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Specialists in lighting, audio visual, home automation
GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF SUPPLY
In these Terms, the following definitions apply :
Account Customer: a Customer who, at the Supplier's discretion, holds an account in relation to the supply of the Products and/or Services.
Commencement Date: has the meaning set out in clause 2.2.
Contract: the contract between the Supplier and the Customer for the supply of Goods and/or Services in accordance with these Terms.
Customer: the person or firm who purchases the Goods and/or Services from the Supplier.
Delivery Location: has the meaning set out in clause 4.2.
Delivery Note: any delivery note accompanying the Goods to be signed by the Customer in accordance with clause 4.5.
Force Majeure Event: has the meaning given to it in clause 12.1.
Goods: the goods (or any part of them) set out in the Order.
Goods Specification: the specification for the Goods.
Intellectual Property Rights: patents, rights to inventions, copyright and related rights, trade marks, business names and domain names, rights in get-up, goodwill and the right to sue for passing off, rights in designs, database rights, rights to use, and protect the confidentiality of, confidential information (including knowhow), and all other intellectual property rights, in each case whether registered or unregistered and including all applications and rights to apply for and be granted, renewals or extensions of, and rights to claim priority from, such rights and all similar or equivalent rights or forms of protection which subsist or will subsist now or in the future in any part of the world.
Order: the Customer's order for the supply of Goods and/or Services, as set out on the Order Form.
Order Confirmation: the Supplier's written form of acknowledgement and acceptance of the Order.
Order Form: the form incorporating the Quotation for the Goods and/or the Services and any applicable Goods Specification and/or Service Specification.
Quotation: the Supplier's quotation submitted to the Customer in advance of the Contract for the supply of the Goods and/or Services.
Services: the services supplied by the Supplier to the Customer as set out in the applicable Order.
Service Specification: the description or specification for the Services provided in writing by the Supplier to the Customer including, without limitation, lighting design, on-site commissioning and on-site inspection and advice.
Supplier: VL Pro Tech Ltd registered in Scotland, company number 653660.
Terms: these terms and conditions as amended from time to time in accordance with clause 13.7.
2. BASIS OF CONTRACT
2.1 The Order constitutes an offer by the Customer to purchase Goods and/or Services in accordance with these Terms.
2.2 The Order shall only be deemed to be accepted when the Supplier issues the Order Confirmation at which point and on which date the Contract shall come into existence (Commencement Date).
2.3 The Contract expressly incorporates these Terms together with any individual terms and conditions expressly agreed between the parties in the Order. In the event of a conflict between these Terms and the individual terms contained in the Order the Terms shall prevail. The Contract constitutes the entire agreement between the parties and these Terms apply to the Contract to the exclusion of any other terms that the Customer seeks to impose or incorporate, or which are implied by trade, custom, practice or course of dealing.
2.4 Other than as stipulated in the Goods Specification and the Service Specification, any samples, drawings, descriptive matter or advertising issued by the Supplier and any descriptions of the Goods or illustrations or descriptions of the Services contained in the Supplier's catalogues or brochures are issued or published for the sole purpose of giving an approximate idea of the Services and/or Goods described in them. They shall not form part of the Contract or have any contractual force.
2.5 Any Quotation given by the Supplier is only valid for a period of 30 days from its date of issue. Quotations are not binding on the Supplier until an Order has been accepted.
2.6 All of these Terms shall apply to the supply of both Goods and Services except where application to one or the other is specified.
3. GOODS AND SERVICES AND WARRANTIES
3.1 The Goods are described in the Supplier's catalogue as modified by any applicable Goods Specification which the Supplier reserves the right to amend if required by any applicable statutory or regulatory requirements.
3.2 The Supplier warrants that on delivery, and for a period of 12 months from the date of delivery (warranty period), the Goods shall:
(a) conform with the Goods Specification; and
(b) be free from material defects in design, material and workmanship.
3.3 Subject to clause 3.4, if:
(a) the Customer gives notice in writing during the warranty period within a reasonable time of discovery that some or all of the Goods do not comply with the warranty set out in clause 3.2;
(b) the Supplier is given a reasonable opportunity of examining such Goods; and
(c) the Customer (if asked to do so by the Supplier) returns such Goods to the Supplier's place of business at the Customer's cost.
(d) the Supplier shall, at its discretion, repair or replace the defective Goods, or refund the price of the defective Goods in full.
3.4 The Supplier shall not be liable for the Goods' failure to comply with the warranty in clause 3.2 if:
(a) the Customer makes any further use of such Goods after giving a notice in accordance with clause 3.3 (a);
(b) the defect arises because the Customer failed to follow the Supplier's oral or written instructions as to the storage, installation, commissioning, use or maintenance of the Goods or (if there are none) good trade practice;
(c) the Customer alters or repairs such Goods without the written consent of the Supplier;
(d) the defect arises as a result of fair wear and tear, wilful damage, negligence, or abnormal working conditions;
(e) the Goods differ from the Goods Specification as a result of changes made to ensure they comply with applicable statutory or regulatory standards.
3.5 Except as provided in this clause 3, the Supplier shall have no liability to the Customer in respect of the Goods' failure to comply with the warranty set out in clause 3.
3.6 The Supplier shall provide the Services to the Customer in accordance with the Order Confirmation and the Service Specification in all material respects.
3.7 The Supplier shall use all reasonable endeavours to meet any performance dates for the Services specified in the Order, but any such dates shall be estimates only and time shall not be of the essence for the performance of the Services. For the avoidance of doubt the Supplier shall not be responsible for any delays caused or contributed to by the late provision of third party professional services.
3.8 The Supplier shall have the right to make any changes to the Services which are necessary to comply with any applicable law or safety requirement, or which do not materially affect the nature or quality of the Services, and the Supplier shall notify the Customer in any such event.
3.9 The Supplier warrants to the Customer that the Services will be provided using reasonable care and skill.
4. DELIVERY OF GOODS
4.1 The Supplier shall ensure that each delivery of the Goods is accompanied by a delivery note which shows the date of the Order, all relevant Customer and Supplier reference numbers, the type and quantity of the Goods (including the code number of the Goods, where applicable).
4.2 The Supplier shall deliver the Goods to the location set out in the Order or such other location as the parties may agree (Delivery Location) at any time after the Supplier notifies the Customer that the Goods are ready. Unless otherwise specified by the Supplier on the Order Form the Goods shall be delivered ex works (Seller's named place of business, Incoterms 2010).
4.3 Delivery of the Goods shall be completed on the Goods' arrival at the Delivery Location.
4.4 Any dates quoted for delivery of the Goods are approximate only, and the time of delivery is not of the essence. The Supplier shall not be liable for any delay in delivery of the Goods that is caused by a Force Majeure Event or the Customer's failure to provide the Supplier with adequate delivery instructions or any other instructions that are relevant to the supply of the Goods. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this clause, if the Order Form stipulates a fixed date for delivery the Customer shall be entitled to a compensation (by way of liquidated damages) payment equating to 0.5% of the value of the of the Goods per week of delay subject to a maximum payment of 5%. If the Supplier has not delivered the Goods by the end of the tenth week of the delay the Customer shall be entitled to terminate the Contract and recover any sums due. The compensation and recovery of sums paid set out in this clause 4.4 represents the Supplier's entire liability for delay.
4.5 Where the Order Confirmation provides that the Supplier is responsible for arranging transit of the Goods to the Delivery Location, the Customer must check the Goods upon receipt and report any damage, loss or unsatisfactory condition on the enclosed Delivery Note. The Supplier shall, at its discretion, repair or replace free of charge any Goods damaged or lost in transit, provided that the carriers and the Supplier receive written notice of such damage or loss within two days of delivery (or such other period as may be specified on the Delivery Note).
5. TITLE AND RISK
5.1 The risk in the Goods shall pass to the Customer on completion of delivery.
5.2 Title to the Goods shall not pass to the Customer until the Supplier receives payment in full (in cash or cleared funds) for the Goods.
6. CUSTOMER'S OBLIGATIONS
6.1 The Customer shall cooperate with the Supplier in all matters relating to the Services and provide the Supplier, its agents, consultants and subcontractors with the requisite accurate information about and safe access to the applicable premises as required for the performance of the Contract.
6.2 Account Customers further acknowledge that any and all credit issued shall be issued at the discretion of the Supplier and the Supplier expressly reserves the right to withdraw or amend the credit facilities at any time by written notice to the Account Customer.
6.3 Account Customers shall not exceed the credit limits placed on their accounts and agree to regular status checks of their credit status to ensure that the limits are not exceeded.
6.4 If the Supplier's performance of any of its obligations in respect of the Services is prevented or delayed by any act or omission by the Customer or failure by the Customer to perform any relevant obligation (Customer Default):
(a) the Supplier shall be entitled to suspend performance of the Services until such time as the Customer Default has been remedied and to be relieved from performing its obligations to the extent that it has been delayed or prevented from carrying them out;
(b) the Supplier shall not be liable for any costs or losses sustained or incurred by the Customer arising directly or indirectly from the Supplier's failure or delay to perform any of its obligations as set out in this clause 6.4; and
(c) the Customer shall reimburse the Supplier on written demand for any costs or losses sustained or incurred by the Supplier arising directly or indirectly from the Customer Default.
