Last weekend I again visited the colonies of Zeebrugge and Oostende, with still many Herring and LBBG's present at both locations. Nearly all c-rings seen were blue ones from Belgium, but I managed to find 2 foreign birds as well: an adult French LBBG, and a juvenile Dutch bird from Roland-Jan Buijs, my first one of the year in Belgium. Let's hope more of them are on their way!
LBBG blue 0G (RJ Buijs, ringed in Belgium), Zeebrugge.
LBBG black-yellow 0.L (RJ Buijs), my first juvenile bird of the year in Belgium., Oostende.
LBBG red 168K (P. Dubois), Zeebrugge.
LBBG blue KH.AF (E. Stienen), Zeebrugge.
LBBG blue KY.AU (E. Stienen), Zeebrugge.
LBBG blue L.SAF (E. Stienen), Zeebrugge.
Herring gull blue MK.AU (E. Stienen), Oostende.
LBBG blue NYA.F (E. Stienen), Zeebrugge. Only seen once before, by Antonio Gutierrez in Spain.
Herring gull blue P.KAT (E. Stienen), Oostende.
LBBG blue TS.AS (E. Stienen), Zeebrugge.
I plan to go back there later this month to read some more rings.
Mediterranean gull white 35E0 (C. Duponcheel & R. Flamant), ringed in Belgium.
Mediterranean gull green R11S (C. Duponcheel & R. Flamant), ringed in France.
Herring gull orange R4BT. (NTGG), ringed last November in Essex, England.
Herring gull blue YBA.S (E. Stienen), ringed in Zeebrugge last summer.
Herring gull blue YSA.G (E. Stienen).
Herring gull blue YV.AU (E. Stienen), another Belgian bird!


It wouldn't be a long flight and I hoped that the aisle seat next to me would stay empty, but no such luck, a young woman took it. I checked her over as she lifted her bag up to the overhead locker, you can't help it. I mean, I may be a priest but I still have the full set of human instincts. Although these days, thank God, age has blunted some of them, made them easier to handle. She nodded to me as she took her seat, she was very attractive, which was nice, wearing a black business suit, short jacket, knee-length skirt. I decided to include her in my prayers, always my policy when I see a good looking woman, I pray that their beauty doesn't lead them into sin. I'd talked about this with my confessor, Father George, years ago at the seminary near Dublin. It had been his idea, if the truth be told, and it seemed to work for me.
Report? It was the first time I'd heard praying referred to as that, and I was in the business, so to speak. Perhaps it was some new vernacular I'd not heard of. I couldn't place her accent. She might be English but perhaps it wasn't her mother tongue, and she'd learned the language with an English accent, rather than the more usual American.
The flight attendant brought drinks, he told us we'd be landing at Santiago in about an hour. "We'll be down before that," muttered my companion. She stared into her gin and tonic for a moment, then looked up and offered me her hand.
'Original name,' did she mean her maiden name? She smiled brightly and asked me why I was flying to Santiago. I told her I was visiting my sister who lived in Valparaiso. We chatted about this and that, I told her the story of my sister's whirlwind romance with her Chilean boyfriend, after they met on a blind date. It was twenty years ago, when they were both working in London, but women love that sort of thing. I asked her what she did for a living.
"I'm an air crash investigator," she said.
'Original' again, I was puzzled, but years of listening to confessions had taught me to let people talk and things would usually become clear in the end.
"So, do you investigate all sorts of air crashes or do you specialise, light aircraft, helicopters?" I was just making conversation, she had amber coloured eyes, unusual, quite captivating.
"No, but there'll be one soon," she said.
"Really, so you know which planes are going to crash beforehand?" I chuckled, as I raised my glass to my lips.
"On this occasion, yes, because it'll be this one." The plane bumped at just that moment, it took me by surprise, but it was nothing. I mopped at my spilt drink with a tissue. "I've found that some of the navigation systems are wrongly calibrated, and there is an unusual wind shear in the Jetstream." She stared at me intently. "The pilots think they're travelling faster than they are. Then there's the fog over the mountains that we need to cross. It all adds up, it's always a combination of factors that lead to an accident." She nodded sagely and appeared to relax. "The pilots will try to land too early and fly into a mountain. The plane will disappear, so I conjecture it will be covered in ice and snow. Difficult terrain, impossible to find, unusually the flight recorder will be destroyed." She sat back and looked at me. "What a shame there isn't room for us to fool around. I'd like to have tried it once." There was a wistfulness in her voice.
I hoped she was joking, she could see the dog collar, although it isn't always as big a safeguard as you might think. Just for a moment an inappropriate picture of the two of us came into my mind. I really would have to include her in my prayers as soon as possible.
I took a slow sip of my single malt. "How could you possibly know all this before it's actually happened?" I was beginning to feel uncomfortable, sitting next to her. We hadn't been given an inflight meal so thankfully there was no plastic cutlery around. I'd seen a man killed with a sharpened tooth brush when I worked as a prison chaplain.
"A synthetic? You mean you were grown in a tank? Like in the movies?" I laughed quietly, but she didn't. I looked around to see if there were any flight attendants nearby in case I needed help. Unfortunately, they were all busy towards the back of the plane. There seemed to be some sort of medical emergency. An overweight male passenger lay in the aisle, people were kneeling by him. I could go down there and offer to give him extreme unction, it might be safer.
I wondered if she was making this up as she went along or was she suffering a long-term delusion. She didn't seem delusional.
She was so attractive, perhaps she was an entertainer of some sort, could this be a spoof laid on by my 'friends' at the seminary? I looked around but couldn't see anyone using their smartphone to film us. I tried a different tack.
"You'd be right, under normal circumstances, father, but as we have such a short time left and there will be no survivors…." She left the rest unsaid.
"No survivors? How do you feel about that?" I was remembering one of the many counselling courses I'd taken over the years.
I put my arm around her. "There, there, my child, don't upset yourself. Now tell me, is there any medication that you're supposed to be taking. Let's just have a little look in your purse, here." The lighting dimmed as we started losing height and slid into the cloud bank covering the Andes.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the Captain has illuminated the seat belt signs as we are beginning our descent into Santiago International airport. Please ensure that your seat back and folding trays are in the upright position," said the recorded voice.
I couldn't find any medication so I comforted the 'crash dummy' and wondered idly if a 'synthetic person' could have a soul. It would make for an interesting discussion with my students next semester.


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    <title>Brenden Brusberg - Eagle Scout Project</title>
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					Here I will be posting a breif overview of my Eagle Scout project, pictures, and my work book. This project started back in January where
					I reached out to the town to find a project. I met with the Historical Society in town where they had just restored the orignal town hall cuopola. Our first step was to move over 2,500 brick pavers from a donors driveway to the Historical society. Then we had to excavate a path, build a foundation, level gravel and QP with a biomembrane layer and lay brick cemented in with sand. I will go into greater depth when I get the chance to edit this and will add a lot more photos.

Removeing Brick

Transporting Brick

Excavating

Finishing Brick Laying

Dedication

Final Project

No copyRight :D, Updated 2016

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Home Plans by State Frames Contact Us News House of Conyers Button, Chestnut Hill, PA, 1929. Original Plan. McGoodwin. Your cart (0)
Home > Products > House of Conyers Button, Chestnut Hill, PA, 1929. Original Plan. McGoodwin.
House of Conyers Button, Chestnut Hill, PA, 1929. Original Plan. McGoodwin.
A Beautifully Detailed, Original Plan of the House of Conyers Button, Chestnut Hill, Pennsylvania. HAND-COLORED. Rober R. McGoodwin, Architect(s). From the American Architect and Building News, April 20, 1929.
This picture is extremely hard to find, as the American Architect and Building News not only had a very small circulation during that time, but very few were actually preserved or colored as this has been. It measures 10.5 by 7.5 inches. Has a mat border and foam core backing (not attached to the picture). The whole plan measures approximately 12 by 15 inches (with mat border). Finely detailed and beautifully hand-colored. Shrink wrapped.
House of William C. Weston, Birmingham, AL, 1909, William C. Weston
Alternate View of the House of John L. Kaul, Birmingham, AL, 1909, William C. Weston
House of D. M. Smyth, Pasadena, CA, 1899, Locke and Munsell
House of P. C. Baker, Pasadena, CA, 1899, F. L. Roerig

