The UVM Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) program's mission is to prepare graduates to lead and collaborate in the quest of promoting the health of individuals, communities and society through movement and exercise in order to optimize function, activity, and participation across environments. UVM graduates provide ethical, evidence-based, client-centered services in a culturally sensitive manner as they serve society to enhance quality of life. Graduates are decision-makers in the primary care team who have a clear understanding of the importance of lifelong learning that will support their client, patient, and professional needs. Faculty model and support student learning of these expected educational outcomes.
The program's vision is to be recognized for leadership in its contribution to the creation, advancement, and dissemination of translational research while striving toward excellence to educate DPT scholars who collaborate to "transform society by optimizing movement," for the promotion of individual and population health of our communities and society.
DPT 401. Health Systems I - Policy. 2 Credits.
Explores U.S. health systems including the role of public and private sectors. Federal and state health policy and legislation are examined in relationship to physical therapy. Examine mechanisms of health care delivery in the US in comparison to international systems. Prerequisites: ANNB 301, DPT 410, DPT 450; Doctor of Physical Therapy student.
DPT 402. Health Sys II-Quality Improvmt. 2 Credits.
Principles and practices of health care quality, quality improvement, and design and management of continual improvement activities. Topics will include quality measurement, management, and patient safety and their application in a variety of health care delivery settings and organizations. Prerequisites: DPT 421, DPT 423, DPT 426, DPT 452, DPT 492; Doctor of Physical Therapy student.
DPT 403. Health Sys III-Business Mgt. 2 Credits.
Physical therapist practice management including evidence-based business and financial management, administration, and health informatics. Topics will incorporate business management from a physical therapist perspective, while expanding knowledge on health systems and the role of physical therapist in various practice settings. Prerequisites: DPT 402, DPT 422, DPT 424, DPT 427, DPT 460, DPT 493; Doctor of Physical Therapy student.
DPT 404. Health Sys IV-Health Promotion. 3 Credits.
Fundamental concepts of health behavior, health education, and health promotion. Examination of health promotion programs at the level of policy, community, social spheres, and individuals. Experiential learning through health promotion in consideration of health behavior science and evidence-based practice. Prerequisites: DPT 402, DPT 422, DPT 424, DPT 427, DPT 460, DPT 493; Doctor of Physical Therapy student.
DPT 405. Clinical Medicine. 4 Credits.
Foundational knowledge and application of pathophysiology as it pertains general health and systemic disease and its relationship to the role of the physical therapist as a movement system expert and a primary care practitioner. Prerequisites: ANNB 301, DPT 410, DPT 450; Doctor of Physical Therapy student.
DPT 406. Exercise Science. 3 Credits.
Principles and applications of exercise assessment/testing, prescription and progression of the exercise program, including response to exercise. Course will emphasize understanding and application of the ACSM guidelines to exercise testing and prescription to individuals across the lifespan. Prerequisites: ANNB 301, DPT 410, DPT 450; Doctor of Physical Therapy student.
DPT 407. Pharmacology and Nutrition. 1 Credit.
Foundational knowledge of pharmacology and nutrition pertinent to physical therapist practice. Introduction to pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, mechanisms of action of various drugs, and adverse reactions. Topics will also include nutrition in relation to primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention. Prerequisites: DPT 401, DPT 405, DPT 406, DPT 411, DPT 414, DPT 415; Doctor of Physical Therapy student.
DPT 408. Fundamentals Critical Inquiry. 3 Credits.
In-depth application of scientific inquiry inclusive of research design, statistical methods, research question development, critical appraisal and interpretation of evidence related to clinical practice are explored. Diagnostic, intervention, and prognostic studies are used in the application of the inquiry process. Prerequisites: DPT 401, DPT 405, DPT 406, DPT 411, DPT 414, DPT 415; Doctor of Physical Therapy student.
DPT 410. Fundamentals of Clinical Pract. 3 Credits.
Fundamental skills for physical therapists including patient/client management principles and practices such as examination techniques, history taking and interviewing skills, fundamental patient handling skills, clinical documentation and patient handling skills. Prerequisite: Doctor of Physical Therapy student.
DPT 411. Movement System I. 3 Credits.
Application of kinesiology and biomechanical principles to the analysis and management of human movement, posture, joint structure and function, and gait. Examination of mechanical properties of tissue with respect to lifespan, injury and healing, and principles of diagnostic imaging. Prerequisites: ANNB 301, DPT 410, DPT 450; Doctor of Physical Therapy student.
DPT 412. Movement System II. 4 Credits.
Motor control/learning and development across the lifespan, and a theoretical framework to develop intervention strategies. Principles of examination and evaluation of normal and dysfunctional movement will be discussed, including posture, gait, reach and grasp. Electrodiagnostic testing will also be covered. Prerequisites: DPT 401, DPT 405, DPT 406, DPT 411, DPT 414, DPT 415; Doctor of Physical Therapy student.
DPT 413. Movement System III. 4 Credits.
Utilize a movement systems approach to address the management of patients with multi-system involvement. Focus on the role of the physical therapist as primary care practitioner including emergency scenarios across the lifespan. Prerequisites: DPT 403, DPT 404, DPT 416, DPT 425, DPT 453, DPT 494; Doctor of Physical Therapy student.
DPT 414. Clinical Reasoning. 2 Credits.
Fundamental clinical-decision making frameworks in contemporary physical therapy practice, using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) and the Hypothesis Oriented Algorithm for Clinicians within the context of patient/client management model. Prerequisites: ANNB 301, DPT 410, DPT 450; Doctor of Physical Therapy student.
DPT 415. Psychsoc Aspcts Hlth Wellbeing. 3 Credits.
Psychosocial dimensions of health, illness, and disability across the lifespan and in consideration of diverse perspectives. Consideration of physical therapy implications for management of common mental health conditions and integrate patient and family-centered communication skills in simulated clinical situations. Prerequisites: ANNB 301, DPT 410, DPT 450; Doctor of Physical Therapy student.
DPT 416. Rehabilitation Technology. 3 Credits.
Evaluation, prescription, and patient / client education of rehabilitation technology used in physical therapy management of individuals to address or enhance movement across the lifespan. Topics will include prescription of and training with technology, devices, and environmental modifications. Prerequisites: DPT 402, DPT 422, DPT 424, DPT 427, DPT 460, DPT 493; Doctor of Physical Therapy student.
DPT 420. Musculoskeletal Management I. 4 Credits.
Screening, examination, evaluation, diagnosis, prognosis, management and outcomes for patients with musculoskeletal dysfunction of the extremities are covered. Topics include pathophysiology, risk appraisal, medical and surgical management, and biopsychosocial considerations in the management of these conditions across the lifespan. Prerequisites: DPT 401, DPT 405, DPT 406, DPT 411, DPT 414, DPT 415; Doctor of Physical Therapy student.
DPT 421. Musculoskeletal Management II. 4 Credits.
Screening, examination, evaluation, diagnosis, prognosis, management and outcomes for patients with musculoskeletal dysfunction of the spine are covered. Topics include pathophysiology, risk appraisal, medical and surgical management, and biopsychosocial considerations in the management of these conditions across the lifespan. Prerequisites: DPT 407, DPT 408, DPT 412, DPT 420, DPT 451, NSCI 302; Doctor of Physical Therapy student.
DPT 422. Musculoskeletal Management III. 3 Credits.
Screening, examination, evaluation, diagnosis, prognosis, intervention and outcomes for patients with complex musculoskeletal system dysfunction are covered. Case management as movement system experts of patient/client populations with complex primary or underlying conditions across the lifespan are explored. Prerequisites: DPT 421, DPT 423, DPT 426, DPT 452, DPT 492; Doctor of Physical Therapy student.
DPT 423. Neurological Management I. 4 Credits.
Focus on movement system dysfunction among individuals with neuromuscular conditions across the lifespan. Introduction to the principles and components of neurological examination and interventions emphasizing body structure/function with neuropathology considerations will be discussed. Prerequisites: DPT 407, DPT 408, DPT 412, DPT 420, DPT 451, NSCI 302; Doctor of Physical Therapy student.
DPT 424. Neurological Management II. 3 Credits.
Screening, examination, diagnosis, prognosis, management and outcomes for individuals with neurological impairments across the life span are covered. Evaluation and interventions of the movement system deficits considering pathophysiology and biopsychosocial framework will be addressed through case-based learning. Prerequisites: DPT 421, DPT 423, DPT 426, DPT 452, DPT 492; Doctor of Physical Therapy student.
DPT 425. Neurological Management III. 3 Credits.
Incorporate advanced clinical decision making in the plan of care of complex patients across the lifespan. Consideration of differential diagnosis, patient environment and case management will be discussed. Prevention, risk reduction strategies and continuum of care will be emphasized. Prerequisites: DPT 402, DPT 422, DPT 424, DPT 427, DPT 460, DPT 493; Doctor of Physical Therapy student.
DPT 426. Cardiovasc and Pulmonary Mgt. 3 Credits.
Screening, examination, evaluation, diagnosis, prognosis, management and outcomes for patients with cardiovascular and pulmonary conditions are covered. Topics include pathophysiology, risk appraisal, medical and surgical management, and biopsychosocial considerations in the management of these conditions across the lifespan. Prerequisites: DPT 407, DPT 408, DPT 412, DPT 420, DPT 451, NSCI 302; Doctor of Physical Therapy student.
DPT 427. Integmnt, Endocrine, Multi Sys. 3 Credits.
Screening, examination, evaluation, diagnosis, prognosis, management and outcomes for patients with integumentary, endocrine, lymphatic, oncology, autoimmune and multisystem conditions are covered. Topics include pathophysiology, risk appraisal, medical and surgical management, and biopsychosocial considerations across the lifespan. Prerequisites: DPT 421, DPT 423, DPT 426, DPT 452, DPT 492; Doctor of Physical Therapy student.
DPT 450. Professional Form/Leadershp I. 1 Credit.
Introduces professionalism, leadership, ethics, cultural competence, interprofessional education-practice and teaching-learning within the role of a doctoring professional, physical therapist contemporary practice and the healthcare environment. Prerequisite: Doctor of Physical Therapy student.
DPT 451. Prof Formation/Leadrshp II-ICE. 2 Credits.
Advanced study of professional formation and personal leadership development within the role of a doctoring professional. Focuses on role identity, professional practice expectations within ethical/legal standards of practice, teaching-learning, supervision/delegation, and introduces IPE role within Integrated Clinical Experiences (ICE). Prerequisites: DPT 401, DPT 405, DPT 406, DPT 411, DPT 414, DPT 415; Doctor of Physical Therapy student.
DPT 452. Prof Formatn/Leadrshp III-ICE. 2 Credits.
Advanced concepts of professional formation and personal leadership development within the role of a doctoring professional. Focuses on collaborative practice expectations within ethical/legal standards of practice, teaching-learning, supervision/delegation, and IPE. Prepares for assuming responsibilities within Integrated Clinical Experiences (ICE). Prerequisites: DPT 407, DPT 408, DPT 412, DPT 420, DPT 451, NSCI 302; Doctor of Physical Therapy student.
DPT 453. Prof Form/Leadrshp IV-ICE/IPE. 2 Credits.
Integrates professional formation and leadership development as a doctoring professional. Emphasizes interprofessional practice, education and support of health and well-being of others. Justifies ethical/legal decisions, social responsibility and advocacy. Expands Integrated Clinical Experiences (ICE) to community engagement and health promotion. Prerequisites: DPT 402, DPT 422, DPT 424, DPT 427, DPT 460, DPT 493; Doctor of Physical Therapy student.
DPT 460. Clinical Edu Experience I. 2 Credits.
Eight week supervised clinical experience in one of the following settings: outpatient, inpatient, or specialty clinics. Experience will include safe, effective, and comprehensive patient care. Students will demonstrate proficiency with skills applying foundational knowledge associated with patient care and management. Prerequisites: DPT 423, DPT 421, DPT 426, DPT 452, DPT 493, DPT 422, DPT 427, DPT 424, DPT 402, DPT 494; Doctor of Physical Therapy student.
DPT 461. Clinical Edu Experience IIA. 2 Credits.
Six week supervised clinical experience in one of the following settings: outpatient, inpatient, or specialty clinics. Experience will include safe, effective, and comprehensive patient care. Students will demonstrate proficiency with skills applying foundational knowledge associated with patient care and management. Prerequisites: DPT 413; Doctor of Physical Therapy student.
DPT 462. Clinical Edu Experience IIB. 2 Credits.
Six week supervised clinical experience in one of the following settings: outpatient, inpatient, or specialty clinics. Experience will include safe, effective, and comprehensive patient care. Students will demonstrate proficiency with skills applying foundational knowledge associated with patient care and management. Prerequisites: DPT 413, DPT 461; Doctor of Physical Therapy student.
DPT 463. Clinical Edu Experience III. 4 Credits.
Twelve week supervised clinical experience in one of the following settings: outpatient, inpatient, or specialty clinics. Experience will include safe, effective, and comprehensive patient care. Students will demonstrate proficiency with skills applying foundational knowledge associated with patient care and management. Prerequisites: DPT 462; Doctor of Physical Therapy student.
DPT 490. Internship. 1-18 Credits.
DPT 491. Dissertation Research. 1-18 Credits.
DPT 492. Independent Study. 1-18 Credits.
DPT 493. Doctoral Research Project I. 1 Credit.
Advanced research methods, including development of a research question (PICO), research design, proposal and IRB submission. Research questions might be systematic reviews, intervention, diagnostic, or prognostic studies and may use qualitative, quantitative, or mixed-methods design. Prerequisites: DPT 407, DPT 408, DPT 412, DPT 420, DPT 451, NSCI 302; Doctor of Physical Therapy student.
DPT 494. Doctoral Research Project II. 2 Credits.
Implementation of research proposal including data collection and analysis. Research question might be systematic reviews, intervention, diagnostic, or prognostic studies; and may utilize qualitative, quantitative, or mixed-methods design Prerequisites: DPT 421, DPT 423, DPT 426, DPT 452, DPT 493; Doctor of Physical Therapy student.
DPT 495. Doctoral Research Project III. 2 Credits.
Completion of research project inclusive of comprehensive analysis, synthesis of findings based on research question, implications to practice and dissemination of finding via manuscript and presentations. This project fulfills a component of the Doctoral Capstone project. Prerequisites: DPT 402, DPT 422, DPT 424, DPT 427, DPT 460, DPT 494; Doctor of Physical Therapy student.
DPT 496. Special Topics. 1-18 Credits.
PT 302. Quality in Health Care. 3 Credits.
This course provides students with the skills and knowledge needed to apply quality improvement approaches to the design and management of health care services. Pre/co-requisite: Graduate Standing. Cross-listed with: CTS 302, NH 302.
PT 303. Hlth Promotion & Disease Prvnt. 3 Credits.
Examines the value of and barriers to health promotion, health protection, and disease prevention, factors that influence personal health decisions, and preventive interventions. Prerequisite: Doctor of Physical Therapy students only.
PT 306. Pro Sem1:Intro to PT&Hlth Care. 1 Credit.
Explores professionalism, ethics, the healthcare environment, interprofessional education, leadership, and clinical education practices. The focus is on preparing for the first clinical internship. Prerequisites: Doctor of Physical Therapy students and APTA members only.
PT 307. Pro Sem 2:Prep for PT Practice. 1 Credit.
Examines selected professional topics including the development of reflective practices and self-assessment skills. Health literacy is also explored in preparation for clinical practice. Prerequisites: PT 306 or Instructor permission; Doctor of Physical Therapy students and APTA members only.
PT 308. Pro Sem3: Ethics & Career Prep. 1 Credit.
Utilizes frameworks to analyze ethical issues in healthcare. Topics also include preparation for the national PT examination, professional license issues, continuing competence expectations and career planning. Prerequisites: PT 307 or Instructor permission; Doctor of Physical Therapy students and APTA members only.
PT 319. Movt Sci 2: Lifespan Mtr Devel. 3 Credits.
Lecture and laboratory experiences related to theory, concepts, and measurement of normal motor development, motor control, and motor learning across the lifespan. Prerequisites: NSCI 302, PT 318, PT 344; Doctor of Physical Therapy student.
PT 328. Independent Study. 1-4 Credits.
Students work with faculty member to assist in research, applying previously learned skills in critical appraisal, library searches, research methods and writing. Pre/co-requisites: RMS 220 or PT 320 or equivalents; enrollment in DPT program.
PT 329. Knowl Imp Trans & Exch of EBPT. 1 Credit.
Develops skills to disseminate evidence from the scientific literature to facilitate knowledge transfer and exchange. The field of implementation science will also be introduced. Prerequisite: PT 322 or PT 328 or equivalent.
PT 330. Psychosocial Issues in Health. 3 Credits.
Psychosocial dimensions of health, illness and disability will be examined from lifespan and multicultural perspectives. Pre/co-requisites: Psychology course; enrolled as DPT student.
PT 331. Hlth Care Plcy & Pract Mgmt PT. 3 Credits.
Explores the structure and function of physical therapy practice management and health care policy and strategies for changing at state and national levels. Pre/co-requisite: Doctor of Physical Therapy student.
PT 344. Patient Mgmt Musculoskeletal 1. 8 Credits.
Lecture/Lab experiences in which students will apply fundamental biomechanical and kinesiology principles of the trunk, spine, and extremities. Prerequisites: PT 305, PT 318, PT 340; Doctor of Physical Therapy student.
PT 345. Patient Mgt-Neuromuscular 1. 6 Credits.
Lecture and laboratory experiences re evidence-based medical and physical therapy management of adults with neuromuscular conditions including stroke, multiple sclerosis, and spinal cord injury. Prerequisites: NSCI 302, PT 305, PT 319; Doctor of Physical Therapy student.
PT 346. Patient Mgt-Neuromuscular 2. 5 Credits.
Lecture and laboratory experiences re evidence-based medical and physical therapy management of children with neuromuscular conditions such as cerebral palsy and adults with developmental disabilities. Prerequisites: PT 345; Doctor of Physical Therapy student.
PT 347. Patient Mgt:Cardiopulmonary. 4 Credits.
Explores disease risk and prevention, as well as medical, surgical, pharmacological, psychological, and physical therapies in the management of individuals with cardiopulmonary related diseases. Prerequisites: PT 305, PT 340; Doctor of Physical Therapy student.
PT 348. Patient Mgt:Medical/Surgical. 4 Credits.
Explores medical, surgical, pharmacological, psychological, and physical therapies in the management of individuals with vascular, integumentary, lymphatic disorders and cancer. Pre/co-requisites: PT 305, PT 347; DPT student.
PT 349. Patient Mgt:Musculoskeletal 2. 4 Credits.
Lecture/lab applying foundational and advanced biomechanical, neurophysiological, kinesiological, and anatomical principles of the trunk, TMJ, spine, and extremities. Pre/co-requisites: PT 242; Enrolled as DPT student.
PT 352. Intl Collaborative in PT. 2 Credits.
This Travel Study Program Abroad is an elective for PT students and licensed PTs interested in learning advanced manual physical therapy skills while studying abroad. Pre/co-requisites: PT 349 or PT license.
PT 360. Integrated Patient Mgmt Sem. 1 Credit.
Integrates information learned in prior clinical and foundational science courses, as well as contemporary research findings, into a comprehensive model of physical therapy for individuals with complex and multi-system conditions. Pre/co-requisites: DPT student standing; successful completion of all previous DPT courses.
PT 370. Clinical Internship 1. 3 Credits.
Full-time (six weeks) Clinical Education Internship in an out-patient Orthopedic clinical setting. Pre/co-requisite: Completion of year one DPT curriculum.
PT 371. Clinical Internship 2. 5 Credits.
Full-time (ten weeks) Clinical Education Internship in various practice settings including out-patient, acute care, rehabilitation, home health, pediatric, long term care and specialty practices. Pre/co-requisite: Completion of all academic courses in DPT curriculum.
PT 372. Clinical Internship 3A. 2 Credits.
Full-time (four weeks) Clinical Education Internship in various practice settings including out-patient, acute care, rehabilitation, home health, pediatric, long term care and specialty practices. Pre/co-requisite: Completion of all academic courses in DPT curriculum.
PT 373. Clinical Internship 3B. 1 Credit.
Full-time (two weeks) Clinical Education Internship in various practice settings including out-patient, acute care, rehabilitation, home health, pediatric, long term care and specialty practices. Pre/co-requisite: Completion of all academic courses in DPT curriculum.
PT 374. Clinical Internship 3C. 2 Credits.
PT 375. Clinical Internship 4. 5 Credits.
PT 422. Research Proj- Systematic Rvw. 2 Credits.
Develops advanced skills in critically analyzing research literature, including systematic reviews and clinical practice guidelines. Students analyze clinical data and apply results to clinical decision-making. Prerequisite: PT 420.
PT 428. Research Pro- Non systemtc rvw. 2 Credits.
Students work with faculty member to assist in research, applying previously learned skills in critical appraisal, library searches, research methods and writing. Prerequisite: PT 420. Co-requisite: Doctor of Physical Therapy student.
PT 496. Advanced Special Topics. 1-18 Credits.


