Top 10 Reasons to Hire Flagstone | Flagstone Search Marketing | Local SEO, PPC, Web Design in Birmingham, Ala.
This may appear to be a no-brainer, but many companies feel that if they hire someone with experience in digital marketing, that's enough. But the industry – and the technology – has gone through a sea of changes in the last five years alone. A digital marketing agency not only will be up-to-date on these innovations, they'll make sure your marketing campaigns fully leverage their capabilities.
Sure, you may be an Outlook power user. You might know a thing or two about Google Analytics. But digital marketing technology changes fast, and if your company's focus is elsewhere, chances are, your tools are out of date.
When you hire a digital marketing agency, you're not just getting access to their people. You're getting your hands on a powerful set of tools that incorporate the latest in Customer Relationship Management (CRM); marketing automation, lead intelligence and more. Agencies are constantly refining and upgrading their technologies, which are much more robust and intuitive than general-purpose tools.
You know your customers inside and out. But maybe you're a little too close. An outside digital marketing agency knows customer behavior in general – and may even have experience with your industry and competitors. They'll be able to analyze your brand image and customer relationships from the point of view of an outside observer who's knowledgeable, savvy and operating with your best interests in mind.
Looking for a less expensive way to generate leads and nurture customers? Compared to traditional marketing, digital marketing is extremely wallet-friendly. When it comes to maintaining a website, landing pages, blog or social media presence, hard costs are minimal. Though content creation involves time and money (regardless of who does it) there are no printing or media placement costs (other than web hosting, but you probably have a website already). And you can deploy or modify campaigns any time you want, without incurring those infamous "change fees" that traditional agencies and media outlets like to charge.
In addition to providing you with customized recommendations and a technology suite, when you hire a digital marketing agency, you'll also be getting valuable resources to help you with everything from keyword lists, search engine optimization (SEO), lead generation, timing of blog posts and social media updates, and even advice on how to convince decision makers at your company to get on board with digital marketing.
Whether you're a startup in the early stages of product launch, a medium-sized business poised for growth, or a large company with an extensive product line, a digital marketing agency can design campaigns that work within your timeframe and budget. And if it works – and a greater scope of services is required – a digital marketing agency can easily scale up to meet your needs.
One of the best reasons to hire a digital marketing agency is that you can see where your money and your efforts are going. Digital marketing technology has the amazing ability to track and measure almost any kind of marketing activity.
Who opened your email and when?
What's driving traffic to your website, and where are customers clicking once they get there?
What does your sales funnel look like, and how many touch points does it take before a lead converts to a sale?
Which messages are moving the needle?
We could go on, but there are literally hundreds of data points that can be measured and analyzed. An agency will also help show you what the raw numbers mean, and how the insight can be applied to design even more effective marketing campaigns.
It's easy for companies to get excited about digital marketing, some even going so far as to draft extensive plans for a comprehensive, integrated digital marketing program. But launching and maintaining such a program takes ongoing focus and dedication, as well as the ability to analyze your results and provide insight and recommendations based on your data.
So you decided to go with the in-house option. You task your marketing department with designing, developing and deploying a digital marketing campaign. Maybe you hire a full-time employee to manage the initiative, bring on a few contractors or assign maintenance duties to junior staff or tech-savvy interns.
But then something comes up. Your marketing team needs to prepare for a big trade show or respond to a crisis and gets pulled in another direction. Your full-time digital marketing person quits or goes on vacation. The intern returns to school. The next thing you know, your campaign has been languishing for weeks.
Our agency not delivering the results you'd like? Don't agree with the strategy? Don't get along with us? Fire us!
When you source out your business to Flagstone, we can always be let go – or switched out – if the relationship doesn't work out, especially with our monthly retainer model with a simple 30 day out.
On the other hand, if you hire a person to manage your digital marketing, you may have to go through a degree of red tape with human resources before you can let them go.
Flagstone Search Marketing is a digital marketing company based in Birmingham, Alabama, with a focus on well-crafted inbound marketing programs and cost-effective custom WordPress web design.
Owner Carlton Smith has been focused on digital media content for more than 13 years, and has worked with Fortune 500 companies such as Time Inc. Lifestyle Digital and International Expeditions, Inc.
As a Google-certified Partner, Flagstone creates and manages PPC programs for its clients as a means of driving traffic to your website. Once the traffic gets to your website, we use our embedded inbound marketing platform to increase conversions.
The Sharpspring inbound-marketing platform includes integrated search engine optimization, email marketing, landing pages, lead intelligence and nurturing, social media marketing, and contact management for every website or Content Management System (CMS).


Users on Linux systems have traditionally been managed through manual efforts, scripts, or OpenLDAP. In other words, Linux has been on the outside looking in when it comes to IT management tools.
There are two major reasons. First of all, Microsoft Windows has historically been the dominant platform, resulting in less focus on the Linux platform. Secondly, most of the sysadmins that run Linux systems are proficient enough to manually manage them or use scripts.
As Linux becomes more mainstream and more organizations use the platform, better user management tools are important. This is why the JumpCloud® Directory-as-a-Service® platform features Linux user management capabilities, along with device management functions for organizations that are leveraging the Linux platform in the cloud or on-prem.
A couple of decades ago, most organizations were homogeneous Windows shops. Their end users, server platforms, and applications were based on Windows. At that time, even the Unix systems were relatively small market share solutions. They did spawn some significant companies, though. While the open source Linux platform emerged in the early 1990s and gained traction later that decade, it really took off in the 2000s. Linux became a natural choice as IT organizations were cutting costs yet still wanted a durable operating system platform. Of course, its open source nature made it more difficult to work with. Then again, that was a benefit for many developers and system administrators. A number of open source projects flourished, and the concept became more mainstream and accepted in the early part of the 2000s.
Fast-forward to the present, where Linux is a dominant platform in the data center. It still has not taken off with end users, but Linux is the platform of choice for cloud and on-prem servers. Of course, there are many variants in the Linux community, including Red Hat, CoreOS, CentOS, Fedora, Ubuntu, and Amazon Linux, just to name a few.
For sysadmins and developers, there exists a challenge with this infrastructure: how to manage user access to those servers. With cloud servers being more prevalent, there is no local directory server to control access. When organizations choose multiple providers, IT must put directory servers in their home office. In addition to being a difficult proposition, it doesn't make a lot of sense.
JumpCloud's Directory-as-a-Service Linux user management feature is a cloud-based directory services platform that manages user access to Linux servers regardless of location or type. A small agent is deployed on each Linux server. Users are then created on the JumpCloud web console. Subsequently, users are created locally on each system.
User accounts and systems can be grouped to make managing access easier. Linux systems can leverage password-based login, SSH key, and multi-factor authentication. JumpCloud's cloud directory can also manage other platforms, such as Windows and Mac, so that all systems are centrally controlled.
Beyond systems, JumpCloud's virtual identity provider also integrates with Google Apps, Office 365, AWS, and other SaaS applications. The goal of the Identity-as-a-Service platform is to connect user identities with the IT resources that they need.
If you would like to learn more about how Directory-as-a-Service can support your Linux user management needs, drop us a note. Please feel free to give our cloud identity management platform a try for yourself. Your first 10 users are free forever.


