Tag Archives: Positive Reinforcement Training
Movement Routine 10 – Rags as Focus
Photo: Task 6; U-turn around one rag.
 4. Smooth 180 Degree Turns: Click here.
 - A work area where the horse is relaxed and confident.
 - The horse is not hungry.
 - Halter and relatively short lead rope (8′).
#215 HorseGym with Boots: Movement Routine 10 Rags as Focus; _URL_
 3. Walk a second circle leaving out one rag.
 1. When it feels smooth, work at liberty.
 3. Add the task of ever-increasing circles.
 4. Work on a slope if you have one handy.
 5. Use more rags.
20 Steps Exercise
Photo: Our horse walking with us confidently is basic to everything else we want to do.
This is one of my favorite exercises. It is fun to do as a warm-up or a cool-down or if horse time is short. If you are energetic you can eventually do it trotting.
This exercise encourages the horse to walk with us in position beside his neck or shoulder. It is a way of teaching 'leading' without the need to put pressure on the lead rope or use a lead rope at all. We can teach this exercise totally at liberty once the horse is clicker-savvy.
The more precise we can be with our body language, the easier it is for the horse to read our intent.
When we invite the horse to walk with us in the '20 Steps Exercise' we adjust our pace to the horse's natural pace, so we can walk 'in step' with each other.
When we do this task at liberty, it's easy for the horse to let us know if he is not in the mood to do things with us because he can peel off in his own direction.
If you have a safe, enclosed area, and protected contact is no longer needed, starting at liberty is ideal.
If the horse is exuberant and protected contact remains a good idea, you can still do this exercise with the horse at liberty by using a reverse round pen (person in the pen, horse moves around the outside of it) or a stretch of paddock fence. If your fencing is electric tape, make sure it is turned off. Lots more about reverse pens here: _URL_
Doing a little at a time keeps this exercise fresh and lively in the repertoire.
If protected contact is a good idea, we can set up a reverse round pen with uprights and fencing tape. The horse moves around the outside of the 'pen' while the handler stays inside. We can make it a size that best suits the task we are working with.
 1. Handler refines clear 'walk-on' and 'halt' body language, energy level and voice signals.
 2. Horse willingly mirrors the handler's energy changes and stays in position with his neck/shoulder area beside the handler.
 1. Handler is aware of using breathing and body energy level to indicate 'energy up' before moving off and 'energy down' before coming to a halt.
 2. Handler had decided on clear 'walk on' and 'halt' voice signals.
 3. Handler has developed a consistent 'walk on' arm gesture.
 4. Handler uses clear preparatory body language before coming to a 'halt', e.g. slowing down, breathing out and dropping weight into the hips.
Optional: These prerequisites are nice but not essential. This task is a way of achieving or improving the three skills below.
 1. Horse walks smoothly beside the handler's shoulder.
 2. Horse understands 'Whoa' voice, breathing and body language signals.
 3. Horse willingly responds to 'Walk On' voice, breathing, gesture and body language signals.
 - A work area where the horse is relaxed and confident.
 - Horse is not hungry.
 - A safe, enclosed area for working at liberty.
 - If protected contact is the best choice, use a reverse round pen or use a paddock fence, whichever suits your situation best.
 - If there are no other options, use halter and lead, keeping a non-influencing drape in the lead rope. A light-weight lead is preferable.
December 2017 Obstacle Challenge: 20 Steps Exercise.
#30 HorseGym with Boots illustrates Boots helping Zoë learn the process with halter and lead.
 1. Standing beside the horse's neck/shoulder, do the following pretty much all at the same time:
 - Raise torso and look ahead.
 - Breathe in deeply.
 - Gesture forward with the hand furthest from the horse.
 - Step off with your outside leg to walk one step using 'draw energy' to encourage the horse to move with you. The horse can more easily see movement of your outside leg.
 - Halt after one step by breathing out and releasing your energy; click&treat when your feet are stopped. If the horse has moved out of position accept that for now – deliver the treat as close as possible to where you want him to be.
 1. We will click&treat for EACH halt.
 2. If the horse is a bit surprised and moves out of position, move YOURSELF back into position beside his neck/shoulder and start again, raising torso breathing in, gesturing and stepping off to walk on. Slow down, breathe out, and drop into your hips to stop. If you are consistent, the horse will begin to take note of your breathing and posture.
If you are on the other side of a barrier or fence from the horse, walk on and click&treat any indication that the horse is willing to come join you, then start again with 1 above.
 1. If you are not in protected contact, it's ideal to start with the horse between the handler and a safe fence, so the option of swinging the hindquarters away is removed. I didn't show this part in the video clip.
If protected contact is necessary and the horse is unsure about what you want to do if you try using a reverse round pen or paddock fence, we can use a lane. A lane can work well because it reduces the horse's options. The horse walks in the lane and the handler walks on the outside of the lane.
Lanes can be set up with fencing tape and uprights next to an existing fence or made with bits and pieces like the one in the photo below.
We can usually make learning easier for the horse by organizing our training environment so that what we will click&treat is easy for the horse to discover. Here ware are using a lane to initiate walking side-by-side together.
Next Slices
 1. When one or two steps together is smooth, take three steps before the halt, click&treat.
 2. When three steps together are smooth, take four steps before the halt, click&treat, and so on.
 3. Each time you walk on, begin counting at 'one' again.
 4. Stay with four-five steps until moving off together is smooth and the horse stays in position beside you for the halt.
 5. Adjust how many steps you add before each halt and click&treat. It will depend on how fast the horse catches on to the pattern, the clarity and consistency of your signals, as well as how the horse is feeling that day.
 6. With some horses you can soon add steps in 2's, 3's or 5's to reach the twenty steps.
 7. If the horse gets lost or seems to forget, go back to where he can be successful and work with a smaller number of steps until you gain true confidence.
 8. Gradually work up to 10, 15, then 20 steps before each halt, click&treat.
 9. Asking for 20 steps before the click&treat, carried out on both sides of the horse, is usually plenty at one time. But there is no reason we can't do several sets of 20 steps if the horse stays keen.
Be sure to teach this walking on either side of the horse. One side may be easier. Start again from the beginning (along a fence or in a lane) for the second side. Some horses easily transfer new learning to the other side. Other horses find everything harder on one side.
Handlers usually must also focus to consciously produce clear, consistent body language with the less dominant side of their body. If the horse's and handler's stiffer sides coincide, everything will feel a bit harder at first.
When a task feels equally smooth on either side of the horse, a big milestone has been achieved.
 - If you started with a lane, move from the lane to working alongside a fence.
 - Play the game in an open area, away from a fence-line.
 - Teach, then add drawing the horse into arcs and turns with the horse on the outside of the turn. See also: Smooth 90-Degree Turns: Handler on the Inside: _URL_
 - Teach, then add walking arcs and turns toward the horse (counter-turns). See also: Smooth Counter Turns: _URL_
 - If you can run, play with it at trot. It's best to begin this in protected contact in case the horse finds it exciting.
The Planning Process
Our training behavior and the horse's response behavior are totally intertwined.
If you would


text:
THE WORLD AS OUR STAGE
At Immanuel, we endeavor to spark a student's interest, respect, and curiosity about theater and to develop his or her creative expression and self-confidence while reinforcing qualities and values of empathy and collaboration. Students are provided opportunities to develop strong public speaking skills
A series of theater activities and exercises introduces our students from kindergarten to eighth graders graders to drama activities. Kindergarten students present a highly anticipated living nativity play each Christmas season. Our third grade students end a unit of study in social studies on the westward expansion as they present a play to students and parents. Our fourth graders combine their musical and acting talents in a drama and solve The Case of the Missing Parts of Speech. Fifth grade students learn the art of lighting and stage design as they present the classic play, Julius Caesar. Our sixth graders present a musical and drama as part of our Christmas program in front of an audience of 1,000 or more students and guests. During electives for our sixth, seventh and eighth graders, students have the opportunity to develop develop a foundation in the dramatic arts. All students participate in games, improvisations, and writing tools which teach students the basics of acting and character development while fostering creativity and improving stage presence, public speaking, and listening skills.

source: openbmb/Ultra-FineWeb


December 13, 2017
Query Components with Apollo
Kureev Alexey
Senior Software Engineer @ Twilio
Enjoy the ride! 🚀
Apollo + Query Components hype rocket!
Anatomy of Query Components
const QUERY = gql'
 query allCities($country: String!) {
 allCities {
class CitiesQuery extends Component {
 render() {
 return this.props.children(;
export default graphql(QUERY, {
 options: ({ country }) => ({ variables: { country } }),
Comparing to the standard approach where you add a graphql wrapper to your higher-order components, query components have a set of advantages:
Once a Query Component is defined, it can be used as any other component in your application:
class MapPicker extends PureComponent {
 render() {
 return (
 //...
 {({ allCities }) => }
 //...
Mutations with Query Components
const MUTATION = gql'
 mutation (name: String!) {
 createProposal(input: $input) { clientMutationId }
class UserMutation extends Component {
 constructor(props, ctx) {
 super(props, ctx);
 this.execute = () => this.executeMutation();
 executeMutation() {
 variables: {
 render() {
 return this.props.children(this.execute);
export default graphql(MUTATION)(UserMutation);
Therefore, you can use this component in a similar way:
class Profile extends PureComponent {
 render() {
 return (
 //...
 {execute =>
 //...
Testing Query Components like a pro 😎
How to test Query Components?
One of the very first things we would like to test is that every Query Component is able to produce variables, required by a query. To ensure that, we check a shape of resulting variables.
Another assertion that we would like to make is about response shape. In other words, we check if given data.x complies with the shape of the mock that was passed to the fake client during initialization.
And the last, but not least: query component should call a function that we pass as a child with the data pulled from Apollo. Altogether, the test suit looks like this:
describe('CitiesQuery component', () => {
 it('renders children with a query result', () => {
 const spy = jest.fn(() => null);
 const config = {
 context: {
 client: makeFakeClient({
 resolveWith: {
 allCities: allCitiesFixture,
 shallow({spy}, config).render();
The very last uncovered function is makeFakeClient. It is a self-written helper that generates an Apollo Client with a fake link:
import { ApolloLink, Observable } from 'apollo-link';
import ApolloClient from 'apollo-client';
function createMockLink(options) {
 return new ApolloLink(() =>
 new Observable((observer) => {
 if (! {{
 data: options.resolveWith,
 } else {
export default options => new ApolloClient({
 link: createMockLink(options).request,
 cache: new InMemoryCache(),
Where to go from here
Don't hesitate to ask questions, challenge this approach and share your ideas about Apollo and GraphQL overall. You can always find me on Twitter or Discord (kureev on _TAG_).
Oh yeah, and last but not least: if you like this or any other of my articles, don't hesitate to become a part of it! Your support is greatly appreciated!
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Kureev Alexey
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January 11, 2021
GraphQL Summit Worldwide is back!
by Julia Black


