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Happy Mother's Day to Every Mother on Earth
We appreciate your hardship carrying us through nine months and raising us with love and care.
The real reasons why child birth is so painful and dangerous
There is a long-standing idea that it is because we walk upright, but new research suggests that might not be the whole story
By Colin Barras, 22 December 2016
Giving birth can be a long and painful process. It can also be deadly. The World Health Organization estimates that about 830 women die every day because of complications during pregnancy and childbirth – and that statistic is actually a 44% reduction on the 1990 level.
"The figures are just horrifying," says Jonathan Wells, who studies childhood nutrition at University College London in the UK. "It's extremely rare for mammalian mothers to pay such a high price for offspring production."
So why exactly is childbirth so risky for humans? And is there anything we can do to further reduce those death rates?
Hominins have walked upright for millions of years (Credit: Juan Manuel Borrero/naturepl.com)
Scientists first began thinking about the problem of human childbirth in the middle of the 20th Century. They soon came up with an idea that seemed to explain what was going on. The trouble began, they said, with the earliest members of our evolutionary lineage – the hominins.
From an early date in our prehistory, hominin babies may have had to twist and turn to pass through the birth canal
The oldest hominin fossils so far found date back about seven million years. They belong to animals that shared very few of our features, except perhaps one: some researchers think that, even at this early stage, hominins were walking upright on two legs.
To walk on two legs efficiently, the hominin skeleton had to be pushed and pulled into a new configuration, and that affected the pelvis.
In most primates the birth canal in the pelvis is relatively straight. In hominins, it soon began to look very different. Hips became relatively narrow and the birth canal became distorted – a cylinder that varied in size and shape along its length.
So from an early date in our prehistory, hominin babies may have had to twist and turn to pass through the birth canal. This would have made birth a far more difficult task than it had been previously.
Then things got even worse.
Most hominins walked upright (Credit: P. Plailly/E. Daynes/Science Photo Library)
About two million years ago, our hominin ancestors began to change again. They lost their more ape-like features such as a relatively short body, long arms and small brain. Instead they began to gain more human-like ones, like taller bodies, shorter arms and bigger brains.
That last trait in particular was bad news for female hominins.
I was going to find evidence that supported the obstetric dilemma, but very soon everything came crashing down
Big-brained adults start out life as big-brained babies, so evolution came into conflict with itself. On the one hand, female hominins had to maintain a narrow pelvis with a constricted birth canal in order to walk efficiently on two legs. But at the same time the foetuses they carried were evolving to have larger heads, which were a tighter and tighter fit through those narrow pelvises.
Childbirth became a distressingly painful and potentially lethal business, and it remains so to this day.
In 1960, an anthropologist called Sherwood Washburn gave this idea a name: the obstetrical dilemma. It is now often called the "obstetric dilemma". Scientists thought it explained the problem of human childbirth perfectly. Many still think it does.
But some, including Wells, are no longer happy with this standard explanation. In the last five years, Wells and several other researchers have begun to push against the classic story of the obstetric dilemma.
They think Washburn's idea is too simplistic, and that all sorts of other factors also contribute to the problem of childbirth.
Many women use pain relief during labour (Credit: Science Photo Library/Alamy)
Holly Dunsworth of the University of Rhode Island, Kingston, was drawn to the obstetric dilemma while she was still a grad student. "I thought it was so exciting, I was going to find evidence that supported the obstetric dilemma," she says. "But very soon everything came crashing down."
We have bigger babies and longer pregnancies than you would expect
The problem was with the predictions Washburn made. "When Washburn wrote his article, he was actually saying that the obstetric dilemma was solved by giving birth to babies at a relatively early stage in their development," says Wells.
Go back to that moment two million years ago when human brains began to grow larger. Washburn suggested that humans found a solution of sorts: shortening the length of the human pregnancy. Human babies were forced out into the world earlier than they really should be, so that they were still relatively small, with diminutive, underdeveloped brains.
Washburn's explanation seems logical. Anyone who has held a newborn can appreciate how underdeveloped and vulnerable they are. The standard view is that other primates hold onto their pregnancies for longer and give birth to babies that are more developmentally advanced.
But, says Dunsworth, it is simply not true.
Some animals, like this baby common eland (Taurotragus oryx), can walk straight after being born (Credit: blickwinkel/Alamy)2
"We have bigger babies and longer pregnancies than you would expect," she says.
Women give birth to babies with larger brains than we would expect
In an absolute sense human pregnancies are long. They typically last 38-40 weeks, whereas a chimpanzee pregnancy is 32 weeks long, and gorillas and orang-utans give birth after about 37 weeks.
As Dunsworth and her colleagues explained in a 2012 paper, this remains true even if we adjust the pregnancy durations to take into account differences in body mass. Human pregnancies last 37 days longer than they should do for an ape our size.
The same thing applies for brain size. Women give birth to babies with larger brains than we would expect of a primate with the average woman's body mass. This means that a key prediction of Washburn's obstetric dilemma is incorrect.
There are other problems with Washburn's idea too.
Male (left) and female (right) human pelvises (Credit: Visuals Unlimited/naturepl.com)
A central assumption of the obstetric dilemma is that the size and shape of the human pelvis – and the female pelvis in particular – is highly constrained by our habit of walking upright on two legs. After all, if evolution could have "solved" the problem of human childbirth by simply making women's hips a little wider and the birth canal a little larger, it surely would have done so by now.
The birth canal is extraordinarily variable in size and shape
In 2015, Anna Warrener at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and her colleagues questioned this assumption.
The researchers collected metabolic data from male and female volunteers who were walking and running in the lab. Volunteers with wider hips were no more inefficient at walking and running than their narrow-hipped peers. From purely energetic considerations, at least, there does not seem to be anything stopping humans evolving wider hips that would make childbirth easier.
"The basic premise of the obstetric dilemma – that having a small or narrow pelvis is best for biomechanical efficiency – is likely not correct," says Helen Kurki of the University of Victoria in British Columbia, Canada.
Kurki was not involved with Warrener's study, but her own research has identified yet more problems for the traditional obstetric dilemma hypothesis.
