An eccentric Scottish activist who played a key part in the campaign to abolish tolls on the Skye bridge has been revealed as the godfather of Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio.
Robbie the Pict, self-styled leader of the Pictish Free State micronation, has secretly been shouldering the role of spiritual guardian to the performer since his birth in Los Angeles in 1974 - albeit it from a distance.
Leonardo di Caprio in The Revenant.
The bearded Highlander, who lives in Broadford on the Isle of Skye, is said to have struck up a friendship with the star's father George, a comic book writer, when he worked for a publisher in California in the 1970s.
"He used to tell me about his Italian family in New York and I would regale him with tales of Picts and Scots," he said.
It was around the same time the 68-year-old Scotsman legally changed his name from Brian Robertson.
When baby Leonardo was born, he says he was "humbled and honoured" to be chosen as his godfather.
"I was very flattered when George suggested it," he said.
A supporter of Scottish independence, the former student of Aberdeen University founded the mini state of Pictland in 1977 on an acre of land gifted to him on the Misty Isle.
He hasn't seen his godson, who is now 41, for the past four decades but says he keeps tabs on his progress.
Actor and producer DiCaprio picked up a Bafta last week for recent role in the film The Revenant and has previously won three Golden Globes.
Now he is being tipped to win his first Oscar at the Academy Awards this weekend.
Godfather Robbie said: "I hope he wins.
But perhaps some of his Scottish mentor's character has rubbed off on the Titanic and Catch Me If You Can star, a dedicated environmentalist who has received praise from campaign groups for his activism.
Father George DiCaprio confirmed the Scot is his son's godfather.
"Robbie used to come down here to Los Angeles and spend time with me, Leo and the family," he said.
The Picts were tribal peoples who lived in what is today eastern and northern Scotland during the late Iron Age and early medieval periods.
Many historians believe they were 'painted people', who may have decorated and tattooed their faces and bodies with dyes.
Robbie the Pict set up the micronation in 1977 as a means of promoting awareness of the Pictish culture.
He was also a leading figure in the ultimately successful campaign to abolish tolls on the Skye Bridge, arguing that the legal paperwork was incomplete and so the levy was illegal.
The toll was abolished in 2004 after the government bought the bridge from its private owners.
Robbie the Pict also appealed to Prince Charles to help overturn the criminal convictions of those who had been prosecuted for refusing to pay the toll. The move failed.


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Lori Loughlin Reportedly 'Obsessing Over Every Detail' of College Admissions Scandal
By Hannah Barnes - August 22, 2019 03:01 pm EDT
Lori Loughlin is days away from her court date in regards to her alleged involvement in the college admissions scandal, and the actress is reportedly doing all the research she can in preparation.
"Lori is obsessing over every detail of the case," a legal source told PEOPLE. "She's not working, she's not doing anything. She's just reading the files again and again."
"The family was told to remove their Google alerts and to stop searching their names because it's not good for them to see what's being said," the source continued. "But this is a full-time concern of hers."
Loughlin and her husband, Mossimo Giannulli, were accused of paying $500,000 to a fake charity set up by William "Rick" Singer in order to get their two daughters, Olivia Jade Giannulli and Isabella Rose Giannulli, into the University of Southern California by designating the girls as crew recruits when neither of them actually rowed crew.
They were arrested and released on bond after the scheme was revealed and both have since been charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to commit mail fraud. The duo is facing a maximum of 40 years in prison.
According to another insider, Loughlin believed that her alleged payment was akin to donating money to a school for a scholarship or building.
"She honestly didn't think what she was doing was any different than donating money for a library or athletic field," a source told PEOPLE. "That's the crux of why she pleaded not guilty."
"Lori is remorseful, and she has definite regrets," the insider added. "She's embarrassed and hurt, and she knows that her reputation has been ruined for life. But she also believes the allegations against her aren't true."
Loughlin and Giannulli declined a plea deal and are expected to waive their rights to separate attorneys during their Aug. 27 court date as they are being represented by attorneys from the same law firm. Nearly 50 people were indicted in the case including parents, coaches and exam proctors and 14 defendants agreed to plead guilty in April when they were allowed to do so. Loughlin and her husband pleaded not guilty.
According to PEOPLE's source, Loughlin is keeping a close eye on all aspects of the case, keeping "meticulous records" on everything as she's in "constant communication" with her legal team.
"She wants to know who is getting what punishment and how their cases differ from hers," the source said.
Photo Credit: Getty / Rich Fury
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Foams 4 Sports are a supplier and manufacturer of high quality foam training aids, gymnastics mats and foam padded equipment in the UK. With the Promat™ range manufactured in Greater Manchester, Foams 4 Sports can provide a variety of sports mats and foam sports equipment to suit a range of sports.
From jigsaw mats for martial arts to parkour training equipment, pole mats to rugby post padding, Foams 4 Sports can supply foam products to create a safer training environment for your classes.
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D3 Decides! Cast in your votes! Deadline is May 31!
Participatory Budget will impact the community you live in. Ideas can stretch as far as building a bench in an area that needs it to even acquiring a community center for your location. The idea needs to be a permanent placement where it doesn't need funding throughout the years. Need a stop sign? No problem! Need speed bumps to fight against fast drivers? You got it! This is the time where anyone mentioned in the requirements can vote. Your fellow neighbors have submitted what they believe is needed within the community. Now it is the time to take matters into your own hands and see what the possibilities can be.
You may ask yourself: "Why bother?, my vote doesn't count?", when in reality it certainly does! You have the option of picking 6 different ideas. Even though ideas were already submitted, it is within the power of the community as a whole that makes the final decisions of what is being implemented.


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Close to 10,000 tonnes of Irish exports transported by Emirates SkyCargo in 2018
posted on 24th December 2018 by Justin Burns
Emirates SkyCargo has released figures on its Irish operation which showed the airline carried close to 10,000 tonnes of Irish exports from Dublin, during 2018.
In addition to up to 720 passengers flying twice daily between Dublin and Dubai and beyond, Emirates offers up to 25 tonnes of cargo capacity on each of its Boeing-777 aircraft that operate the Dublin route.
The carrier said 35 per cent of Irish export cargo for 2018 comprised food items such as crabs, oysters, razor shells and salmon, much of which is heading to the Far East and specifically, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore.
Other produce making its way to the supermarkets of Dubai and onwards to Asia include yogurts, cheese, Irish beef, chocolates and baby milk formula.
Pharmaceuticals accounted for more than 2,000 tonnes of cargo carried by Emirates SkyCargo from Dublin in 2018. Primary end markets for products from leading pharmaceutical companies in Ireland include Australia, India and the Middle East.
Other Irish products being exported to markets such as the UAE, China, Singapore, Australia and South Africa, and making up 35 per cent of exports, include computer equipment, electronics and machinery.
Large computer servers (supporting Cloud technology) manufactured in Ireland are exported worldwide using Emirates' wide-body aircraft services to Australia, New Zealand and the Middle East.
Emirates SkyCargo manager for Ireland, Michael Meagher said: "Since launching in Ireland in January 2012 Emirates has been supporting Irish companies of all sizes with their export programmes, carrying more than 50,000 tonnes of cargo out of Dublin during that time, making us the number one carrier for air cargo from Ireland to the Middle East, Australia and China.
"We are continuing to grow our operation in Ireland and are currently developing Dublin as a gate-way to North America for cargo traffic coming from Dubai and elsewhere on our network. This is a very exciting development for the Emirate SkyCargo team in Dublin, where every piece of cargo is treated with kid gloves to ensure it arrives at its destination in perfect condition."


