The Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium test has four achievement categories. Students must score at Level 3 or higher to be considered proficient in the skills and knowledge for their grades. According to cut scores approved Friday night by the 22-state consortium, 41 percent of 11th graders will show proficiency in English/language arts, and 33 percent will do so in math. In elementary and middle school, 38 percent to 44 percent will meet the proficiency mark in English/language arts, and 32 percent to 39 percent will do so in math.
Level 4, the highest level of the 11th grade Smarter Balanced test, is meant to indicate readiness for entry-level, credit-bearing courses in college, and comes with an exemption from remedial coursework at many universities. Eleven percent of students would qualify for those exemptions.
The establishment of cut scores, known in the measurement field as "standard-setting," marks one of the biggest milestones in the four-year-long project to design tests for the common standards. It is also the most flammable, since a central tenet of the initiative has been to ratchet up academic expectations to ensure that students are ready for college or good jobs. States that adopted the common core have anticipated tougher tests, but the new cut scores convert that abstract concern into something more concrete.
Smarter Balanced is one of two main state consortia that are using $360 million in federal funds to develop common-core tests. The other group, the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, or PARCC, is waiting until next summer—after the tests are administered—to decide on its cut scores. Smarter Balanced officials emphasized that the figures released Monday are estimates, and that states would have "a much clearer picture" of student performance after the operational test is given in the spring.
More than 40 states have adopted the common standards—the product of an initiative led by the nation's governors and state schools chiefs—and most belong to one of the assessment consortia. Seventeen of Smarter Balanced's 22 members plan to use the consortium's test this school year.
Smarter Balanced based its achievement projections on 4.2 million students' performance on field-test items last spring. Using cut scores that were set in meetings with hundreds of educators in Dallas this fall, the consortium estimated how many students would score at each level on its test. Two people who took part in that process confirmed that the final cut scores approved by state chiefs, in consultation with top officials in their states, were very close to those recommended by the Dallas panels.
"The scores that came out of those rooms were close to the rigor level of NAEP," said another participant, referring to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, a federally administered test given to a nationally representative sampling of students that is considered a gold standard in the industry. "That was sure to freak out some superintendents and governors." He had anticipated that the state schools chiefs would lower the marks significantly before approving them, and he said he was "impressed and pleased" that they didn't.
If the achievement projections hold true for the first operational test next spring, state officials will be faced with a daunting public relations task: convincing policymakers and parents that the results are a painful but temporary result of asking students to dig deeper intellectually so they will be better prepared for college or good jobs.
Statements by Smarter Balanced officials previewed the kinds of arguments state officials will likely have to make.
Many state officials cautioned against comparing the projected performance on the Smarter Balanced test with performance on their current tests, because the tests themselves are different, and they test different material. And indeed, some Smarter Balanced states are likely to see big drops.
California, the biggest state using the new test next spring, turned in proficiency rates as high as 65 percent in some grades on its most recent English/language arts tests. Two-thirds or more of Delaware's students cleared the proficiency mark on its tests in both subjects in 2014.
Some experts cautioned against assigning too much meaning to the projected levels of student performance.
Daniel Koretz, a Harvard University professor of education who focuses on assessment, said studies show that the numbers of students who score at each proficiency level can vary greatly, depending on which method of setting cut scores is used.
Activists who oppose high-stakes standardized tests went further in their criticism of the anticipated Smarter Balanced performance levels.
"People should take this with a pound of salt," said Monty Neill, the executive director of the National Center for Fair & Open Testing, or FairTest, an advocacy group based in Boston. "The deliberate intent is to create more difficult standards. So when the result is that your child, your school, your district doesn't look as good, it's because the test is made deliberately more difficult.
"The big issue is that we're trying to control education through a limited set of standardized tests, and we know from No Child Left Behind that that doesn't work," he said, referring to the nearly 13-year-old federal law that made states' annual testing of students the main lever of accountability for achievement.
States in the Smarter Balanced consortium must report student performance on the test in order to meet accountability requirements. Those reports could pose a political challenge for states, and put keen pressure on districts, schools, and teachers. They could be accompanied by consequences as dire as school restructuring, depending on the details of each state's accountability plan.
It is up to each state to decide how to use the test scores. The results could be factored into teachers' evaluations, although some states have won delays in that requirement through waivers from the U.S. Department of Education. The results also could drive high-stakes decisions, such as grade-to-grade promotion and high school graduation. Few, if any, Smarter Balanced states plan to use them that way in 2014-15.
Advocates of the tests designed by Smarter Balanced and the other state consortium, PARCC, argue that the transitional stress of lower scores is justified by powerful payoffs.
Instead of each state giving its own test, half the states are giving the same two tests, allowing a shared concept of proficiency and an unprecedented level of cross-state comparison, they contend. And instead of gauging superficial knowledge through bubble sheets, the new exams plumb students' skills more deeply, with lengthy performance tasks that require students to justify their conclusions in math and supply evidence for their interpretations in English/language arts, those advocates say.
"We have an opportunity to change what assessment means inside our classrooms, an opportunity to make it really be about improving teaching and learning," said Deborah V.H. Sigman, a member of the Smarter Balanced executive committee and a deputy superintendent in California's Rocklin Unified School District.
During closed-door discussions to consider the new cut scores, some state leaders voiced uneasiness about reducing the complexity of student performance to four categories, instead of expressing its range in scale scores. Vermont abstained from the vote because of such concerns. (New Hampshire abstained for other reasons.) In response to the concerns about interpretations of the scoring categories, Smarter Balanced states approved a position paper encouraging states to take a broader view when discussing student achievement.
"There is not a critical shift in student knowledge or understanding that occurs at a single cut-score point," the paper said. "Achievement levels should be understood as representing approximations" of the levels at which students demonstrate mastery. States should consider evaluating additional data, such as grades and portfolios of student work, when evaluating student performance, the paper said.
The Smarter Balanced consortium established its cut scores in a lengthy process that began with defining what achievement should look like at each of the four levels. In September, it invited members of the public to rate the difficulty of test items online, and 2,600 did so.
In October, about 500 reviewers—mainly classroom teachers, principals, curriculum directors and higher education faculty—gathered in Dallas to study those descriptions of achievement and to review booklets of test items, arranged in order of difficulty. In separate panels by subject and grade level, they examined the items and decided the points that distinguished the four levels of achievement.
After rounds of discussion, the results were aggregated into cut scores for each grade and subject. The panelists considered performance data from national tests such as NAEP and the ACT college-entrance exam for comparison as well. Sixty of the Dallas panelists later reviewed the cut scores across grades for consistency.
Yvonne Johnson, a parent and PTA leader from Delaware, served on the 3rd grade math cut-score-setting panel. She said that in early rounds, she was inclined to set the cutoff points much lower than those many of her fellow panelists favored.
In the end, Ms. Johnson said, she felt confident that the cut points were set at the "appropriate" level, with extended discussion, input, and agreement from all panelists.
Many in the field of educational measurement expressed concern, though, about Smarter Balanced's decision to set cut scores based only on field-test data. More often, states establish those scores after the operational test is given, and that is what PARCC will do.
"The good news is that whatever they're anticipating now [in student-proficiency rates] will get better," one assessment expert said of the Smarter Balanced approach.
"Smarter Balanced Delays Vote on Cut Scores," (Curriculum Matters) November 6, 2014.
"Which NCLB Waiver States May Delay Using Test Scores in Teacher Evaluations?," (Politics K-12) September 16, 2014.


How to Remove Conditions on my 2-year Green Card?
How do I remove conditions (I-751) on my 2-year conditional Green Card?
First, check the expiration date on your 2-year conditional green card. You may not file Form I-751 to remove conditions until you are within 90 days of the green card's expiration date. Both you and your spouse are Joint Petitioners of the application this time around. What this means is that both of you must sign and certify in the Form I-751 that you have still been living together in a genuine marital relationship since you first received the initial 2-year marriage-based green card. You will need to remember where you lived together for the past 2 years, the application will also allow you to include any new members of the family such as your new-born baby!
What info do I need to complete Form I-751?
You must complete Form I-751 which will ask for your biographic information and your residence history since you last applied. You will also be asked for your petitioning spouse's biographic information as well as listing any children you have together. If you have many addresses to list, there is an addendum to the form where you can list the complete addresses and dates of the additional addresses. The form is relatively straight-forward to complete. However, an attorney who can review the form or prepare it on your behalf will ensure you check the correct eligibility category and make sure the application is done right the first time around.
What other documents do I need to prepare for the I-751?
The documents needed are similar to the joint documents you included in your I-485 application a few years ago. You will need to prove you and your spouse was living together for the past two years since you received your green card. These documents can include your lease agreement, jointly filed tax returns, joint bank statements, joint billing statements, joint insurance policies, photos together spanning the past 2 years. When including photos, it is a good idea to also include a caption for each photo that lists the date, event, and location. For example, 02/14/2019, Valentine's Day Dinner at the Portland City Grill, in Portland, Oregon. Also, when including monthly statements, each statement should be provided from the time you received your initial green card to present time. You can also request letters of support from family or friends who can attest to their knowledge that you and your spouse have been in a legitimate marital relationship for the past two years.
What is the expected wait time for me to receive my 10-year unconditional green card?
Currently, the wait time for your green card to arrive can be 18 months time. In fact, after mailing out your initial I-751, the receipt notice will indicate that you have received an 18-month extension. During this time, you will be able to continue to work and travel as you would when you had your unexpired initial green card. However, the receipt notice for the I-751 acts as a substitute for your green card. The receipt notice automatically extends your permanent resident status as you await a final decision on the pending I-751. Therefore, you can show this original receipt notice to any prospective employer, or agency that needs to verify your lawful permanent resident status in the U.S.
Can I apply for U.S. citizenship if my I-751 is still pending?
Yes, you can! If your I-751 has been pending for a year, and you are still living together with your petitioning spouse, more likely than not, you will be eligible to apply for U.S. citizen based on marriage for at least three years as a permanent resident. However, you can apply even sooner through the 90-day rule which allows you to apply as soon as 2 years and 9 months from the date your green card was issued. This means that often times, while the I-751 is pending, you can prepare to file the form N-400 for citizenship. Once you are able to attend the citizenship interview, the officer will see that the I-751 is still pending and be able to adjudicate both applications at the same time. This will allow you to continue to process your applications despite the increased delays in I-751 petition processing.
If you have any questions regarding the I-751 application process, call us today at 866 691 9894 to set up a consultation.
https://www.emsylaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/suzana-sousa-264475-unsplash.jpg 3456 5184 emsyadmin https://www.emsylaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/ILG_Logo_Transp-Web.png emsyadmin2019-03-24 21:47:292019-04-15 17:31:44How to Remove Conditions on my 2-year Green Card?
How to get a Marriage Visa for my Spouse? How to Bring My Fiancee to the U.S.


