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Multinational ICT firm Huawei has confirmed the introduction of a US$1.5 billion global financing program, with capital from IOT/ smart solutions focused funding company Smart City Solutions, to fuel the development of smart city infrastructure – with specific attention to increasing activity in Africa.
Lauren Fan, president of the public sector at Huawei, announced the safe city funding programme in Shenzhen, China and said it was established to help governments and smart city builders construct IOT, Command & Control for critical communications and Intelligent Video Surveillance.
Huawei executives believe safe city programmes are now a top priority for city authorities, including those based across Africa, but budget constraints remains a challenge and impacts on efforts to intensify safe city initiatives.
With the fund in place, it is envisaged that the conventional siloed approach to projects, where finance analyses budget and it takes time and further resources to move from one phase to another, all stakeholders determine the entire spectrum of the project simultaneously and link deliverables with finance options immediately.
Edwin Diender, VP – Government & Public Utility Sector, Huawei Enterprise Business Group said budget availability is one issue, but there are others including the impact of a largely traditional approach to digital projects and capital investment, and the growing need for flexibility.
"'What can we do and when can we start' is usually the beginning of a discussion (with government) … but the end of the discussion will be 'what will be the budget?' or 'where are the budget constraints?' or 'we do not have any budget'. Especially if you look at how smart cities and digital transformation is being formalised and established, it is still very much in the old fashioned way."
Away from silos
Diender explains that this way is based on projects with a clear beginning and ending, and clear outline.
In other words, there is a request for proposal, there is a public tender, there is a range of technical requirements that vendor/ responder must comply with and there is constraint in terms of what budget available.
"That would mean if you want to move forward to something that was very high up, either you would have to find a technology partner that, for the same budget, has a whole bunch of more functionality and features…. or if you want to be more cost effective, you could say that for the amount of functions and for the number of features that you are actually looking for, you can do that for less than your budget."
These are really the only two options and both represent a challenge because they require effective savings, a review of dispositional income, taxes etc.
"On top of that there are other elements or other possibilities where you can move forward when you come to things like a loan, or lease / financial services – but also that would be limited to the parts that are described within a very closed inwards looking item or issue or component, like a public tender or a request for proposal… because again that is very siloed, it's very 'on its own' – what it's not doing by itself (because that is not what the principle is about) it doesn't look at 'what is this project for' , is this a first step in a number of projects alongside each other or the one after each other that indeed is going to help pull the nation higher up a value chain, yes or no," Diender continues.
Road to digital transformation
This is why Huawei has taken a step away from political processes and a siloed approach on the road to digital transformation.
When it comes to budget plans, governments have to make provision for upgrades, migrations or acquisitions such as additional technology – and the global financing program represents an effective vehicle to help manage these processes.
Diender did acknowledge that some people may describe the announcement as merely a strategic means by which Huawei can secure projects/jobs going forward.
"It's a fair statement, but it's not necessarily the case that it will only run where a government does not have a budget. If a government has a budget, there are a number of ways how they can use the budget…"
And that includes investing in a PPI-driven ecosystem where there is value-add through collaboration and engagement to smart city development and digital transformation.
Diender says the PPI-model is certainly one engagement option and one that is highly successful. "Because it's not a government-driven item alone, it is also not a private sector driven item alone… when you talk about smart cities, when they are working together as one, of course create a nation, because that is what cities by nature already do. "
In a presentation 'Safe City Safeguard Economic Development', Albert Kan Dapaah, Minister of National Security of Ghana, said: "Ghana has always been known for its safety and stability. However, considering the trends of economic globalisation as well as science- and technology-based crimes, our government has the responsibility to increase investments, especially in science and technology, to maintain social order, fight against crimes, and prevent terrorist attacks."
This post first appeared on ITWebAfrica


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Last year I surprised my husband for his birthday with a trip to the Grand Canyon. I had been there before, but to watch his face as he gazed upon the enormous gap made me feel like I was experiencing it for the first time. It's impossible to appreciate the massiveness of the canyon unless you are on one rim gazing over at the other side. A gap as large as that is beautiful when it's a national park, but can be extremely daunting when it represents the distance between sales and marketing. Luckily, there are steps your company can take to bridge this gap and improve your customer experience.
Departments Still Work in Silos
Aligning sales and marketing to improve customer experience isn't a new concept, yet studies show that companies still struggle to do it. Sales and marketing continue to work in silos, as depicted below:
The Customer Benefits When We Work Together
Bruce Tempkin, a leading customer experience consultant, defines customer experience as "the perception that customers have of their interactions with an organization." Customers constantly interact with sales and marketing during the buying process, so when the two departments have conflicting messages it negatively affects the customer experience.
When companies succeed in aligning sales and marketing, they are able to convert prospects into satisfied customers. According to research by Deloitte, satisfied customers tell on average 4 to 5 others about their positive experiences, and therefore act as advocates for the company with which they had the positive experience.
In addition to improving customer experience, there are other benefits to bridging the gap. Sirius Decisions found that sales and marketing alignment delivers up to 19% faster revenue growth and 15% higher profitability. So how can companies bridge the gap?
How to Begin
Form a small team representing sales, marketing, and executives. This team will ensure that sales and marketing both have a voice and that everyone agrees with the steps being taken. Once you can get sales and marketing collaborating and invested, closing the gap will be a much smoother process.
Have your core team identify each department's measurable goals. Dive deeper than saying "we want to increase leads" by putting a number and timeline on the goal. This step is also where you can create common definitions that will affect both sales and marketing, such as what constitutes a qualified lead.
"Sales and marketing need to align at the beginning to achieve a common end goal."
—Oracle Marketing Cloud customer at a Modern Marketing Mashup
Sales and marketing need to have a consistent and complete view of your customers in order to create a positive experience for them. How many times have you bought something from a company and then gotten an email from it trying to sell you what you already bought? That inconsistency and frustration is eliminated if you create a single source of information.
"Get your data together and remove silos. Understand who your customer is, then begin advanced marketing initiatives." —Oracle Marketing Cloud customer at a Modern Marketing Mashup
Provide integrated customer relationship management (CRM) and marketing automation tools to enable sales and marketing to share a complete view of the customer. Having these tools integrated will provide better insight into the performance of each department.
Having practical insight for both marketing and sales leaders is essential in order to make adjustments. For example, if you see a high number of potential customers unsubscribing from a campaign, you can adjust the campaign to make it more personalized. By having integrated CRM and marketing automation tools, you can track campaign performance from lead to opportunity to order, and accurately measure marketing's ROI.
Get Started
Closing the sales and marketing gap is an ongoing process that may happen in phases. Start today by having a conversation with sales, marketing, and your leadership team. Work together to create your plan to better align sales and marketing to improve your customer experience.
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subset: commoncrawl


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Bankruptcy Procedure
Articles - FAQs
- Where do I file a bankruptcy petition?
- What is involved in the bankruptcy process?
- The Bankruptcy Means Test - How Does It Work
- Do I have to list all of my debts in my bankruptcy filing?
- Do I need an attorney to file for bankruptcy?
- How often can I file for bankruptcy?
- Bankruptcy Credit Counseling - What Is Involved
- What are the deadlines for filing a proof of claim with bankruptcy courts?
- Is Social Security counted as income in the means test under the new bankruptcy law?
- Can a bankruptcy case be reopened?


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Verbascum 'Helen Johnson'
Common Name: Mullein
Genus: Verbascum
Cultivar: 'Helen Johnson'
Category: Annuals & Biennials
Growth Rate: Average
|Hardiness: Hardy
|Height: 0.90 m (90 cm)
|Sun/Shade: Full sun
|Spread: 0.30 m (30 cm)
|Foliage Type: Evergreen
|Flower Colour: Brown, Purple, Pink
|Foliage Colour: Green, Grey/Silver
|Flowering Period: July & August
Soil Type: Sandy/Light or Chalky/Alkaline
Soil Moisture: Dry, well drained
Erect spires of saucer-shaped brownish-pink flowers with purple centres from May to August above rosettes of grey-green leaves A comparatively recent introduction this brownish-pink verbascum is valued for its neat habit. Perfect for the middle of a sunny border or cottage garden it prefers poor well-drained alkaline soils.
- Garden care: Mullein moth caterpillars can be a problem: pick off the insects in early June as soon as they appear. Remove faded flower-spikes. Apply a thick 5-7cm mulch around the base of the plant in early spring.
It is worth keeping in mind that these plants are mainly biennial so although they usually self-seed freely the plant will only live for two years.
Similar Plants:
Verbascum 'Clementine'
Verbascum 'Pink Domino' (Cotswold Group)
Verbascum 'Cherry Helen'


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The Etsy Shoppe... is still sitting there… with products in it though. Okay, no new ones. But, I did manage to get in some experiment time with earrings last week and continue to work at those. As the husband says, I was a little late with the Christmas decorations (although I do battle that the stars can be used year round). He says I should be working on Christmas in the summer and working on Summer now. So… hmm… While I do agree, I need a plan. Besides, I only posted those ornaments so I could finally say the Etsy Shoppe is open… I need to work at it though. Something I will be doing in the coming weeks as I should have more time. :o)
Anyways, I can't make this all about me. Well, I sorta have to… but I will post something that is definitely a little more interesting. While I've been busy, I've still managed some Pinterest time… who doesn't have time for Pinterest? Here are a few of my latest pins… Hopefully you can appreciate them too.
White is Heaven (A Little Pinterest)
Alright, off I go. I hope to be sharing some Christmas decor with you this week and maybe a free photo card design you can use to send to the family!! So… don't send out your greetings yet… I'm hoping to get a couple made up soon… one with a spot for the family pic. And, be sure to enter my giveaway, I've joined up with the Willow Wheat Spa.
Okay… that's a wrap on another Monday… I'm a happy camper again. :o)
Talk soon.


