It's hard to know where to begin with this story from NBC Nightly News about a supposedly "new" test that could be a "lifesaver" for women with dense breasts whose cancer might not show up on a normal mammogram.
NBC's top-rated newscast reaches some 8 million total viewers every night, so it's important to set the record straight about what the test, known as molecular breast imaging (MBI), is capable of and where NBC's fawning coverage went wrong.
We're always concerned about stories that focus on one person's experience that may not be representative. And while we wish this woman the very best in her treatment, we think NBC has an obligation to vet her claims before broadcasting them to an audience of millions.
The unfortunate reality? We just can't know whether early detection will ultimately lengthen this woman's life or that of any other individual person with breast cancer.
Breast cancers vary in their aggressiveness, and some will progress and prove fatal despite early detection and treatment, whereas others grow slowly and might never pose a problem to the patient.
For the same reason that we can't say whether an individual's life has been "saved" by early detection, it's foolish to suggest that this technology will bring us anywhere close to "zero deaths" from this disease.
Chris Norton, who co-founded the Minnesota Breast Cancer Coalition, an all-volunteer organization that focuses on education and advocacy, agreed.
"It's unfair to patients to proclaim that this imaging is the most promising technique we have toward zero deaths from breast cancer," she said.
Rhodes, a staunch advocate for molecular breast imaging who delivered a TED talk praising the test (which she helped develop), is the only expert source consulted in the NBC segment–a problem we see often in our story reviews.
What would the story have looked like if it had featured the perspective of someone more independent?
We can get a flavor for some competing views from a 2011 blog post by David H. Gorski, MD, PhD, a surgical oncologist at the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute specializing in breast cancer surgery.
He raised many uncertainties about MBI, notably that it delivers radiation throughout the body instead of focusing it in the breasts, as with a mammogram.
Also remember this: MBI subjects the entire body to radiation in order to try to save lives from breast cancer. How do we know that repeated doses of 99mTc sestamibi (a nuclear medicine imaging agent) won't result in the increased incidence of, for example, colorectal or ovarian cancer that cancel out any decrease in mortality observed that is attributable to better screening for breast cancer?
The concern with using these scans for breast imaging, as Gorski notes, "has always boiled down to an unacceptable lack of specificity and sensitivity." In other words, high-quality studies haven't proven that the test finds enough actual cancer — without flagging meaningless false-positives — to make it worth deploying on the scale that Rhodes is calling for.
Rhodes's own research shows that the risk of incurring an unnecessary biopsy because of a false positive exam increased with MBI, from 1 in 100 women with mammography to 4 in 100 women with mammography plus molecular breast imaging — context that was again missing from the NBC coverage.
Consulted an independent source for a competing perspective on the technology.
That's not a very high bar to clear, and yet doing so would have made a tremendous difference to women trying to make sense of their breast cancer screening options.
Extraordinary nonsense from a clinician. I see she has a BA in history and literature from Harvard before medical school – maybe this what we mean by 'artistic licence'.
Look, I'm 100% behind the criticisms leveled here in the article — I thought the exact same thing when I saw the piece on NBC News, myself.
Nevertheless, trying to turn "a BA in history and literature" (no matter what school it's from) into some kind of character liability is petty and close-minded.
It was a joke Laurent. As medics would say, you have had a sense of humour bypass. As I'm from the UK I suppose I do have to recognise that detecting irony is not a strong point of other nationalities.
Laurent, didn't you recognize the tongue in cheek of the remark? As an English major pre MD, I certainly wasn't offended. Lighten up.
I want to thank you for clarifying issues especially about cancer screening tests for me. It has released me from all the media fear mongering and helps me to question and put into perspective what I hear and read. As a long.time health care professional, I do what I can to promote our health and avoid placing myself and my loved ones into the machinery of the sick care industry.
Carla, all medical and surgical treatments are not evil as you insinuate as "the machinery of the health care industry." Tell that to millions who have clearly benefited from legitimate, science based remedies. I agree that there are exceptions (as in most industries) and costs, especially created by pharmaceutical and medical device companies and health administrators have made illness even a greater burden.
Claims similar to "zero deaths from breast cancer" have made regular appearances in mainstream news for decades, yet 40,000 deaths per year among women (and 400 among men) have remained virtually unchanged during the same time frame. Thank you for being the voice of reason in analyzing articles that may be attention-grabbing but aren't based in fact, and ultimately warp public perception of what breast cancer really is.
Subjects the whole body to radiation? Good God! Outside of MRIs, all breast cancer detection involves blasting the breast with radiation. What does that repeated exposure over years add up to as an additional risk? What would be really "novel" is to develop a breast cancer screening test that involved no cancer causing agents at all. Good article. Thanks.


