text:
be observed that setting a limit (Pm) to the reactive power implicitly means also setting a limit to the voltage (Vm) and to the current (Im) that create that reactive power (Pm = Vm Im). For a given Pm however, Vm and Im are not unequivocally determined, as they vary with frequency and capacitance (consider that Im = Vm / Xc). This behaviour is visualized in the following pictures, The graph on the left hand side shows how Vm and Im vary with frequency (f) for a given Pm. The graph on the right refers to a capacitor of higher value but with same Pm; it is evident that, at each frequency, the ratio between Vm and Im has decreased due to the lower capacitor Xc.
That said, it is important to remark that Vm derives from a physical phenomenon different from that causing Vn, therefore the Vm and Vn figures have no relationship with each other. The figure to be actually used for determining the maximum vrms that can be applied to a capacitor will then be the lower of two. Identical reasoning applies to Im and In. Picture below shows the corrisponding behaviours.
The graphs reflect the fact that, as already said, the actual limit for vrms will be the lower between Vm and Vn (same applies to Im and In). It is then possible to define three operational conditions (see graphs):
condition A: this is the discharge-limited condition, where Vn results to be more constraining than Vm. As vrms cannot anyway exceed Vn, the actual pr will be lower than the maximum permissible value (Pm). Also irms will be lower than that (Im) corresponding to Pm;
condition B: this is the dielectric-limited condition, where the actual limit is represented by Pm. Just multiply vrms by irms to verify that you are within Pm;
condition C: this is the ohmic-limited condition, where In results to be more constraining than Im. As irms cannot anyway exceed In, the actual pr will be lower than the maximum permissible value (Pm). Also vrms will be lower than that (Vm) corresponding to Pm.
For a given capacitor (i.e. for given Vn, In and Pm), the above defined operational conditions will only depend on frequency, and not at all on the actual vrms and irms values.
TYPES OF RF CAPACITORS
Let us now pass to consider products available on the market. Air-insulated capacitors would be ideal for RF applications, them not being subject to dielectric loss; unfortunately they are very bulky. Making the capacitor with a material having a dielectric constant (k) higher than that of air (k = 1) permits to reduce capacitor size; the formula is very simple: for a given physical capacitor geometry, capacitance is just proportional to k. The market of capacitors for RF applications is today dominated by ceramic capacitors that feature very high k values, up to 10,000 or more.
Selecting a dielectric with a high k yields however some drawbacks, the most important ones being:
the Temperature Coefficient of Capacitance (TCC), which is the maximum change in capacitance over a specified temperature range, increases and tends to show a non-linear behaviour;
the dissipation factor also increases;
tight tolerances are not easy to achieve;
actual capacitance becomes sensitive to the applied vdc (capacitance may drop down to 50% of its nominal value when vdc = Vn);
higher aging rate, a phenomenon due to the relaxation of the microcristalline structure that causes capacitance loss with time, due to a reduction of k. A high-k capacitor could lose up to 25% of its capacitance 4,000 hours after fabrication, but after that capacitance loss becomes much slower.
Type-1 dielectric is material with low k (say less than 200). The TCC for type-1 dielectric, expressed in parts per million per degrees centigrade, is quite moderate. The temperature characteristic of a type-1 dielectric is directly related to its k, as shown in the following table.
Capacitors built with type-1 dielectric are called RF power capacitors; they usually feature a Vn greater than 1kV, an In greater than 1A, a Pm greater than 1kVAr, an almost linear temperature coefficient of less than 1,300ppm/°C and a dissipation factor of less than 0.001. Picture below shows typical RF power capacitors. They are used in applications where temperature stability is important (e.g. resonating circuits) and high Q is required.
Low-capacity (e.g. < 1,000pF) disc-type capacitors with wire leads are most often also built with type-1 ceramics and then have characteristics similar to those of the RF power capacitors.
Type-2 dielectric is material with high k (up to 5,000 or even more). In this case TCC is much higher, varies with temperature, and is usually expressed in percentage of capacity change. A three-symbol designator, e.g., Z5U, X5V, is used to characterize the temperature behaviour of the capacitor (you may have read such strange markings, most often on wire-lead disc-type capacitors). Their significance is shown in the following table.
For instance, the Z5U designator indicates a capacitance variation of +22% / -56% across the temperature range +10°C / +85°C.
Also for type-2 dielectric the temperature characteristic is bound to k, as presented in table below.
The nominal capacity indicated by the manufacturer is referred to a temperature of 25°C. As already mentioned, for type-2 dielectric capacity change vs. temperature is highly variable and non linear.
Capacitors built with type-2 dielectric are usually called high-voltage capacitors, that should not be confused with the RF power capacitors discussed before, though their appearance may sometimes be similar and despite they are both commonly referred to as doorknob-type capacitors, as they appear like small barrels with axial wire leads or screw terminals. The design of high-voltage capacitors is optimized for operation at very high Vn, even up to 250kV. They can also withstand a fairly high irms, while their Pm is usually limited. They typically feature very high and non-linear temperature coefficients (up to 70,000 ppm/°C), a higher dissipation factor (up to 0.015) and a remarkable capacitance variation with DC voltage. Picture below shows typical high-voltage capacitors.
Generally speaking, high-voltage capacitors look taller and sometimes even fatter than RF power capacitors, but it is not always easy to distinguish. A capacitor higher than 5,000 pF having a Vn of 10kV or more is most likely a high-voltage capacitor.
It should be noted that wire-lead disc-type capacitors with a voltage specification higher than some 500V and with capacity higher than 1,000pF are commonly built with type-2 dielectric. Therefore they have characteristics similar to the high-voltage capacitors.
In summary, high-voltage capacitors can also be used in RF circuits, but their usage shall be limited to applications not requiring a high stability of capacitance, and very high pr; conversely they can sustain significant irms values.
That said, let us consider a very well-known product, i.e. the Centralab doorknob ceramic capacitors (now manufactured by ITT-Jennings). They come in several sizes, the most common one being that of models 850 and 858. Model 850 (now renamed HT50), shown below, is an RF power capacitor with capacity varying from 10pF to 500pF, temperature coefficient varying from NPO to N4700, and a Vn of 5kV or 7.5kV. For what concerns In, it seems reasonable to assume that In coincides with the specification they give for maximum current at 30 MHz, which ranges from 7A to 10A depending on capacity. For what concerns the maximum reactive power (Pm), they do not use this term, but they indicate maximum current (Im) at selected frequencies; e.g., for the 100 pF unit, 3.6A @ 1 MHz and 6.8A @ 10 MHz.
Model 858 (now renamed HT58) looks very similar to model 850, the main apparent difference being the fact that the ceramic wall is just a bit thicker, but it has higher capacity, i.e. 1,000pF (a 500pF unit was also available, but now presumably no longer produced). The Vn rating is the same of the 850 model (i.e. either 5kV or 7.5kV), In is 5.6A, and Im is 1.6A @ 1MHz or 3.8A @ 10MHz. Model 858 utilizes type-2 ceramics (type X5V) and should therefore be regarded as a high-voltage capacitor.
It should be noted that other Centralab doorknob capacitors (i.e. the smaller 853-, 854- and 855-types, the larger 857-type and the king-sized 859-type are all RF power capacitors). Therefore model 858, which is probably the most used type, constitutes an exception to the rule
FROM THEORY TO PRACTICE
Let us now


text: Many nonenveloped viruses have evolved an infectious cycle that culminates in the lysis or permeabilization of the host to enable viral release. How these viruses initiate the lytic event is largely unknown. Here, we demonstrated that the simian virus 40 progeny accumulated at the nuclear envelope prior to the permeabilization of the nuclear, endoplasmic reticulum, and plasma membranes at a time which corresponded with the release of the progeny. The permeabilization of these cellular membranes temporally correlated with late protein expression and was not observed upon the inhibition of their synthesis. To address whether one or more of the late proteins possessed an inherent capacity to induce membrane permeabilization, we examined the permeability of Escherichia coli that separately expressed the late proteins. VP2 and VP3, but not VP1, caused the permeabilization of bacterial membranes. Additionally, VP3 expression resulted in bacterial cell lysis. These findings demonstrate that VP3 possesses an inherent lytic property that is independent of eukaryotic signaling or cell death pathways.