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Andrew Wigmore
February 21, 2018 5 minute read
Six key features for map-enabled dashboards in SAP Lumira Discovery & Designer
In the early days of business intelligence tools, it was impossible for users to harness the full benefits of mapping and geospatial analysis. Although mapping vendors made strides in both powerful analysis and ease of use, the best mapping tools were not accessible to business intelligence users because they were not deeply integrated into business tools such as SAP Lumira. All that has now changed with the release of game-changing tools that provide both advanced geographic visualization and geospatial analytics. They integrate deeply into the dashboard and design tools of SAP Lumira Discovery and Designer to provide easy-to-use mapping exactly where the users need it. This allows them to reap the benefits of both dashboard and geographic visualization tools and achieve real business value.
Why Geography?
If you've been paying attention to demonstration dashboards for the past 10 years, you'll notice that map visualizations have been a mainstay of the typical dashboard. However, in many cases, the maps are simple with low data volume and simplistic or non-existent analytical capabilities. The maps are simply eye-candy that provide limited or no analytical benefits compared to grids or graphs.
However, geographic visualizations can provide users with many more capabilities beyond eye-candy in a typical dashboard. Interactive maps can give end users the ability to not only see their data in a new way but also make critically important business decisions based upon geographic patterns that can only be observed on a map. With a fully-integrated mapping solution the user now has access to powerful analysis that SAP Lumira by itself is unable to provide. These newly empowered dashboards can provide new and valuable capabilities in a way that all users can benefit.
To take mapping beyond simple visualization requires six key features from a mapping platform:
Handle large datasets
Represent data that is familiar to users
Advanced geospatial analysis
User interfaces and workflows optimized for real-world use cases
Deep integration into SAP Lumira Discovery and Designer
An easy to deploy architecture
What's so key about these six features?
Handling large datasets is fundamental to the geospatial process. Many datasets used in geographic visualization will have many thousands of rows or need to be compared to an external dataset that could be even larger – often more than 100,000 rows. Do you want to know the income profile of your typical customer? This will require a mapping system that can join your data to highly detailed demographic data such as a block group polygon layer. The most valuable of these layers contain tens of thousands of polygon areas at a minimum.
Representing data that is familiar to users such as their own custom regions or territories is key to map adoption. Almost all businesses will have geographic entities that aren't directly available as a standard geographic dataset. While standard geographic datasets include countries, counties, postal codes etc., businesses often use custom geographies as sales districts, territories, office delivery areas or distribution zones. It is vital that users are able to see these 'custom regions' directly on their own maps to enable the user to truly understand their business data. From an administrator's perspective it is important that these custom regions are easy to create and maintain in the future as the boundaries are subject to change based on the business needs.
Advanced geospatial analysis gives the user powerful analytic tools to analyze the dataset in the geographic domain. Finding customers located near a store and their average travel distance to that store, identifying insurance risks based on the location of a tornado track, processing delivery route optimizations. All these analysis tasks require an architecture that can deliver both high-quality and high-speed spatial functionality. Some of the tools that are essential for such analysis include sophisticated selection types such as radius, polygon, polyline with buffering and inversion capability. Also, selection features such as spatial aggregation and on-the-fly statistics can provide valuable information such as distance, times, and directions.
One standard type of geographical analysis can compare the business layer data with another geographic layer visually on a map. This allows the user to quickly identify spatial trends and correlations between the datasets.
For example, a pizza delivery restaurant may use their existing business data to show a map of their customer locations. By adding a demographic layer of average age, they can quickly use correlations between their successful customer areas and untapped areas that meet their ideal age profile. Another layer of delivery drive time polygons, such as a region up to 20-minute drive time from the restaurant, can ensure that these areas can be successfully reached or if new locations would benefit the business.
User interfaces and workflows optimized for real-world use cases provide users the ability to intuitively use large-scale datasets and analytical tools without the need for training or geospatial skills. This is core to the effective web-based and mobile-based mapping solutions, and without this, few users will benefit from the powerful underlying technology. The workflows should mirror standard business practices to make it as easy as possible for users to understand. In a dashboard environment like SAP Lumira, the interactivity of the map should be an integrated component of the overall dashboard to provide a seamless decision-making experience.
Deep integrations into SAP Lumira Discovery and Designer dashboards allow a production-quality overall delivery package. No matter how informative or advanced the map is by itself, users need additional dashboard elements to provide a complete decision-making system. In concert with other dashboard components, maps provide an optimal tool for empowering users to make informed business decisions.
An easy-to-deploy architecture is the final core element necessary for successful geographic mapping in SAP Lumira. The architecture must be flexible to follow current delivery architectures such as on-premise and cloud-based systems. It must be easy to administer and scale from a single user pilot to a full enterprise deployment. Of course, a scalable architecture also requires a secure architecture, so look for solutions that can be easily deployed completely in-house without the need for sending data to off-site servers. This is an important consideration in ensuring the security of your valuable business data.
Taking things further
If these ideas have sparked your interest in how to take your dashboard-based geospatial analysis further, consider going beyond the simple mapping offered in the out-of-the-box products. The need for scalability, functionality, data security, and true analysis will lead you to more advanced geospatial offerings found on the SAP App Center. There you will find several options to consider such as Visual Crossing and other SAP certified mapping extensions. These extensions represent a real change in the dashboard value proposition over what was available just a few years ago. As you see from the features described above, when you include sophisticated geospatial analysis in your dashboards, your users will have powerful new tools to make better, more informed decisions. They will see patterns and trends not accessible through regular dashboard tools and be able to explore into valuable new dimensions to make your efforts more effective and profitable.
Nicholas Sinclair
The custom regions function, is that available now in Lumira Discovery 2.1 SP1?
Blog Post Author
Yes, the functionality is available for Lumira Discovery 2.1 SP1 (and prior releases including Lumira 1.3). You can give it a try at https://www.sapappcenter.com/apps/9233


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AMBASSADOR SPOTLIGHT: Reese Williamson | Sudbury, Ontario
Meet Reese!
Tell us about yourself!
Hi, my name is Reese Williamson and I am 11 years old. I will be turning 12 in July. I am from Sudbury, Ontario. Right now, I am practicing hockey at home most days, as well as going to school online.
I started skating when I was two years old. After doing can skate when I was three and quickly making my way through the levels, I started playing hockey when I was four. I played with boys for the first three years of hockey.
When I was six, my dad took me to watch a Sudbury Lady Wolves game and I knew that was where I wanted to play. I wanted to be a Lady Wolf. At seven, I tried out and made the Novice team as a minor player. For the past five seasons I have continued to play for the Sudbury Lady Wolves and I love every minute of wearing that Jersey.
What made you want to be a WHL Brand Ambassador?
The chance to be able to represent girls hockey everywhere is pretty cool. When my dad showed me Women's Hockey Life and all the different stories they do and how they're helping girls in hockey, it made me wonder how I can help too. I also think the ability to do this will give me the confidence to show that I have what it takes.
What are you most looking forward to as a #WHLAMBASSADOR?
I think one thing I really look forward to is getting to know other girls from around the world that love hockey as much as I do. I also look forward to learning from all the coaches and older players that are involved. I think this will be really fun that will help me become a better player and allow me to help players that are younger than me when they have questions or need help.
What's something not a lot of people know about you?
I love all sports, but I don't think that would be surprising.
• When I'm skating and concentrating, I sometimes grind my teeth. I used to chew through my mouth guards.
• I was really strong at gymnastics and was chosen to join a competitive team but when given the choice between competitive hockey and gymnastics, it had to be hockey!
• I love home renovation shows. HGTV is my favourite channel.
• I love cooking dinner for my family.
• I am very superstitious for hockey and other sports that I play.
If you could sit down and have dinner with one female hockey player, who would it be and why?
I think it would have to be Rebecca Johnston. She was also a Sudbury Lady Wolves player and grew up in Sudbury. I have met her a couple times and she is super nice. It's great to have someone to look up to who played where I did. It shows that I can be as successful as she is. I think having dinner with her would be so fun, but I'd probably ask too many questions.
What's the best advice you've ever been given in hockey or in life?
In life and in hockey, I was always taught to never give up. Defeat is not an option.
What's your dream for women's hockey?
I would like to see women's hockey viewed on the same level as men's hockey. Just because we are a different gender, or have long hair, doesn't mean we are weak, or we can't do it. Living in Sudbury, we always have to play against the boys in our league games. We have won just as many games as we've lost and that shows that we are equal. I hope that we can all work together to continue to prove we are just as strong. I want to be a hockey player, not a girls hockey player.
WANT TO JOIN OUR #WHLAMBASSADOR TEAM?
GET MORE DETAILS AND APPLY HERE!
https://WomensHockeyLife.com
Women's Hockey Life (WHL) focuses on highlighting, promoting and supporting women's hockey around the world at every level. From youth and university hockey, to the pros and the beer league heroes—we cover it all.
PWHPA Spotlight: Rebecca Leslie
Cherie Piper makes TSN's All-Time Team Canada


The UTB 300 is an automatic conveyor belt, which was developed using the latest technical and hygienic standards.
The Bandgeschwinigkeit is regulated stuffenlos means of a potentiometer.
The height and the inclination of the conveyor belt can be easily adapted to the prevailing conditions.
On request other lengths are available.


