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Raoul Dgvareli (born 9 January 1965) is a Tajikistani wrestler. He competed in the men's Greco-Roman 130 kg at the 1996 Summer Olympics.

References

External links

1965 births
Living people
Tajikistani male sport wrestlers
Olympic wrestlers of Tajikistan
Wrestlers at the 1996 Summer Olympics
Place of birth missing (living people)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Shopping village's £1.5m plans to expand into the Ribble Valley
An artist's impression of the proposed new development - Love Furniture Stores.
Julie Magee
Oswaldtwistle Mills has submitted an application to create a new home and lifestyle store selling furniture and contemporary home wares on the Barrow Brook Business Park.
The application for the £1.5 million development, which includes a 1,380 sq.m unit, with 620 sq.m at mezzanine level, has been submitted to Ribble Valley Borough Council.
The purpose-built glass fronted store will be occupied by Oswaldtwistle Mills under the new trading name "Love Furniture Stores" and will include a coffee shop/tea room along with 45 car parking spaces. The new development will join Starbucks, Subway, McDonald's, KFC, Co-Operative Food Store and Texaco petrol station already trading from the business park.
The proposal was conceived following Oswaldtwistle Mills' successful opening of a similar store within The Mill Outlet and Garden Centre, Batley, in 2016.
Similar to its existing operations, the new retail unit at Barrow Brook, if it is granted planning permission, will accommodate a diverse range of furniture and home wares, with a focus on British made and local suppliers from the Lancashire region, and a white-glove local delivery service.
A spokesman said: "Love Furniture Stores will complement the existing retail offer within Clitheroe town centre and Whalley village, while boosting consumer choice and reducing the need for residents to travel to out-of-town shopping destinations.
"A number of employment opportunities will be created both through the construction period and once open, at a range of levels and seniority."
The application is a joint initiative between Red Rose Holdings, of Darwen, who will be developing and overseeing the build project, and Boyd Hargreaves, managing director of Oswaldtwistle Mills, who will manage the ongoing retail operation.
"Having worked in close partnership within the last year with the local council, we are delighted for the opportunity to be able to bring our expert retailing and marketing experience to a new venture in the Ribble Valley," the spokesman added. "We have worked hard to develop a concept that will not only complement the beautiful aesthetics of the surrounding landscape but also offer a new retail experience and create jobs for local residents."
The applicants have worked closely with Clitheroe-based architects Stanton Andrews, local planning consultant Andrew Walker and White Young Green, of Manchester. Subject to planning approval, the new store would be up and running for the early part of 2019.
Lancashire festival Beat-Herder to add a FOURTH day but tickets will be strictly limited

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Is Nezuko the Strongest Demon in Demon Slayer?
By Arthur S. Poe / December 15, 2021 December 15, 2021
Nezuko Kamado is the sister of Tanjiro Kamado, the protagonist of the Demon Slayer manga and anime. While still a child, Nezuko was attacked by Muzan and turned into a demon but her transformation was never fully done, which is why Nezuko became one of the most special characters in the whole franchise. But how does Nezuko's dual nature reflects on her powers and abilities? Is Nezuko the strongest demon in Demon Slayer?
Nezuko is not the strongest demon in Demon Slayer; that is still Muzan. Although she has several skills that Muzan does not have due to her dual nature, Nezuko's power levels are still not near Muzan's, which is why she is not the strongest demon in the franchise, although she is stronger than most.
In the paragraphs that follow, we are going to elaborate further on the answer given. You're going to find out some interesting details about Nezuko and her powers, answering some related questions and putting things into perspective.
Why Is Nezuko So Strong?
Why Is Nezuko Stronger than Regular Demons?
How Strong Is Nezuko from Demon Slayer?
Nezuko was the eldest daughter of the Kamado family. They all lived in the mountains during the Taisho era. After the father died for reasons still unknown, Tanjiro assumes the responsibility of supporting his family by selling charcoal and firewood in nearby towns while Nezuko's role was to watch over his mother and younger siblings.
However, one snowy night, their life turned into a horrible nightmare that changed her life forever. That night, a horrible demon, Muzan Kibutsuji, entered the house where the members of the Nezuko family lived and, without showing an iota of compassion and without caring that they were children, he murdered all of them as well as the mother.
Nezuko did the best she could to protect her family and she was seriously injured in the attack and rendered unconscious. When Tanjiro arrived at the house and found the horrible scenario, the first thing he did was take his sister, who was still alive at that moment, to someone who could help her.
But at that moment, Nezuko woke up and violently attacked her brother, abruptly increasing in size with the intention of wanting to devour him, but her instinct to protect her family prevailed as Nezuko fought with herself, trying to restrain her demonic side, the savage side that tried to take control of her.
At that moment, a demon hunter, who turns out to be Giyu Tomioka, enters the scene with the intention of assassinating Nezuko since he knew what had happened, but he runs into Tanjiro who defends his sister from the hunter as best he can. This is how Nezuko became a demon in the first place and why Tanjiro set out on his journey to becoming a Demon Slayer – so he could find a way to cure his sister.
RELATED: All Demon Slayer Characters Names & 10 Main Characters Ranked
We're going to elaborate on Nezuko's powers later in the article, but her origin story was important for this section. Namely, because she was attacked by Muzan and received a large(r) amount of his blood, Nezuko was exposed to the power of the strongest demon in history. This, in turn, made her one of the strongest demons ever and that is the main reason why she is so strong and why her origin story was so important for understanding her strengths and powers.
Now, there are two facts that make Nezuko so strong, i.e., that make Neuzko stronger than other, regular demons. The first one is the fact that she received her powers directly from Muzan, the strongest demon ever. Muzan is stronger than all the other demons and Nezuko gaining her powers directly from him certainly makes her a powerful demon.
But, what gives Nezuko additional powers is her dual nature. Namely, Nezuko never completely transformed into a demon and she retained at least part of her humanity along the way. Now, this also gave her additional powers. For one, she does not have to consume people to gain energy – she only has to sleep it off. Also, she can be exposed to sunlight unlike other demons, which gives her significant advantages over them and ultimately makes her a lot stronger than other demons, save for Muzan.
In order to properly understand how strong Nezuko really is, we have to tell you more about her powers, which we are going to do in this section.
Unlike other demons, Nezuko does not need to consume human flesh in order to replenish her strength, for which she simply needs to remain asleep for long periods of time inside the box that was specially prepared for her. As time passes, Nezuko's strength increases considerably.
Even though she was never formally trained, Nezuko's naturally enhanced physical strength allows her to easily fight demons, however, because she is not trained, she simply relies on Nezuko kicking her opponents or overwhelming them with force.
Her kicks allow her to cut off the heads of demons with ease or break down a door. Her strength is extremely high for a Demon that has never eaten a human.
Nezuko has the ability to regenerate her wounds faster than the average Demon, being able to gather her severed limbs in a matter of seconds. The true nature of her regeneration is to solidify her blood in order to increase the range of her attacks with her severed limbs and then reattach them in seconds, demonstrating this quality during her confrontation with Daki.
Nezuko can manipulate her body as needed. When she used her powers for the first time, she increased in size and muscle to try to subdue Tanjirō with the intention of devouring him, but soon returned to her natural size. She can also use this ability to shrink her body and be able to enter the wooden box created by Urokodaki so that Tanjirō can transport it.
Like all demons, Nezuko can gain a sudden increase in her physical strength, being able to deliver forceful blows capable of breaking bones and, in extreme cases, decapitating demons with enough force in her legs. Her physical strength adapts to her increase in size. As long as her head is not severed, Nezuko has the ability to regenerate her injuries regardless of severity.
When Nezuko is under very high stress from a life or death situation, she transforms into her berserk state. In this state, Nezuko increases her physical features to how she would look if she were an adult, with a horn protruding from the right side of her head; the veins of her body begin to sprout as a result of the pumping of blood and some tattoos appear on her skin.
RELATED: 9 Strongest Hashira in Demon Slayer (Ranked)
In this state, Nezuko's aggressiveness increases, as does her need to eat human flesh, which makes her dangerous. Tanjirō calms his sister down when she is in this state by means of a melody. However, during the fight against Hatengu, Nezuko manages to control this state on her own.
Nezuko is the only demon that is proven to be able to resist sunlight, which is why Muzan Kibutsuji wants to devour her in order to complete his transformation into a perfect being immune to sunlight.
Nezuko can make her blood turn into a blaze of great destructive power which combined with her brother's techniques, becomes a powerful combination allowing Tanjirō to more effectively use his fire attack. The only defect that it entails is that Nezuko falls asleep instantly due to the effort that she has to make to be able to use her blood as a weapon.
Nezuko is not the strongest demon in Demon Slayer. She has extraordinary powers and, thanks to her dual nature, is stronger than most regular demons, but she is not the strongest. Muzan, the demon lord who gave Nezuko her powers, is still the strongest demon in the franchise.
Demon Slayer: Tanjiro's Black Sword and the Meaning of Bal...


