiety a child-rearing style that high in acceptance & involvement, emphasizing firm control with explanations, and clear standards, democratic approach. a form of peer interaction involving friendly chasing and play fighting that in our evolutionary past may have been important for the development of fighting skills likeability, or the extent to which a child is viewed by a group of agemates, such as classmates, as a worthy social partner classroom in which the teacher is the sole authority for knowledge, rules, and decision making and students are relatively passive learners evaluated in relation to a uniform set o parent's mutual support for each other's parenting behaviors children who usually look after themselves after school hours teacher's positive or negative views of individual children who tend to adopt and start to live up to those views a form of reactive aggression that harms others through threats of physical aggression, name-calling, or hostile teasing. customs such as table manners and rituals of social interactions, that are determined solely by consesus a destructive form of peer interaction in which certain children become frequent targets of verbal/physical attacks or other forms of abuse Kohlberg's highest level of moral development in which individuals define morality in terms of abstract principles and values that apply to all situations and societies large loosely organized social group consisting of several cliques with membership based on reputation and sterotype Piaget's 1st stage of moral development in which children view rules as handed down by authorities, as having a permanent existence, as unchangeable and as requiring strict obedien classroom in which both teachers and students have the authority to define and resolve problems drawing on the expertise of one another and of others as they work toward project go a classroom in which students with learning difficulties learn alongside typical students in a regular educational setting for part or all of the school day a child-rearing style that is low in acceptance and involvement, high in coercive and psychological control, and low in autonomy granting children who are seldom chosen, either positively or negatively on sociometric measures of peer acceptance self-reports that measure peer acceptance in terms of social preferences-the extent to which children or adolescents like, or prefer to spend time with particular peers family unit consisting of parents and their dependent children living in one household clinical interviewing procedure for assessing moral understanding in which individuals resolve hypothetical dilemmas that present conflicts between two moral values and justify the a form of supervision in which parents exercise general oversight while permitting children to take charge of moment-by-moment decision making in moral development, the process of adopting societal standards for right action as one's own a form of reactive aggression that damages another's peer relationships through social exclusion, malicious gossip, or friendship manipulation (overt when younger ie 'you cant come
They're all vocab words stable ordering of group members that predicts who will win when conflict arises parental behaviors that intrude on and manipulate children's verbal expressions, individuality, and attachments to parents combinations of parenting behaviors that occur over a wide range of situations creating an enduring child-rearing climate In Piaget's heteronomous stage of moral development, the child's tendency to view rules like other mental phenomena, as fixed external features of reality rather than as cooperativ collective of peers who generate unique values and standards for behavior and a social structure of leaders and followers a child-rearing style that is high in acceptance but overindulging or inattentive, low in control, and lenient rather than appropriate in autonomy granting close relationship involving companionship in which each partner wants to be with the other an angry defensive response to a provocation or a blocked goal; intended to hurt another person(also known as hostile aggression) classroom in which students are active learners who are encouraged to construct their own knowledge, the teacher guides and supports in response to children's needs. students are e judgments by children and adolescents of the peers most of their classmates admire, yielding an assessment of peer acceptance in terms of social prominance a form of social interaction (play) in which children orient toward a common goal such as acting out a make believe theme or working on a project together in moral development, the process of actively attending to and interrelating mutliple perspectives on situations in which social conflicts arise and thereby attaining new moral und the way individuals size up the attributes of people with whom they are familar classroom in which children participate in a wide range of challenging activities with teachers and peers, with whom they jointly construct understandings. Grounded in Vygotsky's s a form of limited social participation in which a child plays near other children with similar materials but doesn't try to influence their behavior a group of about five to seven members who are friends and therefore tend to resemble one another in family background, attitudes, values, and interests a standard of fairness based on mutuality of expectations as expressed in the Golden Rule: 'do unto others as you would have them do unto you' voluntary obedience to adult requests and demands aggression in which children act to fulfill a need or desire-obtain an object, privilege, space, or social reward-and unemotionally attack a person to achieve their goal. (also kno the ability to monitor one's own conduct constantly adjusting it as circumstances present opportunities to violate inner standards children who get many positive votes on a sociometric measure of peer acceptance thus rendering highs in likeability subtype of popular children consisting of 'tough' athletically skilled but defiant trouble-causing boys, and girls who are admired for their sophisticated but devious social skills Piaget's 2nd stage of moral development in which children view rules as flexible, socially agreed-on principles that can be revised to suit the will of the majority unoccupied onlooker behavior and solitary play
They're all vocab words the capacity to imagine what other people may be thinking and feeling short-answer questionnaire that assess moral understanding by asking individuals to rate the importance of moral values posed by 11 brief questions and to write a brief explanation subtype of popular children who combine academic and social competence form of reactive aggression that harms others through physical injury to themselves or their property great difficulty with one or more aspects of learning usually reading which causes students' achievement to be considerably behind what would be expected on the basis of IQ children who may get many votes (both negative & positive) on sociometric measures of peer acceptance and thus are both liked and disliked ability to wait for an appropriate time and place to engage in a tempting act a household/family in which one or more adult relatives live with the parent-child nuclear family unit children who receive many negative votes on sociometric measures of peer acceptance thus rendering them actively disliked Kohlberg's second level of moral development in which moral understanding is based of conforming to social rules to ensure positive human relationships and maintain societal order standards that protect people's rights and welfare a form of social interaction (play) in which children engage in separate activities but interact by by exchanging toys and commenting on one another's behavior Kohlberg's first level of moral development in which morality is externally controlled-based on rewards, punishments, and the power of authority figures beliefs about how to divide material goods up evenly a view of the family as a complex set of interacting relationships influenced by the larger social context subtype of rejected children who show severe conduct problems, high conflict rates, physical and relational aggression, and hyperactive, inattentive, and impulsive behavior generating and applying strategies that prevent or resolve disagreements, resulting in outcomes that are both acceptable to others and beneficial to the self form of mild punishment in which children are removed from the immediate setting until they are ready to act appropriately a child-rearing style that combines low acceptance and involvement with little control and general indifference to issues of autonomy the degree to which morality is central to an individual's self-concept in adolescence, a sense of oneself as a separate self governing individual. relying more on the self than parents for support/guidance in decision making a family structure resulting from cohabitation or remarriage that includes parent child and step relatives | 9,223 | 3,876 | 0.000258 |
warc | 201704 | Peter Friedman's Favorite Techdirt Posts Of The Week from the favorites dept This week's favorites post comes from Peter Friedman, a professor at Case Western Reserve University school of law, Of Counsel to Hull McGuire PC, and the author of the excellent blog Ruling Imagination: Law and Creativity. A lot of the "favorites" posts to date have been just from people who are regular commenters on the site, but the "community" here goes beyond just those who comment, and includes people like Peter, who is one of the lawyers I regularly rely on for insights into the law.
I have my own pet peeve in our society's obsession with property and ownership. More and more it seems people use claims of ownership to extend their desire to control as much as they can. And, of course, there are the legions of theorists who seem to always find a magic elixir for all of society's ills in the creation of new forms of property and "free" markets for them. So I enjoyed the post about "a small antiques shop, called Obsolete, in Los Angeles against the large retailer, Restoration Hardware. The complaint? That Restoration Hardware bought some lamps from Obsolete and then made similar lamps for sale in its own stores." The article Mike linked to in that post asked the following question:
It seems like a loaded question, especially when you consider the implication of considering the practice unfair: elevating the "finding of rare and compelling pieces of design" to ownership of those designs. Mike's comeback is right on the money: "Funny, but I don't see anything whatsoever unethical about buying nice antique lamps and then making newer, cheaper versions for sale to people who want to buy them." If an independent merchant stakes his reputation to his ability to find rare and compelling pieces of design around the world, and he invests significant time and money to do, is it fair for a larger company to cherry-pick the best discoveries, manufacture lookalike reproductions and undercut the little guy on price?
Of course, the desire to assert control appears repeatedly to anyone paying attention. As a Cleveland Cavaliers' fan, I was amused to see that the least of the "3 Kings," Chris Bosh, "is suing the producers of VH1's
Basketball Wivesfor violating his trademark, publicity rights and 'life rights,' because his ex-girlfriend and the mother of his child is on the show." She apparently doesn't say very nice things about him. In order to avoid being sued myself, therefore, I'll refrain from any comments regarding Mr. Bosh's teammate and former Cavalier. He can keep his life rights for himself.
But this type of grasping after whatever might be grasped goes on and on. "[T]he Tokien Estate . . . threatened author Stephen Hillard, who has written a bit of historical fiction combined with literary criticism, called
Mirkwood, which uses a fictionalized JRR Tolkien as a character." There was the one law professor who apparently believes copyright law should protect brides from having their wedding dresses "stolen." And, finally -- back to sports again -- there's the NHL's threat to a car dealership for having posted decals on its window saying "Go Canucks Go," in cheering on the Canucks in the NHL playoffs. Apparently, the NHL's reasoning goes, the sign constitutes a trademark infringement because it might confuse customers into believing the Vancouver hockey team endorses the dealership. I better get that Browns sticker off my bumper pronto!
A few other favorites from this past week:
The Wall Street Journalís stab at creating its own version of Wikileaks. Oh, except for that small point about offering
noprotection of the anonymity of any whistleblower who leaks information to it.
As a lawyer, I love the detailed and pointed requests Mozilla sent the Department of Homeland Security in response to the request from DHS that Mozilla take down from the online list of Firefox extensions one called MAFIAAfire that negates domain seizures by automatically rerouting users to alternate domains. Lawyers often get a bad rap, and often deservedly so, but the best lawyers are willing to stand up and keep their clients from getting run over. It's not always the most obvious thing to ask questions in response to a demand from DHS like this one: "Is Mozilla legally obligated to disable the add-on or is this request based on other reasons? If other reasons, can you please specify."
As a lawyer too, I think it's wise to know what others can find out about you. Mike wrote about the "details of what kind of info Facebook provides law enforcement on the receipt of a valid subpoena." Of course, you don't need to be the target of a criminal investigation to be subject to subpoenas. If you start a civil lawsuit or get sued, your life might become an open book. Legal policies differ across jurisdictions, and your end user agreement with any website might leave the door open regardless of the law that would operate in the absence of that agreement. Money isn't the only price that has to be paid when you sue. | 5,084 | 2,580 | 0.000391 |
warc | 201704 | Here’s the breathless headline: “Scientists claim they can change your belief on immigrants and God — with MAGNETS.”
Wait. Attitudes toward God and
immigrants? Are these a natural pair? The newspaper thought so. They tell of an experiment which “claims to be able to make Christians no longer believe in God and make Britons open their arms to migrants.” How’s it done? “Using a technique called transcranial magnetic stimulation” researchers can “safely shut down certain groups of neurones” in the brain.
It seems to have worked. Volunteers were coaxed into having their brains zapped by giant magnets. And, lo! “Belief in God was reduced almost by a third, while participants became 28.5 per cent less bothered by immigration numbers.”
The news report was based on the paper “Neuromodulation of group prejudice and religious belief” by Colin Holbrook and four others in the journal
Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience . This paper is one in a long line of studies that purport to explain the workings of the human mind based on responses to simple questionnaires.
It’s true. Scientists in some fields have convinced themselves they can quantify the unquantifiable. They believe hideously complex human emotions can be adequately represented on scales of 1 to 5 (or some other bounds). For instance, on a scale of -4 to 4, how much do you agree with the statement, “There exists an all-powerful, all-knowing, loving God”?
Before you answer, consider. Is the distance in belief from 3 to 4 the same as it is from 2 to 3, and from 1 to 2, and so on? Are these distances exactly the same in all people? What happens if the scale were to be changed from -4 to 4 to one from 1 to 9, which is the same length? Would the results be the same? Does everybody agree on the precise definitions of “all-powerful,” “all-knowing” and so on?
The answer is obviously no to all these questions, but Holbrook’s results, and the results from thousands of such investigations, assume the answer is yes. It’s worse than this. Consider the same question about God but
after you answer these two questions: “Please briefly describe the emotions that the thought of your own death arouses in you” and “Please jot down, as specifically as you can, what you think will happen to your body as you physically die and once you are physically dead.” | 2,480 | 1,282 | 0.000831 |
warc | 201704 | I feel I have reached a plateau in my training: I'm doing the work but I'm not getting any fitter.
