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1700 -- Some 600 ships are engaged in hauling "sea coal" from Newcastle to London, an enormous increase compared to 1650, when only two ships regularly carried sea coal. The reason? Rapid industrialization and the demand for iron and naval supplies has stripped England's forests.
1700 -- The dodo is extinct. (approximate date). See Sixth Extinction web site. BBC Witness program on the dodo extinction.
1706 -- Benjamin Franklin born January 17 in Boston, Mass. Franklin's concern for sanitation and pure drinking water was a part of his lifelong concern for the improvement of Philadelphia in "small matters." But Franklin also saw a larger question -- one of "public rights" as opposed to private rights -- in many of these controversies.
1709 -- Abraham Darby of Coalbrookdale, England uses coal instead of wood for manufacturing iron. British coal production around this time is 3 million tons per year, or five times more than the rest of the world combined. (Simmons).
1711 -- Johnathan Swift notes the contents of London's gutters: "sweepings from butchers' stalls, dung, guts and blood, drowned puppies, stinking sprats, all drenched in mud..." (Markham, Brimblecombe).
1712 -- Bernardo Ramazzini (1633 - 1714), the father of occupational medicine, publishes De Morbis Artificum Diatriba (English title, printed in 1764 was The Diseases of Artificers, which by their particular callings they are most liable to, with the Method of avoiding them, and their Cure). The book describes the hazards of 52 occupations, including leather tanning, wrestling, and gravedigging. Ramazzini says that with a general improvement in diet and less arduous work, people would be better able to resist attacks on their health. Ramazzini also noticed that nuns tended to have a higher incidence of breat cancer and that lead miners and workers often had skin the same color as the metal. "Demons and ghosts are often found to disturb the [lead] miners," he said.
1721 -- Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, popularizes smallpox inoculation, a practice she had observed in Turkey.
1721-1728 -- A rabies epidemic sweeps across eastern Europe during these years. According to Spanish medical historian Juan Gomez-Alonso, M.D., this may be the historical origin of the vampire legends, later grafted by Victorian era British novelists to the much earlier legends of Vlad the Impaler, the original Count Dracula, and Elizabeth Bathory, the Hungarian "blood countess" who bathed in the blood of virgins.
1723 -- Lead in alcohol stills causes serious stomach pains, a commission of inquiry learns. The commission, based in Boston, investigates complaints about New England rum from consumers in North Carolina. "It poisoned their people, giving them the Dry Bellyache," Benjamin Franklin said while describing the incident in a 1767 letter to a friend who was investigating a similar problem in Devonshire, England.
1730 -- Jodhpur, India -- The original "tree huggers" were 294 men and 69 women of the Bishnois branch of the Hindu faith who died while trying to protect Khejri trees from foresters. The Bishnois practice a religion of environmental conservation, including a ban on the cutting of any green tree. When a senior officer of Jodhpur state arrived to cut down the trees in 1730, which were to be used for a lime kiln to build a palace, one of the Bishnois woman hugged a Khejri tree. The officer ordered the foresters to decapitate her. Her three daughters followed and many others followed. This mass slaughter led to a royal order that prohibited the cutting of any tree in a Bishnoi village. To this day, Bishnoi villages are wooded oases in the otherwise harsh Rajasthan desert, where wildlife congregates in proximity to the people. The Thar region of Pakistan is adjacent to the Rajasthan desert of India. Although the Thari people are now mostly Islamic, their traditional teachings about the sanctity of life somewhat resemble those of the Bishnoi. The Sindh desert is farther west in Pakistan. The Sindhi people, related to the Thari, have similar beliefs, but are now culturally divided: Sindhis who practice Hinduism long ago migrated into the Mumbai region of India, while those who practice Islam remain in Pakistan. (About this date: Note that Guha had this event in 1720 and said that hundreds of Bishnois Hindus of Khejadali went to their deaths trying to protect trees from the Maharaja of Jodhpur, who needed wood to fuel the lime kilns for cement to build his palace. The date of the event has been given as 1778 (Clifton), 1720 (Guha) and 1750 (Gottlieb) and 1730 (Wikipedia). The Bishnois inspired the modern Chipko Movement to preserve Himalayan forests.
1739 -- Benjamin Franklin and neighbors petition Pennsylvania Assembly to stop waste dumping and remove tanneries from Philadelphia's commercial district. Foul smell, lower property values, disease and interference with fire fighting are cited. The industries complain that their rights are being violated, but Franklin argues for "public rights." Franklin and the environmentalists win a symbolic battle but the dumping goes on.
1741 -- Foundling Hospital of London established. Other children's hospitals in Germany and France built, showing concern for infant mortality. By 1800, infant mortality in one London hospital dropped from 66 per thousand to 13 per thousand.
1748 -- Jeremy Bentham born 15 February, (d 6 June 1832) A philosopher and jurist whose doctrine of Utilitarianism and the principle of `the greatest happiness of the greatest number' was a yardstick for the progress of social reform in 19th century Britain. He was an outspoken advocate of law reform, a pugnacious critic of established political doctrines like natural law and contractarianism, and the first to produce a utilitarian justification for democracy. He also had much to say of note on subjects as diverse as prison reform, religion, poor relief, international law, and animal welfare. (Bentham Project). His 1780 book An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation includes a footnote on "Interests of inferior animals improperly neglected in legislation by the insensibility of the ancient jurists." The footnote concludes, "The question is not, Can they reason? Nor Can they talk? But, Can they suffer?" It may be the most quoted footnote phrase of all time. Bentham was a friend of Lord Thomas Erskine, 1750-1823, who in 1809 made the first attempt to pass a British humane law. (M. Clifton, 2007)
1748 -1762 -- Jared Eliot, clergyman and physician, writes Essays on Field Husbandry in New England, promoting soil conservation
1789 -- Kaiser Joseph II of Germany banned animal baiting for sport.
1750 -- Typhus epidemic sweeps through London, killing thousands including the Lord Mayor. An inquiry traces one possible origin to Newgate Prison, which was "in a very filthy condition and had long been so." This will lead, by 1779, to John Howard's calls for reform.
1750 -- Gin Lane, an engraving by English artist William Hogarth, helps spur social reform. The engraving depicts a drunken mother surrounded by a scene of squalor. A year later, the Gin Acts give magistrates control over licensing pubs in Britain.
1753 -- March 26, Benjamin Thompson Count Rumford born in North Woburn, Mass. (d 21 August 1814) Thompson was a British loyalist who joined the British Army during the American Revolution and was subsequently made Count Rumford by George III. He went into exile after the revolution and worked for the Kingdom of Bavaria for much of his life. In science, he was known for early theories of thermodynamics. In public health he was known for his advocacy of public hygiene and better living conditions for the poor. For example, he campaigned (especially in Austria) for lowering the cost of living, providing inexpensive and health homes with cheap supply of heat and light, warm meals for school children and soup kitchens for the hungry. There were, he said, Òother kinds of glory than that of victory in battle.Ó( Lehrburger 1953). Rumford died in France.
1754 -- James Lind publishes A Treatise on Scurvy. At the time, more British sailors were dying from scurvy during wartime than were killed in combat. Nearly two centuries earlier the Dutch had discovered the benefits of citrus fruits and juices to sailors on long voyages. When the practice is finally adopted by the Royal Navy in 1795, scurvy disappeared from the ranks Òas if by magic.Ó
1760 -- First experiments on use of coal-gas for lighting by coal mine owner George Dixon in Newcastle, England.
1762 --1769 -- Philadelphia committee led by Benjamin Franklin attempts to regulate waste disposal and water pollution.
1760s - 1790s -- French Enlightenment Philosophers reconsider the social contract and the role of the state, problems of the wretchedly poor weigh heavily. French philosopher Baudeau writes that "the true poor have a real right to demand basic necessities." Similarly, the Baron de Montyon in 1778 argues that poverty is "a slow poison" and that malnutrition, high infant mortality and injuries from dangerous trades were all problems of the poor which the government must address. These ideas will become part of the French revolution's public health policy (See 1789).
1767 -- Devonshire Colic -- From Sept. 1762 to July 1767 almost 300 cases of what was called Devonshire Colic were taken to Exeter hospitals. English physician George Baker (with help from Benjamin Franklin) noticed the symptoms were similar to those shown by painters who suffered from lead poisoning. With this clue, Baker examined Devonshire cider and found it contained lead. He also examined the cider presses and found that, unlike cider presses in other regions, the Devonshire presses were lined with sheets of lead.
1769, Sept. 14 -- Alexander Von Humboldt born in Germany. Explorer and pioneering geographer for whom the Humboldt current is named. Von Humbolt noted in 1819 that the fluctuating levels of a Venezuelan lake were related to deforestation in the surrounding hills.
By felling the trees that cover the tops and sides of mountains, men in every climate prepaer at once two calamities for future generations: the want of fuel and the scarcity of water... When forests are destroyed ... the beds of rivers, remaining dry during part of the year, are converted into torrents whenever great rain falls on the heights...
1770 -- William Wordsworth born (1770 - 1850) First of the English romantic poets, is born. Wordsworth thought the Industrial revolution was an "outrage done to nature" and was appalled that the common people were no longer "breathing fresh air" or "treading the green earth."