source: openbmb/Ultra-FineWeb


text:
SAN ANTONIO – In the summer-long process of blending her love for chemistry with art, Trinity University junior Madeline Corona has become equal parts researcher, historian, operator of a handheld X-ray gun, and detective.
As an Earl C. Sams Foundation Fellow, she has collaborated with three Trinity professors and two San Antonio iconic institutions – the Alamo and the San Antonio Museum of Art – to learn about ancient art and artifacts through their chemical properties. "It's been like a dream come true," she said.
Born in San Antonio but a Boston-area resident for the last 10 years, Corona returned "home" to Trinity to study chemistry. She realized after her first four semesters that she didn't want to teach, go to medical school, or enter the pharmaceutical field – some of the common career paths for chem majors. In the background was her interest in art conservation, but Corona was uncertain how to blend pure science with the humanities.
At a campus lecture last spring, she spoke by chance with chemistry professor Michelle Bushey, who told Corona about a portable device acquired in 2010 that that uses X-ray fluorescence techniques to help art historians analyze elements of pigments, glazes, and other components of pottery and sculpture. Funded by the National Science Foundation, the XRF reveals information that can guide conservators in answering preservation questions and solving other mysteries. Essentially, the instrument identifies elements on the surface of the object that can't be detected just by looking at it, Bushey explained.
The first Trinity student to be trained on the XRF, Corona was asked to take readings that would begin to confirm or debunk a claim by a German scholar that an ornate marble Roman sarcophagus on the first floor of the San Antonio Museum of Art is a fraud, not from A.D. 130-150 as the piece is described.
"All they told me was to use the XRF on Roman statues," Corona said, adding that she had no idea about the suspicious authenticity of the tomb in the Gilbert Denman Gallery for Ancient Sculpture until she arrived at the museum for a morning's work.
Jessica Powers, curator of SAMA's Art of the Ancient Mediterranean World, said the sarcophagus in question was acquired in 1990 but was described four years later as the work of a "skillful forger" by a German scholar who has since died and whose field notes are lost. Because Powers is writing a book about the gallery's artifacts, she felt the objections needed to be explored. The XRF work will not yield a final answer, but it launches the investigation and affords valuable field experience for Corona, Powers said.
Indeed, Corona said her summer research has been "an amazing opportunity that I never thought I would get. I'd like to attend graduate school for art conservation, and this could open doors for me because it's a small field."
In addition to her SAMA work, she joined Bushey at the Alamo, where officials from the shrine found unusual pigments on the wall. The Trinity team climbed scaffolding to take readings to help the conservator determine whether the pigments contain mercury or lead – data that could signal the type of chemicals to use for preservation and to learn more about the history of the Alamo. For Corona, the site work had special meaning since she was born at the nearby Nix Hospital.
In addition, Corona studied with Kate Ritson, professor of art and art history, and with Nicolle Hirschfeld, associate professor of classical studies, to determine if potmarks on ancient vases were applied before or after the objects were fired, a detail that is important to the study of trade routes and exchanges in the Ancient Mediterranean.
"This is an amazing interdisciplinary collaboration," Bushey said. "It's not unusual for chemistry to partner with biology, for example. But for chemistry to collaborate with classical studies or art and art history, that's distinctive."
Corona is one of two Earl C. Sams Foundation Fellows at Trinity this summer. The other is senior Alexa Goers of Oshkosh, Wis., who spent the summer in China studying the tectonic history and timing of continental collisions with Dan Lehrmann, the Pyron Professor of Geosciences at Trinity.
Both projects epitomize the summer research experience at Trinity, said Claudia Scholz, research programs coordinator in Trinity's Academic Affairs. "Their projects span field and laboratory research, sciences and humanities disciplines, past and present, global questions and local impact," she said, adding:
"Summer research experiences allow Trinity students to extend and expand on their education during the summer. Students work hand-in-hand with faculty on research; they are not mere assistants but true collaborators in this work. Summer research fellowships allow students to pursue these enriching experiences who might otherwise have to take summer jobs unrelated to their career goals just to earn money."
About Trinity University
Trinity University, founded in 1869, is one of the nation's top private undergraduate institutions. Noted for its superior academic quality, outstanding faculty, and exceptional academic and residential resources, Trinity is committed to the intellectual, civic, and professional preparation of its student
About the Earl C. Sams Foundation
The Earl C. Sams Foundation of Corpus Christi was created by Sams in New York in 1946 with shares of stock from the J.C. Penney Co., which he helped to establish. Sams and his wife had two daughters who married Texans and settled in South Texas. They were Gladys Porter and Camille Lightner, for whom Trinity's Lightner Residence Hall and Lightner Tea Room are named. The Foundation was reincorporated in Texas in 1988. Trinity has a long history with the family, which also contributed to the Sams Gymnasium, built more than 40 years ago.

