Peter Kaplan, client solutions lead at Funds For Learning, explains the new My E-rate Guides and lays out the latest education happenings at the FCC.
Funds For Learning, an Oklahoma-based consulting company that helps schools and libraries navigate the E-rate process, has launched a new service called My E-rate Guides.
Through monthly webinars, Q&As with E-rate experts and hourly consulting, school districts and libraries applying for broadband discounts through the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) E-rate program can get as much or as little guidance as they need.
"We've found that schools sometimes need just a little bit of assistance, rather than the full compliance services we provide," Peter Kaplan, a client solutions executive at Funds For Learning, tells EdScoop TV.
The new service provides schools answers to questions about competitive bidding, invoicing and eligibility, among other topics.
What kind of impact are you seeing from that so far?


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https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/Strippers-reach-deal-with-club-to-get-100-percent-7255101.php
Strippers reach deal with club to get 100 percent of their back pay
By Guillermo Contreras
Updated 11:17 am CDT, Monday, April 18, 2016
San Antonio Men's Club
Photo: Google Street View
Nearly 30 strippers will get an extra tip after they settled a wage lawsuit against a San Antonio gentlemen's club.
Dancer Lizbeth Leyva sued the San Antonio Men's Club in April 2015, alleging the club shortchanged its dancers on minimum and overtime pay.
A judge in September granted Leyva's request to make it a class action, and 28 other dancers joined.
The dancers' lawyers have declined to comment on the case. Terms of the settlement are confidential, but the lawyers wrote in a court document that each dancer will get 100 percent of her back pay.
"The class representative has approved the settlement on behalf of herself and the opt-in plaintiffs and has signed the parties' confidential settlement agreement and release," the dancers' lawyers wrote in a court document asking a judge to approve the deal. "Similarly, defendants have approved the settlement and have signed the agreement. All parties are in agreement as to the apportionment and distribution of the settlement funds. The settlement is in the best interest of all parties."
U.S. District Judge Fred Biery approved the deal late last week.
Levya danced at the San Antonio Men's Club from 2007 to 2015 and she was never paid a wage by the club, said the suit.
Instead, the San Antonio Men's Club treated its dancers as independent contractors rather than employees. Any money she made was from tips dancing for club patrons, Levya alleged in her suit.
The federal lawsuit came on the heels of one that ended with a $250,000 judgment against another local gentleman's club, Tiffany's Cabaret.
gcontreras@express-news.net
Twitter@express-news.net

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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US Sanctions Russian Oligarchs
By William Gallo
Russia's President Vladimir Putin, left, and Russian metals magnate Oleg Deripaska, right, walk to attend the APEC Business Advisory Council dialogue in Danang, Vietnam, Nov. 10, 2017.
The Trump administration on Friday announced wide-ranging sanctions against 38 Russian individuals and companies, part of what senior administration officials billed as a response "to address Russia's pattern of malign activities" around the world.
The sanctions will be imposed on seven Russian oligarchs — including Oleg Deripaska, an aluminum magnate and close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin — and 12 companies they own or control. Seventeen senior Russian government officials, as well as a state-owned Russian weapons trading company and its subsidiary, a Russian bank, also will be targeted.
U.S. officials say the sanctions are "not in response to any single event or issue," but are aimed at countering the "totality of the Russian government's ongoing and increasingly brazen pattern of malign activity around the world."
In a briefing with reporters, the officials cited Russia's occupation of Crimea, the destabilizing of eastern Ukraine, support for the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad, Moscow's "ongoing malicious cyber activity," and "Russia's continued attacks to subvert Western democracies."
"Elites are not immune from accountability from the actions of the Russian government," a U.S. official said, adding that Russian oligarchs should use their position of influence to "put an end to this cycle of destabilizing Russian activity around the globe."
The oligarchs, the official said, have "reaped great benefits under the Putin regime and play a key role in its malign agenda."
The sanctions will block all of the oligarchs' assets that are subject to U.S. jurisdiction, and U.S. persons will be "generally prohibited" from dealing with the sanctioned entities, officials said. Any entities owned 50 percent or more by any of the subjects also will be subject to the sanctions.
Buses believed to be carrying expelled diplomats l
Buses believed to be carrying expelled diplomats leave the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, Russia, April 5, 2018. Russia last week ordered 60 American diplomats to leave the country by Thursday, in retaliation for the United States expelling the same number of Ru
The move comes after Britain, the United States and other NATO countries expelled more than 150 Russian diplomats in a show of solidarity over the poisoning of a former Russian spy and his daughter, who were attacked with a nerve agent in Britain.
The spy, Sergei Skripal, 66, remains in a British hospital following the March 4 poisoning that Britain has blamed on Russia. The attack on the Skripals set off wide diplomatic recriminations, between the West and Moscow, that were reminiscent of the Cold War standoffs of the 1950s.
Russia has adamantly denied involvement and expelled an equal number of Western envoys. There was no immediate Russian reaction to the latest sanctions.
This story was written by William Gallo
Top Spy Official: US Will Take More Steps Against Russia
The Trump administration is weighing further retaliation against Russia for meddling in the election and interfering in the affairs of the United States and its allies, the top U.S. intelligence official said Wednesday."This is under considerable consideration and more things will be done — and soon — above where we are right now," National Intelligence Director Dan Coats told reporters at a breakfast briefing. "I would just say stay tuned on that. I think we are…
Russia Calls Diplomat Expulsions 'Mockery' of Law
Russia's top diplomat on Thursday described the British accusations against Moscow over the nerve agent poisoning of an ex-spy as a mockery of international law and said Russia will push to find out the truth. Britain has blamed Russia for the March 4 poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter. In response, more than two dozen Western allies including Britain, the U.S. and NATO have ordered out over 150 Russian diplomats in a show of solidarity. Moscow has fiercely…
British Leaders Forced to Defend Charge of Russian Hand in Poisoning
Sixty U.S. diplomats expelled by the Kremlin in the escalating dispute over the poisoning of a former Russian spy and his daughter in Britain were seen leaving the U.S. embassy in Moscow Thursday.Their departure from the Russian capital came as British ministers faced awkward questions about whether they had blundered by over-stating their case blaming Russia for the nerve agent attack that left Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, in critical condition.Yulia Skripal's…
By Jamie Dettmer
William Gallo


If you want to wow your prospective purchasers, then a whole house water filter system is sure to do the trick. Affordable and easy to install, a water filter for your entire property guarantees clean, pure water for everything from drinking to showering and doing laundry. Many health-conscious people these days know that the benefits of using filtered water are immense, and your potential buyers will be sure to appreciate that the water quality in their new home is first-rate.
If you're looking to get the best price for your home, pay attention to the gardens. A small investment in your garden area can equate to a massive 5.5-12.7 percent increase in your home's value. In some properties, that's thousands of dollars extra for a few hundred dollars spent! Making your outdoor areas attractive doesn't take a lot of time, either: sometimes all it requires is mowing the lawns, creating a patio space, adding outdoor lighting and new plants for color, and taking care of the wedding. Before long, you'll have an outdoor paradise that all your prospective buyers will be swooning over.
You'll notice in many real estate agents' photos that every room has at least one light switched on. This is because lighting makes a room appear warm, welcoming, and spacious, which is a major source of attraction for homebuyers. If your lights aren't up to scratch, your walls are too dark, or parts of your home are gloomy, it's time to make a change. Invest in better lighting (be it brighter bulbs or contemporary wall sconces), add a fresh lick of neutral paint, and make changes with your furniture to remove those unsavory shadowy corners.
The kitchen is the heart of the home, which is why it should be one of your biggest priorities if you're looking to boost your resale value. If your kitchen is dark, outdated, or lacking in cabinetry and storage space, it's time to take a trip to the hardware store. Fortunately, you don't need to spend a fortune to give your kitchen a new lease of life: give the cabinetry a fresh coat of paint, change out old handles for a more contemporary feel, and add new lighting so that the space appears brighter. If you lack space, invest in space-saver furniture, a butcher's block, and hanging utensil racks to show you've covered all bases.
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You don't have to spend a significant amount of money to add maximum value to your home: all it takes is a little bit of time and creativity. Take note of these tips above, and prepare to crack open the champagne when you land the best price on sale day!