text:
Guy Buttery stretches acoustic-guitar boundaries
The world is full of great acoustic guitarists, but every now and again one comes along who really blows you away. Vancouver's own Don Alder—whose percussive, wall-of-sound compositional approach has helped him win major competitions around the world—is one of them. Another is South Africa's Guy Buttery, who, like Alder, is committed to stretching the boundaries of the instrument. Guitar Player magazine calls him "the most diverse and intriguing fingerstyle artist in recent memory".
When the Straight contacts Buttery in London, England—where he's just done two sold-out shows and is preparing to head to Canada to promote a new live album—he says that his desire to break new ground on the guitar comes partly from growing up in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal, home of the Zulu nation.
"In South Africa there's 11 official national languages," he explains, "and that obviously includes multiple traditional kinds of music. We have the influences from the West as well, and from all over the world, and the guitar is just used in everything.
"So you kind of take what you like from each genre and try and make something out of it," he adds. "I like to think I do that sometimes, when I'm successful. You're just open to so many different tonal colours and textures, and it's just a matter of exploring them—like there's a whole orchestra inside that little wooden box, you know."
A bold, creative approach to the six-string is not always what comes to mind when one considers the legacy of blues-based classic rock, but that doesn't stop Buttery from citing Led Zeppelin riffmonger Jimmy Page as a major inspiration when he was starting out.
"He was one of the iconic rock-guitar players who took a lot of interest in music from different parts of the world," he points out. "He was very much into Indian classical music and obviously North African music and Moroccan music and West African music, and that inspired me. I thought, 'Well here's this guy making these sort of classic-rock riffs, but if you listen carefully they don't sound like a British rock band.' "
As far as acoustic fingerstyle influences go, Buttery points to the work of Michael Hedges as being particularly spellbinding. "I found so many of his pieces just unlike anything else on the planet," he notes. But nowadays he's just as apt to be inspired by singer-songwriter and harpist Joanna Newsom, whose song "The Book of Right-On" he interprets beautifully, via loops and layers, on the new Live in KwaZulu album.
Buttery also finds current inspiration in the artistry of the aforementioned Alder—another Hedges devotee—who he asked to join him at his upcoming Vancouver show. Alder couldn't make it, unfortunately, but what a double bill that would have been.
"He's unbelievable," raves Buttery, "an absolute monster."
Takes one to know one, I'd say.
Posted on October 28, 2013 February 9, 2015 by the newtPosted in guitar heroesTagged Don Alder, Guy Buttery, Joanna Newsom, Led Zeppelin, Michael Hedges, Railway Club, Vancouver.
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Occupational Insecurity and Job Loss
Changing economic conditions in the United States over the past few decades (such as the move toward a global economy and most recently the economic recession), as well as changing demographics, have forced many people out of their jobs. Heavy manufacturing and support businesses (such as the steel, oil, and automotive industries) and farming were the hardest hit during the 1970s and 1980s. But no one is immune. Take the banking industry today. Indeed, the corporate takeover frenzy of the 1980s and the recession of the late 2000s put many middle – and upper-level corporate executives out of work in all kinds of businesses.
As a result of these trends, many people feel insecure about their jobs. Like Dirk, the auto worker in the vignette at the beginning of this section, many worried workers have numerous years of dedicated service to a corporation. Unfortunately, people who worry about their jobs and those who experience job loss tend to have poorer mental health as discussed in Chapters 3 and 5 (McKee-Ryan, Song, Wanberg, & Kinicki, 2005; Price et al., 2002; Roskies & Louis-Guerin, 1990). For example, anxiety about one's job may result in negative attitudes about one's
470 CHAPTER 12 employer or even work in general, which in turn may diminish the desire to be successful. Whether there is any actual basis for people's feelings of job insecurity may not matter; what people think is true about their work situation is sometimes more important than what is actually the case. If people believe that they are at risk of losing their jobs, their mental health and behavior are often affected negatively even when the actual risk of losing their jobs is very low (Roskies & Louis-Guerin, 1990). These effects do vary with age. For example, whereas some middle-aged men are more susceptible to negative effects of losing one's job, others do not always report negative outcomes (Leana & Feldman, 1992). Some may have been planning to retire in the near future and see this as an opportunity to do so, others are hired back as consultants, and still others use their situation to try doing something new. Finally, downsizing in a company creates insecurity and this greatly damages the organizational trust and morale of employees aged 45 and older (Armstrong-Stassen, 2001).
What happens to the mental health of people who remain unemployed for relatively long periods of time? Wanberg (1995) assessed 129 people over a period of 9 months following the loss of a job. Only those people who were satisfied with their new jobs showed significant improvements in mental health; people who were unhappy in their new jobs and people who were still unemployed showed no change. Furthermore, husbands' job loss can have a negative effect on wives' mental health (Siegel et al., 2003).
People who are unemployed show considerable variability. For example, Wanberg and Marchese (1994) showed that four clusters of unemployed people could be identified, varying along the dimensions of financial concerns, employment commitment, job-seeking confidence level, degree of time structure, and adaptation to unemployment. These clusters can be identified as follows: confident, but concerned about getting another job; distressed about being unemployed; unconcerned and indifferent about being unemployed; and optimistic about the future and coping with unemployment. The differing characteristics of these clusters mean that interventions with unemployed individuals must take these differences into account.
The effects of losing one's job emphasize the central role that occupations play in forming a sense of identity in adulthood. How one perceives the loss of a job plays a major role in determining what the long-term effects will be.
1. What are the major factors that predict occupational transition?
2. What is career plateauing? How can it be avoided?
3. What effects do people experience when they lose their jobs?


Importance of Hiring Creative Agency in Sydney The customer and market base of your business is strengthened by the increase of prospects, and it is determined by your marketing strategy. An internal team in business should design new ideas for the business whenever possible.Due to the current business revolution, marketing is fundamental for any business to ensure it does not dry up. Therefore, if you are a business owner, the need for embracing marketing is perennial. Most business needs to be publicized to prevail beyond the thriving competition and overcome the reduction of business opportunities from your local markets. Advertising agencies are several in Sydney and can be useful in making you realize your business goals with ease. All is needed of you is to bring around an agency that will be willing to follow your guideline and the grounds that you want them to perform. This will be useful in assisting the agency to develop dynamic strategies which will have a positive effect on your business. Embrace the use of different marketing strategies to help your business soar to greater heights. It will take months for your business to feel the impact but once it starts happening, the surge in business will need to be handled properly. For multiple strategies of marketing and bases for promotional events which you might need to include on your website, consider getting assistance from creative agencies. The techniques devised by the hired firm will be of great use to the business development and its impact can last for years. Issues affecting incoming business will be a thing of the past and client waiting for your service will be in abundance. Creative agencies in Sydney have helped several businesses to walk through the ladder of success and if finding such firms is daunting, an online research can be useful. Many websites are available to offer you with tactics on how to manage your business and can give you a tip on how to market the enterprise. Creative agencies are the backbone of most business, and they do a lot in strengthening emerging business in most markets. The creative agencies start from the bottom by creating new customer bases and will motivate you to meet your business needs. Business owners who work with these creative designers have an easy time in running their business, and they do not have to look for customers. Therefore, Hire competent, creative designing firms so that you fulfill different needs for marketing of your business. With the services of these professionals, your business will run smoothly giving you good returns.Why not learn more about Services?


Many people are searhing for the perfect eating plan. A diet regime that permits you to consume each of the yummy things you need and but continue to shed weight. Why does there have to be this type of disparity concerning a super diet program and also a genuine one particular. The actual types are all based on this restriction or that just one. No carbs, no fats or large calorie foods, all of your current favorite things is off restrictions. As an alternative you may have to stick to fruits, green leafy greens, higher fiber stuff, and meals with small energy.
Here's a rapid survey of some fast weight-loss food plan so that you can familiarize your self with them.
The Cabbage Soup food plan is legendary. This diet program includes a few variation but at its foundation is you eat cabbage soup if you are hungry and it will fill you up so you're able to continue to be around the diet plan. Though you will be doing the cabbage soup food plan such things as oils and fats are off boundaries. This diet plan is simply the opposite side of the complete rapidly; it can be a very low calorie food plan and in order to lose plenty of pounds on it Butter Coffee Diet.
The Sonoma diet regime may be the generation of Dr. Connie Gutterson. It can be significant in antioxidant abundant foodstuff, fruits and veggies, blueberries, spinach, full grains. Heck you can also have got a small crimson wine using this a person. It is usually an incredibly powerful diet plan so you can drop loads of body weight on it.
Slim Rapid as the center bit of your diet plan also will work. This can also certainly be a balanced, nutritional diet which comes comprehensive with calcium and protein. On this diet plan you consume Trim Fast 6 occasions daily and you get to add in fruit, yogurt, cottage cheese, new greens, meat, and nuts. This food plan is one that that has a small treatment you can enjoy getting on; it even works for teens.
Future would be the detrimental calorie diet program, actually it's more like a diet plan helper. On this diet program you try to eat food stuff which have fewer energy in comparison to the amount of energy it will take to digest them. These are typically significant fiber goods, foodstuff with small body fat, vegatables and fruits. Roughage is really a major section of the adverse calorie diet plan. You can't help but slim down simply because it requires a lot more calories to digest than you're taking in by feeding on it.
These eating plans function but regretably they are not diet plans you can stick to. Your entire body might be in entire insurrection if make an effort to stick to any of those way too prolonged, then your excess weight could possibly sling shot back again the other way.


In a world wrecked by climate change, in a society owned by the ultra-rich, in a city hollowed out by industrial flight, Hubert, Etc, Seth and Natalie have nowhere else to be and nothing better to do. But there is another way. After all, now that anyone can design and print the basic necessities of life - food, clothing, shelter - from a computer, there is little reason to toil within the system., So, like thousands of others in the mid-21st century, the three of them turn their back on the world of rules, jobs, the morning commute and... walkaway. It's a dangerous world out there; the empty, lawless lands are hiding predators - animal and human alike., Still, when the initial pioneer walkaways flourish, the few become many, building what threatens to become a post-scarcity utopia. But then the walkaways discover the one thing the ultra-rich have never been able to buy: how to beat death. And now it's war - a war that will turn the world upside down.
Want to know when Walkaway - nzgameshop.com drops below a certain price? Enter your email address and price below and we'll let you know when it drops below that price!


text:
Q: controller function do not call on button click in angular js hello i am new in angularjs i am working on registration module so i have to call a controller function on button submit this is my code so please help me to call controller function on button click, thank you.
here is my view

 Get In Touch!

