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Oysters Sensor Network Tasmanian oysters are sensitive to changes in water. This means that for periods of time, oysters are affected by different environmental events such as increased rainfall or higher water temperatures. By building a network of sensors, farmers will have real time information to assist in making decisions for their farming business. And because oysters are ocean sensors, what we learn from them could also assist other parts of the seafood industry. The Tasmanian Smart Seafood Partnership has partnered with Oysters Tasmania to build an oyster sensor network to build capacity of industry to monitor water temperature, salinity and depth in real time and provide valuable information to businesses. Our partnership will help build a portal for education providers and research institutes to access information to help understand marine farming and support better decision making into the future. We are lucky in Tasmania to be surrounded by fresh produce, both from the land and sea. Tasmania’s seafood industry uses adaptive management strategies informed by scientific research to make the industry as sustainable as possible. If you choose to source and purchase local seafood you are supporting local fishers and their families, and you’ll receive a top-quality product with low food miles. NRM South is working in partnership with the Tasmanian Seafood Industry Council to support industry based training, school education and habitat restoration through the Tasmanian Smart Seafood Partnership. Whether you are a seafood lover or simply intrigued, have a look at the Tasmanian Seafood Industry Council’s Eat More Seafood page to identify local suppliers and delicious recipes. They will also be launching an exciting new Seafood Trail App soon. Information about the status of various scalefish species and aquaculture can be found in reports produced by IMAS. Remember to choose local wherever possible, and enjoy!
In the September issue of IITD’s online publication TD I read an article. The article was about an event exploring digital talent trends by Robert Farrell. In the article he speaks about the 4th industrial revolution. As I was born and raised in USSR I have strong feelings about revolutions. I had looked into the 3 previous industrial revolutions and it makes for fascinating reading. Industrial revolution #1 began in 1760. Manufacturing moved from hand production methods to machines. They began to use steam and water power in factories. There was a large increase in the development of machine tools and the introduction of total mechanisation. Who won in this revolution? Arguably the people as they were afforded more free time. The 1st Industrial Revolution was the first period in history during which there was a simultaneous increase in the world population. Industrial Revolution #2 dated between 1870 and 1914. We saw the introduction of the telegraph, electrical power, telephones and railways. Technology was moving at a much faster rate than ever before. It was an exciting era. I saw a great film called “The Current War” this summer. It really captured the excitement of the time. Industrial Revolution #3 started in late 1950 and is known as the Digital Revolution. We shifted from mechanical and analogue technology to digital electronics. Transistors, computers and Internet made their debuts. The first home computer was developed in 1977, the Apple II, made its way into homes. The Third Revolution comes to an end with the iPhone 11 and now we are entering the 4th industrial revolution. Industrial Revolution #4 was first mentioned in 2015. It is all about robots, artificial intelligence, 5G, 3D printing and technologies that combine hardware, software and biology. Sounds great but I am not really comfortable when words “robots” “intelligence” and “revolution” are used together. I decided to ask my Echo Alexa about this revolution. My smart speaker and it’s voice-controlled intelligent personal assistant had very little to say. The only response I’ve got was “Hmm, I am not sure”. Very suspicious, don’t you think? I think I am going to be very nice to Alexa from here on in. All this information made me think about some quality assurance and compliance processes that are still stuck at the end of Industrial Revolution #2. Reams of paperwork (on high quality manufactured paper) and telephone as the communication channel. Here at Veri we can help you to win in the Digital Revolution and get your data ready for event #4. We can’t escape changes but we can prepare.
The Wheaton Contemplative Studies Initiative (CSI) is comprised of a small but committed group of faculty, students, parents, alums, community members and staff who are working to define the appropriate range and nature of topics and activities that will guide the evolution of a Wheaton contemplative studies awareness on campus and in our local communities. This Initiative supports the creation of contexts for compassion, self-reflection, and present moment awareness in our daily lives as learners, teachers and scholars. Contemplative studies encourage individuals to explore intersections of their spiritual histories and inner wisdom with their outer activities as scholars. From these vantage points, teaching, learning, and research are viewed as potential loci for the sacred. Within this framework, disciplines are regarded as ways of making meaning, not to be confused with meaning itself. Contemplative studies assume that disciplinary study is rooted in parallel exploration of students’ answers to questions of meaning, thus provoking transformation. Transformative learning is possible when we use contemplation as a practice and teach ‘contemplative’ as a way of being in the world and with ourselves. Contemplative studies support community engagement and ethical action while helping students―and all stakeholders―to acquire knowledge with greater focus and attention, to apply knowledge and information in creative and critical ways, and to make the healthy choices that will lessen stress, and promote personal wellness and growth. During the 2012-13 academic year, the CSI group focused efforts on study and research to learn more about how other colleges and universities were integrating contemplative studies. In addition to many other strands of investigation, members of CSI met in June of 2013 with Harold Roth, Professor of Religious Studies and a founding member of the Contemplative Studies Initiative at Brown University, to learn about the evolution of Brown’s decade old Contemplative Studies Initiative. In the second year (2013-14), Wheaton’s CSI chose to focus on programming to raise campus awareness of contemplative studies. Within this context, we welcomed Harold Roth to deliver a lecture, “Contemplative Studies in the Liberal Arts” on October 21, 2013. His lecture to a large gathering of faculty, students, staff and community members generated a powerful discussion on the nature of thought and states of experience in academic life. On March 19, 2014, the CSI hosted a lecture by Dr. Sara Lazar titled “The Impact of Meditation on Cognition, Aging, and the Brain.” Sara W. Lazar, PhD is an Associate Researcher in the Psychiatry Department at Massachusetts General Hospital and an Assistant Professor in Psychology at Harvard Medical School. The focus of her team’s research is elucidating the neural mechanisms that underlie the beneficial effects of yoga and meditation, both in clinical settings and in healthy individuals. During the 2014-15 academic year, the CSI hosted a number of events and initiatives. Most notably, on October 7th , 2014 Jon Kabat-Zinn addressed a full auditorium on the topic “Insight, Understanding, Wisdom, Cooperativity, and Creativity: The Promise of Mindfulness and other Contemplative Practices in Higher Education — and in Life.” And on April 6th, 2015 Metta McGarvey spoke to large audience on Meditation and Human Development: Short-term Benefits and Long-term Potential. Spring of 2017 brought Mark W. Muesse, who lectured on “Cultivating Compassion on Campus and in the Community.” Professor Muesse is a longtime practitioner of meditation and the author of Practicing Mindfulness. He has taught and studied throughout Asia and is the founder of the Compassionate Campus Initiative at Rhodes. Spring 2018 brought bestselling author, psychologist and consultant Dr. Christopher Willard, who spoke about mindfulness for kids, teens and families, in school, therapy and beyond. Dr. Willard discussed how to tailor mindfulness techniques to a range of children’s issues, including learning differences, medical concerns, and mental health issues.
transnational threats, security threats that do not originate in and are not confined to a single country. Terrorism, organized international crime, and the possible acquisition of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) by nongovernmental groups are commonly cited as examples of transnational threats. Heightened concern about transnational threats in the late 20th century was a consequence of advances in transportation and telecommunications. Commercial air travel reduced dramatically the time and effort needed to for criminal and terrorist networks to move operatives around the globe, and mobile telephones, e-mail, and the Internet made it much easier for geographically dispersed groups to communicate and coordinate their activities. Terrorism provides an example of how modern technological advances have turned a once-local problem into one of international dimensions. Politically motivated violence was, of course, not unknown prior to the late 20th century, but it typically took the form of attacks on nearby targets. The groups involved were usually confined to a single country or geographic area and operated independently of one another. Although they posed a problem for local authorities, such groups rarely spread far from their source or joined forces with other terrorist organizations. From the later 20th century, however, terrorist groups increasingly used technology to extend their reach. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) coordinated the activities of nearly a dozen terrorist groups, carrying out operations around the world. From the 1990s, the al-Qaeda network spawned cells operating in dozens of countries, with al-Qaeda leaders communicating to followers through e-mail and social networks as well as through audio and video recordings distributed via the Internet. The group also became adept in the online transfer of funds from secure bank accounts to operatives worldwide. Before the advent of computers and digital technology, such coordination and global organization were difficult, if not impossible. The 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union and the ensuing economic crisis in eastern Europe and the post-Soviet states contributed significantly to the increasing number of transnational threats by creating an atmosphere in which organized crime flourished. The Russian mafia, virtually unknown in the West before 1991, quickly became a scourge of European and U.S. law-enforcement agencies. From the late 1990s, the Russian mob dealt heavily in financial fraud, human trafficking, and murder for hire on a global scale. Economic uncertainty in the wake of the Soviet collapse also raised the possibility that chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons might fall into the hands of terrorists or rogue states. In many former Soviet republics, the materials used in the construction of nuclear weapons were poorly guarded and monitored, and parts of the stockpiles of nuclear materials remained unaccounted for.
Finding good employees is every plumbing business owner’s biggest challenge. The industry may be in high demand, but with a severe shortage of skilled tradespeople, could it be that you’ve been limiting yourself by not hiring a female plumber? I’m sure this is not the first time you’ve heard someone say that it’s important to hire women. Considering the market nowadays, you’ve probably thought of it yourself, if not already tried it. However, if you’re reading this, it may be that something didn’t go quite according to plan. Hiring and retaining a female plumber should be no different than any other employee, but there are a few extra things to take into consideration when hiring women plumbers. There are approximately 12,000—15,000 female plumbers in the UK, or around 1% of the total number, which sits somewhere between 120,000—150,000. If you put all the skilled trades together, the numbers don’t seem to go much further than 33,000, and even that number is after what Construction Magazine has called a “steep rise in interest in trades from women”. Now, to really put things into perspective, the UK has a population of over 66 million. Not only is there a shortage of plumbers in general, but the number of female plumbers is even smaller in the grand scheme of things. Looking at it now, it’s no wonder your Indeed job ad didn’t get that many applications from women. All in all, the skilled trades offer a career path that many would be right to envy: high wages, no student loans, flexible work/life balance, not being chained to a desk all day, etc. And still, very few women apply for training. This begs the question: 2. Why is becoming a female plumber so difficult? If this is such a great career path, why aren’t more women applying to become plumbers, electricians, and other skilled tradespeople? Part of the answer to these questions is the same as the one given when asking “Why aren’t more people in general choosing apprenticeships?”. Some of it has to do with preconceived notions about blue-collar jobs. The myths, which we’ve listed below, usually go double for women interested in trades, who could be deterred by the following: “There is little job security in the skilled trades”. A simple Google search will prove otherwise. There has been a demonstrable shortage of plumbers and other tradespeople for years. It’s not for nothing that you’ll hear how “there’s no such thing as an unemployed plumber”. “There are few ways to build a long-term career”. Advancing as a plumber is a pretty straightforward path. You earn your qualifications by demonstrating your technical expertise. You can do this on the job whilst also gaining expertise by simply working to gain more years of experience. Compared to white-collar jobs, where career advancements are often based on corporate politics and personal decisions, women actually stand a better chance of playing on an even field in the skilled trades. “Plumbing is too physically demanding for a woman”. This is not exactly a myth; a trade will always be more physically demanding than an office job. Plumbers do have to manage parts and equipment, as well as move around constantly throughout the day, so a certain level of physical fitness will be required. At the same time, it’s rarely highlighted how plumbers will sometimes need to be flexible or small enough to squeeze into tight spaces – something where women typically have more of an advantage. So, instead of focusing only on how much they need to lift— which, according to safety regulations, is no more than 50 lbs or 23kg—you can always highlight other essential activities plumbers will be required to do. To put it into perspective, the average untrained woman will be able to lift at least half of her body weight, so as long as a female plumber weighs more than 100 lbs/46kg, it shouldn’t be a problem. “Plumbing is too technical for a woman”. This is a culturally ingrained perspective that has plagued the trades, as well as STEM fields, and other technical career paths. It goes without saying that biology has nothing to do with being good at maths, but if that’s your concern, rest assured: being a plumber requires only basic knowledge, which you can find here. To take an example from Canada, our team had a chat with Shannon Tymosko (aka Lady Voltz) an electrician who also advocates for women in trades. In conversation, she discussed how, given the opportunity, women can easily thrive in the plumbing profession while shaping the industry into a more compassionate one that’s ultimately being enriched by more diverse relationships. “Culturally, women can give so much to a workforce […] they tend to be more nurturing and can change the energy.” That diversity is something to be embraced and welcomed! Certainly not a myth: plumbing can be messy. This is a fact of the job and it’s up to each individual—male or female—to decide whether they’re too squeamish to be a plumber, but keep in mind no one typically calls jobs like housekeeping or nursing “dirty” jobs. These are only a few of the obstacles women find themselves facing and a responsible business owner should take them into account when trying to hire any plumber, as well as female plumbers, too. However, you might be tempted to wonder if it’s even worth the effort and find yourself asking… 3. Why are female plumbers good for my business? They might not admit it, but it’s often the case that for hiring managers and owners of plumbing businesses, they fear that hiring a female plumber might cause disruptions in the workplace, especially in a male-dominated workplace. Changing the dynamic of any team is going to be a challenge, but considering the positives that can come out of it should definitely motivate you to give it a try. It’s pretty clear that organisations benefit from hiring more women, but, according to WaterSafe, your customers will appreciate it, too. Almost a third of women (31%) would prefer a female plumber to carry work on their home and 59% of consumers would feel positive about more women taking up a trade. “Reasons cited include feeling safer with a woman (37%), feeling like they wouldn’t be ripped off by a female (12%), trusting advice from a woman more than a man (10%) and the likelihood that a woman wouldn’t patronise them (10%).” Hattie Hasan, a plumber herself and trades activist—not to mention the founder of the Register for Tradeswomen (and proud Commusoft user, too!)—has some incredible experiences to share. She found it especially gratifying to carry work for victims of domestic abuse, offering support from qualified professionals who can assist with trade work for people who have or are experiencing precarious domestic situations. In these cases, having a male worker in the house might cause customers great anxiety, or even place them in danger. Being the kind of company that is able to deal with these customers compassionately isn’t just a sound business deal, it’s simply the right thing to do. All in all, these are difficult benefits to measure but they provide mostly long-term gains. If simply hiring a few female plumbers can get you even that little bit closer to one of them, then it’s definitely worth making the investment. 4. Where to find qualified female heating engineers? If you’re determined to hire more female plumbers, knowing how and where to advertise in order to attract them is key. As mentioned above, there’s a shortage of skilled tradespeople and women only make up a small percentage of this already small number so it’s worth being proactive. The best way to help the industry, in general, is to work with apprenticeships programs and contact your local Further Education College. Also, consider sponsoring the various organisations that actively strive to get more girls and women into the trades, such as WaterSafe’s Get Girls Plumbing campaign, or the Registry for Tradeswomen’s free courses for victims of domestic abuse. This being said, it’s completely understandable if your plumbing business isn’t yet in a position to commit to these financial efforts. You can also try to hire female plumbers by: Advertising on forums and job boards dedicated to promoting trades amongst women Keeping your job descriptions gender-neutral by avoiding terms like a tradesman, rockstar, heavy-duty engineer, and other masculine-sounding phrases Staying committed to offering a chance to women who apply 5. What are some challenges of hiring and retaining a female plumber for employers? The conversation around hiring tradeswomen is generally focused on the positive aspects and benefits. But this is not enough for many business owners and hiring managers, and for good reason: glossing over the challenges won’t benefit anyone. In fact, it might actually hinder the very women you’re trying to hire if you don’t take into account the following responsibilities you’ll gain: Acquiring uniforms in appropriate sizes Ensuring safety equipment fits female plumbers Providing a changing room and a washing room that’s separate from the men’s This being said, I’m sure you’d agree the benefits highlighted above far outweigh these costs, but it’s good to keep them in mind. The takeaway on hiring a female plumber As plumbing companies find themselves with more and more work on their plate and fewer qualified people to do it, it’s important to be proactive and make the effort to promote the trades to both women and men. The fact of the matter is that getting more women into plumbing is a great untapped resource. Of course, realistically, they will encounter more challenges than the average man when trying to make their way into the industry. However, the benefits are clear: from increased workplace satisfaction to a lower chance of burnout, to happier customers; female plumbers contribute to it all. Sound good? The good news is that you can start being the change you want to see in the plumbing industry, today!
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German utility Uniper has signed a cooperation deal with Siemens to look at using hydrogen at its gas-fired power plants and producing the carbon-free gas with power from its wind turbines. Uniper, which is on a drive to lower its carbon emissions, said it hoped to zero in on initial project ideas with its partner within six to twelve months. “Hydrogen offers the possibility to decarbonise gas. One site that could offer this opportunity is Irsching near Munich,” Uniper chief executive Andreas Schierenbeck told Reuters. “We are also thinking about hydrolysis plants, for example near wind turbine sites, which we could operate to produce hydrogen.” Germany and other European Union countries are seeking to shift to more environmentally-friendly ways of producing power from gas, as well as wider uses for renewable energy, which is abundant but often produced far away from consumption. Uniper could use hydrogen-ready turbines to replace CO2-emitting natural gas, and could derive and market hydrogen made by running excess wind power through water in a process known as power-to-gas, Schierenbeck said. Germany loses 1.2-1.4 billion euros ($1.3-1.5 billion) worth of wind power a year because it cannot be transported from generation centres in the north to users in the south. Currently, Uniper’s gas portfolio amounts to 14 gigawatts (GW), representing 60% of profit. Coal accounts for 9.2 GW and a 20% profit share, with renewables and services the remainder. “A big share of our gas turbines comes from Siemens. We also talk with others, but we want to cooperate closely with Siemens to study projects, and, after presenting our new strategy want to put words into action,” Schierenbeck said. The move with Siemens also includes efforts to switch existing coal plant sites, most of which Uniper has announced it will abandon by 2025, to green installations. Uniper said last month that over the next three years it would invest more than 1.2 billion euros in low carbon projects, which it will operate and then trade the output. It operates under the scrutiny of top shareholder Fortum, which also focuses on clean technology. The 1,400 MW Irsching gas plant, built by Siemens, is currently in reserve mode, under a scheme in which plants are idled, but paid to be ready to produce power if needed. The Siemens power turbine units have become part of the new Siemens Energy company, that is seeking a share listing by the end of September. It will be steered as of May 1 by new CEO Christian Bruch, who brings hydrogen expertise from his time at industrial gases maker Linde.
A judge in Ohio ordered a hospital to treat a Covid-19 patient with ivermectin, despite warnings from experts that the anti-parasitic drug has not proved effective against the virus and can be dangerous in large doses. Gregory Howard, a judge in Butler county, outside Cincinnati, ordered doctors at West Chester hospital to administer ivermectin to Jeffrey Smith, 51, who contracted Covid-19 in July and was transferred to intensive care. “My husband is on death’s doorstep,” Julie Smith wrote in court documents. “He has no other options.” A doctor outside the hospital was willing to prescribe the drug but the hospital refused to administer it. The judge ordered that Smith receive 30mg for three weeks. Ivermectin is most commonly used against parasites in livestock, including horses and cows. It is also used in humans, against some parasitic worms and external parasites like head lice. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has warned that “taking large doses of this drug is dangerous and can cause serious harm”. But amid widespread resistance to public health mandates and vaccines, particularly on the political right, and a surge in hospitalisations and deaths due to the Delta variant, and in light of testimony from some doctors, ivermectin has found advocates as a treatment for Covid-19. Research, however, has not shown that ivermectin can prevent or treat Covid-19. One of the largest trials for the drug was halted earlier this month by a data safety monitoring board, because the drug proved no more effective than a placebo. Nonetheless, Senator Rand Paul, a Republican from Kentucky, said at a town hall last week that “hatred for Donald Trump” had made researchers biased against the drug. “I don’t know if it works, but I keep an open mind,” Paul said. Prescriptions for ivermectin have jumped to more than 88,000 a week, up from 3,600 a week pre-pandemic. Some livestock stores have reported an increase in demand for doses meant for animals. The FDA warns that “animal drugs are often highly concentrated because they are used for large animals like horses and cows, which weigh a lot more than we do … Such high doses can be highly toxic in humans.” Calls to poison control centers across the US have increased, as people who have taken ivermectin report symptoms including extreme vomiting and diarrhea. In Ohio, Dr Steve Feagins, chief clinical officer for Mercy Health, told the local ABC affiliate WCPO: “I absolutely understand desperation when your loved one is in the hospital, and they’re doing everything they can and you hear about something that you want to use it.” He also said the decision to prescribe ivermectin to treat Covid had “a tough risk-to-benefit ratio”.
Some animal species are named after famous personalities. Check out what animals were named after famous personalities. These animals were usually named after such person for their effort and contribution to nature and zoology. Bill Gates' Flower Fly (Eristalis gatesi) The Bill Gates' Flower Fly (Eristalis gatesi) is an insect that can be found in only. It was named for the billionaire Bill gates in recognition of his great contribution to the science of Dipterology. Costa Rica William Henry "Bill" Gates III is an American business magnate, philanthropist, author and chairman of Microsoft. He is consistently ranked among the wealthiest people in the world. Paul Allen's Flower Fly (Eristalis alleni) Paul Allen's Flower Fly (Eristalis alleni) is another flower fly that can be found only in . It was named after another billionaire and an associate of Bill Gates. Costa Rica Paul Gardner Allen is an American business magnate, investor, real state developer and philanthropist. He is Bill Gates’ co-founder of Microsoft. He is the 57th richest man in the world and the founder and chairman of Vulcan Inc. Andrew Carnegie (Diplodocus Carnegii) Diplodocus carnegii, commonly named Andrew Carnegie is a species of sauropod dinosaur, a large dinosaur that lived during the Jurassic period. Andrew Carnegie was a Scottish-American businessman, industrialist and entrepreneur who led the enormous expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century. He was also one of the most important philanthropists of his era. Boris Becker (Bursina borisbeckeri) Bursina borisbeckeri, commonly known as Boris Becker, is a sea snail species, named after the popular tennis player of – Boris Becker. This animal is a marine gastropod mollusk in the Bursidae family commonly called frog shell. Germany Boris Franz Becker is a former World No.1 professional tennis player from . He is a six-time Grand Slam singles champion, an Olympic gold medalist, and the youngest-ever winner of the men's singles title at Wimbledon at the age of 17. Germany Jack Dempsey (Rocio octofasciata) The Jack Dempsey (Rocio octofasciata) is a colorful cichlid fish that is widely distributed across North and Central America. This popular aquarium fish is endemic to Honduras and . Mexico William Harrison "Jack" Dempsey, a.k.a “Manassa Mauler", was a popular world heavyweight champion from the . He is one of the most popular boxers because of his aggressive style and exceptional punching power. This International Boxing Hall of Fame recipient is listed #10 on the Ring’s magazine list of all-time heavyweights and ranked 7th among its Top 100 Greatest Punchers. United States Dizzy Dean (Mastophora dizzydeani) Mastophora dizzydeani is commonly named Dizzy Dean. This animal is named after Dizzy Jean. This creature uses a sticky ball on the end of a thread of webbing to catch its prey. Dizzy Jean’s complete name Jay Hanna "Dizzy" Dean. This American Major League baseball pitcher was the last National League pitcher to win 30 games in one season. Dean was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1953.
Edit Drone video in photoshop Photoshop has the ability to edit video. In fact.. it’s been there for quite some time. Photoshop CS6 saw a big change in the way that Photoshop works with video and this continues with Photoshop CC. This is a great option for photographers who have shot video on their Drones and need to edit a video without having to learn a dedicated video editing program. You can very quickly and easily cut short films and promo videos right within the program you already know and love. This tutorial will work on Photoshop CS6 and Photoshop CC. Many of the features you’re familiar with such as layer styles and adjustment layers work perfectly with video. Even may of Photoshop’s filters work for video, just make sure that you convert them to Smart Objects first. This video tutorial shows you how to get started with video and give you the basic building blocks to edit your own videos. How to Edit Video in Photoshop CC and CS6 – The Basics Hi there, this is Colin Smith from PhotoshopCAFE and in this video, I’m going to show you how to do some basic video editing inside of Photoshop. So right now, we’ve got Photoshop sitting here and you can see I’ve got the Timeline open and no document. So what I’m going to do is I’m not going to create a document and then bring the video in. I’m just going to simply open the video. I’m going to choose File, Open, then I’m going to go to the video, and then, click here, and then, what it’s going to do is it’s going to open the video in Photoshop as a document. Now the reason I did that is because I didn’t want to have to figure out all the settings and have to put in the proper size, the proper codec, aspect ratio, all that stuff. By bringing the video into Photoshop, it creates a new document with exactly those settings for you. So you can see right now we got a timeline here and this is called a Play head and I can drag the play head to script through the video and we can see different parts of the video. Now I’ve turned the audio off here. If I have it on, you’ll get sound; if I turn it off, you won’t, so I’ve turned it off right now so as you can hear me speaking over the footage. I’m going to hit the Spacebar right now to play it. And what we have right now is I’ve actually done a little follow cam kind of a thing here with the car driving by and I’m using a DJI Phantom Quad copter with a GoPro Hero 3 Black edition on the bottom. In other videos, I’ll show you how to remove the distortion and get rid of some of the camera shake. In this video, we’re actually going to put some of the footage together and create a small sequence. So, with the first clip added, if we want to add more, we simply go down here and we can click on the video and we can choose Add Media. I’m going to add two more, so I’m going to simply click on the first one, then I’m going to hold down the Command key and click on the second clip. That would be Ctrl on Windows and click Open. Now when I do this, it adds all three to the timeline. You can’t see them right now because there’s too much going on to show you the timeline at once. So we can go down here. We can use this little slider here which enables us to zoom in and out of the timeline. Now, it’s not changing the speed or the duration of the video clips. All it’s doing is shrinking down the timeline so we can see it. So what I’m going to do is I’m just going to go to the next clip and hit the space bar and we can see what we’ve got. Here we go; we got another shot where I’m flying over the top of the car and I’m going to let it continue, see it’s just like dead air at the end of that. And then, we’ve got another one here where I’m hovering and along come a car and now I start to follow the car with the copter. So you can see we got these three different clips. So what we want to do, we don’t want it here where they start to get in the shot here. [00:03:01] there’s some stuff getting in the shot. So what we’re going to do is take the three clips and we want to trim them to length. So we’re going to start with this one since it’s running right now. I’m going to click and drag. Notice as soon as I click, you see a window which shows the duration of this particular clip, which is 10 seconds and 21 frames right now, and the entire project that we have right now which is 31 seconds and 22 frames. So, I’m just going to drag back and you’ll notice as I do that, we can stop right there where everything gets into the shot. Let’s go to the beginning of the shot and we’re going to drag it until the car starts to appear. You’ll see the shadow first and then the car. So I’m going to release it right there. So what we’ve done now is we trimmed this clip to only that where the action is. Now this hasn’t thrown anything away. It’s still there and you can recover it at any time by clicking and dragging to bring it back. So these hidden areas are known as the head and the tail of the video. So it’s still there but we’re just working non-destructively. So let’s click on the next clip. I don’t even have to have the play head over the clip I’m working on. I can simply click and drag backwards until we get to the end and let’s go right there where I’ve just gone to the end of the car and let’s go to the beginning, click and drag to where the car appears, and there we go. And now, we’ve trimmed that one down. Let’s go the first clip and we’re just going to click and drag. Notice its right in there, so let’s go to the end of that shot and actually that’s pretty good. We don’t need any trimming on that shot. Notice, though, that we’ve already trimmed this project down to 21 seconds and 18 frames. You can see that here, which is quite good; we’ve lost almost 10 seconds. Now remember, people have a short attention span. Less is more, so trim your videos just down to the very, very important parts of action. All right, let’s go back and we’re going to take the play here to the beginning. I’m going to hit the Spacebar and I’m going to let it play. As it’s playing, notice that it’s becoming green behind the play head and it’s showing green at the bottom, saying it’s playing in real time at 29:97, which is 30 frames per second, for argument’s sake. If Photoshop was not able to keep up, it would show red and it would start to render this out. So what I’ve actually done is these clips I’m working on right now, that should reduce the size down to 720 and if we actually go and look at the image and we go to Image Size, I’ll show you what we’ve done. You can see I’ve got it down. If you don’t see the pixels, if it’s in inches, you want to change it or percentage change to pixels, and right now, you’ll see we’re at 1280 by 720. This is the 720 HD size. So right now I’m working in 720 HD even though the footage was shot bigger, I could work on it bigger. I could work on it 1080 or the 2.7K, which it was originally shot. But I’m working at it 720 because I’ve got much better performance just to demonstrate how this works. So if you find that your play back is a little bit sluggish, then let it play, and then, once it’s green, like it is now, then we hit the Spacebar to play again. This time it will play through smooth because now that it’s green, that little bar there, see that? They’re green. It means that we’re on RAM preview, meaning every single frame now is loaded into memory so we can play it back at the actual speed that the action is happening. So I just want you to be aware of that. So we’ve got these different clips. What if we want to change the order of the clips? Well, the first thing we want to do is we’ll want to see where they live and they live in the Layers panel. So if we click on the Layers panel here, you’ll notice that we’ve got our three clips. And I just hit the top one and notice that the other two show. So what it’s doing is rather than how layers work where it stacks from the bottom to the top, and loads images on top of each other. When we’re working inside a video group, which is what you’re going to get when you create a timeline like this, the video group is going to change it from stacking on top of each other to playing one after the other in [00:07:24]. So, chronologically speaking, the beginning is at the bottom and the end is at the top. So, in time, it goes from early to late, so time flies is a way to think about it. As it goes up, it goes across. So if we want to change the order of these clips, say for example, we’re starting with this shot, what if we want to put that one in the middle? Well, we can click it and drag it and release it, and now it’s reordered. And notice everything snaps in position here. That’s because we’re in a video group and then what it does is it will snap everything into position and avoid those little gaps in there. This is also known as ripple editing, which is done automatically inside of Photoshop. So, now we’ve got this first clip here that goes like this as close up shot where we fly away, then we’ve got this one here, and then, finally this one. I feel like I’d like to change the order of the first and the last one. Well rather than having to click and drag these like that, we can actually do it from the Layers panel. Take that one to the top. Take that one to the bottom. And as I change it in there, notice it also changes it right here inside of the timeline. So, sometimes, it’s easier to change your timeline by moving them around in layers than it is to move them ion the timeline panel. So let’s have a look at smoothing out these transitions. What we’re going to do is create some nice dissolves because if we look at it right now, we’ll see where it goes from one to the nextóvery sudden. Although in a lot of movie making, these sudden cuts are very common and work very well. In this case, we’re doing something that looks like a car commercial, so we want something a little bit smoother that gives us a nice feeling of just a very nice soft, fuzzy feeling. So what we’re going to do is we’re going to click on the Transition button. We can change the duration of these transitions. I’m going to make it 2 seconds and I’m going to choose the Cross Fade. So I’m going to click and drag that Cross Fade between the clips that I want to change and I’m going to do the same thing here. So now if we go back and we play it, we’ll see we’ve got this nice smooth transition in-between the clips. And then, we’ll let it play to the next clip and let it transition again. And there we go; we get these nice transitions. Now if you want to change these transitions after the fact, you can by either right clicking, we can change the type of transition or we can change the duration of the transition, or we can delete it by hitting the little trash can. The other option is we can actually just click and drag here and you’ll see the duration is showing us we can make it shorter or we can make it longer. In this case, I’m going to shorten it ever so slightly. And now if we want to play back again, you’ll notice the transition is quicker. It goes into that and then the car goes off now, and it’s going to go to the other transition. Now something that always looks good to finish these things off is a Fade to Black and Fade from Black. So what I’m going to do right now is I’m going to choose here and I’m going to choose Fade With Black, but this time we’re going to change the duration to 1.5 seconds. And, now, whenever I change the duration here, notice it’s going to affect every single transition. That’s how it works. If I set it there, it will affect every transition before I apply it. Now once I applied it as you saw before, I can always change it, so we’re going to do one and a half and we’re going to drag it at the beginning, and I’m going to do one and a half and I’m going to drag it at the end. I’m going to go back here and I’m going to hit the Spacebar and notice it fades in. And you’ll see a little jerk every now and then while things are loading up, and right now it’s loading up into RAM. It’s loaded up pretty well right now. It’s playing as that transition. It’s going to go back and I was going to Fade from Black out, and there we go. Right now I just got it looping so it’s just going backwards and forwards and you can see that we’ve got our video clip is playing. Now there are a lot of other things we can do. We can add sound. We can add different adjustment layers. There are a lot of different things. And, in fact, what I’ll do just for fun is I’ll convert this to black and white and I’ll show you how to add that. We click on the top video group and then, I’m going to go under here and I’m going to add a black and white adjustment. And this black and white adjustment, let me make sure that it’s turned on to show all layers. If this clipart is turned on, it’s only going to affect the layer directly underneath it, which, in this case, you’ll notice will be the last clip. So what I’m going to do is turn that off so it affects all of them, and now we have this black and white video of this car going. Well, we could change all kinds of things of adjustment layers. If we wanted to add a Curves Adjustment, we could. And with this curveólet me just pop out the curve here a little bitóyou could tend to plug up this shadow a little bit more, which is done a lot in movies. And if you wanted, you could open up the highlights. So what we’ve done is we’ve actually increased the contrast quite a bit and this might not work so well in color, but in black and white, it’s quite effective. So, let’s have a look. Once again, make sure that that clip is turned off. If it’s clipping like that, hold down the Option key and then just click on the layer. And now it’s going to affect all the layers underneath. So let’s play it now. We’ve got our adjustment layers. We’ve got black and white now and we’ve got the Curves Adjustment. And you can see that we’ve got this nice black and white effect. Now if you wanted to take it even further and add a sepia tone, you could do that. In fact, you could apply any adjustment layer that we have here. One of the ways I like to apply color, a cinematic color here. But before I do, notice one of the things that we’ve been having here when we’ve been applying these adjustments, as you’ve noticed, here’s our adjustments here that if we go into our Properties here, you will see that we’ve got a lot of different things. When we click on our adjustments here, they now appear in the Properties panel. So, the other thing is the mask. If we wanted to add a mask, we could do that, but we’re not going to do that right now. What we’re going to do is I’m just going to go back down again and I’m going to apply a solid color. Now with the color, I’m going to choose this. We want to do a sepia tone, so I’m going to grab an orange color, click OK. And now I’m going to change the Blend Mode of this color because I want this Blend Mode. Notice, though, before I do that, now that I’ve created this, notice that it’s at the very end. I want you to be aware of that. What we need to do is drag it out and we put it on top, and then, what we’re going to do is we’re going to grab this and drag it here all the way out, so now this lasts the same amount of time as our footage underneath. So, if that what happens, if you’ve got them appearing in here, do that. Now, any of these, I could drag these out as well, but there’s no need. But with the Color 1, I do need to do that. So what I’m going to do is I’m going to change the Blend Mode to Color. And now you can see the color come through. And to choose the amount of color that I want in here, all I simply do is adjust the Opacity. So I’m going to take the Opacity down and give it just a little smidge about there and now we’ve got this cool sepia tone video clip. Let me hit the Play button here and you can see how that’s going. And one of the other nice things about doing this when we do this kind of effect, it really ties the footage together because now the footage has this uniform color effect. Now while I’m doing that, I’m going to show you one more thing. If I turn off the black and white, by applying this color adjustment, it gives a feel or a look to our entire footage. So, now, you can see here this footage has got this really warm kind of a color tone because it’s not black and white anymore. And so, sometimes, if you want a cinematic look, all you need are two things: One, increase the contrast here with your curves like we did and add a little bit of the color cast. You can change the color cast. Double click and we could go, say, greenish hue, so we get something that looks like it’s out of the Matrix. And now we can play it back and notice that all the footage now has this green tint to it. So you can see how easy it is to apply these different adjustment layers to the video to get different feels to your video and just really change the mood of it entirely. So when you’re done, you can simply save this document. And the wonderful thing about saving the document is that everything we’ve done is going to stay within the document. Now the footage is linked, so you need to keep the original footage on your hard drive. It’s pretty robust actually because if you move your footage around within the drive, Photoshop is still going to keep it connected. But if you move it off the drive to another drive, it’s not going to work. It’s going to be looking for that footage. However, all that edits and transitions, our adjustments, all the things that we do here, are all going to be contained within this one document when we save it as a psd. When you’re ready to share it with the world, go down here, click the Render button and then we can choose options. In a nutshell, we’re going to give it a name, we’re going to choose where we want it to go. Then the options you have is right now we’re just going to work with Adobe Media Encoder. Right now it’s going to H.264, which is a standard sharing format that works on YouTube, iPhones, iPads, Apple TVs, Android, even Blu-ray players use H.264. It’s pretty much the standard right now so you could choose that or you could go down to QuickTime. But under the H.264, let’s look at some of the presets. You can do High, Medium or Low, and that will take the size and the frame rate we have, or we can even change it to work on all these different devices, even YouTube, Vimeo, Android phones, Apple TV, and it will actually size the video for you and you’ll be good to go. You don’t even need to know what the settings mean, so when you’re done, you can simply click Render and then it’s going to create a movie in the location that you’ve chosen, and then, you can share it with other people. If you want to learn in more depth and also learn how to make animated slideshows, see this 3 hours of training on Photoshop and Video at our sister site PhotoshopCAFE
If you’ve ever lost something important, you know how devastating it can be. Sure, it’s disappointing to lose a jacket or pair of sunglasses or something, but you can move on from that stuff pretty easily. It’s a lot harder to deal with it when you lose an item that has sentimental value to you, like a note from a loved one. The worst thing to lose of all? Photographs. Park Lee, an elementary school teacher in Taiwan, was cleaning up the beach with his students when they found something interesting: a camera completely covered in barnacles. When Lee opened the waterproof camera case, he realized the camera still worked perfectly — he knew in that moment that he had to track down the person it belonged to. It’s incredible that after so long in the ocean, the camera suffered no damage whatsoever. The last photo on the camera was taken on September 7, 2015, about 250 km away from the beach it washed up on. Lee posted on Facebook about the camera, asking people to share his post to help track down the owner. The post was shared over 10,000 times. Just 12 hours later, Lee found the owner! Serina Tsubakihara, the woman who lost the camera, is a student at Sophia University. She was stunned to find out that her camera had washed up on a beach in Taiwan. Her favorite part about the whole thing is that elementary school students found it! In fact, she wants to visit Taiwan to thank them personally. How crazy is this story? It’s so lucky that Serina’s camera turned up — now she has all those priceless memories back. And she has a fascinating new story!
Chiropractic is a kind of natural medicine that concentrates on dealing with mechanical problems of the bone and joint system, particularly the spine. Its origins are esoteric and also based upon pseudoscientific suggestions. The main purpose of a chiropractic therapy is to eliminate pain as well as restore flexibility. It is a reliable treatment alternative, yet many individuals are unconvinced. Right here are some things to think about before going through any type of sort of chiropractic care therapy. To begin with, it is not a proven scientific treatment. Chiropractic care includes making changes to the back as well as various other parts of the body. The function of these adjustments is to remedy issues in the positioning of the joints as well as spinal column. This is based on the concept that proper alignment is the vital to recovery. Chiropractors commonly make use of soft-tissue therapies to aid with pain. In addition, they can give guidance on physical fitness as well as nutrition. These advantages make chiropractic care an outstanding therapy option for a range of conditions. Along with spine modification, other chiropractic care services include exercise and also leisure methods. Kelowna chiropractic clinic A chiropractor is a qualified medical professional. The first step in chiropractic care is to identify the cause of your discomfort. A chiropractic physician can diagnose the root cause of your discomfort. By doing a simple assessment, a chiropractic physician can establish if your condition results from a physical problem, a stress factor, or a degenerative procedure. They can also carry out other examinations, such as reflexes and pins and needles, to assist figure out which therapy is best for you. Chiropractors are experts in identifying and also treating disorders related to body structure. The method does not involve medications or surgery, as well as relies upon hand-operated treatments like back control to help people achieve optimal wellness. The philosophy behind chiropractic care is that proper placement advertises recovery. If an individual is not able to move openly as a result of a condition, a chiropractic doctor might suggest various other therapies to aid relieve the problem. This may consist of a nutritional supplement, physical therapy, or various other types of alternative medicine. Chiropractic doctors function collaboratively with other healthcare professionals to bring back the body’s natural feature and also flexibility. Loss, mishaps, as well as overexertion can affect the spine as well as various other joints in the body. When these modifications are not correctly attended to, they can result in chronic troubles. The good news is, many medical insurance intends cover chiropractic services. The advantages of this occupation are well recorded. The benefits of a chiropractic specialist’s job are numerous. Those who exercise chiropractic care are typically able to stroll openly, and also they are trained to detect a wide variety of problems. Chiropractic doctors operate in a circle of treatment. They work in hospitals, private practice clinics, and at home environments with clients. Those who want to exercise chiropractic treatment ought to think about the advantages it can bring to their lives. This form of therapy is covered by a lot of medical insurance plans. The objective of chiropractic care therapy is to recover the body’s all-natural capacity to function. However, a chiropractic practitioner will certainly ask you regarding your activities and the motions you make each day. chiropractic best One of the most typical type of chiropractic care is manual therapy. A chiropractic doctor makes use of a range of techniques to treat clients. These treatments might include hand-operated adjustment, exercise, nutritional therapy, and also other approaches to ease pain and also recover flexibility. Because of the advantages of a chiropractic therapy, a lot of medical insurance policies cover it. Because of this, it is essential to look for chiropractic treatment as soon as possible. It is an excellent means to avoid chronic back as well as neck discomfort and boost your quality of life. Chiropractic care is the main therapy for several clinical conditions. Low back pain is the most typical factor that people look for chiropractic treatment. This therapy is a reliable alternative to prescription drugs. It includes hands-on care and also various other methods of control. A chiropractic practitioner can suggest exercises to soothe muscle and also joint pain. The chiropractor can likewise supply lifestyle and dietary advice. They deal with various other health care specialists to help their people recoup from injuries and improve their quality of life. It is likewise essential to take into consideration the price of a chiropractic care center. A chiropractic care physician will utilize hand-operated treatment, consisting of spinal adjustment, to fix an individual’s problem. A chiropractor can also give nutritional counseling. It is important to understand that chiropractic practitioners are not physicians as well as are not able to prescribe medicines. It is, nevertheless, necessary to have a physician’s certificate. Many insurance coverage strategies cover a chiropractic doctor. These benefits make it an ideal option to standard medicine. And also it is more convenient as well as cost-efficient than standard medicines. Chiropractic care is a type of alternative medicine. The technique concentrates on the treatment of mechanical conditions of the musculoskeletal system, specifically the spinal column and also cranial bones. The technique has pseudoscientific suggestions and also esoteric origins. It is a fairly brand-new branch of alternative medicine, however it is already commonly practiced as well as has lots of benefits. Below are a few of one of the most typical types of problems that chiropractics physician treat. (See likewise: Massage therapy, osteopathy, and also acupuncture). Chiropractic doctors concentrate on the spinal column and joints, as well as the partnership between them and also the nerves. They utilize adjustments to recover joint function and also support the nervous system. These modifications are commonly really mild, and chiropractic practitioners have actually verified to be extremely effective in soothing pain and improving clients’ mobility. Chiropractic specialists do not carry out surgical treatment or prescribe drugs, but they will refer people to other healthcare service providers for specialized care. Some chiropractors total postgraduate research studies in particular areas, such as sporting activities medicine, nutritional therapy, or physiotherapy. Most chiropractic specialists will finish with a level in a pre-medical field. They will generally take courses in the scientific researches. During a four-year grad program, students will certainly study general anatomy, biochemistry, physiology, and also spinal anatomy. Coursework in the second year will certainly focus on clinical procedures as well as imaging interpretation. They will additionally research pediatrics, dermatology, and also method management. They will additionally carry out a teaching fellowship, which includes giving care to children with a selection of conditions. office chiropractors Chiropractic doctors utilize a drug-free approach to treatment. They are not certified to identify or treat illness, so they are not considered doctor. However, their methods are safe and efficient for dealing with different bone and joint problems, as well as they are generally covered by most health insurance plans. So, don’t delay contacting a chiropractic practitioner to begin on your health and wellness! You’ll be glad you did. As well as do not stress if your insurance doesn’t cover the therapy!
Centro Brasileiro de Análise e Planejamento (Cebrap) On 3 May historian João Reis, from Universidade Federal da Bahia (Federal University of Bahia) and Mecila Senior Fellow, presented the Seminar “Ganhadores: a greve negra de 1857 na Bahia” (Ganhadores: the black strike of 1857 in Bahia). The event integrates the series of Cebrap Seminars of 2019. Professor Reis, one of the most prominent researchers of slavery in Brazil, discussed his long-term research that has now resulted in the book which gives the seminar its title, published by Companhia das Letras. The work sheds light on the event started at June 1, 1857, when the streets of Salvador witnessed the first day of strike of the men who worked as loaders, a key service entangled with the urban life. Black men, either slaves or not, started a movement against new forms of state control over their work and their bodies – from new taxes to new forms of police enforcement. What were the conditions could explain such a movement? How did the ethnical dimension of the organization take place? What happened and what were the consequences of this movement? These are some of the main questions addressed by professor Reis, that brings a fresh look to an event that marked the urban life and economy of Salvador. The presentation is fully available on the video below.
Ecological house construction: panels and walls-made of popcorn MBM ScienceBridge today announced the succesful negotiation and execution of an exclusive worldwide licensing agreement between the University of Göttingen and the company Smarter Habitat. Sustainable building is a key international issue in view of the shortage of housing, rising construction prices and the high levels of air pollution caused by cement production and the construction industry. Especially in drywall construction, the use of plasterboard dominates with all its disadvantages: dirt during installation, problems with moisture, no possibility of recycling and costly disposal as construction waste. Scientists at the University of Göttingen have developed a process for producing panels from hemp, flax and popcorn granules. The great advantage of this granulate is that it is a bio-based, environmentally friendly and sustainable alternative to the petroleum-based or gypsum-based products previously used in industry. The material has excellent insulating properties and offers good fire protection. The University of Göttingen has concluded an exclusive worldwide licensing agreement with the company Smarter Habitat for its commercial use. The working group "Chemie und Verfahrenstechnik von Verbundwerkstoffen” (Chemistry and Process Engineering of Composite Materials) at the Faculty of Forest Sciences and Forest Ecology at the University of Göttingen has been conducting research in the field of renewable raw materials for years. As a composite material with laminates made of hemp and flax, the PU foam previously used for panels is to be replaced in the future by the sustainable and high-performance product made of popcorn. Smarter Habitat intends to use it to produce panels for drywall and other applications, including load-bearing exterior walls, and market them under the name "Ecohab". In addition to its excellent physical properties, the material is reusable, recyclable and compostable. "With this new process, which is modeled on the plastics industry, pure natural products can now be used to cost-effectively produce panels for many areas of industrial-scale construction," explains the head of the research group, Professor Alireza Kharazipour. Datty Ruth, founder and CEO of Smarter Habitat adds, "We will use all our creativity to drive a much-needed paradigm shift in the construction industry with this circular material. This building material is a milestone for the construction industry and embodies the zeitgeist in terms of environmental goals like no other new product."
