Small Groups

Fireside Small Group Ministry

Fireside Groups are basically “mini-churches” that meet in homes.  These groups are the “heartbeat” of our church, where you can build great friendships, find support, and build a strong foundation of wisdom to help navigate life and stay centered.

Fireside Groups are a great way to get connected.  Many people say they’ve found their closest relationships in our small groups.  Some are based on stage-of-life, and some are multi-generational for all families.

New groups also form regularly, so get plugged in today.


Welcome to ITD

Institute of Technology Development of Canada

ITD Canada

Why ITD Canada

ITD Canada strives to offer an education that will allow our graduates to meet current and future challenges and achieve their goals. Individuals can choose any of our up-to-date Diplomas in Art, Business, Hospitality and Information Technology to start continue their personal growth and professional development. The hands-on experience encourages students to forge relationships that support them during college and into the future.

Why We Strive

ITD Canada is constantly innovating and offers career training programs developed by professionals with credentials related to their areas of expertise. Our small class sizes allow closer interaction and individual attention whilst maintaining the high standard of quality that our students need to succeed in their future endeavors. Additionally, our career training programs are constantly updated to meet the marketplace requirements.

  • Vancouver
  • Graphic Design
  • Network Technology Diploma
  • Programming Analyst Diploma


A Mind of Its Own
New Intelligence for a New Millennium

By Bill Strubbe

Originally published in Massage Bodywork magazine, April/May 2001.

Love is more than mere sentiment -- it nourishes the body, as well as the soul. For most of us, the heart is merely the symbol of love, but the Institute of HeartMath (IHM) has gathered impressive scientific data verifying this 10-ounce muscle actually does function as a physiological locus of love in the center of our being. Better yet, we have the ability to induce the human heart into states of love.

If this "think tank" -- perhaps "feel tank" would be more appropriate -- amidst the towering redwoods in the Santa Cruz Mountains of California were merely dispensing more New Age wishful thinking, it's doubtful Fortune 500 companies, Motorola, Royal Dutch Shell, the Canadian Imperial Bank, school districts, and even the U.S. Armed Forces would have sent more than 25,000 employees to IHM's three-day workshops. So impressive is IHM's research into the heart's "brain" that the American Journal of Cardiology, Stress Medicine, and Journal of Advancement in Medicine have published articles on its findings. If IHM's work could be patented into a pill, it likely would be heralded as the biggest medical miracle since penicillin.

In exploring the physiological mechanisms by which the heart communicates with the brain, IHM found that the coherence of the Heart Rate Variability (HRV) -- measurement of the heart's beat-to-beat changes -- is a clear indicator of inner emotional states and stress. Even more intriguing was the discovery that by utilizing simple, user-friendly techniques to feel positive emotions -- rather than thinking about them -- you can instantly increase HRV coherence, thus effecting measurable physiological and psychological shifts, which allows you to make less reactive, more authentic, loving decisions.

IHM's mission is to facilitate a fundamental cultural shift by putting the heart back into people's personal and professional business, and affect solutions to some of the problems facing individuals and society today. "The planet is really moving through a paradigm shift," said Rollin McCraty, the head researcher at the Institute of HeartMath. "A shift from the head to the heart. The heart is the base frequency that we're hard-wired to live in."

Historical Research into the Heart's Brain
It was once popularly believed human beings had but a modicum of control over their minds and emotions, thought to be dictated entirely by the brain's responses to external stimuli. Researchers showed changes in emotions were accompanied by foreseeable alterations in heart rate, blood pressure, respiration and digestion -- physiological responses moving in concert with the brain's response to given stimuli.

In the 1960s and 1970s, John and Beatrice Lacey observed this model only partially matched actual physiological behavior. The heart, seeming to have its own peculiar logic which frequently diverged from the command of the autonomic nervous system, sent meaningful messages to the brain which could alter a person's behavior.

In 1974, the French researchers Gahery and Vigier, stimulated the vagus nerve (which carries signals from the heart to the brain) in cats and found that the brain's electrical response was reduced to half its normal rate. In other words, the heart and nervous system were not simply following the brain's directions.

Dr. Armour introduced the concept of a functional "heart brain" in 1991, and his book Neurocardiology, co-written with Dr. Jeffrey Ardell, affords a comprehensive overview of the heart's intrinsic nervous system. Considered an independent entity, the heart's brain is composed of an elaborate network of neurons, support cells and neurotransmitters which enables it to process information, learn, remember and produce feelings of the heart and then transmit information from one cell to another, including emotional information.

"We observed the heart was acting as though it had a mind of its own and was profoundly affecting perception, intelligence and awareness," explained McCraty, whose background is in electrical instrumentation design and high-tech problem-solving. "Our studies dovetail with other researchers doing related work that more than simply being a blood pump, the heart is a highly complex, self-organized sensory organ with its own functional, intrinsic brain."

Some of the more fascinating evidence supporting the notion of a heart brain are the numerous documented stories (in the book, Change of Heart, by Claire Sylvia) of heart transplant patients who have taken on the habits, expressions, tastes and memories of the dead donor. One woman knew the name, address and family of the dead donor -- information that had been withheld from her. In a most dramatic case, a teenage girl received the heart of a woman who had been murdered. Shortly thereafter, in dreams and in quiet moments, the woman was able to reconstruct details from the crime scene so as to enable the police to gather enough evidence to convict the killer.

"These stories take this phenomena out of the realm of coincidence," said McCraty. "The same type of memory-encoding neurons found in the brain are also found in the heart. After an operation, it takes some time for nerves to reconnect, so that can't explain all the heart-transplant phenomena, because sometimes personality transfers happen immediately. I think that it's on electromagnetic and energetic levels where the real activity is going on." Indeed, other researchers in the country have come to similar conclusions. Psychoneuroimmunologist Paul Pearsall Ph.D, author of The Heart's Code, believes the heart resonates an intelligence field to every cell in our body. Gary Schwartz, Ph.D. and Linda Russek, Ph.D., of the University of Arizona's Human Energy Systems laboratory in Tucson, are of the opinion that the heart "pumps" patterns of energy and information throughout the body.

What's Love Got to Do With It?
To the ancient Greeks, the contrasting aspects of the soul -- intellect and emotion -- were engaged in perpetual struggle for control of the human psyche. Plato viewed emotions as wild horses needing to be restrained by the intellect, while Christian theology demoted emotions as sins and temptations to be resisted by reason and willpower. This false dichotomy of head vs. heart cannot be resolved by the mind gaining dominance over emotions, but by increasing the balance between the two systems. Neuroscience confirms emotion and cognition are separate but interacting systems, each with its own unique type of intelligence.

In his recent, best- selling book Emotional Intelligence, Daniel Goleman builds a case for the largely overlooked domain of "EQ" (Emotional Quotient) -- based on such qualities as self-awareness, motivation, altruism and compassion, and argues that the commonly accepted view of human intelligence is far too narrow. According to Goleman, it's a person's EQ as much or more than their IQ that enables them to succeed in life.

When the heart sends coherent (smooth HRV waves) information to the brain, positive feelings are facilitated, perhaps explaining why many people "feel" or "sense" love and positive emotions in the area of the heart. Doc Lew Childre, HeartMath's president and CEO, believed the key to practical application of this new knowledge would be to develop simple tools allowing people to gain more conscious control in creating increased coherence. Through intentional heart focus, these IHM techniques -- Freeze-Frame, Heart Lock-in, and Cut-Thru -- help people bring their bodies and spirit back into balance.

Simple Tools
Freeze-Frame, the most basic IHM technique employed in moments of agitation, stress or danger, involves shifting your focus to your heart, re-experiencing a feeling of appreciation or love for just 10 or 15 seconds, then asking your heart what would be a more efficient response to the stressful situation at hand.

Heart Lock-in is similar to Freeze-Frame, though done for a longer period of time -- perhaps once a day for five to 15 minutes -- often while listening to music specifically designed by IHM.

Cut-Thru aims at addressing recurring negative emotional reactions and patterns -- negative "thought loops" -- to a particular recurring theme or issue in your life. Just as physical movements such as walking, driving, etc., become automatic through repetition, so do mental and emotional responses and attitudes.

Here's an example of how I applied Freeze-Frame -- taking a moment to shift attention to the heart and feel appreciation, love or caring -- in my own life: A friend dropped me off at the airport at 6:15 a.m. for my 7 a.m. flight. When I reached check-in they wouldn't let me on the flight because I'd left my picture I.D. back in San Francisco. I was furious at myself, and realized I'd have to make a round-trip back to San Francisco and hope to catch a later flight. At the curb, about to hail a cab, I suddenly remembered Freeze-Frame. After a half minute of appreciating the gorgeous day and crystal blue sky, my inner voice suggested I return inside and make sure they noted I wasn't a no-show. This second woman at check-in then asked if I had any other I.D. I gave her a few credit cards, library card and health insurance card and I caught the next flight only 45 minutes later.

"The heart has a mind that some might call the spirit, the higher self, intuition, or the still, small voice within," said McCraty. "How many times have you said to yourself, 'If only I had listened to my heart.' By not listening, we often pay a price in time and energy in cleaning up the mess afterwards."

An Afternoon at HeartMath
It was pouring rain the summer day I visited HeartMath's camp-like facilities, nestled among the redwoods, broad lawns and a willow tree-shaded pond. After touring the sleeping lodges, dining room and meeting hall, I was led to the research building full of computers and mysterious electronic devices.

I placed my forefinger into a fingertip pulse sensor linked to a computer booted with a new software program developed by IHM. An incoherent HRV (jagged) appeared on the screen as I re-experienced an unpleasant situation -- a recent argument with my mother. After a few minutes, a coherent (smooth) wave appeared on the screen as I settled into feelings of deep appreciation for the incredible beauty of an atoll in the South Pacific I visited last year. When I later experienced a moment of performance anxiety, the HRV line went jagged again.

