Cookies on this website
CONTEXT: Tissue cortisol exposure is under the control of the isozymes of 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (11β-HSD). 11β-HSD1 in vivo, acts as an oxoreductase converting inactive cortisone to active cortisol. We hypothesized that 11β-HSD1 activity is dysregulated in obesity and alters following bariatric surgery induced weight loss in different tissues. METHODS: We recruited 21 patients prior to undergoing bariatric surgery and performed cortisol generation profiles (following oral cortisone administration), urinary corticosteroid metabolite analysis, adipose tissue microdialysis, and tissue gene expression before and after weight loss, following bariatric surgery. Archived tissue samples from 20 previous bariatric surgery patients were also used for tissue gene expression studies. RESULTS: Gene expression showed a positive correlation with 11β-HSD1 and BMI in omental adipose tissue (OM) (r = +0.52, P =.0001) but not sc adipose tissue (r = +0.28, P =.17). 11β-HSD1 expression in liver negatively correlated with body mass index (BMI) (r = -0.37, P =.04). 11β-HSD1 expression in sc adipose tissue was significantly reduced after weight loss (0.41 ± 0.28 vs 0.17 ± 0.1 arbitrary units, P =.02). Following weight loss, serum cortisol generation increased during a cortisol generation profile (area under the curve 26 768 ± 16 880 vs 47 579 ± 16 086 nmol/L/minute, P ≤.0001.) Urinary corticosteroid metabolites demonstrated a significant reduction in total cortisol metabolites after bariatric surgery (15 224 ± 6595 vs 8814 ± 4824 μg/24 h, P =.01). Microdialysis of sc adipose tissue showed a threefold reduction in cortisol/cortisone ratio after weight loss. CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights the differences in tissue specific regulation of cortisol metabolism in obesity and after weight loss. Following bariatric surgery hepatic 11β-HSD1 activity increases, sc adipose tissue 11β-HSD1 activity is reduced and total urinary cortisol metabolites are reduced indicating a possible reduction in hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis drive. 11β-HSD1 expression correlates positively with BMI in omental adipose tissue and negatively within hepatic tissue. 11β-HSD1 expression is reduced in sc adipose tissue after weight loss.
Original publication
Journal article
J Clin Endocrinol Metab
Publication Date
1434 - 1444
11-beta-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenase Type 1, Adult, Aged, Bariatric Surgery, Case-Control Studies, Female, Glucocorticoids, Humans, Male, Microdialysis, Middle Aged, Obesity, Morbid, Organ Specificity, Receptors, Glucocorticoid, Subcutaneous Fat, Weight Loss


Home » Georgiana Cavendish – Duchess of Devonshire
Georgiana Cavendish – Duchess of Devonshire
Below is the detailed biography of Georgiana Cavendish, the Duchess of Devonshire in the Regency Era. She was a known style icon, political organizer and author. She was born into the Spencer family of English nobility. She was the most talked about Duchess of England with regards to her many love affairs and gambling habits.
Early Life of Georgiana Cavendish
A portrait of Georgiana Cavendish – Duchess of Devonshire
Georgiana Spencer, as was her birth name was born on the 7th of June in the year 1757 to John Spencer, a British peer, and politician and his wife Georgiana who later came to be known as Countess Georgiana. She was born in Althorp, Northamptonshire. Georgiana had two younger sisters. The family lived in St James, London.
Georgiana was the closest and dearest to her mother as compared to the other two children. In 1765, her father became Earl Spencer.
Adult Life and Marriage of Georgiana Cavendish
A portrait of William Cavendish – 5th Duke of Devonshire
Georgiana was only 17 years old when she married the most eligible bachelor of the Regency Era – William Cavendish who was 25 years old. He was a British nobleman, a politician, an aristocrat. He was also one of the most powerful men in England along with being wealthy which made them a good match.
However, these two had very little in common and were hardly ever seen together on social occasions. He was known to have various affairs outside the marriage and was unable to have Georgiana produce a child. The Duke had a former illegitimate daughter before his marriage. He also had a former partner Lady Elizabeth Foster who later became a close friend of Georgiana Cavendish.
A portrait of Lady Elizabeth Foster
Even after the Duke and Lady Foster had separated, they were known to have shared certain sexual relations. Later, they had two illegitimate children.
Duchess Cavendish was absolutely unhappy with this marriage. According to the customs in Regency England, a woman could not take a lover until she had produced an heir. She had two daughters – Georgiana Dorothy and Harriet Elizabeth. In 1790, she gave birth to a baby boy – William George Spencer Cavendish who grew up to be a bachelor duke all his life.
Georgiana Cavendish and Charles Grey
A portrait of Charles Grey, also known as the 2nd Earl Grey
It is believed that Duchess Cavendish, after the birth of her son was involved in a love affair with Charles Grey. Charles Grey, who was later known as the 2nd Earl Grey. He was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1830 to 1834. He was a noble and famous man in London. While there is no concrete evidence that Earl Grey and Duchess Cavendish were involved in a 'love affair', she became pregnant by him in 1791.
She was sent off to France for her childbirth. Her health was extremely poor and everyone believed that she would die during childbirth. However, the child was well born and was called Eliza Courtney and she belonged to the Grey family.
While in France, she lived in complete isolation and was usually depressed as she was separated from her other children and family members. In the end, she denied her love for Charles Grey and went back to England to her husband and children.
Georgiana Cavendish as an Activist
Georgiana's family was a supporter of the Whig party. She lived during times when there was a realization of woman suffrage and empowerment. She was an influential woman and the first woman to come out as a political activist in her time.
She inspired women to promote the Whig party.
Georgiana Cavendish in Literature
She was a writer and poet during her time. Some of her works were published anonymously. Her very first published writing was 'Emma; Or, The Unfortunate Attachment: A Sentimental Novel' which came out in 1773. In 1778, she published 'The Sylph' anonymously. In the last years of her life, she published 'The Passage of the Mountain of Saint Gothard'.
Georgiana Cavendish in Gambling
After returning to England from France, she was much involved in taking care of her husband who suffered from gout. In 1796, she suffered from illness in her eyes, the operation of which resulted in her scarring face. Rapidly, her health began to decline and debt began to increase.
During her decline in health, she became addicted to gambling. She was in her forties back then. It is also said that once she begged her mother for 100 pounds and told her that she was suffering from jaundice.
Later, it was found out that she was genuinely sick and suffering from a liver disorder.
Later Life and Death of Georgiana Cavendish
She spent her last years in sickness. She died at a young age of 48 on March 30th, 1806. She was surrounded by her children, her mother, and her husband. She was buried at the family vault in All Saints Parish Church.
Her life was an example of the life of a noblewoman of England, a roller coaster of emotions and outburst and a result of various decisions.
There were many film portrayals on her life like the 'The Divine Lady' in 1929 and 'Berkeley Square' in 1933.
Found info useful?


