text:
The Separation of Abram & Lot
What Lot Represents. Lot is a picture of a believer who, walked from the very beginning in another's faith, and not his own. For a time he maintained an outward path of separation, but did not have the personal conviction to continue in it. The separation broke down, and Lot settled in the world. If it weren't for the New Testament (2 Peter 2), we wouldn't know if Lot was a true child of God. He pictures one who, though ultimately their soul is saved, their life is a loss for Christ while passing through it. Lot's life is given to us as a contrast to the life of Abraham; a believer walking by sight compared to one walking by faith. Lot is marked by uncertainty and restlessness, while Abraham was marked by purpose and peacefulness. Lot was apparently trying to influence the world, but in reality the world was influencing him. He did not enjoy nearness to God. His soul was "vexed" every day in the wicked city (2 Peter 2:8). He is an example of one whose life was an utter shipwreck, due to a lack of communion, wrong priorities, bad companions, and poor decisions. It is instructive to trace his path, and to learn the steps he took to end up in Sodom, and how he lost everything in the fire of God's judgment.
Abram Leaves Egypt, Returns to the Tent and Altar (13:1-4)
Abram and Lot Separate (13:5-13)
Abram receives the Call to Walk the Land (13:14-17)
Abram comes to Hebron, Pitches in the Plain of Mamre (13:18)
1 And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, towards the south. 2 And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold. vv.1-2 Abram Leaves Egypt. When Abram left Egypt, he traveled "towards the south", that is, the southern part of Canaan. From a materialistic perspective, the time in Egypt appeared to be very profitable for Abram. He was "very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold", but all of that wealth was ill-gotten, gained through selling his wife to Pharaoh. The wealth that Abram got would also be a source of trouble to Abram, as we see in vv.5-6. Lot came with him out of Egypt, but Lot picked up some things in Egypt that would be a hindrance to him. It is important to realize that it is one thing to remove a believer from the world, it is a more difficult thing to remove the world from the believer. If there is one good thing that came from Abram's time in Egypt, it would be that he seemed to learn a lesson about materialism. In ch.13 we find Abram willingly giving Lot the choice of the land, and in ch.14 he refuses to take the goods from the king of Sodom. Lot however, did not learn the lesson.
3 And he went on his journeys from the south as far as Bethel; as far as the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai; 4 to the place of the altar that he had made there at the first. And there Abram called on the name of Jehovah. vv.3-4 Abram returns to his tent and altar. As we previously remarked, the tent speaks of our pilgrim character, and the altar speaks of communion. Abram had neither tent nor altar in Egypt, nor did he call on the name of Jehovah. Remember, God brought Israel up out of Egypt to worship Him. You cannot worship God in Egypt, typically speaking. In type, this speaks of the believer being restored to Lord after going off the path into the world. Where does he go? He had to return to the point of departure; "the place where his tent had been at the beginning". The same is true for us today. If there is to be restoration, we must return – in a moral sense – to the point of departure. Once restored, Abram can be a worshiper again!
5 And Lot also who went with Abram had flocks, and herds, and tents. v.5 Lot's wealth, but no altar. Lot was Abram's nephew. We find that Lot has a tent (like Abram), but no altar. There was an outward testimony, but no inward communion with God. This gives us the secret of Lot's failure: a lack of communion with God. He also came up out of Egypt with great wealth.
6 And the land could not support them, that they might dwell together, for their property was great; and they could not dwell together. 7 And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram's cattle and the herdsmen of Lot's cattle. And the Canaanite and the Perizzite were dwelling then in the land. vv.6-7 Strife between herdsmen. The combined wealth of Abram and Lot was too much for the land. The overcrowded condition led to strife between the herdsmen. It might picture to us the difference of opinion that comes in between brethren that are living on different principles. A heavenly minded and earthly minded Christian cannot go on together long (Amos 3:3). Why does it mention that "the Canaanite and the Perizzite were dwelling then in the land"? The world was watching this strife. It would appear that Abram must have been exercised about it, based on his response in v.8. In 1 Cor. 6, Paul addresses the issue of believers prosecuting their disputes "before the unjust". What shame is brought on the name of Christ by this display! We ought to be sensitive towards it. In Phil. 2:15 we are reminded of the importance of remaining "blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world". There is nothing like strife between brethren to dim our light for the Lord.
8 And Abram said to Lot, I pray thee let there be no contention between me and thee, and between my herdsmen and thy herdsmen, for we are brethren. 9 Is not the whole land before thee? Separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if to the left, then I will take the right; and if to the right, then I will take the left. vv.8-9 Abram gives Lot the choice. It is beautiful to see that Abram takes the lead, as the uncle, to resolve the conflict. He seems to have learned something from his time in Egypt, because he does not insist on his rights. The land was promised to Abram, yet Abram offers the choice to Lot. What a gracious spirit! Note that this is the preferred way to resolve difficulties between brethren; i.e. by one brother humbling himself, choosing not to insist on his own rights. "Why do ye not rather suffer wrong? why are ye not rather defrauded?" (1 Cor. 6:7). The expression Abram uses, "we are brethren", is the idea of friendly love or affection. Abram was sensitive to the conflict, and wanted to resolve it. How beautiful that Abram gives Lot the free choice of the right to the left, without trying to channel him either way. In the end Lot chose the left (looking south from Bethel), and Abram was content with the right.
10 And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of the Jordan that it was thoroughly watered, before Jehovah had destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah; as the garden of Jehovah, like the land of Egypt, as one goes to Zoar. 11 And Lot chose for himself all the plain of the Jordan; and Lot went toward the east. And they separated the one from the other: vv.10-11 Lot's Choice. Lot lifted up his eyes, but his assessment was according to his own mind, shrewd as he was. Abram also lifts up his eyes (v.14), but he does so at the direction of the Lord. For Lot, lifting of his eyes was nothing more than turning to human wisdom. When we do not consult the Lord's wisdom, we open ourselves up to being deceived by the world. He surveys the land, and sees the lowlands as the best part. He describes the plain of Jordan as "thoroughly watered… as the garden of Jehovah, like the land of Egypt". It was truly the better land for cattle. Lot was looking for financial prosperity. His priorities and objects were wrong. What about you? What are your motivations when deciding what to study, where to live, etc.? Notice to what Lot compares the land. What did the garden of the Lord have in common with the land of Egypt? Physically they were both lush and green, but morally they were opposites. In a certain sense, the world's aim is to have Eden without God. Where did Lot learn about the land of Egypt? From his uncle. Abram had fed Lot a mixture of things, and now Lot is confused. His discernment is gone. He had tasted the things of the world, and now he sought a place like the world. He did not consider God's view of the people of Sodom (v.13). The well watered plain eventually, going south, turned into slime pits (Gen. 14:10). The world lures us in with its attractions, but then it mires us down in sin and shame. But Lot was responsible for his own choice. We cannot go on forever walking in another's faith. Eventually we have to stand on our own two feet, and the choices we make when that time comes will manifest our true spiritual condition. The conflict did not create the spiritual condition in Abram and Lot, but it manifested what was already in their hearts.
12 Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan; and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain, and pitched tents as far as Sodom. v.12 Two Dwellings. Abram dwelt in the land of promise, but Lot dwelt in "the cities of the plain", of which there were five; Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Zoar (Gen. 14:2). He didn't seem to settle down in any one place, perhaps going in and out of each of the cities. But Lot steadily drew closer to Sodom, pitching his tent toward that place. Lot still had his tent, which speaks of a pilgrim character. In the same way, when we start down a bad path, we don't always lose our pilgrim character immediately. But before long, Lot was living right in the city (Gen. 14:11), then his tent was exchanged for a house (Gen. 19:2), and finally he tried to make himself a judge in the city (Gen. 19:9).
13 And the people of Sodom were wicked, and great sinners before Jehovah. v.13 Jehovah's Assessment. Lot's choice placed him in a precarious position. Jehovah's assessment of the people of Sodom was that they were "wicked, and great sinners" in the sight of Jehovah.
14 And Jehovah said to Abram, after that Lot had separated himself from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art, northward and southward and eastward and westward; 15 for all the land that thou seest will I give to thee, and to thy seed for ever. vv.14-15 The Land Promised to Abram. As soon as the separation with Lot occurred, then the Lord speaks to Abram. It was the final step in the original call to leave his land, his father's house, and his kindred. Perhaps Abram was sad about Lot departing, but then the Lord encourages him. Jehovah tells Abram to lift up his eyes from the place where he was (Bethel), and to look as far as he could in four directions. Everything he could see was to be given to him and his descendants "for ever". From a material standpoint, this is the greatest gift that was ever given to a man. This was Abram's reward for trusting the Lord as to the separation of Lot, and giving him the choice of the land.
16 And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth, so that if any one can number the dust of the earth, thy seed also will be numbered. v.16 A Numerous Seed Promised to Abram. The promise continues, that Abram's seed would be like the dust of the earth; i.e. it would be innumerable. All of this was promised to Abram when he had no children. It was something he had to enjoy by faith. Later this promise was expanded, saying that God would multiply Abram's seed as the "stars of the heaven", and as the "sand which is upon the sea shore" (Gen. 22:17).
17 Arise, walk through the land according to the length of it and according to the breadth of it; for I will give it to thee. v.17 The Call to Walk the Land. Abram is then called to walk up and down in the land of promise. All this would be done without settling down, sojourning "as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles" (Heb. 11:9). The call to view the land (vv.14-15) and the call to walk the land (v.17) can be correlated to the two prayers of Ephesians. The prayer in Ephesians 1 is that we might know our portion, like Abram who was to look north, south, east, and west to see what God had given him. The prayer in Ephesians 3 is that we might enjoy our portion, like Abram who was to walk through the length and breadth of the land.1
18 Then Abram moved his tents, and came and dwelt by the oaks of Mamre ['fatness'], which are in Hebron ['fellowship']. And he built there an altar to Jehovah. v.18 Hebron, the Place of Communion. Abram moved to Hebron, and built an altar to Jehovah.
Hebron was a city just south of Jerusalem, in the portion of Judah. It was the burying place of Sarah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Rebekah, and Leah. It was conquered by Joshua, and given to Caleb as his inheritance. Hebron often pictures communion, as the name means 'communion', and Abram enjoyed many years of sweet fellowship with Jehovah, having his altar in that place. We read that the city was "built seven years before Zoan in Egypt" (Num. 13:22). Perhaps this pictures how communion existed before the world (Egypt) was made. There was communion between the Persons of the Godhead from a past eternity, long before the world was made! It is into that fellowship that the believer has been introduced by the Holy Ghost; "truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ" (1 John 1:3).
Anstey, Bruce. Lessons from the Lives of Abraham and Lot. Christian Truth Publishing, 2002.
Tagged with: Communion Pilgrims Separation Tent The World


text:
The woman who made former NSW Premier Bob Carr "very, very nervous"
Broadcast Fri 9 Sep 2022 at 6:15am Friday 9 Sep 2022 at 6:15am Fri 9 Sep 2022 at 6:15am
Queen Elizabeth II, with Bob Carr and Bob Leece from the Olympic Coordination Authority, views the Stadium of Australia, the central stadium for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, on March 21, 2000. (
Reuters: Russell Boyce
The city of Sydney cemented itself as a city of the world when it hosted the Olympic Games in 2000.
It also provided the backdrop for when Bob Carr, who was Premier of New South Wales at the time, provided Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth a sneak peek of how developments were proceeding, months before the opening ceremony.
Bob Carr, Former New South Wales Premier and Foreign Affairs Minister
Joe Sullivan, Producer
Broadcast 9 Sep 2022 9 Sep 2022 Fri 9 Sep 2022 at 6:15am
RN Drive Special: Remembering Queen Elizabeth
Duration: 3 hours 3h
Britons mourn the death of Queen Elizabeth II
The Queen of the Commonwealth
More from RN Drive
Search ramps up for tiny radioactive capsule lost in remote WA desert
Published: 13h ago Mon 30 Jan 2023 at 6:15am
Auckland floods sees 40% of annual rainfall dumped in less than a month
Duration: 4 minutes 5 seconds 4m 5s
Lived experience to guide new mental health strategy with focus on access for most in need
Duration: 9 minutes 7 seconds 9m
Carbon Counter: Could conventional cars be better for the environment than EVs?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Cable and wire marker. Letter O. Self adhesive polypropylene. Supplied in packs of 100 labels. Available in two sizes.
Cable and wire markers. Letter O. Material self adhesive polypropylene. Supplied in packs of 100 labels.
VCC100O Size 5mm x 38mm. Material self adhesive polypropylene.
VCC200O Size 5mm x 85mm. Material self adhesive polypropylene.


