text:
English Literature, 20th cent. to the Present: Biographies
Durrell, Lawrence
views updated May 21 2018
BORN: 1912, Jullundur, India
DIED: 1990, Sommieres, France
NATIONALITY: Irish
MAJOR WORKS:
The Black Book (1938)
A Key to Modern British Poetry (1952)
Bitter Lemons (1957)
The Alexandria Quartet (1962)
Lawrence Durrell is known primarily as the author of The Alexandria Quartet (1962), a set of four novels widely considered to be among the finest achievements in twentieth-century fiction. Continuing in the tradition of James Joyce and D. H. Lawrence, Durrell experiments with the structure of the novel while also probing the human psyche. His work is infused with observations on the nature
of reality and sexuality, based in part on the theories of Albert Einstein and Sigmund Freud.
Works in Biographical and Historical Context
Early Life, Early Success Lawrence Durrell was born in India in 1912 to Anglo-Irish parents who had never seen England because his family had lived in India for three generations. England had officially made India a part of the British Empire in 1858, after many Indians had attempted to drive out the British East India Company, which had effectively ruled much of India for a century. Among the many industries that flourished in India— primarily for trade and shipment back to England—were cotton and silk production.
Despite his family history, Durrell considered himself an Irishman. His father was an engineer who worked on the construction of the Darjeeling railroad line which skirts the Himalayas. Durrell attended the College of St. Joseph in Darjeeling, and at the age of eleven, he was sent to England to continue his education at St. Edmund's School in Canterbury. This move was the first great change in his life, but his father's attempt to groom him as a member of the British ruling class did not succeed. After secondary school, according to Durrell's own
account, he deliberately failed the entrance examinations for Oxford four times, a conscious rebellion against his father. He became a jazz pianist at a London nightclub called The Blue Peter while aspiring to be a writer. After marrying artist Nancy Myers, Durrell completely devoted his energies to becoming a novelist.
Oppressed by the hardship of life in a grimy quarter of London, Durrell was also stung by the stifling pressure of British society on his artistic ambitions. In a letter he wrote, "England wrung my guts out of me and tried to destroy everything singular and unique in me." In 1935, to escape "that mean, shabby little island," Durrell went with his family to the island of Corfu, off the Adriatic coast of Greece. He wanted to live the life of an expatriate writer and to recreate the life of London in his novels, much as the expatriate James Joyce had done for Dublin. It was in Corfu that Durrell began reading the work of Henry Miller, whose work would have a major influence on the artist.
Durrell's Muse Durrell's discovery of the works of Henry Miller had a tremendous effect on his writing, and Durrell initiated a correspondence which was to continue until Miller's death. In 1938, after censorship problems had complicated its publication in the British Isles, Durrell's The Black Book appeared from Obelisk Press in Paris, and he became what he calls a "serious" writer. The novel established Durrell's reputation and drew lavish praise from Miller: "You've crossed the equator. Your commercial career is finished. From now on you're an outlaw, and I congratulate you with all the breath in my body. I seriously think that you truly are 'the first Englishman!"' The success of the novel instilled in Durrell the confidence that he was on the right track artistically.
The Alexandria Quartet After a nineteen-year break in his novel-writing career, Durrell produced what would become the centerpiece of his career as a novelist: The Alexandria Quartet, comprised of Justine, Balthazar, Mountolive, and Clea. In this ambitious and intricate series of novels, Durrell attempted to create a fictional parallel of twentieth-century physics, based on the theories he had developed in his one book of literary criticism, A Key to Modern British Poetry. The books of The Alexandria Quartet, which Durrell called "an investigation of modern love," are not sequential; rather, the first three books tell about the same events and characters in pre– World War II Alexandria, but from different viewpoints. The "facts" of the story of sexual liaisons and political intrigue are glimpsed only obliquely from the accounts of different narrators. There is, in a sense, no objective truth to be discovered. The fourth novel, Clea, is a more traditional chronological narrative which takes the characters through the war years.
Other Genres In addition to his novels, Durrell is noted for a series of works generally referred to as the "island books," a hybrid genre incorporating autobiography and satiric social commentary. Prospero's: A Guide to the Landscape and Manners of the Island of Corcyra (1945) is an "island portrait" of Corfu, its geography, lore, customs, and eccentric inhabitants. Durrell's literary output also includes twelve volumes of poetry, three plays, several books of satiric sketches of diplomatic life, short stories, and collections of his correspondence with Henry Miller, Alfred Perles, and Richard Aldington. Durrell died of emphysema at his home in the village of Sommieres on November 7, 1990.
Works in Literary Context
Durrell's writing career began during a period of formal experimentation in literature. Sensing the limitations of conventional novels and poetry, authors were trying to figure out how the human experience could be fully expressed in literature. Consequently, a narrator might attempt to recount the haphazard development of a human being's thoughts. Writers also began to push the limits of "decency," describing with unflinching openness sexuality and sexual deviancy. Durrell primarily subscribed to these kinds of experimentation, though he also delved into some narrative design experimentation in his acclaimed The Alexandria Quartet.
LITERARY AND HISTORICAL CONTEMPORARIES
Durrell's famous contemporaries include:
Anaïs Nin (1903–1977): Nin is best known for her erotica and for her seven-volume journal, which Henry Miller predicted would someday "take its place beside the revelations of St. Augustine, Petronius, [Pierre] Abelard, [Jean Jacques] Rousseau, [Marcel] Proust, and others."
Robertson Davies (1913–1995): This Canadian novelist's work often deals with religion and metaphysics while interweaving theatrical elements with traditional novel forms.
William Faulkner (1897–1962): This American novelist often experimented not only with the limitations of the novel form but also with the use of dialect.
Richard Nixon (1913–1994): This U.S. president's time in office was marred by the Watergate scandal, which eventually forced Nixon to resign for fear of being impeached.
Rebel Writers and Formal Experimentation One of the most significant influences on Durrell during his search for his own voice as a writer was Henry Miller's Tropic of Cancer. Miller's 1934 novel, which introduced a frankness in subject matter and expression never seen before, was published in France, banned in England, and
immediately joined James Joyce's Ulysses (1922) and D. H. Lawrence's Lady Chatterley's Lover (1928) as major books that were widely read "underground." Durrell was influenced by the innovations of all three writers: He admired Miller's openness, Joyce's formal experimentations, and Lawrence's erotic honesty and spirit of revolt. In The Black Book, Durrell deliberately tried to create a plot that would move in memory but remain static in linear time, radiating instead out into space. He referred to this principle that he would go on to refine in The Alexandria Quartet as "heraldic."
Indeed, The Alexandria Quartet was an experiment in form. The outer plot, a story of love, mystery, and spies, is narrated by a young writer who takes an archetypal journey to find love, self-knowledge, and his artistic voice. He writes a first novel Justine about a love affair in Alexandria, and then follows with Balthazar, which contradicts the first by quoting other people. Finally, after interjecting a third omniscient volume, Mountolive, revealing the "facts," the narrator adds a last novel— Clea—that moves forward in time toward his attainment of maturity and wisdom.
The form of the Quartet is intrinsic to the work; Durrell had been concerned for many years with how the new physics of space-time might apply to fiction, and insofar as The Alexandria Quartet experiments with the novel's limitations with regard to chronology and memory, it is easy to link it to William Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury (1929). In this novel, the plot is developed in backward chronological order and is completely immersed in the dialect of the Deep South, thereby requiring readers to discover a new way to think in order to follow the details of the novel.
In fact, Durrell's experimentation with the interplay of memory and narrative has been effectively used to describe the way post-traumatic stress disorder affects Vietnam War veterans by contemporary writers. Novelists such as Tim O'Brien have helped modern readers understand that for those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, there are essentially two existences: the one in the here and the now and the one that is stuck in the traumatic events of the Vietnam War. Successful experimentation with memory and its effect on novel chronology does not merely describe this sensation; the reader actually has a sense of what it feels like to be living within two realities.
Works in Critical Context
Although critics have differed widely in their assessments of Durrell's canon, they have never questioned the quality of the island books, but from the Quartet onward, contention swirled around his experiments with form, with characterization, with layering of ideas, and with language itself. Yet viewed as a whole, his work finally takes on, as John Unterecker said in On Contemporary Literature, a "marble constancy" all its own. It "fuses together into something that begins to feel like an organic whole."
The Island Novels Durrell's island novels, or landscape books, are drawn from the Greek world, but they are far more than travelogues or catalogues of places to visit. Much like the travel literature of Norman Douglas and D. H. Lawrence, they recreate the ambience of places loved, the characters of people known, and the history and mythology of each unique island world. The first three landscape books, Prospero's Cell, Reflections on a Marine Venus, and Bitter Lemons form a kind of trilogy mounting in intensity and power. Prospero's Cell is considered by critics to be the most beautiful of the three, evoking the Corfu of the young Durrell, his Greek friends, and the history of the island and resonates with myths from Homer to William Shakespeare and beyond.
COMMON HUMAN EXPERIENCE
The Alexandria Quartet retells its key events multiple times from different points of view. The idea here seems to be that, so long as stories are told by human beings, they are defined by their subjectivity; therefore, the stories will not be reliable sources of truth. Here are some other examples of artistic works that wrestle with the idea of subjectivity as it relates to truth:
The Things They Carried (1990), by Tim O'Brien. In this collection of short stories, Tim O'Brien describes the experiences of a soldier in the Vietnam War; however, it becomes clear that the events recounted are not "factually true" but only "emotionally true."
Rashômon (1950), a film by Akira Kurosawa. A tragic encounter between a bandit and a samurai and his wife is recounted several different ways by the participants and witnesses—including the dead samurai, who offers his testimony through a medium.
The Indian Killer (1996), by Sherman Alexie. In a traditional murder mystery novel form, Alexie introduces a new twist: Because the serial killer in this novel is never discovered, murder and fear continue to reign at the end of the novel, and the truth is never found.
In comparison, Reflections on a Marine Venus is a harsher, less romantic look at the life of the people of Rhodes immediately after the war. In Reflections, Durrell classified his love of islands as "Islomania": "This book is by intention a sort of anatomy of islomania, with all its formal defects of inconsequence and shapelessness." Bitter Lemons is critically seen to be the finest of Durrell's island studies and among the most outstanding of his works. Published in 1957, the book was written immediately after he returned to England from Cyprus, where his romance with Greece had been tragically strained by the island's nationalistic uprisings. The author's mixed emotions are expressed vividly in Bitter Lemons. In the New
York Times Book Review, Freya Stark praised its "integrity of purpose,… careful brilliant depth of language and… the feeling of destiny which pervades it," declaring that the book elevated Durrell to the highest rank of writers.
The Alexandria Quartet Well-read in Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung and in Sir James Frazer's mythic theory, Durrell saw modern thought returning full circle to Far Eastern and Indian philosophy, and he wanted to weave all these concepts into the tapestry of The Alexandria Quartet. He explained in Paris Review that "Eastern and Western metaphysics are coming to a point of confluence in the most interesting way. It seems unlikely in a way, but nevertheless the two main architects of this breakthrough have been Einstein and Freud…. Well, this novel is a four-dimensional dance, a relativity poem." Durrell's concept of space-time has been greatly debated by critics of his work. Anthony Burgess contended in The Novel Now, that "To learn more and more as we go on is what we expect from any good novel, and we need no benefit of 'relativity."' In Lawrence Durrell, John Unterecker voiced the opposite: "The relativity theory involves a reorientation for the modern writer not only toward the materials of his art but also toward himself, his audience, his world." In no sense a pretentious or superfluous theory imposed on the Quartet, space-time is, in many ways, the central structure of the work.