The bacterial community composition of marine surface sediments originating from various regions of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea (12 sampling sites) was compared by parallel use of three fingerprinting methods: analysis of 16S rRNA gene fragment heterogeneity by denaturing gradient electrophoresis (DGGE), terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP), and analysis of phospholipid-linked fatty acid composition (PLFA). Sampling sites were located at variable depths (30-2860 m; water column depth above the sediments) and the sediments differed greatly also in their degree of petroleum contamination (0.4-18 microg g(-1)), organic carbon (0.38-1.5%), and chlorophyll a content (0.01-7.7 microg g(-1)). Despite a high degree of correlation between the three different community fingerprint methods, some major differences were observed. DGGE banding patterns showed a significant separation of sediment communities from the northern, more productive waters of the Thermaikos Gulf and the oligotrophic waters of the Cretan, S. Ionian, and Levantine Sea. T-RFLP analysis clearly separated the communities of deep sediments (>1494 m depth) from their shallow (<617 m) counterparts. PLFA analysis grouped a shallow station from the productive waters of the north with the deep oligotrophic sediments from the Ionian and Levantine Sea, with low concentrations of PLFAs, and hence low microbial biomass, as the common denominator. The degree of petroleum contamination was not significantly correlated to the apparent composition of the microbial communities for any of the three methods, whereas organic carbon content and sediment chlorophyll a were important in this regard.


Cliffhanger #2! One to go guys!
Thanks to everyone I saw at Word on the Street this past weekend! If you're reading this on your first visit, welcome to the site! Selling my first mini-comic since high school was totally awesome! Copies can now be found at Strange Adventures, and I'm looking into making them available to order online!
One more week to be part of the letters page! So send your e-mail totoug_2000@hotmail.com marked with "Okay to Print".


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By Jon K. Rust ~ B Magazine
Wayne Wallingford is completing his second term in the Missouri State Senate representing District 27 and also serves as the Chief People Officer for McDonald's of Southeast Missouri.
There are a number of important political races in our area this year, a few, because of term limits, pitting talented individuals against each other in districts without an incumbent. The following interview is with State Senator Wayne Wallingford (R-Cape Girardeau), who is running for House District 147 in Cape Girardeau. Wallingford answered questions from B Magazine and provided a three-sentence self-introduction. To read interviews with other candidates profiled in B Magazine, click here.
Wayne Wallingford
Republican candidate for Missouri House District 147 Current senator for Missouri Senate District 27
Wallingford: My master's degree is in health care administration, and I worked in two hospitals prior to entering the United States Air Force where I served 25 years as an active duty combat veteran. Since retiring from the Air Force, I've been employed by the two largest restaurant corporations in the world; first in operations and currently as the Chief People Officer (HR). I've served one two-year term in the Missouri House of Representatives and am completing my second four-year term in the Missouri Senate.
Wallingford: I was 16 years old when I got my first job at a manufacturing company. They made chaplets for all three major American automobile companies. A chaplet is a small metal molding made of sheet metal that goes into the production of engine blocks. My father was the plant foreman and to assure the other employees he didn't show any favoritism, he did just the opposite and had me do the most difficult jobs that were undesirable and which no one else wanted to do. I still have all the scars on my hands to prove it! However, in the end, I was the only employee trained to do every job in the factory.
What is an important lesson you learned early in your career?
Wallingford: An important lesson I learned early in my career in the United States Air Force was during flight training. You were expected to be an expert in your job because other people's lives depended on it. You also had to trust your crew and those crews who were flying in close formation to your aircraft.
This was particularly important in Vietnam in December 1972 during Operation Linebacker II. People were amazed that somebody thought the B-52 could survive in the Hanoi area because our B-52s would be absorbing all the North Vietnamese surface-to-air missiles in the most heavily-defended area in the world. I flew into sky-filled nights of Soviet-built surface-to-air missiles that traveled three times as fast as our B-52s. However, due to our expert training and trust in the teamwork of the crews piloting other aircraft in close formation to mine, we were able to successfully accomplish our mission to end the war and bring our POWs back home.
Wallingford: I worked at the factory where my father was the plant foreman. The pay was good ($1.15 an hour). I worked nine-hour days and occasionally on Saturdays. On the way home from work on Friday, I would deposit my check into my savings account at the local bank.
I grew up in Illinois and attended college in Nebraska. When I came home during fall break, Christmas and spring break, I continued to work at the factory. Over the summer, I would again work in the factory before returning to college.
In addition, I mowed lawns, raked leaves and shoveled snow to supplement my income from my job at the factory. I also did this at my house, except I didn't get paid since doing chores was expected at home. There was no allowance, either! I self-financed my college education and graduated in four years without any college debt.
Wallingford: My bachelor of science degree is in business administration, and my master's degree is in health care administration.
I was employed by Nebraska Methodist Hospital prior to being commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Air Force. After completing flight training, I was assigned to a B-52 base and sent to Vietnam. After four years in the B-52, I attended Squadron Officer School and upon graduation was assigned to a base flying RC-135 reconnaissance missions.
Four years later, I was transferred to another Air Force Base where I was the Director of Reconnaissance Air Crew Training for the SR-71 and U-2. During this time, I completed Air Command and Staff College.
After three and a half years, I was transferred to a joint tour working with Air Force, Army, Marines and Navy personnel under the command of the United States Commander-in-Chief for the Pacific. During this time, I completed Air War College.
Three years later, the Air Force gave me a four-year sabbatical as the Professor of Aerospace Science at Southeast Missouri State University. Upon completing my sabbatical, my final assignment was in the United Kingdom, where I served as the Director of Intelligence for the reconnaissance operations in the European and Middle Eastern theaters.
After retiring, my goal was to enter the corporate business world. I interviewed with PepsiCo, and they gave me that opportunity. I was assigned to their Taco Bell Division of the Chicago Headquarters. I was given responsibility for a five-state region. Six years later, I was promoted to their Philadelphia Headquarters. I had the responsibility for corporate and franchised operations for a 16-state territory.
Five years later, McDonald's made me an offer I couldn't refuse. I moved back to Cape Girardeau as the Chief People Officer for 17 restaurants employing over 1,200 people. Because of my strong business and health care background, I was encouraged to run for the Missouri House of Representatives. I was elected and served one two-year term in the House. However, my constituents knew the current state senator would soon term out, so they urged me to run for the Senate.
I am finishing my second four-year term. Now, my constituents are urging me to run for the House of Representatives again. If elected, I could serve a total of six more years. Praying for guidance from the Lord and seeking ways to serve him have always been the main focus of my career.
Wallingford: I've been reading books on leadership for the past 52 years. The books I find particularly fascinating are books about military leadership. A book that I would recommend is "Extreme Ownership (How U.S. Navy Seals Lead and Win)" by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin, both who served as U.S. Navy Seal officers.
The authors provide combat-proven leadership lessons and dive deep into the most challenging aspects of leading people. They demonstrate how each lesson applies to the battlefield, business and life.
Wallingford: My management style incorporates equal parts patience, passion and performance. I work longer and harder than others and take a genuine interest in my constituents. I'm extremely adaptable to change and lead with integrity and adherence to a set of values and principles that incorporate honesty. I do the right thing regardless of the circumstances, choosing courage over comfort.
Wallingford: Citizenship comes with the responsibility to serve our nation and is built on certain fundamental rights -- but also responsibilities to give back through public service. Public service is having a heart to care about others and putting their interest above your own. It's important to be a servant leader and focus primarily on the growth and well-being of people and the communities to which they belong. This is especially true when it comes to helping the elderly and those who are disabled.
It's never being out of touch with the needs of others. I see my role as being the go-to force dealing with government hierarchies, red tape and the needless thick layers of bureaucracies. I have been dedicated to public service my entire career whether in the military, serving my church, volunteering for non-profit organizations or in state government.
I'm committed to making Missouri stronger and don't ask myself, "Should I serve?" but rather, "How can I serve?"
What would your colleagues say is your biggest strength? And weakness?
Wallingford: My colleagues in the Missouri Senate would say my biggest strength is my genuine interest in the welfare of my constituents and developing positive, effective working relationships in order to accomplish my goals to help them.
They would also say my weakness is devoting all of my time and attention to my constituents whether it's late at night, on a weekend or holiday. But I believe this is what being a public servant requires. I tell them when I joined the Air Force they took away my watch and shredded my calendar, so I don't know the time of day or day of the week.
Wallingford: I flew over 300 combat missions in Vietnam, and in combat, you learn to deal with adversity. You are also given opportunities to show courage in the face of adversity. I flew more combat missions during the 11 days of Operation Linebacker II than anyone else. Unfortunately, we lost 15 B-52s during that campaign. Of the 10 deadliest U.S. hostile air actions, Operation Linebacker II is considered the deadliest.
On one of the missions, my aircraft received battle damage but was still able to limp back to the base. I learned that God definitely works miracles in our lives. One thing for sure, your senses are stimulated by adversity during air warfare!
Wallingford: The best thing state government can do to restore economic growth, create jobs and lift the veil of uncertainty hanging over every business and worker is to eliminate the size, scope, cost and complexity of regulations and red tape. Too many needless and expensive regulations are clearly costing jobs and growth.
Also, keeping taxes low is important so businesses and workers can keep more of their hard-earned pay. Bigger government doesn't mean better government!
Wallingford: I want to serve in state government to continue to serve the people of Missouri. I've served in the Missouri Senate with Governor Parson and Lt. Governor Kehoe and have developed a solid working relationship with them and with all department officials, other legislators in both the House and Senate as well as staff.
I am the only senator in my freshman class who was elected into a leadership position. I am currently serving as the Assistant Majority Floor Leader. My proven leadership on numerous committees, my understanding and management of the legislative process, and my experience serving on the Appropriations Committee, which crafts Missouri's $30 billion budget, means I can continue to use my vast experience in state government to serve Missourians.
The ultimate goal of my service is to glorify God.
Wallingford: Building relationships is everything. Success is a team effort. Life is complex. There are thousands of moving parts and personalities, so you have to be able to adapt to change. Find a mentor and never stop learning -- school is never out, so continue to develop yourself. Go beyond what's being asked of you. If you develop a strong work ethic, everyone will want to hire you. Technical skills are important, but people who master the soft skills are irreplaceable.
Finally, be happy and excited and look forward to each day. You can make money or you can lose money, but time you can only lose; spend it carefully.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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The Story of Iran's Church in Two Sentences
July 30, 2016 | Mark Howard
More By Mark Howard
Politics in America and the Church in Iran
Seduction and the Cost of Saying 'No'
5 Reasons You Can Teach Revelation to Youth
How to Prepare Youth to Endure Hostility
Peter: Hope for Pastors
Everyone loves a good story. As Christians, we especially love stories that tell us how, when all seems lost, God makes a way.
One such story is about the church in Iran—and it's one of the greatest stories in the world today.
It's a simple story that can be summarized in just two sentences: Persecution threatened to wipe out Iran's tiny church. Instead, the church in Iran has become the fastest growing in the world, and it is influencing the region for Christ.
As simple as it is, such an amazing story is worth examining deeper.
Growth Amid Persecution
The Iranian revolution of 1979 established a hard-line Islamic regime. Over the next two decades, Christians faced increasing opposition and persecution: All missionaries were kicked out, evangelism was outlawed, Bibles in Persian were banned and soon became scarce, and several pastors were killed. The church came under tremendous pressure. Many feared the small Iranian church would soon wither away and die.
But the exact opposite has happened. Despite continued hostility from the late 1970s until now, Iranians have become the Muslim people most open to the gospel in the Middle East.
Despite continued hostility from the late 1970s until now, Iranians have become the Muslim people most open to the gospel in the Middle East.
How did this happen? Two factors have contributed to this openness. First, violence in the name of Islam has caused widespread disillusionment with the regime and led many Iranians to question their beliefs. Second, many Iranian Christians have continued to boldly and faithfully tell others about Christ, in the face of persecution.
As a result, more Iranians have become Christians in the last 20 years than in the previous 13 centuries put together since Islam came to Iran. In 1979, there were an estimated 500 Christians from a Muslim background in Iran. Today, there are hundreds of thousands—some say more than 1 million. Whatever the exact number, many Iranians are turning to Jesus as Lord and Savior.
More Iranians have become Christians in the last 20 years than in the previous 13 centuries put together.
In fact, last year the mission research organization Operation World named Iran as having the fastest-growing evangelical church in the world. According to the same organization, the second-fastest growing church is in Afghanistan—and Afghans are being reached in part by Iranians, since their languages are similar.
Three Changed Lives
The testimonies of Iranian men and women who've come to Christ are powerful.
Kamran was a violent man who used to sell drugs and weapons. One day, a friend gave him a New Testament. After reading for five consecutive days, Kamran gave his life to Jesus. When his family and friends saw his transformed life over the ensuing months, many of them also came to faith. A church now meets in Kamran's house.
Reza was a mullah (a Muslim scholar) who hoped to become an ayatollah (a Shiite leader). One day, while studying at an Islamic seminary in Iran, he found a New Testament that had been boldly left in the library. Out of curiosity, he picked it up and was deeply shaken. Over time, he fell in love with Jesus. Today Reza is a trained church planter serving in the Iran region.
Fatemah's earliest memories were of being raped by her brothers. At age 11, she was sold in marriage to a young drug addict who abused her and then divorced her when she was 17. Upon returning home she was raped again, until she decided to leave. On the streets she heard the gospel preached, and she trusted Jesus. In time, she married a Christian man. As they were receiving training in evangelism and church planting, Fatemah felt called to go back home and witness to her family. Her entire family repented and gave their lives to the Lord. The first church Fatemah and her husband planted was in her childhood home.
Fatemah felt called to go back home and witness to her family. Her entire family repented and gave their lives to the Lord.
I've had the privilege of hearing Kamran, Reza, and Fatemah share their stories. I've heard countless other testimonies that are equally remarkable. Each one is a painful and yet marvelous celebration of the gospel's beauty. Each one is a powerful reminder that despite trials and persecution—perhaps because of the suffering—the gospel of Jesus shines and the church of Jesus grows.
Story God Is Writing
We're living in a time when many Christians are suffering for their faith, particularly in Islamic contexts. People often react by preaching fear and hatred of the Muslim world. Yet the apostle Paul reminds us that we are to "rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer" (Rom. 12:12). This is our call.
And the story God is writing for Iran reminds us that we have every reason to rejoice and remain confident in our sovereign Lord and the power of his gospel. Jesus will build his church. It's a promise (Matt. 16:18).
I ask that you would keep the people and nation of Iran in your prayers. Please pray for:
Many more Iranians to give their lives to Christ.
Endurance and joy for Iranian Christians suffering in prison for their ministry—many have testified to sensing the prayers of the global church while imprisoned.
More trained leaders to serve as evangelists, church planters, and pastors to disciple the many new Iranian believers.
Persecution threatened to wipe out Iran's tiny church. Instead, by God's mighty hand, his church is growing rapidly. Praise him!
Editors' note: In light of the growth of the Iranian church, TGC has recently launched this Farsi-language micro site including translations of sermons and books by Mark Dever, Kevin DeYoung, John Piper, David Platt, R. C. Sproul and others. Help spread these resources to Farsi-speaking believers you know.
Mark Howard works with Elam Ministries, an organization founded in 1990 by Iranian church leaders with a mission to strengthen and expand the church in the Iran region and beyond. Mark also serves on the advisory board of Rooted and has a chapter in Gospel-Centered Youth Ministry (Crossway, 2016).


