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Frequency of Preseptal Cellulitis and Its Risk Factors in Patients Admitted to Two Educational Hospitals in Tehran, Iran, During 2014 - 2015
Simin Dokht Shoaei 1 , Shabnam Tehrani 2 , * and Zahra Arab-Mazar 2
1 Assistant Professor, Infectious Disease Specialist, Clinical Research and Development Center, Imam Hossein Hospital, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran
2 Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran
* Corresponding author: Shabnam Tehrani, Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran. E-mail: tehrani.shabnam89@yahoo.com
International Journal of Infection: April 2017, 4 (2); e42112
Received: September 27, 2016
To Cite: Shoaei S D, Tehrani S, Arab-Mazar Z. Frequency of Preseptal Cellulitis and Its Risk Factors in Patients Admitted to Two Educational Hospitals in Tehran, Iran, During 2014 - 2015, Int J Infect. 2017 ; 4(2):e42112. doi: 10.5812/iji.42112.
Background: The orbital septum is a membranous sheet acting as the anterior boundary of the orbit. Preseptal cellulitis is a kind of an infection of the eyelid and portions of skin around the eye, anterior to the orbital septum. Preseptal cellulitis is different from orbital cellulitis in epidemiology, etiology and treatment of choice. The current study aimed to evaluate the frequency of major risk factors of preseptal cellulitis.
Methods: This descriptive prospective study was conducted on 40 patients with preseptal cellulitis admitted to two educational hospitals in Tehran, Iran, during 2014 - 2015. Epidemiologic and clinical findings of the patients with CT scan documented preseptal cellulitis were recorded as risk factors and complete history of trauma. All the patients were scanned for sinus involvement (axial and coronal paranasal sinus CT scan). Complete physical exam for cutaneouse lesions predisposing to preseptal cellulitis as varicella was performed. Blood samples were cultured. Data were analyzed using the SPSS Software version 20.
Results: During the study period, 40 patients including 21 females and 19 males with preseptal cellulitis were studied. The mean age of the patients was 38.95 ± 16.20 years. The most common underlying factors was trauma (57.5% of the patients) following sinusitis (25%) with the ethmoid sinus being the most common involved sinus. Ophtalmic Zoster, dacryocystitis and hordeolum were predisposing factors in 17.5% of the cases. Most cases occurred in spring (47.5%) and the least in summer (5%).
Conclusions: Sinusitis was the most common predisposing factor of preseptal cellulitis in previous studies, but in this study trauma was the most common one. Recognition of major risk factors of preseptal cellulitis can be effective in planning the treatment of choice in preseptal cellulitis in different communities.
Keywords: Orbital Septum; Preseptal Cellulitis; Risk Factor; Trauma; Sinusitis
One of the most common infections of the eyelid and periorbital soft tissues is preseptal cellulitis that is characterized by acute eyelid erythema and edema (1). Primary sources of infection can be local skin trauma, sinus infections or penetrating trauma, specifically those involving the ethmoid sinus (2, 3). Most of the time, this kind of bacterial infection results from local spread of an adjacent sinusitis or dacryocystitis, from an external ocular infection, or following trauma to the eyelids (4). Fever is typically observed, however conjunctival hyperemia is typically absent (2). Preseptal cellulitis may progress to form subperiosteal and orbital abscesses and spread posterior to the septum. Cavernous sinus thrombosis or meningitis could be the result of infection in the orbit and spread posteriorly (5). The most common organisms are Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Streptococcus species, and anaerobes, which are reflecting the bacteria that usually cause upper respiratory tract infections and external eyelid infections (3).
Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Treponema pallidum, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Bacteroides species, and fungal infections are rare causative organisms (6, 7).
During last decades, in 1985, Haemophilus influenzae was the most common organism isolated in blood cultures before the introduction of the Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) polysaccharide vaccine (8, 9).
Various antibiotic regimens have been used for the treatment of preseptal cellulitis infection such as ampicillin, cefuroxime, ampicillin with sulbactam, ampicillin and nafcillin and ampicillin and chloramphenicol (6).
Similar symptoms have been observed in patients with preseptal or orbital cellulitis, such as eye pain, periorbital swelling, and/or fever. Differentiation between the 2 infections is very important since the treatment for each is different. The aim of this study was to evaluate risk factors in patients with preseptal cellulitis admitted to two educational hospitals in Tehran, Iran.
This descriptive prospective study was conducted on patients with preseptal cellulitis hospitalized at the Imam Hossein and Labaffi-Nejad hospitals during 2014 - 2015.
The clinical features, diagnosis and risk factors were entered on a specially-designed proforma. The risk factors included trauma, symptoms, examination findings, treatment and CT scan reports. Odd ratio and P-values were calculated for potential risk factors. Statistical analysis was performed using the SPSS software version 20.
During the study period, 40 patients who were diagnosed with preseptal cellulitis were identified. The mean age was 38.95 years. Nineteen patients (47%) were males, and 21 (53%) were females.
While in the orbital area, cellulitis with paranasal has a close relationship with sinus and upper respiratory disease, a seasonal distribution paralleling that of upper respiratory tract infections might be expected. Figure 1 shows the seasonal distribution of the participants. The higher frequency was observed in winter and spring.
Figure 1. Peaks Occurred in Winter and Spring
3.1. Predisposing Factors
In our study, trauma (insect bite and blunt trauma) and sinusitis were the most common predisposing factors. Table 1 shows the associated diseases of our participants.
Table 1. Associated Diseases of the Patients
Predisposing Factors
Trauma 23 (57.5) < 0.05
Insect bite 15 (65)
Blunt trauma 8 (35)
Sinusitis 10 (25) < 0.05
Ophtalmic zoster 4 (10) < 0.001
Dacryocystitis 2 (5) < 0.001
Hordeolum 1 (2.5) < 0.001
One of the most common underlying diseases was sinusitis, which was present in 25% of the preseptal cellulitis cases with the ethmoid sinus being the most common involved sinus (Table 2).
Table 2. Percentages of Involved Sinuses
Involved Sinus
Ethmoid 4 (40)
Maxillary 2 (20)
Ethmoid + Maxillary 4 (40)
The most commonly used antibiotics included vancomycin, ceftriaxone, cefazolin, ceftazidime, metronidazole, ampicillin/sulbactam and acyclovire. The Figures 2 - 4 show the numbers treated with the various antibiotics used in case of trauma, sinusitis, ophtalmic zoster, dacryocystitis and hordeolum.
Figure 2. Number of Patients Treated With Antibiotics
Preseptal cellulitis is a distinct disorder that explains an infection of the eyelid and superficial periorbital soft tissues, which do not involve the globe and orbit (10). One of the most common ocular diseases is a cellulitis in the orbital area, relatively. It can usually be treated effectively with antibiotics. Rapid diagnosis is very necessary, since a delay in detection, diagnosis and management can cause serious complications such as vision loss, cavernous sinus thrombosis, meningitis, and sepsis.
Preseptal cellulitis and orbital cellulitis can both present with increasing swelling, tenderness and redness around the eye, but their management differs. Preseptal cellulitis is more common and much less aggressive than orbital cellulitis (11). Preseptal cellulitis characterizes a cellulitis of the tissues localized anterior to the orbital septum. This distinction is important, as orbital cellulitis, while less common, may be associated with significant visual and life-threatening sequelae, including optic neuropathy, encephalomeningitis, cavernous sinus thrombosis, sepsis, and intracranial abscess formation (12).
In this study, we provided a systematic approach to distinguish preseptal cellulitis associated risk factors, which can be potentially lifesaving.
Another important sources of infection are contiguous spread of infection from the soft tissues of the face and ocular adnexa and could result from trauma, foreign bodies, insect bites, skin infections (impetigo), eyelid lesions (chalazia, hordeola), and iatrogenic causes such as eyelid and oral procedures (13).
Ferguson et al. (14) explained that a seasonal variation in orbital cellulitis was attributable to the increased incidence of upper respiratory tract infection and paranasal sinusitis in the same seasons of the year. In our pediatric patients who have orbital cellulitis, this inclination in winter was typically demonstrated. In addition, in other research, there were also smaller peaks in winter or spring, showed a seasonal preference of cellulitis in the orbital area.
Multiple factors can cause preseptal cellulitis, the following are common ones: having ocular trauma, paranasal sinusitis, upper respiratory tract infection, acute or chronic otitis, and dental origin (15, 16). Interestingly, in our series, the most common predisposing factors of preseptal cellulitis were trauma and sinusitis. Decaryocystitis and hordeolum were relatively minor factors. According to guidelines perceptual cellulitis due to sinusitis should be treated with antibitics active against S. pnemonia, H. influenza, and S. sureus. On the other hand, on case of perseptual cellulitis due to secondory infection of skin lesion antibiotics that are also active against group A streptococcus and S. aureus and sometimes MRSA. Especially in Staphylococcus and Streptococcus species, selection of antibiotic is completely directed towards causative agents of sinusitis and trauma, which can be considered as the predisposing factors of preseptal cellulitis (17).
In conclusion, preseptal cellulitis is more prevalent in age of 40; a seasonal preference of winter and spring has been explained in our patients. In our study, the most common predisposing factor was trauma, while other studies focus more on sinusitis factor.
The authors would like to thank all of the participants in this study for their friendly cooperation. Also, authors wish to express their gratitude to Dr. A. Ferdosipour, department of ophthalmology, for his support and guidance.
Financial Disclosure: The authors have no financial or other conflict of interest to declare.
1. Mitchell R, Kelly J, Wagner J. Bilateral orbital complications of pediatric rhinosinusitis. Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2002; 128(8): 971-4[PubMed]
2. Barkin RM, Todd JK, Amer J. Periorbital cellulitis in children. Pediatrics. 1978; 62(3): 390-2[PubMed]
3. Carlisle RT, Fredrick GT. Preseptal and orbital cellulitis. Hospital Phys. 2006; 42: 15-9
4. Lim LT, Miller D, Ah-Kee EY, Ferguson A. Preseptal Cellulitis or Orbital Cellulitis? West Indian Med J. 2015; 65(1)
5. Ginat DT, Glass LR, Yanoga F, Lee NG, Freitag SK. Lacrimal gland abscess presenting with preseptal cellulitis depicted on CT. J Ophthalmic Inflamm Infect. 2016; 6(1): 1[DOI][PubMed]
6. Schramm VL Jr, Curtin HD, Kennerdell JS. Evaluation of orbital cellulitis and results of treatment. Laryngoscope. 1982; 92(7 Pt 1): 732-8[PubMed]
7. Raja NS, Singh NN. Bilateral orbital cellulitis due to Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Staphylococcus aureus: a previously unreported case. J Med Microbiol. 2005; 54: 609-11[DOI][PubMed]
8. Adams WG, Deaver KA, Cochi SL, Plikaytis BD, Zell ER, Broome CV, et al. Decline of childhood Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) disease in the Hib vaccine era. JAMA. 1993; 269(2): 221-6[PubMed]
9. Ambati BK, Ambati J, Azar N, Stratton L, Schmidt EV. Periorbital and orbital cellulitis before and after the advent of Haemophilus influenzae type B vaccination. Ophthalmology. 2000; 107(8): 1450-3[PubMed]
10. Chaudhry IA, Shamsi FA, Elzaridi E, Al-Rashed W, Al-Amri A, Al-Anezi F, et al. Outcome of treated orbital cellulitis in a tertiary eye care center in the middle East. Ophthalmology. 2007; 114(2): 345-54[DOI][PubMed]
11. Babar TF, Zaman M, Khan MN, Khan MD. Risk factors of preseptal and orbital cellulitis. J Coll Physicians Surg Pak. 2009; 19(1): 39-42[PubMed]
12. Yeh CH, Chen WC, Lin MS, Huang HT, Chao SC, Lo YC. Intracranial brain abscess preceded by orbital cellulitis and sinusitis. J Craniofac Surg. 2010; 21(3): 934-6[DOI][PubMed]
13. Cox NH, Knowles MA, Porteus ID. Pre-septal cellulitis and facial erysipelas due to Moraxella species. Clin Exp Dermatol. 1994; 19(4): 321-3[PubMed]
14. Ferguson MP, McNab AA. Current treatment and outcome in orbital cellulitis. Aust N Z J Ophthalmol. 1999; 27(6): 375-9[PubMed]
15. Jain A, Rubin PA. Orbital cellulitis in children. Int Ophthalmol Clin. 2001; 41(4): 71-86[PubMed]
16. Givner LB. Periorbital versus orbital cellulitis. Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2002; 21(12): 1157-8[DOI][PubMed]
17. Howe L, Jones NS. Guidelines for the management of periorbital cellulitis/abscess. Clin Otolaryngol Allied Sci. 2004; 29(6): 725-8[DOI][PubMed]
Simin Dokht Shoaei: [PubMed] [Scholar]
Shabnam Tehrani: [PubMed] [Scholar]
Zahra Arab-Mazar: [PubMed] [Scholar]


