Before moving to Paso Robles, Jan and I moved all of two miles up to Pismo Beach North State Park. Our site allows us to walk a short ways to catch the beach and the sunsets. Another short walk takes us to the Monarch Butterfly Grove attached to the park. The prime season for the monarchs is October through February, but we had multiple monarchs every day at our site and still about fifty in the grove which is relatively small. The grove is mostly large eucalyptus trees which provide a protective canopy for the 25,000 or so monarchs that gather over the winter. This is the biggest wintering spot for monarchs west of the Rockies. East of the mountains, the monarchs winter in Mexico. The grove has an interesting website with other pictures and monarch information. http://www.monarchbutterfly.org/ . You will also see a good aerial picture of Pismo Beach.
The eucalyptus trees are not native (from Australia), but they provide a distinct scent, especially on warm days. The monarch butterflies feed on the blossoms of other plants. The eucalyptus trees are for warmth in the winter. The canopy gives good protection from the wind and cold. If you were wondering, like we were, the monarch caterpillars are the ones that need the milkweed for food.
Another nice thing about this campground was that we could walk to the main beach and the Pismo Pier. The waves were high this day--12 feet or more--and there were many surfers taking advantage. Interestingly, most of the surfers were older--20's, 30's and a few older than that. Not so many teens. A few were able to do great turns and take long rides into shore. By the way, if there are future visits in store for some of you, you may want to remember that fishing from the pier does not require a license.
There are many roads to travel through Paso Robles wine country. Actually, there are many wine growing regions within California and many tours and travel roads in each one. Rio Seco Winery is another one of our Harvest Hosts. Carol, the owner, and her family were so very gracious and welcoming. They made us feel right at home and told us we were welcome to stay as long as we liked.
The entrance gives an idea of what a comfortable vineyard this is. Carol and her husband started this in the early 90's. There were a handful of vineyards then in Paso Robles. In a few years , in the mid 90's they were licensed for their first sales and have a wine "22", to indicate their number for the new winery. Now there are more than 250 vineyards just in the Paso Robles area.
We had waited till after the weekend to come here because Rio Seco was hosting a large party of about 250 people on Friday night as part of the Zinfandel Festival. As you can see here, they have a small , but comfortable patio with all kinds of cooking gear from a beehive oven in back to smokers, to barbecue pits and grills.
This is a guest house on the property. The roses in the front were beautiful. There are patios in the front and back of the house with long views of the mountains and vineyards.
Such a pleasant perch for Lady Blue! We tried and purchased some Cabernet Franc, Syrah, and an unfiltered Zinfandel 2006 that we enjoyed very much. For any of you who are Harvest Host members, Jan and I strongly recommend a visit to Rio Seco.
It would take a long time to visit all the wineries and vineyards in Paso Robles, but we had some good recommendations from Scott and Rachel who had visited here before. First up was Tablas Creek.
We looked forward to the tastings. The vineyards were quiet after the weekend and we could ask all kinds of questions about the grapes, the vineyard, the area, and , of course, the situation about the water supply.
All around the Tablas Creek patio were planters of grapes, all labeled. Our wine tasting host indicated that all of the vines in Tablas originate from France.
Some are related back to Chateauneuf-du-Pape.
They were told by French vintners that the weather here in Paso Robles was even better than the weather in France.
The road from Paso Robles to Tablas Creek and Justin wineries was worth the trip all by itself. A narrow, winding country road that at times would be right at home in New England( if you added maybe a few stone walls).
The entrance to Justin Winery reminds us a little of a Greek or a Mediterranean look. Again , our host for the tasting was very pleasant with a lot of information as a native of the area. They also were quite busy over the weekend. But, we were lucky. They had an opened bottle of $100 Focus Syrah and added it to our tasting samples. The wineries were nice, we were able to do a tasting, and like here at Justin, were able to purchase a bottle--not the $100 one--and have the tasting be free and also have a labeled wine glass as a gift.
We could have stayed longer in Paso Robles. The town itself was quite inviting. But off we go to Sequoia National Park. As we approach the area, what we thought were clouds on the horizon become snow capped mountains. These peaks are part of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
One of these peaks is Alta Peak at 11,204 feet. Out of sight on the other side of the mountains is Mt, Whitney, almost directly east of here. Mt. Whitney is the highest point in the lower 48 states at 14,494 feet. Marsha and Mark climbed Mt. Whitney--a few years ago--and Jan and I are quick to be impressed just seeing these peaks.
Just ten miles from the south entrance in Three Rivers is Horse Creek Corps of Engineer Campground. The water in the distance is Lake Kaweah which, in a better year, would be right into the park itself in the Spring. Notice the crowd around Lady Blue? This is dry camping , but there is water available in the park and a dump station as well. Our senior pass allows us to enjoy this view for $10 per night. Since we are waiting for mail to arrive, we decide to stay through the weekend.
We have researched Sequoia online, but we have some questions about the roads. This will be a visit to the Visitors Center and a quick look around.
Jan and I are happy to have a very pleasant ranger give us all kinds of information about Sequoia and Kings Canyon parks. Although we could drive all the way up through Sequoia, it seems best for us to head to the north entrance after this leisurely look at the first few miles and a little hike. The recommended length for RVs in this lower section of Sequoia Park is 22 feet or less. All the views are wonderful and the water you see is from one of the branches of the Kaweah river. This is the foothills area. Giant Sequoias need 5,000 feet elevation or higher.
This panorama shot gives a little idea of the landscape in this section. We walked down to the Buckeye Flats campground from the Hospital Rock picnic area. The campground is not open yet and is for tenters. The river was flowing quite well even for a runoff in a low snow spring.
This picture shows the river quite a few feet below us. From above we could tell that there were a number of pools of deep water , perhaps six feet or more. And the water was crystal clear right to the bottom.
Back at the Hospital Rock picnic area, there are signs left from the Indian village. This large rock has many shallow to deep holes that were used with stone pestles for grinding acorns and such.
On the rock itself are pictographs from the Native American settlement. There were a number of groups of Native Americans in the Sierras with settlements back thousands of years.
A common sign in the area. There are also a number of signs about what to do if you meet a bear, a mountain lion, or a rattle snake.
Luckily, one of them is " make a lot of noise".
Interesting, for the mountain lion, it included "fight back"
First, Bruce checked to see that this Tunnel Rock was well supported. Yep!
The road surface indicates that cars used to pass under this rock at one time.
From our campsite, we can ride our bikes to the river and around the area.
A number of fishermen are taking advantage of Lake Kaweah.
Looking back from our bike road up to our campsite. Can you see Lady Blue?
Enjoying this spot for the weekend and then up to the north entrance. That will be our first sighting of a Giant Sequoia tree.
We really enjoy reading your blog. We toured Sequoia/Kings Canyon right after picking up our '08 Lazy Daze. The trees are beyond description.
We went and ordered a 2015 TK. Seems to be a perfect size for touring without a Toad. Should pick it up next April+-.


text:
p341 Commissum
Article by George Long, M.A., Fellow of Trinity College
on p341 of
William Smith, D.C.L., LL.D.:
A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, John Murray, London, 1875.
COMMI′SSUM. One sense of this word is that of "forfeited," which apparently is derived from that sense of the verb committere, which is "to commit a crime," or "to do something wrong." Asconius says, that those things are commissa which are either done or omitted to be done by a heres against the will of a testator, and make him subject to a penalty or forfeiture; thus, commissa hereditas would be an inheritance forfeited for some act of commission or omission. Cicero (Ad Fam. XIII.56) speaks of an hypothecated thing becoming commissa; that is, becoming the absolute property of the creditor for default of payment. A thing so forfeited was said in commissum incidere or cadere. Commissum was also applied to a thing in respect of which the vectigal was not paid, or a proper return made to the publicani. A thing thus forfeited (vectigalium nomine) ceased to be the property of the owner, and was forfeited, under the empire, to the fiscus (Dig. 39 tit. 4; Suet. Cal. c41).
Smith's Dictionary:
Law Articles
Page updated: 8 Dec 06