text:
Select Committee on Home Affairs Memoranda
MEMORANDUM 48
Submitted by the Netherlands Drug Policy Foundation
1. PROHIBITION: THE EXPERIENCE
The main objective of existing drugs policy is to prevent people from taking drugs. Its main instrument is the prohibition of production, sale and consumption of drugs.
To this objective the instrument clearly has failed. Prohibition has proven to be ineffective: notwithstanding massive efforts of the police and judiciary, more drugs are being sold than ever and for lower prices.
2. REGULATION: THE EXPERIENCE
The 25-year long practice with a regulated sale of cannabis in the Netherlands by way of the so-called "coffeeshops" has resulted in less people being prosecuted and locked-up in jail. It has proven not to lead to more (problematic) use of cannabis, nor of other drugs (so much for the "stepping-stone theory) than in the UK and other neighbouring countries. Neither have the regulatory measures regarding other drugs: the supply of methadone and heroine, as well as clean needles, users rooms and quality-inspection of party pills (source: 2000 Annual Report of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction EMCDDA in Lisbon).
3. HEALTH
The health-problems in the Netherlands caused by drugs pale in comparison to alcohol and tobacco:
— 22 x more alcoholics than drug addicts;
— 12 x more deaths caused by alcohol than drugs (not including traffic accidents by both);
— 133 x more deaths caused by tobacco than by drugs.
(Sources: Governmental Paper on alcohol 2001-2003, Trimbos-Institute: Mensink & Spruit, 1998).
There seems to be no reason to suppose alcohol and tobacco problems in the Netherlands to be essentially higher than abroad.
4. CRIME
Crime related to drugs is caused, not so much by drugs themselves, but by their prohibition. The prohibition provides a gold-mine for criminal organisations.
It also renders drugs costly: hence the stealing and other criminal acts committed by junks. Both aspects of drug crime have caused half of the available prison cells in the Netherlands to be occupied by producers, traffickers and users of drugs (source: personal information by high officials of the Justice Department and Police).
This means that about half of total crime is related to the drugs prohibition. Since in the Netherlands less drug users and sellers get convicted than in the UK, the percentage of drug-related crime in your country will probably not be lower.
5. TERRORISM
The fight against terrorism will first and foremost be an intelligence war, and it will have to be met with determination and intelligence.
An essential point to consider is, how terrorist and criminal groups all over the world finance their activities.
There is little doubt that drugs-trafficking is one of their main sources of income. Osama Bin Laden specifically is said to be heavily involved in smuggling drugs (for an overview of research: see f.i. the article in The Ottawa Citizen, Sept. 14 by Dan Gardner: "Terrorists get cash from Drug Trade", http://www.mapinc.org/author/Dan+Gardner ).
Drugs crime and the estimated USD 400 billion illegal revenue it engenders yearly world-wide is not a natural phenomenon.
It has a simple cause: the world-wide policy of prohibition.
The health risks of drugs are modest compared to alcohol and tobacco. This modesty is not due to prohibition: the Dutch experiment with regulated sale of cannabis and other measures shows regulation to be at least as effective.
As doubtful as are the benefits of the drugs prohibition, just as clear has now become the danger it creates as a gold mine for crime.
Replacing the prohibition of drugs by a system of government regulation will be an indispensable and highly effective measure to squeeze the flow of oxygen to the many headed monster of crime and terrorism.
Debates on cannabis are taking place in most European countries as well as in Canada, Mexico, New Zealand among others. In the U.S. more and more politicians, organisations and media, of all political colours, distance themselves from the administration's "war on drugs" and its catastrophic consequences both in their country and in the world at large.
In Switzerland, a proposal of law to regulate the cultivation and sale of cannabis has been introduced by the Government this year.
In the Netherlands, a majority in Parliament, urged on by a concerted action of major cities, has asked the Government to regulate the cultivation of the cannabis to be sold in the coffeeshops. As a consequence, the Dutch Government, together with the Governments of Belgium, Germany and Switzerland, will hold a pan-European conference for cities about their problems with the cannabis issue. The conference will take place coming 6/7/8 December.
Regulation of cannabis seems a logical first step. Its health risks are small, and the experiment with regulated sale has proven the fears of greater (mis-)use to be unfounded. Other drugs carry other health hazards. Leaving the production and sale of these other drugs to organised crime clearly is the worst option to deal with these hazards.
Time has come to shed the fear of change, and replace the failed instrument of prohibition by a system of government-regulation.
Prepared 20 December 2001


