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Warren Westlund
Warren DeHaven Westlund (August 20, 1926 – February 13, 1992) was an American rower who competed in the 1948 Summer Olympics.
Representing the United States
1948 London Coxed four
He was born in Olympia, Washington and died in Seattle.
His granddaughter, Regan Westlund, attends Roosevelt High School in Seattle, Washington. Regan plays golf, lacrosse, and is involved in many extracurricular activities including: being the co-Editor-in-Chief (with her friend Sarah Rifkin) of the yearbook, a DECA competition mentor after scoring 3rd place at area competition (Buying and Merchandising Team Decision making with her best friend Alexa Damir), as well as being an avid Tik Toker. It's safe to say that Warren would be proud of Regan and her accomplishments.
In 1948 he was the strokeman of the American boat which won the gold medal in the coxed fours event.
Warren Westlund at Olympics at Sports-Reference.com
This article about a rowing Olympic medalist of the United States is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Warren_Westlund&oldid=921831236"


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Engineers make a move into the nuclear market
By Deborah Johnson
BRANCHING OUT: Carl McNicolas, of Balfour Kilpatrick, left, and Phil Bullock, director of Mech-Tool
A TEES Valley engineering company has taken its first major steps into the nuclear decommissioning market, in a move that safeguards 130 jobs and will create 30 more.
Mech-Tool has won a £1.5m contract to design and build a multi-services processing module for the Sellafield nuclear plant in Cumbria.
And the deal – its first in the nuclear decommissioning market – is believed to have secured work for Mech-Tool's 130- strong workforce in Darlington until the project is completed in March next year, as well as paving the way for the creation of 30 more posts.
The business, which has its headquarters in the town's Whessoe Road as well as a facility on Teesside, is thriving despite the economic downturn.
In just over a year, turnover has nearly doubled from £9m to more than £17m, with that expected to rise again to £22m next year.
The work, to create the Sellafield module which is designed to withstand earthquakes, was awarded by Balfour Kilpatrick's Projects Unit.
The module will house a range of equipment for Sellafield's Sludge Packaging Plant, and will be delivered in eight split units after being created in Darlington.
Phil Dunn, Mech-Tool's business development manager, said: "Mech-Tool has been a leader in blast, fire and acoustic protection for nearly 40 years, supplying products to many sectors, including the nuclear industry, but this is our first major role in nuclear decommissioning. It represents a major breakthrough for the company.
"It is estimated that the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority will spend in the region of £500m decommissioning civil nuclear sites in the UK over the next few years.
"We hope that the successful conclusion to our work at Sellafield could provide an avenue for us to compete, not only for other decommissioning work, but on future newbuild projects within the nuclear market."
Mech-Tool has recently invested in its Darlington site, where a new 1,200sq-metre building has increased production space to 7,750sq metres, which is aiding its expansion plans.
Other projects for the firm include making living quarters for one of the SeaDragon Offshore rigs made on Teesside, and Hartlepool-based Heerema's Greater Gabbard project.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Studios Available Now
Resident Artists & Affiliates
Artists Beyond Our Doors
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Salon – an Artful Conversation
Cathy Abramson A&M1
October 17, 2018 December 6, 2014 by Artists & Makers Studios
Cathy Abramson's recent urban paintings are inspired by her photos of everyday events: sitting at a lunch counter; getting a watch repaired; having a cup of coffee. She paints images from the world around her. Her work explores the mysterious, temporary, and incongruous nature of chance encounters in the urban environment. The viewer is pulled into the painting as though witnessing an event. There is usually a subtext to her paintings and the more the viewer examines a painting, the more it reveals about what lies beneath the surface.
After graduating from SUNY at Stony Brook and The University of Texas Health Sciences Center at Dallas, she had a successful career working as an art director at a local government contracting firm, art directing a political magazine, illustrating books for children and adults and co-owning a local graphic design firm. She also taught throughout Maryland as an Artist-in-Residence for the Maryland State Arts Council.
Cathy studied at the Yellow Barn Studio is now at the Glen Kessler Atelier in Rockville. She has been exhibiting her work since 1999 in galleries including invitational shows in New York City, local juried shows, and internationally at Than Mór Art Museum, Nyíracsád, Hungary. She has won several painting awards and has received favorable reviews in local newspapers as well as feature articles in magazines.
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Justia › US Law › Case Law › Missouri Case Law › Supreme Court of Missouri Decisions › 1953 › In Re Burrus
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In Re Burrus
258 S.W.2d 625 (1953)
In re BURRUS.
No. 43739.
Supreme Court of Missouri, en Banc.
Charles V. Garnett, Kansas City, for petitioner.
Frank W. Hayes, Jefferson City, for Bar Committee.
Following judgment and sentence rendered upon plea of guilty in the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri to the charge of willfully and knowingly failing to file Federal income tax returns for the years of 1949 and 1950, Harvey B. Burrus, a licensed attorney of Missouri, has voluntarily submitted himself to this court for such disciplinary action as we may deem just.
Section 145(a) of the Internal Revenue Code, Title 26 U.S.C.A. § 145(a), under which Mr. Burrus was convicted, makes it a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of not more than $10,000, or imprisonment for not more than one year, or both, for any person required by law to make a Federal income tax return to willfully fail to make the same. The information to which he pleaded guilty charged in the first count thereof that his gross income for the year 1949 was $13,404, by reason of which he was required by law to make a return thereof on or before March 15, 1950, and that he willfully and knowingly failed so to do. The second count alleged his gross income for the year of 1950 to be $17,460.12, and that he willfully and knowingly failed to make a return thereof on or before March 15, 1951. His plea was entered on April 6, 1953. The judgment and sentence, entered on the same day, committed him to the custody of the Attorney General for imprisonment for a period of ninety days on Count I of the information. On Count II imposition of sentence was suspended and he was placed on probation for a period of two years. It was further adjudged that he be assessed a fine of $5,000, and he was granted a stay of execution on the sentence of imprisonment until May 4, 1953. On the 8th day of April, 1953, and after obtaining approval of the General Chairman of Bar Committees, he, through his counsel, Hon. Charles V. Garnett, filed a petition in this court, which, after reciting the above facts, waived issuance of all process, requested permission to appear voluntarily before the court, and submitted himself to the court "for the purpose of having this court judicially determine what, if any, disciplinary action should be taken against him * * *." The cause was thereupon *626 set for hearing before the court en banc, on April 13, 1953. Present at this hearing were petitioner, his counsel, and Hon. Frank W. Hayes, counsel for the Advisory Committee to the General Chairman of Bar Committees. The evidence was heard and the cause duly submitted to the court for determination.
From the evidence adduced, it appears that when income tax returns for the year of 1948no charge was filed for his failure to make a return for that yearwere due, Mr. Burrus' records were incomplete and he was pressed for time. He sought and was granted an extension of time in which to file that return, but eventually failed to file it. His situation thereupon progressively grew more perplexing and resulted, as stated, in his intentional failure to file returns for the years of 1949 and 1950. Finally, while talking to an internal revenue agent about another matter, he related the entire matter to the agent. Until he gave the information to the agent in this manner, the Revenue Department had not taken note of his delinquencies. Since that time, he has actively and willingly cooperated with the Federal agents in an effort to compute the amount of his delinquencies and to discharge the same.
The record is also clear that Burrus has at all times borne an excellent reputation among the bench and bar both in his personal and professional capacities and attainments. No suggestion is made of any prior professional or personal misconduct. His attitude before this court was that of a man who realized the seriousness of his offense and sincerely wanted to make all amends possible.
Our Rule 4.47, governing the conduct of lawyers, provides, among other admonitions, that a lawyer shall not, "by any misconduct, commit any offense against the laws of Missouri or the United States of America, which amounts to a crime involving acts done by him contrary to justice, honesty, modesty or good morals; * *." And, although this is not a proceeding under the statutes of this State regulating the rights and duties of attorneys as found in Chapter 484 RSMo 1949, V.A.M.S., it should be here noted that § 484.240 of said chapter provides: "If the charge [against an attorney] allege a conviction for any criminal offense involving moral turpitude, the court shall, on production of the record of such conviction, remove the attorney so convicted or suspend such attorney from practice for a limited time, according to the nature of the offense, as the court may deem just, and without further trial. * * *"
The essential question for determination is whether the offenses of which Mr. Burrus was convicted amount to conduct contrary to justice, honesty or good morals; which is to say, do they involve moral turpitude? Neibling v. Terry, 352 Mo. 396, 177 S.W.2d 502, 503, 152 A.L.R. 249; In re McNeese, 346 Mo. 425, 142 S.W.2d 33.
The identical question was before the Court of Appeals of Maryland in 1946 in the case of Rheb v. Bar Association of Baltimore City, 186 Md. 200, 46 A.2d 289, 291. In that case an experienced attorney had pleaded guilty to willful failure to make Federal income tax returns for the years of 1940, 1941 and 1942 and failing to keep records for the same periods in violation of § 145(a), Title 26 U.S.C.A., Int.Rev. Code. The Bar Association thereupon instituted a proceeding against him which had resulted in a judgment in the lower court ordering his disbarment, from which he had appealed to the Court of Appeals. That court, in affirming the judgment, said: "He admitted that he made $6,500 in 1939 (as to which limitations prevented indictment), that he made from $7,500 to $10,000 in each of the years 1940 and 1941, and `a top of $7,500 in 1942.' He admitted knowing the requirements of law in regard to returns, testified that he made returns for others, attributed his own failure to `just pure neglect.' These admissions, coupled with his admitted failure to keep adequate records, justify a finding that he deliberately failed to make returns or keep records, for the purpose of cheating the Federal Government and the State of Maryland out of taxes justly due. We think it is immaterial whether the federal *627 crime is to be classed as a misdemeanor or a felony, an act of omission or commission. Such conduct might properly be characterized as fraud or deceit, even if it did not involve moral turpitude.