Responses to Literature
Read The Alexandria Quartet. To what extent do you feel Durrell's experimentation with form is successful? Consider specifically the use of repeated stories from different viewpoints.
Read at least two of Durrell's island novels. In these novels, Durrell attempts to bring to life the myths, the geography, and the people of the islands he describes. Draft a short essay in which you describe the people, places, and myths of your hometown, considering Durrell's work while you write.
Cocker, Mark. Loneliness and Time: British Travel Writing in the Twentieth Century. London: Secker & Warburg, 1992.
Friedman, Alan W. Lawrence Durrell and The Alexandria Quartet. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1970.
Hawkins, Tiger Tim. Eve: The Common Muse of Henry Miller and Lawrence Durrell. San Francisco: Ahab, 1963.
Lemon, Lee. Portraits of the Artist in Contemporary Fiction. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1985.
Pinchin, Jane. Alexandria Still: Forster, Durrell. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1977.
Pine, Richard. Lawrence Durrell: The Mindscape. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1994.
Rowan Raper, Julius, Melody L. Enscore, and Paige Matthey Bynum, eds. Lawrence Durrell: Comprehending the Whole. London: Secker & Warburg, 1992.
Unterecker, John. Lawrence Durrell. New York: Columbia University Press, 1964.
Gale Contextual Encyclopedia of World Literature
"Durrell, Lawrence ." Gale Contextual Encyclopedia of World Literature. . Encyclopedia.com. 17 Jan. 2023 <https://www.encyclopedia.com>.
"Durrell, Lawrence ." Gale Contextual Encyclopedia of World Literature. . Encyclopedia.com. (January 17, 2023). https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/durrell-lawrence
"Durrell, Lawrence ." Gale Contextual Encyclopedia of World Literature. . Retrieved January 17, 2023 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/durrell-lawrence
A prolific British author, Lawrence Durrell (1912-1990) wrote several large-scale, multi-volume series of novels as well as poetry, plays, short stories, and travel books. People and places of the Mediterranean were a central theme of his work.
Lawrence Durrell was born on February 27, 1912, in Darjeeling, India, at the foothills of the Himalayas. His parents were Irish Protestants engaged in colonial service. After attending the College of St. Joseph in Darjeeling, the 11-year-old Durrell, like many Anglo-Indian children, was sent to England to complete his education. He went to St. Edmund's School, Canterbury, and, failing to gain entrance to Cambridge, took up a bohemian existence and supported himself by working as a jazz pianist in London night clubs and taking on a variety of odd jobs. He also began to work seriously on his poetry and fiction.
Oppressed by the hardship of life in a grimy quarter of London, Durrell was also stung by the stifling pressure of British society on his artistic ambitions. He wrote in a letter: "England wrung my guts out of me and tried to destroy everything singular and unique in me." In 1935, to escape "that mean, shabby little island," Durrell went with his family to the island of Corfu, off the Adriatic coast of Greece. He wanted to live the life of an expatriate writer and to recreate the life of London in his novels, much as the expatriate James Joyce had done for Dublin. At this time, Durrell read Henry Miller's Tropic of Cancer, a book whose plain style and sexual candor would greatly influence his own fiction. He went to Paris to meet Miller, and so began their life-long friendship.
Durrell's stay on Corfu was interrupted by the onset of World War II. His life for the next 17 years was shaped by a series of postings in government service. Durrell was in Athens and Crete from 1939 to 1941 teaching English, in Cairo and Alexandria until 1945 as an officer in the Foreign Press Service, in Rhodes until 1947 as director of public relations for the Dodecanese Islands, in Argentina in 1948 as director of the British Council Institute in Cordoba, in Belgrade through 1952 as press attaché, and in Cyprus from 1953 to 1956 as director of public relations for the island's government. The literary result was that the world of the Mediterranean became Durrell's chief subject matter, in both his fiction and his many travel books. In 1957 he left government service to dedicate himself to this writing and settled in a village in the south of France, where he lived until his death in 1990.
Durrell's first important novel was The Black Book (1938), which, though similar in theme, represented a major stylistic break from his earlier fiction. The novel shows the influence of Miller's Tropic of Cancer, but The Black Book was no mere imitation. The novel recounts the lives and loves of struggling writers and artists in a grubby London hotel. Because of the novel's sexual frankness, Faber & Faber refused to bring out an unexpurgated edition; the book was finally published in its complete form through the efforts of Henry Miller. (The Black Book did not find a publisher in the United States until 1960.) With its appearance, Durrell was recognized as a major literary voice.
Durrell's subsequent fiction explores the people and places of the Mediterranean that he came to know so well. Cefalu (1947; later retitled The Dark Labyrinth) is a satirical portrait of a group of English tourists who are for a time trapped in the Cretan labyrinth, home to the legendary Minotaur.
The centerpiece of Durrell's career as novelist is The Alexandria Quartet, comprised of Justine (1957), Balthazar (1958), Mountolive (1958), and Clea (1960). In this ambitious and intricate series of novels, Durrell attempted to create a fictional parallel of 20th-century physics, based on theories he had expounded in his one book of literary criticism, A Key to Modern British Poetry (1952). In a prefatory note to Balthazar, Durrell wrote: "Modern literature offers us no Unities, so I have turned to science and am trying to complete a four-decker novel whose form is based on the relativity proposition. Three sides of space and one of time constitute the soup mix recipe of a continuum." The books of The Alexandria Quartet, which Durrell called "an investigation of modern love," are not sequential; rather, the first three books tell of the same events and characters in pre-World War II Alexandria, but from different viewpoints. The "facts" of the story of sexual liaisons and political intrigue are glimpsed only obliquely from the accounts of different narrators. There is, in a sense, no objective truth to be discovered. The fourth novel, Clea, is a more traditional chronological narrative which takes the characters through the war years.
In The Alexandria Quartet, Durrell adopted a highly ornate and sensuous narrative voice which drew much critical attention. George Steiner described the Quartet's style as "complex aural music" in which "light seems to play across the surface of the words in a brilliant tracery." The "baroque" style was not to everyone's taste though; Martin Green complained that "a steady diet of [Durrell's] sentences … makes one feel one is sickening for a bad cold."
Durrell's career as novelist continued with two other large-scale, multi-volume works. Tunc (1968) and Nunquam (1970) comprise The Revolt of Aphrodite, which tells a gothic story of corporate intrigue. The five-part Avignon Quintet is made up of Monsieur, or the Prince of Darkness (1974); Livia, or Buried Alive (1978); Constance, or Solitary Practices (1982); Sebastian, or Ruling Passions (1983); and Quinx, or the Ripper's Tale (1985). These later works, which are heavily weighted with allusions to gnostic mysticism and the medieval legends of the Knights Templar, are direct descendents of Durrell's Alexandria series. As the critic Alan Friedman points out:
They too offer exotic settings peopled by improbable characters; multiple fictional and narrative layerings; … extensive mythical and metaphysical speculation on the nature of the universe and its creator, on the ego and personality, on the enterprises of being, becoming and creating; a harsh critique of western civilization and values; and an erotically charged prose style whose evocations and allusions overtly echo and invoke the Quartet.
In addition to his novels, Durrell is noted for a series of works generally referred to as the "island books," a hybrid genre incorporating autobiography and satiric social commentary. Prospero's Cell (1945) is an "island portrait" of Corfu, its geography, lore, customs, and eccentric inhabitants. Later, Durrell published Reflections on a Marine Venus: A Companion to the Landscape of Rhodes (1953); Bitter Lemons (1957), which deals with the Greek-Turkish conflict on Cyprus; Sicilian Carousel (1977); and The Greek Islands (1978).
Durrell's literary output also includes twelve volumes of poetry, three plays, several books of satiric sketches of diplomatic life, short stories, and collections of his correspondence with Henry Miller, Alfred Perles, and Richard Aldington. Durrell died of emphysema at his home in the village of Sommieres, November 7, 1990.
Spirit of Place (1969), edited by Alan G. Thomas, is an extensive anthology of Durrell's essays and fiction which serves as a Baedecker to Durrell's life and travels. Two important collections of criticism are Harry T. Moore's The World of Lawrence Durrell (1962) and Alan Warren Friedman's Critical Essays on Lawrence Durrell (1987). Readers interested in Durrell's friendship with Henry Miller might turn to the Durrell-Miller Letters, 1935-1980 (1988) or to Always Merry and Bright (1978), Jay Martin's biography of Miller. □
Encyclopedia of World Biography
"Lawrence Durrell ." Encyclopedia of World Biography. . Encyclopedia.com. 17 Jan. 2023 <https://www.encyclopedia.com>.
"Lawrence Durrell ." Encyclopedia of World Biography. . Encyclopedia.com. (January 17, 2023). https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/lawrence-durrell
"Lawrence Durrell ." Encyclopedia of World Biography. . Retrieved January 17, 2023 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/lawrence-durrell
Durrell, Lawrence George
Durrell, Lawrence George (1912–90) British novelist and poet, b. India. Brother of Gerald Durrell, his life in Greece and Egypt provided inspiration for most of his writing. His major work is the inventive tetralogy, The Alexandria Quartet: Justine (1957), Balthazar (1958), Mountolive (1958), and Clea (1960). Other novels include Avignon Quintet (1992). His Collected Poems 1931–74 appeared in 1980.
World Encyclopedia
"Durrell, Lawrence George ." World Encyclopedia. . Encyclopedia.com. 17 Jan. 2023 <https://www.encyclopedia.com>.
"Durrell, Lawrence George ." World Encyclopedia. . Encyclopedia.com. (January 17, 2023). https://www.encyclopedia.com/environment/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/durrell-lawrence-george
"Durrell, Lawrence George ." World Encyclopedia. . Retrieved January 17, 2023 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/environment/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/durrell-lawrence-george
Anais Nin , Nin, Anaïs Anaïs Nin BORN: 1903, Neuilly-sur-Seine, France NATIONALITY: French, American GENRE: Nonfiction, fiction MAJOR WORKS: The Diary of Anaïs N… Henry Miller , American author Henry Miller was a major force in literature in the late 1950s, largely because his two most important novels, banned from publicatio… Anthony Burgess , BORN: 1917, Manchester, England DIED: 1993, London, England NATIONALITY: English GENRE: Fiction, nonfiction, drama MAJOR WORKS: The Long Day Wanes: A… Anthony Trollope , BORN: 1815, London, England DIED: 1882, Harting, Sussex, England NATIONALITY: British GENRE: Drama, fiction MAJOR WORKS: Barchester Towers (1857) Orl… Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley , Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft BORN: 1797, London DIED: 1851, London NATIONALITY: British GENRE: Fiction, poetry, nonfiction MAJOR WORKS: Frankenstein;… Samuel R. Delany , Delany, Samuel R. Jr. 1942– As an African American raised in Harlem and educated in some of the most prestigious schools in New York City, Samuel R.…
All Sources -
Updated Aug 13 2018 About encyclopedia.com content Print Topic
Walpole, Hugh
Miller, Henry 1891–1980
Stead, C(hristian) K(arlson)
Sukenick, Ronald 1932-
Miller, Mary Britton
Barnes, Julian
Huxley, Aldous
Lawrence and Lucy Hammond
Lawrence (real name, Cohen), Robert
Lawrance, Jody (1930–1986)
lawny
Lawnmower Man 2: BeyondCyberspace
Lawn, Judy 1953–
Lawn Garden Cemeteries
Lawn Dogs
Lawn Care/Gardening
Lawn & Garden Tools
lawmen
Lawlor, William T. 1951–
Lawlor, William T. 1951-
Lawlor, Patsy (1933–1998)
Lawlor, Mary
Lawlor, Clark 1965-
Lawless, Theodore K. 1892–1971
Lawless, Lucy 1968–
Lawrence et al. v. Texas
Lawrence Justinian, St.
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL)
Lawrence Museum of Magic and Witchcraft
Lawrence O'toole, St.
Lawrence of Brindisi, St.
Lawrence of Canterbury, St.
Lawrence of Durham
Lawrence of Riparfatta, Bl.
Lawrence of Spain
Lawrence of the Resurrection
Lawrence of Villamagna, Bl.
Lawrence Scientific School
Lawrence Strike
Lawrence Technological University: Distance Learning Programs
Lawrence Technological University: Narrative Description
Lawrence Technological University: Tabular Data
Lawrence Textile Strike
Lawrence University: Narrative Description
Lawrence University: Tabular Data
Lawrence Yep
Lawrence, Amos Adams
Lawrence, Andrea Mead (1932–)


