Our investigation also revealed that closed trusts are likely to have benefited from at least £6 million in start-up funding.
There are also questions over what happens to important financial documents of collapsed trusts, with one expert claiming they are shredded a year after liquidation – despite guidance stating records should be kept for at least three years.
Schools Week collated the figures after the government admitted it does not collect figures for the number of trusts that have ceased to exist.
Why are trusts wound up?
It was not possible to find out exactly why each multi-academy trust closed. But reasons have included poor finances or outcomes for pupils and mergers with other chains.
Closing trusts as a result of mergers is a "good and responsible thing", according to Leora Cruddas, chief executive of the Confederation of School Trusts, which represents academy trusts.
However, other trusts were closed as a result of poor performance. The Perry Beeches Academy Trust, which started the process of being struck off from Companies House this month, had its five schools rebrokered after a government investigation into financial malpractice.
Cruddas said it was "absolutely right" the DfE is acting to close trusts that don't have the improvement capacity or financial capacity to support their schools.
The number of closures rose sharply from just one in 2014, to 12 in 2016, then 30 last year and 46 so far this year.
However it is still a small proportion of MATs. By comparison, the number of active MATs in England rose from 1,121 in November 2016, to 1,324 in January.
The government hands out grants of between £70,000 and £150,000 for new academy sponsors to set up a trust, and also covers running costs for trusts until their first school opens.
Even if all 91 closed trusts received the lowest possible grant, the DfE would have paid out at least £6.3 million to set them up.
Experts told Schools Week that when a collapsed trust cannot repay its debts to the DfE, the department has little choice but to write off what is owed.
For instance, the DfE wrote off more than £500,000 owed by Lilac Sky Schools Academy Trust when it closed last year and £300,000 owed by the Collective Spirit Community Trust, which is due to close soon.
The DfE also even handed the latter trust just over £250,000 to "assist in the close-down" of its Collective Spirit Free School in Oldham, Greater Manchester.
A search of some of the higher-profile trusts where the government has stepped in to rebroker all of their schools – some of which are yet to officially close – also show they are millions of pounds in deficit.
In May the University of Chester Academies Trust was cautioned by the Education and Skill Funding Agency for a £3 million deficit. A month later it was announced that the trust would close and give up all seven of its schools.
Perry Beeches, meanwhile, had a £2.1 million deficit in October 2016. It is now being wound up.
Schools Company Trust also abandoned its schools this year, leaving a deficit "in the region of £8 million".
In some cases, it may be possible for the government to reclaim money if it was spent improperly.
The DfE is looking to recover more than £300,000 in funding from the Bright Tribe Academy Trust, following allegations the money had not been used as intended. The trust offloaded its last six schools in September.
But where do a collapsed trust's documents go?
Lawyers who worked on the closure of academy trusts told Schools Week there is little guidance, or any official processes, from the DfE regarding closures.
There is also confusion over what happens to important documents after trusts are wound up.
The DfE pointed Schools Week to charity law showing that documents and records, such as board-meeting minutes, must be kept for three to six years.
Schools Week understands this includes pupil records that must be held for six years, though the period is longer for special-needs pupils.
The government said liquidators or administrators are responsible for ensuring that relevant documents are safeguarded after a closure. The service is paid for out of the assets of the company.
One restructuring expert, who did not want to be named, said it was not uncommon for a liquidator to dispose of records within 12 months of the trust being dissolved, provided that they have permission from stakeholders or shareholders.
However, this does not apply to pupil records.
Andy Jolley, a former school governor and transparency campaigner, said no consideration has been given to any potential future legal action, which would require documents to be retained.
Most trusts are wound up through the government's Insolvency Service. As the service is a public body, it is understood documents handed over would be subject to the freedom of information act.
However Schools Week's research found three trusts in "voluntary" liquidation with private liquidators, meaning any documents would fall out of reach of the FOI act.
It has emerged that the government has a team of troubleshooters – school leaders parachuted in as trustees to oversee struggling trusts.
The go-to shutdown specialist seems to be Angela Barry, a former headteacher appointed to the board of high-profile academy trust failures including Schools Company, Lilac Sky and Bright Tribe.
Speaking exclusively to Schools Week, Barry said the vast majority of people are in education "for all the right reasons".
But she added: "Where mistakes have been made – and these have happened in non-academies and academies – it is because people have lost sight of the moral imperative.
Barry, who has worked in education for more than 30 years, including over 20 years as a head or executive head, added her work for trusts was to "sort out the issues" and ensure the "most important people – the children in schools – can access the very best education possible as quickly as possible".
The Public Accounts Committee is due to scrutinise academy finances again next week with two hearings on "academy accounts and performance". Barry will appear on behalf of Bright Tribe on Monday.
When presented with our findings on trust closures, Meg Hillier, chair of the committee, said: "What is the impact on these children?
The DfE has detailed guidance for academy trusts that close their doors, but there is less information about the process of closing the trust.
Guidance states that disposal of academy assets – such as land, buildings, finances, and fixtures – will be carried out in partnership with regional schools commissioners.
Academy trusts are also responsible for meeting redundancy costs and pension liabilities.
Documents also state that once final accounts have been submitted, trusts should produce a "deed of termination" for agreement and sign-off by the government, before being removed from the register at Companies House.
Schools Week understands more detailed government guidance is due to be published shortly.
"The truth is that more academies than ever are joining or creating multi-academy trusts," a DfE spokesperson said.
Nearly nine in ten primary academies and 70 per cent of secondary academies are now in MATs.
When asked for the figures of closed trusts under the Freedom of Information Act, the DfE said it "does not collect information on trusts that cease to exist".
However the DfE sent a list of 621 trusts that were registered on its academies management information system but had no schools.
The majority of these were single-academy trusts which no longer have a school because it set up or joined a MAT.
We ignored these, and analysed just the 159 that were registered as multi-academy trusts to establish whether they had closed.
Using Companies House records, we found that 91 multi-academy trusts had closed or were in the process of closure. More than half of these closures were registered this year.
What a scandalous waste of public money. This is money that should be spent on children's education not propping up a flawed and politically driven system (I use the term loosely). Instead of handing schools round like parcels to a diminishing number of larger and larger MATs where trusts fail and there is a good local authority the school should be returned to the LA.
Education should not be for sale. It belongs to the local community it serves and should be investment rather than 'profit'. Greed of individuals is no good!