7. CHARGES AND PAYMENT
7.1 The price for Goods shall be the price set out in the Order Confirmation or, if no price is quoted, the price set out in the Supplier's published price list as at the date of delivery. The price of the Goods is exclusive of all costs and charges of packaging, insurance, transport of the Goods, which shall be paid by the Customer when it pays for the Goods.
7.2 The charges for Services shall be on a time and materials basis:
(a) the charges shall be calculated in accordance with the Supplier's standard daily fee rates, as set out in the Order;
(b) the Supplier shall be entitled to charge the Customer for any expenses reasonably incurred by the individuals whom the Supplier engages in connection with the Services including, but not limited to, travelling expenses, hotel costs, subsistence and any associated expenses, and for the cost of services provided by third parties and required by the Supplier for the performance of the Services, and for the cost of any materials.
7.3 The Supplier reserves the right to increase its standard daily fee rates for the charges for the Services and to increase the price of the Goods, by giving notice to the Customer at any time before performance or delivery provided that any increase reflects any increase in the cost to the Supplier which is due to:
(a) any factor beyond the control of the Supplier (including foreign exchange fluctuations, increases in taxes and duties, and increases in labour, materials and other manufacturing costs);
(b) any request by the Customer to change the delivery date(s), quantities or types of Goods ordered, or the Goods Specification; or
(i) any delay caused by any instructions of the Customer in respect of the Goods or failure of the Customer to give the Supplier adequate or accurate information or instructions in respect of the Goods.
(ii) In respect of Goods and Services, the Supplier shall invoice the Customer at the time and frequency specified in the Order.
7.4 Account Customers shall pay each invoice submitted by the Supplier:
(a) within 30 days of the date of the invoice; and
(b) in full and in cleared funds to a bank account nominated in writing by the Supplier, and time for payment shall be of the essence of the Contract.
7.5 All amounts payable by the Customer under the Contract are exclusive of amounts in respect of value added tax chargeable from time to time (VAT). Where any taxable supply for VAT purposes is made under the Contract by the Supplier to the Customer, the Customer shall, on receipt of a valid VAT invoice from the Supplier, pay to the Supplier such additional amounts in respect of VAT as are chargeable on the supply of the Services or Goods at the same time as payment is due for the supply of the Services or Goods.
7.6 If the Customer fails to make any payment due to the Supplier under the Contract by the due date for payment, then the Customer shall pay interest on the overdue amount at the rate of 4 % per annum above Barclays Bank PLC's base rate from time to time. Such interest shall accrue on a daily basis from the due date until actual payment of the overdue amount, whether before or after judgment. The Customer shall pay the interest together with the overdue amount.
7.7 The Customer shall pay all amounts due under the Contract in full without any set-off, counterclaim, deduction or withholding except as required by law. The Supplier may, without limiting its other rights or remedies, set off any amount owing to it by the Customer against any amount payable by the Supplier to the Customer.
8.1 The Customer acknowledges that all Intellectual Property Rights relating to the Goods shall remain the exclusive property of the Seller or its suppliers and shall not be used, distributed, licensed, disclosed or registered by the Customer or any third party without prior written consent of the Supplier.
8.2 All Intellectual Property Rights in or arising out of or in connection with the Services shall be owned by the Supplier.
8.3 The Customer acknowledges that, in respect of any third party Intellectual Property Rights in the Services, the Customer's use of any such Intellectual Property Rights is conditional on the Supplier obtaining a written licence from the relevant licensor on such terms as will entitle the Supplier to license such rights to the Customer.
A party (receiving party) shall keep in strict confidence all technical or commercial know-how, specifications, inventions, processes or initiatives which are of a confidential nature and have been disclosed to the receiving party by the other party (disclosing party), its employees, agents or subcontractors, and any other confidential information concerning the disclosing party's business, its products and services which the receiving party may obtain. The receiving party shall only disclose such confidential information to those of its employees, agents and subcontractors who need to know it for the purpose of discharging the receiving party's obligations under the Contract, and shall ensure that such employees, agents and subcontractors comply with the obligations set out in this clause as though they were a party to the Contract. The receiving party may also disclose such of the disclosing party's confidential information as is required to be disclosed by law, any governmental or regulatory authority or by a court of competent jurisdiction. This clause 9 shall survive termination of the Contract.
10. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY:
THE CUSTOMER'S ATTENTION IS PARTICULARLY DRAWN TO THIS CLAUSE
10.1 Nothing in these Terms shall limit or exclude the Supplier's liability for:
(a) death or personal injury caused by its negligence, or the negligence of its employees, agents or subcontractors;
(c) defective products under the Consumer Protection Act 1987.
10.2 Subject to clause 10.1:
(a) the Supplier shall under no circumstances whatever be liable to the Customer, whether in contract, tort (including negligence), breach of statutory duty, or otherwise, for any indirect or consequential loss arising under or in connection with the Contract; and
(b) the Supplier's total liability to the Customer in respect of all other losses arising under or in connection with the Contract, whether in contract, tort (including negligence), breach of statutory duty, or otherwise, shall in no circumstances exceed the value of the Goods and/or Services paid for under the Contract.
10.3 In relation to a breach of this Agreement, any direct or consequential loss includes but is not limited to:
(a) assembly costs;
(b) delivery costs;
(c) liability under other agreements or liabilities to third parties resulting from such breach;
(d) loss of contract;
(e) loss of goodwill;
(f) loss of production;
(g) loss of profit;
(h) loss of revenue;
(i) loss or damage to premises;
(j) installation or reinstallation costs;
(k) property or assets; or
(l) Customers' overhead costs, whether or not the party committing such breach knew or ought to have known, that such loss would be likely to be suffered as a result of such breach.
10.4 The terms implied by sections 13 to 15 of the Sale of Goods Act 1979 and the terms implied by sections 3 to 5 of the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 are, to the fullest extent permitted by law, excluded from the Contract.
10.5 Subject to clause 10.2 no action shall be brought against the Supplier more than 12 months after the cause of action has occurred and in any event no later than 18 months after the delivery of the Goods.
10.6 The limitations and exclusions set out in this Clause 10 will only affect a Customer's statutory rights (when dealing as a consumer under these terms) to the extent permitted by the law.
10.7 This clause 10 shall survive termination of the Contract.
11.1 Without limiting its other rights or remedies, each party may terminate the Contract with immediate effect by giving written notice to the other party if:
(a) the other party commits a material breach of its obligations under this Contract and (if such breach is remediable) fails to remedy that breach within 14 days after receipt of notice in writing to do so; and
(b) a resolution for winding up (other than for the purposes of a solvent amalgamation or reconstruction) is made against the other party or a court shall make any order to that effect, or the other party shall cease or threaten to cease its business or becomes or is declared insolvent or (being an individual) bankrupt or has a liquidator, receiver, administrator, administrative receiver, manager, trustee or similar officer appointed over its assets or threatens to suspend payment of its debts, or is unable to pay its debts as they fall due or any other analogous event or measure of equivalent effect takes place (in any jurisdiction) that threatens the ability (or prejudices the party that is the subject of the event in any way) of that party to perform its obligations (financial or otherwise) under the Contract.
11.2 Without limiting its other rights or remedies, the Supplier may, at its sole discretion, with immediate effect by giving written notice to the Customer, suspend the supply of the Services or all further deliveries of the Goods under the Contract if the Customer fails to pay any amount due under the Contract on the due date for payment or becomes (or the Supplier reasonably believes will become) subject to any of the events listed in clause 11.1 (b) above terminate the Contract with immediate effect by giving written notice to the Customer if the Customer fails to pay any amount due under this Contract on the due date for payment.
11.3 On termination of the Contract for any reason the Customer shall immediately pay to the Supplier all of the Supplier's outstanding unpaid invoices and interest. The accrued rights and remedies of the Supplier at termination shall not be affected, including the right to claim damages in respect of any breach of the Contract which existed at or before the date of termination or expiry.
12.1 For the purposes of this Contract, Force Majeure Event means an event beyond the reasonable control of the Supplier including but not limited to strikes, lock-outs or other industrial disputes (whether involving the workforce of the Supplier or any other party), failure of a utility service or transport network, act of God, war, riot, civil commotion, malicious damage, compliance with any law or governmental order, rule, regulation or direction, accident, breakdown of plant or machinery, fire, flood, storm or default of suppliers or subcontractors.
12.2 The Supplier shall not be liable to the Customer as a result of any delay or failure to perform its obligations under this Contract as a result of a Force Majeure Event.