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Nearly all the best things that came to me in life have been unexpected, unplanned by me. Carl Sandburg
Without accepting the fact that everything changes, we cannot find perfect composure. But unfortunately, although it is true, it is difficult for us to accept it. Because we cannot accept the truth of transience, we suffer. Shunryu Suzuki
Let there be no purpose in friendship save the deepening of the spirit. Khalil Gibran
But friendship is the breathing rose, with sweets in every fold. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
It takes a long time to grow an old friend. John Leonard
Sweet is the memory of distant friends! Like the mellow rays of the departing sun, it falls tenderly, yet sadly, on the heart. Washington Irving
Nothing but heaven itself is better than a friend who is really a friend. Plautus
A friend should be one in whose understanding and virtue we can equally confide, and whose opinion we can value at once for its justness and its sincerity. Robert Hall
A true friend never gets in your way unless you happen to be going down. Arnold H. Glasow
If it's very painful for you to criticize your friends – you're safe in doing it. But if you take the slightest pleasure in it, that's the time to hold your tongue. Alice Miller
Mother Quotes
J.K. Rowling Quotes
Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated. Confuciu
Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.
Confuciu
(Visited 124 times)
complicated Confuciu life making really simple
The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it's indifference. Elie Wiesel
In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on. Robert Frost
Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans. Allen Saunders
There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle. Albert Einstein
Learning to trust is one of life's most difficult tasks. Isaac Watts
People who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do. Isaac Asimov
You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you, as you are to them. Desmond Tutu
Solitude is the profoundest fact of the human condition. Man is the only being who knows he is alone.ctavio Paz
I'm not going to change the way I look or the way I feel to conform to anything. I've always been a freak. So I've been a freak all my life and I have to live with that, you know. I'm one of those people.John Lennon
Truth, like gold, is to be obtained not by its growth, but by washing away from it all that is not gold.Leo Tolstoy
Luck is not something you can mention in the presence of self-made men.E. B. White
Love is the attempt to form a friendship inspired by beauty.Marcus Tullius Cicero
I love you the more in that I believe you had liked me for my own sake and for nothing else.John Keats
Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom.Thomas Jefferson
It is only in the act of nursing that a woman realizes her motherhood in visible and tangible fashion; it is a joy of every moment.Honore de Balzac
Old age adds to the respect due to virtue, but it takes nothing from the contempt inspired by vice; it whitens only the hair.Ira Gershwin
Every man is a volume if you know how to read him.William Ellery Channing
Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. But anger is like fire. It burns it all clean.Maya Angelou
The best vision is insight.Malcolm Forbes
If you want to change attitudes, start with a change in behavior.William Glasser
I believe that one defines oneself by reinvention. To not be like your parents. To not be like your friends. To be yourself. To cut yourself out of stone.Henry Rollins
Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn't.Mark Twain
Smile in the mirror. Do that every morning and you'll start to see a big difference in your life.Yoko Ono
By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.Benjamin Franklin
Love is blind; friendship closes its eyes.Friedrich Nietzsche
As cheesy as it sounds, nothing beats a smile and a bit of confidence! As long as you feel good on the inside, you can still look beautiful without any makeup at all.Zoe Sugg
Many men owe the grandeur of their lives to their tremendous difficulties.Charles Spurgeon
Every time I paint a portrait I lose a friend.John Singer Sargent
Love is the wisdom of the fool and the folly of the wise.Samuel Johnson
The way to love anything is to realize that it may be lost.Gilbert K. Chesterton
For many men, the acquisition of wealth does not end their troubles, it only changes them.Lucius Annaeus Seneca
It is the privilege of the gods to want nothing, and of godlike men to want little.Diogenes
It's amazing that the amount of news that happens in the world every day always just exactly fits the newspaper.Jerry Seinfeld
The company of fools may first make us smile, but in the end we always feel melancholy.Oliver Goldsmith
If by chance some day you're not feeling well and you should remember some silly thing I've said or done and it brings back a smile to your face or a chuckle to your heart, then my purpose as your clown has been fulfilled.Red Skelton
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Terms & Conditions: Valid while supplies last. All promotions valid for orders placed between 1/1/19 and 12/31/19 by residents of the countries of the US and Canada (includes Puerto Rico). All pricing information and values based on current manufacturer list prices. "Savings" or "Discount" indicated in any promotion herein is manufacturer's suggested savings, and represents the maximum percentage difference between the aggregate price for individual purchase of each item contained in the promotional package at the current standard MSRP and the MSRP for the promotional price for each promotional package. Actual prices and savings may vary; subject to dealer participation. Valid only in connection with purchase of promotional packages identified herein using the part numbers listed. All offers subject to Thermo Fisher standard terms and conditions of sale, and Thermo Fisher makes no additional warranties, express or implied, in connection with promotional products. Promotional products will be shipped with purchased products. Not valid in connection with any other offer or discount. Void where prohibited by law or company policy. See representative for additional information. Please note that the value of the specific offer(s) the customer may receive from the manufacturer under this program is a "discount or other reduction in price" to the customer under section 1128B(b)(3)(A) of the Social Security Act [42 U.S.C. 1320a-7b (b)(3)(a)]. Accordingly, the customer shall disclose this and any other discounts or other reduction in price received under this program under any state or federal program which provides cost or charge-based reimubrsements to the customer for the products or services purchased under this program.


Home / Carver Boats / 1959 Carver wood boat. Survivor Un-pimped/dipshitted.
1959 Carver wood boat. Survivor Un-pimped/dipshitted.
Special boat engine package offered by Carver back when... Squeaky clean Pennsylvania title on the boat and its original factory engine, easy fun resto. I'd give this a 9 considering its age. There is no paperwork or serial on the trailer. If you don't want the trailer, I will reduce price by $1000. Boat does not leave trailer or my property until its paid for. There is no battery and I have not heard it run. Engine turns freely and there seems to be lots of compression. Former owner says it was a quick boat. Original fuel tank included.
I offer absolutely no warranties on the craft, its engine or any included boat related stuff or its other operating systems and/or components. The buyer will provide all transportation of this craft from the inside of our barn to wherever. Craft must be removed from the barn within 30 days of the sale.
1959 Wooden Carver Boat. Survivor. Complete. Original.


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Atrium Medical Center
1 / 4 –Atrium Medical Center
Skanska, in a joint venture with Shook Construction, was selected to provide pre-construction and construction management services for the Atrium Medical Center Health and Technology Campus.
The new Atrium Medical Center is a full service, acute care replacement hospital facility for the Middletown region of Ohio, located between Cincinnati and Dayton along the I-75 corridor. The new facility is located on a 230-acre, greenfield site and houses various services such as Open Heart Program, Cath Labs, Radiology (including CT and MRI), Laboratory, Pharmacy, Emergency Care, ICU/CCU, Food Service and Healing Garden. The structure has been designed and built to accommodate future vertical expansion to a full height of seven stories. Total gross square footage is approximately 544,443 and 225 beds.
In addition to the new hospital facility, a significant road and utility infrastructure was installed within the 230 acre site to allow for the Hospital's future growth into a multi-purpose health and technology campus to properly service the growing communities of the surrounding areas.
Constructing the project
One of the notable challenges of the Atrium Medical Center project was the construction of three buildings being built concurrently with the construction of the main hospital, each of which tied in to the primary structure. The issue that arose from this was the coordination of finish details, which needed to be identical from building to building. Elevations needed to be consistent, and materials could not vary in color. All of the flooring materials had to be ordered together to avoid any slight pigment changes from order to order. In addition to the internal items, tying together the two separate roofing systems proved to be a challenge. An expansion joint was eventually used to circumvent the issue. Temporary walls had to be built and maintained to protect the main hospital from the exposed conditions some of the other buildings presented. Skanska and Shook Construction were not responsible for one of the additional buildings, and phasing became an issue when the schedule for that project began to slip so Skanska and Shook Construction revised their original phases.
The goal was set forth at the beginning of the project and advertised incessantly to everyone involved that this would be the cleanest, safest job site possible. There were approximately a million and a half work hours put into the project with no serious injuries. The success started with the commitment to cleanliness. The philosophy was that at a clean site workers are more apt to be more cognizant of what they are doing. The need to maintain a clean site was expressed early and often and reinforced throughout the project. In addition, the Project Management staff started every work day with a fifteen minute "stretch and flex" that was required of everyone on the site in the morning. This not only allowed people to loosen up before beginning their work, it also gave them time to shake off any cobwebs from the night before. These tasks were even extended to hospital personnel that had to be on-site as the project neared completion. Each of these items was minimal in effort or time, but the sum effort resulted in a massive project with an outstanding safety performance record.
Benefits for the community
Two charity golf tournaments organized and sponsored by Skanska and Shook Construction raised over $20,000 for the state-of-the-art Heart Center constructed at the new hospital. The tournaments benefited Mid-Miami Healthcare Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Middletown Regional Hospital, who was charged with raising more than $4 million for the comprehensive heart center through its Advancing Care for a Healthier Community capital campaign.
More than 100 golfers participated, mostly local contractors and subcontractors on the hospital construction team. "We're very pleased to make this contribution, and to help make an already excellent hospital even stronger for the future," said Steve Risner, project director for Skanska and Shook Construction, the organizer of the golf event. "We're fortunate to have an A-team on this project—a team that takes great pride in what they're bringing to the region. I'm pleased that so many care enough not only to do outstanding work on the project site, but also to come out and support this fund raiser with a day of golf."
Market segment: Hospitals
Clients: Premier Health Partners
City: Middletown


C&J Rentals specialise in supplying marquees for private hire at weddings, parties, special occasions and corporate events.
C&J Rentals also provide additional marquee interiors tailored to suit your needs as part of hiring services for weddings and parties.
C&J Rentals take pride in ensuring that all our marquees and accessories arrive clean, are erected on time and in good condition whatever the weather and whatever the terrain! Charlie or Jeremy will be on hand to discuss your requirements throughout the planning process and following on a member of the team will be on standby to provide support on the day or evening of the event itself.
At C&J Rentals we also import from the US, the latest in stylish marquees for sale directly to the European Market and beyond. If you are interested in buying a marquee for commercial or private use please visit our marquee sales page.
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Sakhi Sarwar (Urdu, Punjabi, Balochi: ) is a town in Dera Ghazi Khan District, Punjab, Pakistan. It is named after a Muslim Sufi saint Syed Ahmad Sultan, also known as Sakhi Sarwar, whose tomb is situated in the vicinity.

The tomb itself was built in the 13th century in a small village named Muqam in the Sulaiman Mountains,  from Dera Ghazi Khan city. It was later expanded by the Mughal king Zahir-ud-din Muhammad Babur. It is a unique building of Mughal architecture.