Samir Mayekar is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of SiNode Systems, a venture-backed company developing advanced materials for the lithium-ion battery industry. He most recently worked with the business development team at Boeing Defense Systems in Arlington, Virginia and as an investment banker at Credit Suisse in Chicago.
He previously served as Deputy Chief of Staff of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), the U.S. Government's development finance institution. At OPIC, Samir helped coordinate agency efforts in advancing priorities of the Obama administration, such as providing over $1 billion in financing for energy projects in emerging markets. He joined OPIC after serving as the National Security Director of the Presidential Personnel Office at the White House, where he oversaw all presidential appointments at the Pentagon, State Department, Department of Homeland Security, and Central Intelligence Agency.


text:
Submit Questions for Meet the Candidates Night by Sunday, March 19, 2017 at 5:00 PM
Community members interested in submitting a question for consideration to be asked of the candidates please email by 5:00 p.m. on Sunday, March 19, 2017: forum@stonehamtv.org.
All questions must be non-personal in nature and be answerable by all candidates. The Moderator reserves the right to disqualify any question.
Air times for both Candidate's Forums, Candidate Statements, and one-on-one interviews with community producer Randy Perillo will be available next week.
Stoneham TV will host two Meet the Candidates Nights this election season. Candidates from the races for Planning Board and School Committee are invited to attend a forum on Monday, March 20, 2017 at 7:00 p.m. hosted by Stoneham TV at their studio, 53 Central Street. Candidates from the races for Town Moderator and Board of Selectmen are invited to attend a forum on Wednesday, March 22, 2017 at 7:00 p.m. hosted by Stoneham TV at their studio, 53 Central Street. The forum will be moderated by Reading Town Moderator Alan Foulds. Panelists from the community and the local media have been invited to ask questions to the candidates.
All candidates in contested races have been invited to attend the moderated forum, which will be shown LIVE on Stoneham TV's government access channel (Comcast Channel 22, RCN Channel 15, and Verizon Channel 36) and it will be seen LIVE through web streaming on www.stonehamtv.org/ondemand. In addition, the program will be recorded to be replayed on Stoneham TV and through their website's on-demand feature prior to the election on Tuesday, April 4, 2017. This year's contested field includes for Planning Board (two candidates for one seat) incumbent August S. Niewenhous and challenger Devon B. Manchester; for School Committee (three candidates for two seats) incumbent David C. Mauer and challengers Elaine Trant Brown and Nicole Fenocchi Nial; Town Moderator (two candidates for one seat) incumbent Lawrence M. Means and challenger Jeanne E. Craigie and Board of Selectmen (two candidates for one seat) – challengers Shelly A. MacNeill and Cristine Warren Linn. Candidates for each forum will be invited to make opening and closing statements and will respond to questions from the moderator and panelists.
The following guidelines will be observed:
Each Candidate will be invited to make an opening statement of no more than two minutes.
Questions will be accepted by panelists.
Candidates will have 2 minutes to respond to each question in an effort to cover as many questions as possible. Each candidate will receive two opportunities for rebuttal to be used during the course of the forum. These rebuttals are no more than 2 minutes each.
The timekeeper will display a green sheet at 60 seconds, a yellow sheet at 30 seconds and a red sheet to stop.
The Moderator will rotate first responders with each question.
A candidate may "Pass" on any question.
Each candidate will be invited to make a one-minute closing statement.
In addition to the Candidates' Forum, candidates will have the opportunity to record five minute candidate statements about their candidacy, as well as a thirty minute one on one interview with community producer Randy Perillo. These programs will be available on Stoneham TV's Channels, as well as their on demand feature of their website. You can find out channel times and links by visiting www.stonehamtv.org/public.


I upgraded my local computer to Ubuntu 13.10 today and revisited my Drupal development environment (this guide is also available for Ubuntu 12.04). Here is a simple and fast guide how to configure Ubuntu for development. There are a number of installation documentation pages on this topic on drupal.org, but they suggest to use the packaged Drupal installation and to run Drupal in subfolders (e.g. http://localhost/drupal6). They also do not cover some other important development tools like Phpmyadmin or php.ini settings. During development we want to edit files and we want to do that somewhere in our home directory to avoid any permission problems. There is also Drubuntu, but it is outdated and does way too much magic in my opinion. So here is a more transparent tutorial that highlights the key development configuration settings for Drupal development on a local computer (do not use this for a production server!).
I highly recommend using an IDE for source code editing such as Netbeans or Phpstorm. Drupal is spread over thousands of files and shortcuts to jump to other files are a real time saver, same for code completion as you type. And having a debugger to step through the code is very helpful.
You can alternatively use "apt-get" instead of "aptitude" in the commands of this tutorial.
Also, your link to deploy-site.sh contains a # fragment at the end.
Yes, of course apt-get works as well. Removed the link fragment, thanks!
Also I'm now on ubuntu 14.04 not 13.10. Any ideas would be great. After reading around it looks like the problem may have something to do with apache using my own name and group. But I'm not shore how to resolve this as I would like to use the setup you posted above. Also thanks for the bash script it works great.
First of all thanks for this tutorial it was verry helpful.
Hello, thanks for this article. I made a few modifications to deploy-site.sh so that it can have a different hostname and folder name. This is useful because a lot of people I collaborate choose to have Drupal in a sub "docs" folder of the git root. It's hosted in this repo: https://github.com/molenick/kubuntu-drupal-dev-setup.


text:
Q: MongoDb findOneAndUpdate does not update specific document I'm having trouble getting and updating the only document that matches filter in nest array of objects in mongoose, I'm using the findOneAndUpdate query in mongoose.
This is my data:
{
  "_id": "62e87e193fe01f5068f9ae11",
  "year": "2023",
  "month": "1",
  "department_id":"62e387d39ffb6ada6c590fbf",
  "blocks": [
    {
      "name": "CEEDO Schedule Block",
      "days": [
        {
          "day": 2,
          "employees": [
            {
              "employee_id":"62cf92fb3a790000170062e3",
              "schedule_type": "Day Off"
            },
            {
              "employee_id": "62cf92fb3a790000170062e2",
              "schedule_type": "Shifting"
            },
            {
              "employee_id": "62cf92fb3a790000170062e4",
              "schedule_type": "Regular"
            }
          ],
          "_id": "62e87e193fe01f5068f9ae13"
        },
        {
          "day": 6,
          "employees": [
            {
              "employee_id": "62cf92fb3a790000170062e3",
              "schedule_type": "Day Off"
            },
            {
              "employee_id": "62cf92fb3a790000170062e2",
              "schedule_type": "Shifting"
            },
            {
              "employee_id":"62cf92fb3a790000170062e4",
              "schedule_type": "Regular"
            }
          ],
          "_id": "62e87e193fe01f5068f9ae14"
        }
      ],
      "_id": "62e87e193fe01f5068f9ae12"
    }
  ]
}

And here is my query:
const update_block = await schedule_model.findOneAndUpdate({'blocks.days._id': '62e87e193fe01f5068f9ae13'},
    {
        $set: {"days":req.body.days, "employees":req.body.employees}
    }
    );

Thanks in advance.

A: try change '62e87e193fe01f5068f9ae13' to mongoose.Types.ObjectId('62e87e193fe01f5068f9ae13')

A: I finally found the answer by using the arrayFilter function in mongoose:
const update_block = await schedule_model.updateOne({
        "_id": mongoose.Types.ObjectId('62e87e193fe01f5068f9ae11')
    }, {
        "$set": {
            "blocks.$[i].days.$[j].day": 31
        }
    }, {
        arrayFilters: [{
            "i._id":mongoose.Types.ObjectId('62e87e193fe01f5068f9ae12')
        }, {
            "j._id": mongoose.Types.ObjectId('62e87e193fe01f5068f9ae14')
        }]
    })

    console.log(update_block)

Thank you.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


These UNIQUE Externships/Residencies will change your Endo life!
Participants shall be using atleast 5 different types of File Systems, 4 of which would be Rotary.
An amazing new course at Ace Institute of Dentistry..
Hone your Endodontic & Prosthetic skills at our institute.
* Student must first complete the 2 Month, 12 Patient endodontic course at our institute.
* Qualified students must be ready to work at any of our branches.
* Travel arrangements must be done by the student.
APRON, EXTRACTED TEETH, AIROTER, DAM SHEETS, 10 K FILES, ADDITION SILICONE IMPRESSION MATERIAL, DENTAL FLOSS & ROTARY FILES.
Every participant will be expected to treat 5 / 12 / 40 patients.
Root canals of individual teeth will be counted rather than head count.
Participants have to complete the patient from diagnosis to RC sealing.
Every participant has to get his/her own Apron, Airotor, Extracted Teeth , a set of only 10 no. K-files, addition silicone impression material, dental floss, Dam sheets and a set of rotary files.
Institute will provide rest of the Instruments and Materials.
After successful completion of patients there will be Assessment exam wherein Faculties will access the different cases done by the participant and may ask to do a procedure on patient.
If the candidate fails to satisfy the faculty then candidate may have to go for an extension of one or more week to earn the Certificate.
Faculty's decision will be final.
Participants are also expected to present seminars.