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2019 Works, Three Men and...Stories, State of Jefferson Stories,
Short Stories First Published in an Anthology
Works Set in the United States
Works Set in the 1890s
Three Men and a Sasquatch
"Three Men and a Sasquatch"
Harry Turtledove
Next Stop on the #13
Drake and McTrowell
A.J. Sikes, B.J. Sikes, and Dover Whitecliff
"Three Men and a Werewolf" (Three Men and...Stories)
"Typecasting" (State of Jefferson Stories, publication order)
"Visitor from the East" (State of Jefferson Stories, internal chronology)
"Three Men and a Sasquatch" is a short story by Harry Turtledove, first appearing in the anthology Next Stop on the #13 (Trade paperback, January, 2019[1], ebook August, 2019[2]) It is the third in a series of stories that pastiche Jerome K. Jerome's work, Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog). It also ties into the State of Jefferson Stories series, serving as a prequel set in the 1890s.[3]
J narrates a travelogue of his trip to San Francisco with George and Harris. While visiting San Francisco's Chinatown, they encounter a sasquatch named Charlie Lewis, a native of northern California who is studying law in San Francisco, with the short term goal of helping his fellow sasquatches, and a long-term goal of entering politics. Later, they encounter Lewis again at an establishment where he serves as a bouncer.
This story is also unusual in that it ties together two works, the Three Men Stories and the State of Jefferson stories, in a way that Turtledove has rarely done. It also serves as a direct appearance and brief origin story for Charlie "Bigfoot" Lewis, who becomes the first sasquatch governor of Jefferson.
"Three Men and a Sasquatch" · "Visitor from the East" · "Peace is Better" · "Typecasting" · Three Bill Williamson Stories ("Something Fishy" · "Always Something New" · "Tie a Yellow Ribbon")
Bill Williamson · J
Jefferson · Yreka · Tibet · Ashland · Flores, Indonesia · Iran
Sasquatch · Yeti · Merfolk · Hobbit
Three Men and...Stories
"Three Men and a Vampire" · "Three Men and a Werewolf" · "Three Men and a Sasquatch"
Jerome K. Jerome Characters
J · George · Harris · Montmorency · Stivvings
Abraham Van Helsing · Unnamed Vampire · Lee Ho Fook · Warren Z. Wolfe · Charlie "Bigfoot" Lewis
Retrieved from "https://turtledove.fandom.com/wiki/Three_Men_and_a_Sasquatch?oldid=320294"
State of Jefferson Stories


text:
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Client Conversation:
Meet Defence's 'Digital Ninja'
InsightsFeaturesClient Conversation: Meet Defence's 'Digital Ninja'
Exploiting the potential of new technologies requires the best and brightest at decision-making tables – such as the team who make up the Defence Digital Service at the UK's Ministry of Defence. Here, Mivy James sits down with its leader, Richard Crowther, to hear about life as a start-up in the heart of government
Take a walk through the Ministry of Defence (MoD) main building today and you can't help but notice that it is quieter than usual. Of course, there are people still rushing to and fro – defending the realm does not pause for Coronavirus – but the buzz, the atmosphere, is markedly softer than usual.
The empty desks are a testament to not only the impact of the pandemic but also a digital revolution now well underway across the department.
While many teams – both civilian and military – are involved, the increasing sway of Richard Crowther and his colleagues at the Defence Digital Service (DDS) is apparent across the MoD.
From digitising the way in which the military understands its' available resources to respond to operational needs to busting cyber security myths, DDS' impact has been swift and far-reaching. No wonder Crowther and his team have been christened the department's "digital ninjas". Crowther, however, is just getting started.
Growth spurt
"We often think of ourselves as a start-up," says Crowther, and it's easy to see why. Operational for just under a year, DDS is part of the MoD's Defence Digital organisation, which is responsible for ensuring that effective digital and information technology is put into the hands of the military and business frontline.
While DDS' numbers are currently comparatively small – "we have six staff with a couple of additional teams working on specific projects which takes us to just shy of 20 people," says Crowther – they pack a mighty digital punch. Partly that's because each team member is an expert in their field. "We're building a team that is highly capable," he adds.
"We need a team that can pick off difficult digital challenges or problems that might be too abstract to outsource. We want an in-house capability where we can take the digital techniques and ways of working developed elsewhere and apply them to Defence problems. I see myself tasked with building self-confidence in our ability to deliver and use these modern techniques on difficult pan-Defence challenges. That is at the core of what DDS is all about."
"We want an in-house capability where we can take the digital techniques and ways of working developed elsewhere and apply them to Defence problems"
Richard Crowther, Head of Digital Defence Service at the UK's Ministry of Defence (MoD)
And of course, DDS is not operating in isolation – anything but. There is a growing ecosystem of digital "start-ups" operating across Defence which, in time, will be federated and scaled up. These include the Navy Digital Service, the Army Digital Service, similar capabilities in the RAF, and several more, which are sharing best practices and capabilities.
Another way of understanding the DDS role is by viewing them as a digital "skunkworks" team. Skunkworks, which refers to a small group of people who enjoy a high degree of autonomy in order to develop radically innovative ideas and solutions, is a term widely used by and to describe a their colleagues across the pond – the US Digital Defense Service – and Crowther says that a shared lexicon is only one part of their budding, dare I say, 'special relationship'.
"They are very good friends of ours who are playing a bit of a mentoring role as we get ourselves established," he explains. "It makes sense as they have been through a similar journey to the one we're on and have a lot of lessons to share – we also hold similar values and a stubborn resolve to get things done."
So how has DDS found its first year? Where have Crowther and his team been focusing their efforts?
It transpires that much of their energy has been directed towards overcoming the challenges of the cultural and commercial aspects of life in government. "It can be quite hard to walk the path of balancing security, user needs and cost," admits Crowther. "So while we are walking that path we are trying to share how we approach projects so other teams across Defence can benefit from that as well."
They are taking a similar approach to balancing the benefits of Agile with the commercial restrictions that often spring up across the whole of government, not just Defence. This is because the rules of spending taxpayers money lends itself to a waterfall methodology, which assumes the details of a solution are clear before you even embark on a new project.
This is particularly important when beginning a multi-year programme as it's never clear at the start what the final technical solution will be. Asked if DDS can help address those needs while also being able to bring in emerging technology, Crowther says it's absolutely a priority. "The way that we traditionally do our budgetary planning makes it quite difficult to work in an Agile way," he concedes.
"For example, planning funding is very difficult as we won't know the exact skills profile of the team or the technologies needed for each project when we're at the beginning of development – we need the flexibility to change tack as our understanding of the problem evolves. Trying to fit in with the traditional approach results in a bit of a stop-start journey, and that's not sustainable for long. We haven't cracked this problem yet but we know there are good examples in other government departments that we can learn from, and making some headway in this area will be vital for us to scale."
Expectations vs reality
Crowther is himself relatively new to the Defence world. Having studied computer systems engineering at university, he joined the civil service as a technologist and has worked closely with many departments in the public sector, including the Government Digital Service (GDS) and the Home Office among others.
He was then tapped by the MoD's CIO, Charles Forte, to come and head up DDS. "Ultimately I'm an engineer and problem solver that can work with techies and senior leaders alike. I love to get in to the technical detail of particular problems but also enjoy trying to change things at scale – both aspects are needed to overcome the barriers that we have to digital delivery," he reflects. "However, having been in this post since January I can't really describe myself as 'new' any longer."
He goes on to say that he has been pleasantly surprised by the sheer quality of the leadership within the Defence Digital organisation, as well as the common alignment when it comes to future plans.
"There is some great leadership around that has been coming together behind a shared vision," he says. "I've also got to know a lot of people in uniform and there is certainly a lot of talent in the military that can be applied to these digital problems. I've been struck by the number of people interested, excited and wanting to get involved. One of my challenges is how to harness that passion – I'm really excited by the prospect developing our own internal 'digital ninjas' as well as bringing in experts from the outside as well."
Of course, one thing that he we can't have foreseen would have been the COVID-19 pandemic, which has forced his team, like so many others, into the daily routine of remote working – hardly ideal for such a new unit. "We have new teams formed that have never met each other – one of them got together in a park recently to rectify that," he says.
Crowther has himself been heavily involved in identifying the strategic implications of this way of working for those in Defence. "As well as supporting an immediate shift to remote working for much of Defence and the rolling out of technology for the Nightingale Hospitals, the CIO commissioned an additional group to take more of a long term view about how the technology in Defence and our ways of working needed to change to take better advantage of remote working."
Crowther ended up leading a virtual team which looked at the technology the MoD has provided to people for remote working, as well as the cultural aspects of such a shift. "We identified a significant need arising from how people can find information in Defence which is exacerbated when you're not in the office and without an easy network of people to ask. This led to a DDS project trying to help people find and share information. So in a way, it's been an opportunity to find ways we could improve across Defence."
Mapping the year ahead
So what's next for Crowther and DDS? It's clear he wants to maintain the momentum of the preceding months and to do that he is focusing hard on delivery.
"By this time next year, DDS should have a portfolio of examples of services it has delivered – we need to do this to earn trust that we can deliver," he says. This 'strategy by delivery' is a direct reflection of the approach embraced by the early GDS pioneers. For example, its first director, Mike Bracken, was clear that his role was to deliver – often, iteratively and repetitively.
"This is something that has been driving my team from the start – we didn't write a strategy about how we are going to do digital transformation, we thought we'd just better get on and start doing it."
With this in mind, he pinpoints growing the digital delivery capability in the centre of Defence as a key objective. "I hope we'll have made significant headway in terms of applying modern thinking to things like security accreditation and assurance processes," he adds. "We think we can improve security whilst reducing bureaucracy and in doing so help all teams across Defence to get things done."
"We didn't write a strategy about how we are going to do digital transformation, we thought we'd just better get on and start doing it"
And perhaps unsurprisingly he also identifies legacy technology as an area ripe for investigation. "Legacy is a big priority – there is a big cross-government push on addressing legacy technology, so it's not just in Defence. The more we can reduce our technical debt the more capacity we'll free up to move forwards," he says.
"I see us playing a role in helping set the standards for these things and maybe making sure we are focused on the right things as well. There is a tendency in Defence to write a lot of rules about how things should be done – I think we should be focusing rules and standards on the essentials whilst empowering teams to make risk-based judgements supported by clearer guidance."
Steps to strides
A newbie no longer, Crowther is evidently fired up and ready to continue the momentum of DDS' first year in operation – pandemic or no pandemic. "At the end of the day, my role is about boosting Defence's self confidence in its ability to do incredible things with digital and technology," he concludes. "I want us to remove some of the mystique and the barriers so many more people can do it, not just the DDS team. That's what I'm here for."
His enthusiasm – both palpable and infectious – reflects both progress made and work still ahead. And certainly, while his is clearly a pivotal and high-pressured role, he shows no visible signs of bearing any burden.
Quite the opposite, in fact.
Mivy James is Head of Consulting for National Security, BAE Systems Applied Intelligence
mivy.james@baesystems.com
Defence's Digital Disruptor. Major General Tom Copinger-Symes CBE may lack a digital background but his has been a career steeped in military achievements, professional ascent and ongoing drive and curiosity. So how did this "knuckle-dragging infantryman" find himself spearheading the British military's embrace of all things digital? Mivy James investigates…
Stepping up on Cyber Defence. Christine Maxwell is a woman on a mission – a cyber mission. She tells Mivy James about overseeing the ever evolving challenge of Cyber Defence and Risk at the UK's Ministry of Defence
The appliance of science in Defence. Dr Paul Kealey's has been a life spent pushing boundaries. He tells Mike Stratford about exploiting cutting edge science and technology to strengthen the UK's defences
Delivering digital change in Defence. Continuing our examination of Agile working, Kevin McLeod spotlights the technological whirlwind reshaping the UK's Defence sector. But with change comes challenges...
Making the Ministry of Defence more Agile. Agile working is by no means limited to the private sector. Continuing our series examining transformation, Mivy James sits down with the MoD's Adrian Bailey to talk process, product and pace
Building an Artificial Defence. Although the potential for Artificial Intelligence in Defence is clear, it's important not to get ahead of ourselves. David Henstock explains why it's more marathon than sprint
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Outside rail of curve near point of derailment (Credits: Chicago Transit Authority).
On July 11, 2006, a car on the Chicago Transit Authority Blue line subway train derailed in downtown Chicago, Illinois. Following the derailment, the train came to a stop, and electrical arcing between the last car and the 600-volt direct current third rail generated smoke.
Approximately 1,000 passengers were on the eight-car train at the time of the derailment, and all had to be evacuated.
Immediately following the derailment the train operator exited the control compartment and walked onto the catwalk to determine what had happened. The operator also used his portable two-way radio to inform controllers of the situation. When he saw thick smoke the operator decided to tell passengers to exit the train, and he did this by walking from car to car to make the announcement. However, some passengers could not hear the announcement, and there was some confusion during this time. One of the passengers exiting the train used an emergency call box to inform Chicago Transit Authority personnel of the problem. In doing so, the passenger provided the call box number, which should have allowed immediate determination of the location of the derailment. However, in the months before the accident call box numbers had been changed to accommodate a new numbering system, but the subway maps had not been updated with the new call box numbers. Because emergency responders did not have specific information about the location of the train, emergency responders first went to the wrong location. This delayed care for injured passengers.
Approximately 150 people were treated and transported from the scene, but there were no fatalities in the incident. Over $1 million in damage was reported.
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) found that the derailment was caused by failure of the track tie plates and fastener system, which had failed because of the effects of corrosion and wear. While this was the proximate cause of the accident, the report stated that the root cause of the derailment was ineffective management and oversight of the track inspection and maintenance program, which resulted in unsafe track conditions. Track inspectors did not have sufficient time allotted for inspecting all their assigned territory, and the training program did not prepare inspectors to perform their duties, according to the accident investigation report. The NTSB also stated that previously-identified safety deficiencies had not been corrected. The NTSB in particular noted that the system safety program was ineffective. The NTSB stated that a System Safety Program Plan existed which delineated responsibilities for safety. The plan included provisions for preventative maintenance, repair, and inspections. However, the plan was not followed. Personnel were not required to monitor the track structure, and did not have sufficient experience to perform their duties, according to the NTSB. The NTSB also noted a failure in emergency planning which led to confusion and ineffective evacuations during the incident. The report recommended improvements in the approaches to safety management and emergency response.
may contain this information. The SSPP establishes the management of the system safety program, defines the technical methodology to analyze hazards and reduce risks, and defines the products that result from the system safety program.
The SSPP describes how the system safety program will be managed. However, another aspect of safety planning that is just as important is emergency planning. While there is some overlap between emergency management and system safety, emergency management is a unique discipline with its own approaches to reducing risks. Emergency management historically has focused on what happens when the danger is imminent or the accident has already occurred.
Emergency management typically allocates its resources to assuring that widespread injury and damage do not occur if an event takes place. In space systems, emergency response planning may be important for ground crews preparing a vehicle for flight, especially when toxic and reactive chemicals are used. Crew survivability assessments and plans are also emergency management activities used when space systems include human crew.
Planning is an important part of the system safety process. System Safety Program Plans allow an organization to prepare for the system safety effort and apply the appropriate resources to that effort. Emergency response plans allow organizations to prepare for the worst to minimize injury and damage. Poor system safety program planning can set the tone for the entire safety effort, resulting in failures to identify hazards, assess risks, and verify that safeguards work, as will be described in chapters to follow. Poor emergency planning, including inadequate flight crew safety assessments, can lead to death, injury, and significant environmental and property damage when systems do not operate as expected. A failure to ensure that emergency management and system safety are integrated can lead to a misunderstanding of an organization's level of preparedness. Plans that do not reflect reality may create the impression that an effective organization is in place and that risks have been reduced, when in fact large risks could exist.
As illustrated by the train derailment in Chicago, plans must not only be prepared, but they must also be an on-going part of the safety effort throughout the system life cycle.
National Transportation Safety Board, "Railroad Accident Report: Department of Chicago Transit Authority Train Number 220 Between Clark/Lake and Grand/Milwaukee Stations, Chicago, Illinois, July 11, 2006," NTSB/RAR-07/02, September 11, 2007.