FRIDAY, May 6, 2016 (HealthDay News) -- The terrible birth defects caused by Zika virus appear to be the result of an immune system response that triggers prenatal brain cell suicide and obstructs fetal brain development, a new lab study reports.
The virus apparently activates an immune receptor called TLR3, which the body uses to identify and defend against invading viruses, said lead researcher Tariq Rana. He is a professor of pediatrics and genetics at the University of California, San Diego.
The hyper-activated TLR3 then proceeds to turn off genes that fetal stem cells need to specialize into brain cells, and appears to switch on genes that trigger cell suicide, Rana said.
"We all have an innate immune system that evolved specifically to fight off viruses, but here the virus turns that very same defense mechanism against us," Rana explained. "By activating TLR3, the Zika virus blocks genes that tell stem cells to develop into the various parts of the brain."
These findings help explain how Zika causes microcephaly, an abnormally small brain and skull development, and other neonatal brain-related birth defects, Rana said. They also show why there's no similar effect in adults, since their brains are already fully developed.
There's also good news for the potential prevention of brain birth defects due to Zika. Rana and his team successfully blocked this process in laboratory stem cell samples by using a chemical that inhibits the action of TLR3.
A drug that safely blocks TLR3 could possibly save babies from birth defects if given to Zika-infected women during the early stages of pregnancy, he said.
"If some mom comes into the clinic and the doctor thinks there is a Zika infection established, you could give this med, and once the first trimester is done, you can take them off the med," Rana suggested.
Zika is the first mosquito-borne virus ever proven to cause birth defects, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
To figure out why this happens, Rana and his team used human embryonic stem cells to create a laboratory model of a first-trimester human brain, also called a "cerebral organoid." The model's stem cells were designed to specialize and grow into the various different cells in the brain, much the same as they do during a fetus' first trimester.
Researchers then infected their model with Zika and found that a developing brain shrinks when exposed to the virus.
Five days after infection, Zika-infected organoids had decreased in size by an average 16 percent, the researchers found. By comparison, healthy brain organoids in a control sample had grown an average of 22.6 percent.
Rana's team noticed that the TLR3 gene had been activated in the Zika-infected model brains.
TLR3's job is to sense viruses and activate an immune response. But the researchers found TLR3 activation influenced 41 genes in the fetal brain and caused a disastrous chain-reaction that both prompted cells to die off and interfered with stem cells' ability to grow into different brain cells.
By adding a chemical TLR3 inhibitor, Rana's team found they could partially protect developing brain cells against Zika, although the virus still wound up doing some damage to their model brain.
Rana said this research has only been conducted in human and mouse cells, and needs to be replicated in actual organisms before it can be used to create any therapy to counter Zika.
But infectious disease expert Dr. Amesh Adalja called the work an "elegant study that begins to unravel how Zika is capable of causing microcephaly in the developing fetus."
Adalja, a senior associate with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center's Center for Health Security, said, "We had known prior to this study that Zika had the capacity to infect neural progenitor cells and cause damage."
With this study, he added, "we now have an elucidation of one mechanism that the virus uses, TLR3. This discovery opens up avenues for further understanding of the entire cascade of changes in gene expression that are caused by Zika infection."
The study is published in the May 6 issue of the journal Cell Stem Cell.


NAMC's 3–6 Montessori Homeschool Program is a resource-rich program that provides you with the foundation you need to set up and put into practice a three-year homeschool educational program for your child. In a convenient, single shipment, you receive all the curriculum, key materials, material templates with preparation instructions, and support material you will need to build an active, cohesive learning environment. The program is rooted in Montessori philosophy and methodology and is designed to meet the cognitive, emotional, social, and physical development needs of your child.


text:
Our Fight to Keep America Safe from Gun Violence
By Gabrielle Giffords and Mark Kelly
eBook Unabridged Audio Download
Gabrielle Giffords is known across the country for her resilience in the face of violence, and for her consensus-building leadership in Congress. The youngest woman ever elected to the Arizona State Senate, Giffords served in the Arizona Legislature from 2000-2005 and in Congress from 2006-2012.
Mark Kelly is a retired astronaut and US Navy Captain. His picture book Mousetronaut, illustrated by C.F. Payne was a #1 New York Times bestseller. He flew his first of four missions in 2001 aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour, the same space shuttle that he commanded on its final flight in May 2011. In 2020 he will be running to represent Arizona in the United States Senate.
Publisher: Scribner (May 2017)
Political Science > Commentary & Opinion
Political Science > City Planning & Urban Development
Social Science > Violence in Society
Book Cover Image (jpg): Enough


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Tristan Reyes
Tristan was born on Oahu, Honolulu, and was raised in Kailua-Kona. He has been tattooing in Kailua-Kona, for the past 16 years before working with Tattoo Valor in Hilo. He was mentored in tattooing by Rockwood, owner of Big Island Tattoo. Going through his apprenticeship with Rockwood, taught him well, the necessary standards expected by the DoH, tattoo and body piercing aftercare, business etiquette, and professionalism needed to become, and continue to be a solid tattoo artist and body piercer.
He has recently moved to Hilo in May of 2022, and wants to continue his path as a tattoo artist and body piercer, while at Tattoo Valor.
Tristan started his career in body piercing back in February of 2018, prior to the pandemic. He was mentored by Kimberly Rowan, senior piercer and founder of Finder's Keepers Body Piercing, and International Body Jewelry, located in Chesapeake and Norfolk, VA. Being that Kimberly had a degree in metallurgy, Tristan was taught to only use high grade material for body piercing. F136 titanium jewelry was just that. Non-allergenic, and durable, clients seek him out, not just for his steady hand, but for the quality of his products and aftercare. Tristan is proud to be the in-house piercer for Tattoo Valor, Hilo!
Tristan, although first taught how to tattoo Americana/Old School, lettering, and bold line work tattoos; he now specializes in Polynesian, minimalist, color, watercolor, Disney, Marvel, and other comic book/anime tattoos. He aspires to learn and perfect some other styles of tattooing like portrait, realism, geometrical, and embroidery tattoos, while near his colleagues at Valor.
Lastly, Tristan is also aspiring to become the Big island's first tattoo and piercing supplier. Now that the pandemic has changed everything, the pace at which he can achieve the goal of "tattoo/piercing supplier" has down shifted. He hopes that with working at Tattoo Valor, and investing in his business (Pacific Island Ink Tattoo Supply) that he will expand his horizons on the market for becoming a island wide, reputable, supplier for his industry.
You can reach Tristan on his Instagram and website:
@tattootris
www.pacificislandink.com
You may also contact him on his mobile:


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Gap Osmótico Fecal es un cálculo realizado para distinguir entre diferentes causas de diarrea.

Se calcula con la ecuación 290 − 2 * (Na fecal+ K fecal). El número 290 es el valor de la osmolalidad fecal. La osmolalidad fecal no es medida directamente, y se suele dejar como una constante en el rango de 290 a 300.

Un bajo gap osmótico fecal puede implicar diarrea secretora, mientras que un alto gap osmótico fecal puede significar diarrea osmótica. La razón de esto es que los iones secretados de sodio y potasio participan en un gran porcentaje de la osmolalidad fecal en la diarrea secretora, mientras que en la diarrea osmótica, las moléculas como los carbohidratos no absorbidos son los contribuyentes más significantes para la osmolalidad fecal.

Un gap normal se ubica entre 50 y 100 mosm/kg.

Un alto gap osmótico (>100 mosm/kg) es causa de diarrea osmótica incluida la enfermedad celiaca, pancreatitis crónica, deficiencia de lactasa, lactulosa, uso/abuso de laxantes osmóticos y la enfermedad de Whipple.

Un bajo gap osmótico (<50 mosm/kg) es causa de diarrea secretora incluida las mediadas por toxinas (cólera, cepas de E. coli enterotoxigénicas y secretagogos como péptido intestinal vasoactivo (por ejemplo, VIPoma). Una causa poco común incluye gastrinoma, cáncer medular tiroideo (que produce exceso de calcitonina), diarrea facticia por abuso de laxante no osmótico y adenoma velloso.

Referencias

Enfermedades intestinales
Diagnósticos en medicina


In the mid-1900s Duval Street started to experience reconstruction and construction improvement that gave it a new image and purpose in the city. The majority of Duval Street photos from this time period are associated with the Central Improvement Association that documented the shots for reconstruction planning purposes. In the first picture the desolation and emptiness of this area can be seen with the consecutive line of empty lots on the one side of the street. The street housed sporadic spots of life and action surrounded by empty voids of inactivity. This variability to the consistent structure of Duval Street was the major focus on the improvements of the "sense of place" in this neighborhood.
The additional context of this photo was that it was taken from a survey of multiple city officials and members of the Central Improvement Association. This displays the city's concern for the improvement of this area and the effect that its reconstruction would have on the cities appeal as a whole. The second photo shows the construction of the Richmond-Petersburg Turnpike, which is a toll road that will cross over Duval Street. The question is why was the Duval Street area picked to have a toll road pass over its residents?
After the Civil War and into the early 1900s Duval Street progressed into a predominantly black neighborhood of poor laborers. In this low-income area it was common to find empty lots and abandoned houses, which can still be seen in the 1950s photos. Yet, there is a tension between the desolation and need for reconstruction, in the Duval Street area. The fact that the city could build an overpass over this neighborhood shows Duval Street's lack of importance and respect in the greater context of the city of Richmond.
Maybe the city officials in the first picture weren't surveying the Duval Street area with the purpose of finding ways to improve the neighborhood but for an alterative motive of seeking ways to utilize the desolate impoverished land of the Duval Street Area. For example the Richmond-Petersburg Turnpike toll road detracts from the "sense of place" for Duval Street with loud cars passing overhead, at the same time the toll road will better the efficiency and lifestyle of residents of other parts of the city. Therefore Duval Street in this time period loses its sense of place and deteriorates as a neighborhood of the city, swept aside by the construction endeavors of city officials.
1 Response to Duval Street Loses Steam.
The first photo caught my attention particularly because the buildings appear to be slightly crooked. I don't know if the buildings were in fact tilted in such a way or if the photo appears to skew them a little, but it made me think about the ways we can take photos to get a point across, just like when we write an essay for an argument. I bet that if these homes had been photographed from another angle, they might have appeared more sturdy. But if whoever took this photograph wanted to illustrate the deteriorating condition of the buildings, as well as their lack of appeal, he or she did a good job with this photo.


