text:
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RSACP wishes to inform that it shall be discontinuing the dispatch of print copy of JOACP to it's Life members. The print copy of JOACP will be posted only to those life members who send us a written confirmation for continuation of print copy.
Kindly email your affirmation for print copies to [email protected] preferably by 30th June 2019.
Efficacy of intravenous dexamethasone to reduce incidence of postoperative sore throat: A prospective randomized controlled trial
Dipanjan Bagchi, Mohan Chandra Mandal, Sabyasachi Das, Tirtha Sahoo, Sekhar Ranjan Basu, Sanhita Sarkar
Department of Anaesthesiology, North Bengal Medical College, West Bengal, India
Mohan Chandra Mandal
Department of Anaesthesiology, A-5, M.O. Quarters, North Bengal Medical College, P.O.-Sushrutanagar, District Darjeeling, West Bengal - 734 012
Background: Sore throat and hoarseness are common complications of endotracheal intubation. It may be very distressing for the patient and may lead to sleep disturbances and unpleasant memories.
Materials and Methods: This prospective double-blinded randomized control trial was aimed to determine the efficacy of prophylactic intravenous dexamethasone to reduce the incidence of postoperative sore throat at 1 hour after tracheal extubation. Ninety six patients of either sex aged between 18 to 60 years scheduled for elective surgeries needing general anesthesia with endotracheal intubation, were randomly allocated into two groups A and B. The patients received either intravenous 0.2 mg/kg dexamethasone (group A, n = 48) or normal saline (group B, n = 47) just before induction. Trachea was intubated with appropriate size disposable endotracheal tubes for securing the airway. Follow up for the incidence of sore throat, cough and hoarseness was done at 1, 6 and 24 hours post-extubation.
Results: At 1 hour post-extubation, the incidence of sore throat in the control group was 48.9% compared with 18.8% in the dexamethasone group (P<0.002).
Conclusions: Prophylactic intravenous dexamethasone in a dose of 0.2 mg/kg can reduce the incidence of postoperative sore throat at 1 hour post-extubation by around 30%, with the efficacy being around 60%.
Keywords: Intravenous dexamethasone, Intubation, Postoperative sore throat
Bagchi D, Mandal MC, Das S, Sahoo T, Basu SR, Sarkar S. Efficacy of intravenous dexamethasone to reduce incidence of postoperative sore throat: A prospective randomized controlled trial. J Anaesthesiol Clin Pharmacol 2012;28:477-80
Bagchi D, Mandal MC, Das S, Sahoo T, Basu SR, Sarkar S. Efficacy of intravenous dexamethasone to reduce incidence of postoperative sore throat: A prospective randomized controlled trial. J Anaesthesiol Clin Pharmacol [serial online] 2012 [cited 2021 Jan 18];28:477-80. Available from: https://www.joacp.org/text.asp?2012/28/4/477/101920
Sore throat and hoarseness are common complications after endotracheal intubation, with the incidence ranging from 6.6 to 90%. [1],[2] They may be distressing and leave the patient with an unpleasant memory of the operation. [1],[3] Incidence depends on various factors like age, sex, the size of the endotracheal tube, the cuff pressure, the duration for which the tube is in place, the time and manipulations needed to insert the tube, number of suctioning attempts [1] and others. Studies have been performed, using azulene sulphate, [4] ketamine gargle, [5] steroid gels [1] and steroid injections, [2] to reduce the incidence of postoperative sore throat. This study was undertaken to determine the efficacy of prophylactic intravenous dexamethasone to reduce the incidence of postoperative sore throat in the population of north-east part of India.
This study was conducted over a period of around three months from June 2011 till September 2011. After obtaining the Institutional Ethics Committee's approval, 96 consenting patients of either sex, aged between 18 to 60 years, of American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) physical status I and II, scheduled for surgeries with an estimated duration of 45 minutes to three hours and needing general anesthesia with endotracheal intubation, were enrolled in this randomized clinical study. The enrollment was done during the preoperative check-up visit. Exclusion criteria were: patients for surgeries of the oral cavity and pharynx; unpredicted or long duration surgeries (greater than three hours); anticipated difficult airways; more than three attempts needed at intubation; visible trauma during intubation; use of nasogastric tube and throat packs; patients with upper respiratory tract infections; and patients on steroid therapy.
A previous study found a difference in the incidence of sore throat of 30% when using dexamethasone. [3] Considering that a 20% difference in the incidence of postoperative sore throat at 1 hour post-extubation would be clinically relevant, 44 patients were required in each group [assuming α error of 0.05 and the power of the study (1-β) to be 80%]. Allowing for a dropout rate of 10%, ninety six patients were needed.
The patients were randomly allocated into two groups to receive either dexamethasone (group A, n=48) or normal saline (group B, n = 48) with help of a computer generated random number table. All patients received alprazolam 0.5 mg orally the night before the operation and received midazolam 0.05 mg/kg, ranitidine 50 mg and ondansetron 4 mg intravenously (IV), 15 minutes before the start of the operation. On arrival to the operating room, the patients in the group A received dexamethasone in a dose of 0.2 mg/kg IV (diluted to total volume of 4 ml with normal saline) while patients in the group B received 4 ml of normal saline IV just before induction of anesthesia. The drugs were prepared and administered by an anesthesiologist not involved in the study.
Anesthesia was induced with propofol 2mg/kg IV after pre-oxgenation for 3 minutes. After muscle relaxation with rocuronium, trachea was intubated by an experienced anaesthesiologist using disposable endotracheal tubes (Paramount Surgimed Ltd., New Delhi, India) (8-8.5 mm ID for male patients and 7-7.5 mm ID for female patients). MacIntosh blade size 3 or 4 was used for laryngoscopy. The number of attempts for intubation was noted. Anesthesia was maintained with nitrous oxide, oxygen and isoflurane. At the end of the operation, the oropharynx was cautiously toileted with a 14Fr disposable soft suction catheter and trachea extubated after standard reversal of muscle relaxation with neostigmine and glycopyrrolate.
Outcome assessment for the incidence of sore throat, cough and hoarseness was carried out by a resident not involved in the study process, at 1, 6 and 24 hours post-extubation, in the post-anesthesia care unit (PACU). Sore throat, cough and hoarseness were assessed using a 4-point scale [Table 1]. [1]
Table 1: Scoring system for assessment of sore throat, cough and hoarseness [1]
The satisfaction of the patient with intubation was assessed using the 7-point Likert-like verbal rating scale. [6] All patients were followed up for 24 hours post-extubation and study ended at this time point. Patients complaining of moderate to severe sore throat after 24 hours were advised lukewarm saline gurgle and decongestant medications and those not responding to the above were referred for oto-rhino-laryngology consultation.
Data was represented as numerical (continuous and discrete) and categorical (nominal and ordinal) data. They were entered into the excel sheet and analyzed by using SPSS for windows (version 12). Independent sample t-test was used for analyzing numerical data and Chi-square test was utilized for analyzing categorical data.
Ninety six patients were allocated into two groups of 48 each. One patient in the control group was lost to follow up as the patient was discharged on request before completing 24 hours. Forty seven patients in the group B and 48 patients in the group A were available for follow up and collection of data. Mean age of patients, sex ratio within the groups, body mass index (BMI), attempts for intubation, duration of surgery and satisfaction scores were comparable in both groups [Table 2].
Table 2: Patient characteristics
At 1 hour, 6 hours and 24 hours post-extubation, the incidences of sore throat was lower in the dexamethasone group compared to control [Table 3]. Overall, less number of patients in the dexamethasone group suffered from minimal and moderate grades of sore throat at 1, 6 and 24 hours post-extubation. Though one patient had moderate sore throat at 6 hours post-extubation in the dexamethasone group compared to no patient in the control group, the difference was not significant on analysis [Table 4]. The incidences of cough at 1, 6 and 24 hours post-extubation were lower in the dexamethasone group but were statistically not significant [Table 5]. The incidences of hoarseness in both the groups were comparable [Table 6]. No patients from both the groups developed severe degree of sore throat, cough or hoarseness of voice.