"Secondary Organic Aerosol Formation from the β-Pinene+NO3 System: Effe" by C. M. Boyd, J. Sanchez et al.
The formation of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) from the oxidation of β-pinene via nitrate radicals is investigated in the Georgia Tech Environmental Chamber (GTEC) facility. Aerosol yields are determined for experiments performed under both dry (relative humidity (RH) < 2 %) and humid (RH = 50 % and RH = 70 %) conditions. To probe the effects of peroxy radical (RO2) fate on aerosol formation, "RO2 + NO3 dominant" and "RO2 + HO2 dominant" experiments are performed. Gas-phase organic nitrate species (with molecular weights of 215, 229, 231, and 245 amu, which likely correspond to molecular formulas of C10H17NO4, C10H15NO5, C10H17NO5, and C10H15NO6, respectively) are detected by chemical ionization mass spectrometry (CIMS) and their formation mechanisms are proposed. The NO+ (at m/z 30) and NO2+ (at m/z 46) ions contribute about 11 % to the combined organics and nitrate signals in the typical aerosol mass spectrum, with the NO+ : NO2+ ratio ranging from 4.8 to 10.2 in all experiments conducted. The SOA yields in the "RO2 + NO3 dominant" and "RO2 + HO2 dominant" experiments are comparable. For a wide range of organic mass loadings (5.1–216.1 μg m−3), the aerosol mass yield is calculated to be 27.0–104.1 %. Although humidity does not appear to affect SOA yields, there is evidence of particle-phase hydrolysis of organic nitrates, which are estimated to compose 45–74 % of the organic aerosol. The extent of organic nitrate hydrolysis is significantly lower than that observed in previous studies on photooxidation of volatile organic compounds in the presence of NOx. It is estimated that about 90 and 10 % of the organic nitrates formed from the β-pinene+NO3 reaction are primary organic nitrates and tertiary organic nitrates, respectively. While the primary organic nitrates do not appear to hydrolyze, the tertiary organic nitrates undergo hydrolysis with a lifetime of 3–4.5 h. Results from this laboratory chamber study provide the fundamental data to evaluate the contributions of monoterpene + NO3 reaction to ambient organic aerosol measured in the southeastern United States, including the Southern Oxidant and Aerosol Study (SOAS) and the Southeastern Center for Air Pollution and Epidemiology (SCAPE) study.
Published in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, v. 15, issue 13, p. 7497-7522.
This research was funded by US Environmental Protection Agency STAR grant (Early Career) RD-83540301. L. Xu is in part supported by NSF grant 1242258 and US EPA STAR grant R834799. W. Y. Tuet is in part supported by the Health Effects Institute under research agreement no. 4943-RFA13-2/14-4. M.I. Guzman wishes to acknowledge support from NSF CAREER award (CHE-1255290).
Boyd, C. M.; Sanchez, J.; Xu, L.; Eugene, Alexis J.; Nah, T.; Tuet, W. Y.; Guzman, Marcelo I.; and Ng, N. L., "Secondary Organic Aerosol Formation from the β-Pinene+NO3 System: Effect of Humidity and Peroxy Radical Fate" (2015). Chemistry Faculty Publications. 39.