An urs, or festival in the honour of Syed Ahmad Sultan, also locally called "Sangh Mela", has been celebrated for centuries during Vaisakhi (March–April), with thousands of pilgrims coming to the town from the nearby localities. First they visit to the shrine of syed sakhi Zain ul Abdieen at Lar Multan to pay Salam or homage to the parents of Sakhi Sarwar, than they go to Dera Ghazi Khan.Sarwaris love the belongings of the saint, specially the Mohar Mubarak.Historically, followers of Syed Ahmad Sultan belonged to various religions – Max Arthur Macauliffe, a colonial office appointed in Punjab, observed in 1875 that not only Muslims but Hindus also visited the shrines during the urs.

On 3 April 2011, at the annual festival (urs) in the honour Syed Ahmad Sultan, a twin suicide attack left 112 dead and almost two hundred injured.

See also
 Sufism
 Punjabi folk religion
 Dhaunkal
 Bharai, a Muslim community found in the states of Himachal Pradesh and Punjab in India
 Mukandpur a village near Banga, Nawanshahr district (also known as Shahid Bhagat Singh Nagar, in Punjab, India. The village has an annual mela in honour of Sakhi Sarwar.
 Lakhpur a village near Sahni (Lakhpur-Sahni), Tehsil Phagwara, Kapurthala district, in Punjab, India. The village has a shrine in honour of Sakhi Sarwar who is referred to a Baba Lakhadata Ji.

References

Populated places in Dera Ghazi Khan District
Union councils of Dera Ghazi Khan District
Cities and towns in Punjab, Pakistan
Punjabi festivals
Punjabi folk religion

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


The conservative backlash against a court decision allowing women to enter a religious shrine in India has jump-started a mass movement for gender justice.
On Wednesday, India's Supreme Court heard as many as 65 review petitions seeking to reimpose a ban on the entry of women in an ancient Hindu temple. The court has decided it needs more time to make a judgement on the matter. Only four months ago, the same court allowed women to enter the very same temple, for the first time, after decades of denial.
Since then, India has erupted over a new-age debate on religious equality.
The temple at the center of the controversy is called the Sabarimala Sree Dharmasastha. It is situated in the Periyar Tiger Reserve of the southern state of Kerala in India. One of the country's biggest pilgrimage sites, it is visited by over 50 million people each year. A short trek through the surrounding hills and forests is required to reach the shrine.
For centuries the Sabarimala temple has denied the entry of women between the age of 10 and 50. Temple authorities claim that its deity, Lord Ayyappa, is celibate and to respect his mission, he must not be distracted by the presence of women. Those who oppose the ban believe that disallowing women to offer prayers in the shrine is rooted in the orthodox notion that menstruating women defile a place of worship.
In 1991, religious sentiments prevailed and the Kerala government passed a law forbidding women of the particular age bracket from entering the temple.
The recent ruling that reversed the ban came as a result of a petition filed by the Indian Young Lawyers Association in 2006. They argued that the ban violated guarantees of equality, non-discrimination and religious freedom of women, which are protected by the constitution of India.
While the Communist Party of India Marxist, or CPIM, which has a political majority in Kerala — along with revered religious Hindu leader Swami Sandeepnandana Giri — supported the move, right-wing Hindu groups like the ruling Bhartiya Janta Party, or BJP, Akhil Bhartiya Parishad, Shiv Sena and a national body of Ayyappa devotees expressed their staunch disapproval.
From demanding an ordinance in the state assembly against the top court's verdict to threats of mass immolation, the entry of women in the temple has triggered large-scale political agitation. Even the supposedly secular Congress party has denounced the court's verdict. Many view the political opposition as a way for the BJP and Congress to gain the vote of Kerala's upper-caste Nair community, which is against the entry of women in Sabarimala.
The magnitude of the opposition was revealed only in October 2018, when Sabarimala first opened its doors after the reversal of the ban. A group of 13 women that included locals, reporters, activists and even a New York Times journalist attempted to enter the temple. Many of them had police protection. However, violent right-wing mobs and orthodox devotees blocked their path, which forced the women to turn back. Protesters also formed human walls, heckled the women and even threw stones at them to deter them from entering the shrine.
According to a report by the First Post, the base camp at Nilakkal, which is about 12 miles away from the Sabarimala shrine, was teeming with protesters — mostly women — inspecting cars, buses and other vehicles heading to Pamba (from where the shrine can be accessed by foot) for female pilgrims. Hundreds of these women protesters forcibly dragged female devotees out of their vehicles. Female members of the press and their cameramen covering the protests were also harassed to the point that they were forced to stop recording.
The absence of women police officers at the scene aggravated the situation further, as male cops have limited ability in physically controlling the actions of female protesters.
"It's almost as if these people view women as terrorists," Manoj, a father who had to protect his 22-year-old daughter from being forced out of a bus by an angry mob, told NDTV.
After six days of what seemed like the rule of hooliganism, the temple shut its door, not having let any women step inside it. While political debate — between the respect for religious sentiment and gender equality — raged on national media, the women of Kerala were getting ready for a quiet revolution.
On New Year's Day, an estimated 3 million women stood shoulder to shoulder along national highways in Kerala to form a "Women's Wall" that ran the length of the state. The wall stretched for almost 385 miles. The event was billed the largest congregation ever of women in Kerala. These women came from diverse backgrounds and included locals, activists, journalists, celebrities and politicians from both rural and urban regions.
The Women's Wall was conceptualized by Punnala Sreekumar, who is the secretary of Kerala Pulaya Maha Sabha — an organization of a scheduled-caste community, the official name given in India to the lowest caste, which is regarded as socially and economically disadvantaged. The organizations participating in the wall were leaders and workers of the Left Democratic Front, or LDF, a major coalition of political parties in Kerala including the CPIM, and their allies. Other members included the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam, an organization representing the numerically-strong Ezhava community — another socially and economically disadvantaged group — and government-sponsored self-help groups for women.
In the city of Kannur, which is home to Kerala's chief minister, the CPIM went door-to-door to sign women up for the wall. "We told them [the women] that this has nothing to do with the Sabarimala issue. This is to do with going against a system that sees women as second-class citizens," Prabhakaran, secretary of the CPIM's branch of a village in Kannur told the Caravan.
In a press release, the Self-Financing College Teachers And Staff Association in Kerala promised that 25,000 of its teachers would be part of the wall.
On the day of the Women's Wall, there was no direct reference made to the entry of women in the Sabarimala. The participants of the Wall pledged to support gender justice as well as Kerala's renaissance movement. They were referring to the social reform led by Kerala's renowned thinkers of the 19th century, who sought to resolve the rampant casteist practices prevalent in the state at the time.
This is significant because India has a history of caste perpetuating religious discrimination. So the Women's Wall stood for both caste and gender equality.
For Bindu Ammini and Kanakadurga, who goes by one name, both women in their 40s, the Women's Wall served as an inspiration to make a second attempt at entering the Sabarimala shrine. The duo had tried to access the temple on Dec. 24 but had to retreat when an angry mob attacked the police personnel who were escorting them. Undeterred the two women stayed in a secret location for a week, away from media glare and police surveillance, as reported by Scroll.
Soon after the women's visit, a set of protests followed in the coming weeks. The head priest of the shrine closed the temple to perform "purification rituals," the BJP announced a state-wide strike in Kerala, while the Congress Party there observed a "black day" and violence was reported from several parts of Kerala. Continued threats from fundamentalists have even forced Ammini and Kanakadurga to go into hiding.
With several other religious sites in India denying women the right to worship, the feminist activism surrounding the Sabarimala controversy is a milestone in religious equality for the country. And it points the way forward for women's rights in deeply patriarchal India.


Surround yourself with mother nature and the hills lifestyle.
Living in this property ensures you can sit back and enjoy the seclusion and tranquility of the hills lifestyle. Surrounded by bird life and mother nature, this natural setting will make you feel like you are holidays every day of the year.
You will feel like you are a million miles away, yet still be close enough to all the action.
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The best way to appreciate all this property has to offer is to view it in all its glory. If you are unable to make it to the advertised home opens please phone me on 0418953062 to arrange an appointment that suits you best.
The owners are ready to move and willing to negotiate so make them an offer, you never know.