12.3 If the Force Majeure Event prevents the Supplier from providing any of the Services and/or Goods for more than eight weeks, the Supplier shall, without limiting its other rights or remedies, have the right to terminate this Contract immediately by giving written notice to the Customer.
13.1 Assignment and other dealings.
(a) The Supplier may at any time assign, transfer, mortgage, charge, subcontract or deal in any other manner with all or any of its rights under the Contract and may subcontract or delegate in any manner any or all of its obligations under the Contract to any third party.
(b) The Customer shall not, without the prior written consent of the Supplier, assign, transfer, charge, subcontract, declare a trust over or deal in any other manner with all or any of its rights or obligations under the Contract.
13.2 Notices. Any notice or other communication given to a party under or in connection with this Contract shall be in writing, addressed to that party at its registered office (if it is a company) or its principal place of business or abode (in any other case) and shall be delivered personally or sent by prepaid first class post or other next working day delivery service, or by commercial courier or email.
13.3 Severance.
(a) If any provision or part-provision of the Contract is or becomes invalid, illegal or unenforceable, it shall be deemed modified to the minimum extent necessary to make it valid, legal and enforceable. If such modification is not possible, the relevant provision or part-provision shall be deemed deleted. Any modification to or deletion of a provision or part-provision under this clause shall not affect the validity and enforceability of the rest of the Contract.
(b) If any provision or part-provision of this Contract is invalid, illegal or unenforceable, the parties shall negotiate in good faith to amend such provision so that, as amended, it is legal, valid and enforceable, and, to the greatest extent possible, achieves the intended commercial result of the original provision.
13.4 Waiver. A waiver of any right under the Contract or law is only effective if it is in writing and shall not be deemed to be a waiver of any subsequent breach or default. No failure or delay by a party in exercising any right or remedy under the Contract or by law shall constitute a waiver of that or any other right or remedy, nor prevent or restrict its further exercise of that or any other right or remedy. No single or partial exercise of such right or remedy shall prevent or restrict the further exercise of that or any other right or remedy.
13.5 No partnership or agency. Nothing in the Contract is intended to, or shall be deemed to, establish any partnership or joint venture between any of the parties, nor constitute either party the agent of another party for any purpose. Neither party shall have authority to act as agent for, or to bind, the other party in any way.
13.6 Third parties. A person who is not a party to the Contract shall not have any rights to enforce its terms.
13.7 Variation. Except as set out in these Terms, no variation of the Contract, including the introduction of any additional terms and Terms shall be effective unless it is agreed in writing and signed by the Supplier.
13.8 Governing law. This agreement and any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with it or its subject matter or formation (including noncontractual disputes or claims) shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the law of England and Wales.
13.9 Jurisdiction, Each party irrevocably agrees that the courts of England and Wales shall have exclusive jurisdiction to settle any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with this Contract or its subject matter or formation (including non-contractual disputes or claims).
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NXP : LDMOS transistor targets L-band radar applications
Expanding its portfolio of industry-leading RF power transistors, NXP Semiconductors, the independent semiconductor company founded by Philips, today launched its latest Laterally Diffused Metal Oxide Semiconductor (LDMOS) transistor for L-band radar applications delivering breakthrough RF output power of 500W at frequencies between 1..2GHz and 1.4GHz.
Targeted at a wide range of L-band radar applications, NXP's LDMOS L-band RF power transistor sets new standards for efficiency (>50 percent drain efficiency), gain (17dB) and ruggedness at 500W power level when compared to competing bipolar.
"As the first company that launched LDMOS for L- and S-band applications, NXP's high-efficiency LDMOS RF power transistor portfolio is establishing a new industry standard by providing our customers with the ultimate performing and most rugged transistor available on the market," said Mark Murphy, international product marketing manager, RF power products, NXP Semiconductors. "The breakthrough in RF output power of 500W is the result of NXP's collaborative approach with customers, which helped us to deliver easy to design-in transistors for quick time-to-market."
Key performance parameters for NXP's L-band RF transistor (BLL6H1214-500), include:
*	500W peak output power (at 1.4GHz, 100µs pulse width, 25 percent duty cycle)
*	17dB gain
*	50 percent drain efficiency
*	Improved ruggedness
*	Overdrive without risk up to 5dB
*	Improved pulse droop (0.2dB)
*	Supply Voltage 50V
*	Non-toxic packaging and ROHS compliance
NXP's device combines the power density of bipolar with the advantages of LDMOS technology for L- band Radar design, and allows for a replacement of the BeO containing packages by an environmentally friendly ceramic package.
NXP's BLL6H1214-500 LDMOS L-band RF power transistor is available immediately. More information on NXP's BLL6H1214-500 is available at http://www.nxp.com/pip/BLL6H1214-500_PL_1.html .
For NXP's wide range of industry leading 6th generation LDMOS technology. For more information click through http://www.nxp.com/experience_rfpower
About NXP Semiconductors
NXP is a leading semiconductor company founded by Philips more than 50 years ago. Headquartered in Europe, the company has about 33,500 employees working in more than 20 countries and posted sales of USD 6.3 billion (including the Mobile & Personal business) in 2007. NXP creates semiconductors, system solutions and software that deliver better sensory experiences in TVs, set-top boxes, identification applications, mobile phones, cars and a wide range of other electronic devices.
News from NXP is located at www.nxp.com.
Freek van Vlerken
Tel. +31 40 27 25181
Note: The above text is the public part of the press release obtained from the manufacturer (with minor modifications). EETimes Europe cannot be held responsible for the claims and statements made by the manufacturer. The text is intended as a supplement to the new product presentations in EETimes Europe magazine.
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Sex Trafficking and Exploitative Labor in Ukraine Has Increased and Is Under-Tracked, Humanitarians Say
Russia's war in Ukraine has grown the booming human trafficking industry.
Ukrainian refugees are especially vulnerable as they seek shelter and safety.
While reporting has increased, it's also impossible to track to its full extent.
More than six months into Russian President Vladimir Putin's unprovoked war on Ukraine, the region has become ripe for human trafficking. Of the estimated 12 million people who fled Ukraine when Russia invaded in February, 90% are women or children — the primary targets for trafficking.
"Out of all the violence against women and girls that exist around the world, the little that we actually know about is truly the tip of the iceberg," Mendy Marsh, a humanitarian aid worker, told Insider.
The number of people impacted by trafficking is suspected to be expanding rapidly throughout Europe, two humanitarian sources at Voluntary Organisations in Cooperation in Emergencies — also known as VOICE — told Insider.
"Trafficking — including trafficking for sexual exploitation — was an entrenched reality in the region before the war," said Marsh, Co-Founder and Executive Director of VOICE told Insider, "so that reality gets exacerbated."
The European organization is a network that focuses on helping its 87 member organizations provide emergency aid and disaster relief. It helps connect organizations with each other and to the European Commission on humanitarian aid. It also creates reports and publications on humanitarian needs.
The emergency also comes alongside another crisis: an increasing number of women reporting that Russian troops have been using sexual violence as a weapon throughout Ukraine. While reporting has increased, it's also impossible to track to its full extent, Marsh told Insider.
Marsh said refugees who moved to border countries — Moldova, Poland, Romania, Belarus, Hungary, and Slovakia — are vulnerable to trafficking, not just those individuals moving around in Ukraine.
"And then you have more people because there's so much fluidity in the region, lots of people can get to it, honestly," Marsh continued, pointing to volunteers from across the globe who have come at a time when the country needs aid.
"And so that all creates this unfortunate storm for increased sexual exploitation and risk related to trafficking and forced labor," Marsh added.
Yana Tovpeko, Women's Rights Ukraine Crisis Response team member at VOICE and a Ukrainian advocate, told Insider that while it's nearly impossible to track the full extent to which people are lured into labor exploitation, the organization has received an increase in reports.
"Often people are just trying to get through their day-to-day reality," Marsh said, which is why some people may not report forced labor — and why numbers on the issue are hard to come by.
This day-to-day reality can include searching for necessities such as food, shelter, healthcare, work, and education.
"Often you speak to women who are fleeing conflicts and situations of violence and often last thing they're going to prioritize is that, they're going to be focused on, 'Are my children safe? Do I have this for my children?'" Marsh added.
In some instances, abuse is the unfortunate price to pay for survival. Reporting it to authorities could result in the loss of housing or other necessities, Marsh said.
"When a woman with a little child just crossed the border, and there are people who offer transportation who offer housing, there is a space for people with not good intentions here. And as it always happens during the armed conflict, the violence raises. And the biggest target are vulnerable women from the Roma community, LGBQTIA women," Tovpeko told Insider.
Human trafficking is a $15o billion business that often operates in plain sight — touching on banking, hotel, and healthcare industries. And with traffickers using social media as a recruiting tool, the threat is present in many people's realities.
Roughly 40% of sex trafficking victims have been recruited through online means, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime reported in 2021.
Traffickers, for example, can social media to monitor victims or potential victims. They can also lure victims by creating foster predatory relationships or posting about fake job opportunities.