Childbirth is notoriously painful (Credit: Blend Images/Alamy)
If the female pelvis really is tightly governed by two opposing forces – the need to be narrow for walking and the need to be wide for giving birth – the shape of the birth canal should vary little between women. It should be "stabilised" by natural selection.
Pregnant women sometimes joke that their developing foetus feels like an energy-sapping parasite
But after analysing hundreds of human skeletons, Kurki reported in 2015 that the birth canal is extraordinarily variable in size and shape. It varies even more than the size and shape of human arms, a trait that is known to vary between individuals.
"I think my findings do support shifting attitudes to the obstetric dilemma," says Kurki.
Washburn's tidy narrative does not seem quite as satisfying as it once did. There has to be something else going on.
Dunsworth thinks she has identified one important missing piece in the puzzle: energy.
"We max out toward the end of pregnancy," says Dunsworth, herself a mother. "Those last weeks and months of pregnancy are tiring. They are pushing right against the possible sustainable metabolic rates in humans. It has to end at some point."
Evolution could, in principle, make the pelvis larger – but it has not had to
Pregnant women sometimes joke that their developing foetus feels like an energy-sapping parasite. In a sense it really is, and its energy demands grow with every passing day.
In particular, human brains have an almost insatiable appetite for energy. Growing a second, tiny brain inside the womb can push a pregnant woman close to the edge, metabolically speaking.
Dunsworth calls this idea the energetics of gestation and growth (EGG) hypothesis. It suggests the timing of childbirth is governed by the difficulties of continuing to nourish a developing foetus beyond 39 weeks – not by the difficulties of squeezing the baby out through the birth canal.
This CT scan shows the size of a full-term foetus (Credit: Cultura Creative RF/Alamy)
Dunsworth thinks people obsess too much about the tight fit between a baby's head and its mother's birth canal. It might seem too much of a coincidence that the two are so closely size-matched, but she says the pelvis has simply evolved to be the size it needs to be. Evolution could, in principle, make the pelvis larger – but it has not had to.
For most of human evolution, childbirth might have been quite a lot easier
By and large, Kurki shares this view. "The obstetric canal is big enough, the majority of the time, for the foetus to pass through," she says.
This is true. But even so, take another look at the maternal mortality figures: 830 deaths every day. Even among women who do not lose their lives during childbirth, some studies say the process leads to life-changing but non-lethal injuries in as many as 40% of cases. The price women pay for childbirth seems extraordinarily high.
Wells agrees. "It's impossible to imagine the problem has been this bad over the long term."
Perhaps it has not. In 2012, Wells and his colleagues took a look at the prehistory of childbirth, and came to a surprising conclusion. For most of human evolution, childbirth might have been quite a lot easier.
Homo erectus may have found birth easier than we do (Credit: Volker Steger/4 Million Years of Man/Science Photo Library)
The prehistory of childbirth is a difficult subject to study. The hominin pelvis is rarely preserved in the fossil record, and newborn skulls are even thinner on the ground. But from the meagre evidence available it seems that some earlier species of human, including Homo erectus and even some Neanderthals, had a relatively easy time of it when it came to giving birth.
A shift to farming may have led to developmental changes that made childbirth far more difficult
In fact, Wells and his colleagues suspect childbirth might even have been a relatively minor problem in our species – at least to begin with. There are very few newborn baby skeletons among the human remains from early hunter-gatherer groups, which might hint that death rates among newborns were relatively low.
This situation changed a few thousand years ago. People began farming, and newborn baby skeletons became a far more common feature of the archaeological record, at least in some places.
If there was a rise in newborn death rates at the dawn of farming, there were almost certainly several factors involved.
Farming changed our bodies yet again (Credit: Jose Antonio Penas/Science Photo Library)
For instance, early farmers began living in relatively dense settlements, so transmissible disease probably became a far greater problem. Newborns are often particularly vulnerable when an infection is going around a community.
But Wells and his colleagues suspect a shift to farming also led to developmental changes that made childbirth far more difficult. A rise in infant mortality at the dawn of farming might be due in part to a raised risk of death during childbirth.
Human childbirth suddenly became more difficult about 10,000 years ago
There is one striking feature archaeologists have noticed when comparing the skeletons of early farmers with their hunter-gatherer ancestors. The farmers were noticeably shorter in stature, probably because their carbohydrate-rich diet was not particularly nutritious compared to the protein-rich hunter-gatherer diet.
This is a telling observation for those who study childbirth, says Wells, because there is evidence of a link between a woman's height and the size and shape of her pelvis. In general, the shorter a woman, the narrower her hips. In other words, the shift to farming almost certainly made childbirth a little bit more challenging.
On top of that, the carbohydrate-rich diets that became more common with farming can cause a developing foetus to grow larger and fatter. That makes the baby harder to deliver.
Combine these two factors and human childbirth – which might have been relatively easy for millions of years – suddenly became more difficult about 10,000 years ago.
Pregnancy gets pretty exhausting (Credit: Blend Images/Alamy)
Something rather like this "farming revolution effect" replays whenever human diets become poorly nutritious – particularly if those diets also contain a lot of carbohydrates and sugars, which encourage foetal growth.
"We can make a simple prediction that the nutritional status of mothers should be associated with a local prevalence of maternal mortality and difficulties with giving birth," says Wells. The statistics clearly follow such a pattern, suggesting that improving nutrition might be a fairly easy way to reduce maternal mortality.
Pregnant women have adapted to nourish their foetus for as long as they can
Both Dunsworth and Kurki think that Wells has identified something significant in his work – something that perhaps would only be evident to a researcher with the right background in nutrition and development.
"I'm so lucky that Jonathan is describing these complex issues from his perspective of human health," says Dunsworth. "At the same time I'm approaching the problem from my perspective of human evolution."
So we now have a new explanation for the difficulties of human childbirth. Pregnant women have adapted to nourish their foetus for as long as they can before it grows too large to feed internally. The female pelvis has adapted to be just the right size to allow this maximally-nourished foetus to travel through safely. And dietary changes in the last few thousand years have upset this fine balance, making childbirth risky – particularly for mothers who have a poor diet.
However, Dunsworth says that is probably not the end of the story.
