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Why Governments are Paying Employees to Volunteer
Volunteers who work full-time jobs often use their weekends and evenings to participate in community service. Now, some employers are providing employees with paid volunteer time off for mentoring at their local after school program or working at a nearby soup kitchen.
This growing movement to provide paid volunteering time off (PVTO), empowers more employees to engage in service, while acknowledging the ones already doing so. Though the private sector has garnered most of the attention around PVTO, many local governments across the country are starting to develop their own programs.
In August 2016, the City of Aurora, Colorado announced a new Employee Volunteer Program, giving full-time employees eight hours and part-time employees four hours of PVTO every year. Aurora's Volunteer Program Coordinator Jamie LaDuke says city employees are already taking advantage of the program:
"Although the Employee Volunteer Program is only a couple of months old, we have seen a great response already from employees with unique and passionate ideas for improving the Aurora community. One thing we're trying to encourage with the program is the development of team projects that have the opportunity to build teamwork and make a bigger impact."
Just a month later, the Town of Mooresville, North Carolina also launched a volunteer program, stating the desire for "giving back and supporting our community and to allow Town employees to share in that effort." Keli Greer, Mooresville Director of Human Resources, explains:
"We had some employees express concern that they could not afford to donate to every worthy cause that came their way. They were willing to donate time, but money was the issue. This policy was developed as a way for employees to give back to their community without a financial burden."
For some governments, this type of program might seem well-intentioned yet idealistic given their limited resources. However, organizations are finding that these programs are not only supporting community service, they are also benefiting the workplace.
Benefits of a Paid Volunteer Time Off Program
Strengthening relationships between co-workers. Working together to do something meaningful in the community is one of the best ways for co-workers to get to know each other outside of the office. LaDuke has already seen examples of this in Aurora:
"We recently had a large group from our Information Technology Department that spent the day working together on a Habitat for Humanity reconstruction project, and they brought a picnic lunch along to eat together and bond outside the workplace."
Feeling connected to the community. Local government exists to serve the community, and employees feel more connected to this mission if they have more opportunities to serve in other ways. This might prove especially true for those who work "behind the scenes" and don't often get to see firsthand the positive outcomes of local government efforts.
Improving morale and productivity. People are uplifted by engaging in community service, and that energy translates back into the workplace. One of many studies, a 700-person experiment conducted by the Social Market Foundation and University of Warwick found that happy employees were up to 20% more productive than the control group.
Attracting the new workforce. Local governments need to compete with other sectors for the talent in the growing millennial workforce. Deloitte's latest survey of Millennials found that alignment of personal values with organizational values is one of the most important factors in considering employment. Providing PVTO is one way for local governments to show a commitment to their values.
Setting a community example. By promoting community engagement programs, local governments can set an example for employers across sectors. In the UK's 2015 general election, David Cameron pledged to make it mandatory for UK employers to provide employees with three days paid days off for volunteering. This movement is spreading around the world, and it can start in any community.
Looking to start your own PVTO program? Here are some of the most important lessons learned from both local government and private sector coordinators who have gone through the process.
Best Practices for Developing a Paid Volunteer Time Off Program
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Publish a clear process. In order to avoid confusion about how the program works, make sure the PVTO limits and regulations are clearly laid out in writing. While your specifications might look completely different, the Town of Mooresville, North Carolina produced a great example of a clear PVTO policy.
Educate employees. On top of creating a clear process, employees will benefit from follow-up education on how to take advantage of the program. "Just sending out a written policy was not enough," says Greer, Mooresville's Director of Human Resources. "We had to do a few educational sessions with several employee groups to bring the policy to life."
Have a point person. Not all governments will be able to have a dedicated Volunteer Program Coordinator like Jamie LaDuke in Aurora, CO. But they will be more successful if they ensure that someone incorporates the program's operational duties into their job.
Clearly justify approved agencies. If your PVTO policy requires employees to volunteer with an approved list of agencies, be sure to set clear guidelines for the approval criteria. "Employees feel strongly about certain agencies, so know that going into the program," says Greer. "Have a defined list of agencies that you will support and be prepared to justify this list to your employees."
Leverage existing relationships. As the company Buffer found when they implemented an employee volunteering program, many of your employees are likely already volunteering. Paying attention to what people already care about will help the program resonate and build off the momentum from people who already volunteer. For Mooresville, this meant expanding their approved agencies to include more non-profits as well as the local school system.
Ensure regular and open communication. If employees need approval for PVTO, the program coordinator should make sure managers know the process and policies. Open communication between coordinators, managers, and employees will also help avoid potential understaffing issues and increase opportunities for group volunteer trips.
Share your experiences. One of the best parts about volunteer programs is the ability for employees to talk about how they were able to help their communities. Greer suggests talking the policy up at staff meetings, organizing group volunteer days, using employee testimonials to market the program, and honoring folks who volunteer. This both encourages employees to take advantage of the program and helps make it a part of the organizational culture.
After going through this process in the city of Aurora, Colorado, LaDuke has some final words of advice for local governments looking to start their own programs:
"In today's society, everyone is busy with responsibilities and obligations. The one thing we all need more of is time. I learned that there is no limit to what individuals can accomplish in a community when they are provided the time. Giving paid volunteer time off will make a difference in your community, and it will change your employees for the better."
Civic Engagement, Government Innovation, Local Government Resources, Productivity


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Prescription drug abuse is a serious issue in the United States and now one retailer that is popular among tweens and teens is facing criticism for a new line of shot glasses and other gag gifts that glorify the use of prescription drugs. Urban Outfitters sells the new product line, which includes items like a Syringe Shot Shooter and a Boozemin Flask, both in its stores and online.
The description on the Boozemin Flask reads, "Fill that liquid poison prescription!" The flask looks as though it has been wrapped with a prescription label and the Rx symbol is prominently displayed. There's no mistaking that this product is designed to mimic a prescription.
These products are supposed to be gag gifts, but in my opinion, prescription drug abuse is no laughing matter. According to the CDC:
- 100 people die from drug overdoses everyday in the United States.
- Drug overdose death rates have more than tripled since 1990.
- In 2008, prescription painkillers were responsible for more overdose deaths than cocaine and heroin combined.
- In 2010, more than 12 million people used prescription painkillers nonmedically.
This time, I think Urban Outfitters crossed the line from edgy to distasteful, so I wholeheartedly support The Partnership at Drugfree.org's campaign urging Urban Outfitters to pull these items from its shelves.
What do you think, are these edgy gag gifts or an inappropriate product line?
via [Yahoo]

subset: commoncrawl


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Re-acquisition of Italian citizenship - Part 2: The paper chase
Tue, Dec 13 2011 11:33 | apartment in Rome, Citizenship, Italian citizenship, Italy, moving to Rome, personal quest | Permalink
So, in April 2010, I finally received my naturalization certificate and contacted la signora Graziella at the Italian consulate in Vancouver. She guided me through the series of steps that I had to take and listed the various documents I needed to provide. Specifically: a criminal record from the RCMP, an affidavit that stated I was whom I said I was, 3 years of Tax returns (I guess Italy wanted to make sure I was not a bum) and, of course, a receipt stating I had paid a fee of some 200 Euros (at the time about300 Canadian dollars) to the Italian Government. All these documents needed to be officially translated inItalian. Note that I had already provided my birth certificate (born in Rome,Italy) and copy of my old Italian Passport.
To obtain the various documents was fairly straight forward. However, it was a bit of a challenge to ensure that all the documents met the expectations. For instance, the criminal record (I had no record) was signed by an RCMP officer, but his/her signature was not clear, so I had to apply for another one and ask for the signature to be very legible (when I re-applied, the officers and I had a few chuckles about this..... a sense of humour helps).
I was also made aware that, once all the documents were in order, I would have to meet the Consul and officially declare my intent tore-acquire my Italian Citizenship. Then I could apply for a VISA to stay in Italy for up to one year as I established my residence there (more about this later).
While I was going through the steps, I learned that the Internet can provide valuable knowledge. But it can also be an incredible source of confusion since the info that is posted could be either incorrect, or incomplete, or specific to particular circumstances. It is hard to sort which is which. After a Google search, a reliable website may not come out in the first 10 pages and to find a "gem" may be really difficult and enormously time confusing. With regard to re-acquiring the Italian citizenship, from reading and talking to consulate employees, I learned that one does NOT have to reside in Italy for one full year. Indeed, there is no determined period of residence, but the law does require the establishment of a residence in Italy (Art. 13, Comma C, Law 91/1992: "A person who has lost Italian citizenship shall reacquire it: c) if he or she declares the wish to reacquire citizenship and has established or establishes residence within one year from such declaration." ) I really wonder how many people, ex-Italians realize that and how many officials apply or are even aware of the letter of the law.
Between collecting the various documents, having them translated, and many other delays, it took quite a while to have everything ready. During that time, I frequently asked myself why I was going through all the loops, why I cared to regain my citizenship when, ultimately, I had no plans to live in Italy, I was not going to buy property there (in such a case there would be a tax advantage), AND there was no financial gain for me at all in being Italian. Furthermore, since my children were born when I was NOT Italian, my Italian citizenship, as the law stands now, would not benefit them were they ever want to have it.


