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SURAJ PE MANGAL BHARI is a decent entertainer and a clean family film that works because of its plot, the depiction of the mid-90s era and the performances.
It's been eight months since the last big Hindi film, ANGREZI MEDIUM, hit screens. Once the lockdown kicked in, films began to go online, even the ones starring A-listers. But producers of some small films decided to wait for cinemas to reopen. Last month, cinemas finally got the go-ahead in most parts of the country while on November 5, the prime state of Maharashtra too gave its nod. This prompted Zee Studios to release SURAJ PE Mangal BHARI on Diwali on the big screen. The trailer of the film has been impressive and carries a good vibe. So does SURAJ PE MANGAL BHARI manage to entertain and give viewers a good time? Or does it falter? Let's analyze.
SURAJ PE MANGAL BHARI is the story of a feud between a wedding detective and a dairy owner. The year is 1995. Suraj Singh Dhillon (Diljit Dosanjh) is a single guy from Mumbai and the heir of Jai Mata Rani Doodh Bhandar. He lives with his father Gurnaam Dhillon (Manoj Pahwa), mother Yeshodha Dhillon (Seema Pahwa) and sister Guddi (Vanshika Sharma). His parents are looking for a right match but their efforts are futile. Suraj's sidekick Sukhi (Manuj Sharma) tells him to be 'cool' and a 'bad boy' and that it would help attract girls. Suraj likes the idea and as part of his stint as a cool bad boy, he breaks the traffic signal and consumes alcohol in front of a girl's college. Meanwhile, his parents find a match for him. An excited Suraj goes to the girl's house with his parents. But the girl's parents refuse their proposal because they had the pictures of Suraj while he was in his 'bad boy' avatar. Suraj is dejected and is dying to know who clicked his pictures after all. After cajoling the Pandit Dubey ji (Neeraj Sood), he gets to know that it's none other than Madhu Mangal Rane (Manoj Bajpayee), a wedding detective. He believes it's his job to find flaws in the to-be grooms and thus save the lives of gullible girls and their families. Suraj wants revenge but does not know how. He then realizes that Mangal has a sister, Tulshi Rane (Fatima Sana Shaikh). He decides to fake a relationship with her in order to get back at Mangal. However, he falls for her in real. He expresses his love to Tulshi. She however is hiding a shocking secret about her life and passion. This secret gives Suraj the much needed opportunity to damage Mangal's reputation. At the same time, it can also dent his marriage prospects with Tulshi. What happens next forms the rest of the film.
Shokhi Banerjee's story is very interesting and entertaining. One might feel that the makers revealed almost the whole plot in the trailer. But that's not the case as the film has a lot more to offer. Rohan Shankar's screenplay is entertaining for most parts. The various twists and dramatic points are well fleshed out. However, a few rough edges remain. Also, the humor quotient is limited. Rohan Shankar's dialogues are hilarious and a few of them are sure to induce claps.
Abhishek Sharma's direction is neat. He deserves brownie points for keeping the mood of the film light from start to finish. The film never gets too heavy, even in no-nonsense situations. Also, the film is replete with some very quirky characters and he makes good use of them to add to the fun. Moreover, the film celebrates the Marathi culture and the middle-class lifestyle of the city. It fondly also reminds one of the simple, slice-of-life films made by Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Basu Chatterjee. On the flipside, some of the portions of the first half aren't upto the mark, especially the 'Bad Boy' sequence. A few developments are hard to digest, especially the track of the professor deciding not to take any action against his wife despite the latter cheating on him. Also, the manner in which Madhu plans the breaking off the engagement ceremony of his sister is a bit too much. Mangal's change of heart in the climax also comes across as very unconvincing. Thankfully, the DILWALE DULHANIA LE JAYENGE [1995] inspired climax makes up for it.
SURAJ PE MANGAL BHARI starts off on a fine note. The entry of Mangal is hilarious and it neatly explains the dedication towards his work. The film drops a bit when Suraj turns into a 'bad boy' and when he gets into detective mode. But it picks up once Suraj starts wooing Tulshi. The twist in Tulshi's tale is unexpected and gives a nice touch. Post-interval, the patch-up between Suraj and Tulshi occurs rather quickly. But the fun continues as Mangal uses a new trick to get back at Suraj. More twists take place in the narrative as new characters get introduced. The finale is predictable but hilarious.
Manoj Bajpayee is energetic and is sure to be loved. One rarely gets to see him in such roles and it's a pleasure how he puts his best foot forward. Surely, this is one of his most memorable performances! Diljit Dosanjh is as always in his element. He suits the part to the T. Fatima Sana Shaikh is quite good in some scenes. But in a few sequences, her expressions are a bit off. This is especially in the scene where Mangal finds out the truth about her. Annu Kapoor (Shantaram Kaka) is impressive and one wishes he had a longer role. Supriya Pilgaonkar (Rekha Rane) is great and contributes to the humor. Manuj Sharma is nice as Diljit's sidekick. Manoj Pahwa and Seema Pahwa and Neeraj Sood are alright. Vanshika Sharma is funny. Neha Pendse (Kavya Godbole) is beautiful and has an important part in which she does very well. Vijay Raaz (Chinmay Godbole) is arguably the funniest part about the film. Sadly, he's hardly there and on top of that, his character is not utilized well. Rohan Shankar (Ashok) leaves a mark. Vivek R Puranik (Ashok's father), Harsha Gupte (Ashok's mother) and Anjali Ujawane (Vatsavitri Lady) are fine. Abhishek Banerjee (Dinesh) is okay in the cameo. Karishma Tanna is sizzling in the special number.
Javed-Mohsin's music is poor. 'Basanti' (composed by Kingshuk Chakravarty) is foot-tapping while the title track is catchy. 'Waareya' works because it's well shot. Same goes for 'Ladki Dramebaaz Hai'. 'Bad Boys' is disappointing. Kingshuk Chakravarty's background score is excellent, especially the theme music used in Manoj Bajpayee's scenes.
Anshuman Mahaley's cinematography is first-rate. Rajat Poddar's production design is authentic and reminds one of the 90s. Vijay Ganguly's choreography is appealing in 'Basanti'. Jia Bhagia and Mallika Chauhan's costumes are realistic for all the characters. Fatema's clothes however don't seem to be of 1995 but nevertheless, looks glamorous. Rameshwar Bhagat's editing is fair.
On the whole, SURAJ PE MANGAL BHARI is a decent entertainer and a clean family film that works because of its plot, the depiction of the mid-90s era and the performances.
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Impact Crater — Does DORA Need to Attack the Impact Factor to Reform How It Is Used in Academia?
From left to right: Swiper (in background), Dora, and Boots (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
A new initiative to make academic assessment less reliant on the impact factor has been launched. The initiative is the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment, adorably dubbed "DORA" by scientists who have, over the past two decades, become masters of the acronym. The DORA Web site lists about 400 individual and 90 organizational signatories to the declaration currently.
As described in one of the editorials published in a coordinated fashion last week, Bruce Alberts, the editor-in-chief at Science, the declaration was:
. . . initiated by the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) together with a group of editors and publishers of scholarly journals, recognizes the need to improve the ways in which the outputs of scientific research are evaluated.
The main impetus for the group stems from what they perceive to be an over-extension and misapplication of the impact factor in the assessment of scholarly achievement across disciplines. As Alberts writes:
. . . [the impact factor] has been increasingly misused . . . with scientists now being ranked by weighting each of their publications according to the impact factor of the journal in which it appeared. For this reason, I have seen curricula vitae in which a scientist annotates each of his or her publications with its journal impact factor listed to three significant decimal places (for example, 11.345). And in some nations, publication in a journal with an impact factor below 5.0 is officially of zero value. As frequently pointed out by leading scientists, this impact factor mania makes no sense.
The head of the ACSB, Stefano Bertuzzi, sought to be both aggressive and conciliatory when quoted in a Science Insider article by indicating that this is not an attack on Thomson Reuters or the impact factor itself:
I see this as an insurrection. We don't want to be at the mercy of this anymore. We're not attacking [Thomson Reuters] in any way. [We are attacking] the misuse of impact factors.
This all sounds laudable, but there are problems. One of the problems is a lack of novelty in the thinking — that is, these tendencies are well-known and have dogged the impact factor for years, as shown in this quote from a paper published in 2005:
The use of journal impact factors instead of actual article citation counts to evaluate individuals is a highly controversial issue. Granting and other policy agencies often wish to bypass the work involved in obtaining actual citation counts for individual articles and authors. . . . Presumably the mere acceptance of the paper for publication by a high impact journal is an implied indicator of prestige. . . . Thus, the impact factor is used to estimate the expected influence of individual papers which is rather dubious considering the known skewness observed for most journals. Today so-called "webometrics" are increasingly brought into play, though there is little evidence that this is any better than traditional citation analysis.
Even so, there are indirect measures that can be applied given what the impact factor measures, as one researcher into citation metrics has noted:
Impact Factor is not a perfect tool to measure the quality of articles but there is nothing better and it has the advantage of already being in existence and is, therefore, a good technique for scientific evaluation. Experience has shown that in each specialty the best journals are those in which it is most difficult to have an article accepted, and these are the journals that have a high impact factor. Most of these journals existed long before the impact factor was devised. The use of impact factor as a measure of quality is widespread because it fits well with the opinion we have in each field of the best journals in our specialty.
The impact factor has clear utility, especially for distinguishing between journals within a field. Abandoning it for the wrong reasons would be akin to throwing the baby out with the bath water.
Yet, instead of focusing solely on researchers, funders, and academic institutions — the main bodies with control over how research assessment occurs — the draft DORA statement also draws publishers in as extrinsic elements reinforcing this purported environmental problem. The declaration also has some unsupportable elements, something Philip Campbell, the editor of Nature, pointed out in an interview in the Chronicle of Higher Education, pointing out that Nature has not signed on to DORA:
. . . the draft statement contained many specific elements, some of which were too sweeping for me or my colleagues to sign up to.
Campbell picked up on one of the statements that caught my eye, as well — that journals should:
. . . [g]reatly reduce emphasis on the journal impact factor as a promotional tool, ideally by ceasing to promote the impact factor or by presenting the metric in the context of a variety of journal-based metrics (e.g., 5-year impact factor, EigenFactor [8], SCImago [9], h-index, editorial and publication times, etc.) that provide a richer view of journal performance.
So, while this is ostensibly not an attack on Thomson Reuters, one recommendation is for journals to cease promoting the impact factor. That feels like an attack on both journals and Thomson Reuters. The editorial release in the EMBO Journal spends an inordinate amount of time complaining about the impact factor. In Molecular Biology of the Cell, the acronym-happy scientists create a mock impact factor and call it the Metric for Evaluating Scientific Scholarship (MESS), a definite slight against the impact factor. Despite acknowledging the utility of the impact factor in evaluating journals in many ways, some publishers have over-reacted, with eLife saying:
If and when eLife is awarded an impact factor, we will not promote this metric.
Other vocabulary emerging includes a "declaration of independence" and "scientific insurgents," again creating the impression of throwing off an oppressive regime of publishers wielding the impact factor.
The core issue isn't the existence of the impact factor or its utilization by journals, but its lazy adoption by academics. Conflating other issues is equally sloppy, and eLife is certainly throwing itself on its sword for no particular reason.
