The perceived importance of integrated supported education and employment services.
Individuals with a psychiatric disability drop out of educational programs more often than those without a psychiatric disability (Swanson, Gur, Bilker, Petty & Gur, 1998; Waghorn, Still, Chant, & Whiteford, 2004). These individuals often experience their first major symptoms during late adolescence or early adulthood. The timing of the onset of these initial symptoms often postpones educational pursuits indefinitely. It's been estimated that almost 5 million people in the U.S. would have participated in a college education were it not for a psychiatric disability (Kessler, Foster, Saunders, & Stang, 1995).
Supported education (SEd) for individuals with psychiatric disabilities is a practice which is gathering increasing support and national attention (Leonard & Bruer, 2007). Supported education (SEd) is an intervention model designed to assist individuals with a psychiatric disability to complete educational goals. There are four major types of supported education models currently being utilized: (1) the self-contained classroom, (2) on-site support (3) mobile support, and (4) freestanding (for further description of these models see: Collins & Mowbray, 2005 and Mowbray, Brown, Furlong-Norman, & Soydan, 2002). Although, each of these models has different qualities, they often provide similar services. Historically, funding for SEd services has been a precarious mixture of state, local, and foundation sources. There continues to be a lack of a defined delivery system for supported education and an attendant financing mechanism that would make SEd more readily available to people with psychiatric disabilities.
Several recently published systematic reviews have identified SEd as providing positive outcomes for individuals with psychiatric disabilities (Chandler, 2008; Leonard & Bruer, 2007; Parrish, 2009; Rogers, Farkas, Anthony, & Kash-MacDonald, 2009). The reviews report that there is preliminary evidence indicating that SEd helps individuals obtain educational goals, achieve vocational success, increase self-esteem and self-perception, learn to manage their symptoms, and improve levels of satisfaction with services; all of which have been linked to elements of a recovery process. However, these positive outcomes must be interpreted with caution as most of the research conducted has been descriptive, qualitative or had other methodological limitations.
While qualitative and descriptive research is important, especially given that obtaining an education is a subjective experience, this research needs to be augmented by high quality effectiveness studies. Most of the quantitative studies conducted on SEd have either been non-randomized or non-experimental. For instance there have only been five pre-post studies (Unger et al., 1991; Cook & Solomon, 1993; Unger, Pardee, & Shafer, 2000; Best, Still, & Cameron, 2008; Morrison & Clift, 2005), four experimental or quasi-experimental studies (Collins, Bybee, & Mowbray, 1998; Collins, Mowbray, & Bybee, 1999a; Collins, & Bybee, 1999; Hoffman & Mastrianni, 1993), nine correlational, survey or observational designs (e.g. Collins, Mowbray, & Bybee, 2000; Collins, Mowbray, & Bybee, 1999b; Mowbray, Bybee, & Collins, 2001; Mowbray, Bybee, & Shriner, 1996) and four posttest only designs (e.g. Isenwater, Lanham, & Thomhill, 2002; Tutty et al. 1993). One of the only studies that used a randomized controlled trial methodology (Collins et al., 1998) could not determine which specific type of supported education model was most effective or why the supported education interventions tested were effective. The other major quantitative design studies all had design issues such as a self-selected sample, non-standardized measures, small sample sizes, lack of randomization, large attrition rates, or insufficient follow up.
Supported employment (SE) is an umbrella term which includes segregated and non-segregated supports and services designed to assist individuals with a variety of disabilities in obtaining employment. Individual Placement and Support (IPS) is a particular form of SE developed for individuals with psychiatric disabilities. Individual Placement and Support is a well-established evidence-based practice which has shown consistent positive outcomes for the past 20 years (Bond, Drake, & Becker, 2008; Crowther, Marshall, Bond, & Huxley, 2001). Over 11 randomized controlled trials have been conducted in over six countries (e.g. Bond et al., 2007; Burns et al., 2007; Drake et al., 1996; Drake et al, 1999; Gold et al., 2006; Killackey et al, 2009; Latimer et al., 2006; Lehman et al., 2002; Mueser et al., 2004; Twamley et al., 2008; Wong et al., 2008). Across these studies employment rates were approximately 61% compared to 21% for control groups (Bond et al., 2008) and IPS participants obtained their job about 10 weeks earlier than controls. The positive findings found in these randomized controlled trials are also augmented by a plethora of additional quasi-experimental and descriptive studies. The IPS form of supported employment is one of the most established, effective, and well-studied EBP interventions available for individuals with psychiatric disabilities (Bond et al., 2008).
Several researchers have suggested that IPS may be an appropriate delivery mechanism for providing SEd services (Bond, Resnick, Drake, Xie, McHugo, & Bebout, 2001; Evans & Bond, 2008). Indeed, it has been suggested that there is a link between increases in enduring employment for individuals with psychiatric disabilities if they obtain some form of educational success (Murphy, Mullen, & Spagnolo, 2005; Waghorn, Chant, & Whiteford, 2003) as well as increases in income (Yelin & Trupin, 2003). The IPS model may be a particularly important SEd delivery system because of the recent finding that those with psychiatric disabilities often need additional employment support (such as job placement assistance, job search assistance, and on-the-job support) even after obtaining higher educational qualification (Boutin & Accordino, 2009). Job placement, job search and follow along supports are all services routinely provided by 1PS.
Several important surveys within the SEd literature have assessed campus disability services (Collins & Mowbray, 2005), uncovered diverse types of SEd program models (Mowbray, Megivern, & Holter, 2003), determined educational attainment among individuals with psychiatric disabilities who achieve managerial or supervisory positions (Ellison, Russinova, Lyass, & Rogers, 2008). Other surveys have explored the educational goals of individuals with psychiatric disabilities (e.g. Corrigan, Barr, Driscoll, & Boyle, 2008). However, to the authors knowledge, no previous studies have examined the extent that established IPS programs deliver SEd services in parallel with employment programs. Knowing what educational services are currently made available alongside or within IPS programs, and how they are delivered is an essential first step in assessing whether IPS is a viable delivery mechanism for SEd.
In addition, it is unknown what educational service elements providers identify as important. And although many programs which provide SEd often provide similar services they also frequently operate from a broad range of structures, staffing patterns and organizational features (Mowbray, Brown, Furlong-Norman, & Soydan, 2002; Mowbray, Megivern, & Holter, 2003). Determining what educational services IPS practitioners identify as important and what educational services are currently in use, may help specify how supported education and employment services are best delivered and integrated for individuals with psychiatric disabilities. Most common or most preferred combinations could then be tested for effectiveness.
In the psychiatric rehabilitation field, expert and stakeholder surveys to identify core ingredients of a practice prior to effectiveness testing, is an established methodology (See for example Evans & Bond, 2008; Holter, Mowbray, Bellamy, MacFarlane, & Dukarski, 2004; Marty, Rapp, & Carlson, 2001; McGrew & Bond, 1994; Schaedle & Epstein, 2000, and Walker & Bruns, 2006). In the current study, The University of Kansas, School of Social Welfare (KU, SSW) conducted a survey of IPS programs within the Johnson & Johnson Learning Collaborative about the nature and extent of the provision of supported education services. There were two main goals of the survey: (1) To explore the extent and nature of supported education services being delivered, and (2) to explore the relative importance of specific elements of supported education services as viewed by programs that are providing educational services. The aim was to profile the educational services currently being provided within SE.
Supported employment consultants associated with the national Johnson and Johnson Learning Collaborative were recruited to provide contact information for agencies which provided supported employment in the consultants' state of origin. The Collaborative is a project funded through Johnson and Johnson in partnership with Dartmouth Psychiatric Research Center that promotes state development of IPS through partnerships with Vocational Rehabilitation Services and state mental health authorities. At the time of the study, eleven states were involved in the project. The contact lists were compiled and a master list was generated covering 11 states. This convenience sampling method yielded a contact sample list of 98 agencies. Of the 98 agencies contacted, 67 individuals (68%) completed the first survey.
Two surveys were developed using an expert panel of five researchers at the University of Kansas School of Social Welfare. A supported education fidelity scale and protocol were also used. The first survey was developed to assess the educational staffing patterns of IPS agencies. The survey differentiated several staffing patterns: (1) agencies where supported employment workers provided both supported education and supported employment, (2) agencies where supported employment workers did not provide any supported education, (3) agencies who identified case-managers as providing supported education, (4) agencies where supported employment programs had a designated individual(s) on the supported employment team that provided only supported education services, and (5) agencies where supported employment teams had a designated individual(s) to provide supported education services who also provided supported employment services when there were no participants on the team receiving supported education services.
The second survey was primarily derived from the SAMHSA supported education fidelity scale (SAMHSA, unpublished) developed by the University of Kansas and using items from a fidelity scale developed by Unger (unpublished) that were not included in the SAMHSA tool. The SAMHSA SEd fidelity scale was initially developed using: (1) a review of the literature, (2) an expert panel of six researchers, (3) a review of other fidelity scales currently available, (4) individual consumer and staff interviews, and (5) three large group interviews. Since its initial development, the SEd fidelity scale has been piloted at three separate community mental health agencies and revised based on the piloting process. The aim of the SAMHSA SEd fidelity scale was to provide a principle-driven model that is likely to be of use in a variety of settings and programs. The consumers and agency staff involved in the piloting process of the fidelity scale reported the scale to be helpful and user friendly.
The second survey was designed to assess the educational services being provided by IPS programs and the importance placed on each of those services. The survey was divided into seven sub-sections: (a) recruitment; (b) staffing structure and expectations; (c) referral, information and outreach; (d) supported education services; (e) documentation in participant records; (f) use of outcome data; and (g) collaboration. For each item respondents had the opportunity to indicate how important they thought the educational service was to consumer outcomes on a five point Likert scale. The respondents also had the opportunity to report the degree to which they provided each of the supported education items.
The surveys and procedures were approved by the University of Kansas Institutional Review Board and were administered between March and August of 2010. The respondents were supervisors of SE programs associated with the Johnson and Johnson Learning Collaborative. Respondents were initially contacted via their state's supported employment consultant. Once agreement to participate was achieved, respondents were sent via email, a link to an electronic survey (programmed using Ultimate Survey 2). Each email included an introductory letter explaining the process of selection, an informed consent statement, and survey instructions. Respondents qualified for the second survey if they indicated that their supported employment program provided some form of SEd. The respondent also qualified if they had a separate educational program or unit. If this was the case the respondent was then asked for the contact information for the supervisor of the educational unit.