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Industrial MBRs − food and beverage sector
The food and beverage (F&B) sector produces both finished products for consumption and intermediate products destined for further processing.
The sector is diverse and includes dairy, maltings, breweries, distilleries, wineries, soft drinks, cereals, potato chips, salads and produce, coffee, confectionery, edible oils, meat and poultry processing and various other prepared foods.
The sector is heavily reliant on good quality water, which is the principal ingredient in all beverages and a number of foods. However, most water is used for ancillary processes including washing, cooling, heating, cooking and conveying, plus cleaning and sanitising of equipment and to provide site utilities.
Food and beverage effluent characteristics
Effluent generated in the F&B industry is typically high in organic loading, with BOD and COD concentrations that can be 5−100 times higher than for domestic wastewater.
The TSS also varies from negligible to very high concentrations, and may contain FOG (fats, oils and grease), e.g. from meat, fish, dairy and vegetable oil production. They may also contain high levels of ammonia and/or phosphorus if large quantities of phosphoric acid are used in the process, such as for vegetable oil de-gumming or cleaning operations. Equally, some F&B wastewater can be deficient in N and P and require nutrient balancing. However, they are generally readily biodegradable with COD/BOD ratios ranging from ~0.4−0.5 for bakery products to >0.8 for poultry processing.
Membranes use in the food and beverage sector
Membranes use in the F&B industry predates MBRs, having been used for process waters rather than effluent treatment. The implementation of membranes and in particular MBR technology for industrial effluent treatment has only occurred since the mid−late 1990s. Market penetration has followed the same pattern as for municipal wastewater for much the same reasons − declining MBR costs, increasing freshwater supply costs, increasingly stringent legislation, improved technology design and reliability, and spatial restrictions, among others.
Examples of iFS industrial effluent applications in Japan date back to the mid 1990s. Early examples of sMBR technology applications in Europe include an 800 m3/d dairy in France, based on ceramic membranes from Degremont which was commissioned in 1997, along with the Orelis 'plate and frame' MBR for a 50−120 m3/d dairy wastewater. MBR technology applications have now extended across almost all sectors of the F&B industry and are widely considered to be the best treatment solutions, especially if water reuse is a requirement.
Key motivations for MBR technology implementation in the sector have been:
- water recovery and reuse, motivated primarily by cost savings
- water scarcity (and regulatory requirements relating to water conservation)
- security supply, and
- strategic corporate planning.
Key issues surrounding the water recycling in the sector concern the maintenance of hygiene and food safety standards using effective control measures. Since effluent reuse plants based on the two-stage MBR−RO within the sector have been established since the early noughties, the initial reticence associated with water recycling has now largely been replaced with widespread acceptance. A final disinfection stage (chemical and/or UV) is normally sufficient to meet the required strict quality assurances for treated water reuse in the F&B sector.
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The most popular French soup, and superb Mediterranean vegetable soup. Illustrates: How to slice onions fast; how to cook and brown onions; hot to make onion soup gratinee; hot to make simple and tasty vegetable soup; how to chop vegetables fast; how to make a cheese and garlic sauce for soup.
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If you're an associate from the Mother or father Instructor Business inside your kid's college, then you definitely understand how preparing as well as matching conferences as well as occasions could be demanding as well as time-consuming. The easiest method to easily simplify your lifetime is actually to produce a PTO web site in order to help all your arranging as well as fundraising requirements.
Previously, developing a web site needed lots of specialized abilities how the typical mother didn't possess. These days the duty of making an internet site for the PTO is very simple because of do-it-yourself occasion web site contractors. It's not only right now easy as well as inexpensive to produce a web site for the PTO, however numerous include helpful built-in functions to assist along with preparing as well as fundraising.
Here are a few suggestions associated with things to consist of in your colleges PTO web site to maintain people continuously knowledgeable, as well as put into action applications as well as actions to improve college student understanding:
1. Regarding your own PTO
The actual PTO web site ought to convey the particular objective as well as reason for the actual school's PTO. It may range from the goals which have been arrived at and also the objectives you're trying to attain. The actual titles as well as game titles of PTO panel people could be detailed about the PTO web site, with their functions as well as get in touch with info.
two. Information as well as forthcoming occasions
This really is a terrific way to notify mother and father as well as help remind people of numerous actions that'll be happening. Improvements as well as bulletins could be created about the PTO web site anytime. Viewing all of the potential long term occasions may motivate individuals to become involved and begin preparing in advance.
3. Pictures or Movies
Getting pictures shown upon each and every web page of the PTO web site causes it to be more appealing in order to audiences. Picture photos as well as slideshows could be made out of photos associated with panel people, photos used throughout occasions, photos showing the actual prior to as well as following associated with tasks, photos associated with kids utilizing brand new tools, and so on. Movies tend to be a terrific way to reveal tales. Getting movies associated with the way the PTO offers created a positive change inside your college is definitely beneficial.
four. Information on occasions
In case your PTO is actually preparing a meeting to boost cash as well as attention, may it be the convention, guide generate or even expertise display, every detail (time, area, how you can buy seats, how you can contribute) may just about all end up being showcased about the PTO web site. To create your lifetime simpler, you are able to select a particular web site contractor that accompany all of the e-commerce as well as fundraising functions constructed directly into the web site. Ensure that you truly emphasize the reason why the big event has been kept, as well as the way the money elevated can help.
5. Forum as well as weblogs
Good way with regard to people as well as occasion individuals in order to tone of voice their own views as well as publish remarks by what had been loved, disliked as well as so what can end up being enhanced. Info as well as queries regarding forthcoming occasions as well as recommendations regarding brand new applications your own college may require tend to be subjects that may talked about on the internet straight in the web site.
6. On the internet poll or even study
Helpful method to collect enter through people as well as occasion individuals that will help with choice producing as well as preparing. You are able to produce a good on the internet poll to look for the most effective kind of fundraiser or even study your own visitors upon an array of queries. This really is additionally very useful following the occasion to obtain recommendations for the following types.
7. Social networking integration
Most widely used method to improve conversation as well as reveal info. Utilizing social networking will help you to publicise every day improvements, sponsor people, as well as distribute the term regarding occasions. Advertising your own numerous occasions upon Myspace as well as Tweets may generate much more appointments aimed at your website as well as produce much more curiosity about assisting college students.
8. Customized Types
Online paperwork (newsletters, PTO bylaws, conference min's as well as reports) as well as personalized types (registration, cost reviews, purchases types, or even any kind of type to gather info out of your visitors or even contributor or even sponsors) may just about all be produced usually on your site in order to search or even review.
9. On the internet repayment as well as enrollment
In order to be an associate from the PTO, the regular membership type must be finished along with a regular membership charge compensated. Your own college can make the personalized regular membership type, to satisfy the particular requirements of the PTO, that'll be readily available for obtain as well as distribution just about all on the internet.
Whenever using a fundraising occasion, it's a lot more handy to permit people, individuals as well as visitors to join up as well as spend costs on the internet. Much more individuals is going to be prepared to take part or even buy their own seats the simpler the procedure associated with enrollment as well as repayment is actually.
10. Fundraising abilities
Fundraising is actually a fundamental element of the actual PTO. Your own PTO web site ought to include the ability to simply accept contributions on the internet which makes it easier with regard to each providing as well as getting money. You could have individual as well as group fundraising webpages online, which may be customized through individuals expressing the key reason why they're requesting assist.


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Columbus is growing steadily, both in terms of population and the types of businesses that call our city home. Our tourism website puts things in perspective when they write, "There's an energy and excitement in Columbus that's going to hit you as soon as you arrive." It's a busy midwestern city with several neighborhoods that each have their own unique feel (we're partial to the downtown area, where Intelligent Office of Columbus is located). As the home to Ohio State University, and a thriving service economy, the city also provides a strategic location to run and grow your own business.
There's plenty to do outside of the office, too. Whether you need to grab lunch on the go, entertain a client, or you just want to try something new and unique for dinner, there's bound to be a restaurant you'll love in the downtown district. Columbus has tons of smaller establishments, too, like high-end cocktail bars, coffee roasters, and distilleries. It's not just about the food and drink, either. The shopping in Columbus is excellent, and we have acclaimed museums like the Columbus Museum of Art to enjoy. The Scioto Mile is another favorite spot for locals and visitors, with 33 acres of park space centrally located in downtown Columbus.
A virtual address in Columbus (Downtown), OH makes it easy for you to give customers and contacts your business address, no matter where you actually do your work. You don't have to physically work from that location to have a virtual address there.
You'll elevate your professional image while streamlining your life, because your mail will be waiting for you whenever you stop by to pick it up. A virtual address gives you access to some of the perks of big-business infrastructure regardless of the size of your business.
Simply put, Intelligent Office's virtual office services and solutions, like virtual office addresses, are an indispensable resource for the modern business owner.


