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Statement By Honourable Sharie B. De Castro on Secondary School Summer School
Friday, 28 October 2022 - 4:42pm
STATEMENT BY HONOURABLE SHARIE B. DE CASTRO
MINISTER FOR EDUCATION, YOUTH AFFAIRS & SPORTS
SEVENTH SITTING OF THE FOURTH SESSION OF THE FOURTH
HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS
UPDATE ON SECONDARY SUMMER SCHOOL 2022
Madam Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity to update this Honourable House on the Secondary Summer School Initiative, 2022. Before giving the results, I would like to give a brief background. There was a total of two hundred and twenty-two (224) students enrolled in Grade 12 at public secondary schools. Of the total, one hundred and sixty-eight (168) students or seventy-give percent (75%) were successful and fifty-six (56) or twenty-five percent (25%) were unsuccessful in completing their secondary level graduation requirements.
With about twenty-five percent (25%) of the graduating class not meeting graduation requirements, this was cause for concern. On close examination of the students' results, it was noted that the majority of these Grade 12 students were missing one or two components of the graduation requirements, either credits in a subject or subjects, failing one subject for the Exit Proficiency Examination (EPE) or a combination of both. It was therefore determined that running a summer school programme for four weeks for the month of July where students could have a concentrated time to work on the one or two areas would be beneficial. It would give the students the opportunity to complete their high school journey and receive their secondary school diploma rather than return to secondary school for another year.
Against that backdrop, the four-week intensive session for the students in the various subject areas began on July 5, 2022. The summer school programme was opened to students not only in Grade 12 but all students in both Grades 11 and 12 of the Elmore Stoutt High School (ESHS), the Virgin Islands School of Technical Studies (VISTS) and the Bregado Flax Educational Centre (BFEC) Secondary Division, requiring credits in two or less subjects, in need of passing the EPE or a combination of one credit subject and one EPE subject. The students from VISTS and ESHS attended sessions at the ESHS campus in Pasea Estate. On Virgin Gorda, sessions were held at BFEC Secondary. Giving the Grade 11 students the opportunity, allowed them to begin recovering credits at an earlier stage and it put these students in a better position when they entered Grade 12.
Madam Speaker, students had to register and along with their parents, sign a commitment form to attend all sessions and to comply with all the expectations for the summer school. There were thirty (30) students enrolled in English, eight (8) in Mathematics, seventeen (17) in Business subjects, seventeen (17) in social sciences, fourteen (14) in the sciences, nine (9) in technical subjects, one (1) in Physical Education, three (3) in EPE English and ninety (90) in EPE Mathematics.
Madam Speaker, fifteen (15) teachers provided intense intervention in the selected subject areas at the secondary level. Of the one hundred and eighty-nine (189) students registered, one hundred and thirty-seven (137) students attended and completed the sessions as scheduled. Fourteen (14) students attended from Bregado Flax Educational Centre in Virgin Gorda, twenty-two (22) students attended from the Virgin Islands School of Technical Studies and one hundred and one (101) students attended from the Elmore Stoutt High School.
Madam Speaker, I am pleased that the Ministry was able to run this summer school programme and the students who took advantage of the opportunity of the summer sessions and those who took their work seriously for the duration of the classes, were successful. I applaud the students Madam Speaker. I also take this opportunity to commend the fifteen (15) teachers who took the time to engage these students and guide them towards their success.
From the Elmore Stoutt High School, sixty-three (63) students did classes for the Exit Proficiency Exam (EPE) and forty-two (42) students were successful. For the Virgin Islands School of Technical Studies, nine (9) students did the EPE and five (5) students were successful and from the Bregado Flax Educational Centre Secondary Division, fourteen (14) students did the EPE and ten (10) students were successful. This amounts to a sixty-six percent (66%) pass rate for the Exit Proficiency Exam Summer Sitting. The majority of the students needed to pass the Exit Proficiency Exam in Mathematics.
Madam Speaker, there were forty-two (42) students from the Elmore Stoutt High School and the Virgin Islands School of Technical Studies who attended summer school because they were failing one or two subjects for the school year. Of the forty-two (42) students, thirty-six (36) students were successful in passing the subjects that they were registered for. This shows an eighty-five percent (85%) success rate for students' credit recovery.
Madam Speaker, as I mentioned earlier, there were fifty-six (56) Grade 12 students at the end of last school year who were unsuccessful in completing their secondary level graduation requirements. I am so pleased to share that because of the summer school programme, forty-two (42) of those students were able to successfully complete their graduation requirements and were able to receive their high school diploma by the end of the summer. This included thirty-five (35) students from the Elmore Stoutt High School, three (3) students from the Virgin Islands School of Technical Studies and four (4) students from the Bregado Flax Educational Center Secondary Division. Madam Speaker, I commend these amazing young people for their diligence and perseverance and I wish them well in their continued educational pursuits and out in the world of work.
Madam Speaker, what was a new initiative this year with the summer school programme was to engage students from Grade 11 in summer classes. In the past, the summer session accommodated Grade 12 students only. This year, grade 11 students were also able to utilize this concentrated period of time to focus on successfully completing a credit or EPE requirement. I see this as a step in the right direction. As we move forward with reform, the updated policy for credit recovery and summer programmes will reflect this adjustment.
Madam Speaker, the Ministry of Education, Youth Affairs and Sports remains steadfast in its commitment to the development of the Territory's youth. This initiative is just one of the many ways we seek to support our students' needs and help them to achieve their God-given potential.
Thank you Madam Speaker.


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A post shared by Jessie James Decker (@jessiejamesdecker)
Jessie James Decker Celebrates 30th Birthday in a New Way
Tricia Despres Published: April 21, 2018
It's been quite a month for country music's very own Jessie James Decker. Not only did she bring her third child into the world on April 2, but she also celebrated her 30th birthday just 10 days later on April 12.
"Thanks for all birthday wishes," she wrote on her Instagram page on April 13, alongside a picture of her sporting a birthday hat while breastfeeding her newborn son. "Never did I imagine I would be celebrating my 30th birthday with my new born on the boob," she noted wryly.
There are plenty of things Decker probably hasn't imagined would happen in her life, as her household continues to (happily) get more and more crowded. Married to football player Eric Decker since 2013, Decker now holds down the title of mommy for little Forrest Bradley, as well as older siblings Vivianne Rose and Eric Decker II.
From the looks of it, Decker is basking in her new life as a mom of three, sharing a pic on Instagram on Tuesday (April 17) of Vivianne showing a little gesture of sweet love to her youngest brother.
"Good morning baby brother," Decker wrote alongside the precious pic.
Of course, knowing Decker, her personal life doesn't slow down her professional endeavors much, and it won't belong before she will be back in the studio. Country music fans will recall that Decker released her album Southern Girl City Lights in 2017, and released a buzzworthy video for "Flip My Hair" in 2018 when she was pregnant with Forrest!
Jessie James Decker's Baby Has a Name as Strong as These:
Source: Jessie James Decker Celebrates 30th Birthday in a New Way
Categories: Country, Newsletter
Kentucky Band with Incredible Talent Makes First Official Video [WATCH]
Brooks & Dunn 'Reboot Tour 2023′ Coming to Kentucky This Summer
HunterGirl on the Pros and Cons of Performing on 'American Idol' Versus Her Own Tour
Drake Milligan Hat-Tips Elvis Presley and Shania Twain on Electrifying 'Sounds Like Something I'd Do' [Listen]
Zac Brown Band Ready Summer 2023 Headlining From the Fire Tour
Ashley McBryde Inducted Into the Grand Ole Opry [Pictures]
Walker Hayes Coming to the Ford Center in Evansville