Table 3: Incidences of sore throat between two groups at 1, 6 and 24 hours post-extubation
Table 4: Incidence of different grades of sore throat
Table 5: Incidence of cough between two groups
Table 6: Incidence of hoarseness between two groups
The reduction in the incidence of sore throat at 1 hour post-extubation was found to be approximately 30% when using IV dexamethasone prophylactically [Table 3]. The efficacy of prophylactic IV dexamethasone to reduce sore throat at 1 hour post-extubation was calculated to be 61.2%. Positive outcome of this study can also be expressed as the number needed to treat (NNT) which was calculated to be 3.3 at 1 hour post-extubation. These implied that three extra patients would need to be treated with prophylactic IV dexamethasone to prevent postoperative sore throat in one patient after 1 hour of extubation.
The present study demonstrates that prophylactic IV dexamethasone results in a reduction of the incidence of sore throat at 1, 6 and 24 hours post-extubation. The incidences of minimal sore throat were significantly less in the dexamethasone group in first 6 hours but became comparable at 24 hours postoperatively with the control group. There was no incidence of moderate sore throat at 1 hour and 24 hours post-extubation in the dexamethasone group. Although one patient suffered from moderate sore throat at 6 hours, it was statistically insignificant. Incidence of severe degree sore throat was not found among both groups. Thus it was apparent that, even though dexamethasone caused a reduction in the incidence of sore throat at 1 and 6 hours post extubation, it did not reduce the incidence of minimal sore throat after 24 hours. However, it reduced the severity of sore throat at 24 hours post-extubation. The incidences of cough and hoarseness were also lower at all points of observation, except at 6 hours when the incidence of hoarseness increased apparently, but it was not statistically significant when analyzed. Although, we did not include patients more prone to sore throat, due to a greater degree of insults to oropharyngeal or tracheal mucosa, the observations may extend to such cases where sore throat/hoarseness etc. may be expected, as in patients having head and neck surgery, change of position, difficult intubation with repeated attempts at intubation and bronchoscopy.
The incidence of postoperative sore throat, cough and hoarseness of voice is distressingly high (6.6-90%). [1],[2] The incidence of these post-extubation sequelae is known to be higher with the larger diameter of the tracheal tube, low volume-high pressure cuff, difficult intubation procedure or repeated attempts, movement of the tracheal tube during the surgery, bucking/cuffing on the tube and excessive pharyngeal suctioning during extubation. [7] Postoperative sore throat is probably mediated by an aseptic inflammatory process caused by irritation of the pharyngeal mucosa during laryngoscopy, the tracheal mucosa by the cuff of the endotracheal tube and the trauma to tissues during the process of intubation and extubation. [3],[8],[9] The prophylactic use of steroids was found to reduce the incidence of sore throat and cough during recovery, probably by modifying the inflammatory process caused by tissue injury. This anti-inflammatory process includes inhibition of leukocyte migration to the inflammation site and inhibition of release of cytokines probably by maintaining cellular integrity. Fibroblast proliferation may also be inhibited. [3],[5],[7],[10] Dexamethasone also inhibits arachidonic acid metabolism and the production of leukotriene-B4 leading to the inhibition of interleukin-2 and moderating the inflammatory process. [11]
Park et al.[3] found a decrease in incidence of sore throat at 1 hour post-extubation by 22% and 42% with prophylactic IV dexamethasone in doses of 0.1 mg/kg and 0.2 mg/kg respectively with a decrease of 30% in the incidence of sore throat at 24 hours post-extubation with IV dexamethasone 0.2 mg/kg. Thomas et al[12] reported a 36.3% decrease in overall incidence of sore throat at 24 hours post-extubation with IV dexamethasone 8mg preoperatively. Others reported a decrease in incidence of sore throat at 2 hours post-extubation to the extent of 56.7% when using 0.1mg/kg dexamethasone preoperatively. [13] A reduction of postoperative sore throat at 6 hours have also been observed with 10mg IV dexamethasone preoperatively. [14]
Although, there were reports of beneficial effect of steroid gel application and inhaled steroids, studies did not consistently confirm their results. Our study found a decrease in overall incidence of postoperative sore throat during first 24 hours, especially in the first hour post-extubation. We also found that the severity of postoperative sore throat was lower after prophylactic IV dexamethasone. Our study also justified the use of prophylactic IV dexamethasone for prevention of postoperative sore throat at 1 hour post-extubation (NNT = 3.3).
The limitation of this study was that we couldn't measure the cuff pressure and did not use fibre optic bronchoscope to assess the amount of tissue damage. Our study was not designed for extended follow up beyond 24 hours, as the process of acute inflammation usually peaks by 24 hours. [15] Sore throat, hoarseness and cough cannot be assessed objectively and there are inter-individual variations and hence, a chance of bias always exists. The BMI of our patients in the two groups were comparable and we used standard sized tubes of the same manufacturer to ameliorate the possible error due to different tube size and quality.
To conclude, prophylactic intravenous dexamethasone in a dose of 0.2 mg/kg can reduce the incidence of postoperative sore throat at 1 hour post-extubation by around 30% and its efficacy to prevent sore throat is about 60%.
1. Sumathi PA, Shenoy T, Ambareesha M, Krishna HM. Controlled comparison between betamethasone gel and lidocaine jelly applied over tracheal tube to reduce postoperative sore throat, cough, and hoarseness of voice. Br J Anaesth 2008;100:215-8.
2. Maruyama K, Sakai H, Miyazawa H, Toda N, Iinuma Y, Mochizuki N, et al. Sore throat and hoarseness after total intravenous anaesthesia. Br J Anaesth 2004;92:541-3.
3. Park SH, Hang SH, Do SH, Kim JW, Rhee KY, Kim JH. Prophylactic dexamathasone decreases the incidence of sore throat and hoarseness after tracheal extubation with a double lumen endotracheal tube. Anesth Analg 2008;107:1814-8.
4. Ogata J, Minami K, Horishita T, Shirashi M, Okamoto T, Terada T, et al. Gargling with sodium azulene sulfonate reduces the postoperative sore throat after intubation of the trachea. Anesth Analg 2005;101:290-3.
5. Canbay O, Celebi N, Sahin A, Celiker V, Ozgen S, Aypar U. Ketamine gargle for attenuating sore throat. Br J Anaesth 2008;100:490-3.
6. Alhashemi JA. Dexmedetomidine vs. midazolam for monitored anesthesia care during cataract surgery. Br J Anaesth 2006;96:722- 6.
7. Scuderi PE. Postoperative sore throat: More answers than questions. Anesth Analg 2010;111:831-2.
8. Huang YS, Hung NK, Lee MS, Kuo CP, Yu JC, Huang GS, et al. The effectiveness of benzydamine hydrochloride spraying on the endotracheal tube cuff or oral mucosa for postoperative sore throat. Anesth Analg 2010;111:887-91.
9. Rudra A, Ray S, Chatterjee S, Ahmed A, Ghosh S. Gargling with ketamine attenuates the postoperative sore throat. Indian J Anaesth 2009;53:40-3.
10. Liu J, Zhang X, Gong W, Li S, Wang F, Fu S, et al. Correlations between controlled endotracheal tube cuff pressure and postprocedural complications: A multicenter study. Anesth Analg 2010;111:1133-7.
11. Goodwin JS, Atluru D, Sierakowski S, Lianos EA. Mechanism of action of glucocorticosteroids inhibition of T cell proliferation and Interleukin 2 production by hydrocortisone is reversed by Leukotriene B 4 . J Clin Invest 1986;77:1244-50.
12. Thomas S, Beevi S. Dexamethasone reduces the severity of postoperative sore throat. Can J Anaesth 2007;54:897-901.
13. Akhgar AA, Karvandian K, Rahimi FA, Akhgar F. Prevention of postextubation sore throat following general anesthesia by intravenous dexamethasone sore throat in questionnaire. J Iranian Soc Anesthesiol Intensive Care 2008;30:65-72.
14. Park SY, Kim SH, Lee AR, Cho SH, Chae WS, Jin HC, et al. Prophylactic effect of dexamethasone in reducing postoperative sore throat. Korean J Anesthesiol 2010;58:15-9.
15. Kumar V, Abbas AK, Fausto N, Aste JC, editors. Robbins and Cotran Pathologic Basic of Disease. 8th ed. Chapter 2, Acute and chronic inflammation. Philadelphia: Saunders Elsevier; 2010. Available from: www.gigapedia.com. [Last cited on 2012 January 22].
1 In Ear Surgeries Intravenous Dexamethasone Preoperatively Decreases Post Operative Sore Throat After Endotracheal Intubation in Adult Patients: A Prospective Randomized Control Study
Gurchand Singh,Anisha Puri
Indian Journal of Otolaryngology and Head & Neck Surgery. 2020;
2 Incidence and factors associated with postoperative sore throat for patients undergoing surgery under general anesthesia with endotracheal intubation at Debre Tabor General Hospital, North central Ethiopia: A cross-sectional study