The Special Programs staff is committed to the idea that student success can be built or rebuilt through an approach that combines individual attention, academic success, behavior adjustment, and networking of school and community resources. Coordinated through the Special Programs Department, Mineral Wells ISD seeks to work with parents, school personnel and community resources as needed in every aspect of serving the district's at-risk youth.
These student-centered programs are a component of student management at the Mineral Wells Independent School District. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to call MWISD Special Programs.


Ideal Cherry Blossom Wild Bird Seed, Also contains excellent sources of proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, essential amino acids, and electrolytes necessary for growth, health, and reproduction in your backyard visitors. Clean and virtually dust-free, this blend helps eliminate waste and ground mess. Delicious fruity aroma and valuable nutrition are sure to keep your backyard visitors happy and healthy.


tutoring center open from 7:15 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
instructional support in the core content areas.
African American juniors to enroll in an ACT or SAT test prep course.
and needing to take college entrance exams.
Opportunity for students to take a summer math course to enable them to move up an academic level.
have demonstrated the potential to move up a level.
program for incoming freshmen with emphasis on academic and social skills. Co-taught classes by D97/D200 English and Math teachers.
by joint D200, D97, and D90 criteria.
summer school course for sophomores and juniors to support reading and writing development.
opportunities for parents in order to support student success and create strong positive relationships across the communities.
period of intensive academic support for students enrolled in Algebra 1 that utilizes an interactive technology-based curriculum.
1 in need of additional support as identified by standardized test scores and/or Special Education recommendations.
school managed and run by MENTA.
provide support for students to enhance mainstream opportunities.
eligible to take mainstream educational courses.
based program to promote students' independence in the home and community; teaching students life skills.
completed the high school program.
Educational Excellence) - A program to promote good decision-making and problem solving skills in collaboration with community support and school resource officers.
program that engages male students of color in academic and social topics that speak to the multiple identities of the students with race and gender at the core.
(PSS) - Team assessment process for analysis of student problem situations and recommendation for intervention.
changing behavior, attendance or performance cause concern.
faculty member assigned to reduce behavior incidents and off campus placements within the ED program.
intended to assist students with earning credit towards graduation through online learning opportunities.
time mentoring program intended to help students navigate the demands of life, both inside and outside of school, to foster positive life choices and outcomes.
Academic Enrichment (AE)- A course that helps students with executive functioning and self management.
double-period reading course designed to address deficits in reading skill development for students.
on reading or English standardized tests and assessments.
with reading across the content areas.
Freshmen scoring below the 50th percentile on reading or English standardized tests.
support period with a teacher to assist with reading across the content areas.
for teachers and divisions working to infuse literacy instruction across the content areas.
in the core content areas.
Collaborative meetings in which teachers meet to improve teaching and learning centered around course- specific student achievement data.
learning session for teachers intended to support teachers in addressing a wide array of student centered needs and provide instructional support for teachers.
position assigned to support poetry instruction within the English curriculum.