text:
All Things Ill-Considered: NPR's Sexist Blunder
By Silke-Maria Weineck
James Yang for The Chronicle Review
Is there anything more gratifying to a nice, liberal academic than turning on NPR and hearing them talk about a book you have written? In that lovely, calm, reasonable NPR voice that makes you think all will be well with the world, if only we can all learn to talk to one another in that lovely, calm, reasonable voice?
And is there anything more aggravating than hearing that voice attribute the book you wrote to your male co-author? The very same voice that interviewed you for half an hour about this very book, of which you wrote the introduction, the first chapter, the last chapter, and the conclusion?
Here is what happened. Over the last year, I teamed up with Stefan Szymanski, a wildly successful sports economist at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, to explore a very odd phenomenon: the screeching fury that, across the globe, greets the word "soccer." Our book, It's Football, Not Soccer (and Vice Versa): On the History, Emotion, and Ideology Behind One of the Internet's Most Ferocious Debates, delves into internet culture, the history of sports and the history of words, the oddity of linguistic ostracism, the relationship between sports and nationalism, and so on. Its appendix lists hundreds of words used for the beautiful game around the world, such as ye'igiri kwasi (Amharic), or kokoompadhi (Ndonga). It's light, but also serious; it was fun to write, and we're proud of it.
So of course we were thrilled when Anders Kelto said he wanted to do a segment on it for All Things Considered. Stefan is an old hound at this kind of thing, but I got a huge kick out of going to the little studio in Ann Arbor to get my visitor's badge, sit down in front of one of those big microphones, put on my headphones, and hear that soothing NPR voice in my ears. We talked about the book. We talked about internet culture. We talked about the history of anti-Americanism, and how it contributed to making "soccer," a word coined in Oxford toward the end of the 19th century, now exiled from English lands. I read him some of the funniest online comments we had quoted (he had asked me over email to select a few). We talked about how rare it is to see the social sciences collaborate with the humanities. Stefan stressed the importance of the humanities to understanding sports culture. Anders Kelto enthusiastically agreed. The intersection of sports and the humanities, he said, was right up his alley. Wonderful.
Saturday morning, we got an email: "Hey Stefan and Silke, Just a quick heads up that NPR is planning to run the 'football vs. soccer' story today on Weekend All Things Considered, in case you want to listen live. It's slated for 5:41 p.m., but just keep in mind that breaking news can cause schedules to change..... Oh, and because of the way the story came together, I was only able to use clips from Stefan — sorry, Silke!!!!!"
I get five exclamation marks! I suspect he would have dotted his i's with hearts, if he could have. Not that he had anything to do with my erasure: The story just came together that way, you understand; there was no human involvement.
The blow to my ego was painful. As is the custom now, I shared my grief with Facebook friends, who were appropriately incensed. One of them wrote, "One would have thought that such a thing is no longer possible — especially at NPR," which made me laugh. Bless him, though.
I spent the day quietly fuming, but resigned to my fate. After all, I do not have NPR voice, whereas Stefan has a British accent and an established reputation. All I have to show for myself is a measly book prize from the Modern Language Association. Nobody ever wants to hear from the humanities, anyway, including people who say that the humanities are really, really important.
Then I get a text from a colleague who is listening to the story. It starts with "O god," and informs me that not only are there no quotes from me in the story, as I already know, but that the book is now attributed exclusively to Stefan. My friend has already written to NPR in protest. He thinks I should ask for a retraction.
That cannot be, I think; surely he misheard. Kelto talked to me for half an hour. He has the book. My name is on the cover. Because I wrote half of it. I get more emails and texts from other friends — I'm core NPR demographic, and so are all my friends. We're the people who listen to All Things Considered on a Saturday afternoon. We donate to NPR (hah, good luck with that in the future, NPR). So I go online and find the segment, and there it is: "Stefan Szymanski is the author of a new book, 'It's Football, Not Soccer….'"
I listen to the segment in mounting disbelief. It turns out that Kelto wasn't satisfied to air just one voice on this segment. One guy with a British accent won't do. Whom else could he possibly ask to comment, to make this an appropriately diverse NPR segment? Yes, he finds another guy with a British accent, who repeats what the first guy with the British accent said. Which is the exact same thing that has been widely reported in two dozen media outlets in the past (usually quoting Stefan, who is very quotable).
I share this new development with what is by now my Facebook support group. Pretty much all of them write books, so they all understand what it means to hear on NPR about a book you have written but has now been written without you. A bunch of them write to NPR, including the formidably kind (and kindly formidable) Rebecca Solnit of Men Explain Things to Me fame, who knows a thing or two about how this stuff works. One of them demands that Kelto be suspended, but I think he should simply be sentenced to reporting only on women's work for a year, and be banned from using British accents.
Stefan — who, I should stress, is the very model of a thoughtful, respectful collaborator — is just as appalled as I am. He writes to Kelto. I write to Kelto. Kelto responds to Stefan's email. He is so sorry. "Calling Stefan 'author' instead of 'co-author' was an oversight," he says. Ah, so all he did was leave out a "co-." He'll let us know if NPR issues a correction. (They did, here. ) There is not a single exclamation mark in the email.
I'm trying to make light of this, with middling success. At a time when women see their children ripped away from them, to be incarcerated in places unknown, having your work disappear on public radio ranks low in the hierarchy of atrocities. In the meantime, Anders Kelto is slated to start his 2018-19 Knight-Wallace Fellowship at the University of Michigan. His topic: "The connection between sports and social movements." Perhaps he'll interview me.
A version of this article appeared in the August 3, 2018, issue.
Silke-Maria Weineck
Silke-Maria Weineck is a professor of German and comparative literature at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor.


2 Bedroom Flat For Sale in Gillingham for Guide Price £130,000.
A delightful 2nd floor well presented, 2 bedroom modern apartment ideal for first time buyers or investment landlords. The accommodation in brief comprises communal entrance with stairs rising to all floors. Apartment entrance and hall, spacious open plan sitting room/kitchen/diner. Two double bedrooms and bathroom. Outside bike store and allocated parking space.
Secure entrance door, stairs rising to all floors with fire doors.
A light open plan kitchen/sitting room space with dual aspect double glazed windows with bay triple windows. TV aerial and telephone point. The kitchen space is well equipped with range of modern wall and base units, work surface with sink and drainer inset, space and plumbing for automatic washing machine. Built in double oven, hob and cooker hood.
Double glazed window, electric heater.
White bathroom suite comprising a panelled bath with shower over, pedestal wash hand basin, close coupled WC, part tiled walls. Extractor.
A single allocated parking space is situated directly outside the building.
The outside store is ideal to storage.


text:
It's here… and it's glorious! Watch Marvel Studios' Avengers: Infinity War trailer
Comics/Books / Entertainment / Movies
We're all pretty excited for this movie and we're hopeful that all of the good bits aren't just in the trailer!
Fans have been waiting a long time to see what Marvel Studios would bring to the table with Avengers: Infinity War and today we get our first taste. Avengers: Infinity War marks the third movie in the Avengers franchise and moves us deeper into the Marvel Universe. There have been other teasers and tidbits through the past months but this is a solid first look. Before we continue, just go ahead and watch the trailer first.
There is so much awesome in this trailer it's silly. From Spider-Man's inclusion (his third Marvel Universe movie appearance) to the cinematography and computer-generated imagery. I will say, the way Thanos looks and moves reminded me of Warcraft, in a good way. Speaking of Thanos, I know we're supposed to dislike the bad guy, but man, he's one awesome looking bad guy. Black Panther is here as well and this movie will release soon after his solo offering on February 16th.
We're all pretty excited for Avengers: Infinity War and we're hopeful that all of the good bits aren't just in the trailer.
What did you think of the trailer? Are you excited about the movie? What did you think of the CGI? Which characters are you excited to see? What do you think of the casting? Let us know in the comments below or on Twitter, or Facebook.
Related Items:Avengers, Black Panther, featured, Marvel, movies, Spider Man, superhero movies, Thanos
Samsung Canada and Marvel team up for Spider-Man: Far From Home phone case
Report from TrendForce confirms Samsung claim that consumers are buying more 65″ and larger TVs
Marvel's Jessica Jones trailer released for final season
Netflix teases Black Mirror season 4 with a pair of trailers
Disney picks Liu Yifei for live-action Mulan remake


text:
Judge to juror: Continue deliberating in Chicago gang trial
CHICAGO (AP) — A judge has refused to allow a disgruntled juror at the biggest street-gang trial in recent Chicago history to leave, as the jury prepares for a second full day of deliberations.
U.S. District Judge John Tharp told lawyers Tuesday that the frustration the juror expressed before a four-day Christmas break doesn't mean he can't continue. Jurors are discussing three months of evidence in the racketeering conspiracy trial of six alleged Hobos leaders.
The juror, referred to only as Juror No. 49, said Thursday, after the first full day of deliberations, that he has already made up his mind and that deliberating further would be a waste of his time.
The juror's comments could be a sign of disagreement among jurors in the high-profile and legally complex case.


text:
Q: javascript onblur/onfocus function not working I have the following two html form inputs:
<input type="text" class="faded" name="mobile" value="012-245-6789" onfocus="hideDefault(this)" onblur="showDefault(this)"/>

and
<input class="faded validation_required" type="text" name="dob" value="MM/DD/YYYY" onfocus="hideDefault(this)" onblur="showDefault(this)"/>

and the following javascript:
function hideDefault(input)
{
if(input.name == "dob")
{
    if (input.value == "MM/DD/YYYY")
    {
        input.value = "";
        input.style.color = "black";
    }
}
else if(input.name == "mobile")
{
    if (input.value == "012-345-6789")
    {
        input.value = "";
        input.style.color = "black";
    }
}
    else
{input.value ="hello";}

}
function showDefault(input)
{
if(input.name = "dob")
{
    if (input.value == "")
    {
        input.value = "MM/DD/YYYY";
        input.style.color = "#A3A3CC";
    }
}
else if(input.name == "mobile")
{
    if (input.value == "")
    {
        input.value = "012-345-6789";
        input.style.color = "#A3A3CC";
    }
}

}

The "dob" input is working fine, when you click on it the default text disappers and when you move off it it comes back. But its not working for the first one, the "mobile" one. Why is this?