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text:
Home / copyright / ecj reference / sale of decoders / More competition for Europe's football industry
More competition for Europe's football industry
Jeremy Tuesday, October 04, 2011 - copyright, ecj reference, sale of decoders
Now drinkers can enjoy the IPKat's football prowess via Greek decoders
Breathlessly back on the blog after this morning's envigorating copyright and trade mark law training session with a bright and bushy-tailed batch of trainees, this Kat now turns to the main news of the moment, today's momentous ruling of the Court of Justice in Joined Cases C-403/08 Football Association Premier League Ltd, NetMed Hellas SA, Multichoice Hellas SA v QC Leisure, David Richardson, AV Station plc, Malcolm Chamberlain, Michael Madden, SR Leisure Ltd, Philip George Charles Houghton and Derek Owen and C-429/08 Karen Murphy v Media Protection Services Ltd [and if you think that's a long name for a case, just wait till you read the judgment, which runs to 211 paragraphs, adds Merpel]. According to this morning's press release from Curia:
"A system of licences for the broadcasting of football matches which grants broadcasters territorial exclusivity on a Member State basis and which prohibits television viewers from watching the broadcasts with a decoder card in other Member States is contrary to EU law
The screening in a pub of football-match broadcasts containing protected works requires the authorisation of the author of those works
The Football Association Premier League ('the FAPL') runs the Premier League, the leading professional football league competition in England, and markets the television broadcasting rights for Premier League matches. It grants broadcasters, under an open competitive tender procedure, an exclusive live broadcasting right for Premier League matches on a territorial basis. As the territorial basis generally corresponds to a single Member State, television viewers can watch only the matches transmitted by the broadcasters established in the Member State where they reside.
In order to protect such territorial exclusivity and to prevent the public from receiving broadcasts outside the relevant Member State, each broadcaster undertakes, in the licence agreement concluded with the FAPL, to encrypt its satellite signal and to transmit the signal, so encrypted, by satellite solely to subscribers in the territory which it has been awarded. Consequently, the licence agreement prohibits the broadcasters from supplying decoder cards to persons who wish to watch their broadcasts outside the Member State for which the licence is granted.
The disputes giving rise to the present cases concern attempts to circumvent that exclusivity. Certain pubs in the United Kingdom have begun to use foreign decoder cards, issued by a Greek broadcaster to subscribers resident in Greece, to access Premier League matches. The pubs buy a card and a decoder box from a dealer at prices lower than those of Sky, the holder of the broadcasting rights in the United Kingdom.
Since the FAPL takes the view that such activities undermine the exclusivity of the television broadcasting rights and the value of those rights, it is seeking to bring them to an end by means of legal proceedings. The first case (C-403/08) concerns a civil action brought by the FAPL against pubs that have screened Premier League matches by using Greek decoder cards and against the suppliers of such decoder cards to those pubs. The second case (C-429/08) has arisen from criminal proceedings against Karen Murphy, the landlady of a pub that screened Premier League matches using a Greek decoder card. In those two cases, the High Court of Justice of England and Wales has referred a number of questions concerning the interpretation of European Union law to the Court of Justice.
In its judgment delivered today, the Court of Justice holds that national legislation which prohibits the import, sale or use of foreign decoder cards is contrary to the freedom to provide services and cannot be justified either in light of the objective of protecting intellectual property rights or by the objective of encouraging the public to attend football stadiums [says the IPKat, given the fact that IP protection is always subject to the overriding pro-competitive objectives of the European Union's competition policy, this was a foregone conclusion].
So far as concerns the possibility of justifying that restriction in light of the objective of protecting intellectual property rights, the Court observes that the FAPL cannot claim copyright in the Premier League matches themselves, as those sporting events cannot be considered to be an author's own intellectual creation and, therefore, to be 'works' for the purposes of copyright in the European Union [Not so fast, says the Kat: cannot specific "set pieces" which are practised to perfection in training and then executed on-field be regarded as choreographed dramatic works which are entitled to protection? Merpel agrees, pointing out that some of the most spectacular penalty-area dives are quite magnificant performances which it would be sad if the the law failed to protect them. But this is only a side issue, as the next paragraph explains].
Also, even if national law were to confer comparable protection upon sporting events – which would, in principle, be compatible with EU law – a prohibition on using foreign decoder cards would go beyond what is necessary to ensure appropriate remuneration for the holders of the rights concerned.
In this regard, the Court observes, first, that when calculating such appropriate remuneration it is possible to take account of the actual and potential audience both in the Member State of broadcast and in any other Member State where the broadcasts are received, and that it is thus not necessary to limit the free movement of services within the European Union. Second, payment by the television stations of a premium in order to ensure themselves absolute territorial exclusivity goes beyond what is necessary to ensure the right holders appropriate remuneration, because such a practice may result in artificial price differences between the partitioned national markets. Such partitioning and such an artificial price difference are irreconcilable with the fundamental aim of the Treaty, which is completion of the internal market.
For similar reasons, a system of exclusive licences is also contrary to European Union competition law if the licence agreements prohibit the supply of decoder cards to television viewers who wish to watch the broadcasts outside the Member State for which the licence is granted.
It is true that European Union competition law does not, in principle, preclude a right holder from granting to a sole licensee the exclusive right to broadcast protected subject-matter by satellite, during a specified period, from a single Member State of broadcast or from a number of Member States of broadcast. However, the licence agreements must not prohibit the broadcasters from effecting any cross-border provision of services that relates to the sporting events concerned, because such an agreement would enable each broadcaster to be granted absolute territorial exclusivity in the area covered by its licence, would therefore eliminate all competition between broadcasters in the field of those services and would thus partition the national markets in accordance with national borders.
Finally, as regards the questions asked concerning the interpretation of the Copyright Directive, the Court notes first of all that only the opening video sequence, the Premier League anthem, pre-recorded films showing highlights of recent Premier League matches and various graphics can be regarded as 'works' and are therefore protected by copyright. By contrast, the matches themselves are not works enjoying such protection [One wonders whether future broadcasts will be split-screen affairs, with copyright-protected items being constantly on view, to be on the safe side ...].
That being so, the Court decides that transmission in a pub of the broadcasts containing those protected works, such as the opening video sequence or the Premier League anthem, constitutes a 'communication to the public' within the meaning of the copyright directive, for which the authorisation of the author of the works is necessary, because when a pub transmits those works to the customers present on the premises the works are transmitted to an additional public which was not considered by the authors when they authorised the broadcasting of their works.".
The full ruling of the Court of Justice looks like this:
"1. 'Illicit device' within the meaning of Article 2(e) of Directive 98/84 ... on the legal protection of services based on, or consisting of, conditional access must be interpreted as not covering foreign decoding devices (devices which give access to the satellite broadcasting services of a broadcaster, are manufactured and marketed with that broadcaster's authorisation, but are used, in disregard of its will, outside the geographical area for which they have been issued), foreign decoding devices procured or enabled by the provision of a false name and address or foreign decoding devices which have been used in breach of a contractual limitation permitting their use only for private purposes.
2. Article 3(2) of Directive 98/84 does not preclude national legislation which prevents the use of foreign decoding devices, including those procured or enabled by the provision of a false name and address or those used in breach of a contractual limitation permitting their use only for private purposes, since such legislation does not fall within the field coordinated by that directive.
3. On a proper construction of Article 56 TFEU:
– that article precludes legislation of a Member State which makes it unlawful to import into and sell and use in that State foreign decoding devices which give access to an encrypted satellite broadcasting service from another Member State that includes subject-matter protected by the legislation of that first State;
– this conclusion is affected neither by the fact that the foreign decoding device has been procured or enabled by the giving of a false identity and a false address, with the intention of circumventing the territorial restriction in question, nor by the fact that it is used for commercial purposes although it was restricted to private use.
4. The clauses of an exclusive licence agreement concluded between a holder of intellectual property rights and a broadcaster constitute a restriction on competition prohibited by Article 101 TFEU where they oblige the broadcaster not to supply decoding devices enabling access to that right holder's protected subject-matter with a view to their use outside the territory covered by that licence agreement.
5. Article 2(a) of Directive 2001/29 ... on the harmonisation of certain aspects of copyright and related rights in the information society must be interpreted as meaning that the reproduction right extends to transient fragments of the works within the memory of a satellite decoder and on a television screen, provided that those fragments contain elements which are the expression of the authors' own intellectual creation, and the unit composed of the fragments reproduced simultaneously must be examined in order to determine whether it contains such elements.
6. Acts of reproduction such as those at issue in Case C-403/08, which are performed within the memory of a satellite decoder and on a television screen, fulfil the conditions laid down in Article 5(1) of Directive 2001/29 and may therefore be carried out without the authorisation of the copyright holders concerned.
7. 'Communication to the public' within the meaning of Article 3(1) of Directive 2001/29 must be interpreted as covering transmission of the broadcast works, via a television screen and speakers, to the customers present in a public house.
8. Council Directive 93/83 ... on the coordination of certain rules concerning copyright and rights related to copyright applicable to satellite broadcasting and cable retransmission must be interpreted as not having a bearing on the lawfulness of the acts of reproduction performed within the memory of a satellite decoder and on a television screen".
This Kat was expecting this very result for the reasons given, as he told Mrs Kat yesterday evening, but this really wasn't a difficult result to predict. What is more difficult to predict is how the football broadcasting establishment will respond. One thing is crystal clear, though: whatever FAPL and its colleagues do will have to be palpably compatible with the aims of European competition policy or it will never get off the ground.
More coverage can be found on the Guardian, Sky News and BBC.
Great acting by footballers here, here and here
For a critique of the Advocate General's Opinion in this case and a perspective on the possible commercial impact of a ruling adverse to the plaintiffs, see Nick Bitel, "European Court Case could threaten Cultural and Sporting Diversity", here.
More competition for Europe's football industry Reviewed by Jeremy on Tuesday, October 04, 2011 Rating: 5
sale of decoders
David Tuesday, 4 October 2011 at 12:02:00 BST
pools panel result - score draw!
Andrew Robinson Tuesday, 4 October 2011 at 12:03:00 BST
I'm pleasantly surprised to find the directorial aspect of coverage of matches (choice of camera angles, when to cut between them, zooming, focusing etc.) not being mentioned as copyrightable work.
I wonder if this has implications for the National Portrait Gallery, where (despite making far fewer creative choices) simply faithfully reproducing public domain artworks was argued to be a creative act?
Anonymous Tuesday, 4 October 2011 at 12:29:00 BST
Ok, great. We have a decision on technology developed in the stone age.
Does this mean it will take another ten to twenty years before we receive a decision on blocking webcasts in other countries?
I have lived abroad for four years and each time I wanted to watch the eight o'clock news of my home country during the Olympics, it was blocked as national television was not allowed to send images from the Olympics to my country of residence at that moment.
This decision is of great importance to one single European Market in a general sense. But I would have been really happy if they would have touched matter like using proxies or IP address spoofing to access content that would be blocked using an IP address assigned to the country of residence.
Jeremy, some of the dives practised by professional footballers are of such artistic content that their transmission should, in my opinion, also be susceptible to copyright protection.
Would it be possible for Sky to transmit individual subliminal frames containing copyright material in order to protect their business? I understand that subliminal advertising is banned but perhaps transmission of the right holder's information might be acceptable.
Ron Tuesday, 4 October 2011 at 13:39:00 BST
In view of S 72 (1) CDPA 1988, even if the introductory film is protected by copyright, showing the broadcast will not be an infringement of copyright in the film, as long as the audience have not paid an admission charge or been charged a premium price on any purchases made during the transmissiion.
Or is there some aspect of EC law that allows this provision of national law to be over-ridden?
Peter Tuesday, 4 October 2011 at 13:45:00 BST
How broadly applicable is the court's move against territorial exclusivity? Film rights, for example, are packaged out with rigorous exclusivity - and often with some overarching control by the rights holder - to different countries. Does the ruling imply that on the digital playing field, the French distributor of a film could start competing with the British distributor for British consumers?
Sticking just to broadcast TV and radio, either by satellite or internet, I wonder if this judgement can be invoked to prevent, for example, Sky refusing to supply decoder cards to non-UK/ROI residents, which is their present policy? I recall that certain advertisers wished to segment their campaigns in certain countries, requiring the likes of Sky, and indeed the BBC, not to make things available "overseas" as mentioned above.
That being said, in the noisy corner of Europe which I occupy, we see the same adverts in different languages from the surrounding countries over cable TV, which would appear to undermine the argument for strict segmentation, and the multi-national channels we receive such as Discovery often make use of local ad-insertion arrangements, so this isn't a technical problem.
Language and culture offer a high enough natural barrier, after this ruling any other barrier would seem to be unacceptable. Except to local monopolists, of course!
I imagine it is a terms and conditions issue, rather than an IP issue.
Sky supply me a sky box and dish for non-commercial use, if I wanted to allow members of the public into my house (and maybe sell them beer) then I'd be in breach of those terms and conditions and would have to pay substantially more for the right to do so. Sky would also provide me with a different feed with a little pub glass logo so their rights enforcers can easily see if I've paid the right fee.
@Ron and @David
As I understand it, Karen Murphy bought the right to show matches in a Greek pub, and successfully argued that this right can't be limited to just one member state and is de facto a right to show matches in any European pub. The question of charging pubs more than private individuals wasn't touched on by either side in this particular case.
PaulH Tuesday, 4 October 2011 at 23:11:00 BST
Doesn't this cut the FA's business model off at the knees? Not to mention all other sports, motor racing, horse racing?
I'm astounded by this. If there's no copyright in the filming of the match itself, then there's nothing to stop someone who has managed to get access to it streaming it to all and sundry. Blur the logos, and bingo, no infringement at all.
Oh, you'll miss the pre match anthems, what a pity.
Rob Wednesday, 5 October 2011 at 11:14:00 BST
PaulH: The court has recognised that FAPL has the exclusive right to exploit the sporting event. It's just not an IP right. The FAPL and its clubs go to great security lengths to protect that exclusive right by keeping other cameras out of the stadia. Having said all of that - I don't like the inference that there is no IP in the intellectual creation of the production team. There is a lot of original skill and effort that goes into producing a world class feed.
Anonymous Wednesday, 5 October 2011 at 12:12:00 BST
The strapline to the photo accompanying this article suggests that we can enjoy a beer whilst watching the football. However it should be noted that this is only true if this is in your own home - Murphy still fell foul of the "communicating to the public" aspect. The number of misleading articles on this topic is surprising!!! :)
Andrew Robinson Wednesday, 5 October 2011 at 13:32:00 BST
Given the price paid by Murphy for her Greek decoder according to the BBC, either the Greek economy is in trouble because they are paying far too much for satellite TV, or she did actually buy the more expensive 'pub' license that includes the right to 'communicate to the public'.
PaulH Wednesday, 5 October 2011 at 13:55:00 BST
Rob: Thanks for responding. I was unsure what the exploitation right was based on - simply contracts? national copyrights going further than the EU directive? As for keeping other cameras out, this doesn't address the problem of someone getting hold of the video feed and simply redirecting it. Again, I suppose this could be covered by contract, but ip is supposed to simplify this - after all, you can only enforce the breach against the person you have a contract with.
I think their reasoning on copyright was sloppy and could cause uncertainty; it implies there is no copyright in filming anything that does not have an underlying copyright - does this apply to street scenes, ex tempore interviews, film of the natural world? they would've done better to rule there was copyright but it was unenforcable.
Anonymous Thursday, 6 October 2011 at 00:55:00 BST
Andrew: the English court did consider that point before making the reference: "Finally, the Respondent's note refers to Kitchin J's findings at paras. 145 to 146 of his judgment where he referred to an issue whether the NOVA cards supplied by QC and AV were issued to domestic or commercial subscribers, and recorded that the evidence before him was to the effect that a private subscription for a NOVA card cost at least €676.8 annually if paid on a monthly basis or €684 annually with one bonus month free if pre-paid. On the other hand, the price for a commercial subscription was said to be based on the number of seats in the relevant bar or pub with a minimum cost of €1,080 per annum. The learned Judge also recorded that the price paid by Mr Chamberlain (who is accepted to be the alter ego of the company AV, which sold the Appellant her NOVA decoder equipment) was between €657 and €682 per NOVA card."
Andrew Robinson Thursday, 6 October 2011 at 10:21:00 BST
@ Anonymous thanks, that's information I'd not seen reported anywhere. This raises 2 more interesting points... did Chamberlain mislead Murphy, and if so, how does (what is presumably) a matter of Greek contract law apply to a third party in a different country?
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Tesuquea hawleyana är en fjärilsart som beskrevs av Alexander Barrett Klots 1936. Tesuquea hawleyana ingår i släktet Tesuquea och familjen Carposinidae. Inga underarter finns listade i Catalogue of Life.