In this situation you have to race more or train harder. However, there is only so much hard training you can do. You can't train at your highest level day-in, day-out for 12 months without a break. That means that to build up again you have to back off first. So back off, build again, and be patient.
• Answer by
Matt Parker, men's endurance coach dealing with conditioning; in charge of Bradley Wiggins and the record-breaking Team GB pursuit quartet How can I tell if I've been over-training?
Be aware of your moods. The earliest symptom is being irritable. You also feel tired, get aches and pains and you are more susceptible to infections such as colds. But the first thing that happens is your mood goes south.
Matt Parker Everyone I ride or race with seems to go faster than me: I can't turn the pedals quick enough.
A lot of cyclists get fit, but can't sit in a group at 40km/h. The answer is to ride over a shorter distance, but faster. People get fixated on hours of training; for speed, don't do three or four hours slow - do one hour, but quick. For the team, we'd use motorpacing [riding at a fast pace behind a motorbike on the track] but you can't do that on the road in this country. Another answer is to find a group, so you are going faster because of the slipstreaming effect - but with a bit less effort.
Matt Parker I get nervous going downhill and other riders overtake me.
I found someone who knew how to go downhill fast - and, more importantly, with confidence - and he showed me how to lean the bike into the corners and what line to take. It was a matter of starting slowly and going faster as I felt more confident. Unless you are relaxed, you can't get the technique right, because you don't want to lean the bike if you are nervous, so you have to start slowly. A lot of people would just say "follow me", but they would go so fast it wasn't any help.
•
Emma Pooley, silver medallist in the Beijing women's time trial I can't corner as fast as I'd like.
Check your tyre pressure before you start. I'd recommend no higher than 100-110psi - less than that in the wet. Look where you want to go as you approach the corner: a lot of people get fazed by the road conditions, so you need to see gravel and bumps before you get to them. Coming to the apex of the corner, lower your centre of gravity and at the same time push down on the opposite pedal - right for a left-hander and vice versa. Never, ever use your front brake on a corner. Try to have your back brake set up with some movement in the lever so you can gently squeeze the break and "feather" the rim to micro-adjust your speed.
•
Rod Ellingworth, men's endurance coach responsible for tactics and skills I've had a cold. How soon should I go back to riding?
Generally speaking, as long as you don't feel unwell or have a temperature, just respiratory symptoms - runny nose, sneezing, perhaps a sore throat - you should be OK just to ride, but not to train or race. Riding may actually stimulate your immune system. So ride for three days, not training, just riding, then ramp it up if you are OK. If, on the other hand, you feel unwell, have a temperature (+37.5C), or have aching muscles, you should rest. Wait at least a couple of days until none of the symptoms are present, then if you feel all right, have one or two days of steady riding before gradually returning to full training over the next week or so. If you begin to feel worse during this recovery period, it's best to ease back, perhaps just ride easy or rest, then try and gradually increase the workload again. It's quite common for a cough to persist for a week or two after an upper respiratory tract infection - this is nothing to get too concerned about, as long as you're otherwise well, with no other symptoms.
•
Roger Palfreeman, medical officer, Olympic cycling team I'm worried about riding at close quarters in a group. How can I get used to it?
Do more of it. Activities which can help include club runs, group training sessions, track racing and even cyclo-cross. We teach our riders to lean on each other - if someone touches your bars, relax your hands rather than trying to correct the wobble, because usually the bike will revert to its natural line. The instinct is to tense up, but if you relax you shouldn't lose control.
Rod Elllingworth How many calories will I burn riding my bike?
A rough rule of thumb is that a cyclist weighing 70kg riding at a steady tempo - 15-20mph - will burn between 700 and 800 calories (kcal) per hour. A larger athlete, or a heavier bike, means a higher calorie burn. If you are racing, that goes up to over 1,000 kcal/hour, while if you are Bradley Wiggins riding a 4,000m pursuit - just over four minutes at virtually flat-out pace, the equivalent for an hour would be 7,000 kcal.
•
Nigel Mitchell, Team GB cycling team nutritionist Are Olympic cyclists superstitious?
"I don't have any mantras or lucky charms, because if I forgot what to say or do, I'd be stuffed. I change the music on my MP3 once a year and that's it."
Victoria Pendleton, Beijing gold medallist
"I used to grow a goatee for big races, but in 2005 I was talking to Vicky [Pendleton] and she said it hadn't done me any good, so I got rid of it. The next day I won my first gold, and the day after, another. So I gave that up."
•
Rob Hayles, triple medallist in Sydney and Athens, double world champion in 2005 I am 12 years old and want to be the next Chris Hoy. Where should I look for advice?
Contact your local Talent Team adviser, through britishcycling.org.uk. Their job is to assess young riders and direct them to local clubs and coaches, particularly those in British Cycling's Go-Ride scheme, which feeds into Talent Team (TT). TT in turn feeds into the Olympic development programme, the foot of the ladder leading to the Olympic team via various selection processes.
• Cycling journalist
William Fotheringham | 6,072 | 3,014 | 0.000336 |
warc | 201704 | WHITBY—Child psychiatrist Dr. Gabby Ledger walks into her consulting room and throws out a cheerful “Hello, how are you?” to her teenaged patient.
But what makes the beginning of this session unusual is that 16-year-old Elizabeth isn’t sitting just across the room, but 130 kilometres away.
Ledger and her client are seeing and talking to each other in high definition on the brand new virtual emergency room (VER) TV network now linking hospitals in eastern Ontario with the Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences, based in Whitby.
The closed-circuit video-conferencing system allows Ledger in Whitby and Elizabeth in Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay to discuss the girl’s mental health issues of anxiety and depression only two days after her concerned parents brought her to the family doctor.
The VER is the perhaps most promising approach to ending the long wait for school-age children with mental health issues to get psychiatric care, often as long a year.
“Our advantage with VER is that we see the child in the moment when their condition is most acute so we can treat them better, rather than if they walked into our hospital nine months or a year later,” said Ledger.
Ledger said it will take time to train “a whole bunch of new child psychiatrists” to ease the acute shortage right across Ontario. “So in the meantime, the VER is a really innovative way to address these problems,” she said.
The problem of a child psychiatrist shortage was highlighted by Ontario’s Policy Framework for Child and Youth Mental Health, which also estimated that one in five school-age children (between 5 and 17) in Ontario have “a mental health disorder that causes some significant symptoms and/or impaired functioning at home, at school, with peers, or in the community.”
The report also noted that only 20 per cent actually received the specialized care they needed.
Dr. Gabby Ledger’s teenage female patient is a case in point. An intelligent and articulate girl, Elizabeth is nevertheless burdened by extreme anxiety, causing her to take days off school frequently.
“My anxiety had an impact on my marks,” Elizabeth said. “I would stay home because I wasn’t feeling that well. I would just take a day off, and I would just tell myself I’m just going to take today easy and hopefully feel better the next day.”
The teenager took refuge for many hours at a time in her computer, chatting to friends on Skype or posting messages on Facebook.
“One of the new strategies that the doctor gave me was to bring in a kind of reward system,” she said. “It actually limits my access to the computer, taking that away so that my brain says you’ve got to get out and go to school because our deal is that the electronics won’t be there for me unless I get to school.
“If I have to be at home because I don’t feel well, I have to read a book instead.”
After follow-up sessions that take place every two months with the child psychiatrist, Elizabeth’s medication was changed. She also sees her family doctor every two weeks and a counsellor every week. “That’s been better,” she said.
Elizabeth also likes the fact that she can walk from her home to the Lindsay hospital in just 30 minutes for her VER session — her family does not own a car and a trip to Ontario Shores in Whitby would be costly and difficult to arrange.
Ironically, it was Elizabeth’s complete familiarity with computers and the Internet that made her introduction to the virtual emergency room almost seamless.
“I actually thought there wasn’t very much difference at all, it was very clear and there wasn’t any technical difficulties or anything like that,” she said. “It really did genuinely feel like you were in the room with the doctor.”
Since the fledgling VER was launched last fall on the Ontario Telemedicine Network, covering an area serving 1.4 million people, it has delivered prompt treatment to 106 school-age children.
“It’s a fibre-optic network and it is a very secure line to protect the patient’s health confidentiality. There are no tapes of these interviews,” explained Jane Thompson, the project co-coordinator, who steered the VER from blueprint to reality in just 12 months.
“At first the psychiatrists were worried they would lose the facial expressions or mannerisms of the patient but in fact the doctor can operate the camera with a simple zapper to scan the room or move in for facial close-ups,” she said.
The VER now connects Ontario Shores to the Lindsay hospital; Peterborough Regional Health centre; the Lakeridge Health hospitals in Oshawa, Bowmanville and Port Perry; Haliburton Highlands Family Health Team; and the Campbellford community health team.
Crisis nurses have been trained in each hospital to operate the VER studios in the satellite hospitals but Thompson is often on hand to help ease the family and their child through the experience.
“The interviews start with the whole family in the room together, then the rest of the family leaves and the child continues alone talking to the psychiatrist,” she said.
“At the end of the consultation, the psychiatrist may recommend counselling and medication. A note is sent to the family’s doctor and also to the outpatients department at their local hospital.”
Back at Ontario Shores, Gabby Ledger is one of three child psychiatrists on staff and she has treated patients ranging from age 5 to 18, mostly for anxiety disorders.
Ledger admitted at first she had reservations about how successful it would be for a child to sit in a room in a hospital with “nobody else in the room” and talk to a camera.
“In fact the children proved to be very spontaneous and the virtual emergency room does get around a lot of barriers like kids having to walk into mental health hospital,” she said. “Kids are so comfortable these days with things like Skype and chat rooms that the virtual emergency room actually establishes a real rapport with them.”
The need for speedy intervention in adolescent mental health is crucial, according to Ledger. “Especially with the things that are going on in the lives of 16- and 17 year–olds, like high school, peer pressure and career choices,” she said. “So many crucial steps happening and they become unwell if they are not treated.”
“The statistics are dramatic but it’s not necessarily that children are a lot sicker than they have ever been before, it’s just people are getting better at seeking help,” Ledger said. | 6,770 | 3,087 | 0.000342 |
warc | 201704 | By Steve Elliott of Toke of the Town
Kentucky, long known as a state where excellent marijuana is grown, has lowered its penalties for possession of up to eight ounces of the herb, effective Friday, June 24.
Back in March the Kentucky Legislature overwhelmingly passed (97-2 in the House; 38-0 in the Senate) House Bill 463, which was then signed into law by Governor Steve Bershear. The new law reduces the penalty for personal possession of up to eight ounces of pot to a Class B misdemeanor, carrying a maximum penalty of 45 days in jail.
But don’t get too carried away; those penalties are just for first offenses. Subsequent offenses with up to eight ounces are still felonies, for which you can get up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000, according to the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML).
It appears that individuals solely accused of marijuana possession, less than eight ounces, will normally be cited — not arrested — under HB 463, according to the Marijuana Policy Project. If there are reasonable grounds to believe the individual will appear in court, the law provides that people may not arrest people for misdemeanors.
There are a few exceptions, but those should not apply when the only charge is marijuana possession and the defendant follows “reasonable instructions,” according to MPP.
The new law is expected to save Kentucky’s taxpayers up to $422 million over the next 10 years by making it no longer necessary to prosecute and jail low-risk cannabis offenders. It also reinvests some of those savings into treatment options for those needing help, reports Mickey Martin at
West Coast Leaf.
Currently, one-fourth of Kentucky’s prisoners are serving time for drug-related offenses. HB 463 was based on the recommendations of a report by the Task Force on the Penal Code and Controlled Substances Act, which was created to find cheaper alternatives to incarceration.
Historically, it has been really easy to get your ass busted in Kentucky. In fact, the Bluegrass State is tied for third in the nation in marijuana arrest rates and, until the new law came into effect on June 24, for marijuana penalties for possession of one ounce.