A female chimp with her granddaughter (left) and son (Credit: Fiona Rogers/naturepl.com)
You do get something quite cute at the end, though (Credit: Tetra Images/Alamy)
Washburn's ideas made good intuitive sense for decades, until Dunsworth, Wells, Kurki and others began to pick them apart. "What if the EGG perspective is too good to be true?" asks Dunsworth. "We have to keep searching and keep collecting evidence."
This is exactly what other researchers are doing.
For instance, in 2015 Barbara Fischer of the Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research in Klosterneuburg, Austria and Philipp Mitteroecker of the University of Vienna, Austria took another look at the female pelvis.
A woman's pelvis takes on a shape more conducive to childbirth in her late teens – when she reaches peak fertility
It seemed to them that Dunsworth's EGG hypothesis – compelling though it is – could actually be seen as complementary to Washburn's ideas, rather than disproving them entirely. Dunsworth agrees: she thinks many factors are involved in the evolution of modern childbirth.
Fischer and Mitteroecker investigated whether there is any correlation between female head size and pelvis size. Head size is heritable, at least to some extent, so women would benefit during childbirth if those with larger heads also naturally had a wider pelvis.
The researchers' analysis of 99 skeletons suggested such a link does indeed exist. They concluded that a woman's head size and her pelvic dimensions must somehow be linked at the genetic level.
"This does not mean that the [problem of childbirth] has been resolved," says Fischer. But the problem would be even worse if there was no link between head size and pelvis width.
And there is another complication: women's bodies change as they get older.
You do get something quite cute at the end, though (Credit: Tetra Images/Alamy)
A May 2016 study led by Marcia Ponce de León and Christoph Zollikofer at the University of Zurich, Switzerland examined pelvic data from 275 people – male and female – of all ages. The researchers concluded that the pelvis changes dimensions during the course of a woman's lifetime.
Many babies are now born by Caesarean section
Their data suggested that a woman's pelvis takes on a shape more conducive to childbirth in her late teens – when she reaches peak fertility. It then stays that way until around her 40th birthday, when it then gradually changes shape to become less suitable for childbirth, ready for the menopause.
The scientists suggest these changes make childbirth a little easier than it otherwise would be. They call this idea the "developmental obstetric dilemma" (DOD).
"The DOD hypothesis provides a developmental explanation for the variation in pelvic obstetric dimensions," says Ponce de León.
If all these evolutionary pressures are acting on childbirth, is the process still changing and evolving even now?
A baby born by Caesarean section (Credit: Martin Valigursky/Alamy)
In December 2016, Fischer and Mitteroecker made headlines with a theoretical paper that addressed this question.
Earlier studies had suggested that larger babies have a better chance of survival and that size at birth is at least somewhat heritable. Together, these factors might lead the average human foetus to push up against the size limit imposed by the female pelvis, even though it can be fatal to push too far.
We all either did or didn't arrive in the world through a pelvis
But many babies are now born by Caesarean section, an operation in which the baby is taken out of the mother's abdomen without ever entering the birth canal. Fischer and Mitteroecker suggested that, in societies where C-sections have become more common, foetuses can now grow "too large" and still have a reasonable chance of survival.
In theory, as a consequence the number of women giving birth to babies that are too big to fit through their pelvis might have risen by 10 or 20% in just a few decades, at least in some parts of the world. Or, to put it in cruder terms, people in these societies might be evolving to have larger babies.
For now this is only an idea and there is no hard evidence that it is really happening. But it is an intriguing thought.
"We all either did or didn't arrive in the world through a pelvis," says Wells. "If we did, that pelvis mattered. And if we didn't, that in itself is interesting."
Ever since live birth evolved, babies have been constrained to some degree by the size of the birth canal. But maybe, for some babies at least, that is no longer true.
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Workshop Agenda
Friday, October 8
12:00-3:15 Registration
3:30-3:40 Welcome
Nathan Grawe, Director of QuIRK (Carleton College)
Beverly Nagel, Dean of the College (Carleton College)
3:40-5:00 Plenary Session: "Quantitative Reasoning On Campus and Beyond"
"Quantitative Reasoning Today (PowerPoint 4.8MB Dec7 10)"
Milo Schield (Augsburg College)
"Ten Questions about Developing and Delivering a QR Course (PowerPoint 2007 (.pptx) 14.7MB Dec7 10)"
Shannon Dingman and Bernie Madison (University of Arkansas)
5:15-6:15 Cluster Group Meetings
6:30-8:15 Dinner Plenary Session: "Many Women Work, Wealthy People Have More Money, and Other Important Things I've Learned from Reading Student Papers" (PowerPoint 6.6MB Oct20 10)
Nathan Grawe (Carleton College)
Saturday, October 9
8:30-9:00 "Birds of a Feather" Breakfast
9:00-10:00 Break Out Sessions
"The Wellesley College Story," Corrine Taylor (Wellesley College)
"The James Madison University Story," Donna Sundre (James Madison University)
"The Augsburg College Story," Milo Schield (Augsburg College)
"The Macalester College Story," David Bressoud (Macalester College)
"Inside the NSF," Stephanie Fitchett (University of Northern Colorado and recent NSF staff member)
10:10-11:30 Cluster Group Meetings
11:45-1:00 Lunch Plenary Session: "Challenges of QR Assessment"
Donna Sundre (James Madison University)
1:15-2:15 Break Out Sessions
"The 'Quantitative Reasoning in the Contemporary World' Story (PowerPoint 2007 (.pptx) 2.9MB Dec7 10)," Stuart Boersma (Central Washington University), Caren Diefenderfer (Hollins University), and Shannon Dingman and Bernie Madison (University of Arkansas)
"The Alverno College Story (PowerPoint 2007 (.pptx) 973kB Dec7 10)," Sue Mente (Alverno College)
"The Carleton College Story," Nathan Grawe and Carol Rutz (Carleton College)
"Inside the NSF," Stephanie Fitchett (University of Northern Colorado and recent NSF staff member)
2:30-3:30 Break Out Sessions
"Grant Sources and Strategies (PowerPoint 2007 (.pptx) 101kB Dec7 10)," Rebecca Hartzler (Seattle Central Community College) and Christopher Tassava (Carleton College)
"Creating Enduring Resources," Cathryn Manduca (Carleton and Science Education Resource Center)
"Generating Interdisciplinary Institutional Buy-In (PowerPoint 15.7MB Dec7 10)," Caren Diefenderfer (Hollins University) and Neil Lutsky (Carleton College)
"The QR Program (PowerPoint 2007 (.pptx) 321kB Dec7 10)," Eric Gaze (Bowdoin College)
3:40-4:40 Time for Relaxation and Personal Reflection
4:40-5:50 Campus Team Meetings (over dinner)
6:00-???? Social Dinner with Jazz
A time to relax and get to know other participants with music provided by Occasional Jazz.
Sunday, October 10
8:30-9:45 Breakfast and Team Meetings (Finalize Action Plans) Vacher
9:45-11:00 Team Reports
11:00-11:15 Open Q&A
11:30-12:00 Lunch and Plenary Session: "Building a QR Community: The Future of the National Numeracy Network"
Corrine Taylor (Wellesley College)
"Numeracy: NNN's online, open-access, peer-review journal (PowerPoint 4MB Dec7 10)" Len Vacher (University of South Florida)

