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The role of energy in health facilities: A conceptual framework and complementary data assessment in Malawi
Laura Suhlrie ,
Roles Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Methodology, Writing – original draft
* E-mail: Laura.Suhlrie@campus.lmu.de
Affiliations Institute for Medical Information Processing, Biometry and Epidemiology, Pettenkofer School of Public Health, Ludwig Maximilians University Munich, Munich, Bavaria, Germany, The Water Institute, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America
Jamie Bartram,
Roles Conceptualization, Supervision
Affiliation The Water Institute, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America
Jacob Burns,
Roles Software, Writing – review & editing
Affiliation Institute for Medical Information Processing, Biometry and Epidemiology, Pettenkofer School of Public Health, Ludwig Maximilians University Munich, Munich, Bavaria, Germany
Lauren Joca,
Roles Methodology
John Tomaro,
Roles Methodology, Validation
Eva Rehfuess
Roles Conceptualization, Methodology, Supervision, Validation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing
Laura Suhlrie,
Laura Suhlrie Jamie Bartram ... Eva Rehfuess
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Modern energy enables health service delivery. Access to electricity is, however, unreliable in many health facilities in developing countries. Little research has explored the relationships between energy and service delivery.
Based on extensive literature searches and iterative discussions within the research team, we first develop a conceptual framework of the role of energy in health facilities. We then use this framework to explore how characteristics of electricity supply affect distinct energy uses in health facilities (e.g. lighting), and how functional or non-functional lighting affects the provision of night-time care services in Malawi. To do so we apply descriptive statistics and conduct logistic and multinomial regressions using data from the Service Provision Assessment (SPA) of the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) for all health facilities in Malawi in 2013/2014.
The conceptual framework depicts the pathways from different energy types and their characteristics, through to distinct energy uses in health facilities (e.g. medical devices) and health-relevant service outputs (e.g. safe medical equipment). These outputs can improve outcomes for patients (e.g. infection control), facilities (e.g. efficiency) and staff (e.g. working conditions) at facilities level and, ultimately, contribute to better population health outcomes. Our exploratory analysis suggests that energy uses were less likely to be functional in facilities with lower-quality electricity supply. Descriptive statistics revealed a critical lack of functional lighting in facilities offering child delivery and night-time care; surprisingly, the provision of night-time care was not associated with whether facilities had functional lighting. Overall, the DHS SPA dataset is not well-suited for assessing the relationships depicted within the framework.
The framework conceptualizes the role of energy in health facilities in a comprehensive manner. Over time, it should be empirically validated through a combination of different research approaches, including tracking of indicators, detailed energy audits, qualitative and intervention studies.
Citation: Suhlrie L, Bartram J, Burns J, Joca L, Tomaro J, Rehfuess E (2018) The role of energy in health facilities: A conceptual framework and complementary data assessment in Malawi. PLoS ONE 13(7): e0200261. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0200261
Editor: Norbert Edomah, Pan-Atlantic University, NIGERIA
Received: November 3, 2017; Accepted: June 23, 2018; Published: July 20, 2018
Copyright: © 2018 Suhlrie et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Data Availability: The data used are third party data and acquired from the Service Provision Assessment (SPA) within the Demographic Health Survey (DHS) Program. The DHS program, including the SPA, requires all researchers wishing to use data for the purpose of research or study, to register. The authors did not have any special access privileges that others would not have. Information regarding registration can be found here: https://dhsprogram.com/data/new-user-registration.cfm.
Funding: The author(s) received no specific funding for this work.
Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
Abbreviations: CHAM, Christian Health Association of Malawi; CICI, Context and Implementation of Complex Interventions; DHS, Demographic and Health Survey; GTF, Global Tracking Framework; HCWT, Healthcare Waste treatment; HAI, Health Action International; HIO, High Impact Opportunity; HVAC, Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning; ICT, Information and communication technologies; SDGs, Sustainable Development Goals; SE4ALL, Sustainable Energy For All; SPA, Service Provision Assessment; UN, United Nations; UNICEF, United Nations Children's Fund; USAID, United States Agency for International Development; WHO, World Health Organization
Access to modern energy for lighting, cooking, heating and powering appliances at the level of households as well as institutions is crucial to socio-economic development. "Modern energy" comprises electricity and less polluting, safer forms of thermal energy (e.g. improved stoves) [1–2]. Although significant progress has been made towards ensuring access to modern energy world-wide, sub-Saharan Africa has the highest population shares without electricity and relying on polluting solid fuels, especially in rural areas [3–5]. These conditions, in particular a lack of electricity, affect health facilities and the services they provide: In 13 health facility surveys among 11 sub-Saharan African countries, 74% of health facilities reported having access to electricity; in eight of these countries, only 28% of health facilities reported having continuous access to electricity [6].
To address this deficit, the United Nations (UN) launched the Sustainable Energy For All (SEforAll) initiative in 2011 and formulated the energy-specific goal 7 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted in 2015. Both efforts aim to bring together multiple sectors to: achieve universal access to affordable and reliable modern energy services; increase the share of renewable energy technologies; and improve energy efficiency by 2030 [2,7]. Within the health sector, these goals are fostered by the High Impact Opportunity (HIO) on Energy for Women´s and Children´s Health, launched as part of SEforALL, which aims to improve energy access in health facilities to improve child and maternal health service delivery [8].
While much research is dedicated to assessing the health impacts of polluting fuels and to promoting effective household solutions, few investigations explore the roles of energy in health facilities. The World Health Organization (WHO) emphasizes that modern energy uses are crucial for providing basic health services and for ensuring safe working conditions for health personnel [9]. A few studies point to the specific roles of energy for lighting, vaccine storage, sterilization and communications in health facilities [10–12]. A report published by WHO and the World Bank offers a comprehensive overview of the status and trends of commonly used energy types in health facilities in resource-constrained settings [13]. However, there is no comprehensive assessment of the impact of energy access and type in health facilities on specific energy uses, and consequently on health service delivery.
In this paper, we first develop a conceptual framework that describes the pathways from different energy types and their characteristics, to distinct energy uses in health facilities (e.g. medical devices, technologies for disinfection and sterilization) and health-relevant service outputs (e.g. advanced diagnostics and treatment, safe medical equipment), to outcomes for patients (e.g. infection control), facilities (e.g. efficiency) and staff (e.g. working conditions) at facilities level and, finally, population health outcomes (objective 1). We then use this framework to explore how the characteristics of the electricity supply affect distinct energy uses in health facilities (objective 2a), and, in a further step, how functional or non-functional lighting affects the provision of night-time care services offered in Malawi (objective 2b).
Conceptual framework (objective 1)
An extensive literature search was conducted to retrieve studies examining the role of energy in health facilities. This search consisted of a mix of structured searches of electronic databases, as well as snowball searches based on key publications identified. When first defining the scope of this project, we identified two reports that were especially informative [6,13]: The first made use of the SPA to outline the critical energy situation in health facilities in sub-Saharan Africa, and the second represents the first comprehensive assessment of energy in health facilities. We used these reports to develop the keywords for the structured searches, which included "health facilit*", "hospital", "clinic*", "health service delivery", "electricity", "energy access", "developing countr*". Using combinations of these keywords, we searched PubMed, EBSCO Host Database Academic and Google Scholar. All study types providing information on the role of energy in health facilities were considered relevant. Informed by all relevant studies identified through these searches and literature on logic models and framework-based approaches [14–16], we developed a structure of the conceptual framework comprising the following domains at four levels: energy types and characteristics of supply; energy uses and outputs at facility level; outcomes at facilities level; and impact on population level. These domains interact with additional domains, i.e. facility setting (physical location), context (overarching macro- and meso-level aspects) and environment as well as environmental health aspects (Fig 1).
PowerPoint slide
Fig 1. Structure of the conceptual framework of the role of energy in health facilities.
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0200261.g001
This structure was populated with categories (boxes) and sub-categories (bullet points within boxes) by LS in discussion with all members of the research team in an iterative process. Where we could not retrieve relevant information from the literature, in particular with respect to how energy uses affect outputs, we discussed and agreed upon assumptions (presented in italics).
Data and variables for exploratory analysis (objective 2)
Data source.
Data for the exploratory analysis were drawn from the Service Provision Assessment (SPA) surveys, which are conducted by the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) program of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID); these data are in the public domain [17]. The SPA surveys comprise four components: an inventory questionnaire, healthcare provider interviews, observations of consultations and patient interviews. The last two are applied in the fields of antenatal care, family planning and treatment of sick children. The provider interviews collect details on the health professionals, such as educational background and services offered. The inventory questionnaire collects information about the infrastructure, resources and systems of the facility to ascertain USAID and WHO service readiness indicators [18].
We used the most recent data from the inventory questionnaire for Malawi from 2013/2014, which was set up as a complete survey of all health facilities [19]. Out of 1066, 977 health facilities filled in the questionnaire. Reasons for non-response were: that facilities refused to be assessed (3%) or had closed down (2%), that no-one was available to respond to the survey (1%) and that facilities were inaccessible for various reasons (2%) (DHS, personal communication). Five further facilities were excluded because information about the energy source and its continuity was missing. Data from the remaining 972 facilities were weighted to account for differentials regarding different facility types caused by this non-response.
For the 972 included observations, we retrieved variables that could serve as measures or proxies for the categories and sub-categories defined in the top three levels of the conceptual framework, i.e. energy types and characteristics of supply, energy uses and outputs at facility level and outcomes at facility level; the fourth level, the impact on population level, could not be populated using data from the SPA inventory survey.
Energy types and characteristics of supply.
The SPA inventory survey provides information on electricity but not on thermal energy. Based on the available data, we characterized the electricity source and its continuity as: uninterrupted grid with back-up; interrupted grid with back-up; uninterrupted grid without back-up; interrupted grid without back-up; off-grid electricity; and no electricity.
Fuel-based generators may serve as back-up sources or as the main electricity source in off-grid settings. Solar systems may also constitute the main off-grid electricity source, either alone or combined with fuel-based generators. A proxy for the continuity of electricity supply in SPA surveys is only provided for grid-connected facilities: a continuous energy supply (i.e. "uninterrupted grid") is defined as having had no interruptions of more than two hours during the opening hours of the facility in the last 7 days.
Energy uses.
Thirteen variables related to seven of the total of eight Energy uses in the conceptual framework were identified. These comprise lighting in outpatient area and lighting in delivery area (for lighting); light microscope, hematology analyzer and newborn incubator (for medical devices); water source and sanitation in outpatient area (for water pumps and (wastewater) treatment); communication technologies, computer, computer and internet combined (for information and communication technologies (ICT)); vaccine refrigeration (for refrigeration); technologies for disinfection and sterilization (for technologies for disinfection, sterilization and healthcare waste treatment (HCWT)); and ventilation in medication storage room (for heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC)). The variables identified for lighting, medical devices, ICT, technologies for disinfection, sterilization and HCTW assessed first whether the specific energy uses were available and then whether these were functional. As internet connectivity is a prerequisite to using a computer as an information technology, the outcome computer and internet combined assessed whether the facility had both a functional computer and internet available. The dataset did not include comprehensive information on ventilation and air conditioning; we therefore included the ventilation status of the medication storage room as a proxy. The three medical devices hematology analyzer, newborn incubator and light microscope were chosen based on a list of priority medical devices defined by WHO and UNICEF [9].
Outputs and outcomes at facility level.