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I have a complicated relationship with Florida. To me, it represents everything that's wrong in America. And yet when I actually go to Florida, I like it.
So I'm not a Florida person. When Liz Lemon makes fun of Florida (via "30 Rock"), I snicker. But many members of Mike's family have relocated to there from Connecticut, so I have to keep my snickers in check and go visit. What a wonderful surprise the Pelican Grand in Fort Lauderdale was. When my long-time friend/travel agent Heather suggested three places for us in South Florida when planning this trip, I immediately chose the Pelican. I mean, just look at this place.
The Pelican is right on the beach and has a nice restaurant with outdoor dining. We ate our breakfasts, lunches and dinners on the hotel's back porch facing the ocean. There's a nice a bar, a spa and a zero-entry pool. I never really "got" why people love zero entry pools, but after seeing parents with toddlers getting in and out of the water, I get it. The pool was salt water and open at night, which meant we could take a dip after dinner when it was still 90+ degrees at 9pm (did I mention this trip was in August?). The best part was the lazy river.
The second best decision we made in Fort Lauderdale, after deciding to stay at the Pelican, was to rent bikes instead of a car. We relied on a cab to get from Fort Lauderdale airport to the Pelican (Uber was not operating in Broward County when we visited), and then rented bikes to leave the hotel and go to dinner and do some exploring. We cruised down to Green Isles Taverna on our bikesand then rode back along the Intercoastal Waterway. It was a perfect long weekend in Fort Lauderdale (and a cheap/quick flight from Bradley!).
Itinerary: Where We Went in Fort Lauderdale
We spent four days at the Pelican in Fort Lauderdale and basically just hung by the pool or floated in the lazy river while enjoying fruity cocktails. At night we went for walks on the beach. This is all by way of saying that we didn't do a lot in Fort Lauderdale other than what I've described above.
Pelican Grand Beach Resort
2000 North Ocean Blvd
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33305
Greek Islands Taverna
3300 N Ocean Blvd
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33308


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GQ Employment Law and Ganguin Samartin recently hosted a webinar on 'Brexit: the HR and immigration implications for international business' which attracted an audience from around the world. Darren Isaacs from GQ and Vanessa Ganguin from Ganguin Samartin covered the recent developments on Britain's departure from the EU, and the actions that businesses operating in the UK should be considering in preparation. The feedback from the audience suggested that most businesses have not yet begun planning for Brexit and welcomed the webinar advice. GQ and Ganguin Samartin will host further updates as more details emerge on the UK Government's plans.
You can access a recording of the webinar here.


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Our goal is to achieve the highest quality in each of our wines and we are especially grateful to be one of the consumers' favorite choices!!!
Ribera del Duero wines underscore the purest expression of Tempranillo wine
Spain's Ribera del Duero region has harsh conditions that wind up producing some of the most complex and flavorful red wines in Spain.
Rich and full body wine, oak aged for 12 months
Intense cherry color with violet tones. Powerful aromas in the nose, fruits of the forest and spices revealing in mouth its power and structure with a long finish and great elegance.
Works great with meat dishes, fall stews and summer barbecues
Spanish wine Tempranillo pairs well with all types of food because of its savory qualities, but it's great on its own as well!


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How Our Car Services Work
Please feel free to contact us by phone or online form at any time before making your booking to discuss the problem, ask for a quote or simply have any of your queries answered.
Make a Booking - Making a booking is easy, you can contact us via phone, email or by using the online booking system.
Drop off - We have different ways of drop. We do have a before hours system where you can park your leave your keys in the designated area and head off for your day.
Loan Cars - we also have two automatic loan cars available. The only cost to you is fuel. What fuel is in the car at time of pick up, is the amount required when it is returned. Loan cars will only be given to those people who have made prior arrangements.
Diagnosis - If you are having a problem with your vehicle rather than a service or set piece of work that you want done, we are more than happy to diagnose the issue for you.
Detailed estimate - once the Diagnosis or service/repair has been performed, we will follow with a detailed estimate of what else may be required. All our estimates include parts, labour and GST. We will also give you an estimate of the time of completion. Once we have authorisation we will then commence with further work required.
Work commences - once we have your approval we will start work on your vehicle
Work finishes - when the work is complete we will road test your vehicle to make sure that the problem has been fixed. We will then call you to let you know the work has been completed and organise collection of your vehicle
Pick up - When your vehicle is ready come to our office to see one of our friendly staff, who will go over the work performed and help finalise your account with you. We accept cash, eftpos and credit.
Questions? See our FAQs page or Contact us Directly Here
Book a Service Here | Contact Us for a Quote


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8 Limbs Wedgwood is a peaceful neighborhood hub just north of the University of Washington. Opened in 1999, it has seen a decade of loyal Wedgwood neighbors, UW students, and other NE Seattle yoga practitioners who enjoy the grounded wisdom of our longtime teachers. 8 Limbs Wedgwood is located on the ground floor. There is a step up to the studio floor.
Our ground floor studio is located in a row of shops on 35th Avenue just south of the intersection of 75th Street and 35th Avenue, across from the Safeway. Take the #65 or #71 bus (http://metro.kingcounty.gov/)
We can be reached 15 minutes before the start time of scheduled classes.
Lodging near 8 Limbs Wedgwood
Silver Cloud – University Village
5036 25th Avenue NE
Seattle, WA 98105


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UNPAD Dormitory could be easily known as a place of living for students. Hundreds of UNPAD students from various places came to live here.
Sport Center
Sport facilities are also available at the university, including futsal, basket ball, volley ball, and badminton fields with a capacity of 300 students. The university stadium " Stadion Jati Padjadjaran" has a soccer filed with 1.000 setas capacity.
Health Center
Health center is available at the university to facilitate the health needs of the students including fitness and gym center, pharmacy, general check-up, etc.
Student Center
Student center is used for after class studying and discussion purposes for Unpad students after class or merely as a waiting place before the next study hours. The student center also has the internet hotspot facility.
The facilities provided by the library of Unpad are:
– Internet service (Student Internet)
– Digital Library (catalog search)
– Online journal search (Proquest Service)
List of journals accessible to students:
– E-Journal PROQUEST
– E-Journal Cengage Learning
– E-Journal EBSCO HOST
– E-Journal SPRINGER (TRIAL)


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Tag: Leadership Conference of Women Religious
"This is not just about the Vatican versus the nuns," says Sister Maureen Fiedler. "This really is about the future of how we interpret the message of the Second Vatican Council." More
"What are legitimate changes…and what are changes that are really more driven by the secular culture and its values?" More
"What you are seeing is not quite a civil war, but kind of a civil skirmish within the US church about what it means to be Catholic." More
"I think you could compare it to a hostile takeover," says reporter, author, and Vatican observer David Gibson. Might the Leadership Conference of Women Religious simply disband and reorganize on its own? More


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The Mirish Empire was in ebullient mood and had decided to eradicate those desiccated old sticks in The Abyss as part of their plan to make Talomir better by making all Talomir be like Mirish. The Abyss had other ideas and deployed with their right flank anchored on a large hill with a stagnant lake in front of it. The Mirish army was deployed on the plain in front of them.
Thursday, 27 February 2014
Spring 995 - The Mirish Invasion of The Abyss
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Wednesday January 6th, 2016
Des Moines, Iowa
Universal Printing Services is celebrating their 50th year in business in 2016! Currently in their 3rd generation of "Springers", they have been family owned since 1966. The company is proud to have been based in the Des Moines metro for its entirety.
In 1966 George H. Springer II opened "Speed Print – Instant Printing Services". The plan initially was to provide black and white photo-copies for walk-in traffic. However as business grew and demand for commercial services developed, the company expanded its capabilities and opened a second location. In 1970 the company rebranded, becoming "Universal Printing Services." In early 1975, as their steady growth continued, the company moved all operations into their current location - a larger building on 5th Avenue with space for future expansion. In the same year, George H. Springer III (son of George II) joined the company in the Production Department.
The new space allowed for rapid growth as the company experienced annual double-digit sales increases during the 70's and 80's. The higher revenue allowed the company to continually improve their capabilities and purchase new cutting-edge equipment. In the late 90's the company was up to a total of 25 employees. George III continued to help oversee the production and sales departments, and eventually was named President in 1991.
After operating primarily as an "Offset Printer" for over 30 years, the company embraced new technologies in the prepress and production departments in the early 2000's. Following college in 2003, Sara Springer (daughter of George III) joined the company as a Graphic Artist. She helped spearhead the reintroduction of short-run digital printing in 2004. This success led to increased management responsibilities, with Sara eventually being named General Manager in 2008. Now in full color as well as black & white – Digital printing gave Universal a strong advantage over competitors whom were limited to only offset printing. In addition to Digital printing, Universal added a line of advertising specialty products and custom logo apparel to their services. A new marketing campaign in 2009 stressed that the company was now "More Than Just Ink on Paper" and clients could now consider Universal Printing as a "one-stop-shop" - with capabilities to meet all of their printing needs.
As other companies hunkered down to try to weather the economic storm, Universal Printing expanded by acquiring a local silkscreen and embroidery company in 2010 - bringing the newly acquired equipment in-house. With greater internal control over production and access to a broader range of services and products, Universal's apparel division expanded almost immediately.
In 2010, Brian D. Springer, George's son, joined the company as an Account Representative. This quickly led to new period of fast growth, as Brian's energy and community involvement showcased the company to a younger demographic of managers and buyers. In 2013 Brian was promoted to Sales and Marketing Manager, overseeing Universal's sales team and marketing campaigns.
Through three generations, company acquisitions and product diversifications - Universal Printing has remained a strong and valued partner to their clients for over 50 years. While at times the company may not have known "how to produce it" or "have the necessary equipment" – they always found a way to get it done. That has been our mission from day one, and we still continue that today. Our client's matter, which is why we have and why we will continue to adapt - ensuring their needs are met.