This is a black onyx pendant with superb heraldic sculpted wolf rampant and gold plated (5 Microns 18K Gold) sterling silver. An open backed pendant..
This oval measures 26 x 21 mm (1 x 13/16 inch). The ancient symbol is hand crafted, a fabulous gift for somebody dear to you or for yourself. A truly memorable gift.


text:
Accelerated Learning
Zero Investment Innovation: A New Need for Education
By Pradeepta Kumar Nayak, PhD
See all Articles by Pradeepta NayakSee Pradeepta Nayak's Expert PageGet Updates on Accelerated LearningGet Updates on Pradeepta Nayak
When people in their everyday life and work feel that they are not individually responsible for the lack of movement, growth, or development, it does not augur well for a progressive and healthy society. And, if the education sector is the victim of this vacuum, our future may have been taken hostage.
We all are linked to children and education, in some way or other in our lives. We have our expected roles to play, both collectively and individually, in thought and action. How do we release the prisoners of our attitude?
Just take a look at India, and its education sector, and how it binds tomorrow's aspirations with today's failures. The key issues which have been affecting the school education in India include policy and planning, coverage, access and utilization, infrastructure, implementation, outcomes, and impact. While quality of education is a collective impact of all the actors and factors, there is a general tendency to attribute failures and deficiencies to others.
Half of India's 1.2 billion people are below the age of 25, and the quality of school education services are critically needed to realize the potential of this enormous group. Challenges and large disparities in service quality and student performance continue to remain, especially within the public sector.
As a result, private sector solutions are becoming attractive (and deceptive!) alternatives to government schools, leading to pauperization of people in a country where inequality has been increasing in alarming rates.
Lack of new ideas or innovation - in response to the critical needs- is an issue which has been affecting overall processes and outcomes of school education in India and the whole world in different contexts. A country like India has looked to developed countries for their best practices and tried to adapt them to local context.
It is deplorable that the country continues to ignore the goldmine of grassroots ideas, by not using those for harnessing the existing systems and resources. There is a pressing need to improve the scenario of education in India. What do you think is a solution?
An exciting answer to the issues and challenges that confront us today is Zero investment innovation (ZII) .However, ZII first starts with a need for and belief in innovation.
Innovation as a Solution:
There are organizations and individuals who have been working on improvement of education and process innovations in small, invisible and unrecognized ways. If these could be searched, researched, refined, and replicated en masse, this could revive and enrich the declining education systems.
On the basis of its established beliefs and approaches, Sri Aurobindo Society has developed the concept of ZII, and working with the teachers on its institutionalization. Not seriously taken up by the policy makers until now, ZII is proving to be one of the most effective game-changing drivers in India's education system.
What is Zero Investment Innovation (ZII)?
Zero investment innovation is a new idea being or can be implemented effectively without any additional expenditure or with minimum expenditure. This is possible, and is already being practiced by people even in remotest rural corners of the country.
While ZII inspires a person to move from inactivity, to activity, to additional responsibility from a world of possibility; it needs courage to translate individual actions into institutionalization of innovation. ZII also requires empathetic and ethical-enabling of individuals to urge for their personal excellence.
A creative combination of the strength of ideas, self and selflessness; ZII is both powerful and empowering as a grassroots tool.
While ZII does not need much money; it can prove to be more than money. ZII can do what money has failed to do. It also sends out a strong message that large scale educational outcomes are possible with small money if people initiate, internalize and lead the process.
This idea has been getting support directly or indirectly from different sources. The realization that big results do not need big money got a support recently through the statement from Betsy De Vos. In her first extended policy address as United States Secretary of Education, she pointed to the lagging test scores and program with billions of dollars into low-performing schools which failed to produce better academic outcomes. She rejected the notion that money was a panacea for the challenges facing public schools.
ZII is a harmonious and balanced blend of the modern and the traditional, of outward-looking innovation and the inward- looking revival of the self. It is truly an altruistic solution in response to global needs. It should be practiced by all actors in all sectors of progress and impact which would further strengthen the education scenario.
ZII and Teachers:
While there are various actors working on school education, our most important players are the teachers. Teachers are the frontline builders of character, future, nation and the society, and have been the foremost influencers of the life of our children. They are in the best position to lead ZII, because:
- We need teachers' ideas, because their ideas move the matter: change self, society, and civilization.
- If teachers are inspired and given ownership, they can come out with wonderful and innovative ideas.
- Teacher excellence is possible when they take action on the basis of their own or internalized ideas and passion.
- When teachers come together and practice their own ideas, they build institutions.
If each teacher realizes her/his role and plays it with commitment, there would be significant development and impact. If every teacher ethically and professionally asks the self as to what she/he could do, and what more he could do; this very question could contribute to solutions, and prove to be a creative power.
The above convictions have led Sri Aurobindo Society to launch the Zero Investment Innovation for Educational Initiatives (ZIIEI). In its mission to continuously pursue solutions in search of a better tomorrow, Sri Aurobindo Society has forged collaboration with the Government and the HDFC Bank. It has been working to inspire and train more than 2000000 teachers for practicing this concept.
I am eager to come back to you, to tell the exciting story of how ZII unfolds individual excellence, and the impact of empathy.
Dr. Pradeepta Kumar Nayak is the former Executive Director of Indian Centre for Philanthropy. Presently, he works as the Senior Manager- Research with Sri Aurobindo Society. He is also a member of the Board of Advisors at the Initiative for Equality, USA. He was a Senior International Fellow at the Centre on Philanthropy and Civil Society, CUNY, USA.
Pradeepta has been contributing to the concepts and practices on awareness, education, inspiration, empowerment, consciousness, creativity, health, leadership, learning, trust, transformation, self and success.
Pradeepta can be reached at sicp.pradeepta@gmail.com
15 Features every Attendance Software should have!
How to Fix H1 Headings on Shopify with SEO Assistance
Decision Making Traps We All Fall Into Sometimes
Welder jobs in Thamesville | Machine Operator jobs | Pure Staffing Solution
Everything You Ever Needed to Know About Content Marketing
An On the web Advertising Expert and Your Business
Ways to Remember Physics Concepts
How Locksmith Open Door
One of the Most Disregarded Systems for Importance of Education
>> See All Articles On Accelerated Learning
***Helping Children Take Control of Their Learning
What Is Feminine Magnetism™ And How You can Attract The Man Of Your Dream With It
***He's Probably Not Emotionally Unavailable After All: Beware Of Mislabeling
Adenosine & PEMFs
***The 4% Solution to Body Image Anxiety: Body Knowledge System®
The Influence of Past Lives


Cicadas live underground for the majority of their lives. The most common species emerge on a yearly basis, but some species only come out every 17 years, according to the researchers.
Rows of tiny bumps line the wings of cicadas, and as drops of water land on them, they touch only the tips, producing pockets of air underneath the individual droplets. As they travel across the surface of the wings, the water droplets seemingly float on the air bubbles, the researchers explained.
The findings of the new study could one day help scientists and engineers design materials that are able to successfully clean themselves, Chen added.
"Self-cleaning surfaces using the jumping-drop mechanism can work at any orientation, which is a huge advantage for applications with unfavorable orientations with respect to gravity, such as mobile electronics and building roofs," he said.
Editor's Note: This story has been updated with a correct image of a cicada.


Volkswagen 'Beetle' 1303 LS cabriolet, year 1973. Chassis number: 15329117XX. Colour dark blue metallic with a black leatherette interior and black carpet. Blue mohair hood and hood-cover. This wonderful classic VW 'Beetle' was restored in the past. In 2007, the car was imported to the Netherlands. This beautiful convertible is in very good to excellent condition and the car drives perfectly. The car features a 1583 cc. air-cooled boxer-engine and 15-inch chromed disc wheels. This is a delightful four passenger VW cabriolet!


Your "Incumbent" HR Systems Vendor – What to do?
I just completed a series of interviews with three organizations going through the important, challenging, and time consuming process of implementing a new performance management system. In each case (a large healthcare provider, a global mining company, and a global call center operations company), the company is using the implementation of a performance management system to implement a new, re-engineered, strategic performance management process. But rather than discuss this, I'd like to give you some thoughts on their vendor strategy.
These three companies each chose to use their "incumbent" systems vendor. Rather than go to the "biggest" or "noisiest" systems vendor (I wont mention any names), they felt that they would see far greater benefits by using a newer system from their provider of recruiting software. Why did they do this? Because in each case they felt they had a wealth of data, experience, and strong working relationship with this company.
1. The biggest ROI from HR systems comes from integration, not automation. As Leighanne Levensaler, our Director of Talent Management research has pointed out in many of her findings, the real breakthrough benefits of HR systems now come from newly enabled applications, such as pay-for-performance, integrated career and development planning, enterprise succession management, and strategic internal and external recruiting – not from automating or improving a single process.
2. The big "Incumbents" are getting their acts together. The second point I want to make is that the traditional incumbents (recruiting systems providers, ERP providers (Oracle, PeopleSoft, SAP, Lawson), and LMS providers) are all getting their "talent and performance management" software acts together. While there are many feature differences between the providers (and our Talent Management Suites research will help you identify these), all now provide some form of an end-to-end solution which includes performance management.
While this continues to be a wild and wolly world of innovation (watch social networking coming around the corner), we think the role of your incumbent is becoming more important than ever.