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Samsung's Galaxy Chromebook 2 is cheaper and sports a QLED screen
Cherlynn Low
·Reviews Editor
I'm going to call it: Samsung makes the best-looking Chromebooks around. The company turned heads last CES with the Galaxy Chromebook — a razor thin, bright red convertible with a 4K OLED screen. Its other Galaxy laptops like the Book Flex series are also beautifully designed, with similarly sharp profiles and gorgeous colors. But in spite of its good looks, the Galaxy Chromebook suffered from atrocious battery life, due in large part to its 4K OLED screen. It also cost a whopping $999, rivaling Google's original Pixelbook on costliness.
This CES, Samsung might be remedying those issues with the new Galaxy Chromebook 2. It starts at a more palatable $550, comes with a Full HD QLED display and promises up to 14 hours of juice on a charge. This makes it the first Chromebook packing quantum dot panels, too. Despite the lower price, the Chromebook 2 is just as eye-catching as its predecessor, with a sleek 0.55-inch profile that's a tad thicker than the original (0.39 inches). For those that don't want such a bright shade, there's also a silver color option available.
It's been awhile since I've touched the original Galaxy Chromebook, but I've been using one of Samsung's Book Flex laptops lately and the Chromebook 2 fits right in with the series. Though in places it feels hollow and has a plastic-like quality, the company said the machine is mostly aluminum. It's slightly lighter than the original, too, weighing in at 2.71 pounds.
Instead of a 4K OLED panel, the new Chromebook features a 13.3-inch 1,920 x 1,080 QLED display, which was vibrant and bright at the preview event. HDR videos of wildlife and scenery popped, and details looked crisp. The aspect ratio is still a little dated at 16:9 (16:10 would be so much nicer, Samsung) but overall the screen seems like a more-than-serviceable canvas for Chrome OS. Better yet, because it uses QLED, the Chromebook 2 should offer longer battery life than its predecessor. This is something we'll have to test for ourselves to know for sure, though.
Unlike the original, which only came in one configuration with a 10th-generation Intel Core i5 CPU, 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, the Chromebook 2 offers some options. You can get the base model with an Intel Celeron 5205U chipset, 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage or spend $150 more to get a 10th-generation Intel Core i3 processor and twice the memory and storage.
Some other differences between this year's Galaxy Chromebook and the last include a new Smart Amp feature to bump up volume, and according to Samsung it's up to 178 percent louder than the average amplifier. There's also support for WiFi 6 on the new model. The company also removed the secondary camera from the keyboard, and the Chromebook 2's solo webcam above the screen has the same 720p resolution as before. Though its display supports stylus input, the new Chromebook doesn't have an S Pen onboard like the original.
Despite its thin profile, the Chromebook 2's keyboard was surprisingly comfortable to type on. The keys are evenly spaced, and though there's less travel than I'm used to, the buttons still had a nice amount of depth. The trackpad, while roomy, felt a bit sluggish though, but since it's a preview unit I'm going to reserve my judgement on that for now.
Until we get to test the Chromebook 2 out, there's not much more we can say about the laptop. It will be available in the first quarter of the year, so if you're in the market for a good-looking Chrome OS machine for less than $700 this might be worth a look. I'd recommend waiting till we can fully review it before spending your money, though.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


