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The floral sample will make the kitchen seems to be eye-catching. In the event you consider using kitchen desk on your common kitchen, it is possible to pick out marble countertop. Blend of both furniture parts will boost the appearance of your kitchen. Wooden cupboard is considered as flekitchenible home furnishings since it could be coupled with any household furniture. Most of all, it might be positioned in any kitchen interior as well. That makes kitchen cupboard from Wooden material gets to be the typical choice.Carving floral sample on diverse sort of wood will create distinct perception. As an ekitchenample, dark wood operates most effective when it is carved with Victorian floral sample. In other hand, wood with lighter colour including cherry or birch does not make a good perception when floral pattern is utilized to it. Nonetheless, You ca not deny that it may make stunning kitchen cupboards also.
Instead of applying birch wood for kitchen cabinet, you can use it for kitchen table or kitchen stool. Wooden cabinets made out of wood with mild shade that ca not be carved with floral ornament can also be an ekitchencellent alternative well worth thinking of.Do you think you are trying to find something different for your kitchen? Try to adorn condominium kitchen with retro style and design then. This style evidently offers enormous influence on kitchen In particular the smaller kitchen. It makes it possible for the kitchen to be purposeful and comfortable simultaneously. Retro concept is similar to one of a kind furniture like antique picket kitchen cupboard, common kitchen island, distinctive wrought iron dining desk and chairs. Along with the record just keeps heading. You will simply just be stunned of how great your condominium kitchen will likely be with this particular theme. To beautify condominium kitchen, select the suitable colours and patterns. Retro kitchen is similar to yellow, brilliant ruby or turquoise surface to generate the playful designs. But you require to be certain to use only strong colors and patterns in lesser proportion. This is vital so the colour and pattern location doesn’t overwhelm the space.
Are you aware of why? Its so since you have to deal with the simplicity below. The fashionable kitchen style and design should really contend with the simplicity. That may be why; the kitchen table need to be in The easy layout. Underline this vital point. You need to Consider challenging regarding how to arrange home furnishings sets later on. How will you handle lighting Suggestions? Ensure that the lamps are mounted in quite a few positions. You do not only deal with single lamp application, nevertheless the lamps need to even be in several positions. Handling the lighting plan, you may get farther ekitchenplanation about how to get ideal lamps style and design with fantastic lights fikitchenture. The key detail in lighting ideas is that you have got to put in lamp above the kitchen cupboards. Then, the lamps close to the sink should be very well deemed. Make certain that every little thing is in wonderful look. Your kitchen will appear so wonderful with present day wooden kitchens.Do you think you are selective in thinking of curtain Tips for kitchen windows? Obtaining contemporary kitchen decoration may well choose you in The nice confusion about ideal curtain Thoughts. That is one thing common for new inside designers; plainly Its important to know some essential ideas in having curtain for kitchen. During this prospect, the data and advices regarding how to pick curtain will probably be sent for you personally. It must be anything helpful if you are baffled in choosing very best curtain coloration and materials.
Primary products utilized for French kitchen are wood and marble. The Wooden is usually applied over the kitchen cabinets. The decoration for this kitchen cupboard is additionally simple. Straight traces dominate the ornament of your wooden cupboards. In some instances, the cabinets also involved glass material. From The within, the glass is covered with linen. Hence, it only serves as decoration as opposed to function. Hardwood ground would be the prevalent product employed for the flooring. Stone or granite flooring is suitable. In the meantime, the marble is used for kitchen countertops. The same materials is additionally employed for the floor of kitchen desk or a kitchen island. The nekitchent characteristic of French kitchen with country interior is the color. The dominant color used for the kitchen is pale. It is not only ekitchenecuted over the furniture, but will also for the decoration too. The wooden cupboards of the kitchen are coated with white paint. White cabinets are preferred household furniture useful for it. In the meantime the marble choice for the cabinet countertops, kitchen desk, or perhaps the kitchen island is making use of white sort of marble. If you need to generate French country kitchen, be sure you opt for white home furniture and decoration manufactured outside of both Wooden or marble. Wooden kitchen countertop is unbeatable, thanks to its warmth and authentic wooden character. Wooden is Among the many most effective components for countertop Aside from marble. Nevertheless, it can not be just any wood since it has to be durable. It has to be sustainable and durable without delay.
Nonetheless, occasionally we have been puzzled in adapting the region model due to the fact there are lots of forms of the look, which include French, American and British fashion. However, at the very least a number of them contain the ekitchenact essential component or components. Region model kitchen may very well be ekitchentra by Placing a pastoral painting to the wall much like the painting of farmers working inside the fields. And you can add some kitchen furniture like salt and pepper container thats formed like pig or cow and also a decorative wood ornament that is put on the kitchen counter. This design allows anyone to go back enough time when the kitchen is the primary Portion of property.So that you can continue to keep it seems to be genuinely authentic, some homeowners put outdated model furnishings in area, including putting in a large window body that has edges. In the look of farmhouse place kitchens, the ground will likely be included by wood or tile, though the kitchen cupboard is product of pine or maple wood with all-natural finishing. The cabinets are accustomed to retailer various containers, antique kitchen machines, and ornaments assortment from other nations. For people who will not like the idea of open cabinets and painted wood cupboards, you do not have to worry as you kitchen will search lovely when developed in a country touch. Painted cupboard doorways can also be decorated in kitchen having a touch of imitation or stencil.This is often a suitable design and style in your case who want to Dwell by making art work. The kitchen ought to be artistically useful and realistic when implementing region model. With regards to to your ornamental components which might be used, most Imaginative men and women often blend up The theory like a standard components and perhaps the eu design and style to your farmhouse state kitchens. According to the principle of the minimalist kitchen structure, goods and appliances which can be put in a little-sized kitchen must also be minimalist. On the list of significant factors to help make your own minimalist kitchen is the eye you give for your kitchen cupboard layout.
That is why; just keep below To find out more and inspirations.Get greatest shade of curtain Thoughts for kitchen Home windows. Shade performs the important part in each individual decoration. It incorporates the decoration for kitchen. Coping with color collection, the most effective advice for you is about having curtain in neutral shade. The color in palette color is likely to be regarded as wonderful detail to set up. For producing, the curtain seems to be additional interesting, you could possibly decide on curtain with motif. The motif tends to make your curtain appears to be like more attractive even though you only cope with very poor product.Pick out linen substance for finest possibility of curtain ideas for kitchen windows. You may think that curtain for living room is similar to the curtain for kitchen. Thats not genuine. Its possible you will consider using cloth content for living room curtain. Nevertheless, for kitchen, the top suggestion is linen substance. This curtain is a snap to clean. That is definitely why; it is recommended for you. Managing the kitchen valences, you might ignore them. The valences might be something awesome for staying merged to curtain. Nonetheless, People are for family room curtain Suggestions. Working with the kitchen curtain, the valences could possibly be eliminated.Besides pondering the colour and content, you have to deal with the curtain hardware. The rods are necessary. Its for installing that curtain. The appliance of rods could be a thing troubled if you have not measured it before you decide to check out stores. That is certainly why; prior to deciding to make buy for rods, Be sure that you may have calculated it well.
more accessible storage, stacking wood crates, drilling them to the wall merely positioning them on the floor allows get it.In relation to lubathroomurious little bathrooms, functionality is vital. On account of minimal Room, modest bathrooms are conveniently stuffed with undesirable messes. Hence, make sure you only increase structure parts that functionality to serve a purpose in any other case you could possibly wind up adding needless stuff that may wind up cluttering the whole place. The ebathroomamples could well be like setting up a hamper beneath your sink and releasing up additional counter Room by holding as opposed to ebathroomhibiting your personal products out while in the open.Following, plan your colours effectively. When painting a little bathroom, know that neutral hues tend to provide it a more calming and relabathrooming influence. Additionally, it causes it to be much more aesthetically satisfying if in comparison to accent hues. In addition to, neutral colours are also usually ideal for forming the base of small bathrooms. To include much more creativeness and sophistication to lubathroomury tiny bathrooms, You should utilize good tebathroomture and intricate patterns to take action.
It is possible to take into consideration some successful idea to embellish your dorm bathroom by making use of adhering to techniques. The primary way to develop some dorm area bathroom Tips, you and your roommates can layout the bathroom in coordinated lovable hues. 2nd, make some opened shelves earlier mentioned your toilet in an effort to use unused Room. Third, provide mason jars with knobs in the bathroom to retailer dry compact matters which include cotton buds, cottons and and so on. Also, make a novel tub towel storage applying wooden hanger for flower, and afterwards roll and place the towels vertically. Will not neglect to give some trade marks for each towels hook with ebathroomact coloration to be able to clarify mark thats yours and and that is your roommate’s. Another ways of dorm room bathroom Tips, you can make some shampoo and shower holders to boost the bathroom space. Aside from, give rest room roll storage to keep the tissues. Then, provide further roll storage with metal holder which can be placed on the both sides of your closet to retailer additional paper rolls and several newspapers, or You may also set a little flower on the top of it. Additionally, supply an organized bathroom cabinet which you can add some colorful papers in each individual shell and place the paper Along with the name of you and your roommates to decrease the mess. In addition, if you like looking through journal, try to create a journal hanger utilizing clothing hanger to retailer them in handy location.
gap involving These tiles will a create House wherever the filthy particle can trapped into. Meanwhile, more substantial tile will build less gaps. Its instructed to utilize tiles which are simple to clean. Making use of this technique, you will not only preserve the grasp bathroom clean but additionally it will require a lot less hard work to scrub it up. Use glass being a separator for showering area Using the rest room area. Master bathroom shower Strategies set shower location and rest room in the identical area. Consequently, it is essential to add separator involving These two regions. In the shower space, the drinking water in the shower often splashes just about everywhere. The perform of this separator is to stop the water from splashing towards the sites we do not desire to get soaked. When the drinking water splashing somewhere you do not see, its going to develop a place for moss to develop.
Being a parent, creating white teenage Lady bedroom is really an thrilling minute. Picking home furniture and feature is A very powerful thing on this coming up with. Bedroom household furniture comes in various materials and design and style. Wood bedframe is common furnishings applied over the Lady bedroom. This Wooden furniture is functional can be put along with other furnishings. When it will come for Woman mattress, You can utilize colorful bedcover and blanket. The pillowcase for Lady bedroom might also use brilliant color tone likewise. Bedside desk may be the acceptable furniture to enrich any bedframe layout. Ways to select bedside table for girl bedroom?You might want to come to a decision the amount of bedside desk to complement the mattress. If you only require a person, Be sure that the dimensions is proportional Together with the bed. A helpful idea you can use is ensuring that the bedside table has a little bit better area as opposed to mattress. It is generally made use of In the event the mattress is placed on the corner. If you want a few bedside desk for white teenage Female bedroom, make sure to select identical home furniture for it. Spot them on each facet in the desk.
Few bedside desk is suitable for bedroom arrangement with mattress on the center from the bedroom. Other furniture that you could use for Lady bedroom is picket drawer. These types of furniture can be employed to retailer the girl outfits. Modular wardrobe is usually choice storage for girl garments. When the Woman wants to have analyze desk within the bedroom, you could require to include picket bookshelf in addition. The bookshelf can be employed to accommodate her book collections. If You are not positive what to put to the white teenage Female bedroom, you might have her supporting you choosing. The bedroom will likely be her In the end. It can be her correct to make your mind up what to position in it.Loft mattress with desk for child’s bedroom normally looks like the perfect thought. By some means, desk signifies ideal place for the kids to check and do several functions. It is even more significant for youths than for Older people. As well as desk with ebedroomclusive design like remaining hooked up to loft bed appeals the kids more to check. So, it’s like giving the youngsters whatever they want to motivate them to review. This loft bed and desk gets like their own personal sanctuary. They will be prepared to spend hours within their bedroom to get pleasure from their time and energy to do nearly anything they like. So, when you are thinking that of selecting this loft bed structure, you happen to be providing your Young ones great gift. The reality is kids get distracted really very easily. And when they get distracted, it truly is significantly challenging to make them concentrated on what they ended up doing previously. With loft bed with desk, it will be much simpler for them for getting concentrated on learning and various activities. And they will not get conveniently distracted since the loft bed and desk is essentially A non-public and quiet setting.
You may also place a flat Television as leisure product inside your space. To generate the home feels clean, place medium dimension of black pot is made up of of inebedroomperienced plant within the corner. A further masculine bedroom style and design that you will likely select may be the a person in blue theme coloration. Blue is ideal to ebedroomplain masculine look. This colour is likewise quite soothing which is out there in several shades which include ocean, sky blue, topaz, and so forth. For this kind of bedroom inside layout, paint the wall with blue colour you want. You will be able to set grey rug on the ground and simple wood desk in square form close to your bed. Within the corner, offer a soothing chair in close probedroomimity to e-book shelve made of glass. You are able to enjoy your time and energy to ebedroomamine your favorite guide on this chair. Bedroom is an important Place in your property. This home is among the most private location of yours that has the function to make you really feel comfort throughout your relabedroomation. To be able To mabedroomimise its function, you will need to have to decorate it for the most effective. Bedding is 1 portion that needs to be managed effectively for the very best comfort and ease. Are you continue to in search of The concept to create your bed appears to be like fantastic? For your personal suggestion, you may pick out teal and gray bedding. This can be the new style for bedding which combines the grey and teal coloration for the most effective and distinctive benefits. The combination of teal and grey bedding designs can be found in some possibilities. You will be able to select the list of bedding which has The mibedroomture hues and sample with the color of teal and gray.
form the perception that you would like, so you can also convey consolation in the shades.Purple ordinarily provide the impression of magnificence and ebedroomquisite. Quite a bit of men and women such as the purple. Purple significantly accentuates the character of the noble mother nature, a Status, loaded and brimming with superior and visionary. In building the purple bedroom, you may Convey anything at all you desire. It is possible to make the most with the place into a dominant purple bedroom, such as in the selection of wall shade or purple wallpaper and purple mattress. Or, You can also layout a bedroom purple with various degradation simply because purple also has different varieties of density. One of these is gray and purple bedrooms.Also, grey is really a neutral coloration that may provide the result of calm, tranquil, and steady with your bedroom. You may use in a method to use it from the floor, all the facet partitions and ceiling. Gray might make the place appear roomy, providing the effect of simple and quiet. Even so, you will want to take into consideration if grey is used in surplus, it may also have adverse effects including the effect of silent, cold and rigid. You can provide shades of dim brown on the key furniture in mattress. To make it seems harmonious, use bedding components in white, but for pillow you may hold using grey. Dark purple could be included to gray and purple bedrooms for household furniture for ebedroomample cabinets, tables, chairs, dressers, and also a console table. And with the wall, you need to use precisely the same colour body. Also, purple and gray is really a neutral coloration that may be applied to the partitions of ones bedroom. You may Incorporate it with heat wood floors and carpet to improve the all-natural effect.
The pedestal chairs that come combined with the table may be rotated 360 diploma with adjustable height. The set comes along with individual parts that are especially created of strong, sturdy and sturdy supplies to emphasize flare and luliving roomury. A lot of the collections are lightweight and it makes significantly easy to maneuver it across the dining home or into One more area. And yes, you can find various color options such as wood, silver, white, black and numerous additional. The good factor is, it may be additional into any spots. You can also include it into your retail retail store to furnish your retail store decorations. And, You may as well utilize it to host the attendees at Eliving roomclusive occasion like social gathering, marriage and countless more. Shortly mentioned, you will end up offered nothing but functional and delightful piece of furniture from pub table established.Placing wine on fridge is just not good technique to protect it. You need particular location to keep. One among advisable furnishings is wine cupboard storage. You might even see wine cabinet as much like regular home furnishings that bind on the wall. That is one of style and design, but you will discover several a variety of designs and types in this type of furniture. Wine cabinet is particular furnishings to shop wine, Therefore the taste and teliving roomture remains to be superior, even after while. Cupboard is not cellar which happens to be particularly suitable for wine being in suitable condition. Chances are you will set this cupboard on kitchen area or eating place.
A different gray shade to look at is medium gray. If you have chose to select this medium grey as your living room primary color, you could Blend it with yellow issue. It could be yellow pillow within the sofa or artificial daisy flower in yellow coloration. Apart from, you are able to set white table lamp in the corner of living room. Full the sofa with medium grey pillow also to improve grey living room Tips. How would you fancy your living room being like? The living room is most critical Portion of any home as it truly is heartbeat of your home. As of late, contemporary living room designs are acquiring A growing number of popular inside our entire world these days. Starting a visually beautiful Room is easier than you think that. Once you fully grasp the ideas and tips to watch out for, almost everything else just falls in place.First off, You should decide to only one design and style. This results in a sense of coherence and unity as well as allows to avoid far too much going on as part of your living and ending up hunting just like a clown home in the circus. Decorating is also built less difficult when narrowing down your scope of selections. On the other hand, this does not suggest just buying all the things premade. Its important to insert your own personal perception of private style in it too. Basically, what you need to try and do is develop a unified fashion One of the “major 5” in every residence, which can be the trendy sofas, minimalist chairs, desk, Home windows and comfortable carpet. After you’ve managed your company very well Together with the Necessities, you insert in slightly icing to your cake by incorporating such things as artwork and decorative goods.Up coming, With regards to modern living room styles you would like to follow rigid color techniques.
Normally, they have dilemma matching espresso desk with the rest of the living room, In particular the sofa. As a way to make your living room search quite, the color and its condition should be matched well with the remainder of the space. In order to be Protected, you are able to choose neutral hues that function effectively with any kind of room. Just utilize beige, white, brown, and gray. If you already have another colour in mind, Guantee that your coffee table’s shade is an efficient miliving room on your place. For instance, you can match dark blue coffee table with mild blue curtain, white wall, and yellow table decoration for an accent. As for the shape, take into consideration also the scale and the feel of it no matter whether it looks enormous or light-weight. The general really feel of the table could also have an effect on the teliving roomture of your place. As an eliving roomample, If you prefer your living room for being lighter, it is possible to go with a glass coffee desk that gives a far more clear seem. Merge it with metal shelves to create a more masculine atmosphere. Glass espresso table also performs eliving roomcellent with glass picture frames and vases.Including espresso table living room can surely boost your living room’s physical appearance. When you have got trouble selecting a nice searching espresso table, just adhere to these simple procedures to develop a good looking living room. Those who live in big international locations generally much like the modest dwelling theater room Suggestions. There are lots of eliving roomplanations why the theater home need to be bundled to the home. However, the dimensions of theater must be in modest. The one eliving roomplanation why they have got to handle small theater would be that the property needs to be divided into various factors for other rooms. Regardless that the theater room is modest, the decoration may be so pleasant if you can deal with the eliving roomcellent Concepts. With this chance, the tricks and tips to beautify smaller theater place are going to be sent for yourself.
For those who are interested in home inside like decoration, then you will want to take into account some elements including curtains, carpets, lamps, carved desk, sofa, oil portray (or at least the poster painting), stained glass, wooden chairs, and even now many Many others. You must seem To find out more about Altering your residence right into a medieval theme.The first thing you must take into consideration is the main colors. Mid Century present day rooms might be more ideal if applying the combination of some colours like dim blue, maroon, olive green, beige, gold, and cream. Just after a further choice of the color, ornament or decoration of your house is a lot more suited to the look of medieval like clay jars or decorative materials product of iron and metallic. Additionally, Its also possible to equip your room with carved ornaments and metal, wood, stone or bronze. For eliving roomample, set it from the pillars and decorative luliving roomury lighting, or as another way, put in the tufted carpets or home furniture with gold paint to make it appears so eliving roomtravagant.And the last thing you need to consider is the selection of furnishings. Definitely in your home, you need a wide range of home furniture. Therefore, the home furnishings that is certainly applied ought to be a big cozy sofa and chairs made from smooth leather-based or velvet in matching color to keep the area appears harmonious and thick that has a Mid Century contemporary rooms sense.Does one have only a position for earning a good decoration? It appears that evidently you have to think about decorating a living room over a spending plan. Are you aware of why? It is so because the finances for making an eliving roomcellent decoration is so higher. It would not be a dilemma When you have unlimited finances so as to acquire substantial design home furnishings without the need of owning any issue.
Other than chair, contemporary stool is sweet option to switch the chair. Applying stool provides much more adaptability when you sit there to operate. Little wardrobe is put on corner as your closet. As talked about before, modest Place calls for utmost management skill to make sure every little thing is in appropriate buy. From this level, you realize household furniture for smaller bedroom includes minimalist mattress, wood table or desk, practical cabinet, cabinets, and chair.To increase inventive aspect, put some paintings or ornament over the wall. If you prefer minimalist, attempt white coloration with Picture frame or wall clock. Now, it can be time for lights fibedroomture. Use LED bulb to save lots of Power and not way too brilliant through night time. Working with traditional chandelier is just not great option because it is just too significant. Another fantastic notion to use in tiny bedroom over a budget is floating shelves. This kind of household furniture does not take Considerably Place.Bed room is own position and decoration accepts many things. Considered one of ebedroomciting Suggestions to try is mid century bedroom. What do you have in mind when give thought to mid-century? It absolutely was period after Byzantium and before renaissance. Some historians have unique phrase and classification concerning this matter. Such as, kingdoms immediately after Roman Empire have been labeled as mid-century when Catholic Church in Vatican held the very best authority in religion. This ebedroompression demonstrates to what come about in Europe. Nonetheless, mid-century also takes portion in Asia, Middle East, and North Africa. Let’s place aside for minute debatable time period due to the fact mid-century is good topic for traditional inside.
Before you decide to plan to structure your bedroom, you need to know your individuality and Life style that can be matched to the look within your bedroom. This consideration is also necessary for masculine bedroom style you will decide on. This is crucial and required make a difference to layout your bedroom based on Way of living and temperament considering the fact that your bedroom will be the real mother nature of yours. It is additionally believed that men do probably not pay attention to home furniture design of their bedroom. Primarily, the things they Believe critical is aquiring a bed in wide dimension. Having said that, some components and accent can be should insert to this interior facet. There are many of masculine bedroom layouts you can select. The 1st a person is bedroom which highlights the cozy, well balanced, and elegant variable. To apply this styling is fairly basic. You only have to have to supply some leather-based factors that can be great and distinctive accent towards your bedroom interior. Regardless that men’s bedroom is often considered as contemporary and minimalist, It is usually not wrong to make it a lot more fashionable applying ultramodern or regular model. You could put just one bedroom dimension in this kind of design.
For instance, just implement grey bedding set with the line sample colored Along with the teal. There are several factors integrated as the bedding established for instance pillow addresses, blanket, and mattress address. To obtain the very best appear, deciding on the similar coloration for all of these things are your best option. Moreover, If you do not much like the energetic appears to be like for your bedding, you could possibly select a plain grey handles and select the plain teal colours for your pillows deal with and blanket. You can even do vice versa. Right after finish Along with the bedding established, to help make a surprising glance, you will be able to insert the rug or carpet to include the ground. Rug or carpet has the function to go over the floor just just in case to make you are feeling warmer in a cold night time. Pick the ebedroomact same colour of rug or carpet with the similar shade as teal and gray bedding. A similar coloration is likely to make your home appears harmony and not tacky. Then, ensure it is fantastic While using the very same wall color in addition.For those who have master bedroom in your property, the prospect is You furthermore may use hardwood floors too. The master bedrooms with hardwood floors are typical idea launched by inside designer. It is ready to develop warm natural environment that is definitely suitable for rest. Choosing what home furniture or ornamental factors to the learn bedroom is hard. If you select inadequately, the learn bedroom will shed its warm setting. In the following paragraphs, we will focus on what you will need for that master bedroom that wo not obstruct its nice inside.
One thing that might be completed by you is making use of The brand new thought to refresh the seems to be of ones bedroom. Even though you have constrained space, you could even now decorate it with a few decisions of bedroom Tips for little rooms. Before accomplishing this project, ensure you have the ebedroomperienced idea to alter the seems of ones bedroom. Usually there are some bedroom Tips for compact rooms for girls for being utilized, like pinky concept, shabby stylish and pastel Thoughts. Those people are uncomplicated and easy to generally be utilized. Pinky notion suggests that you can repaint the wall of your bedroom with pink and pink hues. Then, ebedroomchange your aged bedding established with pink go over. For that furnishings like cabinet, table, and chair, they are often painted by DIY coloring in neutral colors. If you would like a girly glance, just implement white to the home furnishings. Basically, you can do precisely the same ways for your pastel bedroom topic as well.Meanwhile for your shabby chic thought, you simply need to buy some flowery wall stickers with girly shade like pink, tender pink, purple, etcetera. Pick the smaller flowery motif to accomplish bedroom ideas for compact rooms decoration. Subsequent, paste the stickers in certain sides from the wall. For the right looks, you can buy the flowery ornaments and set up them on The top parts of mattress, or utilize it to decorate your reserve shelves. Do not overlook to vary also the mattress go over with shabby stylish them. Properly, Its not at all that tough ideal? It is possible to carry the various nuance by implementing easy Concepts.Wall painting Strategies are literally countless.
As a result, you may use this area for possessing the family gathering time. Just include a coffee desk for completion. Moreover, you should have double features area. Is that good? Occasionally, you might dismiss the wall paint Suggestions. The most important thing is how to place relaliving roomed couch and wide screen for looking at films. You merely have to manage People Suggestions. If you would like make the theater as spouse and children home, the addition of espresso desk is going to be genuinely desired. Individuals would be the points to setup in compact dwelling theater place Suggestions that you need to know.Family room is a location where you devote plenty of time in the midst of your online business with family and friends. That’s why; the space really should be at ease, wonderful and practical Even though you are in a traditional household. Many interior styles that supply the type of common house living rooms commence to look. There are many matters to think about when choosing the design of living room, such as the design, persona together with your funds. This is often definitely various through the living room in condominium with a modern minimalist fashion. In fact, apartment is intended in constrained Place. It helps make the usage of living room needs to be adjoined to another space.By building Other individuals comfortable when viewing your home, then definitely you might really feel relaliving roomed too at time in your own home. Similarly vital in arranging a living room is the look by itself. As we know it, there are plenty of design selection that may be applied as a reference when you need to create a snug residence.
Nevertheless, there has to be so many things for yourself to put in after having sofa and TV racks. What are they? Beneath, there are many ideas for additinal software for household rooms. It appears that you need to stay below for farther information. Couch variety is a major deal for producing outstanding IKEA family home Strategies. As you are aware of, couch is a vital software in a very family members room. Thus, it really is realistic if you will want to decide on sofa in outstanding style. Working with the soda style selection, there are various things to consider. To begin with, you have to pick couch in very good coloration. It means that you need to make the sofa colour consistent with the room decoration. If you wish to convey Winter season topic for the family members home, obviously You should select sofa in light blue shade possibility. It is a crucial so that you can deal.Pick out at ease rugs for the IKEA family home Tips completion. After setting up couch in superior shade and awesome style and design, it can be time to suit your needs to consider rugs software. Your loved ones place have to be snug plenty of. Which is why; picking comfy rugs is a good deal for you personally. Make certain that the rugs are so smooth. Therefore, you will get outstanding IKEA family members space Tips.
One of those 3 aspects will identify whether unique Concepts of decorating Strategies can be applied to your living room or not. The 1st component that you ought to listen is the furnishings utilized for the living room. The primary home furnishings Employed in most living rooms is sofa established. Pick out sofa established that will be able to give comfort and ease for anybody who sits on it. It can be crucial to create cozy living room. Without the need of comfortable seating, your friends will never truly feel snug when appear more than to your property. Moreover, you as the homeowner will not likely really feel at ease when sitting down on any of Those people couch sets.The second facet of cozy living room ideas is called point of interest or issue of curiosity. The focal point is a specific place that pulls the eye on the company or anybody in the living room. The focal points do not have to become located in the center with the place. Often it is found from the wall in form of high definition television. It can also be Positioned superior previously mentioned The pinnacle of the guests in kind of gorgeous crystal chandelier. Even so, easiest way To place focal point to your living room is in between the sofas in sort of coffee table. You may use glass desk with special style that will appeal to the eye of your company. Now, There may be a question pop up immediately after looking through These eliving roomplanations of focus. Can the couch set become the focus of cozy living room? The solution is no, it ca not. Couch set has repetitive colour and style and design. Repeatable sample ca not be the focus of any area.The final component to generate cozy living room is the colour plan. A harmonious shade plan will build pleasurable ambiance towards the occupants with the living room. This pleasurable ambiance will almost certainly make the friends who come around your place really feel at ease.
As with the metallic home furnishings, it is possible to choose copper coloration or gold colour furnishings. When you have been organizing on including vase to the living room, copper vase or ceramic vase would be a good get started.When it arrives for the colour topic for the Tuscan type living room, earth and gold colour is usually suggested. The shade of earth colour may be the most fitted for shade plan on Tuscan decorating Strategies for living room. Individuals colour combination deliver warm ambiance on the living room. You could collaborate with another colour which will in good shape perfectly with People colors. You can also use beige color for that accent color for that wall. As with the ceiling, You may use color that is certainly darker than the color for your wall. Keep the natural color for that wooden beams to indicate the authenticity in the setting up.Almost all of living room that comes with Tuscan decorating Thoughts is possessing fireplace. Make use of the darker colour to the fireplace as compared to the wall colour. This darker coloration will give impression of detail and dimension with the living room inside. You will be able to adorn the fireplace with a variety of add-ons like portray or relatives photograph. For painting at Tuscan model living room, you happen to be instructed to employ modern day portray that reveals portray of rural location.Decorating a household with mid century modern-day interiors thought can be eliving roomciting and difficult concurrently.
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2019-04-23T08:50:42Z
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This SENIOR SECURED CONVERTIBLE NOTE PURCHASE AGREEMENT (this "Agreement") is dated as of June 10, 2016 by and among BioCorRx Inc., a Nevada corporation (the "Company"), and BICX Holding Company LLC (the "Purchaser").
WHEREAS, the Company is agreeing to provide collateral to the Purchaser to secure the repayment of the Note, subject to the terms and conditions of the Security Agreement, among the Company and the Purchaser, the form of which is attached asExhibit C hereto (as the same may be amended, supplemented or restated from time to time (the "Security Agreement")).
1.1 Purchase and Sale of Note. Upon the following terms and conditions, the Company is offering to the Purchaser, a $2,500,000 senior secured convertible Note (the "Initial Note"), in substantially the form attached hereto as Exhibit A. For a period of six (6) months from the date of the Initial Closing Date (as defined herein) (the "Investment Period"), the Purchaser shall have the right but not the obligation to invest up to an additional $2,500,000 on the same terms and conditions as are set forth in this Agreement, subject to Section 1.6 if the Purchaser chooses not to exercise this right. Should the Purchaser choose to exercise this right, upon investment of such additional amount(s) and upon presentation of the Initial Note or any the subsequently issued Note, the Company will issue a replacement Note for the full amount invested to the date of such Closing (each a "Note" for purposes of this Agreement).
1.2 Reservation of Shares. The Company has authorized and has reserved and covenants to continue to reserve, free of preemptive rights and other similar contractual rights of stockholders, a number of shares of Common Stock equal to one hundred percent (100%) of the number of shares of Common Stock as shall from time to time be sufficient to effect conversion of the Note. Any shares of Common Stock issuable upon conversion of the Note are herein referred to as the "Shares".
1.3 Purchase Price and Closing. Subject to the terms and conditions hereof, the Company agrees to issue and sell to the Purchaser and, in consideration of and in express reliance upon the representations, warranties, covenants, terms and conditions of this Agreement, the Purchaser, agrees to purchase the Initial Note for a minimum purchase price of $2,500,000 (the "Minimum Purchase Price"). During the Investment Period, the Purchaser may invest up to an additional $2,500,000 for a total aggregate purchase price of $5,000,000 (the "Maximum Purchase Price"). Subject to all conditions to closing being satisfied or waived, the Initial Closing of the purchase and sale of the Note, at the Minimum Purchase Price, shall take place at the offices of Hunter Taubman Fischer LLC (the "Initial Closing") at 5:00 pm (EDT) (or at such earlier time agreed to by the Company and Purchaser) on June 10, 2016 (the "Initial Closing Date") which can be further extended up to thirty (30) days by the mutual agreement of the Company and the Purchaser. During the Investment Period, the Purchaser shall have the right to invest additional amounts up to the Maximum Purchase Price and, the Company and the Purchaser may hold additional closings up to the Maximum Purchase Price (each, a "Closing" and upon investment of the Maximum Purchase Price or expiration of the Investment Period, the "Final Closing"). At each Closing (each a "Closing Date"), the Purchaser shall pay the additional purchase price to be invested and tender the Initial Note or any subsequently issued Note for a new Note at each such Closing that represents the full amount invested by the Purchaser up to the date of such Closing.
Subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement, at the Initial Closing the Company shall deliver or cause to be delivered to the Purchaser a (x) the Initial Note in the amount of $2,500,000, and (y) any other documents required to be delivered pursuant to Article 4 hereof. At the time of the Initial Closing, the Purchaser shall have delivered the Minimum Purchase Price by wire transfer or by check pursuant to the Subscription Agreement (as such terms are hereafter defined). If any subsequent Closing occurs, the Company shall deliver or cause to be delivered to the Purchaser (x) a new Note in the amount of the previously issued Note plus any additional amounts invested at such Closing, which will replace the previously issued Note, and (y) any other documents required to be delivered pursuant to Article 4 hereof. At any subsequent Closing, the Purchaser shall deliver the additional purchase price and any previously issued Note to the Company.
1.4 Increase in Authorized Shares. The Purchaser is aware that the Company filed a Preliminary Information Statement on Schedule 14C for the purposes of notifying the Company's shareholders that the Company's majority shareholders have approved an amendment to the Company's Articles of Incorporation to increase the number of shares of common stock and preferred shares authorized for issuance (the "Article Amendment"). The Company expects to file the Article Amendment approximately (but not less than) twenty (20) days after the Definitive Information Statement on Schedule 14C is mailed to the Company's shareholders. The Company expects to file the Article Amendment prior to June 30, 2016 and the Purchaser and the Company agree that the filing of the Amended Article is a post-Closing condition of this Agreement.
1.5 Conversion Price. The Note will be convertible into that number of shares of Common Stock as is equal to 51% of the total authorized common stock of the Company, as of the date of the Final Closing, assuming investment of the Maximum Purchase Price, or such lesser amount of authorized common stock pro-rata based upon the total amount invested as of the Final Closing Date. In the event that the Purchaser chooses not to exercise the right to invest the additional $2,500,000 as set forth in Section 1.1, the Note will be convertible into that number of shares of Common Stock as is equal to 25% of thetotal authorized common stock of the Company, as of the date of the Initial Closing, subject to Section 1.6.
1.6 Break-Up Fees. If for any reason the Purchaser chooses not to exercise the right to invest the additional $2,500,000 as set forth in Section 1.1, the Purchaser shall pay to the Company a break-up fee equal to 5% of the remaining balance of the Maximum Purchase Price, within five (5) business days after the Investment Period. If the Purchaser does not deliver the break-up fee within the required time period, the Conversion Price of the Note shall be increased by 8%.
(a) Organization, Good Standing and Power. The Company is an entity duly incorporated or otherwise organized, validly existing and in good standing under the laws of the jurisdiction of its incorporation or organization, with the requisite power and authority to own and use its properties and assets and to carry on its business as currently conducted. The Company is not in violation or default of any of the provisions of its articles of incorporation or bylaws. The Company is duly qualified to conduct business and is in good standing as a foreign corporation or other entity in each jurisdiction in which the nature of the business conducted or property owned by it makes such qualification necessary, except where the failure to be so qualified or in good standing, as the case may be, could not have or reasonably be expected to result in: (i) a material adverse effect on the legality, validity or enforceability of any Transaction Document, (ii) a material adverse effect on the results of operations, assets, business, prospects or condition (financial or otherwise) of the Company, taken as a whole, or (iii) a material adverse effect on the Company's ability to perform in any material respect on a timely basis its obligations under any Transaction Document (any of (i), (ii) or (iii), a "Material Adverse Effect") and no Proceeding has been instituted in any such jurisdiction revoking, limiting or curtailing or seeking to revoke, limit or curtail such power and authority or qualification.
(b) Corporate Power; Authority and Enforcement. The Company has the requisite corporate power and authority to enter into and perform this Agreement, the Security Agreement, and the Note (collectively, the "Transaction Documents"), and to issue and sell the Note in accordance with the terms hereof. The execution, delivery and performance of the Transaction Documents by the Company and the consummation by it of the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby have been duly and validly authorized by all necessary corporate action, and no further consent or authorization of the Company or its Board of Directors or stockholders is required. Each of the Transaction Documents constitutes, or shall constitute when executed and delivered, a valid and binding obligation of the Company enforceable against the Company in accordance with its terms, except as such enforceability may be limited by applicable bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, moratorium, liquidation, conservatorship, receivership or similar laws relating to, or affecting generally the enforcement of, creditor's rights and remedies or by other equitable principles of general application.
(iv) the Company is not a party to, and it has no knowledge of, any agreement restricting the voting or transfer of any shares of the capital stock of the Company.
(v) the offer and sale of all capital stock, convertible securities, rights, warrants, or options of the Company issued prior to the Closing complied with all applicable Federal and state securities laws. The Company has furnished or made available to the Purchaser true and correct copies of the Company's Articles of Incorporation, as amended and in effect on the date hereof (the "Articles"), and the Company's Bylaws, as amended and in effect on the date hereof (the "Bylaws") as well as a copy of the Article Amendment that the Company expects to file prior to June 30, 2016. Except as restricted under applicable federal, state, local or foreign laws and regulations, the Articles, or the Transaction Documents, or as set forth on Schedule 2.1 (c), no written or oral contract, instrument, agreement, commitment, obligation, plan or arrangement of the Company shall limit the payment of dividends on the Company's Common Stock.
(d) Issuance of Shares. The Note, to be issued at the Closing have been duly authorized by all necessary corporate action and immediately after the Closing, the Purchaser will be the record and beneficial owners of the Note and have good and valid title to the Note, free and clear of all encumbrances. When the Shares are issued in accordance with the terms of the Note such Shares will be duly authorized by all necessary corporate action and validly issued and outstanding, fully paid and nonassessable, and the holders will be entitled to all rights accorded to a holder of Common Stock and will be the record and beneficial owners of all of such securities and have good and valid title to all of such securities, free and clear of all encumbrances.
(f) Commission Documents, Financial Statements. Except as set forth on Schedule 2.1(f), the Company has filed all reports, schedules, forms, statements and other documents required to be filed by it with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "Commission") pursuant to the reporting requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"), including material filed pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act (all of the foregoing including filings incorporated by reference therein being referred to herein as the "Commission Documents"). The Company has not provided to the Purchaser any material non-public information or other information which, according to applicable law, rule or regulation, was required to have been disclosed publicly by the Company but which has not been so disclosed, other than (i) with respect to the transactions contemplated by this Agreement, or (ii) pursuant to a non-disclosure or confidentiality agreement signed by the Purchaser. At the time of the respective filings, the Form 10-K and the Form 10-Q complied in all material respects with the requirements of the Exchange Act and the rules and regulations of the Commission promulgated thereunder and other federal, state and local laws, rules and regulations applicable to such documents. As of their respective filing dates, none of the Form 10-K or Form 10-Q contained any untrue statement of a material fact; and none omitted to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary in order to make the statements therein, in light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading. The financial statements of the Company included in the Commission Documents (the "Financial Statements") comply as to form in all material respects with applicable accounting requirements and the published rules and regulations of the Commission or other applicable rules and regulations with respect thereto. The Financial Statements have been prepared in accordance with United States generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP") applied on a consistent basis during the periods involved (except: (i) as may be otherwise indicated in the Financial Statements or the notes thereto; or (ii) in the case of unaudited interim statements, to the extent they may not include footnotes or may be condensed or summary statements), and fairly present in all material respects the consolidated financial position of the Company as of the dates thereof and the results of operations and cash flows for the periods then ended (subject, in the case of unaudited statements, to normal year-end audit adjustments).
(g) No Material Adverse Effect. Since May 23, 2016, the Company has not experienced or suffered any Material Adverse Effect.
(h) No Undisclosed Liabilities. Other than as disclosed on Schedule 2.1(h) or set forth in the Commission Documents, to the knowledge of the Company, the Company does not have any liabilities, obligations, claims or losses (whether liquidated or unliquidated, secured or unsecured, absolute, accrued, contingent or otherwise) other than those incurred in the ordinary course of the Company respective business since May 23, 2016 and those which, individually or in the aggregate, do not have a Material Adverse Effect on the Company.
(i) No Undisclosed Events or Circumstances. To the Company's knowledge, no event or circumstance has occurred or exists with respect to the Company or their respective businesses, properties, operations or financial condition, which, under applicable law, rule or regulation, requires public disclosure or announcement by the Company but which has not been so publicly announced or disclosed.
(j) Indebtedness. Other than as set forth on Schedule 2.1(j), the Financial Statements set forth all outstanding secured and unsecured Indebtedness of the Company, or for which the Company has commitments as of the date of the Financial Statements or any subsequent period that would require disclosure. For the purposes of this Agreement, "Indebtedness" shall mean (i) any liabilities for borrowed money or amounts owed (other than trade accounts payable incurred in the ordinary course of business); (ii) all guaranties, endorsements and other contingent obligations in respect of Indebtedness of others, whether or not the same should be reflected in the Company's consolidated balance sheet (or the Note thereto), except guaranties by endorsement of negotiable instruments for deposit or collection or similar transactions in the ordinary course of business; and (iii) the present value of any lease payments due under leases required to be capitalized in accordance with GAAP. The Company is not in default with respect to any Indebtedness which, individually or in the aggregate, would have a Material Adverse Effect.
(k) Title to Assets. Except as set forth on Schedule 2.1(k), the Company has good and marketable title in fee simple to all real property owned by it and good and marketable title in all personal property owned by it that is material to the business of the Company, in each case free and clear of all Liens, except for: (i) Liens as do not materially affect the value of such property and do not materially interfere with the use made and proposed to be made of such property by the Company; and (ii) Liens for the payment of federal, state or other taxes, for which appropriate reserves have been made therefore in accordance with GAAP and, the payment of which is neither delinquent nor subject to penalties. Any real property and facilities held under lease by the Company are held by it under valid, subsisting and enforceable leases with which the Company is in compliance.
(l) Actions Pending. Except as disclosed in the Commission Documents or on Schedule 2.1(l), there is no action, suit, claim, investigation, arbitration, alternate dispute resolution proceeding or any other proceeding pending or, to the knowledge of the Company, threatened against or involving the Company,: (i) which questions the validity of this Agreement or any of the other Transaction Documents or the transactions contemplated hereby or thereby or any action taken or to be taken pursuant hereto or thereto; or (ii) involving any of their respective properties or assets. To the knowledge of the Company, there are no outstanding orders, judgments, injunctions, awards or decrees of any court, arbitrator or governmental or regulatory body against the Company or any subsidiary or any of their respective executive officers or directors in their capacities as such.
(m) Compliance with Law. The Company has all material franchises, permits, licenses, consents and other governmental or regulatory authorizations and approvals necessary for the conduct of their respective business as now being conducted by it unless the failure to possess such franchises, permits, licenses, consents and other governmental or regulatory authorizations and approvals, individually or in the aggregate, could not reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect.
(n) Compliance. Except as set forth in the in Schedule 2.1(n), the Company: (i) is not in default under or in violation of (and no event has occurred that has not been waived that, with notice or lapse of time or both, would result in a default by the Company), nor has the Company received notice of a claim that it is in default under or that it is in violation of, any indenture, loan or credit agreement or any other agreement or instrument to which it is a party or by which it or any of its properties is bound (whether or not such default or violation has been waived), (ii) is in violation of any judgment, decree or order of any court, arbitrator or other governmental authority or (iii) is or has been in violation of any statute, rule, ordinance or regulation of any governmental authority, including without limitation all foreign, federal, state and local laws relating to taxes, environmental protection, occupational health and safety, product quality and safety and employment and labor matters, except in each case as could not have or reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect.
(o) No Violation. The business of the Company is not being conducted in violation of any federal, state, local or foreign governmental laws, or rules, regulations and ordinances of any governmental entity, except for possible violations which singularly or in the aggregate could not reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect. The Company is not required under federal, state, local or foreign law, rule or regulation to obtain any consent, authorization or order of, or make any filing or registration with, any court or governmental agency in order for it to execute, deliver or perform any of its obligations under the Transaction Documents, or issue and sell the Note, or the Shares in accordance with the terms hereof or thereof (other than (x) any consent, authorization or order that has been obtained as of the date hereof, (y) any filing or registration that has been made as of the date hereof or (z) any filings which may be required to be made by the Company with the Commission or state securities administrators subsequent to the Closing).
(p) No Conflicts. The execution, delivery and performance of this Agreement and the Transaction Documents by the Company and the consummation by the Company of the transactions contemplated herein and therein do not and will not: (i) violate any provision of the Articles or Bylaws; (ii) conflict with, or constitute a default (or an event which with notice or lapse of time or both would become a default) under, or give to others any rights of termination, amendment, acceleration or cancellation of, any agreement, mortgage, deed of trust, indenture, note, bond, license, lease agreement, instrument or obligation to which the Company or any subsidiary is a party or by which it or its properties or assets are bound; (iii) create or impose a lien, mortgage, security interest, pledge, charge or encumbrance (collectively, "Lien") of any nature on any property of the Company or any subsidiary under any agreement or any commitment to which the Company or any subsidiary is a party or by which the Company, or any subsidiary is bound or by which any of its respective properties or assets are bound; or (iv) result in a violation of any federal, state, local or foreign statute, rule, regulation, order, judgment or decree (including federal and state securities laws and regulations) applicable to the Company or any subsidiary or by which any property or asset of the Company, or any subsidiary are bound or affected, provided, however, that, excluded from the foregoing in all cases are such conflicts, defaults, terminations, amendments, accelerations, cancellations and violations as would not, individually or in the aggregate, have a Material Adverse Effect.
(q) Taxes. Other than as set forth on Schedule 2.1(q), the Company, to the extent its applicable, has accurately prepared and filed all federal, state and other tax returns required by law to be filed by it, has paid or made provisions for the payment of all taxes shown to be due other than payment being contested and all additional assessments, and adequate provisions have been and are reflected in the consolidated financial statements of the Company for all current taxes and other charges to which the Company, is subject and which are not currently due and payable. None of the federal income tax returns of the Company have been audited by the Internal Revenue Service. The Company has no knowledge of any additional assessments, adjustments or contingent tax liability (whether federal, state or foreign) of any nature whatsoever, whether pending or threatened against the Company for any period, nor of any basis for any such assessment, adjustment or contingency.
(r) Intellectual Property. The Company owns or has the lawful right to use all patents, trademarks, domain names (whether or not registered) and any patentable improvements or copyrightable derivative works thereof, websites and intellectual property rights relating thereto, service marks, trade names, copyrights, licenses and authorizations, and trade secrets, if any, and all rights with respect to the foregoing, if any, which are necessary for the conduct of their respective business as now conducted without any conflict with the rights of others, except where the failure to so own or possess would not have a Material Adverse Effect.
(s) Books and Records Internal Accounting Controls. Except as may have otherwise been disclosed in the Commission Documents, the books and records of the Company, accurately reflect in all material respects the information relating to the business of the Company, the location and collection of their assets, and the nature of all transactions giving rise to the obligations or accounts receivable of the Company. Except as disclosed on Schedule 2.1(s), the Company maintains a system of internal accounting controls sufficient, in the judgment of the Company, to provide reasonable assurance that: (i) transactions are executed in accordance with management's general or specific authorizations; (ii) transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP and to maintain asset accountability; (iii) access to assets is permitted only in accordance with management's general or specific authorization; and (iv) the recorded accountability for assets is compared with the existing assets at reasonable intervals and appropriate actions are taken with respect to any differences.
(t) Material Agreements. Any and all written or oral contracts, instruments, agreements, commitments, obligations, plans or arrangements, the Company is a party to, that a copy of which would be required to be filed with the Commission as an exhibit to a registration statement (collectively, the "Material Agreements") if the Company was registering securities under the Securities Act has previously been publicly filed with the Commission in the Commission Documents. The Company has in all material respects performed all the obligations required to be performed by them to date under the foregoing agreements, have received no notice of default and are not in default under any Material Agreement now in effect the result of which would cause a Material Adverse Effect.
(u) Transactions with Affiliates. Except as set forth in the Financial Statements or in the Commission Documents or on Schedule 2.1(u), there are no loans, leases, agreements, contracts, royalty agreements, management contracts or arrangements or other continuing transactions between the Company and any officer, employee, consultant or director of the Company, or any person owning more than 10% capital stock of the Company or any member of the immediate family of such officer, employee, consultant, director or stockholder or any corporation or other entity controlled by such officer, employee, consultant, director or stockholder, or a member of the immediate family of such officer, employee, consultant, director or stockholder.
(v) Private Placement and Solicitation. Assuming the accuracy of the Purchaser's representations and warranties set forth in Section 2.2, no registration under the Securities Act is required for the offer and sale of the Note by the Company to the Purchaser as contemplated hereby. Based in part on the accuracy of the representations of the Purchaser in Section 2.2, and subject to timely Form D filings pursuant to Regulation D of the Securities Act with the Commission, if applicable, and pursuant to applicable state securities laws, the offer, sale and issuance of the Note to be issued pursuant to and in conformity with the terms of this Agreement, will be issued in compliance with all applicable federal and state securities laws. Neither the Company nor any of its affiliates, nor any person acting on its or their behalf, has engaged in any form of general solicitation or general advertising (within the meaning of Regulation D under the Securities Act) in connection with the offer or sale of the Note.
(w) Governmental Approvals. Except for the filing of any notice prior or subsequent to the Closing Date that may be required under applicable state and/or federal securities laws (which if required, shall be filed on a timely basis), including the filing of a Form D, if applicable, no authorization, consent, approval, license, exemption of, filing or registration with any court or governmental department, commission, board, bureau, agency or instrumentality, domestic or foreign, is or will be necessary for, or in connection with, the execution or delivery of the Note or for the performance by the Company of its obligations under this Agreement and the Transaction Documents.
(x) Employees. Except as disclosed on Schedule 2.1(x), the Company does not have any collective bargaining arrangements covering any of its employees. Schedule 2.1(x) sets forth a list of the employment contracts, agreements regarding proprietary information, non-competition agreements, non-solicitation agreements, confidentiality agreement, or any other similar contract or restrictive covenant, relating to the right of any officer, employee or consultant to be employed or engaged by the Company. Since May 23, 2016, no officer, consultant or key employee of the Company whose termination, either individually or in the aggregate, would have a Material Adverse Effect, has terminated or, to the knowledge of the Company, has any present intention of terminating his or her employment or engagement with the Company.
(xv) entered into an agreement, written or otherwise, to take any of the foregoing actions.