Kentucky arrested a whopping 20,329 people for marijuana offenses in 2007.
Article From Toke of the Town and republished with special permission. | 2,392 | 1,245 | 0.00082 |
warc | 201704 | How to Find Support Online for Diabetes Patients
There are roughly 29 million people in the United States that have been diagnosed with diabetes. This figure is roughly 10 percent of the population. What people who have been diagnosed with diabetes need is support in order to learn about the disease and deal with the emotional issues that can come along with a diagnosis. Today, there are a number of communities online that are designed to cater to patients that have diabetes so that they can connect and share with others about managing their disease.
Sites such as TuDiabetes.org, MyGlu.org, TypeOneNation.org, and insulinnation.com are sites that are available online so that people can share their experiences with diabetes and get tips on managing their diabetes. The diabetes online community is growing and only recently began to develop within the last four to five years.
Diabetes does not only affect patients. It also affects their families and there are a number of emotional and social issues that come along with this. By having these online communities, patients have a place to turn to in order to vent some of the stresses that come along with having diabetes. In addition, patients also have the ability to compare what is working for them versus what has been prescribed for other patients. Diabetes treatment regimes can have very different results in patients so people need to be able to share and get the support that they need.
In addition, online diabetes communities allow people to have an advantage over in-person groups because of the fact that support can be obtained at any time of the day. There are no set meeting times that patients need to adhere to which can be difficult for people that have busy schedules.
One thing that people should be cautious about is the fact that patients can not be assured that the medical advice that they are getting online is accurate. In many cases only site moderators are responsible for getting rid of inaccurate or dangerous information online. Therefore, people within the online diabetes community must step up in order to report this information to protect the members of the community.
Some diabetes communities don’t allow advice regarding medications for diabetes and instead focus only on dieting and exercise in order to prevent people from making dangerous changes to their care without the advice of a physician. Despite this, if a patient is trying to deal with managing diabetes, it is recommended that the patient join an online diabetes community in order to have some support.
It is widely known that diabetes patients often do not receive therapy as a result of being diagnosed with diabetes. Therefore, an online community can become the next best thing by providing them with an outlet to share their feelings.
Recent Posts What Diabetes Supplies Should You Purchase? 29.02.2016 | 2,887 | 1,309 | 0.000768 |
warc | 201704 | S&P500 Q3 earnings: Companies' revenue misses are a big concern
59% of companies have missed revenue expectations The revenue miss is now at 0.5% versus 0.1% the week before Better earnings, but still trailing expectations by 2.9% Earnings surprise in 63% of the earnings reports State of revenues and EPS in last week's reports Companies are still having a hard time when it comes to revenues. Their struggle is becoming increasingly pronounced as indicated by several earnings reports last week in which revenues missed expectations by 0.5 percent, versus 0.1 percent in the previous week, see table 1. Meanwhile, the EPS surprise in last week's earnings reports improved to -2.9 percent versus -7.7 percent the week before. This of course was perceived positively by investors but declining revenue is definitely still a big concern.
Single incidents matter less and less as we move further into the earnings season but we probably need to see the end of this week before we can really draw conclusions. A total of 274 S&P 500 companies or 55 percent of all companies in the index, representing around 2/3 of market cap, have reported Q3 earnings so far.
Finance is now the only sector which has recorded better than expected sales while the other sectors are below expectations. Finance declined a tad though to 2.2 percent above consensus and versus 2.9 percent the week before. IT was trailing by 1.1 percent but this has improved to -0.4 percent which is good news. The big change since last week though was in utilities. Six utility companies have reported so far and all were weaker on revenue, having missed expectations by a mile, i.e. -10.5 percent. This sector is clearly a laggard and reflects the poor state of economic activity.
Status on earnings Consumer Discretionary has generally seen better earnings than what we could expect as we know US consumers are struggling. Last week however the EPS surprise dropped from +4.5 percent to -2.2 percent but this is not due to a generally weaker trend but attributed to the big earnings miss from Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) of more than 125 percent. If we take Amazon out of the overall Consumer Discretionary sector's earnings performance calculation it is ahead by 2.5 percent.
Staples are still well ahead with a 6.0 percent increase but Energy continues to trail expectations and now stands at -6.4 percent. In Financials, 56 companies have reported and EPS is now well ahead of expectations by +7.3 precent.
IT is still behind EPS expectations by -35.1 percent. As mentioned last week, AMD (NYSE:AMD) had a really big miss of 1275 percent. If we again remove AMD from the equation then IT trails expectations by just 4.1 percent - still not a good number, though much more meaningful. In Telecom, EPS is now trailing by 11 percent versus -1.8 percent the week before - much influenced by a large miss of 38 percent by Sprint Nextel (NYSE:S).
Surprises Earnings surprises were still in the normal high range by the end of last week with 63 percent of the companies ahead of expectations. The overall picture on revenues is stable from the week before as 59 percent of the companies have reported revenues below expectations, see table 2. (We are well aware that the numbers do not add up to 100 percent, but this is due to problems in the way Bloomberg classifies some of its data.)
Investor price reaction overall has improved from -0.8 percent to -0.4 percent. Positive revenue surprises combined with positive EPS surprises is the preferred investment combination as prices of stocks meeting this criteria versus the S&P500 were up 2.2 percent, see table 2. The remaining combinations all have relative price drops where negative Revenue and Earnings surprise give rise to the largest drops. It is of course critical when both revenue and earnings face headwinds.
Surprise development during the reporting season Revenue/Sales is stable in relative terms, as mentioned above, and this translates into a rising net negative number given that we have more companies having reported. This is clear from chart 1, as we see that negative surprises continue to grow at a high pace.
On the earnings front, the absolute number of negative surprises leveled out Friday, while positive surprises continued, see chart 2. The overall picture of net earnings surprises, being well into positive territory, is on par with what we normally see in the third quarter.
How far are we? Looking at chart 3 we can see that almost 2/3 of market cap have reported so far in the season, see chart 3. By the end of this week the earnings season will be more or less over as we will near the 80 percent mark of market cap companies having reported.
The remainder of the season after this week will be a long trail of reports, though they will probably be unable to alter the overall conclusions of this earnings season.
This week This is the last important week in the earnings season with 115 companies reporting and most concentrated on Tuesday to Thursday. Energy (20 companies) and Utility (17) are heavily represented, followed by Finance (16) and Industrials (14). Conclusion We continue to see companies confirming the picture that it is difficult to keep the pace in revenues with companies missing on estimates in 59 percent of the cases, which is the biggest concern overall for investors. Companies might in the short run be able to cut costs and get EPS in line with or better than expectations but to a certain extent this is not a valid business model as the company would cease to exist in a longer perspective. This is a big worry and we need to see progress and growth. That was why we saw an unusually strong reaction to better GDP growth numbers in the US on Friday. Read also: The S&P 500 earnings season starts today: A Helicopter View S&P500 Q3 earnings: Dour tone despite positive EPS surprise. S&P500 Earnings: Analysts cut growth outlook for 2012 and 2013. S&P500 Q3 earnings: A struggle to meet revenue expectations S&P500 Earnings: Don't just look at yearly EPS - look at quarters ------- I plan to publish several more articles about the Q3 earnings season over the next three to four weeks. If you would like to be notified by email whenever I publish these stories, become a member of TradingFloor.com and follow me or the topics of your choice. Joining TradingFloor.com is free, and you can sign in with Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Google. | 6,424 | 2,822 | 0.000355 |
warc | 201704 | Having exceeded the transposition deadline set up by Directive 2006/66/EC by more than a year, this summer the German legislator enacted a new "Act on the placing on the market, the collection and the environmentally friendly disposal of batteries and accumulators" (in short: "
Battery Act") ( Gesetz über das Inverkehrbringen, die Rücknahme und die umweltverträgliche Entsorgung von Batterien und Akkumulatoren – " Batteriegesetz"). Most of its provisions came into effect as early as 1 December 2009. However, the effectiveness of some material parts is suspended until 1 March 2010.
The most important changes compared to the old (and then outdated) German Ordinance on the Collection and Disposal of Waste Batteries and Accumulators (
Verordnung über die Rücknahme und Entsorgung gebrauchter Batterien und Akkumulatoren – " Batterieverordnung") concern the
reporting requirements
prohibition of cadmium batteries
information obligations
labelling requirements and
recycling obligations
and are outlined below. In addition to the above, the Electrical and Electronic Equipment Act (
Elektro- und Elektronikgerätegesetz) has been altered with regard to an easy removal of waste batteries from such equipment. New reporting requirements
Prior to placing batteries on the German market, producers and distributors are obliged to register online with the German Federal Environment Agency (
Umweltbundesamt). (Please note that the Battery Act does not distinguish between batteries and accumulators. Thus, the term "batteries" also includes accumulators.) This affects both batteries which are placed on the market separately and batteries incorporated in or supplied with other products. New prohibition of cadmium batteries
In addition to the existing ban on batteries containing mercury, a ban has been imposed on portable batteries containing a specific level of cadmium.
Extended information requirements The core of the distributor's information obligations remains unaffected. However, some specific rules applying to mail order and thus to internet trading have been amended. Furthermore, producers are now obliged to inform end customers of possible health concerns and environmental damages, e.g. by way of recycling schemes. Extended and amended labelling requirements Whilst under the outdated law producers were able to choose between different symbols in order to label batteries, the new Battery Act only allows for one uniform symbol. The limit values for mercury, cadmium and lead – which trigger specific labelling requirements in case they are exceeded – have also been altered. Finally, there is a new obligation concerning capacity labelling. Reformed recycling obligations Whereas the producer's obligations to take part in recycling schemes and to take back batteries from the distributors remain in full force and effect, the regulations concerning the recycling schemes' procedures have been reformed. Furthermore, there are now different rules applying to internet sales. New provisions on the removal of waste batteries All electrical and electronical devices must now be designed in such a way that waste batteries can be easily removed. However, exceptions apply in specific circumstances, e.g. in connection with medical requirements. In this context, the wording of instruction manuals is now subject to stricter regulations. New sanctions for non-compliance
Non-compliance with the new provisions constitutes an administrative offence and may lead to administrative fines amounting to EUR 50,000 as of 1 March 2010. In certain cases, the law may even impose an obligation to withdraw the batteries from the market. | 3,723 | 1,690 | 0.000604 |
warc | 201704 | About Us
We aim to facilitate the pathway for access, storage, use and transfer of human organs, cells and tissue between clinical centres within UCL Partners, academic groups in UCL, other universities, hospitals, medical researcher and biotechnology companies, to enhance the ability for researchers to access the materials they need. Alongside this, researcher will be able to exchange information and access guides on regulatory, ethics and practical issues concerning access, transfer and use of this type of material. These guides will be video and documents format, based on talks at organised events given by experts in the relevant fields. All of this information will be accessible on a website that seeks to link groups within UCL and attract attention from the wider world through social media and expansion of existing contacts
Brian Davidson is Professor of Surgery at UCL, as well as consultant surgeon at both the Royal Free and Wellington Hospital. His research interests include liver viability, perfusion and preservation, and the molecular basis and treatment of hepat-pancreato-biliary cancers.
His work is at the interface between academic research and applied biotechnology, and also newer fields of bio-banking.
Email Brian (opens email software)
b.davidson@ucl.ac.uk
Barry Fuller Barry Fuller is Professor of Surgical Sciences in the Division of Surgery & Interventional Science, at the Royal Free Hospital and is the current President of the International Society for Cryobiology, and a lead professor in a global virtual network, under the auspices of the UNESCO Chair in Cryobiology His remit with UNESCO is to share knowledge and assist groups in restructuring countries that are setting up their own infrastructure for tissue banking or organ procurement for transplantation.
One of his primary research aims is to show how low temperatures can be used in the clinic to maximise the quality of both transplant organs and tissues, and also to control biological change. this includes interest in:
low temperature preservation of cells tissues and organs for clinical applications effects of ischaemia / reperfusion injury in surgery organ-specific metabolic effects of chemotherapy surgery and transplantation; liver and pancreas studies translational research on hypothermic liver perfusion for transplantation stem cells and tissue engineering in hepatic support and vascular biology
This understanding of the essential processes and procedures required in organ donation has encouraged him to think about access and availability of human cells and tissues for ethically-approved research in a broader context, and to start a collaboration with surgical colleague.