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Donald Trump's Executive Order Suspending Immigrant and Refugee Entry to the US
By Amira Mikhail
Yesterday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order entitled, "Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States," instituting a suspension of entry to the U.S. and issuances of visas for people from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen (earlier designated as "areas of concern" under the 2016 Consolidated Appropriations Act). The order also temporarily suspends all refugee admission and indefinitely suspends refugee admissions from Syria. Citing authority from the Constitution and the Immigration and Nationality Act, the aim of the order is to protect Americans from terrorist attacks by foreign nationals who enter the United States as visitors, students, or through employment visas, as well as by refugees, particularly Syrian refugees.
Section 1 and 2 of the order set out its purpose, as well as the US policy to protect its citizens from foreign nations who are hostile towards America and its founding principles, including those who "engage in acts of bigotry or hatred (including 'honor' killings, or other forms of violence against women, or the persecution of those who practice religions different from their own) or those who would oppress Americans of any race, gender, or sexual orientation."
If you are finding Lawfare useful in these times, please consider making a contribution to support what we do.
Section 3 of the order requires the Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Director of National Intelligence, to conduct a review and determine what kind of information the U.S. will require from any country in order to adjudicate visas from its nationals or admit them to the U.S. The section also suspends entry to the US and the issuance of visas, immigrant and nonimmigrant from countries or areas of concern (primarily Iraq and Syria) in order to prevent infiltration by foreign terrorists or criminals—which are identified in section 217(a)(12)of the INA —for 90 days, while this review is taking place.
The information required is to be supplied within 30 days (with another 60 day extension if not supplied initially) and will be designed to allow the U.S. to determine that the individuals are who they say they are and that they are not a security or public-safety threat. The only stated exception to the ban on entry during that time is for individuals traveling on diplomatic visas, North Atlantic Treaty Organization visas, C-2 visas, and any G visas (as well as a case-by-case review based on a national interest exception). The Secretary of Homeland Security is to report to President Trump with a list of countries that complied and those that do not provide the necessary information will be excluded from the list until they comply.
Section 4 of the order requires the Secretary of State, Secretary of Homeland Security, the Director of National Intelligence, and the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation are also required to develop a uniform screening program including the following procedures:
A database of identity documents provided by applicants to ensure that duplicate documents are not used by multiple applicants;
Amended application forms that include questions aimed at identifying fraudulent answers and malicious intent;
A mechanism to ensure that the applicant is who they claim to be;
A process to evaluate the applicant's likelihood of becoming a contributing member of society and in the national interest; and
A mechanism to assess whether the applicant has the intent to commit criminal or terrorist acts in the US.
The earlier sections having suspended visa processing and entry to the US from the countries of concern, Section 5 of the executive order also suspends the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) for 120 days. During this time period, authorities will review the program and determine what additional measures should be taken to identify threats. Refugee applicants who are already in the USRAP process may be admitted when those additional procedures are initiated and completed. After the 120 days, refugee admission will resume under USRAP for nationals of countries that can be vetted through these additional procedures.
But there's a key difference beyond the additional procedures: after the 120 day freeze, religious-based persecution claims will be prioritized if the individual's religion is a minority religion in their country of nationality. This is apparently designed to favor Middle Eastern Christian refugees over Muslim ones, though the text of the order does not say this explicitly.
Section 5 of the order, however, suspends the entry of Syrian refugees permanently, or least until the president determines that sufficient changes were made to USRAP to lift the ban. It also limits refugee admissions in Fiscal Year 2017 to 50,000—down from 85,000 in 2016 (during which 84,995 refugees were admitted) and the 110,000-person refugee cap set for 2017 by the Obama administration. It does, however, allow a national interest exception on a case-by-case basis to its stringent new rules, including for persecuted religious minorities, pre-existing international agreements, or undue hardship for those who already in transit. Section 5 also gives states and local jurisdictions a greater role in the process of determining where refugees should be resettled, though it's not quite clear how..
The order also requires that authorities:
Consider rescinding the exercises of authority in section 212 of the INA, relating to the terrorism grounds of inadmissibility (Section 6);
Expedite the completion and implementation of a biometric entry-exit tracking system for all travelers to the US (Section 7);
Suspend immediately the Visa Interview Waiver Program (which allows foreign nationals who seek to renew a visa to request that the in-person interview at the US consulates or embassies be waived) and expand the Consular Fellows Program (Section 8); and
Review all nonimmigrant visa reciprocity agreements to ensure that they are truly reciprocal (and if it is not in a specific case, the Secretary of State will adjust to match the treatment of US nationals by the country) (Section 9).
Under Section 10 of the order, in an effort to be transparent with the American people, authorities will make public information regarding the number of foreign nationals who have been charged, convicted, or removed based on terrorism related offenses (or other national security reasons). Information about how many foreign nationals who have been radicalized after entry to the US and engaged in terrorism, including providing material support will also be made public. Other information to made public includes information regarding number and types of gender-based violence against women by foreign nationals (including honor killings) and any other information relevant to public safety and security. Additionally, within one year of the order, the Secretary of State is asked to provide a report of the estimated costs of the U.S. refugee program.
The full text of the order is available here.
Omphalos,
Civil Liberties and Constitutional Rights,
Immigration,
Amira Mikhail is the co-founder and director of Eshhad, a nonprofit that is focused on the protection of religious and ethnic minorities in the Middle East. Amira has worked as a Non-Resident Fellow at the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy (TIMEP) and as a legal fellow at Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights. She is a graduate of Washington College of Law at American University, where she worked with the UNROW Human Rights Impact Litigation Clinic, the Human Rights Brief, and as a research assistant to the Chairperson of the United Nations Committee against Torture. She has worked with the International Refugee Assistance Project and the International Justice Program at Human Rights Watch and has been published on a variety of legal and social issues relating to Egypt and the Middle East. After graduating from Covenant College, Amira worked for five years in Cairo, Egypt where she worked at the American University in Cairo. She has also worked in Jordan and India.
@amiramikhail
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Benjamin Wittes Thu, Jan 26, 2023, 11:11 AM
Fani Willis to Judge McBurney: Give Us Time, Please
Anna Bower Wed, Jan 25, 2023, 1:04 PM
On Georgia State Law's Presentments and the Special Purpose Grand Jury
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House Ways and Means Committee Releases Trump Tax Returns Obtained Under IRS Presidential Audit Program
Hyemin Han Fri, Dec 30, 2022, 10:26 AM
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Daniel J. Hemel Thu, Dec 22, 2022, 8:13 AM


They say that childhood is the most impressionable phase of someone's life. This is the time when things leave a permanent mark and hone a person for life. This is also a time, unfortunately, when children get into the habit of indulging in junk food that is marketed in attractive packaging, a habit that never really leaves even when they grow up.
They also say that prevention is better than cure, that instead of becoming adults with prolonged unhealthy habits, addressing this issue during childhood will make them habitual to leading a healthy lifestyle.
Therefore, two young mothers, Shauravi Malik and Meghana Narayan, got together and started the Slurrp Farm in October 2016 – a young Indian food brand attempting to change the way children eat. Their mission is to provide tasty and natural alternatives to junk food that surrounds children today.
Their products do not include any preservatives, additives or synthetic flavours and they focus on ingredients that would be easily found in someone's kitchen. Additionally, they are attempting to revive healthy traditional ingredients like millet and ragi, that were commonly used by previous generations. Currently they retail three variants of cookies that are natural and made with real butter.
When AnnaMaya Delhi got to know about the hard work these ladies are putting in to make a difference in the lives of kids by exposing and educating them to opt for heathy snacks, we were happy and proud to welcome them to our family and put Slurrp products on retail at our food hall. It is such brands and organic products that make us the best restaurant in Delhi and NCR.
Choose from range of unique organic food products on retail and try out some of our healthy food recipes. Come over anytime during the day to get the best deals on food or to enjoy the best North Indian and European food in Delhi.