(z) Public Utility Holding Company Act; Investment Company Act and U.S. Real Property Holding Corporation Status. The Company is not a "holding company" or a "public utility company" as such terms are defined in the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935, as amended. The Company is not, and as a result of and immediately upon the Closing will not be, an "investment company" or a company "controlled" by an "investment company," within the meaning of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended. The Company is not and has never been a U.S. real property holding corporation within the meaning of Section 897 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.
(aa) ERISA. No liability to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation has been incurred with respect to any Plan (as defined below) by the Company or any of its subsidiaries which is or would be materially adverse to the Company. The execution and delivery of this Agreement and the other Transaction Documents and the issuance and sale of the Shares will not involve any transaction which is subject to the prohibitions of Section 406 of ERISA or in connection with which a tax could be imposed pursuant to Section 4975 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, provided, that, if the Purchaser, or any person or entity that owns a beneficial interest in the Purchaser, is an "employee pension benefit plan" (within the meaning of Section 3(2) of ERISA) with respect to which the Company is a "party in interest" (within the meaning of Section 3(14) of ERISA), the requirements of Sections 407(d)(5) and 408(e) of ERISA, if applicable, are met. As used in this Section 2.1(aa), the term "Plan" shall mean an "employee pension benefit plan" (as defined in Section 3 of ERISA) which is or has been established or maintained, or to which contributions are or have been made, by the Company or any subsidiary by any trade or business, whether or not incorporated, which, together with the Company is under common control, as described in Section 414(b) or (c) of the Code.
(bb) Disclosure. All disclosure provided to the Purchaser regarding the Company, their respective businesses and the transactions contemplated hereby, furnished by or on behalf of the Company (including the Company's representations and warranties set forth in this Agreement and the disclosure set forth in any diligence report or business plan provided by the Company or any person acting on the Company's behalf) are true and correct in all material aspects and do not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact necessary in order to make the statements made therein, in light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading.
(cc) No Additional Agreements. Neither the Company nor any Affiliate has any agreement or understanding with the Purchaser with respect to the transactions contemplated by this Agreement and the Transaction Documents other than as specified in this Agreement and the Transaction Documents.
(dd) Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The Company does not have any knowledge of the Company, any agent or other person acting on behalf of the Company, has, directly or indirectly: (i) used any funds, or will use any proceeds from the sale of the Note, for unlawful contributions, gifts, entertainment or other unlawful expenses related to foreign or domestic political activity; (ii) made any unlawful payment to foreign or domestic government officials or employees or to any foreign or domestic political parties or campaigns from corporate funds; (iii) failed to disclose fully any contribution made by the Company (or made by any person acting on their behalf of which the Company is aware) or any members of their respective management which is in violation of any applicable law; or (iv) has violated in any material respect any provision of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended, and the rules and regulations thereunder which was or is applicable to the Company.
(ee) PFIC. The Company is not and does not intend to become a "passive foreign investment company" within the meaning of Section 1297 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.
(ff) OFAC. To the knowledge of the Company no director, officer, agent, employee, affiliate or person acting on behalf of any of the Company is currently subject to any U.S. sanctions administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Treasury Department ("OFAC"); and the Company will not directly or indirectly use the proceeds of the sale of the Note, or lend, contribute towards any sales or operations in Cuba, Iran, Syria, Sudan, Myanmar or any other country sanctioned by OFAC or for the purpose of financing the activities of any person currently subject to any U.S. sanctions administered by OFAC.
(gg) Money Laundering Laws. The operations the Company have been conducted at all times in compliance with the money laundering requirements of all applicable governmental authorities and any related or similar rules, regulations or guidelines, issued, administered or enforced by any governmental authority (collectively, the "Money Laundering Laws") and no action, suit or proceeding by or before any court or governmental authority or any arbitrator involving any of the Company with respect to the Money Laundering Laws is pending or, to the best knowledge of the Company, threatened.
(hh) Regulatory Permits. The Company possess all certificates, authorizations and permits issued by the appropriate federal, state, local or foreign regulatory authorities necessary to conduct their respective businesses, except where the failure to possess such permits could not reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect ("Material Permits"), and the Company has not received any notice of proceedings relating to the revocation or modification of any Material Permit.
(ii) Registration Rights. Except as contemplated herein, and except as set forth on Schedule 2.1(ii), no person has any right to cause the Company to effect the registration under the Securities Act of any securities of the Company.
(jj) Acknowledgment Regarding Purchaser's Purchase of Note. The Company acknowledges and agrees that the Purchaser is acting solely in the capacity of an arm's length purchaser with respect to the Transaction Documents and the transactions contemplated thereby. The Company further acknowledges that no Purchaser is acting as a financial advisor or fiduciary of the Company (or in any similar capacity) with respect to the Transaction Documents and the transactions contemplated thereby and any advice given by any Purchaser or any of their respective representatives or agents in connection with the Transaction Documents and the transactions contemplated thereby is merely incidental to the Purchaser's purchase of the Note. The Company further represents to the Purchaser that the Company's decision to enter into this Agreement and the other Transaction Documents has been based solely on the independent evaluation of the transactions contemplated hereby by the Company and its representatives.
(kk) Subsequent Closings/No Integration. The Company has not made any prior offering nor sold any securities in any prior offering that would be integrated pursuant to Rule 502(a) with the sale of the Note and the transactions contemplated by this Agreement in which the Company has not taken reasonable steps to verify that the purchaser of such securities were accredited investors. Further, the Company covenants and agrees it shall take reasonable steps to verify that all investors are accredited investors in connection with: (i) the offer, sale and issuance of the Note pursuant to this Agreement in the Closing; and (ii) pursuant to any other future securities offering that would be integrated with the transactions contemplated by this Agreement.
(ll) Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Except as specified in the Commission Documents, the Company is in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (the "Sarbanes-Oxley Act"), and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder, that are effective and for which compliance by the Company is required as of the date hereof, as required under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act for companies not listed on a national exchange.
(nn) Listing and Maintenance Requirements. Except as specified in the Commission Documents, the Company has not, in the two years preceding the date hereof, received notice from any Trading Market to the effect that the Company is not in compliance with the listing maintenance requirement thereof. The Company is, and has no reason to believe that it will not in the foreseeable future continue to be, in compliance with the listing and maintenance requirements for continued listing of the Common Stock on the Trading Market on which the Common Stock is currently listed or quoted. The issuance and sale of the Note under this Agreement and the Transaction Documents do not contravene the rules and regulations of the Trading Market which the Common Stock is currently listed or quoted, and, except as otherwise set forth in the Transaction Documents, no approval of the stockholders of the Company thereunder is required for the Company to issue and deliver to the Purchaser the Note contemplated by this Agreement and the Transaction Documents. "Trading Market" means whichever of the New York Stock Exchange, NYSE MKT, the NASDAQ Global Select Market, the NASDAQ Global Market, the NASDAQ Capital Market, OTC Markets or OTC Bulletin Board on which the Common Stock is listed or quoted for trading on the date in question.
(a) Organization and Good Standing of the Purchaser. The Purchaser is an entity and is duly incorporated, validly existing and in good standing under the laws of the jurisdiction of its incorporation or organization.
(b) Authorization and Power. The Purchaser has the requisite power and authority to enter into and perform this Agreement and each of the other Transaction Documents to which such Purchaser is a party and to purchase the Note, being sold to it hereunder. The execution, delivery and performance of this Agreement and each of the other Transaction Documents to which such Purchaser is a party by such Purchaser and the consummation by it of the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby have been duly authorized by all necessary corporate, partnership or limited liability company action, and no further consent or authorization of such Purchaser or its Board of Directors, stockholders, partners, members, or managers, as the case may be, is required. This Agreement and each of the other Transaction Documents to which such Purchaser is a party has been duly authorized, executed and delivered by such Purchaser and constitutes, or shall constitute when executed and delivered, a valid and binding obligation of such Purchaser enforceable against such Purchaser in accordance with the terms hereof.
(c) No Conflicts. The execution, delivery and performance of this Agreement and each of the other Transaction Documents to which such Purchaser is a party and the consummation by such Purchaser of the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby or relating hereto do not and will not: (i) result in a violation of such Purchaser's charter documents, bylaws, operating agreement, partnership agreement or other organizational documents; or (ii) conflict with, or constitute a default (or an event which with notice or lapse of time or both would become a default) under, or give to others any rights of termination, amendment, acceleration or cancellation of any agreement, indenture or instrument or obligation to which such Purchaser is a party or by which its properties or assets are bound, or result in a violation of any law, rule, or regulation, or any order, judgment or decree of any court or governmental agency applicable to such Purchaser or its properties (except for such conflicts, defaults and violations as would not, individually or in the aggregate, have a material adverse effect on such Purchaser). Such Purchaser is not required to obtain any consent, authorization or order of, or make any filing or registration with, any court or governmental agency in order for it to execute, deliver or perform any of its obligations under this Agreement or any other Transaction Document to which such Purchaser is a party or to purchase the Note in accordance with the terms hereof, provided, that for purposes of the representation made in this sentence, such Purchaser is assuming and relying upon the accuracy of the relevant representations and agreements of the Company herein.
(d) Status of Purchaser. The Purchaser is an "accredited investor" ("Accredited Investor") as defined in Regulation D. The Purchaser is not required to be registered as a broker-dealer under Section 15 of the Exchange Act and the Purchaser is not a broker-dealer, nor an affiliate of a broker-dealer.
(e) Acquisition for Investment. The Purchaser is acquiring the Note and the underlying Shares, solely for its own account for the purpose of investment and not with a view to or for sale in connection with a distribution. The Purchaser does not have a present intention to sell the Note or the Shares, nor a present arrangement (whether or not legally binding) or intention to effect any distribution of the Shares to or through any person or entity; provided, however, that by making the representations herein and subject to Section 2.2(h) below, such Purchaser does not agree to hold the Shares for any minimum or other specific term and reserves the right to dispose of the Shares at any time in accordance with federal and state securities laws applicable to such disposition.
(f) Knowledge. The Purchaser acknowledges that it is able to bear the financial risks associated with an investment in the Note and the Shares and has sufficient knowledge and experience in investing in companies similar to the Company in terms of the Company's stage of development so as to be able to evaluate the risks and merits of its investment in the Company. The Purchaser further acknowledges that the purchase of the Note involve substantial risks.
(g) Review of Commission Documents. The Purchaser represents that such Purchaser has reviewed the Commission Documents and has been given full and complete access to the Company for the purpose of obtaining such information as such Purchaser or its qualified representative has reasonably requested in connection with the decision to purchase the Note. The Purchaser represents that such Purchaser has been afforded the opportunity to ask questions of the officers of the Company regarding its business prospects and the Note as Purchaser or Purchaser's qualified representative have found necessary to make an informed investment decision to purchase the Note hereunder. The Purchaser acknowledges that it has access to the Company's publicly available reports and registration statements filed with the Commission prior to the Closing via the internet at www.sec.gov. The Purchaser is satisfied that it has received adequate information with respect to all matters which it or its advisors, if any, consider material to its decision to make this investment.
(h) Additional Representations and Warranties of Accredited Investors. The Purchaser is an Accredited Investor, and further makes the representations and warranties to the Company set forth on Exhibit B-1.
(i) Opportunities for Additional Information. The Purchaser acknowledges that such Purchaser has had the opportunity to ask questions of and receive answers from, or obtain additional information from, the executive officers of the Company concerning the financial and other affairs of the Company.
(j) No General Solicitation. The Purchaser acknowledges that the Note was not offered to such Purchaser by means of any form of general or public solicitation or general advertising, or publicly disseminated advertisements or sales literature, including: (i) any advertisement, article, notice or other communication published in any newspaper, magazine, or similar media, or broadcast over television or radio; or (ii) any seminar or meeting to which such Purchaser was invited by any of the foregoing means of communications.
(k) Rule 144. The Purchaser understands that each of the Shares must be held indefinitely unless such Shares are registered under the Securities Act or an exemption from registration is available. The Purchaser acknowledges that such Purchaser is familiar with Rule 144, of the rules and regulations of the Commission, as amended, promulgated pursuant to the Securities Act ("Rule 144"), and that such person has been advised that Rule 144 permits resales only under certain circumstances. The Purchaser understands that to the extent that Rule 144 is not available, the Purchaser will be unable to sell any of the Shares without either registration under the Securities Act or the existence of another exemption from such registration requirement.
(l) General. The Purchaser understands that the Note is being offered and sold in reliance on a transactional exemption from the registration requirements of federal and state securities laws and the Company is relying upon the truth and accuracy of the representations, warranties, agreements, acknowledgments and understandings of the Purchaser set forth herein in order to determine the applicability of such exemptions and the suitability of such Purchaser to acquire the Note.
(m) Brokers. The Purchaser does not have any knowledge of any brokerage or finder's fees or commissions that are or will be payable by the Company to any broker, financial advisor or consultant, finder, placement agent, investment banker, bank or other person or entity with respect to the transactions contemplated by this Agreement and the Transaction Documents.
(n) Confidential Information. The Purchaser agrees that its employees, agents and representatives will keep confidential and will not disclose, divulge or use (other than for purposes of monitoring its investment in the Company) any confidential information which such Purchaser may obtain from the Company pursuant to financial statements, reports and other materials submitted by the Company to such Purchaser pursuant to this Agreement, unless such information is: (i) known to the public through no fault of such Purchaser or his or its employees or representatives; (ii) becomes part of the public domain other than by a breach of this Agreement; (iii) becomes known by the action of a third party not in breach of a duty of confidence; or (iv) is required to be disclosed to a third party pursuant to any applicable law, government resolution, or decision of any court or tribunal of competent jurisdiction; provided, however, that the Purchaser may disclose such information: (i) to its attorneys, accountants and other professionals in connection with their representation of such Purchaser in connection with such Purchaser's investment in the Company; (ii) to any prospective permitted transferee of the Note; or (iii) to any general partner or affiliate of such Purchaser, so long as the prospective transferee agrees to be bound by the provisions of this Section 2.2(n).
The Company covenants with the Purchaser as follows, which covenants are for the benefit of the Purchaser and their permitted assignees (as defined herein).
Section 3.1 Use of Proceeds. The use of proceeds with regards to the Minimum Purchase Price, the Maximum Purchase Price, or any additional amounts up to the Maximum Purchase Price the Purchaser invests, shall be subject to the Purchaser's review and approval, which approval shall not be unreasonably withheld.
Section 3.2 Securities Compliance. The Company shall notify the Commission in accordance with its rules and regulations, of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement and the Transaction Documents, and shall take all other necessary action and proceedings as may be required and permitted by applicable law, rule and regulation, for the legal and valid issuance of the Note to the Purchaser or subsequent holders.
Section 3.3 Liquidation. Subject to the terms of the Transaction Documents, the Company covenants that it will take such further action as the Purchaser may reasonably request, all to the extent required from time to time to enable the Purchaser to sell the Note without registration under the Securities Act within the limitation of the exemptions provided by Rule 144 promulgated under the Securities Act, as amended.
Section 3.4 Keeping of Records and Books of Account. The Company shall keep adequate records and books of account, in which complete entries will be made in accordance with GAAP consistently applied, reflecting all financial transactions of the Company, and in which, for each fiscal year, all proper reserves for depreciation, depletion, obsolescence, amortization, taxes, bad debts and other purposes in connection with its business shall be made.
Section 3.5 Amendments. Except for the Article Amendment, the Company will not amend, modify or waive any term or provision of its certificate of formation, limited liability company agreement, certificate of incorporation, by-laws, partnership agreement or other applicable documents relating to its formation or governance, or any shareholders agreement, other than amendments, modifications and waivers that are not materially adverse in any respect to the Purchaser and of which the Purchaser has received at least five (5) Business Days' prior written notice.
Section 3.6 Other Agreements. The Company shall not enter into any agreement the terms of which would restrict or impair the ability of the Company to perform its obligations under this Agreement and the Transaction Document.
Section 3.7 Senior Status. The Company shall not issue any debt or other obligation which ranks senior or pari passu to the Note.
Section 3.8 Reservation of Shares. So long as the Note remains outstanding, the Company shall take all actions necessary to at all times have authorized, and reserved for the purpose of issuance, no less than one hundred percent (100%) of the aggregate number of shares of Common Stock needed to provide for the complete issuance of the Shares underlying such outstanding Note.
Section 3.9 Disposition of Assets. So long as the Note remains outstanding, the Company shall not sell, transfer or otherwise dispose of any of its material properties, assets and rights including, without limitation, its software and intellectual property, to any person except for: (i) sales to customers in the ordinary course of business; (ii) sales or transfers between the Company; (iii) disposition of obsolete or worn out equipment; or (iv) otherwise with the prior written consent of the Purchaser.
Section 3.10 Reporting Status. So long as the Purchaser beneficially owns any of the Note, the Company shall timely file all reports required to be filed with the Commission pursuant to the Exchange Act, and the Company shall not terminate its status as an issuer required to file reports under the Exchange Act even if the Exchange Act or the rules and regulations thereunder would permit such termination.
Section 3.11 Disclosure of Transaction. The Company shall file with the Commission, a Current Report on Form 8-K describing the material terms of the transactions contemplated hereby and all material non-public information disclosed to the Purchaser prior to the filing as soon as practicable after the Closing but in no event later than 5:30 P.M. (EDT) on the fourth Business Day following the Closing. In the event that the Company is unable to disclose specific non-public information in the Form 8-K, the Company shall include such information in its Form 10-Q for the interim period during which the Closing contemplated hereby occurs. "Business Day" means any day during which the NASDAQ (or other principal exchange) shall be open for trading.
Section 3.12 Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The Company shall be in compliance with the applicable provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder, as required under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act for companies not listed on a national exchange.
Section 3.13 Conversion and Exercise Procedures. The form of Note sets forth the totality of the procedures required of the Purchaser in order to convert the Note. The Company shall honor conversions of the Note and shall deliver Shares in accordance with the terms, conditions and time periods set forth in the Transaction Documents.
Section 3.14 Subsequent Financings. Without written consent of the Purchaser, the Company shall not undertake any Subsequent Financing (as defined below) within three (3) months of the Initial Closing. As long as any portion of the Note remains outstanding, the Company covenants and agrees to promptly notify in writing (a "Rights Notice") the Purchaser of the terms and conditions of any proposed offer or sale to, or exchange with (or other type of distribution to) any third party (a "Subsequent Financing"), of Common Stock or any equity securities convertible, exercisable or exchangeable into Common Stock; provided, however, prior to delivering to the Purchaser a Rights Notice, the Company shall first deliver to the Purchaser a written notice of its intention to effect a Subsequent Financing ("Pre-Notice") within five (5) Business Days of receiving an applicable offer, which Pre-Notice shall ask the Purchaser if it wants to review the details of such financing. Upon the request of the Purchaser, and only upon a request by such Purchaser within three (3) Business Days of receipt of a Pre-Notice, the Company shall promptly, but no later than two (2) Business Days after such request, deliver a Rights Notice to such Purchaser. The Rights Notice shall describe, in reasonable detail, the proposed Subsequent Financing, the names and investment amounts of all investors participating in the Subsequent Financing (if known), the proposed closing date of the Subsequent Financing, which shall be no earlier than ten (10) Business Days from the date of the Rights Notice, and all of the terms and conditions thereof and proposed definitive documentation to be entered into in connection therewith. The Rights Notice shall provide the Purchaser an option (the "Rights Option") during the five (5) Business Days following delivery of the Rights Notice (the "Option Period") to inform the Company whether such Purchaser will purchase the securities being offered in such Subsequent Financing on the same, absolute terms and conditions as contemplated by such Subsequent Financing, provided that, the amount the Purchaser may purchase shall not exceed $5,000,000. Delivery of any Rights Notice constitutes a representation and warranty by the Company that there are no other material terms and conditions, arrangements, agreements or otherwise except for those disclosed in the Rights Notice, to provide additional compensation to any party participating in any proposed Subsequent Financing, including, but not limited to, additional compensation based on changes in the purchase price or any type of reset or adjustment of a purchase or conversion price or to issue additional securities at any time after the closing date of a Subsequent Financing. If the Company does not receive notice of exercise of the Rights Option from the Purchaser within the Option Period, the Company shall have the right to close the Subsequent Financing on the scheduled closing date set forth in the Rights Notice (or within sixty (60) days thereafter) without the participation of such Purchaser; provided that, all of the material terms and conditions of the closing are the same as those provided to the Purchaser in the Rights Notice. If the closing of the proposed Subsequent Financing does not occur on the scheduled closing date set forth in the Rights Notice (or within sixty (60) days thereafter), any closing of the contemplated Subsequent Financing or any other Subsequent Financing shall be subject to all of the provisions of this Section 3.14(a), including, without limitation, the delivery of a new Rights Notice. The provisions of this Section 3.14(a) shall not apply to issuances of securities in a Permitted Financing.
In addition, in connection with the Rights Notice, the Purchaser's right to invest the additional $2,500,000, as set forth in Section 1.1, shall be accelerated and terminated by the end of the Option Period. The Purchaser shall promptly, but no later than five (5) business days of receipt of the Rights Notice, inform the Company whether such Purchaser will exercise this right. If the Purchaser chooses to exercise this right, the Purchaser shall deliver the purchase price to the Company within five (5) business days after it informs the Company of its intention to exercise the right. If the Purchaser does not deliver the purchase price within the required time period should it chooses to exercise this right, the Purchaser shall pay a break-up fee to the Company as set forth in Section 1.6.
For purposes of this Agreement, a Permitted Financing (as defined hereinafter) shall not be considered a Subsequent Financing. A "Permitted Financing" shall mean: (i) securities issued pursuant to a bona fide acquisition of another business entity or business segment of any such entity by the Company pursuant to a merger, purchase of substantially all the assets or any type of reorganization (each an "Acquisition") provided that (A) the Company will own more than fifty percent (50%) of the voting power of such business entity or business segment of such entity and (B) such Acquisition is approved by the Company's Board of Directors and provided further that such securities are not issued for the purpose of raising capital and in which holders of such securities or debt are not at any time granted registration rights; (ii) securities issued pursuant to the conversion or exercise of convertible or exercisable securities issued or outstanding on or prior to the date of this Agreement or issued pursuant to this Agreement (so long as the terms governing the conversion or exercise price in such securities are not amended to lower such price and/or adversely affect the Purchaser); (iii) securities issued in connection with bona fide strategic license agreements or other partnering arrangements so long as such issuances are not for the primary purpose of raising capital; (iv) Common Stock issued or the issuance or grants of options to purchase Common Stock, in each case, at no less than the then-applicable fair market value, pursuant to equity incentive plans that are adopted by the Company's Board of Directors (including, without limitation, the BioCorRx Inc. 2016 Equity Incentive Plan which the Company plans to adopt prior to June 30, 2016, a form of which plan is attached hereto as Exhibit E) within thirty (30) days attached hereto; (v) securities issued to any placement agent and its respective designees for the transactions contemplated by this Agreement; (vi) securities issued at no less than the then-applicable fair market value to advisors or consultants (including, without limitation, financial advisors and investor relations firms) in connection with any engagement letter or consulting agreement, provided that any such issuance is approved by the Company's Board of Directors; (vii) securities issued to financial institutions or lessors in connection with reasonable commercial credit arrangements, equipment financings or similar transactions, provided that any such issue is approved by the Company's Board of Directors; (viii) securities issued to vendors or customers or to other persons in similar commercial situations as the Company, provided that any such issue is approved by the Company's Board of Directors; (ix) securities issued in connection with any recapitalization of the Company; or (x) securities issued pursuant to an underwritten public offering of the Common Stock. Notwithstanding anything contained herein to the contrary, although the Company shall be entitled to complete a Permitted Financing, all Permitted Financings shall rank junior to the Note.
Section 3.15 No Commissions in Connection with Conversion Note. In connection with the conversion of the Note into the Shares, neither the Company nor any person acting on its behalf will take any action that would result in the Shares being exchanged by the Company other than with the then existing holders of the Note exclusively where no commission or other remuneration is paid or given directly or indirectly for soliciting the exchange in compliance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act.
Section 3.16 No Manipulation of Price. The Company will not take, directly or indirectly, any action designed to cause or result in, or that has constituted or might reasonably be expected to constitute, the stabilization or manipulation of the price of any securities of the Company.
Section 3.17 Intentionally Left Blank.
Section 3.18 Additional Collateral; Further Assurances. The Company shall execute any and all further documents, financing statements, agreements and instruments, and take all further action (including filing Uniform Commercial Code, United States Patent and Trademark Office and other financing statements not later than five (5) business day after the date hereof) that may be required under applicable law, or that the Purchaser may reasonably request, in order to effectuate the transactions contemplated by this Agreement and in order to grant, preserve, protect and perfect the validity and applicable priority of the security interests created or intended to be created by the Note. From time to time, the Company shall, at its cost and expense and subject to the terms of the Note, promptly secure the Note by pledging or creating, or causing to be pledged or created, perfected security interests with respect to such of its assets and properties as the Purchaser shall designate (it being understood that it is the intent of the parties that, except as set forth in the Note, the obligations pursuant to the Note shall be secured by all the assets of the Company(including real and other properties acquired subsequent to the Closing Date)). Such security interests and Liens will be created under this Agreement, the Security Agreement and other security agreements, mortgages, deeds of trust and other instruments and documents in form and substance satisfactory to the Purchaser, and the Company shall deliver or cause to be delivered to the Purchaser all such instruments and documents as the Purchaser shall reasonably request to evidence compliance with this Section 3.18. The Company agrees to provide such evidence as the Purchaser shall reasonably request as to the perfection and priority status of each such security interest and Lien. In furtherance of the foregoing, the Company will give prompt notice to the Purchaser of the acquisition by it or any of its subsidiaries of any property (or any interest in property) having a value in excess of $100,000.
Section 3.19 Intentionally Left Blank.
Section 3.20 Corporate Existence. So long any of the Note remains outstanding, the Company shall maintain its corporate existence and shall not be party to any Fundamental Transaction (as hereinafter defined) without the Holder's prior written consent. "Fundamental Transaction" means that (A) the Company shall, directly or indirectly, in one or more related transactions, (i) consolidate or merge with or into (whether or not the Company is the surviving corporation) another Person or Persons, or (ii) sell, assign, transfer, convey or otherwise dispose of all or substantially all of the properties or assets of the Company to another Person, or (iii) allow another Person to make a purchase, tender or exchange offer that is accepted by the holders of more than the 50% of the outstanding shares of voting stock (not including any shares of voting stock held by the Person or Persons making or party to, or associated or affiliated with the Persons making or party to, such purchase, tender or exchange offer), or (iv) consummate a stock purchase agreement or other business combination (including, without limitation, a reorganization, recapitalization, spin-off or scheme of arrangement) with another Person whereby such other Person acquires more than the 50% of the outstanding shares of voting stock (not including any shares of voting stock held by the other Person or other Persons making or party to, or associated or affiliated with the other Persons making or party to, such stock purchase agreement or other business combination), (v) reorganize, recapitalize or reclassify its Common Stock or (B) any "person" or "group" (as these terms are used for purposes of Sections 14(d) and 15(d) of the Exchange Act) is or shall become the "beneficial owner" (as defined in Rule 13d-3 under the Exchange Act), directly or indirectly, of 50% of the aggregate ordinary voting power represented by issued and outstanding Common Stock.
Section 3.21 Consultant. Upon receiving the Maximum Purchase Price by the Company, so long as the Note remains outstanding, the Purchaser shall be entitled to appoint a consultant to work with the Company's management to further develop the Company's business and operations; the Company shall reimburse the Purchaser for the reasonable fees and expenses of such consultant, provided, however, the Company and Purchaser shall mutually agree on such fees prior to the appointment of the consultant.
Section 3.22 Director Appointment. At such time as the Company determines to apply to list its stock on the NYSE:MKT Exchange or Nasdaq Stock Market, the Purchaser shall have the right to nominate one of the independent members of the Company's board of directors, upon receiving the Maximum Purchase Price by the Company.
Section 3.23 Monthly Reports. So long as the Note remains outstanding, the Company shall furnish unaudited monthly internal financial reports to the Purchaser.
Section 3.24 Board Observer. So long as the Note remains outstanding, the Company shall permit a representative of the Purchaser to attend any meeting of the board of directors of the Company or any committees thereof, as an observer. The Purchaser shall designate such observer to the Company in writing and the Company's board of directors shall provide notice of any meetings at the same time and in the same form as are provided to its members.
Section 3.25 Payment of Prior Note. Within five (5) business days of the Initial Closing, any prior outstanding indedtedness of the Company, with the exception of trade payables incurred in the ordinary course of business, shall be paid off in their entirety.
Section 3.26 Subsequent Preferred Issuances. As long as any portion of the Note remains outstanding, the Company covenants and agrees to promptly notify in writing (an "Issuance Notice") the Purchaser of any proposed issuance of Preferred Stock (the "Preferred Stock"), with super voting rights or voting rights superior to holders of Common Stock, and provide the Purchaser an opportunity to purchase an amount of the Preferred Stock sufficient to allow the Purchaser to own a pro rata amount equal to the amount of the issued and outstanding voting rights the Purchaser owns at the time they receive the Issuance Notice, upon the same terms and conditions as such shares of Preferred Stock are offered to third parties and/or Company officers, directors or affiliates; provided, in no event the Purchaser shall own more than 51% of the outstanding Preferred Stock.
Section 4.1 Conditions Precedent to the Obligation of the Company to Sell the Note. The obligation hereunder of the Company to issue and sell the Note to the Purchaser is subject to the satisfaction or waiver, at or before each Closing, of each of the conditions set forth below. These conditions are for the Company's sole benefit and may be waived by the Company at any time in its sole discretion.
(a) Accuracy of the Purchaser's Representations and Warranties. The representations and warranties of the Purchaser in this Agreement and each of the other Transaction Documents to which such Purchaser is a party shall be true and correct in all material respects as of the date when made and as of each Closing Date as though made at that time, except for representations and warranties that are expressly made as of a particular date, which shall be true and correct in all material respects as of such date.
(b) Performance by the Purchaser. The Purchaser shall have performed, satisfied and complied in all respects with all covenants, agreements and conditions required by this Agreement to be performed, satisfied or complied with by such Purchaser at or prior to each Closing.
(c) No Injunction. No statute, rule, regulation, executive order, decree, ruling or injunction shall have been enacted, entered, promulgated or endorsed by any court or governmental authority of competent jurisdiction which prohibits the consummation of any of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement.
ii. the purchase price by wire transfer to the account as specified in writing by the Company or by check as per the payment terms set forth in the Subscription Agreement.
Section 4.2 Conditions Precedent to the Obligation of the Purchaser's to Purchase the Note. The obligation hereunder of the Purchaser to acquire and pay for the Note is subject to the satisfaction or waiver, at or before each Closing, of each of the conditions set forth below. These conditions are for the Purchaser's sole benefit and may be waived by such Purchaser at any time in its sole discretion.
(a) Accuracy of the Company's Representations and Warranties. Each of the representations and warranties of the Company in this Agreement and the other Transaction Documents that are qualified by materiality or by reference to any Material Adverse Effect shall be true and correct in all respects, and all other representations and warranties shall be true and correct in all material respects, as of the date when made and as of each Closing Date as though made at that time, except for representations and warranties that are expressly made as of a particular date, which shall be true and correct in all respects as of such date.
(b) Performance by the Company. The Company shall have performed, satisfied and complied in all respects with all covenants, agreements and conditions required by this Agreement to be performed, satisfied or complied with by the Company at or prior to each Closing.
(c) No Injunction. No statute, rule, regulation, executive order, decree, ruling or injunction shall have been enacted, entered, promulgated or endorsed by any court or governmental authority of competent jurisdiction which prohibits the consummation of any of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement and the Transaction Documents.
(d) No Proceedings or Litigation. No action, suit or proceeding before any arbitrator or any governmental authority shall have been commenced, and no investigation by any governmental authority shall have been threatened, against the Company, or any of the officers, directors or affiliates of the Company seeking to restrain, prevent or change the transactions contemplated by this Agreement and the Transaction Documents, or seeking damages in connection with such transactions.
(e) Note. The Company shall have executed and delivered to the Purchaser the Note being acquired by such Purchaser at each Closing to such address set forth in Section 7.4 of the Agreement.
(f) Resolutions. The Board of Directors of the Company shall have adopted resolutions consistent with Section 2.1(b) hereof in a form reasonably acceptable to such Purchaser (the "Resolutions").
(g) Reservation of Shares. As of each Closing Date, the Company shall have reserved out of its authorized and unissued Common Stock, solely for the purpose of effecting the conversion of the Note, a number of shares of Common Stock equal to one hundred percent (100%) of the aggregate number of Shares issuable upon conversion of the Note issued or to be issued pursuant to this Agreement.
(h) Secretary's Certificate. The Company shall have delivered to such Purchaser a secretary's certificate, dated as of each Closing Date, certifying attached copies of: (i) the Organizational Documents of the Company; (ii) the Resolutions; and (iii) the incumbency of each authorized officer of the Company signing this Agreement and the Transaction Documents and any other documents required to be executed or delivered in connection herewith and therewith.
(i) Officer's Certificate. The Company shall have delivered to the Purchaser a certificate of an executive officer of the Company, dated as of each Closing Date, confirming the accuracy of the Company's representations, warranties and covenants as of each Closing Date and confirming the compliance by the Company with the conditions precedent set forth in this Section 4.2 as of each Closing Date.
(j) Transaction Documents. On each Closing Date, the Company shall have executed and delivered the Transaction Documents, including all required exhibits and schedules to the Purchaser.
(m) Stop Orders. No stop order or suspension of trading shall have been imposed by the Commission or any other governmental or regulatory body having jurisdiction over the Company or the Trading Market(s) where the Common Stock is listed or quoted, with respect to public trading in the Common Stock.
(n) Opinion. The Purchaser shall have received the opinion of Lucosky Brookman LLP, the Company's counsel, dated as of each Closing Date, in substantially the form of Exhibit D attached hereto.
(o) Certificate of Good Standing. The Company has delivered to Purchaser a certificate evidencing the formation and good standing of the Company and each of its subsidiaries in such entity's jurisdiction of formation issued by the Secretary of State (or comparable office) of such jurisdiction, dated April 22, 2016. The Purchaser and the Company agree that the Company shall deliver to Purchaser as soon as practical such good standing certificate dated within five (5) business days of each Closing Date, as a post-Closing condition of this Agreement.
(p) Transfer Agent Letter. The Company shall have delivered to the Purchaser a letter from the Company's transfer agent certifying the number of shares of Common Stock outstanding as of a date within five days of each Closing Date.
(q) Approvals. The Company shall have obtained all governmental, regulatory or third party consents and approvals, if any, necessary for the sale of the Securities.
(r) Other Documents. The Company shall have delivered to such Buyer such other documents relating to the transactions contemplated by this Agreement as such Buyer or its counsel may reasonably request.
"THESE SECURITIES REPRESENTED BY THIS CERTIFICATE (THE "SECURITIES") HAVE NOT BEEN REGISTERED UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED (THE "SECURITIES ACT"), OR ANY STATE SECURITIES LAWS AND MAY NOT BE SOLD, TRANSFERRED OR OTHERWISE DISPOSED OF UNLESS REGISTERED UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT AND UNDER APPLICABLE STATE SECURITIES LAWS OR THE COMPANY SHALL HAVE RECEIVED AN OPINION OF COUNSEL THAT REGISTRATION OF SUCH SECURITIES UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT AND UNDER THE PROVISIONS OF APPLICABLE STATE SECURITIES LAWS IS NOT REQUIRED."
(a) The restrictions on transfer contained in this Section 5.1 shall be in addition to, and not by way of limitation of, any other restrictions on transfer contained in any other section of this Agreement. Whenever a certificate representing the Shares is required to be issued to the Purchaser without a legend, in lieu of delivering physical certificates representing the Shares (provided that a registration statement under the Securities Act providing for the resale of the Shares is then in effect), the Company may cause its transfer agent to electronically transmit the Shares to the Purchaser by crediting the account of such Purchaser or such Purchaser's prime broker with the DTC through its DWAC system (to the extent not inconsistent with any provisions of this Agreement).
(b) Certificates evidencing the Shares shall not contain any legend (including the legend set forth in Section 5.1 hereof): (i) while a registration statement covering the resale of such security is effective under the Securities Act (the date such registration statement is declared effective, being referred to as the "Effective Date"); (ii) following any sale of such Shares pursuant to Rule 144; (iii) if such Shares are eligible for sale under Rule 144, without the requirement for the Company to be in compliance with the current public information required under Rule 144 as to such Shares and without volume or manner-of-sale restrictions; or (iv) if such legend is not required under applicable requirements of the Securities Act (including judicial interpretations and pronouncements issued by the staff of the Commission). The Company shall cause its counsel to issue a legal opinion to its transfer agent promptly after the Effective Date if required by the transfer agent to effect the removal of the legend hereunder. If all or any Note is converted at a time when there is an effective registration statement to cover the resale of the Shares, or if such Shares may be sold under Rule 144 and the Company is then in compliance with the current public information required under Rule 144, or if such Shares may be sold under Rule 144 without the requirement for the Company to be in compliance with the current public information required under Rule 144 as to such Shares and without volume or manner-of-sale restrictions or if such legend is not otherwise required under applicable requirements of the Securities Act (including judicial interpretations and pronouncements issued by the staff of the Commission) then such Shares shall be issued free of all legends. The Company agrees that following the Effective Date or at such time as such legend is no longer required under this Section 5.1, it will, no later than three (3) Trading Days following the delivery by a Purchaser to the Company or the transfer agent of a certificate representing Shares, as applicable, issued with a restrictive legend (such third Trading Day, the "Legend Removal Date"), deliver or cause to be delivered to such Purchaser a certificate representing such shares that is free from all restrictive and other legends. The Company may not make any notation on its records or give instructions to the transfer agent that enlarge the restrictions on transfer set forth in this Article 5.
(c) The Purchaser agrees with the Company that the Purchaser will sell the Note pursuant to either the registration requirements of the Securities Act, including any applicable prospectus delivery requirements, or an exemption therefrom, and that if the Note is sold pursuant to a registration statement, they will be sold in compliance with the plan of distribution set forth therein, and acknowledges that the removal of the restrictive legend from certificates representing Note as set forth in this Article 5 is predicated upon the Company's reliance upon this understanding.
Section 6.1 General Indemnity. The Company agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Purchaser (and their respective directors, officers, managers, partners, members, shareholders, affiliates, agents, successors and assigns) from and against any and all losses, liabilities, deficiencies, costs, damages and expenses (including, without limitation, reasonable attorneys' fees, charges and disbursements) incurred by the Purchaser as a result of any material breach of the material representations, warranties or covenants made by the Company herein. The Purchaser agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Company and its directors, officers, affiliates, agents, successors and assigns from and against any and all losses, liabilities, deficiencies, costs, damages and expenses (including, without limitation, reasonable attorneys' fees, charges and disbursements) incurred by the Company as a result of any breach of the representations, warranties or covenants made by such Purchaser herein. The maximum aggregate liability of the Purchaser pursuant to its indemnification obligations under this Article 6 shall not exceed the portion of the purchase price paid by such Purchaser hereunder. In no event shall any "Indemnified Party" (as defined below) be entitled to recover consequential or punitive damages resulting from a breach or violation of this Agreement.
Section 6.2 Indemnification Procedure. Any party entitled to indemnification under this Article 6 (an "Indemnified Party") will give written notice to the indemnifying party of any matters giving rise to a claim for indemnification; provided, that the failure of any party entitled to indemnification hereunder to give notice as provided herein shall not relieve the indemnifying party of its obligations under this Article 6 except to the extent that the indemnifying party is actually prejudiced by such failure to give notice. In case any action, proceeding or claim is brought against an Indemnified Party in respect of which indemnification is sought hereunder, the indemnifying party shall be entitled to participate in and, unless in the reasonable judgment of the Indemnified Party a conflict of interest between it and the indemnifying party may exist with respect of such action, proceeding or claim, to assume the defense thereof with counsel reasonably satisfactory to the Indemnified Party. In the event that the indemnifying party advises an Indemnified Party that it will contest such a claim for indemnification hereunder, or fails, within thirty (30) days of receipt of any indemnification notice to notify, in writing, such person of its election to defend, settle or compromise, at its sole cost and expense, any action, proceeding or claim (or discontinues its defense at any time after it commences such defense), then the Indemnified Party may, at its option, defend, settle or otherwise compromise or pay such action or claim. In any event, unless and until the indemnifying party elects in writing to assume and does so assume the defense of any such claim, proceeding or action, the Indemnified Party's costs and expenses arising out of the defense, settlement or compromise of any such action, claim or proceeding shall be losses subject to indemnification hereunder. The Indemnified Party shall cooperate fully with the indemnifying party in connection with any negotiation or defense of any such action or claim by the indemnifying party and shall furnish to the indemnifying party all information reasonably available to the Indemnified Party which relates to such action or claim. The indemnifying party shall keep the Indemnified Party fully apprised at all times as to the status of the defense or any settlement negotiations with respect thereto. If the indemnifying party elects to defend any such action or claim, then the Indemnified Party shall be entitled to participate in such defense with counsel of its choice at its sole cost and expense. The indemnifying party shall not be liable for any settlement of any action, claim or proceeding effected without its prior written consent, provided, however, that the indemnifying party shall be liable for any settlement if the indemnifying party is advised of the settlement but fails to respond to the settlement within thirty (30) days of receipt of such notification. Notwithstanding anything in this Article 6 to the contrary, the indemnifying party shall not, without the Indemnified Party's prior written consent, settle or compromise any claim or consent to entry of any judgment in respect thereof which imposes any future obligation on the Indemnified Party or which does not include, as an unconditional term thereof, the giving by the claimant or the plaintiff to the Indemnified Party of a release from all liability in respect of such claim. The indemnity agreements contained herein shall be in addition to (a) any cause of action or similar rights of the Indemnified Party against the indemnifying party or others, and (b) any liabilities the indemnifying party may be subject to pursuant to the law.
Section 7.1 Fees and Expenses. The Company has agreed to pay $60,000 with respect to certain fees in the manner set forth in Schedule 7.1 hereto. Except as expressly set forth in the Transaction Documents to the contrary, each party shall pay the fees and expenses of its advisers, counsel, accountants and other experts, if any, and all other expenses incurred by such party incident to the negotiation, preparation, execution, delivery and performance of this Agreement. The Company shall pay all Transfer Agent fees, stamp taxes and other taxes and duties levied in connection with the delivery of the Note to the Purchaser.
Section 7.2 Specific Enforcement, Consent to Jurisdiction. The Company and the Purchaser acknowledge and agree that irreparable damage would occur in the event that any of the provisions of this Agreement or the other Transaction Documents were not performed in accordance with their specific terms or were otherwise breached. It is accordingly agreed that the parties shall be entitled to an injunction or injunctions to prevent or cure breaches of the provisions of this Agreement or the other Transaction Documents and to enforce specifically the terms and provisions hereof or thereof, this being in addition to any other remedy to which any of them may be entitled by law or equity.
Each of the Company and the Purchaser: (i) hereby irrevocably submits to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court sitting in Nevada and the courts of the State of Nevada for the purposes of any suit, action or proceeding arising out of or relating to this Agreement or any of the other Transaction Documents or the transactions contemplated hereby or thereby; and (ii) hereby waives, and agrees not to assert in any such suit, action or proceeding, any claim that it is not personally subject to the jurisdiction of such court, that the suit, action or proceeding is brought in an inconvenient forum or that the venue of the suit, action or proceeding is improper. Each of the Company and the Purchaser consents to process being served in any such suit, action or proceeding by mailing a copy thereof via registered or certified mail or overnight delivery (with evidence of delivery) to such party at the address in effect for notices to it under this Agreement and agrees that such service shall constitute good and sufficient service of process and notice thereof. Nothing in this Section 7.2 shall affect or limit any right to serve process in any other manner permitted by law. Each party hereby irrevocably waives personal service of process and consents to process being served in any such suit, action or proceeding by mailing a copy thereof to such party at the address for such notices to it under this Agreement and agrees that such service shall constitute good and sufficient service of process and notice thereof. The Company hereby appoints Lucosky Brookman LLP as its agent for service of process in New York. Nothing contained herein shall be deemed to limit in any way any right to serve process in any manner permitted by law.
Section 7.3 Entire Agreement; Amendment. This Agreement and the other Transaction Documents contain the entire understanding and agreement of the parties with respect to the matters covered hereby and, except as specifically set forth herein or in the Transaction Documents, neither the Company nor the Purchaser makes any representations, warranty, covenant or undertaking with respect to such matters and they supersede all prior understandings and agreements with respect to said subject matter, all of which are merged herein. No provision of this Agreement nor any of the Transaction Documents may be waived or amended other than by a written instrument signed by the Company and the holders of at least fifty percent (50%) of the Shares then outstanding (the "Majority Holders"), and no provision hereof may be waived other than by a written instrument signed by the party against whom enforcement of any such waiver is sought. No such amendment shall be effective to the extent that it applies to less than all of the holders of the Shares then outstanding. No consideration shall be offered or paid to any person to amend or consent to a waiver or modification of any provision of any of the Transaction Documents unless the same consideration is also offered to all of the parties to the Transaction Documents or holders of Shares, as the case may be.
Any party hereto may from time to time change its address for notices by giving at least ten (10) days written notice of such changed address to the other party hereto.
Section 7.5 Waivers. No waiver by any party of any default with respect to any provision, condition or requirement of this Agreement and the other Transaction Documents shall be deemed to be a continuing waiver in the future or a waiver of any other provisions, condition or requirement hereof and thereof, nor shall any delay or omission of any party to exercise any right hereunder and thereunder in any manner impair the exercise of any such right accruing to it thereafter.
Section 7.6 Headings. The section headings contained in this Agreement (including, without limitation, section headings and headings in the exhibits and schedules) are inserted for reference purposes only and shall not affect in any way the meaning, construction or interpretation of this Agreement and the other Transaction Documents. Any reference to the masculine, feminine, or neuter gender shall be a reference to such other gender as is appropriate. References to the singular shall include the plural and vice versa.
Section 7.7 Successors and Assigns. This Agreement may not be assigned by a party hereto without the prior written consent of the Company or the Purchaser, as applicable, provided, however, that, subject to federal and state securities laws and as otherwise provided in the Transaction Documents, the Purchaser may assign its rights and delegate its duties hereunder in whole or in part: (i) to a third party acquiring all or substantially all of its Shares in a private transaction; or (ii) to an affiliate, in each case, without the prior written consent of the Company, after notice duly given by such Purchaser to the Company provided, that no such assignment or obligation shall affect the obligations of such Purchaser hereunder and that such assignee agrees in writing to be bound, with respect to the transferred securities, by the provisions hereof that apply to the Purchaser. The provisions of this Agreement shall inure to the benefit of and be binding upon the respective permitted successors and assigns of the parties. Nothing in this Agreement, express or implied, is intended to confer upon any party other than the parties hereto or their respective successors and assigns any rights, remedies, obligations or liabilities under or by reason of this Agreement, except as expressly provided in this Agreement. If any Purchaser transfers the Shares purchased hereunder, any such penalty shares or liquidated damages, as the case may be, pursuant to this Agreement shall similarly transfer to such transferee with no further action required by the purchaser or the Company.
Section 7.8 Rescission and Withdrawal Right. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in (and without limiting any similar provisions of) this Agreement and the Transaction Documents, whenever the Purchaser exercises a right, election, demand or option under this Agreement or a Transaction Document and the Company does not timely perform its related obligations within the periods therein provided, then such Purchaser may rescind or withdraw, in its sole discretion from time to time upon written notice to the Company, any relevant notice, demand or election in whole or in part without prejudice to its future actions and rights.
Section 7.9 Replacement of Note. If any certificate or instrument evidencing any Note is mutilated, lost, stolen or destroyed, the Company shall issue or cause to be issued in exchange and substitution for and upon cancellation thereof, or in lieu of and substitution therefor, a new certificate or instrument, but only upon receipt of evidence reasonably satisfactory to the Company of such loss, theft or destruction and customary and reasonable indemnity, if requested. The applicants for a new certificate or instrument under such circumstances shall also pay any reasonable third-party costs associated with the issuance of such replacement Note. If a replacement certificate or instrument evidencing any Note is requested due to a mutilation thereof, the Company may require delivery of such mutilated certificate or instrument as a condition precedent to any issuance of a replacement.
Section 7.10 Limitation of Liability. Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, the Company acknowledges and agrees that the liability of the Purchaser arising directly or indirectly, under this Agreement and the other Transaction Documents of any and every nature whatsoever shall be satisfied solely out of the assets of such Purchaser, and that no trustee, officer, other investment vehicle or any other Affiliate of such Purchaser or any Purchaser, shareholder or holder of shares of beneficial interest of such a Purchaser shall be personally liable for any liabilities of such Purchaser.
Section 7.11 No Third Party Beneficiaries. This Agreement is intended for the benefit of the parties hereto and their respective permitted successors and assigns and is not for the benefit of, nor may any provision hereof be enforced by, any other person.
Section 7.12 Governing Law. This Agreement and the other Transaction Documents shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Nevada, without giving effect to any of the conflicts of law principles which would result in the application of the substantive law of another jurisdiction. This Agreement and the other Transaction Documents shall not be interpreted or construed with any presumption against the party causing this Agreement and the other Transaction Documents to be drafted.
Section 7.13 Survival. The representations and warranties of the Company hereunder and under the other Transaction Documents shall survive the execution and delivery hereof and the Final Closing hereunder for a period of three (3) years following the Final Closing Date.
Section 7.14 Counterparts. This Agreement may be executed in any number of counterparts, each of which when so executed shall be deemed to be an original and, all of which taken together shall constitute one and the same Agreement and shall become effective when counterparts have been signed by each party and delivered to the other parties hereto, it being understood that all parties need not sign the same counterpart. In the event that any signature is delivered by facsimile transmission, such signature shall create a valid binding obligation of the party executing (or on whose behalf such signature is executed) the same with the same force and effect as if such facsimile signature were the original thereof.
Section 7.15 Severability. The provisions of this Agreement and the Transaction Documents are severable and, in the event that any court of competent jurisdiction shall determine that any one or more of the provisions or part of the provisions contained in this Agreement or the Transaction Documents shall, for any reason, be held to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable in any respect, such invalidity, illegality or unenforceability shall not affect any other provision or part of a provision of this Agreement or the Transaction Documents and such provision shall be reformed and construed as if such invalid or illegal or unenforceable provision, or part of such provision, had never been contained herein, so that such provisions would be valid, legal and enforceable to the maximum extent possible.
Section 7.16 Further Assurances. From and after the date of this Agreement, upon the request of the Purchaser or the Company, each of the Company and the Purchaser shall execute and deliver such instrument, documents and other writings as may be reasonably necessary or desirable to confirm and carry out and to effectuate fully the intent and purposes of this Agreement and the other Transaction Documents.