Bradford part of major initiative to tackle higher education ‘care leaver crisis’ With only 12% of care leavers under the age of 23 going into Higher Education (HE) - and those that do being almost twice as likely to drop out than their peers - the University of Bradford is taking part in a new project launched to improve support for young people going into HE. The National Network for the Education of Care Leavers (NNECL) and the UPP Foundation have announced a new partnership to improve the support provided for young care experienced people. Under the new scheme universities and colleges will take positive action to tackle the sector-wide care leavers crisis by creating a framework ensuring young care experienced people get the personal and financial support they need. A pilot project, funded by the UPP Foundation, was launched at a reception in the House of Lords last week. Running until early 2020, the pilot scheme will develop and test a new quality framework to improve access, retention and the support for people who have been in care and now study at colleges and universities. Nikki Pierce, Academic Registrar at the University of Bradford said: "As an institution dedicated to widening access and participation to higher education, we are delighted to take part in this project. "Participating in this pilot will give us the opportunity to improve our support for care leavers and care experienced people and to benchmark what we are doing against best practice. Ensuring that everyone - no matter their background - is supported to access and succeed in higher education is at the heart of our University ethos. "With only 12% of care leavers progressing to HE, this is an area in which the whole sector needs to do better, and we are delighted to be helping to shape a quality mark in this area." Earlier this year students at the University of Bradford held a conference to raise awareness of the struggles Care Leavers can face at university and how this can affect their emotional wellbeing, which can then impact their overall performance at university. The conference received very positive feedback and has driven provision for Care Leavers up the University agenda. The pilot project is a major step towards a national accreditation scheme for institutions working with young people who have been in care. The accreditation scheme will be rolled out across England following the completion of the pilot. Commenting on the launch, Colette Fletcher, Chair of the Board of Trustees, NNECL and Assistant Vice-Chancellor, University of Winchester, said: "NNECL is extremely proud to be launching the new quality mark for institutions working with young care experienced people and are delighted to be partnering with UPP Foundation and the University of Bradford to deliver this important project. The new quality mark will build on the gold standard criteria developed by the Centre for Social Justice and First Star Academies, the Department for Education’s ‘Principles to guide higher education providers on improving care leavers access and participation in HE’, the Care Leaver Covenant, and recent guidance published by the Office for Students, to create a working accreditation process that will improve the progression, retention and success of care experienced students in higher education." Richard Brabner, Director of the UPP Foundation, added: "We are delighted to be partnering with NNECL and the University of Bradford on this important initiative involving so many Higher Education and Further Education institutions. As a Foundation we fund innovative projects that support underrepresented students go to and succeed at university. As the statistics show, care leavers are one of, if not the, most disadvantaged group in the system. This is a sector-wide initiative that we hope will make a tangible difference over the long-term to the outcomes of care leavers."
In a climate change context, changing temperature and precipitation pattern are expected to have strong impacts on Brazilian eucalyptus plantations. Implementing adaptive water-efficient management practices is thus becoming necessary to maintain high levels of productivity while preserving the water resources. This paper investigates the ability of eucalyptus farmers to modify their current silvicultural practices in order to adapt to drought in the near future. We ran a choice experiment in the state of Minas Gerais, among 80 eucalyptus producers, who were asked to choose from several management options associatedwith various financial supports. The results showthat adaptation by reducing the length of the eucalyptus rotation proves to be by far the preferred option, despite the associated costs. On the contrary, reducing density appears to be the least chosen option by the respondents, which may suggest that they underestimate the benefits of this strategy. We moreover find a clear and relevant segmentation of farmers’choice behavior, the general preference for reducing the length of the eucalyptus rotation being driven by themost vulnerable farmers of the sample.
Nitrous Oxide Sedation Dentistry What if you could have all your dentistry that you have been putting off for years in the conventional dental office in one or two comfortable visits? Visiting the dentist is never going to be someone’s favorite thing to do. However, for some people, even setting foot inside their dentist’s office is a frightening prospect. Fear of the dentist is a widespread cliché, but for those affected, it is a debilitating problem with severe consequences. Studies estimate that as many as 15% of the U.S population experience some degree of anxiety about dental procedures. This level of fear can vary widely, with some patients experiencing mild nervousness and others feeling full-blown panic at the thought of a dental appointment. Many patients in Larchmont, Mamaroneck, Harrison, and the surrounding areas benefit from sedation dentistry treatment. Unfortunately, for many of these patients, their fear is preventing them from getting the dental care that they need for their oral health to be the best that it can be. Patients with a dental phobia could be missing out on crucial preventative dentistry that could help protect their mouth and teeth from a multitude of different oral problems. They could also be putting the longevity of your smile and even your general health at risk. Fortunately, sedation dentistry can enable even the most fearful patient to successfully undergo anything from a routine dental check-up to an invasive procedure. Consequences of dental phobia If you are avoiding visiting the dentist due to a dental phobia, you could experience some of the following effects: - Dental infections - Unnecessary dental pain - Unsightly, unattractive teeth - Periodontal disease - Tooth sensitivity - Bad breath - Tooth loss - Inability to eat or speak properly - The need for a far higher degree of dental work when your dental pain becomes so severe that you cannot put it off any longer In addition to the consequences listed above, avoiding the dentist can also put you at risk of some chronic, general health problems. Poor dental health almost always leads to severe periodontal disease. Patients with periodontal disease are more likely to develop heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, diabetes, kidney disease, gallstones, and some varieties of cancer. What is sedation dentistry? Sedation dentistry refers to the use of sedatives to induce a state of calmness that makes it possible for patients to undergo a dental appointment. Dr. Spellman uses sedation in addition to the anesthetic. Sedation with an anesthetic allows the patient to not be in pain and will be able to relax and remain still so that we can give you the dental care that you need. We are pleased to be able to offer sedation dentistry in the form of nitrous oxide gas. Dr. Spellman administers nitrous oxide via a mask placed over the nose that delivers a continuous supply of the gas into your body. Nitrous oxide is also known as laughing gas, but it doesn’t actually make you laugh or feel hysterical. Instead, it slightly reduces your awareness of what is happening around you. It also helps you to feel calm, relaxed, and significantly less anxious. You will be awake during the entire procedure, although some patients relax so much that they fall asleep. The effects of nitrous oxide wear off virtually instantly. As soon as Dr. Spellman removes the mask, you will feel back to your usual self within a couple of minutes.
Some of the world’s poorest people depend on the money they receive from relatives working in developed countries. In fact, this money dwarfs the world’s official foreign aid budget, and the gap is increasing. In 2011, total private flows of aid totaled $680 billion—almost five times the $138 billion official figure. As I noted in 2005, “the future of aid to developing countries is private.” This increase in private aid is great news for all concerned. Except, perhaps, for bureaucrats, who are loath to let good deeds go unpunished. World Bank and United Nations bean counters are denouncing remittance transfer fees as exploitative. The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has issued a rule to crack down on supposed fraud and exploitation affecting the existing remittance-transfer infrastructure. Its most important provision is the right to cancel a money transfer within 30 minutes of its being initiated. Proposals to cap the fee charged by remittance firms have also been agreed to internationally. Critics claim that high transfer fees are the result of a so-called market failure. Yet, markets in remittances are frequently overregulated. Many African governments have exclusive deals with money transfer companies, which operate as national monopolies, free from competitive discipline. And there are other regulatory pitfalls that drive up prices. A Western Union spokesman told The Guardian: Our pricing varies between countries depending on a number of factors, such as consumer protection costs, local remittance taxes, market distribution, regulatory structure, volume, currency volatility and other market efficiencies. These factors can impact the fees and foreign exchange rates offered by corridor and service type. All this suggests the remittance market needs less regulation. Proper competition, lower taxes, less restrictive “consumer protection” measures (which quickly become outdated), and less red tape in general would all likely increase the flow of funds between individuals. Such a solution would be inconceivable for global bureaucrats. Indeed, their house organ, The New York Times, last week recommended that the industry should be not only nationalized, but internationalized, with the World Bank taking on the role of remittance service provider, a role the Times actually described as “critical”: The World Bank could pool deposits from banks and nonbank money transfer agents and parcel them to recipient banks, using its formidable certification protocols to verify that the money is coming from and going to legitimate parties. Such pooling could also reduce exchange fees, a big cost to migrants. Equally important, the World Bank could use its relationships with regulators around the world to enhance the remittance system’s integrity. Technology is already solving many of the problems faced by the money transfer industry, making the industry obsolete in the process. For example, in the central Asian republic Kyrgyzstan, which relies heavily on remittances—accounting for 31 percent of its GDP, mostly from within the former Soviet Union—an Italian entrepreneur named Emanuele Costa is able to promote bitcoin as an alternative to the expensive, heavily regulated money transfer firms. Costa can do this because Kyrgyzstan is notably less oppressive and more free-market-oriented than its neighbors, and it has much less regulation than is typical in the area. He regularly hosts meetups to explain the currency to potential recipients and has installed a bitcoin ATM at a pizzeria (which, as Eurasianet notes, has been “bombarded with calls” since it publicized its existence). In Kenya, meanwhile, a bitcoin startup called BitPesa offers money transfers “twice as fast and 75% cheaper” than traditional competitors. Kenya is an especially interesting place for this innovation to happen, as it was the scene of a “cell phone revolution” that allowed its telecommunications market to work around a serious case of government failure. As a result, most Kenyans now use a form of mobile wallet on their cell phones. The potential for bitcoin to revolutionize the global remittance industry is hard to overstate. It largely cuts out the middleman, reducing the fees and charges some view as exploitative. Converting to local currency would be the most significant charge for most users. Bitcoin facilitates the establishment of trust through its “blockchain” public ledger, potentially reducing fraudulent transfers to near zero (although there is always the chance of someone stealing a wallet key). Taxes, at the moment, are minimal. For these reasons, bitcoin represents the best hope to ensure that all of the $680 billion in remittances goes to the people who need it. That might be why in America, bitcoin is most popular among Hispanics, who send more money abroad than any other group. Yet, roadblocks remain. If Kyrgyzstan joins Moscow’s customs union as expected, bitcoin’s days may be numbered there, as Russian officials have taken a dim view of anonymous payment vehicles. Meanwhile, in the UK, where many Kenyan remittance senders live and work, banks are wary of taking bitcoin businesses on as clients. As BitPesa’s founder told The Guardian: Most UK banks won’t let Bitcoin businesses open bank accounts. These businesses want to be licensed, but UK banks shy away, just like Barclays cut Somalia off the map. British banks are highly regulated and probably fearful of what regulators might do to them if they did business with companies that present “reputational risk”—as defined by regulators, of course. In the United States, the CFPB rule mentioned above could threaten to make bitcoin illegal for remittance purposes. The average time for a Bitcoin transaction to go through is around eight minutes, and reversing a transaction is impossible unless an escrow service is used. It is possible that the rule may not apply to a decentralized network like bitcoin, but in its short existence, the CFPB has not become known for reading its powers narrowly. Regulators could wind up killing off the solution to problems created by, well, regulators. If they are serious about reducing costs and decreasing the potential for fraud in remittances, they will stand aside and let bitcoin develop in this role. If the choice is between a distributed, autonomous cryptocurrency network approved by the people who need the remittances most, or a combination of policies approved by The New York Times, the World Bank, and international regulators, Public Choice economics suggests that the technological option faces a long struggle ahead.
Is Forgiveness Always Possible? Does God Always Forgive? Are there some things for which God will deny us forgiveness? The truth is, it is hard to sin beyond the grace of God. God's mercy is limitless, and His love for us is larger than the universe. Once we accept the Christ as our Savior, God forgives our sins--past, present, and future. The debt of sin (transgressions that we confess are a sin, and are in agreement with the word of God on what constitutes sin, and is, therefore, wrong for us to do) has been paid with the blood of Jesus. Confession, repentance, and asking for forgiveness of sin brings us back into fellowship with God the Creator, who has already forgiven us. According to the gospel of Mark (3:22-30) and Matthew (12:31-32), the only unforgivable sin is committed by those who reject the Holy Spirit's message about Jesus. But what about us? Do we always have to forgive wrongs committed against us? Do others always have to forgive wrongs we commit against them? Do We Always Have to Forgive? Even though we, as Christians, understand that forgiveness can free us from the venom of bitterness, resentment, anger, mean-spirited attitudes, and rage--as flawed human beings, it can still be hard for us to forgive. Even though our Bible teaches us we need to be able to forgive, so that we can experience the “ventilation” and the liberation that forgiveness provides, it is still not always an easy thing to do. Even though we understand that God asks us to forgive others so that we can receive forgiveness from Him when we sin, still, it is not always easy. But easy or not, God desires that we do it anyway. God teaches us that it is right to extend forgiveness. In Luke 23:34, Jesus said, “. . . Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” Apparently sometimes the ignorance of human beings can be so great, God still bestows merciful forgiveness upon them. God also provides a way for us to deal with someone who stubbornly refuses to ask for forgiveness, or to admit his or her wrongdoing or transgressions against us. In Matthew 18:15-17, the inspired word of God says: “Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.” God's forgiveness is vast and deep, because His love for us is vast and deep. He even guides us in how He wants us to approach someone who needs to ask our forgiveness. By telling us to “go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone,“ God is teaching us to be discreet about the matter of being denied forgiveness. He instructs us to speak in privacy with the transgressor. God says if the transgressor hears us, we will have gained a brother. The transgressor who truly hears will respect the fact that you approached him or her in private, and will ask forgiveness at that point, and will be repentant. But the transgressor who does not hear when approached in private is a different matter. The Bible tells us when this happens, we should conduct an intervention by taking others with us to confront the person. It is a good thing to have witnesses also hear about the transgression, as well as to hear us offer the transgressor an opportunity to ask our forgiveness. If the transgressor also refuses to hear in the presence of witnesses, then God says we should tell it to the church. Remember, wherever two or more are gathered in the name of Jesus, that is church. But, if the act of taking the matter to the church also fails to get the transgressor's attention, God says we should then think of them as we would a heathen. What does it mean to think of someone, anyone, as we would think of a "heathen and a publican?" A heathen can be defined as someone who worships false gods, or someone who professes love for God, yet does not obey the Commandments of God. When Christ walked among men, a "publican" was considered to be a vile person, most often a common tax collector. The position was widely seen as occupied by unscrupulous men who often engaged in extortion, exacting more from people in the form of taxes than what was rightfully owed.Therefore, God wants us to work to help transgressors gain forgiveness, but if they refuse, God wants us to know we are free to disassociate from them. Forgiveness is not always easy. But it is always a choice. We are all human, and we are all weak. For these reasons, we are all going to make mistakes in our relationships with each other. But because we've been given the power of forgiveness, we have a way to allow each other second chances. Jesus provides us with this way, for it surely is an example of His divine nature that can be reflected in our actions toward one another. Freeing ourselves of resentment is only part of what the Christ had in mind when it comes to the power of forgiveness. Just as God forgives us for our sake, He asks us to join with Him in being part of the redemptive process for those who have asked for mercy. He asks us to do this not in our own strength, but by His grace working in us.
For this project, I chose to model temporomandibular joint dysfunction to meet the following objective: “relate the interaction of muscles and the skeletal system.” I chose this objective because temporomandibular joint dysfunction is largely caused by interrelated skeletal and muscular issues such as arthritis and extended muscle contractions. I used felt sheets to depict the temporomandibular joint which connects the mandible to the temporal bone and is cushioned by an articular disc. I made multiple models to show both healthy TMJ functioning and TMJ dysfunction which are distinguished by disc and muscle (dis)placement. The first two images following the written statement show healthy TMJ functioning during both mandible depression and mandible elevation. The last image shows TMJ dysfunction, specifically interrelated disc and muscle displacement, during mandible depression. The temporomandibular joint is responsible for movements like mandibular depression, mandibular elevation, protraction, retraction, and lateral movement. A properly functioning temporomandibular joint’s articular disc is positioned between the condyle of the mandible and the mandibular fossa of the temporal bone. This position allows the lateral pterygoid muscle to pull the condyle of the mandible downwards while the articular disc glides forward, and the mouth opens. The lateral pterygoid also plays a role in stabilizing the articular disc, though this can become problematic as issues arise with the muscle (Lafrenière et al 1997). Temporomandibular joint disorder, which causes a myriad of painful symptoms, can be caused by skeletal, muscular, or tissue damage; typically, damage or dysfunction of one temporomandibular structure exacerbates the dysfunction of another. Common causes include arthritis, disc or cartilage erosion, muscle fatigue, or jaw injury. For my project, I focused on the relationship between disc and muscle displacement which are usually caused by excessive strain or trauma. With TMJ disorders, instead of gliding forward with the hinge movement of the mandible, the articular disc often slips into an anterior position and may glide in and out of its proper position during mandibular depression. Articular disc displacement is sometimes caused by lateral pterygoid muscle spasms which exert forward traction on the disc (Finden et al 2007). To elaborate on the symptoms, TMJ dysfunction can cause popping and clicking sounds, jaw pain, and limited range of motion including lockjaw. A recent study found that TMJ pain occurred significantly more in patients with disc displacement that caused jaw locking (Chantaracherd et al 2015). Because disc displacement removes the cushioning between the mandible and temporal bones, displacement can also damage the bones and cause or worsen osteoarthritis. Additionally, changes to the lateral pterygoid, including extended spasming or displacement, can cause the muscle to atrophy, further exacerbating symptoms. Overall, the interrelated nature of muscular and skeletal structures in the temporomandibular joint can cause worsening joint function throughout based on the damage or dysfunction of a single structure.
- postcolonial-queer: Erkundungen in Theorie und Literatur by Anna Babka Anna Babka's postcolonial-queer is one of those monographs that elicits gratitude, as it is broad in scope, informative, gracefully written, and well worth [End Page 160] revisiting because of the author's pronounced ability to synthesize and exemplify a wide range of contemporary theories and exemplary scholarship. The chapters are drawn from earlier publications, but they have been woven together to form an original contribution to today's cultural-theoretical feminist discourses. The volume starts with an introduction that tracks the intersections between today's gender, queer, and postcolonial studies as the driving interdisciplinary site appropriate for today's academic literary and cultural studies, starting with cogent definitions of the assumptions associated with these bodies of theory: Eben das, was Derrida fragend anspricht, das, was zwischen den Disziplinen geschieht, wird im hier vorliegenden Band durch die genuin transdisziplinären Gender-, Queer und Postcolonial Studies einer möglichen Lesart, einer möglichen Perspektive zugeführt. Entlang zentraler Ansätze poststrukturalistischer Theoriebildung, wie der écriture feminine oder maßgeblicher Konzepte der Gender-, Queer- und Postcolonial Studies, wie etwa Identität, Alterität, Zentrum, Peripherie, Hybridität, "dritter Raum" / "drittes Geschlecht," wird die Verhandlung verschiedener Achsen der Differenz reflektiert und literarisch erkundet.(29) The six chapters in the volume's first part following this introduction offer solid, nuanced discussions of the most influential voices in these major areas of contemporary scholarship, offering succinct overviews of how these scholarly projects have evolved, principally in US and Germanophone contexts. The first chapter, "Zur Verwobenheit von Gender Studies, Queer Studies & Postcolonial Studies," makes the brave choice of working conceptually instead of chronologically. In consequence, Babka's work starts with the newest generation of hybrid theory that combines race and gender, starting with Kimberle Crenshaw and Kien Nghi Ha in German, but then proceeds to differentiate it carefully from postcolonial gender studies, the latter of which is much more pronounced in European feminist theory than in US/UK ones. In this chapter, Babka shows off her work's great strength: in all cases, she cites foundational literature in theory (e.g., Donna Haraway, Patricia Hill Collins, the work of the Combahee River Collective) and then brings the individual project forward into the newest generation. In this sense, postcolonial-queer can serve as a research guide—particularly important for US GermanistInnen, because their work is all too often done without reference to foundational [End Page 161] terminology in anglophone feminist studies, particularly by theorists of color, or to the Marxist contexts of much first- and second-generation African-American theorists. Similarly, Babka always explains how terms have mutated between disciplinary contexts and within national projects and tracks how terms have crossed national lines as well. Subsequent chapters are then classified into conceptual clusters: "Denkräume" (discussing Spivak and Othering), "Denkfiguren" (Derrida, Butler, and Bettine Menke, reading in one chapter Derrida and Nietzsche so as to evolve a broader idea of the feminine, and then in another Butler's performativity and "colonial Mimicry" in Homi Bhabha), and then once again "Denkräume" (this time about Trinh Minh-Ha and postcolonial feminisms). The first section closes with a discussion of postcolonial and queer theory in Germanistik, speaking about textual canons in literary studies and the need for ongoing self-interrogation of criticism. In all cases her relating of gender identity and cultural positioning is exemplary—a fine reading of two bodies of theory, astutely combined to reframe our contemporary understandings of inherited problems in gender theory. The second large section of the book is devoted to case study readings that show the potential of newly posed approaches to textual reading over queer and postcolonial theory. The first series of cases represents texts from early modern German literatures: Kleist's Marionettentheater is read queer, Karl May's In den Schluchten des Balkan (1892) is read postcolonially, as are then Robert Michel's Die Verhüllte (1907) and Else Lasker-Schüler's Der Prinz von Theben (1914) (the latter with specific reference to Expressionism and oriental miniatures). The...
District Size & Class Size: Students: 55,000; staff: 6,500. Elementary class sizes: K-4th: 22; 5th grade: 26 Grade Level Alignment: Early childhood schools (pre-K); elementary schools (K-5); middle schools (6-8); high schools (9-10); senior high schools (11-12); special programs (K-8); special programs (9-12); Plano ISD Academy High School (9-12); IB World School at Plano East (9-12 for IB students only) Distinguishing Characteristics: Steeped in a history of excellence spanning more than 100 years, Plano ISD is a highly regarded district known for the continual accomplishments of its diverse and competitive student population. The district’s exceptional educational offerings make the surrounding community an excellent place to live, work, and raise a family. Through a comprehensive selection of electives, academic courses, and extracurricular activities (detailed below), Plano ISD is able to meet the individual needs and talents of its students. Specializations and Program Offerings: CTE, special education, dual credit, AP, GT, STEM, etc. Academy Programs of Plano: Plano ISD opened three student choice academy programs for ninth and tenth grade students for the 2013-14 school year: Plano ISD Academy High School, Health Sciences Academy, and IB World School at Plano East Senior High School. Each provides students with more choices in not just what they learn, but also how they learn—and allows Plano ISD to serve an even greater variety of student interests and needs. Learn more at pisd.edu/academies. AVID: Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID)’s mission is to close the achievement gap by preparing all students for college readiness and success in a global society. Every Plano ISD secondary campus supports the AVID program. Several elementary schools are piloting the AVID program. Gifted Education/PACE: Plano Academic and Creative Education (PACE) is the cornerstone of the district’s gifted and talented education program and serves students in kindergarten through graduation. Students may join at any grade level. PACE is more than a course; it is a motivating and challenging experience that lasts multiple years of a student’s education. The PACE program provides an invigorating, creative, and rigorous learning environment to nurture the unique academic, social, and emotional needs of gifted and talented students. The PACE program focuses on gifted academic experiences and personal development. Although the majority of PACE students also possess artistic or musical talent, courses exist outside of the PACE program for students talented in speech, the performing arts, and/or the visual arts. International Baccalaureate Program: The IB World School at Plano East is a rigorous course of study designed to meet the needs of highly motivated secondary students and to promote international understanding. Many students earning the IB diploma are awarded advanced college credit at prestigious universities around the world. In 2013, Plano ISD had 113 full diploma candidates in the IB program; 80 IB diplomas were awarded and students took 767 IB exams. Collin College Dual Enrollment: Since fall 2005, Plano ISD has offered a dual enrollment program through Collin College. Spring 2013 enrollment was 511 students. Fall 2013 enrollment is 665 students. Students earn college credit through Collin College in U.S. History, Government, Economics, and English IV. Career and Technical Education (CTE): CTE offers opportunities for students to learn skills they may use in high school, college, their career, and as a financial means to help further their education. CTE blends academics and career preparation skills to produce more well-rounded graduates ready for the opportunities of the world. Courses include agriculture science, automotive, business, criminal science, culinary, education, engineering, family and consumer science, health science, marketing, and technology. Credit by Exam: Credit by Exam provides a way for kindergarten through eighth grade students to take a test to move ahead one grade level. For high school students, Credit by Exam provides advanced students an opportunity to earn credit in a course that they have not taken in school. eSchool: Plano ISD eSchool, designed and implemented by Plano ISD faculty and staff, enables students to take high school courses online, on their own time, wherever access is available to the Internet and a computer. Students have the opportunity to interact with a group of recognized, experienced, and well-trained teachers as they work through the curriculum independently. Since February 2001, Plano ISD eSchool has served more than 30,000 high school students in Texas, the United States, and other countries. Plano ISD eSchool students have a completion rate of 87 percent and an overall passing rate of 96 percent. Summer Opportunities for Learning: The 10,000 students who annually attend Plano ISD’s summer school program are given opportunities to study curriculum that reinforces and/or enriches skills and knowledge learned during the regular school year. Two types of curricula are offered: the regular program and the enrichment program. Additionally, classes provide students with an environment that is both stimulating and encouraging. Extracurricular: Plano ISD offers an array of curricular and extracurricular activities. Students are able to find their fit through student-led clubs and a full complement of award-winning fine arts and athletics programs. Young scholars, artists, and athletes have brought numerous regional, state, and national awards to the district. Safety and Security: Plano ISD recently approved an enhanced security plan that included such features as: > Target hardening – modifying entrances/exits as needed and creating physical barriers. > Added police protection – adding police surveillance and/or presence at all campuses through the use of contracted police patrols that will continually move between campuses. > Mobile panic buttons – these tools are being added at the elementary and early childhood campuses that serve our most vulnerable students. > Additional safety drills and training for new tools. The police presence and the updated security plan address a broad range of security issues. New components complement the existing security plan and provide added security to all campuses with an emphasis at elementary and early childhood locations. Plano ISD is fortunate to have individual city and county efforts to provide this support. M&O/I&S Tax Rates and Last Bond Passage: Plano ISD held and passed its last bond election in 2008. In 2013, the district held a tax ratification election, which also passed, adjusting the total M&O and I&S tax rates to $1.453. Average Home Value in District: $259,201 Selling Points: With award-winning teachers and programs, Plano ISD has long played a vital role in the economic success of its surrounding community. Its reputation for excellence continues to lure professional families, and in turn, companies to the area. Plano ISD students’ scores on college entrance exams far exceed state and national averages each year. The incomparable performance of Plano ISD students on these exams and boasting two U.S. Presidential Scholars and 208 National Merit Scholarship Finalists over the past two years provides a competitive edge for college admission and higher education success. Plano ISD is one of 477 school districts in the United States and Canada, and 14 school districts in Texas, to be honored by the College Board with placement on the fourth annual AP District Honor Roll. All Plano ISD elementary, middle, and high school campuses provide rigorous programs that cultivate achievement at each level and prepare students for their experiences at the senior high school campuses and beyond graduation. Philosophy: Plano ISD believes that today’s classroom, community, and global environments demand new learning standards for students so that they will have the ability to successfully live in, learn in, lead, and contribute to a world that is truly global, connected, and increasingly competitive in scope and character.
Procreate allows you to mirror your drawing in many different ways. There are many tools that can be used to mirror your drawing. This tutorial will show you how to mirror your drawings. Mirror your drawing in Procreate. Here’s how Mirroring your Procreate drawing is possible in two ways. Mirroring a layer can be done if you have already drawn it. - Click on the arrow button. It will be located in the upper menu bar to the left. - The bottom of your screen will open a menu bar. - Click on “Freeform” - Now you can mirror your drawing vertically or horizontally. How to use other mirror instruments You can make a simple mirror drawing or a symmetrical one right away. - Activate the Drawing GuideClick on Settings (wrench icon). A pop-up window will appear. Select Canvas, then activate Drawing guide. - Edit the Drawing GuideNow, tap Edit Drawing guide. - Select your preferred setting to mirror your imageYou can select 2D grid, Isometric and Perspective from the lower menu. Isometric can be used to draw patterns, for instance. You can also use it to draw circles. If you are looking for objects that must be symmetrical, choose Symmetry.
The final results of the entire project are being presented today at a seminar, along with the results of the last of the four constituent studies. “It’s very much about the company being aware of the factors affecting health at work,” says Magnus Svartengren, professor at Karolinska Institutet and senior physician at the Stockholm Centre for Public Health: Occupational and Environmental Health at the Stockholm County Council. “But what’s really important is how well the company manages to incorporate the work into its activities and how they handle it as an ongoing process.” The following conclusions can be drawn from the four constituent studies: Ø It pays to have healthy employees Ø Clear leadership and employee participation bring significant health gains Ø Incidents of sick leave are lower in companies that recruit their managers internally Ø Companies with rehabilitation procedures have healthier employees Ø Women working in male-dominated companies are healthier than women in companies with an even gender distribution Health and Future is unique in that it studied the organisational factors that produce healthy employees. The study is based on cross-references of the sick-leave registers kept by AFA Insurance and Alecta (an insurance and a pensions provider respectively). To find out what makes companies healthy, the researchers combined qualitative methods with quantitative, and studied how the companies organise their preventative and rehabilitative activities. The project was carried out by scientists at the Stockholm County Council’s Centre for Public Health, Karolinska Institutet and Uppsala University, with financial support from AFA Försäkring, Alecta, Carl Bennet AB, Axel Johnsson AB and AB Volvo. An advisory board containing representatives of the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise, the Federation of Private Enterprises, the Swedish Trade Union Confederation, the Swedish Metalworkers’ Union, the Confederation of Professional Employees, Unionen, the Swedish Confederation of Professional Associations and the Council for Negotiation and Co-operation also supported the project.
DETROIT - It's been a month since Michigan health officials confirmed the first two cases of COVID-19 in the state, with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Chief Health Executive Dr. Joneigh Khaldun announcing late March 10 one case out of Oakland County and another out of Wayne County. The announcement came the same night as Michigan's Primary election. Since then, the state's coronavirus total has skyrocketed to more than 21,500 positive cases and over 1,000 reported deaths - placing Michigan third among hardest-hit areas in the country. Only New York and New Jersey have recorded higher totals. Since early March, Whitmer has enacted dozens of executive orders aimed at slowing the spread of COVID-19, by restricting the use of public space, closing all nonessential businesses and ending the school year early. In southeast Michigan where a vast majority of cases have been confirmed, Detroit and Wayne County have become the epicenter of the state's outbreak, recording almost half of known cases. While the pandemic has drained the city's budget and contracted the economy, public officials have some reason to hope. Since the state reported its highest daily total of cases on April 3, announcing 1,953 new patients, levels of new COVID-19 patients have plateaued and even declined. On Thursday, Michigan reported 1,158 new cases. Coronavirus cases have been spotted in almost every county in the state, reaching as far west as Gogebic in the Upper Peninsula. This flattening of the curve - slowing the pace of new cases of COVID-19 - was noted by Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, who said they were beginning to see a leveling off of new cases. "The reason this is flattening out is because of you," Duggan said during a press conference Thursday. However, it's a false sense of security when numbers began to fall in other countries that led to a loosening of restrictions and a subsequent rise in more cases, Duggan said. "Every country that lets up when it starts to slow, it spikes immediately," he added. To keep up the pressure on reducing the spread, Whitmer deployed an extension on her stay-at-home order on Thursday, placing new restrictions on how stores operate and outlawing citizens from visiting other residences until the end of April. Her order came days after the state legislature extended her emergency powers that allow for the enforcement of executive orders. Warning last week that Michigan's COVID-19 outbreak hadn't peaked, Khaldun said the state was still in its early stages of the spread and current models suggested residents were likely several weeks away from the worst of the outbreak. More recent estimates project Michigan's apex of daily totals may be closer to mid-April. Despite making up only 14% of the state's population, black residents represent a third of all COVID-19 cases and 40% of all deaths. The disparity had been growing for some time as Detroit's outbreak worsened, where African Americans make up a majority of the city's population. Yesterday, Whitmer said she tapped Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist to lead a task force on the unequal infection rate among Michigan's black residents. Even with a slowing new cases, the pace of deaths linked to COVID-19 have not stopped. On Thursday, the state reported 117 more people passed away, the second-highest daily total the state has measured. With increasing pressure on hospital systems to care for patients with the infection, many are nearing capacity for life-saving equipment like ventilators and available beds. Henry Ford Hospital had even begun planning for new life and death protocols for staff to follow as supplies dried up. The death toll has been particularly hard in Detroit, reporting Friday, April 10 of 54 new deaths - the city's largest one-day increase in COVID-19 related fatalities. To accommodate for the perceived overflow health care officials anticipated, Detroit opened its first makeshift hospital at the TCF convention center in downtown Detroit to care for patients diagnosed with the infection but weren't experiencing severe symptoms. Twenty-five patients will be admitted to the 1,000-bed facility on Friday. "We are going to have to put ultimately, in the coming weeks, 200 to 250 patients in the TCF center just based on the crowding in the hospital," Duggan said. "The single best report card on how well we are doing on social distancing is how many of those beds we end up using." A similar trend of coronavirus cases has been noted in New York, which reports that hospitalizations have flattened but a mounting death toll continues to climb. Social distancing and a shuttering of nonessential businesses may have slowed the outbreak in Michigan, but it's also decimated the local economy. An updated report out of the University of Michigan forecasts more than 22% of the state's workforce will apply for unemployment benefits before returning to work. Yesterday, U.S. Labor Department numbers offered a grim outlook on the country's near-future employment prospects, reporting more than 6 million people had been laid off in the previous week. One out of 10 workers in the country are now out of a job. The unemployment numbers over the last two weeks outpaced "even the toughest week in the Great Recession" Whitmer said earlier this week. Due to the spiking number of new filings, the state's website buckled under after too much traffic. Some of the damage is expected to be offset by federal stimulus packages passed by Congress in recent weeks that have targeted small businesses with loans, bailouts for the travel industry, and direct cash payments to people. But even with the relief, it's unlikely residents in Michigan or the rest of the world will get to revisit a normal life. Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci told reporters this week the world might not return to the "normal" known before the outbreak. "When we get back to normal, we will go back to the point where we can function as a society,” he said. He continued, “If you want to get back to pre-coronavirus, that might not ever happen in the sense that the threat is there.”
Citizens’ assemblies are becoming increasingly important – globally and in Germany. The stratified random selection of participants makes them more inclusive than other forms of citizen participation, overcoming filter bubbles and providing a social sounding board. Just recently, Bärbel Bas, German President of the Bundestag, announced the further application of citizens’ assemblies, and Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, wants to use them in the future as well. The first four processes of this kind in Germany have taken place since 2019: - Citizens’ Assembly on Democracy - Citizens’ Assembly on Germany’s role in the world - Citizens’ Assembly on Climate - Citizens’ Assembly on Research ifok, together with the nexus Institute, designed, organized and implemented these four citizens’ assemblies. In addition, we were involved at the EU level in the conception and implementation of the EU Citizens’ Forums as part of the Conference on the Future of Europe. Throughout the process, we have continuously developed the procedures and methods, because there is no patent remedy for the implementation of citizens’ assemblies. Our experience shows: Citizens’ assemblies can be used in a variety of ways and also work in the digital space. The key is to ensure political connection from the very beginning in order to enrich parliamentary and governmental work. A key factor here is that a citizens’ assembly or deliberation process is initiated and commissioned from within the political system, i.e., by parliaments or governments that turn to citizens with a specific question and can and want to use the results in their further work. To achieve this, the institutions sometimes need to adapt better to citizen participation, both organizationally and culturally. However, the beginnings have been made. Good examples are the Open Government Strategy in North Rhine-Westphalia or the Office for Civil Society and Citizen Participation in Baden-Württemberg. In order to further increase the impact of citizen participation and citizens’ assemblies and strengthen political connection, various instruments can be used at different stages of the process in addition to the commissioning process. We gained positive experiences with these instruments and they do not jeopardize the openness and neutrality of the process. Ensuring political connectivity – for an effective participation process 1. Agenda-setting – involving various stakeholders The guiding question for the citizens’ assembly has usually already been defined. But what does the topic include, what should be the focus and what should the recommendations be about? On which topics and issues do policy makers want to hear the social perspective of a citizens’ assembly? In three citizens’ assemblies, we involved politics, science and civil society (including randomly selected citizens) in participatory processes and carried out participatory agenda setting. In the Citizens’ Assembly on Research, on the other hand, the participants had the opportunity to determine the content of a session and thus to actively participate in shaping the process. 2. Process – interlocking with politics and administration At the center of each citizens’ assembly are the randomly selected citizens. They listen to experts with different presentations and perspectives, deliberate with each other in a respectful atmosphere, weigh arguments, form an opinion, and develop recommendations for political action. During the process, there are various methods that ensure a connection to decision makers from politics and administration and thus contribute to the feasibility of the results. - Input from experts: Politicians and administrators are invited to present their perspective on a topic. This sharpens the understanding of the participating citizens and shows the different perspectives on the topic. The presenting politicians and administrators learn about the process and the quality of the discussion and develop a greater willingness to use the results for their own benefit. - Participant observation: Members of the Bundestag or representatives of the ministries can form their own impression of the citizens’ assembly and follow the discussions at selected meetings without actively participating. This gives the addressees of the recommendations a valuable insight into the work of the citizens’ assembly and also increases their ownership. - Feedback from politicians and administrators: Are the recommendations within the realm of possibility? What is feasible and what is not? A citizens’ assembly can only be effective if the results are actionable. A feedback loop can create this fertile ground, both for the citizens’ assembly and for politics. When using these methods, it is important to ensure the independence of the process such as a balance of input from different experts. Also, citizens should be given the opportunity to recommend anything that is important to them, irrespective of the feedback from politics and administration. 3. Implementation – ensuring connectivity at an early stage The results of the citizens’ assembly are available and have been handed over to the politicians. Is the process complete now? No. Even in this phase, it can be useful for the citizens’ assembly to continue to accompany the implementation. This way decision-makers can ask questions, the participants can present their perspectives, and the process as a whole can benefit. Institutionalization for sustainable change – Creating an independent administrative unit In the long term, citizens’ assemblies and other citizen participation procedures can only become a more successful and effective part of the democratic system if the system itself gets involved and develops. On the one hand, structures and processes must be created that transfer the results of citizen participation into further political work in a comprehensible way. On the other hand, politicians and administrators need to understand that citizen participation is not just a communicative add-on but leads to important and helpful indications and recommendations. Both can be bundled in a dedicated administrative unit that would have to be anchored in the government, in parliament or between the two institutions. In North Rhine-Westphalia, for example, there is an office of the Open Government Strategy and responsible units for implementing the strategy in all state ministries, all of which are advised and supported by ifok. What could be the functions of an independent administrative unit? - An administrative unit should bundle competencies and advise other institutions and authorities on the organization and implementation of citizens’ assemblies and other procedures: Which instrument is the right one for my issue? How do I ensure that the results will help me? How do I find partners for implementation? - An administrative unit can develop guidelines and rules on how citizens’ assemblies and citizen participation procedures should be implemented at the federal level. As an independent body and in contact with civil society actors, it can also monitor compliance with the guidelines and rules. - The administrative unit should build up and expand competence for citizen participation in politics and administration. This can be done by the means of publications and an internal knowledge hub, as well as further training and fun learning opportunities. The administrative unit can also connect all actors who implement citizen assemblies and other procedures or are interested in doing so: employees in the ministries, administrations and the Bundestag. - The administrative unit itself should set an example and allow its creation and work to be accompanied by citizens, test flexible and learning structures, new ways of working and procedures, and initiate projects for cultural change in the administration.
he July edition of pv magazine featured an article that examined the mechanical function of torsional galloping. Some claim the process is the top cause of damage in the PV tracker business and have raised concerns about the technology’s bankability in the past. Torsional galloping describes the frequent vortex shedding at the leading and trailing edges of the module chord. This causes a self-exciting instability, which eventually can lead to a total collapse of the installation under extreme wind conditions. While weather-inflicted damage is the most common failure for all types of PV installations, single-axis trackers are more prone to torsional galloping for structural reasons. Because of this structurally inherent weak-spot, tracker manufacturers are keen to communicate their respective system mitigation approaches. The result is a somewhat confusing potpourri of claims made by manufacturers and wind laboratories, which often enough stand in direct competition to one another. Most prominently, the industry is torn between the horizontal and high-tilt angle stowing approaches to prevent torsional galloping. For people not deeply involved in the field of aerodynamics, it is almost impossible to tell “right” from “wrong.” This raises the question of why there are no design standards in place. In nearly all other industrial segments, structures – whether they are houses, sheds or something completely different – are built according to structural codes. They inform engineers about requirements regarding wind loads and pressure coefficients that a structure must be able to withstand. The PV industry also works with such codes, but neither the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) nor the Eurocode have adopted chapters focused on PV installations. At the moment, the PV industry is sourcing its wind-load specifications and pressure coefficients from building codes for mono-slope free-standing roof structures, like carports. This introduces multiple fallacies that eventually make it relatively meaningless to comply with codes such as the ASCE or the Eurocode. David Banks, head of solar services for wind engineering laboratory CPP, says “if you were to build a skyscraper worth $500 million and took your wind loads and pressure coefficients from a simplified code procedure, it would be laughable. Yet this is done for solar farms that use the carport wind loads. The skyscraper would be carefully wind tunnel tested. Solar farms deserve the same.” The fact that the PV industry does not have its own code to follow is somewhat unique. “The wind power industry is not governed by building codes, instead they have their own manuals; in the U.S. transmission lines have their own ASCE code.The PV industry should ask itself if it isn’t time to follow suit,” Banks explains. To the CPP team, this would provide more clarity for the industry, and hidden traps could be circumvented. For example, Banks points out that the code as it is right now considers only a single object in isolation, which would typically be the case with a carport. However, in the PV industry, a solar array consists of hundreds of rows in front of one another. There are vortices and turbulences traveling between rows that create different forces that are not recognized in the code. Additionally, table length plays a role, according to fellow wind engineer Thorsten Kray, head of the building aerodynamics department at I.F.I. Institut für Industrieaerodynamik GmbH, Aachen. Kray points to the aspect ratio, which plays a role in how load effects caused by wind develop across the entire table length. Carports are rarely 100 meters long; however, rows of ground-mounted fixed-tilt or single-axis tracking systems are. In most cases, tracker manufacturers work closely with plant developers to come up with a site-specific design of the tracker. Once tasked with supplying the tracking system, a manufacturer begins to source wind data from weather stations close to the intended location of the solar plant. “At the time of dimensioning, designers need to determine which areas must be reinforced, attending to the implication of the terrain slopes and the direct exposure to the wind,” explains Eduardo de San Nicholás, product manager for tracker manufacturer Soltec. “In this sense, Soltec designs three types of trackers depending on the factors, which differ between exterior, inner and edge. At every project, Soltec expert engineers evaluate the layout and the wind requirements to optimize the design of the plant.” Soltec is not alone in this approach. Lucas Creasy of Array Technologies makes a similar claim, according to which the tracker manufacturer is preparing a site-specific plant layout with bespoke reinforcements, according to ground data, terrain assessments, and weather data. Top-tier tracker manufacturers have chosen to work with renowned wind engineering laboratories to verify their products’ reliability in extreme weather conditions. PV Hardware and Nextracker, for example, have worked with CPP, while Soltec has worked with RWDI. Ideematec worked with Wacker Ingenieure, and PiA Solar worked with I.F.I. Institut für Industrieaerodynamik GmbH – the list goes on. As the solar industry starts to broadly understand that building codes cannot inform stakeholders about an installation’s ability to survive a severe wind event, the wind engineering laboratories perform tests that go beyond what the structural code requires. For project developers and asset managers, it is not always clear, however. How can they determine whether a tracker installation they intend to install is constructed with enough concern for possibly destructive wind effects? According to Banks, the problem is a combination of too few incentives to encourage due diligence and an emphasis on compliance rather than performance. I.F.I. Aachen’s Kray points out that there can be considerable differences in the methodologies that are used by wind engineering laboratories. He reports that he has been approached by tracker manufacturers that wanted their products’ wind resilience confirmed. When told that I.F.I. Aachen would do static and dynamic wind load testing, the manufacturer reportedly declined, arguing that this would result in numbers suggesting that the tracker could withstand lower wind speeds than the manufacturer intended to sell it for. A failure to consider dynamic forces can result in an underestimation of the structural requirements by up to a factor of two or three under adverse circumstances, Kray says. “Another issue is that there is a school of thought that suggests section model testing is all you need for aeroelastic testing,” Banks adds. He says it is not adequate to test just a small portion of a tracker’s span. For Banks, the only way to reliably test for instability is by testing a full aeroelastic model in a boundary layer wind tunnel. “We have observed instabilities that only occur for interior rows, or for cornering winds or at higher modes of vibration, none of which can be captured by a section model,” he notes. Kray says that for the torsional galloping study, a 3D or 2D CFD study may be good enough to verify a system’s ability to mitigate that mechanism. The methodology is widely adopted within the wind engineering community and to Kray, this strikes a balance between providing safe predictions and competitive costs. Some, though not all, EPCs and project developers call in independent engineering reviews of the tracker and the wind tunnel report. Still, according to Banks, there will often be pushback if engineering offices decide to falsify the claims. He says that the review can happen at one of the last stages of project development, and no one, not even the owners, want deals to fall through at the 11th hour, unless the under-design is irrefutable. Given the lack of standards, this is unlikely. The level of motivation to let a project fall over due to concern about a site’s wind resilience in a more or less unlikely event, is fairly limited. “If you buy a house, the seller and real estate agent will commission an inspector to the final check of the house before the deal is sealed. If that inspector identifies issues with the house, the real estate agent is going to be disinclined to call in that inspector again. The inspector, however, makes a living out of being called in and doing these tests,” Banks says. In a similar vein, Kray points to the fact that EPCs often want to design and install systems as quickly as possible, and then move on to the next project. These issues and conflicting motivations could be somewhat mitigated if the industry had a standard to follow. For the time being, stakeholders are best advised to pay very close attention to what the wind tunnel report includes and maybe even more attention to what is omitted. Updates to ACSE’s wind-loading standard, which will include ground-mount PV systems, are not expected before 2022. Even then, it will be for PV systems in general, and not trackers in particular. Until then, asset owners and project developers will have to either develop their ability to review wind tunnel reports themselves, or task independent engineering laboratories with the job of thoroughly reviewing the report.