text:
Sleep Patterns of Firefighters with Shift Working Schedules in Seoul Metropolitan Area
Hyun Woo Kim, Soo-Mi Jung, Yun Seo Choi, Sol Ah Kim, Hye-Young Joung, Eui-Jung Kim, Hyeon Jin Kim
Kim, Jung, Choi, Kim, Joung, Kim, and Kim: Sleep Patterns of Firefighters with Shift Working Schedules in Seoul Metropolitan Area
Published online: Sep 19, 2017
Hyun Woo Kim1, 2, 5 , Soo-Mi Jung, RN1, 2 , Yun Seo Choi, MS2, 4 , Sol Ah Kim, BS2, 4 , Hye-Young Joung, PhD2, 4 , Eui-Jung Kim, MD, PhD3 , Hyeon Jin Kim, MD1, 2, 4
1Sleep Center, Department of Ewha Womans University Mogdong Hospital, Ewha Womans University School of Medicine and Ewha Medical Research Institute, Seoul, Korea
2Department of Neurology, Ewha Womans University Mogdong Hospital, Ewha Womans University School of Medicine and Ewha Medical Research Institute, Seoul, Korea
3Department of Psychiatry, Ewha Womans University Mogdong Hospital, Ewha Womans University School of Medicine and Ewha Medical Research Institute, Seoul, Korea
4Department of Medical Science, Ewha Womans University Mogdong Hospital, Ewha Womans University School of Medicine and Ewha Medical Research Institute, Seoul, Korea
5Seoul International School, Seongnam, Korea
Correspondence Hyeon Jin Kim, MD Sleep Center, Department of Neurology, Ewha Womans University Mogdong Hospital, Ewha Womans University School of Medicine, 1071 Anyangcheon-ro, Yangcheon-gu, Seoul 07985, Korea Tel +82-2-2650-2673 Fax +82-2-2650-5958 E-mail shwana@naver.com
Received Aug 13, 2017 Accepted Aug 23, 2017
Copyright© 2017 The Korean Society of Sleep Medicine
Firefighters suffer from irregular and inadequate sleep, often due to their shift work schedule. The purpose of this study was to investigate the shift work schedules and their effects on the quality of sleep in Korean firefighters.
This study included firefighters in the Seoul Metropolitan area, who participated in the "Firefighters' Healing Camp" and answered questionnaires for their shift work schedules and sleep-related symptoms. Among 180 participating firefighters, 110 subjects completed detailed sleep questionnaires, which included the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, the Insomnia Severity Index, the Epworth Sleepiness Score, the Stanford Sleepiness Score, the Fatigue Severity Scale, and the Berlin Questionnaire, and provided details of their shift work schedule and duration for the last 3 weeks.
Among 110 respondents, 78.2% self-reported sleep disturbance and approximately 60% of the participating firefighters had a certain degree of insomnia. Furthermore, more than 50% of the firefighters complained of excessive daytime sleepiness, with 31.8% having a risk of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). The firefighters in the frequent night-shift (NS) working pattern (5 or more days for 3 weeks), showed significantly higher Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index global score than those in the infrequent (less than 5 days) NS group (8.8 ± 3.6 vs. 6.7 ± 2.7, p = 0.014). However, the frequent NS working pattern was not associated with excessive daytime sleepiness or OSA risk.
The participating firefighters reported a high prevalence of various sleep problems. Frequent NS working may be responsible for poor sleep quality in firefighters.
Key words: Firefighters, Shift work, Night-shift, Sleep disturbance, Quality of sleep
Firefighters are exposed to strenuous and dangerous working conditions. They must maintain full readiness for 24 hours against fire accidents and other incidents that require rescue operations. These working conditions put them at risk of various health problems [1-3]. Sleep disorders are also very common in the firefighters due to multiple factors [4,5]. Considering the work-related dangers firefighters are constantly exposed to, it is highly likely that sleep disorders in this occupation may lead to serious work-related accidents [6].
Recently, a number of studies have reported the prevalence of sleep disorders among firefighters ranging between 48 to 70% in many countries including United States, Brazil, Iran, and Korea [1,5,7,8]. This is likely caused by disruption of the circadian rhythm due to emergency dispatches, nighttime shifts, and other factors that prevent firefighters from sleeping at night. In particular, firefighters are exposed to light during night-shift (NS), that stimulates the production of melatonin, preventing those individuals from having deep sleep [9]. However, few studies have been performed on the working conditions of the firefighters related to the circadian disruption, indicating the need to research on what adequate working conditions are to ensure the firefighters' health and safety, regarding the issue of sleep problems.
This is a descriptive and quantitative report, based on the results of a survey circulated among the firefighters, who participated in a government-supported healing camp. The current study utilized various questionnaires related to the quality of sleep to investigate overall sleep health and daytime sleepiness in Korean firefighters. Moreover, the researchers collected detailed and quantitative information regarding their working patterns and attempted to study potential influences of the NS working schedule on the sleep quality.
This study was performed to investigate the shift work schedules and their effects on the quality of sleep in Korean firefighters. We hypothesized that the NS working schedule would have a significant impact on their sleep disturbances. Our findings showed that sleep-related problems are highly prevalent in Korean firefighters, partly related to poor sleep quality due to frequent NS working schedules.
The study subjects were 180 firefighters in the Seoul Metropolitan area, who participated in the "Firefighters' Healing Camp" which took place in 2016. A survey was given out to 180 participants, among whom 118 responded. 8 were excluded due to missing data, ultimately leaving data from 110 participants. The survey asked for detailed working schedules including the duration of each working type for the recent three weeks. When counting the total hours of work time, day-shift was counted as 9 hours, NS was counted as 16 hours, and all-day on duty was counted as 24 hours. In addition, the following sleep-related questionnaires were distributed and collected.
Completion of the questionnaire was voluntarily performed by all participants as part of the camp program and was conducted entirely anonymously. This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board, and the informed consent was waived due to the nature of the simple questionnaire survey in this study.
Sleep-Related Questionnaires
Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index
The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) is a self-report questionnaire that assesses sleep quality over a 1-month time interval [10]. The PSQI consists of 19 items, that subjectively measure seven components including subjective sleep quality, sleep latency, sleep duration, habitual sleep efficiency, sleep disturbances, use of sleep medication, and daytime function to evaluate different aspects of sleep. Each sleep component is scored on a 0 to 3 scale, with 3 denoting the worst quality, adding together into a global score ranged from 0 to 21, where higher scores denote poor sleep quality. The cut-off value of 6 or higher for the PSQI global score is defined as poor sleepers [10].
Insomnia Severity Index
The Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) consists of seven items asking self-assessment of the severity of insomnia symptoms [11,12]. Each item is scored on a 0 to 4 scale, with 4 denoting the highest severity. The total scores range from 0 to 28 with lower scores, representing mild or absence of insomnia symptoms and higher scores suggesting more severe insomnia.
Epworth Sleepiness Scale
The Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) asks a respondent to score the likelihood of dozing on a 0 to 3 scale, with 3 being most likely in eight real life situations [13]. The degree of daytime sleepiness is evaluated, based on the overall total score equaling the sum of responses to the eight items (ranging from 0 to 24). A respondent with ESS total score higher than 10 is regarded as having clinically significant excessive daytime sleepiness.
Stanford Sleepiness Scale
The Stanford Sleepiness Scale (SSS) is an assessment of alertness and levels of sleepiness throughout the day [14]. Rating alertness is unidimensional, based on a 1 to 7 scale, with 1 being a state of alert and feeling active and 7 being a state of dreamy or likely to fall asleep soon.
The Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS) is one of the most frequently used self-assessment questionnaires for measuring the impact of fatigue usually for subjects with chronic illness [15]. The FSS contains 9 statements that rate the severity of one's fatigue symptoms. Each statement is scored on a 7-point Likert type scale, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree), and a total FSS score > 36 is considered to have severe fatigue or need for further evaluation.
The Berlin Questionnaire (BQ) is a brief and validated screening tool, that is intended to identify persons in the community who are at high risk for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) [16]. The BQ contains questions related to snoring (category 1), daytime functioning (category 2), and hypertension or body mass index (BMI) > 30 (category 3). Scores from the first and second categories are determined positive, if the responses are "yes" or loud snoring (louder than talking or can be heard in adjacent rooms) or frequent equally to or more frequent than 3–4 time a week. The category 3 is positive, when a subject has a history of hypertension. A subject with 2 or more categories positive is determined to have OSA risk.
A t-test was used to compare numerical mean values between the infrequent and frequent NS working groups. A chi-square test was used to evaluate the effects of NS frequency, on the proportion of the subjects belonging to different ranges of various sleep-related scales.
Demographic Characteristics and Pattern of Work Schedule
Demographic data from 110 respondents is presented in Table 1. The majority of firefighters are comprised of males (109 males and 1 female), and the mean age was 42.5 ± 9.0 years old, ranging from 25 to 59 years. The BMI of the respondents was 24.4 ± 2.3 on average. Among them, 17.3% (19/110) had hypertension in their medical history (Table 1). Approximately one third (34.5%, 38/110) of the respondents were current smokers.
The firefighters were asked for detailed working schedules and durations of their schedules for the last 3 weeks. Their working schedules consist of day-shift working for 9 hours during daytime, the NS working for 16 hours during evening and night, and all-day on duty at the office for 24 hours, without being deployed to a field of emergency. The average days of the NS were 4.4 ± 1.8, ranging from 0 to 7 days, during a period of recent 3 weeks. The average day-shift days were 6.0 ± 3.0 days. The most frequent working pattern comprised 5 days of the day-shift and 5 days of the NS during a period of three weeks, which pertained to 71% (78/110) of all the respondents. In this group, days of the all-day on duty ranged from 1 to 3 days (mostly 2 days), constituting a smaller fraction of their workloads.
Since most of the firefighters had 5 days of the NS, all the respondents were divided into an infrequent NS group with less than 5 days of NS and frequent NS group with 5 days or more of NS working pattern. The sleep questionnaire data was compared between the two groups in the subsequent analyses. As shown in Table 1, the demographic characteristics and the frequency of underlying co-morbidity were not significantly different between the two groups. Life styles related to smoking, drinking, and caffeine consumption were also similar between the two groups.
Overall Quality of Night Sleep and Sleep-Related Behaviors
General characteristics of night sleep and sleep-related behaviors were analyzed, based on the responses to the PSQI. Quantitative comparisons of night sleep habits did not show a significant difference between infrequent and frequent NS groups (Table 2). Among all the respondents, 78.2% (86/110) had a PSQI global score equal to or higher than 6, which is defined as having a risk of sleep problems [10]. The firefighters with frequent NS working pattern revealed significantly higher PSQI global score values than those with infrequent NS (8.8 ± 3.6 vs. 6.7 ± 2.7, p = 0.014) (Table 2), indicating that firefighters with frequent NS are more likely to suffer from poor sleep quality. Subcategorical analysis of the questionnaires showed a tendency that firefighters with frequent NS have more frequent sleep problems. Two sub-categories showed statistically significant differences: frequency of wakeup for bathroom during the night (p = 0.007) and of bodily aches during sleep (p = 0.022). More importantly, 4 firefighters from the frequent NS group, but none from the infrequent NS group, had a history of taking sleep pills, with one person having the medicine regularly a couple of times a week (p = 0.038).
Consistent with the high percentage of participating firefighters with a risk of sleep problems, 58.2% (64/110) of the respondents had certain degree of insomnia risk (Table 3). A total of 7 firefighters (6.4%) showed an ISI score higher than 21, which is considered a severe risk of insomnia. Among them, 6 subjects belonged to the frequent NS group. However, the average ISI total score was not significantly different between the two groups. In the sub-categorical analysis, the firefighters with a frequent NS working pattern tended to have worse sleep quality and to show signs of the possibility of having insomnia.
Daytime Sleepiness, Fatigue, and the Risk of OSA
Sleepiness during daytime and/or fatigue can be caused because of poor nigh sleep quality and may lead to work-related accidents, which would be dangerous for the firefighters. Excessive daytime sleepiness was analyzed based on the ESS and SSS. More than 50% (57.4%, 63/110) of the participating firefighters showed an ESS total score higher than 10, which is defined as having excessive daytime sleepiness (Table 4). As for the SSS, almost 90% (89.1%, 98/110) subjects reported a score equal to or lower than 3. The mean score of the ESS or SSS was not significantly different between the firefighters with infrequent and frequent NS working patterns. Only one subject in the infrequent NS working group reported a SSS score higher than 3, but 11 subjects in the frequent NS working group (12.3%) reported a SSS score higher than 3. Two firefighters out of the 11 subjects reported a SSS score 6, which corresponded to a state where a subject was sleepy, woozy, and fighting sleep, and preferred to lie down. However, the chi-square analysis did not reveal statistical significance in the proportion of the firefighters in the frequent NS working group reporting SSS score higher than 3. Severity of subjective fatigue was asked, using the FSS ranging from 1 to 7. The average total score of the FSS was similar between the two groups, and the percentage of the subjects with a Fatigue Scale higher than 36 was also comparable (Table 4).
The risk of having OSA was assessed using the BQ. Answers to individual BQ sub-categories were similar between the two groups (Table 5). In addition, the total BQ scores, combining all the sub-categories, were not significantly different between the infrequent and frequent NS working groups. The overall percentage of firefighters having risk of OSA was 31.8% (35/110). The firefighters with frequent NS working patterns had slightly higher risk than those with infrequent NS, but the difference was not statistically significant.
The current study revealed that sleep-related problems are highly prevalent in Korean firefighters. Approximately 80% subjects were deemed to have sleep problems based on a PSQI global score. In addition, analysis of the ISI showed that 58.2% were likely to have insomnia. A previous population-based epidemiologic study reported that 22.8% of Korean adults have insomnia [17]. Epidemiologic data in western countries showed a similar prevalence of sleep-related problems in a general adult population [18,19]. Therefore, the prevalence of sleep problems seems to be at least 3-fold higher in the Korean firefighters than that in normal adults. The finding of our study is consistent with a previous study, reporting that 48.7% of the Korean male firefighters have sleep disorders. The prevalence of sleep problems and/or insomnia in the firefighters of other countries is also comparable to that of this study [1,7,20]. The researchers also found that more than 50% of the participating firefighters suffer from excess daytime sleepiness. The percentage of the subjects having a risk of OSA was 31.8%, which is like the 28.4% of United States firefighters having OSA reported in a previous study [6]. Considering the 4% of OSA prevalence in middle-aged males [21], OSA risk in the participating firefighters, in this study seems to be exceptionally high.
