As you see those massive vehicles coming and going throughout town, across interstates and into even the smallest of communities, the thought of crossing the country while making a living may very well cross your mind. For many, a Commercial Driver's License may seem unattainable or perhaps you cannot imagine how you would manage such a large truck.
The reality is that getting licensed is completely within reach and opens up many opportunities for cdl jobs in chattanooga tn. As you move forward with new career plans or are ready to set the stage for heading into your first real job, there are four great reasons to look to the trucking industry.
Students always find it hard to complete their essays and assignments because of various reasons such as lack of enough researching and analytical skills, lack of enough time and complexity of the assignments. At critical essay writers we offer students with the opportunities to overcome some of the challenges that they face in their academics more so in completion of assignments and essays. Our agency offers custom essay writing services at lower price rates that gives a high number of students the opportunity to afford and experience higher grades.
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Get New Job as a Truck Driver in easy ways!
No matter what your reason is, whether is changing job, retire or starting for a great job with good reward, become commercial truck driving is one line of career you might want to take. While its having a reputation for grueling hours, weeks away from home and may not welcoming to women, trucking industry are very rewarded line of work with rising demand over the year. Having a great started earning, meet interesting people and become adventourus along the way can be a reason why people choose to become a truck driver. If you are interested in become a truck driver, then you come at the right place. Today, I will provide you a step by step guide on how to become a full fledged truck driver properly. You can find Truck Driver Jobs on this Website.
There are many ways to improve your family video or any video you have. You can even make your own movies as easy as 1-2-3 using the latest technology. All you need to do is get video editing software for windows. A lot of them have different feature, however I recommend you to get video editing software that have intuitive interface, easy to use and capable to provide you a lot of advanced effect in simple clicks. Using the right video editing softwares, you will be able to create a video tutorial with your own voice over commentary, funny video, or even a movie. A good video is capable to add video fragments, overlay music, join multiple video clips together, give animation to every transition and allow you to save to any format.


Here is the second installment in our tips on writing a novel from David Khara, the bestselling author of The Bleiberg Project, an exciting, World War II-conspiracy thriller. Here, he talks about method and what is really key. Is it the how, the what or the why?
Writing a novel – how do you actually do it?
So, you've got an idea, a plot, and characters. You're now ready to go. So, go for it! Oh wait, you need to define how to organize your work. You may want to write down a full plot, listing the chapters, what happens in each of them, and preparing characters sheets. You may want to just write your story out from scratch, maybe with a few handwritten notes on post-its. Who cares? Nobody. Just use the method you feel most comfortable with. I wrote The Bleiberg Project with a three-line plot, but I had most the book in mind. Still, within my plot, the characters sometimes drove me to places I never expected at first. Some of my friends prepare their novels with so much accuracy that they only (sic) have to write the story down.
The method is not important, the story is, the characters and their feelings are, as is suspense, especially in crime fiction. And keep in mind the most important person in the whole process of writing: the readers.


text:
Fibrotic Disease Research
Commitment, Curiosity, and a Generous Spirit Drive Fibrotic Disease Research
Carol Feghali-Bostwick, Ph.D.
Two things motivate Carol Feghali-Bostwick, Ph.D., Distinguished University Professor and SmartState® and Kitty Trask Holt Endowed Chair for Scleroderma Research, to come to work every day. "I feel a commitment to the patients to keep pushing for an answer and a cure. But I also just love the excitement of research. There's nothing else I'd rather be doing than getting up and seeing what's new today," says Feghali-Bostwick.
She was drawn to fibrotic diseases, in part, because of the wide-ranging applicability of any advances in the field. "Fibrosis can affect any organ in the body," says Feghali-Bostwick. "It's the end result of many common diseases–for example, diabetic nephropathy often ends with fibrotic kidney disease. So, anti-fibrotic therapies are likely to have a broad impact and our work has a wide reach."
Research teams in her lab focus on investigating fibrotic mediators and the mechanisms by which they can cause disease. Specifically, she and her teams develop models of fibrosis to test pro- and anti-fibrotic factors using human skin and lung tissue cultures. "We go beyond in vitro testing in dishes and in vivo studies in mice by testing the efficacy of anti-fibrotic therapies to stop fibrosis and the ability of profibrotic agents to cause fibrosis in human tissues. Because, as we so often discover, things that work in mice are often ineffective in humans," says Feghali-Bostwick.
The team also investigates epigenetic changes in DNA methylation to better understand why some people develop fibrotic disease while others do not. A recent study of scleroderma in discordant twins–identical sibling pairs in which one developed scleroderma while the other did not–led to significant new findings. "When we compared their epigenetic and gene expression profiles, we could identify novel genes that had never before been reported to be associated with scleroderma," says Feghali-Bostwick." It was an exciting finding because these genes presented new targets for therapy."
A separate study of anti-fibrotic agents identified a novel enzyme in the glycolic pathway that can cause fibrosis. "We had never before thought that an enzyme involved in glycolysis could cause fibrosis. So, that was also anew finding," she says.
While these breakthroughs initially led to publications in high-impact journals including the Annals of Rheumatic Diseases and JCI Insight, their impacts reach much further. "The epigenetic and gene expression changes have provided leads for other investigators to follow in their own research," she says. "The antifibrotic peptide has already been licensed to a company that will take it into human trials and hopefully lead to a new antifibrotic therapy." This is in addition to a previous, novel small molecule therapy that her research team characterized. In their latest study published in JCI Insight, Feghali-Bostwick's team found that the E4 peptide reverses fibrosis inhuman and mouse tissues by activating an antifibrotic pathway that is common to all organ systems. The findings are significant because they suggest that the peptide could be effective at reversing fibrosis in multiple organ systems.
Feghali-Bostwick also has a deep commitment to mentorship and serves as director of the MUSC ARROW program (Advancement, Recruitment, and Retention of Women) which aims to support and recruit women in research. "I don't want everyone else to struggle like I did early in my career. If we can accelerate their advancement and make it easier for the next generation, that would be a good legacy to leave," she says.
This year, Feghali-Bostwick received a renewal of her NIH K24 award to provide continued support of her passion for mentorship. "I want to help foster the next generation of investigators in scleroderma to ensure a pipeline of junior investigators who are well-trained and have the support they need to be successful," she says.
Her commitment to research, scientific curiosity, and generosity of spirit, reflect the best qualities we can hope to find in science and medicine and a shining example for those who follow in her footsteps.
Article by Kat Hendrix, Ph.D.
Categories: Rheumatology, Research, Faculty and Staff, Education

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


After reading Trickster Makes This World, I went back and picked up this earlier book by Hyde. Again, his mastery of mythology amazes me. I used to read myths and think they were pretty stupid stories. Hyde makes them come alive, expressing the philosophies and beliefs of their tellers.


the TrashMail Firefox extension has been ported to Mozilla Firefox 2.0.
The extension is still compatible with the Firefox version 1.5.
Thank you for updating for 2.0--I love this extension!
The only thing is, there doesn't seem to be an icon in my "customize toolbar" for trashmail. Am I missing something?


Weeks of planning and leg-work culminated in the unforgettable 'festival of childhood'on 26th January 2008. The morning was devoted to a panel discussion on "Corporate NGO partnerships for Child Welfare: Alliances for the future" The participants were Samarthanam, Dream-a-Dream and SBHR for the NGO sector and Philips for the corporate sector. Presentations were followed by free-ranging discussions.
The afternoon built up the festive atmosphere with the entry of the NGO children (about 80 of them from Makkale Jagriti, Helpline Charitable Trust and Asha Kiran) and witnessing their enthusiasm and happiness when they participated in the games and attended the story-telling sessions was more than enough reward for us.
The students managed to collect Rs 1, 20,000/- as a result of these efforts which was distributed to five designated organizations working with children.