I love Twitter. I think the reason I do is that it's fast and limited. The 140 character limit forces you in to a short message, and you also know those you follow are being terse in their prose as well. Only essentials are passed along. (There are those who abuse this and send frequent messages, especially during basketball season, election season, NASCAR, long boring car trips, and hockey playoffs. That is what TwitterSnooze is for.) Most people on the service just send out a quick blast every so often, to let friends know where they are, physically or mentally. It's like passing someone in the hall on Monday morning, saying "How was your weekend" and getting the short version back: "We went to the lake," or "Saw a great concert," or "Did a ton of yardwork." But instead of having to wait until Monday morning, you see it pass by in real time. Say you're reading your RSS feeds over coffee on Saturday morning, gearing up to clear out storm damage in the back yard. Suddenly, a window pops up, and a buddy two time zones away says "Looks like a yard work kinda day." And now you have a work companion. So, three days later, when you're on a call with him, you say, "How's the yard looking after Saturday's session?" You don't have to go through the "What have you been up to" thing, where the person being questioned has to remember how far back in his life the questioner wants to go in the limited time available. It's like you're neighbors, without all that having to hear their motorcycle at 2 am stuff.
Twitter is … a social network without the superpoke scrabtaculous zombie noise and, for that, I'm thankful, because I've got work to do. Yes, I could spend days tidying my profile and scrubbing my friends list, but to what end? I want to know more people, and sure, it's interesting to see what they're up to, but what I really want to know is what is going on inside their heads with a minimum of fuss.
I want to see how they see the world. This is why I follow people on Twitter. This is why they follow me.
Now, how is this ruining my marriage? Funny you should ask. My Lovely Bride, for all her wonderful qualities, has little patience. (I know, I know - those of you who know me well are trying to figure out why she's stuck around for 27 years with me, since I require lots of - um - patient understanding. Some have even called me high maintenance. It's just the power of love, I guess. I'm not about to question that now, however.... I might jinx it!) When we're out-and-about, and I'm sending tweets to folks, she doesn't want to wait for those 140 characters to be typed. She is in "hang with the hubby" mode, not "watch hubby broadcast random facts of our life to a self-selected group of his friends" mode. So we're still, in our semi-argumentative way, working out how to integrate this into our marriage. It's a process. (It took 15 years for her to stop saying "you love that computer more than you love me," so it may be a while.) I'm trying to be less obvious about things, and she's working on understanding it. Twitter is new and different from anything we've had in the online world before, so it is, as a good paradigm shifter should, challenging our conventions and making us actually think about how relationships work.
Not a bad thing, just a thing.
You should Twitter only in the dark of night lest you lose your marriage?!
One thing about your description which is interesting to note with Twitter is that it's not you posting to your "self-selected" group of friends, but rather, those who have *selected you*.
On Twitter, you choose who to follow, so spammy or annoying people can be unfollowed or blocked entirely. This is a unique aspect of Twitter that has helped it grow.
Thanks for the feedback! That's what I meant by self-selected - they choose to follow me, I didn't choose them. Selected or select friends would mean I choose them. Self-selected means they selected themselves, which is how Twitter works.
Guess it wasn't as clear as I intended.
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Revision as of 13:24, 13 September 2018 (edit)
Revision as of 08:43, 19 September 2018 (edit) (undo)
The geology map shows a simplified version of the geology at a national scale. More information is available in the report [https://www.bgs.ac.uk/africaGroundwaterAtlas/atlas.cfc?method=ViewDetails&id=AGLA060038 UN (1988)] (see References section, below).
Another geology map of Guinea at 1:500 000 scale is available as a scanned image from the Ministry of Mines, Geology and the Environment [http://mines.gov.gn/en/geological-map/ Republique de Guinee – Ministere de mines, de la geologie et de l'environnement, 2006]. An accompanying report can also be downloaded - [http://mines.gov.gn/en/geology-of-guinea/ Géologie de la République de Guinée] (Mamedov et al 2010).
Mamedov VI, Boufeev YV and Nikitine YA. 2010. [http://mines.gov.gn/en/geology-of-guinea/ Geologie de la Republique de Guinee: Volume 1]. Republique de Guinee Ministere des Mines et de la Geologie / Geoprospects Ltd / Universite d'Etat de Moscou
Republique de Guinee – Ministere de mines, de la geologie et de l'environnement. 2006. [http://mines.gov.gn/en/geological-map/ Carte Geologique de la Guinee: Echelle 1:500,000].
This page is in the process of being updated - please check back soon for more content
Present-day Guinea was on the periphery of the ancient Ghana, Mali, Songhai and Fulani empires between the 7th and 19th centuries, and its coastal zone was subject to the slave trade from the 16th century. It became a French colony in the 1890s, and the present-day national boundaries date from negotiations between France, Britain, Portugal and Liberia in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Since independence in 1958 as the Republic of Guinea, the country has experienced periodic armed conflict, attempted and actual coups, civil and political unrest and contested elections. From the late 1980s, Guinea received a large influx of refugees as a result of wars in neighbouring Sierra Leone and Liberia, exacerbating internal tensions. The 2014 Ebola outbreak also affected Guinea significantly.
Guinea's economy is dependent on agriculture and mineral production. The agricultural sector, which employs 80% of the labour force, is diverse, reflecting the diverse geography, with cattle herding and cultivation of savanna crops in highland areas, and commercial crops including fruit, coffee, groundnuts and palm oil in lowland areas. Rice is the main food crop grown for domestic consumption. Forest products, mainly timber, are also important economically. The country has potentially vast mineral resources, particularly bauxite, gold and diamonds, and mineral exports comprise the bulk of export revenue, particularly bauxite, but the sector has not been fully developed, linked to poor infrastructure, continuing political instability and corruption. The 2014 Ebola outbreak was another serious crisis that diverted resources towards basic humanitarian needs. There is large hydroelectric power potential, with the sources of three major rivers - the Gambia, the Senegal and the Niger - in Guinea. Fishing and manufacturing are also important industries.
Most of Guinea receives high but seasonal rainfall, and the country's overall water resources are abundant. However, away from the major rivers, dry season surface water resources are scarce. Much of the population relies on groundwater for domestic water supplies, in rural and poorer urban areas.
6 Groundwater management
8 Return to the index pages
Renewable groundwater resources (Million cubic metres/year) 38,000
Another geology map of Guinea at 1:500 000 scale is available as a scanned image from the Ministry of Mines, Geology and the Environment Republique de Guinee – Ministere de mines, de la geologie et de l'environnement, 2006. An accompanying report can also be downloaded - Géologie de la République de Guinée (Mamedov et al 2010).
Dominantly Quaternary, to Tertiary Alluvial sediments in river valleys: sands, sandy loams, silts and gravels. Along the coast, marine loams, clays, clayey sands and sands.
Large areas are also covered with Paleogene-Neogene weathered lateritic crusts, connected with iron deposits, kaolinitic clays and bauxite layers.
Silurian-Devonian Dominantly mudstones and siltstones, including the Silurian Télimélé Suite and the Devonian Faro Suite.
Silurian-Devonian Silurian and Devonian rocks are dominated by fine-grained mudstones and siltstones, and are likely to form relatively low productivity aquifers. Intergranular porosity and permeability are likely to be very low, and groundwater storage and flow are therefore expected to occur largely in fractures, probably in the uppermost few tens of metres of rock. A transmissivity value of 7 m2/day was quoted for Devonian rocks in United Nations (1988).
Cambrian-Ordovician Cambrian and Ordovician rocks are dominated by sandstones, with some conglomerates in the Cambrian sequence. These are likely to be strongly indurated, so that intergranular porosity and permeability are likely to be low. Groundwater storage and flow are therefore expected to occur largely in fractures. A transmissivity value of 20 m2/day was quoted for Ordovician sandstones in United Nations (1988), but higher values may be more common.
Precambrian: Upper Proterozoic - metasedimentary Upper Proterozoic rocks are likely to have similar groundwater potential to the Silurian and Devonian rocks, probably forming low productivity aquifers in which groundwater flow and storage occurs largely in fractures in the uppermost few tens of metres of the rock.
Precambrian (Archaean and Lower Proterozoic) Crystalline basement rocks have virtually no intergranular porosity and permeability, and groundwater flow and storage is entirely dependent on the nature and degree of weathering and/or fracturing of the rock. A typical pattern in basement rocks is 'pockets' of weathering forming weathered basins, typically a few tens of metres deep and a few tens or hundreds metres across, in which there is enhanced permeability and groundwater storage potential. Such weathered basins can
There is a central database with information on more than 16,000 water points - mainly boreholes - based on data from different projects that were supervised by the national water authority, but the data are not all well organised. It does, however, include more than 1000 borehole geological logs that are easy to access.
Return to the index pages