More disconcerting from a group of sophisticated academics is some confusion within various statements — for instance, in the quote above, the DORA authors list a "variety of journal-based metrics" but include the h-index, which is not a journal-based metric but a hybrid article- and researcher-based metric. In addition, while decrying the use of one journal-based metric, they ask publishers to deploy more journal-based metrics to . . . make it less likely that academics will use journal-based metrics?!? Things like this make the entire document seem hasty and substandard.
There are specific recommendations pertaining to publishers that also seem unnecessary or ill-conceived:
Remove all reuse limitations on reference lists in research articles and make them available under the Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication. Publishers can spend a lot of time and not an insignificant amount of money ensuring that reference lists are accurate. What incentive is there for them to then make these lists freely available? Who does it help? Commercial entities wishing to make products off the backs of publishers?
Remove or reduce the constraints on the number of references in research articles. Constraints on reference lists are intended to force researchers to point to the best sources and not throw everything in but the kitchen sink. These limits also help publishers control the costs of checking references. As with many points in the declaration, this is irrelevant, actually. If the goal is to make academic institutions stop using the impact factor as a proxy for academic achievement, why would this issue matter?
Relax unnecessary limits on the number of words, figures, and references in articles. This isn't an enumerated recommendation, but is included in the narrative preceding the list. The idea itself is completely author-centric — shorter articles are more readable and usable, but authors often find the work of shortening or revising their work to be burdensome and difficult. There is an editorial balance to be struck, and DORA should not stick its nose into that balance. It's a superfluous issue for the initiative, and adds to the impression that an ill-defined animus informs the declaration.
There's a deeper problem with the DORA declaration, which is an unexpressed and untested inference in their writing about how the impact factor may be relevant to academic assessment groups. They assert repeatedly, and the editorials expand on these assertions, that tenure committees and the like connect the impact factor to each individual article, as if the article had attained the impact stated. I don't believe this is true. I believe that the impact factor for a journal provides a modest signal of the selectivity of the journal — given all the journal titles out there, a tenure committee has to look for other ways to evaluate how impressive a publication event might be. In fact, research has found that impact factor is actually a better marker than prestige in some fields, especially the social sciences, because it is more objective. If we dispense with something useful, we need something better in its place. That is not on offer here.
In a more narrative editorial about DORA published in eLife, the wedge politics of DORA and the reliance on personal stories both become more clearly evident:
Anecdotally, we as scientists and editors hear time and again from junior and senior colleagues alike that publication in high-impact-factor journals is essential for career advancement. However, deans and heads of departments send out a different message, saying that letters of recommendation hold more sway than impact factors in promotion and tenure decisions.
Another way of saying this is that you need both publication in high-impact journals and letters of recommendation for career advancement. Since that's not an inflammatory statement but common sense, but controversy is a prerequisite, the situation is cast as an either-or choice — you have to drop one to have the other, a clearly false premise.
Another anecdote comes next:
. . . researchers on the sub-panels assessing the quality of research in higher education institutions in the UK as part of the Research Excellence Framework (REF) have been told: 'No sub-panel will make any use of journal impact factors, rankings, lists or the perceived standing of publishers in assessing the quality of research outputs'. However, there is evidence that some universities are making use of journal impact factors when selecting the papers that will included in their submission to the REF.
Again, the prohibition is against the sub-panel's use of impact factors. But if a university is trying to submit a tight, powerful application, and if the impact factor provides a reliable path for this activity, the complaint isn't clear to me at all. If I'm whittling down a list, I'm going to use some tools to whack away the underbrush, including impact factor, authorship factors, recency, and so forth. Conflating this activity with the activity of a sub-panel isn't fair, but doing so highlights the group's singular focus on the impact factor.
Alternatives are mentioned in many editorials, and of course various alt-metrics groups have signed onto DORA. Yet, alt-metrics still provide metrics, and any metric is going to be susceptible to manipulation and perceived misuse. In addition, the transparency demanded by DORA would likely be challenging for alt-metrics providers, who have their own "secret sauce" approach or unclear standards in many cases.
To me, the authors of the DORA declaration have not done sufficient legwork to see exactly how the impact factor is being used by tenure committees, have not given sufficient thought to their goals, have offered mixed messages about how to improve the situation, have thrown journals into an issue that could be dealt with separately, and have allowed some petty resentments to mix into what could be a more vaunted approach to improving academic assessments.
That's too bad, because the best point of the declaration — that academics should be evaluated using a variety of inputs and mostly on their potential and fit — risks being lost in what is being interpreted broadly as an attack on the impact factor. And if academia thinks the problem is not their own practices and cultural attitudes, they could miss the point of the DORA declaration entirely.
26 Thoughts on "Impact Crater — Does DORA Need to Attack the Impact Factor to Reform How It Is Used in Academia?"
Impact Factors, 5 Yr Impact Factors and Article Influence Scores are all highly correlated; advertising more related metrics does not add much more information for authors. Instead it just gives another chance for a journal to claim to be top in its field.
Conversely editorial and production times are unique to each journal and do provide authors with extra information to make an informed choice about submission.
By James Hardcastle (@JamesHTweets)
There does seem to be a pervasive conspiracy theory that journal publishers are responsible for the Impact Factor when the truth is that they are instead merely reacting to the priorities set by academia. At nearly every editorial board meeting I attend, much time is spent complaining about how misused the IF is, yet the conclusion every time is that we can't ignore it because our authors and readers want it. Our job is to provide the academic community with the services they need. If academia can reform the standards used for promotion/funding, then journals will follow.
As you note, that's easier said than done. One phrase that's pervasive throughout the DORA declaration is the notion of assessing research on its own merits. That would be ideal, but it requires a depth of expertise and time be spent on each level of evaluation, which makes for a much slower, much less efficient system. When you're on a grant study section and you have a two foot high stack of grant applications, you need a quick and easy way to narrow things down. When you advertise a job opening and get 500 seemingly qualified applications, you need some shortcuts to bring that down to a manageable level. There's no way you can read every single paper published by every single applicant in depth, or consult on each paper with an expert in that field. That time simply doesn't exist. And so we need standards and shorthand ways of clearing through these unmanageable quantities, which continue to increase. The IF may indeed not be the best measure for doing so. I think the move to article level metrics should be applauded, as the article itself, and its citation count, tells me more about the individual work than the citations given to articles around it.
The other problematic issue raised in DORA is the idea of changing the criteria for evaluation to include activities beyond the production of scientific results. There's some merit here, to be sure, for particular types of research where the outputs vary. But it's also something of a slippery slope–we often see calls for career rewards for things like blogging or leaving online comments on papers. I worry about an attempted "end run" by scientists who aren't particularly productive, who are trying to change the evaluation criteria to better fit their strengths, which are in areas other than discovery. Research institutions and funding agencies have to carefully assess their priorities and strictly limit the credit and rewards offered to activities that directly serve their needs and goals. Just because you're particularly good at doing X doesn't mean that your institution sees any return from X, or has any incentive to reward you for X.
It seems to me that the alternatives to IF are measuring popularity and not worth. So I would posit the question to those detractors of IF: What is the value of popularity?
Regarding article length. Writing is hard work and most, including scientists, do not like to work hard at writing. Writing is an onerous task, and the most challenging comment to a sentence or paragraph given by a reviewer is the word: vague.
I see the attack on IF coming in tandem to OA. If there is no standard then the journal Science becomes just as authoritative as the magazine Popular Science.
I think an underlying theme to many of the current trends can be summarized as "the author is now the customer."
Is there a part of paragraph missing towards the end? (Fourth from the bottom – cut me off in the middle of the story…)
By Rafał
Yikes! A late night cut-and-paste gone awry!!
This post was extremely hard to wrangle, and I had to tie up some loose ends even this morning, but I missed that one. Fixed now (deleted, because it was a straggler). Thank you very much for pointing it out.
I just saw Eugene Garfield, the founder of ISI and the Impact Factor a few days ago at MLA in Boston. Amazing that something that was started all those years ago is still so strong and influential .I know that many medical school search committees often use the IF as a filtering device when searching for new faculty. Department chairman and Deans often are looking for highly talented individuals and the IF is used as a tool to identify candidates. Publications published in journals with low IF are discounted. The same can be said for tenure and promotion committees.
Researchers actively look for high impact factor journals to publish.
There have been challenges to the IF in the past but it is still the gold standard. Publishers work hard to maintain quality, build their brands, so why not promote their IF? Users like to know.
By Dan Tonkery
Does anyone in DORA realize the world's largest search engine uses an algorithm not very different from Impact Factor? Links (cites?) to pages is a very significant ranking criteria, and the importance (i.e. links to) those citing pages counts as well. So, if your page scores highly in a search, it means it has been cited by other well-regarded pages. Sound familiar?
By Ken Lanfear
This is a really good point, and you just made me dope-slap myself for not thinking of it!
The networked elaboration of the impact factor concept has been extremely powerful, of course. It also plays out in networks of influence on the personal level. There's a profound aspect to the concept that shouldn't be overlooked, and which might help explain its durability.
I think it's an interesting comparison. But doesn't Google weigh both the source/site of the article and the article itself? A page gets a better ranking if it's in the NY Times, but the links to the actual article itself are a bigger driver of ranking, correct? The IF though just looks at the site, so a move to be more Google like would look at a combination of both journal level metrics and the article level metrics.
I believe Google utilizes the PageRank algorithm, which does indeed account for source/site. I believe PageRank inspired the SCImago Journal Rank as well.
By Chris Iannicello
Google's algorithms are indeed more complex than IF, and include sophisticated routines to prevent gaming like abusive self-cites. (Hmmmmm. Might be useful!) But the basic idea is that being cited is good.
Nope. Google looks at the specific item ('page') and is not fussed about the 'journal' ('site') in which that page appears (so long as it's not buried too many pages down!). That's the whole point of this debate. Impact Factor (or the Ephemerality Index as I've long described it … ) doesn't look at individual papers, even if we accept the problem-ridden sense of equating 'citation' with 'worth'. Being cited isn't everything, being a journal that has many papers highly cited (within two years of appearing, remember) isn't everything either. But it is not merely that IF isn't *everything*, but that it genuinely isn't *anything*. The argument is not that IF is a slightly unreliable index, it is that IF is grotesquely misleading pseudo-index.
