text:
The environmental impact of recombinant bovine somatotropin (rbST) use in dairy production
Judith L. Capper, Euridice Castañeda-Gutiérrez, Roger A. Cady, and Dale E. Bauman
*Department of Animal Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853-4801; and
‡Monsanto Company Animal Agricultural Group, 800 North Lindbergh Boulevard, St. Louis, MO 63167-0001
PNAS July 15, 2008 105 (28) 9668-9673; https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0802446105
Judith L. Capper
Euridice Castañeda-Gutiérrez
Roger A. Cady
Dale E. Bauman
Edited by David H. Baker, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, Urbana, IL, and approved May 2, 2008 (received for review March 12, 2008)
The environmental impact of using recombinant bovine somatotropin (rbST) in dairy production was examined on an individual cow, industry-scale adoption, and overall production system basis. An average 2006 U.S. milk yield of 28.9 kg per day was used, with a daily response to rbST supplementation of 4.5 kg per cow. Rations were formulated and both resource inputs (feedstuffs, fertilizers, and fuels) and waste outputs (nutrient excretion and greenhouse gas emissions) calculated. The wider environmental impact of production systems was assessed via acidification (AP), eutrophication (EP), and global warming (GWP) potentials. From a producer perspective, rbST supplementation improved individual cow production, with reductions in nutrient input and waste output per unit of milk produced. From an industry perspective, supplementing one million cows with rbST reduced feedstuff and water use, cropland area, N and P excretion, greenhouse gas emissions, and fossil fuel use compared with an equivalent milk production from unsupplemented cows. Meeting future U.S. milk requirements from cows supplemented with rbST conferred the lowest AP, EP, and GWP, with intermediate values for conventional management and the highest environmental impact resulting from organic production. Overall, rbST appears to represent a valuable management tool for use in dairy production to improve productive efficiency and to have less negative effects on the environment than conventional dairying.
greenhouse gas
productive efficiency
The global population is projected to increase to nine billion people, reaching stabilization in 2040–2050 (1). The food supply required to meet nutritional requirements in the first half of the 21st century is therefore approximately equal to the total amount of food produced throughout the history of humankind (2). Animal agriculture is an integral component of global food production, and dairy products represent invaluable nutrient sources (3). Remarkable improvements have occurred in milk production over the last century; nevertheless, further production increases will be essential to meet future food requirements (4, 5).
In November 1993, recombinant bovine somatotropin (rbST) was among the first agricultural biotechnology products to be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Somatotropin is a key homeorhetic control in the regulation of nutrient partitioning; its administration to dairy cows increases milk production and improves the efficiency of milk synthesis (6). The biological effects of rbST have been extensively investigated, and the ability of this technology to enhance productive efficiency while maintaining the health and well-being of dairy cows is well established (6, 7). When introducing new agricultural technologies, it is vital to balance their potential environmental impact against benefits in terms of efficiency gains. Two preliminary evaluations based on an estimated milk production response for rbST were published before FDA approval (2, 8).
Improving productive efficiency, defined as milk output per feed resource input, is a critical factor in reducing the environmental impact and natural resource utilization by the dairy industry. Our overall objective was to examine the environmental impact of rbST utilization in lactating dairy cows. To quantify the impact of rbST utilization on environmental resources, we used three approaches. The first model examined the impact of increased productive efficiency for an average U.S. dairy cow when a producer utilizes rbST as a management tool. The second model measured the overall environmental impact of an industry-scale adoption of rbST, assuming one million cows were receiving rbST, compared with a similar quantity of milk produced by a cow population where no rbST was used. The third model examined the environmental impact of achieving future increases in milk supply required to meet recently published U. S. Dietary Guideline recommendations (3) using conventional, conventional with rbST, or organic production systems.
Over the last century, advances in the genetics, nutrition and management of U.S. dairy cows have resulted in a >4-fold increase in milk production per cow and a 3-fold improvement in productive efficiency (9, 10). This gain in efficiency, referred to as "dilution of maintenance," has been achieved by the cow's greater use of dietary nutrients for milk synthesis and is the basis for historical improvements in productive efficiency (7, 9).
Dilution of maintenance is also the mechanism behind gains in efficiency when rbST is used. As proof of concept, rbST use reduces the maintenance energy and protein requirements per unit of milk by 11.8% and 7.5%, respectively, and total feed requirements by 8.1% (Table 1). Diets were formulated from major components used in dairy cow rations (11), although in practice, dietary ingredients vary according to the formulation of least-cost rations and include by-products from human food and fiber industries (12).
Effects of rbST use on resource input and waste output (per unit of milk) over the lactation cycle of an average cow
Waste output is a corollary of energy intake and production level, with excess nutrients and metabolites being excreted (12, 13). Per unit of milk, the dilution of maintenance conferred by the use of rbST resulted in a reduction in manure production by 6.8% and CH4 output by 7.3% (Table 1). Furthermore, N and P excretion, two major environmental pollutants arising from animal agriculture, were reduced by 9.1% and 11.8%, respectively. Similar reductions in nutrient flows resulting from rbST use were reported for specific geographic locations in studies by Jonker et al. (Chesapeake Bay drainage basin; ref. 14), Dunlap et al. (Lancaster County; ref. 15), and Bosch et al. (Muddy Bay creek watershed; ref. 16).
Gains in productive efficiency offer the producer an opportunity to improve milk production and maintain market supply of milk and dairy products from a smaller dairy population. The second model aimed to provide a U.S. industry perspective by evaluating the environmental impact of supplementing one million dairy cows with rbST compared with the same quantity of milk produced by unsupplemented cows. This industry-scale application would represent ≈15% of cows in the current national herd.
Use of rbST reduces the number of lactating cows required to produce a given quantity of milk by 157 × 103 animals, and also decreases the numbers of associated dry cows and replacement heifers (Table 2). As a consequence, rbST use decreases the total quantities of energy and protein required to maintain the population by 6.3 × 109 MJ metabolizable energy and 61 × 103 metric tonnes (t) of crude protein, respectively. To put these numbers into the context of commonly used feed sources for energy (corn) and protein (soybeans), the nutrient savings are equivalent to 491 × 103 t corn (metabolizable energy = 12.9 MJ/kg) and 158 × 103 t of soybeans (48% crude protein). Supplementing one million lactating cows with rbST also reduces total feedstuff use by 2.3 × 106 t per year, with a parallel reduction in cropland of 219 × 103 ha (Table 2). Cultivation of agricultural land is associated with destabilized soil structures and increased soil erosion (17). Based on average soil losses from arable land (18), the reduction in cropping area conferred by rbST use in one million cows would reduce soil erosion by 2.3 × 106 t per year.
Current annual resources required for a population containing one million rbST-supplemented dairy cows and parameters relating to the environmental impact of producing the same quantity of milk without rbST supplementation
Nutrient flows from animal production systems are of particular environmental concern: only a proportion of the cow's daily N (≈24%; ref. 19) and P (20–40%; ref. 20) intake is captured in milk, with the remainder excreted via feces and urine. Dairy manures therefore contain appreciable quantities of N and P in a ratio that is inefficient in meeting crop nutrient needs (20). Applying sufficient manure to fulfill N requirements (as is often practiced), may saturate the soil's P-holding capacity, allowing excess P to transfer into water courses via surface runoff and increasing the potential for eutrophication to occur. Water quality issues are further exacerbated by acidification resulting from wet deposition of NH4+, NO2, and NO from ammonia and artificial fertilizers (21, 22). A significant proportion of manure N is lost through atmospheric ammonia volatilization, with further losses incurred through denitrification of nitrates to N2O and N2 (23). Improving productive efficiency is therefore invaluable in reducing nutrient flows associated with dairy production (16, 23). This is exemplified by the considerable reductions in N and P excretion (9.6 × 103 t per year and 4.3 × 103 t per year, respectively) that may be achieved with rbST supplementation (Table 2).
Carbon dioxide is recognized to be the most important anthropogenic greenhouse gas (24, 25), with emissions from animal agriculture resulting from two main sources: livestock metabolism and fossil fuel consumption. For one million rbST-supplemented cows, annual savings of 824 × 106 kg of CO2, 41 × 106 kg of CH4, and 9.6 × 103 kg of N2O result from reductions in both population size and feedstuff production (Table 2). This is especially valuable because ruminants contribute 15–20% of global anthropogenic CH4 emissions from enteric fermentation and manure (26). Although this may be altered by dietary manipulation (27, 28), the magnitude of such a decrease is unlikely to reach that achieved by rbST use. Reduced manure production from the smaller population would have a concomitant effect upon N2O emissions that would be equally beneficial (Table 2); livestock-related activities are estimated to account for almost two-thirds of current anthropogenic N2O emissions (27).
The global warming potential (GWP) is an index by which the environmental impact of a given mass of greenhouse gas can be compared on a CO2 equivalent basis (24). Calculating the potential environmental effects of CH4 and N2O emissions as CO2 equivalents is especially pertinent given the current focus on reducing individual "carbon footprints" by decreasing fossil fuel use and offsetting carbon emissions. The total reduction in GWP (CO2 plus CO2 equivalents from CH4 and N2O) conferred by rbST supplementation of one million dairy cows (Table 2) is equivalent to removing ≈400,000 family cars from the road (29) or planting ≈300 million trees (30). Carbon dioxide emissions from the rbST manufacturing process were not accounted for in this assessment, but they represent <1% of the savings conferred by rbST use (R.A.C., unpublished data).
Fossil fuel consumption raises two major environmental concerns: atmospheric pollution and resource sustainability (31). As a consequence of the reduced herd population and total feed requirement from rbST supplementation of one million cows, the energy required from fossil fuels (cropping only) and electricity for milk production is decreased by 729 × 106 MJ per year and 156 × 106 kilowatt hours (kWh) per year, respectively (Table 2). To put these figures into context, the savings in gasoline alone would be sufficient to power ≈1,550 passenger cars, each traveling an average of 12,500 miles per year (32). Furthermore, the total fossil fuel British thermal units (BTU) and electricity savings would provide sufficient annual heat and electricity for ≈16,000 and 15,000 households, respectively (33).
The national environmental impact of dairy production may be best assessed by considering broader indices of the environmental impact of milk production systems, which can then be applied to life cycle assessment (LCA), a method that considers resource inputs and environmental releases over the entire lifespan of a designated product (34). Previous LCA assessment of dairy products concluded that primary production is the major contributor to the total environmental impact (34); e.g., in cheese production, 95% of GWP, 99% of acidification potential (AP), eutrophication potential (EP), and 75% of total electricity and fossil fuel consumption occur at the farm level (35). Thus, the potential environmental impact of milk production systems may be evaluated simply by considering on-farm milk production. It is also necessary to consider the consumer perspective with regard to future U.S. requirements for sustainable milk production. The recent Dietary Guidelines for Americans (3) encourages increased consumption of fruits, vegetables, dairy products (fat-free and low-fat), and whole-grain foods, while staying within caloric recommendations. A substantial increase in milk production is required to meet dietary guidelines as the population increases: to meet the adult RDA of three 8-oz glasses milk per day for the year 2040, the annual quantity of milk produced in the U.S. would have to increase by >22 billion kg compared with 2006 production.
We compared three production systems: conventional, conventional with rbST, and organic. Responses to rbST supplementation are similar between production systems, but we did not analyze the impact of rbST in an organic production, because current U.S. guidelines do not allow its use (www.ams.usda.gov/nop/NOP/standards/ProdHandReg.html). In addition, we did not analyze the environmental impact of specific wastes from organic vs. conventional dairy systems, because these have been comprehensively covered elsewhere (21, 34, 36, 37).
Increased milk requirements necessitate a greater U.S. cow population but, relative to conventional systems, 8% fewer cows are needed in an rbST-supplemented population, whereas organic production systems require a 25% increase to meet production targets (Table 3). The greater number of animals needed to produce a comparable quantity of milk in the organic system results from lower milk yields per cow. This characteristic reduction in yield conferred by pasture-based systems can be attributed to a lack of an adequate supply of nutrients, especially metabolizable energy, and the greater maintenance energy expenditure associated with grazing behavior (38, 39).
Projected environmental impact of different dairy management systems on the production of sufficient milk to meet USDHHS/USDA dietary guidelines
Current U.S. organic dairy production standards stipulate that ruminants must "have access to graze pasture" and that "grazed feed must provide a significant proportion of total feed intake" (www.ams.usda.gov/nop/NOP/standards/ProdHandReg.html). Increased reliance on nutrients from pasture reduces cropland requirements, but this is negated by reduced organic crop yields (40), thus total land area is increased by 30% compared with equivalent milk production from conventional cows (Table 3).
Maintaining land as pasture has environmental advantages in terms of reduced soil erosion and nutrient leaching due to a more stable soil structure, undisturbed by tillage (41, 42). However, provision of dietary energy and protein is asynchronous in a pasture-based system, resulting in less efficient utilization of dietary protein and increased N excretion (39). Therefore, the combination of increased herd size, increased dietary P supply from pasture, and reduced efficiency of dietary N utilization results in a considerable increase in N and P excretion for organic dairy production systems (Table 3).
The environmental impact of the three production systems on water quality was assessed by calculating EP and AP (Table 3). The rbST-supplemented production system had the lowest EP and AP, 5% less than conventional milk production, whereas organic production practices augmented EP (28%) and AP (15%). This concurs with analysis by others comparing organic and conventional production systems, in which EP and AP were increased when expressed per unit of milk produced (36, 37, 43).
Animal agriculture contributes significantly to atmospheric CO2 emissions, but rbST use reduced system GWP by 6.7 × 109 kg per year when compared with conventional production (Table 3). By contrast, organic production increased GWP by 15.7 × 109 kg per year compared with conventional production, concurring with a comparison of U.K.-based organic and conventional production systems (43).
Sustainability is an important consideration in agricultural production, with emphasis placed upon meeting human food requirements while mitigating environmental impact (5). The present study demonstrates that use of rbST markedly improves the efficiency of milk production and mitigates environmental parameters including EP, AP, greenhouse gas emissions, and fossil fuel use. Pretty (5) emphasized it is important to discard ideological principles and arguments against technologies per se and focus on opportunities for improvement offered through of a full range of modern biological approaches. This allows for dairy production systems centered on intensification of resources and use of current management practices and technologies to augment milk production while mitigating adverse effects upon the environment. Results of the present study clearly demonstrate that rbST is a biotechnology product that represents a valuable management tool for use in dairy production to increase productive efficiency and to have less negative effects on the environment than conventional dairying.
Methods and Assumptions
Model 1.
The first model evaluated the environmental impact of rbST use on an individual cow basis, with comparisons expressed per unit of milk. Baseline milk yield for unsupplemented (conventional) cows was 9,050 kg per year (average milk production per cow in the U.S. for 2006; www.ers.usda.gov/publications/ldp). This was equivalent to 28.9 kg per day when adjusted for a 14-mo calving interval (426 d) and a 60-d dry period, determined as 2006 industry standards based on a weighted average of data published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) (44) and a survey of DairyMetrics data (45). Milk fat (3.69%) and true protein (3.05%) represented the U.S. averages for 2006 (46). Supplementation with rbST was modeled according to FDA-approved guidelines (POSILAC, Monsanto), with administration commencing at 57 d postpartum and continuing every 14 d until the end of lactation. Under these guidelines, a cow is eligible for 21.1 doses of rbST per lactation or 18.3 on an annual prorated basis. Milk yield response to rbST was based on data that demonstrated a central tendency toward 4.5 kg per day (47–51).
Nutrient requirements were calculated according to National Research Council (NRC; ref. 38) recommendations based on an average multiparous cow at 650 kg of body weight and 45 mo of age. Mowrey and Spain (11) reported that alfalfa hay, corn silage, dry ground corn grain, and soybean meal were the most commonly used diet ingredients for U.S. dairy herds. Using these as primary ingredients, rations for lactating cows were formulated to meet requirements at predicted dry matter intakes (DMI) according to NRC (38) recommendations for maintenance and milk production. A diet digestibility of 65% was used to calculate manure output at 15% dry matter (52). Daily CH4 production from enteric fermentation was calculated according to the equation derived by Moe and Tyrrell (53) based on the characteristics of the diet. Emissions of CH4 from stored manure were estimated using the formula reported by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA; ref. 54) based on the quantity of volatile solids excreted, maximum CH4-producing potential (0.24 cubic meters per kg of volatile solids), and a CH4 conversion factor (21.7) for liquid systems. Daily N excretion was calculated by subtracting its output in milk (n = 6.38% of milk true protein) from the dietary N supply (n = 6.25% of dietary crude protein). Phosphorus excretion was derived from P intake via the equation developed by Nennich et al. (55).