Based on the conceptual framework, we identified three variables for health service delivery potentially related to the availability of electricity and specific energy uses from the data: night-time care services offered, child vaccination services offered, and the total number of outpatient visits in the last complete calendar month (both adult and children). However, in Malawi, child vaccination services are predominantly supported through campaigns and therefore not strictly linked with services of a health facility. We excluded the variable outpatient visits due to poor data quality: 113 (11.63%) facilities of the 972 facilities reported that they did not know the number of outpatient visits in the preceding month; it is unlikely that these excluded facilities are randomly distributed. Our exploratory analysis was therefore concerned with night-time-care offered.
Facility setting and context.
Given expected heterogeneity in energy types as well as energy uses and outputs, across different health facilities and locations in Malawi, the variables facility level, managing authority, region and urban-rural location were included in all statistical analyses. The Malawian health system recognizes nine facility types; these were categorized into three levels of care as defined by WHO and the World Bank: Community level facilities include maternity facilities, dispensaries, clinics and health posts; first-level facilities comprise rural/community hospitals, other hospitals and health centres; and referral-level facilities consist of central and district hospitals [20–22].
Quantitative data analysis: Electricity characteristics and distinct energy uses (objective 2a).
Logistic regression models were used to examine the associations between the electricity source and the functionality of energy uses. General energy uses (e.g. water pumps) were assessed for all facilities. Service-specific energy uses (e.g. newborn incubator within facilities offering child delivery services) were only analyzed for facilities offering these services.
The following model was applied for each of the thirteen identified energy uses:
Where, for a given facility, j, the outcome y listed takes the value of 0 or 1 depending on whether the energy use is functional or not. β1 represents the coefficient of the six categories regarding the characteristics of electricity supply, β2, β3, and β4 represent the coefficients of the three facility levels, six managing authorities (relating to facility type in the conceptual framework) and three administrative regions respectively, and β5 is a dummy-variable for the urban-rural location (relating to infrastructure in the conceptual framework).
Model diagnostics included the likelihood ratio test and the Nagelkerke test for assessing the explanatory power of the model as well as a cross validation using bootstrapping samples with the leave-one-out method to ascertain the accuracy of the model. In addition, where applicable, a sensitivity analysis on the availability (rather than functionality) of the energy uses was conducted (S1 Appendix).
Quantitative data analysis: Lighting in delivery area and night-time care (objective 2b).
Night-time care is of particular importance for child delivery services because of the time-sensitive need for health services around and during childbirth [23]. We assessed whether lighting in the delivery area is associated with night-time care offered in facilities providing child delivery services.
The following multinomial logistic model was applied: where for a given facility, j, the outcome k listed takes the value of 0 or 1 depending on whether the facility offers the following services: no inpatient/overnight services, overnight observation services or inpatient services. β1 represents the coefficient of the independent variable of whether lighting in the delivery area is functional or not, and β2 to β5 display the coefficients of the above described variables.
The same diagnostic tests as for objective 2a were applied, including a sensitivity analysis for the availability (rather than functionality) of lighting in the delivery area.
All statistical analyses were carried out using R Studio (Version 1.0.143).
Fig 2 presents our comprehensive conceptual framework of the role of energy in health facilities. Three main energy types: grid- and off-grid electricity as well as thermal energy can be used as main or back-up sources. Their characteristics include availability (capacity and predictable timing and duration), reliability (timing and duration without unpredictable shortages), quality (voltage quality and combustibility) and acceptability (attitudes and behavior). These characteristics affect the energy uses lighting, medical devices, water pumps and (waste)water treatment technologies, information and communication technologies, refrigeration, technologies for sterilization, disinfection and healthcare waste treatment, heating, ventilation and air conditioning, cooking facilities and thermal water treatment technologies. These energy uses in turn enable specific health-relevant service outputs at facility level (e.g. extended opening hours through lighting). In turn, these outputs improve the infrastructure and functionality of the health facility and contribute to the facility-level outcomes of meeting the needs of patients and staff. Ultimately, at population level, energy in health facilities contributes to both improved access to health services and a better health status of the population. External factors, such as the facility setting, the context (e.g. political, socio-economic) and environmental as well as environmental health aspects influence, and are influenced by, the availability and energy use in health facilities. The various interactions depicted in the conceptual framework operate across all levels and domains.
Fig 2. Conceptual framework of the role of energy in health facilities.
Blue shading: Processes taking place within the health facility Yellow shading: Energy uses not necessarily depending on electricity, except for uses in grey font color *: Included in the quantitative analysis **: Assumptions made by the authors. Abbreviations: CHP: Combined Heating Power ICT: Information and Communication Technologies PV: Photovoltaic HCWT: Healthcare Waste Treatment HVAC: Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning.
Electricity characteristics and their impacts on health facilities in Malawi
Descriptive results.
Table 1 displays the distribution of all variables. While 69% of all health facilities in Malawi were connected to the grid, 9% had no electricity. Among all grid-connected facilities, 29% had a back-up source, which was functional in almost all cases (data on functionality of back-up source not shown). Only 38% of the facilities with an off-grid main source indicated that the generator or combined system was functional on the day of data collection.
Table 1. Descriptive statistics of all variables included in the data analysis.
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0200261.t001
Table 2 shows wide variation in the electricity type and continuity between levels of health facilities: Many community-level (49%) and first-level facilities (64%) are connected to interrupted grid electricity without a back-up source; 11% and 7% of community-level and first-level facilities respectively do not have any access to electricity. In contrast, all referral-level facilities are grid-connected with a back-up source.
Table 2. Electricity sources and continuity by covariate (in percent).
Government facilities tend to be connected to off-grid systems, and those connected to the grid have fewer back-up sources compared to facilities operated by other managing authorities. Facilities in the Northern Region show less electricity access than facilities in the Central and Southern Regions, both in relation to being grid-connected with continuous supply and in relation to having a back-up source. As expected, electricity access and continuity are generally better in urban compared to rural areas.
Electricity characteristics and distinct energy uses (objective 2a).
Table 3 shows the results of the logistic regressions on the functionality of lighting in outpatient and delivery areas. In both areas, diverting from the reference category of uninterrupted grid supply with a back-up source, the remaining energy categories are associated with a decrease in the functionality of lighting with the strongest effects seen for off-grid electricity and no electricity source. Indeed, facilities with off-grid supply and facilities without electricity were approximately 80% and 90% less likely to have functional lighting in outpatient and delivery areas respectively, independent of facility level, managing authority, region and urban-rural location compared to the reference category (p<0.01).
Table 3. Lighting in outpatient and child delivery areas: Odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals of energy source and continuity.
Table 4 presents the results of the logistic regressions on water source, sanitation facilities and ventilation in the medication storage room. Off-grid facilities were approximately 90% less likely to have piped water and a flush toilet compared to the reference category (p<0.01). Facilities connected to an interrupted grid without a back-up source were 90% less likely to have flush toilets (p<0.01). Similarly, off-grid connected facilities were 79% less likely to have a well-ventilated medication storage room compared to the reference category (p<0.05).
Table 4. Water source, sanitation facilities and ventilation in the medication storage room: odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals of energy source and continuity.
Table 5 shows the results of the logistic regressions on the functionality of computers alone and in combination with internet, as well as on the functionality of communication devices and specific medical devices. Grid-connected facilities without a back-up source and off-grid facilities were more than 90% less likely to have a functional computer (p<0.01), and even less likely to have a functional computer and internet, compared to the reference group (p<0.01). No significant association was found for the outcome on functional communication technologies. Grid-connected facilities without a back-up source were significantly less likely to have functional medical devices, given that the facility offered the specific service. For example, off-grid facilities were more than 90% less likely to have a functional newborn incubator or light microscope (p<0.01).
Table 5. Information and communication technologies and medical devices: Odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals of energy source and continuity.
The regression results of the multinomial regression on the temperature of the vaccine refrigerator in Table 6 show no association with the type of electricity supply and a low overall model fit (LR test p<0.1). Concerning the functionality of disinfection and sterilization technologies the results of the logistic regression suggest that grid-connected facilities without a back-up source (73% and 60% for those with/without grid interruptions respectively) and off-grid facilities (97%) are substantially less likely to have functional electric disinfection and sterilization devices compared to the reference category (P<0.01, apart from uninterrupted grid-connected facilities, where P<0.05).
Table 6. Vaccine refrigeration and technologies for sterilization and disinfection: Odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals of energy source and continuity.
Lighting in delivery area and night-time care (objective 2b).
Table 7 shows that in more than 50% of all facilities offering child delivery services, lighting in the delivery area was not functional; this is even more pronounced among facilities offering overnight observation services with approximately 75% non-functional lighting.
Table 7. Lighting functionality in the delivery area in facilities offering night-time care and delivery services (in %).
The results of the multinomial regression in Table 8 show that functional lighting in the delivery area was not significantly associated with night-time care services. The results indicate that the provided lighting infrastructure may play a minor role in relation to whether the service is provided or not. Furthermore, the fact that delivery and night-time care services are offered within a facility do not seem to lead to prioritization of functional lighting in these settings.
Table 8. Lighting in the delivery area and night-time care.
Our conceptual framework (Fig 2) on the role of energy in health facilities is, to our knowledge, the first attempt to capture systematically and comprehensively the pathways from energy types and their characteristics, to distinct energy uses in health facilities and health-relevant service outputs. This range of distinct energy uses (e.g. lighting, medical devices etc.) and outputs is critical for functional health facilities and for meeting the needs of patients and staff. In turn, this is expected to contribute to better access to health care (in terms of both the range of services offered and a more equitable utilization of these services by all members of the population) and to an improved health status of the population. The literature-based development of the framework showed that there is very little in-depth research of the interconnectedness of the various elements within the framework, in particular regarding the impact of energy on health service delivery outcomes.
The conceptual framework is intended to be universal and should thus be applicable to all facility types in developing countries as well as high-income countries. We note, however, that it is particularly suitable to examining the role of energy in resource-constrained areas.
Our assessment using the DHS SPA dataset for Malawi found that energy uses were less likely to be functional in facilities with lower-quality electricity supply (defined in terms of being on- or off-grid, continuity of supply and having a functional back-up source), independent of the facility level, managing authority and geographical location.
Descriptive statistics revealed a critical lack of lighting devices in health facilities offering child delivery- and night-time care. To our surprise, the provision of night-time care was not associated with whether facilities had functional lighting.
We could not identify an appropriate indicator to track the impact of energy on health service delivery outcomes due to the limited suitability of the DHS SPA dataset to assessing a broader set of relationships within the framework.
We believe that our findings can play an important role in (i) drawing attention to the importance of energy in health facilities, (ii) highlighting "blind spots" for which little or no information is available, (iii) suggesting and informing new primary quantitative or qualitative research to examine various areas of the framework, and, (iv) developing more informative indicators to track health-relevant contributions of energy availability, reliability and use in health facilities by taking into consideration the complex interplay of several influencing factors. Tracking outcomes on the health service delivery level will be crucial in assessing the impact of different strategies for improving access to modern energy and for providing policy-relevant information to decision-makers in resource-constrained settings.
Strengths and limitations of conceptual framework