text:
Factors influencing clinical trial site selection in Europe: the Survey of Attitudes towards Trial sites in Europe (the SAT-EU Study)
Marta Gehring1,
Rod S Taylor2,
Marie Mellody3,
Brigitte Casteels4,
Angela Piazzi3,
Gianfranco Gensini5,
Giuseppe Ambrosio6
1sbg Healthcare Consulting, Lausanne, Switzerland
2Exeter Medical School, Institute of Health Services Research, University of Exeter, UK
3Virtuoso Consulting, Geneva, Switzerland
4BC Consulting & Solutions, Lausanne, Switzerland
5Division of Cardiology, University of Florence, Florence, Italy
6Division of Cardiology, University of Perugia School of Medicine, Perugia, Italy
Correspondence to Dr Giuseppe Ambrosio; giuseppe.ambrosio{at}ospedale.perugia.it
Objectives Applications to run clinical trials in Europe fell 25% between 2007 and 2011. Costs, speed of approvals and shortcomings of European Clinical Trial Directive are commonly invoked to explain this unsatisfactory performance. However, no hard evidence is available on the actual weight of these factors or has it been previously investigated whether other criteria may also impact clinical trial site selection.
Design The Survey of Attitudes towards Trial sites in Europe (SAT-EU Study) was an anonymous, cross-sectional web-based survey that systematically assessed factors impacting European clinical trial site selection. It explored 19 factors across investigator-driven, hospital-driven and environment-driven criteria, and costs. It also surveyed perceptions of the European trial environment.
Setting and participants Clinical research organisations (CROs), academic clinical trial units (CTUs) and industry invited to respond.
Outcome measures Primary outcome: weight assigned to each factor hypothesised to impact trial site selection and trial incidence. Secondary outcome: desirability of European countries to run clinical trials.
Results Responses were obtained from 485 professionals in 34 countries: 49% from BioPharma, 40% from CTUs or CROs. Investigator-dependent, environment-dependent and hospital-dependent factors were rated highly important, costs being less important (p<0.0001). Within environment-driven criteria, pool of eligible patients, speed of approvals and presence of disease-management networks were significantly more important than costs or government financial incentives (p<0.0001). The pattern of response was consistent across respondent groupings (CTU vs CRO vs industry). Considerable variability was demonstrated in the perceived receptivity of countries to undertake clinical trials, with Germany, the UK and the Netherlands rated the best trial markets (p<0.0001).
Conclusions Investigator-dependent factors and ease of approval dominate trial site selection, while costs appear less important. Fostering competitiveness of European clinical research may not require additional government spending/incentives. Rather, harmonisation of approval processes, greater visibility of centres of excellence and reduction of 'hidden' indirect costs, may bring significantly more clinical trials to Europe.
European clinical trial competitiveness
Clinical trial site selection criteria
http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2013-002957
Strengths and limitations of this study
We provide systematic evidence across a large sample of expert professionals indicating that fostering competitiveness of European clinical research may not require additional government spending/incentives. Carefully crafted harmonisation of approvals, greater visibility of centres of excellence via disease networks/the web, and reduction of 'hidden' costs are more likely to boost competitiveness of European clinical research.
Consistent with voluntary surveys, we could only analyse responses provided by those interested in replying, and therefore cannot exclude that other points of view may have emerged from those who did not participate; our questionnaire may also have missed potentially important factors.
Carefully crafted harmonisation of approvals, greater visibility of centres of excellence via disease networks/the web, and reduction in 'hidden' costs are more likely to boost the competitiveness of European clinical research.
Europe has consistently expressed a desire to maintain and improve clinical trial competitiveness,1–3 most recently by advocating a 'European Research Area' in which 'researchers, scientific knowledge and technology circulate freely'.4 A major component of the European governance for clinical research, European Clinical Trial Directive 2001/20/EC (CTD) was intended to support this goal, focusing on the harmonisation of research processes across EU member states.5–9 However, the CTD failed to achieve its intended impact on the simplification and harmonisation of administrative provisions governing clinical trials,9 and thus on the level of European clinical research activity.2 ,10 ,11 In fact, from 2007 to 2011, the number of clinical trial applications in Europe fell 25%.12 Accordingly, although concerted calls for further CTD revisions continue13 ,14 and recommendations awaiting member state review have been made by the European Commission6 and endorsed by scientific societies,15 it is not clear which specific recommendations should be implemented or prioritised at either national or pan-European level.
Much of this uncertainty stems from an insufficient understanding of the key drivers determining decision made by the healthcare industry, academic clinical trial units (CTUs) and clinical research organisations (CROs) in selecting European trial sites. Furthermore, although it is widely believed that costs and speed of approval are key factors influencing clinical trial incidence in Europe,6 ,16 the relative weight of these and other important criteria is poorly understood. To our knowledge, no published studies have examined country and site selection criteria for trials conducted in Europe. Evidence is therefore needed to improve our understanding of stakeholders' decision-making process.
The Survey of Attitudes towards Trial sites in Europe (the SAT-EU Study) was established as a non-profit collaborative effort to systematically assess factors impacting clinical trial site selection in Europe. We also investigated whether trial selection needs differ between academic and commercial sponsors. Finally, the survey sought to explore perceptions of the current European trial environment, and to identify areas for future improvement.
The SAT-EU Study was an anonymous web-based cross-sectional survey undertaken between 26 September 2011 and 21 January 2012. It included all stakeholder groups involved in clinical trial site selection, that is, BioPharma companies, medical device manufacturers, CROs and CTUs. The survey sought to capture information on early-phase and late-phase studies. Late-phase studies were defined as phase III for CTUs, BioPharma and their subcontractors (ie, CROs) and phase IV for other participants (eg, medical device companies).
A multistage approach was used to develop the survey. First, we identified the main criteria expected to impact site selection. Second, we organised these into four broad categories: (1) investigator related, (2) hospital/institution related, (3) country/environment related and (4) costs (evaluated separately and within the environment category). Third, the defined criteria underwent review and discussion with a small number of knowledgeable professionals to ensure that potentially relevant criteria had not been missed (figure 1).
Hypothesis about trial site selection criteria. Four categories of levers potentially impacting trial site selection were identified. Survey-weighed relevance across these four levers, then drilled down for weight within each subcategory.
The study group then built an internet-based survey hosted on a freely accessible online questionnaire software (Survey Monkey, Palo Alto, California, USA). Before launching the survey, healthcare market research experts (The Planning Shop International, London, UK) reviewed the survey design to optimise content and minimise bias. Additionally, a pilot survey undertaken by 15 respondents in June 2011 was used to validate and refine question content and organisation.
Survey procedure
The survey consisted of 23 questions, which took some 20 min to complete. In sequence, questions asked participants to (1) provide demographic information anonymously (2) rate the importance of each of the hypothesised trial site selection criteria for Europe as a whole, (3) provide perception of the trial environment in 12 European countries and (4) rank areas of potential improvement. Participants' feedback was assessed using a multiple-choice format, requiring respondents to provide a single response of rank. The full set of questions is accessible at http://www.sbg-marcom.ch/sat-eu/Study_plan.html. The order of presentation of individual responses to each question was scrambled across respondents to minimise response bias. At the end of each section, a response box allowed participants to provide open text comments, available as an 'online supplement'. Results of the survey were thoroughly reviewed among the study group, and subsequently discussed with a 25-member expert panel in Brussels on November 2012.
The survey was advertised through industry and clinical trial associations, online communities, social networks and personal contacts of the SAT-EU Study group,17 so that the precise number of people invited to participate is not known. No remuneration was provided to participants, but respondents were offered a summary of survey results once available.
Given the descriptive nature of the SAT-EU Study design, we did not formally estimate a required sample size. Instead, we sought to obtain at least 150 completed questionnaires from across the four stakeholder groups. Results are primarily presented descriptively as means (and 95% CI), or medians (and upper and lower quartiles), as appropriate to show results by group or country. Where data were available, responses were compared across three survey respondent groupings (ie, CTU vs CRO vs industry), and across responses within each survey question, using one-way analysis of variance.
A total of 485 individual responses were obtained, with participants providing responses to 72% of questions on average. Responders represented over 100 different institutions, including over 50 pharmaceutical, biotechnology or medical device firms and over 20 CROs and CTUs.
Respondent demographics
Respondents represented over 37 countries, the top five contributors being Italy, USA, the UK, Germany and Spain (table 1). Participants were almost evenly split between BioPharma (49%) and CROs/CTUs (40%; figure 2). In terms of hierarchy/job description, 43% were vice president, director or manager in a research or marketing position, and an additional 20% were head of a CTU (figure 3, left panel). The majority of respondents described themselves as being directly involved in trial site selection decisions; almost two-thirds either personally headed, or sat on the trial site selection committee of their organisation (figure 3, right panel). Importantly, most respondents were the final decision-makers, stating that they were either the 'overall final decision maker', or that trial site selection decisions were 'entirely at (their) discretion'.
Respondent work location (N=485)
Respondent's organisation. Respondents were asked to answer the question: "Please indicate which organisation most closely resembles yours." Bars show percentage distribution of 485 individual responses. Biotech, biotechnology companies; CRO, clinical research organisation; CTU, clinical trial unit; medical devices, radiological, electromedical or healthcare information technology; pharma, pharmaceutical companies; other included following self-reported categories: respondent working for a mixed portfolio industry with either pharma/biotech portfolio or pharma/medical device portfolio (self reported); regulatory/clinical consultant, hospital or private clinic.
Left panel: respondent hierarchy. Respondents were asked to answer the question: "Please indicate the position which most closely resembles yours." Chart shows percentage distribution of 485 individual responses. VP, Vice President. 'Other' were respondents who wanted to be more specific in their titles: global study manager/clinical research associate (CRA); regulatory affairs/regulatory in a clinical department/good clinical practice quality assurance manager or director/safety pharmacovigilance officer; medical affairs/medical director/clinical director/global scientific affairs; and general manager. Right panel: respondent organisation's decision-making process. Respondents were asked to answer the question: "Please indicate which most closely resembles how trial site selection decisions are made at your institution." Chart shows percentage distribution of 485 individual responses. Other (11.8%) included: my staff decides; decision outsourced to CRO; clinical research associate decides; decisions according to standard operating procedures; many people involved in decision; study team decides; our affiliates decide.
Relevance of investigator, environment, hospital and costs criteria
Respondents were asked to divide 100 points (reflecting their perceived level of importance) across four categories of factors impacting trial site selection. For early-phase and late-phase trials (as defined in the Methods section), factors pertaining to the investigator, the hospital/unit and the environment, were rated at a high level of importance (25 or above; table 2). When combined, investigator-dependent and hospital-dependent levers were reported to be instrumental in trial site choice for early-phase and late-phase studies (average weight 60/100 and 57/100, respectively). In contrast, cost factors were considered to be less important for early-phase and late-trials (p<0.0001; table 2). This pattern of response was consistent across survey respondent groupings (ie, CTU vs CRO vs industry; not shown).
Levers impacting trial site selection for early and late trials
Investigator-driven criteria
Respondents were asked to assign 100 points across five investigator-related criteria. There was a statistically significant difference in the level of importance of the factors tested, with investigator track record in previous trials, experience in similar studies and interest in study scoring a level of importance of 20 or above, while concurrent trial workload, and publication track record were significantly less important (p<0.0001; table 3). The pattern of response was again consistent across survey respondent groupings (not shown).
Investigator-driven criteria in the selection of phase II–III trial sites (phase III–IV for medical device)
Environment-driven criteria
To explore environmental dynamics, respondents were asked to assign 100 points across six environment-related criteria. Market size/pool of eligible patients in the region, speed of approvals and presence of disease management networks, were assigned a greater level of importance. In contrast, costs of running trials, and particularly government financial/tax incentives were considered to be of significantly lower importance (p<0.0001; table 4). Also in this case, the pattern of response was consistent across survey respondent groupings (not shown).
Environment-driven criteria in the selection of phase II–III trial sites (phase III–IV for medical devices)
Hospital-driven criteria
In this domain, 100 points had to be assigned across six criteria that explored characteristics of the specific hospital/unit where a clinical trial may potentially be run. There was a statistically significant difference in the level of importance of hospital-driven criteria, whereby site personnel experience and training, respondent's previous experience with site, and availability of facilities and equipment required by trial scored above 20 (p<0.0001). In contrast, site personnel language capabilities and hospital quality assurance processes were significantly less important (table 5).
Hospital-driven criteria in the selection of phase II–III trial sites (phase III–IV for medical devices)
Perception of European trial environment
Our survey showed a statistically significant difference in respondents' perceived desirability of running clinical trials across the 12 European countries tested, that is, Europe's top five healthcare markets (Germany, France, Italy, the UK and Spain), large east European markets (Poland, Hungary and Czech Republic), plus the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland and Austria. For accessibility and transparency of all information required to run clinical trials (figure 4, upper panel), and availability of equipment (not shown), Germany, the UK and the Netherlands were the top three scorers. With regard to predictability and speed of ethics committees, Belgium was the top scorer, followed by Germany and the Netherlands (figure 4, lower panel). In terms of overall trial site 'desirability', respondents scored Germany as the most desirable trial location, followed by the Netherlands and the UK (p=0.0001; figure 5).
Upper panel: accessibility and transparency of all types of information required to make trial site selection decisions—12 country rank (N=296). Respondents were asked to rate 12 countries for the accessibility and transparency of information (of all types) required to make trial site selection. Bars represent mean and 95% CI. Statistically significant difference in satisfaction across European Union (EU) countries (p=0.0001). Lower panel: predictability and speed of ethics committees and institutional review boards (IRBs) for phase II–III multicentre randomised controlled trials (RCTs)—12 country rank (N=296). Respondents were asked to rate 12 countries for the speed of their ethics committees and Institutional Review Boards for phase III (3) multicentric RCTs. Bars represent mean and 95% CI (number of respondents in parentheses). Statistically significant difference in satisfaction across EU countries (p=0.0001).
Trial site desirability by country. Trial site desirability 'index'—nine country rank (N=296; ordered by median). Respondents were asked to provide their 'personal perception' ranking of the desirability of running trials in nine countries, ranking them from '1' 'most desirable' country to '9' 'least desirable' country (if needed, they could click 'no opinion' in up to three countries they know the least). Data are presented as whisker-box plot of median and lower and upper quartile. There was evidence of a statistically significant difference in the perceived desirability of running trials across European Union countries (p=0.0001).
Two questions tested the hypothesis that making a site more visible would be desirable from the decision-makers' perspective. We found that 83% of respondents would have been 'much more likely' to include a site if all relevant investigator-related and hospital-related information were readily available (figure 6, left panel). Furthermore, 75% believed that web-site information would be either 'definitely welcome', or 'useful most of the time' (figure 6, right panel).
Left panel: likelihood of selecting trial site given relevant information. Respondents were asked to rate their level of agreement with the statement: "I am much more likely to select a trial site if I have all of the relevant Investigator and Site specific information easily available to me." Chart represents percentage response (N=253). Right panel: usefulness of trial site website information. Respondents were asked to pick the statement that they felt closest to with reference to the assertion that "it would be useful to have relevant trial information readily visible in a dedicated public section the Hospital's website (facilities, equipment, personnel qualification, Ethics Committee and Institutional Review Board timings, contact people for trials, etc)."
The SAT-EU Study was a web-based survey designed to identify perceived drivers and hurdles associated with conducting clinical trials in Europe. We obtained responses from over 400 participants in key stakeholder groups, that is, BioPharma industry, medical device manufacturers, CROs and CTUs. The vast majority of countries actively involved in clinical trials were represented, while most respondents were key decision-makers in their organisations. These features allowed us to get direct and potentially relevant insights into the reasoning behind site selection for clinical trials.