I just added new pix of a Lada-Niva, I found in Romania!
It shouldn't be a catalogue, just a little photocollection.
Some of these photos are not taken by me, I collected them in the Internet.
This was a Jeep, but it was converted for a ATW-Trip (around the world).
It was also used for a tour, there was a book available the "HALFSAFE", what's the name of it.
This AMPHIRANGER is German brand and can swim and 4WD, which is a very interesting combination, isn't it?
This vehicle is FORD-Fiesta based and all you need is the conversation kit for building your own Dutt Mariner..
This Niva is the Niva-Club-EFI-Model from Greece, it's from a brochure!
This is a special-Niva-Model fur Tundra and Taiga conditions.


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Wolfgang Gülich (* 1940) ist ein deutscher Offizier (Brigadegeneral a. D.), Autor und Sammler.

Leben
Gülich diente bei der Pioniertruppe im Heer der Bundeswehr. Er nahm von 1971 bis 1973 am 14. Generalstabslehrgang (H) an der Führungsakademie der Bundeswehr in Hamburg teil.

Später, von 1982 bis 1985, war er Chef des Stabes der 10. Panzerdivision in Sigmaringen. 1990 wurde er Mitarbeiter der Verbindungsgruppe des Bundesministeriums der Verteidigung im Ministerium für Abrüstung und Verteidigung der DDR. Von 1991 bis 1994 war er Kommandeur der neu aufgestellten Heimatschutzbrigade 37 in Dresden bzw. 1995 der umbenannten Panzergrenadierbrigade 37 in Frankenberg. In seine Zeit fiel die Integration von übernommenen Soldaten der Nationalen Volksarmee und der Abzug der Gruppe der Sowjetischen Truppen in Deutschland. Auch näherte er sich den Kirchen in Ostdeutschland an.

Danach wurde er stellvertretender Befehlshaber des Wehrbereichskommandos VII / 13. Panzergrenadierdivision in Leipzig. 1998/99 war er Nationaler Befehlshaber des zweiten deutschen SFOR-Kontingents in Bosnien-Herzegowina. 2000 wurde er im Sächsischen Landtag in Dresden feierlich verabschiedet. Er wurde mit der Sächsischen Verfassungsmedaille ausgezeichnet.

2002 wurde er als erster ehemaliger Militär in die Synode der Evangelisch-Lutherischen Landeskirche Sachsens berufen.

Er ist Autor von drei Bänden zur Geschichte der Königlich Sächsischen Armee im 19. (und 20. Jahrhundert), die in der Reihe Schriften der Rudolf-Kötzschke-Gesellschaft im Sax-Verlag erschienen sind. Michael Vollert würdigte sein Werk von 2011 in der Militärgeschichtlichen Zeitschrift. Es handle sich demnäch um eine "breit angelegte Darstellung", die eine "Lücke geschlossen" habe und nicht nur für Historiker von Wert sei. Eine Rezension, erschienen in der Zeitschrift Neues Archiv für sächsische Geschichte, verwies etwa lobend auf seine Arbeit im sächsischen Hauptstaatsarchiv Dresden. Bereits sein erster Band (2. Auflage 2008) wurde in der Gesamtschau positiv aufgenommen. Außerdem veröffentlichte Gülich u. a. in der Zeitschrift für Heereskunde.

2014 überließ er dem Militärhistorischen Museum Wolkenstein eine umfangreiche Sammlung an Zinnfiguren.

Gülich lebt mittlerweile in Leipzig.

Schriften (Auswahl)
 Die Sächsische Armee zur Zeit Napoleons. Die Reorganisation von 1810 (= Schriften der Rudolf-Kötzschke-Gesellschaft. 9). Mit Uniformabbildungen von Peter Bunde, Sax-Verlag, Beucha 2006, ISBN 3-934544-77-0. (2. verbesserte Auflage 2008)
 Die Sächsische Armee zur Zeit des Deutschen Bundes, 1815–1867 (= Schriften der Rudolf-Kötzschke-Gesellschaft. 10). Sax-Verlag, Beucha u. a. 2011, ISBN 978-3-86729-052-4.
 Die Sächsische Armee im Norddeutschen Bund und im Kaiserreich, 1867–1914 (= Schriften der Rudolf-Kötzschke-Gesellschaft. 11). Sax-Verlag, Beucha u. a. 2017, ISBN 978-3-86729-175-0.

Weblinks

Einzelnachweise

Brigadegeneral (Heer der Bundeswehr)
Absolvent der Führungsakademie der Bundeswehr
Militärschriftsteller
Zinnfigurensammler
Person (Evangelisch-Lutherische Landeskirche Sachsens)
Träger der Sächsischen Verfassungsmedaille
Deutscher
Geboren 1940
Mann


In a few days another birthday comes around to remind me that I made it through another year of life. So much left undone and so much unsaid, but still it was a pretty good year that God blessed me with. Each birthday I reflect upon my past and think of what I could have done better and how I am going to do better in the future days to come. For I am but a work in process and I am not ready to throw in the towel on improving who and what I am.
I pray that I will get to see many more birthdays and that I can keep improving myself through Jesus and through the will of God. I hope I can continue writing posts on my blogs that readers can enjoy and maybe give them something to think about.
Thank you God and Jesus for the followers, likers and commenters both positive and negative. Thank you for helping me to continually grow spiritually and mentally. And most of all thank you for this life I am getting to live.


Monmouth County was founded in 1683 in what is now known as the Highlands. This unspoiled area is filled with hiking trails and interesting places to explore. Ponds, streams, rivers and the Atlantic Ocean offer plenty of opportunities for swimming, fishing and boating. When the weather turns cold and snow begins to fall, cross-county skiing, sledding and sleigh riding are wonderful outdoor activities for the entire family. Fall is a great time to watch nature in her splendor. Country lanes and back roads offer excellent opportunities to see the leaves changing color.
This part of New Jersey contains some of the largest industries in the eastern U.S. Vonage, located in Holmdel, is a large employer of the town's residents and of citizens in the surrounding areas. Other industries and businesses in Holmdel include engineering firms, talent scouts, advertising companies, CPAs, import/export companies, sales and marketing, and banking and finance. Bayshore Community Hospital, another large employer, serves the Holmdel community and the adjacent region.
Numerous historical sites of the Revolutionary War are found in the area. The Holmes-Hendrickson House is located in Holmdel. It was built in 1754 by Dutch immigrants and was used by the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. Monmouth Battlefield Park is the location of one of the largest battles fought during the War for Independence. Battle reenactments are held every year on June 28 to commemorate the battle in 1778. Monmouth Battlefield Park has a Visitor's Center, a Revolutionary War farmhouse, hiking and riding trails, and picnic grounds.
Parks in Monmouth County such as Holmdel Park, Allaire State Park, Cheesequake State Park, Pine Cove Campground and Turkey Swamp Park Campground offer camp sites, hiking and biking trails. Some of these parks have ponds, streams and rivers for swimming, fishing and boating. Monmouth County has 27 miles of pristine beaches waiting to be explored. Shell collecting, swimming, fishing, shopping, eating, and people watching are some of the activities one can experience in the cooling breezes of the harbors and marinas on the Atlantic Ocean. Lighthouse Tours are also available. These delightful walking explorations of the area's lighthouses reveal the harsh and lonely life of the light keeper, and the beauty of lighthouse architecture.
Monmouth County has two racetracks; several ice arenas, and many golf courses. Great Adventures Park and the Keansburg Amusement Park and Runaway Rapids Water Park, in addition to professional community theater groups, provide additional sources of entertainment for the young and old alike. Atlantic City and the Jersey Shore are just a short drive away.
Whether you are searching for your next home in Holmdel, or looking to invest in real estate, browse current real estate listings, residential Holmdel homes for sale, single - family houses, condominiums, townhouses, or investment opportunities, to find your perfect home. View other relocation resources such as real estate market trends, sold property values in your neighborhood, mortgage financing options and professional real estate agent assistance.