Källor

Externa länkar

Fjärilar
hawleyana

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Die InterLiga ist ein Wettbewerb im mexikanischen Vereins-Fußball.

2004 bekam Mexiko zwei fixe Startplätze für die Copa Libertadores zugesichert, 2005 noch einen weiteren Qualifikationsplatz.

Da zeitgleich zur Copa Libertadores aber die CONCACAF Champions League stattfindet, über welche sich die mexikanischen Mannschaften für die FIFA Klub-Weltmeisterschaft qualifizieren können, wird der erste fixe Startplatz seit 2009 dem Gewinner der regulären Saison der Apertura des Vorjahres zugesichert.

Um die anderen beiden Startplätze spielen im Januar, in der Pause der Primera División de México, die weiteren acht besten Mannschaften der vergangenen Apertura – ausgenommen der Mannschaften die bereits an der laufenden Champions League teilnehmen bzw. teilgenommen haben.

Derzeit wird nach folgendem Modus gespielt:
In zwei Gruppen zu vier Mannschaften finden die Spiele auf neutralem Platz statt, weswegen die Partien in Kalifornien und Texas (2005 auch in Arizona), Staaten der USA mit einer großen mexikanischen Bevölkerung, ausgetragen werden.
In zwei "Endspielen" spielen die Gruppenersten gegen die Gruppenzweiten der anderen Gruppe. Die Siegermannschaft mit der besseren Statistik in der Gruppenphase bekommt den zweiten fixen Startplatz zugesprochen, die andere Siegermannschaft muss in die Vorausscheidung.

Die Finalisten

Weblinks
Offizielle Website (in Spanisch)
Ergebnisse der InterLiga 2009 (in Spanisch)
Ergebnisse der InterLiga 2004-2008 (in Spanisch)

Fußballwettbewerb in Mexiko


(1) Since EX4 is untranslated, nucleotide differences observed in EX4 are not taken into account for the description of alleles.
(2) B10.D2-H2dm1 is a congenic strain, B10 is the abbreviated symbol of C57BL/10 and D2 the abbreviated symbol of DBA/2J.
(3) EX4 partial in 3'.


text:
Q: Using Rules in Scrapy to crawl specific links I am using scrapy to scrape airline review data from tripadvisor. First I am extracting all id and corresponding airline name. I am using following code to crawl only the links containing 'Airline_Review'.
import scrapy
from scrapy.selector import HtmlXPathSelector
from scrapy.spider import BaseSpider
from scrapy.http import Request
from scrapy.contrib.spiders import Rule
from scrapy.contrib.linkextractors import LinkExtractor

URL = 'http://www.tripadvisor.com'

class QuotesSpider(scrapy.Spider):
    name = "quotes"

    def start_requests(self):
        urls = [
               'https://www.tripadvisor.com/Airlines'
               ]

        rules = (
                Rule(
                    LinkExtractor(allow = '.*Airline_Review.*'),
                    callback = 'parse',
                    follow= True
                    )
                )
        for url in urls:
            yield scrapy.Request(url=url, callback=self.parse)

    def parse(self, response):
        hxs = HtmlXPathSelector(response)
        for url in hxs.select('//a/@href').extract():
            if not ( url.startswith('http://') or url.startswith('https://') ):
            url= URL + url

            url = url.strip()
            with open('op.txt', 'a') as f:
                f.write(url)
                f.write('\n')

            yield Request(url, callback=self.parse)