In developing the conceptual framework, particularly its structure, we drew from methodological literature on the development and application of logic models and other graphical frameworks [14–15]. Through extensive literature searches we aimed to identify all relevant research in this field. It is, however, possible that we missed relevant publications as well as unpublished research. Additionally, where evidence for relationships was lacking, we completed the framework using assumptions, following an iterative approach involving the whole research team. A different research team might have conceptualized the framework differently.
Previous frameworks have been limited to covering specific aspects of the role of energy in health facilities. WHO and the World Bank developed a results chain framework from energy investments towards the aim of reaching SDG 3 on "good health and well-being" and SDG 7 on "affordable and clean energy" [1,13]. A multi-tier framework developed by the SEforAll Initiative for assessing energy access on household level based on identified attributes of energy supply was adapted for the health setting by WHO and the World Bank [2,13]. Our framework goes beyond these existing frameworks by examining more comprehensively the role of energy within health facilities (e.g. energy types other than electricity, distinct uses) and by addressing the impacts of energy on health service delivery and health outcomes at multiple levels. In addition, it takes into account the role of setting and context and emphasizes relevant interconnections between all elements of the framework.
Strengths and limitations of quantitative data analyses
Informed by the conceptual framework, associations between the source and continuity of electricity and different energy uses were quantitatively explored. These analyses controlled for relevant contextual factors and, where applicable and possible, were only conducted for those facilities where the specific energy-related services were offered. However, our analyses were exploratory in nature, therefore, findings should be interpreted with caution considering the limitations in the underlying dataset (see below). The strong associations observed imply that health service delivery might be constrained by a lack of energy and functional energy uses, but drawing causal inferences is challenging. For example, it is unclear to what extent the variables used to assess energy sources and continuity actually measure what they are intended to measure, and to what extent these simply reflect overall differences in levels of a range of resources in health facilities. Likewise, the observed associations only reflect a small proportion of the complex system depicted in the conceptual framework, and it can be assumed that other factors, such as qualified personnel, strongly influence the linkages between electricity supply and continuity and energy uses. Statistical limitations include p-value inflation due to the large number of regressions conducted and low cell counts or 0-cells in some categories of the energy type variable.
The SPA dataset provides information on the electricity source and its continuity, as well as a majority of the identified energy uses in our framework, although the data obtained from the SPA are characterized by limitations. Regarding electricity sources and their reliability, first, the SPA assesses interruptions during opening hours without reporting the actual opening hours of the facility. This is problematic, given that non-electrified facilities tend to have shorter opening hours [12]. Second, the inventory questionnaire asks about interruptions during the previous seven days of assessment and thereby ignores seasonal variations in the reliability of grid electricity, which occur in Malawi [24,25]. Third, the rationale for using a threshold of interruptions of no more than two hours at a time is unclear, as the relevance of interruptions for health service delivery is likely to depend not only on the duration of an interruption but also on the frequency and timing as well as the predictability of interruptions. Fourth, no information on the quality of the grid supply, the use of back-up sources or the functionality of solar systems is provided.
Regarding the functionality of energy uses, this primarily draws on self-reported data, which are verified through observation for a large proportion of the facilities. Apart from the energy uses hematology analyzer, newborn incubator and computer, the variables related to energy use (e.g. sanitation in outpatient area) are linked to, but not fully attributable, to the presence or absence of electricity. Although we aimed to take the demand of the facility into account by analyzing service-specific energy uses only in facilities where these services were offered, there might be further reasons that energy-specific uses are not required within the facility (e.g. newborn incubator required for advanced neonatal care services). It is unclear through which method the information regarding ventilation of the medication storage room was obtained.
Regarding the assessment of outputs and outcomes at facility level, most of the available variables are not suitable means for assessing the impacts of energy on health services. Our data analyses revealed that a major proportion of health facilities offering child delivery services lacks functional lighting in the respective area of the facility; this is particularly true for facilities offering night-time services. There was no statistically significant effect of the functionality of lighting in the delivery area on offering night-time services. This can probably be explained by the fact that our outcome variable assessed whether or not services are offered at all in a facility (which may not be affected by lighting) rather than assessing the quality of the services (which is likely to be affected by lighting). Likewise, our results indicate that although delivery and night-time care services are offered, functional lighting which would be indispensable for the quality of these services seems not to be prioritized in these settings. As lighting is less likely to be functional in off-grid settings, it will be important to explore specific barriers under these circumstances and to examine whether functional solar-powered systems are a suitable alternative for low-power, high-value appliances, in particular, lighting and refrigeration.
In general, assessing outputs or outcomes at facility level would require more in-depth assessment of a set of health facilities in relation to the services they intend to offer and the energy uses and underlying electricity and/or thermal energy needs required to facilitate delivery of these services. In this context, it will be important to take into account behavior change and adaptation mechanisms as a consequence of alterations in energy provision by those directly affected, in particular staff and patients. To track and understand more thoroughly the impact of changes over time, research designs other than cross-sectional analyses, for example intervention studies accompanied by in-depth qualitative examinations, are needed.
The conceptual framework draws attention to the importance of energy in health facilities, highlighting that reliable electricity and thermal energy are required for the delivery of a broad range of health services. Recognizing the important role of energy is long overdue and should inform efforts to strengthen health systems in developing countries–at global, national and sub-national levels.
The results of the exploratory data analysis suggest that energy uses within facilities with a lower quality electricity supply tend to be less functional, independent of facility type, managing authority, region and urban-rural location. Consequently, these facilities are likely to be constrained in offering efficient and effective health services. In Malawi, electricity quality is particularly constrained in government-run, rural and smaller health facilities in the Central and Northern Regions, suggesting that these health facilities would particularly benefit from an improved energy supply.
The conceptual framework can help guide further research, including on the development of appropriate indicators which track access to and use of modern energy and its impact on health service delivery; these indicators should take complexity into account. In addition, the substantive gaps in the evidence base call for detailed energy audits in health facilities, qualitative studies examining the impacts of energy on health service delivery from the perspectives of multiple stakeholders as well as intervention studies addressing the shortcomings of electricity supply. This will further our as-of-yet incomplete understanding of the role of energy in health facilities, particularly by taking into account the behaviors and adaptations of staff and patients in relation to unreliable electricity. Ultimately, such research will help inform decision-makers about suitable strategies for enabling more effective and more equitable health service delivery through modern energy in health facilities.
S1 Appendix.
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0200261.s001
(DOCX)
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6. Adair-Rohani H, Zukor K, Bonjour S, Wilburn S, Kuesel AC, Hebert R et al. Limited electricity access in health facilities of sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review of data on electricity access, sources, and reliability. Glob Health Sci Pract 2013; 1(2):249–61. pmid:25276537
PubMed/NCBI
7. United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Affordable and clean energy: Why it matters; 2016. Available from: http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/7_Why-it-Matters_Goal-7_CleanEnergy_2p.pdf. Cited 31 March 2017
8. Energy and Women's Health | Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL). Available from: URL: http://www.se4all.org/hio_energy-and-womens-health. Cited 1 May 2017
9. WHO, UNFPA, UNICEF. Interagency list of priority medical devices for essential interventions for reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health; Cited 5 April 2017
10. Arvidson A, Songela F, Syngellakis K. The role of energy services in the health, education and water sectors and cross-sectoral linkages. European Commission. 2006. Available from: https://ec.europa.eu/energy/intelligent/projects/sites/iee-projects/files/projects/documents/enable_cross_sectoral_linkages.pdf
11. Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO). Our Side of the Story—Ugandan health workers speak up Available from: URL: http://www.ivoindia.org/Images/VSO-Our-side-of-the-story_Ugandan-health-workers-speak-u_tcm78-35533.pdf. Cited 18 January 2017
12. The Welfare Impact of Rural Electrification: A Reassessment of the Costs and Benefits Costs and Benefits: An IEG Impact Evaluation; World Bank. 2008. Available from: http://siteresources.worldbank.org/EXTRURELECT/Resources/full_doc.pdf. Cited 18 January 2017
13. Access to modern energy services for health facilities in resource-constrained settings: a review of status, significance, challenges and measurement; World Health Organization. 2014. Available from: http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/156847/1/9789241507646_eng.pdf
14. Pfadenhauer LM, Gerhardus A, Mozygemba K, Lysdahl KB, Booth A, Hofmann B et al. Making sense of complexity in context and implementation: the Context and Implementation of Complex Interventions (CICI) framework. Implement Sci 2017; 12(1):21. pmid:28202031
15. Rohwer A, Pfadenhauer LM, Burns J, Brereton L, Gerhardus A, et al. Logic models help make sense of complexity in systematic reviews and health technology assessments. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology. 2017; 83: 37–47. pmid:27498377
16. Fenske N, Burns J, Hothorn T, Rehfuess EA. Understanding child stunting in India: a comprehensive analysis of socio-economic, nutritional and environmental determinants using additive quantile regression. PLoS One 2013; 8: 78692.
17. The DHS Program—Service Provision Assessments (SPA). Available from: http://dhsprogram.com/What-We-Do/Survey-Types/SPA.cfm. Cited 10 July 2017
18. Measuring service availability and readiness. World Health Organization, USAID. 2015. Available from: http://www.who.int/healthinfo/systems/sara_reference_manual/en/; Cited 26 June 2017
19. Malawi Service Provision Assessment 2013–14 [SPA20]. Available from: https://dhsprogram.com/pubs/pdf/SPA20/SPA20%5BOct-7-2015%5D.pdf. Cited 20 May 2017.
20. Jamison DT, Breman JG, Measham AR, Alleyne G, Claeson M, Evans DB et al. Providing Interventions: The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The World Bank. 2006. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK10248/pdf/Bookshelf_NBK10248.pdf
21. Baseline country survey on medical devices. World Health Organization. 2010. Available from: http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/95785/1/WHO_HSS_EHT_DIM_11.01_eng.pdf. Cited 18 May 2017.
22. Malawi Health Sector Strategic Plan 2011–2016. Ministry of Health (Malawi). Available from: http://www.nationalplanningcycles.org/sites/default/files/country_docs/Malawi/2_malawi_hssp_2011_-2016_final_document_1.pdf. Cited 26 June 2017.
23. Pearson L, Larsson M, Fauveau V, Standley J. Childbirth care: opportunities for Africa's newborns: practical data, policy and programmatic support for newborn care in Africa. The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health. 2004. Available from: http://www.who.int/pmnch/media/publications/oanfullreport.pdf. Cited 18 July 2017.
24. Marks J. African Energy Atlas. African Energy. 2014. Available from: https://www.africa-energy.com/special-reports/african-energy-atlas. Cited 15 April 2017.
25. Kaunda CS, Mtalo F. Impacts of environmental degradation and climate change on electricity generation in Malawi. International Journal of Energy & Environment 2013; 4: 481–496
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Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau makes an announcement in downtown Vancouver, B.C., on Thursday, September 10, 2015.
OTTAWA – New Democrats are slamming Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau for suggesting the preferential tax rate for small business is being abused by millionaires to dodge taxes – even as they admit there's a problem and are proposing a similar solution.
NDP MP Charlie Angus says abuses are "the exception" whereas Trudeau last week told CBC's Peter Mansbridge that a "large percentage" of small businesses have been created strictly to help wealthier Canadians save on their tax bills.
READ MORE: Trudeau suggests wealthy Canadians use small businesses to dodge taxes – do they?
But he says the small business tax system needs "tweaking" to ensure it's aimed at small businesses that actually create jobs, not used as a tax dodge by wealthy individuals, such as doctors and lawyers.
Nevertheless, Angus insists it's a relatively minor problem that can be fixed with a "tweak" – the same undefined fix Trudeau is advocating.
"These are things we can tweak," Angus told a tele-news conference Saturday.
Various academic and think-tank studies have found that the preferential small business tax rate disproportionately benefits wealthy individuals who incorporate their businesses in order to reduce their personal income tax burden, split income with family "shareholders" and avoid capital gains taxes.