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Home BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION INVESTMENT STRATEGIES AND FUND PERFORMANCE OF SELECTED PENSION FUND ADMINISTRATORS IN LAGOS STATE NIGERIA
INVESTMENT STRATEGIES AND FUND PERFORMANCE OF SELECTED PENSION FUND ADMINISTRATORS IN LAGOS STATE NIGERIA
Over the past decades, pension fund management and administration has received increased responsiveness in many countries (OECD, 2015). In recent times, policy makers in many countries have been attracted to pension as a source of an enabler for funded retirement savings by the maturing workforce (World Bank, 1994), opting for numerous forms of pension scheme. Nigeria embraced the contributory pension scheme subsequent upon the pension reform of 2004. In the contributory scheme, employers and their employees contribute a percentage of the employee's monthly incomes to a retirement savings accounts from which they would after retirement draw their pension benefits after retirement. Pension funds are currently amongst the key institutional investment in the world financial and capital markets (Klumpes & Mason, 2000).
Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) invest monies on behalf of retirees in equities and other investment securities and assets to ensure increased values. They also save for retirees, preserve assets, fund a pension plan and meet retiree's spending requirements (Wallick, Julieann, Christos & Joanne, 2012). To meet the various needs of retirees or to ensure the performance of funds that is within existing regulatory provisions, PFAs adopt investment decisions and apply investment strategies or process, such as investment style, asset allocation, risk profiling of funds. A good investment strategy begins with the right allocation of assets that achieves the objectives of the portfolio. The allocation must be centered on realistic expectations for risk and returns, and should use varied investments in order to do away with risks that are avoidable (Davis, Francis & Glenn, 2007).
Investments involve risk, thus PFAs need to strike a balance between risk and potential return on investment through their selected portfolio holdings (Wallick et al., 2012). It is unethical and improper to carelessly invest pension funds on bad or ill-advised investment, because these are entitlement of workers at point of exit (retirement time). Due to the volatility and sensitivity of the pension system especially in a developing country like Nigeria, successive government have initiated reforms so that most employees will avoid not having enough money to cater for their retirement (Awosika, 2009). For these reforms, it became necessary that they discard old benefit schemes where government makes provision to guarantee retirement benefits toward achieving a pay-as-you-go scheme that are either fully funded or partially funded, where risks are borne by contributors, and not the government (Amoo, 2008). The previously used scheme lost its acceptability because of factors such as demographic developments, future liabilities that are unfunded, multifarious fiscal deficits and lower benefits for pensioners (Amoo, 2008).
The Pension Reforms Act (PRA, 2004) was created with contributions from all stakeholders. This act is completely premised on individual accounts which are held and managed privately by Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs). PFAs are financial institutions established with the aim of accruing funds in order to meet projected pension obligations of workers; they are saddled with the duty of devoting pension contributions to ensure that profits are made (National Pension Commission, 2008). Thus, the bleak future of the retirees from public and private service made it paramount for policy formulators in the country to set up pension funds, which is contributory in nature, with part obligation on the employee and part on the employers. The Pension Fund Administrators were licensed to properly manage potential retiree's funds.
The new pension scheme appears to be on firmer grounds than the previous ones, however for the funds to perform excellently, it still largely depends on the investment proficiency of pension fund administrators (PFAs) and investment strategies adopted by the PFAs. Despite the establishment of PFAs the process of selecting investment is still complicated. On the average, investment selection have to go through asset allocation (a method of determining how to allot an investor's wealth among different countries and asset classes for investment purposes) to Strategic asset allocation (which involves outlining and fixing portfolio asset allocations from the inception, based on historical performance data) and investment style (Chen, Gary & Kaplan, 2002; Reilly & Brown, 2012). If this process are not understood and properly followed it will result in poor fund performance.
Anthony and Mustafa (2010) assert that investment decision is not just a mathematical selection of expected returns on various risk profile, but a whole range of factors - such as political, economic, social factors. Despite the need to risk profile a fund, it does not guarantee capital security or a level of performance. Risk profiling entails identifying the level of risk with respect to investment for a client, bearing in mind, required risk, the client's ability and strength to accommodate risk, and the toleration level for risk (Resnik, 2016). These concerns, along with numerous dynamics have enormous consequences on investment choices for Pension Fund administrators. PFAs' are entities that have the final say, in terms of decision making. The duty of pension administrators entails allocation of assets, industry by industry, on a yearly basis to ensure that they get maximum returns on investment benchmarks pre-assessed on a particular fund. Allocation of assets and investment style verdicts that are reached by handlers of these funds for a long-term basis, stand as the bedrock of what makes up the advantages to plan members, and also help give form to the economy of a nation substantially (Tsado & Guru, 2011).
Fund managers can be inactive, that is, just buying and holding funds or passively indexing just to reduce transaction cost. On the other hand, fund managers can employ an active investing strategy, a situation where they invest in a fund that is momentum trading or "actively managed" (an attempt to outperform benchmark indexes) instead of duplicating market's returns, as seen with index-tracking or passive investment funds (Blankfein & Cohn, 2010). Studies have also shown that on the average, active funds cannot beat the market, thus corroborating the findings of critics (Malkiel, 2003). Some authors like Morey (2005), Morey & Gottesman (2006), Huebscher (2009), and Philips; Kinniry Jr.; Walker; Schlanger; Hirt (2015), found dissimilar outcomes on fund rating. Higher-rated funds were found to outpace lower-rated funds.
Furthermore, according to Reilly and Brown (2012) the highest compounded returns from the broad asset class, such as bonds, Treasury bonds, corporate bonds, and high-yield bonds, in the long run, will most likely accrue to those investors with larger exposures to risky assets. The various moves made by PFAs, to make investment in a certain asset class or otherwise hinge on different reasons and their significance (Tsado & Guru, 2011). Also, there is a division of thought and experience in the world of investing, and there are studies suggesting that both sides are right. However, there is also a division among practitioners as to which strategy is the best. There exists no backdoor or guarantees to being successful when it comes to investing, however, sustaining a realistic and methodical attitude to the art of investment may in some cases enhance the possibilities of investment accomplishments as time progresses (Reilly & Brown, 2012).
For accurate management of pension by Pension fund administrators (PFA), it is imperative that funds which are invested on behalf of the client (potential retirees), must toe the line of the best and appropriate investment strategy to enhance fund security and performance. The Investment strategy adopted by the PFA goes a long way in determining how successful they perform, otherwise retirees both from the public and private sector may face a miserable future (Ayegba, James & Odoh, 2013). This study intends to explore and investigate deeply, the impact, importance and extents that investment strategies go to in order to engender fund performance.
Sule and Ezugwu (2009) assert that in the past it has been established that some of the issues believed to be responsible for the difficulty in accessing retirement benefits are poor documentation of work history, lack of transparency and accountability by the operators of the pension funds, and non-compliance by the operators of the pension funds to the laid down processes in the scheme. At present, the new pension reform of 2014 confirms that the continuous review of pension's regulations and gratuities in the country without a well structured approach for funding the system has become a key challenge that is creating untold economic hardship for retirees (Ayegba, James & Odoh, 2013). This implies a researchable gap in the operation of funds in Nigeria.
One major area of study where theory do not match with practice or investment fails to deliver consistent fund performance in literature is the investment strategy of fund administrators. The close connection between poorly performing fund and different investment strategies (such as strategic tactical and integrated asset allocation, risk profile and regulatory influence) employed by practitioners is still an evolving area of study. Studies have shown that in some situations regulatory influence positively impact fund performance. In some other cases, regulatory influence have a deleterious effect on fund performance. For instance, German Pensions at the mercy of risk-based regulations, commonly have less than the permitted maximum of 35% in equities (Davis, 2013). But when the limits are enforced it leads to lower performance. Thus, regulations which aim to protect fund can also limits investors from achieving higher fund performance.
Stone, Chen, Marsella, Rebekah, Nicholas, Paul and Michael (2015) posit that active strategies are not necessary factors that can be used to aim at return maximization; instead, they centre on risk mitigation, income generation, or social causes, amongst other factors. In the US, Kremnitzer (2012), discovered that actively managed funds receive an average 3 year return of 2.87% more than passively managed funds, however, a study by Carhart (1997) conducted along these lines of thought, deduced that actively managed investment funds have tended to under-perform their passively managed counterparts.
With respect to the Nigerian pension and investment situation where scholarly publications constantly bemoan the plight of pensioners, especially regarding shoddy and irregular payment of their pension entitlements, among other problems (Elumilade, 1999; Ogunbameru, 1999; & Idowu, 2006), fund performance has not been investigated along the line of how investment style and strategy impacts performance in the country. The varied results suggest that incongruities exist across the world pension space, as such it is pertinent to factor in the whole spectrum of investment strategy in other to evaluate the effect on fund performance since the pension reform of 2004 (Odiah & Okoye, 2012)
Furthermore, close analysis of fund performance literature both in Nigeria and outside Nigeria revealed that apart from the scanty studies (especially in Nigeria) on risk profile and regulatory influence effect on fund performance, there exist a plethora of anomalies on the effect of investment strategies on fund performance. Studies did not clearly show the effect of risk profiling and investment style on the performance of funds. In addition disparate schools of thoughts, experts and fund managers have not conclusively reported on the best strategy that brings about superior fund performance. Thus, it is the aim of this research, apart from contributing to literatures on fund performance also seeks amongst other things, to determine the relationship between various investment strategies and fund performance in Nigeria.
The general objective of this study is to examine the effect of investment strategies and fund performance of selected pension fund administrators in Lagos State, Nigeria. The specific objectives are to:
1. identify the effect of investment style on fund performance of PFAs;
2. determine the effect asset allocation has on fund performance of PFAs;
3. evaluate the effect risk profile has on fund performance of PFAs; and
4. assess the effect of regulatory influence on fund performance of PFAs.
In order to address the objectives of the study, the following research questions were designed.
1. What is the effect of investment style on fund performance of PFAs?
2. What effect will asset allocation have on fund performance of PFAs?