Home > Agriculture > Plant/Animal Production > Factors that affect animal fertility
Plant/Animal Production
Factors that affect animal fertility
This material addresses aspects of the following syllabus outcome:
H2.2 describes the inputs, processes and interactions of animal production systems.
Students learn about:
Animal reproduction and genetics
Extract from Stage 6 Agriculture Syllabus NSW Board of Studies Amended 2009
The following factors may affect the fertility of farm animals:
Genetics/heredity affects the fertility of farm animals in a variety of ways. Some animals may be genetically infertile.
Sow with piglets suckling
sows can give birth to up to 20 piglets in one litter while cattle usually produce a single calf from each pregnancy
Genetic differences do exist:
 - between animal types e.g. pigs have lots of piglets in comparison with cattle which usually have a single calf
 - between breeds of the same animal type e.g. Border Leicester sheep commonly have lambing percentages of 150 while Merinos tend to have lambing percentages of close to 100
 - within breeds e.g. Booroola Merinos have a high incidence of twins in comparison to other strains of Merinos.
Genetic mutations can occur which can produce infertility. They can also give rise to abnormal development in embryos so much so that the young fail to develop properly and cause foetal death or atrophy. These are called lethal factors. Poultry seem to be more affected with lethal factors than other animals.
A peculiar form of sterility occurs in heifers born twin to a bull. In about 90% of such cases, the foetal circulations fuse. The male then remains normal but the female becomes a freemartin. To some extent, the female becomes masculinised by androgen produced by its twin.
Go To Top
Generally the heavier the animal the more fertile, but overfat animals may have difficulty mating, conceiving, and birthing. Puberty is determined by body weight not by age of the animal.
Poor nutrition may cause irregular cycles in females, reduced ovulation, weak offspring, pregnancy toxaemia or reduced twinning.
In males poor nutrition may reduce sperm quantity and quality.
The amount of food given to ewes immediately before they are joined is also of considerable importance. Experiments have shown that, if at that stage, a ewe is given a generous plane of nutrition she is likely to shed more ova than normal. This results in a higher lambing percentage by increasing the number of twin births. This procedure is known as flushing. There is evidence to suggest that the numbers of sperm produced by rams may be increased by feeding a high energy and high protein diet for about six weeks before the mating season.
The amount of food given to the pregnant mother also influences birth weight of offspring and heavier offspring have a better chance of surviving. Conversely, the undersized new born animal has less chance of surviving and frequently dies in the first few days following birth. Such an animal is less able to maintain its body temperature and may die quickly if born in cold weather.
If over-fed, the pregnant animal may suffer difficulties in birth which could also lead to death of either the offspring or mother or both.
Ewe with two lambs
In order to avoid pregnancy toxaemia this ewe was steamed up in the latter stages of pregnancy.
Under nutrition in late pregnancy, particularly in ewes carrying twins, may cause pregnancy toxaemia. This has given rise to the practice of steaming up.
Steaming up is feeding technique where females are put on a rising plane of nutrition in the latter stage of pregnancy. It increases birth weight and milk production.
Whilst deficiencies in protein may cause infertility, it has also been shown that copper deficiencies in some eastern states of Australia causes infertility in cows while a deficiency in vitamin A prevents normal sperm production in bulls and rams in some areas.
Go To Top
The effect of age is closely linked with nutrition, as puberty is determined by body weight not by the age of the animal. The physical size of animals may affect their ability to mate, carry a foetus or give normal birth to offspring.
After puberty, fertility generally increases for some time then decreases when the animal gets too old. In contrast, goats have a greater chance of twin kids as they age.
Go To Top
Some species are polyoestrous (pigs and cattle), this means that they cycle throughout the year. Other species are seasonally polyoestrous meaning that they breed only during particular months of the year (horses, sheep, poultry and goats). The decreasing daylight hours stimulate ewes and does to cycle while the increasing daylight hours stimulate hens and mares to cycle.
Some deer and primitive sheep breeds have only one oestrous cycle which occurs at a particular time of year and so are seasonally monoestrous.
Dogs have only one cycle which is unrelated to the season and so are monoestrous.
Dogs drinking
The period of the year at which animals breed has evolved by natural selection to ensure the young are born at a time giving them the best chance of survivial. In sheep, the mechanism by which the breeding season is brought about is triggered by hours of decreasing daylight. This stimulates the anterior pituitary gland to produce FSH. Experiments have shown that, by the use of electric light, sheep in the Northern Hemisphere can be made to breed at the same time of the year as sheep in the Southern Hemisphere. When ewes are taken across the equator from north to south, they change their breeding season to correspond with the hours of daylight.
The daylength is also a factor with the production of sperm in the ram but does not seem to be in other animals.
The introduction of Bos indicus cattle into the tropical areas of Australia is an example of using climatically adapted animals in order to maintain fertility and hence production
High body temperatures produced in rams by high summer temperatures is a cause of poor quality semen. This also affects semen formation in bulls.
High temperatures can also affect mating with reduced sexual activity. Conception rate is also reduced. This affects the number of offspring born.
In males, the ability of the scrotum to reduce the temperature of the testes sufficiently to produce sperm of sufficient number and viability is severely restricted.
It is important, therefore, to have both climatically adapted animals and to provide conditions conducive to proper spermatogenesis to ensure maximum fertility.
Go To Top
Disease as a factor that can affect the fertility of farm animals can be related to nutrition, climate, management and genetics. Disease may stop sperm or egg production, may cause abortion, may reduce the health of the foetus so reducing the chance of its survival.
Infective conditions include brucellosis, trichomoniasis, leptospirosis and vibriosis. These diseases have dramatically reduced in recent years due to diligent eradication campaigns.
Persistance of the corpus luteum, usually as a result of infection can be a problem particularly in cows. This prevents the production of FSH and consequently normally cycling does not occur.
Some varieties of subterranean clover contain high levels of oestrogen. When sheep eat pasture containing high percentages of these varieties they become infertile. This condition is commonly known as clover disease. Subterranean clover varieties that contain high levels of oestrogen include Dwalganup, Yarloop and Dinninup. Weeds
Go To Top
The farm manager has the ability to control or at least to maniupulate the factors that have been discussed above. Examples of how farmers control or manipulate these factors include:
Selecting sheltered paddocks for ewes at lambing time can assist good lamb survival rates
Sheep in a Sheltered Paddock
Controlling Parasites
Control of parasites assists in maintaining breeding stock in good health to ensure maximum fertility rates.
Go To Top
Neals logo | Copyright | Disclaimer | Contact Us | Help


text:
libpq is the C application programmer's interface to PostgreSQL. libpq is a set of library routines that allow client programs to pass queries to the PostgreSQL backend server and to receive the results of these queries. libpq is also the underlying engine for several other PostgreSQL application interfaces, including libpq++ (C++), libpgtcl (Tcl), Perl, and ecpg. So some aspects of libpq's behavior will be important to you if you use one of those packages.
Three short programs are included at the end of this section to show how to write programs that use libpq. There are several complete examples of libpq applications in the following directories:
Frontend programs that use libpq must include the header file libpq-fe.h and must link with the libpq library.

source: HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu


text:
Reconstructed Cherokee Homestead
These log buildings represent a typical Cherokee homestead of the early 1800's. It was little different than that which the European settlers had. A few of the Cherokees lived even much better, with brick homes and large plantations. Many were of mixed Anglo-Saxon and Indian blood, and a few even owned slaves. But to the white settlers who were greedy for land, they were Indians who needed to be removed, even by force. When the land was taken from the Cherokees it was divided among white settlers by lottery.


Building a Better Health Care System: Should We Be Tracking Misdiagnosis?
If you study misdiagnosis you realize how often patients get the wrong diagnosis.
But what do expert doctors think about how often it happens? And what do they think can be done to address it?
We wanted to find out so we partnered with the National Coalition on Healthcare to conduct a landmark, nationwide survey. We surveyed 400 cancer specialists from our Best Doctors database – and the findings were provocative.
The survey, "Exploring Diagnostic Accuracy in Cancer: A Nationwide Survey of 400 Leading Cancer Specialists," focused on what doctors believe to be the most significant barriers in efforts to accurately diagnose cancers; the types of cancer they believe are most often misdiagnosed; and the tools and improvements they most need to combat misdiagnosis.
One of the most surprising findings was on how often doctors believe misdiagnosis happens. While published studies show that misdiagnosis occurs in about 15-28% of cases, the large majority of doctors we surveyed thought it happens in less than 10% of cases. At the same time, doctors recognized that the root causes of misdiagnosis were very prevalent – fragmented medical information, disparities in experience among pathologists and other factors.
So – how to explain the difference in doctors' perceptions and the published research? I think it is because there is no systematic feedback loop for doctors letting them know of inaccuracies in their care. If you diagnose someone and they go on to get treatment someplace, and it's later discovered that a diagnosis wasn't exactly right, the original doctor may never find out about it. If you don't hear about it, you can't be blamed for thinking this problem is rare. It also means you miss out on the opportunity to improve the quality of care that these cases represent.
Another interesting point. Doctors reported that, regardless of how often they thought diagnostic inaccuracies happened, it is a problem that needed more attention from policy-makers. As NCHC President and CEO John Rother observed, "Not enough is being done on the state and federal policy end of things to acknowledge and firmly address this critical issue. Given our current health care climate and challenges, as decision-makers become more aware of the frequency of misdiagnosis and the enormous costs associated with it, they have a sizeable opportunity to make diagnostic accuracy much more of a 'front and center' issue in health care."
Here's to that promising thought.
Evan Falchuk is Vice Chairman of Best Doctors, Inc., where this post originally appeared. Prior to joining Best Doctors, Inc., in 1999, he was an attorney at the Washington, DC, office of Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver and Jacobson, where he worked on SEC enforcement cases. This post originally appeared on Best Doctors, Inc.'s See First Blog.
Spread the love
10 replies »
 1. Funds could be raised in a variety of ways – per physician license and/or other license (replacing malpractice insurance) with the state medical societies or whatever other organizations still handling oversight/discipline. The advantage is getting rid of the "fault" issue and sticking with "causation" – recognizing bad things happen; even physicians sometimes do stupid things. By bringing errors into the open, more can learn from a lot more experience making everyone better. And healthcare providers wouldn't have to be obsessed with getting sued; it would look a lot more like quality improvement activities.
 2. You will never know who the best doctors are, because the best ones ply their skills quietly and efficiently. The errors in diagnoses are extensive.
 But, do not worry. For the big ones, the hospitals and the HIT vendors alter the electronic medical record to provide the illusion that they knew what they were doing.
 3. Sandra, the vaccine program is paid for through a.75 cent sales tax on vaccines/ per disease. I'm thinking the risk is quite low.
 New Zealand's health system is about 75% government run with the injury compensation paid for by government (taxpayer) funds.
 I'm not sure how you see a similar system being funded here and if it would be tied to doctor oversight and disipline or not?
 4. I believe New Zealand has implemented such a system – I believe there are premiums paid by everyone (regardless of risk) and compensation awards are determined by a panel of experts. I haven't looked into it recently so I'm not certain of the details. But another example is our vaccine compensation system here in the U.S. If a vaccine injury is found by the vaccine injury court, a specialized Federal Court of Claims court, the award is given out of a fund established by taking a few cents out of each vaccine administered. The balance of that fund is quite high, I believe. There's more information on their website.
 They pay lawyers based on amount of work, rather than as a percentage of an award, so there is less incentive to go for a large award. Plaintiffs can "opt out" of the decision (for constitutional reasons), but it's rare because the decisions of this courts is given significant weight. I think a similar program could be developed if there's the political will for it.
 5. Sandra, how do you envision this would work? Where would the money come from for the fund? Who would determine what was no-fault compensatable? In a single-pay system it's easy to pay for the medical costs of errors, but the non-medical costs are still litigated.
 In our for-profit private system it's harder to pay no questions asked for medical consequences.
 6. A no-fault approach to compensation for patient harm would go a long way to solve the problem of (1) not knowing how much misdiagnosis occurs; and (2) reducing medical malpractice litigation costs. Providers would not fear disclosing data about harm if they did not personally pay for it, and the information could be used to improve care for everyone.
 7. "consistent with the cognitive dysfunction caused by the user unfriendly HIT devices."
 You have any scientific DATA inferring that?
 How would one even design such a study? Longitudinally sufficient, stratified by EHR product, control group of paper chart dx's? Not that we shouldn't try.
 8. Given that doctors think they should not be held legally responsible for anything I'm surprised they returned a less than 10% misdiagnosis rate.
 Should misdiagnosis be held to the same error standards as say surgical errors?
 9. Misdiagnosis is in the rise consistent with the cognitive dysfunction caused by the user unfriendly HIT devices. Talking about oncologists, their specialty is pushing chemo and they are so focused on that they forget the patients have other body parts and organ systems that get diseased.
Leave a Reply