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The Oxford/Whitney Historic District walk will be led by Mary LaPorte, who has lived in the West End for many years. It will begin at the United Methodist Church of Hartford (571 Farmington Avenue, at the corner of South Whitney Street), where participants will be welcomed by Rev. Cynthia Major, pastor, who will talk about the vital and multidimensional role the Church plays in the community. The walk will then proceed along Whitney Street, Elizabeth Street, Oxford Street, and Fern Street. It will also includes stops at Noah Webster School and Elizabeth Park, as well as "I Spy" and musicians along the way.
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The Nishi System is a methodology for the maintenance and recovery of good health that was first introduced in 1927 by Katsuzo Nishi, who at the time was the chief technical engineer for Japan's first subway project, the Tokyo subway.
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France's proposed 3 percent tax on digital companies discriminates mainly against U.S. companies, a senior Treasury official said. The U.S. is considering trade action in response.
Photographer: Damien Meyer/AFP/Getty Images
U.S. Weighs Trade Action Over French Digital Tax, Official Says
Posted March 12, 2019, 4:19 PM
Tax discriminates against U.S. companies, Treasury's Harter says
Predicts OECD consensus may not be reached until end of 2020
A senior U.S. Treasury official said the country is reviewing how it will respond to France's proposed tax on digital companies, which it says is highly discriminatory against the U.S.
The French government estimates that the 3 percent tax on businesses with 750 million euros ($846 million) in worldwide digital revenue and 25 million euros of French digital sales would net around 30 tech giants, mostly from the U.S.
"Various parts of our government are studying whether the discriminatory impact would give us rights under trade agreements," Chip Harter, deputy assistant secretary for international tax affairs at the Treasury Department's Office of Tax Policy, said March 12.
The discriminatory impact of the French proposal on U.S. companies could be raised under the World Trade Organization, trade agreements, and treaties, Harter said.
Harter made the comments ahead of a March 13-14 digital tax meeting of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in Paris.
Companies such as Alphabet Inc.'s Google, Amazon Inc., Facebook Inc., and Apple Inc. that would be affected by the French digital tax would have to pay their tax bills in October 2019.
Doubts on OECD Consensus This Year
France's proposed digital tax is an interim measure ahead of an international consensus being considered through the efforts of the OECD.
But Harter said he doesn't expect the OECD to reach a consensus on taxing the digital economy by the end of 2019. "I don't think the OECD will be done by the end of the year, and we are hoping to achieve the broad outlines of an agreement together with a working plan on how to achieve it with all the technical issues that will need to be studied by June, but it will still be a "work in progress," he said.
Any solution that the OECD ends up choosing will not be in a workable position until the end of 2020, he added.
His views contrast with France's finance minister, Bruno Le Maire, who has said he expects consensus by the end of the year.
Harter also reiterated the U.S. position that the preferred solution would be to tax the digital economy by making changes to international tax rules for marketing intangibles, under which part of a multinational's above-normal profits would be allocated to the countries where consumers are.
"The U.S. is opposed to any digital services tax proposals," Harter said. "We believe that they are ill conceived, given that user participation is just not a sound basis for taxing companies, given that the users are unrelated parties and that their input is purchased on barter basis when they get a free service."
The EU's efforts to impose a 3 percent tax on the revenue of digital giants reached an impasse in December 2018, when several countries, including Ireland and Finland, vetoed the idea. The EU has tried to revive the effort with a second, watered-down version that narrows the scope of the tax to advertising revenue earned after 2022.
To contact the reporter on this story: Hamza Ali in Paris at hali@bloombergtax.com
First French Digital Tax Payment Due in October (1)
French Digital Tax Proposal Puts Tech Giants on Notice


