text:
Workforce trends in specialist and GP obstetric practice in Victoria
Cameron S Loy, R Bruce Warton and James A Dunbar
Med J Aust 2007; 186 (1): 26-30. || doi: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.2007.tb00784.x
Published online: 1 January 2007
Objective: To provide a contemporary picture of the general practitioner and specialist obstetric workforce in Victoria.
Design, participants and setting: Postal census by questionnaire of all 317 Fellows and 961 Diplomates on the Victorian database of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in September 2003.
Main outcome measures: Sex, age and geographical distributions and patterns of retirement from and recruitment to the GP and specialist obstetric workforce in Victoria.
Results: 244 Fellows (77.0%) and 652 Diplomates (67.8%) participated. The average age of Diplomates was 42 years; only 20% were involved in procedural obstetrics. Of GPs practising procedural obstetrics, 56% intended to cease within 7 years. Two-thirds of specialist obstetricians continued to practise obstetrics. Among those ceasing obstetrics, almost half had done so since 2000. Among Fellows ceasing obstetric practice, there is a peak in the 50–60-years age group, but cessation of obstetric practice occurred across all age groups.
Conclusion: The proportion of GPs involved in procedural obstetrics has fallen markedly over the past decade, with half of those ceasing practice in the 40–50-years age group. New GPs entering the workforce with the Diploma and overseas doctors are unlikely to meet the procedural workforce shortfall. Attracting the large cohort of doctors aged 40–50 years back to obstetric practice must be a priority. Given the pattern of retirements from obstetrics, there will be insufficient numbers of specialists to maintain current levels of service. The reasons include non-participation in obstetrics by new graduates and international medical graduates, the inadequate number of new graduates, and the predominance of women among specialists aged under 40 years, whose work output tends to be affected by family commitments.
There has been concern in recent years over the future of obstetric services, with predictions of a serious reduction in the availability of general practitioner and specialist obstetricians.
In its 1998 report on the Australian obstetrics and gynaecology workforce, the Australian Medical Workforce Advisory Committee (AMWAC) concluded that the workforce was in balance, assuming a growth in demand of only 0.4%. It recommended an increase in the number of trainees from 54 to 58 per year, representing an increase from 12 to 14 for Victoria.1 More recent reports give a more sombre assessment.2-4
The AMWAC report in 2004 expressed mild alarm.5 It found evidence of an increase in the proportion of specialists who had ceased obstetrics to focus exclusively on gynaecology. Further, it noted increased participation by women in the obstetric workforce, with reduced hours worked by both men and women. The proportion of female trainees stood at 61%. The number of all trainees entering the specialty was below that recommended by AMWAC because of a lack of suitable applicants and training positions. The report's final recommendations are noteworthy. One was to increase the number of training places to between 66 and 78, which by AMWAC's own admission seemed unachievable. Another was to consider "alternative models of care", a strategy that is unlikely to resolve rural issues, where consultant support is more difficult to maintain. The final major recommendation was for "collaboration to develop alternative training pathways for obstetrics" — including expanding the role of GPs, which perhaps ignores the lack of current workforce capacity within rural or urban general practice to meet any shortfall in obstetric services.
In providing comprehensive health care for families, GPs may be involved in all levels of obstetric care, from before conception to postnatal care. Up to the late 1990s, large numbers of GPs were involved in intrapartum care across all geographical areas.6 In the past decade, significant changes have affected the GP obstetric workforce, including rising indemnity costs and high-profile medicolegal obstetrics cases.7 In areas where there are few consultant specialists, GPs play a larger role.
If the Australia-wide predictions of a 2002 report in this Journal are applied to the Victorian situation, the future of consultant obstetrics is not sound.2 This article reported that, of the 72% of Fellows then practising obstetrics, 66% intended to be doing so after 1 year, 44% after 5 years, and only 24% after 10 years. The projected decreases were "for both public and private practice and across all age groups, although the proportion intending to cease practising was higher among older respondents". This article was written at the height of the indemnity "crisis". A 2003 article confirmed that the projected participation rate in obstetrics of 66% was correct, and that specialists were following their intentions.4
Here, we define the workforce trends of the obstetric medical workforce in Victoria. Our study sheds light on the changing picture of GP and specialist obstetrics, examining the changing sex demographics, significant retirements from obstetric practice, the contribution of international medical graduates, and the impact of all these factors on regional and rural obstetrics.
The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RANZCOG) stores a database of doctors who hold the Diploma of the College (DRANZCOG) and those who hold a Fellowship (FRANZCOG). Most procedural GP obstetricians will hold the Diploma, and those who have a Fellowship are considered specialists. This study is a census of doctors on the College's database.
Postal surveys were sent to all 961 Diplomates and 317 Fellows listed on the Vic-torian database in September 2003. A modified Dillman protocol was implemented.8 We determined locality information for the towns in which respondents worked using an Internet-based community information database, Echidna: health service profiles for Victorian rural regions.9
Ethical approval was obtained from Flinders University Social and Behavioural Research Ethics Committee.
Respondents comprised 717 Diplomates and 248 Fellows. The final analysis was conducted on responses from 652 GPs and 244 specialists. Exclusions from the final analysis were non-participants, and, for the Diplomates, non-GPs. Participants represented 67.8% of Diplomates and 77.0% of Fellows who were sent surveys. Where the number of responses is lower than the number of participants, participants did not answer all the questions.
General practitoners (Diplomates)
Diplomates constituted 15% of the calculated full-time-equivalent GPs in Victoria (Ms Luisa Abiuso, Senior Policy Officer, Workforce Policy Service and Workforce Planning, Department of Human Services, Victoria, personal communication). Diplomates comprised 52% women and 48% men. Compared with the overall sex distribution of Victorian GPs, Diploma training is more likely to attract women (odds ratio [OR], 2.0; 95% CI, 1.1–3.5).10 The age distribution of Diplomates was not uniform (z = 2.04; P < 0.000). Their median age was 42 years (Box 1), and Diplomates aged under 45 years were more likely to be female (OR, 4.2; 95% CI, 2.9–5.9).
The 40 overseas-trained doctors comprised 6.1% of Victorian Diplomates; 31 of these were aged over 45 years and 29 lived in metropolitan Melbourne. Only four were engaged in procedural practice.
Based on the Rural, Remote and Metropolitan Areas (RRMA) classification,11 GP obstetricians constituted between 11.7% and 23.0% of the GP population in each RRMA region. The percentage of Diplomates in the workforce increased with degree of rurality. GP Diplomates in rural areas (RRMA 4–7) were more likely to be male (OR, 3.2; 95% CI, 2.3–4.5) and aged over 45 years (OR, 1.51; 95% CI, 1.05–2.16).
GP obstetricians: Of the Victorian Diplomate respondents, 20% (129) were involved in obstetric practice, 49% had been involved in managing women in labour in the past, but were not currently practising, and the remaining 31% had never managed women in labour. Of the 129 Diplomates who were practising procedural obstetrics, 21.7% (28) lived in metropolitan Melbourne; 57% of these were aged over 45 years. Most procedural obstetric practitioners in rural areas were in towns classified as RRMA 4 and 5 (Box 2). For rural Diplomates (RRMA 4–7), there was no statistical difference between the age distributions of all rural Diplomates and the subgroup of procedural rural Diplomates (z = 1.48; P = 0.14).
Intention to practise procedural obstetrics: Of the doctors who had undertaken Diploma training, 67.5% (428) did intend to practise procedural obstetrics; 14.3% subsequently decided during training not to practise, and a further 56.5% stopped procedural practice after training. Overall, 71% of GPs who completed the Diploma and intended to practise procedural obstetrics did not at the time of the study. Of the 206 Diplomates who did not intend to practise procedural obstetrics, 73 (35.4%) subsequently practised intrapartum care, but only 0.2% remained in procedural practice.
Sustainability of GP obstetrics workforce: Diplomates retired from practice with increasing frequency over the 1990s. During the years 1996 to 1998, the number retiring from obstetric practice exceeded the number of new Diplomates. The number retiring yearly fell from the year 2000 (Box 3). Doctors of all age groups retired from practice. Women doctors who completed the Diploma tended to retire from procedural practice earlier than men; 58% retired in less than 2 years, and 90% in less than 7 years.
The geographical distribution of Diplomates who had retired from procedural practice showed the greatest loss in urban areas (RRMA 1–3), with less loss in rural areas (RRMA 4–7). Numerically, the largest loss of GP obstetricians occurred in Melbourne; of the total 310 Diplomates who retired, 206 were from Melbourne (Box 4).
Of the GPs practising procedural obstetrics, 56% intended to cease within 7 years. This loss of workforce is likely to occur in all geographical areas except in RRMA 7, "other remote areas" (Box 5).
Specialists (Fellows)
Sixty-nine per cent of Victorian Fellows (168) were male. Box 6 shows the distribution of Victorian specialists by age and sex. The proportion of the female workforce decreased with increasing age. Among Fellows aged under 40 years, the workforce was predominantly female in each age cohort.
Of the 244 respondents, 15.6% (38) were identified as having obtained their primary medical qualifications outside Australia. Only six of these doctors were practising outside the Melbourne metropolitan area.
Responses from Fellows showed that 66.7% (162) were currently practising obstetrics, 24.7% (60) had ceased practising obstetrics, and 8.6% (21) had never practised obstetrics. Of the 162 who were currently practising obstetrics, 23.5% (38) were in private practice, 28.4% (46) worked in public obstetrics, and 48.1% (78) worked in both private and public obstetrics. There were 38 specialists (32 men and six women) practising outside the Melbourne metropolitan area; this represented less than 16% of the overall specialist obstetric workforce in Victoria. Of the 60 specialists who had ceased to practise obstetrics, 46.7% (28) did so after 2000 (Box 7A). The age of specialists leaving obstetrics is shown in Box 7B.
Respondents were asked four questions:
Please describe what you enjoy about managing women in labour and attracts you to this type of work;
Please describe the barriers and problems (both clinical and non-clinical) that make managing women in labour difficult;
What steps could be taken to help you resume or commence managing women in labour?; and
What steps could be taken to recruit doctors to manage women in labour (both new graduates and existing doctors)?
Three main themes emerged strongly from the data. GPs and specialists were concerned about indemnity costs (33% and 27% of respondents, respectively) and fear of litigation (23% and 39%). Both groups were concerned about obstetric working hours (39% and 47%), with 12.5% of specialists reporting personal relationship strain because of obstetric practice. Clinical issues were prominent. GPs were concerned about maintaining their skills and competence (28%). Specialists identified supply of anaesthetic services, interactions between midwives and obstetricians, and the training and referral patterns of local GPs as barriers.
In response to the question asking what would help them start or resume obstetric practice, 47% of GPs and 49% of specialists strongly expressed the view that nothing would tempt them back into obstetric practice.
The question about strategies for encouraging others into obstetrics uncovered a wide range of options within the three main themes of indemnity, lifestyle and clinical issues.
While we acknowledge that a study restricted to Victoria may provide only an indication of the national situation, it does represent a census that covers a quarter of the Australian obstetric workforce, and our findings are consistent with the trends shown in other national studies.
The proportion of GPs involved in intrapartum care in Victoria has fallen markedly, and most of this decrease occurred in the late 1990s. Although the retirement of GPs from obstetric practice closely matched the emergence of new Diplomates, most new Diplomates were unlikely to engage in obstetric practice. A high proportion of doctors entering Diploma training reported an intention to practise procedural obstetrics. Of those who changed their minds, most did so after they had started practice, not during their training. A stated intention not to practise procedural obstetrics before training was highly predictive of not practising procedural obstetrics. Over half of the currently active GP obstetricians intended to cease practice within 7 years.
Our findings support the prediction that there will "soon be a shortage of experienced practising obstetricians in Australia".2 Retiring specialists are mainly in older age groups, but specialists of all ages have ceased obstetric practice. Compared with an earlier study that found 8.6% of specialists had never practised obstetrics,12 we found that 33.3% of Victorian specialists had never practised obstetrics, an increase of 24%. There was a high proportion of women within the obstetric workforce, but AMWAC has described how career interruptions for family reasons have the potential to reduce female participation to 74% of that of male obstetricians.13 Thus, a pattern is emerging of increasing retirement from obstetric practice, falling intention to practise obstetrics, and a decrease in the overall obstetric work output because of family commitments.
Obstetrics and gynaecology is witnessing an increase in the proportion of women participating in the specialty. Between 2000 and 2003, the specialty has seen the percentage of women increase from 18.8% to 23.5%, while the overall percentage of women in the specialist workforce only increased from 18.0% to 19.7%.14 Of those in training for specialist obstetrics and gynaecology, 62.5% were women.4
The AMWAC survey of female participation in the medical workforce, published in 1996, was devoted specifically to the potential impact of demographic changes.13 With 50% of graduates being women, the report predicted that the preference of women for urban general practice would accelerate the uneven distribution of GPs. This prediction may also be valid for specialist obstetricians. The underlying assumption is that female practitioners are unlikely to enter rural practice where the time and on-call demands of an obstetric practice may not be compatible with family and childcare responsibilities.
In 1996, there were 52 provincial Fellows; we found that number had decreased to 38 in 2003. The 2000 RANZCOG/National Association of Specialist Obstetricians and Gynaecologists workforce study reported its findings on 226 provincial specialists in Australia and New Zealand.3 It determined that 32% of specialists had left provincial practice after 5 years or less, and 40% of specialists still in provincial practice saw 5 years as the maximum they were prepared to work outside a major city.
Current policy considers that the emerging workforce will be adequate to provide obstetric services. We believe this policy needs to be revised urgently. There can be no doubt that the substantial reduction in the number of Australian medical graduates since the early 1990s has had a profound impact on the medical workforce of today. While the numbers of Australian graduates are now being increased, it will take at least another decade for the impact to be felt. Factors such as the larger proportion of women in medical schools (who may interrupt their careers to care for family), the move to part-time work by both men and women in medical practice,15 and the loss of doctors aged under 40 years in rural areas and from the medical workforce overall,16,17 have a net result of reducing the number of full-time-equivalent doctors.
The recruitment of overseas-trained specialists has not had a significant impact on rural practice. Indeed, our data suggest that most overseas-trained doctors practise in Melbourne. Staff specialist positions protect doctors from the requirement to work in an "Area of Need". Overseas-trained doctors are subject to Medicare provider number restrictions under sections 19AA and 19AB of the Health Insurance Act 1973 (Cwlth).18 To deliver a service that receives a Medicare rebate, doctors can apply for an exemption to work in an Area of Need, often in a rural location. Hospital appointments lie outside these legislative restrictions. Overseas-trained doctors also represent a small percentage of the overall Diplomate workforce and are unlikely to make a significant contribution to the workforce shortage in obstetrics.
The age profile of specialist obstetrician/gynaecologists in Victoria does not, in itself, show any particular cause for concern. The number of Fellows graduating in Victoria each year is relatively constant and, from that point of view, the number of specialists being added to the Victorian workforce (excluding overseas-trained doctors) is predictable. However, the assumption that one new Fellow is equivalent to one retiring Fellow is flawed, because those entering the workforce do not represent sufficient full-time equivalents to maintain current service levels.
The important factors are the significant rate of retirement from obstetric practice over the past decade across all ages, an increasing intention to not practise obstetrics, a fragile rural and regional specialist workforce, and a rapidly changing sex distribution. Workforce policy focused exclusively on new Fellows and trainees is unlikely to be enough. Attempts to increase raw numbers by recruiting from overseas do not seem to be making a large impact. Solutions need to take a wider view, based on what the workforce is reporting as barriers to practice.
The 2002 prediction in this Journal of an unsustainable specialist obstetric workforce is upon us. Meanwhile, some improvements to conditions of service may help, including assured locums, more cooperative working practices to enable acceptable rosters, changes in the pattern of work to accommodate practitioners with children, and improving the quality of rural placements for medical students and trainees. Recent federal government initiatives to increase the number of medical graduates, such as bonded scholars and bonded students, may provide more new doctors entering the workforce and, in proportion, more GPs, and more GPs involved in obstetric services. These initiatives will not be realised for many years.
Our findings for Victorian GP obstetricians suggest that significant increases in the workforce will not occur through vocational training alone. Our finding that the GP obstetric workforce will reduce further within 7 years adds to concerns about the future sustainability of obstetric services, especially in rural Victoria. The large group of doctors, mostly in their 40s, who have ceased procedural obstetric practice, offers a potential workforce solution. This group is much larger than the doctors remaining in procedural practice or those entering vocational training.
If a satisfactory rural workforce is to be maintained, it will require action from both government and practitioners. Government needs to support the required training positions. It should also consider loading financial incentives for intrapartum obstetric services, especially in rural areas. Substantial financial incentives are probably the only means of inducing the 40–50-years age group of GPs back into active obstetric practice. Lifestyle issues, such as balancing on-call duty with family commitments, would be best managed by a combination of enhanced income and the willingness to cooperatively share the care of patients.
Providing obstetric services across rural and regional Victoria requires a workforce of both specialists who staff RRMA 3 towns and GP obstetricians who staff RRMA 4 and 5 towns. Our findings point towards an urgent need to rebuild that workforce by developing policies based on the evidence in this and other studies.
1 Age and sex distribution of 646 Diplomates of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in Victoria, September 2003
2 General practitioner obstetricians, Diplomates and full-time-equivalent GPs by Rural, Remote and Metropolitan Area classification11 in Victoria, September 2003
Rural, Remote and Metropolitan Area classification
GP obstetricians
Diplomates
Full-time-equivalent (FTE) GPs
% of Diplomates who were GP obstetricians
% of FTE GPs who were GP obstetricians
3 Retirement from procedural obstetrics in 1980–2003 (290 general practitioners)
4 Involvement of general practitioner Diplomates in obstetric practice by Rural, Remote and Metropolitan Area classification11 in Victoria, September 2003
635 (100%)
Currently involved
Involved in the past
Never involved
5 Intentions of general practitioner obstetricians about ceasing procedural obstetrics by Rural, Remote and Metropolitan Area classification11 in Victoria, September 2003
Total practising GP obstetricians
Those intending to cease:
Within 2 years
6 Sex of specialist obstetrician/ gynaecologists in Victoria by age, September 2003
7 Retirement from procedural obstetrics by specialist obstetrician/gynaecologists
Received 17 April 2006, accepted 29 August 2006
Cameron S Loy1
R Bruce Warton2
James A Dunbar3
Greater Green Triangle University Department of Rural Health, Flinders and Deakin Universities, Warrnambool, VIC.
Correspondence: csloy@datafast.net.au
Acknowledgements:
We acknowledge funding provided by the Department of Human Services Victoria, Workforce Policy Service and Workforce Planning Division, and assistance from the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists for access to their database. We thank Dr Rodney Carr, designer of XLStatistics, Deakin University, Warrnambool, and the members of the steering committee, the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, RANZCOG, General Practice Registrars Australia and the Department of Human Services, Victoria.
1. Australian Medical Workforce Advisory Committee. The obstetrics and gynaecology workforce in Australia. AMWAC report 1998.6. Sydney: AMWAC, 1998.
2. MacLennan AH, Spencer MK. Projections of Australian obstetricians ceasing practice and the reasons. Med J Aust 2002; 176: 425-428. <MJA full text>
3. The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists/National Association of Specialist Obstetricians and Gynaecologists Workforce Working Group. RANZCOG/NASOG Workforce 2000 survey. O&G 2001; 3: 11-25. http://www.ranzcog.edu.au/publications/o-g_pdfs/OG-2000-2003/OG-March-2001.pdf (accessed Aug 2006).
4. Bell R. The 2003 RANZCOG workforce survey. O&G 2003; 5: 174-178. http://www.ranzcog.edu.au/publications/o-g_pdfs/OG-2000-2003/OG-Sept-2003.pdf (accessed Aug 2006).
5. Australian Medical Workforce Advisory Committee. The specialist obstetrics and gynaecology workforce — an update 2003–2013. AMWAC Report 2004.2. Sydney: AMWAC, 2004.
6. Gunn J, Lumley J, Young D. Involvement of Victorian general practitioners in obstetric and postnatal care. Aust Fam Physician 1998; 27 Suppl 2: S78-S83.
7. Watts RW, Marley JE, Beilby JJ, et al. Training, skills and approach to high-risk obstetrics in rural GP obstetricians. Aust N Z J Obstet Gynaecol 1997; 37: 424-426.
8. Dillman D. Mail and internet surveys: the tailored design method. 2nd ed. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2000.
9. Monash University. Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences. Echidna: health service profiles for Victorian rural regions. http://www.med.monash.edu.au/srh/resources/echidna/ (accessed Nov 2006).
10. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Medical labour force 2001. National health labour force series No. 28. Canberra: AIHW, 2003. (AIHW Catalogue No. 28.)
11. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Rural, regional and remote health: a guide to remoteness classifications. Canberra: AIHW, 2004. (AIHW Catalogue No. PHE 53.) http://www.aihw.gov.au/publications/index.cfm/title/9993 (accessed Sep 2006).
12. Practice intentions of new Fellows and trainees. O&G 2001: 2: 140-142. http://www.ranzcog.edu.au/publications/o-g_pdfs/OG-2000-2003/OG-June-2001.pdf (accessed August 2006).
13. Australian Medical Workforce Advisory Committee/Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Female participation in the Australian Medical Workforce. AMWAC Report 1996.7. Sydney: AMWAC/AIHW, 1996.
14. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Medical labour force 2003. National health labour force series No. 32. Canberra: AIHW 2005. (AIHW Catalogue No. HWL 32.)
15. The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. 2005 annual report. Melbourne: RANZCOG, 2005. http://www.ranzcog.edu.au/about/pdfs/annualreport2005.pdf (accessed Aug 2006).
16. Australian Medical Workforce Advisory Committee/Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. The characteristics of students entering Australian medical schools 1989–1997. AMWAC report 1997.7. Sydney: AMWAC/AIHW, 1997.
17. Conn W. Medical workforce participation: males and females 1981, 1986 and 1991. Canberra: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 1995.
18. Health Insurance Act 1973 (Cwlth). http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/hia1973164/ (accessed Aug 2006).