text:
This one is about an issue you may run into when Microsoft Word is virtualized and you try to open a DOC or DOCX file from a SharePoint site. Issue: When you have Microsoft Word virtualized and streamed to a client, if you open a SharePoint site, select a doc file and in the drop down list you choose "Edit in Microsoft Word" you may receive the following error.
Resolution: There are three possible workarounds for this issue:
1. Install the SharePoint Compatibility Pack from the Office CD on the client.
2. Save the document locally before editing.
3. Run Internet Explorer inside the virtual environment, either by opening it directly from a virtual app or by adding an OSD for it to the package.
More info: KB83314

source: openbmb/Ultra-FineWeb


Nine out of ten scientists* agree: watching Finding Nemo is the equivalent of earning a doctorate in marine biology. So put away those bio textbooks and actual science materials, and dive into these marine life lessons from Nemo, Dory, and the other talking fish. Maybe this science isn't conventional, but it's really entertaining which is just as important.
*By "scientists," we mean "Oh My Disney staffers who passed a couple of high school science class back in the day."
Exhibit A: Pacific Cleaner Shrimp sanitizes young clownfish.
Jacques_Finding Nemo
A quick spin cycle usually does the trick.
Exhibit B: Regal tang and clownfish find temporary shelter inside bill of pelican.
Nigel, Dory, Marlin_Finding Nemo
Just add water!
Exhibit C: Great white shark does not demonstrate qualities of a mindless eating machine.
Dory meets Bruce_Finding Nemo
In other words, fish are friends, not food.
Exhibit D: Yellow tang manifests obsession with artificially created bubbles.
Bubbles_Finding Nemo
Do not even lay eyes on them. Highly addictive.
Exhibit E: Regal tang is multilingual.
Dory speaks whale_Finding Nemo
Languages include: English, Whale, and conversational Orca.
Exhibit F: School of moonfish displays high level of directional intelligence.
Opera House_Finding Nemo
Plus exquisite grace and coordination.
Exhibit G: School of fish attends school on back of blue and white spotted eagle ray.
School of Fish_Finding Nemo
And all new explorers must answer a science question.
Exhibit H: Blue tang navigates through smack of jellyfish with bouncing technique.
Dory on jellyfish_Finding Nemo
A "smack" is indeed the correct term for a group of jellyfish. The sea is indeed full of mystery.
Exhibit I: Darla.
Darla_Finding Nemo
Repeat after us: "Find a happy place. Find a happy place."
Everything We Know About Marine Biology We Learned from Finding Nemo


text:
What does CANDY mean in Food?
This page is about the meanings of the acronym/abbreviation/shorthand CANDY in the Miscellaneous field in general and in the Food terminology in particular.
Find a translation for CANDY in other languages:
Select another language:
What does CANDY mean?
- candy, confect(verb)
- a rich sweet made of flavored sugar and often combined with fruit or nuts


One of the customary marriage vows that a married couple pledges during their wedding ceremony involves a commitment to maintaining their union "until death do us part." Vows like that signify the significance of the bond between married spouses. Although everyone understands that the bonds of marriage aren't only broken by the passing of a spouse, there are only a couple other ways of legally ending a marriage: divorce and annulment. In short, divorce terminates a valid marriage whereas an annulment is a finding that the marriage was either invalid on its face or invalid due to extenuating circumstances.
Dissolving the Marriage by Divorce
Marriage is a legally recognized relationship between two individuals from which certain legal rights and responsibilities arise. Among the legal duties that results from a legal marriage is the duty of spouses to financially support each other. Among the legal rights that stem from the marital relationship is the right to inherit the estate of the deceased spouse's estate absent a valid will, under Michigan law involving intestate succession.
Because marriage is a legally recognized relationship, ending that relationship through divorce involves specific legal and procedural requirements.
To get a divorce in Michigan, a person must meet the following requirements:
 - Residency: At least one of the parties must have resided in Michigan for 180 days before filing for divorce, and at least one party must have resided for 10 days in the county in which the divorce was filed.
 - Defendant domicile: The spouse who did not file for divorce—known as the defendant—was domiciled in Michigan when either the divorce was filed or the cause for divorce arose. If the defendant lives outside Michigan, the defendant can voluntarily appear for proceedings or must otherwise be served with process in Michigan.
 - Breakdown of the marriage: The party filing for divorce—known as the Plaintiff—must allege that there was a breakdown of the marriage with no reasonable chance of reconciliation — this allegation can be made by submitting a sworn statement claiming that such a breakdown occurred.
After filing a complaint about divorce, the defendant must submit a formal response with the court. In their formal response, the defendant can either agree to the allegations and move forward with divorce proceedings, or deny the allegations. The defendant is not required to elaborate as to why they have denied the allegations.
Under Michigan law, there is a sixty-day cooling-off period between the time a divorce complaint was filed, and when the parties can enter a Judgment of Divorce. When there are minor children involved this statutory waiting period is 180 days. This cooling-off period is designed to give the parties time to consider their situation and to potentially avoid making a rash legal decision about their marriage they would later regret.
A judgment of divorce includes a determination of custody, parenting time and support, a division of the assets and liabilities of the parties and certain statutory provisions severing the marital relationship.
Nullifying the Marriage by Annulment
In certain situations, a marriage can "end" using annulment proceedings. However, unlike divorce, an annulment involves a marriage that is considered void or "voidable." In annulment cases, a marriage is considered void or voidable because one of the legal requirements to form a valid marriage wasn't satisfied. As a result, annulment proceedings treat the marriage as if it never existed in the first place.
As a result, certain marital rights and responsibilities might never have been established. However, in some cases, a court might use principles of equity to impose certain marital rights—such as in marriages where a party reasonably relied on the marriage's validity to their detriment.
Unlike divorces, an action for annulment does impose a length of residency requirement, nor does it require an allegation as to the irretrievable breakdown of the marriage. Furthermore, there is no cooling-off period between filing an annulment and submitting proof and testimony to the court.
If an annulment is granted and the parties have minor children it may be necessary to file a separate action for custody, parenting time and support. If the parties own property jointly and an annulment is granted they may need to resort to civil court for a determination of the disposition of that property. With an annulment there will be no alimony granted to either party, insofar as there has been a finding that a valid marriage never occurred. Michigan is not one of the states that recognizes so-called "palimony," which is court ordered support for a non-married person in a long term relationship.
However, an annulment lawsuit must demonstrate why the marriage is invalid. Michigan courts have held that a marriage is void or voidable in certain situations, including:
 - Bigamy: The law prohibits individuals from getting married to more than one person. As a result, a marriage is void if one or more spouses was still married to another person at the time they got married.
 - Incompetency: Only two consenting adults of sound mind can form a marriage. Therefore, if one of the spouses was mentally incapacitated, so they were not of sound mind when they decided to get married, the marriage is void. This may apply when one or both parties were intoxicated or under the influence of another drug at the time of the wedding.
 - Marriage to a minor: In Michigan, only individuals who are at least 18 years old may get married. Therefore, a marriage involving a minor is considered void, unless the minor was at least sixteen years old when married, and their parents consented to the marriage.
 - Lack of consent: Because one of the required elements of a valid marriage is consent, facts involving fraud, duress, and force can support an annulment because those situations tend to negate the necessary consent for a valid marriage.
Note that none of these grounds include how long a marriage lasts. Whether it is a one month or 10 year marriage, in most cases a divorce is needed to end it.
Unless the marriage is void for reasons such as the first 3 of these, an annulment can often be more difficult to obtain than a divorce. This is because there is a presumption in favor of a valid marriage–especially where there are minor children involved. A judge would need to hold an evidentiary hearing, i.e., a trial, in order to make findings of this nature. This is as opposed to a divorce where all the judge has to determine is that one party wants out and there is not chance of reconciliation—which does not require litigation.
For Answers to Your Legal Questions, Call the American Divorce Association for Men
Do you have legal concerns about a family law matter in Michigan, such as divorce or annulment? For quality legal counsel from an experienced divorce attorney, contact the American Divorce Association for Men (ADAM). Our legal team is dedicated to guiding you through challenging legal issues and advocating for your legal interests in divorces and other family law matters.
Contact ADAM online or call us at for a free initial consultation about your case today.


Assets: Bitmaps
Separate bitmaps need to be prepared for each platform you are targetting, as resolution and palette varies according to each system. The tool used for conversion is GIMP (packaged with 8bit-Unity)
Step 1: Master Bitmap
Create a Master Bitmap in 320x200x256 colors (or higher), which will be used as the reference "look and feel" when converting to the various platforms. Here we take as reference the "pumpkin" bitmap used in the "8bit-Grubs" demo. Make sure the image is converted to the PNG format, and that it does not contain an alpha channel (transparency).
Step 2: Rescale
In the second step, we use GIMP to rescale the bitmap for each platform. Use the menu Image > Scale Image, then set the resolution as shown in the table below. In the quality setting, I recommend to use Interpolation: None, to avoid blurring of the image.
Apple //e 140×192
Atari XL/XE 160×200
Commodore 64 160×200
Atari Lynx 160×102
Oric 1/Atmos 117×100
Step 3: Apply Palette
In the third step, we apply a palette that corresponds to the specific platform. Use the menu Image > Mode > Indexed…, then set Use custom palette to the desired target. Make sure that all other options match the screenshot shown below to avoid errors when building game disks.
Step 4: Retouch Colors and Export
In some cases, applying the palette may lead to unsatisfactory conversion of the image. In such case, it may be necessary to retouch colors before exporting. To select all pixels of a given color use the menu Select > By Color. To select all pixels of same color within a given area use the Magic Wand. You can recolor by drag'dropping a color from the palette onto the selected area.
You are now ready to export the bitmap to PNG: Use the menu File > Export As… and save with the extension ".png" to /bitmaps/ in your project folder.
ATARI NOTE: colors 1 (black), 6 (bright red), 11 (bright blue), and 16 (bright green) are recommended for large areas of color fill, such as the sprite background. These colors do not flicker, while all other colors are produced by flickering between combinations of these 4 colors every 2 frame.
Final Output
Apple //e: 140×192 Atari XL/XE: 160×200 Commodore 64: 160×200 Lynx:


Question: What Is The Root Word Of Utilisation?
What is the Utilisation?
utilisation – the act of using; "he warned against the use of narcotic drugs"; "skilled in the utilization of computers" usage, use, utilization, exercise, employment.
activity – any specific behavior; "they avoided all recreational activity".
What is the root word of summarize?
summary (adj.) early 15c., "brief, abbreviated; containing the sum or substance only," from Medieval Latin summarius "of or pertaining to the sum or substance," from Latin summa "whole, totality, gist" (see sum (n.
What is the root word of practical?
What is the meaning of over Utilisation?
transitive verb. : to utilize (something) too much : to use (something) excessively or too frequently overutilizing medical services overutilizes credit cards.
What is a practical man?
How do we calculate time?
To solve for speed or rate use the formula for speed, s = d/t which means speed equals distance divided by time. To solve for time use the formula for time, t = d/s which means time equals distance divided by speed.
How do you calculate Utilisation?
So, the formula for ideal utilization rate is:(Resource costs + overhead + profit margin) / Total available hours x Target billable rate.144,000 / 2,000 x 80 =144,000 / 180,000 =.80.
What is over utilization of resources?
If "Utilized Resources" is greater than "Dedicated Resources", the job is over utilizing resources. The greater the number of over utilized procs (compared to dedicated procs), the more resources the job is over utilizing.
Is being practical good or bad?
What does practical mean in English?
What is the efficiency formula?
The work efficiency formula is efficiency = output / input, and you can multiply the result by 100 to get work efficiency as a percentage. This is used across different methods of measuring energy and work, whether it's energy production or machine efficiency.
Can utilization be more than 100?


Step 1
Lay Out the Materials
Lay out all of the materials on the ground. For each trellis section, lay five pieces of pipe side by side, leaving about a foot of space between them. Then position a piece of pipe along the ends, perpendicular to the five pipes. Set a corner angle at each corner and then place three Ts along each side where the middle pipes touch the end pipes. Repeat these steps for the other trellis sections.
Right now your work area looks like a jumble of parts, but you can see where all the PVC pipes and fittings need to be joined. To do this, you have to cut the end pieces into 1' sections so that you can attach the Ts to the inside pipes (Image 1). The pipe along the bottom will sit on the ground when the trellis is complete, then each PVC pipe or bar will run horizontally across, with about a foot in between each one. Finally a pipe will go across the top.
Work on a flat surface to measure and mark each piece (Image 2). Use a hacksaw to make straight and even cuts. This project calls for 32 pieces cut to this size. You will have a few pieces of PVC left over after making the cuts; save them in case you ever need to make a repair.
Step 2
Start Gluing Pieces Together
Use PVC primer to clean and prep the joints before applying the glue. Both the primer and the glue containers have brushes built into the lids (Image 1); this makes them easy to use. Make sure that you're ready to go when you apply the glue, as you have only a few seconds before it dries and hardens. To start gluing the trellis pieces together, attach two L-shaped corner brackets to the long PVC pipe that will be the bottom of the trellis (Image 2).
Step 3
Complete the First Section
Once the corners are installed on the bottom support, begin working your way up the trellis. Clean and glue a 1' section and put it into the other end of the corner L. Then attach a T with the opening facing in toward the center of the trellis (Image 1). Repeat this step on the other side of the trellis.
Once you have your first set of Ts in place, you need to add a horizontal support to run between them. The best way is to do one side at a time. You have to push the side pieces open a bit to get the support snugly in between them. Be sure you press them into place all the way when you glue them so that the trellis will be square. Otherwise the side may bow out and look uneven. Now repeat these same steps until you get to the top support.
Continue building the trellis by adding a set of side supports with T fittings and then connecting another horizontal support. Keep repeating these steps until you have all three in place. Then attach the last two L fittings to the top support and glue them to the rest of the frame.
After you've finished the first trellis section, you have three more to go. This will make two A-frame trellises (Image 2). The first panel always takes the longest. If you're working at home, get someone to assemble these with you. These can all be built in an afternoon.
Step 4
Place the Trellises in the Garden Bed
The final trellis section has five horizontal support bars, including the top and bottom pipes (Image 1). Once all of the trellis sections are complete, carry them to the garden bed. Since the trellises are 6' long, you can fit two side-by-side in a 12' bed (Image 2), then use long zip ties to secure the tops together so the trellises won't pull apart. Set them up so that two sections are leaning together to make the A-frame design. If you don't have zip ties, you could use pieces of string to tie the trellises together. The important thing is that they don't come apart and damage the plants that are growing on them.
Step 5
Attach the Trellises to the Ground
Attach the trellises to the ground with stakes, sandbags or other heavy objects to keep them from blowing down in a storm (Image 1). At the end of the season you can just take them out, cut the zip ties on the top and move these trellis panels to another bed or even store them flat in the garage.
Add some vertical string supports to give plants some extra room to attach (Image 2). You can put several plants under each side, so four strings on each side should do. You can start by tying it off on the top support and wrapping it around each one below; then a quick knot around the bottom pip, and you're done.
Malabar spinach (Image 3), a vining plant whose tender stems and leaves are used in Asian and tropical cooking, especially stir-fries and salads, is an example of a plant that can be grown here. Like other leafy, dark-green vegetables, Malabar spinach contains many vitamins and nutrients that make it a great choice for health-conscious eaters.


text:
Quantitative Assessment of Fungi and bacteria in air inside Bradford Apartment
The experiment was conducted from the week from 10/26/2014 to 11/02/2014 at the Bradford apartments. Different types of agar media were used to estimate and quantitatively assess fungi and bacteria in air within an air-conditioned apartment unit. Fungi are essential to our environment, due to their function of decomposing organic materials. Nevertheless, airborne fungal spores can cause irritations and allergies and can even compromise the human immune system in less maintained buildings. Inappropriate humid control or water damage, as seen in the apartment used for this experiment, can lead to high loads of fungal spores. Thus, this study focuses on the qualitative assessment of Fungi and bacteria in air inside a Bradford Apartment by using different agar media, which were incubated at two different temperatures corresponding to human body temperature (37°C) and room temperature (25°C). Noticeable is that almost all agars incubated at 25°C show a greater count of colonies than those incubated at 37°C.
If you need assistance with writing your essay, our professional essay writing service is here to help!
The Apartment of interest is on the top floor and recently experienced some water damage due to a leak in the roof structure. It currently houses an Oceanic 29 gallon Biocube, which evaporates about one gallon of water within a week. The Apartment temperature was set to 25 C while conducting the experiment. The building contains vaulted ceilings and central air conditioning, which creates various microclimates favorable by fungi and bacteria. In addition, the living room and bedroom of the apartment contains carpet. Airborne fungal spores can cause irritations and allergies and can even compromise the human immune system in less maintained buildings (Taylor et al. 2014).
The kingdom Fungi includes funguses or fungi, which represent a large group of eukaryotic organisms. All fungi are heterotrophs, which means they absorb nutrients through their cell walls and cell membranes. They are essential to our environment, because they decompose organic material and therefore, recycle nutrients essential for plant growth. Besides yeast, all fungi consist of elongated filaments, also called hyphae. When the hyphae grows bigger in size, it creates a network called mycelium. Once fruiting, they become mushrooms or molds. Fungi are abundant everywhere, such as dead matter, air, and soil but also in symbiosis with plants, animals and/or with other fungi (Van De Graaff, Kent M. et al, 2009).
Bacteria belong to prokaryotic microorganisms, which lack a true nucleus and bounded organelles. They appear in different shapes such as spiral, spherical or rod-shaped. It is believed that bacteria were the first life form on our planet and are therefore present in soil, water, deep in the earth crust, and extreme conditions such as nuclear reactors. Most bacteria are harmless and can be found on and in the human body like the gastrointestinal tract. They also live in symbiosis with other animals and plants. One of their roles is to break down surrounding organic materials by converting them into absorbable compounds. (Van De Graaff, Kent M. et al, 2009).
The media for this lab includes Rose Bengal Agar (RBA), Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA) and trypticase soy Agar (TSA). In past research experiments PDA and RBA have been used to cultivate fungi. TSA is used for Bacterial growth (Neogen 2011).
Frequent sinus infections were traced back to severe allergic irritations in eyes and sinuses, which compromised the renter's immune system and caused illness. Therefore, this experiment focuses on bacterial and fungi abundance in air regarding different locations with three different growth media. Due to the structure of the apartment, greater fungal counts should be expected at 25oC than at 37oC.
Experiment was conducted from 10/26/2014 until 11/02/2014. Each agar was prepared with 500 ml deionized water, which was added into three different 1 liter conical flasks. Each dehydrated medium was weighed according to each Agar type: 16 g of Rose Bengal Agar, 39 g of Potato Dextrose Agar, and 40 g of Trypticase Soy Agar. Each dehydrated media was added into its own flask, it was well shaken and mixed. After sealing each flask with aluminum foil and autoclave tape, all three flasks were autoclaved at 15 PSI (120°C) for 20 minutes. Once safe to open the autoclave machine, the flasks were taken out and allowed to cool down.
Meanwhile, 4 petri dishes were labeled for each location, Patio, Bedroom, Living room and bathroom. Each flask was tilted sideways before removing the aluminum foil to prevent contamination through air entering the flask. The solution was then poured into 24 petri dishes. All dishes were left out for about 30 minutes to cool down and solidify.
After sealing each petri dish, there were transported to the location of interest. Two petri dishes of each agar were exposed for 15 minutes at each location besides the patio location, which were exposed for only 5 minutes. Of the two petri dishes from each location, one was incubated at 25°C while the other one was incubated at 37°C.
All petri storage units were sterilized before exposed petri dishes were placed upside-down inside of it. The first storage united only contained petri dishes incubated of 25oC, where as the second unit contained only dishes incubated for 37°C. Each united was labeled accordantly and placed in its according incubation set to 25°C or 37°C. After a week, plates were examined and number of colonies were noted. Only fungi colonies were recorded on Rose Bengal and Potato Dextrose agar, while Trypticase Soy Agar only noted Bacteria colonies.
Note that high numbers of 35 and 26 fungi colonies have been counted on RBA and PDA which were exposed outside for 5 minutes and incubated at 25°C. In contrast, TSA only showed 7 bacterial colonies at the same conditions. TSA shows great numbers of 19 bacterial colonies at 25°C in the bathroom, while Rose bengal only counts fungi colony for the same location. On the other hand, Potato Dextrose counts 4 fungal colonies. Noticeable is that almost all agars incubated at 25°C show a greater count of colonies than those incubated at 37°C, except PDA for the bathroom (Table 1).
Fungi are present everywhere in great numbers and play an important role in decomposing organic matter. Our subtropical climate outside contains heat and moisture, which can affect the building structure. Furthermore, the apartment houses a 29 gallon Oceanic Biocube, which evaporates approximately one gallon within a week. The greatest amount of colonial growth was noted outside on my patio in PDA and RBA. PDA is composed of Potato Starch and Dextrose that encourages fungal growth, because dextrose and starch are a sugar unit called glucose. It functions as an energy source for fungal sporulation. This explains why 26 fungi colonies have been noted on PDA. The final pH of PDA is 5.6 +/- 0.2 which inhibits most bacterial growth but provides a good base for fungi. Some of the components in Rose Bengal Agar are soy pentose and dextrose. These substances provide nitrogen, vitamins, and energy encouraging fungal growth. Rose Bengal is a major ingredient in the Agar to avoid rapidly growing molds and inhibits bacterial growth. Another ingredient is Magnesium Sulfate, providing trace elements essential for good fungal growth. All the ingredients provide a perfect base for fungal growth, explaining the 35 colonies counted. On the other hand, the air inside the apartment is filtered, dried, cooled down, and distributed by the air conditioner. Nevertheless, the water vapor from the aquarium causes high humidity within the apartment and changes the air conditions within the rooms.
Some fungi and bacteria live in symbiosis within the human gastrointestinal tract. This explains why the greatest number of bacterial colonies were present in the bathroom. One ingredient in TSA is Pancreatic Digestion of casein, which provides nitrogen, vitamins and carbons for good bacterial growth. A majority of bacteria and fungi are known to survive very harsh conditions known to humans. Therefore, even though the bathroom is frequently cleaned, some bacteria and fungi are able to survive. As a result, 19 colonies in the bathroom were collected and incubated. Bacteria and fungi grow in many environments with different temperatures, from the cold arctic to hot springs. Therefore, the optimum growth temperatures vary. Bacteria can be psychrophilic, mesophilic, or thermophilic, with wide ranges of temperatures. Bacteria living within the human digestive system are exposed to a temperature of 37°C, explaining the colonial count at 37°C (Eddleman 1998).
Fungi can live in different ranges of temperatures just as Bacteria, but the ranges differ. Most fungi are mesophilic, which lay between 18°C-22°C. Some fungi are tolerant to temperature changes, meaning they can survive or even grow in higher or lower temperatures varying from their optimum temperature. On the one hand, if the temperatures rise below the optimum temperature range, it can slow down or even inhibit chemical reactions, which can slow down growth. On the other hand, higher temperatures lead to denaturation of enzymes causing death of the cell. Therefore, the petri dishes incubated at