The environmental impact of one million lactating dairy cows receiving rbST annually was evaluated by using current industry productivity benchmarks. Baseline milk yield and composition, milk yield response to rbST supplementation, ration formulation, and the calculation of manure, CH4, N, and P outputs were as described for Model 1. Using the same performance standards for milk production and reproduction and assuming the lack of any seasonal calving pattern, it was determined that at any point in time, 14.1% of a dairy cow herd would be dry, 13.1% would be lactating but ineligible for rbST supplementation, and rbST-supplemented lactating cows would comprise the remaining 72.8% of the modeled population. Environmental impact was calculated by comparing annual resource inputs and waste output of a population containing one million rbST-supplemented cows, to a comparably managed conventional population of increased size required to produce the same volume of milk.
A change in the size of a milking cow population requires a concomitant change in the replacement heifer population to sustain the population over the longer term. Previous data indicate that rbST use has no significant impact on culling (49, 50); therefore, no adjustment in replacement rate was required. Replacement heifer numbers were modeled based on the aforementioned calving interval, an average age at first calving of 25.5 mo (44), a sex ratio at birth of 49% females (56), a twinning ratio of 5% (57, 58), and published heifer mortality rates (44). The resulting index of 0.83 heifers per cow (milking and dry) was estimated by using USDA data (www.ers.usda.gov/publications/ldp) and was in agreement with the value of 0.83 published by DairyMetrics (45).
Dry cow diets were formulated for requirements at 250 days of gestation and heifer rations formulated based on an average heifer at 12 mo of age, 277 kg of live weight, and 720 g average daily gain (38, 59). The equation developed for lactating cows by Nennich et al. (55) overpredicted dry cow and heifer P excretion; therefore, this was calculated as dietary intake minus requirements for pregnancy and growth.
Manure N2O emissions were calculated as 0.001 kg of N2O per kg of N excreted (54). The GWP of CO2, CH4, and N2O were based on CO2 equivalent factors for a 100-year time period with CO2 = 1, CH4 = 25, and N2O = 298 (24). Carbon dioxide emissions from the animals were calculated based on body weight and milk production according to the equation of Kirchgessner et al. (60). Fuel CO2 emissions from combustion were calculated according to carbon content and efficiency of combustion (29). Crops under conventional tillage were not considered to sequester carbon additional to that emitted through agronomy practices (61).
Average yields and usage of fertilizer (N, P, and K) and pesticides for dietary ingredients were taken from USDA data from 2005 (corn) and 2001 (soybeans) (www.ers.usda.gov/Data/ARMS/app/Crop.aspx). Figures for fuel usage (gasoline, diesel, liquified petroleum gas, natural gas, and electricity) for corn and soybean production were based on Foreman (62) and Foreman and Livezey (63), respectively. The factor conversion from soybeans to soybean meal was 80%.¶ Average alfalfa yields were taken from USDA (www.nass.usda.gov) with inputs for alfalfa production derived from Pimentel and Pimentel (64). Estimates of soil loss from erosion were calculated from USDA/National Resources Conservation Service (18) with annual losses of 4.7 and 5.6 t per ha from wind erosion and water erosion, respectively.
Total water use comprised the herd's free water intake estimated according to Holter (65) and water use for sanitation at a rate of 28.4 liters per day (lactating cows only).‖ Annual electricity use for cattle housing (e.g., lighting and ventilation) was 326 kW per animal, with an additional 247 kW per lactating cow for milk cooling, and storage (www.ansci.cornell.edu/prodairy).
Dietary Guidelines for Americans (3) recommend an increase in dairy product consumption; the third model evaluated the environmental impact of meeting this increased milk requirement under different management systems: conventional, conventional with rbST, and organic production. The total milk requirement was calculated according to the predicted U.S. population of 377 million people for the year 2040 (66) with a daily milk intake of three 8-oz servings as recommended by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (USDHHS)/USDA (3). Projected annual milk and crop yields for the year 2040 were estimated by using a simple linear regression of annual yield data for all years from 1956 to 2006 (www.nass.usda.gov) to determine an annual increment of yield per cow (milk) and per hectare (crops). Average annual increases were 123 kg of milk (r2 = 0.93), 20 kg of corn (r2 = 0.92), 4.2 kg of soybeans (r2 = 0.96), 58 kg of corn silage (r2 = 0.97), and 9.6 kg of alfalfa hay (r2 = 0.98). Milk composition, response to rbST, nutrient requirements, and waste output were calculated for conventional and rbST-supplemented cows as described for Models 1 and 2.
Annual milk yields are significantly decreased under organic management, and we used a value 20% lower than that of conventional systems, based on reported reductions in yield ranging from 14.3% to 26.2% (43, 44, 67, 68). Because of a paucity of available data, the proportion of heifers and dry cow equivalents within the herd was assumed to be equal to those reported for conventional production. Diets for lactating cows and heifers in the organic production system were formulated according to the NRC (38), with 50% of DMI provided by pasture and the remaining nutrients provided from organically produced feedstuffs as used in the conventional system. To avoid oversupplying energy and protein, dry cow diets were based on 20% of DMI provided from pasture. A stocking rate of 2.3 cows per ha, recommended as the optimum for pasture use on Northeast U.S. dairy farms (69), was used to calculate total pasture requirements. Adjustment factors of 0.92, 0.92, and 0.83 were used to model crop yields from corn grain/silage, alfalfa, and soybeans, respectively, compared with conventional crop production (www.ers.usda.gov/Data/ARMS/app/Crop.aspx; ref. 40).
Reference values for ammonia emissions were taken from Rumburg et al. (70). System EP was calculated as the sum of PO4 equivalents estimated using coefficients for PO4 (1.00), N2O (0.44), and NH3 (0.43), as described by Williams et al. (43). Similarly, AP was defined as the sum of SO2 equivalents produced by multiplying N2O and NH3 by their respective SO2 coefficients (N2O = 0.70; NH3 = 1.88) as reported by Ogino et al. (71). Calculations of EP and AP were based on emissions from animals and manure only. Results relating to the environmental impact of conventional with rbST or organic production systems were expressed as an index relative to the conventional system.
This work was supported in part by funding provided by the Liberty Hyde Bailey Professorship in College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University and by the Cornell Agricultural Experiment Station.
§To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: deb6{at}cornell.edu
Author contributions: J.L.C., E.C.-G., R.A.C., and D.E.B. designed research; J.L.C., E.C.-G., R.A.C., and D.E.B. performed research; J.L.C., E.C.-G., R.A.C., and D.E.B. contributed new reagents/analytic tools; J.L.C., E.C.-G., R.A.C., and D.E.B. analyzed data; and J.L.C., E.C.-G., R.A.C., and D.E.B. wrote the paper.
↵†Present address: Nestlé Research Center, Ver-Chez-les-Blanc Case Postale 44, 1000 Lausanne 26, Switzerland.
Conflict of interest statement: R.A.C. is a full-time employee of Monsanto, holding the position of Technical Project Manager for POSILAC rbST with the primary responsibility of ensuring the scientific integrity of Monsanto publications about POSILAC; he also owns Monsanto stock. D.E.B. consults for Monsanto in areas outside the environmental impact area and owns no Monsanto stock. J.L.C. and E.C.-G. have no conflict of interest.
↵¶ Toride Y, Expert Consultation and Workshop, April 23–May 3, 2002, Bangkok, Thailand.
↵‖ Brugger M, American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, Annual International Meeting, July 9–12, 2006, Portland, OR, paper no. 064035.
© 2008 by The National Academy of Sciences of the USA
United Nations Population Division
(2005) Long-Range World Population Projections: Based on the 1998 Revision (United Nations Population Division, New York).
Bauman DE
(1992) Bovine somatotropin: Review of an emerging animal technology. J Dairy Sci 75:3432–3451.
US Department of Health and Human Services and US Department of Agriculture
(2005) Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005 (US Government Printing Office, Washington, DC), 6th Ed..
Buzby JC,
Wells HF,
Vocke G
(2006) Economic Research Report no. 31, Possible Implications for U.S. Agriculture from Adoption of Select Dietary Guidelines (US Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC).
Pretty J
(2008) Agricultural sustainability: Concepts, principles and evidence. Philo Trans R Soc London Ser B 363:447–465.
(1999) Bovine somatotropin and lactation: From basic science to commercial application. Domes Anim Endocrinol 17:101–116.
National Research Council
(1994) Metabolic Modifiers: Effects on the Nutrient Requirements of Food-Producing Animals (Natl Acad Press, Washington, DC).
Johnson DE,
Ward GM,
Torrent J
(1992) The environmental impact of bovine somatotropin use in dairy cattle. J Environ Qual 21:157–162.
Bauman DE,
McCutcheon SN,
Steinhour WD,
Eppard PJ,
Sechen SJ
(1985) Sources of variation and prospects for improvement of productive efficiency in the dairy cow: A review. J Anim Sci 60:583–592.
VandeHaar MJ,
St-Pierre N
(2006) Major advances in nutrition: Relevance to the sustainability of the dairy industry. J Dairy Sci 89:1280–1291.
Mowrey A,
Spain JN
(1999) Results of a nationwide survey to determine feedstuffs fed to lactating dairy cows. J Dairy Sci 82:445–451.
Van Horn HH,
Newton GL,
Kunkle WE
(1996) Ruminant nutrition from an environmental perspective; Factors affecting whole-farm nutrient balance. J Anim Sci 74:3082–3102.
Steinfeld H,
(2006) Livestock's Long Shadow: Environmental Issues and Options (Food and Agriculture Organization, Rome).
Jonker JS,
Kohn RA,
High J
(2002) Dairy herd management practices that impact nitrogen utilization efficiency. J Dairy Sci 85:1218–1226.
Dunlap TF,
Dahl GE,
Varner M,
Erdman RA
(2000) The impact of somatotropin, milking frequency and photoperiod on dairy farm nutrient flows. J Dairy Sci 83:968–976.
Bosch DJ,
Wolfe ML,
Knowlton KF
(2006) Reducing phosphorus runoff from dairy farms. J Environ Qual 35:918–927.
Montgomery DR
(2007) Soil erosion and agricultural sustainability. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 104:13268–13272.
US Department of Agriculture/National Resources Conservation Service
(2007) 2003 Annual National Resources Inventory: Soil Erosion (US Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC).
Dou Z,
Ferguson JD,
Boston RD
(1997) A sensitivity analysis of nitrogen losses from dairy farms. J Environ Manage 50:417–428.
Knowlton KF,
Radcliffe JS,
Novak CL,
Emmerson DA
(2004) Animal management to reduce phosphorus losses to the environment. J Anim Sci 82:E173–E195.
Thomassen MA,
Van Calker KJ,
Smits MCJ,
Iepema GL,
de Boer IJM
(2008) Life cycle assessment of conventional and organic milk production in the Netherlands. Agr Syst 96:95–107.
Camargo JA,
Alonso A
(2006) Ecological and toxicological effects of inorganic nitrogen pollution in aquatic ecosystems: A global assessment. Environ Int 32:831–849.
Rotz CA
(2004) Management to reduce nitrogen losses in animal production. J Anim Sci 82:E119–E137.
(2007) Climate Change 2007: The Physical Basis (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Geneva).
Lassey KR
(2007) Livestock methane emission: From the individual grazing animal through national inventories to the global methane cycle. Agric For Meteor 142:12–132.
(2003) Air Emissions from Animal Feeding Operations: Current Knowledge, Future Needs (Natl Acad Press, Washington, DC).
Council for Agricultural Science and Technology
(2004) Task Force Report no. 141, Climate Change and Greenhouse Gas Mitigation: Challenges and Opportunities for Agriculture (Council for Agricultural Science and Technology, Ames, IA).
Grainger C,
(2008) Use of Monensin controlled-release capsules to reduce methane emissions and improve milk production of dairy cows offered pasture supplemented with grain. J Dairy Sci 91:1159–1165.
(2007) Annex 2: Methodology and Data for Estimating CO2 Emissions from Fossil Fuel Combustion, Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks 1990-2005 (US Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC).
Sampson RN,
Hair D
, eds (1996) Forests and Global Change (American Forests, Washington, DC), Vol II.
Edinger R,
Kaul S
(2000) Humankind's detour towards sustainability: Past, present, and future of renewable energies and electric power generation. Renew Sust Energy Rev 4:295–313.
(2004) Motor Vehicle Mileage, Fuel Consumption and Fuel Rates, 1949-2004 (Energy Information Administration, Washington, DC).
(2001) Households by Urban Rural Location, 2001, Total Energy Consumption in U.S (Energy Information Administration, Washington, DC).
Foster C,
(2006) Environmental Impacts of Food Production and Consumption: A Report to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Manchester Business School/Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs, London).
Berlin J
(2002) Environmental LCA of Swedish hard cheese. Int Dairy J 12:939–953.
Cederberg C,
Mattsson B
(2000) Life cycle assessment of milk production–A comparison of conventional and organic farming. J Clean Prod 8:49–60.
(2003) Environmental impact assessment of conventional and organic milk production. Livest Prod Sci 80:69–77.
(2001) Nutrient Requirements of Dairy Cattle (Natl Acad Press, Washington, DC), 7th Ed..
Kolver ES
(2003) Nutritional limitations to increased production on pasture-based systems. Proc Nutr Soc 62:291–300.
Porter PM,
Huggins DR,
Perillo CA,
Quiring SR,
Crookston RK
(2003) Organic and other management strategies with two- and four-year crop rotations in Minnesota. Agron J 95:233–244.
(2008) In search of sustainable agricultural systems for the Llano Estacado of the U.S. Southern High Plains. Agr Ecosyst Environ 124:3–12.
Hobbs PR,
Sayre K,
Gupta R
(2007) The role of conservation agriculture in sustainable agriculture. Philos Trans R Soc London Ser B 363:543–555.
Williams AG,
Audsley E,
Sandars DL
(2006) DEFRA Research Project ISO205, Determining the Environmental Burdens and Resource Use in the Production of Agricultural and Horticultural Commodities (Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs, London).
(2007) Dairy 2007 Part 1: Reference of Dairy Cattle Health and Management Practices in the United States, 2007 (US Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC).
Dairy Records Management Systems
(2008) DairyMetrics Report (Dairy Records Management Systems, Raleigh, NC).
US Department of Agriculture/Agricultural Monitoring Service
(2007) Federal Milk Order Market Statistics 2006 (US Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC).
Hartnell GF,
(1991) Evaluation of sometribove in a prolonged-release system in lactating dairy cows–Production responses. J Dairy Sci 74:2645–2663.
Pell AN,
(1992) Effects of a prolonged-release formulation of sometribove (n-methionyl bovine somatotropin) on Jersey cows. J Dairy Sci 75:3416–3431.
Ruegg PL,
Fabellar A,
Hintz RL
(1998) Effect of the use of bovine somatotropin on culling practices in thirty-two dairy herds in Indiana, Michigan and Ohio. J Dairy Sci 81:1262–1266.
Everett RW,
Weiland WH,
Collier RJ
(1999) Production responses to bovine somatotropin in northeast dairy herds. J Dairy Sci 82:2564–2573.
Collier RJ,
(2001) Effects of sustained release bovine somatotropin (Sometribove) on animal health in commercial dairy herds. J Dairy Sci 84:1098–1108.
Dado RG,
Allen MS
(1995) Intake limitations, feeding behavior and rumen function if cows challenged with rumen fill from dietary fiber or inert bulk. J Dairy Sci 78:118–133.
Moe PW,
Tyrrell HF
(1979) Methane production in dairy cows. J Dairy Sci 62:1583–1586.
(2007) Annex 3: Methodological Descriptions for Additional Source or Sink Categories, Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks 1990-2005 (US Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC).
Nennich TD,
(2005) Prediction of manure and nutrient excretion from dairy cattle. J Dairy Sci 88:3721–3733.
Cady RA,
Van Vleck LD
(1978) Factors affecting twinning and effects of twinning in Holstein dairy cattle. J Anim Sci 46:950–956.
Johanson JM,
Berger PJ,
Kilpatrick BW,
Dentine MR
(2001) Twinning rates for North American Holstein sires. J Dairy Sci 84:2081–2088.
Silva del Rio N,
Stewart S,
Rapnicki P,
Chang YM,
Fricke PM
(2007) An observation analysis of twin births, calf sex ratio, and calf mortality in Holstein dairy cattle. J Dairy Sci 90:1255–1264.
Heinrich J,
Lammers B
(1998) Monitoring Dairy Heifer Growth (Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA).
Kirchgessner M,
Windisch W,
Müller HL,
Kreuzer M
(1991) Release of methane and of carbon dioxide by dairy cattle. Agribiol Res 44:2–9.
West TO,
Marland G
(2002) A synthesis of carbon sequestration, carbon emissions, and net carbon flux in agriculture: comparing tillage practices in the United States. Agric Ecosys Environ 91:217–232.
Foreman L
(2006) USDA Economic Research Service Economic Information Bulletin Number 7, Characteristics and Production Costs of US Corn Farms, 2001 (US Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service, Washington, DC).
Foreman L,
Livezey J
(2002) USDA Statistical Bulletin Number 974-4, Characteristics and Production Costs of US Soybean Farms (US Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service, Washington, DC).
Pimentel A,
Pimentel M
(1996) Food Energy and Society (Univ Press of Colorado, Boulder, CO).
Holter JB
(1992) Water partitioning and intake prediction in dry and lactating Holstein cows. J Dairy Sci 75:1472–1479.
US Census Bureau
(2000) Annual Projections of the Total Resident Population, as of July 1: Middle, Lowest and Highest, and Zero International Migration Series, 1999 to 2100 (US Census Bureau, Washington, DC).
Zwald AG,
(2004) Management practices and reported antimicrobial usage on conventional and organic dairy farms. J Dairy Sci 87:191–201.
Sato K,
Bartlett PC,
Erskine RJ,
Kaneene JB
(2005) A comparison of production and management between Wisconsin organic and conventional herds. Livest Prod Sci 93:105–115.
McCall DG,
Clark DA
(1999) Optimized dairy grazing systems in the Northeast United States and New Zealand. II. System Analysis. J Dairy Sci 82:1808–1816.
Rumburg B,
Mount GH,
Filipy J,
Lamb B,
Westberg H
(2008) Measurement and modeling of atmospheric flux of ammonia from dairy milking cow housing. Atmos Environ 42:3364–3379.
Ogino A,
Katu K,
Osada T,
Shimada K
(2004) Environmental impacts of the Japanese beef-fattening system with different feeding lengths as evaluated by a life-cycle assessment method. J Anim Sci 82:2115–2122.
You are going to email the following The environmental impact of recombinant bovine somatotropin (rbST) use in dairy production
Judith L. Capper, Euridice Castañeda-Gutiérrez, Roger A. Cady, Dale E. Bauman
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Jul 2008, 105 (28) 9668-9673; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0802446105