Email Barry Fuller (opens email software)
b.fuller@ucl.ac.uk
Dr Amir Gander is the lead individual for Tissue Access for Patient Benefit (TAPb) a UCL initiative to bring surplus human tissue from surgery and biobanks to researchers across UK and internationally. After completing a degree in Molecular Biology at UCL, he worked in the chemical and pharmaceutical industry for a number of years. He worked in the fields of quality management and regulations then specialising in the development of bench scale drug fermentation techniques to large production scale at a large pharmaceutical production plant. Following this, he complete his PhD in Bioengineering, which involved development of a system to manage plasma quality re-entering a patient as part of a bioartificial liver medical device (to treat liver failure by passing blood through a chamber containing living liver cells).
TAPb has established a network of researchers interested in tissue from specific disease pathways. In collaboration with the state-of-the-art biobank at the Royal Free Hospital London, we have started to supply tissue (with clinical information) to a number of research companies, with ever expanding tissue types becoming available. Strong collaboration with public and private sector researchers, we seek to develop a bespoke service with the ability to utilise in-house accredited processing methods.
email: a.gander@ucl.ac.uk | 4,129 | 1,945 | 0.000516 |
warc | 201704 | Whilst we all know and love the joy of speeding up and down smooth roads, safety should always be your number one priority when cycling. When those darker evenings start to kick in earlier and earlier throughout the year, and visibility begins to decrease; investing in a powerful bike light will ensure that you remain safe and seen whilst out and about.
There are many factors to keep in mind before buying a bike light. Are you going to be riding down pitch black country roads? Will you need the ability to readily remove the light from your bike at a moment of notice? Do you want a rechargeable USB bike light? This list goes on on on, so we’d absolutely recommend you take a couple of minutes to familiarise yourself with the myriad of options available to you at Westbrook Cycles. Our range of effective bike lights are available at low costs and don’t sacrifice on quality - your safety is vitally important to us, which is why you will only find bike lights which have passed strict safety regulations and industry standard testing. Within our range of bike lights, you can expect to find dazzlingly bright front and rear bike lights, which are available as individual items of as part of a bike lights set.
Our selection of quality bike lights spans many of the most reliable and acclaimed brands in the cycling industry, such as: Garmin, Cateye, Exposure Lights, and more. For more outstanding cycling equipment to combine with your new bike lights, you might like to browse our wide collection of bike accessories. If visibility is on your mind, we’d recommend always wearing a suitable high-visibility jacket for those night time journeys, check out Westbrook Cycles’ cycling jackets department for effective high-viz cycling jackets at unmissable prices. | 1,793 | 932 | 0.001088 |
warc | 201704 | More than 4 weeks availability
Description From the Foreword by Captain Daniel Maurino, ICAO: '...Air Traffic Control...will remain a technology-intensive system. People (controllers) must harmoniously interact with technology to contribute to achieve the aviation system's goals of safe and efficient transportation of passengers and cargo...This book...considers human error and human factors from a contemporary and operational perspective and discusses the parts as well as the whole...I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did.' The motivation for writing this book comes from the author's long standing belief that the needs of Air Traffic Service personnel are inadequately represented in the aviation literature. There are few references to air traffic control in many of the books written for pilots and about pilots and this is also observed at the main international conferences.In line with the ICAO syllabus for human factors training for air traffic controllers, the book covers the main issues in air traffic control, with regard to human performance: physiology including stress, fatigue and shift work problems; psychology with emphasis on human error and its management, social psychology including issues of communication and working in teams, the environment including ergonomic principles and working with new technologies and hardware and software issues including the development of documentation and procedures and a study of the changes brought about by advanced technologies. Throughout the text there are actual examples taken from the air traffic control environment to illustrate the issues discussed. A full bibliography is included for those who want to read beyond these issues. It has been written for all in air traffic services, from ab initio to the boardroom; it is important that the men and women in senior management positions have some knowledge and awareness of the fundamental problems that limit and enhance human performance.
About Author Dr Anne Isaac works with the human factors group at EUROCONTROL. Belgium. She previously lectured at Otago University and Massey University, School of Aviation, New Zealand. Her research work, for the last 16 years, has been concerned with human performance in ATC and focuses on imagery, mental models and error. She has been involved with training, incident investigation and other performance issues in both Australia and New Zealand and spent a year with Dedale in Paris developing the ATC Team Resource Management programme for Europe. Bert Ruitenberg has represented the International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers' Associations (IFATCA) in the human factors field since 1992. He is a regular speaker at human factors conferences, seminars and symposia organized by the aviation industry (eg ICAO, EUROCONTROL) and the scientific community (eg Ohio State University, Australian Aviation Psychology Association). He works as an air traffic controller at Schiphol Airport (tower and approach radar control), Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Contents Contents: Foreword by Captain Daniel Maurino. The need for human factors; Human error; Liveware: the controller; Liveware - liveware: social psychology and the controller; Liveware - software: procedures, documentation and the controller; Liveware - hardware: equipment and the controller; Liveware - environment: other factors and the controller; Test of the blind spot; Task/relationship questionnaire; Key to the countries in the Hofstede model; Bibliography; Index. Product Details publication date: 28/05/1999 ISBN13: 9780291398543 Format: Hardback Number Of Pages: 392 ID: 9780291398543 weight: 846 ISBN10: 0291398545 Delivery Information Saver Delivery: Yes 1st Class Delivery: Yes Courier Delivery: Yes Store Delivery: Yes
Prices are for internet purchases only. Prices and availability in WHSmith Stores may vary significantly
© Copyright 2013 - 2017 WHSmith and its suppliers. WHSmith High Street Limited Greenbridge Road, Swindon, Wiltshire, United Kingdom, SN3 3LD, VAT GB238 5548 36 | 4,051 | 1,984 | 0.000506 |
warc | 201704 | Definitions from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition adj. Having the capacity to compel: a frightening, compulsive novel. adj. Psychology Caused or conditioned by compulsion or obsession. n. A person with behavior patterns governed by a compulsion. from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License adj. uncontrolled or reactive and unconscious adj. Having power to compel; exercising or applying compulsion. n. One who exhibits compulsive behaviours. from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English adj. Having power to compel; exercising or applying compulsion. from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia Exercising compulsion; tending to compel; compulsory. from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. adj. strongly motivated to succeed adj. caused by or suggestive of psychological compulsion n. a person with a compulsive disposition; someone who feels compelled to do certain things Etymologies from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License compulsus, past participle of compellere("to compel"), from com-("together") + pellere("to drive"). Examples
TO THE ZEEs: Sorry to see you made what I label a
compulsivedecision.
However, they do tend toward certain
compulsivebehaviors.
Food obsession falls under the form of self-sabotage I call
compulsiveself-sabotage, the hardest kind of self-destruction to shake.
The classic definition of an obsessive-
compulsiveis a person who repeats the same unsuccessful behavior over and over hoping that it will work this time or that mere repetition will bestow good fortune.
(I consign to parentheses the equally problematic issue of race, although few readers familiar with Austen will want to ignore the near-hysterical irruption of "the slave-trade" into one of Jane Fairfax's earlier conversations [271], as if in
compulsive, belated echo of the formidable subtext haunting Mansfield Park.)
What most people consider occasional thoughts or pursuits rivet the neural arousal system of the genius, the collector, and the artist, who vent their obsessions in
compulsiveactivity.
If this view is correct, we can then derive a simple model: (1) genetic anomalies introduce defects into the structure of the reward cascade and (2) defects in the reward cascade cause behavioral distortions that we call
compulsivediseases.
Binge eating disorder is a relatively recently recognized disorder (it is sometimes referred to as
compulsiveovereating).
But showing off your hometown to a foreigner, someone who stops and stares and snaps photos in a manner that can only be described as
compulsive, is always a revelation.
Cell phone dependency is now called
compulsivecommunicating. | 2,788 | 1,400 | 0.000723 |
warc | 201704 | With the fiscal cliff just a few weeks away and the two parties still at odds, the nervous investors are looking for assets that may provide refuge from the cliff. (3 ETFs to Prepare for the Fiscal Cliff)
A new report released by the White House yesterday warned that the fiscal cliff could “slow real GDP growth by 1.4% and limit consumer spending during the holiday season”.
Earlier this month the Congressional Budget Office said that the cliff would drive the U.S. economy back into recession next year and result in a jump in the jobless rate to 9.1% by the end of 2013.
Though the laws will change on January 1
st, their actual impact will be felt over the course of next year. But the psychological impact of the changes is already visible as the businesses have curtailed investments and investors are selling stocks ahead of the potential capital gains tax hike.
While it is most likely that the two parties will reach some agreement, it remains to be seen what kind of changes they will agree to. They may agree to change the “threshold” for high-income or take away itemized deductions. It is possible that the dividend taxes may not go up for all the investors.
In anticipation of the increase in tax rate on dividends, many investors have been selling their dividend stocks. Some companies—particularly the ones with high insider ownership—are rushing to make accelerated or special dividends this year. (MLP ETFs: Unfortunate Victims of The Fiscal Cliff)
Currently the qualified dividends are taxed at 15% top rate, same as long-term capital gains rate. If the tax cuts are not extended, long-term capital gains tax will revert to 20% but the dividends will be taxed as income, at rates up to 39.6%. Additionally, there will be a 3.8% surcharge on investment income for investors with higher incomes.
While high-quality dividend-paying stocks still represent long-term value, it is almost certain that these stocks will experience further sell-off if the tax laws become unfavorable. (Biotech ETFs: A Fiscal Cliff Safe Haven?)
For investors who are concerned about the “dividend-cliff”, an attractive option is to invest in the Emerging Markets Dividend ETFs that combine the opportunity to benefit from the higher growth potential in the emerging markets with the steady flow of dividend income in addition to providing the escape from the “fiscal-cliff” issues in the US.
Here are ten reasons for investing in Emerging Markets Dividend ETFs now:
1) The stocks held by these ETFs are not/will not be affected by the fiscal cliff issues, as these are mostly held by the investors who are not impacted by the U.S. tax laws.
2) About 70% of global dividends comes from the companies outside of the U.S. and hence by focusing just on the domestic companies, the investors are losing the bigger dividend opportunity.
3) Dividend payout ratios have been on a decline in the U.S. and the trend is expected to continue. Further, high corporate tax rates in the U.S. act as a disincentive to the large multinational corporations to repatriate their profits from international operations.
4) Emerging markets currently represent about one-third of global GDP and their share will continue to grow in the coming years. As such they ought to be a part of any investment portfolio.
5) The IMF projects that the emerging economies will grow at 5.6% in 2013, versus 1.5% growth for the developed economies and hence investment in emerging markets companies provides greater chances of capital appreciation.
6) These markets have low correlations with the developed markets and thus provide diversification benefits to the portfolio.
7) The emerging markets companies often offer a higher rate of dividend yield compared with the domestic companies.
8) Some of the U.S. stocks/sector ETFs that are high dividend payers have become expensive compared with the broader market, as the yield-starved investors poured money into them in the last 2-3 years.
9) If the U.S. actually goes over the cliff, the economy would fall into a recession next year, whereas many other countries—especially the ones with a high level of domestic consumption--will continue to grow unaffected by the global headwinds.
10) The largest and most important emerging economy—China—finally seems to be bottoming out.
WisdomTree Emerging Markets Equity Income Fund (DEM - Free Report)
DEM tracks the WisdomTree Emerging Markets Equity Income Index, which is a fundamentally weighted index that measures the performance of the high dividend yielding stocks in emerging markets. The fund has currently has more than $4.5 billion in assets under management and charges 63 basis points annually for operating expenses.
The funds assigns heaviest weight to Financials (26.7%), followed by Energy (18.5%) and Materials (18.2%).
In terms of country allocations, Taiwan is at the top (20.5%), followed by China (15.6%), Russia (13.2%) and Brazil (11.9%). Its annual dividend yield is 3.64% versus average US dividend yield of less than 2%.