K15t News
6 Tips to Use HipChat While Still Getting Things Done
Stefan Kleineikenscheidt
Stefan Kleineikenscheidt
On April 11, 2017 about teamwork hipchat
We started using HipChat a few years ago and it has been working like a charm – no wonder chat apps like Slack and HipChat are experiencing tremendous growth. While live chat helps us keep pace in an environment of fast-moving projects and teams, it can also be a source of constant distraction: detrimental when you need to get things done. Jason Fried of Basecamp sums it up nicely: "Group chat is like being in an all-day meeting with random participants and no agenda."
I'll gladly share a few habits I've developed that help me and the K15t Software team stay focused and get things done.
 This blog post is based on a lightning talk I gave at K15t Software to share best practices about how to work with HipChat. That is why the following tips feature HipChat-specific examples. Of course, the basic principles behind these examples also apply to other chat apps.
Chatting doesn't replace talking
They may appear to be the digital equivalent to having a conversation by the water cooler, but chat apps shouldn't replace real-life discussions.
Compared to real conversations,
 - your attention isn't completely fixed on the person you are talking to
 - you spend time typing what you want to communicate, which is slower than talking
 - you don't hang around until you get a response, unless it's within a couple of seconds
 - you receive message notifications
 - it's completely realistic to follow three or four (maybe even more) conversations simultaneously
 - you can follow discussions you are not really a part of
when using HipChat. Chat communication doesn't flow: it starts and stops suddenly, is interrupted, and can be picked up again hours later. That is why chats have the potential to continuously disrupt our work and break our concentration.
In order to avoid distracting noise you need to use HipChat to send and receive quick, brief, and informal information – not to have conversations or discussions.
Sending with others in mind
Even if you use HipChat to send quick, brief, and informal information, sending always carries the risk of potentially distracting people. Perhaps you've used HipChat to quickly jot down a question and immediately sent it to a colleague instead of waiting because you wanted to make sure you don't forget – I certainly have. Or maybe colleagues have complained about receiving too many distracting messages and you thought "just ignore them until there is time to respond." In principle this is true but the following also applies:
The more information you produce, the harder it gets to identify what is relevant.
These tips can help you send only relevant information in order to keep everyone's productivity-groove going.
Tip #1: Think twice before sending
Do you really need to send that comment, opinion, or question? Is your contribution really that important, relevant, or helpful? No? Then just don't do it.
Tip #2: Choose the right audience
Think about exactly what you want to convey, and whom your message is for. This will help you choose the correct room to post your message in. Being selective helps reduce the volume of distracting messages in rooms that lots of people are monitoring. And don't shy away from creating temporary, private rooms to talk to two or three specific people – or actually speak face-to-face during your coffee break. Delivering concise messages to the right people ensures others aren't unnecessarily distracted.
At K15t Software we use three kinds of HipChat rooms that help us choose the right audience: project, service, and team rooms.
 - Team rooms allow people to exchange information that concerns their fellow team members (e.g. all teams, customer service, marketing, etc.)
 - Service rooms such as internal systems give people a place where they can request help or other services ('Internet is down, please help') from experts
 - Topic rooms are temporary and collect specific project-related information targeting involved team members.
Tip #3: Don't author content in HipChat
Chats are meant for quick, informal communication. If you find yourself writing more than four lines of copy, perhaps HipChat isn't the right channel. This is especially true if you are communicating really important information, such as product or company announcements. Chats move quickly, and as soon as messages move up the app window and out of sight, it is safe to assume people won't see them. If you are using Atlassian Confluence maybe a blog post or wiki page would be more appropriate.
Tip #4: Make room for fun
Obviously, we can't stay focused all the time and need distractions (we all love cat videos, right?) to replenish our mental energy. However, HipChat messages that are meant to distract should live in a designated room.
Receiving without breaking concentration
Remember that you are the boss and can make your chat program obey your commands (enjoy this moment of power). You control the way you receive information in your chat app, and can therefore make sure it doesn't break your concentration.
Tip #5: Don't let HipChat catch your attention
There are a couple of things you can do to minimize your chat program's attention-grabbing features.
HipChat settings that won't catch your attention
 1. Change your HipChat settings so that the notification icon only bounces once instead of until clicked.
 2. Change your profile status to 'Do not disturb' to disable all notifications.
 3. Adjust your settings so that notifications only appear when someone @- mentions you directly.
 4. Quit HipChat if you really need to batten down the hatches and get things done.
Tip #6: Leave that room if you aren't contributing
Other people's chatter is distracting, especially if it isn't relevant to you. Leave conversations (organized into rooms in HipChat) you are not continuously contributing to. (How relevant can a conversation be to you if you have nothing to say? Spying excluded (wink)).
Of course, sometimes you need to join a specific topic room to ask a question or get information. No problem, just leave the room again after you got what you came for.
Conversation example that merits leaving the room after it's done
Example of quick exchange, that doesn't require constant monitoring
It depends on how
Whether your group chat turns out to be helpful instead of getting in your way depends on how you use it. I hope the aforementioned tips will assist you in your use of live chats, but perhaps you have additional thoughts or tips? I'm looking forward to discussing with you in the comments below.
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WORLD on Campus
Search WORLD on campus
Entertainment & the Arts | November 30, 2012
By ear
Entertainment & the Arts
Music from centuries past finds a devotee in blind Gordon College violinist
Albano Berberi (Courtesy photo)
Dr. Michael Monroe watched Albano Berberi tune a harpsichord that had languished in storage until the student's arrival at Gordon College. Berberi's passion for centuries old music and the instruments that produce it intrigued the professor. And Berberi's ability to navigate the labyrinthine innards of the arcane keyboard, despite being blind, inspired him.
Born with Leber Congenital Amarosis, Berberi, 22, has been blind from birth although he has some light and general color perception. And as is often the case when one sense is incapacitated, another over compensates for the loss.
Berberi's hearing is deftly acute. And it enables him to do things most people might think impossible for someone who cannot see. He is adept at playing video games, having discovered characters' actions have corresponding audio cues. But his ability to learn music by ear goes beyond the natural talent he shares with many musicians. His professors describe his ability as "intuitive."
Berberi transferred to Gordon College in Wenham, Mass., after a difficult semester at Wheaton College in Norton, Mass., left him on academic probation at the end of 2009. Remembering Gordon's aggressive recruiting campaign, Berberi contacted the school at the end of the winter break. Five days later he was enrolled, and three days after arriving on campus, he received his audio books. His new roommate, also blind, knew the campus well and introduced Berberi to his new surroundings.
"I had a string of good luck that made me wonder if it was luck or divine intervention," Berberi said.
Berberi arrived at Gordon, an evangelical Christian college, in the spring of 2010 seeking a music performance degree. After coming to campus, Berberi "rediscovered Christianity" and now appreciates the role faith plays in campus life. It creates a sense of community he had not experienced anywhere else. Instructors, who understand music as a gift from God, encourage students to explore their musicality, finding the best way to give back to God what he has created. The artistic freedom in that ethos offered relief from the intense pressure he felt at Wheaton and has nurtured his lifelong affinity for music, Berberi said.
Although blind, Berberi has played a musical instrument longer than he can remember. When his family still lived in Albania, 6-month-old Berberi began playing the keyboard. It wasn't Mozart, but his father told him he played the notes sequentially. At 18 months, he reproduced the music demonstration tape that came with the keyboard.
When he was a year old, the family moved to Greece, where he continued playing keyboard until his kindergarten teacher decided to introduced him to another instrument. They first tried the recorder during a trip to a music conservatory. But he found it "rather boring," and the two continued their tour of the facility in search of an instrument to pique his interest. A musician taking a break from rehearsals handed the young boy his violin. The instrument, built for an adult not a 5-year-old, hardly nestled under his chin. But it proved a perfect fit.
"It can be the sweetest thing or angry," Berberi said. "It's just a very expressive instrument."
Berberi uses his musical talents to express what one professor called the "ambiguity and beauty of the art." In addition to his skills as a violinist, Berberi has a passion for the harpsichord. Gordon had three idle instruments before Berberi learned of their existence. As a result of a deal brokered with the music department, one now sits in Berberi's room in exchange for his skills in maintaining and tuning it.
The harpsichord, a precursor to the piano that rose and fell in popularity between 1450 and 1800, pairs nicely with the 200-year-old violin Berberi procured in a trade with a former professor. The antique gets its organic resonance from sheep-gut strings instead of the contemporary steel, he said.
Berberi's love of Baroque music makes sense of his appreciation for the older instruments and the sounds they produce. He reproduces that sound in the music he composes and records. One ensemble piece is a multi-track recording featuring Berberi performing all of the parts.
"If you had told me it was a piece by Haydn, I would have believed it," Monroe said recalling one of Berberi's compositions. Playing his own music as a soloist negates the necessity for a conductor, but performing with an orchestra requires direction Berberi cannot see. He depends on the rhythm of the music and the skill of violinists beside him to learn the music and anticipate the conductor's cues.
"I'm a conductor's worst nightmare because, I guess, I don't need them," he quipped.
But his goal as a musician does not depend on a conductor. Berberi hopes to share his passion for Baroque music and the instruments on which it was originally played. He dreams of creating a small ensemble to travel the world and introduce audiences to "historically informed performance."
Before he can step out onto the international stage, Berberi realizes he has some difficult lessons to learn. Following graduation in May, Berberi plans to attend a school for the blind to better prepare him for an independent life. After that, he hopes to move to one of the world's most challenging environments - New York City and The Juilliard School.
Berberi's violin instructor, Dr. Susan Kim, said he found his niche in the Baroque genre and it may be to his advantage when he applies to Juilliard. The music conservatory recently developed a post-graduate degree program in historically informed performance. As a Julliard graduate, Kim admits to having some anxiety for her student. The world-renowned school is hyper-competitive and "cut-throat."
No matter where Berberi ends up next, Kim hopes he finds a place to use his gift of music to bless others.
"I know God has a certain place in mind for him," she said.