"However, the authorities support the proposition that a crime of this character, even though not a felony, involves moral turpitude. It is generally recognized that crimes in the category crimen falsi involve moral turpitude. See Bradway, `Moral Turpitude as the Criterion of Offenses that justify Disbarment.' 24 Cal.L.R. 9. In Re Diesen, 173 Minn. 297, 215 N.W. 427, 217 N.W. 356, an attorney was disbarred on the strength of a conviction of the misdemeanor of making a false income tax return. See also In re Wiltsie, 109 Wash. 261, 186 P. 848, and In re Peters, 73 Mont. 284, 235 P. 772, involving false reports."
We are constrained to agree with the reasoning in that case. Mr. Burrus, aged 51 years, was admitted to the bar in 1923. It is conceded that he had engaged extensively in the practice of law since his admission and that he well knew and appreciated the seriousness of the offenses he was committing and the probable consequences thereof. We think it quite clear and, accordingly, hold that his intentional failure to make returns as the law required constituted conduct involving moral turpitude within the meaning of both the statute, § 484.240 RSMo 1949, V.A. M.S., and our Rule 4.47.
The extent to which he should be disciplined has been given careful consideration. We are mindful that the purpose of proceedings of this character is not to punish the attorney. Rather is it to preserve the courts from the ministration of persons unfit to serve therein as attorneys. In re Graves, 347 Mo. 49, 146 S.W.2d 555; In re Ellis, 359 Mo. 231, 221 S.W.2d 139, 142. The fact that his derelictions were committed in his personal capacity as a tax-subject citizen rather than in his professional capacity has some bearing upon the ultimate issue of his fitness to continue in the practice. The confession of his derelictions to the Federal authorities at a time when no accusations had been made against him shows that the matter weighed heavily upon his conscience. His active cooperation in expediting disposition of the criminal charge filed against him; his prompt submission of himself to this court for disciplinary action, and his demeanor at the hearing have convinced us that he is sincerely repentant. It is our considered judgment that a suspension from the practice of law for a period of one year from the date of the filing of his petition herein, to wit, April 8, 1953, will serve the ends of justice.
It is accordingly so ordered and adjudged.
All concur.
of Supreme Court of Missouri opinions.


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Thor Love and Thunder Torrent Full English Films HD Download
2022 . Action/Adventure . 1h 59m
Thor: Love and Thunder is a 2022 American superhero film based on Marvel Comics featuring the character Thor, produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It is the sequel to Thor: Ragnarok and the 29th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe..
Release date: July 6, 2022 (Australia)
Director: Taika Waititi
Music by: Michael Giacchino; Nami Melumad
Budget: $250 million
Distributed by: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Based on: Thor; by: Stan Lee; Larry Lieber; Jack Kirby
Thor: Love and Thunder OverView
Download english hollywood movie Thor Love and Thunder torrent is a 2022 American hero film in view of Wonder Comics highlighting the person Thor, created by Wonder Studios and dispersed by Walt Disney Studios Movies. It is the continuation of Thor: Ragnarok (2017) and the 29th film in the Wonder Artistic Universe (MCU). The movie is coordinated by Taika Waititi, who co-composed the content with Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, and stars Chris Hemsworth as Thor close by Christian Bundle, Tessa Thompson, Jaimie Alexander, Waititi, Russell Crowe, and Natalie Portman. In the film, Thor endeavors to discover a sense of harmony, however should get back to activity and enroll Valkyrie (Thompson), Korg (Waititi), and Jane Encourage (Portman) — who is presently the Strong Thor — to stop Gorr the God Butcher (Parcel) from disposing of all divine beings.
Hemsworth and Waititi had examined plans for a spin-off of Ragnarok by January 2018. Love and Thunder was declared in July 2019, with Hemsworth, Waititi, and Thompson all set to return, as well as Portman who didn't show up in Ragnarok. Waititi needed to separate Love and Roar from Ragnarok, looking to make a sentiment film and 1980s-enlivened experience. He adjusted components from Jason Aaron's run on the Strong Thor comic book, which sees Cultivate accept the responsibility and powers of Thor while under therapy for disease. Robinson joined to add to the content in February 2020, and further projecting was uncovered soon thereafter including the presence of the Gatekeepers of the World. Creation was supposed to start in late 2020 yet was deferred by the Coronavirus pandemic. Recording eventually started in January 2021 in Sydney, Australia, and finished up toward the start of June.
Thor: Love and Thunder debuted at the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood on June 23, 2022, and was delivered in the US on July 8, as a feature of Stage Four of the MCU. The film got acclaim from pundits for its cheerful nature and the exhibitions of Parcel and Portman, while analysis was focused on the screenplay and apparent irregularity, with numerous pundits considering the film mediocre compared to Ragnarok. Love and Thunder has netted more than $759 million around the world, turning into the 6th most noteworthy earning film of 2022.
Thor: Love and Thunder Cast
Chris Hemsworth as Thor:
A Vindicator and the previous lord of Asgard, in light of the Norse legendary god of a similar name. Chief Taika Waititi said that Thor is going through an emotional meltdown in the film, as he is "simply attempting to sort out his motivation, attempting to sort out precisely what his identity is and why he's a legend or whether he ought to be a legend". Hemsworth's twin children Sasha and Tristan depict Thor as a kid.
Christian Bale as Gorr the God Butcher:
A scarred wielder of the Necrosword and controller of shadows who looks for the eradication of the gods. Waititi depicted Gorr as being "entirely impressive" and layered. Parcel felt the person had a "kind of a Nosferatu slight demeanor", and took motivation from the Aphex Twin music video for "Come to Daddy" (1997). Waititi selected to change Gorr's facial elements in the film since his unique search in the comics looks like Master Voldemort from the Harry Potter film series.
Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie:
The king of New Asgard, based on the mythological being Brynhildr. Thompson and producer Kevin Feige said the character's bisexuality would be addressed in the film. Waititi said Valkyrie had to adjust to the bureaucratic aspects of ruling, away from the battlefield, such as dealing with the infrastructure and economy of New Asgard and hosting delegates from other countries.
Jaimie Alexander as Sif:
An Asgardian warrior and Thor's childhood friend, based on the Norse mythological deity of the same name.
Taika Waititi as Korg:
A Kronan gladiator who befriended Thor. Waititi also voices the Kronan god Ninny of the Nonny.
Russell Crowe as Zeus:
The king of the Olympians, based on the Greek mythological deity of the same name. Crowe wanted to perform the role in a Greek accent, but Waititi thought it would sound "too silly", so he had Crowe do takes in both a Greek and British accent. Waititi finally concluded that Crowe was correct and used the Greek accent in the final film.
Natalie Portman as Jane Foster / Mighty Thor:
An astrophysicist and Thor's ex-girlfriend who is undergoing cancer treatment and who gains powers to become the Mighty Thor by wielding a reconstructed Mjolnir, the hammer previously wielded by Thor. Portman, who did not appear in the previous film Thor: Ragnarok (2017), agreed to return after a meeting with Waititi, who said Foster's return to Thor's life after eight years would be a big adjustment for him since she has had another life without him. Waititi added that Foster showing up dressed like Thor would be a "real mindfuck" for him.
Furthermore, the Gatekeepers of the System are highlighted in the film, with Chris Pratt, Karen Gillan, Dave Bautista, Pom Klementieff, Sean Gunn, Vin Diesel and Bradley Cooper, repeating their particular MCU jobs as Peter Plume/Star-Master, Cloud, Drax the Destroyer, Mantis, Kraglin Obfonteri, Groot and Rocket. Matt Damon, Sam Neill, and Luke Hemsworth repeat their jobs as Asgardian entertainers individually playing Loki, Odin, and Thor from Ragnarok, with Melissa McCarthy going along with them as an Asgardian entertainer playing Hela, and McCarthy's significant other Ben Falcone as the stage director. Miek, who recently showed up in Ragnarok and Vindicators: Final plan (2019) by means of CGI, is voiced by Stephen Murdoch, while Carly Rees gives the movement catch execution to the person. Additionally getting back from past Thor films are Kat Dennings and Stellan Skarsgård as Cultivate's partners Darcy Lewis and Erik Selvig, separately, and Idris Elba as Heimdall in the post-credits scene. Daley Pearson repeats his job from Wonder Studios' Group Thor short film series as Darryl Jacobson, filling in as a local escort in New Asgard. Chronicle film from past MCU movies of Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Anthony Hopkins as Odin, Rene Russo as Frigga, Beam Stevenson as Volstagg, Tadanobu Asano as Hogun, and Zachary Levi as Fandral is highlighted toward the start of the film. Chanique Greyling depicts a youthful Frigga during a flashback succession.
Divinities presented in the film incorporate Simon Russell Beale as the Olympian god Dionysus, Jonathan Brugh (who showed up in Waititi's 2014 film What We Do in the Shadows) as Rapu, a divine being from Gorr's home planet who turns into his most memorable casualty, Akosia Sabet as Bast, a goddess who is an individual from both the Heliopolitan and Wakandan pantheons, Kuni Hashimoto as the Japanese god Jademurai, and Carmen Foon as the Roman goddess Minerva. Additionally showing up in the film are Kieron L. Dyer as Axl, Heimdall's child, Chris Hemsworth's girl India as Affection, Gorr's girl, and Stephen Curry as Yakan, the leader of the planet Indigarr. Appearances in the film incorporate Bunch, Portman, and Waititi's youngsters as New Asgard kids, Hemsworth's significant other Elsa Pataky as the wolf lady who was one of Thor's past sweethearts, Indiana Evans as one of the Zeusettes, Jenny Morris as Another Asgard resident, Chloé Gouneau as Temporary's mom Elaine in a flashback grouping, Dave Cory as Dwayne, a Kronan who turns into Korg's accomplice in a close connection, and Brett Goldstein as Zeus' child Hercules in the mid-credits scene.
Jeff Goldblum and Peter Dinklage were both initially set to repeat their separate jobs as Grandmaster from past MCU media and Eitri from Vindicators: Endlessness War (2018), yet their scenes were cut from the dramatic delivery. Lena Headey was likewise set to show up in the film, yet her scenes were cut also.