The educational unit supervisor was then contacted to complete the survey. If a respondent qualified, a second email with a cover letter, instructions and a link to the second survey was provided. Follow up calls and reminder emails were made to practitioners who did not complete the survey within the first month of the initial survey distribution. At least 5 reminder emails and 5 reminder phone calls were attempted for each respondent who did not complete the first survey or the second survey (if they qualified). In addition, in an attempt to increase participation, monetary compensation of $20 was initiated for respondents who completed both surveys. Of the 98 agencies on the contact list 67 (68%) completed the first survey. Of those who completed the first survey 38 (57%) qualified to continue on to the second survey of which 32 (84%) responded.
The results yielded primarily descriptive statistics. The means and standard deviations were then analyzed for patterns to determine which types of services were rated as more important than others. Patterns were recognized by determining which order items fell by rank and determining which sub-category of services tended to score higher or lower. Sub-category means were also examined in order to assist pattern analysis.
The first survey's purpose was to identify the staffing structure and configuration of the delivery of supported education services. Respondents were simply asked how their supported education services were delivered and by whom. Sixty-four (96%) of the sixty-seven respondents answered this question. The most common form of staffing found was supported employment workers providing both SEd and SE (46.7%). The next largest group was the staffing pattern where SE workers did not provide any SEd (25%). This group was closely followed by those who identified case-managers as providing SEd (11.7%). About 6.7% of SE programs had a designated individual(s) on the SE team that provided only SEd services, and 3.3% of SE teams had a designated individual(s) to provide SEd services who also provided SE services, when permitted by the SEd service caseload. Three programs (6.7%) had separate SEd programs not associated with the SE program.
The second survey was sent to agencies that provided supported education services through their supported employment program or a separate team of supported education specialists. Those agencies where supported education services were not provided or were provide by the case managers of the agency did not qualify for the second survey. Of the 32 respondents who completed the phase two survey, 22 (71%) of the programs served urban areas and 9 programs (29%) served rural areas.
The second survey collected data on the total number of clients served in community support services, the number of clients receiving supported employment services only, the number receiving supported education services only, and the number of clients receiving both supported employment and supported education services. The total number of clients receiving community support services reported by the agencies was 18,304, ranging from 33 to 3,023 with a mean of 643. [Insert the percents in the text here and delete Table 1]. The survey also asked respondents to indicate the type of educational aspirations that are supported by program services. Respondents indicated the following types of educational aspirations supported by their program (See Table 2).
The importance ratings and the associated services which were reported as provided, were divided into four subsections: organizational factors, staffing, engagement, and services. Table 1 depicts each in rank order by mean, and provides the standard deviation, percent of agencies which provided the service, and sub-section labels.
This survey indicates that supported education services are frequently provided within IPS programs. The majority of the programs surveyed provided some form of SEd service, meaning SEd is often a hidden service that many IPS programs are already providing. The number of SEd services being provided by IPS programs may have previously been underestimated in the SE literature (Mowbray, Megivern, & Holter, 2003). In addition, the results show substantial agreement on the preferred characteristics of SEd that ought to be provided.
The SEd characteristic rated highest in importance had to do with zero exclusion, which is geared toward ensuring that participants are not prevented from entering services due to some form of professionally derived readiness criteria like requiring people to be substance free, have symptoms under control, etc. The engagement category included the two top rated items (zero-exclusion and assertive outreach) indicating that respondents see a need for increasing the number of consumers enrolled in supported education. Further support for this contention is given by a relatively high overall engagement category mean of 3.89 [round these to one decimal place]. However, it is important to note that aspects of engagement category were dispersed through the rank order, with marketing to consumers rated as less important compared to engagement items reflecting rapid access and not denying services to consumers.
The services component received the highest overall group mean (3.90) with engagement coming in a close second (3.89) [These are equivalent after rounding]. The staffing (3.73) and organizational factors (3.62) categories received slightly lower group means. Respondents attributed higher relative importance to the elements of educational services for participants than to the staffing and organizational aspects of providing supported education. From a clients' perspective it is encouraging that SE staff view the service elements to consumers as being the most important aspect of service delivery.
While rated lower than the other items included in this survey, staffing and organizational factors were considered important. Documentation, tracking, and sharing outcomes are often difficult for many human service programs not just SE programs. While acknowledging that documentation is difficult, it is also important to recognize that the majority of those surveyed had a primary goal of providing and tracking employment services, not necessarily educational services. Therefore, educational services may not be tracked as often or as well as employment service outcomes. In order to improve this aspect, it may be necessary to integrate outcome records to ensure education outcomes are recorded routinely along with employment outcomes, without increasing the overall administrative burden. If SEd services and their outcomes are not tracked within or alongside IPS outcomes, these services may remain unrecognized.
Finally, respondents placed less importance on segregating the IPS and SEd service components. This seems appropriate given the sample of responses and that many SEd services are already being provided by IPS staff. These staff may already believe that IPS and SEd integrated services is a viable delivery model.
There are several limitations of the study. Similar to other expert studies, importance ratings were skewed toward positive ratings (e.g. Marty et al., 2001; McGrew & Bond, 1995; Schaedle & Epstein, 2000). This made it difficult to discern preferred ingredients from other elements. In addition, generalizability may be limited because of moderate survey participation, use of convenience sampling, unverified self-report, administration in a single country, and because all programs surveyed were part of a single collaborative. Many of the items that were rated highest (over 4.0) were consistent with the major principles of IPS, such as zero exclusion criteria (item 1) and follow along supports (item 4), among others. The tendency of respondents to select items consistent with the well known IPS supported employment fidelity scale, may represent a sampling bias because most agencies surveyed provide educational services within the context of IPS (n = 29). Therefore, it was not surprising to find that these core components of IPS were also perceived as applying to SEd with similar importance.
Gaining a more nuanced understanding of the educational services being provided within IPS is an important first step in determining the viability of integrating IPS and SEd services. These findings provide some initial information to inform how supported education and supported employment services can be provided together to the same client group. We contend that integrating SEd and IPS services appears feasible and seems to provide a mechanism for ensuring zero-exclusion for educational support services when required. Client access to educational services may be increased by links to IPS as complementary service with a more established service delivery platform and funding mechanism. Integration of IPS and SEd programs appears a promising strategy with potential benefits to both programs.
Increasing access to supported education services is important given a recent survey that found that just over 50% of individuals with psychiatric disabilities stated that they would like to return to school and believed themselves capable of doing so (Corrigan et al., 2008). In many states only about 3% of individuals with psychiatric disabilities on Medicaid are currently enrolled in educational services (e.g. AIMS, 2011). There appears to be a much larger demand for educational services than is currently being met. Given the discrepancy between stated demand and actual enrollment it may be important to ensure that clients know that educational assistance is available within most IPS programs. Client participation in educational services should be a personal choice and consumers should not be coerced. Therefore, client preference and client demand should be a major factor in deciding whether or not established IPS programs are supplemented by SEd.
It is encouraging that SEd services are already being provided by some IPS programs. We note that nearly 57% of the IPS programs are providing some type of assistance to clients pursuing educational goals. It may be that the development of these services arose from client demand. If this is the case, it will be essential to work out how best to provide SEd services within IPS so that neither service loses its effectiveness. This study provides avenues for further defining the role of IPS practitioners in their support of consumers with educational goals.
In addition, the results suggest refinements to the SEd fidelity scale, a scale in an early stage of development, to better capture the services provided by integrated IPS-SEd programs, better track zero exclusion, and to further explore the perceived importance of program elements.
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* Percent of agencies providing service unavailable.
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Thentia Receives Venture Debt Funding
by StartupWorld Staff
Thentia, which is a global leader in regulatory and compliance software, announced today that it has entered into a venture debt funding partnership with Espresso Capital. "This partnership will allow Thentia to expand its suite of enterprise technology solutions for regulation and compliance needs," said Julian Cardarelli, Chief Executive Officer of Thentia. "We are pleased to be working with Espresso Capital, which has a longstanding history of supporting innovative technology companies."
The subsidizing will fuel Thentia's as of now settled nearness in the direction programming fragment and will bolster assist development in business sectors crosswise over Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom. The company intends to use the funds to expand to new markets, accelerate its established presence in the regulation software segment, and further grow in markets across Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom.
Thentia's database innovation was made particularly for administrative bodies, permitting sheets and private organizations to empower them to streamline their tasks in direction, consistency and administration. Driving administrative organizations and a huge number of licensees depend on Thentia stages each day.
"This partnership speaks volumes about Thentia's leadership role in the industries it serves," said Cardarelli. "The funding will measurably benefit existing customers through improvements in services and offerings, as well as enable Thentia's growth into new jurisdictions worldwide."
About Thentia
Based in Toronto, Canada, with offices in the United States and the United Kingdom, Thentia, a leader in regulatory and compliance software, provides database technology that was created specifically for regulatory bodies and private businesses to stay on top of their regulatory compliance obligations.
About Espresso Capital
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text:
Бертра́н де Борн (Bertran de Born; 1140 — 1215) — один з найвідоміших поетів середньовічного Провансу. Народився на заході Франції у місті Лімузена. У войовничих піснях славив війну. Улюблена форма творів Бертрана де Борна — сірвента.