But still I am getting links in my op.txt file that does not contain 'Airline_Review'. What is incorrect in my code?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
A Little Something Dark
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It takes a while, sometimes, for a new Night Child to find control, but Terrance wasn't like that.
At first he lost himself in blood and screams and trembling flesh, but who wouldn't? Newness as a Night Child raked the mind, filled the mouth with vibrance and color and good strong things for which the once-human experience had no words, and it was normal to have to be locked away, protected by one's new creator and glutted on the blood of thieves and wicked men.
Most stayed there for months. Some stayed there for years. And even when sanity returned, it came with the titanic struggle to carry one's new condition and its needs, to reconcile lost mortality with the need for blood and the vast, strict family structure Notte had built.
But Terrance wasn't like that, either. A week after he drank Notte's blood and left humanity behind, Terrance came to himself – and evidently unbothered by his nudity and the corpses on the floor, he banged on the door of his cell and demanded to know where in the devil's asshole he was.
Within an hour, he was cleaned, clothed, and seated at his Father's right hand, the hand of Notte – Blood King, Nox Aeterna, and the one who had pulled him from a stinking English prison and a death sentence through death and into something better than life.
Terrance loved him. Fiercely, searingly, perfectly, and so when he was asked the second most important question of his life, he said yes again. The first was, of course, if he would be come a Night Child.
The second was if he would become Notte's knife.
Knife meant he was the assassin, the executioner, the bringer of death within the family of Notte the Blood King. The Night Children generally went out of their way to avoid killing, unless the victims were particularly nasty polyps on society's ass. But no matter how they tried, there were times that death was necessary.
Terrance understood that better than most.
When he wasn't killing by appointment, Terrance grew. He explored and he hunted, and he honed his skills through many adventures that bear some day's telling, and through it all he slimmed and sharpened and hardened until he fit the metaphorical sheath of his role.
He even made – with permission, of course – children of his own, vicious and brilliant and sharp humans who deserved to slip the bonds of mortal death, and he taught them to hunt and fight and obey just as he did.
It was glorious. It was togetherness. It was family, found and profound, intimate and true.
If Terrance's human self had still existed somewhere, he would have had a message for his immortal blood-drinking self. That message would have simply said this:
You fecking fool. It's never that easy.
"Terrance."
Terrance grinned up from the card table. "Da'," he greeted. He was playing with fashion today, purposely flaunting unbutton wide-collar 1970s glam. He'd even adopted some Bowie-style makeup, and spiked his own red hair straight up.
Notte took all that in without comment. "There is a problem."
Terrance's smile slipped away. "What?"
It was not good, what Notte had to show him.
There, on all the human news channels. There, for all the world to see. There –
"He is yours," said Notte quietly, without condemnation, but with great grief.
"Yeah," said Terrance softly.
"You do not have to see to it."
Terrance looked into his maker's eyes – bright and wild green, an improbable spring color. "I got it."
"He is yours." So many layers in those three words – choosing turning, training, loving. Years of trust and shared experience.
"Don't you start, da'," said Terrance, and smiled like a hyena. "Think I'm gonna let you do it? And have to watch you mope around the house for the next three years? I'm your knife. I get to take out naughty Night Children, not you."
But Notte's look did not change, and Terrance had never been good with silence.
"Look," Terrance said. "I made him. Obvi, I did something wrong teaching him."
"I think not," said Notte softly. "He is doing what he should not with such precision that there can be no doubt of the excellence of his upbringing."
Terrance found a lump in his throat, just for one moment, but then fortunately, it was gone. "I got it. Just let me handle it."
Notte nodded. A promise given three times held power among the Mythos, and this was close enough for magical business. "I will be near."
"Don't be." Terrance turned away. "You'll feel it, already. No need to see it, too."
And that was the heart of it, wasn't it? That was the real problem.
When a Night Child died, Notte felt it, tore in some irreparable way that terrified those who loved him true. It didn't matter if he'd personally made the victim; all Night Children were his, traced back to his first and immortal blood, and he loved each and every one with such deep and ridiculous innocence that was difficult not to love him back.
Terrance wanted to protect him, which was ridiculous; Notte could not be killed, and yet there it was.
And what this fool on the television had done – what Terrance's own blood child had done – was to stab at the heart of their Father.
Terrance hadn't expected to be angry, but by the time he chose his weapons for the kill, it had grown in him, snapping and cracking like a fire, heating his skin and making his mouth taste not his own.
It would be a quick death, but it would not be an easy one. Terrance had trained his child all too well.
More the fool me, he thought, and more the fool you.
"That was a shit-show," Terrance said, flinging himself bonelessly onto the sofa in the rec room and covering his eyes with his arm.
Roderick's eyebrows rose. He had the right face for eyebrow-arching. "No. Surely not."
"You know, the problem with you," said Terrance, pointing with the hand he wasn't using to cover his face, "besides being English, is that I never know if you're being sarcastic. Well? Are you?"
Instead of answering, Roderick returned to reading about metallurgy.
"Ugh," said Terrance, and lay still as if dead.
Then he sighed.
Shifted on the sofa, causing his leather jerkin to creak like a house in a storm.
Groaned.
Mumbled something about Tokyo and jalapeño ice cream.
Roderick was uncertain why Terrance had chosen him to deploy his drama. He closed his eyes, counted to ten, and put the book down. "Very well," Roderick said, agreeing to some unspoken accord. "I suppose you'll want to talk about it. Well. I am here. And I am listening."
Terrance peered at him upside down. Their strange green eye color marked them family – Night Children, blood-born offspring of Notte. The fact that they were talking marked them almost friends. Almost. "I might do, you ruddy bastard."
Roderick 's left eyebrow twitched. He stroked his beard, thoughtful, and nodded. "Tell me what I don't already know."
"Oh, you probably know it all," said Terrance, voice dropping nearly a full bitter octave. "I made Dain. Found him, chose him, tempted him until he was mine. Mine. Beautiful bastard, just like me." Terrance turned his face away, toward the smooth leather of the sofa. "Fuck him."
Roderick looked down at nothing, at things remembered from far away and long ago. "I have never seen you regret your role before."
Instead of answering that, Terrance said, "Da's cryin'."
Deep, awful silence.
Terrance spoke again. "That fucked up kind of crying, you know – where he stares at that bust of some woman nobody knows and just… Fecking leaks."
"Yes," Roderick said with reverence. "His tears are never-ending."
"Yeah." And it came out: "I feel like I made him cry. Gods be damned. Don't give me facts. I'm raving."
The word pulled Roderick back to the present. "Raving?"
"I'm so angry I could spit fire, piss in me own ashes, then throw my flaming hear into the pile and start it blazing again."
Roderick stared at him. "Oh. That," he said.
"That?"
Roderick opened his mouth, closed it, opened it again. "I… understand."
Their eyes met.
Terrance was old, born before anno domini 1400, but Roderick was much older – a true Romano-British warrior a who'd fought off Saxons and traded with the Picts and married both well and Welsh, for all it mattered in the course of time. He knew loyalty, and he knew pain – Geoffrey of Monmouth and the Arthurian storytellers who'd followed him had gotten that much right.
He knew, too, what it was to make Father cry.
Roderick sighed. "I am sorry you had to do it, but if you had not, our Father would have."
Terrance made a noise that could rightfully be called scoffing. "I know that! I already said that!"
"So then you did not cause Father pain," said Roderick with patience carved like scars under his skin. "You saved him from it."
They both considered, remembering Notte's last extended bereavement, wearing white instead of his perennial blue, abstaining from celebrations, from wine, from sex. No new children were made that year; grief filtered down and rained everything.
Terrance made another sound that could be agreement.
"Annuit Cœptis," murmured Roderick. "Father approves. I, too, approve, though I know my opinion is not… Your favorite. Which makes me question, honestly, why you're here instead of with a more favorable sibling."
"Well, that's why," said Terrance, his voice thick. "If I bore guilt, by God, you'd tell me."
Some men would have laughed, but Roderick was not like that. "I would."
"Stick in the mud."
"Chaos personified."
"Dullard."
"Madman."
Terrance smiled at the ceiling, a tiny but true moue. "Thanks."
Roderick looked down at his metallurgy tome, not seeing it, uncharacteristically frowning. "You are welcome."
"Well! Time to throw some knives." Terrance sprang to his feet, a quick, bowed motion of grace and strength no human could offer. "Then I'm taking da' hunting."
"You can try," said Roderick.
Terrance smiled, showing all his teeth, and then began to whistle.
He knew grief. He knew what to do with it. He knew its inevitability, too, but that never stopped him as man or monster.
"Da'!" he shouted down the halls, not caring who could hear, because he knew what his mortal self would have said to him if he could – but he also knew what he'd say in response. "Da'! We're going huntin'!"
If Terrance could have sent a reply back to his human self, he would. That message would have simply said this:
Surely, it's not easy, and the curtain always falls, but it's all worth the price of admission. Ya feckin' fool. And he whistled a tune no mortal had heard in five hundred years and went to fetch his knives.
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Every UK Number 1
The stories behind the chart-toppers
206. The Seekers – The Carnival is Over (1965)
December 17, 2018 January 9, 2020 / robbarker	/ 1 Comment
This was Australian folk quartet The Seekers' second and last reign at the top of the hit parade. 1965 had been their peak year in the UK, with I'll Never Find Another You at the top of the charts early in the year, and A World of Our Own also performing well. They were also charting high in the US as well as back in their own country.
Their chief songwriter and producer, Tom Springfield travelled to Brazil at some point that year and witnessed the Rio Carnival. Feeling inspired, he wrote some lyrics and adapted an old Russian folk song, Iz-za ostrova na strezhen from circa 1883 (although the tune goes back much further).
This was quite a different beast to the pseudo-religious cheer of their previous number 1. Set to an ominous drumbeat, it's very similar to Roy Orbison's It's Over from 1964. But as strong and distinctive as Judith Durham's vocal is, she's no match for the Big O if you ask me.
The lyrics seem to suggest the carnival is a metaphor for the end of an affair, and the reference to Pierrot and Columbine suggests a woman running away with another man (Pierrot is the classic Italian sad clown, and Columbine broke his heart by leaving him for Harlequin). It's a bit of a grower, and takes a few listens to make an impact, but pales into comparison with some of the number 1s at the time, and it's a shame this kept The Who's My Generation from the top spot.
At some point in 1965 The Seekers met a struggling American folk singer called Paul Simon. They got on well, and Simon collaborated with Seekers member Bruce Woodley on a few songs, including Red Rubber Ball. In 1966 the group released their cover of Simon's Someday One Day, which gave Simon his first taste of chart success. Also that year the Seekers were named Best New Group of 1965 in the New Musical Express Poll Winners Awards.
They narrowly missed the number 1 spot with Morningtown Ride and Georgy Girl. This theme to a film of the same name starring Lynn Redgrave and James Mason was co-written by Carry On star Jim Dale, and is their best-known song in the UK to this day.