text:
Large scale monoculture plantations are increasingly being promoted worldwide, especially but not only in the global South. These plantations are established with the objective to generate timber, pulpwood, oil or carbon sinks. Furthermore, the recent boom in agrofuels is creating greater demand for oil palm, soy, sugarcane and jathropha plantations.
Friends of the Earth International calls for a halt to the conversion of forests to large plantations. We support local communities in defending their land and territories.
new stories about tree plantations and women
Three new case studies and a video on the impacts of monoculture tree plantations on women in Nigeria, Papua New Guinea and Brazil were released on Sunday 8 March 2009, in recognition of International Women's Day. Read more.
- uruguay: we are surrounded by plantations
- To raise public awareness about the impacts of expanding export-oriented monocultures, FoE Uruguay gathers and processes data on land distribution and concentration.
- colombia: courts overturns controversial forestry law
- Combined and unfaltering efforts of the Colombian communities and organizations led to a significant legal decision acknowledging the rights of Indigenous Peoples and black communities.
- brazil: building the struggle against monocultures
- The ongoing expansion of exotic tree monocultures in the Brazilian Pampas, and the Pampas plains of Uruguay and Argentina, threatens the region's biodiversity and natural resources.

source: HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu


Student rights
Denna sida på svenska
On these pages you can read about what rights and obligations you have as a student. You can for example find information on admission, examination, exam writing and equality.
The basic regulations for higher education are set out in the Higher Education Act (SFS 1992:1434) and the Higher Education Ordinance (SFS 1993:100) which also include subsequent amendments.
The Admissions Ordinance and the general instructions are also applicable for those studying at Karolinska Institutet along with the education programmes and course plans outlined in KI's student handbook.
Appeals What decisions can be appealed and how do you do?
Accreditation regulations You may receive credit for previous education and experience.
Compulsory teaching What educational elements are mandatory and how you make up missed components.
Cost of education Education at Swedish universities is free of charge for citizens of an EU/EEA country.
Disciplinary matters Policy on cheating and how cases are handled.
Eligibility to advance to a subsequent course/term - applying for exemption How you apply for exemption from the qualification requirements.
Ethics What rules apply to projects, theses, internships etc.
Equal treatment Harassment and discrimination. What does KI do?
Examination and Grading System What rating scales are used, how exams are corrected, how many times you get to write an exam, plussing etc.
Exclusion Exclusion of students from higher education.
Interruption of studies Study break? How do you apply and how do you appeal?
On-site training The placement is done in county councils, municipalities or in the private sector.
Programmes for infectious disease control Complimentary measures, such as vaccinations, for students having clinical training and/or laboratory course elements.
Registration Rules for registration on programmes and courses.
Student influence Students' influence over their education. Who can appoint representatives?
Student ombudsman An independent body that is employed by the student unions.
Timetable, and course/programme syllabus Courses and training plans and how are schedules posted.
Union membership Compulsory student union membership is removed, but the student unions have the right to appoint representatives to the governing body.
Student rights


text:
On this day in 1776, Phi Beta Kappa was founded.
On December 5, 1776, while fellow Patriots were held captive in British occupied New York, five students at the College of William and Mary gathered to start a new fraternity - Phi Beta Kappa. They intended to follow what they considered to be definitively American principles, such as "freedom of inquiry" and "liberty of thought and expression." The Greek initials, ΦBK, actually stand for a motto that translates to "Love of learning is the guide of life."
Now PBK is the nation's oldest and most widely known academic honor society, with 280 chapters amongst the elite academic institutions in the nation. Their mission is to celebrate and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences. They have been publishing The American Scholar since 1932.
Check out the History channel's timely reflection here.


This tool allows an RT 3.x instance to integrate with a Subversion revision control system. To install the package in your RT instance, run the following commands: perl Makefile.PL make install To configure your subversion server to talk to an RT instance, you'll need to do a bit of setup. In your RT::SiteConfig, set up the following variables: Set($PathToSvn, '/usr/bin/svn'); # or wherever your svn(1) binary lives Set($SvnRepository, ''); # or Set($SvnRepository,'svn://'); You also need to add a "post-commit" hook to your svn repository so that it knows how to talk to RT. Basically, it does a simple HTTP "GET" request to tell RT to query the svn server for an update. We use this provoked poll method so that RT doesn't need to trust arbitrary incoming pings. RT is careful to only apply each commit once. Create a _privileged_ RT user for the svn integration to use. It doesn't matter if that user has no specific rights; they just need to be able to log into RT's web interface. Add the following line (assuming you use curl) to your repository's hooks/post-commit script: curl "$REV" & To tell RT which ticket a commit is associated with, put an RT-Ticket: line in your commit message. if there's no RT-Ticket: line, rt will ignore the commit message. If you put "rtname#" before the ticket id, RT instances whose rtnames don't match what you've put in will act as if they haven't seen a ticket id. This can be useful if you use svk to move subversion commits between repositories and want to track commit history across multiple RT instances. The other recognized commands are RT-Status and RT-Update. RT-Action is an alias for RT-Update, if preferred. Commands are case-insensitive and may occur in any order, at any point in the commit message. A couple simple examples: =====cut here====== RT-Ticket: RT-Ticket: RT-Ticket: RT-Status: resolved RT-Update: comment This is a simple comment. ======cut here======= OR ======cut here======= RT-Ticket: 123 RT-Status: open RT-Update: correspond We've commmited a fix to your problem. Is it fixed in -HEAD? ======cut here=======


Tattoo Survey Results – What Do People Think?
0 10
In a survey done a few years back in the U.S., about 16% of respondents have at least one tattoo. That is about 1 in 6 people or 40 million Americans, and the popularity among both sexes are about the same.
Of all the respondents with tattoos, more females (42%) felt that having a tattoo made them feel sexier versus males (25%). The differences in thought between the female and male are to be expected since traditionally the females are more inclined to accessorize (i.e. makeup and lingerie) to be attractive. About a third (29%) felt the tattoos made them more rebellious and the same percentage for handling attractive. As expected, not many people (around 5%) felt their tattoos made them more intelligent or healthy or athletic.
Of those respondents who do not have tattoos, 42% felt that people with tattoos are less attractive, and 36% thought it made those with a tattoo less sexy. About a third (31%) thought people with a tattoo would be less intelligent, and 57% thought it made the person more rebellious. My take on this is that it depends on the tattoo design; some tattoos are tastefully done and are works of art.
One interesting difference between the tattoo haves and have-nots is the notion of rebelliousness (29% vs 57%). The percentage gap likely will slowly close as people change their perception of tattoos, and the art gets more accepted as a form of self-expression without the negative connotations.
Only 17% who had a tattoo regret their decision. The main reasons are that they had a named tattoo, do not like the design they picked, the design tends to fade over time, the decision to get a tattoo was stupid, it was more visible than what they envisioned, and they had trouble getting jobs.
In summary, ensure that you do some thorough research before making a tattoo design decision. You can find great tattoo ideas and designs on the internet. Keep in mind that your decision can impact your social life, career, and ultimately your self-image.
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text:
The Finnish Ministry of Social Affairs and Health supports the welfare of people in Finland via social and health services and by ensuring income security.
In addition, the MSAH promotes people's health and welfare by:
- increasing and maintaining their social welfare, security and participation in society, and by reducing poverty and social exclusion.
- using health promotion to support health and functional capacity by encouraging healthy lifestyles, reducing substance use, preventing disease and reducing health gaps.
prevention work to promote an understanding of
preventive initiatives, identify diseases and social problems as
early as possible and instigate support measures in response, and
to prevent harm from substance use.
- safeguarding a healthy living environment and safe work environment occupational safety and health.
Municipalities' key responsibility in welfare promotion
Welfare promotion requires diverse cooperation within municipalities and groups of municipalities, and with the state, church parishes, NGOs and the private sector.
Social and health care in Finland is planned as a collaborative entity. Using systematic follow-up measures and national data systems, preventive activity and early intervention can be correctly targeted.