Один із видатних прованських трубадурів. В 9 років був відправлений на навчання у монастир. У 20 років його посвятили у лицарі. Разом зі своїм братом Костянтином володів укріпленим замком Альтафорт (зараз містечко Отефор). Від двох шлюбів мав 4 синів, старший син також Бертран де Борн був трубадуром. Данте хвалить його як талановитого поета, співця війни («Про народне красномовство»), згадує про його щедрість («Бенкет»), але прирікає Борна на дуже важку кару за гріхи серед «злопорадників» у восьмому колі пекла: видатний трубадур тримає свою відрубану голову в руці, «як ліхтар». За що ж судилася йому така кара?

За легендою, Борн відіграв вирішальну роль у політичних подіях свого часу і був чи не єдиним винуватцем кривавих чварів, що спалахнули у французьких володіннях англійської королівської родини Плантагенетів. Реальні події, однак, складалися інакше. Син Генріха II Плантагенета — Річард І Левове Серце отримав від батька великі володіння у Франції, а його старший брат Генріх (т. зв. «Молодий король») через заздрощі виступив проти нього зі зброєю. Борн був серед тих південнофранцузьких лицарів, які стали на бік «Молодого короля».

Як талановитий поет, він надзвичайно яскраво відобразив ідеологію дрібного лицарства, завжди готового взятися до зброї і змушеного, через нестатки, жити війною. Але він, звичайно, не був єдиним носієм цієї ідеології. Його творчість цікава саме тому, що у талановитій формі виражає погляди і почуття тієї частини феодалів, до якої він належав.

Після надзвичайно бурхливого життя Борн подався у монастир, де й помер.
Його старший син, теж Бертран де Борн, був трубадуром

Поетична спадщина

Поетична спадщина (48 пісень) Бертрана де Борна — в основному сірвенти на політичні теми, що оспівують війну як єдину гідну справжнього лицаря справу. Захват від бою у де Борна замінює любовне захоплення, що позначається в куртуазної ліриці словом joi («Радість»). Навіть у кансонах, адресованих Дамі, де Борн незмінно звертається до питань військової доблесті і честі. Його твори відрізняються експресією, сарказмом, мають високий ступінь впливу на емоції читача за допомогою віддалених образних, тематичних, ритмічних асоціацій. Два плачу де Борна на смерть Генріха Плантагенета («Молодого короля») відмічені високою майстерністю і вважаються одними з найкращих в цьому жанрі. Бертран де Борн був знайомий з поетичними дослідженнями свого сучасника Арнаута Даніеля і з успіхом застосовував методи цього складного трубадура у своїй ліриці. Наскрізна тема пісень де Борна — його взаємини з Річардом Левове Серце (фігурує у де Борна під прізвиськом «Oce-No» «Так-та-ні»), вони проходять складний шлях від відкритого протистояння (в «Легко сірвенти я складав …» де Борн закликає баронів об'єднатися проти Річарда) до військового союзу васала і сюзерена (сірвенти «Якщо б трактир, повний вин і шинок …»).

Данте в «Божественній комедії» («Пекло», пісня 28) назвав Борна сіячем розбрату й чвар і помістив його душу у восьме коло пекла. Водночас Данте хвалить його як талановитого поета, співця війни («Про народне красномовство»), згадує про його щедрість («Бенкет»).

Юрій Клен в циклі поезій «Прованс» присвятив Бертранові де Борну однойменний вірш.

Українські переклади
У авторській антології перекладача Миколи Терещенка «Сузір'я французької поезії» (І — II, Київ, 1971) вміщено декілька перекладів українською з Бертрана де Борна.

Джерела
 Ігор Костецький, Бертран де Борн, Бернарт де Вентадорн і «мітотворчість» трубадурів, або на теми «Сестини: Альтафорте» Езри Павнда. Арно Данієль, або до есею «Оглянувшись» Езри Павнда. «Від видавництва» / в журналі «Кур'єр Кривбасу» № 218-219, 2009.

 Зарубіжна література О. М. Ніколенко, І. Л. Столій

Посилання

Примітки

Трубадури
Провансальські поети
Персоналії за алфавітом
Поети XII століття

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


I recently visited the BMW Group's plant in Munich, which is a monument to automation. The single assembly line stretches across multiple floors and it's packed with robots, silently and gently swinging around the vehicles. It really is fascinating to watch.
There are no people around… apparently. Yet, robotics actually share the floor with 7,000 people. If you look carefully, there are offices all around the line, where supervising roles are essential to a swift flow in production. At BMW, people have value-added tasks such as final manual assembly, with crowds of young Germans proudly crafting luxury cars.
At BMW, automation is intelligent and designed for agility, safety and the environment. Robots can read transceivers that vehicles are equipped with and autonomously switch tools to handle different parts that are needed by the vehicle.
Robots carry out all the high-risk tasks such as welding and painting. Their movements are so precise that only 20% of sprayed paint misses the vehicles. Any remaining particles are captured by a stream of water underneath and is fully reused or recycled.
In manufacturing, robotics are well established and growing steadily. In 2015, robot sales increased by 15% to more than 250,000 units – by far the highest level ever recorded for one year, according to The International Federation of Robotics. Indeed, many members of the SCM World community agree, as 53% consider advanced robotics important and disruptive with respect to supply chain strategies – a number that's almost doubled in just a couple of years.
Advancements in artificial intelligence are driving the emergence of a brand-new class of robotics with enhanced senses and dexterity. Known as collaborative robots, these lightweight machines can automate tasks that were previously impossible due to cost and complexity.
There's growing excitement around collaborative robots and a bright future ahead. In 2015, fewer than 8,000 collaborative robotics were installed worldwide; however, Barclays' equity research analysts estimate annual unit sales of 150,000 in 2020 and 701,000 in 2025.
Success stories include Johnson & Johnson, Harley Davidson, Trelleborg and Volkswagen. In addition, automotive manufacturer Continental has been very successful in implementing collaborative robots in its Seguin, Texas facility. Through change management and training, collaborative robotics have been very well received by plant workers and have been a real morale booster. Continental's manufacturing team realized that collaborative robotics represented an opportunity to maintain their jobs, avoiding the plant to be moved to lower cost locations. Also, by letting robots do the hard work, they raised the value-added nature of their activities and now operate at higher technical levels, which make them feel they are making a true impact on the company's success.
Also, Lenovo is working on a three-year initiative to completely digitize its 13 internal production plants. The first site has recently gone live in China, with collaborative robotics able to perform most of the assembly operations for a range of servers. Lenovo now intends to combine this with big data analytics. Acquiring data from a multitude of IT applications and automation, analyzing it for predictions and root cause determination and visualizing it at different granular levels for a number of personas is expected to help plant floor workers gain new levels of efficiency and agility.
With such a rapid increase in the number of robotics, what will the factory of the future look like? Well, jobs that can be automated certainly will be. And, inevitably, people will be let go, but the majority of our members do not think that robotics will lead to fully automated, lights-off factories.
In a human-machine study conducted by MIT researchers at a BMW factory, it was shown that teams made of humans and robots collaborating as one can be more productive than teams made up of either humans or robots alone. Also, this collaborative process reduced idle time by 85%.
Toyota is an example of a company that's becoming more efficient by replacing robots with humans. In the past, the company went way too far with automation and lost the human touch, especially in making sure automation performance is constantly monitored. The same thing is happening at Daimler, where robots can't keep up with the changing pace required by the luxury car-maker. This change comes as many car manufacturers are moving toward an age of individualization.
First movers in automation such as BMW, Toyota and Daimler are teaching us that the way forward is automating for flexibility and leveraging people for value-added tasks.
Robots are evolving from automation to collaboration. And they're helping humans to evolve from laborers to decision makers.