Singapore is a fantastic city – and that goes for its economy, architecture and transportation system. It's hard to believe, but there's almost no such thing as traffic jams here! There are loads of tunnels though. You can even drive across half the island underground.
Singapore is especially good in December. In winter here, it's just hot – not the usual for this part of the world. You still get wet here in December, but not soaking wet like in other seasons. Singapore is located on the equator, in the humid tropics. In all seasons other than winter, you end up completely soaked – every part of your body and everything you're wearing (if in a suit on your way to a formal business meeting, it's best to make multiple stops in climate-controlled areas or, even better, use the underground metro walkways). After a while your consciousness takes a hit because of all the humidity you've inhaled… and that's the end of it.
Despite all that, Singapore is the most delightful city in the world, according to my measurements and calculations. Singapore is no. 1. That's right.
The prices are also fantastic; cars are particularly expensive because of the high import duties. The laws are pretty draconian too, which gave rise to the joke "Singapore is a fine city". Also, the connoisseurs of modern democracy occasionally badmouth Singapore for not always being 'democratic'. But it works. I've seen some sociological research that found that the residents of Singapore are the happiest in the world. And there's a queue of those who'd like to get permanent residency, but the quotas are very strict.
On top of all that, Singapore is fabulously beautiful. No matter where or what time of day it is, this place is just beautiful – you can be hypnotized by it and contemplate it forever.
I've been on a pretty tight business schedule and haven't had much free time. Now, I've got a backlog of stories that I have to publish about the places I've visited and the sights I've seen – and the backlog keeps growing, which I don't like. So, I'll try and catch up whenever I have a spare moment and functioning Wi-Fi, which may be a bit of problem in the foreseeable future.
So, I'm in Vietnam, at Ha Long Bay, which is here. This is, without a doubt, one of the wonders of the world, definitely worth a visit – just like all the other entries in my Top-100 Must-See Places in the World. I was last here in May 2010, and now I've just revisited. And I don't regret it for a second.
Non-stop country-swap; wooing in Wuzhen.
Herewith, more on my time-warping theme, and on assorted tourisms – or their absence.
Next up this month: Wuzhen, China.
Remember, remember, a hectic November.
But there are also occasions when you can lose a whole day, as in – a certain day you never see at all, it just passes you by or just never exists for you, and not because of a sleep-athon or coma or some such… I wonder – does that make you a day older? Younger? Hmmm.
On the other hand, I've often had days that never seem to end.
For example, I've been woken up at around 2am by my alarm clock (hate that) in Thailand after a partner conference so as to get to the airport in time for my flight departing at 6am – to Tokyo (a timing/route mercifully since closed). Next up – a connection to San Francisco, California. All that in ONE calendar day (kinda), which ends up lasting something like 35-40 hours. Of course, one's mental state upon arrival at the final destination is a cross between that of a vegetable and a zombie: red eyes, one side of the face lower than the other, perma-frown, very grumpy, etc., etc.: not a pretty sight. But what can you do? Duty calls.
So that's how regular long-haulers lose or gain hours to their lives up in the air. Meanwhile, down on the ground you get a similar thing, only on a much smaller scale. You can't go anywhere near as fast as a plane, so the most you can add or take off a day is an hour or two, possibly three at a stretch; more – only if there are two hours' difference on a border and daylight saving time affects things.
So where can you get spookily-vanishing or magically-appearing hours of a day on the ground?


Rotarian Dave Vallee thanks Rachel Way for her delightful presentation at our club today.
Rachel is a grade 11 student at Saint Thomas More Collegiate.
She was sponsored by our club to attend the Adventures in Citizenship held in Ottawa.
She had many great experiences while making new friends.


All of the material in Hesitant to Restore is the property of Propaganda Press and may not be used or reprinted in any manner without express permission from the publisher, except for the quotation of short passages used inside of an article, criticism, promotion, or review; or in the instance of material linked for promotional or review purposes. Feel free to link to anything and everything in this eZine, but if reprinting, promoting, displaying, or otherwise duplicating any material from this blog, the work must be cited with author name and a link back to the post in this eZine. All rights reserved. All material in every Abandoned Blog is used with permission.
Photograph property of and ©2011 Andrew Strachan. Used with permission. All rights reserved.
Dead Is Good If You Don't Know How To Properly Be Alive by Laura Joy Lustig; Beware by Giovanni Malito; No Tragic Ending by John Binns; and Lurching And Heaving by Suzy Davidson were previously published in the Propaganda Press title, The Literature Collection.


Arecont Vision has once again set new low price levels, this time with the announcement of wide dynamic range additions to their MegaVideo Compact line. These cameras claim wide dynamic performance at prices well below mainstream competitors. In this note, we examine pricing and featureset of these additions, comparing to WDR options from competitors Sony and Avigilon.
The AV2116 and AV3116 share similiar featureset to the current AV2115 and AV3115 models, with the addition of WDR. Like current models, day/night and auto-iris models will also be avilable. Arecont has also added ONVIF support to this new release, a change from their previous support for just PSIA.
Arecont's WDR is based on a combination of new sensor and improved software. Arecont uses dual exposures for WDR mode. However, WDR mode is automatically disabled at night to allow traditional low light settings (slow shutter, etc.).
The AV2116 and AV3116 will be available in Q2 2012, with MSRPs of $850 and $1,050 USD, respectively, for color-only versions. DN models with true day/night functionality will be available for about $50 more.
The cameras are scheduled to ship starting in Summer 2012.
In the future, Arecont plans to add WDR offerings throughout its product lineup - domes, bullets, etc. The non WDR models will remain with the xxxx5 numbering while the upcoming WDR models will have a xxxx6 numbering.
Price: These are some of the lowest-cost WDR cameras on the market, with estimated street prices of $550 (AV2116) and $700 (AV3116), including separately purchased lenses. The only major manufacturer's WDR camera which comes close in price to Arecont is Avigilon's 3MP H3 camera, with an estimated street price of approximately $750. Options from Sony, Axis, and Pelco are available, but at lower resolutions and higher prices.
However, WDR is all about real world image quality so the ultimate impact will depend on actual performance. WDR can be done in many ways and the quality of a WDR implementation can range significantly. If the Arecont WDR cameras can come close to the premium Sony cameras, it will be a very attractive offering. However, if not, this will be viewed as little more than a marketing trick that will only trick the gullible looking for a 'WDR' label.
We are going to do a test when the cameras ships in production. They have strong fundamentals (high resolution and low price), but one needs to see how they truly compare head to head in both bright light and low light scenes to other WDR cameras. If the Arecont WDR offerings can hold its own in such testing, it will be a very compelling offering.


Today, we will talk about the most romantic flower in the world: Roses.
There are over 30,000 varieties of roses. With different colours, shapes, sizes, etc. Roses keep its #1 position in the ranking of most popular flower.
The cultivation of roses is thought to have began in Asia around 5000 years ago. Cultivated roses weren't introduced into Europe until the late eighteenth century. Until the beginning of the 19th century, all roses in Europe were shades of pink or white.
But here is the question that everyone wants to know. When did roses become the symbol of romance? Well, the romantic symbol of the red rose only came from China around 1800.
Roses appreciate flower food in their water, and should have fresh water every few days (and don't forget about the fresh cut as well, about 1 inch up the stem) . Cool water is preferred, since warm water causes the bloom to open at a faster rate, and your roses won't last for too long.
The thorns should have the sharp tips cut off, but not entirely removed from the stem itself. Like all flowers, there should be no greens or foliage submerged in water. Roses are susceptible to Botrytis.


Augustus John RA, Portrait of a Young Man, ca. 1928.
Oil on canvas. 610 mm x 465 mm. © The Artist's Estate. Photo: John Hammond.
The "young man" in this portrait is Augustus John's son Robin, whose mother was the artist's first wife, Ida Nettleship. Born in October 1904 he was probably in his early twenties when this picture was painted. Throughout his career, John drew and painted portraits of his family alongside his commissioned works.


Australia's first guidelines for the management of venous thromboembolism (VTE) emphasise the role of imaging in diagnosis and DOACs in treatment.
All patients presenting with symptoms suggestive of a pulmonary embolus should be systematically assessed, and if the diagnosis cannot be definitively ruled out they should undergo appropriate imaging to confirm the diagnosis, says Associate Professor Huyen Tran, a haematologist at Alfred Health and Monash University in Melbourne who authored the guidelines.
It is recommended clinicians use the Wells or Geneva score, combined with a negative D-dimer result, to rule out VTE, the guidelines say.
If VTE can't be ruled out, order an ultrasound to confirm a diagnosis of DVT and CT pulmonary angiogram to confirm a diagnosis of PE.
"We need to be systematic about how we go to confirm or rule out the diagnosis," Professor Tran said.
It's hard to correctly diagnose VTE from patient history alone because the symptoms are non-specific. But around 80% of patients with clinically suspected VTE don't get the diagnosis objectively confirmed, according to the guidelines.
The patients who were most at-risk of VTE were those who had recently been discharged from hospital, had recently undergone surgery, or had sustained an injury, which had left them immobilised.
"Everyone talks about air travel but in reality, it's not such a huge risk factor," Professor Tran said.
Once you had established the diagnosis of DVT or PE, take a look at the guidelines for details on how long to prescribe DOACs, he advised. "Unless there is a good reason, you don't need to be using warfarin anymore," he said.
According to the guidelines, the duration of anticoagulation was determined by the type of VTE, the trigger event, and whether that event was transient or persistent.
For instance, distal DVT that was provoked by factors such as major surgery requires DOAC treatment for six weeks, whereas proximal DVT or PE caused by major surgery or trauma that was no longer present requires DOAC therapy for three months.
The release of the VTE guidelines coincides with the addition of rivaroxaban 10mg to the PBS for extended prevention of VTE.
Patients with VTE are usually prescribed anticoagulants for a few months, but some patients require extended therapy to prevent VTE recurrence.
The results of the EINSTEIN CHOICE study, published in The New England Journal of Medicine in January, showed that daily rivaroxaban was superior at reducing recurrence when compared with daily aspirin in patients who had previously completed six to 12 months of anticoagulation therapy, without a significant increase in bleeding.