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Opinion | Social Affairs
Fighting Against The Culture Of Disbelief And Denial
Cathy Kezelman
As the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse comes to a head, a series of articles have been published by Australian media to cast disbelief over the credibility of child sexual abuse victims, writes Dr Cathy Kezelman, president of Blue Knot Foundation.
Cathy Kezelman | 7 December 2017 at 8:12 am
As a nation, as governments, as institutions, and as individuals we must fight against the culture of disbelief and denial.
The commission will deliver its final report to the federal government next week, and then close. That report will outline how tens of thousands of children were sexually abused within as many as 4,000 institutions, and how those victims were often repeatedly victimised when they sought understanding, support and justice.
Many victims spoke at the commission, and when they did, Australia listened. In speaking, they put the crime of child sexual abuse, a crime most commonly hidden, secret and largely denied, under a national spotlight. The commission has made, to date, 2,402 referrals to authorities, including the police. Some of those allegations have progressed through the justice system and alleged perpetrators are appearing in court. Some are high profile and the eyes of Australia are on them.
In late October the Minister for Social Services Christian Porter tabled legislation in federal parliament outlining the framework for a Commonwealth redress scheme, the first step towards a truly national redress scheme, as recommended by the commission.
It is now incumbent on all charities, churches and governments to opt into the scheme, to not only own up to and accept their moral responsibility, but to also ensure a fair and equitable scheme is in place, which doesn't cause further harm to survivors of child sexual abuse.
The political stakes are high but so too are the moral imperatives. Last month Australia was elected unopposed to the United Nations' Human Rights Council, the membership of which necessitates the honouring of every citizen's rights, including the additional right of children to special protection from exploitation and abuse.
As a nation, governments and institutions, we must embody the principles of mutual respect and fair treatment if we are to measure up to our international obligations and a worthy moral compass.
Those principles were transgressed when children's rights were violated and when, so often blamed for their own victimhood, the victims were devalued and disrespected.
This pervasive culture of denial and disbelief repeatedly dismissed, ostracised and punished those who attempted to shine a light on the dark underbelly of abusive reality, including upon the victims themselves.
Over the last five years the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has modelled the transparency, justice and accountability which empowered victims to have a voice. In so doing it scrutinised structures of power and hierarchy and uncovered countless systems of abuse, rife with denial by perpetrators, leaders and institutional personnel.
As individuals, as governments and as a nation we must hold fast to the excellent work of the commission. We must ensure we as a nation uphold the human rights of children and victims. We must unite alongside victims, their families, friends and communities and we must do this to build pathways to recovery and to heal as individuals and as a nation.
About the author: Dr Cathy Kezelman is the president of the Blue Knot Foundation, the leading national organisation for adult survivors of childhood trauma. She is a prominent voice in Australia helping to drive systemic change towards justice, informed support and recovery for survivors. Kezelman is currently an active member of the Mental Health Community Advisory Council (NSW) and the Commonwealth Redress Advisory Council, and has been instrumental to the child abuse royal commission's counselling framework.
Cathy Kezelman | @ProBonoNews
Dr Cathy Kezelman is CEO of the Blue Knot Foundation
Tags : Blue Knot Foundation, Dr Cathy Kezelman, Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse,


I have tried sending you a message via your website but I got an auto response saying it was not delivered for some bizarre reason, so here goes again!
As mentioned in my previous message, I would like to contribute an article to your blog on UK and EU vape laws. I used to work for a vape shop in London some time ago and I have picked up quite some knowledge on the TPD laws. I have also talked about the vape laws in some other European countries (the ones I am knowledgeable about at least).
Whilst writing this article, I contacted a couple of websites to get some references to substantiate the article and back up some claims with personal anecdotes. I am sorry but I did not have the time to get any images so it would be great if you could add some that you deem appropriate.
Just in case you want to add a bio to the article, I have cobbled together this blurb about myself.
Tony is a vaping enthusiast who is currently vaping Blueberry Donut by Marina Vape. Tony used to work for a vape shop based in Shoreditch, London. He enjoys attending vape expos and spending quality time with his wife Melinda, three kids and two dogs in the rural settings of Kent.
I will write up a few more articles as and when I get some downtime at work - it is crazy busy after the festive season!
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I have just opened my own vape company and we are basically making our own e-juice and reselling other juices to vape shops.
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I was checking out scichan.org and I have a quick question I thought you might know about.
I am currently working with some of the biggest vape wholesalers, MOD makers, e-juice brands and vape shops. I am sure that you have heard of them all or seen them at most vape expos. To put it bluntly, I know what works and what doesn't. I now know the vape industry like the back of my hand.
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Of course you do. I found scichan.org today.
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The vape industry has grown exponentially since 2012. It all started off with the ego starter kits, then progressed to dripping and subohming and now we seem to have reached the heights of nicotine salts, shortfill e-liquids, CBD and Juul devices. Thousands of brick-and-mortar vape shops have opened all around the world. New online vape shop start-ups are emerging on a daily basis. The competition in the vape industry has become cut throat! Back in 2012, it was a breeze to rank for competitive vape keywords on most search engines whilst today, it is even becoming difficult to rank for local area post codes as every corner of every city seems to have a growing vape shop demographic.
We were the first vape SEO company in the world and we know the vape industry inside out. We have ranked some of the biggest e-juice brands since when they were starting out, vape shops that were to become some of the biggest chains in the country, vape wholesalers, event organisers and many other different types of vape sites. Our deep knowledge of the SEO and the vape industries allows us to understand the unique business models of our clients and exactly what it takes to rank a vape shop to the very top of the search engines.
As we have mentioned above, since working with many vape businesses, we have created a blueprint for ranking a site. We have gone through numerous trial and errors and know what works and what does not work. In the current SEO climate, major search engines are putting a greater emphasis on the overall domain authority and metrics of a site as well as brand and onsite visitor behaviour (browsing, click-throughs and bounces). We are constantly adjusting our package to ensure that all of our practices are closely attuned to the latest SEO best-practices and search engine algorithms.
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Our Global Vape Shop Database comes in an Excel spreadsheet with vape shop details grouped by country in separate worksheets. You will receive the Global Vape Shop Database in a compressed .rar file. Simply extract the document using Windows .rar or an alternative extractor. These can be downloaded online in a click of a button.
Our Global Vape Shop Database has been going for the past 5 years! Our team regularly attend vape exhibitions and events. They use this as an opportunity to collect vape shop contact details. Most of the vape shop leads are available online. However, finding, verifying and compiling them is a real administrative burden and we tell you that from our 5 year-long experience in this industry!
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United Way/Labor guests in Portland for a conference Aug. 15-17 were treated to a walking tour, where they heard about the city's rich labor history. One stop was at United Way of the Columbia-Willamette. United Way and Labor's Community Services Agency have worked in partnership for 42 years.
United Way-Labor Partnership Conference attendees enjoyed a "Labor Walk" through the streets of downtown Portland Aug. 16. The conference was held at the Benson Hotel in Portland Aug. 15-17.
Nationally, the AFL-CIO and United Way have worked together for the past 76 years. In Portland, Labor's Community Service Agency and United Way of the Columbia-Willamette have worked together for the past 42 years.
The annual Labor Partnership Conference brings together labor liaisons and leaders, and staff and leadership from United Way organizations across the country. This year's theme, "United We All Win," underscored the power of community, and the importance of continuing to foster the relationship between the labor movement and United Way. Oregon AFL-CIO President Tom Chamberlain participated in a special panel of labor leaders and United Way leaders, speaking about the importance of the partnership and how the work they do impacts our community.
United Way of the Columbia-Willamette was the catalyst for the Labor Walk. When Portland popped up on the schedule for a national conference, United Way approached Labor's Community Services Agency. Executive Director Eryn Byram then reached out to Jim Cook, who heads up the Northwest Oregon Labor Council's Labor History Committee, and is a vice president of the Pacific Northwest Labor History Association. Cook jumped on board immediately to help make it happen.
So, on the evening of Aug. 16 a bunch of unionists and United Way'ers marched 1.7 miles through downtown Portland, hearing about its labor history from special guest speakers.