My Book
'How to have a garden you love that fits beautifully into your lifestyle.'
Book by Garden Designer, Sally Tierney BSc(Hons), MSGD. of Yorkshire Garden Designer.
The Garden Equation consists of three steps which, if used and applied correctly, will give you all the information you need to make the right choices to create or adapt the ideal garden for you and what is going on in your life at that time. Hopefully, by the end of this book, you will be thinking about the garden as an integral and essential part of your immediate living space which is just as important to you as a room in your house.
Chapters Include:
 1. What Is Preventing Your Garden Being a Delight
 2. Know What You Want
 3. Identifying the Growing Conditions in Your Garden and Why They Are Important
 4. Maintenace Considerations
 5. Where To Get Ideas and Inspiration From
 6. What To Do If Your Garden Is Becoming A Burden
 7. What To Do If Your Garden Is Already Out of Control
 8. The Next Steps: How To Translate The Ideas and Pretty Pictures Into Reality
 9. How To Keep The Garden In Tune With Your Lifestyle In The Future
Get in touch today, call 01904 623 343
You currently have JavaScript disabled!


text:
Going, Going, Gone: The impact of land fragmentation
on Texas agriculture and wildlife
A New Breed of Landowner
For generations, land in Texas was a legacy. It was passed down from one generation of farmers or ranchers to the next. In today's world, however, traditional farming and ranching have become questionable propositions. Fewer and fewer people are willing to take on the challenges of a life on the land.
A new breed of landowners, excited about staking their claim to a bit of Texas, is eager to step in. Younger, more educated and more affluent, the newcomers are quite different from their predecessors. For them a "farm" or "ranch" is not a place to raise crops or cattle, but rather a weekend retreat from the city or a place to raise a family in the country.
Unlike previous owners, they don't need the large acreages of land required to make farming or ranching profitable. Instead, they merely want a place where they can hunt, fish and find a little solitude. Huge expanses of land aren't required for such things.
As a result, prices aren't driven by what the land can produce, but rather by its scenic and recreational value. Those natural amenities have become precious commodities. In many counties across Texas they have pushed prices for land to record levels.
The fragmentation study found that while the average agricultural value of farm and ranchland grew only 4 percent between 1992 and 2001, there were 25 counties where the development and recreational value of land increased between 86 percent and 292 percent. (Look at a map of this disparity between land values) The study found that such increases in "non-agricultural" values were a good early indicator that large farms and ranches would likely be divided into smaller ownerships. The study also revealed that this land fragmentation is often accompanied by changes in land use and fragmentation of wildlife habitats.
The researchers found that "mid-sized" family ranches of 500 to 2,000 acres were particularly susceptible to fragmentation. During the 1990s, these properties disappeared at a rate of a quarter-million acres a year because families who had lived and worked on those lands for generations sold them and moved on. (More information on the decline of mid-sized ranches)
The decision to sell is often a matter of simple, heartbreaking economics. With developers offering far more money than they can make from the land by farming or ranching, landowners accept the offers, often reluctantly, and move on. As they depart, a major piece of Texas' rural heritage disappears. Rural economies are often left in shambles as stockyards, grain elevators, farm implement dealers and other ranch-related enterprises close their doors.
Managing Director, Field Programs
1 Short Street, Suite 2
Northampton, MA 01060
(p) _PHONE_ (f) _PHONE_
Texas Regional home page