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Table Topic Topics
Theme or Speech Ideas
Now and then a subject pops up which makes me think, hey, that would make a great classroom discussion, Toastmaster's or Rotary speech or theme for Table Topic sessions.
The Importance of:
- Why Silence is the Think Tank of the Soul
- Remarkable things about Silence
- Silence Important to the Brain
- When your life is in crisis where do you find funny?
- What is your funniest failure that you can only laugh about now…
- What was your worst comedic missteps or misunderstanding of significance that left egg on your face.
#3 Life…do we really die?
"Energy cannot be created or destroyed, it can only be changed from one form to another." Albert Einstein
#4 Pros and Cons of Controversial Issues
- Pro and Cons Lists of Controversial Topics with pro and con comments
- Wikipedia list of controversial subjects
- Wicked Issues – Or Why We're Constantly Embroiled in Controversy
How to Lie with Statistics


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I am always being asked where the defrost timer is located on a refrigerator. Unfortunately the location varies depending on the manufacturer and model. Some are located in the rear near the compressor. Others are behind the louvered kick-plate in the front. Some are in the fresh-food section near the cold control. To make finding them more challenging they are usually covered except for a hole that allows them to be manually advanced. On the refrigerator that I use the timer is in the fresh-food section beside the cold-control. The only indication is the hole that permits a large flat blade screwdriver to be used to advance the timer.
Fig 1 Typical Defrost Timer
In a typical defrost circuit 120 volts is passed to the timer from the cold-control when it calls for cooling. The voltage energizes a clock circuit. If the defrost timer is in the defrost position, voltage is sent to the defrost heater circuit. If the timer is not in defrost, voltage is passed to the compressor starting-circuit and fans.
Fig 2 Typical defrost circuit (defrost cycle)
Some defrost circuits power the clock with line-voltage (bypassing the cold-control). This arrangement initiates a defrost cycle at set intervals of time regardless of how often the compressor has run. In the circuit above the clock runs only when the cold-control is made so it initiates a defrost cycle based on accumulated compressor run-time. With the defrost timer in the defrost position current goes to the defrost heater. The thermostat in the circuit (also called a termination thermostat) opens to turn off the defrost heater when the temperature in the freezer reaches its design temperature. This is usually around 50 to 55 degrees. This keeps the freezer compartment from getting too hot before the defrost timer switches back to the compressor run position. If the thermostat fails in the open position no current can flow through the defrost circuit even though the defrost timer and defrost heater are good. In this case the evaporator will frost up and eventually the freezer and fresh-food compartment temperatures will rise. The same symptoms will occur if the clock in the defrost timer fails and never switches to a defrost cycle or if the defrost heater fails.
Fig 3 Typical defrost circuit (in compressor run position)
Normally the termination thermostat will turn off the defrost heater before the defrost timer times out and switches the defrost heater out of the circuit. When the timer times out the defrost timer opens the heater circuit and closes the contacts to send power to the compressor and fans. The defrost timer stays in this position until the accumulated time to switch back to defrost cycle.


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WHOI Presents Its Highest Honor to Physicist William Jenkins
The twelfth Henry Bryant Bigelow Award in Oceanography, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution's (WHOI) highest honor, was presented January 31 to a member of the Institution's own scientific staff. Senior Scientist William J. Jenkins of the Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry Department, a physicist, was honored for his "outstanding contributions to the development of the tritium-helium dating technique and its application to problems in ocean physics, biology and geochemistry, as well as his exceptional character and selfless dedication to the advance of science at WHOI."
The Bigelow Award is presented "to those who make significant inquiries into the phenomena of the sea." The award was established in 1960 by the Institution's Board of Trustees in honor of the first Director, biologist Henry Bryant Bigelow, who was also the first recipient. Bigelow served as WHOI Director from 1930 to 1940, as President of the Corporation from 1940 to 1950, and Chairman of the Board of Trustees from 1950 to 1960. The award, a medal and cash prize, is given to individuals in any field of oceanography without limitation as to age or nationality and is presented for an outstanding contribution to oceanography rather than a cumulative record of achievement. Nominations for the award were received from prominent scientists around the world.
Jenkins, a resident of Falmouth, joined the Institution's staff as an assistant scientist in 1974 shortly after graduation from McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada, where he received his undergraduate and graduate degrees in physics. His doctoral thesis was entitled "Helium Isotope and Rare Gas Oceanology." Jenkins was promoted to an associate scientist at WHOI in 1978 and to a senior scientist in 1984.
While a graduate student at McMaster University, Jenkins developed with Dr. Brian Clarke techniques for mass spectrometric measurement of helium isotopes in seawater. Since that time, he has applied these techniques to a wide variety of geochemical problems, including ocean mixing studies and global climate change. He has pioneered the concept of dating oceanic water masses based on the concentration of the hydrogen isotope tritium, with a half-life of 12.5 years, and its decay product, Helium-3, a stable isotope. By measuring the relative concentration of these species, it is possible to determine the time that has elapsed since the ocean water masses were in contact with the atmosphere. Because of such measurements, made on water samples taken periodically at several depths over large areas of the global seas, physical oceanographers now have a much better understanding of oceanic circulation and mixing processes.
"Bill Jenkins's contribution of the development of the tritium-helium 3 dating method and its application to oceanography alone would be worthy of this award, if the criteria were restricted to a single contribution," the award committee wrote. "However, his research is remarkable because it has had major impacts on many different fields, including physical oceanography, biological oceanography and geochemistry. Bill Jenkins is one of those rare people who make superb measurements and can also place the data into sound, quantitative models, which has allowed him to straddle these diverse fields in a unique way. There are very few scientists who have achieved as much impact and recognition among so many different scientific communities."
Jenkins received the University of MiamiÕs Rosenstiel Award in Oceanographic Science in 1983 for his contributions to the measurement of time scales of ocean processes and for the insights he has provided to oceanic circulation and seafloor formation. He is a member of the American Geophysical Union, which elected him a Fellow in 1991, and serves on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Marine Research. In 1987 he was selected as the first recipient of WHOI's W. Van Alan Clark Chair for Excellence in Oceanography, named for a long-time Institution benefactor and supporter W. Van Alan Clark. He held the rotating chair until 1992.
Previous recipients of the Bigelow Award include British Oceanographer John Swallow (1962), Geologist and Seafloor Cartographer Bruce Heezen (1964), Physical Oceanographer and former WHOI Director Columbus Iselin (1966), Professor Frederick Vine (1970),WHOI Physical Oceanographer Henry Stommel (1974), Wolfgang Berger of the University of California at San Diego (1979), WHOI Microbiologist Holger Jannasch (1980), Geologist Arnold Gordon of Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University (1984), Physical Oceanographer Hans Rossby of the University of Rhode Island and Falmouth businessman and former WHOI engineer Douglas Webb (1988). The award was last presented in November 1992 to Biologists Alice Alldredge of the University of California at Santa Barbara and Mary Wilcox Silver, an Adjunct Senior Scientist at Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in California
For additional information, contact: Shelley Lauzon, Senior News Officer Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA, 0254 _PHONE_ FAX: _PHONE_ _EMAIL_


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JaDoX is a standalone digital document management system, which also serves as the digital library module of Qulto. JaDoX is an efficient and comprehensive help for processing, storage, display and search of digitized documents. In functionality it fully complies with the requirements for a digital library.
Components and technology
The software consists of az open source, independent and free database system (PostgreSQL, RDBMS) and platform-independent JAVA applications. These applications are the JaDoX server and the fully configurable web interface (JSP, Tomcat/Jetspeed portal framework).
In the following list we marked the tasks the software can support with an?
OCR (Recognita, Fine Reader)
Proof editing √
Publication (search, browsing, connection to toher systems) √
Proofing can be done in any word processing program, or later in the JaDoX editor form. At „Docment upload" the digitized documents can be imported in two ways: one by one, or in ZIP archive (bulk import based on nomenclature).
From the viewpoint of the other component the storage is the JaDoX server, which places the metadata in a relational database. For this purpose we use a DTD-independent relational data model. Moreover the XML is also stored (for application independent use and for better speed).
Publication ion the web is automatical. The interface of JaDoX consists of JSP pages, the documents are displayed after the following transformation:
The web interface can be used for searching (truncated or full), browsing while displaying metadata and table of contents. Various rules can be defined for different document types (e.g.: article-based in the case of periodicals or page-based in the case of books), texts, images, or PDF can be offered for downloading (the list of types is also extensible).