Are you preparing for government exams? Do you want to become a bank officer? Are you interested to work in stimulating environment? Then here you are at wisdom jobs online site. Banking supervision is monitoring the financial performance and operations of banks in order to ensure that they are operating safely and soundly with the rules and regulations. Bank supervision is conducted by governmental regulators and occurs in order to prevent bank failures. its objective is to enhance understanding key supervisory issues and improve the banking of supervision all over the world. Supervision officer is responsible for effective time management skills in order to meet service level agreements and project deadlines. So, candidates, avail the opportunity by looking into the banking supervision job interview questions and answers.
Question 1. What Is The Role Of Bank Supervision?
The role of Banks Supervision is to ensure a safe and sound financial system for protection of depositors funds and conducive for macro-economic stability.
Question 2. Where Does Bank Of Uganda Derive Its Mandate To Supervise Financial Institutions?
The mandate of supervising financial institutions is derived from the Financial Institutions Act 2004, the Micro-Deposit Taking Institutions Act 2003 and the Bank of Uganda Act 1993.
Question 3. How Is Banks Supervision Structured?
Banks Supervision is structured into two departments; Commercial Banking Department and Non-Bank Financial Institutions (NBFI) Department. Commercial Banking Department is charged with the supervision of commercial banks while NBFI supervises credit institutions, Micro Deposit Taking Institutions and other non-bank financial institutions under the mandate of Bank of Uganda.
Question 4. Can Banks Supervision Stop A Bank From Failing?
Bank Supervision cannot entirely stop financial institutions from failing. Reasons for failure are diverse including among others internal weaknesses in financial institutions and systemic/external factors which are beyond the control of financial institutions. However, whenever, an institution is envisaged to fail, Bank of Uganda endeavours as much as possible to minimize the magnitude of loss by proactively winding up the operations of the distressed financial institution.
Question 5. What Is The 2016 Eu-wide Stress Test About?
The 2016 EU-wide stress test includes 51 banks covering 70% of total banking assets in the European Union. It is led by the European Banking Authority (EBA), which develops the methodology for the exercise. The aim of the exercise is to analyse how a bank's capital position develops on the basis of end-2015 data over a period of three years until 2018, under both a baseline and an adverse scenario.
The European Commission provides the baseline scenario whilst the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB) provides the common adverse scenario. ECB Banking Supervision is responsible in the euro area for coordinating instructions to banks, receiving the resulting information and performing the quality assurance, i.e. validating banks' data and stress test results.
Of the 51 banks subject to the EBA-led stress test 37 are directly supervised by ECB Banking Supervision, covering 70% of banking assets in the euro area. Individual results for all banks subject to the EBA-led stress test, along with detailed balance sheets and exposure data as of end-2015, will be published by the EBA on Friday, 29 July 2016.
Separately, the ECB conducts in parallel a stress test of an additional 56 banks under its direct supervision, using the same methodology. This is an internal supervisory exercise conducted by the ECB. Therefore, the results are not published by the ECB. However, if a bank chooses to publish its own results it can do so but the publication does not imply ECB endorsement.
There will be no banks "failing" or "passing". The Pillar 2 capital cannot be mechanistically computed from the stress test results as these are one, but not the only factor taken into account. The Pillar 2 capital will be determined in the SREP decisions later this year.
Question 6. What Is This Exercise Really Testing?
The exercise is analysing how a bank's capital position develops assuming a static balance sheet over a period of three years until 2018, under both a baseline and an adverse scenario. The adverse scenario reflects the four systemic risks that were considered by the ESRB to constitute the most material threats to the stability of the EU banking sector: (i) an abrupt rise in currently low global bond yields, amplified by low secondary market liquidity; (ii) weak profitability prospects for banks in a low nominal growth environment amid incomplete balance sheet adjustments; (iii) rising debt sustainability concerns in the public and non-financial private sectors amid low nominal growth; (iv) prospective stress in a rapidly growing shadow banking sector, amplified by spillover and liquidity risk.
Compared to 2014 this year's adverse scenario is stricter as it contains more conservative elements. Moreover, shocks have been frontloaded, so that the adverse impact materialises earlier during the stress test horizon. As bank losses follow macroeconomic stress with a lag, this feature increases the expected impact of the scenario. The methodology has also further evolved. The inclusion, for the first time, of a dedicated operational and conduct risk stress test methodology in the 2016 exercise is a good example in this regard.
The stress test has a three-year horizon and uses static balance sheets. This means that, for the purpose of the stress test, it is assumed that assets and liabilities that mature during the stress test horizon are replaced with similar financial instruments in terms of original maturity, credit quality, geographical exposure, etc. As a result, the business mix and model remains unchanged and any countermeasures that a bank would take against the stressed assumptions over the three-year period are not taken into account. For this reason, banks might actually fare better in reality than in the stress test's adverse scenario.
Question 7. Does The Stress Test Account For The Impact Of The Outcome Of The Referendum In The United Kingdom On Eu Membership?
The adverse scenario is significantly harsher than analysts' forecasts of the negative impact of Brexit on the economy. Although no singular event such as Brexit is assumed, the projections for the gross domestic product (GDP) of the euro area under the adverse scenario are more severe for every year of the stress test horizon than the negative effect on GDP growth foreseen by analysts as a result of Brexit.
Question 8. How Does The Stress Test Account For Non-performing Loans?
EU-wide stress tests are solvency exercises to check if the banks remain solvent after incurring losses connected to a change of the economic conditions. The EBA stress test of 2016 takes the situation of a bank as at 31 December 2015 as a starting point and simulates the effects of different scenarios defined by the European Commission and the ESRB, applying the methodology developed by the EBA. The stress test methodology accounts for the non-performing loan (NPL) stock, as banks are required to model the impact of the adverse scenario on the NPL amount. In particular, the exercise puts further stress on a bank's defaulted loans, resulting in additional loan losses in the adverse scenario.
Question 9. Is There A Pass/fail Threshold? What Supervisory Actions Are Taken If Banks Do Not Meet The Capital Demand?
The stress test is not a pass/fail exercise. No hurdle rates or capital thresholds are defined for the purpose of the exercise. However, the findings of the stress test will be part of the ongoing supervisory dialogue. As such, the ECB will use the stress test as crucial input for the overall 2016 Supervisory Review and Evaluation Process (SREP), which will close later this year. In this context, it will also be used as one input factor for the supervisory capital demand for banks.
The supervisory capital demand is based on the individual risk profile of a bank. In the 2016 SREP process, it will for the first time consist of two parts: Pillar 2 requirements and Pillar 2 guidance. Pillar 2 requirements are binding and breaches can have direct legal consequences for banks. Pillar 2 guidance is not directly binding and a failure to meet Pillar 2 guidance does not automatically trigger legal action. Nonetheless, the ECB expects banks to meet Pillar 2 guidance.
The "stacking order" of the different capital components according to the EBA guidance is explained in Figure 1. Under the stacking order, banks facing losses will first fail to fulfil their Pillar 2 guidance. In case of further losses, they would next breach the combined buffers, then Pillar 2 requirements, and finally Pillar 1 requirements.
If a bank does not meet its Pillar 2 guidance, supervisors will carefully consider the reasons and circumstances and may define fine-tuned supervisory measures. Should the capital supply of a bank be further reduced, leading to a breach of the combined buffers, automatic measures restricting the distributable amounts of banks (e.g. dividends or bonuses) are activated. A further depletion of the capital supply would lead to a breach of Pillar 2 requirements, resulting in a wide set of additional supervisory actions.
Question 10. Do You Expect Capital Demand In The System To Increase On Average Due To The Stress Test Exercise?
ECB Banking Supervision announced already last year that it perceives the current level of capital in the banking system of the euro area to be satisfactory and intends to keep the supervisory capital demand stable – all things being equal. The stress test results are therefore not expected to lead to an increase of the overall level of capital demand in the system. In the 2015 SREP decisions the capital demand was defined by Pillar 1 plus Pillar 2 requirements plus combined buffers. In view of this year's new introduction of the component of Pillar 2 guidance, the capital requirements of a bank in terms of Pillar 1 plus Pillar 2 requirements will be reduced – all things being equal. As a result, the trigger for the Maximum Distributable Amount (MDA) will go down – also all things being equal. At the same time, the overall capital demand, including Pillar 2 guidance, will remain about the same.
The MDA is the maximum amount a bank is allowed to pay out, for example for bonuses or dividends. A bank whose capital ratio falls below the MDA trigger point faces restrictions on the amount of distributable profits. Pillar 2 guidance is not relevant for the MDA trigger.
Question 11. How Will The Stress Test Results Be Factored Into The Srep?
The qualitative results of the stress test will be incorporated into the definition of supervisory measures and can even have an impact on Pillar 2 requirements.
The quantitative results of the stress test, namely the fall in the Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio a bank faces between its starting point at end of 2015 and 2018 in the adverse stress test scenario, will be one input factor for Pillar 2 guidance.
In defining Pillar 2 guidance, the ECB will use a wide range of information. One benchmark will be a bank's post-adverse scenario result in relation to a capital ratio of 5.5% — or, in the case of global systemically important banks (G-SIBs), 5.5% plus the G-SIB buffer. This result is further adjusted up or down, taking into account other factors including the specific risk profile of the individual institution and its sensitivity towards the stress scenarios; interim changes in its risk profile after the cut-off date of the stress test (31 December 2015); consequences of the static balance sheet assumption of the stress tests and measures taken by the bank to mitigate risk sensitivities, such as relevant asset sales. Consequently, the stress test results will feed into Pillar 2 guidance in a non-mechanistic way.
Question 12. How Is The Capital Conservation Buffer Accounted For In The 2016 Srep?
ECB Banking Supervision is taking a different approach in the 2016 Supervisory Review and Evaluation Process (SREP) regarding the capital conservation buffer (CCB). The CCB will no longer be included on a fully-loaded basis.
Some Member States (Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg and Slovakia) decided to impose the full CCB on their banks without any phase-in as of 1 January 2016. Other Member States opted for a four-year phase-in. This difference led ECB Banking Supervision to set a SREP ratio based on a fully-loaded CCB for directly supervised institutions as part of the 2015 SREP. This decision has been revised for the 2016 SREP. Countries can take a deliberate choice, whether they want to apply tougher capital requirements or to adjust to the phase-in approach of many peers. Some countries, such as Portugal, have already changed their phase-in rules.
The CCB is part of the Basel III capital rules and is designed to ensure that banks build up capital buffers which can be drawn down as losses are incurred. The CCB is to reach 2.5% of the risk-weighted assets as of 1 January 2019 at the latest.
Question 13. How Does The 2016 Stress Test Compare To Stress Tests In Other Jurisdictions?
The stress test exercises of the EBA, the UK Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and the Comprehensive Capital Analysis and Review (CCAR) of the Federal Reserve Bank are not directly comparable as the methodology, scenarios and time horizons differ significantly. Disregarding the differences, the overall impact of the EBA stress test is in line with the PRA 2015 exercise. Compared with the CCAR 2016 exercise, the EBA stress test is stricter than the CCAR adverse scenario, but less severe than the severely adverse scenario of the CCAR.
Question 14. How Does The 2016 Eba Stress Test Compare To The Comprehensive Assessment/stress Test Of 2014 (since The Latter Fed Into The 2015 Srep)? What If A Bank's Capital Ratio In The 2016 Stress Test Is Lower Than The Pillar 2 Capital Demands In The 2015 Srep – Would It Be Fair To Deduce That This Bank Will Need To Raise Fresh Capital?
First, the 2014 stress test, as part of the comprehensive assessment, was a much broader exercise than the current one. In 2014, 130 banks took part in the comprehensive assessment, which consisted of an asset quality review and a stress test. In preparation for the ECB's takeover of its supervisory responsibilities, the exercise aimed to identify possible capital shortfalls and ascertain if any banks required immediate recapitalisation measures. As euro area banks have since moved to more of a steady state and have become better capitalised overall, the aim of the 2016 exercise is rather to assess remaining vulnerabilities and understand the impact of hypothetical adverse market dynamics on banks. The stress test as part of the 2014 comprehensive assessment and the 2016 stress test are hence quite different in nature.
In addition, the newly introduced changes in the Pillar 2 structure (breakdown into requirements and guidance) mean that the SREP 2015 cannot be directly compared with the findings of the 2016 stress test. It would thus be wrong to deduce that a bank must immediately raise capital if its capital ratio in the 2016 stress test is lower than the Pillar 2 capital demanded in the SREP 2015.
Question 15. What Is The Single Supervisory Mechanism?
The SSM is an important milestone towards a banking union within the EU.
Question 16. Why Do We Need The Single Supervisory Mechanism?
A truly European supervision mechanism weakens the link between banks and national sovereigns. This helps to rebuild trust in Europe's banking sector.
The recent financial crisis has shown how quickly and forcefully problems in the financial sector of one country can spread to another, especially in a monetary union, and how these problems can directly affect citizens across the euro area.
Question 17. What Is The Ssm Framework Regulation And Why Is It Necessary? To Whom Does It Apply?
The SSM Framework Regulation sets out the legal structure for cooperation with national supervisors, also known as national competent authorities (NCAs), within the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM). It governs relations between the ECB and national supervisors and includes rules that apply directly to banks.
Question 18. When Did The Single Supervisory Mechanism Become Operational?
The Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) became operational on 4 November 2014.
On 15 October 2013, the EU Council formally adopted the Regulation on the Single Supervisory Mechanism, after negotiations with the European Parliament. The SSM Regulation then came into force after publication in the Official Journal of the EU. Under the SSM Regulation, the SSM had to be fully operational no later than one year after the Regulation entered into force.
Question 19. What Was The Comprehensive Assessment?
Question 20. How Is The Single Supervisory Mechanism Organised?
Supervisory Board: To ensure the separation of supervisory and monetary policy tasks, the Supervisory Board plans and carries out the ECB's supervisory tasks. This includes proposing draft supervisory decisions, which are put before the Governing Council of the ECB for adoption.
New business areas: Building the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) has required changes to the ECB's organisational structure, including the creation of new business areas. Four new Directorates General and a Secretariat are solely dedicated to banking supervision.
Shared services: Existing ECB functions and services are providing additional support to the SSM. These include IT, HR, budget, statistics, communications, legal services and administration.
Question 21. How Does The Single Supervisory Mechanism Operate?
The Supervisory Board, supported by a Steering Committee, plans and carries out the ECB's supervisory tasks. These include undertaking preparatory work and proposing draft decisions to the Governing Council of the ECB. If the Governing Council, the ECB's main decision-making body, does not object to the draft decisions proposed by the Supervisory Board, they are considered adopted. The day-to-day supervision of significant credit institutions is carried out by Joint Supervisory Teams (JSTs).
Question 22. What Are The Joint Supervisory Teams?
Composition: The Joint Supervisory Teams (JSTs) are one of the main forms of cooperation between the ECB and national supervisors. For each significant bank, a team has been formed of staff members of the national supervisors involved in supervising that bank and staff members of the ECB; the team is coordinated by the ECB with the assistance of sub-coordinators from each national supervisor.
Tasks: The JSTs carry out ongoing supervision of the significant banks. Their main tasks are to perform the risk analysis of the supervised entity or group and propose the supervisory programme and the appropriate supervisory actions.
Question 23. What Is The Role Of The National Supervisors?
National supervisory authorities, also known as national competent authorities (NCAs), work together closely with the ECB. They prepare and implement the ECB's adopted decisions. They also directly supervise less significant banks in the participating countries, around 3,500 in the euro area alone, which are not directly supervised by the ECB. However, the ECB can decide at any time to take over the direct supervision of any one of these banks in order to ensure that high supervisory standards are applied consistently.
The NCAs are also responsible for consumer protection and for combatting money laundering, which are outside the scope of the ECB's supervisory responsibilities.


