text:
New research helps explain why menopause can lead to weight gain
Scientists have moved one step closer to understanding why menopause increases the susceptibility to weight gain, insulin resistance, and the risk for diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
A new paper, published in Cell Metabolism, provides an explanation as to why loss of oestrogen due to menopause or surgery alters a woman's metabolism and increases the risk for diseases that stem from metabolic imbalance.
While there has been evidence for some time that oestrogen modulates metabolism in different ways, this is the first time a potential explanation for this has been found.
The research, conducted by scientists at East Carolina University, centred on the role of oestrogen in mitochondrial function.
Mitochondria are the engines of the cell, turning energy from food into a form that the cell can use. The new research shows that oestrogen is a component of the mitochondrial membrane, and that its presence improves the efficiency of mitochondrial function.
One of the things the scientists discovered was that oestradiol, the main female sex hormone, can get incorporated into mitochondrial membranes.
Once there, it makes the membrane more fluid, allowing the mitochondria to operate more efficiently. If you lose this efficiency, this results in insulin resistance, and weight gain.
Researcher Dr. Maria Torres said: "The loss of oestrogen brings problems in metabolism, and if we replace it through hormone therapy it helps, but it's not the most suitable treatment for every woman.
"So we wanted to answer the question of what oestrogen is doing to our metabolism on a molecular basis. What's happening when it's gone, what's happening when it's put back, and how is it affecting our metabolism?"
The findings move away from previous understandings of the role of oestrogen in metabolism, which didn't acknowledge that the hormone exerts functions independently of oestrogen receptors, altering the biophysical properties of the mitochondrial membrane.
According to Dr. Torres, the research could help develop improved treatments and therapies for menopausal women.
She said: "Menopausal hormone therapies are used with caution, as they have certain risks, and are not suitable for every woman.
"Understanding exactly how these hormones modulate bioenergetics is key for the development of safer, and potentially tissue-specific pharmacological interventions, to prevent metabolic imbalance."
Page last updated November 2017


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text:
For the Muslimah
SPIRITUALITY / INSPIRATION
A Letter To My Sister-In-Islam
By ummitaalib, May 20, 2013 in For the Muslimah
ummitaalib 2,439
Religion:Muslim
The letter has been written by a sister who preferred to remain anonymous. Sharing her experiences of wearing hijãb and the delight it brought, she has sought to encourage other sisters to do the same. We hope that this letter will become instrumental in bringing about the desired change in the lives of our mothers and sisters.
My dear sister-in-Islãm,
Assalãmu alaykum warahmatullahi wabarakãtuh.
I would like to share with you my experiences of putting on the 'DREADED VEIL'. You see, I too was afraid to put it on. I was afraid of the changes it would bring in my life, the inconveniences, the ridicule from the ignorant ones on the streets and of course, the reactions of my family members and friends.
I knew what Allah's Command was on this matter, however, Shaytãn and Nafs, as helpful as ever, brought a lot of important matters to my attention. "It's going to be so awkward at the bar-b-ques and other social gatherings", said the knowledgeable Nafs. How are you going to eat at restaurants, and what about holidays and fun days out?" prompted the Shaytãn. "You will miss out on so much!" they both whispered, "Leave it. It will be easier this way!"
However, Allah, Allah the All-Powerful, Allah the Most Patient, Allah the Most Merciful, Who had been watching while I transgressed every law of hijãb you could think of, and who had been waiting ever so patiently while I disobeyed the laws sent down in His Book, through His infinite Mercy put a spark of light in my heart, which grew till I had no choice, but to put on the oh-so-dreaded piece of cloth on my face.
My dear beloved sister, no one told me of the deep sense of happiness I would feel. No one told me I would walk down the street dressed in black from head to toe and still feel like a million dollars. No one told me how special it would make me feel.
It didn't matter that many of my friends were not so friendly any more, or that my female relations took offence because I was hiding from their husbands and sons, or that my husband was not exactly over the moon about it. Conversations became stilted, social gatherings became awkward, but my heart knew a peace it hadn't known before. The feeling of being chosen and gifted remains with me even today.
Try it my dear sister-in-Islãm. You won't know till you try it. When the Pleasure of Allah touches your heart you won't ever want to go without the 'DREADED VEIL',
Inshã'allah!
Wassalãm.
Your Sister-in-Islãm.
Messages for Muslim Sisters
©Islāmic Da'wah Academy (Da'wah Series 35)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Lactose intolerance is a mysterious disease. You may have seen "lactose free" labels in your grocery store. It is a topic that according to statistics affects someone in your circle of friends. Still, it is a topic few people talk about. Why? It is associated with various symptoms that are often subsumized as an irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). People that are lactose intolerant have a sensitivity towards milk sugar. Just like the fruit sugar, fructose, it can cause irritations, if the body does not assimilate it well.
The sensitivity only shows after an age of five years. The reason for this ist hat all babies need and profit from lactose. Afterward, we do not need it, at least if we live in a sunny State—in less sunny regions, it is advantageous to keep consuming milk because it provides you with vitamin D; to generate it the body needs sunlight. Those people, whose bodies are not expecting to start drinking milk again tolerate only little amounts of it. If they consume too much of dairy products, they cause abdominal pain, bloating and diarrhea.
The tolerated amount of dairy products is different for each human. As with spices, where some feel like their tongue is burning, others just start tasting it. Even in the case of lactose intolerance you can eat small quantities without consequences. Aside from that, there are lactase capsules that enhance your tolerance. By how much and how much you can still eat of lactose-containing foods is what »The Lactose Navigator« brings home to you. And before you feel sorry about consumption limitations, others are worse off. Those facing a sorbitol intolerance, for example, have to learn the names of nine sugar alcohols to protect themselves from discomforts and have to restrict themselves on many soft drinks like apple juices and beer.
If you have a lactose intolerance, you have probably asked yourself, whether you can stomach lactose containing sausage. Aside from that, you certainly want to know which medicine is free from lactose and whether you can stomach those that do contain it? »The Lactose Navigator« provides you the answer for that. The input of many patients from around the globe has led to numerous hints on how to cope best with the disease and increase your quality of life.


