text:
Why Paysafe
Cash Online
Accept cash payments online.
Accept instant, secured bank payments direct from consumers.
Accept payments from digital wallets.
Customise an integration to your software.
Simplified, secure e-commerce solutions.
3DS 2 Integration
New technical standards required for payment authentication.
Healthcare & Elderly Care
Membership & Wellness
Sports Camp Registration
Travel & Airlines
ISOs
Innovative programs engineered to grow your business.
Contemporary, flexible offerings to drive incremental earnings.
Simplified connectivity to extend the value of your software solution.
Our personality and our people. Core values that mean something.
A top ranked global employer.
Original content from Paysafe leaders.
Talented and diverse executive team.
All that's happening at Paysafe. Press announcements and more.
State of the art offices around the world.
An industry leader with 20+ years of experience.
To help us direct you question to the best team to provide an answer please select which option best descibes you.
I would like to speak to someone about setting up a new account
I'm an existing customer and need help with my account
I'm looking to integrate payments to my software platform or application
I'm a member of the media
This statement has been published in accordance with the Modern Slavery Act 2015. It sets out the steps taken by relevant companies within the Paysafe Group during the year ended 31 December 2021 to prevent modern slavery and human trafficking in its business and supply chains.
Paysafe is committed to ensuring that our business has no involvement in modern slavery or human trafficking. Modern slavery is a crime and a violation of fundamental human rights. It takes various forms, such as slavery, servitude, forced or compulsory labour and human trafficking, all of which have in common the deprivation of a person's liberty by another in order to exploit them for personal or commercial gain.
Paysafe will not support or deal with any business knowingly involved in modern slavery or human trafficking.
Our business and structure
Paysafe is a leading specialized payments platform. Its core purpose is to enable businesses and consumers to connect and transact seamlessly through industry-leading capabilities in payment processing, digital wallet, and online cash solutions. With over 20 years of online payment experience, an annualized transactional volume of over US $120 billion in 2021, and approximately 3,500 employees located in 10+ countries, Paysafe connects businesses and consumers across 100 payment types in over 40 currencies around the world. Delivered through an integrated platform, Paysafe solutions are geared toward mobile-initiated transactions, real-time analytics and the convergence between brick-and-mortar and online payments.
Our supply chains
Our supply chains include suppliers of:
IT hardware and software, including software licences and open source software;
data storage services;
professional services from our advisers including our lawyers, accountants, auditors and public relations advisers;
office equipment; and
office cleaning and other office facilities services.
The vast majority of our suppliers are based in Europe and North America. They are required to take steps to prevent modern slavery and human trafficking in their own businesses and supply chains, whether under the Modern Slavery Act 2015 or equivalent legislation in other jurisdictions.
Where we use temporary or agency staff, we only use specified, reputable recruitment agencies and professional services firms. We maintain a list of approved agencies which is reviewed annually.
Our policies on slavery and human trafficking
We are committed to ensuring that there is no modern slavery or human trafficking in any part of our business or in our supply chains.
We have a Global Conduct Policy in place signed off at director level, which applies to all staff across the Paysafe Group, to reflect and enforce our commitment to conduct all our business in an honest and ethical manner. This is supplemented by a specific Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Policy, to implement and enforce systems and controls to ensure slavery and human trafficking is not taking place anywhere in our business or in our supply chains.
Supplier adherence to our values
We have zero tolerance to slavery and human trafficking. We have a dedicated Procurement Services team which works closely with our Legal, Compliance and Internal Audit teams.
We have a Global Procurement Policy in place to ensure a controlled, transparent, auditable and compliant procurement service, and which is approved by our Chief Financial Officer. Our staff are required to complete appropriate due diligence analysis to ensure that prospective suppliers are qualified to conduct business with Paysafe.
Our Group Procurement team take supplier management and performance seriously. Decisions on potential suppliers are taken based not only on price and delivery times, but other factors including the supplier's ability to deliver while maintaining compliance with applicable laws and, where the supplier has previously been engaged by us, past compliance with Paysafe's standards. Group Procurement monitor contractual performance by our suppliers and implement Continued Improvement Programmes (CIPs) with our suppliers where applicable.
Wherever possible we seek to procure goods and services from an existing supplier already known to Paysafe Group, which allows us to better understand our suppliers' operations and policies and to build strategic, long-term relationships with those suppliers.
To ensure all those in our supply chain and contractors comply with our values, we have a rigorous supply chain compliance programme in place. This currently consists of the following measures:
Purchases from suppliers are made using either standardised contracting forms or a standard set of purchase order terms and conditions, which include:
a representation and warranty from the supplier that neither it nor any employee has been convicted of any slavery or human trafficking offence, nor been the subject of any investigation into any alleged slavery or human trafficking offence;
an obligation on the supplier to comply with all applicable laws, and specifically the Modern Slavery Act 2015;
audit rights for Paysafe (or an independent third party representative) to verify the supplier's compliance with the terms; and
the right for Paysafe to immediately terminate the supply agreement if the supplier breaches its compliance obligations.
In addition, when conducting due diligence on potential suppliers for major projects, we require them to complete a detailed due diligence questionnaire. This covers topics such as supplier profile, size and history, and requires suppliers to provide references from previous business partners. The supplier is also required to respond on a number of legal and regulatory topics, which includes a requirement for the supplier to confirm upfront as part of their proposal that they are familiar with and shall comply with the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and/or any similar applicable legislation within the relevant territory.
Any supply agreements made on the supplier's terms are duly reviewed by our Procurement and Legal teams to ensure that the supplier is obliged to comply with all applicable laws.
By working with Paysafe, suppliers accept the terms of our Partner Code which sets out Paysafe's expectation that our partners including suppliers and anyone that they in turn work with to deliver products and/or services to Paysafe will comply with the principles in the Code and will share Paysafe's commitment to conducting our respective businesses with integrity and in an honest and ethical manner. This Partner Code includes our requirements with regards to zero-tolerance for slavery and human trafficking.
During 2021 we have continued to assess our business and supply chains to identify any particular sectors or geographies where a greater risk of modern slavery or human trafficking may occur and have sought to identify what measures are in place to mitigate those risks. For example:
our contracts with suppliers for the provision of cleaning services to our UK offices require the suppliers to comply with all applicable legislation and to meet all regulatory and industry standards in providing the services, and to ensure that sufficient resources are allocated to properly provide the services;
when we procure Paysafe-branded promotional merchandise, this is sourced from a supplier which is a member of the Ethical Trading Initiative and Sedex (the Supplier Ethical Data Exchange) who is accredited as an EcoVadis gold standard supplier; and
where we provide services to merchants who operate in sectors which carry a higher risk of modern slavery or human trafficking, we implement additional compliance controls, such as enhanced due diligence and validation of the merchant's controls prior to onboarding, additional Paysafe senior management approval for onboarding, and additional ongoing monitoring.
In 2021 we conducted a Modern Slavery Audit across 20 of our largest and most critical suppliers (Tier 1-3). This assessment included validation of Modern Slavery prevention processes in place and, where applicable, the further completion of the Paysafe Modern Slavery Questionnaire. No suppliers were removed from our pool of suppliers as a result of this audit as no material concerns were raised.
In addition, since 2020 we have required suppliers to complete our Environmental Social and Governance Questionnaire as part of our Supplier Onboarding procedures. This includes the requirement for the supplier to identify and document Modern Slavery prevention practices in place throughout its businesses and wider supply chain. This assists in identifying what systems and controls the supplier has in place to ensure slavery and trafficking are not taking place in anywhere part of their business.
All Paysafe staff are required to read, understand and commit to follow our Global Conduct Policy. Members of senior management receive specific face-to-face or virtual training on the topic Conduct and Ethics, referring to our Global Conduct Policy in order to promote proper Conduct and Ethics practices throughout our organisation.
All Paysafe staff involved in the procurement of global goods and services are required to comply with our Procurement Policy.
Paysafe has in place a global Whistleblowing Policy, which includes detailed whistleblowing guidance to enable and encourage all staff to express concerns regarding any misconduct or wrongdoing related to our business. This may be done either by raising a concern internally, anonymously through our external whistleblowing channel, or by raising a concern directly to our designated Whistleblowing Champion if that member of staff prefers to speak to someone outside the operational business. All reports will be investigated and appropriate remedial actions taken. Paysafe has a zero-tolerance policy to retaliation and will always maintain the whistleblower's confidentiality, to the extent permitted by law. All staff are required to periodically complete an online training module which highlights these procedures.
Our effectiveness in combating slavery and human trafficking
In order to assess the effectiveness of the measures taken by Paysafe in combating modern slavery and human trafficking during 2021, we used the following key performance indicators ("KPIs"). The table below sets out the results of our monitoring of these KPIs and the actions taken to address any issues raised.
Results and Actions Taken
The proportion of Paysafe Group staff who have completed relevant training or have otherwise confirmed in writing their agreement to the relevant policies and procedures
New joiners are required to complete the relevant training and confirm their agreement to the relevant policies and procedures within 30 days of joining Paysafe.
As at 31 December 2021, 94% of new joiners had successfully completed the relevant training. Any cases of non-compliance were escalated to management and pursued until the training had been successfully completed.
Existing staff are also required to complete refresher training annually. Any cases of non-compliance in 2021 were escalated to management and pursued until the refresher training had been successfully completed.
The percentage of whistleblowing reports made which related to slavery or human trafficking incidents.
No whistleblowing reports relating to slavery or human trafficking incidents were received.
The remedial actions taken in response to any investigations into reports of modern slavery or human trafficking.
No such reports were received.
The number of audits of higher-risk suppliers carried out by our Procurement Services team and any remedial actions taken.
We audited 20 of our largest and most critical suppliers across all Business Units and geographies. No remedial actions were necessary (e.g., no suppliers were removed from our pool of suppliers) because of these audits as no material concerns were raised.
We continue to assess these KPIs each year to consider whether alternative or additional KPIs would be most appropriate in order to measure the effectiveness of our actions.
This statement is made pursuant to section 54(1) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and constitutes Paysafe Group's slavery and human trafficking statement for the financial year ended 31 December 2021.
This statement has been approved by the boards of directors of Paysafe Financial Services Limited, Prepaid Services Company Limited and Skrill Limited.
Elliott Wiseman
General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer
For the Paysafe Group's Modern Slavery Act Transparency Statement for the year ended 31 December 2020, click here.
Code of Conduct - Canada