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SWZ Archive
The AmmoniaDrive project explained – Ammonia as a marine fuel 'done right'
by Mariska Buitendijk | Sep 15, 2022 | Emissions, Energy transition, Marine engines, Marine fuels, Maritime research, News, Ship propulsion, SWZ|Maritime
Several news items and short movies have appeared online recently, announcing that the AmmoniaDrive Consortium was awarded a prestigious NWO Perspectief grant. But what is the AmmoniaDrive research project? How does it contribute to combatting shipping-induced climate change? Who are in the consortium and why? And finally, what research activities will take place?
This article was originally published in SWZ|Maritime's July-August issue. The authors are: Dr Ir P. de Vos, TU Delft (p.devos@tudelft.nl); Dr Ir L.M.T. Somers, TU Eindhoven; Prof. Dr Ir T. Tinga, University of Twente; Dr E.M. Foekema, Wageningen University; Prof. Dr B. van der Zwaan, University of Amsterdam; Prof. Dr R.R. Negenborn, TU Delft.
At the NWO Teknowlogy festival on 31 May 2022, all seven new Perspectief research projects, amongst which AmmoniaDrive, were put in the spotlight as key research projects funded by NWO and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy. Nederland Maritiem Land published a news item about AmmoniaDrive winning a Perspectief grant, the Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) announced the winning of the grant on its website and the participating partners have shared the news through their intranet or social media. This article explains what the AmmoniaDrive research project actually entails.
Also read: NWO grant for TU Delft project using ammonia as fuel for ships
The AmmoniaDrive Consortium
Before the "what", "why" and "how", let's first address the "who". The AmmoniaDrive Consortium consists of six Dutch universities, three Dutch applied research institutes and fifteen companies (see the table below). Building the AmmoniaDrive Consortium started in 2020 with the MIIP AmmoniaDrive and continued throughout the application and selection procedure of NWO Perspectief, in order to secure the grant and enable the AmmoniaDrive research actually taking place in the coming years.
The AmmoniaDrive Consortium.
NWO Perspectief – round 2020/2021
The aim of the funding instrument Perspectief is to make a contribution to the creation of economic opportunities within the societal challenges and key technologies of the Mission-driven Innovation Policy (see the NWO Perspectief website for more information, www.nwo.nl/onderzoeksprogrammas/perspectief). NWO Domain Applied and Engineering Sciences organises an open Perspectief call for new programme ideas annually. A Perspectief round consists of three phases, which for round 2020/2021 meant the following:
I. Eighty programme-initiatives for applied, multidisciplinary research of a technical nature were handed in to NWO in Phase I.
II. 48 programme-design documents were handed in to NWO in Phase II. Fourteen were selected to progress to Phase III.
III. Seven consortia were awarded a Perspectief grant after further international peer review of Phase III, the detailed research proposal and presentation and defence before the selection committee at NWO.
The AmmoniaDrive concept
To understand why the AmmoniaDrive research project received the grant, one needs to study the power plant concept that is depicted in the figure at the top of this article. It is this power plant concept that is central to the AmmoniaDrive research project.
The innovative AmmoniaDrive power plant concept uniquely combines solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) and internal combustion engine (ICE) technology using renewably produced, i.e. "green", ammonia as fuel. Despite its toxicity, ammonia is considered by many as an effective hydrogen carrier and future fuel for sea-going vessels, mainly because of its promise of being a cost-effective, carbon-free and relatively energy-dense fuel.
However, choosing ammonia as a sustainable shipping fuel does not yet solve the question of how it is used as a fuel, or in other words, how the energy stored in ammonia can be converted into useful (mechanical or electric) power on board of ships.
Engine manufacturers are currently developing diesel-ammonia dual-fuel marine ICEs as a solution to this question. The fuel cell community is at the same time advocating ammonia-fuelled fuel cells (FCs). By combining these two technologies, the AmmoniaDrive power plant has the potential to optimally use the strengths of both energy converters, SOFC and ICE, while utilising ammonia effectively as both hydrogen and energy carrier.
At the same time, the AmmoniaDrive power plant is expected to have a relatively small and thus acceptable impact on ship design; at least when compared to the impact hydrogen-based or battery power plants would have. AmmoniaDrive, therefore, is a single-fuel, high-efficiency power plant that could actually fit on board of ships and that has no pollutant emissions anywhere in the carbon-free energy chain (well-to-wake).
Also read: 'The research is there, but who will invest in zero-emissions ships?'
The AmmoniaDrive research programme consists of five Work Packages (WPs). The figure below provides an overview of the programme and the content of its WPs. Governance of the project lies with the Maritime & Transport Technology department of TU Delft, with Prof. Dr R.R. Negenborn as programme leader.
WP1 focuses on the experimental and numerical research into the main AmmoniaDrive system components: the SOFC and ICE. The function of the onboard SOFC-ICE power plant is to deliver useful power. WP1 aims to prove that the SOFC-ICE system can actually fulfill this function. WP1 leader is Dr Ir L.M.T. Somers of the Eindhoven University of Technology. Experimental and numerical research that will take place as part of WP1 addresses the performance of the ammonia-fuelled SOFC and ammonia-hydrogen fuelled ICE. Experiments to characterise combustion behaviour and engine performance will take place on different ICE facilities of research partners in the project.
WP2 focuses on the integrated system performance under various operating conditions using different automatic control and decision support strategies, while the anticipated sensor data is also applied for formulating dynamic maintenance strategies. WP2 leader is Prof. Dr Ir T. Tinga of the University of Twente, analytical and numerical research will be carried out under his and Prof. Dr Negenborn's supervision.
WP3 focuses on the very important ecological and safety aspects of AmmoniaDrive, including toxicity of NH3. WP3 leader is Dr E. Foekema of Wageningen University & Research. Part of this WP is the development of a safety framework based on experience in other sectors and fundamental safety sciences, while another part will experimentally study the ecological effects of an ammonia spill.
WP4 focuses on techno-economic aspects of NH3 shipping in general and AmmoniaDrive ships in particular. WP4 leader is Prof. Dr B. van der Zwaan of University of Amsterdam. The AmmoniaDrive power plant is based on relatively immature technology and ammonia as a renewable, synthetic e-fuel. Both features contain a lot of uncertainty with regards to their economic viability. The researchers in WP4 will therefore try to find out, using learning curve analysis, what is needed to make the AmmoniaDrive power plant economically viable within a certain time frame.
Finally, WP5 integrates all information generated in the other WPs, aims to develop a (partly virtual) system demonstrator and researches a variety of ship integration aspects through post-doctoral research and (post-)MSc R&D activities at the companies of the consortium. WP5 leader is Dr Ir P. de Vos of TU Delft. Based on use case analyses, ship integration aspects will be researched for different ship types by developing concept and basic ship designs, thus quantifying the impact the AmmoniaDrive power plant will have on different ship types and developing novel design guidelines for naval architects.
The AmmoniaDrive organisation.
From the short introduction to the AmmoniaDrive research project above, it is clear that many technical and non-technical challenges still need to be addressed before AmmoniaDrive power plants will actually be installed on board of ships. The central problem statement in the AmmoniaDrive research project, as mentioned in the research proposal, therefore is: it is unknown how the proposed AmmoniaDrive SOFC-ICE power plant performs on key performance indicators like emissions, system efficiency, safety, environmental impact, cost effectiveness, etc., either on board of ships or in other heavy-duty applications.
This leads to the main objective of the project: The objective of the AmmoniaDrive research is to raise the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) and Societal Readiness Level (SRL) of the AmmoniaDrive power plant concept from 1-2 to 4-5. The AmmoniaDrive Consortium will aim to achieve this with nine PhD researchers and a Post-Doctoral researcher. The table below lists the researchers, their research topic and affiliations (i.e. supervising universities).
The AmmoniaDrive researchers.
Next to the researchers mentioned in the table, the intention is to have a large number of graduation students researching for example ship integration aspects of the AmmoniaDrive concept in collaboration with the companies that are part of the consortium.
Also read: University of Nottingham leads research effort for ships using green ammonia
Timeline, vision and societal impact
The proposed start date of the AmmoniaDrive research programme is in the first quarter of 2023 with a duration of five years. During the research, the consortium aims to assess the feasibility of the AmmoniaDrive power plant for future ships and hence critically reflect on the vision and societal impact of the AmmoniaDrive research project. With AmmoniaDrive, we could be moving towards a future envisioned as follows:
'It is 2050. The mainstream media announce that the 1000th AmmoniaDrive ship has begun its maiden voyage. This important milestone is celebrated by the AmmoniaDrive initiators. The ship was designed in the Netherlands, like most of the AmmoniaDrive ships before it, and built at a shipyard in Africa. Now it has arrived at the North Sea-based "Clean Energy" island, where green ammonia is produced from air and water. Renewable electric power from nearby offshore wind turbines and solar panels is used to obtain nitrogen and hydrogen from air and water. Here, the ship will bunker locally produced green ammonia, after which it will sail to the next port of call for loading its first cargo. While the ship is refuelling, a number of specialists from different Dutch firms, all with their own specialty with regards to AmmoniaDrive power plants, enter the ship to visually check the engine room. No irregularities are expected, as the data from the different sensors on board were already transmitted automatically to the AmmoniaDrive Systems and Control Centre in Amsterdam during the voyage to the Netherlands and no signs of issues or malfunctions were reported. Still, the visit provides additional certainty that everything is indeed as it should be and shipowners around the world have frequently expressed their appreciation of the care, quality and innovativeness of the Dutch maritime community exemplified by these visits.'
This vision demonstrates how the AmmoniaDrive research can be the start of new economic activities for the Dutch maritime industry. The societal impact of AmmoniaDrive is therefore defined as: In a world where ammonia is embraced as a safe and affordable fuel for ships and other applications with no greenhouse gas or other harmful emissions, (engineering) professionals and society in general know the AmmoniaDrive power plant to be the best technical solution for powering ships, as well as other heavy-duty applications, such as island/emergency generators.
Shortly, the consortium hypothesises that the combined SOFC-ICE AmmoniaDrive power plant is ammonia as a marine fuel "done right" and will undertake the necessary research to test this hypothesis.
This article has introduced the AmmoniaDrive research project, which will start shortly and run for the coming five years. The application and selection process to secure the funds for the project was challenging, but the AmmoniaDrive Consortium is proud to share the news that they succeeded in obtaining an NWO Perspectief grant. We look forward to sharing more exciting news and insights coming from the AmmoniaDrive research.
This research is supported by the Perspectief project "AmmoniaDrive" (project 14267/P20-18) of the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO), domain Applied and Engineering Sciences (TTW).
Picture (top): The AmmoniaDrive concept.
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Swype Gets A Little Better
Brent Rose
Swype was really the first replacement keyboard for Android that Droid owners could show off to their snarky, iPhone-wielding pals to make them a just a little jealous. Today it's getting better.
Starting at 9am EST, folks who are rocking the Spint Nexus S 4G will be the first to sample the newest update for Swype. (Well, first after me that is, suckas!)
The update brings a few nice improvements to the original sliding keyboard, the biggest of which are App Gestures. Highlight some text, then slide from the Swype-Key to the T to the W, and it'll open Twitter and have the text all ready for you to Tweet. You can do the same thing with an address from a text message, but have it open in Google Maps. There are also shortcuts for cut, copy, paste and select all. Spiffy.
Aside from that there's improved personal dictionary management and the auto-capitalisation of proper nouns. Truth be told, this isn't rewriting the game, here. It's an incremental update, and I'm not 100 per cent sure why they're making such a big deal out of it. Regardless, Swype has gotten a lot better over the last year and is certainly more usable and accurate than it once was. Sprint Nexus S 4G owners will be able to grab this update for free at 9am EST from sprint.swype.com. Everyone else will have to wait a bit, I guess.