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A Reader: Protests and Public Relations
This morning the Los Angeles Times reported on a riot in Gansu that was touched off over disagreements on city planning issues. The report comes on the heels of an uptick in news in the last week on local protests in China. It is unclear if this increased coverage represents an actual increase in local protests (based on reports from the Chinese government in recent years, there are hundreds of local protests each week in China) or if the economic crisis has simply increased the relevance of these protests.
But much of the coverage we've been reading has been less concerned with how representative these protests are; rather China watchers are focusing on what the government's response to both protestors and media coverage tells us about a new CCP public relations attitude. Below, a selection of recent reports.
1. The event that has drawn the most attention in recent weeks has been the taxi driver strikes in several major cities. Xujun Eberlein reported on the strike in her hometown of Chongqing at New America Media:
"In the early morning hours of Monday, November 3rd, however, passengers in Chongqing waiting to go to work by cab were the first to discover them missing from the streets. At the same time, some drivers unaware of the strike, were stopped by their colleagues. Tempers flared, and some 20 to 30 cabs had their top lights smashed, according to reports.
"Within hours, several national outlets of the official media, such as China Daily (China Daily), Xinhuanet.com, and People.com.cn, published the first eyewitness reports, which included interviews with taxi drivers and customers alike. The frankness of those reports surprised me.
"While it was good to see a refreshing departure from the familiar bureaucratic style of official news, the real journalism approach was certainly not as widespread as I would have liked. On the same day, another official agency, China News, published a curt and rigid briefing of the situation, in the usual manner that conceals as much bad news as possible. It opens with a description of the all-city strike as 'a partial number of taxis that met with obstruction and were unable to operate normally.' It ends with the conclusion that 'by 4 pm of [November] 3rd, 1,000 taxies had resumed operation,' with no mention that the total number of taxies on strike was about 9,000. The strike, in fact, went on for another day, through Tuesday. It was not until Wednesday morning that the government announced the full resumption of normal operation of all taxies."
2. As Eberlein notes in her report, one of the remarkable bits about the strike was its peaceful end—including mediation and negotiation from the local government. The Economist, too, emphasized the government's apparent soft touch in this case:
"To assuage them, Chongqing's Communist Party chief, Bo Xilai, a Politburo member, held a meeting with strikers. Even more unusually, he allowed live coverage of the event, though by then most drivers had returned to work. In Sanya the acting mayor apologised to the drivers, but the strike dragged on into November 13th. The drivers in Gansu agreed to end their strike after the authorities promised to crack down on unlicensed taxis."
3. As Bloomberg reports (quoting China Beat's Jeff Wasserstrom), this tack represents a new direction in public relations for the Chinese government (in large part, the piece asserts, as a result of citizens' ability to trade information online):
"Disgruntled taxi drivers in Chongqing air their complaints following a two-day strike while a top official of the southwestern Chinese city nods intently.
"'You spoke really well, thank you,' says Bo Xilai, the Commmunist Party chief, complimenting a participant who talked with a thick regional accent. 'I was able to understand 90 percent of what you said.'
"The three-hour meeting, available online across China through major Web portals, is more reminiscent of local government access in the U.S. than in a country where protests have typically met with swift repression.
"As Chinese citizens increasingly use the Internet to get news, share videos, vent frustrations and expose abuses of power, leaders are being forced to react publicly to their concerns. Government officials are also adapting traditional media-control techniques to the information age -- including sending out press releases and approved articles on topics that once would have been completely suppressed.
"'They've learned that they come off looking better if they're somewhat more transparent, somewhat quicker to respond,' says Jeffrey Wasserstrom, a professor at the University of California, Irvine who has studied protest in China. 'They're learning spin control.'"
4. In addition to more open dealings with disgruntled citizens, however, China Media Project writes that the media coverage of the taxi strikes also points to the Chinese government's increasing willingness to allow open reporting shifting management of media:
"The important thing to recognize first of all is that the issues underlying these taxi strikes are not newly emerging, nor are they news to party officials. But the handling of these incidents reveals some interesting trends (and inconsistencies) in China's press control policy…One of the key characteristics of Control 2.0 is the active setting of the agenda through rapid but selective news coverage by critical state media such as Xinhua News Agency, China Central Television and People's Daily. This is what Hu Jintao meant when he said in June that the media needs to "actively set the agenda" (主动设置议题)."
5. For a more alarmist take on this topic, see The New Republic's piece today, subtitled, "How the global economic crisis could bring down the Chinese government." Author Joshua Kurlantzick here makes the claim that "as the economy turns sour, protest is rising," though, again, it isn't clear to us if there has actually been an increase or if Western media has simply been reporting more regularly on Chinese protests because their narrative now fits with the international story of the global economic downturn (rather than protests over localized issues in China):
"Normally, the Pearl River Delta, a manufacturing hub in southern China, whirs with the sound of commerce. Alongside massive new highways, clusters of factories churn out toys, electronics, and other consumer products for the world; in Pearl River cities like Guangzhou, nouveau riche businesspeople cut deals at swank hotels.
"But in recent months, the Delta has started to seem more like Allentown, circa 1980s. As the global financial crisis hits Western consumers' wallets, orders for the Delta's products have dried up. And angry factory workers, many owed back pay, have taken to the streets. In one recent incident, some 300 suppliers and creditors "descended on the River Dragon complex [a factory where the owners vanished] looting warehouses in the hopes of salvaging something," As USA Today reported.
"This unrest is likely to spiral. As the Chinese economy sours for the first time in years, the government this week announced a $586 billion stimulus package. But in some ways, much more is at stake: While, in the U.S., a financial failure would simply mean another dent in George W. Bush's reputation, in China it could mean the breakdown of the entire political order."
Posted by The China Beat at 11/18/2008 02:41:00 pm
Labels: Gansu, protest, riot, taxi, The Five-List Plan
I just wanted to point out that the thrust of our analysis at the China Media Project is not to point to greater government openness in news reporting.
The handling of Chongqing protests and many other "sudden-breaking events" this year points to what we have called CONTROL 2.0, a more savvy approach to traditional "guidance of public opinion" with a focus on active agenda setting.
The material in the Bloomberg report about a "new pattern of public opinion guidance" and "taking the initiative in news reporting" is in fact CMP material.
For more comprehensive analysis of Hu Jintao's June media speech please see:
http://cmp.hku.hk/2008/06/25/1079/
The China Beat said...
Thanks very much for this catch--what I read (and excerpted) clearly didn't match the description I typed. I've rewritten the text to better reflect the content of CMP's piece.
--KMH
Given that according to Chinese official statistics, mass incidents rise in number every year, they probably are rising, but this is not a new trend. Two other possibilities for why there is more Western reporting on incidents:
1. increased interest in China in the run-up to and after the Olympics.
2. More likely I think is that there is also more reporting on such incidents in the Chinese press, both in the official press (as David explains, this is a tactic to control the story) and on the Internet.
Regardless, the situation will not bring down the government. Chinese people overwhelmingly support the central government. It is the local governments that they don't like.
Interestingly enough, I read an article on the Sichuan earthquake today that discusses China's more open approach to news. The article made the point that the earthquake was a turning point that heralded a new style of reporting and that we should expect more frank reports such as these in the future. These reports could be complemented by crack downs on corrupt activities by local officials. But the conclusion of the article is that while the Chinese strongly support the central government, the more reports that make the news like this, the higher the potential for an event to rub off on the central government. Get enough striking taxis who dont think their needs are being met in enough cities, all of whom think they are "fighting" for the same issue, and the ball of yarn might just start to unravel. It is an unlikely situation, but not impossible.
Moreover, as it is highly unlikely that the government's spending package will help maintain the export economy in the short term (when it is needed), things could just get a little hot in the coming months.
They probably won't, but who knows?
Sheila Shigley said...
The Wudu riots appear far more serious than first stated - an official [gave name only as Wang] said that regrettably the violent rioters had to be "dispersed with force." This jives with a Wudu blogger [original post on Global Voices] who gave this depressing report:
"In Nov 18, tens of protesters had been beaten to death. Information had been blocked and photos could not be released. However, this post (translator note: from another forum) has adopted the official stand - they disregarded people's emotion and much of their opinions had been blocked. Their voices could only appear in a small number of forum with very few visitors. They couldn't attract public attention. We have lost a number of fellows and we hope that their deaths deserve some respect, not to be called as "rioters". The secretary of the city committee had done with the demolition, had done with contracting out project and business, had done with attracting capital, now he is ready to go and leave people behind. He have lost his credibility. The Gansu province committee doesn't know the truth and blocks the information. Such big incident was not even reported in Lanzhou. Where is our justice? Should our opinion and our sufferings be repressed by the bureaucrats like that? We can only depends on people to pass on the information and raise concern. Just now, the riot police are still firing tear gas to the people. The people have to resist. I wish you will understand the truth and let it known to others. Please pass on the information, thank you."
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Maclay lacrosse stand-out signs with LaGrange College
At Maclay Tuesday, Percy Roopnarine is LaGrange College bound. The stand-out lacrosse player had his choice of schools to attend, but becoming a Panther was the right fit for him because of academics.
By: Alison Posey
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — At Maclay Tuesday, Percy Roopnarine is LaGrange College bound. The stand-out lacrosse player had his choice of schools to attend, but becoming a Panther was the right fit for him because of academics.
LaGrange gives Roopnarine the chance to study at Georgia Tech to earn an engineering degree, and getting to play the sport he loves at the next level, and earning a degree from a top notch University sealed the deal for him.
"Unfortunately Georgia Tech didn't have a lacrosse program," he said. "This is a way I get to play lacrosse and go to the school of my dreams. From the day I started playing, I knew I wanted to do all that. I went to a college lacrosse game, I went to an NCAA championship, and I was like I want to do that, I want to go play on the next level."


Driving in bad weather (rain, fog, snow, etc.).
Sudden changes between light and dark, such as an entrance or exit of a tunnel.
There is little contrast between lane lines and the roadway surface.
Driving into low sunlight (e.g., at dawn or dusk).
Strong light is reflected onto the roadway.
Driving in the shadows of trees, buildings, etc.
Shadows of adjacent objects are parallel to lane markings.
Roadway objects or structures are misinterpreted as lane markers.
Reflections on the interior of the front windshield.
Driving on a snowy or wet roadway (obscured lane marking, vehicle tracks, reflected lights, road spray, high contrast).
Driving on a road with temporary lane markings.
Faint, multiple, or varied lane markings are visible on the roadway due to road repairs or old lane markings.
The roadway has merging, split, or crossing lines (e.g., such as at an intersection or crosswalk).
The lane markings are extremely narrow, wide, or changing.
The vehicle in front of you is driving near the lane lines.
The road is hilly or the vehicle is approaching the crest of a hill.
Driving on rough or unpaved roads, or over bumpy surfaces.
When objects on the road (curb, guard rail, pylons, etc.) are recognized as white lines (or yellow lines).
Driving on roads with double lines.
Headlight lenses are dirty or the headlights are not properly adjusted.
The outside of the windshield is streaked or blocked by dirt, mud, leaves, wet snow, etc.
The inside of the windshield is fogged.
The camera temperature gets too high.
An abnormal tire or wheel condition (wrong size, varied size or construction, improperly inflated, compact spare tire, etc.).
The vehicle is tilted due to a heavy load or suspension modifications.