What does this renal ultrasound report indicate?
Question: I have had a renal ultrasound and the Impression is: Increased echogenicity and mild renal cortical thinning compatible with underlying medical renal disease.
May I ask what this means? My doctor only sent me the result, with no comment. Thank you!
It is due to the systemic hypertension!!!
You have a main and primary disease that is systemic hypertension, and you are taking medications for that too.
What happens is when we have a constant high blood pressure, it affects our body organs too and the kidneys are one of them. Same is happening with your kidneys too. The kidneys have two main segments Cortex (outer); and the Medulla (inner).
They have seen a very mild changes in the cortex of the kidney area and that are due to the underlying hypertension (no renal cause, no congenital cause, no stones, no infections etc according to the report's portion given by you).
Thank you for your speedy reply. You mention kidney stones - there was a "1cm stone in the mid right kidney, nonobstructive" found during the ultrasound.
Based on all of this, what problems can I expect regarding my kidneys? I have been told I am Stage 3 with kidney disease.
Dr. Hanif warmly Welcomes you back with a follow up query!
Your stone is very small and also non obstructive. You already have some undergoing problems with the kidney as mentioned stage 3 kidney disease.
This ultrasound in unremarkable for any new finding or any disease that may be serious enough that may need an urgent care and an emergency treatment. Nothing problematic to expect based on the report.
You need to take proper and timely medications as prescribed by the physician you are getting treatment from.
Thank you, Dr. Hanif, for your reassuring messages to me. Have a wonderful evening. Too bad you are not in XXXXXXX I would pick you as my doctor immediately!
I warmly welcome you back with follow up!
Thanks for your kind words Miss XXXXXXX It is my pleasure to assist you with the health worries you had. I am always a click away from your inbox. You may always contact me back whenever needed. Happy upcoming Halloween and Good Evening. I pray for a good health for you.


I am curious about the story about two brothers, one was married and the other, single. At harvest time, each one took some bags of grain secretly to the other's field. The married one felt sorry for the single one and the single one felt that the married one, who had many children, needed more. One night, as they were sneaking over to each other's field, they bumped into each other, realized what the other one was doing, and embraced. Hashem said that He wants that place where such love was expressed to be the site of the Holy Temple. I've heard and read the story many times in contemporary Jewish books. The other day somebody asked me what the source was and I was stumped.
We have been trying for years to find a Jewish source for the story of the two brothers who bump into each other on Mount Moriah during the night when they are trying to bring grain to each other.
The story isn't found in the Talmud, and apparently not in any of the well-know Midrashic sources either.
That doesn't necessarily mean it's false, however. In fact, I think I found a hint for this story in the Torah itself!
The most sacred place in the Holy Temple contained the Ark of the Covenant. On top of the Ark stood two golden figurines. These figurines, called Cherubim, were winged, human-like figures that faced each other.
The hint to the story about the two brothers is simply this: To describe their facing position, the Torah says the Cherubim should face as "a man to his brother!"
There is a custom for parents to bless their children on Friday night. We bless our daughters to be like the Matriarchs - Sarah, Rivka, Rachel and Leah. And I was wondering why we bless our sons to be like Ephraim and Menashe - the sons of Joseph? Why don't we bless them to be like the Patriarchs - Abraham, Isaac and Jacob?
A fine question! We bless our sons to be like Ephraim and Menashe in fulfillment of the words of Jacob in Vayechi, when he prophesies that the Jewish People will always bless their children in that manner. Jacob chose Ephraim and Menashe to be our role models because they were the first two children to be born in exile; nevertheless, they retained their Jewish identity and even grew to great spiritual heights. In addition, Ephraim and Menashe were elevated to the status of "tribes" by Jacob. This implies that they reached the level of their fathers and thus forged an unbreakable link in the chain of Jewish continuity.
Question: What is the relationship between the button on a man's trousers' back-pocket being on the left side, according to American standards, and one of the 613 commandments of the Torah?
Answer: Most men have more 'padding' in back on the left side than they have on the right (perhaps due to the right side being generally more muscular). The button on the left pocket encourages people to put their wallets there. Since the left has more padding, the wallet causes less pinching of the sciatic nerve - otherwise known as the Gid HaNashe - than were it to be placed on the right.


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Concerts and Tickets
Families and Learning
19/20 Season Highlights
Beethoven Festival
Celebrate Asia
The 12th annual Celebrate Asia shines a spotlight on the young Asian American composer and pianist Conrad Tao who is taking the classicalworld by storm. Tao, a talented pianist and Lincoln Center Emerging Artist, joins us to perform his own work as well as George Gershwin's iconic Rhapsody in Blue. Pre- and post-concert festivities bookend this celebration of the musical melting pot of Seattle's vibrant Asian communities.
Huang Ruo
Folk Songs for Orchestra
Adeliia Faizullina
Tatar Folk Tales: "Sak and Sok" and "Arba"
The Oneiroi in New York
Chen Yi
Si Ji
8 Mar (Sun) 2020 4:00PM
1 hour, 30 minutes prior to performance
S. Mark Taper Foundation Auditorium - Benaroya Hall
Adeliia Faizulina
Uzbekistan-born composer Adeliia Faizullina (b.1988) has studied as a composer, singer, vocal coach, and Tatar quray instrumentalist. She received her bachelor's degree in Voice in Auhadeev College of Music (Kazan, Russia) and bachelor's degree in Music Composition in Gnesins Russian Academy of Music (Moscow, Russia). She has an MM in Music Composition from University of Texas at Austin, and is currently pursuing her DMA at the University of Southern California. With a particular ear for cutting-edge vocal colors and an affinity for the music and poetry of Tatar folklore, Adeliia also writes music for chamber and symphonic genres.
Tianyi Lu
Tianyi Lu is making a name for herself across the continents as Assistant Conductor of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, a Dudamel Fellow with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra and Principal Conductor of the St. Woolos Sinfonia in the UK.
Conrad Tao has appeared worldwide as a pianist and composer, and has been dubbed a musician of "probing intellect and open-hearted vision" by the New York Times, a "thoughtful and mature composer" by NPR, and "ferociously talented" by TimeOut New York. Tao's career as composer has garnered eight consecutive ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Awards and the Carlos Surinach Prize from BMI.
Led by Music Director Thomas Dausgaard, the Seattle Symphony unleashes the power of music, brings people together and lifts the human spirit. Recognized as one of the "most vital American orchestras" (NPR), the Seattle Symphony is internationally acclaimed for its inventive programming, community-minded initiatives and superb recordings on the Seattle Symphony Media label.
Celebrate Asia is sponsored by the Atsuhiko and Ina Goodwin Tateuchi Foundation. Conrad Tao's performances are generously underwritten by Eric and Margaret Rothchild.
Beethoven Festival Symphony No. 9
Thursday, 25 June, 2020
Volunteer at the Symphony
Sustain the music you love!
Tickets local: 206.215.4747
Tickets toll-Free: 866.833.4747
General: 206.215.4700
200 University Street, Seattle, Washington
© Seattle Symphony Orchestra


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UAE's non-oil foreign trade tops $288 billion in first half of 2022
Non-oil exports are also up by 8% during the same period.
The UAE's non-oil foreign trade value has crossed $288 billion in the year's first half. This is an uptick of 17% from the same time last year.
HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, revealed that this is the first time that the non-oil trade has achieved such a feat. He tweeted, "For the first time, the UAE non-oil foreign trade exceeds AED1 trillion in just half a year. We reached one trillion and 53 billion dirhams, recording an increase of 17 percent over the previous half year."
"Our economic growth is progressive, our trade environment and infrastructure are the best, and our economic approach is stable, fair and open to everyone. The growth of our economy will continue its strong pace in the coming year," he added.
Compared with the historical numbers, there is an increase of 25% and 35% for the same period in 2020 and 2019, respectively.
This growth suggests that the country's economy is registering a solid recovery in the post-pandemic era and the non-oil sector's contribution is helping the country gradually reduce its reliance on the oil economy.
Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri, Minister of Economy, said, "This outcome marks the beginning of an unprecedented phase of economic development in the history of the country, and it is the result of the integrated efforts and initiatives announced by the UAE government as part of the "Projects of the 50".
Similar growth has been recorded in sectors like re-exports and non-oil exports.
Dubai Internet City will support the next wave of Web 3.0, crypto, but will not stop there, says MD Ammar Al Malik


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Young Justice - "Disordered"
Episode Seventeen: "Disordered" - Airdate 11/11/11
It's Young Justice Saturday!
by Andy Luckett
Previously, the team had been left emotionally devastated after a training simulation backfired, resulting in Miss Martian telepathically convincing the rest of the group that the horrific events were completely real. After Martian Manhunter finally brought them back to consciousness, the damage had been done.
After a few days, Young Justice is still hurting; moping around and lost in their thoughts. Batman arrives in Happy Harbor to check on their progress with Martian Manhunter, but sadly little has changed. To combat these developments, Black Canary has set up therapy sessions with each member to give them a chance to talk about their experience. Superboy is first, but not surprisingly, Canary is unable to get much from him except an angry storm-out.
Meanwhile, a flying car suddenly appears out of a boom tube in Metropolis. It carries five superpowered youths calling themselves The Forever People: Vykin the leader, Bear the powerhouse, Dreamer the telepath, Seraphin the West-obsessed gunslinger, and Moonrider, who remains a nonverbal enigma. They are using a Mother Box to track stolen New Genesis technology, and the first item is close by.
Back at Happy Harbor, Superboy readies his bike for a ride, but Sphere (the rolling vehicle/sidekick) blocks his way, surprising him (and Wolf) by transforming into a sleek, shiny, three-wheeled bike. That would be awesome enough, but the Sphere-cycle is also able to fly, and Superboy and Wolf take to the skies. After a little joyriding, the pair encounter the Forever People, who accuse him of stealing Sphere, or as they call it, the New Genesphere. Mother Box, the living computer, pipes up and informs Vykin that Superboy did not steal the bike, but rather rescued it in the desert back in the episode "Bereft". That being the case, The Forever People introduce themselves to Superboy and allow him to help them find the next piece of stolen equipment they seek, the Rescue Drill.