source: HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu


User Data import example
Learn how to import a Customer Segment dimension to track your users' interests.
Importing user metadata, such as a loyalty rating or lifetime customer value, enables you to create highly relevant Segments and Remarketing Audience lists.
In this article:
You want to understand which features on your site are most popular with food and wine enthusiasts, sports enthusiasts, and other customer segments. You maintain a data file outside of Analytics that associates customer IDs with customer segments and you plan to upload this information into Analytics to use as the basis for a Remarketing Audience.
Step One: Decide what data to import
The user IDs that you upload need to match the user IDs that you set in the hits received by your site. Refer to the developer documentation to learn how to set user ID in hits.
Step Two: Create the Custom Dimension
Since Customer Segment doesn't exist as a dimension in Analytics, you'll need to create it as a Custom Dimension.
Custom Dimension Name Scope
Customer Segment User
Step Three: Create the Data Set
 1. Sign in to Google Analytics.
 3. In the PROPERTY column, click Data Import.
 4. Click New Data Set.
 5. Select User Data as the Type.
 6. Name the Data Set: Customer metadata
 7. Select one or more views in which you want to see this data.
 8. Define the Schema:
 Key: Visitor > User ID
 Imported Data: Custom Dimensions > Customer Segment
 Overwrite hit data: Yes
 Click Save.
Step Four: Create the CSV
Generating your upload CSV file is a 2-step process:
1. Get the header for the CSV
In the Data Set table, click Customer metadata. This will display the Data Set schema page.
Click Get schema. You'll see something similar to the following:
CSV header
This is the header you should use as the first line of your uploaded CSV files. The table below identifies the columns:
User ID Customer Segment
ga:userId ga:dimension16
2. Create a spreadsheet and export it as a CSV
Create a spreadsheet that follows the format above. The first (header) row of your spreadsheet should use the internal names (e.g. ga:pagePath instead of Page) provided in the Get schema dialog as shown above. The columns beneath each header cell should include the corresponding data for each header.
ga:userId ga:dimension16
456abc Food/Wine Enthusiasts
383ghz Food/Wine Enthusiasts
323hht Motorsports Enthusiasts
541vvv Motorsports Enthusiasts
 456abc,Food/Wine Enthusiasts
 383ghz,Food/Wine Enthusiasts
 323hht,Motorsports Enthusiasts
 541vvv,Motorsports Enthusiasts
Step Five: Upload the data
You can must now upload the CSV file you created to Analytics. You have two choices for uploading your data: manually, using the Analytics user interface, or programmatically, using the Management API.
Upload manually
 1. In the Data Set table, find the row for Customer metadata.
 2. Click Manage uploads for Data Set.
 3. Click Upload file, select the file, then click Upload.
Upload via the Management API
 2. Click the Data Set name.
 3. Click Get Custom Data Source ID.
 4. Copy the ID to the clipboard (e.g. CTRL-C).
 5. Follow these instructions to upload via the Management API.
Step Six: Analyze and take action
With the component pieces in place it is now possible to analyze the results and take action. For example, to create a Remarketing Audience, complete each of the steps below:
 1. Create a custom report
 2. Create a segment
 3. Create a remarketing audience
Create a custom report
Since Customer Segment is a custom dimension, it does not appear in standard reports. To see the total number of pageviews by Customer Segment, for example, you would create a Custom Report with one metric (Pageviews) and one dimension (Customer Segment).
 1. Click + New Custom Report.
 2. Change the report type to be Flat Table.
 3. Select the Customer Segment custom dimension you created above.
 4. Select Sessions or any other metric you would like to use to measure a user groups behavior.
Create a Segment
Create a segment representing the users you want to target. From the custom report perform the following steps:
 1. Click Add Segment.
 2. Click New Segment.
 3. Click Advanced Conditions.
 4. Change filter from Sessions to Users.
 5. Select the Customer Segment custom dimension you created above.
 6. Add as many conditional groups to the segment as you would like and click Save.
Create a Remarketing Audience
 2. Select the segment you created above.
 - Data imported via processing time data import is not available to a Remarketing list until the user returns to your site after the data is uploaded.
Next steps
Once you've created a Remarketing Audience, you should create a new Google Ads campaign and add your Audience to an ad group. See the Google Ads Remarketing Help Center article for details.
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What Watershed Do You Live In? And Why Should You Care?
Asked if they knew what a watershed is or why it's important to know, most people would shake their heads, bemused, and walk away, whispering under their breath: science nerd
That's what happened when a Toronto Star reporter visited the Richmond Hill area, where one of Toronto area's main hydrological landmarks is located: the place where the watersheds of Toronto's three major rivers meet: the Humber River, Rouge River and Don River. No one knew—or much cared—that these major rivers start in their neighbourhood.
Why would they know? The typical suburban area, near the intersection of busy Bathurst Street and Jefferson Sideroad, gives no indication of their importance. There are no signs. The place is just an ordinary outer suburb, with an enclave of two-storey houses on one side and farmland on the other.
Why would they care? Unless you're an ecologist, limnologist or hydrologist—a science nerd—you won't understand the significance of being able to name the watershed you live in.
There's an ecologically and hydrologically "functioning landscape" in the porous moraine underfoot that "we take for granted and don't even realize," said Dena Lewis, senior manager of planning ecology at the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) to the Toronto Star (October 29, 2016). And we "don't realize how the landscape is working for all of us."
This is because none of us is an ecologist. And before you cite the science nerd thing, ecology is in reality a basic science of relationships. It isn't rocket science; it's mostly common sense applied to Nature, your habitat, and your home. In fact, that's what ecology means: "the study of your home" (just as economy is "the management of your home"; eco means "home").
We don't learn ecology in school, or if we did—way back in elementary school—it was so basic, we've lost a sense for its significance in our busy daily lives as we scurry in and out of our watersheds from home to work to school to shop and back.
Knowing which watershed you inhabit is the key—and the starting point—to viewing your neighbourhood respectfully, responsibly and sustainably.
Taddle Pond, Toronto (photo by Nina Munteanu)
A watershed is an area of land that catches rain and snow, and drains or seeps into a marsh, stream, river, lake or groundwater. Also called a drainage basin, it is usually bounded by a ridge of land that separates ground and surface waters flowing to different rivers, basins or seas from that point.
Some municipalities are beginning to recognize the wisdom of using watersheds as natural political boundaries. With the help of multi-jurisdictional environmental authorities, NGOs, and visionary MLAs and city councilors, we are starting to see political and social infra-structures based on ecological criteria. Like watersheds.
So, why is it important to know your watershed?
Canadians have experienced drought conditions this past summer: gardens and yards drying up; less water to use; hotter days; raging forest fires. Many of us are bemoaning the effects of climate change and the rising global water shortage with thoughts of powerlessness—it's a huge global phenomenon, after all. How can any of us affect climate?
This is a fallacy. We are not powerless.
The water crisis on our planet, and its accompanying water shortages, is ultimately a function of a water cycle crisis, something we are intimately involved in throughout our daily lives. The water cycle—the path by which water in its three forms cycles throughout the planet—proceeds through a finely balanced interaction of ecological and geological phenomena. Water wants to flow. And it flows through us like a river. As individuals, we drink, wash, sweat, and urinate water. We breathe in its vapour with every breath.
As a community, we impact the water cycle not just through diverting water from one place to another but—more importantly—through our activities that impact how that water cycles in the watersheds we live in. One reason why this is so important to understand is that it is also at this level that you and I can act.
We are capable of making a difference at the local level in our own watershed. We negatively impact the water cycling in our watershed several ways:
Once you've identified the watershed you live in and find its name, you've made it your own. It's now your watershed. Your home. You are now part of that entire ecosystem. And everyone who lives in it is your tribe. Find out more about it. It's part of your identity: that river or stream, its groundwater, its lake or sea. Its water is your water. We are over 70% water and water is constantly cycling through us. Water is in the air and you're breathing it in and out right now as you're reading this.
What We Can All Do:
Some of the things you can do in your watershed include:
Water Is-pBook COVERFor more information on water, read Nina Munteanu's Water Is… (Pixl Press)
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Will Brexit affect UK's approach to tackling financial crime?
20 Jun 2016 12:00 am by Mark Dunn
The vote on whether the UK should remain in the European Union is just days away (June 23), and the latest polls suggest the result is too close to call. Leaders in every sector are now being forced to consider the possible impacts of a Brexit on their field, and financial crime and compliance is no exception. But given the highly politicised nature of the debate, it can be too easy to lose sight of the evidence. So this article will explore how a Brexit might affect the UK's ability to detect and combat financial crime: anti-money laundering (AML), anti-bribery and corruption (ABC) and sanctions.
Anti-Money Laundering
The EU Fourth Money Laundering Directive (4MLD) is due to come into force in June 2017. This might lead to worries that a post-Brexit UK would not be part of this attempt to make it more difficult for people to launder ill-gotten gains through banks and other regulated entities. The directive puts further scrutiny on the risk based approach, particularly around situations where simplified due diligence may be applied and requires regulated entities to find out more about the money they hold.
But the 4MLD stems from the latest recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an inter-governmental body that develops and promotes policies to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. The UK, most EU member states and even the EU Commission are members of the FATF and therefore bound by its AML rules. So the UK would still need to abide by the FATF's requirements regardless of whether it is 'In' or 'Out'.
In fact, the UK has often been ahead of the European curve on AML legislation. In many cases it has 'gold plated' the EU legislation, for example it has adopted an 'all crimes approach' to AML regulation, so there is no de minimis level of predicate offence below which offences need not be reported.
The UK already has its measures in place to increase transparency of beneficial ownership of companies. The London Anti-Corruption Summit in May 2016 showed Britain's willingness to not only lead the way in setting up a public register of beneficial ownership, but also to encourage other countries to create their own registers. EU members France and the Netherlands have committed to setting up registers of their own. Now, any foreign company that wants to buy property in the UK or bid for government contracts will be required to publicly disclose their ultimate beneficial owner. Patrick Moulette, who heads the Anti-Corruption Division at the OECD, called this "a significant step in the right direction". It seems the UK has the legislation and the political will to combat money laundering, whether or not the country sits within the EU.
Anti-Bribery and Corruption
The EU is committed to facilitating information-sharing between its member states. If Britain were to leave the EU, some are worried that it would no longer receive information about suspected bribery and corruption from across the EU, which would make it harder for the UK authorities to detect and take enforcement action against corruption. As Andrew Simms of the think tank New Weather Institute wrote in the Financial Times in January 2016, solutions to financial crime "require international collective action, which a Brexit from the EU would seriously undermine".
But it is unclear what the EU would have to gain from excluding the UK from this information-sharing process, since European countries also benefit from the UK's willingness to provide information. There is already precedent for the UK to share information with other non-EU countries. Regulators in the US, UK and Australia are among those working together to investigate companies and individuals implicated in allegations of bribery by Unaoil to secure billions of dollars of government contracts in the Middle East and Africa. Moreover, at the London Anti-Corruption Summit in May 2016, the UK announced that it will host a new International Anti-Corruption Coordination Centre in London to work with enforcement agencies in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Switzerland on cross-border investigations. The global trend in enforcement is towards countries sharing information with each other, not hiding it.
The UK also has one of the strictest anti-bribery laws in the world: the Bribery Act of 2010. The Act stemmed from the OECD's anti-corruption convention in 1997 and would be unaffected if the UK was no longer subject to EU law. The NGO Transparency International describes the Act as "among the strictest legislation internationally on bribery", so it seems unlikely that Britain outside the EU would be seen as a softer touch on bribery and corruption.
Sanctions and Politically Exposed Persons
The most obvious area in which Brexit could affect financial crime is that the UK and Europe could develop quite different strategies for export and sanctions controls. Although different countries often work together to impose sanctions against doing business with companies operating in a particular country, the conditions of these sanctions can be very different. Recently, the EU eased its sanctions against Iran, while the US' sanctions remain more restrictive. This has meant EU business have begun to deepen their relationships with companies in Iran while the country remains off limits for most US businesses.
UK policymakers have in the past made exemptions for politically exposed persons. For example, the Financial Services Bill excludes domestic PEPs such as MPs from money laundering enhanced due diligence checks. This hints at a divergence from EU policy, since this is against the provisions in the Fourth EU Directive which will require a more comprehensive definition of 'prominent public person'. This divergence could be magnified if the UK were to no longer be subject to EU law.
But there is no evidence that the UK and the EU would adopt drastically different approaches to sanctions against PEPs. Moreover, much of the policy on sanctions comes from UN resolutions which would still bind the UK regardless of its European status.
Terrorist financing
The UK's laws on the financing of terrorism fall under United Nations (UN) Security Council resolutions. The UK is signed up to other international conventions which pertain to terrorism, including the Vienna Convention, the Palermo Convention, the UN Convention against Corruption and the UN Convention for the Suppression of Terrorism, so UK law is bound by these requirements. The UN is not the only inter-governmental organisation with a strong commitment to identifying money which funds terrorism. The FATF also develops policies in this area, which bind the UK and most EU member states equally regardless of the UK's relationship with Europe.
If the UK repealed the European Communities Act of 1972, new laws would need to be passed to fill any legislative gaps that have opened up. This might lead some people to worry that there is a period in which the UK is legislatively paralysed and unable to take action in some areas. But under UK law, where there are terrorist concerns the authorities can designate financial sanctions targets and apply export and other controls to goods of any description. So there should not be any window in which the UK has less power to act on suspected inflow and outflow of money related to terrorism.
An uncertain future
With the upcoming referendum so keenly contested by rival politicians, it can be difficult to work out what would be the actual impact of Brexit on the UK's ability to combat financial crime. Moreover, many details of how a 'Brexit' would look in practice will only become clear if the country does vote to leave.
But although there are specific EU policies against financial crime, these usually fall under or follow on from inter-governmental policies, for example from the UN, the FATF and the OECD. These inter-governmental policies would continue to apply to the UK, whether or not it is in the EU. The UK also has its own legislation in place against financial crime, and this is often ahead of the European curve. David Cameron positioned the UK as leaders in the fight against financial crime by organising the London Anti-Corruption Summit in May 2016.
Commenting on the outcome of the polls on 23rd June, Professor Dan Hough, Director of Sussex University's Anti-Corruption Centre, "As with most things to do with the Brexit debate, the impact of a 'Leave' vote in these areas is clouded in uncertainty. On the one hand EU institutions (of all sorts) provide useful fora for unofficial collaboration and co-ordination. UK representatives can and do discuss a range of 'off agenda' items with EU colleagues, but if the UK leaves the EU it will inevitably limit opportunities for doing this.
However, there is no reason to believe that security forces in particular won't continue to work together in the same way that they have in the past. Many of the links there are bi-lateral and thematic, and there is a case to be made that these relationships will simply carry on as normal no matter what the Brexit vote".
We will only know for certain the effect of Brexit on the UK's ability to tackle financial crime if the country votes 'Out' on June 23. But it seems unlikely that it would have a significant effect on the UK's ability to combat financial crime.
For a summary of this information, check out the Brexit: So What? infographic here:
Brexit Anti-Money Laundering Infographic
Related Blogs
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text:
These famous birds have such inspirational stories that some people say God has performed miracles through them. Here are are some of the most famous miracle birds in history:
Alex was an African grey parrot who participated in pioneering research studies about the intelligence of birds. Animal psychologist Irene Pepperberg worked with Alex in the United States from 1977 to his death in 2007 in a wide variety of university studies. During those studies, Alex demonstrated intelligence far beyond what human beings had previously realized birds were capable of, miraculously revealing the extent to which birds can think and feel.
Among Alex's many abilities were: thinking critically, using language creatively, solving problems, recognizing and describing items, adding numbers, and expressing a wide range of emotions in context during conversations with people.
2. Cher Ami
This homing pigeon became a hero during World War I when she flew through a barrage of bullets and successfully delivered a message that saved the lives of 194 people. During the Battle of Argonne in France in October 1918, a battalion of soldiers from the U.S. Army's 77th Infantry Division got trapped without ammunition on a hill behind enemy lines. Their fellow Allied troops didn't know where they were, so they were firing on their own soldiers without realizing it. Desperate to get word of their location to the Allies, the trapped battalion sent out two different pigeons with notes in canisters attached to their legs, but both were shot down by German soldiers.
They then sent Cher Ami to deliver a note that read: "We are along the road parallel to 276.4. Our own artillery is dropping a barrage directly on us. For heaven's sake, stop it!" Miraculously, Cher Ami delivered the note and made it back to the battalion, even though she had been shot multiple times (including through the chest) and blinded in one eye. Allied troops then rescued all 194 of the surviving trapped soldiers, and medics worked on Cher Ami to save her life.
Cher Ami had faithfully delivered other important messages earlier during World War I, as well. She received numerous awards for her heroic war service.
Snowball -- a white cockatoo with a plume of yellow feathers on his head -- has a miraculous ability to dance. Unlike most other birds, Snowball can recognize different musical beats and accurately synchronize his movements in time to them.
This USA bird's dance moves made him a sensation on the Internet and attracted the attention of scientists from The Neurosciences Institute in La Jolla, California and Harvard University, who studied Snowball and concluded that he does truly dance to music. Snowball is the first animal whom scientific researchers have declared to be capable of real dancing.
4. G.I. Joe
G.I. Joe was an heroic War War II pigeon. While working for the United States Army Pigeon Service in Italy during October 1943, G.I. Joe delivered a crucial message to Allied troops not to bomb a village they were scheduled to bomb -- Calvi Vecchia -- because Allied forces on the ground had already captured the village. Miraculously, just before the bombing was set to begin, G.I. Joe got the message through in time. So the bombing was called off, saving the lives of an estimated 1,000 people in Calvi Vecchia.
5. Old Abe
Old Abe was a bald eagle who became a hero for miraculously helping Union troops during the U.S. Civil War. A female bird who was nonetheless named in honor of then-U.S. president Abraham Lincoln, Old Abe showed remarkable courage while accompanying troops in many battles. She served as an inspirational mascot for Union troops, improving their morale and seeming to cheer them on by spreading her wings out and screaming out loud, fierce calls when they moved into action. Although Confederate troops often tried to capture or kill Old Abe, she remained safely with Union troops and survived the entire war.
After the war, Old Abe went to live in a place of honor inside the U.S. Capitol building. She helped save the U.S. Capitol from destruction in 1881 by using her piercing call to alert people to a fire that had broken out in the building's basement; people then successfully stopped the fire.
6. The Cliff Swallows of San Juan Capistrano
Every year since the Mission San Juan Capistrano in California, USA opened in 1776, huge flocks of American cliff swallow birds have followed a miraculous migration route. They travel about 6,000 miles from Argentina (where they spend the winter) to the mission, arriving on the same day in the spring (March 19th) and departing for Argentina on the same day in the fall (October 23rd).
The swallows build nests out of mud in various places (such as eaves) of the mission's buildings and hatch their babies there. Their presence has inspired many mission visitors over the centuries as an example of faithfulness and hope at work every year.