text:
« Government warns of "catastrophic" U.S. quake
Obama Advisers To Public: Temper Expectations »
EXCLUSIVE: Obama to delay repeal of 'don't ask, don't tell'
President-elect Barack Obama will not move for months, and perhaps not until 2010, to ask Congress to end the military's decades-old ban on open homosexuals in the ranks, two people who have advised the Obama transition team on this issue say.
Repealing the ban was an Obama campaign promise. However, Mr. Obama first wants to confer with the Joint Chiefs of Staff and his new political appointees at the Pentagon to reach a consensus and then present legislation to Congress, the advisers said.
"I think 2009 is about foundation building and reaching consensus," said Aubrey Sarvis, executive director of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network. The group supports military personnel targeted under the ban.
Mr. Sarvis told The Washington Times that he has held "informal discussions" with the Obama transition team on how the new president should proceed on the potentially explosive issue.
Lawrence Korb, an analyst at the Center for American Progress and an adviser to the Obama campaign, said the new administration should set up a Pentagon committee to make recommendations to Congress on a host of manpower issues, including the gay ban.
"If it's part of a larger package, it has a better chance of getting passed," he said.
The Obama transition team did not reply to a request for comment.
The incoming administration is well aware of how President Clinton botched the same issue 15 years ago. Shortly after taking office in 1993, the president ordered the Pentagon to rescind the regulation that excluded gays.
On Capitol Hill, Republicans, and some leading Democrats, including then-Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Sam Nunn of Georgia, objected. Retired military officers and a number of pro-military conservative activist groups joined the fight.
Mr. Clinton backed off. Congress ended up enacting the ban into law as part of U.S. Title 10 which regulates the military.
As a compromise, the White House and congressional leaders wrote a new policy known as "don't ask, don't tell." Under it, gay service members must keep their sexuality private or face expulsion. About 12,500 people have been discharged under the policy.
Today, gay activists cite national polls that show public sentiment, unlike in 1993, support removing the ban.
Mr. Sarvis expressed optimism that Democratic gains in the past two elections make it "more likely" Congress will let gays serve openly.
"I think the congressional results are a factor in our optimism," he said. He added that no vote count has been taken.
Delaying the congressional vote a year would give the White House time for consultation, but it would also let ban proponents organize and possibly sway public opinion, as they did in 1993.
"Homosexual activists are overconfident because they have not yet seen a counterforce emerge as occurred in 1993," said Robert Knight, director of the Culture and Media Institute at the Media Research Center, an organization that seeks to balance perceived liberal bias in mainstream news coverage.
"But as the threat grows stronger, we will see groups forming and the resistance building," he said. "Americans go about their business and are not activists until they have a Pearl Harbor moment. That has yet to happen, but it will."
He added that most Americans "are unaware that gay activists have the military in their gun sights."
Mr. Obama's gay-ban pledge was not a major campaign issue. However, he provided a policy statement to the Human Rights Campaign, the largest U.S. gay rights group, pledging to repeal the exclusion and to invite back service members discharged under the law. He also said that he wants the Pentagon to school military people on how to treat gays.
"The eradication of this policy will require more than just eliminating one statute," he told the group, in a statement posted on their Web site. "It will require the implementation of anti-harassment policies and protocols for dealing with abusive or discriminatory behavior as we transition our armed forces away from a policy of discrimination. The military must be our active partners in developing those policies and protocols."
The law states that open homosexuality in the ranks would be detrimental to combat unit readiness.
"The presence in the armed forces of persons who demonstrate a propensity or intent to engage in homosexual acts would create an unacceptable risk to the high standards of morale, good order and discipline, and unit cohesion that are the essence of military capability," the law says.
Ban proponents say removing the restriction would hurt recruiting by discouraging conservative, religiously oriented youths from signing up.
"It's true that many in the military have looked the other way and served alongside people they know are into homosexuality," Mr. Knight said. "But that is with the ban in place. Open acceptance would change the atmosphere entirely. If fraternization is a problem now between men and women, imagine the conflicts with openly gay officers who no longer have to be reticent."
Mr. Sarvis said not to look for the debate to begin until late next year or 2010.
"What's the reality for the new administration?" he said. "Financial crisis. Economic upheaval. Health care reform. Environmental challenges. Where does 'don't ask, don't tell' fall in all this? I would say it is not in the top five priorities of national issues."
This entry was posted on Friday, November 21st, 2008 at 4:03 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.


Con más de one hundred millones de fans, Photo Grid es el creador de collages fotográficos más in style. Con Photograph Grid, puedes combinar fotos normales en un interesante collage para compartir y decorar tus imágenes aplicando fantásticos filtros y agregando adhesivos y textos. Disfruta con tus amigos y familiares compartiendo tus trabajos en las populares redes sociales fotográficas. Netbooks can be thought of as mini laptops. They're smaller in size, value, and processing power. Just like Chromebooks, they are primarily designed for internet browsing, digital communication, and cloud computing. They're catered to customers who require less highly effective consumer computer systems. Grid Lines – You possibly can set Grid Line choices in the event you prefer some help in aligning your subject within the display screen. This option superimposes a set of traces throughout the display, supplying you with a better guide with which to line up a horizon, as an example, than the bottom/prime of the screen.
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In the event you're searching for a wired mouse that has lots of buttons like a grid mouse but in a more natural way, check out the Roccat Tyon. Most fashionable televisions additionally respond badly to any generator other than an inverter generator. So when purchasing a generator for dwelling use (versus shed use), be sure to insist on an 'inverter generator'.


While she may be known for her roles in films such as "Sleepless in Seattle" and "Runaway Bride," this talented Hollywood star isn't running away from sharing her personal story. Rita Wilson sits down with TODAY's Savannah Guthrie, opening up about her battle with breast cancer. The acclaimed actress, who has also established herself as a recording artist, stresses the importance of women trusting their gut when it comes to their personal health and getting a second opinion.
Take a look at the video to hear her advice, and then learn more about her incredible journey here.