    <form role="form"  ng-submit="submit()">

                Name
                <input type="text" name="contact_name" class="form-control" id="input1">

                Email Address
                <input type="email" name="contact_email" class="form-control" id="input2">

                <input type="hidden" name="save" value="contact">
                <button type="submit" ng-click="submit();" class="btn btn-primary">Submit</button>

    </form>

here is the my controller
app.controller('regCtrl', function($scope) {
        $scope.submit = function () {
            alert("hello");
            if ($scope.text) {
                $scope.list.push($scope.text);
                $scope.text = '';
            }
        };
    });

A: You can try like this-
In html file add ng-controller -

then add form tag with 'ng-submit' attribute like as -
 <form name="form" data-ng-submit="submit()" novalidate  role="form">

and add normal submit button inside form
<button  type="submit">Submit</button>

Now it will post your data to controller.

A: This is how your view code should be:

 Get In Touch!

        <form role="form"  ng-submit="submit()" novalidate >

                    Name
                    <input type="text" name="contact_name" class="form-control" id="input1">

                    Email Address
                    <input type="email" name="contact_email" class="form-control" id="input2">

                    <input type="hidden" name="save" value="contact">
                    <button type="submit" ng-click="submit()" class="btn btn-primary">Submit</button>

        </form>

And in your controller file or app.js file there should be a module created with app name.
var app = angular.module( 'regApp', []);

app.controller('regCtrl', function($scope) {
        $scope.submit = function () {
            alert("hello");
            if ($scope.text) {
                $scope.list.push($scope.text);
                $scope.text = '';
            }
        };
    });

I think now it should work !

A: You have used button type as submit and also using ng-click...
If type is submit then no need to use ng-click directive...
try this one
<button type="submit" class="btn btn-primary">Submit</button>

Instead of
<button type="submit" ng-click="submit()" class="btn btn-primary">Submit</button>

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


All three runs are out and back with a few road crossings. Participants will heed traffic while crossing all roads, there will be NO crossing guards. As with all NW Ultra events these are meant to be fun runs with limited aid. Any diversion from the trail will be marked as well as all turnaround points. All three courses are out and back on railroad grade gravel path. The course has a slight (unnoticeable) uphill grade on the way out, with of course the same downhill grade on the return. There will be an aid station at each of the turnaround points (6.6 miles, 13.15 miles, 15.7 miles). If we can find enough volunteers we will add aid stations at mile 4, and mile 10. Plan on carrying water and aid in case we don't secure enough volunteers. This is not a race and is not sanctioned by any governing body.


In general, North Carolina employees are prohibited from suing employers or coworkers in state or federal court for on the job injuries. If the employer and the employee are both covered by the North Carolina Workers' Compensation Act, then injured employees must pursue injury claims under the workers' compensation system. Even in situations where there was clear negligence, workers are not allowed to file a civil lawsuit. There are some exceptions, however.
Employees may be allowed to sue their employer or another coworker in civil court if it can be proven that the accident or injury was an intentional act or the result of conduct that was substantially certain to result in death or injury. Intentionally or purposefully causing harm to an employee would fall outside of the Workers' Compensation Act and an employee could then choose to sue the employer or a co-worker in court.
Sometimes there are situations when a third party is responsible for an on-the-job injury. Because the North Carolina Workers' Compensation does not forbid lawsuits against others who caused your injury or illness, you may be able to file a third party civil lawsuit. Third-party actions must be pursued outside of the jurisdiction of the North Carolina Industrial Commission, typically under the jurisdiction and rules of a state or federal court. However, any recovery in the third-party action, whether by settlement or judgment, is subject to a lien in favor an innocent employer or carrier that paid workers' compensation benefits as a result of the injury caused by the third party. An injured worker may not lawfully receive proceeds from a third-party action without following specific procedures set out in North Carolina General Statute § 97-10.2. This is a complex statute designed to ensure that the rights of innocent employers and carriers who paid workers' compensation benefits as the result of injuries caused by a third-party are considered and addressed.
An experienced North Carolina workers' compensation lawyer can review all of your legal options with you and help you obtain the maximum compensation to which you are entitled.
Contact Our Worker's Compensation Lawyers Today for a FREE Consultation!
If you have been injured on the job or have been diagnosed with an occupational disease, it is important to seek the advice of an experienced workers' compensation attorney immediately. At Hill Evans Jordan & Beatty, PLLC, we are skilled litigators with years of workers' compensation experience. We will fight for your worker's compensation claim and for your future. Call us today at (336) 379-1390 or fill out our confidential contact form for more information.


Mike LaMascus joined Mack Energy Co. in 2013, as a Drilling and Production Engineer for the Mid-Continent Division. He was promoted to his current position as Production Manager-Mid Continent Division in January 2015. Mr. LaMascus began his professional career with Phillips Petroleum and has held various Engineering and Management positions for several family-owned independent oil and gas companies as well as Devon Energy, Range Resources and Phillips Petroleum. He has experience in all phases of producing operations, drilling, facilities and reservoir engineering. Mike graduated from the University of Tulsa in 1994 with a B.S. Degree in Petroleum Engineering.


In the last article, we highlighted how many field service managers work their way up through the ranks and learn a management style through trial and error or from their managers and their managers' manager. In summary, management training is often informal. And yet, John Maxwell, author of The 5 Levels of Leadership, identified that one of the five key reasons that employees choose to follow a leader is because the leader has helped them to progress their career.
Quite simply, managers should take a more formal approach to discussing career aspirations with field service engineers and to help them gain skills that will move them towards their personal career goals. In return, employees show appreciation through greater loyalty to the leader and by working harder. Just taking an interest and providing career guidance is a good start because it demonstrates to the engineers that we are interested in their success beyond them meeting our monthly targets. Empowerment is also a form of career development.
A key difference between training and development is who is ultimately responsible for making sure that both of these things happen. Training is the responsibility of the field service manager.
The manager must provide training to the field service engineer so that the engineer is capable of doing the job that he is being paid for. If the field service engineer has not been properly trained then he is unlikely to have the skills required to be able to do the job. Without skill, there can be no performance. On a side note, having the skills does not guarantee that the field service engineer will perform to his highest level. For high performance, the field service manager needs to provide training and motivation.
Conversely, development is the responsibility of the field service engineer. Only the engineer can know how he would like to see his career progress. Hence, there is little benefit to be gained from a lengthy career discussion with a field service engineer who is content with his job and doesn't see that it is in his interest to gain new skills. For the rest of the team, the career development discussion gives the manager the opportunity to understand the aspirations of the field service engineer and to demonstrate his commitment to helping the engineer prepare for his next job.
Training and development plans are often updated and agreed by the field service manager and the engineer annually, typically in the final few minutes of the performance review meeting. The recommendation is that the training and development discussions take place separately and within two weeks of the performance review meeting. This gives the field service engineer time to consider the job skills that were highlighted in the review as needing improvement and what actions he thinks he could take to help him meet the required standard.
The training and development meeting should be conducted in two stages with the field service engineer clearly understanding the difference in the stages. The first stage is the training discussion led by the manager. The second stage is the career development discussion led by the field service engineer. In some cases a career development discussion is inappropriate, for example, for a new hire who needs a large amount of training or an engineer who is subject to the performance improvement process. In these cases, the manager will need to say that a discussion on career development should be delayed until the field engineer is competent in his current role or the unsatisfactory performance issues have been resolved.
Micro-management is widespread because many managers do not realise that they are micro-managing their employees. Assigning tasks, giving directions on how things should be done and unnecessary checking of what has been done are common forms of micro-management.
With the exception of new hires and less experienced members of staff, field service managers should take the approach of setting the goals and letting the field service engineers decide for themselves on how best to achieve those goals. Also, given that the engineers have more knowledge about the customer, machine, situation, etc., they are often in the best position to make the decisions. The alternative is for the engineers to try and transfer their knowledge to the manager so that he can make the same decision as they would have done anyway! The latter approach wastes time for the manager, engineer and customer.
It is important that managers understand the difference between delegation and empowerment and use language that reinforces a culture of empowerment. Consider these statements: 'Please call the customer, tell him the part is out of stock, apologise and re-schedule the appointment', versus 'Do what you have to do to make the customer satisfied and let me know if you need me to help'.
The first statement is an example of delegation, i.e., these are the tasks that I want you to do. The second statement is an example of empowerment, i.e., I am giving you authority to take whatever actions you think are necessary. Managers are often surprised as to how field service engineers rise to the occasion when they are trusted to get on with the job by themselves.
Some caution is required before empowering field services engineers and it is not necessary to give all engineers the same level of authority at the same time. Managers need to consider the return on investment of empowerment in terms of time saved, customer satisfaction, employee motivation and so on, versus the cost of a poor decision. A frequently made decision that if made badly once per year would cost the company £100 is worthy of empowerment. A decision with a business cost of £10,000 in a worst case scenario is not.
A 'top four' factor of employee motivation is the level of responsibility that they are given and empowering field service engineers is equivalent to saying 'I trust you'. As mentioned in the previous article, as trust goes up, productivity increases and costs come down. Hence, empowering employees is a win-win situation for the field service manager and the engineers in many ways.