The integration of adipocyte function, energy homeostasis and metabolic disease.
Current areas of investigation include: role of adipose tissue distribution in obesity-related comorbidities, nutrient-mediated effects on adipose tissue function, effects of visceral adipose tissue on insulin action, interactions among adipose tissue, liver and the gastrointestinal tract. Procedures are conducted in rodents and cell models.
Adipose tissue extrinsic factor: Obesity-induced inflammation and the role of the visceral lymph node.
Melinda Fry, Associate Professor, Biomedical Science – Area of collaboration include investigating the effects of high-fat diet induced body fat distribution and its relation to metabolic disease. Our laboratory has participated in Fry lab terminations and have collected tissue to investigate DHA effects on chronic low grade inflammation induced by western diet.
Gerrit Bouma, Associate Professor, Animal Reproduction and Biotechnology Laboratory Adipose. Areas of collaboration include exosome and microvesicle secretion from adipose tissue depots and their role in obesity-induced dysregulation. The laboratory of Dr. Bouma processes samples of our cultured cells that originated from adipose tissue depots from termination.
Kelly Santangelo, Assistant Professor, Department of Clinical Sciences – Kelly investigates joint pain, she is now interested in investigating the effect of obesity on patellar adipose tissue and determine the association between inflammation and adipocytokine dysregulation. Kelly collects carcasses from our termination of transgenic or high fat diet induced obese mice.
Greg Florant, Professor, Biology – Collaboration: Aid in sample collection and post-termination procedures. Tissues are from exotic animal models such as ground Squirrels and Marmots. Specific areas of collaborative interests include regulation of adiposity alterations during hibernation.
Michael Pagliassotti – Common interest in obesity-induce fatty liver, liver damage and associated markers and adipose tissue regulation of portal effluent.
Tiffany Weir – We investigate the how the gut, visceral lymph nodes and adipose tissue communicate in both lean and obese animals.
Kim Cox-York and Chris Gentile – Common interest include adipose tissue distribution and its related risk to cardiovascular disease and depot/region specific difference in adipose tissue vasculature function.


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Hey everyone!I just purchased a Refurbished MacBook Pro 2016 13 inch from IBM. Checked AppleCare and it says it has Apple care until April 2020. Anyone know if I can go to Apple in this case should something go wrong?
Not a bad deal really if you want an apple product,my experience with IBM refurb stuff is that the items are like new.
Free introductory text about modern Machine Learning.Could an interesting read for people looking for a summary.
ibm has restocked a bunch of Certified Refurbished iphone 6S and 6S Plus. There's supposed to be an additional $20 off, but I don't see the when added to Cart. Some of the item descriptions seem a bit odd, such as "wi-fi upgradeable", and only 1 is listed with built-in camera. What is that about?
[IBM] Apple Macbook 12" Retina 2016 from IBM store $913.75+tax is back!
Anyone good with IBM BigFix?


Estephanie Romero, daughter of Mireya "Millie" Garcia (National/Alamo Car Rental Company) is the winner of the 2018 Joseph Bernstein Memorial College Grant.
Good luck to Estephanie in your future endeavors.
The Scholarship Fund of Local 781, IBT is committed to the belief that educating our children prepares them for the future. To honor the commitment of educating our children, the Union offers a $5000 cash scholarship award.
There will be three scholarships offered to High School Seniors, graduating in 2019 whose parents/grandparents are Teamster members with 12 consecutive months of dues paid prior to the deadline of each scholarship offered will be available at the 1st of the year.
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Applications and Information are available from all Teamster Local Unions and the Scholarship Fund.
A letter and information is available on how to apply for the Chicago Federation of Labor 2018 Scholarship on their website.
The Teamsters Joint Council 25 Women's Committee is proud to offer $1 ,000 – $2,500 scholarships to winning Women's Committee members seeking higher education.


text:
Lagos could accommodate at least 20 shopping malls, says property developer
The construction of shopping malls in Nigeria and the country's retail potential is a hot topic, as highlighted by discussions at last month's Africa Property Investment Summit in Johannesburg.
South African food retailer Shoprite Holdings, which has partnered with different property development companies to take the anchor position in a number of these planned malls, is emphasising the demand for mall expansion across the West African country.
According to Hakeem Ogunniran, managing director of UACN Property Development Company (UPDC) in Nigeria, Lagos could effectively hold 20 malls. The rapidly expanding city and commercial hub currently has three large modern shopping malls (with a fourth to be opened soon) and has seen a growing consumer class and a number of international retail companies enter the space.
Ogunniran told How we made it in Africa that Johannesburg, with a population of 4-5m people, has substantially more malls than Lagos. "Lagos with 17-20m could presumably take up to 20-25 malls."
UPDC, which is also developing in the residential and commercial (office) real estate markets, is looking at the country's potential in its "B and C grade" cities for formal retail infrastructure, office spaces and residential developments, said Ogunniran.
This is in alignment with what Resilient Africa's managing director Holden Marshall told How we made it in Africa last month. Resilient Africa is focused specifically on developing smaller shopping centres in Nigeria, of which Shoprite is a partner.
Although Resilient Africa is securing sites to develop malls in the popular retail hubs of Lagos and Abuja, it is also targeting a number of other cities in the country. Warri in the Delta State in southern Nigeria will see the Delta City Mall completed by November next year. Marshall said the company has either secured or is in the process of securing sites in Asaba, Benin City, Port Harcourt, Owerri, Yenagoa and Abeokuta.
According to Marshall, the growing middle class population in these cities is underserviced. "And that's why the retailers are going there… [They] have got money to spend and are looking for good brands, a nice environment, and a modern facility. And that's what we are hoping to capture and deliver."
Warri, where Resilient Africa's first mall is being built, is seeing rapid growth and has a good income per capita.
"That whole south Delta region of Nigeria, a large part of it is based on an oil economy," Marshall explained. "All those cities in that region are growing exceptionally fast. In the last three years they have all sort of quadrupled in size. So Warri is quite a substantial city. [There are] indications of a population of 1.5m that is sort of countable but there are a lot more [people]."
Labels: developer, Property
Lagos could accommodate at least 20 shopping malls...


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I needed a lavender shoe for my wedding & this shoe matched my husband's tie perfectly, not to mention the shoe was an extremely comfortable fit to dance the night away in!
im usually 37.5- 38 depending on the brand. i ordered 38 to be on the safe side but its big, so i need to exchange for 37.5. the shoe fits beautifully and is comfortable despite the heel. also i have a mid to wide foot and it fits good as well. elegant -good for dinner or a night out.


Global Visualization & 3D Rendering Software Market was valued at $747 million in 2016, and is estimated to reach $2,904 million by 2023, growing at a CAGR of 21.7% from 2017 to 2023. Visualization & 3D rendering applications including marketing & advertisement, research & training, gaming and videography are offered by prominent visualization & 3D rendering software providers, such as Embodee Corp., Luxion Inc., SAP SE, Siemens AG, and others, to virtually create high level of graphical representation. Visualization & 3D rendering provides streamlined real-time image synthesis and real-time 3D modelling applications. The global visualization & 3D rendering software market is expected to witness significant growth rate, due to high demand for virtual modeling and building design in real-estate sector in various developed and the developing regions, including North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific.
Europe visualization & 3D rendering software market is expected to register the highest CAGR in the near future. Global vendors invest heavily in the market to improve the overall visualization & 3D rendering solution offering to ensure low-cost and on time image analysis, precision modeling, and virtual infrastructure modeling. The Asia-Pacific region, which includes countries such as China, India, Japan, and Australia, offer lucrative opportunities for market players. Moreover, surge in demand for high level gaming interface and growth in healthcare studies drive the Europe visualization & 3D rendering software market.
The global visualization & 3D rendering software market is analyzed across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and LAMEA. Rise in need for automated 3D modelling and increase in adoption of visualization & 3D rendering solutions contribute to the market growth in North America and Europe. However, LAMEA is expected to account less market share in the global visualization & 3D rendering software market as compared to other regions, due to slow ICT spending and slow growth in real estate industry. Furthermore, the Latin America and Middle East are expected to gain traction, but the growth is expected to be stable during the forecast period.
The global visualization & 3D rendering software market is segmented on the basis of type, deployment model, application, end user, and geography. On the basis of type, it is bifurcated into plugin and stand-alone. On the basis of deployment model, it includes cloud and on-premise deployment. On the basis of application, it is classified into marketing & advertisement, research & training, gaming, videography, and cartoon. On the basis of end user, the market is divided into construction & real estate, energy & utility, media & entertainment, education, healthcare & life science, others.
The key players profiled in the report are 3D Virtualization, Act-3D B.V., Autodesk, Inc., Embodee Corp., Otoy Inc., Luxion Inc., SAP SE, Siemens AG, Sphere 3D, and Webmax Technologies. The report discusses the key strategies adopted by the companies along with the detailed analysis of the current trends, upcoming opportunities, and restraints in the global visualization & 3D rendering software market along with detailed information about their impacts.
Virtual modeling and architectural design in real estate sector is expected to fuel the visualization & 3D rendering software market across the globe.
With growth in demand for high level graphical imaging in gaming and cinematography, the demand for visualization & 3D rendering software is on high trend.
The countries in Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa have not yet adopted technologically advanced hubs with rich IT infrastructure and digital content, which in turn is expected to hinder the global market growth in the near future.
Increase in number of residents shifting towards urban areas and government investments on smart cities with smart infrastructure hub are expected to enhance market opportunity for visualization & 3D rendering software globally.
In-depth analysis of the global visualization & 3D rendering software market and its dynamics are provided to understand the market scenario.
Porters Five Forces analysis examines the competitive structure of the market and provides a clear understanding of the factors that influence the market entry and expansion.
A detailed analysis of the geographical segments enable the identification of profitable segments for market players.
Comprehensive analysis of the trends, sub segments, and key revenue pockets are provided in the report.
The global visualization & 3D rendering software market is expected to reach $2,904 million by 2023, owing to growth in demand for virtual modeling and building design in real-estate and architecture sectors. The global visualization & 3D rendering software market is expected to witness increase in growth rate during the forecast period, owing to rise in need image visualization in media industry. However, lack of imaging infrastructure and uncommon integration visualize modules are expected to hinder the visualization & 3D rendering software market growth.
Visualization & 3D rendering software provide advanced 3D modelling capabilities through lighting and shadows adjustments, icon oriented interfacing, high graphical illustrations. The primary applications in visualization & 3D rendering software are marketing & advertisement, gaming, and videography. Visualization & 3D rendering software has emerged as a top trend across several end users, including construction & real estate, energy & utility, media & entertainment, and others, in the recent years, owing to optimized image processing and modeling.
In 2016, the construction & real estate market in the end user segment was the highest contributor in the global visualization & 3D rendering software market, in terms of revenue, followed by media & entertainment. Furthermore, the healthcare sector is anticipated to witness the highest growth rate, due to increase in need of 3D anatomical models for life science studies and pre-surgical needs.
The marketing & advertisement segment contributed the highest revenue share in 2016; however, the gaming and videography segments are anticipated to witness significant growth in the near future, owing to advancement in media & entertainment industry.
Key market players adopt various strategies, which include new product launch, business expansion, and strategic alliances, to create more awareness about visualization & 3D rendering software, and increase adoption across various industry verticals in the global visualization & 3D rendering software market.
"Visualization & 3D Rendering Software Market"