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text:
Return to Gladiators
Caesar's Giraffe
"I will give an account of the so-called camelopard, because it was then introduced into Rome by Caesar for the first time and exhibited to all. This animal is like a camel in all respects except that its legs are not all of the same length, the hind legs being the shorter. Beginning from the rump it grows gradually higher, which gives it the appearance of mounting some elevation; and towering high aloft, it supports the rest of its body on its front legs and lifts its neck in turn to an unusual height. Its skin is spotted like a leopard, and for this reason it bears the joint name of both animals."
Dio, Roman History (XLIII.23.1-2)
The giraffe brought from Alexandria by Julius Caesar in 46 BC was the first to be seen in Europe. An extraordinary creature, it appeared to the Romans to be part camel and part leopard, and was named after both: camelopardalis or camelopard (Varro, On the Latin Language, V.100; Pliny, Natural History, VIII.69; Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, II.51.1; Strabo, The Geography, XVI.4.16; Pausanias, Description of Greece, IX.21.2, who saw in Rome "Indian camels with the color of leopards"; Oppian, Cynegetica, III.461-481; Heliodorus, Aethiopica, X.27, who remarks on the gait). Aside from its appearance—the long neck and short hind legs, the dappled hide and bright eyes—the ancients remarked on the gentleness of the animal. Pliny calls it an ovis ferae ("wild sheep") and Heliodorus comments that it could be led by a small cord about its neck. Rather uncharitably, Gibbon dismisses the giraffe as "the tallest, the most gentle, and the most useless of the large quadrupeds" (The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, I.4).
Caesar's return to Rome (to be followed by Cleopatra, who even may have presented the giraffe as a gift) and the end of civil war was celebrated with five separate triumphs (Suetonius, Life of Caesar, XXXVII.1; Velleius Paterculus, Roman History, II.56.2). As part of these magnificent displays, Caesar exhibited his giraffe "at the games in the Circus" (Pliny, VIII.69). To commemorate the dedication of the Temple of Venus Genetrix, putative founder of the Julian clan, and the new Forum of Julius that year (Appian, The Civil Wars, CII), there also were contests in "a kind of hunting-theatre of wood, which was called an amphitheatre from the fact that it had seats all around without any stage. In honour of this and of his daughter [Julia who had died in childbirth almost twenty years before] he exhibited combats of wild beasts and gladiators" (Dio, XLIII.22.3).
Ominously, it is here that Dio injects his description of Caesar's giraffe. One would like to think that a creature so unsuited to the arena did not perish there. And, to be sure, not all venationes involved the hunting and killing of animals, especially if they were being viewed for the first time. Elephants captured in Sicily after the defeat of the Carthaginians, for example, may not have been killed in the triumphal games of 252 BC (VIII.16-17; Pliny cites contradictory sources). And Suetonius remarks of Augustus that "if anything rare and worth seeing was ever brought to the city, it was his habit to make a special exhibit of it in any convenient place on days when no shows were appointed" (XLIII.4). Dio, too, says of Caesar's giraffe that it was "exhibited to all." It does not follow, therefore, that exotic species necessarily were displayed simply to be killed as a public spectacle. But the destruction of the rare or valuable is one demonstration of power and, as Pliny observes about wealth, the proof of it is "to possess something that might be absolutely destroyed in a moment" (XXXIII.5).
Other giraffes continued to be seen (Pliny, VIII.69), but the first recorded killing of one does not occur until the late second century AD, when Commodus slaughtered a giraffe and rhinoceroses, as well as five hippopotamuses and two elephants in two days (Dio, LXXIII.10.3, who may have witnessed the event). In AD 248, Philip the Arab celebrated the millennium of Rome's founding with the display in the Circus of ten giraffes, elephants, tigers, lions, leopards, hippopotamuses, and a rhinoceros (Historia Augusta, XXXIII.1). This was the largest number of live giraffes ever brought together, although Aurelian is said to have marked his triumph over Zenobia, queen of Palmyra, in AD 274 with a presentation of giraffes (Historia Augusta, XXXIII.4).
The detail (above) is from a marble sarcophagus in the Walters Art Museum (Baltimore) depicting the triumph of Dionysus, who rides in a chariot pulled by panthers and is accompanied by other exotic animals, including elephants and a giraffe. It dates to about AD 190, toward the end of Commodus' rule, when the emperor was most obsessed with beast fights and gladiatorial combat.
"If Democritus by any means came back from the other world to this, he'd have a good laugh. Whatever the eyes of the crowd were fixed upon—some hybrid monster, perhaps, half camel, half leopard, or an albino elephant—his gaze would be fixed much more attentively upon the crowd itself than on the spectacle. They'd give him more material for laughter."
Horace, Epistle II.1 (194ff)
In the Life of Horace, Suetonius records that Augustus, having read some of the poet's work, was piqued that he wrote to others but had not addressed anything to him. Was he worried, the emperor asked in a letter quoted by Suetonius, that his reputation would suffer if he appeared to be Augustus' friend? Stung by the friendly reproach, in about 12 BC Horace penned To Augustus (Epistle II.1), an epistolary poem on the state of Roman literature, the opening lines of which Suetonius quotes.
In it, Horace confesses that he has no desire to be a playwright, certainly not if, in the middle of the performance, the mob (plebecula, the contemptuous diminutive of plebs) in the back row calls out for boxers or bears. Or if the audience is more attentive to the spectacle on stage, the costumes and sets, than to the words of the author, which cannot be heard over the roar of applause—for the costumes. At least Democritus, were he to return after four hundred years, would find the audience more amusing than whatever was on stage, even if one could not really tell what it was.
Horace is thinking of the giraffe and of Terence, who wrote more than a century and a half earlier. In the prologues to Hecyra ("The Mother-in-Law') Terence, too, had complained about an inattentive and distracted audience. His first production had been disrupted by vitium et calamitas ("disaster and calamity"), in this case the rumor that there would be rope-dancing. One can imagine its appeal. The virtuoso display of the tightrope walker is what Horace himself sought to achieve. "For me the good playwright poet is like a marvelous high-wire acrobat who, walking on air, can scare me to death, and then momentarily calm me down, and then scare me to death all over again" (210ff).
After this mishap, Terence was obliged to stage his play again, with a second prologue. The first time, he complains that "when I began to act this Play, the vauntings of boxers, the expectation of a rope-dancer, added to which, the throng of followers, the noise, the clamor of the women, caused me to retire from your presence before the time." But this performance, too, was a disaster, with people flocking to the theater on the rumor of a gladiatorial show and causing a tumult as they clamored and fought for their places.
Diversum confusa genus panthera camelo: the camelopard may divert the gaze but still be a monstrosity. Horace begins his Ars Poetica with a query. If a painter were to put a man's head on a horse's neck and then add multicolored feathers and various other body parts or combine a beautiful woman with the tail of a fish could there not be anything be laughter at such an unnatural spectacle? Whether a painter or poet, the artist should be consistent and not represent the impossible (creatures such as centaurs or scyllas), compositions that violate the laws of nature just as an ornamental digression (purpureus pannus, "purple patch") disrupts the rules of art. The savage should not be joined with the gentle, snakes paired with birds, lambs with tigers. "In short, let the work be anything you like, but let it at least be one, single thing" (line 23; citing Horace, Quintilian condemns a mixture of styles as well in Institute of Oratory, VIII.3.60). It is this appearance of not being one thing that rendered the incongruity of giraffe so offensive to the aesthetic of Horace.
In the left-hand panel of The Garden of Earthly Delights (1505-1510), on either side of the Fountain of Life (above), Hieronymus Bosch portrays the two animals that so entranced the fickle Romans: a white elephant and a camelopard. Bosch may have copied his giraffe from a drawing by Cyriacus of Ancona (who enjoyed the patronage of Cosimo de' Medici) made about 1435. Although there are earlier painted images of a giraffe, the first depiction to appear in print is a woodblock by Erhard Reuwich. Published in 1486, it illustrates an account of a pilgrimage to the Holy Land for which he provided the illustrations, the animals truly depicted as he saw them. But the claim is suspect, given that the long horns of the giraffe make it look more like an antelope. Too, there is a unicorn and a man with a tail and prehensile feet.
If Bosch visited Florence sometime between 1487 and 1489, he may have seen a giraffe for himself.
Lorenzo de' Medici Receiving Gifts from His Ambassadors (c.1556) by Giorgio Vasari (Palazzo Vecchio, Florence).
"Therefore it is unnecessary for a prince to have all the good qualities I have enumerated, but it is very necessary to appear to have them. And I shall dare to say this also, that to have them and always to observe them is injurious, and that to appear to have them is useful."
Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince (XVIII)