1773 -- William Bartram (1739-1823) American naturalist sets out on a five year journey through the US Southeast to describe wildlife and wilderness from Florida to the Mississippi. His book, Travels, is published in 1791 and becomes one of the early literary classics of the new United States of America. See the Travels of William Bartram web site.
1775 -- English scientist Percival Pott finds that coal is causing an unusually high incidence of cancer among chimney sweeps.
1779 -- John Howard, sheriff of Bedfordshire, writes State of the Prisons showing how prison diseases could spread to the general population. ÒPeople are galvanized into action when the facts about social disease are forced upon them," he said. His campaign is an early example of how "... an aroused public opinion could be employed as a lever to compel reform."
1779 -- Johann Peter Frank (1745-1821), writes A Complete System of Medical Policy in Germany advocating governmental responsibility for clean water, sewage systems, garbage disposal, food inspection and other health measures under an authoritative "medical police." This idea was well received and influenced policy in Germany, Italy and other nearby nations. The authoritarian approach did not sit well with the French, British or Americans, where direct government controls developed only in areas of specific problems such as communicable disease and sanitation.
1783 -- US diplomats make fishing rights in waters off Newfoundland a high priority in negotiations over independence from Britain.
1784 -- Benjamin Franklin notes that the switch from wood to coal had saved what remained of EnglandÕs forests and he urged France and Germany to do the same.
1785 -- April 26 -- John James Audubon born in Les Cayes Haiti. He moved to Philadelphia in 1803 and failed at business during the depression of 1819. In 1826 the first edition of Birds of America, an ongoing collection of color engravings, was published in Scotland. He returned to America in 1839 to continue collecting and painting. He died in 1851. The Audubon Society, was founded in 1905 in his honor by George Bird Grinell. Also see Audubon Society biography.
1785 -- Thomas Jefferson publishes Notes on the State of Virginia which, in part, argues against the European superstition that the new continent had degenerate animals and plants. He writes about quadrapeds "not to produce a conclusion in favour of the American species, but to justify a suspension of opinion until we are better informed, and a suspicion in the mean time that there is no uniform difference in favour of either; which is all pretend."
1786 -- Woolen mill workers displaced by machinery petition mill owners in Leeds, England. In 1791, mill owners reply that even though machines have "reduced manual Labour nearly one third, and each [machine] at its first Introduction carried an Alarm to the Work People, yet each has contributed to advance the Wages and to increase the Trade..." This dialogue eventually degenerates into the Luddite Riots of 1811-1812.
1786 -- Charles Willson Peale opens a museum in Philadelphia displaying the first reconstructed skeleton of the "American mastodon" and other native animals, along with portraits he had painted of Washington, Jefferson and other revolutionary leaders.
1789 -- Benjamin Franklin leaves money in a widely publicized codicil to his will to build fresh water pipeline to Philadelphia due to the link between bad water and disease. Within a few years, one quarter of the population of the town dies in a yellow fever epidemic.
1789 -- July 14 -- The storming of the Bastille opens the French Revolution. Although the revolution is remembered for the Terror, French revolutionaries should also be remembered for creating a new kind of public health policy. "The right of property," said the revolutionary Robespierre, "is limited like all others by the obligation to respect the rights of others. It must not impair either the safety or the liberty or the existence or the property of our fellowmen." Health became among the most important individual rights, and the state was bound to protect it in the same way that it was bound to protect liberty. The French revolutionaries saw public health policy as part of a new kind of political system that served the people, and they attempted to create the world's first national system of social assistance and free medical care. Their ideas and institutions did not achieve the ideal, but the emerging French system of free medical care for the poor and open hospitals profoundly influenced the rest of Europe in the 19th century, (Hodgkinson, 1973)
1790 -- Emergence in Vermont of the Dorrilites, a short-lived vegan sect which allegedly practiced "free love," and may have inspired both the Millerites, who became the Seventh Day Adventists, and Joseph Smith, founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints. (M. Clifton, 2007)
1791-- The New York state assembly closes the hunting season on the heath hen. The species is extinct by the early 1900s.
1792 -- William Murdock (chief engineer with Boulton & Watt) first uses coal gas to light a, small room in Redruth, Cornwall; He improved the gas by passing it through water. This experiment is usually noted as the beginning of the manufactured gas industry, which created vast pools of toxic coal tar in thousands of European and American towns and cities. Although the industry took off in the 1830s, its environmental legacy is only beginning to be understood.
1794-1851 -- Life of Sylvester Graham, U.S. Presbyterian minister and temperance crusader, who invented the Graham cracker as an alleged cure for lust. Sylvester Graham became a vegetarian circa 1826 under the influence of the Rev. William Metcalfe, founder of the first vegetarian church in Philadelphia. Metcalfe had been a member of the first vegetarian church in England, the Bible Christian Church founded by William Cowherd near Manchester in 1809. Graham's followers included William Alcott, M.D., the first prominent vegetarian in the Alcott family, cousin of Bronson Alcott.; pioneering newspaper publisher Horace Greeley; and Seventh Day Adventist Church builders Ellen and James White. Two others, John Harvey Kellogg, M.D., 1854-1941, and his brother W.K. Kellogg, 1860-1951, went on to invent and popularize peanut butter, corn flakes, granola, and soy milk. (M. Clifton, 2007)
1795 -- Sir Thomas Percival, a Manchester, UK physician, leads group of doctors who form Manchester Board of Health to supervise textile mills and recommend hours and working conditions. Their report led Sir Robert Peel to introduce the Health and Morals of Apprentices Act of 1802. Children were only permitted to work 12 hours per day, walls had to be washed and visitors had to be admitted to factories to make suggestions.
1796 -- Edward Jenner a country physician begins inoculations from cowpox (the bovine form of the disease); and when he later inoculated the same subject with smallpox, the disease did not appear. His inocculation experiments were seen as a milestone in public health.
1798 -- Rev. Thomas Malthus writes Essay on the Principle of Population which influenced Darwin and many others. Malthus observed that plants and animals produce far more offspring than can survive, and thought that Man would also be capable of overproducing unless family size was regulated. The main problem would be poverty and famine, he believed. His views were not popular among social reformers who believed that the proper social structures could eradicate the ills of man. In effect, Malthus saw the future as a disaster while reformers (like Edwin Chadwick) saw an emerging utopia.
1799 -- Manhattan Company formed to build water line in New York City. Company lives on and thrives as Chase Manhattan Bank.
1799 -- Phileppe Lebon, aware of William Murdock's coal gas experiments seven years beforehand, becomes the first to illuminate a public building with gas. The hotel Seignelay in Paris is lit using wood gas, not coal. Political turmoil curtails the project and then Lebon's untimely death by robbery 1804 ends the experiments.
1800 -- 4 January, Edwin Chadwick born. Chadwick was the author of the 1842 Report on Sanitary Conditions of the Laboring Population of Great Britain and a tireless advocate for public health reform in the UK.
1800 -- Beginnings of first modern municipal sewers in London, but water supply is still frequently contaminated.
1803 -- Louisiana Purchase finalized April 30. France sold 828,000 square miles stretching from the mouth of the Mississippi River to Idaho.
1803 -- May 3, Ralph Waldo Emerson born. Emerson writes Nature in 1836 and is a leader of the Transendentalist movement that includes Coleridge, Byron, Shelly, Keats, Thoreau, Ruskin, Whitman and others. He died in 1882.
1804 -- John Pintard, first Health Inspector in U.S. appointed in New York in response to epidemics of yellow fever. From 1810 -- 1838, health inspectors are a branch of the police department with duties including environmental sanitation, vital statistics and law enforcement.
1804 -- Smoke in Pittsburgh -- Pittsburgh official Presley
Neville wrote "the general dissatisfaction which prevails and the frequent complaints
which are exhibited, in consequence of the Coal Smoke from many buildings in
the Borough, particularly from smithies and blacksmith shops..." The smoke affected
the "comfort, health and... peace and harmony" of the new city. As in most other
cities, the remedy of the age was to build higher chimneys.
1804 -- May 14 -- Lewis and Clark expedition begins the journey up the Missouri River to explore the geography, flora and fauna of the interior of North America.
1805 -- Cousin de Grainville writes The Last Man, perhaps the first doomsday tale. The Frenc author describes the human race dwindling through natural processes to a lonely end. De Grainville committed suicide shortly after the novel was published. (Weart, p. 19).
1805-1844 -- Life of Joseph Smith, founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints, better known as the Mormons. Smith wrote in his History of the Church that he "exhorted the brethren not to kill a serpent, bird, or an animal of any kind unless it became necessary in order to preserve ourselves from hunger." A later Mormon church president, Joseph F. Smith, wrote in Gospel Doctrine that, "I do not believe any man should kill animals or birds unless he needs them for food. I think it is wicked for men to thirst in their souls to kill almost everything which possesses animal life."


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Colin Wang – Director, IR
Limin Li – Chairman and CEO
Scott Chen – CFO
Philip Wan – Morgan Stanley
Eddie Leung – Bank of America
Wallace Cheung – Credit Suisse
VisionChina Media Inc. (VISN) Q4 2009 Earnings Call Transcript March 2, 2010 8:00 PM ET
Good evening and thank you for standing by for VisionChina Media's fourth quarter and full year 2009 earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in listen-only mode. After management's prepared remarks, there will be a question-and-answer session. Today's conference is being recorded. If you have any objections, you may disconnect at this time. I will now turn the call over to your host for today's conference, Mr. Colin Wang, Investor Relations Director for VisionChina Media.