Another instant feedback option on the software is a black and white picture of a nature scene which slowly comes to life as the subject sustains a coherent HRV; the picture colorizes, leaves sprout on trees, flowers bloom, water runs in the stream and a bunny hops by. A third option is keeping a hot air balloon aloft over beautiful landscapes with a sustained coherent HRV.

This is a positive, life-affirming computer "game" that most parents would be thrilled to have their kids play. After becoming proficient, they might be able to instantly recreate a loving heart space in the schoolyard or on the street, thus altering the outcome of a stressful or threatening confrontation. Indeed, I was pleased to hear students and teachers in more than 200 schools in the United States are already using HeartMath techniques.

But more than just creating pretty pictures or allowing you to make more authentic, less reactive choices, by practicing Freeze-Frame or Cut-Thru, HeartMath has established that we engender a physiology of love or anger in our bodies which has short- and long-term effects. When the HRV is in coherence and in entrainment with the brain, it causes dramatic and favorable changes in a number of key indicators of physical and mental well-being, such as the levels of secretory immunoglobulin A (S-IgA) levels, DHEA -- the "anti-aging hormone," and the stress hormone cortisol, as well as being beneficial to those with AIDS symptoms, obesity and high blood pressure.

Having worked as a massage therapist for 17 years, and a firm believer in the power of hands-on healing, I was particularly excited to hear IHM has established the first evidence of its kind that when two people are in proximity or touching, an exchange of the heart's electromagnetic energy -- 40 to 60 times more amplitude than the brain's and measurable with a magnetometer up to 8 feet away -- can be detected in the brainwaves of another person. IHM, using signal-averaging techniques, showed that one's electrocardiogram (ECG) registered in another person's electroencephalogram (EEG). While this signal is strongest when people are in contact, it's still detectable when subjects are up to 4 feet apart.

The idea an energy exchange of some type occurs between individuals is central in many healing techniques, though often disputed by Western science due to the lack of a plausible mechanism to explain it. Said McCraty, "Vibes aren't some sort of magic, but real stuff."

Emotion, whether it's love, anger, caring or anxiety, alters the heart's electrical field, then communicates it to every cell of our body and out into the space around us. This helps explain why numerous studies have found that family and friends are so important for our emotional and physical well-being. As pendulum clocks ticking in a clock shop eventually synchronize, the power of a loving and healthy heart can pull other nearby hearts into its loving rhythm.

Bill Strubbe, a massage therapist for 16 years, is now a freelance writer who travels the world in search of the perfect massage.

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Various Events

Creatures of Sky and Sea

Creatures of Sky and Sea

Students of the elementary school Landakotskóli engage in an art- and design research, having playfulness and creativity as their guiding light. The main theme is living creatures in sea and sky, which is why ideation (creative process) takes place both in the Maritime Museum and the school. Students receive a short introduction about the history of kite making and create kites under guidance of the designer and teacher Arite Fricke. The kites as well as pictures of the creative process are exhibited in the Reykjavik Maritime Museum during Children's Culture Festival.

This event has passed or has no registered occurrences.


Marc Sparks the Successful Entrepreneur

An American businessman, Marc Sparks is also a venture capitalist and entrepreneur. Based in Dallas, Texas, he is the head of the Timber Creek Capital. Marc Sparks currently has many portfolio companies. He operates and owns a number of businesses. Marc is involved heavily in the telecommunication sector and has involvement with Blue Jay Wireless, Splash Media and also Cardinal Telecom. He has also been involved in venture investing, real estate and also business solutions. Marc Sparks attributes his success to passion, hard work, commitment and discipline. From humble beginnings, Marc Sparks was able to rise up and become a successful entrepreneur and businessman.

A philanthropist, Marc Sparks has been involved in many different philanthropic activities in Dallas and also outside. He is involved with Samaritan Inn which is a home shelter. He offers both his time and resources towards this charitable organization. Marc Sparks has a reputation as a person who is passionate about giving back to the community. Marc has also constructed homes with the Habitat for Humanity, an organization that provides homes and shelter to the homeless and the needy in the society. Marc supports the American Can Academy which is a high school magnet program based in Dallas.

Marc Sparks is an author and is writing a book currently known as They Can’t Eat You. This book is meant to prove to people that it is possible to become successful in any type of business. The book also talks about his personal life and also highlights the tips to a successful career. With his story, Marc Sparks aims to inspire people from all over the world. From a C student, Marc Sparks was able to work hard went on to become a successful entrepreneur in America. Marc Sparks serves as a mentor and inspires many upcoming entrepreneurs that it is possible to make it. He assists entrepreneurs in developing their new businesses so that they can change into companies that generate revenue. According to Marc Sparks, acquiring resources and building a business model is the beginning of a successful business. Under his leadership, Timber Creek Capital has been able to grow and expand.


Benjamin Appl baritone – James Baillieu piano

Seligkeit, D 433 Franz Schubert
Des Kindes Gebet, op. 76/22 Max Reger
Freude der Kinderjahre, D 455 Franz Schubert
Wiegenlied, op. 49/4 Johannes Brahms
Der Einsame, D 800 Franz Schubert
Mondnacht, op. 3/5 Johannes Brahms
Waldeinsamkeit Franz Schreker
Mein Mädel hat einen Rosenmund (Deutsche Volkslieder) Johannes Brahms
Allerseelen, op. 10/8 Richard Strauss
Nachtstück, D 672 Franz Schubert
Drang in die Ferne, D 770 Franz Schubert
Der Wanderer an den Mond, D 870 Franz Schubert
Ich weiß bestimmt, ich wird' dich wiedersehen Adolf Strauss
Das Heimweh, D 456 Franz Schubert
Der Wanderer, D 489 Franz Schubert
Hyde Park, FP 127/2 Francis Poulenc
Greensleeves (folk song) Benjamin Britten
Silent Noon Ralph Vaughan Williams
Home, sweet home
My own country Peter Warlock
The Bachelor Peter Warlock
If there were dreams to sell John Ireland
6 German Songs, op. 48 Edvard Grieg

There is no exact translation for the German word “Heimat”; in a single word, it encompasses feelings of security, rootedness, home. These are the feelings expressed in the songs of Franz Schubert, Max Reger, Johannes Brahms, Richard Strauss and many others. Baritone Benjamin Appl has appropriately titled his first album, which he performs at this concert, “Heimat”. The record was welcomed with great enthusiasm. The Guardian gave it four stars and described it as “impressive, poignant and finely judged”. Hardly surprising, given that Appl was mentored by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and is well on his way to succeeding him. James Baillieu is a tremendous match for Appl. The South African has won countless prizes for piano and was rightly described in The Daily Telegraph as being in “a class of his own”.


Vegetable arts & crafts for kids

Written by patricia k. maggio | 13/05/2017
Vegetable arts & crafts for kids
Vegetables with bright colours will get kids excited about produce. (Jupiterimages/Polka Dot/Getty Images)

Sometimes vegetables are a hard sell for kids. Pique their interest and spark some creativity by making vegetables the star of your arts and crafts projects. Learning about vegetables is imperative to teach children the foundations of a healthy diet and using enjoyable or silly crafts is crucial to getting the point across.

Vegetable Refrigerator Magnets

Make reusable fridge magnets with a very resourceful material: salt dough. Salt dough is usually made from flour, water, salt and a touch of vegetable oil, but use your own trusted recipe or store-bought, self-hardening clay. You can dye the clay different colours to suit your craft, so for vegetables you will need orange, green, red and yellow. Cut the dough into simple shapes of each vegetable you'd like to make; for instance, a carrot with a spring of leafy stem, a corn cob still in the husk, or a simple tomato on the vine. Each shape should be around 2 to 3 inches big. Mold the texture of each item using a spoon, fork or even a cotton swab to create the little corn kernels, and the random indentations on the carrot. Allow each sculpture to dry overnight and in the morning attach the small circular magnets to the backs of each with a small dollop of hot glue. Allow the salt dough to dry for a few days and then use acrylic paint to decorate.

Potato Face

Make your own Mr. Potato Head by cutting a potato shape from a large brown shopping bag. Each one will be different, and that's what makes this craft special. Using colourful construction paper, cut out a hat, nose, mouth and bow tie. You can cut these for each child beforehand if they are too young to use scissors. If the girls in the class would like a Ms. Potato Head, simply replace the top hat with a hairband or bow. Glue the facial accessories to your paper potato and add googly eyes.

Veggie Prints

Make one-of-a-kind vegetable pictures by gathering a few ordinary vegetables: potatoes, peppers, broccoli, carrots, cabbage, a few mushrooms and a cob of corn. Using cleaned foam meat trays, or a plastic plate, put out a few different colours of paint, taking care that they are on separate "palates." Cut the vegetables in half to showcase the shape of the item; for instance, with mushrooms, slice them so when they are stamped, you see the large mushroom top and stem. Slice the base off the cabbage to use it as a floral-inspired stamp. For added interest, carve into the potato to make a specific shape, such as a star or heart. Skewer the corn cob with a wooden spear, roll it in paint and then roll on the paper for bright texture. The possibilities are endless with this craft, so let kids' creativity flow with all the colours and shapes of the vegetables.

Carrot Paint Brushes

Instead of using the actual vegetable for art projects, use the stem as your tool. Carrots, radishes, and celery all have long, leafy stems and the shape of the vegetable makes a perfect paint brush. Gently dip the leafy stem into paint and apply it gently to paper, as you would a normal paintbrush. Go one step further and paint with a broccoli floret. The little pieces are a good size for kids' small hands and the floret can easily hold paint. Kids will get a kick out of the crazy lines and textures of the stem as well as the strange sensation of painting with vegetables.


Birthstones Meanings, Magic, and Dazzling Legends

Diamonds are a girl’s best friend — but so would be a collection of other fabulous gems that are considered birthstones. Some people would disagree of the type of gem associated with birthstones. Some say Ruby is January’s gem, or that Alexandrite is June’s gemstone.