London, United Kingdom (September 14, 2018) – With globalisation, it is not uncommon to use products and even services from other countries for even the most sensitive activities. While such a practice has its benefits, it can come with potential risks and one of such risks recently became a clear and present danger.
Recently, the UK's NCSC (National Cyber Security Centre) put out a warning which advised UK companies and persons to refrain from using products or services provided by ZTE, the fourth-largest supplier of telecom equipment in the world. The company offers everything from mobile phones to servers and telecommunications equipment for personal and industrial use.
The statement from the NCSC was made public on the 15th of April, which just so happens to be the same day the US Department of Commerce effectively barred the selling of equipment and components to ZTE by American companies.
But why all this hubbub about ZTE equipment? Well ZTE is a Chinese firm and it seems the company has been using its products to spy on people in other countries. This accusations aren't lightly made especially in light of the letter from the NCSC Technical Director, Ian Levy, which stated that the use of ZTE equipment within the UK's telecommunications infrastructure poses a huge risk to national security. The letter was made public by the Financial Times.
The letter was circulated to network operators in the U.K. and many are taking the warning very seriously. But bear in mind that NCSC's letter specifies ZTE's infrastructure equipment, not its smartphones.
According to IHS Markit, ZTE stands in fourth place while Huawei takes the lead when it comes to the supply of telecom equipment. Huawei is also a major infrastructure equipment supplier in the U.K. The company's presence in the UK market is so big the government opened a special department just to monitor its activities in the country – the HCSEC.
ZTE and Huawei have both been singled out by US spy agencies and private cybersecurity companies as posing a potential threat to national security. But unlike Huawei which is privately owned, ZTE is owned by the state which raises more concerns for the NCSC concerning the company's possible Chinese government backed activities in the UK.
Also unlike ZTE, Huawei has gone the extra mile to allay such concerns and prove ethical business operations by establishing a centre in Banbury. This is the Huawei Cyber Security Evaluation Centre also known as "the Cell". At the centre, engineers and other experts monitor and examine Huawei's products as well as source code to determine if Huawei's products don't pose a national threat. The Cell's operations are generally considered to be a success.
While no backdoors or other hanky-panky have been found in Huawei's products, the same cannot be said for ZTE's. In 2012, a backdoor was found installed in certain ZTE phones. The existence of such gives credence to the suspicion of the NCSC and the warning of Advanced Data Recovery UK that British consumers should be wary of ZTE products.
Advanced Data Recovery is a UK firm established in 2002 that specialises in the successful retrieval of data from a wide variety of devices including phones, computers, and computers. If you lost data that is important to you either due to an accidental delete or other accident, the company can get it recovered fast. Businesses, actors, singers, and football clubs are just a few of the clients the company has served in the past.


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Lukas Johannes Hagen (* 8. Mai 1962 in Salzburg) ist ein österreichischer Violinist und Hochschullehrer.

Leben
Lukas Hagen ist der älteste Sohn eines Solobratschisten und Konzertmeisters des Mozarteum-Orchesters, Salzburg. Wie auch seine Geschwister Clemens, Angelika und Veronika wurde Lukas bereits früh von seinem Vater musikalisch gefördert. Hagen studierte Violine am Mozarteum Salzburg bei Helmut Zehetmair, er schloss 1983 mit Auszeichnung ab. Nach seinem Studium erhielt er ein Jahr Privatunterricht bei Gidon Kremer, des Weiteren studierte er bei Nikolaus Harnoncourt und Walter Levin vom LaSalle String Quartet. Die Teilnahme in Jurys internationaler Wettbewerbe und Meisterklassen ermöglichten ihm die Zusammenarbeit mit Künstlern wie Oleg Maisenberg, Heinrich Schiff, András Schiff und Wladimir Aschkenasi.

Als Solist trat er bei der Salzburger Mozartwoche und den Salzburger Festspielen auf. International bekannt machten ihn seine Konzerte in Amsterdam, Brüssel, Paris, den USA, Japan, Italien und Großbritannien. Zudem war Hagen sieben Jahre lang Konzertmeister des Chamber Orchestra of Europe und ist Violinist im Serapion Ensemble. Bekannt machten ihn vor allem seine Interpretationen Dmitri Schostakowitschs und César Francks.

Seit 1999 ist Lukas Hagen Professor für Violine und Kammermusik am Mozarteum in Salzburg. Ab dem 24. November 2006 war er zudem Vizerektor der Universität und zuständig für die Koordination künstlerischer Projekte. Im Februar 2018 übernahm er den Jury-Vorsitz beim 13. Internationalen Mozartwettbewerb in der Kategorie Streichquartette.

Zusammen mit dem Hagen-Quartett, welches er als erster Geiger leitet, gewann er mehrere erste Preise bei internationalen Wettbewerben in Portsmouth und Évian. Zudem besteht seit 1985 ein Exklusivvertrag mit der Deutschen Grammophon Gesellschaft.

Gemeinsam mit seiner Frau Iris gründete Lukas Hagen 2004 das Volks- und Kammermusikfestival "Hagen Open Festival" auf der Burg Feistritz in der Nähe von Wien.

Lukas Hagen hat eine moderne Violine aus der Werkstatt von Stefan-Peter Greiner erworben. Zeitweise spielte er die Stradivari "ex Rewark" von 1724 aus der Sammlung der Oesterreichischen Nationalbank. Derzeit (2018) spielt er eine Stradivari aus dem Jahr 1734.

Weblinks
 Biographie auf der Homepage des Mozarteum Salzburg

 Biografie des Hagen Quartetts impresariat-simmenauer.de

Einzelnachweise

Klassischer Geiger
Hochschullehrer (Universität Mozarteum Salzburg)
Musiker (Österreich)
Österreicher
Geboren 1962
Mann

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Donald Trump goes missing in action as rain falls on his armistice parade
Grant Tucker
November 11 2018, 12:01am, The Sunday Times
President Trump leaves the Elysee palace after talks with Emmanuel Macron. He later cancelled a visit to an American cemetery because of the rain
Donald Trump came under fire yesterday after he cancelled a visit to the Aisne-Marne American cemetery in Belleau, northern France, because of bad weather.
Rain grounded the Marine One helicopter that was due to take him to the site, which honours Americans who gave their lives in the First World War.
Sir Nicholas Soames, the Conservative MP and grandson of Sir Winston Churchill, tweeted: "They died with their face to the foe and that pathetic inadequate Donald Trump couldn't even defy the weather to pay his respects."
The White House said in a statement: "The president and first lady's trip to Ainse-Marne American cemetery and memorial has been cancelled due to scheduling and logistical difficulties caused by the weather.
"An American delegation will attend on…


Did you know that head lice are incredible tiny? Like, 2-4 millimeters small! They can only survive on the human head, where they feast on our blood and reproduce continuously. Once fertilized, the female louse will remain fertile for her entire lifespan, spawning new lice constantly. These bugs are difficult to remove, especially when they are extremely young and at their smallest. A simple comb-through will not work whatsoever, and over the counter chemical-based products are as useless as anything that comes. At Lice Lifters, we have designed methods that are guaranteed to remove lice on the first try. We have a success rate of 99.9% with all patients with our lice treatment in Hurst, TX.
You have probably heard about using mayonnaise, margarine, or butter to suffocate head lice completely from your scalp. Unfortunately, these are not actually effective methods to kill off the lice. You may see some success when trying out a method like this, but not all will be removed. Those left behind will continue to reproduce at an extraordinary rate to replenish their lost young. The only surefire method to remove lice once and for all is by using a lice treatment in Hurst, TX, directly in our offices. We have guaranteed products designed to kill lice at all stages.
We have priced our services accordingly, but have also guaranteed affordability for families seeking to remove their lice problem. A simple head check will cost $30.00 per person, while an entire treatment will cost $125 per person. Finally, the first application of our wonderful Lice Solution will cost $30.00. This solution has been designed to kill off lice with the aforementioned 99.9% success rate. We recommend purchasing extra bottles to bring some home for further treatments where necessary.
Children typically fear any sort of medical office environment. They may attribute treatment with painful shots and nasty medicine. The fear of a doctor or other professionals can stick in their mind for quite some time. Lice treatment should never bring fear, though. The process is so simple, straightforward, and completely safe. Your child may actually enjoy our process as we comb through the hair, searching for any signs of lice. Once we're done, that pesky itch will be no more, and the discomfort of head lice will be gone.
At Lice Lifters Treatment Centers, we aim to create a safe and welcoming environment for everyone, children especially. The thought of anyone living in fear of a visit to our office is simply too much. We have designed our products and treatments from the ground up to be simple and safe. Unlike over-the-counter medications, there are no adverse side effects to deal with!
Head lice are considered an infestation due to how easily they can spread. Anyone is susceptible to a head lice infestation. Children, however, are typically at an increased risk for head lice due to their close proximity to each other and lack of situational awareness. Kids have no qualms about sharing their hair products, hats, scarves, or otherwise. These products and items typically make the perfect vehicle for transmission.
Lice are easily transferable, which helps them spread so quickly. When your child, who may be a student at the local school, comes down with head lice, they are typically removed from class. This act is not malicious. Instead, it is simply to prevent the fast spread of head lice amongst classmates.
Everyone wants a fast treatment solution for head lice. Most will turn to their local drugstore for an over-the-counter product that promises prompt results with just one treatment. Well, unfortunately, those treatment products fail to solve the problem. In fact, most shelf products cause irritation, including rashes, or simply fail to stop the spread of lice.
Head Check – We'll sift through every inch of your scalp in search of head lice, nits, or signs of an infestation.
Comb-Out – Once we've located any head lice, we'll begin a meticulous comb-out to remove as many stubborn nits as possible.
All-Natural Killing Agent – The Lice Lifters Lice Solution Treatment is a comfortable, safe product designed to kill head lice promptly.
That's it! Once treatment and you're done!
If you have ever had the misfortune of dealing with head lice personally, then you likely know of the itch and discomfort. It's often too much, especially for children or those who have never dealt with head lice in the past. Everyone wants a permanent solution. Head lice are a temporary problem, though. Still, Lice Lifters Treatment Centers offer a comprehensive treatment solution designed to work wonders. Just one treatment – that's all it takes!
Our treatment process begins with a thorough head check. We then move to a meticulous comb-out, which helps remove as many pesky nits and adult lice as possible. Once that's complete – usually an hour or so in – then we apply a generous helping of our all-natural killing agent. That's all there is to it. Once we apply the solution, you'll be sent back to the comfort of your own home. Just one treatment in our office is all it takes to permanently remove head lice from your scalp. Of course, we recommend avoiding anyone with head lice afterwards, otherwise the infestation may spread once more.
If you are in need of lice treatment in Hurst, TX, or simply want to purchase our Lice Solution for yourself, give us a call or stop in to the office today.