Colin Wang
Hello, everyone, and welcome to VisionChina's fourth quarter and full year 2009 earnings conference call. The company's fourth quarter earnings results were released earlier today and are available on our company's IR website at www.visionchina.cn as well as on Newswire services.
Today you will hear from our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Limin Li, who will talk about our industry, our company's strategy, and business operations, and Mr. Scott Chen, our Chief Financial Officer, who will take you through our financials and key operating metrics. Mr. Lee and Mr. Chen will answer questions after their prepared remarks.
Please note that today's discussion will contain certain forward-looking statements made under the Safe Harbor provisions of the US Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. As such, our future results may be materially different from the views expressed today.
Further information regarding these and other risks and uncertainties is included in our annual report on Form 20-F and other documents filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. VisionChina Media does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements except as required under applicable law.
As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. In addition, a webcast of this conference call will be available on VisionChina Media's Investor Relations website at www.visionchina.cn.
I will now turn the call over to our CEO, Mr. Li.
Limin Li
[Interpreted] Hello, everyone, and welcome to our call. I would first like to take a moment to express my sincere appreciation for the ongoing support of our investors since our IPO more than two years ago.
2009 was a challenging year, both for the global economy and VisionChina. Despite external pressures, we have maintained an unwavering focus on our long-term strategy, our commitment to execution and to improve executive capability. These coupled with the healthy internal financial control system have allowed VisionChina to stay on financial footing while focusing on long-term growth and success. Today I'm pleased to announce year-over-year revenue growth of 16%, with total revenue reaching $120.69 million. In addition, non-GAAP net income reached $33.7 million beating the high end of our guidance.
2009 saw a decrease in market demand, with many companies keeping a conservative outlook towards marketing and advertising. At the same time, the economic crisis is challenges for smaller and weaker competitors who have resulted to irrational pricing strategies in their attempt to survive.
In 2009, we saw valuations return to more rational levels, a way both to leverage the opportunity by taking a number of important steps in media network expansion and industrial consolidation. Upon our successful merger with China's largest subway mobile TV advertising operator Digital Media Group, VisionChina now has the most comprehensive subway mobile TV advertising network in China holding almost 100% of the subway media assets.
In 2009, we also signed exclusive contracts to expand our bus mobile TV advertising network in some of China's top cities such as Huangdao, Xiamen [ph], Xinjiang [ph] and Changzhou. As a result, VisionChina has created largest outdoor digital mobile TV advertising network in China with aboveground bus networks in 20 cities and belowground subway networks in eight cities. According to a third-party research report from CCID Consulting in October 2009, VisionChina held 76.8% market share in the wireless broadcast and mobile TV market in China and is the undisputed leader in China's mobile TV industry.
With a more complete media network and an improved team and increased executive capability, VisionChina has that new vantage point and is well positioned to negotiate with advertisers in 2010. With the experience of last year's economic crisis, advertisers remain somewhat cautious that seem positive in their expectations of an economic recovery in 2010. Although post acquisition integration and additional media costs that will bring short-term cost pressure, we remain confident in VisionChina's long-term sustainable development as a result of our unique out-of-home TV media platform and massive daily audience coverage with powerful dissemination capability.
Turning now to other exciting news. In addition to Unilever, we are seeing more and more multi-national brands such as Procter & Gamble, L'Oreal and Amway beginning to place advertising orders on our mobile TV networks. Moreover, DMG's platform has emerged as a great complement to our original bus TV network and has brought (inaudible) industry brands like Volkswagen and Ford as advertisers. In previous calls, I have mentioned the opportunities that exist, some satellite TV station placing advertisements with us. As an update, (inaudible) satellite channels have already started advertising (inaudible).
As all of you may know, China will host a highly anticipated Shanghai World Expo and Guangzhou Asian Games in 2010. A CTI report shows that 24.9% of Tier 1 city residence watched the 2008 Olympic Games live on our public transit platforms. Given our market position in these cities, we are excited about the potential of these events and expect to again fully benefit from the vast business opportunities and demonstrated the unique social value of our media platform.
On a macro level, subway started quickly becoming the mainstream of China's public transit system development and will lead to groundbreaking business opportunities. The government supports on the extensive development of new method public transit systems in many large cities across China creates vast and long-term growth opportunities for VisionChina.
With five years experience, we are pleased to see that mobile TV as a new media is becoming more and more popular with the clients. We firmly believe that our well-defined strategy and proven ability to execute will help us meet the challenges and capture opportunities that lie ahead as we continue to generate value for our shareholders.
I'll now hand over the call to our Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Scott Chen, to discuss our financials and operational metrics in more detail.
Scott Chen
Hello, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. We are pleased with our accomplishments for the fourth quarter of 2009 and we are excited about the synergies in store for us 2010 from our acquisition of DMG. I will begin with an overview of our fourth quarter and full year 2009 performance and we'll then discuss some important factors affecting our current business outlook for the first quarter of 2010.
So turning now to our fourth quarter and full year operating results, in the fourth quarter of 2009, network capacity, which is measured by total broadcasting hours in our network, increased to 36,250 hours, up from 34,778 hours in the third quarter of 2009 and up from 31,834 hours in the fourth quarter of 2008. We entered Xiamen in the fourth quarter of 2009 resulting in an expansion of our total network capacity. Our average advertising service revenue per broadcast hour was $796 per broadcasting hour in the fourth quarter of 2009 compared with $845 in the third quarter of 2009.
In terms of ASP, we are also optimistic that in 2010 we will see a significant turnaround in the pricing environment. We are also confident that the increased scale brought by our acquisition of DMG as well as major marketing events such as the 2010 Shanghai World Expo should provide increased control of pricing in our industry.
On average, the company sold 6.93 minutes -- advertising minutes per broadcasting in the fourth quarter of 2009 compared to 6.86 minutes per broadcasting hour in the third quarter of 2009 and 8.83 minutes per broadcasting hour in the fourth quarter of 2008. The quarter-over-quarter increase was due to the company's strategy to increase sales volume during the quarter ahead of the integration with DMG. The year-over-year decrease is primarily due to the large sales volume related to the 2008 Olympic Games in the prior year.
In the fourth quarter of 2009, the company has sold a total of 251,210 advertising minutes in our network compared to 238,484 minutes in the third quarter of 2009. 354 brands placed advertisements in the fourth quarter of 2009 compared with -- up from 334 in the third quarter of 2009. New advertisers in the fourth quarter included international brands such as Amway and Tsingtao Beer. The addition of these new clients reflected our continuing focus to attract large scale nationwide advertisers.
We ended the fourth quarter of 2009 with 368 sales personnel, representing a net addition of 22 sales personnel over the quarter and an increase of 68 sales professionals from 300 professionals in the end of the fourth quarter of 2008. Our people will extremely pour [ph] into us and we will continue to recruit qualified sales personnel in our industry and continue to hold our sales force to stringent performance standards.
Now turning to our fourth quarter and full year financial results. Total revenues for the fourth quarter of 2009 were $31.8 million, an increase of 3.4% from $30.8 million in the third quarter of 2009. For the full year of 2009, our total revenues increased 16% to $128.7 million. Gross profit in the fourth quarter of 2009 was $14.5 million, a decrease of 5.5% from $15.4 million in the third quarter of 2009.
The quarter-over-quarter decrease in gross margin was primarily a result of an increase in media buying in behalf of our customers on media platforms outside of our exclusive network. Such media buying services were provided to certain customers in order to enhance customer relationships ahead of our integration with DMG. 2009 full year gross profit decreased 5.4% over 2008 to 50.9 -- $59.6 million.
The year-over-year gross profit decrease was a result of an increase in our media costs, which is comprised of planned increases in certain concession costs and an increase in buying our platforms outside of our exclusive network. As we continue to expand our exclusive network in 2010, we anticipate that media buying outside of our exclusive network will decrease.
Operating profit in the fourth quarter of 2009 was $6.3 million, a decrease of 13.9% from $7.3 million in the third quarter of 2009. The decrease was due to the increase in our cost of sales and an increase in G&A expenses for the fourth quarter resulting from M&A related professional fees. Operating profit in the full year of 2009 was $20.7 million, a decrease of 36.1% from $42.4 million in 2008. The year-over-year decrease was primarily due to higher media costs and higher sales and marketing expenses during a challenging economic and competitive environment in 2009.
Net income attributable to VisionChina Media's shareholders in the fourth quarter of 2009 was $5.6 million, a decrease of 21.6% from $7.2 million in the third quarter of 2009 due to the factors mentioned above. Net income attributable to VisionChina Media shareholders for the full year of 2009 was $26.6 million, a decrease of 43.2% from $46.8 million in 2008 due to increasing costs and expenses mentioned previously, but exceeded revenue growth for the year.
The company's fourth quarter 2009 net income attributed to VisionChina Media's shareholders, excluding share-based compensation expenses and amortization of intangible assets, our non-GAAP net income was $7.2 million. For the year, the company exceeded non-GAAP net income guidance through efficient cost control.