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|Year : 2019 | Volume
| Issue : 1 | Page : 1-2
Michael Glasser1, Danette McKinley2, Maaike FlinkenflÖgel3
1 University of Illinois, Rockford, Illinois, USA
2 Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
3 Royal Tropical Institute, Amsterdam, Netherlands
|Date of Web Publication||6-Sep-2019|
University of Illinois, Rockford, Illinois
Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None
|How to cite this article:|
Glasser M, McKinley D, FlinkenflÖgel M. Co-editors' notes. Educ Health 2019;32:1-2
This issue of Education for Health highlights a diverse array of topics in medical and health professions education, including emotional intelligence (EI), reflection and peer feedback, a program focused on student success, medical student well-being and lifelong learning, continuity in resident clinic patient management, trauma care in the curriculum of medical and nursing students, and report of a Masters of Health Professions Education (MHPE) program. We are pleased to begin our year-long celebration of the 40th anniversary of The Network: Towards Unity for Health (TUFH) with two invited articles. As usual, we are publishing papers from across the globe. Notably, in this issue, are submissions from Central and South America, including Brazil and Mexico.
The Medical Council of India envisages producing an "Indian medical graduate" competent to perform roles of clinician, professional, leader, communicator, and a lifelong learner. In this context, Raut and Gupta – "Reflection and peer feedback for augmenting EI among undergraduate students: A quasi-experimental study from a rural medical college in central India" – conducted work with the objectives of assessing the effect of reflection and peer feedback on EI scores of undergraduate students and examining possible facilitating and hindering factors for augmenting EI. The researchers conclude that if teachers take efforts to emphasize the importance of soft skills and are able to train their undergraduate students in personal introspection methods such as reflection or peer feedback; this can help students to improve their emotional competence. In this way, future doctors will be better equipped as professionally competent physicians with good doctor–patient relationships and increased job satisfaction.
In "Seeking a stable foundation to build on:First-year resident views of high-value care (HVC) teaching," Perez et al. state that a key objective of residency training is learning to customize recommendations for each patient. Increasingly, residents are being asked to optimize their recommendations not only based on the patient outcomes but also on prioritizing choices viewed as "high value." The researchers further state that understanding resident perceptions of HVC teaching and practice is necessary to inform educational interventions and to promote learning of HVC. However, few studies have described learners' perceptions of HVC teaching. To address this, Perez et al. conducted in-person and online focus groups with the intent of providing 1st year internal medicine residents a forum to reflect on their practice of HVC and to understand resident experiences with HVC teaching during residency training.
From residents' feedback, three major needs were identified: (1) residents expressed a need for a more constant and generalizable framework for HVC to enable them to systematically approach each case; (2) residents' comments highlighted the need for objective real-time data on costs, benefits, and harms of medical interventions; and (3) residents' comments support the need for a more standardized approach to assess resident competency in HVC and for more consistent expectations from attending physicians regarding HVC practice.
In "Educational experiences in a Master of Health Professions Education program of the National Autonomous University of Mexico: A qualitative study," Mendiola et al. argue that there is a need for more published information regarding the educational experience of participants in MHPE programs, particularly in developing countries. The authors provide a detailed description of and explore the teaching and learning experiences of graduates, current students, and teachers of their MHPE program for quality improvement of the program. Overall, this analysis provides a qualitative view of an MHPE program through the eyes of several groups of stakeholders, showing both strengths and areas of opportunity. The authors conclude that the health professions education scholarly community needs to evaluate its graduate programs, ideally in a coordinated and academically rigorous manner, and share the resulting information with peers, universities, and health-care organizations. Otherwise, institutions will not reach the required level of social accountability that is implicit in their missions.
Babenko et al. – "Medical student well-being and lifelong learning: A motivational perspective" – draw on three established theories of motivation (self-determination theory; self-theories of ability; and achievement goal theory) with the study aim of determining how these motivational constructs related to stress, exhaustion, and lifelong learning in medical students. The authors state that understanding the mechanisms and pathways to desirable and undesirable outcomes in medical students is an integral piece for creating learning environments that will serve the students well. Babenko et al. found that in medical students, unmet psychological needs, and a fixed mindset were associated with maladaptive cognitions (i.e., the pursuit of avoidance goals) and psychological distress (i.e., high stress and exhaustion). In contrast, psychological need satisfaction and a growth mindset appeared to have distinct pathways to beneficial cognitions (i.e., mastery approach goals) and lifelong learning in medical students. The authors conclude that students with a growth mindset and fulfilled psychological needs were more likely to endorse mastery approach goals and engage in lifelong learning practices in their program.
In a brief communication, "Digital professional identity (DPI): Dear internet! Can you please help," Jawed et al. discuss a significant way to form professional identity that is through online social networking, which has been labeled as DPI, where DPI is defined as "professional identity that develops through internet-based social interactions by utilizing online platforms and communication tools."
The authors suggest that there should be institutional guidance for medical students regarding the use of social networking sites and forming their DPIs as a medical professional by explaining related advantages and disadvantages. In addition, they suggest that accreditation bodies need to incorporate the component of DPI into their competencies for professionalism.
Carneiro et al., in a Letter to the Editor – "Report of a collective construction of new educational tool for preventing hypertension in pregnancy" – conducted a quantitative and qualitative study in primary healthcare units in the city of Fortaleza, in the Northeast of Brazil to assess the opinions of professionals from the family health team (68 nurses and 22 physicians) about implementing an educational tool for preventing hypertension in pregnancy. Contributions from the family health team enabled the construction of the final version of the patients' educational tool for preventing hypertension in pregnancy. There was consensus regarding the general structure of the tool, feasibility, and applicability; and they advised the implementation of this tool as quickly as possible in clinical practice.
In an invited paper from The Network: TUFH, we describe the 40-year history of The Network: TUFH. This is an important celebration of the "Network of Networks" as this organization continues to focus on global health issues and develops strategies and policies to address healthcare needs locally and worldwide. In addition to providing a history of the organization, the relationship between The Network: TUFH and Education for Health are summarized in the article and reflects our shared interest in providing international health professionals and workers with fresh ideas and innovative models of education and health services delivery to help meet the healthcare needs of their communities.
Next, a consensus paper titled "Accrediting excellence for a medical school's impact on population health," Charles Boelen, Danielle Blouin, Trevor Gibbs, and Robert Woollard provide a scholarly review of the past and current thinking about social accountability with thoughts about the future. Their work summarizes the views of 57 signatories from 27 countries and 10 organizations who are working and conducting research in this area. This article provides us with an agenda for the next 40 years.
We hope this issue provides information that is new to you and provides a stimulus for you and your organization to work as part of The Network: TUFH.


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Estimating Causal Effects of Early Occupational Choice on Later Health: Evidence Using the PSID
NBER Working Paper No. 15256
In this paper, we provide some of the first empirical evidence of whether early occupational choices are associated with lasting effects on health status, affecting individuals as they age. We take advantage of data on occupational histories available in the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) to examine this issue. To the PSID data, we merge historical Census data that reflect the labor market conditions when each individual in the PSID made his first occupational choice. These data on labor market conditions (e.g. state-level share of blue collar workers) allow us to instrument for occupational choice in order to alleviate endogeneity bias. We use parental occupation as additional instruments. Since our instruments may have indirect effects on later health, we also control for respondent's pre-labor market health, education and several family and state background characteristics in order to make the instruments more plausibly excludable. We find substantial evidence that a blue collar occupation at labor force entry is associated with decrements to later health status, ceteris paribus. These health effects are larger after controlling for endogeneity and are similar across sets of instruments. We also find differences in the effects of occupation by gender, race, and age.
Document Object Identifier (DOI): 10.3386/w15256
Users who downloaded this paper also downloaded* these:


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A museum display of rare opium pipes decorated with cloisonne, a type of enamel. From a special exhibition at Holland's Kunsthal Rotterdam that was on display in 2007.
A museum display of opium pipes adorned with tortoise shell. From a special exhibition at Holland's Kunsthal Rotterdam that was on display in 2007.
This pipe-stem was made from segments of ox horn carved to resemble a stem of bamboo. The pipe-stem has been fitted with a cloisonne saddle and topped with a octagonal ceramic pipe-bowl.
This bamboo pipe with a relatively simple silver saddle is crowned by a whimsical ceramic pipe-bowl shaped like a crab.
The vast majority of opium pipes featured a pipe-stem fashioned from a length of bamboo. This photo shows detail of the metal fitting known as a "saddle" by which the pipe-bowl was attached to the pipe-stem.
A rare opium pipe with a stem made from porcelain. There are only a handful of these pipes that survived the anti-opium eradication campaigns.
A rare opium pipe adorned with Canton enamel. Within the enamel-covered copper sheath is a peeled stem of bamboo. The endpieces are white jade, and the hexagonal pipe-bowl is ceramic.
A close-up of an opium pipe on a mother-of-pearl layout tray.
Many types of Asian pipes are mistaken for opium pipes, but there is only true opium pipe: one that was designed to vaporize the drug, not burn it. This was achieved by the means of a highly specialized pipe-bowl. The bowl, which actually looks nothing like a traditional bowl but rather like a door knob, was attached to a long stem by means of a metal fitting, referred to in English as a "saddle". The length of an opium pipe varied from approximately 15 inches (40cm) to about 22 inches (56cm). The most common material from which pipe stems were made was bamboo, but Chinese artisans experimented with myriad substitutes, including ivory, jade, horn, porcelain, as well as enamels such as cloisonne. The result was often a striking work of art.
From: The Art of Opium Antiques...now available at Amazon.com


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In East End Road facing Squires Lane stands the mansion known as the
Finchley Manor House. The grandson of Sir Thomas Allen built the stately
house in 1723.
The Allen family had held the manor for about a century before the
Georgian house was erected. It then remained in their possession until the
early 19th century. After 1830 the buildings were used as a Catholic
School. They now form part of the Sternberg Educational and Cultural
To the rear of the property can be seen the remains of a moat. This was
part of the earlier manor of Bibsworth. This manor is thought to have been
the residence of Michael Tovey, who was Mayor of London from 1247-8. By
1418 the manor had passed to Edward Bibsworth from whom it obtained its
name. It was the largest manor in the parish and included fishponds that
can still be seen on the north side of East End Road.
Search the London archaeological Archive and Research Centre catalogues