1/8 From left: Andreea Diaconu @andreeadiddy; Amanda Googe @amandagooge.
I've got to get away, I've got to fly away. Every so often, and more often than not it's time to put down our screens and step away from our distractions. On a solo trip or with your closest of friends head out into the great outdoors. Through the jungle, up a mountain or aimlessly along a coastline there is no cure like fresh air and space to fill.
So do like Farah and Gigi and Andrea and make the most of our time on this earth. Remember, hydration is key so carry your BKR Elle Water bottle with you always.


"Comparative Genomic Expression Signatures of Signal Transduction Pathw" by Sunggeun Lee, N Day et al.
Burkitt lymphoma (BL) is the most common histological subtype of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) in children and adolescents. Through the introduction of short intensive multi-agent chemoimmunotherapy, survival has improved significantly over the past 30 years. However, this successful approach is limited by significant chemotherapy-induced acute toxicity and risk of developing resistant disease, demonstrating the need to identify less toxic and targeted therapies. We analysed the comparative genomic signature and targetable signalling pathways in paediatric BL (PEBL) samples from the Children's Oncology Group study (ANHL01P1) by genomic profiling and selected genes were confirmed by quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction. These results were compared to PEBL samples from public databases and utilised the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) Series (GSE) 10172 and 4475 (n = 16), and 4732 (n = 15). Three hundred and seventy-six genes (approximately 25%) were similarly expressed among three PEBL sample groups. Several target genes in Toll-like receptor signalling, JAK-STAT signalling and MAPK signalling were significantly overexpressed in PEBL. In addition, several tyrosine kinases, including Bruton tyrosine kinase, protein tyrosine phosphatase and histone deacetylase inhibitor were highly expressed in PEBL. These pre-clinical results suggest that specific signal transduction pathways are overly expressed in PEBL and several pathways could serve as potential future therapeutic targets.


All Listings > alphabetical > TV Prompt, Inc.
TV Prompt is the premier teleprompting service provider in the NY broadcast industry. From The Tony Awards to The Grammy Awards and every award show and TV special in between, we keep the words flowing so your show keeps going. We do plenty of video shoots and presentations as well.


Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) is an extreme sport that any brand would think twice about partnering with due to its violence and gore. But PotNetworking Holdings is different.
PotNetwork Holdings, Inc. (OTCMKTS:POTN) has announced that its subsidiary, Diamond CBD, Inc., has thrown its support to MMA with partners Exponential, Inc. (XPO²). They signed a deal with Bully Rehab Awareness Gym (BRAG), which aims to stop school bullying and empower kids through MMA.
Founder Carlos "The Yuman Prodigy" Flores is a former MMA pro fighter. He sports a win-loss card of 5-2, with two wins coming off TKO. He had a five-game winning streak from 2008 to 2011 before losing the last two of his fights to Rich Hale and Adam Padilla. For Flores, the transition to training young fighters and starting a gym where the focus is to stop bullying is not that difficult.
"I want to be able to help both people, the bully and the person bullied," Flores claims.
School bullying is a serious matter, and unless there is action to spread awareness about it, the problem will only persist. Statistics say one in four kids in the U.S. has experienced being bullied most of the time. On the other hand, verbal bullying is the most common type, with 77 percent of students admitting they are bullied verbally or mentally. This could lead to poor self-esteem, depression, anxiety or, in worst cases, even suicide.
Unfortunately, little is done to improve the situation. The report from Bullying Statistics revealed that 85 percent of cases are being ignored by the teachers or the school administration. To stop these cases, there is a need for the community to stand as one—the school, teachers, parents and students—and make collective efforts to put an end to it.
Sports is one of the things that can help. It can improve one's physical attributes as well as mentality. It also teaches the value of camaraderie, patience, sportsmanship, and humility. It also empowers the kids and students that they have a choice and that they can stop bullying and let it not consume their self-worth.
With the help of Flores, through his gym, he wants to share his learnings and experiences as an MMA fighter. MMA is one of the most exciting sports right now, and it gets increasing attention. As more states in the U.S. are legalizing MMA, its popularity will only reach greater heights. It is once frowned upon because of its violence and its no-rules kind of sports, but that is not the case anymore.
MMA King Conor McGregor and boxing superstar Floyd Mayweather met in the boxing ring, and it even catapulted MMA to global awareness. Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO Dana White believes MMA will always be exciting because it is in human nature to fight and be competitive.
"I don't care what color you are, I don't care what country you're from; we're all human beings and fighting's in our DNA. We get it, and we like it," he added.
The good thing is, there is not just one MMA outfit that dominates the industry. White's UFC may be the flag bearer of MMA sports, but there is also Bellator, Pride FC, World Extreme Cagefighting and Strikeforce, to name a few. Even less popular ones are making strides.
Alliance MMA Inc. revealed its financial results for Q2 in 2017, and it showed a 48 percent growth.
"As previously reported, now that we're operating in eleven regional MMA promotions, we are well on our way towards creating a persistent presence in the top 20 domestic media markets. Moreover, we are continuing to make positive strides in achieving our stated objective of producing at least 125 professional MMA events per year, which in turn will facilitate attracting national brand sponsorships, and securing a more robust broadcast video distribution presence," Alliance MMA CEO Paul Danner explains.
Because it is a highly physical sports, MMA fighters tend to get injured from time to time. CBD products help relieve pain and sore muscles in these types of injuries. By partnering with BRAG, Diamond CBD offers its top of the line CBD creams, which are designed for high-performing athletes. It is even endorsed by NFL Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor.
The use of CBD products is not new among MMA fighters. It gives them an alternative to prescription drugs, which can have adverse effects in the long run, on top of being costly. Matt Riddle, John Fitch, Nick and Nate Diaz, and Mike Perry are among the notable names who support marijuana use in MMA.
The opportunity is just too good to pass up for PotNetwork Holdings and Diamond CBD. By supporting BRAG, the management believes they are hitting two birds with one stone: help MMA athletes recover and stop school bullying across the U.S.
The CBD industry and MMA industry almost had similar fates. They are once banned and considered illegal in some states, but regulators are slowly realizing their worth to the community building. With the collaboration, the future is bright for aspiring MMA fighters and students in the U.S.


text:
/**
 * Created by Benson.Liao on 15/12/9.
 * --always-compact: always full gc().
 * --expose-gc: manual gc().
 */
var debug = require('debug')('LiveCluster');
var fxNetSocket = require('./../fxNetSocket/index');
var FxConnection = fxNetSocket.netConnection;
var outputStream = fxNetSocket.stdoutStream;
var parser = fxNetSocket.parser;
var utilities = fxNetSocket.utilities;
var logger = fxNetSocket.logger;
var fs  = require('fs');
var net  = require('net');
var evt = require('events');
var cfg = require('./../config.js');
var proc = require('child_process');
/** 所有視訊stream物件 **/
var liveStreams = {};
/** 多執行緒 **/
var cluster = require('cluster');
var isWorker = ('NODE_CDID' in process.env);
var isMaster = (isWorker === false);
var server;
/** cluster start **/
process.on('message', function(data , handle) {

    if (data == 0) {
        isMaster = false;

        debug('[Runnable] Create cluster id:',data );

        var self = this;

        var srv = new FxConnection(handle);
        setupCluster(srv);
        server = srv;
    }
    else if ((typeof data.handle != 'undefined') && data.handle === 'socketSend'){
        socketSend(data.evt,data.spawnName);
    } else{
        var json = data;
        //debug(json.namespace);
        var spawnName = json.namespace;
        var clients = server.getClients();
        var keys = Object.keys(clients);
        if (keys.length == 0) return;
        for (var i = 0 ; i < keys.length; i++) {
            var socket = clients[keys[i]];
            if (socket.isConnect == true) {
                if (socket.namespace == spawnName)
                {
                    var str = JSON.stringify({"NetStreamEvent":"NetStreamData",'data':json.data});
                    //debug('INFO::::%s bytes', Buffer.byteLength(str));
                    //!!!! cpu very busy !!!
                    socket.write(str)
                }