Basic and diluted net income per share for the fourth quarter of 2009 were both $0.08, a decrease from $0.10 for both in the third quarter of 2009. Basic and diluted net income per share for the full year 2009 were both $0.37. Net cash inflow totaled $20.5 million for the fourth quarter of 2009. Cash flows from operating activities increased $18.5 million from $8.1 million in the third quarter, primarily due to strong cash collection of account receivables. The company had cash and cash equivalents of $68.8 million as of December 31st, 2009.
Now moving on to our growth strategy. Our acquisition of DMG represents the company's first step towards industry consolidation. Our consolidation strategy is different from past transaction in our industry and that we are fully integrating the acquired business rather than maintaining DMG as a separate entity. As a result, we have also chosen not to rely on earn-out payments to achieve short-term financial gains from the acquisition.
By fully integrating the acquisition, we have greater control over advertising pricing, media operations, client selection, and sales commissions. All of these factors, we believe, will result in greater long-term growth for our business.
And now turning to our guidance. According to the business conditions in the first two months of 2010, revenue for the first quarter of 2010 is expected to be no less than $22 million. Now there are a number of factors that will negatively impact our revenue in the first quarter of 2010, and I'd like to discuss them briefly now.
First, price increases for traditional television advertising this year, particularly during the New Year holiday, limited some of our large customers a bit to place advertising on our platform during the quarter and delayed client spending. The holiday period is a peak season for traditional television advertising and therefore the competitive impact on our business is greater during this period. As mentioned by Mr. Li, we do see year-over-year increases from a number of our large major customers, including Unilever, Amway, Procter & Gamble.
Second, the company has known the end of our earn-out arrangements related to prior acquisitions. As the arrangements draw to a close, revenue contribution and revenue visibility from these acquired entities may decrease. As a group, the acquired entities continue to contribute revenue and new clients, and we will continue to monitor progress closely going forward.
Third, the integration of DMG has resulted in a restructuring of pricing and sales commission structure for the business. This restructuring is necessary for long-term growth, but has resulted in near-term disruption in subway advertising revenue. By fully integrating the DMG acquisition and not relying on revenue earn-outs, the company seeks to build long-term synergies from the acquisition, and our long-term plans for the business remain in place.
And finally, seasonally slow advertising sales during the Chinese New Year holiday period had a negative impact on revenue during the quarter. The negative impact of these factors will be short-term in nature, and we expect revenue visibility to increase in the coming quarters, probably in the first quarter. As a result of these negative impacts on revenue, the company's gross margin will also be negatively impacted in the first quarter as the company's decision to pursue industry consolidation has led to an increase in our media costs.
The company bases the above guidance estimate on a foreign exchange rate of 6.836 renminbi per US dollar. Please note that these statements are forward-looking and subject to change. The prospects for VisionChina do remain very strong, and we among the management team are excited about the opportunities available to us in the current marketplace through our acquisition of DMG.
We look forward to updating you on the progress of our acquisition and of our business throughout the year. Thank you again for joining us today. I'll now open the call to questions.
Question-and-Answer Session
(Operator instructions) Our first question comes from the line of Philip Wan with Morgan Stanley. Please proceed.
Philip Wan – Morgan Stanley
Good morning, Limin and Scott. Thank you for taking my questions. I'd like to drill down a little bit on your first quarter guidance. Would your guidance be excluding the DMG business? And after two years, specifically after Chinese New Year, what is the trend of advertising spending or orders from the customers? And then I have a follow-up. Thank you.
Scott Chen
So you like to know what the contribution from DMG will be in the first quarter?
Philip Wan – Morgan Stanley
Scott Chen
Okay. Right now it's a little bit difficult because just so we clarify here, the guidance that we're giving in terms of revenue is based off of our current backlog -- current contract backlog that we're viewing right now as of the beginning of March. So this backlog does continue to build. And so this is a moving target for us. The backlog at this point is still a little bit -- is still difficult to break down between our platforms, between our bus platform and our subway platform. As a business though, looking at the lines that are a part of the DMG acquisition, we do expect that the contribution from the DMG lines to be on the order of $4 million to $5 million for this quarter.
Philip Wan – Morgan Stanley
Okay. So if we compare this guidance versus first quarter 2009, we still see a significant year-over-year decline. And also we had a very low base in the first quarter 2009. So just can you give us some more color on how we are seeing -- why we are seeing a significant decline? Is it we have the large customer not renewing -- renewing advertising contracts with VisionChina or the customers react (inaudible) with this price increase in the beginning of this year?
Scott Chen
Yes. It's a very good question. I think we need to take some time here to review each one of the factors that we are seeing and try to quantify as much as possible to make sure that everyone understands why there is a difference between what we are seeing in this quarter compared to the year-ago quarter in 2009. So let's take, for instance, the first factor we mentioned here that our customers -- certain number of our large customers are holding back spending for this quarter based on some price increases for traditional television.
Now to explain that clearly, traditional television, as we've seen at the end of last year, did increase their prices for the year. Traditional television during the Lunar New Year season is -- let's say, the Lunar New Year season is a peak season for traditional television advertising in China. So the price increases that traditional television implemented during the first quarter, particularly during February, had a very large impact on a number of our large clients.
Again, a number of our large clients are clients that are trying to target their television advertising budgets. So these clients, during the first quarter, they want to advertise on traditional television, particularly during the holiday programming season. Any increases in pricing on those platforms will, it seems, have had a negative impact on their spending on our platform.
Now, we believe this is a short-term issue. We believe that based off of the guidance that we had gotten from a number of our large clients, the ones where we have seen decreased spending particularly in the month of February, that those clients have committed to us budgets that are larger than last year. For example, our clients like Unilever; Amway, which is a new client; Procter & Gamble, which is a new client. These are all clients that are committing larger amounts this year than they had in the past on our platform or on DMG's platform.
In the first quarter, particularly in February though, because of the price increases in traditional television for Chinese New Year programming, they have delayed their spending on our platform beyond the first two months of this year. That has wounded our visibility from these clients, and we believe that that will have a significant impact on our first quarter revenue. And we believe that this is a difference between this year's first quarter over the last year's first quarter. So, is that point clear?
Philip Wan – Morgan Stanley
Right. Just a quick follow-up, just in the beginning, we saw that the increase -- price increase in traditional television TV choose some of the TV advertising prices to new media, including VisionChina. So, are we not seeing this happening or we have a different -- the advertisers still remain -- will remain on traditional TV going forward, and so we won't see an increase as expected from TV advertising pricing [ph]?
Scott Chen
Yes, that's a good question. When these price increases were first announced, we did have an expectation that the price increases would benefit new media. Now in general, for the year, we do believe that that's true. What we've seen in the first quarter, again particularly in February, though is that because the Chinese New Year season is so important to traditional television advertisers, advertisers for that period were willing to spend more on traditional television, meaning that they were allocating more budget to traditional television just to advertise for that period and subsequently have delayed spending on our platforms. Now that's what we've seen so far this year.
Our expectation for the full year remains the same. We do expect that because of price increases on traditional television, advertisers are seeing that the returns on traditional advertising may not be as high this year and they will be much more willing to advertise on new media platforms. Based on some budget indications from, again, some of our large key clients, the ones that have delayed spending -- again, clients like P&G, Amway, Unilever, KFC, these are all brands that have indicated to us increased spending for the quarters subsequent to Q1. And so we believe that this does indicate for our business a willingness to increase their spending on new media platforms. We believe that what we saw in February was a short-term phenomenon, again, driven by Chinese New Year. And the desire for advertisers to focus on traditional television for that period of time.
Philip Wan – Morgan Stanley
Lastly, and then I'll get back to the queue, you mentioned that those larger customers, like Unilever, P&G (inaudible) increase spending in 2010, can you quantify what's the percentage increase that they were likely to spend for this year compared to last year?
Scott Chen
It's typical to quantify exactly. We have indications that, for instance, clients like P&G and Unilever and Amway, I do expect their quarter-on-quarter increase in spending will be roughly about 20% to 30% for each of those customers.
Philip Wan – Morgan Stanley
Quarter-over-quarter meaning second quarter versus first quarter?
Scott Chen
Second quarter versus first quarter, yes. That varies customer by customer, but at least on that order of magnitude of increase in spending for the second quarter. So that's what gives me confidence at this point to say that what we saw in February was a short-term phenomenon. We do expect that we will be able to benefit from the increase in traditional television pricing in the subsequent quarters. Before we end our discussion here, Philip, I think I should complete the answer to your first question. This traditional television advertising price increase was one factor that accounts for the year-over-year difference in our current revenue guidance. We have a number of other factors here. I'll just run through them briefly and (inaudible) have any questions.
The second factor here that I mentioned was the earn-outs that the company previously had in place for prior acquisitions. These earn-outs are coming to an end. This is of course by design. I for one do not believe in the benefit of long-term earn-outs. I think there are better ways to incentivize sales forces and to incentivize management. So I think it is a good thing that these earn-outs are coming to an end. We do see continued contribution from these acquired entities.
In fact, our new client win, Procter & Gamble this year, was from one of the acquired entities. And so I'm confident that these acquired entities will continue to contribute to our business going forward. They have already been fully integrated, but the fact remains that as these earn-outs come to an end, I do believe that there will be some degree of revenue -- the decrease in revenue and decrease in revenue visibility that we have previously enjoyed when these earn-outs were in place.