This is the place to look for Armenian cooking, Armenian recipes, Armenian food, tips, stories and other fun. I know Doug and Robyn and have sampled their cooking. They say they are preserving their Armenian heritage "one recipe at a time." The results will be delicious.
My fond hope is to sample some of the test cooking.


text:
Max Essex
International Advisory Council
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Botswana Harvard Partnership
Botswana Summer Internships
Fogarty HIV Research Training Program
HAI History
The Harvard AIDS Institute was established in 1988 by Harvard University President Derek Bok and Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) Dean Harvey Fineberg. Initial seed funding for HAI was provided by the office of the President Bok and the offices of the Dean of HSPH and the Dean of Harvard Medical School (HMS). Additional seed funding came from Professor Max Essex's and HSPH patent royalties for the widely-used HIV-blood screening test that was developed from the research conducted by Essex and his colleague, Dr. Tun-Hou Lee.
Max Essex was named Chair of HAI and has been so every since. HAI focused on innovative, cutting edge research concerning the pathogenesis of the AIDS virus and the dynamics of the epidemic.
As the number of AIDS cases continued to escalate disproportionately in Africa and other resource scarce settings, HAI directed its research efforts toward developing prevention and treatment strategies to stem the epidemic in these regions. International partnerships were created with on-the-ground efforts with specific countries affected by the epidemic, including Thailand, Senegal, Botswana, Nigeria, Tanzania, and South Africa.
Official opening of the BHP headquarters in 2001
In 1996, HAI partnered with Botswana's Ministry of Health to form the Botswana Harvard AIDS Institute Partnership (BHP). In 2001, at a ceremony on World AIDS Day, the BHP officially opened its state-of-the-art laboratory and headquarters on the grounds of Princess Marina Hospital in Gaborone, the capital of Botswana.
In 2004, the Harvard AIDS Institute changed its name to the Harvard School of Public Health AIDS Initiative to better reflect the the base of activity at the School of Public Health. In 2015, HAI officially became the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health AIDS Initiative as the School changed its name to honor a generous gift from the Chan family.
Today, Max Essex and other scientists at HAI who helped pioneer the field of HIV research continue their efforts, working side-by-side with students and colleagues from the U.S . and around the world.
See HAI Timeline
Harvard Main Site


Procedure: The patient lies in the spinal bath tub after getting undressed and adjust himself to the water columns of the tub so that they touch the entire length of the spine from the top of the neck to the lowest portion of the spine. After the bath the patient should walk briskly or perform suryanamaskars so that heat is generated in the body. If the patient is weak he can lie down on the bed and cover himself with a blanket.
Uses: Cold spinal bath relieves irritation of nerves, fatigue, high blood pressure and excitement. It is recommended in almost all nervous disorders such as hysteria, fits, mental derangement, sleeplessness, loss of memory, tension etc.
Contra–indications: Cervical and lumbar spondylosis and arthritis.
One can identify this medical condition in the body if there is enormous pain in the lower back area of the body. Usually back pain can arise due to improper seating, prolonged sleeping, heavy exercising and so on. However, the pain caused due to these activities would last for a few hours or for a few days at the most. However, in case of Lumbar Spondylosis, the pain is persistent. Sometimes, the lower back area becomes numb. Most people with this problem have reported that their lower back becomes stiff in the morning.


With vendors' help, banks can provide commercial clients actionable analytics-based information—not just static reports.
Boston, November 2, 2016 – The amount of payments data available to North American banks has grown exponentially as more electronic payments are processed. Analysis of this payments data could result in the development of new products and services for banks to offer their clients, but banks have shown very little pursuit of this opportunity. Could banks rely on vendors, at least in part, for the development and delivery of payments-analytics-based services and products to their commercial clients?
Based on a Q3 2016 Aite Group survey of key vendors in the payments and cash management space, this report introduces six vendors and indicates what services they have or are planning that will help banks deliver payments-activity-related information to their clients. These vendors—ACI Worldwide, D+H, Fiserv, Intellect Design Arena, Misys, and Q2 Software—are developing or plan to develop products or services that will help banks provide compelling actionable information in various forms to their commercial, corporate, and small-business clients.
This 18-page Impact Note contains 10 figures and four tables. Clients of Aite Group's Wholesale Banking & Payments service can download this report, the corresponding charts, and the Executive Impact Deck.