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Benefits of Renin-Angiotensin Blockade on Retinopathy in Type 1 Diabetes Vary With Glycemic Control
Tasma Harindhanavudhi, MD1⇓,
Michael Mauer, MD1,2,
Ronald Klein, MD, MPH3,
Bernard Zinman, MD4,
Alan Sinaiko, MD2,
M. Luiza Caramori, MD, PHD1,2 and
for the Renin Angiotensin System Study (RASS) group
1Department of Medicine, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota
2Department of Pediatrics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota
3Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin
4Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
Corresponding author: Tasma Harindhanavudhi, hari0049{at}umn.edu.
Diabetes Care 2011 Aug; 34(8): 1838-1842. https://doi.org/10.2337/dc11-0476
Suppl Material
OBJECTIVE Optimal glycemic control slows diabetic retinopathy (DR) development and progression and is the standard of care for type 1 diabetes. However, these glycemic goals are difficult to achieve and sustain in clinical practice. The Renin Angiotensin System Study (RASS) showed that renin-angiotensin system (RAS) blockade can slow DR progression. In the current study, we evaluate whether glycemic control influenced the benefit of RAS blockade on DR progression in type 1 diabetic patients.
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We used RASS data to analyze the relationships between two-steps or more DR progression and baseline glycemic levels in 223 normotensive, normoalbuminuric type 1 diabetic patients randomized to receive 5 years of enalapril or losartan compared with placebo.
RESULTS A total of 147 of 223 patients (65.9%) had DR at baseline (47 of 74 patients [63.5%] in placebo and 100 of 149 patients [67.1%] in the combined treatment groups [P = 0.67]). Patients with two-steps or more DR progression had higher baseline A1C than those without progression (9.4 vs. 8.2%, P < 0.001). There was no beneficial effect of RAS blockade (P = 0.92) in patients with baseline A1C ≤7.5%. In contrast, 30 of 112 (27%) patients on the active treatment arms with A1C >7.5% had two-steps or more DR progression compared with 26 of 56 patients (46%) in the placebo group (P = 0.03).
CONCLUSIONS RAS blockade reduces DR progression in normotensive, normoalbuminuric type 1 diabetic patients with A1C >7.5%. Whether this therapy could benefit patients with A1C ≤7.5% will require long-term studies of much larger cohorts.
Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is the most common microvascular complication of diabetes and remains the leading cause of new blindness among adults aged 20–74 years in the U.S. (1). The estimated prevalence of DR and vision-threatening DR among Americans with diabetes who are 40 years or older are 28.5 and 4.4%, respectively (2). Consequent to the ongoing increase in diabetes prevalence, the total number of people older than 40 years with DR is projected to be 16 million by year 2050 (3). The Diabetes Control and Complications Trial/Epidemiology of Diabetes Interventions and Complications (DCCT/EDIC) and the UK Prospective Diabetes Study (UKPDS) clearly demonstrated the benefit of intensive glycemic control in reducing the incidence and progression of DR in both type 1 and type 2 diabetes (4,5). As a consequence of these studies, guidelines to maintain glycated hemoglobin A1C (A1C) <7.0% are now accepted as a standard of care in diabetes (6). However, achieving and sustaining A1C at these levels remains problematic (7). Thus additional treatment approaches to DR prevention may be helpful.
Tight blood pressure control per se has been shown to reduce progression of retinopathy in hypertensive diabetic patients (8,9). Previous studies have also suggested beneficial effects of ACE inhibitors (ACEI) on progression of DR in both normotensive and hypertensive type 1 diabetic patients (10–12). Recently, the Renin Angiotensin System Study (RASS) (13) documented a beneficial role of renin-angiotensin system (RAS) blockade on DR progression but did not slow nephropathy progression in normotensive normoalbuminuric type 1 diabetic patients. The Diabetic Retinopathy Candesartan Trial (DIRECT-Prevent 1) (14) also reported a reduction in the incidence of DR in type 1 diabetic patients that just failed to achieve statistical significance (P = 0.0508).
Herein we evaluated the role of glycemic control on the treatment benefit of RAS blockade on DR progression in the RASS.
Participants and study design
Patients were enrolled in RASS (ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT00143949), a multicenter randomized, double-blinded, double dummy, placebo-controlled clinical trial comparing the effects of an ACEI, enalapril, and an angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB), losartan, with placebo on the rates of progression of diabetic nephropathy and retinopathy lesions in normotensive, normoalbuminuric type 1 diabetic patients over 5 years. RASS was conducted at the University of Minnesota (Minneapolis, MN), University of Toronto (Toronto, Canada), and McGill University (Montreal, Canada). The primary end point of RASS was a change in the fraction of glomerular volume occupied by mesangium (the mesangial fractional volume). Secondary renal end points included changes in other glomerular, vascular, tubular, and interstitial variables and changes in albumin excretion rate (AER) and glomerular filtration rate (GFR). The retinal primary end point of two-steps or more DR progression was added shortly after RASS began. The study design and protocol (15), as well as the results of the primary endpoint analyses (13), have been detailed elsewhere. In brief, RASS screened 1,065 type 1 diabetic patients; 707 declined participation and 73 were ineligible. Thus, 285 patients were randomly assigned to one of the three study groups with the use of computer-generated blocks of six, stratified according to center and sex, into the following groups: 10 mg daily enalapril, 50 mg daily losartan, or placebo daily (Supplementary Fig. A1). The original doses were doubled during the study as previously detailed (13) because of the new evidence of greater reduction in proteinuria with higher doses of these agents (16). The study patients were ≥16 years old with 2–20 years' duration of type 1 diabetes and onset before age 45. At baseline, fulfilling the RASS entry criteria, all were normotensive (blood pressure <135/85 mmHg), normoalbuminuric (AER <20 μg/min on at least two out of three timed consecutive overnight urine collections), and had normal or increased GFR (≥90 mL/min/1.73 m2).
Retinal examination
Patients were eligible for this DR study if they had retinal exams performed both at baseline (within 1 year of randomization) and after 5 years in the trial. Patients with baseline proliferative DR (N = 4) or whose baseline fundus photographs were obtained more than 1 year after randomization (N = 28) were excluded from these analyses (Supplementary Fig. A1). Retinal fundus photographs were taken by trained photographers for seven standard fields, according to the Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) protocol (17), and graded in a masked fashion at the University of Wisconsin Ocular Epidemiology Reading Center using the modified Airlie House classification and the ETDRS retinopathy severity scale (Supplementary Table A1) (18–20). The maximal grade in any of the standard fields for each eye was used to classify retinopathy severity. If one eye was not gradable, it was assigned the score of the other eye. A concatenated scale for both eyes, with 60–85 collapsed to 60+, have severity scores from 10/10, 21/<21, 21/21, 31/<31, 31/31, 37/<37, 37/37, 43/<43, 43/43, 47/<47, 47/47, 53/<53, 53/53, 60+/<60+, and 60+/60+, creating 15 levels in which a person could be classified. The study end point was two-steps or more DR progression in this concatenated 15-level severity scale, which was previously shown to be clinically meaningful in predicting more severe DR lesions (21).
Other variable measurement
Blood pressure, AER, and A1C were measured before and quarterly after randomization as previously detailed (15). GFR was measured annually by plasma iohexol disappearance (22–24). The study was approved by the institutional review board at each center, and written informed consent or assent as appropriate, was obtained from all participants.
Statistical analyses were conducted using SPSS version 18.0 and SAS version 9.1. Baseline characteristics of the study cohort were compared using unpaired t test for quantitative variables and the χ2 test for categorical variables. Logistic regression analysis was used to estimate the odds ratio of two-steps or more of DR progression. Because the beneficial effects of enalapril and losartan on the progression of DR in RASS were nearly identical (13), odds ratios were estimated in combination for these treatment groups, relative to the placebo group, and were adjusted for mean blood pressure during the study, baseline characteristics, center, and baseline grade of DR according to the 15-level severity scale.
There were no statistically significant differences in baseline characteristics between the 223 (78%) of the 285 randomized patients who had both baseline and 5-year gradable fundus photographs and the 62 patients (22%) without these data (Table 1). A total of 147 patients (65.9%) had DR at baseline (13). The large majority of the cohort had absent or mild nonproliferative DR, whereas only 9% had moderate to severe nonproliferative DR; DR severity at baseline was not different between the placebo and treatment groups (Table 2).
Baseline characteristics of the study cohort according to fundus photography status
Baseline retinopathy status according to treatment group
Sixty-two patients (27.8%) had at least two-steps DR progression, and, as reported, RAS blockade significantly reduced this incidence by 65% for enalapril and 70% for losartan (13). There was no statistically significant difference in A1C at baseline between patients randomized to placebo and treatment groups (8.3 vs. 8.7%, P = 0.079), nor were there differences in other baseline characteristics (data not shown). Patients with at least two-steps DR progression had higher A1C at baseline than nonprogressors (P < 0.001; Table 3). A1C (P < 0.000001) and RAS blockade (P = 0.003) were independent predictors of progression. When patients were stratified according to baseline A1C, the overall incidence of at least two-steps DR progression appeared to be increasing with worsening of glycemic control (Fig. 1). There was no detectable effect of RAS blockade on at least two-steps DR progression in patients with baseline A1C ≤7.5% (P = 0.92). In contrast, among patients with A1C greater than 7.5%, 27% on RAS blockade had at least two-steps DR progression versus 46% in the placebo group (P = 0.03), this representing a 60% reduction (Table 4). These results were not altered by adjustment for the mean of all blood pressure measurements obtained during the 5-year study. Results were similar when average A1C during 5 years, instead of baseline A1C, was used (data not shown).
Baseline clinical characteristics according to retinopathy progression
Incidence of at least two-steps progression of DR in the combined treatment group vs. placebo group, according to A1C categories at baseline.
Effect of enalapril and losartan on DR progression according to A1C levels
Although RASS found no beneficial effects of early RAS blockade on diabetic nephropathy-related structural or functional end points, there was an approximately two-thirds reduction in two-steps or more DR progression in normoalbuminuric, normotensive type 1 diabetic patients receiving either an ACEI (enalapril) or an ARB (losartan), and this was independent of blood pressure levels during the trial (13). These analyses have now been extended to demonstrate that the detectable beneficial effects of these drugs on DR are largely dependent on glycemic control. When compared with placebo, enalapril and losartan reduced at least two-steps DR progression only in the subset of patients whose baseline A1C was greater than 7.5%. This protective effect might be specially pronounced in patients with worse glycemic control.
There is little question that improving glycemic control has a major beneficial effect on DR progression and development (4,5), and glycemia was an independent predictor of DR progression in the current study. However, in type 1 diabetes, as reported by the DCCT, maintaining an A1C less than 7% required a major effort from a dedicated research staff and highly motivated volunteer participants. After an average of 6.5 years of intensive glycemic control in the DCCT, when patients returned to their usual care as reported in the EDIC component of the study, the long-term follow-up of the DCCT cohort, the A1C approached 8%, whereas in the former DCCT conventional therapy group A1C decreased from ∼9 to 8% with the initiation of intensive insulin therapy (7). This illustrates the challenges of implementing and maintaining the recommended glycemic targets in patients with type 1 diabetes despite the development of newer types of insulin, insulin pumps, and better glucose monitoring systems. Thus, development of alternative strategies to prevent progression of DR remains relevant. The current study demonstrated that reduction in the incidence of at least two-steps DR progression with RAS blockade was greater in patients with poorer glycemic control. The risk of at least two-steps DR progression could be reduced by 60% by RAS blockade in patients whose baseline A1C was >7.5%, and this effect is independent of achieved blood pressure during the 5 years of the study and remained true if average A1C during the 5 years of the study, rather than baseline A1C, was used for the analyses.
Although our results, demonstrating protective effects of RAS blockade in patients with worse glycemic control (A1C >7.5%), appear to contrast with those previously reported in the EURODIAB controlled trial of lisinopril in insulin-dependent diabetes (EUCLID) study (12), where the patients with better glycemic control (A1C < 7%) benefited most from ACEI treatment, the two studies are not fully comparable. Patients in EUCLID were followed for a shorter time period compared with RASS (2 vs. 5 years). Moreover, in EUCLID, A1C levels at baseline and throughout the study were significantly lower in the ACEI than in the placebo group, making it difficult to evaluate any association between A1C and ACEI therapy. In fact, adjusted for baseline A1C, there was no beneficial effect of ACEI therapy in the progression of retinopathy in the EUCLID study.
RASS results (13) were consistent with those of ∼5 years DIRECT-Prevent 1 (14) where there was a strong trend (P = 0.0508) for a reduction in the primary end point, time to two-steps or more DR progression, in type 1 diabetic patients with no DR at baseline who were randomized to candesartan. There was a preventative effect of this ARB on the secondary end point, time to three-steps or more DR progression, which remained significant after adjustment for baseline A1C; however, DIRECT-Protect 1 found no protective effect of ARB on three-steps or more DR progression in patients with DR at baseline (14). The smaller numbers of patients in RASS preclude such subanalyses.
Although enalapril and losartan showed equal benefits in slowing DR progression, the normotensive, normoalbuminuric type 1 diabetic patients randomized to losartan had a higher incidence of microalbuminuria than those in the ACEI or placebo groups (13). This may be a drug-specific effect, since no differences in the rates of microalbuminuria onset between the candesartan and the placebo groups were found in the DIRECT study (25). RASS also found greater progression in some renal structural variables in losartan- versus enalapril-treated patients (13). These observations may inform the selection of RAS blocking agents to be used for DR prevention in normoalbuminuric normotensive type 1 diabetic patients.
One limitation of this study is that the rate of two-steps or more DR progression is relatively low in patients with A1C less than 7% and that RASS was underpowered to detect an effect of RAS blockade in these patients. Thus, although RASS cannot address the issue of whether there is an A1C threshold in relation to DR, it does support the addition of RAS blockade in patients whose A1C may be difficult to maintain below 7.5%.
In summary, RASS demonstrated a protective effect of renin-angiotensin blockade on the progression of DR only in the normotensive normoalbuminuric type 1 diabetic patients whose baseline A1C was greater than 7.5%. This finding may inform clinical decisions on an appropriate therapeutic approach to slowing the progression of DR.
This study was funded by research grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (grant DK-51975), Merck (U.S.), Merck Frosst (Canada), and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR; grant DCT 14281). RASS was also supported in part by a grant from the National Center for Research Resources of the NIH, to the University of Minnesota General Clinical Research Center (GCRC) (M01-RR-00400). M.L.C. is a current recipient of a Career Development Award from the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF).
M.M. reports receiving research grants from Merck and Genzyme and consulting fees from Genzyme, sanofi-aventis, and Boehringer Ingelheim. B.Z. has received research grants and consulting fees from Merck. R.K. reports being a consultant for AstraZeneca, Novartis, Takeda, GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer, and Lilly. No other potential conflicts of interest relevant to this article were reported.
T.H. wrote the first draft of the manuscript and performed the statistical analyses. M.M. contributed to the first draft of the manuscript and revised and reviewed the final manuscript. R.K., B.Z., and A.S. revised and reviewed the final manuscript. M.L.C. contributed to the first draft of the manuscript, revised and reviewed the final manuscript, and performed the statistical analyses. All authors contributed to data review, interpretation, and the writing process. All authors reviewed and approved the report.
RASS co-investigators, in addition to the authors of this study, included Dr. Robert Gardiner and Dr. Keith Drummond, who directed the Montreal center; Dr. Sandra Donnelly (Toronto Center) and Dr. Paul Goodyer (Montreal Center), who were the center nephrologists; Dr. Samy Suissa, who was the data center director; Trudy Strand, RN (Minneapolis Center), the lead study coordinator; and Dr. Marie Claire Gubler, Paris Light Microscopy Center.
The authors thank the dedicated staff of the RASS trial in Minneapolis: J. Basgen (morphometry laboratory supervisor), J. Bucksa (central biochemistry laboratory manager), B. Chavers (central albumin laboratory director), M. Cohen and P. Stanaitis (fundus photographers), K. Johnson (pharmacist), S. Kupcho (central albumin laboratory supervisor), B. Lohr (pharmacy clinical specialist), D. Luke (pharmacy coordinator), M. Nowicki (central laboratory lead technician), K. Sawyer (central albumin laboratory junior scientist), S. Sisson-Ross (light-microscopy morphometrist), J. Stein (assistant project manager), and the GCRC staff; in Montreal: B. Maruca (trial coordinator), G. Carro-Ciampi (pharmacy coordinator), L. Marcon (fundus photographer), A. Roy (research nurse), and the GCRC staff; in Toronto: A. Barnie (trial coordinator), A. Roode and E. Vivero (research nurses), and Drs. Hertzel Gerstein and Ronnie Aronson (physicians); the Madison Ocular Epidemiology Reading Center staff: S. Meuer (grader), T. Jan (coordinator), and S. Moss (biostatistician); and the Montreal Data Center staff: D. Gaudreau (administrative assistant), V. Lucas (data entry technician), C. Delaney, S. Vahey, and S. Dell'Aniello (statisticians), and Dr. Michael Kramer (advisor); and especially the patients who volunteered for these demanding studies. The authors also thank Dr. Samy Suissa for his help with the statistical analyses in this study.
Parts of this work were presented in abstract form at the 71st Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association, 24–28 June 2011, San Diego, California.
Clinical trial reg. no. NCT00143949, clinicaltrials.gov.
This article contains Supplementary Data online at http://care.diabetesjournals.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10.2337/dc11-0476/-/DC1.
© 2011 by the American Diabetes Association.
Readers may use this article as long as the work is properly cited, the use is educational and not for profit, and the work is not altered. See http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ for details.
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Aiello L,
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. Prevalence of diabetic retinopathy in the United States, 2005-2008. JAMA 2010;304:649–656pmid:20699456
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Boyle JP
. Projection of diabetic retinopathy and other major eye diseases among people with diabetes mellitus: United States, 2005-2050. Arch Ophthalmol 2008;126:1740–1747pmid:19064858
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The Diabetes Control and Complications Trial Research Group. The effect of intensive treatment of diabetes on the development and progression of long-term complications in insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. N Engl J Med 1993;329:977–986pmid:8366922
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; Diabetes Control and Complications Trial/Epidemiology of Diabetes Interventions and Complications (DCCT/EDIC) Research Group. Modern-day clinical course of type 1 diabetes mellitus after 30 years' duration: the diabetes control and complications trial/epidemiology of diabetes interventions and complications and Pittsburgh epidemiology of diabetes complications experience (1983-2005). Arch Intern Med 2009;169:1307–1316pmid:19636033
Matthews DR,
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; UK Prospective Diabetes Study Group. Risks of progression of retinopathy and vision loss related to tight blood pressure control in type 2 diabetes mellitus: UKPDS 69. Arch Ophthalmol 2004;122:1631–1640pmid:15534123
Schrier RW,
Estacio RO,
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. Effects of aggressive blood pressure control in normotensive type 2 diabetic patients on albuminuria, retinopathy and strokes. Kidney Int 2002;61:1086–1097pmid:11849464
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Chase HP
. Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor therapy and diabetic retinopathy. Ann Ophthalmol 1992;24:99–103pmid:1570931
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. Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor treatment for young normotensive diabetic subjects: a two-year trial. Ann Ophthalmol 1993;25:284–289pmid:8239321
Chaturvedi N,
Sjolie AK,
Stephenson JM,
. Effect of lisinopril on progression of retinopathy in normotensive people with type 1 diabetes. The EUCLID Study Group. EURODIAB Controlled Trial of Lisinopril in Insulin-Dependent Diabetes Mellitus. Lancet 1998;351:28–31pmid:9433426
Mauer M,
Gardiner R,
. Renal and retinal effects of enalapril and losartan in type 1 diabetes. N Engl J Med 2009;361:40–51pmid:19571282
Porta M,
; DIRECT Programme Study Group. Effect of candesartan on prevention (DIRECT-Prevent 1) and progression (DIRECT-Protect 1) of retinopathy in type 1 diabetes: randomised, placebo-controlled trials. Lancet 2008;372:1394–1402pmid:18823656
. ACE-I and ARBs in early diabetic nephropathy. J Renin Angiotensin Aldosterone Syst 2002;3:262–269pmid:12584670
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Tarnow L,
Rossing P,
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. Renoprotective effects of angiotensin II receptor blockade in type 1 diabetic patients with diabetic nephropathy. Kidney Int 2000;57:601–606pmid:10652037
Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study Research Group. Grading diabetic retinopathy from stereoscopic color fundus photographs—an extension of the modified Airlie House classification. ETDRS report number 10. Ophthalmology 1991;98(Suppl.):786–806pmid:2062513
; Renin-Angiotensin System Study. The relationship of diabetic retinopathy to preclinical diabetic glomerulopathy lesions in type 1 diabetic patients: the Renin-Angiotensin System Study. Diabetes 2005;54:527–533pmid:15677511
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. Diabetic retinopathy. Assessment of severity and progression. Ophthalmology 1984;91:10–17pmid:6709313
Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study Research Group. Fundus photographic risk factors for progression of diabetic retinopathy. ETDRS report number 12. Ophthalmology 1991;98(Suppl.):823–833pmid:2062515
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. How many steps of progression of diabetic retinopathy are meaningful? The Wisconsin epidemiologic study of diabetic retinopathy. Arch Ophthalmol 2001;119:547–553pmid:11296020
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Giese J,
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. Renal inulin clearance versus total plasma clearance of 51Cr-EDTA. Scand J Clin Lab Invest 1969;23:301–305pmid:4986443
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. Application of newer clearance techniques for the determination of glomerular filtration rate. Curr Opin Nephrol Hypertens 1998;7:675–680pmid:9864664
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. Precision of plasma clearance of iohexol for estimation of GFR in patients with renal disease. J Am Soc Nephrol 1998;9:310–313pmid:9527409
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. Effect of candesartan on microalbumiuria and albumin excretion rate in diabetes: three randomized trials. Ann Intern Med 2009;151:11–20pmid:19451554
August 2011, 34(8)
You are going to email the following Benefits of Renin-Angiotensin Blockade on Retinopathy in Type 1 Diabetes Vary With Glycemic Control
Tasma Harindhanavudhi, Michael Mauer, Ronald Klein, Bernard Zinman, Alan Sinaiko, M. Luiza Caramori, for the Renin Angiotensin System Study (RASS) group
Diabetes Care Aug 2011, 34 (8) 1838-1842; DOI: 10.2337/dc11-0476
No Acute Effects of Exogenous Glucose-Dependent Insulinotropic Polypeptide on Energy Intake, Appetite, or Energy Expenditure When Added to Treatment With a Long-Acting Glucagon-Like Peptide 1 Receptor Agonist in Men With Type 2 Diabetes
Association of BMI, Fitness, and Mortality in Patients With Diabetes: Evaluating the Obesity Paradox in the Henry Ford Exercise Testing Project (FIT Project) Cohort
Excess BMI Accelerates Islet Autoimmunity in Older Children and Adolescents
Show more Original Research