3. By what means does the risk profile affects PFAs fund performance?
4. What effect does regulatory influence have on Fund performance of PFAs?
1.5 Hypotheses
The objectives of the study and its research interest are under consideration, therefore, the following null hypotheses were postulated at 5% level of significance:
Ho1: Investment style has no significant effect on fund performance of PFAs.
Ho2: Asset allocation has no significant effect on fund performance of PFAs.
Ho3: Risk profile has no significant effect on fund performance of PFAs
Ho4: Regulatory influence has no significant effect on fund performance of PFAs
This study focused on selected Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) and the strategic investment that is employed in guaranteeing fund performance of the pension funds. With respect to coverage, this study only focused on the following three selected PFAs: ARM Pensions, Leadway Pensure, and PAL Pensions. The study was further limited itself to assessing professionals in the field under observation, among other employees, because of their wealth of knowledge in fund administration. With respect to geographical location, Lagos State of Nigeria has been chosen as the area of study, because most of the PFAs have their head offices situated in Lagos the commercial hub of the nation. The sample size was determined using the formula recommended by Yamane (1967). Primary data were used.
It is the hope of the researcher that at the end of the study, the result derived would uncover the benefits and shortcomings of investment strategies employed by PFAs, in order to secure a brighter future for Nigerian workers after their active service years. Furthermore, the management of the concerned PFAs would find this research work very relevant in articulating investment strategies. They would also be enlightened on how to properly invest the pension funds of employees of various public and private institutions so that they can obtain a better return on contributed funds. It shall also provide the management of these PFAs with a framework for investing pension funds. The existing active customers and retirees would find the work invaluable as they stand to benefit from the improved service delivery and returns that would be derived from improved fund performance and hence reap higher pensions payment. The stakeholders in pension administration would find in this research work, an important source of knowledge that is capable of assisting them in making qualitative investment decisions. Specifically, the government would benefit as future liabilities which used to be unfunded reduces, derived from the advantages of deploying better investment strategies by pension administrators. This research project would serve as a significant repository of knowledge for students. It would further help their appreciation of the topic and provide a bedrock for more studies on the topic and most importantly, it is envisaged that it should be useful to public policy analyst, particularly policy makers, scholars and the society at large.
1.8 Operationalization of Variables
The dependent variable in this study is fund performance indicated by Unit Price. The independent variable is investment Strategies; and the proxies for investment strategies are Investment Style, Asset allocation, Risk profile, and Regulatory influence.
Y = f (X)
Y = Dependent Variable
X = Independent Variable
Y = Fund Performance
X = Investment Strategies
X = (x1, x2, x3, x4)
x1= {Investment Styles (INS)}
x2 {Asset Allocation (ASA)}
x3 = Risk Profile (RIP)
x4 = Regulatory Influence (REI)
Functional Relationship
Y = f (x1) ………………………………………………………………Equation 1
Y = f (x2)………………………………………….................................Equation 2
1.9 Operational Definition of Terms
Investment: The action or process of investing money for profit.
Pensioner: A person who collects a pension, most commonly because of retirement from the workplace
Pension: a programme established purposefully for workers, it entails the monthly remittance of money into a dedicated account throughout the period a worker is in active service, and payments are made from this account after the retirement of the worker, in order to sustain him or her.
Asset Allocation: asset location is measured by strategic asset allocation,tactical asset allocation and integrated asset allocation
Fund: A sum of money or other incomes set aside for a defined investment purpose
Fund Performance: refers to the returns from an invested pension fund quantified by the unit price.
Risk Profile: Risk Profiling functions as an indicator with respect to what investors might anticipate in terms of fund's volatility
Investment style: refers to diverse style characteristics of equities, bonds or financial derivatives within a given investment philosophy. It can be active or passive. It is the determined beliefs of the investor.
Investment manager: refers to a person or organization that makes portfolio investments on behalf of clients in accordance with predetermined investment objectives.
PFA: Acronym for Pension Fund Administrator. A PFA is a company that has been given licensed by the federal government to manage pension funds and pay pensioners their benefits in line with the Pension Reform Act
PENCOM: refers to the National Pension Commission which is the regulatory body that ensures effective administration, supervision and regulation of the Pension Schemes in Nigeria.
Regulatory Influence: these are restrictions and controls specified by the Pension commission that must not be violated
1. AN EVALUATION OF POLITICAL PLATFORM ON RAYPOWER 100.5FM IN BUILDING NATIONAL UNITY
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» CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background to the Study It is a matter of fact that there are a lot of things in which large companies are experts while ...Continue Reading »
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» CHAPTER ONEINTRODUCTIONBackground of the StudyThe relationship between the organization and its members is influenced by what motivates them to work a...Continue Reading »
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» ABSTRACT This research work deals with the impact of packaging on storage and distribution of goods in an organization, with much emphasis on the func...Continue Reading »
5. PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE OF BRITISH-CURRICULUM ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS IN LAGOS STATE
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There are many options that you can choose when you want to start breeding tarantulas, and one of the most popular ones is the Pelinobius muticus, commonly known as the King Baboon Tarantula. While this is a very famous tarantula, they have a lot of personality and will be in a defensive state almost all the time.
The King Baboon Tarantula has a big size, having a maximum leg span of 20 cm. They come from East Africa and are commonly found on Kenya and Tanzania, while there have been some specimens known to be found in some regions of Uganda. They like to spend their day underground, so you won't be able to see them during most hours of the day.
They are the only members of the Pelinobius genus, so they are a fascinating and unique species to have at home.
As already mentioned, this is a very defensive tarantula. Even though they don't have urticating hairs, they can defend themselves pretty well. Due to their big size and a strong bite, they can kill several types of animals, including some species of rodents and even snakes! These fellas know how to take care of themselves in the wild. Despite being a very popular tarantula, it isn't suited for a beginner.
These tarantulas have long longevity, so if you take care of them properly, you can expect them to be around for a long, long time. Like it's usual in tarantula species, the females can live longer than the males, with specimens known to have lived up to 25 years; the average lifespan of a female Pelinobius Muticus is of about 20 years.
The males have a longer lifespan than most of the rest of tarantula species; they are known to live from 10 to 15 years; very impressive! Regarding their physical characteristics, as said above, they can reach a leg span of up to 20 cm, but there are some specimens known to have developed a bigger size, reaching a leg span of 22 cm. You can't expect them to have a wide variety of colors; their coloration only has shades of brown and some orange details. Despite that, they are really unmistakable.
Like mentioned above, they're a defensive species and will attack almost anything that approaches them when feeling in danger. Their venom is very potent, even as spiderlings they can give you a very unpleasant sensation that can last a few days. Besides that, you can expect them to be underground during most hours of the day (as mentioned above) since in the wild they are usually in this state. They're very active during the night time. They can be very fast when they need to.
We have already mentioned that, even though their venom isn't a real danger to humans, they can give a very unpleasant sensation that can last for a while.
Add the fact that most of the time they're expecting something dangerous in their environment and are ready to attack, so handling them is definitely not a good idea, not even for an expert. It's better to keep them unbothered and minding their own business. You don't want something bad happening to you!
Their feeding isn't that complicated, but as they are very defensive, you must use a helping tool when taking care of their terrarium or trying to feed them. They will accept many species of insects, including crickets, cockroaches, beetles and more. You can feed them with mice as well, but make sure you do not feed them with things bigger than half of their size.
We're talking about keeping a really big sized tarantula, so you must provide a terrarium big enough for them. Perfect size for one may be of 30x40x40 cm, but if you think that's too big, then you should ask about something that suits your tarantula better.
Since they like to dig and spend most of the sunlight hours underground, you should provide at least 20 cm of a substrate for them to feel comfortable and at home during most hours of the day.
During the day, they will hide somewhere they already dug, so you can't expect them to be around during that time; however, you must take care of the temperature of their terrarium properly. The optimal temperature for the King Baboon Tarantula is between 24-28°C. You should adjust the levels throughout the day; lower it when it's already night, you can do it up to 18°C and you won't notice a change in their behavior; make it a bit higher during the day.
The key is to try to keep a good balance between the temperatures during the days, so your tarantula doesn't get environment-stressed. The humidity of the terrarium should not be too high; with levels that can vary from 40-50%, you can perfectly mimic their natural habitat. Inside their hideout, the humidity should be of around 75-80%.
As usual as with many tarantula species, the females are known to outgrow the males throughout their life. A mature male is very weak, and their partner usually eats them once the copulation is done, no matter the circumstances. The female is ready for the mating after 4 or 5 weeks the molting has happened. The males are usually sexually mature after molting about 11 times, and five years.
The copulation process is a bit complicated due to the risk of cannibalism mentioned above, which happens most of the time. You should be careful when you first introduce the male to their new partner. If the results are good, the female will be hiding more than usual; you can expect an egg sac to be developed within the next three months after the copulation; they will take care of it during the next four months. After the spiderlings are born, the best idea is to separate them from each other to prevent cannibalism from happening.
This is a tough tarantula species to have, and although they are very popular among the breeders, this can be a very hard task, even for an expert. A novice in the tarantula-breeding world shouldn't think of having this species; there are easier ones to take care of. Not only they are aggressive, but they will also find any weak spot around the terrarium to escape from it; you should be careful and make sure that there isn't a single spot where they can get away. You wouldn't want these big friends to be walking around your house freely!
As mentioned multiple times, if you want to see the tarantula walking around, this species is not for you, as they are most of the time in the hideout they dug somewhere in the terrarium.
In conclusion, you should only consider the King Baboon Tarantula as an option if you are an expert breeder and think that you are capable of handling such a moody and hardy species, but even if you're an expert, you should be careful with this species as they are in a defensive state most of the time.