text:
Seasonal/Market Fresh
Boston, MA (17)
Calistoga, CA (2)
Camden, ME (1)
Cape Cod, MA (1)
Los Angeles, CA (11)
Napa, CA (6)
Orange County, CA (2)
Sacramento, CA (1)
San Diego, CA (8)
Sebastopol, CA (1)
Sonoma County, CA (7)
St. Helena, CA (2)
Whistler, Canada (1)
In Place (66)
American Contemporary (26)
American Regional (24)
American Traditional (1)
Eastern European (1)
Eclectic/Global (5)
French Contemporary (14)
French Traditional (2)
Italian Contemporary (1)
Italian Traditional (5)
Pan-Asian (1)
Wine/Wine Bar (3)
2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, Savory, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, Savory, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, Savory, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, Savory, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, Savory, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, Savory, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, Savory, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, Savory, Seasonal/Market Fresh, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, Savory, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, Savory, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, Savory, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, Savory, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, Savory, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, Savory, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, Savory, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, 2009, Savory, Seasonal/Market Fresh
Chef Thomas Boyce, Pastry Chef Sherry Yard, and Sommelier Christopher Miller of Spago
Chef Guillaume Burlion of The Restaurant at Sunset Marquis Hotel
French Contemporary, Seasonal/Market Fresh
Chef Andrew Kirschner of Wilshire
American Regional, Seasonal/Market Fresh, American Contemporary
Chef Michael Fiorelli of Mar'sel
Chef Brian Sinnott of 1500 Ocean
Photos: Katherine Martinelli
Seasonal/Market Fresh, American Contemporary
Chefs Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo of Animal
Seasonal/Market Fresh, Gastropub, American Contemporary
Chef Andy Cook of Gordon Ramsay at the London
American Contemporary, Seasonal/Market Fresh
Chef Neal Fraser and Sommelier Eduardo Porto Carreiro of Grace
Chef Mark Gold of Eva
Chef Sebastien Archambault of RH Restaurant
French Traditional, Seasonal/Market Fresh
Chef Evan Funke and Restaurateurs Zoe Nathan and Josh Loeb of Rustic Canyon
Seasonal/Market Fresh, Mediterranean
Chef Craig Strong of Studio at the Montage Hotel
French Contemporary, Seasonal/Market Fresh, American Regional
Chef Ray Garcia of Fig at the Fairmont Miramar Hotel Santa Monica
American Regional, Seasonal/Market Fresh, Comfort Food
Chef Joel Dennis and Sommelier Thomas Combescot of Adour
French Contemporary, Seasonal/Market Fresh, Wine/Wine Bar
Chef Scott Herbert and Pastry Chef Sarah Woodhouse of Troquet
French Contemporary, American Contemporary, Seasonal/Market Fresh
Chef Steven Brand of Upstairs at the Square
Chef Anthony Mazzotta of Lucca Back Bay (formerly Sasso)
Italian Traditional, Seasonal/Market Fresh
Chef Tim Weichmann of TW Food
Chef Michael Scelfo of Temple Bar

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Home Green Energy Solar Power
Scientists Use Photosynthesis as Source of Solar Energy
Annika Tostengard
Australian researchers have found a new way to use a very old source of solar energy. Plants have been converting sunlight into energy for millions of years, and the team at Monash University in Melbourne have built a device that can do the same thing.
The photosynthetic device is even more efficient than traditional solar panels.
The process was recently detailed in an article published in the journal of Energy & Environmental Science. An electrical current is propagated through water, where commercial solar cells split the atoms into hydrogen and oxygen. The device can therefore create hydrogen fuel, which contributes no carbon to the atmosphere.
These devices are 22% more energy efficient than traditional models, which have only reached 18% efficiency. Solar plants, meanwhile, are only 1-2% energy efficient on average, so the benefits of this new source of solar energy could be enormous.
According to Professor Doug MacFarlane, it will unfortunately be a long time before the technology is available on the market. Professor MacFarlane was also one of the lead authors for the study and is also responsible for the Energy Program of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science in Melbourne. He believes that electricity prices are currently too low to act as an incentive for manufacturers to adopt the method.
He and his team continue to work, however, striving to reach 30% efficiency with their new devices. Their work now will shape the future of energy and help humans find a way to coexist with the environment.
Image (c) Monash University
artificial photosynthesis
new photosynthesis
photosynthesis solar power
Previous articleCan Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Make Nanofibers?
Next articleObama's New Energy Plan Helps Homeowners Go Green
Coffee to Boost Solar Cell Performance
Zero Mass Water's Solar Panels Pull Clean Drinking Water Out of Thin Air
Solar Empowerment of Nomads in Rural Mongolia
New Discovery Boosts Performance of Perovskite-based Solar Cells
New Year, New Energy
Solar power production getting cheaper than conventional power
Wave power
Wind/Wave Power Not Infinite and Not Renewable, German Scientist Claims


text:
Education & Career Readiness
Grant Requests
About The John Jordan Foundation
Working to make communities
a better place — for everyone.
We support initiatives to improve the quality of life for vulnerable communities, from cradle to career, youth to elderly. This includes closing the gaps in the educational system; improving career and college exposure and readiness, decreasing negative health impacts associated with poverty; addressing income inequality; protecting neglected or abused animals, and creating opportunities for the most under-resourced populations to be positioned for successful futures. We are responsibly passionate about distributing funds where they can have an immediate, positive, and lasting impact.
A responsibility to help
The John Jordan Foundation was created in 2012 to equip disadvantaged youth and young adults with the tools needed to succeed educationally and professionally.
The Foundation has supported more than 300 partner organizations. Over 1,000 teachers have received grants for their classrooms, and more than 400 California schools have been served.
Over the past decade, the scope has expanded to include support for programs serving seniors and animals.
With the help of many tremendous nonprofit partners, the Foundation has empowered thousands, lifting up those most in need, improving lives and opening doors of opportunity that may otherwise be closed.
It's not a charity, it's an investment
in the future — our future.
We believe successful businesses should be accountable, responsible, and an integral part of their communities, playing an active role in improving the lives of our most vulnerable fellow citizens.
Supporting groups that support our community
If your organization or program focus aligns with the John Jordan Foundation mission, apply for a grant to help fund your work.
JORDAN WINERY DONATIONS
Sharing our craft to support your program
Jordan Vineyard & Winery is proud to supply wine, hospitality packages and tastings for charitable auctions. Apply for a donation to support your fundraising initiative.
Katie Fonsen Young
John Jordan
Founder and Board Member
Josh Hermsmeyer
©2023 John Jordan Foundation