SPDR S&P Emerging Markets Dividend ETF (EDIV - Free Report)
EDIV tracks S&P Emerging Markets Dividend Opportunities Index, consisting of dividend paying securities of 100 publicly-traded companies in emerging markets. The ETF was launched in February last year and has so far attracted $321 million in assets.
Currently, it is heaviest weighted in financials (21.8%), followed by Materials (20.3%) and Telecom (18.1%). Country weights for the top three are Brazil (18.8%), Taiwan (14.1%), and Poland (10.0%).
The expense ratio for this fund is 0.59%, and it pays out a very attractive dividend yield of 6.01%.
Emerging Markets Dividend Index Fund (DVYE - Free Report)
This ETF introduced very recently (February 24, 2012), is designed to compete with the popular WisdomTree ETF mentioned above by providing a lower cost alternative to the investors, while fulfilling similar investment objective.
The fund seeks to replicate the Dow Jones Emerging Markets Select Dividend Index. This fund is less exposed to the Financials (14.6%) compared to DEM, with top weighting assigned to Industrials (17.7%) and Telecom (15.4%).
Taiwan leads the country allocation with 22.6% weight, followed South Africa (10.5%) and by Turkey (9.6%). The fund holds 101 stocks and thus focuses on a smaller group of companies compared with DEM (293 holdings).
The underlying stocks are selected on the basis of dividend yield. The ETF currently charges 0.49% to the investors. The adviser to the fund has agreed to waive a part of its management fee to limit the expense ratio at this level through the end of December 2014.
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warc | 201704 | Invoicing Must Do's - What You Need To Know
Collecting invoices is a time consuming, laborious process.
It’s even harder when you have a client that doesn’t pay.
If you’re like most startups or small to mid-size businesses, you’ve probably been guilty at one time or another of procrastinating when it comes to invoicing your customers.
In this article, we look at invoicing must do’s and tell you what you need to know to ensure you get paid consistently and on time.
Invoicing is Top Priority
We encourage you to put invoicing at the top of your priority list. Don’t leave it until you actually “need” the money.
Having a good money collection system is a must have for your business. You need the money to pay your employees, your suppliers, yourself and your business expenses.
Invoicing doesn’t have to be hard, though. You just have to follow a system to make it work for you. Here are your must do’s:
Set Payment Terms
Decide whether you’ll offer net-30 payment terms, something shorter or something longer.
You don’t have to wait 30 days for payment if you don’t want to. You can specify that your customers pay on receipt of your invoice. If you provide work in a timely fashion, it should be okay for them to pay you when you invoice them.
When offering net-30 terms, you want to first check your customer’s credit.. By reviewing these reports, you’ll learn whether or not your customer has a good payment history. If they don’t, it’s not a good idea to offer net-30 credit terms.
On the flip side, if they have a good credit track record, you can give them a little leeway.
Whichever way you choose, be sure your customer’s payment terms are in writing and agreed to by both parties.
Use a Contract
Save yourself a lot of headaches when invoicing and have a contract between your company and your customer. Outline the following: • Deliverables • Time frames • Conflict resolution • Payment terms, due dates, expectations and consequences for late payment
Charge Overdue Fees
There are consequences for a customer’s late payment. Outline this in your contract.
It’s emotionally hard, though, for many companies to charge this overdue fee, but it must be done.
If you’ve clearly specified your payment terms, you have every right to charge them interest on their overdue invoices.
Track Your Time Accurately
If you are billing hourly for your time, it pays to track time accurately.
Use a professional software to do this so you can quickly print reports for your customers if they ask.
Time tracked on a computer is much easier to provide than random slips of paper with your time worked.
Send Invoices Promptly
So you did the work two months ago, but you’re just now invoicing? This is a bad idea.
If you delivered the promised items or services months ago to your client, he’s going to be quite surprised to get a bill a long time after the work was finished.
As a general rule, invoice right after the work is done or the product is delivered.
Customers are more apt to pay a timely invoice than a tardy one.
Follow Up
If you’ve followed the previous must do’s of invoicing, and the payment is late, it’s a good idea to follow up.
Follow up once your invoice is five days past due. You can email or call your customer and find out if they have any problems or didn’t receive the invoice.
If there aren’t any issues, gently remind them the invoice is overdue. Set another date.
If they miss that one, try again. After this, if they don’t pay, it’s probably time to get collections involved.
In all of your dealings, remain professional and courteous. Anger won’t get you anywhere.
Offer Discounts
To encourage on-time payments, you can consider offering discounts for pre-payments or early payments. For example, offer your customers a 2-5% discount for pre-paying their invoice. Lower it just a bit if they pay within one week of invoicing after the product is delivered. This not only helps your ongoing cash flow needs, but it can help ensure your customers pay on time.
To Conclude
Now that you have a list of invoicing must do’s, you can feel confident in your invoicing system.
The best way to get paid on time is to send out your invoices once or twice per month, on the same day each month.
Additionally, only work with clients or customers who have a good track record of paying on time. There’s not much reason to keep a customer around who doesn’t pay you in a timely fashion.
If you have a client that falters in his payments, do reach out with a friendly reminder. If that doesn’t work, do you have to quit working with them?
Not necessarily. You can offer them payment in advance options or payment before delivery.
As a final thought, always remember that your products and services matter, and you have a right to be paid consistently and on time.
What are your invoicing tricks? How do you get your customers to pay you on time? Please share your comments below. We’d love to hear them. | 5,163 | 2,303 | 0.000456 |
warc | 201704 | Contents
1 Best Children’s Day Speech Essay for Teachers & Students: 🙂 1.1 Final Words for Speech on Children’s Day: 1.2 Share with us your lovely Memorable Children’s Day Experience in your Childhood … Comment below to share Best Children’s Day Speech Essay for Teachers & Students: 🙂
Children’s Day is an event celebrated on various days in many places around the world. International Children’s Day is celebrated on June 1 and Universal Children’s Day is on November 20.Other countries celebrate a local ‘children’s day’ on other dates.
14th Nov. is celebrated all over India every year as Children’s Day in loving memory of Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of our country. He was a true friend of children. He profoundly loved them and kept them dear to his heart. Therefore children called him ‘Chacha Nehru’.
His great love for roses as well as children is a well-known fact. In fact he often compared the two, saying that children were like the buds in a garden. They should be carefully and lovingly nurtured, as they were the future of the nation and the citizens of tomorrow. He felt that children are the real strength of a country and the very foundation of society. Most importantly he did not discriminate between the sexes and believed in giving equal opportunities to girls and boys. In fact his own little girl grew up to be the third Prime Minister of India.
Quite naturally, he was the ‘beloved’ of all the children who gave him the endearing name of ‘Chacha Nehru’. As a tribute to this great man and his genuine love for children, his birthday is celebrated all over India as ‘UNIVERSAL CHILDREN’S DAY’. A day of fun and fanfare. It is not only a national holiday, but is celebrated with singing, dancing and storytelling in schools and colleges as well as on radio and television. Special functions are held to honour children all over the country.
In the Indian context ‘Chacha’ stands next to one’s father and symbolises traits of affection, love and concern. Despite his hectic life as Prime Minister, Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru found time to be with children. It is said that if anything Nehru liked most in his life, it is the time he spent with little children.
Therefore, as a tribute to this lover of children the nation started the custom of celebrating his birth anniversary I as Children’s Day, soon after his death in 1964. The nation could pay no better tribute to our immortal leader for whom children were ‘God incarnate’ and ‘divinity in flesh’.
The celebration of Children’s day teaches us several important values. It is a call to protect our little ones from all harm and to save them from the negative impact of modernisation, urbanisation, industrialisation, commercialisation and gross materialism.
Today children are thrown open to evils of drug, sex, alcohol, hard labour, abuse and violence. Thousands of little children in our country are made to slog for long hours, for little pay. Hundreds are yet to see the light of modern education. Therefore, it is a call to put an end to various forms of child abuse that are taking place in our land. Such a day reminds us of the inestimable worth of those little angels.
They are the valuable asset of our nation, the future of our land, and the hope of tomorrow. The day also invites us to acquire the fine qualities that characterise children such as, simplicity, purity of heart and mind, innocence a sense of affection and attachment, etc.
Final Words for Speech on Children’s Day:
But amidst all this pomp and glory, we should not lose sight of Chacha Nehru’s real message. That is providing our children with a safe and loving environment in which to grow as well as giving them ample and equal opportunities through which they can take great strides and contribute to the progress of the nation. This day serves as a reminder to each and every one of us, to renew our commitment to the welfare of children and teach them to live by their Chacha Nehru’s standards and example.
Children constitute the greatest asset of a nation. A nation prospers or progresses to the extent it is able to develop the hidden potential lying untapped in her children. In a country like India, where children constitute a good percentage of the population, we need to give much more attention to their all-round development. A day like Children’s Day is a right step in this direction. The day invites all of us to give children their due-love, affection and opportunities for development. Best Children’s Day Speech & Essay in English Pdf Download Chacha Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru India
Originally posted 2014-11-08 05:39:53. | 4,824 | 2,211 | 0.000473 |
warc | 201704 | According to data released by the Federal Bureau of Investigations, the United States is becoming safer nearly every year. In the 20 years through 2012, the U.S. violent crime rate has been almost cut in half. Just since 2007, the nation’s violent crime rate has declined from 471.8 to 386.9 incidents per 100,000 people.
While the prevalence of violent crime — which includes murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault — has declined in many of the nation’s metropolitan areas, in some regions it has increased. In Bismarck, North Dakota, the violent crime rate more-than doubled — from 167.5 cases per 100,000 people in 2007 to 354.3 in 2013. Based on figures published by the FBI, these are the metropolitan areas with the greatest increases in violent crime rate.
Not all measures of crime produce the same results. While reported offenses of violent crimes were down slightly on a per capita basis in 2012, the most recent year for which data is available, estimates that include non-reported offenses indicate that the violent crime rate actually rose in 2012. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, “Crime not reported to police and simple assault accounted for the majority of this increase.”
Although it remains difficult to precisely determine the violent crime rate, the exact relationship between crime and the economy is similarly unclear . Some experts believe that people are more likely to commit crimes as the economy stumbles, while others suggest this relationship is unresolved and that more opportunities to commit crime may arise as the economy improves.
“As you just sort of think through the mechanics of a crime, it makes total sense,” John Roman, senior fellow at the Urban Institute, told 24/7 Wall St. “Your car is much less likely to be stolen if its in your garage than if its in the mall parking lot…and your home is much less likely to be burglarized if you’re in it than if you’re somewhere else spending money.”
In many of the metro areas where crime rose the most, the economy has been especially strong. This is the case with Odessa, Texas, an oil boom town that has experienced rapid economic growth and large inflows of people. Two other metro areas, Columbus, Indiana, and Sioux Falls, South Dakota, have also experienced strong growth in recent years.
One of the hidden factors that could be driving up crime rates in areas with thriving economies may be shifting local demographics, Roman explained. “The biggest predictor of committing a criminal act is being young, male, and relatively low-skilled. And when you have these big natural resource booms you’re attracting lots and lots of those people to your community.” As a result, it is not organized criminals driving up crime rates as much as it is likely younger men looking for work, Roman said.
Generally, aggravated assault was the most reported violent crime in 2012, accounting for more than 62% of incidents. This was especially the case in many of the areas that led the nation in rising violent crime rates. Even as most of these areas had dramatic increases in assault rates, most had declining murder rates, and some even had decreases in property crime.
Aside from changing demographics, another factor that may affect crime statistics may be the area’s reporting trends. According to Roman, if police signal they are cracking down on crimes such as domestic violence, they may be able to encourage more people to report a crime.
Drug use, too, may play a role in promoting crime in some areas. Heroin use is on the rise in a number of metro areas because crackdowns on prescription pill abuse “drives people into the black market for heroin,” Roman said. While heroin users are no more likely to be violent, the environment in which drugs are bought and sold is often more dangerous, leading to potentially higher crime rates.