3 Walnut Hill Rd is a single family residence located in Ridgefield, CT 06877. Built in 1968, this property features 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, 3.12 acres lot, and 2,186 sq ft of living space. The estimated market value for 3 Walnut Hill Rd is $532,000.
For the surrounding community of Ridgefield, CT 06877, the average sale price for similar homes to 3 Walnut Hill Rd is $616,524. The nearby schools are excellent and include Ridgefield High School, Scotts Ridge Middle School and Scotland Elementary School. The overall crime risk for this area is very low. The natural disaster risk for this area includes very low earthquake risk, medium tornado risk, and minimal flood risk.
As of 03/2019, 10 properties were in some stage of foreclosure or bank-owned in the zip code surrounding 3 Walnut Hill Rd Ridgefield Connecticut 06877IF(10|, and 10 properties were in in some stage of foreclosure or bank-owned in Ridgefield. 3 Walnut Hill Rd is in a state where 3,303 properties were in some stage of foreclosure or bank-owned as of 03/2019, while there were 430,849 properties in some stage of foreclosure or bank-owned nationwide.


text:
Q: Overriding OMP_NUM_THREADS from code - for real All the answers I was able to find so far suggest calling omp_set_num_threads. While it's a proper answer for most cases, it doesn't work for me. Internally, calling omp_set_num_threads causes a creation of per-thread ICV  (or modification, if current thread already has one), and the number of threads is stored there. This means that if there is a different thread, that starts a parallel region, it won't see our new value. So calling omp_set_num_threads != setting OMP_NUM_THREADS env variable.
Is there a way to change global ICV?
Side note - why would I want to to this: I'm working with a library spawns a worker thread for me, so I don't really control it's life-cycle.
Simplest example to reproduce:
export OMP_NUM_THREADS=3
#include <omp.h>
#include <iostream>
#include <thread>