Recent years have seen much public policy discussion on the need to foster Europe's role in medical research, and to rekindle its dwindling attractiveness for investment in clinical trials.18–20 Various strategies have been proposed based on a 'common sense' approach. While possibly sound, policy recommendations were typically not founded on a systematic understanding of factors impacting clinical trial site selection. Indeed, one could argue that, borrowing from the rigour of its own discipline, medical policy decisions at all levels ought to be 'evidence based'. Regretfully however, this approach seems to be largely absent. To our knowledge, the SAT-EU Study is the first effort aimed at systematically investigating factors impacting trial site attractiveness across Europe. Given the survey's size, the variety of domains explored, the number of countries and organisations involved, and the prevalence of senior decision-makers, our results may provide insight into 'real world' trial site decisions.
Our study has several key findings. First, there was evidence of considerable variability in the perceived receptivity of European countries to undertake clinical trials, Germany, the UK and the Netherlands being rated the best markets. Reasons for greater appeal of certain countries are multiple. Larger countries could be more attractive because of greater patient recruitment potential, and in prospect, because of the size of their markets. However, country size does not entirely explain the phenomenon, given the excellent results of small countries such as the Netherlands, and the low score of large countries such as Italy or Spain. Our survey sheds some light on this by pointing to the negative impact of administrative burden on clinical trial competitiveness. This is not only a concern at country level. Central to this discussion is the notion that the time required to collect information to determine a site's feasibility for inclusion in a trial, and to get it started, is also critical. Hence, the high weight placed on a site's proven track record in efficiently delivering results, which bears a relationship to specialised clinical research centres, and equally important, to the ability of clinical trial sponsors and organisers to access all of the required information quickly and effectively. Accordingly, the downsides of operating within a suboptimal regulatory environment may not prejudice selection of an otherwise visible and competent investigator, whose trial site information is readily available and who is able to recruit the required patients. A third important finding of our survey is that contrary to a widely held tenet, costs of running trials—often invoked to explain why industry is going outside Europe6 ,16—as well as government incentives/tax breaks, are not the main considerations when selecting European sites. In other words, it would seem from stakeholders' feedback and follow-up discussions that to the extent that European centres may be excluded from a trial, the likely culprit is the hidden costs associated with excessive administrative time required to get a trial site up and running, not the high fees per enrolled patient. Although apparently surprising, the limited impact of costs needs to be considered against the backdrop of the various issues to which our survey tried to provide a response. Indeed, in addition to 'direct' costs, a major negative factor is represented by indirect, or 'hidden' costs, such as those characterised by time lost through layers of bureaucracy, slow recruitment by sites or poor overall site performance. Hence, the importance of not only bureaucracy, but also of the level of training and trial expertise at sites. Additionally, the notion that investments in clinical trials in Europe cannot be easily improved through government incentives or tax breaks may have important implications in terms of public policy. Comments obtained through our survey seem to indicate that stakeholders would like a single European 'trial market' allowing them to gear trial site selection to expert investigators and to optimal patient recruitment, unobstructed by heterogeneous regulations or hurdles in obtaining crucial information. Participants expressed this need in two main ways. First, from a regulatory or 'macro' perspective, they expressed desire for easier approval processes with less national variability and stronger pan-European element. This may indicate ethical committee approval timeframes, as well as institutional approvals at site level. Second, from a clinical research or 'micro' perspective, respondents want access to transnational networks of disease-area experts, through visibility of experienced trial units via the internet and/or via participation in disease networks.
More than 50 years ago, the founders of the EU envisioned a single market at the core of the European project. Despite this, a 'single market' vision for clinical research did not develop as envisaged. This is damaging to an industry in which much of the investment in clinical trials is by necessity multinationals. Indeed, Europe's 2020 growth strategy calls for 3% of its Gross National Product to be invested in research and development (R&D) by 2020.21 If this goal is to be achieved, BioPharma—the European sector with the highest R&D/sales ratio22—should be allowed to invest in Europe without facing unnecessary roadblocks. Given the size of its healthcare market, its ageing population, its well-established pharmaceutical industry and the quality of its research centres and investigators, Europe has a formidable comparative advantage in clinical research. Individual European member states are well poised to take advantage of this by making the EU more competitive in clinical research. They should be encouraged to do so, not simply by investing in incentives or tax breaks, but by implementing revisions to the CTD that are under consideration by member states, and by legislating removal of unhelpful bureaucratic barriers at national level. Improving hospital contracting, such as via national or even pan-European contract templates, would also significantly reduce administrative burden, speed up trial start and make the European landscape significantly more competitive. On their part, the research community and relevant national bodies have a parallel imperative to ensure that hospitals and institutions are organised and networked more effectively, and that there is adequate training of trial staff. They need to ensure that clinical centres wishing to undertake more research are made more visible to industry and to international research communities, through dedicated research portals on their websites, or by creating and/or joining disease networks. Finally, given that selected countries are consistently scored above others, a best practice audit of administrative provisions governing and supporting clinical trials in countries such as Germany, the UK and the Netherlands14 would be helpful for drawing policy implications for other countries. The case for action rests on the realisation that evidence-based policy is indeed possible in this arena. Learning from what is working successfully will facilitate the road to creating a more welcoming environment for clinical research in Europe.
Consistent with voluntary surveys, we could only analyse responses provided by those who were interested in replying, and therefore we cannot exclude that other points of view may have emerged from those who did not participate. Nonetheless, it is rather reassuring that the responses were gathered through a fairly large number of professionals who belonged to a variety of organisations from a number of countries, and who were for the most part the final decision-makers in the process. However, given that participation was largely through professional bodies and web-based communities, we are unable to provide an estimate of our coverage. While we took care in designing a survey that focused on the key determinants of trial site selection, we may have missed potentially important issues. We tried to minimise this through preliminary survey review and refinement with the help of external experts. Also, although we aimed at obtaining data relative to industry-sponsored and not-for-profit clinical trials, it is possible that responses preferentially captured the former. In addition, some of our questions relating to process and speed of approval may need further research to determine the root issues, as problems differ from country to country, and have to be weighed against the need to ensure that patient safety remains unprejudiced.
Our study indicates that fostering European clinical research and attracting more trials to Europe does not require additional government spending. Instead, we believe our findings support a more harmonised national adoption of the clinical trial approvals process, greater visibility of transnational networks of disease experts, and greater accessibility to research system at national and pan-European levels. Potential models for improvement include harmonisation of ethical and institutional approvals systems, including aligned hospital contracting and greater visibility of centres of excellence, which may bring significantly more clinical research to Europe. Europe needs growth, and clinical research can play its part in directly stimulating economic activity while simultaneously boosting European innovation.
http://www.appliedclinicaltrialsonline.com/http://www.efgcp.behttp://www.efpia.eu/http://www.europabio.org/http://facolta.unipg.it/medicina/http://www.diahome.org/DIAHome/Home.aspxhttp://www.virtuoso.ch/model.htmlhttp://www.evicr.nethttp://www.eucomed.be/http://www.pharma-iq.com/
The SAT-EU Study group gratefully acknowledges the collaboration of the following organisations, industry, clinical trial associations and online communities in recruiting survey respondents: Applied Clinical Trials (ACT) http://www.appliedclinicaltrialsonline.com/; European Forum for Good Clinical Practice (EFGCP) http://www.efgcp.be; European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industry Associations (EFPIA) http://www.efpia.eu/; European Biotech Industry Association (EuropaBio) http://www.europabio.org/; Perugia University, Italy http://facolta.unipg.it/medicina/; Drug Information Association (DIA) http://www.diahome.org/DIAHome/Home.aspx; Virtuoso Consulting, Geneva, Switzerland http://www.virtuoso.ch/model.html; European Vision Institute Clinical Research Network (Disease Network) http://www.evicr.net; EUCOMED Clinical Trial Interest Group http://www.eucomed.be/; and Pharma IQ http://www.pharma-iq.com/. The coauthors also would like to thank Alen Mulabdic, PhD candidate at the Graduate Institute of the University of Geneva in Switzerland, for helping in preparation of the figures/review of the statistical analysis. The study group has received acknowledgement permission from each of the institutions acknowledged for having helped to collect survey participants.
Barroso JM
. European renewal—State of the Union Address 2011. EU speech/11/607; 28 September 2011. http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_SPEECH-11-607_en.htm (accessed 1 Jul 2012).
Frewer LJ,
Coles D,
Champion K
. et al. Has the European Clinical Trials Directive been a success? BMJ 2010;340:c1862.
The Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI). European Commission and the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA). http://www.imi.europa.eu (accessed 1 Jul 2012).
The European Research Area. http://ec.europa.eu/research/era/index_en.htm(accessed 6 Sep 2012).
European Union (EU) Clinical Trials Directive. http://ec.europa.eu/health/human-use/clinical-trials/index_en.htm#rlctd (accessed 6 Sep 2012).
European Commission. Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on clinical trials on medicinal products for human use, and repealing Directive 2001/20/EC. COM (2012) 369 final;Brussels17.7.2012. http://ec.europa.eu/health/files/clinicaltrials/2012_07/proposal/2012_07_proposal_en.pdf (accessed 17 Dec 2012).
Demotes-Mainard J,
Ohmann C
. European Clinical Research Infrastructures Network: promoting harmonisation and quality in European clinical research. Lancet 2005;365:107–8.
Stankovski L,
Kubiak C,
Demotes-Mainard J
.et al. ECRIN: making multinational clinical trials inEuropeeasier. EJHP Practice—vol.15 2009/issue 6.
Hernandez R,
Cooney M,
Dualé C,
. Harmonisation of ethics committees' practice in 10 European countries. J Med Ethics 2009;35:696–700.
Kingmann I
. Impact on Clinical Research of European Legislation (ICREL). HEALTH-F1-2007-201002, June 2009.
Hartmann M
. Impact assessment of the European Clinical Trials Directive: a longitudinal, prospective, observational study analyzing patterns and trends in clinical drug trial applications submitted since 2001 to regulatory agencies in six EU countries. Trials 2012;13:53.
Revision of the EU Clinical Trials Directive—Adoption of the proposal for a 'Clinical Trials Regulation'—17 July 2012; http://ec.europa.eu/health/human-use/clinical-trials/# (accessed 14 Jul 2013).
Clinical Research in Europe. Trials and tribulations. Lancet 2012;379:1764.
Kenter MJ,
Cohen AF
. Re-engineering the European Union Clinical Trials Directive. Lancet 2012;379:1765–7.
European Society of Cardiology position paper endorsing 2012 recommendations for revisions to the EU Clinical trials directive 2001. http://www.escardio.org/about/press/press-releases/pr-13/Pages/esc-clinical-trials-directive-revisions.aspx?hit=dontmiss (accessed 13 Feb 2013).
European Parliament. Clinical trials in developing countries. European Parliament, Director General for External Policies, Policy Department Report; March 2009.
See Acknowledgementsat the end of the paper.
The Alliance for Biomedical Research in Europe. http://www.biomedeurope.org/ (accessed 27 Nov 2012).
European Infrastructure for Translational Medicines. http://www.eatris.eu/SitePages/home.aspx (accessed 27 Nov 2012).
Research and Innovation, the Seventh Framework Programme. European Commission. http://ec.europa.eu/research/fp7/index_en.cfm?pg=health (accessed 27 Nov 2012).
Europe 2020 Growth Strategy. European Commission. http://ec.europa.eu/europe2020/index_en.htm (accessed 11 Jul2012).
The 2011 EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard. European Commission. The Joint Research Centre (DG-JRC) and Research (DG-RTD). 2011. http://iri.jrc.ec.europa.eu/research/docs/2011/SB2011.pdf (accessed 17 Dec 2012).
This web only file has been produced by the BMJ Publishing Group from an electronic file supplied by the author(s) and has not been edited for content.
Data supplement 1 - Online supplement
Contributors MG participated in survey design and implementation, critical data analysis, manuscript drafting and overall project supervision. RST participated in survey design, statistical analysis and editing final version of the manuscript. MM, BC and AP participated in survey design and implementation, survey advertising and data collection, critical data analysis, and editing final version of the manuscript. GG participated in survey design and implementation, critical data analysis and editing final version of the manuscript. GA participated in survey design and implementation, critical data analysis, manuscript drafting and overall project supervision. All coauthors work in the area of healthcare, either academia or consulting and as such have all been, or are involved in, the initiation, execution or interpretation of clinical trials.
Funding This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
Competing interests The EuropaBio and the EFPIA reimbursed RST for statistical analysis and for travel to a single study meeting, respectively. All coauthors work in the area of healthcare, either academia or consulting, and as such have all been, or are involved in, the initiation, execution or interpretation of clinical trials. Accordingly, all coauthors have an intellectual/academic interest in seeing the European Clinical trial industry enhance its competitiveness.
Data sharing statement Extra data are available in the form of raw survey data, providing individual (blinded) responses for each of the 485 respondents. These data can be accessed either directly on the Survey Monkey platform or downloaded to excel from Survey Monkey. Our statistical analysis is also available on request. Extra data are available by emailing giuseppe.ambrosio@ospedale.perugia.it.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Modernizing Medicine Is Named One of the Best Places to Work by South Florida Business Journal
Boca Raton, Florida – February 22, 2013 – Modernizing Medicine, the creator of the Electronic Medical Assistant™ (EMA), a cloud-based specialty-specific electronic medical record (EMR) system, announced today that it has been listed as No. 2 on the South Florida Business Journal's annual Best Places to Work list. This list highlights companies in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties whose operations are changing the business landscape in South Florida.
"We are very excited to be named one of the best places to work by the South Florida Business Journal," said Daniel Cane, Modernizing Medicine's President and CEO. "The best part of receiving this award is that it was determined by our employees who are truly the backbone of Modernizing Medicine. Together we've been able to create revolutionary products that are improving the way doctors practice medicine and changing the medical industry for the better — and to be able to say that we have had a lot of fun doing it, that's just the cherry on top."
The South Florida Business Journal's Best Places to Work list features winners in three categories: Small (10-50 employees), Medium (51-149 employees) and Large (150+ employees). With 126 employees, Modernizing Medicine secured its place on the Medium list. In order to determine the winners of each category, the South Florida Business Journal distributed a survey to employees of the various companies, asking questions about how they felt about their company's culture, career advancement opportunities and the overall working environment. From there, the South Florida Business Journal narrowed the field down to a list of finalists, announcing the winners at a luncheon on February 21, 2013.
Modernizing Medicine's inclusion on the South Florida Business Journal's Best Places to Work list comes shortly after it was named one of FORBES' America's Most Promising Companies, exemplifying its growth not only as a leader in the EMR space but also as a nationally recognized business leader. Over the past year Modernizing Medicine has grown its customer base to over 2,000 providers, more than doubled its staff, grew its product line with the addition of EMA Plastic Surgery™ and closed a $12 million dollar capital raise, with a combination of equity capital and a senior debt bank facility. The growing team enjoyed company happy hours, holiday parties and outings along the way, helping to develop and foster Modernizing Medicine's culture, truly making it a wonderful place to work.
Modernizing Medicine is looking forward to an exciting year, with the launch of EMA Cosmetic™, EMA Orthopedics™ and EMA Otolaryngology™.
Modernizing Medicine is delivering the next generation of electronic medical records (EMR) technology for the healthcare industry. Our product, Electronic Medical Assistant™ (EMA), is a cloud-based specialty-specific EMR with a massive library of built-in medical content, designed to save physicians time. Available as a native iPad application or from any web-enabled Mac or PC, EMA adapts to each provider's unique style of practice and is designed to interface with over 400 different practice management systems. Today, Modernizing Medicine provides specialty-specific offerings for the dermatology, ophthalmology, optometry and plastic surgery markets, and to more than 750 physician practices across the country.
Betty Yuen-Torres
betty.yuen-torres@modernizingmedicine.com
Chelsea Boudreaux
chelsea.boudreaux@atomicpr.com
Modernizing Medicine Is Named One of the Best Places to Work by South Florida Business Journal was last modified: February 2nd, 2018 by Alexandra Bimonte
", "author": "Alexandra Bimonte", "entryPermalink": "https://www.modmed.com/press-release/modernizing-medicine-is-named-one-of-the-best-places-to-work-by-south-florida-business-journal/", "entryLocation": "Boca Raton, FL 33431 }