Late in 1487, in an attempt to establish better diplomatic relations with Florence against the Ottoman Turks, the sultan of Egypt presented a gift to Lorenzo de' Medici (the Magnificent)—a female giraffe, the first to be seen in Italy in more than fifteen-hundred years. Allowed to wander the streets, eating from the hands of children and raising its head to take apples and other fruit offered from second-story windows by the noblewomen of Florence, the animal was a sensation, invariably evoking astonishment and delight (as it had for Heliodorus in the third century AD). As one diarist recorded at the time, the giraffe was molto grande e molto bella e piacvola, "very tall, very beautiful, and pleasing."
Lorenzo was a tyrant accused of subverting republican principles and becoming increasingly despotic, and he no doubt saw a parallel between himself and Caesar. Indeed, in his library there was a copy of Pliny's Natural History, which first was printed in 1469. The giraffe would have enhanced the prestige of a prince powerful enough to have acquired such a marvelous creature, just as Caesar's giraffe had done.
In the ceiling fresco (left) commissioned by Cosimo I de' Medici, Lorenzo is seated before his ambassadors, his thirteen-year-old son before him in the crimson robe of a cardinal, and towering over all—the Medici giraffe. It died less than two years later of a broken neck when the animal apparently tried to extricate itself after being caught in the rafters of its stall. By 1492, Lorenzo himself was dead.
The word is attested by c.1600 and derives from the French girafe and ultimately from the Arabic zarāfa, "lovely one." More prosaically, it may come from the Arabic root for "assembly." The scientific name is similar to the ancient: Giraffa camelopardalis.
The ostrich confounded the Romans as well. Like the giraffe, it was thought to resemble the camel and so was called struthio camelus, "camel bird" (Pliny, X.1) from the Greek struthós, "sparrow." Curiously, just as the same word denotes both the sparrow and the ostrich in Greek, so does passer in Latin. To distinguish between them, a descriptive adjective must be added, as when Plautus calls an ostrich running in the Circus passer marinus (Persians, Act I, Scene ii, line 199) because it is brought over the sea.
The first giraffe to be seen in the classical world appeared in a grand procession staged by Ptolemy II (Philadelphus) to celebrate the Ptolemaieia, a dynastic festival introduced in 279 BC. The parade included chariots pulled by elephants, gazelles, hartebeests, ostriches, zebras, and wild asses (among other birds and domestic animals) and ended with a display of leopards, panthers, lynxes, a rhinoceros—and a lone giraffe (Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae, V.201C).
In 1826 Muhammad Ali, the Ottoman viceroy in Egypt, presented a giraffe both to Charles X of France and George IV of England and, two years later, to the Hapsburg emperor Franz II of Austria, the first to be seen in those countries. Indeed, it had been three hundred and forty years since Anne de France had written to Lorenzo de' Medici, beseeching him to keep a promise to send his own giraffe to her, "for this is the beast of the world that I have the greatest desire to see." They were diplomatic gifts intended to mollify public sentiment at the treatment of the Greeks during their war of independence, and caused a sensation in art and fashion in la mode à la Girafe. But they did not prevent a combined British, French, and Russian naval force from decisively defeating the Ottoman Turks a few months later at the Battle of Navarino, in what was to be the last engagement fought with sailing ships.
Lots apparently having been drawn by the consuls of each country, the smaller of the two young giraffes was awarded to George IV. But, lashed to the back of a camel when it no longer could walk, it had been injured during its journey and the legs crippled. The animal arrived in England in 1827 and was tended in a building on the grounds of Windsor Castle out of public view. Requiring the aid of a special harness to stand, within two years the wretched creature weakened and died.
The Nubian Giraffe of George IV (above) was painted in about 1827 by Jacques-Laurent Agasse, who tactfully has omitted the pulley and harness. In the background are the cows used to supply milk to the animal which, not having been weaned, is drinking from a bowl offered by one of the two Arab attendants who had accompanied her from Egypt.
The giraffe presented to Charles X was more fortunate. After debarkation (a hole having been cut in the upper deck to allow her head to poke through), it walked in royal livery to the boisterous acclaim of crowds the five-hundred fifty miles from Marseille to Paris, where she was presented to the king and ate rose petals from his hand. There, much to the chagrin of the English, the animal lived quietly for another eighteen years, although its influence on fashion and the interest of the public long had waned. Indeed, such was the national disgrace at the loss of its own giraffe that William IV commissioned a search for a new one. In 1836 three male and one female calf survived the journey to the Zoological Gardens in London, where the first birth in captivity occurred three years later. (The giraffe in Vienna also had suffered during its transport by camel, an injury no doubt aggravated by walking from Trieste to Vienna, where it succumbed to disease within ten months.)
Tête de girafe (right) by Nicolas Huet the Younger is in the library of the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle (Paris) which itself is on the grounds of the Jardin des Plantes, where the giraffe was kept in one of the hexagonal wings of the Rotonde de la Menagerie, the world's first civil zoo. As Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, who had accompanied the giraffe from Marseille to Paris and was the first director of the menagerie, so charmingly wrote, her new home, with its parquet flooring and straw matting on the walls, was "truly the boudoir of a little lady."
In the pictorial characters of hieroglyphs, a "determinative" is a pictogram placed after the root word (a consonant sound sign) that provides additional semantic information about the word. As well as determining the meaning, it also serves to mark the end of the word. Goldwasser calls these determinatives "classifiers" because they classify the word by specifying its relationship within a systematic categorization, words modified by a particular classifier comprising the same conceptual category.
Metaphorical classifiers, although not often used, are one feature of this system of categories, of which animalistic metaphors are particularly intriguing. For example, the verb sr means "to foresee or foretell, to prophesy or announce events" but, when followed by the pictogram of the giraffe, the sense of both words is changed. As a classifier, the hieroglyph of the giraffe loses its own iconic meaning (that of the animal itself) and creates instead an implicit simile. The verb, too, is modified, moving from its usual domain, prophesy as an action of the senses and emotions, to another, those who see and know before all others, a prescience "like a giraffe."
So iconic is the giraffe to this new category that it shares the same sr consonants (the giraffe also was identified as mmy), signifying both its name and its most important characteristic: the animal that, being so tall, sees before all other creatures. To foresee or foretell, in other words, is to see as a giraffe does. It is the animal's acute eyesight, in fact, that allows the giraffe to communicate visually from a distance greater than permitted by sound or scent (and indeed greater than any other mammal) and gives the giraffe its lofty dignity.
This young giraffe (left), with a green monkey clinging to its neck, is from the tomb of Rekhmire, vizier during the reigns of Tuthmosis III and Amenhotep II (1490-1410 BC). Located in the Valley of the Nobles at Thebes, the tomb depicts Rekhmire receiving tribute from Nubia on behalf of the pharaoh.
One of the best representations of the giraffe from the ancient world is the recently discovered mosaic from Lod, Israel.
References: "To Augustus (Epistle 2.1)" (2000) by Horace and David Ferry, Arion, 8(2), 63-73; Suetonius: On Poets (1914) translated by J. C. Rolfe (Loeb Classical Library); Horace: Epistles Book II and Epistle to the Pisones (Ars Poetica) (1989) edited by Niall Rudd; Horace for Students of Literature: The "Ars Poetica" and Its Tradition (1995) by O. B. Hardison, Jr. and Leon Golden; "Lorenzo the Magnificent and the Giraffe as a Symbol of Power" (1987) by Christiane L. Joost-Gaugier, Artibus et Historiae, 8(16), 91-99; "Audience for a Giraffe: European Expansionism and the Quest for the Exotic" (2006) by Erik Ringmar, Journal of World History, 17(4), 375-397; The Story of the Roman Amphitheatre (2000) by D. L. Bomgardner; "Exotics in Post-Medieval European Art: Giraffes and Centaurs" (1991) by Charles D. Cuttler, Artibus et Historiae, 12(23), 161-179; The Giraffe in History and Art (1928) by Berthold Laufer (Field Museum of Natural History, Leaflet 27); The Book of the Giraffe (1968) by C. A. Spinage; Machiavelli: The Prince (1532/1908) translated by W. K. Marriott; "Geoffroy's Giraffe: The Hagiography of a Charismatic Mammal" (2003) by Olivier Lagueux, Journal of the History of Biology, 36(2), 225-247; The Medici Giraffe and Other Tales of Exotic Animals and Power (2006) by Marina Belozerskaya; Zarafa: A Giraffe's True Story, from Deep in Africa to the Heart of Paris (1998) by Michael Allin; Home by a Neck: A Giraffe's Epic Journey from Cairo to Paris (March 1986) by Georges Poisson, The Unesco Courier, 7-9; "La Mode à la girafe: Fashion, Culture, and Politics in Bourbon Restoration France (2009-2010) by Michele Majer, Studies in the Decorative Arts, 17(1), 123-161; Prophets, Lovers, and Giraffes: Wor(l)d Classification in Ancient Egypt (2002) by Orly Goldwasser; "A Comparison between Classifier Languages and Classifier Script: The Case of Ancient Egyptian" by Orly Goldwasser, Egyptian, Semitic, and General Grammar (2009), edited by Gideon Goldenberg and Ariel Shisha-Halevy; Giraffe: Biology, Behaviour and Conservation (2014) by Anne Innis Dagg.