There are three primary treatments for feline intestinal lymphoma — surgery, prednisone and chemotherapy — and they are usually combined to help create the most desirable outcome.
The sooner and more aggressively your cat's intestinal lymphoma is treated, the better her chances of survival and remission.
It's common for cats with intestinal lymphoma to receive high doses of the corticosteroid prednisone. Prednisone is very potent in treating this kind of cancer. Alone, it can extend a cat's life for several months. But when combined with other cancer therapies, it may lead to complete remission — particularly in low-grade intestinal lymphoma. If the cancer is cleared, your veterinarian may continue to prescribe it as a preventive treatment.
Chemotherapy, which simply means controlling cancer through medicinal or chemical means rather than through radiation, can also have side effects. Fortunately, these are not as intense as you might imagine. In fact, many cats don't suffer from complications such as nausea and infection. And chemotherapy-caused hair loss is generally relegated to whiskers only — not fur.


text:
Pentagon Cites Multiple Missteps That Led To Ambush Of U.S. Troops In Niger
By Greg Myre • Apr 26, 2018
A U.S. Army team transfers the remains of Staff Sgt. Dustin Wright, 29, of Lyons, Ga., at Dover Air Force Base, Del., on Oct. 5, 2017. Wright was one of four U.S. troops killed in an ambush in Niger.
Staff Sgt. Aaron J. Jenne / U.S. Air Force via AP
Originally published on April 26, 2018 10:19 am
A Pentagon report has found that Islamist extremists ambushed and killed four U.S. troops in Niger last October after a series of missteps left the Americans exposed and vulnerable in a remote corner of the African nation.
The Pentagon has sent the classified report to Congress and military officers have started to brief the families of the soldiers who were killed. The report has not been released publicly, but an official who has seen it described it to NPR Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman.
The mission began on Oct. 3, when 12 Americans, led by Green Berets, joined with a larger force of Nigerien troops on a routine patrol in the southwest part of the country, near the border with Mali.
The Americans have been in Niger since 2013 to train, advise and assist the Nigerien military in its battle with extremists linked to the Islamic State. The Americans are not supposed to take part in combat unless they come under fire.
On the mission, the Americans and the Nigerien forces were meeting with village leaders.
The troops spent the night, and instead of returning to their base the next day, they were given a new mission. They were called to look for intelligence in a place where a militant leader had apparently fled.
According to the official, who has seen the report, a lower-level officer signed off on this new mission, and higher-level officers were not kept abreast of it or were not aware of the change in plans.
The U.S. team was not anticipating any contact with the militants, and didn't have proper planning, training or heavy firepower.
Ambushed by 50 extremists
But the American and Nigerien forces ran into an ambush and were overwhelmed by some 50 fighters in a two-hour shootout in the village of Tongo Tongo.
The four Americans killed were Staff Sgt. Bryan Black, Staff Sgt. Dustin Wright, Staff Sgt. Jeremiah Johnson and Sgt. La David Johnson. Two more Americans were wounded, and five Nigerien soldiers were killed.
The report says the soldiers fought bravely. There was helmet-camera video that showed some of the soldiers pulling wounded comrades to safety behind an SUV.
The report does not cast blame or call for punishment. But it does say there were failures at multiple levels, and calls for them to be addressed by the Army and the Special Operations Command.
President Barack Obama sent the U.S. troops to Niger five years ago, and around 800 are believed to be in the country. The Americans are building a base for drones, but do not have a large airfield for manned aircraft that could mount a rescue mission.
Niger and other African countries want U.S. training and expertise to deal with security threats, but they do not want a large, visible American presence.
Until the American deaths in Niger, the U.S. military presence there received little attention.
The New York Times reported that on Dec. 6, two months after the October ambush, another group of Green Berets and Nigerien forces killed 11 militants in a shootout. The U.S. military did not announce the fighting at the time. But the Times reported it on March 14, calling it one of 10 previously undisclosed clashes in West Africa since 2015.
U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Jeremiah Johnson
U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Bryan Black
U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Dustin Wright
U.S. Official: Niger Ambush Of U.S. Troops Was 'Set Up' By Villagers
By Scott Neuman • Oct 26, 2017
The ambush of a patrol in Niger this month that resulted in the deaths of four U.S. Army soldiers is believed to have been a "set up" in which their location was exposed by villagers who tipped off ISIS-affiliated militants, a U.S. official tells NPR.
NPR Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman reports that the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, says when the patrol of U.S. and Niger troops stopped in a village near the border with Mali to get water, locals there gave them "the cold stare."
U.S. Soldier From Ohio Killed In Attack In Niger
By Associated Press • Oct 7, 2017
armytimes.com
The U.S. Department of Defense says one of the three U.S. soldiers killed in an attack by Islamic extremists in Niger was from southwestern Ohio.
Ohioan Among Soldiers Killed In Vehicle Accident At U.S. Military Base
U.S. Military officials have identified the two soldiers killed after a military vehicle struck them while they were in formation Friday at a U.S. Army base in South Carolina.


A rare occurrence in the Napa Valley. Snow covers the vineyard February 7.
On December 5, 1884 President Chester A. Arthur signed a "patent" (the 19th century term for a real estate deed) from the U.S. Land Office granting ownership of what is today Smith-Madrone Vineyards & Winery to George Cook. Mark the date with our 2013 Cook's Flat Reserve.
Sam inspects a gondola during harvest. Read the season's harvest reports here.
Weather not too wine-friendly where you live? We would be happy to hold your wine order in our cellar. Please note this in the comments area when you place your order and we'll ship the wine at a later date that's convenient for you.
Our web site has the 2018 reports, as does the St. Helena Star.
Your visit to Smith-Madrone features a group tasting and tour with our winemaker Charlie Smith. Please be sure to plan enough time to reach the winery on time. The drive from St. Helena to the winery can take as long as 30 minutes. We look forward to seeing you.


text:
Kayleigh Hines (born 27 February 1991) is an English footballer who plays as a midfielder for Loughborough Lightning She previously played for Reading.

Early life
Hines began playing football at age 8 and eventually joined a local boys' team where she played until the age of 12. She then joined the Reading F.C.'s Centre of Excellence. As a teenager, Hines played for Arsenal Academy and St Albans.  At the age of 18, she travelled to New Jersey in the United States where she played for Women's Premier Soccer League (WPSL) side Millburn Magic. Named to the WPSL's All-East First Team in 2010, Hines also coached the Millburn Magic Under-9 summer select team.

Playing career

Oxford United, 2014–2015
Hines signed with Oxford United in the FAWSL 2 for the league's inaugural season. In June 2014, she scored a goal from 40 yards out against Durham helping Reading win 2–1. Oxford finished the regular season in ninth place with a  record. Hines made 22 appearances for the club and scored two goals during the 2014 season.

Returning for the 2015 season, Hines scored a brace against Reading leading Oxford United to a draw in April. She finished the season with seven goals in 17 appearances. Oxford United finished sixth in the season.

Reading FC, 2016–
In December 2015, it was announced that Hines had signed a professional contract with  Reading F.C. in FA WSL 1. Of her signing, Reading manager Kelly Chambers said, 'I have known of Kayleigh's ability for a long time. It's great to get her signature on the dotted line, she will bring a different dimension to our team that maybe we have been lacking previously."

References

External links

 Reading player profile

Living people
1991 births
English women's footballers
Women's association football midfielders
Women's Super League players
Reading F.C. Women players
Oxford United W.F.C. players


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text:
Gabinetes da Alemanha
Fundações na Alemanha em 1998
Gerhard Schröder


Demand growth from Asia to the Middle East topped 26% in the first quarter of 2018, but freight rates continue to fall because of chronic over-capacity, according to shipping consultancy Drewry.
After a long period of stagnation, the Asia to Middle East container trade went into overdrive in the past few months.
Saudi Arabia, the second largest Middle Eastern importer of Asian containerised goods, increased its first quarter inbound volume by 26% to 227,000 TEU. The second largest contributor in terms of additional container imports from the Far East was Qatar, which saw its container imports from Asia nearly triple in the first quarter of 2018 to 62,000 TEU.
Other countries to post double-digit growth in the period were Iraq, Iran, Oman, Kuwait, Egypt, Jordan and Bahrain. The biggest importer, the UAE, increased its volume from Asia by 8% to 275,000 TEU, while traffic in war-torn Yemen decreased by 21% to 8,700 TEU.
Trade from Asia to South Asia has for the most part been much brisker than to the Middle East over the past three years, although a relatively poor showing in the second half of last year reversed the trend. Westbound container traffic to South Asia lagged behind the soaring Middle East for the third consecutive quarter in 1Q18, but it did still register very healthy growth.
However, the resurgence in South Asia container handling may be short-lived as stevedores across 12 major Indian ports are planning to go on an indefinite strike at the end of this month in a dispute over wages, pensions and working conditions, Drewry said.
Robust demand from Asia to South Asia and the Middle East has seemingly encouraged carriers to add more capacity to both trades, despite the fact that both were already over supplied and struggling with ever-decreasing freight rates.
"The demand outlook is brighter for the Middle East currently as labour issues could hinder growth in South Asia. Outside of fuel-related increases, neither trade can expect spot rates to improve until chasm between supply and demand is addressed," Drewry concluded.
Posted on May 29, 2018 with tags asia, Drewry, Middle East.


