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Frequently Asked Questions about Ripples
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What is Ripples?
Ripples is a personal project started in 2011 by Ryan & Amanda Bancroft. For every decision we face in life (what careers we choose, food we eat, house we live in, transportation method, etc) we ask ourselves "How can we make a difference with this choice, for both people and planet?" By sharing our story, as well as anything that made it easier for us (like a book or an organization that helped us), we hope to make it easier for others to make a difference in whatever ways work for them, across a variety of good causes – not just the causes we personally care about.
Ripples is not a business, nor is it a 501©3 non-profit organization. We might be an organization someday soon, but the question we always ask is: how can we make the biggest difference? Right now, we are partnering with and supporting the mission of existing non-profits rather than creating a brand new organization.
Ripples is not exclusively an environmentalist project. We do try to live sustainably and make a difference for the environment, but we also try to help many people around the world. We shop locally and buy fair trade products like food and clothing whenever possible, because we seek a world with fair wages. We think about making ripples in a way that includes, but does not stop at, environmental concerns.
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What is the inspiration for Ripples?
Ripples work is guided and inspired by:
Solutionary Method pioneered by Grand Aspirations
Capacity Building (helping non-profit organizations increase the good they do)
Effective Altruism (finding the most effective ways to improve the world)
7 Principles of the Unitarian Universalist religion
Global Interdependence (we're all in this together!)
Who is involved in Ripples?
Ripples is just a personal project of Ryan & Amanda's – we're trying to make a difference with our own life's choices, and share what we do. We have thousands of readers who also teach us a lot, volunteers who are helping us with projects, master naturalists helping with our conservation work, and non-profits like the Northwest Arkansas Land Trust helping us protect 169 acres in collaboration with the landowner at the Historic Johnson Farm where we are based. Beaver Water District funded the conservation easement for the property. The OMNI Center donated $300 for our solar panels. Beaver Watershed Alliance funded the greywater filtration rain garden and offered guidance in its creation. We lease an acre of farm land from our friend in order to have space for native gardens and our house, and received a loan from another friend for almost half the cost of the tiny house. We're assisting the Little Rock based Arkansas Historic Preservation Program in the nomination for the the Johnson Farm buildings and acreage to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places along with the Johnson Barn which got listed in 1991. We host film crews, small charity projects, and visitors who are simply interested in photographing or touring the farm. It's never been just us! We have lots of help. But Ripples is primarily about how we're trying to make a difference with our lifestyle, so it's very personal and guided by our decisions, limitations, and goals.
Think of it like a project in which someone is trying to see how far they can run, and they have friends and supporters cheering them on while they train. Maybe they'll help other runners to train, too. The runner might donate to charity for running a particular distance. A friend might let them run on their property. Someone might hand them a water bottle. Ultimately, whether they run or not is their choice, but so many people make the running possible! We're indebted and grateful to our community for supporting us since 2011.
We live in an off-grid tiny house on wheels located at the Historic Johnson Farm on Kessler Mountain. In partnership with the landowner and the Northwest Arkansas Land Trust, we protect 169 acres for historic and ecological conservation.
What is the Historic Johnson Farm?
Kessler Mountain offers not only outdoor recreation, but historically significant sites. The Historic Johnson Farm is technically on what was once known as Rieff's Mountain (in the gap south of Kessler). It was the center of olden-day Rieff's Chapel Community and has its own active cemetery, wagon road lined by stone fences / rock walls, and one-room schoolhouse foundation stones at the original site. The farm began around the 1830s. The Johnsons arrived in 1908, maintained the 1800's orchards and planted new orchards of pears, apples, peaches and more. The family continues to own almost 169 acres of the now inactive farm. The Johnson farmhouse was built during the mid-1920s on the same site as the late-1800's central hall cottage, and is in excellent condition. The Johnson Barn built in 1933 is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, with the farmhouse and nearby property in process of being nominated through the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program. With hundreds of Johnson letters and photographs from the 1800's through present-day, the farm and its various families have woven a fascinating story. Questions? E-mail us at: MakeSomeRipples@Gmail.com
Are you an Eco Village, Natural Science Center, or Community Center?
No, none of the above. Unfortunately our goals and the goals of our partners do not permit a housing project or large public facility on site. However, there are eco villages and centers throughout the region and world which may meet your needs! Browse our eco village resources for more information. The Ozark Natural Science Center is a fantastic place for school field trips and offers overnight programming, check it out! The Kessler Mountain Outdoor Classroom and Nature Center is great for field trips, and learners of all ages too!
What have you done so far? What do you hope to do in the future?
Every person, like a droplet, has the potential to make ripples. We're always trying to help more people by making it easier for them to make a difference with any actions they might choose to take. Here are some of the things we did or are doing (updated October 2017). Nobody's perfect, and our difference-making wish list is long! We are constantly learning how to improve.
we now live off-grid in a tiny house on wheels! (more details below)
over 200 Making Ripples newspaper columns published, circulation 10,000 copies regionally
created a Ripples website 100% solar-powered through AISO
over 20 ripple-makers featured in People Making Ripples
350 Ripples Facebook page fans and 80 Ripples Blog subscribers with over 6,000 unique readers from over 94 countries
bought an All-American Sun Oven and semi-regularly cook off-grid
moved to Kessler Mountain, the site of our future off-grid home at the Historic Johnson Farm, protected through a conservation easement held by the NWA Land Trust
6 nesting sites established for NestWatch in collaboration with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Amanda became a certified Arkansas Master Naturalist and maintains certification requirements annually, completed FrogWatch training and established a monitoring site at Pear Pond on Kessler Mountain
taught an online class for youth leaders in non-profits to help them improve their organization's services
began a feral cat socialization, adoption and trap-neuter-release (or spay) program, protecting the site's ecology and increasing quality of life for successfully adopted kittens and cats (thank you, rescue families!) – started with 9 cats, down to only 2
with help from Morningstar Wildlife Rehabilitation, wildlife rescue as needed at our site
work on trail maintenance, litter and illegal dump cleanup, and combat drug trafficking at the Historic Johnson Farm
made lifestyle changes such as trash reduction, almost vegan diet, reusable to-go thermos, water bottle and utensils, converting wardrobe to fair trade organice, and more
We began earning income in ways that help the world: Ryan: Ozark Natural Foods Co-op; Amanda: self-employed writer and artist designing Ripples Greeting Cards on sustainable paper and sleeved in compostable plant-based materials
Nobody's perfect, and our difference-making wish list is long! We are constantly learning how to improve. Here are the things we hope to do soon:
Start a MonarchWatch garden for surveying butterflies
Begin a small square-foot style organic vegetable garden
Get really good at solar cooking and dedicate an outdoor space for it
Did you build your tiny house?
No, our custom tiny house on wheels was built by Backcountry Tiny Homes based in Washington State. They provided all the off-grid features, including solar from Backcountry Solar, a rainwater harvesting system, and Separett composting toilet.
What are the specs on your tiny house and which off-grid features does it have?
Square Footage: 204 SF (336 SF with balcony & lofts)
Trailer Length: 24′
Overall Length: 24′-3″
Travel Height: 13'6″
Width: 8′-6″
Solar: (6) 305W panels, 3500W inverter, (8) 8D AGM batteries, 12V fuse panel, charge controller, 25-ft PV line to provided solar array; adjustable ground solar array stands
Water: Off-grid rainwater, 12V pump, UV filter, 2-stage filtration (cotton and carbon), dual gutter (1 per each long side), downspout, 550 gallon cistern
Water Heater: One Bosch 1500W 7-gallon tanked hot water heater
Stovetop: 2-burner glass electric stove top, 1200W per burner
Electric Heater: (2) ENVI wall heaters (living space & bathroom)
Composting Toilet: Separett Villa 9210
Roxul Insulation (R-23 for floor, R-15 for walls and ceiling)
Storage Loft
Bedroom Loft with secondary egress hobbit door leading to balcony
Storage Stairs / Cubbies with cat litter box hole
Have more questions about the specs on our tiny home? We'd be happy to share further details. E-mail us at: MakeSomeRipples@Gmail.com or contact Backcountry Tiny Homes!
What insurance companies are covering you and your tiny house?
We're receiving homeowner's insurance through the fantastic TinyHome.Insure / Strategic Insurance with Martin Burlingame. They think of everything and we're very confident they will provide excellent coverage. We are also required to purchase an umbrella liability policy through State Farm. It's been very easy working with them!
How did you get financing?
Originally, we'd saved up enough to buy a house outright. However, the off-grid systems and overall project cost was way higher than we anticipated. We were told all we needed for a loan was excellent credit, and knew we needed to avoid traditional bank mortgages because tiny houses on wheels are not yet accepted by most lenders. Our back-up plan was to apply with LightStream, which specializes (among other things) in unsecured tiny house loans for people with excellent credit (our scores are about as high as they can be). We were still denied due to insufficient recent debt (we paid off $29,000 in student loans within 4 years, but that was 7 years ago and instantly disqualified us) as well as a secondary reason of insufficient income (Amanda is self-employed, a common hurdle to getting a loan). In the end, we couldn't have pursued this project without the help of a friend who agreed to loan us the remainder of the cost of the house and establish a payment plan and contract with interest. It worked out great for everyone!
How are you "off-grid"?
There are many ways to technically go "off-grid."
Our version of going "off-grid" involves avoiding public utilities that harm the environment, like non-renewable electricity and septic systems. This saves us money on water and electric bills, but note that the cost (for us) was steep and offers not many returns on the investment. Our tiny house on wheels is completely off-grid, with all electric solar, rainwater harvesting, and composting toilet. We will continue to buy food from local farmers and cooperatives; we're NOT back-to-the-landers hoping to farm and provide for all our needs (although we admire such people for their skills). We'll continue to use the banking system and keep our internet. This website is 100% solar hosted through AISO. For transportation, we carpool together into town to combine errands (which we do on foot) and work shifts. The Razorback Greenway bike trail is coming very close to the property, and in a couple of years we'll be able to return to our previous habit of bicycle commuting and only occasionally driving to haul supplies or carpool.
How is your website solar-hosted?
This website is solar-hosted by AISO. They have a 100% solar-powered datacenter, where they host our website files.
What kind of solar cooker / oven did you buy, and what's it like?
We bought the All American Sun Oven, almost entirely made in the USA. It's been fantastic to use, and cooks or bakes everything you can cook or bake in an indoor oven or stove (cookies, lasagna, rice curry, bread, soup, chili…) Please see our newspaper column Solar Cooking with the All American Sun Oven for detailed information and a recipe!
What type of composting toilet do you use?
Separett Villa 9210, which includes a vent fan, mechanical rotation for the waste bucket (no crank), and a separate urine diverter to keep liquids apart from solids. Waste inside the bucket is dehydrated over time with the vent fan, which reduces odor and prevents flies unless your flies are small enough to fit through window screens to get inside the home and toilet (fruit flies and kin). Our toilet hasn't smelled bad in the couple of summer months we've used it so far. It takes some adjustment to learn how to properly sit on the toilet for #1 and #2, and some urine does get into the solids bucket no matter our best efforts. It's particularly difficult during menstruation, when a woman needs to rinse off and clean the toilet urinal after each use. It's recommended to pour a small cup of water down the urine diverter after anyone uses it, so that residue doesn't build up in the system and odors are eliminated. The toilet is sleek and beautifully designed to appear like a flush toilet, but it uses no water besides the cup for flushing out urine. It's also called a "dry" or "composting" toilet, but this unit is not actually a self-contained composting toilet. The composting process occurs outside in buckets at the owner's discretion. Our liquids, along with water from the sinks and shower, are diverted into a greywater filtration garden filled with native plants and mulch.
What about your cat, Solo? How will you handle cat litter?
We'll be composting the cat litter separately from the human waste. Solo is an indoor-only cat because he was adopted from the shelter and has no claws, and outdoor cats suffer a lot and contribute to environmental problems. He'll love our tiny house balcony off the bed loft, which will serve as a play area for him (among other purposes). Indoor cats which have not eaten wild prey are not carriers of Toxoplasma gondii, a parasite that makes composting cat litter less safe. We'll be continuing to use our plastic reusable cat litter box, minus the plastic bags, with biodegradable septic-safe and compostable World's Best Cat Litter. Here is our research and method for composting pet waste.