            }
        }
        keys = null;
    }

});

if (isMaster) initizatialSrv();

/** cluster ended **/

function initizatialSrv() {
    /** createLiveStreams **/
    createLiveStreams(cfg.appConfig.fileName);
    setInterval(observerTotoalUseMem, 60000); // testing code 1.0 min

    utilities.autoReleaseGC(); //** 手動 1 sec gc

    var srv = new FxConnection(cfg.appConfig.port,{'cluster':4});
    setupCluster(srv);
    server = srv;
}

function setupCluster(srv) {

    srv.on('Listening', function (app) {
        debug('Listening...');
        var option = {'cluster':1};
        if (typeof option === 'undefined') {
            option = {'cluster':0};
        }
        /** cluster start **/
        if (isMaster && option.cluster != 0) { // isMaster
            for (var i = 0; i < option.cluster; i++) {

                // file , fork.settings, args
                var env = process.env;
                env.NODE_CDID = i;
                var cluster = proc.fork('./FxLiveStreamSrvCluster.js',{silent:false}, {env:env});
                cluster.id = i;
                cluster.send(0, app._handle);

                cluster.on('message', function (msg) {
                    debug("serv", msg);
                });
                srv.clusters.push(cluster);

            };
            app.close();
        };
        /** cluster ended **/

    });

    srv.on('connection', function (socket) {
        debug('clients:',socket.name);

        return;
        // 檢查 Stream List 建立
        if (typeof liveStreams != 'undefined' && liveStreams != null ) {
            var swpan = liveStreams[socket.namespace];

            if (typeof swpan == 'undefined' && swpan == null ) {
                // return;

                var confirm = verificationString(socket.namespace);
                // 特殊需求這邊本來應該return;如果連線指定伺服器啟動」
                debug("rtmp://" + cfg.videoDomainName + socket.namespace , confirm);
                if (confirm) {
                    createLiveStreams(["rtmp://" + cfg.videoDomainName + socket.namespace]);
                }else
                {
                    srv.clientDestroy(socket);
                }
            }else
                rebootStream(swpan);

        }else {
            //todo 為建立狀態流程處理
            console.error("[ERROR]Stream not Create.");
        }
    });
    /** socket data event **/
    srv.on('message', function (data) {
        debug('message :',data);
    });
    /** client socket destroy **/
    srv.on('disconnect', function (socket) {
        debug('disconnect_fxconnect_client.');
        //socket.removeListener('connection', callback);
    });
    /** verification **/
    function verificationString(str) {
        var regexp = /(video\/[a-zA-Z]*\/video[0-9a-zA-Z]*)/i;
        var val = str.match(regexp);
        if (val !== null && typeof val !== 'undefined' && val[0] !== null) {
            return true;
        }else
            return false;
    }

    /**
     * client socket connection is http connect()
     * @param req: request
     * @param client: client socket
     * @param head: req header
     * **/
    srv.on('httpUpgrade', function (req, client, head) {

        debug('## upgrade ##');

        var _get = head[0].split(" ");

        var socket = client.socket;

        if (_get[1] === "/") {

            fs.readFile('public/views/broadwayPlayer.html', function (err, data) {
                successfulHeader(200, socket, "html");
                socket.write(data);

                client.close();
            });
        }
        else if (_get[1] === "/favicon.ico") {
            failureHeader(404, socket, "ico");
            client.close();
        }
        else
        {
            successfulHeader(200, socket, "js");
            var fsstream = fs.createReadStream("public" + _get[1], {bufferSize: 1024 * 300, end:false});
            var fileLength = 0;
            fsstream.pipe(socket);

            fsstream.on('data', function (chunk) {
                fileLength += chunk.length;
            });
            fsstream.on('end', function () {
                //var file = Buffer.concat(list).toString();
                debug("%s file size : %d kb",_get[1],fileLength/1024);
                //socket.write("content-length:%d\r\n", fileLength);

                //client.close();

            });
            fsstream.on('error', function (err) {
                debug('fsStream error:', err);
            });

        }

    });
    /**
     * @param code: response header Status Code
     * @param socket: client socket
     * @param type: content-type
     * */
    function successfulHeader(code, socket, type) {

        var contentType = type === 'js' ? "application/javascript" : "text/html";

        var headers = parser.headers.responseHeader(code, {
            "Host": srv.app.address().address,
            "accept": "text/html,application/xhtml+xml,application/xml;q=0.9,image/webp,*/*;q=0.8",
            "Connection": "Keep-Alive",
            "Keep-Alive": "timeout=3, max=10",
            "Access-Control-Allow-Origin": "*",
            "Content-Type": contentType
        });

        //socket.write("Content-Security-Policy: default-src 'self'; img-src *;object-src 'self' http://127.0.0.1; script-src 'self' http://127.0.0.1;\n");
        socket.write(headers);
    };
    /**
     * @param code: response header Status Code
     * @param socket: client socket
     * */
    function failureHeader(code, socket) {

        var headers = parser.headers.responseHeader(code, {
            "Connection": "close" });
        socket.write(headers);

    }

}

// - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - //
// STREAM //
function createLiveStreams(fileName) {
    var sn = fileName;
    var spawned,_name;
    for (var i = 0; i < sn.length; i++) {
        // schema 2, domain 3, port 5, path 6,last path 7, file 8, querystring 9, hash 12
        _name = sn[i].toString().match(/^((rtmp[s]?):\/)?\/?([^:\/\s]+)(:([^\/]*))?((\/\w+)*\/)([\w\-\.]+[^#?\s]+)(\?([^#]*))?(#(.*))?$/i);
        if (typeof  _name[6] != 'undefined' && typeof _name[8] != 'undefined') {
            var pathname = _name[6] + _name[8];
            spawned = liveStreams[pathname] = new outputStream(sn[i]);
            spawned.name = pathname;
            spawned.on('streamData', swpanedUpdate);
            spawned.on('close', swpanedClosed);
            spawned = null;
        }else {
            throw "create Live Stream path error." + sn[i];
        }

    };

};
/** 重啟stream **/
function rebootStream(spawned,skip) {
    if ((spawned.running == false && spawned.STATUS >= 2) || skip == true) {
        debug('>>rebootStream:', spawned.name);
        var spawn = liveStreams[spawned.name] = new outputStream( "rtmp://" + cfg.videoDomainName + spawned.name);
        spawn.idx = spawned.idx;
        spawn.name = spawned.name;
        spawn.on('streamData', swpanedUpdate);
        spawn.on('close', swpanedClosed);
        spawned.removeListener('streamData', swpanedUpdate);
        spawned.removeListener('close', swpanedClosed);
        spawned = null;
        server.eventDispatch(3);
    }
}
/** ffmpeg stream pull the data of a base64 **/

function swpanedUpdate(base64) {
    var spawnName = this.name;
    if (server.clusters[0]){
        server.clusters[0].send({'namespace':spawnName,'data':base64});
    }
};

function socketSend(evt, spawnName) {

    if (isMaster) {
        for (var i = 0; i < server.clusters.length; i++) {
            if (server.clusters[i])
            {
                server.clusters[i].send({'handle':'socketSend','evt':evt,'spawnName':spawnName});
            }

        }

    }else
    {
        var clients = server.getClients();
        var keys = Object.keys(clients);
        if (keys.length == 0) return;

        for (var i = 0 ; i < keys.length; i++) {
            var socket = clients[keys[i]];
            if (socket.isConnect == true) {
                if (socket.namespace === spawnName)
                    socket.write(JSON.stringify(evt));
            }

        }

        keys = null;
    };

}

/* ------- start testing logger ------- */
/** ffmpeg stream close **/
function swpanedClosed(code){

    socketSend({'NetStatusEvent': 'NetConnect.Failed'}, this.name);

    //** 監聽到自動關閉,重新啟動 code == 0 **/
    if (1) {
        debug("listen swpaned Closed - ",this.name, " < REBOOTING >");
        rebootStream(this,true);
    }

    logger.reachabilityWithHostName(cfg.videoDomainName);

};
/** 觀察記憶體使用狀況 **/
function observerTotoalUseMem() {

    var keys = Object.keys(liveStreams);
    var pids = [];
    keys.asyncEach(function(element, resume) {
        resume();
        pids.push(liveStreams[element].ffmpeg.pid);
    }, function() {
        logger.logTotalMemoryUsage(pids);
    });