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Figure 22 shows in outline one possible structure for an Erbium-doped fibre amplifier (EDFA).
Erbium-doped fibre amplifier
A length of erbium-doped fibre is spliced in line with the fibre carrying the signal, and high-power, unmodulated light at a specific, shorter, wavelength (the 'pump' wavelength) is coupled into the same fibre. The erbium-doped fibre has the same physical structure as standard single-mode fibre but the glass it is made of has erbium atoms added (it is 'doped' with erbium), and the presence of the erbium has the effect of transferring energy from light at the pump wavelength to the signal wavelength. In this way the (modulated) signal at around 1550 nm emerges from the erbium-doped fibre at a higher power, having taken the power from the pump.
The wavelength of the light used for the pump can be either 980 nm or 1480 nm. Sometimes both pump wavelengths are used simultaneously to get maximum gain.
While EDFAs are simple in principle and have had a dramatic effect on optical-fibre communications, there are a number of considerations that must be taken into account when they are used, including:
Cost: Both the wavelengths used in the pump source are difficult to generate and the lasers used to produce them are expensive.
Noise: In addition to amplifying the input signal, EDFAs (like all amplifiers) also generate a noise signal, in this case known as amplified spontaneous emission (ASE).
Gain-flatness: In an ideal amplifier a plot of gain against wavelength would be flat across the range of wavelengths for which it is to be used. In a real amplifier the gain depends to some extent upon the precise input wavelength. This can be a problem in systems carrying WDM (wavelength division multiplexed) signals since some wavelengths will be amplified more than others.
In addition, as already explained, EDFAs only work in the 1550 nm window.
Other technologies are available for manufacturing optical amplifiers. For example, semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOAs), also called semiconductor laser amplifiers (SLAs), can be made for use in both the 1550 nm and 1300 nm windows. They use the same technology as the laser diodes that provide the light source at the transmitter, but have a different physical structure. Although SOAs have been available for some time and are potentially cheaper than EDFAs, their performance is not as attractive as EDFAs and they have not been very widely used.
At the time of writing Raman amplifiers have just started to appear commercially. Raman amplifiers use stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) to transfer power from light at a pump wavelength to the signal. This effect is similar to what happens in an EDFA, but is caused by a different physical property leading to different characteristics. Whereas EDFAs transfer power from one or both of two specific pump wavelengths to a specific range of signal wavelengths, with SRS the importance lies in the difference between the pump wavelength and the signal wavelength. For both the 1300 and 1550 nm windows a pump at any wavelength will amplify light with a wavelength about 100 nm longer. Thus if you want to amplify light at, say, 1330 nm you need a pump with a wavelength of about 1230 nm. By having several pumps at different wavelengths, it is possible to amplify over a large range of signal wavelengths.
When considering optical amplifiers it is convenient to refer to the frequency ranges available for optical-fibre transmission defined by Ramaswami and Sivarajan (2002):
O band (O for 'original' wavelength band) 1260–1360 nm
E band (E for 'extended' wavelength band) 1360–1460 nm
S Band (S for 'short' wavelength band) 1460–1530 nm
C Band (C for 'conventional' wavelength band) 1530–1565 nm
L Band (L for.'long' wavelength band) 1565–1625 nm
U band (U for 'ultra-long' wavelength band) 1625–1675 nm
What technologies can be used to amplify optical signals in the following bands?
(a) O band
(b) C band.
(a) Semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOAs) and Raman amplifiers can be used in the O band.
(b) Semiconductor optical amplifiers and Raman amplifiers can also be used in the C band, but additionally erbium-doped fibre amplifiers (EDFAs) can be used at these wavelengths.
Previous 3.2 Directional couplers
Next 3.4 Optical switches


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Cigarette Butts Are Damaging Our Plants
Cigarette butts are the most common form of litter on the planet and they are harming our vegetation.
Loukia Papadopoulos
solidcolours/iStock
Cigarette butts, the most common form of litter on the planet, are a big but often overlooked problem. Cigarette butts consist mostly of cigarette filters called cellulose acetate that can take 18 months to 10 years to decompose.
Harming our plants
But that isn't the worst of it. New research out of Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) is revealing that cigarette butts cause damage to our plants.
RELATED: RESEARCH SHOWS E-CIGARETTE FLAVORINGS CAN DAMAGE BLOOD VESSELS
"Despite being a common sight littering streets and parks worldwide, our study is the first to show the impact of cigarette butts on plants. We found they had a detrimental effect on the germination success and shoot length of both grass and clover, and reduced the root weight of clover by over half," said lead author Dr Dannielle Green, Senior Lecturer in Biology at Anglia Ruskin University (ARU).
The new study found that the presence of cigarette butts in the soil reduces the germination success and shoot length (the length of the stem) of clover by 27% and 28% respectively, while root biomass (root weight) reduced by 57%. And that's not even taking into account the additional toxins released from the burning of the tobacco.
ARU revealed that it is estimated that around 4.5 trillion cigarette butts are littered every year. This would make cigarette butts the most pervasive form of plastic pollution on the planet.
Forage crops for livestock
The problem affects more than just local plants. "Ryegrass and white clover, the two species we tested, are important forage crops for livestock as well as being commonly found in urban green spaces. These plants support a wealth of biodiversity, even in city parks, and white clover is ecologically important for pollinators and nitrogen fixation," said Green.
So why is this form of pollution so rampant? Well, the study's authors argue that people are simply unaware of the dangers of cigarette butts.
"Many smokers think cigarette butts quickly biodegrade and therefore don't really consider them as litter. In reality, the filter is made out of a type of bioplastic that can take years, if not decades, to break down," Green added.
"In some parks, particularly surrounding benches and bins, we found over 100 cigarette butts per square metre. Dropping cigarette butts seems to be a socially acceptable form of littering and we need to raise awareness that the filters do not disappear and instead can cause serious damage to the environment."
One key step in affecting change is raising awareness on the many dangers of improperly discarded cigarette butts.
"Although further work is needed, we believe it is the chemical composition of the filter that is causing the damage to plants. Most are made from cellulose acetate fibers, and added chemicals which make the plastic more flexible, called plasticizers, may also be leaching out and adversely affecting the early stages of plant development," said co-author Dr Bas Boots, Lecturer in Biology at Anglia Ruskin University (ARU).
The study is published in the journal Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety.
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text:
// Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
// Licensed under the MIT License. See License.txt in the project root for license information.

var _ = require('underscore');
var Constants = require('./constants');

/**
* Checks if a parsed URL is HTTPS
*
* @param {object} urlToCheck The url to check
* @return {bool} True if the URL is HTTPS; false otherwise.
*/
exports.urlIsHTTPS = function (urlToCheck) {
  return urlToCheck.protocol.toLowerCase() === Constants.HTTPS;
};

/**
* Checks if a value is null or undefined.
*
* @param {object} value The value to check for null or undefined.
* @return {bool} True if the value is null or undefined, false otherwise.
*/
exports.objectIsNull = function (value) {
  return _.isNull(value) || _.isUndefined(value);
};

/**
* Encodes an URI.
*
* @param {string} uri The URI to be encoded.
* @return {string} The encoded URI.
*/
exports.encodeUri = function (uri) {
  return encodeURIComponent(uri)
    .replace(/!/g, '%21')
    .replace(/'/g, '%27')
    .replace(/\(/g, '%28')
    .replace(/\)/g, '%29')
    .replace(/\*/g, '%2A');
};

/**
 * Returns a stripped version of the Http Response which only contains body,
 * headers and the statusCode.
 *
 * @param {stream} response - The Http Response
 *
 * @return {object} strippedResponse - The stripped version of Http Response.
 */
exports.stripResponse = function (response) {
  var strippedResponse = {};
  strippedResponse.body = response.body;
  strippedResponse.headers = response.headers;
  strippedResponse.statusCode = response.statusCode;
  return strippedResponse;
};

/**
 * Returns a stripped version of the Http Request that does not contain the
 * Authorization header.
 *
 * @param {object} request - The Http Request object
 *
 * @return {object} strippedRequest - The stripped version of Http Request.
 */
exports.stripRequest = function (request) {
  var strippedRequest = {};
  try {
    strippedRequest = JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(request));
    if (strippedRequest.headers && strippedRequest.headers.Authorization) {
      delete strippedRequest.headers.Authorization;
    } else if (strippedRequest.headers && strippedRequest.headers.authorization) {
      delete strippedRequest.headers.authorization;
    }
  } catch (err) {
    var errMsg = err.message;
    err.message = util.format('Error - "%s" occured while creating a stripped version of the request object - "%s".', errMsg, request);
    return err;
  }

  return strippedRequest;
};

/**
 * Validates the given uuid as a string
 *
 * @param {string} uuid - The uuid as a string that needs to be validated
 *
 * @return {boolean} result - True if the uuid is valid; false otherwise.
 */
exports.isValidUuid = function(uuid) {
  var validUuidRegex = new RegExp('^[0-9a-fA-F]{8}-[0-9a-fA-F]{4}-[0-9a-fA-F]{4}-[0-9a-fA-F]{4}-[0-9a-fA-F]{12}$', 'ig');
  return validUuidRegex.test(uuid);
};

exports = module.exports;

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Lakeland District Protective Services, or Protective Services as we are commonly referred to, is the department that deals with matters affecting public safety including education and enforcement of the laws within the municipality. Our staff are special constables appointed and have been sworn in to their positions pursuant to The Police Act, 1990 by taking the Oath of Police. Our Special Constables work closely with the two RCMP detachments that serve the Lakeland area, as well as working closely with other law enforcement and regulatory agencies. Some of those agencies include Ministry of Environment Conservation Officers, Prince Albert Parkland Health Region Public Health Officers, Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure Traffic Officers, Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority Inspectors and officials from the Office of the Fire Commissioner to name a few. Protective Services provides service in primarily non-criminal code related enforcement. Our department focus is established by the Protective Services Board. The department priorities have included a focus on community and public safety through public engagement in education and enforcement of traffic-related offences, unsightly and nuisance property, impairment and public nuisances and disturbances focusing within public beaches, as well as parking and storage violations.
Our department staff work a variety of shift patterns that include days, evenings, weekends and holidays. Should you have any questions or want to know how to place a complaint, please call our office at any time. All calls are treated confidentially. You can contact our office by phone at 306-982-4466.
Our Special Constables work a variety of shift patterns that include days, evenings, weekends and holidays. Should you have any questions or want to know how to place a complaint, please call our office at any time. All calls are treated confidentially and are answered by an officer or by our dispatchers.
You can contact us by phone at 306-982-4466.
In order to provide services to you, we require you to provide your name and contact information.