void job() {
  #pragma omp parallel
  {
    if (omp_get_thread_num() == 0) {
      std::cout << "Num threads:" << omp_get_num_threads() << std::endl;
    }
  };
}

int main () {
  omp_set_num_threads(2);
  #pragma omp parallel
  {
    if (omp_get_thread_num() == 0) {
      std::cout << "Num threads:" << omp_get_num_threads() << std::endl;
    }
  };
  std::thread t(job);
  t.join();
}

This produces
Num threads:2
Num threads:3

A: The problem with what you're trying to achieve is outside of OpenMP's specification.  OpenMP assumes that it's the only programming model in the application process and thus it does know anything about what happens when you create a new thread that also executes OpenMP code.
Specifically, for your problem: the ICV num-threads is a thread-private ICV, that means, that a call to omp_set_num_threads() only affects the ICV stored in the thread that calls omp_set_num_threads().
So, the new std::thread will receive a new copy that initialized from the envionment variable.  You won't be able to change it from the master thread that spawned the new thread.

A:
Overriding OMP_NUM_THREADS from code...

Change this:
int main () {
  omp_set_num_threads(2);
  #pragma omp parallel
  {
    if (omp_get_thread_num() == 0) {
      std::cout << "Num threads:" << omp_get_num_threads() << std::endl;
    }
  };
  std::thread t(job);
  t.join();
}

to this:
int main () {
  #pragma omp parallel num_threads(2)
  {
    if (omp_get_thread_num() == 0) {
      std::cout << "Num threads:" << omp_get_num_threads() << std::endl;
    }
  };
  std::thread t(job);
  t.join();
}

I believe that works with Microsoft compilers, which are stuck somewhere around 2003 for OpenMP. The 2003 release of OpenMP is roughly version 2.0 or 2.1, if I recall correctly.
Also see Difference between num_threads vs. omp_set_num_threads vs OMP_NUM_THREADS.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


It's pretty difficult to score if you don't have goals, yet many companies approach content and social media marketing without clear business outcomes defined. Whether it's to acquire new customers and grow business revenue to facilitating online PR, recruiting and customer service effectiveness, identifying objectives and the steps to reach them are essential. This chapter will cover setting business goals to be achieved through a content marketing strategy with a particular emphasis on the amplifying effect of search and social media.


text:
package powermock.examples.tutorial.staticmocking;

/**
 * An interface to be implemented by services that performs service registrations.
 */
public interface IServiceRegistrator
{
   /**
    * Registers a service to the service framework.
    *
    * @param name                  The name of the service the register.
    * @param serviceImplementation The implementation of the service.
    * @return An id of the service that got registered. Should be used when
    *         unregistering the service.
    */
   long registerService(String name, Object serviceImplementation);

   /**
    * Unregisters a service from the service framework.
    *
    * @param id The id of the service that should be removed. The id was
    *           generated by {@link #registerService(String, Object)}.
    * @throws IllegalStateException If this ServiceRegistration object has already
    *                               been unregistered.
    */
   void unregisterService(long id);
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Emergosol Ltd is a family business founded in 2003 by Anne Langan, daughter Emma Rogers and son-in-law, Hugo Franco. In 2015 Miguel Langan also joined as a partner.
Emergosol´s main activity is exporting fresh produce to England, France, Brasil, Morroco, Holand, Spain, Ireland, Italy, Croatia, Switzerland and Poland.
With extensive long term experience of working with the British market, bi-lingual abilites and technical qualifications, Emergosol endeavors to meet every demand made by theis customers.
The development of good agricultural practices in Portugal to provide safe, quality produce.
Our ultimate goal is to reduce interim costs and negative environmental impact to the minimum by using the most direct routes to the final consumer and therefore place competitively priced Portuguese produce in the market whilst maximizing returns to the grower.
The purpose is to provide a reception service for our smaller growers and to pack graded fruit to individual customers specific requirements.
Construction of the initial phase was concluded at the end of 2010. Volumes packed are increasing daily and subsequent expansions have followed.
Currently the our packhouse has 2000m2, of which 300m2 is cold storage. We are equipped with two netting and labelling machines, one flowpack machine and an automatic bagging line.
All our produce has GLOBALGAP certification and some also have TESCO Nature and F2F.
Emergosol works closely with growers of a wide range of produce throughout Portugal to meet strict customer specifications.
Our extensive technical team accompanies growers and packing to maintain a high standard of quality and to make sure all products comply to technical requirements.
In 2013, Emergosol and Growers joined a Producers Organization, Carmo & Silvério S.A. This venture enhanced Emergosol´s range of products and increased packing capacity.
During the same year, Emergosol also acquired a 80 ha stone fruit orchard located in Elvas - Herdade D. Isabel.
In 2014 Emergosol also invested in a 20 ha farm - Geração Genuína, located in Torres Vedras, to grow exotic vegetables.
We dedicate our lives to this land.