text:
4 Mavs training camp battles to watch: Backup for Luka Doncic, Kristaps Porzingis more important than ever
Dallas will have to waive or trade one player before the NBA season starts Dec. 22.
Dallas Mavericks forward Dwight Powell (7), forward Dorian Finney-Smith (10) and forward Maximilian Kleber (42) react to a play during the second half a game between the Dallas Mavericks and the Utah Jazz at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Sunday, October 28, 2018.(Ryan Michalesko / Staff Photographer)
4:57 PM on Nov 24, 2020 CST
The Mavericks' roster for the 2020-21 season is set.
Well, almost set.
After a whirlwind week with the draft and free agency days apart, Dallas has 16 players on guaranteed contracts heading into the start of training camp — one more than NBA rosters hold during the regular season.
That means the Mavericks will have to make a move, whether by waiving or trading someone, to trim their roster between Dec. 1 and Dec. 22. Expect competition for roles in the Mavericks' now-deepened rotation to be fierce.
As The Dallas Morning News reported earlier this week, the Mavericks' current depth chart will look similar to this:
Point guard: Luka Doncic, Jalen Brunson, Trey Burke, J.J. Barea
Shooting guard: Tim Hardaway Jr., Josh Green, Tyrell Terry, *Nate Hinton
Small forward: Josh Richardson, Dorian Finney-Smith, Wesley Iwundu, #Devonte Patterson
Power forward: Maxi Kleber, James Johnson, *Tyler Bey, #Freddie Gillespie
Center: Kristaps Porzingis, Dwight Powell, Willie Cauley-Stein, Boban Marjanovic
*Players on two-way contracts. #Players on Exhibit 10 (nonguaranteed) contracts.
With that in mind, here's the breakdown of four of the most important battles over the next few weeks.
Jalen Brunson vs. Trey Burke
The importance of depth behind Luka Doncic became especially apparent last winter when Doncic missed two stretches of at least four games with ankle sprains. He also dealt with other ailments in the weeks leading up to the mid-March coronavirus suspension.
Doncic's physical style as the feature player and primary ball handler in the Mavericks' offense exposes him to contact and purposeful fouls from struggling defenses.
Who will be his first backup?
Brunson has served as a primary backup since his and Doncic's rookie season in 2018-19 and has averaged at least eight points and three assists in each season as a steady rotation player. Brunson should be fully recovered from March shoulder surgery to start training camp.
In Brunson's stead during the restart this summer, Burke transformed from a roster substitute to playoff starter alongside Doncic. Burke's familiarity with the Mavericks' offense, dating to his 2019 arrival in Dallas as part of the Kristaps Porzingis deal, gave him the comfort to showcase his speed and confidence in the Disney World bubble — and earn a long-term contract last week to remain with Dallas.
With veteran champion and Doncic mentor J.J. Barea also in the mix, the Mavericks should be better built to weather possible Doncic absences in the condensed 2020-21 season.
Dorian Finney-Smith vs. Maxi Kleber
The two emerged as the Mavericks' primary defenders against the Clippers' stars in last season's playoff series.
Now, they could combine for time in the area the Mavericks need options most: in the frontcourt, especially as Kristaps Porzingis misses the first few weeks of the season while rehabbing from meniscus surgery.
Finney-Smith, who's developed into one of the Mavericks' most consistent 3-and-D players, slots more as a small forward. But the draft-night trade for small forward Josh Richardson from the 76ers makes Finney-Smith's versatility a bonus as Dallas turns to an uncertain frontcourt group early in the season.
Kleber, who also played some center last summer in Porzingis' absence, started throughout the playoffs.
The 28-year-old just recorded, by far, his best season of his three in Dallas, averaging 9.1 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.1 blocks a game with some of his best defensive performances coming against some of the NBA's biggest names. Zion Williamson isn't likely to have forgotten the trouble Kleber gave him at the rim last March.
With Porzingis coming off knee surgery, the Mavs will need reinforcement in the frontcourt.
Willie Cauley-Stein vs. Boban Marjanovic
The Mavericks will also be short-handed at center to start the season.
Porzingis played his best when lining up at the five last season. Dwight Powell is also a natural fit there, but he'll be just 11 months removed from right Achilles surgery when the season starts in late December, so the Mavericks could be cautious with working him back into live competition.
That leaves Cauley-Stein and Marjanovic as two options to see an early increase in playing time.
Marjanovic shined against some playoff-bound competition last season. Who can forget his career-best 31-point, 17-rebound show against the Nuggets on March 11?
The Mavericks have turned to Marjanovic when the matchups benefit his size and offensive style. They may have to be less selective to start the season if Cauley-Stein's development doesn't outpace Marjanovic's.
Cauley-Stein joined the Mavericks last January via trade from the Warriors to help fill the void from Powell's injury. But he played just 13 games with Dallas, including two starts, because of a personal matter in February and his decision to opt out of the restart this summer.
The former first-round pick has the potential to be a strong fit in the Mavericks' spaced offense and on pick-and-rolls with Doncic.
Josh Green vs. Tyrell Terry
In the NBA's most chaotic offseason, the Mavericks' top two rookies, along with the rest of their 2020 draft class, will have to navigate the quickest professional introduction in history.
Green (No. 18 overall) and Terry (No. 31) won't play the same roles if and when they earn time in the Mavericks' rotation.
A freshman out of Arizona, Green is known for his defensive prowess and athleticism. He struggled at times shooting from 3 in college, but Dallas coveted his upside and maturity in the first round.
Terry, meanwhile, was one of the strongest shooters in the draft. He made 48% of his catch-and-shoot 3s as a Stanford freshman last season and shot 40.8% from 3 overall.
Whether the two emerge as potential contributors early in the season probably will depend on whether they can acclimate to the NBA level without summer league or the traditional weeks of pre-training camp scrimmaging.
Still, the development of two promising young players on one of the Western Conference's most talented young rosters will be key to the Mavericks building the depth and diversity they hope will propel deeper playoff runs.
Mavs' top draft pick Josh Green talks about joining Dallas, nod to Kobe Bryant with his new jersey number
Callie Caplan, Staff Writer. Callie Caplan covers the Dallas Mavericks, high school football and Olympic sports. She has also written for The Washington Post, USA Today and The Baltimore Sun and graduated from the University of Maryland in 2017.
callie.caplan@dallasnews.com @CallieCaplan


text:
Dad Makes App That Can Freeze Your Kids Phones Until They Answer Your Texts
Filed Under:Local TV, Talkers
WEST WICKHAM, England (CBS Local) — It could be the best app ever invented for parents who worry when their kids ignore their texts.
Nick Herbert said he was tired of his 13-year-old son, Ben, ignoring his text messages. So the project manager from West Wickham, England, developed an app that would effectively lock down the teen's phone until he responded.
And if the phone is on silent, the ReplyASAP app sets off an alarm to get the user's attention.
"He is always playing games and has the phone on silent. It drives me crazy," Herbert told the Daily Mail in 2017. The British father noted that he and Ben now have a mutual understanding that the app will be used, "only for important things and not because he needs new batteries for his xbox controller."
The technology not only gives parents a direct line to hard-to-reach children in an emergency, but it can also help co-workers communicate in a crucial situation, help friends gather to search for something that's been lost.
The app has been downloaded more than 75,000 times since it was launched back in August 2017.
It's currently only available on Android, but an IOS version is in the works and coming soon.


text:
Home News Report: Insurance red tape costs firms more than 50% extra
Report: Insurance red tape costs firms more than 50% extra
CILEx Regulation calls for LSB to direct regulators to eliminate barrier when switching regulator
CILEx Regulation, the independent regulator of specialist lawyers, has submitted a report to the Legal Services Board (LSB) asking for a review of the anti-competitive repercussions that run-off insurance is having on legal entities.
Currently law firms must have six years of run-off insurance cover in the event they close down. However the same rule applies if they were to switch regulator, despite still being in business.
The report, compiled following discussions and submissions from insurers and legal businesses, demonstrates that entities looking to change regulator will be adversely affected.
Wills Jacobsen Legal Ltd, a law firm that switched regulator to CILEx Regulation, had to incur the additional costs. Clare Wills, the owner, said: "In the end we bit the bullet and made the change knowing it was the right thing for our business – but if this additional burden hadn't been there, it would have made the switch quicker, simpler, and cheaper. There would also have been additional funds to market the business as a new entity. After payment of run-off these funds were not available."
Mr Chivers stated his firm, Stilwell and Singleton Solicitors, explored transferring regulator. He said "Disappointingly we had to make the difficult decision to opt against transfer due to the financial burden of run-off, which is currently acting as a mechanism to constrain the free movement of legal entities between regulators. We would transfer regulator immediately if the unnecessary financial burdens were removed."
John Kunzler, a senior vice president in the Financial and Professional Practice at Marsh, the insurance broker and risk adviser working with CILEx Regulation, commented: "Based on the research the requirement to take run-off appears to be a significant financial hurdle to the average firm changing regulator. The research indicated that no discount off the normal run-off cost was likely to be given, even though the entity would be ongoing with a new regulator. Although the premium as a CILEx entity is lower, the amount of the reduction appears insufficient to make it practical to fund the cost of the change out of cash-flow, for example, from the premium reductions over approximately three years.
"From the costings obtained it appears it would be approximately seven years before overall savings are achieved from making the change, and in the short term the run-off premium is a significant expense."
The requirement also increases the risk of 'double insurance', where a firm takes run-off insurance but works on a continuous retainer under a new insurer. If something goes wrong the two insurers may question responsibility and dispute claims, ultimately leaving consumers and entities in a vulnerable situation.
CILEx Regulation Chair, Sam Younger said: "We have had several law firms wanting to switch from their current regulator to CILEx Regulation, but are unable to because of the prohibitive run-off costs. This is a rule made by the regulators, and it prevents legal businesses choosing the regulator that is right for their business model, their specialism, and their consumers.
"We asked insurers what they would charge, and although premiums for a business regulated by CILEx Regulation might be lower these firms would have to pay on average 52.5% more insurance premium over a six year period; in effect ruling out a switch for most firms."
In January 2015 CILEx Regulation became a regulator of entities delivering reserved legal activities. CILEx Regulation has developed a single proposal form, meaning applicants will not have to complete multiple forms to get PII quotes from insurers, but that all insurers signed up to the QIA will accept, and quote off, a single form. CILEx Regulation supports innovation and looks at opportunities to reduce red tape.


text:
JAIME ARON ASSOCIATED PRESS
ticket city bowl
DALLAS - Tommy Tuberville knew better. The last two onside kicks he called this season were returned for touchdowns. The most recent came in this very stadium.
The thing is, he just couldn't help himself.
Leading Northwestern by three touchdowns late in the third quarter, the Texas Tech coach tried it again - and it backfired again, setting up an exciting finish.
The Wildcats rallied to get within a touchdown twice in the fourth quarter and were driving for a tie or win when the Red Raiders intercepted a heave on the final play, preserving a 45-38 victory and allowing Tuberville to joke about his risky move.
Taylor Potts threw for 369 yards and four touchdowns and scored another on a trick play, and Eric Stephens ran 86 yards for a TD to help Tech close its first post-Mike Leach season at a solid 8-5.
Northwestern (7-6) lost its eighth straight bowl game, extending a drought that dates to 1949. Coming close after being down by 22 points wasn't much solace because the Wildcats were close the last two postseasons, dropping both in overtime.
The consolation prize is coach Pat Fitzgerald is now counting on the guys who've endured three straight crushing bowl losses to come out hungry as seniors next fall. He challenged them with a fiery opening statement to his postgame news conference that's certain to be replayed all offseason.
"It's time they step up," he said. "If we want to win championships and we want to win these types of football games, that class has got to step up. They have to start making more plays. They have to start leading. They have to be the catalyst for us to get where we want to get. I challenged them to step up at the beginning of bowl prep. ... If we want to go where we want to go, it's time for that class - their senior year - to lead us there."
Freshmen quarterbacks Evan Watkins and Kain Colter led Northwestern's second-half rally with three straight touchdown drives and Jordan Mabin, part of that junior class, returned an interception 39 yards for a touchdown with 5:37 left.
The Wildcats' defense kept the Red Raiders from running out the clock, but Watkins had only 24 seconds and no timeouts to go 75 yards. LaRon Moore caught the final throw, ending a game that featured 927 yards of total offense and 53 points scored in the second half.
The Wildcats surprised the Red Raiders with an in-game switch to an option offense. They ran for 229 yards, their most since 2008. Colter led the way with 105 yards and two touchdowns.
"Throughout the week, our coaches had a great game plan to show Texas Tech some different looks," Colter said. "We kept them a little off guard."