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Joey was great. Responsive, knowledgeable and made the process easy. I would highly recommend her.
Beth Wexler and Joey Gault were fantastic to work with. Their intimate knowledge of the Deerfield/Highland Park area proved invaluable. When it came time to make an offer, they were able to close the deal, a skill that is rare, yet extremely important in this competitive market.
Joey Gault was excellent. She was instrumental in finding our new home and her knowledge and professionalism was evident throughout the process. She was familiar with all areas and homes that we were looking at and was able to get us in for showings with little notice. She responded to all our emails and questions promptly and was readily available when needed. I give her my highest level of praise and would recommend her to anyone looking to buy or sell a home. Joey Gault should get a raise.
The Gault/Wexler Team was driven to see us find our next home. Joey was a great listener with our wishlist and preferences but also coached us on the local areas, school differences, and buying process overall. Her knowledge of the North Shore market and inventory gave us confidence when we hit roadblocks. The Gault/Wexler Team made us feel apart of the community and apart of the family. I would highly recommend anyone looking on the North Shore to stop and meet with Joey, Beth and Liz.
Very practical, very hard working and kind. Puts in extra effort. The exact person and personality you want as an "agent" for yourself.
I have known and worked with Joey Gault on countless real estate deals in the last, including my own purchases. She is a delight to work with. Very friendly, extremely knowledgeable and always accessible to her clients I have referred her to to others as well who have been equally pleased with her services I strongly recommend her and anyone affiliated with the Wexler Gault Group for your real estate needs.
Beth Wexler is a great realtor and I would highly recommend her! I have used Beth for two purchases and one sale. She is wonderful to work with, very knowledgeable and an excellent negotiator. She was very patient with me on my first purchase as I looked for almost 6 months until I found exactly what I was looking to buy. She gave me helpful advice throughout the process. She and Joey both helped with the sale of my property and always kept me updated throughout the process. They make a great team!
Joey was a great advocate on our behalf as we negotiated for our first family home. She was a voice of reason making sure we did not overpay for the neighborhood and helping us keep our emotions at bay. In the end, we got our dream home for a great price and could not be more thrilled. Many thanks to Joey on being such a rockstar throughout this process!
A fabulous job – smooth from start to finish and she made the process totally painless. Thank you Beth!
I decided to list my rental condo with Joey Gault. The condo is a garden unit without parking, so I was concerned that it would take a reasonable amount of time to sell. Joey and her team (Chantel) had the place pretty much sold prior to even listing on the MLS. I received an offer during a pocket listing and then had 2-3 other competing offers within a week of listing the condo on the MLS. Needless to say, I am very happy with their professionalism and knowledge of the marketplace, in helping me sell my vacant condo quickly and efficiently.
Beth is a consummate professional & at no point did we ever feel like she was selling… From the moment we began speaking with Beth about our upcoming move all the way through the closing, her level of exerience was evidenced. I looked for and felt comfortable trusting her guidance every step of the way. She negotiated our purchase price well below the anticipated amount in my head going into the transaction, was proactive about helping us keep our eye on the most important items as we went through the process, and simply allowed us to have confidence as we moved forward through this transitional period.
One of Beth Wexler's many great skills is making a large and important financial transaction seamless and easy, it is natural for the home-sale process to be an anxious experience, yet Beth and her team make the process easier-than-otherwise because they listen so carefully to the needs and goals of their client.
From start to finish, Joey was absolutely fantastic. Joey has a thorough knowledge of every aspect of the home search and home closing process. On top of this, her responsiveness, patience, ability to communicate and professionalism during the whole process was first class. I believe Joey is as talented at her job as anyone I have ever encountered in any profession. I can not say enough good things about her and count myself as lucky to have had her on my side during the home search process.
Joey is such a professional. She know how to listen to the needs of her client and help them with every step of the way during such an important decision making process. She helped us find our dream home and was not only fun to work with but a true professional all the way!
Beth is total professional–we recommend her highly!
Joey Gault is a realtor who truly has her client's best interest in mind at all times.