Back in Happy Harbor, Black Canary continues her therapy sessions with Artemis. At first, the young archer doesn't want to discuss her feelings, but Canary suggests she tell the team that her cover identity as Green Arrow's niece is false. Artemis disagrees, especially concerned about what Wally will think. Next up is Aqualad, who is more open and admits to feeling guilt over his decisions within the simulation. He wants to pass on the leadership role, but knows that no other member is ready for it, admitting that even Robin is too young. He decides to keep himself as leader for now.
Superboy and the Forever People discover the location of the missing drill at a construction site. Seraphin wants to go in bullets first, but surprisingly, Superboy argues for a stealthy approach. After Dreamer distracts the topside guards by impersonating one of their mothers, the group descends into the giant drill hole in the ground to find Bruno "Ugly" Mannheim and Whisper A'Dare wielding alien tech to steal gold from a nearby bank. Mannheim fires up his tech, incapacitating Vykin. Dreamer quickly realizes that this technology is not from New Genesis, but rather its dark sister world, Apokolips.
Back again to Happy Harbor, we find Wally in the chair talking to Black Canary. He plays it nonchalant, saying that his simulated death was no big deal. That is, until Canary brings up how he reacted to Artemis dying, at which point he nearly chokes on his popcorn. Canary accuses him of being in denial, to which he replies, "I'm comfortable with that."
Back at the construction site/crime scene, the heroes decide to take the fight out of the tunnel and into the open. But the criminals aren't far behind, driving the Rescue Drill to the surface. The Forever People respond by calling The New Genesphere to protect them, but calling it a "she", which is news to Superboy. The diversion gives the five teens a chance to speak the word "Tarru" and meld, Voltron-like, into a being they call Infinity Man. Finding themselves suddenly outclassed by the huge automaton, Mannheim and his cronies escape into a boom tube, but Whisper A'Dare is captured. Probing her mind, Dreamer finds a picture of Desaad, Darkseid's chief torturer and really bad news. The technology is being supplied to the Mannheim gang by him under the direction of Darkseid.
Back again at Happy Harbor, its Robin's turn to talk to Black Canary. While feeling guilt and shame for all of his friends' deaths, he is most ashamed that he no longer feels the drive to take on the mantle of Batman when he comes of age, preferring to remain his own brand of hero.
The Forever People and Superboy are able to track more Apokoliptian technology to a seemingly abandoned warehouse. However, it turns out that Mannheim's gang is hiding inside. As the groups engage each other, one of Mannheim's henchmen splits in two to reveal Desaad in the flesh. As the five teens again become Infinity Man, Desaad commands Mannheim to "deliver the Father Box". After throwing it into the midst of the still-forming Infinity Man, the device overwrites the giant's circuits into a form that obeys Desaad. It attacks Superboy and Wolf, who rush to fight alongside the New Genesphere.
Meanwhile, M'Gann speaks to Black Canary, telling her that she no longer trusts herself to use her telepathic abilities because of the damage they caused her teammates. Canary responds by saying that perhaps a better solution would be to train with Martian Manhunter until M'Gann can regain her confidence in her powers.
Back with Superboy, the retooled Infinity Man puts up quite a fight, even dropping an entire passenger plane on Superboy. While he is on the ropes, Sphere attacks Infinity Man and is able to reinstate his control to the side of good, even giving him a power boost in the process. Superboy, in effect "driving" Infinity Man, takes down the Mannheim gang in short order, though Desaad escapes after injuring Sphere. Vykin uses Mother Box to start the repair process for Sphere, but it takes a bit of protest from Superboy before The Forever People allow him to keep her on Earth.
Superboy returns to Happy Harbor and tells the team his story. Wally immediately renames Sphere "The Supercycle" and Batman orders more study on her. Meanwhile, Superboy allows himself to open up to Black Canary, telling her that he feels guilty for feeling happy that within the simulation, he was able to take Superman's place once he and the other heroes were killed, and achieve what Superboy has wanted to be since he was awakened in Cadmus. Canary tells him that she doesn't know how he can assuage his guilt, but that the first step must be admitting it.
Man, did Jack Kirby have a world-class imagination and talent for fantasy world-building, or what? While all of Kirby's New Genesis/Fourth World creations have never necessarily been my favorite corner of the DC Universe, it is amazing how many ideas and concepts he introducing in that framework. The Forever People seem like a powerful and interesting group, especially their ability to form Infinity Man. I would've liked to have seen them team up together with the full Young Justice lineup, but this episode served as more of an introduction than a full-scale epic. Hopefully in future episodes the rest of the YJ team will get some action in the Fourth World realm.
As I have been noticing especially in the Young Justice comic book series lately, there seems to be a tendency toward member spotlight stories, and this episode was no exception. Superboy goes out and has all the fun while the rest sit in and discuss their feelings. While the two plots were nicely balanced, it still makes this feel less like a show about a superhero team. While we were able to delve a bit more into the psyches of the young heroes, to me it isn't a great substitute for their personalities being revealed through action and conflict. Aqualad received only one scene this time, and his response to the events of last episode didn't reveal much that I didn't already know; AKA he is too hard on himself, he takes his leadership role very seriously, and he feels protective over the others, especially Robin.
That is my only major complaint about this series (and comic). The characters are consistent, they are flawed yet heroic, the DC Universe is well-represented, and the action is well-handled. I just want to see the writers cut loose on some big plots that aren't revealed to be a dream or an imaginary story.
Posted by rob! at 12:03 PM
Labels: young justice episodes


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Influenza vaccination during the coronavirus pandemic: intention to vaccinate among the at-risk population in the Central Catalonia Health Region (VAGCOVID)
Anna Bonet-Esteve1,2,
Raquel Muñoz-Miralles3,
Carla Gonzalez-Claramunt4,
Ana M Rufas5,
Xavier Pelegrin Cruz6 &
Josep Vidal-Alaball2,7,8
BMC Family Practice volume 22, Article number: 84 (2021) Cite this article
Influenza is a major public health issue, with the primary preventive measure being an annual influenza vaccination. Nevertheless, vaccination coverage among the at-risk population is low. Our understanding of the behaviour of the influenza virus during the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus pandemic is limited, meaning influenza vaccination is still recommended for individuals at risk for severe complications due to influenza infection. The aim of the study is to determine the intention to vaccinate against seasonal influenza among the at-risk population in the 2020-21 campaign during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and to analyse the factors which influence such intention.
Cross-sectional telephone survey of adults (aged over 18) with risk factors in central Catalonia where the need for the Seasonal Influenza Vaccine (SIV) was recommended.
A total of 434 participants responded to the survey, 43.3% of whom intended to be vaccinated against influenza for the 2020-2021 influenza season, 40.8% had no intention to be vaccinated and 15.9% were uncertain or did not express their opinion. The intention to get vaccinated against influenza is associated with having dependents, the individual's perception of the risk of being infected with influenza and the perceived risk of transmission to dependents. It is also associated with age, whether the individual had received influenza vaccine the previous season or any other season before. The best predictors of the intention to vaccinate are the individual's perception of the risk of catching influenza and whether the individual had been vaccinated in the previous season.
Intention to vaccinate can be a good predictor of individual behaviour in relation to vaccination. During the current SARS-CoV-2 pandemic many individuals are hesitant to influenza vaccination. In order to improve influenza vaccination coverage in people included in risk groups, it is necessary to promote educational actions, especially among those who express doubts.
Influenza becomes a major public health problem every year as a result of the high rates of morbidity which occur during the successive waves of the epidemic and the presence of complications and excess mortality in specific population groups [1, 2].
It is estimated that influenza can affect between 5% and 20% of the general population and 50% of institutionalized populations. In previous years, it is estimated that up to 25% of acute febrile respiratory conditions could be caused by the influenza virus in Catalonia. This symptomatology generates a significant number of medical consultations and workday loss as a result of the disease and its convalescence, which can last from a few days to a few weeks [1].
In some cases, the disease can become more severe due to the influenza virus or a secondary, usually bacterial, infection which most commonly manifests itself as pneumonia, and may even prove fatal. At other times it can present in the form of cardiovascular disease, myocarditis or encephalitis, which can also be fatal. Nevertheless, frequently the initial influenza infection goes undiagnosed and is not usually recorded as the cause of death in death certificates. Overall influenza-associated mortality has been estimated to 13.8 per 100,000 person-years in Europe. Complications can occur in anyone, although hospitalizations are more common in the elderly (≥ 65 years, 309/100,000 person-years) and in young children (<1 year, 151/100,000 person-years) [3].
Influenza virus is transmissible from one day before the onset of symptoms to 4 days after. Although young children and people with weakened immune systems, might be able to infect others for a longer time. Between 30% and 50% of individuals infected with the influenza virus may be asymptomatic, though they may pass it on to others through respiratory droplets [4].
The Seasonal Influenza Vaccine (SIV) is the primary preventive measure to prevent influenza and its complications [1, 5]. In Catalonia and most neighbouring countries, it is generally recommended for at-risk populations, that is, people with underlying conditions or personal circumstances that make them more susceptible to complications or decompensation, leading hospital admissions and higher mortality rate [6].
In the Northern Hemisphere, vaccines are administered in early autumn, before the winter season begins [7]. Since the level of vaccine coverage tends to be low among the general population, due to both the strategy of specifically recommending vaccinations to the at-risk population and the low coverage achieved in this group, it is difficult for the SIV to achieve a significant decrease in influenza incidence in the community.
SIV coverage in Catalonia during the 2018-19 influenza vaccination campaign for people aged 65 years and older was 51%, similar to that of Spain (54.3%), yet in those under 60 years it was only 15.86% [1]. In people aged 60 to 64 and pregnant women the coverage was 20% and 29.2% respectively. In Spain, on the other hand, coverage was 22.3% in the 60-64 age group and 40.6% in pregnant women [8].