text:
Q: Specific problems with the quadrupole formulation of gravitational radiation the quadrupole formula has some counterintuitive consequences, when analysing the power output averaged over a period
$$ P = \langle \frac{d^3 Q_{ij}}{dt^3} \frac{d^3 Q_{ij}}{dt^3} \rangle $$
Specifically, if two separated sources are considered inside the radiation zone, $\rho_1$ and $\rho_2$, and assume that each orbit around separate centers $C_1$ and $C_2$ by a length $R$, the quadrupole moment of the pair is going to be (around the common center $C_1 + \frac{R}{2} = C_2 - \frac{R}{2}$)
$$ \int ( \rho_1(x) + \rho_2(x) ) x^j x^k d^3x = \int \rho_1(x) (x_1 - \frac{R}{2})^j (x_1 - \frac{R}{2})^k d^3x + \int \rho_2(x) (x_2 + \frac{R}{2})^j (x_2 + \frac{R}{2})^k d^3x = \int \rho_1(x) x_1^j x_1^k d^3x - \frac{R^j}{2} \int \rho_1(x) x_1^k d^3x - \frac{R^k}{2} \int \rho_1(x) x_1^j d^3x
 + \int \rho_2(x) x_2^j x_2^k d^3x + \frac{R^j}{2} \int \rho_2(x) x_2^k d^3x + \frac{R^k}{2} \int \rho_2(x) x_2^j d^3x$$
$$ = \int \rho_1(x) x_1^j x_1^k d^3x + \int \rho_2(x) x_2^j x_2^k d^3x + \frac{R^j}{2}( \int \rho_2(x) x_2^k d^3x - \int \rho_1(x) x_1^k d^3x ) + \frac{R^k}{2}( \int \rho_2(x) x_2^j d^3x - \int \rho_1(x) x_1^j d^3x )$$
plus some other terms that are constant over time that are not needed
However, the terms $\frac{R^k}{2} \int \rho_c(x) x_c^j d^3x$ will have nonzero third time derivatives in general, so they will contribute to the overall power, even though they depend on an arbitrary choice of a center over which the quadrupole moments are calculated?
What is wrong with this expression, and how to obtain a power output from the quadrupolar moment that doesn't depend over what origin of coordinates is chosen for the calculation?