}
/* ------- ended testing logger ------- */

process.on('uncaughtException', function (err) {
    console.error(err.stack);
});

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Oropharyngeal Dysphagia Studies
Study looking at safety and efficacy of the Swallow Expansion Device (SED) for improvement of severe swallowing issues
Can the Swallow Expansion Device (SED) treat severe dysphagia?
a study on Oropharyngeal Dysphagia Deglutition Disorders
study started June 2014
estimated completion April 2022
Peter Belafsky, MD PhD
Biomedical devices, such as artificial joints and pacemakers, are accepted and commonly used in medicine. While great progress in biomedical devices has been made for many other disorders, there is currently no device available to assist with the act of deglutition. The investigators have developed a biomedical device (Swallow Expansion Device, SED) that assists with swallowing by mechanically opening the upper esophageal sphincter and allowing food and liquid to safely enter the esophagus. The SED has proven safe in cadaver and live animal studies (Belafsky, 2010).
Safety and Efficacy of the Swallow Expansion Device (SED) for Improvement of Swallowing in Patients With Life-threatening Aspiration Secondary to Feeding Tube Dependent Oropharyngeal Dysphagia: A Single-site, Open-label, Phase 1 Human Trial
The purpose of this study is to evaluate if the SED can safely and effectively improve swallowing. Many people with severe swallowing disability (dysphagia) cannot open their upper esophageal sphincter, which is a circular band of muscle that acts like a valve, allowing food to enter the esophagus (food pipe) and go down into the stomach. People with extreme dysphagia may cough and choke on food, liquid, and even their own saliva. These people are always at risk of food/liquid/saliva accidently entering their lungs. This can cause pneumonia and, in some cases, death. The SED was developed by the University of California, Davis, to improve swallowing. The idea for the SED began when 6 people, who had feeding tubes for 100% of their nutrition because of severe swallowing disability, had a long suture thread attached to their throat. Patients pulled the two ends of the suture thread forward and were able to open their upper esophageal sphincter. In fact, their swallowing improved so much that 3 patients went home with the suture in place so that they could eat by mouth. Unfortunately, the skin around the suture became red and painful within 2-9 days of use. The suture was removed, but the idea for the SED was born. Since the suture study, three different models of the SED have been developed, with each subsequent model better able to improve swallowing, patient safety and use with other common medical tests. The current SED model looks like the letter "T" or a office tack used to stick paper on a wall or board. The SED has a plate and a post. The plate is like the top part of the "T" or smooth part of the tack. The plate is attached to the cartilage or flexible connective tissue of the throat. The SED post is like the bottom part of the "T" or pointy part of the tack, but instead of ending with a point, the end has a small ring. The post permanently sticks out from the throat, like a skin piercing, after the neck skin heals over the plate. Healing takes about 8 weeks. The SED is made out of titanium because this metal is extremely strong and commonly used in medical devices put into the body, such as hip joints or bone plates. A person can eat with the SED by having food enter their esophagus when the SED post is pulled forward with their fingers on the ring. Both sheep and human cadaver studies have shown that the SED works extremely well to widely open the upper esophageal sphincter. The University of California, Davis, and the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have determined that the SED is ready to be tested in a small human study.
Oropharyngeal Dysphagia (OPD) Dysphagia Feeding Tube Dependent Deglutition Disorders Swallowing Expansion Device
Profound oropharyngeal feeding tube dependent dysphagia of greater than 12 months duration, as documented by the prevalence of aspiration on fluoroscopic swallow study.
Must be receiving 100% of nutritional requirements by enterogastric tube.
18 years of age and older, acceptable forms of documentation for verification of age include birth certificate, passport, and/or driver's license.
Diminished upper esophageal sphincter opening defined as less than .55 cm for individuals under 65 years of age and less than .40 cm for individuals over 65 years of age on fluoroscopic swallow study.
Failure of > 3 months of dysphagia therapy within 3 months of study enrollment.
No documented history of noncompliance with feeding recommendations.
Cognition that is within normal limits, as evidenced by an Abbreviated Mental Test Score (AMTS) score greater than 6.
Manual dexterity that is within normal limits for age, sex, and hand, as evaluated by a Block and Box Test (BBT).
Physical strength to pull the SED forward, as evidenced by the ability to lift a 5 lb weight off of a table and keep it elevated for 10 seconds.
Ability to understand the informed consent and comply with follow-up, as evidenced by appropriate questions, responses, and comments during the initial evaluations and a normal Abbreviated Mental Test Score.
Bilateral vocal fold mobility or unilateral vocal fold immobility in which the individual is able to attain complete glottic closure as evidenced on endoscopy.
Profound oropharyngeal feeding tube dependent dysphagia < 12 months duration.
Esophageal phase dysphagia as defined as personal history and/or documented diagnosis of esophageal dysmotility, hiatal hernia, stricture, eosinophilic esophagitis, erosive peptic esophagitis, and/or systemic disease affecting the esophagus.
Able to safely consume any food or liquid by mouth, as documented by fluoroscopic swallow study.
Normal UES opening, as evidenced by UES opening greater than .55 cm for individuals under 65 years of age and greater than .40 cm for individuals over 65 years of age on fluoroscopic swallow study.
Currently pregnant, as evidenced by a positive result on a pregnancy test if the patient is within child bearing age (younger than 60 years of age).
17 years of age and younger, acceptable forms of documentation for verification of age include birth certificate, passport, and/or license.
Success full receipt of dysphagia therapy or < 3 months of dysphagia therapy within 3 months of study enrollment.
Lack of manual dexterity to operate swallowing expansion device as determined by a Block and Box Test (BBT) score below the normal limits per age, sex, and hand.
Inability to lift a 5 lb weight off of a table and keep it elevated for 10 seconds.
Lack of cognitive ability to operate swallowing expansion device or provide informed consent as evidenced by an Abbreviated Mental Test Score (AMTS) score less than 6.
Active tumor involving the cricoid or laryngeal cartilage.
Known allergic reaction to titanium as evidenced by personal history of allergic or adverse reaction to titanium.
Infection of cartilage, head, and/or neck at time of evaluation and/or implantation as documented by recent imaging study or abnormal physical examination.
Presence of a tracheotomy tube or airway obstruction necessitating a tracheotomy tube.
A documented history of noncompliance with recommendations to take nothing by mouth.
Patients with an insensate larynx. Laryngeal sensation will be assessed with laryngopharyngeal sensory testing. An insensate larynx is defined as a laryngopharyngeal sensory threshold < 6 mmHg air pulse pressure or a complete absence of the laryngeal adductor reflex on palpation of the arytenoid with a flexible laryngoscope.
Patients with a current, at the time of evaluation, and/or history of Zenker's diverticulum.
Patients with sialorrhea at the time of evaluation with or without oral commissure incompetence.
Patients with profound xerostomia at the time of evaluation.
Patients with orocutaneous or pharyngocutaneous fistulae at the time of evaluation.
Patients with a current, at the time of evaluation, and/or history of immunosuppression, as defined by the patient having a diagnosed immunodeficiency disorder or on immunosuppressive medication.
Patients with a current, at the time of evaluation, and/or history of coagulopathy, as defined by the patient having a diagnosed coagulation disorder or on anticoagulation medication (e.g., baby aspirin, over-the-counter non-steroidal anti-inflammatories, herbal agents, and warfarin, etc.) that cannot be temporarily stopped for the procedure.
Patients taking sedatives, narcotics, muscle-relaxants, anxiolytics, medical marijuana, alcohol, nicotine, medicinal nicotine, or other mind-altering medications that may affect safe patient use of the swallowing device.
Patients taking antifibrotic medications.
Patients with bilateral vocal fold immobility in any position, as evidenced on endoscopy.
Patients with unilateral vocal fold immobility and unable to attain complete glottic closure, as evidenced on endoscopy.
Patients with current, at the time of evaluation, and/or documented history of subglottic stenosis, as evidenced on endoscopy.
Patients with current, at the time of evaluation, and/or documented history of airway obstruction, as evidenced on endoscopy.
Patients with a life expectancy < 2 years.
University of California Department of Otolaryngology accepting new patients
Lead Scientist at UC Davis
Professor, Otolaryngology. Authored (or co-authored) 189 research publications
April 2022 (estimated)
Peter Belafsky, MD
Lead Scientist