"In the humanitarian world, you often will hear people say, 'Oh, we're prioritizing life-saving needs. And they identify life-saving as access to water and sanitation, access to food, access to education,' Marsh told Insider.
"All of that is life-saving, for sure. But if you ask a woman or girl, not being sexually assaulted is life-saving for them. And so working on violence against women and girls has to be prioritized at the same level," she added.
Tags: ExploitativeHumanitariansincreasedLaborSextraffickingUkraineUnderTracked
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This study aims to compare the topographic distribution of cortical activation between real and imagined movement through event-related potential (ERP). We are specifically interested in identifying, the topographic distribution of activated areas, the intensity of activated areas, and the temporal occurrence of these activations on preparation and motor response phases. Twelve healthy and right handed subjects were instructed to perform a task under real and imagery conditions. The task was performed simultaneously to electroencephalographic (EEG) recording. When compared the conditions, we found a statistically significant difference in favor of real condition revealed by performing an unpaired t-test with multiple corrections of Bonferroni, demonstrating negative activity on electrode C3 and positive activity on the electrode C4 only in motor response phase. These findings revealed similar functional connections established during real and imagery conditions, suggesting that there are common neural substrate and similar properties of functional integration shared by conditions.
Keywords: : Cortical activity, event-related potential, ERP, imagined and real movements.
Humans have the ability to generate mental images of perceptual and motor events without requiring any connection to external stimuli, a process known as motor imagery (MI) [1-3]. The MI is a mental simulation that corresponds to a dynamic state during the performance of a specific action internally reactivated in working memory in the absence of any movement [4-6].
Neuroimaging studies show a substantial similarity of the neural mechanisms underlying motor execution (ME) and MI [3-6]. However, a better comprehension of these mechanisms involved in ME and MI requires knowledge of how the brain regions activated co-interact with other regions during a particular sensorimotor task, whether real or imagined. In addition, with the technological advance achieved by neuroimaging techniques in the last two decades, it was possible to identify the brain regions that are activated during ME and MI, for instance, tasks of hand and finger movements, providing a direct comparison between the activated areas in both conditions [5, 6].
According to Jeannerod [1, 2], MI represents the access to motor intention, which can be executed also unconsciously during motor preparation. MI and motor preparation, therefore, share common mechanisms and can be considered as functionally similar processes. As a result, a big overlap of activate brain regions when compared ME to MI have been observed by several neuroimaging studies in the last five teen years [6, 7]. A relevant issue that it has taken into account is the involvement of contralateral primary motor area (cM1) in MI, which seems to reflect a fundamental change about the understanding of functional organization of the motor system. Thus some questions were raised. First, if cM1 were purely related to ME, no activity would be expected during MI. Second, if activity in M1 was observed, possibly would be due to ME not detected during MI. On the other hand, if activity in M1 was observed during MI, even avoiding involuntary movements, such fact might modify drastically the understanding of the M1 function during motor preparation and ME .
In this context, in recent years, several techniques have been used to investigate cognitive processes related to motor activity, for example, the event-related potential (ERP). ERP are transient changes in brain electrical activity, recorded by EEG during task performance, in response to presentation of a stimulus or event [9-11]. The examination of event-related potentials (ERP) provides useful insights into the nature, organization and timing of neuronal events that subserve the sensory, perceptual and cognitive processes. Hence, the different stages of sensory information processing are represented by specific ERP components, specifically reflecting the primary and secondary processing of sensory input, encoding, classification and guidance of the task, as well as the selection and response execution .
In the current study, we aim to investigate the comparison of the topographic distribution of cortical activation through event-related potential in real and imagined movement. We were specifically interested in identifying specifically, the topographic distribution of activated areas, the intensity of activated areas, and the temporal occurrence of these activations on preparation and motor response phases.
Twelve healthy subjects [4 male, 8 female; mean age 30 years, standard deviation (SD) 10] were recruited. All subjects were right handed and had normal or corrected to normal vision . Inclusion criteria were: absence of mental or physical impairments and no history of psychoactive or psychotropic substance use (screened by an anamnesis and a clinical examination). Furthermore, subjects were not included if they had less than 6-8 h of sleep prior to the experiment and/or caffeine during the 48 h prior to the experiment. The entire experimental protocol was explained to all subjects who gave their signed consent before participating in this study. This study was approved by the Ethics Committee at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
In order to minimize sensory interference, the experiment was performed in a sound and light-attenuated room. Participants were seated on a comfortable chair to minimize muscular artifacts while electroencephalography (EEG) data was collected. During the visual task, lights were turned off and subjects were instructed to concentrate exclusively on the monitor screen. A 15" Samsung monitor was placed 50 cm in front of the participant. The visual stimulus was presented on the monitor by the Imagery acquisition software, developed in DELPHI 5.0. In this paradigm, participants were asked to perform a task, actually in two conditions, real and imagery. Participants were instructed to respond to target stimuli by pressing a button with their right index finger. In real condition, participants must react to a stimulus (yellow square) with an index finger rhythmic movement (flexion-extension) using a mouse pad and an accelerometer in the index finger. In the imagery condition, participants must imagine the same task according to real conditions. They must perform a kinesthetic motor imagery, as if they were immersed in a mental video, watching the action performed by themselves and experiencing perceptions related to the task (first person perspective). Each participant received four blocks of 20 trials. The task was performed simultaneously to EEG recording.
The International 10/20 System for electrodes was used with a 20-channel EEG system (Braintech-3000, EMSA-Medical Instruments, Brazil) . The 20 electrodes were arranged in a nylon cap (Electro Cap Inc., Fairfax, VA, USA) yielding monopole derivations referred to linked earlobes. In addition, two 9 mm diameter electrodes were attached above and on the external corner of the right eye, in a bipolar electrode montage, for eye-movement (EOG) artifact monitoring. Impedance of EEG and EOG electrodes were kept under 5-10 kΩ. The data acquired had total amplitude of less than 100 µV. The EEG signal was amplified with a gain of 22,000, analogically filtered between 0.01 Hz (high-pass) and 50 Hz (low-pass), and sampled at 400 Hz. The software Imagery Acquisition (Delphi 5.0), was employed to filter the raw data: notch (60 Hz), high-pass of 0.3 Hz and low-pass of 25 Hz.
The signal was analyzed in a time window of 6s, in order to verify the cortical mechanisms, before and after the task of flexion-extension of the right index finger. The time window comprised of -2s before to 4s after the event related to the task. For analysis purposes, we defined a time window in the range of -500ms before to 2.5s after the event (Fig. 1).
Time window of EEG data processing.
Representation of ERP topographic distribution, in the scalp, at the time window 382.5 ms between ME and MI conditions.
A total of 960 epochs (12 subjects/80 epochs for each subject) was visually inspected in order to detect and eliminate epochs with muscle artifacts and electrodes showing impedance higher than 10 KΩ. Thus, 876 epochs remained for ME condition and 858 for MI.
To quantify reference-free data, both visual inspection and independent component analysis (ICA) were applied to remove possible sources of artifacts produced by the task. Data from individual electrodes exhibiting loss of contact with the scalp or high impedances (>10 kΩ) were deleted as well as data from single-trial epochs exhibiting excessive movement artifact (±100 µV). ICA was then applied to identify and remove any remaining artifacts after the initial visual inspection. ICA is an information maximization algorithm that derives spatial filters by blind source separation of the EEG signals into temporally independent and spatially fixed components. Independent components resembling eye-blink or muscle artifact were removed and the remaining components were then back-projected onto the scalp electrodes by multiplying the input data by the inverse matrix of the spatial filter coefficients derived from ICA using established procedures. The ICA-filtered data were then re-inspected for residual artifacts using the same rejection criteria described above.
After using ICA to remove the remaining artifacts, no more epoch was deleted, remaining, therefore, 876 epochs for ME condition and 858 for MI condition.
For statistical analysis, we used the software Brainstorm  to perform a paired t-test with multiple corrections by Bonferroni test within each condition, i.e., ME and MI, comparing baseline vs post-stimulus periods and an unpaired t-test with multiple corrections by Bonferroni test in order to comparing the conditions ME and MI (p ≤ 0.05).
The time window chosen for analysis refers only to motor response phase (i.e., 382.5 ms), which was verified through the mean of reaction time measured by the accelerometer placed on the index finger of each subject. Exceptionally, we only found significant statistical difference between conditions in the motor response phase.
When compared ME with MI condition, we found a statistically significant difference in favor of ME revealed by performing an unpaired t-test with multiple corrections (i.e., Bonferroni test; p = 0.05), demonstrating negative activity on electrode C3 and positive activity on the electrode C4 (Fig. 2). Fig. (2) shows the ERP topographical distribution in the scalp related to motor response phase between ME and MI condition.
The aim of the study was to compare the topographical distribution of cortical activation through ERP in real and imagined movements.