The frequent NS working pattern (5 days or more in 3 weeks) was significantly associated with poor sleep quality, based on PSQI in Korean firefighters. It has been established that NS can cause various sleep-related problems in other occupations [22,23]. Frequent NS may interrupt circadian rhythm, rendering intrinsic biological clock unstable [24,25]. Difficulties in maintaining appropriate circadian rhythm not only affects the sleep quality but also leads to altered homeostasis in other organ systems [26-28]. The systemic effects may in turn, negatively influence the quality of sleep during the night. In the current study, the firefighters in the frequent NS working pattern complained of wakeup incidents for bathroom and body aches, during sleep more seriously than those who belonged to the infrequent NS group. It is plausible that these complaints may be early signs of systemic illness in the cardiovascular or musculoskeletal systems. Four 4 out of all the participating firefighters reported behavioral experiences of seeking sleep pills and all those 4 subjects belonged to the frequent NS working group. This finding suggests that chances of encountering undiagnosed patients with sleep disorders that require medical attention are much higher among firefighters with frequent NS working pattern.
Contrary to the significant association of the frequent NS working pattern with poor sleep quality, there was no significant difference in daytime sleepiness or a risk of OSA between the infrequent and frequent NS groups. OSA is one of the most common sleep disorders that is responsible for excessive daytime sleepiness. Although life style or environmental factors can increase the risk of OSA in adults, hereditary or constitutional factors like family history and airway structures also significantly contribute to development of OSA [29]. Therefore, shift-working schedules may have less to do with OSA development and the lack of difference in OSA risk may result in a similar level of daytime sleepiness between the two groups. It is conceivable that the high prevalence of OSA risk in the subjects of this study may be linked to potential pulmonary function problems in firefighters [30]. Excessive daytime sleepiness may be presented as a form of hypersomnolence which in turn, is one of the cardinal symptoms in depressive disorders [31]. Depression among firefighters is strongly associated with difficulties in emotion regulation that are commonly encountered in post-traumatic stress disorder [20]. Therefore, depressive mood state, probably due to occupational peculiarity of firefighters, may influence daytime sleepiness more strongly than shift-working patterns. During this study, the researchers identified several firefighters that met the diagnostic criteria of various sleep disorders, including those who took sleep pills. In fact, a previous study reported that 37.2% of firefighters screened positive for any sleep disorder and these subjects, having sleep disorders, were more likely to report a motor vehicle crash or had adverse health outcomes [6]. These findings strongly argue for the necessity of mandatory screening for sleep problems in the firefighters that are exposed to dangerous incidents, requiring the highest level of alertness and concentration. In fact, a recent study implemented a sleep health program, consisting of questionnaire-based sleep disorder screening and sleep health education, and reported the effectiveness of the programs in reduction of work-related injuries or work loss due to disabilities [32]. This study provides evidence that sleep health screening or an appropriate intervention should be prioritized for the firefighters with frequent NS working patterns.
This study is valuable because the firefighters voluntarily participated in the survey, not compulsorily as a periodical health check-up. Although one cannot draw a definitive conclusion from one survey with small sample size, the firefighters who participated in this survey show signs of various sleep problems. Of course, it is difficult to generalize the findings in this study as being representative of the entire group. However, chronic sleep disturbances of Korean firefighters need to be considered due to the possible long-term complications that they may bring. Based on the findings made from this study, several suggestions can be made to improve the quality of sleep in Korean firefighters. First, it is necessary to investigate the sleep quality associated with more detailed nocturnal work schedules for the entire firefighters with frequent dispatches to emergency at night. Second, a standard guideline of recommendations can be made on changes in the pattern of night work shift in a way to reduce the frequency of NS. Third, advice and care for sleep problems as well as other health problems for the individual firefighters should be provided in an easily accessible way. These efforts would reduce the risk of chronic health problems related to long-term sleep disturbances even after serving as a firefighter for a long time (i.e. 20–30 years).
The authors thank the firefighters, who participated in this study and answered the questionnaires, and thank Mr. Jae-Ho Lim, at the National Human Resources Development Institute of Korea, who organized the healing camp for the firefighters and helped us perform this survey
Authors' contribution
Conceptualization: Kim HW, Kim EJ, Kim HJ. Data curation: Kim HW, Jung SM, Choi YS, Kim SA, Joung HY. Formal analysis: Kim HW, Jung SM. Funding acquisition: none. Methodology: Kim HW, Jung SM, Choi YS, Kim SA, Joung HY. Project administration: Jung SM. Resources: Jung SM. Software: Jung SM, Kim HJ. Supervision: Kim EJ, Kim HJ. Validation: Kim HW, Jung SM, Choi YS, Kim SA, Joung HY, Kim HJ. Visualization: Kim HW, Jung SM, Choi YS, Kim SA, Joung HY, Kim HJ. Writing—original draft: Kim HW, Jung SM, Kim HJ. Writing—review & editing: Kim HW, Kim EJ, Kim HJ.
1. Carey MG, Al-Zaiti SS, Dean GE, Sessanna L, Finnell DS. Sleep problems, depression, substance use, social bonding, and quality of life in professional firefighters. J Occup Environ Med 2011; 53: 928-33.
2. Kales SN, Soteriades ES, Christophi CA, Christiani DC. Emergency duties and deaths from heart disease among firefighters in the United States. N Engl J Med 2007; 356: 1207-15.
3. Crawford JO, Graveling RA. Non-cancer occupational health risks in firefighters. Occup Med (Lond) 2012; 62: 485-95.
4. Carpenter GS, Carpenter TP, Kimbrel NA, Flynn EJ, Pennington ML, Cammarata C, et al. Social support, stress, and suicidal ideation in professional firefighters. Am J Health Behav 2015; 39: 191-6.
5. Vargas de Barros V, Martins LF, Saitz R, Bastos RR, Ronzani TM. Mental health conditions, individual and job characteristics and sleep disturbances among firefighters. J Health Psychol 2013; 18: 350-8.
6. Barger LK, Rajaratnam SM, Wang W, O'Brien CS, Sullivan JP, Qadri S, et al. Common sleep disorders increase risk of motor vehicle crashes and adverse health outcomes in firefighters. J Clin Sleep Med 2015; 11: 233-40.
7. Mehrdad R, Haghighi KS, Esfahani AH. Sleep quality of professional firefighters. Int J Prev Med 2013; 4: 1095-100.
8. Lim DK, Baek KO, Chung IS, Lee MY. Factors related to sleep disorders among male firefighters. Ann Occup Environ Med 2014; 26: 11.
9. Czeisler CA, Allan JS, Strogatz SH, Ronda JM, Sánchez R, Ríos CD, et al. Bright light resets the human circadian pacemaker independent of the timing of the sleep-wake cycle. Science 1986; 233: 667-71.
10. Buysse DJ, Reynolds CF 3rd, Monk TH, Berman SR, Kupfer DJ. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index: a new instrument for psychiatric practice and research. Psychiatry Res 1989; 28: 193-213.
11. Bastien CH, Vallières A, Morin CM. Validation of the Insomnia Severity Index as an outcome measure for insomnia research. Sleep Med 2001; 2: 297-307.
13. Johns MW. A new method for measuring daytime sleepiness: the Epworth sleepiness scale. Sleep 1991; 14: 540-5.
14. MacLean AW, Fekken GC, Saskin P, Knowles JB. Psychometric evaluation of the Stanford Sleepiness Scale. J Sleep Res 1992; 1: 35-9.
15. Rosti-Otajärvi E, Hämäläinen P, Wiksten A, Hakkarainen T, Ruutiainen J. Validity and reliability of the Fatigue Severity Scale in Finnish multiple sclerosis patients. Brain Behav 2017; 7: e00743.
16. Netzer NC, Stoohs RA, Netzer CM, Clark K, Strohl KP. Using the Berlin Questionnaire to identify patients at risk for the sleep apnea syndrome. Ann Intern Med 1999; 131: 485-91.
17. Cho YW, Shin WC, Yun CH, Hong SB, Kim J, Earley CJ. Epidemiology of insomnia in korean adults: prevalence and associated factors. J Clin Neurol 2009; 5: 20-3.
18. Simon GE, VonKorff M. Prevalence, burden, and treatment of insomnia in primary care. Am J Psychiatry 1997; 154: 1417-23.
19. Ohayon MM, Smirne S. Prevalence and consequences of insomnia disorders in the general population of Italy. Sleep Med 2002; 3: 115-20.
20. Hom MA, Stanley IH, Rogers ML, Tzoneva M, Bernert RA, Joiner TE. The association between sleep disturbances and depression among firefighters: emotion dysregulation as an explanatory factor. J Clin Sleep Med 2016; 12: 235-45.
21. Young T, Palta M, Dempsey J, Skatrud J, Weber S, Badr S. The occurrence of sleep-disordered breathing among middle-aged adults. N Engl J Med 1993; 328: 1230-5.
22. Sallinen M, Kecklund G. Shift work, sleep, and sleepiness - differences between shift schedules and systems. Scand J Work Environ Health 2010; 36: 121-33.
23. Matheson A, O'Brien L, Reid JA. The impact of shiftwork on health: a literature review. J Clin Nurs 2014; 23: 3309-20.
24. Boivin DB, Boudreau P. Impacts of shift work on sleep and circadian rhythms. Pathol Biol (Paris) 2014; 62: 292-301.
25. Gumenyuk V, Roth T, Drake CL. Circadian phase, sleepiness, and light exposure assessment in night workers with and without shift work disorder. Chronobiol Int 2012; 29: 928-36.
26. Sookoian S, Gianotti TF, Burgueño A, Pirola CJ. Gene-gene interaction between serotonin transporter (SLC6A4) and CLOCK modulates the risk of metabolic syndrome in rotating shiftworkers. Chronobiol Int 2010; 27: 1202-18.
27. Knutsson A, Bøggild H. Shiftwork and cardiovascular disease: review of disease mechanisms. Rev Environ Health 2000; 15: 359-72.
28. Givens ML, Malecki KC, Peppard PE, Palta M, Said A, Engelman CD, et al. Shiftwork, sleep habits, and metabolic disparities: Results from the Survey of the Health of Wisconsin. Sleep Health 2015; 1: 115-20.
29. Kapur VK. Obstructive sleep apnea: diagnosis, epidemiology, and economics. Respir Care 2010; 55: 1155-67.
30. Gianniou N, Katsaounou P, Dima E, Giannakopoulou CE, Kardara M, Saltagianni V, et al. Prolonged occupational exposure leads to allergic airway sensitization and chronic airway and systemic inflammation in professional firefighters. Respir Med 2016; 118: 7-14.
31. Plante DT, Finn LA, Hagen EW, Mignot E, Peppard PE. Longitudinal associations of hypersomnolence and depression in the Wisconsin Sleep Cohort Study. J Affect Disord 2017; 207: 197-202.
32. Sullivan JP, O'Brien CS, Barger LK, Rajaratnam SM, Czeisler CA, Lockley SW; Harvard Work Hours Health and Safety Group. Randomized, prospective study of the impact of a sleep health program on firefighter injury and disability. Sleep 2017; 40.
Demographic and shift work patterns between respondents with NS less than 5 days (NS < 5 days) and more than 5 days (NS ≥ 5 days) during recent 3 weeks
NS < 5 days (n = 21)
NS ≥ 5 days (n = 89)
Age (years) 42.5 ± 9.0 40.6 ± 8.0 42.9 ± 9.2 0.258
Gender (male:female) 109:1 21:0 80:1 NA
BMI 24.4 ± 2.3 24.9 ± 2.1 24.3 ± 2.4 0.260
Hypertension (%) 19 (17.3) 3 (14.3) 16 (18.0) 0.687
Diabetes (%) 1 (0.9) 0 (0.0) 1 (1.1) NA
Hyperlipidemia (%) 2 (1.8) 1 (4.8) 1 (1.1) 0.262
Smoking (%) 38 (34.5) 5 (23.8) 33 (37.1) 0.250
Drinking (%) 89 (80.9) 17 (81.0) 72 (80.9) 0.996
Caffeine intake (%) 99 (90.0) 20 (95.2) 79 (88.8) 0.374
Work duration
Day-shift (days) 6.0 ± 3.0 10.6 ± 4.6 5.0 ± 0.6 < 0.001*
NS (days) 4.4 ± 1.8 1.2 ± 1.7 5.1 ± 0.4 < 0.001*
All-day on duty (days) 2.0 ± 1.1 2.2 ± 2.4 2.0 ± 0.5 0.708
Total work (hours) 173.1 ± 16.7 168.4 ± 30.9 174.2 ± 10.6 0.406
Duration of the NS (%)
None 13 (11.8) 13 (61.9) 0 (0.0) NA
1–4 days 8 (7.3) 8 (38.1) 0 (0.0) NA
5 ≤ days 89 (80.9) 0 (0.0) 89 (100.0) NA
Off-duty (%)
None 0 (0.0) 0 (0.0) 0 (0.0) NA
1–4 days 0 (0.0) 0 (0.0) 0 (0.0) NA
5–9 days 109 (99.1) 21 (100.0) 88 (98.9) NA
10 ≤ days 1 (0.9) 0 (0.0) 1 (1.1) NA
* Statically significant by ANOVA.
NS: night-shift, BMI: body mass index, NA: not applicable.
General sleep characteristics based on the PSQI between respondents with NS less than 5 days (NS < 5 days) and more than 5 days (NS > 5 days) during the recent 3 weeks
Sleep habits (min)
Time to bed 23:58 ± 72 00:06 ± 62 23:55 ± 74 0.838
Duration till falling asleep 31.1 ± 34.5 29.7 ± 18.6 31.4 ± 36.2 0.381
Time to get-up 06:54 ± 91 06:45 ± 61 06:56 ± 97 0.885
Duration of sleep 382 ± 102 373 ± 76 384 ± 107 0.700
Questions related to sleep problems (0–3)
Can't sleep within 30 min 1.43 ± 0.98 1.09 ± 0.87 1.49 ± 0.99 0.074
Wakeup at night/early morning 1.56 ± 0.97 1.43 ± 0.04 1.60 ± 0.97 0.103
Wakeup for bathroom 1.37 ± 0.94 0.90 ± 0.81 1.48 ± 0.94 0.007†
Can't breathe during sleep 0.43 ± 0.78 0.48 ± 0.79 0.42 ± 0.78 0.756
Cough or snore during sleep 0.84 ± 0.92 1.05 ± 0.95 0.79 ± 0.91 0.265
Too cold during sleep 0.55 ± 0.75 0.48 ± 0.73 0.56 ± 0.75 0.656
Too hot during sleep 0.57 ± 0.78 0.33 ± 0.56 0.63 ± 0.81 0.051
Bad dreams during sleep 0.72 ± 0.80 0.76 ± 0.92 0.71 ± 0.77 0.819
Body ache during sleep 0.38 ± 0.67 0.14 ± 0.47 0.44 ± 0.70 0.022‡
Can't sleep due to other reasons 0.86 ± 1.16 0.86 ± 1.08 0.87 ± 1.18 0.970
Other sleep-related questions (0–3)
Taking sleep pills 0.05 ± 0.25 0.00 ± 0.00 0.06 ± 0.27 0.038‡
Difficult to stay awake 0.67 ± 0.81 0.48 ± 0.73 0.72 ± 0.82 0.195
Difficult to concentrate 0.92 ± 0.88 0.62 ± 0.72 0.99 ± 0.89 0.051
Self-report sleep quality 1.39 ± 0.91 1.14 ± 0.77 1.44 ± 0.93 0.133
PSQI global score (mean value) 11.7 ± 6.6 9.4 ± 4.2 12.3 ± 6.9 0.016‡
PSQI 0–4 (%) 34 (30.9) 9 (42.9) 25 (28.1) 0.188
PSQI 5 ≤* (%) 76 (69.1) 12 (54.5) 64 (71.9)
* Defined as having a risk of sleep problem.
† Statically significant by ANOVA.
‡ Statistically significant at p<0.05 by ANOVA.
PSQI: Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, NS: night-shift.
ISI between respondents with NS less than 5 days (NS < 5 days) and more than 5 days (NS > 5 days) during the recent 3 weeks
Questions related to insomnia (0–4)
Difficult to fall asleep 1.07 ± 1.01 1.00 ± 1.03 1.09 ± 1.03 0.721
Difficult to maintain 1.08 ± 1.04 0.95 ± 1.05 1.11 ± 1.05 0.535
Easy to wake at night 1.45 ± 1.13 1.24 ± 1.13 1.49 ± 1.13 0.369
Sleep satisfaction 1.97 ± 1.19 1.67 ± 1.17 2.04 ± 1.17 0.202
Disturb daily activity 1.41 ± 0.98 1.43 ± 0.97 1.40 ± 0.97 0.899
Disturb quality of life 1.16 ± 1.04 1.05 ± 1.06 1.19 ± 1.06 0.590
Concern for insomnia 0.99 ± 1.12 0.71 ± 1.16 1.06 ± 1.16 0.223
ISI (mean value) 9.14 ± 6.34 8.95 ± 7.29 9.18 ± 6.16 0.895
0–7 (no risk, %) 46 (41.8) 10 (47.6) 36 (40.4) 0.936
8–14 (mild risk, %) 41 (37.3) 7 (33.3) 34 (38.2)
15–21 (moderate risk, %) 16 (14.5) 3 (14.3) 13 (14.6)
21 < (severe risk, %) 7 (6.4) 1 (4.8) 6 (6.7)
ISI: Insomnia Severity Index, NS: night-shift.
Excessive daytime sleepiness based on the ESS and the SSS between respondents with NS less than 5 days (NS < 5 days) and more than 5 days (NS > 5 days) during the recent 3 weeks
Severity of sleepiness in each situation (0–3)
Reading 1.45 ± 0.90 1.76 ± 0.81 1.37 ± 0.90 0.061
Watching TV 1.06 ± 0.74 1.10 ± 0.81 1.06 ± 0.72 0.837
In public 0.87 ± 0.79 0.86 ± 0.94 0.88 ± 0.75 0.928
Public transport >1 hr 1.36 ± 0.96 1.33 ± 0.99 1.37 ± 0.95 0.868
Lying in the afternoon 1.72 ± 0.90 1.71 ± 0.88 1.72 ± 0.90 0.963
Talking to others 0.27 ± 0.52 0.14 ± 0.35 0.30 ± 0.55 0.103
After lunch 1.44 ± 0.92 1.52 ± 1.14 1.42 ± 0.86 0.709
Wait for traffic light 0.72 ± 1.25 0.57 ± 0.79 0.75 ± 1.33 0.423
ESS total scores (mean value) 8.89 ± 4.56 8.82 ± 4.55 9.20 ± 4.73 0.735
0–10 (%) 47 (42.7) 11 (52.4) 53 (59.5) 0.549
10 <* (%) 63 (57.3) 10 (47.6) 36 (40.5)
SSS (1–7) (mean value) 2.76 ± 0.90 2.57 ± 0.79 2.80 ± 0.91 0.252
1–3 (%) 98 (89.1) 20 (95.2) 78 (87.6) 0.572
4–7 (%) 12 (10.9) 1 (4.8) 11 (12.3)
Questions related to FSS (1–7)
No desire 4.48 ± 1.77 4.62 ± 1.99 4.45 ± 1.72 0.721
Fatigue after exercise 3.60 ± 1.56 3.62 ± 1.73 3.60 ± 1.51 0.961
Frequent fatigue 3.88 ± 1.70 3.62 ± 1.62 3.94 ± 1.72 0.427
Reduced physical activity 3.81 ± 1.67 3.57 ± 1.62 3.87 ± 1.67 0.454
Often cause problems 3.07 ± 1.61 2.90 ± 1.19 3.11 ± 1.69 0.509
Difficult sustained physical activity 3.26 ± 2.47 2.90 ± 1.31 3.34 ± 2.66 0.277
Can't do work load or duty 2.70 ± 1.60 2.43 ± 1.43 2.76 ± 1.63 0.362
One of the most difficult 3 things 3.44 ± 2.03 3.05 ± 2.03 3.53 ± 2.02 0.337
Work, family, social life problems 2.96 ± 1.76 2.90 ± 1.72 2.98 ± 1.77 0.850
FSS total scores (mean value) 31.20 ± 12.68 30.94 ± 12.73 32.35 ± 12.73 0.651
36 < (%) 62 (56.4) 10 (47.6) 38 (42.7)
* Defined as having excessive daytime sleepiness.
ESS: Epworth Sleepiness Scale, SSS: Stanford Sleepiness Scale, NS: night-shift, FSS: Fatigue Severity Scale.
Risk of obstructive sleep apnea based on the BQ between respondents with NS less than 5 days (NS < 5 days) and more than 5 days (NS > 5 days) during the recent 3 weeks
Symptoms related to snoring (a) 2.10 ± 2.06 2.05 ± 1.70 2.11 ± 2.14 0.898
Daytime functioning (b) 1.34 ± 1.14 1.71 ± 1.24 1.25 ± 1.09 0.092
Comorbidity (hypertension) (c) (%)
Yes 19 (17.3) 3 (14.3) 16 (18.0) 0.687
No 91 (82.7) 18 (85.7) 73 (82.0)
Total BQ score (a+b+c) 3.61 ± 2.47 3.90 ± 2.09 3.54 ± 2.55 0.547
BQ Index (%)
0–5 74 (83.6) 14 (66.7) 60 (67.4) 0.948
6–10 36 (16.4) 7 (33.3) 29 (32.6)
Risk of OSA (%)*
* Risk of OSA is determined if the number of positive categories > 2 among three categories of BQ (a, b, c).
BQ: Berlin Questionnaire, NS: night-shift, OSA: obstructive sleep apnea.