Library Opening
The library is currently open to the public, with some restrictions:
 1. Masks need to be worn and social distancing should be observed.
 2. Due to the size of the building, and restrictions on occupancy, there is a limit of 7 library patrons at a time. There is a possibility one will need to temporarily wait outside.
 3. Computers are available, but we ask that patrons limit their online session to 45 minutes.
 4. Printer/Scanner/Fax are available.
 5. We ask that patrons keep their visit to under 45 minutes.
 6. Hand sanitizing stations and wipes are available around the building. Patrons are encouraged to use them before and after using computers and/or handling materials.


to get their basics without having to get out of their cars." This type of store was referred to as a "cash and carry."
As the company grew to become one the world's largest dairy producers, Harold Stueve embraced the role of raw milk activist. He was quick to find clever loopholes in the anti-raw milk regulatory environment, and advocated for the establishment of the Los Angeles County Medical Milk Commission, which the County assumed oversight of in 1967. In 1969, Kenneth Hahn helped lead the charge among the County Supervisors to support efforts by the County Health Department to ban the sale of unpasteurized products. "Someone is determined to get rid of raw milk," Stueve, who also served as Mayor of Monrovia and was deeply enmeshed in dairy politics at the state and county levels, told the Times. Mirroring controversies that continue to this day, the paper noted that Stueve, who was briefly arrested on contempt of court over the issue, "is opposed to pasteurization because it causes milk to 'lose almost all of the enzymes.'"
The State Board of Public Health ruled the County could enforce a ban based on evidence of contamination and human illness as a result of tainted products, a directive that was overturned by the Superior Court, citing lack of evidence connecting Alta Dena Dairy raw milk to pathogens or illness. (In the early 1970s, Trader Joe's placed advertisements in the Times touting Alta Dena Dairy as "the only dairy in California which is certified to make raw milk.") But the recalls and lawsuits continued; the fallout from a 1985 listeriosis outbreak caused by contaminated cheese produced in California, for instance, lingered until Alta Dena was cleared of liability four years later. Stueve spent millions of his own fortune on political lobbying and lawsuits, leading him to bankruptcy in the 1990s.
Alta Dena wasn't the only company to offer drive-through convenience stores, but it managed to cover a significant amount of turf. Much like its competitors' retail operations, the shops began as outposts located near pastureland that comprised L.A. County's remarkably productive dairy industry, and gradually became integrated into the new residential and commercial clusters that sprang up during L.A.'s twentieth century boom periods. (While affiliated with certain dairy companies, drive-thru dairy stores were later independently owned and operated, with over 80 Alta Dena-associated drive-thrus still remaining in 2006, according to the Times.)
Unlike some more attention-getting, outlandish examples of what David Gebhard termed "programmatic architecture" and Jim Heimann documented in California Crazy and Beyond: Roadside Vernacular Architecture, form followed function at the dairy outlets. Alta Dena drive-thru dairies weren't fashioned in the shape of milk cartons, but instead were generally simple structures, typically with open sides designed for easy customer access, and often capped with a low-pitched roof with deep eaves. Some locations played with the form a bit.
Other examples of this building type, however, made a stronger effort to grab the attention of passersby. Driftyland Dairy-Port in El Monte was built in 1961 and is listed on the California Register of Historical Resources, thanks to its intact Googie style and Space Age theme design elements.
By 1989, when Alta Dena Dairy employed over 70 family members, the bottling operation and a portion of the Stueve family's herds were sold to a European corporation. (It had relocated from Monrovia to the City of Industry decades prior.) For a period following the sale, the conglomerate allowed Harold to keep raw milk in the marketplace by creating a new label, Stueve's Natural. The family's Chino farmland and holdings were eventually sold in the 1990s, raw milk production and sales ceased, and Dallas-based Dean Foods now owns Alta Dena Dairy.
Signs and evidence of the local dairy industry are still all over Los Angeles. Check your grocery store aisle for Broguiere's Farm Fresh Dairy milk -- or better yet during this time of year, its eggnog -- still sold in glass bottles. And when you see a car-accessible convenience shop that resembles a large kiosk that may have seen shinier days, it might be a reminder of the dozens of drive-thru milk stores that dotted the region, when we didn't need to buy raw milk at the farmers' market to know where our dairy came from.
Green, Emily, "The Great Stueve Wars," Los Angeles Times, August 2, 2000, 3.
Grimes, Teresa, Driftyland Dairy-Port nomination to the California Register of Historical Resources, 2007.
Nelson, Valerie, "Harold Stueve, 88; Farmer Founded Alta Dena Dairy With 2 Brothers in 1945," Los Angeles Times, August 10, 2006, B11.
"Ban on Sale of Raw Milk Lifted After Court Refuses Injunction: Judge Says Evidence Fails to Support State and County Charges That Injurious Organisms Are Present in Product," Los Angeles Times, March 25, 1969, C1.
The SoCal Roots Of Panda Express,2013:/living/food//1240.66643 2013-11-13T14:19:21Z 2013-11-14T03:32:40Z The international chain appeared in a time and place where mainstream audiences were ready to explore... just a little. Jessica Ritz Owner Andrew Cherng in the 1980s
]]> How and why did you select the original Panda Inn location?
That was the location we could afford.
How big was it?
The original restaurant was about 3,500 square feet.
Was that a daunting amount of space?
No, it's not that big for a restaurant.
How was it different from other Chinese restaurants at the time?
Not particularly. There were enough Chinese restaurants then already.
Was most of your original clientele familiar with Chinese food?
At that time? No, not very well.
Were there certain dishes people responded to?
Did you adapt any dishes to American palate?
So you served the food your family loved.
Yeah, that we thought was good.
I would say so. Very much so.
How has being an entrepreneur here impacted the business?
What are some of your other favorite local restaurants?
What market would you really love to reach?
St. Vincent Court's Strange Past and Unsure Future,2013:/socal/food//1240.57465 2013-03-12T01:12:15Z 2013-03-13T23:06:49Z The outdoor tables dotting St. Vincent Court downtown have been ordered removed. Doing so ignores the small square's rich L.A. history. Jessica Ritz Image via Wikimedia CommonsLong after the streetcars stopped running along Seventh Street and the department stores lost their luster in the core of downtown, but years before this stretch just west of Broadway became host to a freshly buzzing restaurant and bar scene, a discrete and distinctive pocket of the city evolved at its own pace.
Driving along Seventh Street between Hill and Broadway, the break between the solid building frontage on the north side of the street is easy to miss. But as a pedestrian, it's impossible to pass St. Vincent Court without popping in through the breezeway. In its current incarnation, a look around St. Vincent Court might very well have turned into sitting down for a serious meal, most likely one involving hearty portions of grilled meats, gyros, and traditional Mediterranean and Middle Eastern appetizers. Kebab spits had become the main attraction on what was the site of the first college in L.A.
The outdoor seating that's a major part of the alleyway's atmosphere and character, however, violates city code. And because of ongoing disputes with its neighbor, the iconic Los Angeles Theatre, the city cracked down on illegal al fresco dining when the theater's owners filed a complaint claiming that the tables and chairs block access to the venue. While this feature of St. Vincent is relatively new vis-à-vis the alleyway's overall history, it's largely to thank for the courtyard's new lease on life. But once again the future of St. Vincent is in flux.
Image by Flickr user Doc_BrownMerchant and banker (and USC co-founder) O.W. Childs donated a portion of the land that he had received from the City of Los Angeles in exchange for his extending the irrigation ditch to St. Vincent's College. On a parcel between Broadway and Olive, and Sixth and Eighth Streets, the first post-high school educational institution in Los Angeles began construction on its first building in 1867, where it remained until moving further south during the real estate boom of the 1880s. (After a series of mergers, St. Vincent's eventually became Loyola Marymount University in Westchester.)
Then came Arthur Letts, who founded the Broadway department store in 1898. When Letts opened the first Bullocks location at the northwest corner of Seventh and Broadway in March 1907, it was a bold retail gesture in an increasingly confident city. Letts had picked up a location held by Express newspaper publisher and land owner Edwin T. Earl; streetcars rumbled by constantly on both Broadway and Seventh, foot (and horse) traffic was heavy, but other aspiring retailers had given up. Here Letts trusted and financed John G. Bullock, a longtime Broadway employee, to spearhead an unprecedented upscale retail effort that would catalyze development in the area.
St. Vincent Place, dedicated in 1907, proved to be a convenient space for shuffling goods throughout the growing