text:
Q: apollo-federation validate input field in another subgraph in microservice project I have configured graphql, apollo-federation, apollo-gateway.
Menu service
mutation createMenu(location_id: ID!): Menu

Location service
type Location{
    id: ID!
}
type Query{
    location(id: ID!): Location
}

in menu create resolver I want to get location data
storeMenu(_, location_id, __, ___){
    // how to get location data because location is located in external service
}

I am familiar with @key, @external, extends. But this is for type object not works with input type

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Q: Check in base class if derived class' data structure contains string value I was given a new project at work, and I am very new to c#.
I have a base class that will be derived many times, and so I am trying to come up with a way to check if a derived class contains a const string value from a .contains() method implemented in the base class. I cannot use a string array because I have to reference the string values by variable name when I am making calls to other methods in the derived class. The reason I want the base class to implement it is this project will be used for many years at my company, and once I pass it off, new hires will be the ones implementing the base class.
I don't want to implement multiple data structures to achieve this, i.e. a string array and an enum, for simplicity sakes.
What I want is something like this:
public abstract class Base
{
   public bool contains(string s)
   {
       // some implementation here
       // this would return true if SomeDataStructure
       // contains a const string == s
   }
}

public Derived : Base
{
   SomeDataStructure {
       const string = "string 1";
       const string = "string 2";
       const string = "string 3";
   }
}

Is this possible, and if so, what data structure and implementation would I use?
Thanks!

A: You can use reflection to get all the fields of class
Check their type if it is string
If Yes then check if given string is equal to its value
etc, You can see reflection from msdn

A: I'm really struggling with what you're trying to achieve, it looks like you're marking classes using string constants but I'm not sure. Just to get this straight, you want the function contains(s) to return true or false depending on the value of the constants declared on the derived class?
You could declare an attribute (lets say MarkAttribute), then tag string constants which should be registered in the derived or base class and use reflection on the base class method as below. It's not really efficient to enumerate all fields on every call, so you might want to consider caching the results.
class Base
{
    [Mark]
    public const string StringOnBase = "!?";

    private static readonly Dictionary<Type, string[]> fieldsPerInstance = new Dictionary<Type, string[]>();

    public bool ContainsMarked(string s)
    {
        var t = this.GetType();
        if (!fieldsPerInstance.ContainsKey(t))
        {
            fieldsPerInstance[t] = t
                .GetFields(BindingFlags.Public)
                .Where(f => f.GetCustomAttribute<MarkAttribute>() != null)
                .Where(f => f.FieldType == typeof(string))
                .Select(f => f.GetValue(this) as string)
                .ToArray();
        }

        return fieldsPerInstance[t].Contains(s);
    }
}

class Derived : Base
{
    [Mark]
    public const string StringA = "A";
    public const string OtherString = "!?";
}

class DerivedAgain : Derived
{
    [Mark]
    public const string StringB = "B";
}

[AttributeUsage(AttributeTargets.Field)]
class MarkAttribute : Attribute
{
}

class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        var derived = new Derived();
        derived.ContainsMarked(DerivedAgain.StringB); // false
        derived.ContainsMarked(Base.StringOnBase); // true;
    }
}

If you're checking on value however, note that the following code will return true, because OtherString is set to the same value as StringOnBase.
derived.ContainsMarked(Derived.OtherString); // true

Could you give a real world example of where you would want to apply this though?

A: Ok so from the discussion on the previous answer, would something like this suffice?
abstract class Base
{
    protected Base()
    {
        var t = GetType();
        if (!channelMap.ContainsKey(t))
            channelMap[t] = GetDeclaredChannels(t);

        channels = channelMap[t];
    }

    // All derived children must declare channel constants in a (static) nested class.
    private const string ChannelClassName = "Channel";

    // Static cache which maps types to an array of declared channels.
    private static readonly Dictionary<Type, string[]> channelMap = new Dictionary<Type, string[]>();
    private readonly string[] channels;

    // Exposed read-only list of channels.
    public IReadOnlyCollection<string> Channels
    {
        get { return channels; }
    }

    public bool Contains(string s)
    {
        return channels != null && channels.Contains(s);
    }

    private static string[] GetDeclaredChannels(Type type)
    {
        var channelType = type.GetNestedType(ChannelClassName);
        if (channelType == null)
            return null; // no channels declared.

        return channelType
            .GetFields(BindingFlags.Public | BindingFlags.Static | BindingFlags.FlattenHierarchy)
            .Where(f => f.IsLiteral && !f.IsInitOnly)
            .Select(f => f.GetValue(null) as string)
            .ToArray();
    }
}

class Derived : Base
{
    public class Channel // may be static or not
    {
        public const string One = "test";
        public const string Two = "test2";
    }
}
class Derived2 : Base { }

new Derived().Contains(Derived.Channels.ChannelOne); // true;
new Derived2().Contains(Derived.Channels.ChannelOne); // false

Less extensible than before, as now all string constants declared in a nested type are marked as channels. You may also run into problems when a derived class is derived again, it needs to declare additional constants with public new class Channel : Derived.Channel.


Have we ever wondered if we, the common people are affected in any way by the wildlife that surrounds us? Is it or is it not our responsibility to try and save the species that are slowly becoming extinct? We, being from the engineering background, might not feel directly affected by these changes in the environmental domain. But in fact, we are. It's about time we take a moment's pause and reflect on our responsibilities in preserving the fauna that is slowly marching towards extinction. To put light on this aspect, Professor Randall C Kyes from the University of Washington visited our Institute on the 28th of November,2014 to give an one hour presentation on "GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP IN RESEARCH TRAINING AND OUTCOME: PROMOTING CONSERVATION BIOLOGY AND GLOBAL HEALTH". Randall C. Kyes is a research professor in the Department of Psychology and Adjunct Research Professor in the Department of Global Health and Anthropology, in the University of Washington. He is also the Founding Director of the University's Centre for Global Field Study and Core Scientist and Head of the Division of Global Programs at the Washington National Primate Research Centre. His research focuses on field-based studies of nonhuman primates and other wildlife in the areas of Conservation Biology and Global Health, at the human-environment interface. All of Dr. Kyes' research, teaching and service activities have a strong international focus. Since coming to the University of Washington, he has been responsible for helping to establish collaborative programs in a number of countries, including Indonesia, Nepal, China, Thailand, Bangladesh, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mexico, and India, with developing programs in Brazil and Laos. These partnerships involve joint research and annual training programs ("field course in conservation biology & global health") for local university students and professionals.
During the one hour presentation, he shed light on various aspects of his field of research in conservation biology and related to us the accounts of his travel across the globe. He highlighted a few key points of his research work which were mainly centered on the concepts of human-environment interface and its impact on global health, their training and outreach programs, and the metrics they use to measure the extent of development they have made so far. He, in association with his collaborators, organizes field training programs, where they train the participants to conduct various scientific experiments related to saving the fauna of that region. Their training programs also involve an active community outreach education component for children from local schools. He gave us an account of the annual, month-long study abroad program in Indonesia (in collaboration with PSSP-IPB), which provided field-based educational and research opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students from UW. The program was conducted on Tinijil Island, in conjunction with the field course for Indonesian students, thus allowing the students of both countries to learn about the endangered species, mainly primates, of their locality. He also explained the concept of "human-environment" interface and global health whereby they found, from their experimental studies in Indonesia, microorganisms which causes harm to humans, being present in the body of a certain primate that is on the verge of extinction in that region and vice versa. Also people from time immemorial had been killing and selling the endangered species in local markets of Indonesia. Mr. Randall, along with his collaborators, had been spreading words and awareness, and making serious efforts for the past two decades in saving these endangered species. In Assam, he is collaborating with the Gibbon Conservation Centre, Jorhat , which deals with the conservation of Hullock Gibbon, one of the endangered species of this region.
It was a very enlightening lecture given by Professor Kyes and we, on our part, should also make necessary efforts to contribute in the conservation of the extinct species of our region. Even spreading the words and spreading awareness can make a huge difference. A lot of the faculties from our Institute seemed very eager and enthusiastic to take part in the field research programs that they conduct annually. It's about time we take a step!