text:
Nizar Habash
Associate Professor of Computer Science, Program Head of Computer Science at NYUAD, Director of the Computational Approaches to Modeling Language (CAMeL) Lab
Professor, Science, Computer Science
Websitehttp://www.nizarhabash.com/, http://camel-lab.com/
NYUAD Saadiyat Campus, A2-189
00000 Abu Dhabi
Aritificial Intelligence, Natural Language Processing, Computational Linguistics, Arabic, Dialects, Computational Morphology, Syntactic Parsing, Machine Translation, Linguistic and Aritificial Intelligence Resource Development.
Research and Resources are on the Computational Approaches to Modeling Language (CAMeL) Lab page.
Nizar Habash is an Associate Professor of Computer Science at New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD). Professor Habash specializes in natural language processing and computational linguistics. Before joining NYUAD, he was a research scientist at Columbia University's Center for Computational Learning Systems. His research includes extensive work on machine translation, morphological analysis, and computational modeling of Arabic and its dialects. Professor Habash has been a principal investigator or co-investigator on over 20 grants. And he has over 150 publications including a book entitled "Introduction to Arabic Natural Language Processing". His website is www.nizarhabash.com.
Publications on Google Scholar.
Nizar Habash Teaching Page
Aritificial Intelligence, Natural Language Processing, Computational Linguistics, Arabic Language Processing.
Education/Academic qualification
Computer Science, PhD, University of Maryland, College Park
Sep 1 1997 → May 31 2003
Award Date: May 31 2003
Computer Engineering, B.S., Old Dominion University
Jan 1 1992 → May 31 1997
Linguistics and Languages, B.A., Old Dominion University
dialect Social Sciences 100%
Machine Translation Arts & Humanities 93%
Arabic Dialects Arts & Humanities 86%
Statistical Machine Translation Arts & Humanities 79%
Annotation Arts & Humanities 76%
English People Arts & Humanities 49%
Natural Language Processing (NLP) Arts & Humanities 48%
Treebank Arts & Humanities 39%
A panoramic survey of natural language processing in the Arab world
Darwish, K., Habash, N., Abbas, M., Al-Khalifa, H., Al-Natsheh, H. T., Bouamor, H., Bouzoubaa, K., Cavalli-Sforza, V., El-Beltagy, S. R., El-Hajj, W., Jarrar, M. & Mubarak, H., Apr 2021, In: Communications of the ACM. 64, 4, p. 72-81 10 p.
Computational linguistics 100%
Speech synthesis 86%
Sentiment analysis 79%
Speech recognition 67%
Artificial intelligence 62%
Language Models in Sociological Research: An Application to Classifying Large Administrative Data and Measuring Religiosity
Jensen, J. L., Karell, D., Tanigawa-Lau, C., Habash, N., Oudah, M. & Fairus Shofia Fani, D., 2021, (Accepted/In press) In: Sociological methodology.
social research 100%
social science 24%
readership 13%
dialect 12%
mechanic 11%
Towards Automatic Narrative Coherence Prediction
Bendevski, F., Ibrahim, J., Krulec, T., Waters, T., Habash, N., Salam, H., Mukherjee, H. & Camia, C., Oct 18 2021, ICMI 2021 - Proceedings of the 2021 International Conference on Multimodal Interaction. Association for Computing Machinery, Inc, p. 539-547 9 p. (ICMI 2021 - Proceedings of the 2021 International Conference on Multimodal Interaction).
Artificial intelligence 100%
Support vector machines 91%
A large-scale leveled readability lexicon for standard Arabic
Al Khalil, M., Habash, N. & Jiang, Z., 2020, LREC 2020 - 12th International Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation, Conference Proceedings. European Language Resources Association (ELRA), p. 3053-3062 10 p. (LREC 2020 - 12th International Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation, Conference Proceedings).
regional difference 100%
Arab 84%
A Link Prediction Approach for Accurately Mapping a Large-scale Arabic Lexical Resource to English WordNet
Badaro, G., Hajj, H. & Habash, N., Nov 25 2020, In: ACM Transactions on Asian and Low-Resource Language Information Processing. 19, 6, p. 1-38 38 p.


text:
The United States Military's Social Media Accounts Hacked By ISIS! What A Way To Attack!
Youngisthan on January 14, 2015
ISIS managed to break into US Military Twitter and YouTube accounts by surpassing the 2-step verification system. What they will do next looms in the dark!
The United States is under attack by the ISIS!
Yes, this was a sudden cyber-attack by the hackers owing allegiance to the ill-minded and overbearing Jihadist group ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria), who have now taken to the internet to launch attacks at the US Military.
They managed to surpass security firewalls and took control of some social media accounts of the U.S. Military's Central Command yesterday and posted some threatening messages and propaganda videos.
The Central Command's (CENTCOM) Twitter and YouTube accounts were taken offline after the attack when the news of this sudden attack broke out. However, before this was done, a string of tweets was launched on Twitter and some confidential military documents were released containing contact information of senior military personnel. A CENTCOM spokesman confirmed media speculations that their accounts were indeed "compromised".
"CENTCOM's operation military networks were not compromised and there was no operational impact to U.S. Central Command," a military statement said. "CENTCOM will restore service to its Twitter and YouTube accounts as quickly as possible. We are viewing this purely as a case of cyber-vandalism."
The CENTCOM spokespersons however clarified later that none of the information released was not classified and was available to the public beforehand.
This attack took place since CENTCOM directly oversees the U.S. military operations against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and frequently posts videos and details of airstrikes on the accounts that were hacked. The US Military and Department of Defence is unfazed by this attack and they have ensured that all is well.
However, they are still investing such attacks from other extremist groups like the Syrian Electronic Army and Cyber-Caliphate.
The ISIS is going out of bounds and killing innocents over a baseless agenda.
Now they are attacking the security and privacy of people online.
It is about time authorities wake up and begin to take positive steps in curbing down their activities and stopping them in their tracks.
Food Not To Be Taken On Nine Days Of Navratri
Rajasthan Day: A Tribute to India's Heritage and Culture
Why Crush On A Person Does Not Last For More Than Four Months?
Why Himachal Pradesh Is Known as Navratna By Travel Wanderers?
Parimatch Experience in India: How to Bet on Sp ..
Rio mayor wants Olympic planning body dissolved
I'd like to do big roles in Hollywood fil ..
Famous Diwali Bazaars of India; A Must Visit to ..


CAST CONNEX was engaged by Benson Steel to engineer and supply the single, custom designed architecturally exposed structural steel V-Column Base for use at the main entrance to the Toronto Transit Commission's new Pioneer Village Subway Station. This station is intended to become a new civic landmark with unique and world-class architecture, straddling the border of Toronto and York Region and anchoring a corner of York University Campus. Pioneer Village station will serve as an integrated regional transport hub serving up to 20,000 subway passenger trips daily with 1900 commuter parking spaces, two separate regional bus terminals serving the station.


text:
Q: How can I apply a function to every row of a data frame in R when the function requires multiple inputs? I need to run a chi squared test on data from each row of a data frame in R. So far I have a function that can create a matrix and run the test on the matrix. This is working fine when I manually enter data into the function.
chisquare.table <- function(var1, var2, var3, var4){
  t <- matrix(c(var1, var2, var3, var4), nrow = 2)
  chisq.test(t)

chisquare.table(80, 99920, 85, 99915)

However, what I want to do is apply this function to each row of a data frame such that var1 is row x column 1, var2 is row x column 2, var3 is row x column 3, and var4 is row x column 4.
I've tried a few different ways with the apply() function but I can't find one that allows me to take the data from the row in the way I want. I'd really appreciate any help or advice on this as I haven't found much online about using apply() with multiple inputs.