Obesity surgery in India, at low cost and world-class hospitals with best accommodation is made available to you by Forerunners healthcare. As health care costs skyrocket, patients in the developed world are looking overseas for medical treatment. India is capitalizing on its low costs and highly trained surgeons to appeal to these "medical tourists". The reason India is a favorable destination is because of its infrastructure and technology which is in par with those in USA, UK and Europe. After the Obesity surgery procedure in India patients can have rejuvenating holiday at beaches of Goa and can recover faster.
Obesity surgery in Goa has provided best expected results to all who wanted to lose weight and get a sound health. Considering obesity as a serious disorder medical experts support surgical methods of weight loss surgery. The main procedures used in the weight loss surgery are gastric bypass, revision gastric bypass, lap banding surgery and sleeve gastrectomy. Gastric bypass surgery reduces a person's weight by 50-60%. This type of surgery is generally preferred to the patients. Lap banding surgery is good for those who have 90 pounds of weight or are highly obese. This procedure is an easier one and takes a relative less time for completion and involves the fitting of a simple lap band around the stomach pouch.
Revision gastric bypass surgery is a repetition of gastric bypass to continue the benefits of Obesity surgery procedure for a longer time. Intra gastric balloon surgery is a good solution for those persons who want to get temporary weight loss benefit within the shortest span of time for some urgent tasks like getting married, going on a scheduled date, or getting selected for a modeling assignment etc. Gastric sleeve surgery carries the least risk as compared to highly morbid weight loss surgery procedures like roux-gastric bypass surgery.
Goa is an interesting location for getting Obesity surgery done in India. You have modern facilities, short waiting times and very affordable prices for procedures, hospital services and medicines. On top of that you will probably recover much faster, with a holiday in an exotic location added as a bonus. Goa not only boasts one of the world's best beaches and resorts but also the best in medical and surgical services delivered by highly qualified and trained eminent physicians and surgeons.
Click here to watch the video of the testimonial of one of our Obesity Surgery patient.


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Christopher Lloyd ready to take Milwaukee 'Back to the Future'
Graham Killeen
Special to the Journal Sentinel
Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd in a scene from "Back to the Future."
Actor Michael J. Fox (from left), Christopher Lloyd and Lea Thompson at a "Back To The Future" anniversary screening. (Photo: Theo Wargo)
Great Scott! 'Back to the Future' is coming back to Milwaukee.
Set your time circuits for 7 p.m. Saturday. That's when the Riverside Theater will present the original 'Back to the Future' on the big screen with Doc Brown himself, Christopher Lloyd, in attendance to answer questions and tell behind-the-scenes stories.
Lloyd recently spoke about the film's past, present and future — and about how the blockbuster franchise made movie history.
On July 3, 1985, 'Back to the Future' hit theaters with 1.21 gigawatts of action, comedy and special effects. The movie stars Lloyd as absent-minded scientist Doc Brown and Michael J. Fox as teenager Marty McFly, who goes back in time to 1955, meeting and possibly breaking up his parents before he's even born.
Nobody could have predicted the impact 'Back to the Future' had on pop culture — least of all, then-46-year-old Lloyd.
'I thought it was a wonderful film. I thought it was a very unique film. But I just hoped that it would have a successful opening and have a good run.' Lloyd recalled. 'Most films have their success, and then they sort of fade and become things of the past.'
Unlike most films, 'Back to the Future' has only become more influential over the last three decades.
'A lot of people who've seen the movie have said that when they saw it, when they were young, it impacted them in a way that they claimed changed their lives. Some of them became engineers, physicists, artists because they were influenced by 'Back to the Future,'' Lloyd said. 'And their children went to see the film. And it just keeps going exponentially.'
The only difference is that, instead of subscribing to Starlog magazine as they might have in the mid-1980s, today's fans show their love by posting Doc Brown memes on Tumblr.
'They still seem to be as enthusiastic and enraptured by it.' Lloyd said, crediting 'Back to the Future's' creativity. 'It feels new. It feels modern. It hasn't really aged. I don't feel that it's become a period piece. It still is very current.'
Flash-forward — or actually backward — to Oct. 21, 2015, the futuristic date that Doc and Marty McFly time travel to in 'Back to the Future Part II.' Last year, fans celebrated the occasion with 'Back to the Future Day' festivities honoring hover boards, the flux capacitor and Huey Lewis and the News.
'It was great. Michael J. Fox and I did a skit on Jimmy Kimmel, and it was wonderful to get back together with him and get up and do our thing. And Lea Thompson and everybody else, we really enjoy getting back together.' Lloyd said, adding, 'I think all the cast has the same energy and excitement about the film as before. We'd all love to do it again. But we'll see.'
Could 'Back to the Future Part IV' be coming soon to a theater near you?
'I'd be open to it. I think probably everybody in the cast would be happy to do it,' Lloyd said. 'The biggest challenge is to come up with a script that goes forward from the trilogy and is up to the same level....That's a tough thing to do.'
For now, Lloyd can't wait to watch 'Back to the Future' all over again, this time with a Milwaukee audience, an event the actor called 'a special treat.'
'It's interesting to go back and see how we looked. And the way we were 30 years ago,' he said. 'I don't feel that much has changed.'
Some things never change. At 77, Christopher Lloyd has played Doctor Emmett Brown more than 50 times in movies, on TV and beyond.
'I used to be concerned because I was a little older and I didn't know whether I would still have the juice, the energy.' But Lloyd said, 'the camera rolls and Doc's back.'
What: 'Back to the Future' screening with Christopher Lloyd
When: 7 p.m. Saturday
Where: Riverside Theater, 116 W. Wisconsin Ave.
Tickets: $35-$45 (VIP tickets sold out), available at the Pabst and Riverside box offices, (414) 286-3663 and pabsttheater.org


Noosa Al-Sarraj (also known as Winona Wilde) is a country/folk singer who writes songs that give space to voices not often heard. She tells stories that aren't often told. In an interview this week, we discussed her career, how she creates, and her thoughts on the folk/roots music scene in Canada.
She's full of praise for the way in which the folk/roots music scene has evolved. Noosa explains, "Since commercial radio is getting increasingly monocultural, I think that independent musicians are getting a lot more wiggle room to speak up and out about the things that they believe in. Folk/roots is great 'cause everyone is so lovey about it.


Nature has given its best when it comes to natural medicine and dietary products. As a natural nootropic remedy, Bacopa represents a herbal nootropic gem of Ayurvedic medicine, an Indian alternative medicine. Bacopa monnieri, or Bacopa, is recommended traditionally for epilepsy, asthma and memory enhancement. The medical classification of this herb puts it in the group of adaptogens, which means that it helps the body to overcome the feeling of stress, protecting the body from illnesses. Bacosides, a group of chemical compounds, are responsible for Bacopa's activity and probably the most studied substance within this plant is bacoside A.
In a nootropic world, Bacopa is mostly recommended as a reducer of anxiety and memory enhancer. Various studies, both on animal and human models, have shown that this herb prevents amnesia induced by drugs, normalizes neurotransmitter levels in a body, increases concentrations of antioxidants (especially catalase, SOD, glutathione), enhances memory, reduces anxiety and increases working capacity.
It is recommended to take this plant with a meal, because it is fat soluble and this combination benefits absorption. A recommended dosage is 150 mg of bacosides which should be taken two times per day. For other dosage options, it is advisable to consult a medical professional before starting a nootropic treatment with this herb.
Several studies have stated that Bacopa supports brain antioxidant activity and rises the concentrations of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase and glutathione, among others. Research performed on rodents has shown that Bacopa protects rodent brains from neurotoxicity induced by both mercury and aluminium, reducing the chances of oxidative stress. This adaptogen plant is able to mitigate negative effects made by oxidative stress and protect neurons from damaging. This means that Bacopa prevents induced neurodegeneration produced by free radicals which promote oxidative stress.
Studies have also shown that Bacopa benefits serotonin levels by increasing both serotonin transporter and tryptophan hydroxylase levels, without significant acetylcholine level change. The effect on serotonin levels is probably a cause for anxiety reduction which this nootropic plant promotes. A study performed on rodents which included morphine and Bacopa has shown that this herb prevents an increased serotonin and dopamine turnover associated with present morphine.
As shown above, Bacopa benefits dopamine levels when taken with morphine. Another study which included rats with Parkinson's disease, has shown that bacopa offsets dopaminergic neurodegeneration. This indicates that Bacopa could be a potential remedy for Parkinson's disease in human patients.
This herbal remedy is a cognitive enhancer in Ayurvedic medicine and contemporary research completely supports traditional view. The studies have shown that Bacopa alleviates amnesia induced by scopolamine, protecting an individual against memory impairment. It substantially benefits those who are over 55, improving recall and fighting against depression with an improvement in memory retention.
The most interesting study linked to Bacopa has shown that it improves learning verbal rate, memory consolidation and speed of information processing. Another study on children has show that Bacopa is able to decrease reaction and performance time, lowering error rate in performance tasks. The same study stated that Bacopa increases memorized digit span and improves test scores in tests such a the bender-gestalt. This test is designed as a visual motor test where individuals draw pictures on paper after seeing a certain series of images.
Bacopa is able to reduce the feeling of anxiety, significantly improving the behavior such as different social interactions, reducing mental fatigue and improving memory span. When taken, Bacopa doesn't need to be administered in higher dosage to achieve the effect, yet the maximal benefits could be seen after 4 weeks of treatment. In the study which involved elderly people, daily Bacopa dosages of 300 mg reduced anxiety, following the supplementation of 12 weeks. A similar study has shown similar effects, where anxiety was successfully reduced after a 12 week supplementation.
Bacopa has few side effects which, when taken in recommended dosages, are minimalized and rarely occasional. Therefore, it is recommended to consult with a medical professional before the utilization, informing a physician or a pharmacist when these side effects occur so that certain measures could be taken. The most frequent side effect is a gastrointestinal distress, manifested as cramping, increased stool frequency or nausea. The gastrointestinal symptoms could easily be avoided if the recommended dosage is divided into 2-3 times per day, including combination with food.
An animal study has shown a potential elevation in thyroid hormones with no present studies on humans which could confirm this. Another study which is only confirmed among animals talks about effect on fertility, where Bacopa reduced spermatogenesis without a certain impact on libido or hormone levels.