text:
Free Coal
George Chapman	(1908–1993)
Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru / The National Library of Wales
© the artist's estate. Photo credit: Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru / The National Library of Wales
H 32.2 x W 46 cm
PG04988
purchased from Mr and Mrs T. Evans, 1994
Aberystwyth, Ceredigion SY23 3BU Wales
This venue is open to the public. Not all artworks are on display. If you want to see a particular artwork, please contact the venue.
The Red Van National Museum Wales, National Museum Cardiff
The Bridge National Museum Wales, National Museum Cardiff
Street Scene with Children Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru / The National Library of Wales
Terraced Houses Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru / The National Library of Wales
Landscape Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru / The National Library of Wales
A Steep Road Fry Art Gallery
Old Farm Cart Bradford Museums and Galleries


text:
Mazda Cx-5 Estate 2.0 Sport Nav+ 5dr
7" touchscreen with multimedia commander and Aha and Stitcher app Driver Convenience
Advanced blind spot monitor with rear cross traffic alert Driver Convenience
Cruise control Driver Convenience
Speed limiter Driver Convenience
Start/stop system Driver Convenience
TFT display screen Driver Convenience
Radio/CD Entertainment
USB/iPod/auxiliary input connections Entertainment
Automatic headlights with dusk sensor Exterior Features
40:20:40 split folding rear seat Interior Features
60/40 split folding rear seat Interior Features
Front head restraints Interior Features
Independent rear seat recline Interior Features
Leather upholstery - Black Trim 0 0
EC Directive 1999/100/EC Applies Fuel Consumption - ICE Yes
WLTP - FC (l/100km) - Extra High Fuel Consumption - ICE 8
Coin Series General Sport Nav+
Emissions Test Cycle Test Cycles NEDC Correlated
The second generation version of Mazda's CX-5 mid-sized SUV has been lightly improved. As before, it's a good compromise between a Nissan Qashai-style family Crossover and a Toyota RAV4-style SUV, offering good driving dynamics, efficient running costs and decent practicality. This may not be the first car you consider in this sector, but try one and you might just think it to be the best.
The CX-5 has proved to be a crucial car for Mazda. Launched in 2012 relatively early on in the current craze for mid-sized SUV and Crossover models, it's since sold prodigiously. To the point where this model line now accounts for a quarter of all the Japanese brand's global sales. Over 1.5 million CX-5s have been sold worldwide, with 32,000 examples having found UK owners. Will those people continue to like this sharp-looking second generation version, now usefully revised? It'll be interesting to see. The engine-ware has been lightly updated as part of the minor update we're looking at here, with improvements in efficiency and refinement. Plus there's better infotainment provision and this CX-5 is now better connected. All of which this car will need to stay competitive in the face of crowded competition for sales of cars of this kind. Let's judge this Mazda on its merits.
Let's cover what's different with the lightly revised CX-5 under consideration here. Mazda reckons that NVH (Noise, Vibration and Harshness) has been significantly improved on this enhanced CX-5. And all AWD variants now get an Off-road Traction Assist system. The base 2.0-litre 165PS SKYACTIV-G petrol version (offered with manual or auto transmission) still can't be had with AWD, but as part of the updates, this engine gains what Mazda calls 'steering vibration counter-measures' and now features a cylinder deactivation system. You can now have a petrol-powered CX-5 that does have AWD though - a freshly introduced 2.5-litre 194PS SKYACTIV-G powerplant at the top of the range, which only comes in 4x4 form. Most CX-5 folk though, still defiantly choose the brand's 2.2-litre SKYACTIV-D diesel unit, now uodated for RDE2 compliance. As before, this diesel engine is offered with either 150 or 184PS forms, can be specified with auto transmission and (in 184PS form) with AWD too. Like many new-era Mazda models, this one's a product of the company's 'Jinba-Ittai' 'car-and-driver-as-one' philosophy which aims to deliver more focused levels of levels of driver engagement and comfort. This time round, particular attention has been paid to reducing noise and vibration within the cabin. Plus a 15% improvement in torsional body rigidity, along with refinements to the steering, suspension and brakes, all contribute to an improvement in the handling precision that marked out the previous model. Further helping in this regard is a freshly introduced 'GVC' 'G-Vectoring Control' torque vectoring system that transfers traction to the wheel most needing it when you're going at speed through tight corners. And off road prowess? Well, as with the systems employed by most of its rivals, this car has a set-up in which the torque is automatically split according to the terrain you're on, so it can direct 100% of drive to the front wheels in normal conditions, with up to 50% then directed to the rear wheels if slip is detected.
Nothing much has changed with the look of this second generation CX-5 - but then, nothing much needed to. This MK2 model takes its cues from the stunning 'RX Vision' concept car the brand displayed at the 2015 Tokyo Motor Show and offers a sharp and mature design that British buyers seem to like. There's a sleek profile and a reatively low roofline that underscore this SUV's solid stance and elegant proportions. Under the skin, the body structure has been created under the concept of what Mazda calls 'Refined Toughness'. Inside, changes to this updated model include the integration of a new larger, faster and clearer 10.25-inch centre display screen, more intuitive Mazda Connect Commander operation and an expanded range of Connected Services operable by the latest MyMazda App. Other minor changes include the addition of LED interior lighting, a redesigned key and the availability of black half-leatherette seats on plusher variants. In terms of overall quality, the cabin finish is now almost up there with a rival Volkswagen Tiguan - and it's certainly an improvement over what you'd get in competitors like Ford's Kuga and Kia's Sportage. In the back, there's plenty of legroom, despite the provision of a decently-sized 506-litre boot, extendable to 1,620-litres on retraction of the rear bench.
List pricing sees CX-5 ownership pitched much as before, with prices ranging in the £27,000 to £40,000 bracket. There are three trim levels - 'SE-L', 'Sport' and 'GT Sport' and now four engines, 2.0-litre 165PS and 2.5-litre 194PS petrol units and 150 and 184PS versions of the familiar 2.2-litre diesel. AWD is mandatory on the 2.5-litre petrol model - and a £1,500 option on the top 184PS version of the 2.2-litre diesel. All models feature a generous standard equipment tally that includes LED headlights, auto power-folding door mirrors, dual-zone climate control, a DAB radio and a 10.25-inch colour touch-screen display with Mazda's integrated navigation and 'Apple CarPlay/'Android Auto' smartphone-mirroring. 'Sport Nav' cars add to this with a reversing camera, an 8-way power adjustable driver's seat and Smart keyless entry, plus heated front seats and steering wheel, a power lift tailgate and a new head-up display that projects directly onto the windscreen and features Traffic Sign Recognition. As part of the revised line-up, this model gets even more active safety equipment as standard, including an updated version of the CX-5's 'Advanced Smart City Brake Support' system, which incorporates night-time pedestrian detection for the first time. This Advanced SCBS set-up uses a forward-sensing camera to detect vehicles and pedestrians ahead and help avoid collisions or mitigate damage in the event one does occur. There's also Mazda Radar Cruise Control, Advanced Blind Spot Monitoring with Rear Cross Traffic alert, High Beam Control and Lane Keep Assist with Lane Departure Warning standard across the range. In addition, the optional safety pack on 'Sport' models features a 360-degree view camera and Adaptive LED Headlamps.
The CX-5's unexpectedly imperious progress continues when it comes to cost of ownership and this is where the SKYACTIV technology really pays off. Let's get to the WLTP figures. The 2.2-litre 150PS diesel variant many will choose returns up to 49.6mpg in manual form (or 43.5mpg as an auto) and up to 151g/km (171g/km). For the 2.2 184PS diesel, the figures are 42.8mpg (39.8mpg) and 175g/km (186g/km). The 2.0-litre petrol model now manages up to 154g/km (33% BiK tax group) - or up to 164g/km in auto form (36%). The 2.5-litre 194PS SKYATIV-G petrol delivers 182g/km of CO2 (37% BiK tax group). Clever use of low compression ratios for the SKYACTIV-G petrol and SKYACTIV-D diesel engines means that ignition takes longer, ensuring a better mixture of air and fuel. This approach also enables the engines to run with less mechanical stress, which allows the use of lighter weight materials, in turn meaning that the finished vehicle will need less energy to move through the air. And no energy at all of course when it comes to a temporary stop, say at the lights or in traffic. At that point in this Mazda's case, an 'i-stop' engine stop/start system (the fastest-reacting set-up of its kind on the market) will cut in, reducing fuel consumption by up to 10% all on its own. As for peace of mind, well given the reliability of Mazda products, you'd have thought the company might have wanted to improve upon its usual three year/60,000 mile package and take on the Korean brands. Not so. That familiar standard warranty remains in place for this car.
The CX-5 isn't one of those cars that jumps out at you on first acquaintance. But as with many Mazdas, its modesty hides a product packed with innovation. The result is excellent packaging, strong economy and emissions and driving dynamics that are amongst the best in this sector. Add in a high specification and competitive pricing and you've a compelling proposition, especially with the minor refinements made to this updated model. In summary, what we've got here is yet another example of Mazda going its own way, doing things differently. Which means? Well something quite simple really. If you're looking for a car of this kind, make sure you also try this one.
Fill out the simple form below to get a quote for this Mazda Cx-5 Estate 2.0 Sport Nav+ 5dr lease.