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by smash016 on Wed Nov 30, 2016 9:42 pm
Lol already struck by something.
by smash016 on Tue Nov 29, 2016 7:30 pm
The ME3 endings happened in a vacuum... they were not real. So are of no consequence. Actually pretty clever, giving us mutually exclusive endings but still leaving room for another sequel.
If I have to tie things to my own theories... then Shepard chose one of the futures proposed by the Reapers. Except when refusing to choose (Refusal ending). Otherwise, Shepard picked the state of affairs for the VR world to come.
Andromeda, on the contrary, is like the orthodox geth... they choose self-determinism. This is humanity, or what's left of it after the Reaper war, creating their own actual future. That happens in reality.
Btw, I started a new playthrough last night. I don't mean to investigate all too much, just playing in a laid-back fashion, you know... But I thought it'd be a good appetizer for Andromeda regardless. And who knows what I might learn.
by vlad78 on Tue Nov 29, 2016 8:02 am
smash016 wrote: We both know our ideas about the narrative are just... wonderful. I mean that.
But what little BW has communicated clearly establishes the game will be separate from the previous titles.
Seeing the state in which BW left Mass Effect, and the audience's response to that, with key people leaving the team... I think they threw whatever plans they had overboard.
Of course, they could be lying on purpose. To not spoil anything. But attracting existing players and fans is in their best interest, so you'd think they would tease us more if the previous game did in fact tie into Andromeda.
Sorry, man... I so hope I'm wrong.
But this will clearly be separated from previous titles. Andromeda will deal with the new galaxy, imho we'll only have hints (for those who know where to look obviously) about what happened near sol but the big protagonists of old will not be erased.
They said they don't want people to feel they made the wrong choice, then they won't talk about the consequences of those choices.
Of course I know we speculate (even if I think our ideas are much more logical than most other theories) but using again the honeycomb with arkcon tells me they haven't dropped anything. It can't be just a hunch or wishful thinking or just a generic shape. It's deliberate.
Casey has left but remember he stayed until the narrative had been firmly written. Lead writer Mc Walter has stayed too. And this time we heard of no change at the last minute like we heard about the hypothetical dark energy plot.
I think the crucible/shepard experiment has been unleashed on the known universe according to Shepard's choice. Yet Leviathan designed a way to safeguard his thrall species by using Cerberus to build the arks and send them in another galaxy. That's my current theory.
Why Andromeda?
Real life I think BW will try to restablish the trust of their customers and then they 'll come back to the known universe.
We don't know if the Shepard who speaks to the colonists in the ad is the Shepard who saved the citadel or the Cerberus resurrected Shepard. That would be an important clue.
Keep faith. The narrative is so important for BW, they can't leave the ME universe in a limbo. They will find another way. (harbinger voice here)
I'm waiting to see what species are officially on the arks.
My money is on Humans, Asari obviously, krogans, Salarians, and Turians = council species. My money is also on the species we think were heavily uplifted like the drells or Hanars but we'll see.
I'm sure no batarians will make the trip unless illegally put on the arks too. And we both know batarians were the most heavily indoctrinated in the latest cycle. But of course the explanation could be much more mundane, they had been thrown out of the council previously.
Seeing how the Dragon Age story became much more straightforward in revealing what's behind the scene, i really thing the ME franchise is mature enough to do the same thing.
by smash016 on Mon Nov 28, 2016 10:35 pm
We both know our ideas about the narrative are just... wonderful. I mean that.
by vlad78 on Mon Nov 28, 2016 10:56 am
Looks like the instructor is not the only one to have that shape. Could indeed be just generic, we'll see if this 3 dotted shape appears on something else.
Something else, they said all species will not make it to Andromeda. Could it be only those who were the most upgraded by the protheans would attempt the journey? I'm just speculating here.
i have to object about the 3 dots. They are right on the chest where usually there's a logo like on the N7 character. It's not generic as the only generic 3 dots we found hitherto have been the 3 dots on the knees of Elanos Haliat which probably aren't anything more than armor design. But those 3 dots combined with the honeycomb logo of Arkcon really makes me feel we are on something here.
Do you remember what a bioware writers wrote about asari and bees?
I also heard they'll drop thermal clips in Andromeda. That would be really convenient and plays exactly into Choose wisely narrative who predicted years ago the next Mass Effect will happen a long time in the future to hide that ME2 and ME3 aren't real. They told quite a lot of bullshit but I think they were right on spot there.
Of course we have to wait for the game to be able to speculate on concrete stuff but seeing underground flowers without sun or some kind of portals which connect planets makes me wonder if Ilos and the jump to the citadel wasn't real after all and we were just watching parts of the narrative we weren't meant to understand at the time. (Shep's thought on Eletania)
by smash016 on Sun Nov 27, 2016 1:58 pm
Sorry, didn't check back here recently.
Read your contributions on the IT forum, though. Three dots is just... very generic, I think. Armor is just Mass Effect style. But who knows.
If we assume there is an in-universe plausible explanation for the Ark Initiative, then Cerberus and by speculative extension Leviathan being involved seems the way to go. Or rather, Reaper tech makes possible everything that shouldn't be possible, but Reaper tech is ultimately Leviathan tech, too. I wouldn't be surprised salvaged Reaper tech is the in-game explanation for supra-FTL travel. They need to travel large distances each harvest anyway, right?
At this point, I'm just hoping for a good game, as good as the previous ones. If there's a substantial link to the trilogy, perhaps even to IT-ish themes, all the better.
by vlad78 on Wed Nov 16, 2016 2:54 pm
I want to add timeline says the Andromeda initiative launches somewhere between ME2 and ME3 in 2185.
The armor of the female intructor seems strangely reminiscent of the Cerberus Banshee armor. We must remeber at that time Cerberus is NOT openly hostile to the human alliance and owns quite alot of fronts in citadel space. Wouldn't be out of character for them to fund an expedition to another galaxy. Wouldn't be also out of character for Leviathan to do it.
Something someone underlined on youtube, the tech used to bring those arks to Andromeda seems quite more efficient than standard citadel tech, their FTL speed seems quite amazing. 600 years to reach andromeda seems quite short.
Andromeda is 2,537 millions light years away. Go figure what speed would be needed to reach it in 600 years? Council tech? I don't think so.
by vlad78 on Tue Nov 08, 2016 3:06 pm
Not jumping on any conclusion.
But watch the symbol on the chest of the female white and blue character on this video after 0:32.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPkv7DmeM1A&list=PL3a3tkpS9DNRUbHcBYrvv9GKtFlFoSqH7
3 dots like one of the hidden cerberus symbol.
by smash016 on Sat Sep 10, 2016 9:09 am
--- I'm just dropping this here because the private messaging on the IT forum is... buggy or something ---
Yeah, I spotted the plants, too... and the insectoid aliens. But don't want to jump on every detail just yet...
What do you mean, "repetition of the Leviathan network", do you mean those glowing orbs?
I don't think there's an inherent problem of BioWare having to think "too far ahead." 1st of all, they could've thought of the gist of things, with details being fleshed out later in the series, when needed. 2nd, if a franchise is successful, it often happens things are stalled, with extra episodes, extra stories placed in between, and the reveal being pushed farther ahead (although frankly this has inherent risks of writers leaving the team and commercial (EA) interests interfering etc., all very relevant to ME I suppose).
I don't have to tell you all over again about my VR afterlife theory. But I'm still baffled by how much of ME's oddities are explained by it. Even though I'm not currently able to work out all its intricacies. I am personally convinced death and the afterlife still play a large part in ME's secret story. Just remember Hudson talking about Gladiator, remember? It's on the 1st page of my still-to-be-finished blog... All the references to death... Can't mean nothing.
Feels good to ruminate about ME again, lol. Wanna do a replay right now.
Let me know if you any ideas, Vlad.
by smash016 on Fri Jan 22, 2016 12:56 pm
vlad78 wrote: I really think there are quite a lot of things up BW sleeves. I seriously think they haven't dropped anything from the first story.
Once again, let me remind you of the end of the foundation comics.
Who's the mech helping Rasa? What is it? a mech showing some feelings?
What is Cerberus doing with all their machines storing every possible information about shepard?
Why does miranda lie to Shepard about Rasa?
Those are not old stories, this is McWalter himself at the helm giving us some hints during the making of ME Andromeda.
BTW you were talking about the alien ship storing a civilization in an alternate reality in its memory chips, a civilization sent from another galaxy or do I remember poorly? Could that be strangely similar to what will happen in the next game (without the alternate reality... officialy)?
Yes, you're right about Walters, but at the same time the idea of Walters just being a writer who habitually drops the ball and gets away with it, is not beyond me.
Not sure if from another galaxy, but a very old ship anyway. So what you're suggesting is indeed a very interesting possibility for Andromeda. But in my theory, the ship would be an actual Reaper, and a single Reaper, most likely Sovereign from ME1, that's running the simulation.
And I still feel that Shepard is inserted into this simulation more or less on purpose, with some kind of secret objective. So who knows Andromeda is what's going on in reality, and then these guys bump into Sovereign and discover what really went on in the first three games.
But this is all very speculative of course and made up as I type.
vlad78 wrote:
So your current opinion over it is : It's not a dream, it's real, but not happening in the real world, just in a reproduction similar to the alien vessel which computer contained a whole universe.
When I read that news story a lot of things clicked into place, yes. Then again, it's only one of many news stories, most of which are just filler material, for all I know it means nothing.
by vlad78 on Thu Jan 21, 2016 11:18 pm
I really think there are quite a lot of things up BW sleeves. I seriously think they haven't dropped anything from the first story.
smash016 wrote: I considered the 6-year gap, but it is relatively easy to import a 3D model into a newer engine and take it from there. It saves time. I'm just saying.
Like you say, almost the ENTIRE trilogy would be irrelevant, and I'm not buying that. Rather, the entire trilogy would take place in an alternate reality that is very relevant.