Retiring from posting at year's end, but will be around to comment, so you are not off the hook.
Changed to the avatar I use at DA for those who are still confused.
Showcasing upgraded 'erodite' and my own stories.
Not sure this is right for what I hoped to do. Will have to think about it.
I'm reposting the works of erodite, my former student who has left this genre for other possibilities. Let me know if you approve.


text:
Q: OpenXML escaping illegal characters I am doing some string replacement within a Word Docx file using OpenXML Power Tools and it is working as expected. However things break when I have invalid characters in the substitution such as ampersand, so for instance "Harry & Sally" will break and produce an invalid document. According to this post illegal characters need to be converted to xHHHH.
I am having trouble finding the contents to the OOXML clause mentioned in the post and hence escaping characters appropriately.
I am hoping someone either has some code or insights into exactly what characters need to be escaped. I was also hopeful OpenXML Power Tools could do this for me in some way, but I cannot seem to find anything in there either.

A: The specification is just talking about the standard set of characters that have to be escaped in XML. The XML specification mentioned in the linked post is the one from the W3C, found here.
There are five characters that need to be escaped anywhere they appear in XML data (names, values, etc) unless they are part of a CDATA section. According to Section 2.4:

The ampersand character (&) and the left angle bracket (<) must not appear in their literal form, except when used as markup delimiters, or within a comment, a processing instruction, or a CDATA section. If they are needed elsewhere, they must be escaped using either numeric character references or the strings " & " and " < " respectively. The right angle bracket (>) may be represented using the string " > ", and must, for compatibility, be escaped using either " > " or a character reference when it appears in the string " ]]> " in content, when that string is not marking the end of a CDATA section.
To allow attribute values to contain both single and double quotes, the apostrophe or single-quote character (') may be represented as " ' ", and the double-quote character (") as " " ".

In other words, escape the following characters:
' -> '
" -> "
> -> >
< -> <
& -> &

Typically, you wouldn't encode these as xHHHH, you'd use the XML entities listed above, but either is allowed. You also don't need to encode quotes or the right-angle bracket in every case, only when they would otherwise represent XML syntax, but it's usually safer to do it all the time.
The XML specification also includes the list of every Unicode character that can appear in an XML document, in section 2.2:

Char     ::=      #x9 | #xA | #xD | [#x20-#xD7FF] | [#xE000-#xFFFD] | [#x10000-#x10FFFF]

That list includes basically every Unicode character in the Basic plane (every one you're likely to run into), except for the control characters. Only the tab, CR, and LF characters are allowed -- any other character below ASCII 32 (space) needs to be escaped.
The big gap in the list (0xD800-0xDFF) is for surrogate encoding values, which shouldn't appear by themselves anyway, as they're not valid characters. The last two, 0xFFFE and 0xFFFF, are also not valid characters.

A: I created an extension method with help from Michael Edenfield's answer. Pretty self explanatory... just make sure you replace the ampersands first! Otherwise you will end up replacing your other escaped symbols by mistake.
public static string EscapeXmlCharacters(this string input)
{
    switch (input)
    {
        case null: return null;
        case "": return "";
        default:
        {
            input = input.Replace("&", "&")
                .Replace("'", "'")
                .Replace("\"", """)
                .Replace(">", ">")
                .Replace("<", "<");

            return input;
        }
    }
}

.NET Fiddle: https://dotnetfiddle.net/PCqffy


TAIPEI (AFP) - As Taiwan's economy stagnates, claw crane arcades, where customers lower a grabber to try to pick up a prize from a glass box, are booming as affordable entertainment, while operators see them as a way to make a fast buck.
The concept is simple - for as little as NT$10 (S$0.44), customers can manually lower a metal claw into a pile of prizes, which are usually soft toys but can also include electronic gadgets and fashion accessories.
A whole culture has built up around the craze - enthusiasts give online tutorials on how to most effectively manoeuvre the claw while other websites are devoted to swapping toy prizes.
For Ms Albee Chou, 34, playing the crane machine in her neighbourhood arcade in Taipei is a cheap way to find a gift for her daughter. A skilled player, she quickly picks up a few Hello Kitty storage boxes.
"It's actually cheaper than buying from a shop. Plus, it's more fun," said Ms Chou.
The toy claw evolved from "digger" machines in 1930s America. The early versions were purely mechanical in design and picked up candy.
A more sophisticated electric version quickly spread to Asia in the late 1970s, and the last few years have seen a surge in their popularity in Taiwan and South Korea.
Mr Nick Chang, 31, leased two claw machines inside a recently opened arcade in a Taipei residential district.
Like most neighbourhood arcades, the 40 toy claws inside are sublet to various owners who then stock them with toys of their choice. Rental fees for each console range between NT$3,000 in this arcade to NT$10,000 in busy entertainment districts.
Mr Chang has stocked his claw machine with Japanese action figures.
"I don't have to be in the shop 24 hours a day, which means I can keep my full-time job," said Mr Chang who works as a magazine photographer.
He makes around NT$10,000 monthly profit per machine, which is more than most operators.
The average monthly revenue for a machine is only about NT$5,000, but with Taiwan's average monthly income including bonuses stuck at NT$50,000, many feel it is a decent return.
"I make more because I am constantly looking for cheaper sources for my toys and I have many returning customers," said Mr Chang.
Finding the right prize can be key - Mr Ken Chuang, 38, has a claw machine inside the same arcade as Mr Chang. Once, he stocked it with underwear resembling Calvin Klein briefs, and found it emptied after two hours.
"Someone must have thought they were the real thing!" he laughed.
There are more than 100 Facebook pages in Taiwan dedicated to claw machines, with tens of thousands of members who share their experiences and tips on the latest trends and swap merchandise.
The craze has even prompted Taiwan's Central Bank to announce that it will issue more NT$10 coins in 2019 to meet demand sparked by the game.
Mr Lo Chi-fu, a radio presenter who hosts a financial programme, says young people are particularly drawn to supplementing poor incomes and often club together with friends to lease a machine, though he feels the number of machines in Taiwan markets has reached saturation point.
But for some it's simply about the buzz of playing.
Restaurant worker Steven Wu, in his 20s, has just spent six hours playing and admits he has spent "quite a lot".
"It's like winning the lottery," he tells AFP. "The thrill when the prize falls into the chute."


Children are not small adults. It is important to have an accurate diagnosis of hearing loss in infants and young children and this requires comprehensive tests suitable for paediatrics. Our team has extensive experience in the assessment and treatment of paediatric patients with all types of hearing disorders. They are well supported by our centre's specialized paediatric facilities and state-of-the art equipment.
A quick and automatic test to check a newborn's hearing after birth.
This is a diagnostic test performed on young children to measure their hearing levels. Recording pads are placed on the forehead and behind the ears to record brainstem activity while sounds are played.
Also performed on young children, this test measures brain activity while listening to tones of varying frequency and intensity. The results are detected objectively using statistical formulae to determine the presence or absence of a true hearing response. ASSR is usually performed with ABR to evaluate hearing levels.
A test used to measure the inner hair cell function of the cochlea, and can be used as a simple screening tool for hearing loss.
Similar to adult tympanometry, this middle ear function test is suitable for babies less than 6 months old.
This test helps evaluate the hearing in children between 12 and 30 months of age. It uses conditioned head turn responses to a sound stimulus. A video clip (eg. cartoon animation) is often used to reward a correct response.
This is a test to evaluate the hearing in children who are 30 months or older. The child is conditioned to perform a listening task by playing a game, such as putting pegs in a board each time a sound is heard.


Adapting into a plain English writing style accentuates the odds the common audience will comprehend your content the initial time he or she scans it. Instructors also needs to provide the youngsters proper directions for each sort of article which they have to write. Each post may have a massive assortment of phrases, or possibly a very simple term. To some, creating a paragraph might be an effortless task. Evernote functions properly as a quite simple wordprocessor and has some easy format resources. The first protected the simple essay structure. In the big event the test is approved, the author will begin at level 1. Don't speak about just how much you really like an artist. It's additionally a terrific spot for writers to receive their feet wet in freelancing. I employed to become an specialist webdesigner.
Pupils may have difficulty in adjusting their very own profession expectations. Style is an essential portion of creating abilities. You may additionally have a concern writing what you would like to write because of decrees produced by a teacher. The trick to getting at least one of these enterprises function is actually to undertake them as serious small-scale company activities. I'm hoping to gain an net recognition. It is difficult to opportunity up on a decent composing job contemplating each of the ripoffs. The very best authors are the types which are amusing. This insightful post has some beneficial recommendations on utilizing the tremendous demand for freelance writing professionals.
You've got the ability to take your own reader to locations which you have visited. You'll turn into a much better author, you'll locate some procedure to get published, and opportunities are honest you are going to be financially paid also. Whether you design your own site, or visit a webdesigner for help, you are going to appreciate having tons of writing and images prepared to use. I wish to do an additional website in combination with a novel I'm creating. Though the program is small in proportion, it is quite effective and can keep thousands of articles. Write explanations of your own ideal website guests. Writing about something which everyone else writes about wont do along with writing on something not too many males and ladies reveal.
Dont flare, since these folks are learning the most useful way to write. The ideal approach would be to write. This is really typically referred to as the topic word and it'll provide the audience an idea in what the remainder of the paragraph something to construct upon. Your initial action in writing any proposition ought to be to gather information regarding the celebration who'll judge your proposition. It uses that the amazing better portion of the article needs to be provided up to grading the dissertation. Its needed to arrange your way of the topic matter the amount to which you must remember, examine and grasp the applicable books about the topic, the problems you desire to discuss, and also the way the conversation will likely be framed. NOW you might start your research study and begin spellingchecker.org composing the thesis.
However, once the value is found the miner is rewarded with Ether.
A terrific title sums up just what the composition is about. In case your articles or documents are on the internet title plays an important part in the entire phenomenon. Portion of that attention, as stated previously, consists of ensuring the counter argument and rebuttal don't takeover the composition. Below are some wonderful article subjects that kids may possibly detect simple to write. Letisn't talk about books. With the assistance of a splendid name, it is possible to influence a novel buyer to purchase your book. As you'll read within my book.