A: You've got a value mismatch:
    value="012-245-6789"
...
    if (input.value == "012-345-6789")
...
    input.value = "012-345-6789";

Note that the 4th digit is 2 in one place and 3 in the others.
And, you're missing an equals sign here:
if(input.name = "dob")


text:
Parmigiano Reggiano auctioning 21-year-old cheese wheel for charity
28-Oct-2021 - Last updated on 28-Oct-2021 at 11:07 GMT
Erio Bertani with the wheel.
Related tags: Parmigiano reggiano, Cheese
Parmigiano Reggiano is auctioning a 21-year-old wheel of the cheese for charity at the World Cheese Awards.
The consortium has joined the list of sponsors of the event, which takes place as part of the International Cheese Festival in Oviedo, Spain from November 3-6, 2021.
The auction is now live, and is open to anyone worldwide. Bids can be accepted until November 6, and donations can also be made. The minimum bid on the wheel is €3,000 ($3,480).
All proceeds from the auction will be donated to two solidarity projects supported by the Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium: Aiutiamo il mondo di Padre Marco Canovi (Let's help the world by Father Marco Canovi) and Mama Sofia, founded by Zakaria Seddiki, wife of the late ambassador to Congo, Luca Attanasio.
The latter initiative is directly supported by La Forma Del Cuore (The shape of the heart), which is a project created by the Nazionale del Parmigiano Reggiano, an association of Parmigiano Reggiano dairies. The Mama Sofia organization supports women and families in situations of serious hardship in the Congo by providing healthcare, clean water, and schoolbooks for children. Proceeds from the auction donated to La Forma del Cuore will support the Mama Sofia Medical Centre – the first medical centre dedicated to combatting malnutrition in Boma. The centre will guarantee medical support for at least 100 children every year.
Proceeds from the auction donated to Father Canovi's non-profit group will help build a pediatric medical centre in the Apeitolim, which is already under way with construction to be completed by 2022. The money from the auction will be used for the medical center to train and recruit staff, as well as to purchase medical equipment.
The minimum maturation period of a Parmesan wheel is 12 months, after which every individual wheel is quality-checked by a member of the consortium.
However, no maximum age has ever been set, with 24-, 36-, 40-, and 48-month Parmigiano Reggiano widely available for purchase. As every age acquires unexpected and unparalleled aromas and flavors, a 21-year-old wheel of cheese is expected to be amber straw yellow with an intense toasted smell. The aromatic analysis should highlight typical leather, underwood, truffle, and smoky notes. The cheese will probably have a special structure: dry, very crumbly, and soluble.
The cheese wheel was produced in April 2000 by the Latteria di Tabiano dairy when it was under the leadership of the late Erio Bertani. It was one of the first wheels of Parmigiano Reggiano to be awarded the "Quality of the Mountain" status by the Conva Consortium, which is responsible for the safeguarding and promotion of products from the Apennines.
The wheel was then purchased by Bertani, who kept it in his warehouse until 2018, when his wife, Susetta Sforacchi, children, and the Nazionale Parmigiano Reggiano (Parmigiano Reggiano National Team) decided to donate it to charity in his memory.
The cheese wheel will be on display at the International Cheese Festival and the World Cheese Awards, and representatives from the Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium will also be present throughout, where a sampling stand will be set up for attendees to learn more about Parmigiano Reggiano.
Related topics: Manufacturers, Cheese
World Cheese Awards confirms more than 4,000 entries from record 45 countries
Dairy Dialog podcast 148: Action on Sugar, World Cheese Awards
World Cheese Awards entry dates announced


text:
Q: mach-omap2 (am335x) Where is the frequency table/CPUClock file? My main mission here is to compile the kernel removing/adjusting the Max frequency of 1000Mhz to 1200Mhz.
The problem, I cannot find where the frequency table is. Nor a definitive clock.c file to adjust the CPU speed. I'm looking specifically for the Texas Instruments Sitara am3358 SoC, which is in the BeagleBone Black.
Anyone who can point me in the appropriate direction would be most welcomed.
Here is the Kernel source I'm using, the 3.8 Version in particular.
git://github.com/beagleboard/kernel.git
Thank you in advance.

A: I have the am3359, and in my Technical reference manual it give the address to a register that can adjust the crystal clock. The base address to the control module is 0x44E10000 offset of 0x40. It says the reset value comes from SYSBOOT[15:14]


text:
Tag: Jean Chen
DEADPOOL 2 Movie Review
Art by Jean Chen Warning: Minor Spoilers Ahead! Grab your chimichangas fanboys, the merc with a...
TOMB RAIDER (2018) Movie Review
Art by Jean Chen At one point, Lara Croft punches a dude in the dick and half the audience started...
FX's LEGION Season 1 Review
Art by Jean Chen I tried my damnedest to make this a spoiler-free review to help convince...
KINGSMAN: THE GOLDEN CIRCLE Movie Review
Art by Jean Chen KICK-ASS, X-MEN: FIRST CLASS, and THE KINGSMAN: THE SECRET SERVICE are some of...
The CW's SUPERGIRL Season 2 Review
Art by Jean Chen I honestly can't tell you what network SUPERGIRL was on before it came to...
TRANSFORMERS: THE LAST KNIGHT Movie Review
Art by Jean Chen I'm a Michael Bay sympathizer. BAD BOYS 1 & 2, THE ROCK, ARMAGEDDON,...
KING ARTHUR: LEGEND OF THE SWORD Movie Review
You never quite know what to expect going into a Guy Ritchie (THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E.) film, and...
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2 Movie Review
Longtime fans of Marvel have been salivating for more Thanos ever since they first saw him in the...
THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS Movie Review
Art By Jean Chen You either like this franchise by now or you don't. I can shamelessly say...
THE EXPENDABLES 3 Movie Review
Man, I really can't wait for the unrated version of this movie to be released. Not because...
TRANSFORMERS: AGE OF EXTINCTION Movie Review
Ok ok I get it already. You don't like Michael Bay TRANSFORMERS movies! Well guess what!? I...
NOAH Movie Review
After the ridiculously profitable BLACK SWAN ($330 million worldwide on a $13 million budget)...


I listened to Blogtalkradio tonight on the Great Controversy.
You talk very well Dionne, very easy to understand and pleasant to listen to. The message was excellent.
Your doing a great work for God.
Praise God ! Christ is worthy to be praised. Please continue to pray for the Ministry brother, as we are in the business of saving souls, as servants of Christ.
Praise God ! It is my desire that we all will meet in Heaven soon. Thank you for your kind words.


Patience in Black and White.	This is Mark.
I'm not sure when it happened but somewhere along the way it did. I did not grow up eating beans, legumes, or pulses but have really grown fond of them. All kinds of them. Their flavors mingle with whatever they are cooked in and the result is nothing short of delicious in my humble opinion. Beans themselves are also a super food, two of the many healthful attributes of them in your diet is that they can keep your cholesterol and blood pressure in check. And when combined with rice they create a complete protein. When it comes to finances, the cost of beans and the amount of food they prepare for their cost cannot be beat. Thus said, while I post a lot of meatless recipes on this blog I am not vegetarian (I eat meat on my job), though I haven't purchased meat for home consumption in some time. Anyhow, I'm getting off topic. This is a really simple recipe which can be altered to suit your personal tastes. I ate these (two days in a row) over brown rice and topped with avocado, diced tomato and raw onion. Not only was it a complete protein it was a complete meal, and a filling and delicious one at that. Some of the remainder of the beans will be frozen in increments, and another portion will be turned into refried beans. The simple recipes are below.
Place the beans in a large bowl and pour cold water over them, covering the beans by at least two inches. Cover the bowl and allow the beans to soak overnight. The next day drain the beans and discard the water.
Heat the olive oil in a heavy pot, then add the onion, bell pepper, and jalapeño peppers. Cook the onion and pepper for a few minutes, until they just begin to brown, then add the chipotle with the sauce, the garlic, chili powder, and cumin. Stir while cooking for a couple minutes. Add the diced tomatoes then bring them to a boil. Cook the tomatoes for a few minutes to concentrate some of their juices and flavors. Add the soaked and drained beans to the pot, along with the broth and salt. Bring to a boil, then lower to a slow simmer. Simmer the beans for about two hours, or until very tender. Stir the pot often and skim as needed.
Heat a few tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet. Carefully add a quantity of prepared Frijoles Mexicanas to the skillet. Bring to a simmer. Toss and stir the beans until the liquid evaporates and the beans begin to fry in the oil. Remove the beans form the heat and allow them to cool for a couple minutes for safety. Then transfer them to a food processor and process until smooth.


text:
A History of Russia Volume 1
By Walter G. Moss
A comprehensive and accessible history of the culture, people and politics of this vast and enigmatic nation.
Title:A History of Russia Volume 1
This new edition retains the features of the first edition that made it a popular choice in universities and colleges throughout the US, Canada and around the world. Moss's accessible history includes full treatment of everyday life, the role of women, rural life, law, religion, literature and art. In addition, it provides many other features that have proven successful with both professors and students, including: a well-organized and clearly written text, references to varying historical perspectives, numerous illustrations and maps that supplement and amplify the text, fully updated bibliographies accompanying each chapter as well as a general bibliography of more comprehensive works, a glossary, and chronological and genealogical lists. Moss's 'A History of Russia' will appeal to academics, students and general readers alike.
'Manages to embrace a wide range of topics while at the same time remaining accessible and interesting…Balances humorous anecdotes with provocative concepts, and discusses historiography in a clearer and more contemporary fashion than that found in Riasanovsky's 'A History of Russia', now in its sixth edition and looking a bit musty by comparison...There is little to fault with this volume.' —Andrew Gentes, Lecturer in Russian and European History, University of Queensland, in 'Australian Slavonic and East European Studies'
'An expertly presented and thoroughly informative narration recommended for a scholar's Russian history reference shelf, as well as accessibly informative reading for the non-specialist general reader with an interest in the historical development of Russia.' —'Midwest Book Review'
Walter G. Moss is Professor of History in the Department of History and Philosophy at Eastern Michigan University.
List of Maps; Preface to the Second Edition; A Note to Students; Introduction; Part I. The Rus Era; Part II. The Mongols and the Rise of Moscow to 1533; Part III. Muscovy and Its Expansion, 1533-1689; Part IV. Early Imperial Russia, 1689-1855; Part V. Late Imperial Russia, 1855-1917; General Bibliography for Russia to 1917; Appendix A. Chronology; Appendix B: Rus/Russian Thinkers; Appendix C: Glossary; Index