subset: commoncrawl


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Because I don't know what else to write about today, I'm giving you a movie review. Do you watch movies? I watch too many movies.
I've seen a couple of great comedies in the last month or so: Tropic Thunder and Pineapple Express were both well-worth the price of admission.
I was in the mood for a little zane (not a reference to an interest in a tryst with a short dude named Zane), and Hamlet 2 opened yesterday and I was convinced by the trailer blurbs that it was a laugh riot.
I laughed right out loud during this film, on several occasions. Steve Coogan played his character, a drama teacher and washed-up Hollywood R-list actor, with the same kind of loveable obliviousness, enthusiasm, and self-centered-ness that Steve Carell brings to Michael Scott. His drama department is going to be shut down, and in classic high school movie/let's save the rec center fashion he pens his own play for his collection of misfit students to put on. The play is a redemption story in which Hamlet travels back in time to correct his mistakes, and he is helped along the way by the time-traveling swimmer-bod model Jesus. It offends both the literate parents of the students in the class, and the religious zealots of the town.
Amy Poehler, as an ACLU representative fighting to keep Coogan's play from being shut down by the school board, is perfectly self-important and perpetually prepared to be threatened by "the man".
And Catherine Keener is excellent as Coogan's alcoholic wife, desperate to be pregnant or drunk just so long as it's different.
But I ultimately went to see this movie because of the promise of zane and irreverent humour (the main musical number of the high school play Coogan's students put on is "Rock Me Sexy Jesus"). And while there were occasional wacky moments there were too many opportunities to just pause and take a breath.
It had all of the comedic beats of a dramedy, but without the drama filling in the spaces. These little peaks of whimsical, unexpected humour seemed to be just that: unexpected. Because after a couple of minutes of relative flatness those funny moments caught me by surprise.
It's weird to write that out, because I really can't fault Coogan or his colleagues: their performances were seamless. And the script was clever enough, I think, to stand on its own two ridiculous feet. But the intelligence and subversiveness of the script somehow wasn't conveyed. Not even with Coogan hamming it up in what I thought was a very appropriate way, and Elizabeth Shue (playing herself, but a version of herself that left Hollywood to become a nurse) playing the Abbot to Coogan's Costello.
I did laugh quite a bit. But not nearly as often as I should have for a movie with a premise as ridiculous as this one. And there weren't as many "oooh" moments of uncomfortable snickering as I thought there would be. And the play itself, the most dense concentration of those kinds of awkward laughter moments, takes up very little screen time overall. Most of the movie is not about Hamlet 2. It is a flat farce inspired by the great "inspirational teacher/community center director" films of the 80s and 90s.
I don't necessarily want my money back. But I feel as though I didn't spend it on something I chose myself. I feel like someone pulled a twenty out of my wallet without me knowing, gave it to some starving artist whose work wasn't really that compelling, and then told me about it later. And just as I wouldn't try to get my twenty back from the guy eating ramen with his paint-stained fingers, so too I'm not going to try to get my money back from the producers. But I'm not going to feel good about it.


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There is a major shift occuring in the workforce and women are at the center of it.
Between 1984 and 2009, the number of working women has increased from 44 million to 72 million, Tracey Wilen-Daugenti, vice-president and managing director of Apollo Research Institute, says in her book Society 3.0: How Technology Is Reshaping Education, Work and Society.
With this rapid change, women's skill sets are more prevalent in the workforce now than in the past, especially as women hold more management positions.
Based on the company's study — not scheduled to be released until the end of 2012 — women are bringing these skills into the workplace:
1. They're more intuitive to bringing in all points of view. This allows for more collaboration and win-win situations. In today's complex working environment, this way of doing business is essential.
"Women are more inclined to investigate both sides to see if both parties can actually have a desirable outcome," Wilen-Daugenti told us. "They're more willing to ask, 'What do you want out of this?' "
2. They have different values than men do. They're much more empathetic to the diverse workforce needs. If an employee is conflicted between work and other aspects of her life, a woman in a senior position would more likely notice the needs of her employee:
"Women say they are much more in tune with the diverse workforce where they feel like men are not as supportive or empathetic," Wilen-Daugenti says.
3. Women are stronger with networking, sponsoring and supporting each other. Wilen-Daugenti says that the women she surveys report that they help each other out more often than men do.
However, one of the biggest mistakes women make in the workforce is their lack of confidence, she says. They underestimate their potential and, therefore, don't achieve as much as they could.
The shift in women in the workforce could have something to do with the fact that American women have received more college diplomas than men since 1992. In fact, for every two men in college, there are three women, and females are also more likely to pursue an advance degree, Wilen-Daugenti says.
"If you look at the unemployment numbers, education continues to be the key differentiator in people who are getting jobs and people who are not. "If you run the numbers, it's inevitable that there will be more women than men in the future workplace. Men, unfortunately, are not going to school."
"Women are postponing marriage for five years and having fewer children. In my organization, I really need people with master's degrees and PhDs and the volume of resumes that come to me are mostly women because they can meet these new credentials."


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Pay for your GO Transit fare quickly and easily with your phone using the Token Transit service!
Token Transit Send a Pass is an online pass purchasing portal for GO Transit. You can purchase a pass online and have it instantly sent to any phone number you choose. You can now instantly deliver transit passes for your friends and family.
Name | Description |
Regular (ages 6-59) | |
Senior Citizen (age 60 and over) |
ID Required GO Transit offers a half-fare program to all citizens 60 years and older using the bus. To take advantage of the reduced fare, passengers need to show any form of ID where age can be determined or show a valid Medicare card. Reduced fares not applicable for special events. |
Disabled |
ID Required GO Transit offers a half-fare program to individuals with disabilities. To take advantage of the reduced fare, passengers need to show a valid ADA card or Medicare card. |
Child (ages 5 and under) |
ID Required Children under five ride free, except for Go Connect route between Oshkosh and Neenah. |
Name | Description |
One-Way GO Transit |
Valid for a single ride on a GO Transit bus. Ticket will display for 60 minutes. |
Go Connect One-Way Fare |
Valid for a single ride Oshkosh to Neenah or Neenah to Oshkosh. Ticket will display for 60 minutes after activated. |
20 Ride |
Pack of 20 passes, each valid for 60 minutes after first use. |
Month |
Monthly passes are good for unlimited rides on routes within the city during the calendar month or months printed on the front of the pass. |
Purchases made with Token Transit for GO Transit are subject to GO Transit terms and policies. For more information on these policies you may visit https://www.ci.oshkosh.wi.us/Transit/ or call +1 920-232-5342.