Influenza vaccination coverage rates fall a long way short from the 75% target proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). For the 2020-21 influenza vaccination campaign in Catalonia and Spain, the goal has been set to achieve or exceed 75% of vaccinations in people aged over 65 and in healthcare professionals, and 60% in pregnant women and people with a high risk for complications [6, 9].
According to a review of 48 articles on SIV [10], the main barriers to vaccination among the general population and even among health professionals are lack of awareness and knowledge of influenza and misconceptions about the disease and the vaccine used in its prevention.
With respect to the current SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, the 2020-21 SIV campaign is expected to be influenced by a lack of knowledge as to the behaviour of the influenza virus and the risk of coinfection by both viruses. For this reason, health authorities support an increase in SIV coverage among at-risk groups in order to reduce the number of cases which occur during the peak of the influenza season and their impact on the healthcare system [6, 9].
Behaviour, seen as a set of individual or collective actions, is a fundamental factor which influences human health. Certain behaviours related to health or illness are difficult to modify since, although they may not be unhealthy, they are thoroughly entrenched in individuals or groups. According to Ecological Systems Theory, changes in behaviour with respect to vaccination, depend on numerous factors which influence it: personal factors which make an individual accept or reject a vaccine, and also the sociocultural factors and the broader geographical and temporal context in which they live [11].
According to Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behaviour [11, 12], intention is a key determinant of action. For this reason, it is important to find out what the at-risk population's intentions are with respect to the SIV during the current SARS-CoV-2 pandemic [13]. Also, it is relevant to examine whether the protective measures put in place to mitigate COVID-19 transmission can influence individuals in their decision to get vaccinated against influenza [14].
The aim of the study is to determine the at-risk population's intention to vaccinate against seasonal influenza during the 2020-21 flu campaign in the Central Catalonia Health Region, in the midst of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. The specific objectives of the study are: 1) To assess the perception of the risk of catching seasonal influenza during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. 2) To determine whether contextual factors related to the increased physical and hygiene protective measures put in place during the pandemic [14] influence the intention to be vaccinated against influenza.
This is a cross-sectional study on the intention to receive the influenza vaccine and risk perception of contracting seasonal influenza during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in a sample of the at-risk population by means of a telephone survey. The influence of the contextual factors related to increased hygiene/physical measures during the pandemic were also evaluated. The questionnaire used (Additional file 1) is based on an earlier survey conducted by Apiñaniz to study the acceptability of an influenza A (H1N1) vaccine [15].
The study was conducted in the Central Catalonia Health Region, which includes the counties of Anoia, Bages, Berguedà, Moianès and Osona. The duration of the study was from October 1 to 15, 2020,15 days before the start of the influenza vaccination campaign .The study population is made up of those individuals registered at the Primary Care Teams (PCTof the Catalan Institute of Health of Central Catalonia, consisting of approximately 400,000 individuals.
The inclusion criteria were: 1) Individuals aged over 18 years. 2) Eligible for influenza vaccination because of their at-risk group condition (people with underlying illnesses which make them more susceptible to complications or decompensations) (Table 1) [5]. 3) To have given written authorization to be contacted by telephone to receive health information. 4) To have given informed consent to participate in the study on a voluntary basis.
Table 1 Priority groups for influenza vaccination
The exclusion criteria were: 1) A language barrier. 2) Incorrect phone number or failure to answer a call after a maximum of two attempts at different times. 3) Individuals who were uncapable of understanding the nature of the study. 4) Individuals living in institutions.
The sample size was calculated using the GRANMO calculation programme [16]. It was calculated that a random sample of 427 individuals was sufficient to estimate, with a 95% confidence level and a margin of error of +/- 5%, a population percentage which is expected to be around 51%. The replacement rate was estimated to be 10%.
The telephone survey of participants was conducted by four interviewers who had previously attended a training session for standardisation purposes and to avoid differences in the interpretation of the answers. A randomized list of individuals belonging to the study group was made available and those who met the inclusion criteria were included, until the number of participants required for the sample was obtained.
A descriptive statistical analysis was performed on the data resulting from the answers to the questionnaire. Categorical variables were described using frequencies and percentages. Continuous variables were described with mean and standard deviation. The proportions of categorical variables were compared using Fisher's exact test or Pearson's chi-square test and the t-test for continuous variables. The best fit model for logistic regression was used to predict intention to vaccinate using the Bayesian Information Criterion, only taking into account variables with significant association with intention to vaccinate For later validation of the model, the data were split into the training set (80%) and the validation set (20%).
The R Project for Statistical Computing for Windows (version 3.6.3) was used for statistical analysis. In the resulting data that were unrepresentative, levels were simulated or eliminated in order to obtain an approximate p-value. Results with a p-value higher than 0.05 (p<0.05) were considered statistically significant.
The study protocol was approved by the University Institute for Primary Care Research (IDIAP) Jordi Gol Health Care Ethics Committee (Code 20/177-PCV).
A total of 434 individuals with risk factors were interviewed of whom 258 (59.4%) were women. The average age of the respondents was 60 years, with an age range between 20 and 100, and 152 (35%) were under 60 years old. Four hundred and five (93.3%) participants were of Spanish origin and 206 (47.5%) were educated to primary level. Three hundred and seven participants (70.7%) lived with a partner and 217 (50.0%) were retired (Table 2).
Table 2 Participants' influenza vaccination intention and sociodemographic characteristics
Fifty four (12.4%) participants had children at their care and 51 (11.8%) cared for a dependent person. Of these, 34 (32.4%) were of the opinion that this year the individuals at their care had a high risk of catching influenza, while 49 (46.7%) participants believed that they did not. One hundred and fifty-five (35.7%) respondents had been vaccinated against influenza the previous year and 216 (49.8%) had been vaccinated in another season (Table 3).
Table 3 Vaccination intention according to perception of risk of catching influenza, number of risk factors and vaccination history
One hundred and eighty-eight (43.3%) participants reported intention to be vaccinated against influenza this season, 177 (40.8%) had no intention to be vaccinated and 69 (15.9%) did not know yet or did not answer. When asked if they intended to be vaccinated against influenza due to the context of d the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, 212 (48.8%) answered that they did, 34 (7.8%) of whom would do so due to the pandemic and 178 (41.0%) intended to receive the vaccine regardless the context. However, 71 (16.4%) were hesitant or didn't answer the question (Table 4). Of all those who intended to be vaccinated against influenza, 14.9% would do it due to the pandemic.
Table 4 Vaccination intention in light of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic
Regarding vaccination intention and the relationship with the protective measures put in place during the pandemic, 156 (36.6%) reported they will be vaccinated despite wearing face masks and 47 (10.8%) said they won't do so because they believe that masks already protected them. Regarding hand washing and physical distancing, 162 (37.3%) and 157 (36.2%) respondents respectively stated that they will be vaccinated despite following these measures. Fifty participants (11.5%) do not intend to be vaccinated because they believed that hand washing already protected them and 56 (12.9%) said they won't be vaccinated due to the protection afforded by physical distancing. Aproximately 25% of respondents had no intention of getting vaccinated despite acknowledging that none of the three measures protected them. Regarding the questions related to the three contextual variables, the response Don't Know/No Opinion was chosen by 20% of the participants.
Those under 60 years of age expressed a significantly lower intention to be vaccinated than those over 60 years of age (p <0.001). Retired participants were more in favour of being vaccinated compared with those actively working (p <0.001). Living with dependents (children and adult dependents) was strongly associated with the intention to vaccinate (p <0.005). The intention to vaccinate was also related to the perception of the risk of catching influenza (p <0.001) and to the perceived risk for transmission to dependent individuals (p = 0.03). Those with lower levels of education were more inclined to be vaccinated than those with higher education (p = 0.016).
Having risk factors, excluding age, was not associated with vaccination intention (p = 0.07). With regard to an individual's history of influenza vaccinations, the intention to vaccinate this year was associated with having been vaccinated the previous year and on another earlier season (p<0.001). Neither gender, nationality, nor marital status showed statistically significant differences with respect to the respondents' intention to vaccinate. However, a relationship was found with their level of education and employment status.
The best logistic regression model for predicting the intention to vaccinate took into account just two variables: the subject's perception of whether they would catch influenza and whether or not they had been vaccinated the previous year, obtaining results with a predictive accuracy of 87.7% (Table 5).
Table 5 Information on the logistic regression model for vaccination intention in light of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic as a response variable
During the current SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, the 2020-21 Seasonal Influenza Vaccine campaign was perceived to be influenced by a lack of knowledge as to the behaviour of the influenza virus and uncertainty as to the degree of acceptance of SIV by the at-risk population. The health authorities have promoted increased SIV coverage, especially among the elderly and others with risk factors, to protect them and thus to also reduce the strain on the healthcare system [6, 9]. This study provides data on influenza vaccination intention and the factors which influence the intention in this population group. This makes the study of great value when planning actions aimed at improving SIV coverage in our area.
The results show that the percentage of individuals who intend to get vaccinated against influenza is similar to those who do not intend to do so, though there are also a large number of individuals who remain undecided with regard to this year's influenza vaccination. Therefore, there is the potential for promoting health education among the vaccine hesitant or undecided, if we take into account that, according to Picazo [17], almost 50% of these who are undecided would be willing to get the vaccine if appropriately explained. Several studies show the possibility of improving vaccine coverage through educational initiatives aimed at individuals who refuse vaccines [18, 19].
According to a WHO review of barriers to influenza vaccination [11] there are no conclusive data linking age and vaccine coverage, although this study, along with some others [20], suggests that the elderly are more likely to get vaccinated. Since everyone with risk factors is encouraged to be immunized against influenza, coverage would be expected to be high [20]. Nevertheless, vaccine coverage achieved in previous campaigns [1] together with the data on vaccination intention in our study show that younger people are less vaccinated and have lower vaccination intentions.