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Encountering Development: The Making and Unmaking of the Third World
How did the industrialized nations of North America and Europe come to be seen as the appropriate models for post-World War II societies in Asia, Africa, and Latin America? How did the postwar discourse on development actually create the so-called Third World? And what will happen when development ideology collapses? To answer these questions, Arturo Escobar shows how development policies became mechanisms of control that were just as pervasive and effective as their colonial counterparts. The development apparatus generated categories powerful enough to shape the thinking even of its occasional critics while poverty and hunger became widespread. "Development" was not even partially "deconstructed" until the 1980s, when new tools for analyzing the representation of social reality were applied to specific "Third World" cases. Here Escobar deploys these new techniques in a provocative analysis of development discourse and practice in general, concluding with a discussion of alternative visions for a postdevelopment era.
Escobar emphasizes the role of economists in development discourse--his case study of Colombia demonstrates that the economization of food resulted in ambitious plans, and more hunger. To depict the production of knowledge and power in other development fields, the author shows how peasants, women, and nature became objects of knowledge and targets of power under the "gaze of experts."


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The Museum of Modern Art, MoMA Highlights, New York: The Museum of Modern Art, revised 2004, originally published 1999, p. 372
After a brief but eventful career that embodies the hopes and humiliations of African Americans at mid-twentieth century, the hero of Ralph Ellison's celebrated 1952 novel Invisible Man retreats to a secret basement room on the edge of Harlem. There he patiently composes and reflects upon the story we are about to read. "I am invisible," he explains, "simply because people refuse to see me."
Making pictures out of stores was once the main business of the visual arts. The rising modernist tradition consigned the practice to the margins of advanced art; for most of the past century, "illustration" has been a term of contempt. In this large, richly detailed and thoroughly absorbing photograph, Wall has all but single-handedly reinvented the challenge.
The novel's eloquent prologue is short on specifics, except one: the 1,369 lightbulbs that cover the ceiling of the underground lair. Starting with this fantastic detail, Wall scrupulously imagined in his Vancouver studio the concrete form of Ellison's metaphorical space. Ambitiously reviving a forgotten art, he made visible the Invisible Man.


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Digital Solutions: The EU's FENIX project – a platform for more efficient and climate-friendly logistics chains
FENIX = Federated European Network of Information eXchange in LogistiX
Development of a European federated architecture for data sharing serving the European logistics community
- More transparency through real-time information
- Standardized interfaces for ETA, etc.
- Innovative software modules (SDK) from the cloud
- Intermodal transport solutions within EU guidelines
Development, testing and validating practice-relevant services, e.g.:
- Container arrival times (ETA)
- Digitization of customs systems
- CO2 monitoring
- Overcome the fragmented goods transportation causing economic bottlenecks in the EU member states
- Harmonize and optimize cross-border logistics along selected European transport corridors
- Establish ICT standards for seamless communication of cargo flow addressing all modes of transport
Partners with profound market knowledge develop an architecture for a collaborative IT environment bringing together logistics information systems on an operational level
Achieving more together: international collaboration
How can international corporations put sustainability strategies into practice across borders? Deutsche Telekom employs CR managers for the relevant business segments and national companies to reach this goal. They use the CR Manager Network to regularly share best practices and discuss new challenges, thereby jointly promoting essential CR issues. The central Group Corporate Responsibility (GCR) department is responsible for managing the network. In the year 2021, the CR Manager Network encompassed more than 100 CR Manager from 34 subsidiaries based in 20 countries across the globe.
The participants are regularly invited to virtual meetings and capacity building calls by Group Corporate Responsibility. In 2021, content and likely implications of the EU Green Deal were discussed as well as progress within the _TAG_ programs and the new strategic stream "Positive impact on society" defined by the EU segment. Furthermore, the network members could gain insights into issues like Impact measurement and the future of a greener mobility.
Together against conflict resources
Telekom has been supporting the Responsible Minerals Initiative (RMI) since 2008. The RMI is the largest initiative in the economy for responsible raw material procurement. Its aim is to identify conflict raw materials and to prevent their extraction and trading with them. The RMI goes back to a working group founded in 2008 by the Global enabling Sustainability Initiative and Responsible Business Alliance for the sustainable extraction of raw materials. Since then, the number of metalworking and smelting companies that participate in the RMI has grown steadily.


Siebel adapter uses the COM interface to invoke calls on Siebel. For business component query, Siebel supports two ways of retrieving the field values for records. One can either use GetFieldValue to retrieve one field at a time or the other option is to use GetMultipleFieldValues to retrieve values for a bunch of fields in one go. The latter is better from a performance standpoint and is what the adapter uses. The problem with this approach though is that even if one of the fields, whose values are being retrieved, is mis-configured, the entire query call fails.
In development environments, it can happen that some of the customizations have issues, resulting in query failure as described above. The first step towards diagnosing the problem is identification of those problematic fields. The error message doesn't always help identify the fields. When in such situation, one can use the attached Siebel COM sample code to narrow down the fields. You will need to add a reference to sstchca.dll (present in the Siebel install folder, in the bin sub-directory).
Once you have narrowed down the fields, you can either fix the issue with the field or if it's not of interest, mark them as inactive on Siebel backend. You can then query using the Siebel adapter without any issues. Alternately, you can also use the QueryFields (optional) argument passed to the query operation to retrieve only the fields of interest.