I prefer Pearls for June, perhaps because that is my gemstone; I love Pearls and everything associated with them, including the beach.

Birth gems have power! Not only do they provide the owner healing powers, but they dazzle the imagination with the stories, myths and legends behind these special stones.

Below is a look at birthstones and why they are so special:

Crystal Therapy: Crystals for Chakra Alignment

In this blog I will be discussing stones and crystals that have energetic properties to bring about balance within your energy body which is known as your chakra system. To understand how crystals work, I first want to discuss resonate energy. Resonate energy is the vibrational quality of the things around us. Everything carries an energy signature, and the reason why crystals are quite popular in metaphysical practices is because the resonate energy of crystals is often a higher frequency than other tools and objects. This is due to their unique matrices and minerals within each crystal.


Tuesday, July 21, 2009

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CSIRO astronomers have revealed the hidden face of an enormous galaxy called Centaurus A, which emits a radio glow covering an area 200 times bigger than the full Moon.

The galaxy’s radio waves have been painstakingly transformed into a highly detailed image, which is being unveiled to the public for the first time.

Centaurus A lies 14 million light-years away, in the southern constellation Centaurus, and houses a monster black hole 50 million times the mass of the Sun.

The galaxy’s black hole generates jets of radio-emitting particles that billow millions of light years out into space.

The spectacular sight is invisible to the naked eye.

“If your eyes could see radio waves you would look up in the sky and see the radio glow from this galaxy covering an area 200 times bigger than the full Moon,” said the lead scientist for the project, Dr Ilana Feain of CSIRO’s Australia Telescope National Facility (ATNF).

“Only a small percentage of galaxies are of this kind. They’re like the blue whales of space – huge and rare.”

Seen at radio wavelengths, Centaurus A is so big and bright that no-one else has ever tried making such an image.

“This is the most detailed radio image ever made of Centaurus A, and indeed of any galaxy that produces radio jets,” said Dr Lewis Ball, Acting Director of the ATNF.

“Few other groups in the world have the skills and the facilities to make such an image, and we were the first to try.”

Dr Feain and her team used CSIRO’s Australia Telescope Compact Array telescope near Narrabri, NSW, to observe the galaxy for more than 1200 hours, over several years.

This produced 406 individual images, which were ‘mosaiced’ together to make one large image.

Dr Feain combined the Compact Array data and data taken from CSIRO’s Parkes radio telescope.

Processing the image – combining the data, taking out the effects of radio interference, and adjusting the dynamic range – took a further 10,000 hours.

Astronomers will use the image to help them understand how black holes and radio jets interact with a galaxy’s stars and dust, and how the galaxy has evolved over time.

Centaurus A is the closest of the galaxies with a supermassive black hole producing radio jets, which makes it the easiest to study.

Astronomers are interested in studying more of these rare, massive galaxies to determine the role black holes play in galaxy formation and growth.

Dr Feain said the sample of galaxies we have today is just the tip of the iceberg, because current telescopes don’t combine the sensitivity needed to detect these sources and the ability to survey large areas of sky.

Enter ASKAP, the Australian SKA Pathfinder telescope, a new telescope being developed by CSIRO and partners, located in Western Australia.

ASKAP will be a survey telescope, designed for projects such as hunting for galaxies like Centaurus A in the distant universe. It is a precursor facility for the planned Square Kilometre Array (SKA), the world’s largest radio telescope.

“ASKAP will be incredibly fast,” said Professor Brian Boyle, CSIRO SKA Director. “Gathering the Centaurus A data with the Compact Array took 1200 hours. With ASKAP, it would take five minutes.”

ASKAP is on schedule for completion in 2012. In its first six hours of operation it will generate more information than all previous radio telescopes combined.

Centaurus A was one of the first cosmic radio sources known outside our own Galaxy and it has a special connection with Australia.

The (visible) galaxy was discovered and recorded at Parramatta Observatory near Sydney in 1826. It was later catalogued under the name NGC 5128.

As a radio source, Centaurus A was discovered from Dover Heights in Sydney by CSIRO scientists in 1947.

(Photo: Ilana Feain, Tim Cornwell & Ron Ekers (CSIRO/ATNF), R. Morganti (ASTRON), N. Junkes (MPIfR), Shaun Amy, CSIRO)

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An assistive technology that enables individuals to maneuver a powered wheelchair or control a mouse cursor using simple tongue movements can be operated by individuals with high-level spinal cord injuries, according to the results of a recently completed clinical trial.

"This clinical trial has validated that the Tongue Drive system is intuitive and quite simple for individuals with high-level spinal cord injuries to use,” said Maysam Ghovanloo, an assistant professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. “Trial participants were able to easily remember and correctly issue tongue commands to play computer games and drive a powered wheelchair around an obstacle course with very little prior training.”

At the annual conference of the Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America (RESNA) on June 26, the researchers reported the results of the first five clinical trial subjects to use the Tongue Drive system. The trial was conducted at the Shepherd Center, an Atlanta-based catastrophic care hospital, and funded by the National Science Foundation and the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation.

The clinical trial tested the ability of these individuals with tetraplegia, as a result of high-level spinal cord injuries (cervical vertebrae C3-C5), to perform tasks related to computer access and wheelchair navigation—using only their tongue movements.

At the beginning of each trial, Ghovanloo and graduate students Xueliang Huo and Chih-wen Cheng attached a small magnet—the size of a grain of rice—to the participant’s tongue with tissue adhesive. Movement of this magnetic tracer was detected by an array of magnetic field sensors mounted on wireless headphones worn by the subject. The sensor output signals were wirelessly transmitted to a portable computer, which was carried on the wheelchair.

The signals were processed to determine the relative motion of the magnet with respect to the array of sensors in real-time. This information was then used to control the movements of the cursor on a computer screen or to substitute for the joystick function in a powered wheelchair. Details on use of the Tongue Drive for wheeled mobility were published in the June 2009 issue of the journal IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering.

Before using the Tongue Drive system, the subjects trained the computer to understand how they would like to move their tongues to indicate different commands. A unique set of specific tongue movements was tailored for each individual based on the user’s abilities, oral anatomy and personal preferences. For the first computer test, the user issued commands to move the computer mouse left and right. Using these commands, each subject played a computer game that required moving a paddle horizontally to prevent a ball from hitting the bottom of the screen.

After adding two more commands to their repertoire—up and down—the subjects were asked to move the mouse cursor through an on-screen maze as quickly and accurately as possible.

Then the researchers added two more commands—single and double mouse clicks—to provide the subject with complete mouse functionality. When a randomly selected symbol representing one of the six commands appeared on the computer screen, the subject was instructed to issue that command within a specified time period. Each subject completed 40 trials for each time period.

After the computer sessions, the subjects were ready for the wheelchair driving exercise. Using forward, backward, right, left and stop/neutral tongue commands, the subjects maneuvered a powered wheelchair through an obstacle course.

The obstacle course contained 10 turns and was longer than a professional basketball court. Throughout the course, the users had to perform navigation tasks such as making a U-turn, backing up and fine-tuning the direction of the wheelchair in a limited space. Subjects were asked to navigate through the course as fast as they could, while avoiding collisions.

Each subject operated the powered wheelchair using two different control strategies: discrete mode, which was designed for novice users, and continuous mode for more experienced users. In discrete mode, if the user issued the command to move forward and then wanted to turn right, the user would have to stop the wheelchair before issuing the command to turn right. The stop command was selected automatically when the tongue returned to its resting position, bringing the wheelchair to a standstill.

"Discrete mode is a safety feature particularly for novice users, but it reduces the agility of the wheelchair movement,” explained Ghovanloo. “In continuous mode, however, the user is allowed to steer the powered wheelchair to the left or right as it is moving forward and backward, thus making it possible to follow a curve.”

Each subject completed the course at least twice using each strategy while the researchers recorded the navigation time and number of collisions. Using discrete control, the average speed for the five subjects was 5.2 meters per minute and the average number of collisions was 1.8. Using continuous control, the average speed was 7.7 meters per minute and the average number of collisions was 2.5.

While this initial performance trial only required six tongue commands, the Tongue Drive system can potentially capture a large number of tongue movements, each of which can represent a different user command. The ability to train the system with as many commands as an individual can comfortably remember and having all of the commands available to the user at the same time are significant advantages over the common sip-n-puff device that acts as a simple switch controlled by sucking or blowing through a straw.

Some sip-n-puff users also consider the straw to be a symbol of their disability. Since Tongue Drive users simply wear headphones that are commonly worn to listen to music, the system is more acceptable to potential users.

John Anschutz, manager of the assistive technology program at the Shepherd Center, identified advantages the Tongue Drive system has over the tongue-touch keypad.

"The Tongue Drive system seems to be much more supportable if there were a failure of some component within the system. With the old tongue-touch keypad, if the system went down then the user lost all of the functions of the wheelchair, phone, computer and environmental control,” explained Anschutz. “Ghovanloo’s approach should be much more repairable should a fault arise, which is critical for systems for which so much function is depended upon.”

A future system upgrade will be to move the sensors inside the user’s mouth, according to Ghovanloo. This will be an important step for users who are very impaired and cannot reposition the system for best results, according to Anschutz.

"All of the subjects successfully completed the computer and powered wheelchair navigation tasks with their tongues without difficulty, which demonstrates that the Tongue Drive system can potentially provide individuals unable to move their arms and hands with effective control over a wide variety of devices they use in their daily lives,” said Ghovanloo.

(Photo: Georgia Tech/Gary Meek)

The Georgia Institute of Technology

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Milder winters are causing Scotland's wild breed of Soay sheep to get smaller, despite the evolutionary benefits of possessing a large body, according to new research published in Science Express.