When IF first emerged, there was at least a plausible knock-on argument in its favour. In 'paper-only' days, being physically close to other papers in a widely read (and thus cited) journal surely raised the chance that readers might stumble upon your efforts. But now most researchers don't read the physical journal or even have to scan-read a volume's article listings. Readers are electronically directed to the paper of 'choice', driven by search engine criteria (maybe author, maybe broad topic, maybe specific buzz-words). There are far fewer serendipitous 'near-neighbour' delights in library work these days! The decline of this knock-on benefit reduces still further any *potential* relevance of IF.
And remember, Google ranks don't stop at 2 years ….. they're cumulative.
By David Miller
My understanding is (assuming one trusts Wikipedia at this point):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Page_rank
The PageRank of a page is defined recursively and depends on the number and PageRank metric of all pages that link to it ("incoming links"). A page that is linked to by many pages with high PageRank receives a high rank itself.
That means the PageRank is not just about the number of links a page receives, but also factors from where those links originate. This creates a context, not that different from that offered by the journal title–a page in the NY Times, which is linked to throughout the NY Times, a reputable site, gets more from those links than a page in a lesser site linked from that lesser site. That would suggest that there's value in contextual level ranking and looking beyond just the article level itself.
The Page Rank algorithm (named after Larry Page), principly counts inflow of links to single pages. It's radically different from the calculation of the Impact Factor, which has an averaging effect, and a hard time cutoff.
If you want to look into algorithmic appropriatness then the seminal paper by Bollen et al applied both the Page rank algorithm and the impact factor algorithm to a large set of data (http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0006022).
I'll let their conclusion speak for itself
"Our results indicate that the notion of scientific impact is a multi-dimensional construct that can not be adequately measured by any single indicator, although some measures are more suitable than others. The commonly used citation Impact Factor is not positioned at the core of this construct, but at its periphery, and should thus be used with caution."
By Ian Mulvany (@IanMulvany)
If the DORA recommendations are accepted, this will result in nothing but paper spamming and publish-or-perish. There is a reason why some things go right into Nature and some "findings" end up in Journal of fill-in-your-discipline or PLoS One. Granted, sometimes there are hidden pearls and sometimes crap makes it to Nature. But overall, a high-impact article usually reports something of higher impact. And because faculty search committees are not necessarily total experts on each applicants work, impact factor is important for evaluation. Otherwise, it will result in a race to the bottom, just publishing whatever goes as fast as possible. Even right now, it is risky to pursue a high-effort-high-impact project, because even with your Science paper, in the end you might lose out to the guy with the three or four generic impact-around-4 style publications because of his perceived superior productivity. It's bad enough that things like H-index already reward those certain co-author types who show up on everything that is published within a mile radius or the high-productivity types who spam out some generic self referential iteration of their standard experimental repertoire thrice a year.
By Frustrated scientist
DORA says that the IF is OK for journals, bad for science. Every scientist, particularly those on study sections, will say "it's not great, but it's the best we have."
It's NOT THE BEST WE HAVE ANY MORE. We now have the means to look at individual articles, so why don't we do that?
This isn't a researchers vs. publishers thing. If you sum up the article level metrics for all the papers in a journal and divide by the output of the journal, you have the impact factor, right? So publishers can still tout that if they like, whereas researchers can actually be judged on their own work, not on the reflected glory of the journal brand, which we now know doesn't allow you to make useful predictions.
One would think that "this is good for researchers" would be enough to get behind it by itself…
By drgunn
A researcher publishes a paper in Nature three months before his tenure committee meeting. No citations have accrued. Does the impact factor have no utility here?
A researcher publishes a paper in Science, but it receives only three citations after five years because it's so novel that it has started a new sub-branch of a field, and there are a bunch of funded project ongoing but no steady flow of papers hitting journals yet. Does the impact factor have utility here?
Any metric has limitations. Article-level metrics have latency problems, and can't account for many situations.
The problem isn't the metric, but how it is interpreted. The DORA declaration has some problems that keep it from being as incisive and important as it could have been. Dragging the impact factor into the town square for its annual flogging is just one of these problems.
"The problem isn't the metric, but how it is interpreted. "
The debate about 'Impact Factor [sic] and its deployment by all and sundry is precisely whether it is a 'metric' or not. Given how IF is defined (why <=2 years? etc) and the multiple limitations on plausible interpretations of what it *might* indicate, it cannot justify being consider 'a metric' of any relevance to the assessment of the quality of an individual researcher, their published work, even their work published in that particular journal. IF is so far away from contact with any of those evaluations as to be useless in that context. But worse, if it is deployed in these evaluations then it becomes positively misleading – if one choses to be led!
Whether IF retains some, at best narrow, field-specific, significance for the *journal* is a separate consideration. As for "its annual flogging", well, Impact Factor is indeed a dead horse.
By lymingtonian
What article level metrics would you suggest be used in this manner? I do think that citation count for an individual article is much more informative about the work than the journal's Impact Factor (though as Kent points out, it's a slow metric). Are there any others in use that offer indications of quality (rather than popularity)?
And I'm not sure this post is really against the sentiment behind DORA, just in the methodologies chosen and in the finger pointing at publishers, whose role in the use of the IF is merely a reaction to the priorities of academia. Note that Kent's other post from this same day points at those who have taken a different path toward improving things in this area and offers praise for their efforts (http://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2013/05/21/populism-vs-activism-encountering-limitations-in-the-age-of-online-petitions-and-signatures/).
I think that DORA is demonising a metric that has been promoted simply because the stakeholders (researchers) demanded it. Indirectly, of course, I am concerned that DORA demonises Thomson Reuters and by doing so, promotes Scopus.
By Gemma Derrick
I'm not clear. Do you mean that the "stakeholders (researchers)" demanded Impact Factor's use be promoted, or that DORA demonise it?
So far as I can report, researchers (the people doing the research and the publishing) haven't 'demanded' the 'use' of Impact Factor for anything … at least not those of us in the numerate sciences! (At its most trivial, you can't describe a highly non-normal distribution by quoting its mean value … etc etc)
I wonder if 'too much to do, too little time' is maybe the real disease here? This decades-long discussion of Impact Factors as a poor outcomes treatment is maybe symptomatic of a disease for which alternative treatments quickly become preoccupied with targeting the old formula instead of the disease.
By Neil Christensen
Question for all involved in this discussion: Given the controversy here:
http://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2013/05/23/cc-bye-bye/
Should attribution of the original source journal matter? If the goal is that work should only be judged on the merits of that individual paper, then knowing where it was originally published should not play a role in one's interpretation of it, correct? So does a license requiring attribution to the original journal title for a paper work against the goals stated in DORA?
science does not progress when one promotes people who specialize in generating repetitious least-publishable units and/or in knowing best how to game the bureaucracy and how to please failed-ph.d.-kingmakers at major journals, the mafiosos at NIH/NSF study sessions, and their peers by citing them or giving them openings for further fassade publications.
science progresses when important scientific breakthroughs are made.
therefore whatever contributes to increasing the probability of such breakthroughs is an important contribution to science (this includes onerous teaching beyond the textbook).
i propose to evaluate scientists and their output according to how many established theories (or "scientific" fads) they have refuted, how many seminal hypotheses and crucial new questions they have proposed, how many breakthrough new methods they have developed, etc.
5, 10, and 15 years after the ph.d., the scientist would write his/her own explicitly argued and heavily footnoted evaluation describing his vision and merits as breakthrough thinker and scientist by commenting explicitly on his established-theory refutations, novel hypotheses and questions proposed, breakthrough new methods developed, etc., and by contrasting everything to how things were before his work.
the factuality of the listed results and presented context and the relevance that the evaluated person attributes to the topics and results mentioned in the self-evaluation would then be critiqued by
a) a group of experts recommended and justified by the evaluated person and
b) a group of international experts chosen by a panel of national experts themselves chosen by the country's professional organization.
(this could be refined of course; the most important thing is to avoid both invidious and crony reviewing).
the two reviews would then be exchanged between groups and contradictions would be eliminated.
those who would come up empty-handed would start performing more and more work for others who have delivered breakthrough work in the past (and the technical training of such ""support specialists" would be augmented and everybody would get paid the same to avoid careerists).
these "specialists" would also carry out work for starting postdocs.
say one would start working 25%, 50%, 75%, 100% for others, after coming up empty-handed after 5, 10, 15, and 20 years….
of course, after delivering an important breakthrough ("hard work" and a "steady output" do to qualify as such), one would regain all of the "lost" ground (quotation signs because it must be a nightmare to have to feign that one is a creative scientist when one is not, especially if one is paid
the same either away).
By marc
Whenever I read anything by a researcher that refers to journal editors as "failed PhD's" or "failed postdocs" I tend to immediately dismiss everything else that person has to say, as it's a clear sign they are woefully out of touch with both economic realities and how journals work. First, many, if not most journals have editors and editorial boards made up of working scientists, chosen carefully for their expertise and high level of respect from their peers.
Second is the notion of the "failed PhD" being someone not working as an academic PI. This is an outdated and quaint, if also terribly rude and insulting position. As shown in these charts, fewer than 40% of PhD's get jobs at graduation:
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/02/the-phd-bust-americas-awful-market-for-young-scientists-in-7-charts/273339/
Are more than 60% of the students at your institution failures? According to this article, the percentage of PhD biologists who hold tenure track positions is less than 30%:
http://www.nature.com/neuro/journal/v10/n11/full/nn1107-1337.html
I suggest you walk around your institution and call 70% of those you see "failures" to their faces. This may not enhance your reputation or your chances of career advancement.
As for your suggested system for career advancement, it seems to require quite a bit of magic. First, you will need a source of funding to provide support for 15 years of independent research from every single recipient of a PhD. Given the ever increasing number of students graduating, this will massively overwhelm current levels of research funding. Then again, that may not be a problem as likely every researcher will be spending most of their time serving on panels evaluating, conferring and reviewing the constant flow of self-evaluations flooding the system. Who would have time to do any research? Finally, requiring everyone be paid the same amount to "avoid careerists" means there is no incentive provided for excelling, no chance of bettering oneself through success, and is a surefire means of driving the best and brightest minds out of science and into the private sector where they can hope to improve their living conditions, maybe even support and feed their families.
High Noon -- A Publisher Threatens to "Lunch" a Criminal Case Against Librarian Critic