It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! Actually, it is! Thank you for reading today's comic, but get off the computer and spend some time with your family! Have a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year from Muscular Biscuit!
Restyled mobile view. The old one sucked, I'll own that. Enjoy the neater, more professional-looking navigation menu!
Comics now load completely with PHP, slicing load times by 47%!!!
I've worked very hard to update this to make it the best it can be for what I'm doing next. I'm removing the bi-weekly comic release. Technically (and regrettably) I already did this to allow for more time to work on the site. Comics will now be release at my leisure (which will still be often, don't worry!). This way my best ideas will be published and I don't have to worry about dreaming up something on the spot just to meet the deadline.


Cats are typically referred to as either domestic or purebred. Domestic felines do not have a pedigree history of their lineage, while purebred cats do.
Some cat breeds have been around for many, many years and have made a lot of cat lovers. These kinds of breeds may have grown in popularity due to a movie that featured one of their own cats, personality traits that are unique, or physical appearances that leave them hard to forget.
Popular since the 19th century, this cat breed originated in Thailand (formerly known as Siam). The Siamese has been a great help over there, because of the Siamese many other cat breeds, including the Oriental Shorthair, Sphynx, and Himalayan were breed.
Siamese felines have distinct markings called "points," the points are the areas of coloration on their face, ears, feet, and tail, but some kinds of Siamese may not have any points. There are also 2 varieties of Siamese cats, one with an "apple" shaped head and chubbier look and one with a larger head and slender body.
The animated Disney film, "Lady and the Tramp," featured Siamese felines singing a song and showing not only their intelligence but also how vocal they can be.
A lot Siamese cats that were originally from Thailand had a kink in their tail. This trait was bred out later out of most Siamese, but you'll still find some in the Siamese street cats in Thailand.
Also referred to as one of the "smushed-face" felines, Persians have beautiful, long, fur coats. They can come in the most variety of colors, depending on which cat registry association you are looking into, and have a flat-shaped face when compared to most other breeds of cats. Some breed descriptions even state the nose is not allowed to protrude past the eyes when viewed in a profile.
Persians have been seen in a lot of movies, art, commercials, and homes throughout the years and have also been one of the most popular cat breeds and that for decades.
Their coats demand constant grooming, otherwise, matting will result. Like many purebreds, they are weak to a variety of diseases, including renal and cardiac problems.
Persians are also well known as the Persian Longhair, the Shirazi cat, and the Iranian cat, the Shirazi cat was named after the city of Shiraz, Iran, since they were originally imported from Iran.


text:
Букало () — село на північному сході Намібії, у регіоні Замбезі.

Село Букало було столицею племені масубія, побудоване королем Санджо в XVI столітті.

Опис
Букало розташоване приблизно в 40 кілометрах на південний схід від міста Катіма-Муліло столиці регіону Замбезі. Населення становить 2000 жителів. Оголошено селом в 2013 році урядом Намібії. В даний час управляється сільською радою, що складається з 5 чиновників. Адміністрація Букало очолюється главою адміністрації у якого в підпорядкуванні знаходяться радники, які обираються на виборах жителями села.Мартін Ньямбе Лімбо є нинішнім главою адміністрації Букало. Призначений у 2015 році.В селі знаходиться палац Королівського дому Масубія. Щорічно взимку король проводить у селі етнічний фестиваль Бвікухане Бвету, який залучає в село тисячі етнічних масубія зі всієї країни.

Посилання
 Chief threatens to withdraw his subjects from voting in regional elections if trend continues
 Народи області Замбезі

Примітки

Населені пункти Намібії

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


"...New Zealand was the first country in the world in the 1930s to have the Social Security Act."
Not true. The US 1935 Social Security Act preceded NZ by 3 years.
And of course the Germans were well ahead of very other country. It was Germany that introduced the first old age pension - not NZ.
"We need to go back to some of the roots ...it was called 'security' because it gave people, families in particular, some security in times of massive uncertainty."
Not all families, and certainly not without conditions and obligations.
While the 1938 act did not explicitly discriminate against Māori, the provision for the payment of benefits at a lower rate 'if the maximum benefit is not necessary for the maintenance of the beneficiary' allowed officials to pay Māori less than Pākehā. While communal living was often cited as a reason for reduction of Māori benefits, MP Eruera Tirikātene told the minister of social security in 1940 that Europeans living at the Rātana pā got the full benefit, while Māori residents had a reduced benefit.
"Moral qualifications have been retained in the liberalized provisions taken over from earlier legislation."
"...the disability must have been acquired during residence in New Zealand and must not be self-induced."
The only benefit available for mothers without partners was contingent on them being legally 'married' and unable to obtain maintenance through the courts. Family allowances were also only payable in respect of married parents.
for as long as 6 weeks or even terminate it altogether if the applicant lost his job through misconduct, left voluntarily without good reason, or failed to accept an offer of suitable employment."
I don't think these are the roots that Kiro wants to return to. In fact I doubt she has any idea about the act or she'd stop idealizing it.


text:
Word Wite
10 ways to grow your business
What Does LMAO Means?
what does lmk mean in texting
What Does WBU Meaning
Importance of technology
how to delete amazon account
How To Use Uber
How To Update iTunes
How to make 1000 Dollars Fast
What Does hmm Mean In Texting?
wordwite - June 10, 2020
wordwite - October 2, 2020
Home Saran - June 18, 2020
Uber is a great way of travelling from A to B, but it can be a very complicated service. This is especially true if...
Home wordwite - October 1, 2020
This acronym is a word you hear all the time in daily life. What does LMK mean in texting? In a text message or somewhere...
Every time an iTunes update is released by Apple, it introduces cool new features, critical bug fixes, and support for new iPhones, iPads, and...
What Does Gif Stand For
Gifs are often used in online discussions and often for bite-sized entertainment as phrases, comments, and answers. In general, gifs are used to express emotions and illustrate the concepts in an amusing way....
Home wordwite - September 27, 2020
WBU is an acronym for asking, What about you? We mostly use it during online chatting with friends on social network sites such as...
For different entities, technology has a variety of functions and means other things. In today's world, you can see the importance of technology. Technology,...
Home wordwite - January 4, 2021
It's important for your market growth to create new business by increasing your customer base. It can also be really difficult, though 10 ways...
3 Reasons why most businesses 3 figures do not hit
Business wordwite - January 3, 2021
We concluded that these 3 reasons why most businesses' 3 figures do not hit are the key explanation behind the problem after a full...
Lmao is a term that comes to mind when we laugh really hard, even if laughter rarely lets us lose body parts. What does LMAO...
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text:
Epischidia is a genus of snout moths. It was described by Rebel in 1901.

Species
 Epischidia caesariella (Hampson in Ragonot, 1901)
 Epischidia fulvostrigella (Eversmann, 1844)