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Sep 04, 2017
This course was amazingly informative. I have learned many new thoughts and ideologies. This new understanding will help me to help my students feel a sense of belonging, inclusion and understanding.
Feb 12, 2018
An amazing course rich with narratives and lots of readings/ videos/ resources. This has been a great learning experience for me. Thank you to everyone who was a part of teaching this course :)
por Sylvia B•
Oct 16, 2018
The course had some good material, but it does not look like it has been reviewed in a while as some of the content they link to is no longer available.
por LAURA E H E•
Jan 12, 2020
I want to express my gratitude to those who intervened in all the ways in this wonderful course; with the elaboration and edition of material, the compilation of information, the pdf documents, the blogs, the informative pages about the subject, the brave testimonies of the transgender people, the opinions of professionals of the health and the companions that participated in the course with their valuable opinions. I thank you all for instructing me about how to help transgender people, in a country like mine, where even ignorance and prejudice hurt a lot. From my trench as a university professor, I want to make a commitment to support transgender people and their families with the aim of restarting a healthy and emotional communication, which stimulates their self-esteem and allows them to fully develop in their social environment to improve their quality of life . Having finished the course, can I get the scholarship? In order to implement changes in my workplace, I will be asked for a certificate. Thank you so much.
por Rachel M•
Jan 02, 2019
This course was a fantastic overview of Transgender and Gender Non-Confirming issues, incorporating many different voices -- both academic perspectives and personal experiences. I think it would be enriching for anyone looking to deepen their understanding of TGNC issues, but also particularly recommend it for people largely unfamiliar with the issues looking to create more inclusive spaces or be more supportive towards a friend or loved one identifying as TGNC. Thank you, University of Minnesota, for creating such a great course.
por Cassia M L•
Jul 12, 2017
Adorei este curso pelo olhar amplo e por tantas informações técnicas, depoimentos e abordagem variada.
Muito importante para ampliar nosso olhar para os transgêneros, tema que geralmente desconhecemos na profundidade .
I loved this course due to the wide seeing and due to so many information, testimonies and its diverse approach.
It is very important to extend our view to transgender people, which we usually ignore .
por Sandra L N•
Mar 30, 2020
Very important course for everyone who wants some insight into the plight of the brave transgender people of this earth. This short informative course shines a bright light on exactly what it takes to navigate daily life's struggles as a transgender person. I give it the highest marks and wish it was a pre-requisite for all schools. Education is the key.
por S. M•
Aug 22, 2017
Thank you so much to all persons, professor, students, family, groups, transgender and non conforming people like me, for this great oppurtunity! A lot of information and sources. I would like all people to attend this course! Thank you.
por Rita F B M R C•
Sep 04, 2017
This course was amazingly informative. I have learned many new thoughts and ideologies. This new understanding will help me to help my students feel a sense of belonging, inclusion and understanding.
por Aakriti•
Feb 12, 2018
An amazing course rich with narratives and lots of readings/ videos/ resources. This has been a great learning experience for me. Thank you to everyone who was a part of teaching this course :)
por Igor S•
Jul 21, 2017
Eu amei!
Amazing course, the best online one that i have seen, as a brazilian trans man i feel very happy with great information been teached like that.
por Sofia K•
Nov 15, 2017
The videos feel a bit cut-off a lot of the times, but if you ignore this then it's super informative and educating and well structured.
por jayshree s•
Oct 11, 2017
n society has started to accept transgender and lgbtqai people in general
por niyaz u•
Mar 29, 2020
a great lesson that is very efficient, content rich and made more useful with additional resources.
por Maya W•
Dec 18, 2018
really interesting, a lot of first-hand experiences, which was awesome!
por Melissa C•
Feb 14, 2018
Great course with real hands-on experiences and videos.
por Piper B•
May 13, 2020
I found this course insightful and incredibly helpful.
por Cassady W•
Aug 16, 2019
Amazing class! Recommend to anyone and everyone
por Thomas W S•
Jan 10, 2018
Very good! Excellent resources.
por Joseph P•
Jul 11, 2017
It was a very detailed course presented for the most part by people who are transgender. On a scale of one to ten, ten being the most interesting and engaging and one being the least, I would give it an 8. The course Lacked some of the research and history of transgender which adds to the understanding of inclusiveness and diversity. Thank you.
por Joy S•
Jan 05, 2020
I signed up for this course because I had run into this issue and did not understand. I used this course to learn about this and become more comfortable with things. It is very informative and in clear language that I could understand.
por Graham S•
Oct 17, 2020
some links were outdated, but most could be found by searching for description of link
por Sepehr E A•
Jan 20, 2020
The videos had very low quality of picture and sound.
There could be more scientific material and resources included.
por Elizabeth S C•
Apr 07, 2020
Content is good, but there are too many issues with the questions and the design to allow learners to progress.
por Jacqueline S•
Jul 31, 2017
Some of the speakers are OK, and interesting to listen to. However, many speakers were not good speakers, with lots of "likes" and "ums" in their talks. Also, the video edits often cut people off in the middle of sentences. There were far too many supplemental materials to read for my liking. Also, to be perfectly honest I think this course brought up more questions than it answered and does not improve understanding or approval of transgendered or gender non-conforming individuals.
por Kevin S•
Jan 22, 2019
This course is propaganda. No science. Very disappointing!


text: Dubai Film Fest: Paul Bettany Talks 'Avengers 2' and Watching Jennifer Connelly Inject Herself 10:55 PM PST 12/14/2014 by Alex Ritman FACEBOOK TWITTER EMAIL ME Courtesy of Toronto International Film Festival Paul Bettany - H 2014 The actor-turned-director will play new superhero addition The Vision in 'Age of Ultron' The first Avengers: Age of Ultron trailer may have sent the Internet crazy in October, but there was a notable absentee from the explosive two-and-a-half minutes: new superhero addition The Vision. Paul Bettany — who already voices Iron Man's sarcastic A.I. companion J.A.R.V.I.S. — confirmed that he would be getting a promotion and playing the new role in April, but as yet his character's look hasn't been divulged, barring a brief, blurred appearance on a Comic-Con poster. "It's still a secret. I think all will be revealed very shortly," Bettany tells The Hollywood Reporter, speaking from the Dubai International Film Festival, where his directorial debut, Shelter, is screening. "It's a secret I've kept for about three years, which is really hard, especially with three kids. I'm contractually obliged not to talk about it," he says, adding that he's still concerned about "sunlight glinting off a sniper's telescopic lens." But Bettany didn't deny rumors that there would be a strong connection between J.A.R.V.I.S. and The Vision. "J.A.R.V.I.S will be there and so will The Vision. But I simply can't tell you any more." Read more Marvel Seeks to Subpoena Google Over 'Avengers: Age of Ultron' Leak In Shelter, which had its premiere in Toronto, Bettany couldn't have been further removed from thoughts of superhero ensembles, directing his wife, Jennifer Connolly, in a harrowing story involving a heroin addict on the streets of New York. One scene saw Connelly inject herself, although having run out of dummy syringes she simply used a real one instead. "And she just went and put it into her f---ing vein!" he says. "And I was like, 'OK, let's roll the camera.' " While Bettany claims he didn't plan to write a polemic about homelessness "being bad," he did want to create a film that was about judgment toward people in situations such as homelessness and how "in a world of increasing gray areas, we're getting more and more entrenched in black and white." "New York City is the richest city in the world, and 59,000 of its residents are homeless as we speak. And 25,000 of these people are children," he says, pointing toward Michael Bloomberg's time as mayor for cause. "I think 36 percent of affordable housing has been lost during the Bloomberg years, and homelessness has risen to 59,000, but you would be a fool and a communist to draw any link between the loss of low-cost housing and the amount of people seeking shelter in the municipal shelter system of New York City." Read more New 'Mortdecai' Trailer: Johnny Depp Introduces the Cast, Dials Up the Madcap Bettany's next shot in the director's chair, following another turn in front of the camera alongside Johnny Depp in action-comedy Mortdecai, is likely to be slightly more upbeat. "It's a satire, and I'm very close to having a final shooting script, at which point I'll start touting it around." He says he'll likely employ the services of his wife once more, along with some others, to help attract investment. "It's a much bigger cast than Shelter, and hopefully I'll be able to convince an army of financeable friends to being in the picture." FACEBOOK TWITTER EMAIL ME Alex Ritman email@example.com alexritman


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In support of my kids venturing out to backpack 900 miles in 2016, Sea To Summit sent my kids the X-Pot 31 set which contained the X-Pot 2.8L cooking pot. Overall, we found it to be durable, space efficient and a great addition to our backpacking kitchen. Similar to other X-Series products from Sea To Summit, this cooking pot compresses and takes up minimal room in your backpack.
Product Weight: At 10.3 ounces, it is one of the lightest pots over 2 liters volume available.
Pouring: My favorite feature of this pot is the draining aspect of the lid. With the side pieces, you secure the lid to the pot and can drain water
Transparent Lid: Similar to the X-Pot Kettle, the transparent lid is a nice feature for checking boiling status instead of lifting a lid of a cook pot. My only complaint of the cook system is that the lid does not sustain a three foot drop from a car with direct impact on asphalt. Operator error!
Volume: With a volume of 2.8L, you can boil an ample amount of water, cook a six person meal or melt quite a bit of snow for water.
Extra storage: After compressing, the X-Pot 2.8 easily stores 2 X-Bowls and 2 X-Cups inside the pot. This really equates to serving dishes for a backpacking family of two adults and two kids.
Easy to clean: Like all of the SeatoSummit silicone kitchen products, they are easy to clean and wipe out. You don't have to worry about scraping a surface and the flexibility of side walls aids in efficient cleaning.
Kid Usage: With a smaller stove holding a larger pot of boiling water, parents may not be comfortable with younger kids managing the cooking. Kids will be more capable of using this if it is used with a much wider stove.
If you are interested in the Sea to Summit X-Pot 2.8L or any of their other kitchen products, click one of the Backcountry.com product affiliate links to the right. Purchasing products with these links supports the writers and contributors of Backpacking With Kids.com.