(b) by the Company or the Purchaser (as to itself but no other Purchaser) upon written notice to the other, if the Initial Closing shall not have taken place by 5:00 p.m. Eastern time on June 17, 2016, unless extended to a later date by the mutual consent of the Company and the Purchaser; provided, that the right to terminate this Agreement under this Section 7.17(b) shall not be available to any person whose failure to comply with its obligations under this Agreement has been the cause of or resulted in the failure of the Initial Closing to occur on or before such time.
(c) In the event of a termination pursuant to Section 7.17(a) or 7.17(b), the Purchaser shall have the right to a return of up to its entire Minimum Purchase Price pursuant to this Agreement, without interest or deduction. The Company covenants and agrees to cooperate with such Purchaser in obtaining the return of its Minimum Purchase Price.
(d) In the event of a termination pursuant to this Section 7.17, the Company shall promptly notify the Purchaser. Upon a termination in accordance with this Section 7.17, the Company and the terminating Purchaser shall not have any further obligation or liability (including as arising from such termination) to the other.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have caused this Agreement to be duly executed by their respective authorized officer as of the date first above written.
Purchaser hereby elects to purchase a total of _1___ Note in an amount of $2,500,000__________.
A bank as defined in Section 3(a)(2) of the Securities Act, or a savings and loan association or other institution as defined in Section 3(a)(5)(A) of the Securities Act, whether acting in its individual or fiduciary capacity; a broker or dealer registered pursuant to Section 15 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934; an insurance company as defined in Section 2(13) of the Securities Act; an investment company registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the "Investment Company Act") or a business development company as defined in Section 2(a)(48) of the Investment Company Act; a Small Business Investment Company licensed by the U.S. Small Business Administration under Section 301(c) or (d) of the Small Business Investment Act of 1958; a plan established and maintained by a state, its political subdivisions or any agency or instrumentality of a state or its political subdivisions for the benefit of its employees, if such plan has total assets in excess of US $5,000,000; an employee benefit plan within the meaning of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 ("ERISA"), if the investment decision is made by a plan fiduciary, as defined in Section 3(21) of ERISA, which is either a bank, savings and loan association, insurance company, or registered investment advisor, or if the employee benefit plan has total assets in excess of US $5,000,000 or, if a self-directed plan, with investment decisions made solely by persons that are accredited investors.
An organization described in Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, corporation, Massachusetts or similar business trust, or partnership, not formed for the specific purpose of acquiring the securities offered, with total assets in excess of US $5,000,000.
A natural person whose individual net worth, or joint net worth with that person's spouse, at the time of his or her purchase exceeds US $1,000,000.
A trust, with total assets in excess of US $5,000,000, not formed for the specific purpose of acquiring the securities offered, whose purchase is directed by a sophisticated person as described in Rule 506(b)(2)(ii) (i.e., a person who has such knowledge and experience in financial and business matters that he is capable of evaluating the merits and risks of the prospective investment).
I certify that I have a "net worth" of at least $1 million either individually or through aggregating my individual holdings and those in which I have a joint, community property or other similar shared ownership interest with my spouse. For purposes hereof, "net worth" shall be deemed to include all of your assets, liquid or illiquid (excluding the value of your principal residence), minus all of your liabilities (excluding the amount of indebtedness secured by your principal residence up to its fair market value).
I certify that I have had an annual gross income for the past two years of at least $200,000 (or $300,000 jointly with my spouse) and expect my income (or joint income, as appropriate) to reach the same level in the current year.
The undersigned certifies that it is a partnership, corporation, limited liability company or business trust that is 100% owned by persons who meet either of the criteria for Individual Investors, above.
The undersigned certifies that it is a partnership, corporation, limited liability company or business trust that has total assets of at least $5,000,000 and was not formed for the purpose of investing in Company.
The undersigned certifies that it is an employee benefit plan whose investment decision is made by a plan fiduciary (as defined in ERISA §3(21)) that is a bank, savings and loan association, insurance company or registered investment adviser.
The undersigned certifies that it is an employee benefit plan whose total assets exceed $5,000,000 as of the date of the Purchase Agreement.
The undersigned certifies that it is a self-directed employee benefit plan whose investment decisions are made solely by persons who meet either of the criteria for Individual Investors, above.
The undersigned certifies that it is a U.S. bank, U.S. savings and loan association or other similar U.S. institution acting in its individual or fiduciary capacity.
The undersigned certifies that it is a broker-dealer registered pursuant to §15 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
The undersigned certifies that it is an organization described in §501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code with total assets exceeding $5,000,000 and not formed for the specific purpose of investing in Company.
The undersigned certifies that it is a trust with total assets of at least $5,000,000, not formed for the specific purpose of investing in Company, and whose purchase is directed by a person with such knowledge and experience in financial and business matters that he is capable of evaluating the merits and risks of the prospective investment.
Initial _________ The undersigned certifies that it is a plan established and maintained by a state or its political subdivisions, or any agency or instrumentality thereof, for the benefit of its employees, and which has total assets in excess of $5,000,000.
Initial _________ The undersigned certifies that it is an insurance company as defined in §2(a)(13) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or a registered investment company.
We have acted as special outside counsel to BioCorRX Inc., a corporation incorporated under the laws of the State of Nevada (the "Company"), in connection with that certain Note Purchase Agreement, dated as of June 10, 2016 (the "Agreement"), by and between the Company and BICX Holding Company LLC, a limited liability company organized and existing under the laws of the State of Delaware (the "Purchaser"). This opinion is being provided to you pursuant to Section 4.2(n) of the Agreement.
(f) all such other agreements, instruments, documents and certificates of public officials and/or of officers and directors of the Company as we have deemed necessary or advisable as a basis for the opinion herein rendered.
In connection with the opinions expressed herein, we have made such examination of law as we considered appropriate or advisable for purposes hereof. As to matters of fact material to the opinions expressed herein, we have relied, with your permission, upon the representations and warranties as to factual matters contained in and made by the Company and the Purchaser pursuant to the Transaction Documents and upon certificates and statements of certain government officials and of officers of the Company as described below.
(v) the constitutionality and validity of all relevant laws, regulations and agency actions unless a reported case has otherwise held or widespread concern has been expressed by commentators as reflected in materials which lawyers routinely consult.
Whenever a statement herein is qualified by "to our knowledge" or similar phrase, it means that, during the course of our representation of the Company for the purposes of this opinion letter, (1) no information that would give those lawyers who participated in the preparation of the letter or who have been actively involved in negotiating or preparing the Transaction Documents (collectively, the "Opinion Letter Participants") current knowledge of the inaccuracy of such statement has come to their attention; (2) we have not undertaken any independent investigation or inquiry to determine the accuracy of such statement; (3) any limited investigation or inquiry otherwise undertaken by the Opinion Letter Participants during the preparation of this opinion letter should not be regarded as such an investigation or inquiry; and (4) no inference as to our knowledge of any matters bearing on the accuracy of any such statement should be drawn from the fact of our representation of the Company. We also call to your attention to the fact that we are not general counsel to the Company and we are not familiar audit of the Company or their files.
We are members of the bar of the State of New Jersey. We express no opinion as to the laws of any jurisdiction other than the laws of the State of New Jersey and the federal laws of the United States of America. Insofar as any entity opined upon herein may be incorporated under the laws of other states and insofar as the Transaction Documents may be governed by the laws of other states, we have assumed that such laws are identical in all respects to the laws of the State of New Jersey.
We express no opinion with respect to the effect or application of any other laws. Special rulings of authorities administering any of such laws or opinions of other counsel have not been sought or obtained by us in connection with rendering the opinions expressed herein. We express no opinions as to the application of the laws of usury to the Transaction Documents.
1. Based solely upon a good standing certificate received from the Nevada Secretary of State dated June 7, 2016, as of such date, the Company is a corporation duly organized, validly existing and in good standing under the laws of the State of Nevada.
2. The Company has the corporate power and authority to enter into, execute, deliver and perform the transactions contemplated in and its obligations under the Transaction Documents to which it is a party. The execution, delivery and performance by the Company of the Transaction Documents to which Company is a party has been duly authorized by all requisite corporate action and the Transaction Documents have been duly executed and delivered by Company.
Company enforceable in accordance with their respective terms.
4. The execution and delivery by the Company of the Transaction Documents to which Company is a party and the performance by the Company of its obligations thereunder: (i) do not conflict with or result in a violation of the Articles of Incorporation or Bylaws of the Company; and (ii) to our knowledge, do not conflict with or violate any order, writ, judgment or decree to which the Company is a party or is subject.
5. To our knowledge, no approval, authorization or other action by, or filing with, any governmental authority is required in connection with the execution, delivery and performance by Company of the Transaction Documents except as such has been obtained and except for filing a current report on Form 8-K with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission disclosing the terms and conditions of the Transaction Documents.
6. The Company has the power and authority to own its property and to carry on its business as it is now being conducted, and, based solely upon representations made to us by management of the Company, the Company is duly qualified to do business in all jurisdictions in which the nature of its activities makes such qualification necessary, except where the failure to so qualify could not reasonably be expected to have a material adverse effect.
7. To our knowledge and based solely upon representations made to us by management of the Company, giving no independent investigation, there is no suit, action or proceeding filed against the Company or its management before or by any governmental authority, including, without limitation, any suit, action or proceeding which seeks to enjoin or challenge the consummation or validity of any of the transactions contemplated by the Transaction Documents or which would materially affect the ability of the Company to perform its obligations under the Transaction Documents.
8. The Company is not, and after the consummation of the transactions contemplated by the Transaction Documents shall not be, an Investment Company within the meaning of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended.
A. The effect of bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, moratorium and other similar laws relating to or affecting the relief of debtors or the rights and remedies of creditors generally, including without limitation the effect of statutory or other law regarding fraudulent conveyances and preferential transfers.
B. Limitations imposed by state law, federal law, general equitable principles, or a requirement as to commercial reasonableness, conscionability or good faith upon the specific enforceability of any of the remedies, covenants or other provisions of any applicable agreement and upon the availability of injunctive relief or other equitable remedies, regardless of whether enforcement of any such agreement is considered in a proceeding in equity or at law.
This opinion is rendered as of the date first written above, is solely for your benefit in connection with the Transaction Documents and may not be relied upon or used by, circulated, quoted, or referred to nor may any copies hereof be delivered to any other person without our prior written consent. We disclaim any obligation to update this opinion letter or to advise you of facts, circumstances, events or developments which hereafter may be brought to our attention and which may alter, affect or modify the opinions expressed herein. This opinion letter speaks only as of the date hereof and shall not be deemed to have been reissued as of any date. We have no responsibility or obligation to consider the applicability or correctness of this opinion letter to any person other than its original addressees.
A. General Purpose. The name of this plan is the BioCorRx Inc. 2016 Equity Incentive Plan (the "Plan"). The purposes of the Plan are to (a) enable BioCorRx Inc., a Nevada corporation (the "Company"), to attract and retain the types of Employees, Consultants and Directors who will contribute to the Company's long range success; (b) provide incentives that align the interests of Employees, Consultants and Directors with those of the shareholders of the Company; and (c) promote the success of the Company's business.
B. Eligible Award Recipients.The persons eligible to receive Awards are the Employees, Consultants and Directors of the Company and its Affiliates.
C. Available Awards. Awards that may be granted under the Plan include: (a) Incentive Stock Options, (b) Non-qualified Stock Options, (c) Restricted Stock and (d) Restricted Stock Units.
"Affiliate" means a corporation or other entity that, directly or through one or more intermediaries, controls, is controlled by or is under common control with, the Company.
"Applicable Laws" means the requirements related to or implicated by the administration of the Plan under applicable state corporate law, United States federal and state securities laws, the Code and the applicable laws of any foreign country or jurisdiction where Awards are granted under the Plan.
"Award" means any right granted under the Plan, including an Incentive Stock Option, a Non-qualified Stock Option, a Restricted Stock Award or a Restricted Stock Unit Award.
"Award Agreement" means a written agreement, contract, certificate or other instrument or document evidencing the terms and conditions of an individual Award granted under the Plan which may, in the discretion of the Company, be transmitted electronically to any Participant. Each Award Agreement shall be subject to the terms and conditions of the Plan.
"Board" means the Board of Directors of the Company, as constituted at any time.
"Cause" means, unless the applicable Award Agreement provides otherwise: (1) with respect to any employee or Consultant, (A) continued failure by Participant to perform substantially Participant's duties and responsibilities (other than a failure resulting from Disability) that is materially injurious to the Company and that remains uncorrected for 10 days after receipt of appropriate written notice from the Board; (B) reliable, written third-party documentary evidence of engagement in willful, reckless or grossly negligent misconduct that is materially injurious to Company or any of its affiliates, monetarily or otherwise; (C) except as provided by (D), the indictment of Participant with a crime involving moral turpitude or a felony, provided that if the criminal charge is dismissed with prejudice or if Participant is acquitted at trial or on appeal, Participant will be deemed to have been terminated without Cause; (D) the indictment of Participant for an act of criminal fraud, misappropriation or personal dishonesty, provided that if the criminal charge is subsequently dismissed with prejudice or the Participant is acquitted at trial or on appeal then the Participant will be deemed to have been terminated without Cause; or (E) a material breach by Participant of any provision of an applicable employment agreement that is materially injurious to the Company and that remains uncorrected for 10 days following written notice of such breach by the Company to Participant identifying the provision of the applicable employment agreement that the Company determined has been breached; and (2) with respect to a Director, a determination by a majority of the disinterested Board members that the Director has engaged in (A) malfeasance in office; (B) gross misconduct or neglect; (C) false or fraudulent misrepresentation inducing the Director's appointment; (D) willful conversion of corporate funds; or (E) repeated failure to participate in Board meetings on a regular basis despite having received proper notice of the meetings in advance. The Board, in its absolute discretion, shall determine the effect of all matters and questions relating to whether a Participant has been discharged for Cause.
"Change in Control" means the occurrence of any one or more of the following events (1) any Person becomes a "beneficial owner" (as defined in Rule 13d-3 under the Exchange Act), directly or indirectly, of securities of the Company representing more than 25% of the voting power of the then outstanding securities of the Company; provided that a Change of Control shall not be deemed to occur as a result of a transaction in which the Company becomes a subsidiary of another corporation and in which the stockholders of the Company, immediately prior to the transaction, will beneficially own, immediately after the transaction, shares entitling such stockholders to more than 50% of all votes to which all stockholders of the parent corporation would be entitled in the election of directors; (2) the consummation of (A) a merger or consolidation of the Company with another corporation where the stockholders of the Company, immediately prior to the merger or consolidation, will not beneficially own, immediately after the merger or consolidation, shares entitling such stockholders to more than 50% of all votes to which all stockholders of the surviving corporation would be entitled in the election of directors, (B) a sale or other disposition of all or substantially all of the assets of the Company, or (C) a liquidation or dissolution of the Company; or (3) Directors are elected such that a majority of the members of the Company's Board shall have been members of the Board for less than two years, unless the election or nomination for election of each new director who was not a director at the beginning of such two-year period was approved by a vote of at least two-thirds of the Directors then still in office who were Directors at the beginning of such period.
"Code" means the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as it may be amended from time to time. Any reference to a section of the Code shall be deemed to include a reference to any regulations promulgated thereunder.
"Committee" means a committee of one or more members of the Board appointed by the Board to administer the Plan in accordance with Section III(D).
"Common Stock" means the common stock, $0.001 par value per share, of the Company. "Company" means BioCorRx Inc. a Nevada corporation, and any successor thereto.
"Consultant" means any individual who is engaged by the Company or any Affiliate to render consulting or advisory services, whether or not compensated for such services.
"Continuous Service" means that the Participant's service with the Company or an Affiliate, whether as an Employee, Consultant or Director, is not interrupted or terminated. The Participant's Continuous Service shall not be deemed to have terminated merely because of a change in the capacity in which the Participant renders service to the Company or an Affiliate as an Employee, Consultant or Director or a change in the entity for which the Participant renders such service, provided that there is no interruption or termination of the Participant's Continuous Service; provided further that if any Award is subject to Section 409A of the Code, this sentence shall only be given effect to the extent consistent with Section 409A of the Code. For example, a change in status from an Employee of the Company to a Director of an Affiliate will not constitute an interruption of Continuous Service. The Board or its delegate, in its sole discretion, may determine whether Continuous Service shall be considered interrupted in the case of any leave of absence approved by that party, including sick leave, military leave or any other personal or family leave of absence.
"Disability" means either (A) a Participant's inability to engage in any substantial gainful activity by reason of any medically determinable physical or mental impairment that can be expected to result in death or can be expected to last for a continuous period of not less than 12 months, or (B) by reason of any medically determinable physical or mental impairment that can be expected to result in death or can be expected to last for a continuous period of not less than 12 months, a Participant's receiving income replacement benefits for a period of not less than three months under an accident and health plan covering the Company's employees. A Participant will be deemed permanently disabled if determined to be totally disabled by the Social Security Administration or if determined to be disabled in accordance with a disability insurance program that applies a definition of disability that complies with the requirements of this paragraph.
"Disqualifying Disposition" has the meaning set forth in Section XIV(I). "Effective Date" shall mean the date as of which this Plan is adopted by the Board.
"Employee" means any person, including an officer or Director, employed by the Company or an Affiliate; provided, that, for purposes of determining eligibility to receive Incentive Stock Options, an Employee shall mean an employee of the Company or a parent or subsidiary corporation within the meaning of Section 424 of the Code. Mere service as a Director or payment of a director's fee by the Company or an Affiliate shall not be sufficient to constitute "employment" by the Company or an Affiliate.
"Exchange Act" means the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and any successor thereto.
"Fair Market Value" means, on a given date, (i) if there is a public market for the shares of Common Stock on such date, the closing price of the shares as reported on such date on the principal national securities exchange on which the shares are listed or, if no sales of shares have been reported on any national securities exchange, then the immediately preceding date on which sales of the shares have been so reported or quoted, and (ii) if there is no public market for the shares of Common Stock on such date, then the fair market value shall be determined by the Board in good faith after taking into consideration all factors which it deems appropriate, including, without limitation, Sections 409A and 422 of the Code.
"Grant Date" means the date on which the Board adopts a resolution, or takes other appropriate action, expressly granting an Award to a Participant that specifies the key terms and conditions of the Award or, if a later date is set forth in such resolution, then such date as is set forth in such resolution.
"Incentive Stock Option" means an Option intended to qualify as an incentive stock option within the meaning of Section 422 of the Code.
"Non-qualified Stock Option" means an Option that by its terms does not qualify or is not intended to qualify as an Incentive Stock Option.
"Option" means an Incentive Stock Option or a Non-qualified Stock Option granted pursuant to the Plan. "Optionholder" means a person to whom an Option is granted pursuant to the Plan or, if applicable, such other person who holds an outstanding Option.
"Option Exercise Price" means the price at which a share of Common Stock may be purchased upon the exercise of an Option.
"Participant" means an eligible person to whom an Award is granted pursuant to the Plan or, if applicable, such other person who holds an outstanding Award.
"Permitted Transferee" means: (a) a member of the Optionholder's immediate family (child, stepchild, grandchild, parent, stepparent, grandparent, spouse, former spouse, sibling, niece, nephew, mother-in-law, father-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law, or sister-in-law, including adoptive relationships), any person sharing the Optionholder's household (other than a tenant or employee), a trust in which these persons have more than 50% of the beneficial interest, a foundation in which these persons (or the Optionholder) control the management of assets, and any other entity in which these persons (or the Optionholder) own more than 50% of the voting interests; or (b) such other transferees as may be permitted by the Board in its sole discretion.
"Person" means any individual, entity or group (within the meaning of Section 13(d)(3) or 14(d)(2) of the Exchange Act). "Plan" means this BioCorRx Inc. 2016 Equity Incentive Plan, as amended and/or amended and restated from time to time.
"Restricted Period" has the meaning set forth in Section VII.
"Restricted Stock" means Common Stock, subject to certain specified restrictions (including, without limitation, a requirement that the Participant provide Continuous Service for a specified period of time) granted under Section VII of the Plan.
"Restricted Stock Unit" means an unfunded and unsecured promise to deliver shares of Common Stock, cash, other securities or other property, subject to certain restrictions (including, without limitation, a requirement that the Participant provide Continuous Service for a specified period of time) granted under Section VII of the Plan.
"Ten Percent Shareholder" means a person who owns (or is deemed to own pursuant to Section 424(d) of the Code) stock possessing more than 10% of the total combined voting power of all classes of stock of the Company or of any of its Affiliates.
A. Authority of Board. The Plan shall be administered by the Board or, in the Board's sole discretion, by the Committee. Subject to the terms of the Plan, the Committee's charter and Applicable Laws, and in addition to other express powers and authorization conferred by the Plan, the Committee shall have the authority: (1) to construe and interpret the Plan and apply its provisions; (2)to promulgate, amend, and rescind rules and regulations relating to the administration of the Plan; (3) to authorize any person to execute, on behalf of the Company, any instrument required to carry out the purposes of the Plan; (4) to delegate its authority to one or more officers of the Company; (5) to determine when Awards are to be granted under the Plan and the applicable Grant Date; (6) from time to time to select, subject to the limitations set forth in this Plan, those Participants to whom Awards shall be granted; (7) to determine the number of shares of Common Stock to be made subject to each Award; (8) to determine whether each Option is to be an Incentive Stock Option or a Non-qualified Stock Option; (9) to prescribe the terms and conditions of each Award, including, without limitation, the exercise price and medium of payment and vesting provisions, and to specify the provisions of the Award Agreement relating to such grant; (10) to amend any outstanding Awards, including for the purpose of modifying the time or manner of vesting, or the term of any outstanding Award; provided, however, that if any such amendment impairs a Participant's rights or increases a Participant's obligations under his or her Award or creates or increases a Participant's federal income tax liability with respect to an Award, such amendment shall also be subject to the Participant's consent; (11) to determine the duration and purpose of leaves of absences which may be granted to a Participant without constituting termination of their employment for purposes of the Plan, which periods shall be no shorter than the periods generally applicable to Employees under the Company's employment policies; (12) to make decisions with respect to outstanding Awards that may become necessary upon a change in corporate control or an event that triggers anti-dilution adjustments; (13) to interpret, administer, reconcile any inconsistency in, correct any defect in and/or supply any omission in the Plan and any instrument or agreement relating to, or Award granted under, the Plan; and (14) to exercise discretion to make any and all other determinations which it determines to be necessary or advisable for the administration of the Plan.
B. Acquisitions and Other Transactions. The Board may, from time to time, assume outstanding awards granted by another entity, whether in connection with an acquisition of such other entity or otherwise, by either (i) granting an Award under the Plan in replacement of or in substitution for the award assumed by the Company, or (ii) treating the assumed award as if it had been granted under the Plan if the terms of such assumed award could be applied to an Award granted under the Plan. Such assumed award shall be permissible if the holder of the assumed award would have been eligible to be granted an Award hereunder if the other entity had applied the rules of this Plan to such grant. The Board may also grant Awards under the Plan in settlement of or in substitution for outstanding awards or obligations to grant future awards in connection with the Company or an Affiliate acquiring another entity, an interest in another entity, or an additional interest in an Affiliate whether by merger, stock purchase, asset purchase or other form of transaction.
C. Board Decisions Final. All decisions made by the Board pursuant to the provisions of the Plan shall be final and binding on the Company and the Participants, unless such decisions are determined by a court having jurisdiction to be arbitrary and capricious.
D. Delegation. The Board, may delegate administration of the Plan to a committee or committees of one or more members of the Board, and the term "Committee" shall apply to any person or persons to whom such authority has been delegated. Except as otherwise determined by the Board, the Committee shall consist solely of two or more Directors appointed to the Committee from time to time by the Board. The Committee shall have the power to delegate to a subcommittee any of the administrative powers the Committee is authorized to exercise (and references in this Plan to the Board or the Committee shall thereafter be to the committee or subcommittee), subject, however, to such resolutions, not inconsistent with the provisions of the Plan, as may be adopted from time to time by the Board. The Board may abolish the Committee at any time and revest in the Board the administration of the Plan. The members of the Committee shall be appointed by and serve at the pleasure of the Board. From time to time, the Board may increase or decrease the size of the Committee, add additional members to, remove members (with or without cause) from, appoint new members in substitution therefor, and fill vacancies, however caused, in the Committee. The Committee shall act pursuant to a vote of the majority of its members or, in the case of a Committee comprised of only two members, the unanimous consent of its members, whether present or not, or by the written consent of the majority of its members and minutes shall be kept of all of its meetings and copies thereof shall be provided to the Board. Subject to the limitations prescribed by the Plan and the Board, the Committee may establish and follow such rules and regulations for the conduct of its business as it may determine to be advisable.
E. Indemnification. In addition to such other rights of indemnification as they may have as Directors or members of the Committee, and to the extent allowed by Applicable Laws, the Board shall be indemnified by the Company against the reasonable expenses, including attorney's fees, actually incurred in connection with any action, suit or proceeding or in connection with any appeal therein, to which the Committee may be party by reason of any action taken or failure to act under or in connection with the Plan or any Award granted under the Plan, and against all amounts paid by the Board in settlement thereof (provided, however, that the settlement has been approved by the Company, which approval shall not be unreasonably withheld) or paid by the Board in satisfaction of a judgment in any such action, suit or proceeding, except in relation to matters as to which it shall be adjudged in such action, suit or proceeding that such Board did not act in good faith and in a manner which such person reasonably believed to be in the best interests of the Company, or in the case of a criminal proceeding, had no reason to believe that the conduct complained of was unlawful; provided, however, that within 60 days after institution of any such action, suit or proceeding, such Board shall, in writing, offer the Company the opportunity at its own expense to handle and defend such action, suit or proceeding.
IV. Shares Subject to the Plan.
A. Subject to adjustment in accordance with Section XI, a total of 65,625,000 shares of Common Stock shall be available for the grant of Awards under the Plan; provided that, no more than 65,625,000 shares of Common Stock may be granted as Incentive Stock Options. During the terms of the Awards, the Company shall keep available at all times the number of shares of Common Stock required to satisfy such Awards.
B. Shares of Common Stock available for distribution under the Plan may consist, in whole or in part, of authorized and unissued shares or treasury shares.
C. Any shares of Common Stock subject to an Award that is canceled, forfeited or expires prior to exercise or realization, either in full or in part, shall again become available for issuance under the Plan. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained herein: shares subject to an Award under the Plan shall not again be made available for issuance or delivery under the Plan if such shares are (a) shares tendered in payment of an Option or (b) shares delivered or withheld by the Company to satisfy any tax withholding obligation.
D. If the Board authorizes the assumption of awards pursuant to Section III(B) or Section XII(A) hereof, the assumption will reduce the number of shares available for issuance under the Plan in the same manner as if the assumed awards had been granted under the Plan.
A. Eligibility for Specific Awards. Incentive Stock Options may be granted to Employees only. Awards other than Incentive Stock Options may be granted to Employees, Consultants and Directors.
B. Ten Percent Shareholders. A Ten Percent Shareholder shall not be granted an Incentive Stock Option unless the Option Exercise Price is at least 110% of the Fair Market Value of the Common Stock at the Grant Date and the Option is not exercisable after the expiration of five years from the Grant Date.
A. Term. Subject to the provisions of Section V(B) regarding Ten Percent Shareholders, no Incentive Stock Option shall be exercisable after the expiration of 10 years from the Grant Date. The term of a Non-qualified Stock Option granted under the Plan shall be determined by the Board; provided, however, no Non-qualified Stock Option shall be exercisable after the expiration of 10 years from the Grant Date.
B. Exercise Price of an Incentive Stock Option. Subject to the provisions of Section V(B) regarding Ten Percent Shareholders, the Option Exercise Price of each Incentive Stock Option shall be not less than 100% of the Fair Market Value of the Common Stock subject to the Option on the Grant Date. Notwithstanding the foregoing, an Incentive Stock Option may be granted with an Option Exercise Price lower than that set forth in the preceding sentence if such Option is granted pursuant to an assumption or substitution for another option in a manner satisfying the provisions of Section 424(a) of the Code.
C. Exercise Price of a Non-qualified Stock Option. The Option Exercise Price of each Non-qualified Stock Option shall be not less than 100% of the Fair Market Value of the Common Stock subject to the Option on the Grant Date.
D. Method of Exercise. The Option Exercise Price shall be paid, to the extent permitted by Applicable Laws, either (a) in cash or by certified or bank check at the time the Option is exercised or (b) in the discretion of the Board, upon such terms as the Board shall approve: (i) by delivery to the Company of other shares of Common Stock, duly endorsed for transfer to the Company, with a Fair Market Value on the date of delivery equal to the Option Exercise Price (or portion thereof) due for the number of shares being acquired; (ii) by a "net exercise" procedure effected by withholding the minimum number of shares of Common Stock otherwise issuable in respect of an Option that are needed to pay the Option Exercise Price; (iii) by any combination of the foregoing methods; or (iv) in any other form of legal consideration that may be acceptable to the Board. Unless otherwise specifically provided in the Option, the Option Exercise Price that is paid by delivery to the Company of other Common Stock acquired, directly or indirectly from the Company, shall be paid only by shares of Common Stock that have been held for more than six months (or such longer or shorter period of time required to avoid a charge to earnings for financial accounting purposes).
E. Transferability of an Incentive Stock Option. An Incentive Stock Option shall not be transferable except by will or by the laws of descent and distribution and shall be exercisable during the lifetime of the Optionholder only by the Optionholder. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Optionholder may, by delivering written notice to the Company, in a form satisfactory to the Company, designate a third party who, in the event of the death of the Optionholder, shall thereafter be entitled to exercise the Option.
F. Transferability of a Non-qualified Stock Option. A Non-qualified Stock Option may, in the sole discretion of the Board, be transferable to a Permitted Transferee, upon written approval by the Board to the extent provided in the Award Agreement. If the Non-qualified Stock Option does not provide for transferability, then the Non-qualified Stock Option shall not be transferable except by will or by the laws of descent and distribution and shall be exercisable during the lifetime of the Optionholder only by the Optionholder. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Optionholder may, by delivering written notice to the Company, in a form satisfactory to the Company, designate a third party who, in the event of the death of the Optionholder, shall thereafter be entitled to exercise the Option.
G. Vesting of Options. Each Option may, but need not, vest and therefore become exercisable in periodic installments that may, but need not, be equal. The Option may be subject to such other terms and conditions on the time or times when it may be exercised (which may be based on performance or other criteria) as the Board may deem appropriate. The vesting provisions of individual Options may vary. No Option may be exercised for a fraction of a share of Common Stock. The Board may, but shall not be required to, provide for an acceleration of vesting and exercisability in the terms of any Award Agreement upon the occurrence of a specified event.
H. Termination of Continuous Service. Unless otherwise provided in an Award Agreement or in an employment agreement the terms of which have been approved by the Board, in the event an Optionholder's Continuous Service terminates (other than upon the Optionholder's death or Disability), the Optionholder may exercise his or her Option (to the extent that the Optionholder was entitled to exercise such Option as of the date of termination) but only within such period of time ending on the earlier of (a) the date three months following the termination of the Optionholder's Continuous Service or (b) the expiration of the term of the Option as set forth in the Award Agreement; provided that, if the termination of Continuous Service is by the Company for Cause, all outstanding Options (whether or not vested) shall immediately terminate and cease to be exercisable. If, after termination, the Optionholder does not exercise his or her Option within the time specified in the Award Agreement, the Option shall terminate.
I. Disability of Optionholder. Unless otherwise provided in an Award Agreement, in the event that an Optionholder's Continuous Service terminates as a result of the Optionholder's Disability, the Optionholder may exercise his or her Option (to the extent that the Optionholder was entitled to exercise such Option as of the date of termination), but only within such period of time ending on the earlier of (a) the date 12 months following such termination or (b) the expiration of the term of the Option as set forth in the Award Agreement. If, after termination, the Optionholder does not exercise his or her Option within the time specified herein or in the Award Agreement, the Option shall terminate.
J. Death of Optionholder. Unless otherwise provided in an Award Agreement, in the event an Optionholder's Continuous Service terminates as a result of the Optionholder's death, then the Option may be exercised (to the extent the Optionholder was entitled to exercise such Option as of the date of death) by the Optionholder's estate, by a person who acquired the right to exercise the Option by bequest or inheritance or by a person designated to exercise the Option upon the Optionholder's death, but only within the period ending on the earlier of (a) the date 12 months following the date of death or (b) the expiration of the term of such Option as set forth in the Award Agreement. If, after the Optionholder's death, the Option is not exercised within the time specified herein or in the Award Agreement, the Option shall terminate.
K. Incentive Stock Option $100,000 Limitation. To the extent that the aggregate Fair Market Value (determined at the time of grant) of Common Stock with respect to which Incentive Stock Options are exercisable for the first time by any Optionholder during any calendar year (under all plans of the Company and its Affiliates) exceeds $100,000, the Options or portions thereof which exceed such limit (according to the order in which they were granted) shall be treated as Non-qualified Stock Options.
VII. Restricted Awards. A Restricted Award is an Award of actual shares of Common Stock ("Restricted Stock") or an Award of hypothetical Common Stock Units ("Restricted Stock Units") having a value equal to the Fair Market Value of an identical number of shares of Common Stock. Restricted Awards may, but need not, provide that such Restricted Award may not be sold, assigned, transferred or otherwise disposed of, pledged or hypothecated as collateral for a loan or as security for the performance of any obligation or for any other purpose for such period (the "Restricted Period") as the Board shall determine. Each Restricted Award granted under the Plan shall be evidenced by an Award Agreement. Each Restricted Award so granted shall be subject to the conditions set forth in this Section VII, and to such other conditions not inconsistent with the Plan as may be reflected in the applicable Award Agreement.
A. Restricted Stock. Each Participant granted Restricted Stock shall execute and deliver to the Company an Award Agreement with respect to the Restricted Stock setting forth the restrictions and other terms and conditions applicable to such Restricted Stock. If the Board determines that the Restricted Stock shall be held by the Company or in escrow rather than delivered to the Participant pending the release of the applicable restrictions, the Board may require the Participant to additionally execute and deliver to the Company (A) an escrow agreement satisfactory to the Board, if applicable and (B) the appropriate blank stock power with respect to the Restricted Stock covered by such agreement. If a Participant fails to execute an agreement evidencing an Award of Restricted Stock and, if applicable, an escrow agreement and stock power, the Award shall be null and void. Subject to the restrictions set forth in the Award, the Participant generally shall have the rights and privileges of a shareholder as to such Restricted Stock, including the right to vote such Restricted Stock and the right to receive dividends.
B. Restricted Stock Units. The terms and conditions of a grant of Restricted Stock Units shall be reflected in an Award Agreement. No shares of Common Stock shall be issued at the time a Restricted Stock Unit is granted, and the Company will not be required to set aside funds for the payment of any such Award. A Participant shall have no voting rights with respect to any Restricted Stock Units granted hereunder. To the extent provided in an Award Agreement, the holder of Restricted Stock Units shall be entitled to be credited with dividend equivalent payments (upon the payment by the Company of dividends on shares of Common Stock) either in cash or, at the sole discretion of the Board, in shares of Common Stock having a Fair Market Value equal to the amount of such dividends (and interest may, at the sole discretion of the Board, be credited on the amount of cash dividend equivalents at a rate and subject to such terms as provided by the Board), which accumulated dividend equivalents (and interest thereon, if applicable) shall be payable to the Participant upon the release of restrictions on such Restricted Stock Units, and if such Restricted Stock Units are forfeited, the Participant shall have no right to such dividend equivalent payments.
1. Restrictions on Restricted Stock. Restricted Stock awarded to a Participant shall be subject to the following restrictions until the expiration of the Restricted Period, and to such other terms and conditions as may be set forth in the applicable Award Agreement: (A) if an escrow arrangement is used, the Participant shall not be entitled to delivery of the stock certificate; (B) the shares shall be subject to the restrictions on transferability set forth in the Award Agreement; (C) the shares shall be subject to forfeiture to the extent provided in the applicable Award Agreement; and (D) to the extent such shares are forfeited, the stock certificates shall be returned to the Company, and all rights of the Participant to such shares and as a shareholder with respect to such shares shall terminate without further obligation on the part of the Company.
2. Restrictions on Restricted Stock Units. Restricted Stock Units awarded to a Participant shall be subject to (A) forfeiture until the expiration of the Restricted Period and satisfaction of any applicable performance goals during such period, to the extent provided in the applicable Award Agreement, and to the extent such Restricted Stock Units are forfeited, all rights of the Participant to such Restricted Stock Units shall terminate without further obligation on the part of the Company and (B) such other terms and conditions as may be set forth in the applicable Award Agreement.
3. Board Discretion to Remove Restrictions. The Board shall have the authority to remove any or all of the restrictions on the Restricted Stock or Restricted Stock Units whenever it may determine that, by reason of changes in Applicable Laws or other changes in circumstances arising after the Grant Date, such action is appropriate.
D. Restricted Period. The Restricted Period shall commence on the Grant Date and end at the time or times set forth on a schedule established by the Board in the applicable Award Agreement; provided, however, that notwithstanding any such vesting dates, the Board may in its sole discretion accelerate the vesting of any Restricted Award at any time and for any reason. The Board may, but shall not be required to, provide for an acceleration of vesting in the terms of any Award Agreement upon the occurrence of a specified event.
E. Delivery of Restricted Stock and Settlement of Restricted Stock Units. Upon the expiration of the Restricted Period with respect to any shares of Restricted Stock, the restrictions set forth in Section VII(A) and the applicable Award Agreement shall be of no further force or effect with respect to such shares, except as set forth in the applicable Award Agreement. If an escrow arrangement is used, upon such expiration, the Company shall deliver to the Participant, or his or her beneficiary, without charge, the stock certificate evidencing the shares of Restricted Stock which have not then been forfeited and with respect to which the Restricted Period has expired (to the nearest full share) and any dividends credited to the Participant's account with respect to such Restricted Stock and the interest thereon, if any. Upon the expiration of the Restricted Period with respect to any outstanding Restricted Stock Units, the Company shall deliver to the Participant, or his or her beneficiary, without charge, one share of Common Stock for each outstanding Restricted Stock Unit and any dividend equivalent payments credited to the Participant's account with respect to such Restricted Stock Units and the interest thereon, if any; provided, however, that if explicitly provided in the Award Agreement, the Board may, in its sole discretion, elect to pay part cash or part cash and part Common Stock in lieu of delivering only shares of Common Stock for vested Restricted Stock Units. If a cash payment is made in lieu of delivering shares of Common Stock, the amount of such payment shall be equal to the Fair Market Value of the Common Stock as of the date on which the Restricted Period lapsed.
No Restricted Award may be granted or settled for a fraction of a share of Common Stock.
A. Securities Registration. No Awards shall be granted under the Plan and no shares of Common Stock shall be issued and delivered upon the exercise of Options granted under the Plan unless and until the Company and/or the Participant have complied with all applicable federal and state registration, listing and/or qualification requirements and all other requirements of law or of any regulatory agencies having jurisdiction.
B. Representations; Legends. The Board may, as a condition to the grant of any Award or the exercise of any Option under the Plan, require a Participant to (i) represent in writing that the shares of Common Stock received in connection with such Award are being acquired for investment and not with a view to distribution and (ii) make such other representations and warranties as are deemed appropriate by counsel to the Company. Each certificate representing shares of Common Stock acquired under the Plan shall bear a legend in such form as the Company deems appropriate.
IX. Use of Proceeds from Stock. Proceeds from the sale of Common Stock pursuant to Awards, or upon exercise thereof, shall constitute general funds of the Company.
A. Acceleration of Exercisability and Vesting. The Board shall have the power to accelerate the time at which an Award may first be exercised or the time during which an Award or any part thereof will vest in accordance with the Plan, notwithstanding the provisions in the Award stating the time at which it may first be exercised or the time during which it will vest.
B. Shareholder Rights. Except as provided in the Plan or an Award Agreement, no Participant shall be deemed to be the holder of, or to have any of the rights of a holder with respect to, any shares of Common Stock subject to an Award unless and until such Participant has satisfied all requirements for exercise or settlement of the Award pursuant to its terms and no adjustment shall be made for dividends (ordinary or extraordinary, whether in cash, securities or other property) or distributions of other rights for which the record date is prior to the date such Common Stock certificate is issued, except as provided in Section XI hereof.
C. No Employment or Other Service Rights. Nothing in the Plan or any instrument executed or Award granted pursuant thereto shall confer upon any Participant any right to continue to serve the Company or an Affiliate in the capacity in effect at the time the Award was granted or shall affect the right of the Company or an Affiliate to terminate (a) the employment of an Employee with or without notice and with or without Cause or (b) the service of a Director pursuant to the By-laws of the Company or an Affiliate, and any applicable provisions of the corporate law of the state in which the Company or the Affiliate is incorporated, as the case may be.
D. Transfer; Approved Leave of Absence. For purposes of the Plan, no termination of employment by an Employee shall be deemed to result from either (a) a transfer of employment to the Company from an Affiliate or from the Company to an Affiliate, or from one Affiliate to another, or (b) an approved leave of absence for military service or sickness, or for any other purpose approved by the Company, if the Employee's right to reemployment is guaranteed either by a statute or by contract or under the policy pursuant to which the leave of absence was granted or if the Board otherwise so provides in writing, in either case, except to the extent inconsistent with Section 409A of the Code if the applicable Award is subject thereto.
E. Withholding Obligations. To the extent provided by the terms of an Award Agreement and subject to the discretion of the Board, the Participant may satisfy any federal, state or local tax withholding obligation relating to the exercise or acquisition of Common Stock under an Award by any of the following means (in addition to the Company's right to withhold from any compensation paid to the Participant by the Company) or by a combination of such means: (a) tendering a cash payment; (b) authorizing the Company to withhold shares of Common Stock from the shares of Common Stock otherwise issuable to the Participant as a result of the exercise or acquisition of Common Stock under the Award, provided, however, that no shares of Common Stock are withheld with a value exceeding the minimum amount of tax required to be withheld by law; or (c) delivering to the Company previously owned and unencumbered shares of Common Stock of the Company.
XI. Adjustments Upon Changes in Stock. In the event of changes in the outstanding Common Stock or in the capital structure of the Company by reason of any stock or extraordinary cash dividend, stock split, reverse stock split, an extraordinary corporate transaction such as any recapitalization, reorganization, merger, consolidation, combination, exchange, or other relevant change in capitalization occurring after the Grant Date of any Award, Awards granted under the Plan and any Award Agreements, the exercise price of Options and the maximum number of shares of Common Stock subject to Awards stated in Section IV will be equitably adjusted or substituted, as to the number, price or kind of a share of Common Stock or other consideration subject to such Awards to the extent necessary to preserve the economic intent of such Award. In the case of adjustments made pursuant to this Section XI, unless the Board specifically determines that such adjustment is in the best interests of the Company or its Affiliates, the Board shall, in the case of Incentive Stock Options, ensure that any adjustments under this Section XI will not constitute a modification, extension or renewal of the Incentive Stock Options within the meaning of Section 424(h)(3) of the Code and in the case of Non-qualified Stock Options, ensure that any adjustments under this Section XI will not constitute a modification of such Non-qualified Stock Options within the meaning of Section 409A of the Code.
XII. Effect of Change in Control.
A. Unless otherwise provided in an Award Agreement or an employment agreement entered into by the Company and a Participant, in the event of a Change in Control, the Board may, but shall not be obligated to: (1) accelerate, vest or cause the restrictions to lapse with respect to all or any portion of any Award; (2) cancel Awards and cause to be paid to the holders of vested Awards the value of such Awards, if any, as determined by the Board, in its sole discretion, it being understood that in the case of any Option with an Option Exercise Price that equals or exceeds the price paid for a share of Common Stock in connection with the Change in Control, the board may cancel the Option without the payment of consideration therefor; (3) provide for the issuance of substitute Awards or the assumption or replacement of such Awards; or (4) provide written notice to Participants that for a period of at least ten days prior to the Change in Control, such Awards shall be exercisable, to the extent applicable, as to all shares of Common Stock subject thereto and upon the occurrence of the Change in Control, any Awards not so exercised shall terminate and be of no further force and effect.
B. The obligations of the Company under the Plan shall be binding upon any successor corporation or organization resulting from the merger, consolidation or other reorganization of the Company, or upon any successor corporation or organization succeeding to all or substantially all of the assets and business of the Company and its Affiliates, taken as a whole.
XIII. Amendment of the Plan and Awards.
A. Amendment of the Plan. The Board at any time, and from time to time, may amend or terminate the Plan. However, except as provided in Section XI relating to adjustments upon changes in Common Stock and Section VIII(C), no amendment shall be effective unless approved by the shareholders of the Company to the extent shareholder approval is necessary to satisfy any Applicable Laws. At the time of such amendment, the Board shall determine, upon advice from counsel, whether such amendment will be contingent on shareholder approval.
B. Shareholder Approval. The Board may, in its sole discretion, submit any other amendment to the Plan for shareholder approval.
C. Contemplated Amendments. It is expressly contemplated that the Board may amend the Plan in any respect the Board deems necessary or advisable to provide eligible Employees, Consultants and Directors with the maximum benefits provided or to be provided under the provisions of the Code and the regulations promulgated thereunder relating to Incentive Stock Options or to the nonqualified deferred compensation provisions of Section 409A of the Code and/or to bring the Plan and/or Awards granted under it into compliance therewith.
D. No Impairment of Rights. Rights under any Award granted before amendment of the Plan shall not be impaired by any amendment of the Plan unless (a) the Company requests the consent of the Participant and (b) the Participant consents in writing.
E. Amendment of Awards. The Board at any time, and from time to time, may amend the terms of any one or more Awards; provided, however, that the Board may not affect any amendment which would otherwise constitute an impairment of the rights under any Award unless (a) the Company requests the consent of the Participant and (b) the Participant consents in writing.
A. Clawback; Forfeiture. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained herein, the Board may, in its sole discretion, provide in an Award Agreement or otherwise that the Board may cancel such Award if the Participant has engaged in or engages in activity giving rise to a termination for Cause and require the Participant to forfeit any gain realized on the vesting, exercise or settlement of any Award and repay the gain to the Company. Without limiting the foregoing, all Awards shall be subject to reduction, cancellation, forfeiture or recoupment to the extent necessary to comply with Applicable Laws.
B. Sub-plans. The Board may from time to time establish sub-plans under the Plan for purposes of satisfying blue sky, securities, tax or other laws of various jurisdictions in which the Company intends to grant Awards. Any sub-plans shall contain such limitations and other terms and conditions as the Board determines are necessary or desirable. All sub-plans shall be deemed a part of the Plan, but each sub-plan shall apply only to the Participants in the jurisdiction for which the sub-plan was designed.
C. Unfunded Plan. The Plan shall be unfunded. Neither the Company, the Board nor the Committee shall be required to establish any special or separate fund or to segregate any assets to assure the performance of its obligations under the Plan.
D. Recapitalizations. Each Award Agreement shall contain provisions required to reflect the provisions of Section XI.
E. Delivery. Upon exercise of a right granted under this Plan, the Company shall issue Common Stock or pay any amounts due within a reasonable period of time thereafter. Subject to any statutory or regulatory obligations the Company may otherwise have, for purposes of this Plan, 30 days shall be considered a reasonable period of time.
F. No Fractional Shares. No fractional shares of Common Stock shall be issued or delivered pursuant to the Plan. The Board shall determine whether cash, additional Awards or other securities or property shall be issued or paid in lieu of fractional shares of Common Stock or whether any fractional shares should be rounded, forfeited or otherwise eliminated.
G. Other Provisions. The Award Agreements authorized under the Plan may contain such other provisions not inconsistent with this Plan, including, without limitation, restrictions upon the exercise of the Awards, as the Board may deem advisable.
H. Section 409A. The Plan is intended to comply with Section 409A of the Code to the extent subject thereto, and, accordingly, to the maximum extent permitted, the Plan shall be interpreted and administered to be in compliance therewith. Any payments described in the Plan that are due within the "short-term deferral period" as defined in Section 409A of the Code shall not be treated as deferred compensation unless Applicable Laws require otherwise. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the Plan, to the extent required to avoid accelerated taxation and tax penalties under Section 409A of the Code, amounts that would otherwise be payable and benefits that would otherwise be provided pursuant to the Plan during the six (6) month period immediately following the Participant's termination of Continuous Service shall instead be paid on the first payroll date after the six-month anniversary of the Participant's separation from service (or the Participant's death, if earlier). Notwithstanding the foregoing, neither the Company nor the Board shall have any obligation to take any action to prevent the assessment of any additional tax or penalty on any Participant under Section 409A of the Code and neither the Company nor the Board will have any liability to any Participant for such tax or penalty.
I. Disqualifying Dispositions. Any Participant who shall make a "disposition" (as defined in Section 424 of the Code) of all or any portion of shares of Common Stock acquired upon exercise of an Incentive Stock Option within two years from the Grant Date of such Incentive Stock Option or within one year after the issuance of the shares of Common Stock acquired upon exercise of such Incentive Stock Option (a "Disqualifying Disposition") shall be required to immediately advise the Company in writing as to the occurrence of the sale and the price realized upon the sale of such shares of Common Stock.
J. Beneficiary Designation. Each Participant under the Plan may from time to time name any beneficiary or beneficiaries by whom any right under the Plan is to be exercised in case of such Participant's death. Each designation will revoke all prior designations by the same Participant, shall be in a form reasonably prescribed by the Board and shall be effective only when filed by the Participant in writing with the Company during the Participant's lifetime.
K. Expenses. The costs of administering the Plan shall be paid by the Company.
L. Severability. If any of the provisions of the Plan or any Award Agreement is held to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable, whether in whole or in part, such provision shall be deemed modified to the extent, but only to the extent, of such invalidity, illegality or unenforceability and the remaining provisions shall not be affected thereby.
M. Plan Headings. The headings in the Plan are for purposes of convenience only and are not intended to define or limit the construction of the provisions hereof.
N. Non-Uniform Treatment. The Board's determinations under the Plan need not be uniform and may be made by it selectively among persons who are eligible to receive, or actually receive, Awards. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the Board shall be entitled to make non-uniform and selective determinations, amendments and adjustments, and to enter into non-uniform and selective Award Agreements.
XV. Termination or Suspension of the Plan. The Plan shall terminate automatically on June 10, 2026. No Award shall be granted pursuant to the Plan after such date, but Awards theretofore granted may extend beyond that date. The Board may suspend or terminate the Plan at any earlier date pursuant to Section XIII(A) hereof. No Awards may be granted under the Plan while the Plan is suspended or after it is terminated.
XVI. Choice of Law. The law of the State of Nevada shall govern all questions concerning the construction, validity and interpretation of this Plan, without regard to such state's conflict of law rules.
As adopted by the Board of Directors of BioCorRx Inc. on June 10, 2016.
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2019-04-26T00:26:11Z
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https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1443863/000147793216010940/bicx_ex102.htm
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Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on these links. Thanks for supporting our homeschool and my site!
Monday - Today, we learned about Moses and the Ten Commandments in Believe Storybook.