References

Phycitini
Pyralidae genera


text:
); 101-105
10.25259/KPJ_9_2021
Neonatal intubation: Can we make it better? A journey from ideation to intellectual property rights
Srinivasa Murthy Doreswamy
Department of Pediatrics, JSS Academy of Higher Education and Research, Mysuru, Karnataka, India
*Corresponding author: Srinivasa Murthy Doreswamy, Department of Pediatrics, JSS Academy of Higher Education and Research, Mysuru, Karnataka, India. drdsrinivasa@gmail.com
How to cite this article: Doreswamy SM. Neonatal intubation: Can we make it better? A journey from ideation to intellectual property rights. Karnataka Paediatr J 2021;36(2):101-5.
Neonatal intubation is regarded as one of the elite skills a medical professional; particularly a pediatrician could aspire to master. More the practice, the skill gets refined so that the success rate improves. However, it is not uncommon even for most experienced professional to fail in an intubation attempt. Why does it happen? Is there a solution? This article discusses the journey from ideation to intellectual property rights.
Materials and Methods:
Observational study followed by Randomised control study.
Reduction in the pressure exerted on upper jaw during intubation from 455 to 80 KPa and decrease in blocked visual area from 38.5 to 12%.
Appropriate design modification of neonatal laryngoscope is potentially more safe and easy to use.
NOBL scope
Neonatal intubation is regarded as one of the elite skills a medical professional; particularly a pediatrician could aspire to master. More the practice, the skill gets refined so that the success rate improves.[1] However, it is not uncommon even for most experienced professional to fail in an intubation attempt. Why does it happen? Is there a solution?
Many of the intubation attempts result in trauma to the upper jaw of the neonates. Unfortunately, these are rarely documented and reported in any scientific platform.[2,3] How big is this trauma? Can this be avoided?
It is often difficult to intubate neonates particularly if they are tiny premature babies. We can look at this problem in two different ways.
The most common approach would be to accept the limitation of individual's skill, given the difficult anatomy they have to deal with. This approach leads to elimination of any opportunity to find a solution.
The second and an unusual approach would be to deny the limitation of individual's skill and explore the limitation of other associated factors involved in neonatal intubation. The second approach is unfortunately non-intuitive and remains unexplored in a niche. This article is the narration of how the second approach was successful in finding a solution for the stated problem.
History of neonatal laryngoscope
1878 – William MacEwan attempted adult intubation using his finger as guide. A direct laryngoscope was developed by Alfred Kirstein in 1895 which improved the technique of adult intubation compared to finger guided approach. It was in 1914 McGill developed Speculum laryngoscope which is the forerunner of modern laryngoscope. As the pediatric care improved, the McGill blade was modified in its size to suit children by 1940. A curved speculum blade was introduced for children by Macintosh in 1943. Significant change in the design of laryngoscope keeping in mind small infants was done by Miller in 1946 by introducing a straight blade. All these modifications hinged on changing either the size or the curvature of the blade without substantially altering its design.[4] The smaller ones are used in neonatal practice.
Neonatal intubation is difficult primarily because the neonatal airway anatomy considerably differs from that of adults and older children. There was no laryngoscope specifically designed for use in neonates. This formed the seed for ideation.
Ideation primarily is a creative mental process of developing a thought pattern and a plan sequence to solve a problem. Ideation is not just limited to formation of an idea but also act on it further until proof of concept is demonstrated.
Designing a new laryngoscope exclusively for neonates started with the study of the mismatch between the neonatal airway anatomy and the design of the laryngoscope in use. On studying the mismatch, two important design flaws became evident [Figure 1].
Figure 1:: Design flaws associated with conventional pediatric laryngoscope.
The size of the blade-Hinge complex was too big resulting in blocking the vision of the operator
The lateral flange on the intraoral portion of the blade, which is designed to restrain tongue on to a side during intubation in adults, is not useful in neonates. Added to this, the space available for intubation substantially decreases and also result in traumatizing the alveolar margin of the upper jaw.
Path ahead
As there was no scientific literature substantiating the above findings, a robust study had to be designed, conducted, and published to educate the scientific community. Following this, a new laryngoscope had to be designed which essentially eliminated the two design flaws noted.
Background study
A study was designed and conducted to measure the inadvertent force exerted on the upper jaw of the neonate (Mannikin) during intubation.[5] A pressure sensitive film was taped to the upper jaw of the Mannikin and the volunteers were requested to intubate. The force applied on the upper jaw resulted in the color change in the film which could be quantified using the graph provided by the manufacturer. Thirty volunteers with various levels of experience in neonatal care participated in the study and a total of 90 attempts were analyzed.
Overall pressure applied (Mean [SD]) over the upper jaw was 568 (78) Kilo pascals. This was more than twice the pressure that is shown to cause permanent tissue injury in animal models (around 250 KPa). There was no significant difference between the pressure exerted by frequent intubators (>6 intubation in a year) and less frequent intubators (<6 intubations per year).
In the same study, we also noted that 48% of the area of mouth was occupied by the laryngoscope hinge which blocked the vision (data unpublished).
Several take away message form this study was:
Our observation of lateral flange traumatizing the upper jaw was true and significant
This was prevalent among all experience categories of health-care professionals
Higher experience in neonatal intubation did not eliminate this harm
Nearly half of the area (Mouth) was blocked by the hinge of the laryngoscope blade which decreased both the area of operation and vision.
Overall, we could conclude that there is lot to do with the design of laryngoscope than the individual expertise.
Neonatal offset blade laryngoscope for potentially safe intubation in neonates.
Design of the NOBL scope
Initial study bolstered the argument of laryngoscope design being one of the main contributors for difficulty in neonatal intubation and hence fixing that was an important step forward.
The new design obviously focused on eliminating the bulky hinge of the laryngoscope blade and the lateral flange. This necessitated that the blade to nearly float in the oral cavity by anchoring it at a distant point. After couple of designs and re designs, a blade which was offset from the handle was designed. [Figure 2] shows the illustration and a 3 D printed non-functional model of NOBL scope.
Figure 2:: NOBL Scope – Illustration and comparison with conventional laryngoscope.
The new laryngoscope [Figure 3] has a novel design featuring the handle being offset from the blade by a horizontal element. The thick bulky hinge lock is eliminated from the line of vision to enhance the visibility of the larynx.
Figure 3:: Functional NOBL scope – parts.
The new device has a handle which houses battery, toggle switch and a LED light source. The handle has a specifically designed locking system for the blade which actuates when the blade is aligned and turned in anticlockwise direction.
The blade has a small hub which serves as the handle lock. The hub is separated from the intraoral portion of the blade by a horizontal element which anatomically curves at 90 degrees twice and leads to the handle. The hub and the offset element have an optical fiber running inside its center. The tip of the optic fiber terminates at the end of the curved offset element on to a lens which throws the light into the oral cavity. The intra oral portion of the blade is a flat element which has a gentle curve on the longitudinal axis to enhance the area or the operating field. The length and width of the blade vary to suit the size of the oral cavity. The typical size currently designed is 50 × 10, 75 × 15, 100 × 20 mm (Length × Breadth). This corresponds to 00, 0, and 1 sized blade currently in use. The newly designed NOBL scope was subjected to scientific study for proving its worth.
Proof of concept study
We conducted a randomized control trial on manikin comparing the conventional Miller blade laryngoscope with our new NOBL scope.[6] 20 volunteers with various levels of experience in neonatal care participated in the study.
The objectives were, primarily to compare the pressure exerted on the upper lip of the mannequin between pediatric laryngoscope and NOBL scope and to compare the area of vision between pediatric laryngoscope and NOBL scope. Secondary objectives were to compare the area of pressure impression and time taken for intubation between pediatric laryngoscope and NOBL scope.
The frequency of pressure indentation on the maxilla was reduced by 45% with NOBL scope. The median (IQR) pressure exerted on the upper jaw with the conventional laryngoscope was 455 KPa (350–526) and that with NOBL scope was 80 KPa (0–134). The area of pressure indentation and time taken to intubate was significantly lower with the NOBL scope. We used photographic technique to measure the area of vision blocked while intubating. The area of vision blocked by conventional laryngoscope was 38.5% of the oral orifice compared to 12% with the NOBL scope [Figure 4]. About 95% of the participants agreed NOBL scope was easy to use.
Figure 4:: Comparison of vision blocked by conventional pediatric laryngoscope and NOBL scope.
We had faced several challenges during the execution of the project. It was the diligent work of couple of engineers which made the design on the paper a reality as a product. Getting the unusual design manufactured was a huge challenge which was addressed using 3D print technology. Measuring the surface pressure on the manikin was another challenge. We used the pressure sensor films by Fujifilm to measure the pressures with appropriate experimental setup. The project was funded by Ontario Center of excellence, Canada.
Advances in the neonatal care have led to use of miniaturized adult laryngoscope in tiniest neonates. The pediatric and neonatologist community have endured the challenges these adopted laryngoscopes have thrown at us due to lack of purpose designed laryngoscope. Even the recent advances in video laryngoscopy have not improved the success rate of routine neonatal intubation.[7]
Conventional neonatal laryngoscope results in significant failure rate particularly among less experienced health-care providers.[1] It also results in trauma to the alveolar margin of the neonate leading to permanent damage to the dentition in future.[8-10] Our own study showed that the traumatic force exerted on the upper jaw during intubation was twice higher than the force determined to cause permanent histological damage in the animal models. The visual area is decreased by 38.5 to 48% depending on the oral cavity thus making the procedure difficult.
The new purpose designed NOBL scope do not have the hinge lock or the lateral flange seen in the traditional laryngoscope blade. The handle is attached to the blade at a distance away from the oral cavity and hence the visual area is significantly increased. The curved design of the horizontal offset element ensures the traumatic force exerted on the upper jaw is significantly reduced. Clinical study on cadaver is underway following which data on clinical safety will be available.
Intellectual property rights: It is especially important aspect of any innovation. The novelty has to be noted and certified by the appropriate agency so that the inventor can claim his/ her achievement for either economical or career benefit.
NOBL scope is patented under the author's name in United States patent office. Patent No US 10,327,628, B2 date June 25, 2019.
Innovation is an inherent strength in every individual. It is the enlightenment of one's own strength in problem solving. Many innovations which make our day-to-day life easier do so without much of fanfare. Hence, every scientific individual should embark on innovation for the progress of the science.
Neonatal intubation – can we make it better? Yes, we can!!
Institutional Review Board (IRB) permission obtained for the study.
Leone TA, Rich W, Finer NN. Neonatal intubation: Success of pediatric trainees. J Pediatr. 2005;146:638-41.
de Oliveira Melo NS, da Silva RP, de Lima AA. The neonatal intubation causes defects in primary teeth of premature infants. Biomed Pap Med Fac Univ Palacky Olomouc Czech Repub. 2013;158:605-12.
De S, Swanson P, Rosen R, Degan A, Hennaford B. Assessment of tissue damage due to mechanical stresses. Int J Robot Res. 2007;26:1159-71.
Doherty JS, Froom SR, Gildersleve CD. Pediatric laryngoscopes and intubation aids old and new. Paediatr Anaesth. 2009;19:30-7.
Doreswamy SM, Almannaei K, Fusch C, Shivananda S. Compression force on the upper jaw during neonatal intubation: Manikin study. J Paediatr Child Health. 2015;51:328-33.
Doreswamy SM, Fusch C, Selvaganapathy R, Matharoo H, Shivananda S. A comparison of the Miller laryngoscope versus the prototype neonatal offset-blade laryngoscope in a manikin. Anaesthesia. 2016;71:320-5.
Wald SH, Keyes M, Brown A. Pediatric video laryngoscope rescue for a difficult neonatal intubation. Paediatr Anaesth. 2008;18:790-2.
Vogel J, Stubinger J, Kaufmann M, Krastl G, Filippi A. Dental injuries resulting from tracheal intubation-a retrospective study. Dent Traumatol. 2009;25:73-7.
Boice JB, Krous HF, Foley JM. Gingival and dental complications of orotracheal intubation. JAMA. 1976;236:957-8.
Moylan FM, Seldin EB, Shannon DC, Todres ID. Defective primary dentition in survivors of neonatal mechanical ventilation. J Pediatr. 1980;96:106-8.
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