Meet Christine, the Design Team Lead at Philips whose encounter with cancer gave the eureka moment that is helping to save lives.
We first heard Christine's story on the new work podcast "The Spark" by Philips, a podcast sharing inspiring stories from their employees.
What inspires your life and your career choice?
Finding out I had cancer at 19 was a curse and singularly one of the defining moments in my life. I fought very hard for my life and health, and I still value it today as I've learned that if you don't have your health you really don't have much. Cancer also gave me a deep realisation that time is the one commodity that is limited. Where, how and who you spend time with are important decisions. I aim to always live a very full life.
After graduation, I started working at design agencies and even started my own tech company making web crawlers for enterprise software. It taught me a lot about business and was incredibly innovative and successful. But I wanted to live and work abroad so I sold the company and moved to The Netherlands.
So you moved abroad and started at Philips, what has your experience been?
Philips has given me an opportunity to do what I do best (Design Software) but in an area I am passionate about (Health Tech). I'm incredibly fortunate to work with a world class design management team that understands creating quality design and actively supports making a real difference in people's quality of life. They get it.
Sounds like an exciting environment! How do you prepare for a day at Philips?
Getting ready in the mornings is an autopilot affair. I work in the Eindhoven office twice a week so it's an early 6am start involving a large travel mug of Scottish tea. I sip it on the train whilst running through my work emails. That's how the start of my day goes.
You have a clear strategy for starting your workday, is it the same for ending it? How do you maintain work-life balance?
I take the "life" part of work-life balance pretty seriously. I think it's especially tempting as women to fall into the have-it-all trap. You do everything. But you don't need to do everything. You just need to do your best. In that mind-set I think we only get a set amount of energy a day to direct at anything. I treat energy like money by choosing what I spend it on. While at work I give 100% of myself, and when you work on something you love it can give you energy too. I think that's also a good payoff to try to create for yourself!
When I leave work I switch modes, mindfully leaving work at the office, and do other activities for fun such as, yoga, race biking, cooking and laughing with some of my favourite people.
Why do all of this? What is the significance of design?
I think people seriously underestimate the impact design has, and can have if done well, on our lives and environment. Every portion of our day we are interacting passively or actively with items or places which have been designed. Our laptops, our office, our clothes and yes even the flavour of tea we drink!
How is design changing lives?
With a growing aging population, we need to get smart about how we manage our health. Design has an important role to play in Health Tech; better designed machines, faster interactions, and new innovations together have the ability to save lives. Innovations like AI can make fast accurate diagnosis whilst connected patient data allows us to consults with experts worldwide. These innovations are essential in gaining insight into our current health and furthering the work of preventative care.
Work on a diverse range of projects, your portfolio is key for people to understand your abilities – make it digital and make it great! Then put yourself out there.
As a woman at work, what advice would you give to women at work?
Do what you love, do what you're good at; hopefully they are both the same.
Find people that support and appreciate your efforts at work.
Never be afraid to promote the great job you do.
You can lisen to the podcast interview with Christine Welsh over at "The Spark" and many more thought provoking stories.