Just about every king seems to have had a prophet to help keep him honest. Saul had Samuel, Ahab had Elijah, Hezekiah had Isaiah, Jehoiakim and Zedekiah seem to have shared Jeremiah, and so on. King David was the one who had Nathan. There is nothing of Nathan's in writing so it's impossible to grade him on literary skill, but when it comes to the ability to be a thorn in the king's flesh, he gets a straight A. The best example is, of course, the most famous.
David had successfully gotten rid of Uriah the Hittite by assigning him to frontline duty, where he was soon picked off by enemy snipers. After a suitable period of mourning, David then proceeded to marry Uriah's gorgeous young widow, Bathsheba. The honeymoon had hardly started rolling before Nathan came around to describe a hardship case he thought David might want to do something about.
There were these two men, Nathan said, one of them a big-time rancher with flocks and herds of just about everything that has four legs and a tail and the other the owner of just one lamb he was too soft-hearted even to think about in terms of chops and mint jelly. He had it living at home with himself and the family, and he got to the point where he even let it lap milk out of his own bowl and sleep at the foot of his bed. Then one day the rancher had a friend drop in unexpectedly for a meal and, instead of taking something out of his own overstuffed freezer, he got somebody to go over and commandeer the poor man's lamb, which he and his friend consumed with a garnish of roast potatoes and new peas.
When Nathan finished, David hit the roof. He said anybody who'd pull a stunt like that ought to be taken out and shot. At the very least he ought to be made to give back four times what the lamb was worth. And who was the greedy, thieving slob anyway, he wanted to know.
"Take a look in the mirror the next time you're near one," Nathan said. It was only the opening thrust. By the time Nathan was through, it was all David could do just to pick up the receiver and tell room service to get a stiff drink up to the bridal suite.


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A Summer's Day in Picturesque Marlow
with Thames cruise
Sunday 5th July 2020
Marlow is without a doubt one of the loveliest locations on the River Thames, set amongst the rich meadows of the river valley and alongside the woodlands of the Chiltern Hills.
The vibrant Georgian market town is made up of historic streets and an abundance of boutique shops, restaurants, cafes and bistros all adding to the town's unique charm. The town's most famous landmark is the suspension bridge which spans the River Thames and joins the counties of Buckinghamshire and Berkshire. The bridge was designed by William Tierney Clark and first opened in 1832 - and was later used as the template for a structure he built to connect Buda and Pest in Hungary.
Marlow has always been known as a fashionable riverside resort and attracted many famous people to the area. Marlow is also home to one of Britain's most premier rowing clubs which has produced many Olympic oarsmen including Sir Steve Redgrave whose statue stands in Higginson Park.
Take a stroll along the Thames Path and purchase some lunch in one of the many cafes and bistros in town before your 40 minute afternoon Thames cruise from Marlow to Temple Lock and return .
Executive return coach travel to Marlow
Departures from Braintree, Witham, Chelmsford & Brentwood
Approximately 6 hours at leisure in the riverside town of Marlow
A 40 minute Thames River cruise from Marlow
A courier on board the coach
To book, please contact Elite Tickets on
Or visit the website at
www.eliteticketsltd.co.uk
Copyright © 2020 Supreme Breaks, All rights reserved.
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Q: Pairing line segments that follow a similar path I have a shapefile with a regional travel model comprised of straight line features (model.shp, blue in the image). These lines roughly match the actual paths of the roadways they represent (road.shp, magenta in the image). I need to copy traffic volume data from road.shp to the model.shp.

Some of the issues I see right away are:

*

*There is no attribute data (roadway name, segment, intersection, etc)
to compare between the two datasets. This means the comparison will
have to be done based on their spatial relationship to one another

*Single lines in model.shp are often comprised of
multiple segments in road.shp. This means that many segments
in model.shp will have multiple attribute matches (one
for each segment in road.shp that falls along the path of a feature in model.shp), and the locations of the beginning and end of
each segment will sometimes be very different.

*The paths of the lines are not very close to each other. This means that there is no
simple spatial query that can be done to select by the relationship
of their locations to one another.

The locations of the intersections is the areas that are the closest between the two datasets, and I think that is the best way to go about linking the two together. My initial thought is that the best way to go about this is to make a tool to:

*

*Calculate the coordinates of the beginning and end of each line in road.shp.

*Create a straight line segment from that coordinate information in a new shapefile (roadstraight.shp, carrying over the traffic count number we want to copy to model.shp

*This should result in a dataset comprised of straight lines which should be closer to the model.shp data

*For each line segment in roadstraight.shp, conduct a spatial search for each model.shp line segment within X feet (or the closest X number of lines)

*Calculate the slope of each line that was selected to determine which line follows the closest path to the segment in question

Does it seem like I am on the right track with this?
tldr: need help to match lines from one shapefile to another based on how similar they are in shape and path.