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What are common mistakes you see from people using the disavow links tool?
The Disavow Links Tool
As you may already know, Disavow Links is a great and invaluable free tool that Google provides to help webmasters manage and maintain a good link profile on the web. What it does is it basically gives the search engine a heads up on what links to recognize or ignore for a certain website. It's a potent tool for inadvertently cleaning up spam links or fighting off negative SEO – an unscrupulous practice in search engine optimisation wherein people build spam or low quality links in huge numbers with the intention of lowering a target website's search engine rankings.
Even so a lot of people still have problems using the said tool and unable to make good use of it. Let's go ahead and take a look at some of the common mistakes that people tend to make in using the Disavow Links tool.
Common mistakes in using the Disavow Links tool
As mentioned in the webmaster video posted above, a lot of people can end up making a wide range of errors with regards to the proper use of the Disavow link tool. Such common errors include:
- Uploading the wrong file – the tool's parser is designed to only accept txt files (comments, domain, and domain column). Upload anything else and the information you submitted will be rejected by the parser at the back end which is the last thing you need. A lot of people end up uploading Word documents or excel spreadsheets and complain that the tool doesn't work – go figure!
- Mentioning specific link URLs – first time users of the tool often make the mistake of trying too hard by mentioning specific URLs that they wish to remove from their backlink profile. A granular approach may seem like a good idea but in reality, you could end up missing more especially in the case of spammy link forums. It would be better to do a domain column just to be thorough.
- Incorrect syntax – make sure to use and double check your syntax. This should be a no-brainer but it's still an area wherein Google sees a lot of errors. For instance, domain column should be followed with the domain name (example.com) and not the other way around.
- Documenting your issue in the Disavow links text file – the tool simply isn't the right place for users to tell their story. Describe what's going on and submit your documentation via the Google Reconsideration request. Again the parser for the tool only expects short text files like domain names or URLs. You can throw in a few comments but stating your full story will most likely prompt the parser to reject the file altogether
- The Disavow links tools is not the "panacea" for all SEO problems – the tool will certainly help clean up bad links in SEO but it's certainly not and never was it introduced as the ultimate cure for all search engine optimisation problems. If you've been doing bad SEO then cleaning up your links is just a start, you have to start doing better and ensure that it won't ever happen again.
Now these are but a few of the most common errors users tend to make with regards to the Disavow links tool. Perhaps the most common of which is the submission of the wrong file. There are certainly more but knowing what common errors to look out will certainly help set you off to a good start!
So what has been your experience using Google's Disavow Links tool?Tags: Disavow Links, Google, Reconsideration request, Search engine optimisation, SEO


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By Isabelle Wesselingh (AFP)
BUCHAREST — Twenty years after his execution, and thanks to the magic of cinema, Nicolae Ceausescu has returned to discover how Romania has embraced capitalism with a passion. And he likes what he sees.
"Kapitalism: Our Improved Formula," which opened in Romanian theatres on Friday, is documentary Alexandru Solomon's take on the radical changes that have swept over the country since the collapse of communism in Europe.
To carry the narrative, he "resurrects" Ceausescu -- executed with his wife Elena against a brick wall on Christmas Day 1989 by a firing squad -- to see the changes that time has wrought.
Initially he is shocked to discover the capital Bucharest festooned with giant billboards for Coca-Cola and other Western brands, and the streets alive with glitzy casinos and luxury cars.
But he is please to see one-time members of his feared Securitate secret police reinvesting themselves as multi-millionaire tycoons, as powerful as ever, unashamedly living the good life.
In one of the poorest countries in the European Union, erstwhile apparatchiks run media empires, football clubs, oil refineries and construction groups -- assets they managed to snap up for a song.
Some now are under investigation for corruption, but by and large they are happy to be portrayed in their luxurious villas, yachts and private jets.
In the film, they talk openly about how fast they made their "first million" and how they negotiate profitable deals with a weak state.
"I did not make a film to criticize economic liberalism," said Solomon, 43, who has previously turned his camera on such subjects as Radio Free Europe ("Cold Waves") and road chaos in Bucharest ("Apocalypse on Wheels").
"I just wanted to show the strange form of our post-communist society, where we have neither a classic, Western form of capitalism nor a real democracy," he said.
What it does have, he said, is "a classic cocktail of power and money in Eastern Europe," with a capitalist society "still deeply rooted in its communist past."
Several Romanian filmgoers to the premiere of "Kapitalism" said they found it "fair but very depressing." One of them said: "It gives you the desire to emigrate."
Produced with financing from Belgian, French and Romanian sources, "Kapitalism" will be distributed abroad after its domestic release.


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| 7.8°C Dublin
Rory McIlroy had heard all the concerns that the Texas Open layout would be an unsuitable place to prepare for next week's Masters, so was delighted to discover differently yesterday.
"It is a good test with Augusta in mind," said the world No 2 after he played a practice round on the AT&T Oaks Course in company with his Irish compatriot and close friend Shane Lowry.
It happened to be Lowry's 26th birthday so the mood was cheerful as the money passed hands.
Yet McIlroy was also buoyed by the nature of the examination which awaits this week.
"I came here to get four more rounds under my belt," he added. "I like the course. It's a course where you have to hit the shots and also drive it well, and iron play is going to be very important as the greens are small with a lot of run-offs.
"So, in that regard it's going to be a good test with the Masters coming."
McIlroy believes he has fixed the glitch in his swing which blighted his start to 2012 and, as if to prove so, his full-time coach Michael Bannon has not travelled with him from Houston. He and his caddie JP Fitzgerald feel all that is missing is the game time.
Meanwhile, Darren Clarke has pulled out of the event citing a tight hamstring, but he is confident of being fit for the Masters. (© Daily Telegraph, London)
Irish Independent


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Technically, ticks and mites, two nasty little creatures that torture dogs, aren't six-legged insects at all, but eight-legged arachnids related to spiders. External parasites not only make dogs miserable but also may transmit serious diseases, some of which can be passed to people, via saliva. Some parasites are recognizable at a glance, while the presence of others can be suspected from the symptoms they cause.
How to Identify Insects on Dogs
The Acrobatic Flea
If you spot a bug jumping in your dog's fur, it's likely a flea. These wingless, reddish-brown insects, about the size of sesame seeds, can leap vertically as high as 8 inches and horizontally up to 14 inches. The most common external parasite affecting dogs, fleas have three pair of legs extending from the thorax, each leg ending in a claw, and their saliva can transmit diseases including typhus, bubonic plague and tapeworm. They like to congregate at the base of the ears and around the rump and groin area of dogs, leaving behind feces in the form of black specks. More than 2,000 species exist and have different scientific names, but popular names mostly reflect the host species -- dog, human, rat, hen and chigoe fleas. A dog can be infested with more than one flea species at the same time.
The Inflatable Tick
The bodies of ticks are unsegmented and, according to veterinary parasitologist Pablo Junquera of Vetparcs, a Swiss veterinary parasitology consulting firm, don't even have a proper head, only an abdomen with mouth parts sticking out one end. After sinking these mouth parts into a dog's skin, ticks stay put, gorging themselves on blood and inflating like balloons. The bodies of females, who eat the most, can bloat 50 to 100 times their prefeeding size. At that stage, they're so big -- the size of a hazelnut or larger -- that they shouldn't be difficult to see or feel. After females are so full that they can't absorb any more, they drop off the host to lay eggs. In North America, diseases transmitted by ticks include encephalitis, Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, anaplasmosis, babesiosis and hepatozoonosis.
Lice: Look For Evidence Close to the Skin
If you see what appear to be specks of dirt in your dog's fur close to the skin, they could be lice, although you won't be able to make out much more detail than that without a microscope. Even though these wingless insects don't transmit diseases directly, the terrible itching they cause can make dogs scratch or bite their skin raw, creating conditions ripe for secondary bacterial infections. Female lice make their whitish eggs, called nits, highly resistant to removal by attaching them to the base of hairs with a cement-like "glue" extruded from their abdomens. Lice species tend to have specific preferences for host species, so dog lice won't infest other animals or people. Dog lice fall into two broad categories, blood-sucking and chewing; a bad infestation of blood-suckers can cause anemia.
The Misery of Mites
You can't see mites with the naked eye, but you can see evidence of a bad infestation from allergic reactions and skin diseases such as scabies, also known as sarcoptic mange, as well as a few other varieties. The mites burrow into the dog's skin, digesting the proteins in it with their saliva and creating lesions so unbearably itchy that dogs will often mutilate themselves trying to find relief. The combined inflammatory effects of mites and broken skin create lesions that scab over to form crusts. When mites invade hair follicles, patchy hair loss, or alopecia, results. These injuries can easily become infected with bacteria or attract other parasites such as flies, which lay eggs in the open wounds.
Other Biting Bugs
Some other bugs that bother dogs are only too familiar to humans. Mosquitoes can inject heartworm larvae into a dog's bloodstream. When dogs rile bees, wasps, hornets, spiders and ants, they're just as apt to get stung, with the same itchy, painful consequences, as people who do the same thing. If a human household is infested with bedbugs, these flat, oval, brownish-colored insects also can colonize dog bedding and though they prefer human blood, in a pinch, they'll feed on dogs too.


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Part of our growing process is to learn how we individually operate, develop the parts of us that we need to learn more about, and learn about the people around us, and how we can not only accept their individuality and diversity, but how we can capitalise on these differences in order to impact on the team operations and results.
Learning about your own psychological type is a key starting point for self-development. This provides a completely new lens through which you will view yourself, others and the inter- relationships with others.
Teams who want to use their personality types and strengths to build stronger, more efficient teams.
JvR Team
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Please contact us on email@example.com or phone us on +27(0) 11 781 3705/6/7 for more information.


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Chris Matthews Says He Does Not Think Obama "Made the Case" for his Afghanistan Strategy - Video 12/1/09
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Here is video of Chris Matthews tonight saying he does not think President Obama "made the case" tonight for his strategy in Afghanistan. He said Obama's speech "lacked the lift of a driving dream," and that it "had a ministerial quality" to it.
Matthews said he failed to bring to his speech a sense that we are going after a "clear-cut enemy." Matthews argued that Al-Qaeda is our real enemy and they are in Pakistan. So, according to him, fighting the Taliban is an indirect way of getting at Al-Qaeda.
Matthews refuses to see that the Taliban and Al-Qaeda are the same enemy. They all follow the radical Islamic ideology that is behind the terrorists who want to destroy the United States. The Taliban is our enemy, as is Al-Qaeda, and all who subscribe to that core ideology.