The Amazon river is home to many exotic and unique species, including the largest freshwater fish in the world: Arapaima fish. This massive dinosaur-like predator catches the attention of many travelers. Below we dive in into what you should know about these creatures.
Arapaima can reach up to 3 meters in length. The largest recorded arapaima had a staggering weight of 200 kilograms and a whopping length of almost 4.6 meters. To picture it, imagine a average tall man who is about 2 meters tall. This fish would be longer than that!
The Arapaima's body is torpedo-shaped with large scaly, gray and red markings and a tapered head. Its local names, paiche or pirarucu, derive from the indigenous words for "red" and "fish." Like a torpedo, this fish is a strong and powerful swimmer and it's even known to jump out of the water. Arapaimas may leap out of the water if they feel limited by their environment or harassed.
This remarkable fish is capable to breath air. Thanks to its swim bladder or 'labyrinth organ', composed of lung-like tissue, it's able to take oxygen directly from the air. Due to this special ability, it can survive in the Amazon River, which is oxygen-deficient especially at low-water season.
This awesome fish has a mineralised, hard, outer skin layer with a corrugated surface under which lie several layers of collagen fibre. The fibre structures are oriented at right angles in each successive layer, giving the armor toughness. Despite of the layer's rigid structure, they are flexible enough to allowing the fish move around.
This fish spends a lot of its time near the water surface for hunting its prey, which makes it vulnerable to local fishermen. Its tasty flavor is one of the most sought-after food fish species in South America. Just one individual can yield as much as 70 kg of meat. However, overfishing of this fish has become a serious problem. South American authorities have even attempted to enact protections because Arapaimas are close to being extinct.
Curious to see one in person? Start planning your Amazon adventure! But make sure to stay at Yacuma Ecolodge. We offer ideal location, comfortable accommodation, sustainable service, and private and group guided tours.


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Q: Автоматическое закрытие панели с меню Добрый день) Есть на экране 2 фрагмента(выезжающее боковое меню и фрагмент с другой информацией). Подскажите, как лучше сделать автоматическое закрытие панели с меню, когда пользователь нажимает на любой элемент на другом фрагменте?
A: Почему бы не использовать нативное решение от гугла? Там можно прямо вызвать метод "закрытия" (убирания) выезжающего бокового меню.

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Q: Is there an equivalent of Valgrind for .Net on Windows? I want to debug some managed code (originally written in C# on Windows x86). I know that Valgrind has a great set of tools for unmanaged code on a few non-Windows platforms. However, we are talking about Windows and managed .Net code here. So, is there an equivalent of Valgrind for .Net on Windows?

A: Here are some profilers for .NET:

*

*Microsoft CLR Profiler (free)

*RedGate ANTS Profiler (commercial)

*JetBrains dotTrace (commercial)

A: See our C# Profiler (commercial).


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Argentina and Russia strengthen bonds of cooperation in peaceful uses of outer space
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Information for the Press N°:
Today, engineer Raúl Kulichevsky, Executive and Technical Director of the National Commission for Space Activities, and Mikhail Khailov, Deputy Director General of the State Corporation ROSCOSMOS, signed the "Protocol between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Argentine Republic on Cooperation in the Field of Space Exploration and the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space" at the Palacio San Martín.
This Protocol will allow Argentina to expand cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space with one of the world leaders in this field. In particular, the document provides for cooperation in areas such as satellite navigation, manned space missions and the technology for satellite launchers, and it will facilitate access to state-of-the-art systems and technology for the Argentine space industry.
Sunday 01 de September de 2019
1 September: FEALAC Day
The Argentine Republic celebrates the "Forum for East Asia-Latin America Cooperation" (FEALAC) Day, on the 20th...
Tuesday 23 de July de 2019
Foreign Minister Faurie met with his Chilean counterpart Teodoro Ribera Neumann
Ribera Neumann, who took office on 13 June, visited Argentina for a bilateral working meeting and to participate in the...
Friday 19 de July de 2019
Foreign Minister Faurie meets with U.S. Secretary of State
Argentine Foreign Minister Jorge Faurie met today with U.S. Secretary of State, Michael Pompeo.
Joint Communiqué//Second Hemispheric Ministerial Conference on the Fight against Terrorism
On July 19th, 2019, Argentina convened the Second Hemispheric Ministerial Conference for the Fight against terrorism,...
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www.cancilleria.gob.ar is an official website of the Argentine Government


Situated in Polop on the Costa Blanca in Spain in the middle of a wooded valley this attractive villa with private pool has very nice views of the countryside and the sea in the distance.
Villa accommodation covering 180 m² on two floors for 8 people, 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, satellite television.
The villa Christie has a fully equipped kitchen (with dishwasher, oven, fridge/freezer etc.) and a living and dining room which opens onto a patio terrace. There are four double bedrooms and two bathrooms.
On the same level as the pool, there is a fully equipped summer kitchen and patio terrace with garden furniture which is ideal for eating outside. There is a barbecue too.
The good-sized well-maintained grounds cover 1500 m² and there is an eight-metre long swimming pool with steps for easy access as well as an outdoor shower. The pool terrace which is flanked by fruit trees has loungers so you can relax enjoy the sun and the view.
The extra special feature of this property is the summer kitchen which is very well adapted to the Spanish style of summer living.
Supermarket, shops and restaurants in Polop 5 km. Beach 10 km. Golf and tennis 10 km.