Abstract. The interferometric coherence map derived from the cross-correlation of two complex registered synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images is the reflection of imaged targets. In many applications, it can act as an independent information source, or give additional information complementary to the intensity image. Specially, the statistical properties of the coherence are of great importance in land cover classification, segmentation and change detection. However, compared to the amount of work on the statistical characters of SAR intensity, there are quite fewer researches on interferometric SAR (InSAR) coherence statistics. And to our knowledge, all of the existing work that focuses on InSAR coherence statistics, models the coherence with Gaussian distribution with no discrimination on data resolutions or scene types. But the properties of coherence may be different for different data resolutions and scene types. In this paper, we investigate on the coherence statistics for high resolution data over urban areas, by making a comparison of the accuracy of several typical statistical models. Four typical land classes including buildings, trees, shadow and roads are selected as the representatives of urban areas. Firstly, several regions are selected from the coherence map manually and labelled with their corresponding classes respectively. Then we try to model the statistics of the pixel coherence for each type of region, with different models including Gaussian, Rayleigh, Weibull, Beta and Nakagami. Finally, we evaluate the model accuracy for each type of region. The experiments on TanDEM-X data show that the Beta model has a better performance than other distributions.
How to cite: Zhang, Y., Fu, K., Sun, X., Xu, G., and Wang, H.: MODEL ACCURACY COMPARISON FOR HIGH RESOLUTION INSAR COHERENCE STATISTICS OVER URBAN AREAS, Int. Arch. Photogramm. Remote Sens. Spatial Inf. Sci., XLI-B7, 753-756, https://doi.org/10.5194/isprs-archives-XLI-B7-753-2016, 2016.


text:
Zygadenia siniestri is een keversoort uit de familie Ommatidae. De wetenschappelijke naam van de soort is voor het eerst geldig gepubliceerd in 2006 door Soriano & Delclòs.

Ommatidae

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Wyclif's legacy in Central Europe in the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries'
K. Walsh
In Anne Hudson & Michael Wilks (eds.), From Ockham to Wyclif. Published for the Ecclesiastical History Society by B. Blackwell. pp. 397--417 (1987)
@incollection{Walsh1987-WALWLI, title = {Wyclif's Legacy in Central Europe in the Late Fourteenth and Early Fifteenth Centuries'}, booktitle = {From Ockham to Wyclif}, pages = {397--417}, publisher = {Published for the Ecclesiastical History Society by B. Blackwell}, editor = {Anne Hudson and Michael Wilks}, author = {K. Walsh}, year = {1987} }
Walsh, K. (1987). Wyclif's legacy in Central Europe in the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries'. In Anne Hudson & Michael Wilks (eds.), From Ockham to Wyclif. Published for the Ecclesiastical History Society by B. Blackwell. pp. 397--417.
European Ideas of Peace in the Late Thirteenth and Early Fourteenth Centuries.Takashi Shogimen - 2010 - The European Legacy 15 (7):871-885.
The theory of consequence in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries.E. J. Ashworth - 1973 - Notre Dame Journal of Formal Logic 14 (3):289-315.
What Was History?: The Art of History in Early Modern Europe.Anthony Grafton - 2007 - Cambridge University Press.
Astronomical Observations in the Maghrib in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries.Julio Samsó - 2001 - Science in Context 14 (1-2):165-178.
Trinitarian Theology and Philosophical Issues: Trinitarian Texts from the Late Thirteenth and Early Fourteenth Centuries.Russell Friedman - 2001 - Cahiers de l'Institut du Moyen-Âge Grec Et Latin 72:89-168.
Reflections on italian medical writings of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.Nancy G. Siraisi - 1983 - In Joseph Warren Dauben & Virginia Staudt Sexton (eds.), History and Philosophy of Science: Selected Papers. New York Academy of Sciences.
Anmeldelse: Touliatos-Banker, Diane H., The Byzantine Amomos Chant of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries (Analecta Vlatadon, 46).Christian Troelsgård - 1991 - Speculum 65:1064-1065.
Hebrew philosophy in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries: an overview.Charles H. Manekin - 1997 - In Daniel H. Frank & Oliver Leaman (eds.), History of Jewish Philosophy. Routledge. pp. 2--350.
Announcement: FORMESTH-Aesthetic Formalism in Central Europe in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries (Aesthetics in Central Europe).Tomáš Hlobil - 2011 - Estetika: The European Journal of Aesthetics:119-120.
Stanisław Staszic: An Early Surveyor of the Geology of Central and Eastern Europe.Algimantas Grigelis, Zbigniew Wójcik, Wojciech Narębski, Leonora Živilė Gelumbauskaitė & Jan Kozák - 2011 - Annals of Science 68 (2):199-228.
The Distinctiveness of Central Europe in Light of the Cascadeness of the Historical Process.Krzysztof Brzechczyn - 2009 - Poznan Studies in the Philosophy of the Sciences and the Humanities 97 (1):231-268.
Mental Language and Italian Scholasticism in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries.Alfonso Maierù - 2004 - In Russell L. Friedman & Sten Ebbesen (eds.), John Buridan and Beyond: Topics in the Language Sciences, 1300-1700. Commission Agent, C.A. Reitzel. pp. 89--33.
Spanish Paintings of the Fifteenth through Nineteenth Centuries.Terence Dawson - 2014 - The European Legacy 19 (1):1-2.
The Return of Lucretius to Renaissance Florence.Alison Brown - 2010 - Harvard University Press.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
.

Varianti
Serbo
Alterati: Пеђа (Peđa)

Origine e diffusione
Deriva dal termine slavo dragu ("prezioso", da cui anche i nomi Dragomir e Dragan), combinato con un prefisso superlativo, e può quindi essere interpretato come "preziosissimo"; per significato è analogo al nome Preziosa.

È il nome di uno dei due fratelli protagonisti della canzone popolare Predrag e Nenad (dalla quale è tratto anche il nome Nenad).

Onomastico
Il nome è adespota, ossia privo di santo patrono; l'onomastico ricorre quindi il 1º novembre, in occasione di Ognissanti.

Persone

Predrag Bjelac, attore serbo
Predrag Bojić, calciatore australiano
Predrag Danilović, cestista e dirigente sportivo jugoslavo
Predrag Matvejević, scrittore e accademico croato
Predrag Mijatović, calciatore e dirigente sportivo montenegrino
Predrag Nikolić, scacchista bosniaco
Predrag Stojaković, cestista serbo
Predrag Vranicki, filosofo croato