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Bertha Peak is a  mountain summit located in Waterton Lakes National Park, in the Canadian Rockies of Alberta, Canada. It is situated behind the Waterton townsite. Its nearest higher peak is Mount Alderson,  to the southwest. Bertha Lake lies at the southern foot of the peak, with Mount Richards on the opposite side of the lake. Mount Crandell lies to the north.

History

Bertha Peak was named by Morrison P. Bridgland in 1914 after Bertha Ekelund (1898–1962), a wayward woman and early resident of Waterton who gained notoriety for trying to pass counterfeit money. Morrison P. Bridgland (1878–1948), was a Dominion Land Surveyor who named many peaks in the Canadian Rockies.

The mountain's name was officially adopted in 1953 by the Geographical Names Board of Canada.

Geology
Like other mountains in Waterton Lakes National Park, Bertha Peak is composed of sedimentary rock laid down during the Precambrian to Jurassic periods. Formed in shallow seas, this sedimentary rock was pushed east and over the top of younger Cretaceous period rock during the Laramide orogeny.

Climate
Based on the Köppen climate classification, Bertha Peak is located in a subarctic climate zone with cold, snowy winters, and mild summers. Temperatures can drop below −20 °C with wind chill factors below −30 °C. Precipitation runoff from Bertha Peak drains into Waterton Lake,  thence Waterton River.

See also
Geology of Alberta

Gallery

References

External links
 Bertha Peak weather forecast
 Parks Canada web site: Waterton Lakes National Park

Two-thousanders of Alberta
Waterton Lakes National Park
Canadian Rockies

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


· Understanding the fully synchronous behavior of PHP.
· Understanding of MVC design patterns.
· Knowledge of object-oriented PHP programming.
· Understanding accessibility and security compliance.
· Strong knowledge of the common PHP or web server exploits and their solutions.
· Understanding the fundamental design principles behind a scalable application.
· Integration of multiple data sources and databases into one system.
· Familiarity with the limitations of PHP as a platform and its workarounds.
· Creating database schemas that represent and support business processes.
· Familiarity with SQL/NoSQL databases and their declarative query languages.
· Good knowledge of database languages – MySQL.
· Creating / Customizing Themes, Plugins, Modules and various functionality in PrestaShop.
· Creating / customizing / Implementing Restful APIs, Payment Gateways and other APIs in existing as well as new applications.
· Creating / Customizing various web applications in Code Ignitor, Laravel, Cake PHP etc.