Continue reading "Vivid in Sydney"
Continue reading "Sunset at McMahon Point"
Continue reading "Sunrise over Sydney Harbor Bridge"
Started the morning right with a relaxing paddle by Sydney Harbour Bridge. I just love being out at this time in the morning when the rest of the city is still stirring from their beds and it is still calm out.
I was at a work event at the Passenger Terminal by the Sydney bridge yesterday, when a double rainbow burst into the scene directly in front of us. What a beauty!
Continue reading "Sunset over Sydney Harbor Bridge and Sydney Opera House"
Continue reading "Sunrise over Milsons Point"


text:
Margins and Boundaries
Telesforas Valius. Worries. 1934. M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art
Social Critique in Interwar Lithuania
The phenomenon of social critique in interwar Lithuania hasn't yet to be sufficiently researched and considered. Recent historical reflections on the Republic of Lithuania (1918-1940) are accompanied by the ideas of universal progress, modernization, and optimism. However, rapid modernization and significant political, economic, and sociocultural transition burdened interwar society with unique challenges and problems.
It is no coincidence that the exhibition presents the young generation of artists that emerged and matured in the 1920s and 1930s, focusing on their creative legacy. Many of them reflected on their historical context and the social aspects of everyday life, and some sought to expose uncomfortable social problems of the era.
Defining the social critique of the interwar years is not an easy task, as it seems to drown in different, often opposing, historical narratives and memories. Until now, the social critique of that era, together with the legacy of the left-wing artists mostly associated with it, has been considered a rather political or even marginal topic. Some of the artists presented in this exhibition were not appreciated in their own time. However, after the Second World War, their legacy was convenient for the Soviet ideology, which used it primarily to deconstruct the historical memory of the state that existed for a mere two decades. Therefore, the themes of poverty, social and gender inequality, exclusion, unemployment, and the moral decline of society became handy tools by which to develop a mythologized narrative about the liberation of the Lithuanian nation from the clutches of bourgeois or fascist Lithuania. On the other hand, some of the artists willingly contributed to the successful use of this legacy in the Sovietization project, as exploitation of their own early works helped them secure high positions and privileges.
Thus, this exhibition aims to present, at least partially, the little-known legacy of the interwar artists by revealing the multiple facets of social critique in the contexts of Lithuanian sociocultural, political, and everyday history. It also seeks to take a closer look at complex issues of art, ideology, and propaganda that cannot be reduced to a single narrative.
We sincerely thank all the museums, memorial institutes, and families of the artists - Kazys Rimtas Tarabilda, Agnius Tarabilda, and Vytautas Jurkūnas Jr. - who agreed to lend the works for this exhibition.
Curators: Norbertas Černiauskas, Gabrielė Radzevičiūtė
Architect Mindaugas Reklaitis
Coordinators: Eglė Mikalajūnė, Ernestas Parulskis
Graphic designer Laura Grigaliūnaitė
Artists: Bronislava Adelaida Abaravičiūtė, Vytautas Augustinas, Gerardas Bagdonavičius, Zalė Bekeris, Mečislovas Bulaka, Balys Buračas, Antanas Gudaitis, Antanas Ingelevičius, Vytautas Jurkūnas, Petras Kalpokas, Marcė Katiliūtė, Leonardas Kazokas, Petras Kiaulėnas, Vaclovas Kosciuška, Jonas Kuzminskis, Česlovas Liutikas, Boleslovas Motuza-Matuzevičius, Antanas Samuolis, Kazimieras Skerstonas, Veronika Šleivytė, Petras Tarabilda, Domicelė Tarabildienė, Veronika Tarvydaitė, Irena Trečiokaitė-Žebenkienė, Stasys Ušinskas, Vincas Uždavinys, Liuda Vaineikytė, Stasys Vaitkus, Jonas Vaitys, Telesforas Valius, Juozas Zikaras, Bronius Žekonis, Stepas Žukas.
Partners: Lithuanian National Museum of Art, M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art, A. and P. Galaunė House, Lithuanian Archives of Literature and Art, Lithuanian Central State Archives, National Museum of Lithuania, Vilnius University Library, Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania, Kaunas County Public Library, Kaunas City Museum, Kaunas 9th Fort Museum, Šiauliai Aušros Museum, Kupiškis Ethnography Museum, Vilna Gaon Museum of Jewish History, Lithuanian Photographers Association, Panevėžys County Gabrielė Petkevičaitė-Bitė Public Library, Rokiškis Regional Museum, Venclovas' House-Museum.
The project is financed by Lithuanian Culture Council
Media sponsor lrytas.lt
Sponsors: Exterus, Fundermax


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Home > Who We Are > Samir Chettri, Ph.D., Chief Operations Officer
Dr. Chettri is the Chief Operations Officer at Global Science & Technology, Inc. (GST). As a member of the GST senior management team, he is jointly responsible for the tactical and strategic growth of the company. He is responsible for the management of the entire breadth of GST technical programs throughout NASA, NOAA, and other agencies. Prior to becoming COO, he was the VP of technical programs at GST and a Program Manager on multiple programs.
He has worked for over thirty years in the aerospace/technical industries in areas that range from solar energy manufacturing, land remote sensing, hyperspectral instrument calibration and field campaigns, image processing, pattern recognition and artificial intelligence, statistical methodologies, and parallel and cloud computing; and as a manager of a variety of technical programs in these areas and more.
Dr. Chettri received his Ph.D. and Masters of Science from the University of Delaware, and his Bachelors of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering from University of Bombay, Bombay, India.
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Watch our full tutorial on second generation of The Fully Guided Surgical Kit. Learn how to complete your surgical procedures with virtual planning and fully guided surgery all while considering the ideal aesthetic result..
Paltop protocol developed and tested to be easy and simple to use the protocol is intuitively presented by colors. Each color is associated with a different implant diameter, leading the doctor, step-by-step, to a safe and perfectly fit bore.
The impression coping takes two general forms, one type is retained in the mouth when the set impression is removed this type of impression coping is known as close tray impression coping. The other type is incorporated in the impression and is removed from the mouth together with the set impression and is known as open tray impression coping.
Paltop Advanced Implant designed for immediate loading. Together with the unique design drills and the Paltop protocol Primary stability can be reached at any application including immediate placement/loading in and augmented site.