How would you rate the weather in University District? Excellent. Perfectly warm weather and not much rain. Good. Warm days, with a little rain here and there. Poor. Warm summers, but cold winters with some rain. Awful. Cold summers and winters with lots of rain. View resultsWrite a review to give others more information about this area.
How would you rate the air quality in University District? Excellent. The air is very clean, virtually no pollution. Good. There is a small amount of pollution. Poor. There is more pollution than I'd like. Awful. Smog and pollution fill this area. View resultsWrite a review to give others more information about this area.
January 16°F 34°F 25°F 0.9"
February 21°F 40°F 30°F 1.0"
March 26°F 51°F 38°F 1.0"
April 31°F 60°F 44°F 1.1"
May 38°F 69°F 53°F 1.4"
June 45°F 78°F 61°F 2.0"
July 51°F 91°F 71°F 0.6"
August 49°F 88°F 68°F 0.7"
September 42°F 77°F 58°F 1.0"
October 33°F 59°F 45°F 1.2"
November 24°F 44°F 33°F 1.4"
December 15°F 32°F 24°F 1.2"
The highest monthly average temperature in University District for July is 71 degrees.
The lowest monthly average temperature in University District for December is 24 degrees.
The most monthly precipitation in University District occurs in June with 2 inches.
The air quality index in University District is 11% worse than the national average.
The pollution index in University District is 83% better than the national average.
Source: The University District, Missoula, MT weather data displayed above is derived from the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric). Air quality and pollution data is derived from the EPA (United States Environmental Protection Agency). Air quality and pollution levels measured in a particular area may not be representative of the entire county.