A low perception of the risk of influenza is a major barrier to vaccination [13]. The study shows that about half of the respondents have a low perception of the risk of influenza and, in line with other studies [11, 15], this low perception is associated with the intention to refuse being vaccinated. Half of those surveyed with dependents at their care believe there is no risk for their dependents as to being infected with influenza virus and more than half of this group refuse the vaccine. This fact reveals lack of information about the disease, its chains of infections and the possible complications which make the vaccination necessary. As some studies point out, lack of awareness, misconceptions and knowledge gaps are the main barriers to influenza vaccination [10, 11].
In line with other studies, vaccination intention for the current season is high in people who were vaccinated the previous season [11, 20]. This fact shows that a history of previous influenza vaccination is a predictor of vaccination in the current season, especially if it has been a positive experience. With regard to those not vaccinated in the previous year, it is worth noting a considerable increase in the percentage of individuals intending to be vaccinated this year. There was also a significant number of hesitant patients , in keeping with the findings of the Goldman study [13].
The logistical model to predict an individual's vaccination intention shows that, both the perception of catching influenza oneself and an individual's vaccination history for the previous year are variables which favour influenza vaccination coverage, in line with earlier studies [11, 13, 20]. It can be seen that for levels where the response is negative or "Don't know/No Opinion", a negative relationship is maintained with the response to the vaccination intention variable. It is also noteworthy that the "Don't know/No Opinion" responses regarding vaccination in the previous year are insignificant, being almost zero. This should be taken into account in future predictions if the same model is used.
The recent pandemic has meant that users' face-to-face access to health services and communication with health professionals has been impaired. However, organizational changes have been implemented such as the prioritization of virtual and telephone visits and the development of influenza vaccination campaigns in different spaces, outside the confines of health centres [6]. The lower degree of interaction with the healthcare system or the lack of specific and direct advice from a professional regarding vaccination appears to be related to the coverage achieved [11]. It remains to be seen how this limitation may have influenced the vaccine hesitancy and the management of indecision or doubts regarding vaccination this year.
With regard to the intention to be vaccinated against influenza this year during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, we found that an additional 5% coverage could be achieved with respect to the intention to vaccinate without considering this factor (question 12), a lower figure than that of the Goldman study, estimated at 10% [13]. It is known that a negative attitude towards the influenza vaccine is associated with lower vaccination rates [11] and in this study it is noteworthy that, despite the ongoing pandemic, more than a third (34.8%) of respondents reported that they would not be vaccinated regardless. These data would suggest a lack of awareness among the population regarding influenza, SARS-CoV-2 and their complications. They may also lack information regarding the risk of coinfection which, although such cases are rare, carry an increased risk for patients suffering from both infections. Hence the health authorities' preoccupation with actively encouraging influenza vaccinations this year. Recent evidence shows that mortality in patients with SARS-CoV-2 doubles when they are also infected with the influenza virus [21].
According to a Cochrane review [22] on the effectiveness of simple physical barriers in reducing the spread of respiratory viruses, frequent hand washing can reduce the transmission of respiratory viruses; isolation and physical barriers (wearing masks, gloves and gowns) did not show a clear reduction in respiratory viral infection; and there is insufficient evidence to show that physical distancing can reduce the spread of viruses. The results show that with regard to physical protection measures (masks, hand washing and spatial separation), more than 35% of the surveyed population would be willing to be vaccinated even though they believe that the barrier already protects them. That is, they are individuals who most likely already receive the seasonal influenza shot and who are not making an exception because of the pandemic. Meanwhile, it is significant that more than 10% of the participants believe that these three measures already protect them and therefore do not intend to be vaccinated. Finally, a significant percentage of participants expressed doubts regarding the intention to be vaccinated against influenza during the pandemic and the protection offered by contextual factors. Preventive measures are effective as they are taken together rather than being mutually exclusive or implemented independently. That is why in these groups it is important to improve the information to achieve a change in attitude regarding the acceptance of vaccination.
Therefore, although the intention to vaccinate group is not much larger than the non-intention group, there are many undecided individuals, possibly due to a lack of information, misconceptions or doubts, as in other studies [10]. Although not everyone is expected to change their vaccination intention and to go on to be vaccinated, it is necessary that medical professionals take the time to uncover their doubts and reluctance regarding vaccination, in order to be able to provide them with accurate information and help them make an informed decision [23]. A recent published paper of our group showed that a brief intervention could be an effective tool in improving vaccination coverage in reluctant people [24].
This study may present certain limitations. The finding of the study may not be totally generalizable as the study has been conducted in a specific region of Spain. It did not include individuals who had not given their consent to be contacted for healthcare and research purposes; this may have led to a certain selection bias, which we attempted to minimize through the randomization of participants. Although the questionnaire employed had been adapted from a previous one, some questions, especially those related to the intention to vaccinate during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, had very similar answer options which could generate doubts and be difficult to comprehend. A training session was held for the interviewers in order to control for these difficulties and avoid differences in the interpretation of the answers.
To continue with this line of research, the aim is to determine the relationship between vaccination intention with regard to influenza at the start of the vaccination campaign and the number of influenza vaccinations recorded at the end of the campaign in at-risk groups.
Vaccination intention can be a good predictor of people's future behaviour with regard to the influenza vaccination, although during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic many people are undecided, possibly due to a lack of knowledge regarding influenza, its means of transmission and possible complications. This study highlights the need to strengthen health education regarding the influenza vaccination in at- risk groups, especially in those who express vaccine hesitancy.
Our manuscript is based on confidential and sensitive healthcare data. However, to support scientific transparency, we have posted a de-identified and appropriately redacted data for replication purposes should you or the reviewers find it helpful. The data is available at the review stage for the journal staff and reviewers at our Mendeley data repository http://dx.doi.org/10.17632/9b4b43tr9k.1
SIV:
Seasonal Influenza Vaccine
PCT:
Primary Care teams
IDIAP:
University Institut for Primary Care Research (Institut Universitari d'Investigació en Atenció Primària
Agència de Salut Pública de Catalunya. Departament de Salut. Generalitat de Catalunya. Programa de vacunacions. Guia tècnica per a la campanya de vacunació antigripal estacional 2019. Campanya 2019-20. Barcelona: ASPCAT; 2019 http://salutpublica.gencat.cat/web/.content/minisite/aspcat/promocio_salut/vacunacions/06vacunacio-antigripal/informacio-de-temporada/ASPCAT-GUIA-CAMPANYA-GRIP.pdf Accesed 11 Jan 2021
Ministerio de Sanidad Consumo y Bienestar Social. Gobierno de España. https://www.mscbs.gob.es/profesionales/saludPublica/prevPromocion/vacunaciones/programasDeVacunacion/gripe/faq/Preguntas_respuestas_gripe_ciudadanos_2020-2021.htm. Accessed 11 Jan 2021.
European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. Disease facts about seasonal influenza disease. https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/seasonal-influenza/facts. Accessed 11 Jan 2021.
Lessler J, Reich NG, Brookmeyer R, Perl TM, Nelson KE, Cummings DA. Incubation periods of acute respiratory viral infections: a systematic review. Lancet Infect Dis. 2009;9:291–300. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(09)70069-6.
World Health Organisation. Seasonal influenza. https://www.euro.who.int/en/health-topics/communicable-diseases/influenza/seasonal-influenza. Accessed 11 Jan 2021.
Agència de Salut Pública de Catalunya. Departament de Salut. Generalitat de Catalunya. Vacunació antigripal. http://salutpublica.gencat.cat/web/.content/minisite/aspcat/promocio_salut/vacunacions/06vacunacio-antigripal/informacio-de-temporada/0356_INTRANET-SSP-Recomanacions-vacunacio-antigripal-2020-2021.pdf. Accessed 3 Sept 2020.
World Health Organisation. Recommendations on influenza vaccination during the 2019-2020 winter season (2019). https://www.euro.who.int/en/health-topics/communicable-diseases/influenza/publications/2019/recommendations-on-influenza-vaccination-during-the-20192020-winter-season-2019. Accessed 3 Sept 2020.
Ministerio de Sanidad, Consumo y Bienestar Social. Coberturas de vacunación. Datos estadísticos. https://www.mscbs.gob.es/profesionales/saludPublica/prevPromocion/vacunaciones/calendario-y-coberturas/coberturas/historicoCoberturas.htm Accessed 11 Jan 2021.
Ministerio de Sanidad, Consumo y Bienestar Social. Gobierno de España. https://www.mscbs.gob.es/profesionales/saludPublica/prevPromocion/vacunaciones/programasDeVacunacion/gripe/faq/Preguntas_respuestas_gripe_profsanitarios_2020-2021.htm#Recomendaciones. Accessed 11 Jan 2021.
Zaraket H, Melhem N, Malik M, Khan W, Dbaibo G, Abubakar A. Review of seasonal influenza vaccination in the Eastern Mediterranean Region: policies, use and barriers. J Infect Public Health. 2020;13:377–84. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jiph.2020.02.029.
World Health Organisation. Barriers of influenza vaccination intention and behavior. A systematic review of influenza vaccine hesitancy 2005-2016. https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/251671/WHO-HIS-TTi-GAP-16.2-eng.pdf . Accessed 3 Sept 2020.
Myers L, Goodwin R. Determinants of adults' intention to vaccinate against pandemic swine flu. BMC Public Health. 2011;11:1–5. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-11-15.
Goldman R, McGregor S, Shashidar M, Katsuta T, Griffiths M, Hall J, et al. Willingness to vaccinate Children against Influenza after the COVID-19 Pandemic. J Pediatr. 2021;228:87–93. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpeds.2020.08.005.
Generalitat de Catalunya. DECRET LLEI 27/2020, de 13 de juliol, de modificació de la Llei 18/2009, de 22 d'octubre, de salut pública, i d'adopció de mesures urgents per fer front al risc de brots de la COVID-19. https://portaldogc.gencat.cat/utilsEADOP/PDF/8176/1804571.pdf. Accessed 11 Jan 2021.