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What: Scarecrows in the Park
When: Thursday, Oct. 17 at 3 p.m. through Thursday, Oct. 31
Where: New Harvest Park, 4775 New Harvest Lane
Scarecrows in the Park is going on now through Halloween at New Harvest Park in northeast Knox County. The Scarecrow Trail will be open each day from sunrise until sunset at 4775 New Harvest Lane.
Individuals, organizations, school groups and families have designed and placed their creepy or silly scarecrows along the quarter-mile walking trail at New Harvest Park.
Public ballots were cast and the winners in the 2013 Scarecrows in the Park competition are:
Adult/Professional Group
1st – Cisco Kid & Sally Thunderhead – Knox County Public Library/Imagination Library
2nd – CareCrow – Summit Medical Express Clinics
Individual Design
1st – Say What? – Gretchen Paxton
2nd – The Scare"croaks" Family – Audrey Overbury
Youth/Student Group
1st – Si the 4H Guy – TCA 4H Club
2nd – Poe – L&N STEM Academy Art Honor Society
First place winners in each category were presented $100 by the Knoxville TVA Employees Credit Union, and second place winners received a free shelter rental at any Knox County park.


text: Photo by Alison Plummer The Cotswolds: Make a Grand Entrance in Burford from Slow Down, See More By Alison Plummer|2023-07-05T03:17:37-07:00July 4, 2023|Comments Off on Photo by Alison Plummer Share This Story, Choose Your Platform! FacebookXRedditLinkedInWhatsAppTelegramTumblrPinterestVkXingEmail About the Author: Alison Plummer Normally no stranger to luxury, Alison once camped in Paris in a leaking kids' play tent ("don't ask"), and has often slept out under the stars in a swag across the Australian Outback ("now that's luxury money can't buy") on her globetrotting way. As a journalist/editor/managing editor and author, Alison's career has included newspapers, mass circulation weekly magazines, glamorous glossies, books, guides and all kinds of travel writing – destinations, food, wine, wellbeing, spas, art, drive/road trips and off the beaten track. Nearly (but not quite) all the important things in life!


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Knowledge is power, especially when the topic is energy.
During the next decade, the importance of energy at every level of the HVAC game will grow in importance. If you're a walking, talking source of energy expertise, you're holding a card that your competitors don't have.
HVAC company owners and managers are generally expected to be familiar with the energy impact of the comfort systems their firms install. But ask yourself this: What's your comfort level today if the topic of discussion is short- and long-term energy pricing, procurement, and use?
When planning new construction or renovation projects, building owners and facility managers will inevitably take an interest in the proposed HVAC systems and their impact on a facility's energy efficiency and bottom line. So it makes sense that most HVAC professionals are adept at knowing the energy efficiency of equipment they recommend. But that's only half the cost-cutting equation.
There are other factors that need to be considered, and all are valuable to you as a source of expertise when you have the client's attention.
For example, what type of fuel is being used, and what's the long-term outlook for the future of that market? How is the energy being purchased? Is the facility getting the right rate from the utility?
Sometimes winning a bid or retaining a service contract is held in the balance by small factors. These peripheral or secondary concerns can, at times, tip the scale in your favor sufficiently to win the bid. Why not add value to your service by knowing how to save your clients money on the price of energy itself, not just the amount consumed? Being knowledgeable in these areas can move you into a position of greater respect: the trusted, valued business ally.
Fuel for the Fire
In commercial and industrial settings, there's usually little consideration when it comes to the type of equipment installed. It'll burn natural gas if it's available. Residential installations typically follow the same track, if possible.
Today, and for the foreseeable future, natural gas prices are low, making it a pretty safe bet. Record production of shale gas, coupled with the fourth mildest winter on record, are helping to keep energy prices down nationally, and the long-term market looks nearly as promising.
Unlike oil, natural gas doesn't trade as a global commodity, and isn't likely to in the near future. The technology and processes used to convert natural gas from the ground into liquefied natural gas (LNG) are very costly, limiting the ability to export the energy. Additionally, the regulatory hurdles to develop LNG facilities are massive. This means we won't be bidding against the whole world for U.S. natural gas reserves.
None of this may be news to you, but what comes next is usually overlooked: How is the energy being purchased?
Some owners and facility managers make an attempt to purchase their energy by choosing suppliers based on published, short-term prices. Short-term savings, if any at all, will be what that buyer gets. Picking the correct energy supplier can be a daunting task in itself. Suppliers should be chosen not only based on price, but contract language, reliability, and financial stability.
For example, local incentives often exist for one type of energy or another, and issues such as meter placement can make a big difference. When adding new load to an existing building, it may be beneficial to hook up to an existing account, as opposed to setting up a new account and new meter. This can have a big impact on which energy rate the owner is eligible for.
There can be a huge benefit to you in bringing energy expertise into the design process as soon as possible. Energy efficient equipment is only part of the whole money-saving equation, so add dimension and value to your relationship with the client with the explanation that energy itself needs to be purchased efficiently to maximize the bottom line.
The Utility Rate
Surprisingly few businesses are even aware of the most important question to ask of the utilities – "What's the best rate for me to be on?"
If the project is new construction, the transition of the facility from the contractor to the owner is usually hectic, if not chaotic. Many business managers, not knowing any better, simply permit utilities to hook them up to the grid or pipeline, all the while paying for their utilities at temporary construction rates.
Changing the business name on the meter, and the rate at which the new account (gas or electric) is billed, may take a few months in most places. It's not uncommon, with everything else going on, for the meter to get overlooked. Any extra time on the temporary rate would be a waste of money because construction meters are generally billed at retail/homeowner rates.
We've seen extreme examples of this, where companies are still being served on the construction rate many years after occupation. Most company managers aren't aware that they're eligible for better rates, and utilities are unlikely to bring it to their attention. This kind of situation would nullify your best efforts to save your clients money on energy expenses.
Knowledge is Power
Knowing more about energy, and the many facets of its procurement and use, places you in an entirely new position when dealing with clients.
In short order, you can move from your already comfortable ground — equipment selection, installation and service — into a role where you may help clients navigate the process of energy purchasing. Ultimately, this lowers costs; your customers will reduce expenses that may have once been considered non-negotiable. Taking it a step further, you may assist them in choosing the best utility plan to be on. And you'll have learned a few things that may help you improve your own energy-buying. In the process, you'll gain insight into the energy realm.
Energy efficient equipment is only part of the whole money-saving equation, so add dimension and value to your relationship with the client by taking the cost-cutting process to the next step.
Mark J. Sahd is chief operating officer of Tybec Energy Management Specialists Inc., Litiz, PA. He has more than 20 years of energy industry experience, having served as industrial and commercial sales manager for UGI Energy Services, Inc. in the retail energy market. Tybec Energy (www.tybecenergycom) is an independent energy solutions company. Sahd can be reached at 717/875-6377 or by email at [email protected].
Consultants Can be Valuable Allies
Only you can judge your own interest and ability when it comes to becoming an energy expert for your customers. If your plate is full enough but you still would like to add value for your customers, consider suggesting the use of an energy consultant. Consultants, or energy procurement specialists, can help your customers through their energy selection and purchasing procedures.Experienced energy consultants offer the know-how to watch the market and buy energy at the right time. In addition, they wield powerful insights in avoiding costs. A consultant can ward off many headaches and expenses. As allied professionals, their role is similar to other professionals you benefit from working with, such as your banker, accountant, and manufacturer's rep. The right partnership can be mutually beneficial.
In addition, consider the advantage of bringing their expertise into your own firm. You can save money by using a professional to purchase energy for your shop and offices, just like any other client company. As a bonus, after enough referrals to clients, it's likely they'll be willing to do some pro bono work for you. — Mark J. Sahd