How? The trilogy alludes many times to the idea of virtual life being as meaningful as mortal / incarnate life, especially when one cannot tell the difference. An important philosophical concept, too, btw. But for greater beings than us, i.e. Reapers and Leviathan, the distinction would matter, because they created the very distinction. To preserve organic life at all cost. To save them from extinction. To perfect them. Make them immortal. Can't you read the Reapers' ideology in these words? The Reapers are still carrying out their original mandate, devised by Leviathan. Save all organic life. Literally store it in computer simulations. That's still my favorite theory anyway... A virtual afterlife. Remember, the countless references to death.
"This is not your domain." A mortal is not meant to meet his maker, his god... To see through the divine plan. Shepard does. Sees through the veil somehow. Meets the Creator, the great architect. "You bring only death." Shepard is sabotaging the Reaper plan. Everyone will die, will not be saved, be lost forever. Another major theme in BW's works... Hero turns out to be anti-hero. "The Anti-Shepard."
But whatever is true, I doubt we'll ever see it. Chances still are Andromeda is a reboot of sorts. BioWare overplayed their hand. Probably.
What's EHTWIT?
rhm I meant EHTSIT
Extremely hard to swallow indoctrination theory.
by smash016 on Thu Jan 21, 2016 9:41 pm
I considered the 6-year gap, but it is relatively easy to import a 3D model into a newer engine and take it from there. It saves time. I'm just saying.
by vlad78 on Thu Jan 21, 2016 8:21 pm
smash016 wrote: Yes, the implication could be that the Prothean beacon on Eden Prime was also of Leviathan design, or served a Leviathan purpose. Also seeing as how the turians are seemingly worshiping it, just like how Saren felt an almost religious attraction about the beacon.
On the other hand, reusing of old turian animation model from ME1 for cheap visual effect?
6 years between both games. The engine is not of the same generation. Bioware upgraded tremendously the quality of their 3D engine, why bother reusing a 6 years old animation? If it's just a coincidence, I would say they reused a methaphore showing the mythical or almost religious nature of both the prothean artifact and levi shard, but I wouldn't consider a technical explanation.
I'm not saying they are right but the idea choose wisely had about reapers trying to find levi and not to cross the conduit is still a possibility.
IF the prothean beacon is tied to the leviathan network, by finding it, Saren was able to locate Leviathan's hideout. But he wouldn't take the beacon onboard Sovereign because of the mortal threat it would create for the sentient machine. Then Saren ordered the Geth to destroy the beacon and the colony with it.
If CW is right, everything which happens after that is irrelevant, a red herring because it's part of the illusion. There is no conduit, no battle of the citadel, no Tali arriving on the citadel with a recording of Saren admitting the Eden Prime raid was his doing 2 DAYS before those events had happened.
There is no Virmire, no Feros, nothing. Well those place probably exist, but the events taking place there do not.
But even for me, it's a bit hard to swallow. That's the extremely hard to swallow indoctrination theory or EHTWIT. And the fight would be not to save Shep's mind from indoctrination, but to sway leviathan 's behavior toward lesser species.
Yes, the implication could be that the Prothean beacon on Eden Prime was also of Leviathan design, or served a Leviathan purpose. Also seeing as how the turians are seemingly worshiping it, just like how Saren felt an almost religious attraction about the beacon.
by vlad78 on Thu Jan 21, 2016 9:40 am
Something here has to be meaningful. There are to many similarities between the scene depicting saren opening the beacon and the scene on Namakli.
by vlad78 on Wed Jan 20, 2016 10:53 pm
smash016 wrote: Yeah, if I had a fraction of the free time I used to have, I'd have completed another playthrough and ideas would have crystallized a little more.
Still want to finish my blog, but memory is fading, you know... Was hard enough to put it all together when I was still thinking about it daily, let alone now.
But good to see you're still alive, Vlad. Who knows what the 4th game will bring us.
And hey, a new episode... Didn't even know about that. Will watch it... in due time.
(edit) Actually, I've started a new playthrough... I play like half an hour a week... But the first beacon activation is still a major event for any conspiracy theory to consider. If it's just an information cache, like everybody says, why does it levitate people, and why does it appear to be part of a galactic network / transmission sequence of some kind? Why does Chakwas allude to dreaming afterwards (beta waves during coma)?
What if the "Prothean archive" was just a ruse, and the beacon found by Shepard at the end of the mission was really a trap of geth design, set for Shepard? To plunge Shep in some kind of alternate / virtual reality. Remember the Prothean site at Eden Prime is empty. If Saren and his geth moved the beacon from the dig site to the spaceport, as the story tells, then why did they even leave it behind for Shepard to find? If they were able to carry the beacon with them, might as well have taken it on board Sovereign, if all they wanted was to prevent anyone from activating it.
If it's a leviathan shard, they sure don't want to put it on Sovereign imho.
by smash016 on Wed Jan 20, 2016 10:27 pm
Yeah, if I had a fraction of the free time I used to have, I'd have completed another playthrough and ideas would have crystallized a little more.
by vlad78 on Tue Jan 12, 2016 10:23 pm
smash016 wrote: Okay, time for some old-fashioned paranoid rambling!
I re-read the Revelation novel, and there's one thing that piques my interest.
"After the Geth War with the quarians, the geth isolated themselves behind the Veil, far from the eyes of organic races. The Veil is almost impossible to scan through or navigate, meaning no one knows exactly what the geth are doing beyond it." (ME Wiki on the Perseus Veil)
"The Veil's total opacity prevents Council intelligence from surveying geth activity. Theoretically, the geth could be preparing a devastating attack against which the Council could be defenseless, or the geth could have died out, so that the defense budget against them could be gaining the Alliance nothing but economic ruination.
Despite fears of geth, prospectors do occasionally mount salvage ventures inside the Veil; one ended in tragedy. Using technomental domination, the geth drew the team into the Veil before aiming them back as husks at the organic society that produced them." (Codex on the Perseus Veil)
Why was it so important to keep stressing the geth could be doing // anything // and other races wouldn't know about it? Why are the geth apparently capable of "technomental domination" (ring a bell, anyone)? And why is the "AI artifact" Sovereign found so close to the Perseus Veil?
And yeah, we always found so many similarities between Reaper and geth architecture, remember?
Did you know the novel takes its name from Saren studying Dr. Qian's notes on Sovereign? It's the only thing called a "revelation" in the entire novel. Once Sovereign's power would be unleashed, "everything would be forever changed" and "humanity would learn its place" and "Sovereign was the key to it all." Saren is saying this before he got indoctrinated, mind you. At the sight of just a warship or some advanced AI tech? Karpyshyn is communicating way more than that. Reapers, one would say.
But Dr. Qian's notes are primarily linking Sovereign's tech to the geth. If anything, this is foreshadowing a prominent role for the geth. This entire prologue story is foreshadowing the geth's importance. Nothing about a Reaper armada invading the galaxy. About some kind of apocalypse.
TLDR; The Perseus Veil and the way the geth are presented in this novel, are such a HUGE Chekhov's Gun for the geth being the real enemies. "Gethsemane", remember? Traitors, deceivers, like Judas.
Alive and kicking but with so little time.
Hello guys. How are you?
Geth geth geth everywhere.
Do you remember the little theory I had about geth linked to egyptian mythology, geth being Ammut, the deamon devourer of sinners who infringed Maat's code during their life, and in the game the threat created unwillingly by the quarians pushed by levi to keep organics in line with the council and which would inevitably work for the reapers at the end of each cycle?
BTW the last Choose wisely episode has been released. Have you seen it?
Major change to what we discussed with Jenna, they abandonned the theory of the crash of the Normandy SR1 around Virmire and locate the start of the dream right at the moment Shep activated the beacon.
Interesting bit, they demonstrated how Tali's story doesn't add up. In fact, Tali came to the citadel with a record of Saren's voice proving his involvment in the Eden Prime attack DAYS before the attack even happened. Again it could be a mistake, or another piece of evidence showing most of shep's squadmates are not what they seem and where put on the Normandy for a reason far beyond the alliance or the council intentions.
Do you remember TIM's sentence recorded on Cronos station vids? He will surround Shep with familiar or friendly faces to make him comfortable.
Again, as you were talking about the bigger role the geth could have, remember that I think most council species were manipulated by leviathan like chess pieces on a game board and quarians like asaris are thralls.
Another thing, did you watch the end of Dragon Age inquisition? trespasser dlc?
I talk about it because it's another exmple about how bioware can play with its players.
Watch it on youtube. The Fade which is the land of dreams and the source of magic has been artificially separated from reality by one of the elven gods. But those gods where not gods at all just powerful wizars, so powerful in fact that they could be compared to gods and made of every other livings they servants and slaves.
And this god cut our reality from the Fade by creating the veil, a magical barrier which trapped most other gods into the fade and delivered the world from their domination.
Interesting points are as follow:
- This is a central keyplot of the dragon age universe. This god and the disappearance of elven gods because of him existed in the game lore from the very beginning of the first game 10 years ago but it has always been shrouded in myths and legends hitherto.
This is directly similar to our belief that leviathan and his little games with the reapers have existed hidden within the Mass Effect lore since day 1 nine years ago.
- Reality as players knew it in DA is not the truth. But the interesting twist in DA lies with the fact that the god I'm talking about, Dread wolf wants to restore the world as it was, and it might mean the death of all living beings who came after the split, like the humans.
In Mass effect, we want the truth.
by smash016 on Thu Dec 24, 2015 4:19 pm
Okay, time for some old-fashioned paranoid rambling!
Wut, you guys are still alive out there...?
Actually, I do plan on completing the blog.
But patience will be necessary.
And I just started re-reading the first ME novel. Maybe it'll get me to re-play the games one more time... to refresh my memory, you know.
by NatP on Sun Nov 22, 2015 2:35 pm
Wow Smash you made a blog?! That's so freaking awesome! Seeing stuff that was discussed here laid out so neatly on a blog... Man that's just amazing. I really do hope you plan on updating it again!
Also did you guys hear about this me:a leak? https://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/3troe0/new_mass_effect_andromeda_gameplay_information/cx8mnh8 Apparently cerberus might be a part of it perhaps.
NatP