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Glossary of Terms
Like any industry, ours uses a variety of terms. If you want to find out what they mean, you are in the right place! Simply click on a letter to see its list of terms. If the term you are looking for isn't listed in our glossary feel free to contact us so that we may help you as well as add it to our list.
W — 'Waffling' to 'Writing Paper'
See embossing.
A term given to the occurrence of plate deterioration of the image area during the printing process; usually occurs on long runs.
Warm Color
A red tone rather than a blue tone. Orange, red, and yellow are generally considered to be "warm" colors.
Wash Drawing
A black and gray watercolor with black line art which will be reproduced as a halftone.
Wash Marks
An uneven or lighter density on a print's leading edge created when the printing plate has too much water. Other Term: water streaks.
The procedure of cleaning a particular ink from all of the printing elements (rollers, plate, ink fountain etc.) of a press.
Water Finish
A gloss created on paper by applying water to the paper web as it passes through rollers that "iron" and compress the paper fibers.
Water Streaks
See: wash marks.
Water-based Ink
An ink that uses water as the drying agent rather than a solvent.
Artwork created by applying translucent water soluble paint or dyes to a paper substrate.
A highly absorbant paper.
Waterless Printing
See lithography (waterless).
A translucent mark or image that is pressed into fine paper during the papermaking process and which is visible when the paper is held up to a light.
A translucent logo that is embossed during the papermaking process while the paper slurry is on the dandy roll. Reference, dandy roll
Wavy-edged Paper
Paper with wrinkled or wavy edges caused by water damage.
A machine that melts and applies a thin coating of adhesive wax to a paper. Once often used to create camera ready artwork, this process has been largely replaced by computerized film, paper, or plate devices.
A roll of paper or other material that is fed by rollers through a printing or converting process. Used in web or rotary printing.
- See Also: Web Press, Webfed, Web Offset, Roll To Roll, Web Tension, Web Break, Angle Bar, Sheetfed
Web Break
A tear in a web roll during the printing process.
Web Offset
A continuous band of substrate fed from a wound roll through an offset printing press.
Web Press
A rotary press that prints on a continuous web, or ribbon, of paper fed from a roll and threaded through the press. See also: sheetfed press.
Web Tension
The term given to the tension or pull exerted by the web press on the web roll.
A printing press that uses a web, not cut sheets. See also: sheetfed.
Wedding Paper
1. An elegant, refined paper with minimum glare. 2. A soft paper that is thick and holds up well under embossing.
1. (Character) A description of typographic forms or variations (e.g., light, regular, bold, extra bold). 2. See: basis weight.
An individual etched gravure pit.
Wet Printing
Printing on ink that is still wet with a second or different color. See also: trapping.
Wet Rub
A measure of a material's resistance to rubbing while it is wet. See: abrasion resistance.
Wet Strength
A measure of a wet paper's resistance to pulling or bursting.
Wet Trapping
Overlapping an ink that is still wet with a second or different color. See also: trapping.
See wet trapping.
A water and tear resistant paper that when wet retains a minimum of 15% of it's dry tensil strength.
Wetting Up
A screen printing term referring to placing ink in the screen and distributing it evenly with the squeegee in preparation for production.
What You See Is What You Get
Used when a computer application shows an image's position, size, elements, etc. on screen as it will be printed.
A combination of all the color wave lengths. A color visually equivalent to natural sunlight. See also: white light.
White Light
Natural sunlight or light created by combining equal portions of each light wavelength from 400 to 700 nm. See spectrum; visible spectrum.
White Space
That part of an image that is free of text or images.
A word, partial word or short line of text at the end of a paragraph, or a single line of text at the top of a page. See also: bad break; orphan.
Wipe On Plate
A plate on which is wiped a light sensitive coating by a coating device; usually the first step in this type of platemaking.
Wire Side
That side of the paper which lies on the wire screen side of the papermaking machine.
Wire Stitch
No Definition
Wire Stitching
To fasten together sheets, signatures, or sections with wire staples. 3 methods... saddle stitching, side stitching, and stabbing.
Wood Cut
A printing method that uses a carved wood block or surface as the printing plate. The non-image areas are carved away, and ink is applied to the remaining raised areas. Other Term: wood engraving.
Wood Engraving
See: wood cut.
Wood Free
Paper made without groundwood or mechanical pulp. Other Term: groundwood free.
Wood Type
Letters carved into blocks of wood. See also: wood cut.
Word Processor
A software application used to create text documents (e.g., Microsoft Word).
Word Spacing
Word spacing in conventional typographic terms is the process of uniformly increasing or decreasing the space between words. Typographers often modify the default space setting in a font to facilitate legibility and copy fit, or for esthetic reasons.
- See Also: Alignment, Justification, Leading, Typography, Ascender, Descender, Arms, x-height, X-line
Word Wrap
The process by which a computer application automatically moves a word to the next line down when the available line space for text has been used up. This occurs without the person using the application pressing the "return" key. This feature can also create problems for those printing someone else's file, since the words may also automatically "shift" when opened on a machine other than the one that created the document. As a result, some words may move to a location that is unacceptable to the original document's creator. This is why printers request all the image and font files together with a document, or, as an alternative, a PostScript or PDF file.
In a prepress department, a workflow refers to the software used to handle all the processes needed to make digital files ready for printing.
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web is an information space in which the items of interest, referred to as resources, are identified by global identifiers called Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs). The term is often mistakenly used as a synonym for the Internet, but the Web is actually a service that operates over the Internet.
Abbreviation: WWW, W3, Web
A smooth paper made on finely textured wire that gives the paper a gentle patterned finish.
The unevenly dried surface of printed inks.
Writing Paper
Another name for bond paper.


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Insurance fraud costs Australian businesses millions of dollars each year. The most common kind of insurance fraud is a one-off theft when a worker exaggerates their personal compensation claims. These exaggerated or misleading claims include workers compensation claims, income protection claims, and public liability or personal injury claims.
Not only do these insurance claims cost companies a huge amount of money, they also result in increased premiums from the insurance funds. This means that your business is being financially hit from both ends when insurance fraud happens.
Because there are many different kinds of insurance fraud, it can be very difficult to detect, especially within large companies and companies that rely on manual labour. Other kinds of insurance fraud include that committed by a fraud professional, someone who purposely creates situations from which they can claim insurance. Or, insurance fraud can be committed by an organised group of criminals. While this latter kind of fraud is definitely of concern, it is not very common. The kind of fraud that business owners should look out for is opportunistic fraud committed by individuals. Be especially suspicious of individuals and employees who have benefited from a major insurance claim in the past. It can be difficult to find out whether someone has been involved in potentially fraudulent insurance claims, so that's where a detective investigator can be of great assistance.
If you suspect an employee has committed insurance fraud, the best way to be certain is to hire an investigator to conduct surveillance and provide evidence of the fraud. For example, if the individual has claimed major and ongoing personal injury, yet can comfortably spend a Saturday afternoon playing cricket, or go out drinking on a Friday night, then they have likely committed fraud. A detective can help you sort out the validity of insurance claims, and if insurance fraud has occurred, they can help you settle the case discreetly, with all necessary evidence provided.
Despite the Occupational Health and Safety policies and measures that are in place at every workplace to protect your employees, accidents do happen. However, these OH&S measures should remove much of the danger, especially of serious injury. So if a worker is claiming an injury that should not have been possible, it is worth properly investigating their claims. While many insurance fraud claims are simply exaggerated, some are purposely planned, manipulated and misrepresented. Thus it is advisable to have a private detective investigate suspicious, large or unusual claims to assess a claim's validity. Our investigators will supply you with accurate and reliable information, to safeguard your company against unnecessary and avoidable losses. It can also be worth making sure your employees know that the penalty for insurance fraud can include large fines and/or imprisonment.
If you believe that one of your employees has made a false or misleading statement in regards to their insurance claim, please call us today to discuss your case with one of our highly qualified detectives.


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Contact Us
Give us a call or fill out our form and a representative will be in touch with you shortly.
Better yet, let us come see you in person!
DMCS is located in the Silicon Valley and services Northern California and Nevada. We love meeting and learning about our customers face to face. Please feel free to challenge us with your most stringent or mundane industrial applications. We are dynamic problem solvers, please get in touch!