Based on figures published by the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report, 24/7 Wall St. determined the 10 metropolitan statistical areas where crime rates rose the most between 2007 and 2012. In order to be considered, areas had to retain the same geographic boundaries during the period covered, and they had to retain a consistent reporting practices. For some MSAs, less than all areas reported offenses. For these areas, FBI estimates totals based on offenses from areas actually reporting. Additionally, we also reviewed unemployment figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), as well as the BLS’s “Economy At A Glance” tables.
These are the 10 U.S. cities where violent crime is soaring. | 4,669 | 2,147 | 0.000479 |
warc | 201704 | When you have decided that a cat will be the right pet for your family, there are many other decisions that you must make before you are ready to get your cat. Choosing a cat breed can be one of the most important decisions that you make for your family and pet. You just need to choose which breed will be best for your family.
There are many different types of cat breeds to choose from, and they all vary in shapes and sizes and their overall demeanor. One of the breeds is the Abyssinian or otherwise known as the 'Aby cat'. This cat is a very loyal cat and is a playful breed. Aby's are usually attentive cats with lots of personality and energy. The Balinese are another breed of cat. This breed used to be called the Longhaired Siamese cat. These cats have many of the same markings as the Siamese breeds, but their tail is more plumed out than others. If you want a cat that is going to want you back, this would be the breed of cat to go for. These cats constantly want attention and seem to be active cats when their owners are around. If you are away at work for parts of the day, be sure to leave these cats a chew toy, because they will need something to play with.
The Manx is quite a different type of breed. These cats usually look like fairly ordinary cats except for their tail. Because of a mutation in the spine, these cats can range in tail length any where from normal length to no tail at all. These cats are quite intelligent breeds with a playful demeanor. These cats will often remind their owners of dogs because they will fetch small objects for the owner.
A Siberian breeded cat is a well defined breed. This is a type of cat that you can tell from all other cats because of its color and build. Siberian cats have a white body with black ears, a black and grey face, and a black and grey belly and tail. This cat usually has a normal size tail and can grow to be about a medium sized cat. These cats are also a dog like breed. These cats can also be affectionate breeds and have proven to be a very intelligent cat. These are just a few of the many different breeds that are available for you to own.
For more information, contact Miami Veterinarian Clinics by clicking here [http://www.miamiveterinarianclinics.com/about_miami_veterinarian_clinics.aspx].
Joseph Devine | 2,306 | 1,091 | 0.000919 |
warc | 201704 | Rochelle and Renita Hodges (“Tenants”) leased an apartment from Sasil Corporation (“Landlord”). The Tenants received a Section 8 housing subsidy from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and so the amount of rent that the Landlord could charge the Tenant was strictly regulated by federal law, including limits on the amount of rent that the Landlord could charge the Tenant.
From 2003-2005, the Tenants occasionally fell behind in their rent payments, and so the Landlord hired Rosalie Scheckel (“Attorney”) of Feinstein, Raiss, Kalin & Booker (“Law Firm”) to commence eviction proceedings each time. When the Attorney would file lawsuits against the Tenants, she would seek not only payment of past due rent but also late fees, attorneys’ fees, and court costs. All of these charges would be listed as “rent” in the lawsuits. The Law Firm claimed that it was entitled to these additional amounts based on language in the lease, although these additional amounts were not defined as rent under federal law and nonpayment could not serve as a basis for eviction under New Jersey law.
On a number of occasions, the Tenants offered to pay the Landlord the amount of unpaid rent (but not the other claimed amounts) that they owed, but the Law Firm refused to accept that amount and continued with the eviction proceedings. However, when the Tenants obtained legal representation in a 2004 proceeding, the Law Firm amended its lawsuit and dropped all non-rent charges. The lawsuit was then dismissed when the Tenants paid the past-due rent amounts.
Later in 2004, the Attorney filed another lawsuit against the Tenants for past due rent and also sought late fees and legal fees. On the trial date, the Tenants appeared with an attorney and also filed a separate lawsuit against the Law Firm, the Landlord, and the Attorney, alleging violations of the FDCPA and other laws. When the Tenants sought to consolidate the lawsuits, the Law Firm agreed to dismiss all of the other fees it had sought from the Tenant and accepted only the past due rental amounts. The Law Firm then successfully obtained judgment in its favor in the Tenants’ lawsuit, and the Tenants appealed.
The New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division, reversed the trial court and sent the case back to the lower court for further proceedings. The FDCPA is designed to prevent a “debt collector” from harassing individuals during the process of collecting a debt. The trial court had ruled that the FDCPA did not apply to the Law Firm because they were not “debt collectors” within the meaning of the statute because they were not regularly engaged in the practice of debt collecting. Instead, the trial court had found that the Law Firm was primarily engaged in the practice of real estate law and also landlord/tenant matters.
The court considered whether a law firm could be covered by the FDCPA. The Supreme Court of the United States has concluded that the FDCPA covers attorneys who “regularly engage in consumer debt collection, even when that activity consists of litigation”. Therefore, the question for the court was whether an action for possession of the property constituted “debt collection”.
The court determined that an action for possession constituted debt collection, as the consumer could avoid losing possession of the leased premises by paying the unpaid rent. Thus, the court ruled that if the Law Firm was engaged in the practice of regularly filing actions for possession, then it would be a debt collector within the meaning of the FDCPA and so would have to meet the notice provisions contained within the FDCPA. Since there was insufficient evidence to make this determination, the court sent the case back to the trial court for further proceedings.
The Law Firm argued that it would be impossible for it to comply with the FDCPA notice provisions because these rules differ from the legal process the Law Firm must undertake on behalf of a landlord to obtain possession of leased premises under state law. Under the FDCPA, a debt collector must notify the consumer within five days of the first communication the amount of the debt being sought for collection and this amount will be presumed to be accurate if the consumer does not object to this amount within thirty days. The Law Firm argued that an action for possession is initiated by the filing of a lawsuit and so the separate FDCPA notice provisions would cause a conflict between the FDCPA and the state law legal process. The court rejected this argument, finding the complaint itself would constitute notice under the FDCPA and the Law Firm could meet the FDCPA requirements during the state law process for obtaining possession of the property.
, 893 A.2d 21 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. 2006). Hodges v. Feinstein, Raiss, Kelin & Booker, LLC | 4,924 | 2,011 | 0.000509 |
warc | 201704 | A Mystery in Captivity
October 26, 2012
Filed under Science Hang on for a minute...we're trying to find some more stories you might like. Email This Story Shark spines reveal what we may be missing about captive conservation
In the past fifty years, sharks have moved out of relative obscurity and into the heart of American pop culture. The 1975 release of
Jaws established the image of shark as vicious man-eater. Modern media like the Discovery Channel’s annual Shark Week series has since created its own, more nuanced image of a harmless and largely misunderstood animal.
Still, when we venture off to the aquarium to see a living, breathing shark for ourselves, we expect to find a menacing creature staring back at us. We pay our admission for the thrill of proximity to a dangerous thing, even as a layer of glass removes us from any real threat.
And few sharks fit our idea of “sharkiness” as perfectly as the sandtiger shark. The sandtiger’s body, which can stretch out to 10 feet or more, is a bulky mass of muscle that helps to propel the animal through the shallow, coastal waters around North America. The animal’s head tapers off at the snout where the jaw rests naturally ajar –just wide enough to reveal the jagged rows of teeth that overlap, curve inwards, and jut out in all directions.
Despite its intimidating appearance, the sandtiger is a well-behaved shark. It is slow-moving and calm, an animal that keeps mostly to itself even in the midst of other aquatic life. Because of this, the sandtiger has become the darling of modern shark captivity and the most widely displayed shark species in the world.
It was surprising, then, when zoos and aquaria first began to notice that a strange thing was happening to their sandtigers; nearly a third of them were developing misshapen spines. These spinal deformities ranged from subtle bends that emerged only in post-mortem analysis to grotesque, dramatic bulges visible even from a distance in the backs of live sharks. The latter, more severe instances almost always required euthanasia.
Necropsies revealed what was happening inside some of the worst cases: knots of calcified fractures and spines pinched up in the middle, held there like a kink in a hose. Sometimes, fractures were small and spread evenly along the spine; often, though, they were singular and fatal –a striking upward bend between the dorsal and lateral fins of the shark.
In 2008, Dr. Daniel Huber of the University of Tampa began to work on a shark spine survey, which asked zoos and aquaria to donate the spines of sandtiger sharks that had died of either natural causes or deformity-prompted euthanasia.
Huber shared his research at the biology department’s annual Darling Lecture on Tuesday. He obtained his Ph.D. while studying biomechanics, an emerging interdisciplinary field that seeks to apply the principles of engineering to biological systems. His work has focused on the architecture of a shark’s body –the force of its bite, for instance, or the structure of its skeleton.
After signing onto the shark spine project, Huber and his colleagues began evaluating the physical properties of captive sandtiger sharks’ spines. The group measured things like the amount of crushing force that an individual vertebra could withstand before it suffered irreversible damage; they measured the stiffness of the spine, its range of movement, and how far it could bend without breaking.
Ultimately, Huber found that the average captive sandtiger shark spine is much weaker than those of other wild shark species. The sandtiger spine is so much weaker, in fact, that it seems to be why the species is at such high risk for spinal deformities.
The group first turned to the sharks’ captive diet for clues as to why the spine might be so fragile. Their diets appeared to be lacking in vitamin C and zinc, both of which are vital for proper skeletal health because they act as helper molecules in proper cartilage formation. Without adequate levels of vitamin C and zinc, bones become brittle and vulnerable to traumatic injury.
In humans, for example, vitamin C and zinc imbalances lead to diseases like rickets and scurvy, which often leave the load-bearing knee joints of patients buckling beneath them.
Vitamin C and zinc matter to the body’s healing processes after injury as well. When a shark’s cartilage spine is broken, a rush of calcium is sent to the fracture site. It builds there, and nutrients like vitamin C and zinc help to remove the excess mineral and return the bone to its normal state. Without those nutrients, the calcium is allowed to accumulate into an enormous callous that appears as a large hump in the animal’s back.
Huber believes that many damaging fractures are set into motion early on, at developmentally vulnerable times, during net capture. Here, the shark’s body contorts beneath the weight of hundreds of other fish as it is hauled out of the water and dropped onto the deck of a ship. Because the shark is often young at the time of its capture, it is more susceptible to skeletal injury.
Of course, any fracture is bad news for a shark because the animal must stay in constant motion in order to pass water over its gills and, ultimately, to breathe. Even with a back-breaking injury, a shark has no choice but to remain swimming.
To deal with their need for perpetual motion, sharks have developed their own kind of cruise control mechanism; they power upwards for a stretch before allowing themselves to glide back down without much effort.
But this maneuver requires space, and space is precisely what the average aquarium does not have. Huber estimates that, in the wild, a shark spends nearly equal amounts of time powering up as it does drifting down again. In captivity, that ratio is skewed entirely in favor of active ascent. Practically, this means a lot more stress for the spine in captive conditions.
If we consider the typical layout of an aquarium, we encounter even more problems. Most aquariums are circular. A stressed shark, as a large animal constrained within a limited space, will swim along the tank’s edges just as a nervous man will pace the edges of a room. This constant movement in a singular direction has an inherent sidedness –that is, it involves an asymmetrical use of the muscles as the body remains curved to one side.
Unbalanced movement can have serious physiological consequences. The side that performs the bulk of the work declines under the stress of constant movement.This is why, for instance, many gyms advise conditioning runners to alternate between clockwise and counter-clockwise laps around the track.
A sandtiger shark that swims loops around a tank weakens its spine over time. Combined with poor diet and poor behavioral enrichment programs that encourage the equivalent of a couch potato shark, this asymmetrical movement leads to severe spinal deformities in captivity.
Huber and his colleagues suggest not only that sandtiger shark tanks be large enough to accommodate the animals’ hefty size, but also that they be built into figure eight shapes to allow for balanced movement. They suggest behavioral enrichment programs for exercise and regular dietary supplements for proper nutrition. Finally, they advise that new sharks be caught at older ages and via hook and line capture only to prevent fractures at developmentally crucial time points in the sharks’ lives.