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Hey, creeps: You can now buy the mansion where Phil Spector murdered Lana Clarkson
Photo: Richard Hartog (Getty Images via Los Angeles Times)
Do you have more money than taste? Did you already pay someone to cheat on the SATs for your kid and then photoshop them into the pool so the USC admissions office thinks they were on the water polo team? Well, we've got a hot new thing for you to spend your money on: A fabulous mansion in Alhambra, California called the "Pyrenees Castle." It's a French-style chateau on a 2.5 acre lot just west of downtown Los Angeles, and it can be yours for the reasonable price of $5.5 million.
Oh, also, it's the mansion where Phil Spector murdered actress Lana Clarkson (star of 1985's The Barbarian Queen) in 2003. He shot her in the mouth and then tried to play it off as an accident and also as a suicide. After a mistrial the first time around, Spector was eventually convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 19 years in prison. Now you can live in that house! Of course, $5.5 million is a lot of money, and there's gotta be similarly appealing French-style chateaus in the Los Angeles area where a famous man didn't murder somebody—even if you will have to look around a bit to find one.
Unless, of course, you're a big creep and you want this house because a person was murdered in it. If that's the case, you have more money than you should. Somebody fucked up by letting you have money.
[via Daily News]
World's creepiest Beatles fan can soon buy Eleanor Rigby's grave
The Agony And The Ecstasy Of Phil Spector


text:
package com.intellij.packaging.elements;

import org.jetbrains.annotations.NotNull;

/**
 * @author nik
 */
public interface RenameablePackagingElement {
  String getName();

  boolean canBeRenamed();

  void rename(@NotNull String newName);
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
City school projects waiting for action as state pauses program
Despite an influx of COVID cash, Gateway Cities need a state agency partnership to update their school buildings
by Colin Hogan January 10, 2023 January 10, 2023
Jireh Swift School, built in 1909, houses more than 200 elementary and prekindergarten students. The MSBA recently declined to help New Bedford build a school to replace it. Credit: Colin Hogan / The New Bedford Light
NEW BEDFORD — The week before Thanksgiving, nightly temperatures were regularly dipping below 30 degrees in the city, but only two weeks prior the highs had been in the 70s. At Jireh Swift, the brick elementary school that has stood since 1909, the temperature swings exposed a small malfunction in the boiler system.
On that Tuesday, only one day before students would be released for the holiday, the school department's official Twitter account announced that the boiler had given way. School was canceled for the next day.
The Tigers community — about 20 teachers and more than 200 elementary and pre-kindergarten students — needed a temporary home. For one week, they moved into a section of Normandin Middle School.
"It was a really upbeat week," said Andrew O'Leary, an assistant superintendent, who described how the schools came together for an extended "visit," almost like a dual enrollment program. "But from my seat, it makes you think, 'Why are we faced with this facility gap?'"
The New Bedford School District is nearly at full capacity with over 12,000 students in 25 schools, including the third-largest high school population in the state. But a once-in-a-lifetime windfall of COVID dollars has allowed for the planning and implementation of more than a dozen capital improvement projects — a total investment of tens of millions of dollars for new roofs, modular classrooms, entire buildings, and, yes, boilers.
Yet, as New Bedford attempts to push these projects through (COVID funds have an expiration date of 2024, at the latest) the district is finding unexpected obstacles in its usual partnerships. This fall, the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) indefinitely paused a program called the Accelerated Repair Program (ARP), which O'Leary estimated has made at least $40 million available to New Bedford for building renovations since 2012, when it was created.
And at its most recent meeting, in December, the MSBA board officially declined to move forward with New Bedford's proposal to build a new school for the students at Swift Elementary.
The "Swift-Ashley" project, as local district officials call it, looks to put the Tigers in a new building, where they would be joined by students from Ashley Elementary, who now occupy a similarly tired, brick building — built in 1922, Ashley School reached its centennial last year.
The Ashley School, built in 1922, reached its centennial last year. Credit: Colin Hogan / The New Bedford Light
Low-income communities with small tax bases have trouble raising money for big construction projects on their own, especially because they often shoulder greater needs for student support services, O'Leary said.
So for months, New Bedford was hoping the MSBA would partner with them on the Swift-Ashley proposal for a new school building. A document from a June 28 buildings committee meeting reads: "The Mayor, and Superintendent have called MSBA Senior officials to improve the chance of [the Swift-Ashley project] moving forward this year."
Despite their efforts, the Swift-Ashley project was not one of the 10 moved along in the process.
O'Leary said he understands why the MSBA is looking to do "some belt tightening," as construction costs have increased since the pandemic. Pausing the Accelerated Repair Program, which had focused on smaller-scale renovations, will help the independent state organization protect its core mission: build new schools and complete "major" projects.
Yet the MSBA's decision to pause the repair program, coupled with its dwindling selection of core projects, has posed a significant challenge to cities across Massachusetts, and New Bedford in particular.
"Some districts are going to be looking to replace buildings from the '80s and '90s soon, and we're still looking to replace buildings from before the 1920s," O'Leary said. "These are legacies of underinvestment in Gateway Cities."
Eight schools in New Bedford are at least 100 years old, with an average age of 63 years; that means the average school is older than New Bedford's 1966 hurricane barrier.
In addition, O'Leary said he believes that a positive, though perhaps unintended, benefit of the ARP renovation funds was a boon to school accessibility.
He explained that after schools spend a certain amount of money, they become legally required to make accessibility updates, as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act. Repairs for a roofing project, for example, could end up becoming so expensive that they require a school to pull in other projects, like building accessibility ramps.
"By giving districts these ARP grants, the MSBA is essentially prompting districts to address … long-standing ADA issues. It's a win for accessibility."
Other Gateway Cities rely heavily on the accelerated funding too, which specifically targets repairs to roofs, windows, and boilers to extend the life of school buildings.
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"We have heavily used the [accelerated repairs] program in the past and are disappointed that it's going away," said Patrick Roach, the chief financial and operations officer for Springfield Public Schools. "We have some very old buildings, and we can't replace them all at once."
Taking away this funding stream for targeted renovations means that Springfield schools will have to narrow their renovation plans. "The city of Springfield will have to cancel other projects they had planned," Roach confirmed, saying Springfield alone had 20 other projects this decision will affect.
These district officials in Gateway Cities see the accelerated repair funds as a high-leverage way to service their aging schools and high-needs students while gathering resources for larger renovations. O'Leary said he thinks the MSBA sees these funds as fat to trim: "They don't see it the way we see it."
At the November meeting of the New Bedford School Committee, Mayor Jon Mitchell seemed alarmed by the news that this funding was going away. "That concerns me," he said in response to a presentation from O'Leary.
Coming out of that meeting, the mayor said he planned to "rally some of the other mayors of larger cities around the state," and according to a spokesperson brought up the issue in an early December meeting.
School finance and construction work doesn't always grab headlines, but it has profound effects on student learning and the economic vitality of a community. Attending school in a new building has been shown to increase test scores and boost attendance; to inspire teachers to work harder; and to boost nearby real estate prices by more than the cost of construction.
In other words, it's an investment with a far-reaching ripple effect.
But an audit from September found that the MSBA does not have a clearly documented process to ensure that its various methods for evaluating potential projects were completed "in a consistent manner and that school districts with the most urgent need are given priority."
Though it contested some of the audit's characterizations, the MSBA agreed to amend its processes.
The Jireh Swift School, in New Bedford's North End, was the site of a boiler malfunction just before Thanksgiving. Students were relocated out of the building for one week. Credit: Colin Hogan / The New Bedford Light
At the December meeting, the MSBA voted to raise their reimbursement rate per square foot for major construction projects, something O'Leary and Roach said was necessary.
In addition, the transition to the new Healey administration could be an opportunity to address the MSBA's ability to evaluate, select, and partner with school districts. But O'Leary wasn't holding his breath: "The wheels turn slowly," he said.
Meanwhile, New Bedford hopes to find the best use for its coronavirus relief funds, including the ESSER III grant — the third and largest installment — that recently made $43 million available. The district has said it intends to spend this money to update the aging school buildings and fund new capital projects.
Already New Bedford spends about 60% of all tax dollars on the school department. Almost 10% of that money goes toward cleaning and maintaining their aging building stock.
"Schools are the single largest investment our city makes," O'Leary has said.
But without new partnerships with the MSBA, including their targeted accelerated repair funds, New Bedford will be one of many Gateway Cities with projects waiting in its queue.
Email Colin Hogan at chogan@newbedfordschools.org
MORE STORIES BY COLIN HOGAN
Podcast: Hear what students have to say on environmental curriculum standards
Long hours, hard work, special training … and low pay
Has anyone asked if other projects, new school construction, have been approved in the last 6 months? If funding was provided then to which communities, then, make a comparison of the schools being repaired or replaced to the schools of New Bedford. All this is public record and should have been looked into and provided in this report. I understand how the MSBA operates.