The new study provides evidence for climate change as the cause of the mysterious decrease in the size of wild sheep on the Scottish island of Hirta, first reported by scientists in 2007. The researchers believe that, due to climate change, survival conditions on Hirta are becoming less challenging, which means slower-growing, smaller sheep are more likely to survive the winters than they once were. This, together with newly-discovered so-called 'young mum effect' whereby young ewes produce smaller offspring, explains why the average size of sheep on the island is decreasing.

Classical evolutionary theory suggests that over time the average size of wild sheep increases, because larger animals tend to be more likely to survive and reproduce than smaller ones, and offspring tend to resemble their parents. However, among the Soay sheep of Hirta, a remote Scottish island in the St Kilda archipelago, average body size has decreased by approximately 5 per cent over the last 24 years.

The research team analysed body size and life history data, which records the timing of key milestones throughout an individual sheep's life, for Soays on Hirta over this 24 year period. They found that sheep on the island are not growing as quickly as they once did, and that smaller sheep are more likely to survive into adulthood. This is bringing down the average size of sheep in the population over all.

Lead author Professor Tim Coulson from Imperial's Department of Life Sciences, suggests that this is because shorter, milder winters, caused by global climate change, mean that lambs do not need to put on as much as weight in the first months of life to survive to their first birthday as they did when winters were colder.

He explains: "In the past, only the big, healthy sheep and large lambs that had piled on weight in their first summer could survive the harsh winters on Hirta. But now, due to climate change, grass for food is available for more months of the year, and survival conditions are not so challenging – even the slower growing sheep have a chance of making it, and this means smaller individuals are becoming increasingly prevalent in the population."

Their results suggest that the decrease in average body size seen in Hirta's sheep is primarily an ecological response to environmental changes over the last 25 years; evolutionary change has contributed relatively little.

In addition, the research team also discovered that the age at which a female sheep gives birth affects the size of her offspring. They realised that young Soay ewes are physically unable to produce offspring that are as big as they themselves were at birth. This 'young-mum' effect had not been incorporated into previous analyses of natural selection, which explains in part why the sheep of Hirta are defying biologists' expectations.

"The young mum effect explains why Soay sheep have not been getting bigger, as we expected them to," concludes Professor Coulson, "But it is not enough to explain why they're shrinking. We believe that this is down to climate change. These two factors are combining to override what we would expect through natural selection."

(Photo: Imperial College London)

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Researchers at the University of Illinois report that a toxic molecule known to damage cells and cause disease may also play a pivotal role in bird migration. The molecule, superoxide, is proposed as a key player in the mysterious process that allows birds to “see” Earth’s magnetic field.

Changes in the electromagnetic field, such as those experienced by a bird changing direction in flight, appear to alter a biochemical compass in the eye, allowing the bird to see how its direction corresponds to north or south. The discovery, reported this month in Biophysical Journal, occurred as a result of a “mistake” made by a collaborator, said principal investigator Klaus Schulten, who holds the Swanlund Chair in Physics at Illinois and directs the theoretical and computational biophysics group at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology. His postdoctoral collaborator, Ilia Solov’yov, of the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies, did not know that superoxide was toxic, seeing it instead as an ideal reaction partner in a biochemical process involving the protein cryptochrome in a bird’s eye.

Cryptochrome is a blue-light photoreceptor found in plants and in the eyes of birds and other animals. Schulten was the first to propose (in 2000) that this protein was a key component of birds’ geomagnetic sense, a proposal that was later corroborated by experimental evidence. He made this prediction after he and his colleagues discovered that magnetic fields can influence chemical reactions if the reactions occur quickly enough to be governed by pure quantum mechanics.

“Prior to our work, it was thought that this was impossible because magnetic fields interact so weakly with molecules,” he said. Such chemical reactions involve electron transfers, Schulten said, “which result in freely tumbling spins of electrons. These spins behave like an axial compass.”

Changes in the electromagnetic field, such as those experienced by a bird changing direction in flight, appear to alter this biochemical compass in the eye, allowing the bird to see how its direction corresponds to north or south.

“Other researchers had found that cryptochrome, acting through its own molecular spins, recruits a reaction partner that operates at so-called zero spin. They suggested that molecular oxygen is that partner,” Schulten said. “We propose that the reaction partner is not the benign oxygen molecule that we all breathe, but its close cousin, superoxide, a negatively charged oxygen molecule.”

When Solov’yov showed that superoxide would work well as a reaction partner, Schulten was at first dismissive.

“But then I realized that the toxicity of superoxide was actually crucial to its role,” he said. The body has many mechanisms for reducing concentrations of superoxide to prevent its damaging effects, Schulten said. But this gives an advantage, since the molecule must be present at low concentrations – but not too low – “to make the biochemical compass work effectively,” he said.

Although known primarily as an agent of aging and cellular damage, superoxide recently has been recognized for its role in cellular signaling.

However, its toxicity may also explain why humans do not have the same ability to see Earth’s electromagnetic field, Schulten said.

“Our bodies try to play it safe,” he said. “It might be that human evolution chose longevity over orientational ability.”

(Photo: L. Brian Stauffer)

University of Illinois

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The earliest stars in the universe formed not only as individuals, but sometimes also as twins, according to a paper published in Science Express. By creating robust simulations of the early universe, astrophysicists Matthew Turk and Tom Abel of the Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, located at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, and Brian O'Shea of Michigan State University have gained the most detailed understanding to date of the formation of the first stars.

To make this discovery, the researchers created an extremely detailed computer simulation of early star formation. Into this virtual universe they sprinkled primordial gas and dark matter as it existed soon after the Big Bang, data they obtained from observations of the cosmic microwave background. This mostly uniform radiation—a faint glow of radio waves spread across the entire sky—contains subtle variations that reflect the beginning of all structure in the universe.

(Photo: Ralf Kaehler, Matthew Turk and Tom Abel)

SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Stanford University

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(Photo: NASA)

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The researchers, led by Associate Professor Yoel Fink of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering (DMSE), emphasize that while such an application and others like it are still only dreams, work is rapidly progressing on developing fabrics capable of capturing images. In a recent issue of the journal Nanoletters, the team reported what it called a "significant" advance: using such a fiber web to take a rudimentary picture of a smiley face.

"This is the first time that anybody has demonstrated that a single plane of fibers, or 'fabric,' can collect images just like a camera but without a lens," said Fink, corresponding author of the Nanoletters paper. "This work constitutes a new approach to vision and imaging."

Our eyes are a great example of Nature's approach to imaging: they involve a highly sophisticated and localized organ made in part of a delicate lens. Technologists have mimicked this approach in cameras, telescopes and even microscopes.

But lenses of natural or man-made origin have a limited field of view, and are susceptible to damage, leading to the loss of the imaging or seeing capacity altogether. Optical fiber webs, in contrast, provide a distributed imaging capability provided by the entire surface of a fabric, which is in principle much more robust to damage and "blindness." If one area is damaged, other fibers can still function, extracting the image.

"We are saying, 'instead of a tiny, sensitive object [for capturing images], let's construct a large, distributed system,'" said Fink, who is also affiliated with MIT's Research Laboratory of Electronics (RLE), the Center for Materials Science and Engineering (CMSE) and Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies (ISN).

The new fibers, less than a millimeter in diameter, are composed of layers of light-detecting materials nested one within another.

Those layers include two rings of a semiconductor material that are light sensitive, each ring only 100 billionths of a meter across. Four metal electrodes contact each of the rings, extending along the length of the fiber, for a total of eight. Each semiconductor ring with its attached electrodes is in turn encased in rings of a polymer insulator that separate it from its neighbor.

"This paper furthers our vision of designing fiber materials and fabrics with ever-increasing sophistication and complexity," Fink said. He and colleagues note that additional optoelectronic layers in the fibers will lead to crisper images that could even be displayed in color.

"While the current version of these fabrics can only image nearby objects, it can still can see much farther than most shirts can," he said.

(Photo: Fink Lab, MIT)

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Freshwater fish was a staple diet for humans as early as 40,000 years ago, according to a new study led by UBC anthropologist Michael Richards.

Richards and a team of researchers from China and the U.S. analyzed stable isotope ratios found in the collagen of human and animal bones discovered in 2001 from the Tianyuan Cave near Beijing, China. Their study, to be published in this week’s Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, presents the first direct evidence of fish being a substantial part of early human diet.

The 34 human bones – likely from the same individual scientists call Tianyuan 1 – discovered in the Tianyuan Cave are one of the oldest modern human remains found in Eurasia. Bones of deer, monkey, porcupine and wild cat were also discovered on the site.

Stable isotopes such as those of carbon, nitrogen and sulfur are often used by scientists to reconstruct a food web and determine the long-term source of dietary proteins as they are deposited in the bone collagen over time.

“We found similar carbon isotope values in the remains of the Tianyuan 1 human and those of a wild cat, indicating a similar diet of land animals and plants as a source of protein,” says Richards, who led the study while a researcher at the Max Planck Institute in Germany.

“But significantly higher values of nitrogen isotopes in the human suggest an additional source of protein – probably from freshwater fish since aquatic animals generally have higher nitrogen isotope values due to their longer food chains.”

Since no freshwater fish bones were found in Tianyuan Cave, the researchers studied fish remains discovered in the nearby Donghulin site and found consistent sulfur isotope ratios.

“The combination of these findings provides direct evidence that early modern humans in China consumed freshwater fish regularly,” says Richards.

Anthropologists have previously found indirect evidence of humans eating fish in South Africa as early as 50-60 thousand years ago. This new study presents the first direct evidence of fish being an important part of their diet and may help scientists understand how early modern humans adapted to their environments.

“Since this timeframe predates consistent evidence of effective fishing gear, we think the shift to more fish in the diet may reflect greater pressure from an expanding population and the resulting difficulty in accessing small land animals.”