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Río Portugués is a river in the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. In the 19th century, it was also known as Río de Ponce. Twenty-one bridges for motor vehicle traffic span Río Portugués in the municipality of Ponce alone. The river is also known as Río Tibes in the area where it flows through barrio Tibes in the municipality of Ponce. Río Portugués has a length of nearly  and runs south from the Cordillera Central mountain range into the Caribbean Sea. The Portugués is one of the best-known rivers in Ponce because of its prominent zigzagging through the city and its historical significance. The river is historically significant because the city of Ponce had its origins on its banks. It was originally known as Río Baramaya (Baramaya River). It has its mouth at . This river is one of the 14 rivers in the municipality.

Origin
Río Portugués has its origin in Cerro Guilarte, located the western part of barrio Portugués in the bordering municipality of Adjuntas, just north of Ponce, and drains into the Caribbean Sea after running for some . The river has a discharge of 16,000 feet3/second. The toponymy, or origin of the name, comes from one of its first settlers, Pedro Rodríguez de Guzman, known as el Portugués ("the Portuguese") because his ancestry was from Portugal.

Tributaries

Río Chiquito is one of the tributaries of Río Portugués (i.e., Río Chiquito feeds into Río Portugués). In the sectors and sub-barrios that it traverses, the locals call the river by the name of such sector/barrio. Thus names such as Río Cedro, Río Nuez, Río Moscada, and Río Tibes as the unofficial local name of Río Portugués in the sectors known as Cedro, Nuez, Moscada and Tibes.

Course of the river
Starting at its origin in Barrio Portugués, Adjuntas, Río Portugués, as it is known locally, begins to form at an altitude of approximately 2,853 feet (870 m) above sea level. The river then runs in a southerly direction parallel to PR-10 for most of its trajectory, crossing barrios Guaraguao, San Patricio, and Tibes. It brushes barrio Machuelo Arriba on its southwestern corner after it crosses PR-10 just west of the intersection of PR-10 and PR-504, immediately north of the Ponce city limits. From there it enters barrio Machuelo Abajo and continues south crossing Avenida Betances/Avenida Tito Castro (PR-14), at a point about half a mile west of the intersection of routes PR-12 and PR-14. A few hundred feet before the Avenida Betances bridge over Río Portugués in the city of Ponce, the river divides barrios Sexto, located west of the river, and Machuelo Abajo, to the east. It continues south crossing Calle Guadalupe, at which point it divides barrio Quinto to the west and Machuelo Abajo to the east. This point is just west of Club Deportivo de Ponce. Several hundred feet further downstream, at Miguel Pou Boulevard–PR-1 and Puente de los Leones–Tricentennial Park, the river divides barrios Tercero and San Antón. Further downstream, the river runs immediately west of La Ceiba Park on Calle Comercio (route PR-133) in sector Cuatro Calles. After crossing Calle Comercio, Río Portugués divides barrios Cuarto and San Anton, and continues its southerly course towards Avenida Las Américas (PR-163).

The following table summarizes the course of the river in terms of roads crossed. Roads are listed as the river flows from its origin in Ponce's Barrio Guaraguao in the north to the Caribbean Sea in the south (N/A = Data not available):

Former and current course
For flood control purposes, in the 1970s Río Portugués was diverted by the U.S. Corps of Engineers from emptying directly into the Caribbean Sea at Playa de Ponce to feeding into the Río Bucaná which then empties into the Caribbean Sea. This channelization project started in 1974 and was completed in 1997. It was a multimillion-dollar investment, with just the first phase costing $120 million.

Former course
The former course of Río Portugués, prior to being diverted and channelized by the U.S. Corps of Engineers in the 1970s, followed from the area just north of Avenida Las Américas/PR-163 in a south-southwesterly fashion crossing Avenida Las Américas immediately east of Hospital Dr. Pila. It then continued south behind the Governmental Center/Puerto Rico Police Ponce Area headquarters, and followed a trajectory almost parallel to Avenida Hostos (PR-123, formerly PR-10). It then crossed PR-2 immediately east of the intersection of Avenida Hostos and Ponce Bypass/PR-2, at the sector called "Caracoles". From there the river used to continue flowing southerly, at one point just edging the area where Plaza del Caribe now stands. This old course then took a sharp westerly turn and crossed Avenida Hostos, at the now historic Puente Río Portugués. From this point it continued running south-southwesterly where it (now, since the newly built PR-52) crossed PR-52. From here the river flowed another one mile (1.6 km) crossing the low-lying area of Barrio La Playa at Avenida Padre Noel before draining into the Caribbean Sea about 30 or 40 yards from Avenida Padre Noel, in the area called Villa Pesquera.

Current course

Once the U.S. Corps of Engineers canalized Río Portugués as it flowed through the city of Ponce, the Corps also diverted its course from a south-southwesterly course to a south-southeasterly course. This diversion started immediately south of the river's intersection with Avenida Las Américas.