The existence of source generators located in the genesis of brain electrical activity associated with certain motor and cognitive processes is not a general property of ERP. It can be generated in a more focal or global manner, involving the participation of neural populations from different parts of the brain [16-18]. Thus, in certain cognitive processes such as those associated with motor response, a wide range of cortical areas or several brain regions can generate the potentials obtained in the scalp.
As we expected, there were no significant statistical differences between conditions in motor preparation phase. Studies have shown that there are physiological similarities between ME and MI, with indications that both rely on the same process and share the same topographic distribution [3, 19-21]. The areas commonly activated are prefrontal, premotor and parietal cortices [5, 6].
The observation of Fig. (2) shows statistically significant differences between conditions only at time window 382.5 ms. When compared the ME and MI conditions, negative activity was observed in favor of the ME condition in the electrode C3, which represents the M1 contralateral to the hand used in the task, and positive activity in the electrode C4 that represents the M1 ipsilateral to the hand used in the task (Fig. 2).
This negative activity can be interpreted as activation of the involved areas due to recruitment of neural networks, while positive activity can be understood as inhibition of involved areas due to the use of cortical resources. According to theory of Kotchoubey , the cycle of negativity-positivity is a comparison between the information of the areas activated during the sensorimotor preparation phase and the information of areas inhibited during the resolution phase, which suggests an information exchange of inhibited to activated areas. Therefore, it seems the human brain uses a neurophysiological mechanism that increases the focused activation of specific cortical areas and decreases activity in areas not relevant to task execution .
This interpretation is similar to studies of event-related desynchronization and synchronization (ERD/ERS), even though the computational methods and data analysis were totally different. ERD means reduction of power in specific cortical areas, induced by an event, which reflect in increased cortical activity, while ERS on the contrary means increase of power in specific cortical areas, also induced by an event, which reflect in decreased cortical activity [21, 22]. Pfurtscheller  suggest that ERS expresses an inhibition or deactivation of neural networks involved in the task. ERS reflects the increase in cortical basal activity based on synchronized behavior of neural networks. In addition, Klimesh et al.  have proposed that inhibition/activation process is relevant, because it allows memory resident in areas related to the task can be accessed. ERD expresses an activation of neural networks involved in the task, prepared to processing information with an increase in excitability of cortical neurons [22, 23]. This type of activity reflects a similar state of alert of neural networks in sensorimotor areas .
In this process of activation and deactivation of areas, thalamic structures (interaction between thalamic nuclei and thalamic reticular nucleus) activate specific cortical areas at a certain time of the relevant information processing and deactivate others not used during the task execution . Such process could be interpreted as an electroencephalographic correlate of activated cortical areas involved in the sensory information processing and motor behavior production . This might indicate a participation of a broader neural network in the information processing .
Therefore, it was revealed contralateral activation of M1 and supposed ipsilateral inhibition of M1, which is due to well known neurophysiological mechanisms and that may be explained by differences between conditions. The main difference is due to the fact that MI has no motor efference [1, 3-6]. Thus, according to Fig. (2), contralateral M1 showed a higher activation level.
With regard to the positive activity found in the ipsilateral M1 (i.e., responsible for the movement of the opposite hand to the one used in the task), such activity seems to be a functional mechanism of inhibition, helping by sending information to consolidate the activation of neural networks of the M1 contralateral [21,22]. Moreover, this activity could be interpreted as if the brain were using a protective mechanism during the preparation of finger movement on the task, equivalent to inhibition of possible mirrored or involuntary movements of the left hand accompanying the voluntary actions of the right hand [27, 28]. A possible explanation is that, on the contrary to ME, the activity of the motor is subliminal in MI and insufficient to trigger the spinal motor neurons and therefore the efferent motor is blocked by an inhibitory mechanism generated in parallel to motor preparation before achieve the motor neurons [1-3, 29, 30]. MI works with a dual mechanism operating at the spinal level: increased activity of corticospinal tract, which implies a subliminal activation, and the presence of an inhibitory pathway in parallel avoiding the motor act . Furthermore, Pfurtscheller et al.  argued that the sensorimotor system works as if blocked or inhibited by the lack of somestetic information processing or motor response, which agrees with our findings. Thus, as shown in Fig. (2), ipsilateral M1 seems to be activated during ME while no activity was found in MI.
These results may be in agreement with Lapenta et al. tested whether transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) modifies mu rhythm oscillations during tasks involving observation and imagery of biological and non-biological movements . Analyses of C3 and C4 showed significant effects for biological vs. non-biological movement, and differential hemisphere effects according to the type of stimulation and type of movement. These differences may due because real steady-state locomotion seems to use a direct pathway via the primary motor cortex, whereas imagined modulatory locomotion an indirect pathway via a supplementary motor cortex and basal ganglia loop . On the other hands it is well known it has been hypothesized that the similarity between real and simulated actions depends on the nature of motor representations and training may improve the quality of imagery , thus another possibility is that subject were inexperienced of the movements in question and had not yet sufficiently developed mental maps in order to recall it properly in the imagination. Future studies must determine whether the training, with the improvement of imagery, can iron out the discrepancies between EEG in real movement or in imagery. The study also suggests the interest to measure the differences in the EEG in imagery of those disorders such as depression [34,35] and cognitive deficits [36-39] in which memory disorders have been described and for which has been found an improvement induced by exercise.
In conclusion, we verified that there is a similarity regarding the topographical distribution of the activated areas, the occurrence of temporal activation and intensity during motor preparation phase. However, we found significant statistical differences for motor response phase when compared ME with MI. There are differences in the topographic distribution and intensity of activation between the conditions, but no differences in occurrence of temporal activation. These findings revealed similar functional connections established during ME and MI, suggesting that there is a common neural substrate shared by ME and MI, but also similar properties of functional integration [1-3].
Often, stroke patients cannot perform any type of movement in the early phase of recovery (acute phase), and the use of MI plays an important role to keep certain neural networks active, even without any overt motor output. Thus, our findings would be useful to implement programs of neurorehabilitation or even the creation of new methods of rehabilitation combining different techniques, such as MI-related activities of daily living [5, 6].
We recommend, therefore, further investigations using other types of conditions, e.g., the comparison of simple and complex movements, not only in the ME and MI, but also in a motor observation condition (i.e., mirror neurons), in order to covering more depth the issue of motor representation in cerebral cortex.
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Season 4: Daniel. Eric Mabius as Daniel Meade. HD Wallpaper and background images in the Ugly Betty club tagged: season 4 daniel promo.
This Ugly Betty photo contains business suit, suit, suit of clothes, two piece, two piece suit, and lounge suit.


While most children are looking forward to pool parties and popsicles, Shymeek Verdell is looking forward to just one thing this summer: getting promoted to fourth grade.
"I'm working my hardest to get to fourth grade," said Shymeek, a third-grader attending reading camp at North Hills Elementary School.
Shymeek is one of 1,200 students enrolled in Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools summer reading camp, an initiative created by the state's new Read to Achieve law.
The law requires third-graders to prove they can read on grade level before they can pass to the fourth grade.
The camp, which started this week, will run Monday through Thursday for six weeks at 10 elementary schools. The camps will allow student who struggle with reading to receive intensive instruction aimed at getting them to read on grade level. The students spend the mornings working on reading skills in small groups and the afternoons in enrichment classes like art, dance and science.
The camp is about more than just improving reading skills, said Shayne Willis, instructional coach and program manager at Petree Elementary. It's about getting the students excited about reading.
That's a taller task than just teaching vocabulary and phonics.
So, to encourage students, Willis said organizers made sure classes were stocked with books that will interest third- and fourth-grade students.
For third-graders, it's often books about animals. For fourth-graders, sports are a popular topic, Willis said.
On Tuesday, Deanna Gupton, worked with two students at Petree's camp using a book about cheetahs.
"Let's slow down," Gupton said, coaching third-grader Jaleel Robinson. "What does 'litter' mean?"
When Jaleel wasn't sure, Gupton had Jaleel use context clues in the story to figure it out.
"Her kids?" Jaleel said, offering the correct answer.
Small group work like that is the key to success for the summer program, said Tiffany Krafft, program manager at North Hills, and what sets it apart from classroom instruction during the school year. With classes of just 10 or 12, teachers can break students into small groups to work closely on certain skills. Most classrooms have three groups working at once. The teacher works with one group, the teacher assistant with another while another group works independently.
At the end of the camp students will have another chance to pass the assessment and move on to fourth grade. Those who fail will be placed in a transitional fourth-grade class with extra emphasis on reading. After the first semester, they will get yet another chance to pass the test.
After initial predictions from the school system that as many as half of the district's 4,000 third-graders could need the summer reading camps, about 800 failed to earn fourth-grade promotion. The program was first opened to those students and another 800 or so who didn't pass the end-of-grade test but qualified for promotion because good cause exemption, said Cheryl Wright, the district's lead teacher of summer programs. Nearly 1,200 of those students actually enrolled in the program, though attendance numbers were not available yet.