In order to achieve the goal of malaria elimination, the Chinese government launched the National Malaria Elimination Programme in 2010. However, as a result of increasing cross-border population movements, the risk of imported malaria cases still exists at the border areas of China, resulting in a potential threat of local transmission. The focus of this paper is to assess the Plasmodium vivax incidences in Tengchong, Yunnan Province, at the border areas of China and Myanmar.
Time series of P. vivax incidences in Tengchong from 2006 to 2010 are collected from the web-based China Information System for Disease Control and Prevention, which are further separated into time series of imported and local cases. First, the seasonal and trend decomposition are performed on time series of imported cases using Loess method. Then, the impact of climatic factors on the local transmission of P. vivax is assessed using both linear regression models (LRM) and generalized additive models (GAM). Specifically, the notion of vectorial capacity (VCAP) is used to estimate the transmission potential of P. vivax at different locations, which is calculated based on temperature and rainfall collected from China Meteorological Administration.
Comparing with Ruili County, the seasonal pattern of imported cases in Tengchong is different: Tengchong has only one peak, while Ruili has two peaks during each year. This may be due to the different cross-border behaviors of peoples in two locations. The vectorial capacity together with the imported cases and the average humidity, can well explain the local incidences of P. vivax through both LRM and GAM methods. Moreover, the maximum daily temperature is verified to be more suitable to calculate VCAP than the minimal and average temperature in Tengchong County.
To achieve malaria elimination in China, the assessment results in this paper will provide further guidance in active surveillance and control of malaria at the border areas of China and Myanmar.
Malaria is one of the important vector-borne infectious diseases that seriously endanger the public health and affect the socio-economic development [1, 2]. For example, malaria caused approximately 216 million infections and about 438 000 deaths worldwide in 2015 . Many initiatives and programmes have been launched to help develop implementable action plans for malaria control and elimination, such as the Global Malaria Initiatives, the U.S. President's Malaria Initiative and the Lubombo Spatial Development Initiative . Previous experiences emphasize that border areas should be a focus for malaria control activities given the high intensity of both formal and informal movement of people and goods across borders . For exmaple, in the Greater Mekong Subregion, malaria transmission is largely confined to the border areas between Burma, Cambodia, and Thailand . On the one hand, the cross-border movement of populations can introduce malaria cases from high-transmission areas into previously low-transmission or malaria-free areas [7–10]. On the other hand, the imported cases may cause the recurrence of malaria when the environment is suitable for local transmission. Therefore, to achieve global malaria eradication, one of the most important research agenda is to strengthen regional intercountry collaborations, especially the cross-border collaborations .
Historically, malaria was extensively endemic in China, especially in the 1960s and 1970s . Since the Chinese government launched the National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP) in 2010, great progress have been made to achieve the elimination of malaria. During the implementation of the NMEP from 2010 to 2014, local malaria incidence has declined continuously, except for the border areas of Yunnan Province, China . Yunnan Province shares a 4 061-kilometer borderline with Myanmar, Laos, and Vietnam. Because the border areas are mostly mountainous, crossing the border becomes very easy. It has been estimated that there are several millions of people belonging to the mobile and migrant population (MMP), who may cross the border every year . In 2011, the number of malaria cases in Yunnan Province was the highest in China and accounted for 34% of the total cases in the country . However, according to the malaria report in 2013, about 91.2% malaria cases in Yunnan Province are imported from neighboring countries, among which 79.6% were caused by the Plasmodium vivax parasite . Because the imported cases can result in local transmission of malaria in a suitable environment, it becomes one of the biggest obstacles for nationwide elimination of the disease in China [17, 18].
In this paper, we focus on assessing the transmission risk of P. vivax in Tengchong County, Yunnan Province, China, which is at the border area of China and Myanmar. Existing studies have shown that the impedance of malaria control in Tengchong are more likely due to the increase of formal and informal human movement across China-Myanmar border regions [19, 20]. Different cross-border activities may result in different temporal patterns of imported cases (e.g., the number of peak transmission seasons). For example, people engaged in frontier trade may frequently cross the border; while local farmers may go to Myanmar for logging or mining during the slack seasons in farming. In this case, to take a step forward to malaria elimination and prevent the recurrence of malaria in China, it would be better to analyze the temporal patterns of imported cases so as to further investigate the purpose of human cross-border activities. By doing so, active surveillance and target interventions can be planned and implemented.
From the perspective of disease epidemiology, the natural transmission of P. vivax depends on the interactions between female anopheles mosquitoes and human beings. Existing studies have shown that the ability of mosquitoes to transmit P. vivax can be affected by a series of biological factors, such as the daily survival rate of mosquitoes and the sporogonic cycle of sporozoits in their bodies . Researchers have revealed that meteorological factors can also significantly affect mosquito population as well as their biological cycles [22, 23]. Specifically, a vectorial capacity model has been proposed to estimate the malaria transmission potential, which takes into consideration the impact of temperature and rainfall on the bionomics of mosquitoes and the extrinsic incubation period of parasites . Taking into consideration both human cross-border movements and local environmental factors, the objective of this work is twofold: (i) to investigate the temporal patterns of imported cases so as to guide the implementation of active surveillance; and (ii) to evaluate the impact of meteorological factors on the local transmission risk of P. vivax in Tengchong County.
The analysis procedures of this paper is organized as follows. First, we demonstrate the different temporal patterns of imported P. vivax cases in Tengchong and Ruili counties by performing seasonal and trend decomposition using Loess method. Then, we assess the relationship between local P. vivax cases and meteorological factors using both linear regression models (LRM) and generalized additive models (GAM). Moreover, to characterize the nonlinear relationship between P. vivax transmission potential and meteorological factors, the notion of vectorial capacity (VCAP) is adopted, which is defined as "the number of potentially infective contacts an individual person makes, through vector population, per unit time ." Both the LRM and GAM results show that the VCAP together with the imported cases can better explained the local infections of P. vivax. Specifically, we verify that the maximum daily temperature is more suitable to calculate VCAP than the minimal and average temperature in Tengchong County.
In China, there is a sound surveillance system for infectious diseases, namely the China Information System for Disease Control and Prevention (CISDCP), where malaria cases are reported daily from each public health facility . According to the Action Plan of China Malaria Elimination, it is obligatory for any medical institutions and hospitals to report clinically confirmed infection cases into the system. In this case, even though the underreporting of P. vivax infections is still unavoidable, the number of missing report should be negligible. Time series of P. vivax cases in Tengchong and Ruili are collected and aggregated from CISDCP on a daily basis ranging from 2006 to 2010, where imported cases (I P.v ) are discriminated from local infections (L P.v ) by doctors or public health investigators through face-to-face case studies. Accordingly, meteorological data are collected from China Meteorological Administration on a daily basis, which include the minimum temperature (T min ), average temperature (T avg ), maximum temperature (T max ), rainfall (R), average humidity (H avg ), and minimum humidity (H min ).
where m represents the equilibrium mosquito density per person, a is the expected number of bites on human beings per mosquito per day, p is the probability of a mosquito surviving through one whole day, and n is the entomological incubation period of malaria parasites. Based on the study of Ceccato et al. in , all these parameters are dynamically dependent on the temperature T and rainfall R. Specifically, we have m=100∗R, a=0.7/g, g=[36.5/(T+2.0−9.9)]+0.5, p=0.51/g , and n=105/2∗[36.5/(T+2.0−9.9)]/g+T−18. For more details about the model parameters, please refer to the Table 2 in . With respect to different temperature (resp., T min , T avg , and T max ), we have different values of VCAP (resp., V min , V avg , and V max ), where the subscripts correspond to temperature T min , T avg , and T max . In this paper, we exam the suitability of T min , T avg , and T max to estimate the transmission potential of P. vivax in Tengchong County.
To reveal the temporal patterns of imported cases, the seasonal and trend decomposition are performed on the daily time series using Loess method. To a certain extent, the seasonality reveals the pattern of human cross-border movements, which can guide the active surveillance and control of imported cases from neighboring countries. While the trend reflects the strength of disease intervention implemented by public health authorities, which are further adopted in our methods to model the risk of local malaria transmission.
The reason to propose LRM-2 and GAM-2 is that there exists significant correlation among T min , T avg , and T max , and between H min and H avg .
where (a+bt) is the trend obtained from the seasonal and trend decomposition of P. vivax incidences. All these models will be assessed based on the available dataset in Tengchong County.
The seasonal and trend decomposition are performed on time series of imported P. vivax cases using Loess method. To a certain extent, the seasonality reveals the pattern of human cross-border movements, while the trend reflects the strength of malaria intervention and control. A comparison is conducted between Tengchong and Ruili, where Ruili is another malaria-endemic county at the border area of China and Myanmar. Figure 1 shows the decomposition results in Tengchong County, and Fig. 2 shows the decomposition results in Ruili County. It can be observed that the trend of imported P. vivax cases in both counties declines almost linearly, reflecting the effectiveness of the implemented malaria intervention policy. However, the patterns of seasonality is totally different in the two counties: Tengchong has only one peak every year, while Ruili has two peaks. This may be due to different human cross-border activities in these two counties. Comparing to Ruili, Tengchong is a little far away from the customs on the China-Myanmar border. Detailed investigations in Tengchong show that most farmers in the same villages often go to Myanmar in groups during the slack season, and come back before the busy seasons. Such activities happens once a year. However, due to the lack of manpower and resources, such investigations in Ruili are not put into effect. Even so, the observations provide an insight into the implementation of active surveillance on imported cases to further investigate the motivations of their cross-border activities other counties at the border area. The reason is that different cross-border activities may result in different seasonal patterns of imported cases, which further trigger different risks of infection at different time of a year. Therefore, targeted intervention strategies are required for counties with different patterns of imported cases.
To reveal the relationship between local infections and meteorological factors, the Pearson correlation coefficients between each pair of meteorological factors are first calculated, where daily time series of T min , T avg , T max , R, H avg and H min with lag zero are used. Table 1 shows the correlation matrix between meteorological factors in Tengchong County. Strong linear correlation can be found among T min , T avg , and T max , as well as between H avg and H min . In this case, only two types of LRM models (i.e., LRM-1 and LRM-2) and two types of GAM models (GAM-1 and GAM-2) are compared to assess time series of local P.vivax infections. Given a set of candidate models for the data, the preferred model is the one with the minimum Akaike information criterion (AIC) and Bayesian information criterion (BIC) values. Table 2 shows the comparisons of LRM and GAM models with respect to local infections of P.vivax in Tengchong County. First, it can be observed that the nonlinear GAM models have better performances than corresponding LRM models. For example, GAM-1 (resp., GAM-2) model is better than LRM-1 (resp., LRM-2) model with smaller values of AIC, BIC and mean squared error (MSE), and larger R 2 and percentage of deviance explain. Second, even though some meteorological factors have strong correlations, the LRM-1 (resp., GAM-1) model, which involves more meteorological factors, has smaller AIC value but larger BIC value than the LRM-2 (resp., GAM-2) model. when fitting models, more parameters may result in overfitting. Both AIC and BIC rewards goodness of fit, but they also attempt to resolve the overfitting problem by introducing a penalty that is an increasing function of the number of estimated parameters (NUM). However, the penalty term in BIC is larger than in AIC. Therefore, we cannot determine which model between LRM-1 and LRM-2 (resp., between GAM-1 and GAM-2) is better.
Based on Eq. 1, the estimation of vectorial capacity V involves both temperature T and rainfall R in Tengchong. Accordingly, three VCAP values V min , V avg , and V max can be calculated using different temperatures T min , T avg , and T max (see Fig. 3). It can be observed that the VCAP curves have similar temporal patterns to the time series of P. vivax incidences in Tengchong. Since GAM models is superior to LRM models (see Table 2), to evaluate the effects of VCAP on local P. vivax infections, only GAM models are used to conduct the comparison (i.e., the GAM-V-MIN, GAM-V-AVG, and GAM-V-MAX models), where a linear trend (a+bt) is combined with VCAP to approximate the declining trend observed from time series decomposition in Tengchong County. Table 3 shows the performance of the three models with respect to local infections of P. vivax in Tengchong. Comparing with the LRM and GAM models in Table 2, all the three models have much better performance, representing that VCAP is more suitable to explain the risk of local infection. Moreover, the parametric coefficients show that all variables V min , V avg , V max , H avg , and I P.v strongly support these models with significance level p<0.01.
The results in Table 3 can also determine which temperature among T min , T avg , and T max is better for estimating the transmission potential of P. vivax in Tengchong. This is critical for the prediction of malaria outbreaks. It can be observed that the GAM-V-MAX model performs slightly better than the other two models. To further evaluate the model, we conduct the deviance analysis. The null hypothesis is that the three models fit the data equally well, and the alternative hypothesis is that the GAM-V-MAX model is superior. Here the F-statistic is 4.34 and the associated P-value is 0.03. The result provides very clear evidence that the GAM-V-MAX model involving maximum temperature is superior to the GAM-V-MIN and GAM-V-AVG models. Figure 4 shows the estimated curve of P. vivax infections based on the GAM-V-MAX model. It can be observed that most periods with high risk of infection can be estimated by the GAM-V-MAX model.
Figure 5 shows the estimated nonparametric smooths of VCAP, average humidity, and imported cases from the GAM-V-MAX model. Regions where the confidence bands (i.e., the dot lines) enclose the horizontal red line indicates corresponding values where the overall pattern is not significant. The smooth of imported cases indicate that the true relationship between the number of local infections and that of imported cases is linear. However, the estimated degrees of freedom (edf) for VCAP and average humidity is larger than 1, which indicate possible deviations from linearity. It can be observed from the Fig. 5 that the relationship with VCAP may be nearly linear: it appears that for lower VCAP the number of local infections increases at a constant rate but after passing a threshold value of VCAP the rate begins to decrease. On the other hand, the relationship with average humidity is not significant in most regions, except for the region between 60 and 70. In this region, the relationship with average humidity seems to be quadratic.
Human population movement (HPM) have been cited amongst the significant causes of the failure of the Global Malaria Eradication Programme fifty years ago [30, 31]. Human population movement from high to low or non malaria-endemic areas can result in imported infections, which may further trigger onward transmission [7–10]. Moreover, HPM patterns and the risk of malaria transmission vary substantially across spatial and temporal scales, socioeconomic sub-groups, and motivation for travel. Therefore, strategic control and elimination planning requires quantitative information on HPM patterns and the translation of these into parasite dispersion . Extensive studies have been conducted attempting to quantify HPM patterns. For example, Wesolowski et al. quantified the impact of human mobility on malaria in Kenya using mobile phone data ; Menach et al. investigated the travel risk and malaria importation between Zanzibar and mainland Tanzania using mobile phone data and ferry traffic ; Tatem et al. proposed a method for targeting of interventions using surveillance data, satellite imagery and mobile phone call records to support elimination planning in Namibia ; Pindolia et al. have investigated the demographics of human movement and migration patterns in East Africa based on national population censuses and household surveys . In high incidence areas of malaria, such census-style approaches have been verified to be helpful for malaria intervention and control. For China, which is about to reach the stage of malaria elimination and has only small number of imported cases, the above-mentioned approaches seem to be too resource-consuming and rough to characterize specific imported cases. In this paper, the seasonality analysis on time series of P. vivax incidences show that different patterns of human cross-border activity may result in different temporal patterns of P. vivax infections. Therefore, it would be helpful to perform active surveillance on motivations of human cross-border activity so as to plan targeted intervention strategies on imported cases.
Recently, together with the significant change of social and economic status, the corresponding malaria control strategies in Yunnan Province have also been changed. Besides traditional passive surveillance and vector controls, active surveillance and intervention have also been introduced, particularly in regions with high risk of infection. As compared with passive surveillance, active surveillance is much more ambitious with the aim of discovering every infection or imported case. Local CDC and surveillance agencies visit villages house by house to identify high risk populations. In this case, active surveillance is extremely time-consuming and requires massive experienced public health workers. However, human resources are very limited particularly in remote border area. For example, Tengchong has 18 towns, 205 villages and about 167 964 households distributed in a wide area of 5 845 square kilometers. However, in Tengchong CDC, less than 10 workers/investigators are available to perform active surveillance. The seasonality analysis for different counties can help frontier workers to perform active surveillance at the right place and time. For example, at Tengchong County, appropriate education and early warning can be conducted before peoples go to Myanmar once a year, while household survey can be implemented after they come back.
It is a particular challenge for malaria elimination at the China-Myanmar border area, especially when remote border areas of Myanmar have weak infrastructure and poor quality of treatments. In China, there is a sound surveillance system (CISDCP) for infectious diseases, where malaria incidences are reported from public health agencies everyday. However, in Myanmar, the surveillance and reporting system is too weak to collect sufficient information about the true malaria situation . The weakness of health systems in Myanmar includes the limited capacity of local microscopists, incomplete coverage of surveillance for all communities and the lack of data reporting and management systems . Because the meteorological factors are similar at the China-Myanmar border area, it is possible to use the same meteorological factors to assess the potential risk of malaria infection on both sides. In this paper, we have evaluated that the vectorial capacity (V max ) calculated by maximum temperature (T max ) and rainfall (R) is more suitable to fit the local P. vivax incidences in Tengchong County. Without further improvement of health systems in Myanmar, the GAM-V-MAX model could temporarily be used to estimate the risk of infection at the border area. On the other hand, detailed case studies on imported cases in China can also provide valuable malaria situations in Myanmar from which they came back.
In this paper, we have assessed the risk of P. vivax transmission in Tengchong County, Yunnan Province, which is at the border area of China and Myanmar. First, different patterns of imported cases are decomposed for Tengchong and Ruili counties based on the seasonal and trend decomposition using Loess method. The seasonal patterns can provide useful information for active surveillance and further investigation of human cross-border movement, which is one of the biggest challenges for nationwide elimination of malaria in China. Second, the effect of meteorological factors on local risk of P. vivax infections is investigated using various linear regression models and generalized additive models. By comparison, it has been verified that the notion of vectorial capacity (VCAP) together with the number of imported cases is significant indicator to fit the number of local P. vivax incidences in Tengchong. Moreover, the maximum temperature has been assessed to be more suitable for estimating VCAP than the minimum and average temperature. Finally, the strong linear relationship with VCAP and imported cases indicates that to achieve effective malaria intervention, it is critical to perform active surveillance on the number of imported cases before the high risk season comes.
We would like to thank all of the study participants for their commitment. We also specifically thank Mr. Shengguo Li, Ms. Shouqin Yin, and other staff members at the Disease Prevention and Control Center of Tengchong County, Yunnan Province, China, for their efforts in data collection and investigation.
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 81402760, 81573261, 81502858, 81273192), the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province, China (Grant No. BK20161563), the Hong Kong Research Grants Council (RGC/HKBU12202415), and the Research Foundation of Education Bureau of Zhejiang Province, China (Grant No. Y201222907). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
BS, GY, SX, and XZ designed research, BS, SX and XZ collected the data, BS, JZ, GY, HQ, and SX conceived the experiments, BS and JZ conducted the experiments, BS, JZ, GY, and HQ analysed the results. BS wrote the manuscript and all authors reviewed the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
WHO. WHO Global Malaria Programme: World Malaria Report. 2015. http://www.who.int/malaria/publications/world_malaria_report_2014/en/. Accessed 20 Nov 2016.
Ceccato P, Vancutsem C, Klaver R, Rowland J, Connor SJ. A vectorial capacity product to monitor changing malaria transmission potential in epidemic regions of Africa. J Trop Med. 2012. doi:10.1155/2012/595948.
China information system for disease control and prevention. http://www.chinacdc.cn/. Accessed 20 Nov 2016.