The origin and the causes of disease are far too recondite for the human mind to unravel them.
What a deep faith in the rationality of the structure of the world and what a longing to understand even a small glimpse of the reason revealed in the world there must have been in Kepler and Newton to enable them to unravel the mechanism of the heavens in long years of lonely work!
'Religion and Science', The New York Times (9 Nov 1930), Sunday Magazine, 1.


Lost star Michael Emerson will star in the Italian TV adaptation of Umberto Eco's crime novel The Name of the Rose. Emerson, who is currently starring in the CW's superhero series Arrow and Amazon's Mozart In The Jungle, will play The Abbot, an ambiguous, greedy, oversensitive and irritable prince of the Abbey, alongside My Best Friend's Wedding star Rupert Everett and The Night Of's John Turturro's in the eight-part drama, which was commissioned by Italian broadcaster Rai. The €26m ($30 million) series is produced by Germany's Tele Munchen Group, Italian production company Palomar, the firm behind Young Montalbano and 11 Marzo. Turturro will star as William of Baskerville with Everett playing Gui. The series is written by Andrea Porporati (La Piovra), Nigel Williams (The Sea Wolf) and Giacomo Battiato (Karol: A Man Who Becomes Pope), with Battiato directing and Luther and Penny Dreadful's John Conroy as director of photography. Principal photography started last month in the Cinecitta Studios in Rome and on location around Lazio and Abruzzo. It is expected to air in the first quarter of 2019.
Amazon is stepping up its original programming push in India with the commission of a major new dating format. The SVOD service has launched Skulls and Roses from Indian production company Monozygotic. The series will see a raft of participants head to Skull Island to couple up before being tested as to whether they have the instinct to love or prefer self-preservation. It is hosted by Raghu Ram and Rajiv Lakshman. "After announcing our foray into reality shows with comedy and music, we've seen great enthusiasm from Amazon Prime members. We're excited to add even more variety to our offering and in collaboration with Monozygotic, bring a bold new concept to the unscripted content space that will continue to reinvent the way costumers consume content in India," said Amazon Prime Video India's Director of Content Vijay Subramaniam.


This morning we went to finalize our Chinese visa with the our Chinese Agent, apparently the individual visas that we got in Kuwait will not work since we are considered a group tour and therefore require a group visa.
Ali was not feeling well since last night, and therefor we decided to rest today, and leave for China tomorrow early morning.
We also found out that we will need to ship our bikes out of Toronto instead of New York so we will have to change and update the itinerary again.


The team's actions had "the potential to negatively impact the public's trust" in the department, the report said.
A new Public Blog Post - "Positive Crypto Trends"
A 22-year-old man was arrested in #Easton after masturbating in public.
No president in the modern era has worked so diligently to keep their tax returns out of the public eye. What is President Trump hiding?
Gujarat: Scuffle breaks out at Congress leader Hardik Patel's public meeting in Ahmedabad.
Last week, writing for @ZeeNews I wrote that in this year's kabaddi-style election only the judiciary has been spared so far, at least in public. I spoke too soon, it appears.
@rgoodlaw @DeptofDefenseR @just_securityyan Goodman is able to deciminate the Mueller Report vs. Barr summation, like no other.
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i #Barrs a kind of a "fixer ".
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Socialism is a scare word they've hurled at every advance the people have made. Socialism is what they called public power, social security, deposit insurance, and independent labor organizations. Socialism is their name for anything that helps all people.


An endorsement's impact may be fickle and, as I warn the endorsed candidates, is oftentimes a double-edged sword. So I admire the boldness of Bob McConnell and Paul Gosar for accepting my support in their races for Congress! These two patriots are Commonsense Constitutional Conservatives who seek to limit government, protect our 2nd Amendment rights, respect the sanctity of life, support our strong military, and encourage free enterprise. Their work for these commonly held beliefs will help unite this exceptional nation.
Bob McConnell is considered a grassroots underdog candidate running a dynamic, prudent campaign to represent Colorado's 3rd Congressional District. Bob sometimes describes himself as a "recovering lawyer," but that's just one of his professions. Impressively, he's a retired Colonel and Airborne Ranger. He's a husband and the proud father of three and grandfather of seven, and he's a true American patriot who wants to serve his fellow Coloradans for all the right reasons. Bob knows that in times like these ordinary citizens must be bold and take a stand to return our country back to our Constitutional roots of limited and fiscally responsible government. A decorated combat veteran, Bob is supported by the honorable Combat Veterans for Congress, and was unique in being able to tell a rally crowd at the Pueblo Weisbrod Aircraft Museum that he's parachuted out of three of the aircraft in that museum! He's also an avid outdoorsman who climbed Mt. Everest and lived off the grid as a mountain guide for a number of years.
Please join many other concerned Americans in moving the country onto the right path by supporting Bob McConnell. Visit his website at www.mcconnellforcongress.com and follow him on Facebook and Twitter.
I'm also proud to endorse Dr. Paul Gosar for Arizona's 1st Congressional District. Thankfully, Paul shares our belief that the federal government's reckless spending is putting us on a dangerous path towards insolvency – and he's determined to do something about that. In addition to being a proud family man, Paul is a dentist, and as a small business owner running his practice, Paul understands the challenges confronting job creators when DC stifles us with endless mandates, over-regulation, plans to impose new energy taxes, and just generally (and unnecessarily) overreaches into the private sector. The good doctor knows that true job creation comes from the private sector, not government; and he will work to rein in the fed's long arm and get our economy moving again by getting government out of the way.
Paul stands firmly behind Governor Jan Brewer's efforts to protect Arizonans, and the rest of us for that matter, by securing the border. He's endorsed by three of Arizona's leading sheriffs because they know America needs Dr. Paul Gosar to hold Washington accountable on this imperative national security issue.
Paul is a bold man! He deserves our support, so please join me in helping him help this great country. You can visit his website at www.gosarforcongress.com and follow him on Facebook and Twitter.
Colorado's 3rd and Arizona's 1st Congressional Districts are among the 20 districts that John McCain and I carried in the 2008 election, but they are currently represented by Democrats who voted in favor of Obamacare. Both Bob McConnell and Paul Gosar will work to repeal that mother-of-all-unfunded-mandates and replace it with real free market patient-centered health care reform. Let's send these good men to Washington so they can get to work for all of us and put a united America back on track.