Why are they Beneficial? It is crucial to have a healthy digestive system. This goes far beyond the food you consume each day. Gut health refers to the internal workings and function of your digestive system. This matters because it impacts the way you are able to process food through your body and keep its nutrition to keep you going throughout the day. Probiotics can aid in improving your digestion and keep your gut healthy. There are a variety of ways to take probiotics. But the most effective option is to use capsules. It’s similar to having your usual vitamin. The capsules do not alter the taste of any food or drink. Probiotics offer many health benefits. Learning more about them will motivate you to take better care of your digestive system. Probiotics are a popular choice for people due to their benefits for digestion. The body uses the natural substances it produces to separate nutrients from ingredients , which eventually transform into waste. It is common to realize that not all foods are able to provide 100% of the nutrients you eat. Only those with an organic and strict diet can achieve this number. The average person cannot accomplish this. While it is suggested that you eat an optimum diet that is free of artificial flavors, colors and preservatives (although there are foods that do contain all three) It’s not good to eat some foods. Probiotics assist in the digestion process of food, no matter how organic. Even if you’re not eating, probiotics will keep your stomach happy. Your body may not be sufficiently protected against bacteria that can cause irritation, causing irritation in your stomach, as well as frequent stomachaches. Both inactive and active digestion can be beneficial for probiotics. Probiotics make it easier to process food. They help to breakdown food faster. You will experience less stomach discomfort and your digestive system will work faster since this occurs in a more rapid manner. Probiotics will ease your digestive problems, whether you eat fast or feel gassy after eating certain food. It’s okay to consume probiotics if your stomach doesn’t ache or you experience difficulty digesting certain foods. Probiotics work on the inside and be beneficial to you as your stomach gets used to this mode of operation. Probiotics will not be ejected from your bodylike other vitamins and supplements. They can remain in your gut to improve your health. Many people don’t think about their immune system, or how digestion and food affect them. It is important to consider when taking good care of your body’s immune system. Probiotics are beneficial to your immune system. They aid in avoiding getting sick and make it simpler to recover from illnesses. These are especially important advantages because probiotics work inside your body. You can take care external influences. Probiotics take care of the other aspects of your health. What is known as the microbiome that is in your gut is what you eat. These are microorganisms made up of bacteria that live inside the digestive tract. This type of bacteria works as a filter and determines what nutrients you are able to use. What should be discarded or converted into waste in order to expel it. You will be more susceptible to becoming sick if your gut microbiome is unhealthy. To help you avoid getting sick, probiotics are able to boost your gut microbiome. Worrying about getting sick is among the most effective methods of stressing yourself out and actually end up weakening the immune system. Your immune system will be in good hands if you maintain your gut microbiome each day by taking probiotics. Probiotics can work silently as well as powerfully as we have seen. Even when you’re not aware of it, they work in a silent way to aid your body. This is great news for those who are working or have a lot to accomplish. It’s easy to forget about the immune system. Probiotics can help you keep it in check. There are many stressors in our lives and some are unavoidable. It is common to feel upset stomach when you are stressed. Your gut health and digestion will be negatively affected by stress. Every aspect of your mental and physical life is interconnected within your body and understanding this will allow you to understand how beneficial probiotics can be in managing stress and de-escalating stressful situations that you encounter. Another interesting thing to think about is the fact that your body actually creates serotonin, 95% of it. While we are all aware of the “happy” chemical that is located within the brain, only a few people know where and how it originates. It’s clear to see that your mental health needs to be considered when you take care of your gut health. If you are taking an anti-biotic to improve your gut health, your mental well-being will begin to increase. This is essential for feeling happy and balanced. You’ll be more confident of handling stressful situations and your mood is controlled. If the levels of serotonin are high, you’re more likely to make more informed decisions. You’ll be able to be more social and have more social interaction. If you’re talking to your loved ones or working with your peers, having the elevated levels of serotonin makes you a more pleasant person to hang out with. Probiotics will make you feel happier and more secure every day. It is simple to observe how everything inside your body is interconnected, right down to the level of your mind. Probiotics aid in improving your self-esteem and personal growth. Studies have shown that less stress is associated with increased levels of immunity. This is another reason probiotics are beneficial in protecting your health and safety. Probiotics can be so beneficial for your health that there’s virtually no risk to daily consumption. Bloating is both painful and frustrating. It could also cause you struggle to focus on your daily tasks. It’s not easy to rid yourself of the sensation, however, you can prevent it by taking preventative measures. If you are taking probiotics prior to when you eat foods that could make you feel bloated or gastric issues, it will aid in preparing your stomach for the digestion. There is no need to suffer from being bloated for hours by taking preventative measures like this. With the help of the probiotics, your stomach can be trained to efficiently digest these food items. Understanding what foods cause you to feel bloated or uncomfortable is crucial to avoid them or ensure you have taken your probiotic supplements prior to eating them. Below are some of most frequent. It is highly likely that you consume at most one of the items listed above on a daily basis. You can avoid bloating by having a probiotic in the system. It will prepare you stomach to take in the ingredients that make the insides of your body to expand naturally. These drinks and foods can cause you to be bloated as they either are gaseous in nature or cause you to become gassy. Bloating is normal, and may be a sign of a malfunctioning body. Bloating can also occur in a way that is unrelated to what you eat. The body can feel bloated when it experiences constipation-related symptoms or issues with the bowel movements. It is also important to be aware of how fast you consume food. Consuming food too fast or in large quantities could cause bloating because your stomach might not be prepared for such quantity. Probiotics are designed to get your digestive system working even before you need to start digesting. You will feel more full and less bloated over time. If you’re already experiencing constipation, Probiotics may make it less severe. It is essential to be able to function effectively throughout the day. It doesn’t matter how busy your schedule is, or whether you need to run errands or organize your home. having enough energy is crucial. While sleep plays a significant role in this, digestion is also a major factor in how much energy and time you can get every day. If your stomach is in a state of upset or restless, then your mind, along with all of your body, will feel restless. Probiotics can boost your energy levels and help your body to have more energy. It is an excellent way to stay energized throughout the day without having to depend on huge amounts of caffeine. You already know how your gut microbiome influences your serotonin levels. In this same way also affects the other brain chemical. You’ll experience better levels of mood, better memory and higher cognitive capabilities when you consume probiotics. This will improve your day regardless of what activities you’re engaged in. You’re taking a capsule that will provide all of these amazing advantages. Probiotics and its benefits can be beneficial for anyone who has any kind of life style. Another advantage is the fact that probiotics, which are all-natural and help improve the body’s natural functions are also natural. People who want for ways to boost their health are often drawn to natural remedies before seeking medication and other foreign substances within their bodies. While it’s okay to seek medical assistance however, it is important to look into natural alternatives to increase the body’s capabilities. You may be amazed at how strong and resilient your body can become when you have the proper resources. Many people are worried with their weight and maintaining the right BMI. Without diet and exercise it is difficult to think of other ways to maintain your weight within the appropriate range. Many people attempt to limit themselves naturally, which can lead them to decrease their metabolism. Yo-yo diets are also known as “yo diet“ which is a condition in which the body isn’t able to respond to it. Slowing down your metabolism by cutting down on food intake, and suddenly changing your diet can result in your body losing weight. In the long run this could mean that you eventually gain weight faster. It’s a painful cycle that is easy to fall into when maintaining your physical appearance. If you supplement your diet with probiotics you will be able to effectively control your weight in this way. It reduces appetite and means it is less likely you’ll snack when you’re stressed or bored. Probiotics will aid your stomach in recognizing hunger cues and will make you less likely to crave junk food. These microbes will also help break down food, which enhances your metabolism. As food particles are broken down you will be able to digest it and move it through your body. This allows you to keep your weight in check without having to limit or adhere to an imposed diet. Your frequency of bowel movements is important since this is the way your body expels waste from your system. These toxins may remain within your system, causing the body to weigh more, or feel sluggish. Regular bowel movements can help your body to shed excess fat. This can help you shed excess weight and maintain your weight. Because your digestive system operates optimally Probiotics can help you move your bowels. This will help you to increase your metabolism , making your diet and exercise more effective. It’s a healthy and safe way to lose weight, as well as shed excess fat. You should take probiotics in order to experience long-lasting improvements. Probiotics can also help your skin appear gorgeous. Probiotics can make your skin glow and healthy. L. paracasei strain is the part of probiotics that shield skin from the damaging effects of nature-based elements, ageing, and preservatives. This is a way probiotics can boost confidence in yourself and help you feel good. The Bigger Picture Even if your don’t frequently experience indigestion, probiotics are beneficial. They can aid in restoring the health of your gut and improve your mental and physical well-being. A daily probiotic could be considered a vitamin or supplement. It will be beneficial over time and will continue to aid in encouraging a healthy digestion. You can also use them to help prevent illness as well as other bacteria that can be harmful to your health from affecting your body. Probiotics can be a great supplement to any person’s routine. Probiology is a capsule with a unique formula that will aid you in beginning a probiotic program and improve the health of your body and mind. The reason why this capsule is unmatched is because Probiology’s probiotic formulation is made of powerful and live strains of bacteria that are all created to interact with your body. This capsule can bring you one step closer to improving your gut health.
2019 Launching a Career in International Affairs SOAS University of London, Centre for International Studies and Diplomacy In a world that has outgrown traditional Western-centric approaches to international relations, diplomats must think and act globally to deal with an increasingly complex world order. At the Centre for International Studies and Diplomacy (CISD) at SOAS University of London, students become adept at problem-solving and leave equipped with the skills needed to pursue a career in global affairs. “We provide the kind of high theoretical, practical, and culturally diverse training that we believe should be much more widely available in post-graduation education,” says Dan Plesch, senior associate professor and director of the Centre. SOAS offers in-depth studies in the cultures, economics, and politics of Asia and Africa and their relations with the United States and Europe. “Faculty members often come from their region of focus, as do many students,” says Plesch. CISD offers campus-based and online degrees in Global Diplomacy, Global Corporations and Policy, and Global Energy and Policy. Online programs in Global Diplomacy offer regional specializations, including an MA focusing on the Middle East and North Africa, and an MA focusing on South Asia. Students gain valuable career skills in the Centre’s all-day intensive media training session given by BBC-trained professionals. “Students need to develop the skills to make really powerful presentations to groups of colleagues and clients. Those are core skills acquired through media training,” says Plesch. For online as well as campus-based students, a variety of study tours are available to such cities as Addis Ababa, Brussels, Geneva, Paris, New York, and Washington, D.C. The Centre also offers public policy programs in which students dive into real-world interactions on foreign policy projects. One recent project centered on renewing international arms control, with help from former U.S. Department of State officials. Alongside a recent UN Commission program in Geneva, about 20 students held a briefing on disarmament and arms control that attracted senior officials from 50 member states. Students typically intern with embassies in London, nongovernmental organizations such as Oxfam and Amnesty International, and with risk-analysis businesses. SOAS alumni from the Centre are working everywhere from the World Bank to the West Bank. One graduate is currently leading risk analysis for Lloyds of London. Others are working in counterterrorism, managing public affairs at international corporations, or launching careers in government service. Ninety-three percent of CISD graduates are either employed within six months of completing their studies or enrolled in a doctoral program. With some 400 active students and a competitive fee structure, the Centre is a leading pathway for students from around the world to develop global careers.
More often than not, the skills and processes that make folks successful in one business work in other businesses as well. I think that’s a big reason why Keen Wealth Advisors has been able to establish such a strong relationship with the engineering community in Kansas City and around the country. Engineers respond to our checklist-driven planning process because they use the same kind of diligence in their own work. And we love working with folks who are hardworking, curious, and dedicated to following through on a plan. Another skill set that will position you to succeed just about anywhere: strong communication. My guest today, Anthony Fasano, was rapidly advancing at a civil engineering firm when he realized that the best engineers had mastered more than just math and design. Anthony founded the Engineering Management Institute, which provides career and personal development resources for engineers. Anthony is also the author of Engineer Your Own Success, Seven Key Elements to Creating an Extraordinary Engineering Career, and the host of The Engineering Career Coach Podcast, which Forbes cited as one of the 15 Most Inspiring Podcasts for Professionals. Like my recent appearance on Anthony’s podcast, this episode will definitely appeal to the many engineers and employees of engineering firms whom we’re proud to work with at Keen Wealth. But the ideas that Anthony zeroed in on could get anyone thinking about skill sets that will help you further your own career, make a midlife career switch, or start your dream company once you retire. Follow your passions. When Anthony started his engineering career, the number of options available to him was overwhelming. “You don't learn about all these different aspects of civil engineering in school,” Anthony explains. “You only learn about some of the key components or the big divisions. I was definitely overwhelmed by this and saying, ‘I don't know what direction to go. I can choose a hundred different disciplines to go into and I'm just not sure what to do.’” Eventually, Anthony discovered that he didn’t just want to be a successful engineer, he wanted to be a leader. He says, “I started looking at the different division managers, the department heads, the partners, the owners, the executives. And I noticed a really clear-cut pattern, which was, yes, they had the technical knowledge and background. But, in addition to that, they had really good management skills. They could communicate effectively with others. They could network, build relationships and bring in new business. They could prioritize and delegate effectively.” Anthony did such a good job of pinpointing those leadership skills and developing his own that his firm started asking him to train other engineers! That’s when he realized he could turn his passion into a new career. “I totally just loved doing it,” Anthony says. “I just loved this idea of being able to help engineering professionals and technical professionals develop some of the skills that we didn't learn in school. I knew it would be helpful to them in their careers. I decided to leave the company and start the coaching and training firm that is the Engineering Management Institute today.” Master the human side of business. I can really relate to Anthony’s experience. When I entered financial services out of college, the business was focused almost exclusively on an investor’s numbers. Twenty-five years ago, clients couldn’t just pull up their portfolios on their phones to check on their nest eggs. They relied on their advisors to provide that information. And that was about it! In those early years, I never dreamed I’d end up spending so much of my day talking to clients about their personal goals, their families, their struggles, and what a fulfilling retirement means to them. But, like Anthony, I discovered that there was more to being an advisor and running a successful firm than just mastering numbers. And the more adept I became at helping my clients use their money to navigate through their lives, the more passionate I became about it. “The thing about being an engineer or a technical professional is as much as you may want to remain technical, you don't work in a box,” Anthony says. “You need to interact with people. You need to take instructions from people. You might need to give instructions to people. You need to have a team if you're going to work on projects of any good size. The people skills side of it, I think for any career line, it's important. That's why at EMI we really believe that every engineering company in some way, shape, or form, should provide skills training to their teams.” Learn from someone who’s been there. In Anthony’s book, he emphasizes the importance of finding a professional mentor, especially when you’re just starting out. In fact, he’s known many retired civil engineers who connect with new workers through professional organizations. “I think people need that guidance,” Anthony says. “There are generational differences. But there's also that fundamental core of optimizing and making projects, and really the world as a whole, more efficient. And so I think if anyone is willing to mentor, it'd be a great thing.” And, from the other perspective, becoming a mentor is an activity that creates purpose and fulfillment for so many of the retirees we work with at Keen Wealth. Mentors stay connected to the professional networks that were so important to them. They also enjoy making a major difference in people’s lives and work by applying their lifetimes of knowledge in a new way. I truly believe that engineers are the ones driving the productivity of the world. I'm honored that Keen Wealth has found a meaningful way to be involved in this thriving community and help such a remarkable group of people plan for the second half of their lives. And, once again, I’m so grateful to Anthony Fasano for spending some time with us, and for the work he’s doing to help engineers progress in their careers. For more information on Anthony and the Engineering Management Institute, check out the following links: - Engineering Management Institute - The Engineering Career Coach Podcast - Engineering Management Institute YouTube Channel
As software projects grow larger, some aspects gain importance while others lose. In fact, most of what you read and learn about software engineering is really only applicable once your project reaches a certain scale threshold. Of course there are small, niche problems where software correctness is paramount (such as mission-critical software), but for most information systems (database-backed systems) that are at least large enough for complexity-related issues to become noticeable, a serious candidate for the one most important metric is probably its ease to change and extend. For most information systems, ease to change and extend may well be the most important metric in the long run. A lot has been written, said and discussed about ways to keep complexity under control and grow software in ways to prevent it from becoming too complex to deal with. There are a number of ways to help maintain your code easy to change and extend, e.g. writing modular code, keeping coupling low, using well-know design patterns, etc, but today we will discuss consistency. Consistency means simply always doing the same thing in the same way. Software is primarily an intellectual, abstract artifact. You can't see it, you can't touch it and you can only talk about it in indirect terms. For this reason, when we first look at code written by others, we need to make a mental model of what that code is meant to do. If your code is consistent throughout your project(s), it's much easier for others to figure out what it should do, find bugs, and extend it. This also helps lighten the cognitive load people face when studying your code. In times of social coding and public github repos, you want as many people as possible to quickly understand your code to be able to extend it and help your project grow. If any code you write ever becomes popular and widely used, its consistency (or lack thereof) will be put under test constantly. To put it another way, if your code isn't consistent, it just won't be used as much and will probably have a short lifetime in the wild. Here are some examples of ways in which you can start enhancing consistency in your projects: Naming things consistently - in other words, things should have one, and only one, name throughout your project. This goes for actual code, variable names, comments, interface definitions, and so on. Different names for the same thing make it very difficult to understand what your code is supposed to do. Consistency in code style - Pick one and stick to it! Although there is considerable debate over what coding style one should use, in large projects it really doesn't matter which you use, as long as you keep using the same style throughout the project! Consistency going about problems - The way you design a method or a class should also be consistent. For example, if you have separate methods to fetch a Database handler, another to query and so on, make sure you follow this script on everything you do; after 2 or 3 classes, whoever is reading your code will expect all classes to follow this pattern. Consistency ordering and organizing things - Much like an indexed database, our brain works much better when things are in their expected place. If things are consistently listed in alphabetical order our brain comes to expect things to be in that order and it's one less thing to worry about. Ruby on Rails' Convention over Configuration is a prime example of this. Having developers agree on an informal standard makes development easier, especially when teams grow large.
On this entry we present the newest estimates of psychological health disorder prevalence and the associated illness burden. The net questionnaire takes only minutes to complete, and if the pre-screening determines a person qualifies for an ESA, they’re then connected to a licensed mental health skilled for a session. For folks with psychological well being issues. It reduces IT prices and improves entry to information. Key phrases: health care systems, Canada, Germany, USA. Though the whole prevalence of psychological health and substance use issues does not show a direct relationship to suicide charges (as shown in the chart above), there are notable links between particular varieties of psychological health disorders and suicide. Evidently, if the medical health providers want to remain on the highest of the best hospitals’ checklist, they must adopt the most effective digital applied sciences, companies and modules. These embody doctor ambulatory care provided by physicians in non-public observe, hospital care, residence nursing care, a variety of preventive providers and even visits to well being spas. It contains four occasions extra diagnostic codes: instead of the 10,000+ codes in ICD-10, healthcare organizations may have 55,000 diagnostic codes from which to choose. I’d argue that most individuals desire a healthcare system where they can get timely entry to high quality, affordable care and one that additionally promotes innovation of new tests and coverings. Whether the info reside internally or external sources are employed for HIE, a healthcare organization faces the widespread issues of information mapping, information integration, reuse, and knowledge sharing. Although the uninsured have some access to high-technology care, particularly in city areas, by use of the emergency rooms and outpatient clinics of public hospitals, analysis has shown that they have poorer outcomes of hospitalization (controlling for severity) and a markedly lower use of excessive know-how in contrast with those who have insurance coverage.
BC Timber Sales: The two partners are seeking a municipal forestry agreement that would include 200,181 acres within 100 kilometres of Fort Nelson and an eligible annual cut of 185,000 cubic metres of timber. MNR has spared no effort to advance forestry restoration in the region. One of the results of this pursuit is a significant amount of detailed research that certifies the quality, economic value and exploitation potential of the forest resource. We believe that a review of our reports and studies will arouse investor interest and give us a reason to contact us to explore specific opportunities. Under the agreement, various types of forests will be maintained and distributed, including coniferous stands, mixed timber stocks and hardwood stands. Of the CAA`s annual 217,650 cubic metres, only 118,000 cubic metres of needle stands are permitted, with the rest coming from stands of foliage. With an eligible annual cut of up to 217,650 cubic metres on approximately 200,000 hectares of specified Crown land in the Fort Nelson area, the permit granted to the partnership has both the largest harvest volume and the largest physical area of any community forest in the province. Historically, the region has experienced very active forestry with sectoral jobs, accounting for a high percentage of total regional economic activity before the global economic downturn in 2008. In the early 1970s, Sikanni Forest Products built a rough sawmill outside the city of Fort Nelson. Between the late 1970s and 1990s, Tackama Forest Products opened a sawmill and plywood plant, and Fort Nelson Forest Industries opened a sawmill. In the 1990s, Slocan Forest Products purchased Tackama Forest Products Mills and Fort Nelson Forest Industries, which eventually became the property of Canfor Corporation with the purchase of Slocan in 2003. Community forests are estimated to create full-time employment for every 3,000 cubic metres of wood harvested, with an average total turnover of $2.3 million in communities of 3,000 people or less. “It is seen as a key element in rebuilding a sustainable forest sector that brings economic, social and cultural benefits to the region.” When applying for a community forest agreement, the partners submitted a management facility for approval. This plan includes stock-level targets of 8.9% for wild tree retention areas, ungulate winter areas and consideration of the potential impact on caribou. The old growth targets are set at at least 37% in the northern boreal mountains (6% of the contract area) and 17% in the boreal plains (94% of the agreement area). Partners in the Fort Nelson Community Forest Agreement include Fort Nelson First Nation and the Regional Municipality of Northern Rockies. The agreement provides for an eligible annual average of 217,650 cubic metres per year of 191,571 hectares of Crown land, including a B.C. timber sales volume reserve of 32,650 cubic metres per year for the portion of the land base in the BC Timber Sales area. As part of the application, partners demonstrated community awareness and support for the community forest, including building relationships and sharing information with First Nations and neighbouring local communities, as well as making adjustments to the application based on feedback. Fort Nelson First Nation: According to a government news release, community forests are long-term, region-based ownership relationships that aim to engage the community in the management of local forests while creating economic opportunities and local jobs. They are administered by a local government, community group or First Nation for the benefit of the community. According to the province, the award represents a resounding success and a new level of cooperation for the two local governments, both of which approved the conclusion of the municipal forest license agreement at separate meetings at the end of May. This is an important step towards a restart of forestry in the region. The municipality remains committed to working with the province to distribute the enormous resource available in a way that provides local economic benefits. The stated objective of the NRRM Regional Council is to recruit and support investments in forestry that offer a sustainable and long-term perspective for local processing. Northern Rockies` vision is for a value-added manufacturing-based sector, with a diverse and complementary group of producers who make the best and best use of available fibre. We believe this will bring resilience and bring the greatest economic benefits to the region. FORT NELSON, B.C. – A partnership between Fort Nelson First Nation and the Regional Municipality of Northern Rockies has received the largest municipal forest permit ever issued in British Columbia. The agreement provides for the conservation and distribution of various types of forests throughout the contract area, including coniferous stands, mixed stands and deciduous stands. Of the 217,650 cubic meters annually, the bulkheads include a maximum coniferous harvest of 118,000 cubic meters, the rest would come from deciduous stands to achieve and maintain the current diversity. The Fort Nelson Wood Supply Area (TSA) is the second largest in British Columbia, covering an area of nearly 9.9 million acres in the northeast corner of the province, in the forest region of the northern interior. Tsa is entirely located in the boreal forest with mixed wood stands (coniferous wood ~ 40% and deciduous forest ~ 60%) widespread throughout the wooded profile. The TSA`s forest resource has largely avoided the problems associated with the mountain pine beetle and fires that have hurt other STAs in the province and is healthy and full of opportunities. Residents and local authorities who have long fought to revitalize Fort Nelson`s forest sector are beginning to see the benefits of their efforts with the approval of the Fort Nelson Community Forest Agreement in partnership with the Government of British Columbia. Fort Nelson First Nation and the Northern Rockies Regional Municipality submitted their application for a community forest agreement to the province on October 15. In 2021, Canfor sold its physical assets in Fort Nelson, including the PolarBoard Oriented Strand Board (OSB) and its other combined plants, to Peak Renewables in partnership with Fort Nelson First Nation. Peak is moving towards a final investment decision (FID) for the operation of a biomass wood pellet plant on the site. An announcement by the province on August 18, 2021, approving the transfer of Forest Ownership from Canfor to Peak, was an important step towards an IDF. A positive investment decision would lead to a significant recovery of forestry in the region, both alone and through the associated opportunities it would offer. A notable step in the continued rejuvenation of the local industry was the obtaining of a community forest permit held jointly by the Regional Municipality and Fort Nelson First Nation. With an AAC of approximately 215,000 m3, the Fort Nelson Community Forest is the largest in British Columbia and gives partners some influence on industry development in the region, while ensuring the ability of local operators to secure fiber. The current allowable annual reduction (AAC) was set by the Chief Forester`s decision in 2020 and the AAC increased by approximately 60%, from approximately 1.63 million m3 to approximately 2.58 million m3 per year. This occurred at a time when fiber optic supply in the province was declining and AAC was being reduced in other ASDs.
Australia has matched its hottest ever recorded temperature, with parts of Western Australia scorching at over 50C on Thursday 13 January. It’s the first time this century an Australian community has topped this temperature, with heat waves felt in WA’s north-west, according to Weatherzone. In the town of Onslow temperatures hit 50.7C, matching the hottest day on Australian record, originally established in Oodnadatta, in South Australia in 1960. Other regions in Western Australia felt temperatures of 50.5C, equal to the second hottest day ever recorded in the country. The 50.5C reading was felt in Mardie and Roebourne, also in the state’s north-west, and is the hottest day recorded in 60 years. The Pilbarra region in Western Australia is known as the country’s hottest region. Senior Weatherzone meteorologist Brett Dutschke said temperatures in the Pilbarra, dubbed Australia’s hottest region, are due to warmer than normal sea surface temperatures off WA’s northern coast. He added that global warming was also a likely factor. “The Pilbara is well-known as Australia’s hottest region. The town of Marble Bar bills itself as Australia’s hottest town. Its average January maximum is 40.7C and it once went 160 days with max temps of 37.7C or higher,” Dutschke said. He said the region is also sunnier than normal given the monsoon and cyclone has focused the cloud, rain on Australia’s northeast. A slew of other WA towns were likely to have set temperature records for January or any time of the year. Iron-ore export hub Karratha, also on WA’s north-west coast, reached 48.4C to exceed its previous high of 48.2C. A severe weather warning had meanwhile been issued for people in parts of the far-north Kimberley region, including Kununurra and Wyndham.
Ugh! A Bug No question about it…they are fascinating insects. But these creeping, crawling critters known as dermestid beetles are happiest in conditions that we would label utterly, disgustingly putrid. There are hundreds of species of these bugs worldwide ranging in size from one to twelve millimeters. A few common names are hide, larder, carrion, leather, and carpet beetles. Most are scavengers of decomposing animal material, but some can be extremely destructive to clothing, household products, structures, and grains. The beetles are most active in warm temperatures that range between sixty-five and eighty-five degrees. They are easily found in nature by observing a rotting carcass or other carrion, and they can survive for extended periods of time without food. Their total life span ranges from two to twelve months depending on the beetle’s species. Besides taxidermy work, it’s not uncommon to find museums, universities, and schools in possession of dermestid beetle colonies as part of their public education and natural history departments. They are also commonly used in forensic labs of law enforcement and game and fish departments to not only “skeletonize” a body or carcass submitted as evidence, but to determine the species and time of death.
Royalty-free reptile stock photo of one Coachella Valley Fringe-toed Lizard (Uma inornata) in sand at Coachella Valley National Wildlife Refuge, California. The Coachella Valley Fringe-toed Lizard is a Californian lizard species and is listed as an endangered species in the state of California, a threatened species in the United States and the IUCN classifies it as endangered. This lizard is restricted to habitats with fine, windblown sand deposits in the sandy plains of the Coachella Valley, Riverside County. Since the 1970s, estimates of its habitat have decreased by approximately 75 percent, possibly due to human activities. The lizard is well adapted to its desert habitat. It has a wedged-shaped nose to help it to burrow through loose, fine sand, elongated scales cover the ears to keep out blowing sand, and specialized nostrils that allow it to breathe below the sand without inhaling particles. [0003-0709-2909-0123] by 0003
BACKGROUND: Many health care providers now disseminate advisories telling patients what they can do to avoid errors and harms in their care. METHODS: The content of five leading safety advisories for patients was analyzed and a critique of their development, content, and impact was developed, drawing on published literature and 40 interviews with a diverse sample of 50 key informants. FINDINGS: Very little is known about the effects of the distribution of safety advisories to patients, but several grounds for concern were identified. There was a lack of attention to patients' perspectives during the development of advisory messages, and the advisories say little about what health care providers should do to ensure patient safety. Patients are given little practical support to carry out the recommended actions, and health professionals' responses may render their attempts to act to secure their own safety ineffective. Some messages suggest an inappropriate shifting of responsibility onto patients. Advice that involves checking on or challenging health professionals' actions appears to be particularly problematic for patients. Such behaviors conflict with the expectations many people have--and think health professionals have--of patients' roles. DISCUSSION: A serious commitment to optimizing patients' contributions to safe care requires a research-based understanding of patients' perspectives and more practical facilitation of patient involvement.
Have you ever been to Nepal? If not, you should place it on your to-do list this year. Make time and take you and your loved ones on a vacation to the beautiful country called Nepal. It is an Asian country that poses as a border to china, India and Bangladesh. It is a landlocked country that can be found in the Himalayas, which is in southern Asia. Nepal is blessed with a diverse geography, which includes; forested hills, fertile plains, and very high mountains. Among the top ten highest mountains in the world, you can find eight of them in Nepal. One of them is the popular Mount Everest, which is the tallest mountain and the highest point on earth. Nepal is a beautiful place that is equipped with a lot of tourist attractions, events and fun activities. Someone once tagged Nepal as a kind of place where “there is always an adventure”, and it is the simple truth. In Nepal, there is no dull moment all, there are lots of places to visit and things to do that will keep you busy all day. This piece is designed to give you information on the top places that you should visit in Nepal and things that will keep you busy. The following below are the top places to see and things to do in Nepal, they are as follows; Bhaktapur is an imposing Hindu temple that is rich in architecture even though many other temples suffered demolition due to the tragic earthquake that occurred in 2015. But you can still find enough temples and structures to admire at their exquisite architecture and art. The Bhaktapur Durbar Square is often regarded as the best place to see the excellent architecture and carvings of the temple. Apart from the exciting temple view, a tourist would also experience the shopping experience available at the square. Souvenirs, pottery, puppets, masks and cultural handicrafts are what this square is known for. If you looking for leisure, Pokhara is the perfect destination in Nepal. It is cited behind Lake Phewa, although most consider this place to be boring but I tell you it is not, the sight of the lake and the surrounding forests alone is a great experience and spending time in the beautiful hotels that are stationed around it. Pokhara is commonly known as the ‘Gateway to Annapurna Circuit,’ and it provides people with opportunity for paragliding and you can’t find such anywhere else. Pokhara is been flanked by the River Seti and this gives the adventure lovers the opportunity to enjoy thrilling white water river rafting. Kathmandu is the capital of Nepal so you should expect a mind blowing site that will attract tourists all over the world. This capital of Nepal gives just the tip of what the country has to offer when it comes to tourism; it makes visitors hunger for more exploration. A nearby destination known as Thamel is considered to be an ideal base for trekkers and those who wish to enjoy the view of the famous Mount Everest. Kathmandu also provides options to buy the best trekking and mountain climbing gears. This is a pilgrimage place that contains the most revered temple of the Hindus which is the Pashupati Nath, there also sacred Buddhist shrines in the region. Chitwan National Park The best place for wildlife tour in Nepal is the Chitwan National park. It covers an area of 934 sq km, Chitwan is recognized by UNESCO as World Heritage Site and this shows you how amazing this place is. The park is home to a wide range of animal species especially some that are close to extinction such as the one-horned Rhinoceros. There is a total of 544 species of birds found in the park, so if you are thinking of exploring the national park, just be ready to remove more than three days from your schedule. Dharan is an amazing city which is situated at the foothills of the Mahabharata Range. The city is separated into two parts, in the sense that one area is been dotted with banana plants, bamboo-forested hills and rustic shacks, while the other side has countryside feel, with quiet streets lined with posh bungalows, neat pavements, and a country club with a golf course and so on. This makes this place a must see when you travel to Nepal because you also would like to see this demarcation. It is a Hindu Pilgrimage. Flight over the Everest I am sure everyone reading this article would like to see Mount Everest not to talk of flying over it; this is going to be a crazy experience for everyone. There are not many tourist attractions where you get a flight tour, well this is one of those that is why it is a must see activity. Mountain flights will give an eye level view of the Mount Everest by flying at an average height of 7000 metres above sea level. Everest, Annapurna Kanchenjunga, Makalu, Ganesh Himal, Gauri Shankar, Lhotse, Nuptse, Langtang, Manaslu, Lamjung Himal and Dhaulagiri are all being toured with a morning Himalayan flight. Visiting Boudhanath Stupa Boudhanath is the best thing to do during a tour through Nepal. It is considered to be Asia’s largest stupa, and is one of the few sacred places in the world where Tibetan Buddhist culture can be reached or accessed but is not confined. When there is light in the thousands of butter lamps is the best time to visit this place, and this occurs mostly at night. Paragliding in Pokhara and Bandipur Many of us have not participated in paragliding before, I am sure of that. If this is true, so what are you waiting for? Nepal is a place with lots of adventure and this is one of them. Pokhara and Bandipur in Nepal are the best places to receive and encounter the best paragliding adventure you have ever had. This is the Gokyo lakes, a member of the world’s highest freshwater lake system that consist of six different lakes. This is where you will get the one of the best views of the enormous mount Everest. This wonderful sight is something that every Mount Everest lover should see. Some see the water to be a sacred material and sometimes bath in them during some Hindu festivals.
A toolkit for training front line health workers on preventive healthcare Eating right is an integral part of preventive health care. The 'Eat Right India' Movement by Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), is a movement to help community members about Eating Right. Under this movement, an ‘Eat Right’ toolkit has been developed jointly by FSSAI, Voluntary Health Association of India (VHAI) and National Health Systems Resource Centre (NHSRC). HANDBOOK AND COLLATERALS Who is the toolkit for? This 'Eat Right' toolkit has been developed as an interactive tool for frontline health workers and mid-level health provider to provide a holistic learning on 'Eating Right'. It can also be useful for a range of partners providing health services at the grass root level. This toolkit has been developed to serve as an easy to use medium for enhancing the knowledge of our health workers on 'Eating Right' and through them disseminating key messages on eating healthy and eating safe to the general population. What does this toolkit contain? The 'Eat Right' toolkit box consists of: - Eat right Handbook - Posters (6) - Activity Tools - Food Pyramid standee - Food Fortification pocket flyer - +F logo puzzle - Personal Hygiene activity card - Clean India-Healthy India activity card - Food Adulteration key ring - CD containing Videos How to use this toolkit? - The 'Eat Right' handbook is a resource book for the health workers which explains each component of eating right in simple words. The health worker will go through each chapter in the handbook, in the given sequence. The Eat Right Handbook comprises of the following topics: - How to Use the Toolkit - Nutrition During First 1,000 Days - Balanced Diet - Food Fortification - Limiting the Consumption of Foods High in Fat, Sugar and Salt - Hygiene and Sanitation - Food Safety and Safe Food Practices - Food Adulteration - At the end of each chapter there are short activities, designed to impart education on each component of eating right. It also explains how each of the given posters and tools can be used to form interesting activities for the participants. These activities have to be performed with the beneficiaries/participants using the tools provided with each chapter (poster/activity card/pocket flyer etc.). Posters: The posters provided in this toolkit are prepared using simple language. They will be displayed at the Health & Wellness centres and/or in group/community meetings. The health workers will further explain the messages provided in the posters to the participants. Tools: The tools provided in this toolkit [food pyramid standee, +F logo puzzle, food fortification pocket flyer, activity sheets on (i) Clean India-Healthy India, (ii) Stay clean-stay healthy and Food adulteration Key chain] are designed to engage participants and disseminate key messages on health and wellbeing to them in an interesting manner. The health workers will follow the instructions given against each activity and engage the participants in these activities. CD: The toolkit also contains a CD consisting of some interesting videos and jingles which will be played at Health & Wellness Centres or at other appropriate places. Through these, the health workers will disseminate key messages on Eating Right to the participants.
TS Eliot said Mediocre writers borrow. Great writers steal. I have, on order, a book entitled Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative by Austin Kleon. I’m interested in the idea of stories being recycled but also in the idea of plagiarism (am writing a new manuscript which has plagiarism as a central theme.) Many people have said there are only seven basic storylines, eg the quest, love found and lost, coming of age, going into the woods, or something. I can’t be bothered looking up my reference. So we are all telling the same stories over and over just in different ways. When I looked over some recent readings of Australian novels, I’ve seen direct links (possibly imagined) to earlier seminal works: To Kill a Mockingbird for example. Two books I’ve read in the last few years have had the odd eccentric hermit scary man living alone who freaks kids out. Those books ALSO had kids in peril, with either dead or bad mothers, bad or disappeared fathers. (The only good mother seems to be dead. All alive mothers are bad/distant/mean/damaged/neglectful/selfish. Constantly recurring characterisations.) Then last year, I read another kids-in-peril debut novel but it flipped it around a bit; it had a threatening adult who really was threatening but thankfully the author resisted the cliched possibilities and handled it with restraint. Tim Winton’s Eyrie also has a kid in peril, so even the ‘greats’ can be tempted by these ideas that seem so common these days, especially in debut fiction. Even the literature I adore sometimes seems to have been inspired by other influences (that I have also enjoyed.) Eg Dead Poet’s Society was released in 1989. The Secret History by Donna Tartt in 1992. I watched The History Boys a couple of nights ago – that came out in 2006. Wow. Talk about seeing the stepping stones (and someone on a blog mentioned that they saw a connection with Lord of the Flies, eg Bunny = Piggy, which is interesting, I can see that.) But that’s okay. Nothing, it seems, is truly original. Maybe Dead Poet’s drew inspiration from Goodbye Mr Chips? It’s so long since I saw that movie so I can’t say. But there would have been something that triggered the idea. Is it true that imitation is the highest form of flattery? Maybe. Maybe it’s about who does it best and that is the challenge. Some writers deliberately don’t read anything that is similar or covers the same themes to the ones they are writing about. I get that. You don’t want to be influenced consciously or unconsciously, you want to do your thing and be able to say – if anyone comments – Oh, really? I didn’t read that. As for Eliot’s quotation above, I’m not exactly sure what he means. Does it mean if you do it better that the person you stole it from, it becomes yours and everyone remembers you for the idea, not the original person? What is the difference between borrowing and stealing when we are talking about ideas for novels? It’s a pretty fraught topic but let’s face it, as time goes on, and more and more books are published, and more and more ideas are recycled, it’s going to be increasingly hard to be original. (I guess fantasy & sci-fi writers don’t have this problem as much, but there would be paths of influence there as well.)
While making the William and Mary Walnut Chest of Drawers, a reader enquired about the method I used to lay thick and oft unyielding veneers and I replied that, where appropriate, I invariably resort to pinning them down in the margins which are ultimately trimmed off. However, it’s not uncommon to see tell-tale pin holes in period veneered work. They are often visible either side of a split or joint, on corners, or anywhere the veneer refused to comply. Normally the pins were withdrawn for reuse once the glue had dried, but occasionally they snapped off – or were simply too short to grab hold of – and were simply hammered home. In the course of restoring veneered furniture of this period, one occasionally sees small black iron/tannin stains on the ground work which mark the site of the veneer pins; or rust stains which witness where the remnants of pins rusted away. To the untrained eye, pin holes in the veneer surface can blend with the multitude of blemishes and general patina, but when you know what to look for, and in which areas, the small holes become obvious. I had a box of eighteenth/nineteenth-century veneer pins many years ago. The label on the box announced they were “№ 36 Veneer Pins” which I took to mean they were cut from 36 gauge sheet steel. At any rate, they appeared to be guillotined or sheared from thin sheet steel, gradually tapered and square or slightly trapezoid in cross section which assisted them in cutting through the veneer rather than wedging their way through and splitting the veneer. They were exceedingly sharp; even the sides could slice ones fingers. The last lot of ‘proper’ veneer pins I bought was in the 1970s. They were more akin to heavy duty sewing pins with blued (presumably hardened) round shafts and large heads. They were capable of being struck lightly with a hammer without bending, but they were prone to snapping off when being withdrawn. Their bullet-like tapered points were inclined to split the veneer – especially close to the edges. The ‘veneer pins’ I use now are sold at my local hardware outlet as “25mm x 1.2mm panel pins” (1″ x 16 gauge). They’re basically very fine bullet head bright wire nails with the same, (undesirable) sharply tapered points. Before use, I hold them vertically on a firm metal surface and tap them with the hammer to blunt the points so they punch their way through the veneer without splitting it. Prior to mechanised production and the broad availability of veneer pins, cabinetmakers must have relied more heavily on wooden cramps to secure errant veneer, though they were not totally without means with which to affix small mouldings and veneers. Fine steel pins were technically feasible, but not affordable in the quantities required by the majority of cabinetmakers in the seventeenth- and early eighteenth-centuries. The cheap, but impure wrought iron used for general nails lacked the grain structure to produce very fine pins without crumbling. However, the earliest joyners were in possession of technology borrowed from the ship-building and house-framing trades. Trenails (literally ‘tree nails’) had been in use to attach ships’ planking and for securing drawbored house timbers for centuries and were adopted – somewhat down-scaled – for pegging drawbored joints in joined furniture and panelling etc. Applied mouldings and backboards are periodically seen attached to early furniture with fine trenails. The similarity between these fine trenails and some varieties of thorn, such as those of the Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa), didn’t escape the notice of early joiners. Blackthorns and other species of prickly shrubs produce notoriously tough (and highly injurious!) long tapering thorns, which, after peeling and drying, could be employed on furniture in place of steel pins. Thorns and trenails largely go unnoticed when inserted through mouldings, but, as in the unusual instance of the elm chest of drawers below, can be quite apparent when used to secure the veneers.
Passing As Someone Else by the Reverend Noel E. Bordador Two books have recently captured my attention. One is a novel entitled, Passing, written by Nella Larsen. Nella Larsen was a black novelist and short story writer associated with the Harlem Renaissance era of the 1920s and 1930s, an era marked by a blossoming of black art and literary masterpieces. Born in Chicago, Nella was a child of a white woman of Danish descent, and her father was a black West Indian; and because of this, Nella, though considered legally black, Nella could pass for being white. She was able to identify with the experiences of both races, yet not without some personal struggles. And this intense struggle is reflected in the novel, Passing, a story of a black woman, Clare Kendry, who could pass for being white. In fact, in order to escape poverty, she passed for being white, and married a racist wealthy white man who believed that Clare was a white woman. Well, I can’t tell you what happened just in case you want to read it, and I don’t want to ruin it for you. But it is a very gripping story. The other book is more recent, and it also deals with the idea of passing. It is called, “Passing: When People Can’t Be Who they Are” written by Brooke Kroeger. This book, however, contains real life stories of people who try to pass on for someone who they are not: like the story of a half-Jewish man who hides from people that his father is black, or the story of a gay religious man who denies his homosexuality so he could be ordained, and so on. When we look at the story in the concerning Jesus’ temptation by Satan, we would be correct to say that three temptations were about temptations to use or rather abuse power, the temptation of wealth, and the temptation of idolatry, that is, replacing God with other “gods” in our lives. But I want, however, to propose to you today, that Satan’s temptations Jesus, the Son of God, go beyond these, go deeper than these. What I would like to propose to you all is that Satan tempts Jesus to pass for someone he is not. Satan tempts Jesus to pass for someone he is not. He tempts Jesus to deny his own identity. There is a very ancient saying by the Greek Church Father, Irenaeus of Lyon, that goes like this: “The Son of God became man so that man might become the son of God.” (Against Heresies, III, 10, 2) What Irenaeus meant was that God has always willed to share his life with us by humbling himself to become like us, a human being in the person of Jesus; in this Jesus, God takes on human flesh, and human life to imbue it, to suffuse it with divine life, redeeming I from sin, evil and death, and to raise it up to eternal life so that we humans could share in the divine life of God. So our God is not a God who is removed from us, but God is One who lives his life with us, sharing in our lot, even in our sufferings, in our hell, in our experience of death; and that God comes in this Jesus to save us ultimately from sin, injustice, evil and eternal death. So in his Jesus, God shows himself as One who stands in solidarity with humanity. In Jesus, God comes to serve us. Saint Paul, in his letter to the Philippians (2:5-11), sings the praises of Jesus who though he was God became a servant of humanity. Jesus the Lord became a servant of humanity. The identity of Jesus as Son of God then cannot be separated from his mission of humble service to humanity, a mission given to him by his Father. The story of Jesus’ temptation has implications for us- in our life as individual Christians, and our life together as the Church of Jesus. If we are to be followers of this Christ, then we have the same mission to be like God in Jesus- that is to live in solidarity with humanity in its hopes for justice and redemption. We are to be a redeeming force in the face of sin and evil; we are to be a healing and reconciling force amidst divisions, prejudice and hatred in this world. We are to be a force of justice that makes no peace with Satan but we must contend against injustice and oppression in all its forms. But, we do know that the Church is often faced by temptations to deny its mission. In our own personal lives, as well as in our life as a Church, sometimes, our concern for wealth and material things, our concern for prestige and power, all these get in the way of living out the life of humble service to which God calls each one of us in imitation of Christ who humbled himself to be our servant. When these things take over and against our mission, then we deny our identity as the Body of Christ called to the service of humanity. We pass for being some thing we are not meant to be.
I have long had an aversion to cooking with canola oil, it is produced primarily in Canada from rapeseed, a cousin of the mustard plant. It is essentially a weed. There are so many, far tastier cooking oils available anyway, why use an oil which contributes no flavor to your foods? I am not totally opposed to GMOs, I think that it is a good thing to be able to grow corn, for example, that is resistant to pests. Or tomatoes which are resistant to various diseases. Yesterday I learned a little more about rapeseed and canola oil. It is an excellent industrial penetrating oil. It is used to produce glossy paper in magazines and brochures. Lot’s of great industrial uses, but why would anyone want to eat this stuff? WD-40 might be safer, it’s primary water-displacement agent is derived from fish oil. (don’t fry with WD, it’s too expensive anyway!) Canola is also used in many commercial peanut butters and thousands of other processed foods. I’m a firm believer in reading the labels. This is one GMO that I am not in favor of using, and you probably won’t be either after reading the following cross post written by Albert T. Milligan for MyoneSource.com. Thank you Terrell for your taking the time to research this topic which affects us all. Would you cook with oil that comes from a seed that insects refuse to eat? Would you use industrial lubricating oils to cook food for your family? Most people would quickly answer “no” to both questions, yet they may unknowingly be using this product for cooking right now. The dangers of cooking with canola oil are perhaps unknown by unsuspecting or uninformed consumers. New studies are proving the long term dangers of consumption of food products prepared with foods that have been genetically modified in laboratories. Canola oil is derived from genetically engineered rapeseed. The original purpose for this particular oil was for industrial lubrication use. Rapeseed is part of the mustard family. It is a toxic, poisonous weed that even insects won’t eat. Is Canola Oil Dangerous? Studies on rapeseed and the canola oil produced from it have proven it is a dangerous product for human consumption, yet it is still found on grocery shelves. Lung cancer, loss of vision, nervous system problems, breathing and heart illnesses, low birth weights and other side effects are typical. The processed rapeseed oil does not stay fresh; it turns rancid quickly. In addition to all of the above negative side effects in humans, canola is a trans fatty acid. This type of acid is directly linked to cancer in humans. A common label for this oil says it is hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated. According to recent research, this type of oil should strongly be avoided. The negative effects of canola oil may also take a decade to become evident through symptoms. Older studies in England that focused on animals that had been fed rapeseed showed terrible results, such as blindness and extreme aggressiveness. One of the problems with this oil is the genetic engineering. Other genetically modified products have recently been under close scrutiny for their toxic qualities. Many, like fluoride, were just industrial waste products that were so expensive to dispose of that manufacturers and users strongly wanted to find another use for them. The resulting creations somehow made their way into the food chain or were used in products designed for other human needs, like toothpaste. In the case of canola oil, it is a substance that is found in industry used as fuel, soap, lubrication and as a synthetic rubber base. It is used in the print industry to make color magazine pages look slick. It is used as a pesticide and has been noted for having low chronic toxicities. Genetically modified foods cause a problem because many of the substances used in the process of genetic engineering get passed along to food products that are not targets. If used in fertilizers, such as fluoride, the toxic chemical can get into food supplies like soy, corn and zucchini. This is then ingested unknowingly by humans who may discover the negative side effects years or even decades later when they get diagnosed with various diseases including cancer. How Did This Happen? Problems with rapeseed oil are not new to scientists. In Europe and in England during the 1980s, it was fed to animals in their feed. By 1991, the substance was banned, due to severe side effects on animal brains, vision and behavior. The oil was developed in Canada, and hefty amounts of money were paid out to get approvals by the U.S. FDA for its use in American foods. This oil is used in thousands of processed foods and as oil. The Canadian developers claim it is now safe, due to their genetic engineering, but other doctors and scientists feel this is totally not true. Some studies that were conducted on rats linked many problems to ingestion of canola oil including fatty degeneration of the following organs: • Thyroid gland Cessation of use of the oil led to dissolution of fatty deposits but any scar tissue remained. It is odd that studies were never done on humans prior to FDA approval. Canola oil works by depressing the immune system and by blocking enzyme function. The negative effects of its use can take years to accumulate to a progression that becomes symptomatic. It may destroy a protective coating that surrounds nerves. This may cause a short-circuit effect on the nerve communication systems that is seen in uncontrollable movements. Canola oil is categorized as penetrating oil, which made it good for industrial uses. If you put some of this oil on a towel next to plain vegetable oil, you will notice after washing that the canola oil spot will still be seen. Imagine how this also works in the body. One reason canola oil is popular in the food industry is that it is very cheap. It helps give products like peanut butter better spreadability. Manufacturers remove the natural peanut oil and replace it with this oil.