From Avenida Las Américas the river now flows, channelized, in a south-southeasterly after crossing Avenida Las Américas about a quarter of a mile east of Hospital Dr. Pila. After crossing Avenida Las Américas in downtown Ponce, the river comes to the location where in the 1970s it was diverted by the US Corps of Engineers from a southwesterly path to its current southeasterly path. Taking a sharp easterly turn, Río Portugués enters barrio San Antón, and crosses route PR-12/Avenida Malecon about one quarter of a mile north of PR-12's intersection with PR-2. Shortly thereafter the river bends to become southbound and crosses route PR-2, about one quarter of a mile east of PR-2's intersection with PR-12. The river then borders the Julio Enrique Monagas Family Park on the park's western edge until, still canalized, it feeds into Bucaná River about half a mile south of PR-2. The point where Río Portugués feeds into Río Bucaná is about one quarter of a mile north of PR-52 (a.k.a., Autopista Luis A. Ferré) and can be seen from the southbound side of PR-52.

Bucaná River
After this point Río Portugués is no longer called Río Portugués. It becomes Río Bucaná (Bucaná River) and divides barrios Playa on its western bank and barrio Bucaná on its eastern bank. From there the river continues flowing in southerly course as a single canalized river for half-mile, crossing Autopista Luis A. Ferré/PR-52. Another one mile (1.6 km) of southerly flow and the river empties as a single stream into the Caribbean Sea just east of La Guancha, safely avoiding most low-laying populated areas.

Uses
Today Río Portugués is one of the most popular rivers for swimming in southern Puerto Rico.

Portugués Dam

In 1986, the U.S. Congress approved funding to build the Portugués Dam for Río Portugués about  northwest of Ponce. Construction began in April 2008 and, when finished, the dam will be the first roller-compacted concrete thick arch dam built anywhere in U.S. soil by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The Cerrillos Dam over Río Cerrillos was finished in 1992, and had also been approved by Congress in 1986. The cost to build the Portugués Dam is over $192 million.

The dam will consist of a dike of 220 feet high by 1,230 feet wide. It will use 368,000 cubic yards of compressed concrete. As of 22 March 2009, 88 percent of the concrete work had been completed. Its scheduled completion date is 2013. The total investment is $375 million USD.

Preservation
In 1971, Mr. and Mrs. Clark Foreman, owners of the Adjuntas property where Río Portugués originates, granted the development rights of their property in Adjuntas to the Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico, thereby establishing the first scenic and conservation easement in Puerto Rico. The deed of easement and its restrictive covenants protect a  tract of land that includes the headwaters of Río Portugués. Although the title to the land remains with the Foreman family, the easement restricts the use of the land, safeguarding its trees, vegetation, and other natural resources against destruction or alteration in perpetuity. Today,  of Río Portugués scenic easement in Adjuntas's humid forest are a protected entity of the Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico.

Archeological site
An important archeological finding, labeled "PO-29: Jácana", was made on the banks of the river. Artifacts were transferred to Jacksonville, Florida and then returned to a museum in Puerto Rico.

See also
 List of rivers of Puerto Rico
 Ponce, Puerto Rico
 Portugués Dam
 List of rivers of Ponce

Notes

Footnotes

References

External links
 Río Portugués during the rainy season Retrieved January 5, 2011.
 Río Portugués in Barrio Playa, before its course was changed to empty by Barrio Bucana. Retrieved January 5, 2011.