text:
. Actions 140 define the next step to be followed for each of the possible replies. Of course, when more than one reply 134 is allowed for a particular query 132, actions 140 would define the procedure to be followed for each of the possible allowed combinations. Alternatively, default actions 140 may be assigned within a dialog 100 for that reply 134 to which no action 140 has been defined. For instance, one such default action would be to go to the next query. Further, more than one action 140 may be assigned to a particular reply 134.
Possible actions 140 includes next function 142, jump function 144, newdialog function 146, database function 148, playfile function 150, alert function 152, measure function 154 and terminate function 156. When Next function 142 is applied to a particular reply 134, the next query is put to the user. Jump function 144 instructs the program to go to specified query 134 within dialog 100. Newdialog function 146 instructs the program to terminate the present dialog and download another dialog 100 from communication network 50 or that stored at remote terminal 72. Database function 148 instructs the program to make amendments and additions in profile database 44 and tasklist database 46. Playfile function 150 instructs the program to download and run a specified datafile 136 from communication network 50 or that stored at remote terminal 72. It is of particular value where multimedia components such as digital audio and video streams containing health related messages may be played to individual 70.
Alert function 152 instructs the program to send an alert message to healthcare provider 60 informing him/her of the receipt of specified reply 134 to query 132. Alert function is intended to be used in case a given combination of replies received from individual 70 is likely to lead to a poor health status in the near future, and/or when immediate intervention is required and/or the healthcare provider 60 would need to be informed about the reply 134 urgently. Measure function 154 contains instructions to remote terminal 72 to collect measurements from monitoring device 74. Health related parameters may be collected from individual 70 and sent to remote health management system 10 by this function.
Terminate function 156 instructs the program to terminate the execution of specified content 130. Terminate function 156 additionally includes an arithmetic or logical method for computation of the results of a specified group of queries 132 and replies 134. For example, dialog content 130 can include a number of queries, with each of the replies being assigned a score 158. Terminate function 156 may be used to instrict the program to compute arithmetically the final score 159 for a given set of queries 134. Alternatively, logical methods may be used to derive score 159 for each of one or more combinations of replies 134. Alternatively, any of actions 140 may be assigned to final score 159. An advantage of terminate function is that long standardized questionnaires for risk determination in a variety of conditions may be applied to individual 70 in their original format and scored automatically, and the final score 159 be further used to execute action 140. It will be obvious to anyone versed in the art that a number of methods and programming languages are available to write programs that can interpret dialog content 130 and perform any of the above functions.
The provider who has access to create new content does so using a simple dialog composer as embodied in
The same steps 388 are repeated for each of the follow up queries, till all the queries and follow up queries within the dialog 100 have associated actions 140 assigned to them. By clicking on customization icon 390, the provider activates customization dialog box 392. Customization dialog box 392 allows the user to customize the dialog to different kinds of remote terminals 72 and monitoring devices 74, and make additions to the output over and above the baseline dialog. For instance, the provider can include specific multimedia components to be served on individual 70 in addition to/lieu of any of the actions 140 wherever the remote terminal 72, monitoring device 74 and communication network 50 support it. The advantage of customization dialog box is that it allows the provider to make additions to existing dialogs and add multimedia and other components without changing the basic structure of the queries that are applied to individual 70. In this manner, a 'master dialog' can be initially created that includes data components of all supported remote terminals 72. As and when newer and enhanced versions of remote terminals 72 become available, the corresponding components may be selectively appended and modified within dialog 100.
By clicking on the output icon 394, the provider activates the output dialog box 396. At any time during or after the dialog creation process, the provider can review the dialog created, using a simulation interface to an appropriate appliance, or alternatively the provider can review the actual dialog content in a text only overview window.
Once all the follow up queries, replies and output dialogs are formulated and put onto the construction platform 370, the newly created dialogs are stored in a dialogs library 48 from where it may be incorporated by provider 60 and content assignor 28 in care management programs and for future updating and editing.
In the preferred embodiment, dialog library 48 stores hundreds of dialogs 100 in various languages relating to possible health conditions of individual 70, such as asthma, diabetes, nicotine addiction, etc. To narrow the focus of registration dialog 100R, dialog generator 30 communicates with content assignor 28, which tailors an interview dialog 100I in dependence upon language 81 and current and co-morbid health conditions of individual 70. For example, in
Registration dialog 100R is illustrated in greater detail in
Registration dialog 100R further includes a second category of queries 166 for determining the motivational drivers of individual 70. Category 166 is divided into six subsets of queries including longevity 168, quality of life 170, family life 172, social responsibility 174, social acceptability 175 and economy 176 for determining a value placed by individual 70 on various motivating factors for modifying his or her behavior. Subset 168 is for determining the value placed by individual 70 on longevity. For example, where individual 70 is a smoker, subset 168 includes queries to determine if the prospect of living a long life would provide sufficient motivation to quit smoking.
Subset 170 is for determining the value placed by individual 70 on the quality of his or her life. In the smoking example, subset 170 includes queries to determine if an improvement in smoking symptoms, such as no longer suffering coughing fits, would provide sufficient motivation to quit smoking. Subset 172 is for determining the value placed by individual 70 on family life. In the smoking example, subset 172 includes queries to determine if an improvement in family life, such as no longer harming relatives with second hand smoke, would provide sufficient motivation to stop smoking. Subset 175 is for determining the value placed by individual 70 on social acceptability. In the smoking example, subset 175 includes queries to determine if an improvement in social acceptability, such as no longer offending people with bad breath, would provide sufficient motivation to quit smoking.
Subset 174 is for determining the value placed by individual 70 on social responsibility. In the smoking example, subset 174 includes queries to determine if an improvement in social responsibility, such as not burdening society with the cost of Emphysema treatment, would positively motivate individual 174 to quit smoking. Subset 176 is for determining the value placed by individual 70 on economy. In the smoking example, subset 176 includes queries to determine if the cost savings associated with no longer purchasing cigarettes would provide sufficient motivation to quit smoking.
Registration dialog 100R also includes a third category of queries 178 for determining the comprehension capacity of individual 70. Category 178 is divided into four subsets of queries including age 180, language skills 182, reading habits 184, and educational background 186 for determining various comprehension capacity factors. Subset 180 is for determining an age of individual 70 and subset 182 is for determining language skills of individual 70. Similarly, subset 184 is for determining reading habits of individual 70 and subset 186 is for determining the educational background of individual 70.
A fourth category of queries 188 is for determining a media preference of individual 70. Category 188 is divided into three subsets of queries including picture 190, text 192 and video games 194 for determining if the individual 70 prefers pictures, text, or video games, respectively. Of course, these types of media are just examples of possible media choices and other media, including mixed media selections, are possible in alternative embodiments. Registration dialog 100R and educational fulfillment bank 22 may offer other media choices in alternative embodiments, such as computer videos, musical lyrics, or hyper-text links.
Content assignor 28 is designed to parse through data contained within profile database 44, and selects those dialogs 100 from profile database 44 that are most appropriate to the health condition, profile, and needs of individual 70. The selected dialog(s) 100 are exported to script generator 32 that individualizes the dialog to individual 70, stores it in the dialogs library 48, and converts it to a format that is recognized by remote terminal 72 and sends it over communication network 50 via modem M1. The communication network 50 exchanges data between the monitoring device 74 and the individual 70 through the remote terminal 72 and the modem M2.
While a considerable amount of health related data may be available regarding an individual 70, in the interest of the health provider's productivity,


Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Instagram
People used magic to get out of Roman toilets alive and other revelations about daily life in ancient world
Boban Docevski
There is no doubt about the importance of ancient Roman advances in science, technology, and philosophy. On the other hand, some aspects of their lifestyle and habits remain controversial.
The ancient Roman Empire was truly a force to be reckoned with. Through their monumental efforts, the Romans managed to conquer a huge territory and unify it with law, architecture, and art. Today, we still benefit from the knowledge they left us.
But a closer view of the evidence about their day to day life reveals behavior that was far from glamorous. It turns out that some of the things they did would be considered as disgusting and unethical today. Here are some of the worst:
Public toilets were a dangerous place to be in
Ancient Roman latrines (latrinae) in Ostia Antica.
It seems that Roman toilets were a terrifying and deadly place; people even used magic to get out of them alive. Public toilets in Ancient Rome were the exact opposite of their public baths. Whereas baths were relaxed and pleasant places, toilets could be foreboding. The Roman public "throne" was usually a dark hole connected to a sewer channel, opened to all sorts of creatures. Some of the public toilets had even 50 dark holes with no dividers between them.
Danger lurked in every corner. Very often rats (or some other critters) would crawl up the hole and bite the posterior of the unlucky person. Another problem were methane buildups in the sewer. On some occasions, the gas would ignite and expose people to naked flames. It could be an explosive experience.
This is why people all around the empire relied upon magic and superstition for toilet protection. Archaeologists found many magical spells meant to ward off demons etched into lavatory walls. Another thing that demons hated was laughter. People used to carve all sorts of caricatures that helped them laugh while doing their business inside. When the situation was particularly dire, people called on the gods for help. One such goddess was the Roman goddess of luck, Fortuna. An image of Fortuna guarded some of the toilets. It took a long time for the Romans to realize that they needed hygiene, not luck, to stay healthy and safe inside the toilets.
People shared a sponge in public toilets
A replica xylospongium (sponge on a stick). Author: D. Herdemerten ( Hannibal21 ) CC BY-SA3.0
We have already mentioned how dangerous and disgusting the ancient Roman toilets were, but it gets even worse. People back then didn't have the luxury of toilet paper. Instead, they used all sorts of things for wiping. One of the most common tools was a sponge on a stick.
This dirty tool was called a "xylospongium" and usually there were only a few of them per public toilet, resting in a basin of dirty water. The worst part is that they were shared and never cleaned after usage. This was probably the most efficient way to spread bacteria and diseases (such as typhoid and cholera) in the ancient days.
Urine was used for dental hygiene
Toothpaste on brush. Author: Thegreenj CC BY-SA3.0
Urine had a wide variety of usages in the Roman Empire. People used it for tanning leather, washing clothes, for veterinary purposes, for growing fruits (fertilizing), and last but not least, for teeth whitening. Urine was so important that the empire issued special laws and taxes for trading with urine.
Apparently, urine was a major trading good in Ancient Rome. People used to pee in pots which were later emptied into cesspools. The collected pee was then sold as an ingredient to businesses that paid the Urine Tax. Some of the workshops, such as tanneries, had pots placed at the entrance, in which people could relieve themselves.
Urine had one other, more personal, purpose. It was used as mouthwash! Romans claimed that urine kept their teeth white and clean. The idea is legit, but the thought of cleaning your mouth with urine is still disgusting. Urine decomposes into ammonia, and ammonia is a great cleaning product, efficient in removing stains. According to the Roman author Cattulus, people used both human and animal urine to whiten their teeth.
Charioteers drank an energy drink made of Goat dung
Goat feces. Author: Thamizhpparithi Maari CC BY-SA3.0
Another ingredient that Romans used very often was goat dung. According to Pliny the Elder (a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher), goat dung, besides other things, was useful for patching up wounds in case of emergency. Pliny wrote that the best dung was collected in spring and dried out, but fresh droppings could do the trick too.
If putting it on wounds is not terrible enough, wait to hear about a drink they used to make. Ancient Roman charioteers (trigarius), used to make a sports drink out of powdered goat dung and vinegar. It was thought that the drink gave strength to exhausted charioteers. According to Pliny, the drink was so good that even Nero drank it "when he wanted to strengthen himself for the trigarium."
Vomiting on the table was a common practice
Roman fresco with banquet scene from the Casa dei Casti Amanti (IX 12, 6-8) in Pompeii.
There are multiple testimonies about Roman feasts throughout written history. Roman banquets are described as glorious and rich, with an abundance of food. These people knew how to throw a party! They used to fill their bellies until there was no more space, and then some more. According to Seneca, they would eat until they couldn't anymore—and then vomit so that they could keep eating.
Read another story from us: In ancient Rome, don't even think about spouting philosophy without the right kind of beard
The act of throwing up wasn't done in the privacy of the bathroom. Instead of walking away from the table, they used to do it in bowls which they conveniently kept close by (around the table). Sometimes they even did it directly on the floor and continued eating as nothing happened at all. They didn't care because they weren't the ones that cleaned the mess. Seneca wrote: "When we recline at a banquet, one [slave] wipes up the spittle; another, situated beneath, collects the leavings [vomit] of the drunks."