text: Thomas Dexter "T. D." Jakes Sr. (born June 9, 1957) is the American chief pastor of The Potter's House, a non-denominational megachurch, with 30,000 members, located in Dallas, Texas. T.D. Jakes church services and evangelistic sermons are broadcast on The Potter's Touch, which airs on the Trinity Broadcasting Network, Black Entertainment Tel… Read More


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Arsenic Mitigation in Bangladesh
Exposure to arsenic in drinking water is a major problem worldwide posing a serious threat to human health. Arsenic poisoning in Bangladesh has been described as the largest mass poisoning of a population in history. Over ...
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Building bio-regenerative solar panels for harnessing energy for deep space research instrumentation is one of the goals being pursued by space research agencies worldwide. Photosynthesis is being employed as the major ...
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We propose a business model based on the application of new antibody technologies that will revolutionize rapid disease diagnostics. Currently, rapid diagnostic tests rely on the production of monoclonal antibodies that ...


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Over $48.4 million has been allocated to the Emerging and Sustainable Cities Initiative in the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development.
This is outlined in the 2017/18 Estimates of Expenditure now before the House of Representatives.
The project aims to contribute to the implementation of Montego Bay's Urban Action Plan in order to address the main environmental, urban and fiscal issues affecting the long-term sustainability of the city.
The project, which commenced in September 2013, is being funded by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). It is scheduled to be completed in September.
Anticipated targets for the 2017/18 fiscal year include: a review of the draft Local Sustainable Development Plan (LSDP); continue assessment of the monitoring system and post monitoring system assessment; completion of prefeasibility studies for prioritised interventions for the St. James LSDP, Integrated Waterfront Park, and Coastal Contingency Plan; and the staging of a public awareness campaign.
Among the achievements up to December 2016 are: completion of analysis and diagnostic assessments; undertaking public opinion surveys and greenhouse gas and other supporting workshops; analysis of green house gas inventories; urban planning and traffic assessment and monitoring studies conducted; and completion of design for an integrated operating control centre.
In addition, the final action plan was completed and presented to the St. James Municipal Corporation in June 2015; the Charles Gordon Market was redesigned; and the Terms of Reference (TORS) for engagement of consultancy to complete the parish plan and New Market community survey was completed.