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North Carolina State University


Here is how Increasing integration of business accounting software with big data can be explained

Current trends and findings converge on the fact that, the adoption of big data infrastructure is increasing in industry verticals such as banking, retail, and media and entertainment. Big data aids the firms to get timely insights to retain their customers and strengthen their market position by collecting and storing information such as purchase preferences of customers, the progress of competitors, and performance of various workplace tools.
Big data solutions also play a critical role in the business development of an organization through the deployment of cloud-based business accounting software to enhance business efficiency. This has simplified the account management process and automated the import transactions, digital receipts tracking, payroll automation, and tax tracking.


Liberian President Lights Up Rural Malawi

Lilongwe ‑ Liberian President, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf recently presided over the switching on of electricity in one of Malawi's ambitious Rural Electrification Projects aimed at lighting up 81 rural trade centres across the country.

Malawi's electrification total electrification rate is pegged at 11 percent, however, the electrification rate of households in rural areas, where about 80 percent of the population lives, still remains less than 1 percent.

“With the right agenda, policies, determination and commitment Africa has reach a point where we can reach the competitive position just as other regions of the world,” says the Liberian leader.

Currently, the rapidity of rural electrification in most African countries is lower than the rural population growth because of low population densities in rural areas, which result in high capital and operating costs for electricity providing institutions.

During the launch of Kapichira II Hydro Power Station last month, Malawi President Joyce Banda announced her intention to light up 81 rural trade centres. The recent event marks Phase 7 of the US$17 million Malawi Rural Electrification Programme (MAREP).

Principal Secretary in the southern African nation's Minister of Energy, Winford Masanjala, says the MAREP aims at electrifying rural and peri-urban communities in order to reduce poverty by transforming rural communities Under the MAREP Phase 7, the Malawi government is expected to light up 27 of the 81 centres.

Masanjala says under Phase 6, government electrified 54 trading centres at US$6 million.

Apart from the MAREP, the Malawi government last year signed a Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) deal with the American government focusing on ensuring that electricity is used for productive economic activities in addition to providing power at household level.

Studies have indicated that rural electrification significantly impacts the poor by raising household incomes by almost 50 percent.

The MCA-Malawi project will pay attention to developing a mini-grid in a rural community in order to ensure that the demand for power determines the suitability of a particular site. According to the MCA project, other factors that will be considered in identifying and determining potential sites include, number of households, cash crop production as well as other economic activities, including potential businesses that would arise due to the availability of power. The project will target possible productive uses of the power, including cold storage, milling; distance to nearest markets and monthly household expenditure on electricity substitutes.

MAREP has previously been supported by the Japanese International Co-operation Agency (JICA), which has provided assistance to Malawi, including debt relief grant support, dispatch of experts to serve as long-term advisors, the formulation of rural electrification master plans through development studies and installation of solar power generation facilities.

The main purpose of the MAREP is to improve the rate of household electrification through the extension of distribution lines and the expanded use of solar power generation systems. This is expected to be achieved through the implementation of socioeconomic studies concerning electric power demand and the increase in electrical connections in newly electrified sites.

Malawi through its power utility body the Electricity Supply Commission of Malawi (Escom) and private public partnerships (PPP) plans to expand the existing grid through a rural electrification model that saves households on their energy expenditure, gives them more opportunities to increase income, is financially sustainable and can be installed and scaled-up easily.

Another form of electricity supply is the installation of electricity kiosks, which is a battery charging station using solar, micro-hydro or other type of (renewable) energy for generation of the electricity.

At domestic level, the electricity kiosk can use the electricity for lighting, phone charging and to power a radio.

The batteries can be recharged using various sources of (renewable) generation such as through a solar panel, micro-hydro power plant or by connecting it to an electricity grid.

The electricity kiosk will supply basic electricity to households and small businesses currently not connected to the electricity grid. They will benefit through the electricity kiosk by saving on household energy expenditure.

February 2014
« Jan   Mar »


How to Add or Upload a Candidate

There are often times where you want to upload a candidate's resume or add them into JazzHR manually. You can upload candidates via our mass import, done by our Customer Success team or add them in small groups. We will cover how to add candidates one-by-one or via an email import

You can add candidates in the context of a specific job, or do so on the Candidates page to add them into your overall JazzHR account with no job associated. We highly recommend using a specific job, but if you don't have a specific job in mind, create a "Candidate Pool" job where you can house these folks.

If you want to upload multiple candidates via an email address, you can read more here.

  1. Click Add Candidate on the Candidates page or click Add Candidate within a job
  2. To upload a file from your desktop, drag and drop the file into the box or click Click here to upload
  3. If you don't have a candidate's resume, simply click I don't have a resume to fill in their profile information manually

  • You do not need to enter in a valid email address to upload a candidate
  • You can fill in any information on their profile manually here, but this can be edited at any time
  • Make sure to choose a job to add the candidate to, it is not recommended to have "orphan" candidates floating around
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Added by on 2014-10-06

Action (1985) 94 minutes ~ Color

The USS COBRA, a super sub of the United States Naval nuclear fleet, is sent by U.S. Naval Operations to the Straits of Gibraltar’s. With its metal hull still hot from a very close encounter with the Soviet Coast Guard while on a “routine” mission within 1,000 yards of the port of Leningrad, the United States, the Soviet Union and the Middle East will begin to play their roles in the deadly Drama, orchestrated by the KGB, which would ultimately affect the entire population of the world, or at least the survivors.

Director: Allan Kuskoski

Writers: Dave Hanson, Allan Kuskowski

Stars: Stuart Whitman, Paul Mantee and Persis Khambatta


Department seeks divine intervention to curb road deaths

THE Eastern Cape department of transport has teamed up with religious leaders in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro to seek divine intervention against road accidents before the World Cup.

At a function held at the weekend in Port Elizabeth, Bishop Mbulelo Ngqono, the department's chaplain, said: "Our department's priority is to ensure that we curb road accidents because they cause deaths."

Ngqono said the number of people dying on the roads was too high.

He said the last time he saw a huge number of bodies was during the apartheid era when the then government "killed our people".

"People are dying like flies. Only the power of prayer can bring divine intervention to this carnage."

He said stray animals were also contributing to deaths on the roads, and that traffic officers should apply zero tolerance to those breaking the rules of the road.

Transport MEC Ghishma Barry recently launched a Road Ranger programme for the Cacadu district, which includes Nelson Mandela Bay, in a bid to remove stray animals from roads. The department has also given the road rangers new bicycles.

One of the rangers, Cynthia Matani, said she was happy to be playing a role in saving the lives of both locals and World Cup tourists who would be visiting the province.

Her colleague, Boy Mantewu, said he was also happy because before they were employed as road rangers, there were many stray animals that caused serious accidents.


Di Zentrum Publishing

Yoga is an application for Windows created by Zentrum Publishing, https://www.self-realization.com/yoga_software.htm. Its latest version 3.9, was released 1377 days ago, on 11.03.14. The size of the app is 4.28MB, with the average size for its category, salute, being 6.72MB. This app is available in italiano and is supported by the minimum operating system version . Yoga is ranked 47 in its category and is in the top 14565 in Uptodown’s overall ranking. Some similar programs are: SportTracks, Gourmet Recipe Manager, FriendEye, WinBraille, Biorhythms, Advanced Woman Calendar.

Valuta questa App

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Recursos de colección

Archive of European Integration (75.249 recursos)

Type = Conference Proceedings

Mostrando recursos 1 - 20 de 76

  1. It's Not the Economy, Stupid? Analyzing Icelandic Support for EU Membership

    Curtis, K. Amber; Jupille, Joseph
    What drives support for EU membership? We test the determinants of EU attitudes using original data from Iceland, whose recent woes have received wide attention. Given its crisis, we expect economic anxiety to drive public opinion. We find instead that economic unease is entirely mediated by assessments of the current government and that, despite the dire economic context, cultural concerns predominate. This suggests a potential disconnect between Icelandic elites’ desire for accession and the public will at large. Our results largely confirm prior findings on support for integration, further exposing the conditions under which individuals will evaluate EU membership favorably or...

  2. Why is the Court of Justice of the European Union accepted? Three mechanisms of opposition abatement

    Werner, Benjamin
    The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) played a very important role in the process of European integration. Its jurisprudence has again and again strengthened the competencies of the supranational level to the disadvantage of the member states. The CJEU has always been criticized for this pro-integrationist activism but that never had a serious impact on the court’s behavior. In recent years, however, the environment for legal integration has changed: The CJEU is increasingly treading on political sensitive issues; and that in a period when the integration project as such is becoming more and more contested. Scholars of...

  3. Irish Diplomacy in Time of Crisis and the Evolution of a ‘European’ diplomatic service

    Tonra, Ben

  4. From Backdoor-Opening To Concluding “Real” Free Trade Agreements? : Japan’s Free Trade Policy Towards The US, The EU And Latin American Countries

    Suzuki, Hitoshi
    The first country Japan signed an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) was Singapore in January 2002. Since then, Japan has agreed upon EPAs with most of the Asian-Pacific countries, including Australia (July 2014), but without Korea and China. This could be described as the first stage of Japan’s FTA/EPA negotiations, set upon a strategy to conclude with countries “as many as possible” and “in the order of conclude-able.” Japan’s EPAs with Mexico (May 2005), Chile (September 2007), and Peru (March 2012) aimed to catch up with the US and the European Union’s (EU) free trade policy with Latin American countries, so that Japanese multi-nationals would not reduce...

  5. The Global Health policies of the EU and its Member States: a common vision?

    Steurs, Lies; Van Belle, Sara
    This paper assesses the coherence between the global health policy of the European Union (EU) and those of its individual Member States. So far EU and public health scholars have paid little heed to this, despite the large budgets of the member states in this area. While the European Commission has recently attempted to define the ‘EU role in Global Health’, EU member states would like to keep a grip on the domain of global health as well. Therefore, this paper questions the existence of a common EU vision on global health by comparing the global health policy documents of...