text:
The theft of the Mona Lisa!
Now we can start to use our new skills to solve a criminal case: one of the most startling art thefts in history: On October the 23rd, 2014 the Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre in Paris. There is no trace of the thieves. You are working for Interpol and want to find out who is responsible for this crime. Due to new regulations you have access to any data of many international companies and states, like registers of residents, mobile phone text messages, and bank data. So, using these resources, find the thieves!
Which tables are there?
So, first you need to get an overview of what kind of data is actually available.
1.) How many tables are in the database?
2.) What are the various columns of each table and their data types?
3.) Create a database diagram of all tables and their associated relationships
4.) What are the columns used for each table that has a foreign key relationship?
How to find the thief
The step-by-step approach:
Find out, who was in Paris at that time.
The thief was probably not working alone. Is there any suspicious communication during the time in question?
If you find the people responsible, who was the actual wire-puller and who was "only" the henchman?
Who was in Paris?
When you try to transform the following questions into SQL queries, you might want to check for the actual column names. The following is a useful query that can be used to run against SQL Server's system table to gain insight into all tables of the database:
FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS
5.) Alter the query above so that tables named "sysdiagrams" are excluded, list tables in descending order.
6.) Return only 5 rows from the results of the last query.
7.) Alter the query above so that only the bank_transaction table is displayed in the result with all rows.
8.) Look at ALL the tables of this database. What table could contain information regarding traveling?
9.) Get an idea what kind of information is stored in the table with traveling information?
Hint: have a look at the actual data, and a second look on the table information
10.) Get the name of all persons who live in Paris.
11.) Get all names that did a journey to Paris before 23.10.2014.
12.) Get all names that did a journey from Paris after 23.10.2014.
13.) Get all names, that did a journey to Paris before 23.10.2014, where this name is also in an entry for a journey from Paris after the 23.10.2014.
14.) Get all names of persons who live in Paris or spent their time in Paris on 23.10.2014 (according to the travel data).
Congratulations! You have reduced the number of suspects tremendously!
The local police will pay these people a visit to ask for an alibi for the time in question.
15.) What foreign keys a......


A Letter To The Teen Who's Experimenting With Drugs.
Posted on December 30, 2016 December 30, 2016 CategoriesRecovery from addiction5 Comments on A Letter To The Teen Who's Experimenting With Drugs.
10 Ways To Be a Kick A** Step Parent.
Posted on December 19, 2016 January 6, 2017 Categoriesmotherhood7 Comments on 10 Ways To Be a Kick A** Step Parent.
10 Things I Didn't Anticipate With Having 2 Under 2.
Posted on December 13, 2016 January 6, 2017 Categoriesmotherhood10 Comments on 10 Things I Didn't Anticipate With Having 2 Under 2.
120 Days In-My Time In Jail. Chapter #1.
Posted on December 7, 2016 December 7, 2016 Categories120 Days In-My Time In Jail7 Comments on 120 Days In-My Time In Jail. Chapter #1.
Dear Technology: You Are Kinda Ruining My Life.
Posted on December 5, 2016 January 6, 2017 CategoriesmotherhoodTags#life, family7 Comments on Dear Technology: You Are Kinda Ruining My Life.


Lyn, author of Grace Always Comes: Daily Devotionals Through the Bible and In the Court of the Master: An Ordinary Man's Walk with an Extraordinary God, is a Christian, husband, father, pastor, lawyer, writer, law professor, speaker, Sunday School teacher, retreat leader, coach, debater, baseball fan, one-time contestant on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," actor, and director.
Gena, whose CD "Because I Know You" was released in 2013, is a Christian, wife, mother, singer, voice teacher, shopper, choir member, youth Sunday School teacher, and actress.
Lyn and Gena live in Keller, Texas with their dogs Sophie and Bridget and their cats Leonard and Penny. Their son Trey works in Fort Worth, and their daughters Carolyn and Annessa are students at Baylor University.


Howard E. Greenberg, SIOR, President of Howard Properties, Ltd. recently moderated a panel entitled "Increasing Occupier Densities Challenge Landlords and Buildings" for the Westchester-Fairfield Chapter of NAIOP.
NAIOP (formerly known as the National Association of Industrial and Office Parks) is a national organization formed in 1967 devoted to education, career and professional development, political activity and research in the field of commercial real estate.
The panel consisted of professionals including a space planner, building owner/manager, land use attorney and a real estate broker representing office tenants, looking at the issue from varied viewpoints. It dealt with the increasingly common trend known as "densification." Since 1970, office space has shrunk from 500 SF per person to about 175 SF per person. Major corporations, financial services firms and technology companies are increasingly adopting densification in new space designs, and in reconfigurations of existing spaces.
The drivers for the tenant companies are many: cost-cutting, a workforce increasingly comprised of Millennials, increased technology and mobility, and corporate cultures that encourage collaboration in the workplace.
This trend of increasing density has significant impacts on office buildings and their ownership and management. Densely packed office environments require more parking, HVAC system capacity and rest rooms. Elevators are subjected to greatly increased usage. Owners need to address all of these issues, as well as the increased traffic in their parking lots and buildings, the impact on air quality, and the necessity for more intensive day to day property management. It impacts the costs of operations, capital expenditures, and the capacity of the buildings, which can be constrained due to the increasing parking requirements.
Mr. Greenberg has previously moderated or participated in panels for the Building Owners and Managers Association, Westchester County Business Journal, RealShare Westchester and the Westchester County Association. He is available for speaking engagements for corporations, professional and trade organizations on current real estate topics.


text:
Q: Implications of having multiple $(document).ready functions across multiple js files
Possible Duplicate:
JQuery - multiple $(document).ready … ?

What are the implications of having multiple javascript files, each with its own $(document).ready function?

A: When having multiple things bind with the $(document).ready();, the events will be hit in the order that they were bound.  There are no real negative repercussions with this, but keep in mind that any variables defined in one of these methods loses scope, and won't be available in the other events.
To get around the javascript scoping issues, just define cross-ready-event variables outside of the $(document).ready(); blocks.

A: All functions will be executed in the order they were bound. See the jQuery documentation:

When an event reaches an element, all handlers bound to that event type for the element are fired. If there are multiple handlers registered, they will always execute in the order in which they were bound. After all handlers have executed, the event continues along the normal event propagation path.