Chinese infrastructure investment in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) is on the rise, according to data collected by Reconnecting Asia in collaboration with the Financial Times. A focal point of this investment is the 16+1 format, which brings together China and 16 CEE countries. In November, at the sixth annual 16+1 summit, Chinese premier Li Keqiang announced an additional $2.4 billion in development-oriented financial cooperation loans. We asked a group of experts to comment on China's rising economic engagement in the region, which has been called the "gateway to Europe" for its flagship foreign policy initiative, the Belt and Road.
In our first response, Dr. Jens Bastian predicts that China's emerging "Balkan Silk Road" will firmly cement its role in Southeast Europe as a leading lender, investor, and commercial partner in the coming years.
In our second response, Agatha Kratz discusses the nuances behind China's infrastructure investment patterns in CEE countries under the 16+1 and the BRI, pinpointing both reasons for concern as well as signs of reassurance.
In our third response, Dr. Justyna Szczudlik concludes that any potential risks China's infrastructure investments may pose for Europe are limited in scope for now.
In our fourth response, Jan Gaspers argues that Chinese investment in CEE countries has already visibly damaged the EU's ability to act cohesively vis-à-vis China on trademark foreign policy issues, including the international rule of law and protecting human rights.
In our fifth response, Maesea McCalpin suggests that a successful response to BRI will likely involve nuanced and localized policies in the same way that China has adopted localized approaches to its infrastructure investment abroad.
In our sixth response, Dr. Chen Xin argues that Chinese infrastructure investment in CEE countries has served as a catalyst for regional development and deeper integration within Europe.
Previous Topics in our Big Question series include Strategic Infrastructure, Arctic Opportunities, Asia's Overland Connections, The World's Infrastructure Laboratory, Emerging Technology and Tomorrow's Geography, and Asia's Unintended Flows.