text:
Filed Under:@hbcureport, @robcalloway3, HBCU Report, hbcu sports, meac, MEAC Basketball, Norfolk State University, Robert Jones, The HBCU Report
Courtesy nsuspartans.com
YPSILANTI, Mich. – The Norfolk State men's basketball team saw its season come to a close with a hard-fought, 58-54 loss to Eastern Michigan Tuesday night in the first round of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament.
The Spartans were not without their chances late in the game after the Eagles had gone up by seven at the Convocation Center. NSU had a chance to tie it with less than 10 seconds to go, but a 3-point attempt by senior Pendarvis Williams clanked off the iron, and EMU hit 1-of-2 from the line on the other end to finish the win.
The loss ended NSU's season at 19-15 in the third straight postseason appearance for the Spartan program, and the only three in its Division I era. EMU (22-14) moved on to the next round of the CIT against a yet-to-be determined opponent.
It was a slow, at times slogging contest, as both teams shot right around 41 percent for the game. The Eagles overcame a huge disadvantage on the glass and converted a few more free throws than the Spartans for the big difference.
NSU was hurt by its 17 turnovers, compared to just seven for EMU. That gave the Eagles an 18-6 advantage in points off turnovers for the night.
Neither team had more than a five-point lead in the first half, and NSU trailed by just one going into the break. EMU went ahead by five points early in the second stanza, and a fastbreak dunk by Glenn Bryant gave the Eagles a six-point lead with 13:28 to go. The slow pace of the game allowed NSU to stay within a five-point margin for the next nine minutes until Da'Shonte Riley's bucket put the Eagles up 56-49 with a little more than four minutes left in the game.
The Eagles did not score for the next several minutes, and senior Brandon Goode had a pair of buckets, the latter a putback layup with just 1:25 left. That cut the deficit to three for NSU, and the Spartans eventually got to within two at 56-54 when sophomore RaShid Gaston hit 1-of-2 from the line with 26.3 seconds on the clock.
Courtesy of meacsports.com
Don't Miss Atlanta's Official Radio Show For All Things HBCU Sports & More… Tune In Fridays 7p-10pm on 1380 WAOK & waok.com


• Around 5 years of IT experience which includes of Experience in developing modern web applications using MEAN (Mongo DB, Express JS, Angular JS and Node.js) and MERN (Mongo DB, Express JS, React JS and Node.js) stack software and Experience in UI Design.
• Expertise in gathering, documenting and analyzing business requirements and worked on many project methodologies like Agile / Scrum.
• Good experience of software development in PHP (Laravel).
• Experience in making Responsive web pages using Bootstrap and media queries.
Grow project: business analytics, has over 200 APIs, such as Facebook, Amazon, eBay, Google and so on.Allows users to login via their accounts using different auth strategies (basic auth, oAuth, oAuth2) and fetch needed data,then build charts, diagrams using ability of instrumental for data analytics.
Admin Panel: business application for managing internal company data. This project had an SQL databasewith large architecture, pivot tables.


text:
Home | Middle East News
Kuwaiti Ruler Sheikh Sabah Has Died at 91, State Television Reports
Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah ruled Kuwait since 2006, and is expected to be succeeded by his half brother, the crown prince Sheikh Nawaf Al Ahmad Al Sabah
Get email notification for articles from The Associated Press Follow
Kuwait's ruling emir, Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah, attends the opening of the 30th Arab Summit, in Tunis, Match 31, 2019.Credit: Fethi Belaid/AP
Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah, the ruler of Kuwait who drew on his decades as the oil-rich nation's top diplomat to push for closer ties to Iraq after the 1990 Gulf War and solutions to other regional crises, died Tuesday. He was 91.
In a Middle East replete with elderly rulers, Sheikh Sabah stood out for his efforts at pushing for diplomacy to resolve a bitter dispute between Qatar and other Arab nations that continues to this day.
LISTEN: How COVID killed Bibi's legacy and resurrected his archrival
His 2006 ascension in Kuwait, a staunch U.S. ally since the American-led war that expelled occupying Iraqi troops, came after parliament voted unanimously to oust his predecessor, the ailing Sheikh Saad Al Abdullah Al Sabah, just nine days into his rule.
Yet as Kuwait's ruling emir, he struggled with internal political disputes, the fallout of the 2011 Arab Spring protests and seesawing crude oil prices that chewed into a national budget providing cradle-to-grave subsidies.
"He represents the older generation of Gulf leaders who valued discretion and moderation and the importance of personal ties amongst fellow monarchs," said Kristin Diwan, a senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington who studies Kuwait. "No question he has suffered from the lack of deference and respect shown by the younger and more brash young princes holding power today."
State television announced his death after playing Quranic prayers.
Sheikh Sabah is expected to be succeeded by his half brother, the crown prince Sheikh Nawaf Al Ahmad Al Sabah.


text:
Water, Air, & Soil Pollution
July 2019 , 230:160 | Cite as
Effect of Olive Mill Wastewater (OMW) Application on Soil Properties and Wheat Growth Performance Under Rain-Fed Conditions
Osama Mohawesh
Husam Al-Hamaiedeh
Ammar Albalasmeh
Samer Qaraleh
Maisaa Haddadin
The olive mill wastewater (OMW) properties impose substantial practical and fiscal difficulties for effective management and dumping. A feasible and practical option is a regulated spreading of OMW into the soil. This study aimed to investigate the sustainable reuse of OMW through land application to enhance soil quality and wheat growth performance under rain-fed conditions. OMW was spread at 20, 40, 60, 80, and 120 m3 ha−1 at two sites. Soil physical and chemical properties were measured after OMW application and after harvest. Wheat growth performance and leaf nutrient content were determined. This study revealed no deleterious influence of OMW application on soil properties and wheat growth at the two locations for all OMW application doses. The OMW land spreading improved significantly wheat growth by increasing the biological yield (BYLD) (8.4 to 36.5%), grain yield (GYLD) (20.1 to 79.4%), and harvest index (HI) (4.2 to 60.2%). Based on the measured soil chemical parameters and wheat grain yield, we can suggest that OMW application rate at 60 m3 ha−1 could improve significantly wheat growth without significant negative impact on soil properties. In conclusion, we recommend using OMW as suggested in this study for wheat. However, still the long-term application of OMW assessment and local legislative adaptation of saving use are necessary.
Soil amendments Olive mill wastewater (OMW) Pollution Water recycle Sustainability
This work is gratefully funded by the scientific research fund, Jordan Ministry of Higher Education (No. WE/2/02/2014).
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1.Department of Plant Production, Faculty of AgricultureMutah UniversityKarakJordan
2.Civil Engineering Department, Faculty of EngineeringMutah UniversityKarakJordan
3.Department of Natural Resources and EnvironmentJordan University of Science and TechnologyIrbidJordan
4.Department of Nutrition and Food Technology, Faculty of AgricultureMutah UniversityKarakJordan
5.National Agriculture Research Centre (NARC)AmmanJordan
Mohawesh, O., Al-Hamaiedeh, H., Albalasmeh, A. et al. Water Air Soil Pollut (2019) 230: 160. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-019-4208-8
Accepted 12 June 2019
Publisher Name Springer International Publishing


text:
Manuscript REF.docx - Accepted Version
Restricted to Repository staff only until 7 June 2021.
There is limited national data regarding emergency cardiac surgery for complications sustained after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). This study aimed to examine emergency cardiac surgery after PCI in England and Wales and postsurgical patient outcomes. We analyzed patients in the British Cardiovascular Intervention Society database who underwent PCI between 2007 and 2014 and compared characteristics and outcomes for patients with and without emergency cardiac surgery. A total of 549,303 patients were included in the analysis and 362 (0.07%) underwent emergency cardiac surgery. There was a modest decline in the annual rate of emergency cardiac surgery from 0.09% to 0.06% between 2007 and 2014. Variables associated with emergency cardiac surgery included receipt of circulatory support (Odds ratio (OR) 39.20 95% confidence interval (CI) 27.75 to 55.36), aortic dissection (OR 28.39 95%CI 14.59 to 55.26), coronary dissection (OR 18.50 95%CI 13.60 to 25.18), coronary perforation (OR 7.86 95%CI 4.27 to 14.46), cardiac tamponade (OR 6.77 95%CI 3.13 to 14.66), and on-site surgical cover (OR 2.15 95%CI 1.56 to 2.97). After adjustments, patients with emergency cardiac surgery were at increased odds of 30-day mortality (OR 4.41 95%CI 2.94 to 6.62) and in-hospital major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (OR 1.63 95%CI 1.07 to 2.48). On site surgical cover was independently associated with increased odds of mortality (OR 1.26 95%CI 1.20 to 1.33) following emergency cardiac surgery. In conclusion, emergency cardiac surgery after PCI is a rarely required procedure and in England and Wales there appears to be a decline in recent years. Patients who underwent emergency cardiac surgery have higher risk of adverse outcomes and longer length of hospital stay.
The final accepted manuscript and all relevant information regarding this article can be found at; https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S000291492030552X
R Medicine > R Medicine (General) > R735 Medical education. Medical schools. Research
R Medicine > RD Surgery
R Medicine > RD Surgery > RD32 Operative surgery. Technique of surgical operations