DescriptionAullene fire devastated more than 3000ha of Mediterranean maquis and pine forest in July 2009. Simulation of combustion processes as well as atmospherics dynamics represents a challenge for such scenarios because of the scale of the phenomenon. A coupled approach between Meso-NH (Non-Hydrostatic) LES (Large Eddy Simulation) meso/microscale scale atmospheric model and ForeFire area simulator has been developed to predict fine to large-scale phenomenon's involved in such wildfire, showing that such simulation was possible in a reasonable time using current supercomputers.
Increased availability of supercomputers able to simulate such phenomenon opened the way for the FireCaster program that has been experimentally running in routine for the whole 2017 fire season, providing high resolution fire/weather and fire propagation forecast for ongoing fires that devastated the island of Corsica (worst year since 2009). High resolution (600m) and High frequency (state every 120s for daily 42 hours simulation) required to redesign the way simulation outputs were delivered to decision support systems, with online GPU generated 3d visualisation and VR animations instead of standard weather maps.
Two-way coupling simulation involve the surface wind to drive the fire while heat (combustion) and water vapour fluxes are injected in the atmosphere at each atmospheric time step. To be representative of the phenomenon, a sub-meter resolution must be used for the simulation of the fire front while atmospheric simulation were performed at 50m resolution.
Meso-NH and ForeFire resolutions are independent and the computational time needed by the surface model is a typically a fraction of the atmospheric simulation.


text:
Nobel peace prize for Trump?: Russian senator says US taking undue credit for Korean deal
South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attend a banquet on the Peace House at the truce village of Panmunjom inside the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas © Summit Press Pool © Reuters
A Russian senator has described calls to award Donald Trump the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in the Korean peace deal as an attempt by the US to take credit for the resolution of a conflict that it had been stoking for decades.
"I see this as an attempt to make the United States an exceptional and only contributor to the 'Korean turnaround.' Of course this is not true. If the US has ever played any exceptional role it was their role in provoking tensions on the Korean peninsula and constant provocations aimed against DPRK," the Chair of the Russian Upper House Committee for International Relations Senator Konstantin Kosachev told TASS on Saturday.
Trump hails 'historic' Korea peace agreement
Kosachev added that he was convinced that the North Korean nuclear program had been launched as a reply to numerous hostile actions by the US and that the latest news of looming settlement were a result of a collective effort by many nations, including significant contributions from Russia and China.
Kosachev also noted that the proposed nomination of Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize was akin handing the award to Barack Obama in 2009.
The Russian senator's statement came soon after US Senator Lindsey Graham tweeted that US President Donald Trump should receive the Nobel Peace Prize if he manages to successfully negotiate the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. "Donald Trump convinced North Korea and China he was serious about bringing about change. We're not there yet, but if this happens, President Trump deserves the Nobel Peace Prize," Graham tweeted.
Donald Trump convinced North Korea and China he was serious about bringing about change. We're not there yet, but if this happens, President Trump deserves the Nobel Peace Prize. https://t.co/XlXWRp2TrI
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) April 27, 2018
Earlier this week, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon held a first-ever peace summit after which both leaders pledged to end the Korean war - formally ongoing but in a state of ceasefire since 1953 - and work to achieve complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.
President Donald Trump described the meeting as a "historic event" and a "good thing" and also praised the role of China's President Xi Jinping in making it possible.
Trends:Donald Trump newsNorth Korea news South Korea news
Two tweets to break democracy? Incredible claim in House report on 'Russian meddling'
Amnesty International calls on Europeans to come clean about aiding unlawful US drone strikes


text:
Q: How racially diverse is the Dominion? To memory, in Star Trek: Deep Space 9, we only see three races from the Dominion:

*

*The Jem'Hadar

*The Founders

*The Vorta
What other races exist within it?

A: We don't really get a lot of info about the Dominion in DS9. The fact that it's intended to be powerful and enigmatic doesn't really lend itself to us getting a close analysis of its composition and population.
We do know about six races that exist as part of the Dominion in the Gamma Quadrant;

*

*Karemma

*T-Rogorans

*Yaderans

*Vorta

*Jem'Hadar

*Dosi (who may or may not be full members of the Dominion)

Additionally, over the series the Dominion grows to include several Alpha Quadrant species including the Cardassians and the Breen.

Other species mentioned in lower canon works included the Rindamil, Overne, Thepnossen and Ourentia

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Alberta - one of Canada's most economically and socially dynamic provinces. Located in Western Canada, the province with a rapidly growing economy and home to two of Canada's largest cities- Calgary and Edmonton, the most populous of the country's three 'prairie provinces'. Renowned as the most beautiful part of North America, with famous national parks such as Banff and Jasper.
Through the AINP is Alberta's Provincial Nominee Program, prospective immigrants with the appropriate skills and experience are targeted by the province who may receive an Alberta Provincial Nomination Certificate, which will speed up the overall Alberta immigrant process.
Compulsory and Optional Trades Category — Individuals who hold either an Alberta Qualification Certificate or a Recognized Trade Certificate may be eligible for this program. Personnel must be residing in Alberta on a valid work permit at the time of application.
Engineering Occupations Category — Applicants must be engineers, designers, and drafters with Alberta work experience in one of 12 designated occupations.
Post Graduate Worker Category — For individuals who have graduated from a recognized post-secondary institution in Alberta, and are currently working in Alberta in one of 12 designated occupations on a Post-Graduation Work Permit, may be eligible for this program.
Skilled Worker Category — Individuals with permanent, full-time job offer in an eligible skilled occupation. They need not be working in Alberta at the time of application.
This stream offers permanent residents with the farming experience and personal funds to purchase and develop a farm in Alberta. Applicants are farm owner/operators who plan to live in Canada in order to purchase and manage their farming business.


text:
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  let vm;
  beforeEach(() => {
    const CollapsedGroupedDatePicker = Vue.extend(collapsedGroupedDatePicker);
    vm = mountComponent(CollapsedGroupedDatePicker, {
      showToggleSidebar: true,
    });
  });

  describe('toggleCollapse events', () => {
    beforeEach(done => {
      jest.spyOn(vm, 'toggleSidebar').mockImplementation(() => {});
      vm.minDate = new Date('07/17/2016');
      Vue.nextTick(done);
    });

    it('should emit when collapsed-calendar-icon is clicked', () => {
      vm.$el.querySelector('.sidebar-collapsed-icon').click();

      expect(vm.toggleSidebar).toHaveBeenCalled();
    });
  });

  describe('minDate and maxDate', () => {
    beforeEach(done => {
      vm.minDate = new Date('07/17/2016');
      vm.maxDate = new Date('07/17/2017');
      Vue.nextTick(done);
    });

    it('should render both collapsed-calendar-icon', () => {
      const icons = vm.$el.querySelectorAll('.sidebar-collapsed-icon');

      expect(icons.length).toEqual(2);
      expect(icons[0].innerText.trim()).toEqual('Jul 17 2016');
      expect(icons[1].innerText.trim()).toEqual('Jul 17 2017');
    });
  });

  describe('minDate', () => {
    beforeEach(done => {
      vm.minDate = new Date('07/17/2016');
      Vue.nextTick(done);
    });

    it('should render minDate in collapsed-calendar-icon', () => {
      const icons = vm.$el.querySelectorAll('.sidebar-collapsed-icon');

      expect(icons.length).toEqual(1);
      expect(icons[0].innerText.trim()).toEqual('From Jul 17 2016');
    });
  });

  describe('maxDate', () => {
    beforeEach(done => {
      vm.maxDate = new Date('07/17/2017');
      Vue.nextTick(done);
    });

    it('should render maxDate in collapsed-calendar-icon', () => {
      const icons = vm.$el.querySelectorAll('.sidebar-collapsed-icon');

      expect(icons.length).toEqual(1);
      expect(icons[0].innerText.trim()).toEqual('Until Jul 17 2017');
    });
  });

  describe('no dates', () => {
    it('should render None', () => {
      const icons = vm.$el.querySelectorAll('.sidebar-collapsed-icon');

      expect(icons.length).toEqual(1);
      expect(icons[0].innerText.trim()).toEqual('None');
    });

    it('should have tooltip as `Start and due date`', () => {
      const icons = vm.$el.querySelectorAll('.sidebar-collapsed-icon');

      expect(icons[0].dataset.originalTitle).toBe('Start and due date');
    });
  });
});