A: The remaining terms are all mass dipoles. If linear momentum is conserved on each center, then the mass dipoles will be constant:
$$\frac{d}{dt}\int \rho(x)x^k \, d^3 x = \int \rho(x) v^k d^3 x $$
which is the total linear momentum. If the system doesn't receive any linear momentum to first order, its second and third derivatives will be all zero.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


If you are trying to avoid using cooking oil because you're on a low fat diet, but don't want to lose the flavor that frying gives food, frying burgers in water ensures they stay moist. If you add seasoning to the water it will penetrate the meat, adding flavor. Poking a hole in the burgers during cooking also makes some of the fat in the meat run out into the water; all you have to do is drain well before serving. This method is also ideal if you're cooking the burgers from frozen.
Fill a frying pan or skillet halfway with water.
Add seasonings like salt and pepper, or any herbs and spices you like. You can also add a stock cube if you wish.
Place the pan over a high heat and bring to the boil.
Put burgers in the pan and cook till one side is brown. Flip over and cook the other side.
Poke a hole in each burger with a knife, turn the heat down to medium and cook for six to 10 minutes, until the juices run clear.
Be careful when dropping the burgers into the boiling hot water so that it doesn't splash and burn you. Lower them in gently and wear gloves if possible to protect your hands.
How Do I Cook an Outside Round Roast?


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Home / 2015 / November / 28 / Heat drop second consecutive road game to Griffins
Heat drop second consecutive road game to Griffins
By rach9791 on November 28, 2015
The Heat fail to claim second game on the road to host MacEwan the first place team in the Explorer Division, after (62-44) loss on Saturday night.
City Centre Campus, at MacEwan University, Edmonton, AB
UBC Okanagan (5-3)	14	8	8	14	44
MacEwan      (7-1)	16	19	11	16	62
Edmonton, AB- The UBC Okanagan women's basketball team dropped their second game (62-44) to host, MacEwan University.
The Heat finish the fall part of their Canada West schedule with a (5-3) record, giving them the third place in the Explorer Division.
The Heat's struggle from shooting the ball ultimately led to their 18 point loss against the Griffins. The Heat went (16-72) to give them a 22.2 percent from the field compared to the Griffins (21-65, 32.3 percent). The Heat's three point scoring also took a dip as they went (3-22) 13.6 % compared to the 32.3 percent (4-15) shooting from MacEwan. In the five UBCO wins they have shot 35.6% from the field and 30.9% from long distance, in their three losses the whole team has struggled hitting 25.4% and 20.6% respectively.
The Heat end the regular season before the the winter break with an amazing (5-3) record. This is the first season in their CIS campaign where the Kelowna squad go into the holiday break with a winning record.
After meeting Fraser Valley in the first weekend of the regular season the Heat were able to take their first win ever in the CIS against the Cascades. Coming off of this win the Heat went on a four game winning streak against the UNBC Timberwolves and the Mount Royal Cougars.
Moving into the break, the Heat have been able to capture the coveted third spot in the Explorer Division. Top three in the division qualify for the post season. The women's basketball program has yet to play in the Canada West playoffs.
The second half of the season, and the race to the playoffs will commence in January with the Heat's first look at their Interior of BC rival, the Thompson Rivers WolfPack. These two old foes will play first in Kelowna starting on January 8-9.
Third year point guard, Claire Elliott led the team in scoring with 12 points. Elliott also was able to capture seven rebounds and four steals for the Heat. The defensive minded guard is tops in Canada West with 24 thefts on the season. Senior, Emily Kanester followed with 11 points and Shenelle Tamminen with seven points. First year Emma Johnson was effective offensivley in her 12 minutes on the court, she finished with six points on two for three shooting. She was the only player on UBCO to shoot above 50%.
The first quarter was a good defensive struggle with UBCO holding the high powered Griffin offense in check for the majority of the first frame before fifth year, Kelly Fagan, sophomore Kayla Ivicak, hit key baskets late in the quarter to give MacEwan University a two point lead after the first quarter. MacEwan University shot 37 percent from the floor in the quarter, while UBCO hit 33 percent of their shots.
The second quarter belonged to MacEwan University as they defensively held UBCO to eight points while going on a 10 point run midway through the quarter, led by Kendall Lydon with seven points, in the quarter, to pace the Griffins.
The Heat were paced by Claire Elliott (North Vancouver, BC) with a team high eight points at halftime. The Heat shot 27 percent in the first half.
The third quarter both defenses put on a clinic as the scoring came at a premium with the Griffins outscored UBCO by three points, to build their lead to 16 points. The Griffins shot a mere 17 percent in the quarter, holding UBCO to eight points for a second straight frame.
The Griffins continued to play excellent defense in the final quarter holding UBCO in check and earning their seventh league victory by 18 points.
The Griffins were also able to win the battle on the glass, similar to Friday nights game as they captured 47 boards to the Heat's 33.
Kendall Lydon, the fourth year guard scored a team high 12 points as the scoring was balanced tonight with 10 different Griffins scoring at least two points in the game. Six-foot forward Kelly Fagan had a brilliant game under the boards tonight, leading MacEwan University with 17 total rebounds, seven blocks and added eight points.
~ Tia Sadler // Heat Communications
~With notes from David Kent // Griffins Athletics
Posted in Basketball (W), News Feed (goheat.ca) | Tagged Claire Elliott, Emily Kanester, Emma Johnson, Shenelle Tamminen, recap, wbb2015-16


Beautiful Historic Downtown Savannah! The Byck Building is located on East Bay Street with spectacular views of the Savannah River and the Talmadge Bridge in the vibrant River Street District.
VACANT 2,500 square foot warehouse space with high ceilings and a 2,500 square foot office/retail space with fantastic views of the Savannah River! Call our corporate office at 912-232-4252 for more information.


Aetna and ASM in staging for the evacuation of Johnson Memorial.
The After Action Report (AAR) associated with the evacuation of Johnson Memorial Medical Center following Tropical Storm Irene has been posted by the Capitol Region Council of Governments and their regional disaster management committee.
ASM gave the Hospital for Special Care a donation which supported the hospital's sports camp for children with disabilities.
The following article appeared in the Hartford Courant on August 11, 2011. Video appears with the permission of Fox61.
Sharon Vanover needed good news.
On July 30 in Stafford, a car with an allegedly drunk driver at the wheel crushed Vanover's right leg as she rode on the back of husband Mark Vanover's motorcycle. Recovery will be long and painful, and the Vanovers said they had to close one of their two day-care centers this week because Sharon cannot manage the business.


In the first Airing Pain programme we introduce the subject of pain and its management, featuring contributors with a variety of expertise and experience. Professors Blair Smith and Richard Langford take us through the causes of chronic pain and conditions associated with it, while Sherrill Snelgrove and Kiera Jones talk about the challenges faced by patients in being understood by the healthcare professions. Dr Beverly Collett explains the importance of the patients' own understanding in managing their condition and keeping active.
We also feature short interviews with some of the experts we'll hear more from in later programmes: Professor David Walsh discusses the importance of multidisciplinary approaches in helping patients to manage their pain, Professor Nick Alcott and Claire Rayner encourage older people to get help with their pain and Nicole Tang talks about how people with pain can improve their sleep, and finally, Pete Moore gives some words of encouragement based on his own experience of learning to live well with pain.


The Evening service will be followed by a Kiddush in honour of Nathanel Gozlan who is returning to Israel, and to thank him for his contributions to Netzer.
Special Occasion? If you have a birthday, anniversary or similar occasion, why not sponsor a Kiddush? Or to mark a friend or relative's special occasion, donate to the Shul and they will receive a lovely Gift Certificate in their name.


Using bug spray is one of the best defenses we have right now against bug bites — as well as certain diseases like Zika.
The virus is spread by aggressive mosquitoes that bite during the day, and in addition to wearing long sleeves and pants, or staying inside, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends anyone over two months old should use insect repellent in areas where mosquitoes are present.
Their findings are backed up by academic research too, which tends to show that DEET— which when used normally "does not present a health concern to the general population, including children" — is the most effective.
Products marked "natural" or with active ingredients other than these three were not effective at protecting people from mosquito bites, according to CR. (They're also not necessarily safe.) Combination sunscreen-bug sprays didn't work, either. And they actually had people stick their arms in mosquito chambers to test them out.
Your protection can also depend on how you apply the bug spray. Don't spray it under your clothes, use your hands to transfer it to your face, and put it on top of sunscreen, advises the CDC.