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8 recent arrivals from Pakistan found with Covid-19
All the new cases flew into Hong Kong from Pakistan via Doha in Qatar
Hong Kong has recorded eight new cases today, May 21, seven of them involving patients who all flew in aboard a Qatar Airways flight from Pakistan via Doha yesterday. The other one arrived on Saturday and fell sick in a quarantine center yesterday.
They brought the city's total tally to 1,063 after three days of no new cases.
Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan of the Centre for Health Protection said the new cases included three females who are all related, aged between 11 and 31; as well as a 56-year-old man and his two sons, aged 14 and 22.
They all flew aboard flight QR 818 which arrived in Hong Kong yesterday.
A 25-year-old man on the same flight also tested positive today.
The eighth case is a 73-year-old woman who returned from Pakistan on Saturday via QR 818, along with two other relatives who tested positive earlier.
She developed fever and breathing difficulties yesterday while under quarantine in Chun Yeung estate, and was sent to Tuen Mun Hospital for treatment.
Dr Chuang said 20 out of some 1,000 residents who returned from Pakistan recently have so far been found to have the virus. Because of the high rate of infection among the new returnees, she said the mandatory quarantine for those arriving from Pakistan will remain in place.
Dr Chuang says the high rate of infection among the new arrivals from Pakistan means the mandatory quarantine will stay
As of noon today, only 31 Covid-19 patients are still in hospital, after three more patients were discharged over the past 24 hours. A total of 1,028 patients have been discharged, while 4 have died.
Meanwhile, a 60-year-old man was sentenced to four weeks in jail in Kowloon City court today for violating his compulsory quarantine.
The man was found to have left his quarantine place before the expiration of the 14-day period without reasonable excuse, or permission from an authorized officer.
He was stopped by staff of the Immigration Department at a border control point, and charged with contravening sections 8(1) and 8(5) of the Quarantine Regulation.
A spokesman for the Department of Health (DH) said the sentence sends a clear message to the community that breaching a quarantine order is a criminal offence and that the Government will not tolerate such actions.
The spokesman said compliance with quarantine orders is of paramount importance in Hong Kong's fight against COVID-19.
Pursuant to the Regulation, save for exempted persons, all persons who have stayed in the Mainland, Macao or Taiwan in the 14 days preceding arrival in Hong Kong, regardless of their nationality or travel documents, will be subject to compulsory quarantine for 14 days.
Starting on Mar 19, the Regulation was extended to all persons arriving from all other places overseas.
Those found violating their quarantine order are subject to a maximum fine of $25,000 and imprisonment for six months.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Landmark Ruling: Court Orders Uniform Cut-off Marks for Admission into Unity Schools
Breaking NewsNews
By Funmi Akinbolu	 Last updated Jul 26, 2017
A Federal High Court in Lagos on Wednesday declared as unconstitutional the decades-long state-based, quota system admission into federal government colleges, also known as unity schools.
The trial Judge, John Tsoho, in a ruling on the disparity in admission, yesterday declared that the action of the Minister of Education in prescribing and applying different requirements for candidates seeking admission into Unity Schools is in violation of Section 42(1) of the 1999 Constitution.
The court further held that the provision of the constitution is superior to any administrative law or policies adopted by the Minister of Education. The court eventually directed the Minister of Education to apply uniform admission requirements, especially cut-off marks, to all candidates seeking admission into the Unity Schools.
The court's decision was sequel to a fundamental human rights enforcement suit filed by a Senior Advocate Nigeria (SAN), Dr Olisa Agbakoba, against the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and the Minister of Education.
Olisa Agbakoba Legal had filed a suit before a Federal High Court, Lagos, asking the court to stop the Federal Government from further using alleged discriminatory cut-off marks for admission into Unity Schools across the nation.
He asked the court to declare that the publishing of different cut-off marks for the 104 Federal Government colleges, known as Unity Schools across the nation, based on gender, ethnicity and states of origin, is discriminatory. The suit was filed before Justice Jame Tsoho. He joined the Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr. Mohammed Adoke, and the Minister of Education, Nyesom Wike, in the suit, numbered FHC/L/CS/1358/2013.
Agbakoba argued that the differentiation violates the fundamental guarantees to freedom from discrimination guaranteed by the Constitution.
He therefore sought "an injunction restraining the 2nd respondent (Minister of Education) from subsequently publishing any cut-off mark for the 36 states of the federation for admission into the 104 Federal Government colleges, which violates Section 42 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
"A mandatory order compelling the Minister of Education form implementing a uniform cut-off mark for the 36 states of the federation."
Agbakoba cited as instances of discrimination in the admission process, a situation whereby out of maximum score of 200, candidates from Zamfara and Bayelsa states only need to score two and 72, respectively, while their counterparts from Anambra and Lagos states must score 139 and 133, respectively, to be admitted.
He stated, "The implication of this policy is that pupils from states like Zamfara and Bayelsa, with lower cut-off marks, for instance, will be accorded privilege or advantage in admission into the 104 Federal Government colleges on account of their state of origin, irrespective of their low score.
"Pupils from other states, like Anambra and Lagos with higher cut-off marks, will be subjected to disabilities or restrictions in admission on account of their state of origin, irrespective of their high score."
After listening to submissions from both parties, the court on the 17th of December, 2014 held that the administrative acts of the respondents particularly the second respondents violates Section 42 of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, same are null and void and therefore, the applicant's action must succeed.
Accordingly, the administrative acts of Minister of Education which prescribes and applies different requirements including cut off marks for candidates seeking admission into Federal Government Colleges, based on gender, ethnicity, states of origin was declared discriminatory and a violation of Section 42(1) of the 1999 Constitution of Federal Republic Of Nigeria.
The court also granted an order directing the Minister of Education to apply uniform admission requirements, especially cut-off marks to all candidates seeking admission into Federal Government Colleges, notwithstanding their gender, states of Origin, ethnicity etc.
The court equally granted an order of perpetual injunction restraining the Minister of Education whether by itself, its agents, servants, privies or otherwise howsoever from further acts of discrimination in admission to Federal Government Colleges.
CourtEducationUnity School
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BREAKING: Govs ends meeting with Buhari in London, official pictures awaited
BREAKING: Photos of ailing President Buhari in meeting with some governors in London today