Efrem Fenta,Diriba Teshome,Dessie Melaku,Aragaw Tesfaw
International Journal of Surgery Open. 2020;
3 Lidocaine for postoperative sore throat: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
Hui Li,Yan Yue,Yi Qu,Dezhi Mu
Minerva Anestesiologica. 2020; 86(5)
4 The effect of endotracheal 1% lidocaine administration to reduce emergence phenomenon after general anesthesia
Sung-Man Hong,Sung-Mi Ji,Jeong-Gug Lee,Min-A Kwon,Jeong-Heon Park,Seokkon Kim,Gwan-Woo Lee
Anesthesia and Pain Medicine. 2019; 14(2): 152
5 A prospective observational cohort study on the incidence of postoperative sore throat in the pediatric population
Alice Miskovic,Mae Johnson,Louise Frost,Elena Fernandez,Angela Pistorio,Nicola Disma,Britta Ungern-Sternberg
Pediatric Anesthesia. 2019;
6 Comparison Between Lidocaine Inhalation and Intravenous Dexamethasone in Reducing Postoperative Sore Throat Frequency After Laryngeal Mask Insertion
Susilo Chandra,Pryambodho Pryambodho,Annemarie Chrysantia Melati,Rizki Iwan Kusuma
Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine. 2018; In Press(In Press)
7 EFFECT OF PREOPERATIVE INTRAVENOUS DEXAMETHASONE ON POSTOPERATIVE SORE THROAT FOLLOWING ENDOTRACHEAL INTUBATION
Letha Janardhan,Nidhi Rani Gupta
Journal of Evolution of Medical and Dental Sciences. 2017; 6(78): 5531
8 Effects of topical dexamethasone in postoperative sore throat
Jeong Han Lee,Soo Bin Kim,Wonjin Lee,Seunghee Ki,Myoung-Hun Kim,Kwangrae Cho,Se Hun Lim,Kun Moo Lee,Deul-Nyuck Choi,Minkyung Oh
Korean Journal of Anesthesiology. 2017; 70(1): 58
9 The effect of ketorolac and dexamethasone on the incidence of sore throat in women after thyroidectomy: a prospective double-blinded randomized trial
Chunwoo Yang,Sung Mee Jung,Yu Kyung Bae,Sang-Jin Park
10 Safety of Perioperative Glucocorticoids in Elective Noncardiac Surgery
Andrew J. Toner,Vyhunthan Ganeshanathan,Matthew T. Chan,Kwok M. Ho,Tomas B. Corcoran
Anesthesiology. 2017; 126(2): 234
11 Intraoperative dexamethasone does not increase the risk of postoperative wound infection: a propensity score-matched post hoc analysis of the ENIGMA-II trial (EnDEX)
T. Corcoran,J. Kasza,T. G. Short,E. O'Loughlin,M. T. V. Chan,K. Leslie,A. Forbes,M. Paech,P. Myles
British Journal of Anaesthesia. 2017; 118(2): 190
12 Combined intraoperative paracetamol and preoperative dexamethasone reduces postoperative sore throat: a prospective randomized study
Jiwon Lee,Hee-Pyoung Park,Mu-Hui Jeong,Hyun-Chang Kim
Journal of Anesthesia. 2017;
13 Effect of intermediate dose dexamethasone on post-operative pain in lumbar spine surgery: A randomized, triple-blind, placebo-controlled trial
Aumjit Wittayapairoj,Kriangkrai Wittayapairoj,Atiporn Kulawong,Yuwadee Huntula
Asian Journal of Anesthesiology. 2017;
14 The prophylactic effect of dexamethasone on postoperative sore throat in prone position surgery
Sang Ho Lee,Yoon Chan Lee,Ji Hyeon Lee,So Ron Choi,Seung-Cheol Lee,Jong Hwan Lee,Chan Jong Chung
Korean Journal of Anesthesiology. 2016; 69(3): 255
15 Dexamethasone for the prevention of postoperative sore throat: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Xiang Zhao,Xiuhong Cao,Quan Li
Journal of Clinical Anesthesia. 2015; 27(1): 45
16 Prophylactic Administration of Corticosteroids for Preventing Postoperative Complications Related to Tracheal Intubation: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of 18 Randomized Controlled Trials
Wenyu Zhang,Guoqing Zhao,Longyun Li,Pengcheng Zhao
Clinical Drug Investigation. 2015;
17 Gender differences in sore throat and hoarseness following endotracheal tube or laryngeal mask airway: a prospective study
Maria Jaensson,Anil Gupta,Ulrica Nilsson
BMC Anesthesiology. 2014; 14(1)
18 Comparison of Postoperative Sore Throat and Hoarseness Between Two Types of Double-Lumen Endobronchial Tubes: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Joonpyo Jeon,Kusang Lee,Guyeon Ahn,Jingyoung Lee,Wonjung Hwang
Journal of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Anesthesia. 2014;
19 Routine use of dexamethasone for postoperative nausea and vomiting: the case for
P. S. Kakodkar
Anaesthesia. 2013; 68(9): 889
20 Pharyngolaryngeal morbidity after tracheal intubation
M. EL-ORBANY
Acta Anaesthesiologica Scandinavica. 2013; : n/a
21 Dexamethasone for preventing postoperative sore throat: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
L. Sun,R. Guo,L. Sun
Irish Journal of Medical Science. 2013;
Bagchi D
Mandal MC
Das S
Sahoo T
Basu SR
Sarkar S
Intravenous dexamethasone
Postoperative sore throat
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Simi Valley resident Analyse Talavera evicted from 'Big Brother' house
Analyse Talavera, a Simi Valley resident, got through most of the 21st season of "Big Brother" before she was evicted. Now she'll help pick a winner.
Simi Valley resident Analyse Talavera evicted from 'Big Brother' house Analyse Talavera, a Simi Valley resident, got through most of the 21st season of "Big Brother" before she was evicted. Now she'll help pick a winner. Check out this story on vcstar.com: https://www.vcstar.com/story/news/local/2019/06/28/meet-big-brother-houseguest-simi-valley/1589917001/
Staff reports Published 11:55 a.m. PT June 28, 2019 | Updated 12:21 p.m. PT Aug. 23, 2019
A contestant from Ventura County has been evicted from the "Big Brother" house.
Analyse Talavera, a Simi Valley resident who entered the house earlier this summer as a 22-year-old a college soccer star at the University of Nevada, was evicted Thursday.
The CBS reality show features a group of people sharing a house while cut off from the rest of the world and under video surveillance 24 hours a day. Groups of houseguests generally form alliances and voting blocs to help protect themselves.
Most weeks, one houseguest is evicted by a vote of their peers. From the last two contestants standing, the winner is selected by a jury of recently evicted houseguests.
Talavera, who's called "Sis" by her housemates, will serve on that jury.
Her eviction came as a surprise to some fans after she made it through most of the show's 21st season unscathed, thanks to being a member of a powerful alliance
Although Talavera listed Northridge as her hometown, she was a resident of Simi before entering the house.
She wasn't the first "Big Brother" houseguest from Ventura County. Two seasons ago, Alex Ow, an eco-friendly marketing representative who listed her hometown as Thousand Oaks, was on the show. She didn't win.
Analyse Talavera is a resident of Simi Valley. (Photo: CONTRIBUTED PHOTO/CBS)
All about Analyse
Courtesy of CBS, here are some questions posed of Talavera before she moved into the house:
Three adjectives that describe you: Funny, outgoing and confident.
Favorite activities: I love tanning and going to the beach. If tanning could be an occupation, that would no doubt be my calling. Some people call me a lizard, which is kind of ironic because I am actually deathly afraid of them. I also love shopping. I love clothes and having a really good style. I really wanted to go to fashion school when I was in high school but I thought playing soccer was cooler. And lastly, I love just relaxing and hanging out with friends and talking and going to lunches or dinners.
Which past "Big Brother" cast member did you like most? My favorite houseguests were Dick Donato, Daniele Donato and Tyler Crispen. I loved how Dick and Daniele were on the same season at one point. I thought it was the coolest thing. I love how Dick ... caused drama. I loved Daniele because she was basically the same age as me when she started "Big Brother," but I love how she is a California beach girl like me and seems really sweet and innocent but has a sassy bitchy side like me. I also really love Tyler because he played one of the best games in Big Brother history.
My life's motto is ... Just like it says in my Insta bio ... "Be a badass with a good ass!"
Fun facts about yourself: I love joking/ pranking/scaring people. I cannot start my day without a cup of coffee. I like to collect pennies with their heads up because I think it's good luck. I am so emotional, I cry for literally everything (especially military coming-home videos and wedding videos). I only eat my cheeseburgers plain with ketchup.
"Big Brother 21" houseguests pose for a photo. Bottom row from left are Jack Matthews, Analyse Talvera and David Alexander. Middle row from left are Holly Alexander, Kemi Fakunle, Jessica Milagros, Ovi Kabir, Isabella Wang, Nicole Anthony and Tommy Bracco. Top row from left are Jackson Michie, Cliff Hogg, Sam Smith, Kathryn Dunn, Christie Murphy and Nick Maccarone. (Photo: Monty Brinton, CBS)
Read or Share this story: https://www.vcstar.com/story/news/local/2019/06/28/meet-big-brother-houseguest-simi-valley/1589917001/
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Royalty-free 3d computer generated business clipart picture of a golden man with a headphone head shouting in a person's ear, on a white background with shading.
Yes. Save by purchasing this image in the discounted collection (You get 88 illustrations).