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Wednesday, January 16, 2013
This is London
The Commentator has a must read article and videos about a group calling itself 'Muslim Patrol' who are imposing Sharia law on non-Muslims on the streets of London - this includes confiscating alcohol and telling women that they cannot come on these streets dressed as they are. The Muslim group themselves proudly posted the videos on youtube (and have even added the obligatory Al Quaeda background music). Because this so clearly casts Muslims in a negative light apparently youtube have already started taking the videos down (so much for free speech) - so although the videos here link to youtube I have saved copies for reference purposes if they get permanently removed.
20 Jan: See here for important update on this story
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By Alan Duke
(CNN) — Actor Thomas Guiry allegedly head-butted a police officer after he was told he was too drunk to board a flight at Houston's Bush Intercontinental Airport last weekend, police said Wednesday.
Guiry, 31, faces a felony charge of assault against a public servant in the Saturday incident, according to Houston Police spokesman John Cannon.
United Airlines employees called police after they refused to let Guiry board Saturday, Cannon said.
The airline workers determined he was too intoxicated to board the flight, but they wanted a police supervisor to decide if he was a candidate for a sobering center instead of being jailed for public intoxication, he said.
Guiry became agitated and made repeated threats to the police sergeant after he was told he could go to the sobering center if he was compliant, Cannon said.
After the threats, the officer told the actor he was under arrest, he said. Guiry allegedly tried to kick the sergeant in the face as he was placing him under arrest.
The head-butting happened as the sergeant tried to restrain him, Cannon said.
Guiry was 11 when he made his acting debut in the film "The Sandlot." His career as a child actor also included the lead role in a "Lassie" movie remake in 1994 and "The Last Home Run" in 1996. He's acted in several television series in recent years, including a recent episode of "Elementary."
CNN's Joe Sutton contributed to this report.
™ & © 2013 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.


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FORT WORTH, Texas – Kyle Busch celebrated a 10th NASCAR Xfinity Series victory at Texas, and then had it taken away.
Busch's No. 54 Joe Gibbs Toyota failed postrace inspection Saturday after finishing ahead of Austin Cindric, who was declared the winner for the third victory in a row after taking both Xfinity races at Kentucky..
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NASCAR said Busch's car was disqualified for failing heights, with the left rear measuring too low.
It would have been the 98th career win for Busch in the series. Instead, Cindric got his fifth in 83 career starts despite crossing the finish line 0.949 seconds behind Busch. That made a 1-2 Ford finish with Cindric ahead of series points leader Chase Briscoe.
The 21-year-old Cindric, son of Team Penske president Tim Cindric, said he had already changed back into street clothes in his hauler when he noticed everybody still around the No. 54 car. He said it's great to get a win no matter how it happens.
"I felt like we had a shot to do that today. And maybe didn't execute as well as you should have, but that's what kept us out," Cindric said. "But fast race cars and being in position, that's where it counts."
Busch had to come back through the field three times in the race, including an early speeding penalty on pit road. He built a 3.3 second-lead before a final caution flag when Joe Graf Jr. made contact with the wall. Busch led only 15 of the 201 laps.
Justin Allgaier had regained the lead from Cindric when both pitted on Lap 159, but was penalized for a blend line penalty when getting back on the track. After doing his pass-through penalty 10 laps later, he dropped two laps off the pace before recovering for a third-place finish.
"I'd like an explanation, because that's been the same way we've done it now for as long as I've been in NASCAR," Allgaier said. "Disappointing. ... Win the two stages and know that we had a car that was capable of going for a win was really a solid afternoon."
Cindric led three times for 44 laps. Allgaier, who won both stages during the race, was in front four times for 98 laps.
Texas is a 1 1/2-mile track like Kentucky, where Cindric won twice last weekend. His other Xfinity wins were in back-to-back races on road courses at Watkins-Glen and Mid-Ohio last July. The last Xfinity drive to win three races in a row was Christopher Bell in July 2018.
"I've got more wins on ovals than road course. I'll take it, I'll move with it. It's great to be able to capitalize on fast race cars," Cindric said. "I don't this weekend we were quite as good as we were at Kentucky. But overall, being able to run up front all day, getting great stage points and have a say in things all race, it was great. We've just got to keep building on that."
There were no spectators allowed for the Xfinity race, or the Truck Series race on Saturday night when Busch was racing again. Thousands of fans will be in the stands for the Cup race Sunday.
Noah Gragson, who entered the race second in season points, crashed in Turn 3 on lap 117 after he got loose after the air got taken off his rear with Cindric behind him. There didn't appear to be any contact. Gragson finished 30th, and dropped to third in points while Cindric moved up to second.
Gragson was behind Riley Herbst in a similar incident on five laps into race, when Herbst slammed hard into the outside wall coming out of Turn 4 and ended his day to finish last in the 37-car field, though he got moved up a spot after Busch's disqualification. Gragson said on the radio that there was no contact.
"We were just learning the track here at Texas, first time at this speedway and got absolutely drove through by the 9 (Gragson) car," Herbst said. "Just a little bit of lack of respect."
More AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/apf-AutoRacing and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports


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A service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
National Institutes of Health
Dispatcher-Assisted CPR Boosts Cardiac Arrest Survival in Kids: Study
When bystanders follow experts' instructions, more brain function can also be preserved, findings show
Wednesday, April 30, 2014WEDNESDAY, April 30, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- The odds of children surviving cardiac arrest are better when emergency dispatchers give bystanders CPR instruction, a new study says.
The study also found that survivors were more likely to have good brain function if they received dispatcher-assisted bystander CPR.
Researchers analyzed more than 5,000 cases where children -- infants to age 18 -- received CPR after suffering cardiac arrest in a public place or at home. About 2,000 of the children received bystander CPR with a dispatcher's instructions, about 700 received bystander CPR without a dispatcher's help, and nearly 2,300 received no bystander CPR.
Children who received dispatcher-assisted bystander CPR were more likely to survive and have good brain function, according to the study published online April 30 in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
"Survival rates increased from 8 percent to 12 percent with bystander CPR and dispatcher instruction, a significant difference," lead author Dr. Yoshikazu Goto, director and associate professor of the section of emergency medicine at Kanazawa University Hospital in Japan, said in a journal news release.
One month after sudden cardiac arrest, rates of good brain function were 81 percent higher in survivors who received dispatcher-assisted bystander CPR and 68 percent higher among those who received bystander CPR without dispatcher help, compared with those who received no CPR, the investigators found.
The researchers also noted that CPR with chest compressions and breaths is more effective in children who've suffered cardiac arrest than chest compressions alone.
"Expectant mothers should learn how to perform bystander CPR before they give birth. It is very important for parents, teachers and other adults who deal with children to learn how to deliver CPR to children," Goto suggested in the news release.
Cardiac arrest in children can be caused by a number of factors, including choking, drowning, heavy bleeding, head trauma or other serious injuries, electrical shock, suffocation, poisoning and lung disease, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health.
SOURCE: Journal of the American Heart Association, news release, April 30, 2014
Copyright (c) 2014 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
- More Health News on:
- Cardiac Arrest
- Children's Health