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


We have all been there. Cruising in the middle lane on the interstate with giant 18 wheelers flying by in the left lane or right lane – sometimes both! Passing with too narrow a margin or simply going too fast for cargo that size can be a frightening experience. Even when commercial vehicle accidents are spared, other drivers on the road can still be at risk.
Did you know seemingly minor driver oversights, like forgetting to signal when changing lanes, are amplified when that driver is behind the wheel of a large commercial vehicle carrying a heavy freight. They are risking potentially life threatening accidents and injuries to other passengers on the road as well. These are the kind of simple mistakes that come to mind when thinking about the causes of commercial vehicle accidents. As much as these accidents are avoidable, they are inevitable as well.
What about underlying dangers that are not discovered until it's too late?
The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance established rules, regulations, and permitting for cargo and drivers across North America. They review stats and policies monthly and frequently update their safety requirements with the ever-changing demands of the industry. However, staying on top of the most current safety protocol is difficult for cargo companies and drivers. Regulations differ dramatically from state to state based on the type of terrain and weather in the region of origin. Louisiana's causeway systems or two lane highways over the swamps and bayous may not be suitable for the weight requirements of a truck that is for for transport in Georgia.
The goal of these organizations is to reduce the number of commercial vehicle accidents on the highway. Evaluating and implementing enhancements to crash-worthiness standards are vital. It's important to use technology to enforce these regulations to save more lives. This requires vigilance on and off the road as well as high tech surveillance.
The amount of overweight commercial vehicles on the highway is more than one would expect. The ever-changing regulations are to blame for this. Naturally, the heavier the vehicle the more damage, severity of injury and slimmer margin of error in the event of a minor traffic mistake. Although, there should be a noticeable decrease in commercial vehicle accidents as technology continues to advance.
In the last few years, bus and motorcar safety has also come into the spotlight in the wake of several fatal crashes.
Congress established a prohibition on roadside regulatory safety checks, unless there was a visible reason. Pulling over a bus without probable cause just to run a safety check, was deemed illegal. This allowed many operators that were in violation of several regulatory codes to avoid inspection. The ban put commercial drivers and other drivers on the road at risk. The CSVA supports the elimination of this prohibition, but it has been in the works for a long time. Being a conscious consumer and inquiring as to if your coach of choice undergoes routine safety checks to meet state regulations manually is the best way to stay aware of the ever changing regulations.
A little information goes a long way. If you are involved in a commercial vehicle accident where some of these regulations were not met, you may be entitled to more compensation for damages.