A: If we are applying the function on each row, use apply.  Also, instead of specifying the row elements one by one as arguments (as it can differ for each dataset), use the ... which can take any number of elements a arguments, and create the matrix out of it
chisquare.tableMod <- function(...){

     t <- matrix(c(...), nrow = 2)
      chisq.test(t)

   }

out <- apply(df1, 1, chisquare.tableMod)

Testing with the output from OP's function
chisquare.table <- function(var1, var2, var3, var4){
     t <- matrix(c(var1, var2, var3, var4), nrow = 2)

     chisq.test(t)
  }

outOld <- chisquare.table(80, 99920, 85, 99915)
identical(out[[1]], outOld)
#[1] TRUE

As @42- mentioned in the comments, apply returns a matrix and matrix can hold only single class.  So, select only those columns that are numeric while working with apply (or only single class)
data
df1 <- data.frame(v1 = c(80, 79, 49), v2 = c(99920, 98230, 43240),
      v3  = c(85, 40, 35), v4 = c(99915, 43265, 43238))

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


You've spent the entire last year pacing in your cubicle like a trapped bear, dreaming about the day when you could escape the boredom of work and get out there to live it up on vacation. If only you could fly like a bird or swim with dolphins or just do something that makes you laugh like a kid on Christmas morning. Well, you can because this is San Diego where your options for fun things to do are virtually endless.
Don't be shy, live the San Diego lifestyle if only for a week. We don't watch surf movies, we surf. When we want adventure we don't turn on Discovery Channel, we go outside and do stuff like kayaking the La Jolla caves or paddle boarding the bay. And don't think for a second that you can't do this stuff because you can! So follow me to the Best Things to Do in San Diego and let's go have some fun!
If lately life has been a little dull, then maybe it's time to jump off a cliff. No, not suicide but rather a tandem flight on a hang glider. The pilot will do all the work and all you have to do is scream "We're both gonna die!!!" as you lift off the ground and there's nothing but the blue Pacific Ocean beneath you. No age limitations, great pilots with years of experience, it's going to be the most amazing thing you've ever done.
Ahhh, to catch a wave and to sit on the top of a world where there's two girls for every boy, that's the dream you've heard about since you were a kid. There's no need to sit back and watch, not when you can take a 90 minute surf lesson where the instructors, people used to teaching first timers and tourists, will show you the basics on the sand and then get you out in the waves where you'll most likely stand up and ride that baby in. Cowabunga, dude!
One of the most amazing things you can do on your San Diego vacation is to kayak the calm waters of La Jolla and explore the 7 caves, accessible only from the water. You can do it alone but most first timers benefit from going on a tour with a qualified instructor who will keep you focused and safe. Sea lions, leopard sharks, even an occasional dolphin awaits your adventure. Great for ages five and up, no experience necessary.
Most tourists make the mistake of coming in June. What they don't know is that June is famous for our vacation ruining overcast skies we call June Gloom. Late May is nearly as bad (May Gray) and frankly I've spent many Fourth of July's wearing a sweatshirt. Mid-July into Fall is prime time San Diego for the best weather and best water temperatures.
You've seen it on TV, you have to at least try to get on at Torrey Pines Golf Course and play Phil's home course. Of course, getting on at Torrey is nearly as hard as hitting a 300 yard ball straight so I golf at Balboa Golf Course, its sister course that's way more affordable and easier to book. Other top centrally located courses are Coronado (nice and flat with bay views), and Riverwalk (Mission Valley).
All around downtown, Balboa Park and surrounding neighborhoods are DecoBike rentals, a joint project with the city. You rent by the hour or longer, ride it to where you are going, then leave it at that station. It's a great way to get around and really see the city with no parking hassles and no fuss. Best yet, it's cheap - $7 for an hour, $15 for a day, $35 for a week. Bikes are well maintained and easy to ride - do it!
Just so you don't get confused, there are two bays in San Diego. The big one has harbor cruises and aircraft carriers in it. Mission Bay has tiny sailboats and jet skis. I don't know about you but I like Mission Bay when I want to get on the water, especially when you can rent everything from stand up paddle boards to sailboats to powerboats and rafts right at Seaforth Boat Rentals on Mission Bay.
There's nothing like seeing San Diego from the water and two companies, Hornblower and Flagship, offer everything from 1 hour excursions to booze cruise happy hours to full dinner events. Now granted, food on a harbor cruise is never going to rival our best restaurants but it's hard to resist an evening on the bay, sipping champagne like a movie star and enjoying a sunset. You can also do brunch, highly recommended.
The Festival of Sail on Labor Day weekend is worth planning your trip around, especially if you can get a ticket aboard one of the tall ships where you get a real Pirates of the Caribbean experience as competing historic ships fight it out. If Labor Day is not on your schedule don't worry, the Californian, a 130 foot gold rush era replica, goes out on 3 hour tours on the weekends, a fun adventure with a bit of San Diego history thrown in.
Sit back and hang on!
If you want a bit more adrenaline pumping adventure, take a ride on one of many fast sailing boats like America Cup winner Stars and Stripes. Yes, it's more exciting than a Harbor Cruise but it's also tourist and family friendly so don't worry about getting tossed overboard or getting seasick - just hang on! San Diego Sailing Tours is another option and offers a more serene sailing adventure, including one that sails at sunset with local beers and snacks.
Flagship Crusises is a San Diego company.
Lots of cool events like their Friday night Hops on the Harbor cruise.
Terrific food kept the guests happy.
The USS Midway as seen from the Flagship Harbor Cruise.
San Diego skyline you can only see from the water.
Play that funky music, white boy - dance like it's the prom again on Flagship Harbor Cruise.
What a way to end the night!
On a warm San Diego evening being out on a harbor cruise ship just seems right. Flagship Cruise has been getting people on the water since 1885 when they started the ferry service. Today you can jump onboard a number of events, from beer focused cruises with a live band on Friday nights to the fun Spirits at Sunset (aka "booze cruise") to more elegant events like their 3 course dinner cruise or champagne brunch cruise. The young and lively crowd (and those who want to believe they are still young and lively) will love the Pier Pressure Party Cruise with DJ's and hip hop music. A fun time no matter which you choose, pick the Flagship Cruise that fits your personality and let's get this party started!
To call San Diego "Beer Town, USA" isn't marketing fluff, it's the truth with over 100 microbreweries all over town. Some are big names with restaurants like Stone Brewing or Karl Strauss, some are tiny and tucked away in industrial business parks where you can taste the beer and meet the guy who made it. Whatever your choice, if you love beer you need to spend a day exploring our vibrant brewery scene. Check out my beer site for a complete of all the breweries to find one near you.
San Diego has tons of good beaches, all with their own personality. Every local has their favorite but the most popular beaches are Mission Beach (roller coaster, young party vibe), La Jolla Shores (long stretch of beach that looks like the set of Baywatch), Coronado (great family beach with small waves and gently sloping sand), the "children's pool" cove in La Jolla where the live seals are, and the less crowded beaches in North County from Del Mar to Encinitas. Surf's up, San Diego.
The Southern California Brew Pass gets you discounts and special offers at some of San Diego's most popular breweries - with more being added all the time. A buck off a beer, two for ones, endless happy hours, you'll be using your beer pass all year round! Locals, you need this pass if you love beer! Click for $5 off for Local Wally fans.
SeaWorld may be more famous but Birch Aquarium is a great alternative if 1) you don't want to spend a lot of cash to see fish, 2) you don't want to spend a day in a busy theme park, and 3) you don't care about getting your picture taken with a guy in a whale costume. Scripps isn't about fluff, it's about ocean conservation but don't worry, the exhibits are fun and interesting. From sharks to seahorses, you'll see things that you've probably never seen before.
Missing your pooch? Then head over to Ocean Beach where dogs can run free, chasing balls into the ocean and generally enjoying their San Diego lifestyle. Even non dog owners will love seeing how much fun the dogs have in the surf and look, is that dog surfing?? You can also find dog friendly beaches in Coronado and Del Mar (non summer months only) as well as Fiesta Island, a huge desert-like "island" on Mission Bay.
Your spouse is going to hate me for this one but if you play guitar then you need to know that you can go on a FREE tour of the Taylor guitar factory weekdays at 100. You'll see piles of raw, exotic woods moving through the factory until they turn into gorgeous and wonderful finished guitars. Guitar players will be in heaven and non-players will find the hour and 15 minute tour interesting enough for a short vacation detour.
The San Diego Padre's might not always win but that doesn't keep locals from going to the games in downtown Petco Park, a super cool ballpark that incorporated some of the old historic buildings into the design. Every seat has a great view and if the Padre's aren't winning (highly likely) you can look at the striking view of downtown.
Remember when you were a kid and Dad would take you fishing and do all the hard work like baiting the hook (ugh), taking the fish off the hook (ugh ugh) and then cleaning the fish (triple ugh)? That's pretty much the experience on a half or 3/4 fishing trip where you'll most likely come back with the yellowtail fillets to toss on the grill (yum).
There's nothing that says San Diego more than an outdoor concert at a small venue that's right on the bay, which describes Humphrey's on Shelter Island. This is San Diego's BEST outdoor concert venue and with only 1,400 seats even the bad seats are pretty good. Book a dinner package and you're guaranteed the first 7 rows and a delicious meal.
You can forget about trying to look cool when you're riding a fake trolley car on rubber wheels on a city street. Go ahead, wave at the people you pass on the street and enjoy the entertaining ride around San Diego. You can hop on and off as well, making this a great way to get around if you don't have a car. It's fun, it's goofy, but who cares when you're on vacation?
You're going to feel like a kid again as you run aboard one of the 11 ships docked on the bay representing the Maritime Museum. This isn't a tourist trap, these are real historic ships with a lot of history and exhibits. The Star of India is the star, the worlds oldest active sailing ship, and if the HMS Surprise looks familiar it's because it was used in the movie Master and Commander.
If you thought the Old Town Trolley was embarrassing wait until you climb aboard the Seal Tour, an amphibious bus that tours the streets and then goes out into the bay. Oh my! The Go Cars are a bit more cool, tiny GPS enabled cars that guide you through the city. Both are more fun than you can imagine and if the locals are smirking know that they wish they could join you.