text:
Die Edetani oder Edetanii, auf deutsch Edetaner, waren eine Stammesgruppe der Iberer, die in prähistorischer Zeit auf der Iberischen Halbinsel die Region um das heutige Valencia bewohnte.

In prähistorischer Zeit
Das Siedlungsgebiet erstreckte sich in etwa zwischen den Flüssen Palancia und Udiva im Norden (an der Grenze zur heutigen Provinz Castellon) und Júcar (valencianisch Xúquer) im Süden (siehe auch Provinz Valencia). Die benachbarten Lobetaner (Lobetani) und Arevaker (Arvatkos) – diese waren Keltiberer – siedelten im Westen.

Es bestanden Kontakte zu phönizischen und griechischen Niederlassungen, u. a. über Sagunt (von dorischen Siedlern gegründet, geriet die Kolonie im Laufe des 5. Jahrhunderts v. Chr. an die Edetaner).

Das administrative Zentrum der ansässigen Bevölkerung war Edeta, eine der bedeutenden iberischen Siedlungen damaliger Zeit. Ursprünglich war diese Stadt im 5. Jahrhundert v. Chr. auf und an einer Hügelkuppe (Tossal) entlang angelegt worden. Das moderne Llíria (spanisch Liria) befindet sich zu Füßen der alten Siedlungsstätte.

Die Erhebung, von welcher die heutige Stadt überblickt werden kann, wird seit dem Mittelalter Tossal de Sant Miquel genannt. Dort befindet sich eine dem heiligen Michael geweihte Klosteranlage (Monestir de Sant Miquel), gegründet im 14. Jahrhundert.

Ansiedlungen der Edetaner umfassten befestigte Weiler auf Höhenrücken ähnlich dem Keltiberischen Castrum, wie das Poblado ibérico del Castellet de Bernabé aus dem 5. vorchristlichen Jahrhundert, Puntal dels Llops und La Torre Seca, sowie rund um Edeta Dörfer, wie La Monravana.

In historischer Zeit

Karthagische Expansion
In späterer Zeit gelangten die Edetaner unter Einfluss Karthagos, welches seine Macht im Laufe des 3. Jahrhunderts v. Chr. über die iberische Halbinsel bis zum Ebro ausgebreitet hatte. Sie kämpften im zweiten Punischen Krieg aber auf Seiten der Römer (siehe Schlacht bei Baecula, 208 v. Chr.) unter Publius Cornelius Scipio gegen Hasdrubal Barkas. Die Karthager wurden schließlich 206 v. Chr. aus Hispanien vertrieben.