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Some of South Mississippi's tiniest creatures are getting a lot of help surviving in the wild. Sixth graders at one Pascagoula school are working on a project to monitor and protect a bayou that's right in their own backyard.
Just a few blocks from Trent Lott Academy is Grant Bayou, a vital habitat for baby shrimp, crabs, and fish.
"This is the nursery of the world. This is where our food starts. This is probably the most important wetlands ecosystem that there is," said Michael Henderson, Mississippi Power Maintenance Specialist.
Twice a year, the sixth graders at the school walk over to the bayou to track the health of the fragile watershed.
"This is our backyard. I don't want a dump in my backyard. The only way it's going to be cleaned up, the only way it's going to be maintained in a good healthy way, is if we do it," said Henderson.
With guidance from environmental and compliance specialists at Mississippi Power, the students waded in the water to collect samples. They measured the water's pH and dissolved oxygen levels. They also tested to see if the water was clear and recorded its temperature.
"This is actually good useful data, and it teaches them the basics of the importance of math, science, and environmental stewardship," said Henderson.
The school has been keeping a close watch over Grant Bayou since 2002.
"To help save the fish and keep them alive," said sixth grader Anna Barlow.
"For the environment and help the world be clean," said sixth grader Geo Garnica.
Some students have taken a personal role in this project.
"I usually come out here and help clean up this area back here, because there's a bunch of debris. And I like to feed the fish and the pelicans," said sixth grader Aston Smith.
They are learning early to take responsibility in protecting their backyard bayou.
"This is a healthy water system. It may not be the prettiest in the world, but it is healthy. Our monitoring will help us make sure that it stays that way," said Henderson.
The project is part of "World Water Monitoring Day". The data collected will be entered into a national database. The students will use the information to track any changes to the bayou's health over the years.
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I started a business more than a decade ago based on 'giving people good-times.' Since then I have researched and read many books about happiness, well-being and what it is to be human. In essence I have been seeking the answer to the question 'What is it that drives us?'
I have learned the definitions of pleasure, contentment and joy and in so doing I have discovered that the word pleasure and desire are often hijacked by a seedier conversation.
In this pursuit I was delighted to come across 'What Makes Us Tick: The 10 Desires That Drive Us' by Australia's leading social researcher, Hugh Mackay.
We ask so many questions of ourselves: Why do we work? Why do some people work jobs they don't like? Why do others work when they don't need the money (lucky them!)? Why are people scared to retire, afraid of not working? [read]


Adaptive Learning for Career Development
Help your employees build a successful career in your organization. Career development options can retain employees, increase productivity, and ultimately improve business results. Schoox's Career Development module gives your employees a view into their skill strength and helps suggest complete personalized learning paths that they can follow to acquire the required skills and knowledge for any desired job.
Personalized Course Suggestions
 - Admins can define which factors the system should consider when suggesting personalized courses to employees to improve their skills strength for their job
 - Employees can see a personalized list of suggested courses ranked by the "Impact Factor" they have on their skill strength improvement
 - Impact Factor is the result of an algorithm that takes into consideration many factors like the employee's job, their skills performance and skills strength, the importance of a course for the employee's job, and more
Adaptive Learning Path Suggestions
 - Choose which employees in which roles have access to explore career journeys and specific learning paths to help them take the right set of courses
 - Customize the sequence of courses in the personalized learning path so that employees are set up for success
 - Let your employees follow dynamically updated personalized learning paths based on their progress to acquire the required skill sets for their desired job
Track Progress on Chosen Career Journeys
 - Track which learning paths your employees are completing and what their progress is in improving their skills
 - Conduct additional assessments based on their progress to help them reach the required skills strength for their dream job


States. Ratification of the IGA is expected before the end of 2012, with domestic implementing legislation following. Officials expect the IGA to become effective before mid-2013.
In the UK, HMRC have said that the UK-US IGA sets out a framework within which:
 - legal barriers to compliance, such as those related to data protection, have been addressed
 - withholding tax will not be imposed on income received by UK financial institutions
 - UK financial institutions will not be required to withhold tax on payments they make
 - due diligence requirements are more closely aligned to the requirements under the existing anti-money laundering rules
 - a significant range of institutions and products are effectively exempt from the FATCA requirements.
Some relief for insurers
Although earlier hopes that insurers – at least non-life insurers – might be exempted entirely from FATCA have not been fulfilled, the IGA, including the exemptions in Annex II, does bring some significant relief:
 - 'custodial accounts' expressly do not include insurance or annuity contracts
 - 'cash value insurance contracts' are expressly defined to exclude indemnity reinsurance
 - reportable cash value insurance contracts are subject to a 50,000 US dollar (USD) de minimis threshold
 - all 'Registered Pension Schemes' are exempt financial accounts
 - tax-favored savings products such as Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs) and Child Trust Funds are exempt products
 - certain other pension arrangements may also be exempt financial accounts, although there are conditions that have to be met.
Uncertainty remains, however, regarding the exemption of products such as certain pension income paying contracts from the definition of a Financial Account, which could hinge on whether such contracts are 'authorized payments'. The guidance is eagerly anticipated.
One of the major original concerns raised by insurers was the likely difficulty of collecting the required information from pre-existing accounts. The position has been eased significantly: back book due diligence should now only be required for 'Financial Accounts' held by individuals where balances exceed $250,000 on which no reporting is done to HMRC, for example under the qualifying policy or chargeable events regime. The effect of this is that due diligence on preexisting accounts should be focused on overseas life assurance business. For 'Financial Accounts' held by entities, reliance can be placed on the 'know-your-customer' and anti-money laundering procedures.
Annex II also exempts 'local financial institutions', that is, institutions located solely within the UK that serve a local customer base. A number of conditions need to be met to be able to take advantage of this exemption:
 - the institution must be located solely in the UK
 - be regulated in the UK
 - be required to report information or withhold tax on accounts held by UK residents
 - ninety-eight percent of accounts must be held by residents of the UK or another member state of the EU
 - accounts must not be provided to US persons (who are not UK residents) or any entity which has beneficial owners who are US persons (who are not UK residents), and all related entities must meet the same requirements.
To demonstrate compliance, local financial institutions need to implement procedures by 1 January 2014 to identify any new customers that breach these provisions and complete appropriate due diligence investigation of pre-existing accounts.
Despite these developments, which go a significant way towards resolving the FATCA issues raised by the industry and by insurers especially, major uncertainties still remain. In particular, Annex II of each IGA will be specific to the US government partner in question. Any institution with operations more extensive than that of a 'local financial institution' is likely to face inconsistent, and potentially conflicting requirements for information gathering and reporting in different jurisdictions. Many multinational groups will have operations in countries both with and without IGAs, creating major challenges in developing a compliance framework.
A further complication for multinational groups is that there are two models of IGA and one of those has two variations. Helpfully, a recent announcement by the IRS has almost wholly aligned the timelines for entities in IGA countries, non-IGA countries and the US. The opportunity for consistency in core definitions, however, will have to wait until the final regulations are released later this year.
For UK companies specifically, uncertainties remain over the interpretation of a number of technical and definitional details; although the consultation period for the current draft closes at the end of November, it is unlikely that all outstanding issues will be resolved by the January 2013 implementation date. Similar -- but different -- inconsistencies and uncertainties can be expected in each IGA negotiated by the US government.
Despite the uncertainties, time is short, notwithstanding the recent announcement. The priorities of affected institutions now should be to review and catalogue legal entity organization, insurance products, and all on-boarding procedures (including those of distributors) to prepare the organization to act as the rule become more settled. Notwithstanding the concessions made under the IGA approach, FATCA is still going to represent a significant burden.
For further information, please contact:
Craig Pichette
KPMG in the US
Tel: _PHONE_
Jean Baxley
Senior Manager
KPMG in the US
Tel: _PHONE_
Jennifer Sponzilli
KPMG in the UK
Tel: +44 20 7311 1878
Jeanette Cook
Senior Manager
KPMG in the UK
Tel: +44 11 7905 4277
1frontiers in tax, November 2011 and February 2012 editions,
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DRIPA 2014—what are the most noteworthy changes?
DRIPA 2014—what are the most noteworthy changes?
How far does the controversial new Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act 2014 go? Graham Smith , partner at Bird & Bird LLP and expert in internet law considers the new provisions and changes to the existing law.
What is the context of DRIPA 2014 and what does it seek to achieve?
The immediate spur for the legislation was the decision of the EU Court of Justice (CJEU) decision on 8 April 2014 in the Digital Rights Ireland case (Digital Rights Ireland Ltd v Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources C-293/12, [2014] All ER (D) 66 (Apr)), invalidating the EU Data Retention Directive 2006/24/EC (the Directive) on grounds of non-compliance with the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and Liberties. The Directive was implemented in the UK by the Data Retention (EC Directive) Regulations 2009, SI 2009/859 (the Regulations). As secondary legislation under the European Communities Act 1972 those regulations were vulnerable to judicial review. The government decided to replace them with new primary legislation. It also took the opportunity to make amendments to RIPA 2000. It pushed both through Parliament as emergency legislation, going from first reading to Royal Assent in the space of four days. DRIPA 2014 is subject to a sunset clause, repealing it at the end of 2016.
How successful do you think DRIPA 2014 will be in achieving its aims?
The government has succeeded in obtaining new primary legislation. If the aim was to put an end to litigation challenges, that has not succeeded. Liberty has announced that MPs David Davis and Tom Watson will launch a judicial review challenging the data retention aspect of DRIPA 2014.
How effectively does DRIPA 2014 address the CJEU's specific grounds for invalidating the Directive?
The legislation does not purport to address fully every separate ground identified by the CJEU. Various documents issued by the government claim only to address the CJEU judgment 'where possible' and 'to the extent practicable', or to address 'elements' of the judgment. The impact assessment also acknowledges the 'risk of being perceived as ignoring the CJEU judgment'. To address every separate point in the CJEU judgment would have meant abandoning blanket mandatory data retention, which the government has stated that it will not do. There will no doubt be dispute about whether the objections listed in the CJEU judgment should be read to some extent cumulatively or as a list of self-standing separate objections, any one of which is sufficient to found non-compliance with the EU Charter.
Will there be any change in the current retention period requirements?
The fixed 12 months is replaced by a maximum 12 months. It is for the Secretary of State to consider necessity and proportionality and decide what periods of 12 months or less to specify in notices to operators.
What is the impact of DRIPA 2014 on the provisions in the RIPA 2000 dealing with interception warrants, interception capability and communications data access?
The supplemented definition of telecommunications services appears to be capable of being interpreted more broadly than the previous definition. It applies to RIPA 2000 generally. DRIPA 2014 also applies the supplemented RIPA 2000 definition to the data retention aspects, in substitution for the Communications Act 2003 definition previously used in the Regulations.
What impact will the provisions of DRIPA 2014 have on extra-territoriality under RIPA 2000 or other relevant legislation and how will this be applied in practice?
DRIPA 2014 makes three amendments—according to the government 'clarifications'—to the existing provisions concerning interception capability notices, interception warrants and communications data acquisition notices. These amendments are designed to ensure that non-UK providers are within the scope of these provisions.
The amendments state in terms that the notice or warrant may relate to conduct outside the UK. They state that the duty on a person to assist or comply with warrants or notices applies whether or not the person is in the UK. And, they provide three different schemes for serving warrants or notices within the UK on operators located outside the UK, graduated according to (presumably) the perceived intrusiveness of the warrant or notice. They also provide that, when considering under RIPA the reasonable practicability of a person outside the UK taking steps in a country outside the UK to give effect to a warrant, regard is to be had to any relevant requirements or restrictions under the law of that country and the extent to which it is reasonably practicable to give effect to the warrant without breaching them. DRIPA 2014 provides no specific mechanism for giving data retention notices (as opposed to interception capability notices, interception warrants and communications data acquisition notices) to operators located outside the UK.
Was the whole process sufficiently transparent?
The use of the emergency procedure was widely criticised, since the CJEU decision had been issued at the beginning of April and the circumstances that lent urgency to the RIPA 2000 amendments were opaque. The compressed timetable let to various supporting materials becoming available only at the last minute or during the expedited passage of the Bill.
Does DRIPA 2014 go further than just restating the law?
This is a contentious area. A number of UK academics certainly think that it does—see the open letter signed by 15 academics which describes the government's position that DRIP does not contain new powers as 'false' (_URL_
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Researchers look beyond 20/20 vision with 3D-printed eyes
3d printed bionic eyeball eyes
More often than not, the discussion around 3D printing human body parts revolves around internal organs, as the lists of people awaiting transplants from worthy donors is always shockingly long. However, one company, MHOX, has been working on a conceptual design for an advanced bio-printed eyeball, which would allow people to see again if struck with disease or trauma and may even give them a chance to see better than any human in history.
The eyeball concept actually comes in three different flavours. The first would provide the same functionality as our eyes do now and would be the economical version of the trio. The second, slightly more advanced iteration, could provide more advanced focusing capabilities, giving those fitted with the new eye 15/10 vision.
Related: What is 3D printing? A beginner's guide to the desktop factory
The third version would also be WiFi capable and would have the ability to record what you're seeing and automatically upload it. To activate some of these functions however, the wearer would need to swallow a pill containing certain enzymes which would then trigger WiFi connectivity or photo mode for a certain period of time, according to Dezeen.
Regardless of which version you used however, MHOX sees the process of 'implantation as largely the same. Each would involve the removal of the original eyeball, and a piece of organic hardware known as 'the deck' would be installed, acting as an interface between the optic nerve and the new eye. The eyeball itself would be printed using what researchers descibe as "bio-ink," of several different types, each containing different cells. Those cells could then be printed out in various configurations depending on which eye is being made.
Speaking about the feasibility of such technology, MHOX partner and lead designer Filippo Nassetti said: "This project is a concept design based on an intuitive vision of how existing technologies might evolve. We forecast that bioprinting and biohacking would have made impressive advances by 2027."
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Monte Carlo Simulation of Line-of-Sight Distance Measurements
This Monte Carlo simulation of line-of-sight distance measurement is based on the small angle formula (SAF), which has two arguments: (1) measured width of a reference object, and (2) measured angular diameter of the reference object from the standpoint of the observer. In this example, the reference object is 5 feet in diameter; its measurement errors are normally distributed with a mean of 5 feet and 0.95 quantile of feet. The angular diameter of the reference object from the observer's standpoint is ; its measurement errors are triangularly distributed with limits of. One hundred pseudorandom argument sets based on those distributions are mapped to the SAF and scatter-plotted using their 0.9 ellipsoid quantile against a set of SAF results. The correlation plots indicate that these results are loosely correlated with the measured reference object width and highly correlated with the measured angular diameter.