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post edit:
I have received several emails asking if these are black berries--they're not!
Black raspberries are a type of raspberry, and while similar to regular red raspberries, they are a bit more tart.
If you can't find black raspberries, regular raspberries would be a perfect substitute for this recipe--and I'm sure blackberry ice cream would be delicious as well.


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A deadly feline disease is now spreading between cats after hiding in nature for nearly 40 years. Multiple cases of feline parvovirus, also known as cat plague, or panleukopenia, have been reported in stray kittens in the greater Melbourne area this week.
Feline parvovirus was a common disease in the 1960s and 1970s. Australia was one of the first countries to develop an effective vaccine. Once widespread vaccination became routine, the disease was pushed back into nature.
In the 1970s, cases were typically seen in unvaccinated kittens purchased from markets or pet stores, and in shelters where vaccination protocols were lax.
Between the early 1980s and 2015, cases were unreported, but no doubt feral and semi-owned cats were still sporadically infected.
The re-emergence first occurred in animal shelters in Mildura and Melbourne in 2016 and south-western Sydney in 2016. Many cats died. Even survivors suffered greatly. In all these outbreaks, affected cats had one thing in common – they had not been vaccinated.
What is feline parvovirus and how does it kill?
Feline parvovirus has a predilection for infecting rapidly dividing tissues. Cells lining the small intestine of infected cats are killed, resulting in vomiting, diarrhea (often bloody), fever, lethargy, anorexia and sometimes sudden death.
The bone marrow is transiently wiped out by the virus, resulting in a depletion of white blood cells. As a result, infected cats are unable to fight the invasion by secondary bacteria that attack the leaky gut wall.
Most cases of feline parvovirus are in unvaccinated kittens or young cats. The welfare of cats is hugely impacted by this terrible disease – it makes cats miserable for many days, if they survive.
Treatment involves intensive therapy in hospital: intravenous fluids by infusion pump, medication to reduce vomiting, expensive anti-viral treatment (omega-interferon), opioids for pain relief, antibiotics to treat secondary bacterial infections, and occasionally blood or plasma transfusions and nutritional support (feeding tubes).
Treatment can cost thousands of dollars, and many owners just can't afford it. But even with treatment, the fatality rate remains high.
Feline parvovirus is spread by fecal-oral contamination: from infected cats shedding virus in their feces. Litter trays and natural latrines (such as sandboxes) are prime sources of infection.
This may occur where infected cats are kept close to uninfected cats (in shelters and pounds), and in homes where cats have outdoor access. But you can track feline parvovirus into your house on your shoes or clothing, so even 100% indoor cats are not safe.
Feline parvovirus can usually be quickly diagnosed by veterinarians using rapid point-of-care test kits and then confirmed in a lab.
There is no risk of this virus spreading to human patients.
How did it re-emerge?
Feline parvovirus was never completely eliminated from the Australian cat population and instead has been maintained at low levels in the unowned and feral cat population for the past 40 years. Remember, there are perhaps six times as many unowned cats than owned cats in Australia!
This adaptable virus also has the potential to infect foxes and wild dogs, only later to be passed back to cats, providing a variety of potential environmental reservoirs.
Perhaps with an increased effort to rehabilitate and rehome "fringe dwelling cats", it was inevitable that the virus would spill back from these unvaccinated cats into the general pet cat population, given waning herd immunity.
Consistent with this hypothesis is the first outbreak occurring in rural Mildura, a somewhat underprivileged socioeconomic area (government figures show the median household income is A$878 per week), and subject to incursions by feral cats, foxes and wild dogs – including dogs used for hunting.
It is our suspicion that the cost of vaccinating the family cat (currently more than A$200 for a kitten requiring a course of two to three vaccines) exceeds the budget for many pet owners.
The best protection for any cat (and every cat) is widespread vaccination of as many cats as possible in the community at large. This "herd immunity" is the best protection against this highly contagious, persistent, resistant virus. When vaccination rates fall below 70%, cat populations are in trouble.
How do we protect pet cats?
Vaccination against feline parvovirus is highly effective (more than 99%) and is given by veterinarians as part of an F3 or F4 vaccine at the same time as a routine health check.
The Australian Veterinary Association recently recommended all cats be vaccinated annually. But with the modern range of vaccines, there is good evidence that in kittens older than 16 weeks, a single vaccination produces immunity which last several years
If a kitten has received two or three kitten vaccinations (the last one at 16-18 weeks of age), and a booster one year later, it likely has excellent protection against the virus, probably for several years, and possibly for life.
If your adult cat has received an annual vaccination in the past three years, it likely has excellent protection.
If your cat is more than three years overdue for its vaccination, it is sensible to visit your local veterinarian soon. Your cat will develop or maintain excellent protection within a few days of vaccination.
But what about unowned and feral cats?
We need to support efforts to vaccinate cats that have never been vaccinated against feline parvovirus – cats owned by people who are unable to afford vaccinations, and cats that have been dumped and are now unowned and free-roaming.
New South Wales is making some progress in this area. The NSW Cat Protection Society responded to a 2017 outbreak by subsidising free vaccinations for cat owners in Sydney. RSPCA NSW has ongoing targeted low-cost vaccination programs for cat owners, particularly in regional and remote areas of NSW.
Trap-neuter and return programs, while controversial, usually involve administering a F3/F4 vaccination to unowned and feral cats, thereby boosting herd immunity against feline parvovirus and also possibly reducing cat numbers.
Finally, for people who cannot afford veterinary care because of their life circumstances, Pets in the Park and similar charities can provide another option for vaccination.
Remember, the larger the proportion of the cat population that is vaccinated, the less chance any cat and every cat has of becoming infected. Stated another way, it's far more effective to maximise the proportion of the cat population that is vaccinated, rather than over-vaccinating only a limited proportion of cats.
Mark Westman, Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Sydney and Richard Malik, Veterinary Internist (Specialist), University of Sydney
This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.