text:
Fiat Aviazione foi uma fabricante de aeronaves italiana, parte Grupo Fiat, focado principalmente em aviação militar. Após a Primeira Guerra Mundial, a Fiat consolidou vários pequenos fabricantes de aeronaves, como a Pomilio e a Ansaldo. Os mais famosos foram os caças biplanos da década de 1930, o  Fiat CR.32 e o Fiat CR.42. Outros projetos notáveis foram os caças CR.20, G.50, G.55 e um bombardeiro, o Fiat BR.20. Na década de 1950, a empresa projetou o caça-bombardeiro leve G.91.

Em 1969, a Fiat Aviazione fundiu-se com a Aerfer para criar a Aeritalia, que posteriormente se tornaria a Alenia Aeronautica em 1990.

História

O início
Em 1908, a produção aeronáutica começou a dar seus primeiros passos em Turim, pela Fiat, com a decisão de projetar e produzir um motor, o SA 8/75, derivado de carros de corrida. Foi o início de uma história centenária, cuja herança hoje é ligada diretamente à Avio. O primeiro motor produzido em massa pela Fiat foi o A10, com 1.070 unidades produzidas entre 1914 e 1915. Neste ponto, a era pioneira havia chego ao fim e a empresa decidiu projetar e construir aeronaves completas. Então, em 1916 a Società Italiana Aviazione foi fundada, mudando seu nome em 1918 para Fiat.

Em Turim, além de motores aeronáuticos, a Fiat diversificou a produção com a constituição em 1909 da Fiat San Giorgio para produção de motores náuticos a diesel, área a partir da qual se seguiram as atividades na área de motores industriais para geração de energia elétrica. Em Colleferro (Roma), a empresa Bombrini Parodi-Delfino - BPD, estabelecida em Génova em 1912, começou a fabricar explosivos e produtos químicos, da qual originou o segmento aeroespacial posteriormente.

No campo aeronáutico, as raízes cresceram em Brindisi com a SACA. Gradualmente, muitas outras foram iniciadas, como a CMASA di Marina em Pisa, fundada em 1921 pelo engenheiro alemão Claudius Dornier, em colaboração com Rinaldo Piaggio e Attilio Odero. Finalmente, interações e trocas, acumulação de habilidades e experiências e um estímulo multi-facetado veio a partir de muitas formas variadas, de uma colaboração internacional que ocorreu com grandes empresas como a General Electric, Rolls-Royce, Pratt & Whitney e Eurocopter, mencionando apenas alguns importantes nomes com os quais as atuais parcerias datam de mais de meio século atrás.

De biplanos a aviões a jato
Após o projeto pioneiro em motores aeronáuticos no início do século vinte, contra a opinião de diretores em relação a novas tecnologias e áreas de atividade,  Giovanni Agnelli, um dos fundadores da Fiat, e o diretor técnico Guido Fornaca, apoiaram a produção aeronáutica, iniciando uma base industrial durante a Primeira Guerra Mundial para atender a pedidos militares. Assim sendo, a Società Italiana Aviazione foi estabelecida em 1916, passando posteriormente para a seção de aviação da Fiat em 1918. O primeiro motor produzido em massa, o Fiat A.10, foi instalado em inúmeras aeronaves entre 1914 e 1915, tal como o Farman, posteriormente produzido sob licença, e o bombardeiro trimotor Caproni Ca.32.

Após a Primeira Guerra Mundial
Com o fim da primeira Guerra Mundial, os recursos técnicos acumulados durante o conflito foram direcionados ao emergente setor de aviões comerciais. A produção de aeronaves completas, já iniciadas com a série SP, foram intensificadas sob a direção do engenheiro Celestino Rosatelli, que iniciou seus trabalhos com a Fiat em 1918. Por cerca de quinze anos, Rosatelli contribuiu com os famosos caças CR e BR e bombardeiros, graças à seus motores altamente técnicos e confiáveis, atingindo um número de recordes mundiais: potência, com o A.14 de , produzido entre 1917 e 1919; velocidade, com  atingidos pelo R700 em 1921; velocidade e aeronavegabilidade, com o motor AS2 que, instalado em um Idromacchi M20, estabeleceu o recorde de velocidade para hidroaviões e venceu a prestigiada Copa Schneider em 1926; e velocidade novamente com o novo recorde atingido por Francesco Agello em 1934 em uma aeronave motorizada com um Fiat AS6 de .

Fusão com a Società Aeronautica d'Italia
Em 1926, com a aquisição da fábrica Ansaldo em Corso Francia, Turim, a Fiat Aviazione fundiu-se com a Società Aeronautica d'Italia. Em 1931, Vittorio Valletta, então Gestor Geral da Fiat, oportunizou a um jovem engenheiro, Giuseppe Gabrielli, a chefia do Escritório Técnico de Aviação. Em 1934, a aquisição da CMASA marcou a entrada da Fiat na produção de hidroaviões. Muitos dos alvos alcançados pelos próximos trinta anos foram ligados à genilidade de Gabrielli, que rapidamente fez seu nome, iniciando com o G.2, um avião comercial para seis passageiros, destinado ao uso da Società Aviolinee Italiane, cuja principal sócia era a própria Fiat.

Enquanto os investimentos no setor de transporte de passageiros e carga continuou com a abertura de rotas europeias por empresas aéreas que utilizaram os monoplanos bimotores G.18 e APR.2, o G.50 foi produzido em 1937, na fábrica da CMASA em Marina di Pisa, sendo o primeiro caça monoposto empregado pela Força Aérea Italiana.

Após a Segunda Guerra Mundial
Em 1949, passado as incertezas e dificuldades da Segunda Guerra Mundial, as atividades da Fiat foram reorganizadas na área da aviação. Atrasos nas linhas de produção acumularam-se nos anos da autarquia que logo foram resolvidos pelas competências técnicas de Gabrielli e o novo clima da colaboração europeia. Em 1951, Gabrielli havia projetado o G.80, o primeiro avião a jato italiano motorizado com um motor turbojato de Havilland Goblin.