The Winton Motor Carriage Co The company was incorporated on 15th March 1897 with a share capital of $200,000 and five shareholders including Alexander Winton and his brother in law, Thomas Henderson (husband of (Catherine Winton). On 12th June 1897, Alexander made a sixty mile round trip in a two cylinder vehicle. A publication of the time does indicate that there had been an earlier trip, perhaps a trial run. A few weeks later he made a return trip from Cleveland to New York, some 800 miles, in just over seventy eight hours. He learned from this trip and made prior arrangements to ensure that these trips were duly publicised in the future. The Cleveland to New York trip was repeated in 1900. A series of trips and challenges followed. There is a story of Henry Ford coming to Cleveland to seek work and being turned down due to lack of experience. This may well just be a story. It does appear that Ford did visit the Winton factory at least once. There were many patents registered at this time and some legal action on infringement of patents. The share capital of the company was increased to $1,000,000 in 1901 and a new factory built in 1902 over a period of six months. By this time there were 300 employees. Just a year after the factory began operations, the company had a workforce of 800 employees and it was one of the largest factories devoted exclusively to the motor car in the world. The company was able to produce 850 cars in 1903 and further buildings were erected on the site. Motor car racing came to an end in 1905 when a Winton Bullet crashed. The driver suffered a dislocated shoulder, a broken arm and a crushed left leg, which later had to be amputated. The accident and injury to the driver caused Alexander great distress lead to the decision to pull out. Alexander's early days at sea and involvement with marine engineering resulted in the development of marine engines. He had a yacht named La Belle built in 1911 with gasoline engines. This involvement led to the creation of The Winton Gas & Engine Manufacturing Company in January 1912 and the erection of a factory several miles away from the motor car plant. There was a period of continued expansion for motor car production and the erection of additional buildings. The company name was changed to The Winton Motor Car Co in 1914. The share capital of the company was increased to $2,500,000 in 1916. By 1919, the plant occupied some 350,000 sq ft and there were over 850 employees. Following the war, there were almost a hundred companies producing some 2.2 million motor cars in the US with almost half of those being produced by Ford. With the depression, the number of companies reduced by half in the next ten years. Alexander's interest had turned to the gasoline and oil engine business and the motor car production was run by others. By the early 1920s, he was quite keen to get out of motor car manufacture. Mass production had greatly reduced the selling price of motor cars. It might have been said some that there was a resistance to change resulting in the continued production of what became overpriced cars that had the same mechanical capabilities of the past. The fortunes of the motor car manufacturing business declined and attention turned to the diesel engine. Properties were sold off and a decision was made at a meeting of shareholders on 16th December 1925 to dissolve The Winton Motor Car Co.
Environmental risk factors for autism: an evidence-based review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses Molecular Autism volume 8, Article number: 13 (2017) According to recent evidence, up to 40–50% of variance in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) liability might be determined by environmental factors. In the present paper, we conducted a review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses of environmental risk factors for ASD. We assessed each review for quality of evidence and provided a brief overview of putative mechanisms of environmental risk factors for ASD. Current evidence suggests that several environmental factors including vaccination, maternal smoking, thimerosal exposure, and most likely assisted reproductive technologies are unrelated to risk of ASD. On the contrary, advanced parental age is associated with higher risk of ASD. Birth complications that are associated with trauma or ischemia and hypoxia have also shown strong links to ASD, whereas other pregnancy-related factors such as maternal obesity, maternal diabetes, and caesarian section have shown a less strong (but significant) association with risk of ASD. The reviews on nutritional elements have been inconclusive about the detrimental effects of deficiency in folic acid and omega 3, but vitamin D seems to be deficient in patients with ASD. The studies on toxic elements have been largely limited by their design, but there is enough evidence for the association between some heavy metals (most important inorganic mercury and lead) and ASD that warrants further investigation. Mechanisms of the association between environmental factors and ASD are debated but might include non-causative association (including confounding), gene-related effect, oxidative stress, inflammation, hypoxia/ischemia, endocrine disruption, neurotransmitter alterations, and interference with signaling pathways. Compared to genetic studies of ASD, studies of environmental risk factors are in their infancy and have significant methodological limitations. Future studies of ASD risk factors would benefit from a developmental psychopathology approach, prospective design, precise exposure measurement, reliable timing of exposure in relation to critical developmental periods and should take into account the dynamic interplay between gene and environment by using genetically informed designs. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a group of neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by persistent impairment in social communication and interaction and restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities . There is evidence that one in every 132 to one in every 68 individual suffers from ASD [2, 3]. According to a recent meta-analysis, ASD accounted for 7.7 million disability adjusted life years in 2010 and was the leading mental cause of disability in children under five in terms of years lived with disability . While in the majority of cases of the exact etiology of ASD remains unknown, novel technologies and large population-based studies have provided new insight into the risk architecture of ASD and the possible role of environmental factors in etiology . Twin studies provide a unique platform to study the relative contribution of genetic and (shared and non-shared) environmental factors to the variability of a certain trait or disorder. Dizygotic (DZ) twins on average share 50% of their genes, and monozygotic (MZ) twins share 100% of their genes. Twins are matched for many characteristics including age, in utero and family environment, and various aspects of early and late development. Taken together, these features allow for estimating heritability (phenotypic variation that is attributable to the genotypic variation) of ASD by taking into the account its covariance within MZ and DZ twins . Earlier twin studies suggested heritability as high as 80–90% for ASD with little contribution from the environment [4, 6, 7]. However, according to recent evidence, up to 40–50% of variance in ASD liability is determined by environmental factors [8–13]. Newer studies of monozygotic twins have yielded concordance rates of <50%, with lower concordance for dizygotic twins, suggesting that both genes and environment play roles in the development of ASD [4, 14–16]. Given the vulnerability of the developing brain to environmental factors, the causative association between environmental factors and ASD is biologically plausible . Furthermore, historical proof-of-concept evidence shows a causal relation between specific environmental risk factors such as thalidomide and misoprostol and ASD [17–20]. We searched Pubmed since inception until December 2016 for ((autis*) or (“pervasive developmental disorder”) or (“Asperger”)) and (“systematic review” or “meta-analysis”). We extracted the following for meta-analyses: number of studies, study design, imprecision (>0.25 difference between effect estimates and their upper or lower confidence bound for dichotomous variables and >0.5 difference for continuous outcomes), inconsistency (presence of heterogeneity I 2 > 50% or P value of heterogeneity test < 0.10), magnitude of association (relative risk estimate <2.0 small, 2.0–5.0 medium, >5.0 large), publication bias, and indirectness (that is measuring exposure based on population-level assessment) [21, 22]. Imprecision reflects how wide or narrow the confidence interval is: the narrower the confidence interval, the greater the precision. Heterogeneity or inconsistency refers to the degree of between-study variability in a meta-analysis. A meta-analysis provides higher quality of evidence for an association if it yielded precise, consistent, direct, and strong association without publication bias. For systematic reviews, we narratively summarized the authors’ conclusion in a separate table (because quantitative assessment was not possible). For each potential risk factor, the latest systematic review or meta-analysis was considered unless indicated otherwise (See Additional file 1: Table S1 for more details). A total of 663 citations were found. One additional relevant reference was found through manual search of the reference list in the remaining papers. Of these, 584 records were excluded by title or abstract. Of the remaining 80 studies, 32 references (9 qualitative systematic reviews and 23 meta-analyses) were included for the purpose of the review (See Additional file 1: Figure S1 and Table S1 for the details on the excluded studies). Figure 1 and Tables 1 and 2 summarize the findings of meta-analyses and systematic reviews respectively. Below, we present the evidence for nine different groups of risk factors (including about 100 individual risk factors), namely advanced parental age, pregnancy-related factors, prenatal medication, maternal diseases, nutrition, environmental toxins, vaccine, maternal smoking, and maternal immigration. Advanced parental age Wu et al. performed a meta-analysis of 27 studies on association between advanced parental age and ASD. They showed that every 10-year increase in maternal and paternal age increases the risk of ASD in the offspring by 18 and 21% respectively. Furthermore, compared with the reference age group, oldest age category (in both mothers and fathers) was associated with a small but significant and precise increase in risk of ASD in the offspring. Pregnancy-related complications and conditions Several systematic reviews and meta-analyses have summarized the evidence on the association between pregnancy complications and ASD [24–27] (Tables 1 and 2). Gardener et al. [24, 25] carried out two comprehensive reviews of prenatal and perinatal risk factors for ASD. They found statistically significant pooled estimates with small effect size for abnormal presentation, breech presentation, cord complications, fetal distress, multiple births, low birth weight, small for gestational age, congenital malformations, hyperbilirubinemia, and earlier birth (first vs. third born). Evidence suggested a medium yet imprecise effect size for five risk factors including maternal hemorrhage, Rh or ABO incompatibility, birth injury or trauma, birth weight <1500 g, and feeding difficulties at birth. Large and imprecise effect sizes were observed for neonatal anemia and meconium aspiration (Table 1). A meta-analysis by our group has specifically addressed the link between proxies of impaired gas exchange and ASD . Out of ten proxies that were analyzed, the effect size was medium (and imprecise) for apnea/delayed crying, undefined hypoxia/asphyxia, 1-min Apgar score <6, 5-min Apgar score <8, and O2 treatment, and small and imprecise for the rest (Table 1). Curran et al. reviewed 21 studies of the association between cesarean section (C/S) and ASD. They found a 36% increase in the risk of ASD following C/S that was reduced after adjusting for confounders or limiting the analysis to population-based studies and was absent in the cohort studies. The effect size was small, precise, and inconsistent. Moreover, they showed that estimates were lower for elective C/S compared with emergency C/S (Table 1). In a systematic review of seven studies, Conde-Agudelo and colleagues found that birth spacing <12 months and >60 months are associated with a significantly increased risk of ASD (Table 2) compared to the birth spacing in the middle range. The estimates were of small magnitude, inconsistent, and imprecise. However, the included studies were generally of high quality. The estimates were slightly larger for the former subtype autistic disorder (Table 1). Xu and colleagues conducted a meta-analysis on the association between maternal diabetes and ASD in the offspring. For cohort studies, they found a 74 and 43% (both small effect sizes) increase in risk for pregestational and gestational diabetes respectively (Table 1) . As expected, slightly higher odds ratios were observed for case-control studies. In a meta-analysis of seven studies, Wang and colleagues showed that overweight and obese mothers (but not underweight mothers) have an increased risk of ASD by about 28 and 36% respectively. The increased risk for overweight mothers was precise and consistent, whereas for obese mothers, it was imprecise and inconsistent (Table 1). Jiang et al. systematically reviewed of maternal infection during pregnancy and risk of ASD. Their most important findings include a small but significant increase in risk of ASD after maternal bacterial (18%) and genitourinary infection (9%). The risk was precise but inconsistent. They also found a small increase in ASD after maternal flu that was precise, inconsistent, and marginally significant. A meta-analysis of ten studies by Chen et al. found that maternal autoimmune disease is associated with a small but significant, precise, and consistent increase in risk of ASD in the offspring. Similarly, a meta-analysis of 11 studies by Wu et al. showed that family history of autoimmune illness increased the risk of ASD. The effect size was small and inconsistent but precise. In subgroup analysis, family history of autoimmune thyroid disease, diabetes, psoriasis, and rheumatoid arthritis were associated with an average 49–64% increase in risk of ASD in the offspring (Table 1). Conti et al. conducted a systematic review of the association between assisted reproductive technology (ART) and risk of ASD. Three out of seven studies suggested an association between ART and ASD, but these studies were of low quality. On the other hand, high-quality studies showed no association between ART and risk of ASD (Table 2). Medication use during pregnancy Gentile systematically reviewed the evidence for the association between maternal valproate use (a medication primarily used for epilepsy and bipolar disorder) and ASD in the offspring. Studies with both prospective and retrospective design provided strong evidence for the association of maternal valproate use and ASD as well as several other neurodevelopmental outcomes. Valproate was associated with poorer neurodevelopment than other antiepileptic drugs. Furthermore, the association seemed to be dose-related and robust to adjustment for several confounders including seizure attacks during pregnancy and maternal intelligence quotient (Table 2). The association between maternal antidepressant use during pregnancy and ASD is more controversial. Kobayashi et al. quantitatively reviewed five case-control and three cohort studies of maternal selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) use in pregnancy and the risk of ASD in the offspring. They found a 50% increase in risk of ASD of mothers who took SSRIs during pregnancy; the estimate was imprecise but consistent. However, when the authors conducted a sensitivity analysis comparing SSRI-exposed group to SSRI-non-exposed group in mother with psychiatric conditions, they found no significant increase in risk of ASD in the offspring. Based on this evidence, the authors concluded that the relation between SSRI and ASD finding is largely due to confounding by indication (Tables 1 and 2). A meta-analysis of 15 studies by Rosen et al. found precise (but inconsistent) evidence that there was no association between maternal smoking and risk of ASD in the offspring. The lack of association was unaffected by adjustment for socioeconomic status and parental psychiatric history and was consistent in assessments carried out during pregnancy and at birth. For postnatal assessment of prenatal smoking, there was a slight and imprecise increase in risk, which might reflect a recall bias (Table 1). Several studies have tried to establish an association between nutritional elements such as folic acid or vitamin D and risk for ASD. However, many of those studies are fundamentally limited by the fact that they have assessed the deficiency and/or the efficacy of supplementing these nutrients after developing ASD. Therefore, one should be very cautious about causal interpretation of the findings in those studies. A meta-analysis by Sharp et al. showed significantly lower protein and calcium intake in children with ASD. However, the estimates were imprecise, inconsistent, and indirect. Another meta-analysis of 12 studies by Babaknejad et al. showed significantly lower zinc levels in children with ASD. Wang et al. performed a meta-analysis of 11 studies of the association between vitamin D and ASD. They found significantly lower levels of serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D in subjects with ASD than those in controls (Table 2). The pooled effect size was large, but inconsistent and imprecise. Of note, the number of studies that investigated vitamin D levels in maternal blood during pregnancy was too small to allow for a meta-analysis. Systematic reviews of the association between omega-3 fatty acids and ASD have mainly focused on interventional studies. In a Cochrane review, only two small randomized trials met the eligibility criteria . The authors found no evidence of a beneficial effect of omega-3 in patients with ASD (Table 2). Castro et al. systematically reviewed the evidence for folic acid involvement in risk of ASD. The authors found some evidence for the association between folate deficiency and ASD and ASD-like traits. However, the findings were inconsistent and were limited by the self-report in the majority of studies (Table 2). Another systematic review suggested that folate deficiency might interact with certain polymorphism in the methylene tetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene to increase risk of ASD . There are reports of other dietary interventions such as camel milk and casein and gluten-free diet in ASD, but studies of such interventions have generally been short term and of low quality. Exposure to toxins Studies of toxic exposure have been largely limited by indirect and cross-sectional methods of exposure measurement. Quantitative systematic reviews have been performed on air pollution, thimerosal (ethylmercury), inorganic mercury, and hair levels of heavy metals. In a meta-analysis, Lam and colleagues found a small but significant and precise association between prenatal exposure to particulate matters and risk of ASD. However, the risk was inconsistent across studies and the exposure was measured via indirect methods (Tables 1 and 2). Of note, the risk was substantially larger for particulate matter <2.5 μm compared to those of <10 μm. In a meta-analysis of nine studies, Yoshimasu et al. found precise and consistent evidence for lack of association between childhood thimerosal exposure and ASD. The lack of association was consistent in pooled analysis of the adjusted estimates, studies of anti-RhD antibody treatment, and studies of direct thimerosal exposure. In a meta-analysis of three case-control studies, the same authors reported a 60% increase in risk of ASD following higher level of inorganic mercury exposure. Based on their findings, the authors suggested that early life exposure to mercury by vaccination did not increase the risk of ASD, whereas exposure to inorganic mercury in the environment might be associated with an increased risk of ASD (Table 1). De Palma and colleagues performed a meta-analysis of studies that compared hair concentration of heavy metals between patients with ASD and controls. Their meta-analyses found little evidence for an association between hair metal concentration of mercury, copper, cadmium, selenium, and chromium. They did find significantly higher levels of lead in the hair of patients with ASD than those of controls. However, the estimates for lead were imprecise and inconsistent across studies and were disproportionately affected by an outlier study (Table 1). Rossignol et al. carried out the most comprehensive systematic review of environmental toxins in ASD. The authors evaluated two groups of studies based on direct or indirect assessment of exposure. Studies with indirect assessment of exposure were generally of ecological or retrospective nature and overall provide lower grade of evidence as compared with studies of more direct exposure. Most of studies of indirect exposure have shown an association between one or more environmental toxin exposures and ASD, even though the results have been inconsistent. The most consistent finding among this group of studies was for an association between environmental mercury exposure and ASD in seven of eight ecological studies (Table 2). Rossignol and colleagues also made an exhaustive effort of synthesizing the evidence on the relationship between direct biomarkers of toxic exposure and ASD. Systematic review of five metals (mercury, lead, cadmium, aluminum, and arsenic) contained eight or more case-control studies. Studies measured metal concentrations in blood, hair, tooth, urine, or brain. For all metals but arsenic, more than half of studies showed no elevation in any of the measurement in patients with ASD compared with control subjects. The authors further identified seven studies that reported an association between heavy metal concentration (mostly mercury and lead) and severity of ASD. Furthermore, 12 studies described improvement in symptoms of ASD following chelation therapy. However, none of these studies used a placebo arm and are therefore difficult to interpret. Importantly, a recent Cochrane systematic review found no evidence for the beneficial effect of chelation therapy on ASD (Table 2). Studies of the association between endocrine-disrupting chemicals and ASD are scarce. Rossignol et al. reviewed two case-control studies of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) and found no association between PCB and risk of ASD, whereas Jeddi et al. found that three out of five studies of phthalate exposure showed a significant association between phthalate exposure and risk of ASD (Table 2). Taylor et al. performed a meta-analysis of studies that investigated the association between childhood vaccines and ASD. The authors found no evidence for a higher risk of ASD in subjects who are vaccinated. Their results were precise, consistent (except for case-control studies), and robust to study design or subtypes of ASD. Indeed, their findings were suggestive of a protective effect of vaccines on risk of childhood autism in case-control studies. Given the concerns over the association between ASD and the mumps, measles, and rubella (MMR) vaccine, the authors conducted a separate meta-analysis of three studies of MMR vaccine and ASD and found a non-significant decrease in risk of ASD following MMR vaccination (Table 1). In a meta-analysis of five studies, Gardener et al. found imprecise and inconsistent association between maternal immigration and ASD. Restricting the studies to Nordic countries, they found a significant small effect size for the association between immigration and ASD. In a systematic review of the association between maternal immigration and risk of ASD, Crafa and Varfa found ten eligible studies. The authors observed significantly higher risk of ASD in the immigrants in three studies, whereas five studies showed no difference between immigrant and non-immigrant mothers, and two studies showed significantly lower risk of ASD in immigrants than that in non-immigrants. After controlling for the effects of different sample sizes and ethnic backgrounds, the results showed higher rates of ASD in children of immigrant mothers (2.69%) compared with those in children of non-migrant mothers (0.91%). Six out of ten studies found that giving birth postmaternal migration significantly increased the risk of ASD, with the exception of children born to Hispanic migrant mothers who had lower rates of ASD (Tables 1 and 2). Possible mechanisms behind the association between environmental risk factors and ASD A fundamental question about the association between environmental risk factors and ASD is whether the association represents an underlying causality or not. Although evidence in this area is still speculative, here, we briefly review the possible mechanisms of involvement of environmental factors in ASD. It should be emphasized that the mechanisms reviewed here are by no means exhaustive. Furthermore, each environmental factor—if causal—might involve multiple mechanisms and at different levels of etiological pathways to ASD. A plausible explanation for many of the observed environmental effects of ASD might be that of confounding. For example, the association between several obstetric complications and ASD might be partially confounded by parity, because parity is associated both with the exposure (i.e., birth complications) and the outcome (i.e., ASD) . Moreover, a substantial proportion of what might be interpreted as causal effect of environment on ASD risk might result from a gene-environment correlation. For example, many genetic conditions that are associated with ASD might also be associated with birth complications. These epiphenomena are observed with higher frequency in children with ASD but are not necessarily causal . Similarly, the association between maternal SSRI use and ASD might be due to confounding by indication. Given that ASD has a high comorbidity rate with depression, such associations might reflect a shared risk mechanism rather than causality . Confounding by gene-environment correlation might also account for the association between other risk factors such as maternal immigration and ASD. It has been proposed that fathers with autistic traits are more likely to marry immigrant women . Genetic and epigenetic-related effects In addition to gene-environment correlation, environmental factors could interact with genetic components on various levels. It has been suggested that some environmental factors such as certain toxins and vitamin D deficiency increase the risk of gene mutation that in turn can lead to an increased risk of ASD . Recent evidence shows that a specific polychlorinated biphenyl congener, PCB-95, might modify the number of copy number variations leading to deletion or duplications of 15q11-q13, a genetic cause of ASD . Maternal obesity modifies the expression of several important genes (such as apolipoprotein D) that are critical to neurodevelopment in utero . Epigenetic mechanisms are biochemical modifications of DNA or histones that affect gene expression without changing the DNA sequence. Epigenetic mechanisms are thought to be critical in the normal development of the nervous system . Some environmental risk factors of ASD might affect neurodevelopment through epigenetic mechanisms. For example, valproate, a strong risk factor for ASD, inhibits histone deacetylase and interferes with folic acid metabolism [62, 63]. Both mechanisms result in significant alterations in epigenetic modifications. Folate deficiency in a background of methylene tetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene polymorphism might impair methyl donation and subsequently lead to impaired epigenetic regulation . Assisted reproductive technology and maternal stress (due to immigration) have also been linked to epigenetic alterations [65, 66], although the importance of such association with respect to ASD is unknown. Genetic mechanisms also serve to make the individuals susceptible to the effect of certain environmental risk factors. For example, mutation of Mecp2 gene (the cause of Rett syndrome) and a regulator of the epigenome in neurons causes social deficit in mice with prenatal exposure to the organic pollutant polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) . Paraoxonase is an enzyme that metabolizes organophosphate. In a systematic review, Rossignol et al. reported four studies with decreased PON1 activity and three out of five studies showing a significant association between PON polymorphism and ASD. Similarly, they observed an association between polymorphism of glutathione-S transferase (responsible for detoxification of xenobiotics and heavy metals) and ASD in three of four studies . Inflammation and oxidative stress ASD is associated with altered immune status, increased oxidative stress, and an active neuroinflammatory process characterized by microglial activation in various parts of the brain [68–71]. A meta-analysis has indicated that concentrations of several pro-inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-6, interluekin-1, and interferon gamma are increased in patients with ASD compared to those in healthy controls . It is possible that the association of maternal autoimmune disease with risk of ASD is partly mediated through the effect of maternal inflammatory mediators and autoantibodies on fetal neurodevelopment [72, 73]. Another meta-analysis has demonstrated an association between ASD and altered metabolism of glutathione, an antioxidant . Some environmental factors such as lead, mercury, persistent organic pollutants, or perinatal complications might cause a pro-inflammatory state and oxidative damage in the brain and subsequently lead to alterations in neural growth and development [69, 74–76]. Moreover, chemicals like brominated flame retardants might result in mitochondrial toxicity through a variety of mechanisms (including oxidative stress) leading to impaired energy balance in the brain . Mitochondrial dysfunction has been documented in patients with ASD . Deth et al. has made a case for a redox/methylation hypothesis of ASD. According to this hypothesis, in a genetically sensitive individual, environmental toxins (particularly toxic metals) cause significant oxidative stress. This subsequently leads to impaired methylation and alters the capacity for synchronizing neural networks through impaired dopamine D4 receptor function. Impaired methylation also affects epigenetic mechanisms, leading to abnormal gene expression. Both mechanisms (impaired synchronization of neural networks and epigenetic alterations) are closely linked to ASD [61, 62, 80–82]. Evidence shows that perinatal hypoxia and hypercarbia are associated with various neurodevelopmental outcomes including seizure, cerebral palsy, and intellectual disability [83, 84]. As we mentioned earlier, evidence suggests a role for birth asphyxia-hypoxia in risk for ASD. Lack of oxygen and acidosis associated with hypercarbia alter cell energy metabolism and subsequently lead to cell dysfunction and death . Immaturity of autoregulatory mechanisms and white matter susceptibility in the neonate are important contributory factors in hypoxic-ischemic brain damage . Moreover, hypoxic/ischemic insult induces inflammation, oxidative damage, and excitotoxicity all of which can lead to exacerbation of neuronal damage and death [85, 86]. Regions that are involved in cognitive function such as hippocampus and cortex are commonly injured following neonatal hypoxia . A recent study has provided insight into the possible mechanism of hypoxic damage with regard to ASD . The authors examined the role of fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP) and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway in the pathogenesis of hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy. Hereditary impairment of FMRP is seen in cases of fragile X syndrome that is a well-recognized cause of ASD. Importantly, the authors observed an overexpression of FMRP between 36 and 39 weeks of pregnancy in the normal brain, which suggested an important physiological role for FMRP in synaptic plasticity during this period. Through comparing brain tissues of newborns with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) with healthy controls, they found significantly lower FMRP expression in the brain of HIE than healthy controls. Based on these findings, the authors suggested that FMRP disruption might be one of the mechanisms through which hypoxic-ischemic damage is related to ASD. ASD affects gender differentially. Not only the prevalence of ASD seems to be higher in boys but also the psychopathological, biochemical, and genetic aspects of ASD also appear to be different between males and females [89, 90]. This gender difference has been attributed to a variety of factors, including diagnostic bias in favor of males, extreme male brain (EMB) theory, and female protective effect (FPE) [90, 91]. Out of all explanations, EMB might be more related to the scope of our review. EMB theory of ASD builds on an empathizing-systematizing theory of psychological sex differences and suggests that ASD might reflect an extreme male pattern (i.e., more systematizing, less empathizing) . It has been suggested that the differential effect of testosterone on sexually dimorphic brain regions might be a key mechanism to push the brain beyond that of a typical male and toward an EMB. Therefore, factors that alter hormonal balance (and particularly fetal testosterone) might contribute to risk of ASD. An important class of environmental factors that is capable of altering steroid balance is endocrine-disrupting chemicals. For example, brominated flame retardants are both associated with an increased level of free testosterone and an increased risk of ASD [93, 94]. Recent studies have shown that chemicals (such as some PCB congeners) that are associated with lower testosterone levels are also associated with lower risk of autistic behaviors [93, 95]. Another link between endocrine disruptors and ASD is alteration in thyroid function. Several studies have shown evidence of prenatal maternal thyroid dysfunction and ASD in the offspring [96, 97]. Interestingly, many endocrine-disrupting chemicals that disrupt function of thyroid hormone have also been hypothesized to increase the risk of ASD [98–102]. Neurotransmitter alterations and abnormalities in signaling pathways Abnormalities in glutamate, serotonin, and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) have been linked to ASD . Although alterations in neurotransmitter pathways can be the end result of many mechanisms we discussed above, some environmental factors interact directly with neurotransmitter pathways. For example, lead disrupts the activity of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors on both pre- and postsynaptic levels . Many environmental pollutants have been associated with altered glutamate levels in umbilical cord blood . Similarly, it has been shown that brominated flame retardants modulate GABA in the developing nervous system . Some environmental risk factors interact with intracellular signaling pathways and might pave the way to impaired neurodevelopment. Exposure to PCB and PBDE seems to alter calcium-related signaling pathway, leading to alterations in dendritic growth and subsequent abnormalities in neuronal connectivity, a key feature of ASD [106, 107]. Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) is an important regulatory element in calcium homeostasis and synaptic plasticity in the developing brain [108, 109]. Evidence suggests disruption of PGE2 as a possible mechanism for the effect of organic chemicals, inflammation, and infection on risk of ASD . Limitations of current research Compared to genetic studies of ASD, studies of environmental risk factors are in their infancy. Many previous studies of environmental risk factors have been limited by small sample size, retrospective or cross-sectional design, indirect measurement of exposure, and inability to ascertain exact timing of exposure with relation to a critical neurodevelopmental period. Moreover, for various reasons, most previous studies have not investigated important factors that might explain the heterogeneity of ASD such as differences in risk between males and females, differences between subtypes, and relation of symptom severity to risk factors. Importantly, the definition of ASD is very broad and encompasses multiple subtypes of the disorder, mirroring the etiological heterogeneity of the condition. As results from large prospective cohorts or birth registries are starting to emerge, more valuable data on environmental risk factors become available. Still, heterogeneity of ASD, indirect measures, lack of a dimensional approach, and diagnostic difficulties make it challenging to draw substantial inferences from these studies. As Mandy and Lai in their state in their recent review, to understand the ASD, we must engage with its complexity and take into the account the substantial heterogeneity of the factors that affect its onset as well as its course . Studies of environmental risk factors of ASD can tackle this complexity by framing ASD as a developmental psychopathology or a maladaptive response of the individual to its environment. This maladaptive response is shaped by interplay between a multitude of risk and protective factors at various levels and evolves as the result of a dynamic interaction between a person and their environment across the lifespan . Furthermore, it is difficult to establish causality from observational studies due to possibility of genetic and/or environmental confounding. What is interpreted as an environmental effect might indeed be an epiphenomenon due to gene-environment correlation. Therefore, focus should be on designing studies that strengthen causal inferences of environmental risk by ruling out alternative explanation for the association. Studies that use genetically informed approach (e.g., family-based studies and in vitro fertilization designs) offer a new way to address the challenge of gene-environment correlation . Moreover, gene-environment interaction and epigenetics of ASD are two areas that are clearly understudied but, as recent evidence shows, could potentially provide a substantial insight into the etiology of ASD. In the present paper, we reviewed systematic reviews and meta-analyses of environmental risk factors for ASD. Current evidence suggests that several environmental factors including vaccination, maternal smoking, thimerosal exposure, and most likely ART are unrelated to risk of ASD. Birth complications that are associated with trauma or ischemia and hypoxia have shown strong links to ASD, whereas other pregnancy-related factors such as maternal obesity, maternal diabetes, and C/S have shown a weak association with risk of ASD. Furthermore, factors such as maternal use of SSRI or C/S might be indicative of confounding by indication. The reviews on nutritional elements have yielded limited useful and/or inconclusive information about the beneficial effects of folic acid and omega-3, while vitamin D deficiency seems to be common in children with ASD. The studies on toxic elements have been largely limited by their design, but there is enough evidence for the association between some heavy metals (most important inorganic mercury and lead) and ASD that warrants further investigation. Reviews on the psychosocial risk factors for ASD are scarce, with maternal immigration being the only factor that has shown some association with ASD in systematic reviews. 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Association between antidepressants use during pregnancy and autistic spectrum disorders: a meta-analysis. Inn Clin Neurosci. 2014;11(5–6):18–22. Sayehmiri F, et al. Zn/Cu levels in the field of autism disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Iran J Child Neur. 2015;9(4):1–9. Flores-Pajot MC, et al. Childhood autism spectrum disorders and exposure to nitrogen dioxide, and particulate matter air pollution: a review and meta-analysis. Environ Res. 2016;151:763–76. Mihic T, et al. The therapeutic effects of camel milk: a systematic review of animal and human trials. J Evid Based Complementary Altern Med. 2016;21(4):Np110–26. Mari-Bauset S, et al. Evidence of the gluten-free and casein-free diet in autism spectrum disorders: a systematic review. J Child Neurol. 2014;29(12):1718–27.
'Initial Coin Offering (ICO)' is explained in detail and with examples in the Investments edition of the Herold Financial Dictionary, which you can get from Amazon in Ebook or Paperback edition. An Initial Coin Offering refers to a non-regulated process in which the funds for new crypto-currency projects become raised. This is also popularly known by its acronym of ICO. These ICOs allow for entrepreneurs to sidestep the heavily regulated process of raising capital through more traditional means involving banks, venture capital, angel investors, or IPOs initial public offerings on stock exchanges. With any ICO offer campaign, at least some of the crypto-currency will be sold off to those backers of the venture who become involved early. They receive this in compensation for providing traditional currency or alternative currency investment from the likes of Bitcoin. These ICOs are also known as IPCOs, or Initial Public Coin Offerings sometimes. The process for engaging in an Initial Coin Offering is straightforward and relatively easy to do. The startup outfit begins by producing and releasing a whitepaper-based plan that reveals all of the key details on the venture. These include the needs this operation will meet when it is up and running, what percentage of the new virtual currency project pioneers will keep, what kinds of funding is allowed, the amount of cash required to make the venture a success, and what time duration the campaign will run. In this campaign, the investors and supports of the new initiative will purchase part of the alternative coins of the new venture with real or virtual money. Such alt coins will be called tokens. They function in much the same way as do shares of stock which corporations sell their investors during an IPO initial public offering. In cases where the funds raised are not sufficient to carry out the project requirements as set out by the firm in the white paper plan, invested sums will be given back to the investors as the ICO becomes a failure. Yet in those many cases where the funding objective are attained within the set out duration, then the money will be utilized to fund the new enterprise (or to finish it in other cases). Naturally the upfront investors have their own motivation in purchasing such crypto-coins in the project. This is because they believe that the operation will be a success following launch. This would lead to a potentially massive gain in the value of their tokens. One highly successful ICO proved to be the platform for the introduction of smart contracts to the world, known as Ethereum. Its coin tokens are called Ether. The Ethereum project came out in 2014. The ICO garnered $18 million worth of Bitcoins for the project’s completion. This meant that the Ether tokens cost forty cents apiece. Following the live launch of Ethereum in 2015 and growing success in 2016, Ether roared higher to more than $14. In 2017, it has even topped $400 each at one point. Early investors who held to $400 realized gains of an eye-watering over 1,000 percent in less than five years. It is true that many ICO events go off successfully. These Initial Coin Offerings are in fact highly disruptive and innovative means of fundraising. Yet they are not a serious rival to traditional stocks by a long shot. Many ICO campaigns have been deemed to be fraud. Without the imperative regulation provided by the SEC Securities Exchange Commission, their volume is likely to remain a tiny fraction of that done in IPOs on traditional exchanges for at least the foreseeable future. ICOs have suffered from official national opposition which has hindered them as well. The People’s Bank of China fully banned all ICOs in September of 2017. They declared them to be financially unstable and disruptive to an orderly economy. Banks were forbidden to provide any services having anything to do with ICOs. At the same time, these new tokens were no longer allowed to be utilized as a currency on Chinese markets. It caused the Bitcoin and Ether enthusiasts to realize that crypto-currency regulation is in the future cards. This temporarily crushed the prices of both main alternative currencies as investors realized what a serious setback it represents.
Birmingham ElectroAcoustic Sound Theatre, or as it is more commonly known, BEAST, is a sound diffusion system specifically designed for the performance of electroacoustic music. It is a long-running project of the Electroacoustic Music Studios at the University of Birmingham, founded in 1982 under the directorship of Jonty Harrison. Since 2014 BEAST has been directed by Scott Wilson, along with Annie Mahtani and James Carpenter as technical director. Simply put, it consists of a set of loudspeakers connected to a computer, usually controlled by a diffusion console. BEAST can consist of up to over 100 channels of loudspeakers, often arranged largely in pairs or rings,, and includes ultra-low frequency loudspeakers (bins) and custom-built trees of high frequency speakers (tweeter trees) which can be suspended above an audience. The minimum set-up that BEAST would ordinarily use for stereo diffusion comprises a set of loudspeakers which Jonty Harrison terms the Main Eight. These four pairs of loudspeakers, using BEAST nomenclature, are termed Main, Wide, Distant and Rear. The Main and the Wide speakers together form the main, frontal sound image, the Main speakers being placed to act somewhat like the loudspeakers in a typical studio, and the Wide speakers acting to stretch that sound image out across the audience’s sound stage. The Rear speakers, which are behind the audience, provide immersion and the possibility of movement around the audience. Finally, the Distant speakers, which are positioned to hold their image behind the Main speakers, create a sound whose perspective is distant to that of the Main pair. Other speakers are added to this Main Eight to allow additional possibilities for sound movement and differing sound perspectives. More recent work with BEAST has explored the possibilities offered by ‘massively multichannel’ approaches to composition, and ‘n-channel’ work. BEAST is a dynamic system: during a performance the performer operates an often custom-built console, called the diffusion console, with which he or she can individually and dynamically control the level of each loudspeaker, or groups of loudspeakers. This enables him or her to actively articulate the piece’s implied spatial sound detail within the real space of the performance venue, in order to realise and interpret the composer‘s intentions. The system also includes equipment for the live processing of sounds so that, for instance, the sounds of a live violinist can be processed and incorporated into the soundstage. The BEAST diffusion console has developed significantly over the years. The earliest systems depended on those commercially available mixing desks which had direct outputs from each fader. The stereo input signal from, for example, a tape-machine was split passively into the input channels on the desk, alternating left and right. The direct output from each channel fed the amplifiers for the loudspeakers, thus giving the individual control of each loudspeaker required for diffusion. The main disadvantage of this system was that it offered very little flexibility, making it difficult to move between sources in different formats (for example, quadraphonic, octaphonic or pieces with live input). In some situations complicated rewiring would be required for each source format used, which could be prone to errors particularly during the stress of a performance. The first custom built console BEAST developed was still based on a commercially available mixing desk, but which had been extensively modified, adding a matrix input section and balanced outputs. The matrix input section allowed a number of inputs to be assigned to any fader input using a series of push buttons. Where multiple sources were used during a concert, this allowed each work to have their assignment preset on the matrix. BEAST’s positive and negative experiences with this experimental desk led them to design a new one: their last analogue desk, called the 3D. This was a fully custom built console with an extensive matrix input which was very easy and flexible to use. With the electroacoustic community’s renewed interest in multichannel formats, and in particular octaphonic set-ups, came the need for BEAST to address how such pieces should be diffused. The diffusion of multichannel formats was too complex a task for the standard BEAST console, even the 3D, and BEAST turned to software solutions to solve these problems: first MAX/MSP and most recently, a system created in SuperCollider by Scott Wilson and Sergio Luque. Now, rather than using an analogue desk, a digital multichannel sound interface is used, and controlled via specially written applications using MIDI faders. This offers the maximum flexibility, with one fader, for example, being able to control only one loudspeaker, a stereo pair or an octaphonic circle depending on how the system has been configured. Using this system, multiple octaphonic groups, placed in different positions around the audience, can be used to diffuse octaphonic source material in a manner similar to that used for stereo. In this case, each fader controls one octaphonic group. A new set of three fully digital desks, using the Open Sound Control protocol, were made for BEAST by Sukhandar Kartadinata based on his GLUI platform. Clones of these desks have been adopted by other users and systems.
Graywater is household waste water that includes the following: - Shower Water - Bath Water - Lavatory (basin) Water - Laundry Water - Untreated Spa Water Typically, two thirds of the water used in a water-aware household results in graywater (excluding water used for the garden and lawns). Blackwater is household waste water that includes: - Toilet Water - Laundry Water, if the waste water is from washing diapers, or other materials containing feces Darkwater is household waste water from the kitchen. It may contain food contaminants, oils and powerful detergents (especially dishwashers). Although many jurisdictions ban the re-use of kitchen water (darkwater), in some situations this water may be used for garden irrigation IF a grease trap is installed between the kitchen waste outlet and a graywater pumping system. The above definitions apply generally throughout the world, although exact definitions vary from country to country, and in the US from state to state.
Read how COVID-19 is impacting our activities. In recent years, big banks have announced grand climate pledges and promised to make their investments more sustainable. Today, all six major US banks (JPMorgan Chase, Citi, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, and Goldman Sachs) have committed to net-zero emissions by 2050. But despite their promises, these Wall Street giants have continued to pour billions of dollars into destructive fossil fuels, bankrolling the continued expansion of fossil fuel production, and directly undermining their own climate commitments. Now, banking giants have their eyes on the Gulf Coast. The Gulf Coast is ground zero for fossil fuel expansion in the United States. More than 20 new and expanded export facilities are currently proposed to liquefy and ship fracked gas from Texas and Louisiana to foreign markets. If built, these projects would lock in fossil fuel production for decades to come and exacerbate harm to Gulf Coast communities already facing disproportionate pollution from the fossil fuel industry and the impacts of climate change. It is outrageous that banks are continuing to support fossil fuel expansion, especially in a region that already faces the increasing burdens of climate disasters, and where communities have dealt with decades of environmental racism and toxic pollution. All six US banking giants are among the top LNG financiers in the world, directly enabling the destruction of communities and ecosystems along the Gulf, investing billions in the LNG sector since 2016, the year the Paris Agreement was signed. But the science is clear -- if we want to meet our goal of limiting global temperature rise to below 1.5 degrees, all remaining fossil fuel reserves must stay in the ground. It's time for banks to follow through on their climate commitments, and stop bankrolling destructive LNG projects and other fossil fuels.
One of my favorite places to take guests is the Sugarlands Visitor Center. If you live local and have never been there, you are truly missing out. This sophisticated center packs a big punch with its varied display of preserved flora and fauna. The center also features a nature trail (that leads to Cataract falls), a 20-minute informative park video, and a gift shop packed with mountain-themed gifts and educational gear. The visitors center is one of the best things to do with kids in the Smoky Mountains. The museum portion of the center is truly the star. The museum has a variety of ranger-led programs. On one of my trips, they were answering questions about bears and had a bear pelt that the kids could touch and feel. There are many ferocious taxidermied animals for kids to enjoy including a black bear, a wild boar and a variety of venomous snakes. There are of course many cute and cuddly animals as well, such as possums, raccoons and different types of owls. All of the animals are behind glass. Some were easier to photograph than others. Like this bushy guy, and this cuddly girl. What kid doesn’t LOVE a good wild cat? The center also features a nice nature trail, with a dirt path, that leads you down to Cataract Falls. You only have to walk about 1/4 mile to get to the falls. The 20 minute informational park video is excellent but best for older kids (middle to late elementary and up). The visuals are stunning and it provides tons of information about the park, much of which I had never heard before. The video details the past, present and future of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Related Read: Kid Friendly Smokies: Grotto Falls The museum store is also delightful and features a variety of awesome educational tools for kids, including several Smoky Mountain-themed children’s books with amazing photographs! The shelves are also filled with rustic gifts, many of which are made by local artisans.
Tech Sassy Girlz Dr. Laine Powell is the founder and executive director of Tech Sassy Girlz, a non-profit organization dedicated to inspiring underrepresented girls in middle and high school to engage in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). She firmly believes that leveraging technology is an opportunity for girls to be content creators, makers and entrepreneurs. In 2016, Powell was invited by the White House to present STEM Access for Marginalized Girls and has received a host of community and professional awards including the 2021 WTS International Rosa Parks Diversity Leadership award. Powell received her bachelor of arts from the University of Florida and her doctorate in Instructional Technology and Distance Education from Nova Southeastern University, and is married to her college sweetheart, Courtney. Representation matters. Women currently represent only 27% of the STEM workforce in the United States. I founded Tech Sassy Girlz in 2012 to address the critical shortage of women and minorities being represented in high-tech STEM careers. Tech Sassy Girlz is committed to fostering programs, mentoring and education that will cultivate the next generation of technology leaders to be more diverse and inclusive. I am passionate about addressing the gender and diversity gap in tech. I’m driven by a need to find solutions to help solve the lack of representation of diverse women in STEM. Part of the solution is providing middle and high school girls with access and exposure to diverse women in STEM fields. Tech Sassy Girlz helps in filling that gap. What are you most proud of? There are many great moments for Tech Sassy Girlz but if I had to narrow it down to one, it would be growing our signature annual Tech Sassy Girlz Day Conference from 40 students in 2012 to 500 in 2019. The daylong conference introduces middle and high school girls to various STEM careers. Hosting this annual conference is not only critical for us to continue to introduce STEM to young girls, but also for the girls to have access to women who look like them that are making a difference in the world. Since 2012, we have introduced STEM to over 2,500 girls through our afterschool programs, annual conference and workforce development program for high school students, Pearls in Tech. Our programs, offered at no cost, equip students to become the next generation of coders, computer scientists, application designers and developers. We are changing the trajectory of the girls by unlocking new career opportunities and helping to prepare them for high paying STEM-focused jobs. What is the one word that perfectly explains who you are? Would you change anything about how you have handled challenges or successes thus far in your life? I have an amazing team who is passionate about the lives we are changing. The pandemic forced us all to slow down and focus on what matters. The pandemic taught me to celebrate the wins no matter how small! In partnership with AdventHealth for Women, we are recognizing a woman in our community each month who is selflessly giving to others while raising families, supporting their loved ones and/or building their careers. Whether they know it or not, their stories inspire other women near and far.
Medicinal plant Solanum Xanthocarpum The plant Solanum Xanthocarpum also known as Wild eggplant or Kantakari is a perennial, thick, bright green and branched shrub. It grows throughout India in dry places. It grows mostly in tropical and sub-tropical countries. The leaves are ovate-oblong, elliptic and hairy. The flowers are bisexual, hairy, regular, complete, purple and blue mixed and white in colour. It is about .5-1 cm long. The midrib and veins are of two sharp prickles. Roots are 10-45cm long, taper, cylindrical and bitter. The stems are with prominent nodes and inter-nodes, with prickle, covered with hair. The berries are globular containing numerous seeds inside, glabrous and bitter. The plant is being used medicinally in various ways in India since 3000 years. Wild eggplant /Kantakari / Indian Solanum Botanical name and family Botanical name- Solanum Xanthocarpum Geological distribution of Solanum Xanthocarpum The plant is native to Asia and found in Nepal, Pakistan, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, China, Iran, Yemen, Thailand, Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia. The plant is common in wasteland and roadside in India. It grows mostly as a weed. In India, it grows mostly in dry parts of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana. Medicinal use of Solanum Xanthocarpum The important constituents present in it are Glycoalkoloids and sterols. The fruit is rich in solasonine, solamargine, and solasodine. It also contains solanine, Betasterol, Lanosterol, Carpesterol, and Carotene. The entire plant has medicinal values in various ways. The root is one of the most important constituents of Dashamoola used in Ayurveda. The medicinal properties of the plant are described below: - The root of Solanum Xanthocarpum helps in maintaining body temperature. - It reduces the pain from the body and joints while taken with black pepper. - It releases gas from the body by increasing the digestive fire. - Solanum Xanthocarpum kills the worms in the intestine. - It regularizes menstruation in women and gives easy delivery during pregnancy. - It helps in healthy urination and protects the respiratory system be promoting blood circulation. - Wild eggplant gives comfort for throat irritation. - The paste of Wild eggplant when applied on the feet, it gives comfort from burning sensation. - It promotes comfortable breathing by helping in the secretion of mucous from the chest. - It clears constipation and flatulence. - It reduces asthma, cough and cold. - Kantakari protects the liver by clearing swelling and infections. - It lowers the blood sugar in case of diabetics. - The fresh juice of Kantakari leaves applied on head prevents hair fall and removes dandruff. - When the juice is taken in nostril in drops, immediately stops chronic migraine and headache. - The leaf extract also gives comfort from a toothache. - It is also used to reduce fertility. - It blocks spermatogenesis. - It is used for the treatment of snakebites. - The plant possesses antibacterial activity. - Dropsy also is cured by Kantakari and the root is used for the treatment of piles. - Kantakari is used for the treatment of gonorrhea. - This is also useful for the treatment of skin diseases. The plant is proved toxic up to some extent. But the Ayurvedic properties of this are numerous. Hence, the entire plant is used widely for medicine for the treatment of various diseases.