Difference between revisions of "OSEE"
The Open System Engineering Environment (OSEE) project provides a tightly integrated environment supporting lean principles across a product's full life-cycle in the context of an overall systems engineering approach. The system captures project data into a common user-defined data model providing bidirectional traceability, project health reporting, status, and metrics which seamlessly combine to form a coherent, accurate view of a project in real-time. By building on top of this data model, OSEE has been architected to provide an all-in-one solution to configuration management, requirements management, testing, validation, and project management. All of these work together to help an organization achieve lean objectives by reducing management activities, eliminating data duplication, reducing cycle-time through streamlined processes, and improving overall product quality through work flow standardization and early defect detection.


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package oop.appengine.examples.showcase.demos.redis;

import oop.appengine.modules.test.benchmark.BenchmarkTask;
import oop.appengine.modules.test.benchmark.ConcurrentBenchmark;

import redis.clients.jedis.Jedis;
import redis.clients.jedis.JedisPool;
import redis.clients.jedis.JedisPoolConfig;
import redis.clients.jedis.Protocol;

/**
 * 测试Redis用于计数器时incr()方法的性能.
 *
 * @author calvin
 */
public class RedisCounterBenchmark extends ConcurrentBenchmark {
	private static final int THREAD_COUNT = 50;
	private static final long LOOP_COUNT = 20000;
	private static final int PRINT_BETWEEN_SECONDS = 10;

	private static final String HOST = "localhost";
	private static final int PORT = Protocol.DEFAULT_PORT;
	private static final int TIMEOUT = Protocol.DEFAULT_TIMEOUT;

	private String counterName = "ss.counter";
	private JedisPool pool;

	public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
		RedisCounterBenchmark benchmark = new RedisCounterBenchmark(THREAD_COUNT, LOOP_COUNT);
		benchmark.run();
	}

	public RedisCounterBenchmark(int threadCount, long loopCount) {
		super(threadCount, loopCount);
	}

	@Override
	protected void setUp() {
		//create jedis pool
		JedisPoolConfig poolConfig = new JedisPoolConfig();
		poolConfig.setMaxActive(THREAD_COUNT);
		pool = new JedisPool(poolConfig, HOST, PORT, TIMEOUT);

		//reset counter
		Jedis jedis = pool.getResource();
		try {
			jedis.set(counterName, "0");
		} finally {
			pool.returnResource(jedis);
		}
	}

	@Override
	protected void tearDown() {
		pool.destroy();
	}

	@Override
	protected BenchmarkTask createTask(int index) {
		return new CounterTask(index, this, PRINT_BETWEEN_SECONDS);
	}

	public class CounterTask extends BenchmarkTask {

		public CounterTask(int index, ConcurrentBenchmark parent, int printBetweenSeconds) {
			super(index, parent, printBetweenSeconds);
		}

		@Override
		public void run() {
			Jedis jedis = pool.getResource();
			onThreadStart();

			try {
				for (int i = 0; i < loopCount; i++) {
					jedis.incr(counterName);
					printProgressMessage(i);
				}
			} finally {
				onThreadFinish();
				pool.returnResource(jedis);
			}
		}
	}
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


You are here: Home / Properties / Kotor Bay / Hotel for sale in Stoliv, Kotor.
Hotel for sale in Stoliv, Kotor.
This 6 level hotel is located in Stoliv. It is situated on the first line. There is a restaurant with kitchen and a store-room on the ground floor. On the first floor there is a reception, a hall, 6 rooms, in four of them there are jacuzzis located on an open terrace. On the second and third floors there are seven apartments. The forth floor comprises six rooms and an art-gallery. The upper floor provides a pool, a terrace with a magnificent view of Perast and Kotor Bay, moreover there are some rooms for the staff. Castello di Boka is a diamond in Kotor Bay, where many famous artists from Russia and Ukraine have spent their holydays , leaving outstanding pictures in donation, with superb Montenegrian landscapes.
Hotel has 1630 m2 and plot 1000 m2. It is possible to build additional 10-12 bungalow for 30-40 people on the plot. Also hotel has own jetty and 2 small beaches.