No início da década de 1950, a Fiat Aviazione iniciou um reavivamento em sua produção, através de pedidos feitos de empresas dos Estados Unidos e, em particular, era a única empresa na Europa a obter a licença da OTAN para a construção do F86 K. A Fiat entrou em um acordo com a General Electric e a Pratt & Whitney para a produção de componentes de seus motores a jato. A experiência obtida através deste trabalhou permitiu que a empresa participasse de um pedido internacional da OTAN em 1954 para um caça tático leve. No ano seguinte, o projeto italiano denominado G.91, recebeu um pedido de produção de três protótipos, assim como seus competidores ingleses e franceses, saindo como vencedor na decisão final que ocorreu em 1958. O G.91 foi definido como caça leve padrão na zona europeia, tornando-se o avião italiano pós-guerra mais importante, com mais de 700 unidades produzidas, em sua maioria para exportação.

Em 1961, participou como principal contratada para a produção do F-104G da OTAN e, sob tais circunstâncias, estabeleceu relações de colaboração com a Alfa Romeo Avio em Pomigliano d'Arco, Nápoles, controlada diretamente pela empresa estatal Finmeccanica. A partir da metade da década de 1950, sob a direção do engenheiro Stefanutti, a Alfa Romeo Avio também havia intensificado suas relações com a General Electric e Rolls-Royce para a produção de motores aeronáuticos. Na segunda metade da década de 1960, após pedidos consistentes do DC-9 para a Alitalia, controlada pelo estado, foi também iniciada uma colaboração entre a McDonnell Douglas e a Aerfer, uma empresa de construção aeronáutica e ferroviária estabelecida pela Finmeccanica em 1950 como parte do Centro Aeronáutico em Pomigliano d'Arco.

Criação da Aeritalia
Em 1969, a Fiat e a Finmeccanica iniciaram a Aeritalia, para qual a Fiat delegou suas atividades aeronáuticas.

Subsequentemente, através de diferentes colaborações internacionais, especializou-se no desenvolvimento e produção de componentes para a "seção quente" de motores a jato e a revisão de motores aeronáuticos civis.

Por sua parte, a Fiat concentrou-se na produção de motores e transmissões para helicópteros, montados pela Fiat Aviazione em 1976, com 3.700 empregados em dois centros de produção, Turim e Brindisi.

Esta escolha era consistente com a transformação do cenário mundial da indústria aeronáutica, caracterizada pela formação de alguns grandes grupos, com a crescente internacionalização. Uma dupla necessidade surgiu, por um lado, de colocar em campo colaborações cruciais para reunir os recursos financeiros e as competências tecnológicas exigidas por uma produção cada vez mais sofisticada na área dos materiais, eletrônicos e sistemas de segurança e por outro lado, identificar as áreas de especialização na qual seria líder em um mercado global. O programa de refinamento e melhoria no controle de qualidade foi um fator estratégico que trouxe o crescimento e sucesso da Fiat Aviazione durante estes anos.

Fiat Avio
Com a mudança do nome da empresa para Fiat Avio em 1989, a empresa de Turim colaborou com o projeto e fabricação de sistemas de propulsão para o Panavia Tornado e Harrier Jump Jet no setor militar, e com a Boeing e Airbus no setor civil.

Em 1997, a aquisição da parte da Alfa Romeo Avio da Finmeccanica foi chave para o projeto estratégico nacional que visava reduzir a fragmentação excessiva das empresas italianas, aumentando assim a competitividade através de sinergias mais sistemáticas.

Produtos

Aeronaves
 Fiat AN.1
 Fiat APR.2
 Fiat AS.1

 Giuseppe Gabrielli

 Aldo Guglielmetti
 Fiat BGA

 Celestino Rosatelli

 Helicópteros
 Fiat 7002

Motores aeronáuticos

Ver também
 Aeritalia
 Alenia Aeronautica

Bibliografia

Fiat
Fabricantes de aeronaves da Itália
Fabricantes de aeronaves extintas
Empresas extintas da Itália

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Q: Is it possible to bind XAML/C# with HTML using PHP? So I have a XAML button:
<StackPanel>
<TextBlock  HorizontalAlignment="Left" Text="{Binding Version, ElementName=Control}"  />
<Button Content="Support" Width="100" Click="HelpSupport_Click" />
</StackPanel>

Which links to some C#
 private void HelpSupport_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
    {
        System.Diagnostics.Process.Start("support.html");
    }

Which takes a user to a webpage.
In my XAML StackPanel above I'm binding the software version into a text block for the user to see. But my question is, is it possible that when the user clicks the button to go to the website, can I somehow bind the text block data to be transferred into the HTML too? So that when the user gets to the webpage the software version is also showing there too? Just wondering if this would be done via PHP or a JSON call

A: I don't have a lot of recent experience with HTML and PHP, but if my memory doesn't fail me, you could add the text of the TextBlock as a variable at the end of the URL of the webpage (it would look like this www.webpage.com?text=version) and then from PHP use the GET method to get the value of the variable text in your URL.
You can do this with more than one variable, like this www.webpage.com?text=version&var2=hello

A: Managed to get it, these are the changes made:
private void HelpSupport_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
    {
    System.Diagnostics.Process.Start("support.php?version=" + HttpUtility.UrlEncode(Version.ToString()));
    }

Which put the number in the URL. So my output in HTML:
<textarea type="text" class="form-control" name="es_version" >
<?php   echo  $_GET["version"]; ?>
</textarea>

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


2018 was a much more fulfilling year for Pacific Basin. Average dry bulk market rates strengthened again after what has been a slow return to profitable market conditions, and our hard work to position our company for the recovery enabled us to deliver a strong financial performance.
We grew our owned fleet further with the acquisition of seven modern ships, including trading up from an older, smaller vessel that we sold. As at the end of February 2019, we owned 111 ships on the water and, including chartered vessels, we typically operate over 200 ships overall.
We have grown our owned fleet more than threefold since 2012, preparing us well for the market recovery and helping to cement our position as one of the leading names in dry bulk shipping. The value of our Pacific Basin brand today is also a reflection of the dedication and hard work of many people over the years to grow and improve our company. We thank our past and present colleagues both ashore and at sea, as well as our customers, suppliers and all stakeholders for their enduring support.
We are an owner and operator specialising in modern Handysize and Supramax dry bulk ships, mid-size versatile ship segments that offer benefits of diversification in terms of geography, customers and cargoes. That means we don't experience the degree of earnings volatility that other segments do, which is partly how we managed to safely navigate extraordinarily challenging market conditions of the past several years. Our ability to leverage the characteristics of these segments through our scale, high-quality substitutable ships, office network, customer focus, cargo systems, and depth and breadth of experience enables us to maximise our fleet utilisation and generate TCE earnings that outperform the freight market indices.
We are passionate about our customers and we value long-term relationships over short-term gain. These are values that underpin a customer-focused business model. We invest our time and our personalised, innovative efforts to offer a tailored, flexible and reliable service to customers, making it easier for them to do business with us. This is what earns us the customer support that is so valuable to us throughout the cycles and provides the foundation for our sustainability over the long term.
We are passionate about our people, and are caring, fair and treat everybody with dignity and respect.
Despite our industry's topical focus on combatting atmospheric emissions these days, our day to day priority remains on safety: safety of life, safety of our ships, and safety of the environment. We strive to inspire our teams both on shore and at sea to focus on what really matters and to do the right things at all times: safety comes first!
With a focus on stopping unsafe acts, we have steadily reduced injuries on board our ships by an average of 5% per year since 2004 and, in 2018, we recorded a lost time injury frequency (LTIF) of 0.82, which was unchanged year on year to equal our best safety performance since 2006.
Our investment in the development and training of our staff underpins our safety performance while also driving knowledge, productivity, engagement, loyalty and a deeper sense of belonging to the company.
Our large fleet comprises quality ships of efficient design, which delivers operational efficiencies for the benefit of our customers while generating lower atmospheric emissions than the average ship in our segment. We have long been early adopters of technological and operational measures to minimise our impact on the environment, and we continue to invest in technologies, systems and processes that reduce our environmental footprint not only because of the moral and increasing regulatory obligation to do so, but also because of the strong business case for taking action.
We welcome new, stricter regulations for greener shipping where prescribed environmental solutions are effective and financially feasible.
We are currently assessing, planning for or implementing compliance solutions for three major environmental challenges high on the industry agenda which pose significant technical, operational and financial burdens of compliance on ship owners.
The Ballast Water Management Convention (in force since September 2017) requires ballast water treatment systems (BWTS) to be fitted on ships during routine dockings between 2019 and 2024 to substantially eliminate the transfer of organisms between marine ecosystems. Following a comprehensive assessment of BWTS options, 14 of our ships are now fitted with BWTS, and we have arranged to retrofit our remaining 97 owned vessels with a system based on filtration and electrocatalysis by the end of 2022.
The IMO's global 0.5% sulphur limit takes effect on 1 January 2020, and ship owners will have to comply either by using more expensive low-sulphur fuel, or by continuing to burn heavy fuel oil in combination with installing exhaust gas cleaning systems or "scrubbers". We expect the majority of the global dry bulk fleet, especially smaller vessels such as our Handysize ships, will comply by using low-sulphur fuel.
We would have preferred a mandate for everyone to burn cleaner fuel and the level playing field this would create. However, some owners of larger vessels with higher fuel consumption, including some Supramaxes, are installing scrubbers to take advantage of expected lower cost of heavy fuel oil.
As we cannot risk being competitively disadvantaged, we are well prepared and have arrangements in place with repair yards and scrubber makers to install scrubbers on our owned Supramax vessels. These arrangements include fitting and testing scrubbers to gain experience early and to evaluate the equipment both technically and operationally.
Whichever compliance method owners adopt, we believe that the IMO 2020 regulations will reduce capacity in the short term to the benefit of the freight market, as vessels burning more expensive low-sulphur fuel will operate at more economic slower speeds, and vessels to be retrofitted with scrubbers will be withdrawn from the market for several weeks for scrubber installation.
In April 2018, the IMO announced an ambitious strategy to cut total greenhouse gas emissions from shipping by at least 50% by 2050 (compared to 2008) and improve average CO2 efficiency by at least 40% by 2030 and 70% by 2050. There is much uncertainty about how the market will eventually comply with these targets, future emission limits and the legislations that will in due course be implemented to achieve them. The easiest first step to decrease carbon emissions is to reduce speed, but our view is that these new IMO targets will lead to the development of new fuels, engine technology and vessel designs that are not available or practical today.
We believe the IMO's greenhouse gas reduction targets and eventual regulations will discourage new ship ordering in the short and medium term until new, fuel, engine technology and lower-emissions ship designs become available.
We expect these major new environmental regulations to be positive for the supply-demand balance and benefit larger, stronger companies with high quality fleets that are better positioned to adapt and cope both practically and financially with compliance and new technology.
The implementation of an Electronic Chart Display and Information System (ECDIS) for paperless navigation became mandatory for all our ships in July 2018. We completed retrofitting ECDIS across our fleet in 2014-2017 and trained our navigating officers in its use and rolled out ECDIS as a primary means of navigation on all our ships well in advance of the implementation schedule.
EU MRV (Monitoring, Reporting, Verification) regulations require ship owners to monitor, report and verify CO2 emissions for vessels calling at EU, Norwegian and Icelandic ports, for which mandatory data collection commenced on 1 January 2018.
IMO's DCS (Data Collection System) for ships' fuel oil consumption commenced on 1 January 2019, so that verified aggregated data is reported to flag states for entry into IMO's ship fuel oil consumption database.
We have developed and integrated MRV procedures into our existing management system for both EU MRV and IMO DCS compliance.
We are also making preparations to attain IHM (Inventory of Hazardous Materials) certification regarding the control of hazardous materials on ships to comply with the Hong Kong Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships by December 2020.
We are fortunate to have an excellent team of people who endow our company with world-class expertise and professionalism right across our business. All share sensible values and a passion for delivering excellent service. And thanks in particular to our award-winning in-house technical operations, we are fully prepared to meet the challenges of new environmental and other maritime regulations.
This document is our third standalone CSR Report, a comprehensive CSR reference document to better satisfy the growing interest in our CSR responsibilities and performance and to clearly address the disclosure requirements of the Environmental, Social and Governance Reporting Guide ("ESG Guide") of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong.
The focus of these pages is on how we tackle our responsibilities for the safety and wellbeing of our staff and ethical business practice, and our responsibilities towards the environment and the communities in which we operate. As a large player in our sector with an ambitious vision for the future, we recognise our responsibilities in these areas which have a bearing on the long-term sustainability of our business.
Commentary relating to our economic sustainability and a detailed account of our corporate governance continue to feature in our Annual Report. We remain committed to the concepts of "Integrated Reporting", and provide linkage between sections in our 2018 Annual Report and this CSR Report (and vice versa). We encourage you to read the two documents in tandem.
We welcome any feedback from our stakeholders on our CSR programme and the scope and materiality of the contents of this report.