Unter römischer Herrschaft
Ab dem 2. Jahrhundert v. Chr. kam zuerst der Osten Iberiens, und damit Edeta, als Provinz Hispania citerior unter römische Kontrolle, die Provinz Hispania ulterior umfasste erst den Süden der Halbinsel, somit ursprünglich karthagische Besitzungen. Weitere Eroberungen gegen die Keltiberer im Westen folgten.

Der Nordwesten (das Gebiet zwischen dem westlichen Ende der Pyrenäen und Galicien sowie Nordportugal) wurde nur langsam von den Römern okkupiert. Zum Ende des 1. Jahrhunderts v. Chr. hin wurde Hispanien schließlich Teil des Imperiums.

Infolge politischer Wirren in Rom (Herrschaft der Popularen) wurden auch die neugewonnenen Provinzen in militärische Konflikte hineingezogen. Der Prätor und Statthalter Quintus Sertorius konnte ab 83 v. Chr. mit seinem Quästor Lucius Hirtuleius für mehrere Jahre eine von Rom unabhängige Herrschaft in den beiden hispanischen Provinzen aufbauen. Er wehrte sich erfolgreich gegen Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, welcher 76 v. Chr. mit Streitkräften nach Spanien gekommen war, fiel aber schließlich 72 v. Chr. einer Verschwörung zum Opfer.

Aufgabe Edetas und Gründung Llírias
Nachdem Truppen unter Quintus Sertorius 76 v. Chr. das alte Edeta im Zuge der Auseinandersetzungen zerstörten, begründeten verbliebene Anwohner um die Zeitenwende eine neue Siedlung (das heutige Llíria) in der Ebene.

In späterer Zeit war Llíria, wie Valencia oder Sagunt, weiterhin ein wichtiger Siedlungsplatz in Hispanien, mit Tempelanlage und römischen Bädern (Thermen); dem Orakel-Heiligtum von Mura bzw. dem "Santuario y Termes Romanes de Mura", sowie Mausoleen – den "Mausoleos romanos".

Sprache und Schrift
Man geht davon aus, dass die Edetaner wohl die Iberische Sprache, zumindest in einer eigenen Ausprägung (Dialekt), sprachen. Diese scheint eine isolierte Sprache gewesen zu sein, ist also wohl nicht mit der Keltiberischen Sprache verwandt. Das Iberische war zwischen dem 7. und 1. Jahrhundert v. Chr. in Gebrauch, bis es dann, wie auch das Keltiberische, im Zuge der fortschreitenden Romanisierung (Iberoromanen) von der lateinischen Sprache abgelöst wurde.

Die Edetaner, und benachbarte Gruppen, waren Träger der nordostiberischen Schrift, einer der althispanischen Schriften, die vom 4. bis in das 1. Jahrhundert v. Chr. auf der Iberischen Halbinsel genutzt wurde. Diese weist wiederum starke Ähnlichkeit zur keltiberischen Schrift auf. Längere Texte wurden auf Bleiplatten verfasst; der bisher längste gefundene Text (Los Plomos del Pico de los Ajos) auf mehreren Platten stammt aus der Umgebung Yátovas, welches Teil des Herrschaftsbereichs Edetas war.

Literatur
 Michael Koch (Hrsg.): Die Iberer. Ausstellungskatalog Bonn, Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, 15. Mai – 23. August 1998. Hirmer Verlag, München 1998, ISBN 3-7774-7710-9.
 Michael Kunst: Zambujal (= Madrider Beiträge. Band 5). von Zabern, Mainz 1987, S. 9–17 (zur Geschichte des Begriffs "Iberer" in der spanischen Archäologie).
 Ángel Montenegro u. a.: Historia de España 2 – colonizaciones y formación de los pueblos prerromanos (1200-218 a.C). Editorial Gredos, Madrid 1989, ISBN 84-249-1386-8.
 Francisco Burillo Mozota: Los Celtíberos, etnias y estados. Crítica, Grijalbo Mondadori, S.A., Barcelona 1998, überarbeitete Auflage 2007, ISBN 84-7423-891-9.

Einzelnachweise

Weblinks

 Epigrafía ibérica
 Abbildungen Iberischer, Celtiberischer und Tartessischer Inschriften (englisch)
 historische Sehenswürdigkeiten rund um Llíria
 Iberische Sprachräume um 200 v. Chr. (ethnographische Karte)

Iberischer Stamm
Alteuropäische Kultur

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Q: Access a variable defined in a CommonJS library from the global browser scope I have a "browserified" library which defines some React components, which I would like to load from an HTML page (served from a Rails app), and then instanciate the React components, fed by some data put inside the page by Rails.
(The big picture is: we have a TurboLinks app, and we want to use some React components for very specific parts, needing more reactivity.The Rails page would so load both React runtime & the needed applicative components lib, and then generate minimal raw JS to instanciate the React component as needed)
All I found were ways to expose external libs variables to my lib, but I would like to expose my variables to global browser scope.
I ended up by exporting the classes in a rather ugly way (window.Stuff = Stuff;) directly from the .jsx source file, but I feel like this code is smelling...
Any suggestion on a better way to achieve such thing?

A: Either expose the modules in your browserify bundle, e.g.:
browserify()
  .require('./whatever', {expose: 'whatever'})

Then from the Rails page JS:
require('whatever');

Or:
Create a standalone browserify bundle something like this:
browserify('./entry', {standalone: 'something'})

entry.js

module.exports = {
  whatever: require('./whatever')
};

Then from the Rails page JS:
window.something.whatever;

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Fee Hike Protests: JNU Inches Towards Institution-Wide Final Semester Exam Boycott
Administration has, however, said they will invoke the rulebook if students don't complete academic requirements.
Police stop Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students staging a protest over the hostel-fee hike and the administration's alleged anti-students policy, in New Delhi, on November 11, 2019. The students were marching towards the AICTE auditorium. Photo: PTI
New Delhi: In what is a step of no small significance, students of 14 Centres of Jawaharlal Nehru University have decided to boycott the final semester examinations in protest against the hike in hostel fees, say reports.
Indian Express has quoted JNU's students' union as having said that the 14 Centres arrived at the decision to boycott the exams at their respective general body meetings.
A report by IANS, however, quotes JNU administration as having said that the university exams will begin as scheduled on December 12 and that the authorities are not beyond "removing students from rolls if they do not meet the academic requirements" in these exams.
Faculty members, too, have been reportedly asked to ensure that students fulfil the academic demands of the semester.
Also read: JNU's Four Subversions: A Primer For the Anxious Right-Wing Citizen
The MA exams were originally scheduled on November 30, but were reportedly postponed after no students sat for them. MPhil and PhD synopsis presentations which were to be held on November 25-26 were also boycotted.
According to the Express report, more schools and centres – which function as departments under the university – will decide on whether to boycott the exams in the days to come.
No centre has decided against the boycott yet, mentioned the report, which further lists centres of various language studies, along with those on historical studies, social medicine and community health, arts and aesthetics, law and governance, political science and so on have decided to support the boycott.
In spite of JNU's past of thriving students' protests and political participation, the university has not seen an examination boycott yet.
Meanwhile, the Jawaharlal Nehru University Teachers' Association on Monday staged a march to demand that the report of a high-powered committee set up by the Centre on the fee hike issue be made public. They started their march from Janpath but police stopped them near Shastri Bhawan.
The fee hike for JNU hostels has seen protests from students, teachers and alumni alike. A protest march on November 11 met with violence from police and injured several students.


text:
Nonprofit Executive Search
Nonprofit Succession Planning
Associations and Societies
Education, Social Service, and NGOs
Zoos, Aquariums, and Gardens
Opened Searches
Benefits of DHR
Nonprofit Executive Compensation
Ethical Leadership
Executive CompensationThis is an executive compensation category click here to check out lates James Abruzzo posts.
White PapersThis is a white papers category click here to check out lates James Abruzzo posts.
Executive SearchThis is an executive search category click here to check out lates James Abruzzo posts.
The Smithsonian Breaks Code of Ethics of Arts Organizations
Forget that Bill Cosby is accused of so many egregious, and illegal acts. It's almost beside the point of this story. This is part of the parable about The Smithsonian yet again at sea, lost among the public relations turbulence without an ethical compass to guide it. The Smithsonian has a sad history of unethical behavior (I clarify this to mean the code of ethics of any arts organization to follow established moral principles, to also protect the art from censorship, political interference and from simple conflicts of interest).
The Cosby case is the third in a series: the first is the Enola Gay exhibit planned for the 50th anniversary of the dropping of the first atomic bomb on a civilian population (Nagasaki, Japan 1945). The Air and Space Museum, which has among its collection the original airship (the Enola Gay) that dropped the bomb, planned an exhibit that commemorated the event but told the story not only of America's winning the war but also of the destruction and horrible loss of life and suffering the bomb caused the citizens of Japan. The exhibit was deemed unacceptable by members of the US Congress (the Smithsonian is funded in large part by the US Treasury and members of Congress and the Chief Justice are members of its board) and ultimately its influence caused the exhibit to be altered. A pure example of political influence over artistic rights, demonstrating poor judgment on the part of the leadership of The Smithsonian and sending a chill throughout the museum community.
The second, more recent, was a 2010 exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery, a Smithsonian Museum. The exhibit, entitled Hide/Seek contained a work by the video artist David Wojnarowicz that included an image of ants crawling on a crucifix. The work, somewhat difficult by some standards (but nothing compared to what passes for PG 13 films shown in most movie theaters) was first placed out of view and then, under pressure from the Secretary (the CEO) of the Smithsonian, removed from the exhibit. The artist was deceased but there was a great outcry from the artist community and many artists whose works appeared in the show demanded they be removed. Their demands were refused. The Institute for Ethical Leadership and the Seton Hall Institute for Museum Ethics, in a joint conference discussed the events surrounding this situation. When I publicly challenged the decision of the Director of the National Portrait Gallery during the conference his response was simply, "What should I have done, fallen on my sword?" The exhibit traveled then to The Brooklyn Museum where the contested work was reinserted in the exhibit without any negative publicity.
The "Cosby exhibit" is the third. There is a code of ethics that nonprofit and government organizations must follow because those organizations are "owned" by all of us, given the right to exist tax-free (thereby subsidized by all of us) and intended for the public good. One element of the code is disclosure; another is conflict of interest. The other element of the ethical code (violation) is based on the premise that arts institutions have the power to change people's lives and therefore have a responsibility to be truthful and to insure that truth to be unwavering and untarnished by outside forces. In the case of the exhibit at the Museum of African Art, works of art, owned by an individual (Cosby), which are part of an exhibit at such a prestigious institution and funded or paid for by that individual, clearly represents a potential conflict of interest.
Were the curatorial decisions made influenced by the funding – and in this case, by the friendship between the Director of the Museum of African Art and the Cosby's? And, were the works owned by the Cosby's made more valuable because they were exhibited at The Smithsonian?
A strict interpretation would say there is an appearance of a conflict. In this case, disclosing the connections could ameliorate the situation, but under the circumstances (the institution, the funding, the close friendship) even disclosure would not necessarily dispel the appearance. Many questions remain: Were the Cosby's works chosen to tell a particular story about them? Were these works selected by the curator or by the Cosby's? Did the inclusion of works that told the Cosby's personal history create certain credence to their story?
Let's not be fooled by conflating the pall over Bill Cosby the man. The courts will rule on that. But let us not give the Smithsonian or the Director of the African Museum a pass. Nations live or die, ultimately, by their values. Our national museums have a standard to uphold. We own them; they owe it to us to demonstrate the highest values.
James Abruzzo, Consultant, Consulting, Executive Search, Nonprofit Compensation, Expert Witness, Code of Ethics
Who is Yuriy Kerpatenko? Why should we care?
It's Time for Nonprofit Boards to Adopt Codes of Conduct
The unionization of the art museum
DEI (10)
Ethical Leadership (22)
Executive Compensation (15)
Executive Search (18)
Opened Searches (4)
DHR Global – Position Specification Vice President, Institutional Advancement, August Wilson African American Cultural Center – Pittsburgh, PA
DHR Global – Position Specification Senior Vice President, Social Impact New Jersey Performing Arts Center – Newark, NJ
Nonprofit Boards and Executive Contracts – Episode 6: Supplemental Executive Retirement Plans (SERP)
Abruzzo Associates LLC
P.O. Box 827, Lee
MA, 01238
© 2023 James Abruzzo. All Rights Reserved.
Nonprofit Executive Search Firm
Nonprofit Executive Compensation Negotiation