Note

Altri progetti

Prenomi di origine slava


For Whom Do You Sew?
I was attacked by a virus last Thursday. It took until Monday to get rid of it and me back on track. Yesterday was a catch up day. Hopefully, I won't get another one of those lovely things. If you want to know the truth, I think I got it from another blogger, because I was reading along on a blog, and everything closed zip, zap, zowee!! Just like that! I could restart my pc and work on anything that was local, no problemo. I could send and receive email, and I had internet access, but when I would attempt to open Internet Explorer, I'd get a message saying 'failure to initialize'. We ran one virus scan 4 times on Friday, and again on Monday. Each time finding something I hadn't seen before. Then we changed to another virus checking software and found some the other hadn't. This nasty piece of work actually changed some of the settings on my Internet Explorer, and it finally took two of us sitting side by side with my pc and a laptop, and comparing settings. Needless to say, I'm back on line, and a measley little ole virus isn't going to keep me away from blogland.
I have some more projects in the works, and lots to do, so come back and see what I'm up to(that is if my kids don't put me in the home first). They think I've lost my mind, and they may be right. They keep telling me they are reporting me to Hoarder's Anomymous. Actually, I'm reducing things as quickly as possible. I just have to work on some before they leave. I found a rocking chair and two chairs in the storage building which is getting torn down. I also found a Holly Hobby babydoll high chair. I had thought about painting it, but I think a good cleaning is all I'm going to do. I have a feeling it's worth some money. It's in mint condition, just dirty.
What projects are lurking around the corner for you?
I hope you are having a great Wednesday. Pray for those deluged in water around the world. Love one another.
Do you remember the song from Sesame Street, you know the one that said "Three of these things belong together, three of these things are kinda the same"? Well, that's what I'm going for here in an offbeat sort of way.
Just looking at the four pictures here, you probably couldn't in a million years find any connection to even get two of them together, but there is a connection.
The first three are connected because they go into the princesses room. The first one is the first initial of their first names. They aren't finished. I had planned to paint them the turquoise that is in their bedding, and may still do so. Their parents have painted the bedroom two colors. The top half of the room is a soft yellow and the bottom half is a pink. This will be divided by a chair rail, but I don't know what color it will be. They are putting it up today. I will need to ask their mother what color she wants the letters painted. I don't know if she will hang them on the wall or maybe set them on a shelf(that is assuming each girl has her own shelf). Another decision mom will have to make. The second is three girls dancing. There are only two girls, but I got this for a dollar at Abilities Unlimited. It was painted gold, and I'm painting it white. I have some work to do on it. It has some little holes in it, and they need to be filled with something. I thought it would look cute on their dresser. The last thing is a dresser scarf/runner that I made from some of the leftover fabric from the bedding set. It will cover most of the top and hang down about 12 inches on each side. It is very plain. I thought about trim on the ends, but that would have meant a purchase, and stash reduction is the ultimate goal here.
Then there's this little dress. I'm not very good at lace insertion and I originally made this for one of the older girls. The first time she wore it, some of the lace separated from the fabric. It has hung in the sewing room for a couple or three years, and in an effort to reduce the contents(aka stash), I did some machine stitching around the insertion using some of the decorative stitches on my machine, using a machine embroidery thread. I'm hoping that The Banty Hen will be able to get a couple of wearings out of it before summer is over.
The way all of these are connected is that 1. they will help reduce my stash, and 2. will finish some unfinished projects, and 3 get them out of my house before the hording people come.
As a side note to my children, I have another piece of furniture to play with and will be bringing it home soon. It's not as big as what's sitting on my carport right now.
I hope you enjoy driving your children crazy like I do. Pray for them. Love one another.
I mentioned in an earlier post that I had made a new pair of slacks and they fit pretty well. So, since I can't seem to buy anything that fits, I decided it is time to work on some things for myself. As I began thinking about what I wanted to make, it dawned on me that there were three goals I could accomplish. 1. Have a few new pieces of clothing to wear. 2. Save some money, and this is an important one, 3. Reduce the amount of fabric in my stash.
It seems that about the only thing I ever do is add to my stash. I've heard a couple of gals call this a 'stash enhancement'. So, I've decided to call mine a 'stash reduction'. This 3rd thing is very important since my oldest daughter mentioned an intervention from a hoarding group - again! BTW, my hoarding isn't filth like so many of those on the show. You won't find any rotting food, empty fast food cartons, or empty wine bottles in my house. I just can't seem to pass up a bargain, but in some areas, it seems a bit out of control. Should I be attending meetings or something?
So last night, after the Reds and the Cards settled down to playing ball and not fighting, I began working on my latest project. First I got out these two pieces of fabric. Thought there was enough to make a pair of capris and a shirt. Plenty to make the shirt, but only enough to make a pair of shorts. Not to be deterred, I went ahead and cut out the shorts, since I'll need a few things for a short trip I'm taking the later part of the month.
Then I spied this piece of knit I had bought to make a top. I cut it out and had a finished shirt by bedtime.
Tomorrow, I will have pictures of the big bookcase that is now sitting on my carport and that my son is not happy with me for asking him to move. It's big, and it's heavy. I hope I haven't bitten off more than I can chew.
What project are you working on? Pray for cooler weather. Love one another.
I tend to be a follower. I'm easily swayed. You can talk me into almost(I said almost)anything. I go with the crowd. Whatever you want to do, I'm usually with you.
When I first started reading blogs, my daughter told me about the pioneer woman. I didn't follow her down the path of becoming a rancher's wife and having 4 children(I only have three), but as she cooked, I cooked. I thought I had to make everything she posted in the way of food. And I kept up for a while, but you have to remember, I don't have anyone to cook for on a daily basis so you know where I'm going with this. Either I eat everything I cook, or take it to work, and my grocery budget just didn't like that.
Then I decided I needed to find some sewing blogs since I do a lot of sewing. I found more quilting blogs than clothing blogs, so what did I do, I made a couple of quilts for my grandchildren. This made both them and their mother happy, and I was tickled to do it for them. But as much as I'd like to quilt, I don't seem to have the ability to put things together enough to make pretty quilts, plus I just don't know if I can commit that much energy to one project.
Then I found a couple of blogs that make adult clothes. So what did I do, I(after years of sewing primarily for small children)have decided to make myself some clothes. I made a pair of slacks over the weekend that turned out very well, so I'm planning to make more. I also want to make some capri's and a couple of pair of shorts. I intended to do some cutting out last night, but a huge bag of purple hull peas that I found in my Living room had to be shelled.
I've also been reading a blog called The Frosted Gardner. They take furniture that has seen better days, usually being that the finish is ruined from years of abuse. They do some sanding, some repair, then they paint and refurbish the pieces. So what do you think I've done? Yesterday, I found out that a fellow behind me who is remodeling a house has decided to remove a custom hutch. It was sitting on his front porch. I marched my happy self over and asked what he was planning to do with it. He said he would give it to me if I wanted it, which, of course, I did. My son will move it to my house today. I have big plans for it. If it gets moved today, I'll take some pictures when I get home tonight and post them here. I'll also tell you what my plans for this piece are, and maybe you can help me with a few minor decisions.
I hope you aren't as easily moved to do crazy things like I am. Pray for me. Love one another.
If you sew that is. I like to sew for my granddaughters, but I'm the one who needs clothes. I have very few dress clothes since I mostly wear jeans to work. But I have need of some things and I can't seem to find anything that fits.
I'm 5'3, and a petite fits in length as far as leg length. But from waist to crotch even a petite is too long. I have a pair of jeans that I've been wearning for 3 years and they are pretty worn. They are too long in the seat, but I wear them anyway. I decided since they are pretty much worn out, I'd make a pattern from them and see how that worked.
I've used garments to make new ones before. Sometimes I have good luck and sometimes it's a disaster. But during my spare time, I ripped one leg out of these jeans, pressed it and used it to make a new pair of slacks.
As you can see, I'm making a pair of white slacks. I got the fabric from Hancocks, and it has the best 'hand' of anything heavy enough to make slacks I've picked up in a while. I trimmed some off at the top so they wouldn't bee too long in the seat(we've already discussed that) and sewed them up in about an hour. They don't have a zipper, but they do have pockets. I don't like pants without pockets. I wore them to church Sunday morning with a white tank top and royal blue shirt with burnout segments in it. Needless to say, I looked like a top model(and if you believe that, I've got some swamp land south of town for sale--reasonable).
I like this pair of pants enough that I've dug out enough fabric to make another pair, and think I will make a couple of pair of capri's. I'm taking a short trip the end of the month, and having something nice to wear would be great.
I'm going to start the capri's tonight. I'll let you know if I finish them before I go to bed.
I hope you've started something new and exciting this week. Pray for a break in the heat. Love one another.
The little garden my brother has planted in my yard has proffered a bit of work. As August rolls around, it's becomming more of a chore to work with the bounty. But here's a little update. The garden has cut into my sewing time also. Would you believe I'm just finishing two of the three sundresses I started back in April. Fortunately, they are running big, so I think when I finish them, they will go in the closet until Spring. Then they'll have something new to start Summer, 2011.
This is the first year in a long time I've been involved in a garden. Actually, my brother has done most of the work. We think the cucumbers and the squash crossed. We've gotten almost no squash, and the cucumbers get too big too fast. I've made lime pickles out of them.
The tomatoes haven't done well. The leaves curled up and the production has been sad. I have made some tomato juice. We had an early crop of green beans, and have now replanted in an attempt to get a second crop. We are cutting lots of okra and it looks like it will continue. We've had just enough to eat along and give my son enough to make a few quarts of pickled okra. The purple hullpeas did ok, but a friend had a big patch, so I've ended up canning about 40 quarts, and my brother has put enough in his freezer to feed a small army this winter. I also made pea hull jelly.
The small watermelon patch has about 10 melons, but the one I cut the other night had very little taste. I personally think they got in bed with the cukes and squash.
We are having an extremely hot spell. It got to 103 yesterday and is supposed to get to 101 today. If you don't have to be out, the best thing is to stay in.
I hope everyone is finding a good cool spot. Pray the heat wave won't last. Love one another.


Abelle with fresh perspectives, lovely uet unassuming – these words best describe Bianca Umali. Despite being visible on TV portraying major roles, such as in the current GMA-7 top rating show Mulawin vs. Ravena, Bianca can readily give a sweet and sincere smile to anyone she meets as her eyes spark brightly. Being an optimist, she never considers her daily routine tiresome. She sees it, including the highs and lows in her life, as a blessing. Bianca started as a commercial model when she was only two years old, and she was seen on several television commercials. At nine years old, she became one of the hosts of a children's show, and eventually signed a management contract under GMA Artist Center in 2011. With no hang-ups, she enjoys life to the fullest. These fresh standpoints have made her define beauty with an all new twist.
"Being beautiful is being happy," she beams. Bianca asserts that being happy makes a woman blooming and beautiful. If a woman is happy, she exudes her beauty naturally and effortlessly.On the other hand, if a woman sees only the dark side of life, she will just stress herself out. Consequently, her body will also react negatively so no matter what she puts on her face, she will not look beautiful. For this reason, Bianca suggests that if women really want to be truly beautiful, they have to take things easy and stay positive. She also suggests drinking lots of water for its skin and general health benefits. "Drinking water hydrates the skin and it's like a natural moisturizer. It also keeps the skin soft and glowing," she explains.from this, she quips that working out helps make one look her best. "I go to the gym and have a combination of gymnastics, muay thai, arnis, metabolic burning and weightlifting," Bianca admits. She adds that the benefits of exercise surpass any beauty product as it flushes out toxins through sweating. As a result, the entire body becomes healthier and one's aura, more radiant. She just puts moisturizer on her face for she believes that putting a lot of creams will just complicate skin problems. Surprisingly, her skin remains luminous.for now, she is into a no-sugar diet. She has bid desserts goodbye as they are both fattening and unhealthy. "Having a healthy lifestyle, regular exercise and sound state helps tremendously in giving a better version of your own self," she asserts. Her local fashion icons include Solenn Heussaff and Marian Rivera for their confident and fab looks in everything they wear. She also admires America's TV and commercial darling Kylie Jenner for her fantastic wardrobe and successful makeup line. Bianca stresses that these three gorgeous ladies are the epitome of elegance worth imitating. At home though, she prefers to be comfy. "My personal style includes dress and sneakers or jeans and baggy shirt," she admits.
Bianca is a certified bibliophile as she reads 100 books a year. J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books, George R.R. Martin's Game of Thrones series, Kristi Ling's Operation Happiness, and Neil Pasricha's The Book of Awesome top her list. "Everybody knows that I am a bookworm, I can finish a book in one day," Bianca exclaims. Reading books seems to be her stress-reliever, from getting enough sleep. For busy celebrities like Bianca, sleep is a pleasure and privilege that one can barely indulge in every day, so whenever she's free, she sleeps like Sleeping Beauty, deep and relaxing.
Bianca gets her inspiration from her parents who are now in heaven. Up to now, they are the ones who keep her going. Adept at sketching, she dreams of having an exhibit five years from now. The future is bright for this hard working lady, but in the meantime, she sincerely appreciates all the career blessings that come her way.