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A varnished teak electric hi/lo pedestal table with cushion converts forward seating area into a sun lounge.
Console has a molded 3-sided plexi-glass venturi-style windshield.
Insulated cooler/locker is located under the console forward seating..
Accessed by a lockable door on the side of the steering console.
14" Stainless steel steering wheel with varnished wood rim.
Hinckley JetStick® II with Heading Hold – integrates forward and aft motion, steering, and the bow thruster into a single joystick control.
Double helm-seat has a varnished teak-slatted back with a thick roll cushion for the helm seat.
Double helm seat mounted forward.
Aft-facing seating for two on aft end of engine box with cushions.
Sink with pressurized freshwater – accessed through varnished teak top.
Custom 12V refrigeration in insulated cooler – accessed through varnished teak top.
Electric-lift for engine box – with switch on console.
Aft settee faces forward with cushioned seating for three and two storage lockers under.
Freshwater shower – aft in starboard corner of the cockpit.
Direct drainage scuppers with stainless steel scupper grates.
Starting: (1) 12-volt AGM Group 31 – 750 MCCA battery.
House: (1) 12-volt 4-D 210-amp/hr house battery.
Heavy-duty battery switches for engine and house with parallel capability for emergency start.
12-volt distribution panel with breakers, volt and amp meter.
Tachometer with engine hrs, oil pressure, coolant temperature, fuel gauges, jet steering angle and voltmeter.
Alarm for low oil pressure, high coolant temperature and high hydraulic pressure.
(2) Electric 1500-gph, 12-volt bilge pumps with float switches.
Whale emergency bilge pump mounted in cockpit locker.
Lead-lined foam insulated engine box with double gaskets on cover.
Baffled and insulated engine air intake.
(2) 50-gallon heavy gauge polyethylene fuel tanks.
Muir electric windlass in foredeck anchor locker that also houses the Hinckley designed polished stainless steel folding anchor roller. Windlass controls at helm and wired remote in anchor locker.
Ivory Stamoid cockpit/mooring cover – attaches to the aft end of the dodger, extends around center console to transom.