Can you believe that we are a week and a half away from the first day of Fall? 12 days to be exact, but who's counting, right?! 🙂 Who else is as excited as I am? I have to be honest here, I love everything about Fall. The cool weather, the leaves falling, the football games, Pumpkin Spice Latte's, scarves, beanies, boots, and bulky sweater's.
Anyways, my whole point is that we're already entering into that season, and i can't wait!
During the summer, we had a number of changes that happened.
First, early on in the summer the 3 boys that we had been taking care for the past year, moved back with their mom. That was quite an adjustment for all of us. We dealt with all kinds of different emotions and had a plethora of questions, but we placed our trust and the boy's lives, in the hands of God.
Another milestone that snuck up on us, was that my baby girl turned 13! I know, I know, I can hardly believe it myself. All she wanted for her birthday was to go to a Boomin by the Bay Concert in Houston to see KB and Blanca perform. Even though money was tight, we made a way to take her and 3 of her friends to the concert. We planned for it to be our family of 5 and 2 of her friends. But we had a change of plans and before you know it, 3 of her friends joined us, plus 2 of the 3 boys we were caring for. Yeah, I know we're crazy! But let me show you how much fun we had!
Autograph and picture with Blanca!
Autograph and picture with KB!
Waiting in line to ride the Carousel!
Group picture at the Roller Rink!
I still can't believe she's 13… She's changing and growing so much… Sigh.
Another cool summer memory was going swimming at a lake some where outside of San Antonio. We went with some family & friends and had WAY too much fun!
During all this, I have a cousin who had a baby boy in June with a very rare heart defect. We had already agreed that I would be secondary care giver to him once they got released, and that they would move in with us, but until then she & I both had to get trained on how to care for him outside of the hospital. At first, I was scared out of my mind, because this is way out of my comfort zone. But I have to always remember that God would help us through this season of our lives. The baby stayed in the hospital until a few days before he turned 2 months old. Then they moved in. Life has consisted of calculating how many ML's he drank by mouth and then by ng tube, Dr's appointment's, many nurse calls, daily checks of his oxygen levels and weight, giving his meds on time & correctly etc.
With his heart condition being so rare, he's been hanging out at the Children's Hospital this past week until they see some more growth in his weight. Please keep my Little Peanut and his mama in your prayers.
This is definitely one of those season's in life that we'd rather not be in, but we know there's no other way around it but to go through it. And we hold on tight to our Father in Heaven, who we lean on for strength and comfort when we're feeling like we can't take any more change.
All this to say, the season's of our lives change continuously. Just like I'm so ready for Summer to end and preparing for Fall to be here, we have to be ready and be prepared for when life changes from one season to another.
Let's be real here people. We all have days like this and today happens to be mine. And really, it hasn't even been my whole day, just the last 2 hours.
Isn't it crazy how 2 hours (and 1kid) can make you feel like this awesome picture!?!?
Everything that you were trying so hard to control just went out the door and you lose it!?!
It happened to me today.. Just a while ago actually.
You know, being a stay at home mama and/or a home school mama isn't for the faint hearted. With that, comes the occasional bad day or for me a frustrating 2 hours.
It does not define who you are as a wife or a mother.
It does not change the fact that this is what God has called you to do.
It does not mean to give up and quit.
It's just a bad day. That's it.
Do you wanna know what the end result of my bad/frustrating 2 hours was?
I sent them on their merry way OUTSIDE to play!
I figured since it's such a gorgeous day in my neck of the woods, why not?!
They stopped what they were doing, tidied up a bit, and went outside.
Not only is that good for them, but it's also good for me!
Now I can enjoy a little bit of peace & quiet while I get dinner going.
Life is full of twists and turns. This last month has been full of them for me. Wait! Who am I kidding, my whole summer has been quite a ride. Full of ups & downs. Highs & low. Smiles & tears. Times when I thought I had things all figured out. Times when I thought I couldn't make it. Even times when I thought I could conquer the world! But no matter what I'm going through or how I'm feeling, one thing I know is certain; My God never changes. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. He knows the number of hairs I have on my head, which is a lot because i have pretty thick hair. He see's every tear that I cry. He knows my heart, my every thought and my every fear. And yet, He still loves me!
In everything that I've been through in my life and especially this summer, I know that God has always been there with me. Shaping & molding me into His perfect image.
Even though I'm still at a place of uncertainty, I know that God has everything under control. He knows exactly what He's doing, in me & through me, and I put my trust in Him alone. His ways are not my ways and His plan is far better than anything I could ever imagine.
If you're reading this, and you're in a dark place in your life or maybe you're at a crossroad, remember that Jesus Christ is YOUR Father and He hears your cries. He knows exactly where you're at in life and what you're going through.