The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has started vaccination against the latest Ebola outbreak in the northeaster North Kivu province, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday.
"Vaccines are an important tool in the fight against Ebola. This is why it has been a priority to move them rapidly into place to begin protecting our health workers and the affected population," said DRC Health Minister Dr. Oly Ilunga.
A total of 3,220 doses of rVSV-ZEBOV Ebola vaccine are currently available in the country, while supplementary doses have been requested. While the vaccine goes through the licensing process, an agreement between Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and Merck, the developer of the vaccine, ensures that additional investigational doses of the vaccine are available.
The vaccination operation was launched just one week after the announcement of a second outbreak of Ebola this year in the country, in which a total of 44 cases have been reported so far as of Wednesday, including 17 confirmed and 27 probable. The death toll has risen to 36.
Earlier on Tuesday, Peter Salama, deputy director general of emergency preparedness and response at the WHO, said on Twitter that results of genetic analysis had confirmed Ebola Zaire strain was the cause of the latest Ebola outbreak in the DRC, and sequencing did not demonstrate close linkages with the earlier outbreak in the northwestern Equateur province.
The WHO is now providing logistical support for the establishment of the cold chain and sending supplies needed for the vaccinations, in addition to supporting the negotiation of protocols with the manufacturer and national authorities, and supporting the deployment of vaccination experts from Guinea to work alongside national staff, who began the vaccination.
However, North Kivu province and eastern areas of the adjacent Ituri province are among the most populated in the DRC, with many major cities, which brings heightened risks and new challenges in the fight against Ebola, according to Dr. Salama, who has called for fighting the outbreak with all tools, old and new.


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text:
National Council of Women var en förening för kvinnors rättigheter i Chile, grundad 1919.  Det var en av landets första kvinnoorganisationer.

Den var landets ledande kvinnoförening i flera årtionden, och spelade en ledande roll i rörelsen för kvinnlig rösträtt, som slutligen infördes 1949.

Källor

1919 i Sydamerika
Organisationer bildade 1919
Första vågens feminism
Kvinnoorganisationer
Kvinnlig rösträtt
Organisationer i Chile
Chile under 1900-talet

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Copper may be the base metal with the most near-term upside potential, said Morgan Stanley.
According to Morgan Stanley, the complex drifted lower throughout the (last) week on speculative liquidation, but copper held better, particularly at week's end.
"We think the market may be feeling more comfortable with respect to Chinese demand prospects in 2Q vs. 1Q. We think copper possesses the best near-term outlook, as supply appears tight at a time of seasonal demand strength," the firm added.