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Buccaneers suffer injuries to Tom Brady's key offensive weapons
Holding an opponent to only nine points is usually enough to eke out a win. That wasn't the case for the Buccaneers on Sunday night, when the three field goals surrendered mirrored the number of offensive starters injured over the course of the game.
Prior to Sunday's matchup, Tampa Bay led the league in both points scored and yards per game. However, the Buccaneers did not look like a team that averaged 31.54 points per contest on Sunday.
The Saints dealt Tom Brady his first shutout in 15 years in a contest that the Bucs hoped would clinch their first NFC South title since 2007.
In the first half, Tampa Bay lost Pro Bowl receivers Mike Evans (hamstring) and Chris Godwin (knee) to injury on back-to-back drives. Running back Leonard Fournette, who led the Bucs with seven receptions, was helped back to the locker room by two trainers in the second half with what the team called a hamstring injury; he did not return for the remainder of the game.
Trainers help Tampa Bay receiver Chris Godwin before he left the game with a knee injury.
In addition, Bucs linebacker Lavonte David also had to leave the game with a foot injury in the fourth quarter.
"It hurts more losing all the players we lost," Tampa Bay coach Bruce Arians said, via ESPN. "We lost about seven starters in this game, so I'm more concerned about that right now."
In addition to the injuries that occurred on the field, Tampa Bay also was without receiver Breshad Perriman, who has been on the reserve/COVID-19 list since Friday, and Antonio Brown and Mike Edwards, who were both given three-game suspensions after misleading the team about their vaccination statuses.
"Those guys play a huge role on our team, so we have to uplift them and do a better job," running back Ronald Jones II said. "Just guys going down and fighting adversity. We didn't fight through today."
Ronald Jones carries the ball against the Saints
Overwhelmed by the number of missing players, the Buccaneers' offense struggled to keep it together. Following Fournette's exit from the game, the only player with more than 25 receptions this season left on the field was tight end Rob Gronkowski.
Brady relied heavily on Gronkowski, but the duo connected on only two of 11 targets.
Over the course of the game, Brady was sacked four times and tallied two turnovers on third down. The quarterback was 28-of-48 for 213 yards and one interception, marking his worst statistical game with Tampa Bay to date.
"I don't think we were much good at anything tonight," Brady said.
Saints cornerback Marshon Lattimore recovered Tom Brady's fumble late in the third quarter.
While Tampa Bay neared the red zone late in the third quarter, New Orleans defensive lineman Cam Jordan forced a Brady fumble.
The 9-0 loss was only Brady's third shutout as starting QB. He holds the second-longest record for avoiding shutouts with 255 consecutive games behind Drew Brees with 304. This is also the first time that Brady was defeated by a team that failed to score a touchdown.
Brady was evidently frustrated and reached his breaking point after his interception. He yelled obscenities toward his opponent's sideline and broke his tablet after throwing it into an equipment truck.
While there has been no update on injured members of the offense, Brown and Edwards will return to the team on Monday.
"It's in the best interest of our football team. Both of those guys have served their time and we'll welcome them back," Arians said after he previously noted it was up in the air if Brown would be released by the team.
With three games left in the regular season, the Buccaneers have their next chance to win the NFC South when they play Carolina in Week 16.
"It's really disappointing, losing at home especially," outside linebacker Joe Tryon-Shoyinka said. "It is what it is, but there are a lot more games left to be played — a lot more meaningful games left to be played."
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The Best Solar Companies in New York Can Increase Your Home's Value
Solar is an effective way to save money on your electric utility bill. What you might not realize is that solar can also increase the value of your home. Solar power in New York is an investment that can pay for itself over time. If you sell your home during the serviceable lifetime of your panels, your home could attract higher offers. The best solar companies in New York understand this and will work to install reliable and durable solar systems. New York Power Solutions is one of these companies. See why solar is a great long-term investment and talk to our team to start planning your New York solar installation.
There's a Difference Between Leased and Owned Solar Power in New York
There are countless programs for leasing solar power in New York, but they don't return the same value as a system owned outright by the homeowner.
Leased solar belongs to the installation company. It can create bill savings, but the return on investment ends with the leasing company.
If you install solar power in New York and pay for it outright or through financing, all the savings belong to you.
According to a recent report by the Wall Street Journal, a home sold with leased solar panels doesn't create any additional value for the seller. However, a home sold with functional solar panels can attract a higher offer, usually equivalent to the original New York solar installation cost.
Solar panels are durable and can last around 25 – 30 years in most cases. So, even if you sell a home ten or fifteen years into the life of the panels, the buyer will be willing to pay a premium.
How Important is a New York Solar Installation to Buyers?
Do homebuyers look at solar panels as a major feature of the home? According to industry research, the answer is yes.
Data generated from the National Association of Realtors Research Group finds that…
36% of realtors find that a solar installation increases a home's perceived value for both an appraiser and a buyer.
20% of realtors now believe that solar panels are important for buyers.
The second figure will only increase as electric utility bills continue to skyrocket. A New York solar installation can dramatically reduce the monthly utility cost for a homeowner.
If you're interested in a New York Solar Installation, please call us. We'll explain the process and get you energy independent as soon as possible!
Make a Better Investment with Solar
If you want to get the greatest returns from solar, you need to be able to choose from the best solar companies in New York.
New York Power Solutions is a veteran company in the solar and roofing industry. Our technicians, engineers, and support staff have decades of experience working together to create efficient and affordable systems. As one of the leading solar companies in New York, we've delivered reliable solar to more than 5,000 homes and businesses. Our company is a member of the Solar Energy Industries Association, we are NYSERDA Approved, and we have built up a strong level of trust throughout our service areas in New York.
New York Power Solutions makes it easier to go green with solar. And it all starts with a ballpark estimate.
Get Ready for Solar with New York Power Solutions
With the best solar companies in New York, you can get the best service and an easier pathway to solar.
With our team, it starts with a free ballpark solar estimate. From here, we can schedule a site visit, and we'll provide a cost/benefit analysis with an energy savings evaluation and consultation. You'll know exactly what solar can do for you, helping you to make the right decision. Start your switch to solar and enjoy incredible savings that give you more financial freedom.
National Solar
NYS Solar Panel Incentives are Driving High Demand for Solar Top Reasons to Get Solar in Fishkill NY


All the patients/couples, who are interested donated oocytes, are first enlisted into the donor program. Waiting times and costs vary according to the scenario for which the patient (recipient) decides. In most cases it is only the time required to prepare your donor. We are able to perform the embryo transfer in 2-3 months after your first visit at our clinic.
Based on our long term experience, we transfer only one embryo at the blastocyst developmental stage (5-6 days of cultivation). We do it to maximize our success rates of pregnant patients and your chances of getting pregnant. An average of about 1/3 of the embryos, which are of good quality on the 3rd day of their development do not reach the blastocyst stage. Therefore, we always perform extended culture in order to evaluate the quality and proper development of embryos, and to transfer embryosinto the uterus at proper time, ideály on the fifth day of their development.
To increase the success rate of getting pregnant by up to 30 %, we offer genetic testing of PGS/PGD.
Within this option, it is really necessary to collect your partner's sperm and freeze it after your first visit. It will be much easier to plan ahead your transfer then. Furthermore, it is necessary to perform some tests on the sperm, such as sperm count, and sperm DNA assesment. This will enable us to select appropriate methods of fertilization. This examination and sperm freezing can be done within your first consultation with our IVF specialist.
After your donor's stimulation and egg collection, all the mature eggs are fertilized by your partner's sperm, and then embryos at the blastocyst stage of good quality are frozen. Concerning the embryo recipient, i tis necessary to measure the height of her endometrium on the 14th day of the cycle before the embryo transfer. If everything is all right, the frozen embryo transfer into the recipient's uterus can take place on the 19th day of her cycle. The transfer will be your second visit to Sanatorium Helios.
We always fertilize at least 8 donated oocytes.
In Sanatorium Helios nearly 75% of all the cycles are cryocycles. This means that for the transfer we do not use a fresh embryo, and all the good quality embryos are frozen for possible futher usage. Our long-term results confirm that the quality of embryo is not affected by freezing at all, so you needn't worry about it. Uncoordinated cycles are even more comfortable and less stressful. Your transfer does not také place until the moment you know, that there is an embryo of good quality ready for you.
In this case the patient's (recipient's) cycle is coordinated with the one of the donor, who undergoes ovarian stimulation. The cycles are mutually coordinated coordinated, so the day of the oocyte pick up corresponds to the 14th day of the recipient's cycle. On the very same day the retrieved eggs are fertilized with the partner's sperm. The resultant embryo is incubated until mature, usually for 5-6 days. Once the embryos mature, they are transferred to the patient's uterus. In case more embryos suitable for transfer develop, these embryos can be frozen and used for another transfer in the future. The average success rate of cycles with donated eggs has been more than 70 % of pregnant patients in long terms – even with the introduction of only one embryo. Read more about our success rates.
This is a procedure concerning donated embryos made of donated eggs fertilized using donor sperm. If these embryos reach the developmental stage of qood quality blastocysts, they are frozen.
The patient is guaranteed to have at least 1 transfer of a high-quality embryo.
You can choose your donor according to the following criteria: appearance (eye colour, hair colour and quality, height and figure), education and blood group.
The price of each option includes: the costs of your donor's stimulation, medicaments needed for the stimulation, oocytes pick up, embryo culture until the 5th or 6th day, and compensation for the donor associated with their stimulation.
If you are interested, please contact us on +420 549 523 258 or use the attached web form, which you can find below. You can also arrange for a non-binding interview with our specialist.
Our wish is that you always feel well with us, and leave us satisfied.