There will be a need to repurpose and redesign buildings, as well as increase space as a result of the current global pandemic, according to a growing number of industry insights The healthcare, pharmaceutical and food industries, being on the front line during the Covid-19 crisis, have already experienced an immediate upsurge in emergency construction for more space. Belfast City Hospital is a good example, where an entire tower block has been repurposed; and in other cases, requirements have included isolation rooms, clean manufacturing and storage. These ways of immediately tackling a crisis tend to lead to changes that impact forever – things simply do not go back to how they were. So, as the situation plays out, there is likely to be a need for greater space, enabling individual workers to distance themselves safely from colleagues and site visitors. Following the food industry In the food industry, for example, people often work shoulder-to-shoulder, and Klipspringer’s blog, ‘Just How? Social Distancing in Food Factories’ suggests a number of measures to improve safety, including strong ‘Keep your Distance’ signage which demonstrates the need to keep two metres apart, and “Additional entrances and exits…to spread out the people flow, with additional doors available and a turnstile entrance and exit system. This doesn’t just mean in and out of the factory, but from area-to-area.” Klipspringer also suggests factory zoning and physical segregation barriers, all of which could suggest that more space would be an important part of the solution in many factories. Kerry Foods ‘Insights’ blog ‘6 Lessons from China’s Recovering Food & Beverage Sector after Covid19’ says there will be more “demand for visibility on product sourcing and safety,” and that the industry will be “more keenly aware of strict hygiene and food safety.” Foodnavigator.com says the same in its ‘Market Trends’, “Food safety has attracted significant concern from consumers, who want to know whether the coronavirus can be transmitted by imported food…”, which surely will create the need for food producers to take, and promote, measures to allay these fears. This is highly likely to include the ongoing need to keep individual workers distanced from each other, an area that has not up until now been a necessary consideration in most manufacturing environments. In the UK over the last few decades, as a nation we have gradually lost a lot of our ability to produce goods in an effort to keep reducing costs. Many reports suggest that there is likely to be a strategic move to rebuild domestic manufacturing in order to improve our self-sustainability, flexibility, and our ability to react to crises in the future. So, even though for some manufacturers, demand has ‘dropped off a cliff’, leaving them with the same operational costs without the sales in the short term, in the medium-to-long term it is likely that there will be a resurgence in the sector. Chris Griffin, commercial manager at Hemsec, said: “Whilst automation is going to increasingly develop not all processes can be automated. “Manufacturing still requires humans to be part of the process including being physically onsite to run, maintain and repair machines, as well for those processes that a person still needs to do. “Commercial teams and contractors will still need to come onsite from time to time as well as. This means space management is going to become part of our business continuity planning, not just a nice to have. “In all of those areas where businesses have critical functions where people need to be involved, including customers, the distances between those people will now need to be reconsidered to plan for a business being able to continue working safely through any similar public health crises in the future.” Increasingly, organisations may require business continuity facilities and, in some sectors, emergency health centre/isolation rooms, but more than that many manufacturers may need to expand their buildings to accommodate the increased distancing mentioned above. Our current factory was built using some of our products over 50 years ago, we have extended it over the years. The Hemsec composite panels, both steel and timber faced, are an excellent way to quickly create a dry, temperature stable extension on to a building with fewer civil engineering requirements. As a manufacturer ourselves, we understand the need to have high quality supply readily available, and we are committed to ensuring our customers get what they need. If you foresee a high level of demand, let’s start a conversation now, with a view to developing a supportive supply partnership to meet your needs when the time comes.
Every season, corn producers must decide on the correct amount of nitrogen fertilizer to apply, and generally look to the extension university in their state to provide guidance. Recently, the increase in nitrogen prices as well as corn yields has prompted extension soil fertility specialists to re-examine their recommendations for this nutrient. New recommendations and nitrogen rate calculators have been developed based on the most current nitrogen response studies, nitrogen costs, commodity prices, and in some cases, grain yields. (Research has shown that yield level alone is not an accurate way to estimate nitrogen needs. Consequently, specifying a yield goal is no longer part of the N-rate determination method in many states.) University/Extension Resources for N-rate Determination (for Multiple States in the Midwest): As the list above indicates, universities still vary in the methods they use to recommend nitrogen rates. Producers are encouraged to follow their state's newest recommendations, or at least re-examine their own nitrogen rate decisions based on up-to-date N costs, grain price, yield expectations, etc. Soil type, organic matter, previous crop, manure applications and other credits should be considered in any N-rate calculation. Local research and on-farm experience should also be factored into this important decision. Plants use nitrogen most efficiently if applied as close as possible to the time of crop uptake. Ideally, this might include multiple applications of N during a growing season. However, in portions of the country, fall application is a viable option for corn as a time management tool. Fall applications may be suitable if soils are fine-textured and the soil temperature is below 50° F, on average, for a week or longer and expected to stay cool. Anhydrous ammonia is the only nitrogen source that should be applied in the fall (because it initially is not leachable). With either fall or spring preplant application, nitrification inhibitors such as N-Serve® and dicyandiamide (DCD) can help reduce the potential for leaching or denitrification losses of nitrogen. Sidedress N application allows for more efficient fertilizer use since the producer applies nitrogen close to the period of maximum nitrogen uptake for corn. All common N fertilizers can be used for sidedress applications. Dr. Fabian Fernandez at the University of Illinois ranks N fertilizers from most to least desirable for sidedress application (Fernandez, 2008): In the case of surface applications, the fertilizer must be incorporated by rain or irrigation to move N to the root zone. With injection applications it is recommended to apply N between rows to reduce the potential for plant injury. There is no advantage to applying N close to the row since roots will grow into the middle of the row by the 4th leaf stage. It is also possible to apply N in every other row without negatively impacting yield, because every row will have N applied on one side or the other. It is also possible, though less desirable, to apply N by aerial application or high-clearance equipment. With aerial application, it is important to keep rates below 125 lb N per acre and avoid applying when the canopy is wet to reduce plant injury. If liquid applications are used, the rate should not exceed 10 lb N per acre. N-Serve is a nitrification inhibitor that is used mainly with anhydrous ammonia. Although it can be used with other N sources, its benefits are most proven with ammonia. Ammonium ions are positively charged and adhere to soil particles, which are negatively charged. In this form, nitrogen is protected from loss. But soil bacteria convert ammonium to nitrate ions (a process called nitrification), which are negatively charged, repelled by soil particles, and subject to loss. N-Serve works by inhibiting the bacteria responsible for nitrification, therefore, slowing the fertilizer conversion to nitrate and reducing the risk of loss. Using N-Serve as an additive with fall-applied anhydrous ammonia is a well accepted practice. Risk of N loss is higher with fall applications than with spring applications because of the additional time the nitrogen is in the soil. However, N-Serve may also provide benefits with spring anhydrous ammonia applications. This is especially true in years with wet June weather and on poorly drained soils, which can result in large N losses. Agrotain, the compound NBPT [N-(n-butyl) thiophosphoric triamide] is used primarily with urea and secondarily with urea-ammonium nitrate solutions. Agrotain inhibits urease, a naturally occurring soil enzyme involved in the conversion of urea to ammonia. This allows more time for rainfall to occur and incorporate the urea into the soil. The use of Agrotain is a sound practice when urea is broadcast and not incorporated with tillage or irrigation. Research shows that N loss from surface-applied urea can range from 0 to 50 percent. The amount of loss depends on weather conditions; loss is greatest with warm, windy weather and a moist soil surface but is ended by rain that moves the urea into the soil. Agrotain® Plus contains both N-(n-butyl) thiophosphoric triamide, a urease inhibitor which prevents nitrogen loss by ammonia volatilization from synthetic or organic urea, and dicyandiamide (DCD), an organic nitrogen material which retards nitrification. ESN®, Environmentally Smart Nitrogen is another type of nitrogen stabilizer which encloses N in a patented polymer membrane that releases the N as soil warms. This time release method is an alternative way to reduce nitrogen losses due to volatility. The preplant soil nitrate test has historically been used west of the Missouri river where rainfall amounts are low enough to prevent substantial leaching of nitrate from the crop rooting zone during the late-fall to early-spring period. Recent research has also shown a benefit of using the test in Wisconsin and Minnesota. This test quantifies the amount of residual nitrate present in the crop rooting zone so farmers can adjust their fertilizer rates accordingly. Samples should be collected to a depth of at least 24 inches. The preplant soil nitrate test is generally most useful in fields where substantial carryover of nitrogen is expected (e.g., corn fields with manure histories, abnormally low yields due to drought or hail, and/or high fertilizer N rates in preceding years). The total amount of nitrogen in the sampled layer should be subtracted from the overall recommended rate of fertilizer nitrogen applied. Another option is to use an algorithm or model that considers soil nitrate levels along with other factors to calculate an N fertilizer recommendation. For example, the N recommendation algorithm developed at the University of Nebraska is shown below: N Rate = 35 + (1.2 * EY)-(8.0 * NO3) -(.14 * EY * OM)- N credits where EY is Expected Yield (bu/acre), NO3 is the weighted- average Soil Nitrate Content in ppm, OM is the soil organic matter content of the surface layer in percent, and N credits are estimated for preceding legume crops, manure or bio-solid waste applications, and/or nitrate content of the irrigation water. The late-spring soil nitrate test, also called the pre-sidedress nitrate test, PSNT, is being applied in more humid areas where soil testing for residual nitrogen has not proven effective. This test is essentially an in-situ mineralization test to determine if additions of fertilizer nitrogen are needed. The PSNT has the greatest potential for soils with high mineralization potentials (e.g., manured soils or soils with high organic matter levels). With this test, samples from the surface 12-inch layer of soil are collected when corn is 6 to 12 inches tall and analyzed for nitrate concentration. The critical concentration of nitrate-nitrogen is generally between 21 to 25 ppm. If the soil concentration exceeds the critical level, it is unlikely the crop will benefit from additional N fertilizer. If soil contains less than the critical nitrate level, the crop will likely respond to additional fertilizer N. Recommendations vary across regions so you should contact your local extension office for those specific to your area. Soil samples are collected when corn is 6 to 12 inches tall, often in early June. Soil conditions should allow the collection of good samples from the entire one-foot depth. Test interpretations are adjusted when spring rainfall is well above normal. In fields where less than full rates of N were applied preplant, lower the critical concentration from 25 ppm to 20-22 ppm when rainfall from April 1 to time of sampling is more than 20 percent above normal. With full rates of N applied preplant (fall or early spring) or with manured soils, the suggested critical concentration is 15 ppm if May rainfall exceeds 5 inches. In these fields, if tests are between 16 and 20 ppm, consider a small N application. In situations where manure or full rates of N were applied, a suggestion is to limit additional N application to 60-90 lb N per acre, even if the test result is 10 ppm or less. The Minolta chlorophyll meter (model SPAD 502) enables users to quickly and easily measure leaf greenness which is affected by leaf chlorophyll content. The meter itself looks like a hand-held calculator with a clamp on the top. To use the meter, simply close the clamp over a leaf, and the meter indicates and stores a value related to the leaf greenness. Chlorophyll content or leaf greenness is affected by a number of factors, one being the N status of the plant. The advantage of using a meter to evaluate N status is that the meter is fast, non-destructive, repeatable, and can detect a deficiency before it is visual to human eyes. To get an accurate estimate of nitrogen needs using a chlorophyll meter, it is important to take readings both from your area of concern and from an area that you believe to be healthy and have adequate N. The chlorophyll meter is capable of detecting N status of plants only in those specific areas sampled. Efforts have been underway to utilize certain sensors mounted on satellites, airplanes, or high-clearance ground equipment. These sensors could determine the same information from canopy reflection that we can learn from the chlorophyll meter only over a larger area. If an aerial image could indicate areas of the field that are developing an N deficiency, farmers or their advisors could evaluate whether or not correcting the deficiency is justified. Sensors are being used that are mounted on high-clearance sprayers, and connected to spray mechanisms that would supply supplemental N fertilizer only to those areas where they are needed. Field applicators have been equipped with remote sensing devices similar to those contained in satellites or aircraft. Then, the applicator moves through the field, sensing the N status of the crop and directing the application of any needed N on-the-go. Future applications may include sensors mounted on moving sprinkler irrigation systems that could trigger site-specific fertilizer applications only where and when required. This test is based on the concentration of nitrate in the lower portion of the cornstalk after grain is mature. Research has shown that the quantity of nitrate present in the lower stalk at the end of the season is directly related to the supply of nitrogen present during the season. To use this test, samples are taken by cutting the corn stalk at 6 and 14 inches above the ground. The resulting 8-inch section is then analyzed for nitrate concentrations. Samples should be taken from about 15 corn plants per area sampled. These samples should be taken at about 1 to 3 weeks following physiological maturity. If the concentration of nitrate-nitrogen is between 700 and 2000 ppm, then adequate N was supplied to that corn crop. Concentrations of nitrate-nitrogen greater than 2000 ppm indicate excess N was present for that corn crop. The greater the observed concentration above 2000 ppm, the greater the amount of excessive N that was supplied to the crop. It is difficult to quantify N deficiencies with this test when the nitrate-nitrogen concentration is less than 700 ppm; therefore, the greatest value from using this test is for determining those situations where N is being supplied at amounts greater than those needed for optimal yields. This test is basically an end-of-season evaluation of nitrogen management practices used during the season. Significant changes in nitrogen management practices should not be made based on one year of sampling. If fields show excessive lower stalk nitrate values over multiple years then it is likely that nitrogen management practices could and should be altered.
Cradle Cap in Adultsaqicare What is adult cradle cap? When you hear the words cradle cap the first thing that comes to mind are babies. That’s true! Cradle cap is another name for Seborrheic Dermatitis in infants. It usually occurs during the baby’s first few months and clears up within a year. However, it can also affect adults, normally ages 40 and below. Adult cradle Cap or Seborrheic Dermatitis (Seborrhea, Seborrheic Eczema) is a chronic skin condition that causes skin inflammation. It is usually seen on the scalp but can affect other parts of the body where the oil glands are very active like the face, back and chest areas. Symptoms of Seborrheic Dermatitis: - Oily or greasy red patches on the scalp. - Forms yellow or white scales - Crusted scales are attached to the hair but can be easily removed - Can be very itchy - Your scalp can be sore - It can also affect the parts of the body where the oil glands are very active like the chest and back areas Seborrheic Dermatitis can sometimes be confused with Scalp Psoriasis. Please be aware that Seborrheic Dermatitis and Scalp Psoriasis are two different skin conditions. You can read more about their differences through this helpful article: Seborrheic Dermatitis vs. Scalp Psoriasis. Causes of Seborrheic Dermatitis Cradle cap both in infants and adults are not contagious. It doesn’t also mean that you have a bad hygiene. The underlying cause of this skin condition is still unknown. However, there are combinations of factors that can cause Seborrheic Dermatitis like: - Your genetic make-up. It is believed that having adult cradle cap is hereditary. - A fungus called Malassezia.Malassezia is naturally found in the skin and the reaction of the skin’s sebum and the fungus can cause Seborrheic Dermatitis - Weather. Extreme weather like seasonal changes; Cold and dry as well as hot and humid weather can trigger this skin condition. - When your immune system is weakened. Fatigue, stress and lack of sleep are also a factor. - Hormonal imbalance, some medical conditions (Epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease, and Depression) and medicines (Lithium, Psoralen, Interferon) can also increase your chances. - It is highly recommended to consult with a specialist for proper diagnosis and treatment.
Small scale broiler farming at Santhia upazilla of Pabna District of Bangladesh The experiment was conducted for profiling the existing broiler farming at Santhia upazilla under Pabna District during the period from February to March, 2012. Data were collected using an interview schedule from 50 randomly selected respondents who were involved in broiler farming. In this study out of 50 respondents 60% were engaged in agriculture, 36% businessman and 4% were in services. About 48% respondents had small size farms (100-500 birds), 40% had medium (501-1000 birds) and remaining were large size (1001-2000 birds). Most of the respondents reared Cobb-500 strain, those were purchased from Kazi Farms Ltd. Out of 50 respondents 30% took necessary suggestions from the experienced farmers, 90% farmers regularly vaccinated their broilers and 70% farmers taken short training on broiler farming. About 78% respondents considered market weight as 1.5 kg per bird, whereas the rest 22% sold broiler weighing about 1.8 kg per bird. Most of the respondents (64%) sold broiler at 30-33 d of age and about 80% respondents marketing their broiler at 110-115 taka per kg live bird. About 36% respondents had production cost approximately 90-95 taka per kg bird. In this study, about 36% respondents reported more marketing age of birds, 32% reported higher cost of production and 30% reported lack of training facilities. In conclusion, the result of present study could be considered useful to farmers and researchers to identify the overall problems and their remedies on management and marketing related to broiler production.
Nour Bishouty, Untitled (2022), inkjet print with die-cut stickers from the exhibition: Nothing is lost except nothing at all except what is not had by Nour Bishouty, February 3 to March 5, 2022, Gallery 44: Center for Contemporary Photography, Toronto, Canada. (Photo credit: Darren Rigo) Her father, artist Ghassan Bishouty, was born in Palestine in 1941. At 7 he and his family fled to Lebanon, caught up in the Nakba – “the disaster.” Thirty years later the Lebanese Civil War displaced them again, and Nour’s family settled in Jordan, where she was born in 1986. She now lives in Toronto, mostly by accident: A Palestinian-Lebanese-Jordanian artist in Canada. With uprootedness and disruption central to Nour’s experience, she gravitates to both in her art. Thus, she up-ends conventional art and installation practices with Nothing is lost except nothing at all except what is not had, her recent exhibition based entirely on Al-Wadi, a landscape painting by her father. In her show, she hangs framed works, their imagery obfuscated and askew, at random heights. She incorporates label-like wall text, off-center and hung nowhere near works a label might describe. A scientific-looking drawing is alone on a wall, ostensibly cataloging flora but including partly invented plants, the product not of clinical observation but rather the artist’s imagination. Even the complex syntax of the exhibition’s title disrupts expected norms. Photo credit: Darren Rigo Nour takes widely accepted exhibition-making practices and scrambles them, foiling our expectation of a staid and whole narrative presentation. Which makes sense, for Al-Wadi’s story is neither staid nor whole. In its fanciful portrayal of a picturesque Bedouin landscape, the painting itself is perfumed in nostalgia, evoking themes of separation and loss. Those themes are only amplified by the work’s provenance as an object, traveling place to place with its maker and his daughter, like a fragment from a lost world. By not adopting wholecloth any single conventional system for making and presenting work, Nour is highlighting fracture and gap, the spirit of Al-Wadi, the wellspring for the exhibition. The painting itself appears twice, each time in altered form: first near the entrance, where viewers can play the game of placing figures from the original painting on a digitally depopulated reproduction; second, within a large display table, whose glass top is etched with a grid and superimposed with (among other things) ostensible cartography symbols. The rest of the installation is similarly layered and complex. Photographs (some framed, some pinned) offer fragmented realist counterpoints to the stylized Bedouin world of her father’s painting. Odd-shaped tables in the center of one room display wooden likenesses of desert cattle and camels from the painted scene, elongated and distorted. The pale blue sky and warm sienna sands of the painting step off the canvas and onto the gallery walls as bands of color. It’s as if Al-Wadi has undergone some kind of thorough autopsy, or perhaps been blasted into bits, parts scattered, defying established mechanisms of order. Everything has wandered from its original home, resistant to ossified classification and systems – especially Western ones. Photo credit: Darren Rigo Which brings us to a seemingly small element of the show – the map pins. These simple tools (a staple of Western geocoding) are typically used on maps to pinpoint locations – to orient us. They’re also a useful way to pin paper to a wall, and a common sight in art exhibitions: tidy rows of uniform pins in the corners of works, all in a line. That’s not how Nour uses them. In the photo on the right above, we see the pins are plentiful, showing up here and there, helter-skelter, like tossed darts. Some settle on paper images or text in random fashion, while others miss targets altogether, pinning nothing but themselves to the wall. Which actually leads us to the point. The exhibition catalog describes Al-Wadi as having been created “in a somewhat orientalist style.” “Orientalism” is an excellent word through which to consider the exhibition, for it not only evokes the historical baggage of the oppressive Western gaze challenged by Nour’s persistent subversions, it also brings to mind a different word: “orientation.” As with many other elements in the exhibition, Nour’s use of map pins denies their customary purpose: she does not deploy them solely to pin something down, orienting the viewer. Map pins in Nour’s hands become a symbol of resistance. In her installation, we see several standalone pins of red, blue, and yellow. Like an accident, they are startling, landing where they will. They have become metaphors – like wanderers, free-floating. Like diaspora. Like Al-Wadi.
Gender reassignment (gender affirmation) has been legal in Iran for both Iranians and foreigners for decades now. Then, many health tourists choose Iran for this transition surgery for its state-of-the-art facility yet affordable prices. As you may know, most insurances do not cover all or a large part of the cost of reassignment surgery and therefore Iran can be a dream destination for health tourists wishing to go through this transition. Gender reassignment process Without a doubt, the gender reassignment process is complicated and should be conducted in a multidisciplinary method. For this process, many doctors have to collaborate and the person should be in the best state of mind possible before any surgery and of course during the hormone therapy. Therefore, the presence of a psychologist all along this transition is a must. Being aware of these complications, our team at Careful trip is at your service, every step of the way to make this wish become reality. Female to male transition For men who were born in a female body and therefore wish to reassign it, in simple words, there are three general surgeries: - “Top” surgery: removing the breast volume (mastectomy ) - “Bottom” surgery: removing the female sex genitals or even organs - Construction of a penis Before any surgery, the doctor will prescribe (attributed) male hormones, testosterone, which gradually causes changes in appearance and the body as well. These changes include the voice change, more hair growth especially on the chest, and some internal changes such as the stoppage of menstruating. It should be noted that almost all surgeries above are optional for transgender people; meaning that a man may wish to keep their vagina but have a penis constructed. Male to female transition For women who were born in a male body and therefore wish to reassign it, there are three general surgeries: - “Top” surgery: breast implants - Facial treatments or even surgeries to give a more feminine look - “Bottom” surgery: Penis removal and female sex genitals and organs construction Before any surgery, the doctor will prescribe (attributed) female hormones, estrogens, which will affect the appearance as well as the entire body. These changes include voice change, softer and thinner body hair, less sex drive, etc. You should note that due to feminine hormone therapy there will some significant psychological changes as well, such as mood swings, which is totally natural and understandable.
Gum disease is a serious issue that can lead to major health problems. This article discusses healthy and unhealthy gums as well as the factors that lead to unhealthy gums. Get more information Healthier gums look pink and so are firm. May very well not experience all of the signs of poor gum health, such as for example bleeding while brushing or flossing, swelling, and even some tissue loss from the tooth surface. There are many factors that may cause unhealthy gums. - Tobacco usage - Poor oral hygiene - Due to more severe medical issues, poor immunity - Certain medications including some types of antihistamines - Painkillers can cause dry mouth, promoting gum disease Healthy gums are essential to overall health. Numerous research studies suggest an association between gum disease and other more serious chronic health conditions such as for example diabetes and heart disease. Read this post here Healthy gums become your body’s natural barrier against plaque and bacteria, which can result in tooth decay. Some studies now show a link between advanced gum disease, stroke or heart disease. It is important to maintain good dental hygiene. Make sure you brush your teeth at least twice daily and floss regularly. ➢ Tooth Sensitivity Your dentist can help you if you have any of the following symptoms. That is due to chronically inflamed and sensitive gum tissue, that allows access to the roots of your gums. This may make it worse, and that means you should have your teeth cleaned as soon as possible. To schedule your appointment and get your mouth back in good health, contact with your dentist! He will assess your oral health and recommend any treatment. For patients with insurance, their insurance is being assessed by an insurance carrier. ➢ Bad breath Bad breath affects around 25% of people every day. Poor oral hygiene, which can derive from food sticking with teeth, can result in bacteria. This is often a significant contributor. This bacteria can produce toxic toxins, toxic gases, and bad breath. This may indicate gum disease. It will always be caused by poor hygiene and persistent bad breath. ➢ Bleeding gums Gum disease is when bleeding gums occur after the gums are cleaned and flossed. Bleeding can also occur when plaque builds up on the tooth’s root, making it redder or even more swollen. If you are unsure if the disease has developed or if it will worsen, it is best to see a dentist immediately. Healthier gums will be pink and firm. These are signs that your gums might not be healthier: bleeding, redness, swelling and gum lines pulling away. It is critical to remember that that is only. This article ➢ Persistent bad breath Other signs of gout include bad breath and Halitosis. The germs in your mouth can multiply and spread to unhealthy gums. If you have persistent bad breath or a bad taste in the mouth, consult your dentist. ➢ Tender or swollen gums You may have a bacterial infection or a problem with your gums. These types of swellings or redness can lead to bone and gum damage. Should this happen, it can lead eventually to potential dental disease. If not treated, then it may cause tooth decay. ➢ Red or distended gums In the early stages of gum disease, it may feel rashes or swollen and be even painful. Plaque builds up over the gumline of teeth. The sticky leaves harbor bacteria that can cause irritation and infection. ➢ Loose teeth If left untreated, gum disease can quickly develop into a more severe condition known as periodontitis and periodontal disease. This problem can cause more problems than the ones listed above, and may in the course of time lead to your jawbone or teeth falling out. ➢ Popular among readers The surviving stories about teeth should be fascinating. The ancient wives said that doctors shouldn’t be allowed to eat more than one apple each day. An eating apple a day keeps doctors away from your mouth. ➢ Exceeding saliva Too much saliva may lead gum diseases. Saliva is a natural part of a sound body that fights off infections and improves taste and swallowing. ➢ A metallic taste in the mouth area You didn’t need to wash the blood out of your sink as you were brushing. This may have led to the metallic taste in your tongue. The metallic taste could also result from bleeding gums. How to Maintain Healthier Gums? For long-term dental health, healthy gums are essential. You are more likely to develop gum disease if you don’t have healthy gums. This can lead to a variety of health issues for your teeth and oral health. Read the full info Here is a quick list for maintaining your gums healthy: Toothbrush: Choose a toothbrush with soft bristles. For your gum stimulation and reaching under them, bristles need to have both short- and long-fiber bristles. American Dental Association (ADA), recommends that you brush twice daily with fluoride-rich toothpaste. Natural Toothpaste can provide many benefits. In addition, it cares for your gums and teeth to promote healthy mouths. Click here to read more info Dental floss: If you want to keep your gums healthier, it is important to practice good oral hygiene. You can do this by brushing twice daily, flossing between your teeth and your gum line, and drinking a lot of water. Mouthwash: Use a tooth or mouthwash to protect your gums and teeth from bacteria. Gum Stimulator: Available in most drug stores, gum stimulators will help to keep your teeth clean and healthy. Regular dental visits: Regular dental visits are important to be able to prevent serious problems from developing.
Reeve, D. (2011) ‘Psycho-emotional disablism and the ‘dys-appearing’ body: Implications for the disability/impairment divide’, paper presented at Theorizing Normalcy and the Mundane (2nd international conference), Manchester Metropolitan University, 14-15 September (keynote). The social model of disability has been criticised for maintaining an artificial separation of the impaired body from socially constructed disability. Whilst politically this has been very useful in helping the disabled people’s movement recognise and challenge forms of social oppression experienced by people with impairments, this dichotomy fails to recognise the ‘carnal politics of everyday life’ (Paterson and Hughes, 1999). Drawing on phenomenological concepts, these authors showed that when people with impairments experience disabling barriers such as patronising behaviour, then the impaired body is brought into focus, ‘dys-appearing’ because of its perceived ‘abnormality’. It is clear that the experience of psycho-emotional disablism (Thomas, 2007) which arises from disablist attitudes and behaviours at the interpersonal level, is closely related to Paterson and Hughes’ account of the ‘dys-appearing’ body. Therefore, one aim of this paper is to examine what the concept of social dys-appearance can bring to an analysis of different forms of psycho-emotional disablism. I will show that this provides a useful deconstruction of internalised oppression, identifying the difference between ‘false consciousness’ and ‘double consciousness’. I then extend the analysis to the experiences of ‘passing’ and creating oneself as the ‘disabled subject’ when applying for disability benefits. These examples show that psycho-emotional disablism is embodied, which in turn has implications for discussions about the impairment/disability divide. Rather than ignoring impairment (social model) or suggesting that impairment is socially constructed, instead I will suggest that when considering psycho-emotional disablism, it is necessary to take account of impairment as part of the analysis of disablism. Bodies do matter; impaired bodies are not all considered equally in the cultural psyche. Therefore it could be predicted that prejudice (which leads to psycho-disablism) is mediated by perceived impairment – that psycho-emotional disablism can take different forms depending on what is known/visible to the other (non) disabled person.
An essay by Gustavo Rodríguez. -The dilemmas of the contemporary «anarchist movement» versus the instituting character of the «social movements.» . «Vulgarly it is held that the «great mass» could not remain without religion; the communists extend that claim.» Max Stirner, My Enjoyment of Myself, in The Only One and His Property. «To see what we have in front of our noses requires a constant struggle.» George Orwell, In front of your nose. Contrary to what all the verbal diarrhea of post-modern neo-Leninism claims about the so-called «social movements», the novelty of these movements does not lie in the replacement of trade unions and traditional political parties, but in the motivational structure of the subjects involved; That is, in the convergence of perceptions around multiple factors (economic-socio-cultural) that nourish the collective longing for the welfare state and the labor society and, through processes of social mobilization, constitute a new institutional force that serves as a platform for the different fascisms -whether black, brown, red or whatever color they are given in order to persuade the «masses»- and paves the way for populist leaders. Meanwhile, the social scientists (neo-Marxians and/or proto-populists) juggle a thousand and one times to semantically accommodate «institutionalization», giving the concept a one hundred and eighty degree turn so that it is grammatically instrumental for them; that is, hiding the intentions of co-optation of the struggles and forced integration to the «new» domination. In this way, they reconceptualize «institutionalization» and define it as a «mediation» (between the so-called civil society and the regime) that redesigns the forms of participation, the mechanisms of representation and the devices of legitimization, enhancing the «transforming» character of social mobilization in total «recreation of the movementist tradition» . In the words of the merolico mayor Boaventura de Souza Santos: showing the emancipatory horizons that they recreate as agents of social change, by participating in the construction of hegemonic ideas that drive the politicization of reality . Despite this evidence, the critique of the instituting maneuver of «social movements» has been mute in our tents. The shameless silences in the face of these instituting vessels -which suffocate individual breathing in the forced gasps of the movementist ritual-, have contributed to the theoretical-practical confusion that today plagues our circles, facilitating the imposition of alien programs and the adoption of the logic of the enemy (diametrically opposed to our desires for total emancipation). Instead of drawing a crucial dividing line, which establishes the definitive separation of the instituting struggles and punctuates the consistent action of contemporary anarchic grammar, an ambiguous discourse, loaded with vague expositions and excess of positivity, has been encouraged. THE SPECIFICITY OF THE ANARCHIC GRAMMAR During the turn of the century, «social movements» burst onto the scene as a «socio-political event». This advent was framed in the context of the reaffirmation of «excluded identities» and the heterogeneization (in the sense of great «diversity») of demands; assuming itself as an active form of contestation that took shape in the face of specific contexts of domination through the «transversal linking» of struggles, delimiting its margins of action through assembly and consensus. It was in this period of «movementist irruption» that this instituting strategy came to drastically influence sectors of our tents closer to autonomous theorizations than to anarchist praxis but, also in proven comrades who turned out to be obnubilated by the «grammar of mobilization» . These influences on anarchism, although they began to register a few decades earlier under the influence of Marxism sixtiesayochero (read situationism, marcuseanismo, dauvéismo, etc.. ), would be more palpable from the mobilization against «globalization» in Seattle (1999), the counter-summit of Genoa (2001) and the subsequent reproduction ad infinitum of the «alterglobalist social forums», manipulated by Leninism (which was barely executing the necessary metamorphosis in order to chameleonically place itself in the new scenario) and, social democracy, by means of cover such as the International Association for the Taxation of Financial Transactions for Aid to the Citizen (ATTAC), Global Exchange, etc. At that time, the camouflages of postmodern Leninism assumed the tonalities demanded by the political «climate» of each region, designing tailor-made uniforms in accordance with the theater of operations and imposing new «political grammars» (alter-globalization, neo-Zapatistas, autonomists, anti-fascists, communists and many other «istas» that appeared as the occasion required) that renewed their repertoires of action and activated devices of legitimacy; introducing a pragmatic twist at the time that allowed them to «accumulate forces» towards the realization of their objective: the seizure of power through the institutionalization of social movements. The grammar of mobilization is going to articulate a motley set of antagonistic actions -each one with its own language-, forming a bouquet of discourses and modalities of confrontation that, in reality, respond to the motivations of those involved («work for all», «decent housing», «free education» or, in the case of the most «politicized», «socialization of the economy», «end of neoliberalism», to cite some agglutinating examples); being subsumed in a generic destituting substratum («Movimiento piquetero» in Argentina, «Movimiento de los indignados» in the Spanish State, «Movimiento de Regeneración Nacional» in Mexico, «Black Lives Matter Movement» in America or, «Mouvement des gilets jaunes» in France, Belgium and the Netherlands) which subsumes them in a generic destituting substratum, Belgium and the Netherlands) that traps them in the daily dynamics of the internal construction of mobilization and prevents them from establishing differences between the various grammars and, deepening the incompatibility of organizational styles, methods of struggle and, in the end, of objectives. With this pragmatic perspective, the movementist melting pot is imprisoned -in the forms of political construction and the modes of distribution of power- in three grammars: classist, populist and autonomist. All of them alien to the contemporary anarchic grammar, indissolubly linked to the implacable exercise of our desires for total liberation and destruction of the existing. The specificity of the anarchic grammar far exceeds the movementist grammar – and therefore, the classist, populist and autonomist grammars – by not being reduced to forms of political construction and not being limited to public interventions aimed at «transforming» or «ratifying» (as the case may be ) domination. The contemporary anarchic grammar -with its spontaneous emulsions-, must be conceived as the praxis that constitutes us as anarchists and confers us our distinctive and non-transferable personality in the radical and unwavering confrontation of the system of domination, endowing our daily actions with intelligibility; This makes clear the tension that embodies the concreteness of praxis in the processes of elaboration of a critical assumption that ratifies the lines of escape and the necessary ruptures with the hegemonic social discourses that try to delimit the specificity of our struggle. In spite of the fact that some outdated tendencies within our tents (anarcho-syndicalists and anarcho-communists), share the economicist optics of the class grammar and, bet on the concretion of a Social Revolution that reorganizes the relations between classes and transforms -through the «direct management of the means of production» – the regime of capitalist accumulation into a productive system at the service of the dispossessed, this grammar lacks points of encounter with the contemporary anarchist grammar which has definitively broken with the utopian vision of anarchism and has assumed Anarchy as a dis-utopian tension, putting into practice its destructive will. The class grammar, starting from determinist structuralism, assumes the dogma of the inexorable development of the «class struggle», positioning itself as the «revolutionary vanguard of the exploited class», which it assures to be called to lead to victory. Its obsession with «class consciousness» has led it to subsume, without regard, the rest of the struggles, obstinate in demonstrating the veracity of the communist program. For its part, the populist grammar -which inexplicably also has fans in the most retrograde sectors of our tents- has taken on a leading role in recent decades as a «grammar of articulation» or «integration» within the grammar of mobilization, promoting the (re)construction of the «popular political subject» under the premise of «the inclusion of the excluded in the social order», the defense of «popular sovereignty» and the production of «hope». The populist grammar, in turn, is identified with the nationalist ideology and its cultural, ethnic, class and/or religious claims, aimed at the construction of «identity»; which favors the development of charismatic leaderships that invoke the emotionality of the masses and promote the strengthening of such «identity» as a vehicle for the transformation of the social order. The autonomist grammar, centered on assembly mechanisms as a «space for deliberation and the search for consensus», is equally incompatible with contemporary anarchic grammar; However, its attachment to «territorial work» linked to the construction of popular power as a «process of accumulation of forces from the bottom up» is attractive to some very peculiar «anarchist» circles (neoplataformists, anarchozapatists and libertarian autonomists), which emphasize the necessary reconstruction of a «social project», extolling «misery» and faith in «those from below» as cardinal ingredients of that grammar of integration with an instituting vocation -opposed to Anarchy-, ignoring that both variables have historically constituted the essence of fascism. Nothing more alien to the contemporary anarchic grammar than the classist, populist and autonomist grammars. However, we cannot avoid the imminent danger that those symbiotic (residual) elements that inhabit our tents under generic labels («subversives», «rebels», «revolutionaries», «anti-capitalists», «antagonists» and/or «contestants» , end up at the service of the culture of Power, seduced by these instituting grammars. TENSIONS AND SLOPES IN CONTEMPORARY ANARCHIC GRAMMARS Looked at as a whole, and now in perspective, the rupturist tensions that took shape at the beginning of the 21st century within the contemporary anarchic war, were too many and too deep to remain trapped in the instituting grammars. A new power, decidedly anti-social and anti-civilization, claimed for those years the theoretical-practical projection of its negating essence and its primordial chaos, breaking definitively with a utopian conception of society, of history and of «revolutionary change» excessively tied to the economistic notions of the 19th century and to the constellation of understandings, methodologies, projects, organizations and practices of anarcho-communism. It was there that we stopped living obsessed in the conservative defense of our past to move on to the transgressive conquest of our present, abandoning the theoretical-ideological order of classical anarchism to undertake the necessary reorientation of the anarchic war in the context in which we have to act, conscious of the need to start from scratch (abandoning the «lineage» and the ballast of tradition), emancipated from the past and, alien to the resuscitating attempts that yearn to repeat to exhaustion the outdated revolutions. That was the original proposal of the Conspiracy of the Cells of Fire (CCF) in Greece . Resisting to be subsumed in the traditional molds, they not only put an end to the inaction in our tents, but they destined three bullets to anarcho-communism: they gave a coup de grace to all the economistic verbiage, another to the populist exaltation and, the third, to the acute organizationism with its assembly methods and its political correctness. In this way, the possibility of building a renewed anarchic paradigm was opening up, making it possible to fluidly and harmoniously bring together new theoretical-practical developments that were beginning to tone up their muscle and invite replication throughout the length and breadth of the planet. But, in the midst of this rupturist plot, the occasional recuperators reappeared, wielding the UNITY of struggles and wielding a certain utopian millenarianism that -product of a bad digestion of Furth’s approaches and the anachronistic reading of the theories of Joachim de Fiore and/or, the apocalyptic disquisitions of the preacher Thomas Müntzer, [10} bet (and bet) on the fusion of myth and utopia, at this stage of the game. In this recuperative warp, the unitary grammar resumed its strength and we returned to calling communists «comrades» and, once again, we gave room to those outdated discourses that still observe the world from the bow of the battleship Potemkin and incite to repetition, only now orthodoxy and dogma are promoted in the name of the «new». In such a way, the rupturist imprint that animated «the creative nothingness» and those affinity groups (minimal and ephemeral) has been abandoned and those anarcho-nihilist individualities (furtive and fleeting), were extinguished or were subsumed in an alien grammar that imposes urban guerrilla strategies and proposes pompous Revolutionary Fronts, with certain Stalinist reminiscence. This regrettable regression to the narrowing of the world, to the narrowing of the «new», to the «new», to the «new». This lamentable regression has narrowed the diameter of our arteries in the field of anarchic reflection, which prevents us from confronting the very vastness of our praxis. It is ostensible that, once again, there is no clarity whatsoever in grammar and, therefore, «ideological» exchanges are postponed or, failing that, replaced by disqualification, suspicion and aggravation, in accordance with the old manual of the good Bolshevik. That is why a reflective debate within the anarchic insurrectional informalism is urgently needed. It is urgent to promote a minimum substratum that reaffirms our distinctive and non-transferable specificity; that breaks definitively with foreign grammars and; that helps us to undertake a journey of anarchist confirmation, reorienting the steps of our war. Within the framework of this itinerary, we have to ask ourselves new generative questions but, above all, we will try to give ourselves new answers that answer -from praxis- the needs of contemporary anarchism. Today, it is not only worrying but obscene to find in «anarchist» stores calls demanding the release from prison of the beloved warrior Gabriel Pombo Da Silva and that of the Stalinist Abdullah Öcalan. With identical shamelessness, here in North America, the release of religious fundamentalist leaders, spies and furious nationalists, to the detriment of our prisoners, is demanded in «anarchist» portals. Or, from Chile, they sell us the motorcycle – as the comrades of the web Anarquía Info inform us – with a list of prisoners that all these years we have taken for «related» and, in reality, among those listed only the comrades Mónica Caballero, Francisco Solar and Joaquín García proudly assume themselves to be liberationists; the others camouflage themselves with generic costumes («subversives», «rebels» and «anti-authoritarians»), but they have never broken with the Marxian-Leninist principles of the paramilitary organizations in which they militated. Of course, every time we make these points and such distortions are criticized, there is no lack of disciplining sermons. We are always labeled as «purists» and «sectarians» and, immediately, a flaming finger is pointed at us. Negro Fiorito used to say -and he was right- that every time we are accused of being «purists» or «sectarians» it is because we are reaffirming in words and deeds our anarchic essence, our demand for absolute freedom and the claim for a space where the individual can choose what determines his will. He also affirmed -without the least fear of words-, that we are really «sectarian», «purists», «intransigent» and even «totalitarian», because Anarchy sustains in totalitarian principles (the totality of the attributes and parts of something) its reason for being: the absolute rejection and negation of the State and of any authority (from the most evident to the most tenuous). And this, he declared in the sixties, seventies and eighties of the last century, in the context of what we have called «transitional anarchism»; that is to say, in those years of theoretical confusion and regression of anarchist praxis, fertile in social-democratic and/or Guevarist ravings, where some alleged «anarchists» (in reality, liberals saturated with steroids), kissed the dogma of the «class struggle» embracing Guevarist foquism as a «luminous path» to libertarian Communism and, others, influenced by Arendt, assumed themselves to be «anti-totalitarians». Today, we must guard against the risks of repetition. It is unacceptable to go back to ignominy. That is why the urgent need to point out a minimum and essential substratum, which enhances our grammar and promotes the widening of Black Anarchy in these days; an objective, a desire or, perhaps, an essential yearning that, at some imprecise but preferably near moment, we would like to share with all those anarchic individualities that show an undeniable theoretical-practical proximity that makes them road companions of an international conspiracy that bases its cause on Nothing. If this were not so, we would no longer have today, nor will we have tomorrow, anything of what we once were. Nothing of what is authentically substantial and defining that constitutes us as anarchists: the radical confrontation to all Authority and to each and every one of the forms and strategies of Power (including the instituting movements). 1. In order to support this contribution, I will use contemporary Latin America as a reference, even though the issues I intend to explore also currently affect several regions of the world. However, I will not delve into the particularities of the current situation of Latin American territories recently «shaken» by social mobilization; instead, I will address some of its characteristics from the perspective of the defining components of the political grammars that dominate social movementism and impose on it (invariably) an informally instituting stamp, oriented towards the seizure of power. 2. Such are the tricks implemented by the Collective Action and Social Protest Group of the Gino Germani Research Institute at the University of Buenos Aires, led by Germán Pérez and Ana Natalucci, at the service of Kirchnerist neo-Peronism. For further information, please consult the book Vamos las bandas. Organizaciones y militancia kirchnerista, Nueva Trilce, Buenos Aires, 2012, co-edited by Germán Pérez and Ana Natalucci. 3. Santos, B. De Souza, De la mano de Alicia. Lo social y lo político en la posmodernidad, Ediciones Uniandes, Bogotá, 2006. 4. The use of the notion of «grammars» evidently points to the work of the linguist and mathematician Ludwing Wittgenstein in the philosophy of language, while the concept of «grammars of mobilization» has been developed by the sociologist Danny Trom, based on the contributions of the «pragmatics of action» of Charles Wrigh Mills and its application to the study of the domain of mobilization. The Millsian theory, inspired by American pragmatist philosophers, «places motivation at the center of the articulation between the present of the action and the situation». Vid, Trom, Danny, Grammaire de la mobilisation et vocabulaires de motifs (Grammar of mobilization and vocabularies of motives). Available at: =es (Accessed 1/7/2021). 5. In the Latin American context, it is worth mentioning Chile, Colombia and Peru, to cite three examples of «transforming» institutional impulse, and Kirchnerism, Evismo and Obradorism, as examples of «ratification» in Argentina, Bolivia and Mexico, respectively. 6. Undoubtedly, the «mode of production» continues to be confused with the «form of management». Capitalism is a mode of production and this does not change depending on who manages it. That this mode of production is managed (co-managed or self-managed) by capitalists, technocrats, bureaucrats, military, trade unionists or cooperativists, is completely unimportant: it does not interrupt the movement of the law of value. 7. Here I want to state for the record that I consider conceptually imperfect and little defining all these «classificatory categories», reason why I have called them «generic labels», since they are assumed both by National Socialism and Red Fascism, indistinctly. 8. And that of their counterparts in Mexico and in the Chilean region. 10. See Cohn, Norman, In Pursuit of the Millennium. Revolucionarios milenaristas y anarquistas místicos de la Edad Media, Pepitas de calabaza Ed, Logroño, 2015. 11. As a sign of this Stalinist offensive, the growth of the «Frente Obrero», as reported by comrades in the Spanish state, is worrying. We would not be surprised if under this call for worker-popular unity, sectors of so-called «anti-fascism» and even of «revolutionary syndicalism» come together. Vid., Stalinist Front, in
Mississippi State University offers 23 Agriculture degree programs. It's a very large, public, four-year university in a remote town. In , Agriculture students graduated with students earning Bachelor's degrees, 69 Master's degrees, and 28 Doctoral degrees. Hinds Community College offers 10 Agriculture degree programs. It's a large, public, two-year college in a outlying town. In , 65 Agriculture students graduated with students earning 45 Certificates, and 20 Associate's degrees. Alcorn State University offers 4 Agriculture degree programs. It's a small, public, four-year university in a remote rural area. In , 32 Agriculture students graduated with students earning 30 Bachelor's degrees, and 2 Master's degrees. Northwest Mississippi Community College offers 5 Agriculture degree programs. It's a medium sized, public, two-year college in a faraway town. In , 35 Agriculture students graduated with students earning 21 Associate's degrees, and 14 Certificates. Belhaven University offers 1 Agriculture degree programs. It's a small, private not-for-profit, four-year university in a midsize city. Search suggestions. Saznajte više. Belhaven University Jackson, MS. Find local colleges with Agriculture majors in Mississippi Jackson Colleges. Full display page Students can choose the accelarated degree program if they would like to finish all the credits for graduation in less time than normal. Hinds Community College does accept transfer credits. The school accepts AP credit. Additionally, Hinds Community College has a summer session, so students can earn credits during the summer. Hinds Community College has a core curriculum, which means there are certain classes or types of classes all students must take to graduate. Yes D No D Former Hinds Community College student? W. Hodges Agriculture Mechanics A.A.S., Hinds Community College; B.S., Western Illinois University;. Hinds Community College - Raymond,Mississippi Some clients told them to design a landscape that incorporated trees made of cotton candy. Others customers insisted on having an area where they could dig up treasure. To deliver on these requests would be a challenge for any landscape designer. The designs were to be created based on feedback from design charrettes with the children who would be using the space and professional landscape architects who offered critiques. Comprised of professionals from Sebert Landscaping , CoCal Landscape , Greenscape , PLANET Academic Excellence Foundation , Thornton Landscape and John Deere, the judges panel scored projects on requirements such as whether the space engaged all five senses, created a habitat appropriate for native wildlife, was functional for students and teachers and whether input from student focus groups defined the concept of the design. The latter requirement seemed the most trying for the college students. The elementary school children requested elements in their garden that felt like porcupines and lip gloss. Ready to take your passion for the great outdoors to the next level? Curious about plants, landscape design or how to best support the environment with healthy lawns and landscapes? Interested in managing processes and people? If you are considering pursuing a landscaping degree to kick start your professional career as a landscape professional, explore the outstanding learning opportunities that exist at colleges and universities throughout the country. Whether you are looking at two-year or four-year options, there are dozens of landscaping degree programs offering dynamic instruction that graduate students highly sought-after by employers. Find universities and colleges by st ate that offer degree program related to the landscape industry. Jumpstart your landscaping career by pursuing a de gree at a college near you. Student Population Number of Students attending College. Accreditation Accreditation is the process by which the quality of learning at various educational institutions are evaluated. Čitaj više. Religious Affiliation Indicates religious affiliation denomination for private not-for-profit institutions that are religiously affiliated. Not sure what you would like to do after high school?RELATED VIDEO: Hinds Community College 3D Video Our Agribusiness Management program is designed to provide students with training in a variety of agriculture-related areas concerning the economic interrelationships of individuals, firms and service agencies that are affected by the agriculture sector of the economy. The Agribusiness Management program prepares students to enter a broad range of jobs related to the management of agricultural enterprises and the marketing and sales of agriculture supplies and products. As a student in our programs, you will take both technical and academic courses, with provisions for related activities along with on-the-job training and internships. You will apply business and economic principles, along with problem-solving and decision-making skills, to farming enterprises and related industries.