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


It looks like Leah Messer is concerned about watching Jenelle Evans' road rage incident unfold on Teen Mom 2. Taking to Twitter on July 16, Leah shared a meme with weary face emojis and a baby dancing captioned: "Guys, next week we get to see the road rage scene!"
Fans have been wondering what really went down back in May, but we may finally get a glimpse at the truth when the highly anticipated episode airs on July 23. The drama supposedly started when an unnamed driver complained to the Brunswick County police. Jenelle allegedly "hit his truck, ran over his mailbox, and pulled a gun on him. She was driving blocking traffic, he tried to pass her on the inside like everyone else and she flipped out," according to the report from Sheriff's Office Communication Center CFS.
The driver's report claims Jenelle didn't stop there, as she allegedly followed him all the way to his home and onto his private property. However, Jenelle claimed things happened differently during her phone call to police. "He was tailgating me the whole way, I had my son in the car because my son was at therapy. He's been tailgating me the whole time in traffic. Would not stop. Then he races in front of me and purposely slammed on the brakes at 70-something miles an hour. He is literally going crazy, swerving in and out of lanes."
Fans are even more upset over the ordeal because her son Jace was sitting in the front seat of the car at the time. Since he's only eight years old, many addressed how he should be sitting in the backseat. "I truly believe MTV will completely down play it. I hope they prove me wrong. But they need Jenelle. She brings in the trashy drama lovers," one upset fan wrote, while another just commented a sad-face emoji. We hope this never happens again!


Charlotte Harding catches up with a couple passionate about coffee.
How do you like your coffee? For Rachel and Doug Ross the fact they like their coffee different ways sparked an idea to start a business.
The couple knew they wanted to do something together and their love for the beverage was the inspiration they needed.
"I have been to lots of coffee houses on my travels so have tried a lot of different ones," explains Doug.
"It is about giving people a choice and to be able to have good coffee at home," says Rachel.
Square House Coffee was launched a year ago.
It sells four single origin beans, a Cameroon, Tanzania, Burundi and house blend in either bean, espresso or cafeteria grinds alongside a seasonal blend.
"We have a roaster in Dudley called Tom who I really picked the brains of when we started," reveals Doug.
Trying the single origin beans and different blends has helped them build up their core range but there is one still on their wish list.
"We want a South American bean but haven't found the right one yet," Doug says.
Key to Rachel and Doug was being ethical and working with suppliers who followed that ethos.
"Our green bean supplier is Schluter Coffee based in Liverpool that is a direct trade company," reveals Doug.
and the company also provides education and community support.
"It is all about community and giving something back.
"We also work with Children on the Edge and a percentage of our profits goes to helping the charity.
"That is where the square comes from in our name," explains Rachel. "We want to do things fair and square, be ethical and do the right thing.
They are also keen to educate people as to how to get good tasting brew at home.
"It does depends on loads of things - the method, the bean, the grind and what you are using," explains Rachel.
The couple knew each other years ago when Rachel was Doug's agent as a travelling DJ.
"We reconnected ten years later and got together," adds Doug.
The joy of working with coffee is that Rachel and Doug have a lot of friends and family keen to be taste testers.
"People were really positive when we told them what we wanted to do," says Doug.
As the pair are coffee lovers, how do they like to have theirs?
"I like mine black so I can really taste the bean," reveals Rachel.
"For me to depends on my mood and the time of day," says Doug.
"In the morning I like a milky coffee such as a flat white but then later on in the day if I'm at home I will have a black coffee.
So whether yours is a latte or a cortado, cappuccino or just black it is all about the bean.
Square House Coffee is offering readers 15 per cent discount off all its products.
Just enter etc15 code at checkout.
Square House Coffee will be at Rare Brand Market at Goodwood Racecourse on November. 22, 23, 24.
November etc Magazine what's inside?


text:
Heavy rains lead to water rescues in Kansas City area
Jim Suhr
KANSAS CITY, Mo. | Several streets were flooded and blocked off from traffic in the Kansas City area on Tuesday after overnight rains pounded the region, prompting numerous rescues of stranded motorists and others who scrambled to safety atop rooftops.
Kansas City's police and fire departments reported receiving more than 130 calls for water rescues, with dozens of others fielded in the suburbs. There were no immediate reports of deaths linked to the deluge, which the National Weather Service said dumped record-breaking rainfall in some areas.
As much as 9 inches (22 centimeters) of rain fell on one city neighborhood between Monday night and Tuesday morning. A large swath of the region saw 4 to 6 inches (10 to 15 centimeters) of rain.
In the suburb of Overland Park, Kansas, fire officials said a family of seven — three adults, four children — and at least one pet sought safety on the roof of a house after flooding along the Blue River inundated the one-story structure. Firefighters had been waiting for the waters to recede before making any move to assist the family down from its perch, but a civilian came to the rescue with a military-style truck and helped those stranded people to safety, ending their eight-hour ordeal.
In Kansas City, Missouri, rescuers early Tuesday helped a woman who sought refuge in a tree. Authorities said she had been watching flooding along the Indian Creek from her vehicle when the waters flipped her car and pinned it against the tree.
Portions of the creek rose to nearly 3 feet (1 meter) above the previous record from June 2010, according to the National Weather Service. But river levels were quickly receding Tuesday across the region, according to the weather service's website.
The flooding prompted several schools in the region to either cancel Tuesday's classes or delay the start of them. In some cases, schools cited busing issues linked to the flooding.