World five hundred and thirteen is easy puzzle with long corridors that is slow to complete.
Go DOWN, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, UP, UP, UP, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, UP, UP, UP, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, DOWN, DOWN, DOWN, DOWN, DOWN, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, UP, UP, RIGHT, push DOWN, go LEFT, DOWN, push RIGHT, RIGHT, go DOWN, RIGHT, push UP, UP, UP, UP, UP, UP, UP, UP, go RIGHT, UP, push LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, go UP, LEFT and push DOWN. Go RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, DOWN, DOWN, DOWN, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, DOWN, DOWN, DOWN, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, DOWN, DOWN, DOWN, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, UP, push UP, UP, UP, UP, go LEFT, UP, push RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, go UP, RIGHT, push DOWN, DOWN, DOWN, DOWN, DOWN, go RIGHT, DOWN, push LEFT, go DOWN, LEFT, LEFT, UP, push RIGHT, go DOWN, RIGHT, push UP, UP, UP, UP, UP, UP, UP, UP, go RIGHT, UP, push LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, go UP, LEFT and push DOWN.
Go RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, DOWN, DOWN, LEFT, DOWN, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, DOWN, DOWN, DOWN, DOWN, DOWN, RIGHT, DOWN, RIGHT, RIGHT, UP, push LEFT, LEFT, go DOWN, LEFT, push UP, UP, UP, UP and UP. Go LEFT, UP, push RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, go UP, RIGHT, push DOWN, DOWN, DOWN, DOWN, DOWN, go RIGHT, DOWN and push LEFT. Go DOWN, LEFT, LEFT, UP, push RIGHT, go DOWN, RIGHT, push UP, UP, UP, UP, UP, UP, UP, UP, go RIGHT, UP, push LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT and LEFT. Go RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, DOWN, DOWN, LEFT, DOWN, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, DOWN, DOWN, DOWN, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, DOWN, DOWN, push RIGHT, RIGHT, go DOWN, RIGHT, push UP, UP, UP, UP, UP, go LEFT, UP, push RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, go UP, RIGHT, push DOWN, DOWN, DOWN, DOWN, DOWN, go RIGHT, DOWN and push LEFT. Go DOWN, LEFT, LEFT, UP, push RIGHT, go DOWN, RIGHT, push UP, UP, UP, UP, UP, UP, UP, UP, go RIGHT, UP, push LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, go DOWN, LEFT, push UP, go RIGHT, UP, push LEFT and LEFT.
Go RIGHT, RIGHT, DOWN, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, DOWN, DOWN, LEFT, DOWN, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, DOWN, DOWN, DOWN, DOWN, DOWN, LEFT and push UP. Go DOWN, LEFT, LEFT, UP, UP, RIGHT, push RIGHT, go DOWN, RIGHT, push UP, UP, UP, go LEFT, UP, push RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, go UP, RIGHT, push DOWN, DOWN, DOWN, DOWN, DOWN, go RIGHT, DOWN and push LEFT. Go DOWN, LEFT, LEFT, UP, push RIGHT, go DOWN, RIGHT, push UP, UP, UP, UP, UP, UP, UP, UP, go RIGHT, UP, push LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT and LEFT. Go RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, DOWN, DOWN, DOWN, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, DOWN, DOWN, DOWN, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, DOWN, push RIGHT, RIGHT, go DOWN, RIGHT, push UP, UP, UP, UP, go LEFT, UP, push RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, go UP, RIGHT, push DOWN, DOWN, DOWN, DOWN, DOWN, go RIGHT, DOWN and push LEFT. Go DOWN, LEFT, LEFT, UP, push RIGHT, go DOWN, RIGHT, push UP, UP, UP, UP, UP, UP, UP, UP, go RIGHT, UP, push LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, go DOWN, LEFT, push UP, go RIGHT, UP and push LEFT.
Go RIGHT, DOWN, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, DOWN, DOWN, LEFT, DOWN, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, DOWN, DOWN, DOWN, DOWN, DOWN, RIGHT and push UP. Go DOWN, RIGHT, RIGHT, UP, push LEFT, LEFT, go DOWN, LEFT, push UP, UP, UP, UP, go LEFT, UP, push RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, go UP, RIGHT, push DOWN, DOWN, DOWN, DOWN, DOWN, go RIGHT, DOWN, push LEFT, go DOWN, LEFT, LEFT, UP, push RIGHT, go DOWN, RIGHT, push UP, UP, UP, UP, UP, UP, UP, UP, go RIGHT, UP, push LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, go UP, LEFT and push DOWN. Go RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, DOWN, DOWN, DOWN, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, DOWN, DOWN, DOWN, DOWN, RIGHT, RIGHT, UP, push LEFT, go DOWN, LEFT, push UP, UP, UP, go LEFT, UP, push RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, go UP, RIGHT, push DOWN, DOWN, DOWN, DOWN, DOWN, go RIGHT, DOWN and push LEFT. Go DOWN, LEFT, LEFT, UP, push RIGHT, go DOWN, RIGHT, push UP, UP, UP, UP, UP, UP, UP, UP, go RIGHT, UP, push LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, go DOWN, LEFT, push UP, go RIGHT, UP and push LEFT.
Congratulations. You have completed world five hundred and thirteen. Get ready for world five hundred and fourteen.


text:
Australia Votes 2019: The Budget
By Dr Mark Triffit; Dr Sam Tsiaplias
Lecturer, School of Social & Political Sciences, University of Melbourne; Senior Research Fellow, Melbourne Institute
economy; politics; election Economy/Jobs; Politics; Election oceania; australia Oceania; Australia
Politics: Dr Mark Triffitt, Lecturer, School of Social and Political Sciences
The budget is a politically clever array of targeted assistance and spending. Despite not achieving a surplus this year, the projected A$45 billion in surpluses plus a healthy unemployment outlook over the next four years, will also help the government frame themselves as a 'safe pair of economic hands' into the election campaign.
There's a deft mix of infrastructure spending to shore up support in key electorates, as well as a clever combination of small business incentives targeted at its core constituency. There is funding for healthcare and skills aimed at offsetting what will be a strong election pitch by Labor in these areas.
But given it's more an outright election pitch than a bold reform budget, its fiscal pluses can also be viewed as political risks. The economy has been building up some significant headwinds over several years, particularly around low to non-existent wage increases and cost of living pressures.
The budget's tax cuts may seem large in macro terms but along with the relatively small, one-off energy assistance package they aren't likely to neutralise these longer-run, hip pocket issues for individual voters.
The bigger strategic problem the Government faces is that being so close to the election, the budget doesn't leave much room for further big spending announcements.
The long list of budget giveaways is likely to create a feel-good factor for a week or two. But in a five or six-week campaign where the government has fired most of it spending guns at the start, it has effectively locked themselves into a campaign strategy framed predominantly around the negatives of the opposition.
This is unlikely to sit well with an increasingly jaded and distrustful electorate.
Economics: Dr Sam Tsiaplias, Senior Research Fellow, Macroeconomics Research Program, Melbourne Institute, Applied Economic & Social Research
After 11 consecutive budget deficits, the 2019 budget is expected to achieve a small surplus of about 0.4 per cent of GDP in 2019-20. This reflects a trend away from relatively large deficits, which averaged 2.7 per cent of GDP over the period 2008-09 to 2016-17 before falling rapidly in the last few years.
This falling trend has been driven by rising receipts, which have grown at a substantially faster rate than spending. However, given the soon to be announced election, it is unsurprising that the government has decided to spend more in this budget.
A key issue will be whether the spending will ramp up household consumption and private sector investment.
On the whole the measures seem sensible.
Bringing forward tax cuts should stimulate consumption at the margin, while leaving the housing markets alone will minimise some of the additional short-term pressure that would stem from the partial removal of negative gearing and capital gains tax discounts.
At the same time, this is yet another budget still focused on the short-term with little to be said about important factors such as the future health and welfare implications of an ageing population.
This is a shortened version of an article originally published by Pursuit. For more expert analysis on infrastructure, tax and more head to Pursuit.
Banner image: Treasurer Josh Frydenberg delivers the budget in the House of Representatives on 2 April, 2019 in Canberra, Australia. Source: Getty Images.