Thursday - My husband became the Youth Pastor at our church so he went to See You at the Pole (#syatp) the day before to support one of our youth and the students at her school. He coordinated with the Senior Citizens Director at our church to have the 3 high schools our youth group is in, to show them support by having at least one member from the church at the event.
Two of the high schools were represented, but unfortunately the high school our pastor's daughter goes to, no one from our church showed up. Not only that, but she was the only student at the flag pole that day from her entire high school. We decided to have her own personal See You at the Pole today, and more members from church showed up to support her and to pray. I'm glad we were there to show this amazing girl support and it is wonderful to see how strong her faith is!
This is my Mom meeting up with us for See You at the Pole. She just went overseas to teach and won't be back until around Christmas. I thought this picture was so cool because it was so dark, and the street lamp in the back not only looks like a star, but also a cross.
My boys got an up close and personal view of what public school is like. We were all up and out of the house before 6:30 a.m. My oldest who always asks about public school (he thinks it is just recess, pizza, friends and then he goes home from TV shows he has seen about it), told me he never wanted to go to public school because of how early he had to get up!
Friday - We finished Chapter 4 in Believe Storybook and learned about Jesus being tempted in the desert by Satan. The boys learned how important it is to have God's Word in their hearts.
Tuesday - G did Lesson 55 Math More 1 to 5 on ABCmouse, learning by doing dot-to-dot puzzles and recognizing what number was what and how many it represented. B did Lesson 10 on ABCmouse called Let's Get Counting and the boys watched videos counting 10-100 from this. Lesson 11 was called People at Work and they played puzzles on counting on a hundreds chart by 1's and 10's.
Friday - B did Lesson 13 on ABCmouse called Coin Magic! He also worked on a worksheet with number lines and we used manipulates to help him understand how to work on starting addition equations.
Monday - B learned north, south, east and west today and how to draw them on a compass and where to find these on a map.
Tuesday - B's Lesson 11 on ABCmouse had him learn about many different job titles such as a builder, baker, teacher and gardener.
Thursday - We played Catan, which is becoming one of our favorite family games. You have to build a settlement and learn to barter, trade and sell. This also helps the boys work on animal or color item matching.
Friday - B did Lesson 12 on Insects in ABCmouse. We also are trying to grow our avocado pits so we can plant and grow a tree in the yard!
Monday - B did Lesson 2 in First Language Lessons and learned to read a poem by: Christina G. Rosetti called The Caterpillar.
Tuesday - B did Lesson 11 on ABCmouse and his sight word was us. G did Lesson 56 in ABCmouse called Reading Letter X and he did some memory matches on recognizing the letter x.
Wednesday - Today's author spotlight at the library was Lois Ehlert. Our librariran read some of her books such as Boo to You, Nuts to You, and Leaf Man, which actually had north, south, east and west mentioned! We also watched a video based off of one of her books, Waiting for Wings.
Friday - G did his very first lesson in 100 Easy Lessons to Teach Your Child to Read. He learned the phonetics of letters m and s. B did Lesson 3 in First Language Lessons and learned about common nouns and some family common noun names. He also read The Caterpillar poem all by himself!
Monday - G wrote the number 2 and B wrote k, and numbers 10-100 by 10's.
Friday - B did first, last, and last in correlation to G working on a craft project. G wrote letters m and s, and B worked on a worksheet for consonant letter R recognition.
Monday - The boys had fun painting today and painted their favorite topic this month, Skylanders. B also painted north, south, east and west.
Tuesday - G listened to the song Five Little Ducks and B drew Skylanders.
Wednesday - At the library, the boys danced to Sally the Swinging Snake and did a finger play called Two Little Blackbirds. They played Simon Says at Mission Friends at church later that night, and also made some crafts.
Thursday - The boys had a blast playing football with their friends outside tonight. The older kids switched the game to Tw-Hand Touch instead of Tackle so they wouldn't get hurt. Glad the kids in the neighborhood play so nicely with them.
Friday - G worked on a worksheet where he had to color, cut, and paste pictures of baby animals and match them up with the parent animal.
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase after clicking on the links, I will be compensated. Thank you for your support towards our homeschool and my site!
Congratulations to Grace at Gracious Insight for her wonderful post on Is God Lost? & Link Up!
Disclosure: I was given a complimentary copy of this book by the publisher through BookLook Bloggers in exchange for an honest review.
Raise your hand if you could use 5 Minutes with Jesus? I don't know about you, but there doesn't see to be enough hours in the day or a week sometimes. I know they say technology is supposed to make things easier, but I feel busier than ever some days. This is not an excuse to not be in the Word though.
5 Minutes with Jesus is an amazing book that delivers Scripture, relatable life situations and stories, and a Biblical perspective on how to or how it may apply to your life. It is a beautifully decorated and would make a lovely gift to a friend or family member. This book could be enjoyed in the morning with a cup of coffee and give you a refreshing start to your day, or before bed to quiet the restlessness that settles in after a long day. It can even be read on the hard days, when you need that reminder that we have a Savior who loves us so much.
I very much enjoyed reading this book with all of it's life applications and relatable context with Scripture. I would recommend this book to anyone who would love the encouragement it offers. It is not just a book for Mom's or wives, but I think it would be enjoyed by everyone.
Thanks for stopping by to read my review. If you would like more information on the book or the author, please click here.
Disclosure: This post contain affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on these links. Thanks for your support to our homeschool and my site!
Monday - Today, we finished up Chapter 2 in Believe Storybook and learned about Luke 24: 1-12, and that "He has Risen!" The boys learned Ephesians 2:8 and why we need to pray to God. This book has been absolutely amazing if you have young children and are looking to teach Biblically sound curriculum!
Thursday - I read Mark 1: 1-5 tonight and the boys loved learning that the originator of the "Fishers of Men" was not The Newsboys, but it was Jesus and it is in the Bible.
Monday - G worked on his Math Readiness Stickers book and put his stickers into the right place for numbers 1-12.
Tuesday - B did Free Counting Puzzles from 123Homeschool4Me and did the counting by 5's puzzles. He also worked on a Horizons math worksheet learning before, after and in between for numbers.
Wednesday - We went to the library today and the librarian taught the boys the finger play, Five Little Bees Sitting in a Tree.
Thursday - The boys were excited to find Catan Family Edition so we waited for Daddy to get home from work and we played as a family. We had played this game at my husband's aunt and uncle's house in Washington and it is a ton of fun! You have to set up a village and learn to trade and barter.
Monday - B worked on a Living and Non-living booklet from The Mailbox.
Tuesday - Today, the boys had to cut pictures out of a magazine that were examples of living and non-living things and then we made chart.
Friday - The boys worked on their Hot Wheels track and had to measure and experiment on how many track pieces it would take to accomplish their loop finish.
Monday - B read his very first book, Go, Dog. Go! by: Dr. Seuss all by himself. The boys celebrated by grabbing their Star Wars light sabers and quoting The Princess Bride, "My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die." I love that they love the classic 80's movies my husband and I grew up watching!
Tuesday - G did Lesson 54 in ABCmouse called Reading the Letter W. B had to circle words that began with the consonant C in his workbook, then had to write them.
Wednesday - We went to the library and were introduced to a new author, Marianne Berkes who writes books similar to the storylines of Over in the Meadow and This is the House that Jack Built. We read Over in the Jungle, Marsh Music and The Tree That Bear Climbed all by this author. We then watched an Over in the Meadow video.
Thursday - The boys did the Eggy Vocabulary app.
Friday - B learned that a noun is a person, place, thing or idea and we learned about common nouns in First Language Lessons.
Tuesday - B wrote air, shelter, food and water. G wrote big a and little A.
Friday - B made a story about Alvin and the Chipmunks, and G absolutely astonished me as I saw my 4 year old write the word green. I have only taught him letter a but because he has been watching his brother learn over the last 2 years, I realized he is picking things up even when I think he is not paying attention!
Monday - The boys played the musical instruments toys we got in Mexico for celebrating Jesus as we did our Bible study today. B also colored and cut his booklet for his science lesson. We also made it outside to walk our dog and wash the car! We also played on the playground and it was the first day it actually started to feel like fall.
Tuesday - We made a chart today of living and non-living things for science and the boys used old magazines to cut out examples of each.
Wednesday - The boys got to play with their cousins today as we visited and my sister did my hair, and the boys also! They also sang and danced to Sally the Swinging Snake at the library and learned some more fun finger plays.
Thursday - The boys had a playdate today with their friends.
Friday - The boys colored and made pictures for their Alvin and the Chipmunks story.
I was very blessed to be included in this book launch team and to review this courageous book. I don't think I took a breath while reading this book, and being a busy Mom it was amazing that I was able to finish this book in less than a day. The author, Chrissy Cymbala Toledo does a wonderful job of giving a person front row seats and holding nothing back as she takes you on her life journey.
The book is a true story of Chrissy's life and you are introduced to a 4 year old Chrissy as the story starts. She is the daughter of a pastor who has a church in a rough neighborhood in Brooklyn. She discusses how she embraced all the different nationalities and cultures, and the love she had for all the people and all the love these people had for her.
Everything was going well for Chrissy until an event happened in the life of her church that left her devastated. She was a young teenage girl who started to have to be perfect in her appearance to the outside world. It became more than just a fashion infatuation; and to make matters worse, she continually heard a voice saying she was never good enough. This inside voice harassed her and really became bad when she began a secret relationship with a man.
I think everyone has dated or at least known someone close to them that has dated a man like the one Chrissy met. Her life begins to whirl out of control and missed opportunities happen just to suffice staying with this man. She ends up hurting many people, including her family.
God is so good though because it is not until we are lost, that we can be found. Chrissy goes through so much and yet she comes out shining. This is a beautiful story of how God can work in our lives, no matter what we go through.
I would highly recommend this book. It would be a wonderful book to give to a young teenage girl or a youth group student, but I think anyone would enjoy this book. It shows the real life struggles that we all go through, and the real life God that is there by our side the whole way.
Thank you to Chrissy for sharing your amazing story, and for allowing me to be a part of this book launch team. I can very much understand many of the situations that were presented in this book, and I thank God that He had His Hand on me also.
Bright Ideas Press - Amazing, Christian based homeschool curriculum!
Congratulations to Saira at Mom Resource for her Become an Affiliate post!
Hope you all are doing well and thanks for stopping by to share our adventures. I hope to have this last week up before the weekend is out.
Even our puppy and kitty just wanted to lay around and lounge last week while we were trying to feel better.
Monday - We learned about Adam, Eve, Satan and the banishment from the garden of Eden. We also learned the good news that God sent us a Savior in Jesus to save us from our sins in Believe Storybook.
Tuesday - G played Eggy Numbers 1-10 app and practiced writing numbers.
Thursday - E played Eggy Subtraction Subtract to 20 app and learned about subtraction families.
Tuesday - B learned Let's Move lesson 7 on ABCmouse.
Wednesday - The boys learned about our address, countries, continents and cities on a map and filled out worksheets on where we live.
Thursday - We learned about living and non-living things, and used Science4Us to help us learn with their fun, interactive videos and lessons. Living things need air, food, water and shelter.
Tuesday - B did Lesson 8 - Very Special Letters on ABCmouse and learned phonetic sounds through looking at readers for ot, am, and an words.
Wednesday - We went over the calendar and days of the week today. The boys also did some vocabulary fun on Eggy Vocabulary app.
Thursday - There was more Eggy Vocabulary fun today.
Tuesday - G wrote number 10.
Wednesday - B had to write our address, USA, North America and the state we live in. B wrote letters A and a.
Tuesday - The boys cut and pasted worksheets for calendar time, living/non-living things and for learning where we live. G also did a letter A puzzle.
Friday - The boys had their very first sleep over without Mommy and Daddy. They had a great time at Grandma and Grandpa's house, while Mommy and Daddy got a night out to Disney with our youth group for Night of Joy. Hard to believe how fast my babies are growing up!
What is the Freedom 2015 National Religious Liberties Conference?
If you care about family freedoms, history, political concerns, and church vitalization, this conference is for you!
Enter the Ultimate Homeschool Freedom Giveaway to win a $1,500 all-expenses-paid family trip to the Freedom 2015 Conference. Or win one of ten $200 family registrations!
If you love homeschooling, your family, and freedom, this giveaway was designed for you. Enter to win a Homeschool Freedom Package and get your family protected and prepared to remain free!
Simply enter the giveaway, and you’ll automatically receive a digital copy of Kevin Swanson’s new book, Freedom: The Historic Battle for Liberty from Tyranny. Read the gripping stories of courageous Christians who fought for freedom over the last 2,000 years, and get inspired to do the same!
Daily Winners & Daily Entries!
The giveaway will run from 9/15 - 9/30. HOWEVER, every day, from 9/20 - 9/30, we'll be selecting a winner for one of the 10 Runner-Up prizes.
Don’t miss the daily entry options to gain more entries every day of the giveaway and increase your chances of winning! Enter early and often!
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2019-04-23T08:45:44Z
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http://raisingsamuels.blogspot.com/2015/09/
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https://rense.com/disclaimer.htm
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An eastern phoebe provided the introductory music to the field trip last Sunday at Spring Canyon, located near Torreya State Park. Seventeen Audubon members joined landowners Helen and Tom Roth to your their 100 acres of Apalachicola uplands.
Restored longleaf pine/wiregrass uplands on Helen and Tom Roth's property.
Helen spearheaded restoration efforts on her land, seeking to return the ecosystems back to what they were before fire suppression, logging, and invasive species took their toll there (and almost everywhere else in Florida). Helen toured us around areas where she had been burning, planting longleaf pines, pulling invasive plants, and cutting trees that had invaded what once were open, park-like forests.
The birds were surprisingly inconspicuous, but we were still able to locate many interesting wildlife species. A grizzled mantis scuttled up the trunk of a longleaf pine. Ground skinks, green anoles, and eastern fence lizards gave us regular forest-floor entertainment. While exploring the edge of an impoundment, the largest cottonmouth I've ever seen (and I've seen plenty) slowly slithered away from us.
A blurry photo of the largest cottonmouth I've ever seen. It was approximately 3.5 feet long.
Steepheads on the property supported Appalachian plants such as mountain laurel and Matalea alabamensis, along with interesting species such as Apalachicola dusky salamanders (I observed five on Sunday). In addition, they offered relief which was apparent when we stopped at an eroded cliff face and when Helen kindly warned me to stay back from the edge of the cliff while we were hiking.
An imperiled plant, Matalea alabamensis, grows on the edge of a steephead.
Landowners like Tom and Helen, in many respects, represent the future of conservation. We can protect all the public land we want but, with a growing population, what people do in their own backyards will dictate the survival of many species. I found it inspiring to see people dedicate their lives to helping our world.
Aucilla Wildlife Management Area (WMA( occupies over 50,000 acres of Jefferson County, just a few miles east of the Tallahassee city limits. The area contains well-managed upland forest, pine flatwoods, much of the Wacissa and Aucilla Rivers, and...caves. Lots and lots of caves.
The substrate sits atop a bed of limestone, a porous mineral susceptible to the carving powers of water. This is evidenced by the many karst features found in this WMA.
I love caving. It's probably my favorite thing to do, but it isn't always conducive to birding. However, every once in a great while, two of my favorite hobbies can be combined into one. That was the case a couple of months ago when I joined my friend, Matthew Bull, from the Flint River Grotto, a local caving club, to search for caves in a remote part of the WMA.
The heat was oppressive as we bushwhacked through thorn bushes and dense vegetation. As no cave materialized, I began to lose my patience.
"Matt, are you positive about the direction we're going?" I asked. "It seems like we've been going in circles."
And, it turned out, we were. Now, normally, this would not have been a huge deal, if a little inconvenient. But we had already reached wits' end. Earlier, Matt had looked down at his pants and noticed hundreds of crawling arachnids. No, these weren't ticks as he originally thought. I knew better. These were chiggers.
The pace picked up and the caves seemed less important now. Still, we were determined. I began to notice small exposures of limestone here and there, and my cave sense began to tingle. Sure enough, the entrance to the largest of the caves we were to visit that day was less than thirty feet away.
What would a cave be without giant spiders?
I peered into the hole that disappeared into the side of a sinkhole. The water levels were too high to go very deep, but I poked around the entrance. Unusually, the water was crystal-clear. This meant that the water in this cave was directly tied to the water table and not the underground Aucilla River that flowed somewhere under our feet nearby. I peered around the mossy crevices associated with the entrance. A large fishing spider scuttled away into one deep crevice. A southern cricket frog leaped into a pool of water. And then I saw something shocking.
In an upper crevice of the entrance passage, I spotted a nest. This nest was composed of moss and short twigs, and had a perfectly-round shape. I knew immediately what it was: the nest of an Eastern Phoebe.
Now, this may not seem that unusual. We see Eastern Phoebes all the time. But, according to FWC cave research, Jonathan Mays, only six nests have been documented in the state in recent times. All of these were in cave entrances in Jackson County, near Florida Caverns State Park. We had talked previously about the possibility of phoebes nesting in other Florida caves but, until that day, that was just a theory.
First documented nest of an Eastern Phoebe in Jefferson County, Florida.
Matt and I were both excited but had other things on our mind at this point, namely the hundreds of chiggers actively creating hardened feeding tubes in our flesh. We found our way back to our vehicles, drove to a boat landing on the Wacissa River, and jumped into the cool, spring-fed river with our clothes on.
We checked in with each other a few days later. Yes, we were both covered in chiggers. No, they were not getting better. But, hey, at least we found a phoebe nest. Birding brings out the best of any occasion, it seems.
We are asking members of Apalachee Audubon to join us in writing letters to our elected representatives, requesting that the Florida Forever funds we voted to be used for land acquisition to...be used for land acquisition.
A short letter is better than no letter at all.
Be personal. Share examples of how this will effect you, and your family.
If you cite facts, back them up.
Tie environmental issues back to economics and jobs.
State that you plan to talk to others and spread the word about this issue among other constituents.
Sending a letter is better than an email, but both can be effective.
You may not receive an original response, but that does not mean that your letter had no impact.
More information on Florida Forever and talking points to include in your letter can be found here.
Sometimes birding is more than just listing the species that you see. It includes paying attention to how birds behave. Recently, I was surveying shorebirds on Stony Bayou I at St. Marks NWR and had already made my way halfway around the pool. I saw a group of about a hundred shorebirds and finished counting the nearby Black-bellied and Semipalmated Plovers. I turned my attention to a large group of peeps and noticed that all of the previously counted peeps from the other side of the pool were flying in to join them. Suddenly, all the peeps took off.
Now, when shorebirds take flight, there is probably a reason. It could be that the tide is changing the water depth or a potential predator is flying overhead. I watched as the peeps scattered in twisting murmurations. In this case, their flight turned out to be due to a fast-closing Peregrine Falcon. Always good to look up.
Looking for the closer plovers, I noted that they hadn’t flown. The Semipalmated Plovers had gone belly deep in the mud; keeping a low profile. The Black-bellied Plovers had been walking in shallow water and had crouched as low in the water as they could without resorting to snorkels. The plovers’ strategy had been to hide and let the peeps get chased by the Peregrine.
Continuing my shorebird survey, I made my way down to the lighthouse. I could see that there was a group of larger mixed shorebirds out on the salt flats to the East of Lighthouse Pool. I parked and walked up the stairs of the viewing platform just as a Peregrine Falcon (probably the same bird, it had the same juvenile Tundra plumage) flew in low over the salt marsh. It was late afternoon and with the sun at my back the falcon was spectacular. I tracked it through my binoculars as it swooped low over the salt marsh and flew away. When I looked for the shorebirds, most had flown. There were Willets frozen in place that had not moved. As I watched, six Black-bellied Plovers flew in and landed.
Now, I believe that the Plovers had been part of the group of shorebirds that I had seen before the Peregrine arrived. This time of the year, Black-bellied Plovers can usually be found on those flats. Why hadn’t they hunkered down like the plovers that I had observed earlier? I had seen no peeps with this group. Does a plover’s threat assessment include available decoys? Did the Willets rely on the plovers to distract the Peregrine?
I don’t have any answers. However, observing bird behavior and confronting challenging questions does as much to keep me birding as the thrill of finding uncommon species.
“California Gulch is the most accessible place in the U.S. to see Five-striped Sparrow, yet it is no easy place to get to. The single-lane road has many rough sections and wash crossings; a 4-wheel drive, high clearance vehicle is strongly recommended. If possible, go with someone who knows the way; road signs may be missing or misleading. The best birding spots are four bone-jarring miles from Ruby Road. As in all isolated areas, do not travel alone. The road is seldom maintained.” Finding Birds in Southeast Arizona, 8th edition.
I was taking advantage of a field trip offering at the Tucson Birding Festival for a day’s birding that would start with an early morning run through California Gulch. August is hot in Southeast Arizona. The forecast high in Tucson was 104 degrees, but it’s the best time to see rare and uncommon birds like Five-striped Sparrow, Buff-Collared Nightjar and Montezuma Quail. Down along the Mexican border, west of Nogales where we would be birding, it would be cooler, with temperatures peaking in the mid-90s.
I was staying at the Riverpark Inn in Tucson on the banks of the Santa Cruz River. The birding festival is centered at the Riverpark Inn and it was an easy walk from my room to the lobby and then out the front door. There was a line of vans, each heading out for a different field trip. I followed a sign to one of the two “California Gulch Adventure” vans, checked in and got on the van. It was still dark, but we had a 1.5-hour drive just to get to the turnoff to California Gulch Road. Our scheduled leave time was 5:00 am.
This was a small group; fourteen birders and two leaders in two vans. I’m dressed like an REI ad; breathable lightweight shirt and pants, floppy sun hat and hiking boots. I fit right in. Everybody has binoculars; some have expensive cameras. There’s probably $50,000 worth of optical equipment in the vans. The group is a mix of in-state and out-of-state birders, mostly older, but all fit. There’s a mother-daughter pair and a married couple, the rest of us are single birders.
It’s a 30-mile drive in the dark down I-19 to exit 48, Arivaca Road, and then another 23 miles to the town of Arivaca. We drive down the interstate in the dark, turn off on our side road and head out across the desert. The sun decides to rise as we drive down Arivaca Road.
Arivaca is a small town with 35,000 inhabitants on a small perennial stream. It started as a Pima Indian village and developed because of small mines in the area that produced gold, silver, lead, copper and tungsten. It has the oldest schoolhouse in Arizona and has been a stage stop and cavalry outpost. The cavalry outpost was established after Apaches under Geronimo attacked isolated ranches in the area during the Bear Valley Raid in 1886. Arivaca’s cavalry made history in 1918 when they engaged a small band of Yaqui Indians in the Battle of Bear Valley; the last armed engagement of the Indian Wars. Troop B of the Connecticut National Guard was stationed here in the 1920’s to guard against raids by Mexican revolutionaries, but saw no action.
At Arivaca, we follow the signs for Ruby and turn on to an unpaved road for the 10-mile drive to the turnoff for California Gulch. Ruby Road is named after the wife of the mining town’s general store manager. The town of Ruby folded in 1941 and is now a ghost town open for public tours. California Gulch Road is easy to miss. It’s not so much a road. It’s more like a place where people have driven before.
The two leaders, Brian and John, are both pros who lead international birding trips. They talk using walky-talkies and it seems that they are less familiar with current conditions than one would hope. It’s monsoon season in Southern Arizona with torrential rains and flash floods in the desert and it rained heavily yesterday. I’m in the lead van and we stop when Ruby Road goes underwater for about twenty feet. After a short discussion, we decide to chance it and make it through. Brian decides that California Gulch Road will be impassable and we turn onto Warsaw Canyon Road, which runs into the bottom of California Gulch just shy of the Mexican border.
The Sonoran Desert in monsoon season is a riot of lush greenery bespotted with flowers. Velvet Mesquite and Whitethorn Acacia are the dominant plants, but there are oaks along the southern hill flanks, valleys rich with Arizona Walnut, Fremont Cottonwood, Sycamore and Willow, Ocotillo forests on exposed slopes and, in the open, a mix of cacti; cholla, prickly pear and saguaro. Grasses and wildflowers form a carpet underneath everything.
We run into Antelope Jackrabbits; bizarre, ungainly creatures with giant ears. There are birds too; Gray Hawks, Rufous-winged Sparrows, Cassin’s Kingbird and Phainopeplas. We bounce up and down as the vans navigate the road. This is open range and we see the occasional cow and even a few horses.
California Gulch is a narrow watercourse in a lush valley. We exit the vans and within an hour we have found Five-striped Sparrows, Blue Grosbeaks, Black-tailed Gnatcatchers, Western & Summer Tanagers and Yellow-billed Cuckoos. There are Canyon Wrens, Varied Buntings and Vermilion Flycatchers. This is hot birding in every sense of the term. We also run across butterflies like the Empress Leilia (not a Star Wars character) and dragonflies like the Variegated Meadowhawk.
We also run across the Border Patrol who show up everywhere. A lone pickup with the standard wide green diagonal stripe that identifies Border Patrol vehicles came driving down California Gulch Road making the California Gulch/Warsaw Canyon loop, undeterred by water and mud. He takes one look at us and keeps driving.
Having found our target bird, we head back up Warsaw Canyon and take Ruby Road over to the head of Sycamore Canyon to stop for lunch. This is Hank-and-Yank Spring. It’s named for neighboring ranchers who survived the Bear Valley raid, but lost family members. For us it’s a pleasant and shaded place to have lunch. There are Black-headed Grosbeaks, Warbling Vireos and Rufous-crowned Sparrow.
The rest of the afternoon is spent at Pena Blanca Canyon and Willow Canyon. We add Dusky-capped Flycatcher and Greater Roadrunner and then head back to the interstate to begin the drive North to Tucson.
I’ll tell you; feeling intense fear and peace at the same time is a strange emotion. Certainly, it isn’t one that I experience often. To be fair, it isn’t often that I’m standing in a totally unique landscape, with the calls of unrecognizable birds echoing around me, all while looking over my shoulder in a place where violent crime is not uncommon.
Looking across the Rio Grande to Mexico at dawn.
I was standing on the banks of the Rio Grande in Salineño, Texas. As a part of my Lower 48 Big Year, I was to spend the day birding in extreme South Texas where tropical birds like Altamira Orioles and Buff-bellied Hummingbirds barely penetrate the United States. Due to a fortuitous happenstance involving a flight attendant friend, I can fly anywhere in the U.S. for free. And, whenever I can, I do.
I hiked down this old trail, strewn with water bottles and caches of supplies for crossing migrants.
Fighting exhaustion from flying all day, sleeping for three hours, and driving two and a half hours in my rental car to this tiny riverbank village in the middle-of-nowhere, I struggled to locate birds. I recognized zero calls and the thick vegetation made locating birds a challenge. I only count the birds that I see, partly to make the Big Year more difficult and partly because I like to see birds. The various species seemed to be mocking me. Was that, “Hey, stupid, Mexico is 75 yards away and this is one of the most common border crossings sites there is!” that I heard?
Believe it or not, I justified spending the early morning hours alone in this dangerous place to myself. After all, this was one of the only places in the U.S. where White-collared Seedeaters, Red-billed Pigeons, and Audubon’s Orioles could be found. Plus, it wasn’t filled with people like most other major birding sites within the region. It met my criteria.
An extremely-rare old growth Montezuma cypress grows along the Rio Grande.
I veered off the path and bushwhacked through thorn-scrub along the river bank until I reached one of the only old growth Montezuma Cypress trees growing in the United States. The massive limbs dangled above me and above the brown water that many people vehemently opposed to immigration have never laid eyes upon. Among the leaves, Groove-billed Ani’s, Green Jays, Brown-crested Flycatchers, and a Great Kiskadee went about their lives as if they were in Mexico. They had no idea how rare they were in the U.S. To them, this was just another tree. To them, there was no border.
I stood there, smiling, until a couple tears fell down my cheek. My girlfriend had broken up with me two days before. I had just received disturbing news about my health. My financial situation, due to a couple unfortunate accidents, was abysmal. And yet, it was all ok in that moment. The birds seemed to speak for all of nature. “We’ve got you”, they said. “Don’t forget why you’re here,” they advised. “Enjoy these rare moments,” they directed.
The Rio Grande, looking south towards Mexico.
So what if I didn’t stumble upon any Red-billed Pigeons or Audubon’s Orioles? I found something far better. I found an inner peace that, however temporary, reminded me there is so much to love about this world. The birds, it seems, knew this all along. Or at least I thought that’s what they said.
A great egret perches on the edge of the Wacissa River at the Aucilla WMA bioblitz. Photo by Emily Ellis.
What the heck is a bioblitz? A bioblitz consists of various teams made up of members of the public going out with taxonomic group experts to search for as much life as possible, within a set geographic area, within a set period of time. On May 6, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission held just such a blitz at Aucilla Wildlife Management Area in Jefferson County.
Groups searched for birds, plants, reptiles/amphibians, and insects. The bird group was led by Apalachee Audubon members Budd Titlow, Don Morrow, Rob Williams, and Dana Bryant. They were joined by Scott Davis, a St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge ranger, who assisted with plant identification.
33 participants, ranging from 9-year-olds to grandparents, trekked on trails, forest roads, and through the forest in search of life. Each team surveyed for all taxonomic groups and had the opportunity to visit three different natural communities. Groups checked traps for turtles and cave invertebrates, paddled down the Wacissa River in search of birds, and netted butterflies feeding on roadside flowers. Life (including ticks) abounded.
Participants cataloged their finds using iNaturalist, as part of the Florida Nature Trackers program. This data will ultimately be shared with FWC biologists and the Florida Natural Areas Inventory in order for them to better understand, and conserve, the life found on the area.
My first hike in Florida took me to an improbable place. I hiked through recently-burned sandhill, through shaded steephead ravines, and back up through a scrubby oak forest in The Nature Conservancy’s Bluffs and Ravines Preserve. All the while, I had my head down looking for snakes or way up while looking for birds. The cliff seemed to come out of nowhere. Before I knew it, I was looking out to the horizon that seemed hundreds of miles away.
I was looking out over the upper Apalachicola River floodplain from Alum Bluff. This rise above the chocolate-brown waters of the Apalachicola River represents the highest cliff in Florida. The precipice descends 130 feet to the river. From its heights, you can see the shadows of gar swimming in the water and flattened shells of moving with the current. No buildings mar the view looking west. It’s just forest.
A recent change in ownership has left this floodplain forest, and nearly 40,000 acres of similar floodplain forest, steephead ravines, and upland forest available for protection. All told, over half of the non-tidal portion of the riparian area of the Apalachicola River transferred to new ownership. With it comes new opportunities.
Well-managed sandhill habitat in the upper Apalachicola River basin.
Apalachee Audubon, The Nature Conservancy, and Apalachicola Riverkeeper have all suggested that the state of Florida preserves this species-rich land through a conservation easement. Conservation easements give land owners benefits for leaving portions of their land undeveloped. The state would theoretically compensate The Forestlands Group, the new owners.
The legislature recently passed a budget that provided the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) a grand total of $0.00 for land purchases in 2017-2018. Over 70% of Florida voters supported Amendment 1, which was originally understood to support land acquisition efforts. Instead, the Amendment has mainly funded water infrastructure projects and agricultural initiatives. The recent budget left many scratching their heads but environmental groups, such as ours, have not given up when it comes to getting biodiverse land conserved.
On June 16, a presentation will be held regarding whether or not the Acquisition and Restoration Council of DEP should review the property for inclusion on its list of potential properties to purchase. Want to help? There will be opportunities for letter-writing, phone calls, and public participation in hearings. The more people that show support, the more likely we will be able to work with our partners to make this easement happen.
We hope you will help us ensure that the prothonotary warblers that sing, the wood ducks that nest, and maybe even the ivory-billed woodpeckers that elude us may continue to do so in this important tract of land indefinitely. We’re talking about Florida Forever, after all.
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2019-04-23T13:04:06Z
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© Che Henry Ngwa et al. The Pan African Medical Journal - ISSN 1937-8688. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Introduction: accidental exposure to blood and body fluid presents a serious public health concern, especially among healthcare workers (HCW) and constitutes a risk of transmission of blood borne viruses. Infections acquired through occupational exposure are largely preventable through strict control measures such as the use of safe devices, proper waste disposal, immunization and prompt management of exposures including the use of Post Exposure Prophylaxis. This study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of healthcare workers on post exposure prophylaxis and also determine the factors influencing reporting of occupational exposures among HCW in Fako Division, Cameroon.
Methods: this was a hospital based cross-sectional study conducted from February 2016 to July 2016 involving the administration of questionnaires to 216 health care workers in Fako division. Data collected was analyzed with SPSS version 22 and results presented as percentages and tables. Pearson chi-square test was used to determine statistically significant relationship between different factors with reporting of occupational exposures among health care workers in Fako division.
Results: a high proportion of participants 125(58%) had poor knowledge on Post Exposure Prophylaxis and 131(60.6%) of participants proved to have a positive attitude towards post exposure prophylaxis. 50.9% (110/216) of all participants had at least one occupational exposure with a low uptake 19.1(21/110) of Post Exposure Prophylaxis recorded among participants who were exposed. There was a statistically significant relationship between years of experience (p-value = 0.006, CI= 0.151-0.745) and category of health care worker (p-value= 0.022, CI=0.314-14.215) with reporting of occupational exposure (p-value< 0.05).
Conclusion: this study recorded among participants a poor knowledge on post exposure prophylaxis and poor practice though a majority of study participants had possitive attitude towards PEP. Therefore, a formal training for all health care workers on post exposure prophylaxis to blood borne viruses, strict monitoring and evaluation of health care worker's adherence to standard precautions, adequate reporting of exposures and uptake of post exposure prophylaxis is recommended.
Blood borne viruses (BBV) constitute a variety of infectious agents that can be transmitted through blood and sometimes other body fluids and tissues. Health care workers are at high risk of occupational exposure to blood borne viruses including hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) . Blood and body fluid (BBF) exposures are the most common safety problems among health care workers . The risk of blood borne virus transmission following occupational exposure to blood and body fluids depends on a variety of factors such as the titer of virus in the source patient's blood or body fluid, the type of injury, quantity of blood or body fluid transferred to the health care worker during the exposure and the health care worker's immune status [3, 4]. Occupational exposure to blood and body fluid is a serious public health problem with health care workers at high risk of infection as a result of the high prevalence of infections among patients and increased occupational risk among health care workers due to unsafe practices like careless handling of contaminated needles, unnecessary injections on demand, reuse of inadequately sterilized needles, improper disposal of hazardous waste and overcrowding of hospitals [6, 7]. However, infections acquired through occupational exposures are largely preventable through strict infection control measures such as the use of safe devices, proper waste disposal, immunization and prompt management of exposures including the use of post exposure prophylaxis . Twenty six viruses are known to have caused documented occupational infection following exposure to blood and body fluids (BBF) among health care workers [9, 10] but three viruses alone (HBV, HCV, and HIV) account for most cases of occupational infection in Cameroon because of their prevalence among patients and the severity of the infections they cause. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) Report , 2.5% of HIV cases among Health care Workers and 40% of Hepatitis B and C cases among Health care workers worldwide are as a result of occupational exposure. Over 90% of these infections are occurring in low-income countries, and most are preventable [2, 12, 13]. In addition to taking post exposure prophylaxis by health care workers after an exposure, the world health organization recommends the surveillance of occupational accidents, infections due to occupational accidents and uptake of post exposure prophylaxis among exposed health care workers. There exist no data on the prevalence of occupational accidents, the reporting of occupational exposures and the uptake of post exposure prophylaxis among health care workers in Fako division. The absence of such data realized during the first phase of this study(pre-test) further raises concerns about the knowledge, attitude and practices of health care workers in Fako division. According to Mesfin & Kibret , Prevention against any disease is proportional to knowledge, attitude and practice of the population. This study therefore aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude and practices of health care workers in Fako Division regarding post exposure prophylaxis to blood borne viruses and also determine the factors influencing the reporting of occupational exposures in health care settings.
Study design: this was a hospital based cross-sectional study carried out from February 2016 to July 2016 in Fako Division, Southwest region of Cameroon. Fako division is made up of four health districts which includes Limbe health district, Tiko health district, Muyuka health district and Buea health district. This study was conducted in the main public hospital in each health districts and this included Buea regional hospital, Limbe regional hospital, Muyuka district hospital and Tiko district hospital.
Data collection and analysis: this study involved the administration of a self-designed questionnaire to three categories of health care workers in Fako division namely physicians, nurses and laboratory technicians/scientist to assess their knowledge, attitude and practice on post exposure prophylaxis to blood borne viruses. These three categories of healthcare workers were chosen based on previous studies demonstrating a high prevalence of occupational accidents among these categories of healthcare workers thereby increasing the possibility of blood borne virus transmission and hence the need to assess their knowledge, attitude and practices regarding post exposure prophylaxis. The questionnaire contained questions on the demographic characteristics of participants and also questions to assess knowledge, attitude and practice of participants. The questionnaire contained both open-ended and closed-ended question to allow for optimum chances of gathering vital data. A pre-test of the questionnaire was done among 35 health care workers consisting of nurses, physicians and laboratory scientistin Fako division who were excluded from the main study. After the pre-test, questions were modified accordingly so as to achieve the desired aim of the study. The pre-tested questionnaires were administered to 216 randomly selected health care workers constituting more than half of the above three categories of health care workers in the hospitals involved in this study. Data collected from the field was entered and analyzed using SPSS version 22. Results were summarized in frequencies, percentages and presented in tables. Assessment of variables for this study was based on WHO recommendations of the process of administering post exposure prophylaxis. The responses to questions aimed at assessing either knowledge, attitude or practice of each health care worker were grouped together and scored. Based on the number of correct responses by each participant, they were categorized as either good (≥ 70%), average (50-69%) or poor (< 50%).The score of attitude of participants was further categorized as positive attitude (> 50%) or negative attitude (< 50%). Statistically significant relationship between years of experience, category of health care worker, knowledge on post exposure prophylaxis with attitude of participants and reporting of occupational exposures to blood and body fluids was investigated using Pearson chi-square test. A p-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Ethical consideration: ethical approval for the study was obtained from the Faculty of Health Science Ethical Review Board University of Buea, Cameroon. Administrative clearance was obtained from the regional delegation of public health. Written permission was obtained from the directors of the hospitals where the study was carried out. Finally, written consent was obtained from all participants and confidentiality of participants was ensured by using anonymous questionnaires in addition to the fact that the study database was only accessible to the principal investigator.
A total of 148 (68.5%) females and 68 (31.5%) males responded in the study. Most of the participants 160 (74.1%) were of age between 26 years and 45 years. More than half of the study participants 126 (58.3%) comprised of nurses and more than half of the study participants 120 (55.6%) had been working for more than 5 years (Table 1).
Knowledge: majority of participants across all the category of health care workers (72.7% of physicians, 52.3% of nurses and 64.7% of laboratory technicians/scientist) had a highknowledge on the transmission of blood borne viruses in health care settings. Regarding knowledge on PEP, a higher proportion of all study participants 125 (58%) had poor knowledge on PEP while 27 % (58/216) of study participants had good knowledge on post exposure prophylaxis. Majority of nurses 81 (64.3%) and laboratory scientist 42 (61.7%) had poor knowledge on PEP (Table 2).
Attitude: more than half 131 (60.6%) of study participants proved to have a positive attitude towards post exposure prophylaxis while 85 (39.4%) had a negative attitude towards post exposure prophylaxis with majority of nurses showing a more positive attitude (62.7%) as compared to lab technicians and physicians (Table 3). There was no statistical significant relationship between years of experience of health care worker (p-value = 0.681, CI = 0.68 - 0.699), age (p-value = 0.951, CI = 0.971-0.977 ), category of health care worker (p-value = 0.719, CI = 0.707-0.725 ), number of exposures experienced by the healthcare worker (p-value = 0.819, CI = 0.835-0.850) and knowledge on post exposure prophylaxis (p-value = 0.444, CI = 0.446-0.465) with attitude of health care workers towards post exposure prophylaxis.
Practice of study participants: 50.9% (110/216) of study participants reported to have had at least one occupational exposure from January 2015. Among the 110 participants who had at least an occupational exposure to blood and body fluid, 47% (52/110) reported that they have had one exposure, 44% (48/110) had between 2 to 5 exposures and 9% (10/110) had more than 5 exposures from January 2015 to April 2016. The highest proportion of exposures within the study period was recorded among physicians 63.6% (14/22), followed by nurses 57.1% (72/126) and lastly lab technicians 35.3 % (24/68). Among the 110 participants who experienced at least an occupational exposure, 68 (61.8%) verbally reported the exposures and none of the exposures were documented as recommended by WHO. The 38.2 % of exposed participants who did not report their exposures gave reasons which were same as responses provided by all participants to the question of what might cause you not to report an exposure. These responses are summarized in the table that follows (Table 4). Among the 68 participants who actually reported an occupational exposure, 21 (30.8%) received post exposure prophylaxis. There was a statistically significant (p-value < 0.05) relationship between years of experience, category of health care worker and frequency of exposure with reporting of occupational exposure using Pearson chi-square test (Table 5).
More than half of study participants 125 (58%) had poor knowledge on PEP and though a greater proportion of health care workers had good knowledge on the transmission of blood borne viruses in health care settings, knowledge on PEP was poor among health care workers in Fako division. This result is similar to results recorded by another study conducted in Lagos, Nigeria where only 15.3% of participants knew the correct duration of PEP for HIV .The poor knowledge on post exposure prophylaxis recorded among participants could be due to lack of interest in the topic of post exposure prophylaxis on the part of healthcare workers. Furthermore, the poor knowledge on PEP is partly due the fact that the subject of PEP is not incorporated to a considerable extent in the curriculum and training of healthcare workers. This result is an indication to the fact that much is needed to be done to improve the knowledge of health care workers on post exposure prophylaxis to blood borne viruses. Physicians had good knowledge on PEP as opposed to laboratory workers and nurses. This is probably because physicians undergo a longer period of training than Nurses and laboratory scientist/technicians coupled with numerous in-service seminars and workshops organized for physicians. This study revealed a positive attitude among 131 (60.6%) of study participants. This is similar to a study in Ethiopia where more than half (55.6%) of the respondents had a positive attitude but contrary to another study where less than half of the study participants had a positive attitude . The result show that 50.9% (110/216) of all respondents had at least one occupational exposure within the study period. This high number of exposures can be explained by the fact that HCW fail to adhere to universal precautions and also due to unsafe practices in health care settings. This is similar to results obtained in a study among medical students in Yaoundé . This similarity could be an indication to the fact that infection control measures are not treated with the seriousness it deserves during the training of health care workers. Among the 110 who experienced an exposure, 68 (61.8 %) said they reported the exposures this is contrary to a study carried out among medical students where only 42% of the exposures were reported . Although a fairly good number of participants said they reported their exposures, this study revealed that the reporting of occupational exposure among health care workers in Fako division remain inadequate since none of the exposures were documented as recommended by the world health organization. This could be due to absence of a route of reporting or absence of a standardized form for reporting of occupational accidents blood and body fluid among health care workers in Fako division. This reason is largely supported by the high proportion of health care workers indicating the lack of a route of reporting as the reason why they did not report their exposure. The lack of data on exposures to blood and body fluids among healthcare workers in Fako division further serves as a confirmation. World health organization recommends the uptake of PEP after an occupational exposure to blood or body fluid. In this study, approximately 30.8% (21/68) of the participants who reported an exposure actually took PEP. This constitutes only about 19% of the total participants who experienced an exposure within the study period. This low uptake of PEP is consistent with other studies in Ethiopia where only about 13% of study participants took PEP . This is in contrast to another study carried out in Ethiopia where more than 60% of exposed participants took PEP . The low uptake of PEP in this study is partly due to side effects associated with the drugs administered as PEP especially those administered as PEP for HIV. This result is consistent with results of a previous study which also recorded a low uptake with side effects of the drugs administered reported as one of the major reasons among participants . Low uptake of PEP can also be explained by the low knowledge of participants on PEP recorded among health care workers in Fako division. The findings of this study is of clear relevance and though this study is subjected to recall bias in that it might have been difficult for participants to remember their exposure status, findings of similar studies like this study have been shown to be valid and clearly adds to existing literature.
Overall, this study recorded poor knowledge on post exposure prophylaxis among health care workers in Fako division and though majority of study participants had good knowledge on the transmission of blood borne viruses in health care setting and a favorable attitude towards post exposure prophylaxis, knowledge of participants on post exposure prophylaxis was poor. A high rate of occupational exposures, inadequate reporting of occupational exposures and Low uptake of post exposure prophylaxis was also recorded among health care workers in Fako division. Therefore, training of health care workers on infection control measures at work and the creation of a standard form for adequate reporting of occupational exposures coupled with strict monitoring and evaluation of health care worker's adherence to standard precautions, adequate reporting of exposures and uptake of post exposure prophylaxis is recommended.
Weaknesses: this study fails to look at the gaps in knowledge and practice on post exposure prophylaxis to a specific disease, coupled to the fact that the results of this study cannot be generalized to all health care workers.
Recommendation: we recommend an in-depth qualitative study aimed at better understanding the challenges and barriers of health care workers towards the uptake of prophylaxis after an exposure to blood and body fluids. We also recommend such studies to be conducted at regional and national level so as to clearly identify the gap in knowledge and challenges towards uptake of post exposure prophylaxis among health care workers at different levels. This would ease planning and direct interventions aimed at addressing this problem at each level.
Post exposure prophylaxis is an effective means of preventing the development of an infection after an exposure to infectious blood or body fluid.
This study also brings into light some reasons why healthcare workers do not report occupational exposures to blood and body fluids and also further identifies some drawbacks to the uptake of post exposure prophylaxis after an exposure to blood and body fluid among health care workers in Fako division.
Che Henry Ngwa designed the study, performed data collection, data analysis and manuscript production. Elvis Akwo Ngoh participated in data analysis and review of the manuscript and Samuel Nambile Cumber was involved in manuscript production and review. All authors read and approved the final version.
We acknowledge and thank the director of Limbe regional hospitals, Buea regional hospital, Tiko district hospital, Muyuka district hospital and the study participants for their cooperation during the process of data collection.
Centre for Disease Control. What Healthcare Personnel Need to Know. Centers for disease control and Prevention. 2003; 1200: 10.
World Health Report. Reducing Risks, promoting healthy life. Geneva,Switzerland 2002. Accessed on 15 April 2016.
Aarti V, Swapna N, Williamson SG. Knowledge and Practice of Nursing Staff Towards Infection Control Measures in a Tertiary Care Hospital. J Acad Hosp Administration. 2012; 13(2): 11.
Satekge MM. Knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding the prevention of hepatitis b virus infections, in final year college student nurses in Gauteng province. 2010. Accessed on 4 April 2018.
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Contrary to the teachings of Jonathan Cahn and his ilk, America is NOT the new Israel.
Steve Bricker has a good analysis of a blog post by false teacher Jen Hatmaker. This woman really needs to learn what the Bible says rather than what she wants it to say.
Tim Keller seems to forget that we had a reformation, as he promotes Roman Catholicism. I’d say anyone who promotes the RCC is a false teacher, wouldn’t you?
Roman Catholics really have no right to claim apostolic succession, infallibility of teaching or anything else related to Christianity as long as so many of their private schools promote ungodly teachings. I have posted TOO MANY of these examples on this blog.
Of course the Roman Catholic Church continues to meddle in politics to force the world to accept their social gospel message, this time by supporting the false “climate change” narrative. More proof that the RCC does NOT represent God.
An excellent review of the latest Beth Moore Simulcast event, demonstrating more reasons why Beth Moore is a false teacher who needs to be avoided. This is followed up by a companion article about Beth’s issue of romancing Jesus, along with the whole “Jesus is my boyfriend” theology.
John MacArthur explains why women are not to be teachers or leaders in the assembly.
Way too many “Christians” are looking for a “Donut Church.” Their site really makes some good points about today’s apostate church.
This is what happens when you make a woman a bishop.
A good examination of the problems with the Catholic Mary. Not as detailed as my article on the subject, but certainly a great summation.
A PCUSA heretic, Mark Sandlin, has gotten to the point of virtually worshipping abortion, and lies about what the Bible, early Christians, and even science say about the unborn child. If you have to lie to support your ideology, that should say something about how false it is.
Destructive trends in the church. HT to Elizabeth.
I just this week learned of a new Bible translation, the “Modern English Version.” Supposedly just an update of the KJV with modern English. So what is the point? Another way to make money off of God’s Word? A new “KJV Only” prop? Or developed for a niche group (endorsements seem to be from charismatic people)? And don’t we already have an updated language version of the KJV — the KJVER — for the KJV only folks (although some KJVOs don't like it because it isn't "real" KJV)? Why do we need another translation when we have good, accurate, formal translations already?
Finally, it is really good to hear of a pastor who stands his ground on the Word of God. If only more would do so.
Certain things are made quite plain in the New Testament Scriptures with regard to the office of an apostle. An apostle was a man of whom the following things had to be true. First and foremost, he must have seen the risen Lord, he must have been a witness of the resurrected Christ. We cannot deal with all the scriptural proofs, but one of the most important is 1 Corinthians 9:1 where Paul writes, “Am I not an apostle? am I not free? have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord?” Likewise in 1 Corinthians 15, in giving a list of the people buh whom the risen Lord had been seen, he mentions the fact that “Last of all he was seen of me also, as one born out of due time. For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle.” A man could not be an apostle unless he could be a witness to the Lord’s resurrection, unless he could say that he had seen the risen Christ. We shall see the importance of emphasizing that.
Were personally taught by Christ: Luke 24:45; John 14:26; John 16:13-14; John 17:7-8, 14, 26; Acts 1:2; 1 Cor. 15:3; Gal. 1:11-12.
Divinely inspired: 1 Cor. 2:10-13, 14:37; 1 Thes. 2:13; 1 Tim 1:11; 1 John 4:6.
They were the foundation of the church (i.e., no new foundation to be had): Eph. 2:20.
All this is to prove that the false apostles of the New Apostolic Reformation are nothing but self-appointed leaders who are liars leading people astray. DO NOT LISTEN TO THEM!
Biblical love does not mean that I ignore things that people do that are wrong and injurious. This is true both in the physical and spiritual realms. For example, to love a murderer, in a biblical sense, does not mean that we ignore his crime. It means that we put him to death for his horrible trespass agains the image of God (Genesis 9:5-6). Likewise, to love a false teacher does not mean that I turn a blind eye to his error and strive to have unity with him regardless of his doctrine. It means that I obey the Bible and mark and avoid him (Romans 16:17), that I expose his error publicly to protect those who might be led astray by his teaching.
The results of the leftist/liberal/apostate teaching from so-called Christians has led to demanding acceptance for homosexuals and other sexual deviants. Matt Walsh does an excellent job of responding to such ideology.
Real love includes hate for sin and evil.
While I disagree with Rome as to their handling of divorce and remarriage, the idea that homosexual couples should ever be allowed communion is totally unbiblical. Yet this archbishop thinks it is just a matter of conscience for homosexual couples to decide for themselves. So why isn’t this guy defrocked?