A: As you state in your question you have realised that there is "no simple spatial query" that will resolve this and you are going to have exceptions to the rule. I don't think there is one magic tool or workflow that will resolve all this and it will be a compromise of diminishing returns with you ultimately having to fix some/many of them manually.
If you use the dissolve tool on your roads you could dissolve the segments between road junctions, see unsplit parameter. So no need to generate straight line equivalents to your model data.
I would then extract the centroids of the two layers and run generate near table tool to locate the nearest centroid from one layer to the other, this essentially creates a lookup table. The bulk of your data should match leaving the remaining lines unmatched, especially if you place a search tolerance.
You'll get erroneous matches but you could quality control the data and compare the matched line lengths as a first pass, if the model road is say 50% longer than the dissolved road then probably something went wrong...
Just looking at the image I see modelled roads crossing at least 2 roads and roads that have no equivalent modelled line, so how to deal with those?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Updates / Press Release
Carbon market rules: Ministers close to striking a deal that will undermine ambition & Indigenous Peoples rights
Deal closing in on locking in double-counting on emission reductions in final stretch of negotiations at COP26 in Glasgow
11 November, Glasgow: Today, in negotiations under Article 6, which deals with the rules on carbon markets under the Paris Agreement, an increasing number of countries are backing proposals which would exclude corresponding adjustments from being applied to "other international mitigation purposes".
This means they will allow rules that could lead to an emission reduction to be counted by both the country where the reduction took place and by a company financing it. This way nobody would know if the reduction paid for by the company is simply replacing another reduction that the host country was going to achieve anyway to reach its nationally determined contributions (NDC). A deal of this nature that allows double counting seriously risks undermining ambition and paving the way for accounting tricks on emission reduction.
The current text does not include the establishment of an independent grievance mechanism, meaning that communities negatively impacted by these carbon mechanisms would be denied access to justice and redress. Moreover, the current text ignores Indigenous Peoples' right to Free, Prior and Informed Consent.
All of the above raises serious concerns on the integrity of the carbon market rules being agreed here in COP26 that will ultimately weigh down ambition and the integrity of the Paris Agreement.
"During this final stage of COP26, USA, Brazil, Japan and the UK Presidency are caving in to fossil fuel interest to allow companies to greenwash their climate impact and brand themselves as carbon neutral, even though there is no certainty that these companies will really pay for extra emission reductions. Voluntary carbon markets and offsets cannot be used as an excuse for real climate inaction." – Sam Van den plas, Policy Director, Carbon Market Watch
"With hundreds of fossil fuel lobbyists at COP26, it's not surprising to see how governments are endorsing loopholes under the Paris Agreement to help them greenwash their business. Article 6 rules cannot leave the door open for mass-scale assaults on human rights. The current deal is unacceptable, countries cannot put the profit of the fossil fuel industry before people and planet." -Catalina Gonda, Fundación Ambiente y Recursos Naturales
"We need real reduction, and to keep fossil fuels in the ground. Carbon offsetting perpetuates the theft of Indigenous people's land and our territories. Our brothers and sisters have been protecting their lands and forests for thousands of years. Carbon offsets are a new form of colonialism." – Tom Goldtooth, Exec Director of the Indigenous Environmental Network
"With the clock counting down, COP26 negotiators are steamrolling over their obligations to uphold human rights while they pursue a quick deal that will only benefit fossil fuel interests. Staying the current course will show COP26 to be an abject failure, with negotiators showing a willingness to abandon the social and environmental integrity of the Paris Agreement, while opening the door to a Pandora's Box of false climate solutions. If adopted in Glasgow, it will be impossible to go back and correct for a system that sets up human rights abuses, that undermines States' ambition, or that blows a hole in the progress made on the fossil fuel phase out." – Sébastien Duyck, Senior Attorney Human Rights & Climate Campaign Manager, Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL)
"If offsets are a scam, double counting of emissions reductions is a slap in the face. It's essential to close the loopholes that could blow a hole through the Paris agreement. We need zero offsets and strong regulation to cut emissions until the gap to reach 1.5 C is closed, while protecting environmental integrity and upholding human rights.
"Negotiators must stop the greenwashing monster that the UN Secretary General warned against. We cannot leave Glasgow with an Article 6 Agreement that is littered with loopholes that undermine real climate action." – Juan Pablo Osornio, Head of COP26 Delegation for Greenpeace International
————ENDS———-
Dharini Parthasarathy, Climate Action Network, dparthasarathy@climatenetwork.org / +918826107930
Khaled Diab, Carbon Market Watch, Communications: khaled.diab@carbonmarketwatch.org
Cate Bonacini , CIEL, Communications – cbonacini@ciel.org
CLIMATE ACTION NETWORK
Climate Action Network (CAN) is a global network of over 1500 NGOs in more than 130 countries fighting the climate crisis. More information on www.climatenetwork.org


Exactly 25 people will have their data wiped out by the time you finish reading this sentence, according to a new video.
Exactly 25 people will have their data wiped out by the time you finish reading this sentence.
A new video infographic from data protection company Storage Pipe illustrates how data protection has changed in the last few years.


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Are You Making Any of these 6 mistakes in Vocal Recording?
By Iama| 2018-10-17T16:28:49+00:00 August 1st, 2018|Home Recording, improve vocals, Practicing Music, Pre-Production, recording vocals, Rehearsal|1 Comment
Recording vocals is arguably easier than recording a drum kit, but there are still common mistakes to avoid when laying down vocal tracks or recording vocal talent. Here's six things to bear in mind. In many ways, a good vocal sound comes LESS from employing fancy techniques, and MORE from avoiding common problems.
Here are five of the possible mistakes you may be making if you are recording vocals:
Even though all mics suitable for vocals have a built-in popscreen (windscreen), this typically is not enough to guarantee freedom from p-pops—technically called "plosives" (those distracting thumps that often happen on the letters "p" and "b", and are hard to get rid of). In normal speech you don't even notice it. But on recordings, these air blasts strike the diaphragm of the mic. Creating a punchy low frequency sound known as Popping. To understand it better, try this exercise:
Place your hand in front of your face as you say these two sentences:
Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
Better businesses build big boxes.
Feel the air hitting your hand? That's popping.
To avoid it, the easiest way is to sing into the mic at a slightly off-axis angle, so the blasts don't strike the diaphragm directly.
However…since many singers can't or won't do it, engineers often use pop filters instead.
Here's how they work:
By creating a barrier between the singer and the mic, pop filters act like a net to catch "plosives", while allowing other sounds to pass freely.
The barrier also acts as a distance marker, preventing singers from moving in too close, as they often will.
Here are some pop filters you can use:
Nady MPF-6
Stedman Corporation Proscreen XL
Also, by adding a high-pass filter, it's harder to hear popping.
Sibilance is a common issue when mixing vocals. Ideally, it would be addressed and reduced in the recording phase when possible. But oftentimes, we'll need to help control it in the mix.
Attempting to reduce sibilance with EQ however, is a mistake, and one that many novices make.
The OTHER strange thing about the human voice is. When pronouncing "S" and "F" sounds, the mouth emits a high frequency blast of air, commonly known as sibilance. You don't notice it in daily conversation…
But on recordings, when your mouth is right up against the mic, it often sounds painfully obvious.
Let's do another demonstration:
Using a condenser mic (which is more prone to sibilance), record yourself saying this line:
She sells sea shells by the sea shore.
Now listen back and pay close attention to the "S" sounds. Hear that annoying hiss? That's sibilance. To fix this problem, you COULD just mask it with software tools like de-essers and multi-band compressors…But the smarter strategy is to avoid recording it in the first place. Just like with popping, singing at an off-axis angle can USUALLY fix the problem. If not though, here's something else you can try:
The Pencil Trick.
Grab a pencil, and secure it directly over the diaphragm of your mic with a rubber band, as shown in this picture.
Now…those high frequency blasts will be split in half by the pencil, and diverted off to the side. Problem solved.
Here are some Diaphragm Condenser Mics you can use:
AKG C414
Also, by adding a de-esser, it's harder to hear and avoid sibilance.
Proximity effect is simple – the closer you get to the microphone, the more bass ends up in your recording (or performance for that matter). Although this may not seem overly significant to beginners, seasoned pros will testify that this law can either make or break your audio track.
Due to the design of the cardioid mics. Which is the standard polar pattern used on vocals. Whenever a sound source is located within a few inches of the diaphragm. The microphone exhibits a noticeable low-end boost in its frequency response. The closer the sound, the stronger the effect. With certain instruments such as acoustic guitar, this can serve as a useful tool in adding warmth.
On vocals however, when inexperienced singers use it unintentionally. It can be extremely annoying to hear that low end boost appear and disappear at random.
If your singer is having this problem, here's how you fix it:
Use a pop filter – to prevent the singer from getting too close to the mic.
Use omnidirectional mics – which are immune to proximity effect because of their design.
Poor Room Acoustics
We get it — if you're recording at home or in any less than ideal environment, then you're unlikely to have studio-quality acoustics. You're going to have to compromise, but there's a limit to what you can ignore without totally trashing your sound.
However, the acoustics in your room is bad, so will your vocals. And without proper acoustic treatment, you can pretty much guarantee that your studio's acoustics WILL be really bad. So if you don't have any yet, make it your top priority.
Reflection filters can be a good cheap alternative for anyone in search of a shortcut. They may not work as well as "real" acoustic treatment…but they're a thousand times better than nothing at all.
Foot Noise
Becareful when you record your vocals because every single footstep can be heard loud and clear throughout the entire house. When singers tap their feet, those vibrations travel up your mic stand, and onto the recording.
The common solution to this problem is to add a shockmount, which works by creating acoustic isolation between the mic and the stand.
To find out if YOU need one, here's what you do:
Setup your mic as you normally would, record enable the track, and crank up the gain.
Put on your headphones, walk around the mic stand, and listen.
If you hear your footsteps or any other floor noise, you could probably benefit from a shockmount. While many vocal mics come with one included, if yours doesn't, here's what you do: Because most shockmounts are designed to work only with a specific mic, you need to find the right match.
An example of a good shockmount is:
Neumann EA 4 Shockmount
Adding too Much Autotune and other Effects
Since "Believe" by Cher hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 Charts in the late 90's, auto-tune has been all the rage. However, by adding in auto-tune, it's harder to hear when you're off-key. Good singers who have the ability to hear these problems and adjust accordingly, might be best off having minimal effects while tracking.
If you overuse compression, EQ or yes, heaven forbid track with autotune on, then there's no way to recover your vocals later. If you want to get a certain sound when tracking then use splits on the mic and get a clean safety version of the vocal down too, just in case. It does no harm and can save a song later.
For more information on the 15th Annual IAMA (International Acoustic Music Awards), go to: https://www.inacoustic.com
Top 5 Audio Interfaces for Home Studios
5 Best Laptops for Recording Music
Robert West August 21, 2019 at 12:36 am
Valuable info.. seems there's much to think about. I had a DWA setup in my two bedroom apt.. My software was ProTools and I had a standard Mbox for hardware, and two low end MXL mics, a short pencil mic and a larger MXL for mid-range and low range frequencies. I doctored up some songs originally recorded on a 16 track analogue recorder by adding bass parts with a Yamaha DGX 505 electric piano. Also used it for synth pads and adding obligato instrumentation, trumpet, cello, violin and acoustic guitar as well as electric guitar, using an upscale Sure dynamic mic placed at an angle directly in front of Pignose fender amp with distortion button. Also went directly into Mbox. Recorded mostly acoustic instruments. The electric guitar stuff I managed on my own. Never recorded traps but on some songs they would have been a real boon. Another young producer who did not play an instrument, showed me something I found valuable at the time: Record your track and immediately create an exact copy on proTools. Put your plugins on the second track. This worked especially well with my Classical compositions: less noticible but definitely in the picture.