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text:
A Passionate Pilgrim ebook
Wydawca: KtoCzyta.pl
Kategoria: Edukacja
The narrator meets the American Clement Searle in a London hotel. Searle had long wanted to move to England, to run away from the routine of his life. However, he is physically ill and depressed because his lawyer cannot support his claim for a share in the out-of-town property currently owned by Richard Searle. The narrator and the main character are trying to solve this problem.
The Golden Bowl
The Aspern Papers
The Point of View
The Bostonians
La figura en el tapiz
Wings of the Dove
The Europeans
Roderick Hudson
Intending to sail for America in the early part of June, I determined to spend the interval of six weeks in England, to which country my mind's eye only had as yet been introduced. I had formed in Italy and France a resolute preference for old inns, considering that what they sometimes cost the ungratified body they repay the delighted mind. On my arrival in London, therefore, I lodged at a certain antique hostelry, much to the east of Temple Bar, deep in the quarter that I had inevitably figured as the Johnsonian. Here, on the first evening of my stay, I descended to the little coffee-room and bespoke my dinner of the genius of "attendance" in the person of the solitary waiter. No sooner had I crossed the threshold of this retreat than I felt I had cut a golden-ripe crop of English "impressions." The coffee-room of the Red Lion, like so many other places and things I was destined to see in the motherland, seemed to have been waiting for long years, with just that sturdy sufferance of time written on its visage, for me to come and extract the romantic essence of it.
The latent preparedness of the American mind even for the most characteristic features of English life was a matter I meanwhile failed to get to the bottom of. The roots of it are indeed so deeply buried in the soil of our early culture that, without some great upheaval of feeling, we are at a loss to say exactly when and where and how it begins. It makes an American's enjoyment of England an emotion more searching than anything Continental. I had seen the coffee-room of the Red Lion years ago, at home–at Saragossa Illinois–in books, in visions, in dreams, in Dickens, in Smollett, in Boswell. It was small and subdivided into six narrow compartments by a series of perpendicular screens of mahogany, something higher than a man's stature, furnished on either side with a meagre uncushioned ledge, denominated in ancient Britain a seat. In each of these rigid receptacles was a narrow table–a table expected under stress to accommodate no less than four pairs of active British elbows. High pressure indeed had passed away from the Red Lion for ever. It now knew only that of memories and ghosts and atmosphere. Round the room there marched, breast-high, a magnificent panelling of mahogany, so dark with time and so polished with unremitted friction that by gazing a while into its lucid blackness I made out the dim reflexion of a party of wigged gentlemen in knee-breeches just arrived from York by the coach. On the dark yellow walls, coated by the fumes of English coal, of English mutton, of Scotch whiskey, were a dozen melancholy prints, sallow-toned with age–the Derby favourite of the year 1807, the Bank of England, her Majesty the Queen. On the floor was a Turkey carpet–as old as the mahogany almost, as the Bank of England, as the Queen–into which the waiter had in his lonely revolutions trodden so many massive soot-flakes and drops of overflowing beer that the glowing looms of Smyrna would certainly not have recognised it. To say that I ordered my dinner of this archaic type would be altogether to misrepresent the process owing to which, having dreamed of lamb and spinach and a salade de saison, I sat down in penitence to a mutton-chop and a rice pudding. Bracing my feet against the cross-beam of my little oaken table, I opposed to the mahogany partition behind me the vigorous dorsal resistance that must have expressed the old-English idea of repose. The sturdy screen refused even to creak, but my poor Yankee joints made up the deficiency.
While I was waiting there for my chop there came into the room a person whom, after I had looked at him a moment, I supposed to be a fellow lodger and probably the only one. He seemed, like myself, to have submitted to proposals for dinner; the table on the other side of my partition had been prepared to receive him. He walked up to the fire, exposed his back to it and, after consulting his watch, looked directly out of the window and indirectly at me. He was a man of something less than middle age and more than middle stature, though indeed you would have called him neither young nor tall. He was chiefly remarkable for his emphasised leanness. His hair, very thin on the summit of his head, was dark short and fine. His eye was of a pale turbid grey, unsuited, perhaps, to his dark hair and well-drawn brows, but not altogether out of harmony with his colourless bilious complexion. His nose was aquiline and delicate; beneath it his moustache languished much rather than bristled. His mouth and chin were negative, or at the most provisional; not vulgar, doubtless, but ineffectually refined. A cold fatal gentlemanly weakness was expressed indeed in his attenuated person. His eye was restless and deprecating; his whole physiognomy, his manner of shifting his weight from foot to foot, the spiritless droop of his head, told of exhausted intentions, of a will relaxed. His dress was neat and "toned down"–he might have been in mourning. I made up my mind on three points: he was a bachelor, he was out of health, he was not indigenous to the soil. The waiter approached him, and they conversed in accents barely audible. I heard the words "claret," "sherry" with a tentative inflexion, and finally "beer" with its last letter changed to "ah." Perhaps he was a Russian in reduced circumstances; he reminded me slightly of certain sceptical cosmopolite Russians whom I had met on the Continent. While in my extravagant way I followed this train–for you see I was interested–there appeared a short brisk man with reddish-brown hair, with a vulgar nose, a sharp blue eye and a red beard confined to his lower jaw and chin. My putative Russian, still in possession of the rug, let his mild gaze stray over the dingy ornaments of the room. The other drew near, and his umbrella dealt a playful poke at the concave melancholy waistcoat. "A penny ha'penny for your thoughts!"
My friend, as I call him, uttered an exclamation, stared, then laid his two hands on the other's shoulders. The latter looked round at me keenly, compassing me in a momentary glance. I read in its own vague light that this was a transatlantic eyebeam; and with such confidence that I hardly needed to see its owner, as he prepared, with his companion, to seat himself at the table adjoining my own, take from his overcoat-pocket three New York newspapers and lay them beside his plate. As my neighbours proceeded to dine I felt the crumbs of their conversation scattered pretty freely abroad. I could hear almost all they said, without straining to catch it, over the top of the partition that divided us. Occasionally their voices dropped to recovery of discretion, but the mystery pieced itself together as if on purpose to entertain me. Their speech was pitched in the key that may in English air be called alien in spite of a few coincidences. The voices were American, however, with a difference; and I had no hesitation in assigning the softer and clearer sound to the pale thin gentleman, whom I decidedly preferred to his comrade. The latter began to question him about his voyage.
"Horrible, horrible! I was deadly sick from the hour we left New York."
"Well, you do look considerably reduced," said the second-comer.
"Reduced! I've been on the verge of the grave. I haven't slept six hours for three weeks." This was said with great gravity.
"Well, I've made the voyage for the last time."
"The plague you have! You mean to locate here permanently?"
"Oh it won't be so very permanent!"
There was a pause; after which: "You're the same merry old boy, Searle. Going to give up the ghost to-morrow, eh?"
"I almost wish I were."
"You're not so sweet on England then? I've heard people say at home that you dress and talk and act like an Englishman. But I know these people here and I know you. You're not one of this crowd, Clement Searle, not you. You'll go under here, sir; you'll go under as sure as my name's Simmons."
Following this I heard a sudden clatter as of the drop of a knife and fork. "Well, you're a delicate sort of creature, if it IS your ugly name! I've been wandering about all day in this accursed city, ready to cry with homesickness and heartsickness and every possible sort of sickness, and thinking, in the absence of anything better, of meeting you here this evening and of your uttering some sound of cheer and comfort and giving me some glimmer of hope. Go under? Ain't I under now? I can't do more than get under the ground!"
Mr. Simmons's superior brightness appeared to flicker a moment in this gust of despair, but the next it was burning steady again. "DON'T "cry,' Searle," I heard him say. "Remember the waiter. I've grown Englishman enough for that. For heaven's sake don't let's have any nerves. Nerves won't do anything for you here. It's best to come to the point. Tell me in three words what you expect of me."
I heard another movement, as if poor Searle had collapsed in his chair. "Upon my word, sir, you're quite inconceivable. You never got my letter?"
"Yes, I got your letter. I was never sorrier to get anything in my life."
At this declaration Mr. Searle rattled out an oath, which it was well perhaps that I but partially heard. "Abijah Simmons," he then cried, "what demon of perversity possesses you? Are you going to betray me here in a foreign land, to turn out a false friend, a heartless rogue?"
"Go on, sir," said sturdy Simmons. "Pour it all out. I'll wait till you've done. Your beer's lovely," he observed independently to the waiter. "I'll have some more."
"For God's sake explain yourself!" his companion appealed.
This is a free sample. Please purchase full version of the book to continue.