  6. The EU’s Role in Development Cooperation: Promoting Aid Harmonisation in Times of Crisis

    Steingass, Sebastian
    Despite starting from a highly fragmentary development policy system, a considerable consensus on policy norms for effective development cooperation has become prevalent on the EU level. This consensus makes claims about the EU’s role in European development cooperation. This role embraces the EU’s active promotion of approximation and convergence of European policies on aid and development cooperation, the EU’s so called “federating role”. The purpose of this paper is to propose a theoretically-informed model for understanding institutional dynamics in European development cooperation in terms of competing ideas and discourses on the EU’s role in regard to national aid policies. After...

  7. EU normative power and the Iranian nuclear program

    no, author
    Ian Manners has proposed the concept of European Union normative power: the ability of the EU to change what is ‘normal’ in international relations. The EU-led international negotiations with Iran aimed at preventing the Islamic Republic from acquiring nuclear weapons may provide an example of EU normative power in action. In his 2002 state of the union address, president George W Bush included Iran in an ‘axis of evil’, a move which appeared to raise the possibility of an American military intervention against Iran. In response to the alarm raised by the International Atomic Energy Agency report on the Iranian...

  8. Social Models under Economic and Monetary Union

    Marzinotto, Benedicta
    This paper explains the build-up and the reversal of macroeconomic imbalances in the euro area from a social-model point of view. Imbalances between the core and the periphery have been attributed either to fundamental differences in competitiveness or to the fact that capital was flowing into low-income countries where returns were highest. The former hypothesis is unable to account for the decoupling of export performance and standard cost competitiveness indicators and can hardly fit the Irish case. The latter is weak on push factors or, when focused on credit demand, unable to explain why countries with similar per capita income...

  9. The European Union as a New Context and Challenge for the Triangle of Greece, Cyprus and Turkey

    Joseph, Joseph S.
    This paper deals with Greek-Turkish relations and the Cyprus problem in the context of EU interests and concerns in the region. It argues that today, more than ever before, the EU can play a catalytic role in finding a long overdue settlement on Cyprus and improving Greek-Turkish relations. Following the development of a spirit of rapprochement across the Aegean in the late 1990s, the accession of Cyprus to the EU in 2004, and the commencement of accession negotiations between Turkey and the EU in October 2005, the political setting in the region is changing. It is also argued that a...

  10. The European Union and Israel’s Occupation: Using Technical Customs Rules as Instruments of Foreign Policy

    Pardo, Sharon; Gordon, Neve

  11. Analyzing European Union Politics

    Bindi, Federiga; Eliassen, Kjell A.; Moses, Jonathan; Wiberg, Matti; Falkner, Gerda; Muravska, Tatjana; Justaert, Arnout; Van Den Brande, Karoline; Delreux, Tom; Drieskens, Edith; Nachev, Ivan; Garaski, Salla; Jorgensen, Knud Erik; Manners, Ian; Costa, Olivier; Borzel, Tanja; Heinze, Torben; Contogeorgis, George; Chryssochoou, Dmitris N.; Ocsko, Edina; Giusti, Serena; Dijkstra, Hylke; Vink, Maarten; Marino, Marit Sjovaag; Bergmann, Erikur; Pisarska, Katarzyna; Vila Maior, Paulo; Ramos, Claudia T.; Angelescu, Irina; Ollora, Izea; Sitter, Nick; Dunphy, Sarah; Laursen, Finn; Roy, Joaquim; Strelkov, Alexander; Entin, Mark; Barabanov, Oleg; Zeff, Eleanor; Shaw, Kelly B.; Andrews, Davis
    The speed and depth with which the European Communities/ European Union has evolved is breathtaking and has radically shaped the life of the continent. Ever since the beginning of this ambitious economic and political project, scholars around the world have tried to explain the underlying logic behind it and the mechanisms of its functioning. Thus, a plethora of studies developed alongside the evolution of the EU. SENT (Network of European Studies) is an innovative and ambitious project which brought together about 100 partners from the EU member states, candidate and associated countries, and other parts of the world. It was a far reaching project aimed to overcome disciplinary and geographical- linguistic boundaries in...

  12. The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership: Interest groups and public opinion

    Eliasson, Leif Johan
    The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) constitutes an attempt to improve job creation and boost the economies on both sides of the Atlantic. Yet economic benefits and standard setting impacts notwithstanding, policy makers and legislators assess trade and investment agreements by a different metric. Politics, not economics, will determine the fate of TTIP, and opponents appear to have made some inroads with the public. This paper looks at the influence of interest groups and public opinions on developments in TTIP. This initial study finds correlations between public interest group activity, public opinion, and changes in TTIP. Key words: Transatlantic trade,...

  13. What can the EU do to promote rule of law in members and neighbours? Lessons from Bulgaria and Romania

    Dimitrova, Antoaneta
    Introduction: The European Union’s focus on political integration2, in the sense of evaluating and supporting democratic regime consolidation and democratic institutions, rule of law, human and minorities’ rights dates back to the early years of the 2004-2007 enlargement. While the EU was considered an important factor in the consolidation of democratic regimes in Spain and Portugal (Preston 1997), the Spanish and Portuguese transitions were viewed as nearly completed when these countries joined the European Community. While the EU’s contribution to the overall strengthening of democratic institutions is considered by many (Vachudova 2005; Dimitrova/ Pridham 2005; Schimmelfennig/Sedelmeier 2005; Levitz/ Pop-Eleches 2010...

  14. Fixing the EU Democratic Deficit: An Instrumental View of Citizenship?

    Damay, Ludivine; Mercenier, Heidi
    Introduction: One of the main contributions of sociological approaches to the academic debates about the European Union (EU) democratic deficit is to focus on the social acceptance of the EU. Nowadays, EU institutions themselves seem to share the same focus on citizens’ subjective perceptions. Indeed, fostering a sense of belonging to the EU becomes one of the strategies to fix the EU democratic deficit and strengthen its legitimacy. For EU institutions, it is necessary to bring the citizen closer to the EU as this would provide, at least partly, the solution to the democratic deficit. Hence, sociological approaches should now widen their focus, so to include the...

  15. Recent estimates of exchange rate pass-through to import prices in the euro area

    Ben Cheikh, Nidhaleddine; Rault, Christophe
    This paper provides an update on the exchange rate pass-through (ERPT) estimates for 12 euro area (EA) countries. First, based on quarterly data over the 1990-2012 period, our study does not find a significant heterogeneity in the degree of pass-through across the monetary union members, in contrast to previous empirical studies. As we use a longer time span for the post-EA era than existing studies, this is not surprising, since the process of monetary union has entailed some convergence towards more stable macroeconomic conditions across euro area (EA) member states. Second, when assessing the stability of passthrough elasticities, we find very weak evidence of a decline around...

  16. Opposition to the TTIP in the EU and the US: Implications for the EU’s “democratic deficit”

    Buonanno, Laurie; Dudek, Carolyn Marie
    Since ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, the European Parliament’s (EP) newly conferred power in international negotiations is being put to the test through the complex and lengthy negotiations between the EU and the US for a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). The TTIP represents a fruitful area to investigate the way in which the EP is utilizing (or underutilizing) its new power as well as implications for the EU’s democratic deficit. TTIP represents a particularly fruitful policy to study the EP’s power because it offers the ability to directly compare the EP’s behavior with that of the US Congress....

  17. “Europe is our future”: Measuring support for European integration as a tridimensional temporal process

    Belot, Céline; Van Ingelgom, Virginie
    Introduction: On the 2nd of June 1992, a majority of Danish voters said “no” to the Maastricht Treaty. Asked about the same time what they thought of the EC, 56% of Danish people claimed that membership to the EC was a good thing, 61% approved European Unification and 67% acknowledged their country benefited from its membership. At the time of the “No vote” relative to the Nice referendum, the Irish were even more euro-enthusiast with 81% claiming their country membership was a good thing and 83% that it benefited from this membership. Seven years later, still a majority of French and Dutch people considered their country membership as...

  18. The EU food regulatory policy making: Indirect effects on the food chain governance

    Chatzopoulou, Sevie
    The perpetual expansion of the EU regulatory policy making, especially in the late 1980s, created new demands regarding the governance of these policies within the EU but also at the global level. This paper examines the specific case of the EU food chain regulatory framework and investigates its implications on the food chain governance. It specifically examines how the EU food chain regulatory framework emerged with the scope to ensure higher quality, healthy and safe food along with promoting innovation and the use of modern technologies which is also part of the Commission's "Better regulation‟ agenda. Based on the regulatory governance...

    Anderson, Stephanie; Williams, John.
    The EU has strained to find its identity as a security and defense power. The EU, historically, has more experience and credibility in the area of its development policy. Given the EU’s history of development promotion and recent efforts to expand and clarify its foreign policy objectives, it should not be surprising that development and security goals often resemble each other. This paper argues that the conflation of traditional security concerns with the overall development policy of the EU indicates an expansion of and an effort to legitimize the EU’s foreign and security policy. However, the lack of a clear distinction between security and development strategies acts...

  20. Coming full circle: Differential empowerment in the EU accession process

    Wunsch, Natasha
    The EU accession process brings a profound transformation not only to candidate countries’ institutions and policies, but also to the political opportunity structure in place, creating new possibilities for previously marginalised actors. Studying the differential empowerment of NGOs throughout the Croatian accession process, this paper makes two related claims: first, differential empowerment depends crucially on domestic actors’ awareness for and ability to use new opportunities to their advantage. Second, an overreliance on EU leverage poses important temporal and substantive limits on NGO empowerment and leads to a rapid decline of their relevance in the post-accession phase. I argue that a more sustainable shift in the domestic power balance...