Family Objects for Models
Family objects provide a convenient way to specify the details of the models used by functions such as glm. See the documentation for glm for the details on how such model fitting takes place.
family(object,...)
binomial(link = "logit") gaussian(link = "identity") Gamma(link = "inverse") inverse.gaussian(link = "1/mu^2") poisson(link = "log") quasi(link = "identity", variance = "constant") quasibinomial(link = "logit") quasipoisson(link = "log")
a specification for the model link function. This can be a name/expression, a literal character string, a length-one character vector or an object of class "link-glm" (such as generated by provided it is not specified via one of the standard names given next.
The gaussian family accepts the links (as names) identity, log and inverse; the binomial family the links logit, probit, cauchit, (corresponding to logistic, normal and Cauchy CDFs respectively) log and cloglog (complementary log-log); the Gamma family the links inverse, identity and log; the poisson family the links log, identity, and sqrt and the inverse.gaussian family the links 1/mu^2, inverse, identity and log.
The quasi family accepts the links logit, probit, cloglog, identity, inverse, log, 1/mu^2 and sqrt, and the function power can be used to create a power link function.
for all families other than quasi, the variance function is determined by the family. The quasi family will accept the literal character string (or unquoted as a name/expression) specifications "constant", "mu(1-mu)", "mu", "mu^2" and "mu^3", a length-one character vector taking one of those values, or a list containing components varfun, validmu, dev.resids, initialize and name.
the function family accesses the family objects which are stored within objects created by modelling functions (e.g., glm).
further arguments passed to methods.
family is a generic function with methods for classes "glm" and "lm" (the latter returning gaussian()).
For the binomial and quasibinomial families the response can be specified in one of three ways:
 1. As a factor: 'success' is interpreted as the factor not having the first level (and hence usually of having the second level).
 2. As a numerical vector with values between 0 and 1, interpreted as the proportion of successful cases (with the total number of cases given by the weights).
 3. As a two-column integer matrix: the first column gives the number of successes and the second the number of failures.
The quasibinomial and quasipoisson families differ from the binomial and poisson families only in that the dispersion parameter is not fixed at one, so they can model over-dispersion. For the binomial case see McCullagh and Nelder (1989, pp.\ifelse{latex}{\out{~}}{ } 124--8). Although they show that there is (under some restrictions) a model with variance proportional to mean as in the quasi-binomial model, note that glm does not compute maximum-likelihood estimates in that model. The behaviour of S is closer to the quasivariants.
An object of class "family" (which has a concise print method). This is a list with elements
character: the family name.
character: the link name.
function: the link.
function: the inverse of the link function.
function: the variance as a function of the mean.
function giving the deviance residuals as a function of (y, mu, wt).
function giving the AIC value if appropriate (but NA for the quasifamilies). See logLik for the assumptions made about the dispersion parameter.
function: derivative function(eta) $d\mu/d\eta$.
expression. This needs to set up whatever data objects are needed for the family as well as n (needed for AIC in the binomial family) and mustart (see glm.
logical function. Returns TRUE if a mean vector mu is within the domain of variance.
logical function. Returns TRUE if a linear predictor eta is within the domain of linkinv.
(optional) function simulate(object, nsim) to be called by the "lm" method of simulate. It will normally return a matrix with nsim columns and one row for each fitted value, but it can also return a list of length nsim. Clearly this will be missing for 'quasi-' families.
The link and variance arguments have rather awkward semantics for back-compatibility. The recommended way is to supply them is as quoted character strings, but they can also be supplied unquoted (as names or expressions). In addition, they can also be supplied as a length-one character vector giving the name of one of the options, or as a list (for link, of class "link-glm"). The restrictions apply only to links given as names: when given as a character string all the links known to are accepted.
This is potentially ambiguous: supplying link = logit could mean the unquoted name of a link or the value of object logit. It is interpreted if possible as the name of an allowed link, then as an object. (You can force the interpretation to always be the value of an object via logit[1].)
McCullagh P. and Nelder, J. A. (1989) Generalized Linear Models. London: Chapman and Hall.
Dobson, A. J. (1983) An Introduction to Statistical Modelling. London: Chapman and Hall.
Cox, D. R. and Snell, E. J. (1981). Applied Statistics; Principles and Examples. London: Chapman and Hall.
Hastie, T. J. and Pregibon, D. (1992) Generalized linear models. Chapter 6 of Statistical Models in S eds J. M. Chambers and T. J. Hastie, Wadsworth & Brooks/Cole.
See Also
glm, power,
For binomial coefficients, choose; the binomial and negative binomial distributions, Binomial, and NegBinomial.
 - family
 - binomial
 - gaussian
 - Gamma
 - inverse.gaussian
 - poisson
 - quasi
 - quasibinomial
 - quasipoisson
library(stats) require(utils) # for str nf <- gaussian() # Normal family nf str(nf) gf <- Gamma() gf str(gf) gf$linkinv gf$variance(-3:4) #- == (.)^2 ## quasipoisson. compare with example(glm) counts <- c(18,17,15,20,10,20,25,13,12) outcome <- gl(3,1,9) treatment <- gl(3,3) d.AD <- data.frame(treatment, outcome, counts) glm.qD93 <- glm(counts ~ outcome + treatment, family = quasipoisson()) glm.qD93 anova(glm.qD93, test = "F") summary(glm.qD93) ## for Poisson results use anova(glm.qD93, dispersion = 1, test = "Chisq") summary(glm.qD93, dispersion = 1) ## Example of user-specified link, a logit model for p^days ## See Shaffer, T. 2004. Auk 121(2): 526-540. logexp <- function(days = 1) { linkfun <- function(mu) qlogis(mu^(1/days)) linkinv <- function(eta) plogis(eta)^days mu.eta <- function(eta) days * plogis(eta)^(days-1) * binomial()$mu_eta valideta <- function(eta) TRUE link <- paste0("logexp(", days, ")") structure(list(linkfun = linkfun, linkinv = linkinv, mu.eta = mu.eta, valideta = valideta, name = link), class = "link-glm") } binomial(logexp(3)) ## in practice this would be used with a vector of 'days', in ## which case use an offset of 0 in the corresponding formula ## to get the null deviance right. ## Binomial with identity link: often not a good idea. ## Not run: binomial(link ="identity")) ## tests of quasi x <- rnorm(100) y <- rpois(100, exp(1+x)) glm(y ~ x, family = quasi(variance = "mu", link = "log")) # which is the same as glm(y ~ x, family = poisson) glm(y ~ x, family = quasi(variance = "mu^2", link = "log")) ## Not run: glm(y ~ x, family = quasi(variance = "mu^3", link = "log")) # fails y <- rbinom(100, 1, plogis(x)) # needs to set a starting value for the next fit glm(y ~ x, family = quasi(variance = "mu(1-mu)", link = "logit"), start = c(0,1))
Documentation reproduced from package stats, version 3.2.1, License: Part of R 3.2.1
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'Walking on marbles' to soon become thing of past for arthritis patients
Researchers will be undertaking a new stage of a study aimed at improving the health and mobility of those suffering from the common complaint of "walking on marbles" associated with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) in the feet, it has been revealed.
Forefeet often contain some of the first joints to be affected and those with the condition often say that they feel like they are "walking on marbles".
Mostly, people have thought that this was due to walking on foot joints that are affected by the RA.
The Health Sciences' FeeTURA study however, developed new ways of assessing the forefeet through the use of diagnostic ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging techniques.
From this work, the University of Southampton researchers discovered that some of the swellings and associated feeling of 'walking on marbles' were related to inflamed bursae (a fluid-filled sac usually found in areas subject to friction) that had developed underneath the forefoot joints. These inflamed bursae were rarely detected by clinical examination.
The exact cause of the inflamed bursae is not known and a cure is yet to be found, however, the team is now looking at identifying inflammatory and mechanical markers to find the best ways of treating this complication in people suffering with RA.
They will evaluate foot health treatments, such as targeted steroid injections, as well as medical management through the use of new drugs (called biologics).
During the first stage of the study, which took place between 2006 and 2009, researchers at the University of Southampton developed a technique to better evaluate the forefeet and diagnose the'marbles' using diagnostic ultrasound.
Participants who were assessed at the NIHR Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Facility (WTCRF), based at Southampton General Hospital, returned for re-assessment in the second stage of the study which discovered the changes that had occurred in the condition.
A third stage used an MRI scan to visualise the anatomical structures and'marbles' more clearly in the forefeet (see photo) and resulted in researchers developing the first ever atlas to categorise the swellings originally identified in stage one.
Led by senior lecturer for Advanced Clinical and Expert Practice, Dr Catherine Bowen, this new stage of the treatment study will be carried out by clinical academic researcher, Lindsey Hooper, who recently won a prestigious special award from Wessex HIEC for the previously completed MRI work.
"Although more common in the UK than leukaemia and multiple sclerosis, awareness of the severity of rheumatoid arthritis is limited," Dr Bowen said.
"Our linked study aims to significantly improve the lives of those affected by the condition in their forefeet, reducing the severity of the symptoms including pain, inflammation, poor sleep, fatigue and depression, and therefore helping improve their mobility and wellbeing," she added.