text:
New Bay Bridge spans past, future
Ph: Carli Baker/The Daily Californian
The Bay Bridge reopened after five days of construction complete with a rebuilt eastern span connecting the East Bay to San Francisco, restoring the bridge as a significant passage for vehicular traffic in the East Bay. The bridge has served as a main link into San Francisco since its opening in 1936 and is crossed by about 280,000 vehicles daily.
"The Bay Bridge (passage) is critically important to the region," said Karen Frick, assistant director of the University of California Transportation Center. "When I think about the Bay Bridge, I think about the corridor instead of the structure itself that is served by the bridge. (Especially) for those in Berkeley, there needs to be a means to get across the bay."
Decisions to entirely replace the eastern span of the bridge was prompted by the eastern span's partial collapse in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. Discussion about the new bridge's design began in 1997, when officials decided they wanted a bridge that was not only seismically safe but was also aesthetically appealing, Frick said. Originally estimated to cost about $1.5 billion, the new bridge came with a $6.4 billion price tag due to rising steel and construction costs, greater staffing needs than predicted and a longer construction schedule than expected, Frick said.
According to Rafael Manzanarez, a design manager for the new bridge, the new eastern span was designed with up-to-date standards for seismic design and built to be able to withstand a large-scale earthquake. "The designs have been tested in labs at UC Berkeley and UC San Diego, so we have proof that these designs do work during an earthquake," Manzanarez said. Built to last at least 150 years, the bridge is supported by new steel foundations that extend 350 feet downwards and make the bridge "safter than most facilities in the Bay Area," Manzanarez said.
However, UC Berkeley professor Abolhassan Astaneh-Asl from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering has voiced misgivings about the new self-supported suspension bridge's safety and stability. UC Berkeley professor Thomas Devine, a metallurgist from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, similarly has expressed concerns regarding the bridge's components, specifically about 32 fractured seismic support bolts that were discovered in March.


Three different Birmingham projects received recognition recently from Main Street Alabama for their positive impact on the city.
Main Street Alabama focuses on bringing jobs, dollars and people back to Alabama's historic communities. Economic development is at the heart of its efforts to revitalize downtowns and neighborhood commercial districts.
Gilmer Drug Company, a pharmacy downtown in Ensley, and a REV Birmingham Urban Food Project, earned a Community Award for its commitment and contributions to the surrounding area.
REV Birmingham was recognized for its Clean & Clear 5 Points South community project, the most recent iteration of which transformed Valley View Park. REV Birmingham also won an award for its business-accelerating REVeal Kitchen in the Pizitz Food Hall, which is currently home to Bitty's Living Kitchen.
For 20 years the family-owned-and-operated Gilmer Drug Company, led by owner Jimmy Crane, has filled over 150 prescriptions each day in Ensley. The business sells fresh produce to the community and has been doing so continuously for two years as a corner store, part of REV Birmingham's Urban Food Project: Farm to Corner Store initiative. Gilmer Drug is known for its friendly service, the generosity of the Crane family, and the dedication the business has to serving the Ensley community.
Gilmer Drug lends economic vibrancy to Ensley by remaining in the heart of the Ensley business district and is housed in a 100 plus year-old building, filled with character. As a corner store partner in the Rev Birmingham Farm to Corner Store initiative, Gilmer helps reduce the barriers to fresh produce access that many Ensley residents encounter due to the public transportation costs or limited vehicle access that arise when attempting to travel to grocery stores in other parts of the city. Gilmer also participates in the Urban Food Project's Farm Fresh Cooking demonstrations, teaching customers how to cook the produce they can buy on site.
Gilmer Drug now has an in-store community gathering space and REV partnered with Gilmer to bring Alacare, the Literacy Council, Regions Bank, and the Community Food Bank of Central Alabama together to provide new services to residents, making Gilmer Drug a stronger pillar of the community.
Clean & Clear Five Points South is a quarterly cleanup event in partnership with the community's stakeholders. From trash collection to clearing sidewalks and greenery efforts, this is a day to give back to Five Points South. Volunteering for Clean & Clear is becoming a staple event for residents, visitors and business owners. There are always many projects and needs to tackle. It is also a great opportunity for area residents, visitors and businesses to explore the area.
Clean & Clear Five Points South has taken place on March 27, May 20 and July 22, 2017. In total, 106 volunteers have contributed 331 hours of work. Key participants include area church congregations, residents and merchants. Approximately 2,720 feet of sidewalk and alley have been cleaned and cleared collecting 3,812 pounds of trash and debris. Beautification efforts like this can help create a higher quality of life by attracting visitors and residents, reducing crime, encouraging new businesses, and creating pride in Five Points South.
REVeal Kitchen is an initiative that allows REV Birmingham to drive toward mission pillars. The goal is to provide a low cost, low barrier opportunity for aspiring restaurateurs to establish a physical presence as a practical and innovative stepping stone to their eventual brick and mortar location. Tropicaleo, the first tenant, is a Puerto Rican restaurant owned by Gabriel Marerro & Isabel Medina. After graduating on July 21 from REVeal, they're now building out a restaurant in the Avondale neighborhood. The second and current tenant, Kim Brock of Bitty's Living Kitchen, is bringing healthy and vegan fare to the food hall.
Bayer Properties engaged REV Birmingham with discussions about activating a food stall in the Pizitz Food Hall with culinary clients from the CO.STARTERS business development initiative, on which REV partners with Create Birmingham. Bayer along with financial sponsors and in-kind supporters like Regions Bank, Appleseed Workshop, Wood Fruitticher, and Buffalo Rock chipped in support to help make the project feasible.


Hi, I am new to your website and instagram account. These cookies look good. However, I would prefer not using Stevia. Should I increase the amount of sugar? If so, by how much? Thanks!
Ive got granulated stevia, is that ok? And... Shall i use a médium teaspoon or a very small teablespoon? Thanks!!
Hi Sofia! I've never really used granulated stevia before so I'm not sure what the exact proportion to sub in would be but I am sure there are conversions online. Also, not exactly sure what you mean by medium t or small T haha as they are exact proportions. I would start by checking for a conversion online though - I know that sometimes different types of stevia react differently when baked. Good luck!