We are surrounded by different types of textiles in our daily lives. Geotextiles is a bit different from them, but are very popular due to their use in over 80 different types of applications around us. These are simply synthetic fibers turned into a fabric with permeable qualities and are resistant to biodegradation.
Originally, geotextiles were intended to be used as an alternative to the soil filters. These fabrics have been used to separate, reinforce, filter, protect or drain, depending on the textile's intended properties. Often known as geosynthetics, geotextiles are mostly used in civil or environmental engineering projects.
Originally geotextiles were known as filter fabrics. In the 1950s, R.J.Berrett started working with geotextiles, using them in erosion control situations like behind precast concrete sea-walls, below large stone ripraps, under precast concrete erosion control blocks, etc. For this, he used different woven monofilament fabrics, with 6 to 30% of the open area. Need for permeability along with soil retention, with fabric strength and elongation made geotextiles ideal for use in filtration situations.
But, geotextiles go way back. Geotextiles were one of the first textile products possibly used in human history. Surprisingly so, Egyptian sites excavations have shown the use of linen and grass mats. This early on, geotextiles were made usually with natural fibers or vegetation mixed with soil to improve road stability.
Mechanical characteristics: right tenacity, tensile strength, drapability, bursting strength, flexibility, frictional resistance, and tearing strength.
Degradation characteristics: resistance to the bio, hydraulic, photo, chemical, and mechanical degradation.
Endurance characteristics: abrasion resistance, elongation, and right clogging length.
Both natural and synthetic fibers are used in manufacturing different types of geotextiles, suited for different functions.
Natural fibers in forms of paper strips, wood shavings, jute nets, or wool mulch are used in geotextiles. Natural geotextiles are used specifically when they are required to bio-degrade in a relatively shorter period of time, like when they are used for preventing soil erosion till vegetation sets. Commonly used natural fibers in geotextiles are ramie and jute.
Synthetic fibers are mostly used for geotextiles. There are 4 main synthetic polymers, polyester, polyethene, polyamide and polypropylene that are widely used for manufacturing geotextiles. The common synthetic polymers used from these families in geotextiles are Chlorinated Polyethylene (CPE), Ethylene copolymer Bitumen (ECB), Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), Polypropylene (PP), Polyethylene (PE), Polyesters (PET), etc.
Geotextiles also have a wide application when it comes to embankment dam construction. The application, however, may be limited in some cases since geotextiles are prone to installation damage and have a potential for clogging.
In some cases, geotextiles play a very essential role in filtration of seepage through and under embankment dams. These textile act as a filter, controlling the transport of soil particles by seepage.


text:
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Blog: Higher Ed Beat
The Guidance Gap: How to Rethink School Counseling
Experts discuss how to effectively steer a student to, through life after high school
December 6, 2019 Pressley Frevert
One of Joyce Brown's former students was getting ready to board a bus to college for the first time when he changed his mind.
"His mom said, 'Don't go if you don't want to,'" Brown recalled. So the student, who grew up in the Robert Taylor Homes housing project on Chicago's South Side, didn't go.
But Brown — who spent 40 years working as a school counselor in Chicago Public Schools — knew this student would thrive in a college setting because of the relationship she'd built with him. So she drove him to college herself.
"He got there and he said, 'I'm never coming home. This is my safe space,'" Brown, now an education consultant, recalled. "He stayed there and got his PhD."
Her story illustrates the powerful impact an engaged school counselor can have on a student's path to and through college. But that kind of counseling is the exception.
Nationally, the ratio of school counselors to students averages 455:1, far above the 250:1 ratio recommended by the American School Counselor Association. In many schools, counselors lack adequate training to coach students through the college admissions process. As a result, students who can't get admissions advice elsewhere — usually low-income and first-generation college students — are left navigating a confusing and frustrating system on their own, speakers told journalists at a recent Education Writers Association seminar in Chicago.
Potential solutions speakers cited during the discussion included more training for school counselors, better alignment between high schools and colleges, and programs to supplement counselors' existing work. These ideas have the potential to help school counselors more effectively serve their high school students — and to set those students up to have a better chance to persist through college.
Nationally, most school counselors are trained to look at attendance, grades and behavior, "see who's falling off a cliff," and focus specifically on those students, Brown said. That leads to a counseling model that focuses heavily on supporting students' social and emotional well-being, with college counseling pushed to the side.
Instead, Brown encouraged counselors to get to know their students before they started high school — and to get those students focused on college from day one. Counselors began meeting with students while they were in eighth grade, helping them build a vision for college and complete a prep worksheet for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
(This shift into focusing on all aspects of a student's school life, rather than just their social and emotional well-being, is also reflected in the move to the term "school counselor" from "guidance counselor." The American School Counselor Association discusses more about that change here.)
Christine Rodriguez received a similar direction as a high school peer college counselor during her senior year at the Bushwick School for Social Justice in Brooklyn. Since the college admissions process changes frequently, Rodriguez and her fellow counselors underwent "weeks of intense training" before they began their work and completed ongoing training throughout the year, Rodriguez said.
The national college access organization OneGoal provides similar training for teachers, who become "program directors" at their schools, said Lina Fritz, the managing director of program innovations at OneGoal Chicago. These educators teach a for-credit class for juniors and seniors focused entirely on navigating the college admissions process. The participating teachers receive ongoing, data-heavy training from OneGoal staff members — and counselors are freed up to focus specifically on students who need extra help. (Read more here about OneGoal in Chicago.)
Through, Not Just to, College
In OneGoal's world, effective counseling doesn't stop when a student leaves high school. OneGoal's three-year model means students receive coaching through their first year out of high school, regardless of whether they attend college or not.
That's intentional, because just going to college is no longer enough.
"The bachelor's degree has become the premier pathway to economic opportunity," according to a report by Georgetown University's Center on Education and the Workforce. In 2018, just 37 percent of adults ages 25 to 29 had earned a bachelor's degree, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. (Those numbers vary greatly depending on a student's wealth and race, and what kind of institution they attend.)
To help students see a path through college, better alignment is needed between high schools and colleges, said James Rosenbaum, a professor at Northwestern University whose research has provided guidance for programs to help low-income students better access college.
He encourages high schools to create a course that lets students spend a semester exploring their career interests and learning about related college programs. Brown said she advises counselors to follow a "match and fit" advising model, where students make a list of the colleges they "match" with academically and consider which of those colleges are a "fit" for them socially and financially.
Once students are in college, Fritz said, OneGoal encourages its program director teachers to remember that students' paths to a degree may be different from their own. OneGoal advocates for progressive pathways, which Rosenbaum said he supports, too. By earning a one-year certificate, then a two-year associate's degree, then a bachelor's degree, students earn money and get work experience while they pursue their college degree, he said.
Moving toward a bachelor's degree incrementally means students can immediately experience the tangible benefits of earning a postsecondary credential. Low-income and first-generation college students feel a sense of urgency when it comes to starting their careers, and that urgency should translate into counseling, Rodriguez said.
"We can't be waiting for systemic change every year," she said. "We need help now."
College Access & Admissions
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Pressley Frevert
Managing Editor for Digital Content
November 6, 2019 Education Writers Association
Pressley Frevert is the managing editor for digital content for the Education Writers Association. She manages EWA's online resources for reporters and leads projects to develop new tools.
Colleges Struggle to Adapt to Changing Demographics
More diverse student body poses challenges in admissions, teaching and counseling
October 31, 2019 by Mila Koumpilova of the Star Tribune for EWA
Quick: Picture a "typical" college student. Are you envisioning a young person wearing a college sweatshirt, living in a dorm and attending school full time?
Try again: Full-time students who live on campus account for less than 15 percent of all undergraduates, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
At a recent Education Writers Association seminar, three experts on student demographics suggested that investigations into changes to the makeup of the nation's undergraduate student body can spark fresh and impactful stories.
Covering How 'Varsity Blues' Affects College Admissions
Experts suggest following up with investigations into large inequities and sports recruiting.
May 16, 2019 Matt Krupnick for EWA
The "Varsity Blues" scandal involved a small group of wealthy families using bribes and other tactics to gain admissions to selective colleges. But it also illuminated broader admissions problems – particularly those involving income disparities – that should be examined by education reporters, according to experts who spoke at the 2019 Education Writers Association seminar in Baltimore.
EWA Tip Sheet: Covering College Certificates and Microcredentials
Here are resources for understanding non-degree higher education alternatives.
July 18, 2019 Sydney Johnson of EdSource for EWA
Students and workers looking to quickly advance their careers are beginning to seek shorter and cheaper alternatives to traditional college degrees. And colleges, worried about a decline in the number of "traditional" freshmen, are creating alternative programs to attract new tuition-payers.
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The SensiFAST™ SYBR® Hi-ROX One-Step Kit has been optimized for fast, efficient, unbiased cDNA synthesis and subsequent highly-sensitive, reproducible real-time PCR detection in a single tube.
The SensiFAST SYBR® Hi-ROX One-Step Kit has been validated on all commonly-used real-time instruments that require a high concentration of the passive reference dye ROX.
Human ß-actin gene was amplified under fast thermal cycling conditions from a 10-fold serial dilution of RNA using SensiFAST SYBR One-Step Kit (red) and a similar kit from Supplier A (blue). SensiFAST delivers superior sensitivity and reproducibility, across 5 orders of magnitude, as judged by the lower and more consistent Ct values.
After getting nowhere with other kits we tried the SensiFAST SYBR One-Step Kit and saw results first time, I cannot describe how wonderful this made us feel.
Please refer to the Real-Time PCR Selection Chart to confirm the SensiFAST SYBR® Hi-ROX One-Step Kit is compatible with your instrument.
""After getting nowhere with other kits we tried the SensiFAST SYBR ...	"
"After getting nowhere with other kits we tried the SensiFAST SYBR One-Step Kit and saw results first time, I cannot describe how wonderful this made us feel."
Newton, I.L., Savytskyy, O., Sheehan, K.B.