They returned to Australia in 1967, where they made the Guinness Book of Records for a performance at Melbourne's Sydney Myer Music Bowl. It was the largest ever concert in the Southern Hemisphere. On Australia Day in 1968 they were named joint Australians of the Year – the only group to hold the title. However, on Valentine's Day that year while touring New Zealand, Durham announced she was leaving to pursue a solo career. Going out while still on top was a brave but canny move, and their greatest hits album was a huge seller at the end of the decade.
Woodley, like Durham, went solo, while Keith Potger formed The New Seekers, later to have two UK number 1s with I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing in 1972 and You Won't Find Another Fool Like Me in 1974. Athol Guy became a TV presenter and then went into politics.
However, The Seekers eventually reformed several times over in many different line-ups, and The Carnival is Over grew in importance to the group as the years went by. They performed it at the World Expo 88 in Brisbane and it was also covered by a diverse array of artists, notably Nick Cave and Boney M.
In 1992 the original line-up reunited and have performed on and off ever since. In 2000 The Seekers were supposed to perform it at the Sydney Summer Olympics closing ceremony but Durham was in a wheelchair due to a broken hip so they performed at the Paralympics ceremony instead. Unlike many bands that reform sporadically, their appeal is still huge.
Written by: Traditional (words by Tom Springfield)
Producer: Tom Springfield
Weeks at number 1: 3 (25 November-15 December)
Births:
Children's author and illustrator Lauren Child – 29 November
Comic book writer Paul Jenkins – 9 December
Rugby player Will Carling – 12 December
Deaths:
Pianist Dame Myra Hess – 25 November
29 November: The 60s may have been a time in which all kinds of barriers were pushed aside in society, but one woman had had enough of the impact of the permissive society on television. Mary Whitehouse founded the National Viewers' and Listeners' Association. It far succeeded her initial crusade as vangaurd of taste and decency, when she ran the Clean-Up TV Campaign in 1964. She ran the NVLA until 1994, and it still exists today as Mediawatch-UK.
179. Roy Orbison – Oh, Pretty Woman (1964)
October 12, 2018 January 9, 2020 / robbarker	/ 2 Comments
The Big O was third-time lucky at number 1, and finally got the girl on the classic Oh, Pretty Woman. The song was inspired by Orbison's wayward wife Claudette, who was often his muse.
Orbison and co-writer Bill Dees were working one day when she walked in to tell them she was going to Nashville. When Orbison asked if she needed any money, Dees interjected with 'A pretty woman never needs any money'. As usual Orbison assigned Fred Foster for production, Bill Porter as the engineer, and assembled a top team of musicians, including Elvis Presley collaborator and number 1 artist Floyd Cramer on piano, plus three other guitarists in addition to himself on 12-string.
The second half of 1964's number 1s are an embarrassment of riches as far as intros go, and Oh, Pretty Woman is among the best. Gone is the doom and gloom of It's Over, replaced by that brilliant circular riff leading into the first 'Pretty woman'. Anyone who's ever been in awe of someone will identify with the lyrics, in which Orbison admires the pretty woman from a distance (I'd like to believe this was in a perfectly innocent way; I refuse to believe Orbison was a stalker). Fans of his work must have assumed this was yet another great track by the balladeer in which the protagonist is doomed to be unlucky in love, but when he sings 'What do I see?/Is she walkin' back to me?/Yeah, she's walkin' back to me/Oh, oh, pretty woman.', you almost want to punch the air for him in triumph. I love Orbison's interjections too, namely 'Mercy', and a bit of growling thrown in for good measure. Way to go, Big O!
It was no mean feat for a US act to gain a UK number 1 in 1964, let alone two. Oh, Pretty Woman also went back to the top the following month for another week, toppling Sandie Shaw's (There's) Always Something There to Remind Me.
Unfortunately, this was no happy ending for Orbison. That November, he and Claudette divorced over her affair, and although they remarried in December 1965, they were involved in a tragic accident in June 1966. The couple shared a love of motorbikes, and were riding home one day when a pickup truck pulled out. Claudette hit the door and died instantly.
He threw himself into his music, co-writing the music for his debut film appearance, The Fastest Guitar Alive (1967). It had originally been planned as a Western, but became a comedy. Apparently Orbison's role as a spy proved he wasn't anywhere near as good an actor as he was a musician, and the film flopped, ending the movie enthusiast's career in one stroke.
Orbison had done well to withstand changing musical fashions up to this point, but suffered badly with the blossoming of psychedelia. His life was upended once more after a gig in Bournemouth in September 1968, when he was told over the phone that his house had burned down, killing his two eldest sons. He sold the land to Johnny Cash, who planted an orchard where the house was stood.
The following year he married German teenager Barabra Jakobs, and in the 70s they had two sons together, but his musical fortunes did not improve. It was a lost decade, commercially. other than a compilation of greatest hits making it to number 1 in the album charts, and featuring as the opening act for the Eagles on live dates, both in 1976.
The 80s opened promisingly for the Big O when Don McLean unexpectedly went to number 1 with his version of Crying. He and Emmylou Harris won a Grammy in 1981 for their duet That Lovin' You Feelin' Again, but it was a request from auteur filmmaker David Lynch that really reignited his career. Lynch was refused permission to use the track In Dreams in his disturbing film noir Blue Velvet (1986), but he went ahead anyway. Apparently while making the film he asked for the track to be played repeatedly to add to the disturbing atmosphere of the movie. Orbison was said to be shocked when he watched the film in the cinema, and it was only later that he appreciated his song's place in it.
1987 was Orbison's best year for decades. He released an album of re-recordings, won a Grammy with kd Lang for their new version of Crying, and he was initiated into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by Bruce Springsteen, who had referenced his first number 1 in the memorable Thunder Road ('Roy Orbison's singing for the lonely'). In 1988 he began working with Electric Light Orchestra frontman Jeff Lynne on a new album. Lynne had just finished producing George Harrison's Cloud Nine. The trio met up for a meal and an idea formed. They rang Bob Dylan, paid a visit to Tom Petty, and before you know it the supergroup the Traveling Wilburys were formed. That evening they wrote hit single Handle with Care.
Unlike a lot of comebacks by 60s legends, it helped that Orbison's material was pretty good, particularly You Got It, which was to be the first single from his new album, Mystery Girl. Around this time he complained to Johnny Cash of chest pains, and said he should do something about his health. After years of getting nowhere, the world was at his feet again, and he didn't want to stop in case his luck ran out yet again.
On 6 December he spent the day flying model aeroplanes with his sons and had dinner at his mother's house. He died of a heart attack later that day, aged only 52. The world had yet again been robbed of an astounding musical talent, blessed with an incredible voice and an uncanny knack of making misery sound compelling. Oh, Pretty Woman enjoyed a new lease of life thanks to the romantic comedy Pretty Woman in 1990.
Roy himself is kind of doing the same, thanks to the ongoing tour in which he features as a hologram, backed by a full live orchestra. It's good to know that his songs live on, but whether this is ethical or not is another matter.
Written by: Roy Orbison & Bill Dees
Producer: Fred Foster
Weeks at number 1: 3 (8-21 October, 12-18 November)
10-24 October: Great Britain competed in the Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, where they won four gold, 12 silver and two bronze medals. The Games had been scheduled deliberately late in the year to avoid Tokyo's midsummer heat.
15 October: The 1964 general election took place, and after 13 years of Conservative rule, Labour were back in power with a slim majority of five seats, and Harold Wilson was the new prime minster.
17 October: Wilson announced his cabinet, which included James Callaghan, Denis Healey, Barbara Castle and Roy Jenkins. He also created the Welsh Office and made Jim Griffiths the first Secretary of State for Wales. The Conservatives had become mired in controversy following the Profumo affair, and Douglas-Home seemed decidedly old-fashioned and too posh against Wilson, who played up his working class image with a pipe and seemed hip by comparison, as The Beatles' fame had helped begin the breaking down of social barriers.
171. Roy Orbison – It's Over (1964)
September 26, 2018 January 5, 2020 / robbarker	/ 1 Comment
The pop world had changed massively since Roy Orbison's first number 1, Only the Lonely (Know How I Feel), in October 1960. Nonetheless, during this period Orbison had plenty of hits, including Running Scared and Crying in 1961 (Don McLean's cover of the latter went to the top of the charts in June 1980).
It was while he toured Australia in 1962 that he was first referred to as 'The Big O' by a DJ, and in 1963 he developed the onstage persona that was as idiosyncratic as his voice. While touring with The Beatles he left his thick glasses on a plane and was forced to wear his prescription Wayfarer sunglasses instead. Not only did this help such a shy performer cope with his stagefright, they also made him cool – a word that was unlikely to have been associated with him before then.
The tour with The Beatles was supposed to be a joint headliner, with Orbison replacing injured guitarist Duane Eddy. The Big O was bemused by the level of fame The Beatles were enjoying, and allegedly asked with some degree of annoyance 'What's a Beatle anyway?', at which point John Lennon tapped him on the shoulder and said 'I am'. On the opening night of the tour, probably in a bid to get his bit over with, Orbison volunteered to go on first, and the Fab Four were left awestruck at his ability to work a crowd by barely moving throughout his set. For a band who would do their utmost to win over their audiences with charm, this must have been quite a shock to them. The two acts became firm friends, and of course Harrison would later join Orbison in the Travelling Wilburys.
Orbison's constant touring took its toll on his private life, unfortunately, and his wife Claudette, who he adored and paid tribute to in a song named after her (The Everly Brothers had took it to number 1 in 1957), got sick of being alone and began an affair with the man who had built their home. He was also now working with a new co-writer, as Joe Melson was frustrated at not becoming a star in his own right. Orbison's new collaborator was Bill Dees, and it was very likely that they had Claudette's waywardness in mind as they began writing It's Over, considering they were divorced by the end of the year.
Of course, so much of Orbison's work concerned heartbreak, but It's Over is the most stark example of such in his oeuvre that I'm aware of. It's certainly the most successful, and I doubt there could be more bleak song in his back catalogue. Over a heavy, ominous drumbeat, Orbison brings on the misery like a gravedigger shovelling soil onto a coffin. 'It breaks your heart in two, to know she's been untrue'… if there's any doubt that Orbison is in as much pain as the lyrics suggest, just listen to that final 20 seconds in which he sings 'It's over' with emotion so raw it's almost hard to listen to.
That a song so dark and operatic could make it to the top of the pop charts, at any point in time, let alone during peak Beatlemania (the film A Hard Day's Night had just been released) is astounding. Elvis was the only other US act that could get a sniff of a number 1 spot at this point. Yet Orbison still had another number 1 in store for him before the end of 1964.
Tip: If It's Over doesn't grab you first time around (and it's not exactly catchy, so don't be surprised), listen again, preferably through earphones. It worked for me.
Producer: Wesley Rose
Weeks at number 1: 2 (25 June-8 July)
Author Joanne Harris – 3 July
Comedian Robert Newman – 7 July
284. Dana – All Kinds of Everything (1970) January 25, 2020
283. Simon & Garfunkel – Bridge over Troubled Water (1970) January 22, 2020
282. Lee Marvin – Wand'rin' Star (1970) January 18, 2020
281. Edison Lighthouse – Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes) (1970) January 15, 2020
Daily Mirror Boxing Day Feature December 26, 2019