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Osi Umenyiora injury gives Jason Pierre-Paul an opportunity
If Osi Umenyiora misses any regular season time, Jason Pierre-Paul will get the call to fill his shoes. (AP)
The Giants had Osi Umenyiora's services for all of three practices before the defensive end needed arthroscopic knee surgery Friday. The issue now is when Umenyiora, who had been holding out in a contract dispute, will return to the field.
Tom Coughlin said three to four weeks, which could put Umenyiora back in the lineup for the Sept. 11 season opener. A contradicting report put a best-case scenario timeline at upwards of a month with the potential for it to go longer. Either way, New York's going to need Jason Pierre-Paul to step up.
For however long Umenyiora's out, Pierre-Paul will be the guy at the right defensive end position. He played well in a backup role last season as a rookie, notching 4.5 sacks. And he seemed perfectly comfortable as a starter in New York's preseason opener, when he recorded two sacks against Carolina in limited playing time.
The plan is clearly for Pierre-Paul to be the Giants' defensive end of the future. This offseason simply kicked that into overdrive. Umenyiora had refused to practice, demanding that his remaining contract -- two years and $7.1 million -- be reworked to give him a raise.
Umenyiora's a key cog in the Giants' defense (11.5 sacks last season), but he's also gone under the knife three times in four years -- he missed all of 2008 after surgery on his left knee, he had hip surgery this offseason, and now his right knee's been repaired. When Umenyiora's been on the field, there has been little to indicate that he's slowing down, but the steadily increasing string of injuries says otherwise.
Which makes this opportunity an important one for Pierre-Paul. Whether or not he's still the starter in Week 1, he will be a starter on the Giants' line sometime soon. If nothing else, Umenyiora's contract dispute doesn't bode well for him staying in New York past 2012, assuming he even lasts that long with the Giants.
Fortunately for the Giants, Pierre-Paul makes defensive end one of the few spots where they have legitimate depth. The former South Florida standout is not in Umenyiora's class yet in terms of being a game-changer, but he has definitely shown the potential to develop into that type of player.


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Mnogo Chatroulette Russian
If you would like to meet with Russian girls, Mnogo chat is going to give you what you want. Chatroulette feature of the site is really good and you will able to meet with women from Russia with this feature. We are going to tell you how to meet with women on this chat feature and how to get partners. We hope that it will be helpful for you. All you have to do is entering main page of the site and click on Russian chat button from left sidebar. You can see the start button after you entered to board of site. Click on that and start to chat.
You don't need to pay for this service and you don't need to register. You will find many good partners on the site. There are many people who created relationship on here. You can be one of them. You can chat with text, audio and camera on the site. It's not required to have camera and it's allowed to use virtual camera (fake webcam programs) It has similarities with Chatroulette however it's simple and easy to use. You don't need to know any language for using this feature.
Russian Chat
There are generally people from Ukraine, Moldova, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Mongolia, Belarus, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Abkhazia, Finland, Georgia on the Mnogo chat and they all know Russian. Some of them know English too and it won't be problem for you to chat with them. Or you can still use Google Translator. If you don't like performance of the site, you can still use original Chatroulette for dating with girls.


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The PowerNet Baseball and Softball Strike Zone attachment can help pitchers improve their accuracy and consistency in pitching location. It can be hooked up to all PowerNet 7x7 hitting nets and most other 7x7 practice net systems. The straps are adjustable, allowing for quick and easy adjustment of the zone. It lets pitchers focus on drills for short or tall batters. Includes the Strike Zone Attachment ONLY (Net and Frame sold separately).
Buy Now and Start Training!


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Microdermabrasion treatments use a minimally abrasive instrument to gently sand your skin, removing the thicker, uneven outer layer. This type of skin rejuvenation is used to treat light scarring, discoloration, sun damage, and stretch marks.
Microdermabrasion can:
- Improve age spots
- Reduce black heads
- Improve hyperpigmentation
- Exfoliate
- Lessen the appearance of stretch marks
- Reduce fine lines and wrinkles
- Reduce or eliminate large pores
- Treat acne and scars from acne


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Pretty in Pink
July 15, 2015
We liked this Pretty in Pink' combination from Bella Figura recently featured on their blog. Brandl and Igor customized their Anderson design by changing up the fonts, adding a letterpress border and opting for a pink on pink color palette. Whisper edge painting and a natural woodgrain liner in fuchsia completed these pretty in pink letterpress wedding invitations.