There are many different levels of Peels available. Depending on your needs, there are 'light freshening Peels' (which enhance colour, texture and smoothness of complexion) to 'Intermediate' and 'deeper' Peels (designed to remove deeper problems including pigmentation, acne scarring and sun and age damage).
What is in a Peel? Various types of peeling agents are used, depending on your skin type and problems. Peel benefits include; improved blood circulation and lymph drainage, increased production of new and stronger collagen and elastin fibres to tighten and firm the skin and an increase in new and healthier cell production to replace older cells – making the skin brighter and clearer!
Are Peels just for the face? Peels can be carried out on any part of the body, including; the neck, back, chest, shoulders, arms and legs.
What are the most common problems, which may be improved by this treatment? Peels are very effective in treating acne as well as reducing chronic acne scarring. Dry scaly wrinkling on the arms and legs, sunspots on the backs of hands and forearms and sun damaged leathery skin across the chest; may also be improved through treatment.
What are the results? The results of a Peel are a dramatic improvement in your appearance, giving you a refreshed and revitalised look.


text:
Richard Mathis, M.D.
worked for 45 years in pediatric gastroenterology. He earned his Medical degree at the University of California, Los Angeles. He served in the military as a research investigator at the US Army Medical Center Research Institute, in the Infectious Disease Unit, Bethesda, Maryland. He completed a Pediatric Gastrointestinal Fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School in Boston. He was an Assistant Professor in Pediatrics at the University of Minnesota. He taught for 40 years at the University of California, Irvine. He was the Director of Pediatric Gastroenterology/Nutrition at Miller Children's Hospital and of the Gastroenterology Laboratory at Memorial Medical Center, Long Beach, California for 36 years. He also was a consulting physician on the Pediatric Subspecialty Faculty, Children's Hospital of Orange County. He has been a member of numerous societies, received many honors, served on many committees, conducted research and published numerous professional articles. Richard retired in December 2018.
Hanen "It Takes Two to Talk"
January 2022 COVID Protocol
Hanen More Than Words
Tichenor Clinic: Parent Support Group helps families, and what's ahead for the iconic Long Beach facility
Our Most Read Stories of the Year!
Events Recap
Tichenor Clinic's mission is to maximize children's abilities by providing access to therapy & parent support services.
Tichenor Clinic has earned the highest level of recognition offered by GuideStar.
Speech Therapy Program
Tichenor Clinic for Children
1660 Termino Avenue
info@tichenorclinic.org


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Receive, review, and respond to electronic and faxed referrals from any browser.
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Track the approval process in real-time as the sender or receiver of a referral.
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The excessive passions that yielded to the public from the time of Verdi, mirror of the spirit of the Romantic era, resonate in this contemporary setting, obviously. But the axis of this proposal puts the emphasis on the war, and in this case a war between brothers where irrational actions, without space for reflection, are credible.
A long and exhausting war of trenches where wanders a ghostly human landscape. The nonsense of the hatred of the soldiers and the four protagonists advances in its passionate story of love and revenge, that it is at last possible.
The stage evolves into the public eye and it is inspired by the First World War, that hundred-year old conflict that, supposedly, would never again to repeat.