Former Knight Brad Hodge's brutal last-over assault on Brett Lee at the Nehru Stadium was just the tonic Kochi Tuskers needed to breathe fresh life into their stuttering IPL 4 campaign.
That 21-run over gave the Tuskers a total (156/5) which was defendable with tight bowling and sharp fielding. And Mahela Jayawardene's boys did just that, pinning the high-flying Kolkata Knight Riders down to 139/7 for a well-deserved 17-run win.
It was the Tuskers' second triumph over the Knights in two starts, having defended a much lower total at the Eden Gardens a fortnight back. The Tuskers, who now move to Indore for their final two 'home' games, have 10 points and need to win at least 3 out of their remaining four games. The Knights are slightly better placed, and must clinch 2 of their last 4 to be sure of a knock-out berth, but they have been given plenty to think about.
To chase down a target close to 8 runs an over, the Knights needed a brisk start and at least two of their top guns to fire. Eoin Morgan did (66 off 51 balls), but he alone didn't have it in him to carry KKR over the line.
Except the first 5 overs – when Morgan and Kallis collected 40 runs as Sreesanth and RP Singh erred in length and direction — KKR didn't look to be in business. And this despite Morgan being there till the 19th over. The introduction of the tall and stockily built Prasanth Parmeswaran slowed down the scoring considerably. The left-arm pacer, Man of the Match in Kochi's previous game against the Daredevils, checked the run flow with some clever variations in pace and length.
With Vinay Kumar bowling steadily and Raiphi Gomez sending back Kallis and Gautam Gambhir off successive balls in the 11th over, KKR's task was made even more difficult. Manoj Tiwary struggled, for a change, and Yusuf Pathan wasn't given the luxury of freeing his arms.
KKR earlier read the pitch wrong and played an extra spinner in Sarabjit Ladda, 'resting' Lakshmipathy Balaji despite seeing a tinge of green on the 22-yard strip. The pedestrian leggie bowled no more than an over in which he conceded 13 runs.
Even then, the KKR bowlers did a decent job for 19 overs, when they looked on course to restricting the Tuskers to 140 or thereabouts. Skipper Mahela Jayawardene once more shone through, stroking a classy 55 (41b, 2×4, 2×6) to hold the Kochi innings together. But KKR hadn't counted Hodge playing a blinder.
He tore into fellow-Aussie Lee with a sequence of 6, 4, 6, 4, 1 off the final 5 balls of the innings to spoil the pacer's day. Hodge began the carnage with a pulled six over midwicket, and then as Lee pitched them up, peppered the offside with three more meaty blows.
Lee's fourth and final over was some contrast to his first. Brendon McCullum was made to look a novice as Lee tormented him with some late swing. The frustrated Kiwi slashed at a widish ball from Jaidev Unadkat to be held by Kallis at slip.
Parthiv Patel (21, 4×4) flattered to deceive in a short innings, falling prey to a short ball from Unadkat, while Ravindra Jadeja perished to a poor shot off Rajat Bhatia. It was left to Mahela to steer the ship through choppy waters, with some help from Michael Klinger. But the captain's fine effort may have gone down the drain had Hodge not cut loose at the very end.


Questions and Answers › What is your turnaround time?
For general service We schedule work in so we don't get too backed up. The short answer is 1 to 14 days depending on workload.
Custom machine work can vary.


It is a rule that's hardly ever stated but often intended: When you paint the wall, you should paint the whole thing, bottom to top. But this rule begs to be broken. Painting a "half" wall (which can actually be more or even less than half, or some kind of amount you choose) can revitalize the look associated with an entire space, plus often with as little as one to 2 pints associated with paint. That makes this particular easily an under-$100 makeover that you can achieve in a single time. If you've been frightened to pick up a paintbrush, here are several ideas that may change your mind.
1. When painting a half wall, you may paint to halfway upward the wall or in order to any height you want. Ending the paint a little above the eye line may let the color endure out more, while stopping it below will keep more of the white-colored or neutral hue to create a more open and well-ventilated effect.
DIY rooms is not such a complicated task as more people think. You can simply create your boring room into an ecstatic one by drawing walls creatively. You can draw waves, birds or many other new creative things to bring your room into life.
What do Sardinians eat for breakfast?
Sardinians in ancient times were shepherds for the most part. Traditional breakfast of the man of the house, when he was out with the flock, was frugal and simple: home baked dry nearly stale bread, pecorino cheese, some fresh milk, occasionally a coffee (but in much more recent times).
Which is the best house in the USA to live?
Want to buy house ? Contact http://www.jaxcashbuyers.com/ for more information.
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8952 | What if Britain had sided with Germany during WW2?
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What would Latin America be like today had its independence never happened? What would Spain and Portugal be like then?
Did I make the wrong choice to come home after living abroad?
Have you ever dealt with perverts in your family?
Have you ever found something odd left on your doorstep?
Do Brits think about America more often than Americans think about the UK?


The rise of antimicrobial and antibiotic resistance threatens our ability to cure infections. If we do not tackle this crisis, we may return to the pre-antibiotic era. Many studies have looked at the evolution of resistance and the effect of inhibitory and sub-inhibitory concentrations of antibiotics. Most of these studies have used populations of many cells assuming that the variation between individuals is not important enough to warrant investigation. Some have studied the response of individual cells to antibiotics at different concentrations but only at high growth rate, which only occur in the lab but not the natural environment.
Our central hypothesis is that antibiotic susceptibility, fitness costs of resistance mutations or plasmids and plasmid transfer rates are affected by the growth rate and physiology of individual cells. As a consequence, individuals in a population will not be all the same, but differ in important ways. We will construct and use microfluidic devices consisting of two components, a gradient mixer and a set of growth chambers (larger chambers or narrow channels), to create concentration gradients of growth substrates to study the effect of growth rate on individual cells growing under constant and defined conditions in cell-sized channels. We can observe and track many cells with a microscope and then use image analysis to measure e.g. growth rate or time to killing. Using these measurements of many individual cells, we can then use individual-based mathematical models to predict the behaviour of populations and how population responses are affected by the differences between individuals.
For example, generating a gradient of substrate concentrations that will lead to a gradient of growth rates, we can measure how growth rate affects antibiotic susceptibility. As we can have thousands of channels in a microfluidic device, we can record this for hundreds of cells and learn how much the responses differ between cells. Feeding this information into an individual-based model, we can then predict how this affects the antibiotic sensitivity of the population. These predictions can be tested in larger culture vessels such as flasks. The model can also make predictions on the effect of antibiotics on biofilms as the growth of a biofilm generates a substrate concentration gradient, and from recording growth and antibiotic inhibition over a range of concentrations, we can predict the growth and inhibition of each cell in the biofilm depending on where in the gradient it is located.
Other examples of the use of the microfluidic device and mathematical modelling are to study the cell-to-cell variation of fitness costs of resistance genes or plasmids and/or plasmid transfer rate. Fitness costs are typically measured for populations growing under optimal conditions, that is, at high growth rates. We do not know whether fitness costs will be different when cells grow more slowly but this could have huge consequences. What we do know is that bacteria grow much more slowly in their natural environment than under optimal conditions: E. colihas a doubling time of about 24 hours in the gut. It may also be that individual cells with higher fitness costs (more retarded growth) have lower antibiotic sensitivity. There is a lot we do not know and the methodology in this project will be able to address many fundamentally important and clinically relevant questions. There is a host of opportunities to go beyond the state of the art. We have developed some prototype microfluidic devices with the help of two MSc project students and optimized some procedures, but it will need some more testing and optimization before we can use them routinely in high throughput mode. We have explained how the integration of single cell measurements and individual-based modelling will advance microbial sciences in the opinion article below.
Hellweger FL, Clegg RJ, Clark JR, Plugge CM, Kreft JU (2016). Advancing microbial sciences by individual-based modelling. Nature Reviews Microbiology14: 461–471.
Hol FJH, Dekker C (2014). Zooming in to see the bigger picture: Microfluidic and nanofabrication tools to study bacteria. Science346: 1251821.
Design, manufacture (i.e., soft-lithography) and operation of microfluidic devices.
Automated microscopic imaging (including fluorescence, phase contrast and DIC) and image analysis.
All optical velocimetry technique to evaluate the flow field within the microfluidic device (Ghost Particle Velocimetry).
General laboratory and microbiological methods.
Molecular microbiology and strain construction.