Flight upgrades are harder to get.
In passenger comfort, there are milestones that redefine the industry and take it on a new flight path and Qatar Airways' Qsuites is just such a turning point.
Pan American introducing economy class in the 1950s, Malaysia Singapore Airlines introducing free drinks and entertainment in the late 60s, Pan American introducing the jumbo jet in the 1970s, Qantas adding business class in 1979 and EVA Air premium economy in the early 90s.
Then there were evolutionary not revolutionary changes with business class seats morphing into sloping beds then finally flat-beds. Next, the flat beds in sets of two went through another change emerging as a single cocoon in various shapes.
Qatar Airways new Qsuites built by seat maker B/E Aerospace and three years in development will bring "a new level of luxury" to business class.
They are more a revolution than evolution because business class turns into first class and redefines expectations of business travelers.
The interior is designed with the airline's signature colors of burgundy and grey, enhanced with elegant and warm rose gold detailing which drip opulence and class.
A media panel comes with an all-access power port, with USB, HDMI and NFC capabilities for passenger convenience.
But the main event is the sliding door, although there is plenty of privacy with it open. The door is simple to operate, although there are instructions for its removal in an emergency.
For total privacy, you just need to press the DND button and the flight attendant will leave you in peace.
And talking of peace the flatbed is excellent and ensures a good sleep. You get two pillows – large and small – plus a cozy blanket.
READ: Qatar Airways Super WiFi ends internet crawl.
For those who find sleep a bit of a challenge or those who just want to catch up on all those must-see movies, Qatar Airways' In-Flight Entertainment, which is very good goes up a notch or three with Qsuites. There are more than 4,000 options all told with over 300 movies and the content is high-resolution.
The Qsuite is dominated by a giant, 21.5-inch high definition touch screen that is both crisp and responsive.
Control is a touch screen or via a controller and a neat feature is the moving map which can be placed in a picture-in-picture window so you can keep an eye on a feature that may be coming up that you want to photograph.
The system is simple and intuitive when using the touchscreen to navigate the big selection of games, music, and information.
There are also outside cameras that can be selected.
And the all-important food and beverage have been given a makeover with a specially designed menu and holder.
Qatar Airways is also rolling out what it terms "Super Wi-Fi"' that can reach speeds topping 50 megabits per second, a feat that would make it better than many home broadband services.
The first fleets to be fitted are the Boeing 777 and Airbus A350 and the system uses Inmarsat's GX Aviation technology.
The high speed will enable viewing of streaming services such as Netflix and the great news is the service is free for the first hour with a charge of US$10 for an entire flight if you want to extend.
Qatar Airways chief executive Akbar Al Baker says the airline is the first carrier in the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region to allow high-speed broadband connectivity providing rich content without restriction. "Business travelers, in particular, will be able to maximize their 'office in the sky' with seamless continuity,'' he said.
Inmarsat is the same company that provides the space-based tracking service that monitors the airline's flights worldwide and its GX service offers users the newer satellite-based Ka-band technology that uses spot beams to provide "a foundation layer" of global coverage designed to serve a high-speed global audience.
It also offers the flexibility to add and redirect bandwidth where airlines need it most across hubs and traffic hotspots, according to Inmarsat.
"This unprecedented service adds to the airline's award-winning, five-star onboard experience by allowing passengers to seamlessly browse the internet, stream videos, check social media and more during flights," Inmarsat Aviation president Philip Balaam said.
The Qsuites are being progressively rolled out on Boeing 777 and A350 fleets which are currently flying to London, Paris, Frankfurt, New York, Chicago, and Washington DC.
Qatar Airways and B/E Aerospace are designing a new version of the QSuite for the A380 and 787s.
Qatar Airways' presence in the Australian market is significant with double-daily flights from Sydney, and daily flights from Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide, and Canberra.
Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth are serviced with A380s, featuring a tri-class configuration over two decks.
The airline's offering into Europe is industry leading with over 45 European cities and new destinations London Gatwick, Mykonos, and Thessaloniki.
And what is very important is the transit airport in the new Doha Hamad International Airport.
Qatar Airways' Al Safwa First and Al Mourjan Business lounges are state-of-the-art and there is also an airport hotel with swimming pool, spa, gym, and squash courts.
The Qsuite will commence service from Canberra and Sydney from July 2018. Flying from Canberra, Sydney to Doha Qatar Airway's international hub and connecting onto London, Paris, Frankfurt or USA cities; Washington, New York, and Chicago.


text:
Florida vs. Kentucky score, takeaways: Gators go cold again in second half, No. 7 Wildcats triumph
By Adam Silverstein
Image Credit: UAA Communications
Anyone who has watched Florida Gators basketball season knew what to expect when the hosts were looking to pull off am upset of the No. 7 Kentucky Wildcats while leading by 11 points early in the second half: a collapse. And that's exactly what happened Saturday at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center as Florida (12-9, 4-4 SEC) was outscored by 22 points to end the game in a 65-54 victory for Kentucky (18-3, 7-1 SEC).
Let's take a look at what went down in Florida's latest loss.
It was over when … senior center Kevarrius Hayes missed two free throws with 13:18 to play. OK, not exactly, but that was the last moment the Gators had the upperhand in the game, and it was clear from the second his last free throw clanged off the rim. Florida had just busted open an 11-point lead with a 9-0 run, using six offensive boards in 6 scoreless minutes for Kentucky to get the O'Dome crowd riled up. Hayes had a chance to extend that advantage to 13, but it was as if both free throw misses jolted the team back to reality.
As the Gators went on a 5-minute scoring drought, the Wildcats immediately took off on a 10-0 run. Florida was able to retake a five-point lead a couple of minutes later, but it did not hold onto it for long. Kentucky responded with a 14-0 run to go from five down to nine up on the hosts and put the game away.
In all, the 'Cats took advantage of Hayes's misses to end the game on an extended 34-12 scoring stretch, turning an 11-point deficit into an 11-point victory.
Exceptional efforts: None really, though redshirt senior guard Jalen Hudson played OK with 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting. Hayes made a couple of mistakes late, but his tremendous post defense (three blocks, steal) and overall presence inside kept UF in the game. During the game, Hayes (191) passed Al Horford (189) to become No. 2 all-time on Florida career block list.
Odds and ends: Freshman point guard Andrew Nembhard (12 points) started hot but went 1-for-5 in the second half … senior G KeVaughn Allen (11 points, 5/15 FG) and freshman G Noah Locke (6 points, 2/12 FG) were irrelevant, combining to go 3-for-14 from downtown … Allen (1,571 points) became No. 10 in career scoring at UF, passing Matt Bonner … the Gators were outrebounded 46-34 but outscored the 'Cats in the paint 30-26 … Kentucky distributed the ball far better (13-7) and shot higher marks from the field (.411-.349), downtown (.286-.263) and at the line (.813-.500) … UK is now 101-40 all-time against UF, 36-26 in Gainesville and 4-3 vs. Mike White … the Gators are 0-5 against ranked opponents this season, 10-19 under White (2-5 vs. top 10 teams) … Chandler Parsons attended the game
What it means: Florida still does not have a Quadrant 1 victory this season, and Kentucky was just the start of a tough stretch that could make or break the Gators' chances to make the NCAA Tournament. It was clear that UF played with a significant amount of energy over the game's first 30 minutes, but its lacking depth — particularly inside — and the overall talent disparity ultimately caught up with it. It must win at least one of its next two games to have a chance at making the 68-team field.
Up next: The Gators lost their first of three straight difficult games, the next two of which are on the road. Florida will face Auburn (the first team out of the polls) on Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET before travelling to No. 1 Tennessee next Saturday.
Andrew Nembhard Jalen Hudson Kentucky Wildcats Kevarrius Hayes KeVaughn Allen Mike White Noah Locke SEC Stephen C. O'Connell Center
Florida vs. Michigan score: Gators cold in second half, end season in NCAA Tournament
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Turkey's ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party Deputy Chairman Ali Ihsan Yavuz has submitted an extraordinary appeal to the country's election council over the March 31 local election polls in the city of Istanbul on Tuesday, state-run TRT news reported.
"God willing, soon we will have presented our extraordinary appeal requesting the annulment of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality elections and their do over,'' Yavuz posted on Twitter.
The move by Turkey's ruling party arrives amid an ongoing recount of invalidated votes demanded by the AKP 16 days after the polls, where opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu remains in the lead by over 13,000 votes.
The country's Supreme Election Council (YSK) will have the final say on the matter.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said the March 31 local elections had been marred by "organised crime" at ballot boxes in Istanbul, which has been ruled by the AKP and its predecessor since 1994.