PRINCE 2 Agile Practitioner
what is PRINCE2 Agile Practitioner?
PRINCE2 Agile is being described as the world's most complete project management solution. It combines the flexibility and responsiveness of Agile with the effective governance and control of PRINCE2. It creates an environment where we can focus on both management and delivery.
This intensive exam preparatory course offers a clear, comprehensive understanding of PRINCE2 Agile. Through practice exams, workshops and overnight study, you gain the knowledge required to take the PRINCE2 Agile Practitioner examination in order to achieve certification. Expert PRINCE2 Agile –accredited instructors provide the necessary guidance to prepare for the examination through a series of practice exam questions and case study-based working that reinforce the concepts taught in the course.
Our Approach:
By the end of this training you will:
- Understand the core concepts of PRINCE2 Agile Practitioner module.
Attendees must be a current PRINCE2 Registered Practitioner to be eligible to take the PRINCE2 Agile Practitioner exam. If you are not a PRINCE2 Practitioner, Course 177, PRINCE2® Achieving Foundation & Practitioner Certification will prepare you to take the exam. If you are a PRINCE2 Practitioner and your registration has expired, Course 178, PRINCE2® Practitioner and Re-registration Certification will prepare you to take the PRINCE2 Practitioner registration exam.
Course Preview
- Establishing the rationale of PRINCE2 Agile
- Identifying who can use it
Introducing PRINCE2 Agile
- Comparing projects to business as usual
- Positioning PRINCE2 Agile for projects only
Characterising the meaning of Agile
- Establishing the basics
- Summarising the most well-known agile frameworks
- Introducing behaviours, concepts and techniques
Blending PRINCE2 and Agile
- Supporting the PRINCE2 community
- Identifying the benefits of PRINCE2 Agile
- Establishing when and where to apply PRINCE2 Agile
Applying Agile to the PRINCE2 journey
- Reviewing the constituent parts of PRINCE2
- Clarifying the tailoring appropriate to agile working
- Visualising the pre-project and the initiation stage
- Enhancing the delivery stages
- Simplifying the final delivery stage
Flexing and fixing
- Focusing on flexing what is to be delivered
- Fixing time and cost
- Defining the five targets; the reasons that underpin the thinkin
Getting started with PRINCE2 Agile
- Applying the PRINCE2 principles
- Introducing Agile behaviours
Applying the 7 PRINCE2 themes
- Establishing which themes are most prominent
- Developing the Business Case theme
- Extending the Organisation theme
- Clarifying the application of the Quality theme
- Combining Agile concepts into the Plans and Progress themes
- Maintaining the Risk and Change themes
Tailoring the 7 PRINCE2 processes
- Incorporating Sprints and flow-based timeboxes
- Maintaining clear project justification and addressing emergent thinking
- Tailoring Controlling a Stage to an Agile environment
- Managing the interface between Project Management and Product Delivery
- Ensuring that Agile concepts guide the delivery
- Confirming viability of the project with stage boundaries
- Closing the project appropriately
Integrating Agile concepts and techniques into PRINCE2
- Assessing project complexity with the Cynefin framework
- Utilising Scrum and Kanban to help with product delivery
- Enhancing learning and managing uncertainty using the Lean Start-up method
- Applying Lean Start-up to PRINCE2
Assessing Agile suitability with the Agilometer
- Pinpointing 6 key areas of agile suitability
- Determining the agile environment of a project
- Tailoring PRINCE2 based upon feedback on the 6 key areas
Defining requirements and user stories
- Developing requirements so they are conducive to agile working
- Reviewing approaches for prioritising requirements
- Defining product descriptions with the right level of detail
Communicating effectively
- Developing rich communication
- Shifting the emphasis to enable agile working
Releasing early and frequently
- Realising the benefits of frequent releases
- Planning the project on features and requirements
- Employing product-based planning
Creating contracts when using Agile
- Collaborating to create a contract based upon outcomes
- Driving the right behaviours
- Structuring a contract to align with agile working
- The contract as a safety net


text:
Evaluating the Field Performance of Windows and Curtain Walls of Large Buildings
Windows and metal & glass curtain walls generally represent as much as 50% to 100% of the exterior cladding of large buildings and are determining elements in the performance of the vertical building envelope. They are often an important architectural feature of a building and represent a significant portion of the overall cost of a building construction or renovation project. As a determining element in the performance of the vertical building envelope, they must be air and water tight, prevent condensation from occurring on the interior surfaces and resist wind load and other exterior forces acting on the building envelope. Given the ever growing complexity and variety of modern building envelopes, the evaluation of their performance in the pre-construction and construction phase is essential in order to avoid undesirable and costly problems during the service life of the building.


text:
The role of mobile telephony on creating competitive advantage in the informal sector business in Kenya:a survey of Muthurwa Open Market
Kimani, Mwaura Reuben
MetadataShow full item record
The purpose of this study was to examine the role of mobile phones on creating competitive advantage in the informal sector businesses in Kenya. The study employed a descriptive research design to explore the impact of mobile phones on the growth and survival of informal sectors business in Kenya. In particular, the current study searched to answer the question "What is the role of mobile phones on creating competitive advantage by the informal sector businesses in Kenya?" The study also sought to determine whether the use of mobile phones reduces the costs of operation, increase sales, improve business growth and meet customers' needs. The scope of the study was limited to the informal sector businesses within Nairobi county particularly Muthurwa open market. The population of interest consisted of all the operators at Muthurwa open-market. The target population composed of 1200 operators. From the sampling frame, 150 respondents from the various categories were be involved. The respondents were selected using stratified random sampling. The population was stratified on the basis of category of informal sector business operated. The data collection method for this research was a questionnaire. A draft questionnaire was presented to ten respondents from two informal business categories after which it was redesigned based on the feedback. The questionaire was administered through drop and pick method. A interview was administered to respondents who would not read and write. The collected data was edited, coded and tabulated then entered into a personal computer for analysis using the statistical packages, SPSS and Microsoft Excel. The collected data was the analyzed based on the objective of the study. A systematic presentation of both quantitative and qualitative was done using graphs and pie charts. Challenges facing informal sector businesses were identified and how the use of mobile phones have tried to solve the identified challenges. From the analysis of the data collected, the researcher summarizes the various findings from the study on how mobile telephony had impacted on the informal sector businesses. The researcher further suggest in depth study to be carried out on how the use of mobile telephony can enhance survival of informal sector businesses in a dynamic competitive environment.


text:
|Kingdom of Granseal|
A ship leaves Granseal, traveling down the River
|Type||Kingdom and City-State|
|Location||South-East corner of Grans Island|
Granseal is the name of both a kingdom and its capital city, a walled city-state, in Shining Force II: Ancient Sealing. It is located on the continent known as Grans Island, from which it draws its name, and was founded at the conclusion of Shining Force Gaiden: Final Conflict. Granseal is central to the plot of Shining Force II.
The term "Granseal" is actually a corruption of the words "Ground Seal". The city and castle sit atop Arc Valley, the scene of a great ancient battle between the Greater Devils Zeon, Lucifer, and Darksol, as well as their resting place. The Ancient Tower, the original "ground seal", is situated in an enclosed mountainous area to the north of the castle, and only King Granseal has access to it, although he doesn't know its true purpose. Although Granseal was founded to watch over the location, obviously only King Nosshu himself was ever told of this purpose, else no one would have been stupid enough to make their home right on top of the resting place of the Devil Kings. It is not known why this knowledge wasn't passed down to the succeeding kings, but Shining Force Gaiden: Final Conflict shows that Nosshu was an extremely weak king, and without an established bloodline to cement his legitimacy, it is more than likely that someone overthrew him shortly after the nation's founding. If this second king of Granseal ever heard of Arc Valley and the Ancient Tower's true purpose, it's quite possible that he dismissed them as myths.
Despite this shaky start to the nation's leadership, Granseal was blessed with peace and prosperity for its first few decades of existence. Granseal's founding was blessed by the only other significant power in the region, Galam, and they remained allies for these initial decades. Granseal maintained only a small standing army. They often dealt with external threats, such as the monsters which roam the wildernesses to the west of the city, yet the city walls often protected the citizens of Granseal. Granseal enjoyed good trade with Galam and the other smaller settlements of Grans Island.
Granseal is a monarchy. There is also a Minister who assists the king in his rule, carrying out most of the administrative and diplomatic duties, and also acting on occasion as an advisor or counselor to the king.
- Castle Granseal - the largest building in Granseal, an imposing castle from which the king rules, and also home to the royal family and the Minister. The army, city guard and city watchmen also have their barracks in the castle.
- Sir Astral's School - where Sir Astral teaches his pupils
- Pet Shop
- Port - a bustling harbor on the southern shore of the city. The port is filled with sailors, fishing boats, merchant ships, and passenger ships containing immigrants to Granseal.
Granseal is home to a mixed population of Humans, Elves, Centaurs, Hobbits and Dwarves. Humans appear to make up the bulk of the population and the priest and two merchants are human, as are the inhabitants of the castle and city harbor.
- King Granseal - the king of Granseal.


text:
- Plesk Onyx for Linux
Is it possible to set an SSL certificate for a domain with "Forwarding" Hosting Type?
The functionality is not implemented in Plesk yet. Take part in our product improvement by referring to the following link:
As a workaround it is possible to go through one of the two the following possible ways:
Other website is hosted somewhere else
- Set the Hosting Type of the website to Website-Hosting.
- Remove all the files in the home httpdocs directory
- Create an
index.htmlfile and add the following content:
Your browser does not support frames.
Note: This will always redirect to HTTPS, even if the customer is visiting HTTP. Replace _URL_ with the appropriate URL.
Other website is hosted on the same server
Warning: the actions suggested below are not officially supported by Plesk, however it should work for some extent. Use them on one's own risk.
Create a forwarding domain with the Hosting Type Website Hosting inside subscription of the main domain. For example - main domain - example.com; forwarding domain - example2.com:
Plesk > Subscriptions > example.com > Add Domain
Add Let's Encrypt certificate to example2.com via Plesk > Subscriptions > example.com > example2.com > Let's Encrypt.
Connect to the server via SSH.
Remove the document root of the example2.com:
# rm -r /var/www/vhosts/example.com/example2.com
Create a symbolic link to document root of the main domain example.com:
# ln -s /var/www/vhosts/example.com/httpdocs /var/www/vhosts/example.com/example2.com
Change the ownership of newly created symbolic to match the owner of example.com.
# ls -ld /var/www/vhosts/example.com/httpdocs/
drwxr-x--- 19 jdoe psaserv 4096 Oct 9 22:56 /var/www/vhosts/example.com/httpdocs/
# chown -h jdoe:psaserv /var/www/vhosts/example.com/example2.com