text:
Channel 18 - Latvian
Channel 18 - FRED Interview
Channel 18 - Rome FF
Channel 18 - Venice FF - 28 Times Cinema
2019 VENICE GIORNATE DEGLI AUTORI - Mattie Do, Director - The Long Walk
2013 GLBT FILM FESTIVAL - RALF KONIG
2017 YOUNG AUDIENCE AWARD - Young Audience Award - Wroclaw, Poland
FRED - Promo 1
2013 CANNES FF - ONLY GOD FORGIVES - NEBRASKA - MICHAEL KOOLHAAS
FRED INTERVIEW - Stephan Shtereff Antony Argiriov Ovanes Torosian Daria Simeonova - An Episode in the life of an Iron picker
2013 CANNES FF - Thomas Vinterberg - The hunt
2014 BARI FILM FESTIVAL - Review 1
FRED INTERVIEW - Honza Sverak
2019 VENICE 28 TIMES CINEMA - Martynas Kliučininkas - Lithuanian
Latvian Channel
Febiofest - Prague International Film Festival
23rd Febiofest Prague International Film Festival – Prague, Czech Republic #Febiofest2016
frednetadmin, on March 2, 2016
One of the largest film festivals in the Czech Republic.
FRED Film Radio is joining the 23rd Febiofest Prague International Film Festival in the Czech Republic from the 17th to the 25th of February 2016.
FEBIOFEST was founded in 1993 by FEBIO, an independent film and TV company. Starting as an enthusiastically organized, basically no-budget event for a couple of friends and film buffs, FEBIOFEST has grown during the past years into one of the largest film festivals in the Czech Republic, which nevertheless still maintains its original profile as an audience-friendly festival.
Situated in the modern 12-screen multiplex, Cinestar Andel, FEBIOFEST guarantees excellent screening conditions for all formats, not to mention supreme comfort for festival-goers.
When evening rolls around, FEBIOFEST also transforms itself into the widely attended and increasingly popular FEBIOFEST MUSIC FESTIVAL, showcasing world music, jazz, blues, avant-garde and alternative rock concerts in the multiplex cinema garages.
To filmmakers and celebrities, FEBIOFEST offers a pleasant stay in Prague – the city of Kafka, beer and film buffs, at hotels conveniently located next to the festival cinema and close to the Czech capital's magical Old Town.
In recent years, FEBIOFEST has hosted renowned directors and actors such as Nanni Moretti, Claude Lelouch, Peter Weir, Olivier Assayas Roman Polanski, Volker Schloendorff, Isztvan Szabo, Tsai Ming-Liang, Tom Tykwer, Hal Hartley, Andrey Konchalovski, Armin Mueller Stahl, Nikita Michalkov, Carlos Saura and Claudia Cardinale.
Basically the festival is oriented towards full length films, bringing to Czech audiences the best films of the last year, as well as distribution premieres, retrospectives and tributes. It also discovers new territories and unknown filmmakers, and features special sections dedicated to gay and lesbian cinema, children's films (FEBIOFEST JUNIOR), and even experimental films.
Thanks to its broad overview of the latest and best cinematography from around the world, high quality screenings and famous guests, every year the festival's exceptional program draws large, curious and appreciative audiences of all ages and receives much critical acclaim in the press, not to mention the keen interest of local distributors.
After the festival has completed its run in Prague, selected films (mostly distribution pre-premieres) travel to 8 other Czech cities to give movie lovers beyond the capital an opportunity to see high quality films. The spirit of FEBIOFEST even makes its way to neighboring Slovakia, where the Slovak FEBIOFEST is organized independently.
Official website / Official Facebook / Official YouTube / Official Twitter / Official Instagram


For the most part when we enjoy the lemon, pear and floral bouquet of our Chenin blanc (or when college students enjoy the red in their red wine) we usually don't think past the bottle. So who makes wine?
Let me throw these to words out there; oenologist and viticulturist.
Oenologist in simple english, is a winemaker. They have a bachelor's degree in Oenology (ee-nol-o-gee). The oenologist takes care of all the indoor aspects of winemaking. Following multiple processes of grafting that grape into your glass.
Then we have the viticulturist, which takes care of all the outside aspects of winemaking. From the vine, to the soil, to the precise picking time for optimal grape ripeness. Don't overlook the viticulturist. Excellent wines are crafted in the vineyard. Prime quality grapes give the winemaker a great headstart to crafting amazing wine.
Brutal science, microbiology, soil science, viticulture and wine classes to name just a few, shape the average four year course. Although, I must add it wasn't all books... Friday afternoon wine tasting practicals were the best! It definitely oiled the engine for a good weekend.
Next time you're on your way to tipsy time; cheers a glass to the oenologist and viticulturist. They worked for months and in many cases even years, to give you that glass of "God's nectar", in your hand.


Software as a Service (SaaS)-delivered e-mail and Web security suites offer a good solution that Butler Group recommends as part of a more comprehensive security architecture comprising gateway and end point-based security solutions. Find out more in this whitepaper!
In 2014, hackers and cyber thieves will continue to change their tactics, using new exploits to infect systems and steal data. This Executive Brief discusses the top five malware trends to keep an eye out for in 2014 and how Webroot SecureAnywhere can provide the endpoint protection that companies will need to be safe in 2014.
While enterprises appear to be aware of advanced malware and its security challenges, the measures to defend against it need some attention and investment. This report presents survey results that gauge enterprise awareness of advanced malware and what measures are being taken to defend against it.
AV-TEST did a review of McAfee Web Protection in the Cloud vs. Websense Cloud Security 2014 and tested each against a set of malicious URLs with zero-day malware to determine performance against the latest web threats.


For the past few months, we have been asking customers about their shopping habits. We have also gathered some fresh insights from our customers about their favourite supermarket. Read on to find out more about what our customers like about each supermarket and why.
If you're looking for a treat for the family that won't take long to make, go to Iceland. They have a range of frozen chips, pizza and vegetables starting from prices as low as 50p. One customer from our Dalston store said, "I've collected bonus points throughout the year and then used this for my Christmas shopping".
Look out for many well- known frozen food brands - all of which you can find for low prices! Prices start from as low as £1 and on a good day you may even find them on sale for 50p.
There are so many Lidl stores scattered around the UK. If you're lucky, you may even have a local Lidl store within your local area. If you are used to buying branded products at a high price, go over to Lidl; you can get some of these same branded products at a much cheaper price.
Look out for the Lidl catalogue and make a note of other household items you need; such as, chairs or dining tables and even shelves. You never know, it just may be a lot cheaper than buying from IKEA and you won't have to fix it yourself.
Most of the customers we spoke to mentioned Morrisons as their favourite supermarket. This also comes as no surprise as there is always one sale or another for various items. For instance, a 3kg bag of Fusilli pasta costs just £2.87. At Sainsbury's, for a Fusilli pasta of 1kg you'll pay £1.20 whilst at Morrison you can get the same amount for approximately 96p.
Before heading to Morrison, visit their offers page to discover their latest deals. Compare this with the prices at your usual supermarket and decide for yourself if it is really worth switching.
This store is another favourite of our customers, it comes as no surprise as Asda have a brand match guarantee for most of their branded products. One customer mentioned that she really liked Asda's bakery section and found it to be cheaper than other supermarkets (namely Sainsbury's and Tesco).
After shopping at Asda, make sure you collect your receipt, at the bottom of it you will be able to find out just how much you have saved for branded items.
Even if Sainsbury's is not the cheapest supermarket around, you'll still find a good bargain every now and then; it was still mentioned as a favourite because of the nectar card. For the cheapest products in store, look out for Sainsbury's Basic collection.
Sign up for Sainsbury's Nectar card and make sure you collect points as you can when you shop online from Sainsbury's Nectar partners. For instance, Expedia, Just Eat, ASOS and many online retailers are just some of the many that allows you to collect Nectar points when you buy something from them.
Over the recent months, Tesco has really stepped up its game and is now selling products at much lower prices. Of course, this is good news for people who are always looking for the best deal. Look out for deals on branded cereals such as Kellogg's, Nestlé and much more. Don't forget to cross-reference with the deals going on at Iceland; many of our customers have said they get some of these cereals on sale here.
If you're looking for a good deal, try 'Tesco Supermarket' or 'Tesco Extra' stores instead of their 'Metro' and 'Express' stores. Since the latter stores are more for emergency shopping, products here will always be a few pennies extra.
Last but not least, head on over to mysupermarket.co.uk to find the best deals at all supermarkets, you can even sign up and receive updates about branded products on sale! You will never have to search again for deals, they'll just come straight to your inbox.
What are your favourite supermarkets? Let us know your thoughts on Facebook and Twitter and don't forget to use our hashtag #OakamBudgetingTips.


But what about that famous OZONE?
Most people have heard of OZONE, located top of The Ritz-Carlton in Hong Kong. OZONE is famous as word's highest bar, and therefore attracts lots of tourists. The time I went there service was slow, and literally everyone (including myself) was trying to take a photo of the view. The photo was quite a fail though, as the only way to take it is trough the window. Especially at night there are lots of reflections. While OZONE might be a must visit as highest bar in the world, I personally prefer a more quiet place in Wan Chai.
WoolooMooloo Bar (above WoolooMooloo Steakhouse) is located on the rooftop of The Hennesy skyscraper in Wan Chai. When entering the building, simply walk up to the elevator and press "R" for rooftop. No matter daytime or nighttime, the view from this outdoor bar is great. WoolooMooloo Bar provides a different perspective than OZONE, the view is not just of the skyline, but located within the skyline of Hong Kong. The bar is surrounded by skyscrapers. On one side you will see the banking districts of Central and Admiralty. On the other side you can enjoy the view over shopping district Causeway Bay and the Happy Valley horse racing venue. Drink prices are not as high as OZONE (the bar isn't as high as OZONE either) and more comparable to bars in LKF. Moreover, since the bar is located outdoor this place is also a much better place to take rooftop snaps than OZONE.
Note: building entrance by escalator on Johnston Road, next to 759 store.