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Exclusive Interview with Bento Albuquerque, Brazil's Minister of Mines and Energy
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AICApril 15, 2019
The growing popularity of investment strategies incorporating ESG (environmental, social and governance) criteria is one of investment's biggest trends. More investors want their money to be invested in a sustainable way or in a way that makes a positive impact.
Investment companies in the Environmental and Infrastructure – Renewable Energy sectors achieve this by investing in environmental companies and green energy. However, it's less well known that ESG plays an increasingly important role in the investment process for many investment companies outside these sectors.
The AIC has spoken to a number of managers from a diverse range of sectors about the role of ESG in their investment approach and how this benefits investors. Their thoughts are collated below.
ESG: its role in the investment process
Mark Mobius, Joint Manager of Mobius Investment Trust, said: "At Mobius Capital Partners we have developed a specialised active investment strategy built on working closely with portfolio companies to improve corporate governance and to provide a clear ESG pathway. We see ourselves as atypical, as we do not screen out investments or only focus on companies with high ESG ratings. We work with companies on a range of material factors, from helping to improve investor relations to suggesting enhancements to decrease water usage or lower employee turnover."
Austin Forey, Manager of JPMorgan Emerging Markets Investment Trust, said: "ESG considerations are a natural part of our fundamental research and overall approach to investing which focuses on the longer term. It's embedded in our process. Our fundamental analysis of any company examines what we call its economics, duration and governance. Environmental and social issues are part of the consideration of a company's duration and its economics; a business simply isn't thinking about its long-term future if it's destroying the environment or abusing the community in which it operates. It will eventually pay a price for this. When considering governance, we focus on whether a company shows a proper regard for the interests of all shareholders and whether it can demonstrate proper stewardship of a company's assets and value over time."
Andrew Graham, Portfolio Manager of Martin Currie Asia Unconstrained Trust, said: "Integral to our fundamental research is a focus on environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors, as we believe sustainable, well-managed companies make more successful long-term investments. We believe that to gain a full understanding of how sustainability factors can impact a company's future returns they must be embedded throughout the entire investment process. Active ownership and engagement are a key part of how this analysis is carried out and will inform a continuous assessment of the investment case."
Adam Heltzer, Head of ESG and Sustainability at Partners Group, the investment manager of Princess Private Equity, said: "We take a systematic approach to integrating ESG factors throughout the investment process, from sourcing, through to due diligence and continuing during ownership. For each investment opportunity, our investment teams are required to perform an ESG assessment, using a proprietary ESG due diligence tool we have developed. The tool distils the wide range of potential ESG topics into those most likely to be material for a given industry and geography."
"…we believe sustainable, well-managed companies make more successful long-term investments."
Andrew Graham, Portfolio Manager of Martin Currie Asia Unconstrained Trust
Examples of ESG investing in practice
Mark Whitehead, Portfolio Manager of Securities Trust of Scotland, said: "We believe well-managed companies that exhibit strong corporate governance are more likely to be successful long-term investments. This sentiment isn't driven by idealism, but simply by the reality that companies exhibiting strong governance tend to outperform over time. Take Dutch science company DSM for example. Having engaged with the company, we were able to better understand the most material benefits that the company experiences from its well-regarded sustainability programme. In particular, we noted the positive impact its sustainability credentials had on its ability to attract workers, as well as the importance of supply-chain transparency and sustainability for its customers. This increased our confidence in the long-term outlook for the company as well as reducing the overall risk profile of the business."
Andrew Graham, Portfolio Manager of Martin Currie Asia Unconstrained Trust, said: "Establishing a dialogue with companies enables us to engage on areas where we need further assurance or clarification, often with quite technical questions. Recently we have had a very successful engagement with one of the portfolio's holdings, Hong Kong-based insurer AIA, around issues of disclosure, governance and remuneration. The clarifications we received from the company helped resolve some of the questions we had, but crucially the process reconfirmed our assessment that the company scores highly in terms of disclosure and indicated where improvement is still possible."
Zehrid Osmani, Portfolio Manager of Martin Currie Global Portfolio Trust, said: "With a global movement to reduce the human impact on the environment and preserve our precious resources, the development of electric vehicles is a key theme for us. This trend will be driven by both regulations – as governments legislate to enforce the switch away from the internal combustion engine – and consumer demand, as more environmentally-aware customers seek out cleaner forms of transportation. ESG analysis therefore provides the crucial lens for understanding the impact these changes have at a company level."
"With a global movement to reduce the human impact on the environment and preserve our precious resources, the development of electric vehicles is a key theme for us."
Zehrid Osmani, Portfolio Manager of Martin Currie Global Portfolio Trust
Adam Heltzer, Head of ESG and Sustainability at Partners Group, the investment manager of Princess Private Equity, said: "In 2018, we invested in Techem, a German-based global market leader in the provision of heat and water sub-metering services. During our investment committee discussions, it became clear that energy efficiency was at the heart of the company's offering. By enabling heating and energy supplies to be managed in a more precise and sustainable manner, Techem's solutions today account for 6.9 million metric tons of CO2 emission savings per year, thus contributing to global climate protection objectives. We decided that growing Techem's positive impact on the environment had to be a key component of our business plan. Through our investment, not only of capital but also of human resources, we hope to make a significant contribution to making Techem even more impactful."
What does an ESG approach offer to investors?
Mark Mobius, Joint Manager of Mobius Investment Trust, said: "First and foremost, taking ESG seriously means risk management. Companies that have good corporate governance and pay attention to the environment and social issues run less risk of becoming involved in scandals, having to pay fines or facing social problems.
"A recent study shows that companies implementing changes to environmental, social or governance standards following engagement from investors generated more than 7% of excess returns after 18 months. This is also supported by our personal experience during many years of investing in emerging markets. By taking ESG factors into account, investors can significantly reduce the risk profile of their investments, which over the long term not only translates into positive risk-adjusted returns, but also positively impacts all stakeholders."
Austin Forey, Manager of JPMorgan Emerging Markets Investment Trust, said: "We do not see ESG as something that restricts our ability to generate returns. It's a necessary part of what we do. We take a long-term view because we believe it delivers better results, reduces costs and allows the power of compounding to translate into investment outcomes. Anything which affects the long-term prospects of companies is important to us, just as it should be to the companies themselves."
"First and foremost, taking ESG seriously means risk management."
Mark Mobius, Joint Manager of Mobius Investment Trust
Adam Heltzer, Head of ESG and Sustainability at Partners Group, the investment manager of Princess Private Equity, said: "We believe that the integration of material ESG factors into our investment processes is a core part of our duty to act in the best interest of our clients and their beneficiaries. Furthermore, when it comes to managing ESG factors effectively, we believe private market investors have inherent corporate governance advantages compared to their public market peers, both in terms of mitigating ESG risks and creating value from ESG factors through targeted value creation initiatives. Our active, hands-on ownership model provides opportunities to work closely with portfolio companies to implement superior, sustainable investment strategies and enhance investment returns."
"Our active, hands-on ownership model provides opportunities to work closely with portfolio companies to implement superior, sustainable investment strategies and enhance investment returns."
Adam Heltzer, Head of ESG and Sustainability at Partners Group, the investment manager of Princess Private Equity
The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice or personal recommendation and it is not an invitation or inducement to engage in investment activity. You should seek independent financial and, if appropriate, legal advice as to the suitability of any investment decision. Past performance is not a guide to future performance. The value of investment company shares, and the income from them, can fall as well as rise. You may not get back the full amount invested and, in some cases, nothing at all.
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Tonight hundreds of people will fill Wild Bills to see some of the best Atlanta bands and an old favorite.
Yes, tonight is the night. Skid Row is taking the stage and showing us why they are all still rockin!
New Jersey's Skid Row took the scene by storm in 1988 with their debut album that boasted such hits as Youth Gone Wild, Piece of Me and I Remember You. Moving quickly from opening act to arena headliners, Skid Row released "Slave To The Grind" which showcased a much heavier and grittier sound with songs like "Monkey Business", "Riot Act" and "Quicksand Jesus." After the release of their 3rd album "Subhuman Race", Skid Row ducked into the shadows only to return again in 1999 with new singer Johnny Solinger and a new album called "Thickskin." Nearly 11 years later, Skid Row is still going strong playing to packed houses and releasing new music such as the band's latest "Revolutions Per Minute." Dust off those old shirts, squeeze into those jeans and get out there and see this band! Local acts Bigfoot and Dangerous New Machine who will open the show.
Also, Tomorrow night, 9/17 – Mothers Finest will be receiving their awards at The Georgia Music Hall of Fame Awards and afterwards…. heading straight to Wild Bills for an after party like no other!
Get your tickets and celebrate!
Summer Concert Series at Wild Bills!