text:
Andre Jacques Garnerin, French aeronaut, 1802.
Alcock and Brown's Vickers Vimy biplane, 1919.
Charles Green, English aeronaut, 1839.
Plan of the Crystal Palace and grounds, Sydenham, 1911.
BOAC Concorde, London Heathrow Airport, 1968.
The planet Jupiter, Voyager 1979.
'Cockatoo', bird in flight, c 1872-1885.
The first balloon ascent with animals, 19 September 1783.
The 'Spirit of St Louis' in flight, 1927.
Cody aeroplane No1, portrait view of engine and controls, 1908.
Great Red Spot on Jupiter, 1979.
Blanchard and Jeffries crosing the English Channel, 1785.
Amy Johnson, British aviator, c 1930s.
Io, one of the moons of Jupiter, showing a volcanic eruption on the rim, 1979.
Close up of the Red Spot on Jupiter, photographed by Voyager 2, 1979.
Bleriot crosing the Channel, 25 July 1909.
The rings of Jupiter, photographed by Voyager 2, 1979.
Full Page of illustrations of bats.
Beetles and other insects, South America, 1775-1781.
'Tour de Calais'; the ascent of De Rozier's 'Royal Balloon', 15 June 1785.
Mrs Sage's balloon, 1785."
Detail from a painting of 'Mrs Sage', first lady balloonist., c 1785.
Miranda as seen by Voyager 2
Schoolboys with a model of a seaplane, Schoolboys' Exhibition, December 1933.
Boats on a miniature lake, Gamages Department Store, London, 1920s.
Wings For Victory
Spitfire, c 1942.
"Aerial Navigation, Liebig trade card, c 1910."
"Two British airships, Liebig trade card, c 1910-1920."
"Three French airships, Liebig trade card, c 1910. "
'Children Playing', about 1895
1075 images in total
4 8 12 16 20 24 28 32 36 40 44 48 52 56 60 64 68 72 76 80 84 88 92 96


text:
Review History
A third-generation dispersion and third-generation hydrogen bonding corrected PM6 method: PM6-D3H+
To increase transparency, PeerJ operates a system of 'optional signed reviews and history'. This takes two forms: (1) peer reviewers are encouraged, but not required, to provide their names (if they do so, then their profile page records the articles they have reviewed), and (2) authors are given the option of reproducing their entire peer review history alongside their published article (in which case the complete peer review process is provided, including revisions, rebuttal letters and editor decision letters).
New to public reviews? Learn more about optional signed reviews and how to write a better rebuttal letter.
The initial submission of this article was received on April 4th, 2014 and was peer-reviewed by 3 reviewers and the Academic Editor.
The Academic Editor made their initial decision on May 17th, 2014.
The first revision was submitted on May 30th, 2014 and was reviewed by the Academic Editor.
The article was Accepted by the Academic Editor on June 4th, 2014.
Version 0.2 (accepted)
Jiri Vondrasek · Jun 4, 2014 · Academic Editor
You answered all the questions of referees and suggested changes to your manuscript were implemented. As a result your paper has been accepted to PeerJ.
Download Version 0.2 (PDF) Download author's rebuttal letter - submitted May 30, 2014
Version 0.1 (original submission)
Jiri Vondrasek · May 17, 2014 · Academic Editor
Minor Revisions
Dear authors
As you can learn both reviewers have their comments to the submitted article and suggested minor revision of it current version. Please concentrate on misleading statements and add some of the suggested and relevant works. Respond also on the critics that you used numerical derivative of the dispersion energy for the gradient, as the analytical form has been available since 2010.
I hope you can send the revised manuscript soon to be published at PeerJ
Jiri Vondrasek
Reviewer 1 · Apr 29, 2014
Basic reporting
The work fulfills all requirements. However, this is a methodological computational study with little overlap with biology and I am not sure that it fits in the scope of PeerJ (Biological Sciences, Medical Sciences, and Health Sciences).
Validity of the findings
Some of the conclusions may not be appropriately stated, see below.
This ms presents an implementation of a slightly modified empirical correction to PM6 method, D3H+. The correction is implemented in GAMESS code.
In my opinion this work is well performed, clearly written and suitable for publication in PeerJ. However, there are two points that should be addressed before publication:
1. Misleading statement.
In the abstract, the authors say "The main difference is that the geometry optimizations of 88 complexes result in 82, 6, 0, and 0 geometries with 0, 1, 2, and $\ge$ 3 imaginary frequencies using PM6-D3H+ implemented in GAMESS, while the corresponding numbers for PM6-DH+ implemented in MOPAC are 54, 17, 15, and 2."
This may imply that the D3H+ correction implemented in GAMESS is in this respect better than the DH+ correction implemented in Mopac. However, this is not the case, because the difference comes from the quality of optimization algorithms and convergence criteria. Later in the text they clarify the results, stating that:
"However, we show that PM6-D3H+ implemented in GAMESS results in vibrational analyses with significantly fewer imaginary frequencies than PM6-DH+ implemented in MOPAC[12, 13], due mainly to differences in geometry optimization algorithms and convergence criteria."
In my opinion the authors should make it clear in the abstract and also in the conclusions that the reduced number of imaginary frequencies is not due to quality of their modified method, but due to quality of the optimizers and convergence criteria. They should either remove the misleading statement from the abstract or clarify it. The misleading statement should be clarified also in Conclusions.
2. Some relevant works are not cited.
In 2012 another correction to PM6 method has been published (PM6 D3H4), which showed very good results. It would be fair to compare the new PM6 D3H+ parameterization with the previously published results. If this is technically too complicated, the work should be at least cited.
Minor points:
It is not clear what is meant by "pentamer-monomer, and trimer-trimer" in Table 3 and I could not find any explanation in the text.
On page 8, authors write "… on going from the dimer to the pentamer-trimer more than other methods." but there is no reference to "pentamer-trimer" anywhere in the text. Perhaps a typo?
Another typo on the same page: "to CCSCD(T)/CBS"
Cite this review as
Anonymous Reviewer (2014) Peer Review #1 of "A third-generation dispersion and third-generation hydrogen bonding corrected PM6 method: PM6-D3H+ (v0.1)". PeerJ https://doi.org/10.7287/peerj.449v0.1/reviews/1
In the MS 'A third-generation dispersion and third-generation hydrogen corrected PM6 method: PM6-D3H+' the authors
present a new combination of already established methods, namely the emiempirical PM6 method, the DFT-D3 dispersion correction and the H+ hydrogen bonding correction for semiempirical methods. The method is also implemented into the
GAMESS program, and tested for various systems. While the method performs similarly to its predecessors (PM6-DH2 and PM6-DH+), the main improvement is the combination with the geometry optimization algorithm present in GAMESS, which is much more efficient than the one implemented in MOPAC, the program package that features PM6-DH2 and PM6-DH+. On the other hand, the MOPAC-implementation of PM6 (which is the time-consuming step in those calculations) is about 10 times faster than the implementation in GAMESS, which makes MOPAC the overall more efficient choice.
However, it is also stated that the GAMESS implementation results in better convergence of the molecular geometry, which is a very desirable property, expecially when thermochemical data is needed.
Overall, the data presented in the paper, including the newly proposed PM6-D3H+ method, ist certainly worth publishing. However, there are several scientific and formal issues that have to be adressed prior publication:
1.The statement that semi-empirical methods yield interaction energies that rival those computed with Density Functional Theory is clearly too general. While it is certainly clear that this can be the case for some systems (as provided in the references), there are many more examples where this is just not true.
2. In section 3.2, the authors claim that DFT-D3 was implemented in GAMESS by Peverati et al. and give a literature reference from 2008. This is clearly not possbile, as the originial DFT-D3 publication is from 2010.
3. It is not clear why the authors use a numerical derivative of the dispersion energy for the gradient, as the analytical form has been available since 2010 and should be preferred for the sake of efficiency and numerical accuracy.
4. In section 5.2, the second part of the third paragraph is not very clear. The authors not that 'PM6-DH+ underestimates the decrease in interaction energy on going from the dimer to the pentamer-trimer more than other methods'. While there is no pentamer-trimer in table 3, this sentence also does not make any sense if one substitutes pentamer-trimer with trimer-trimer or pentamer-monomer, as the data present in the table do not support this claim.
5. In section 5.3, the authors write that 'the convergence criterion appears to be a change in [...]'. The convergence criterion is of high importance when discussing the convergence behavior of different optimizers, thus a more accurate statement
is in order here.
6. The discussed oscillating behavior that can appear in the H+ correction is quite alarming. While the authors claim that this is only the case for highly symmetric hydrogen bonds and thus 'unlikely to cause problems in most application', it can in principle occur in every interaction with e.g. water or ammonia. As they claim that 'the numerical stability could be increased by changing the definitions of some dihedral angles' in the conclusion, the question remains while this was not done in the course of the work done for this publication.
7. The term CCSD(T)/CBS is used quite often in the MS; as these are clearly estimations of the CCSD(T)/CBS energies in all cases, this should be made clear (e.g. mention it in the text or use 'est. CCSD(T)' in the text).
8. There are several orthograpic mistakes in the paper, which should be adressed. Here is a (probably incomplete) list:
Grimme et al. misses the full stop after 'al' in the abstract
'analyse' should read 'analysis' on page 2
'resent' should read 'recent' on page 5
'criteria' should read 'criterion' on page 5
'an convergence' should read 'a convergence' on page 12
'Figure 5 and 6' should read 'Figures 5 and 6' on page 14
Michael Gilson · May 18, 2014
This paper reports a useful contribution to computational chemistry software. The new code provides users with the means to energy minimize molecules and supramolecular complexes with the PM6 semi-empirical model, coupled with empirical hydrogen-bonding and dispersion terms, in a more complete manner than was hitherto possible. By allowing the use of a more powerful energy-minimization algorithm, the code reduces the number of negative eigenvalues remaining at local energy minima, and hence facilitates thermochemistry calculations based on normal mode analysis. This capability will be useful for binding energy and other chemically and biomedically relevant applications. This is a solid contribution.
I have one substantial recommendation to improve this paper. Given that a central purpose of the study is to develop a method that gives energy minima of small proteins with fewer negative eigenvalues, it would seem to be of central importance to report the numbers of negative eigenvalues for the energy-minimized structures in Table 6, for both MOPAC and the new method.
Page 15, first line. The text says there is no improvement in speed after 4 cores, but GAMESS does show improvement on going from 4 to 8 cores (Figure 7).
A few suggestions for improving clarity are presented below.
Page 2, line 2: It's not clear in what respect the PM6xxx energies rival those from DFT. How about "rival in accuracy those computed…"?
Page 2, pgph 3: There is a non sequitur between the first and second sentences. Why would implementing a new variant of PM6xxx test whether the problem of imaginary frequencies could be solved by using a different optimizer? I think the answer becomes reasonably clear on further reading, but it would be very helpful to readers if the text could, at this point, clarify that MOPAC doesn't have any more advanced optimizers, so the authors decided to reimplement PM6xxx in GAMESS, so that its more powerful optimization methods could be used. Also, this paragraph is written in a rather roundabout manner which makes it hard to figure out exactly how the new method relates to prior ones. A crisp statement that PM6 is as before, D3 is as in Grimme, and H+ is a modified version of the prior H+ (or something like this) would be helpful. By the way, given that the present H+ evidently differs somewhat from the prior one, it may avoid confusion if the authors could give it another name; e.g., H*.
Page 4: It would be helpful if the legends of Figures 1 and 2 could state how the R1 and R2 substituents are distinguished, even though this information is eventually found in the text (page 12). Also, it seems odd that the two figures have identical legends. Given that the figures are different, presumably the legends should also be.
Page 4, middle of the page: the sentence beginning "In the original implementation, optimization problems…" mentions a problem with "target angle estimation", but it isn't clear what a "target angle" is, why it is estimated instead of computed, or what the torsion angle of the NR3 group has to do with it. It would be helpful to either clarify this, or else perhaps describe it in more general terms that don't raise these technical questions.
Page 5, penultimate line: was = were.
Page 6, line 3: parametetrized= parameterized
Page 8, second paragraph: it would be interesting to know which dimers gave the greatest errors. Also, did the same dimers give trouble across all models, or did different models run into trouble for different cases?
Page 8, paragraph 3: it would be good to provide a bit more information on the systems not in the training set. Are these drawn from BEGDB? On what basis were they selected, in any case?
Page 11, paragraph 2: what is meant by "a deviation in the planarity structure of 0.1 Angstrom was needed…"?
Page 11, paragraph 3: what are "trust radius issues"? Also, what does it mean for convergence to fail after 140 steps, for example? Would convergence have succeeded if more steps had been carried out?
Page 11, last paragraph: it would be nice to provide readers with a sense for why MOPAC has so much trouble with these minimizations. Are you saying there is something problematic about the energy model, or would minimization succeed if MOPAC had the LBFGS optimizer?
Page 12, second paragraph line 2: it = is
Page 12, third paragraph: it would be helpful if the authors could shed some light on what kind of cases require the LBFGS optimizer. Is it just that MOPAC, for uncertain reasons, fails to eliminate negative eigenvalues for some systems? If so, then it might be clearer to say these are the systems the authors have in mind; they may then state that LBFGS is helpful in such cases. My point, in part, is that these are not so much systems that require the LBFGS optimizer, as hard-to-optimize systems that require an optimizer better than the one in MOPAC. It is probable that an optimizer other than LBFGS would also work, so characterizing these as systems where LBFGS "must be used" is a bit imprecise.
Page 14, third paragraph: there is a sentence which says MOPAC requires significantly less CPU time and then that it is far faster than GAMESS; this seems repetitive.
Page 14, third paragraph: Based on the data in Table 6, I disagree with the statement that the difference in CPU is larger for optimization in bulk solvent; this holds for chignolin but not for Trp cage.
Page 14, third paragraph, last sentence: either delete "practically, since it seems to say the same thing as "feasible"; or else edit the sentence to say something more precise.
Gilson M (2014) Peer Review #3 of "A third-generation dispersion and third-generation hydrogen bonding corrected PM6 method: PM6-D3H+ (v0.1)". PeerJ https://doi.org/10.7287/peerj.449v0.1/reviews/3
Download Original Submission (PDF) - submitted Apr 4, 2014
All text and materials provided via this peer-review history page are made available under a Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.