Anecdotally, schools reported between 40 and 60 percent attendance in the first two days with significant attendance improvements from day one to day two.
Additionally, a small group of fourth-graders who didn't pass their end-of-grade reading test was invited. Fewer than 100 of those students enrolled, Wright said.
When the legislature changed the Read to Achieve law last month, it removed the attendance requirement in favor of strong encouragement for parents to send their children. Because the schools can't require attendance, it's even more important to make the program something parents want to send their children to and something students want to attend, Willis said. At her school, Petree, they are offering everything from drama to cooking.
"The important part is that they come every day," Willis said, "and learn every day."


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Researcher: Dark DNA raises fundamental questions about evolution
'Junk DNA' Evolution
Posted on March 12, 2018 March 12, 2018 Author NewsComments(5)
From Adam Hargreaves at New Scientist,
No doubt you have heard of dark matter, which is thought to make up over a quarter of the universe. We know it's there; we just haven't been able to detect it. Well, something similar is afoot in the genome. My colleagues and I have dubbed this elusive genetic matter "dark DNA". And our investigations into the sand rat are starting to reveal its nature.
The discovery of dark DNA is so recent that we are still trying to work out how widespread it is and whether it benefits those species that possess it. However, its very existence raises some fundamental questions about genetics and evolution. We may need to look again at how adaptation occurs at the molecular level. Controversially, dark DNA might even be a driving force of evolution. (paywall) More.
Indeed. As evolution becomes more history and less religion, the driving forces of evolution are becoming as numerous and varied as those of World War II.
The obvious question is not whether dark DNA matters. If we are not diehard fans of Darwinian "junk DNA" (the supposed vast heaps of rubbish left over from random evolution*), we will simply assume that dark DNA matters.
The question with evolution, seen as a history, is one of mechanism. As Michael Behe would ask, what exactly does dark DNA do? For example, does it assist epigenetics, horizontal gene transfer, hybridization, convergent evolution, devolution… Or another, as yet undiscovered, function?
See also: Could "dark DNA" change the way we think about evolution?
Researcher: Best educated guesses fail with plant evolution "There is still a lot we don't know about why life is the way it is and how most biological process originated," said Dr. Cardona. "Sometimes our best educated guesses don't even come close to representing what really happened so long ago."
What the fossils told us in their own words
* See also: "Junk" RNA helps regulate metabolism
Junk DNA defender just isn't doing politeness any more.
Anyone remember ENCODE? Not much junk DNA? Still not much. (Paper is open access.)
Yes, Darwin's followers did use junk DNA as an argument for their position.
Another response to Darwin's followers' attack on the "not-much-junk-DNA" ENCODE findings
Why CR's "Ethics is Only About Solving Concrete Moral Problems" Argument Fails
At least the Soviets knew enough not to believe Pravda
5 Replies to "Researcher: Dark DNA raises fundamental questions about evolution"
forexhr says:
The definitive way to debunk both evolution and abiogenesis: https://biospecificity.wordpress.com/
LocalMinimum says:
An interesting thing, about the 99.whatever% similarities and "junk". We look to the protein coding sections, as if they define the whole of the function.
Perhaps it's as fallacious as comparing programming languages on the basis of their basic operators. The great variety of programming languages share a great deal of arithmetic and other operators. Most OOP capable languages these days follow or at least accommodate a C++ style syntax.
However, the larger differences emerge out of sight of the "business end" of the code. Differences in structure emerging from subtle differences in syntax, pointer mechanics, implicit features of objects. The real features of a language are often to be found in standard libraries, referenced only by names of functions, macros, and variables/constants; the entire scope of use of a language can be defined by libraries that can't even be written in that language.
An "it's all the same because it looks the same" or "I can't conceive of why this is like this so it's junk" would be a plainly blockheaded approach to investigating a human written piece of code, especially if that code stood independent from any external library.
Whether one believes it's Darwin's magic algorithm or an intelligence that wrote the genetic code, surely it's going to be sufficiently alien to our eyes to require at least as much suspension of a smug sense of familiarity as human works.
PaV says:
Try this to get at the article in New Scientist.
I suspect James Shapiro must be happy because this sure looks like another NGE instance.
Nonlin.org says:
This is the full article: https://theconversation.com/introducing-dark-dna-the-phenomenon-that-could-change-how-we-think-about-evolution-82867
"We know GC-rich sequences cause problems for certain DNA-sequencing technologies. This makes it more likely that the genes we were looking for were hard to detect rather than missing."
– then get better technologies.
And how about the DNA being overrated: http://nonlin.org/dna-not-essence-of-life/ ?
From the New Scientist article:
Even more intriguing is how dark DNA might influence evolution. Most textbooks describe evolution as a two-step process. First, a steady trickle of random genetic mutation creates variation in an organism's DNA. Then, natural selection acts like a filter, deciding which mutations are passed on. This usually depends on whether they confer some sort of advantage, although not everything produced over the course of evolution is an adaptation. So, natural selection is the sole driving force pushing the direction in which organisms evolve. But add dark DNA to the picture, and that's not necessarily the case. If genes contained within these mutation hotspots have a greater chance of mutating than those elsewhere, they will display more variation on which natural selection can act, so the traits they confer will evolve faster. In other words, dark DNA could influence the direction of evolution, giving a driving role to mutation. Indeed, my colleagues and I have suggested that mutation rates in dark DNA may be so rapid that natural selection cannot act fast enough to remove deleterious variants in the usual way. Such genes might even become adaptive later on, if a species faces a new environmental challenge.
We're headed towards James Shapiro's "Natural Genetic Engineering," with this 'mutational complex' part of a cell's engineering capacity.
Here's a link you may like.
JVL From Dr Pattee: Such complex environments must have existed on the sterile earth, and there is no doubt these conditions... – L&FP, 64: The challenge of self-referentiality...
relatd I will add this. In the abscence of any higher reference point than themselves, men will only listen to other... – Harvard Astronomer: The wonders of the...
relatd Ba77, What we see here is the same thing I saw and heard in the 1960s. "You know what the... – Harvard Astronomer: The wonders of the...
bornagain77 ChuckyD at 19, It might interest you to know that recently Ford Prefect, (in the Galton Board thread at post... – Harvard Astronomer: The wonders of the...


text:
Game Localization: the Basics
With a number of foreign markets emerging with buying power and tech-aptitude, product managers are focusing more on adapting their products to those foreign markets. This is especially the case with the emergence of smart phones and social networks that are capable of providing a platform for games. The combination of these emerging markets and emerging game platforms has led to an emphasis on localization for game developers.
Game localization is the process of preparing a game for a new locale. It goes beyond simple translation to consider linguistic issues, hardware issues and cultural differences that each target locale requires. Like all forms of localization, game localization has become a paramount task for developers to undertake when creating a new game with so much of the game market coming from non-English speaking countries. From context for translation, to understanding cultural differences, ensuring quality is paramount to a successful international release.
"All your base are belong to us" – an infamous line from the 1991 video game Zero Wing that has become something of a cultural hit. Translating a video game's dialogue is a tricky task. Translators need to work off of context, something that standalone video game text does not provide. With so many games now allowing users to make their own decisions, the context for each point of dialogue is different in each instant. Planning ahead and providing context to the translation team, instead of just a translation sheet, assures better quality, and better ease of translation.
Also take into consideration that different languages use a different amount of text to convey the same idea. Don't overlook resizing of text boxes, and ensure that there is enough space available for the necessary text.
Culturalization
Like any product being prepared for a new locale, cultural aspects must be considered when localizing. Games are no different. Typically, gamers in Japan are drawn to younger game characters on a quest to find themselves while American gamers are drawn to older, more rugged ones. The perception of violence, blood and gore in video games will also affect public opinion on a localized game. Keeping track of where those aspects of the game are in your development process will save time when localizing. Do the necessary research to understand what your target market values in a game. Take care of this first, it will prove valuable in the long run.
Countries have different governing bodies that enforce ratings on games. Issues with violence, sex or foul language must be considered when preparing a game for a new locale. It is possible that a game can be banned if it does not meet the standards set in place by the governing body in a new territory.
Ensuring that all these steps are taken will grant a more successful international release. Taking note of where localization issues will arise, during the initial game development process, will save time and money when aiming for a simultaneous release in multiple markets.
Gamers take value in high-quality games. Taking the necessary steps to understand a foreign market is valuable to the success of a localized game. Developing games for multiple locales? Visit Lingoport.com for internationalization support.


theology | The Humble "I"
Those who know something of the historical context in which Ibn Taymiyyah was writing the above sentiment will not fail to see something of an irony in this. For although, for a variety of reasons (including his scathing rebuttals against some of his Ash'ari opponents) Ibn Taymiyyah didn't bring about the outcome he perhaps hoped for, the spirit of uniting hearts and lessening the schisms between Muslims must be the concern of us all.