text:
Tocilizumab May Be a Key in Therapy for Cytokine Release Syndrome in Older Patients With Severe Symptoms of COVID-19
Xu Lengnan, Liu Xin, Zhou Yangwei, Liu Aihua, Xu Xiaomao, Wang Xiaoxia, and 4 more
posted 28 Oct, 2020
Background Older adults are more susceptible to the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (hereafter, COVID-19) and more likely to develop severe illness. Cytokine release syndrome (CRS) may be an important factor in the development of severe disease in patients with COVID-19. Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is an important cytokine in CRS, and tocilizumab can block the IL-6 receptor. In this study, we analyzed the therapeutic effects and safety of tocilizumab on CRS in older patients with severe COVID-19.
Methods Between February 10 and March 21, 2020, a total of 19 patients with severe or critical COVID-19 aged ≥ 60 years met the study inclusion criteria at Tongji hospital in Wuhan city, Hubei Province, China. Patients were divided into two groups: 1. The tocilizumab group, whose IL-6 levels exceeded the upper limit of normal by > 10-fold; and 2. The no tocilizumab group, with 1L-6 levels < 10-fold the upper normal limit.
Results Patients in the tocilizumab group were older (73.20 ± 4.44 vs. 66.21 ± 5.06 years, P = 0.014); had lower lymphocyte counts (0.71 ± 0.18 vs. 1.18 ± 0.59 × 109/L, P = 0.016); and higher high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) levels (94.04 ± 57.24 vs. 51.65 ± 45.37 mg/L, P = 0.035). The increases in ferritin (FER) and hsCRP levels in patients in the tocilizumab group were marked. Except in one patient who died, IL-6, FER, and hsCRP levels, and the neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio, in the remaining four patients decreased following treatment with tocilizumab. Further, patient computerized tomography scan results improved after 3–8 days of tocilizumab treatment. Tocilizumab did not cause any serious adverse reactions. There were no differences in mortality or days until lung computerized tomography improvement between the two groups. The total mortality rate was 10.53%.
Conclusions Our results support the therapeutic efficacy and safety of tocilizumab on older patients with severe COVID-19.
severe COVID-19
cytokine release syndrome
Older adults are more susceptible to the 2019 novel coronavirus disease, COVID-19. Patients aged ≥ 60 years account for 15.1–37% of patients with COVID-19, among which 27.0% are diagnosed with severe disease(1, 2). Compared with younger patients, older adults are more likely to develop severe illness, and have an increased risk of admission to ICU and death(2). Inflammation is the major pathological process in patients with severe COVID-19. The detection of elevated inflammatory cytokines suggests that a cytokine storm, also known as cytokine release syndrome (CRS), may be an important factor in the transition of patients with COVID-19 to severe disease status(3). Blocking the signaling of key cytokines in the inflammatory cytokine storm induced by COVID-19 may reduce the damage to target organs(4). Therefore, the treatment of CRS has become an important part of rescuing patients with severe disease. Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is one such important cytokine(1); levels of which are significantly increased in patients with severe COVID-19, relative to those with non-severe symptoms(5). Tocilizumab is a blocker of the IL-6 receptor (IL-6R), and has potential as an effective drug for treatment of patients with severe COVID-19.
In this study, we enrolled 19 older adult patients with severe COVID-19 whose serum IL-6 levels were significantly increased. Patients with higher levels of IL-6 were treated with tocilizumab. We analyzed the therapeutic effects on CRS and safety of tocilizumab in older patients with severe COVID-19.
2. Methods
2.1 Patients
A total of 19 patients who tested positive for COVID-19 by qualitative polymerase-chain-reaction assay met the study inclusion criteria between 10 February and 21 March 2020 in Tongji hospital in Wuhan city, Hubei Province, China. The inclusion criteria were as follows: 1. Age ≥ 60 years; 2. Met the severe or critical criteria, as defined in the "Diagnosis and Treatment Protocol for Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia (7th Interim Edition)" sponsored by the National Health Commission of the People's Republic of China(6); 3. IL-6 ≥ 7.0 pg/ml; and 4. Rapidly progressed pneumonia, confirmed by imaging examination. The exclusion criteria were: 1. Cancer (solid or hematological tumor); 2. Autoimmune disease, such as rheumatoid arthritis; 3. Other infections besides pneumonia, such as urinary tract infection, cellulites, Herpes zoster, gastroenteritis, bacterial arthritis, etc.; or 4. Other circumstances that the researchers considered inappropriate.
Patients were divided into two groups according to their IL-6 levels: 1. The tocilizumab group, who had IL-6 levels exceeding the upper limit of normal by > 10-fold; and 2. The no tocilizumab group, who had IL-6 levels that did not reach 10-fold the upper limit of normal.
2.2 Study design and procedures
This was a retrospective cohort study. All patients received standard treatment in accordance with the relevant guidelines(6), including oxygen therapy, nutrition therapy, antibiotics, antiviral drugs (Abidor, oseltamivir, etc.), glucocorticoids, and Chinese medicine, etc. The dose of tocilizumab was 8 mg/kg in a single intravenous injection, and a second dose was administered if the patient's symptoms had not improved after 8 h.
All patients underwent the following examinations at admission and regular review: blood routine [white blood cells (WBC), neutrophils (N), and lymphocytes (L), and calculation of N/L ratio], high-sensitivity C reactive protein (hsCRP), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), ferritin (FER), procalcitonin, and IL-6. A lung computerized tomography (CT) scan was performed on admission and re-checked every 7 days thereafter. Oxygen saturation was measured daily.
2.3 Statistical Analysis
All statistical data were analyzed using Microsoft Excel 2007 and SPSS 22.0. Data conforming to the normal distribution are expressed as mean ± standard deviation. A t-test was used for comparisons of means between two groups, while the χ2 test was used for comparisons of rates. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
3.1 Demographic characteristics
Baseline data from the two patient groups are presented in Table 1. Patients in the tocilizumab group were older (73.20 ± 4.44 vs. 66.21 ± 5.06 years, P = 0.014); with lower lymphocyte counts (0.71 ± 0.18 vs. 1.18 ± 0.59 × 109/L, P = 0.016 ); and higher hsCRP levels (94.04 ± 57.24 vs. 51.65 ± 45.37 mg/L, P = 0.035). Patients in the tocilizumab group also had higher FER levels; however, the difference was not significant.
Baseline data from the two patient groups
No Tocilizumab
(n = 14)
(n = 5)
t/Χ2
66.21 ± 5.06
WBC (× 109/L)
6.47 ± 2.55
N (× 109/L)
L (× 109/L)
N/L
IL-6 (pg/mL)
23.51 ± 17.61
139.94 ± 141.39
hsCRP (mg/L)
FER (µg/L)
1186.26 ± 1236.26
ESR (mm/h)
PCT (ng/mL)
Abbreviations: ESR, erythrocyte sedimentation rate; IL-6, Interleukin-6; FER, Ferritin; F, female; hsCRP, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein; LYMPH, lymphocyte; M, male; NEUT, neutrophil; N/L, lymphocyte/ neutrophil; PCT, procalcitonin; SpO2, oxygen concentration
3.2 Details of the tocilizumab group
Patient demographic characteristics before tocilizumab administration are presented in Table 2. There were 4 males and 1 female in the tocilizumab group. Levels of inflammation indicators, including IL-6, FER, N/L, hsCRP, and ESR, were elevated in all patients. In particular levels of FER and hsCRP were very high; however, procalcitonin levels were almost normal in all subjects. The SpO2 levels of three patients were < 90%, despite receiving oxygen therapy.
Clinical manifestations of patients before tocilizumab treatment
Patient No.
Days from onset to tocilizumab
(pg/mL)
(µg/L)
(× 109/L)
LYMPH
hsCRP
(mg/L)
(mm/h)
(ng/mL)
(%, with oxygen supply)
Abbreviations: ESR, erythrocyte sedimentation rate; IL-6, Interleukin-6; FER, Ferritin; F, female; hsCRP, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein; LYMPH, lymphocyte; M, male; NEUT, neutrophil; N/L, lymphocyte/neutrophil; PCT, procalcitonin; SpO2, oxygen concentration.
Tocilizumab use and prognosis
The tocilizumab administration and prognosis for each patient are presented in Fig. 1 (a–e). Patient No. 3 died because of COVID-19; her IL-6, FER, and other inflammatory factors were not controlled following treatment with tocilizumab (Fig. 1-c). Further, when her condition deteriorated, her IL-6 levels exceeded the detection limit. Tocilizumab treatment showed good effects in the other four patients, whose IL-6, FER, N/L, and hsCRP levels decreased after tocilizumab administration. All four patients had good oxygen saturation levels and their WBC counts were normal and did not change throughout the whole period of hospitalization.
Changes in lung CT scans
Patient No. 3 deteriorated and finally died, which was reflected in her lung CT scans. In the other patients, CT scans improved 3–8 days after tocilizumab administration. Lung lesion opacity reduced in the other four patients and became normalized in two patients after 20 and 23 days (Table 3).
Changes in lung CT scan after tocilizumab treatment
Lung CT scan
Days until CT improvement after tocilizumab
Days until CT normalized
Multiple ground glass shadows in both lungs
Multiple ground glass shadows in both lungs with bilateral pleural effusion
NA#
Deteriorating
Abbreviations: CT, computerized tomography; NA, not available.
#Discharged before the CT was completely normal.
3.3 Prognosis in the two patient groups
As shown in Table 4, the length of hospitalization was greater in the tocilizumab group; however, following tocilizumab treatment, the number of days until lung CT improvement was the same as that in the group who did not receive tocilizumab, and there was no difference in mortality between the groups.
Following tocilizumab administration, no bacterial infection, other viral infections (such as herpes), impaired liver function, hypertension, leukopenia, neutropenia, peripheral edema, allergies, or other adverse reactions were found during the entire hospitalization period.
There was one death in each group, with a total mortality rate of 10.53%.
Comparison of prognosis in the two patient groups
Days in hospital
Days until CT improved
Deaths (n)
Abbreviation: CT, computerized tomography.
COVID-19 is more serious and has a higher mortality rate in older adults. The global mortality rate from COVID-19 is 4.84%(7). A retrospective study of 3,418 black and white patients (mean age, 54 years), reported a mortality rate of 9.36%(8). In our study of older patients with CRS, the mortality rate was 10.53%, which is higher than the reports cited above; however, age ≥ 65 years is recognized as a risk factor for mortality from COVID-19(9) and this was the rationale for the focus of our study on these patients.
CRS refers to an over-active, uncontrolled immune response, involving an overwhelming release of proinflammatory mediators. Increased levels of inflammatory cytokines and chemokines, including IL-6, interleukin 1β, inducible protein 10, and monocyte chemoattractant protein 1, may also be a cause of fatal complications in patients with COVID-19. In addition to antiviral treatment, IL-6 is the main mediator of CRS toxicity and its levels are related to the severity of CRS induced by chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy(5, 10). A systematic review and meta-analysis showed that patients with severe COVID-19 have significantly higher serum IL-6 levels than those with non-severe disease, and that increased mean IL-6 level was associated with higher patient mortality(11). In the five patients treated with tocilizumab in this study, initial levels of IL-6 were increased by > 10-fold compared with normal levels, and were rising at the beginning of the disease. After treatment with tocilizumab, IL-6 levels decreased significantly; however, the IL-6 levels of one patient who died continued to increase significantly, suggesting that IL-6 can be a predictor of prognosis.
Tocilizumab is a humanized recombinant monoclonal anti- IL-6R antibody. It binds to soluble IL-6R and membrane-bound IL-6R to inhibit IL-6 mediated cis- and trans- transcription(12, 13). Tocilizumab has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of severe CAR T cell-induced CRS. After tocilizumab was administered once or twice, 69% of patients with CAR T cell therapy-induced CRS responded within 14 days, and their fever and hypotension subsided within a few hours, allowing vasopressors to be stopped within a few days(12, 14); however, clinical experience with tocilizumab in treatment for viral disease is very limited and the increased risk of opportunistic infections (including tuberculosis, fungal, or other viral infections) must be taken seriously(15).
A retrospective study of 21 patients with COVID-19 by Xu et al. reported a 75.0% reduction in oxygen uptake, CT scans showing 90.5% clearance of lung lesion opacity, and a significant 84.2% reduction of CRP within 5 days of tocilizumab treatment. No obvious adverse reactions were observed. These data provided evidence that treatment with tocilizumab could immediately improve the symptoms, and was an effective method to reduce mortality, in patients with severe and critical COVID-19(16). Another study involving 15 people showed that tocilizumab treatment could quickly reduce CRP levels in all patients, while IL-6 levels tended to increase first and then decrease. In contrast, untreated patients exhibited a continuous and significant increase in IL-6. Hence, repeat tocilizumab treatment was recommended for critically ill patients with elevated IL-6(17). In our study, we observed that clinical indicators were quickly relieved, and lung CT improved significantly, shortly after administration of tocilizumab to patients with severe COVID-19. These results are similar to those of previous studies, and support the positive therapeutic effects of tocilizumab for patients with severe COVID-19. Further, a systematic review indicated that preliminary investigations of the use of tocilizumab to treat COVID-19 demonstrate benefits, while further studies, such as randomized controlled trials, are needed(18).
The most interesting aspect of this study was the results of comparisons between the two patient groups. We analyzed disease severity and prognosis in all older patients with elevated IL-6 and found that those in the tocilizumab group had more serious disease; however, after the timely application of tocilizumab treatment, the rate of CT improvement and mortality were consistent with those in the group of patients with milder disease. These findings demonstrate that tocilizumab has a positive role in treatment of CRS and is effective against severe COVID-19.
Given the efficacy of tocilizumab in CRS and the key role of IL-6 in COVID-19, Liu et al. suggested that tocilizumab should be considered under the following circumstances. 1) Diagnostic criteria: Early diagnosis of CRS in patients with COVID-19 and rapid instigation of immunomodulatory therapy may be beneficial. 2) Disease severity grading system: Tocilizumab is only suitable for critically ill patients, while the risk-benefit assessment is focused on the symptomatic treatment of patients with mild disease. 3) Combined antiviral treatment: Based on experience with corticosteroids, immunosuppressants may delay viral clearance. Combining immunomodulators with antiviral drugs may be more beneficial(19). In our study, the use of tocilizumab did not cause serious adverse reactions.
This study was a retrospective cohort study with only a small number of cases. The results support the therapeutic efficacy and safety of tocilizumab for treatment of older adults with severe COVID-19. Randomized controlled trials are required to generate higher level evidence.
CAR, chimeric antigen receptor
COVID-19, 2019 novel coronavirus disease
CRS, cytokine release syndrome
CT, computerized tomography
ESR, erythrocyte sedimentation rate
FER, ferritin
hsCRP, high-sensitivity C reactive protein
IL-6, Interleukin-6
IL-6R, IL-6 receptor
L, lymphocytes
N, neutrophils
WBC, white blood cells
This study was approved by the ethics committee of Beijing Hospital, Beijing, China (2020BJYYEC-097-01). The Ethics Committee agreed to waive informed consent.
All participants had consent for publication.
This work was supported by the grant from Beijing Hospital (121-2016008) and Application Research and Achievement Popularization of Clinical Characteristics in Capital (Z151100004015083). The recipient of these fundings was Dr. Mao Yonghui. She was corresponding author who designed the work and substantively revised the manuscript.
MYH designed the work. ZXF, QY and WL took the acquisition of data. LX, LAH, XXM and WXX interpreted data. XLN and ZYW analyzed data. XLN and LX drafted the work and MYH substantively revised it. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Chen N, Zhou M, Dong X, Qu J, Gong F, Han Y, et al. Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of 99 cases of 2019 novel coronavirus pneumonia in Wuhan, China: a descriptive study. Lancet (London, England). 2020;395(10223):507-13.
Wu C, Chen X, Cai Y, Xia J, Zhou X, Xu S, et al. Risk Factors Associated With Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome and Death in Patients With Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pneumonia in Wuhan, China. JAMA internal medicine. 2020.
Chen G, Wu D, Guo W, Cao Y, Huang D, Wang H, et al. Clinical and immunological features of severe and moderate coronavirus disease 2019. The Journal of clinical investigation. 2020.
Ye Q, Wang B, Mao J. The pathogenesis and treatment of the `Cytokine Storm' in COVID-19. The Journal of infection. 2020;80(6):607-13.
Ulhaq ZS, Soraya GV. Interleukin-6 as a potential biomarker of COVID-19 progression. Med Mal Infect. 2020;50(4):382-3.
Diagnosis and Treatment Protocol for Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia (Trial Version 7). Chinese medical journal. 2020;133(9):1087-95.
Meo SA, Al-Khlaiwi T, Usmani AM, Meo AS, Klonoff DC, Hoang TD. Biological and Epidemiological Trends in the Prevalence and Mortality due to Outbreaks of Novel Coronavirus COVID-19. Journal of King Saud University Science. 2020;32(4):2495-9.
Price-Haywood EG, Burton J, Fort D, Seoane L. Hospitalization and Mortality among Black Patients and White Patients with Covid-19. N Engl J Med. 2020;382(26):2534-43.
Du RH, Liang LR, Yang CQ, Wang W, Cao TZ, Li M, et al. Predictors of mortality for patients with COVID-19 pneumonia caused by SARS-CoV-2: a prospective cohort study. The European respiratory journal. 2020;55(5).
Neelapu SS, Tummala S, Kebriaei P, Wierda W, Gutierrez C, Locke FL, et al. Chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy - assessment and management of toxicities. Nature reviews Clinical oncology. 2018;15(1):47-62.
Aziz M, Fatima R, Assaly R. Elevated Interleukin-6 and Severe COVID-19: A Meta-Analysis. Journal of medical virology. 2020.
Le RQ, Li L, Yuan W, Shord SS, Nie L, Habtemariam BA, et al. FDA Approval Summary: Tocilizumab for Treatment of Chimeric Antigen Receptor T Cell-Induced Severe or Life-Threatening Cytokine Release Syndrome. The oncologist. 2018;23(8):943-7.
Zhang C, Wu Z, Li JW, Zhao H, Wang GQ. The cytokine release syndrome (CRS) of severe COVID-19 and Interleukin-6 receptor (IL-6R) antagonist Tocilizumab may be the key to reduce the mortality. International journal of antimicrobial agents. 2020:105954.
Lee DW, Gardner R, Porter DL, Louis CU, Ahmed N, Jensen M, et al. Current concepts in the diagnosis and management of cytokine release syndrome. Blood. 2014;124(2):188-95.
Zhao M. Cytokine storm and immunomodulatory therapy in COVID-19: Role of chloroquine and anti-IL-6 monoclonal antibodies. International journal of antimicrobial agents. 2020:105982.
Xu X, Han M, Li T, Sun W, Wang D, Fu B, et al. Effective treatment of severe COVID-19 patients with tocilizumab. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2020;117(20):10970-5.
Luo P, Liu Y, Qiu L, Liu X, Liu D, Li J. Tocilizumab treatment in COVID-19: A single center experience. Journal of medical virology. 2020.
Alzghari SK, Acuña VS. Supportive Treatment with Tocilizumab for COVID-19: A Systematic Review. Journal of clinical virology : the official publication of the Pan American Society for Clinical Virology. 2020;127:104380.
Liu B, Li M, Zhou Z, Guan X, Xiang Y. Can we use interleukin-6 (IL-6) blockade for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-induced cytokine release syndrome (CRS)? Journal of autoimmunity. 2020:102452.