12oClockLabs has introduced their brand new Gear Position Indicator for the Honda CRF250L and CRF250L Rally. We have these installed on several of our project bikes...once you have a gear indicator on your bike, you'll want one on all your bikes.
Installation is very simple, and setup is a breeze, thanks to the excellent instructions included with the kit. All wiring tucks up nicely under the seat and gas tank, and you can attach the LED display unit to the bikes dashboard with the included adhesive tape. Once installed, you complete the setup by running the bike through the gears in "Learning Mode", and then you're ready to ride.


text:
Liquid biopsy-based system could prevent cancer from spreading
Angle's liquid biopsy system has been used in new cancer research that could provide a novel way to treat breast cancer and other tumours, by stopping or suppressing their spread from the original site.
Research from the University of Basel, published in the journal Cell, showed the system dubbed Parsortix is able to harvest intact metastatic circulating tumour cell clusters (CTCs), which cause cancer to take hold in other parts of the body.
These are groups of cancer cells and other cells tethered together as a single mass, and could be used as a guide for further drugs that scientists believe would suppress the spread of the disease.
Patients identified as having CTCs could be treated with repurposed FDA approved drugs, which have been shown in mouse models to break up the clusters and suppress metastasis.
The research led by Professor Nicola Aceto at the university's Cancer Metastasis Laboratory showed that animals treated in this way showed 80 times less metastasis compared with untreated animals, with the spread of disease virtually eliminated in the treated animals.
The development of metastasis, the spread of cancer to distant sites primarily via the blood, is responsible for more than 90% of all cancer-related deaths.
Previous work has shown that CTC clusters in the blood are highly metastatic causing greatly increased spread of the disease. If metastasis could be suppressed by disrupting CTC clusters then patient outcomes could be dramatically improved.
There are a variety of technical challenges to capturing intact CTC clusters from patient blood, which has historically led to problems with other CTC systems and an inability to effectively research CTC clusters.
In controlled tests with spiked samples, Basel demonstrated that the Parsortix system used with a specialised protocol overcame these technical challenges and was able to successfully isolate more than 99% of CTC clusters from a simple blood test.
After showing they are able to investigate CTC clusters using the system, and identifying previously unknown mutations in them that make them highly likely to spread cancer, the researchers searched through nearly 2,500 compounds already approved by the FDA that could cause the clusters to break.
They found a small number of drugs that could do this, and found that targeting the CTCs in this way caused them to lose their high metastatic potential.
The drugs used to target CTC clusters are not conventional chemotherapies with their unpleasant side effects, and also do not give rise to drug-resistant cell populations that can lead to disease relapse.
The drugs used for the CTC cluster dissociation are already approved by the FDA for different non-cancer indications and do not have the typical side effects of chemotherapy or immunotherapy.
Researchers from Basel have applied for ethics approval to begin a clinical trial in 2019 utilising the Parsortix system as a companion diagnostic to identify which patients have CTC clusters and may respond to the identified drugs. The first area of focus is in breast cancer, which complements Angle's ongoing FDA studies in metastatic breast cancer.
Professor Aceto said: "CTC clusters are extraordinarily important mediators of breast cancer metastasis, and discovering the first anti-cluster therapy may provide a new powerful tool to help treat millions of women currently living with this potentially fatal disease."
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There are many benefits of parenting a cat, though one of the best is having a constant companion. A furry friend-turned-family member, your cat is always around, and for people suffering from anxiety, a cat provides a safe, calming constant in their life. Yes, someone may get the pet therapy benefits from visiting with a "rented" furry friend, but it's even better to welcome your own cat into your home.
While anxiety can affect a person at any age, it can be especially difficult to deal with in the teenage or young adult years. The American Psychological Association states, "Teens report that their stress level during the school year far exceeds what they believe to be healthy (5.8 versus 3.9 on a 10-point scale) and tops adults' average reported stress levels (5.8 for teens versus 5.1 for adults)." So what can a college-aged anxiety sufferer do to feel calm and confident?
Here's a story of Kennedy, a freshman entering college who struggles with anxiety. She recently adopted a kitten and certified her as a therapy cat so that she could bring her to college as part of her anxiety treatment plan.
Facing anxiety as a teenager can feel overwhelming, and after graduating high school, moving out of the family home, and starting life over as a college student, it's a lot to handle. Kennedy, an incoming freshman at the University of North Carolina Greensboro, knew that she needed a strong support system before beginning her college career. She's no longer living at home, but she isn't in the dorms surrounded by other freshman experiencing the same changes and feelings. Kennedy is living in an off-campus apartment, and while her neighbors are all also college students, she'll have to put in extra effort to meet new friends; however, when you suffer from anxiety, that isn't always the easiest thing to do.
Kennedy says, "I have always had anxiety, but it has increased exponentially these past two years. Before I got my kitten, I would color, watch TV, or go on a run" as coping mechanisms when she was anxious.
While many teens long for their independence, anxious teens may feel both excitement and trepidation. Kennedy says, "I thought about getting a therapy cat about a year ago but never really pushed for one until the end of senior year when I realized I had a big transition ahead ... college."
So, she visited the local animal shelter to look for a kitten that could qualify as a therapy cat and assist her in coping with her anxiety. With so many animals available for adoption, it can be difficult to know which one is right for you. "I knew she was the one because of her cuddly personality and the way she pawed at the cage when I started to leave." Kennedy named the cat Carolina, and the two girls prepared for college life together.
Adopting Carolina was the perfect decision: the benefits of having a cat are clear. Kennedy says, "My anxiety has definitely gone down, especially during the transition period of living on my own. I love this kitten. The best feeling in the world is coming home after a long day and walking into your bedroom to find this cute furry animal sleeping in your bed." The benefits of having a cat that calms you is invaluable.
Kennedy wasted no time to get Carolina registered as a therapy cat. Pet therapy benefits all age groups, but in Kennedy's case, it's especially important during the stressful college years. Because she knows firsthand how much Carolina calms her own anxieties, Kennedy wants to share Carolina's gift with others. While Kennedy has no immediate plans for bringing Carolina into the community as a therapy cat, she does welcome friends to relax with Carolina. "I invite people over (that I know) when they are stressed to see the kitten. She is just this cute ball of energy, and it usually lifts people's spirits! I haven't thought about taking her out yet since she is still quite little." Maybe in the future, Kennedy can bring her to a nursing home or children's hospital to lift other people's spirits, too.
Adopting a cat was a strategic decision for Kennedy. A person with anxiety may feel calmer by focusing on the needs of something or someone else, and a pet provides a good distraction. However, sometimes too much responsibility can be anxiety-creating in itself. Kennedy chose to get a cat, versus a therapy dog partly because of the level of responsibility needed. She says, "Having a therapy cat is much easier than a therapy dog because cats are pretty self-reliant, and I don't have to worry about her very much when I go to classes or go out for the night."
Kennedy and Carolina's story isn't rare. One of the best benefits of having a cat is that they help calm their pet parents. When you're struggling with anxiety, you'll take help from anywhere, especially in the form of a purring companion.
If you're considering adopting a cat to help ease your anxiety, that's great! With a little training, and a whole lot of love, your cat will be a welcome addition to your family. And remember adopting a cat can help ease two lives filled with anxiety: your own and a cat looking for a good home.


As more and more scRNA-seq datasets become available, carrying out comparisons between them is key. A central application is to compare datasets of similar biological origin collected by different labs to ensure that the annotation and the analysis is consistent. Moreover, as very large references, e.g. the Human Cell Atlas (HCA), become available, an important application will be to project cells from a new sample (e.g. from a disease tissue) onto the reference to characterize differences in composition, or to detect new cell-types.
scmap is a method for projecting cells from a scRNA-seq experiment on to the cell-types or cells identified in a different experiment. A copy of the scmap manuscript is available on bioRxiv.
scmap is built on top of the Bioconductor's SingleCellExperiment class. Please read corresponding vignettes on how to create a SingleCellExperiment from your own data. Here we will show a small example on how to do that but note that it is not a comprehensive guide.
If you already have a SingleCellExperiment object, then proceed to the next chapter.
If you have a matrix or a data frame containing expression data then you first need to create an SingleCellExperiment object containing your data. For illustrative purposes we will use an example expression matrix provided with scmap. The dataset (yan) represents FPKM gene expression of 90 cells derived from human embryo. The authors (Yan et al.) have defined developmental stages of all cells in the original publication (ann data frame). We will use these stages in projection later.
Note that the cell type information has to be stored in the cell_type1 column of the rowData slot of the SingleCellExperiment object.
Features highlighted with the red colour will be used in the futher analysis (projection).
The function indexCluster automatically writes the scmap_cluster_index item of the metadata slot of the reference dataset.


text:
Q: Is it possible to unlock the final Paragon/Renegade options of a New Game Plus if the imported Shephard was not perfectly Paragon/Renegade? In my first playthrough of ME3, I played mostly Paragon but with some minor Renegade choices along the way, so I ended up with a maxed reputation bar with approximately a 90%-10% Paragon/Renegade split. This means I was unable to unlock the final Paragon (or Renegade) dialogue option near the end which is required to

 convince the Illusive Man to shoot himself.