Again, I think this is a near-term factor. I think this is a hiccup in our growth trajectory. I do believe that the macro environment for sales this year will allow us to grow through the end of these earn-outs. Again, I think, like we've said, the revenue contribution from the existing clients from these acquired entities does continue, although perhaps maybe at a slower pace. I would like to see March data come through before I provide a little bit more clarity on this. And we do see -- continue to see new client wins from these acquired entities as a group. We will continue to monitor them, but in the near term, I do think that this will have an impact. And again, I think this is something that's for the benefit of the long-term development of the company to end all these earn-outs during the coming quarter.
The third factor that has impacted our year-over-year revenue guidance is the integration of DMG. I think a lot of investors are looking at DMG to immediately contribute revenue, and it is. Obviously there are some integration issues that we are dealing with. And I think these things need to be dealt with in an orderly manner. We have to remember here that we are integrating this acquisition fully. This is different than prior acquisitions in our industry. We're not maintaining this as a separate entity. We are not incentivizing the management separately with additional earn-out arrangements. This is not the way we are looking to build our business.
We want to have full control of pricing. We want to have full control over the sales commission structure. We want to have full control over the sales force. And so in order to do that, we've had to make, again, significant adjustments in the pricing policy for the assets that were acquired through the DMG acquisition. We've had to make significant adjustments in the sales commission structure to make sure that the entire sales force's commission is compensated in a uniform manner. And so again, I believe that this is a necessary adjustment that we have to make into the business. It doesn't change our long-term outlook for the business. It certainly doesn't change our full year outlook for the business.
On a rolling 12-month basis, our projections -- our initial internal projections for the business still remain the same. I just believe that they have been pushed out by one quarter because of the restructuring that we have to put in place for this business. So I think an easy analysis would be to just take our Q1 revenue. Look at our current Q1 guidance, look at our potential contribution from the DMG business, I think there is a delta that can be calculated between the two quarters.
And these three factors, I think, after careful analysis of our current business over January and February, these are the conclusions that we are not going to be down this quarter in terms of revenue. It looks like there is near-term -- or short-term seasonal factors based off of Chinese New Year and increases in traditional television pricing. I think there is a one-time effect because of the end of our earn-out payments from prior acquisitions. And I think there is also a delay in the benefits from our DMG acquisition, again, due to what we think are necessary changes in the pricing and commission structure for that business, which we think will have had pushed back our projections for the DMG business by one quarter. Hopefully, that clears up questions about the differences quarter-over -- year-over-year for the first quarter.
Philip Wan – Morgan Stanley
That's helpful. I'll get back in the queue. Thank you.
Scott Chen
Thank you, Philip.
Our next question comes from the line of Eddie Leung with Bank of America. Please proceed.
Eddie Leung – Bank of America
Hey, good morning, guys. Just a question on one of the factors you mentioned about earn-outs, could you let us know that how much proportion of your revenues in the first quarter or in 2009 are related to the earn-out structure? Thanks.
Scott Chen
Yes. For the earn-out related revenue has been a decreasing percentage of our business over the year 2009. For the fourth quarter, earn-out related revenue accounted for about 35% of our total revenue. As the earn-outs end, I think it's less and less significant to specifically break out revenue contributed by those acquired entities. That's the long-term goal of ending these earn-outs is to integrate all those sales -- the sales force into our company, evaluate them all on the same commission structure, on the same compensation structure, and have a unified sales team.
Now, I guess going forward what we I'm seeing right now is that there will probably be a decrease in some amount of revenue from the result of the earn-out ending. Now, it looks like in this quarter, again, just based off of the data for the first two months, that could be on the order of -- I'm just ballparking my number -- probably on the order of maybe $4 million to $6 million decrease in contribution from what was previously earn-out related revenue. I think that's a one-time hit. I think after the earn-outs end and all the sales forces are compensated on a uniformed structure, I do expect that we will be able to resume growth in our customer base and in our revenue base in a uniform manner.
I do think that I'm encouraged by what I've seen in terms of developments in the first quarter for our acquired entities as a whole, meaning that the existing customers that these acquired entities brought in do continue to spend. KFC obviously was a very large customer that was brought in as a result of the acquisition of these entities in 2008. That's a client that does continue to spend. That is a client that has projected to increase spending in the second quarter. New customer wins, including Procter & Gamble, again as a result of the sales teams that were brought in from these acquired entities, that's a very large win for us at the beginning of this year. And again, that spending will increase in the subsequent quarters after Q1.
So just to be clear, this is not a situation where as the earn-out and the revenue from these acquired entities are going to end completely. That's not the case at all. Revenue contribution will continue. New client contribution will continue. But I think it is prudent to expect that as the earn-outs end -- again which is something that the management is at the goal of our strategic management of our sales force, that as these earn-outs end, I think it is prudent to expect that there will be some near-term drop-off in revenue.
Eddie Leung – Bank of America
Got that. My second question would be related to your cost structure. (inaudible) full year guidance on the revenue side. But could you share with us some of your full prospectus related to your cost structure? Are we going to see any cost control measures given the near-term issues? Thanks.
Scott Chen
Yes. At this point, our major change in our cost structure is going to be the acquisition of DMG. On a combined basis, our media costs will be roughly $22 million, $23 million for the quarter. Our entire cost of goods sold, including business tax and other elements of COGS, will be approximately $29 million. So this is going to be a significant increase. Again, this is a significant increase that we've consciously undertaken as part of our strategy to consolidate the industry. This DMG acquisition, we believe, does provide long-term benefits. And so we are willing at this -- we are willing to accept these near-term disruptions in our business because we do believe that they will continue to provide long-term benefits for us.
So at this point, we're not considering any sort of major cost reductions. We believe that we do need to give some time to fully realize the benefits from this acquisition. And so in terms of blending [ph] the size of our platform or eliminating the scale of our business operations, we don't see that that's necessary at this point or prudent, because we do think that we do need to get some time to realize the synergies from this business. Just going back to the cost structure, aside from media costs, I think it is important for us to discuss our sales -- SG&A. Traditionally in the past we've provided revenue guidance and we've also provide non-GAAP net income guidance.
This quarter we've chosen not to do that yet, because we are still going through our financial analysis for the financials for DMG. So we haven't yet determined definitively the amount of intangibles that we'll have to put onto our balance sheet. So the amount of intangibles amortization is still not set yet. So we're not able to, at this point, provide exact non-GAAP net income guidance. But in order to provide for the current year on our cost, we do expect some amount of increase in our G&A expense resulting from our intangible amortization. Right now, I'd like to just give a very high level estimate of probably additional $1.5 million intangibles amortization per quarter going forward. And so that will bump up our overall SG&A expense going forward. So the increase in (inaudible) costs, the increase in our SG&A resulted to intangible amortization. Those are the main differences in our cost base going forward as a result of this acquisition.
Eddie Leung – Bank of America
Got that. Thank you.
Our next question comes from the line of Wallace Cheung with Credit Suisse. Please proceed.
Wallace Cheung – Credit Suisse
Hi, good morning. (Foreign Language)
Just quickly two questions. Number one is, on a full year basis, are we going to expect the merged entity is going to have higher revenue than VisionChina on (inaudible)? And in terms of the incremental growth from the -- incremental revenue from DMG, are we going to have (inaudible) as what we have at the original assets? And that's my first question. I think the second question is, in terms of the advertiser mix, from an industry group perspective, say, fourth quarter '09 and then moving on to first quarter 2010, are we going to have some major change? And then also, can you also provide the mix between the domestic and international clients from fourth quarter '09 to first quarter 2010? Thanks very much.
Scott Chen
Okay, Wallace. The question about full year growth, we've taken a hit here in the first quarter, but we do expect for the full year that we will end up at a higher price than in 2009. I think that's definite. What we are seeing right now is, again, I think in terms of our DMG acquisition, probably about a one quarter delay in our original plan for the growth of that business. We had hoped that we will be able to hit the ground running and be able to operate that business at the peak level that it existed previously. We've obviously had to take a step back.
So for instance, that business was probably operating at its peak level, about 60 million RMB per quarter. This quarter, I think we'll come out somewhere between 30 million to 40 million RMB per quarter. Again, that's something that we think is a short-term, probably a one quarter delay in our revenue ramp. The reason for that, again, is because it was a fairly large price differential between the original assets we're charging for the media platform and compare to what we are now charging for that platform. So there had some pushback from some existing clients. We think that that's temporary.
Some clients may decide that they want to wait a month or so, wait a couple months or so before they come back to the platform. But we do believe that the sort of hardball practice by some of the customers is just short-term. And we do expect them to come back as we go through it. Again, I'd like to see March data before I really -- before we provide clear guidance for what we expect Q2 performance for the business to be. I think March will be very key for us because I think that's essentially the first full month that we will have business as usual for this business. January, I think, was affected by these pricing changes. February was obviously affected by Chinese New Year holiday. March, I think, is going to be the first full month of business as usual for the DMG asset.
The other factor affecting the integration of DMG is also just the sales force integration. Along with the lower pricing that the business was running at, there was also a different commission structure for that business, a commission structure that didn't incentivize the sales force in the same way that our sales force is trying to incentivize, meaning that we incentivize our sales force based off of volume and pricing. And so we want to make sure that our sales force achieves the best pricing for us in monetizing our advertising assets.