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Tag Archives: Military contractors
Code of Conduct for Private Security Providers Endorsed in Geneva
By Corporate Action Network
On Tuesday, November 9, 58 private security companies signed an International Code of Conduct for Private Security Providers. The signatories included major U.S. based firms, such as Triple Canopy, DynCorp, EODT, and even Xe (formerly known as Blackwater). The Code seeks to address the human rights impact of security providers and among its standards are rules for the use of force, prohibitions on child and forced labor, human trafficking, torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, and commitments regarding the vetting and training of personnel and the reporting of incidents of the use of force.
The participants reflect a multi-stakeholder group representing governments, companies and their trade associations, civil society groups, and experts and academics, many of whom were involved in the 14 month process to develop the Code facilitated by the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces. This Code initiative is distinguishable from other voluntary efforts to date to create standards for companies in that its goal is to have the clients of private security providers – both governments and non-state clients like humanitarian aid organizations and other companies – include requirements to adhere to the Code in their contract vehicles.
The British government has already committed to making this a requirement for its contracted security, and the U.S. government is currently contemplating doing the same according to U.S. Department of State legal advisor Harold Koh. This would lend these voluntary standards some real teeth, as the human rights commitments made by the signatory firms could be upheld in courts of law. Furthermore, it represents an important advancement in the recognition by a global industry of the obligations of firms to uphold human rights wherever they operate.
However, the credibility of this initiative will hinge on the nature of the external independent mechanisms for effective governance and oversight. OMB Watch and some non-governmental organizations have warned of the shortcomings of any mechanism of reporting the incidents of the use of force that relies on self-reporting. Humans rights groups, such as Human Rights Advocates, Right Respect, and other human rights groups have endorsed the Code, but warn that the Code not be viewed as a substitute for the development of binding legal instruments to ensure that private security firms are held accountable for their actions.
SEE THE REST OF THIS POST
Posted in Business and Human Rights, Military, Police and Arms
Failed accountability, WikiLeaks show true cost of war
The release by WikiLeaks late last week of 391,832 secret documents on the Iraq War has been said to be "…the most comprehensive and detailed account of any war ever to have entered the public record." The revelations emerging from these documents showcase the culture of impunity that has plagued this war effort, including the U.S. government's failure to adequately address rights violations linked to the corporations and contractors used to fight our wars.
As an August 22, 2006 report released by WikiLeaks stated
AFTER THE IED STRIKE A WITNESS REPORTS THE BLACKWATER EMPLOYEES FIRED INDISCRIMINATELY AT THE SCENE.
More than one year later, on September 16, 2007, Blackwater (now renamed Xe) guards, still benefiting from huge government contracts, shot and killed 17 Iraqi civilians in Nisour Square, Baghdad. This is just one example of many that can be found in the leaked documents.
It is clear that the record of unjustified killings and violence by PSCs is far beyond what had previously been released to the public. As it stands, none of these incidents has resulted in prosecution, and even those cases that have moved forward have resulted in dismissal or failure to indict. Recently, a case against Andrew J. Moonen, a former Blackwater guard who was accused of killing a guard assigned to an Iraqi VP while wandering drunk in the Green Zone, was dropped by the Justice Department, citing difficulties in obtaining evidence in war zones, and the granting of immunities to the defendant by American officials at the scene.
Even the most public of cases, including that against Blackwater guards for the shooting of 17 Iraqi civilians in Nisour Square, have resulted in dismissals in US courts. This culture of impunity extends across PSC activities. On September 11th, 2009, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in a 2 to 1 ruling dismissed a lawsuit brought against CACI International that alleged CACI personnel participated in torture and abuse at the Abu Ghraib prison.
By creating complex legal hurdles, issuing on the scene immunities, and failing to ensure an environment of transparency, oversight and accountability, we are shielding the true costs of our wars, not only financially but in human terms as well. The release of these documents showcases just how terrible that cost is.
Let's continue to call for accountability in conflict zones. Tell President Obama and Congress to respect human rights and counter terror with justice.
Posted in Business and Human Rights, Military, Police and Arms, USA
DoD Risks Hiring Unscrupulous Arms Brokers with Foreign Arms Purchases
By Colby Goodman
The Washington Post's Saturday front page article "U.S. military criticized for purchase of Russian copters for Afghan air corps" once again raised concerns about the Pentagon's purchase of foreign-sourced arms. While the Post highlighted opposition of the helicopter deal by U.S. Senators such as Richard Shelby for "massive waste, cost overruns, schedule delays, safety concerns and major delivery problems", it failed to mention the serious risk of DoD hiring unscrupulous or problematic arms brokers in such deals. As DoD continues to purchase foreign-sourced arms, including 10 new Russian helicopters for Afghanistan, additional controls are urgently needed.
In September 2009, Amnesty International USA published a policy briefing that highlighted six cases in which Pentagon funds were used to contract arms brokers that had been either connected to breaches of international arms embargoes, named in reliable UN reports as being involved in illegal arms trafficking, listed on the U.S. Department of State's Watch List, or whose agent had been indicted for breaches of U.S. arms control laws. All of these contracts were for foreign-sourced assault rifles or ammunition. As a result, millions of U.S. dollars were given to these individuals and in at least one case the U.S. government received tons of faulty ammunition, putting Afghan and U.S. forces at risk.
One of the key reason's DoD funds were funneled to these arms brokers is a significant lack of controls on foreign-sourced arms purchases compared to controls on U.S. arms exports. For example, in some cases DoD officials are not aware of or do not screen all of the subcontractors involved in a contract to procure or transfer foreign-sourced arms. There are also no contract clauses that specifically prohibit prime contractors from subcontracting with entities that have been accused of transferring arms in contravention of U.S. national laws or convicted of arms trafficking in foreign courts.
Although some may think purchasing larger arms such as helicopters diminishes the risk of hiring problematic arms brokers, look no further than the Army's past purchase of Russian helicopters for Afghanistan. According to a blog in early 2009 on Wired, the U.S. Army reportedly hired an unknown Slovak ambulance company to supply three of the Russian Mi-17 helicopters to Afghanistan, and the helicopters had to be returned.
Posted in Military, Police and Arms, USA
Six years on Abu Ghraib victims still fighting for justice
By Rebecca DeWinter-Schmitt
Abu Ghraib will live on in collective memory as one of the biggest stains on the reputation of the United States as a supposed human rights leader. Who can forget the images that, despite their horrific nature, did not even begin to capture the full extent of the alleged abuse – including rape, sexual assault, beatings, prolonged stress positions, the use of dogs in interrogations and other forms of torture? Yet, six years on the victims of these human rights violations are still struggling to have their day in court, while the private military contractors involved – employees of CACI, Inc. and L-3 Communications (formerly Titan) – appear to be immune from criminal prosecution and civil lawsuits and continue to win multi-million dollar government contracts.
While a few of the soldiers implicated in the Abu Ghraib scandal have been held accountable, not a single contractor has seen the inside of a court room, despite the fact that several military-commissioned reports, including the Fay-Jones Report, confirmed that military contractors were responsible for the most serious abuses that occurred and recommended a civilian criminal probe and prosecutions. Instead, under the Bush administration, the cases of contractors implicated in detainee abuse were referred to a task force in the Eastern District of Virginia, where they were quietly dismissed or left interminably open. Existing U.S. law provides jurisdiction over contractor personnel for criminal offenses, such as torture. Some legal scholars have characterized the failure to prosecute as a willful decision to sweep contractors' crimes under the rug.
With little hope for criminal prosecution of the perpetrators, hundreds of the victims of Abu Ghraib and other detention centers in Iraq, all of whom had been released without charge, have sought recourse to justice through civil litigation with the assistance of the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) and a small team of attorneys. The case, Saleh et al v. Titan et al, has been making its way through the courts for the last six years and is currently at a critical juncture. On September 11, 2009, in a 2-1 decision, a panel of the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia affirmed the dismissal of all claims against Titan/L-3, and, reversing a district court ruling, also dismissed all claims against CACI. The following January, the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued an order denying plaintiffs' petition for rehearing en banc, in other words by a full panel of judges. On Monday, April 26, CCR undertook the final available step; it filed a petition with the Supreme Court asking it to take up the case against Titan/L-3 and CACI and review the Appeals Court's decision to dismiss the case.
Posted in Security and Human Rights, USA
A real chance for accountability for private security contractors
At the end of December, the human rights movement had some disappointing news. Federal Judge Ricardo Urbina dismissed the charges against the five Xe (Blackwater) guards accused in the shooting death of at least 14 innocent Iraqi civilians in Nisour Square in September 2007.
While his decision indicates the need to examine more closely the conduct of the Justice Department's prosecutors as well as the State Department's practice of immunizing contractors' statements given in the course of investigations, there is now reason for hope. On Tuesday, Rep. David Price and Sen. Patrick Leahy introduced companion bills under the short title of the Contractor Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act (CEJA) of 2010 in the House (HR 4567) and Senate (S2979). The legislation closes gaps in U.S. law to ensure that contractors can be prosecuted for crimes committed overseas.
One of the single biggest hurdles to holding military and security contractors accountable for criminal acts committed overseas has been the duality of systems in place for Defense Department (DOD) contractors versus those working for other government agencies. DOD contractors implicated in crimes are subject, in theory, to the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the military's judicial system, and the jurisdiction of federal courts by way of the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act (MEJA). But what about Blackwater, which was fulfilling the State Department's Worldwide Personal Protective Services (WPPS) contract at the time of the Nisour Square shootings? Well, many feared that the Justice Department wouldn't or wouldn't be able to pull off a case against the shooters because of unsettled evidentiary and jurisdictional issues.
We – the human rights community, Congress, the President, the media, and others – have known about this inconsistent patchwork of laws for some time now. In fact, in 2007 Rep. Price and then-Senator Barrack Obama joined forces to try to amend MEJA to clarify that there would be no impunity for government contractors who commit crimes. While the House version of the bill passed with an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 389 to 30, it fizzled on the Senate side.
Two years on, we don't need any more evidence to indicate the importance of acting decisively to make CEJA law. The DOS is about to release the Request for Proposal for WPPS III. In the upcoming weeks, we'll be asking you to call on your members of Congress in the House and Senate to endorse CEJA and end impunity for rights violators. Let's make sure that the framework is in place to hold military and security contractors accountable for human rights violations before we send out the next round of armed guards in the name of the U.S. government.
Blackwater accused of trying to buy its way out of accountability
On November 11th, 2009, the New York Times reported that in December 2007, top executives at Blackwater (currently known as Xe) authorized cash payments up to $1 million to Iraqi officials with the intent to buy silence and support from the Iraqi government over the Nisour Square shootings on September 16th, 2007, in which 17 Iraqis were shot and killed by Blackwater guards. The Times received this information from four anonymous former Blackwater executives. Two participated in talks about the payments and the other two had heard about the payments from other Blackwater officials. According to the executives, the payoffs were approved by then-company president, Gary Jackson. The money was sent to a top manager in Iraq and one executive stated that the intended recipients were officials in the Iraqi Interior Ministry in charge of operating licenses.
After the Nisour Square shootings, Blackwater came under plenty of heat from media and the Iraqi government, which wanted the contractor out of Iraq. For Blackwater, getting booted from Iraq meant potentially losing lucrative Department of State (DOS) contracts.
The four executives do not know if the bribes ever reached their intended recipients and it is unclear if a federal grand jury in North Carolina is investigating the matter. If it is found that Blackwater bribed Iraqi officials, those responsible could be prosecuted for obstruction of justice and violation of the Federal Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), which prohibits bribes to foreign officials.