Those who are qualified and versed to thoroughly and meticulously investigate the Athari-Ash'ari [Salafi-Ash'ari] theological controversies should follow whatever conclusions their research necessitates – regardless of whether that makes them uncompromising or not. What is also required of such people is that they be wise about how and how much they push such abstruse, theoretical controversies into the public domain, thus sowing further divisions, discord or enmity among this already vulnerable yet blessed ummah. It should also be expected of such seasoned theologians that although they may be fiercely critical of theological positions which contravene their own; and even take it upon themselves to write scathing rebuttals of beliefs they see to be unorthodox, yet let them be respectful as possible to their Salafi or Ash'ari opponents and not attack or insult actual personalities; many of whom might well be known for their great piety, sincerity, devotional worship, worldly detachment, long service to knowledge, and love for the prophetic Sunnah and the sahabah – regardless of theological mistakes or blunders.
As for those who simply do not have the necessary theological grounding or intellectual prowess to justly and thoroughly evaluate both sides of the highly complex polemics, with what right – and with what knowledge – do they feel they can be unyielding or dogmatic about such matters? For they have no real grasp of these issues. They are just followers of their scholars; many of them bigoted, blind followers at that.
So let repentance be made and schism-mongering be stayed; and perhaps the Generous Lord will look kindly upon us so that we may all be saved.
Of course, one needs to ask how relevant many of these classical theological conundrums are to the current Muslim predicament? How useful are these matters in respect of helping Muslims grapple with perhaps more pressing contemporary theological concerns? While it would be a fool's errand to imagine we could formulate robust critiques or responses to such challenges by ignoring the principles and insights classical Muslim theology has to offer, there is a growing sense that we are stuck in a phase of fossilised theology. These classical insights haven't significantly engaged the theological, philosophical and ethical challenges of our time; they have yet to meaningfully deconstruct modernity's wholesale reinvention of the human story. And whilst some headway is being made by a few Muslim theologians and public intellectuals, we are far from offering any robust responsa to the theological challenges of modernity or the post-modern world.
What are some of these challenges? Well they include, amongst other questions, issues of theology as they relate to science: Does science point towards atheism or theism, is one such question? Another is whether science is intrinsically naturalistic, or is naturalism a philosophy imposed upon the scientific method? Then there is the question of Quantum physics with its principle of indeterminacy and how that bears upon the understanding of causality or occasionalism. Quantum theory also makes itself felt in the question on the actual nature of time, and even the ideas of the soul and [Quantum] consciousness. And then, of course, there is Islam's evolution question: less about fossils and palaeontology, and more about genetics and genomes. Does, for instance, the idea of 'Theistic Evolution' actually square with the Adamic saga or God's omnipotence, as taught in the Qur'an? And how do we square the evolving fossil records of bipeds over two hundred-thousand years old that, for all intents and purposes, look very similar to us in terms of skeletal structure and cranium capacity, and who seem to be the very first hominids to hunt; use fire; make complex tools; look after their weak and frail; as well as ritually bury their dead, with the explicit Quranic passages speaking about Adam as being the very first Man, and not born of any creature or parent?
As for theology when it is compelled to rub-up against philosophy, there is the question of epistemology: What is knowledge and its nature, and how do they relate to concepts like religious [or revealed] truths, beliefs and justifications? Or to put it in simpler terms: How do we know Islam is the truth? Theodicy; the question of evil, desperately needs stating in a more coherent and convincing manner for modern minds, as does the status of reason or rationality in religious doctrine. Also, secularism's alleged neutrality towards religious freedom needs to be interrogated, not only in light of its own claims, but also in regards to whether it helps religious practitioners deepen their awareness of the Divine Presence or weaken their sense of it?
Theology as it engages the question of ethics and ultimate values raises all sorts of issues (some which may be better dealt with by our fiqh tradition than our theology one). There are issues starting to grow around AI: Artificial Intelligence, and its benefits to mankind. Theological ethics in this regard will have to focus on matters such as robot rights (which is not an issue if robots are little more than advanced washing machines or dish-washers; but not so clear if they are able to have, or to mimic, emotions and feelings). It will have to work hard to avoid discrimination and bias when developing algorithms for AI. It needs to address the concerns of AI as military robots, or as autonomous weapons without human intervention, in order to avoid the spectre of an AI global arms race or war. It must also confront the existential dilemma posed by AI as superintelligence: where robots begin to recursively self-improve themselves, to the point where they surpass human intelligence by leaps and bounds. We may also discern the growing relevancy of such inquiries if we recall that in 2017, Saudi Arabia became the first ever country to grant actual citizenship to a robot! The robot, called Sophia, now has more rights and entitlements – or at least, on paper – than many foreign workers or expats working in the oil-rich kingdom?
Muslim theological ethics also has more immediate concerns: the issue of gender fluidity, currently being championed by liquid modernity, and how it tallies with Quranic norms of celebrating gender in a gendered created cosmos? Then there are the strident demands of feminism (perhaps one of the greatest challenges to normative scriptural reading in our time). Not in the sense of whether women should be empowered, or accorded their rights and entitlements. Rather, in terms of comparing feminism's narrative of equality and of its central belief of dismantling all forms of patriarchy, with the Qur'an's language of justice (and not equality) and honouring gender distinctions (prescriptively, not descriptively). In fact, ethics must ask an even more fundamental question: By what ethical standard does Western feminism; in particular, or Western liberalism; in general, have a unilateral right to impose its values on other peoples and societies? The crux of such an imposition is the belief in a secular modern trinity: autonomy, equality and rights. To claim, as Islam does, that there are obligations which could constrain our choices, or duties that puts a limit on our desires, is to utter nothing less than a monsterous modern blasphemy!
Theology as it refracts the concept of shari'ah governance is an area inadequately handled over the past century or more. Here we must ask if the modern nation state, in its secular-liberal matrix, can accept religion in other than a 'protestant' mould? Can 'catholic' forms of religion – religions that do not separate the sacred from the secular; ones that claim a right, indeed the duty, to order their affairs so that the teachings of faith are reflected in every aspect of life: from the personal to the political – continue to function and flourish without being spiritually emaciated and made into toothless tigers, or swiftly branded as extremists and enemies of the civic order?
A more foundational question is: Can shari'ah governance and the modern nation-state actually go hand in hand? For a modern 'Islamic' 'state' is something of a contradiction in terms. For while an all-invasive modern state monopolises legislation, a classical Muslim state doesn't legislate at all. Traditionally, legislation belongs to Allah; as understood and deciphered by the 'ulema. How that may be squared with the modern state – in which to practice law making; to be part of the legislature, is to be an agent of the state – has not been adequately tackled by Muslim theologians or Islamists. For there is no modern state sovereignty without state-manufactured law, which the state alone then wields so as to reengineer the social order. To make the state 'Islamic', then, we need to search for ways where law is not contaminated by state involvement. Yet ever since the Ottoman reforms of 1856, when the modern Muslim 'state' began to become sole master and legitimiser of legislation, the shari'ah and its fiqh became subjected to a great deal of aberration and to a huge process of politicisation. The question then is, can Islamic governance – whose moral, legal, social, political and metaphysical foundations are radically different to that of the modern state; and whose law is primarily a set of theological principles and moral precepts underscored by legal principles – function independently of the state? Can there be a model of a modern state which divests itself of legislation? Is such an arrangement even possible as an integral facet in the modern patchwork of nation states? Such are the questions that need serious depth of thought – beyond the usual clichés; and beyond our current Western-inspired Islamist or state totalitarianism solutions.
The above, then, are some of the pressing issues Islam's orthodox theological tradition[s] needs to engage if it is to reflect its truth-claims of being God's final revelation, and if it wishes to retain its relevancy and vocation as being guide and healer to humanity. For a while now, our post-modern world has been in a crisis. Whatever good the Enlightenment birthed continues to be devoured by a hedonistic consumerism, eating away at the core of its civilisational values like cancer. Human fulfilment is unlikely to come from predatory capitalism; and its Christian heritage seems long incapable of supplying the nourishment needed for the age. Islam, more than ever, seems called upon to be the West's intellectual and spiritual deliverance. But its monotheistic message of hope, healing and happiness through God's oneness can only truly illuminate times if its theological concerns are in tune with the needs of the time; when it is able to offer a worldview that helps make sense of the time; and is successful in delivering liveable guidance to navigate the stormy seas of the time. Between now and then there is much to deliberate over, and much work to be done. Here's to rolling up our spiritual and intellectual sleeves.
1. Majmu' Fatawa (Riyadh: Dar 'Alam al-Kutub, 1991), 3:227-8.


text:
Explosively formed penetrator
An explosively formed penetrator (EFP), is a type of petard also known as an explosively formed projectile, a self-forging warhead, or a self-forging fragment, is a special type of shaped charge designed to penetrate armour effectively at stand-off distances. They are also used extensively in the oil and gas industry [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/munitions/bullets2-shaped-charge.htm] . They were first developed during WWII. [Military.com article on the evolution of hand-held anti-tank technology http://www.military.com/soldiertech/0,14632,Soldiertech_EFP,,00.html]
Difference from conventional shaped charges
USAF Research Laboratory.