(http://api.jquery.com/bind/)
So all functions are executed and you can influence the order in which they are executed. However, I would strongly advice against basing any logic in the execution order as this may proof pretty brittle.

A: nothing.  They all will attach a lister to be executed when the document is ready. Only implication afaik is that they will be executed in the order they were attached.

A: All that function does is add an event handler to the onload event for the document, so by doing that you are simply making Javascript execute more than one thing upon finishing loading the page.
There are no downsides to it performance wise. However, if you're having all of that stuff happen upon pageload, you might want to have one init.js file (or something similar) that calls all of the other functions upon pageload. This way it's all in one place and easier to manage.
However, besdies readability and management, it's perfectly fine.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Brent London Borough Council
Landlord fined after 24 adults and children found living in 'appalling' cockroach infested conditions
Tenants, totalling 24 adults and children, endured cockroaches, overcrowding and fire hazards
Frederica MillerReporter
A rogue landlord who housed 24 adults and children in "miserable" conditions has been fined more than £10,000.
Shyam Popat was fined for keeping tenants in a squalid two-storey flat above a commercial premises in Ealing Road, Wembley, which fell far below basic living standards.
Mr Popat took rent from tenants who he crammed into six bedrooms and two undersized rooms in a flat where they had to endure overcrowding, cockcroaches and fire safety hazards.
He was only discovered when neighbours complained to Brent Council about rubbish and overcrowding at the property in November last year.
Brent's rogue landlord problem
£330,000 fine for squalid flats
Landlord fined after converting garage
More than 100 landlords convicted
Raid finds 16 men living in one flat
Local authority enforcement officers reacted immediately but Mr Popat ignored their advice and failed to meet the deadlines for his licence conditions when they inspected the flat in February and May this year.
Mr Popat, whose address was given as Intratec Limited, Argyle House, Joel Street, Northwood, pleaded guilty to breaching the conditions of his House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) licence at Willesden Magistrates' Court on August 31 this year.
Tenants endured overcrowding, cockcroaches and fire safety hazards. (Image: Brent Council)
He also failed to provide up-to-date certificates, tenancy documents or protection for his tenants' deposits.
Cllr Harbi Farah, Brent Council's cabinet member for housing and welfare reform, said: "Rogue landlords like Mr Shyam Popat often believe their tenants choose to live in squalid conditions.
"It's a characteristic of a rogue landlord to be forever promising to do repairs and meet deadlines and always failing to do so.
Two-storey flat on Ealing Road, Wembley where tenants were kept in squalid conditions (Image: Brent Council)
"We want to work with landlords to prevent this from occurring.
"It's not acceptable for tenants to live in cramped, unhygienic and unsafe conditions."
Mr Popat was fined £6,000 for breaching the conditions and ordered to pay £3,953 in costs.
Keep up to date with the latest news from west London via the free getwestlondon app.
You can set up your app to see news and events from your area, and receive notifications for any breaking news.
It's available to download, for free, from the App Store or Google Play for Android .
'I visited Tesco under stringent new facemask rules and 2 major changes are needed to keep shoppers safe'
TescoCould supermarkets do more to keep shoppers and staff safe?


text:
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Join one of the largest university communities for social science…
World-leading expertise across our five schools & the Policy Institute
At a time of huge change in the world, our Executive Dean Professor Frans Berkhout explains how the Faculty seeks to understand that change and make a contribution to improving human welfare and well-being, security and sustainability - making a positive difference to society.
Our schools & departments
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I love your post. And I agree 100% from the man's side as well. I've written a lot about this as well. Thanks.
Great post! I agree. As a single mim or parent, we must learn to build wealth.
We could use a reminder or two in this area. Am I right ladies?
I try to share what I experience.
All single Mom's should follow these rules!!
Thank you. It is tried and true.


Your sales team is in the running for what would be the biggest contract in company history. You invest countless staff hours and other resources to win the business. For a while, it looks promising. You build a trusting relationship with the primary decision maker and have demonstrated how your offering perfectly fits their need. The prospect starts using phrases like "When we work together…" and "You will be responsible for…" and "We really need you…" You now consider that decision maker to be a friend.
It's never easy to attract an elite sales rep from a competing company despite your non-stop recruiting efforts. You need a couple more sales reps but at least the ones you have are good especially, your top producer, Jim. It seems like there's nothing Jim can't do. Year after year, he breaks records. And he has such a great attitude!
Then one day without warning, Jim resigns to take a new sales position elsewhere. He thanks you for being a good leader and for providing the resources he needed to succeed over the past 10 years but says he needs a change. His decision is final. You never had a chance to make a case for him to stay. The pit in your stomach feels terrible. You and the rest of the leadership team talk and act as if there was a death in the family.
If you have been leading sales teams for any significant amount of time, these scenarios likely ring true. While sales is not rocket science, it's not easy. One of the most important skills a sales leader can possess is the ability to bounce back when life punches you in the gut.