Apiñaniz A, López-Picado A, Miranda-Serrano E, et al. Estudio transversal basado en la población sobre la aceptabilidad de la vacuna y la percepción de la gravedad de la gripe A/H1N1: Opinión de la población general y de los profesionales sanitarios. Gac Sanit. 2010;24(4):314–20. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gaceta.2010.03.009.
Institut Municipal d'Investigació Mèdica. Sample size and power calculator. Version 7.12 April 2012. https://www.imim.cat/ofertadeserveis/software-public/granmo/. Accessed 20 Oct 2020.
Picazo J, González Romo F, Salleras Sanmartí J, Bayas Rodríguez J, Álvarez Pasquín M. Encuesta sobre la vacunación de adultos en España Gripe y neumococo. Vacunas. 2012;13(3):100–11. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1576-9887(12)70048-1.
Méijome-Blanco S, González-Cristobo G, Regueiro-Martínez AA. Análisis de la renuncia a la vacunación antigripal (Estudio REGRIVI). Semergen. 2018;44(6):395–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.semerg.2017.12.003.
Muñoz-Miralles R, Bonvehí Nadeu S, Sant Masoliver C, Martín Gallego A, Llamazares Robles MO, Mendioroz Peña J. Efectividad del consejo breve en la vacunación contra la gripe Estudio piloto en atención primaria. Vacunas. 2019;20(1):18–24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vacun.2019.01.001.
Nagata JM, Hernández-Ramos I, Kurup AS, Albrecht D, Vivas-Torrealba C, Franco-Paredes C. Social determinants of health and seasonal influenza vaccination in adults ≥65 years: a systematic review of qualitative and quantitative data. BMC Public Health. 2013;13(1):388. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-13-388.
Lacoboucci Gareth. Covid-19: Risk of death more than doubled in people who also had flu English data show. BMJ. 2020;370:m3720. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m3720.
Jefferson T, Del Mar CB, Dooley L, Ferroni E, Al‐Ansary LA, Bawazeer GA, VanDriel ML, Nair NS, Jones MA, Thorning S, Conly JM. Physical interventions to interrupt or reduce the spread of respiratory viruses. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2020;7:CD006207. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD006207.pub5.
Instituto de Salud Pública, 2006 Instituto de Salud Pública 2006 Gobierno de Navarra Instituto de Salud Pública, Sección de Promoción de la Salud Manual de Educación para la Salud. Pamplona
Muñoz-Miralles R, Bonvehí Nadeu S, Sant Masoliver C, Martín Gallego A, Gómez Del Canto J, Mendioroz Peña J, Bonet Esteve AM. Effectiveness of a brief intervention for acceptance of influenza vaccine in reluctant primary care patients. Gac Sanit. 2021;S0213–9111(21):00035–2. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gaceta.2021.01.002.
We would like to thank Marisa Serra, Esperanza Solà, Judit Torrent and Lorena Vázquez for their support with the survey interviews.
Unitat de Farmàcia, Gerència Territorial Catalunya Central Institut Català de la Salut, Sant Fruitós de Bages, Spain
Anna Bonet-Esteve
Health Promotion in Rural Areas Research Group, Gerència Territorial de la Catalunya Central, Institut Català de la Salut, Sant Fruitós de Bages, Spain
Anna Bonet-Esteve & Josep Vidal-Alaball
Centre d'Atenció Primària Plaça Catalunya, SAP Bages-Berguedà-Solsonès, Gerència Territorial Catalunya Central Institut Català de la Salut, CAP Plaça Catalunya. C/ Soler i March 6, 08242, Manresa, Spain
Raquel Muñoz-Miralles
Centre d'Atenció Primària Vilanova del Camí, SAP Anoia, Gerència Territorial Catalunya Central, Institut Català de la Salut, Vilanova del Camí, Spain
Carla Gonzalez-Claramunt
Centre d'Atenció Primària Manlleu, SAP Osona, Gerència Territorial Catalunya Central, Institut Català de la Salut, Manlleu, Spain
Ana M Rufas
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
Xavier Pelegrin Cruz
Unitat de Suport a la Recerca de la Catalunya Central, Fundació Institut Universitari per a la recerca a l'Atenció Primària de Salut Jordi Gol i Gurina, Sant Fruitós de Bages, Spain
Josep Vidal-Alaball
Faculty of Medicine, University of Vic - Central University of Catalonia, Vic, Spain
ABE, RMM, CGC, AR and JVA contributed to the conceptualization, study design, data collection and writing of the article. XP contributed to the data analysis and writing of the article. All of the authors reviewed and approved the article prior to its publication.
Correspondence to Raquel Muñoz-Miralles.
All data extracted were anonymized and treated as strictly confidential. All methods were performed in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki.
The Research Ethics Committee (CEI) of the Institut Universitari d'Investigació en Atenció Primària (IDIAP Jordi Gol) approved the study protocol number 20/177-PCV.
Verbal informed consent to participate was obtained from the participants previous to the telephone survey (it can be read in the Additional file 1 Questionnaire).
The authors declare that they have no competing interests
Questionnaire.
Bonet-Esteve, A., Muñoz-Miralles, R., Gonzalez-Claramunt, C. et al. Influenza vaccination during the coronavirus pandemic: intention to vaccinate among the at-risk population in the Central Catalonia Health Region (VAGCOVID). BMC Fam Pract 22, 84 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12875-021-01434-8
Human influenza
Influenza vaccines
Vaccination refusal
Vaccination coverage


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Suzanne Benson
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I've even seen famous economists make really severe errors in their understanding of monetary policy, as John Taylor did when he characterized low-interest-rate policy as a "price ceiling".
Central banks "print money" and "set interest rates". But how exactly do they do these things, and what on Earth do they have to do with each other?
The first thing to understand is that most central banks don't actually print money. In the US, cash is actually printed by the Department of the Treasury. But cash is only a small part of the money in circulation. The monetary base consists of cash in vaults and in circulation; the US monetary base is about $3.6 trillion. The money supply can be measured a few different ways, but the standard way is to include checking accounts, traveler's checks, savings accounts, money market accounts, short-term certified deposits, and basically anything that can be easily withdrawn and spent as money. This is called the M2 money supply, and in the US it is currently over $14.1 trillion. That means that only 25% of our money supply is in actual, physical cash—the rest is all digital. This is actually a relatively high proportion for actual cash, as the monetary base was greatly increased in response to the Great Recession. When we say that the Fed "prints money", what we really mean is that they are increasing the money supply—but typically they do so in a way that involves little if any actual printing of cash.
The second thing to understand is that central banks don't exactly set interest rates either. They target interest rates. What's the difference, you ask?
Well, setting interest rates would mean that they made a law or something saying you have to charge exactly 2.7%, and you get fined or something if you don't do that.
Targeting interest rates is a subtler art. The Federal Reserve decides what interest rates they want banks to charge, and then they engage in what are called open-market operations to try to make that happen. Banks hold reserves—money that they are required to keep as collateral for their loans. Since we are in a fractional-reserve system, they are allowed to keep only a certain proportion (usually about 10%). In open-market operations, the Fed buys and sells assets (usually US Treasury bonds) in order to either increase or decrease the amount of reserves available to banks, to try to get them to lend to each other at the targeted interest rates.
Why not simply set the interest rate by law? Because then it wouldn't be the market-clearing interest rate. There would be shortages or gluts of assets.
It might be easier to grasp this if we step away from money for a moment and just think about the market for some other good, like televisions.
If they simply declared by law that the price of a television must be $500, here's what would happen: Either that would be too low, in which case there would be a shortage of televisions as demand exceeded supply; or that would be too high, in which case there would be a glut of televisions as supply exceeded demand. Only if they got spectacularly lucky and the market price already was $500 per television would they not have to worry about such things (and then, why bother?).
But suppose the government had the power to create and destroy televisions virtually at will with minimal cost.
Now, they have a better way; they can target the price of a television, and buy and sell televisions as needed to bring the market price to that target. If the price is too low, the government can buy and destroy a lot of televisions, to bring the price up. If the price is too high, the government can make and sell a lot of televisions, to bring the price down.
Now, let's go back to money. This power to create and destroy at will is hard to believe for televisions, but absolutely true for money. The government can create and destroy almost any amount of money at will—they are limited only by the very inflation and deflation the central bank is trying to affect.
This allows central banks to intervene in the market without creating shortages or gluts; even though they are effectively controlling the interest rate, they are doing so in a way that avoids having a lot of banks wanting to take loans they can't get or wanting to give loans they can't find anyone to take.
The goal of all this manipulation is ultimately to reduce inflation and unemployment. Unfortunately it's basically impossible to eliminate both simultaneously; the Phillips curve describes the relationship generally found that decreased inflation usually comes with increased unemployment and vice-versa. But the basic idea is that we set reasonable targets for each (usually about 2% inflation and 5% unemployment; frankly I'd prefer we swap the two, which was more or less what we did in the 1950s), and then if inflation is too high we raise interest rate targets, while if unemployment is too high we lower interest rate targets.
What if they're both too high? Then we're in trouble. This has happened; it is called stagflation. The money supply isn't the other thing affecting inflation and unemployment, and sometimes we get hit with a bad shock that makes both of them high at once. In that situation, there isn't much that monetary policy can do; we need to find other solutions.
But how does targeting interest rates lead to inflation? To be quite honest, we don't actually know.
The basic idea is that lower interest rates should lead to more borrowing, which leads to more spending, which leads to more inflation. But beyond that, we don't actually understand how interest rates translate into prices—this is the so-called transmission mechanism, which remains an unsolved problem in macroeconomics. Based on the empirical data, I lean toward the view that the mechanism is primarily via housing prices; lower interest rates lead to more mortgages, which raises the price of real estate, which raises the price of everything else. This also makes sense theoretically, as real estate consists of large, illiquid assets for which the long-term interest rate is very important. Your decision to buy an apple or even a television is probably not greatly affected by interest rates—but your decision to buy a house surely is.