text:
Dual modality neutron and x-ray tomography for enhanced image analysis of the bone-metal interface
Elin Törnquist, Sophie Le Cann, Erika Tudisco, Alessandro Tengattini, Edward And, Nicolas Lenoir, Johan Hektor, Deepak Bushan Raina, Magnus Tägil, Stephen A. Hall, Hanna Isaksson
Avdelningen för Biomedicinsk teknik
LUNARC - Centrum för Tekniska och Vetenskapliga Beräkningar vid Lunds Universitet
Ortopedi, Lund
LINXS - Institute of advanced Neutron and X-ray Science
Hållfasthetslära
University Paris-Est Créteil
Institut Laue Langevin
University Grenoble Alpes
The bone tissue formed at the contact interface with metallic implants, particularly its 3D microstructure, plays a pivotal role for the structural integrity of implant fixation. X-ray tomography is the classical imaging technique used for accessing microstructural information from bone tissue. However, neutron tomography has shown promise for visualising the immediate bone-metal implant interface, something which is highly challenging with x-rays due to large differences in attenuation between metal and biological tissue causing image artefacts. To highlight and explore the complementary nature of neutron and x-ray tomography, proximal rat tibiae with titanium-based implants were imaged with both modalities. The two techniques were compared in terms of visualisation of different material phases and by comparing the properties of the individual images, such as the contrast-to-noise ratio. After superimposing the images using a dedicated image registration algorithm, the complementarity was further investigated via analysis of the dual modality histogram, joining the neutron and x-ray data. From these joint histograms, peaks with well-defined grey value intervals corresponding to the different material phases observed in the specimens were identified and compared. The results highlight differences in how neutrons and x-rays interact with biological tissues and metallic implants, as well as the benefits of combining both modalities. Future refinement of the joint histogram analysis could improve the segmentation of structures and tissues, and yield novel information about specimen-specific properties such as moisture content.
Originalspråk
Tidskrift
Physics in Medicine and Biology
https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6560/ac02d4
Published - 2021 juli 7
This research was funded by the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research (SSF) within the Swedish national graduate school in neutron scattering (SwedNess, GSn15-0008). The authors want to acknowledge the Institut Laue-Langevin, Grenoble, France for providing the beamtime at the NeXT-Grenoble beamline (doi:10.5291/ILL-DATA.UGA-31). This work was supported in part by The Centre for Quantification of Imaging Data from MAXIV (QIM) project at Lund University, and resources provided by the Swedish National Infrastructure for Computing (SNIC) atLUNARC (projects 2020/6-90 and 2020/11-30).
© 2021 Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine.
Ämnesklassifikation (UKÄ)
Biomedicinsk laboratorievetenskap/teknologi
Tillgång till dokument
10.1088/1361-6560/ac02d4
Andra filer och länkar
Länk till publikationen i Scopus
Utforska forskningsämnen för "Dual modality neutron and x-ray tomography for enhanced image analysis of the bone-metal interface". Tillsammans bildar de ett unikt fingeravtryck.
Neutrons Medicin och livsvetenskap 100%
Metals Medicin och livsvetenskap 64%
X-Rays Medicin och livsvetenskap 57%
Tomography Medicin och livsvetenskap 51%
Bone and Bones Medicin och livsvetenskap 44%
X Ray Tomography Medicin och livsvetenskap 28%
Joints Medicin och livsvetenskap 26%
Bone-Implant Interface Medicin och livsvetenskap 26%
Bone structure characterisation using neutron scattering techniques
Törnquist, E., 2021, Lund: Lunds universitet, Lunds Tekniska Högskola.
bones 100%
neutron scattering 88%
minerals 45%
4D Imaging Lab
Stephen Hall (Manager)
Citera det här
Törnquist, E., Le Cann, S., Tudisco, E., Tengattini, A., And, E., Lenoir, N., Hektor, J., Raina, D. B., Tägil, M., Hall, S. A., & Isaksson, H. (2021). Dual modality neutron and x-ray tomography for enhanced image analysis of the bone-metal interface. Physics in Medicine and Biology, 66(13), [135016]. https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6560/ac02d4
Törnquist, Elin ; Le Cann, Sophie ; Tudisco, Erika et al. / Dual modality neutron and x-ray tomography for enhanced image analysis of the bone-metal interface. I: Physics in Medicine and Biology. 2021 ; Vol. 66, Nr. 13.
@article{db9066464fc049b9b67c0ea28d74bbac,
title = "Dual modality neutron and x-ray tomography for enhanced image analysis of the bone-metal interface",
abstract = "The bone tissue formed at the contact interface with metallic implants, particularly its 3D microstructure, plays a pivotal role for the structural integrity of implant fixation. X-ray tomography is the classical imaging technique used for accessing microstructural information from bone tissue. However, neutron tomography has shown promise for visualising the immediate bone-metal implant interface, something which is highly challenging with x-rays due to large differences in attenuation between metal and biological tissue causing image artefacts. To highlight and explore the complementary nature of neutron and x-ray tomography, proximal rat tibiae with titanium-based implants were imaged with both modalities. The two techniques were compared in terms of visualisation of different material phases and by comparing the properties of the individual images, such as the contrast-to-noise ratio. After superimposing the images using a dedicated image registration algorithm, the complementarity was further investigated via analysis of the dual modality histogram, joining the neutron and x-ray data. From these joint histograms, peaks with well-defined grey value intervals corresponding to the different material phases observed in the specimens were identified and compared. The results highlight differences in how neutrons and x-rays interact with biological tissues and metallic implants, as well as the benefits of combining both modalities. Future refinement of the joint histogram analysis could improve the segmentation of structures and tissues, and yield novel information about specimen-specific properties such as moisture content. ",
keywords = "dual-mode tomography, image registration, joint histogram, phase segmentation, rat tibia",
author = "Elin T{\"o}rnquist and {Le Cann}, Sophie and Erika Tudisco and Alessandro Tengattini and Edward And and Nicolas Lenoir and Johan Hektor and Raina, {Deepak Bushan} and Magnus T{\"a}gil and Hall, {Stephen A.} and Hanna Isaksson",
note = "Funding Information: This research was funded by the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research (SSF) within the Swedish national graduate school in neutron scattering (SwedNess, GSn15-0008). The authors want to acknowledge the Institut Laue-Langevin, Grenoble, France for providing the beamtime at the NeXT-Grenoble beamline (doi:10.5291/ILL-DATA.UGA-31). This work was supported in part by The Centre for Quantification of Imaging Data from MAXIV (QIM) project at Lund University, and resources provided by the Swedish National Infrastructure for Computing (SNIC) atLUNARC (projects 2020/6-90 and 2020/11-30). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine. Copyright: Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.",
doi = "10.1088/1361-6560/ac02d4",
journal = "Physics in Medicine and Biology",
Törnquist, E, Le Cann, S, Tudisco, E, Tengattini, A, And, E, Lenoir, N, Hektor, J, Raina, DB, Tägil, M, Hall, SA & Isaksson, H 2021, 'Dual modality neutron and x-ray tomography for enhanced image analysis of the bone-metal interface', Physics in Medicine and Biology, vol. 66, nr. 13, 135016. https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6560/ac02d4
Dual modality neutron and x-ray tomography for enhanced image analysis of the bone-metal interface. / Törnquist, Elin; Le Cann, Sophie; Tudisco, Erika et al.
I: Physics in Medicine and Biology, Vol. 66, Nr. 13, 135016, 07.07.2021.
T1 - Dual modality neutron and x-ray tomography for enhanced image analysis of the bone-metal interface
AU - Törnquist, Elin
AU - Le Cann, Sophie
AU - Tudisco, Erika
AU - Tengattini, Alessandro
AU - And, Edward
AU - Lenoir, Nicolas
AU - Hektor, Johan
AU - Raina, Deepak Bushan
AU - Tägil, Magnus
AU - Hall, Stephen A.
AU - Isaksson, Hanna
N1 - Funding Information: This research was funded by the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research (SSF) within the Swedish national graduate school in neutron scattering (SwedNess, GSn15-0008). The authors want to acknowledge the Institut Laue-Langevin, Grenoble, France for providing the beamtime at the NeXT-Grenoble beamline (doi:10.5291/ILL-DATA.UGA-31). This work was supported in part by The Centre for Quantification of Imaging Data from MAXIV (QIM) project at Lund University, and resources provided by the Swedish National Infrastructure for Computing (SNIC) atLUNARC (projects 2020/6-90 and 2020/11-30). Publisher Copyright: © 2021 Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine. Copyright: Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
N2 - The bone tissue formed at the contact interface with metallic implants, particularly its 3D microstructure, plays a pivotal role for the structural integrity of implant fixation. X-ray tomography is the classical imaging technique used for accessing microstructural information from bone tissue. However, neutron tomography has shown promise for visualising the immediate bone-metal implant interface, something which is highly challenging with x-rays due to large differences in attenuation between metal and biological tissue causing image artefacts. To highlight and explore the complementary nature of neutron and x-ray tomography, proximal rat tibiae with titanium-based implants were imaged with both modalities. The two techniques were compared in terms of visualisation of different material phases and by comparing the properties of the individual images, such as the contrast-to-noise ratio. After superimposing the images using a dedicated image registration algorithm, the complementarity was further investigated via analysis of the dual modality histogram, joining the neutron and x-ray data. From these joint histograms, peaks with well-defined grey value intervals corresponding to the different material phases observed in the specimens were identified and compared. The results highlight differences in how neutrons and x-rays interact with biological tissues and metallic implants, as well as the benefits of combining both modalities. Future refinement of the joint histogram analysis could improve the segmentation of structures and tissues, and yield novel information about specimen-specific properties such as moisture content.
AB - The bone tissue formed at the contact interface with metallic implants, particularly its 3D microstructure, plays a pivotal role for the structural integrity of implant fixation. X-ray tomography is the classical imaging technique used for accessing microstructural information from bone tissue. However, neutron tomography has shown promise for visualising the immediate bone-metal implant interface, something which is highly challenging with x-rays due to large differences in attenuation between metal and biological tissue causing image artefacts. To highlight and explore the complementary nature of neutron and x-ray tomography, proximal rat tibiae with titanium-based implants were imaged with both modalities. The two techniques were compared in terms of visualisation of different material phases and by comparing the properties of the individual images, such as the contrast-to-noise ratio. After superimposing the images using a dedicated image registration algorithm, the complementarity was further investigated via analysis of the dual modality histogram, joining the neutron and x-ray data. From these joint histograms, peaks with well-defined grey value intervals corresponding to the different material phases observed in the specimens were identified and compared. The results highlight differences in how neutrons and x-rays interact with biological tissues and metallic implants, as well as the benefits of combining both modalities. Future refinement of the joint histogram analysis could improve the segmentation of structures and tissues, and yield novel information about specimen-specific properties such as moisture content.
KW - dual-mode tomography
KW - image registration
KW - joint histogram
KW - phase segmentation
KW - rat tibia
U2 - 10.1088/1361-6560/ac02d4
DO - 10.1088/1361-6560/ac02d4
JO - Physics in Medicine and Biology
JF - Physics in Medicine and Biology
Törnquist E, Le Cann S, Tudisco E, Tengattini A, And E, Lenoir N et al. Dual modality neutron and x-ray tomography for enhanced image analysis of the bone-metal interface. Physics in Medicine and Biology. 2021 juli 7;66(13). 135016. https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6560/ac02d4


Friends of Sears Island invites you to join us for a fundraising dinner at Harborwalk Restaurant in Belfast, Wednesday, August 8th, from 5:00pm-9:00pm. Enjoy a delicious meal, and Harborwalk will graciously donate 10% of your tab to Friends of Sears Island to support conservation and education programs. This is a great opportunity to support a local business and a local nonprofit!
Harborwalk Restaurant is located at 37 Front Street in Belfast. A menu and more information about the restaurant can be found at http://www.frontstreetpub.com/, and reservations can be made by calling 207 338-0488. To learn more about Friends of Sears Island, visit www.friendsofsearsisland.org.