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Watch video recordings and photogallery of the Round Table.
Intellectual property (IP) is normally protected by a time-limited monopoly on economic exploitation of exclusive rights. It is often alleged that business models based on such a traditional IP conceptualization can stifle scientific and technological progress. Open Source (OS) software and Creative Commons (CC) licences have emerged as amongst the most acclaimed alternatives to hurdles created by the traditional business models. As most Open Innovation endeavours offer both tangible and intangible benefits to participants, not all of them eschew the more traditional economic rewards. Many successful companies have been built on such concepts.
Representatives of the MAPPING consortium and other main stakeholders from around the world in reflected on the impact of the current EU IPR protection regime on innovation and economic growth and the future of Open Innovation in the Proprietary World.
We tackled questions such as:
Are Open Innovation approaches viable and competitive in today's proprietary world?
Can business models based on OS and CC concepts be sustainable?
Does the future look bright for Open Knowledge initiatives?
Can Open Innovation be a driver of economic development?
When: 19 March 2015
Where: DiploFoundation, WMO Building, 7bis, Avenue de la Paix, Geneva, Switzerland
Agenda: Print version (PDF)
Joe Cannataci (Project Coordinator; University of Groningen), Oleksandr Pastukhov (Head of WP6; University of Malta), Jovan Kurbalija (DiploFoundation)
Key-note address: "Intellectual Property Rights: Incentivizing Creativity or Stifling Innovation?"
Darren Todd (Author, "Pirate Nation"; Editor, Evolved Publishing)
Session 1: IP policies today – failing to understand innovation?
Moderator: Bogdan Manolea (ApTI)
Principal discussants: Julia Reda (MEP), Rihards Gulbis (Ministry of Culture, Latvia), Jim Killock (Open Rights Group), Philippe Laurent (Marx, Van Ranst, Vermeersch & Partners)
Session 2: Business models for the Free/Open Source movement
Moderator: Pedro Gomez (Hoplite Software)
Principal discussants: Mario Pena (Safe Creative), Georg Greve (Free Software Foundation Europe), Giuseppe Mazziotti (Trinity College Dublin)
Special intervention on F/OSS in developing countries by Nnenna Nwakanma (World Wide Web Foundation)
Second key-note address: "Innovation through Liberty"
Georg Greve (Free Software Foundation Europe)
Discussion: Open Data, Open Access, and Open Education resources – key to Open Innovation
Moderator: Oleksandr Pastukhov (Head of WP6; University of Malta)
Principal discussants: Claire Gallon (Libertic), Dimitar Dimitrov (Wikimedia), Ryan Scicluna (University of Malta)
Session 4: Revenue-generating techniques for Open Knowledge organisations
Moderator: Christian Hawellek (Leibniz University of Hannover)
Principal discussants: Maria Swietlik (Internet Society Poland), Charlotte Wälde (University of Exeter), Nicolaie Constantinescu (Kosson; OpenAIRE)
Round-up: The future of Open Innovation in the proprietary world
Moderator: Joe Cannataci (Project Coordinator; University of Groningen)
All the discussants
Canapé reception
Discussants
Joseph Cannataci, Netherlands
MAPPING coordinator
Holds Professorial appointments in Australia, Malta and the Netherlands. Chair of European Information Policy and Technology Law, University of Groningen and Head of the Information Policy and Governance Department, University of Malta. Associate at the Centre for Cyber Security, Longwood University (USA). He is a UK Chartered Information Technology Professional & Chartered Fellow of the British Computer Society. Founded and co-ordinates the LexConverge network - a consortium of IT Law research institutes and law firms from over 30 countries. He is recognised as one of the leading European experts in IT law especially data protection law.
Oleksandr Pastukhov, Malta
Head of MAPPING Work Package 6 – Intellectual Property Rights
Dr. Oleksandr Pastukhov is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Information Policy and Governance of the University of Malta. His areas of expertise include Internet governance, digital copyright, Open and Free Software, trademark protection online, privacy and personal data protection, cybercrime, and public sector information. Dr. Pastukhov is a widely published author and a regular speaker at various national and international fora (incl. the Council of Europe and European Parliament) dedicated to ICT law and policy issues.
Jovan Kurbalija, Switzerland
Director of DiploFoundation
Founding director of DiploFoundation and head of the Geneva Internet Platform. Established the Unit for IT and Diplomacy at the Mediterranean Academy of Diplomatic Studies in Malta in 1992 which evolved into DiploFoundation in 2002. Directs online learning courses on ICT and diplomacy and lectures in academic and training institutions in Switzerland, the United States, Austria, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Malta. His main areas of research are diplomacy and the development of an international Internet regime, the use of hypertext in diplomacy, online negotiations and diplomatic law. He is the author of "An Introduction to Internet Governance" (2014) now in its sixth edition.
Key-note Address 1
Darren Todd, U.S.
Author of Pirate Nation: How Digital Piracy is Transforming Business, Society and Culture. Editor at Evolved Publishing, audiobook narrator for Audible, Inc., filmmaker, fiction writer, and creator of the blog "Piracy Happens" covering news and events pertaining to digital culture. He contributes editorials and speaks regularly on copyright and digital piracy.
Georg Greve, Switzerland
Founder and former President of Free Software Foundation Europe. Self-taught software developer, academically trained physicist and author. In 1998, he was the European speaker for the GNU Project and began writing the "Brave GNU World", a monthly column on free computer software. Invited as an expert to the "Commission on Intellectual Property Rights" of the UK government.
Bogdan Manolea, Romania
Head of MAPPING WP3 – Policy Watch
Executive Director of the Association for Technology and Internet (ApTI) – an NGO supporting and promoting free and open digital content. Owner of the only Romanian web page dedicated to IT Law (legi-internet.ro). He is also the editor of EDRi-gram, a bi-weekly newsletter on digital civil rights in Europe.
Julia Reda, Germany
MEP, Pirate Party, Vice-Chair of Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament
Julia Reda is the representative of the German Pirate Party in the European Parliament, representing a young worldwide movement of people who believe in using technology for the empowerment of all. She is Vice-Chair of the Greens/EFA group and a co-founder of the Parliament's Digital Agenda Intergroup. As rapporteur for the review of the 2001 copyright directive, she is advocating for a European copyright that is adapted to the digital era, that is easy to understand and enables the free exchange of culture and knowledge across borders. Julia Reda is the president of Young Pirates of Europe and one of the youngest members of the current European Parliament. She holds an M.A. in political science and communications science from Johannes-Gutenberg-University Mainz, Germany.
Rihards Gulbis, Latvia
Head of the Copyright Division, Ministry of Culture, Member of the Working Group "IP in the Digital World", EU Observatory. National expert for the Working Party on Intellectual Property (Copyright) of the Council of the EU and for the WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR).
Jim Killock, UK
Executive Director of Open Rights Group. He was named as one of the 50 most influential people on IP issues by Managing IP in 2012. Trustee of FreeUKGen - a volunteer project to digitise genealogical records, and sits on the Governance Board of CREATe, the Research Councils UK (RCUK) Centre for Copyright and New Business Models in the Creative Economy.
Philippe Laurent, Belgium
IP, IT and commercial lawyer with the Brussels Bar and counsel at Marx, Van Ranst, Vermeersch & Partners. Alternate member of the copyrights and neighbouring rights section of the Intellectual Property Council of the Belgian Ministry of Economy. Appointed by the CEPANI as Third-Party Decider for ".be" domain name disputes. He has written several expert studies for the European Commission and the European Parliament on the legal aspects of open source licensing.
Pedro José Gómez López, Spain
MAPPING Contributing Partner
CEO of Hoplite Software, CEO of Quolony Tech, Secretary of the Board of the Science and Technology Research Foundation (3CIN). Trained as a Computer Engineer and has more than sixteen years' experience as a software developer, consultant, systems analyst and company manager.
Mario Pena, Spain
Chief Business Development Officer and Community Manager at Safe Creative, an online copyright repository. Copyright and business model adviser for Looplay Music. Frequently lectures about open data, copyright issues and digital content related business models.
Giuseppe Mazziotti, Ireland
Assistant Professor of Intellectual Property Law at Trinity College Dublin and member of the Italian Bar. Associate Research Fellow with the Centre for European Policy Studies. Founder of Mediartis - a legal advisory consultancy for creative content. Author of "Copyright in the EU Digital Single Market" (2013). Of Counsel for Nunziante Magrone.
Nnenna Nwakanma, Côte d'Ivoire
Co-founder and Co-Chair of FOSS Foundation for Africa (FOSSFA). Co-founded The Africa Network of Information Society Actors, and the African Civil Society for the Information Society which she serves on. She is also Vice President of the Digital solidarity fund, the West Africa Partner of "epprobate" for e-learning courseware and in 2013 became the Africa Regional Coordinator for The World Wide Web Foundation.
Claire Gallon, France
Co-founder of Libertic - a non-profit organization promoting open data. Member of the Expert Committee of the French government open data mission - Etalab.
Dimitar Dimitrov, Belgium
Project lead for the Free Knowledge Advocacy Group EU - a grouping of European Wikimedia chapters and other open knowledge organisations from throughout the EU. "Wikimedian"/policy expert for the European Wikimedia chapters in Brussels. Author of "Position Paper on EU Copyright Reform" (2014).
Ryan Scicluna, Malta
Assistant Librarian, Outreach Department, University of Malta. Member of the Malta Library & Information Association (MaLIA) Council.
Christian Hawellek, Germany
MAPPING Work Package 5 researcher
Senior Research Associate at the Institute for Legal Informatics, Leibniz University of Hannover. Specialises in European economic law and German and European IP- and IT-law. His primary field of work is European and national research projects addressing legal issues related to data security and data protection law.
Maria Swietlik, Poland
Member of Internet Society Poland. Involved with Net Research Net and anti-TTIP&CETA movement. Co-author and editor of "The Right to Culture. Future Scenarios" (2014) published by Modern Poland Foundation. Political anthropologist, digital rights activist and freelance researcher.
Charlotte Wälde, UK
Professor of Intellectual Property Law at the University of Exeter, chair of the Intellectual Property Office Copyright Research Expert Advisory Group and co-drafter of the Open Database Licence. Her research and teaching focus on the interface between intellectual property law and changing technologies and she has acted as policy adviser for a range of international organisations and policies relating to IP law. Co-edited "Law and the Internet" (2009), a seminal ICT law treatise now in its third edition.
Nicolaie Constantinescu, Romania
Information Architect of the Kosson initiative – an online library and information science community. Member of the LIBER Communications & Marketing Committee, the Executive Board of the Romanian National Association of Libraries and Librarians Romania and of the Board of Directors of SPARC Europe. Desk Representative for OpenAIRE plus (openaire.eu) – open access infrastructure for research in Europe.


Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA), alongside Abu Dhabi's Mubadala Investment Company and Dubal, has commenced construction on a new power block at Jebel Ali smelter in Dubai.
A joint venture of Mubadala and Dubal will be responsible for the development of the new AED1bn ($272m) power facility, while the power output will be purchased by EGA for 25 years.
Mubadala and Dubal will also develop a water desalination plant at EGA's smelter at Jebel Ali location as part of the agreement signed earlier.
The power facility will be equipped to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 10% from EGA's power generation plant in Jebel Ali.
The facility is also expected to reduce NOx emissions at Jebel Ali by 58%.
Siemens was selected earlier for the installation of the combined cycle H-class gas turbine at the power block, making the project the first in the aluminium industry to use this technology.
EGA managing director and CEO Abdulla Kalban said: "We are pleased to break ground on this important project which will improve our power generation efficiency at Jebel Ali, saving costs and environmental emissions.
Upon commissioning of the new power block, EGA plans to put five older, smaller and less efficient turbines at the smelter on standby for emergency use.
EGA, which owns power plants with generation capacity of 5,450MW, uses electricity for aluminium smelting and other industrial operations.
Image: EGA breaks ground on 272MW power plant in Dubai. Photo: Courtesy of Emirates Global Aluminium.


Can you tell if someone smokes by their appearance. In most cases, I think you can.
Smoking can damage collagen and elastin which helps the skin retain its strength. Smoking has also been shown to decrease blood flow to the skin. This is why smokers appear to have more sun damaged and uneven skin.
Smokers are more likely to develop wrinkles around the eyes and lips.
Smokers are at higher risk for yellow teeth and bad breath. They also have a higher rate of gum disease.
There is a higher risk of cataracts in smokers.
Smokers may have a higher risk of hair loss.
Smoking increases the risk of osteoporosis.
Smoking increases blood pressure and risk of heart disease.
Smoking increases the risk of diabetes. It also makes diabetes more difficult to treat.
Smoking will increase the risk of several different types of cancers.
Smoking will increase the risk of rheumatoid arthritis.
Smoking has been associated with infertility problems. There is also a higher risk of preterm labor, low birth weight and sudden infant death syndrome.
Smoking may reduce your bodies ability to fight infection.


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19 Jul SMALL WORKS – ON THE MEZZANINE
OCTOBER 3, 2019 – FEBRUARY 1, 2020
Posted at 14:36h in Exhibitions by Elder Gallery of Contemporary Art
Delve into a curated collection of small works that reveal extraordinary craftsmanship and unique design. In our first exhibition of this kind, we are excited to welcome North and South Carolina based artist-designers Joanna Gollberg, Lauren Markley and Alfred Ward. Trained in metalworking and design, the jewelry artists in this mezzanine exhibition specialize in creating one-of-a-kind pieces and designer art jewelry. Accompanying the hand-crafted jewelry will be new small works in a series entitled "Cakes and Camisoles" by Caroline Rust. Rust's mixed media pieces accent remembrances and fantasies of travels and clothes, and allegorically activate pastries, sweets, and camisoles that reveal a sense of play, joy, and the feminine.
Also on the mezzanine: new works by Nico Amortegui, Mary Erickson and William A. Noguera.
Joanna Gollberg, Lauren Markley, Caroline Rust, Alfred Ward
Itinerary of Events
Demystifying designer jewelry with Joanna Gollberg & Lauren Markley
Saturday, November 16, 2019 11a – 12:30p
RSVP to ashley@eldergalleryclt.com.
Coffee, conversation and creativity with Caroline Rust & Alfred Ward
Saturday, December 14, 2019 11a – 12:30p
Exhibition Artists
Joanna Gollberg is a nationally celebrated jewelry designer, well-known author and noted jewelry making instructor. Gollberg earned her degree in jewelry design from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, has written four books on making handcrafted jewelry–Making Metal Jewelry, Creative Metal Crafts, The Art & Craft of Making Jewelry, and creates regularly through Joanna Gollberg Jewelry. Her jewelry has been published in Art Jewelry Magazine, Lapidary Journal, Ornament Magazine, 1000 Rings, 500 Wedding Rings, 500 Enameled Objects, and 21st Century Jewelry, among many other titles.
Lauren Markley combines traditional metalsmithing skills with alternative techniques such as stitching through metal. Her work explores themes of architecture and history through a visual vocabulary that includes structural shapes and textures evocative of unfinished states and states of decay. Markley's work is fabricated primarily of sterling silver, brass, and reclaimed wood. She often uses textiles, paint, patinas, and gold leaf to create focal points. Markley studied metalsmithing at Studio Jewelers LTD in New York and has taken courses at Penland School of Crafts, Pullen Arts Center, and Pocosin Arts.
Caroline Rust explores aspects of the feminine, one's relationship to her body, and objects of femininity. Inspired by historic research, fashion, and sociology her work provides a means to develop dialogue regarding sense of self, identity, and physical appearance. Her works in this exhibition challenges assumptions of femininity and gender roles: she expressionistically paints imagery charged with color atop low relief surfaces of up-cycled garments and undergarments carefully selected from her wardrobe and vintage collections. The clothes are turned inside out revealing facets of the hidden-self and are used to explore personal and emotional aspects of fashion. Rust's work emerges as a fresh method to creating canvas and visually illuminating vulnerability.
Alfred Ward NDD, ATD, FTC ( London ) is an internationally known designer who studied silversmithing & jewelry at Canterbury College of Art and completed his graduate degree in Industrial Product Design and Ceramics at Birmingham University, College of Art. After teaching at the University of London he became Head of Silversmithing, Jewelry, and Allied Crafts at the Sir John Cass College of Art in London. Ward served as consultant designer for Spink & Sons in London (by appointment to Her Majesty the Queen ) where he designed and produced presentation pieces for Revlon of Paris, Harvey Nichols, Margo Fonteyn, and Royal family of the United Arab Emirates. Ward's work is included in several books including "Contemporary Silver ( Rabinovitch ) which illustrates his work that now held in the permanent collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum. In 1984 Ward became Director of the Appalachian Center for Crafts in Tennessee. During his tenure at Winthrop University Ward designed presentation pieces for Andie McDowell and brooch pins for the Ten First ladies of South Carolina.