Nearly 65 percent of the clothing we buy ends up in landfills.
Actor Olivia Wilde made her directorial debut with "Booksmart," a film about two smart young feminists who are graduating high school.
The film, which premiered at SXSW this past weekend, is already getting rave reviews.
The mom of two says she used to sleep in, but "10 a.m. is basically evening for me now."
The "Life Itself" star says a gag gift has led to some interesting chats with her children.
The former "SNL" star shared some hilarious stories from his son's fourth birthday trip.
Oscar Isaac and Olivia Wilde star as a couple madly in love.
These celebrities are using their platforms to speak out about climate change.
Olivia Wilde is a fan.
Take a note from Olivia Wilde.
Daisy was fittingly born on International Day of the Girl.
The actress says she "stands in solidarity" with the women who have come forward with accusations of sexual harassment.
The actress joins a slew of other celebrity moms who've been criticized for the same thing.
Her caption about him and their daughter is hilariously cute.
Happy birthday to this famous funny dad!


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Prepare For November 5 Elections
By Barney Blakeney
Out of the blue recently I got a call from a friend telling me he agreed with a recent column I wrote about North Charleston municipal elections. That was a breath of fresh air. The column was about the need for change in North Charleston. I welcome both compliments and complaints. They let me know whether I'm on the right track. The premise I tried to express in that column was there likely will be little change in the socio-economic status quo in North Charleston if voters aren't on point for the November 5 municipal elections.
The potential for change is great, but voters tend to stick with the status quo when voting for candidates. People vote for those they know, even if only in name. Years ago I worked for the campaign of a young up and coming guy who I felt could really make a difference. The guy wasn't the perfect candidate, but he is smart, aggressive and politically well connected. I figured he was intelligent enough, committed enough and knowledgeable enough to do an unprecedented good job.
But his opponent had greater name recognition. The opponent had been an incumbent a long time. And he had studied my favorite elected official, Robert Ford's media savvy. I cut my media teeth in the political arena watching Robert Ford. Robert knew how to use the media. But he wasn't just media hype. I saw Ford do some things on Charleston City Council that changed this city more progressively than perhaps at any other time in its history. Ford did stuff in the 1970s and 1980s most today take for granted.
He pushed for Black community inclusion in the Riley administration's aggressive annexation program. As annexation moved West Ashley, Black communities were excluded in the donut holes that were created. Ford and others brought in the Justice Department. Ultimately Ashleyville/Maryville, Ardmore, Orleans Woods and other Black communities were annexed into the city. Ford faced a 50-year jail sentence for those efforts. He got through that and later won a seat in the state senate. There he successfully pushed for a Martin L. King Jr. holiday.
Charleston would not be the city it is today had it not been for Robert Ford. Was he a perfect politician? No. But he was damn good and the Black community benefitted from his representation. That's what I believe!
Name recognition is everything in political campaigns. That's why candidates spend enormous amounts of money putting their names out there. Voters become familiar with the candidate's name rather than their record. Consequently we re-elect the same ole do-nothing representatives time and time again. That may work for some constituents, but it doesn't work for most of us. And it ain't just a Black thing. White constituents are gettin' screwed over as well. White constituents are in better shape however. White folks enjoy the highest standard of living in our community.
North Charleston voters must be on point this election cycle. Five candidates are running for mayor. Representatives in all 10 city council districts will be elected. In districts 1 and 2 the incumbents have no challengers on the ballot. In District 3 there are three challengers; in District 4 there are two candidates; in District 5 there are three candidates; in District 6 there are two candidates; in District 7 there are four candidates; in District 8 there are three candidates; in District 9 there are two candidates; and in District 10 there are two candidates.
Charleston elections are just as crowded. Six candidates are vying for mayor; two for Council District 1; five for Council District 3; two for Council District 5; two for Council District 7; three for Council District 9; and two for Council District 11.
In America every citizen has the right to seek public office. But the reality is every citizen isn't able to run for public office. Money perhaps is the single most deciding factor. But a number of other factors determine who runs and who can be successful. Modern American politics is a classic example of a corrupted democracy.
I was listening to television comedy show Saturday Night Live's Michael Che recently who said we've had four years to prepare for the presidential election yet the process is so dysfunctional, we may end up with the same corrupt administration. That made me think about our local elections. Why have we failed to prepare to elect public officials who can change the status quo? Our failure to adequately prepare likely will result in perpetuating the dysfunction we have currently.
That means grave consequences for residents of North Charleston, especially Black residents. Crime in North Charleston's Black communities is among the highest in the country. In a city where the local economy is moving upward through the roof, Black communities still suffer extreme poverty. Some of the state's lowest performing public schools serve North Charleston's Black students.
But all is not lost. Voters still have until November 5 to determine which candidates will most improve their quality of life. Don't ask me. I don't know. You must do your own homework. And it's a daunting task. You got people coming out of the woodwork running for office in North Charleston. And you know what those who have been there have done.
But as Che said, it all comes down to preparation. Voters must prepare to elect good representation in November then prepare to elect good representation in subsequent elections. Whether in Charleston or North Charleston, I think the most important question voters should ask about a candidate is whether that candidate can do the job we need done. And if the pickin's are slim now, we need to get to work preparing the next round of candidates.
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MICHAEL TAIT
Home » Case Studies
Coffee Nation
Self Service Gourmet Coffee
Coffee Nation was the leading self-serve gourmet coffee company supplying the public through retail and forecourt partners such as Tesco, Moto, Sainsbury and Welcome Break across over 400 locations across the UK.
Milestone Capital backed the secondary management buy-out of Coffee Nation in March 2008 with Investec Growth & Acquisition Finance providing the mezzanine finance. Mike Tait was brought in as chairman and an investor in the business.
Mike worked closely with talented management, Scott Martin CEO and Simon Vardigans CFO on a new strategy for Coffee Nation that would see dramatic changes to the R&D programme and expansion into new markets.
Stopped was the designing of their own machines and instead, R&D investment was concentrated on designing and building machines on an OEM basis, utilising coffee making technology from top manufacturers such as Shaerer in Switzerland. This new approach to machine design resulted in extended capacities, advanced user interfaces, payment systems, energy efficiency and a better quality coffee experience. Telemetry was also a key design addition which allowed real-time monitoring and maximising of uptimes of the whole estate – all managed by a support team working from an advanced dashboard system.
Many other initiatives such as a new showroom, promotion vans, building a marketing team and telesales function and moving into new markets such as universities, contributed to the number of Coffee Nation sites growing to over 900 with sales reaching over 1.5 million cups of coffee per month and £30m of sales.
Mike Tait felt that an exit was possible and he invited the CEO of Costa to visit and see how things worked in the 'Coffee on the Go' market. It wasn't long before the board of Costa and Whitbread also visited to hear the proposition. The strategic arguments for Costa to acquire Coffee Nation were well taken by the Costa and Whitbread teams and this led to a very successful exit. Coffee Nation was sold for £59.5m which generated a 3.7x return on Milestone's original investment in under three years. The company is now Costa Express.