text:
The COVID-2019 Thread
Page 342 of 342 First ... 242292332334335336337338339340341342
Thread: The COVID-2019 Thread
harrybarracuda
Originally Posted by panama hat
You can't read, can you . . .
Not very well. He's not very bright you know.
misskit
Nepal chooses India over China for vaccines
Nepal's Foreign Minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali is in New Delhi for talks. Nepal is choosing Indian vaccines over Chinese shots. This comes after a trial in Brazil found that a Chinese vaccine was just 50.4% effective.
VIDEO Gravitas: Nepal chooses India over China for vaccines, Gravitas News | wionews.com
Philippines Clears Pfizer Vaccine for Emergency Use
Philippine drug regulators on Thursday cleared a U.S.-made COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, the first such approval in a country among the worst hit by the virus in East Asia.
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, developed by American pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, is 95 percent effective against the coronavirus disease, the head of the Philippine Food and Drug Administration said, citing interim data from Phase 3 trials.
"After a thorough review of the currently available data by medical and regulatory experts, the FDA is granting Emergency Use Authorization to Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine," Rolando Enrique Domingo, the agency's director general, announced in a statement.
"The benefit of using vaccines outweighs the known and potential risks," Domingo said, noting that scientists so far had no "specific safety concerns" about the drug made by Pfizer, which had applied to the Philippine FDA three weeks ago for the emergency-use authorization (EAU).
Domingo did not say when mass inoculations in the Philippines would start, how many doses of vaccine would be delivered, or when.
In the Philippines, nearly half a million people have been infected with the coronavirus disease and almost 10,000 have died of it since the pandemic began here in early 2020. The country has the second highest number of cases and deaths from COVID-19 in East Asia, next to neighboring Indonesia, according to data from Johns Hopkins University in the United States.
The approval for the Pfizer drug came a day after Philippine health authorities confirmed that a highly contagious variant of the virus – first traced to the United Kingdom and known as B.1.1.7 – had been detected in a Filipino traveler who arrived here last week on a flight from the United Arab Emirates.
As for the safety of the Pfizer vaccine, Domingo said the government would "closely monitor" any adverse reaction to it.
"The roll out of the vaccine and use in more than 5 million people worldwide has identified severe allergic reaction in a few individuals. Therefore, the vaccinations must be done by health professionals trained to recognize and manage adverse reactions, and they should have resources at hand to adequately respond," Domingo said.
Separately, his agency has received EAU applications for vaccines developed by British-Swedish firm AstraZeneca and Russia's Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology. The Chinese state-owned drug firm Sinovac Biotech had not yet completed its application for an emergency-use authorization for its vaccine, Domingo said.
Earlier this week, Harry Roque, the spokesman for President Rodrigo Duterte, said the government had secured a deal to buy 25 million doses of vaccines from Sinovac and that these would be arriving in batches, beginning in February.
Last month, President Rodrigo Duterte revealed that soldiers in the country had been inoculated against the coronavirus with shots of a vaccine developed by Sinopharm, another Chinese firm, although the FDA had not approved it for use.
After news broke that members of Duterte's body guard – which is made up of military personnel – had received doses of the Chinese vaccine, FDA head Domingo urged the public not to use vaccines supplied through the black market.
The Senate, which is dominated by Duterte allies, had threatened to investigate the revelation but it dropped this plan after Duterte warned them against doing so, saying this could cause friction between his administration and the legislature. The Senate then dropped the plan.
Duterte this week also defended the reputation of Chinese-made vaccines, although news reports said that authorities in Brazil had downgraded the effectiveness of Sinovac's COVID-19 vaccine to only 50.4 percent.
They are "as good as any other vaccines invented by the Americans or the Europeans," the Philippine president said in a taped message, which aired late Wednesday.
"The Chinese do not lack brains. The Chinese are bright," Duterte said. "And they would not venture if it's not sufficient – if it's not safe, sure, and secure."
COVID-19: Philippines Clears Pfizer Vaccine for Emergency Use — BenarNews
No they're not.
Yes they would.
Record daily German COVID deaths spark Merkel 'mega-lockdown' plan - Bild
BERLIN, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Germany recorded a new record number of deaths from the coronavirus on Thursday, prompting calls for an even tighter lockdown after the country emerged relatively unscathed in 2020.
Chancellor Angela Merkel wanted a "mega-lockdown", mass-selling newspaper Bild reported, shutting down the country almost completely for fear of fast-spreading variant of the virus first detected in Britain.
She was considering measures including shutting down both local and long-distance public transport, though such steps had not yet been decided, Bild reported.
While Germany's total deaths per capita since the pandemic began remain far lower than the United States, its daily per capita mortality since mid-December has often exceeded that of the United States.
Germany's daily death toll currently equates to about 15 deaths per million people, versus a 13 U.S. deaths per million.
The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) reported 25,164 new coronavirus cases and 1,244 fatalities, bringing Germany's total death toll since the start of the pandemic to 43,881.
Germany initially managed the pandemic better than its neighbours with a strict lockdown last spring, but it has seen a sharp rise in cases and deaths in recent months, with the RKI saying people were not taking the virus seriously enough.
RKI president Lothar Wieler said on Thursday restrictions were not being implemented as consistently as they were during the first wave and said more people should work from home, adding that the current lockdown needed to be tightened further.
Germany introduced a partial lockdown in November that kept shops and schools open, but it tightened the rules in mid-December, closing non-essential stores, and children have not returned to classrooms since the Christmas holidays.
Hospitals in 10 out of Germany's 16 states were facing bottlenecks as 85% of intensive care unit beds were occupied by coronavirus patients, Wieler said.
A meeting of regional leaders planned for Jan. 25 to discuss whether to extend the lockdown into February should be brought forward, said Winfried Kretschmann, the premier of the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg.
Merkel was due to speak to ministers on Thursday about ramping up production of vaccines.
So far only about 1% of the German population has been vaccinated, or 842,455 people, the RKI reported.
Germany has so far recorded 16 cases of people with the fast-spreading strain of the virus first detected in Britain and four with the strain from South Africa, Wieler said, although he admitted gene sequencing of samples was not being done broadly.
Wieler urged people who were offered a COVID-19 vaccination to accept it.
"At the end of the year we will have this pandemic under control," Wieler said. Enough vaccines would then be available to inoculate the entire population, he said.
Record daily German COVID deaths spark Merkel 'mega-...
We have passed 2,000,000 deaths.
In around 8 days we will pass 100,000,000 infections.
In the EU
^^ Bavaria is enforcing the wearing of FFP2 (KN95) masks on public transport and stores starting Monday. Only grocery and pharmacy stores open since the week before Christmas.
Areas with new infections greater than 200/100k over the last 7 days are being limited to 15km travel. Locally it was over 200 last week but dropped below this week. As a comparison, Cheltenham is currently around 300/100k and is a below average for the UK.
Everyone is waiting to see what the numbers are like at the end of the month. There won't be any High Street shops left by the time this pandemic finishes, even the big department stores have closed down.
Yesterday, 11:18 PM #8533
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi kicked off one of the world's largest vaccination drives with two locally-produced Covid 19 shots which will go into the arms of healthcare workers in the first phase of a vast exercise to inoculate millions by mid-summer.
"Never before such an enormous inoculation drive been attempted in the world," Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told paramedics at 2,934 medical centers, where 300,000 healthcare workers were listed for Saturday's inaugural jabs.
Around 30 million healthcare and frontline personnel would get priority shots followed by 270 million others in the first leg of India's Covid-19 immunization program, set to be completed by July.
India flags off 'world's largest' vaccination drive against Covid 19 pandemic
Today, 04:46 PM #8534
Well the UK is ramping things up, 10 new mass vaccination sites are to be opened this week and they are looking at vaccinating up to 2m a week, supplies permitting.
More mass vaccination centres opening as target to reach 2m jabs a week appears within reach | UK News | Sky News
Norway has concerns about vaccinating the old and weak after several deaths...
Norway Raises Concern Over Vaccine Jabs for the Elderly
Norway expressed increasing concern about the safety of the Pfizer Inc. vaccine on elderly people with serious underlying health conditions after raising an estimate of the number who died after receiving inoculations to 29.
The latest figure adds six to the number of known fatalities in Norway, and lowers the age group thought to be affected to 75 from 80. While it's unclear exactly when the deaths occurred, Norway has given at least one dose to about 42,000 people and focused on those considered most at risk if they contract the virus, including the elderly.
Until Friday, the vaccine produced by Pfizer and BioNTech SE was the only one available in Norway, and "all deaths are thus linked to this vaccine," the Norwegian Medicines Agency said in a written response to Bloomberg on Saturday.
Official reports of allergic reactions have been rare as governments rush to roll out vaccines to try to contain the global pandemic. U.S. authorities reported 21 cases of severe allergic reactions from Dec. 14-23 after administration of about 1.9 million initial doses of the Pfizer vaccine. The first Europe-wide safety report on the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is due to be published at the end of January.
contd...
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-16/norway-vaccine-fatalities-among-people-75-and-older-rise-to-29
I heard this on Thai news yesterday but didn't have a news link at the time.
I'm still not convinced that vaccinating the elderly first is such a good idea. Essential services and workforce carried out at workplace facilities might be a better approach. At least in that way those that are out and about are vaccinated.
Hansum Man!
Way, Way South of the border now - thank God!
Originally Posted by harrybarracuda
And NZ is still trying to decide when to start . . . April maybe? Gen pop around August? Screw Jacinda and co
ความรู้ลึกลับ
Seems to be rather late as the general trend shows the world over.
But who are we to judge, as NZ was one of the countries [primarily Asia] that managed well and continued to do so throughout this creepy year.
Many are into [or will be soon] their first round of vaccinations for essential folks, elders and those with assorted health risks.
And general population vaccines to be available by mid-to-late March.
Originally Posted by Troy
should really read:
Norway Raises Concern over Vaccine Jabs for the Elderly with serious underlying health conditions
Because it's not specifically the elderly is it?
It's those that are probably close to death anyway.
In fact the Post's report yesterday said: "Covid-19 vaccines may be too risky for the very old, frail and terminally ill, say health regulators in Norway".
I would question the value of using what are currently scarce vaccines on the terminally ill. Are they hoping it will cure them?
Quick Navigation Thailand and Asia News Top