International transfers of personal date outside of the EAA are restricted under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). So what does this mean for those of us who use big software companies and what, when and how can you legally transfer personal data across borders?
We recently held a webinar looking at financial advisers' and financial planners' questions around GDPR. We were asked whether firms need to check out every single supplier they use to see if they transfer data internationally. In short, the answer is yes - you need to check all suppliers that store or process information on your behalf. Failure to do so means you are handing clients' personal information over to an organisation that might not be protecting it in line with GDPR.
GDPR is a European law. Every country in the EU operates to the same requirements so if you send personal data within the EU you have the same protection. As soon as the data leaves the EU, it's clear that legal protection of your privacy rights might not be the same. So GDPR requires all companies sending or storing data outside the EU to make sure the right protection controls are in place.
There's a clear responsibility here - if your company is going to transfer personal data outside the EU (or, more accurately, the EEA, which includes Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein) then it is responsible for safeguarding it.
Which countries can I transfer personal data to?
In practice, there are different things you are permitted to do and it depends on which country you're sending the data to (or storing the data in). For example, some countries are deemed 'adequate' by the European Data Protection Board so it's acceptable to use those countries. As at July 2018, these countries included Andorra, Argentina, Guernsey, Isle of Man, Israel, Jersey, New Zealand, Switzerland and Uruguay but you need to regularly check that adequacy decisions continue to permit data transfer to these countries.
The USA is not quite the same so you need to make sure that the company storing or using data there for you is part of the 'EU-US Privacy Shield' system.
Beyond these countries, there are ways to send or store data elsewhere but you must have complete (un-amended) standard contractual clauses in place with the receiver to ensure that the principles of GDPR still apply.
Most large software companies (the likes of Google, Microsoft, Quickbooks, Xero, Mailchimp and Sage to name a few) may transfer your personal data to the US (and other countries). These organisations are highly likely to already have measures in place that you can find easily within their privacy notices and GDPR compliance information by just doing an internet search.
Some of these software companies let you choose to keep personal data within the EU.
Astrid's secure online data protection platform has complete guidance on what you need to do to get your international transfers set up properly and under control. Find out more about how we can help ensure your cross-border data transfers are compliant and meet all other requirements under GDPR.
Read the ICO guidance on international data transfers under GDPR here.


The work A lady raised high : a novel of Anne Boleyn represents a distinct intellectual or artistic creation found in Uncle Remus Regional Library System. This resource is a combination of several types including: Work, Language Material, Books.
RITA Award for Novel with Strong Romantic Elements, 2007.


If your computer is set up so that it hides file name extensions (as both Windows and OS X do), consider turning that off. It can be confusing to troubleshoot problems – you can end up with files that have multiple extensions, like Gruntfile.js.txt.
npm will print out text as it installs Grunt, and it's normal for it to pause for a moment after you press Enter before printing any response. What it's doing is consulting a global repository to find the files you need – a lot more convenient than you having to hunt around on the Web and run a separate installer. When you see the prompt again after it completes, you're done.


NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — A spurt of acquisition announcements or talk of deals involving Wisconsin Energy Corp., Oracle Corp., and General Electric Co. may set those shares up for active trading in Monday's session.
Wisconsin Energy Corp. WEC, -0.17% said it would buy Integrys Energy Group Inc. US:TEG in a cash-and-stock purchase valued at $9.1 billion, including debt.
Oracle Corp. ORCL, +0.07% shares may move after the tech company was reported to be close to a deal to buy Micros Systems Inc. US:MCRS for $5 billion. This would be the largest acquisition since Oracle bought Sun Microsystems in 2010.
General Electric Co. GE, +2.52% could garner attention after French engineering group Alstom SA ALSMY, -0.44% ALO, +0.17% on Saturday officially accepted a sweetened offer for its power-equipment unit.
Separately, Banco Santander SAN, -0.21% agreed to buy GE Capital's consumer-finance business in Sweden, Denmark and Norway, the Spanish bank said in a statement on Monday. Banco Santander's consumer-finance unit will acquire the GE Money Bank AB business for about 700 million euros ($952 million), with the deal expected to close in the second half of 2014.
Harbinger Group Inc. US:HRG is preparing to make a $1.1 billion bid for Central Garden & Pet Co. CENTA, +0.25% , The Wall Street Journal reported, citing a source familiar with the matter. Harbinger, the holding company led by hedge-funder Philip Falcone, disclosed a 3.1% stake in the company earlier this month.
Micron Technology MU, +0.58% is projected to report third-quarter earnings of 69 cents a share, according to a consensus survey by FactSet.
"While we expect the company to deliver solid May quarter results, we look to the August quarter and beyond when the industry faces supply constraints in light of continued demand growth," said analyst Hans Mosesmann at Raymond James Equity Research in a recent report. He also reiterate the stock's strong buy rating and raised the price target to $40 from $30.
Sonic US:SONC is expected to post earnings of 29 cents a share in the third quarter. Mild spring weather and late arrival of summer are likely to have weighed on the fast-food restaurant's same-store sales in the quarter, according to analyst Rachael Rothman at Susquehanna International Group.
CBS CBS, -0.27% Comcast Corp. CMCSA, -0.33% and other entertainment companies are expected to be in the spotlight as investors await a Supreme Court ruling on the legality of Aereo that could come as early as Monday.
Aereo provides services to allow subscribers to stream local over-the-air broadcasts to various electronic devices. Major broadcasters are arguing that Aereo violates their rights under federal copyright law.
Has the English language been reduced to 'Yo'?
Will demographics cut stock-market returns?


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Q: Why does the author subtract the minimum $\ln\,\ln([1-F(t)]^{-1}])$ for the Weibull plot? When I read the Weibull Analysis Handbook (Abernethy et al., (1)), in Table 2.1 (p15), I don't really know how he gets the right-hand column ("Col 2 value - Min Col 2 value (-6,91)). Does he assume it or take it from a formula?

Earlier on the same page he gives the formulas

(1)  Abernethy, R.B., Breneman, J.E., Medlin, C.H., and Reinman, G.L. (1983),
Weibull Analysis Handbook,
 Pratt & Whitney Aircraft, Government Products Division, United
Technologies,
P.O. Box 2691, West Palm Beach, Florida 33402

A: The document describes the construction of a form of Weibull probability plot (which back 33 years ago was commonly done on Weibull plotting paper, which supplied conveniently scaled axis and gridlines to save calculations like $\ln(\ln[(1-F)^{-1}])$, since one could simply work with percentile-ranks -- $F$ or $1-F$ -- directly).
In the process of discussing plotting by hand, it's necessary to compute an abscissa and an ordinate (i.e. actual x and y plotting positions). These may be shifted for convenience without altering the appearance of the plot (and without changing what tick mark labels are applied to a point).
As a result, since $\ln(\ln[(1-F)^{-1}])$ is largely negative, for convenience the ordinates are shifted by their minimum value. This makes it easier to construct a plot. It is neither based on a particular formula (one could make one but it's rather an obvious calculation, so seen as unnecessary), nor is it based on an assumption -- it is simply presenting the calculation of a convenient plotting position.
If you have done a lot of hand-plotting, such scaling calculations (and other forms of normalization) are quite natural.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


When adopting new technology in your school bus transportation processes, there's always the promise that it will help simplify your administrative life and streamline operations. In many cases, this is true. However, problems can arise when a district adopts too much new technology, too quickly. When a desire for new solutions becomes too prominent, the technology can simply become a new kind of complexity - creating as many problems as it solves.
How does a district prevent this? How do they pick solutions which will be more useful than distracting? Here are a few ideas.
There are technological solutions for just about any problem a school bus transportation system might have - but which are the most pressing problems for your district? When listening to tech pitches, or attending trade shows, prioritize your problems and use that to guide your purchases.
Is there a single piece of software or hardware which can solve several problems at once? These are often going to be the best purchases. For example, bus routing and tracking software can optimize routes and keep track of buses in live action. Or, video cameras onboard can solve a variety of disciplinary issues, monitor bus drivers, and provide useful footage in case conflict arises between drivers, students, or parents.
The more a technology solution can do at once, the more useful it's likely to be in the long run.
This is one of the biggest issues with the current boom in school bus technology: all too often, competing solutions can't "talk" to each other, or may even have competing needs. For example: bus tracking systems, onboard Wi-Fi, and video surveillance might all need cellular connections. If the solutions you pick can't all piggyback on the same connection, then suddenly you're looking at a hugely expensive and complicated process of trying to set everything up via multiple cellular plans.
The better vendors work with other vendors to make multiple products work together, and those will be better purchases for your district.
Telematics - collecting live data on day-to-day performance - can be a huge boon to transportation directors trying to optimize elements of their bus system. The issue is that many telematics systems collect so much data that districts then struggle to actually utilize the information they're gathering. As with point 1, prioritize your needs, and stay focused on the most important issues. Don't let the telematics overwhelm you.
BusBoss is always looking for ways to make our products more compatible and easier to use. What features do you want in technology solutions?