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Q: Plot confusion matrix with Keras data generator using sklearn Sklearn clearly defines how to plot a confusion matrix using its own classification model with plot_confusion_matrix.
But what about using it with Keras model using data generators? Let's have a look at an example code:
First we need to train the model.
import numpy as np
from keras import backend as K
from keras.models import Sequential
from keras.layers.core import Dense, Dropout, Activation, Flatten
from keras.layers.convolutional import Convolution2D, MaxPooling2D
from keras.preprocessing.image import ImageDataGenerator
from sklearn.metrics import classification_report, confusion_matrix

#Start
train_data_path = 'F://data//Train'
test_data_path = 'F://data//Validation'
img_rows = 150
img_cols = 150
epochs = 30
batch_size = 32
num_of_train_samples = 3000
num_of_test_samples = 600

#Image Generator
train_datagen = ImageDataGenerator(rescale=1. / 255,
                                   rotation_range=40,
                                   width_shift_range=0.2,
                                   height_shift_range=0.2,
                                   shear_range=0.2,
                                   zoom_range=0.2,
                                   horizontal_flip=True,
                                   fill_mode='nearest')

test_datagen = ImageDataGenerator(rescale=1. / 255)

train_generator = train_datagen.flow_from_directory(train_data_path,
                                                    target_size=(img_rows, img_cols),
                                                    batch_size=batch_size,
                                                    class_mode='categorical')

validation_generator = test_datagen.flow_from_directory(test_data_path,
                                                        target_size=(img_rows, img_cols),
                                                        batch_size=batch_size,
                                                        class_mode='categorical')

# Build model
model = Sequential()
model.add(Convolution2D(32, (3, 3), input_shape=(img_rows, img_cols, 3), padding='valid'))
model.add(Activation('relu'))
model.add(MaxPooling2D(pool_size=(2, 2)))

model.add(Convolution2D(32, (3, 3), padding='valid'))
model.add(Activation('relu'))
model.add(MaxPooling2D(pool_size=(2, 2)))

model.add(Convolution2D(64, (3, 3), padding='valid'))
model.add(Activation('relu'))
model.add(MaxPooling2D(pool_size=(2, 2)))

model.add(Flatten())
model.add(Dense(64))
model.add(Activation('relu'))
model.add(Dropout(0.5))
model.add(Dense(5))
model.add(Activation('softmax'))

model.compile(loss='categorical_crossentropy',
              optimizer='rmsprop',
              metrics=['accuracy'])

#Train
model.fit_generator(train_generator,
                    steps_per_epoch=num_of_train_samples // batch_size,
                    epochs=epochs,
                    validation_data=validation_generator,
                    validation_steps=num_of_test_samples // batch_size)

Now after the model is trained let's build a confusion matrix.
#Confution Matrix and Classification Report
Y_pred = model.predict_generator(validation_generator, num_of_test_samples // batch_size+1)
y_pred = np.argmax(Y_pred, axis=1)
print('Confusion Matrix')
print(confusion_matrix(validation_generator.classes, y_pred))
print('Classification Report')
target_names = ['Cats', 'Dogs', 'Horse']
print(classification_report(validation_generator.classes, y_pred, target_names=target_names))

Now this works fine so far. But how do I save it as png in the same layout as in the above sklearn example?

A: Like this (also see ConfusionMatrixDisplay and confusion_matrix):
from sklearn.metrics import ConfusionMatrixDisplay
from sklearn.metrics import confusion_matrix
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np

y_pred = np.array([0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2])
y_test = np.array([0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 1, 2])
labels = ["Cats", "Dogs", "Horses"]

cm = confusion_matrix(y_test, y_pred)

disp = ConfusionMatrixDisplay(confusion_matrix=cm, display_labels=labels)

disp.plot(cmap=plt.cm.Blues)
plt.show()

Result:


text:
ESCF > Sermons
Be Fruitful
By Gordie Hanna on July 26, 2020
In John 15, Jesus says, "My Father is honored by this, that you bear much fruit and show that you are my disciples." Discipleship is
The Shrewd Steward
By Richard Haverkamp on July 19, 2020
The parable of the dishonest manager is confusing at first reading. Just what was Jesus trying to get across anyway? But there are some surprisingly
The Fear of the Lord
By Len Venne on July 12, 2020
Why should we fear the Lord? What are the attributes of God that should prompt us to approach Him in reverence and respect? Note: This
By Ben Heikoop on July 5, 2020
The path to discipleship was well established in Jesus' day: teachers only took on the best of the best as their students. Jesus took a
By David Zwicker on June 28, 2020
With the story of Gideon as an example, learn some practical ways to take up the armour of God to fight the spiritual forces that
Balaam's Way
By Les Doey on June 21, 2020
Maybe the most memorable part about Balaam's story is that his donkey started talking to him. Without missing a beat, Balaam answered right back. But
A Mindset of Salvation
By Peter Bolton on June 14, 2020
In light of the unusual circumstances we find ourselves in, how do we "reject godless ways and worldly desires and live self-controlled, upright, and godly
Purpose for Life
By Gary McBride on June 7, 2020
The purpose of Paul's life was to know Christ. Not only the glorious and powerful and miraculous, but also the shame and suffering and death.
Created in God's Image
By Jack Baker on May 24, 2020
We were made to be a visible representation of God: "God created humankind in his own image", in Genesis 1. Adam messed this up by
Pursuit of Holiness
By Viji Roberts on May 17, 2020
The apostle Peter quotes Leviticus: "You shall be holy, because I am holy." But what is God's holiness, and how can we be holy ourselves?


text:
Issues raised by Steve Bruce press conference on Friday
Steve Bruce was up in front of the media once again on Friday.
This time there was no calling his players 'sh.te' and he also lifted the ban on newspaper journalists, allowing questions from three of them, as well as speaking to the TV and radio journalists.
He was speaking on the back of this shocking run of no wins in nine weeks and only two goals scored in the last fourteen hours of football.
The NUFC Head Coach speaking across a wide spectrum of issues, some of the quotes below.
Steve Bruce pre-Everton press conference:
"Fede Fernández won't make it unfortunately.
"Ciaran Clark and Paul Dummett trained yesterday so we'll see how they are.
"It may be a bit early for the two of them.
"We played very, very well [in the home fixture against Everton].
"We know we're capable and to be capable we need everybody fit and healthy and we're edging towards that.
"I was pleased with the second half against Leeds so let's hope we can build on that."
Steve Bruce on Graeme Jones appointment:
"It's something we looked at the best part of two months ago.
"We wanted to get somebody with different ideas who could give us a freshness and work alongside Stephen Clemence and Steve Agnew.
"We made a few calls but Graeme was always our number one choice."
Steve Bruce speaking to BBC Newcastle on transfers:
"We've lost out on one in the last 24 hours, which would have been a nice addition; unfortunately, he's gone elsewhere.
"He was the big target of mine but, unfortunately, got away.
"We're still hopeful – we'll keep trying.
"A loan deal at this time is difficult but it worked for us last year.
"To bring anybody in, we have to let somebody out."
Keith Downie of Sky Sports:
"Steve Bruce confirms Hamza Choudhury is a player he likes, but he's still unsure if Leicester will let him leave on loan.
"Jetro Willems is a non-starter due to lack of match practice."
Keith Downie quoting Steve Bruce about getting fanmail, when asked about supporters wanting him out:
"I can bring you in a pile of letters I signed only yesterday.
"People wishing me good luck, telling me to keep bashing away.
"Not all doom and gloom but I understand their frustration totally.
"It feels more unique here because of the unbelievable fan base we have."
Steve Bruce speaking to Sky Sports about making signings:
"We have had to be patient but we are still hopeful.
"I have one or two calls to make to certain managers in the next 24 hours.
"We are still hopeful we will get one or two over the line."
(Asked about Matt Ritchie situation and would he be able to go if 'right offer' came in?)
"He has been a very good player and still is a very good player for the club.
"His frustration is he's not playing week in week out.
"Right offer? Look, anybody in the squad, if the right offer comes along…
"Matty has been here a long time, so it would take a hell of an offer."
To try and sum up the above and other stuff Steve Bruce said:
Everton availability:
Fernandez not back for a while then and with Tuesday's key home game against Palace, surely the likes of Dummett and Clark won't be risked against Everton, after so little training preparation.
DeAndre Yedlin's visa issues have been sorted and he is available.
Transfers in:
Still nobody has arrived and only three days until the window closes at 11pm on Monday (1 February).
Steve Bruce says he missed out on his top target, claims from some media that this was Jesse Lingard.
Jetro Willems isn't a target after not playing any football – last game he played was for Newcastle over a year ago.
Hamza Choudhury now appears confirmed as the main target but the midfielder has only played 70 minutes of Premier League football this season.
Transfers out:
Matt Ritchie is available but 'it would take a hell of an offer' to sign him according to Steve Bruce. I'm not sure why, Ritchie clearly not first choice any more and hasn't started in the Premier League for a month, indeed only 16 minutes off the bench. Plus Ritchie turns 32 in September.
Fanmail:
Absolutely mental this, Steve Bruce claiming he is getting loads of letters in the post from Newcastle fans telling him he's doing a great job and to carry on. We covered this HERE earlier in more detail.
A tough game on Saturday against an Everton side with four wins and a draw in their last six games.
Joe Dixon


It's good to have an indicator for when you get really tired. Not "sleepy" tired, but fatigued, in the way that can compromise thinking, decision-making, and all the rest. Lately, I have that indicator.
When Anke and Dave were on the boat last year, I wasn't getting much sleep. I'm not that good at sleeping anyway, and then we did, after all, sail through the night. At some point along the way Anke observed: "Shemaya, you really jump around between whatever things you are doing." I had noticed this before, myself, that sometimes I tended to jump to whatever caught my attention and work on that, until the next thing caught my attention, often partway through whatever I had just been in the middle of. Eventually I decided that this wasn't the end of the world, that six different things all got finished in the end, but that it was funny that I was completing them in so many disjointed parts. The advantage of doing this on a small boat is that you are never very far from being reminded of the tasks that you've wandered away from! Anyway, after Anke made that observation I started to pay more attention.
Which brings me to Mummy. My mom had a lot of issues, and a life with some really substantial difficulties. She was prescribed a broad array of psychiatric drugs, and endured a number of horrendous procedures that were considered "treatments." Some of these things she found helpful, and others not. After one of them, her ability to stay on a particular task really deteriorated. Visiting at her apartment, in my 20s, she would suggest that she would make some coffee, which sounded good. 45 minutes later, that process would be somewhat underway. By the time she was getting older, there were folks who were coming to help with things like getting out of the house to go to appointments. One of them told me that taking a morning shower took about four hours, from start to finish. It was a long project, to get out of her apartment!
Once I got my own "jumping among tasks" clearly in view, I started to pay more attention to what was going on. For my mom, it was brain injury that caused this issue (never mind that it was an intentional surgery, and that she actually felt good about the results, and was willing to put up with the other effects.) With me, I started to pick up on the connection between lack of rest and task-jumping. It could be lack of sleep, or it could be the fatigue that comes with strenuous effort, both physical and mental. For example, sailing in big conditions with lots of factors to keep on top of, like tide, current, and tricky navigation with serious consequences for goof-ups. Doing heavy emotional work can contribute to the same effect.
It's handy to have a quick shorthand for recognizing that level of fatigue. Nowadays, when I notice myself jumping between tasks, I say "oh look, I'm channeling Mummy." Then I can both remind myself to follow one task through to completion before changing (probably a good pratice from a safety perspective), and to get some rest. Bonus, I get to think of my mom, in all her complexity. To embrace that I was able to say "oh, would you like me to help make the coffee?" And that she said yes.
I thought you were describing ME! I love reading your postings, now that I have put you into a sort of groove in my consciousness!
So glad you're enjoying the posts!