New from Konami! Yu-Gi-Oh!: Rise of the True Dragons Structure Deck and The Dark Side of Dimensions Booster Display!
This 41-card Deck is the second of four releases this year to celebrate the high-Level Dragon strategy pioneered by Seto Kaiba on the original Yu-Gi-Oh! animated TV series, and includes new high-Level Dragons that banish opposing cards when Summoned, and gain more Attack Points for each card they banish. Also included are new Dragon devotee monsters – easy-to-Summon low-Level Warriors that help get your high-Level Dragons into play quickly. The best part is that these utility Warriors work with ANY high-Level Dragons, including Dragons from other Decks and booster sets.
The real gem of Rise of the True Dragons Structure Deck is a new Spell Card that Summons any Level 7 or 8 Dragon directly from the Graveyard, with no restrictions, and can be used afterwards to protect your Dragons from being destroyed, with no drawbacks or limitations. A must-have card for every Dragon Deck!
Rise of the True Dragons Structure Deck contains a 41-card Deck with 2 Ultra Rares, 3 Super Rares, and 36 Commons, plus a new Dragon Token Card celebrating over a decade of devotion to Duelists' Dragon Decks!
Because Blue-Eyes White Dragon is also the star of May 2016's Shining Victories booster set, and Dark Magician headlines August's The Dark Illusion, Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. is offering an early release of the Yu-Gi-Oh! The Dark Side of Dimensions Movie Pack in advance of the animated film.
This early release will enable Duelists to pack their Shining Victories and The Dark Illusion-era Decks with the powerful new Blue-Eyes and Magician cards featured in the movie! The new Neo Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon Fusion Monster can attack up to 3 times in one turn with its 4500 Attack Points (quickly ending almost any Duel). In the unlikely event it's destroyed, this powerful Fusion Monster's spirit lingers in the Graveyard, protecting your other Blue-Eyes monsters against card effects.
What's new for Dark Magician? New Spells and Traps to access your DARK Spellcasters in the hand, Deck, or Graveyard, plus new flavors of "Magician Girl" monsters like Berry Magician Girl, Apple Magician Girl, and Kiwi Magician Girl, with powers to get Spellcasters into play and re-direct enemy attacks to where you want them to go. In addition, many of Yugi's other famous monsters also get plenty of upgrades in this set!
What about the bad guys? The upcoming theatrical release introduces a new villain, Aigami, whose dimension dueling "Cubic" monsters make up a big chunk of this set. "Cubic" monsters have wide-ranging powers to shut down your opponent's monster effects and stop them from attacking. Their math-centered strategy builds up over time, with each round of monsters getting you more cards to work with and setting up for the next level, building ultimately to their massive Fusion Monster, who slashes the opponent's Life Points in half with every attack!
Yu-Gi-Oh! The Dark Side of Dimensions Movie Pack is a 57-card, all-Ultra Rare set containing 53 brand new cards and 4 old favorites with all-new artwork! Each pack contains 5 cards in a flat rarity system (all cards are equally rare).
Now bound to Queen Abrogail by infernal contracts, the villainous adventurers are given the task of destroying the Glorious Reclamation's headquarters in the former citadel of the Hellknight Order of the Godclaw, where they face a gold dragon that was once an ally of Iomedae herself! With the dragon defeated and the citadel secured, the vile characters must perform an evil ritual, using the dragon's head to craft a legendary weapon capable of defeating the Glorious Reclamation's army of valorous knights.
It's a truism that knowledge is power, and the ability to get knowledge others wish to keep secret is an even greater form of power. That power can be yours with the secrets in Pathfinder Player Companion: Spymaster's Handbook.
Discover the dark backgrounds of those who grow to be masters of espionage. Learn how dangerous ploys, concealed loyalties, and information dealing can change the outcome of an encounter. Read about the ultimate secret-keepers, the vigilantes of the Inner Sea, and new character options including espionage-themed spells, organizations, and magic items!
Merciless, black armored enforcers, Hellknights care nothing for good or evil, only the order's absolute, unflinching vision of law. In Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Path of the Hellknight, you'll join the ranks of the Pathfinder world's harshest champions of order, knights tempered by ironclad discipline and the flames of Hell itself. Learn the ways of the Hellknights' ruling oaths, their true ties to the legions of Hell, and more secrets of one of Pathfinder's most fearsome organizations.
Characters will also lay claim to the complete Hellknight arsenal, from terrifying battle arts and grim equipment to the secrets of masked signifiers' battlefield magic. The Hellknights' unstoppable might is yours to command, ready to impose order - whatever the cost.
Who Are You Calling Expendable?
When caught stealing in the crusader nation of Lastwall, veteran con man Rodrick and his talking sword Hrym expect to weasel or fight their way out of punishment. Instead, they find themselves ensnared by powerful magic, and given a choice: serve the cause of justice as part of a covert team of similarly bound villains - or die horribly. Together with their criminal cohorts, Rodrick and Hrym settle in to their new job of defending the innocent, only to discover that being a secret government operative is even more dangerous than a life of crime.
Step into a massive dungeon complete with a temple chamber, a bloodstained altar, and a ziggurat topped with a crystal skull - the possibilities for adventure are endless with Pathfinder Flip-Mat: Bigger Dungeon. With an area that's a whole 45% larger than Pathfinder Flip-Mat: Ancient Dungeon at their disposal, Game Masters can now dream even bigger! This massive gaming accessory presents both exterior and interior views of this underground complex, which can be home to everything from ancient cults to thieves' guilds to monsters that thrive in the dark.
Don't waste your time drawing every dank room and twisty passage. With Pathfinder Flip-Mat: Bigger Dungeon, you'll be ready the next time your players delve the dungeons deep!
Coming to ACD Distribution! Viticulture: Moor Visitors Expansion!
Viticulture is a worker-placement game set in the foothills of Tuscany, where you've inherited a meager vineyard. You'll have a few plots of land, an old crushpad, a tiny cellar, 3 workers…and the dream of owning the best winery in Italy. Your job is to allocate your workers and helpful visitors to complete various tasks throughout the year.
The Moor Visitors Expansion, designed by famed designer Uwe Rosenberg (Agricola, Caverna, Patchwork) and Viticulture designers Jamey Stegmaier and Alan Stone, adds 40 new visitors to any version of Viticulture!
New from Games Workshop! WARHAMMER 40000: Battle for Vedros!
In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war! In the dying years of the 41st Millennium there is no peace amongst the stars, only brutal warfare and planetary conquest. The Battle for Vedros brings all the action onto your tabletop. You command armies of models in a game of daring, cunning and untold slaughter.
The Battle for Vedros Starter Set allows you to fight out battles between the mighty Space Marines and feral Orks. As well as great models for you to build and play with, it includes the tale of the invasion of Vedros and all the rules you need to play.
All Games Workshop Miniatures are supplied unpainted and assembly is required.
Requires the Imperial Assault main game to play.
Take up the hunt with Bossk, a deadly Trandoshan bounty hunter! With this figure pack, you can harness Bossk's unbridled ferocity whether you take contracts for the Mercenaries faction in a skirmish or work for the Imperial player in a campaign.
With a new Agenda set, Command cards, Deployment cards, a skirmish upgrade, and missions for both campaign and skirmish games, the Bossk Villain Pack is your chance to unleash a bounty hunter and take down your prey.
These expansions require the Star Wars: Imperial Assault and The Bespin Gambit main games to play.
This Villain Pack adds new materials to all of your campaigns and skirmish games with a new three-card Agenda set, new Command cards, additional Deployment cards, and brand-new missions for your campaigns and skirmishes. Prepare to put the fear of the Empire in your opponents!
This figure pack includes two sculpted plastic figure depicting ISB Infiltrators ready for action.
The Lando Calrissian Ally Pack adds new materials to all of your campaigns and skirmish games with new Command cards, additional Deployment cards, a new Reward card, and brand-new missions for both campaign and skirmish games. No need to trust Lady Luck when you can always cheat the odds!
This figure pack includes a sculpted plastic figure of Lando Calrissian that you can use to replace the token included in The Bespin Gambit.
Fear and Loathing is the fifth Data Pack in the Spin Cycle for Android: Netrunner. The futuristic world of Android: Netrunner is one of vertiginous discrepancies between achievement and poverty. The megacorps that have redefined humanity with the development of custom genetics, bioroid manufacturing, and mind-machine interfacting are at least partially responsible for stabilizing social policies that mire countless masses in overcrowded, unsanitary living conditions. In the shadows of the megacorporations' towering corporate headquarters, the vast majority experience mundane desperations, fear for their jobs, loathe their limited social status, and fight a daily war for survival.
Throughout the Galactic Civil War, certain feuds and rivalries have defined countless conflicts. The Jedi battle the Sith lords, playing out the age-old struggle between the light and dark sides of the Force. The armies and navies of the Rebels and the Empire clash on planets and in the skies above them. The galaxy's smugglers and spies struggle for supremacy against the scum that lurk in the shadows. These dynamic rivalries have shaped the Galactic Civil War, and now, with the Opposition cycle, they will take their rightful place in Star Wars: The Card Game as well.
Ancient Rivals kicks off the Opposition cycle and simultaneously serves as an introduction to the new themes and mechanics that will be found in the cycle. Here, you'll find a host of cards that focus on the struggles between pairs of affiliations: Jedi and Sith, Rebel Alliance and Imperial Navy, Smugglers and Spies and Scum and Villainy. The Opposition cycle also introduces a host of new fate cards, including a new type of fate cards - fate cards with an affiliation.
Ancient Rivals also offers up a host of iconic characters: the heroes and villains of Star Wars: Rebels begin to appear in the LCG, joined by new versions of classic characters like Dengar, Han Solo, and Darth Vader. Immerse yourself in the epic conflicts and battles of the Galactic Civil War in the Opposition cycle, beginning with Ancient Rivals!
From the ancient depths of time before the galaxy was consumed by war, a new threat now emerges from its aeon-long slumber: the Necrons have begun to awaken once more. No loyal servant of the Imperium could fathom how many Tomb Worlds still lie dormant, only awaiting some mysterious signal to rise and spread doom across the civilized worlds. Now, as the Necrons ascend and swell their armies with slaves, all the Traxis sector will learn to fear these mechanical terrors.
Legions of Death introduces the Necrons as a new playable faction for Warhammer 40,000: Conquest. Two new warlords lead the Necron forces in the Traxis sector, and new mechanics evoke the theme of a Necron invasion whenever you lead them into battle. As the Necrons, you can enslave the peoples of the galaxy, filling your deck with units from other factions that are forced to fight alongside you. Although the Necrons hold the spotlight in this deluxe expansion, you'll also find a new unit for each of the other eight factions alongside new neutral cards that promise to impact the game in entirely new ways!
This is not a stand-alone deck. A copy of the Warhammer 40,000: Conquest Core Set is required to play.
Jungles of Nectavus is the first War Pack in the Death World cycle, and as such, it serves as an introduction to the themes and mechanics that pervade the rest of the cycle. Here, every faction enters the jungles of Nectavus VI, and you'll need to embrace new tactics to survive in such a hostile environment. On this world, drawing attention to yourself can be a death sentence, so a new keyword allows you to deploy your cards secretly, only revealing them as the battle is about to begin. The Death World cycle also brings a new focus to each factions' Elite units, making them a more integral part of your armies than ever before!
Nectavus VI is a world filled with danger. Death is never more than a footstep away. Now, as the nine great factions warring for the Traxis sector converge, the planet becomes even more dangerous.
ACD Distribution is excited to be carrying Breaking Games! Circular Reasoning, Letter Tycoon, Game of 49 and Boomtown Bandits!
Circular Reasoning is a two to four player game where players race each other to get all their tokens to the center of a circular board.
The board consists of a goal in the center and three concentric tracks of 16 spaces each. Each track has a gate to the next level, but the gates rotate around the board according to the number of tokens found in each level.
Each player gets a square, a triangle, and a circle, which move four, three, or two spaces respectively. In addition to racing toward the center, tokens can be used to block other tokens from using the gates to advance. Because of this, players must predict and work around their opponents moves to secure victory.
Build words, buy letters and score big! Use your hand of seven cards plus any of the three community cards to make a word worth valuable money and stocks. Collect letter patents to earn royalties and invoke unique privileges. Patents, money and stocks add up to victory. Create the most valuable alphabet empire and you can become the Letter Tycoon!
2015 Mensa Mind Games Winner!!
Starting with $49 apiece, players in Game of 49 bid to buy spaces on the 49-square (7-by-7) game board. Randomly drawn number cards are auctioned one at a time, with the highest bidder placing a chip on the matching board space.
Wild/Payoff cards give players a choice of where to place their chip and also award cash to all players for their chips on the board: $7 per chip, with a payoff maximum of $49. The first player to claim four spaces in a row, in any direction, wins. That's "49"!
You're all bandits trying to rob this boomtown blind! Take down the bank, train, stagecoach, and even the brothel in this frantic and fun real-time dice shoot em' up!
In Boomtown Bandits, players take turns placing two shooter tokens and a coward token face down around the town in order to hide their identities! All the tokens are then revealed.
A Wild West 'draw' occurs whenever any competing bandits try and rob the same location. This shootout is in the form of simultaneous dice rolling and rolling is continuous until there's a hit or until a coward runs!
Locations include seven loot cards, each with strategic weapons and abilities to help you in future fights. When any location is out of cards the game ends, bonuses are awarded and the bandit with the most loot wins!
Who will rob the most money and be the baddest bandit of them all?
New from Gale Force 9! Star Trek: Ascendancy!
New from IDW Publishing! Arcane Academy!
New from IELLO! Monster Chase and Rent-A-Hero!
New from Academy Games! Mare Nostrum: Empires!
New from Konami! Yu-Gi-Oh!: 2016 Mega-Tins!
New from Cool Mini or Not! Waka Tanka!
New from Bushiroad! Weiss Schwarz: Disgaea!