That's something that wasn't in place before at DMG that cost some disruption among sales people in moving them to a new commission structure. But again this is for the long-term benefit of the business. This is something that we feel is necessary. We could have chosen to do this differently. We could have chosen to not integrate the business and keep it standalone as usual, and it would have been running. We would have been able to hit the ground running. But I think keeping (inaudible) business, keeping – having that in place is not for the long-term benefit of our combined business. And we are willing to take a near-term hit here to make sure that we lay the proper groundwork for growing this business.
For our organic business, yes, we do believe that we're going to be able to grow year-on-year. I think what we saw here in the first quarter is a short-term phenomenon. Again, we've seen it from indications from advertisers that spending will resume in the second quarter after -- from our large customers spending resumed in the second quarter after the rate that we've seen here in the first quarter due to the Chinese New Year holiday. We also do expect that our combined sales force, now that we have the DMG sales force in place on our commission structure, now that we have our previously acquired teams on our commission structure without earn-out incentives, add the sales number now on a unified platform, we'll be able to contribute in a uniformed manner to our growth this year. And it will result in full year growth year-over-year.
In terms of ad mix, your second question, Wallace, the business for us here continues to be very consumer brand focused, very focused on our traditional areas of retail products, food and beverage, household products, over-the-counter pharmaceuticals. We do see some changes as a result of the expansion of our platform. So notably Mr. Li has mentioned, new large client wins as a result of our integration with DMG. So now that we have a larger platform, now we have a larger presence in subways, we have been able to expand our client base and win new clients that previously were not looking at our platform. So those include, for example, Procter & Gamble, Amway, L'Oreal, Avon, Nivea. We believe that this is a very strong (inaudible) clients that gives us lot of confidence that we will be able to increase the percentage of our revenue from large multi-national brands, which we think will help drive our growth for 2010.
Right now, I'm not able to provide I think a percentage breakdown, because I think we -- again, I'd like to see more data for this quarter before I provide an accurate breakdown. But the trends are very clear. We're going to have more contribution from large multi-nationals. We're going to have more contribution from large household products brands. In addition, Mr. Li has also mentioned some interesting new tactics for us, like autos. Auto client wins, they are something that's new for us and is a direct result of our expansion in the subways. Some of these auto brands now do view us as an attractive demographic to advertise to their customer base. And so that's an area that although small in the first quarter, we do see that as an area for growth going forward.
Wallace Cheung – Credit Suisse
Thank you. Just quickly, how much will be the impact of Shanghai Expo to your sort of full year numbers?
Scott Chen
Yes. For the reasons we mentioned about, guidance visibility for the first quarter is going to be short. And so I'd like to put a number on that. I'd like to be able to quantify the upside from Shanghai Expo. But right now it is fairly difficult. The reason for that is that the programming for Shanghai Expo still has not been set yet. Those plans for programming for Shanghai Expo coverage have nothing communicated to us. We think there is a number of reasons for that. One is, this is a long-term event. It's not like the Olympics that was fairly short-term and fairly scheduled, regularly scheduled.
And so the coverage that's going to be broadcast for the Shanghai Expo is going to be very different in the type of coverage that it has for the Olympics. Until we get that coverage plan for the media coverage, it is going to be a little bit difficult for us to finalize discussions with our clients for Shanghai Expo advertising spend. We do expect that during the month of March, now that we've come out of Chinese New Year holiday, as we have March and April leading into the Shanghai Expo, that's when we will see an acceleration of our discussions for media spend in Shanghai ahead of the Expo. And so I'd like to keep in touch with you and provide that -- quantify that impact as we get through the next month or so.
Wallace Cheung – Credit Suisse
Great. Thank you very much.
Due to time constraint, that concludes today's Q&A session. I would now like to turn the conference back over to management for closing remarks.
Colin Wang
Thank you all for joining us today. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at firstname.lastname@example.com.
Thank you for attending today's conference. This concludes the presentation. You may now disconnect and have a great day.
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
On Spectrum & Policy
Bret Swanson of Entropy Economics (he's also one of our Broadband Ambassadors) has released a new paper on mobile expansion and spectrum policies. From the paper:
Unleashing spectrum through auctions and allowing greater flexibility to use, buy, and sell existing private spectrum is important to accomodate existing demand for new data services and to drive future wireless innovation. Spectrum policy and politics, however, has been deteriorating.
You can read Swanson's full paper, "Can Spectrum Policy Match Speed of Mobile Expansion?" at the Entropy Economics website (PDF).


text:
Will you change how often you dine out once the new smoking ban takes effect?
October 16, 2007
Charlie Lichtenauer ( in ) says...
"Yes. It wouldn't have all the smoke around."
Dee Anna Lichtenauer ( in ) says...
"Yes. I am much happier that they are going to have a smoking ban. We will go (out) more."
Helen Reese ( in ) says...
"We would be more likely to, because we always have the kids with us and obviously it's not good for them to be around smoke."
Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.


text:
When I see a "revision" for a given post type, I only see the title, the content and the excerpt. How can I see the content of a custom meta box (or any other field, for that matter)?
Take the tour
WordPress Answers is a question and answer site for WordPress developers and administrators. It's 100% free, no registration required.
This guy gives an answer... http://lud.icro.us/post-meta-revisions-wordpress/ | |||
Custom meta isn't attached to revisions - only to the parent post, so there are no revisions for it. You can do it manually by grabbing the post meta from the parent though. | ||||


text:
SMH is an abbreviation for:
Find a translation for SMH in other languages:
Select another language:
Use the citation below to add this abbreviation to your bibliography:
"SMH." Abbreviations.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2013. Web. 11 Dec. 2013. <http://www.abbreviations.com/term/196521>.
SMH also stands for:
- Sacrament Most Holy
- Sapmanga, Papua New Guinea
- Semiconductor HOLDRs (ETF)
- Shakes My Head
- Shaking My Head
... and 6 more »
Nearby & related abbreviations:
Alternative search:
- Search Studio Museum of Harlem on Amazon.com
- Search Studio Museum of Harlem on Google


text:
Special Olympics in Europe and Eurasia encompasses a diverse range of cultures, languages and customs. The region spans Iceland to Israel, Portugal to Siberia, Russia but we all have one thing in common – a passionate commitment to promoting respect, acceptance, inclusion and human dignity for people with intellectual disabilities through sports.
Stories from Europe-Eurasia
Referee Clinic
On Friday 29th and Saturday 30th of November Special Olympics Belgium held their Unified Basketball test case for the Special Olympics Europe Summer Games 2014.View Story ▼On Friday 29th and Saturday 30th of November Special Olympics Belgium held their Unified Basketball test case for the Special Olympics Europe Summer Games 2014. The main goal of those 2 days was to train our referees and game officials to be ready for the Games. On Friday 10 referees of the Belgian Basketball Federation attended the Referee Clinic given by Michael Newton (Technical Delegate Basketball) and Kris Cuppens (Unified Basketball Coordinator Belgium). The next day, during the Unified Tournament, these referees, together with 12 game officials, had their practical test on the court. There were 9 Unified teams that were participating in the Tournament, 7 male and 2 female teams. They were testing the new game time (4 times 6 minutes), which seemed to be harder than they were used to.
12 basketball teams in Viljandimaa, Estonia - November 2013
On 20 November the National Basketball Tournament held in Lahmuse School in Viljandimaa as first event of European Basketball Week in 2013. Twelve teams - two unified, one women's, three mixed and six men's teams competed 3 divisions within 1 day tournament. "The day was very long but outstandinglyView Story ▼On 20 November the National Basketball Tournament held in Lahmuse School in Viljandimaa as first event of European Basketball Week in 2013. Twelve teams - two unified, one women's, three mixed and six men's teams competed 3 divisions within 1 day tournament. "The day was very long but outstandingly organized, including teams free time. Every player was treat with dignity, recognized in the end and left the competition with positive emotions", said Kuuno Tiitus - basketball coordinator and head coach of SO Estonia, who is responsible for the Basketball Week event's organization over 6 years.
Special Olympics Italia athlete Mauro on www.euroleague.net home page
As part of Euroleague Basketball's efforts to shine the spotlight on how Special Olympics athletes are transforming their lives through basketball, the home page of Euroleague.net was dedicated to tell the story of Special Olympics Italy athlete Mauro.View Story ▼As part of Euroleague Basketball's two week efforts to shine the spotlight on how Special Olympics athletes are transforming their lives through basketball, the home page of Euroleague.net was dedicated to tell the story of Special Olympics Italy athlete Mauro. On the tenth anniversary of European Basketball Week, Mauro is also celebrating 10 years of training basketball with Special Olympics. In that decade, his brother has seen Mauro blossom like never before, a testimony to the power of sport to positively change lives. "The support given by Euroleague clubs and players to One Team and Special Olympics helps raise awareness of efforts to empower people with intellectual disabilities to live full lives in their communities" says Head of Corporate Social Responsibility at Euroleague Basketball and One Team Programme Director Isabel Gultresa. "At the same time, it educates the broader public as to the vitality and talents of intellectually disabled men and women among us."
Kathleen Van Brempt receiving flowers from Belgian athlete Andre Schepers during the the Special Olympics Changing Lives Exhibition at the European Parliament on 26 November, in Brussels, Belgium.