A conventional shaped charge generally has a conical metal liner that projects a hypervelocity jet of metal able to penetrate to great depths into steel armour; however, in travel over some distance the jet breaks up along its length into particles that drift out of alignment, greatly diminishing its effectiveness at a distance.
An EFP eight inches in diameter threw a seven-pound copper slug at Mach 6, or 2,000 meters per second. (A .50-caliber bullet, among the most devastating projectiles on the battlefield, weighs less than two ounces and has a muzzle velocity of 900 meters per second.). "Washington Post" [ [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/30/AR2007093001675_5.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/30/AR2007093001675_5.html] ]
An EFP, on the other hand, has a liner in the shape of a shallow dish.The force of the blast molds the liner into any of a number of configurations, depending on how the plate is formed and how the explosive is detonated. [U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory description of an EFP http://www.afrlhorizons.com/Briefs/Dec04/MN0407.html] Sophisticated EFP warheads have multiple detonators that can be fired in different arrangements causing different types of waveform in the explosive, resulting in either a long-rod penetrator, an aerodynamic slug projectile or multiple high-velocity fragments. A less sophisticated approach for changing the formation of an EFP is the use of wire-mesh in front of the liner: with the mesh in place the liner will fragment into multiple penetrators. [U.S. Patent 5540156: Selectable effects EFP warhead http://www.google.com/patents?id=VHUgAAAAEBAJ&dq=5540156]
In addition to single-penetrator EFPs (also called single EFPs or SEFPs), there are EFP warheads whose liners are designed to produce more than one penetrator; these are known as multiple EFPs, or MEFPs. The liner of an MEFP generally comprises a number of dimples that intersect each other at sharp angles. Upon detonation the liner fragments along these intersections to form up to dozens of small, generally spheroidal projectiles, producing an effect similar to that of a shotgun. The pattern of impacts on target can be finely controlled based on the design of the liner and the manner in which the explosive charge is detonated.
The (single) EFP generally remains intact and is therefore able to penetrate armour at long range, delivering a wide spray of fragments of liner material and vehicle armour backspall into the vehicle's interior, injuring its crew and damaging other systems. [DoD Directive 2000.19E, "Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization (JIEDDO)", February 14, 2006 http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/html/200019.htm]
As a rule of thumb, an EFP will perforate a thickness of armour equal to only about the diameter of its charge, whereas a typical shaped charge will go through six or more diameters.fact|date=May 2008
EFPs have been adopted as warheads in a number of weapon systems, including the CBU-97 and BLU-108 air bombs (with the Skeet submunition), the M303 Special Operations Forces demolition kit, the M2/M4 Selectable Lightweight Attack Munition (SLAM), the SADARM submunition, the Low Cost Autonomous Attack System and the TOW-2B anti-tank missile.
Use in improvised explosive devices
. ["Salon", "Surge of danger for US troops", January 22, 2007 http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/01/22/ieds/print.html]
The charges are generally cylindrical, fabricated from commonly available metal pipe, with the forward end closed by a copper or steel disk-shaped liner to create a shaped charge. Explosive is loaded behind the metal liner to fill the pipe. Upon detonation, the explosive projects the liner to form a projectile at a speed well over 1 km/s, depending on the design and type of explosive used.
Because they use explosives to form a solid copper penetrator instead of using an explosive blast or metal fragments, these charges are extremely dangerous, even to the new generation of MRAPs (which are made to withstand an anti-tank mine), and many tanks. ["USA Today","As explosives in Iraq get deadlier, makers of armored vehicles alter plans", August 2, 2007 http://www.usatoday.com/news/military/2007-08-01-force-protection-mraps_N.htm]
Often mounted on crash barriers at window level, they are placed along roadsides at choke points where vehicles must slow down, such as intersections and junctions. This gives the operator time to judge the moment to fire, when the vehicle is moving more slowly. ["The Telegraph", "The precision-made mine that has killed 17 British troops", June 25, 2006 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/06/25/wirq225.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/06/25/ixnews.html]
Detonation is controlled by cable, radio control, or remote arming with a passive infrared sensor. EFPs can be deployed singly, in pairs, or in arrays, depending on the tactical situation.
* "Fundamentals of Shaped Charges", W.P. Walters, J.A. Zukas, John Wiley & Sons Inc., June 1989, ISBN 0-471-62172-2
* "Tactical Missile Warheads", Joseph Carleone (ed.), Progress in Astronautics and Aeronautics Series (V-155), Published by AIAA, 1993, ISBN 1-56347-067-5
*High explosive anti-tank
*Misznay-Schardin effect
*Munroe effect
* [http://www.military.com/soldiertech/0,14632,Soldiertech_EFP,,00.html Photo of a Canadian "Mach 6 aerodynamic EFP"]
* [http://shock.military.com/Shock/videos.do?displayContent=151465&page=1 Video of EFP trying to take out a Humvee]
* [http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=8b3_1197614944 video of an artillery-borne EFP hitting targets]
* [http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=1c3_1215487601 Video shows EFP disable humvee]
Western Museum of Flight
Electrosexual
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"I did a double take when I saw Kiran," Gagan recalls. "I thought she was so pretty, and I definitely went out of my way to talk to her that day." After realizing they had a shared passion for dance, the two decided to start a Bhangra team – a North Indian form of dance – with some other students, and a true friendship was born.
In July of 2016, the couple was in California for their friends' wedding, which included a two-day stop in Sonoma. During a group wine tasting tour of B Wise Vineyard, their guide announced he could take two people at a time for a buggy ride, and Kiran and Gagan were picked first. As they walked to their meeting point, Kiran began noticing pictures of her and Gagan over the past ten years strung along the vineyard with rose petals leading to a bench. Once they got to the bench, Gagan dropped to one knee and popped the question. Just like Kiran had hoped for, it was a private and perfectly intimate moment, followed by a lunchtime celebration with their friends.
It had been a difficult year for the couple prior to their wedding, as they unexpectedly lost Gagan's father to a heart attack five months before. To honor him, Gagan wore his father's watch throughout the wedding weekend, and there was a "Pop's Popcorn" cart during the Sangeet – a nod to his father's special popcorn flavored with Indian spices. Although he was greatly missed, the couple felt his presence the entire time.
Being that the bride and groom started a dance team together, their first dance was an extra special part of the evening. They began with a slow dance, but transitioned into a five-minute Bhangra performance, which everyone loved.
their first dance was an extra special part of the evening.


text:
Nominees announced for Writers Guild Awards; 'Transparent' and 'Orange is the New Black' each score three nods
By Megan Townsend, Director of Entertainment Research & Analysis |
The nominees for the Writers Guild Awards in TV, new media and radio were announced this week and include several LGBT-inclusive series. Additional nominees for theatrical, documentary, and videogame writing categories will roll out through January. The Writers Guild Awards will be held in Los Angeles on February 14.
Amazon Prime's new original comedy Transparent, which follows a Los Angeles family as Maura (Jeffrey Tambor) announces her transition to her kids and ex-wife, scored three nominations total including New Series and Comedy Series. The Netflix original series Orange is the New Black about the diverse cast of inmates at a women's prison also picked up three nominations. Both series are part of GLAAD's new Transforming Images interactive timeline highlighting four decades of trans-inclusive entertainment.
ABC's Modern Family is nominated twice in the Episodic Comedy category. LGBT-inclusive dramas Game of Thrones (HBO) and The Good Wife (CBS) each scored nominations in Drama Series and Episodic Drama. The Normal Heart picked up a nomination in Long Form Adapted, the HBO TV film was based on Larry Kramer's play of the same name about the early days of the AIDS crisis in New York City and the young activists working to spur the medical and political establishment into action. NBC's Hollywood Game Night, hosted by out actress Jane Lynch, scored a nomination in Quiz and Audience Participation and LGBT-inclusive soaps Days of Our Lives and General Hospital are nominated in Daytime Drama.
The 67th Annual Writers Guild Awards will take place in Los Angeles on February 14.
Writers Guild Awards,
Orange is the New Black,
Modern Family,
Game of Thrones,
The Good Wife,
The Normal Heart,
Hollywood Game Night,
Days of Our Lives,
Photo Credit: The CW
Must-See LGBTQ TV: 'Batwoman' season two, 'Euphoria' special episode; and 'Riverdale' season 5 premieres on the CW
Photo Credit: Hulu
The GLAAD Wrap: 'The U.S. vs. Billie Holiday' and 'The World to Come' new trailers; 'Sex and the City' reboot at HBO Max; new music videos from Trace Lysette, Shamir, Claud; and more!
Photo Credit: GLAAD
GLAAD's Where We Are on TV Report: Despite Tumultuous Year in Television, LGBTQ Representation Holds Steady
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