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text:
Q: AttributeError: 'dict' object has no attribute 'distinct' I have a bson file, and i dont know what have inside of the file. So, a read the file. And now, i still trying to found the value of each key, but not is easy.  Because, i receive the messange:
AttributeError: 'dict' object has no attribute 'distinct'
What i do?

Am I writing more code? What am I doing wrong?

A: When I do understand your question, read_content['_id'] should suffice.
So the code should be:
read_content = bson.json_util.loads(content)
print(read_content['_id'])

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
We highly encourage contributions to Quilt from the Open Source community!
Everything from fixing spelling errors to major contributions to the
architecture is welcome.  If you'd like to contribute but don't know
where to get started, feel free to reach out to
[Ethan](http://people.eecs.berkeley.edu/~ejj/contact.html) for some guidance.

The project is organized using a hybrid of the Github and Linux Kernel
development workflows.   Changes are submitted using the Github Pull Request
System and, after appropriate review, fast-forwarded into master.
See [Submitting Patches](#submitting-patches) for details.

## Coding Style
The coding style is as defined by the `gofmt` tool: whatever transformations it
makes on a piece of code are considered, by definition, the correct style.  In
addition, `golint`, `go vet`, and `go test` should pass without warning on all
changes.  An easy way to check these requirements is to run `make lint check`
on each patch before submitting a pull request.

Unlike official go style, in Quilt lines should be wrapped to 89 characters.

The fundamental unit of work in the Quilt project is the git commit.  Each
commit should be a coherent whole that implements one idea completely and
correctly. No commits should break the code, even if they "fix it" later.
Commit messages should be wrapped to 80 characters and begin with a title of
the form `<Area>: <Title>`.  The title should be capitalized, but not end
with a period.  For example, `provider: Move the provider interfaces into the
cluster directory` is a good title. When possible, the title should fit in
50 characters.

All but the most trivial of commits should have a brief paragraph below the
title (separated by an empty line), explaining the _context_ of the commit.
Why the patch was written, what problem it solves, why the approach was taken,
what the future implications of the patch are, etc.

Commits should have proper author attribution, with the full name of the commit
author, capitalized properly, with their email at the time of authorship.
Commits authored by more than one person should have a `Co-Authored-By:` tag at
the end of the commit message.

## Submitting Patches
Patches are submitted for inclusion in Quilt using a Github Pull Request or
(though not preferred), they may be sent directly to
[Ethan](http://people.eecs.berkeley.edu/~ejj/contact.html) using
`git-format-patch` and `git-send-email`.

A pull request is a collection of well formed commits that tie together
in some theme, usually the larger goal they're trying to achieve.  Completely
unrelated patches should be included in separate pull requests.

Pull requests go through a two stage review process.  In the first stage,
[quilt-bot](https://github.com/quilt-bot) will randomly assign a contributor
to review the patch.  The first stage reviewer should provide feedback, wait
for fixes, and ultimately approve the patch using Github's code review tool.
By doing this, the reviewer is taking responsibility for the quality of the
patch.  In effect they are asserting that the patch is perfect and ready to be
merged.

Once the patch has been approved by the first reviewer, quilt-bot will assign a
committer to do a second (sometimes cursory) review. The committer will
either merge the patch, provide feedback, or if a great deal of work is
still needed, punt the patch back to the original reviewer.

It should be noted that the code
review assignment is just a suggestion. If a another contributor, or member of
the public for that matter, happens to do a detailed review and provide a `+1`
then the assigned reviewer is relieved of their responsibility.  If you're not
the assigned reviewer, but would like to do the code review, it may be polite
to comment in the PR to that effect so the assigned reviewer knows they need
not review the patch.

We expect patches to go through multiple rounds of code review, each involving
multiple changes to the code.  After each round of review, the original author
is expected to update the pull request with appropriate changes.  These changes
should be incorporated into the patches in their most logical places.  I.E.
they should be folded into the original patches or, if appropriate inserted as
a new patch in the series.  Changes _should not_ be simply tacked on to the end
of the series as tweaks to be squashed in later -- at all stages the PRs should
be ready to merge without reorganizing commits.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


If you have suffered a personal injury during a haircut or hair treatment, you are eligible to make a claim against the hairdressing salon.
Our team of expert solicitors has helped many individuals make a claim for injuries sustained in a hair salon or barbers. We understand how damaging these incidents can be, both physically and emotionally, and will stop at nothing to help you get the compensation you deserve.
To speak to a lawyer, contact us on 0800 10 757 95. Alternatively, let us know a suitable time to contact you by filling in our online contact form or using our e-chat function.
Claims made for incorrectly administered hairdressing treatments are more unusual than other types of compensation claims, but they do crop up nonetheless. Simply receiving a haircut that you did not like or does not suit you doesn't warrant legal action, although suffering an injury would.
Valid hair salon negligence claims are usually due to a client suffering a personal injury during their haircut or treatment. For example, if a careless hairdresser severely cuts a customer with their scissors or uses chemicals in an unsafe manner that results in the customer's scalp becoming damaged and painful, then they would be seen as responsible for their injuries.
However you have suffered an injury in a hair salon, if it was caused by somebody else's negligence, you are entitled to make a claim for compensation.
Our solicitors are experts in all personal injury matters and will help you make a claim for compensation without any hassle. We are here to discuss your case with you in plain English and are available to answer any questions or queries you may have.
We can help build your case by assisting in gathering evidence, witness statements and any medical records that prove your condition was caused by a negligent hairdresser. We will then fight to get you the most compensation possible to cover the cost of your injury.
To start a claim for an injury sustained in a hair salon that wasn't your fault, get in touch with our team today. Contact us by calling 0800 10 757 95, filling in our online contact form or chatting to us directly using our live chat function.


Yea, thanks for the information, it is best probably to keep on normal until they merge. Makes no sense losing all your work. I would like them to merge without making us lose all the work.
So I understand the progress will eventually move over and the additional parts will become part of the main site?
Here's the post from the Meta section that talks about the new certs.


It is supposed to rain tonight in Lawrence Kansas. Because of the trees, I really can't see it coming. Usually I hear the thunder first.
I watched many rainstorms move across the desert in Taos. Usually, they miss, but sometimes you get lucky.