California Tort Claims Act 2017
California's Tort Claims Act (CTCA) includes the rules and regulations that govern how claims are filed against a government entity. If the government is to be named in a lawsuit, the claim must fall within the guidelines of the California Tort Claims Act.
Situations wherein your claim will fall under the Act include:
 - You trip and fall in a government building
 - A county vehicle is involved in a motor vehicle accident with you
If a government employee or agency was negligent in some way, you'll need to follow the guidelines of the California Tort Claims Act. But if the government was not involved in any way leading up to your injury, a personal injury lawsuit can be filed.
Timely Written Claims: 6 Months to File
A public entity can only be sued if the plaintiff:
 - Provides a written claim for damages
 - Provides the written claim within 6 months of the incident
Unlike personal injury claims which have a two-year period to file a lawsuit, you must file a lawsuit against a governmental entity, or public entity, within a six-month period. Failure to make your claim within this time, which will be presented to the entity in question, will void your ability to file a claim.
The time starts to tick once the incident occurs – when you're filled with medical urgencies, financial issues and life-changing events.
If you've made your claim in accordance to the government code, you'll need to wait.
Public Entity Responsibility
If you've provided your written claim, the public entity must respond in a 45-day period after being served. The public entity will respond with the entity's action on the claim. The entity has four main options at this point in the claim process:
 1. Reject the claim
 2. Accept the claim
 3. Reject in part
 4. Compromise
Reject in part and compromise are the two options that provide the most concern. An entity has the legal right to reject in part, but accept the balance of the claim. A compromise will be a negotiation wherein you'll need to go back and forth with the entity.
What happens if you don't receive a response?
 1. If no response is given to your claim, the court will view this as a rejection. A rejected claim can be beneficial because a claim that's rejected provides a 2-year period from the date of the injury to file suit.
 2. If a proper response is given, you as the claimant, have just six months to file suit.
You have just six months to file suit, so it's imperative to file within the statute of limitations or lose your right to file. Government agencies and employees often respond to written notices. It's very unlikely that the notice will go unanswered, although it can and does occur.
Limitations and Expectations Under the California Tort Claims Act
CTCA encompasses all civil liability for money and damages. You can follow the Act when you're in a car accident with a government employee or you fall in a government building due to a negligent act that failed to make an essential repair.
Negligence of a government employee must fall within:
 - The scope of employment
 - In the course of a government function
For example, if a government employee was out on the weekend, enjoying a day off and was in a car accident, they cannot be sued as a government employee. A personal injury claim would need to be filed instead.
And if the employee decided to go to the bar when they were in the middle of work, the government agency can argue that the accident was caused by actions not within the scope of the employee's job.
Under the CTCA, you cannot file a claim against the negligent person directly.
So, if you can file a claim against the local government, you cannot target the employee directly in a separate case. This provides protection for employees and ensures that multiple cases for the same circumstance are not filed.
Public entitles are liable for injuries that are a result of the entity's failure to carry out their duty.
In essence, this means that if a public entity is tasked with protecting the public in some way and doesn't carry out their duty, they may face legal action. A fire department is a great example of a public entity that has a duty to the public.
If the fire department failed to respond to a call, the person injured in the fire can seek damages against the fire department.
But there are some exceptions to the law, too, such as:
 - Injuries related to failed or passed legislation
 - Injuries sustained by the National Guard
 - Injuries due to the issuing of a permit, license or order
 - Injuries due to failing to enforce the law
 - Injuries due to misrepresentation
You cannot sue the government for their failure to pass a legislation. You can also not sue the government because they supplied a driver with a license and said driver caused a motor vehicle accident.
The CTCA requires that the government or the employee had to act in some negligent manner to be held responsible under the CTCA.
Filing a Claim
If you plan to file a claim against a county, state or government entity or agency in California, you must provide a written notice with the following information:
 - Name and mailing address of the claimant
 - Mailing address where notices are to be mailed
 - Date of the incident
 - Location of the incident
 - Detailed description of the incident
 - Name of government entity or employees that caused the injury (when possible)
You'll also need to claim losses. If the losses are under $10,000, you must list the claim and note how the figure was calculated. If the claim of losses is more than $10,000, you'll need to determine if the case is a limited civil case, or a case where you're seeking less than $25,000 in damages.
Many municipalities in California offer a free form that will act as a written notice. I recommend searching for and using one of these forms when available. The forms streamline the notice process and ensure that you provide all necessary information to move forward with your claim.
If you or a loved one has been injured and it was not your fault you shouldn't hesitate to contact Hamparyan Injury Lawyers to arrange a free consultation to assess whether you are eligible to file a personal injury claim.
I'm with you every step of the way.
Schedule Your Free Case Consultation
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Call Us Anytime
Completely Free Consultation
 - Date Format: MM slash DD slash YYYY


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This Mozambique spitting cobra is one of several species of snakes that can spray venom on a foe. The venom is ejected through holes near the ends of their fangs. This is purely a defensive maneuvercobras never hunt by spitting on prey. The venom is usually aimed at the eyes and can cause inflammation and blindness. They can spit venom up to eight feet (2.4 meters).
Photograph by Rod Patterson, Gallo Images/CORBIS


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An organized Open House is essential for conveying the most important components of your 180 class to parents, especially when you only have 10 - 20 minutes to accomplish this. First impressions are vital, and they greatly influence parental involvement throughout the school year. When you have an organized Open House, you will have less stress and have more time to engage with parents in matters that are most important. Read these tips and see which ones will help you experience a smooth and successful Open House.
How to Make the Open House Work for Students, Parents, and You:
1. Have a sign-in sheet at the door labeled with the class time and period. A few days after Open House, send a thank you letter to the parents who attended with a reminder on how they can contact you with any questions, issues, or concerns.
2. Distribute a Welcome Kit that includes:
a. Fact Sheets (classroom, homework, and grading policies; contact information; rubrics; class philosophy/mission statement; course curriculum, FAQ's with answers; etc.)
b. Helpful Links
3. Show a brief video clip or two
to inspire and inform your students' parents. This year I am featuring "Reading is a Universal right" (63 seconds) and Michael Phelps video about perseverance, hard work, and hope: (1 minute, 31 seconds )
4. Arrange some rBooks, REAL BOOKS, System 44 Books; reading and writing folders; and independent reading books on a desk for easy access by parents. Give parents a few minutes to view the materials.
5. Allow time for questions
It goes without saying that your classroom should create an atmosphere of interest. Parents should notice the posters, star charts, books, independent reading and small-group instructional areas, etc. as soon as they walk into the room. The goal of Open House is to demonstrate the students' daily routine and to get their parents excited and on board with the work that we do with their children in the class.
Make this a pioneering and unforgettable school year. Create an Open House experience that is so organized that both you and your students' parents will feel comfortable with the challenges and successes of this school year.


Sandra Ericson Manager for Research & Development
Is an OTF Knife Reliable? : Discover a Remarkable Automatic Tool
If you are a knife-lover or a regular user of knives, you must have realized the importance of pocket knives. Not only are they usable in the kitchen to cut food items, but these knives have also been of help to people in terms of performing first aid, rescue victims of burning cars, self-defense, opening boxes, and so on.
As a result of their demand, there has been a rise in many diversified brands of this equipment such that when you go on purchasing one, you may end up confusing yourself in terms of the brand to buy only to realize later that you choose one that can not meet your needs.
What is an OTF knife? : What does it stand for?
If you happen to come across a knife with the label 'OTF,' realize that this is an acronym for the word 'out—thefront,' which should inform you that this knife's blade expands from the grip or handle.
Most people refer to it as a switchblade or automatic knife, which is right, due to its ability to pop the blade out instantly. This tool is categorized in terms of gravity (gravity knife), automatic switchblade (automatic switchblade), manual (manual sliding knife), and spring (spring-assisted).
The gravity knife depends on the force of gravity (hence the name) for it to open. For this reason, the parachutists carried it on their pockets to free themselves from the chute upon landing. For the automatic switchblades, they usually possess a button which, when pushed, releases the blade.
The spring-assisted knife is opened by the person using it with the help of a thumb stand contained in the blade, or a flipper and, the blade of the manual sliding one is obtained through sliding it out with a button, located along the grip length and is mainly used to cut equipment.
What is dual action OTF knife?
Today, these knives are available in three types which are:
 - Single action: whereby the blade is usually closed by hand and to open it, spring-mechanism must be employed.
 - Dual-action: for you to open and close the blade, you must employ spring mechanism for both. It is also referred to us double action.
 - Manual action: Here, you do not use the spring mechanism, but instead use a sliding button if you want to either close or open the blade.
The History of OTF Knife
In the year 1860, the foremost gravity knife was developed, followed by the first spring assisted one in 1861. At this time, the two were used to hold something while opening a folding knife, which later (in the 1970s) resulted to the invention of a thumb-stud which was pushed with the thumb to open the blade easily, and later a wedge (this was a flat disk vertical to the blade spine, this differentiate it from the thumb-stud) whose function resembled that of a thumb-stud.
Instead of the use of a thumb-stud and a wedge, a hole was created in the blade for the user's thumb tip, which led to the creation of a folding knife. People discovered automatic knives when they watched 'gang movies' though, in reality, the gangs and everyone else could not afford them (they were expensive), but in 1970, the Chinese invented cheap ones.
The US government discovered these tools as well as their use through the media; instead of military utilization, criminals also used them for murder, and this led to their ban in the region.
Are OTF knives illegal or not?
The answer is yes and no: The legality of this knife differs from one state to another. In most countries, it is legal to own them while others are against their ownership.
In some states, selling them is prohibited, while most states put it as illegal to carry them concealed (while hiding). Other nations have zero restrictions on these knives.
What is their legality state in Kentucky?
In Kentucky, OTF knives are legal for; purchase, possession, and also their sell, it is legal to carry them openly, but it is illegal to carry them when hidden.
What is a good OTF Knife?
The qualities of the right OTF knife to watch for during purchase include:
 ➡ Durability:
It should be made from a strong material that can last long. Is should retain its shape and performance even after you subject it to harsh conditions and frequent use. These will also save your money because you will not have to return to the market to buy another knife. After all, durable ones stay long before they can break even after performing tough tasks.
➡ The use
Buy one that suits the work. Look for the size to ensure that it can comfortably serve your purpose. For daily use, a small blade serves the best, whereas for technical activities, it preferable to buy the one with a large blade. The handle should take care of your hands from blisters, and the knife should also be of the correct weight to use easily.
➡ The form of the blade
Cutting edges exist in both straight and serrated ones. If your task requires straight cuts or you want to buy a knife for hunting, go for one that has a straight cutting edge. If you need to cut materials made from leather, choose a serrated one. It should be sharp to ease your work, but at the same time safe in use
 Nature of the steel
Choose one made from stainless steel, which is free from rust. Different steel types also require different attention, choose one that will not give you a hard time in its maintenance, one that you can easily sharpen by yourself and which will not require frequent sharpening so that it can serve you well for long.
In conclusion,
OTF knives and quality ones are not easy to find. Check for the qualities of the right one that is equivalent to your intended use to avoid frustrations and losses. Also, consider doing some research to be informed on the best item to purchase, and a reliable seller.
Adhere to the laws of your residence country on these knives to avoid facing charges upon breaking the rules.