A three-day exhibition entitled "Special Olympics Changing Lives" was held at the European Parliament from November 25 - 28 2013 with kind support from the European Union.View Story ▼A three-day exhibition entitled "Special Olympics Changing Lives" was held at the European Parliament from November 25 - 28 2013 with kind support from the European Union. The exhibition profiled images and stories of 28 individual Special Olympics athletes from the entire EU community, educating visitors on how Special Olympics is changing thousands of lives every day. The upcoming 2014 Special Olympics European Games which will take place in Antwerp, Belgium from September 9 - 20, 2014,was also showcased at the Exhibition. 2,000 athletes with intellectual disabilities, their coaches and family members will gather in Antwerp from 58 countries for competitions in 10 Olympic type sports. The Exhibition was officially opened by Belgium MEP Kathleen Van Brempt who announced that the European Union will provide substantial financial support towards the hosting of Antwerp 2014. The news was warmly welcomed by Mary Davis, Regional VP of Special Olympics Europe Eurasia.
The partnerships with the Hapoel Tel Aviv Football Club and with the Israel Bowling Federation were signed on November 6th in Tel Aviv in the presence of Mary Davis, Regional President of Special Olympics Europe Eurasia.
Special Olympics Israel has just signed two new partnerships that are set to significantly expand the organization and open greater opportunities for athletes with intellectual disabilities in football and bowling.View Story ▼Special Olympics Israel has just signed two new partnerships that are set to significantly expand the organization and open greater opportunities for athletes with intellectual disabilities in football and bowling. Special Olympics athletes from the "Etgar" Hostel gave musical performances at both signings, which were also co-emceed by a Special Olympics athlete. The cooperation with the Israel Bowling Federation will take the form of joint training sessions between Special Olympics athletes and Federation bowlers, the provision of professional equipment by the Federation, and the establishment of a National Unified League. The cooperation with the Mifalot - Hapoel Tel Aviv will take the form of joint professional conferences, joint soccer competitions with children active in Mifalot, hosting Hapoel Tel Aviv Football Team games and also unified games between the children of both organizations. Another agreement will be signed in the near future with the Israel Football Federation
Upcoming Events Around the World
Dec 7 - 14 2013
Join us and support our Special Olympics Program through 7-14 December for 7 days of alpine skiing coaches training in Murau, Austria.For more informationMore DetailsView More
Feb 28 - Mar 2 2014
English: The Special Olympics Norwegian Championships for cross country skiing and snowshoeing, will in 2014 be held at the Olympic arena Birkebeineren Ski Stadium in Lillehammer. A venue that was used during the 1994 Olympic Winter Games. The event is hosted by Special Olympics Norway and Civitan Club Norway. Norwegian: I 2014 blir det store Special Olympics vinterarrangementet avholdt i Olympiaparken på Lillehammer, nærmere bestemt Birkebeineren Skistadion. Dette blir en flott arrangement for langrenn og truger, og i år håper vi på oppmøterekord! Special Olympics Norge er av den oppfatning at det finnes meningsfull konkurranse for alle, uavhengig av funksjons- og ferdighetsnivå. Derfor arrangerer vi konkurranser i alt fra 50 m trugeløp på flatt terreng til 5 km på ski. Medarrangører er Civitan Norge. Arrangementet er åpent for alle over 12 år. Velkommen til idrettsglede på Lillehammer!For more informationMore DetailsChristian JostadEmail:firstname.lastname@example.com:+47 99 57 19 19View More
Birkebeineren Ski StadiumSjøseterveien 29, 2618Lillehammer, OpplandNORWAY
Mar 7 - 8 2014
This competition will be used as a selection day for the Male Basketball team who will represent Great Britain at the Special Olympics 2015 World Summer Games.For more informationMore DetailsView More
All Saints/Goals Sports CentreNorfolk Park Road, Sheffeild, S2 2RUSheffeild, Great BritainUNITED KINGDOM
Apr 25 - 27 2014
Join Special Olympics Great Britain at the Soar Valley Netball Centre in Leicester, Great Britain on 25-27 April 2014 for two days of exciting netball competition. Come cheer on and support our Special Olympics athletes as they show their skill and courage on the court.For more informationMore DetailsMary MartinEmail:firstname.lastname@example.com:0141 579 5403View More
Soar Valley Netball CentreGleneagles Drive, Leicester, LE4 7GYLeicester, Great BritainUNITED KINGDOM
May 4, 20149:00 AM - 4:30 PM
Get your laces tied up and sign up to this fantastic event, offering you the choice to run 4 different course lengths. You can choose from the Full Marathon, a Marathon Relay, the Half-Marathon or a Six Mile course. Training schedules are provided no matter what length you choose, so why not get involved? Run your personal best in Limerick next year! And be proud to be part of the Special Olympics Ireland team! Sign up and full information on the event and different options are available at www.greatlimerickrun.com.For more informationMore DetailsView More
People's ParkLimerick IRELAND
Jun 12 - 15 2014
1,500 Special Olympics athletes from the 4 corners of Ireland will paricipate in 14 sports competitions that will inlcude aquatics, athletics, basketball, kayaking, gymnastics, MATP, football, golf, bocce, ptich n putt, bowling, table tennis, badminton and equestrian. Competition will be held in various venues through Limerick and the surrounding areas. For more informationMore DetailsView More
Various venues throughout LimerickLimerickIRELAND
Jul 26 - 30 2014
This will be a Special Olympics level 5 golf competition that will include 18 to 24 of the best Special Olympics golf players in the world. All Special Olympics golf programs are welcome to send information about their top-5 players. Athletes will be selected and invited to compete in the tournament.For more informationJesper HviidEmail:firstname.lastname@example.com:+4540157660View More
Helsingor Golf ClubGl. Hellebakvej 71HelsingorDENMARK
Sep 9 - 21 2014
In September 2014 more than 2,000 athletes from 58 countries will come to Antwerp, Belgium for the 2014 Special Olympics European/Eurasian Summer Games and enjoy 13 days full of joy and friendship. The athletes will compete in 11 sports and be invited to join 5 supporting programs. For more informationMore DetailsSpecial Olympics European Games 2014Email:email@example.com:+32 3 220 25 00View More
Various locations, AntwerpAntwerpBELGIUM
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Special Olympics Europe Eurasia3rd Floor, Morrison Chambers32 Nassau StreetDublin 2Ireland
Office: +353 1 675-5710Fax: +353 1 707-1748Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Stay in touch! See inspiring stories, photos and videos in our Special Olympics newsletter.
We're asking everyone who cares about the rights, dignity and humanity of people with intellectual disabilities to e-mail, call, Tweet and Facebook their U.S. Senators NOW with one simple request: to vote for the CRPD when it comes to the Floor of the Senate. read more »
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Klein RJ, Zeiss C, Chew EY, Tsai JY, Sackler RS, Haynes C, Henning AK, SanGiovanni JP, Mane SM, Mayne ST, Bracken MB, Ferris FL, Ott J, Barnstable C, Hoh J. Complement factor H polymorphism in age-related macular degeneration. Science. 2005 Apr 15;308(5720):385-9. PubMed Abstract
It has also been suggested that injured cells or possibly Aβ aggregates bound to cell surfaces lead to activation of complement. This cell-bound activation of complement could lead to formation of the membrane attack complex (MAC) and further damage of cells, although studies in oligodendrocytes show that the MAC, which is a membrane pore, can also induce protective pathways in cells.
Factor H is involved in the regulation of the alternative complement pathway and may influence any of the above activities. If Factor H does indeed have a role in the degeneration of cells in the eye, it may have a similar role in the hippocampus and cortex as well. At this point, however, there is little hard evidence from in-vivo studies to... Read more
Factor H is involved in the regulation of the alternative complement pathway and may influence any of the above activities. If Factor H does indeed have a role in the degeneration of cells in the eye, it may have a similar role in the hippocampus and cortex as well. At this point, however, there is little hard evidence from in-vivo studies to support a role for complement in neurodegeneration, and more studies need to be done. View all comments by Tony Wyss-Coray
What does the association of complement pathway malfunction in AMD have to teach us about neurodegeneration in AD? First, complement activation has recently been linked to the strong stimulation of angiogenesis that contributes to the pathophysiology of AMD. When C3 activation is prevented in AMD, neovascularization is inhibited (Nozaki et al., 2006; Bora et al., 2005; Girardi et al., 2006). Is it possible that complement activation in AD could lead to abnormal angiogenesis that could contribute to AD pathophysiology? There is little data as of yet, but the possibility has been suggested previously (for instance, Zlokovic, 2005; Vagnucci and Li, 2003) and an increase in microvascularization in AD brain was reported previously by Perlmutter et al. (1990). Interestingly β amyloid peptide injected into a normal rat hippocampus has been found to stimulate angiogenesis (Zand et al., 2005) and fibrillar β amyloid is a well-known activator of C1q and thus the classical complement cascade.
Second, complement activation leads to a dramatic activation of microglia, both in the retina and throughout the CNS. Microglia are a crucial source of many components of the complement cascade and other factors that may enhance inflammation. Amyloid-β also enhances microglial activation, and has been reported to be deposited at sites of complement activation in Drusen deposits in AMD (Johnson et al., 2002). In fact, amyloid-β triggers retinal pigment epithelial cells (a class of phagocytic cells within the retina implicated in retinal photoreceptor degeneration) to release VEGF and other factors that promote angiogenesis (Yoshida et al., 2005). Microglia have recently been shown to play a role in developmental blood vessel formation in the retina (Checchin et al., 2006), which is of interest given their close association with blood vessels and their activation in neurodegenerative diseases in general.