text:
package com.google.security.zynamics.zylib.gui.zygraph.realizers;

import com.google.security.zynamics.zylib.yfileswrap.gui.zygraph.realizers.ZyEdgeRealizer;

/**
 * Interface that must be implemented by all classes that want to update the content of edge
 * realizers.
 */
public interface IEdgeRealizerUpdater<EdgeType> {
  /**
   * Regenerates the content of the realizer.
   *
   * @param realizer The realizers whose content is updated.
   *
   * @return The new content of the realizer.
   */
  ZyLabelContent generateContent(ZyEdgeRealizer<EdgeType> realizer);

  /**
   * Called by the realizer to set the realizer updater.
   *
   * @param realizer The realizer to be updated.
   */
  void setRealizer(ZyEdgeRealizer<EdgeType> realizer);
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


The journal's main goals are to promote and improve the understanding of the family by means of basic and applied articles that are innovative and interdisciplinary and that focus on diverse family forms and issues concerning the individuals in the family and the family on the whole.
The Interdisciplinary Journal of Family Studies encourages multidisciplinary research and welcomes articles from a vast range of researchers who study the family in different scientific areas, such as Psychology, Education, Sociology, Demography, Family Law. The journal publishes original, theoretical, applied and methodological contributions that treat issues pertinent to the family, and reflect diverse approaches. Special thematic issues will also be published in order to provide update studies on specialized areas of family science. The journal is addressed to family scientists, practitioners, and policy specialists.
The family in relation to other systems (including school, work, culture, social environment and health).