2. To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the joint committee held on 4 December, 2015.
4. Accountancy Shared Services Structure – Report by the Shared Services Board.
5. Procurement (PANNEL) Shared Service – Report by the Shared Services Board.
6. Draft Legal Agreement – Report by the Shared Services Board.
PRESENT: – Councillor Patrick (Vice Chairman) in the chair.
Councillors Hannigan, C Sherwood, Waltham and Watson.
Sally Jack, Helen Manderson, Mike Wedgewood, Jason Whaler and Mel Holmes also attended the meeting.
17 DECLARATIONS OF DISCLOSABLE PECUNIARY INTERESTS AND PERSONAL OR PERSONAL AND PREJUDICIAL INTERESTS – There were no declarations of disclosable pecuniary interests, personal or personal and prejudicial interests made at the meeting.
18 MINUTES – Resolved – That the minutes of the meeting of the Joint Committee held on 4 December 2015 having been printed and circulated amongst the members, be taken as read and correctly recorded and be signed by the chairman.
19 (11) SHARED SERVICES – PROGRESS REPORT – With reference to minute 11, the Shared Services Board submitted a report detailing progress on the shared services programme between North Lincolnshire Council and North East Lincolnshire Council.
The report referred to the programme plan of actions that had been developed to implement shared services between the two councils for Information Technology, Finance, Internal Audit, Human Resources and Legal Services with each of the above workstreams producing business plans. The report set out progress against the overall programme plan which had been closely monitored by the Programme Manager and the Programme Board throughout using standard programme management techniques. The programme remained on track for implementation on 1 April 2016. Key points arising from each of the workstreams referred to above were set out in paragraphs 2.5 to 2.10 of the report.
The report set out details of the resource implications and indicated that the shared back office services which were planned to begin on 1 April 2016 would make significant savings. In addition, changes to team structures and staffing numbers were planned in the business cases to deliver the savings and other efficiencies outlined in the Transformational Challenge Award (TCA) bid and staff at both councils would continue to populate existing buildings to similar levels as now with an increase in agile working.
To facilitate joint working across the two councils, investment of £0.725m from the TCA Grant had been assigned to standardise, join up and streamline existing IT infrastructures as previously noted. Additionally the Human Resources and Finance Workstreams included capital spend on back office systems to support the integration between the two councils. The remainder of the TCA Award had been allocated for staff exit and programme costs.
Resolved – That the joint committee note the progress made against the Shared Service Programme Plan and savings projections, and note that the project remained on target for implementation on 1 April 2016.
20 (12) ACCOUNTANCY SHARED SERVICE STRUCTURE – A report was submitted by the Shared Services Board which considered the proposed structure for the Accountancy Services shared service between North Lincolnshire Council and North East Lincolnshire Council.
The report referred to the shared back office services initiative between the two councils which had grown out of the need to provide efficient and effective support services at minimum cost in order to protect frontline services for local people in North Lincolnshire. Arising from that work the report now submitted set out the proposed structure for the Accountancy Services element of the proposed shared service.
The report detailed the current responsibilities for Accountancy Services at both councils which were set out in paragraph 2.3 and indicated that both functions were led by appropriately qualified and experienced Accountancy Managers reporting to a Group Manager at North East Lincolnshire Council or Assistant Director of Financial Services at North Lincolnshire Council.
Paragraph 2.5 of the report set out the vision of the Accountancy Shared Service with paragraph 2.6 detailing the advantages of the proposed structure identified in the business case. The proposed structure for the service was shown in appendix A to the report. The service would be led by an Accountancy Shared Services Manager, supported by six strategic leads each managing a team of staff. These teams would be the Finance Service Desk, two Business Partnering Teams, a Financial Planning and Treasury Team and a Financial Systems and Accounting Team. Details of these were provided within the report.
Resolved – That the Accountancy Shared Service Structure as set out in the report be approved.
21 (13) PROCUREMENT (PANNEL) SHARED SERVICE – The Shared Services Board submitted a report which considered an enhanced vision for the Procurement (PANNEL) shared service between North Lincolnshire Council and North East Lincolnshire Council.
The report indicated that the Procurement Alliance North and North East Lincolnshire – PANNEL – had been launched on 1 April 2006 as one of the first procurement shared services in the local government sector. Its primary aim was "to deliver better value for procurement through existing resources." The initiative recognised the significant range of synergies that existed between the two councils at that time, details of which were set out in paragraph 2.2 of the report. In addition, the specific outcomes sought from the shared services were detailed in paragraph 2.3.
The report also indicated that for a number of years PANNEL had operated effectively with progress reports provided to both councils' cabinets at annual intervals evidencing a wide range of significant financial and non financial outcomes through collaborative working as detailed in paragraph 2.4 of the report. In addition, the team's efforts had been recognised at regional and national level through various awards. In recent years a number of changes had impacted the model, notably the creation of a centralised commissioning procurement structure at North East Lincolnshire Council and management and other associated staffing changes at North Lincolnshire Council. Despite these challenges the arrangement had continued and significant outcomes were still being realised demonstrating the strength of the relationship, the value of the benefits it delivered and the general cogence of the original business case. Latterly, the service had shaped its operation around a modern category management model with specific category managers managing portfolios of procurements across both councils in common areas such as transport, fleet, agency staff and office solutions.
Recent reorganisation of corporate functions at North East Lincolnshire Council alongside the wider North East Lincolnshire Council/North Lincolnshire Council Shared Service Programme had presented opportunities to review and re-launch PANNEL. Accordingly an enhanced vision had been produced informed by the strategic objectives of the wider programme. Details of this enhanced vision were set out in paragraph 2.9 of the report. Further work was necessary in order to implement the new vision and a further report would be presented to the joint committee in April 2016. The vision had been developed across both councils drawing on experience in the last ten years together with the objectives of the wider shared services programme.
Resolved – That the joint committee notes the emerging vision as detailed within the report and receives a further report in relation to the implementation of this vision in April 2016.
22 (14) DRAFT LEGAL AGREEMENT – The Shared Services Board submitted a report updating the committee on the progress being made in drafting a legal agreement to underpin the shared services programme between North Lincolnshire Council and North East Lincolnshire Council.
One of the programme plan of actions developed to implement the shared services programme had been identified as the need to ensure that a legal agreement was prepared to regulate the relationship between both councils under the shared services programme. Specialist external solicitors had been jointly instructed by the Monitoring Officers of both councils to draft a legal agreement which would set out the legal basis for the joint committee and the shared services programme and comprehensively detail and regulate the responsibilities of each council under the programme.
A draft legal agreement had been produced and was currently being considered by the shared services board. Many of the provisions were relatively standard in nature and were to be found in most legal agreements of this type. However, some of the provisions required a bespoke approach and paragraph 2.3 of the report set out a summary of the key provisions that the board was currently working through for inclusion in the final agreement. By definition, the legal agreement would be legally binding on both councils and the intention was that it would be in place by 1 April 2016. In readiness it would be necessary for both councils to take a report to their respective cabinet and full council meetings to approve some consequential constitutional amendments arising from the governance related issues referred to in the report. Thereafter, it was proposed that the Monitoring Officer of both councils, having been authorised, sign the agreement to bind their respective councils.
It was essential that a legal agreement was in place to underpin the shared services programme as detailed in the report. The report contained further information in relation to this matter.
Resolved – That the joint committee notes the progress made in drafting the legal agreement and authorises the Monitoring Officers of each council to sign, once settled, the legal agreement on behalf of their respective councils.