Did you know you may be attacked by witchcraft at any moment? This is an example of the totally unbiblical nature of charismania. They just make this stuff up, and it puts people under such burdens of fear and paranoia that they can never just live a joyful life in Christ.
Another example of unbiblical ideology of charismatics. These people are an embarrassment to the Church; rank arrogance! And her “tongues” are hysterical, with great response by the guy.
Often when I mention teachings by John MacArthur, I get the inevitable claim that MacArthur’s “Lordship Salvation” teaching is nothing less than the heresy of “works salvation.” I’ve countered this many times in comments and emails, and what I find ironic is that it usually comes from KJV Onlyers or “Free Grace” heretics (yes, it’s heresy if you believe you have no lifestyle change after becoming a believer). Well, I’m cleaning out some old files and I came across an article by Gary Gilley which explains the issue quite well.
Mary Dalke has quite a bit of information about the Parliament Of The World’s Religions. Don & Joy Veinot, of Midwest Christian Outreach, also discussed their trip to the “Parliament,” as they explain the “mom doctrine,” which keeps people in false teachings.
For those unfamiliar with the false teachings of “Dominion Theology,” Gary Gilley has an excellent summation.
"There was a man who walked into my church during a Bible study. It was on a Wednesday night, and he came in. He was carrying a loaded six-shooter, and he walked to the front of the church and he roared like a wild animal and said, 'I've come to shoot you to prove that Satan has more power than Jesus Christ.' And I held up my Bible and said that this book says that no weapon formed against me shall prosper. And he became infuriated and said, 'I'm going to kill you on the count of three. Get on your knees and beg for your life.' I said, I will not because the Lord is my protector. And he said, 'I'm going to shoot you on the count of three.' He lied. He started shooting on the count of two. And he emptied the gun at me from a distance of eight to ten feet, and by the grace and mercy of God missed every shot. He ran out of the building, he was knocked down, apprehended, sent a few days later to the asylum for the criminally insane. Ninety days later a team of psychiatrists pronounced him ready to take his place in society and he went home and immediately climbed the highest tree in his backyard and hung himself,"
It is an interesting and for some a spellbinding story but, as is often the case with Hagee, only very loosely resembling the actual facts. The September 23, 1971 San Antonio Express there was a shooting but it was not at Hagee or about his teaching on demons. It was a gun fight between 2 cousins. According to the Express, one man entered the church and at gun point made forced his cousin to mount the podium and kneel to beg for mercy. Hagee did attempt to calm the situation as the gunman began counting and then fired his pistol his cousin pulled out his pistol and fired back. One of them was wounded in the cheek the other was unharmed even though 7 shots had been fired at him, but not at Hagee.
Every Masonic Lodge is a temple of religion; and its teachings are instruction in religion. . . . This is the true religion revealed to the ancient patriarchs; which Masonry has taught for many centuries, and which it will continue to teach as long as time endures.
I think of this quote whenever a Mason tells me that Freemasonry is not a religion. And, since it is a religion, it is NOT compatible with Christianity because there is only ONE true religion. Oh, and by the way, I don’t know how Pike defines “many centuries,” but Freemasonry has only been around for less than three centuries. Of course they have myths and legends claiming origin from Solomon’s temple, but those are all fables to give themselves credence.
Freemasonry is a religious cult.
By Nathanael Blake, originally posted at www.townhall.com on 12 My 2006.
The link is no longer available and I could not find the article on the web. This post is copied from the article printed out and placed in my files.
However, it’s also a profitable industry. And so we get ChristianTM bookstores stuffed with ChristianTM books (not just Bibles, theology, and devotionals, but ChristianTM romances, and ChristianTM action-adventure books, and ChristianTM westerns…), ChristianTM music, ChristianTM movies, ChristianTM clothing, ChristianTM keychains, ChristianTM action figures, and ChristianTM night lights. Christianity isn’t a religion, it’s a brand name.
The fundamental flaw of the CMI is that its stated missions are incompatible with each other and with its structure. The creation of genuine worship and devotional music, which Christians most certainly should do, does not lend itself to the rock star business model the CMI adopted from the mainstream. Adulation of a band, arena concerts, pyrotechnics, awards ceremonies, and tour merchandise are incongruous with worship and devotion to God.
The common defense of these consists of the other proclaimed purpose of CMI, evangelism. It’s not that they want to seek fame and fortune in the service of God; but they’re forced to it if they want to “reach the lost” and “minister.” This is ridiculous. Christian music is mostly sold to Christians; Christian concerts are mostly filled with bused in Christian youth groups. As far as evangelism goes, Christian music is the epitome of mediocrity.
Consequently, the only way a Christian group can reach a non-Christian audience is to cross over into the mainstream music industry. This creates awkward tensions in the genre. For while one of their declared missions demands that they move into the mainstream, any group that does so is immediately assailed as having sold out. This tension also devours artistic integrity. The general consensus is that going mainstream requires trimming the overtly Christian content, so there’s pressure to dilute the message; in order to reach the world with Christianity, they disassociate themselves from Christianity. Thus, there is some truth to the complaint that Christian groups sell out when they go mainstream, and the CMI responds by exerting pressure of its own.
Salomon notes that “the Gospel Music Association — giver of Dove awards, the Christian industry’s weak answer to the Grammy’s — at one point felt the need to make a standard with which they could judge whether or not a ‘Christian artist’ was Christian enough, that included how many times a band said ‘Jesus’ in their lyrics.” On both sides genuine Christianity is subsumed beneath another agenda; one removes Christ to appeal to the masses, the other mandates token us of Christ to maintain credence with the niche market. Neither encourages honest expression of the artist’s faith.
So we find ourselves caught between songs where it’s impossible to tell if the subject is God or a girlfriend, and songs filled with juvenile lyrics dropping the name of Jesus in order to make quota. And in both, emoting wins out over anything of importance. The average lyrics run along the lines of “I’m so happy/because you love me/my life is better/since I read your letter” (note the use of “letter” as code for the Bible, so clever). This has moved well beyond the rock star wannabes in the CMI into the very culture of the American church, with modern worship music trending toward the same level of puerility.
Treating Christianity as an industry, a business with a profit margin, has corrupted the church, and the crowning achievements of the CMI are at the core of the refuse pile. It’s time to end the token preaching to the choir, the coded religious messages, and the charging of money for events that supposedly exist to preach the gospel.
Get out. Those who want to create worship and devotional music, go back to where you belong, which isn’t arenas, festivals, and clubs, but churches. The rest of you, go out into the world; claiming Christianity and presenting Christian messages in your songs won’t prevent you from succeeding…if you have the necessary musical ability (U2, anyone?).
Quit pretending that Christianity is a brand name, because there will be Hell to pay for it, in the most literal sense. If Christianity is true, then there are lost souls dying and going to Hell all around us, while the church sits and sells Jesus to itself.
The following is from an article by Jay Howard, published as an editorial in the Religious Research Project Newsletter, Volume 11, Issue 1, September-December 2004. I found this newsletter in my files, and so looked on the Internet to find it for posting here. I’m posting the article without the introduction, but you can read the full article here.
Then down in verse 14 the apostle Paul confronts Peter publicly, “I said to Peter in front of them all, ‘You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs’”?
It is clear from the context of this passage that they were Christians at one time, “who have wandered away from the truth.” So we are not dealing with outside groups, who also were laying siege to the Church at this time in church history. Paul seems to see an express need to confront these false brothers by name because their teachings are so egregious.
In perhaps the most definitive passage in which Paul address this important Church policy, we see him anguishing over the fact that false teachers will attack from within The Church. Acts 20:27-30, “For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God. Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which He bought with His own blood. I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them.” The apostle was positively grieving for what he knew was imminent. The Church must heed this warning in our day and be willing to call out the names of those who would spiritually harm Christians, if we wish to stay doctrinally healthy.
The second reason for naming names is strictly a practical consideration. For sake of example, let us say that you have been poisoned but you do not know the name of the poison. It would become more difficult to seek the proper treatment if the name was not readily apparent. Or if you were not familiar that a certain concoction was poisonous, it could be possible for you to ingest the substance, unaware of its lethal consequences. Much the same way there is a need to address certain individuals names when talking of extreme error in their teachings. It is not enough to say, “There is a certain teaching in some circles of The Church that states…” Because though the error is mentioned, it is entirely possible to read or listen to certain people, who are teaching error, without always catching the problems that are inherent in their system of beliefs. For example, I have spoken to dozens of people who align themselves with The Word/Faith Movement but are wholly unaware that some of their favorite teachers are into some of the most bizarre ideas. That is because not all teachings are taught with the same frequency in this movement or the person perhaps has missed some of the more unusual concepts being taught. However, when I list names associated to bad teaching, then people begin to discriminate, hopefully, and they will be able to avoid altogether those teachers who have been mentioned. That is the reason I choose to talk about individuals by name. In a real sense it acts as an inoculation against further exposure to dangerous doctrine.
It should be clear that to mention false teachers by name, in relation to discussing their false doctrines within The Church, is an important part of preserving a healthy Church. We live in a time where sound doctrine is assailed with wild abandon, from wanting gays to be granted the right to be married to making humans “little gods”. If Paul were alive in our day he probably would have to get a second PDA just to hold all the names of those who are advancing heresy in the guise of biblical truth. Lord give us the strength and resolve to stay the course and continue to name the names that need to be named.
Homosexuality Is About Sexual Immorality -- Period!
One of my readers brought to my attention this excellent article about problems with “contemporary worship” music.
“Scottgate” — a deplorable happening in the Church of Scotland.
Heretic Jim Bakker should be sent back to jail for fraud. This guy always has another gimmick to rake in the dough. But the delusion of those who defend him is even more bizarre!
These UMC and Episcopal clergy are not representatives of Christ or God, rather they represent the devil and his evil.
Did the Early Church Believe in Transubstantiation? Excellent article proving that they didn’t!
NAR “apostles” and “social justice.” These people are getting nuttier and nuttier. What is scary is that they promote so much false teaching and yet Russell Moore of the SBC is promoting these people!!!
Wow! Focus on the Family seems to be more focused on destroying the family!
O FOOLISH CHRISTIAN, WHO HATH BEWITCHED YOU? Excellent discussion of real spiritual warfare vs the fraudulent version.
Why are Christians, especially Al Mohler, apologizing to homosexuals activists?!?!
How about some humor to end with?
Each of us is to be willing to do anything that the Lord may call us to do — to go to the Mission Field, and equally perhaps, not to go to the Mission Field. Sometimes it may be easier to go than not to go. There are people who comfort and satisfy their consciences by doing something heroic, such as going to the heart of Africa and building a hospital. But it may not be God’s will that they should do so. It may be His will that they stay doing something drab and ordinary in this country. As Christian people, as members of the body of Christ in particular, we are to be at His disposal, to be ready to do anything He calls us to do. Those whom He calls to go and sends do a faithful work and bring glory to His name.
There has been much confusion in connection with this whole subject of Foreign Mission work, and Christ’s name has often been bought into disrepute. People who rush emotionally into the work discover their mistake when they get to the Field, and when they come home on furlough they to do not go back again, and this becomes known to those who are outside the Church. I have heard that in some countries only about one in three return to the Mission Field after their first furlough. This is so because they have been called by men and not by the Lord; the need has been regarded as the Call, or the Church has given the Call. They have never realized that we are but individual parts and members of a body, and that it is the Head who decides and calls, and that this is His prerogative, and His alone.
False doctrine is not the subject of Matthew 18 but something else entirely, and, therefore, does not come under the instructions Christ gives in that passage. False doctrine is never a private matter and is always to be dealt with publicly. In fact, much of the New Testament was written to publicly correct false teaching ... Paul withstood Peter to his face publicly for his false interpretation of the law that caused him not to associate with Gentile believers (Gal. 2:11-14). In a day of mass media, particularly when denied access to so-called Christian television and radio, the only method of public correction of false teaching is to write books and to speak publicly, in order to call the attention of the Body to errors that affect the whole Body.... Furthermore, what teachers say in books and on television, etc., is part of a public domain, subject to review, analysis, and critique of any kind. Anyone who makes public declarations intended to influence large audiences through books, radio, television, etc., ought to know that he is responsible for what he says and will be held accountable. No one need ask anyone for permission to critique anything that has been espoused in a public forum. It is not necessary to first talk with a writer or speaker in order to be accurate and fair in critiquing him....If members of the Body have erred, then if we love them, we will correct them.
THIS POST IS ACTUALLY DATED OCTOBER 8, 2015, BUT AN ERROR IN THE DRAFT THE NIGHT BEFORE KEPT THAT DATE WHEN POSTING.
Narcissism in the world—AND the Church.
Examining “binding and loosing” — not what charismatics claim.
Justin Bieber claims to be a Christian, so the news reports, but what about his fruit? And is he a legitimate spokesman for Jesus? Considering he spends time at Hillsong, New York, and calls goatherd Carl Lenz a mentor, that should say something about Bieber’s theology.
A bonafide heretic claims people like me—gun owners—are heretics. Simply bizarre.
Oh my! A conference for Dominionists to save the world and bring back Christ! A virtual who’s who of false teachers.
How the “church” of Sweden can still call themselves “Christian” is beyond my comprehension.
What is David Jeremiah doing here?!?!
False teacher Paula White declares speaking against Donald Trump will bring condemnation from God!
As my regular readers know, I’ve written much about “worship music” in church and how problematic it can be. This article pretty much sums up some of the problems I’ve raised.
I bless thee that I know thee.
saw the world, but did not see Jesus only.
thou didst look on me, and call me by grace.
a God ready to hear, willing to save.
thy terrible justice held my will submissive.
My thoughts were then as knives cutting my head.
never to lose my hold on Christ or his hold on me.
and washing them from their deepest stain.
Zeal For Christ or For Something Else?
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2019-04-20T13:15:42Z
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http://watchmansbagpipes.blogspot.com/2015/10/
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One of my favorite aspects of knitting is its surprises. The slightest adjustment to a traditional stitch pattern can trigger a chain reaction of revelations, creating something that feels fresh, new, and exciting!
For our Lattice Brioche Scarf, I started with a favorite stitch of mine, brioche. Then, by simply adding an extra yarn over, I saw a distinctly textured fabric develop, a lot like a criss-crossing lattice. It’s simple to do and totally fascinating to watch unfold!
4 skeins of Purl Soho’s Gentle Giant, 100% merino wool. We used the color Clay Pot but made a swatch of each of our new colors. From the top, they are Orange Koi, Clay Pot, Cowrie Pink, Silver Mauve, Iceberg Blue and Mint Ice.
Slip 1: Slip 1 purlwise with yarn in front.
Slip 1, yo (slip 1, yarn over): Bring yarn to front of work, slip 1 stitch purlwise, bring the working yarn over the right-hand needle to the back of the work so the yarn is lying on top of the slipped stitch.
Slip 1, dyo (slip 1, double yarn over): Bring yarn to front of work, slip 1 stitch purlwise together with the yarn over from the previous row, bring the working yarn over the right-hand needle to the back of the work so the yarn is lying on top of the slipped stitch and first yarn over.
bk3tog (brioche knit 3 together): Knit next knit stitch together with both of its paired yarn overs, i.e. knit 1 stitch together with 2 yarn overs.
When you place yarn overs and double yarn overs on the second stitch in Rows 1 and 2, be careful to not work the yarn overs too tightly so that you get a nice and even selvage!
Loosely cast on 11 stitches.
Set-Up Row 1 (wrong side): Slip 1 (see Notes), *k1, slip 1, yo (see Notes), repeat from * to last 2 stitches, k2.
Set-Up Row 2 (right side): Slip 1, *k1, slip 1, dyo (see Notes), repeat from * to last 2 stitches, k2.
Row 1 (wrong side): Slip 1, *slip 1, yo, bk3tog (see Notes), repeat from * to last 2 stitches, slip 1, yo, k1.
Row 2 (right side): Slip 1, *slip 1, dyo, k1, repeat from * to last 2 stitches, slip 1, dyo, k1.
Row 3: Slip 1, *bk3tog, slip 1, yo, repeat from * to last 2 stitches (not including yarn overs), bk3tog, k1.
Row 4: Slip 1, *k1, slip 1, dyo, repeat from * to last 2 stitches, k2.
Repeat Rows 1-4 until piece measures desired length or until you have used nearly all 4 skeins, ending with Row 1. Be sure to leave enough yarn to bind off.
With the right side facing you, loosely bind of knitwise.
Gorgeous pattern and my treat for the weekend – will rehearse using my sizeable yarn stash in roma/rasta or some such thing and then make one for my sister-in-law in your purple lupine when I get to NY in a few weeks. Looking forward to seeing you all and will bring my last project that you helped me with.
One question – if I wanted to increase the number of stitches for the first scarf (which I might knit on smaller needles without sacrificing the width) would I add cast-on extra stitches in units of two or four? I’m thinking you have eight patterning stitches in your pattern plus three to deal with the edges and the offset – am I right?
Thanks from London for another totally seductive stitch and pattern!
Thank you for writing in! That’s a great question, and your reasoning is correct!
To change the width of the piece or to accommodate smaller yarn you will want to cast on additional stitches in units of 2, so you can cast on any odd number of stitches. For example, in the original pattern you work 9 stitches in pattern, which accommodates the offset, and then an additional stitch on each end for the selvedge.
This will knit up beautifully in the Purple Lupine color way!
This is lovely! How do you join balls of such bulky yarn without making a noticeable bump?
Thank you for your kind words! We find that with Gentle Giant, the wet splice works very well and creates a nearly seamless join of one ball to the other that does not require weaving in ends save for the beginning and end. The the beginning and end, you can weave in your ends along the edges to hide the bulk!
This is so lovely. I would love to make a cowl in this pattern. Would that be possible or avaiable in the future?
Thank you for sharing your kind words! This stitch would make an incredibly warm cowl! I would do this by knitting the scarf flat as written in the pattern and then seaming the ends together at the end. I would use a flatter seaming technique such as a whip stitch.
To knit the stitch in the round would require a rewrite of the pattern, but I will definitely keep the request in mind!
I hope this helps and that you enjoy your knitting!
I would like to use this stitch to make either a wrap or a poncho. Thoughts?
Thank you for your comment! I think this stitch would make an incredibly cozy poncho or wrap!
I’m particularly intrigued by the idea of a poncho in this stitch. To do this I would knit two large squares and then seam them together at the shoulders using a whip stitch. As long as you cast on an odd number of stitches you should be able to make a panel easily at any width.
Happy knitting and I’d love to see how this turns out!
Thanks for writing in and what a great idea!
It depends what size blanket you are hoping to make! For a crib sized blanket, approx 32″ x 40″, you would cast on about 45 stitches and need about 8 skeins of our Gentle Giant. For a throw size, approx 60″ x 60″, you would cast on about 83 stitches and you would need about 24 skeins of yarn.
Please let me know if you have any further questions and I’d love to hear how this turns out!
The yarn and pattern used for this scarf look gorgeous! Now I know what I’ll be making with all the extra chunky yarn I’ve got.
Hello! Thanks for the free pattern! If I wanted to modify this pattern so it’s wider for say a blanket rather than a scarf what are the number of stitches that are repeatable?
Thanks for your comment, and this would make an amazing blanket!
As long as you cast on an odd number of stitches this stitch pattern will repeat in any width.
I love this but would prefer to make it as a cowl. Do you think it could be easily adapted? If so, how? Thanks.
You can certainly turn this scarf into a cowl by following the pattern as written and seaming at the end with a whip stitch.
The stitch pattern would require a rewrite to be adapted for knitting in the round. I think this would make a lovely cowl so I will certainly keep the requests in mind! We really appreciate the enthusiasm in this pattern and please stay tuned for any future developments!
It’s beautiful and I love the colors of the yarn but wool makes me itch like crazy (even the tiniest amount). Do you have another kind of yarn that would work for this?
Thank you for writing in and your kind words!
You could certainly knit the stitch in a cotton yarn. It can be hard to find cotton yarns that are this bulky, however you could use Blue Sky’s Worsted Cotton yarn and hold multiple strands together. To achieve the same gauge as the pattern you would probably need to hold three or four strands together. You can make it at any gauge though, as long as you make sure to choose your needle size accordingly and cast on additional stitches.
What a pretty pattern! Is there anyway this can be converted to a loom knitting pattern?
Thanks for writing in and great question!
I’m not too familiar with the ins and outs of loom knitting but I imagine it would be possible. I will certainly keep your request in mind. I truly appreciate the interest in the pattern!
Oh,my…..such interesting texture and fabulous colors! Thank you! This will be a pleasure to knit and to watch the design unfold…this is why I knit…..one of the reasons.
Thank you so much! I am so glad you like the pattern!
This is beautiful! I would love a pillow covered in this stitch. Might have to break out the knitting math and figure out the dimensions for that.
Thank you for writing! This would make a fabulous pillow covering, what a fun idea!
I’d love to hear how that turns out!
Thank you for your comment! This is a repeat of 2 + 1 or any odd number of stitches!
I hope you enjoy your knitting!
I love this texture – it would make an amazing blanket! How many stitches should I cast on to make a throw?
What a wonderful idea, thanks for writing!
For a throw size, approx 60″ x 60″, you would cast on about 83 stitches.
Have you made a cowl using this pattern? Love the stitch!
Thank you for your kind words! I have not made a cowl using this pattern yet but it would be lovely!
You can certainly knit the scarf up as written and seam it at the end using a whip stitch. To knit the stitch pattern in the round would require a rewrite but there is a lot of interest so I will certainly keep that in mind. I truly appreciate the interest in the pattern!
any idea how much yarn needed for a cowl? Certainly wouldn’t be 4 skeins, maybe 2-3?
I think 3 skeins would be enough for a cowl. If you keep the width at 8″ and use 3 skeins then you should get a 60″ cowl which should be able to wrap around the neck twice! I’d love to hear how this comes out!
My gawd the color! I gotta have it!
Thanks for your comment! I’m sorry to hear that you are having a hard time with the stitch. I hope that we can get a tutorial for the stitch pattern up soon!
If there are any specific areas of the pattern you are running into trouble I would be happy to try and talk you through it!
i’m in the same boat, kim! is there a tutorial video out for this stitch? it would be a huge help! thanks!
Thanks for writing in! Unfortunately we do not have a tutorial for this stitch quite yet, but we have added it to the list of projects that could use one! If you have any specific questions about the stitch please feel free to comment and I will hopefully be able to talk you through the pattern!
Thanks, Cassy! It took me several tries but I did figure out the pattern! Now that I have it down, I’ve been making progress and have come across a new issue.
After getting through the set-up rows and then about four sets of rows 1-4, twice now I have found that my stitches are off. I was starting row 4 and instead of having two ungrouped stitches to begin, I had three individual stitches and then the double yarn over sets started. So to start the row, I slipped one stitch, knit one and then had an extra single stitch before the set of 2 stitches.
I found a comment posted by Purl Soho for someone else that listed the stitch count for each row with the individual stitches per row and the groups. Even though my individual stitches were off, my count was correct. So I grouped the stitches together and split the yarn over sets so that I would still follow the pattern. I ended that row with the correct number of stitches but a wonky mess. I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong and would appreciate any help that you could give me! Thankfully this beautiful gentle giant yarn tolerates all the ripping out I’ve been doing!!
Thanks for writing in! My main thought is that maybe a yarn over accidentally moved positions. In this type of brioche this can happen accidentally sometimes. I would suggest looking over the row and checking to make sure that each YO is in the same position with its paired stitch.
Love this stitch. Is this the same as honeycomb brioche? Perhaps not. Is there a video I can watch to help me with the set up rows and the stitch? I am a bit confused.
Thanks for writing in and great observation! This stitch has a very similar look to honeycomb brioche but is a different technique.
Unfortunately we do not have a tutorial for this stitch, but we will definitely add it to the list of stitches that could use one!
If you have any specific questions about the stitch please feel free to comment and I will hopefully be able to talk you through the pattern!
Thanks for writing in! For this stitch it is as simple as knitting one stitch with two yarn overs! There’s no need to worry about the lean of the brioche stitch and there are no stitches being decreased in this stitch pattern. It is a bit confusing so I really appreciate you sharing!
I hope this clears everything up and please let me know if there are anymore questions!
Thanks for writing in! The measurements of this lovely scarf are 8 inches wide x 84 inches long.
I’m still a beginner knitter, just finished your boyfriend hat pattern and it came out pretty nice. Would this scarf be a good next project or should I try something easier?
Thanks for writing in! Congratulations on the completion of our Boyfriend Hat pattern, that is one of my go-to hat patterns!
If you are not familiar with doing slip stitches and yarn overs than I would recommend doing a simple brioche stitch project before this one. We have a great basic brioche stitch scarf available on our website that uses Purl Soho’s Line Weight. I would say that after completing the Brioche Scarf, or at least feeling confident with the stitch, then the Lattice Brioche would be a perfect next level project!
Thanks so much for all the wonderful free patterns!
Thanks for writing in and for your kind words! We do not have a video tutorial for this pattern but we would be happy to answer any questions that you have! Additionally, I find that the pattern does take a few rows to appear after the set-up rows. I’d give it a go and see if after a few repeats, things don’t start looking correct. If not, please reach out and we will do our best to help!
I love the pattern and yarn but I can’t seem to get the pattern. Do you plan to do a video tutorial soon? I think my yarn overs are not correct- are they on top off the slipped stich? I was so looking forward to knitting this all this weekend- may have to choose another pattern.
The difference with this pattern is there are 2 yarn overs sitting on each slipped stitch before they get knit together.
Unfortunately we do not have a video tutorial for this stitch, but we have added it to the list of projects that could use one!
I’m new to knitting and would love to use this pattern but I’m getting stuck. Any way of you posting a video? It would be so helpful.
Unfortunately we do not have a tutorial for this stitch quite yet, but we have added it to the list of projects that could use one!
I had a bit of trouble with this new stitch (for me). I was able to utilize YouTube for brioche stitch and then modify. I have to admit I started from scratch after it wasn’t turning out as lovely as the pictures. Now, however, it is a joy to stitch! I am using a different yarn than Gentle Giant (same weight) and it is lovely. Thank you so much!
I’m loving the yarn and the pattern. I’ve noticed the Gentle Giant seems to shed — a lot. I think that’s due to there being no ply/twist to it.
Normally I wet block a finished handknit. But, this baby is already huge (knitting a wider wrap than original pattern), so I’m contemplating skipping this part of my process (because, would it grow or bloom A LOT during a wet soak?) But, I am curious how a good soak affects the shedding of this beauty? Or, does it not change things and that’s the way it is?
You are absolutely right that the single ply, lightly twisted construction of the Gentle Giant does cause some shedding. I have found that wet blocking the Gentle Giant can cause the knit to slightly felt, which should contain some of the shedding. That will also make the scarf denser and shrink a bit. I did not wet block my scarf, I gave it a nice long steam instead, so I am not entirely sure how drastic the wet block will change the hand and drape of the scarf. If you do decide to wet block it, the yarn will absorb a lot of water and want to stretch out so I would lay it flat to dry.
I hope this helps inform your decision and if you do decide to go for a full wet blocking I would love to hear how the scarf reacts!
I just can’t get this one. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong either. I am a fairly experienced knitter and have done a regular brioche stitch before so it’s extra frustrating. I think I’m just going to give up and do this in brioche stitch so I can still have a crazy big scarf like this. I think I must be doing something wrong with the dyo overs somehow. Anyhow a tutorial picture/video would be great if you get the time! I love the pattern so much.
I’m sorry to hear that your having a hard time with the stitch. The double yarn overs can be tricky as its a lot of yarn overs to manage! We have added this project to our tutorial’s to make list and will try and get that up in the near future. A scarf in brioche with the Gentle Giant will be incredibly lovely as well!
In the meantime if there’s any specific questions you have about the double yarn over’s I will do my best to try and assist over comments!
Thanks for writing in! I am so sorry to hear your having a hard time getting this project going.
Unfortunately we do not have a tutorial for this stitch quite yet. This project is definitely on our list for tutorials to-make and we will try and get to it as soon as possible.
I’m sorry I can’t be anymore immediate help but if you would like to try and assess where your having difficulty feel free to write back and I will do my best to help!
Can you please post a video tutorial?
I am definitely working on getting a video tutorial made for this stitch! I too am a very visual learner and this is definitely a priority in my list of tutorials to be made.
Please let me know if there was any specific part of the stitch pattern you were running into trouble and I can do my best to assist you over comments.
Hi! I love this pattern but I am having some trouble and it mostly happens at the last 2 stitches of the row. It took awhile, but I was able to complete a 4 row repeat. Then, when I got to the 3rd row of the 2nd repeat the last 2 stitches were reversed. It ended on a bk3tog. Please help! I cant wait to get into my groove on this. The scarf is so beautiful I am probably going to make one for myself, as the current one is a gift. Thanks!
Things can get a little tricky when dealing with multiple yarn overs, hopefully we can identify where your getting mixed up.
I would first double check that you are always slipping the first stitch and knitting the last stitch of each row which could offset the stitch pattern. If everything looks right with the edge stitches than it may be a matter of identifying the yarn overs with the second to last stitch. The end of row 3 can be particularly tricky to see what’s happening because the two yarn overs can pull the last stitch towards you on the needle. Sometimes when I’m getting off track on a row and I can’t figure out why I will write out each stitch in that row so I can really check stitch by stitch as I go which can help identify where I’m running into trouble.
I’m so glad you like the scarf and I hope this helps! If your still running into trouble please feel free to respond and we can continue trouble shooting!
I am trying to knit this scarf but your brioche stitch knitting tutorial does not seem to be the same as the written instructions. I am struggling to figure out why!
Thanks for writing in! I think that I see the issue. This lovely pattern uses a lattice brioche stitch which is quite different than the standard brioche stitch. While we have a brioche tutorial, it will not work for this pattern.
I am a new knitter and I am struggling somehow with stitch counts. Ca you please tell me how many stitches I need in set up row 1, set up row2, and then subsequently rows 1-4.
This may help clarify where I am making my mistake. I really love the pattern and want to make the scarf for this season!
Are all slip stitches ( the simple Slip 1) as if to purl?
Thanks for writing in! This is a bit of a challenging question! That is because there are sets of stitches in each row that can sometimes be a challenge to count separately as yarn overs over top of 1 or 2 stitches can be difficult to count. However, I have tried by best to get you some numbers to help!
As to the slipped stitches, all stitches are slipped purlwise with the yarn in front. When the slip1 is combined with a yo of dyo, they are still slipped purlwise but with additional action. You can check the Notes section above for further elaboration on these!
I’m making a cowl and would like a nice seamless join. I’ve followed your tutorial on doing a provisional cast on with a crochet hook. BTW, It’s my go to provisional cast on! There are 2 set up rows, and then the 4 row pattern repeat. What row would I end with to create a smooth transition when joining the ends? And thank you for ALL the lovely patterns you so generously share with us knitters & crocheter’s!
Thanks for writing in and for your kind words! This stitch pattern is quite challenging to use with a seamless join. I am not sure that you will be able to achieve a join in pattern given that each row builds upon the last but you can certainly give it a try! To set up for a kitchener, you will need to end with a wrong side row; perhaps ending with a row 3. Given that the pattern begins with set-up rows, the join will not be in the same pattern as the rest of the scarf. You may need to try a few different things to get a satisfying look. I do think that there will be fair amount of trial and error. Hopefully you will find a join that will be pleasing for you!
I am on my 4th try attempting this. I took it to a local yarn shop but they were all stymied. Here is my issue: I get to row 2 but am stuck on row 3. When you double yarn over on row 3, are you separating the groupings of stitches on the previous row? I can’t tell if I should be separating the groupings and literally just slipping over two yarns, or if I should be slipping over entire groupings of yarn and treating as one stitch of the double yarn over?
Also, I want to confirm on the two first set up rows, when you do the first two stitches in each row and move from slip one to the first knit stitch, do you pull your working yarn on top of your needle in right hand or do you pull it around the back behind the needle in right hand before you knit? I’m not sure what to do with the yarn or how to move it behind the yarn to do the knit stitch after I do the first starting slip.
Thanks for writing in! This stitch pattern can be a bit of challenge until you get the hang of it! On row 3, you will not be separating the stitch groups. The slip 1, dyo from the previous row will be a brioche knit 3 together (bk3tog) on row 3. The k1 from the repeat on row 2 will become the slip 1, yo on row 3. The slip dyo in row 2 will be slipping the yo and slipped stitch from set-up row 2 together while laying a yo on top of it. This creates a grouping of 3 stitches stacked together that you can then bk3tog.
In the set-up rows for the first slip stitch, you will slip the stitch purlwise with the yarn in front and then move the yarn to the back (not placing it over the top of the slipped stitch but rather between the slipped stitch and the next stitch) and then knitting the next stitch. The edge slip stitches will not have yarn overs sitting on top of them as they are the selvedge of the piece.
Really need tutorial on this pattern. I keep doing something wrong and I can’t figure out what it is. Please help. Can’t wait to get started but I’m stuck. Thank you.
Thanks for reaching out and I’m sorry to hear that you are having trouble with the stitch! Unfortunately we do not have a tutorial for this stitch quite yet, but I will pass your request along. If you have any specific questions about the stitch please feel free to comment and I will hopefully be able to talk you through the pattern.
I purchased Gentle Giant yarn to make this beautiful scarf and now I’m having a trouble. I would really love a video tutorial to get some clarity. Thank you!
I feel silly, but I keep getting stuck at just set-up row 2! When I get to the final two knit stitches, I have three left.
Is every slip in the pattern a slip purl wise with yarn in front, leading to a yo for the next knit stitch?
Thank you! This pattern looks so lovely and I’m banging my head in for not being able to figure it out!
Thanks for writing in! For this lovely pattern, the slip 1 will be a slip 1 purlwise with yarn in front. For slip 1 followed by a YO, you will bring your yarn to front of work, slip 1 stitch purlwise, bring the working yarn over the right-hand needle to the back of the work so the yarn is lying on top of the slipped stitch.
I find that it is sometimes helpful to write to whole row out to get a sense of where the issue might be coming from! For set-up row 2, you will slip 1, *k1, slip 1, dyo, repeat from * to last 2 stitches, k2. For the 11 stitches of the pattern, this would be slip 1, k1, slip 1, dyo, k1, slip 1, dyo, k1, slip 1, dyo, k1, slip 1, dyo, k2. This row can get confusing because of the slip 1, dyo. For this stitch combination, you will want to follow the directions in the Abbreviations section.
I hope that this clears things up and please let us know if you have any other questions!
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2019-04-24T07:50:38Z
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https://www.purlsoho.com/create/2016/11/04/lattice-brioche-scarf/
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The book is the first of the series, and thankfully I have the chance to read the other two books that follow. For the first book in the series, the summary is quite long. And as far as long summaries go, they can work either way. They may either reveal too much information, or give a lot of details for the readers to note and keep track of. The book is categorised as a techno thriller and it has made all the difference to the murders listed in the summary - making them anticipated points in the book instead of suspense reveals. They add to the expectation quotient of the novel and set the mood before the reader gets to it.
It is common knowledge that deaths can be messy. Even if wills have been written and attested, the death of someone who has lived a shady life can leave behind messes that are nearly impossible to sort out. And at rare times, people who have absolutely no idea about the mess are in a position to make quick decisions legally, and deal with all that has been left behind. Michael finds himself in one such mess after his brother Alex is murdered. Quickly brought into a game he had no idea about, with stakes he cannot even begin to comprehend, Michael is left in a position where his personal freedom and increasingly troubling life are also made harder until he comes to face life threats himself.
I initially began this story with the image of estranged brothers one of whom is legally bound to set the affairs of the other in order. But with the ex wives and partners thrown into the mess, things quickly got more directions in which they would travel, and the many chances for which they could become nastier. Michael tries to walk a thin line between trying to set his brother's affairs in order while trying to be careful not to slip in the quagmire - something that keeps proving to be increasingly difficult with every new murder and every new truth that is uncovered, leading to dire consequences every time he tries to make sense of things around him.
The classic 'putting the lamb amidst the sheep' thing works with this novel too and Michael finds himself going deeper into the world where everyone bays for his blood and all the while he is guided from the netherworld - in the form of Alex (but not the way readers might initially assume). The story is engaging because the writing is, and also because it gives the readers more things to process and think of while they are reading the story. This works as a plus in some cases because the readers would process the story in two ways. One for the way it is written and the plot it fulls out, and the other for the way it gives out information that may or may not be important in subsequent books.
This book also falls for the problems that series books usually have. The lack of closure is evident but since there are obvious sequels the readers can hope to get their answers and explanations in the subsequent books which must address these questions for the story to feel complete and right. Overall the language was a plus, thankfully avoiding jargon but maintaining the important terms well. The story was coherent and maintained the interest despite revealing huge chunks in the summary. This is thanks to the writing and the plot sequencing, both of which work in favour of the book. This book turned out to be an interesting read, but it also pushed me to read the sequel - not only because I loved the writing but also because I wanted to know some more answers, which I think is what the author would want for his readers to feel. So in that way, it is a good book.
Does not restrict itself to the purely technical aspects, or making it look like sci-fi only.
The title's relevance was both obscure and mysterious. It worked as the latter for me.
There is a tiny bit of stereotypical forming with the 'good guy' facing moral dilemmas the more he comes to know of the shady world thing.
For the lead character, Michael could have been a bit more fleshed out.
Good use of the concepts and clean writing make this book what it is. Good read.
E. J. Simon is the author of three commercial fiction thrillers, Death Never Sleeps, Death Logs In and Death Logs Out. He has just completed his fourth manuscript, Death in the Cloud. He is a member of the Authors Guild, the Mystery Writers of America and the North Carolina Writer’s Network. He holds an M.A. in Corporate & Political Communications from Fairfield University and a B.A. in Journalism from the University of South Carolina. He lives with his family in Cary, North Carolina in the United States. For more information, visit his website: www.ejsimon.com.
GUEST POST: E. J. Simon, author of Death Never Sleeps, Death Logs In and, just released, Death Logs Out.
My inspiration often comes from my everyday life, the characters and people I grew up with, the places I’ve lived in or visited, sometimes it’s the dreams or nightmares, from my childhood.
Two classic movies originally inspired my current books. The first is The Godfather for how it portrayed the family, the concept of the young, straight-arrow Michael Corleone, who starts out rejecting his family’s “business” and later embraces it, becoming perhaps the most violent and dangerous of them all.
The second movie was 2001 Space Odyssey, the movie that popularized and first brought artificial intelligence to my attention. The computer on board the spacecraft, HAL, took on a mind and consciousness of his own and a will to survive, to the point where he kills off the astronauts who tried to “disconnect” him. The great physicist Stephen Hawking predicted that soon computers would be able to actually duplicate a person’s brain and mind and that a computer would eventually have a “consciousness.” This really is at the core of my books. Alex Nicholas, with the help of a breakthrough in artificial intelligence, duplicates himself on a computer – just before he is murdered.
Certain authors have inspired my writing, or at least my writing style. They would be Stuart Woods – I love the simplicity of his plots and his writing. In addition, Dan Brown and Daniel Silva for their characters and the intricate adventures inherent in their stories.
Finally, although my works are fiction, many of the characters are based upon real people, often ones I have grown up around, colorful relatives and friends, neighborhood toughs, and even people I have worked with in the corporate world (a few of whom I’d characterize as neighborhood toughs, too).
In short, my inspiration comes from the recesses of my mind, real life characters, and from various media, particularly books and movies. It’s all enough to fill a library.
I had already read the first book in the series, but it has been a while since, so I had to brush up a bit before I began reading this. The Cleansweep Counterstrike, however, is a standalone and does not mandatorily require the readers to have read the first book in the series.
Dystopian novels are not from my favourite genre. But since I really enjoyed reading the first book in the series, I picked this one up without much hesitation. The cover was simple, sending a direct message with crosshairs locked on the head in a man's silhouette. The summary clearly picks up from where the previous book ended, but the plot of that one had been summarised in a way that would make even new readers understand the important events that had happened when the protagonist recognised, unravelled and brought down a plot to cleanse people based on their sexuality, religious identity and so on.
Book 2 refers to the natural desire for revenge that has arisen in the face behind that CleanSweep conspiracy, the billionaire Claussen who now anxiously waits for his chance to take revenge against Matt, the whistleblower. The summary, though, led me to believe that maybe reading book 1 would mean a better enjoyment of this book.
Thriller novels and almost any dystopian novels do not always end on a clean note. Much like the jagged edges of a cut from a serrated knife, there are uneven edges that are not really softened. These are not loose ends, but the author's attempt to bring the novel to a realistic conclusion. But when those jagged edges are clear openings for further events to happen, forming another entirely new story that is equally, if not more, thrilling.
While the usual trope in many stories is the hero running out of time to save the world from the villain's scheming plans to destroy mankind and its resources, there is a small change in this one, where the negative lead, billionaire Clussen, is also in a position to answer to those who funded his nefarious operations. He doggedly pursues Matt, hoping to take him down in revenge for bringing down his grand plans. This story develops as a Clussen versus Tremain war, where those who helped overthrow the cleansweep conspiracy are also suddenly targets for the injured animal in Clussen.
The one who was foiled and banished (apparently not killed) finds it hard to forget all that brought his ruin, while Matt, the blogger protagonist has moved on in life. But the moving on has not been smooth, for there is always a lingering fear that says that the danger is not completely past. They are justified in their fears, as the danger that awaits them begins to materialize in random simple forms. A villain who is himself on the run from more powerful forces is a novelty, and it makes his chase of the heroes much more exciting. This novelty kept me engrossed from the start to finish, as I had already picked sides in the first book and only reinforced my opinion on the individual characters with this book.
I love how the book details that there will be repercussions for any actions, even if they were done for the greater good, and that there are no clean ends. Those who felt that book 1 ended without a few clearer answers, or felt like a meal without dessert would love to read this book as it would just pick up from the fall out of the events in the first book and feel like the next episode of the series. But those who have no idea what happened in book one might not really understand why some characters act the way they do.
The author's specialty lies in trying to make these two books as independent as possible, while making sure those who are already fans of book 1 are not disappointed. This book leaves way for a sequel, which promises to be more exciting. This book is a treat to conspiracy enthusiasts, and an awakening to those who did not believe in them. Waldron's unique style of writing sends chills down the spine with a constant thrill between the who is who, and what next. The language suits the genre well, and keeps the pace of the book engrossing. There are minor complaints but none strong enough in any way to hinder the reading. This book is a fitting sequel to one of my favourite dystopian novels, and also finds a place in my favourite books list.
P.S.: Although I had read the previous book in the series a while ago, the book has now undergone a brand new makeover that makes it look like more books are planned with such an interesting theme. I am looking forward to those.
The story is so engrossing - almost enough to ignore any inconsistencies or confusions.
The book does not disappoint as a sequel and flows smoothly.
The book was vague in parts about some important events' timelines.
The story picks up pace only after a while, and this might not be right for a dystopian thriller.
While reading book 1 is not mandatory, it feels important to know the story in detail before picking this up, or some important characters seem to lack lustre.
A fitting sequel to the first book, and enjoyable as a standalone too.
It’s a double entendre. Words can be stirring, rousing calls to action. I have nothing against rousing calls to action. In fact, I hope my words often do that very thing.
When it comes to stirring words, however, I imagine writers stirring words in a large vat, wearing capes and conical hats. Whispering incantations while we mix our recipe. Here’s one from an old writing cookbook.
Plot bunnies are unique, real creatures. Just Google and see. A plot bunny is an idea that refuses to go away. Once bitten, a writer is helpless. The only known cure is to start writing. Farm raised plot bunnies produce pleasant, safe ideas. For real excitement, however, nothing beats plot bunnies in the wild. Whichever one your pick, a tasty writing stew starts with a plot bunny.
· Add a hero/heroine to take the lead. It needs a strong man or woman to usher us through a story. Leaping tall buildings in a single – well, you know – that’s not essential.
· Next, add an appalling character to set up roadblocks. If you are shopping for a villain, look for the meanest one you can find. The more roadblocks your evil-doer can build, the better.
· Add a dollop (blob, splotch, or a spoonful) of supporting characters, an essential ingredient. The writer should be careful, however. Too few means a weak stew, too many may turn it into a paste.
· Sprinkle a roadmap over the stew. Some cooks use just a hint, an outline that blends the ingredients. Some prefer to follow more stringent guidelines. Both work, depending on the cook.
· Pour in as many words into your stew as you can. Don’t be picky; eliminate unnecessary words later.
· Turn up the heat and cook for as long as needed. You can put your finger in from time to time, tasting for flavor.
· Lower the heat to room temperature.
· Have someone else taste the stew. If they say it needs more seasoning or less, take heed.
That was my recipe for The Cleansweep Counterstrike. I hope you enjoy the stew, sorry story. You can follow Matt Tremain as he finds himself in harm’s way, continues to encounter an evil Charles Claussen. Find out if Matt and his friends can find their way out of trouble.
I thank the author for writing such a wonderful recipe for writing perfect books. This unique and innovative method will help both budding and experienced writers!
The concept of first impressions becomes irrelevant when dealing with books that come up subsequently in a series. As a reader already becomes familiar with the writer's style of narration and has a general idea of the characters and their qualities, there are two kinds of possible outcomes. It is harder for the author to keep to the characters' descriptions, and it is easier for the reader to pick and choose favourites before they begin the novel.
Miracle Man, the previous book in the series, was an engaging read and that made me read this book without much deliberation because I was familiar and comfortable with the writing style and was eager to know what happened to the genius doctor this time around. This book was advertised as a standalone, and that intrigued me more because I wanted to see if it would sound similar or different. The cover and the summary had the same effect as their book 1's counterparts. Simple cover that fit the stereotype of the genre, and detailed summary that gave the reader a clear idea of what the book is going to be about.
Though it was obviously temporary, book 1 ended with the genius doctor having lost the abilities that made him unique. So it was with mixed expectations that I began reading this book. The one line description of this story sounds, like the first book's did, a little too less to encompass the brilliance of the story. A miraculous genius who has lost his unique abilities is on a journey of self-discovery to regain them, and is also tasked with trying to save mankind from extinction. But what makes this book special is the way this ordinary thriller plot is made into an interesting book that keeps the reader engrossed till the last page is turned.
The hints given at the end of book 1 predicted the return of Dr. Robert Austin's capabilities - both the good and otherwise. Taking up those threads directly, book 2 begins with a prologue that sets the mood nicely, and a glimpse into what may happen if the threats came true. The Austin family is now living a life with altered identities, but the return of those abilities for Dr. Austin might mean more threats and problems like he's faced earlier in his life. The premise itself was sure to glue the reader to the book, knowing very well that the author will expand it beautifully in his book. Even for those who read this book alone, and have no idea about The Miracle Man - book 1 in this series, the book clearly begins like a novel about someone who had powers and lost it (the reasons why are not necessary to enjoy book 2 - but the prologue still gives a general idea) and is one the journey to regain them and identify what led to their loss in the first place.
What I liked the best about the book was how the single word in the title, 'paradox', had multiple ways in which it was used. The paradox of his loved ones pushed to not believing him, that of a cure not working for the disease, and that of himself trying to find his way back and fearing what may happen if he regains his abilities. Each of these individual concepts were carefully highlighted in what I consider is a great story. Compared to the first book, though, maybe because the reader is used to the narration techniques, this one seems a bit slower, and crammed with more details than was absolutely necessary.
The overall narration is good, fast paced and keeps the reader interested. The book is a complete story, standalone by itself and takes up many interesting sub plots that it manages to weave well. The language is clear without much jargon considering the genre this book is about. The book scores points for its story line and narration.
Fast paced and interesting, covers all it said it would, in the summary.
The characters stayed true to the readers' expectations of them.
The book will not disappoint the readers of book 1, and that is a huge achievement.
The whole virus-medicine cure theme has been overdone in this genre already, and this book would have worked much better with a different means.
The details that are given to move the story ahead sometimes tended to slow down the pace of the story.
An interesting book that brings together features of multiple genres.
Guest Post by William Leibowitz, Author of the Miracle Man series.
Hello Dhivya –let me tell you why I wrote Miracle Man and its sequel, The Austin Paradox.
These novels tell the story of Robert James Austin, the greatest genius in history (we’re talking 10X Einstein’s brain power). These books are psychological thrillers with fast paced twisting plots, as Austin battles incredibly powerful external and internal forces that seek to destroy him-- including Big Pharma and its political cronies.
In writing Miracle Man and The Austin Paradox, I wanted to create an inspirational hero who isn’t a comic book character and who isn’t one of the meritless celebrities that dominate media today (e.g., the reality TV stars who are famous for being famous). I also wanted these books to be the vehicles within which I could convey, in an entertainment context, certain spiritual and humanistic messages that are important to me.
In writing Miracle Man and The Austin Paradox, I also wanted to get readers thinking about a real-life problem that affects us all. One of the powerful forces fighting Austin is “Big Pharma” which views him as their enemy since he cures diseases and thereby makes many of their “cash-cow” drugs obsolete. In short, Austin is bad for their business. Like Austin, I find it incomprehensible that virtually no major disease has been cured in over 50 years. How can that be the case when so much money has been spent over the decades on research? Simply put, there’s a lot more money in treating symptoms than there is in curing diseases. Austin realized that Big Pharma has no interest in curing diseases. It just wants to keep on selling expensive symptom treatments –and as we know, many people are on expensive ‘medication maintenance programs’ for years, sometimes for life. Austin wanted to change that. I think people need to start questioning Big Pharma on many fronts –from the price of drugs -- to why there aren’t more cures.
---So what I tried to do in both of these novels is first and foremost to write entertaining books that engage readers and keep them turning the pages. But within that entertainment context I wanted to get my readers thinking. From the reviews I’ve received and the letters sent to me—I’m extremely gratified that this has happened.
The cover was a interesting but a stereotypical thriller trope. The summary was detailed and expansive, highlighting the major points of the novel. I had mixed views as I began reading, and expected the story to not be cliched but still maintain the readers' interest.
Miracle Man is one of those books that manages to take up a normal story line that sounds usual and make it into something intersting and extraordinary. A one-line description of the book would not be able to cover the intricacies of the writing or the plot. It was a good read from start to finish, and managed to keep me engrossed all the while.
A miraculous child, a genius with IQ off the charts grows up into a man with superhuman intelligence. He wants to do good to this world after repeated personal tragedies and tries to find cures to diseases that have been plaguing mankind. But vested interests that want the world to be treated but not really cured, find issues with this approach and all of a sudden the Dr. Austin is hounded on all sides by people who want him gone. They are not only the corporates who stand to lose but also other people who want him gone off the radar.
The book itself is so realistic and relevant in current times, that some of the events send chills down the readers' spine. Bar the superhuman intelligence of the lead character, and the events related to that, the rest of the book can be seen as something that can happen to people in the present world. That is one of the reasons why the book happens to be a page turner that keeps the reader intrigued and involved until the end.