From the Capital One breach that exposed 106 million customer’s data to the theft of photos, driver’s license numbers and other information from the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol to the proliferation of malware that takes over host computers for crypto currency mining, 2019 has already been an eventful year in cybersecurity. We saw that while hackers’ technology has grown ever more sophisticated, much of the risk still comes from lower technology (such as legacy systems) and human factors—poor password hygiene, poor email procedures, and a willingness to trust outsiders. And finally, we are beginning to see the ability to hack spreading to a wider pool of malefactors as the market for hacking-as-as-service has emerged. This is enabling individuals and malevolent organizations with no special cybercrime skills to purchase these capabilities on the web. Just past the year’s mid-point, we take stock of major events, trends, and new products that have emerged in 2019, so far, and look at how our industry is likely to evolve in the months and years to come. The most compelling cybersecurity trends from the year to date include: Cryptojacking. It takes massive computer power to mine cryptocurrency effectively, and in 2019, we saw increasing activity by criminal organizations to steal that capacity from unsuspecting victims through malware attacks. Often these attacks are combined with ransomware. In this scenario, the criminal uses your computers now, and if you pay the ransom perhaps—not definitely—you’ll get the use of them and your data back. In some cases, criminal organizations are exploiting weaknesses in their competitors’ malware to commandeer already compromised computers to their own benefit. One U.K. survey found that nearly one-third (30%) of the 750 IT organizations they surveyed had been victims of a cryptojacking attack. Insider threats: A very large proportion of criminal hacks succeed because of human vulnerabilities, including social engineering, insider threats and credential, or password theft. These are hard to protect against since insiders (and criminals posing as them by stealing their credentials) have legitimate reasons to access data. Detection based on AI and machine learning: Cybersecurity firms are increasingly using AI and machine learning to train systems to recognize anomalies that indicate data compromises. Unfortunately, cybercriminals are also employing machine learning tools in an ever-escalating technology arms race in which hacks and protections against hacks are evolving faster than ever. The assumed breach mentality: The question is not whether you’ll be breached but when. Adapting to this mindset and structuring your cyber-defenses around how to recognize threats quickly and minimize damages is critical to cybersecurity. The human factor in data loss: Employees continue to be the weak link in an organization’s defenses, whether by responding to phishing emails, using easily hacked passwords and failing to change them regularly, letting unauthorized people use their devices, or even just hitting the dreaded “reply all” button on sensitive emails. The age of hacking-as-a-service: We often think of hacking as a specialized crime executed by highly skilled criminals who are experts in cybersecurity vulnerabilities, but increasingly anyone can purchase hacking capabilities on the black market. The availability of off-the-shelf Trojans or other viruses enable attackers to destroy or hijack infrastructure quickly. Cloud-based vulnerabilities: As more workloads and applications move to the cloud, there are a lot of new technologies and micro services (AWS, GCP, Azure) that are used, each with their own individual learning curves and security controls. Maintaining a good security posture in an environment of competing platforms will be difficult. The Year’s Biggest Attack The Capital One breach, reported in April 2019, exposed 106 million credit card applications, compromising bank customers’ names, addresses, phone numbers, birth dates and 140,000 social security numbers. It was one of the largest attacks on a financial services firm ever, and it highlights the danger of insider threats. The Capital One cyberevent also demonstrates how rapid movement to new cloud-based cybersecurity technologies can create unexpected vulnerabilities. Publicly accessible web applications can identify unsecured Amazon S3 buckets and misconfigured cloud services. Online services including haveibeenpwned.com can search individual email addresses to see if they have been involved in breaches. Because most people use the same password for multiple sites, hackers who obtain credentials for one site can often access others as well. Looking Ahead to the Second Half of 2019 Many of the trends we observed in early 2019 will continue. For instance, the human element of cyber protection will remain critical as organizations seek to protect their data from accidental or intentional exposure. Educating employees about phishing, instituting strong password policies and developing mature security programs will be just as important as high-tech defense countermeasures. Companies will also continue to adapt to new technologies and platforms, developing new tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) to secure their workloads in the cloud. We are also seeing an upsurge in SQL injection attacks. These are relatively low-tech breaches, in which adversaries insert arbitrary SQL code into a database query to gain control over web applications like order forms or information requests. Fortunately, these attacks are easy to protect against by using prepared statements, parameterized queries, and stored procedures, as well as by managing privileges carefully. And finally, the speed and frequency of attacks will continue to demand constant vigilance. In this age of social media, compromise can occur in seconds. The threat landscape is always changing, and new attack techniques emerge all the time. To stay protected in this environment, organizations need to provide regular, consistent employee security training that keeps people alert and aware of emerging threats. Growth of the Industry The cybersecurity industry changes constantly as new threats surface and new ways to protect data are developed. Armor evolves just as fast, seeking to stay a step ahead of our clients’ cyber-adversaries to keep their systems and data safe. We stay on top of emerging trends and threats in part by exchanging data with clients. We also provide the technology to react and respond quickly—whether your data is onsite, in the cloud, or in some mix of the two. Our automated threat detection and remediation can find issues more rapidly than any internal systems can, because we use sophisticated AI and machine-learning technology to spot anomalies. In a world where the question is not if but when you’ll experience a breach, fast response is essential. We help you identify and repair problems before they become an issue for your customers and your brand. Cybersecurity works best when all parties are informed and aware of emerging threats and trends. We help our clients stay up to date on industry developments by posting blogs on a regular basis. You can also learn a lot by following industry leaders in traditional media, social media and reading trade publications. IT professionals can pursue continuing education in security issues; AWS, for instance, offers certifications in infrastructure and security. The important thing is to extend training and awareness to all levels of your organization. Security training should be a regular, consistent part of your operations. Even with the most sophisticated technology in the world, human beings will always be a vulnerability, especially if they’re not trained properly.
Candida albicans is a yeast that is present in small amounts in everyone. Normally it lives in harmony with all the usual friendly bacteria that are present in our intestinal tracts. At times when the environment of the gut changes due to a toxic body, abuse of antibiotics, sugar laden food and a weakened immune system the yeast can proliferate and you can end up with a yeast overgrowth or yeast infection. Candida is a species of yeast that normally inhabits the skin and the mucus membranes that line the lungs, digestive tract and vagina. It is a member of a broader classification of organisms known as fungi. Candida Albicans and Candida Glabrata are probably best known for causing vaginal infections in women and is easily diagnosed by a culture from a swab taken by a doctor. The diagnosis of intestinal yeast overgrowth is more difficult and goes largely unrecognized by the majority of the main stream medical profession. Symptoms of Candida yeast overgrowth Candida has been linked with numerous and diverse symptoms all over the body such as lethargy, depression, headaches, asthma, skin erruptions, menstrual problems, allergies, chemical sensitivity, abdominal bloating, diarrhea, constipation, intestinal gas, frequent bladder infections, low immune function and many others. Is it any wonder that doctors are reluctant to believe that this normally harmless organism can produce all these problems? When Candida yeast overgrows it produces toxins which are absorbed from the digestive system into the blood and are believed to be the cause of the symptoms. This is often referred to as the yeast syndrome or Candidiasis. It can turn into a fungal form which produces long root like structures that penetrate the intestinal walls and causes a leaky gut ( increased intestinal permeability) leading to some of the many symptoms. Is Candida overdiagnosed? Many people in search of answers to their numerous symptoms that their doctors can’t put a name to often end up believing that yeast overgrowth is the cause of them. Candida yeast overgrowth has probably become one of the most over self diagnosed conditions there is. According to many alternative therapists Candida is an epidemic. What has largely been ignored by many practitioners is the fact that the diverse symptoms could also be caused by small intestine bacterial overgrowth or parasites or both. Yeast overgrowth may be present as well but unless the other two are treated the yeast problem will not be resolved. Tests for Candida As we all have Candida present in our intestines stool tests analysis rely on the quantity of Candida present. A negative test result however does not rule out Candida or parasites. A special technique known as a PCR stool test can produce better results as it detects the DNA of certain organisms. The GI effects profile from Metametrix is a very comprehensive test. In the UK Dr Budka does PCR testing. If you live in Europe there is a German laboratory that claims to accurately diagnose Candida overgrowth from a stool test. Oragnic Acids Test One of the best ways to find out if you have yeast or bacterial overgrowth is to do an Organic Acids Test. This is an easily done test that measures the by products of bacterial and yeast metabolism that are excreted in urine. It also give you an indication of fatty acid metabolism, carbohydrate metabolism, energy production, B vitamin status, neurotransmitter metabolism and detoxification. A very worthwhile test. A Candida antibody blood test can check for Candida infection through the measurement of IgG, IgA, and IgM antibodies to Candida albicans. The presence of IgM antiboides indicates a current infection. Hydrogen Breath Test A hydrogen breath test can be done to detect bacterial overgrowth. When there is a problem with digestion certain types of bacteria multiply and ferment undigested food and hydrogen is produced. Some it is absorbed into the blood stream and released into the lungs where it is breathed out and can be measured with special equipment. If you have self diagnosed yeast overgrowth and are having trouble getting it under control it is worth considering testing to rule out bacterial overgrowth and parasites as contributing causes of your symptoms. Body Detox is important if you want to get rid of yeast overgrowth
Join students in grades 5-8 with science utilizing Common Science: Day by day Ability Builders. And this is where a number of the traces I see everyday make me wish that everyone knew a bit laptop science: the single line (Fry’s, some Best Purchase branches, some banks) ready for multiple servers is known to implement first-come, first-served” — no matter how many tellers, cashiers, or other servers” come and go, the shopper who has been waiting longest will get helped soonest. Here is where laptop science shoots again to frequent sense: for so long as you need something, keep it close by; the closer one thing is to you, the extra rapidly you can get to it, and so doing any work that involves that item proceeds extra shortly. No matter how exhausting you throw the ball, it should always come again down, as it’s unable to interrupt the gravitational pull of the earth. Earlier to this investigation, the one throughout-the-board evaluate of cellular well being (mHealth) effectiveness centered on childhood obesity alone. Throughout this week, 5 extraordinary women scientists will be honoured on a prestigious ceremony, the fruits of a year lengthy course of, across one hundred thirty five nations, to seek out the most effective of the very best women in science. Furthermore, this department of science has been labeled into a number of sub-branches which make it easier for people to choose their respective class and proceed with it. If you are curious about pursuing a profession in psychology, it’s essential to determine which branch of psychology could be extra feasible in your intellect.
With the holidays fast approaching and the year soon to end, this is a time of year where stress feels inevitable. The holidays are both joyous and stressful between buying gifts, booking flights, and preparing for family time. Between the nostalgia of going home and the stress of family feuding over politics or how to stack the dishwasher, things can get overwhelming when it comes to this time of year. So with all that stress, I wanted to extend an offer to find peace during this stressful season. Mindfulness is a form of meditation that can help us better connect to our bodies. For example, when we are overwhelmed or stressed, we trap that energy into our bodies. It can cause us to feel tense, make it difficult to breathe, and make us tired. When you can connect with your body, you can better understand how emotions and stress sit in your body and find tools that help ease those feelings. The mindfulness tools I will share with you are 4 for 4, counting to 10 and body scans. Deep breathing can help settle your emotions, clear your mind, and help bring you back to the present. When you feel overwhelmed, fluttered, and struggling to feel calm, the 4 for 4 can help settle those emotions and bring you back to the present. The best thing about all of these tools is that you can do them anywhere. I like to do them in the car or right before a meeting. When you find a moment, find a comfortable position, whether that is standing or sitting. And take a deep breath for four seconds. Then you hold that breath for four seconds and then breath out for four seconds. This process will force you to focus on your breathing, bring down your heart rate and ease the tension from your body. Continue this process until you run out of time or feel settled. Like I said before, this exercise can be completed anywhere. The second tool is counting to 10. While it seems like a given, it’s hard to remember to count to 10 in the heat of the moment. Counting to ten can allow your heart rate to regulate, offers you the opportunity to process some of your emotions, and can help you prepare your thoughts to have a more accurate response. Taking as short a time as 10 seconds for yourself can be so helpful and rejuvenating. Even just 10 seconds can be therapeutic. The final tool is the practice of the body scan. The body scan can again be done anywhere, but I highly recommend doing it in the morning before you get up or right before bed before you go to sleep. Body scans will help you see where you hold tension in your body. The body scan is where you go from your head to your toes, checking in with your body. So you start at your head, asking yourself, “does my head feel heavy?” “Does my neck feel stiff, or does it feel loose?” When you identify how each body part feels, you can sit with the knowledge and slowly release those muscles. Continue this process until you get through your entire body. Doing this will allow you to become better acquainted with your body and a grounding technique to bring you into the moment and space. I hope these techniques are helpful for you this holiday season. Taking time for yourself is both necessary and important. You are just as important as those around you, and the more time you take for yourself, the better equipped you will be for those stressful family interactions. I hope every one of you has a restful and joyous holiday season.
Deliberate modification of the skull, also called the “Toulouse deformity.” (Photo: Didier Descouens/WikiCommons CC BY-SA 3.0) In 2013, archaeologists working in Alsace, in eastern France, uncovered something incongruous, and to the untrained eye, very strange. The researchers discovered the tomb and skull of an aristocrat, who died some 1,600 years ago. Her skull was heavily deformed, with the front flattened, and the rear rising into a cone shape. An amateur digger might have been forgiven for thinking they had found one of the “Grey aliens” that UFO-spotters regularly claim to see. This was an example of “artificial cranial deformation,” or in layman’s terms, the practice of altering the head’s natural shape through force. As odd as it seems, this was not a singular incident, or only representative of fifth-century practices, or something that only happened in France. Until the early 1900s, a form of artificial cranial deformation was still taking place in Western France, in Deux-Sevres. Known as the Toulouse deformity, the practice of bandeau was common amongst the French peasantry. A baby’s head would be tightly bound and padded, to protect it from accidental impacts. At around the same time, the practice was still occurring in Russia and the Caucasus, as well as in Scandinavia. It turns out that altering the shape of one’s head is not shockingly unique; it’s incredibly common, across time and geography. Its meaning isn’t fixed, so understanding why and how it happens can reveal much about the societies who choose to change the shape of their heads. Originally, head flattening was instituted to “distinguish certain groups of people from others and to indicate the social status of individuals.” In Europe the practice was most popular with tribes that emigrated from the Caucasus region of Central Asia, like the Huns, Sarmatians, Avars, and the Alans. Indeed, that region is where the remains of the earliest suspected practitioners of artificial cranial deformation were discovered. While early European observers of the practice in France and in Eastern Europe reportedly pitied children whose heads had been bound, subsequent research has led experts to believe that cranial modification has no impact on cognitive function, nor is there a difference in cranial capacity. According to a 2007 paper in the journal Neurosurgery, “there does not seem to be any evidence of negative effect on the societies that have practiced even very severe forms of intentional cranial deformation.” In Iraqi Kurdistan, near the borders with Iran and Turkey, a cemetery from the proto-Neolithic period was discovered in 1960. The site, called Shanidar Cave, dates back more than ten thousand years, and contains the bodies of 35 individuals, including some of the first examples of intentional skull shaping. The Huns and Alans both seem to have originated in Central Asia, and as they pushed westward into the Roman Empire (often invited as mercenaries), their practice of head binding came with them, and was adopted by some peoples living in Western and Central Europe. The earliest written reference we have of artificial cranial deformation comes from Hesiod, a Greek poet who lived between 750 and 650 B.C. In his book of mythology, The Catalogues of Women, Hesiod referred to a tribe from either Africa or India called the “Makrokephaloi” (or “Macrocephali”), which roughly translates to “the big heads.” Hippocrates, the father of Western medicine, also mentions the Macrocephali in his work, On Airs, Waters, and Places, which was written around 400 B.C. Not only did Hippocrates mention the Macrocephali, but he got their techniques right. Rather than making the people mythological, Hippocrates tells us their methods, and their reasons: “They think those the most noble who have the longest heads … after the child is born, and while its head is still tender, they fashion it with their hands, and constrain it to assume a lengthened shape by applying bandages and other suitable contrivances …” And it is not only European authors who found the practice amazing. Xuanzang, a Chinese Buddhist monk and traveller, whose 17-year journey to India inspired the Chinese classical novel Journey to the West, reported on the form of the practice he came across in modern-day Xinjiang, in Western China. Xuanzang speaks of the people of Kashgar, where “children born of common parents have their heads flattened by the pressure of wooden boards …” Thus, this woman discovered in France fits into a broader cultural narrative—one of migration, of high rank and social status, and of conquest. While it would be easy to write the practice off as being an odd thing that was popular thousands of years ago, it wouldn’t be anywhere near the truth. Across the Americas, in various tribes, infants had their heads bound and shaped by their parents. Both the Mayans and the Inca shaped their children’s skulls, as did the Choctaw and the Chinookan tribes in what is now the United States. Their reasons must have been the same, to allow for the child to fit into the fabric of their societies, and to signify class. For the Maya, it also held a religious significance. According to Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo, a Spanish chronicler of the conquest of the Americas, a Mayan explained: “This is done because our ancestors were told by the gods that if our heads were thus formed we should appear noble …” Two different styles of artificial cranial deformation were prevalent in Mayan culture, and indicated the wearer’s rank. Those who were destined (or hoped) to hold some position of high status, were given what is referred to as “oblique deformations,” which resulted in a high, pointed head shape. However, the general populace could only use an “erect deformation,” which led to a rounded skull shape, with flattening on the sides. Whether these shapes were in imitation of a jaguar’s skull, to show prowess, or in the shape of the maize god, to symbolise fertility, is a matter of debate among historians and archaeologists. Artificial cranial deformation was also recorded amongst the remains of people as far distant as Australia and the Caribbean islands. But it’s not just an ancient practice. It still occurs in some of the world’s more remote outposts. In Polynesia, the tradition still (rarely) occurs, as it does in the people of Mangbetu tribe, of Congo. In Vanuatu, the shape is associated with famous folk heroes and religion. A person from Malekula, an island in the Vanuatu chain, told the veteran anthropologist Kirk Huffman: “it originates with the basic spiritual beliefs of our people. We see that those with elongated heads are more handsome or beautiful, and such long heads also indicate wisdom.” More than a millennium after she died, the ancient aristocratic woman discovered in Alsace isn’t alone. Like any body modification, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. She still has people whose cultures revere the same head-shape and customs as her own.
Networks released its 2019 Atlantic Hurricane Outlook which forecasts a near normal hurricane season. The hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30 and covers the Atlantic, Caribbean Sea, and the Gulf of Mexico. After a busy 2018 season with 15 named storms, eight hurricanes and two major hurricanes, last year will be remembered for hurricanes Florence and Michael which caused nearly $50 billion in damages in the Carolinas and the Florida Panhandle. For 2019 the Earth Networks Meteorology Team predicts 10 to 14 named storms to form, with four to seven becoming hurricanes and two to three of those hurricanes becoming major hurricanes with sustained winds of at least 111 mph. This is very close to the long-term Atlantic season “Despite a weak El Niño this year, we are expecting a near normal hurricane season for 2019,” said Anthony Sagliani, Earth Networks Meteorologist. “This is due to an abundance of warm water found in the Gulf of Mexico and across the subtropical Atlantic, including off the Southeast U.S. coast.” The wildcard is the lingering El Niño, a periodic development of warmer than normal water temperatures across the equatorial Pacific Ocean west of South America. This periodic change in the Pacific Ocean affects weather patterns throughout the Pacific Basin and contributes to increased wind shear, or winds changing direction and intensity with altitude, in the Atlantic Hurricane Basin. Wind shear makes it difficult for tropical systems to develop and the ones that develop often have trouble growing. This helps counteract the increased Atlantic hurricane activity seen in the past decade and a half enhanced by a multidecadal climate cycle affecting Atlantic Ocean sea However, El Niño could weaken and diminish just in time for the hurricane peak and combined with abundant warm water in the tropical regions, could produce an uptick in hurricane activity.
In this activity (11th activity on the page), learners use pennies to test their hearing acuity. Learners collect pennies, drop them one at a time on a hard surface and listen to the sounds they make. They may observe that newer pennies have a duller sound than older pennies that seem to "ring." Learners collect data, compare and can share their findings with the author of this activity. This activity page includes a link to background information about the ear and hearing.
So before we put our stethoscopes on the chest of our patient, it's good to just revisualize the actually anatomy of the lobes, particularly the right lobes of the chest. So, we have the patient lift up their elbow and put their hand on their head, you'll find the lower border of the scapula and that's good indication of approximately where the border is between these, the upper lobe of the right lung and the lower lobe of the right lung. So I'm going to mark that here and I'm going to walk around and you can turn for me, please? And that line essentially goes all the way down to the sixth intercostals space, so that's basically the border of the -- or the upper border of the lower lobe. And the middle lobe starts around the 5th -- the 4th intercostals space, which I know is there because the external notch marks just above where the second intercostals space is and so I can walk down and follow this line to right around here. You can put your arm down, Shaun. This highlights how the middle lobe of the lung can be difficult to find if you're not specifically listening in the axilla or in the anterior chest, so if you're looking for a right middle lobe pneumonia which is actually somewhat common in the setting of aspiration, you're going to miss it if you're aren't very deliberate about listening in the axilla. With that, let's start examining our patient. So now that we've reoriented ourselves to basic lung anatomy with the upper lobe, the middle lobe, and the inferior lobe as shown here, and keep in mind that on the left side of the chest there's just an upper lobe and a lower lobe and then a smaller lingula in the middle. Now, we're going to talk about the different kind of things you're actually trying to find when you listen to the lungs, and the first thing I'm going to talk about is just basic breathe sounds and the types of breath sounds that you can auscultate with your stethoscope, again, the diaphragm, are either vesicular, bronchial, or something in the middle, which, you guessed it is called bronchovesicular. So let's talk about the difference between these kinds of sounds. I encourage you to actually take a listen to yourself or if you're with somebody else, you guys can listen together and just start by putting your stethoscope on the lower lung field in the back, and listen and describe what you hear. Take some full deep breaths for me, Shaun. Deep breaths through your mouth. So vesicular breath sounds are light, feathery and you may also note that inhalation is somewhat louder than exhalation. The exhalation you may hear the beginning of it, but it trails off very quickly. That's the sound of laminar flow through the small air ways in the peripheral lung tissue. Now, I want you to contrast that with the sound that you might hear just lateral to the sternum and I encourage you to make sure you listen to the right side of the sternum because on the left, of course, you're going to hear the heart which will confound things. So just listening to the right side of the sternum either on yourself or again on a friend, take a few more deep breaths. Now, it's a subtle distinction but you'll note that there's the beginning of something that we would call bronchial breath sounds. While you're still hearing that feathery light vesicular breath sounds in the background, you're also now starting to hear something that's a little coarser, a little bit more robust and rougher around the edges. Still you're hearing more inhalation than exhalation but there's the beginning of a transition point there and that's because I'm listening over the main stem bronchi in the large airways of his lungs in the anterior chest. But the next step is we're going to listen to the trachea, so put your stethoscope right over somebody's trachea in the anterior cartilage there and again, take a few deep breaths through your mouth for me, please, Shaun. And again, you can do this on yourself or you can do it with somebody else. And now, what we're hearing is very coarse, harsh breath sounds and you'll note the inspiration and exhalation are essentially identical in volume and pitch. There's also less of a coarse of noise, it really is moe of a specific pitch that you're hearing and this is characteristics of tracheal breath sounds, but it's basically representing or another way of mimicking so called bronchial breath sounds. Now vesicular breath sounds is normal, you should hear those in all the peripheral lung fields. Bronchovesicular should only be heard here at the areas just lateral to the sternum, but bronchial breath sounds, what we were just hearing over the trachea is not normal, it's abnormal anywhere in the chest, you should not be hearing bronchial breath sounds, because what they represent is essentially the sound of air moving through the upper airways but going directly through some sort of solid tissue to the chest wall where you're listening with your stethoscope, without any of those light feathery vesicular breath sounds along the way, which tells you that there's something that is preventing air passing through the normal lung parenchyma and producing those light feathery sounds. And that is typically going to occur with either a cancer, a large mass in the chest; or potentially a sucked in lobar pneumonia which is just transmitting those vibrations in the large airways all the way through the chest wall to your stethoscope. So now in addition to describing the type of breath sounds you're hearing, vesicular, bronchovesicular or bronchial, you're going to want to characterize the amplitude of those breath sounds and there's a variety of different scoring systems that people use. My approach is fairly straight forward, I simply describe the breath sounds as either full, which would be normal, moderate, fair, poor, or absent; and you can imagine that folks who have advanced emphysema with a very low FEV1, they may have a baseline only fair to poor breath sounds, you can hardly hear anything moving in the chest at all even though they appeared to be otherwise oxygenating reasonably well. So be sure to make sure you document that full vesicular breath sounds or moderate bronchovesicular breath sounds in different areas of the chest. In addition, you also want to look for adventitious breath sounds. These are the sounds that are in addition to your simply description of the breath sound themselves, you're looking for things like crackles, rhonchi, and wheezing. Crackles is a somewhat of a vague term, but it actually is describing the particular acoustics of what you're hearing, and we typically describe crackles as either fine or dry crackles, or wet also know as coarse crackles. And fine, dry crackles we associate with interstitial pulmonary fibrosis and things of that nature that is more of a chronic indolent progression of disease and they can really be replicated by just pulling pieces of velcro apart. They're very fine crisp, there's many different crackles that are occurring within a short span of time, and they have a higher pitch in general. In contrast wet crackles, so called because they're often times associated with heart failure with just a little bit of extra fluid in the alveoli and they're snapping open when you take a deep breath, those wet crackles are fewer in number, they are a little bit higher in pitch, they're a little bit longer and you're going to correlate them with how high they go up in the back of the chest that may give us a sense as to how significant somebody's heart failure may be. The next part of adventitious breath sounds is rhonchi and rhonchi is essentially are non-specific findings that essentially just suggest that there's some mucous lining the upper airways. They don't have a lot of clinical or diagnostic significance and often times simply coughing will clear those rhonchorous breath sounds. I should add, by the way, that oftentimes crackles, which could be a manifestation just of some atelectasis, a little bit of increased compression of the lower lung field particularly folks who have been hospitalized for a while and are taking deep breaths. If you have your patient cough that increase bolus of intrathoracic pressure can sometimes crack open those lower lung fields and get rid of the atelectasis and may make crackles disappear altogether so it's important to have a patient cough before auscultating in those areas. Lastly, wheezing. We always think of wheezing associated with asthma and COPD, and wheezing is essentially a chorus of sounds that you're hearing as there's increased turbulent flow through all of those tight airways that we were talking about before that tend to collapse particularly in the setting of COPD. They should be fairly distributed throughout all lung fields and you can categorize them as scattered wheezing or defuse wheezing when you're describing them on the chest.
The symptoms of ADHD in adults include poor concentration, being easily distractible, forgetful, but critically, those symptoms have to have been present since you were a child. ADHD in adults is not something that develops suddenly at 18. If one looks back in the past, one can see these symptoms going back to childhood. In addition, hyperactivity can be present in a child, which may progressively disappear as you get older. So the core symptoms are poor concentration, forgetfulness, a tendency to lose things. They equate to, in some people, adult ADHD.
Rock Climbing As a Workout Rock climbing, in its most basic form, counts as: A full-body workout. Cardio. Strength training. What is the role of rock climbing in physical activity? The core stabilizes the body, and leads to a stronger, less injury prone body. Climbing strengthens your hands and forearms, biceps, shoulders, neck, traps, upper back, lats, lower back, abs, glutes, thighs and calves. Rock Climbing complements and boosts performance in other sports too. Is rock climbing a physical activity? Physical Benefits: Why Climbing Gives You The Best Workout of Your Life. Climbing a wall will work every muscle group in your body, and it’s also a fabulous cardiovascular workout. Climbers burn calories at a rate equivalent to high-intensity activities like spinning and resistance workouts. What forces are used in rock climbing? More than anything, climbing is a tug of war between the forces of gravity and friction. Is bouldering harder than rock climbing? In summary, rock climbing is harder for beginners who struggle with fear of heights, while bouldering is more of a challenge for beginners who lack finger and upper-body strength. Will rock climbing get you ripped? Can you get ripped rock climbing? Rock climbing may not bulk you up as well as lifting weights in a gym, but it will definitely help tone your entire body. Some of the obvious changes will be in your upper back and biceps, but the smaller more targeted parts will include forearms and calves. Does climbing give you a good body? Indoor rock climbing uses virtually every major muscle group in your body, making it a great whole-body alternative to pumping iron at the gym. You’ll use the large muscles in your arms and legs to pull your body up the wall, while your abs work to keep you stable and balanced. How many types of rock climbing are there? Major types of climbing: Mountaineering; Trad; Sport; Top Rope; Bouldering; Free Solo. There is a lot of confusion among beginner climbers about what climbing is. What is the benefits of climbing? Regular climbing can improve stamina and endurance as well as muscle strength. In addition, all the reaching and stretching for holds improves ﬂexibility and agility. Getting out and about in the outdoors, walking to reach the crag you wish to climb on, is also good aerobic exercise. Is rock climbing bad for your body? In addition to promoting heart health, muscle strength and overall flexibility, the health benefits of rock climbing include staving off chronic illness like osteoporosis and arthritis. Any activity that puts a healthy level of stress on your bones is fantastic for preventing osteoporosis. Is rock climbing the best workout? Rock climbing is an excellent workout, but it can be rough if your body isn’t up for it. Weight loss helps many medical conditions, and rock climbing is an excellent way to drop a few pounds. Is rock climbing bad for your back? Climbing with a neutral spine puts the back in a safer position. Excessive backbending, especially on overhanging terrain, places the spine out of its natural alignment. Over time, this can lead to compression of the facet joints in the low back, causing pain with climbing. What is the main force that will stop you from moving in rock climbing? Friction is the magic ingredient in bouldering and rock climbing. It’s what makes the best moves and sequences subtle and surprising. Friction is a variable, some days it’s better than others and on the right day anything is possible. Are the forces balanced or unbalanced? When the motion of an object changes, the forces are unbalanced. Balanced forces are equal in size and opposite in direction. When forces are balanced, there is no change in motion. In one of your situations in the last section, you pushed or pulled on an object from opposite directions but with the same force. Is friction useful in rock climbing? Friction is one of the key parameters of climbing. The further away the centre of mass is from the wall, the more friction force is required at the hands. The coefficient of friction contributes together, and combined with, other performance parameters (impulse, smoothness factor) to the overall climbing performance.
As the world’s most effective NAD+ booster—NAD3 works by activating sirtuins, the healthy-aging and survival protein and increasing telomerase activity to protect DNA. Additionally it also boosts NAD+ the crucial co-enzyme associated with mitochondrial production. People have generally accepted a commonly held belief that aging especially after 40 translates to weight gain and a slower metabolism. However, clinical research has found the real reason for metabolic decline differs from what we’ve been led to believe for years.Continue reading Progressive overload is often defined as the ability to increase overall training volume during workouts. Whether it be by weight, frequency, or number of repetitions—continually challenging the body forces adaptations within musculoskeletal systems.Continue reading Let’s take a look at why people have struggled with weight gain throughout the pandemic and how individuals can take charge of their health once again.Continue reading Average life expectancy and health can vary tremendously throughout different regions of the world. While many countries are experiencing vast improvements in health and wellness, others struggle to maintain an adequate standard of living. Many wonder what makes some countries...Continue reading
Smoking cessation reduces the cardiovascular risk but increases body weight. We investigated the risk of subsequent myocardial infarction and ischemic stroke according to weight gain after smoking cessation, using a nationwide population based cohort. We enrolled 3,797,572 Korean adults aged over 40 years who participated in national health screenings between 2009 and 2010. Subjects who quit smoking were classified into three subgroups according to the weight change between baseline and 4 years prior. Myocardial infarctions and ischemic strokes were followed until the end of 2015. We compared the hazard ratios among smoking cessation subgroups, non-smokers, and current smokers. The mean changes in weight (1.5 ± 3.9 kg) of the smoking cessation group were higher than those of the other groups (p < 0.0001). A total of 31,277 and 46,811 subjects were newly diagnosed with myocardial infarction and ischemic stroke, respectively. Regardless of weight change, all subgroups of smoking cessation had significantly less risk than current smokers. The subgroup of smoking cessation with weight gain over 4kg showed the lowest risk for myocardial infarctions (hazard ratio 0.646, 95% confidence interval 0.583–0.714, p < 0.0001) and ischemic strokes (hazard ratio 0.648, 95% confidence interval 0.591–0.71, p < 0.0001) after multivariable adjustment. In conclusion, weight gain after smoking cessation did not adversely affect the cardiovascular protective effect. Several studies investigated how weight gain after smoking cessation affect the relative risk of CVD. In the study of Japanese male , successful abstainers had an average weight gain of 2.4 kg over the 4 years after smoking cessation. Blood pressure, total cholesterol, triglyceride and fasting blood glucose of these subjects were also significantly worsened. Nevertheless, the estimated risk of CVD was reduced by 24% as compared to the baseline, conversely increased by 9% in continuing smokers. In the study using cohort data from the Framingham Offspring Study , weight gain following smoking cessation did not modify the association between quitting and lowering risk of CVD even though it did not yield enough statistical power in diabetic subjects. Subsequently, a study conducted in Korea with more participants demonstrated that quitters with change in BMI greater than 1.0 kg/m2 decreased the risk of myocardial infarction by 67%, and total stroke by 25% smokers with statistical significance compared to sustained smokers after adjusting for cardiovascular risk factors including blood glucose . However, this study was only included males over 40 years of age because of the few number of female smokers. In addition, the body mass index (BMI) used to represent weight change in this study is affected by an individual's height. In a recent longitudinal cohort study performed in the United States , smoking cessation was associated with an increased short-term risk of type 2 diabetes with substantial weight gain over 5kg, but consistently reduced all-cause and cardiovascular mortality during extended follow-up durations regardless of the degree of weight gain in both men and women. However, recent quitters that did not gain weight had a higher risk of mortality relative to those who gained weight. Cardiovascular prognosis and mortality seems better in overweight or obese described by the “obesity paradox” , so the risk of actual cardiovascular events due to weight gain might be underestimated when determining mortality as an outcome. Therefore, we aimed to investigate how the real world incidences and the risk of subsequent myocardial infarction (MI) and ischemic stroke (IS) were related to the weight gain after smoking cessation in nationwide Korean adults, through utilizing the national data of health screenings and insurance records. Materials and methods More than 95% of Koreans are covered by the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS). Nearly all Korean adults over 40 years of age undergo regular health checkups provided by the NHIS every one or two years. The NHIS organizes health checkup data together with national insurance claim records to provide comprehensive information for medical research from patient demographic information to hospital records. This information includes examinations, laboratory findings, diagnoses, and treatments. This database contains a representative population based cohort widely applicable to various clinical studies . Our study was approved by the NHIS (Research Number: NHIS-2019-1-483). A total of 12,724,418 Korean adults over 40 years of age participated in national health screenings between 2009 and 2010. Of these, 4,315,426 people who did not have missing data and whose health screening data including smoking history from 4 years prior could be accessed were included in this study. Individuals diagnosed with previous MIs or ISs (409,446) were excluded, as were 108,408 individuals previously diagnosed with cancer due to the possibility of unintentional weight change. Ultimately, we enrolled 3,797,572 subjects (Fig 1). Definition of smoking history and outcomes We evaluated the subjects’ smoking history through self-questionnaires during health screenings including their current smoking status, duration, and amount of smoking. The participants responded to their current smoking status through one of three choices: never smoked, smoking in the past but now quitting, or continuing to smoke. Current smokers were defined as those who responded to smoke continuously from 4 years prior to baseline. Those who consistently never smoked were classified as non-smokers. The participants who quit smoking at baseline, but who were smokers 4 years prior were classified as the smoking cessation group. Weight change was calculated as the difference of weight between baseline and 4 years prior. We reviewed all the participants’ international classification of disease (ICD) code claims through NHIS until the end of 2015 to verify the MI or IS diagnoses. The occurrence of a MI was defined as an ICD-10 I21 or I22 code claimed at least twice, or more than once with a hospitalization. The occurrence of an IS was defined as an ICD-10 I63 or I64 code claimed together with a hospitalization and a radiological examination (magnetic resonance imaging or computed tomography). The participants who had a history of MI or IS identified using these ICD code claims prior to baseline were excluded. Newly diagnosed MIs and ISs were followed from enrolment to the end of 2015. the mean follow-up periods for MI and IS were 5.9 ± 0.7 years and 5.8 ± 0.8 years, respectively. Other baseline characteristics This study included both male and female Koreans aged over 40 years. Socio-behavioral information such as drinking (more than 30 g of alcohol per day), regular physical activity (moderate exercise more than 3 days per week or vigorous exercise more than 3 days per week), and income (below the 20th percentile) were obtained through a standardized questionnaire. Weight (kg) was measured with an electronic scale and BMI was calculated using height (cm) and body weight. Waist circumference (cm) was measured by trained examiners at the midpoint between the rib cage and iliac crest. Abdominal obesity was defined in accordance with the standard criteria in Korean male and female (≥90 and ≥85 cm, respectively) . Blood samples were collected during fasting and blood pressure was measured by a skilled examiner using a sphygmomanometer after a five minute rest. Hypertension, diabetes, and hyperlipidemia were diagnosed using previous claim record ICD codes (ICD-10 code I10 to I15; E11 to 14; E78) with medication or checking results from health screenings (systolic blood pressure ≥ 140 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure ≥ 90 mmHg; fasting blood glucose level ≥ 126 mg/dl; total cholesterol levels ≥ 240 mg/dl). In order to demonstrate the effectiveness of smoking cessation, we performed primary analysis by identifying the crude incidence rate (IR) and the hazard ratios (HR) of MI or IS. HRs were compared among the smoking cessation, non-smoker, and current-smoker groups with current smokers as a reference group. We analyzed HR by performing multivariate adjustments with confounders from a non-adjusted model to a fully adjusted model (Model 1, non-adjusted; Model 2, age and sex; Model 3, age, sex, and baseline BMI; Model 4, age, sex, baseline BMI, alcohol drinking, low income, and regular exercise). To demonstrate the effects of weight change on the outcome, the smoking cessation group was divided into three subgroups based on cut-offs related to weight changes (≤ 0; 0–4; ≥ 4) and tertiles, and HRs of each divided subgroups were compared with current smokers and non-smokers. In addition, we performed secondary subgroup analyses to identify whether differences in sex, age, and the presence or absence of metabolic diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, or abdominal obesity. HRs in primary and secondary analyses were analyzed using a Cox proportional hazards model with a 95% confidence interval (CI). Continuous variables were analyzed by variance analysis, and categorical variables were analyzed using the chi-squared test. Statistical calculations and analyses were performed using SAS version 9.3 (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA). Since the cohort data of NHIS was anonymous and adhered to confidentiality guidelines, we were exempt from securing informed consent. Our research complied with the Declaration of Helsinki through approved by the official review committee and the institutional review board of the Kangbuk Samsung Hospital (IRB Number: KBSMC 2017-06-004). Of the total 3,797,572 subjects, approximately 4.5% quit smoking (n = 172,439) and 20% continued to smoke (n = 768,087) (Table 1). Smoking rates were higher in males than females and the amount of smoking in past smokers was about 21 pack-years. About 61% of the subjects who quit smoking gained weight. The mean weight change of the total smoking cessation group at baseline was 1.5 ± 3.9 kg, which was 0 ± 3.3 kg for non-smokers and 0 ± 3.6 kg for current smokers (p <0.0001). In addition to weight gain, systolic (1.0 ± 16.1 mmHg) and diastolic blood pressure (0.3 ± 11.5 mmHg), blood cholesterol (5.5 ± 34.7 mg/dl), and fasting blood sugar (5.1 ± 26.0 mg/dl) increased in the smoking cessation group at baseline compared to the 4 year prior. Effect of smoking cessation on the outcome A total of 31,277 subjects (0.82%) were diagnosed with MIs and 46,811 subjects (1.23%) were diagnosed with ISs. The crude incidence of MI (IR 1.603 per 1,000 person-years) and IS (IR 1.994 per 1,000 person-years) were higher in the smoking cessation group than in non-smokers, but lower than that in current smokers. After multivariable adjustment, smoking cessation significantly lowered the risk of MIs (Model 4; HR 0.703, 95% CI 0.666–0.741, p < 0.0001) compared to current smokers. In the analysis of IS, smoking cessation consistently lowered the risk (Model 4; HR 0.7, 95% CI 0.667–0.734, p < 0.0001) (Table 2). Difference in the effect according to the change in weight Regardless of changes in weight, all smoking cessation subgroups showed significantly less risk than current smokers when spanning from the non-adjusted model to the fully adjusted model (Table 3). The subgroup of smoking cessation with weight gain over 4kg (mean increase in weight: 6.0 ± 2.4 kg) showed the lowest risk for MIs (Model 4; HR 0.646, 95% CI 0.583–0.714, p < 0.0001) and ISs (Model 4; HR 0.648, 95% CI 0.591–0.71, p < 0.0001). When the subgroups were divided into tertiles, the 3rd tertile (mean increase in weight: 5.2 ± 2.4 kg) showed the lowest risk for MIs (HR 0.641, 95% CI 0.587–0.699, p < 0.0001), and the 2nd tertile (mean increase in weight: 1.0 ± 0.8 kg) showed the lowest risk for ISs (HR 0.657, 95% CI 0.606–0.711, p < 0.0001) (S1 Table). In secondary subgroup analyses, the reduction of risk after smoking cessation was consistent across the categories of sex, age, hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and abdominal obesity (S2 Table). According to our retrospective cohort study of about 3.8 million nationwide Korean adults, weight gained on average and metabolic profiles were worsened after smoking cessation. Before our study, numerous studies have confirmed increases in weight gain after quitting [7, 14, 15]. Smoking increases insulin resistance and central fat accumulation, raising the risk of metabolic syndromes and diabetes . In the early stages of smoking cessation, continuous increased β-cell secretion in response to glucose and fasting insulin resistance is responsible for weight gain, along with an increase in energy balance due to nicotine withdrawal . Several studies have shown an increase in visceral adipose after quitting, which over time gradually dropped compared to that of non-smokers [6, 18]. Changes in abdominal obesity, insulin resistance, and the incidence of type 2 diabetes mellitus showed a similar pattern that increases after smoking cessation and then decreases [10, 19]. Despite weight gain, we found that the risk of MIs and ISs in quitters was lower than current smokers. Furthermore, weight gain after quitting was not associated with a relative increase in the risk. Several mechanisms could explain the prevention of cardiovascular disease despite weight gain and the deteriorated metabolic profile after smoking cessation. Post-cessation-related obesity could contribute to insulin resistance, but the benefits of stopping smoking due to reverse the worsening of insulin resistance caused by nicotine outweigh the risks . Insulin modulates lipoprotein lipase (LPL) activity, and this enzyme expressed by the adipose tissue has an anti-atherogenic effect through improving circulating lipoprotein profiles . The paradoxical response of adipose LPL to glucose in smokers was improved by stopping smoking, contributing to weight gain and increasing adipose tissue LPL activity [22, 23]. Researchers from the REGRESS study group demonstrated that LPL activity was inversely associated with severity of angina pectoris . A clinical study investigating the preheparin LPL mass in patients with coronary atherosclerosis showed that the amount of preheparin serum LPL was significantly lower in patients with coronary atherosclerosis, which was negatively correlated with triglycerides and positively correlated with HDL cholesterol . Smoking is a more potent mediator for normalization of cardio-protective high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) than weight gain . In aforementioned study of Japanese male, it was observed that HDL-C increased steadily despite weight gain after smoking cessation . Adiponectin, which is a fundamental factor of lipid metabolism and plays an important role in the development of cardiovascular disease, increases after smoking cessation and does not decrease in spite of increased body weight and abdominal obesity due to quit smoking . One interesting result which emerged from our study was that the group with weight loss after smoking cessation had a significantly lower risk of MIs or ISs than current smokers, but seemed to have a higher incidence and relative risk compared to the group with weight gain after quitting. In the previous study of Koreans with similar designs to ours, no significant risk reduction of MI and total stroke were identified in quitters with BMI loss compared to sustained smokers . This tendency to increase the relative risk of the weight loss group might have been influenced by other causes accompanying unintentional weight loss and/or sarcopenia, despite we excluded patients previously diagnosed with cancer. Subsequent unintentional weight loss due to aging, health problems or chronic disease is closely related to sarcopenia . Several studies in Koreans found the association between sarcopenia and the risk of cardiovascular disease [29, 30]. In addition, we did not exactly know why the subjects of our study quit smoking and there is a possibility that those who attempted to quitting were influenced by other health problems. Therefore, it would be necessary to conduct further research that including the causes and intentions of weight loss after smoking cessation, and whether accompanied by sarcopenia or not. Our study including both sexes and all adults over 40 years of age who had undergone periodic medical examinations across the country, represented the entire nation of Korean adults. We used the measured weight rather than self-checked weight to reduce error. In order to ensure statistical significance, large number of individuals in the smoking cessation group were included, and various models were calibrated to minimize confounding outcomes between smoking cessation and weight change. Despite these efforts, our study had several limitations. First, our study only analyzed one-time point for smoking cessation and we could not confirm the exact starting point and duration of smoking cessation. This ‘point prevalence’ design which could not identify the changes of exposure over time could lead to an error in weight gain measurement and result interpretation [10, 31]. Secondly, a selection bias cannot be ruled out because only the participants with access to the medical examination record and smoking history of the 4 years prior were allowed to the study. Thirdly, there is a possibility of bias in the confirmation of characteristics through self-questionnaires and the diagnosis of outcomes through insurance claims. Lastly, since we included only Koreans in our study, the effect of smoking cessation on weight gain and its impact on the outcome may be different in other countries and ethnicities. In conclusion, smoking cessation was effective in reducing the risk of MIs and ISs. Although weight gain after smoking cessation had a temporary adverse effect on the metabolic profile, it did not affect the protection that smoking cessation provided to the cardiovascular system. - 10. Hu Y, Zong G, Liu G, Wang M, Rosner B, Pan A, et al. Smoking Cessation, Weight Change, Type 2 Diabetes, and Mortality. New England Journal of Medicine. 2018;379(7):623–32. pmid:30110591. - 11. Hainer V, Aldhoon-Hainerová I. Obesity Paradox Does Exist. Diabetes Care. 2013;36(Supplement 2):S276–S81. pmid:23882059 - 12. Lee J, Lee JS, Park S-H, Shin SA, Kim K. Cohort Profile: The National Health Insurance Service–National Sample Cohort (NHIS-NSC), South Korea. International Journal of Epidemiology. 2016;46(2):e15–e. pmid:26822938 - 13. Yoon YS, Oh SW. Optimal Waist Circumference Cutoff Values for the Diagnosis of Abdominal Obesity in Korean Adults. Endocrinol Metab. 2014;29(4):418–26. - 14. Williamson DF, Madans J, Anda RF, Kleinman JC, Giovino GA, Byers T. Smoking Cessation and Severity of Weight Gain in a National Cohort. New England Journal of Medicine. 1991;324(11):739–45. pmid:1997840. - 15. Aubin H-J, Farley A, Lycett D, Lahmek P, Aveyard P. Weight gain in smokers after quitting cigarettes: meta-analysis. BMJ: British Medical Journal. 2012;345:e4439. pmid:22782848 - 16. Faeh D, Paccaud F, Cornuz J, Chiolero A. Consequences of smoking for body weight, body fat distribution, and insulin resistance. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2008;87(4):801–9. pmid:18400700 - 17. Marietta S, Larissa T, Angela S, Michael W, Slobodan P, Christian B, et al. Effects of smoking cessation on β-cell function, insulin sensitivity, body weight, and appetite. European Journal of Endocrinology. 2014;170(2):219–27. pmid:24179100 - 18. Lee K, Lee CM, Kwon HT, Oh S-W, Choi H, Park JH, et al. Associations of smoking and smoking cessation with CT-measured visceral obesity in 4656 Korean men. Preventive Medicine. 2012;55(3):183–7. pmid:22728048 - 19. Kim K-W, Kang S-G, Song S-W, Kim N-R, Rho J-S, Lee Y-A. Association between the Time of Length since Smoking Cessation and Insulin Resistance in Asymptomatic Korean Male Ex-Smokers. Journal of Diabetes Research. 2017;2017:7. pmid:28706954 - 20. Harris KK, Zopey M, Friedman TC. Metabolic effects of smoking cessation. Nature reviews Endocrinology. 2016;12(5):299–308. Epub 2016/03/05. pmid:26939981; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5021526. - 21. Mead JR, Ramji DP. The pivotal role of lipoprotein lipase in atherosclerosis. Cardiovascular research. 2002;55(2):261–9. Epub 2002/07/19. pmid:12123765. - 22. Chajek-Shaul T, Berry EM, Ziv E, Friedman G, Stein O, Scherer G, et al. Smoking depresses adipose lipoprotein lipase response to oral glucose. European journal of clinical investigation. 1990;20(3):299–304. Epub 1990/06/01. pmid:2114991. - 23. Ferrara CM, Kumar M, Nicklas B, McCrone S, Goldberg AP. Weight gain and adipose tissue metabolism after smoking cessation in women. International journal of obesity and related metabolic disorders: journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity. 2001;25(9):1322–6. Epub 2001/09/26. pmid:11571594. - 24. Kastelein JJ, Jukema JW, Zwinderman AH, Clee S, van Boven AJ, Jansen H, et al. Lipoprotein lipase activity is associated with severity of angina pectoris. REGRESS Study Group. Circulation. 2000;102(14):1629–33. Epub 2000/10/04. pmid:11015339. - 25. Hitsumoto T, Ohsawa H, Uchi T, Noike H, Kanai M, Yoshinuma M, et al. Preheparin serum lipoprotein lipase mass is negatively related to coronary atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis. 2000;153(2):391–6. Epub 2001/02/13. pmid:11164428. - 26. Chelland Campbell S, Moffatt RJ, Stamford BA. Smoking and smoking cessation—the relationship between cardiovascular disease and lipoprotein metabolism: a review. Atherosclerosis. 2008;201(2):225–35. Epub 2008/06/21. pmid:18565528. - 27. Komiyama M, Wada H, Yamakage H, Satoh-Asahara N, Sunagawa Y, Morimoto T, et al. Analysis of changes on adiponectin levels and abdominal obesity after smoking cessation. PLOS ONE. 2018;13(8):e0201244. pmid:30086171 - 28. Bales CW, Ritchie CS. Sarcopenia, weight loss, and nutritional frailty in the elderly. Annu Rev Nutr. 2002;22:309–23. Epub 2002/06/11. pmid:12055348. - 29. Chin SO, Rhee SY, Chon S, Hwang YC, Jeong IK, Oh S, et al. Sarcopenia is independently associated with cardiovascular disease in older Korean adults: the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) from 2009. PLoS One. 2013;8(3):e60119. Epub 2013/03/28. pmid:23533671; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3606314. - 30. Kim JH, Cho JJ, Park YS. Relationship between sarcopenic obesity and cardiovascular disease risk as estimated by the Framingham risk score. J Korean Med Sci. 2015;30(3):264–71. Epub 2015/03/03. pmid:25729248; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4330480. - 31. Klesges RC, Winders SE, Meyers AW, Eck LH, Ward KD, Hultquist CM, et al. How much weight gain occurs following smoking cessation: A comparison of weight gain using both continuous and point prevalence abstinence. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. 1997;65(2):286–91. pmid:9086692
Cairo, Egypt – Jan. 15, 2020 – Mastercard announced a global effort to pay garment factory workers digitally, a pivot from traditional cash payroll, to ensure they receive their hard-earned wages securely and consistently. With industry partners including Levi Strauss & Co., Marks & Spencer and Vanity Fair Corp., and in conjunction with global nonprofit BSR (Business for Social Responsibility), this program aims to improve the wellbeing of factory workers – a community of millions in the developing world – who currently don’t have access to the financial tools or services that can help them and their families thrive. As a pilot in Egypt, Mastercard and Levi Straus & Co. have united to digitize the wages of over 10,000 garment factory workers in Port Said as part of a joint effort to drive financial inclusion and economic security. In partnership with CIB, Mastercard will roll out a hybrid digital payment solution to enable these workers to access funds, make payments and manage their money through a debit card and a mobile wallet. The factories will deposit wages in the workers’ accounts, and workers will be able to activate digital wallets through which they can pay for products, services, and bills, send money directly to their families and friends, as well as have access to cash in a convenient manner. The initiative is a step forward in Mastercard’s financial inclusion commitment to reach 500 million people previously excluded from financial services by 2020. Mohamed Assem, Mastercard’s Country Manager for Egypt, commented on this announcement, stating: “This groundbreaking initiative is Mastercard’s way of ensuring that garment workers are empowered and provided with the same opportunities of financial inclusion afforded to the rest of society. By participating in cashless systems, workers will increase their purchasing power and gain better representation in the formal economy. This program supports the national efforts in Port Said made by the government to digitize all financial transactions and create a secure economic landscape that benefits every citizen.” “As Egypt takes solid strides towards a digital economy, we are pleased to be part of this innovative pilot. Empowering our workers with digital payment solutions will facilitate their daily payments in a safe, easy and convenient manner, as well as help them better manage their finances. We are proud to collaborate with industry leaders and look forward to making a sustainable change in the lives of our workers by creating endless economic opportunities for them and their families,” said Tamer Eldesouky, Sustainability Manger of Lotus Garments, the company manufacturing garments for Levi Strauss in Egypt. The garment industry is one of the most distinctive industries in Egypt accounting for 3% of GDP, 27% of the industrial output and 10% of total exports, which reached $534.8 million as of the third quarter of 2018. The industry benefits from many competitive advantages in Egypt, such as increased labor supply and lower wage rates, compared to other countries. Due to the significant challenges created by cash-based payments, garment factory workers are excluded from benefiting from the current electronic improvements made towards bill payments. Additionally, beneficiaries of this initiative are no longer susceptible to theft which is a common byproduct of cash wages. By partnering with companies that manage labor-intensive supply chains, including garment manufacturing, Mastercard is introducing a digitization program with training support, to help factory workers onto a sustainable path to a more secure financial future. By linking payroll to banking apps and digital wallets, regular payments can help tens of thousands of people step into the world’s formal economy. “Mastercard is an excellent partner for a pilot program like this, due to the infrastructure they have built around digital payment systems coupled with our longstanding commitment to the well-being of workers,” says Michael Kobori, Vice President of Sustainability, Levi Strauss & Co. “We look forward to seeing the outcomes of the pilot and hope this advances efforts to realize the potential of digital payments to benefit workers across apparel supply chains.” The Egyptian garment industry employs one and a half million workers, representing 30% of the workforce in Egypt, and with over 68% of global garment workers being women, Mastercard’s program provides a profound objective. In addition to ensuring workers are supported through the use of digital payments, the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth and BSR’s HERfinance Digital Wages education program have partnered up with the specific aim to empower women in the garment industry. HERfinance Digital Wages is part of the HERproject, a leading workplace-based program in global supply chains that equip women with the tools necessary to take charge of their careers through proactive workshops based around knowledge and skills on health, financial inclusion and gender equality.