Claims Management Group (CMGL)
CMGL was a £40m turnover leading provider of outsourced claims and insurance management services that were offered to FTSE quoted companies, general insurers, Lloyd's underwriters and London Market insurer companies.
CMGL was a widely recognised brand with a strong reputation for its operational practices and quality of service. It had an international network of 11 offices and managed over 165,000 claims worldwide representing US$5b in gross liabilities and over $1b reinsurance recoverables. In addition, CMGL administered eight Lloyd's syndicates.
CMGL was acquired by Sovereign Capital through a buy-out from Zurich Financial Services. After only months into the investment which had a 14 year history of growth and profitability, the business fell into a significant loss making position. The business was running short of cash and had fallen outside of its banking covenants.
Sovereign decided to seek outside help and brought Mike Tait in as executive chairman. His brief was to very quickly get to understand the business, its services and markets – all of which were new to him, and then to propose and implement whatever was needed to recover the business and return it to profitability.
The key tasks were to reduce costs straight away by reducing staff from 650 people to 600 people, exit from unprofitable deals, and secure a number of new deals in pipe-line. The company was very quickly returned to a profitable footing.
Michael and his investors saw an exit opportunity to exit through the sale of the company to Capita plc. The company was sold to Capita Plc for £32m generating Sovereign Capital an IRR of 260% and 3.3x money.
Knowledge Technologies International (KTI)
Engineering Design Software & Services
Knowledge Technologies International was a company of 110 people and $18m turnover based in the UK, USA, Germany and France. KTI specialised in knowledge based engineering design software and managed services and were an Electra Europe investment.
The company was loss making to the point where an insolvency practitioner attended board meetings.
Electra Europe appointed Mike Tait as Interim Group CEO and asked him to evaluate what could be done to save the company and determine whether some value could be recovered for investors in a sale of the company.
Electra was not willing to support the company any further and on two occasions the board was advised that unless funds were raised from sales, the company would have to shut the doors in a matter of days. On one of these occasions £400k had to be raised within a matter of three days to keep the company trading. Mike Tait had to personally negotiate a deal with KTI's biggest customer at a time when all the management and staff had declared the challenge as impossible. Mike secured a deal from Airbus and the company was able to continue.
Mike had to close the larger part of the USA company, leaving just a small support group there and this enabled European activities to continue.
A successful turnaround was achieved with the company showing profits for eight months prior to the company being sold. Electra did not want to spend M&A money and so Mike had to write the sale prospectus himself and make calls to the presidents of large international software companies to seek interest in acquiring KTI.
Mike managed to sell the company to Dassault Systeme, a large French public company, which gave a very good home for the KTI team and returned money to Electra Europe.
Retail Banking Software & Services
Interlink was a London based retail banking software and services company of 125 people and £15m turnover and had made significant annual losses over a four year period. The company specialised in software to drive 'hole in the wall' cash dispensers and software for clearing payments through VISA and MASTERCARD.
CR2 was a 200 person, Dublin based, VC backed company that specialised in e-banking software and they wanted to acquire INTERLINK through funding from their backers. However CR2 was still to prove itself and the backers said they would only back the acquisition of a loss making business if a turnaround professional was engaged. Mike Tait was selected as INTERLINK's Interim Group CEO.
The challenges were; four years of loss making, a dysfunctional board, lots of people leaving including key second tier management, cash problems, tired products and an unproductive R&D programme.
Mike managed to persuade all the leavers to stay and work with him. He personally interviewed over a hundred of the staff within his first few months which uplifted staff morale and motivation. Mike set up weekly staff update meetings to aid effective communication in both directions.
Mike compiled an assessment report on the issues of the business and his strategy on saving the company which was agreed and executed over a six month period. All the old directors left the business on acquisition and Mike carried out all their functions with the support of second level management.
Key achievements were: not a single person left the company throughout the assignment; staff morale was high; within three months cash was being sent to the CR2 parent in Ireland and the company had the highest sales month in history on Mike's last month with the business.
Burroughs and Sperry Univac merged in 1987 to form Unisys Corporation and became the world's second largest computer company with revenues in excess of $12b. Both companies were seeped in a mainframe background and culture and knew they were not well equipped to manage the transition into a distributed systems business. Both Boroughs and Sperry had small and almost insignificant revenues in this area and had failed to build an indirect sales channel which was critical to success in distributed systems.
Unisys Europe-Africa Division decided to find someone who had the skills to build sales channels across all fourteen western European countries and Africa and commissioned an international search. Mike Tait was chosen because of his knowledge and experience in managing sales channels for Digital Equipment Corporation who had the largest channels programme in Europe. Mike was also considered to have the drive and personality to succeed in a fiercely demanding management environment and effect change in a resistant mainframe culture.
Mike's brief was to go out to the countries and assess the situation and define what could be achieved. He then constructed his business plan and presented this and his change programmes to all top management across Europe-Africa and the main Unisys Corporation board.
The management style at Unisys was 'hands-on' and 'lead from the front' and this was very much Mike's style. He therefore fitted in well with the top management at Unisys and was quickly accepted as a key member of the Europe-Africa top management team.
For Mike to succeed in recruiting Value Added Channel partners, distributors and dealers he had to redefine the role of all direct sales people across Europe and the marketing methods used in all areas and geographies of Unisys and drive these initiatives. He led the implementation of strategies and programmes across all Europe-Africa counties and often got directly involved with the recruiting of channel partners. Mike was travelling intensively and was often conducting business in three countries per week.
Mike's programmes proved very successful and he was asked to take these programmes to the USA and other areas. Asia Pacific also adopted his strategy and programmes and were trained and supported by him.
Mike went on to define the direct sales of desktop level networks and systems and in parallel, ran this programme across Europe-Africa.
Under Mike's leadership Unisys became one of the leaders in distributed systems and had recruited a substantial indirect channels network. He built a £500m UNIX, PC, and Client/Server Workstation business through over 1000 Dealers, Distributors, Systems Houses and Direct Sales units across Europe and Africa.
Who Is Michael Tait, Interim Chairman?
Mike Tait is an international chairman with 23 years' experience in building or turning around private equity backed companies.
Mike has worked with many leading names in private equity such as 3i, Electra Europe, Sovereign Capital, Advent International and Milestone Capital, and banks such as RBS, Hambros and Investec.
mike.tait@btinternet.com
Michael on Social Media
A Chairman Comparison Table September 3, 2018
The Role of The Chairman August 29, 2018
Managing private equity or venture capital investors is an important art for executives to learn. Executive survival can depend on it. August 29, 2018
See also: www.ceo-mentoring.com
Privacy Policy | InterimChairman.com