The data and subsequent explanation of the shark spine project marks the most comprehensive, thoroughly tested explanation for spinal deformation in captive sandtigers to date. However, large aquaria are rare, and current aquaria are unlikely to alter their exhibits because of the financial constraints of doing so.
Captivity is meant to be both an educational and a conservational effort to save species like sandtiger sharks, whose low birthrates in the wild have lead to dwindling populations.
But captivity no longer seems to be the catch-all, innocuous solution that it once was. Sandtiger sharks are consistently listed in pieces of literature as excellent candidates for captivity when, as Huber’s data suggest, they are not. In attempting to conserve these creatures, we may very well be serving them poorly. | 8,351 | 3,896 | 0.000261 |
warc | 201704 | Solar Disinfection Studies Drinking Water Background InformationThere are a few methods commonly advocated for the disinfection of drinking water at the household level. These include boiling of water for about 10 minutes, or the use of certain chlorine compounds available in the form of tablets (Halazone tablets, or calcium hypochlorite tablets) or solutions (sodium hypochlorite solutions). Water purification tablets containing tetraglycine hydroperiodide as the active ingredient (obtainable from Wisconsin Pharmacal, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53223, USA) are also available for such use. These tablets have an expiration date, and the instructions call for the addition of 1 to 2 tablets per litre of water and waiting for 25 minutes before use.
As each of these procedures has its own drawbacks, their application is extremely limited in the developing regions of the world where water-borne diseases are prevalent, and the safety of drinking water supplies cannot always be assured. Availability and costs are only part of the problem. In the case of boiling, for instance, the need for about one kilogramme of wood to boil on litre of water is totally unjustifiable in fuel-short regions already suffering from aridity and desertification. Besides, the disagreeable taste of boiled water often discourages consumers. The addition of 1 to 2 drops of 5% sodium hypochlorite solution per litre of water requires the use of a dropper and litre measure, both being uncommon devices in most homes. In view of these difficulties and constraints, it was deemed necessary to search for an alternative method for the disinfection of water on an individual basis using simple and inexpensive technology that would be more appropriate for application in the Third World.
The Experimental WorkPrompted by an understanding of the prevailing conditions and needs in the developing countries regarding the safety of water supplies in rural communities, and the rampant enteric diseases, a pertinent study was launched by us on June 4, 1979. this study, involving a series of experiments carried out over a period of more than two years, aimed at assessing the feasibility of solar disinfection of small quantities of drinking water that would satisfy the daily needs of individuals or a family. These experiments essentially consisted of subjecting artificially contaminated water in small, transparent containers, 1 to 3 litres in capacity, to direct sunlight for varying periods of exposure.
A variety of containers made of transparent, clear or coloured glassor plastic, and varied in usage and shape (round, conical, andcylindrical), were used for experimental purposes. They ranged fromlaboratory flasks made of Pyrex glass to an assortment of ordinarybottles. Some experiments also included locally produced glass vesselswith a spout commonly used for drinking water, as well as polyethylenebags (
The experimental water used was deliberately contaminated with municipal sewage to high levels not normally encountered even with untreated water used for drinking in rural areas. Occasionally some experimental waters were inoculated with cultured pathogenic microorganisms.
In each case, the water was initially examined bacteriologically just before sunlight exposure, and at intervals of 15 to 30 minutes for a few hours during exposure of the containers to direct sunlight. All containers were kept in an upright position, except for the polyethylene bags which were laid flat on the floor, with the screw caps kept tightly in place. The other containers were left open. Removable paper labels on some of the commercial bottles were detached prior to exposure to allow penetration of light. The standard plate count and membrane filter technique were applied routinely for the estimation of total bacterial counts and coliform densities, respectively. Identical batches of water in similar containers kept in the dark, and also under room conditions of lighting, served as controls for comparison and assessment of the effect of sunlight. The experiments were generally run from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., when the solar intensity reaches its highest levels. The roof of one of the buildings within the campus of the American University of Beirut served as the site for these experiments.
The highly encouraging results of the numerous experiments demonstrated repeatedly the destructive effect of sunlight on pathogenic and non-pathogenic organisms. Some of these results and the pertinent conclusions derived from the study as a whole are highlighted hereunder for the benefit of those interested in confirming our work, and in adapting the technology to suit local conditions. The conclusions are presented somewhat in the form of constructive instructions of practical value to users of the technology, with explanations being included wherever feasible and necessary.
Results and Conclusions The results of each set ofexperiments have consistently confirmed the fact that the bacteriacontaminating water from faecal sources are, as a general rule,susceptible to destruction upon exposure to sunlight for an adequateperiod of time. The rate of destruction actually depends upon a numberof influencing factors. The most important ones that became clear inthe course of the study include the following: 1. Destruction of bacteria:
Similar patterns were obtained when a variety of other containers were used. The time required to destroy 99.9% of the coliform bacteria by exposure to sunlight ranged from 70 minutes for colourless polyethylene bags to 1050 minutes for dark brown bottles. The corresponding mean value for all types of colourless, glass or plastic containers was found to be 85 minutes.
When unchlorinated batches of water inoculated with one type ofenteric bacteria obtained from pure cultures were exposed to sunlightin 300 ml round Pyrex flasks, the time required for the completedestruction of each organism was found to be as follows:
All efforts to run experiments using water inoculated with
As it was desirable to check on the possibility of regrowth of the inactivated bacteria, some experiments were designed to investigate this matter. The results obtained by storage for five days of disinfected water showed that inactivated coliform bacteria fail to regrow at ordinary room conditions. It is therefore assumed that already inactivated pathogenic bacteria would also fail to regrow. This would be of importance in relation to the need to store drinking water or ORS solutions without the fear of bacterial regrowth.
The lethal effect of ultraviolet light (UV) has been thoroughly investigated, and the use of UV radiation has been applied for the disinfection of water supplies in lieu of chlorination. Although information about the virucidal effect of sunlight is rather scanty, there is some evidence that viruses are inactivated by sunlight in relatively shallow ponds of water or raw sewage. The intensity of sunlight and exposure time are probably important factors.
Since viruses are generally recognized to be more resistant than bacteria to the influence of disinfectants, it would be reasonable to assume that their inactivation by sunlight under our experimental conditions would require prolongation of the period of exposure. However, this matter requires further investigation.
From some of our experiments using pure cultures of a variety of moldsand yeasts in aqueous or brine media, it became evident that suchorganisms are also susceptible to sunlight. Complete destruction of
Spore-forming organisms, not associated with disease transmission, are expected to survive the effect of sunlight until they germinate, since spores are known to be more resistant to the destructive effect of chemical disinfectants commonly used in water purification
Since the thermal death point of amoebic cysts is about 50°C, contaminated water that attains a temperature of 50°C or more on exposure to sunlight would in itself ensure their destruction by this mechanism. Such temperatures are likely to be attained in regions with hot climates.
On the other hand, turbidity due to suspended particulate matter would hinder to some extent the penetration of sunlight. This depends on the degree of turbidity, and the depth of water being exposed. Besides, the suspended particles would protect any microorganisms adhering to their surfaces.
Although the problem is not likely to be faced by communities suppliedwith piped drinking water, villagers deprived of such public utilitiesshould be advised to resort to sources that yield relatively clearwater. Wherever this is not feasible, and turbid surface waters fromstreams, ponds, or irrigation canals have to be utilized, it would beparticularly important to somehow clarify the water by a convenientsimple method if proper disinfection by sunlight is to be assured.Clarification not only reduces the concentration of suspended matter,but would also concurrently cause a drop in the microbialpopulation. This can be achieved by applying traditional clarificationmethods often practiced by villagers in some developing countries. Itis known, for instance, that in some rural areas of India the seeds ofNirmali trees
Details about such simple indigenous household methods are presentedand discussed by Samia Al Azhari Jahn in a recently published manualentitled
It remains to be pointed out that waters with relatively low microbial populations attained with or without clarification can be more rapidly and effectively decontaminated by sunlight.
In our study we were able to determine the range of wavelengths ofsunlight that are relatively more lethal to microorganisms This wasaccomplished by first assessing the percentage of light of differentwavelengths transmitted through the glass or plastic material of whicheach kind of colourless or coloured container used in the experimentsis made. This provided the light transmission characteristics (or
From the
It can be concluded, therefore, that sunlight with wavelengths rangingfrom 315 nm to 400 nm is the most lethal region as it accounts forabout 70% of the bacterial destruction potential. This band ofwavelengths is known as the
Visible light is characterized by having wavelengths ranging from 400 nm to about 750 nm, and accounts for about 30% of the bacterial destruction capacity. It ranges in colour from violet at about 400 nm to red at about 700 nm. The sequence of colours in the series is violet, blue green, yellow, orange, and red -- a reminder of the rainbow colours.
The foregoing information is of importance in relation to the mostappropriate colours of the containers to be selected that would yieldoptimum results in terms of microbial destruction. It is obvious thatcolourless plastic or glass containers are the best choice wheneveravailable. This is because they transmit light in the
The wall thickness of the containers is another factor that needs to be considered. Obviously, the thicker the wall of a container the less the transmission of the effective rays of sunlight. This would in turn somewhat retard the disinfection process, thus requiring a longer solar exposure period. Glass jars, for instance, usually have thicker walls than ordinary glass bottles, especially when made in large sizes. For equal sizes, therefore, glass bottles are preferred when both are available. In practice, relatively large-sized glass jars could be used to hold several litres of water to be decontaminated by sunlight without any significant loss in the potential for disinfection provided the exposure period is somewhat prolonged.
The openings of containers need not be closed or stoppered as their closure is not in any way related to the disinfection process. Nevertheless, their closure in an appropriate manner would be a desirable precaution simply to prevent the entry of such extraneous matter as dust or vermin.
Experimentally it was observed that the actual shape of the containers used for solar disinfection has a slight effect on the exposure time required for proper disinfection of water or ORS solutions. Round-shaped containers have proved to be the best in that they yield slightly faster results. Other shapes (cylindrical or conical) are equally satisfactory, although their effect is slightly delayed by several minutes (a matter of no significance in practice). From the practical standpoint, round-shaped, or cylindrical containers are to be preferred to square- shaped ones for the simple reason that a rounded shape conforms better with the motion of the sun from east to west. Nevertheless, square- shaped containers can still be used satisfactorily. Containers with multi-facetted surfaces or ornamental designs that could impede the transmission of sunlight should preferably be avoided.
In some cases, labels on containers may occupy such a large proportion of the exposed surface as to significantly impair the transmission of the incident rays of sunlight. Detachable labels should therefore be removed prior to sunlight exposure. Containers with large, permanent labels are to be disqualified for use; those with small labels on one side may be used provided the unlabelled surface is made to face the sun during exposure.
In addition to the previously mentioned requirements pertaining to transparency, colour, shape, and size of containers, availability and cost are also important selection criteria. Wherever possible, preference should be given to locally produced containers as they are likely to be cheaper and more widely available. Used glass bottles or jars are common in most homes, even in villages. Specially designed jugs with a spout intended for drinking by pouring a stream of water into the mouth are quite popular in the Arab World at reasonable prices. These traditional jugs are made of pottery or glass. The latter come in a variety of colours, and in our experience the clear or light blue ones have proven to be useful containers for disinfection of drinking water. Their availability, low cost, and the fact that the disinfected water does not need to be transferred into another receptacle make them sufficiently attractive for the purpose intended.
Having secured the necessary containers, and made sure that they are of the right kind and size, they should then be properly cleaned to remove any visible dirt (and detachable labels, if labelled bottles are used). Too much dirt on the inner or outer walls of the containers would surely obstruct some of the rays of sunlight. The containers need not be washed on every occasion as long as they are kept in use and maintained in a satisfactory state of cleanliness. It is of interest to keep in mind that the inner walls of the containers with attached microbial populations will also be decontaminated by sunlight together with the water they contain. In fact, empty containers could also be decontaminated by exposure to sunlight whenever such bottles are needed for any particular purpose Incidentally, it may be of interest to note that we have also shown experimentally that dishes and similar tableware can be effectively decontaminated by exposure to sunlight for as short a time as 15 to 30 minutes. The idea is not in any way a novel one for in many parts of the Middle East, and perhaps in other regions too, it is a traditional practice for housewives to keep matresses and bed covers of sick family members for a short while in a sunny place.