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                        About the Course

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CB2-101

Introduction to Scientific Computing

"CB2-101: Introduction to Scientific Computing" offered under the
						umbrella of the CB2 initiative at UAB (http://www.uab.edu/cb2).

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						skills, modeled after the NSF "immersive learning" proposal
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Course Handouts

Introduction to Linux
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Computers and Programming Languages    November 10, 2014

Introduction to Python    November 11, 2014

Data structure in Python     November 12-13, 2014

Advanced functions and Modules    November 14, 2014

University of Alabama at Birmingham. 619 19th St. South, WP220. Birmingham (AL), 35249 (USA).

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Tuberculosis (TB) affects the production and life span of all hematologic cellular components. In addition, plasma coagulation factors may be affected, resulting in sometimes life-threatening complications. Iron, folate, and vitamin B12 metabolism is derailed. The pharmacological agents used for TB therapy may also cause hematologic changes. There are some uncommon manifestations of TB in nontuberculous hematologic patients. There have been some exciting developments in the field of imaging to screen for TB, TB pathophysiology at the cellular level, and our understanding of immune response in TB. Advances have been made in pharmacologic therapeutic options, including discovery of new drugs in the fight against drug-resistant TB, bearing in mind their hematologic effects. This chapter reviews and updates known hematologic effects of TB and its therapy and some lesser known effects of TB in patients with nontuberculous hematologic conditions.
The increase in type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) patients in countries where tuberculosis (TB) is also endemic has led to the reemerging importance of DM as a risk factor for TB. DM causes a 3-fold increase in TB risk and a 2-fold increase in adverse TB treatment outcomes. Given the sheer numbers of DM patients worldwide, there are now more TB patients with TB-DM comorbidity than TB-HIV coinfection. There is an urgent need to implement strategies for TB prevention and control among the millions of DM patients exposed to Mycobacterium tuberculosis. This chapter summarizes the current epidemiological, clinical, and immunological knowledge on TB and DM and their clinical and public health implications. These include the underlying mechanisms for TB risk in DM patients and their clinical and sociodemographic characteristics that distinguish them from TB patients without DM. TB-DM comorbidity is posing a new challenge for integrating the short-term care for TB with the long-term care for DM, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.
Treatment with biologic agents, in particular tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) inhibitors, is associated with an increased risk of tuberculosis (TB), and screening and treatment for latent TB infection (LTBI) in patients undergoing such treatment is therefore indicated. The risk of TB associated with different biologics varies significantly, with the highest relative risks, 29.3 and 18.6, associated with adalimumab and infliximab, respectively. The risk of TB with newer TNF-α inhibitors and other biologics appears to be lower. Performance of LTBI screening tests is affected by immune-mediated inflammatory diseases and immunosuppressive therapy in patients due to commence TNF-α inhibitor treatment. Interferon gamma release assays (IGRAs) have a higher specificity than the tuberculin skin test (TST) in patients with Bacillus Calmette–Guérin (BCG) vaccination and have probably a better sensitivity than TST in immunosuppressed patients. LTBI screening programs prior to commencement of anti-TNF-α treatment significantly reduce the incidence of TB, but the optimal screening algorithm, in particular the question of whether a combination of IGRA and TST or a single test only should be used, is a matter of ongoing debate. Use of TST in combination with IGRA is justified to increase sensitivity. Repeat testing for LTBI should be limited to patients at increased risk of TB. If TB develops during anti-TNF-α treatment, it is more likely to be disseminated and extrapulmonary than are other TB cases. Discontinuation of anti-TNF-α treatment in patients diagnosed with TB is associated with an increased risk of immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome, which is probably best managed by reintroduction of anti-TNF-α treatment.
Familial risk of tuberculosis (TB) has been recognized for centuries. Largely through studies of mono- and dizygotic twin concordance rates, studies of families with Mendelian susceptibility to mycobacterial disease, and candidate gene studies performed in the 20th century, it was recognized that susceptibility to TB disease has a substantial host genetic component. Limitations in candidate gene studies and early linkage studies made the robust identification of specific loci associated with disease challenging, and few loci have been convincingly associated across multiple populations. Genome-wide and transcriptome-wide association studies, based on microarray (commonly known as genechip) technologies, conducted in the past decade have helped shed some light on pathogenesis but only a handful of new pathways have been identified. This apparent paradox, of high heritability but few replicable associations, has spurred a new wave of collaborative global studies. This review aims to comprehensively review the heritability of TB, critically review the host genetic and transcriptomic correlates of disease, and highlight current studies and future prospects in the study of host genomics in TB. An implicit goal of elucidating host genetic correlates of susceptibility to Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection or TB disease is to identify pathophysiological features amenable to translation to new preventive, diagnostic, or therapeutic interventions. The translation of genomic insights into new clinical tools is therefore also discussed.
The tuberculosis agent Mycobacterium tuberculosis has undergone a long and selective evolution toward human infection and represents one of the most widely spread pathogens due to its efficient aerosol-mediated human-to-human transmission. With the availability of more and more genome sequences, the evolutionary trajectory of this obligate pathogen becomes visible, which provides us with new insights into the molecular events governing evolution of the bacterium and its ability to accumulate drug-resistance mutations. In this review, we summarize recent developments in mycobacterial research related to this matter that are important for a better understanding of the current situation and future trends and developments in the global epidemiology of tuberculosis, as well as for possible public health intervention possibilities.
Macrophages exert multiple important roles in iron metabolism. As scavengers, splenic and hepatic macrophages phagocytize and degrade senescent and damaged erythrocytes to recycle iron, predominantly for the production of hemoglobin in new erythrocytes. Splenic red pulp macrophages are specialized for iron recycling, with increased expression of proteins for the uptake of hemoglobin, breakdown of heme, and export of iron. Iron release from macrophages is closely regulated by the interaction of hepcidin, a peptide hormone produced by hepatocytes, with the macrophage iron exporter ferroportin. As regulators and effectors of antimicrobial host defense, macrophages employ multiple mechanisms to contain microbial infections by depriving microbes of iron. Macrophages also have an important trophic role in the bone marrow, supporting efficient erythropoiesis.
Tuberculosis infects millions of people worldwide and remains a leading global killer despite widespread neonatal administration of the tuberculosis vaccine, bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG). BCG has clear and sustained efficacy, but after 10 years, its efficacy appears to wane, at least in some populations. Fortunately, there are many new tuberculosis vaccines in development today, some in advanced stages of clinical trial testing. Here we review the epidemiological need for tuberculosis vaccination, including evolving standards for administration to at risk individuals in developing countries. We also examine proven sources of immune protection from tuberculosis, which to date have exclusively involved natural or vaccine exposure to whole cell mycobacteria. After summarizing evidence for the use and efficacy of BCG, we detail the most promising new candidate vaccines against tuberculosis. The global need for a new tuberculosis vaccine is acute and huge, but clinical trials to be completed in the coming few years are likely either to identify a new tuberculosis vaccine or to substantially reframe how we understand immune protection from this historical scourge.
The skin is colonized by a diverse collection of microorganisms which, for the most part, peacefully coexist with their hosts. Skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs) encompass a variety of conditions; in immunocompromised hosts, SSTIs can be caused by diverse microorganisms—most commonly bacteria, but also fungi, viruses, mycobacteria, and protozoa. The diagnosis of SSTIs is difficult because they may commonly masquerade as other clinical syndromes or can be a manifestation of systemic disease. In immunocompromised hosts, SSTI poses a major diagnostic challenge, and clinical dermatological assessment should be initially performed; to better identify the pathogen and to lead to appropriate treatment, etiology should include cultures of lesions and blood, biopsy with histology, specific microbiological analysis with special stains, molecular techniques, and antigen-detection methodologies. Here, we reviewed the epidemiology, pathophysiology, clinical presentation, and diagnostic techniques, including molecular biological techniques, used for SSTIs, with a focus on the immunocompromised host, such as patients with cellular immunodeficiency, HIV, and diabetic foot infection.
The immunocompromised host is at increased risk of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex and nontuberculous mycobacteria infection. Although Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex is a significant mycobacterial pathogen, nontuberculous mycobacteria causes substantial disease in those with suppressed immune responses. Mycobacterial infections can cause significant morbidity and mortality in this patient population, and rapid identification and susceptibility testing of the mycobacterial species is paramount to patient management and outcomes. Mycobacterial diagnostics has undergone some significant advances in the last two decades with immunodiagnostics (interferon gamma release assay), microscopy (light-emitting diode), culture (automated broth-based systems), identification (direct PCR, sequencing and matrix-assisted laser-desorption ionization–time of flight mass spectrometry) and susceptibility testing (molecular detection of drug resistance from direct specimens or positive cultures). Employing the most rapid and sensitive methods in the mycobacterial laboratory will have a tremendous impact on patient care and, in the case of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex, in the control of tuberculosis.