text:
We Have an Innovative Approach
The Rare Disease Foundation is focused on linking basic science and clinical practice to increase the efficiency of rare disease research. This model is called Translational Care. This model drives patient based, treatment focussed research projects from disease characterization to treatment with greater efficiency. By incorporating research, astute clinician observation and patient and family knowledge into the various stages of rare disease research we impact the speed of discovery and the way rare conditions are managed.
Vision - updated July 2016
Revolutionizing rare disease care
Mission - updated July 2016
To create communities of patients, caregivers, health care providers, researchers & supporters, that work together to transform the lives of those living with rare disease
Our Values - updated July 2016
- We are focused on the best interest of our community
- We take pride in being nimble, agile and efficient
- Our approach is disruptive of the status quo and our work is transformative
- We create community, a sense of belonging, and receive and empower the disenfranchised through mutual respect and acceptance without regard for differences of any kind
- We create hope and empower
- We celebrate resiliency of the community we serve
- We are collaborative and connected
2016 - 2019 Strategy - updated July 2016
Full strategy document available here.
- Grow and nurture our Peer 2 Peer (P2P) Resource Groups to become the go to representative for RD families
- Develop efficient and robust infrastructure
- Enhance online communication and marketing identity and capacity
- Develop consistent, reliable and scalable funding streams for our programs, research and operations
- Increase awareness and engagement of the Foundation within the healthcare trainee and provider community
- Develop a rare disease research program identity
What is a Rare Disease? How Many Canadians Have a Rare Disease?
A rare disease is defined as a condition affecting fewer than 1 in 2000 people. There are more than 7000 diagnosed rare diseases and many more undiagnosed diseases. About 1 in 12 people (nearly three million Canadians) have a rare disease. Most known rare disorders are severe and chronic, with many being degenerative and life threatening. Rare diseases are poorly characterized so many conditions remain unamed. People who do not have a specific diagnosis can be denied access to necessary medical support services.
What We Do
As part of our Research Focused Initiatives, the foundation has developed a Microgrant Program that kick starts research on patient focused projects for rare, under-studied diseases. As a compliment to research activities, the organization developed Parent Support Initiatives to foster the organization and empowerment of the rare disease community. The Parent2Parent Resource Network is a group of local forums for cross-disease information sharing and social support. The group provides a means of organizing families for mutual support, mentoring and knowledge sharing regardless of their diagnosis. The community can then undertake educational outreach and advocacy issues relevant to a wide spectrum of rare diseases.
Why Traditional Research Grants are Limited in Effectiveness for Rare Disease Research
Financial and administrative barriers deter physicians, clinician scientists and scientists from submitting funding requests for small patient markets. By definition rare diseases mean there are very few subjects and sadly those subjects often die before further characterization of the disease or condition can be centralized for research purposes. Standardized drug trials require a certain number of subjects for a specified length of time.
Due to the small patient market of a rare disease population, there are limited drug discovery initiatives funded by pharmaceutical companies. Therapies may be available but are not distributed or developed further due to the limited demand. Many rare diseases can benefit from the re-purposing of traditional drug therapies used for other conditions, however much research needs to be done before approval can be given for re-purposing. A Microgrant would fund the initial stages of this type of study.
Increasingly narrow areas of medical expertise are a requisite of many granting agencies. The funds are provided based on very restricted parameters. Governments want doctors to spend grants to study the project as detailed in the application. If, during the course of research, an interesting discovery is made that requires investigation outside of the mandated parameters then the discovery cannot be pursued until another grant is obtained. Since there are many more grant applications than funds available, value judgements are often made as to which grant will help the most number of people, and those are then funded. This makes it very difficult to obtain funding for care-focused research on a rare disease.
Registered Canadian Charity #


United States
How do you justify using a third-party vs. doing ourselves?
Recently I was with a room full of IT directors, discussing the importance of performing cost-benefit analysis before going to the management/board for approval. Someone asked, "How do you justify using a third-party, when we can do it ourselves? The math always makes it cheaper for us to do it in-house."
The room split on that point and my immediate reaction was "not necessarily", as both an accountant and a technologist, I love numbers, but to make an equation or a program work, you need to give it all the data. When determining the right answer for utilizing a third-party or staying in-house it is more than just the hours required to complete a task, there is a time value to money.
Why do you use third-party vendors?
If you believe that employee cost is a "sunk" cost and are essentially "free" why would you ever use a third-party? Today, few organizations are able to do all tasks in-house, specialization, technology, lack of resources and the speed of change has made it nearly impossible. While all organizations need to have a robust third-party relationship management program, to protect both themselves and the vendor, below are a few of the most common reasons third-parties are utilized:
 - You need an independent view, oftentimes you have long tenured employees, which is incredibly valuable to the organization. It can also be limiting, sometimes having a new point of view to suggest updated processes, new technologies or to resolve specific issues is helpful.
 - You need an expertise you don't have internally, you can figure it out but a third-party can do it faster. For example, implementing a solution, selecting software, or conducting a fraud investigation, all can be done in-house, but third-parties have focused experts, contacts in the industry and often can share insights, discounts and leading practices.
 - Share the liability, it requires specialized training and typically offers a guarantee of some type. For example, cybersecurity, the rules change constantly, requiring focus. Utilizing a third-party is often required as part of insurance policies.
 - Just as vendors have specialties, so do your employees. There are many things that make your organization unique that only your employees can maintain, or special projects that would be best handled by people with institutional knowledge. Outsourcing tasks that will free time for your "institutional specialists" is a better utilization of resources.
 - Is it cost effective? Today, many operational areas have been commoditized and have become very cost effective to outsource. For example low risk – repeatable tasks such as patching, everyone on Microsoft has to patch, rather than dedicating a resource to keeping up with all the alerts etc. you use a vendor that focuses solely on that task.
 - Special projects, one-time needs, interim resources can back-fill or help perform needs in lieu of hiring. Mergers are a great example, there is a lot of work to be done in a short amount of time. Focus needs to be on joining the organizations but the day-to-day needs to be maintained. Everyone will pitch-in but there are only so many hours in a day. Using a third-party allows you to better meet the needs for a short time period.
How do you make the math work?
The goal of a cost benefit analysis is to confirm that the project has been thought out and all reasonable care has been given to include the costs and possible gains to the organization. In addition to a risk and benefits and assumptions statement a typical cost benefit calculation includes:
 - Implementation fees: Include one-time set-up fees, software, equipment annual fees and monthly depreciation
 - Monthly service fees: Volume or user based fees, typically ongoing for the life of the contract
 - Other expenses: Expenses required to make project viable, marketing, and training, etc.
 - Reduction in expense: Current expenses no longer needed, existing contracts, equipment, space, staff time (efficiency gain), etc.
 - Projected revenue: Anticipated income based on project
After our discussion with the IT directors, rather than including internal resources in the implementation fees or considering a "sunk cost", add another item.
 - Internal-utilization expense: Include the specific resources, time allocation and an estimated rate. Add a comment field to include what project they will give up in lieu of this, or the number of hours they will work a week.
This will allow you to provide the decision makers the appropriate data, a true fully-costed internally staffed and third-party alternative. As well as the trade-off, if we spend time doing Project X, we can't do Project Y.
Ultimately, there is a time value to money, as leaders we have to make the best decision based on the information provided.


Wealth, mortality link baffles researchers
There's a downside to having a booming economy: mortality in older and middle-aged people rises as a country's prosperity increases, research finds.
A study of 19 developed countries found short-term mortality among both 70-74-year-olds and 40-44-year-olds rose as gross domestic product picked up.
The effect was stronger in men than women, according to the study, which spanned 1950 to 2008.
It included Australia, the US and UK.
"In times of economic turmoil and population


text:
The aim of the PredicTox Knowledge Environment (KE) project is to advance the science of adverse event prediction by creating an integrated web-based knowledge environment consisting of multiple interconnected databases that capture quantitative multiscale biology of drug action. We refer to this as PredictTox-KE. The databases will contain information on clinical indications, preclinical physiological data, and cellular regulatory networks. Although many datasets relevant to drug-induced toxicities currently exist, the advantage of a centralized repository is that data can be normalized to ontologies to ensure consistent definitions. As such, all data in PredictTox-KE will be organized within a computable framework that enables integration and analysis.
Creation of the PredicTox-KE will enable an integrative approach to prediction of major adverse events associated with therapeutic agents. This will be done as a collaborative project between researchers at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS) and Critical Path Institute (C-Path). Data from academia, industry and publicly available databases will be integrated, and querying tools and analytical models will be developed to enable predictive toxicology. In this initial two-year demonstration project, we propose the creation of an initial proof of concept database containing clinical, cellular, and animal data related to adverse events (i.e. cardiomyopathy) caused by small-molecule (the "NIB" class; e.g. imatinib, sorafenib, sunitinib) or antibody (the "MAB" class; e.g. trastuzamab) protein kinase inhibitors used to treat cancer. Although these targeted therapeutics are being successfully used to treat several cancers, mechanisms underlying cardiotoxicity are poorly understood, which makes improved prediction of these serious adverse events an urgent issue.
The PredicTox-KE is expected to enable building of computational models for prediction of drug toxicity and, in the longer term, predictions for personalization of therapy to mitigate adverse events. The PredicTox-KE will store clinical, preclinical/physiological, cellular, and molecular (omics) data. In the longer term we hope to incorporate structural and genomic data and link to relevant genomic and epigenomic data in standard National Library of Medicine databases. We will harmonize data across domains and develop the databases and technical infrastructure to enable integrated analyses. Users of the PredicTox-KE will be able to build statistical, network and dynamical computational models to enable simulations that test hypotheses about drug actions and mechanisms underlying adverse events and prediction of adverse events.
Advance the science of adverse event prediction by creating computational models for prediction of drug toxicity and, in the longer term, predictions for personalization of therapy to mitigate adverse events.