text:
How to Reduce the Cost of Developing Your Software
We work with our clients to improve the security of their software. Most of the time this is through penetration testing (or pentesting); however, we often feel that we're consulted too late in the development life cycle. Sometimes just before the product is released.
If only there was a better way.…
The Quality Assurance movement
'Quality Assurance', or QA, isn't a new concept; it was born in the period following World War II.
W. Edwards Deming and Joseph Juran, the fathers of the 'total quality' movement, pitched their QA approach to Japanese businesses – applying quality control to the manufacturing process rather than simply inspecting products after the fact. In Japan, they embraced it with religious fervour. The U.S. didn't begin to embrace QA for another decade, allowing Japan to make huge advances in quality and gain a large market share, with its well-built cars, TVs, and computer chips.
In a nutshell, QA is a way of preventing mistakes or defects in manufactured products, and avoiding problems when delivering solutions or services to customers.
Taking traditional QA a step further
The advantage of early defect detection in software is well documented. Studies show that the cost of defect resolution increases by several orders of magnitude when identified after product release, when compared to defects identified during the early stages of the software development cycle.
For example, in an article in iSixSigma Magazine, Mukesh Soni quotes a report from IBM that the cost to fix an error found after product release was four to five times as much as one uncovered during design, and up to 100 times more than one identified in the maintenance phase.
However, many ISO 9000 companies that successfully embrace QA are frequently surprised when a penetration test identifies a large number of security defects.
So why do the traditional QA concepts frequently fail to prevent security defects? The answer is simple: the developers do not truly understand how these security defects can be exploited and the impact they have on the system.
This is not surprising, as the exploitation of security defects is seen by some as a 'dark art'. It's often difficult to truly understand the impact of vulnerabilities such as Cross-Site Scripting (XSS), SQL Injection and Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) unless you're able to exploit them yourself.
Secure Software Development Life Cycle
The increasing concerns and business risks associated with insecure software have brought increased attention to the need to integrate security into the development process. By taking the lessons learnt from QA, and introducing security awareness at all phases of the development cycle, we can identify security vulnerability much earlier. Hence the Secure Software Development Life Cycle (Secure SDLC) was born.
Many software vendors embrace Secure SDLCs in one form or another. For example, Microsoft has a well-documented and established Microsoft Security Development Lifecycle (MS SDL). The table below shows a summary of the security practices Microsoft employs at each stage of their software development cycle.
Traditionally, pentesting consultancies have only been involved at the release stage where, unfortunately, it's often too late to remediate findings without a significant impact on the project. We have found that by working with our partners at each stage of the development life cycle, they have experienced significant reduction in post release security vulnerabilities.
Experience has shown us that the greatest return on investment is gained on the pre-project training, sometimes referred to as Stage-0. That is, by training the project team on security before the project even starts.
Security means teaching your developers to hack
However, it's one thing to explain to a team the importance of security, it's another to teach the team to 'hack'. We've found that when developers know how to exploit security defects, they truly understand the impact and risk to the rest of the system. Consequently, we find they start re-evaluating every line of code they write, as they write it, assessing the secure implications. What better way to prevent security defects than at the source, as the developers are typing the code?
This was how we came to create our own Secure Coding Workshop: a hands-on course where we teach developers to 'hack' common vulnerabilities themselves. We then turn the tables and get them to come up with solutions to resolve the problems they have just exploited, before turning the tables again to get them to hack their own remediation. Finally, we demonstrate the best practices of prevention.
This approach marries the problem and solution in the developers thought process, and ingrains the implications of core security issues. It makes them think like hackers, which makes them write more secure code.
Stage-0 security training won't take away the need for pentesting. A good Secure SDLC will always include verification points at key stages of the project. However, it will dramatically reduce the unnecessary repeated cycle of remediation work and retests – what we could call your 'technical debt' – therefore reducing the cost of developing your software.
You can get more information on our Secure Coding Workshops here – our experts run classroom sessions at our Manchester HQ, but we'll also come to your premises.
Register for our Secure Coding Workshop
In the meantime, here's a list of software security soundbites…
10 Principles of Security Testing
The following basic principles from OWASP should be ingrained in all members of your development team ,to successfully integrate security into your Software Development Life Cycle.
There is No Silver Bullet
There is no single solution to secure your software, no matter what your firewall/WAF/scanner vendor is telling you.
Think Strategically, Not Tactically
It is not enough to simply fix reported bugs without further investigation into the root cause.
The SDLC is King
Integrate security into each phase of your organisation's existing SDLC, to ensure a cost-effective and comprehensive security program.
Test Early and Test Often
Bugs (security and functional) can be resolved faster and at a lower cost if they are detected early within the SDLC.
Understand the Scope of Security
The effort to secure the system will vary depending on context. For example: a brochureware site has a lower risk profile than a Patient Medical Records System.
Nurture the Right Mindset
Identifying security vulnerabilities requires 'thinking outside of the box'. Normal test cases identify norm defects. It requires creativity to determine what unexpected data may expose security defects. Make no assumptions.
Use the Right Tools
Utilise open source and commercial tools to automate routine security tasks. Just don't rely purely on these tools (see 'There is no Silver Bullet').
The Devil is in the Detail
There are no short cuts to securing an application. Do not rely on a single overall security review. Verify that every possible section of application logic has been tested, and that every use case scenario was explored for possible vulnerabilities.
Use Source Code When Available
Provide security testers access to the source code while performing their review. This will provide the most cost-effective defect identification.
Develop Metrics
Track the results of testing engagements and develop metrics that will measure the security defect trends within the organisation.
Feel free to reach out to one of our specialists at enquiries@secarma.co.uk