I have a 10 foot BPS Pond Prowler for sale 750.00 obo includes minn kot 40 with a deep cycle battery pictures are in the classifieds section of the TFF. Pelicans are great boats as well.
These are very stable little boats. I'm 300lbs and stand up to stretch in mine with no problem.
Finally got my transom height corrected. This 8ft bass raider gets up on plane and flies compared to the other engines I've had on it. I'd say it feels like doing 15-20mph. Idk I'll gps the speed next outing. No videos sorry.
Side note anyone know were the bass hunter thread is?
I had one and absolutely loved it. And as was stated before, I had a 50lb trolling motor on it and it got along VERY good. Only reason I got rid of it was because I didn't want to buy a trailer so I had to always find someone, just got a kayak instead.


text:
Perry Memorial Hospital Surgical Services Department Registered Nurse, Nancy Erickson, is the recipient of the May 2019 DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses.
On the afternoon of Wednesday, May 8th, co-workers, family, and friends gathered to surprise Nancy with the award, including the patient who nominated her. When her name was called, Nancy stared with a look of complete shock and joy.
After the announcement and a surprise entrance of her family, Nancy was presented with her award by Debbie May-Rickard, Vice President of Clinical Services at Perry Memorial Hospital. Nancy then stood humbly and listened as Delinda Leopold, Director of Surgical Services, read the nomination letter from a former patient. Nancy also enjoyed a video from her children and grandchildren congratulating her for a well-deserved recognition.
The award was especially unexpected for Nancy because she is beginning her retirement after 41 years. She graduated from Swedish American Hospital School of Nursing in Rockford, IL in 1977. "I started my career at Perry in July 1977, and it was my first and only job. … I have loved it all!" Now she is excited to spend more time with her grandchildren.
Nancy said, "I have been happy to do the little things that make a different for patients, to look into their eyes as they tell their stories and their problems. Maybe listening is all I can do, but to help get someone through pain, anxiety, fear, that has been my joy and honor."
The non-for-profit DAISY Foundation is based in Glen Ellen, CA, and was established by family members in memory of J. Patrick Barnes. Nurses may be nominated by patients, families and colleagues alike. The DAISY award is presented in deep appreciation and admiration of compassionate care. Each quarter, a committee of nurses at Perry chooses the winner from the pool of nominations. A surprise announcement is held in honor of the winner in front of colleagues, physicians, patients and guests.
To nominate a Perry Memorial Hospital nurse, please download this form and email to: pmhdaisyaward@perrymemorial.org.


REALY BIG AND CHEAP FLAT WITH 4 BEDROOMS AND 2 BETHROOMS IN FIRST LINE TO THE BEACH. BETWEEN PLAYA DEL CURA AND PLAYA DE LOS LOCOS. 50 METERS TO THIS, NICE VIEWS, QUIET PLACE WITH PARK AND BEACH VIEWS!!!
TO LIVE ALL THE YEAR OR HOLIDAYS WITH ALL THE FAMILY!!!


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5 Luxury Brands That Are Now Digital Natives
In this day and age, one would think it's imperative for any major brand to have an online presence. But shockingly, there are still a lot of brands that haven't embraced the benefits of technology. We understand that brands can be very protective of their image - they want to maintain an air of exclusivity that feels aspirational and not overly accessible - but as the brands on this list prove: adopting digital technology can actually do just that, increasing brand awareness and sales without sacrificing reputation.
Here are just a few brands that once only had an offline presence but are now truly at home in the digital landscape. Let us know which ones you would add to the list in the comments.
1. Burberry
When you think of Burberry, you probably think of words like "timeless" and "classic." Which is why we love that the 158-year-old British brand was one of the first luxury fashion brands to truly embrace the idea of an online presence. Their website doesn't just offer an e-commerce experience, they also live-stream fashion shows, and offer behind-the-scenes access to events and music. Burberry also has an impressive presence across all social media channels and is one of the most engaged and followed brands on Instagram. In fact, "the brand openly admits that that it has become as much a media content company as a design company." In this day and age, it's the best way to remain both relevant and aspirational. It's also earned them the distinction of being the most popular luxury brand online.
2. Estee Lauder
It wasn't that long ago that if women wanted to shop for Estee Lauder's beauty products, they did so by going to a department store. But that wasn't Estee Lauder's fault. They actually launched their e-commerce site in 1996, well before a lot of us even had email addresses. When Apple launched the iPhone in 2007, Estee Lauder took that as their cue to start developing a mobile strategy. Estee Lauder has really embraced digital, leveraging the elegance and luxury of their print ads to create a personalized online experience that provides clients with the education and they'd find at the beauty counter as well as a simple way to make purchases.
3. Gucci
Almost 13 million people like Gucci on Facebook. Over 1.3 million follow the brand on Instagram. Add to that 1.06 million Twitter followers and almost 7 million views on YouTube and it's clear that Gucci has found success with their digital presence. You can even go inside Gucci stores using Google maps . Sure, maybe not all of the people following and interacting with Gucci online can afford a thousand dollar handbag right now, but by creating brand loyalty, you can be sure that's something they'll aspire towards in the future.
4. Audi
Audi hasn't always had the best reputation in the U.S., but with over 8 million Facebook likes, 708K Twitter followers, and over 827K Instagram followers, one would never know that now. Mostly what Audi is great at is creating content that people actually want to engage with and share, like their recent spot featuring Ricky Gervais and a handful of other celebrities reciting the lyrics to Queen's "We Are the Champions."
Louis Vuitton understands that luxury is something all people want to experience. They also understand that their target audience still buys print and loves print magazines. So last year they released an app that brought those campaigns to life. What is most impressive however is not the creation of the Louis Vuitton Pass app, but that there is a completely seamless way to actually purchase the luxury items directly from the app. In a time where so many luxury brands insist that the customer actually go into the story, we love that Louis Vuitton gets that just isn't how the next generation shops.
media insightsocial media
Why the Best Brands Are Still Investing in Google+
Native: Brands Are the Secret Ingredient, Publishers Are the Chef
5 Brands That Let You Shop On Instagram
Advertising In a Ghost Town: What Are Brands Doing on Google+?
6 Media Brands Doing Native Advertising Well
9 TV Shows That Are Better Watched Socially


text:
How COVID-19 Is Impacting Ecommerce | Salsify
COVID-19 has ushered in sweeping changes for how we purchase products, with the most notable factor being the expansion of social distancing practices. Of our "traditional" patterns of consumer behavior, which — if any — will return?
The current market has many relevant indicators that can help inform your brand's forecasts and digital strategy.
Online Purchasing Skyrockets as Consumers Test New Brands
Social distancing and isolation have — for the time being, at least — drastically accelerated the trend towards online shopping. A new study from L.E.K. Consulting and Civis found that COVID-19 has increased online spending from between 10% and 30% across grocery and non-grocery purchases.
Retail marketing automation company Listrak lists the increase in ecommerce revenue at a whopping 40% in its recent data. Marketing intelligence firm Valassis found that 42% of consumers are shopping online more since the start of the outbreak in its mid-March survey.
Valassis also found that consumers are using the current circumstances to test out new offerings from different brands. According to its survey, 19% of respondents said they are feeling less loyal to their current favorite brands, and 13% said they are looking for new brands to try.
Ultimately, brand manufacturers that can acquire these customers in these uncertain times might be able to transform them into loyal advocates when things start to return to normal.
New Salsify Data Shows Where Shoppers Spend Time
Customers are shopping more, but what are they buying online? Our recent internal data highlights significant spikes in traffic to product pages across several categories between mid-February and mid-March.
Here are the 10 product categories with the largest positive traffic spikes, listed in alphabetical order:
Health, Vitamins, and Supplements
Considering how much time we are collectively spending inside, household purchases make sense. People also continue to invest in bath and body products while practicing social distancing — a reassuring data point. (The data also shows that we might also be playing too many video games these days.)
The Rise of Food and Beverage on the Digital Shelf
One of the most interesting trends stems from the food and beverage category. Consider the following statistics that highlight the growing importance of these categories online:
Compared to this time last year, the total value of products sold on alcohol delivery platform Drizly was up 500%, and shoppers are spending 50% more than usual, a company representative told Ad Week.
"Buy online" orders for grocery retailers increased 210% between March 12 and 15 alone, according to Digital Commerce 360, citing a study from Rakuten Intelligence.
Instacart downloads have increased by 218%, Walmart Grocery downloads have increased by 160%, and Shipt downloads have increased by 124%, according to app development company Apptopia.
The majority of consumers (61.5%) are looking to buy food and beverage items online instead of in-store during the COVID-19 outbreak, according to brand intelligence platform Red Points.
While these are trends we have been seeing in the market for some time, several weeks ago, the notion that nearly two-thirds of consumers would be looking to buy groceries online was unthinkable. If one were to place bets on the industries least likely to return to "normal" after social distancing, food and beverage would be a pretty safe wager.
Food and beverage manufacturers many decisions to make soon about how they will address these rapid changes. Brands that can quickly pivot to provide excellent digital experiences — while ensuring products are well-positioned on platforms like Drizly and Instacart — will be the ones that stand to succeed in the long term. (Even after consumers start to return to local grocery and liquor stores.)
A 5-Year Transformation in a Matter of Weeks
"We see this unfortunate period accelerating structural changes in consumer shopping," wrote Seth Sigman, an analyst at Credit Suisse, in a recent report, highlighting that it could accelerate by as much as five years.
The next five years of growth in online shopping is happening right now — over the course of weeks. Revolutionary changes like this often result in a fissure between companies that are equipped to handle shifts with agility and speed and those that are too slow to adapt.
Even if some shopping habits return to "normal," it's doubtless that the industry has been altered.
For those looking for guidance on how to navigate the coming weeks and months, our upcoming content series focused on the commerce impacts of COVID-19 could help your brand gain the insights it needs to develop new strategies and tactics.
Looking for more insights about the current state of eCommerce? Check out our full 2020 Consumer Research Report here for insider knowledge to help you win on the digital shelf.
Blockchain for Ecommerce
Salsify co-founder Rob Gonzalez shares his perspective on whether blockchain will disrupt payment methods across the web.
by: Peter Crosby
5 Ecommerce Predictions
At Groceryshop 2018 in Las Vegas this week, thousands of attendees from CPG brands to grocery retailers, ecommerce software vendors, and tech startups met to share ideas...
How COVID-19 Will Shape the 2020 Holiday Shopping Season — and How to Prepare
As the holiday shopping season moves closer, everyone in the industry has the same question: How will shopping habits change amid COVID-19?
by: Dom Scarlett