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Chimpanzee Groups Have Unique Cultures, But People Could Be Destroying Them
Research finds that human activity may be contributing to the loss of cultural behaviors among chimps.
By Hilary Hanson
Most people know that chimpanzees, some of the closest living relatives of human beings, are extremely intelligent. It's less well-known that different communities of chimpanzees have unique cultures ― meaning they exhibit socially learned behavior that get passed from generation to generation.
And new research has found that human activity, including human-induced climate change, may be killing chimp cultures.
"What we mean by 'culture' is something you learn socially from your group members that you may not learn if you were born into a different chimpanzee group," Ammie Kalan, a primatologist involved the study, told The Associated Press.
For example, New Scientist notes there's one chimp community that uses moss like a sponge to soak up and drink water ― a behavior not seen in other groups.
In a study published Thursday in the journal Science, researchers looked at 31 behavioral traditions among 144 chimpanzee groups across Africa. They found that in areas with heavy human activity like logging or road building, the animals were less likely to exhibit these kinds of behaviors.
yfwong via Getty Images
A chimpanzee mother and baby.
A fragmented landscape makes it harder for learned behaviors to spread, and some human activity may force chimps to live in smaller groups, where less social learning is likely to occur, primatologist and lead study author Hjalmar Kuhl told the AP.
Climate change may also play a role, since it alters chimpanzee habitats and thus affects the animals' behavior.
"For example, nut production is strongly dependent on weather conditions," researchers wrote in the study. Since climate change makes the availability of nuts less consistent, it also increases "the potential loss in nut cracking behavior over time."
The findings suggest that when it comes to conservation, it's important to consider individual cultures ― not just overall species populations.
"Each population, each community, even each generation of chimpanzees is unique," primatologist Cat Hobaiter told The Atlantic. "An event might only have a small impact on the total population of chimpanzees, but it may wipe out an entire community — an entire culture."
And that consideration isn't just limited to chimpanzees. Animals like whales, dolphins and orangutans have also displayed evidence of cultures.
Hobaiter, who is not one of the study's authors, told The Atlantic it's important to remember that not all types of human influence are equal. Clear-cutting trees, for example, obviously has a much greater impact than people obtaining food from forests in a sustainable way. She emphasized that any efforts to protect wildlife must happen in cooperation with the people who reside in the area.
"Long-term conservation approaches are only going to be effective through the support and leadership of the local communities who live there," she said.
Great Gorillas
Hilary Hanson
Assignment editor, HuffPost
Climate Change Animals Conservation Behavior Chimpanzee
infant mountain gorilla from volcanoes national park, north west rwanda, kwitonda group
David Yarrow Photography via Getty Images


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Home > About Me
Here is a short autobiography:
Born into a liberal-minded intellectual family, I attended a Quaker boarding school, where I became a convinced evolutionist when I first heard of it at the age of about 14 (as a consequence of this poem). Not only was I convinced; I was also keen. My decision to study Chemistry with Biochemistry at university was partly based on the desire to learn about the material basis of evolution. However, as soon as I did learn about genetics and cell chemistry, I started to doubt the orthodox neo-Darwinian theory. I remained totally committed to evolution, having become a devout adherent of Elaine Morgan's Aquatic Ape Theory of human evolution. Over the years, my doubts about neo-Darwinism increased, despite regularly reading books by neo-Darwinists such as Richard Dawkins, Stephen Jay Gould and John Gribbin. By 1993, I realised that I would have to classify myself as an evolutionary dissident, having not only become a neo-Lamarckist but also a wavering follower of Rupert Sheldrake. Since then I have been almost single-minded in my quest to raise public awareness of alternative views of evolution.
My first book, "The Alternative Life", was published in 1996, being a radical, scientific reappraisal of evolution theory. (See Publications) The essay, "An Evolution for Evolution Theory" is effectively a synopsis of the book, though it would be more correct to say the book is an expansion of the essay.
My second book, "Lamarck's Due Darwin's Luck or The History of Hearsay and Heresy in Heredity", was first written in 1997, and has undergone frequent revision and updating, being as yet unpublished. It is an irreverent history of the evolution of evolution theory, from the Ancient Greeks to the present day. The biographical essays on this website are essentially extracts from it, though the Lamarck essay was adapted from an extract for the purpose of a biographical essay competition. Several other Essays are also adapted from the book. There is also a play concerning evolution, "The Origin of Modesty", written in the late 1990s.
A much longer version of all of the above can be found in Chapters C, G, H and I of my autobiographical ABC, written in 1999.
The progress of my thinking since 1993 can also be discerned from my Letters to the Editor as well as in my essay, "My Personal Evolution", at the end of "Six of the Best". There is also a file of my Favourite Writing.
My family has always been bemused by my 28-year obsession with evolution theory, and one of them asked me several years ago what I actually believed. So I wrote My Belief, which I now share, but please do not try to use its content to discredit what I say elsewhere in this site. It is pure conjecture.


I didn't know the prosecuting criminal cases, barrister Anthony Rathe character prior to reading the collection When Anthony Rathe Investigates by Matthew Booth. The original Anthony Rathe stories of courtroom criminal cases appeared on American public radio, syndicated by the late Jim French through his Imagination Theater. The book continuous where the radio stories finished. Four stories focus on the quest for truth and justice, no matter how inconvenient. To build up trust and tension Rathe's private investigations are contrasted to Inspector Cook. The stories read like a classic crime story on TV, concise, and conversations to look into the investigator's line of thought to solve the whodunnit puzzle. Burial for the Dead kicks off with a brutal murder in a church where a priest gave the key to a visitor that wanted to confess his deepest sin. The second story, A Question of Proof, Cook and Rathe collaborate in an underworld murder case. A crime of passion is investigated in Ties that Bind Rathe, while in the last story, The Quick and the Dead, modern slavery is addressed.
I received a free review copy from the Sparkling Books publishers through NetGalley in exchange for my personal, unbiased opinion upon reading.


Grendal went up to Herot wondering what the warriors would do in the hall when their drinking was done.
That shepherd of evil, gaurdian of crime, knew at once that nowhere on Earth had he met a man whose hands were harder. His mind was flooded with fear!
In despair, Hrothgar appeals to Beowulf, who prepares to pursue the female monster to her underwater lair.