Blackwater seems to be synonymous with "bad news" but perhaps the worst news is that the company – despite a growing list of human rights violations and various misdeeds – is not being held to account but rather is still winning new contracts with the U.S. Government. Perhaps what makes Blackwater and other private military and security companies (PMSCs) so bold and reckless is the culture of impunity in which they operate. The U.S. Government did not create mechanisms of accountability and regulation to keep up with the booming industry. But this is one area of corporate accountability with a clear record – the FCPA is a proven tool leaving no excuse for prosecutors to turn the other cheek. All that needs to be done is for the relevant U.S. attorneys to investigate.
U.S. appeals court sets dangerous precedent against victims of torture
by Lillian Tan, Corporate Action Network Intern
On September 11th, 2009, the U.S. Court of Appeals of the D.C. District ruled 2 to 1 to dismiss Saleh v. Titan, a lawsuit brought against CACI International, a private military and security company (PMSC), which alleged that CACI personnel participated in torture and abuse of detainees at Abu Ghraib. CACI was awarded a Department of Interior (DOI) contract to provide translation services at Abu Ghraib.
Judge Silberman, in his majority opinion, concluded that the plaintiffs' state law tort claims under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS) were preempted by the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA). According to his interpretation of the FTCA, contractors operate under the same sovereign immunity as U.S. military forces since they share a "common mission" with the military. Susan Burke, one of the attorneys for the plaintiffs, stated in the September 12th, 2009 Washington Post article that the legal team will file for an en banc review of the decision by all nine judges of the Court.
If the Court's ruling is not reversed, a dangerous precedent would be set in the U.S. judicial system that would make it extremely difficult for victims of human rights violations, like Saleh, to find relief. As things currently stand, federal criminal laws (18 U.S.C.) are not sufficient enough to hold contractors accountable for their actions.
The U.S. military greatly depends on PMSCs to support their operations in the "war on terror", with the use of contractors in Afghanistan reaching a record high. In the Iraqi theater, contractors have been allegedly involved in a number of human rights violations, almost none of which have been prosecuted in Federal criminal courts. While there is a glimmer of hope now that the Department of Justice is finally spurring to action by appointing a special prosecutor to reexamine almost two dozen cases of detainee abuse that were transferred to the Eastern District of Virginia—some of which include abuses committed by contractors—this fact does not change that federal prosecutors would still have substantial hurdles to clear before obtaining a prosecution.
One of the hurdles is the paucity of legislation that would effectively allow for a criminal prosecution of contractors. Another is evidence; and yet another is the statute of limitations on cases of torture under federal criminal law, which are fast approaching expiration. Now with the decision from Saleh v. Titan, victims of torture and abuse are denied the option of civil litigation.
Judge Silberman writes that the plaintiffs will not be bereft of all remedies since under the Foreign Claims Act" (10 U.S.C. §2734) they can file claims to a commission composed of officers and employees of the U.S. Armed Forces.However, is that even an appropriate "remedy" for Saleh and the other plaintiffs who have brought grievous allegations of torture and abuse by contractors who "acted unlawfully and without military authorization", as noted in the dissenting view of Judge Garland? Should such a precedent be set where plaintiffs such as Saleh are denied a civil law remedy, in effect barring them from a chance of vindicating their human rights with a speedy trial in U.S. courts of justice?
Private military and security companies wanted for hire by CIA as "hitmen"?
September 16, 2009 will be the second anniversary of the Nisour Square shootings, in which six Blackwater (now Xe) personnel shot and killed 17 Iraqi civilians outside Baghdad's green zone. The bad media which surrounded the incident galvanized the U.S. Government to take some steps towards ensuring that the Department of Defense (DOD) and Department of State (DOS) better regulate PMSC operations in Iraq. But was it enough?
The six Blackwater guards who allegedly indiscriminately opened fire in Nisour Square on September 16, 2007 were finally indicted late last year. The trial hasn't even started but Blackwater/XE personnel are already implicated in another incident. On May 5, 2009, four Blackwater/Xe personnel reportedly shot and killed two Afghan civilians in Kabul. So much for lessons learned in Iraq; so much for regulation, oversight, and accountability.
However, the U.S. government should not keep pushing aside the questions of how to effectively regulate and where to set the limits on using PMSCs — especially with the increased number of contractors flooding into Afghanistan in the wake of the planned surge in troops. The longer it takes for the U.S. government to finally take a position and answer these questions, the longer PMSCs operate in a legal limbo, in which they may commit human rights abuses with impunity.
Just recently, it has been reported that the CIA contracted Blackwater/Xe to assist in a secret assassination program of which the Congress was not even aware. According to the August 20, 2009 New York Times, "it is unclear if the CIA planned to use Blackwater/Xe to actually capture and kill Qaeda operatives, or just to help with training and surveillance in the program."
The article also mentions that government officials are concerned about serious issues of accountability when contractors are brought into covert and lethal operations. Where there is no transparency, accountability will be near impossible if a crime were committed during those operations. The past administration has been quick to invoke several legal reasons to withhold sensitive information from the public — from the Glomar response to claiming that releasing detainee abuse photos would be against the Geneva Conventions. When the same photos were about to be released in May 2009, the Obama administration sought to block their release arguing that the images could further inflame anti-American opinion. If it is already this difficult to get information out of government agencies, then imagine the difficulty of obtaining information for the purpose of accountability when there's a private contract involved in a sensitive national operation.
Another area of great concern that the New York Times article briefly touches upon is whether, aside from the concerns about accountability for PMSCs in such a program, PMSCs should be involved in the first place? As Senator Diane Feinstein (CA) aptly states, "It is too easy to contract out work that you don't want to accept responsibility for". In the debate about the use of PMSCs in modern warfare, there is the pressing question of what functions a government can and cannot outsource. In U.S. statute and policy, inherently governmental functions are loosely defined as "a function so intimately related to the public interest" that it must be performed by Federal employees. The list of functions that fall under "inherently governmental" is also extremely inconsistent, varying from agency to agency. Because of this lack of a clear and consistent definition, PMSCs are contracted to perform duties in highly sensitive areas such as intelligence and now, even assassinations.
To better regulate the industry, Congress also needs to pass legislation that will close the legal vacuum in which PMSCs are operating and appropriate more resources to regulation and oversight. The U.S. government currently does not adequately regulate the industry and its statutes to hold PMSCs accountable for crimes overseas are few. In its June 2009 Interim Report, the Commission on Wartime Contracting finds that U.S. government oversight of PMSCs is inadequate. Because they mostly operate transnationally, jurisdiction can become a problem. While PMSCs contracted by the DOD can be held accountable under the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act (MEJA) and the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), contractors hired by other agencies such as the DOS often fall through legal gaps.
The foundation to improve regulation, oversight and accountability of PMSCs has already been set. To close legal gaps such as the one in MEJA, legislation has been proposed in the past and we look forward to similar legislation in the 111th Session of Congress. As for clarifying definitions of "inherently governmental functions", a bipartisan Commission on Wartime Contracting was established in Public Law 110-181 to recommend among other things improvements in its Final Report on the "process for determining which functions are inherently governmental and which functions are appropriate for performance by contractors in a contingency operation, especially whether providing security in an area of combat operations is inherently governmental." On an international level, the UN Working Group on Mercenaries (UNWGM) completed its two-week visit to the U.S. on August 3rd, 2009. During that time, the UNWGM met with the DOJ, members of Congress, governmental officials and public interest groups to discuss how PMSCs can be regulated on international, regional, national and local levels. Such efforts are all a step in the right direction.
If You Can't Quit Them, Then Regulate Military Contractors
Their operations are vast and war zone contractors are likely here to stay, as Suzanne Simons writes in her CNN International article. Her article is a comprehensive piece that places emphasis on one of the more salient issues regarding private military and security companies (PMSCs) or contractors: lack of regulation, oversight, and accountability. The PMSC industry has grown rapidly since the war on terror and continues to play an integral role in the conflict in Afghanistan under the Obama administration, but the US government, as reported by the CWC in its Interim Report, lacks resources to manage the industry that it has come to depend on like a crutch.
Since 2001, Congress has appropriated about $830 billion to fund U.S. operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Over that period, America's reliance on contractors has grown to unprecedented proportions to support logistics, security, and reconstruction efforts related to those operations. More than 240,000 contractor employees—about 80 percent of them foreign nationals—now work in Iraq and Afghanistan, supporting the Department of Defense. Additional contractor employees support the Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development.
-Executive Summary, June 2009 Interim Report from the Commission on Wartime Contracting (CWC)
The result from the combination of a growing military industry and weak government regulation and oversight is a culture of impunity and lack of accountability for the many human rights abuses committed by PMSCs. Yes, five Blackwater guards will be tried in February 2010 for opening fire and killing civilians in Nisour Square and yes, a private civil lawsuit was filed against Blackwater contractor Andrew J. Moonen for killing one of the Iraqi Vice President's bodyguards in Baghdad's green zone. However, let us also keep in mind not only how long it took for the Department of Justice (DOJ) to act in the first case, but also the fact that numerous cases of detainee abuse committed by PMSC personnel have gone unprosecuted. In February 2008, Amnesty found out through Senator Durbin's inquiry to the DOJ that 24 cases of detainee abuse were transferred to the Eastern District of Virginia; 22 of the 24 were dismissed and 2 are pending. Our efforts to find out why these cases were dismissed or unresolved were fruitless.
:: :: Ask the Justice Dept why it is not Prosecuting Torture. :: ::
The industry cannot be expected to regulate itself and a government that is increasingly outsourcing its operations needs to ensure that it has the mechanisms to regulate PMSCs' activities and hold the companies accountable for their actions (and not reward them with more contracts). Doug Brooks of the International Peace Operations Association (IPOA) stated that PMSCs are here to stay and that it's about time we made it work but after the recent completion of a twelfth version of IPOA's Code of Conduct, the trade association still has not made it work. Essentially, the Code is ineffectual. For starters, there are no guidelines detailing what compliance with its standards entails; companies do not have to show that they are operationalizing the Code to IPOA or any third-party monitor; and there are no requirements for public reporting on company efforts to adhere to the Code.
This is why the U.S. government will have to move beyond the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act (MEJA) to create a new body of legislation that will hold all U.S. government contractors working overseas accountable – irrespective of which government agency employs them – if they commit human rights violations.
For more information on PMSCs, visit www.aiusa.org/pmscs and read CorpWatch's investigative report on intelligence contracting Outsourcing Intelligence in Iraq.
Posted in Business and Human Rights, Middle East and North Africa, Military, Police and Arms, Security and Human Rights, USA
Much Ado About Blackwater Part II: Xe (the next generation?)
By Erica Razook
Just as it seemed everyone knew about Blackwater and its laundry list of scandals, the company pulled an all-too-common move of ducking a public-relations battering and organization-level accountability by changing it's name. Poof. No more "Blackwater", no more problem. Now, there's just Xe (the company's new name) and the "U.S. Training Center".
I, for one, think we should instead refer to the firm as the "company formerly known as Blackwater", at least until there's evidence of real changes in its way of operating. And, by real changes, I don't just mean that Erik Prince isn't CEO anymore. Will the company formerly known as Blackwater, for example, adopt a human rights policy? Will it introduce stricter (any) guidelines on training and vetting of employees/contractors? Will it do anything to give the world any kind of assurance that it can be trusted — particularly to train African military troops and/or in peacekeeping missions — areas of work it has been seeking agressively, perhaps in an attempt to stay more behind the scenes than their U.S. Diplomatic Security contract allowed.
Mr. Prince, the former CEO of the company fomerly known as Blackwater, told the Wall Street Journal that he was "a little worn out by the whole thing, the politics of it all". Frankly, I'm a little worn out of companies getting away with murder and then doing a quick costume change and thinking that solves the problem.
Prince also told the Journal that the company's new name, Xe, is an abbreviation for Xenon, "an inert, non-combustible gas." But nations and private sector clients already know that the company formerly known as Blackwater is not inert — it's moving quickly to soak up new contracts, and if history repeats itself and the company does not make real changes to its modus operandi, it will prove combustible once again.
Posted in Africa, Business and Human Rights, Middle East and North Africa, Military, Police and Arms, Security and Human Rights, USA