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Achtung?
Achtung was a memorable refrain for all Commando comic book readers, and is German for alert or warning. While the media obsessed about the soaring Yen, it's the economic data out of the U.S. that merits an alert or warning.
The chart below should concern any investor, and particularly emerging markets investors. The US economy appears to have grown at a slower than expected 0.5% pace in the first quarter, the slowest in two years, on account of sluggish consumer spending, dwindling exports and tepid industrial investments.
This is bad news for Indian Equities and while certainly not the end of the world, the rapid deceleration is worrisome.
Does Global Trump Domestic?
That is a million dollar question. We've been talking about green shoots in the domestic economy, the many positive actions the government has taken, the recovering consumer, declining inflation, benign macro environment.
Can the Indian economy – and markets – survive a worsening global environment. To date, the U.S. was certainly one of the brighter stories in the developed world. That story appears to have run its course and after trillions in quantitative easing, the economy is worse off than ever before.
Achtung, baby? We'll share our strategy in the outlook section, but let's cover some additional data first.
U.S. GDP Over the Past 4 Quarters Has Decelerated Dramatically
Large Cap IT, Materials and Telecom Are Off to a Strong Start in Earnings Releases…
…Mid Cap Financials & Materials Look Strong In the Early Stages…
…While Materials, Staples and Consumer Discretionary Lead the Way on the CNX 500
As Expected, Mid Caps Are Outperforming Their Smaller & Larger Peers
The Fed left its benchmark rate unchanged and indicated that it was in no hurry to tighten monetary policy further.
Domestic bonds erased early losses and gained for a third straight session as strong demand at a weekly auction of notes improved sentiment. The benchmark 7.59% bond maturing in 2026 closed at 7.44%.
The Reserve Bank of India auctioned four bonds worth 150 billion rupees last week, including 80 billion rupees of 7.59% 2029 bond and 20 billion rupees of 7.72% 2055 bond. There was aggressive participation for the liquid 2029 bond.
Bonds have been supported in recent weeks by the central bank's open market purchases. The RBI bought 150 billion rupees worth of six government notes through an open market operation yesterday, the second such operation in this fiscal. We expect RBI to hold at least one OMO purchase every month which should continue to provide support to bonds. Further, the liquidity situation is expected to improve, providing further cushion especially to the short end of the curve.
We remain wary of global risks that may lead to a spike in risk aversion and a corresponding rise in risk premiums.
Implications of a Soaring Yen
The obvious implication of a soaring Yen is a more expensive currency on the Carry Trade and declining profits.
Separately, it's indicative of the raod ahead for the U.S. which is essentially following the policies of Japan, with a 15 year lag.
The BoJ decided to stay pat on monetary stimulus, defying market expectations for action, even as muted global demand, unsolicited rise in the yen and tepid consumption threatened to wreck the fragile Japanese economy.
Following the unwarranted move, the Nikkei fell nearly 4%. The BoJ Governor highlighted his willingness to "deepen negative interest rates much further" and do whatever it takes to achieve their 2% inflation target.
The Fed Backs Off
The US Federal Reserve exhibited a dovish stance maintaining status quo on interest rates,
Commodities & Precious Metals
We clearly articulated our views last week. Crude oil prices rose, hitting near six-month highs, on lower U.S. output and a weaker dollar. Oil prices have surged nearly 80 percent since hitting 12-year lows of around $27 a barrel for Brent in late January.
Brent rude remains in an uptrend, a worrying development for India indeed.
Brent, Crude and Gold are all up over 20% year to date. Precious Metals soared last week. Gold tested $1300.
The reason we would surmise is scepticism about the banks exposure to Energy and a recognition that the U.S. may be barrelling into a recession.
From a domestic perspective, none of these is good news, putting further pressure on the economy, the currency, hurting consumer disposable income and sentiment.
After a volatile week, the Nifty Index settled to closed at 7847, down by 0.66%. The Market attempted to breach the key resistance level of 8000, but failed, suggesting selling pressure at higher levels. Thus, strength will be seen once market sustains above 8000 level on closing basis.
Rollovers were high in Nifty at 74% compared to 3-month average of 67% along with higher rollover costs, indicating long positions carried forward to May series.
The volatility index India VIX is at its lows and coupled with heavy rollovers could lead some correction in the near term. Selling pressure may emerge if the market breaks below 7750. Expect the market to continue in a broad range of 8000 and 7750.
The Nascent Recovery in Earnings Is Fragile…
Declining Bond Yields and Declining Inflation Are Major Positives…
…Unfortunately, Valuations Are High & Our Proprietary Oscillator Suggests Short Term Caution
Prudence Was Right
A couple weeks back, we wrote that prudence dictates chasing the indices post a 1000 point rally is usually an unwise choice. Prudence was right. The indices have done nothing since massive optimism pervaded the markets.
Last week, we saw market internals worsening, the macro environment deteriorating, and Crude, Gold and Silver each telling a story.
Does Global Bad News Trump Domestic Good News?
That is the key question we attempt to answer. The lacklustre U.S. GDP performance raises questions about the efficacy of the path that Central Banks are on.
Coming back to the Nifty, the index is struggling to push past 8,000. We're moving into the meat of earnings season and Nifty earnings have barely budged from the 365 level, now to the 369 level.
It is always okay to miss out on an opportunity, as opportunities come along often. However, it is our core philosophy to avoid losses first and foremost.
Global Worries Du Jour
What worries us today is the U.S. is staring at the possibility of a recession, with equity valuations at high levels. Adding to angst is the return of Greece, Brexit and failed NIRP experiments.
In the event of a recession in the U.S., exports will suffer. We are already seeing signs of this. Exports in 17/30 sectors were negative in March. Falling for a 16th straight month in a row, exports dipped 5.5 per cent to $22 billion in March.
Domestically, the realization per megabyte of data in telecom data plunged, the airline sector has reported lacklustre revenue and earnings growth.
It's a mixed bag in terms of economic news in India as well with certain pockets doing well while others are struggling.
In the event the U.S. heads into a recession, short term downside is a given.
Central Bankers will want a panicked populace pleading for help to move forward with yet another hackneyed stimulus package.
This downside would inevitably be accompanied by a flight to quality – Treasuries – and a weakening of the Rupee. The domestic economy would be asked to shoulder the twin burdens of rising Crude and slowing global demand, amidst a weakening currency.
We're doubtful that the domestic economy would survive a worsening global economy and a sluggish and struggling rural economy.
Tactical asset allocation is going to be a key determinant of portfolio return.
We would look to be buyers of domestic equities on a market selloff.
Just buying and holding the equity index is likely to be a disappointing affair.
We would look to accumulate liquidity to deploy at more attractive levels.
We would look towards mid and select large cap, domestic focused, growth opportunities at reasonable valuations.
We choose to remain patient on a nearer term basis based on our technical models.
We would avoid expensively valued ideas.
We're not big proponents of tweaking asset allocations frequently. Each transaction brings about a taxable event, penalties, exit fees and hurdles that must be overcome.
Our strategy is best encapsulated as a growth oriented portfolio, tactical macro calls and opportunistic strategies to protect portfolios while generating consistent alpha.