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Temporary Excused Paid Leave sounds good but is hard to come by
The federal government is allowing agencies to grant caretaker employees Temporary Excused Paid Leave in limited circumstances during the coronavirus pandemic, but employees at many agencies are experiencing obstacles obtaining the benefit.
The Office of Personnel Management published a fact-sheet last month that advised agencies to grant federal workers flexible work schedules to accommodate any caregiving duties.
Federal agencies are permitted to extend the excused leave to employees required to telework who have dependent care obligations under certain circumstances. There are a few hoops to jump through: typically, employees are required to exhaust annual leave, sick leave, the paid leave supplied under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act and maxiflex telework schedules before the Temporary Excused Paid Leave comes into play.
Feds are able to request, at least according to one participating agency, 20 hours per pay period capped at four hours per day and 10 hours per week of excused paid leave. The policies are expected to be evaluated during every pay period that includes mandatory telework due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The excused paid leave provision covers challenges related to school and daycare closures, dependent care lapses, and taking sanitary measures such as cleaning and sheltering-in-place to ensure compliance with local health measures due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Despite the measures that the federal government has taken to ensure that remote work is possible, agency employees say that the excused paid leave provision is not being rolled out evenly, burdening workers who have children and dependents.
FCW has learned, for example, that the Interior Department has so far not extended the benefit to its employees.
At the Environmental Protection Agency, federal employees have apparently been waiting for weeks for a decision to be made.
The American Federation of Government Employees' Deputy General Counsel Cathie McQuiston said that the EPA was considering implementing a temporary paid leave policy for its caretaker employees, but that the agency continued to put off making a final decision despite unions' requests for the provision weeks ago during bargaining sessions.
EPA briefed agency unions on April 9, McQuiston told FCW in an interview, and the paid leave option was discussed.
"They kept saying they were looking into it. We said, 'You've been looking into it for a while. It [feels] like you're trying to run out the clock and let the pandemic be over while you're still thinking about it.'"
Joyce Howell, Vice President of AFGE Local 3631, which represents EPA workers in Philadelphia, echoed the same sentiment.
She said that while EPA has been more flexible on things such as hours of work and start/stop times, they've put up roadblocks when it comes to relieving strapped parents or those who have elderly relatives to care for.
"EPA has not elected to utilize administrative leave or weather/evacuation pay to give relief to caretakers. Our bargaining unit members who are caring for small children, elderly parents and disabled dependents are suffering," she said in an email to FCW. "They have enormous integrity, they put in the work hours for which they are paid. But the net result is sleep deprivation."
Bethany Dreyfuss, the President of AFGE Local 1236, which represents EPA attorneys in the Bay Area, said that part of the issue was that the EPA said it could only make a blanket decision at the national level.
"We're being told it's a national thing and we have to wait for the [Washington] D.C. headquarters to make a decision," she said in an interview. "At the same time, my members are using up sick leave, personal leave, and using leave banks [leave donated by other agency employees] to make up the difference."
Dreyfuss said she had polled her bargaining unit and found that most respondents wouldn't use the leave.
"Any fear that it would be taken advantage of is unfounded. There are a number of people for whom a few hours a week would make an enormous difference, and for some 10 hours a week would be life-changing."
Dreyfuss noted that IRS invoked an evacuation order weeks earlier that allowed their care-burdened federal employees to take temporary leave.
A request for comment to EPA was pending as of publication time.
Employees at the Department of Veterans Affairs report similar concerns.
Sheila Elliott, the President of AFGE Local 2328 in Hampton, Va., said that in addition to ongoing concerns about a lack of personal protective equipment and unsafe working conditions, the VA was slow to implement policies for healthcare providers seeking relief, including parents and caregivers.
"I had one member who had taken temporary leave to take care of her son at home. Her supervisor called her and told her that if she didn't report back to work, she would be terminated."
FCW obtained a March 23 memo from the Veterans Health Administration Executive-in-Charge, Richard Stone, to agency leaders clarifying that no leave was available to excuse employees who were tasked with caring for children or other dependents.
"There is no authority to approve Weather & Safety Leave or Excused Absence for childcare," Stone wrote.


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Between the Tides
Posted on January 8, 2018 January 11, 2018 by johnbrannigan
Comber Estuary, Strangford Lough
Rough Island lies just off the western shores of Strangford Lough, at the mouth of the Comber river. It is a submerged drumlin, like most other islands in the lough, A narrow causeway joins the island to the mainland at Islandhill, which is only safely fordable at low tide, when it is surrounded by extensive sloblands of boulder clay. The island was used in the nineteenth century for discharging coal and other goods for Comber by small vessels which could not navigate the shallow channel of the river, but which could reach Rough Island at high tide. From there, goods were carted across the causeway to Comber. Evidence of much earlier human presence was confirmed by the Harvard Archaeological Mission to Ireland in 1936, when researchers found large oyster middens and flint blades from the late Mesolithic period. The style of cutting the flint tools indicated cultural connections with other shoreline inhabitants around the north coasts of the Irish Sea.
A small car park and picnic area is now located at Islandhill, from which people walk along the shore, and like pilgrims, cross the causeway to walk around the island. Because the causeway is only accessible at low tide, visitors are not afforded views of the sea, but instead an extensive vista of intertidal mudflats and wetlands. There are no golden sands here on which to sunbathe, or dig sandcastles. There are no tumultuous waves either upon which to surf or gaze. Dogs who like to swim trot out on to the mudflats, nosing the streams and the seaweed: they can smell the sea, but they cannot seem to find it. The attractions of the intertidal zone are different in kind from the cultural pleasures of the sandy beach or the open sea. There is something more desolate, and more visceral, about the intertidal environment, and especially in winter. In his book, Rising Tide Falling Star, Philip Hoare writes of the intertidal zone in Cape Cod:
"I half expect to see a Neolithic family foraging on the beach. The landscape is moonlike, bone-scattered. Sere, stripped back by the winter, pallid and raw. Yet despite the intense cold – so barbarous it becomes a kind of warmth – the shore is full of life. Everything is residual and tentative in the intertidal zone; a place belonging to no one." (p.76)
The mudflats surrounding Rough Island have that same feeling of a place belonging to no one. The curlews and oystercatchers noisily claim it as their own, patrolling the shoreline in chaotic quickstep. A photographer sits in his car, and trains a long lens out of the window at a straggling pair of brent geese, as if wary of intruding on their privacy. The intertidal zone only grudgingly permits human presence. The causeway is often treacherous underfoot, never managing to recover from its twice daily immersion in the sea. Depart from the causeway, and the saturated clay of the mudflats is even more treacherous, and will steal your boots, or perhaps something more precious. The remnants of a wooden jetty have ceased to look like marks of human industry, and resemble instead the proud bones of a sea beast. Even a thick electrical cable which has been exposed in the mud at the island-end of the causeway looks more like the arching back of a mythical slobland worm, too big to be rooted out by any passing wader. On the island itself, the last low walls of a long-forgotten building have now almost merged into the briars and bushes, and will soon be invisible.
What brings us down to these shores which are so indifferent to our history and our fate, and yet so inseparable from them too? For John Gillis, the answer to this question may be primal: 'For most of our existence we have been foragers, and much of human evolution has taken place not in landlocked locations, but where land and water meet'. Whereas our ancestors up to times within living memory worked these shorelines for food and other resources, now the coast is increasingly the scene of heritage trails and scenic walks, a space for leisure and recreation. Part of the cultural value of these intertidal places, however, may be that they engender in us feelings of being in close contact with past generations, as well as, perhaps more intriguingly, feelings of acknowledging and accepting their disappearance. Two memorial benches have been sited at the car park, facing out upon these shores, and dedicated to deceased loved ones. A plaque has also been placed in the ground close to where a totem pole sculpture once stood, to mark the place as one of special significance for the Light-bellied Brent Geese which winter here in vast numbers, spending their summers in Northern Canada. The totem pole was commissioned from local artist, Owen Crawford, to celebrate 'the cultural links between here and Canada and welcomes the geese back to Strangford Lough every winter'. Nothing of the pole remains beside the plaque, but the geese keep coming back anyway.
Rough Island, Strangford Lough
John R. Gillis, The Human Shore (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2012).
Philip Hoare, Rising Tide Falling Star (London: Fourth Estate, 2017).
Thomas McErlean, Rosemary McConkey, and Wes Forsythe, Strangford Lough: An Archaeological Survey of the Maritime Cultural Landscape (Belfast: Blackstaff Press/Environment and Heritage Service, 2002).
Hallam L. Movius, 'Report on a Stone Age Excavation at Rough Island, Strangford Lough, County Down', Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, 70.3 (1940), 111-42.
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We are proud to announce our official selection of the international films. Thank you all the filmmakers, producers and the finest short film distributers for submitting great films.
The SSF 2018 Official Selection In competition: 48 Films from 25 Countries.
All the 48 Films will be screened in the international competition programmes.
We also thank all the films below that give us great suffer to decide the SSF 2018 official selection. The listed films are not selected but we are wiling to mention these great films. We are appreciate all the great works and contributions.
But we are planing to programme additional new special screenings select from this Programmers Delight list. Please wait for next announcement.
Update 0809: Added one Iranian film to programmer's delight list.