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Roller Skates and Mechanical Swans: John Joseph Merlin's Cremona Emulus.
Great British Makers by Benjamin Hebbert January 12, 2018 May 26, 2018
John Joseph Merlin was one of London's most significant inventors and entrepreneurs of the late eighteenth century. Amongst automatons, clocks and a bewildering variety of inventions he may well have paved the way for Charles Babbage's invention of the computer. He produced musical instruments of unparalleled ingenuity. He also held the secret to Cremonese tone – or did he?
John Joseph Merlin by Thomas Gainsborough. The portrait was reputed to have been exchanged with a musical instrument Merlin had made for him. (Kenwood House)
Charles Babbage (1791-1871) is considered by many to be the father of the computer, inventing the Difference Engine in the 1820s which could perform programmable mathematical calculations – the first mechanical computer, but his introduction to the world of machines came as a Devon schoolboy visiting Merlin's Mechanical Museum, just off Hanover Square in London. According to Babbage's own account:
Charles Babbage (National Portrait Gallery)
During my boyhood my mother took me to several exhibitions of machinery. I well remember one of them in Hanover Square, by a man who called himself Merlin. Iwas so greatly interested in it, that the exhibitor remarked the circumstance, and after explaining some of the objects to which the public had access, proposed to my mother to take me up to his workshop, where I should see still more wonderful automata. We accordingly ascended to the attic. There were two uncovered female figures of silver, about twelve inches high.
One of these walked or rather glided along a space of about four feet, when she turned round and went back to her original place. She used an eye glass occasionally, and bowed frequently, as if recognizing her acquaintances. The motions of her limbs were singularly graceful.
The other silver figure was an admirable danseuse, which a bird on the forefinger of her right hand, which wagged its tail, flapped its wings, and opened its beak. The lady attitudinized in a most fascinating manner. Her eyes were full of imagination, and irresistible. These silver figures were the chef-d'oeuvres of the artist: they had cost him years of unwearied labour, and were not even then finished"
After the death of John Joseph Merlin (1735-1803) his collection of mechanical wonders was auctioned off, and Babbage managed both to purchase the danseuse, and eventually to complete her to display her prominently in his house. (His other The implication: That Merlin's genius for mechanical devices played a significant part in the birth of modern computing – is it too much to call him a kind of grandfather figure if Babbage is seen as the father of modern computing. Several of Merlin's extraordinary inventions survive, chief amongst them the Silver Swanthat he made in 1773, which is kept at Bowes House Museum. Watch and be amazed!
Merlin's genius for inventing things went well beyond automatons, into such devices as 'Gouty Chairs and Morphices' 'Sleeping Chairs for infirm persons' 'patent Rotisseurs', an 'Invention that restores paintings to their original beauty', a 'two-wheel chariots for one horse only' and even a horseless carriage which he '…kept in motion by means of a windlass and it went with tolerable facility…' In musical circles, Merlin appears to have enjoyed considerable celebrity – he was friends both with Johann Christian Bach in London and the music historian Charles Burney, whilst there is some discussion that the portrait of him painted by Gainsborough – himself both an avid musician and collector of instruments – was commissioned in return for a musical instrument made by Merlin.
Johann Christian Fischer by his father-in-law Thomas Gainsborough, 1780. He was the most celebrated oboe player of his day. The square piano in the painting is inscribed Merlin Londini Fecit. (Royal Collection).
The portrait of Johann Christian Fischer, Thomas Gainsborough's son-in-Law shows a kind of square piano inscribed Merlin Londini Fecit on the name-board. For all his other inventions, musical instruments appear to have been the main commercial element of his entrepreneurial activity. Amongst his early inventions, he seems to have been credited with the invention of the Pentachord, a kind of five stringed violoncello which Sir Edward Walpole equally takes credit for (or at least credited for bringing it to prominence as an idea): It was demonstrated by Karl Friederich Abel as a 'newly invented' instrument in April 1759, before Merlin's arrival to England and James Cervetto later praised the instrument, declaring "I know not a more fit Instrument to Accompany the Voice". The example shown in the 400 Years of Violin Making in the British Isles Exhibition (pages 256-57 in The British Violin) is by Joseph Merlin. In 1774 (bearing in mind that the earliest English grand piano is from 1766) he patented designs for an instrument that would function both as a pianoforte and harpsichord.
One example has a Russian provenance to Catherine the Great and survives in the Deutsches Museum in Munich which further incorporates a clockwork device for transcribing the notes played onto a roll of paper (a way of mechanically outputting information that is very much a precursor to Babbage's concept of a punched card input for his Difference Engine 2). Although he employed workmen to complete his keyboard instruments, the carcasses and keywork seems sufficiently generic of London work at the time, that it seems likely he was more involved in modifying semi-finished instruments with his inventions and concepts. Notably in 1776 he sued Ephraim Celsson his former assistant for making and selling combined harpsichords made to his patent, and in another instance, a harpsichord made by the celebrated London maker Jakob Kirckman made in 1758 has a swell mechanism that was added by Merlin in 1779 (Boston Museum of Fine Arts). Various newspaper adverts allude to his inventions as improvements that could be fitted to existing instruments.
By January 1775 Merlin's workshop and house was at 61 Little Queen Ann Street moving to 66 Queen Ann Street East in 1778. In April he placed advertisements announcing 'a new invented Fiddle, with five strings' and 'a new improvement to violin design' described as 'a very simple contrivance by which the pegs cannot get loose, and will help the tuning with a wonderful facility, safety, and accuracy'. He also claimed thathe could 'also improve the worst Fiddle to that degree as to be equal to the best Cremona'. The previous month he announced a new stringed instrument, the Ipolito, said to have been invented by Mr Barthélémon nad made by Merlin – potentially a violin with an additional c-string. In August 1779, Merlin listed '… the various instruments and pieces of mechanism, which he has constructed, such as his great collection of Patent Piano Forte, double Bass harpsichord, and portable instruments call Celestinettes, and his new Violins, Tenor and Bass, and improves violins, tenor, and bass, tho' ever so bad, makes them equal to the best Cremonea…'
Merlin's violins are vanishingly rare. Lot 229 at Sotheby's Early Music auction on 10 November 2004 was a violin of 1776 labelled "Josephus Merlin Cremonae Emulus No. 121, Londini 1776, Improved, No.66, Queen Anne Street East, Portland Chapel". The violin is in most respects just a conventional London trade violin of a Stainer-pattern, although the length of back is small at 349mm which is rather unusual for English instruments generally speaking. The consensus as suggested in The British Violin is that these instruments were probably made by John Carter, although 'two New Fiddles not finished' were listed in the 1783 posthumous inventory of his assistant, Louis Lavigne Verel. The absence of any observable improvement within his 'improved' violin is a bit of a mystery, but it may just be possible that the improvement came about in a certain type of string.
A second violin, illustrated here, is an entirely different prospect. It has a magnificent label: "MERLIN/CREMONA EMULUS/INGENIEUR pour les INSTRUMENTS/de MUSIQUE et de MATHEMATIQUE/et HORLOGER en grand et en petit/fait toutes Sortes d'inventions/ MECHANIQUES, London 1785/Princes Street, Hanover Square" set between engravings of a complex armillary sphere, and a sophisticated clock evidently musical on account of being shaped like a lyre. Made in 1785, the violin shows Merlin's eccentric flair for innovation. Once again it has a small body length of 344mm, and the proportions are somewhat deranged with an exceptionally wide bottom bout and a very narrow upper half – 151mm over the top bouts, 212mm on the bottom and 102mm at the narrowest point. By contrast to his keyboard instruments, whose veneer finishes make them amongst the prettiest looking instruments of the English school, there is surprisingly little effort to produce something of high quality when compared to the more beautiful work being produced by contemporaneous makers such as Joseph Hill and Henry Jay especially as well as the relatively fine work on his surviving Pentachord. Perhaps his aim, as alluded to in his advertisements was to prove the worth of his inventions by producing "bad" instruments following his claim that he could "also improve the worst fiddle to that degree as to be equal to the best Cremona", for there are adverts of 1783 (in The Morning Post) and 1784 (In the Morning Herald and Daily Advertiser) which are quite explicit in mentioning that he had Cremona violins amongst his goods for sale (becoming the first Queen Ann Street dealer of such things as far as I know). Ever the showman, not only does the new design seem more fanciful than grounded in any particular science, if any of these violins could be shown to remotely compare to a Cremonese violin, the roughness of them would aid in providing the impression of obvious difference. Certainly amongst his immediate circle, Charles Burney and Thomas Gainsborough were both connoisseurs owning Cremonese violins, so it is not as if he was playing to an ignorant market (all the time at least). The rudimentary acoustical experiment in the shape of the 1785 violin makes a good sound and is not unappealing in its own right, but needless to say it didn't change the way that instruments were conceived of, and it is simply coincidental, if not downright ironic, that it's date of manufacture coincides with Antonio Bagatella's publication of his Regole per il costruzione de violini' a first serious and structured attempt to apply methodology to understanding Cremonese design. Nevertheless this was a period of fascination with Cremonese violins amongst the English, as evidenced for example by the advertising trade cards of John Betts and Richard Duke (see your copy of The British Violin), and however trivial the instrument can be seen in the context of a wider picture of efforts to reproduce the quality of Cremonese instruments, it serves the purpose of demonstrating how interesting this had become to an English audience. Merlin's violins might be consigned to the dustbin of curiosity, along with Sultanas made by Perry in Dublin, or Thomas Howell's oddly shaped patent violins made in Bristol around the 1830s and 1840s, but the invention of the roller skates gives Merlin's involvement with the violin a peculiar immortality of its own, as related in 1825 in Thomas Busby's, Concert Hall and Orchestra Anecdotes::
"One of his ingenious novelties was a pair of skaites contrived to run on wheels. Supplied with these and a violin, he mixed in the motley group of one of Mrs Cowley's masquerades at Carlisle House; when not having provided the means of retarding his velocity, or commanding its direction, he impelled himself against a mirror of more than five hundred pounds value, dashed it to atoms, broke his instrument to pieces and wounded himself most severely"
The Volito, or, Summer and Winter Skait. London, 1823. (Lewis Walpole Library, Yale University.)
A detailed history of Joseph Merlin is given in The British Violin, (pages 50-51) and a pentachord, his five-stringed cello (pages 256-57), was included in the exhibition. I am indebted to Margaret Debenham's "Joseph Merlin in London, 1760-1803: the Man behind the Mask. New Documentary Sources" Royal Musical Association Research Chronicle, 2014, which is easily accessible online for many of the sources cited in this article.
Hard cases aren't flight cases: Tips on flying with your instrument.
Some English instruments made or sold upon the Strand.
10 keksintöä, jotka ovat kuviteltua huomattavasti vanhempia
The Beginners' Ultimate Roller Skating Guide - Roller Skate City
Roller skates and mechanical swans: John Joseph Merlin - My Blog