Rivers of Puerto Rico
Rivers of Ponce, Puerto Rico
Barrio Portugués

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Gestation period, dreaded by most entrepreneurs, accompanies the first joy of starting any business venture. Success follows it or else it tolls the death knell. However, a well-conceived business plan can help avoid any such debacle.
The breakeven point is a crucial juncture for any business project at which the volume of sales or revenues exactly equals the total expenses. It is the point when the business stands on its feet though it doesn`t make profit neither incur loss. This point underlines the essential requirements that are must for the much elusive profit for the organization. It reflects the relationship between costs, volume and profit.
An entrepreneur, with much zeal, starts his own business, but how many of them survive in the long run? Sixty-five per cent of such startups die a premature death. Such degeneration occurs because of the lack of correct business plan, as a result never reaching the breakeven point.
Till this point, the total expense is always higher than the total revenue. The business is run by borrowed money or that comes from the owner`s pocket. This is the general feature for any home-based business. When a business reaches the breakeven point, the business is self-sustaining and appears on the verge of being a viable business. However, even at this point, the owner doesn`t make any profit but it is the acknowledgement of the business`s success.
Breakeven point or gestation period varies from sector to sector. A gestation period of jewellery shop cannot be the same as a beauty parlour or a medicine shop. In this regard, Shashank Pathak, Vice President (Retail), Gitanjali Lifestyle, takes a critical look at the issue reiterating that "the retail industry has various formats and the gestation period varies from format to format. In jewellery retailing, generic durations vary from 18 months to 24 months, which totally depends on the top-line achievement leading to performance". Elizabeth Scheurer, National Training Administrator, Just Cuts, an international chain of hair-cutting salons, tells that a salon like theirs goes through a period of two-six months till it reaches the breakeven point, considering the locality where the shop stands and steady traffic flow. For a medicine shop, according to Ashutosh Garg, Chairman and MD, Guardian Pharmacy, it varies from 12 to 18 months. Again, Sanjay Shroff, VP (Finance), Yo! China, informs that a fast-food outlet like theirs starts to break even by the 4th month. The ROI generally is achieved within the range of 3 years to 4 years.
While analyzing breakeven point, one has to take into account the fixed costs like rent or equipment leases and variable costs like cost of supply, salary expenses, sales commissions or any expenses that change from month to month.
Where P is the profit, p is price, U is units sold, V is variable costs and F is fixed costs.
The analysis shows instead of making profit, the company has suffered a loss. At breakeven point P should be 0. It clearly shows that selling 1,000 units will never bring the desired result.
Now, if P = U(p-V) – F = 0, then U(p-V) = F or U = F/ (p-V), i.e. Rs.7700/(Rs.10 – Rs.4.50) = 1400 units. So, if we maintain our price and expenses, we need to sell 1400 units of our product to break even. If we raise our price or reduce expenses we can sell less.
One must remember that the breakeven analysis does not show profitability. It will only show some levels of profit at various levels of sales.
The initial stage is the Month-to-Month breakeven point. It is the stage when expenses are on record, not the profit. Gradually the business develops. This becomes conspicuous with the decline of the personal investment. This leads to the next stage – Cash-in-equals-cash-out breakeven.
At this point, the business no longer needs to be subsidized. Here, the business owner starts to take out a considerable chunk as a livable wage but not making the profit since the amount itself constitutes the livable wage. However, it signals that the business is on the threshold of making profit.
It comments over the business acumen of the entrepreneur. It is an achievement. Such a person has learnt to overcome the challenges of his business inside and out. But one should remember that the point must be reached before the owner`s cash contributions run out.
Once the business reaches this point, the assurance of its survival becomes almost certain. But remember – the entrepreneur has now bought the business. The business is drawing its sustenance out of it and the entrepreneur is earning his livelihood, but what about the money that has been invested? Is it lost forever? Does he really want to run a business that requires personal maintenance day in day out in the coming years?
This gives us the cue to the final breakeven point – from day one to today.
Now, the entrepreneur wants to move from buying a business to owning a business, from livable wage to respectable wage. This point ensures that the entrepreneur starts to earn enough profit to reimburse whatever investments he has made with leftover assets. These assets can be invested for the additional income for the business or the owner.
Next comes the issue – how we can cut short the gestation period and expedite the process to reach the final breakeven point.
Firstly, one should manoeuvre to increase the sale without major increase in the advertising or promotional expense. This can be done through free publicity in the sale area, like convincing an industry expert to give a free seminar or tying up with an important event and then informing the newspapers about the event. Secondly, a possible way has to be found out so that the prices of the products can be raised without losing the customers. For this one can position his products away from the competitors and add a uniquely-conceived value added services. Think about Domino`s Pizza`s "30 minute delivery". It had hit the bull`s eye. Lastly, cut down the unnecessary expenses that you can do without. Expensive offices, excessive bonus can come later. For example, retail giant Wal-Mart has their head office at Arkansas, instead of any costly notable cities like New York or Chicago. According to Garg of Guardian Pharmacy, it is the high rental that works as the impediment in the way to attain the much-coveted breakeven point. So, getting a retail space at reasonable rental should be the primary concern in the context of present scenario. The same is echoed in Shroff`s words ¬– "Given the high rents prevalent in the market, it is really tough to expedite the process. In the current scenario, the rent works out to 25% of sale. Ideally the rent should not be more than 12%." Also, for the shops in a mall, he opines, the success depends partially on the success of the mall.
Gestation period is a crucial phase for any business since it stands for the vital purpose of making profit. One must have enough money to withstand this infertile period. Gestation period lingering more than its usual time phrase gives an ominous sign to the entrepreneur. If it stretches beyond the stipulated time, it is the time to decide whether to continue before the fund dries up. Pathak points out, "Besides well-calculated gestation period, other factors are also needed to compare the benchmarking processes in the relative industry across the globe and country, and for the competition in the city. It is important that we compete with the retail environment and break even as planned." Therefore, it is the inevitable gateway one has to cross to tread on the path that leads to success.
Indian Students Flock Online for Education..