Apparently, unlocking that dialogue option requires a 100% Paragon (or Renegade) score.
I've just started a New Game Plus, and since the Paragon/Renegade ratio appears to carry over, does my previous Renegade choices mean I'm already doomed to fail to unlock that option even if I only make Paragon choices this time around? Or do my choices in this playthrough overwrite the ones I made in the last one?

A: You cannot get rid of either paragon or renegade reputation. The ratio may change, but getting one does not decrease the other (though it may seem that way with a full reputation bar).
That said, I find your claim that one must have 100% x and 0% y reputation to succeed at the last check highly debatable. The reason the introduced reputation was to stop penalizing players for making decisions against their "alignment".

A: To access the final Charm/Intimidate on TIM, you have to have tried to influence him in each of your 6 previous conversations with him in the game. Whether those previous attempts were Paragon/Renegade does not matter, as long as it was a red/blue choice.

A: The ratio to each other is irrelevant, it's the actual numbered amount of gained Par/Ren + rep that matters. You can in fact complete a second playthrough with 100% of the Para/Ren points necessary in both bars.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


KIS Homeschool makes extensive use of 21st century communication tools, technology, and software that we developed ourselves. In order to be enrolled, every student must meet the basic technical requirements and parents should have access to the recommended technical requirements.
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Barton, C.A., and Moos, D., 1999, In situ stress measurements can help define local variation in fracture hydraulic conductivity at shallow depth, in Powers, M.H., Cramer, Lynn, and Bell, R.S., comp. and eds., Proceedings of the Symposium on the Application of Geophysics to Engineering and Environmental Problems, March 14-18, 1999: Wheat Ridge, Colo., Environmental and Engineering Geophysical Society, p. 1-10.
Biot, M.A., 1981, Fracture penetration through an interface: Society of Petroleum Engineers of the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical and Petroleum Engineers Paper SPE 10372, p. 107-117.
Blanks, G.L., 1976, Incorporation of temperature with gamma ray logging techniques in analyzing fracture placement: Stimulation of Low Permeability Reservoirs Symposium, Golden, Colo., 1976, Proceedings, p. 105-134.
Daneshy, A.A., 1973, Experimental investigation of hydraulic fracturing through perforations: Society of Petroleum Engineers of American Institute of Mining Engineers Paper SPE 4333, 12 p.
_____1976, Hydraulic fracture propagation in layered formations: Society of Petroleum Engineers of the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers Paper SPE 6088, 12 p.
Daneshy, A.A., and Conrad, N., 1978, Fluid pressure variations during hydraulic fracturing: National Academy of Science and Natural Resources Council, 19th Annual U.S. Rock Mechanics Symposium, Stateline, Nev., May, p. 8-15.
Daniel, Gene, and White, Jerry, 1980, Fundamentals of fracturing: Society of Petroleum Engineers of the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers Paper SPE 9064, 8 p.
Gale, J.E., and Welhan, J.A., 1975, Hydrogeology of fractured media in the Halifax area: Environment Canada Report Series no. 42, p. 17-29.
Greenfield, R.J., and Shuck, L.Z., 1977, Hydraulic fracture mapping using electrical potential measurements: In Situ, v. 1, no. 2, p. 147-169.
Hanson, M.E., and others, 1976, Quarterly Report: The LLL massive hydraulic fracturing program for gas stimulation July-September 1976: Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, 15 p. [Available from National Technical Information Service, Springfield, VA 22161 as NTIS Report UCRL-50036-76-3.]
_____1977, Update on the LLL gas stimulation program: Annual ERDA Symposium on Enhanced Oil and Gas Recovery, 3d, Tulsa, Okla., 1977, Proceedings, UCRL-79587, 37 p.
Hubbert, M.K., and Willis, D.G., 1958, Mechanics of hydraulic fracturing: American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Engineers Petroleum Transactions, 1957, v. 210, p. 153-166.
Marine, I.W., 1980, Comparison of laboratory, in situ, and rock mass measurements of the hydraulic conductivity of metamorphic rock at the Savannah River Plant near Aiken, South Carolina: Savannah River Laboratory, 18 p. [Available from National Technical Information Service, Springfield, VA 22161 as NTIS Report DP-MS-80-7.]
McLennan, J.D., 1983, Rock mechanics evaluation of the cardium formation: Petroleum Society of CIM, Annual Technical Meeting, 34th, Banff, Canada, Paper no. 83-34-38, 18 p.
Northrop, D.A., Warpinski, N.R., and Schmidt, R.A., 1979, EGR stimulation research project--direct observation of hydraulic and dynamic fracturing: 5th Dept. of Energy Symposium on Enhanced Oil and Gas Recovery, Tulsa, Okla., August, 12 p.
Paillet, F.L., Williams, J.H., and Hess, A.E., 1999, A wireline-operated downhole packer for hydraulic measurements in boreholes, in Powers, M.H., Cramer, Lynn, and Bell, R.S., comp. and eds., Proceedings of the Symposium on the Application of Geophysics to Engineering and Environmental Problems, March 14-18, 1999: Wheat Ridge, Colo., Environmental and Engineering Geophysical Society, p. 841-850.
Palen, W.A., and Narasimhan, T.N., 1981, The roles of pore pressure and fluid flow in the hydraulic fracture process: Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, DE81 029886, 197 p.
Peeters, M., and Hartley, R., 1984, Induced fracture height detection from wireline logs: Society of Professional Well Log Analysts Annual Logging Symposium, 25th, New Orleans, La., 1984, Transactions, p. GGG1-GGG16.
Pierce, A.E., Vela, Saul, and Koonce, K.T., 1975, Determination of the compass orientation and length of hydraulic fractures by pulse testing: Journal of Petroleum Technology, December, p. 1433-38.
Power, D.V., and others, 1975, Detection of hydraulic fracture orientation dimensions in cased wells: Society of Petroleum Engineers of the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers Paper SPE 5626, 7 p.
Schimschal, Ulrich, 1981, Logging hydraulic conductivity during injection testing in fractured dolomites: Log Analyst, v. 22, no. 6, p. 7-12.
Shuter, Eugene, and Pemberton, R.R., 1978, Inflatable straddle packers and associated equipment for hydraulic fracturing and hydrologic testing: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations 78-55, 20 p.
Teufel, L.W., and Warpinski, N.R., 1982, In-situ stress variations and hydraulic-fracture containment in layered rock--Observations from a mineback experiment [abs]: Sandia National Laboratories, 3 p. [Available from National Technical Information Service, Springfield, VA 22161 as NTIS Report SAND--82-0282C.]
Tindell, W.A., and Neal, J.K., 1980, Evolution of fracturing in the Oak Hill field: Society of Petroleum Engineers of the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers Paper SPE 9067, 12 p.
Wittrisch, C., and Sarda, J.P., 1987, SIMFRAC--Method for mapping hydraulic fractures: Society of Professional Well Log Analysts Annual Logging Symposium, 28th, London, England, 1987, Transactions, p. RR1-RR15.
Wolff, R.G., and others, 1975, Stress determination by hydraulic fracturing in subsurface waste injection: Journal of the American Water Works Association, v. 67, no. 9, p. 519-524.
Wright, D.L., and Lane, J.W., Jr., 1998, Mapping hydraulically permeable fractures using directional borehole radar and hole-to-hole tomography with a saline tracer: Symposium on the Application of Geophysics to Environmental and Engineering Problems, Chicago, Ill., 1998 [Proceedings], p. 379-388.
Zoback, M.D., 1978, A simple hydraulic fracturing technique for determining fracture toughness: National Academy of Science and Natural Resources Council, 19th Annual U.S. Rock Mechanics Symposium, Stateline, Nev., May, p. 83-85.
Zoback, M.D., Healy, J.H., and Roller, J.C., 1977, Preliminary stress measurements in central California using the hydraulic fracturing technique: Pure Applied Geophysics, v. 115, no. 1-2, p. 135-152.