text:
Low Cost Vans unveils its first ever TV advertising campaign
Seren Global
Low Cost Vans has unveiled the launch of its first ever TV advertising campaign thanks to the SME Support Scheme from Sky Media.
Low Cost Vans is a leading UK van leasing and van contract hire company based in Skewen, Neath. In early 2020 the company launched two new businesses: First National Cars, which specialises in car leasing, and First Electric Vehicles, which will help and encourage its customers switch to environmentally friendly electric vehicles when their leases are due for renewal.
On the back of this and despite the coronavirus pandemic, the business has grown rapidly in the last 12 months, gaining an additional 10 staff including a new analyst, a new head of marketing and a new director of compliance. Its growth plans now include the recruitment of around eight new members of staff to further boost its existing team.
Rod Lloyd, Managing Director of Low Cost Vans, said:
"The impact of the coronavirus on local areas in South Wales has been huge and we wanted to focus on this through our advert storytelling. Low Cost Vans never shut its doors, we just stayed reactive and determined to put a best foot forward to support new and existing customers nationally and in Wales by home working and offering solutions for aspects of our business.
"Our main message to customers is that we are open and operational – Sky AdSmart has allowed us to do this by tapping into our target market on TV, something we had never done before. This seamless approach and on-hand contact for support has been something we've never experienced before. We'd like to say a big thank you to Sky AdSmart and Shutterstock for use of their library content."
Kate Johnson, Head of Marketing at Low Cost Vans, said:
"As an innovative, customer focused business we were keen to pursue organic forms of marketing that suited the tone and tempo of the current climate. We found out about the SME Scheme and applied straight away, determined to win a spot on Sky. When we got the news we'd actually secured a place we got to work right on delivering an advert that spoke to our core market and told the story of the struggles that COVID19 has caused for SME businesses, sole traders, communities and the like. We are overjoyed with the final product and the response we've had to our advert, we will definitely be using TV advertising in the future."
The campaign will be delivered via AdSmart from Sky, the market leading addressable TV platform, that easily enables brands to advertise on TV by focusing on the audiences that matter to them. This revolutionary technology means TV advertising campaigns can reach audiences across the country based on household make-up or thousands of lifestyle attributes, or a range of regionality options including postcode area and a drive-time distance from store. In only targeting audiences that matter to the business, brands can be assured that their advertising will be relevant, accessible and drive business results.
The SME Support Scheme was launched by Sky Media to support the nation's businesses and get them back on track following the unparalleled disruption caused by Coronavirus. Due to overwhelming interest, the scheme was extended to a further 150 businesses providing a total investment by Sky Media of £2.5 million.
David Sanderson, Director of AdSmart Local & Development at Sky Media, said:
"SMEs have a voracious appetite for targeted TV advertising at the moment. As lockdown eases more brands are returning to TV every day and advertising via AdSmart allows companies to reach their target audiences and help establish a new form of business confidence."
Tags: Low Cost Vans, Sky AdSmart
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HUMANITY, POLITICS & YOU
Business & New Markets
You are at:Home»World News»Female Empowerment in Pakistan
Female Empowerment in Pakistan
By Staff Reports on November 1, 2019 World News
SEATTLE, Washington — Pakistan ranks second lowest in the world for gender equality, placing at number 148 out of 149 countries. The nation ranked 146 in economic participation and opportunity and 97th in political empowerment. In an effort to work towards greater female empowerment in Pakistan, international humanitarian organizations are working with Pakistani women. Organizations UNDP and U.N. Women are creating initiatives to support greater political and economic equality.
UNDP Supports High Altitude Farming
In the Pakistan territory of Gilgit-Baltistan, harsh mountain terrain makes it difficult for families to grow enough food to support themselves. It becomes especially difficult in the winter. In response, UNDP came up with a solution that helps tackle food insecurity and empower women. It has provided tunnel farms that are owned and run by local women. Tunnel farms are plastic, hooped greenhouses that protect crops from winter weather. These farms give the region access to fresh vegetables throughout all seasons.
By placing the tunnel farms in the hands of women, UNDP is supporting economic empowerment for women in the region. The women are able to make money for themselves and their families by selling the vegetables they grow in local markets. Between January and April 2019, these women were able to grow approximately 16,500 seedlings in the tunnels. Each tunnel earned approximately $247 for its produce. This income supports women, families and communities. The tunnels are an important step toward greater female empowerment in Pakistan.
UNDP Provides Training to Rural Women
In the Sultan Shah village in the Noshki district of Pakistan, UNDP is taking a different approach to helping women become economically empowered. The district suffers from severe poverty. Women often need to find employment to make ends meet for their families. Due to a lack of employment opportunities in the village, many need to travel long distances to find work.
Bibi Hajra, a recent widow, walked hours each day to be a domestic worker for wealthier families and was still not making enough to adequately support her family. She stated, "The houses where I worked were a long distance away from my own home. Each day, by the time I reached the neighbourhood, I was already exhausted — my actual job of cleaning the houses still lay ahead of me," she said.
In response to the difficulties faced by these women, UNDP supported a stitching center to train women in marketable embroidery and sewing skills. Though this initiative is on a fairly small scale, it reflects the importance of addressing the specific needs of women in different contexts. The stitching center has had a significant impact on women in the Sultan Shah village. Bibi Hajra now making enough money to adequately support her family without traveling.
U.N. Women Fights for Equal Employment Opportunities
U.N. Women is also committed to supporting female empowerment in Pakistan. Recently, they worked with the local energy company Engro Energy Limited (EEL) to ensure equal employment opportunities for women in Sindh, Pakistan. Being rich in natural resources, there has been a lot of development for local energy companies over the past few years. This has increased employment opportunities for both men and women. Women are now working "unconventional" jobs, including transport, entrepreneurship and engineering.
EEL has committed to supporting female employment by signing the "Women's Empowerment Principles." These principles formally agree to help women participate fully and equally in the job force. It is important to note that the company had already set a precedent for supporting women and giving them equal job opportunities. Many women have been working as truck drivers for the company. The agreement is another way to continuing EEL's commitment.
One woman, Rukhsana, has benefited greatly from truck driving. She stated, "Through this driving training, I gained the strength and courage to face the world," She added that the income has had a significant impact on her family's well being, allowing her sons to attend school. She hopes to provide them will better opportunities in the future by enabling them to go to college. EEL hopes to recruit more female truck drivers and give them an opportunity to become economically empowered.
Women in Struggle for Empowerment
While giving women economic opportunities is undoubtedly a crucial step in achieving female empowerment in Pakistan, other initiatives take a different approach. Women in Struggle for Empowerment (WISE) was formed in 2001. It focuses on ensuring women are able to participate in the political process. Many women, particularly those in rural areas, are unable to vote because they have never registered for their National Identity Cards. In response to this, Bushra Khaliq, the leader of WISE, holds political participation workshops for rural women.
WISE is led by Pakistani women who have banded together to fight for social change. The women who attend the workshops are encouraged to defy pressure from their families and obtain a legal identity so that they can register to vote. To make this process easier, Khaliq brings in mobile vans that can register women for identity cards. In one district, they were able to get identification cards for 7,000 of 20,000 unregistered women.
Khaliq's efforts accompany legal changes, including a 2017 law that requires a 10 percent female voter turnout in each district for the count to be legitimate. In 2018, there were 3.8 million newly registered Pakistani women voters. WISE is working to ensure even more women will be voting in the coming years.
These initiatives are crucial steps in working towards greater female empowerment in Pakistan. International humanitarian organizations like UNDP and U.N. Women along with local businesses and innovative Pakistani women must continue to develop initiatives that will improve the lives of women across Pakistan.
– Sara Olk
Photo: Flickr
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BORGEN Magazine is an initiative of The Borgen Project.
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1. Email Congress
2. Call Congress
3. Give
BORGEN Magazine is produced by The Borgen Project, an influential humanitarian organization working to make global poverty a focus of U.S. foreign policy.
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It may take another couple of years before Ahmadinejad has a nuclear device and a delivery system. The capabilities of the Iranian armed forces are not that great. They fought a war with a 'third grade' army in Iraq and after years of fighting and the loss of millions, got no where. Where as it took the US only a couple of days to defeat the Iraqi armed forces. Therefore, we should not give much credence to the fighting forces of Iran. We could take them on in one morning and grant them a humiliating defeat.
Ahamdinejad's verbosity is like an empty drum, just making noise.
To compare him to Hitler is far fetched. Hitler had a very strong military and had a first class industrialized country backing him.. Ahamedinejad's mentality may be equal to Hitler's but his country is third world status.They cannot even repair their planes, as they have no spare parts. Ahamdinejad has no intelligence or substance and have no idea about the capabilities of the Israeli forces or for that matter of the US forces.


Mobile World Capital Barcelona is an initiative driving the digital advancement of society while helping improve people's lives globally.
With the support of the public and private sector, MWCapital focuses on four areas: the acceleration of innovation through digital entrepreneurship, the transformation of industries through digital technology, the rise of digital talent among new generations and professionals, and the reflection on the impact of technology in our society. Collectively, our programmes are positively transforming the economy, education and society.
MWCapital hosts MWC in Barcelona and founded 4 Years From Now (4YFN), the startup business platform, present at MWC events around the world.
An open portal for the publication of the information required by Spanish legislation regarding to transparency, access to information, and good governance. Here you can find all the Foundation's information related to the institution, its legal framework, as well as the economic and administrative reports and data.
Mobile World Capital Barcelona is interested in inviting the most talented professionals to join our team. We are a group of innovative and result-oriented young people who are passionate about the digital world. Do you want to join us?


The Alma Technologies SHA256 core is a high performance implementation of the SHA-256 (Secure Hash Algorithm 2 with 256 bits digest) one-way cryptographic hash function, compliant with FIPS 180-2. The core is composed of two main units, the SHA256 Engine and the Padding Unit. The SHA256 Engine applies the SHA256 loops on a single 512-bit message block, while the Padding Unit splits the input message into 512-bit blocks and performs the message padding on the last block of the message.
The SHA256 core is equipped with easy-to-use fully stallable interfaces both for input and output. These are designed to permit the user's application to stop the data stream from the core when it is not able to receive data or to stop the input stream towards the core according to data arrival rate.