Acupuncture has been used to effectively treat and prevent illness for more than 3,000 years. Using sterile, ultra thin needles, we are able to access specific points on the body to successfully release pain, promote energy and allow for proper blood flow. The results are often immediate and are a smart alternative to drugs, chemicals, and/or surgery.
More than 8 million Americans are currently switching to acupuncture for their medical needs.
The Chinese National Institute of Health as well as the World Health Organization have both approved certain uses of acupuncture.
More than 50% of medical doctors believe acupuncture to be effective and of value to their patients.
Studies show that the use of acupuncture prior to surgery will not only help the surgical process, but it will also help with the post recovery process as well.
Our purpose is to help as many people as we can to live healthier and feel younger.
Our team is constantly learning from both China and the U.S. for the best ways to take care of your health.


The one-year Bucerius Master of Law and Business (LLM /MLB) is the ideal program for young professionals who strive to work at the intersection of law and business. Its graduates are equipped with an impressive set of skills and knowledge with direct relevance for work in international companies, law firms, and other organizations. They belong to a group of cutting-edge professionals who have been systematically trained to take an interdisciplinary approach to legal and management questions. Graduates of the Master of Law and Business program understand complex legal situations, grasp their economic dimensions and perform effectively in an intercultural environment. They meet the increasing demand for corporations, law firms and non-profit organizations for interdisciplinarily educated and internationally oriented young professionals.
The unique curriculum of the Master of Law and Business follows the life-cycle of an enterprise and pursues both the legal and business aspects of its development. This includes the founding of the enterprise, transforming the firm into a publicly-held enterprise, going international, merging with or acquiring another firm, and restructuring a firm that has financial difficulties.
By using the development of an enterprise as its structural backbone, the Master of Law and Business creates synergies among its various modules. As a result, the students study more efficiently and obtain a better overall understanding of the interrelationship of law and business. Students analyze the realization of an entrepreneurial idea, investigate the founding of a business enterprise, and evaluate the international growth and development of that enterprise.
Elective modules allow students to deepen their knowledge in additional areas of law and business. A mandatory internship and writing of a master's thesis add practice-oriented and research components to the program. Depending on the focus of their studies and their academic background, graduates are awarded either a Master of Laws (LLM ) or a Master of Law and Business (MLB).
Tuition fees include all study materials.


Mini Metallic Tassels - Gold, Rose Gold and Silver!
Celebrate a wedding, birthday or baby shower with a sparkly metallic garland! Mini tassels are super sparkly and can be hung in a doorway, over a dessert bar or candy buffet and even on a balloon string. Pair them with our DIY Tassel Garland Kit to add some sparkle to your colorful décor OR attach them to place settings and favor for sparkly party décor. Metallic Mini Tassels come in is shimmery colors of Gold, Silver & Rose Gold, pre-assembled and ready to hang with twine. Each set contains 6 mini tassels all the same color.


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Città Nuova è una casa editrice italiana
nata a Roma nel 1959.

Denominazione
La denominazione della casa editrice fa riferimento al progetto cristiano volto a "edificare una nuova civiltà". A tale progetto viene collegata la riscoperta e la pubblicazione dei volumi dei Padri della Chiesa, che rappresenta uno degli elementi del catalogo dell'Editrice.

Storia
Il primo volume pubblicato è stato Meditazioni di Chiara Lubich.
Nella prima fase del proprio sviluppo Città Nuova Editrice ha consolidato il suo programma editoriale concentrandosi su tematiche religiose, teologiche, spirituali e sulla saggistica storico-letteraria. Oltre a dare voce agli autori considerati come "classici" del pensiero cristiano, Città Nuova ha cercato di essere attenta a settori culturali che, pur provenendo da esperienze diverse da quella cattolica, riflettono sui valori dell'uomo e sul destino storico dell'umanità. Città Nuova Editrice si occupa perciò anche dei temi del dialogo interreligioso e interculturale e ha avviato una serie di iniziative editoriali su questo importante aspetto della modernità. Ha successivamente introdotto nel proprio catalogo collane specifiche di natura storica, psicologica, pedagogica, sociologica e politologica.

Nel corso del convegno Bibliostar, Città Nuova ha presentato una piattaforma digitale per la ricerca e la consultazione delle fonti della cultura europea denominata PrimiSecoli.it. Su tale piattaforma è iniziata la pubblicazione delle opere più significative degli autori dei primi secoli dell'era cristiana, offrendo la possibilità di effettuare ricerche multiple sui testi in lingua originale e in italiano partendo dalla raccolta integrale di Agostino d'Ippona.

Città Nuova editrice fa parte del Gruppo Editoriale Città Nuova, denominazione che l'azienda assume dal 2008, collegato al movimento dei Focolari.

A partire dal 2010 l'attività editoriale si è poi estesa anche al settore degli e-book, sempre con particolare attenzione alle tematiche a sfondo religioso che costituiscono il nucleo della produzione editoriale dell'azienda.