Our leading custom writing service provides custom written papers in 80+ disciplines. Order essays, research papers, term papers, book reviews, assignments, dissertation, thesis or extensive dissertations & our expert ENL writers will easily prepare a paper according to your requirements. You’ll get your high quality plagiarism-free paper according to your deadline! No Bullshit!! Experiment with the Daisy World (Daisy Ball)Daisy World is a very simple model of a system with external forcing (solar luminosity) and feedbacks (white and black daisies).Solar luminosity increases with time, and the system tries to keep the temperature from rising (stable climate) by changing the area covered by white and black daisies. White daisies prefer warmer temperatures and have high albedo, black daisies prefer colder temperatures and have low albedo. See notes for the Climate Feedbacks lecture and online description at for more details.For this assignment, use the online model at DaisyBall.html. An example of a climate simulation is in the Figure 1 below. On the left of this figure, you see two graphs:(top plot) area taken by white (white line) and black (black line) daisies, and area that is taken by bare land (brown line);(bottom plot) temperature of the Daisy World: actual temperature (purple) and temperature this planet would have if there were no daisies (brown).As the time passes, the solar luminosity increases in both plots.FIGURE 1: For the assignment:1) Run the standard case (default parameters) and describe what you see 2) Now change the system parameters by clicking on Advanced button. You will see severaloptions (Figure 2). Change one of the parameters: albedo of black/white daisies, how fast luminosity changes, daisy deathrate (minimum area covered by daisies), etc. Describe how the system behavior is different from the standard case. Explain what you see. FIGURE 2:
After a frustrating semester, we knew our approach to teaching needed to change. Our students were struggling to communicate clearly and correctly through their writing. We started brainstorming how we could make a significant difference in our students' writing--something that would prepare them for high school, for college, and for that matter, life. We dreamed about a classroom where students not only loved to write but also were capable of writing well. We knew that dream could not become a reality until our students understood grammar and mechanics. Together we designed a pathway that nests fundamental grammar skills within a logical progression that improves writing. We immediately implemented the change in our own classrooms. We began to create invigorating grammar lessons, fun writing prompts, and we offered tailored feedback for our students. We found this system to be effective, so we ran with it; the results were astonishing. Our students enjoyed knowing grammar skills, and they loved to write using their new arsenal of grammar tools. Other teachers noticed the change, and they began to ask what we were doing differently. We couldn’t keep this idea to ourselves, and we knew it had to expand beyond our classrooms. We started talking with other teachers, administrators, and community members and concluded that there was a clear need; thus, we created Gravana. Gravana started as a small summer tutoring program, it expanded to a licensed classroom and district curriculum, and it is now expanding to an online interface (a learning management ecosystem). Gravana looks forward to expanding its influence in South Dakota and the greater Midwest. I have been an English and Language Arts (ELA) teacher at Harrisburg North Middle School in Sioux Falls, SD, for four years. I majored in English Education from The University of Sioux Falls with minors in English Language Learners and Communication Studies and Theatre. During my time, I took every opportunity to be a part of the local schools and help support student learning. During that time, I learned a lot about what it takes to teach in concrete ways the intricacies and grammatical rules of the English language, especially to students whose first language is something other than English to struggling students. Some areas which help me are the following: - Google Certified Teacher Certification (2015) - Teaching of a CO- OP class for the past four years, inclusion of SPED students)--(2012-2016) - Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership-- (2016) (University of Sioux Falls) I am passionate about increasing student skills and ensuring all students find success with expressing themselves in a way which the rest of the world expects. I have been teaching 7th grade English Language Arts at Harrisburg North Middle School for the last three years. I love communicating, connecting, and collaborating with others. I have a heart for writing, and I love to share that passion with my students. I am a coach by nature, and I utilize my coaching mindset to encourage, support, and drive my students to reach their highest potential. I am currently pursuing a master's degree in School Counseling from South Dakota State University, and I look forward to utilizing writing as an enriching resource. - WEB Coordinator--6th Grade Orientation Coordinator (2013-2016) - Advanced ELA instructor (2013-2015) - Teaching of a CO-OP SPED class with IEP students (2015-2016) - National Certified Coach (2016)
Kent State Student Reaches Sky-High for the Academic S.T.A.R.S. When Jordan Wilkins was a senior in high school, he thought he knew what he wanted after graduation – a career in the United States Air Force. However, his principal envisioned a different path, one where he would soar sky-high, not in a plane but at a four-year university. “We talked about the different options,” Mr. Wilkins said. “He helped me apply to Kent State. He visited colleges with me.” After his initial visit to Kent State University, Mr. Wilkins joined Academic S.T.A.R.S., which stands for Students Achieving and Reaching for Success. The six-week cultural transition and retention program is designed for newly admitted African American, Latinx American, Hispanic, Native American and Multiracial freshman. The program helps prepare students to achieve academic success, enrich their college experience and explore their cultural heritage. “The program helped me understand the significance of being African American and my history,” Mr. Wilkins said. “It made me remember all the things that had to happen for me to be here today.” As a freshman, Mr. Wilkins also participated in Kent State’s Connect2Complete, a program designed to provide first-generation students with a connection to resources and networking events to help them complete college. He also worked with Student Support Services on campus, for which he became a tutor. “I helped first generation students just like me,” says Mr. Wilkins, who is the first among his five siblings to attend college. “We figured it out together. All of the organizations helped me stay on track and on my mission. I never lost sight of why I was at Kent State in the first place.” Mr. Wilkins graduated in May 2018 from Kent State with a bachelor’s degree in marketing and a minor in Pan African studies. He also had the honor of addressing his Kent State classmates at Karamu Ya Wahitimu, a pre-commencement ceremony for African American, Native American and Latino/Hispanic students. “I am in awe,” Mr. Wilkins says in regards to all of the support he received as he earned his degree at Kent State. “Now, I plan on getting my master’s degree.” While he applies to graduate schools, Mr. Wilkins is paying it forward as a transition coordinator with a non-profit program for students in Warren, Ohio. He works with high school seniors to help them develop their transition plans and involve them in professional development. He also helps match the students with business partners in Mahoning County. “The cultural immersion part of S.T.A.R.S. has inspired me to help underrepresented students and to minor in Pan African studies,” Wilkins says. “I have a passion for helping people like me. I see how important it was for me to have someone who cared for me.”
Results obtained by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism reveal a spike in poultry products contaminated with salmonella infantis in recent years More than 10% of sampled pork products, including joints, chops and mince, have found to be infected with a bacteria that showed resistance to a ‘last resort’ antibiotic used to treat serious illnesse... Companies routinely exceed level of bacteria allowed by USDA – and do not have to recall their products Our video investigation of the current crisis in Malawi healthcare due to global superbugs Lord Jim O'Neill, who chaired the government's review into superbugs, discusses how we can tackle the crisis The Bureau talks to Dame Sally Davies, Chief Medical Officer for England
The Basics About HPV and Vaccinations The Human Papilloma Virus, or HPV, is the most common sexually transmitted disease today. HPV is the primary cause of cervical cancer, but also can cause other types of cancer in women and men. The virus can affect the genitals, mouth and other areas, and individuals can have HPV and not know it. But HPV is largely preventable with vaccination. Dr. Rollyn Ornstein talks about the importance of vaccination for HPV, especially at an early age. “It’s really important to be vaccinated prior to the onset of sexual activity,” Ornstein said. “In addition, children as young as 9, 10, 11 years old probably make a better immune response to the vaccine, therefore early vaccination is important.” HPV vaccination involves a series of three shots over six months, and all three doses are necessary to provide the best protection. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, HPV vaccination is recommended for 11- or 12-year-old boys and girls. However older people also can benefit from vaccination. To learn more about HPV and vaccination, visit the CDC’s HPV information page. For detailed information on who should get vaccinated by age group, visit the Penn State Hershey Health Library HPV vaccine page.
In some locations of the country, tile roof repair is fairly common. Its unique appearance can be seen sparsely in lots of regions, however in the Southwest, tile roofing is virtually a part of the landscape, offering an unique and identifiable look to the location. Tile roofings are at first a lot more pricey to install than asphalt shingle, metal, or wood shake roofs, however they also last much longer. Depending upon the quality, a tile roofing might last 50 to 70 years– or even more! When you compare that type of longevity to the durability of some asphalt shingles (in some situations, just 10 or 15 years), it’s simple to see how an investment in tile can pay off in the long run. Qualities of Tile Roofing Traditional clay tile roofs are very heavy, and sometimes need more structural support than other roofing materials. However, tile roofing is now offered in new lightweight variations which can be used on a lot of structures without additional support. While many homeowners choose the appearance of traditional Spanish and Mediterranean styles, tile roof repair is also available in precise duplications of shake, wood shingle, and slate. Roof tile can be discovered in a wide spectrum of colors, varying from the popular adobe red to colors that are reminiscent of moss green, driftwood grey, and ocean blue. Advantages of Tile Roofs Aside from the evident aesthetic appeal and extremely long life expectancy of a tiled roof system, there are a number of other benefits of selecting this roofing material over a less expensive one. To start with, tiled roof systems perform much better under severe conditions than many other roof materials. They resist damage caused by cyclones, earthquakes, and other weather extremes better than many other roof repair choices. A tiled roof is also fire resistant, and brings a class-A rating. Tiled roof is a fantastic insulator, which assists to keep houses warmer in winter and cooler in summer. Accessories for tiled roofs are commonly assorted, including bird stops, cloaked attic vents, hip beginners, pinnacles, and multiple other choices. Tile also has the distinct ability of being able to accent or complement the outside color or surface of almost any home or building. Much more attractive than its outward appearance is that a tiled roof offers an air of quality to a structure that can be really attracting prospective purchasers. When integrated with the variety of designs and surfaces tile can be found in, tiled roofs not only enhances the appeal of a structure, it can likewise enhance its resale value. Disadvantages of Tile Roofs Obviously, the greatest disadvantage to a tiled roof is its initial repair expense. When compared with asphalt shingles or perhaps fundamental metal roof, tile roofs can cost several times as much to put up. They are, nevertheless, similar in cost to slate roofs– they’re just other kinds of roof material that can hold up as long or exceed the life span of tile. Additionally, tiled roof systems (and slate roofs, also) are not only heavy, but brittle. Not just may they require added structural reinforcement to install, however when an issue does occur, they can be tough to deal with considering that the individual tiles can break under the weight of a worker.
8 SEPTEMBER 2017 - Global nutrition and agricultural experts agree that agricultural and dietary diversification is the way forward in the face of climate change. This was the strong message conveyed at a high-level meeting co-hosted by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and Crops For the Future (CFF). Participants agreed priority actions to enhance the role of agricultural and dietary diversification in achieving the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Sustainable Development Goal 2 (SDG2): Zero Hunger. Held at the IFAD headquarters in Rome from 4 - 5 September, the meeting was supported by IFAD and the Association of International Research and Development Centers for Agriculture (AIRCA). Around 20 agriculture and nutrition experts from AIRCA, IFAD, FAO and Bioversity International participated in the meeting. The Rome meeting built on last year’s successful Global Action Plan for Agricultural Diversification (GAPAD) SDG2 Roundtable Forum in Nairobi, Kenya where over 40 participants from 14 countries discussed how agricultural diversification can contribute to achieving SDG2. The Rome event explored specifics, as experts brainstormed action plans on agricultural diversification to be implemented across the SDG2 targets, with emphasis on diversification of diets.
By Dan Catchpole Everett Herald Writer OLYMPIA – Washington added jobs in October, but its workforce grew more. The result is a slight rise this month in the state unemployment rate to 6 percent, according to preliminary, seasonally-adjusted data released Wednesday by the state’s Employment Security Department. The state added an estimated 5,600 jobs in October, but the workforce grew by about 12,000 that month. “These numbers demonstrate increased confidence by job seekers entering or re-entering the marketplace,” state labor economist Paul Turek said. “Job growth continues to gain momentum — with the state adding roughly 7,000 jobs a month — but for this month, the increase in the number of new job seekers entering into the labor market’s civilian workforce was greater than the number of new jobs added. That explains the increase in the unemployment rate.” The private sector added 6,200 jobs from September to October, while the public sector shed 600 jobs. The leisure and hospitality industry added 2,700 jobs; retail trade was up 2,200; and manufacturing rose by 1,500. Jobs in transportation, warehousing and utilities grew by 600 and the financial activities industry added 600 jobs as well. Construction added 500 jobs. The professional and business services sector and the mining and logging sector both increased by 100 jobs each. The wholesale trade lost 1,700 jobs. Education and health services lost 1,000, and the information sector lost 800 jobs. An estimated 208,900 people were unemployed and looking for work in Washington in October. A little more than a quarter of those people — 58,335 — received unemployment benefits. During the one-year period ending in October, Employment Security Department economists estimate that employers added nearly 82,600 jobs in Washington. The private sector accounted for most of those — 69,900 — with the public sector adding 12,700 jobs.
LOS ANGELES – COVID-19 fatalities continued to mount in Los Angeles County Thursday, with the cumulative death toll crossing the 16,000 mark as the region experiences the inevitable end result of a surge in infections that continues to fill hospital intensive-care units. Health officials have warned that the death toll will likely rise sharply for the rest of the month, even as case numbers and hospital admissions continue to fall. Deaths are considered a lagging indicator, meaning they naturally follow increases in hospitalizations, and early January saw daily hospital populations top 8,000. The county reported another 213 deaths on Thursday, pushing the overall death toll to 16,107. The Department of Public Health also announced another 6,592 new COVID infections, increasing the overall number since the pandemic began to 1,097,941. View the latest detailed report by city and demographics here. Daily infection numbers have been trending downward over the past two weeks, following a surge that saw the county regularly reporting well over 10,000 cases. Even better news is the continuing downward trend in hospitalization numbers. According to state figures, there were 5,855 people hospitalized due to COVID in the county as of Thursday, including 1,503 in intensive care. That marks a dramatic drop from the 8,000-plus patients reported earlier in January. But while the numbers have improved, they still remain dramatically high. Dr. Christina Ghaly, the county’s health services director, noted this week that while new COVID hospital admissions have dropped to about 500 per day from the recent high of about 700 per day, the current rate is still double that seen in the virus surge that occurred last summer. With numbers trending downward, the state this week lifted a regional stay-at-home order, allowing businesses such as barbershops and nail salons to reopen with limited capacity. Los Angeles County will allow restaurants to resume outdoor dining beginning Friday, albeit with strict infection-control requirements. Full details of those requirements weren’t immediately made public, but will be included in a revised county Health Officer Order expected to be released either Thursday night or Friday morning. The county previously limited restaurants to 50% of their outdoor capacity, while requiring servers to wear masks and face shields, and mandating that tables be adequately spaced to ensure social distancing. The city of Long Beach health department has already cleared outdoor dining to resume with similar restrictions, along with a recommendation that only members of the same household dine out together. Public Health Director on Thursday reiterated her call for residents and business owners to strictly adhere to all infection-control measures, particularly as more businesses open and more people interact in public. “To continue to drive down transmission, we all must commit to taking the actions that work to slow COVID-19 spread,” Ferrer said in a statement. “When more sectors re-open the risk of COVID-19 transmission increases, because people are interacting more with non-household members. In order to avoid re-openings resulting in increases in cases, businesses and individuals need to be more diligent, not less, in following public health measures. “We have a way to go before our hospitals are not stressed and fewer people die each day. Staying on a recovery journey is only possible if we all play by the rules,” she said. Ferrer said Wednesday notices were being sent this week to all reopening businesses to remind them of the restrictions for various sectors, most involving capacity limits, face coverings and sanitation procedures. She also issued a warning to residents to limit gatherings, specifically citing the upcoming Super Bowl, reminding that past sporting events and celebrations during the Dodgers and Lakers championship runs contributed to spiking infections. “We know that Super Bowl Sunday is coming up, and we can’t repeat the mistakes of the past,” she said. “It will be tragic if the Super Bowl becomes a super-spreader of coronavirus.” The county’s COVID-19 transmission rate — reflecting the average number of people a COVID patient infects with the virus — also continues to decline, estimated Wednesday at 0.85, down from 0.94 last week. Keeping that number below 1.0 is considered critical to slowing the spread of the virus. Ferrer said allocations of COVID-19 vaccine continue to lag behind demand, with the county expecting to receive roughly 188,000 doses next week. Many of those, however, will be needed to administer second shots to people who have already received the first dose of the two-dose regimen. As of the end of last week, the county had received a total of 853,650 doses. It received an estimated 143,900 doses this week, pushing the total to nearly 1 million.
I also count time and my students are finally realizing that the computer can only count their active minutes. I'm having the same issue. We empower teachers to support their entire classroom. Rather than looking at the instructors face, the videos are presented in a conversational form as if the pupil is receiving one-on-one instruction with step-by-step doodles. Just click right under the triangle, like almost touching it... and boom!! Khan Academy's Mathematics 2 course is built to deliver a comprehensive, illuminating, engaging, and Common Core aligned experience! I'm having the same issue. If I turn on autoplay, it just does it for me instead. I've attached a screen shot in which aalvarez125 shows 7 minutes; however, the skills breakdown only shows 3 minutes and no videos were watched. Below is what it looks like when I attempt to watch a completed video. Please Help! Always free for learners and teachers. Then I get to school and am ready to play it on the projector for my students. If I click on student progress, I get a list of all the minutes each student has done. One of the more unique aspects of this category is the presence of its brain teaser section. Quadratics: Multiplying & factoring: Mathematics 2. Everytime I press the Play button, it turns to the Pause button then flashes back to the Play button really quick. Another less likely issue is when the fallback non-YouTube player shows up. Discover how the Krebs cycle works. In addition to being a good preparation for popular job interview questions, it’s also an enjoyable way to learn different logic principles.The category for Science offers everything from basic Biology to lessons on Organic Chemistry and Computer Science. We’re a nonprofit with the mission to provide a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere. Unfortunately, Khan Academy only tracks logged in time not actual usage time and there are always those students who log in then open a new window and do other things. Build a deep, solid understanding in math, science, and more. The play button (bottom left) is grayed out and I cannot click on it. Our mission is to provide a free, world-class education to anyone, anywhere. Or, if you're feeling particularly adventurous, learn how fire-stick farming changes the landscape of Australia. Jamie Littlefield is a writer, instructional designer, and teacher of high school and college distance education courses. If you're seeing this message, it means we're having trouble loading external resources on our website. If you're seeing this message, it means we're having trouble loading external resources on our website. i'm having the same issue .... so annoying !!!!!!!!!!! Please note: Our reviewers watch between 1-2 hours of content to determine the general appropriateness of each YouTube channel. 90% of US teachers who have used Khan Academy have found us effective. If I adjust the bar below the video, I can rewind to whatever point I want, but there is no option to play. Then, when I try to watch an earlier completed video, it jumps me to my next uncompleted video when I really want to watch an earlier video. Donate or volunteer today. Ideas like liberty, freedom, and self-determination were hot stuff in the late 18th century, as evidenced by our recent revolutionary videos. Interesting, but this is certainly not a solution... And no one will know to do this. Take a look at this article to find out how to get college credit by exam. I can't seem to figure out how to re-watch a video. I play it once at home while I'm planning the lesson (logged into Khan Academy). Khan Academy is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with the mission of providing a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere. Donate or volunteer today! If you're behind a web filter, please make sure that the domains .kastatic.org and .kasandbox.org are unblocked. Just wondering, is anyone else expierencing this or just me? ELA practice and instruction for 6th grade, covering reading comprehension and vocabulary. Usually their account is showing more time done than mine is showing. If Khan Academy videos aren't playing for you, there are a few common causes and options for troubleshooting: Check your bandwidth. But now, I am in love with mathematics because of Khan Academy.”. To replay finished videos in this player, you must click just under the play button on the left. We’re a nonprofit delivering the education they need, and we need your help. If these don’t fix your issue, please comment with as many details as possible so it can be replicated and a solution can be found. This section offers some very unique courses on Healthcare and Medicine exploring topics like Heart Disease and Healthcare Costs.The Finance and Economics category offers videos on Banking, the Credit Crisis, and Economics. We recommend parent co-viewing of Youtube content for kids under 13. Our mission is to provide a free, world-class education to anyone, anywhere. It’s called Test Prep and offers courses to assist pupils in preparing to take standardized tests like the SAT, the GMAT, and even Singapore Math.In addition to the rather large selection of learning videos located on the "Watch" section of the website, there is also a practice section which allows learners to select the areas of learning which they’d prefer to take practice quizzes on. A pilot program is currently in place to test the integration of Khan Academy with a number of traditional schools. Hello Elaine! 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13 ways to get rid of dyshidrotic eczema fast To get rid of dyshidrotic eczema fast, you may follow these 13 tips: - Use cold compresses: Soaking the affected hands or feet in cold water or using cold compresses helps relieve symptoms such as itching. Apply cold compresses for 10 to 15 minutes at a time, two to four times a day. - Apply topical corticosteroids: Over-the-counter (OTC) corticosteroid creams or ointments help reduce skin inflammation and discomfort. You may apply them after you use cold compresses. - Apply topical pramoxine: It is a numbing medicine and is available as creams or lotions. Topical pramoxine helps reduce itching, burning, and pain. Thus, it helps reduce the urge to scratch your skin, which may lead to delayed healing and infections. - Take antihistamine pills: Antihistamines lower the release of chemicals that cause itching. You may take antihistamine medications available OTC as per the label instructions. They will help relieve any underlying allergic conditions that are often seen with dyshidrotic dermatitis. - Apply moisturizers or emollients: Dyshidrotic eczema can leave your skin dry, crusted, and irritated. Apply emollients to soothe your skin. - Avoid potential triggers: Avoid triggers such as exposure to certain metals (cobalt and nickel), cigarette smoke, certain foods (chocolate, mushrooms, canned foods, and coffee), sun exposure, and personal care products that contain harsh chemicals or fragrances. - Nickel-sensitive people must particularly avoid nickel-rich foods including foods cooked in nickel-plated utensils, oysters, canned foods, herring, beans, mushroom, asparagus, onions, corn, spinach, tomatoes, peas, cocoa, chocolate, baking powder, whole-grain flour, pears, rhubarb, and tea. - Cobalt-sensitive people must avoid cobalt-rich foods such as coffee, cocoa, tea, chocolate, whole-grain flour, beer, apricots, beans, beets, cabbage, cloves, liver, scallops, and nuts. - Take adequate rest: If your feet are affected, you may need to avoid walking or standing as much as possible. You may need to avoid activities that involve pressure on or irritate your hands in case of hand involvement. - Manage stress: Stress is an important trigger for dyshidrotic dermatitis. Moreover, skin lesions can cause considerable anxiety and stress. You may practice meditation, yoga, or other stress management techniques. Consult a mental health professional if there is considerable stress or anxiety. - Get appropriate treatment: If you have some infection such as an athlete’s foot, get proper treatment. Many people find relief in their dyshidrosis symptoms by taking treatment for athlete’s foot. - Ultraviolet (UV) light therapy: Your doctor may recommend UV A light therapy with or without the use of topical psoralen to relieve your symptoms. - Systemic corticosteroids: In severe or resistant cases, your doctor may recommend corticosteroid pills or injections given in the muscle. - Antibiotics: Your doctor may prescribe antibiotic pills or ointments if there is a bacterial infection present. - Other treatment options: These may include - Topical calcineurin inhibitors (such as tacrolimus and pimecrolimus) - Botox (onabotulinum toxin A) injections into the skin - Immunosuppressive medications (such as cyclosporine, azathioprine, mycophenolate mofetil, and methotrexate) that may be given in refractory or difficult to treat cases - Nickel chelators (such as disulfiram) that may be given to people with diagnosed nickel sensitivity - Drainage of collected pus or larger blisters (bullae) Can you prevent dyshidrotic eczema? There is no definitive way to prevent dyshidrotic eczema because its exact cause is not known. You can, however, prevent its flare-ups by avoiding triggers such as nickel or cobalt jewelry, managing stress, and practicing proper skin care. - Use lukewarm water and mild cleansers to keep your skin clean followed by the application of mild moisturizers. - Avoid exposure to extremes of temperatures. - Wear gloves and other protective gear at work, especially if you need to come in contact with detergents or cement. How is dyshidrotic eczema diagnosed? Dyshidrotic eczema is typically diagnosed by the doctor based on your signs and symptoms. Your doctor may ask if you have any allergies, a family history of eczema, your occupation, and any medications you are on. In confusing or difficult to diagnose cases, the doctor may order certain tests such as: - Blood IgE levels (levels of a type of antibody, called IgE, that is typically increased in allergic conditions) - Allergen testing (to diagnose whether you have hypersensitivity or allergy to any substance) - Blood levels of a substance called thiopurine methyltransferase to calculate appropriate azathioprine dosages - Blood tests or biopsy to rule out other conditions
New York Times: Every 8 Seconds, an American turns 65. How do we care for everyone? Hosted by Heather McGhee, chairman of the board of Color of Change, former president of Demos, and author of The Sum of Us In this episode of the Ezra Klein Show podcast, guest-host Heather McGhee interviews Ai-Jen Poo — co-founder and executive director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, a MacArthur grant winner, and author of The Age of Dignity — about how the United States can fix its inadequate systems of care. Poo explains how we arrived at a system that devalues care, and why child care and eldercare should be viewed as essential infrastructure. She goes on to explain that the enormity of the US care system’s needs must be addressed by the government. The Build Back Better proposal will help to ensure that everyone has access to paid leave, affordable childcare, and quality long-term care — while ensuring that care workers receive a living wage rather than poverty wages. TIME: Our Economy is Powered by Caregivers. That’s Why It’s Time for National Paid Leave By Melinda French Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, founder of Pivotal Ventures, and best-selling author of The Moment of Lift The pandemic has highlighted what we already knew – the US is overdue for national paid medical and family leave. The US is the only industrialized nation without paid leave, and 75% of voters support a paid leave policy. Our lack of paid leave costs American families an estimated $22.5 billion in lost wages every year, escalates turnover and job vacancies, and makes the difficult task of caring for a loved one even more challenging. As small business owner Molly Moon Neitzel shared in her testimony before Congress, “With the ongoing pandemic and Main Street still on the path to recovery, paid leave is not an ‘extra.’ It’s an essential must-have.” This year, Congress must take action and pass paid family and medical leave. Chronicle of Philanthropy: Our nation’s care infrastructure is failing families. It’s time for philanthropy to make it a priority. By Carla Thompson Payton, vice president for program strategy at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. This past year we saw in stark terms how our infrastructure of care fails most Americans. Nearly 3 million women left the labor force in the past 16 months, many due to a lack of care options. One year of living with Covid-19 undid 30 years of progress for women’s labor-force participation, jeopardizing family economic security and increasing the racial wealth gap. For too long, we have left families to shoulder the burden of caregiving and working without common-sense protections. This reality recently led my organization, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, to join seven other grant makers in supporting the Care for All With Respect and Equity Fund, or CARE Fund — a five-year, $50 million investment to build a comprehensive and equitable care infrastructure. Washington Post: Too many essential care workers can’t afford the very services they provide By Sarita Gupta, director of the Ford Foundation’s Future of Work(ers) program The United States faces a crisis of care. Throughout the pandemic, millions of families have had to choose between child care, health and financial security. The impact of those decisions has already been profound. San Francisco Chronicle: Bay Area companies are hiring, but are there enough workers to fill the jobs? By Chase DiFeliciantonio, San Francisco Chronicle reporter Lily Marquez was working in administration at Samuel Merritt University six years ago when she had her first child. She continued to work part-time at the Oakland school until a daughter came along unexpectedly 11 months later, forcing Marquez, her husband and their children to move into her in-laws’ apartment in San Francisco to save money. Marquez is one of thousands of women who want to go back to work as job openings increase as a result of widespread coronavirus vaccinations. But she, like many others, can’t because of obligations like childcare. “I look forward to the day I’m back in the workforce and I’m helping contribute to my family,” Marquez said, regarding their finances. Inside Philanthropy: With a $50 Million Launch, a Pooled Fund Looks to Build Caregiving Infrastructure By Martha Ramirez A group of eight philanthropies have joined together to launch a $50 million, five-year collaborative called the Care for all with Respect and Equity (CARE) Fund. The CARE Fund, which is housed at the Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, seeks to invest in the necessary change needed to build a comprehensive and equitable care infrastructure in the U.S. Funders Come Together to Launch $50 Million CARE Fund Eight leading philanthropic organizations announced the formation of the Care for All with Respect and Equity (CARE) Fund, a $50 million, multi-year investment in bold, transformational change to build comprehensive care infrastructure that works for everyone. In this once-in-a-generation moment, the CARE Fund is bringing a powerhouse set of grantmakers together across issue areas. This primer was developed by AFN and EOF to elevate the intersectional and intergenerational issues associated with the care economy and the challenges facing low-income women of color who make up the care workforce. This primer is designed to provide funders with responsive strategies and policy solutions which center low-income women of color and ultimately build a healthy and resilient economy for us all. Building Our Care Infrastructure for Equity, Economic Recovery and Beyond This report, authored by Caring Across Generations Director of Policy and Federal Affairs Josephine Kalipeni and National Domestic Workers Alliance Senior Policy Advisor Julie Kashen, reveals the economic instability for caregivers due to lack of a care infrastructure and offers solutions to ensure a racially just and equitable economic recovery.
The bathrooms are the most humid place in the home, and dripping marks appear on them. Sometimes, bathroom walls bleed, and whitish to brown stains are visible on the wall that can damage the paint. Why Do My Bathroom Walls Bleed? Bathroom walls bleed due to the buildup of minerals on the surface and surfactant leaching in which the oily, glossy, or soapy stains appear. Moreover, the poor ventilation keeps the environment humid, and the moisture accumulates on the mirrors, walls, or ceilings. In addition, condensation from hot showers and the vaporized shampoo or conditioners in the surrounding leads to the dripping of brown stains. It is better to clean the wall with a soft cloth after taking a hot shower and install a ventilation system to fix this issue. The poor drying conditions keep the wall’s surface damp and result in drip marks or paint peels. Many people do not know about the walls bleeding, and they repaint the wall resulting in the recurrence. - 1 What is the brown stuff dripping down my bathroom walls? - 2 What Causes My Bathroom Walls To Bleed? - 3 How do I stop my bathroom walls from bleeding? What is the brown stuff dripping down my bathroom walls? The brown stuff on the bathroom walls is the streaks or stains due to the accumulation of moisture and surfactant leaching. The moisture leads to the formation of molds and damages the surface. Moreover, the minerals deposition also leaves dripping marks on the surface that are not visually appealing. The moisture remains inside due to the poor ventilation system and damages the wall. Sometimes, the brown stuff is dripping due to the latex paint that does not dry properly. Also, the condensation from hot showers keeps the environment humid. Due to this, you observe the brown dripping streaks or residues on the ceiling. What Causes My Bathroom Walls To Bleed? Many people complain about the brown dripping marks on the bathroom walls. It makes the interior unattractive and damages the paint of the wall. Some people say that this is due to the accumulation of moisture as the bathroom has high humidity levels in the bathroom. Sometimes, surfactant leaching occurs as the bathroom paint does not dry properly and leaves spots. Some people say it is due to water leakage in the pipes, and the brown-red dripping spots are visible. Buildup of minerals Some people use hard water in the bathroom, which leads to the formation of mineral deposits and leaves stains. Using hard water showers for a long time increases the moisture level in the bathroom and leaves a stain. The hard water leaves marks as they contain many minerals. The iron accumulates inside, and brownish stains appear on the surface due to the mineral buildup. The dirt or debris mixes with the evaporated moisture and leaves the marks. You have to use soft water to prevent the minerals’ buildup. Moreover, some people use water filters in the taps to fix this issue. Surfactant is present inside the water paints that give a smooth look and adhere to the surface. Surfactant leaching occurs when the paint does not dry quickly, and the surfactants appear on the wall. It shows sticky or oily spots on the wall after applying paint. Moreover, they give a glossy or soapy appearance that varies from white to brown stains that are not appealing. The reason is that the humid conditions do not let the paint dry. Surfactant leaching is due to poor ventilation, drying conditions, high moisture content, and condensation. Some people do not give proper time to paint drying, which results in surfactant leaching. Sometimes, using the bathroom after the paint also exacerbates this issue, and you observe dripping marks. Moreover, some people apply paint on the damp or moist walls and do not stay on the surface. Also, the problem arises by using poor-quality paints without applying primer on the surface. My neighbor also complains about the dripping of brown stains due to surfactant leaching. Many people do not have a proper ventilation system, which causes many problems. The ventilation helps in removing the excess moisture or humidity from the surrounding. Moreover, the exhaust fans maintain the environment by taking warm air out and cold inside. Using exhaust fans helps to remove the moisture and dries the wall. The moisture accumulates when you do not use exhaust or bracket fans in the bathroom and make them suffocate. Condensation from hot showers The main problem is that after taking a hot shower, the condensation forms the water droplets on the surface. It is due to the mixing of cold air with moisture that forms water vapors. It is annoying that the tiny water droplets form on the ceiling and mirror. Due to the moisture accumulation, the brown dripping stains are visible and increase mold growth. Moreover, they look sweaty and leave watermarks on the surface. Many people do not clean the walls after taking a bath which increases the condensation and keeps it damp. Vaporized shampoo and conditioners The shampoo foams evaporate in the air and accumulate on the surface, giving a yellow-brown color stain. Some people use conditioners that contain many chemicals that accumulate inside the paint. Moreover, the soap bubbles become vapors that increase the humidity level. These factors exacerbate moisture in the surrounding that keeps inside the walls for a longer time, and then the dripping marks appear. How do I stop my bathroom walls from bleeding? The brown or red stains do not look good and are visually unappealing to the interior. It is better to install an exhaust fan to clear away the moisture content in the bathroom. Moreover, you can use good-quality paints and apply them in suitable conditions. Proper ventilation system You can keep the brown stuff dripping away by using an exhaust fan in the bathroom. Due to the excess moisture or humidity, brown spots forms on the wall. You have to use an exhaust fan to clear away the moisture content from the surrounding. Some people also prefer to use bracket fans for proper ventilation. Moreover, the windows in the washroom make you feel less suffocated and prevent the buildup of moisture. There are more chances of mold formation on the walls when the moisture remains inside. You can also open the door after taking a shower when you do not have windows or an exhaust fan. They do not look clean and give a bad appearance to the interior. Clean the walls You can use good quality soaps and cleaning agents on the walls to keep them clean. You have to clean with a soft cloth or towel after taking a shower and remove the moisture content. Moreover, you have to wipe off the floors, and mirrors, to prevent the walls from bleeding. They accumulate more moisture in them as compared to the tiles and also cause damage to the paint. Some people prefer to use a soapy solution with a soft cloth and remove the stains. You can also wash them with fresh water when the stains are lighter. You can also use baking soda with warm water, vinegar, and ammonia to clean the dripping. Avoid painting in damp conditions You can use good-quality paint products in favorable conditions to fix the issue. You have to let it dry for some days and use the place when it dries completely. Some people also prefer to use anti-condensation paint to avoid this issue so that the moisture does not accumulate. Moreover, when you paint on a damp surface, the brown stains are visible on the walls that look bad. Avoid using paint on such surfaces as it peels off the surface and gives an unattractive look. Some people use tiles to hide these stains as they do not look presentable and damage the interior. In winters, the paint does not dry quickly, and there are more chances of moisture. Also, you can use a primer before repainting to give a smooth finishing.
The outbreak of Covid-19 in South Korea is predicted to cause further problems for the Vietnamese economy, according to Bao Viet Securities Company (BVSC). Firstly, the epidemic could lead to a sharp decrease in the number of tourists from the Northeast Asian country to Vietnam. According to 2019 statistics, tourists from China and South Korea accounted for 56% of total visitors to Vietnam. As the number of tourists from China has already plunged on fears of Covid-19, another sharp drop in the number of South Korean visitors will be a double hit on Vietnam's tourism. In 2019, tourists from South Korea accounted for 29.9% of the total number of foreign arrivals to Vietnam. As of February 23, Vice Minister of Transport Le Anh Tuan said Vietnam has not considered suspending flights between Vietnam and South Korea. However, as a large number of South Korean passengers have canceled air bookings to Vietnam, airlines are reducing flights to South Korea. In addition to tourism, Vietnam's exports and imports, which have already been harmed when the disease spreads in China, may also be more severely affected as Vietnam's exports to South Korea and China accounted for 23.2% of total export value, while Vietnam's imports from the two neighboring countries contributed 48.4% to total imports. South Korea was Vietnam’s second largest import market in 2019 at US$46.93 billion, accounting for 18.5% of total and only behind China. Statistics from the General Department of Vietnam Customs revealed Vietnam mainly imported equipment, electronic, and machinery from South Korea for production. As a result, the outbreak in South Korea could disrupt the supply chain of raw materials for Vietnam's manufacturing and processing industry, while Samsung Vietnam, accounting for 30% of Vietnam's export value, may face shortage of input materials. This in turn will have a negative effect on Vietnam’s exports to other countries, said BVSC.
Area organizations join in the conversation Move LA, a project of community partners, hosted a Twitter Chat on November 5. This pre-election social media conversation brought together other organizations and the public to ponder questions about Proposition 6 and discuss why it is so important to vote NO on Prop 6. In an effort to educate the public before they head to their local polling places, it was important for organizations to express how critical it is to vote NO on Prop 6. Here is a recap of the chat and the answers from RebuildSoCal: Passage of Prop 6 would halt construction projects & eliminate 68,000 jobs annually. #SB1 funds are critical to transportation improvements, workers on those projects and other employees who work in supporting roles. Let’s move forward. #NoProp6 #RebuildSoCal 1,600 of our bridges and overpasses are structurally deficient and unsafe. A @ASCETweets study shows 6 of the nation’s top 50 most dangerous highways are in CA & I-5 is the 4th most dangerous in the nation. Vital projects need #SB1 funds. #NoProp6 #RebuildSoCal Numerous organizations who are experts in business, safety and environment all say #NoProp6. This includes the California Chamber of Commerce, @CaliforniaLabor, @SierraClubCA, firefighters, highway patrolmen & other leading public safety organizations. Let’s #RebuildSoCal. Loss of #SB1 revenue would halt numerous infrastructure projects. Jobs would be eliminated. The economy would take a hit. Safety would still be of concern. Roads & bridges that earned failing grades on the @ASCETweets Report Card will continue deteriorating. #NoProp6 Any roads, bridges, sidewalks, bike lanes, etc., that you are particularly concerned about if Prop 6 passes? Without funding many projects are at risk, including improvements on SR 78 in the San Diego area, repairs to San Gabriel River Bridge on I-405, I-605/SR 91 interchange improvements & pedestrian improvements along Pico Boulevard in Santa Monica. #Vote #NoProp6 #RebuildSoCal
Early Childhood Development in Conflict and Protracted Crisis (June 2016) Children caught up in conflicts or crises may spend years of their early life and childhood displaced from their homes. Quality early childhood development services can help to ensure all children have an equal chance to reach their full potential. Theirworld Briefing – Early Childhood Development In Conflict And Protracted Crisis (June 2016) Children caught up in conflicts or crises may spend years of their early life displaced from their homes. This briefing by Theirworld explains that the average length of displacement for refugees is 17 years so children cannot wait for an end to violence or displacement for their learning and development to begin. The youngest children are particularly vulnerable in crisis situations. They are at risk of physical harm, as well as psychological trauma. They lose crucial opportunities for social, emotional, and cognitive development and their parents may struggle to help due to their own traumas and anxiety. For young children living in conflict and protracted crisis situations, early childhood development can be a life-saving intervention. Quality services and programmes help to ensure all children have an equal chance to reach their full potential. An early childhood development centre can provide: - Physical protection – a safe place where families can leave young children during the day. Children can also receive healthcare, immunisation and nutrition, and get a safe place to play and learn. - Psychological and emotional support – a safe space for children to examine and come to terms with their experiences and work through their trauma. - Cognitive stimulation, play and early learning experiences – this helps young children develop essential cognitive and social skills and prepares them for primary school, including foreign language skills for refugee children in a host nation. - Peace-building and reconciliation – this could be between groups in a conflict or integration of refugees with a host community. Promoting acceptance and inclusion amongst the children and throughout the programmes can help diminish prejudice and marginalisation between groups, contributing to a more cohesive and inclusive society over time.