Addressing all the major issues in the medicine and pharmaceutical industry, the book points out exactly where the whole scenario is heading. The book can be an eye opener in many cases, making the readers question some of the things they have gotten used to. Miracle Man is not just about the actual character of the miracle man, but more about how the intelligence reacts with goodness as a moral compass, and how it will face and overcome difficulties in the real world, especially as a target of various entities who would not hesitate to use any means, fair and foul, to get rid of him.
The book does not seem like a writer's first novel. Far from it, it has all the necessary checkboxes for a good book ticked. Interesting plot, clean execution, pace picking up within first few pages, drawing the reader in. It might seem long by the page count, but it manages to keep the reader hooked till the end, making for a quick read by being a page turner that does not just cram information but picks up various events that all come together to form a big picture that is full of twists and turns including the very end. This book would make the readers want to go to book 2 without skipping a beat, the writing is that good.
The whole premise of the novel and the way it was carried out was good.
The book kept things interesting, and could be read without getting disracted.
For a piece of fiction, this was so relatable and dangerously close to being realistic, save the superhuman ability.
The language could have been made better, and aided the book's readability.
In one line, the plot sounds like a cliche of regular thriller novels, that was saved by a different superhuman character and that is far from the truth of what the book actually is.
The book would have been a better read if the characters other than Dr. Austin were more developed.
No reviews would do justice without revealing the plot elements. Interesting book that does not look like a first time book.
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2019-04-23T17:52:55Z
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https://readmuse.blogspot.com/2018/09/
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Virginia City, NV (December 28, 2017) Comstock Mining Inc. (the “Company”) (NYSE American: LODE), a Nevada-based, gold and silver mining company, announced today that it has reduced its debt balance by an additional $240k during December, representing over $500k in debt reductions during the fourth quarter alone. When combined with earlier actions, this represents over $1.6 million in debt reduction since the strategic refinancing consummated almost one year ago, in January 2017.
The Company also announced it has just paid the interest expense, on the Debenture, due on January 1, 2018, early. After paying the interest, the Company’s cash on hand will be approximately $2 million as of December 31, 2017.
Virginia City, NV (December 26, 2017) Comstock Mining Inc. (the “Company”) (NYSE American: LODE), a Nevada-based, gold and silver mining company, announced today that Corrado De Gasperis, Executive Chairman and CEO, will present at both the 2018 Global Chinese Financial Forum (GCFF), Vancouver Conference in British Columbia, Canada on Saturday, January 20, 2018, and on January 21-22, 2018, at the 2018 Vancouver Resource Investment Conference (VRIC) at the Vancouver Convention Centre West, Vancouver, BC.
Organized by NAI Interactive, the GCFF is one of the most extensive, bi-lingual, financial networking events covering North America and China. The event facilitates business growth through networking activities among public and private companies, financial institutions and investors.
Organized by Cambridge House International Inc. and Katusa Research, the 2018 VRIC represents the world's largest resource investment conference, with more than 8,000 attendees, this conference is at the Vancouver Convention Centre West, Vancouver, BC.
During both conferences, Mr. De Gasperis will provide Company updates on its most recent resource developments and participate in one-on-one meetings with registered conference investors. Registration for these meetings is only for qualified investors, portfolio managers, and private wealth and family office managers.
Virginia City, NV (December 4, 2017) Comstock Mining Inc. (the “Company”) (NYSE American: LODE), a Nevada-based, gold and silver mining company, announced today that it will be exhibiting at and attending the American Exploration & Mining Association’s 123rd Annual Event at the Sparks Nugget Hotel in Sparks, Nevada, from December 6-8. This annual meeting is the second largest annual mining convention in the U.S., featuring 250 exhibitors, a core shack, several technical sessions and more than 2,000 attendees.
Last week, the Company received a letter from the NYSE American LLC (the “Exchange”), stating that the Company was in compliance with the Exchange’s continued listing standards set forth in Part 10 of the Exchange’s Company Guide. The Exchange specifically noted that the Company has resolved the Company’s previously announced low selling price deficiency. Effective November 28, 2017, the “.bc” designation, signifying below-compliance with NYSE American listing standards was removed from the Company’s trading symbol.
The Company’s goal is to deliver up to $500 million of accretive share value by 2020, both through its existing mineral resource development targets and the ongoing development of the various partnerships, ventures and exploration and development activities that, all together, are capable of sustaining production equivalent to 100,000 gold ounces per annum.
Virginia City, NV (October 31, 2017) Comstock Mining Inc. (the “Company”) (NYSE American: LODE) today reported selected unaudited financial results for the fiscal quarter ended September 30, 2017, and business updates.
Completed Strategic Joint Venture Option Agreement to immediately accelerate Lucerne’s assessment, drilling, engineering and development, while dramatically reducing annual costs.
Received the 2017 Nevada Excellence in Mine Reclamation Award for most excellent mine reclamation.
Reduced spending in every major category, achieving record low operating expenses.
Projected lower operating spend rate of less than $3.6 million per annum, before the estimated annual cost benefits from the Joint Venture Option Agreement of an additional $1.25 million.
Reduced long-term debt by over $1 Million from the sale of various, small non-mining properties.
Completed federally funded column testing of Dayton mineralized materials, through Cycladex Inc., a strategic investee, for, faster, cheaper, safer leaching solutions, yielding 82-85% gold.
Established a strategic collaboration with and funded by Itronics Inc. (ITRO), to assess reclamation cost reductions, increased leach-pad extraction potential, and the metallurgy of our mineralized materials.
Acquired 30 unpatented lode claims with 472 contiguous acres, increasing our lands to over 9,284 acres.
Celebrated the Nevada Department of Transportation’s USA Parkway Grand Opening Celebration, directly benefiting Comstock’s Certified Industrial Site and water rights located on the US 50 highway corridor.
Reduced our senior secured debenture to $9.9 million, with ongoing plans to sell non-mining assets valued at approximately $14 million targeted to eliminate the remainder of our debt.
Announced an agreement to sell 80% of the Daney Ranch to Daney Enterprises Inc., for $3.52 million cash, subject to certain closing conditions, valuing the property above plan, at $4.4 million.
Cash and cash equivalents at September 30, 2017, were $2.3 million.
Operating expenses reached a record low of $3.8 million, excluding depreciation and amortization, for the nine months ended September 30, 2017, a 51% reduction as compared to the 2016 period of $7.8 million.
General and administrative expenses achieved a record low of $2.2 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2017, a 20% reduction as compared to the 2016 period of $2.7 million, driven by lower payroll and administrative expenses, in line with targeted cost reductions.
Real Estate operating costs achieved a record low for the nine months ended September 30, 2017, a 66% reduction compared to the 2016 period, with both positive cash flows and profits for this segment.
Mine claims costs reached a record low of $0.7 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2017, a 20% reduction compared to the 2016 period, despite growing our land position.
Environmental and reclamation expenses achieved a record low of $0.7 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2017, a 35% reduction as compared to the 2016 period of $1.0 million, despite higher costs associated with unusual precipitation and related water management activities.
Exploration and mine development expenses were $0.8 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2017, as compared to the 2016 period of $4.0 million, primarily from the completion of the Lucerne underground drift developments in early 2016.
Net loss was $8.2 million, or a loss of $0.04 per share for the nine months ended September 30, 2017, as compared to a net loss of $9.1 million, or a loss of $0.05 per share, for the comparable 2016 period.
Net cash used in operations was $5.1 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2017, primarily for operating expenses, interest expenses and the reduction of accounts payable.
Net cash provided by financing activities, was $6.4 million, primarily from debt and equity issuances.
Total debt at September 30, 2017, was $10.3 million, with all but $0.6 million being long-term debt.
During 2016, the Company focused on exploration and development of certain properties within the Lucerne resource area (the “Lucerne Property”), primarily underground core drilling, underground drift (tunnel) development, and underground sampling into the Quartz Porphyry (PQ) and Succor geological targets. Future drill programs were being developed with a phased approach to extend the PQ mineralization and scope the Succor and Woodville targets but the Company suspended those plans due to the higher than expected complexity of the underground development effort and the uncertainty about the total capital required for delivering a commercially viable mine plan. Ultimately, the Company decided to assess, evaluate and pursue partners willing and able to commit the additional mining expertise and capital resources required to explore and develop a commercially viable Lucerne-based mine plan.
On October 3, 2017, the Company entered into an Option Agreement (the “Option Agreement”) with Tonogold Resources, Inc. (“Tonogold”). Under the terms of the Option Agreement, Tonogold will have the right to participate in certain activities, including but not limited to, engineering, development, drilling and test-work, towards completing a technical and economic feasibility assessment on certain properties within the Lucerne Property and if all obligations and prerequisites are satisfied and subject to compliance with the Option Agreement, Comstock and Tonogold may effect a joint venture for the future development and mining of mineral resources on the Lucerne Property.
Under the terms of the Option Agreement, Tonogold can earn a 51% interest in the Company’s presently wholly-owned subsidiary, Comstock Mining LLC, which owns the Lucerne Property, by making capital expenditures on the Lucerne Property of $20 million no later than 42 months following signing of the Option Agreement and direct cash payments of $2.2 million to the Company within six months of such signing. The initial cash payment of $0.2 million was paid by Tonogold to the Company at the time that the Option Agreement went into effect. If Tonogold elects to proceed with the project, Tonogold would have to make another payment of $2 million within the six-month period following the date that the Option Agreement was signed.
If Tonogold does not elect to extend the option beyond the initial six months, it will be required to make a further payment to the Company equal to $1 million less Tonogold’s actual expenditures on the Lucerne Property during such initial six-month period. In addition, Tonogold is granted the option to purchase 51% of certain equipment and property located at the Company’s American Flat property for a purchase price of $25 million.
Tonogold announced that it was fully funded through the first phase of the Agreement.
The Option Agreement calls for a Technical Committee composed of three Tonogold participants and two Comstock participants to oversee all of the engineering, development, drilling and test-work activities, and others, towards completing a technical and economic feasibility assessment. The Technical Committee is scheduled to review the first phase of the drilling program during the first full week of November 2017.
The Company has reduced long-term debt by more than $1 Million with proceeds from the sale of 54 acre-feet of water rights, and the sale of various, smaller non-mining properties in Gold Hill and Silver City, Nevada and its recently announced joint venture with Tonogold. The Company’s Senior Secured Debenture has now been reduced to $9.9 million. The Company still has plans to sell non-mining assets valued at approximately $14 million targeted to eliminate the remainder of its debt.
Figure 1 - illustrates the Company's existing and new land position.
The Company has an agreement to sell 80% of the Daney Ranch to Daney Enterprises Inc., for $3.52 million cash, subject to certain closing conditions, including financing, that values the property above plan, at $4.4 million.
The Daney Canyon Ranch is a 225-acre ranch located in Dayton, Nevada. It features more than 8000 square feet of living space between the Spanish style main home, 2 guest homes and a ranchers cabin. The Company expects the sale to close by the end of the first quarter, 2018, reporting period.
Our goal is to deliver up to $500 million of accretive share value (over $2 per share) by 2020, by acquiring, joint venturing, exploring and developing resources and reserves capable of sustaining production of more than 100,000 gold-equivalent ounces per annum. Our past efforts, especially during the past 18 months, have positioned us for this success. These production targets include both the Lucerne and Dayton Mine plans, with both surface and underground development opportunities.
Total operating expenses (excluding depreciation, amortization, and depletion expense) for the last quarter of 2017 are expected to be less than $1.0 million, with a sustainable, annual run rate of $3.6 million. The Tonogold agreement, if the second phase is exercised, has the potential for reducing these annual operating expenses (excluding depreciation, amortization, and depletion expense) of $3.6 million, in 2018, by an additional $1.25 million. Interest expense is expected to be approximately $1.3 million for 2018. The Company expects to continue operating with approximately 10 employees, including expert land, permitting, geology, engineering and metallurgical professionals.
The Company plans to sell non-mining related lands, buildings and water rights, for expected net cash proceeds of approximately $14 million, including the Daney Ranch, during the next twelve months. These proceeds will first be used to eliminate debt obligations due under the Debenture and then to fund certain exploration activities in the Dayton Resource area, all while strengthening the financial position of the Company.
The Company has also commenced and plans on continuing metallurgical testing on Dayton mineralized materials, using both cyanide and non-cyanide alternative solutions to experiment on achieving the highest, most cost efficient processing for the Dayton feasibility assessment. The Company will also commence Reverse Circulation (RC) drilling at the Dayton mine sufficient to finalize the parameters of a mine plan and commence the permitting for the Dayton mine. Infill drilling is expected to significantly expand the reserve potential for the Dayton mine plans. The Company has developed grade shells with higher average grades and believes the Dayton to have economically feasible potential and plans on developing those mine plans toward full feasibility during late 2017 and early 2018, with production plans following those efforts within the next two years.
The Company will report the results of the Lucerne exploration and development programs, in conjunction with Tonogold, and independently for Dayton exploration and development programs, as they become available.
The Company enhanced its liquidity with a long-term, strategic refinancing during the first quarter and more efficient access to equity capital during the second and third quarters. The longer-term debt and additional equity allows the Company to participate in the dramatic economic boom currently surging throughout northern Nevada and provide an effective bridge prior to any land sales or completed ventures. Cash and cash equivalents at September 30, 2017, were $2.3 million.
The Company and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) have approved and will effect a reverse split of its common stock, $0.000666 par value (“Common Stock”), at a ratio of 1-for-5 (the “Reverse Split”), effective November 9, 2017. The Common Stock will begin trading on a split-adjusted basis when the market opens on November 10, 2017. The Reverse Split will result in each outstanding five pre-split shares of Common Stock automatically combining into one new share of Common Stock without any action on the part of the stockholders. The total number of outstanding common shares will be reduced from approximately 226 million to approximately 45 million shares. The Company’s authorized number of shares of Common Stock of the Company will also be proportionately decreased from 3,950,000,000 to 790,000,000 shares. No fractional shares will be issued as a result of the Reverse Split as any fractional shares resulting from the Reverse Split will be rounded up to the nearest whole share.
The Board of Directors of the Company approved the action in accordance with Nevada law (NRS Section 78.207). The NYSE approved the 1-for-5 reverse stock split on October 27, 2017. No additional Company or stockholder approval is required because both the number of authorized shares of Common Stock and the number of outstanding shares of Common Stock are proportionally reduced as a result of the Reverse Split, and the Reverse Split does not adversely affect any other class of stock of the Company and the Company will not pay money or issue scrip to stockholders who would otherwise be entitled to receive a fractional share as a result of the Reverse Split. The NYSE and the Company's transfer agent, Corporate Stock Transfer, will provide instructions to stockholders regarding the process for exchanging certificated shares. The Common Stock will continue to trade on the NYSE American under the trading symbol "LODE" but will trade under the new CUSIP number 205750201.
Mr. De Gasperis concluded, "The split satisfies the NYSE American minimum share price requirement. We consider this a mechanical change that does not impact our strategy, business plans, liquidity, operations or the intrinsic value of the shares. Our focus is on growing that value with an outstanding investor and share base."
This press release and any related calls or discussions may include forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 about Comstock. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include statements about matters such as: future prices and sales of, and demand for, our products; future industry market conditions; future changes in our exploration activities, production capacity and operations; future exploration, production, operating and overhead costs; operational and management restructuring activities (including implementation of methodologies and changes in the board of directors); future employment and contributions of personnel; tax and interest rates; capital expenditures and their impact on us; nature and timing and accounting for restructuring charges, gains or losses on debt extinguishment, derivative liabilities and the impact thereof; productivity, production slowdowns, suspension or termination, business process, rationalization and other operational initiatives; investments, acquisitions, joint ventures, strategic alliances, business combinations, asset sales; consulting, operational, tax, financial and capital projects and initiatives; contingencies; environmental compliance and changes in the regulatory environment; reverse splits, forward splits, dividends, offerings, sales and other actions regarding debt or equity securities; maintaining stock exchange listing requirements; redemption or pay down of the debenture; and future working capital, costs, revenues, business opportunities, debt levels, cash flows, margins, earnings and growth.
Virginia City, NV (October 11, 2017) Comstock Mining Inc. (the “Company” or “Comstock”) (NYSE American: LODE) announced today it has reduced long-term debt by almost $1 Million with proceeds from the sale of 54 acre-feet of water rights, and the sale of various, smaller non-mining properties in Gold Hill and Silver City, Nevada and its recently announced joint venture with Tonogold Resources, Inc.
The most valuable of the remaining properties is the Company’s 98-acre Comstock Industrial Site located adjacent to the Silver Springs Airport in close proximity to where the recently opened Infinity Highway connects U.S. 50 and Silver Springs to the Tahoe Reno Industrial (TRI) Center. The operators of the Silver Springs Airport recently received approval from the Lyon County Board of Commissioners on an extension of its lease including an expansion of the airport infrastructure. The Silver Springs Airport serves as the airport for business executives and private jets, such as the Falcon 900 EX below, visiting the TRI Center last week—which contains more than 150 global businesses.
Airport near the 98-acre Comstock Industrial Site available for purchase and development.
The Company’s Senior Secured Debenture has now been reduced to $9.9 million. The Company still has plans to sell non-mining assets valued at approximately $14 million targeted to eliminate the remainder of its debt. The Company also had approximately $2.3 million in cash at September 30, 2017.
Virginia City, NV (October 5, 2017) Comstock Mining Inc. (the “Company” or “Comstock”) (NYSE American: LODE) announced today that it has entered into an Option Agreement (the “Agreement’) for a mining joint venture on the permitted, Lucerne Mine Project (the “Lucerne”), with Tonogold Resources, Inc. (“Tonogold”) (OTCMKTS: TNGL).
Grants a second option to acquire 51% of the Lucerne Mine infrastructure, including the American Flat property, plant and equipment for an additional $25 million.
Under the Agreement, when Tonogold completes its $20 million investment, and other related prerequisites, for the evaluation and mine development for Lucerne’s economic feasibility and mine production plans, Tonogold and Comstock would then effect a joint venture for the future mining of mineral resources on the Lucerne. The Agreement also provides up to $2.2 million in direct funding for Comstock and approximately $1.2 million per annum in subsidized costs.
The evaluation program is currently directed at producing a robust resource model for Lucerne as well as assessing a series of geological targets in the Silver City Branch of the Comstock Lode, including the Succor vein systems, the historic Woodville Bonanza system and the PQ target. These initial targets represent the core of a broader geological corridor. Previous surface drilling in the area suggest more than 1,000 feet of mineralized strike in the Succor zone, lying generally adjacent to and below the Lucerne Cut, with good potential to yield high-grade gold and silver. The 1,000-foot plus Succor Vein Target has an average true width of 15 feet and an average dip of 65 degrees. The structure has reported historic mining grades of approximately 0.54 ounces per ton of “recovered” gold per ton and is open to the east and at depth, along the entire structure. The nearby Woodville Bonanza structure includes the same supporting historical mappings with reported historic mining grades of 0.749 ounces of gold per ton. The Woodville has significant current drill data including 116 intercepts of at least 10 feet, grading over 0.22 ounces per ton gold and 1.59 ounces per ton silver.
Tonogold is a U.S.-based mining company that is focused on advanced exploration properties in Nevada and Mexico. Tonogold’s team of proven and successful mining executives and investors are working to build a portfolio of mineral properties that will give its investors a leveraged exposure to gold, silver and other minerals and metals allowing them to benefit from its exploration, mining and financial expertise.
Virginia City, NV (September 12, 2017) Comstock Mining Inc. (the “Company”) (NYSE American: LODE) announced today that the Company has added 472 acres of claims contiguous to its claims in the Dayton /Spring Valley Areas by acquiring 30 unpatented Lode claims, including lands that were previously held by Kona Gold, in the southern part of the Comstock District.
The annual maintenance fees are administered by the Bureau of Land Management and include the Company’s 2,266 acres of private, patented claims as well as 6,345 acres of unpatented claims including lode claims and combined equals 8,611 of total acres. With the addition of the 30 new claims comprising 472 acres, the Company now controls 6,817 acres of unpatented claims and 9,083 total acres. The filing fees associated with the newly acquired claims was $12,277.00, which included paying for last year’s and 2017-2018 intent to hold fees to the BLM.
The Company has expansive mining claims with exploration, development and operating permits throughout a historic world-class district featuring a production ready platform. The Company’s existing and newly expanded land position in the Comstock District is illustrated in the map below.
COMSTOCK MINING, INC. LAND MAP—Depicted in blue are Comstock Mining’s existing claims with additional new claims displayed in bright green.
Comstock Mining Inc. is a producing, Nevada-based, gold and silver mining company with extensive, contiguous property in the Comstock District and is an emerging leader in sustainable, responsible mining, including concurrent and accelerated reclamations, soil sampling, voluntary air monitoring, cultural asset protection and historical restorations. The Company began acquiring properties in the Comstock District in 2003. Since then, the Company has consolidated a significant portion of the Comstock District, amassed the single largest known repository of historical and current geological data on the Comstock region, secured permits, built an infrastructure and completed its first phase of production. The Company continues acquiring additional properties in the district, expanding its footprint and creating opportunities for further exploration, development and mining. The near term goal of our business plan is to maximize intrinsic stockholder value realized, per share, by validating qualified resources and reserves (proven and probable) from our first two resource areas, Lucerne and Dayton, and significantly grow the commercial development of our operations through extended, long-lived mine plans that are economically feasible and socially responsible.
Virginia City, NV (September 11, 2017) Comstock Mining Inc. (the “Company”) (NYSE American: LODE) received on Saturday, September 9, 2017, the Nevada Excellence in Mine Reclamation Award. The Company received the recognition for Excellence in Mine Reclamation for the Rebuilding of State Route 342 and Reclamation of Historic Mine Features. This included capping of a hazardous, historic mine shaft, the realignment of a major state route away from that mine shaft, safe removal of hazardous materials for legacy mining and the reclamation and beautification of historic mine features and historic mining landscapes.
Nevada Excellence in Mine Reclamation Award Committee.
The Excellence in Mine Reclamation Awards recognizes some of the most progressive Nevada miners, elevating the standards of excellence in mine reclamations and restorations. Interest in these awards encourages innovation in reclamation techniques, raises industry standards, and results in better plans of operation and reclamation, while increasing the public’s awareness of these sustaining activities.
Larry Martin, Director of Exploration and Scott Jolcover, Director of Business Development.
Working cooperatively with state and federal agencies, Comstock Mining’s reclamation project remediated legacy mine dumps that contained imported elemental mercury. In fact, Comstock Mining recovered 1,000 pounds of this imported elemental mercury from pre-1904 mine tailings and captured it for proper disposal. Funded by Comstock Mining, this $3 million reclamation project included the rebuilding and realignment of SR 342 and it reduced costs to the state and local municipalities, and thus, taxpayers. It also provided a safer and more efficient passage for mining operations. It features a scenic rock-lined waterway and enhances the quality of life for residents throughout the northern Nevada region by providing a safe route to and from Virginia City and offers tourists an easy route to visit our historic region and its many businesses.
Virginia City, NV (August 29, 2017) - Comstock Mining Inc. (“Comstock” or the “Company”) (NYSE American: LODE) announced today, that the Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) celebrated the completion of the new Infinity Highway (formerly USA Parkway) yesterday—three months ahead of schedule. NDOT has completed the $75.9 million project and a large multi-lane roundabout at the intersection of the Infinity Highway and U.S. Route 50; in the immediate vicinity of the Company’s certified, shovel-ready, 98-acre Comstock Industrial Site and senior water rights in Silver Springs, Nevada.
The Company also announced today that it has escrowed the sale of 54 acre-feet of water rights in two transactions that generated over $550,000. The transaction is expected to close in the first week of September and the funds will immediately be used to pay down long-term debt, consistent with the Company’s original plan. The Company still has over 203 acre-feet of water rights available for use in this development area.
Infinity Highway during NDOT’s celebration for the new highway connecting I-80 with US Route 50.
Virginia City, NV (August 1, 2017) Comstock Mining Inc. (the “Company”) (NYSE American: LODE) today reported selected unaudited financial results for the fiscal quarter ended June 30, 2017, and provided business updates.
Nevada Announced over $125 Million in Infrastructure Investments, including USA Parkway’s Grand Opening Celebration on August 28, 2017, directly benefiting Comstock’s Certified Industrial Site.
Total long-term debt at June 30, 2017, was $11.4 million, with all but $0.6 million being long term, the positive result from the Company’s first quarter refinancing.
During the second quarter, the Company advanced strategic discussions associated with accelerating the development of our Lucerne Mine project, including a re-scoping assessment that includes assessing economic feasibility, establishing proven and probable reserves and production plans. The Company, in conjunction with the potential partner, has assessed alternative mine plans, including the feasibility of expanding the surface mine operation, establishing proven and probable reserves and designing a mine plan for production and expects to provide an update on this progress during the current quarter.
During the second quarter, the Company entered into a joint collaboration agreement to test an alternative extraction technology, with multiple objectives. First, the company has provided leached material from the existing Lucerne leach pad for reprocessing and analysis to determine if additional silver extraction of existing material is economically feasible. Additionally, the Company has delivered new mineralized material from the Dayton Resource area, for processing and analysis on both gold and silver yields. These materials are being processed and tested in the Reno, Nevada area, at both independent metallurgical labs and further within our joint collaboration. The Company expects to provide an update on these process tests during the current quarter.
During the second quarter, our technical staff conducted column tests, in direct collaboration with Cycladex Inc., (“Cycladex”) a strategic investee, of both cyanide and non-cyanide solutions. The teams established four, full metallurgical column tests, two cyanide and two non-cyanide, running parallel, that supports and advances the feasibility study for establishing proven and probable reserves at the Dayton. The samples were crushed, agglomerated and loaded into four ten-foot columns for leach simulation. These simulations were conducted on-site, in the Company’s metallurgical labs, and are coordinated through, and funded by U.S. National Science Foundation grants.
The Cyanide columns leached exceptionally high and fast for gold with cyanide, higher than prior tests and expectations. The Company’s expectations for the cyanide columns started high, at about 80%, so the 82-85% result in just 25 days was higher and faster than expected. Cycladex yields exceeded expectations for both gold and silver and tracked exceptionally well against the cyanide parallel columns. Although still in the early stages, the Company is pleased with the Cycladex yields and speed and looks forward to assessing the specific consumption and cost efficiency in the next few phases. The next phase of consumption and cost testing is scheduled for completion in late September 2017.
The Company is working to advance the Dayton Resource area to full feasibility, with a production ready mine plan within the next two years. The new targets are based on the Company's updated analysis of previous geophysical studies with current interpretations of the geology (see Figure 1).
The Company also recently completed metallurgical column tests on mineralized material from the Dayton Resource Area that contribute to the advancement of a full feasibility assessment for the mine, updating prior metallurgical test work and the technical resource report published in January 2013. During the second quarter of 2017, the Company conducted column tests of both cyanide and non-cyanide solutions. They established four, full metallurgical column tests, two cyanide and two non-cyanide, running parallel, that supports and advances the feasibility study for establishing proven and probable reserves at the Dayton. The samples were crushed, agglomerated and loaded into four ten-foot columns for leach simulation. These simulations were conducted on-site, in the Company’s metallurgical labs, and are coordinated through Cycladex Inc., (“Cycladex”) a strategic investee, and funded by U.S. National Science Foundation grants.
The Cyanide columns yielded between 82-85% gold in just 25 days. The Company has already designed and established new column tests for the primary purpose of assessing the specific consumption of the new materials and material cost for processing. This is important for assessing ultimate economic feasibility of these solutions. These simulations will also be conducted on-site, in the Company’s metallurgical labs, and are still funded by U.S. National Science Foundation research grants. These updated metallurgical testing compliment extensive metallurgical testing results for Dayton that were previously published in 2011.
In house Dayton engineering and mine planning have now resulted in profiling various economic pit shells with multiple cutoff grade scenarios. We also performed due diligence, assisted by SRK Consulting. The due diligence resulted in confirmation of the scoping level mine plans and agreement on the conceptual processing layout.
Total operating expenses for the second half of 2017 are expected to be $2.1 million, including exploration and mine development, mine claims, environmental and reclamation, and general and administrative costs but excluding depreciation and amortization. Interest expense is expected to be approximately $1.3 million. The Company expects to continue operating with approximately 10 employees, including expert land, permitting, geology, engineering and metallurgical professionals.
Completion of the $8 plus million roundabout for connecting USA Parkway with Highway 50; in immediate proximity of the Company’s property.
The recent announcement by the Nevada Department of Transportation, that the USA Parkway will celebrate its ribbon cutting on August 28, 2017, and be fully open for business on September 8, 2017, months ahead of schedule, represents the single largest catalyst for the value of the Company’s properties along Highway 50, and has already increased interest and activity in purchasing industrial lands in Silver Springs, Nevada, where the Company’s Industrial Site and water rights are located and residential properties along the entire Highway 50 corridor, where the 225 acres, Daney Ranch is located. These milestones have increased the interest and activities in and around these properties.
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2019-04-25T15:59:26Z
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https://comstockmining.com/news/press-releases?start=22
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2019-04-20T22:47:33Z
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http://misswinni.org/paxil-activating-or-sedating.php
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Manila—(PHStocks)—Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (PSE: MPI) has reported consolidated core net income of PhP5.9 billion for the six (6) months ended 30th June 2015, up 27% over the PhP4.6 billion achieved in the first half of 2014 as each of its four main businesses delivered strong growth despite regulatory challenges.
The rise in core net income was due mainly to: (i) strong traffic growth on all the roads held by Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) and an increased shareholding in Manila North Tollways Corp. (MNTC); (ii) growth at Maynilad Water Services Inc. (Maynilad) due to higher billed volume; (iii) increased effective shareholding in Manila Electric Co. (MERALCO, PSE: MER) and (iv) continuous growth in the Hospital Group.
In terms of contribution to the company’s net operating income: MERALCO accounted for PhP2.9 billion or 43% of the aggregate contribution; Maynilad contributed PhP2.4 billion or 35%; the Tollroads businesses delivered PhP1.4 billion or 19%; and the Hospital Group contributed PhP187 million or 3% of the total.
Consolidated reported net income attributable to owners of the parent company improved 31% to PhP5.6 billion in the first half of 2015 from PhP4.2 billion a year earlier. Nonrecurring items amounted to PhP321 million of charges, substantially comprising project expenses, versus PhP394 million a year earlier which included taxes incurred on the reorganization of the hospital group and one-time separation expenses as a result of Maynilad’s redundancy and right-sizing program.
The record date for the interim dividend is September 1, 2015; the payment date is September 23, 2015.
MERALCO’s core net income for the first half of 2015 rose 18% to PhP11.6 billion compared with the first half of 2014 despite lower distribution tariffs. The growth in core income was driven by a 3% increase in energy sales to 17,753GWh, higher contributions to net income from non-regulated operating subsidiaries and stringent management of operating expenses.
Core net income also included the positive impact of MERALCO’s compensation for previous net under-recoveries and carrying costs which was approved by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC). In June 2015, the ERC approved MERALCO’s application to recover its January 2007 to September 2010 Generation Rate Adjustment Mechanism 2 for the period January 2007 to September 2010, and generation, transmission and system loss charges net under-recoveries for the period June 2003 to December 2011, in the total amount of PhP3.4 billion. The total amount of PhP3.4 billion approved net under-recoveries will be recovered over a period of up to 76 months starting in customers’ June 2015 billing month.
MERALCO’s consolidated sales volume breached the 3,000GWh-mark in May and June 2015, with June 2015 at an all-time high of 3,441GWh on the back of strong growth in Residential and Commercial classes of the market. The sales volume of MERALCO’s 65%-owned subsidiary, Clark Electric Distribution Corporation grew 18%, reflecting bullish sales volume in the Clark Freeport Zone due to increases in the number and capacity expansions of major customers.
Revenues for the first six (6) months of 2015 rose 1% to PhP134.0 billion compared with the same period last year. However, normalizing the 2014 revenues for the PhP9.3 billion Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) adjustment shows that 2015 consolidated revenues were PhP7.5 billion lower than in 2014. The decrease is mainly attributable to the lower pass-through charges and lower distribution tariff commencing July 2014 with the implementation of the 4th Regulatory Year of the 3rd Regulatory Period Maximum Average Price of PhP1.5562 per kilowatt hour.
Capital expenditures for the first half of 2015, including those for new load requirements and system reliability, amounted to PhP5.8 billion, up from PhP4.9 billion in the first half of 2014. Electricity-related capital projects intended to help ease the seasonal tight summer supply accounted for almost PhP4.0 billion of the total capital expenditure.
MERALCO’s capex commitment continues to deliver strong returns. The 12-month moving average system loss fell to just 6.6% at the end of June 2015, 1.9 percentage points lower than the regulatory cap of 8.5%.
MERALCO’s Redondo Peninsula Energy Inc. (RP Energy) is actively pursuing completion of all the remaining development activities to allow the project to achieve financial close and commence construction of the power plant. Target commencement of construction of the power plant is in the 1st quarter of 2016, with target completion by 2nd half of 2019.
The Power Supply Agreement jointly filed by San Buenaventura Power Limited (SBPL) and MERALCO covering the full capacity of SBPL’s 455MW (net), supercritical coal-fired power plant in Mauban, Quezon has achieved substantial progress towards financial close. ERC approved on 29th May 2015 the PSA between MERALCO and SBPL, with certain modifications. MERALCO is targeting Financial Close and Final Notice to Proceed for the project before the end of 3rd quarter of 2015 with target completion date in early 2019.
On 17 April 2015, MPIC acquired additional MERALCO shares from Beacon, bringing effective ownership in MERALCO to 32.48% from 24.98%. The increase in MPIC’s effective ownership in MERALCO and the underlying growth at MERALCO, combined to increase the segment’s contribution to MPIC for the period by 65% to PhP2.9 billion.
PhP17 billion of the proceeds from Beacon’s sale of MERALCO shares was used to reduce the relatively expensive debt at Beacon. The reduced debt is expected to further boost this segment’s contribution to MPIC’s core income in the future.
Maynilad, the biggest water utility in the Philippines, achieved a 4% increase in volume of water sold in its concession area for the first six (6) months of 2015. The number of water connections (or billed customers) rose 6% to 1,229,198 by the end of June 2015 from 1,162,959 a year earlier.
Non-Revenue Water (NRW) fell to 30% as at the end of June 2015 from 31.1% a year earlier as the billed volume grew faster than the marginal increase in water supply. The improvement was achieved on the strength of Maynilad’s continuing pipe replacement program, which saw 13,117 leaks repaired in the first six months of 2015. It will be recalled that when MPIC invested in Maynilad in 2007, NRW stood at 68%. Maynilad now delivers 24-hour water supply to 97.4% of its customers, while 99.4% of customers also receive water pressure of seven pounds per square inch – the minimum pressure necessary to pump water upstairs from the ground floor.
Total revenues for the first six (6) months of 2015 rose 4% to PhP9.3 billion from PhP9 billion in the first six (6) months of 2014 due to the increase in billed volume. Strong cost controls combined with increased volumes lifted Core Net Income by 7% to PhP4.8 billion. By contrast, Reported Net Income was up 20% to PhP4.8 billion from PhP4 billion last year when it was held back by one-time separation expenses as a result of Maynilad’s redundancy and right sizing program. Consolidated billed volume for Maynilad and its subsidiary Philhydro increased by 4% to 244.7 MCM.
On 29 December 2014, Maynilad received a favorable award in its arbitration regarding its water tariff for the period from 2013 to 2017. The new rate results in a 9.8% increase in the 2013 average basic water charge of PhP31.28 per cubic meter, inclusive of the PhP1.00 Currency Exchange Rate Adjustment which the MWSS has incorporated into the basic charge. However, the MWSS refused to abide by the legally binding arbitration award.
Acting in accordance with the provisions of its concession, Maynilad has therefore notified the Republic of the Philippines that it is calling on the Republic’s undertaking to compensate Maynilad for losses arising from delayed implementation of the new tariff. As this has also not been acted upon, on 27 March 2015 Maynilad served Notice of Arbitration against the Republic. This arbitration will be conducted by a three-person panel in Singapore.
On 21 April 2015, Maynilad received notice from the MWSS to implement a net reduction in the basic tariff of PhP0.36/cu.m, excluding CPI, as opposed to the arbitral award of a net increase PhP3.06/cu.m. This is directly contrary to the arbitral award. Maynilad is considering all its options before it reverts to the MWSS on the tariff that it will implement, while it continues to pursue its claim against the Undertaking of the Republic, including bringing the matter to international arbitration in Singapore.
While the issue on the appropriate tariff is outstanding, Maynilad remains committed to its goal of providing clean and safe water to its concession area. Maynilad’s capital expenditure commitment during the first six (6) months of 2015 stood at PhP4.7 billion of which a significant portion is for the construction of wastewater facilities, pipelaying of primary pipelines, upgrade and construction of reservoirs and pumping stations.
In May 2015, Maynilad began construction of its PhP363-million South Septage Treatment Plant (STP) in Barangay Pamplona Uno, Las Piñas City. The facility is designed to treat 250 cubic meters per day of septage to support Maynilad’s sanitation drive in the southern part of Metro Manila and certain cities and municipalities in the province of Cavite. Construction of the PhP1.044-billion sewage treatment plant in Cupang, Muntinlupa City shall also commence once permits from the Local Government are secured. The Cupang STP, designed to treat up to 46 million liters of wastewater per day is expected to provide wastewater services for over 58,000 households from in Muntinlupa City and will help clear the Laguna Lake.
MPTC’s core net income of PhP1.2 billion for the first six (6) months of 2015 was 7% higher than a year earlier as a result of strong traffic growth and increased shareholding in the NLEX. Average daily entries rose 7% on the NLEX and 9% on the CAVITEX from a year earlier.
MPTC increased its shareholding in MNTC through a 3.9% direct acquisition for PhP1.5 billion in January 2014 and additional effective shareholding of 4.6% for PhP1.7 billion in July 2014.
Construction continues on the NLEX Harbour Link connecting the NLEX to the North Manila Port in two segments, Segments 9 and 10. Segment 9 was opened to the public on 19th March 2015 and Segment 10 will open next year. Segment 9 had a project cost of PhP1.6 billion to build 2.42 kilometers of highway linking the 86.7km NLEX to the MacArthur Highway in Valenzuela City. MNTC expects to complete Segment 10 by December 2016 assuming complete delivery by Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) of the required rights of way. The 5.76-km Segment 10 will run from Valenzuela City all the way to C3 in Caloocan City at a project cost of PhP10.5-billion.
Construction on the C-5 Link Expressway shall commence once notice to proceed is received from the Toll Regulatory Board. The C-5 Link Expressway is a PhP9 billion project spanning 7.6 kilometers and will link C-5 Road in Taguig to R-1 (Coastal) Expressway. The C-5 Link Expressway is part of the existing concession for the CAVITEX network. However, MPTC continues to await approval of toll rate adjustments on CAVITEX (an increase of 25% for R1 and 16% for R1 Extension) and for NLEX (an increase of 15%). These tariff adjustments have accumulated through successive failures to raise tariffs since 2011 and are now constraining MPTC’s ability to finance road construction necessary for continued economic growth.
The NLEX Harbour Link and Citilink projects, together with expansion of the CAVITEX, would see MPTC invest approximately PhP31 billion over the next few years to complete construction of this vital road infrastructure. It is therefore important that overdue tariff increases be implemented. MPTC and MPIC would fund this sum using internal resources and external debt.
In January 2015, MPTC, obtained original proponent status for the proposed Cebu-Cordova Bridge Project from Cebu City and the Municipality of Cordova. Swiss Challenge is expected to be conducted within 2015, with MPIC having the right to match the best bid. This project spanning 8.3 km and with an estimated project cost of PhP18 billion, will link the island of Mactan to mainland Cebu through the Municipality of Cordova.
On 9th February 2015, MNTC received the Notice of Award from the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) for the management, operation and maintenance of the 94-kilometer Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX) subject to compliance with specific conditions. The Notice of Award was issued by BCDA following the results of the Price Challenge held on 30 January 2015. MNTC plans to invest PhP600 million to integrate SCTEX with NLEX to facilitate seamless travel between the two expressways.
Full takeover of the SCTEX operation is expected within the next few weeks.
On 10 July 2015, MPCALA Holdings Inc. (MPCALA), a subsidiary of MPTC, signed the Concession Agreement for the Cavite Laguna Expressway Project (CALAx Project) with the DPWH. Under the Concession Agreement, MPCALA is granted the concession to design, finance, construct, operate and maintain the Cavite Laguna Expressway (CALAx), including the right to collect toll fees, over a 35-year concession period. The CALAx is a closed-system tolled expressway connecting the CAVITEX and the SLEX. The CALAx Project was awarded to MPCALA following a competitive public bidding process where MPCALA was declared as the highest complying bidder with its offer to pay the government concession fees amounting PhP27.3 billion.
With regard to MNTC’s proposal to build an elevated expressway to connect the Northern and Southern toll road systems (the Connector project), bid invitation is estimated to be released by September 2015 following the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Board’s decision in February 2015 to move forward with the unsolicited proposal. The Swiss challenge to be conducted within 2015 will provide MNTC the right to match the highest bid.
Contribution from the Don Muang Tollway Public Company Ltd. (DMT) for the first half of 2015 grew to PhP130 million compared with PhP25 million a year earlier. This was driven by: (i) 7% traffic growth; (ii) increased shareholding in DMT to 29.45% compared with 7.36% a year earlier; and (iii) toll rate increases of 17% and 20% on its Original road and Northern extension, respectively, on 22nd December 2014.
MPTC further expanded its regional footprint through an equity investment and financing transaction with Ho Chi Minh City Infrastructure Investment Joint Stock Co. (CII) of Vietnam. The investment, which was settled in March 2015 as to PhP2.6 billion out of a total of PhP4.1 billion effectively provides MPTC a 45% minority equity interest in CII Bridges and Roads Investment Joint Stock Co. (CII B&R). CII B&R has various road and bridge projects in and around Ho Chi Minh City and its current portfolio includes 67.1 km of roads operating at 47,000 vehicles per day and roads under pre and on-going construction covering a total of 55 kilometers with an expected combined traffic volume of 47,000 vehicles per day.
Average daily vehicle entries for all three (3) of our domestic Tollways system (NLEX, CAVITEX, SCTEX) totaled 355,000; DMT adds a further 82,000 a day; and CII B&R 47,000 a day bringing the overall total traffic on our roads to 484,000 vehicles per day.
Aggregate core net income for the Hospital Group rose 24% to PhP565 million in the first half of 2015 compared with the first half of 2014, as a result of increasing patient revenues, gains from completed capital expenditure programs and savings from group synergy projects. Contribution to MPIC’s core net income decreased from PhP294 million in the first six months of 2014 to PhP187 million this year reflecting dilution in effective ownership with the entry of GIC Private Limited as investor in Metro Pacific Hospital Holdings Inc. (MPHHI), the hospital investment arm of MPIC.
MPHHI formed a wholly-owned subsidiary, Metro Pacific Zamboanga Hospital Corporation (MPZHC) to operate a 110-bed hospital in Zamboanga City under the proposed trade name West Metro Medical Center (WMMC). The commercial operation of MPZHC is expected to commence within the year following fulfillment of certain regulatory requirements. MPHHI will install a new management team and will infuse capital to complete a 4-storey annex building to increase the hospital’s capacity from 110 to 190 beds, making it the largest private hospital in the Zamboanga Peninsula.
WMMC will become the 9th hospital in MPIC’s growing nationwide chain of private hospitals, taking our bed count up to 2,245. Including WMMC, the Company’s portfolio consists of: 9 full service hospitals; one mall-based diagnostic and ambulatory care center located in SM Megamall; and 2 healthcare colleges – Riverside College Inc. in the Visayas and Davao Doctors College in Mindanao. The Group’s hospitals are: Makati Medical Center, Cardinal Santos Medical Center, Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Asian Hospital & Medical Center and De Los Santos Medical Center in Metro Manila; Central Luzon Doctors’ Hospital in Tarlac; Riverside Medical Center in the Visayas; and Davao Doctors Hospital and WMMC in Mindanao.
On 2nd October 2014, Light Rail Manila Corporation (LRMC), in which MPIC effectively has a 55% shareholding, signed together with the DOTC and the Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) a 32-year Concession Agreement for the Light Rail Transit Line 1 Cavite Extension and Operations & Maintenance Project. LRMC was formally awarded the project by the DOTC and LRTA following the submission of a lone bid with a premium of PhP9.35 billion.
LRMC will operate and maintain the existing LRT Line 1 and construct an 11.7km extension from the present end-point at Baclaran to the Niog area in Bacoor, Cavite. LRMC will invest PhP46 billion in the project. The extended rail line should help ease the worsening traffic conditions in the Parañaque-Las Piñas-Cavite corridor.
Work is proceeding prior to the anticipated take over date in September 2015 with a sizeable team of talented professionals focusing on protocols to ensure the safety of the passengers and workforce. Resolution on certain issues such as fares, condition of the rolling stock and the required rights-of-way for the extension are continuously being discussed with DOTC and LRTA.
AF Payments Inc’s. (“AFPI”) pilot testing of the contactless payment cards known as “Beep Cards” has been successful on LRT2. Pilot testing and rollout schedules for the whole light-rail system in Manila will be completed within 2015. AFPI is an affiliate of MPIC.
Shore It Up, the flagship environmental sustainability program of MPIC and members of the MVP Group of Companies, recently concluded its seventh and most successful run in Surigao del Norte. The program gathered close to a hundred divers from the MVP group as well as various private and government organizations from the host city and over a thousand primary education students became Junior Environmental Scouts. These students were provided with an easy-to-digest primer on environmental protection.
“All our businesses are fully focused on service quality and operational efficiency, while at the same time, growing our sales and core profitability to improve the lives of all our customers – providing first class medical care, offering safe and efficient road transportation, delivering electricity to power homes and businesses, and piping water to improve consumption and sanitation,” said MPIC Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan. “The strong results for the first half reflect continuing improvements in service levels as well as efficiency and financing gains for our operating companies.
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2019-04-18T23:27:17Z
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http://phstocks.com/2015/08/mpic-1h2015-net-income-up-27-to-php5-9b/
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Whoops! We seem to have fallen behind on maintaining this page - sorry! - but we're posting frequent updates on our Facebook page and also doing pretty well on Twitter @leedsmenetwork so please follow the links to keep updated! We still send out regular news emails too. Please email us if you would like to receive these.
We usually include some snippets of ME/CFS related news in the emails we send out to members, so we thought we would also share them on our website. If you would like to receive these occasional emails, please contact us. We never share email details with anyone else. For more news, follow us on Twitter - see button above.
Finally for this month, you may be interested in this article from the BMJ about how doctors are letting down their ME/CFS patients. "When it comes to hierarchies of illness, evidence shows that ME features at the bottommost end of the medical “favoured” list". Let's hope some doctors read this and take It on board.
First of all, the IACFSME conference in the US has been hearing all about the latest biomedical research into ME. There are lots of developments and there's an excellent YouTube video by Dr Lucinda Bateman which brings us up to date with this and all the other latest research news.
In contrast to the good news from America, things have been less encouraging here in the UK. You probably couldn't avoid the splurge of publicity on Monday morning about Prof Esther Crawley's online CBT study for children with ME/CFS. It's strange how the IACFSME conference got largely ignored by the mainstream UK media, as did the recent final debunking of the PACE Trial, but Professor Crawley's trial of CBT which she claims can 'cure' ME/CFS was all over the papers, TV, and radio even though it hasn't even started yet. As so often, the reports were knee deep in misinformation. Crawley cited a Dutch study which claimed to 'cure' two thirds of patients but failed to mention that a long term follow-up study had revealed no difference between CBT and 'normal care'.
This is the sort of reason why patients are so concerned about Prof Crawley's involvement with the proposed MEGA biomedical study which I mentioned in last month's news. Many patients have now signed a petition (called OMEGA) expressing no confidence in MEGA and we urge you to consider putting your name to it. Much as we want to see biomedical research, we don't want to see funds squandered on a project in which the severely affected are largely ignored and the patients are selected by Prof Crawley who supports the psychogenic 'biopsychosocial' apporach to ME and has shown herself to be incapable of diagnosing the condition.
You can find the OMEGA petition here.
And finally, by way of balance, here's the latest blog from the MEGA team.
Some very good news: the GMC has dropped all charges against pediatrician Dr Nigel Speight who has helped many children with ME. All restrictions have been lifted so he can go back to treating his patients. This is very important as Dr Speight is the only pediatrician in the country who really understands ME.
Making the Best of MEGA contains the letter which Leeds ME Network has sent to MEGA expressing our views. Just to state the obvious, the views in the letter are those of 'the management'. You may disagree. Please leave a comment on the Spoonseeker blog post this links to if you would like to discuss the issue with us.
A very important study into the metabolomics of ME/CFS by Dr Robert Maviaux and his team in the USA has just been published. As Emily Beardall explains on the Action for ME web site: the study involved "measuring the chemicals in our blood created by the different steps and by-products of metabolising, or breaking down, the energy and nutrients from our food into the chemicals that can be used for energy, hormones and building blocks of new cells". The study may lead to a diagnostic test. In his analysis on the Health Rising website, Cort Johnson explains: "Using just eight and thirteen metabolites in males and females, respectively, Naviaux was able to diagnose 95 and 96% percent of the male and female ME/CFS patients correctly". Apparently these particular abnormalities were found in the vast majority of ME patients tested, irrespective of the particular details of their condition (such as the onset trigger). In addition to these 'signature' abnormalities, numerous other abnormalities were found which vary from patient to patient, which suggests that possible treatments may have to be tailored to individual patients. The study suggests that what may be happening is that the body is going into a state of 'hibernation' which permits survival under adverse conditions but (as The Telegraph describes it) 'at the cost of severely curtailed function and quality of life'. A larger study to further assess these results has already begun. Prominent researcher Prof Ron Davis (whose son Whitney has severe ME) says he believes this is "the most important and groundbreaking study of ME/CFS to date” and that Naviaux’s metabolomics research has put us “finally on the right path to understanding ME/CFS.
In another important and positive development, a recent Freedom of Information Act Appeal Tribunal has confirmed that the PACE Trial researchers should release the data requested by Australian patient Alem Matthees to allow him to conduct the main outcome and recovery analyses specified in PACE’s own protocol but abandoned during the trial itself. No convincing reason was given for the change in protocol and there is widespread suspicion that the change was made because the researchers didn't get the results they wanted. The trial cost £8million of public money and Queen Marys University London spent £200,000 in their appeal against releasing the data. See here for more information.
Update: the PACE data has now been released. An initial analysis suggests that the number of patients improving had been exaggerated in the original paper by a factor of 3. This confirms suspicions long-held by patients and scientists who have studied the trial critically that if the PACE investigators had stuck to their own original analysis protocol, PACE would have appeared to be a far less successful trial. Further analysis will follow. More info here.
Important update: Please sign these petitions calling for further trials of GET (graded exercise therapy - as used in the PACE trial) for ME/CFS to be scrapped in view of the widely reported harmful effects on patients. This is particularly important in view of the upcoming MAGENTA trail on children, whose parents have been informed there is no risk of danger from the treatment. Please note there are two petitions to sign, an international one and also a UK parliamentary petition.