A fuel pump is an integral part of the fuel system which pumps fuel from the fuel tank to the engine. Your vehicle will not run without a working fuel pump.
If your vehicle loses power while accelerating, the engine sputters, or is hard to start your fuel pump may not be working correctly. Fuel pumps do wear out and require periodic replacement.
Do you need a Fuel Pump Replacement in Brick NJ?
Al's Auto Care in Brick, NJ does Fuel Pump Replacement on all vehicle types.
Al's Auto Care has the tools and equipment to quickly and correctly perform Fuel Pump repair in Brick, NJ 08723. Fuel Pump replacement cost varies depending on your vehicle. Contact us for a Fuel Pump repair price estimate.
Two common Fuel pump failure causes are running your fuel tank at low fuel level, and not replacing the fuel filter.
When you operate your vehicle with low fuel level the fuel pump can overheat and prematurely fail. The fuel acts as coolant for the fuel pump. Fuel tanks are usually under the rear of the vehicle. The heat reflected from hot pavement quickly heats smaller amount of fuel in the tank which provides less cooling for the pump. Also, low fuel levels cause fuel to slosh around more which does not allow fuel contaminants to settle out of the fuel. This causes the fuel filter to become plugged sooner.
A plugged fuel filter places a high load on the fuel pump as it works harder to deliver fuel to the engine. The pump is constantly overloaded and eventually fails. You should do a fuel filter replacement once per year to prevent premature fuel pump repair.
Fuel pump failure can cause a safety risk when your vehicle stalls unexpectedly. And a fuel pump failure can happen with no warning.
© Copyright 2012-2017, Al's Auto Care - All Rights Reserved.


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Google offering first minute free on international Hangouts calls
Christian Zibreg ∙ October 29, 2014
Yesterday, the Internet giant Google announced a newsworthy promotion giving its users the first minute free when placing outgoing calls through Hangouts to phone numbers in more than two dozen countries.
"The first 60 seconds is on us," the company said in a post over at Google+. "What you say is up to you". You can place Hangouts using Gmail and Google+ on desktop, using the Hangouts extension for Chrome, or via Google's mobile Hangouts app for iOS and Android.
For the rest of 2014, the first minute of most calls to the following countries are free: Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Dominican Republic, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Peru, Poland, Russia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States.
You'll be charged for each minute after. Outgoing calls to phone numbers in supported countries will be indicated by the "First minute free" message.
"If you don't see this message, you'll be charged for the first minute," cautions Google's support document.
To take advantage of the promotion, you must have some calling credit in your Google Account and make one call at a time through Hangouts. Google says "almost all" phone calls to the United States and Canada through Hangouts are free from all countries where Hangouts calling is available.
A few destinations in North America will cost one cent per minute depending on the specific phone number. Calls to destinations outside of the United States and Canada are available at low international rates.
Hangouts for the iPhone and iPad is available free in the App Store. Last week, the app got updated with native display support for the new iPhones and back in September gained the ability to make voice calls.
Screenshot top of post via The Next Web.
[Google+]
Tags Apple Free Google Hangouts

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
from django.conf.urls import patterns
from django.conf.urls import url

urlpatterns = patterns(
    'openstack_auth_kerberos.views',
    url(r'^kerberos/$', 'kerberos_login', name='kerberos_login'),
)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


In our latest AIA course we will discuss the installation, assembly, and design of sustainable rooftop support systems. To take your career and rooftop knowledge to the next level, fill out the form above to download the course now.
Ready to earn AIA credits?
Once you have mastered the course material and are ready to take the quiz, follow the link provided to you after filling out the form above. The exam is 10 questions (must correctly answer 8 to pass) and should only take a few minutes.


text:
Posts Tagged 'A. Richard Newton Lecture Series'
Nicole Johnson and Kiel Murray talk about the importance of storytelling in your next venture
By Mahira Dayal | April 3, 2019
Last month, Nicole Johnson, Founder and CEO of NicJohn Media and Kiel Murray, a Pixar storyteller visited the Sutardja Center's Newton Lecture Series to sit down and discuss why and how to tell your startup story as an entrepreneur. They discussed their personal career paths, and emphasized the effect that storytelling can have on market…
Startup Semester Spotlight: Marcelo Dias
By Meghana Krishnakumar | April 30, 2018
Juggling six classes, breaking the language barrier, and speaking to industry leaders on his free time are only a few things Marcelo Dias has accomplished during his time in Berkeley. Marcelo was the one student who was selected from the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) to join SCET's Startup Semester Program and also selected…
Cal alum Arjun Dev Arora shares what he thinks is the "x-factor" every entrepreneur should have
By Brenna Smith | December 5, 2017
Students in the A. Richard Newton Lecture Series attended a fireside chat with 500 Startups partner and Cal alum, Arjun Dev Arora. While Arora is an engineer by training, he developed a keen interest in the business of technology while at Berkeley, which has gone on to inform much of his career. During his talk,…
Mike Olson is Revolutionizing Big Data with Cloudera
By Meghana Krishnakumar | November 12, 2017
This week in the A. Richard Newton Lecture Series, students had the privilege to listen to Mike Olson, co-founder and former CEO of Cloudera. Olson is not only a two-time UC Berkeley dropout, but also an accomplished engineer, sales associate, and entrepreneur. At his time at Cal, Olson studied Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and…
Haas Alum and Traveling Spoon Co-Founder Aashi Vel encourages students to pursue ventures that 'tug at their heart'
By Brenna Smith | November 2, 2017
Students in the A. Richard Newton Lecture Series attended a fireside chat with Cal alum and Traveling Spoon Co-founder Aashi Vel. Since graduating in 2011 with an MBA from the Haas School of Business, Vel and her partner Steph Lawrence have turned Traveling Spoon into a business venture spanning 18 countries and counting. During her…
UC Berkeley SCET welcomes the inaugural class for the Startup Semester
By Niles Chang | October 9, 2017
The deadline to apply for the Startup Semester Spring 2018 cohort is October 15, 2017 The Sutardja Center for Entrepreneurship & Technology welcomes the first-ever class of students participating in the fall 2017 Startup Semester, an exclusive program providing international students with the opportunity to take entrepreneurship courses at UC Berkeley and work on startup…
Berkeley alum and former White House Deputy CTO Ryan Panchadsaram talks to students about civic service and fostering curiosity
By Brenna Smith | September 28, 2017
Students in the A. Richard Newton Lecture Series attended a fireside chat last week with Cal alumni and Kenneth Priestly Leadership Award recipient Ryan Panchadsaram. Since graduating ten years ago, Panchadsaram's career has taken him many different places, from working at Microsoft to launching his own healthcare startup to advising the president of the United…


Could you take a little time to test the various oss-flash alternatives to Adobe, from performance point of view but also compatibility (google maps, YouTube, Deezer, etc.)?
This could be interesting to know which one can be the best to replace flash.
There's really only (AFAIK) Lightspark and Gnash, and Lightspark is way to early to be anywhere near complete enough for such a comparison.
Well, it's at least a lot more complete.
So rather than doing your flamewars, has anybody actually tried that thing (I know, crazy idea...).
From the writeup, it looks like Gnash is "mostly complete" for ActionScript 2, with no real ActionScript 3 support. LightSpark is "mostly complete" for ActionScript 3, but does not handle previous versions at all.
This would make it very difficult to compare the two for performance or compatibility, as no SWF files would even try to run under both of them.
AVC is merely another name for h.264. AVC is the name used by the MPEG consortium, while h.264 is the name for the same thing by ITU-T.
The 3GP container format is an implementation of MPEG-4 Part 12.
3GP uses AVC and AAC.
Does the video start playing immediately or you have to wait for the download to finish?
GNOME-MPlayer fills the buffer first which is set to 2MB by default. You can decrease the buffer size to achieve immediate playback.
Ah, that's cool. I asked because it wasn't any clear what the script does from the website.
Be fair now, it does a lot of useful things and there are a lot of replacements being build right now. Yeah sure, it doesn't do the the useful things very efficient but guess what? You got to row with paddles you have.
Stop complaining and start doing something productive for the OS community if it is so dear to you.
Name ONE useful thing that it does.
Fact is that it doesn't do a SINGLE USEFUL THING.
the new html5 player works great, but you dont have the option for hd videos plus at random times you will still get the old or the new flashplayer and not the html5 one.
Contrary to the "new video" feature of html5, you DO NOT NEED html5 to embed video directly in web pages. You just need to throw your video into an <embed> tag and its done! ANY sensible browser with a video player plugin will be happy with that!