text:
Batman: Under The Red Hood
The World's Fastest Indian
For Greater Glory
Bruce Greenwood on Netflix
There's a mystery afoot in Gotham City when a shadowy vigilante known only as Red Hood (voiced by Jensen Ackles) sets his mind to stalking Batman (Bruce Greenwood) and his former sidekick, Dick Grayson (Neil Patrick Harris) -- who now goes by the heroic name of Nightwing. But the duo can't get too distracted, lest they fall prey to three familiar nemeses: the Joker (John Di Maggio), Ra's al Ghul (Jason Isaacs) and Black Mask (Wade Williams).
Details about Batman: Under The Red Hood
This fact-based drama stars Anthony Hopkins as quirky New Zealander Burt Munro, a 67-year-old grandfather who flies across Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats and attempts to break into the record books on his customized Indian Scout motorcycle.
Details about The World's Fastest Indian
In Mexico in the late 1920s, President Calles institutes a vicious ban on Catholicism that results in many deaths and prompts retired general Gorostieta to join the motley militia groups fighting to preserve religious freedom throughout the country.
Details about For Greater Glory
After his amazing safe landing of a damaged passenger plane, an airline pilot is praised for the feat, but has private questions about what happened. Further, the government's inquiry into the causes soon puts the new hero's reputation at risk.
Details about Flight
With a nod toward producer Steven Spielberg's landmark sci-fi films of the 1970s and '80s, writer-director J.J. Abrams crafts a supernatural tale about six kids who witness something incredible while shooting a movie with their Super 8 camera.
Details about Super 8
Libby Parsons is arrested for the murder of her husband. While in prison, she finds out that she's been framed. Now, the law of "double jeopardy" -- and the desire to kill her "late" husband for good -- is all she has left.
Details about Double Jeopardy
Donovan's Echo
Plagued by déjà vu, retired nuclear physicist Donovan becomes convinced that his young neighbor and her mother are doomed to die on the anniversary of his wife and daughter's deaths. But are his visions real, or the products of a tormented mind?
Details about Donovan's Echo
The toast of New York City society after penning "Breakfast at Tiffany's," flamboyant writer Truman Capote finds himself in a dance with the devil while researching the Clutter family murders for his masterwork, "In Cold Blood."
Details about Capote
The Earth's inner core has stopped spinning, and scientist Josh Keyes must discover why -- before the world literally falls apart -- by burrowing into the planet's center in a vessel piloted by Maj. Beck Childs and Col. Robert Iverson.
Details about The Core
Macklin (Alec Baldwin) is a professional thief-for-hire. He'll steal anything for anyone who can pay. When he gets hired to do a simple job and then realizes he's been set up by the local ghetto chief Pointy Williams (Michael Jai White), Macklin is determined to get even. The two men get caught in an escalating and increasingly dangerous tit-for-tat with no end in sight. Now it's no longer business...it's personal.
Details about Thick as Thieves
The Riverman
A homicide detective conducts a series of interviews with convicted serial killer Ted Bundy in hopes of gaining insight into the Green River Killer, who had brutally murdered 48 women in Seattle, leaving authorities without a single lead.
Details about The Riverman
Disturbing Behavior
In this stylish chiller, high school newcomer Steve Clark quickly comes to realize that a conspiracy is afoot -- orchestrated by the guidance counselor -- to turn malcontents and misfits into squeaky clean robotic conformists.
Details about Disturbing Behavior
Hollywood Homicide
When a rap group is killed onstage, lawman Joe Gavilan and his partner, K.C. Calden -- two cops with ambitions beyond police work -- must focus on solving the crime. But before long, their moonlighting becomes a distraction.
Details about Hollywood Homicide
Meek's Cutoff
Set in 1845, this drama follows a group of settlers as they embark on a punishing journey along the Oregon Trail. When their guide leads them astray, the expedition is forced to contend with the unforgiving conditions of the high plain desert.
Details about Meek's Cutoff


Not every car accident produces injuries. For the hundreds of College Park residents who are hurt in an accident each year, AICA's premier medical team is here to help.
Even if you don't believe you have sustained an injury, it's imperative to have an experienced College Park chiropractor conduct a complete examination to see if there are any underlying conditions that may exist. Being seen by a chiropractor and starting treatment as early as possible is the best way to experience a full recovery, as well as avoid potential long-term damage.
Whiplash is the most commonly treated car accident injury. When someone experiences an auto accident, chances are that the ligaments that surround the victim's neck will hyperextend and tear.
Although each person's symptoms vary, most experience inflammation, neck pain, and limited mobility. Others may experience more severe symptoms like chronic headaches, insomnia, and shoulder pain.
Back injuries that produce spinal damage can result in a loss of sensation in the arms or legs, as well as impair general mobility. Many car accident victims also experience herniated discs, which can lead to leg pain, tingling sensations, numb extremities, and muscle fatigue.
A chiropractor is trained to detect damage and conditions that affect the musculoskeletal system. When a car accident victim seeks chiropractic treatment, they are first given a complete examination to determine the extent and the source of the damage.
Using imaging technology like x-rays and MRIs, chiropractors check to see what type of micro trauma a car accident victim's muscles, spine, and bones have sustained. With this type of detailed insight, they can develop a comprehensive treatment plan that is customized to meet the specific health needs of the patient.
If you experience a car accident near College Park, the first thing you should do is contact the medical team at AICA. We provide same-day treatment and work with some of the most experienced personal injury attorneys throughout Atlanta, should you need to file a personal claim.
At AICA College Park, our considerate, experienced team is here for you! Call our office today to schedule an appointment or examination – just dial (404) 592-0319.


text:
Miley Cyrus' Most Meaningful Tattoos Explained
By Delilah Gray/May 24, 2021 2:50 pm EST
Everyone knows who Miley Cyrus is. Whether you grew up with her as "Hannah Montana," have been shocked by her out-of-this-world scandals, grooved to her new rocking tracks, or all of the above. Cyrus has been in the media for over a decade with her number one hits and star-studded relationships. It seems as though fans know almost everything there is to know about Miley Cyrus. One thing you may not know, however, is how many tattoos she has.
In an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live in December 2020, it was revealed that she has 74 tattoos — a number that even shocked her when Kimmel announced it. In true Hannah Montana fashion, she looked at her camera in shock, saying "Huh?"
But it's true. The singer and songwriter currently has dozens of tattoos all over her body. Some of them are big, but most of them are small, and she has them everywhere. But within the sea of 74 tattoos, there are a few that fans argue are the most meaningful.
Miley Cyrus' first tattoo has a lot of meaning behind it
Cyrus's first tattoo is on the left side of her rib cage and consists of the words "Just Breathe" written her mother's handwriting. She actually got this tattoo at only 17 years old, and the meaning behind it is absolutely beautiful. The tattoo is dedicated to a few people in her life who passed away (via Steal Her Style). Cyrus chose the meaningful tattoo in honor of her friend, Vanessa, who died in 2007 of cystic fibrosis, a genetic disease that affects the lungs. It's also dedicated to her grandfathers who both died of lung cancer.
In an interview with Harper's Bazaar, she went on to discuss the meaning behind the placement and words. "It reminds me not to take things for granted," she said. "I mean breathing –- that was something none of them could do, the most basic thing. And I put it near my heart, because that is where they will always be."
A lot of her tattoos are for her pets
Theo Wargo/Getty Images
In 2014, Miley Cyrus paid a loving tribute to her dog, Floyd, who was killed in a coyote attack. Cyrus honored his memory with a gorgeous tattoo on her side, as did two of her closest friends, Wayne Coyne and Katy Weaver. The tattoo consists of a cartoon drawing of Floyd, with a speech bubble saying "With a little help from my fwends," a line based on the Beatles song "With a Little Help from My Friends" (via Steal Her Style).
Cyrus loved Floyd dearly, and his death was a shock to everyone, so it makes sense that she would want to get a tattoo to forever remember him. Cyrus' heartbreak was evident on social media. "I know I don't mean it but I wish he would've taken me with him, this is unbearable. What am I gonna do without him?" she tweeted after the death of her beloved pup.
Along with the tattoo of her dog, Cyrus has tattoos dedicated to her old fish, Pablow, and her two other dogs, Emu and Mary Jane (via Body Art Guru).
She has a lot dedicated to her family and inspirations
The Cyrus family is known to get tattoos dedicated to one another. Like her sister, Noah Cyrus (who has quite a few tattoos of her own), Miley Cyrus has the words "Mom" and "Dad" inked on her, obviously dedicated to her loving parents (via Body Art Guru). Almost everyone in her family has a small heart tattoo on their hands, with Miley having hers on her pinky, updating it later with a galaxy inside of the heart outline (via Steal Her Style).
On her right arm is a portrait of her grandma, or "Mammie," that she got in 2013 from celebrity tattoo artist, Kat Von D. When she got the tattoo, she posted a sassy reason behind it saying, "Because I am her favorite & she is mine,"
Along with that, Cyrus has two handwritten notes tattooed on her. The first one is dedicated to her father, Billy Ray Cyrus, and the tattoo consists of a handwritten note from Johnny Cash. It reads, "I'm in your corner, Johnny Cash" and she got it from a note the singer gave her when she was little. Cash is one of her and her father's musical inspirations. The second note is from none other than Yoko Ono, reading "I'm proud of u Yoko."