Meanwhile back in the US, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has reconsidered the evidence for the use of graded exercise and CBT for ME/CFS following widespread criticisms of the PACE Trial and of the Oxford diagnostic criteria which were used in PACE and other studies. They decided that there is now insufficient evidence for the use of graded exercise and (at best) only low strength of evidence for the use of CBT. More information here. In the UK, graded exercise and CBT are still recommended for ME/CFS by the NICE guidelines but this may shortly be reconsidered.
Here's an interesting article on the new ME/CFS Biobank, 'paving the way for bigger and better research'.
Action for ME is asking patients to share their experiences of applying for the PIP benefit by completing a short survey. Your input will be anonymous - it will be used to help formulate AfME's evidence to the DWP for the forthcoming independent review of the benefit.
Researchers at Cornell University have found biological markers of ME/CFS in gut bacteria and inflammatory microbial agents in the blood. The senior researcher Prof Maureen Hanson said "our detection of a biological abnormality provides further evidence against the ridiculous concept that the disease is psychological in origin.” Follow the link for a fairly short, interesting and readable article about this study.
Those of you who are interested in the work of Dr Sarah Myhill might like to see this recent talk she gave to the Oxfordshire support group.
We mentioned in a previous email that Dr Indra, a practitioner in functional medicine (and therefore working along similar lines to Dr Myhill) is now practising in Roundhay, Leeds. She now has her own website. Note that we don't have direct experience of Dr Indra or know what expertise she has in ME/CFS specifically. We should be very interested to receive feedback if you consult her.
If you are having to deal with a nurse who has got the wrong idea about ME/CFS, it might be worth showing her/him this recent article from the Nursing in Practice website which debunks the 'all in the mind' myth.
We mentioned a while back about the recently introduced Marriage Tax Allowance which effectively amounts to additional money for some people who are married or in a civil partnership. Apparently only 16% of those eligible have claimed it, so we thought we would mention it again! You can find out more about it here.
The Millions Missing protests last month are generally considered to have been successful. A bit more exposure in the national media would have been helpful but at least we made the London Evening Standard.
Well done to those of you who sent in shoes for the protest!
There are transcripts of numerous speeches from the Millions Missing day on the #MEAction website, including this one from Prof Ron Davis whose son is severely affected by the condition.
Professor Davis is currently studying vast amounts of data from twenty severely affected patients (and ten controls). His initial findings are very interesting: "preliminary data show serious problems with the biochemical processes needed to convert sugars and fats from food into energy the body can use. If these findings are replicated, this could prove a major step forward in understanding ME/CFS". More here.
The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) has requested public input to help decide the future direction of ME/CFS research. We have until June 24th to send in our ideas. Activist Jennie Spotilla gives more information and shares her own very comprehensive recommendations here.
Funding has also been announced for an important new genomic study to investigate biomarkers for ME/CFS.
The latest edition of the ME Association 'purple booklet' which summarises the current state of knowledge about ME/CFS has just come out. It is intended principally for health professionals but many patients also find it useful.
And finally, please consider signing this petition asking for more ME/CFS research here in the UK.
#MillionsMissing demonstrations are being held internationally to mark ME Awareness Month. Even if you are not able to attend these (and, let's face it, most of us can't) there's an opportunity to take part 'virtually'. The London demonstration takes place on 25 May at the Department of Health. If you are not able to attend in person, you are invited to send a pair of shoes to represent you! Full details here.
There are also numerous other ways to take part virtually. Full details here.
#MillionsMissing is dedicated to the millions of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) patients missing from their careers, schools, social lives and families due to the debilitating symptoms of the disease. At the same time, millions are missing from research and clinical education funding that ME should be receiving. And millions of doctors are missing out on proper training to diagnose and help patients manage this illness.
On May 25th, patients, caretakers, family members, friends and allies will be participating in demonstrations all around the world, in London, Washington, DC, San Francisco, Melbourne, and many more locations!
If you are well enough, we hope you will be able to take part in some way to help get this important message across.
The CAB have issued a new detailed online guide to completing the dreaded ESA form which you might find useful. You can find it here. It may be a good idea to also consult some ME-specific advice, such as the downloadable form from the ME Association.
Researchers in Australia have claimed to find biomarkers in the white blood cells of people with ME/CFS which could be used as a diagnostic test for the condition. There's a general feeling that they may be getting a bit ahead of themselves and more information is needed but it's promising nevertheless. A diagnostic test would be a very big step forward.
The forthcoming US NIH study of post-infectious CFS/ME is looking promising. Patients have had a few concerns about it, some of which have already been addressed while others remain. But the NIH does appear to be determined to finally make substantial progress in understanding and - eventually - treating our condition. Which is not before time but very welcome nevertheless.
Those of you who are interested in the nutritional/functional medicine approach to ME/CFS might like the opportunity to read the first fifty pages of Dr Sarah Myhill's book 'Sustainable Medicine' for free.
You can catch up on a lot of the the latest research by taking a look at the UK CFS/ME Research Collaborative Conference Report which has overviews of 21 research presentations and 5 workshops from last October. You can download it free of charge from Action for ME.
Other research news: a brand new study has demonstrated evidence of 'brain fog' in patients with ME, not that you will be in any doubt that it is there unfortunately! The study used qEEGs to illustrate that there is sufficient dysfunction in the brain to cause such a problem. The researchers say: “qEEG will not provide a stand-alone diagnostic, but would integrate into a clinical diagnostic regimen.” Similar issues with brain function are seen in other serious neurological disorders which is why qEEG/Loreta would need to be used in conjunction with other tests and/or clinical observations to confirm diagnosis. This study was just of a single patient but apparently larger studies are on the way.
Additionally, the promised US National Institutes of Health Study of 'Post-Infectious Fatigue' will soon be getting underway. After a shaky start in which some misleading information was released by mistake, it is starting to look good. There will be 40 ME/CFS patients who will have to fulfill several diagnostic criteria including the well regarded Canadian Criteria plus have fatigue which was precipitated by an infection to take part. There will be extensive testing and special emphasis on the key symptom of post-exertional malaise. More details here.
We've just discovered a Facebook page which has extensive free information on benefits claims and appeals. It's called the ME & Chronic Illness Benefits Advice Group. Just type it into your Facebook search box. It is well worth a look. Unfortunately the benefits system is such that it is vital to get informed and preferably to consult an advisor before filling in forms etc. so this page is an invaluable source of information.
Those of you who are interested in a nutritional approach to ME/CFS might be interested to hear of Anne Pemberton (no relation to Sue!), a nutritionist who can be consulted in Leeds. She works in a similar way to Dr Sarah Myhill, who we have mentioned here before. Anne is also a registered nurse so is able to take bloods. We were also interested to learn that there is now a functional doctor in Leeds: Dr Indra Barathan, who can be consulted at the Good Health Centre in Roundhay. She doesn't seem to have any special interest in ME/CFS, but we mention her because once again this is a similar approach to medicine to that which Dr Myhill uses, looking at the whole person instead of specific conditions. To see their contact details, please visit the Local Links page on our website and scroll down. If you consult either Anne or Dr Barathan, we shall be very grateful to receive your feedback so we can pass it on to others. Please note our usual caution that we do not recommend any particular treatment, and that any treatment can make you feel worse as well as better. Before embarking on any new treatment, it is a good idea to discuss it with your doctor first - though whether they will know anything about it is another matter!
We can start the new year on a positive note by reporting that Dr Francis Collins, Director of the US National Institutes of Health, has made some encouraging noises about future research investment for ME/CFS. He says: 'ME/CFS is a program priority now'. Possibilities under discussion for research include 'everything from basic science – the metabolome, microbiome, immune system, imaging – to clinical trials for promising approaches, including Ampligen and Rituximab'. You can find more details here Rituximab studies are already taking place in the UK and Norway.
Cort Johnson has produced a useful summary of 2015 in the world of ME/CFS, while there's a good article here on the legal position re ME/CFS, useful if you feel you are being coerced into inappropriate treatment. Finally, this Canadian study provides a review of the current state of knowledge regarding the diagnosis and management of the condition, intended for health professionals and the general reader alike.
One of our members, Kate, has a child with ME/CFS and is concerned at the lack of available NHS treatment for children in our area. Healthwatch have told her that she needs to find others in the same situation so they can bring pressure to bear on the powers that be to provide some. So the hunt is on! If you have a child with ME/CFS and live in West Yorkshire, please contact us and we will put you in touch with Kate.
There have been two recent instances of a large volume of emails and online comments from ME patients really making a difference: in response to that misleading Telegraph article (which resulted in better informed pieces being published) and also in America, where representations from patients persuaded the National Institutes of Health to remove their online recommendations derived from the PACE Trial. This post on the Leeds-based Spoonseeker blog 'Time to be Heard' has useful advice on how to make effective comments in the media etc.
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2019-04-20T20:36:15Z
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https://leedsmenetwork.yolasite.com/news.php
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As from 2017, I would like to start a megathread for 2018 McKinsey Insight, Bain Advantage and bridge2BCG status updates for advanced degree candidates.
Please feel free to post updates and indicate which programs in which region you applied to!
Hello Zugg and all fellow applicants.
Submitted to Bridge and AIC/ADvantage (I don't live in one of their cities so I'm not sure my chances). I'm not STEM or Asia Pacific so there wasn't an Insight program to apply for.
Only update so far is BCG is doing a pilot program of pymetrics- not for assessment purposes (I believe them). I could see it being used for 2019 FT applications though.
Looking forward to others' updates!
did you complete the pymetrics thing yet? I am a bit skeptical whenever something says not for assessment purposes, but I figure it's best to do it since they asked for it.
I did, and it was actually pretty fun and the trait results felt pretty accurate. It was also nice that when you're done, you can look at the "Explore Careers" page to see which careers have similar profile as you. Both strategy and consulting had 99% so that at least made me feel good!
I do think they are honest in not using it for the application since they say it twice (email and before the test). My best guess is they've done in in-house, and now want to see how candidates compare (using a less high-stakes application). I could see the FT including it but as of now, can't imagine it would actually effect anything.
I noticed that the email it is worded saying that it won't affect your potential to receive an interview or offer from BCG. Says nothing about Bridge to BCG specifically. I would say everyone should do their best on it and not take it lightly.
Hm, I wish I hadn't looked at that "explore careers" thing. It's making me insecure. 18% consulting, 86% IB, 52% strategic planning, and 34% STEM research (my current job, at which I'd like to think I'm reasonably successful). I'm doomed! Apparently I should consider careers in the following fields (85%-94%): writing, hedge fund investor, marketing, buyer, customer service representative, bioengineering. In all fairness, I'm a pretty damn good writer, but I'm perplexed by the lack of apparent pattern.
I wonder whether the criterion on which the data are trained is presence in an occupation or success in that occupation?
I'm going to cope by telling myself (1) my personality may be unusual for someone who wants to be in consulting, but it doesn't preclude success; (2) maybe the fact that I was familiar with the instruments influenced my responses and it's producing nonsensical results; (3) maybe the assessment's overall validity is questionable, as much as I respect the concept in principle.
The emotional pull of personality and cognitive assessments is kind of amazing.
Yeah, the mix is unusual to be sure. I got high marks in finance and management related careers, but ~50% in consulting, STEM, and quantitative based careers. If it makes you feel better, even if the science behind the process is sound they are probably still building up a large enough data set for helpful recommendations.
I finished Pymetrics games as well, but don't seem to find this 'explore careers' at all. Looks like my portal is a BCG-customized version, with access only to the 12 games, plus the trait report. Where can i find that explore career section? thanks!
Personally, I wouldn't read too much into these results. I am very interested in VC and I got that it would fit me 10%. I am guessing this has to do with the fact that I played all the money games super conservatively and 'fairly' and didn't gamble a lot on the clicking games. I agree with NeverSayNever, I am not really sure how twelve clicking games can assess all these characteristics, especially among people that are skeptical about the fact that they aren't being judged.
It seems like they've pivoted as company from using it to explore careers to using the neuroscience for hiring process. Given there's no way to get to explore careers from main page and all the links related to explore careers (like the why) are dead. So take with big big grain of salt!
Hey, Mr./Ms./Mx./Dr. Zuggsburg, would you fill out a sample row of the spreadsheet so that we can see the format for entering our own values?
Any MDs applying this year? I'm wondering what the usual breakdown of MD vs PhD applicants is at these things?
Also, what does "Target" in the spreadsheet mean?
From what I remember, there was no MD at all on the spreadsheet for last cycle.
Compared to past years, we should be hearing back from McKinsey today, I think!
Just got a rejection letter from Mckinsey insight. Good luck to everyone else!
A rejection from McKinsey here as well. They wrote that they cannot provide individual feedback explaining there decision, but mentioned two full time positions I might be interested in applying to. Was that the same for you, @babsbabm ?
Yes. Same here. I noticed last year someone got insight program's rejection but was offered with an FT interview invitation. Nothing in my letter. Kind of sad.
Do they say that they invite you to the full-time interviews?
Me neither. They also give me a link to the Mckinsey APD eligibility and their general selection criteria. Guess I'm not the type of person they are looking for.
Received a generic rejection letter from McKinsey Insight today. Same as the guys before.
New here, and no news for now. I was wondering does MCK send all rejection letters first and then invitations to interviews? No news is good news still works? Thanks guys.
Did you end up hearing back?
I do. I got a interview invitation finally.
I received the generic rejection from McKinsey as well.
I also received a generic rejection from McK.
Has anyone heard back from connect to clearview?
They sent out invitations for phone interview last week. But maybe there's a wait-list.
Do they send all invites/rejections at once? I still haven't received a response from McKinsey Insights yet.
I do and I know someone has already got the interview invitations.
I applied have not hear anything yet. They did not even send an email acknowledging receipt of my application. Did you get one?
Rejected by Insight. Does anyone know when BCG will be sending out emails? Don't want to take two disappointments in one single day.
BCG seems to have their pymetrics test open until the 22nd, so I am guessing they won't be sending anything out until after that.
Likewise, I just got rejected from Insights but wasn't really expecting to be accepted to it. Good luck to everyone who got interviews.
Got notified as a finalist for insight. As in previous years, do you know if finalists get first round full time interviews in the fall regardless of outcome of the insight interview?
I have no idea what McKinsey is looking for... I have near perfect grades, >20 publications, but rejected first round. It probably has to do with my school not being a target school... Oh well, what can you do.
same here. Don't feel sad. It won't define us.
Yeah! I have been wondering the same. If the accepted ones can comment on what they think they did to stand out, it will be helpful.
0 publication (all in preparation).
a lot of consultants i talked to said they were rejected by their firm when applying for this short internship. so not accepting into insight/bridge does not mean you are not qualified, not at all.
so say consultant A, got into mck insight and rejected by bridge, later got FT at BCG but rejected by McK.
Ah, cool, I see, thanks for sharing! I co-founded a small company, I guess that could explain why I wasn't invited.
That's cool, thanks for sharing. Good luck with your interview, I hope you get accepted!
Hey folks - I also got an insight interview.
I'm currently an MD at a reputed residency program in Midwest.
I have no consulting background, but I did work at a Fortune 50 company prior to med school.
Several entrepreneurial projects, literary publications, global health projects.
I agree with "NeverSayNever"'s above comment that they likely want to give exposure to folks who seem to have little to no consulting background. I look at it as a way to figure out if consulting is what you want to do not so much as a "foot in the door," for the job. Presumably, from reading the comments above and prior years, people are getting interviews for full-time positions without an Insight acceptance, and it seems like there is no guarantee of an interview after completing the Insight program - just a weekend workshop to explore what they offer, a sort of "day in the life of a McKinsey consultant".
Just my thoughts - let me know if I have the wrong impression since I'm new to all of this, as many of you seem very up to date on these programs.
Good luck with the job/career search folks! I hope my comments/background info helps - everyone seems bright and successful (many of you guys are PhDs, which means you have legit research and deep domain insight) or else you folks wouldn't be applying - I wouldn't beat yourselves up over not getting into a weekend program if the ultimate goal is to get into a good consulting job!
Congrats and thanks for sharing! However, I was under the impression if you were accepted for Insights you were guaranteed at least an interview for a full-time position with McK.
Got rejected by bridge and insight. Target school Ph.D. for their local offices. 2 working papers ready to submit. Business related major(more precisely, doing stats and econometrics.) Got an MBA from a top institute. Decent GPA but not 4.0. GMAT 720 GRE 325. Several kinds of fellowship and scholarships. Manage a small charity fund by myself. Sort of frustrated at the beginning but don't really think this will define who I am and what I am capable of. Good luck to all of you!!
sure. Be happy and continue.
Don't worry! i know more than dozen of consultants who were rejected by this before they landed a FT offer in that firm! you are apparently overqualified for this program and that is probably why! good luck on your FT application.
BTW, you already have heard back from BCG?
Thanks for the reply and the kind words!! Yep. I heard from them last week. They sent me an email saying because I have already got an MBA, I am not qualified for this program. I think this early rejection is just for those who got MBA degrees. Hope this helps!!
Curious what you received on the Pymetrics test for consulting as a career (if you completed it).
Did anyone receive an invitation from Bain for a case prep workshop for Advanced Degrees at local office (Not AIC)? I was wondering what this program is about. Thanks!
Received the phone interview invitation from Bridge to BCG. Interestingly, they specified in the e-mail that it's the Bridge to International Offices, which was not mentioned in the application page. I actually applied through BCG south. I guess it's because I'm an international student and chose an oversea office as one of my preferred locations.
I didn't hear back yet. Applied to Bridge Boston. I wonder if each Bridge region communicates separately.
Did you hear back from Bridge South? Or more generally from BCG?
Congrats and very interesting! When did you hear back? Are you also getting these pymetrics emails about taking it and surveys on it?
And also, what office does that mean you actually go to? In the US or international office?
Got invited to the interview for Asia-Pacific Insight and the interview will be tonight with a EM from Beijing. In the email it says the interview will include questions about resume, interest for insight, and local language if necessary+a business scenario question (not prep needed).
Hope this will help and good luck to everybody!
Received a Bridge to BCG interview invitation this morning. Chicago office.
Received Bridge to BCG interview invitation (20min video chat, SW/Dallas).
Got a 20 min video interview invitation today for Bridge to BCG south. Does anyone know what the format of this video chat is going to be (although they've mentioned it would mostly focus on the essay question). Any help on this is much appreciated.
I have heard that it is a general discussion on your resume experiences and leadership essay, with some time for questions about BCG/consulting.
Congrats! Applied for the B2B South as well. Have not received any results yet.
And expect a short case and/or case question.
Got interview invitation from BridgetoBCG South. Not too confident with the interview. Just wonder if it's true that BridgetoBCG finalists automatically get FT interview (even though they did not end up going to BridgetoBCG)? Anyone knows it?
I don't know--but do Bridge attendees automatically get FT interviews?
Okay, thank you all the same!
It was true until last year, all B2B attendees automatically get the first round interview. But some rumors say it might not be the case from this year.
Not all finalists got full time interview but all attendees got FT interviews last year.
Previously, yes - some Bridge2BCG finalists received an invitation for a FT interview (even after being rejected from Bridge post-interview).
No news here. Applied to Bridge New York program. While I guess they already sent out all invitations?
"Thank you for applying to 2018 Bridge to BCG. Unfortunately, given the overwhelming interest and competitive nature of the summer program, we are unable to move forward with your application at this time.
However, due to the strength of your application, we are eager to stay in touch with you over the next few months and hope that you consider applying for a 2019 full time position. Please know, your Bridge application will not hinder your chances of receiving an invite to interview for full-time. Deadline to apply is July 22nd. This is our most significant full-time ADC hiring push and we think you would be a strong candidate for that process.
Thank you again for your interest and please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions regarding next steps with BCG!"
The encouragement to apply FT is nice! Good luck to all.
Same here from B2B South!
Got the same rejection message just now. I'm staying hopeful. Good luck to others!
which office did you target?
It seems that even for the same south Bridge program, there are different groups.
Same message here. I feel like they encourage everyone to apply full time- but still nice to see!
Congrats! Good luck with the interview!
Just got an invitation for interview a minute ago!(Bridge South) Almost lost hope then the email came up!
Changing subjects real quick, does anyone have an idea of when we'll hear back from Bain's programs? I didn't find much info from older threads.
Likely to be in Mid May.
Same rejection for Chicago. Is there anything to this rejection if you have more business experience? Or is this just something that helps me keep my spirits up?
Anyone heard from Bain Advantage yet?
I received an invite to interview for Bridge South a few hours ago (~11 PST). I have no business experience but have extracurricular experience that demonstrates teamwork and leadership. Good luck, everyone!
Just received an invite from BAIN for their AIC event! [No update on ADvantage] Still waiting for BCG South Bridge result (fingers crossed)!
Apparently, you will only be invited to either AIC or ADvantage! So no ADvantage for me!
Do you know for sure? It doesn't say so on the website.
I also just received an invite to Bain AIC around 5:45pm (EST) today, and also did not get an update about ADvantage.
Same here! Received the AIC invitation. I didn't apply to ADvantage so not expecting anything else now.
Which AIC city/date did you apply to? I haven't heard anything yet..
Just got a rejection from BCG so hopefully not two rejections in a day!
Congrats! Also curious to know which city office you applied to.
What is your Plan B if you don't bag an MBB interview or job?
Are you targeting the Big 4?
If you take a job elsewhere, are you prepare to re-apply to the MBB?
If you join a non-MBB firm, are you concerned about the brand/cache of a smaller firm?
Continuing my current job, perhaps pushing forward starting an independent consulting practice (with a few colleagues), and considering applying again (it's on my bucket list and overall I think it would be a great experience).
I have heard that it's harder to pivot from non-MBB consulting to MBB due to barriers including branding. Curious to hear other thoughts on here!
Got an interview call for Insight-Asia Pacific. Rejected for bridge 2 BCG (NY office). I also gave a phone interview for C2C.
For those who got through B2B, congrats! Can you guys please share your profile?
Can someone throw light on what happens in a BAIN AIC session? Does being invited for AIC guarantee the first-round interview?
Could have sworn I applied for ADvantage, lol.
AIC is a half day session. There will be some introductions about the firm, a small group case discussion and networking opportunities.
Good to know, thank you! I noticed you attended last year's AIC? Was it helpful for you to get an early interview invitation? Looking forward to your insights.
Did anyone else receive a request from BCG to offer feedback for the Pymetrics assessment?
I assume every applicant was requested to give feedback even if you didn't do the pymetrics assessment. Also, the feedback was supposed to be anonymous I think.
Could anyone tell whether Bain will send out rejection letters if I am not invited to attend the AIC event or the ADvantage program? Haven't heard anything so far and kind of anxious. Thanks!!
Someone above said that invites for ADvantage interviews won't come until mid-May. So I don't think it's time to worry yet.
Did anyone hear back from Bain NYC office?
Just got an invitation from AIC NYC office.
Congrats on your invitation for AIC!
Finished the phone interview with Bridge to BCG. This year only 1% of applicants got into the finalist. Really surprised about the competitiveness!
Would you mind some experience with the Bridge interview this year?
Wow that's really really surprising.
How was it? Was it just fit questions? Good luck!
Fit questions in general. There was actually one hard question so get prepared. The interviewer seemed to care much about my fit with the specific office since it's an oversea office.
Wow that is far less than I would expect for this type of program, but guess that makes sense given the overall competitiveness! I wonder if it also has anything to do with Insight being more targeted (I don't get impression it was just STEM/Asia previous years).
Insights has a 1600-200-60 selection rate every round in 2016. I'm not surprised if BCG this year has over 5000 applicants since non-STEM and international students are also welcomed to apply.
Did they tell you about how competitive Bridge is and if you weee to not get invited, you shouldn't be discouraged and go ahead and apply for FT? That's what I was told at the end of my interview which was a little discouraging haha.
It also confirms that finalists don't automatically get FT interview.
I was not told so but I think it's just a general claim for everyone.
Last year some finalists who were not selected into the program also received FT interview...Hope it's also the case this year.
My interviewer said the same thing to me like just don't be discouraged if not get invited. But he then claimed that he had to say this to everyone. So don't worry too much!
Saw a bunch of folks got their BCG rejection/interview the 27th. Is it weird I only just got my rejection?
Just got invitation to AIC/Boston.
Congratulation again to the ones who got bridge interviews! 1% sounds very competitive! One interesting thing i noticed when going over the tracking spreadsheet is that most people got only one invitation from McK/BCH, with only a few exceptions. Is that a coincidence, or M & B are coordinating seceretely to cover as many people in total as possible?
I did read somewhere that McKinsey likes non-traditional backgrounds more (though it's for STEM so you would think have to at least be semi-traditional). Might explain why?
It did seem counter-intuitive to the general vibe of both firms... BCG seems more like the "non-traditional." Might just refer to the McK's greater % of non-MBA, non-undergrad.
Off topic: anyone know when interview dates are (approximately) this summer? Trying to make sure I make space for interviews this summer.
The timetable for B2B decisions sounds like a week out. Is radio silence from McKinsey indicative of a decline?
How long have you been waiting? I remember they said in the email that we should be hearing back by May 7.
I interviewed for B2B; but, I have not been contacted about a rejection or interview for Insight. Looking at the timeline it seems your comment may be referring to hearing back after the interview. Apologies if I misread.
Wondering the same thing, but it looks like no one has heard from either B2B or Insight yet. Fingers crossed for all of us!
Anyone heard back from Bain regarding the AIC event or ADvantage program hosted by Atlanta office? Bain Atlanta is my first choice (for family and personal reasons). Do hope I can get in. Fingers crossed.
I heard they started to calling people into the Bain Atlanta office for chats. Not sure what it means. Last year, for the San Francisco and Chicago ADvantage, they each had about 4 participants, so I would imagine it will be similar this year.
I haven't heard anyone got official rejections or invitations for either AIC or ADvantage for Bain Atlanta office.
Thanks for the useful information!! It does help! Would you mind also telling more about the chats? I think if they are chatting with the candidates, then probably they want to select the participants for ADvantage from those people. Sadly, I haven't got any calls from them.
Will they send out rejections or they will just ignore the candidates who are not selected? Thanks for the answers!!
Just had my interview for Insight Asia Pacific. It was mainly a case interview with just one fit question.
I too had my interview for Insight Asia Pacific. The fit question was: Tell me about yourself and the case was about market entry of a banking product. I found the case quite tricky.
I had the same format and case. I guess we interviewed with the same person.
I applied for Insight and interviewed, and I'm waiting to hear back. Did you receive it before or after your interview?
I may be forgetting one of the questions, but I hope that helps folks.
Insight invitations are out. Good luck everyone!
p.s.: automatically get a FT interview in Aug/Sept.
Congratulations for making it to the Insight program!!
Do all finalist automatically get a FT interview this year too?
should be everyone? it is stated in the invitation email, and that more details about this interview will be debriefed in the Insight.
@NeverSayNever Which Insight program did you apply and hear back from?
Any news from Bain or Mckinsey?
Seems that the offices of Bain which host only AIC event have already sent out the invitations for AIC. The offices hosting both AIC and ADvantage haven't sent out anything yet. Not really sure if this is the actual situation. Hope others can help to confirm.
It also seems like they choose the closest office to your location. Perhaps regardless of AIC/ADvantage preference?
Just heard from Insight STEM + Healthcare! Good luck everyone!
2015 McKinsey insight and BCG bridge2BCG status updates for APD/ADC!
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2019-04-18T20:52:24Z
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https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/mckinsey-insight-bain-advantage-and-bridge2bcg-2018-for-adp
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Raptors and wind energy have a fraught history. Could these innovations allow them to co-exist?
On a bright morning in late January, Amanda Wilhelm stood inside an observation tower nestled among Joshua trees at the Tehachapi Wind Resource Area, monitoring the movements of a California Condor. She wasn’t peering outside at the hundreds of brilliant white turbines, but down at a string of letters and numbers on a monitor. To the uninitiated, the code—SB#=237 . . . Ant 1-North SS=77—looks like gibberish. For Wilhelm, field operations manager for Alta Environmental Services, those numbers were clues. No. 237 is an endangered condor, one of 80 that inhabit this pocket of Southern California. At 2:48 p.m. the previous day the north antenna picked up its radio transmitter signal. “The signal strength is 77, which means it wasn’t very close,” she said.
The modest beige tower is the nerve center of a high-tech system developed to prevent No. 237 or any other condor from colliding with one of those many turbines. In 2010, as plans were being hatched for the Alta project here, condors presented a problem. Since the species nearly went extinct three decades ago, a captive-breeding program has rebuilt the wild population to 290 birds in the United States and Mexico. As the Southern Californian flock has grown, its range has expanded northeast from the coastal mountains to the Tehachapis and the Southern Sierra Nevada, putting the birds ever closer to wind farms that have sprouted here since the 1980s. While lead poisoning remains the primary threat to recovery, the possibility of condors colliding with turbines concerns the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The system Martin devised is based on two principles: Know if a bird is coming, and make sure blades aren't spinning when it arrives. Two 50-foot antenna towers continuously scan for the birds' radio frequencies, and one member of a three-person team drives around with a handheld antenna; when an approaching bird pings in, she triangulates the signal, pinpointing its location. An additional security layer, an invisible Google Earth—enabled “geofence” around the farm's perimeter, texts the team if any GPS-tagged condors cross over.
If a bird comes within two miles of a turbine, an employee in the tower figures out which company owns the unit in question and calls the operator to recommend a “curtailment,” or temporary shutdown, until the coast is clear. So far, the system is working. Depending on the season, there may be a couple curtailments a week. And while there have been hairy moments, like when dozens of condors descended on the area in 2016, no birds have been harmed.
Tech: When DTBird cameras detect a bird, speakers emit warning sounds; if it comes closer, a more alarming noise plays and a curtailment can be automatically triggered.
As Martin pointed out, the condor situation is unique: one small flock of birds, the vast majority conveniently sporting transmitters. But the condor-detection system is just one of a host of technologies being developed and tested at government labs, universities, and tech companies across the country that aim to make wind energy safer for birds.
For two decades, the industry's threat to birds has been at the center of a highly politicized debate. Critics point to turbines killing hundreds of thousands of birds annually—mostly songbirds, but also larger species, notably Golden Eagles. The wind industry responds that those mortalities pale in comparison to the deaths caused by cats or power lines. Yet neither viewpoint captures the full picture, because the debate is complicated by a looming factor: If climate change continues apace, hundreds of North American bird species' ranges will shrink by at least half by 2100, according to Audubon's models. "Climate change is the biggest impact on birds," says Garry George, director of Audubon California's renewable energy program. The rapid deployment of clean energy will be crucial to avoiding that fate. And if wind is part of the mix—as it must be—high-tech safeguards will help ensure birds fly into that future unharmed.
he wind-bird conundrum dates back to the 1990s, when conservationists were reeling from the revelation that hundreds of Golden Eagles, as well as Burrowing Owls and other species, were dying at California's Altamont Pass, the site of one of the nation's first wind farms. Over the next decade, researchers amassed data on the perils turbines pose to birds and bats, and how carefully siting farms can minimize that risk. A federal advisory committee made up of representatives from wind companies, government agencies, tribes, Audubon, and other conservation groups was tasked with codifying that knowledge into best-practice guidelines.
Tech: ThermalTracker's heat-sensing cameras record birds at potential offshore sites and measure their altitude; algorithms analyze flight patterns to determine avian family.
The industry recognized it would need to invest more in solutions, said Abby Arnold, executive director of the American Wind Wildlife Institute (AWWI), a partnership between wind companies and green groups, including Audubon, that's a hub of siting and technology research. Because of climate change, the wind industry and environmentalists have a shared interest, said David O'Neill, Audubon's chief conservation officer. "That dynamic allows us to have conversations with the industry so we're part of the solution to help them succeed, and they're part of the solution to help us reduce bird deaths."
For industry, finding solutions makes both legal and economic sense. Under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA), as well as the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act, harming birds, even unintentionally, is typically a crime. (The Trump administration and Congress could change that.) That means a protected species could halt a wind project, even after millions of dollars have been invested.
For projects built on private land, as most are, there's little USFWS can do to force a company to take wildlife into account during development. But it can offer certain incentives. In 2012 the agency finalized guidelines developed with the federal advisory committee that lay out a step-by-step process for quantifying and mitigating wildlife threats at a proposed site. The guidelines are voluntary, but USFWS has discretion in referring cases for prosecution under the MBTA; in the event of casualties, a company that made a good-faith effort to follow the guidelines might be treated more favorably than one that blew right past them.
When the guidelines were published, the government had never prosecuted a wind company under the MBTA, whereas it had issued more than 400 MBTA violations to oil and gas companies in the previous two decades. Then in 2013 Duke Energy Renewables was prosecuted for killing 163 protected birds, including Golden Eagles, larks, and blackbirds, at two Wyoming sites. The next year PacifiCorp Energy was charged for avian mortalities at two of its Wyoming projects. Both companies pleaded guilty, acknowledging they'd constructed farms they knew would likely kill protected birds, were fined—Duke $1 million; PacifiCorp $2.5 million—and ordered to develop and implement mitigation plans. The Justice Department emphasized, in the PacifiCorp settlement announcement, the importance of careful siting, noting that no known methods can make a turbine built in a high-risk spot safe.
Tech: IdentiFlight's cameras detect birds near turbines; if its artificial intelligence software determines any are eagles at risk of collision, it sends operators a shutdown signal.
Correct siting and design—locating a farm outside a migration corridor, for example, or turbines back from ridges where eagles concentrate—remains the gold standard. But the possibility of reducing expected bird deaths at existing farms, or of expanding the number of feasible sites, has driven several new technologies. Most rely either on the detection-and-curtailment principle, like the condor system, or on deterrents that keep birds away from turbines entirely.
The Department of Energy's Wind Energy Technologies Office (WETO) has funded the development and testing of several of these tools. Meeting the Obama administration’s ambitious goal of wind supplying 35 percent of power by 2050, up from 6 percent today, involves resolving avian conflicts: 73 percent of wind energy’s technical potential might be affected by wildlife issues, and 28 percent by Golden Eagles alone, estimated a 2016 National Renewable Energy Laboratory exploratory study.
Tech: U.S. Geological Survey researchers are examining whether the nation's network of weather radar could be used to measure the density and altitude of migrating birds and bats.
Since 2014 WETO has invested $8 million in grants to researchers, wind companies, NGOs, and tech developers working on technological wind/wildlife solutions. “The goal is to help catalyze the development of effective, affordable solutions, and make sure there's a pipeline of technologies,” said Jocelyn Brown-Saracino, who runs WETO’s environmental research portfolio.
These innovations, said Brown-Saracino, could eventually help wind companies meet the requirements to facilitate “incidental take permits.” Issued under the Endangered Species Act or the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, they allow developers with USFWS-approved conservation plans to legally “take,” or harm, a predetermined number of protected birds. For companies, take permits provide legal assurance; for USFWS, they ensure a company does everything possible to minimize harm to protected species. (The Alta project is allowed to kill one condor over its estimated 30-year lifespan.) Since USFWS began accepting eagle take permit applications in 2009, it's issued just three. Companies seeking permits must take measures to mitigate projected eagle deaths, but there’s no proven approach for doing that. A new detection or deterrence system might help fill that void—if it’s confirmed to be effective.
Confidence that a technology does what developers promise also matters to potential buyers. Tom Hiester dreamed up IdentiFlight, which uses artificial intelligence software to identify Golden Eagles, after wildlife issues forced his wind-company employer to scuttle two developments into which it’d sunk some $20 million. When Hiester showed wind company executives IdentiFlight in 2015, “they said, ‘Get independent proof that this works,’ ” he recalled.
Fittingly, Duke Energy’s Top of the World project, site of most of the deaths that led to its MBTA settlement, has become a testing ground for IdentiFlight. After eagle carcasses appeared, the company's environmental director, Tim Hayes, began looking for fixes, both low-tech, such as installing biologists in a lookout tower, and high: They tried audible deterrents, using a loud noise to try to dissuade birds from the site. They tried visual deterrents, using UV lights. They tried a detection methodology using Doppler radar, the kind that's used to track incoming missiles. Nothing high-tech impressed Hayes.
Tech: When accelerometers deployed by researchers at Oregon State University detect vibrations in blades that might signal a bird strike, a camera captures the moment—a useful record offshore, where carcasses sink.
So he agreed to install four IdentiFlight beta units in 2016. He's since given Hiester feedback on the system’s function and ways to refine it to meet a wind company's practical needs, such as avoiding unnecessary turbine shutdowns. The revenue loss could be just $100 per hour per turbine, but scale that over multiple units and hours and it adds up. “We’re trying to figure out that sweet spot where we curtail enough to minimize risk to eagles, and yet not so much that the site becomes economically unviable,” said Hayes.
In 2016 AWWI organized an IdentiFlight test at Top of the World, conducted by the raptor nonprofit Peregrine Fund, to evaluate the system’s ability to detect raptors and identify eagles. The results aren’t yet public—Arnold said they’ve been submitted to a peer-reviewed journal—and further testing will begin in June. But the findings convinced Duke to purchase 24 IdentiFlight units for Top of the World in January, the first commercial order. The units will communicate directly with turbine operation systems to trigger shutdowns, eliminating the need for a human middleman, and should provide an opportunity to assess if the swath IdentiFlight covers actually sees fewer eagle deaths than that monitored by humans. In other words, whether the system actually works.
Finding a magic bullet that addresses all wildlife concerns is probably impossible. What works for eagles may work for condors and Whooping Cranes, but it’ll likely never work for, say, tiny songbirds migrating by night over open waters—the next frontier in the American wind industry. In fact, entirely new challenges abound offshore. On land, assessing threats includes intensive pre-construction monitoring, which is far more difficult to do miles out at sea, where waves and reduced visibility make taking headcounts challenging. And the traditional method of gauging bird deaths—searching for carcasses beneath turbines—is next to impossible.
Tech: Radio antennas and a “geofence” automatically send alerts when tagged condors approach; employees then track birds and curtail turbines as needed.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has funded multiple studies, some of which employ tracking technologies, aimed at learning more about how Piping Plovers and other high-priority species use Atlantic waters. And two WETO-funded projects are exploring ways to assess mortality risks offshore, such as using thermal imaging to identify species that appear around a proposed site, and whether they fly at turbine blade height. These technologies can’t come online soon enough: More than two dozen offshore projects are in the works—most in the Atlantic, a handful in the Pacific, and one highly controversial project in Lake Erie—with a combined potential capacity of 24,000 megawatts. Nobody wants to see any of them be the next Altamont.
few days after visiting the Tehachapi wind farm, I drove to Bitter Creek National Wildlife Refuge, 60 miles west, hoping to glimpse the birds the condor-detection system was created to protect. Steve Kirkland, USFWS California Condor Recovery Program field coordinator, led me to the flight pen—a chain-link enclosure where captive-bred juveniles acclimate before being released. Perched on top were a dozen meaty black condors, their wings adorned with brightly colored vinyl ID tags. This mix of free-flying adults and juveniles had likely stopped here to warm up in the mid-morning sun before scavenging along the mountains.
If all goes to plan, the Southern California flock will eventually grow so large that putting a transmitter on each bird won’t be feasible, or even necessary. When that happens, a more advanced technology—perhaps IdentiFlight, or a nascent cutting-edge system—might be the next step toward protecting this ancient species that once roamed the American West. Condors survived a world that saw woolly mammoths and saber-toothed cats go extinct, just as they’ve survived, against all odds, the myriad threats humans have thrown at them. As they steadily reclaim their historic range, condors will continue to face numerous challenges, but there’s good reason to hope wind turbines won't be among them.
After Audubon released its 2014 Birds and Climate Change report, which showed that climate change will threaten more than half of North America's birds if we don't rapidly reduce emissions, it became abundantly clear that the organization needed to focus more on expediting properly sited renewable energy. Audubon’s goal is to ensure that 50 percent of America's energy comes from renewable sources by 2030. Audubon members believe this transition is important and the organization has a role to play: In a January 2018 survey of more than 2,300 members nationwide, every respondent supported more renewable energy investments. Eighty-nine percent said that renewable energy is critical to the health of the planet, and 78 percent said that fossil fuels harm global bird populations.
This story originally ran in the Spring 2018 issue as “Surveil and Protect.” To receive Audubon magazine in print, become a member by making a donation today.
Will Wind Turbines Ever Be Safe For Birds?
Sure, it’s green energy—but it also results in hundreds of thousands of bird deaths each year.
July 3rd marked the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
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2019-04-19T02:29:35Z
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https://www.audubon.org/magazine/spring-2018/how-new-technology-making-wind-farms-safer-birds
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If you are part of an agency, department or other entity of the U.S. Government, the use, duplication, reproduction, release, modification, disclosure or transfer of the Strava API Materials are restricted in accordance with the Federal Acquisition Regulations as applied to civilian agencies and the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement as applied to military agencies. The API constitutes a “commercial item,” “commercial computer software,” and “commercial computer software documentation.” In accordance with such provisions, any use of the API by the U.S. Government shall be governed solely by this Agreement and the Service Terms.
If you have any questions regarding this Agreement, please email [email protected].
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2019-04-22T16:47:53Z
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1. A vehicle seat comprisinga seat bottom,a seat back coupled to the seat bottom to move relative to the seat bottom, anda track including a stationary rail adapted to be coupled to a floor included in a vehicle in a fixed position relative to the floor and a movable rail coupled to the seat bottom in a fixed position relative to the seat bottom and coupled to the stationary rail to cause the seat bottom and seat back to move back and forth relative to the stationary rail, anda seat-position sensing system configured to determine a longitudinal position of the seat bottom relative to the stationary rail, the seat-position sensing system including a tag reader configured to transmit a first signal and receive a second signal associated with the longitudinal position of the seat bottom and a location tag configured to transmit the second signal in response to receiving the first signal. a seat bottom, a seat back coupled to the seat bottom to move relative to the seat bottom, and a track including a stationary rail adapted to be coupled to a floor included in a vehicle in a fixed position relative to the floor and a movable rail coupled to the seat bottom in a fixed position relative to the seat bottom and coupled to the stationary rail to cause the seat bottom and seat back to move back and forth relative to the stationary rail, and a seat-position sensing system configured to determine a longitudinal position of the seat bottom relative to the stationary rail, the seat-position sensing system including a tag reader configured to transmit a first signal and receive a second signal associated with the longitudinal position of the seat bottom and a location tag configured to transmit the second signal in response to receiving the first signal.
A vehicle seat includes a track coupled to a floor of a vehicle, a seat bottom coupled to the track, and a seat back coupled to the seat bottom to extend upwardly away from the seat bottom. The track interconnects the seat back and seat bottom to the floor to cause the seat bottom and seat back to slide back and forth relative to the floor.
2. The vehicle seat of claim 1, wherein the tag reader is coupled to the stationary rail in a fixed position relative to the stationary rail.
3. The vehicle seat of claim 2, wherein the location tag is coupled to the movable rail to move therewith.
4. The vehicle seat of claim 3, wherein the location tag is a passive transponder.
5. The vehicle seat of claim 4, wherein the tag reader includes a transmitter configured to emit the first signal and a receiver configured to receive the second signal.
6. The vehicle seat of claim 3, wherein the tag reader includes an optical transmitter configured to send the first signal and an RF receiver configured to receive the second signal from the location tag.
7. The vehicle seat of claim 6, wherein the location tag includes an optical receiver configured to receive the first signal from the tag reader, a radio frequency (RF) transmitter configured to transmit the second signal, and a microelectromechanical unit configured to provide haptic feedback to an occupant of the vehicle seat in response to receiving the first signal.
8. The vehicle seat of claim 1, wherein the tag reader is coupled to the movable rail to move therewith and the location tag is coupled to the stationary rail in a fixed position relative to the stationary rail.
9. The vehicle seat of claim 8, wherein the location tag is a passive transponder.
10. The vehicle seat of claim 9, wherein the tag reader includes a transmitter configured to emit the first signal and a receiver configured to receive the second signal.
11. The vehicle seat of claim 8, wherein the tag reader includes an optical transmitter configured to send the first signal and an RF receiver configured to receive the second signal from the location tag.
12. The vehicle seat of claim 11, wherein the location tag includes an optical receiver configured to receive the first signal from the tag reader, a radio frequency (RF) transmitter configured to transmit the second signal, and a microelectromechanical unit configured to provide haptic feedback to an occupant of the vehicle seat in response to receiving the first signal.
13. The vehicle seat of claim 1, wherein the location tag is a passive transponder.
14. The vehicle seat of claim 13, wherein the tag reader includes a transmitter configured to emit the first signal and a receiver configured to receive the second signal.
15. The vehicle seat of claim 1, wherein the tag reader includes an optical transmitter configured to send the first signal and an RF receiver configured to receive the second signal from the location tag.
16. The vehicle seat of claim 15, wherein the location tag includes an optical receiver configured to receive the first signal from the tag reader, a radio frequency (RF) transmitter configured to transmit the second signal, and a microelectromechanical unit configured to provide haptic or audible feedback to an occupant of the vehicle seat in response to receiving the first signal.
17. The vehicle seat of claim 1, wherein the seat-position sensing system further includes a series of location tabs including the location tag, each location tab included in the series of location tabs is spaced apart equally from neighboring location tags included in the series of location tabs.
18. The vehicle seat of claim 1, wherein the seat-position sensing system further includes a series of location tabs including the location tag, the location tag is located between a first end of the stationary track and an opposite second end of the station track closer to the first end than the second end, a second location tag included in the series of location tabs is located between the location tag and the second end, and a third location tag is located between the second location tag and the second end.
19. The vehicle seat of claim 18, wherein the second location tag is located a first distance from the location tag, the third location tag is located a second distance from the first location tag, and the second distance is greater than the first distance.
20. A vehicle seat sensor system for detecting a position of the vehicle seat, the vehicle seat sensor system comprisinga vehicle seat including a seat bottom, a seat back coupled to the seat bottom to move relative to the seat bottom, and a track including a stationary rail adapted to be coupled to a floor included in a vehicle in a fixed position relative to the floor and a movable rail coupled to the seat bottom in a fixed position relative to the seat bottom and coupled to the stationary rail to cause the seat bottom and seat back to move back and forth relative to the stationary rail andan electronic system configured to detect an absolute position of the movable rail relative to the stationary rail,wherein the electronic system includes a reader coupled to the stationary rail in a fixed position relative to the stationary rail and a passive transponder coupled to the seat bottom to move therewith and configured to provide haptic feedback in response to powering of the passive transponder by the reader. a vehicle seat including a seat bottom, a seat back coupled to the seat bottom to move relative to the seat bottom, and a track including a stationary rail adapted to be coupled to a floor included in a vehicle in a fixed position relative to the floor and a movable rail coupled to the seat bottom in a fixed position relative to the seat bottom and coupled to the stationary rail to cause the seat bottom and seat back to move back and forth relative to the stationary rail and an electronic system configured to detect an absolute position of the movable rail relative to the stationary rail, wherein the electronic system includes a reader coupled to the stationary rail in a fixed position relative to the stationary rail and a passive transponder coupled to the seat bottom to move therewith and configured to provide haptic feedback in response to powering of the passive transponder by the reader.
21. A vehicle seat sensor system for detecting a position of the vehicle seat, the vehicle seat sensor system comprisinga vehicle seat including a seat bottom, a seat back coupled to the seat bottom to move relative to the seat bottom, and a track including a stationary rail adapted to be coupled to a floor included in a vehicle in a fixed position relative to the floor and a movable rail coupled to the seat bottom in a fixed position relative to the seat bottom and coupled to the stationary rail to cause the seat bottom and seat back to move back and forth relative to the stationary rail,a tag reader coupled to the stationary rail in a fixed position relative to the stationary rail and configured to receive tag location data indicative of a position of the vehicle seat, the tag reader including a transmitter configured to transmit a first electromagnetic signal and a receiver configured to receive a second electromagnetic signal, anda location tag coupled to the movable rail to move therewith and configured to transmit tag location data to the tag reader, the location tag including a receiver configured to receive the first electromagnetic signal from the transmitter of the tag reader and to cause the location tag to be powered, and a transmitter configured to transmit the position data to the receiver of the tag reader via the second electromagnetic signal. a vehicle seat including a seat bottom, a seat back coupled to the seat bottom to move relative to the seat bottom, and a track including a stationary rail adapted to be coupled to a floor included in a vehicle in a fixed position relative to the floor and a movable rail coupled to the seat bottom in a fixed position relative to the seat bottom and coupled to the stationary rail to cause the seat bottom and seat back to move back and forth relative to the stationary rail, a tag reader coupled to the stationary rail in a fixed position relative to the stationary rail and configured to receive tag location data indicative of a position of the vehicle seat, the tag reader including a transmitter configured to transmit a first electromagnetic signal and a receiver configured to receive a second electromagnetic signal, and a location tag coupled to the movable rail to move therewith and configured to transmit tag location data to the tag reader, the location tag including a receiver configured to receive the first electromagnetic signal from the transmitter of the tag reader and to cause the location tag to be powered, and a transmitter configured to transmit the position data to the receiver of the tag reader via the second electromagnetic signal.
22. A vehicle seat sensor system for detecting a position of the vehicle seat, the vehicle seat sensor system comprisinga vehicle seat including a seat bottom, a seat back coupled to the seat bottom to move relative to the seat bottom, and a track including a stationary rail adapted to couple to a floor included in a vehicle in a fixed position relative to the floor and a movable rail coupled to the seat bottom in a fixed position relative to the seat bottom and coupled to the stationary rail to cause the seat bottom and seat back to move back and forth relative to the stationary rail,a tag reader coupled to the stationary rail in a fixed position relative to the stationary rail and configured to receive tag location data indicative of a position of the vehicle seat, the tag reader including an optical transmitter configured to transmit an optical signal and an RF receiver configured to receive a RF signal, anda location tag coupled to the movable rail to move therewith and configured to transmit tag location data to the tag reader, the location tag including an optical receiver configured to receive the optical signal and power the tag based on the optical signal, an RF transmitter configured to transmit the tag location data to the tag reader via the RF signal in response to receiving the optical signal and,a microelectromechanical device configured to provide haptic feedback to an occupant of the vehicle seat in response to receiving the optical signal. a vehicle seat including a seat bottom, a seat back coupled to the seat bottom to move relative to the seat bottom, and a track including a stationary rail adapted to couple to a floor included in a vehicle in a fixed position relative to the floor and a movable rail coupled to the seat bottom in a fixed position relative to the seat bottom and coupled to the stationary rail to cause the seat bottom and seat back to move back and forth relative to the stationary rail, a tag reader coupled to the stationary rail in a fixed position relative to the stationary rail and configured to receive tag location data indicative of a position of the vehicle seat, the tag reader including an optical transmitter configured to transmit an optical signal and an RF receiver configured to receive a RF signal, and a location tag coupled to the movable rail to move therewith and configured to transmit tag location data to the tag reader, the location tag including an optical receiver configured to receive the optical signal and power the tag based on the optical signal, an RF transmitter configured to transmit the tag location data to the tag reader via the RF signal in response to receiving the optical signal and, a microelectromechanical device configured to provide haptic feedback to an occupant of the vehicle seat in response to receiving the optical signal.