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Board overturns a 50-year old precedent
The NLRB's relentless march towards reshaping U.S. labor law continued this month when the Board overruled its own 50-year old policy on whether dues may be withdrawn from employee checks after the expiration of a collective bargaining agreement.
The Board, on Dec. 12, 2012, overruled its Bethlehem Steel decision from 1962 in which it had previously held that once a collective-bargaining agreement had expired, if that agreement contained a dues check-off clause, the employer could unilaterally stop withdrawing dues from employee paychecks.
Under the Board's new holding, after the expiration of a CBA, an employer will continue to be obligated to withdraw dues from employee checks and forward them to the union. The Board majority noted that requiring employers to honor dues check off arrangements post contract expiration "is consistent with the language of the Act, its relevant legislative history, and the general rule against unilateral changes to terms and conditions of employment."
Member Hayes in his dissent argued that this was yet another example of the Board taking away long-standing economic weapons from employers and intentionally attempting to alter the "playing field" in favor of unions. Hayes wrote:
"[M]y colleagues know well that an employer's ability to cease dues checkoff upon contract expiration has long been recognized as a legitimate economic weapon in bargaining for a successor agreement. The ability of parties to wield such weapons is an integral part of the system of collective bargaining…Indeed, even in times of union boycott and other economic actions in opposition to an employer's legitimate bargaining position, the employer will be forced to act as the collection agent for dues to finance this opposition. This is the unspoken object of today's decision…"
A copy of the Board's decision is available here.
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GIRLS ARE PRETTY: Carnival Cruise To The Edge Of The Earth Day!
It's day 91 of your stay on the Carnival Cruise Journey to the Edge of the Earth. The ship has had to dock at various ports to refuel around 18 times. Many of your fellow passengers have begun losing their minds from being on the boat for so long, their only options being to hide in their cabins, to sit by the pool and watch the same thirty eight children urinate, to go to the club in the evening and listen to the cruise ship comedian tell his same forty minutes of jokes he's been telling every night since the boat left the dock (he can't improv anymore either since by now he knows by sight where every single passenger is from and what they do for a living), or to hit one of the dozens of buffets and stuff themselves until they're praying to fall asleep before they vomit.
Overeating has taken a toll. The ship's doctor has diagnosed six new cases of diabetes and fourteen cases of gout. No one wants to skip a free buffet or else they'll feel they didn't get their money's worth. They also don't want to get off the boat early. They paid to go to the edge of the Earth and dammit, they're gonna stay until they get there and have the chance to take some photographs to prove they saw it.
This morning is a sad one for you, as your third ship-board romance will come to an end when you learn once again that you were only being seduced for recruitment into a mutiny. The ship's mothers have watched their husbands eat themselves into oblivion with no care for what might become of their children. The mothers feel the need to take matters into their own hands. They don't want the captain to take them back to shore. They just want to take control of the navigation to make sure that their children get to see the edge of the Earth, as promised.
Sarah clocks you over the head with one of the decorative paddles on the wall. A few hours later, you wake up to the sound of women howling above-deck. You climb up and see them dancing around a flagpole atop which the captain's head has been mounted. The mothers have taken over the ship and will control the remainder of your journey to the edge of the Earth. God help you all.
Happy Carnival Cruise To The Edge Of The Earth Day!


Veuve Clicquot came to us with a challenge: how do we become the brand of choice for a different kind of customer whilst retaining the heritage of the brand? So, we thought what better way to do this than curate an event in honour of Madame Clicquot herself?
The event, aptly named The Veuve Clicquot Widow Series, was launched in October 2015, with curation by SHOWstudio founder Nick Knight and followed by FKA Twigs' 'ROOMS' creation in 2016. The 2017 three-day experience 'SEVEN' was the creation of ex-Paris Vogue editor and fashion giant Carine Roitfeld. The immersive installation, across four floors at a hidden and subterranean venue, brought to life Carine's dark and elaborate vision of the seven deadly sins and their contrasting virtues. Carine's enviable black book was fully utilised throughout the project with Tom Ford, FENDI, Atsuko Kudo and Gianvito Rossi all involved as collaborators.


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Published Tuesday, January 22, 2019 11:26AM PST Last Updated Tuesday, January 22, 2019 3:20PM PST
The public wouldn't have had to wait years to know about the allegedly audacious spending habits of two top legislature officials if the B.C. legislature was subject to the same transparency rules as most of the rest of government, advocates say.
The activities – and expenses – of the Craig James and Gary Lenz aren't subject to Freedom of Information rules, which means they don't have to regularly account to the public about the details of what they're spending taxpayer money on.
"If there was an ability to do an FOI I'm sure this would have come out sooner," said Sara Neurt, the executive director of the B.C. Freedom of Information and Privacy Association.
"FOI is like a public audit, where every citizen can participate. It's one way to have confidence there's transparency in government," she said.
Read the full report on overspending allegations
A freedom of information request is a written request for government records, which can include receipts for travel and expenses. Most members of the government and the bureaucracy must provide those records on request, with some exceptions.
Information requests have been the source of several high-profile expense scandals, such as the $16 orange juice that was expensed by former federal Conservative minster Bev Oda.
In the United Kingdom, a freedom of information request in 2008 eventually found astonishing expenses from members of that country's parliament – leading to investigations and prosecutions.
In B.C. the legislature is overseen by a committee of MLAs. But the committee rarely meets and does not demand the same transparency.
It took an investigation by an independent Speaker to suspend James and Lenz, and then public pressure led to the reveal of their report by that committee.
Watchdog IntegrityBC's Dermod Travis says extending the disclosure rules to the legislature would mean officials would watch what they spend.
"When you know your expenses could be posted online, by receipt, suddenly you're going to be more prudent," Travis said.
Clerk of the Legislative Assembly Craig James is escorted out of the B.C. Legislature on Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2018.
Legislature clerk, sergeant-at-arms suspended over 'flagrant overspending': report
Suspended legislature officials maintain innocence, renew calls for reinstatement


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22 Interesting Facts About March's Birthstone
Lauren Thomann is a freelance writer and business owner who covers DIY projects and home renovation on The Spruce. In 2014, she joined Dotdash as an expert writer, focused on fine jewelry topics.
Lebazele / Getty Images
Aquamarine is as striking as the ocean water it's named after. The stone has surpassed its function as the March birthstone and has become so popular that people favor it as a stone for an alternative engagement ring. Its versatile color, affordability, and overall durability make it an ideal choice for an everyday piece of jewelry.
The stone is a favorite among designers for several reasons. However, the quality of aquamarine on the market ranges from basic to extremely fine, and there are certain unexpected factors to consider before you purchase one.
These aquamarine facts will help you navigate the world of this radiant gem, from where it's mined to how much it will cost you. We will even discuss healing practices and symbolism as well.
Aquamarine Buying Information
This stone is part of the beryl family along with emerald and morganite. Despite being from the same mineral family, aquamarine and emerald are vastly different.
The color of aquamarine ranges from seafoam green to pale blue with tons of shades and tones in between. More saturated hues tend to sell for more money.
A cool-toned version of sky blue is one of the most desirable shades currently on the market. Paler near-colorless stones have been popular options for alternative engagement rings.
If inclusions bother you, consider a pale aquamarine over a diamond. Most faceted aquamarine gemstones are free of inclusions that are visible to the naked eye. Any rough material that is opaque or has visible inclusions is usually cut into fancy cabochon shapes. such as moonstone.
Aquamarine is commonly found in larger carat sizes. The larger the stone, the more intense the color could be, which is unlike many other gemstones. Aquamarines over five carats tend to have deeper hues, and smaller gems tend to look near colorless.
Because larger stones tend to be deeper in color, smaller natural aquamarine stones with deep colors might sell for more per carat than their bigger colored counterparts. In other words, it is harder to find a deeply saturated one-carat aquamarine than it is to find a deeply saturated five-carat aquamarine.
Aquamarine Care
Aquamarine ranks between a 7.5 and 8 on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness, so it should not scratch easily. If you notice a large number of surface scratches on an aquamarine gemstone, have it tested to be sure it's not glass.
Just because aquamarine is hard, doesn't mean it won't scratch. Don't store aquamarine next to any stone that is harder. For instance, a diamond or sapphire is capable of scratching an aquamarine's surface.
Unlike emerald, aquamarine is not susceptible to fracturing, so you are safe to clean the stone with ultrasonic machines or steam cleaners. You should still avoid harsh chemicals whenever possible.
Most aquamarine is not treated. However, some aquamarine gemstones are heat treated to enhance their color by removing some green hues and all brown hues. The result is stones that are slightly greenish blue and more vivid in color.
While the stone can handle prolonged light exposure, keep aquamarine gems out of intense heat.
Aquamarine History
Legend states that aquamarine was discovered in a treasure chest by mermaids. The stone has been used in jewelry as far back as the ancient Greeks.
Aquamarine gets its name from the Latin words "aqua marina," meaning seawater. The name originated in the 18th century during the Georgian Era.
Eleanor Roosevelt was gifted a faceted aquamarine gemstone from the Brazilian government in 1936 that weighed 1,298 carats.
The largest cut aquamarine is called the Dom Pedro and weighs 10,363 carats. It is currently on display at the National Museum of Natural History.
Aquamarine is mined all over the world but has been mainly sourced from Brazil. It is also found in Pakistan, Madagascar, Kenya, and Russia.
This romantic stone is the official gemstone of the 19th wedding anniversary.
Aquamarine Symbolism
As a "sailor's stone," aquamarine has symbolized courage among sailors that were traveling rough seas. It was thought that having aquamarine on a ship could help calm rough waters.
Because aquamarine is naturally free of visible inclusions, it has become a symbol of purity.
Aquamarine is the state gemstone of Colorado and has been since 1971.
Aquamarine Healing Properties
Although scientific evidence may vary, many people have prized aquamarine as a protector of well-being and mental health. Just like the ocean can bring a sense of calm and connectedness, so too have the cool colors of this gemstone helped calm people throughout history.
Because this stone is a calming stone, it has helped crystal healers soothe overactive nerves. As a meditation aid, aquamarine has helped people find more tranquil moments in their practice.
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