The H5T_EQUAL function determines whether two datatype identifiers refer to the same datatype.
Returns 1 if the identifiers refer to the same datatype and 0 if they do not.
An integer representing the first datatype identifier.
An integer representing the second datatype identifier.


The victim of a slip-and-fall accident that occurred at a snow-covered Chicago-area shopping center has apparently run out of people to blame.
That's after the Illinois courts recently decided that neither the shopping center's property manager nor the center's snow-removal contractor was at fault for the accident.
The slip-and-fall incident involved an employee of one of the center's tenants—a Walgreen drug store. On a mid-winter day, following a typical snowfall in Chicago, she slipped on ice as she was walking just outside the Walgreen store. As a result of her fall, she suffered a serious injury.
She sued Walgreen, the shopping center's owners, the shopping center's property manager, and the snow-removal contractor, claiming that they were all negligent in failing to remove the snow from the property, thus creating a hazardous condition for pedestrians.
Walgreen and the shopping center's owners subsequently settled with the accident victim under undisclosed terms. And later the courts dismissed the charges against the property manager and the snow-removal contractor. The victim appealed, claiming that both the manager and the contractor failed in their responsibility to remove the ice and snow at the shopping center.
In response, the property manager and contractor argued that they owed no duty to the public to remove natural accumulations of ice and snow from the shopping center. And, they added, the ice or snow that caused the woman's fall was a natural accumulation.
Under Illinois law, a landowner may be liable for a slip-and-fall accident on snow or ice "only if the accumulation was caused or aggravated by him." In other words, a landowner's voluntary undertaking to remove snow and ice may subject him to liability only if the removal is performed negligently.
An Illinois appellate court ruled that the property manager in this case did not assume a contractual obligation to remove snow or ice, but merely retained the contractor on behalf of the shopping center's owners.


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03 Apr 2018 Story Ecosystems
Plastic planet: How tiny plastic particles are polluting our soil
Photo by Paul Mocan
The millions of tons of plastic swirling around the world's oceans have garnered a lot of media attention recently. But plastic pollution arguably poses a bigger threat to the plants and animals – including humans – who are based on land.
Very little of the plastic we discard every day is recycled or incinerated in waste-to-energy facilities. Much of it ends up in landfills, where it may take up to 1,000 years to decompose, leaching potentially toxic substances into the soil and water.
Researchers in Germany are warning that the impact of microplastics in soils, sediments and freshwater could have a long-term negative effect on such ecosystems. They say terrestrial microplastic pollution is much higher than marine microplastic pollution – estimated at four to 23 times higher, depending on the environment.
On the left: Artificial turf football field with ground tyre rubber used for cushioning. On the right: Microplastics from the same field, washed away by rain, and found close to a stream, Kristiansand, Norway.
Photo by Soleincitta
The researchers conclude that, although little research has been carried out in this area, the results to date are concerning: fragments of plastic are present practically all over the world and can trigger many kinds of adverse effects.
The study estimates that one third of all plastic waste ends up in soils or freshwater. Most of this plastic disintegrates into particles smaller than five millimetres, known as microplastics, and these break down further into nanoparticles (less than 0.1 micrometre in size). The problem is that these particles are entering the food chain.
Sewage is an important factor in the distribution of microplastics. In fact, between 80 per cent and 90 per cent of the plastic particles contained in sewage, such as from garment fibres, persist in the sludge, says the study. Sewage sludge is often applied to fields as fertilizer, meaning that several thousand tons of microplastics end up in our soils each year. Microplastics can even be found in tap water.
Moreover, the surfaces of tiny fragments of plastic may carry disease-causing organisms and act as a vector for diseases in the environment. Microplastics can also interact with soil fauna, affecting their health and soil functions. "Earthworms, for example, make their burrows differently when microplastics are present in the soil, affecting the earthworm's fitness and the soil condition," says an article in Science Daily about the research.
Chlorinated plastic can release harmful chemicals into the surrounding soil, which can then seep into groundwater or other surrounding water sources, and also the ecosystem. This can cause a range of potentially harmful effects on the species that drink the water.
Shovel excavator spreading sewage sludge on a field
Generally speaking, when plastic particles break down, they gain new physical and chemical properties, increasing the risk that they will have a toxic effect on organisms. And the larger the number of potentially affected species and ecological functions, the more likely it is that toxic effects will occur.
Chemical effects are especially problematic at the decomposition stage. Additives such as phthalates and Bisphenol A (widely known as BPA) leach out of plastic particles. These additives are known for their hormonal effects and can disrupt the hormone system of vertebrates and invertebrates alike. In addition, nano-sized particles may cause inflammation, traverse cellular barriers, and even cross highly selective membranes such as the blood-brain barrier or the placenta. Within the cell, they can trigger changes in gene expression and biochemical reactions, among other things.
The long-term effects of these changes have not yet been sufficiently explored. "However, it has already been shown that when passing the blood-brain barrier nanoplastics have a behaviour-changing effect in fish," according to the Leibnitz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries.
How do microplastics get into our water?
One of the main sources is our clothing. Minuscule fibres of acrylic, nylon, spandex, and polyester are shed each time we wash our clothes and are carried off to wastewater treatment plants or discharged to the open environment.
According to a recent study cited by Water World, more than 700,000 microscopic plastic fibres could be released into the environment during each cycle of a washing machine. This has not yet been studied in the case of handwashing, which is more common in developing counties, but the effects could be significant there as well.
A study in 2016 commissioned by clothing company Patagonia and conducted by researchers at the University of California, Santa Barbara, found that washing a single synthetic jacket just once released an average of 1.7 grams of microfibres.
Microbeads are solid plastic particles that typically range from 10 micrometers (0.00039 inches) up to one millimeter (0.039 inches).
Numerous countries around the world have introduced legislation to ban the manufacture of cosmetics and personal care products containing microbeads. Such laws have already been passed in Canada, Ireland, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
A Global Symposium on Soil Pollution will be held from 2-4 May at the Food and Agriculture Organization headquarters in Rome and is expected to be attended by 500 to 700 participants. Plastics and microplastics will be discussed under the category of "Chemicals of Emerging Concern". Other examples of such chemicals are hormones, endocrine disruptors and pharmaceuticals. UN Environment is one of several co-organizers of the Symposium.
#BeatPlasticPollution is the theme of World Environment Day 2018.
For further information: [email protected]
An underestimated threat: land-based pollution with microplastics
Microplastics in drinking water — Huge problem needing a solution
Removing microplastics from drinking water starts at treatment plants
Joan Carling: Indigenous rights defender says Amazon fires show need for global solidarity
Saving our Species
Plastic packaging accounts for 50 per cent of plastic waste.


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Health Promotion Department Announces a Package of Initiatives for 2020
Home Books Best Children's Book of 2018: The Night Diary
Dubai Lifestyle at a Glance
Best Children's Book of 2018: The Night Diary
The number one pick in books for young readers this year so far is a beautiful historical novel called The Night Diary. While written for ages 9-12, this is a story that older readers (including adults) will also enjoy, and a terrific book to read as a family. Set in 1947, The Night Diary tells the story of India's independence from Britain through letters written by 12-year-old Nisha. Nisha's heritage puts her on both sides of the Hindu-Muslim divide, and the book explores themes of identity and home. It's a touching and hopeful novel about a significant time in history, and once begun, it's hard to stop reading.
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Read more: Best Books of 2018 So Far
Amazon's editors asked the author, Veera Hiranandani, about the inspiration for The Night Diary. Below is her story.
Going Home by Veera Hiranandani
Last year, I travelled with my father, husband, and two children to Mumbai (Bombay), India. It was the second time I've been there and the first time for my husband and children. My father was born into a Hindu family in the Sindh province of Pakistan and had to flee his home during the Partition of India in 1947 when he was nine. During this time, India became Independent from British rule and was divided into two countries, India and Pakistan. The Partition created enormous conflict between Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs. After Partition, my father's family eventually settled in Bombay and then he immigrated to the U.S. in his twenties with two brothers and one sister. My Jewish mother was born in Brooklyn, NY. My parents met in Poughkeepsie, eloped in 1968, and have now been married for fifty years.
I grew up in a small town in Connecticut where my parents still live. I never felt fully accepted there with my mixed background. When I was in high school, I wrote a very dramatic poem calling my life in Connecticut "a prison of trees." I couldn't wait to leave and find a place where I didn't feel so different. Still, whenever I drive along Route 7 and up the windy roads back to my prison of trees, I experience a wave of gratitude as the seventies split-level ranch comes into view. I can go home again.
But what if I woke up one morning and discovered that in order to survive, I had to move hundreds of miles away? What if my home was taken from me and my family, like a rug ripped out from under my feet? That is my father's family's story and the general story of everyone who survived Partition. My father's family took a train with only a few bags and made it safely over the new border of India. Many people did not cross safely. It is estimated that 1-2 million people died crossing borders both ways during Partition. They were killed in riots or died of hunger, thirst, or illness. Over 14 million people were displaced.
My father's story is also the story of a refugee family, an immigrant family. But I didn't think of it that way when I was a child. I didn't know the words "refugee" and "immigrant". I just knew about what happened to them–their individual stories, underneath the labels, because every person who is a refugee or an immigrant has their unique story to tell.
I don't remember learning about Partition in school or hearing anyone outside my family talk about it. When I became a writer, I felt driven to shape a story around this moment in history. So I wrote The Night Diary, a story about a twelve-year old girl with a Hindu father and a Muslim mother who has to leave her home during Partition. I wanted more people to know about Partition and perhaps learn something from the mistakes that were made. I also wrote it so people like me would get a chance to see part of their family history in a story and possibly, for some, a connection to home.
When I wrote this book, however, I didn't know it would resonate with the current global refugee crisis. I didn't know it would connect with the forms of discrimination and xenophobia we're seeing today and how easily hate and cruelty bloom if we don't value empathy, kindness, and human rights over everything else. I didn't know I would consider my main character, Nisha, lucky because she wasn't robbed of her family, only her home.
Before we left for India, I asked my father how he felt about the trip. He hadn't been back in over five years. He said, "it feels like I'm going home." His words caught me off guard. I turned away, hiding tears. Though I felt happy we could accompany him this time, I also felt a tremendous sense of loss. My father has been in this country for sixty years, but India is still his home. Even though he could go back to Sindh, Pakistan now, he has never returned. That place in his mind where he spent his childhood has vanished. I believe that when your home gets taken from you, especially your first home, your entire sense of belonging changes. There is a permanent empty space that nothing else can fill and what's broken cannot be fixed.
I think of that every time I bring my children back to Connecticut to visit their grandparents. I think of how whole we get to be.
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MSCI Launches Fixed Income ESG and Factor Indexes
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE/AETOSWire)-- MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI), a leading provider of critical decision support tools and services for the global investment community, today broadens its...