Breakdown of the blood-brain barrier (and blood-retinal barrier) has been increasingly observed and invoked in AMD and AD. Newly formed vessels are leaky, as are microvessels involved in angiopathy observed in both AMD and AD. This may be crucially important in driving the pathology forward, as the blood is the major source of all complement proteins. Activated microglial cells and many neurons and glial cells also make certain complement components. If capillaries become leaky, key complement proteins such as C3 may leak in (and complement activation itself may in turn further enhance the leakiness of these vessels). C3 is the key complement protein that mediates complement activation in all pathways of complement activation. Its endogenous sources within the normal and injured brain are still quite mysterious. There is evidence that activated microglial cells and peripheral macrophages clearly make it; possibly other cell types can make it, as well. The brain cell type identities that produce each complement component are important questions for future work.
The above observations suggest that age-related neurodegenerative diseases such as AMD and AD may share in common underlying mechanisms, particularly the activation of the complement pathways, leading to C3 activation, microglial activation, vascular changes and angiogenesis, amyloid production, and neuroinflammatory tissue damage. Sorting out the relative importance and sequence of these events is an important task for the future. But the linkage of AMD susceptibility to complement pathway polymorphisms clearly shows the important contribution of complement proteins in AMD to disease initiation and/or progression, and the high levels of C1q protein in AD brains suggest an important role for complement proteins in AD, as well.
An important unanswered question is how complement pathway activation begins in AMD and AD. A primary way that the complement cascade becomes initiated is by the presence of abnormal cell surfaces which become opsonized by short pentraxins such as C-reactive protein or antibodies that in turn can both bind to C1q. In AMD, it is entirely unclear how the alternative pathway would become activated, as microbial surfaces are not implicated. The potential role of the classical complement cascade in AMD should now be examined. CFH not only controls activity of the alternative complement pathway but of the other complement pathways, as well, as its function is to inactivate the C3 complement protein that is central to all complement paths of activation. A still relatively underexplored question is the extent to which degenerating tissues become immunogenic. We have recently found that degenerating myelin in the peripheral nervous system is strongly immunogenic and that autoantibodies are generated to degenerating myelin that are actually necessary for its clearance (Vargas and Barres, SFN abstract, 2005 and submitted). Similarly it is possible that autoantibodies are generated against degenerating retinal tissue in AMD or brain tissue in AD. As cell surface antigens in retinal and brain cryosections are only poorly accessible to antibodies in immunostaining methods, it has been difficult to address this question experimentally. A great way forward, where relevant animal models for neurodegenerative disease are available, will be to examine the effects on the neurodegenerative process when these animals are crossed to antibody-deficient strains of mice such as the JhD mutant mouse that entirely lacks B cells.
Lastly, the central importance of complement proteins in determining AMD susceptibility raises an important question. Could the exponential increase in age-dependent susceptibility to neurodegenerative disease be caused by an age-related change in the complement system? Possibly complement protein levels might increase with age, or important complement inhibitors might decrease with age. While the identification of polymorphisms in genes encoding complement proteins is an important step toward understanding AMD and further supports the potential long-suggested relevance of complement proteins in AD, it also raises many new questions for future studies. View all comments by Ben Barres
The data are consistent with a deleterious role for complement at ages when the fibrillar plaques (that have been shown to activate complement in vitro, and to be selectively associated with complement components in human AD brain) are present, most likely through the activation of the classical complement cascade and the enhancement of inflammation. There are observations that imply that complement can also have a protective effect in the brain. There are indeed multiple points within the complement cascade in which protective effects can be exerted. Some of these were discussed in recent reviews, but others are likely to be uncovered as the use of additional animal models and modulators of complement activity are tested. References:Fonseca MI, Zhou J, Botto M, Tenner AJ. Absence of C1q leads to less neuropathology in transgenic mouse models of Alzheimer's disease. J Neurosci. 2004 Jul 21;24(29):6457-65. Abstract
Tenner AJ, Fonseca MI. The double-edged flower: roles of complement protein C1q in neurodegenerative diseases. Adv Exp Med Biol. 2006;586:153-76. Abstract View all comments by Andrea Tenner
2. Iyengar SK, Song D, Klein BE, Klein R, Schick JH, Humphrey J, Millard C, Liptak R, Russo K, Jun G, Lee KE, Fijal B, Elston RC. Dissection of genomewide-scan data in extended families reveals a major locus and oligogenic susceptibility for age-related macular degeneration. Am J Hum Genet. 2004 Jan;74(1):20-39. Epub 2003 Dec 19. Abstract
3. Majewski J, Schultz DW, Weleber RG, Schain MB, Edwards AO, Matise TC, Acott TS, Ott J, Klein ML. Age-related macular degeneration--a genome scan in extended families. Am J Hum Genet. 2003 Sep;73(3):540-50. Epub 2003 Jul 25. Abstract
4. Seddon JM, Santangelo SL, Book K, Chong S, Cote J. A genomewide scan for age-related macular degeneration provides evidence for linkage to several chromosomal regions. Am J Hum Genet. 2003 Oct;73(4):780-90. Epub 2003 Aug 22. Abstract
5. Weeks DE, Conley YP, Tsai HJ, Mah TS, Schmidt S, Postel EA, Agarwal A, Haines JL, Pericak-Vance MA, Rosenfeld PJ, Paul TO, Eller AW, Morse LS, Dailey JP, Ferrell RE, Gorin MB. Age-related maculopathy: a genomewide scan with continued evidence of susceptibility loci within the 1q31, 10q26, and 17q25 regions. Am J Hum Genet. 2004 Aug;75(2):174-89. Epub 2004 May 27. Abstract
6. Edwards AO, Ritter R 3rd, Abel KJ, Manning A, Panhuysen C, Farrer LA. Complement factor H polymorphism and age-related macular degeneration. Science. 2005 Apr 15;308(5720):421-4. Epub 2005 Mar 10. Abstract
7. Haines JL, Hauser MA, Schmidt S, Scott WK, Olson LM, Gallins P, Spencer KL, Kwan SY, Noureddine M, Gilbert JR, Schnetz-Boutaud N, Agarwal A, Postel EA, Pericak-Vance MA. Complement factor H variant increases the risk of age-related macular degeneration. Science. 2005 Apr 15;308(5720):419-21. Epub 2005 Mar 10. Abstract
8. Klein RJ, Zeiss C, Chew EY, Tsai JY, Sackler RS, Haynes C, Henning AK, SanGiovanni JP, Mane SM, Mayne ST, Bracken MB, Ferris FL, Ott J, Barnstable C, Hoh J. Complement factor H polymorphism in age-related macular degeneration. Science. 2005 Apr 15;308(5720):385-9. Epub 2005 Mar 10. Abstract View all comments by Amanda Myers
RELATED NEWSSharp Look at Complement in Genetics of Macular Degeneration


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Jamie King captured the rare moment of child children with the animal and posted the video to YouTube.
"Isabella watch out honey," King could be heard telling his daughter in the video.
Department of Wildlife Resources Biologists say they've never seen animal behavior like this--- ever.
When the girl wraps her arms around the deer's neck it gently leans into her embrace.
The deer can be seen prancing around a few moments later. It appears to enjoy the interaction.
Department of Wildlife Resources spokesman, Mark Hadley is trying to determine what caused this unusual behavior. "There's no indication from watching the video that the animal was sick," he said.
His best theory for this behavior is the deer must have warmed up to humans through several smaller interactions.
Deer will normally run or attack if they feel trapped making any close interaction potentially dangerous.
Hadley says King's video is a bad example of how to act around wildlife.
Human contact with deer is becoming more common in Utah because neighborhoods are expanding into forested areas.
Click on the attached link for more information interacting with wildlife.


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The grapes were hand-picked and crushed to our 8 tonne open top stainless steel fermenters. The natural or wild yeasts present on the grape skins were allowed to initiate the sugar fermentation. Cultured winery yeasts were then added to complete this fermentation. Fermentation and cap/skin management were controlled by the Yalumba-designed cap plunger. The result is a wine with excellent depth of colour, richness and complexity. This wine is full depth red in colour with purple hues, displaying an aroma of brooding Barossa Cabernet with dark berried fruits, hints of mint and leafiness. The palate is full and stylish showing Shiraz sweetness and plumminess, but finishing with long fine tannins. Perfect now, but will certainly cellar over the next 5-10 years. A perfect food match with a roasted rack of lamb.
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Making subtle changes in your everyday life can go a long way in the fight against climate change. Here are a few smart ENERGY STAR tips and tricks that will help you make a difference.
Reduce greenhouse gas emissions by combining car trips, carpooling, using mass transit, walking or biking if possible.
Turn off lights, AC and electronics before leaving work for the holiday weekend. Set your water heater to Vacation mode if it has one.
Thinking about a summer getaway? Look for hotels that have earned the ENERGY STAR label.
When shopping, seek out concentrated products, which use far less packaging.
Save paper and reduce waste by using cloth napkins and towels in the kitchen.
Take the ENERGY STAR Pledge to save energy and help fight climate change.
Want to know more? Take a tour of ENERGY STAR @ home and the EPA's animated office for other easy ways to save energy. Also, visit Energystar.gov for more information.