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Physician Burnout Intervention
Loss of autonomy fuels burnout. Involving physicians and other clinicians in designing burnout interventions could be an important step toward a solution.
Subject Matter Experts: Jeni Bowers-Palmer; Edward W. Cheesman, M.D.; Benjamin Clyburn, M.D.; Constance Guille, M.D.; Robert J. Malcolm, M.D. and Alejandro M. Spiotta, M.D.
by Kimberly McGhee
Illustrations by Emma Vought
On completion of this article, readers should be able to:
- Recognize the warning signs of physician burnout.
- Explain why physician burnout is a patient safety issue and recognize that obtaining help to address it is the best way to ensure that patient care is not impaired.
- Discuss institutional and physician-directed strategies to address physician burnout.
Physician burnout is a syndrome characterized by emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and a loss of meaning in work and is driven principally by stressors in the workplace.1 Although physician burnout is not new, recent years have seen a spike in its prevalence. According to one much-cited Mayo Clinic–led study, the proportion of physicians reporting at least one symptom of burnout on the Maslach Burnout Inventory increased almost ten percent in just three years, from 45.5 percent in 2011 to 54.4 percent in 2014.2 The 2016 Medscape Lifestyle Report showed that, though burnout is rising rapidly among all physicians, women have higher rates of burnout than men (55 vs. 46 percent).3 Clinical leaders and administrators as well as physicians have begun to recognize the problem: 96 percent of those responding to a recent survey by NEJM Catalyst identified burnout as a moderate or serious threat to the health care system.4
What fuels burnout?
Most physicians go into health care to provide quality care to patients, and obstacles that prevent them from doing so are, in the opinion of Danielle B. Scheurer, M.D., MUSC Health chief quality officer, leading causes of burnout.
"Anything that makes it difficult for clinicians to take good care of a patient burns them out," explains Scheurer.
In recent years, the health care industry has undergone unprecedented changes that have affected the ways physicians deliver care. At one time, most physicians were small business owners who could control the parameters of care. Now, in part because of need to pay back large student debts, most physicians are employees of health care systems and some feel a loss of autonomy that is a risk factor for burnout.
"What makes work really stressful for physicians is that we have a really high degree of responsibility but increasingly a lower degree of autonomy and control," says Constance Guille, M.D., an associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine, who has studied the effects of stress on medical students and interns and is a member of the physician burnout workgroup created by the American Psychiatric Association. "So when we are unable to make decisions that are going to affect patient outcomes but are completely responsible for those outcomes, it is incredibly stressful and those are the things that are leading to burnout," explains Guille.
Increases in regulatory and payer demands, pressures to increase productivity and the institution of the electronic health record (EHR) have dramatically affected clinicians' workflows, leaving many physicians feeling overwhelmed and unable to control the quality of care they provide. Some worry that the physician-patient relationship could be one unintended casualty of the requirements for increased documentation. A recent study of physicians working in ambulatory care revealed that they spend almost twice the time on the EHR and clerical and administrative tasks (49.2 percent) as on direct clinical face time with the patient (27 percent).5 Many of the physicians report spending another one to two hours each evening finishing documentation and administrative tasks at home, which physicians have dubbed "pajama time."5 Feeling overwhelmed by clerical responsibilities, physicians lose sight of what brought them into medicine — the desire to interact with and heal patients.
Feeling the fallout
Burned out physicians are also more likely to leave the profession or to recommend against others pursuing it, exacerbating already severe physician shortages in some areas. A recent survey by the Physicians Foundation revealed that 63 percent of respondents said they have negative feelings about the future of the medical profession, 49 percent said they often or always experience feelings of burnout and 49 percent said that they would not recommend a career in medicine to their children.6
Burnout is a risk factor for depression, and studies have shown an association between burnout and substance abuse, particularly alcohol abuse.7 Both depression and substance abuse are in turn risk factors for suicide. Male physicians are 1.5 times more likely and female physicians 2.2 times more likely to commit suicide than their counterparts in the general population.
Positioned at the apex of medical care, a burned out physician can demoralize his or her staff and colleagues. Burnout is not solely a physician problem and can affect all members of the clinical care team.
Most important of all, burnout can affect patient care. A well physician is better able to "heal" patients and to earn his or her patients' trust, whereas burned out physicians are more prone to experience compassion fatigue and to make medical errors. Each one point increase in depersonalization (on a scale from 1-33) or emotional exhaustion (on a scale of 1-54), both measures of burnout, led to an increase of 11 percent and five percent, respectively, in the likelihood of a surgeon reporting a medical error.8
"It's overdue to have a local, state and national conversation around clinician burnout and its impact on patient care," says Scheurer.
Joining the national conversation
In late March 2017, the CEOs of the American Medical Association and ten leading health care systems declared physician burnout a public health crisis, committed themselves to addressing it and issued a call to arms for other health care administrators to join them in their efforts.9 A number of MUSC Health physicians heard that call and have begun to work to raise awareness about the issue among both resident and attending physicians.
With the help of Jeni Bowers-Palmer of the MUSC Employee Assistance Program (EAP), Benjamin Clyburn, M.D., senior associate dean for graduate medical education at the Medical University of South Carolina, has begun discussing the topic at new resident orientations and chief resident conferences to ensure residents can recognize the warning signs of burnout (Table) and know how to find help on campus. Clyburn and Bowers-Palmer are working to ensure that residents have 24/7 access to EAP services, a new requirement for graduate medical education.
Pediatric ophthalmologist Edward W. Cheeseman, M.D., became concerned about burnout as more and more of his colleagues confessed to feeling overwhelmed, and his concern only grew as he versed himself in the literature surrounding burnout, including an influential series of articles10,11 in Mayo Clinic Proceedings by Tait Shanafelt, M.D., who runs the physician wellness program at Mayo. Feeling compelled to raise awareness about the scope of the problem, he delivered a grand rounds presentation on the topic to his fellow ophthalmologists, prompting the department to decide to survey its physicians about burnout.
"The Maslach Burnout Inventory is the best in class in the industry for measuring burnout," explains Scheurer, who attended Cheeseman's grand rounds at his request. Scheurer, Cheeseman and Andrew S. Eiseman, M.D., chair of the Department of Ophthalmology, are working together to purchase a license for the inventory as well as an extra set of questions that more deeply probes the drivers of burnout. They will use the inventory to gauge burnout among residents and faculty in the ophthalmology department and to inform the development of interventions to address it. The inventory and the interventions that prove useful will be made available to other interested departments, which are encouraged as well to develop new interventions tailored to their specialty.
"We started with ophthalmology because they were the first to raise their hand," says Scheurer. "To roll the effort out further, we will need more departmental champions and physician partners to help develop meaningful interventions."
Interventions to address physician burnout
Most interventions to target burnout focus either on developing physician resiliency or on making institutional changes that reduce the triggers of burnout. Although both types of initiatives are effective,12 a recent meta-analysis1 of 19 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of burnout interventions suggests that institutional efforts are more effective, not surprising since workplace stressors are the primary triggers of burnout. Subgroup analyses showed that organization-directed interventions reduced burnout measures of emotional exhaustion significantly more than physician-directed ones (standardized mean difference [SMD], -.045 [95% confidence interval ,–0.62 to –.28] vs. SMD, –0.18 [95% CI, –0.32 to –0.03).1
In May 2017, the Physician Burnout Workgroup of the American Psychiatric Association began work on its own meta-analysis of 26 RCTs of burnout interventions, three quarters of which were physician-directed interventions and a quarter of which were institution-directed efforts. Early findings show that 71 percent of institution-targeted interventions successfully reduced burnout, while only 42 percent of physician-directed efforts did so. "If you are burned out, you should by all means go get help for that," says Guille, who is a member of the APA workgroup. "But if there are going to be real changes in burnout, that has to come at the organizational level because burnout is the function of an organization, not an individual."
Physician-directed interventions
Most physician-directed interventions attempt to improve physicians' resiliency — their ability to withstand stress with their self-esteem, love of their profession and ability to relate to others intact — by teaching them communication and coping skills through cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and stress reduction techniques such as mindful meditation. They also encourage small group discussions that build camaraderie and physician wellness programs.
Most EAPs offer, or can make confidential referrals for, CBT and mindfulness-based interventions. Online resources are also available, including a free CBT training program intended to help identify and address depression and anxiety (https://moodgym.anu.edu.au /welcome), mindfulness-based and other wellness tools at Stanford Medicine's Well MD (https://wellmd.stanford.edu) and four modules on physician wellness developed by the AMA Steps Forward program (https://www.stepsforward.org/).
Small group discussions have shown promise in helping physicians feel less isolated, one of the symptoms of burnout, and provide a necessary release valve for stress. Balint groups, for example, which dedicate weekly sessions to exploring a case that has proven emotionally difficult for one of the participants, enable physicians to express their feelings in a safe, controlled environment and to reconnect with and draw support from colleagues. (Learn more at http://americanbalintsociety.org.)
In light of evidence that physicians-in-training often experience a deterioration in both physical and mental health, a number of training programs have instituted physician wellness programs. Long hours, a stressful work environment, heavy workloads, disturbed sleep cycles, poor diet and lack of physical activity all take their toll, leading to burnout, which in turn increases the risk of depression and anxiety. A 2010 study showed that the percentage of students meeting criteria for depression increased from 3.9 percent the year before internship to a mean of 25.7 percent during internship.13 Indeed, suicide is the second leading cause of death among residents.
At MUSC Health, a number of training programs have begun wellness programs for their residents. For example, in the two years since the creation of Operation La Sierra, a wellness program for both resident and attending physicians in the Department of Neurosurgery, the physical and mental health of its participants has markedly improved, drawing the notice of leading institutions across the country. Two keys to the success of the program have been the involvement of resident and other physicians in the design of the assessments and interventions and the decision to make the program voluntary, leaving it to physicians to decide, without consequence, whether they wanted to participate.
Participants in the program underwent a battery of health screenings, military style drills and psychological tests to establish baseline values for physical and emotional health. The results were shocking: 80 percent of participants had abnormal findings on screening, 67 percent had a higher-than-ideal body weight and 79 percent reported a quality of life that was below that of an average healthy adult.14
"Many of our residents had been college athletes," says Alejandro M. Spiotta, M.D. "But within a couple of years of residency, we had high rates of anxiety, depression, poor sleep, high cholesterol and high blood pressure, and this was in physicians in their late twenties and early thirties. It was really alarming. This was having a drastic, negative and almost toxic effect on both the physical and mental health of our trainees. This was not really the physician that patients wanted coming out the other end of training."
The Department of Neurosurgery set out to change that by integrating presentations on wellness topics such as sleep hygiene, stress management, substance abuse and mental health disorders into their weekly departmental meetings. It also instituted a weekly one-hour trainer-supervised group exercise section for all departmental members. These department-level efforts inspired independent efforts by faculty members: one invites resident and attending physicians to a weekly game of squash and another runs a cycling group from his home on weekends. Overall, the efforts have increased camaraderie and made it less likely that residents feel isolated. When the participants were retested after these interventions, it was clear that they were getting healthier both physically and mentally — blood pressure and cholesterol levels were down, quality of life and sleep quality had improved and anxiety levels had fallen to levels below those seen in the general population (unpublished results; accepted for publication in Neurosurgery).
"You can work hard and sacrifice for patient care and still find time for yourself," says Spiotta. "They are not mutually exclusive. It's a philosophical change. You will live longer, have a longer career, be more productive academically and it will help everybody, including the patients you are taking care of."
Institution-directed interventions
More and more institutions have begun showing their commitment to addressing burnout by making physician wellness and satisfaction one of their quality indicators. Many create an institution-wide physician wellness committee to assess the degree of burnout, identify drivers and create and trial interventions with input from front-line physicians, resurveying periodically to measure success. That same committee can also identify inefficient processes that frustrate physicians and develop performance improvement initiatives to resolve them.
Since burnout develops when job demands and performance expectations are high while the ability to control work is limited, institutional interventions that seek to mitigate workplace stressors by adjusting workloads or schedules and decreasing clerical burden, all with an eye to restoring physician autonomy, are among the most successful.
Physicians who are allowed to spend at least 20 percent of their work life doing something that they care deeply about are less likely to develop burnout. Flexible scheduling can increase physician satisfaction and decrease stress. An ICU study found lower degrees of burnout, better work-life balance and lower levels of physician distress with cross-coverage on the weekends than with continuous scheduling.15 At Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, MN, stress levels of female physicians came down when an effort was made not to schedule complicated cases as the last case of the day so that they could more reliably leave to pick up their children from daycare by 5:30 pm (https://www.stepsforward.org/modules/physician-burnout).
A number of measures have been developed to reduce the clerical burden on physicians. Tap and go devices enable physicians to instantaneously log into the EHR with the swipe of a badge, saving the physician the frustration of logging in dozens of times each day and as much as an hour a day of work time. Medical scribes, who sit in on the visit and document its details in the EHR, can also help relieve physicians of administrative burden and are allowed per MUSC Health policy. However, some authorizations in the EHR must be completed by providers and many of the EHR-provided clinical decision aides are intended for them as well. Adding advanced care providers to the care team, who could complete the necessary authorizations and documentation and discuss salient features with the physician before the patient visit, could be one answer. Other ideas for optimizing workflow to reduce physician burnout are available through the AMA Steps Forward program (https://www.stepsforward.org/modules?category=workflow).
To date, small reductions in burnout have been achieved with a variety of interventions, but institutional efforts are showing the most promise. To make real headway with burnout, however, more research is needed to determine which of the institution-directed interventions are most effective, whether a combination of institution-directed and physician-directed interventions works better than either alone and whether involving physicians in designing the intervention improves its efficacy. If loss of autonomy fuels burnout, restoring it by calling on frontline physicians to help craft solutions could well be an important step in loosening its grip.
1 Panagioti M, et al. JAMA Intern Med. 2017 Feb 1;177(2):195-205
2 Shanafelt TD, et al. Mayo Clin Proc. 2015 Dec;90(12):1600-1613.
3 Peckham P. Medscape Lifestyle Report 2016: Bias and Burnout. January 13, 2016. Available at http://www.medscape.com/features/slideshow/lifestyle/2016/public/overview. Accessed May 29, 2017.
4 Swensen S, et al. Catalyst Insights. December 8, 2016. http://catalyst.nejm.org/physician-burnout-endemic-healthcare-respond/
5 Sinksy, et al. Ann Intern Med. 2016 Dec 6;165(11):753-760.
6 Physicians Foundation. 2016 survey of America's physicians: practice patterns and perspectives. Boston (MA): Physicians Foundation; 2016 Sep.
7 Oreskovich MR, et al. Am J Addict. 2014 Nov 19. doi: 10.1111/j.1521-0391.2014.12173.x.
8 Shanafelt TD, et al. Ann Surg 2010;251: 995–1000.
9 Noseworthy J, et al. Health Affairs Blog. March 28, 2017. Available at: http://healthaffairs.org/blog/2017/03/28/physician-burnout-is-a-public-health-crisis-a-message-to-our-fellow-health-care-ceos/
10 Shanafelt TD, et al. Mayo Clin Proc. 2016 Nov;91(11):1667-1668.
11 Shanafelt TD, Noseworthy JH. Mayo Clin Proc. 2017 Jan;92(1):129-146.
12 West CP et al. Lancet. 2016 Nov 5;388(10057):2272-2281.
13 Sen, et al. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2010;67(6):557-565.
14 Spiotta AM, et al. Neurosurgery 2016 Oct;79(4):613-619.
15 Ali NA, et al. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2011 Oct 1;184(7):803-808.