Collaboratori
 Angela Ales Bello

Note

Collegamenti esterni

Case editrici italiane


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So, your wedding is going to be GORGEOUS at The Balcony Ballroom!!! Make sure you capture every detail!!! Photography by Louis has been in the business for over 30 years, all while keeping up to date on the latest equipment and photography trends.
About a year before your wedding date, start your search by asking recent couples you know for recs and browsing websites. Look at a few highlight galleries of weddings from each photographer to get a sense of their quality and style. But realize that these are their best clips from multiple weddings, so once you like someone, ask to see a full wedding or two.
As you review photos, consider key moments you want to capture at your own wedding: Did this shooter get great shots you'd also like? Look for thoughtful compositions and that images and people are in focus (unless they're meant to be grainy). Make sure people look relaxed, and not spooked by the camera.
You can't always properly vet a photographer by looks alone. Once you have a short list of people whose work you like -- and you've determined they're in your price range and are free on your date -- try to set up an in-person or video-chat meeting. You should feel comfortable with this person because they'll be shadowing your every move on your wedding day and interacting with all of your guests.
Ask about what's included in the standard package, plus any additional fees. In particular, find out how many hours of shooting are included. Most packages include about eight hours and cover everything from getting ready to the end of the reception. It's usually better to pay for more coverage if there's a chance you'll run over, especially if you're planning a big finale exit (overtime is normally charged at a higher rate).
Larger studios may have more than one photographer on staff, and depending on your contract, the lead one may not be the one shooting your day. Since every professional has a different style, technique and personality, you need to make sure the photographer you interview and "click" with will be the same one who works your wedding. Also, many top-notch pros include a second shooter in their packages. That way, one can take the formal photos while the other is capturing the cocktail hour. You'll also get to see two unique angles of key moments, like your first kiss as a married couple or cake cutting.
Online reviews are great, and that should be part of your research (see above), but once you're ready to hire someone, ask to speak to a previous client or two. Ask the couple whether the pro got the shots they wanted and if they were happy with the service, plus any other specific questions you have.
Once you've chosen your photographer, sign a contract that has everything -- from the date of the wedding and the hours they'll cover to postproduction work and how you'll receive the final product -- laid out in black and white.
Once you hire a photographer, a prewedding photo shoot kills many birds with one stone: It's a great opportunity to get comfortable with your photographer and with having your picture taken; you'll have a built-in save-the-date photo; and you'll be able to give your pro feedback on what photos you liked and didn't before your wedding day.
Don't waste time trying to get every last combo of grandparents, siblings and cousins. Stick to a few important shots, and ask your maid of honor or another member of the wedding party to help orchestrate them on the day of. Include whether you want shots in black and white or color, and don't forget to mention any particular décor items you want captured (for instance, the DIY napkin holders you got carpal tunnel syndrome from weaving). While you're sending these notes, attach a few photos of yourself that you think you look amazing in, so he'll know how you want to look on your wedding day. And include any side notes about the actual day, like your grandma has a bad hip and can't stand too long.
On your wedding day, everything will take longer than you think, from getting your hair done to getting dressed. And mishaps will happen (trust us!) -- from misplaced vows to terrible traffic -- so set a strict day-of schedule that leaves extra time to deal with them without cutting into your photography session.
If you don't want to miss a minute of your cocktail hour, schedule your portrait photos before the ceremony. Bonus: You'll be less nervous to walk down the aisle and your hair and makeup will be perfectly fresh for the photos.
Photographers tell us that tons of couples shuffle down the aisle because they're so nervous. At the very least, keep your head up, even if smiling isn't going to happen. A thoughtful look on a bride's face pre-vows or a content look during the recessional is way better than the top of your heads.
Try not to sweat the small stuff, like a relocation of your portrait shoot because of rain or your flower girl melting down during the family shots. And allow your photographer to keep you on schedule, to frame the shots and to know what will look best -- remember, that's why you hired them. If you're always looking for the camera, it won't capture you quietly chatting with your new spouse or laughing with your friends. Your photographer should be the one worrying about capturing those moments -- not you!


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75 Things We Do For Our Clients
Wisdom, Experience
and the support you need
Home Delivery, Toilet Paper, and Drones: Which Industries Will Thrive After COVID-19?
Submitted by MIRUS Financial Partners on August 4th, 2020
By now, we all know that the COVID-19 pandemic has changed many things in our world. Across the planet, people continue to become dependent on technology, work-at-home products, online learning needs, and home cooking.
Conversely, many people have stopped using some things and no longer go to many places. Some of our changed behavior is temporary, and we'll go back to our old ways once the pandemic is no longer a threat. But in other ways, we're changed forever.
Which behaviors will stick, and which are short-term? No one knows the answer for sure, but when considering long-term investments, it's useful to consider how the world might change.
Here's a sample of some experts' thoughts on which products, companies, and industries will thrive after COVID-19 has come and gone.
NOTE: The following list is intended to be a sample of opinions. Mirus Financial Partners does not necessarily endorse any or all of the following predictions, observations, or opinions.
According to SupermarketNews, "Almost half of shoppers reported that they are buying more groceries online or have started making online purchases because of COVID-19, Coresight's research showed. Of online purchasers, 34.9% said they're buying more groceries because of coronavirus, and 14.4% said they started shopping online for groceries due to the pandemic. Another 10.5% indicated they're buying groceries online less amid the outbreak, and 40.2% said the crisis hasn't impacted their online grocery shopping. Over the past couple of years, the online grocery shopping rate has more than doubled. In 2018, 23.1% of consumers said they had bought groceries online in the last 12 months, and 25.8% said they planned to do so in the next 12 months. Those figures climbed to 36.8% for actual online purchasers and 39.5% for expected online buyers in 2019. Then in the 2020 survey, those numbers jumped to 52% for actual online grocery purchasers and 62.5% for planned online grocery buyers."
MarketWatch.com predicts opportunities. "Prior to COVID-19, the online education market was expected to grow from a $107 billion market in 2015 to $350 billion by 2025. But the pandemic could accelerate the growth as schools grapple with how to hold classes while adhering to social distancing guidelines, and colleges and universities explore hybrid in-class and remote learning models. The state of Iowa is a leader in education technology, with more than 3,100 people working in the industry, with a diverse mix of startups and larger companies and more than $22.7 million in venture capital or angel investments raised since 2010, according to an annual report from the Iowa EdTech Collaborative. A part of the collaborative, Pear Deck, an Iowa City-Cedar Rapids edtech company founded in 2014, allows teachers to create interactive presentations and has seen record-breaking use of their tools this spring. In the U.S., between March 1 and April 30, the company trained more than 20,000 new teachers on their tools and recorded more than 30 million moments of engagement."
From Colliers International, "Typically when we think about an e-commerce distribution facility, we calculate that they require about three times that of a typical business-to-business facility to accommodate more complex pick-pack systems and provide access to a greater variety of product. With an interest in bringing some industries back to the United States for better control in times of disruption, as well as a new trend of increasing safety stock, demand for industrial space will likely grow. Following on the growth of e-commerce, new retailers will develop strictly online marketplaces and have management either working from the distribution facility and/or from home."
The Harvard Business Review notes that work-from-home industries are set to thrive. "Google has said a majority of their employees can work from home until 2021. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey told employees that they'd be allowed to work from home permanently, even after COVID. According to the U.S. Census, about 5% of American workers primarily worked from home in 2017, up from over 3% in 2000. The Bureau of Labor Statistics noted that in 2018, 29% of workers had the option and ability to work at home. Both numbers will surely increase as a result of the many weeks in which most professionals found ways to be productive outside the office. How much will it increase? That is a function of two key factors, namely what employers can gain from more work from home and what employees want. A survey of CFOs noted that they planned to shift 20% of their employees to remote work to save costs…20–30% of workers could end up working from home a meaningful amount, which is a four to six-fold increase of what it was just a few years ago."
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce predicts a sustained increase in the home-delivery business. "Retailers, restaurants, grocery stores and more are hiring local delivery drivers to make shopping safe and simple. Industries that you may not expect to move to delivery are going that direction too, including car shopping and custom-made cocktails. All of this adds up to a future with more delivery options and the likelihood that most new consumer-facing businesses will offer a delivery option."
SmallBizDaily.com reports liquor sales are strong. "Anxiety, stress, and fear have had a new constant presence in the lives of people around the world. Given the upended state of society, liquor sales surged more than 20% after businesses and schools shut down. Liquor stores keep the profits soaring by offering delivery and curbside pickup in areas with the strictest lockdown orders."
Lendio.com suggests contactless payment providers will prosper. "Despite the dire situation many small businesses face, 36% are actually seeing better sales. Of these rising businesses, 27% cite contactless payments as a key component of their success…Various forms of contactless payments are already in wide use worldwide, but the United States has been slow to get on the bandwagon. That appears to be changing, and businesses related to the technology and processing of contactless payments are set to thrive."
Security Magazine reports, "According to a LearnBonds.com report, besides boosting their cybersecurity spending, as the top IT priority this year, around 55 percent of major organizations will boost their investments in automation solutions, revealed HFS Research survey conducted in April. Smart analytics, hybrid or multi-cloud and artificial intelligence follow, with 53 percent, 49 percent and 46 percent of those bodies asked naming them as their leading IT investments this year."
The New York Times says this is a big moment for drones, which are "…suddenly everywhere during the coronavirus crisis, taking over any number of human tasks as people hunker indoors. Drones have been working as police officers, soaring over the banks of the Seine in Paris and the city squares of Mumbai, to patrol for social distancing violators. Coronavirus has been devastating to humans but may well prove a decisive step toward a long-prophesied Drone Age, when aerial robots begin to shed their Orwellian image as tools of war and surveillance and become a common feature of daily life, serving as helpers and, perhaps soon, companions."
Bloomberg News reports, "With Americans spending a lot of time at home these days, more money is being spent on soft toilet paper. That may be bad news for the environment. Nearly 60% of at-home toilet paper in the U.S. comes from so-called virgin material, which is sourced from Canada's northern forests. The NRDC for years has highlighted the impact of tissue that uses non-recycled content. In the latest study, the group handed out F grades to brands from Procter & Gamble Co., Georgia-Pacific, and Kimberly-Clark Corp.—the three largest U.S. manufacturers of toilet paper—for the environmental impact of their products."
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mark@mirusfinancialpartners.com
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