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Copyright © 2012 Chenquan Gan et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
This paper examines the propagation behavior of computer virus under human intervention. A dynamical model describing the spread of computer virus, under which a susceptible computer can become recovered directly and an infected computer can become susceptible directly, is proposed. Through a qualitative analysis of this model, it is found that the virus-free equilibrium is globally asymptotically stable when the basic reproduction number, whereas the viral equilibrium is globally asymptotically stable if. Based on these results and a parameter analysis, some appropriate measures for eradicating the spread of computer virus across the Internet are recommended.


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LEAF (the Women's Legal Education and Action Fund) is a Canadian legal organization that performs legal research and intervenes in appellate and Supreme Court of Canada cases on women's issues They've offered their submission on the review of the CHRA's section 13 (hate speech laws), by the Parliamentary standing committee on justice and human rights, here. There's some good historical and legal background in the document, which otherwise takes positions that are not terribly surprising. For example, LEAF follows the legal consensus re the Hadjis decision--section 13 alone is safe; s54.1 in conjunction with 13 may be a problem.
They do make an additional argument that you don't see much, which is that Canada needs hate speech laws to live up to its international obligations:
Canada is a signatory to several relevant international conventions that require state parties to prohibit hate speech. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), ratified by Canada in 1976, provides in Article 20(2) that "any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence shall be prohibited by law."33 Similarly, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, ratified by Canada in 1981, provides in Article 4 that "States Parties condemn all propaganda and all organizations which are based on ideas or theories of superiority of one race or group of persons of one colour or ethnic origin, or which attempt to justify or promote racial hatred and discrimination in any form, and undertake to adopt immediate and positive measures designed to eradicate all incitement to, or acts of, such discrimination."34 In Keegstra, Chief Justice Dickson recognized these documents as reflective of "the international commitment to eradicate hate propaganda."35 International law recognizes that measures against hate speech may take different forms.
So there you have it. Their website is here.


When we were young, our history professor would tell us about the importance of looking at our past in order to understand our present. This is part of the reason why we hold our memories so dearly; because it is innate in us to make sense of the now.
The many episodes of our lives lead us to believe in the power of photos and videos.
Much like how we capture our lives in different braces and brackets, we find that there should be a balance in savoring everything as memories, and that of living them. Each time we do that, our past may start to make sense, allowing us to have equilibrium in our lives.
Encapsulated in film and cards are
activations of our senses.
In that perfect balance, one thing is consistent: it is that we live! Buhi translates as live. It is a Visayan word that pays homage to the origin of Studio Buhi's founders. The promise to bring to life, and have people seeing, touching, smelling, tasting, and hearing in captured images and videos is, in every sense, a Studio Buhi original.


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This post is a follow-up to Beliefs, in which I outlined some of what the machine learning community knows about how beliefs should interact with one another.
One assumption which I didn't spend too much time on in that post was the assumption that a "belief" should be managed by local message-passing as much as possible. This is an assumption which has been strong in the probabilistic graphical models community from the beginning, and which I have taken as a given. In order to get efficient algorithms, it seems like a good idea to do everything through local processes. Also, message-passing simply fits with my intuitions about how humans reason. Even markov networks (as opposed to Bayesian networks) feel insufficiently local, because the probabilistic semantics is distributed (you need to know all the factors before you can determine probabilities). For me, the more local, the better: the popular Monte Carlo methods strike me as "not local enough" (because although we keep making changes locally, we do this to a global complete state, and make a running tally over time... seems unfeasible for extremely large networks representing the quantity of knowledge a human has). I'll question this assumption now.
In the previous post, I looked at some of the local message-passing algorithms I'm interested in. There is more interesting material which I've now understood and would like to summarize, but for the moment I'll cover just one more thing to serve my point.
I mentioned that we can make a distinction between techniques such as Mean Field which seek to minimize KL(Q||P), and those such as Belief Propagation which use KL(P||Q); both of these measure divergence between the true distribution and our approximation, but KL(P||Q) intuitively makes more sense (minimizing error due to approximation), whereas KL(Q||P) has some computational advantages.
It turns out that both belief propagation and mean field can be fit into the framework of minimizing KL(Q||P). Even though this isn't my error function of choice, it's good to be able to explain both approximations within one framework; it allows us to definitively explain how to pass messages between the two, in the case that we want to use both in one network.
The basic idea is that Mean Field (MF) can be justified in a straightforward way by minimizing KL(P||Q) when we assume Q contains a separate factor for every variable. Belief Prop (BP), on the other hand, can be justified by minimization of the Bethe energy. The Bethe energy can be derived from KL(P||Q) when Q is of a peculiar form containing a factor for every relationship between variables, but also a negative factor for every variable. The negative factors divide out the effect of the overabundant positive factors. The negative factors are constrained to be the marginals of the positive factors. This gets a little confusing (I'll plan a full post for later), but provides greater coupling between variables, which we expect to give us a better approximation. (It does in most cases.) Unfortunately, it ruins the convergence guarantee which MF had.
The framework I mentioned allows us to deal with a Q function which mixes these two forms. This is good, because MF and BP are good for dealing with different kinds of things. MF often has a simple closed form in cases where BP does not, or does but is too expensive. MF is guaranteed to converge, while BP is not. However, BP typically gives better results when it does converge. It gives exact results for a tree-shaped belief network, while MF does not. It handles 0s in distributions, while MF cannot.
Because BP is not guaranteed to converge, it makes some sense to argue that it is not suitable to AGI-scale systems of beliefs. There will almost certainly be some portion of the network which will not converge, even if non-convergent behavior is rare overall; and this problem may be likely to spread. Therefore, it could make sense to have small, "safe" BP networks acting as pieces in a larger MF network, to make global convergence easier. If a portion of the network was causing trouble, more of it might be converted to MF.
If I'm not mistaken, this same idea could also accommodate Kikuchi free energy, which gives "generalized belief propagation" (GBP). This goes further than BP, including even more interactions in the approximation. Hence we have a flexible approximation framework, which can handle approximations based on a wide variety of forms for Q. The structure of Q can be adapted to the situation, addressing our needs as well as any local convergence problems.
This might sound like a rather nice situation. But... is it?
We're putting an awful lot of energy into the approximation, here. Why are the belief networks so difficult to control? The structure-learning system has to find these networks in the first place. If we can't even do inference for a hypothesis, how can we choose it? Shouldn't the system choose hypotheses for which inference is manageable?
This is exactly the approach taken by Sum-Product Networks. Graphical models normally give us exponential-time inference in the worst case, but sum-product networks are linear-time instead. We could get a similar advantage by using standard types of networks, like BNs or MNs, and requiring that the network take the form of a tree (for which exact inference is inexpensive). We get guaranteed linear-time inference, no approximations, but we have not severely restricted the kinds of probability distributions which can be expressed: we can add more hidden variables to express more complicated distributions. (If we need to add exponentially many nodes to do what we want, though, then obviously we're getting back into trouble.) SPNs do the same thing, but are an interesting alternative to tree networks, in that they allow us to adjust the probability formula at a lower level; we are literally composing an expression of sums and products to express the distribution (an "arithmetic circuit"). This is more annoying for a human to look at, but at the same time, gives us more freedom (allows us to compactly represent a larger number of functions) without compromising the linear-time inference.
SPNs are very similar to artificial neural networks, particularly feedforward networks, and give us linear-time inference for the same reason: we're directly learning a mathematical expression to give the desired result, not trying to represent some inference problem to be solved. One way of explaining it is: for any approximation method, we end up performing some sequence of arithmetic operations to arrive at an answer. SPNs jump straight to learning a good sequence of arithmetic operations, as our model, rather than learning a potentially difficult model and then trying to find a nice approximation.
I said I would deal with my assumption of local approximation. Going back to the P vs Q idea, a "belief" is a local function; a factor of Q. The question is how to coordinate a number of local functions, in order to get a good approximation of a probability function P. SPNs don't need any of this. Local beliefs give us a very messy belief approximation process. SPNs give us a global model with exact inference.
Why do I call an SPN "global"? It might be local enough to satisfy some. The linear-time inference algorithm iterates over the network via the links. That's local, isn't it? Well, sort of. You can't learn SPNs locally and then compose them together, though. The parts of a sum-product network do not have inherent meaning outside of the network. In a Bayesian network, a conditional probability is a conditional probability; we could evaluate its accuracy apart from everything else, if we could access data for those variables.
SPNs aren't a full AGI system in themselves, but they give me an image of an AGI system which learns very fast belief-formation functions, which simply get evaluated in order to give probabilities at a particular moment. This image is much more efficient than my previous image of a large network of approximate beliefs which are doing local message-passing to minimize KL divergence between Q and the desired P. Local approximation by message-passing is a faster approximation than Monte Carlo methods, but if we can create networks which we can precisely evaluate very quickly, why worry about approximation at all?
On the other hand, I think we really want some FOPI-style behavior (First Order Probabilistic Inference, one approach to integrating logic and probability). The structure of beliefs should include first-order logic as a special case, which means we cannot avoid including problems which are potentially intractable. (IE, real-life inference problems are sometimes intractable.)
Indeed, it is difficult to see how an SPN-like framework can give us persistent beliefs with logical structure. An SPN is composed of'sum' nodes and 'product' nodes. We can think of the'sum' nodes as representing 'or', and the 'product' nodes as representing 'and'. So, we can think of 'product' nodes as representing an object: a combination of attributes. 'Sum' nodes represent alternative ways of achieving attributes. However, this is still a very low-level representation! There is no way to represent multiple instances of one object, no way to represent classes of objects with a type/subtype relation... we can't reason about familial relations, for example, trying to decide whether two people are cousins given some other information about their families.
Side note: one possible objection is that belief networks are a representation for the low-level dynamics of an artificial mind, and do not need to represent the high-level stuff like logic. This should emerge as a learned skill of a large network which has access to mental workspaces in which it can implement more complex, longer-term mental processes. This approach may be workable. However, my intuition is that there is something to gain from explicitly representing logically