Pandemic driving Kenyans into jaws of mental health issues
Tuesday June 23 2020
A report shows that Kenyans are anxious, lonely, confused, stressed, helpless and angry as Covid-19 positive cases continue to increase every day. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
Do you often feel irritable or have the constant feeling of wanting to be alone and isolate yourself from others? Are you drinking a bit too much or starting to have unhealthy coping mechanisms? If so, you could be experiencing depression.
Depression is among the most common mental illnesses globally, affecting more than 1.9 million people in Kenya alone. In the past decade, cases of suicide in the country have risen at an alarming rate of 58 per cent with data showing that more men are likely to die through suicide than women.
According to mental health advocate Victor Khamisi, the problem could lie on the extensive burden of masculinity, which has often been used against men as they are viewed immune to and devoid of feelings or expressing emotions.
"Men are constantly stigmatised and seen as superhuman. However, when left alone, men battle serious trauma that leads to depression and in some extreme cases, suicide. I know this because I have experienced it before," he said.
The 26-year-old, who has battled depression since childhood, says he was taught that men are not supposed to show emotion and he should take every challenge thrown to him 'like a man'. This expectation of society consequently resulted to him attempting suicide three times.
Being a victim of sodomy as a teenager, Mr Khamisi was in constant emotional and physical pain, yet he never spoke out. Even after he moved out of his uncle's home, he faced constant rejection that took a heavy toll on him.
"Because of the constant abuse, I decided to go live in the streets. I still had a lot of unresolved issues which led to further depression. I remember trying to take my life twice by drinking acid," an emotional Mr Khamisi says.
Psychiatrist Lukoye Atwoli says depression in men requires keen observation, noting that it is crucial for people to familiarize themselves with the diagnostic criteria in persons presenting with symptoms.
Depression is mainly characterised by the onset of low moods or loss of interest in usual activities. This is accompanied by other behaviour including changes in appetite or weight, changes in sleep quality and quantity, excessive guilt, sense of worthlessness or hopelessness, irritability and often suicidal thoughts or behaviour.
"Anyone experiencing these symptoms should seek a consultation with a mental health professional. Depression is treatable and most people are able to continue with their normal life after treatment," he said.
Khamisi said people do not take time to really look beyond the surface and find out why others behave the way they do. "I was battling serious internal demons. As I never spoke of my past trauma, many aspects of my life got affected. I could never hold a job for long, I would often come late, under perform and eventually get fired," he said.
The causes of mental illness in men can be classified in three broad categories that interact with each other in complex ways. The first is biological, which include genetic factors which determines one's predisposition or risk of getting a particular illness.
"Other biological factors include brain development and structure, illnesses that could have affected the nervous system, head injury, and general state of physical health, including presence of chronic illnesses," Dr Atwoli noted.
Psychological and social factors also play a role in mental illness, where the former involves aspects of personality and coping mechanisms, while the latter includes how episodes of illnesses are dealt with as well as the state of the environment of the victim.
"Where you grew up or live, who you live with, what is considered socially acceptable behaviour, and quality of interpersonal relationships are important social factors that can contribute to one's state of mind," he added.
To effectively tackle male depression, men need to be encouraged to talk freely about their feelings. However, Psychiatric Disability Organisation (PDO) Kenya founder Iregi Mwenja says society is not used to men voicing out their issues, noting that such efforts are often mocked, met with outright hostility and labelled chauvinism.
"There is a normalised subjugation of male problems and attacks on masculinity which has a significant contribution to rising cases of mental issues, including increased violence among men," he said.
Mr Mwenja, whose organisation provides free mental health services expressed concern that a few men are open to seeking treatment.
"There has been more focus on women rights, but it is important to note that men's rights are human rights and today's marginalization of men should be addressed with equal sensitivity if not more as women issues," he said.
While trying to tackle issues surrounding mental health, Mr Mwenja emphasises on breaking the social perspective of 'toxic masculinity' which he says has led to the misunderstanding of issues men face.
To rectify this, he says that society needs to start adopting strategies that look at men and masculinity as allies in men's mental health, noting that a change of perception will be help win this battle and not changing an inherent trait of a man.
Further, a report has shown that Kenyans are anxious, lonely, confused, stressed, helpless and angry as Covid-19 positive cases continue to increase every day.
They could probably be depressed, with an Infotrak research showing that 81 per cent of the population feel anxious and stressed about what is happening.
The research shows that 61 per cent of Kenyans feel lonely, 52 per cent feel helpless and 33 per cent feel angry.
As such, Health CS Mutahi Kagwe on Sunday described depression as "a silent, invisible killer that is affecting our nation and the globe."
Mr Kagwe said Covid-19 had affected Kenyans lives, and particularly their mental health "in ways untold."
According to the Health CS, the public health actions which the government took to combat the spread of the novel corona virus have brought about anxiety and feelings of isolation while for other Kenyans, the containment measures have yielded feelings of suffocation.
Some of the measures the government took include curfew, cessation of movement, social-distancing, wearing of masks, washing of hands and sanitizing.
"Such measures can produce a wide range of psychological effects, including post-traumatic stress symptoms, depression, feelings of confusion, anger and fear, and even substance misuse," says Dr Habil Otanga, a lecturer at the Department of Psychology, UoN.
In a write-up, Dr Otanga says "overwhelming feelings of boredom, loneliness, anger, isolation and frustration are related to poor mental health outcomes."