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In need of a gift? Think outside the box.
PHEAUXTOGRAPHY gift vouchers are available in any amount for every occasion.. They can be personalized with recipient's name and are delivered via email to the purchaser within 48 hours. As a thank you for sharing us with those who matter most to you, Once your recipient applies their voucher to their session, 10% of their grand total will be applied to your account as a studio credit for your very own future session.
The credit is good for a year but don't make us wait that long before we get to see you in our studio.
Give the gift that says, "you are someone #pheauxnomenal and I want you captured for all time."


2015 is the year I get in shape. The first step I took was starting Slimming World, which you may have seen me talking about in previous posts and on my twitter and instagram - stay tuned this week for my first post on how I'm getting on. But of course, healthy eating should always be combined with an active lifestyle. Being a teacher means I am on my feet most of the day, but the heavy workload also means I don't have as much time to workout as I'd like. I've been trying to find ways of monitoring my fitness, so when I was asked to review the Fit Bit One I jumped at the chance.
This handy little gadget claims to help you both get fit and sleep better, all in one teeny tiny device. For me, sleeping is really important. There are two things which just send me over the egde - a lack of sleep, and a lack of food. Like many people my stressful job means my sleep can often be disrupted, meaning I wake up feeling tired and agitated. The first thing the FitBit One helps you to understand is the quality of your sleep - pop it into the wristband provided and whilst you're sleeping it does all the hard work.
I find the data (which syncs to your laptop or phone) so fascinating! It tells you how many times you woke up and how long you slept for in total, allowing you to get a better understanding of your sleep patterns. Mind blowing stuff! Not only does it measure your sleep, but it also measures what you do in daytime hours. A little like a pedometer, this clips to your clothes and measures the number of steps you take, stairs climbed etc, giving you an idea of how active you are and how many calories you burn daily. As it's so small, it is totally discreet - you can even pop it in your bra!
For me, the FitBit One helps me understand my body. I never thought I did much exercise in the day - how wrong I was! I love checking out how many miles I walk each day, and using the online tools I can record a load of other stuff such as what I eat, drink and when I workout. So far, I'm super impressed. This year I am determined to slim down and develop my fitness - this is really helping me understand how I need to go about doing that. What a clever little thing!
Disclaimer: I was gifted the FitBit One for review purposes on behalf of LV = Love Life. You can see their top ten smart fitness tech here. All views still my own.


Tanamera a low-density gated and guarded residential project, comprised of 146 exclusive semi-detached homes. The 3-storey semi-detached homes come in built-up sizes ranging from 2,030 to 3,460 sq.ft.
Tanamera sits next to USJ Subang and enjoys many of the established shops and food outlet within the neighbourhood. It is easily accessible via the North South ELITE Expressway, NKVE and the Federal Highway are all connected to this major link.
Built-up Area : 2,030 - 3,460 sq.ft.
Land Area : 3,821 - 5,780 sq.ft.


I didn't have my daughters until I was in my late 20's so most folks my age already have high school seniors. Many times I have had or heard conversations about how much Senior portraits have changed. Boy have they ever.
When I was a senior in the late 90's, senior pictures were done at the school by the school photographer. Everyone went through the same poses on the same backgrounds. They sucked. You know it did too. While I do still have the proofs from them, I was NOT happy with them. First off, I had an angry enormous zit appear randomly on my collar bone. (What the crap?) When I posed for my drape shot it was right there staring the photographer in the face like an evil villain. He saw it, I know he did. Ugh. Anyway, when it came time to order, I asked if it would be retouched. They assured me that anything I ordered was fully retouched. So of course my mom ordered my drape shot in a 20×30. You know, billboard-esque.
— They didn't retouch it. To this day the picture is tucked away in storage. ugh- lies.
Anyway- things are SO different now. Most seniors want to break free of the mundane, assembly line photos. I can't blame them! After all, this is a big moment for seniors, and it's a time in life that needs to be remembered. Think of it as a landmark in life. When babies are born we document every moment and milestone for the first year. Without Senior portraits one might go portrait-less until their wedding day!
Youth is fleeting. There will never be a more fragile and emotional time in their lives as now.
As dorky as it may sound, I know that photographing Seniors is my calling. I LOVE the fact that at this age in life, each senior is on the cusp of something unknown. The possibilities are endless, and there is so much up in the air for them. It is so exciting to spend time with them and get to know them. Seniors (both young and old) are the most interesting subjects for me. The senior portrait experience is so much more than photos- at least to me it is. It's about showing someone how awesome they are in everyone else's eyes- even to a total stranger like me.
I guess part of it is that I so vividly remember how it felt to be their age, and how scary and hard it can be. I'm no therapist, and I certainly don't think I'm "cool" like them…BUT- I feel like in some ways I can sympathize with them.
High school for me was HARD. I was going through a lot of things and the last two years I felt like I just didn't belong anywhere. I looked like a regular teenager but on the inside I felt, i dont know, DIFFERENT. In my class I often felt insignificant- outcast, and just really mixed up. I didn't really fit in to any groups and I certainly was NOT popular. I was just THERE…kind of lurking in the shadows, biding my time until I could get out of dodge. Of course, if I had it to do over again I would change a LOT. Most of my misery was self sabotage and I am not blaming anyone else.
If I had had the chance at that time to have Senior portraits made that were unique to ME- I would have loved it. If I could have had a photographer interested in ME who wanted to amplify all my facets and embrace my oddities, if I could have had photos that made me look and feel as cool and different as I wanted to be- Man. I think at times that it might could have changed a lot for me at that time.
The Senior Portrait experience at SHP is different than most. It's not an assembly line, or all about committing to minimum orders, or all about excursions and locations, and it's not about a high fashion trendy thing. Of course, picking outfits, working efficiently, and running a business are all part of it- but for me- the real challenge is to bring that Senior out of their shell and find out what makes them "tick". Then, we do our best to make the coolest, most unique, most bada** photo of them they have ever seen. There's just nothing like it. Showing a senior a photo of their self that makes their jaw drop and they go, "OH WOW SO COOL!' and then smile at how cool they look- that's the million dollar prize of what we do.
It is SO easy for kids these days to feel depressed, defeated, and outcast. I couldn't imagine being a senior and dealing with social media these days.
I can't tell you how utterly sad it is for us to hear from a senior that they "aren't cool because they don't do sports" or that we can't get cool photos of them because they "don't do anything". EVERYONE is unique in one way or another- all of them!
If I could shout one thing from the school rooftops it would be that ALL of them are interesting- all of them matter, and that they all have something "cool" to show the world. I would LOVE the chance to show them ALL the proof in a photograph.
Let us show you what we can work together to create.
WOW. Just wow. What a year 2017 has been. For us, it has been a year of many changes, lots of "ups" and a few "downs" a lot of "firsts" and a couple of "lasts", but definitely lots of CHANGES!!
FEBRUARY was spent doing various planning for the year, and setting up our Easter scene. Easter is a big production for us, but we will get back to that in a few. Mostly we spend Febraury plotting, planning, eating way too much, and pondering the correct pronunciation of "worcestershire" sauce. The local Daddy/Daughter Dance came around and my oldest decided she was now too old. Tears flowed. You know, just random-ness. And George Michael died. I had such a mega crush on him as a little girl. So sad.
This one below- I don't know if you can tell that I had just had a crying fit in the bathroom, but I had. This was taken right after we found out that we would have to take the entire scene down that night after sessions because the studio house had been rented out the following day. So, after doing 8 hours of Easter sessions- we had to spend a few hours taking everything down and packing it up in our studio upstairs, only to set it all back up a few days later. And that's all I have to say about that.
I don't like to dwell on sad things, but from April- October, Lonnie lost all three of his grandparents. His grandmother died 2 weeks after his grandfather right at Easter, and then his paternal Grandmother passed on Halloween. It's never easy to lose a loved one, but it was extra hard for Lonnie to lose all of them in one year.
May brought about full tilt wedding season, and also a whole lot more high school seniors! Weddings kept us busy for the majority of the year- which brings me to the first huge decision we made this year. We've decided that in 2018 we will only photograph 10 weddings. We do love weddings, there's nothing like them – but we also love our two little girls- which we didn't get to see much this year. Also, let's be honest- Lonnie and I are not spring chickens anymore, and a 10 hour day of wedding photography wreaks havoc on our bodies. We need to start passing weddings on the the younger crop of photogs. Let me tell you, it is a WHOLE lot more physical than you would think, I promise!
June was another month of weddings, but we also had to figure out how to squeeze in the sudden awesome flood of Seniors we had! I've always known I loved shooting senior portraits, but we decided this year that it's what we really want to specialize in. i can't WAIT for next year. SO MUCH FUN.
July is usually uneventful but this year was different. We found out at the last minute that we had the wonderful opportunity to move our studio to an official retail location downtown!!!!!!! AHHHHHH!!!!!! I waited for this moment for a decade!!! When I say last minute, I mean, like we had a week between finding out and having to be completely settled and back open for business. WHEEW. BUT YAAAAYyyy!!!!
August was a blur. We worked. and worked, and worked some more. Not only did we have a 1700sq ft new space that needed a complete remodel, but we were in the midst of the busiest senior season of our career! The building was already great, thanks to the previous tenant, but for what we wanted, a lot had to be changed. Things are still coming along here at the studio, but we have totally changed it up and I LOVE it. I can't say it enough, this new studio is everything I have ever wanted! We couldn't have done any of it without our wonderful clients, and definitely without the help of my dad and brother Donald. He's super. You can't have him.
It's come a long way! More coming soon and we do plan to have a grand re-opening maybe in January 🙂 Such good stuff! I would show more progress photos, but we are kinda in Christmas disarray right now with Santa sessions going on and such!
September was more of the same. Work, studio reno, work, studio reno, hahaha. 'Tis our life that I love.
October was the start of my mini mid life crisis! Yay! I cut off nearly 8 inches of hair and dyed pieces of what was left blue.
And I bought myself a scooter. Ahhh….the last year of my 30's. It's swell. I'm trying to handle things well. I may or may not be doing well with it. It's ok. Moving on.
Our Santa is seriously THE BEST.
And I guess that's a wrap for 2017. We have exceeded my expectations this year by a long shot. We are LOVING high school senior portraits and can't wait to roll out our 2018 Senior model program soon. We have taken some AMAZING portraits this year, and I have to say I am pretty proud of us. We have had the chance to photograph SO MANY outstanding families and seniors- we really do have a wonderful life.
What an exciting year of changes . During the midst of all this Lonnie and I also finally kicked a bad habit of smoking. Sure, we are slightly fatter, but our lungs are happier! We have a few loose sessions to tie up , a couple of Santa dates, and we will excitedly await to see what 2018 holds! Thank you all so much for allowing us into your lives and supporting our American Dream!
Who is this guy "Lonnie"? How did he get here? SO many questions!
When taking your own photo- always wear pink striped socks for the utmost look of professionalism Always.
I was asked by PPA (Professional Photographers of America) to be a guest blogger to help promote their upcoming Imaging USA convention.
"AWWWW HECK YEAH! Of course!!!!!!" I dropped everything and immediately got started. Mama didn't raise no fool. PPA is to photographers like the bar exam is to lawyers….I guess….idk about that analogy, but it's a BIG organization that I've been a member of for over 5 years- they're a big deal to me.
ain't even gonna lie yall, PPA asking ME to be a guest blogger? Well lahhhh dee dah look at me!
I'm not sure when they will publish it, but I thought our own little blog would be a great place to share it. Many of our clients ask how we got started in this business, and this blog is a little peek into how Lonnie became the photographer he is today.
A little background: Imaging USA is a national convention held every January for professional photographers. It's in a different city every year, and is put on by PPA. It's 3 days of non stop learning and FUN! (5 days if you attend pre-convention classes). In January 2013 I attended my first one, and took Lonnie along for company. The rest is history! We've been every year since, including this past January when we went to San Antonio Texas!
we had to move our flight up at the last minute because the "ice storm" in ATlanta an ended up having to sleep in the San Antonio airport till our hotel was ready since we got in too early. Goooooood times there.
A life changed- Imaging USA.
That's me, the "other photographer" as I am now lovingly yet jokingly called.
Professional Photographer- it's a title that I (Karen) dreamed of since I was a young teenager in the mid 90's. A lot transpired to get me safely into my 26th year of life, but for the sake of time we will start with the facts. I was a mom of two small children, married to Lonnie, a factory worker who labored on a rotating shift, and the kids and I rarely got to spend time with him. I'm not gonna lie, we struggled…Lord did we struggle, but in late 2006 I finally had the courage to take the leap by starting my own photography business. My first studio originated in an old storage building on our property-(oh how I cringe about it now but it was a starting point!) and things have been slowly yet steadily progressing since then, but this blog isn't about all of that.
A few years went by and my little business was actually a smooth sailing success, but as a mom I was sinking. I was overwhelmed, I was overworked, I was burnt out, and my home life was a disaster. My husband and I fought a lot, especially when I came home from a long day of sessions and he'd say "oh gosh, whatever…all you do is click a button". (yes, insert the world's biggest angry photographer emoji right here!) Don't get too mad at my husband Lonnie, he didn't know any better, and bless it, he was so tired all the time. One thing I could tell you at that time, was that he had absolutely NO interest in photography. In his own words, he was a "grunt laborer" and that was just how his life was.
I don't remember where I heard about Imaging USA the first time. All I remember was that it was coming to Atlanta (which is only an hour drive from my town),in January 2013 and that I was really excited to learn new things. Driving in Atlanta is simply not something I can do sanely, so I begged Lonnie to come with me. "Think of it as a mini getaway for us" I said. He finally agreed.
Here we are at the Social Box booth in the expo that year- poor Lonnie still had no idea what was about to happen to him at this point.
I wanted to take EVERY class, but I tried to be choosy as to what I thought would help me most. Photography in a small town gets really cut throat- no one shares their secrets, and here I was in a vast pool of open knowledge!
One day I had chosen a maternity/newborn class by Julia Kelleher I think. Lonnie immediately said "oh no, I am NOT sitting through that with you." hahaha. He said he would just go sit in whatever class was next door instead and meet up with me afterwards.
Now you can imagine that I had the most enormous, super exaggerated, see the your own brain kind of eye roll- I was beside myself with laughter and disbelief.
And guess what happened after that? Well, within 3 months Lonnie left his factory job and became the full time lead photographer for Strawberry Hill Photography. Where I lacked in technical know-how, Lonnie excelled. Crazy, I know, but it's true! He's an amazing photographer and it has truly been a whirlwind. He said Ghionis played a slideshow that used the song "Secrets" by One Republic and we play it a lot on the way to big sessions- we say it's Lonnie's "theme song" haha!
We talk shop everyday about our idols, Ghionis, Dan Rowe, Ben Shirk, Gary Box, Fuzzy Duenkel, Dan Frievalt, and agonize over how we can do better, take better photos, how to save up for even better gear in future.
We have both been full time photographers for four years now. We share the load and tag team every obstacle. If you had told me in December of 2012 that Lonnie would be a photographer, I'd have laughed myself into hysteria. If you had told me then that he would be doing it full time, and that our sole income would be from photography, I'd have just screamed "LIES!" and walked away.
It has been an incredible ride- and I know without a shadow of a doubt, that Imaging USA changed our lives. Had everything not fallen into place the way it did, I just don't want to even think about what state our life would be in right now. My husband and I are together 95% of the time, and I love it. We are able to take time off for our girls activities when we need to, and life is good for us. Lonnie never knew he was a photographer-I guess we just needed Imaging USA and Jerry Ghionis to shine the light for him.
I always hope that the speakers at Imaging know how much they influence other's lives!
Be kind and take epic photos ya'll!