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We don't do soccer, either. I think it's insane when parents scream at the kids who are 6 or 7. That doesn't happen much in my community, just a tad, but I've seen it go on in the teams that they play.
My daughter and son are in tennis, swimming, she is in ballet, they are both in martial arts, she is in Girl Scouts, and riding and violin start in the Spring for her (he is too young still for Boy Scouts, or music or riding.)
No one screams at the tennis players...LOL. [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img] Also, it's indoors and doesn't involve long travel times and the tennis outfits are cute (LOL!) And there's this: they can play it their whole lives. I see the gamut at our club - 4 year olds to 80 year olds.
I will get them invovled in golf, too.
We don't do soccer, either. I think it's insane when parents scream at the kids who are 6 or 7. That doesn't happen much in my community, just a tad, but I've seen it go on in the teams that they play.
Those of you who have had a good experience with your GS troop making accommodations, do you also have a pretty good experience with your school making PA accommodations? Or similarly, those who have been involved in non-accommodating GS troops, was your experience the same at your school?
Since (volunteer) troop leaders are usually parents from the [i]school community[/i], I wonder if there's any relationship. . . .
Mariah was a GS for 3 years, but I was never a leader or any type of volunteer with the troop because I didn't feel the need. The parents were already very knowledgeable about LTFAs because the school (via [i]us[/i]) had begun educating the students and parents. The girls and troop leader were already trained/accommodating.
I'm currently a "co" troop leader for my younger non-PA daughter. She likes GS because she thinks it's [i]fun.[/i] IMO, 'scouting' is a very tiny aspect of our group. . . it's just a monthly 'activity club' where the girls do fun crafts or sports and get to collect cool looking badges. Very little to do with 'scouting' at all. Looking at our schedule this year: going to "Flicka" at the movie theater, ice skating, 'math fun' (badge), bowling, bike riding, 'Science in Action' (badge), 'careers' (badge), "friends are fun' (badge), the April Showers collection and cookie sales. IMO, none of this really has much at all to do with 'scouting' or 'camping'. Just a girl's club, IMO. <> Nothing one couldn't do without.
Quote:Originally posted by MommaBear:
Honestly? It's to the point my school smirks at my requests to enforce a [b]Federally Promulgated[/b] Law meant to protect my child. [/b]
why does this not suprise me!!! [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/biggrin.gif[/img]
no tone intended!!
you dont strike me as the kind of person who will let someone walk all over you. [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/biggrin.gif[/img]
girl scouts for me was such a positive experance and i realy want my daughter to have fun and make the kind of friends i had. now remember my daughter isnt pa....
i am worried about the time when they start selling cookies, and from what i understand they now sell nuts, but i will cross that bridge when i come to it.
when its time for my son to join cub scouts that might be a diffrent can of worms!!!!
i am going to call the "leader" of our local girl scout council on monday morning to find out about there policy with ltfa.
ill post her reply... hopefully its a good responce.
ps this post is kinda rambling ( i had a few beers, husband is away for the weekend and so are the kids!!) woo hoo
party at my house!
oh another thing, my sister brought up a question i want to post for responce...
sould i deny my non food allergy child from after school activites ie: girl scouts, just because my son is allergic to something??
Smudgesgarden: To answer your sisters question- Of course not
We just have to make sure they are safe while they are there. Sometimes depending on who is running the after school activity-this can be an incredibly hard task. I do choose to try and educate and speak to whomever the after school program director is before I make a decision to send or not send dd. I do prefer activities where food is not involved!
yeah, i prefer activities where food isnt involed either. i was just wondering what everyone felt about it. id rather girl scouts didnt sell nuts. im not sure what we are going to do when that time comes.
Yes, they do sell nuts. When our troop sold them, they passed out free samples in front of a store. Of course, dd could not participate in that. One of the leaders asked me to have dd do it and wear gloves, because if dd didn`t do it, "it wasn`t fair to the other girls". Let`s see, what about airborne, should I tell dd not to breathe while she is passing them out? I was told by people on this board that the nut sale is optional and the troop can decide to do it or not, unlike the cookie sale which all troops do. Our troop, of course, chose to do the nut sale, even with a pa child.
Gail W., to answer your question, our school had great accomodations for the pa. We were the ones who were offerred a 504 without even asking....so no correlation with the accomodations in Girl Scouts.
Re-raising for PA-Mom.
In our first year of Girl Scouts, I had to deal with this a lot--troop meetings were *generally* OK (except for one horrible day when the leader "forgot" about DD's allergy and had a cooking activity planned as part of an African culture patch that involved peanut butter) but council level events were always dangerous. PBJ served as the vegetarian option for lunch, unsafe snacks ("may contains") etc. I chaperoned everything, oversaw handwashing for girls who ate PB, made them sit away from the rest of the troop while eating, policed the kitchen picking packages out of the trash to read the labels, called people in charge of cooking at events to check stuff in advance, and marched into the kitchen at camp and told them the "make your own PBJ sandwich" table would have to go (they agreed to make the sandwiches inside on a separate table, wrap them individually, and put them out for kids who would eat all at the ends of tables. And they also discovered that this was A LOT easier and less messy for them.).
The next year, miraculously, there were no peanuts anywhere. No more PBJ at council events, no peanut-laden GS cookies served at meetings, no PB anywhere to be found at camp, and at one point at camp, there was a trail mix activity--the girls got one scoop each of several foods to make their own mix, and when I went behind the table to check the labels not only did they have them easily accessible, but they said that they made sure to get only peanut safe items since this was such a concern now!
This year, the co-leader of DD's Brownie troop has an 11 year old son with a peanut allergy so she is hyper-aware and fabulous about keeping things safe.
So I guess the lesson is to stick with it and be a pain in the butt--it seemed to have worked for us, and it's been really worth the effort because Brownies has been awesome!
How do they earn a 'Be a PAL' badge? Wouldn't part of being a PAL be to not eat foods containing nuts when you are trying to keep someone allergic safe? To truly follow through with the message of that badge, I would think, would be to understand the importance of inclusiveness and safety for FA people -- and most importantly for the Girlscouts who are FA members!
Been there, done that. As you might remember I had to pull dd out of Girl Scouts as there were so many events that were unsafe for her. I had a meeting with some big wig (don`t recall her title) and I printed out information from the Girl Scout website that someone on this board had posted the link to. When it really came down to it, they do not practice inclusion. It is just lip service. You probably remember the field trip to the bakery that used peanuts--even the bakery owner said it was unsafe for dd to go. I wanted it changed to something that dd could safely attend. The Girl Scout big wig condoned the field trip with the famous "It isn`t fair to the other girls to miss out because of one child." That is certainly not inclusion. And like the girls really care whether it is a bakery with peanut products or a bagel bakery without peanut products. When I saw the thread here a few weeks ago about the Be A Pal patch, all I could think was how hypocritical it was. Not at all what they practice during their events.
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In June 2013, the date of my last blog post, Allison and I were trying desperately to balance our new and demanding professions with our shared love: Blogging about farming, gardening, cooking and challenges in the food system.
Allison was lobbying for funds for a campus farm, seeking local and seasonable produce for an institution serving more than 30,000 students, and never taking a break from inspiring young students to get their hands dirty growing their own. I was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed waking up for 10+ hour days trying to grow vegetables, raise chickens and graze goats on a then-small farm within a 4,000 acre housing development damn committed to raising agricultural awareness and culinary confidence.
Neither of our careers has changed, but with every passing day, season, solstice and calendar year our responsibilities grew. Our commitment to "doing something about it" outgrew the number of hours in our days. Emails went out to one another late at night, from Virginia to Maryland and back, apologizing for not posting. The blog, and time with one another, became to something we wish we made more time for. For me, a lot of things did.
Farming took precedent. I started working through meals, choosing sleep over showers, and learned what it meant to sacrifice. Months passed between visits with my family, relationships fell apart, the only time I saw friends was when they stopped into the farm with sympathy in their smiles, offering to help wherever they could, asking if I was okay. I wasn't. Self care was last on my list. I shifted towards a not-great diet – ironically, the trap I work to free others from: convenience over nutrition. I sacrificed every ounce of my strength, energy, sanity, time and heart for this cause and opportunity I believe to be so important: building a farm that feeds the people building a community around it.
But working on a farm is the dream, right? So peaceful!
Yes and no, simultaneously. It. Is. So. Hard. When we interview applicants, we often say: Tell us about your hardest day farming or working outdoors. I think what I want to hear in the answer is that they've had not one but many; that they understand the organism of the farm is the real boss, they've raced the sunset or a storm, worked with one hand out of commission, set alarms to care for livestock all through the night, won, lost, hurt and laughed all in one day. And then gotten up the next morning to do it again every day since.
As the 2017 season beings, I get up every day to do it again thanks to inspiration from the farmers I work alongside, encouragement from great people, email inquiries about renting the goats, the Cecropia moth cocoons I've kept safe all winter, the tiny seeds that hold so much DNA and are beginning to express it in the greenhouse, the tiny victories against early weeds.
But I've lost some gumption and cheer – traits that I'd like to think defined me. So it's time to take it back! Back to the start, with a blog post:
Advice to a New Farmer (or perhaps to the version of myself that last posted here). Inspired by farming, farmers and also by Tony Robbins, Sheryl Sandberg, John Mackey, Bill W., good friends, good goats…
- Identify your principles, goals and profit centers and be loyal to them. There are a lot of different ways and things to farm, methods of sale and plenty of buzz around what's going to be the new kale. No one is doing them all at once, but everyone likes to talk about them. Find the things your market demands and then set short, medium and long-term goals for how to grow and market those products with practices you believe in. Sure, experiment with an idea or crop that excites you and reminds you why you started, but don't let visions of homesteader-level diversity convince you to bite off more than you can chew. Budget time to observe, be proactive and analyze successes and failures.
- 100% Customer Satisfaction is not achievable. Mark Zuckerberg famously said, "If you're pleasing everyone, you aren't making progress." When our farm was only growing vegetables and serving 40 CSA members, the people-pleaser in me was very satisfied. But then we added chickens, and goats, and more chickens, and more members, and more staff, and more pick-up days at more locations, and more hours of operation at the store, and more volunteer hours, and more educational programming, more varieties and successions, and you get the drift. There aren't enough hours in the week to live in a constant state of accommodating others, be them human, animal or plant. Help the ones that can't help themselves, first, but beyond that, grow the best products you can, sell them proudly at the place and time you said you would, then close the gate and go home (especially if someone is waiting for you). Your time is no less valuable than anyone elses.
- Livestock farming is not for the faint of heart. Even if you do everything right for and by the animals you raise, nature happens and it's hard to watch. The herd mentality. The pecking order. The predator doing what predators do, merciless and inhumane. And then there's processing – a time at which you must remember: Nature made humans omnivores and humans defined the term "humane." Every animal you raise the right way, the best way you can, is an animal spared from the conventional, industrial system.
- Learn from it. Forgive yourself. The first big failure hits hard. You see almost instantly what you missed, forgot, opted to skip because some other aspect of the farm called and you feel GUILT. You're disappointed in yourself. Even when it wasn't your fault, you know that you decided to engage in agriculture, you're domesticating animals, putting plants where they wouldn't just pop up on their own, so nothing on your land is ever just the circle of life, right? In some ways, sure, but this is the nature of farming. You're a farmer trying to choreograph nature like a god, but you're not a god. In these moments of defeat, I fall on the ol' standby: Accept the things you cannot change, have courage to change the things that you can, and wisdom to know the difference.
- There's pain you need to push through and there's pain you need to pay attention to. Learning how to be comfortable with being uncomfortable is Farming 101. You will ache, itch, burn, bleed and crack. If you've got the innate grit that most people called to farming have, you will amaze yourself with your ability to endure, but you also need to recognize your breaking point. There are a lot of ways to get injured or killed on a farm. If you are hungry, tired, itchy and in a rush: step away from the role of machine operator. If your spirit is suffering, see number 8.
- Done is better than perfect. As you learn to delegate, you will learn that no one else sees, thinks or works the exact same way you do and that's just that. Hire hard-working people who are eager to learn, teach them, then trust them. If you can't let go of a little control, you will fatigue fast, your colleagues will grow frustrated, and you'll end up pretty powerless.
- But… you will never be done. You know that feeling when your house, vehicle and hair are all clean at the same time? Me neither. Okay, I've felt it a handful of times in my life, but my point is: I don't think you ever feel that way farming. There will always be beds that need something, projects that need to be finished, emails that need responses… At some point you have to accept that you will never FEEL done and have to CHOOSE what can wait until tomorrow, what can't and when to cut it off.
- Befriend fellow farmers. Not just working, neighborly relations. Friendship. Whether they are many years ahead of you, a few behind you or side-by-side in the journey of farming, you will help each other. Open up to them, break down with them, seek advice, collaborate, vent, eat, rest, love and trust them.
- Accept that you will spend more time doing what you HAVE to do than doing what you WANT to do. This is true in all professions, right? It's just that when you're trying to simultaneously tame nature and run a business, there are a whole lot of "have to's" at once. Animals need care every day, multiple times a day, regardless of the weather. Mother Nature will boss you around and test your limits, but you still need to show up at market at the same time, with the same smile. Wind will sweep your row cover off after the rest of the staff has left for the day. Things will break. People will quit. You will do every single job on the farm and it will frustrate you, but sometimes that's just what you have to do and that's that.
- Cherish the moments that you feel gratitude, grace and purpose. Even on the hardest days, there is beauty. Beauty in a completed task, an oddly-shaped vegetable, an insect, a breeze, a critter, watching the chickens lining up at sunset. Don't lose track of them. In fact, look for three a day and talk about them at dinner. There's a Cherokee legend about the two wolves that battle inside each of us, one good (humility, empathy, truth, peace, joy) and one evil (anger, resentment, inferiority, ego). Who wins? The one you feed.
- Eat what you grow. With people you love.
Note: This reflective/inspirational tone is not the norm on here. I promise we will return to useful gardening tips, practical tools, recipes, labor debates, insect identifications and hard-hitting journalism soon.


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The Convention :
sets out basic principles for the protection of underwater cultural heritage;
provides a detailed State cooperation system; and
provides widely recognized practical Rules for the treatment and research of underwater cultural heritage.
The Convention consists of a main text and an annex, which sets out the "Rules for activities directed at underwater cultural heritage".
This is the 5 min. version of the film; there is also an 11.42 minutes version available
on this subject: Underwater cultural heritage


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Here We Go Again ~ Save FringeYou have got to be kidding me! I just learned from @FringeTV today that last week's episode is its lowest rated. If you're one of the many who have refused to even try Fringe because you think it's just another cold or silly sci-fi show then you have been severely misled. Just like any other genre, there are plenty of misses to go with the few hits. Sometimes it takes a little work and patience to search out the special ones. There are a number of examples of great sci-fi - Firefly (another Fox tragedy), Doctor Who (especially during Tennant's tenure), the Battlestar Galactica reboot, Babylon 5, and Quantum Leap being among my favorites - and Fringe belongs right beside them. If you're one who tried the first episode or two and said "meh," then you didn't give the story a chance to unfold. It is beautifully layered, with incredible acting and realistic writing, even if the situations are kind of out there.
It's not a CSI case of the week, if that's your aversion. It's also not Lost, drowning in its own mythology and only asking questions. Fringe presents weird, awful, interesting things and tells us why and how and engages our minds. But more so it makes us feel for the characters, both regular and guests, such as this season's almost serial killer who was kept sane by one person's love, and the scientist with Alzheimer's whose husband attempted, through her work, to bring her back, the one that somehow received such a low rating. The show isn't all standalone episodes, even if that's what it seems like to only an observer. ;) And it isn't only serialized to make it hard to get into at any point and, therefore, unenjoyable. Although, if you start late then you will spoil the most emotional reveals. It is a lovely combination of the two. There are fantastical stories, humorous moments, a lot of suspense, and, most important of all, a tremendous amount of heart.
But thanks to the Nielsen's you may not find out until it's too late. I really can't abide by them. The Nielsen families are certainly not a big enough group. Yes, they're supposed to be diverse, but you can't ever know what's going to appeal to someone based solely on their economic and family status. It's also such a tiny group as to not really matter at all, but it does to the advertisers.
And Fox seems only to advertise to those who already watch the show. I barely see any promotional attempts beyond a couple commercials a week, one of those immediately after the episode that just ended, and the Youtube videos from FoxBroadcasting, which are made by the people who work on Fringe; i.e. those who actually take tremendous pride in the show. The Fox network itself seems to think that we're supposed to do all the marketing for them. The numerous fan sites have done so much more work on the part of Fringe, but their reach is tiny compared to what Fox could do if it wanted. Fox hasn't cared since the beginning. Don't let them cancel this series before its time. Or start petitioning Syfy right now to pick it up. I would forgive them all their horrific decisions with this one perfect act.
So, please give this show a chance, or you will no doubt be kicking yourself years down the road when you finally do give in to a friend's nagging and find out that it was not only one of the greatest, most affecting shows, with believable and well-rounded characters that you would want to know. A show that expertly reinvents itself when the story requires and moves at a satisfying pace, but one that was also over too soon and maybe not even given a proper ending because so many dismissed it without a thought. Fringe has fans worldwide, as evidenced by the "Where is Peter Bishop" fan video, which you can see in the related post. The reason for that is it can appeal to anyone who has loved and lost family, anyone who is in some kind of relationship. Isn't that all of us?
Update (11-16-11): The DVR numbers gave Fringe a 64% ratings jump this week. Though, most DVR'ed shows only count if they are watched within three days, I think I read before that someone at Fox looks at seven days, which is the only reason Fringe was saved last year. This is news to be slightly relieved about, but don't take any of it for granted.
Click here to watch one of the best scenes from season 2. I chose this one because it doesn't spoil any of the major storyline.
Related Post//
Apparel from the Fringe