Weighty Matters: Guest Post: Newsflash! Fruits are NOT Vegetables.
Today's guest post comes from our office's own RD Rob Lazzinnaro and why he thinks it important to differentiate between fruit and vegetable.
The title of this post may seem like an obvious observation, yet a surprisingly important one. I'm not talking plant taxonomy, no, I want to explain why fruits and vegetables are essential to differentiate nutritionally.
How many times have we heard the saying "eat your fruits and vegetables!" They have become synonymous with one another, and often translated to mean they are one and the same. The idea is so entrenched that fruits, like vegetables, should be eaten in abundance that it is a common recommendation like "half your plate campaign" and Weight Watchers new fruit doesn't count (zero points) system. It started with Canada's Food Guide (CFG), and to be fair most every government food guide. Fruits and vegetable recommendations are provided as a single categorical entity without any serious distinction between the two.
It needs to stop, and here's why - most food guides recommend a minimum number of servings for the category of fruits and vegetables. CFG recommends 8-10 Fruits and veg for a male 19-50. They do not specify how to get this minimum recommendation in on the basic form, and on their detailed instructions simply recommend a minimum of one dark green vegetable every day.
I eat 1 cup of cooked greens, 2 apples, 2 oranges, 1 banana, 1 pear.
= 8 servings of fruits and veg.
= ~700 calories (Potentially an underestimation considering I used large fruit while many of the Frankenfruit found in today's supermarkets actually way in far larger than large).
That is a potential difference of ~600 calories between two examples that would both allow me to meet the CFG recommendations. You might ask who in the heck is scarfing down all that fruit, and you might be correct in thinking not many are, however, it's easy to substitute four of those servings with two cups of say apple and/or orange juice (as many do) leaving a person thinking they were making healthful choices. Most Canadians do not follow food guides, but many have had its recommendations established in their thinking in some shape or form from institutions that use it as a guiding principle - primary/elementary/high school, hospitals, day care, etc.
Fruit or whole fruit anyway is certainly not "bad" or the crux of any major nutritional issue, but using it interchangeably with vegetables is nutritionally misleading and a serious error. An error that has been manipulated by advertisers for years; how?: 1. Fruit is much more palatable than vegetables 2. It comes with high recommendations by health professionals. Virtual gold for marketers! Gather round and get your 5-10 fruit or vegetable servings easily from "healthy" fruit muffins, juice, fruit gummies, fruit leather, fruit filling, fruit ice cream, fruit bars, dried sweetened fruit, fruit filled granola bars; hooray!
Here's to an abundance of vegetables.


text:
TOP STORIES / World / Americas
World AIDS Day: HIV infections rise in Brazil
For a long time, Brazil's health care system was seen as a model for fighting HIV. But the number of infections is rising again, with the growing conservatism in society partly to blame, according to experts.
The Brazilian state has guaranteed treatment for HIV patients free of charge in public hospitals since 1996. The state health care system, SUS, offers access to free medications for more than half a million patients. A success story.
Statistics from the Brazilian Health Ministry show the median life expectancy after infection, which in 1996 was five years, has risen to 12 years. For a long time, the rate of new infections remained more or less stable, and in some risk groups, the number even dropped temporarily. The Health Ministry estimates that around 866,000 Brazilians are currently HIV-positive.
However, a UNAIDS study found that the number of new infections has recently started to rise again. UNAIDS, founded in 1994, is the United Nations program to reduce HIV/AIDS. In 2010, 44,000 new infections were registered in Brazil. In 2018 this had already risen to 53,000, an increase of around 21% — considerably higher than the average increase of 7% in Latin America overall during this period.
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The first 'AIDS Prevention Walk' took place in Sao Paulo in December 2017
Conservative attitude
"What's behind it is the lack of preventative measures in recent years," says Veriano Terto Jr., the vice president of ABIA, the Brazilian Interdisciplinary Association for AIDS. He says both the central government and local authorities have drastically reduced their public awareness campaigns. "The subject of AIDS was just shrouded in silence, and the governments forgot to deal with it. There were fewer prevention campaigns in schools, too."
However, the AIDS specialist WIlza Villela believes that another reason for the reduction in awareness campaigns is the societal trend towards increasing conservatism. "Governments had to keep making more and more concessions to conservative forces in order to be able to govern," she says.
In recent years, there has been greater resistance to sex education and the distribution of condoms in schools, and teachers have been less and less willing to participate in the schemes. "The schools' campaigns got weaker because there wasn't enough pressure coming from the authorities anymore, Villela told DW.
Another trend is increased resistance in general to wearing condoms. The authorities distribute up to 100 million condoms during Brazil's famous carnival season alone. However, a survey in 2018 showed that condom use is becoming less and less common among young people. This was true of both those in stable relationships and those who had a number of different partners.
The reduction of schools campaigns has had consequences. Studies now show that the younger respondents are, the less likely they are to use condoms. In the past 10 years, infections among young people aged between 15 and 19 have almost doubled, from three per 100,000 in 2006 to 5.4 in 2016.
Read more: For Venezuela HIV patients, lack of medicine 'a death sentence'
Experts say that attitudes among the Brazilian population have become more conservative over the past years
Campaigns focusing on traditional high-risk groups
With the start of the economic and financial crisis in 2013, the public authorities didn't just cut money for awareness-raising campaigns; they also canceled the collaboration with civil society. Until then, NGOs had been the backbone of the anti-AIDS campaigns.
Instead, the responsibility for educational campaigns was passed on to the SUS. "In theory, it was the right thing to do; in practice, it backfired," comments Villela. She says the SUS employees may be well-intentioned, but they're not trained in AIDS prevention. "Imagine an ordinary SUS employee ringing on people's doorbells. If he talks about condoms at all, what he says will mostly be superficial, or else it'll slip into generalized prejudices about gay men."
The SUS campaign was focused on traditional high-risk groups: prostitutes, drug addicts and homosexual men. But you can't reach these groups without the help of the NGOs, says Villela. She comments that many women switch back and forth between normal life and prostitution and that drug addicts often simply die, or else disappear into the crack cocaine scene. This problem is especially acute in the big cities like Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Then, Villela says, there are the gay men who eventually just get fed up of using condoms.
At the same time, many people still believe that only the classic high-risk groups are affected. People who don't belong to these hardly ever get themselves tested as a precaution, she says, but only when the disease has manifested itself. "This stigma is still the biggest obstacle to treating AIDS in Brazil. Consequently, 30% of infections are discovered only at a late stage — which is high for a country in which everyone has free access to medication."
Read more: STIs on the rise in Germany, but testing still hard to come by
Brazil was once seen as a model in the fight against HIV
No longer a global leader?
Veriano Terto Jr. says Brazil can no longer be considered a global leader in the fight against HIV/AIDS. "We have had good experiences, and we must safeguard these. Brazil has shown that, with political will and foresight, an emerging economy can set up a program that's open to all, and bring down the death rate by so doing." In recent years, however, there has been a lack of support from both local governments and international AIDS agencies.
"The guarantee that everyone has open access to free treatment is still a good example, even if we've now switched to the practice of 'testing and treating,'" claims Villela. "And it's led to an increase in the number of patients. In the past, we usually only started treatment when the virus load was already very high," the specialist explains. "That's different today. Treatment starts as soon as the infection is detected."
Read more: 5 things to know about PrEP: the HIV prevention pill
Russia: The silent HIV epidemic
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Russia's HIV capital relies on tradition against epidemic
For years, Russia's Urals have been beset by a severe HIV epidemic, with thousands of people of all backgrounds affected. How does the state plan to tackle it? Juri Rescheto traveled to Severouralsk to find out. (30.11.2018)
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Author Thomas Milz
Related Subjects Brazil, AIDS
Keywords AIDS, HIV, Brazil, UNAIDS
Permalink https://p.dw.com/p/3U0vB
S.African town surpasses UN targets to drive down HIV 30.11.2019
Eshowe, a small town at the center of the world's AIDS epidemic in South Africa, is a beacon of hope in the bid to reduce the AIDS virus. It has beaten the 90-90-90 target deadline set by UNAIDS by a year.
HIV, sexual infections rising among Rohingya in Bangladesh 25.12.2019
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UNAIDS report: HIV-related deaths down a third since 2010 16.07.2019
The United Nations has said HIV-related deaths dropped 33% since 2010, but warned that more funding is needed to control the spread of the disease. The Middle East and eastern Europe have seen infection levels rise.