text:
He is only just a kid!
Here is a true story, that happened about seventy years ago. The eldest son of a well known economist was studying in college for a degree in economics. He belonged to a rich family and was used to comfortable and affluent ways of life of the family. He so far had no occasion to find out what economic hardship really means? Unfortunately, instead of being a good student, he somehow got diverted away from the beaten track. He lost interest in studies, started smoking heavily and was often seen in bad company. His father, realising that his son was moving to a wayward behaviour, tried to warn him on several occasions. But it turned out to be of no avail.
After considerable agony, the father finally called him and told him to get out of the house as he was of major age and hence could mind his own affairs. As the family owned very large ancestral wealth, the son was given his due share on the spot. The father son relationship ended then and there. They never met again. Surprisingly, the son realised his folly and corrected his behaviour. He graduated with brilliant success eventually and later joined one of India's big corporates and had a successful corporate career.
I often think about this true story and wonder whether the father did the right thing in driving away the son? In today's environment, such a step probably would be unthinkable now. But how to decide whether the father was right or wrong? The father in this story had other kids to fall upon and going away of one son, would not have made much of difference any way to the family. Today, a family may have just one child and driving him or her away could be an unthinkable step. Today's father might take a view that the son/daughter is only just a kid and should be given a chance to improve.
The younger son of another family, I knew, was a slow learner and could never even complete his schooling. When he was a youth, he came into contact with some sages and was so influenced by them that he decided to become a monk. He even told his parents that he wants to become a monk because he was impotent. The parents pursued him not to leave the house and somehow managed to keep him there. They perhaps thought that their son was only just a kid and may improve with age. Later, an elderly divorced lady, trapped him into an intimate relationship with her and made this poor fellow to leave the house for her. Such was the extent of tragedy that fell on this family that the parents could not bear the shock and died within an year from this shocking incident.
What should have the parents in this case done? Were they right in keeping the son in the family, preventing him from becoming a monk? Why did they not find out that this lady was trying to trap him? Many such questions come to my mind. But to be frank, I have no answers.
The elder son in yet another industrialist family, that I knew, had a similar problem of a wayward son. The family, again being affluent and rich, never made any compromises in providing anything that the children wanted. The family also had a luxurious lifestyle. The son however was never interested in studies and had a natural endowment of polished talk and behaviour, which could impress anyone. He soon acquired expensive habits and addictions and started living in day dreams. His parents again neglected his behaviour thinking he was just only a kid and would improve with time. That did not happen and the son started cheating people including his parents, who had to keep paying to others for his misdeeds. Today the son has become a deadweight on the parents, which they find impossible to bear.
Who was really at the fault here? Was it the son or the parents, who protected him and neglected his misdeeds imagining that he was just a kid? Who was really right? The economist father of last century or the industrialist father of today? I can not give the answers and the readers would have to provide them for themselves.
It is a fact that every child is born with a certain genetic make up that also decides basic traits of his behaviour. Yet, bringing up process also has certain impact so is the environment, surrounding the child. Many a times, criminal behaviour of a child often has its origins in simple acts of law breaking, by the parents themselves.
What should a society do in such cases? Should we just allow the criminal behaviour to continue, just because the person is not of major age and of adolescent age, thinking that he is just a kid? Or should we punish the kid like adults, according to criminal law of the coutry?
The Government of India seems to have made up its mind at least, where the crimes can be called heinous such as rape and murder. It has proposed that in such crimes, the accused should be treated as adults if they are between 16 and 18 years of age. But what about the other crimes? Is a simple stay in remand homes enough to correct the individual? As a civil society, we need to find answers to these questions and that too as soon as possible.
Labels: adolescents, behavioural problems, criminal behaviour, Family, GOI- heinous crimes bill, letting adolescent children off, punishment, son, wayward behaviour


Referring to Fig.1, the Drive Gain control (DRIV) varies the gain of the 455 kHz 2nd IF stage (Q501) in the exciter chain. This stage is outside the ALC loop. The Drive Gain control sets the power level of the signal entering the ALC loop at Q504, and thus sets the ALC control range. The RFALC line from the ALC comparator in the RF Unit applies ALC voltage to gain-controlled IF stages Q504 (455 kHz 2nd IF) and Q506 (64.455 MHz 3rd IF).
Referring to Fig.2, the RF Power control line (POCV) sets a voltage threshold which is compared to the forward-power voltage FORV_) from the reflectometer at the ATU input (on the CTRL Board). When the two voltages are equal, ALC voltage is developed. Thus, the RF Power setting determines the PA output. When the Drive Gain control is set for 30 - 50% ALC reading, the ALC loop will have sufficient loop gain to level the transmitter output with minimal overshoot, and the exciter will receive sufficient low-level drive to enable the RF Power control to set the power output. In addition, the reflected-power voltage (REFV_) from the reflectometer will develop ALC voltage, reducing drive in the event of a load mismatch (VSWR > 1.5:1).
If Drive Gain is too low, the driving power will be insufficient to drive the PA into ALC levelling. If it is too high, overshoot will occur until the ALC loop takes control. The overshoot will be of short duration, as the ALC attack time is very short. I am confident that even with some ALC overshoot, damage to the PA is unlikely.
It makes sense to set the Drive Gain on a band where the overall power gain is lowest, typically 10 or 6 metres. There will then be sufficient reserve to ensure proper (but not excessive) ALC action on the lower bands.
When the IC-7700 drives an external linear amplifier fitted with an ALC output, the ALC line from the amplifier (ALC) and the FORV_ line are summed at the ALC comparator (Q2001/IC2001). If the ALC voltage from the amplifier is higher than that of the exciter, it takes over and the exciter no longer controls the system power output.
Fig.3: Drive gain setting range.
Typically, a Drive Gain (DRIVE) setting of 50% (12 o'clock) will yield an ALC scale reading in the range illustrated in Fig.3. This range is intended as a guideline, and is not critical; some band-to-band variation can be expected, as the power gain of the PA chain decreases on the higher bands. I have found that it is not necessary to readjust the Drive Gain control when changing bands.
Generally, the ALC reading should not exceed S9 (the top of the red zone on the ALC scale).
The Drive Gain control is active for all modes other than SSB mode with compression OFF. Therefore, when driving an external amplifier, it is potentially unsafe to operate the IC-7700 with RF Power at 100% (fully clockwise) and then set the drive level to the amplifier by adjusting Drive Gain. In the event that compression is turned off in SSB mode, the amplifier will be overdriven and damage may result. This is especially true when driving amplifiers not equipped with an ALC output.
When driving an amplifier without an ALC line, the RF Power control should be set to the level required to drive the amplifier to its rated power output. The Drive Gain control can then be backed off until the amplifier output just drops slightly. This will protect the amplifier from overdrive in the event that the IC-7700's RF Power control is inadvertently turned up to 100% in any mode except SSB with compression off. The above warning still applies for this case.
IC-7700 User Manual. p. 3-13, Drive Gain Adjustment.
IC-7700 Service Manual, Block Diagrams, Pages 9-2 & 9-3.
Copyright © 2010, A. Farson VA7OJ/AB4OJ. Images courtesy Icom Inc. Last revised: 06/16/18.