"Korea's noblest hopes and bitterest defeats seem so close. The ability to transport the reader through space and time with printed words; that's the debt the reader owes to the skilled chroniclers in this book...."
"...an inside look at the evolution of the peninsula from its fin de siècle days as the isolationist 'Hermit Kingdom,' to the outbreak of the Korean War (often unfortunately called the "Forgotten War") and its eventual plunge into the industrial and digital age....it is good to know there are those out there whose job it is to bear witness and to ensure there will never again be another forgotten war...."
"The correspondents who contributed to 'Korea Witness,' and those whose dispatches are included, constitute a Who's Who of the 20th century's most famous Asian foreign correspondents.... Students of both Asian studies and journalism will be enthralled by the excellent storytelling contained within 'Korean Witness.'"
"The strength of this book is undoubtedly the way it brings history to life....a great book to dip into, or read from cover to cover, to be presented with a vivid picture of Korean modern history from people who witnessed it happening."
In KOREA WITNESS, foreign correspondents remember the land of the morning calm -- and their work.
The first American newspaper article about Korea more than a century ago reported the exhibition of a "mermaid" caught off the coast of "Corea." When sailors found it, the account said, the creature was holding a mirror in one hand and a fine-tooth comb in the other, letting out "wild but not unfamiliar cries."
Since that time of myth and wild imagination, parades of foreign correspondents have passed through Korea, trying to understand a country known as the "land of the morning calm" but also inhabited by rambunctious people with a tragic and often violent history. It was a daunting task a century ago, as it is today. For example, Jack London, the famed author of such American classics as "The Call of the Wild" and "White Fang," struggled with a horse with the "most beautiful eyes" that turned out to be "stone blind."
But still it was foreign correspondents who first reported the Koreans' legendary "March 1" anti-Japanese uprising in 1919 to the outside word. They labored in sweltering heat and icy cold of the Korean War and gave the world the searing accounts of refugees killed by friendly fire, helpless people massacred by warring armies and soldiers crying over their fallen comrades. While the domestic media remained gagged by the military regime, foreign correspondents entered the rebellious city of Kwangju in 1980 and reported the bloodshed perpetrated by army troops there, providing the world with some of the best-known iconic images of the South Korean people's twisted journey toward democracy.
Who were these foreign correspondents? What did they think of their work and the country and its people they were assigned to cover? How has South Korea changed and evolved in the eyes of foreign corespondents over the decades?
In 455 pages, KOREA WITNESS: 135 YEARS OF WAR, CRISIS AND NEWS IN THE LAND OF THE MORNING CALM -- provides episodic answers to these questions.
The Seoul Foreign Correspondents Club arranged for publication of the book, which brings together contributions by 60 correspondents, retired and practicing, on coverage of Korea by foreign media.
The publisher, EunHaeng NaMu, printed the book for release at the 50th anniversary of the SFCC on June 2, 2006.
The book, the first of its kind, arranges the contributions in a roughly chronological order. It was in 1871 that the first foreign journalist ever to report from Korea arrived with American forces for what some accounts at that time called "the Corean War" -- the battles between American and Korean forces on Kangwha Island. The journalist was a photographer named Felice Beato, nationality unknown, who came over from Japan. His photographs are featured in the book's opening chapter on the early history of Korea as reported in foreign publications.
KOREA WITNESS also includes gripping accounts of correspondents covering the Korean War, including Marguerite Higgins of the New York Herald Tribune, Louis Heren of The Times of London, Bill Shinn of the Associated Press and Frank Gibney of Time, all of whom have passed away. John Rich of NBC, living in retirement in Maine, dictated notes on his Korean War experiences, and author Robert Elegant, with the International News Service during the war, later a best-selling novelist, also dictated notes as well as an excerpt from his new novel, "Cry Peace."
KOREA WITNESS also features fresh revelations of the trials and tribulations of correspondents during the rule of Park Chung Hee, eye-witness descriptions from covering the Kwangju revolt and analysis of efforts at reporting from North Korea.
Contributors include retired authors and journalists recalling critical periods -- Don Oberdorfer of The Washington Post, Richard Halloran of The New York Times, Sam Jameson of the Los Angeles Times, Bradley Martin of the Baltimore Sun, Norm Thorpe and Joe Manguno of the Asian Wall Street Journal, Mike Tharpe of U.S. News & World Report and the Wall Street Journal, Norm Pearlstine of the Wall Street Journal and Forbes.
Korean contributors working for foreign news agencies include K.C. Hwang and Paul Shin, formerly of the Associated Press, Shim Jae Hoon, retired from the Far Eastern Economic Review, and Kim Myong Sik, formerly Reuters, now with the Korea Herald. Chi Jong Nam, formerly of the Los Angeles Times, Lee Su Wan of Reuters, B.J. Lee of Newsweek, and Sohn Jie-Ae of CNN also contributed.
The editors, Donald Kirk, formerly International Herald Tribune and Chicago Tribune, and Choe Sang Hun, International Herald Tribune, also wrote for the book -- Choe on the story behind his Pulitzer prize-winning coverage while he was with the Associated Press of the No Gun Ri massacre during the Korean War. Kirk, a long-time correspondent who first landed in Korea in 1972, reminisced on his years reporting from Korea, including his expose in the IHT in 2001 of huge funds paid by the South Korean government to expedite the June 2000 inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang.
The book is dedicated to the 23 foreign journalists killed during the Korean War. Among these are five Chinese journalists, all with Xinhua, the New China News Agency, whose names are listed for the first time among members of the media who died in the war.
II.--Charles Duerden interviews Donald Kirk for Korea Trade & Investment, journal of the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, KOTRA, Vol. 21, No. 5, September-October 2003.
Duerden: Is Korea an exciting place to cover?
Kirk: There's always something going on. It's somewhat repetitious but it's the same for London, New York or even Baghdad. I'm into several stories here, all of them ongoing: there's the economic story, the North Korea story and there's the cultural story, which I don't really have time to cover. There are quite a few strands here and they are always percolating, if you'll excuse me mixing my metaphors!
Q: What are the most significant stories you have covered?
A: I'd say the assassination of President Park Chung-Hee in October 1979 and the turmoil that followed, and the Gwangju revolt of May 1980. I visited the city several times to cover the story in what was a most exciting period. The economic crisis of 1997/98 was a totally different type of story but very significant nonetheless.
The Gwangju revolt was also a human rights story and along with the economic events of 1997/98 was a story of the transfer of government, since the election of Kim Dae-Jung marked the first time that an opposition leader had come to power.
Q: You must have seen your fair share of scandals and crises during your time here. Is the present situation any different?
A: Not really, except for the issue of the payoff to North Korea over the 2000 Pyongyang summit. It's interesting because one doesn't know where it's heading, if it has come to an end or if there will be further revelations. There have always been corruption scandals here. The big difference between here and the Philippines, say, is that in Korea the perpetrators get arrested.
The scandals also reveal ongoing corruption and come tinged with a desire for revenge. It's hard to know what to make of it. Or why corruption is endemic when the penalties are so high.
Q: Despite its setbacks, Korea has become a major economy and trading power in the time you have been covering events here. What do you think makes Korea so resilient?
A: I think it's been a great combination of drive and decades of frustration under Japanese rule and before that, the Li Dynasty, which was a closed, rigid system that discouraged creativity. Under the Japanese, things were even worse.
All this has generated a desire to catch up with, and surpass the rest of the world. During this time, Korea has had the security of alliance with the United States, of course, and I think that has been important.
Q: What do you think is behind the current wave of union militancy and where do you think it will end?
I put the current upsurge in activity down to workers' frustrations about being left behind since the economy has not been expanding as much as it has in previous years. Also, talk of privatization among the railways and banks has stoked fears of job losses.
I certainly try to cover labor issues and understand the labor point of view. For the Hyundai book I interviewed labor leaders, some of whom were in jail and covered the big demonstrations of the time.
Q: While North Korea is in a nuclear standoff with the United States, North/South cooperation is at an unprecedented height. How do you explain this dichotomy?
A: South Koreans really want to improve relations with the North and are not enthusiastic about the United States raising tensions. South Korea doesn't want to appear uncooperative with Washington, but does not share President Bush's enthusiasm for being tough with the North.
North Korea, for its part, wants to improve relations since it needs economic cooperation with the South. The big question is how will the [Hyundai/North Korean] Gaeseong Industrial Complex project fare?
One great thing about Korea is its unpredictability. No one predicted war [in 1950], the Economic Miracle, the rise of Kim Dae-Jung, or the nuclear crisis. No one can be sure that North/South relations will continue to improve. There are always impediments on the road to rapprochement. There could even be changes in North Korea of a surprising sort.
Q: From a personal point of view, what do you enjoy most about living in Korea?
A: Well, every story you do is a challenge, and I find the people stimulating, sometimes very nice, other times abrasive. I think all foreigners who live in Korea enjoy the mixture. I have a number of Korean friends, and that's another reason for being here.
Korea tends to slip off the international news agenda unless something especially remarkable is happening - a presidential assassination or some sort of massacre. Korea Witness aims to redress the balance, providing the background to major events in the so-called Land of the Morning Calm from the men and women who reported them.
As Philip Graham remarked, journalism is the first rough draft of history. Witness was put together to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Seoul Foreign Correspondents' Club, with the manual typewriter, freight-the-film-to-Tokyo generation and their younger satellite-savvy confreres being asked to 'dredge up' their Korean experiences. Although their contributions overlap at times, the book illuminates the most significant occurrences on the peninsula from the days of the Hermit Kingdom right up to the furore surrounding stem-cell researcher Hwang Woo-suk. Purists might point to the omission of any mention of the shipwrecked Hendrick Hemel, whose account of 17th-century 'Corea' was a best-seller in its day. Whether James Fenton and P.J. O'Rourke declined to take part or weren't approached is unclear, but their reminiscences (especially Fenton's, as tellingly documented in All the Wrong Places) would have made Witness stronger.
One of Korea's earliest mentions in the foreign press was headlined 'Our Little War with the Heathen' by the New York Herald in 1871. A recurring theme in Witness is foreign attitudes to Korea, with both outsiders and natives at mulish cross-purposes over the other's intransigence. Koreans deplore foreign arrogance, foreigners castigate what they perceive as a self-serving bureaucracy, hidebound by red tape and what was once a thriving 'envelope' culture. Caught in the middle are the Korean nationals working for international media, intent on hitting deadlines while being deluged by officialdom with appeals to their patriotism that stop just short of threats. 'Because I don't know what is good for Korea's interests, I try my best to tell the truth,' writes Newsweek's Lee Byung-jong, dexterously treading a fine line and doubtless speaking for many local hires.
Inevitably, it's the tales of mayhem that hog the limelight, together with reporters' trenchant footnotes. In August 1974, Richard Halloran was half listening to an address by South Korean president Park Chung-hee while idly speculating what would happen if somebody took a shot him. Moments later, a would-be assassin opened up with a snub-nosed pistol. Norman Thorpe notes with some rancour that when Kwangju, described as South Korea's Tiananmen, revolted bloodily in May 1980, it was pushed off the front pages in the US by the eruption of Mount St Helens. CNN's Sohn Jie-ae responded so quickly to a tip about the collapse of the Sampoong Department Store in Seoul in 1995 that her own car, with siren blaring, headed a column of emergency vehicles making for the scene. Choe Sang-hun's Pulitzer-winning story on the massacre at No Gun Ri only saw the light of day after months of stalling by the editors at Associated Press in the US, giving the author time to reflect on media double standards.
Although less a fully fledged documentary than a slightly random slide show, Korea Witness does shed light on the republic's pivotal role in the 20th century, both in Asian and world affairs. As a single example, Norman Pearlstine of the Wall Street Journal recalls the genesis of the South Korean shipbuilding industry in the 1970s, with recently recruited farm labourers welding a gigantic oil tanker guided by a couple of British consultants. Witness also includes fair coverage of North Korea, with reporters acknowledging the dearth of absolute hard news and the perilous path trodden by some media who pay for stories and video footage, both often of questionable veracity.
Journalist Jennifer Chang at the observatory, Chorwon district, on the southwest corner of the Iron Triangle overlooking the barbed-wire fence on the edge of the demilitarized zone between the two Koreas. That's Bloody Ridge, scene of Korean War carnage, on the far right.
Fisherman displays wheelbarrow full of oysters drenched in oil that drifted in from where a crane crashed into a supertanker in Yellow Sea five miles off-shore.
Volunteers on clean-up at Chollipo Beach -- forester Shin Kyong Chol on right.
Images of Presidents Bush and Kim Dae Jung with crowd at dedication of Dorasan Station, February 20, 2002. Sign at right points to Pyongyang to North, Seoul to South.
With South Korean soldiers at gate on road to Demilitarized Zone, looking south. In background is Peace Dam, Hwacheon district, on North Han River six miles below DMZ.
Richard Halloran of New York Times scrawled a question for Sam Jameson of Los Angeles Times after catching this image of Jameson, r., Don Oberdorfer of Washington Post, l., and Kirk, then with Chicago Tribune, in Seoul, 1974.