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Mortality from COVID-19
A demographer's view on cause-of-death statistics in Russia and the world
A major public debate has erupted over numerous articles in foreign and Russian media about the 'Russian miracle' and the 'riddle' of how the coronavirus has behaved in Russia, compounded by the admission by the Health Minister of the Republic of Dagestan concerning the ratio of coronavirus deaths to so-called 'community-acquired pneumonia.' How reliable is the data collected by Russia's official agencies? Can the authorities rely on them when making decisions? Which two types of statistics should be used during an epidemic? Demographers Sergey Timonin and Anatoly Vishnevsky answer these and many other questions.
Sergey Timonin,
Deputy Head,
International Laboratory for Population and Health,
Anatoly Vishnevsky,
Director Institute of Demography, HSE
According to a World Health Organization (WHO) report based on data obtained from official national sources, Russia had registered 379,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection on May 28. Of those, 4,100 (1.09%) ended in death. When comparing these data with statistics from other countries, Russia's exceptionally low coronavirus mortality rate — that is many times lower than what some other states have experienced — stands out and raises unavoidable questions.
What is the reason for these differences? Do they reflect the true state of affairs or are they attributable to Russia's outmoded methods for publishing statistics? The answers to these questions largely determine the policy the authorities adopt for combatting the pandemic.
Can we compare COVID-19 mortality rates using current country estimates?
Traditionally, official agencies base their cause of death statistics on information obtained from medical death certificates. These certificates are filled out in accordance with generally accepted rules that were adopted at the international level more than 70 years ago. If the death certificate indicates several causes, one is identified as the first and main cause that set off the chain of maladies that ultimately ended in death. In this case, all other ailments are considered complications of the main illness or as contributing to it (comorbid).
Cause-of-death statistics are based on the original cause. Even under 'normal' conditions, identifying the primary cause can be a somewhat subjective and weighty task. The COVID-19 pandemic, that poses the greatest threat to elderly people with severe comorbidities, creates additional difficulties in identifying the original cause of death.
As soon as SARS-CoV-2 began spreading beyond China, most countries of the world began publishing key indicators that would make it possible to monitor how the epidemic was progressing within their borders. However, the standard rules for such reporting were not designed for use during a pandemic, and because countries interpreted them differently, it led to inconsistencies in the information they published. Moreover, because countries take different approaches to determine which deaths were caused primarily by COVID-19, it was inevitable that discrepancies would arise between their respective mortality statistics.
When deciding which cases should be included in their COVID-19 mortality statistics, some countries counted the deaths of all people diagnosed with the new coronavirus, regardless of the degree of severity. Others reported only the number of COVID-19 patients who died in hospitals. Many countries, such as Great Britain, did not initially include the deaths of nursing home patients because they are non-medical facilities and report to a different government agency. A third group of countries adopted narrower criteria, limiting the number of deaths to those where the coronavirus infection was the main cause of death.
What's more, the WHO did not provide clear guidance on this issue. When introducing its emergency codes for COVID-19 (U07.1 and U07.2), WHO stated that 'the rules for selecting the initial cause of death are the same as for influenza' and 'no additional guidelines are required for filling out a medical death certificate.' On April 16, 2020, however, WHO released the document 'International guidelines for certification and classification (coding) of COVID-19 as cause of death' instructing that 'COVID-19 should be recorded on the medical certificate of cause of death for ALL decedents where the disease caused, or is assumed to have caused, or contributed to death.'
On the one hand, the 'Recommendations' section of that document clearly states: 'A death due to COVID-19 may not be attributed to another disease (e.g. cancer) and should be counted independently of preexisting conditions that are suspected of triggering a severe course of COVID-19.' On the other hand, 'Persons with COVID-19 may die of other diseases or accidents, such cases are not deaths due to COVID-19 and should not be certified as such.' It then gives examples in which the original cause of death is a different disease (such as myocardial infarction) and COVID-19 is considered a contributing cause (comorbid disease), with the result that 'the death may have been influenced by COVID-19, but death was caused by another disease or an accident.'
One thing is clear: WHO insists that COVID-19 should always be listed in one of the columns of the medical certificate of death, as either the original or an underlying cause of death.
At the same, there was a growing understanding that during an epidemic, it was necessary to track all deaths associated with the presence of COVID-19. This was true regardless of whether the coronavirus infection started a chain of pathological changes in the person's body that led to death or appeared later in such a chain started by another cause, and only accelerated the person's death.
This understanding is important not only for the medical community to fulfil its professional duty but also for society as a whole. After all, a pandemic brings a much greater risk of poor health and death than is present during normal 'peaceful' conditions. This is why the discussion of how to record the cause of death in a pandemic went beyond the scientific community and resonated with the public.
Consider, for example, the White House briefing on April 7, 2020 that featured, in addition to U.S. President Donald Trump making his usual statements, an explanation by Deborah Birx — who has served as Global AIDS Coordinator for Presidents Barack Obama and Trump, and as Trump's Coronavirus Response Coordinator. She said that although some countries attribute the cause of death to pre-existing conditions that were exacerbated by the coronavirus, 'Right now, we're still recording it, and…the intent is, right now…if someone dies with COVID-19, we are counting that as a COVID-19 death.' It was apparently no accident that she used the words 'right now' twice in the same sentence.
White House briefing, April 7, 2020
In addition, every week the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) publishes and updates data on deaths from COVID-19, pneumonia and flu based on information gleaned from death certificates. What's more, the CDC includes not only the total deaths in which COVID-19 was the original cause but also those in which the coronavirus infection acted as a catalyst — although those cases represent only 6% of the total, as indicated by U.S. death certificates.
How does Russia currently gather information about COVID-19 deaths?
In accordance with the temporary guidelines of the Russian Health Ministry, every patient who dies with a confirmed or suspected diagnosis of COVID-19 must undergo a post-mortem examination. Based on the results of the autopsy (including histological examination of organs and analysis of autopsy material for the presence of viral and bacterial pathogens), a final pathological diagnosis is made in accordance with the Russian Society of Pathologists' clinical guidelines contained in its document 'Formulation of pathoanatomical diagnosis in some infectious and parasitic diseases.'