Bushcrafting refers to the skills and knowledge that make it possible”live in the wild“with a minimum of possessions. The basic skills are building a shelter / setting up a tent, light a firefind water (not from a bottle) or collect other gifts from nature. Bushcrafting Trip it can take several days or even a day. It all depends on our willingness. Currently, one of the main goals of bushcrafting is to get closer to the nature around us and internal mute† These hobbies can be practiced by literally anyone, alone or in a group. This could certainly bring individual family members together as they try to survive together in the forest. Bushcrafting experiences its own thriving in Poland since the pandemicwhen restaurants, cinemas and pubs were closed and time “stood still”. As we understand it today, bushcrafting has been used since 1800 Australia and South Africa† Most likely the term was borrowed from the Dutch language it referred to the lifestyle of the natives in colonies belonging to the Netherlands (including Guyana, present-day Indonesia, Ceylon). Nowadays the term bushcraft has been popularized by, among others, by Les Hiddins† Mosa Kochanskicif Ray Mearswho hosted television survival programs and published books on bushcrafting. Bushcrafting is now seen more as a lifestyle that focuses on ecology and living in harmony with naturethan on “extreme survival performance”. To practice this hobby, you don’t have to fly to the Amazon jungle or live in the Himalayan valleys, far away from people and technology, with only a pocket knife and string. Bushcrafting can be placed between the usual camping and survival† For example, it can be (depending on the wish and need) to camp with survival elements or to survive with camping elements. During bushcrafting, a man usually rejects the perks of our time, such as a field stove, lighters, an RV or a telephone. It focuses on building a shelter (you can set up a tent), getting water and food (you can also bring it from home). You can supplement your knowledge with regard to making strings, tying knots, wood carving, navigation using, for example, the slope of anthills or the location of moss and lichen on trees or stones. You can also expand your knowledge about the use of herbs. An important element is the use of knives and axes, which will accompany us throughout the journey, without them surviving in the forest will be quite difficult. Another element of living in harmony with nature is cooking food on the fire, washing in the river or sleeping in the open air. After just a few hours, someone realizes that few things are needed to survive and how little we need to enjoy the moment. Bushcrafting can help us be more resistant to stressful situations – after all, we spent a month in the woods, washing in an icy river, eating only berries and mushrooms, and sleeping on pinecones, so I can’t handle it? It is best to start by supplementing the theoretical knowledge about lighting fires (if you don’t want to bring matches or lighter), poisonous mushrooms, fruits or plants and setting up a tent (contrary to what it seems, that simple is it not). On your own first bushcrafting trip you must bring a backpack, provisions, water, a knife tin, a knife, a pan in which to boil water, a cup, matches / lighter / tinder, a raincoat and of course a tent and a sleeping bag – although an ordinary tarpaulin that is between the trees hanging may be sufficient. The most important thing to bring with you is of course this fearsincl. painkillers, drugs related to digestion and related processes, hydrogen peroxide, ointment for burns, as well as liquid against mosquitoes and ticks, wipes and plasters. Another essential is also… toilet paper, or you can use leaves. Here you need to be very careful to know which leaves should not be used for such purposes. Leaves can certainly not be used, eg Sosnowski’s borscht† Contrary to appearances, large leaves can be useful, but we risk a painful burn. You can also try a version that is closer to nature. Here you are only allowed to bring a tarpaulin, rope, knife, pot, knife tin, tinder and a hammock. We only take basic supplies that are enough for one meal and a small bottle of water. You will have to find food and larger amounts of water yourself (eg fish, pick berries and mushrooms, get water from a stream). It is needed boiling waterwhere hostile microbes die. The first task to do while bushcrafting is: find a suitable place to set up camp† First check for anthills in the immediate vicinity, because we don’t want ants to bite us at night. Next, we also need to make sure that we don’t set up camp at the site of a dry stream (during a storm, dry ditches fill up very quickly with water). Obviously, Sosnowski’s borscht should be avoided. You can set up camp near the riverif we want to wash and draw water. When you find a suitable spot, start setting up camp. The next step is collect fuel in the right amount – it can be sorted by thickness (smaller sticks are suitable for lighting a fire, larger ones for supporting the fire). Then all you have to do is light the fire – you have to keep an eye on it! Prepare yourself a hearty meal on the fire and enjoy life in the forest. Remember it is necessary clean up the campsite yourselfdo not leave any rubbish or other waste. On your own the first bushcrafting you can choose the nearest forest† You must also get permission to camp from the campground owner or the local forestry company. There are also special bushcraft and survival zones designated by state forests.
Opinion: How a rigid fair-use standard would harm free speech and fundamentally undermine the Internet Fair use is copyright law’s safety valve, protecting our ability to make social, political and cultural commentary and criticism. It is a societal asset we could not culturally live without, and its adaptability is its strength. If a documentary filmmaker wants to discuss portrayals of gay people in popular media in the 1990s, fair use would allow them to present film and television clips. If a videogame reviewer wants to warn gamers that a new title is full of glitches, fair use lets them. If a journalist wants to analyze the truthfulness of a politician’s statements in a prepared speech, fair use allows them to quote that politician. Anyone who creates content — from amateur filmmakers to Hollywood studios — relies extensively on fair use. In a recent Times op-ed article, Jonathan Taplin of the USC Annenberg Innovation Lab claimed that an “ambiguous“ fair use definition is emboldening users of new technologies to challenge copyright infringement allegations, including takedown notices. He proposes rewriting fair use to limit reuses of audio or video clips to 30 seconds or less, a standard he mysteriously claims is “widely accepted.” Without flexible fair use, many technologies wouldn’t exist, and we wouldn’t be able to find things on the Internet using tools like image search engines. In fact, this is not a widely accepted standard, and weakening fair use in this way will not address copyright infringement concerns on the Internet. It would hurt the music, film and TV industries as much as it would hurt individual creators. Without flexible fair use, many technologies wouldn’t exist, and we wouldn’t be able to find things on the Internet using tools like image search engines. In the 1980s, the newly invented VCR narrowly escaped the scrapheap of history (or at least delayed its visit) when the Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, recognized the importance of protecting consumers’ right to record and play back television shows. The movie industry’s fears of the VCR were quickly assuaged when home video became a lucrative new market. If the fair use standard was limited to 30 seconds in the early 1980s, what would have happened to the VCR, or the DVR, for that matter? Arbitrarily rigid standards would have ended or fundamentally altered these technologies. Later on, in the early days of the Internet, image search engines’ existence was repeatedly threatened by copyright lawsuits. Rather than make all image search illegal, courts turned to fair use, finding that search technology that makes a thumbnail of a photo so that we can find content on the Internet was worth protecting. Fair use evolves with new reuses of content and new technologies. Take music, which is highly protected by copyright law. It is a fair use to make a digital copy to your computer of an album you purchased so you can listen to it on that device. However, it may not be fair use to include five seconds of song sample in your own music that you’re creating. In the film and video world, fair use as-is can protect the use of 45 seconds of a politician’s speech in a documentary, or the use of two minutes of videogame footage to warn gamers of programming flaws. On the other hand, releasing 15 seconds of an unreleased film or video game simply to give audiences a sneak preview would be copyright infringement. Taplin’s arbitrary “30 second” cutoff would ruin many consumer and highly transformative uses. Fair use is inextricably linked to our 1st Amendment right to free speech. We are careful with fair use because it’s the primary way consumers, creators and innovators share new ideas. It’s a good thing, and it is worth protecting.
Laser and its Medical Applications Dr. Dwijesh Kumar Panda Laser is an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. It is a device that produces intense focused coherent (monochromatic) light. There are three types of lasers: gas, liquid and solid state lasers. All these have many medical uses. In this article, I shall outline these uses after discussing basic principles and operations of lasers. When an atom is supplied energy from outside, it receives it in discrete amount because its energy states are discrete (quantized). The atomic electron “jumps” from its lowest (ground) state to upper (excited) states. This is absorption. Once in the excited state, the atom emits a photon after a short time which is called spontaneous emission. If there are other photon present, they stimulate the atom to emit more photons which is called stimulated emission. In certain cases like ruby which is a crystal with CV2O3 impurity in AC2O3, the chromium atom has a long- lived or metastable state in between its ground and first excited state, i.e., the atom can stay in this state without emitting any photon for a time longer than its first excited state. As a result all the electron that are excited to its first excited state come down to the intermediate state as a result of which they stay there for a long time and this metastable state gets crowded. We can say that electrons are “pumped” from the ground state to the intermediate metastable state. This is called “optical pumping”. Eventually these electrons come down to the ground state by emitting large number of photons: each electron emitting one photon and the photons stimulate others to come down. All of these photons have some wavelength. As a result, the light is intense and coherent. All this is illustrated in Fig 1. Fig. 1. Stimulated Emission LASER IN OPERATION Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of Ruby laser in operation showing a ruby rod (gain medium) inside a coiled lamp which is the source of power called the “optical pump”. At one end of the rod there is high reflecting mirror and at the other end there is a partially transparent mirror, which, apart from reflecting light, allows optical power of the laser to come out. The entire system is called a laser oscillator. Fig.2. LASER OSCILLATOR MEDICAL APPLICATION (LASER OSCILLATOR) Lasers are used predominantly as a source of energy to effect tissue destruction but also provide a coherent energy source for phototherapy or confocal microscopy, which allows for real-time imaging of tissues. Lasers destroy tissue through one of these mechanisms, including production of heat (photothermal), destruction of chemical bonds (photoablative), or reaction with a photosensitizer (photochemical). Selective photothermolysis describes the use of specific wavelengths of laser energy to target specific chromophores and thus minimize damage to adjacent tissues. The interaction between the laser and tissue depends upon the wavelength, power, duration of exposure, and properties of the target tissue. Lasers are used in a variety of clinical applications commonly related to external structures such as the skin and cornea. However, minimally invasive technology allows access to deeper structures including the gastrointestinal mucosa, biliary tree, bronchial structures and urinary tract via endoscopy, and hollow and solid organ surfaces via laparoscopy and thoracoscopy. The eye and skin are the organs that are more susceptible to damage by laser radiation. The biological effects induced by nonionizing radiation are similar for coherent and incoherent sources: however, laser radiation produces greater radiant exposures. In the workplace, eye protection is required by the United States Occupational Safety and health Administration (OSHA) CLINICAL UTILITY OF LASERS — Lasers are used in a variety of clinical applications commonly related to external structures that are easily reached, such as the skin and cornea. Minimally invasive technology allows access to deeper structures including the gastrointestinal mucosa, biliary tree, bronchial structures, and urinary tract via endoscopy and hollow or solid organ surfaces via laparoscopy and thoracoscopy. Most commonly, tissue ablation occurs as a consequence of thermal effects. · Dermatology – Progress in laser and light therapy technology has led to the development of safer and more efficient methods of achieving the desired effects on skin. Skin cooling limits inadvertent damage to tissues adjacent to the targeted sites. · Gastroenterology – Pulse dye lasers and Q-switched solid-state lasers are used to fragment gallstones identified during choledochoscopy and ablate mucosal tumors. Confocal laser endomicroscopy has aided in the differentiation between dysplastic and malignant tissue. · In bronchoscopy, lasers are used to either photocoagulate or vaporize tissues obstructing the airway. They can also be used to make concise radial incisions to enhance airway dilation in central airway strictures. Lasers have also been used to remove blebs and bullae during thoracoscopy. · Cardiology and cardiac surgery – Laser energy is used to create transmural channels in ischemic myocardium to restore myocardial perfusion in a procedure called Trans myocardial laser revascularization. The procedure can be performed using a carbon dioxide or holmium: YAG laser. · Ophthalmology – The excimer laser is used to remove a precise amount of corneal stroma during laser-assisted in-situ keratomileusis (LASIK), which is one of the most common applications of laser. · General surgery – In general surgery, laser energy can be used to provide hemostasis or to ablate tumors identified in solid organs such as the liver. · Gynecology – The Nd: YAG or carbon dioxide laser is used for tissue ablation in a variety of gynecologic applications. · Urology – Lasers can be used to fragment ureteral stones but are becoming more popular for the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia. Benign prostatic hyperplasia is a condition that causes urinary symptoms in men, such as the frequent need to urinate, inability to empty the bladder, trouble starting urination and frequent urinary tract infections. These are caused by an enlarged prostate blocking normal urine flow. · Green Light laser therapy treats benign prostatic hyperplasia by removing the excess prostate tissue that is blocking urine flow. After the patient is put to sleep, a fiber is placed into the urethra and passed to the prostate where it is quickly heated, vaporizing the extra prostate tissue. This procedure usually results in a very quick resolution of all urinary symptoms in most patients. Green Light laser therapy provides many benefits over the more traditional therapy for benign prostatic hyperplasia. There is a much quicker recovery time with laser therapy; most procedures are done on an outpatient basis and the patient goes home a few hours after surgery. There is a much lower risk for bleeding. Results are almost immediate, versus waiting several months for results with medications. The risk of complications, such as erectile dysfunction or bladder injury, are also lower. Greenlight laser therapy also has the additional benefit of not needing a catheter after surgery or only needing it for less than 24 hours · Vascular surgery – Lasers are commonly used to manage the visible signs of chronic venous disease. Several types of lasers might be used depending upon the size and depth of the vein to be treated. · Dentistry – Although incoherent light may be used in conjunction with photoactive dental bleaching systems, coherent light produced from a diode laser has also been found to be effective.
The first European : a history of Alexander in the age of empire The exploits of Alexander the Great were so remarkable that for centuries after his death the Macedonian ruler seemed a figure more of legend than of history. Thinkers of the European Enlightenment, searching for ancient models to understand contemporary affairs, were the first to critically interpret Alexander's achievements. As Pierre Briant shows, in the minds of eighteenth-century intellectuals and philosophes , Alexander was the first European: a successful creator of empire who opened the door to new sources of trade and scientific knowledge, and an enlightened leader who brought the fruits of Western civilization to an oppressed and backward "Orient." In France, Scotland, England, and Germany, Alexander the Great became an important point of reference in discourses from philosophy and history to political economy and geography. Voltaire, Montesquieu, and Robertson asked what lessons Alexander's empire-building had to teach modern Europeans. They saw the ancient Macedonian as the embodiment of the rational and benevolent Western ruler, a historical model to be emulated as Western powers accelerated their colonial expansion into Asia, India, and the Middle East. For a Europe that had to contend with the formidable Ottoman Empire, Alexander provided an important precedent as the conqueror who had brought great tyrants of the "Orient" to heel. As The First European makes clear, in the minds of Europe's leading thinkers, Alexander was not an aggressive militarist but a civilizing force whose conquests revitalized Asian lands that had lain stagnant for centuries under the lash of despotic rulers.
What Is Rails? Something I need a refresher on being a recent graduate from Flatiron School, what is Rails exactly? Its a web application framework implemented as a Ruby Gem includes everything needed to create a database-backed web application. Its a huge help to create web applications and it includes most of the tools you’ll need! Which is why I have always used Rails for every project as my backend! But the things is Rails is not a programming language. How do I use Rails? This is something I have forgotten in my early phase of the course thanks to being into too many things at once instead of tackling the most important things first such as STARTING A NEW BACK-END APPLICATION. So we start with creating a new rails app by typing the following in the terminal “rails new (application name)”. If you would need further help such as myself as I always do… Heres the site you could use! With creating a rail application you’ll begin to see something like this: These are all the tools you’ll need to begin your rails application! Today I will not be deep diving into everything but just the basics so there is an easier understanding if it’s a reader’s first time looking over rails! Now the introduction to the application flow, we will be using user as our MVC. Now what is MVC??? Welp, the acronym spelled out is MODEL VIEW CONTROLLER which is an architectural pattern, it really helps out reading information. Here we have a diagram of how everything interacts with one another in the backend with users being the index. With this being a part of the basics. We’ll be digging deeper into the rails language as we go along in more blogs. For now this is where I believe I should end before going into anything deeper before things get really confusing. So thank you for reading! Very short but straight to the point!
Low Self-Efficacy & Students with EBD Students with EBD typically have low self-efficacy, which affects how they motivate themselves, their perseverance to face difficult situations, and causes them to quickly give up trying (Bandura, 2006). Negative behaviors that are exhibited by students with EBD often hinder academic and social success (Jackson & Owens, 1999). Life Experiences & EBD • Students with EBD: • Have endured life experiences beyond their age • May have developed a different philosophical outlook on life different than their peers life experiences • May ask questions for which they want deeper answers for, not a dismissive answer to try to appease them • Expect teachers to be honest with them when they ask for advice • Do not expect teachers to fully understand their problems • Want their teacher to listen to them • However; • They have not mastered the tools on how to apply their new wisdom to everyday situations • They still need help in practicing their new coping techniques in safe environments, such as home and school, in order to continue to manage their feelings of anger, distrust, and abandonment. Tools You Can Provide to the Student with EBD • Encourage the student to write or draw their feelings if you are not around • Let the student know that you could check in with them from time to time • Ask them the best way to interact with them • Provide them with a safe place to relax • Help them find ways to manage stress • Reinforce their positive choices Safe Classroom “Teachers are aware of the importance of creating classroom environments that have structures in place that ensure the safety of students, promote positive behavior, and ensure the flow of classroom activities” to ensure the success of all students. (Murray and Pianta, 2007, p. 108) Maintaining a structured and consistent environment allows the student with EBD to feel safe, because they understand and know the guidelines and expectations of the teacher. Ideas for the Classroom • Classroom set-up options: • Decorate the walls with posters and information with related curriculum content • Scatter the room with lamps • Bring in natural sunlight (if possible) • Use tables to encourage social interaction and collaboration among the students and teachers • Decorate the walls with pop culture posters and art • Display pictures of family, accomplishments, or hobbies • Activity options to develop trusting relationships between student/teacher: • Pictures of family, hobbies, or accomplishments give students with EBD an opportunity to ask questions to begin the development of a trusting relationship • Play Trading Card Games (Magic: The Gathering) • Play Board Games (Scrabble, Risk, Uno) • Puzzles • All of these activities help the student with EBD: • Develop trust in their teacher • Develop problem solving skills, teamwork skills, and social skills Be There for them! “Teachers are the central and most powerful force in the lives of young people” (Murray & Pianta, 2007, p. 110). It is time to use that power to prove students with EBD wrong; do not give up on them. If you do not give up on them and you are consistent with them, they will excel for you, but more importantly they will remember you for the rest of their lives as one of the individuals who never quit on them. Active Listening Skills with Students with EBD The goal of active listening is to create a clear understanding of the student’s spoken concern and to acknowledge an interest in the message being verbalized (McNaughton, Hamlin, McCarthy, Head-Reeves, & Schreiner, 2007). • Examples of active listening skills that can be used with students with EBD include: • Look and feel relaxed to give the student the feeling that they are not wasting your time • Show interest through your body language • Allow the student to talk • Be open-minded during the conversation • Try to understand the students feelings or point of view by asking specific questions • Observe the students body language • Repeat back what the student has shared with you to make sure you heard them correctly • Encourage and reinforce their positive behavior of confiding in you as a teacher Examples of Active Listening Active Listening • Stopping all activities and focusing on the student. • Making eye contact with the student. • Looking and feeling relaxed as the student speaks with you. • Being open-minded and try to understand the student’s point of view. • Ask specific questions. • Repeat back what the student has shared with you to make sure you heard them correctly. • Encourage and reinforce the student’s positive behavior of confiding in you as a teacher, such as by saying “I appreciate your taking the time to talk with me about these important things to you.” Non-Active Listening • Multi-tasking – Trying to listen while performing another task. • Not making eye contact with the student. • Slouching or looking disinterested as the student speaks. • Closed off body language (i.e., arms across the chest or back turned to them). • Not asking questions. • Cutting the student off or not letting them finish speaking before making a comment. • Dismissing what the student has shared with you, such as by saying “I hear this all the time. You’ll be okay; I don’t know why you’d worry about something so silly.” Enhance the Teacher-Student Relationship Classroom Structures and Practices • Clearly state routines • Defined rules and consequences • Peer tutoring • Cooperative Learning Teacher Beliefs, Behaviors, and Actions • High expectations for students achievement and behavior • Individual weekly meetings with students • Frequent positive feedback to the students Individual Skills for Developing Pro-social Relationships • Instruction in self-awareness and self-management skills • Teach social awareness when interacting with others • Promote responsible decision making in multiple settings Summary of Murray and Pianta’s Techniques of How a Teacher Can Enhance the Teacher-Student Relationship (Murray Pianta, 2007, p. 107) Ten Tips in Managing a Student with EBD • Prioritize your tasks and make a list • Accept that you wear multiple hats throughout the day • Remember you are the adult • Do not be afraid of the student with EBD, they just need extra attention • Actively listen to the student with EBD • Keep training and reading • Be open to criticism • Do not challenge a student with EBD. They are acting that way for a reason • Develop firm boundaries and expectations and stick to them no matter how much they push you • Relax and breathe! You are a teacher for a reason
Hum 110: Introduction to HumanitiesInstructor: J ScholteApril 15, 2016Futurism In this paper I will be talking about Futurism. According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, futurism is a movement in art, music, and literature begun in Italy about 1909 and marked especially by an effort to give formal expression to the dynamic energy and movement of mechanical processes. The purpose of this paper is to describe what futurism is and how futurism was used in the the 20th century. Futurism is the most important Italian avant-garde art movement of the 20th century. Futurism celebrates advanced technology and urban modernity. Committed to the new, its members wished to destroy older forms of culture and to demonstrate the beauty of modern life – the beauty of the machine, speed, violence and change. Although the movement did foster some architecture, most of its adherents were artists who worked in traditional media such as painting and sculpture, and in an eclectic range of styles inspired by Post-Impressionism. Nevertheless, they were interested in embracing popular media and new technologies to communicate their ideas. Their enthusiasm for modernity and the machine ultimately led them to celebrate the arrival of the First World War. By its end the group was largely spent as an important avant-garde, though it continued through the 1920s, and, during that time several of its members went on to embrace Fascism, making Futurism the only twentieth century avant-garde to have embraced far right politics. When it comes to art futurism played a big role in the 20th century, one famous artist who practiced futurism is Banksy. Banksy is a graffiti artist and activist. No one knows his real name and only a few people have seen him. But what he does is pure art. Banksy takes art from other people and he put a modernistic spin to it, he also does his own art as well. He is most known for his stencilled work which appears spray painted on walls all over the world. A great movie to watch if you would like to know about Banksy is Exit Through the Gift Shop. Another Famous artist is Umberto Boccioni. Some of his famous artwork is The City Rises which was painted in 1910. There is also the The Charge of the Lancers. Umberto’s artwork paved the way and inspired other artists that followed him. Without Umberto then there wouldn’t be a Bansky or Guy Laramee. Futurism artist of the 20th century paved the way for artist of today.Music in the 20th century was huge. I think that it was the best thing that happened. When it comes to music there is a huge variety from jazz to the blues, rock, rap and rock and roll. There were also many other genres as well. Rap and hip hop came into play towards the end of the 20th century. Rap actually originated from the blues, then hip hop came along which was a mixture of jazz and the blues. During this time these genres helped the African American community express themselves. The most famous rock and roll artist is Elvis Presley. “Rock & Roll music was born in the 1950’s from a fusion of electric blues, country and gospel music. Confined to the Rhythm ; Blues charts early in the decade, rock crosses over to the Pop charts from 1955 onward. Electric Blues, R;B, Doo Wop, Rockabilly”. During the 20th Century people were not confined by society. This generation expressed themselves whether it was through form of art or music or even literature. This is why I love this time period and this is what futurism is all about. For most of 20th-century theatre, realism has always been the mainstream. There have been some, however, who have turned their backs on realism. Realism originally began as an experiment to make theatre more useful to society; a reaction against melodrama, highly romanticized plays. Realism has become the dominant form of theatre in the 20th-century. There have been some experiments, though, which have allowed for more adventurous innovation in mainstream theatre.
What is the LoopKiosk? LoopSafe’s technology is specifically designed for organisations that always need to know who is on their premises, whilst ensuring the privacy and security of individuals’ information. LoopKiosk is a contactless device which allows people to quickly and easily sign themselves in and out of premises, with supporting requirements and processes set by the organisation. It ensures an accurate record of everyone onsite at any point in time, which is particularly important in the event of an emergency. It also has a heat sensing feature which notifies the organisation if anyone with a body temperature outside of a healthy range attempts to sign in to the premises. Through LoopKiosk, what used to be done manually is now automated – ensuring accuracy, a smooth sign in/sign out process, and making visitor management faster and simpler. Where can LoopKiosk be used? How does LoopKiosk work? LoopKiosk is a private, secure, and automated sign-in/out and attendance taking system. It can be used for all types of people at an organisation, including employees, visitors, and organisation members. LoopSafe’s proprietary technology accurately identifies people in real-time via face recognition, enabling fast, hands-free sign in options, which helps to reduce the spread of germs. It includes a built-in medical grade temperature sensor to check that each person’s body temperature is in a healthy range and automatically restricts entry if a person has a fever detected, fails to pass a screening question, or doesn’t have a valid requirement or document on file for the entry. If a sign-in is blocked, the LoopSafe system will also automatically send notifications to nominated staff members to action the appropriate steps. LoopKiosks enable a fast sign in and sign out process for organisations and can be integrated with existing systems such as staff timesheets for payroll or other people management systems. What are the benefits of LoopKiosk? All organisations have a duty of care – in particular childcare centres, schools, universities, aged care facilities, and other care providers. They must ensure that people are accurately accounted for, only authorised people are onsite, and that they protect the health and wellbeing of those in their care. Many industries have evolving compliance requirements for managing people in their care, including many checks and balances related to people coming onto their private premises. The LoopKiosk automates previously manual processes, saving countless hours of staff time allowing them to focus on other high impact tasks. LoopKiosk helps organisations fulfil their duty of care in ways not possible before. Is the LoopKiosk Thermal TGA certified? Yes. The LoopKiosk Thermal is TGA certified as a Class IIa Medical Device for the use of body temperature reading and is published on the Australian Register of Therapuetic Goods (ARTG ID: 376450) What is LoopSensor? This product is still in development. Where will LoopSensor be able to be used? In schools, for example, LoopSensor would replace the manual roll call; in aged care facilities, it would provide useful information to staff about how active or inactive a resident has been so they can provide high-quality care, as well as support contact tracing efforts and people limits in different rooms. LoopSensor would also alert staff if a student or resident is unexpectedly absent from the premises, or if an unauthorised person or stranger is on site. How does LoopSensor work? LoopSensors are small devices which can be positioned on a wall and programmed to identify individuals present in an area at particular times. A single image is temporarily captured and automatically verified by the software against the organisations existing information to create an attendance log. The image is immediately deleted once verification is complete. LoopSensor immediately alerts organisations if someone is absent when they should be present. What are the benefits of LoopSensor? Schools, for example, are legally required to take and keep accurate attendance records, often in every lesson throughout the day. Currently, this is done manually, which takes time, can be inaccurate, and isn’t keeping pace with modern approaches to learning and different types of classroom environments. LoopSensor automates this regular ‘roll call’, and can be integrated with existing attendance management systems, so classes can start straight away. LoopSensor immediately alerts teachers and attendance officers when a student is absent from class, enabling schools to more quickly notify parents or carers if required. It also alerts teachers if an unknown person who may not have permission to be on campus is detected. LoopSensor’s attendance records are more accurate than those created through manual roll call, giving parents and carers the confidence that all children are properly being accounted for during the school day. For aged care facilities, it provides useful information to staff about how active or inactive a resident has been so they can provide high-quality care. For example, staff can be notified if a resident hasn’t left their room in a certain number of hours, or if they have been by themselves/isolated for an extended period of time. LoopSensor also alerts staff if a student or resident is unexpectedly absent from the premises. Is LoopSafe's technology safe? How secure is LoopSafe’s technology? All LoopSafe products are fully compliant with Australian privacy requirements and meet high security standards. The LoopSafe system consists of its own hardware and software, providing an integrated and secure technology solution that doesn’t require any additional infrastructure. Data is only accessible by the organisation operating LoopSafe software (aka the customer), and information is stored on the customers own closed network on Australian servers. No information is transferred to, shared with, or accessible by any third-party at any time. LoopSafe’s focus on privacy and security makes it the only technology suitable for organisations where privacy is paramount – in particular, aged care facilities, schools, universities, childcare centres, and other similar organisations. What information does LoopSafe store? LoopSafe’s technology identifies individuals in real-time within the system’s hardware. The LoopSafe identification algorithm produces a cached string of numbers stored in an encrypted database to perform identification, these numbers are only useful to the LoopSafe algorithm and cant be used by anything else. This means no images are required to be saved ands stored by LoopSafe after the identification process is complete. A single reference image is stored in the customers storage account for backup processing, which is a private account which even LoopSafe does not have access to. An organisation may choose to use LoopSafe to store information in relation to managing the attendance and sign-in processes, such as visitor contact details. These details are stored in a separate, isolated database to the identification numbers. This ensures a high level of data security, privacy and safety. Where is the data stored? Is the data sold to third parties? Could someone use the information stored by LoopSafe to identify me? How long are images stored for? LoopSafe’s technology identifies individuals in real-time on the device. This means no images are ever stored on the device, as identification occurs immediately. Only a single reference image is needed in the customers private cloud storage environment, which even LoopSafe has no direct access to, ensuring a high level of data security, privacy and safety. No images are stored by LoopSafe, and biometric information is de-identified and encrypted. Will LoopSafe be used to track people? The intentional design of the LoopSafe system ensures that a person can only be identified while on the private premises of the organisation operating LoopSafe. Further, no images are stored by LoopSafe, and biometric information is de-identified, encrypted and unique to LoopSafe devices; and no information is transferred to, shared with, or accessible by any third-party at any time.
Want to drop some weight? To lighten up, the key may be lighting up. Medical research has revealed other effects of smoking weed that can actually contribute to fat loss and enhance fitness-related goals. An article published by the American Journal of Epidemiology on the link between obesity and cannabis has revealed a provocative connection between lower rates of obesity and smoking marijuana at least three times per week. The conclusive analysis of the data from the survey involving a pool of over 40,000 people indicates that “despite the evidence that cannabis use stimulates appetite in clinical trials and laboratory studies, cannabis users are actually less likely to be obese than non users in the general population.” Innovations in Clinical Neuroscience suggests one possible reason for this outcome is that food and drugs compete for the same reward sites in the brain. The hypothalamus, the reward center of the brain, reacts in a similar way to the weed you may smoke to relieve stress or the food hyper-saturated in fat and sugar that you eat when you’re anxious. Furthermore, medical research has proved marijuana’s ability to reduce pain and inflammation, lower stress and improve sleep. As it turns out, all of these factors are the key links to an enhanced physique — be it fat loss or muscle gain. People often have the willpower to exercise with enough intensity, duration and frequency to keep their caloric expenditure to a maximum, thereby keeping their waistlines down, but the achy joints, slow recovery and chronic pain that can accompany exercise can limit the body’s ability to keep up. Ultramarathoner Jeff Sperber resorts to weed as a solution. In an article published by Runner’s Magazine, he emphasizes the importance of marijuana in his post-race recovery routine. Sperber relies on cannabis to control his inflammation and to alleviate the aches and pains from injuries induced by running hundreds of miles at a time. He has prescription pain meds at his disposal, but says in the article that he “can’t do that stuff and function as a normal human being.” However, “As a weed smoker, I can function.” For the average Joe just trying to stay fit, what this means is that after a typical Saturday night binge filled with IPAs, Jagerbombs and regrettable 2 a.m. Seamless orders, the desire and discipline to “run the extra mile” the next day becomes more achievable after a few bong rips. With reduced physical limitations, you can push yourself to run further, harder, longer, and burn more calories than before. Just make sure your phone is with you so you can Uber back home in case you get lost (marijuana is not known to improve memory). The other way cannabis can aid in weight loss and help improve your physique is by its ability to reduce stress and as a result assist in lowering cortisol levels. Have you ever felt like you were doing everything right and still not losing any weight? Exercising eight days a week, no booze, no dessert, and still no results? Just the thought of it is stressful. Pile that stress on top of what is presumably an already hectic life and one can only imagine the amount of cortisol circulating through your body at any given time. Sounds like it’s about time to puff-puff-pass the blunt to yourself one time and relax. According to an article published by doctors at the University of New Mexico, “high levels of cortisol cause fat stores and excess circulating fat to be relocated and deposited deep in the abdomen, which left unchecked can develop into or enhance obesity.” Since marijuana is known to reduce stress and thereby potentially lower your levels of cortisol, it might serve as a better nightcap than the usual Pinot Grigio, which can easily contain upward of 150 calories per glass. Unsurprisingly, a lack of sleep has similar if not more damaging effects on fitness goals than stress. Not only does it elevate cortisol levels, but it increases the amount of leptin (the hunger hormone) in the body, making that buttery almond croissant behind the counter at the coffee shop even harder to resist. Katt Williams, a celebrity cannabis enthusiast who has spent countless hours doing extensive and exhaustive marijuana research, reassures us in his standup special, “Pimp Chronicles,” that aside from happiness and hunger, sleepiness is a prominent side effect of smoking weed. “You might think he dead. He ain’t dead,” Williams jokes of watching a friend sleep after smoking. That near-death sleep he’s referring to is critical in order to minimize leptin levels and to ensure your body enters into an anabolic (growth) state, thus allowing for proper muscle recovery. Many people don’t spend much time in this sleep zone and continue to struggle to achieve their fitness goals despite doing everything else right. Mary Jane offers an alluring solution to these common fitness conundrums: Smoke some, sleep more, achieve better results. The strategic implementation of marijuana into a fitness routine is as delicate a dance as the ballet. And trying to hit the spliff in order to actually lose weight is like executing 32 fouetté turns. (Translation: Not easy.) Why? Because unlike your favorite superhero, the marijuana-induced munchies are a very real thing. Not to mention weed is illegal in most states. Should you happen to live in one of the four states in which recreational marijuana consumption is legal (plus Washington D.C., where it is also legal), or the additional 20 states that have legalized medical marijuana, here’s how you might approach lighting up the firebird and losing weight in the process. 1. Empty your fridge and pantry of ALL crap foods. 2. Prepare a healthy dinner and dessert BEFORE smoking. 3. Smoke ONLY at night just before dinner or 2 hours before bedtime. 4. Eat a filling dinner high in fiber and protein. Think veggies, legumes and a giant porterhouse. 5. For dessert, have a large serving of your favorite fruit tossed in a bowl with some nonfat Greek yogurt and granola (healthy people’s ice cream). 6. Finally, make like the aggressive children’s book and “Go the F*ck to Sleep.” By following the above rules, you will be nourishing your body in abundance with healthy vitamins and nutrients in order to give it the tools it needs to perform at a higher level the next day. And for those of you who claim healthy food sucks, it’ll taste like your mama made it if you eat it while you’re high. By the end of the meal, you will be too stuffed with fiber to take another bite and can easily talk yourself out of ordering delivery. Plus, there won’t be much time left on the clock for you to get into any further mischief beyond the length of your bedsheets and a few crappy Netflix shows, which you suddenly find to be amazingly genius. Sleep deeply, wake up happy, and burn more calories more efficiently.
Written during READING WEEK at the Waring School, February, 1987. The first period on Monday morning always seems to come around too fast. Somehow Josée and I never seem to be prepared for that time when teachers and students are back together after the weekend. It seems to me that it should be a special time, that half hour between 8 and 8:30, that we should have special things prepared for morning meeting. We are all together in the Victor Hugo Room, the week’s classes and activities lie before us. Whatever does happen during the thirty minutes should somehow turn us all from our private concern of the past two days and in toward the community of the school, get us working together, back to caring about one another. Because it seems to me such an important occasion I spend a considerable amount of my own time during the weekend thinking about 8 o’clock Monday morning. I toy with the idea of a series of Headmaster’s talks, but for this the circumstances are too highly stacked against me. First of all the Victor Hugo Room, as much as I love it at lunch time, and when the Jazz Ensemble is playing, is not conducive to intimacy and discussion and talks by Headmasters. Secondly, no one seems to ever be on time on Monday morning and if I were talking at 8’clock I would inevitably be interrupted during the first ten or fifteen minutes by the latecomers. (Why don’t you do something about it, this being late to school? Why aren’t there consequences for the latecomers? Get it together, Waring!) But more importantly Headmaster’s talks, sermons, didacticism of all sorts, preaching, these things are out of fashion. I don’t really believe in them myself, anyway. And in any case, I know very well that two or three Monday mornings of any kind of talking would probably lose most of our student and teacher audience. It’s a fact, probably, that after a weekend one should come to school and find quiet and calm. I agree and on Monday mornings during the past few months we have begun the day with music and writing note cards. For the most part everyone seems to like it. The result is that in the minds of both students and teachers the real beginning of school is the first class at 8:30. But I’m not really satisfied with this arrangement. I would like to do better. Today is Monday and there is no school. We have, therefore, a whole week to prepare ourselves for next Monday when the students will be returning, not just from a weekend at home, but from an entire week of freedom from school and teachers. How will I turn them back, wrench them away from themselves, towards not only their work and their classes but also towards the community of the school? Open School and Open House are coming up on March 1. People will be coming to see our school. What will I say to them when I meet them? The other day someone asked me to describe in as few words as possible the Waring School. I responded without hesitation, we are, I said, a school that would not be a school. What did I mean by that? I probably should explain what I meant. Later on the same day: Education is something we all have been through, and therefore something we should all know something about. Education is, perhaps, the most important experience that we all share. Education ought to be something that we, as a community of students, parents, and teachers, struggle with together in the attempt to create the very best learning environment possible. Education ought to benefit like nothing else from our collective wisdom (there is probably nothing else that is so widely shared – education like birth and death touches all of us). However, instead of a collective endeavor on the part of parents, students and teachers education has been taken over by the schools, more often by school administrators than by teachers. Now, instead of talking about education (certainly as much the property of parents as of schools and teachers) we talk about the schools. We are often asked who should apply to the Waring School? This is how I would answer the question: Those who want to learn and those who want to learn within a caring community. Motivation and community awareness are both essential. I know that here too Josée agrees with me as we have often talked about it. High I.Q.s, special gifts and talents, a lot of money, these are not. What has happened in this country where students are so rarely motivated and so disregardful of their community responsibilities? The Waring School is certainly not perfect in these respects. But we’re working at it and we realize that to become a good citizen is at least as important as the acquisition of knowledge and skills. Many have written about the crisis in the schools, about how the schools no longer educate. I believe that what has brought the present unsatisfactory situation about is that parents and students have turned the primary responsibility for learning over to the teachers and the schools. The schools, of course, should not have allowed them to do so. (In fact, by doing so they have given themselves an impossible task. On their own they cannot educate.) Parents should have known better, even if their children didn’t. For parents must have learned for themselves that learning depends first on the learner, second on the environment for learning, or the community – which includes the home at least as much as the school – and only third on the school and the teacher. By turning the primary responsibility for education over to the schools, parents and society as a whole have made their biggest mistake. The so-called “Crisis in the Classroom” stems most of all from this abrogation of responsibility and explains why there are now so many educators and so many politicians talking and writing about the crisis. It is my idea that the “Crisis in the Classroom” is no more in the classroom than is the crisis of religion in the church. Both education and religion belong first of all in the minds and hearts of men and women, and if there are any solutions to the problems that both the one and the other are currently experiencing that is also where they must be sought. As long as people feel that education is primarily the business of the schools, the schools will be blamed when things go wrong. They will be blamed when test scores are down, they will be blamed for the high dropout rates, for the declining literacy. They will be blamed as well for the “rising tide of mediocrity throughout the land.” Furthermore, if there happens to be an election taking place, or, as now, if candidates for the presidency in 1988 are begining to make themselves known to the public, the question of education will be on every politician’s and every candidate’s list of vital issues about which he must have something to say. In fact, we will hear over and over again the politicians’ diagnoses and treatments for the ills of the schools, ranging from the ultraconservative, “bring back the paddle,” to the neoprogressive, “take away the requirments, restore freedom in the classroom.” Yesterday evening I went with my father to the Vittori-Rocci Hall right here in Beverly, to hear the only declared Republican candidate for president, Pete Dupont, a former governor of Delaware (the first state to ratify the Constitution as he reminded us) give us his diagnosis and prescription for the ills of our schools. He cited the test scores that placed the Russians, Germans, and Japanese high above our own students, and said that this was because in our country education was a state monopoly, worse, a form of state socialism. (I can’t believe he was ignorant of ‘the fact that the educational systems of the three mentioned countries were even more centralized and staterun than ours; he must have been simplifying issues for the Beverly audience). Under such a system it was no wonder, he said, that education was failing to live up to its promise. The treatment according to Pete Dupont? Simple. He would have us break up the monopoly, deregulate, restore competitiveness to the classroom. In particular, he would support the establishment of a system by which educational vouchers placed in the hands of the parents would pay the tuition costs at the schools of their own choosing, thus forcing schools to compete among themselves for students and thereby – if one believes in the free market analogy – raising the quality of the product. In some respects the analogy does hold. For example, under such a system poor schools turning out poor educational products would probably fail, or just quietly disappear after their guaranteed funding had been taken away. Also, on the other hand, such a system would provide funding and therefore opportunity for good schools (companies) to take root and grow and prosper. We still don’t know what we are going to do tomorrow morning at 8 a.m. But I’m not going to think about it now. From long experience I’ve found that there is absolutely no correlation between the success of a class or meeting and the amount of preparation on my part that has gone into it. I’ve probably had more success when I haven’t been prepared, so I’ll try this system on Monday. Josée tells me that she feels that she is stronger when she, at the same time, is ready and is happy. I’ve been thinking more about Pete Dupont and the other night at the Vittori- Rocci Hall. Actually what he proposes might be a good thing for schools – by this I mean the school part of education because, as I hope I’ve made clear by now, education is much more than school, and school should certainly not bear the principal burden of educating children, for when it does it will inevitably fail. Furthermore, being a co- founder of a private college preparatory school I stand only to benefit from a voucher system in that more parents would have more money to spend on education and consequently probably more of them would come, say, to an Open House to check out the Waring School. In any case his proposal is consistent with his overal political philosophy which is that the principal role of government should be to create opportunity for the people, in this case both for those people who have good ideas and would start a school of their own, and for those who have good ideas and are looking for good schools for their children. It’s interesting to compare Pete Dupont’s principal role of government with that of Mario Cuomo, who has just announced his non-candidacy for the presidential election of 1988. Governor Cuomo maintains that the principal role of government should be to provide aid for those who, in a highly competitive environment cannot help themselves. The contrast between them is beautiful! Pete Dupont would render the environment even more competitive than it already is and Mario Cuomo would protect us from it! It’s a pity that they won’t be running against one another in 1999. This would be a choice! Mr. Cuomo’s policy, if extended to the public school system, would result in new and massive government funded programs to provide for special needs schools and children, both probably being in the majority in their respective populations. I happen to believe that both Dupont’s and Cuomo’s positions are valid, but in respect to what ails the schools they are both beside the main point (for the problem, Dear Pete and Dear Mario, is not in the schools but in ourselves). What am I going to do tomorrow morning? Josée is encouraging me to go on writing, to get these journal entries ready for the Le Temps Retrouvé that we are preparing for the OPEN SCHOOL one week from today, on March 1. Haven’t most of us noticed at one time or another in our lives that when we hear someone speak about a subject we know something about, as I did on Friday evening, or when we read a newspaper article similarly on a subject with which we are familiar, we are most often dissatisfied with what the speaker or writer has to say? Usually we tend to feel he has grossly over simplified the subject. I noticed that I listened with greater respect to Pete Dupont while he was talking about the social security system (today I read an article in the New Republic showing that even here he didn’t really know what he was talking about, or if he did he was deceiving the public in respect to his solutions), farm subsidies, unmarried mothers on welfare, even disarmament and the drug problem. I wonder now, however, if what the candidate was saying about these topics was just as naive and superficial as what he had to say about education and that only my own ignorance prevented me from being aware of this. I suspect that candidates for public office feel that they must have clearly articulated positions on any number of current issues and problems, such as nuclear disarmament, the deficit, terrorism, young mothers on welfare, and education, to mention only a few of those currently in fashion. Then I suppose they feel that they must convince others of the validity of their positions and proposed solutions to the problems and critical issues of the day, and therby bring others over to their own persuasion and in so doing capture the large numbers of uncommitted voters who, by finally choosing sides on election day, determine who wins and who loses in the great American game of politics. Such a strategy of formulating and defending positions on any number of current issues may be the proper way to win an election. It’s not, I’m convinced, the proper way to solve some of our problems. To formulate and then defend one’s positions in the public arena inevitably means that one must oversimsplify, that one must adopt slogans such as supply side economics and strategic defense systems which may or may not correspond to the underlying reality but that certainly interfer with one’s perception of that reality. We are a nation that believes in public debate as being the best means to decide between the candidates and their solutions to the issues. This is what our American democracy is all about, open debate leading to the knowledgeable selection of the best candidate for the job. This is our American democracy at work. We point with pride to our democracy in action, to the Lincoln-Douglas and Nixon-Kennedy debates, even to the League of Women Voters who have been responsible for the most recent squarings-off between the presidential candidates. Such a system of public debate is probably an anachronism, a relic of our past, like the myths surrounding the founding fathers and no longer very apropos to the problems of the eighties. But perhaps public debate is a valid method for addressing and solving many crucial problems such as the deficit, farm subsidies, the social security system, all of which problems, by the way, were created by earlier administrations trying to solve earlier problems. Education, however, is something else. No amount of restructuring of the schools can solve this problem. Indeed, the schools may even be the problem as those writers such as Ivan Illich who would “deschool” society believe. At the very best the school will reflect the values of the community; when these values are admirable, the schools will be admirable, when they are not, as is so often the case within our inner cities, the schools will not be either. Show us a successful school and we will show you a successful community behind it. Anyone who has spent much time close to children knows how they learn. Anyone who has spent much time in the schools knows that there is very little learning going on. Why is this so? Learning comes about because the learner wants to know what and how and why. For four vears in the lower grades most children do. Then, for some reason, most don’t. I think I know why. Imagine a primitive society where children are taught in the “schools” to fish and to hunt. Children learn, not because they are taught in the schools, but because adults in the society do a lot of fishing and hunting. Imagine that same society when people no longer fish and hunt. The schools would fail overnight. This is our society. The schools are trying to teach the very things that most adults no longer do, reading and writing to name just two of the most conspicuous ones. What chance do the schools have to succeed?