text:
Research and Development Trends of Millimeter-wave Short-range Application Systems
Toshio IHARA Keiji FUJIMURA
IEICE TRANSACTIONS on Communications Vol.E79-B No.12 pp.1741-1753
Type of Manuscript: INVITED PAPER (Special Issue on Millimeter-wave Short-range Application Systems Technology)
millimeter-wave, short-range application, communications, sensing,
Full Text: PDF(1.9MB)>>
This paper gives an overview of the research and development trends in millimeter-wave short-range application systems, such as communication systems and sensing systems, in Japan and other countries. Frequency management trends are also described. Major research and development efforts in Japan have currently been concentrated on the 59-64 GHz band. The first major achievement resulting from those efforts was the allocation of the 60-61 GHz band to the automotive radar systems. Test productions of automotive radars in this band have already started. Further technological developments to reduce the cost and size of radar products are, however, required in order for such radar systems to be widely used. Development of broadband wireless LAN systems has also been intensively made in the 60 GHz band. In addition, technical issues related to standardization of millimeter-wave wireless LAN systems in the 60 GHz band have been examined at the Association of Radio Industries and Businesses. The application areas of millimeter-waves in the future are expected to become more diverse. Research and development trends of future application systems, such as broadband mobile communication systems and imaging radar systems, are also described. These systems require more advanced millimeter-wave technologies, such as smart antennas, low power-consumption devices, and more sensitive detectors. Efforts to develop these technologies must be strengthened.


text:
Aramis Gutierrez – Order of Sorcery – April – May, 2015
Big Pictures Los Angeles is pleased to announce Order of Sorcery, an exhibition of new paintings by Aramis Gutierrez. An opening reception will be held on April 4th from 5:00pm until 9:00pm.
The word Sorcery is derived from Latin term Maleficium, which was associated with harmful magic like poisoning, necromancy and illusions. So it comes as no surprise that in our modern times the notion of sorcery conjures up suspect affiliations. This semantic is reinforced in contemporary personifications of Sorcerers and Sorceress like Sauron, Saruman and Maleficent who, contextualized by the genre of "historical" cinema, imply inordinate doom or the corruption of those whose who are undisclosed.
"We're living like skeletons, because we're feeling like skeletons"
-The Sound.
Revisionist tropes have recently dominated the conversation surrounding the practice of contemporary painting. Aramis Gutierrez's new cycle of paintings consisting of images of sorcerers and sorceresses proposes a critical stance against the outsider market forces, decentralized decision-making and ambivalence that dominate the simulacra of aesthetics like specters. This posture is advanced through untimely, and possibly inappropriate, "painterly magic" joined with imagery derived from disjointed cinematic stills, to generate a generous quandary of abstraction by means of no inherent narrative and with the intent of facilitating the experiential of sorcerer and apprentice.
Aramis Gutierrez (b. 1975) has exhibited internationally with solo exhibitions at David Castillo Gallery, Legal Art (now Cannonball) and most recently Spinello Projects. He has been included in group exhibitions at the Perez Art Museum, the Art and Culture Center of Hollywood and the Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami. In 2008-2009 he was awarded the Studio Residency Program at the Deering Estate at Cutler. He co-founded Guccivuitton an artist gallery/group in 2013 in Miami, FL.
Link to checklist
Press on show
Los Angeles Times Review by David Pagel
Miami Rail Review by Cara Despain
Read The Miami Herald's – A collision of art and commerce
Aramis Gutierrez - Order of Sorcery - April - May, 2015 Tuesday, April 7, 2015 Doug Crocco