Oh So Fun! Lets your Fav Emoji do the talking in Gold! Combine with Letters or just all Emojis! Hand Formed 14K Gold Filled or Sterling Name Plate Necklace. Suspended on a gorgeous 2mmx1.5mm Flat Cable Chain.


text:
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
We Finally Know How Characters on Game of Thrones Keep Getting To the Wall So Fast
Bryan Menegus
Season seven of Game of Thrones has been exciting and dreadfully sloppy in equal measure. Important character arcs are rushed, motivations are confusing, and reality has gone out the window in terms of how quickly characters move between locations—particularly the route from Dragonstone to the Wall.
Jon made the journey to meet Daenerys in no time at all, and last episode the show would like us to believe Gendry ran (I guess?) from Wildling country all the way back to Eastwatch in what felt like a matter of hours. How are these people suddenly capable of Breath of the Wild-style fast travel when others (Arya, for instance) spend whole seasons wandering? An eagle-eyed Snapchat user has the answer: a goddamn pickup truck.
"But wait, I don't remember that shot at all," you may be thinking. As TV Guide points out, that's because the scene containing the truck gaffe is part of the behind-the-scenes segment that plays after each episode which nearly everyone refuses to watch. A truck never appeared in episode six, so please don't knock the editors of the show.
But a truck was north of the Wall. And I dare anyone to think of a better explanation for how this journey keeps getting shorter and shorter in a society where—for everyone except Daenerys—the fastest mode of transportation is horses. Dragonstone to the Wall is more than half the length of all of Westeros, and traveling in a straight line from one to the other passes through four unavoidable bodies of water.
The show may essentially be in fanfic territory right now, but for my money, the pickup truck is canon.


text:
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    <meta http-equiv="refresh" content="0;URL=../../../../libc/fn.mincore.html">

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Published Oct 2013 by DC/Vertigo.
First Printing (W/A/CA) Jeff Lemire It's the year 3797, and botanist Nika Temsmith is researching a strange species on a remote science station near the outermost rim of colonized space. It's the year 1921, and renowned English explorer William Pike leads an expedition into the dense jungles of Peru in search of the fabled 'Lost Temple of the Incas,' an elusive sanctuary said to have strange healing properties. Two disparate souls separated by thousands of years and hundreds of millions of miles. Yet they will fall in love and, as a result, bring about the end of the universe. Even though reality is unraveling all around them, nothing can pull them apart. This isn't just a love story; It's the LAST love story ever told. Trillium is an 8-issue series that combines rich historical adventure and mind-bending science fiction into a sprawling, unconventional love story by Jeff Lemire (SWEET TOOTH, CONSTANTINE, ANIMAL MAN). This amazing miniseries kicks off with 28-pages of story in a flip-book with two covers and two separate but connected stories!" Cover price $2.99.
Published Dec 2013 by DC/Vertigo.
Second Printing (W/A/CA) Jeff Lemire It's the year 3797, and botanist Nika Temsmith is researching a strange species on a remote science station near the outermost rim of colonized space. It's the year 1921, and renowned English explorer William Pike leads an expedition into the dense jungles of Peru in search of the fabled 'Lost Temple of the Incas,' an elusive sanctuary said to have strange healing properties. Two disparate souls separated by thousands of years and hundreds of millions of miles. Yet they will fall in love and, as a result, bring about the end of the universe. Even though reality is unraveling all around them, nothing can pull them apart. This isn't just a love story; It's the LAST love story ever told. Trillium is an 8-issue series that combines rich historical adventure and mind-bending science fiction into a sprawling, unconventional love story by Jeff Lemire (SWEET TOOTH, CONSTANTINE, ANIMAL MAN). This amazing miniseries kicks off with 28-pages of story in a flip-book with two covers and two separate but connected stories!" Cover price $2.99.
Published Nov 2013 by DC/Vertigo.
(W/A/CA) Jeff Lemire In the heart of the Amazon jungle, Nika, a scientist from the year 3797, and William, an explorer from 1921, struggle not only to survive but to make sense of the mind-bending events that have pulled them together across space and time. The mysteries continue to pile up as Vertigo's new sci-fi epic launches into high gear! Cover price $2.99.
(W/A/CA) Jeff Lemire After her mind-altering encounter with William, the wounded soldier from 1921, Nika is flung back to the far future, where she must face the repercussions of her actions. But will she be able to make sense of what's happening to her in time to stop Earthlab's genocide of the indigenous alien tribe? And can she find her way back to William? Cover price $2.99.
(W/A/CA) Jeff Lemire Everything Nika and William thought they knew is thrown into question as the world of Trillium is twisted inside out. New universes emerge in the wake of last issue's shocking ending, and William and Nika find themselves more lost than ever! Cover price $2.99.
Published Feb 2014 by DC/Vertigo.
Writing, Art, and Cover by Jeff Lemire The last love story continues to amaze in the book the critics at Big Shiny Robot call 'unique in its storytelling, dense and well-rendered... a work of artistic craftsmanship that you just don't see in comics anymore... have this title added to your pull list immediately.' Indulge in the romance and discover how the fabric of the universe will never be the same. Cover price $2.99.
Published Apr 2014 by DC/Vertigo.
Writing, Art, and Cover by Jeff Lemire. Trapped in the distant future, William tries to convince his captors of the truth and search for the missing Nika. Unexpected allies and enemies emerge as our star-crossed lovers fight to set the universe right as Vertigo's hit science fiction series nears its shocking climax! Cover price $2.99.
Published May 2014 by DC/Vertigo.
(W/A/CA) Jeff Lemire The penultimate issue of Vertigo's acclaimed sci-fi epic is here, and Nika and William are out of time-literally! The last love story ever told nears its conclusion...but what waits beyond the end of the universe? You'll have to read to find out! Cover price $2.99.
Story and Art by Jeff Lemire. What is Nika's ultimate destiny? And what role will William play in the survival of humankind? Can they finally be reunited before the universe unravels all around them? Vertigo's sci-fi epic reaches its mindbending conclusion. Cover price $2.99.


Bake up some of our Mini Cheesecake Baskets for your Easter celebration. Anybunny who's anybody will love to receive one of our Mini Cheesecake Baskets.
Place 1 wafer in each of 12 paper-lined muffin cups. Beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla with mixer until blended. Add eggs; beat just until blended. Spoon over wafers.
Bake 20 min. or until centers are almost set. Cool. Refrigerate 2 hours.
Top with coconut and jelly beans just before serving. Bend each licorice piece, then insert both ends into cheesecake to resemble the handle of a basket.
These baskets are sure to be a hit at an Easter egg hunt. They are fun to make, and each basket is an easy portion to serve.
Place coconut in small resealable plastic bag. Add a few drops food coloring; seal bag. Shake bag gently until coconut is evenly tinted.


You are invited to enjoy an authentic Southern Hospitality experience where Location meets Luxury. Accommodations at the Carriage House Inn are comprised of thirty seven guest rooms and suites throughout three buildings. Ideally located in the heart of historic downtown Aiken, we offer premium accommodations within walking distance of Aiken's finest restaurants, shopping and area attractions. Explore our different room accommodations and select the guest room that suites your hospitality needs during your visit to Aiken, South Carolina.
The Deluxe Queen Rooms are traditional guest rooms with one queen sized bed, custom designed furnishings and all the expected amenities. Deluxe Queen rooms are available in the Main Inn (275 sq ft) and the Pendleton Guest House (325 sq ft).
Please note the Pendleton Guest House is three stories and has an elevator for access to each floor. The Main Inn and Laurens Guest House guest rooms are located on the second floor and must be accessed by stairs.
All guests at Carriage House Inn enjoy complimentary hot breakfast daily and free WiFi access. All guest rooms offer cable television, telephones, irons, ironing boards, private bathrooms, soap, shampoo, lotion, hair dryers and more.
Rates may vary based on season/events. Rates are based on single or double occupancy. Additional guests: $15.00 per guest.