If the doctor who conducted the autopsy definitely determines that COVID-19 was the primary cause of death, it will be listed as such on the death certificate. If, however, the clinical and morphological evidence indicates another ailment such as injury or poisoning was the primary cause, that will be reflected on the death certificate. In this case, the new coronavirus infection will be listed as a comorbid or contributing cause of death.
If COVID-19 is recognized as a comorbid disease (most often combined), then the death is listed as resulting from other pre-existing serious illnesses, the exacerbation or adverse course of which was caused by the 'addition' of the coronavirus infection. In such situations, COVID-19 must be listed on the medical death certificate as 'another important condition that contributed to death' (see the Moscow Health Department Interim Guidelines).
What coronavirus symptoms look like, day by day
If a death occurred 'due to various life-threatening diseases and their complications in the absence of clinical manifestations and pathological changes caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus,' but a laboratory has confirmed the presence of the virus, then COVID-19 is a 'co-existing disease' that did not contribute to death and is not listed in the medical certificate of death.
The Russian recommendations are generally consistent with the WHO guidelines for determining COVID-19 as the cause of death, but they do not answer the question of what picture Russia's current statistics convey — a picture that serves as the basis of operational decisions by Russian authorities. It seems that these statistics do not include all deaths involving COVID-19, unlike the practice of the U.S., for example.
In all likelihood, the Russian statistics include only those cases in which COVID-19 was the main or original cause of death. An analysis of data from certain regions confirms this. For example, the portal for Chelyabinsk lists information about both 'death from COVID-19' (16 cases on May 29, 2020) and of deaths in which COVID-19 was a 'comorbid disease' (21 cases on May 29, 2020). The federal level, however, lists only 16 deaths in the Chelyabinsk region — that is, only those in which COVID-19 was the primary disease.
A statement by the Moscow Health Department on May 13, 2020 indicates, for example, that 'post-mortem diagnoses and causes of death are, in the end, extremely accurate… It is impossible to name COVID-19 the cause of death in other cases. Thus, for example, more than 60% of deaths resulted from clearly alternative causes.' This is one more proof that only those cases in which COVID-19 was the main or original cause of death were included in the official count.
What should cause-of-death statistics look like during an epidemic?
The generally accepted principle of reporting cause-of-death statistics has been developed over the course of many decades and the crisis caused by the pandemic should not call it into question. That principle stipulates the identification of one original cause of death among the diseases present, with the remainder to be listed as comorbidities or complications of the underlying disease. This is extremely important even under 'normal' conditions when efforts by healthcare workers are focused on fighting non-communicable chronic illnesses.
If to abandon that and shift the center of gravity to the immediate or comorbid cause of death, the resulting increase in mortality from, say, flu, could create the illusion of decreased mortality from, for example, cardiovascular diseases. In fact, not only does the contributing role they play in death not weaken, but actually increases due to the additional influence of an infectious agent — that would not be nearly as dangerous for a healthy individual. On the other hand, under-reporting the role of flu or the new coronavirus infection in tanatogenesis might create the illusion that the epidemic is not serious and lead to an unjustified statistical increase in mortality from chronic diseases.
Furthermore, in the current epidemic, some of the 'excess' deaths from certain diseases might not only be connected to the infectious agent, but could also be caused by the quarantine measures and their consequences. For this reason, it is important to separate deaths directly related to COVID-19 from those with only an indirect connection to it.
Thus, cause-of-death statistics based on the identification of the original cause of death hold fundamental importance and are necessary for addressing the long-term challenges facing society and the healthcare system. This does not exclude the possibility, however, that under certain conditions society might need knowledge and a different set of statistics. This can happen when an epidemic first appears and urgent, 'targeted' measures are required to prevent it from spreading.
Stockholm COVIDians
In this situation, information is needed on all deaths associated with the disease responsible for this epidemic, regardless of whether it was the main cause or simply one link in the chain of health disorders that led to death. That means we need to produce two sets of interconnected data — one for meeting long-term objectives under 'normal' conditions, and a second for mounting an emergency response to the epidemic and preventing new outbreaks.
If no second set of data exists, the statistics 'don't see' the actual causes of death, making it necessary to assemble that picture later, after everything has ended. By way of illustration, consider the 2016-2017 flu epidemic in England in which the authorities issued fewer than 1,000 medical death certificates mentioning the flu. According to an assessment conducted later by Public Health England, an average estimate revealed that the number of flu-related deaths that season was actually 18 times higher.
This type of more or less accurate estimate can be made post factum, when the total number of deaths from all causes is known and can be compared with the usual total in years without an epidemic. That is important for understanding long-term trends, for developing preventative measures and so on, but it is useless for mounting a rapid response.
Can Russian statistics provide two sets of cause-of-death data?
Russian statistics can collect this information in two ways. The first is to indicate COVID-19 on the death certificate 'across the board' — that is, not only when it is the main cause of death, but also when it is a comorbidity. This would enable the State Statistics Service to provide statistics reflecting both realities.
The federal registry of persons infected with the new coronavirus could provide an additional and more complete source of information about COVID-19-related deaths. If the instructions posted on the Health Ministry's portal are followed, then all patients with COVID-19 should be included in the registry.
In the event one of those patients dies, information about the preliminary and final pathoanatomic/forensic diagnosis, as well as codes for the causes of death listed on the death certificate should be entered in the registry. Thoroughly and properly entering the required information in this registry makes it possible not only to collect the data needed for a comprehensive analysis of all COVID-related deaths, but also to later help develop Russia's final cause-of-death statistics and to conduct scientific research.
Authors: Anatoly G. Vishnevsky, Sergey Timonin, June 09, 2020
All texts by: Anatoly G. Vishnevsky, Sergey Timonin
Health Studies Demography


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