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Alabama's Jalen Hurts Chosen as Manning Award Finalist
Award given annually to college football's top quarterback
Updated: 2:23 PM CST Nov 30, 2016
Don Hawes
Sports Director
AP SOURCE: AP
Alabama freshman quarterback Jalen Hurts was selected as one of 10 finalists for the 2016 Manning Award, the Allstate Sugar Bowl announced on Wednesday. The Manning Award is given annually to college football's top quarterback and is the only quarterback award that takes into account the candidates' bowl performance. The first true freshman ever to start under Nick Saban and the first at Alabama since 1984, Hurts has excelled as the Crimson Tide's starter going 11-0 and helping the Crimson Tide stay ranked atop the polls this season. He has thrown for 2,454 yards and 21 touchdowns with only nine interceptions and is completing 65.9 percent of his passes to maintain a 147.14 quarterback rating that ranks third in the Southeastern Conference. Hurts has also rushed a team-high 154 times for 840 total yards and 12 touchdowns, a total that also leads all Alabama rushers. Joining Hurts as finalists are: J.T. Barrett (Ohio State), Jake Browning (Washington), Sam Darnold (USC), Luke Falk (Washington State), Lamar Jackson (Louisville), Patrick Mahomes II (Texas Tech), Baker Mayfield (Oklahoma), Zach Terrell (Western Michigan) and Deshaun Watson (Clemson). The winner of the 2016 Manning Award will be announced after the bowls in January and will be honored at a ceremony in New Orleans. (courtesy: Alabama Athletics Communications)
Tuscaloosa, Ala. —
Alabama freshman quarterback Jalen Hurts was selected as one of 10 finalists for the 2016 Manning Award, the Allstate Sugar Bowl announced on Wednesday. The Manning Award is given annually to college football's top quarterback and is the only quarterback award that takes into account the candidates' bowl performance.
The first true freshman ever to start under Nick Saban and the first at Alabama since 1984, Hurts has excelled as the Crimson Tide's starter going 11-0 and helping the Crimson Tide stay ranked atop the polls this season. He has thrown for 2,454 yards and 21 touchdowns with only nine interceptions and is completing 65.9 percent of his passes to maintain a 147.14 quarterback rating that ranks third in the Southeastern Conference. Hurts has also rushed a team-high 154 times for 840 total yards and 12 touchdowns, a total that also leads all Alabama rushers.
Joining Hurts as finalists are: J.T. Barrett (Ohio State), Jake Browning (Washington), Sam Darnold (USC), Luke Falk (Washington State), Lamar Jackson (Louisville), Patrick Mahomes II (Texas Tech), Baker Mayfield (Oklahoma), Zach Terrell (Western Michigan) and Deshaun Watson (Clemson). The winner of the 2016 Manning Award will be announced after the bowls in January and will be honored at a ceremony in New Orleans.
(courtesy: Alabama Athletics Communications)


The deeper a team goes into the playoffs, the harder the competition is supposed to get.
For the Hartsville Red Foxes football team, nothing is looking too difficult right now.
Heading into the game against the North Augusta Yellow Jackets, the Red Foxes were an impressive 11-0, averaging 44 points a game and giving up only 13 points a game.
After Friday night's 35-0 win over the Yellow Jackets, those numbers are only going to get better as Hartsville improves to 12-0 and advances to its third straight 4A lower-state championship and its fifth lower-state championship overall in seven years with two coming in 3A back in 2012 and 2015.
Once again Tiyon Evans, Hartsville's starting quarterback, showed off his talent, scoring four of the five Red Fox touchdowns.
Evans got the scoring started in the first quarter, turning a blocked punt that was recovered on the North Augusta one-yard line into a one-yard touchdown run.
Up by a touchdown, Evans' second score was a little more impressive.
With the ball sitting on the Yellow Jackets' 28-yard line, Evans capped off an eight-play drive that started on the Hartsville 17-yard line with a 28-yard touchdown run.
Up 15-0 at the half, the Red Foxes kept the momentum running in the third and fourth quarter. Evans added two more scores, a 38-yard and 11-yard touchdown run while Collins Bishop capped the scoring off in the fourth quarter with a very impressive 40-yard touchdown run with 4:58 left in the game.
But this game was just as much about the defense as it was the offense. Hartsville forced seven punts, sacked the Yellow Jackets' quarterback three times, forced two turnovers on downs and even recovered one fumble on a bad snap.
Heading into the game, North Augusta had scored 49 points in each of its two playoff games, but the Yellow Jackets offensive firepower was nowhere to be found as the Red Foxes front seven raised havoc, smothering quarterback Tanner White for the entire game.
Hartsville's special teams even made its presence known in the game blocking a punt in the first quarter that set up the first touchdown of the game, hitting four of five extra point attempts and successfully running in a two-point conversion attempt the second quarter.
"I'm just happy for our kids," Hartsville head coach Jeff Calabrese said after the game.
As the Red Foxes put this win behind them they will be preparing for a very familiar foe this Friday as the Myrtle Beach Seahawks come back to town for the second time this season.
Hartsville defeated the Seahawks, also a member of Region Six, 70-34 in the final regular season game of the season to clinch the region championship.


Peptic ulcers are open sores on the inside lining of the esophagus, stomach and the upper portion of the small intestine. Gastric ulcer is a type of peptic ulcer that particularly occurs on the inside of the stomach.
Though it is widely believed that spicy food and stress cause peptic ulcers, the real causes for the ulcers are either bacterial infections or consumption of certain medications.
Ulcers occur when there is an imbalance between digestive fluids in the stomach and the duodenum.
The duodenum, which plays a vital role in the chemical digestion of the partially digested food, is the first section of the small intestine. Most ulcers are caused by an infection, which is caused by a bacterium known as Helicobacter pylori (H.pylori).
Ulcers can be treated in many ways, such as making some lifestyle changes and taking regular medications. Surgery is usually the last option for management of ulcers.
Lifestyle Changes: Quit drinking and smoking to prevent ulcer. If painkillers are the root cause of the ulcers, their consumption should be stopped at once.
Ulcer Medications: Proton pump inhibitors (PPI and Antibiotics are used to prevent ulcers. Upper endoscopy is used to treat some bleeding ulcers. Surgery is needed if the ulcer has created a hole in the wall of the stomach, or if there is serious bleeding that cannot be treated with an endoscope.
Protect yourself from infections especially from H. pylori. It is said that it could be transmitted from person to person or through food and water.
Remember, gastric ulcers are something one should never ignore. Not only can this condition cause several pain and discomfort, but also lead to severe complications if left untreated.


Personalize your towel with custom embroidery!
1) Select font style and design option from the drop down menus on this page. Contact us to request specialized options.
2) Choose a thread color (click here) We will match as closely as possible.


text:
Q: Rails/Rake: Set Cell Value in CSV I have a CSV for product variants where I need to loop through each row, find the variant by its SKU, grab the dimensions and update the row's corresponding cells. Is there a rake method I can use to update a single cell? I have not been able to find anything.
  task :export_products_with_dimensions, [:option] => [:environment] do |_task, args|
    variants = Spree::Variant.all

    file = "#{Rails.root}/db/data/products_with_dimensions.csv"

    CSV.foreach(file, headers: true) do |row|
      next if row['SKU'].nil?

      variant = variants.find_by_sku(row['SKU'])

      next if variant.nil?

      depth = variant.depth
      height = variant.height
      width = variant.width
      weight = variant.weight

     ?????
    end
  end

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


This Software Development and Licensing Terms Schedule is designed for use with the IT Services Framework Agreement in this subfolder.
This Software Development and Licensing Terms Schedule is in open format. Either enter the requisite details in the highlighted fields or adjust the wording to suit your purposes.