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Dividend Enhanced Convertible Stock(redirected from Dividend Enhanced Convertible Stocks)
Dividend Enhanced Convertible Stock
Preferred stock entitling the holder to guaranteed dividends and to which are attached a put option and a call option. That is, if the stock declines in price the holder of DECS may sell it for the stated strike price. Likewise if the stock increases in price, he holder may exercise the call and buy more stock for a discount. DECS also have a convertible option allowing the holder to exchange the DECS for common stock.


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The Next Level
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Lesson I: Subjects and ActionsSentences usually communicate 2 main pieces of information: 1) who is the sentence about, and 2) what did they do? You can help readers find this information using cues in your sentence structure. For example, characters (who is the sentence about?) in your sentences are most likely to be interpreted correctly when placed in the grammatical subject. Similarly, your intended action is best placed in the sentence's verb. You can use these structural decisions to minimize the amount of energy your readers require to understand your writing.
This lesson introduces three structural reader expectations. This lesson presupposes that you understand the basic division of English sentences into subject, verb, and complement.
- Put actions in verbs
- Put characters in subjects
- Keep subjects near verbs
Principle 1: Put actions in verbsVerbs are action words: they describe motion, like to explore, to examine, or to observe. Verbs can be turned into nouns, which changes the word from an action to a thing. For example, the verb to analyze can be changed into its noun form analysis. A noun that is formed from a verb like this is called a nominalization. Nominalizations are nouns that contain a hidden action. (Nominalizations can also be words other than nouns, but they're usually nouns in scientific writing).
Here are some examples of scientific verbs and their nominalizations:
to regulate
to analyze
to occur
to understand
to investigate
to delineate
to perform
|·We performed an analysis on the data
|·We analyzed the data.
Scientific writing regularly disguises the main actions in nouns, costing reader energy. If you overuse nominalizations, you can improve your writing by restructuring your sentences to capture actions in verbs.
Revision TechniqueGo through your manuscript and underline all nominalizations. Take a closer look at these words to see if they should be changed to verbs.
Or, it may be easier to do the opposite: Go through the manuscript and underline all the verbs. For each verb, ask yourself this question: Does this verb capture the action in the sentence?
We analyzed the data. This analysis demonstrated the need for additional experiments.
Principle 2: Put characters in subjectsThe character is the actor (the entity performing the action). Readers expect the main character in a clause to be found in the subject. Characters can be (and often are) abstract nouns, like expression level or exon usage.
Here are some examples. Imagine these sentences in a paragraph discussing bacteria. Here are two examples that use the subjects differently. In the first example, there is a disconnect between subject and intended main character:
The movement in the liquid medium of the bacteria was accomplished by microflagella.In the second version, the content is the same, but the structure is changed. The main character is now found in the subject:
The bacteria move themselves in the liquid medium with microflagella.In the first sentence, the grammatical subject was an abstract noun (movement), which is really describing the action of the main character. The second example is clearer because the intended actor (what's the sentence about?) is the same as the grammatical subject (bacteria).
The grammatical subject of the sentence should be the answer to the question: What is this sentence about? This principle goes hand-in-hand with the actions/verbs principle. I don't think this is usually as big of a problem in scientific writing, and it is usually fixed at the sentence level by revising for verb-action agreement.
More importantly, science writing often has the problem of subject shifting — when subjects change erratically throughout a paragraph. It's fine to change the grammatical subject from one sentence to the next if you intend to change the topic. But often, writers intend to discuss a particular topic for several sentences (the topic doesn't change), but change the grammatical subjects. Writing is easier to follow when the string of subjects in a paragraph reflects the topics. Paragraph units are most effective when they either 1) discuss a single topic; or 2) discuss a series of related topics that build on one another. You can fulfill reader expectations by maintaining a logical flow of grammatical subjects in a paragraph. There are two primary ways to accomplish this:
- Maintain a common subject throughout a one-topic paragraph
- Shift the subject appropriately according to the story
To understand human evolution, genomes from related primates are necessary. For example, several primate genomes are needed to identify features common to primates or unique to humans. Fortunately, such genome-wide exploration is now a reality; in the past 5 years, genome sequences of several nonhuman primates have been released.In this alternative example, the grammatical subjects shift, while the topic of the paragraph stays the same. This paragraph says the same thing as the previous one:
To understand human evolution, genomes from related primates are necessary. For example, identification of features common among primates or unique to humans will require several primate genomes. Fortunately, scientists can now do such genome-wide exploration; in the past 5 years, the community has released several nonhuman primate genome sequences.Compare the subject strings:
- genomes from related primates...primate genomes...genome-wide exploration...genome sequences
- genomes from related primates...identification of features...scientists...the community
Sometimes it's necessary to write explanatory paragraphs that build from one thing to the next. In this case, the subjects can shift as the topics shift. This is a common construction in scientific writing:
Technology often drives science. Among the most impressive recent technological advances is DNA sequencing. More efficient sequencing has reduced the cost of generating sequence data significantly. Cheaper data in turn enables more researchers to do data-intensive experiments, which results in a huge amount of data being released into the public domain. Dealing with data in such large quantity will require a new generation of scientists.This subject string clearly is shifting, but it does so in an intended, logical flow that builds up to the final point of the paragraph. Each subject connects to the previous subject (or is the object of the previous sentence): Technology... DNA sequencing... More efficient sequencing... Cheaper data... Huge amount of data... Dealing with data.
You can understand the gist of the paragraph just by reading the succession of subjects. The point of this example is to illustrate that you don't need every paragraph to have exactly 1 topic and subject. Instead, just be aware of what your subjects are, and if they match the structure of the idea you intend to communicate.
Revision TechniqueHighlight the subject of each sentence. Does the structure of your subjects match the information you intend to convey? In other words, are the subjects of the sentences jumping from one thing to another, or do they shift only when you intend to shift the topic under discussion?
Note: One problem that frequently makes scientific writing confusing is a sentence without a character; such sentences can be caused by passive voice, which can leave a reader to guess the actor (that's a Bad Thing). More on this in the section on passive voice.
Principle 3: Keep subjects near verbsRecall the two primary pieces of information a reader looks for:
- who is the sentence about?
- what are they doing?
For example, can you understand this sentence on the first reading?
Farmers that understand the difference between the soil requirements of plants when they are seedlings and their requirements when they are mature are in high demand.The subject Farmers is separated from the verb phrase are in high demand by 21 words. If we reduce this distance, we get a more understandable (though still not perfect) sentence:
Farmers are in high demand if they can understand the difference between the soil requirements of plants when they are seedlings and their requirements when they are mature.A similar problem happens with long lists. Authors provide a long list of stuff with no context, and the verb doesn't show up until the end of the sentence:
Peanuts, shrimp, almonds, milk or anything else with lactose, and wheat or anything with gluten all represent things that people are commonly allergic to.You have no idea what you're reading until the end. When you find out, you must re-read the sentence to comprehend what these things have in common. To revise, just give the context before the list:
People are commonly allergic to things like peanuts, shrimp....Now the list can be any length without reducing understandability.
Revision TechniqueIdentify the main subject and its verb in your sentence. If they are far apart, rephrase the sentence to bring them closer together.
Example 1:
The ABC database has been subject to different improvements, modifications, and extensions in structure and content over the years.This sentence relies on nominalizations to convey action. The awkward verb of the sentence ("has been subject to") is basically meaningless; the authors likely intended to convey action in the words improvement, modification, and extension. But these are all nominalizations. By converting these into verbs, we get a much clearer sentence, and eliminate "has been subject to":
The ABC database has been improved, modified, and extended in both structure and content over the years.To clarify even further: doesn't improved imply modified? Possibly it even implies extended. To strip it to exactly what you mean, what about this?
The curators have improved the structure and content of the ABC database.
Example 2:
Mapping of open chromatin regions, post-translational histone modifications and DNA methylation across a whole genome is now feasible, and new non-coding RNAs can be sensitively identified via RNA sequencing.This sentence presents a list before providing a context for it. This is apparent in the distance before we get to the verb "is feasible." Another problem is that the main action of this sentence is contained in the nominalization "mapping." Here's one possible revision:
It is now feasible to map open chromatin regions, post-translational histone modifications and DNA methylation across a whole genome, and to sensitively identify new non-coding RNAs via RNA sequencing.This revision is much easier to understand, though I would consider dividing this sentence into two because it seems to be trying to explain two unrelated things.
Example 3:
Significant positive correlations were evident between the substitution rate and a nucleosome score from resting human T-cells.This sentence relies on a nominalization (correlation) to convey action. I don't think the intended action is "were evident," which is the verb. A possible revision:
In resting human T-cells, the substitution rate correlated with a nucleosome score.
Example 4:
The possibility that some termini have a base composition different from that of DNA simply because they are the nearest neighbors of termini specifically recognized by the enzymes can be checked by comparing the experimental results with those expected from the nearest neighbor data.This sentence suffers from an extreme case of subject-verb separation. Really, this is indicative of a subject that is far too complex, but we can solve the problem by trying to bring subject and verb closer together. The main (simple) subject of the sentence is possibility, and the main verb that conveys the action of this subject is can be checked. Just highlighting these shows how far apart they are:
The possibility that some termini have a base composition different from that of DNA simply because they are the nearest neighbors of termini specifically recognized by the enzymes can be checked by comparing the experimental results with those expected from the nearest neighbor data.Rephrasing to bring possibility and check nearer:
If we compare the experimental results with those expected from the nearest neighbor data, we can check the possibility that some termini have a base composition different from that of DNA simply because they are the nearest neighbors of termini specifically recognized by the enzymes.And with a few more nuanced changes, we get a more readable explanation:
If we compare our expectations with experimental results, we identify any termini that differ in base composition simply because they are the nearest neighbors of those specifically recognized by the enzymes.
Continue to lesson 2...