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Q: ASP.Net Converting and Merging documents into single PDF I need to have the ability to convert and merge various documents into a single Pdf.
The documents could be of varying types, such as Word, Open Office, Images, Text, Web pages (by URL) and the PDF would usually consist of 2-3 documents.
At the moment, we are using BCL Technologies easyPDF with Microsoft Office installed onto the Server. This handles most documents but we haven't had it doing Open Office ones yet.
We currently produce around 100-1000 of these PDF's per day.
The reason I am asking the question is that performance is a key issue. The PDF is generated for users on the fly and so the waiting times we are currently getting of 30-60 seconds is becoming unacceptable.
We have done some caching around documents when they are intially uploaded so the main tasks that happens when a User requests a Pdf is merging a number of already generated Pdf's.
Does anyone else have any other tools they have used that work reliably for most common document types and above all, quickly? When put like that, it seems like I'm asking a lot!
Edit:
Thanks for all the great advice, I'll look into some of these and compare performance.
Just to add to all this, money is not really an object. We're more than happy to pay for different applications to perform each task as well as looking into various hardware options to distribute the load as much as possible.

A: Merging multiple PDF documents is normally simple enough (as long as they don't need to be merged on the same page) - you could compare your merge performance with something like iTextSharp (.NET version of iText) to be sure it isn't a bottleneck - otherwise the conversion from other formats to PDF is likely the bottleneck.
In almost all cases, the method used to convert X to PDF is to execute the applications print command, targeted at a software PDF printer, to create a temporary PDF file.
This means:

*

*The target application (for example Office) is opened and closed

*The document has to travel through the printing service

In your situation, are you converting arbitrary documents submitted by the users, or do the documents come from a stored library of files? If it's a library, you could make a PDF copy of each file as it is added to the library (instead of when the user makes a request), and then only merge the PDF files.

A: We use ABC Pdf.  I don't know if it will be fast enough for your needs, but it seems to work for our use.

A: I had a very similar issue where we had documents that were already existing in PDF format and needed to allow the user to see them all combined together.  We purchased the PDF4NET product which was about $500 from what I recall.  It was extremely easy to use and they provide awesome examples of how to use the tools.
O2 Solutions - PDF4NET
Here is the code sample that they provide for merging.  The top line looks like it just outputs the file, the second 2 lines allow for streaming the content back to the user.
        PDFFile.MergeFilesToDisk( "append.pdf", "unicode.pdf", "multicolumntextandimages.pdf" );
        PDFDocument doc =  PDFFile.MergeFilesToDoc( "append.pdf", "unicode.pdf", "multicolumntextandimages.pdf" );
        doc.SaveToStream( stream );

A: You say you're using Microsoft Office to open these files, I would imagine this is the bottleneck rather than the actual PDF creation.
Is it possible to distill these documents into a more accessible format (html/xml/database), so that it's not necessary to open office every time a PDF needs to be created?

A: While I have no PDF conversion suggestions I can say that this problem sounds like one which could be distributed over a number of nodes.  Do you find that the PDF generation is CPU-bound or are there other limiting factors?  Before expending too much effort on rewriting the PDF library interface you might want to see what the bottlenecks are.


text:
Tag: Machine Learning
Machine Learning is a set of techniques by which a computer system learns how to perform a task through recognizing patterns in data and inferring decision rules, rather than through explicit instructions. Machine learning also refers to the subfield of computer science and statistics studying how to advance those techniques.
Machine learning has led to most of the recent advances in artificial intelligence. These advances have been incorporated into systems used by millions of people every day, such as Google's search and translate tools, Amazon's digital assistant Alexa and Netflix's movie recommendation algorithm. It also includes specialized systems such as AlphaGo, text generators like BERT and GPT-2 and game-playing systems like OpenAI Five, AlphaStar and poker-playing Pluribus.
The essence of machine learning is a system recognizing patterns of relationships between inputs and outputs. For example, the U.S. Postal Service used machine learning to train a system to recognize handwritten zip codes on mail. The system was fed images of handwritten examples paired with the corresponding numbers as typed by humans, so it learned to identify what features were common in handwritten digits and how they varied. Once trained, the system could correctly identify previously unseen examples of handwritten digits.
Not all computing is machine learning and not all artificial intelligence systems that use computing use machine learning. Many computer programs, including most commonly used software, use rule-based systems where programmers set the actions the system should take. However, machine learning is useful for applications where it is difficult for human designers to specify the correct actions to take. For example, IBM's Deep Blue used a rule-based, exhaustive-search approach to beat the world chess champion. Deep Blue is therefore an example of an AI system not based on machine learning. On the other hand, DeepMind used machine learning to create AlphaGo, an AI system capable of out-performing humans in Go. While it is theoretically possible to solve Go with rule-based algorithms, the search space is so large that winning against a human would have been impossible. Machine learning allowed AlphaGo to infer strategies not yet discovered by humans, leading it to beat the world champion.
—CSET Glossary, "Machine Learning"
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Trillions of Questions, No Easy Answers: A (home) movie about how Google Search works
Watch our (home) movie: Trillions of Questions, No Easy Answers
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AI has not yet delivered on the promises in industry practice. The core business of industrial enterprises is not yet AI-enhanced.
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In this work, we briefly survey the first decade of research in social bot detection. Via a longitudinal analysis, we discuss the main trends of research in the fight against bots, the major results that were achieved, and the factors that make this never-ending battle so challenging. Capitalizing on lessons learned from our extensive analysis, we suggest possible innovations that could give us the upper hand against deception and manipulation. Studying a decade of endeavors in social bot detection can also inform strategies for detecting and mitigating the effects of other—more recent—forms of online deception, such as strategic information operations and political trolls.
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Now the Machines Are Learning How to Smell
There have been previous attempts to use machine learning to detect patterns that make one molecule smell like garlic and another like jasmine… Several other teams applied AI to that data and made successful predictions. But Wiltschko's team took a different approach. They used something called a graph neural network, or GNN.
Now the Machines Are Learning How to Smell Read More
The Quest to Make a Bot That Can Smell as Well as a Dog
Scientists are trying to crack the code of how smell works—and create robots that can sniff out the world's secrets like a dog.
The Quest to Make a Bot That Can Smell as Well as a Dog Read More
Toward ML-Centric Cloud Platforms
Cloud platforms, such as Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and Google Cloud Platform, are tremendously complex. Cloud platforms are also extremely expensive to build and operate, so providers have a strong incentive to optimize their use. A nascent approach is to leverage machine learning (ML) in the platforms' resource management using supervised learning techniques.
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Communications of the ACM, March 2019
By Judea Pearl
"Unlike the rules of geometry, mechanics, optics, or probabilities, the rules of cause and effect have been denied the benefits of mathematical analysis." "…the art of automated reasoning."
The Seven Tools of Causal Inference, with Reflections on Machine Learning Read More
Intelligent Systems for Geosciences: An Essential Research Agenda
Communications of the ACM, January 2019
By Yolanda Gil, Suzanne A. Pierce, et al.
"Many aspects of geosciences pose novel problems for intelligent systems research… A recently launched Research Coordination Network on Intelligent Systems for Geosciences followed a workshop at the National Science Foundation on this topic. This expanding network builds on the momentum of the NSF EarthCube initiative for geosciences, and is driven by practical problems in Earth, ocean, atmospheric, polar, and geospace sciences. Based on discussions and activities within this network, this article presents a research agenda for intelligent systems inspired by geosciences challenges."
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Deep Learning Hunts for Signals Among the Noise
Communications of the ACM, June 2018, Vol. 61 No. 6, Pages 13-14
By Chris Edwards
"The secret to deep learning's success in avoiding the traps of poor local minima may lie in a decision taken primarily to reduce computation time."
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AI is reinventing the way we invent
MIT Technology Review, Feb. 15, 2019
By David Rotman
"In other words, AI's chief legacy might not be driverless cars or image search or even Alexa's ability to take orders, but its ability to come up with new ideas to fuel innovation itself."
AI is reinventing the way we invent Read More
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Abstract: The purpose of this study was to characterize, isolate and chemically modify tiger nut ( Cyperus sculentus L.) starch with octenyl succinic anhydride. The efficiency of the chemical modification was 0.04. Chemical composition, particle morphology (SEM), particle size, X-ray diffraction, infrared analysis, thermogravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry and swelling and solubility power were determined for characterization of the native and modified starch. Both showed similar chemical composition and amylose and amylopectin contents, as well as absorption spectra in the infrared region without modification of the molecular structure and A-type crystalline pattern. The particles of both had an oval and spherical shape. The modified starch was more resistant to temperature and the gelatinization process occurred at 67.52 °C. These results suggest that tiger nut starch has a great industrial potential.
Lima, B. N. B., Cabral, T. B., Neto, R. P. C., & Tavares, M. I. B. (2012). Estudo do amido de farinhas comerciais comestíveis. Polímeros: Ciência e Tecnologia, 22(5), 486-490. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0104-14282012005000062.
Manek, R. V., Builders, P. F., Kolling, W. M., Emeje, M., & Kunle, O. O. (2012). Physicochemical and binder properties of starch obtained from Cyperus esculentus. American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists PharmSciTech, 13(2), 379-388. http://dx.doi.org/10.1208/s12249-012-9761-z. PMid:22350737.
Builders, P. F., Mbah, C. C., Adama, K. K., & Audu, M. M. (2014). Effect of pH on the physicochemical and binder properties of tiger nut starch. Stärke, 66(3-4), 281-293. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/star.201300014.
Builders, P. F., Anwunobi, P. A., Mbah, C. C., & Adikwu, M. U. (2013). New direct compression excipiente from tiger nut starch: Physicochemical and functional properties. American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists PharmSciTech, 14(2), 818-827. http://dx.doi.org/10.1208/s12249-013-9968-7. PMid:23649994.
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