text:
Business News›Topic ›illegal border crossings
ILLEGAL BORDER CROSSINGS
Tripura polls: From drug menace to border issues, police deal with diverse challenges
The three special observers are Yogendra Tripathy, retired IAS officer of Karnataka cadre; Vivek Johri, former Director General of Police of Madhya Pradesh; and B. Murali Kumar, IRS officer, who was special observer in the Assembly elections of Gujarat (2022) and West Bengal (2021). From Tripura, the observers went to Meghalaya, where the Assembly elections will be held on February 27.
Countries that use cross-border terror to serve narrow political purposes must be held accountable: India
With the purpose and relevance of multilateral organisations increasingly being put to question, Kamboj said nations have a collective responsibility and obligation to enhance the credibility and legitimacy of the international order. India called on the international community to strive to achieve this before it is too late. Underlining that rule of law is the foundational edifice of modern nation states, Kamboj said this foundation is underpinned by the UN Charter, where the principle of the sovereign equality of states is the basis for global collective actions.
Union Minister Nityanand Rai reviews security situation along India-Myanmar border
Manipur roughly shares a 400 km long border. A senior official in Assam Rifles who do not want to be named told ET, "The minister visited field formations and forward company operating bases of Assam Rifles along Indo-Myanmar border at Moreh and permanent vehicle check post at Khudengthabi in Tengnoupal district in Manipur on Monday and Tuesday".
Illegal immigration from India to US surged in last 2 months, doubled in 2021-22
US Border Patrol caught 4,297 Indians crossing the Mexican border in October and November, compared to 1,426 during those two months last year and 16,236 in all of the fiscal year that ended in September, according to American government data.
The government would set up more border outposts-Manipur chief minister N Biren Singh
Manipur is facing influx from Myanmar following the military Junta taking over power there. Manipur shares a porous border with Myanmar. The military seized power on February 1 last year, detaining the country's elected leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, and members of her government.
India-China faceoff: PLA claims Indian troops crossed LAC 'illegally'
The latest flare-up, which occurred on December 9, is being reported as the most serious India-China standoff since 2020, when 20 Indian troops and (officially) four Chinese soldiers were killed.
Tawang clash: China military claims Indian troops 'illegally' crossed disputed border
Illegal migration, cross-border activities major challenges along Indo-Bangla border: MHA
The government has decided to undertake the work of installation of floodlights in West Bengal, Meghalaya, Assam, Mizoram and Tripura along the India-Bangladesh border. Out of 3,077.549 km of border floodlight sanctioned, 2,681.99 km of work has been completed. The rest is to be completed by March 2023. During the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP's then prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi had said Bangladeshis illegally staying in India would be deported if he came to power.
Drones from across Pakistan border more than doubled in 2022: BSF DG
Quantifying the enormity of the drone menace, the DG said while the BSF detected about 79 drone flights along the India-Pakistan international border in 2020, it increased to 109 last year and "more than doubled at 266 this year".
Conservative Party MP Sir Roger Gale raises concerns over deplorable conditions at Manston migration centre in Kent
With outbreaks of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and diphtheria among the immigrants, Conservative Party MP Sir Roger Gale thinks the existing conditions at Manston migration centre are unacceptable.
Germany extends checks at Austrian border as migrant numbers rise
Belgrade's visa-free policy with countries like India and Tunisia allows an influx of migrants who can then try and enter the EU illegally. According to an earlier report by Austria's Der Standard newspaper, as many as 15,000 requests for asylum in Austria came from Indian and Tunisian nationals this year.
India has been victim of state-sponsored cross-border terrorism for nearly past three decades: Muraleedharan
India also expressed hope that a special meeting of the UN Security Council Counter Terrorism Committee it is hosting later this month will contribute positively towards creating a global architecture that effectively responds to the new tech tools deployed by terrorists and its backers against open, diverse and pluralistic societies.
Fleeing Russians worry border will 'close forever'
Asked about the numerous Russians fleeing, Finnish Interior Minister Krista Mikkonen said she expected asylum applications to increase and each case would be processed individually. Despite having made it into Finland, "the feeling of freedom has not come yet because of the sleepless nights and the packing," he said, as he handed pieces of candy to his children.
100 migrants, including 17 Indian citizens apprehended while illegally crossing US border
The US Customs and Border Protection agency stated that their agents encountered a large group of migrants illegally climbing over the fence, near the Border Field State Park. The group according to officials was mainly comprised of non-Spanish speaking migrants and they required extra resources for translation support. The group was then transported to a nearby station where they were medically evaluated and cleared by medical personnel.
Channel migrant crossings hit new 24-hour record: UK govt
Some 1,295 people were detected on Monday, beating the previous single-day record of 1,185 on November 11, 2021, the Ministry of Defence said. So far this year there have been some 22,670 crossings. At the same point in 2021, nearly 12,500 were intercepted making the journey.
Sunak, Truss vow crackdown on illegal immigration to UK
Sunak said he would tighten the statutory definition of who qualifies for asylum in his first 100 days in office, and fight the European Court of Human Rights, which has challenged the UK's policy to deport some asylum seekers to Rwanda, according to a letter published in the Telegraph on Saturday.
20 jailed Indian fishermen released by Pakistan repatriated to India through Wagah border
The Indian fishermen were seen wearing colourful beaded necklaces and bracelets around their necks and wrists they had made in prison. Most of them were imprisoned after crossing over to Pakistani waters four years ago with some also leaving after five years. Meanwhile, the Pakistan high commission in India said the fishermen were repatriated through the Wagah-Attari border transit point.
Responsibility of Centre, BSF to check illegal infiltration, says TMC's Abhishek Banerjee
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday said that the government is trying to stop cross border influx both in Assam and West Bengal, while there is no cooperation from West Bengal, Assam is standing rock-solid behind the centre in dealing with the influx.
ED arrests prime accused in cross-border cattle smuggling case
The CBI had earlier filed a charge sheet before a special court in West Bengal's Asansol alleging that Haque was the mastermind of the illegal cattle trade. It said he was assisted by two other accused, TMC youth leader Vinay Mishra and his arrested brother Vikas Mishra, in alleged connivance with Border Security Force (BSF) Commandant Satish Kumar who was posted in Murshidabad and Malda regions of the state.
India probes illegal immigration after tragedy near Canada border
Hundreds of Indians, mostly from the western states of Punjab and Gujarat, attempt to cross the U.S.-Canada border each year, braving harsh weather conditions in search of a better life and job opportunities in the West.
South Korean crosses armed border in rare defection to North
The border crossing, which is illegal in South Korea, came as North Korea carries out strict anti-coronavirus measures since shutting borders in early 2020, though it has not confirmed any infections.
China issues warrant for Suncity boss over illegal cross-border gambling syndicate
Casinos and most forms of gambling are illegal in mainland China, and Macao is the only Chinese city allowed to operate a casino. Mainland visitors are able to travel to Macao to gamble but are required to obtain a visa. In 2019, China's state-owned news agency Xinhua accused Suncity of targeting mainland gamblers with online gambling and proxy-betting operations based in Cambodia and the Philippines. Suncity denied the allegations.
Will continue to take firm, decisive steps against cross-border terrorism: India's swipe at Pakistan during UNSC meet
India hit back at Pakistan in the UN Security Council after Islamabad raised the Kashmir issue at the 15-nation Council. Pakistan's Ambassador to the UN, Munir Akram raked up the Jammu and Kashmir issue in the UN Security Council during the open debate on 'Maintenance of International Peace and Security Through Preventive Diplomacy'.
US in talks to compensate families separated at border
About 5,500 children were split from their parents under President Donald Trump's ``zero tolerance'' policy, under which parents were separated from their children to face criminal prosecution for crossing the border illegally, according to court filings in a federal case in San Diego.
'India suffered immensely due to cross-border terrorism by groups using illicit weapons smuggled across borders'
At the UN Security Council briefing on 'Small Arms and Light Weapons', India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador T S Tirumurti strongly underlined the need for the Council's focus on the transfer and trafficking of arms and weapons to terrorists and terrorist groups.
Digital currency clears a path for helicopter money, says Eswar Prasad
Advantages to CBDCs include more transparency and the ability to tackle organized crime, Prasad said in an interview. But the changes will go well beyond technocratic policymaking, with downsides including an erosion of privacy.
China's illegal businesses along Myanmar-Thai border prosper following coup
Chinese-funded Yatai International Holding Group (IHG) accused of running illegal casinos in Cambodia and the Philippines, has been recruiting a manager for a five-star hotel, human resources manager, an accountant and gardeners this month as part of the project, according to The Irrawaddy report.
US to keep migrant families in hotels as amid rush for space
US Senator Kyrsten Sinema was told that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement will occupy "several hotels along the southwest border, including in Chandler and Phoenix," her office said in a statement. Chandler is a Phoenix suburb that's more than 150 miles (241 kilometres) north of the border.
Watch: Migrant crossings rise along US-Mexico border
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text:
Q: Deducing x86 Assembly Code I have some Assembly code, and am basically trying to figure out what it does. I ran disassem in gdb to come up with this:
Dump of assembler code for function Q5bomb:
   0x08048454 <+0>: push   %ebp
   0x08048455 <+1>: mov    %esp,%ebp
   0x08048457 <+3>: sub    $0x28,%esp
   0x0804845a <+6>: cmpl   $0x0,0x8(%ebp)
   0x0804845e <+10>:    je     0x80484bb <Q5bomb+103>
   0x08048460 <+12>:    movb   $0x61,-0x12(%ebp)
   0x08048464 <+16>:    movb   $0x7a,-0x11(%ebp)
   0x08048468 <+20>:    movl   $0x0,-0x10(%ebp)
   0x0804846f <+27>:    mov    0x8(%ebp),%eax
   0x08048472 <+30>:    mov    %eax,-0xc(%ebp)
   0x08048475 <+33>:    jmp    0x8048495 <Q5bomb+65>
   0x08048477 <+35>:    mov    -0xc(%ebp),%eax
   0x0804847a <+38>:    movzbl (%eax),%eax
   0x0804847d <+41>:    cmp    -0x12(%ebp),%al
   0x08048480 <+44>:    jl     0x80484be <Q5bomb+106>
   0x08048482 <+46>:    mov    -0xc(%ebp),%eax
   0x08048485 <+49>:    movzbl (%eax),%eax
   0x08048488 <+52>:    cmp    -0x11(%ebp),%al
   0x0804848b <+55>:    jg     0x80484c1 <Q5bomb+109>
   0x0804848d <+57>:    addl   $0x1,-0xc(%ebp)
   0x08048491 <+61>:    addl   $0x1,-0x10(%ebp)
   0x08048495 <+65>:    mov    -0xc(%ebp),%eax
   0x08048498 <+68>:    movzbl (%eax),%eax
   0x0804849b <+71>:    test   %al,%al
   0x0804849d <+73>:    jne    0x8048477 <Q5bomb+35>
   0x0804849f <+75>:    cmpl   $0x13,-0x10(%ebp)
   0x080484a3 <+79>:    jle    0x80484c4 <Q5bomb+112>
   0x080484a5 <+81>:    mov    $0x80485ce,%eax
   0x080484aa <+86>:    mov    0x8(%ebp),%edx
   0x080484ad <+89>:    mov    %edx,0x4(%esp)
   0x080484b1 <+93>:    mov    %eax,(%esp)
   0x080484b4 <+96>:    call   0x8048330 <printf@plt>
   0x080484b9 <+101>:   jmp    0x80484cf <Q5bomb+123> //skips segfault
   0x080484bb <+103>:   nop
   0x080484bc <+104>:   jmp    0x80484c5 <Q5bomb+113>
   0x080484be <+106>:   nop
   0x080484bf <+107>:   jmp    0x80484c5 <Q5bomb+113>
   0x080484c1 <+109>:   nop
   0x080484c2 <+110>:   jmp    0x80484c5 <Q5bomb+113>
   0x080484c4 <+112>:   nop
   0x080484c5 <+113>:   mov    $0x0,%eax //segfaults the code
   0x080484ca <+118>:   mov    (%eax),%eax
   0x080484cc <+120>:   mov    %eax,-0x10(%ebp)
   0x080484cf <+123>:   leave
   0x080484d0 <+124>:   ret
---Type <return> to continue, or q <return> to quit---
End of assembler dump.

Now, I'm new to Assembly in general, and don't expect to know what every single command does. However, the program itself takes a string input, and seems to segfault unless you input some sort of correct string. Armed with that knowledge, I'm basically trying to find what a "correct string" would look like.
From what I've gathered, 113, 118, and 120 throw a seg fault into the code (this was tested experimentally with stepi). The only way to bypass that is to somehow get to 101, which jumps over the segfault and returns a value.
Additionally, 12 seems to add "a" as a local variable, and 16 adds "z" as a local variable. 57 seems to shave the first character off of your input.
Line 71, where test %al %al is called, seems to be critical to the program in some way. Every input string that I feed in ends up failing that test and jne-ing back to 35, where it seems doomed to lose the first char of the string and go through the process again and again, until you're left with nothing but "" and the program crashes again.
Can someone explain to me what that critical line 71 is doing, or offer any insight into how this code as a whole functions?

A: This code will segfault in the following cases

*

*The argument is a null pointer. A pointer to a ASCIIZ string is expected.

*The string contains anything else than lowercase letters

*The string is shorter than 20 characters.