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men are incapable of meeting the requirements for salvation because they are sinners. How could someone who is himself imperfect, be able to help others who are also imperfect? By this example given to us here in the Book of Exodus, we understand that anyone who would be qualified as the Savior of all others would themselves need to be without sin. If a future candidate should arrive who would claim to be the Messiah, an evaluation could easily be made of his qualifications. If he is not without sin, a male and willing to die for the guilty, he cannot be the Messiah.
The standard of God is perfection; anything less is not acceptable. Since all men are born imperfect and they demonstrate their continued imperfection throughout their entire life, no man is good enough to meet the standards to save himself or anyone else. When a church or an individual claims that they are the way to God, and they claim to have the power to grant eternal life by following their doctrine or methods, they are in error. We know this because of the 21st prophecy in which we see the standards required by the Passover Lamb of Exodus 12.
No man can save any other man unless he has been able to live a perfect and Holy life himself. Since all men are sinners, no man can be saved without a Savior who is perfect.
The testimony of those who had been with Him for three years, describes His life as perfect—without sin. This is why John the Baptist described Jesus as The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29 above).
Peter, who knew something of personal sin, said this of Jesus:
David asks the question: "who may ascend into the hill of the Lord?" Only Jesus, because He alone is perfect and without sin. There is no other that we should look to for our assurance of salvation.
[1] 1. Shaul Magid (2008). From Metaphysics to Midrash: Myth, History, and the Interpretation of Scripture in Lurianic Kabbala. Indiana University Press. p. 238. 2. Genesis 3, It was Adam's sin that caused all men to be sinner. Confirmed by the New Testament book of Romans: Romans 5:12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned
[2] 1 Peter 1:18-19
Categories: How Salvation Occurs, Religion vs. Relationship, Salvation through Jesus, What is required for Heaven?, Why Jesus had to die
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Bombscapes: Of War and Earth
Landscapes are never the same after war, which is why many scientists argue that "bombturbation" — a term for the violent mixing of soils and other ground features by heavy artillery — is a key marker of the Anthropocene. Families living in bomb-scarred Laos have come to understand this all too well.


There are multiple ways to create an email group, such as:
 1. Defining a segment on the directory to create an email group.
 2. From the Data Studio
 3. By uploading an excel sheet
In this article, we will understand how to create an email group using the first two methods.
Step 1: Ways to Create an Email Group
You can create email groups in either of the following ways:
 1) Go to 'Email Groups' on the admin panel
 2) Choose 'Create Group' within the 'Select Group' option while composing an email sending out a bulk-email.
Step 2: Define Email Group
Regardless of which method you chose, on clicking create group, the following dialog box pops up:
Here, you can define the following:
 - Group Name: This is the name that you assign to the group for your own reference. Call it what you wish. e.g., Batch of 1986, Lives in California, Unregistered Users.
 - How to add members to the email group:
 - Choose from existing profiles on the platform
 - Upload Excel Sheet (detailed instructions on the other article)
Step 3: Add members
The first method has two ways to select the profiles from.
 1. Define a segment from the directory
Click on "Click here to define the query." You will be directed to the directory page.
Now, use the search filters to select the profiles to be added to the email group.
Note: Maximize the pop-up window in-case you can't see filters and the submit button.
Set one or many filters based on fields like Class, Education, Location, employment, and whether they are registered or not.
 2. Choose specific members
Click on "Click here to select." A pop-up appears from where you can select multiple profiles.
Step 4: Create the group
Once you defined your group and selected profiles, you should see the following box now on your earlier window.
The option you choose to add members will be auto-filled.
Now, click on Create group.
Your email group has been created successfully!
Being dynamic, this group will automatically get updated based on changes the alumni make on their profiles as well!
Note: The email groups you create by uploading an email list from Excel won't be dynamic
Now you can select the created group whenever you click Select Group when sending out bulk emails.
To edit this group later, you can go to Email Groups from the Communication Center on the Admin panel, click on the More actions option for the email group you want to edit.
Here is how you can create an email group from the Data Studio
 - From the admin panel, navigate to the Data Studio.
 - Select all the records you want to add to the new email group
 - Once selected, navigate to Admin Actions > Communication Center > Create an email group.
Once done, the following modal should pop up:
Give it a name and select if you want this email group to be static or segment (automatically updates according to the filters) and hit on create email group.
Please write to us at for any queries on Email Groups.
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Potential Quotes - Page : 4
- Visit Dr. Mardy's iWise Blog | World Space Week Quotes
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 Show any quote mentioning the word : Potential
Potential :
 Currently unfulfilled capacity to improve, develop, and achieve impressive feats.
 Anything that may be possible; a possibility; potentiality.
 (physics) In the theory of gravitation, or of other forces acting in space, a function of the rectangular coordinates which determine the position of a point, such that its differential coefficients with respect to the coordinates are equal to the components of the force at the point considered; -- also called Potential function, or force function.
 It is called also Newtonian Potential when the force is directed to a fixed center and is inversely as the square of the distance from the center.
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How Focus plays a crucial role in Earning Money?
How Focus plays a crucial role in Earning Money?
It is human tendency to get diverted towards better life possibilities, while being an entrepreneur you tend to focus on raking in capital. What exactly is required to become successful in your business domain? All those eminent names of billionaires are transfixed in adding more zeroes to their bank balance. Having high focus, grants more capital flow, this is true and here, with this write up Business Alligators will validate this. Being a business fad it become more crucial to center attention on one particular goal. The entrepreneur job is toiling and most of the times exigent. Entrepreneurship requires a 100% effort to bring in profits, and come out successful, and for 100% effort you require focus, as focus help in earning money easily
Here are 4 ways about how focus help in earning money:
1. Creates Efficiency
Entrepreneurship is all about engrossing on one thing and giving it your all. Trying to create business out of all the ways you could think 'all at once' is similar to riding two cars at a time. Putting all the eggs in the same basket is better than creating variety which would certainly damage one or the other resulting in profit decrement. Think of one idea and build that one up, precisely set it up and take maximum out of it and then you can get into something different, you ever thought of. Majority of times the reason of an unsuccessful business is its impatient owner, who switches to new ideas without taking time to develop the inceptive one.
Using specific yardsticks to measure your goal, would pull in utmost upshot. You get to recognize level best noesis of means and ways to be followed. Specialization creates efficiency which is gained by focusing on the dos and don'ts of your achieving your desired individual goal. It creates low failure possibilities; a focused person is knowledgeable about the goal requirements which makes him streamlined. Lack of resources would result in scattered resources.
2. Punctilios Analysis
While working on some project, to achieve the desired outcome one has to keep a check on each and every step of the process adopted. This is to make sure that the moment the plan gets misbalanced or there's an occurrence of error the step is terminated and manipulated in the right way. The early years of startup can be chaotic and depressant. For the starter entrepreneurs, major focus is to generate income. Once he makes an impact the influence continues for a long time, and acts as a backup even if the other idea conk out. Passive income initially is stringent, but once planted efficiently it gives promising support. No income would fail the business, and may result in huge losses. So, creating a permanent source of income which doesn't require much attention would be a great idea. For that, initial focus is required so as to build that sort of ground which will hold you up even at major crisis. Burning all the bridges won't get success, in case you fail your decision.
How Gmail earn money?
3. Decreases probability of downfall
Paralyzed unfocussed implementation of different ideas all together creates prima ruinations. A focused analysis about your goals and the path you are going to follow, leads to precise decision making. The best decision gets the best results. Money is earned as a token to success. Why all the IT engineers cannot become Sir Bill Gates or can even earn one fourth of what he makes in a day? One of the reasons is "FOCUS", initializing your business with endeavored and quality decisions which would pay best returns. This is one prominent factor that describes your vulnerability towards downfalls and being unsuccessful with the goal you opt for. Focus is the key to efficiency and being efficient with the work attracts more customers and hence increases the annual income as well. When one begins with a business, most of them tend to get over the initial investment as soon as possible so that they start to make profit sooner. Being focused grants you the access of having better quality products, and a keen study of what exactly you are working upon.
4. Quicker yet precise discussions
Is making precise decisions is all what you need to earn? And is this all what focus would do, i.e. will increase the quality of your decision? No! All the energies directed towards one goal would lead to Quicker yet precise decisions. If you are stepping into business executing a number of plans, you would at max end up being an average businessperson. Making right decisions doesn't set successful people apart from the crowd, but making right decisions quickly does. To do this, they need hard-core focused analysis of all big-small steps they execute. Being at the decisive end is like crossing the Rubicon, stepping back isn't an option. So better be precise and quick because late right decisions either decreases resultant lucre or fails to make any.
All of the tasks that one does while running a business might make all of the above points seem interconnected and all of these individual hold their unique importance to run an empire.
Maintaining a speedy pace for the work, sometimes gets the outcome all messed up. Being focused makes the two happen simultaneously. The entire discussion one makes while being an entrepreneur holds the potential to even destroy all of what he/she has created till date but if the person becomes the master of quick and precise decision making, there's nothing that could make him reach the goal in the fastest possible way.
Focus doesn't come easy, neither it is a natural tendency of a businessman, it is developed with ones passion to garner maximum out of all the efforts and decisions he made. Learn to focus and thrive in your business cosmos. First success would be an encouragement to carry out another idea.
Aastha Kanwar
Managing Editor at Business Alligators
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