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Green Bike Tray Rectangular Tray
Rs. 2,250.00
Unique, handmade gifts. The Vanity trays are designed and embellished to bring the most out the unique print.
Size : 10"x12"
Beautiful for the home or for any gifting occasion. Be it a birthday, wedding, anniversary or housewarming. We are preferred gifting options for corporates and wedding planners as well.


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NEW YORK (AP) — The Oscars telecast was seen by 40.3 million people, a slight increase over last year's show.
The Nielsen Company said Monday it was the most-watched Oscars telecast in three years. Last year's show, when "The Artist" won best picture, had an audience of 39.3 million people. After bringing in "Family Guy" creator Seth MacFarlane as host this year, ABC saw an 11 percent ratings boost over 2012 among viewers ages 18 to 49 years old.
The Academy Awards exceeded 40 million viewers four times in the previous 10 years.
The Oscars regained its traditional status as most-watched awards show, after the Grammy Awards topped it last year.


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Spore DRM Prompts $5M Class Action Lawsuit
Whereas most of the controversy thus far has stemmed from the limited number of installs available to legitimate owners, the claims of plaintiff Melissa Thomas lay with the undisclosed installation of the SecuROM software that enables the above practice.
Filed on September 22, the suit argues that Thomas and "all others similarly situated" would not have bought the game had EA disclosed the title's installation of SecuROM. It claims that SecuROM prevents unspecified user actions and programs from operating, with the software only removable if "the consumer completely wipes their hard drive through reformatting or replacement of the drive."
The "aggregate claims of plaintiff and the proposed class members" are said to exceed the sum of $5 million, according to legal documents obtained by Courthouse News Service, with the suit specifically seeking "actual damages, individual restitution, equitable relief, civil penalties, cost and expenses of litigation, including attorneys' fees, and all further relief available" from Electronic Arts.
Relevant quotes from the document follow:
What purchasers are not told is that, included in the purchase, installation, and operation of Spore is a second, undisclosed program. The name of the second program is SecuROM, which is a forum of Digital Rights Management (DRM) for computer games. Although consumers are told that the game uses access control and copy protection technology, consumers are not told that this technology is actually an entirely separate, stand-alone program which will download, install and operate on their computers along with the Spore download. Consumers are given no control, rights or options over SecuROM. The program is uninstallable. Once installed, it becomes a permanent part of the consumer's software portfolio. Even if the consumer uninstalls Spore and entirely deletes it from their computer, SecuROM remains a fixture in their computer unless and until the consumer completely wipes their hard drive through reformatting or replacement of the drive.
Nowhere in any of EA's discussions, responses or explanations of its DRM did EA disclose that the Spore disk contained a separately install, stand alone, uninstallable DRM program which would install itself to the command and control center of the computer and oversee function and operation on the computer, preventing certain user actions, preventing certain user programs from operating or disrupting hardware operations.
Faylor's Take: With all the media attention and DRM controversy, I suppose this was inevitable, but I'm not too sure about this case.
It sucks that you aren't told about SecuROM and that it's a pain to remove, but this is far from the first game to perform such a feat. It's not even the most recent. Crytek's Crysis Warhead, also published by EA, uses the same SecuROM technology. So did Bioware and Demiurge's PC port of Mass Effect. Even Maxis' The Sims 2 used SecuROM.
And just what "certain user actions" and "certain user programs" does SecuROM prevent? I couldn't find a specific mention or example in the legal brief outside of a brief mention of system slowdown in the quoted Amazon.com user reviews, which is curious, especially in such an otherwise detailed document.


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Updated June 2011 (historical)
NIAMS Health Partnership Program
Reducing Health Disparities in Rheumatic Diseases
What is the NIAMS HPP?
The Health Partnership Program (HPP) is a collaboration between the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) and Washington, D.C. area community organizations and representatives. Established in February 2000, the Health Partnership Program helps address health disparities in arthritis and other rheumatic diseases and promotes a community-based medical research program.
What are the HPP's focus areas?
- Public Health Education. Increase awareness and knowledge about treatment and prevention of rheumatic diseases such as arthritis and lupus.
- Patient Care. Improve access to high-quality specialized medical care in rheumatology for patients from minority communities.
- Health Disparities Research. Improve scientific information about the uneven burden of rheumatic diseases among affected racial and ethnic groups.
- Recruitment to Research Careers. Increase the number of researchers, physicians, and allied health professionals from minority communities.
- Community Relations. Strengthen trust and involvement of people from minority communities in the medical research process by engaging them as stakeholders, promoting their participation in clinical studies at the Community Health Center, and informing them about clinical advances that may benefit their health and well-being.
What is the NIAMS Community Health Center?
The NIAMS Community Health Center (CHC), located in Silver Spring, Maryland, is the platform for the HPP's research, education, and training activities. The CHC offers assistance in evaluating and treating conditions such as arthritis, lupus, and other rheumatic diseases. All patients at the CHC are enrolled in the Natural History Study of Rheumatic Diseases in Minorities, which is designed to gather information on how minority populations are disproportionately affected by rheumatic diseases.
Who are the HPP partners and what do they do?
HPP partners are individuals and community organizations that are committed to improving the health and wellness of Washington D.C. area residents. These include local government agencies, schools and universities, faith-based organizations, civic and community groups, voluntary and professional organizations, and private businesses.
Community partners offer input on the HPP's direction and help promote NIAMS' research, training, and education resources. Some examples of partner activities are:
- Sharing NIAMS' health materials with community members;
- Involving NIAMS in community health fairs and events;
- Promoting the work of the Community Health Center by referring patients in need; and
- Reviewing patient education information in the planning and development stages.
What are the benefits of being an HPP partner?
- Free Health Education Materials. NIAMS offers bulk quantities of health education materials for your outreach and communication efforts.
- Networking Opportunities. NIAMS promotes networking opportunities and collaboration with like-minded organizations that have an interest in improving the community's health and well-being.
- Expertise. NIAMS provides science-based information on diseases and conditions of bone, joints, muscles, and skin through its publications and toll-free information lines.
To learn more about the HPP, visit the NIAMS website at https://www.niams.nih.gov or call NIAMS at 301-496-8190. For information about diseases and conditions of bones, call 1-800-624-2663. For information about diseases and conditions of joints, muscles, and skin, call 1-877-226-4267.
NIAMS Mission
The mission of NIAMS, a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' National Institutes of Health, is:
- to support research into the causes, treatment, and prevention of diseases and conditions of bones, joints, muscles, and skin;
- to train basic and clinical scientists to carry out this research; and
- to disseminate information on the progress of research in these diseases.