As a routine practice, the desired number of clean containers (e.g. bottles) are filled with water from a source normally used for domestic purposes. To ensure proper disinfection, they should then be kept in a convenient place (e.g. yard, balcony, terrace, or window) that receives direct sunlight for most of the day, or at least for the duration of the exposure. This should not present any problem in rural areas where open spaces are amply available. The containers should be properly spaced to avoid shadows.
Because the intensity of sunlight is greatest between ten o'clock in the morning and two o'clock in the afternoon, it would be wise to use that period for exposure of the containers. Since it is not practical for a housewife in a rural setting to keep time properly, she could expose the containers as early in the morning as desired, and remove them in the afternoon. Alternatively, she could remove the required number of containers in the afternoon for use, while the rest are kept until needed the next day. Adoption of such regimes would certainly not lead to any undesirable outcome because of over-exposure. They are merely aimed at simplifying matters.
For maximum benefit from the disinfection action of sunlight, the containers should be kept in a slanted manner with their greatest surfaces (if not round or cylindrical) made to face the sun rather than keeping them in an upright or flat position. A special rack designed to hold the containers (e.g. bottles) in a slanted fashion would then be necessary, the optimal angle of inclination from the horizontal being equal to the latitude. Such a stringent requirement is neither practical nor essential, and the benefit derived therefrom is not justifiable. The advantage to be gained can be compensated by simply prolonging the exposure period.
Regions having some 300 or so sunny days with clear skies per year are naturally best suited for the optimal utilization of solar energy for the disinfection of drinking water, as well as other applications. It is there that cloud formation would present no serious problems throughout the greater part of the year. Obviously, clouds tend to reduce the intensity of direct sunlight to some extent, the magnitude of the reduction being dependent on cloud coverage. Under such conditions, however, the scattered rays of sunlight producing diffuse daylight would still exhibit germicidal action, but at a slower rate. We have, in fact, repeatedly demonstrated experimentally that the germicidal action does take place even in indoor areas with reasonable natural light. The germicidal action, however, is roughly about ten times slower than that occuring in direct sunlight. During cloudy days, therefore, all that is necessary would be to prolong the exposure period from a minimum of one hour to several hours. The routine procedure indicated above involving exposure from morning to afternoon would be more than adequate to account for this requirement, even on days with reasonable cloud coverage.
In regions with warm climates and high solar intensities, the waterundergoing decontamination could become unpleasantly warm for drinkingby the end of the exposure period. The rise in temperature is actuallycaused by the red and infrared rays of light. Bluish containers wouldtend to cut off most of this kind of solar energy and, thus, minimizethe increase in temperature. However, the issue is somewhat differentwith containers made of transparent, clear glass or plastic, becausesuch materials do allow the passage of the heat-producing energy. Inour experience m Beirut, the temperature of small portions of water inPyrex glass containers rose by about 5°C from 25°C to30°C. In hotter places the temperature may rise to 50°C or60°C. These | 19,246 | 7,643 | 0.000131 |
warc | 201704 | "We demand the immediate distribution of the coco levy funds and the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) chaired by Akbayan leader Joel Rocamora should stop the immoral plan of using about P11. 17 billion through his Poverty Reduction Roadmap of the Coconut Industry or the Coco Roadmap," Joseph Canlas said, Amgl chairperson and Anakpawis-CL regional coordinator.
"Everybody knows that the coco levy was unjustly excised from the country's coconut farmers during the Marcos dictatorship, and his crony Danding Cojuangco, the president's uncle, gravely exploited it," he added.
The groups said that the fund was extracted by the Marcos dictatorship through Republic Act 6260 or the Coconut Investment Act (cocofund) and Presidential Decree 276 or the Coconut Consumers Stabilization Fund (CCSF) from 1973 to 1982. The cocofund was sourced by excising P0.55 per 100 kg of copra, while CSSF was at P15 per 100 kg that reached to P100 per 100 kg in 1982. In 1975, the United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB) was established from the fund excised from coconut farmers. The Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA), Philippine Coconut Producers Federation (Cocofed) and UCPB managed the fund.
"It is very clear that the coco levy fund belongs to the coconut farmers, fund vultures such as Akbayan leader Joel Rocamora, as well as Aquino, have no right to use it," Canlas said.
The groups said that Rocamora's Coco Roadmap plans to use the P11.17 billion broken down as (1) agro-enterprise development budgeted with P4.56 B, (2) agrarian reform P317,000, (3) social protection 2.54 B, (4) institutional reform P2.94 B, and (5) monitoring and evalution P1 B.
"These so-called programs are Akbayan's template of corruption. Social protection which is none other than conditional cash transfer (CCT) and other corruption-ridden programs since the Arroyo adminstration. Coconut farmers have every right to ram the gates of NAPC office the moment they embezzle the coco levy fund," Canlas said.
The groups demanded cash distribution to the coconut farmers as this is fair and reasonable to compensate for the injustice and exploitation they endured during the Marcos dictatorship. Aside from the P56.5 B sale of CIFF share in SMC, they also called for the called for the distribution of Cojuangco's 20% share which was funded by the coco levy.
"Aquino is a total fraud, promising to cut down graft and corruption, but scheming to use the coco levy fund," Canlas said.
The groups joined the protest in Mendiola led by the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) and Anakpawis Partylist, together with farmers from Southern Tagalog and Bicol region. # | 2,651 | 1,331 | 0.000757 |
warc | 201704 | Every now and then the most astonishing things happen. Pigs take to flight, Phoenix freezes over on the Fourth of July and the most improbable of all? The Arizona Legislature does a good thing.
I know. Amazing, right?
It’s hard to believe but there it is, House bill 2204.
It’s a simple bill, really. It says that a city (or county or state) will continue pay a portion of the health insurance costs for the families of its fallen police officers, firefighters and correctional officers.
The bill was prompted in part by Glendale’s treatment of Cindy Jones. Her 25-year-old husband, Glendale Officer Brad Jones, was killed in the line of duty in October 2011, leaving her with two young children. The city continued the family’s health insurance for a year, as required by law.
Several months after his death, Cindy approached city officials to ask if they would continue paying the premiums after the year was up, or at least give her the employee rate — the one the family would be paying if her husband was still alive.
“Brad’s no longer here,” she told me a few months ago. “I still have to provide for my kids, not just five years from now, not just 10 years from now, but until they’re the age of 18. For me, that’s a big worry.”
In response, the city offered her the retiree rate: $688 a month, and that’s after a subsidy from the police pension fund is applied. That’s about 2½ times what the family would be paying if Officer Jones hadn’t been shot to death one night while answering a call to assist a probation officer.
Glendale’s incoming mayor, Jerry Weiers, told me in December that he would work on changing the city’s policy once he took office. Six weeks into his term, he has followed through on that pledge. As a result, he says Glendale will now pick up the entire insurance tab for the family of any employee who is killed while performing his or her job.
“Doing the right thing is not always hard to do,” he told me. “It’s just a matter of making people understand it’s the right thing.”
Which brings us to the Legislature, where the right thing is so often elusive. But not, apparently, this time. At least, not for most of our leaders.
Rep. Bob Robson’s HB 2204 would require cities, counties, the state and private prisons to continue offering insurance at the employee rate to the families of law enforcement officers who die in the line of duty. This, until the surviving spouse either remarries or is eligible for Medicare and until the children are grown.
The bill sailed through the Public Safety, Military and Regulatory Affairs Committee on a unanimous vote and cleared the House last week on a 54-5 vote. It now heads to the Senate.
The five who opposed it are Reps. Steve Smith of Maricopa, Carl Seel of Phoenix, Darin Mitchell, of the bare mattress, Adam Kwasman of Oro Valley and Steve Montenegro of Avondale. All five happen to members of Constantin’s Army, led by my favorite right-wing Republican Party operative, Constantin Querard.
What they have against police officer’s widows, I do not know.
Smith is the legislator with some of the silliest bills going nowhere this year. Among them is one bill to suspend all federal firearms laws and another to reimburse ex-Sen. Russell Pearce for his recall expenses.
I tried calling Smith to find out why he found it unacceptable to use public funds to insure the widows and children of fallen police officers but a moral imperative to use public funds reimburse Pearce for his non-existent recall expenses. Alas, Smith didn’t return my call.
Robson says the bill is simply the right thing to do. He was on the Chandler City Council in 1999 when Officer James Snedigar was shot and killed in a SWAT raid. Officer Snedigar was the first Chandler police officer killed in the line of duty and Robson says it was an easy call to continue his family on the employee insurance plan.
“We expect these people to do extraordinary things,” he told me. “The least we owe them was this.”
He’s right. It is the least we owe them and good for him and his colleagues for doing it.
Well, he and 53 of his colleagues, that is.
(Column published Feb. 19, 2013, The Arizona Republic.) | 4,337 | 2,116 | 0.000494 |
warc | 201704 | Kyle and her husband moved to Brookfield in 1986. She became active in local politics and started blogging in 2004. Her focus is primarily on local issues but often includes state and national topics, too. Kyle looks at things from the taxpayers' perspective in a creative, yet down to earth way, addressing them from a practical point of view.
Many people think the Creation Science movement is just made up of Christians who ignore the scientific evidence. Well, that thinking will be challenged by Paul Frank, this month's Creation Science Society of Milwaukee speaker.
Paul Frank offers an interesting perspective on the Creation/Evolution debate, since he graduated from the University of Wisconsin - Oshkosh with a B.S. in biology and a minor in chemistry. But even more noteworthy than his scientific background, is the fact that he began his college years as an agnostic and devout evolutionist! From the CSSM Newsletter: "[Paul's] evolutionary beliefs were challenged when a friend presented him with a book entitled Studies in Creation by Dr. John Klotz. The book piqued Paul’s interest and the next book he read on the subject, Evolution: A Theory in Crisis, marked a watershed moment in Paul’s life. The theory of evolution seemed implausible to him after reading that book. Incidentally this was the same book that Lehigh University biochemist Michael Behe read that turned him from his evolutionary beliefs and resulted in his seminal work Darwin’s Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution. To this day Behe’s first book remains a benchmark for the new ID movement." (My emphasis) Paul Frank will approach the Creation Science / Intelligent Design movement vs. Evolution from a scientific, bio-chemical viewpoint--that genetic entropy (deterioration) rules out progressive macroevolution (major changes occurring over a long time), and "the necessity of DNA and proteins arising at the same time. He will also present a formidable argument against chemical evolution using probability statics." In layman's terms, mutations cannot account for changes necessary for large scale evolution (one cell animals to humans or even fish to amphibian), because we now know that mutations just take away or repeat code that is already written. We also now know that new genetic information cannot be spontaneously added by chance, because that is mathematically impossible--the sequencing is far too complex for chance. As you might have guessed, this presentation will be more technical in nature and is intended for adults. Mr. Frank will present his talk on the Creation/Evolution Debate on Tuesday, November 29, 2011 at 6:45pm at Grace Bible Church, 2643 S. 117th Street, West Allis, Wisconsin. (Located between Cleveland and Lincoln Avenue on 117th Street.) Upcoming Events: Dr. Gary Locklair PhD., Tuesday, February 14, 2011, 7:15 pm, Concordia University Jerry Frye, Tuesday, April 24, 2011, Brookside Baptist Church COMMENT POLICY This is not the place for gossip, sniping at other bloggers, commentors, races, or religions, etc. There is no need to berate another just because they don't share your viewpoint. All comments not respectfully discussing the blog topic or incessantly making virtually the same point are going into delete world. Those of you double or triple posting under multiple names, stop it! Keep this in mind on future posts because the NOW blog comment policy will be enforced. For the most part, I will not enter the comment forum, so if you have a question for me, contact me via email: practicallyspeaking@gmail.com Links:
This site uses Facebook comments to make it easier for you to contribute. If you see a comment you would like to flag for spam or abuse, click the "x" in the upper right of it. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use. | 3,818 | 2,013 | 0.000501 |
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