Brisbane Symphony Orchestra is a community orchestra of professional performance standard, based in the city of Brisbane, Queensland.
BSO came to us asking for a brochure that included all of their upcoming concerts in 2019. The brochure was to also include a message from the Lord Mayor.
Having designed their new logo, website and marketing collateral, we were very familiar with the final product that BSO would want. We used some lovely high-resolution imagery and their brand fonts and colours to ensure consistency across the marketing asset. We kept the layout simple and contemporary and incorporated subtle illustrative elements that complimented the design of their logo.
BSO were very pleased with the final artwork and were looking forward to handing out their new brochure to help promote their upcoming concerts.


text:
Science and Technology Facilities Council
Brand new tool for developing improved antibiotics produced by ISIS and Newcastle
Scientists have a brand new tool for developing new antibiotics and other drugs in the fight against infections such as E.coli (Escherichia coli). 2013 figures taken from the NHS website show one in five infections involving E.coli is now resistant to a commonly-used antibiotic (ciproflaxin). Now researchers from Newcastle University and STFC have produced a working model of the outer membrane of E.coli, giving access to unprecedented information about the bacteria which is notoriously hard to study due to its size and exterior.
The results, published in the leading chemistry journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition, are featured as a 'Research Highlight' in Nature Chemical Biology. (20 October 2015).
It is well known that all types of disease-causing bacteria are becoming resistant to antibiotics. Antimicrobial resistance has been named as the key challenge in the Longitude Prize, an initiative launched by the Prime Minister at G8 2014 with a £10 million prize fund to help solve one of the greatest issues of our time.
Single-celled Gram-negatives, the group of bacteria that E.coli belongs to, are of special concern because they have an extra wall around their cells which can protect them physically from our treatments.
"Our model of the bacterial outer membrane can be used as a simulator to test how antibiotic molecules can be made to cross this critical barrier", Jeremy Lakey, Professor of Structural Biochemistry at Newcastle University who led the study explains.
"A stable model is so important because the detailed structure of this wall is still not clear, largely because bacteria are very small and have a protective envelope that is only 20 nanometres thick. This model gives us unprecedented access to the structure and dynamics of the membrane."
Gram-negative bacteria are highly successful organisms. In evolutionary terms, they are believed to have descended from a common ancestor of cyanobacteria, which emerged 3.6 billion years ago. E. coli bacteria live in the digestive tract of people and animals and most are harmless. However, some Gram-negatives cause illnesses such as meningitis, plague, Legionnaires disease, cholera and food poisoning. Understanding the outer membranes of Gram-negative bacteria is important for antibiotic development but their structure and dynamics are poorly understood because of their small size and inaccurate lab, or in vitro, models.
The nanoscale structure of the membrane was determined using STFC's ISIS Neutron and Muon source. An instrument called POLREF allowed the precise molecular composition to be resolved, showing accurate details of the model such as the molecular asymmetry and the thickness of its internal water layer.
"We now are able to undertake studies on model bacterial membranes under conditions which much more closely resemble those found of live bacteria than has previous been possible", said Luke Clifton from ISIS. "Neutron scattering allows us to resolve complex structures composed of mixtures of biomolecules. By combining this with isotopic labelling, to which neutrons are very sensitive, we were able to determine where each component of the model was".
Clifton and co-workers went on to test the response of the model to antimicrobial proteins produced in our bodies, including lysozyme and lactoferrin. Interactions of these proteins with the outer membrane in vivo and in vitro are well known, allowing for direct comparisons with the synthetic model. Neutron reflectivity revealed that the experiments reproduced in vivo behaviour, replicating the disruption of the outer membrane previously seen in living bacteria.
Jeremy Lakey said: "Biological cells are hugely complicated and we are continually trying new ways to understand their molecular structure. Neutrons are now an essential tool in this effort because they have the unique ability to both describe structure and tell the difference between the different types of molecules found in cells. Thus, in our studies of the bacterial envelope, moving to neutrons was like switching from black and white to colour TV."
The next challenge for the researchers is to begin incorporating membrane proteins into the bilayer.
This work was funded by the Wellcome Trust.
Deputy Media Manager
STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
A press release from Newcastle University
The Nature Chemical Biology 'Research Highlight'
The original paper
STFC's Futures team ran a workshop in 2013 on antimicrobial resistance
The ISIS pulsed neutron and muon source at STFC's Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire is a world-leading centre for research in the physical and life sciences. It is owned and operated by the Science and Technology Facilities Council.
ISIS produces beams of neutrons and muons that allow scientists to study materials at the atomic level using a suite of instruments, often described as 'super-microscopes'. It supports a national and international community of more than 2000 scientists who use neutrons and muons for research in physics, chemistry, materials science, geology, engineering and biology. It is the most productive research centre of its type in the world.
From the original vision over 30 years ago, ISIS has become one of the UK's major scientific achievements. As the world's leading pulsed neutron and muon source, ISIS has changed the way the world views neutron scattering.
POLREF
Polref is a polarised neutron reflectometer designed for the study of the magnetic ordering in and between the layers and surfaces of thin film materials.
Channel website: http://www.stfc.ac.uk/
Audio planetarium to inspire young, visually impaired astronomers
A new resource that enables blind and partially sighted people to 'hear' the Universe has been launched to ensure everyone can be inspired by the wonders of space.
UKRI targets net zero computing
Scientists will recommend a plan to help the UK's research and innovation sector reach net zero.
North-west Digital Tech Cluster to create 1,000 jobs
New Digital Tech Cluster at Sci-Tech Daresbury will drive economic growth and productivity for the north-west.
Roman coin study reveals thriving empires
A study of gold coins from different moments of the Roman Empire has revealed the thriving economy at the time of minting.
STFC spin-out company gets funding to improve satellite broadband
An STFC spin-out company has secured funding to enhance its software to optimise the performance of satellites for telecommunications.
Graphene stops satellites from getting too hot or cold
SmartIR is developing technology that will enable satellites to regulate their temperature.
Black holes of all sizes in new gravitational wave catalogue
The largest catalogue of gravitational wave events ever has been released today, with dozens of ripples in space time captured by a global network of detectors.
World-leading decarbonising technology for net zero transport
A new company is being formed to deliver a pioneering, world-leading decarbonising technology to sectors such as aviation and shipping.
Laser tool could offer improved cancer treatment
A new tool using high-power lasers could be used to improve the treatment of cancer.