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Avago Technologies announced a new low cost miniature surface mount ambient light photo sensor for controlling display backlighting in a wide range of portable electronic applications. Avago's APDS-9008, which is designed to approximate the spectral response curve of the human eye, helps to significantly reduce power consumption to extend battery life in mobile phones, PDAs, notebook computers, TVs, video and digital still cameras. Avago is a leading supplier of analog interface components for communications, industrial and consumer applications.
The APDS-9008 is an analog-output ambient light photo sensor that comes in a lead-free miniature chipLED surface mount package. This new sensor from Avago offers a wide voltage range from as low as 1.6 V up to a maximum of 5.5 V and incorporates a spectrally suited photo sensor, which provides excellent responsivity. It targets designers of applications that require the measurement of ambient light to control display backlighting power consumption. Moreover, applications such as mobile phones and PDAs that draw heavy current for backlit LCD displays will benefit from incorporating this surface mount ambient light sensor into their designs.
The APDS-9008 is a pin-to-pin compatible alternative to Avago's APDS-9005 and provides designers with a miniature low-cost ambient light sensor that can work at a much lower Vcc of 1.6V. (more…)


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This business card holder is constructed of solid black marble. Add personalization and it's the perfect gift for the business savvy person in your family. Laser engraving leaves a frosty white personalizationon the jet black marble for a striking contrast.
Below are the available bulk discount rates for each individual item when you purchase a certain amount
Personalize our gifts with our No Limit Guarantee! Our gifts are 100% customizable. We don't have any character or line limits and no strict image requirements. I will work with you to design your item you request it. My only limit is the size of the piece and if my machines will be able to do it. I can resize most text and images to fit on the pieces instead placing limitations on personalization.
Posted by shannon on 29th Mar 2017
The printing did not turn out and well as I had hoped. However, it is a solid and masculine business card holder, which was exactly what I was looking for. I simply wish I would have selected a different design that would have turned out better.


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The kind of time commitment that your child's sport or hobby participation demands can be very pressing. With managing work life, domestic responsibilities and running around to practices and games, you hardly get any to catch a breath, let alone exercising. While you cannot add more hours to your day, you definitely can make the most of the hours you have. Your body needs exercise, and you will have to fit it in your schedule whenever you can.
Here are some workout suggestions that you can do while you wait-up for your child's soccer practice or piano classes.
1. Walk – If you are a sports parent and you are waiting at the stadium or ground that has access to open space good for a walk, grab the opportunity. Do brisk walking. If you are walking at a regular pace, you can burn over 400 calories, which is actually a very good use of your free time. You can also do this with someone who is waiting up too, but if the conversation slows you down, try doing it on your own.
2. If your child is in hobby classes and you do not have access to open field or track, look around for what you can use. If there is space enough for jump rope and stretches, carry along your jump rope and terra band. Look up for exercises that can be done using the jump rope and terra band. Make a schedule, dedicate a day for upper body, a day for lower body, one for core, one for abs and so on. Making a schedule will ensure your full body gets exercise and also your workout does not get monotonous.
3. Some days you can choose to take it easy, but even on such days you should stand and move back and forth or maybe take walk slowly around. Sitting al lot makes your body use less energy than while standing or moving. Research has shown that long periods of sitting are related to a number of health problems including obesity, increased blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess body fat around the waist and other conditions that may occur from low metabolism. Slow walk or even a little movement helps keep the body using up energy thus accelerating your metabolism resulting in improved health. Some movement is always better than none.
4. Always try and wear sports shoes to the practice or classes. It will be relaxing on your feet and will help in exercising. If you are coming from work, carry a pair of shoes in the trunk of your car.
Here are some exercises you can do while sitting:
· SEATED LEG LIFTS – Sit upright in your chair. Stretch one leg, straighten it and raise it to bring it parallel to the ground. Now bring it down and raise it again. Repeat to the count of 10, then change the leg and do the same.
· SEATED HIP BRIDGE – Sit upright. Squeeze your glutes together as tight as possible, hold till the count of ten, then release them. Repeat 10-15 times.
· SHRUG – Move your shoulders as close as you can to your ears, hold for a moment then drop. Repeat 10-15 times.
· ARM STRECHES – Stretch your right arm towards the left. Hold your right elbow in the crook of your left elbow, stretch and hold it there for 15-20 seconds. Repeat with your next arm.
Some exercises you can do standing:
· CALF RAISES – Stand straight. Get on your toes, hold for a moment, come down. Start by doing 20-30 of these and gradually increase the count.
· WALL SQUATS – Stand with your back kneeling on a wall. Now slowly move forward as you bend your legs from the knee. Bring your thighs parallel to the ground with your knees in 90-degree angle, like in a sitting position without the chair.
· MARCH IN PLACE – This quick cardio will pump up your heart and get your metabolism also running.
There's so much more that can be done. Be sure you do consult your physician if you have a medical condition or if you have pains or any other symptoms.


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Israeli forces killed a Palestinian protester and wounded seven others inside an enclave that the military had declared a free-fire zone, the first death since the ceasefire came into effect.
Witnesses said the dead man, Anwar Kudiah, who was in his 20s, had been visiting land his family owned near the border, hoping that the truce meant he would be able go back to planting there.
But other reports said he was attempting to plant a Hamas flag on the fence when he was shot in the head. Hundreds of other Palestinians entered the 300-yard no-go zone in other places to challenge the Israelis.
Both sides accused the other of violating the truce. The Israeli army spokeswoman Avital Leibovich said: "Trying to breach Gaza fence in order to enter Israel is breaking ceasefire."
Hamas said the Israeli army shooting into Gaza was a violation but moved to keep the ceasefire on track by saying it would raise the incident with Egyptian mediators "to make sure that it does not happen again". It appealed to Palestinians to stay away from the fence.
The Israeli army often opens fire on people approaching the border, even though they are still in Gaza, on the grounds it is preventing terrorists from entering Israel.
The Associated Press filmed an incident in which several Palestinians, most of them young men, approached the fence. Some Palestinians briefly talked to the soldiers, and others appeared to be taunting them.
A soldier responded: "Go there, before I shoot you," and pointed back into Gaza. Eventually, a burst of automatic fire was heard, but it was not clear whether any of the casualties were from this incident.