The line at <+71> finds out if the end of the string was reached. It could have been written like cmp $0x0,%al but many assembly language programmers would prefer to use test %al,%al. The result is the same.
0x0804849b <+71>:    test   %al,%al


Paper flower wall 8x10 custom order.
Gorgeous Lavender and copper water colored paper flower wall. These are made as custom orders so please message me before purchase to discuss the colors you are wanting.


text:
About that box hovering over First Data's home page
If you happen to visit First Data's home page, you may notice a big, blue rectangle hovering it. It says, "First Data is now Fiserv."
It was in January of this year that Fiserv and First Data announced plans to become one company under the Fiserv name. Now, seven long months later, the deal is complete. Accuse me of hijacking my own blog to bring you news about my employer if you will, but I think it's justified. This is a newsworthy event I'd be remiss to overlook.
Besides, it's nice to be able to brag to someone who gets it. If you're reading this, odds are you're already aware of Fiserv and First Data. My neighbors, not so much. When I tell them I work for Fiserv, experience has taught me to add a brief description without waiting for the inevitable "What's Fiserv?"
Except in Wisconsin. There, Fiserv is a household word. This is partly because Fiserv makes its headquarters in Brookfield, a suburb of Milwaukee, and mostly because Milwaukee's Fiserv Forum is home to the Milwaukee Bucks. There are no blank stares when I tell a Wisconsinite I work for Fiserv. Instead, I usually get, "You work for that Fiserv? Cool!" This is usually followed by, "What's Fiserv?"
Don't get me wrong. Working for Fiserv is something to be proud of. Its technology underlies and powers account tracking, payments processing, and mobile banking services for small banks to mega banks worldwide. There's hardly a life that Fiserv doesn't touch.
And its low public profile is by design. An unstated part of Fiserv's mission is for my neighbors who love their suite of digital banking services to sing their bank's praises, not Fiserv's.
First Data, too, has maintained a low public profile. Of course, merchants are certainly aware of the company. They use First Data's point-of-sale hardware at the cash wrap to accept payment and, thanks to First Data's Clover® Station POS System, to accept it in pretty much any form.
The months between announcement and completion of the acquisition weren't hurdle-free. For instance, the United States Department of Justice requested a stack of information. And then, another stack. I suppose that puts Fiserv in good company. I mean, why should Facebook, Google, and Amazon hog all the attention? With the deal complete, I'm going to assume the DOJ was satisfied.
The purchase price was $22 billion, which is more than I make in a year. When plans for the acquisition were announced, the press was largely positive, even though it's the press. The Wall Street Journal said that the all-stock deal "connects Wall Street to Main Street":
Fiserv and First Data provide a range of technology services to banks, merchants and other companies involved in the business of moving money. Chief among those services: payments. Fiserv processes credit- and debit-card transactions for banks, while First Data handles the merchant side of the equation.
To wit, a Fiserv press release dated July 29 states:
As a global leader in technology and payments that enables commerce, banking and the safe and secure movement of money, Fiserv has the breadth of capabilities and depth of expertise to deliver unmatched value to clients. As a result of the combination, clients will have access to a more comprehensive set of solutions and innovations, an extensive range of end-to-end capabilities and integrated delivery, which enable differentiated value for their customers.
Even the Motley Fool rang in with a word of praise:
The agreement combines two companies in the financial services industry that surprisingly overlap very little in their core capabilities … Banks that subscribe to Fiserv's platforms can now offer Clover as a default point-of-sale option to their business accounts. As [First Data CEO Frank] Bisignano put it, the deal "massively changes the distribution capability of Clover."
This joining of forces is a positive step toward heading off a wave of upstart fintechs like Square that, as the WSJ put it, have "… muscled into the market in recent years, luring away potential customers [from traditional financial institutions] and threatening a major source of revenue":
[T]he growing number of payment options for merchants has started to take a toll on the business. First Data has long relied on banks to funnel merchant clients its way, yet many businesses are turning to Square and other upstart rivals. First Data's Clover payments station competes with Square's signature white card readers that plug into smartphones.
Returning the Motley Fool:
With Clover becoming a part of Fiserv, banks will have the same access to sales data that Square has and be able to offer loans to merchants in much the same way Square does now. For financial institutions losing market share to Square, that is a compelling proposition. [Italics added.]
"With the transaction now complete," observed PYMTS.com, "Fiserv is one of the world's largest payments and financial technology providers," adding:
[Fiserv CEO Jeffrey Yabuki said that] … the combined firms are primarily focused on their areas of synergy, particularly expanding technologies like point-of-sale lending, helping merchants get their money faster and using data in terms of "thinking about how to make better decisions around fraud and the like."
Exciting times. I'm grateful to be able to play in this sandbox.


text:
Charting health system reconstruction in post-war Liberia: a comparison of rural vs. remote healthcare utilization
Overview of attention for article published in BMC Health Services Research, September 2016
Good Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age (66th percentile)
Above-average Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age and source (52nd percentile)
1 policy source
Summary Policy documents Twitter Dimensions citations
BMC Health Services Research, September 2016
Katherine Kentoffio, John D. Kraemer, Thomas Griffiths, Avi Kenny, Rajesh Panjabi, G. Andrew Sechler, Stephen Selinsky, Mark J. Siedner
Despite a growing global emphasis on universal healthcare, access to basic primary care for remote populations in post-conflict countries remains a challenge. To better understand health sector recovery in post-conflict Liberia, this paper seeks to evaluate changes in utilization of health services among rural populations across a 5-year time span. We assessed trends in healthcare utilization among the national rural population using the Liberian Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) from 2007 and 2013. We compared these results to results obtained from a two-staged cluster survey in 2012 in the district of Konobo, Liberia, to assess for differential health utilization in an isolated, remote region. Our primary outcomes of interest were maternal and child health service care seeking and utilization. Most child and maternal health indicators improved in the DHS rural sub-sample from 2007 to 2013. However, this progress was not reflected in the remote Konobo population. A lower proportion of women received 4+ antenatal care visits (AOR 0.28, P < 0.001) or any postnatal care (AOR 0.25, P <0.001) in Konobo as compared to the 2013 DHS. Similarly, a lower proportion of children received professional care for common childhood illnesses, including acute respiratory infection (9 % vs. 52 %, P < 0.001) or diarrhea (11 % vs. 46 %, P < 0.001). Our data suggest that, despite the demonstrable success of post-war rehabilitation in rural regions, particularly remote populations in Liberia remain at disproportionate risk for limited access to basic health services. As a renewed effort is placed on health systems reconstruction in the wake of the Ebola-epidemic, a specific focus on solutions to reach isolated populations will be necessary in order to ensure extension of coverage to remote regions such as Konobo.
United States 1 100%
Student > Bachelor 15 7%
Student > Ph. D. Student 13 6%
Student > Doctoral Student 12 6%
Social Sciences 22 11%
Economics, Econometrics and Finance 7 3%
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 4. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 01 January 2018.
Altmetric has tracked 22,888,307 research outputs across all sources so far. This one has received more attention than most of these and is in the 68th percentile.
So far Altmetric has tracked 7,655 research outputs from this source. They typically receive more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 7.7. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 54% of its peers.
We're also able to compare this research output to 231 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 52% of its contemporaries.


text:
PRETORIA NOORD TOYOTA
PRE OWNED VEHICLES
BOOK YOUR SERVICES
Pretoria Noord Toyota opened its doors on April 01, 1983 with a staff of 9 on the south side of Gerrit Maritz Street. The staff consisted of a Dealer principal, Accountant, Store manager, a driver, two cleaners, a mechanic and a sales consultant. The store consisted of 16 new vehicles and 12 pre-owned in an open lot. After 14 months a carport was build to accommodate the new vehicles no closed walls. All pre-owned vehicles were still parked in the open. Only in March 1985 did we start building on the north side of Gerrit Maritz Street and was referd to as "the Dealership" and was completed in February 1986.
Occupation commenced on the first of March 1986 with a total of twenty five vehicles. This project was financed by the ESSO "Petrol" Company and paid back within 7 years.
The Service & Workshop was built in five phases and further expanded over the following 10 years. At the time the staff had increased to a total of five managers, ten mechanics, four drivers and eight cleaners. Currently we have eight pre-owned vehicles consultants with over 150 certified pre-owned vehicles at any given time for your selection. We also boast a total of ten new vehicle consultants with over 100 vehicles at any given time to select from.
Our Administration staffs have grown to ten. Therefore the total staff at Pretoria Noord Toyota now is an impressive 101. The dealerships latest showroom was completed in December 2007. Our Automark showroom at Rachel de Beer Street was also completed by October 2008.
The building of a new Service Centre was completed October 2013. Such extensive renovations and alterations is an extremely expensive exercise for a private company that does not have any affiliations with any other groups or Toyota dealers once again proving our lifelong commitment to you our loyal customer.
597 Gerrit Maritz Street
Pretoria North | 0182
E-mail: queries@pnt1.co.za
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The launch will see the implementation of ICAP's 'CrossTrade,' a fixed income solution on the TrueQuote portal.
ICAP plc (IAP.L), a markets operator and provider of post-trade risk mitigation services, announced today that its ICAP Global Broking unit has launched a new comprehensive portal for buy-side clients, tapped TrueQuote, according to an ICAP statement.
The launch will see the implementation of ICAP's 'CrossTrade,' a fixed income solution that is the first in a line of new developments over multiple asset class solutions scheduled for the next few months. TrueQuote is the overarching portal that will encompass these solutions, which was developed in tandem with fixed-income data provider, Interactive Data.
CrossTrade acts as a workflow efficiency tool helping enable buy-side customers to execute cross trades at an independently determined mid-price. The portal is important for market participants, namely in regard to meeting regulatory obligations and the inherent difficulties of secure efficient execution of cross trades.
CrossTrade recently completed a Beta testing phase, which consequently paved the way for going live on TrueQuote for UK and European buy side customers.
"Working in partnership with a leading provider of prices to the buy side, Interactive Data, we believe that CrossTrade is a tailored solution that solves a key problem in the market and will be the first of many services we offer on TrueQuote. We have received positive feedback for this solution from our early adopter customers and we look forward to launching innovative multi asset class solutions on TrueQuote in the coming months," he added.
"The continued shift to electronic trading platforms requires a supply of independent, high quality data that allows users to assess quote quality and enhance price discovery. We are pleased to be working with ICAP to provide transparency and independently evaluated pricing to buy side clients, who can now execute cross trades more efficiently," noted Claudio Salinardi, Managing Director, Interactive Data – EMEA, in an accompanying statement.


The old way: pre-rendered - how long did it take me to load?
3-D animation simulates realistic depth and movement1 of objects in a 3-dimensional space - the trick is to make it look 'believable' on the '2-D' screen. Presenting ideas in 3-D brings us quite a bit closer to feeling a part of the environment as opposed to viewing simple text or 2-D pictures on the screen. Athough we have several options for delivery, when you want a truly immersive experience, Flash just won't do - check out Mouse Man on Anark.