The MP made a self-portrait in the form of a cake.
By Laura Harding, Press Association Senior Entertainment Correspondent Mark Ronson has said he is keeping his schedule clear in case he gets the call from Miley Cyrus to join her on stage at Glastonbury.
Aoife Kelly James Holzhauer has just surpassed the $1m (€892,000) mark on US game show Jeopardy! after a record-breaking 14 show run.


South Portland, ME – Despite a herculean effort by Pietro Badalassi and superb bench play, the Mustangs dropped their second game in the Yankee Tournament by an 82-74 score to SMCC.
CM has been banged up with injuries and illnesses for the past three weeks. Bad news, good news--with sharpshooter Josh Cote sidelined with a knee problem, Pietro Badalassi came back from three weeks of intense rehab on his sprained ankle. Even playing at 60%, Pietro gave the Mustangs an emotional lift that carried the squad the first half. CM went to the locker room down 41-40 at the half.
SMCC veterans John Morgan and Chase Soares hit shot after shot for the SeaWolves including Soares hitting three straight threes in the last five minutes of the game to break open a tie contest.
The Mustangs battled all game with great bench play from Kionno Nelson, Charles Cedre, Jon Moore, Nick Bagley, and Anthony York. All made solid contributions with Nelson hitting key shots keeping CM close all game. Cedre was a key on both sides of the ball, hitting for 10 points but making great defensive plays all game.
Cornellius Lawhorn led the Mustangs with 16 points on a 6-10 shooting performance. Lawhorn also played on a tore up ankle from the previous day. Nelson was 4-7 from long range hitting for 14 points.
For the four seniors, Badalassi, York, Moore, and Rob Skinner, this was their last game in a CM uniform. We will be putting together a season summery soon to highlight the year.
CM finished the year 20-12 and is eliminated from the Yankee Playoffs and out of USCAA Tournament consideration.


7 August 2015 | Dark Heresy 2nd Ed.
Fantasy Flight Games is proud to announce Enemies Without, a new supplement for Dark Heresy Second Edition!
New threats gnaw incessantly at the borders of the Imperium. Despite countless righteous Wars of Purgation, the xenos threat grows in the Askellon sector. Unthinking Orks ravage countless worlds. The enigmatic Eldar slay innocents without reason or mercy. Dark Eldar take slaves to a fate worse than death, while the monstrous Tyranids devour a path wherever their Hive Fleets roam. These hideous xenos are an affront to the Emperor's rule, and no true servant of the Imperium can rest while even one remains within the sector.
Against these terrifying aliens, these unfeeling and monstrous beings, there stands only the bright shield of the Ordo Xenos. These noble hunters of the Inquisition safeguard the worlds of the Imperium, protecting thousands of human lives from horrors as obscene and perfidious as any daemon spawned from the Warp. Now, with the Enemies Without supplement for Dark Heresy Second Edition, you and your fellow Acolytes can take your places as members of the Ordo Xenos and stand against the heresy brought by these aliens from their strange stars.
In Enemies Without, you'll find a host of details on the xenos species inherent to the Askellon sector. Whether you're turning aside a host of blood-hungry Orks, defending humanity against Kroot expansionism, or batting the biologically-engineered killing machines of the Tyranids, Enemies Without gives Game Masters the information they need to bring these xenos species to life in any investigation.
It's not just the living alien races that pose a threat to the Imperium's safety though. The Askellon sector is old, almost beyond measure, and riddled with the remains of lost civilizations and forgotten xenos cultures. Even when their occupants are long dead, the cities and holy places of these deceased xenos can prove deadly. Dark relics and proscribed artefacts from these ancient places may spread heresy and corruption, even while arcane texts open the door to the spread of Chaos. These same relics have inspired a massive underworld business – the Faceless Trade. Members of the Faceless Trade acquire and sell these xenos artefacts, spreading heresy into the cities of the Imperium as surely as any vile cult. You and the other Acolytes of the Ordo Xenos must find and stop the Faceless Trade wherever it manifests – in addition to destroying all traces of the xenos races in the Askellon sector.
For the more radical Acolytes among you, an expanded armory offers a host of xenos weaponry for you to examine, research, and perhaps use against its owners. Alongside digi-weapons and Desoleum Power Blades, you'll find Shuriken Catapults, Kroot rifles, and a collection of weapons made by no xenos yet known in the Askellon sector. The most radical Acolytes may even fight fire with fire by hiring bands of xenos mercenaries to combat greater threats!
Enemies Without brings more than an advancing tide of foul xenos to test your resolve. It also equips the warriors of your ordo with new vehicles for any situation. For the first time, you can pilot aerospace vehicles to engage in aerial combat, long-range reconnaissance, or transport to voidships. In addition, you may drive off-road in an Aelurus Heavy Trike or attack the foes of the Imperium in a heavily armoured Sentinel walker.
Naturally, with a focus on new and powerful vehicles, you or one of your fellow Acolytes may want to focus his service on driving, maintaining, and fighting in vehicles. To this end, Enemies Without introduces a new role for Acolytes to take: the Ace. As the Ace, you're an unparalleled pilot – more at home in the cockpit of a vehicle than outside. Whether you're tracking a Dark Eldar raiding party at high speed or gunning down swarms of Tyranids, the Ace can be a crucial addition to any group of Acolytes.
With a new role, new home worlds, new backgrounds, and an armoury full of new weapons – both Imperial and xenos in origin – your Acolytes will be well-equipped to battle the countless threats that assault the borders of the Imperium. Your quest will not be easy. For every wicked xenos creature slain in glorious battle, three more slip past your defenses into the undefended regions of the Askellon sector. Your vigilance must be constant; your justice must be merciless.
Join the Ordo Xenos. Look for Enemies Without at your local retailer in the fourth quarter of 2015.


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OpenInvest
Invest with your values
11 - 25 employees
< 10 engineers
$10m - $25m funding
OpenInvest is a fast growing early stage fintech company backed by major VCs. Our mission is to overhaul financial systems and align capital with social and environmental values. As one of the first companies to combine algorithmic investing with sustainable and responsible investment, we stand apart for the transparency, usability and customizability of the portfolios created on our platform. We are growing to meet new demand in both the B2C and B2B (and B2B2C) spaces.
Through our values and technology, we plan to create the next great disruption in finance. We are a Public Benefit Corporation and are supported in our mission by some of the biggest names in Silicon Valley.
Senior Software Engineer San Francisco, CA, United States
Mission driven. We're looking to help people invest in values they care about, supporting the companies that are driving social change (and defunding those that stand in it's way). We do that while helping people invest in their own financial future. We believe our product has the potential to make a real difference. Join a small, passionate team that is moving fast to change things for the better.
Experienced founding team and investors. Our technology co-founders are experts in the financial field. Our CTO previously co-founded Deliveroo, a startup now valued at over $2 billion. We're funded by Y-Combinator, Andreesen Horowitz and QED.
Tremendous business growth. We're currently managing the investments of an Australian superannuation fund, in a pilot with a large European bank and expand our sales into institutions all over the US.
Engineering at OpenInvest
Engineering team and processes
We meet on a daily basis to sync our efforts and make sure we keep our priorities on track. We're still small enough to enjoy collaboration on all parts of our technology, and we value teamwork.
We've used trello but are considering moving to Jira and Confluence.
Working on the core trading algorithms is an interesting challenge. Our back-end is written in Python and our front end in React as well as React-Native. We use GraphQL for middleware.
Product challenges - adding new features, and we continue to have a lot of UX/UI challenges as new features are launched. We're looking for people to take ownership of these product decisions and launches.
Projects you might work on
Financial analytics dashboard - a React app that demonstrates to customers a real-time analysis of their portfolio; returns, social impact, relative indicators versus benchmark
Working at OpenInvest
OpenInvest's core principles are integrity and transparency. We aim to grow a culture just as open and accountable as our products. We encourage you to give and receive earnest and constructive feedback. As part of our team, you are willing to work hard, handle various responsibilities as necessary, and be passionate about long-term company-wide goals.
OpenInvest is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We're striving to build a workplace that is diverse in its ideas, backgrounds, identities, and orientations. We are able to best support that through an environment that is positive and mutually supportive, without sacrificing truth, rapid personal development, and excellence. Through direct and honest feedback, we can foster each employee's development to her full potential. Through transparency, we can ensure that OpenInvest's growth is always based on true value creation.
We offer free lunch, breakfast foods, coffee and other drinks, snacks, and at times homemade kombucha. We love a good bakery order on Friday mornings.
We love dogs. We love cats too, but they're not so great at not lying on top of keyboards/knocking over your coffee mug.
We tend to work from 10am to 6pm, but we are flexible about when you'd like to come in and when you'd like to head home!
We offer full medical, dental and vision, through both Anthem Blue Cross and Kaiser.
OpenInvest is committed to providing healthy options for those with dietary restrictions. There is a small gym in our building.
Maternal/Paternal Leave
New parents are entitled (after a period of work with OpenInvest) to 12 weeks of fully paid new parent bonding leave.
From happy hours to mini golf outings to after-lunch rounds of bananagrams, we're always looking for new ways to help team members grow and maintain connections.
Generous Vacation
OpenInvest offers a flexible vacation policy.
OpenInvest subsidizes commuting on public transportation up to $256 per month.
Our Team by the Numbers
https://www.wsj.com/articles/robo-advisers-latest-foray-socially-responsible-investing-1497697212
https://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21731640-millennials-are-coming-money-and-want-invest-it-responsibly-sustainable