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How to Make a Chatbot?
Type of Chatbots
Scripted Chatbots
These are chatbots that follow a conversion flow that is 100% determined up front. At every step the user is asked to click a button or select from a limited number of options and their choice determines the bot's response and what options are shown to them next in the form of messages, voice or graphical widgets. It is the same concept as the telephone IVR systems that cause so much customer frustration (press 1 for Sales, 2 for Support etc) but in this case the user experience is much nicer because it is often graphically driven and much smoother.
Intelligent Chatbots
These are chatbots that "understand" natural spoken language that is either input by voice or text. They are often also called "agents" instead of "chatbots". For example, these bots can be used to answer frequently asked customer service questions, reducing the number of human agents needed to support customers. They can also be built to do a specific task, such as the x.ai agent which is used to book meeting. These chatbots work best when they are used to respond to broad but superficial commands (i.e. they are not required to enter into a dialogue with the user). Amazon Alexa, Siri and Google Home are examples are these types of bots or agents.
Application Chatbots
This is not strictly a distinct type of chatbot as it will contain elements of the above types of chatbots. It is, however, an important use case for chatbots and it will become more important in future. As mentioned, these types of bots have elements of the above bots but also have a graphical interface. When using the graphical interface of the chatbot there will be little difference between using a chatbot or using an application. For example, a flight booking chatbot may show the user a graphical widget that would look the same as the flight booking screen on their app. The difference being that in this case the widget is shown inside the chat channel.
Platforms to Create Chatbot
Another important factor in determining how to create a bot is what message platform you want to use. For example will your bot be a slack bot (used on slack), a Kik bot (used on Kik), a Facebook Messenger bot (used on Facebook Messenger), used on a web chat or another type of platform. Even email is an option.
Which chat platform you use is important for two reasons when developing a chatbot. Firstly, it's important because you need to ensure that the chatbot development tool you are using makes it easy to connect to the chat platforms that you want to use. Secondly it's important because each chat platform has specific functionality and the development platform that you use will determine to how much of the functionality on the target platform you are able to use.
For example, if you want to create a Slack bot you need to ensure that the development platform you are using supports creating a bot on Slack. Or if you want to take advantage of the chat extensions feature on Messenger, you need to ensure that the chatbot development tool you choose supports creating chat extensions on Messenger.
Ways to Make a Chatbot
Now we are at the point where we can discuss the actual chatbot development tools and how they relate to the type of bot that you want to create. A quick Google search will allow you to see that there are many bot platforms. There are only three main ways of creating chatbots right now however.
Create a Chatbot with Visual Tool
The first is by using a visual tool. These tools are built primarily for creating scripted bots. These tools, such as chatfuel, motion.ai, manychat, flowxo and octane.ai are great for building simple scripted bots.
To create a chatbot with these tools you will have to define the conversation flow of the bot in a visual way. For example you will have to define what choices the user will have at every step of the conversation and then define how the bot will respond when the user clicks a given choice. You will have to define the further choices it will allow at that point and so on until the interaction the conversation is concluded or ended by the user.
Each of these tools has a slightly different focus and some allow for more customization than others including "intelligence" features for example being able to respond to a word or phrase. The emphasis is on ease of use over functionality. True custom functionality that is needed for intelligent bots and application bots, such custom artificial intelligence, system integrations and custom graphical interfaces is not possible using these types of tools.
How to Make a Chatbot from Scratch
The second way to create a chatbot by coding a chatbot. This means using a programming language and relevant developer tools and libraries to create a chatbot. Using code offers many advantages over using a visual tool. There is no limit on customization (within the bounds of what is possible on the chat platform) and the development process can be managed professionally using all the tools and approaches that exist for software development including source control and testing.
If customization is required or integration with internal systems is required, the best choice is to code the bot. Of course the issues with making a bot this way are the same issues that exist for all software development.
A high degree of expertise is required to code software in general. Although creating a bot in code is not a particularly hard task for a software developer, it requires some expertise and understanding. A scripted bot on the other hand can be built very quickly on a no code platform with no expertise.
Another issue is that software developers can end up coding common features, from scratch, again and again, duplicating effort, especially when there is no good source of shared standard components. This results in a lot of wasted effort and potentially ad hoc non-optimal solutions to common issues.
Developers, especially when pushed to take short cuts because of time constraints, can end up with an architecture and code base that is not extensible or even easy to follow.
A chatbot that is developed through code can be a scripted bot, an intelligent bot or an application bot.
The Making of Intelligent Chatbots
Intelligent bots are built using AI, including natural language understanding tools such as Watson, DialogFlow, Wit.ai and Rasa NLU. You don't need to be a data scientist to use these tools and some of the work can be done by non-developers using a GUI interface. A developer is however needed to integrate the natural language tool with the actions that the bot will take.
The tools mentioned above allow developers to define what the "intent" associated with a phrase that is spoken or written in natural language is. For example, all of the following phrases have the intent of booking a flight.
- I want to book a flight to Paris.
- I need to go from Dubai to Paris.
- I need a flight to Paris from Dubai.
A developer would be able to associate all the above phrases (and many more versions) with the intent BOOK_FLIGHT. Whenever any of those phrases (and phrases that the NLU tool calculates are related phrases) are written or spoken to the chatbot, the NLU system would call a function in the chatbot code with BOOK_FLIGHT as the intent parameter. The developer would then add code that acts on the BOOK_FLIGHT intent. The NLU system will also pass through other relevant parameters that the NLU system has extracted from the conversation, such as the relevant airports and the relevant dates.
It's important to note that many NLU engines currently only offered a hosted solution. So like with the no code bot development solutions, with these engines you may not be able to easily access or control your data, implement source control, reuse work between bots or switch systems.
Graphical Interface
Coding a bot also allows developers to include sophisticated graphical interfaces in the chatbot behaviour. These interfaces can only be used if the chat platform allows them to be used. For example, it's not possible to put graphical interfaces into sms, so an sms bot would not have any sophisticated graphical widget associated with it. Some platforms such as WeChat and Facebook Messenger allow developers to put web views into the chat. This means there is no limitation on what sort of interface can be shown. Graphical interfaces are often much more effective than text interfaces for doing work on the desktop and mobile and should therefore always be used when there is advantage for the end user in doing so.
The Best Framework to Make a Chatbot
Botpress is a framework that allows bot makers to easily create bots using code. What makes Botpress different from other frameworks for creating bots with code is that it has a component architecture which allows for a high degree of reuse of common components. This means that common bot functionality like subscription or broadcasting doesn't need to be built from scratch. Instead the relevant component can be added to the bot or accessed via the api, instantly giving it the required functionality. This functionality however can be further customized by editing the source code for the component in question. Botpress therefore provides all the benefits of coding a bot from scratch but makes it much faster and easier to build the bots because of the reuse of code modules.
The modular architecture is not only beneficial in terms of allowing for a high degree of reuse of components, it is also beneficial in that it forces developers to use a highly extensible and best practice architecture to create their bots. It has also meant that Botpress has effectively become a middleware for third-party chatbot development tools, such as Botkit and Microsoft Bot Framework, as well.
In addition, Botpress has introduced tools that further increase bot maker productivity. For example there is a separation of roles between those who create and manage the behaviour of the bot (the developers) and those who create and manage the content of the bot (the content creators and front line staff) and manage the user accounts. Botpress has features built into the framework to manage this separation like role based security and multi user management. Botpress invented Universal Message Markdown which is a widely used markdown language in the bot space to address this issue.
Chatbot Builder
The third way of creating a chatbot is by using an off the shelf tool. Obviously doing this limits you to whatever functionality is allowed by the vendor. This will likely be a process of configuring a bot rather than creating a bot. Typically these sorts of solutions are targeted at a specific industry vertical and are for large enterprises. These enterprises are capable of assessing the trade off between the convenience of outsourcing functionality and the long term advantages associated with having control of their data and the underlying processes.
How to Make a Chatbot: Summary
That's it! You have now learned the most important things you need to know to start your new bot project. I hope you find yourself with a better understanding of the steps required to automate conversations. If you think this post was useful, please share this page url and link with people interested in AI or working on chatbots!
In summary there are many ways to make your own chatbot. The methods to create bots reflect the methods available to create software more generally. There is clear analogy between creating a chatbot and creating a website. It is possible to create a website using a no code platform like Wix, or code it from scratch using HTML and CSS. In between those two approaches is the WordPress approach where the website is built up from components. Using Botpress to create a bot is the equivalent of using WordPress to create a website.
Related Articles
Are you making any of the following mistakes when creating chatbots?
Exploring the future of customer engagement with bots
Why every agency should be building customer service bots for their enterprise customers


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To create a comfortable, impeccably finished and welcoming space that excites is the ambition of every decorator of homes, workplaces and other spaces. To succeed in this, obviously care has to be taken to respect the overall architecture and style of the space, as well as selecting the furniture and furnishings to put in it. Nevertheless, another secret when it comes to transforming a room and giving it a unique and original style, is to spend some time thinking about the details that can turn an anonymous room into one that has bags of personality.
Profilpas, which has always been in tune with the latest trends in interior design, has created a full range of profile for floors and coverings, offering an effective answer to everything customers might need. Thanks to the unique features and care taken with the details, these items can bring elegance and sophistication to any type of interior, raising the overall tone of the space.
In addition to the visual appeal and functional characteristics of these Profilpas profiles for floors and coverings, they also stand out for their versatility. The company has designed especially eclectic ranges which can fit into any space. From workplaces to living spaces, bathrooms to terraces, stairs to external or internal angles, these profiles provide tailor-made solutions which both suit and enhance the interior style of the customer's space.
The materials used to make the profiles for floors and coverings are also all-purpose, designed to capture the minds and hearts of customers. Of the many Profilpas branded products, the brass and stainless steel profiles are undoubtedly the most eye-catching for the quality of the materials and sophisticated design. Other premium products are the aluminium and PVC ranges.


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Is Ford Worth the Money?F) announced first quarter ended March 31, 2016 total revenue of $35.3 billion, up 11 percent year-over-year from $31.8 billion during the same period last year.
Ford declared first quarter of 2016 net operating income of $2.5 billion or $0.61 per diluted share, up 108 percent year-over-year from $1.2 billion in first quarter of 2015.
The global automotive company reported continued year-over-year expansion in both its top and bottom lines primarily driven by enhanced sales for the quarter coupled with superior customer traction for the company's newly introduced advanced vehicles.
A closer look
Ford has continued to deliver enhanced and robust key financial metrics with a solid year-over-year top line growth, superior worldwide market expansion allowed by Asia Pacific, Europe and North America, worldwide SAAR growth of over 3% and automotive profits, operating margins turned more than twice year-over-year.
The automobile manufacturing company illustrated impressive first quarter results for the automotive sector of North America with robust company performance all through the board including, notably higher revenue and wholesale volume, enhanced market share driven by solid fleet sales that comprises of F-Series, Transit and SUV vehicles, superior year-over-year North American SAAR at 17.5 million units allowed by the US and impressive quarterly profit as well as operating margin.
Ford's overall profits improved mainly driven by enhanced volume, smaller costs and superior product mix. The solid results for the quarter were further driven by attractive stocks and nearly 40% expansion of incentives due to standardization and increased demand for highly profitable major pickups that includes the Ford F-150 and key super duty models. In addition, the US average retail transaction charges grew notably driven by favorable product pricing due to superior incentives and an attractive product mix.
Ford seems well-positioned for delivering attractive year-over-year top and bottom line growths mainly driven by a healthy customer demand for the company's innovative vehicles with superior features and extremely competitive pricing.
Areas of weakness
The automobile sector in South America witnessed continued 44% year-over-year decline in its top line to $0.8 billion in first quarter of 2016 from $1.5 billion during the same period last year. Ford's year-over-year market share and wholesales in South America also fell 1.2 percentage points and declined 38% respectively with a 17.9 percentage point decline in the company's operating margins mainly due to a tough global operating environment forcing Ford to offer attractive product discounts to push sales. Brazil and South America SAARs were recorded at extremely low levels.
Greater company loss was driven by weaker industry sales comprising of Brazil declining 29%. However, Ford's general cost performance remained favorable driven by strategic downsizing of the company operations with the removal of the 3rd crew for the quarter at Camacari.
Going forward, oil prices across the US and global markets are projected to remain weaker for this year as well which seems gainful for the global automobile sector. According to the US Energy Information Administration, gas prices in the US are projected to decline to $2.36 per gallon during 2016 from $2.43 per gallon earlier.
The continued global weaker oil pricing benefits witnessed by the Ford were somewhat offset by the ongoing weaker customer demand for vehicles due to lesser disposable income with customers to buy new vehicles.
Overall, the investors are advised to "Hold" their position in Ford Motor Co. considering the company's currently weaker near-term and longer term growth prospects with PEG ratio of 0.64, indicating poor company growth. Ford also has a weaker financial position with poor total cash and significant total debt of $24.25 billion and $141 billion respectively, restricting the company to continue with its daily operations profitably. Further, the profit margin of 5.65% seems only satisfactory.
Published on Jul 20, 2016By Subhen Mittra
Posted in ...Market Commentary Stocks