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Did you realize that, in Australia, 60% of independent ventures flop in the initial a year? For those of us who might want to begin a private venture – perhaps telecommute – that is an exceptionally debilitating measurement.
1. Offering a current item/benefit in a current market.
2. Presenting a current item/administration to another market.
4. Presenting another item/administration to another market.
At this phase of the diversion as far as possible is your creative ability. Motivation can originate from anyplace – perhaps you have a leisure activity that you'd get a kick out of the chance to transform into an all day work; you might be forced to bear terrible administration one day and choose to take a stab at improving yourself; or you may have an ability that you'd get a kick out of the chance to gain by.
Once you've run over something that you'd get a kick out of the chance to do, it's a great opportunity to investigate the market and see what's on offer.
So you've had an incredible thought and you're quick to go with the flow; now it's an ideal opportunity to put it through hell. With the end goal of the activity, suppose that you have an enthusiasm for sound living, and that you need to disperse a scope of way of life extras that advance solid living with a do-it-without anyone's help approach.
Make a few inquiries: Is there a business opportunity for items that advance solid living? What sorts of items are accessible? Who might you contend with and what do your rivals offer? Do you have the fundamental abilities to run such a business and – more to the point – what might those aptitudes be? Where might your business be found?
Once you've addressed those inquiries you ought to have a genuinely clear picture of what your business will resemble.
You source a few items and choose to do some further investigation into the scope of way of life items offered by an organization called Vitality 4 Life. Your own particular educational experience in addition to some work you've done as a dietician has given you the essential ranges of abilities, and you imagine that you'll have the capacity to telecommute, giving you more opportunity for family. There is a current market, yet there's space for extension. Presently it's a great opportunity to investigate.
It's an ideal opportunity to get down to the stray pieces. You would prefer not to hop into something feet first and discover the most difficult way possible that the financial plan simply doesn't work.
To begin, take a seat and work out on the off chance that you have to contract staff, which implies paying wages.
In the event that you rent a premises you'll should have the capacity to pay the lease, and your area should be reasonable for your business and target showcase (which likewise implies that you'll need to contemplate exactly what that objective market is). You'll likewise need to work out the conceivable interest for your item/benefit.
Alright… you've worked out that there is sufficient interest for good quality juicers, sprouters, water channels and other top of the line assistants to tackle a distributorship as a locally situated business opportunity. Presently you have to settle on some showcasing choices.
Look at me! Take a gander at me!
Promoting can be exorbitant so you'll need to make sure that your publicizing spending plan is spent admirably. That implies more statistical surveying, this time one-on-one. Profile your client bunches so you can point your advertising at the correct gathering/s of individuals.
Draw up a poll (a short survey – individuals run out tolerance on the off chance that you meander for a really long time) and stick around outside a couple of the nearby rec centers (for our specific illustration). Concoct a blend of open inquiries (What do you consider… … ..?) and shut inquiries (Do you have a rec center participation? Truly/No.); sliding scales can be valuable as well.
For our wellbeing adornments business, a great inquiry may be 'How could you catch wind of this rec center? Radio, television, daily paper, informal exchange and so forth… ' Such an inquiry would then give you a sign of the kinds of media that your objective gathering reacts best to.
Pick a business name, print up some business cards, get some stock and prepare to exchange!
An educator of mine pointed out that, in business, on the off chance that you can't quantify it you can't oversee it.
You should have the capacity to prepare, and to do that you have to know – or to have the capacity to precisely foresee – your aggregate deals. The condition is basic: number of clients x normal deal x recurrence of visits per client every year = add up to deals. Keep in mind it, reconsider it regularly, measure your business and you'll have the capacity to oversee it!
Watch out for your primary concern and, in particular, dependably know about your income – the cool, hard trade that you have out the bank. Take into account receipt periods (14 days, 30 days and so forth) when you're arranging your financial plan.
The commercial center has its very own existence, and nobody can get ready for each possibility. Put some idea into your thought; ensure that there's a business opportunity for what you're putting forth; examine, look into, inquire about; advance your business viably; dependably recognize what's happening in your financial balance and keep in mind about income!
It's not flawless but rather, in the event that you take after these couple of straightforward advances, you'll be miles in front of numerous new independent venture wanders. In the event that you've known about an extraordinary locally situated business opportunity, or have an item or administration of your own to showcase, you're set for an incredible begin!


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