text:
2018 VG18 er en dværgplanet i vores solsystem, der blev opdaget i 2018 af et internationalt hold af astronomer. Den har fået kælenavnet "Farout" ("Langt Ude") af forskerne.

Planeten befinder sig i en astronomisk afstand på 120 AU. Til sammenligning befinder Pluto sig 34 AU væk.

Referencer

Dværgplaneter

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


The recently announced partnership between Ford Motor Company and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles in the LCV and medium Pick-up trucks arena served to highlight the strong global demand that both companies foresee in these two segments. The partnership was made public on the sidelines of the just concluded North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) 2019, in Detroit. It marks the first step in a partnership that seeks to leverage the complementary strengths of both automotive giants in a bid to boost their competitiveness.
According to the terms of the agreement, Ford will build medium sized Pick-ups for both companies, and will engineer and build the larger commercial vans, while VWCV will build a city van. Interestingly, Ford's F-Series Pick-up, its most vital asset in the US market, will not be part of the partnership. The first products resulting from the alliance are scheduled to appear in the market in 2022.
Both automakers will be hoping to draw on their respective competencies to accelerate innovation and growth. While VW has strong capabilities in electric vehicle technology, Ford has signalled its intent to look to the future by investing $4 billion in autonomous driving, including the $1 billion investment made in artificial intelligence startup Argo AI, in 2017.


text:
Jesse Plemons Wonders Why People Walked Out of His Sundance Sex Scene
In the drama Other People he shares a love scene with Zach Woods, which he says is actually less weird than a straight sex scene.
By Katey Rich
In the Sundance drama Other People, which has been breaking hearts since it debuted at the festival Thursday night, Jesse Plemons tackles a dramatic role that might feel unfamiliar to those who know him as affable Landry on Friday Night Lights, or even the socially awkward psychopath Todd on Breaking Bad. Speaking to Vanity Fair's executive west coast editor Krista Smith, Plemons says that he was getting offered largely comedic roles after Friday Night Lights, but this kind of shift was necessary: "I never really considered myself a comedic actor," he says.
In Other People, he plays a young man—based on the film's writer-director Chris Kelly—who returns home to help his mother (Molly Shannon) as she's dying of cancer. That's a challenge in itself, but Plemons also shared a sex scene with Silicon Valley's Zach Woods, which apparently inspired some people to walk out of the film's Sundance screening. "I'd love to talk to them and figure out what it was about that scene," Plemons says about the walkouts, while admitting the scene was awkward to shoot, as well. "It's a little weird , but in some ways it's less weird than doing a straight sex scene, because we're both nervous and freaked out."
Keep checking back for much more of our Sundance Film Festival coverage, including more conversations between Krista Smith and the festival's biggest stars.
The Stars of Sundance 2016: Exclusive Photos
Justin Bishop/Vanity Fair
Lily Rose Depp, Yoga Hosers
Katey Rich is VF.com's deputy editor.


CeeLo Green stepped out of his red chair and onto the stage for a performance on "The Voice" live results show. The ladies' man strut down a conveyor belt as girls in all white stood by his side like statues and performed acrobatics overhead. His Goodie Mob member Big Gipp painted a portrait, while photographers snapped photos.
The song, which originally appears on Goodie Mob's album Age Against the Machine, was released as a single to iTunes this week.
Watch CeeLo's white-hot performance and listen to the studio version of "Amy" below.


Amazon is batting in favor of regulating and legislating the use of facial recognition technology and has written a long, detailed blog post detailing its stand on the issue.
In the blog post written by the Vice-President of Global Public Policy at Amazon Web Services (AWS), Michael Punke, the company revealed its "proposed guidelines" for the use of the technology by the companies, so that it cannot be used to discriminate.
Amazon has faced criticism after tests by civil rights groups and ACLU found out that Amazon's face Rekognition functions are less accurate for black people. In January, two researchers reported an Amazon Web Services that determine the gender of the people in photos is also less accurate in the case of black women.
However, Amazon refuted the claims of the studies saying that the Rekognition was "not used properly" by the researchers.
Amazon wants legislation "that protects individual civil rights and ensures that governments are transparent in their use of facial recognition technology," Punke wrote.
The blog post is seen as the move to counter the facial recognition backlash.