Recent events involving volcanic ash and the suspension of flights in Europe have reminded us how different the world once was. Journeys across Europe taking days not hours. One nation unreachable from another. Oceans dividing 'our world' from 'their world'.
But the planes are flying again, and soon that short-lived reminder of how things once were will fade from our memories and we will quickly grow used to the fact that today's interconnected world is so different from even a generation ago.
The mission of the church has changed too, and for much the same reason.
Britain was, until recent years, effectively mono-cultural, and it was largely Christian. But it was different 'out there'. Travel presented grave dangers, and many brave missionaries paid with their lives. Those who stayed at home prayed and raised support. They formed groups of 'rope-holders', and they flocked to rallies to hear the stories from returning missionaries.
'Out there' in some far-off foreign land were people we knew as Hindoos and Mohammedans who did not share our faith or our worldview or our understanding of what it means to be born in the image of God. The Prodigal Son and the Good Samaritan were unknown narratives. The cross and resurrection made no impact in people's lives.
Britain, like most countries, is no longer mono-cultural, mono-lingual or mono-anything. It's a vibrant blend of east and west, north and south. It's a rich mix of languages, ethnicities, colours, customs and cultures! It's a home to those once far-away communities of Muslims and Hindus, but also Sikhs and Buddhists, Jains and Jews, and a host more besides. Many are immigrants. Many are not – they're British born and bred!
And along the way, Christian Britain has become non-Christian Britain. Most of our neighbours and friends, whether immigrants or not, do not share our faith or our worldview or our understanding of what it means to be born in the image of God. The Prodigal Son and the Good Samaritan are unknown narratives. The cross and resurrection make no impact in people's lives.
So, no longer, can we speak of different worlds. There is still a missionary task, but it doesn't start at the English Channel. It starts on the doorstep of our homes and our churches.
And that missionary task, wherever it is needed, bears the hallmark of learning to speak a different language, (literally and metaphorically), coming to terms with other faiths, different generations, understanding someone else's worldview so we can explain the gospel in meaningful ways.
That is the missionary task in Manchester and Malaysia, Cardiff and Colombia, Glasgow and Guinea.
In this new world of missionary encounters with our own communities, we need to ask afresh what the nature of Church needs to be. We still operate largely on a 'come and join us' model but what models are needed to reach those who have answered 'no thanks!' What kind of Baptist ministry do we need for the generations to come? What kind of theology is needed? Where can we tap into the missiological skills and insights needed?
On Friday this week the Baptist Assembly gathers in Plymouth with the theme "One World - One Mission." The seeds of this theme are to be found in the analysis outlined above. The outworking of this for both the Union and for BMS is what the weekend is about.
We have no idea where this will lead. But we are simultaneously excited and daunted by the adventure that God is setting before us.
Here's a glimpse into the things that have been keeping me out of mischief this week.
Early rise for a 9am start at IMC, our training centre in Birmingham, working through our mission strategy document in the comfort of the lounge – "armchair theologising" is always the best. Back to Didcot for an all-afternoon meeting with Peter Dunn, our Director for Mission, reflecting on all kinds of things. Peter was just back from speaking at our Asia mission retreat in Thailand. He arrived back just as the ash cloud descended and closed the skies. Margaret Gibbs and Gordon McBain, two of our regional secretaries, remained a couple of days longer to visit the Thai-Burma border where we have a growing work – and are still in Bangkok a week later! So too a BMS team from Fleet Baptist Church. And in different countries, with people going and returning, we have been dealing with huge disruption this week.
The last assembly planning meeting before Plymouth next week, and no last minute shocks. Two of our speakers are still stuck overseas but we trust they will be back in good time. Numbers are a little down from last year but we are strongly hopeful that day visitors from the region will swell the crowds.
In the morning Mark Craig and I met with our area coordinator team to look at plans to reform how we relate to associations in the coming years. These were really helpful meetings with some very creative ideas coming forward.
In the evening, there was no football of note to watch even though it was Champions League semi-final night - no British clubs to cheer on! And while I'm no Europhobe, I can't bring myself to cheer on teams from Germany, Spain, France and Italy. (By the way, checkout our BMS World Cup resource 'Onside' if you're planning an event in your church for the World Cup. I am delighted that our guys managed to get John Motson to present this for us – a real coup, and remember – this could be our year!
OK, enough footie – back to mission stuff!
Hard to label much of today other than a pre-Assembly hive of activity. Some of the time I needed to finalise the text of our proposed constitutional changes (kept that short or I'd lose the will to live), agreed a version of two earlier blog entries for publication next week on www.EthicsDaily.com in the US, and finalised some teaching material for Spurgeons College on Monday. I love the opportunity to teach in our baptist colleges. Like those who come to our training centre in Birmingham for mission in other countries, our colleges too are full of women and men passionate about mission. My focus with them is looking at mission principles gleaned from other parts of the world and seeing how appropriate they are for mission in this country.
But the meeting I enjoyed most today was with Chris Duffett, recently elected to BUGB Vice-President and head of The Light House. Chris is an evangelist and he was in house to meet with Jonathan Edwards, General Secretary of the Baptist Union and ourselves with a view to beginning discussions on how best to use his time in this role. I hadn't met Chris before, but as Peter Dunn and myself met with him, I immediately warmed to a man who has proved 'on the streets' his dedication to take this gospel to this generation. Ideas easily bubbled up on how Chris might serve with us using his passion and gifts for evangelism. I think we're in for an exciting time with Chris.
Day off today and so – before I head for the hills, let me post this and hope you have a good weekend.
In the early to mid 1990s I was the Pastor at Pinhoe Road Baptist Church, Exeter. During that time about six churches in the city worked together under the umbrella of the Exeter Evangelical Partnership (EEP).
The EEP thrived because of good friendships amongst its leaders, a real desire to effect change in the city, and a shared evangelical commitment. Out of this relationship came a number of city-wide initiatives, including a shelter for single mums, a schools outreach project, city-wide prayer initiatives and so on. Most of these projects continue to this day.
One of the strongest churches in this group was, and remains, Belmont Chapel, which describes itself as "a large… independent, evangelical church with strong bible teaching, lively worship and the involvement of as many people as possible in the running of the church". This is a good description of Belmont – rooted in the Brethren tradition and attracting thousands of University students over the years.
For many years, I assume since it inception, Belmont has not believed it right to have women in their leadership team or for women to preach. This has now changed.
On their website we read that over the last two years they have been "reading the bible and praying together about the subject of women and particular roles in ministry, especially in the areas of leadership team and preaching. Following this process of review and discussion, Belmont's teaching and leadership roles are now open to women as well as men. Various papers were produced as we came to that decision, but we've now produced a summary paper outlining the new position and the thinking behind it".
The reason I want to draw attention to this is because for those interested in a thorough review of some of the biblical texts that have been interpreted as limiting the role of women in leadership, and a treatment of them that lay behind the views I expressed in my post limits of dissent, you can find the document by clicking here or here.
Its not a short document and one or two aspects of it would not be the exact wording or reasoning I would choose to use, but it's a very careful piece of work and I wholeheartedly recommend it to those who ask questions of key texts.
And I commend the leadership at Belmont too, for having the integrity to revisit an issue as important as this with an open mind, and the courage to revise their position.
In two weeks time we will gather in Plymouth for our 2010 Baptist Assembly at which Rev Dr Pat Took (above) will be inducted as Vice President. Pat is but one example of many gifted women in leadership amongst us, women for whom we thank God and through whom our discipleship is immeasurably enriched.
I ended my previous post on this blog by suggesting that a second fear that some Christians have concerning interfaith dialogue is that such engagement results in compromising the faith, dodging the hard issues, or settling for a lowest common denominator between Christianity and other faiths.
No doubt there are times when this has been, or is, true. But the renewed emphasis on engaging with other faiths that is evident these days, especially from within the evangelical world, has brought with it a dynamic which may not have been so noticeable in past years.
The need of the hour is for a courageous engagement of people from different faiths. This does not mean combative, but it does mean frank and honest.
A good example of this was the publication recently of "A Common Word - Muslims and Christians on Loving God and Neighbour." For those unaware of the original document on which this book is based, you can read it here at the 'Common Word' website . And amongst the hundreds of responses received, that which came from the Baptist World Alliance which can be viewed here was exemplary in its courtesy, its appreciation and yet also its honesty concerning the many major differences between Christianity and Islam.
The book "A Common Word – Muslims and Christians on loving God and Neighbour" is edited by HRH Prince Ghazi of Jordan, Miroslav Volf from Yale Divinity School and Melissa Yarrington, also from Yale and is one of the first systematic theological explorations of the issues that A Common Word" has evoked.
So this engagement is one which entertains few illusions. Mistakes may be made along the way, but the need of the hour is for God's people to engage in brave theology.
– will look to build interfaith relationships because only in the context of relationships can hard things be said to those to whom you have been willing to listen deeply, and hard things be heard from those who likewise have listened deeply to you.
– will recognise that the biblical injunction to love our neighbour means, in this situation, the risk of sitting down and talking, not with people of no faith (which characterises most expressions of outreach), but with people of strong faith, a people for whom, if we are honest, we sometimes entertain both fear and suspicion in our hearts.
One of the most challenging chapters in the book is from Martin Accad, a good friend of BMS through our partnership with Lebanese Baptists and the Arab Baptist Theological Seminary where he is based.
When Jesus was asked "who is my neighbour" he radically extended the definition of neighbour to include those who were the archenemies of the Jews, namely the Samaritans (Luke 10:30ff) hence it was logical, but controversial, for Jesus also to add the injunction "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." (Matthew 5:44) Martin is not implying that Muslims are the enemy, but he is helping us to see how radical 'love your neighbour' must be.
None of this is easy. In most Muslim-majority countries there are far less freedoms than Muslims enjoy elsewhere in the world, not least in Judaeo-Christian cultures like the UK. I see the growth of Islam in the west and I worry deeply for our Christian heritage which is being eroded. I hear hostile comments from hostile Muslims and dont easily hear the voices of those more moderate. I recognise 'fear and suspicion' as emotions that sometimes describe how I feel and I am not blind to seeing that it is but a short step further to seeing Muslims as my enemy.
That is not the road I wish to travel. There is an alternative.


Well done to everyone who has been busy on Mathletics.
This week we will be continuing to develop our fluency and application of fractions.
We will also be finishing 'Shackleton's Journey'.
Tuesday 7th February is Internet Safety day – click here for more information.