text:
Tech Ticker
You are here: Home / Mobile Phones / Samsung Cetus (SGH-i917) will run Windows Phone 7 OS
Samsung Cetus (SGH-i917) will run Windows Phone 7 OS
July 30, 2010 By Samsung Hub Leave a Comment
We first heard of Cetus (albeit with a different model number) from a purported leaked UK mobile phones roadmap. Now new details have surfaced about Cetus, courtesy Bluetooth SIG which obviously holds more legitimacy than the leak before.
Although we're not sure if it will be the first one, Cetus or SGH-i917 will run on Windows Phone 7 OS. Amongst other features, the phone will be more or less at par with Galaxy S and feature a 4-inch WVGA AMOLED screen (we presume Super AMOLED), GPS, Wi-Fi 802.11n, FM Radio, microUSB port, 5MP rear camera with front-facing VGA camera. The only difference we've found is the Bluetooth version, which is Bluetooth v2.1 in Cetus.
No details on the availability but we'd guess it should be around the time Microsoft releases WP7.
Note: This post has been republished from Samsung Hub. For more Samsung news, head over to Samsung Hub.
LG Optimus 7 (E900) WP7 press pictures leaked
Live Pictures of HTC Spark running WP7 leaked
LG E900 WP7 phone leaked, features 1.3GHz Snapdragon chip
Samsung Windows Phone 7 running Cetus found in the wild
Filed Under: Mobile Phones
Worth a read
Lenovo Yoga 9i laptop with 13th Gen Intel CPU comes to India
January 16, 2023 By Apurva Leave a Comment
Intel's 13th Gen processors have been out for a while for desktops but Lenovo has just become the first brand to launch a laptop powered by Intel's latest generation of processors. The Lenovo Yoga 9i is a thin and light convertible laptop with a 14-inch touchscreen OLED PureSight display and Dolby Vision with up to […]
Lenovo launches Tab P11 with 5G support
January 13, 2023 By Manav Leave a Comment
Android tablets are still far away to offer an experience similar to the Apple iPads and now Lenovo is taking a stab at it with the launch of their first premium tablet in the Indian market. The Tab P11 5G supports the sub-6GHz 5G band that will allow users to carry out their tasks with […]
Marshall launches Gen III Home Speaker lineup
December 17, 2022 By News Team Leave a Comment
Marshall has announced a newer generation of its home speakers, which now come with improved sound quality and a better soundstage. Acton, Stanmore and Woburn speakers are re-engineered in a way that features outward-angled tweeters and updated waveguides, allowing the speakers to deliver wide sound that will fill the biggest of the rooms. Moreover, there's […]
EA, Marvel Entertainment announce a multi-title collaboration, starting with Iron Man
October 31, 2022 By Kinjal Sangoi Leave a Comment
EA has announced a long-term deal with Marvel Entertainment that will see the gaming company release "at least" three new action-adventure games designed for consoles and PC. The first game to be developed under this collaboration is a single-player, third-person, action-adventure Iron Man. EA says the game is under early development at Montreal-based Motive Studio […]
Sony increases PS5 price in select markets due to inflation
August 26, 2022 By Manav Leave a Comment
A general rule of thumb with respect to pricing for any tech product is that it goes down as the time passes. But for Sony's PlayStation 5, it's the other way around. Already struggling with supply issues, Sony today announced that the price of both the PS5 SKUs – digital and disc – will increase […]
Intel's 11th Gen CPU powers Honor MagicBook X14 laptop
Apple users can now self-service their devices in Europe
WhatsApp rolls out Avatars
More Stories Select Month January 2023 December 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 December 0
© Copyright 2018 Tech Ticker · All Rights Reserved · Privacy Policy · Terms of Use


text:
JMP Hong Kong
14/F Cityplaza 4, Taikoo Shing, Hong Kong
Contact: jmpchina@sas.com
Analytics speeds time to market in high-tech manufacturing
Semiconductor manufacturer SMIC observes dramatic time and monetary savings
Deliver advanced technical capability among an audience of varying technical abilities.
Install JMP and JMP Pro, a product that meets engineers' demand for an easy-to-learn, easy-to-use tool while simultaneously offering powerful graphics and analytic functionality.
SMIC reports improved quality, speed to market, time and monetary savings.
Competition is fierce in the semiconductor industry, especially in integrated circuit manufacturing. Success depends entirely on speed to market for Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC), one of the leading semiconductor foundries in the world and the largest and most advanced foundry in mainland China.
"We're developing a new generation of technology for semiconductor products, and trying to develop it – from researching the technology to fabricating the products – in the shortest cycle time," explains Siyuan Frank Yang, Corporate Member of Technical Staff at SMIC.
Speed in data analysis saves money and time
To stay ahead in a fast-paced industry like high-tech manufacturing, SMIC sought to simplify its experimentation and data mining processes. Complicated and expensive experiments had slowed progress and consumed huge costs.
The end goal? To develop a tool that delivered an advanced technical capability while also fulfilling engineers' criteria: The software must be easy to learn and use in everyday processes.
So SMIC leadership tapped JMP to resolve obstacles like the technical learning curve without sacrificing elevated analytic functionality. "SMIC continues to innovate and succeed because we're open to new technologies like JMP," Yang says.
Today, Yang reports that between 80 and 100 SMIC engineers are using JMP in design of experiments (DOE), modeling and fit models on a regular basis within the organization. "We're even using JMP for advanced DOE, prediction for some circuit performance using WAT data before circuit performance is measured and analysis of highly correlated and highly dimensional data."
Collaboration drives innovation
One of SMIC's corporate values is innovation. SMIC uses innovation to continuously and actively undertake product technology research and development, increase productivity and optimize work procedures.
One of the ways SMIC delivers on its innovation value is through a research and development collaboration group using JMP Scripting Language (JSL) to code a custom platform for multiple users to perform their daily device data analysis. "This group's collaboration leads to greater innovation. We find that the more our engineers know about JMP – and the more they share their findings with each other – the more frequently they use JMP and the better use they make of it," Yang explains. "Most engineers here prefer JMP because it is easy to use and has powerful graphing techniques."
SMIC encourages such collaboration because it improves quality and consistency – another of its corporate promises. By building comprehensive quality and reliability assurance and control systems into its processes and services, from technology development to production, SMIC ensures a consistent level of quality and flexibility for its customers.
SMIC decides to add JMP® Pro to its analytics toolkit
With demonstrated ROI from SMIC's new approach to DOE, there was little hesitation when Yang suggested SMIC also adopt JMP Pro for more advanced analyses. "We wanted additional advanced techniques for big data analysis," Yang says. JMP Pro provides all the superior capabilities for interactive data visualization, exploration, analysis and communication that are the hallmarks of JMP, but with an additional library of expert analytics resources.
"There are many very useful features in JMP Pro — in particular, I've found some regularization methods very useful in dealing with highly dimensional and highly correlated data," he notes.
In addition, JMP Pro offers a multitude of sophisticated techniques: predictive modeling with cross-validation using a number of different methods, modern modeling techniques, model comparison and averaging features, advanced multivariate techniques, reliability block diagrams, covering arrays, mixed models, uplift models and advanced computational statistics methods.
The benefits of analytics trickle down to the customer
SMIC touts marked savings from equipment performance improvement with the use of the DOE capabilities of JMP, and time savings in data processing, data analysis and graphing.
"We have saved both money and time by using JMP," Yang reflects. "The outcome—and the motivation for all of this — is that our customers benefit. The quality of our products has improved, and our products are now released from R&D stages to manufacturing much faster." And Yang suggests that using analytics wisely can fuel growth, speed and efficiency. "The more our engineers know about JMP, the more it pays off for the company and for our customers in the long run," he says.
Dr. Siyuan Frank Yang, an industrial statistician, is responsible for industrial statistics applications for SMIC in Shanghai, China. He leads metrology methodology development, statistical consultation and writing, and provides statistical training to SMIC companywide. Yang's earlier work at SMIC was in the area of processing development and industrial statistics. He works alongside an MS graduate in applied statistics who focuses on JMP scripting language (JSL) programming and some statistical training.


text:
Nearest Airport to Tocumen, Panama
Closest airport to Tocumen is Tocumen International Airport (PTY). Distance from Tocumen International Airport to Tocumen is 1.2 miles / 2.0 kilometers.
Tocumen – Airports nearby
Tocumen International Airport (1.2 miles / 2.0 kilometers)
Chitré Alonso Valderrama Airport (103.6 miles / 166.8 kilometers)
Tocumen International Airport is located approximately 1.0 miles / 1.6 kilometers southeast of Nuevo Belén and about 1.2 miles / 2.0 kilometers south of Tocumen. IATA airport code is PTY.
Distance from Albrook "Marcos A. Gelabert" International Airport to Tocumen is 14.3 miles / 22.9 kilometers. Albrook "Marcos A. Gelabert" International Airport is located approximately 0.7 miles / 1.1 kilometers west of Curundú and about 1.0 miles / 1.5 kilometers north of Ancón. IATA airport code is PAC.
Distance from Enrique Adolfo Jiménez Airport to Tocumen is 37.9 miles / 61.0 kilometers. Enrique Adolfo Jiménez Airport is located approximately 2.2 miles / 3.6 kilometers east of Colón and about 2.4 miles / 3.9 kilometers west of Cativá. IATA airport code is ONX.
Distance from Chitré Alonso Valderrama Airport to Tocumen is 103.6 miles / 166.8 kilometers. Chitré Alonso Valderrama Airport is located approximately 36.9 miles / 59.4 kilometers south of Penonomé and about 40.0 miles / 64.4 kilometers east of Santiago de Veraguas. IATA airport code is CTD.
Map of airports near Tocumen
A Tocumen International Airport (PTY) 1.2 2.0
B Albrook "Marcos A. Gelabert" International Airport (PAC) 14.3 22.9
D Chitré Alonso Valderrama Airport (CTD) 103.6 166.8
Closest airport to Nuevo Belén
Closest airport to Vista Hermosa
Closest airport to La Colorada
Closest airport to Cabra Número Uno
Closest airport to Nueva Esperanza
Closest airport to Cerro Azul
Closest airport to Pacora