First Christian Church of Madera logo

Most likely you are wondering why we have chosen Synapse for our small group ministry. The word comes from two words meaning to clasp together. Very simply put, the Synapses are the connections between the brain and the body. With receptors and transmitters they connect the idea in the brain to the function in the body that needs to be accomplished.

The average 3 year old is said to have about 1000 trillion of these. As adults the number drops to anywhere from 100-500 trillion. The movement of the information across the gap is called firing.

Simply put, Synapse brings together two things: what we know and what we do. It is the marriage of our knowledge and our actions. It is the clasping together of one person to another in love. It is the connecting of what we read in the Word with what we do in our lives.

Synapse Groups form at periodic times and meet as a group for 12-24 months. You can find out more about groups that are forming in the church publications.


The Best Resource For Mixed Martial Arts MMA

Is Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather Closer Than Ever to Reality?

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Conor McGregor vs Floyd Mayweather

A blockbuster boxing match between UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor and retired world boxing champion Floyd Mayweather is closer than ever to being a reality.

That statement, of course, is highly subjective. “Closer than ever” and “close to happening” can be two entirely different shades of reality.

As the story continues to unfold, however, more and more of the details point to a progression toward the fight, not a backing away from it.

Mayweather recently told ESPN‘s Stephen A. Smith that “we’re getting very, very close” to the superfight. That statement is far from definitive, but again, it’s a step toward the fight.

The Irish Sun took things a step further with its recent report on the probability of the fight, citing anonymous sources close to McGregor’s Straight Blast Gym as saying, “Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather have agreed a deal to fight and have both settled on their respective fees. The contract hasn’t officially been signed yet because of a third party hold-up, but all the details have all been agreed on. The fight could even be announced within two weeks.”

That sounds like quite the stretch considering most sources point to McGregor and Mayweather having yet to meet about the fight, as McGregor had recently insisted they would. McGregor is, however, currently in Las Vegas, where he intends to settle with the Nevada Athletic Commission over a bottle-throwing incident with Nate Diaz at the UFC 202 pre-fight press conference last August.

As he stated at a recent question and answer session in Manchester, England, the plan after ironing things out with the NAC is to have further discussions with Mayweather. That is something that appears to be well founded, as NAC commissioner Anthony Marnell told ESPN’s Brett Okamoto on Tuesday that some discussions have already been taking place.

TRENDING > UFC 205 and Conor McGregor Set Records and Pumped Millions into New York

While there has been talk that McGregor and Mayweather could try to make the fight without the UFC’s involvement, company president Dana White has made it clear that won’t happen.

“If he wants to go down that road with us,” said White, “it will be an epic fall.”

McGregor is under contract with the UFC, and despite the bout being negotiated as a boxing match and not a mixed martial arts fight, his contract would require either permission from the UFC or the promotion’s involvement.

The former is not going to happen. The UFC is not going to allow McGregor to compete in the biggest blockbuster of his career without its piece of the pie.

As for the latter, the bout happening with the UFC being the promoter or co-promoter, that isn’t so far fetched.

While the UFC is generally opposed to co-promoting, the scope of this bout could warrant such a venture, if the financials can be agreed upon. As Marnell said, there are several parties involved that are demanding a huge slice of the pie.

White has already made overtures that the UFC and its new ownership, WME-IMG, would be willing to make the fight happen. His initial salvo was $25 million each to McGregor and Mayweather, plus a percentage of pay-per-view to be negotiated. That offer is likely well off the mark for the potential earnings of such a bout, but it is an opening bid that signifies a willingness to make it happen when a tremendous amount of money is on the table.

McGregor and Mayweather still have a significant climb to conquer before this fight becomes a reality, but it is no longer merely the white noise of self promotion that it once appeared to be.

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Source:: mmaweekly


Religious Diversity

“The indiscriminate mix, which must occur in large public establishments, of persons of opposite religious sentiments and practices … [is] calculated to fix, still deeper, the melancholy and misanthropic train of ideas.”

~Asylum for the Relief of Persons Deprived of the Use of Their Reason, 26

This mixing of different religions in public mental health institutions was thought to negatively affect the mental health of Quaker patients. Thus, the founders of Friends’ Asylum wanted a place “with the necessary medical assistance, and wholly under the care and notice of Friends, for the relief and accommodation of persons thus afflicted; including members and professors with us, of every description” (4). The original purpose of Friends’ Asylum was to treat only Quakers and, despite the many non-Quakers being treated there throughout the years, this goal did not appear to explicitly change in the early 19th century.

However, the Asylum did not exclusively serve Quaker patients. Beginning in 1834, the Asylum began admitting patients who belonged to other faiths. Explore each year's non-Quaker admissions with the graph below. This information comes from the Friends' Asylum collection's Casebooks, 1835-1894 records.

By the similarities between some religion names written in these casebooks, it seems as though recordkeepers at the Asylum were not necesarily concerned with precision when it came to recording religions. For example, some records note the admittance of Dunker patients, though this term in fact refers to the German Baptist religion, to which other patients are explicitly noted as belonging. Additionally, in some years, some patients are recorded as Roman Catholics, while in others they might simply be recorded as Catholics. In these two examples, the data have been combined under the German Baptist and broader Catholic terms, respectively. However, in other instances, similar terms might appear in the same year. One example of this is the year 1848, in which both "German Lutheran" and "Lutheran" appear. For cases like these, each religion's data have been left separate to preserve the original text of the Casebooks.

Jews at the Asylum

It is particularly interesting that Jews were admitted into the Asylum, as all other patients were Christians of some variety. In both 1897 and 1898 there were four Jews who were patients at the Asylum. In addition, many of the Jews migrated from Russia or Germany (Box 9 and 10). During this time Philadelphia “became home by 1905 to 100,000 Jews, two-thirds of them from Russia,” which could, in part, explain the increase of European Jews in the Asylum in the late 1800s (283). Unfortunately we do not know much about what their experiences were like because the Superintendent stopped keeping detailed records in 1894. Instead, the Daily Records used symbols to keep track of the patient’s activities and mental state. Based on the symbols, we do know that the Jews in the Asylum did not participate in religious activities within the asylum(1907-1909). This could mean that they primarily practiced religion privately or they simply were not able to observe any religion other than Quakerism in the Asylum. The differences in how each religion was treated in the Asylum were not as clear as the differences between the opportunities for and treatment of men and women.


Sentence for imagines | Use imagines in a sentence

How to use imagines in a sentence. ESL students, people who enjoy word games, & those learning a new language might especially enjoy this webpage. The lines of text below use imagines in a sentence, and provide visitors a sentence for imagines.

  • It is something like the solution which Goethe imagines for Faust, and perhaps no other is imaginable. (9)
  • She asks for what she thinks she may have; she claims what she imagines to be her own. (10)
  • She said she would just go in and look; and the wise reader imagines the result. (9)

Glad you visited this page with a sentence for imagines. Perhaps also see a sentence for inference and ways to use imps in a sentence. Now that you’ve seen how to use imagines in a sentence hope you might explore the rest of this educational reference site to see many other example sentences which provide word usage information.

People looking for: "how do you use imagines in a sentence?", "imagines sentence", visited this page.


Family Organization For Your Children

Your kids don’t have to suffer from disorganized closets just because you need to work. Working moms can still be hands-on in handling their kids’ needs no matter how busy their working schedules get. The key is to find the right tools in aiding you to accomplish your super-mom tasks while also accomplishing a work report for your job. Being a mom doesn’t always mean you have to give up your career in order to take care of your kids. Even a simple act of making sure they eat a balanced meal, they do their homework, they go to bed early, they brush their teeth and they wear neat clothes to school are simple day-to-day achievements for a mom. You can start with kid’s closet organization tools.

Being supermom can always start by teaching your kids the value of organization and organizing their things in such a way that they are always certain of wearing neatly folded and freshly washed clothes. Your kids would not complain so much, for instance, if you help them select what to wear during the weekdays as early as the weekends when you’re spending some quality time with them. You can put the chosen outfit in a days of the week closet organizer where each compartment is labeled according to the days of the week so that your child can just grab the clothes he or she will wear when he or she prepares for school.

Kids can also own hundreds of toys and books. There are numerous kid’s closet organization ideas for storing books and toys, are storage cubes or bins. You can direct your kids to put their toys or books on the shelves or on the bin as soon as they’re done playing with it. Once in a while, you can help them do it just so they can see how it is properly done but most of the time, you should leave it to their capable hands in order to develop the habit of cleaning up their own mess in their early years. There is a greater possibility that they will carry out this habit through their teens if they developed it early on.


(WASHINGTON EXAMINER) When candidate Barack Obama took the stage at the Democratic National Convention in 2008, he had some strong words for his Republican opponents.


Class Descriptions

Hatha Yoga/Hathavidya

In a Hatha Yoga Class, teachers combine asana (physical postures), pranayama (breathing exercises), meditation and other subtle practices with a focus on alignment of both the physical and the energetic body. Beginners are welcome in all our Hatha classes.

Amy’s Hatha Flow classes are an invitation to explore the depths of your own body, mind, and heart. Classes are a skillful blend of healthy alignment, kinesthetic awareness, and practical wisdom to open you to greater levels of strength and healing. “My Hatha Flow classes are open level. I welcome students from all yogic traditions, and any level of experience, to come as they are and lead with their hearts!”
This practice includes ancient breathing, asana, mantras, relaxation and meditation techniques that are practiced to remove negative states of mind, promoting positive thinking, leading to higher states of physical and mental health.

These specific practices are based on gaining true power founded in Self-knowledge and are initiated by sitting with the teacher and with continued self-practice to present a complete holistic system that creates stability in body, mind and spirit.

The emphasis of Hathavidya practice is for the student to develop their own way – a perfect path of yoga.

Based in traditional hatha yoga teachings, this class is taught in a flow style on a weekly theme incorporating the use of asana, pranayama and mantra. A challenging class, but not fast moving, giving each student a chance to breathe into each pose and discover what’s there. Strong focus on alignment and connection to the breath.