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Tonight was Taylor Swift's night. She debuted her highly anticipated music video for "Bad Blood" (I was literally the only human not invited to be in it, I'm pretty sure.), she brought her incredibly gorgeous and talented posse, her envious abs and her hottie "rumored" boyfriend. I'd say girlfriend has no complaints. She looked gorgeous in this Balmain jumpsuit that perfectly outlined her abs. Did I mention I want them?...
This is an awful lot of fabric for Las Vegas. It's definitely the right amount of sequins though.
Oh, Taraji... I know I just tsk-tsk'ed Meghan Trainor for too much fabric, but this isn't exactly what I had in mind. It's 3 cut-outs too many.
I heart Lily Aldridge for lots of reasons. Mostly because she's stunning and always so well put together. Her skirt reminds me of Beetlejuice though, therefore I'm going to veto that (I'm still holding onto those kindergarten nightmares, y'all). BUT I do love that all Taylor's girls (TBD on that name) have monogrammed Edie Parker clutches with their "Bad Blood" character names on them. UGH GOALS.
:( That's all. :(
WHO IS DENCIA AND WHY IS THIS HAPPENING? It's like I'm looking at her insides made out of candy! Ugh. Remember earlier when I was like "Gosh, I don't know why hate music award shows?!" I just remembered why. THIS is why. Ugh, I'm so sorry to end this post in such a fugly way.
(via Zimbio)


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|Brown, Charles - Chuck
|Yang, Ching Pa
Submitted to: Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/11/2004
Publication Date: 3/8/2005
Citation: Brown, C.R., Culley, D., Yang, C., Durst, R., Wrolstad, R. 2005. Variation of anthocyanin and carotenoid contents and associated antioxidant values in potato breeding lines. Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science. 130(2):174-180.
Interpretive Summary: The role that potato plays in the human diet is dominated by the perception that it is a starchy vegetable. The research described in this article documents potatoes that have unusual characteristics. Taking advantage of natural genetic variation of the potato types with red or purple flesh high in a type of pigment called anthocyanin, were selected by crossing and selection. Anthocyanins, which are generally red or blue, are very common in foods, and available to function as antioxidants. Likewise, carotenoids are common in foods and generally are yellow, orange or red in color and also function as antioxidants. Antioxidants are compounds that retard the damage that oxidized compound can cause that lead to heart disease and certain cancers. A diet rich in antioxidant-laden foods is one of the guidelines for a healthy nutrition. Potatoes with levels of anthocyanins and carotenoids higher than normal also have a much higher than normal antioxidant status. Highly pigmented potatoes are generally called specialty potatoes at the present time. However, consumer groups, growers and companies that process or market fresh potatoes to grocery chains are unified in their interest to find high antioxidant potatoes that the growers can grow profitably and the consumer will accept as part of their diet. This research will result in new market niches and new attributes that will change the perception of the potato from being primarily a source of starch to a food also consumed for its antioxidant properties.
Technical Abstract: A breeding effort designed to increase the antioxidant level of potato by means of high concentrations of anthocyanins and/or carotenoids provided selected materials for analysis. Extraction methods suitable for hydrophilic and lipophilic compounds were applied. Estimates of total anthocyanin and total carotenoid were made. Two methods of measurement of Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC) adapted to hydrophilic and lipophilic compounds were applied. Total anthocyanin values varied between 9.5 and 38 mg per 100 g FW. The hydrophilic fraction ORAC measurements among anthocyanin rich clones varied between 7.6 and 14.2 mg per 100 g FW Trolox equivalents. These two variables were significantly correlated and with significant positive slope in linear regression. Measurement of total carotenoids revealed differing degrees of yellowness covered a range of total carotenoid ranging from 40 to 800 micro g per 100 g FW. Dark yellow cultivars had roughly ten times more total carotenoid than white flesh cultivars. The lipophilic fraction ORAC values ranged from 2 to 7 micro g per 100 g FW tocopherol equivalents. Total carotenoid was correlated with the lipophilic ORAC values with a statistically significant positive regression coefficient. Clones with red and yellow pigments visible in the flesh had anthocyanins and carotenoids in elevated levels and ORAC contributions from both fractions. The introgression of high levels of carotenoid present in the Papa Amarilla (Yellow Potato) category of cultivars of South America into long-day adapted North American materials is presented here. Although anthocyanins and carotenoids are major contributors to antioxidant activity, other constituents of potato flesh likely play significant roles in total antioxidant values.


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p.s if you don't have Instagram...why not link up your blog :)
target="_blank">< img src="://i35.photobucket.com/a lbums/d166/kerryxnx/instagramlinkup.png " height="150" width="150"/>
Hello! Newest follower from Instagram Blog Hop. I went ahead and added my Blog sine I do not do Instagram.
Thanks so much!! :)
Julie from Stlavonlady - a cat, a girl, a man and me!
Thanks for leaving a comment on my blog and following me - I am looking forward to meeting our baby in september (fingers crossed!!)
You have done so well to promote your blog being a relatively new start up, you are an inspiration!
Natalie x
Hi Kerry! I've just linked up and voted for your blog :)) Wishing you luck!
Don't forget to stop by and link up to my NO RULES Weekend Blog Party!
Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a comment. I love reading them all and will try my best to answer all of your questions. If you would like to contact me for a quicker response please feel free to tweet me at (@ohsoamelia_blog) or email me. Kerry
© 2016 Oh So Amelia. Phoebe Template designed by Georgia Lou Studios All rights reserved.


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Advancing the Culture of Life Through Faithful Citizenship
Journal of Religion and Society, 2008
41 Pages Posted: 14 May 2008
This article provides a brief summary of the principles that should guide Catholics in their political decision making and illustrates the application of those principles to our obligation to build a culture of life within a civilization of love. The first section of this article discusses human nature and the obligation to do good and avoid evil. The concepts of freedom, truth, good and evil are defined and their relationship briefly discussed. Section two of the article introduces Catholic political theory regarding the citizen's right and duty to participate in democracy and the limited role of the state in advancing the good of the human person and the human community. Section Three provides a sketch of American constitutional law regarding life issues. Section Four disputes the claim advanced by some Catholics that a candidate's views on abortion is irrelevant because ordinary citizens can not influence an issue that the courts have declared to be a matter of constitutional law. The article concludes with an examination of the potential impact of faithful citizens in building a culture of life through involvement in national and state politics.
Keywords: Culture of life, abortion, sanctity of human life, Catholic legal theory, Catholicism and the law, religion and the law, religion and politics, Catholic political theory
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation


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The cars designed for high speed are a declaration of wealth and power. The first hallmark of the genuine performance car that attracts the interest, is the appearance. Every sports machine is emphasized by its prominent form. Still the authentic speedster could be distinguished only when you check out the propulsion system. Here are some critical features: actual engine performance, horsepower, time to 100 km/h, seating capacity.
Curb Weight-to-Power Analysis
If you are buying a car with only two seats, the link between weight and power is really essential. It shows the authentic performance of the vehicle. Performance cars are valued for the effective blend of speeding up and agility. Weight to power ratio less than the standard is thought a feature of the rarest sports cars. For instance, Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 generates a breathtaking specific power. But the Porsche 911 Grand Tourer was recently announced as a racer with the best output of an engine relative to its weight. In conclusion, the specific power is the most fundamental for the definition of the fasts car.
Power from the Engine
High output version of the powerplant is the soul of a true fast sports car. Nowadays auto makers are persistently trying to test the extent of the motor capacity. The very best illustration of a performance car certainly is the latest edition of the Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse. This supercar is capable of 1200 horsepower. The 2013 Shelby Mustang is very close because its 5.8-liter V8 engine delivers 1200 horsepower.
Calculation 0-62 mph
The time needed to hit 100 km/h is important characteristic of the sports vehicle. As low as possible is apparently wonderful. Hennessey Venom GT can be an example of a car that boasts competitive power. For example, this sprinter accelerates to 100 km/h (62 mph) in only 2.5 secs. One hypercar that is a number one in the segment is Bugatti Vitesse reaching acceleration of 2.2 sec.
Number of Doors – How it Affects the Performance?
This super high dollar toy is definitely not suitable for a family with kids. There is places to seat for only two passengers in one fast automobile.