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Everyone here at Dolphin Water Taxi recognizes the important role tour agents and charter boat brokers play in the continued success of our ongoing operation. Dolphin has our own marketing and social media department, but we still rely heavily on referral business originating from the beneficial relationships that have been built here over the years with our broker and agents.
Here at Dolphin we recognize that once a guest is referred to us, we then serve as an "extension" of the referring person or business. We strongly believe that providing the highest quality of service to guests visiting the USVI and BVI is essential to our continued growth and success. We strive not only to ensure our water taxi transport and boat rental products are the very best in the Virgin Islands, we constantly invest capital for maintenance and improvements to ensure we stay that way.
There are a variety of incentive programs available to brokers and agents who refer guests to Dolphin, ranging from single trip commissions to deeply discounted passage for larger groups. We offer ongoing discounts to the guests of hotels and charter boat companies who have us linked to their website and provide coverage in emails and newsletters touting Dolphin as the very best option in getting from the STT airport to any of the BVI or for a day trip to Jost Van Dyke. We know that the easier it is for tourists to get to their final destination, the easier it is for them to decide to book! Dolphin Water Taxi is that service, and we want to work with you to help enhance bookings.
We also do our best to provide discounted (or free) transportation to our BVI agents and brokers themselves who may be coming and going from the STT airport.
Some other special services we are able to offer:
Boat to boat transfers, avoiding a need to bring a charter boat back into port just to drop off or pickup a guest.
Our airport cabs can stop at the grocery store for provisioning after landing if requested.
After hours entry into the BVI. With Dolphin there is no need to have to spend the night in St. Thomas due to a late flight, for a nominal overtime fee we can arrange for BVI customs and Immigration to come back and reopen to get guests in so they do not lose a day of their vacation.
Our airport cabs have free beer and water onboard for all our guests. This also goes for our boats.
We can deliver lost luggage when it arrives to just about anywhere in the BVI.
Please call Greg at 340-774-2628 for more information about our agents and brokers programs.


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The plush softness under foot, the sense of luxury . . . no other flooring is like carpet. Add to that a vibrant spectrum of colors, patterns and textures and it's easy to see why carpet never goes out of fashion. You'll find plenty of new features and designs that make carpeting a great choice if you're updating a room. From bolder colors and visually intriguing patterns to natural fibers and eco-friendly options, the latest carpeting trends prove this versatile material fits right in your home and lifestyle.
We all love that unmistakable cozy and soft feel that only carpet delivers. It provides warmth in the winter and refreshing coolness when it's hot. And no other flooring reduces noise like thick, plush carpet.View Carpet 101
Like all time-honored crafts, it takes years to develop the skills for professional carpet installation. Professional carpet installers know how to minimize seams, match surface transition heights and use specialized tools to perform the job efficiently with the least waste.Learn more
No matter how careful and protective you are of your new carpet, it's inevitable that it will eventually fall prey to a spot or a spill. Even through today's carpets are much more stain and soil resistant than ever before, they can still be damaged if spills, messes and stains are left unattended.View Care & Maintenance
Check out our carpet FAQs for simple answers to your questions about carpeting.View FAQs


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Items where Author is "Farhat, A"
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Farhat, Ali Y. (1992) Vibrational Analysis of Composite Double Layer Skeletal Structures Doctoral thesis, University of Surrey.
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Job duties
When starting a spice business your responsibilities will include purchasing spices and herbs in bulk and then breaking them into smaller quantities and packing them for sale. A great thing about the spice business is that spices can be bought cheap and sold at a good mark up. However make sure you do your market research to ensure there is enough demand. The job includes putting together tasty combinations of herbs and spices and selling them. It could also mean that you grow and make your own spices at home and sell them directly to consumers.
Choosing a location for your Spice Business
When starting a spice business you can decide to locate your business from home (if zoning laws permit) or find a facility or store where you can package and sell your spices. Your spice business will be targeting restaurants, caterers, or personal cooks. Locally grown fresh spices are very appealing to professional chefs and personal cooks. Food shows and farmer's markets are more options. Since this is a consumer product, you could opt to sell it through retailers. You could choose to go for retail distribution to large stores and supermarkets, however they may have strict guidelines and terms that may be very difficult for small businesses. You could also choose to do your sales through the Internet, by creating a website and selling it directly to consumers. Another approach is through cook books and recipe guides where you can increase your consumer awareness of your spice products.
Basic Costs
If you opt to grow your own herbs and spices, then one of the most obvious costs will be the purchase of seeds and seedlings. You will also need land to grow your herbs. Another cost will be the equipments required for gardening. Not to forget, you will need pesticides to keep plants from pests and diseases. It is a good idea to research tips and advice on gardening of herbs and spices to enhance your gardening skills. Instead of planting your own herbs and spices, you can can buy them in bulk pretty cheaply. A computer and a printer will come in handy especially in making flyers, brochures and labels for your packed spices. You will need packaging material for your spices which must be food grade quality.
Tips on starting your spice business are offered below:
- Do it legally– You can find out what license and permits you need to run your business by calling your local and state government offices. If you plan to start your spice business from home, you will need to find out if your local zoning laws permits it. Since you willing be handling products for consumption your place of business will probably have to pass inspection. When you go in to get your license you can ask about this process.
- Decide which way to approach the business-Whether you will go with growing your own spices or buying in bulk and repack them in retailer quantities. Analyze the advantages and disadvantages of both.
- Design labels– A good looking label can be a good marketing tool. Look at your competitors' labels for inspiration, but remember never copy. You can decide to print your own labels or hire someone to do it. Have your contact information on the label. Your state may require certain items to be displayed on your food labels, be sure to inquire about this.
Advertising a Spice Business
Try out the following techniques to advertise your business:
- Cold calling– Try selling directly to chefs and restaurants. Look in your local phone book or online and call different chefs and restaurants and tell them about your product. You can hire telemarketers to this this for you.
- Advertise in Cooking Magazines and Books-You can advertise in specialty cooking magazines and books.
- Contact Local Cooking Schools-Find out if there is any way to advertise in local cooking schools. Perhaps they have a bulletin board. Perhaps you can provide a free cooking class to show how to best use your spices.
- Posters and placards: These may be applied once your business has expanded. Place posters at different locations in the area where you are operating.
- Newspaper Classifieds: This is also beneficial once your business has expanded.
- Farmer's market and food shows– locate local farmer's markets and food shows where you can sell your spice products.
- Yahoo Local Searches– If you include your business in the Yahoo Local Searches, when people search for your service in your local area your business will appear in the list. To add your business to Yahoo local search, enter the term "add business to yahoo local search" in Yahoo.com and click on the first link.
- Google Local Searches– Google has a local search as well. To add your business to Google local search, enter the term "add business to google search" in Google.com and click on the first link.
- Website: You can decide to create a website to inform consumers about different spices and make it possible for them to purchase it online.
Not sure about starting a spice business? See a list of small business ideas


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We have watched the polls shift dramatically in Iowa over the past 6 months. Mitt Romney has always had a reasonably strong footing there until Bachmann, Perry, Cain, and now Gingrich and Paul have whittled away his lead. A new poll out from Bloomberg Tuesday shows a four-way race for Iowa:
Herman Cain, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich are in a dead heat as the top choices for Iowans likely to attend the Jan. 3 Republican presidential caucuses.
A Bloomberg News poll shows Cain at 20 percent, Paul at 19 percent, Romney at 18 percent and Gingrich at 17 percent among the likely attendees with the caucuses that start the nominating contests seven weeks away.
Economic issues such as jobs, taxes and government spending are driving voter sentiment, rather than such social issues as abortion and gay marriage, the poll finds. Only about a quarter of likely caucus-goers say social or constitutional issues are more important to them, compared with 71 percent who say fiscal concerns.
The poll reflects the race's fluidity, with 60 percent of respondents saying they still could be persuaded to back someone other than their top choice, and 10 percent undecided. Paul's support is more solidified than his rivals, while Cain's is softer. All of the major contenders have issue challenges to address.
A Romney win in Iowa would be huge for him in that it would start to set in motion a fairly easy path to the nomination. However, should any of the 3 others in contention take an Iowa victory, the process will be extended and certainly culminate in a fight for South Carolina, assuming Romney wins New Hampshire, and the later contests. Even if Romney were to win Iowa and New Hampshire, South Carolina is an entirely different ballgame. Clearly Cain, Gingrich and Paul would have a home field advantage in the South compared to Romney.