This lunch time donation class is welcome to students of all levels. We move slowly with a strong focus on the breath and alignment, moving into poses based on the levels of students in the room.

“Bilingual Hatha Flow with Judi” is a beginner to open level class taught in both English and Spanish.  Judi’s classes focus on breath and alignment and exploring the lines of energy in the body, creating more openness and space and allowing for a harmonious union of the body, mind and heart.  ALL STUDENTS WELCOME especially Spanish speaking students who have been curious about yoga and students who are looking to expand their fluency in both languages while continuing to build and grow their yoga practice.

“Bilingüe Hatha Flow con Judi” es una clase abierta y para principiantes de la yoga ensenada en los dos idiomas: Inglés y Español.  Las clases de Judi se concentran en la respiración, la alineación del cuerpo, y la exploración de las líneas de energía en el cuerpo, creando mas espacio y permitiéndonos lograr harmonía y unión del cuerpo con la mente y el corazón.  TODOS NIVELES Y ESTUDIANTES SON BIENVENIDOS, especialmente los que hablan Español y tienen curiosidad sobre la práctica de la yoga, y también aquellos que buscan ampliar su conocimiento de los dos idiomas mientras continúan creciendo su práctica de yoga propia.

This class is taught with a focus on alignment and breath, with the foundation in a traditional Hatha practice combined with with a mindful flow. Each class has a spiritual or emotional theme to help deepen the connection between body, mind and spirit. And to inspire bringing the practice off the mat and in to our daily lives.

Carolina’s classes are Open level where both beginners and seasoned students are welcome! Modifications will always be offered.

An integrated experience of Intelligently sequenced asana with dynamic breathing, meditation, and sound, to energize, align, and heal the total self. All levels welcome.

Iyengar Yoga

Iyengar Yoga is HATHA Yoga in the method of Yoga Master, B.K.S. Iyengar. This method focuses on precise alignment and the skillful use of props (belts, blocks, blankets, chairs) to help students experience each asana in a deeper and supported way. This step-by-step, systematized method allows the classical asana (and thus it’s benefits) to become accessible to ALL regardless of flexibility, fitness level, age, or body type. Working from the outside in, the mind can become quiet and the student can experience what B.K.S. Iyengar describes as “Meditation in Action.”
As per Iyengar tradition, classes follow a monthly cycle — you can expect to see more vigorous Iyengar classes in the beginning and restorative classes towards the of every month. This is a great class if you are a beginner or if you are a seasoned practitioner ready to delve deeper into alignment.

Nancy has a love and enthusiasm for the practice of Yoga and the Iyengar method. She welcomes all levels to this class for all can benefit! You can expect to explore Sanskrit Chanting and Yoga Philosophy along with a Sequence of Yoga Asanas. Students learn how one pose leads to the next; sequential learning with emphasis on precise alignment, the Iyengar way.

Vinyasa Yoga

Vinyasa, meaning ‘flow’, merges movement with breath. Teachers guide students through sequences of postures lead by the rhythm of their own breath. Whether the class is fast or slow, includes chanting, or is alignment-oriented will depend on the individual teacher. Classes will vary in their range of difficulty and teachers will offer variations for students in different levels. Beginners are welcome only in our open level vinyasa classes.

Enjoy an energizing mixed level yoga class with Anthony, guided by breath in a creative blend of Hatha and Vinyasa poses. We’ll focus on developing flexibility, strength and balance as we move into a dynamic flow that will lengthen and tone your entire body and leave you feeling centered and
Shawna encourages creative, playful exploration to find your body’s fullest expression in each pose and your heart’s fullest offering of Light in every movement. She brings a sense of welcome to the table; excitement and enthusiasm for your transformation; and a sense of connection towards authentic living and remembrance of Spirit. Drawing upon Hatha, Vinyasa, and Prana Yoga styles, Shawna invites openness to ask questions and openness to create dialogue around deeper awareness. She speaks to the structure of each pose and transition with focus on the balance between anatomical alignment and the beauty of the body’s innate wisdom! At times, Shawna will incorporate mudra, mantra, pranayama, philosophy, and will always offer a sacred space in which to explore all things revealed and created in the practice. Whether you are new to Yoga‚ a returning practitioner‚ or seasoned yogi‚ there will always be something for you in Shawna’s classes.

Vinyasa Yoga with Tom is an opportunity to explore your edge with regard to your own breath, asana alignment, mindfulness and mantra meditation.

Requests are always encouraged, so that classes are often tailored to the individual needs of the students in the room. Regardless, the breath is primary and leads and concludes each movement. The breath envelops and carries the movement, and is your metronome, no matter what the body is doing or not doing.

Because you are always staying within your own practice, there will be options available for different poses. Taking breaks and child’s pose are encouraged if appropriate. At this point the student goes from “breathing the breath” to “observing the breath” with a mantra, staying connected all along. In a way, this class can be seen as a “stealth meditation class”, with a strong physical practice, working from the inside out, at your own pace.

Coming soon!
Michelle offers a vinyasa flow style class that explores moving with the breath through lighthearted and playful sequences. Though geared more towards an advanced beginner or intermediate practitioner, modifications will be offered to encourage everyone to explore their own unique practice. A weekly theme is suggested in order to focus the class as we move towards a peak pose. Michelle intends to create a judgment free space in order for others to celebrate their true authentic selves, with the glorious understanding that yoga is for every body.

Restorative Yoga

Rejuvenating and supported poses that restore the nervous system and dismantle chronic tension. This class is a perfect way to end your week and get your body and mind ready for a lovely weekend. It’s like pressing a reset button so we recommend this class to everyone.

A deep sigh, a warm hug, and a gentle touch filled with loving care. This is Gentle Restorative Yoga with Shawna. Whatever you might need, we can address; from toes to nose, and hamstrings to heart strings. This practice can help you not only de-stress, it can help you rehabilitate injuries, gain flexibility, and even support strength. All who enter are welcomed.

Prenatal Yoga

A woman’s body goes through a lot of changes during pregnancy. This class will help your body adjust to those changes as well as prepare for labor by maintaining flexibility in the muscles and building strength to ensure an easier labor and post-partum recovery.

Marcela’s class offers a forum and support network for women to openly discuss and address the mental and physical changes happening in the body during pregnancy. An asana practice focused on shoulder and hip openers as well as muscle strengthening varies based on the needs and feedback of students in the beginning of each class. We incorporate childbirth education techniques with a focus on breath work (pranayama), and how to use breath in relaxation techniques to guide each woman in preparation for labor and childbirth.

Bread and Yoga
5000 Broadway, Suite A
(Entrance on 212th St.)
New York, NY 10034


Manufacturing Engineer

Savannah, GA

What you'll be doing

Perform technical studies and conduct analysis of operations (existing or proposed). Develop plans and recommendations for equipment needed and correct methods of manufacturing including sequence of operations and detailed methodology of complex assemblies and installations as well as detail components. Assist in make-or-buy proposals and recommend corrective actions for areas of responsibility. Conduct research, investigation and analysis in connection with assigned planning or other assigned projects, to ensure conformance to requirements. Perform predictability studies from engineering drawings. Apply statistical methods to estimate future manufacturing requirements and potential; make necessary computer inputs and generate data or reports as needed. Incorporate lean manufacturing methodology into existing and future processes. Apply lean and six sigma principles to manufacturing methods as a team member or leader. Support all safety, sustainability and ergonomic initiatives. Aid in development and maintenance of business continuity plan. Initiate and maintain accurate daily/weekly activity status based on work output, as required. Perform other duties as assigned.

What your background should be

The candidate should have experience in related field. Basic knowledge of lean and six sigma principles. Must be knowledgeable about engineering configuration requirements, tooling, quality control, plant safety, blueprint reading, and shop math. Ability to operate computerized equipment, such as personal computers, CADAM, CATIA, etc. Lean specialist certification or higher is preferred.

Required Schooling / Training

Bachelor degree in mechanical.

Who is the client company

This is an American aerospace and defense company.
If you are interested in this position, send your resume to


I have spent over 20 years in leadership roles where my creativity in problem solving, idea generation, ability to maximize what is available, pioneer and teaching/coaching approach has positively changed the lives of thousands of people. This ability to first understand the “problem” and find many possible avenues towards a solution is second nature. I truly love serving by utilizing my talents, strengths, and time to assist others in living a wholehearted life. I know one person  can change the lives of countless others, therefore, being able to help you reach bliss, helps all those around you and the ripple effect is in motion. Together, we can create a world community of happiness and success.

Lets work together to brainstorm how to make your career, company, and/or personal life one where you wake up each day, cannot wait to put your feet on the ground, and live fully.

I look forward to hearing from you!!


925.682.5414  925.682.5480  webmaster@sfaconcord.org

Student Learning Expectations

At the School, our goal is to create a learning atmosphere that combines structure and creativity while fostering enthusiasm for life-long learning. To meet this goal, we strive to maintain a positive environment, which promotes love, understanding and acceptance. Our value-centered academic programs empower each student with the skills to be:

A faith-filled person who:

1.1 expresses an understanding of Catholic doctrine and traditions

1.2 communicates the teachings of Jesus through example

1.3 is provided opportunities to build a personal relationship with God

A life-long learner and problem solver who:

2.1 achieves a foundation in core subjects

2.2 demonstrates critical thinking skills

2.3 participates in co-curricular and extra-curricular enrichment programs

A globally responsible citizen who:

3.1 respects and promotes a just use of individual, local and global resources

3.2 accepts social justice and cultural diversity

3.3 works cooperatively and independently to seek solutions and help others to do so

An effective communicator who:

4.1 resolves conflicts peacefully

4.2 demonstrates the ability to listen, speak and write effectively

4.3 demonstrates a foundation in communicating in a second language

4.4 uses the Arts to express themselves in creative ways