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Sediment data, statistical model summary and additional figures from Species contributions to ecosystem process and function can be population dependent and modified by biotic and abiotic setting
2017-05-16T09:11:44Z (GMT) by Daniel Wohlgemuth Martin Solan Jasmin A. Godbold
There is unequivocal evidence that altered biodiversity, through changes in the expression and distribution of functional traits, can have large impacts on ecosystem properties. However, trait-based summaries of how organisms affect ecosystem properties often assume that traits show constancy within and between populations and that species contributions to ecosystem functioning are not overly affected by the presence of other species or variations in abiotic conditions. Here, we evaluate the validity of these assumptions using an experiment in which three geographically distinct populations of intertidal sediment-dwelling invertebrates are reciprocally substituted. We find that the mediation of macronutrient generation by these species can vary between different populations and show that changes in biotic and/or abiotic conditions can further modify functionally important aspects of the behaviour of individuals within a population. Our results demonstrate the importance of knowing how, when and why traits are expressed and suggest that these dimensions of species functionality are not sufficiently well-constrained to facilitate the accurate projection of the functional consequences of change. Information about the ecological role of key species and assumptions about the form of species–environment interactions needs urgent refinement.
bioirrigation bioturbation functional traits functional diversity inter-population intra-population trait variability


The pair have been charged with child neglect.
A couple from southern Minnesota have been charged with child neglect after allegedly leaving a boy alone in the woods.
The 5-year-old boy was found by a driver wandering south of St. Peter, Nicollet County, on Aug. 28. He was crying and wet from the rain.
His father, 32-year-old Gregory Wilson, and his partner Lynda Michel, 42, are alleged to have dropped him off in the woods as punishment for wetting himself.
Charges filed in Nicollet County state that someone who was in the car with the pair at the time had tried to persuade the pair not to drop the boy off.
They turned around a short time later but couldn't find him.
The boy told police he had been left behind because he was "naughty."
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When examined by medical staff, they found multiple bruises on the boy's back, buttocks and hips, with Wilson telling police he regularly spanked him with an open hand.
Both Wilson and Michel have been charged with child neglect, while Wilson is also facing a charge of malicious punishment of a child and domestic assault.
The mother has been charged with child endangerment and neglect.
He had been missing for more than 8 hours.
The boy was able to get his hands on a loaded gun.
An arrest was made after the boy was injured.
The boy died in the hospital on Monday, and had horrific injuries.
The victim says it happened shortly after he'd threatened to kill her.


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Quotes \ Authors \ Indian Authors \ Rajendra Prasad
Facts about Rajendra Prasad
Rajendra Prasad was a famous Statesman from India, who lived between December 3, 1884 and February 28, 1963. He/she became 78 years old.
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He/she is born under the zodiac sagittarius, who is known for Philosophical, Motion, Experimentation, Optimism. Our collection contains 8 quotes who is written / told by Rajendra.
Here is some other popular authors who lived in the same timeframe: George Will, Khaleda Zia, Anne Baxter, Clive James, Tom Metzger, Robert F. Kennedy, Ngo Dinh Diem, Margaret Lee Runbeck, Joe Namath, Adlai Stevenson, Arthur C. Clarke, Willie Mays, Mike Ditka, Martin Yan, George S. Patton, Thornton Wilder, Casey Stengel, Vince Lombardi, Aldous Huxley, Dwight D. Eisenhower
Famous quotes by Rajendra Prasad (8)
"Nobody can push me aside"
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"I know I cannot do all the stuff that I did ten years ago"
"Actors cannot go on for over running around the trees"
"One must learn to play one's age"
"Now I am careful about the kind of roles that I do"
"More importantly, I also understand my age and am in a better position to appreciate it"
"Age is very important in the entertainment industry"
"What I mean is that today's films lay lot of emphasis on glamour and associated emotions"


Drug companies use studies the way a drunk uses a lamppost — for support rather than illumination.
This quote adapted from English romcom author Jilly Cooper (who adapted it from others before her) seems an appropriate preface for a series of company approaches to data handling that have concealed rather than revealed treatment-induced problems.
In another galaxy, far, far away, somewhere in 1986, staff at Eli Lilly compiled the data on suicides and suicidal acts from Prozac clinical trials for reports they had to submit to regulators in the US, Britain, Germany, and elsewhere. They compared events on Prozac to events on other treatments, including placebo, no drug, or older drugs. In trials conducted in the US, they listed 4 suicides on Prozac and 1 on placebo, along with 26 suicide attempts on Prozac versus 9 on other. Various reports of this type were compiled and submitted to the regulators over the following four years, and part of the data ultimately ended up in a BMJ article published in 1991, at the height of the Prozac-suicide controversy, during the week FDA held hearings on antidepressants and suicide.
The 1986 data are intriguing. A short account of each suicide and suicide attempt is laid out. In the case of Prozac, 7 are discounted as not genuine suicide attempts; none on placebo are discounted this way. Of the 9 attempts classified as placebo or other, 4 involved patients treated with fluoxetine who had relatively recently discontinued from it. Classifying these under the heading of placebo, even in 1986, looks unsupportable.
Of the 4 suicides on Prozac, 3 are listed as using it under compassionate-use protocols, and these patients had been on it or exposed to it over a 3-4 year period. At first sight this doesn't make sense; why include 3 extra suicides in the Prozac column? These suicides don't find their way into the later BMJ article, for instance, where the company might have expected reviewers to ask for them to be removed. The 3-4 year period is key; this allows the company to make the case to the regulator that when the duration of exposure to Prozac is taken into account, the rate of suicides and suicidal acts is no greater than on placebo.
As of 1986, the standard method mandated by regulators like FDA for counting adverse events was to count events in proportion to the number of people exposed to the drug rather than events in proportion to the duration of exposure.
Insisting that events be counted in terms of duration of exposure is a way to make travel in space shuttles safe. If crashes are counted by the number of trips the shuttle takes, then it is about as risky a mode of travel as you can find. If crashes are counted by the number of thousands of miles travelled, it becomes maybe even the safest form of travel. The key thing with the space shuttle is that the risk periods are entry to and exit from orbit. For many (but not all) drug side effects, the riskiest periods are also entry into treatment and exit from it.
The most interesting event is the placebo suicide. This happened during the lead-in phase of the trial, when a patient removed from his prior medication during the week before starting in the trial proper committed suicide. A placebo suicide remains in the analysis all the way through to the later BMJ article — still coded as happening during what is variously called the lead-in or wash-out phase of the trial. See Figure 1.
At the time, the regulations for submitting data to FDA made it clear that this should not happen. It was inappropriate. A later reviewer of an article I wrote on the issue wondered if it was outright fraud. More than 12 years later, when they again called for data on the antidepressants and suicide, the regulators made it clear to companies that they should not do this.
But there has been no public acknowledgement that this was done. No detailing of who turned a blind eye to the issue. How do we account for the fact that a series of regulators across Europe and North America appear to have turned a blind eye at the same time? Why when the issue is in the public domain do the legal departments of major academic journals like BMJ or NEJM advise journals not to carry articles mentioning the issue?
When the range of ways the suicide data were handled by Eli Lilly in this case or other companies in other cases do come up, companies tend to portray themselves as not statistically sophisticated. The implication is that if things went wrong, they did so by accident. The response from regulators and others has often been that perhaps mistakes were made but this is now in the past. There is no need to take an adversarial approach with companies, we are told, we don't expect this to happen again.
The January 6th issue 2011 of the BMJ – the journal which carried the original article in which the Ghost suicide first appears – was devoted to the issue of academic and research fraud and the need for access to the data from trials. There was lots of mention of Andrew Wakefield and his MMR study but none of this or any other comparable distortions of the data by pharmaceutical companies.
We expect academics to do this again but not pharmaceutical companies?
As the BMJ issue could have shown, this is not something from a distant galaxy long long ago – almost identical strategies were adopted by Pfizer and SmithKline Beecham for Paxil and Zoloft in the 1990s, and then by Merck for Vioxx and GSK for Avandia in the 2000s.
These methods hid a crucial few deaths on each drug, but as we shall see in the next post, there are even better methods to hide many more deaths.
It's a dark night. A man walking home sees someone on his hands and knees crawling around under a lamppost. He stops and asks the man what he's doing. "I'm looking for my wallet," is the reply.
"Where did you drop it?" asks the first man.
"Over there" says Hands-and-Knees pointing off into the shadows.
"Why are you looking here, then?" asks the first man.