text:
History of The Heraldry Society
John Brooke-Little (1927-2006), later Clarenceux King of Arms and founder of the Society, was its Chairman for 50 years. He here gives a personal view of its history, written in 1976.
This is a light-hearted account of my personal recollections and sentiments. When I was a schoolboy at Clayesmore, I gathered together some kindred spirits and founded a school Heraldry Society. I wrote and asked Garter Howard if he would become our Patron. He consented and we were in business. We set ourselves the task of compiling a complete pedigree of the Royal Family, illustrated with paintings of arms. What happened to the pedigree I cannot think but I still have some of the painted shields waiting to be affixed to the great roll pedigree. With the self-assurance of the young we called our Society the Society of Heraldic Antiquaries and, modestly, I assumed the title of Clayesmore King of Arms. In 1945 I and most of my heraldic friends left school and the Society fell into desuetude, despite the efforts of the Master of Clayesmore, Peter Burke, to keep it alive. Although a nephew of Garter Burke and a grandson of John Bernard Burke, I imagine that his genes were not strong enough to prevail over armorial apathy.
The first three months of 1947 were arctic. I was teaching at a preparatory school in Worcestershire, waiting to take up a place at New College, Oxford. Time hung on my hands and I decided to resuscitate the Society of Heraldic Antiquaries as a society for young, armorial enthusiasts. I invested in some printed stationery, a printed prospectus, a typewriter and a flat-bed duplicator. The bill came to about £30. By May I was ready to launch my new project.
The Scout (I think that was its name) and The Children's Newspaper both gave publicity to the Society and soon about fifty school children had sent me their five shilling postal orders. At this time I was working for the Conservative Party in High Wycombe in an effort, which proved successful, to win the seat for Bill Astor. Time no longer hung heavy on my hands and I found myself banging away at my ancient typewriter into the small hours trying to run my Society efficiently.
It was at this point that my parents became involved, as many hands make light work when operating a flat-bed duplicator. Publications began to appear with some regularity. An Introduction to Heraldry, Second Steps in Heraldry and An Introduction to Genealogy were produced within three years. A quarterly magazine, The Escutcheon was started, postal instruction in heraldry was given and heraldic tests were held. Membership increased and many of the members were clearly in their second rather than their first childhood. I went up to New College in 1949 and realised than that I could no longer cope with the Society, my studies and the temptations which Oxford offers and into which it is such fun to fall.
My mother came to my rescue. She offered to act as Honorary Secretary. We erected a hut in the garden of our little cottage in East Knoyle and that, for many years, became the Society's office. We thought that if my mother were to call herself Mrs. Brooke-Little members might come to the false conclusion that she was my wife or the quite accurate conclusion that the Society was a family affair. Neither assumption seemed desirable so she reverted to her maiden and pen name of Constance Egan. Her editorial expertise was soon capitalised, as The Coat of Arms, a serious heraldic quarterly magazine, was first published in 1950, the cover being designed by Nigel Herring. I selected the material for it but "Miss Egan" edited it and continued to do so for fifteen years.
It was in 1950 that I received a letter from Sir Christopher Lynch-Robinson, co-author with his brother Adrian of a recently published book Intelligible Heraldry. He told me that he and "a fellow called Scott-Giles" (I had heard of him!) had thought of starting a heraldry society and that they had heard of my modest effort. Would I like to lunch with them at the Marlborough-Wyndham Club. I would; I did. After Sir Christopher had extricated some prawn shell from behind his false teeth (teeth immortalised in his Experiences of an Irish R.M.) we discussed the possibilities of enlarging my children's society to cater for adults and become a national heraldic society. We decided to call a meeting, form a committee, draft proper rules and change the name of the society to something less pretentious. This we did.
Sir Christopher produced rules (based on those of the Noise Abatement Society but none the worse for that), Miss Egan was confirmed in her post of Honorary Secretary and Treasurer (my father did the accounts for her), I was elected Chairman and Messrs. Turner (vide supra), Moreton (a solicitor), Cole (now Windsor Herald), Pine (quondam editor of Burke's publications and still a prolific author of heraldic and other books), Scott-Giles (who may forgive me if I call him "the grand old man of heraldry"), Williamson (still a keen genealogist), Bellew (Somerset Herald and later Garter), Pereira (still serving), Evans (donor of all illustration blocks, which are still given by his widow) and Merriman (a Naval Commander, now dead) formed the Council. The name was altered to The Heraldry Society and an elegant non-heraldic badge was designed for us by George Bellew. The Duke of Norfolk agreed to become our President and we persuaded a number of distinguished people to become Vice-Presidents. The success of the Society dates from the time of its re-foundation, when so many eminent people began to take an active interest in its well-being. The really wonderful thing, which still surprises me, is that although most members of the first council were people with established names and the authority and judgement which comes with experience, they worked together in complete amity under the chairmanship of a twenty-three year old, very wet behind the ears, undergraduate. Their tolerance, friendship and complete lack of jealousy or intellectual arrogance was the real rock on which the Society was established. I will not apologise for taking this opportunity of recording my humble gratitude.
In autumn 1960 my parents left East Knoyle and moved to Swalcliffe in Oxfordshire. The Society, though not the hut, moved with them. The following year my father died, my mother moved to London and the Council of the Society secured a lease of part of the basement of 59 Gordon Square from the National Association of Schoolmasters. This transformed the Society, as we now had an office where people could drop in and where a library could be maintained.
The added responsibilities and the demands of a 10 to 6 job became too burdensome for "Miss Egan" and in 1964 she retired, although she did not give up, for she continued to edit the Coat of Arms for a further year. For a short while Mr. Bernard Jackson became Secretary, only to be succeeded in 1965 by Col. C. C. Danby who, ably assisted by Miss Sheleagh White, looked after the Society until his retirement in 1968. He was succeeded as Secretary by Major John Riley, who would probably still be at the helm but for failing eye-sight, which suddenly and sadly overtook him. After he left Major T. Kennedy-Davis was Secretary until May 1973 when the Council appointed Mrs. Linda Biermann. Now, with youth at the helm, we all hope for great things, for never has interest in heraldry been so widespread. That it is often uncritical is no bad thing as it offers the Society a challenge, which I am sure it will take up.
In 1969 the University of London, ground landlords of 59 Gordon Square, tried to evict us. Fortunately the wrong order was issued and during the moratorium gained thereby the Council acquired a lease of 28 Museum Street, from which cramped but cosy quarters the Society now operates.
Meetings have always been a feature. The first was held in Caxton Hall and was addressed by Sir Arthur Cockrane, Clarenceux King of Arms. I cannot recollect exactly what dear old Cocky said but everyone was thrilled to meet a real King of Arms, especially one who so much looked and loved the part. Other talks followed, many being held at the Interval Club in Dean Street, Soho. Of all our lecturers one in particular must be mentioned as he was an early and true friend of the Society and of so many members, including Francis Jones, and that was Aubrey Toppin, York Herald and later Norroy and Ulster King of Arms. Antiquary, ceramic expert and a fine old Irish gentleman, without a drop of emerald blood in his veins, he was everyone's friend. "Uncle Strawberry" was that loveable, generous sort of eccentric that everyone should have at his elbow. Whilst he was alive almost everyone had.
It was not long before the Council began consciously to appreciate the importance of social contact and the pleasure which it gave. A service called The Register was introduced, by which those willing to correspond with each other were put in touch. In 1955 the first Annual Dinner was held at the De Vere Hotel, Kensington. Cardinal Griffin was guest of honour and I remember with what delight my mother introduced herself as "Miss Egan, the chairman's mother." The venue of the dinner has changed — De Vere, Rembrant, Great Eastern and now the House of Commons — but its popularity has never palled. It is a formal gathering of friends, the hub of the Society's social life.
Until 1960, Wilfrid Scott-Giles was Secretary of the Institute of Municipal Engineers and, through his and his Institute's kindness, we had the use of their spacious rooms in Ecclestone Square. Here we held meetings, parties and Council meetings which, in very early days, had been held in either Sir Christopher Lynch-Robinson's or Sir George Bellew's office. Our enjoyment of these rooms did much to foster the family spirit.
When the Society was an infant it was identified by a badge consisting of a splendid Germanic eagle designed by Nigel Herring. Why an eagle? I can only answer, why not? In early youth, when the name of the Society was changed, so was its insignia. An equestrian seal type of badge (another elegant and eloquent tribute to the artistic genius of Sir George Bellew) was adopted. Then, when the bloom of youth had left the Society it took itself seriously and, in 1956, was incorporated as a company limited by guarantee, with licence to omit the word "limited". Few companies can have had such a distinguished list of subscribers — The Lord Great Chamberlain, The Lord High Constable of Scotland (her signature suitably witnessed by the Maharaja Sriraj of Halvad-Dhrangadhra), Garter King of Arms, Somerset Herald and three other gentlemen now Officers of Arms.
The next year armorial bearings with supporters and a badge were granted to the Society. The design was about seventy-five per cent Bellew and twenty-five per cent Cole and Brooke-Little. The actual Letters Patent were magnificently decorated with the arms of the Kings of Arms and the badges of the other Officers and were painted by Henry Gray, an artist who joined the Society when a boy at school and is, in fact, a founder member.
By mentioning Cole I have begged the question, who is Cole? Colin Cole and I met at Oxford and from then on he has been intimately associated with the fortunes of the Society. We were appointed Pursuivants within a few months of each other and so, for most of our ceremonial life, have marched side by side on State Occasions being known, for a reason which has always eluded us, as Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee. It is, of course, true that we have fought many battles but, I am glad to state, always on the same side.
I think it can now be revealed that Colin Cole, Wilfrid Scott-Giles and I were the principal contributors to the Heraldry Gazette, a quarterly news sheet started in 1957. I would not say that we no longer contribute but the editing of the Gazette is now in other and less occupied hands. It is true to say that the Gazette has, over the years, done much to bring heraldic nonsenses to the notice of the public and even to right heraldic wrongs. Our small crusades have often been reported in the national press and so inspired some positive action. For example, we relentlessly criticised the borough of Congleton for using the arms of the Vintners' Company of London, believing that although heraldry is and should be fun, it is much more fun if it is done properly. Congleton now has its own, legally granted, coat of arms.
In the Memorandum of Association of the Society the objects for which the Society is established are listed. The principal object is "to promote and encourage the study and knowledge of and to foster and extend interest in the art and science of heraldry, armory, chivalry, precedence, ceremonial, genealogy, family history and all kindred subjects." To this end the Society has built up an excellent collection of slides and also a very fair library. In 1967 it held the first English Heraldic Congress at Worcester College, Oxford. Since then two other Congresses have been held thanks to the organising ability of Mr. F. Humphery-Smith, the father of Cecil Humphery-Smith, a Council Member and devoted supporter of the Society. In recent years the Society has been concerned with the mounting of a number of heraldic exhibitions, including two devoted to the work of contemporary armorial artists.
I now seem to be blowing my trumpet which is something a herald should never do. Let me at once disclaim. I am used myself by starting the ball rolling. Others have pushed it along and so it has grown. It has been hard work at times but always fun and I can only hope that all those others who have joined in, or who may do so in the future, will get as much enjoyment out of heraldry and The Heraldry Society as I have, and indeed as I still do.
OBITUARIES OF SOCIETY MEMBERS