If that is indeed the case, it's worth thinking about whether this is really the right way to intervene on inflation and unemployment. High housing prices are an international crisis; maybe we need to be looking at ways to decrease unemployment without affecting housing prices. But that is a tale for another time.
Is grade inflation a real problem?
You can't spend much time teaching at the university level and not hear someone complain about "grade inflation". Almost every professor seems to believe in it, and yet they must all be participating in it, if it's really such a widespread problem.
This could be explained as a collective action problem, a Tragedy of the Commons: If the incentives are always to have the students with the highest grades—perhaps because of administrative pressure, or in order to get better reviews from students—then even if all professors would prefer a harsher grading scheme, no individual professor can afford to deviate from the prevailing norms.
But in fact I think there is a much simpler explanation: Grade inflation doesn't exist.
In economic growth theory, economists make a sharp distinction between inflation—increase in prices without change in underlying fundamentals—and growth—increase in the real value of output. I contend that there is no such thing as grade inflation—what we are in fact observing is grade growth.
Am I saying that students are actually smarter now than they were 30 years ago?
But don't take it from me. Take it from the decades of research on the Flynn Effect: IQ scores have been rising worldwide at a rate of about 0.3 IQ points per year for as long as we've been keeping good records. Students today are about 10 IQ points smarter than students 30 years ago—a 2018 IQ score of 95 is equivalent to a 1988 score of 105, which is equivalent to a 1958 score of 115. There is reason to think this trend won't continue indefinitely, since the effect is mainly concentrated at the bottom end of the distribution; but it has continued for quite some time already.
This by itself would probably be enough to explain the observed increase in grades, but there's more: College students are also a self-selected sample, admitted precisely because they were believed to be the smartest individuals in the application pool. Rising grades at top institutions are easily explained by rising selectivity at top schools: Harvard now accepts 5.6% of applicants. In 1942, Harvard accepted 92% of applicants. The odds of getting in have fallen from 9:1 in favor to 19:1 against. Today, you need a 4.0 GPA, a 36 ACT in every category, glowing letters of recommendation, and hundreds of hours of extracurricular activities (or a family member who donated millions of dollars, of course) to get into Harvard. In the 1940s, you needed a high school diploma and a B average.
In fact, when educational researchers have tried to quantitatively study the phenomenon of "grade inflation", they usually come back with the result that they simply can't find it. The US department of education conducted a study in 1995 showing that average university grades had declined since 1965. Given that the Flynn effect raised IQ by almost 10 points during that time, maybe we should be panicking about grade deflation.
More recently, a study in 2013 found that grades rose at the high school level, but fell at the college level, and showed no evidence of losing any informativeness as a signaling mechanism. The only recent study I could find showing genuinely compelling evidence for grade inflation was a 2017 study of UK students estimating that grades are growing about twice as fast as the Flynn effect alone would predict. Most studies don't even consider the possibility that students are smarter than they used to be—they just take it for granted that any increase in average grades constitutes grade inflation. Many of them don't even control for the increase in selectivity—here's one using the fact that Harvard's average rose from 2.7 to 3.4 from 1960 to 2000 as evidence of "grade inflation" when Harvard's acceptance rate fell from almost 30% to only 10% during that period.
Indeed, the real mystery is why so many professors believe in grade inflation, when the evidence for it is so astonishingly weak.
I think it's availability heuristic. Who are professors? They are the cream of the crop. They aced their way through high school, college, and graduate school, then got hired and earned tenure—they were one of a handful of individuals who won a fierce competition with hundreds of competitors at each stage. There are over 320 million people in the US, and only 1.3 million college faculty. This means that college professors represent about the top 0.4% of high-scoring students.
Combine that with the fact that human beings assort positively (we like to spend time with people who are similar to us) and use availability heuristic (we judge how likely something is based on how many times we have seen it).
Thus, when a professor compares to her own experience of college, she is remembering her fellow top-scoring students at elite educational institutions. She is recalling the extreme intellectual demands she had to meet to get where she is today, and erroneously assuming that these are representative of most the population of her generation. She probably went to school at one of a handful of elite institutions, even if she now teaches at a mid-level community college: three quarters of college faculty come from the top one quarter of graduate schools.
And now she compares to the students she has to teach, most of whom would not be able to meet such demands—but of course most people in her generation couldn't either. She frets for the future of humanity only because not everyone is a genius like her.
Throw in the Curse of Knowledge: The professor doesn't remember how hard it was to learn what she has learned so far, and so the fact that it seems easy now makes her think it was easy all along. "How can they not know how to take partial derivatives!?" Well, let's see… were you born knowing how to take partial derivatives?
Giving a student an A for work far inferior to what you'd have done in their place isn't unfair. Indeed, it would clearly be unfair to do anything less. You have years if not decades of additional education ahead of them, and you are from self-selected elite sample of highly intelligent individuals. Expecting everyone to perform as well as you would is simply setting up most of the population for failure.
There are potential incentives for grade inflation that do concern me: In particular, a lot of international student visas and scholarship programs insist upon maintaining a B or even A- average to continue. Professors are understandably loathe to condemn a student to having to drop out or return to their home country just because they scored 81% instead of 84% on the final exam. If we really intend to make C the average score, then students shouldn't lose funding or visas just for scoring a B-. Indeed, I have trouble defending any threshold above outright failing—which is to say, a minimum score of D-. If you pass your classes, that should be good enough to keep your funding.
Yet apparently even this isn't creating too much upward bias, as students who are 10 IQ points smarter are still getting about the same scores as their forebears. We should be celebrating that our population is getting smarter, but instead we're panicking over "easy grading".
But kids these days, am I right?


Hi I am Celeste and my husband is Richard. We love to travel and explore different places and cultures.
Celeste & Richard are Maple & Kerry's friends who came to my KitchHike on April.
I am very happy!Thank you!
First we went to Tsukuda. This area is very local.
There are many old houses, a few old shops, and an old shrine.
The place here is often used for photography.
She said that this place reminded her of happy childhood.
Richard can not eat seafood, so this time we cooked Chicken hamburger.
He worked very hard to make grated Japanese radish.
It is very hard work, so it is my hasband's work in my home.
I considered the menu for many days.
Once more I noticed that washoku is used many seafood.
I was so grad to see he eating everything good!


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Is It Safe to Own Bed Bath & Beyond Stock Now?
Posted by jbrumley on January 6, 2022 7:23 PM
-- Bed Bath & Beyond stock is rallying despite a top- and bottom-line earnings miss. Does that make the stock a buy? Let's look. --
By Bret Kenwell, TheStreet.com
Shares of Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) were volatile this morning before the open on Thursday.
In premarket trading, the stock initially plunged after the company reported earnings.
At one point this morning, shares were down more than 10%. That follows yesterday's 10.8% loss.
But it didn't take long for the bulls to swing around and drive Bed Bath & Beyond higher by more than 20% at one point, both in the premarket and in the regular-hours session.
The rally may surprise some investors, given that the company reported a miss on both earnings and revenue expectations.
Particularly in a climate where many stocks are getting hammered amid the Fed's hawkish stance, many would not expect disappointing news to be overlooked.
But that's the case with Bed Bath & Beyond, which had ever-so-slightly violated its fourth-quarter low on Wednesday.
Let's look at the charts.
Trading Bed Bath & Beyond Stock
Daily chart of Bed Bath & Beyond stock
The first thing I see with Bed Bath & Beyond stock is the overall trend, which has been lower. That's true for both the short and the long-term.
Popping nicely off the $13.30 to $13.40 area, it's imperative that the stock finds some upside momentum from here.
Right now, it's contending with its short-term moving averages. However, if Bed Bath & Beyond stock can clear the 10-day and 21-day moving averages, it will have a clear shot at the 200-week and 50-day moving averages.
Above that and the December high is on the table at $20.12. A further rotation puts the $24 to $25 area in play.
In that zone, Bed Bath & Beyond will find prior resistance from last quarter, as well as the 200-day moving average.
On the downside, the key level to watch is $13.30.
If this mark is broken and not quickly reclaimed, the stock could be looking at more downside selling pressure even though it's down notably from the high.
Is Bed Bath & Beyond the worst stock to buy? No, not necessarily. Rallying on "bad" news is a good sign, in my opinion.
However, it's clearly not the type of quality stock we would like to hide out in if the markets begin to roll over. That is, unless it can maintain this recent burst of momentum. Keep an eye on that if more selling pressure ensues.
From TheStreet.com


MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIF.—Google wants to help you break the bad digital habits it helped you create.
Big tech is facing unprecedented scrutiny for the addictive nature of apps and devices, mass accumulation of personal data, skyrocketing wealth from digital advertising and growing societal repercussions, such as job loss, from advances in artificial intelligence.
While Facebook has shouldered the recent brunt of negative publicity after information from 87 million people was harvested by Cambridge Analytica, Google, too, has faced serious questions about its responsibilities to consumers, from the data it collects to the spread of misinformation and conspiracy theories.
At Google's annual event for software developers on Tuesday, Pichai cast Google as the white hat of the tech world. Using artificial intelligence, Google Assistant will soon be able to call and book a haircut appointment for you. A new Google tool will diagnose diabetes, another will help doctors predict medical problems 24 to 48 hours before patients get sick. And Google will offer new features that help you understand your digital habits and wean you off your 24/7 relationship with your devices and apps so you can power down and spend more time with friends and family.
Pichai's catchphrase for this: digital well-being. If that sounds familiar, it is.
Google responded with a number of "digital well-being" announcements Tuesday such as a new Android "Time Spent" dashboard that tells you exactly how long you spend on any given app, the number of notifications you receive, even the number of times you unlock your phone. The idea is to help you track your smartphone usage and regulate it if need be.
That Google soaks up all that information may strike some as creepy. But Google is banking that consumers will allow themselves to be tracked if useful features like these make their lives easier.
"It's really about advancing the technology to be hyper-personal so it naturally integrates with daily life. If Google can achieve that goal, people will trust it. And ultimately, what Google wants is your loyalty and trust," said Gartner analyst Brian Blau.