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Ensuring quality and consistency is our top priority. This starts with sourcing the highest quality ingredients for the formulations used to manufacture our capsules. Our sourcing partnerships provide us with a reliable supply chain of ingredients and compounds of the highest quality, ensuring potency and consistency.
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text:
Seeking Contact in the Rundown (2018)
The Situation: There's a 1-2 count with two outs and runners on 1st and 3rd. It's the top of the 7th inning of a game the visiting team leads 4-2.
The Play: The visiting coach decides to put on an early break 1st and 3rd play that the team has practiced religiously. The play is designed for situations like this, where the odds have shifted against the hitter and the team is willing to give up an out to try to get the run to score first. The sign is put on and the wheels are set in motion.
As the pitcher receives his sign and begins to come set, the runner on 1st sprints off first towards second. He takes three hard steps and then falls on the ground like he has tripped. The defense has been trained for this type of play. The pitcher steps off the rubber, freezes the runner at 3rd and spins to give the ball up to the middle infielder. The runner at 3rd times the throw to the crashing second baseman well and despite starting from a stopped position, gets a good jump towards home. The second baseman has crashed towards the baseline hoping for a quick tag, but the throw is towards second base slightly and forces him to shift his momentum. By the time he has gathered the ball and re-directed his momentum towards home, he knows it's going to be too late. Frustrated, he turns his attention to the rundown between first and second base.
He sprints at the runner, closing the gap and coming close to a tag, but worries he may not be able to get there and is forced to give the ball up to the 1st baseman. The base runner quickly pivots back towards second and is about to collide with the second baseman who's trying to peel off after his last second short throw. Instead of colliding with the second baseman, the runner quick steps towards the outfield making himself skinny and goes around him. He runs out of gas and is chased down by the 1st baseman.
The Outcome: The run has scored and the inning is over. The play has accomplished its goal and the visitors now hold a 5-2 lead heading into the bottom of the 7th.
What Went Wrong? The throw to the second baseman was slightly off the mark and cost the defense a chance to get the runner at home, but the pitcher did everything right except make a good throw. We'll save that discussion for another time.
The second baseman also made a mistake by putting himself in a position for the runner to make contact and be awarded second base for obstruction. This is also a mistake worth noting, but the biggest mistake of all is on the runner for not taking advantage of the second baseman's mistake. While the runner did his job by staying in the rundown enough to get the run home, he missed out on the chance to keep the inning alive for a shot to add a 4th insurance run. Instead, the runner avoids the collision, stepping around him. Although we don't know what would have happened, missed opportunities like these can come back to haunt a team if a comeback takes place.
Anytime you are caught in a rundown, by design or on accident, the odds are stacked against you. The best get out of jail free card is creating an obstruction situation where you draw contact with a careless fielder in the base path. When you are running, you need to seek contact and capitalize whenever the opportunity presents itself. Had the base runner run into the second baseman, the play would have been executed to perfection. Instead, he'll have to learn from it and look for the opportunity next time!
Base Running Contact Offense On The Field running Think The Game
Base Running Part 2: Out of the Box (2018)
Committing Before Being Accepted (2018)
Wind Assist (2019)
The Situation: Runner on second, two outs. The 7-hitter is at the plate. The defense is ahead by...
Controlling the Controllables (2018)
The Situation: There are 2 outs in the top of the 6th inning of a 4-3 ballgame. The first two outs...
Don't Expand the Zone
The Situation: The batter is down in the count 0-2 with 2 outs and a runner on third. The pitcher...
Podcast EP 25: Max Dutto (Minor League Infielder &...
In this episode… In this episode, we sit down and talk shop with current minor league...
January Think the Game Quiz (2019)
This week, we bring you a Think the Game challenge. Find out if you are ready to think the game on...
Preparing to Take the Extra 90 (2019)
The Situation: It's the bottom of the 5th in a 5-1 game where the visiting team has staked out an...


The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) on November 15 issued a notification easing the green norms for the building and construction sector, wherein residential projects up to 1.5 lakh square metres (built-up area) will not require 'prior environmental clearance'. Also, urban local bodies such as municipalities will now have the power to grant building permission. The move has sent ripples of fear and anticipation among environmentalists and green activists across the nation.
The notification has been plugged as a move to hasten the building construction permission process in urban areas in a bid to facilitate urban development across India. Now, the environmental clearances will be "integrated in building bye-laws of all the states and Union territories".
While the projects will have to use water-efficient appliances, rainwater harvesting, waste management systems, renewable power, energy-efficient systems and maintain air quality and noise standards besides other conditions, the onus of providing a completion certificate rests upon the respective municipal body. It is on the subjective satisfaction of the municipal body to issue the completion certificate to the builder or plot owner.
While the changes are said to have been made to streamline permissions for building and construction sector to meet the target of building more affordable homes for weaker sections, it remains to be seen if the benefits of the relaxations trickle down to the weaker beneficiary or not.
So, while the move is said to directly benefit the ease of doing business ranking for the housing and construction sector, it's now going to be the municipality which will ascertain whether environmental norms are met by the builder. Considering the extent of corruption in municipalities across the nation, particularly among urban India, expecting clean and credible audits in the regard seems like a far cry.
Barely eight months earlier, in March this year, to meet the Centre's target for 'Housing for All' by 2022, the Ministry had eased environmental clearance rules for the building sector. Then, the mandatory limit of 20,000 square metres of built-up area for which builders were exempted from seeking environmental clearances was relaxed to 50,000 square metres of built-up area for which local bodies and municipalities could give permission. The move was resisted strongly by green activists across India.
Then, it was decided the project proponent could submit a self-declaration form to the local authority on compliance with environmental conditions for construction projects of between 5,000 square metres and 50,000 square metres. For projects beyond 50,000 square metres, environmental clearance rules would apply. A self declaration form would well be perceived as 'conflict of interest' for the developer or plot owner in question.
And now, with the green norms eased for projects, up to 1.5 lakh square metres, environmental norms for projects below 1.5 lakh square metres 'integrated' in bye-laws, are to be decided by the urban local bodies or municipalities. In a hustle to boost the 'ease of doing business' rankings for the sector, the government seems to be stopping at nothing in its way.