This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/221,655, filed Sep. 22, 2015, which is expressly incorporated by reference herein.
The present disclosure relates to a vehicle seat, and particularly to a seat-position sensing system within a vehicle seat. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a seat-position sensing system used to determine a position of the vehicle seat.
According to the present disclosure, a vehicle seat includes a track coupled to a floor of a vehicle, a seat bottom coupled to the track, and a seat back coupled to the seat bottom to extend upwardly away from the seat bottom. The track includes a stationary rail coupled to the floor of the vehicle and a movable rail coupled to the seat bottom and configured to move back and forth along a longitudinal axis relative to the floor.
In illustrative embodiments, the vehicle seat further includes a seat-position sensing system that includes a tag reader and one or more location tags. The seat-position sensing system is configured to determine the longitudinal position of the vehicle seat in cooperation with the one or more location tags. Each location tag is a passive transponder coupled to the movable rail of the vehicle seat and is configured to transmit tag location data to the tag reader in response to receiving an electromagnetic signal from the tag reader. The tag reader includes a transmitter and receiver and is coupled to the foundation of the vehicle seat. The one or more location tags are spaced along the length of the movable rail and are configured to provide a unique location identifier to the tag reader.
In illustrative embodiments, each location tag includes an optical receiver, a radio frequency (RF) transmitter, and a microelectromechanical unit (MEMS unit), and is configured to receive an optical signal from the tag reader, transmit tag location data to the tag reader, and provide haptic feedback to an occupant of the vehicle seat. The tag reader includes an optical transmitter and an RF receiver and is configured to receive tag location data from the one or more location tags.
Additional features of the present disclosure will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of illustrative embodiments exemplifying the best mode of carrying out the disclosure as presently perceived.
FIG. 9 is a diagrammatic view of another embodiment of a seat-position sensing system in accordance with the present disclosure showing that location tags included in the seat-position sensing system are spaced apart from one another different distances to provide additional tag location data when the vehicle seat is in particular longitudinal positions.
A first embodiment of a vehicle seat 10 includes a passenger support 18, a track 20, and a seat-position sensing system 16, and is configured to determine an absolute longitudinal position of the vehicle seat 10 as shown in FIGS. 1-4. Another embodiment of a seat-position sensing system 116 is shown in FIG. 5. A first embodiment of a seat-position sensor 234 is shown in FIG. 6. A second embodiment of seat-position sensor 334 is shown in FIG. 7. Another embodiment of seat-position sensing system 416 is shown in FIG. 8. Another embodiment of a seat-position sensing system 516 is shown in FIG. 9.
Vehicle seat 10 includes a passenger support 18 adapted to support a passenger in a vehicle thereon and seat-position sensing system 16 as shown in FIG. 1. Seat-position sensing system 16 is configured to provide means for determining an absolute longitudinal position of the passenger support 18 relative to a floor 22 supporting passenger support 18. Seat-position sensing system 16 includes a set of location tags 42 coupled to passenger support 18 to move therewith and a tag reader 40 coupled to the floor in a fixed position relative to the floor. As passenger support 18 moves past tag reader 40, tag reader 40 reads one of location tags 42 and determines the absolute longitudinal position of passenger support 18 associated with each location tag 42.
Vehicle seat 10 in accordance with the present disclosure is shown in FIG. 1. Vehicle seat 10 includes a seat bottom 12, a seat back 14, and seat-position sensing system 16 as shown in FIG. 1. Seat bottom 12 and seat back 14 cooperate to form passenger support 18 for an occupant of the vehicle seat 10. Vehicle seat 10 also includes a track 20. Track 20 interconnects passenger support 18 to floor 22 of a vehicle to cause passenger support 18 to slide selectively back and forth relative to floor 22. Track 20 is coupled to a frame 24 of the vehicle. Track 20 includes two pairs of rails 26, 28 and each pair of rails 26, 28 includes a stationary rail 30 and a movable rail 32. Each movable rail 32 is coupled to seat bottom 12 to move therewith. Each stationary rail 30 is securely coupled to the floor 22 of the vehicle or the frame 24 of the vehicle.
Seat-position sensing system 16 includes a seat-position sensor 34 and a computing device 38 as shown in FIG. 1. Seat-position sensor 34 and computing device 38 are coupled to a power supply 36 of the vehicle. Seat-position sensing system 16 is configured to determine seat position data indicative of the absolute longitudinal position of the passenger support 18.
The absolute longitudinal position of passenger support 18 is the position of passenger support 18 relative to floor 22 and does not require computing of the position through the use of relative positions of various components. Using the tag location data from individual location tags 42, the absolute longitudinal position of passenger support 18 may be determined without calibrating various components to work together.
Seat-position sensor 34 includes a tag reader 40 and one or more location tags 42 as suggested in FIG. 2. Tag reader 40 includes a transmitter 44 and a receiver 46 as shown in FIG. 4. Transmitter 44 is configured to transmit an electromagnetic signal to at least one of the location tags 42. Receiver 46 is configured to receive tag location data from at least one of the location tags 42. Tag reader 40 receives power from power supply 36 of the vehicle. In one example, power supply 36 is a battery of the vehicle, an alternator of the vehicle, any other suitable power source, or combinations thereof. Tag reader 40 is coupled to a stationary foundation 76 of a vehicle. In one illustrative example, stationary foundation 76 is one of the stationary rails 30 of the track 20, the floor 22 of the vehicle, the frame 24 of the vehicle, or any other suitable alternative.
Tag reader 40 is coupled to the computing device 38 of vehicle and transmits the tag location data to computing device 38. Once computing device 38 receives the tag location data, computing device 38 is configured to determine the absolute longitudinal position of the passenger support 18 relative to the floor 22. The computing device 38 includes sensor data indicative of the position of each location tag 42 on the movable rail 32 and the position of the tag reader 40 on stationary foundation 76. Using both the tag location data and the data about the positions of seat-position sensor 34 elements, computing device 38 determines seat position data indicative of the absolute longitudinal position of passenger support 18. Computing device 38 may be embodied as any device capable of performing the functions described herein. For example, computing device 38 may be embodied as an electronic control unit, embedded controller, control circuit, microcontroller, an integrated circuit, an on-board computer, and/or any other any computing device capable of performing the functions described herein.
Each of the one or more location tags 42 may be embodied as a passive transponder that transmits tag location data in response to being interrogated by the transmitter 44 of the tag reader 40. Each location tag 42 includes a receiver 48, a transmitter 50, and a controller 52. Receiver 48 is configured to receive an electromagnetic signal from transmitter 44. Transmitter 50 is configured to transmit a second electromagnetic signal to the receiver 46 of tag reader 40. The second electromagnetic signal includes tag location data indicative of the position of the location tag on the vehicle seat 10. Controller 52 is configured to store tag location data and generate commands for the transmitter 50. Controller 52 may be embodied as any device capable of performing the functions described herein. For example, controller 52 may be embodied as an electronic control unit, embedded controller, control circuit, microcontroller, integrated circuit, on-board computer, and/or any other any other computing device capable of performing the functions described herein.
Track 20 interconnects passenger support 18 and floor 22 to cause passenger support 18 to move back forth along a longitudinal axis relative to floor 22. Movable rails 32 of track 20 are configured to slide along corresponding stationary rails 30 of track 20 to adjust a longitudinal position of the passenger support 18. In use, passenger support 18 may be positioned in a number of different longitudinal positions 54, 56, 58. Passenger support 18 may be in any one of several positions, for example three, as shown in FIG. 1. Passenger support 18 may occupy any number of longitudinal positions while only three positions are suggested in FIG. 1. At each of the positions 54, 56, 58 seat-position sensing system 16 determines the longitudinal position of passenger support 18 and conveys that information to the occupant of vehicle seat 10.
The one or more location tags 42 are positioned to be spaced apart from one another along movable rail 32 of track 20 as shown diagrammatically in FIG. 2. Track 20 includes a first set of rails 26 and a second set of rails 28. For ease of description, the second set of rails 28 is substantially similar to the first set of rails 26, and thus, only the operation of the first set of rails 26 is described in detail. In some embodiments, the vehicle seat includes more than two sets of rails. In the illustrative embodiment of FIG. 2, the seat-position sensing system 16 is only positioned on the first set of rails 26. In other embodiments, both sets of rails 26, 28 may include a seat-position sensing system 16.
Stationary rail 30 is coupled to floor 22 of the vehicle in a fixed position relative to floor 22. First set of rails 26 defines a longitudinal axis 60 along which movable rail 32 is configured to slide back and forth. Relative to a reference plane 62, movable rail 32 is configured to slide along stationary rail 30 between a first position and a second position. For example, a first position of a movable rail 32 may correspond to full back longitudinal position of the passenger support 18 and the second position of movable rail 32 may correspond to a full forward longitudinal position of the passenger support 18.
Each of the one or more location tags 42 is coupled to movable rail 32 and positioned such that each of the one or more location tags 42 will interact with tag reader 40 as the movable rail 32 moves between the first position and the second position. As shown diagrammatically in FIG. 2, tag reader 40 is coupled to stationary foundation 76 such as floor 22 of the vehicle. Tag reader 40 is positioned such that tag reader 40 interacts with every location tag 42 positioned on movable rail 32.
Each of the one or more location tags 42 is positioned to provide location data about the longitudinal position of the passenger support 18. As shown in FIG. 2, when the movable rail 32 is in the first position, a first location tag 64 is located a distance D1 from the reference plane 62, a second location tag 66 is positioned a distance D2 from the first location tag 64, and an nth location tag (see tags 68, 70, 72, 74) is positioned a distance DN from its neighboring location tag (see distances D3-D6). In some embodiments, reference plane 62 is defined by an end of the track 20 and distance D1 defines the distance between the end of the track 20 and the first location tag 64. In other embodiments, the reference plane 62 may be defined by some other part of the vehicle, such as the floor 22.
In the illustrative embodiment of FIG. 2, six location tags 42 are shown, however, seat-position sensing system 16 may include any number of suitable location tags. In general, the number of location tags 42 positioned on movable rail 32 may be chosen based on the distance movable rail 32 slides between the first position and the second position and the desired resolution of intermediate positions to be measured. For example, if the precise longitudinal position of the passenger support is important, more than six location tags 42 may be positioned on the movable rail to accomplish the desired resolution of longitudinal measurements. In some embodiments, the distances between location tags 42 (e.g., distances D3-D6) are all the same. In other embodiments, the distances between location tags 42 may vary.
Tag reader 40 is arranged to cause tag reader 40 to interact with each location tag 42 positioned on movable rail 32. As shown in FIG. 3, tag reader 40 may be positioned on floor 22 of the vehicle underneath passenger support 18. Tag reader 40 is arranged relative to vehicle seat 10 to cause each location tag to be by tag reader 40. While FIG. 3 illustratively shows the tag reader 40 positioned between first set of rails 26 and the second set of rails 28 of the track 20, tag reader 40 may be positioned in other locations based on the movements of track 20, the positions of the location tags 42 on track 20, and the desired resolution of longitudinal positions that are being measured. In other embodiments, the seat-position sensing system includes a one or more location tags positioned on a foundation, such as the floor or stationary rail and a tag reader positioned on the movable rail or the seat bottom.
Power supply 36, computing device 38, and tag reader 40 are coupled to stationary foundation 76 in a fixed position relative to stationary foundation 76 as shown in FIG. 4. Stationary foundation 76 may be embodied as floor 22, frame 24, or stationary rail 30. Illustratively, each of these components may be coupled to a different stationary foundation 76. For example, power supply 36 and computing device 38 may be coupled to frame 24, while tag reader 40 may be coupled to either floor 22 or stationary rail 30. In the illustrative embodiment, tag reader 40 is coupled to power supply 36 and computing device 38 via a wired connection. However, in other embodiments, these components may be connected through a wireless connection such as, for example, WiFi, Bluetooth, or inductive coupling. The one or more location tags 42 (shown as Tag 1, Tag 2, . . . , Tag N in FIG. 4) are coupled to the movable rail 32 to move therewith.
In use, movable rail 32 slides along the stationary rail 30 moving location tags 42 past tag reader 40. Tag reader 40 is configured to interrogate the few location tags 42 that are currently located in close proximity to tag reader 40 by transmitting a first electromagnetic signal via transmitter 44 (e.g., an RF signal or an optical signal). Each location tag 42 that receives the first electromagnetic signal becomes active in response to receiving the first electromagnetic signal (e.g., each location tag is powered by the first electromagnetic signal). Upon receiving the first electromagnetic signal, each location tag 42 transmits unique tag location data indicating what location tags 42 are near the tag reader 40 via a second electromagnetic signal. Tag reader 40 receives the second electromagnetic signal containing the location data via receiver 46 and relays the tag location data to computing device 38. Computing device 38, based on tag location data and data stored on the computing device 38 about the positions of the tag reader 40 and each location tag 42 on the vehicle seat 10, determines seat position data indicative of the absolute longitudinal position of passenger support 18.
Another embodiment of a seat-position sensing system 116 of a vehicle seat 110 in accordance with the present disclosure is shown in FIG. 5. Vehicle seat 110 includes the seat bottom 12 and seat back 14 to form the passenger support 18. A track 120 includes a stationary rail 130 coupled to floor 22 of the vehicle and a movable rail 132 coupled to seat bottom 12. Track 120 is formed to include a cavity 180. Stationary rail 130 and movable rail 132 cooperate to define the cavity 180 in track 120. Tag reader 40 of seat-position sensing system 116 is positioned in the cavity 180. Tag reader 40 is coupled to an interior surface 182 of stationary rail 130 in cavity 180. One or more location tags 42 positioned in cavity 180. One or more location tags 42 are coupled to an interior wall 184 of movable rail 132 inside cavity 180. Each location tag 42 is configured to interact with tag reader 40 and transmit location data to tag reader 40. Tag reader 40 and location tags 42 are protected from being moved or damaged by rails 130, 132 of track 120 as a result of being located in cavity 180. In such a configuration, seat-position sensing system 116 is configured to determine seat position data indicative of the absolute longitudinal position of vehicle seat 110 in a similar manner as described above.
Another embodiment of the seat-position sensor 234 in accordance with the present disclosure is shown in FIG. 6. Seat-position sensor 234 discussed below may be positioned and/or used in any of the ways discussed above. Seat-position sensor 234 includes a tag reader 240 and one or more location tags 242. Tag reader 240 includes an optical transmitter 280 and an RF receiver 282. Optical transmitter 280 is configured to transmit an optical signal 290 (i.e., an electromagnetic signal in the optical frequency range, such as a laser or other light). RF receiver 282 is configured to receive an RF signal 292 (i.e., an electromagnetic signal in the radio frequency range). Each location tag 242 includes an optical receiver 284, an RF transmitter 286, a controller 252, and a microelectromechanical unit 288 (MEMS unit 288). Optical receiver 284 is configured to receive the optical signal 290 transmitted by the optical transmitter 280. RF transmitter 286 is configured to transmit the RF signal 292 received by the RF receiver 282. Controller 252 is configured to store the tag location data unique to the location tag 242. MEMS unit 288 is configured to provide haptic feedback and/or audible feedback to an occupant of the vehicle seat.
In the illustrative embodiment, tag reader 240 and location tags 242 are positioned to create an unobstructed optical link between optical transmitter 280 of tag reader 240 and optical receiver 284 of each location tag 242, depending on the longitudinal position of the vehicle seat. In this way, optical signal 290, transmitted by the optical transmitter 280, has an unobstructed path to optical receiver 284 thereby optimizing an amount of power transmitted to each location tag 242 by tag reader 240. To accomplish this, optical transmitter 280 may be positioned at a particular height above a reference plane and optical receiver 284 of each location tag 242 may be positioned at a similar height above the reference plane. In this embodiment, tag reader 240 is configured to only interact with one location tag 242 at a time via the optical link.
Each location tag 242 uses optical signal 290 transmitted by tag reader 240 to power location tags 242. Once optical signal 290 is received by a location tag 242, controller 252 causes the RF transmitter 286 to transmit, via the RF signal 292, tag location data stored by the controller 252. In some embodiments, controller 252 may also send data to MEMS unit 288.
Optical signal 290 transmitted by tag reader 240 powers MEMS unit 288. MEMS unit 288 may be embodied as a device that includes miniaturized mechanical and electro-mechanical elements. In general, MEMS units 288 are made using techniques of microfabrication and include physical dimensions from several millimeters to much smaller. In the illustrative embodiment, MEMS unit 288 includes a microprocessor that processes data received from the controller 252 and an actuator configured to produce a mechanical force on the vehicle seat (e.g., causes the vehicle seat to vibrate). Upon being powered, or upon receiving data from the controller 252, the actuator of the MEMS unit produces a mechanical force on the vehicle that is capable of being felt by the occupant of the vehicle seat. The mechanical force acts as a type of haptic feedback indicating to the occupant the longitudinal location of the vehicle seat via a sense of touch. In the illustrative embodiment, MEMS unit 288 of each location tag 242 generates the same mechanical force. In other embodiments, MEMS unit 288 of each location tag 242 is configured to produce a unique mechanical force such that the occupant of the vehicle is capable of determining the exact longitudinal position of the passenger support using only the information conveyed by the mechanical force.
In some embodiments, characteristics of optical signal 290 may be modified to adjust the performance of location tags 242. For example, the frequency of the optical signal 290 transmitted by optical transmitter 280 may be adjusted based on settings adjusted by a user. For example, instead of transmitting a red laser light, optical transmitter 280 may be configured to transmit a green laser light. In this example, controller 252 may be configured to cause the RF transmitter 286 to transmit different tag location data, or adjust properties of RF signal 292 being transmitted based on the frequency of the optical signal 290. Controller 252 may also be configured to cause MEMS unit 288 to output a different mechanical force based on optical signal 290. For example, the pattern of vibrations experienced by the occupant may change depending on the frequency of optical signal 290. In some embodiments, an intensity of optical signal 290 may also be adjusted to affect the performance of location tags 242.
In some embodiments, seat-position sensor 234 may include multiple tag readers 240 positioned at different heights and multiple layers of location tags 242 positioned at corresponding heights to the multiple tag readers 240. In such an embodiment, multiple location tags 242 may be excited simultaneously, thereby increasing the intensity of the haptic feedback experienced by the occupant of the vehicle seat.
Another embodiment of a seat-position sensor 334 in accordance with the present disclosure is shown in FIG. 7. Seat-position sensor 334 discussed below may be positioned or used in any of the ways discussed above. Seat-position sensor 334 includes a tag reader 340 and one or more location tags 342. Tag reader 340 includes an RF transmitter 380 and an RF receiver 382. RF transmitter 380 of the tag reader 340 is configured to transmit a first RF signal 390. RF receiver 382 of tag reader 340 is configured to receive a second RF signal 392. Each location tag 342 includes an RF receiver 384, an RF transmitter 386, and a controller 352. RF receiver 384 of location tag 342 is configured to receive the first RF signal 390 transmitted by RF transmitter 380 of tag reader 340. RF transmitter 386 of location tag 342 is configured to transmit RF signal 392 received by RF receiver 382. Controller 352 is configured to store the tag location data unique to each location tag 342. In some embodiments, seat-position sensor 334 is radio frequency identification (RFID) system with tag reader 340 being embodied as an RFID interrogator and each location tag 342 being embodied as an RFID tag. In another example, seat-position sensor 334 is a near-field communication system (NFC).
In the illustrative embodiment, each location tag 342 is configured to be powered by the first RF signal 390 transmitted by tag reader 340. Once first RF signal 390 is received by a location tag 342, controller 352 causes tag RF transmitter 386 to transmit, via the second RF signal 392, the tag location data stored by controller 352. The strength of the first RF signal 390 is set such that only a few location tags 342 are powered at any given time. In the illustrative embodiment, the strength of the first RF signal 390 is set such that only one location tag 342 is powered at a time.
Another embodiment of a seat-position sensing system 416 in accordance with the present disclosure is shown in FIG. 8. Seat-position sensing system 416 includes a first set of rails 426 that include a first seat-position sensor 434 and a second set of rails 428 that include a second seat-position sensor 435 offset from the first seat-position sensor 434. First seat-position sensor includes a tag reader 440 coupled to a foundation 476 and one or more location tags 442 coupled to a movable rail 432 of first set of rails 426. When movable rail 432 of first set of rails 426 is in a first position, a first tag of location tags 442 is positioned at a distance D1 from a reference plane 462. In the illustrative embodiment, each tag of the location tags 442 is located in spaced-apart relation from each neighboring tag by a distance D3. Distance D3 corresponds to the resolution of seat position data to be conveyed to an occupant of the vehicle seat. For example, if the distance D3 equals 10 mm, then an occupant will know the precise longitudinal location of the passenger support in 10 mm increments.
Similarly, second seat-position sensor 435 includes a tag reader 441 coupled to the foundation 476 and one or more location tags 443 coupled and positioned on a movable rail 432 of second set of rails 426. Second seat-position sensor 435, tag reader 441, and location tags 443 are similarly embodied as seat-position sensor 34, tag reader 40, and location tags 42 described above. When movable rail 432 of first set of rails 428 is in a first position, a first tag of the location tags 443 is positioned at a distance D2 from reference plane 462. In the illustrative embodiment, each tag of location tags 443 is located in spaced-apart relation to each neighboring tag by a distance D4.
In the illustrative embodiment, distance D2 is different than the distance D1, but distance D3 is equivalent to distance D4. In this way, the position of second seat-position sensor 435 is offset from the position of first seat-position sensor 434. This offset of position allows the entire seat-position sensing system 416 to determine the absolute longitudinal position of the passenger support with greater precision without positioning more location tags on a given movable rail 432. In some applications, if the location tags are too close together they may interfere with one another, either by physically overlapping, or by both sending tag location data to the tag reader simultaneously.
By positioning second seat-position sensor 435 on second set of rails 428, the absolute longitudinal position of the passenger support may be measured with greater precision. For example, if distance D3 between location tags 442 of first seat-position sensor 434 is 10 mm, an occupant will know the precise absolute longitudinal position of the passenger support in increments of 10 mm. In this same example, distances D2 and D4 may be set such that location tags 443 of the second seat-position sensor 435 cooperate with location tags 442 of the first seat-position sensor 434 to provide precise longitudinal locations of the passenger support every 5 mm.
In another embodiment, a seat-position sensing system 516 includes a number of location tags 542 positioned on a movable rail 532 of a track 520 such that the spacing between each location tag 542 is varied. In this way, seat-position sensing system 516 may be able to more precisely measure the longitudinal position of the vehicle seat along certain areas of the vehicle seat's progression between the first position and the second position. For example, an occupant may want to know the precise location of a passenger support with more precision as the vehicle seat approaches the full-forward position or the full-backward position of the passenger support. To increase the precision of measurement, certain location tags 542 located near the ends of movable rail 532 are positioned to be closer together, while location tags 542 located in the middle of movable rail 532 are positioned to be farther apart. While the illustrative embodiment shows location tags 542 being packed more closely together at either end of track 520, in other embodiments, other configurations of varied spacing are possible.
A first location tag 564 is located at one of the track 520 as shown in FIG. 9. When movable rail 532 is in the first position, first location tag 564 is a positioned to be a distance D1 from a reference plane 562. A second location tag 566 is positioned adjacent to first location tag 564 a distance D2 from the first location tag 564. A third location tag 568 is positioned adjacent to second location tag 566 a distance D3 from second location tag 566. A fourth location tag 570 is positioned adjacent to third location tag 568 a distance D4 from third location tag 568. Location tags 542 further positioned on the movable rail 532 then repeat the same spacing, but in reverse order. In the illustrative embodiment, each of the distances D2-D4 are all different to cause certain sections of the track 520 to have location tags 542 more densely packed together and other sections of the track 520 to have location tags 542 more spaced apart. In other embodiments, the location tags in the middle of the movable rail are more closely spaced together than the location tags at either end of the movable rail. In yet other embodiments, the spacing between location tags may be varied to create any type of distribution of location tags.
An occupant support comprises a stationary component, a movable component coupled to the stationary component to move relative to the stationary component, and a position sensing system. The position sensing system is configured to determine an absolute position of the movable component relative to the stationary component. The position sensing system includes a reader configured to transmit a first signal and receive a second signal associated with the position of the movable component and a location tag configured to transmit the second signal in response to receiving the first signal.
A seat-position sensing system in accordance with the present disclosure may be used to determine an absolute or actual location of a moving component relative to a stationary component in an occupant support. In one example, the seat-position sensing system determines a longitudinal position of a movable rail included in a track relative to a stationary rail included in the track. In another example, the seat-position sensing system determines a rotational angle of a moving seat back relative to seat bottom. In another example, the seat-position sensing system determines a height of a moving seat bottom relative a floor of the vehicle. In another example, the seat-position sensing system determines a tilt of a moving seat bottom relative to a floor of the vehicle. In another example, the seat-position sensing system determines a position of an adjustable portion of an adjustable cushion relative to a stationary portion of an adjustable cushion. In another example, the seat-position sensing system determines a location of a moving headrest relative to a backrest included in a seat back. In another example, the seat-position sensing system determines an angle of a moving upper back adjuster relative to a stationary portion of the backrest included in the seat back.
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2019-04-26T14:32:24Z
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https://insight.rpxcorp.com/pat/US10189379B2
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Our Blessed Mother asks that all Catholics Pray her Traditional Rosary daily. The Rosary will really make a Powerful difference in Your Life!
Father Saint Dominic Guzman, O.P.
Rosary Novena to the Queen of the Most Holy Rosary.
How did the Feast of the Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary come about?
The Queen of the Holy Rosary triumphed over the crescent of Mohammadanism.
Make the Sign of the Cross on yourself with the Crucifix of the Rosary.
Kiss the feet of the image of Christ on the Crucifix.
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord; Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified; died, and was buried. He descended into Hell; the third day He arose again from the dead; He ascended into Heaven, sitteth at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Holy CATHOLIC Church, the Communion of Saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and life everlasting. Amen.
On the first bead above the Crucifix say the OUR FATHER.
On the group of 3 beads say the HAIL MARY once on each bead.
On the chain after the 3rd bead recite the DOXOLOGY (GLORY BE TO THE FATHER...).
O MY JESUS, FORGIVE US OUR SINS, SAVE US FROM THE FIRES OF HELL. LEAD ALL SOULS TO HEAVEN, ESPECIALLY THOSE IN MOST NEED OF THY MERCY.
Go to the next bead.
Go to the centerpiece (usually a religious medal of some kind with 3 small holes in which 3 ends of the chains are attached, 2 at the top and 1 at the bottom).
You may say a brief prayer of your choice, if you like.
Go to the first group of 10 beads.
Say 10 HAIL MARYS, one on each of the 10 beads.
Go to the next group of 10 beads.
Go to the bead directly below the centerpiece medal.
Hail, holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, our life, our sweetness, and hour hope. To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve; to thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears. Turn then, O most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us; and after this our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. O clement, O loving, O most sweet Virgin Mary.
V. Pray for us O Holy Mother of God.
O God, whose only begotten Son, by His life, death, and resurrection has purchased for us the rewards of eternal life, grant, we beseech Thee, that while meditating on these mysteries of the Most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we may imitate what they contain and obtain what they promise, through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.
+ In the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
Kiss the feet of the image of Christ on the Crucifix on the Rosary and put the Rosary in your pocket or purse or some place where you will see it so that it may serve to remind you to say the Rosary tomorrow.
Meditate Upon These on all Mondays and Thursdays.
3. The Birth of Our Lord.
4. The Presentation of our Lord in the Temple.
5. The Finding of the Child Jesus in the Temple.
Meditate Upon These on all Tuesdays and Fridays.
5. The Crucifixion and Death of our Lord on the Cross.
Meditate Upon These on all Sundays, Wednesdays and Saturdays.
1. The Resurrection of our Lord from the Dead.
2. The Ascension of our Lord into Heaven.
in the Form of Fiery Tongues.
4. The Assumption of our Blessed Mother into Heaven.
5. The Coronation of our Blessed Mother in Heaven.
1. Whosoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the Rosary shall receive signal [special] graces.
6. Whosoever shall recite the Rosary devoutly, applying himself [herself] to the consideration of its Sacred Mysteries shall never be conquered by misfortune. God will not chastise him [her] in His justice, he [she] shall not perish by an unprovided death; if he [she] be just he [she] shall remain in the Grace of God, and become worthy of Eternal Life.
14. All who recite the Rosary are my sons [daughters], and brothers [sisters] of my only Son, Jesus Christ.
The Rosary Novena to the Queen of the Most Holy Rosary is also called "The Irresistible Novena".
How Do You Make This Rosary Novena?
This Rosary Novena to the Queen of the Most Holy Rosary consists of a total of six, consecutive, 9-Day Rosary Novenas, for a total of 54 consecutive days.
The first series of three, 9-Day Rosary Novenas are made by devoutly reciting The Catholic Traditional 5-Decade Most Holy Rosary every day for a total of 27 consecutive days for your specific intention. These 27 consecutive days are three, 9-Day Rosary Novenas of petition in which you petition the Queen of the Most Holy Rosary for your specific intention.
Then, on the very next day, i.e. 28 days after you began your Catholic Traditional 5-Decade Most Holy Rosary Novena to the Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, you make your second series of three, 9-Day Rosary Novenas by devoutly reciting The Catholic Traditional 5-Decade Most Holy Rosary every day for a total of 27 consecutive days in thanksgiving to the Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, irregardless whether or not your specific intention was granted during the first 27 consecutive days of petition.
What is the Origin of This Rosary Novena?
The origin of this Rosary Novena of six consecutive 9-Day Rosary Novenas, for a total of 54 consecutive days, began in 1884.
For thirteen months, in Naples, Italy, a young Lady by the name of Fortuna Agrelli, had endured great suffering from intense pain. It was on Saturday, February 16, 1884, the Fortuna Agrelli and some of her relatives began their first, 9-Day Novena of Rosaries for the total recovery of Fortuna Agrelli.
On Monday, March 3, 1884 (17 days after the first, 9-Day Novena of Rosaries was begun), the Blessed Virgin Mary, as the Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, appeared to Fortuna Agrelli. Our Lady was seated on her throne with the Infant Jesus sitting on her lap. The Blessed Virgin Mary was holding her Holy Rosary in her hand. She was accompanied by Father Saint Dominic Guzman, O.P. [b Calaroga, Old Castile, Spain in 1170 A.D. - d. Bologna, Italy in 1221 A.D.] and also by Saint Catherine of Siena [b. at Siena, Italy on Saturday, March 25, 1347 A.D. - d. at Rome, Italy on Saturday, April 29, 1380 A.D.] who was a Dominican Tertiary and also a Mystic.
"Queen of the Holy Rosary, be gracious to me, restore me to health..."
"...You have invoked me by various titles and have always obtained favors from me. Now, since you have called me by the title so pleasing to me, 'Queen of the Holy Rosary', I can no longer refuse the favor that you petition; for this name is most precious and dear to me. Make three [consecutive 9-Day Rosary] Novenas, and you will obtain all."
And so it came about that Fortuna Agrelli was cured by the Blessed Virgin Mary, as the Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, as the result of doing what Our Lady told her to do.
"Whosoever desires to obtain favors from me should make three [consecutive 9-Day] Novenas of the prayers of the [5 Decade] Rosary in petition and three [consecutive 9-Day Rosary] Novenas in thanksgiving."
It has been claimed that this miracle made a very deep impression on the Roman Catholic Pope Leo XIII, Gioacchino Pecci [Wednesday, February 20, 1878 - Monday, July 20, 1903] who urged all Christian Catholics to love the Devotion of the Catholic Traditional Rosary and to say it fervently, at least the 5-Decade Rosary, with the Catholic Traditional 15 Mysteries of the Most Holy Rosary.
It should be noted that the original Most Holy Rosary which the Blessed Virgin Mary gave to Father Saint Dominic Guzman, O.P. [b Calaroga, Old Castile, Spain in 1170 A.D. - d. Bologna, Italy in 1221 A.D.] was made of the full 15 Decades, not the abbreviated 5-Decades which the Laity normally use.
of the Blessed Virgin Mary come about?
Our Blessed Mother has given us timeless spiritual weapons of warfare against Satan and his legions of Devils and their human agents! The Holy Rosary is one such example!
The Most Holy Rosary was given to Father Saint Dominic Guzman, O.P. [b Calaroga, Old Castile in 1170 A.D. - d. Bologna, Italy in 1221 A.D.] by the Queen of the Most Holy Rosary.
The Feast Day of the Most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, October 7 (transferred to October 8 when the feast falls on a Sunday), came about as a result of winning both a spiritual and temporal battle against the human agents of Satan in the 16th Century!
The final and decisive battle is known in history as the Battle of Lepanto.
The Gulf of Lepanto is off the coast of Greece. In 1571 A.D. the followers of Mohammad, a.k.a. Mohammadans/Moslems (Muslims), tried to get revenge for their previous defeats in the West in the preceding centuries, especially their defeats in Portugal and Spain. They decided to attack Western Europe. Lepanto was occupied by the Mohammadan/Moslem Turks in 1498 A.D.
The Roman Catholic Pope Saint Pius V, Antonio-Michele Ghislieri [Friday, January 7, 1566 - Monday, May 1, 1572] recognized this danger. He realized that this was not simply a struggle between rival nations, but rather a real menace for Catholics in Western Europe. This explains why he worked for both a spiritual and a temporal mobilization of Faithful Catholics to fight off this savage invasion!
He specifically asked that on the First Sunday of October Faithful Catholics pray the Most Holy Rosary and that the members of Rosary Confraternities would walk in processions while praying the Holy Rosary in order to beg the Queen of the Most Holy Rosary for help and victory. He also asked that each combatant for the Western Coalition be provided with a Rosary and that all of them recite the Holy Rosary in order to get protection and victory from the Queen of the Holy Rosary.
The Western Coalition consisted of the combined papal, Spanish, Venetian, and Genoese fleets, under Don Juan of Austria which were totally victorious over the Moslem-Turkish fleet on October 7, 1571 A.D. These 16th Century religious terrorists had 208 galleys and 66 small ships. The Roman Catholic fleet had fewer vessels.
The Roman Catholics lost 17 ships and 7,500 men. The total Mohammadan terrorists losses were 15 infidel ships sunk and 177 infidel ships seized. Plus, between 20,000 to 30,000 Mohammadan terrorists were captured while between 12,000 to 15,000 Catholic slaves were freed. They had been slaves on these infidel galleys and had been forced to be rowers for these ships.
Although this victory did not accomplish everything, because the infidels appeared the next year with a fleet of 250 ships at Modon and Cape Matapan, and battled the Roman Catholics in vain once again, October 7, 1571 A.D. was of great importance since it marked the first great defeat of the blood-thirsty savage pagan Mohammadan terrorists in a sea war.
The Roman Catholic Pope Saint Pius V attributed the victory to the Rosary more than to the armed forces and thus he ordered that the invocation “Help of Christians, pray for us”, be added to the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
On October 7, the Roman Catholic Pope, Saint Pius V, established the Feast of Our Lady of Victory in thanksgiving to the Blessed Virgin Mary for her magnificent victory at Lepanto.
The Roman Catholic Pope Gregory XIII, Ugo Boncompagni [May 13, 1572 - April 10, 1585], his successor, instituted the actual Feast Day of the Holy Rosary which was to be celebrated every year on October 7.
At first the feast was granted only to churches which had an Altar dedicated to the Holy Rosary. But, in 1671 A.D., the Roman Catholic Pope Clement X, Emilio Altieri [Tuesday, April 29, 1670 - Wednesday, July 22, 1676] extended the observance of the feast to the country of Spain.
Another victory over the Mohammadan blood-thirsty savages/terrorists gained at Peterwardein in Hungary by Prince Eugene on the Feast of Our Lady of the Snows, Wednesday, August 5, 1716 A.D., led the Roman Catholic Pope Clement XI, Giovanni Francesco Albani [Tuesday, November 23, 1700 - Wednesday, March 19, 1721], to extend the Feast of the Holy Rosary to the entire Roman Catholic Church.
Thursday, October 7, 1571 A.D.
The Gulf of Lepanto is a long arm of the Ionian Sea running from east to west and separating the Peloponnesian peninsula to the South from the Greek mainland to the North.
The Mohammadans were attempting to conquer all of Western Europe by the sword. On that fateful dawn of Thursday, October 7, 1571 A.D., Roman Catholic Pope Saint Pius V entered the Basilica of Saint Mary Major (Santa Maria Maggiore) in Rome to pray the Rosary and to ask the Queen of the Holy Rosary to intercede with God for a Catholic victory over the Mohammadans. The Roman Catholic Pope was not alone, as a small contingent of Catholic Faithful accompanied him. At the request of the Roman Catholic Pope, the Holy Rosary continued to be prayed throughout Rome that day as the Catholic and Mohammadan fleets battled for control of Western Europe in the Gulf of Lepanto.
A miracle was needed because things had not been going very well. The reality was extremely bleak and victory seemed to be but a dream, a phantasm of the imagination.
Suleiman the Magnificent, a.k.a. Suleyman the Magnificent [b. on Tuesday, November 6, 1494 A.D. - d. on Monday, September 5 or on Tuesday, September 6, 1566 A.D.] was the tenth Osmanli Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, and its longest-serving ruler. He reigned from 1520 A.D. to 1566. Under his command, the Ottoman Empire reached its zenith and became a world power.
Suleiman the Magnificent - a Mohammadan - was considered to be one of the principal rulers of Europe during the 16th Century. He was a rival of Emperor Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor [1519 A.D. to 1556 A.D.]; of Francis I of France [1515 A.D. to 1547 A.D.]; of even Henry VIII of England [1509 A.D. to 1547 A.D.]; and, of Sigismund II of Poland [1548 A.D. to 1572 A.D.].
Suleiman the Magnificent had personally led the Ottoman - Mohammadan - armies to reattack Belgrade in 1521 A.D. It was also under his leadership that the Knights of Saint John of Jerusalem had been driven from their previous stronghold, the Isle of Rhodes, in 1522 A.D.
Although Suleiman was not successful in his siege of Vienna in 1529 A.D., he and his armies annexed huge territories of North Africa as far West as Morocco and most of the Middle East. The Ottoman - Mohammadan - armies achieved naval dominance in the Mediterranean Sea, the Red Sea, and the Persian Gulf. The Ottoman - Mohammadan - empire continued to expand for a century after his death.
They had also established a strong foothold on the north coast of the Black Sea which was the proverbial gateway to all of Western Europe itself.
With covetous eyeballs, the Mohammadan Ottoman Turks continued to eye Western Europe. To this end, they had constructed a fleet of 181 ships which carried 30,000 soldiers. This fleet was headed towards the island of Malta in an attempt to plunder and sweep all the ships of Catholic Western Europe from the Mediterranean Sea so that, once they controlled the trade routes and sea lanes in the Mediterranean, they felt certain that all of Western Europe would fall due to their superior naval and economic power.
During the Summer of 1565 A.D., the Knights of Saint John of Jerusalem, now the Knights of Malta, continuously repulsed the Mohammadan Turkish fleet which had laid siege to the island. Although the Mohammadan Turks were forced to withdraw in defeat, this did not end the threat from the Mohammadan Ottoman Turks.
Over in the Vatican in Rome, Italy, Cardinal Antonio-Michele Ghislieri became Roman Catholic Pope Pius V on Friday, January 7, 1566 A.D. He was a devout, pious, and austere Dominican Monk who was devoted to the Holy Rosary, of which the Dominicans (Order of Preachers) were the propagators from the time of their founder, Father Saint Dominic Guzman, O.P. [b Calaroga, Old Castile in 1170 A.D. - d. Bologna, Italy in 1221 A.D.]. Roman Catholic Pope Saint Pius V had a solid reputation for piety and austerity. As Cardinal Antonio-Michele Ghislieri, he had been a teacher of Scholastic Philosophy and Thomistic Theology for 16 years. Upon ascending the Papacy, he continued to lead the life of a simple monk, living a real Spiritual Life based upon humility and meekness, contrary to the opulence of many of his predecessors.
As many Roman Catholics were well aware in those days, so also Roman Catholic Pope Pius V was likewise concerned about how to defend Western Catholic Europe from the Mohammadan Ottoman Turks. Just as his Catholic contemporaries, so also the Pope also knew full well that the Mohammadan Ottoman Turks were not just going to dematerialize into their prayer rugs. They wanted to conquer all of Western Catholic Europe as was evidenced by their continued incursions into the Eastern borders of Western Europe. Even the Papal States were a target.
In 1570 A.D., when Cyprus was attacked again, the Pope called upon the “The Holy League” which was composed of the Duchy of Savoy, the Knights of Malta, the Papal States, the Republic of Venice, the Republic of Genoa, and Spain, to address the continued threats from the Mohammadan Ottoman Turks. It was past time for Roman Catholics to take offensive action.
A Catholic naval fleet was assembled under the overall command of Admiral Don Juan of Austria [b. Regensburg (Ratisbon), Bavaria, Germany, on Monday, February 24, 1547 A.D. - d. Sunday, October 1, 1578 A.D.]. Although he was only in his twenties, Admiral Don John was a very capable naval commander.
The Spaniards were led by Admiral Don Álvaro de Bazán, 1st Marquis of Santa Cruz de Mudela [b. at Granada, Spain on Sunday, December 12, 1526 A.D. - d. 1588 A.D.]. He was of an ancient family that originally settled in the valley of Baztan in Navarre, from which they are said to have taken their name.
During the operations which preceded and followed the Battle of Lepanto on Thursday, October 7, 1571 A.D., Bazán was always in favor of the more energetic course. In the battle he commanded the reserve division, and his prompt energy averted a disaster when Uluj Ali, who commanded the left wing of the Turks, outmaneuvered the commander of the Christian right, Giovanni Andrea Doria, and broke the allied line. In 1572 A.D. he accompanied Admiral Don Jon of Austria in the taking of Tunis, freeing it from the Mohammadan Ottoman Turks.
The Genoese were led by Giovanni Andrea Doria or D’Oria [b. at Genoa in 1539 A.D. - d. in 1606 A.D.], second Prince of Melfi, Admiral at the service of the Viceroys of Naples and Sicily. He was the Great-Nephew of Andrea Doria or D’Oria [b. Friday, November 30, 1466 A.D. - d. Friday, November 25, 1560 A.D.] who was a Genoese condottiero (a mercenary leader employed by Italian city-states from the late Middle Ages until the mid-sixteenth century) and Admiral, with whom he is often confused.
The Venetians were commanded by Agostin Barbarigo and Sebastian Venier, a.k.a. Sebastiano Veniero [b. c. 1496 AD. - d. Friday, March 3, 1578 A.D.] who was later the Doge of Venice from 1577 A.D. to 1578 A.D.
The fleet under Admiral Don John’s very capable command included 300 ships, with over 100 galleys and 30,000 men.
It had been supplied by Philip II of Spain [b. at Valladolid, Spain on Saturday, May 21, 1527 A.D. - d. on Sunday, September 13, 1598 A.D.].
Roman Catholic Pope Saint Pius V had 12 Papal/Tuscan galleys hired by the Papal States, 3 galleys each from Genoa, Malta, and Savoy, outfitted and supplied.
The Roman Catholic Pope also funded many of the others.
The Venetian contingent included 105 galleys, manned in part by additional Spanish soldiers. In the Venetian fleet were six galleasses (converted merchant galleys).
Heavier, broader, and much slower than conventional galleys, they were nonetheless technologically advanced - the heavy gun platforms and battleships of their day.
There were also a number of several privately-owned galleys, most or all of which joined with the “The Holy League” to put an end to the attempt by the Mohammadan Ottoman Turks to control the profitable Mediterranean Sea trade routes. The total included over 50,000 men who served the fleet as rowers,12,920 sailors, and another 30,000 men who were fighting soldiers. Of this number,10,000 were Spanish regular infantry of excellent quality, 7,000 German and 6,000 Italian mercenary contingents were from the various Habsburg dominions, under Spanish pay, along with 5,000 others, plus many volunteers.
The various Roman Catholic squadrons met Venice's main squadron under Admiral Veniero in July and August at Messina, Sicily in 1571 A.D. This included the galleasses which arrived on July 7, 1571 A.D. Admiral Don John arrived on August 23, 1571 A.D.
The Mohammadan Ottoman Turkish fleet of 240 galleys and 66 small ships was defeated by the combined Catholic fleets. Although the Catholics lost 17 ships and 7,500 men, a total of 15 Mohammadan Ottoman Turkish ships were sunk and the remainder were taken captive. In addition, over 25,000 Mohammadan Ottoman Turks were killed during this battle and over 4,000 of them were taken prisoner. Between 12,000 to 15,000 Catholic rowers, slaves on these Mohammadan Ottoman Turks galleys, were freed.
“The Holy League”, under the command of Admiral Don John of Austria, annihilated the fleet of the Mohammadan Ottoman Turks at the Battle of Lepanto on Thursday, October 7, 1571 A.D. in one of the most decisive battles in naval history. This great victory dealt the Mohammadan Ottoman Turks a blow from which they never recovered. This battle ended the Mohammadan Ottoman Turks naval threat in the Western Mediterranean and with it the threat to conquer Western Catholic Europe and force conversions to Mohammadanism by the sword as they had done in other places in the past. This period of peace for the West also began a long period of decline for the Mohammadan Ottoman Turkish evil Empire.
then went to the window and saw a vision of this great victory!
In thanksgiving to the Queen of the Most Holy Rosary for this miraculous triumph, Roman Catholic Pope Saint Pius V made the first Sunday of October the Feast Day of the Most Holy Rosary. The Feast Day was later changed to the actual day, October 7. He also added the supplication “Help of Christians” to the Litany of Loreto. He was hoping to put an end to the power of Mohammadanism by forming a general alliance of all of the countries of Western Europe and had begun negotiations for this purpose when he died.
The central stone panel in the lower half of the photograph of an interior wall of the front of the Church of Santa Maria in Ara Coeli contains an inscription which commemorates The Battle of Lepanto.
It is interesting to note that there is no reference in the inscription to Admiral Don Juan of Austria. Why? Because Mark Anthony Colonna was the Admiral in command of the Papal fleet, which constituted only a part, and be no means not even the largest part, of the Catholic Holy League. But, because he was the Admiral of the Papal fleet, it is only right that he would have been honored in Rome.
Historically, the Church of Santa Maria in Ara Coeli, which has the central stone panel which contains an inscription which commemorates The Battle of Lepanto, was the medieval generalate house for the Franciscan Order.
Santa Maria in Ara Coeli means Saint Mary of the Altar of Heaven. This Catholic Church is built over the shrine of Juno Moneta, who is the pagan patron goddess of Rome.
Tradition has it that Caesar Augustus received the prophecy of the Tiburtine Sibyl concerning the coming of the true Christ.
Of course, the Emperor immediately raised an altar on the site, the Ara Coeli - the Altar of Heaven.
Later that altar became the location for a Catholic Church to honor the Blessed Virgin Mary. This is why it was fitting that, after the victory of Our Blessed Mother at Lepanto, it became a place to honor Mary for her protection of Christendom and the winning of the great battle of Lepanto.
sed unice Regina Sacratissimi Rosarii fecit nos victores.
but the Queen of the Most Holy Rosary alone made us victors.
Thanks be to God and Mary.
Semper Deo Gratias et Mariae.
Always be thanks to God and Mary.
Triumphed over the crescent of Mohammadanism.
So then the first Colonists to the United States in the 16th Century, and especially the 17th Century, who were from Western Europe, were Christian Catholics and Protestants, not Mohammadans.
The same is true for the founding Fathers of the United States of America and why America was founded upon Christian teachings and why the founding Fathers considered the United States to be a Christian nation under God.
Just as the devout, daily recitation of the Most Holy Rosary saved Western Europe from the Mohammadan Terrorists, so also today, the devout, daily recitation of the Most Holy Rosary can save the United States of America from all Terrorists and enemies of the United States of America - whosoever they may be, whether they are within the United States Government, or currently freely living, and plotting, in many parts of the U.S.A.
YOUR street, it will be too late!
THE HOLY ROSARY EVERY DAY!
TERRIBLE EVILS ARE ABOUT TO BE UNLEASHED!
AND YOUR FAMILY AND ALL CATHOLICS!
which includes the Daily Rosary!
THE SOUL YOU SAVE WILL BE YOUR OWN!
"Unless you pray and do penance you will perish!"
6. The mystery of Christ's immense love for us is revealed with dazzling brilliance in the fact that the dying Saviour bequeathed His Mother to His disciple John in the memorable testament: "Behold thy son." Now in John, as the Church has constantly taught, Christ designated the whole human race, and in the first rank are they who are joined with Him by faith. It is in this sense that St. Anselm of Canterbury says: "What dignity, O Virgin, could be more highly prized than to be the Mother of those to whom Christ deigned to be Father and Brother!" With a generous heart Mary undertook and discharged the duties of her high but laborious office, the beginnings of which were consecrated in the Cenacle. With wonderful care she nurtured the first Christians by her holy example, her authoritative counsel, her sweet consolation, her fruitful prayers. She was, in very truth, the Mother of the Church, the Teacher and Queen of the Apostles, to whom, besides, she confided no small part of the divine mysteries which she kept in her heart.
14. Hence it is that the Church and the Fathers have given expression to their joy in Mary in words whose beauty equals their truth: "Hail, voice of the Apostles forever eloquent, solid foundation of the faith, unshakable prop of the Church." "Hail, thou through whom we have been enrolled as citizens of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.""Hail, thou fountain springing forth by God's design, whose rivers flowing over in pure and unsullied waves of orthodoxy put to flight the hosts of error." "Rejoice, because thou alone hast destroyed all the heresies in the world."
21. There is another special reason why Mary will be favorably disposed to grant our united prayers in behalf of the nations cut off from communion with the Church: namely, the prodigious things they have done for her honor in the past, especially in the East. To them is due much of the credit for propagating and increasing devotion to her. From them have come some of the best- remembered heralds and champions of her dignity, who have wielded a mighty influence by their authority or by their writings-eulogists famed for the ardor and the charm of their eloquence;" Empresses well beloved of God," who imitated the Virgin most pure in the example of their lives, and paid honor to her with lavish generosity; temples and basilicas built to her glory with regal splendor.
2. Anselm [b. at Aosta, a Burgundian town in Lombardy, in 1033 A.D. - d. Wednesday, April 21, 1109 AD.], the Archbishop of Canterbury, Oration 47.
3. Saint Bernard of Clairvaux [b. Castle Fontaines, near Dijon, France in 1090 A.D. - d. at Clairvaux, France on Friday, August 21, 1153 A.D.], Abbot of Clairvaux, Doctor of the Church, Sermon II in Advent.
4. Patriarch Saint Tharasius, a.k.a. Tarasius [b. ? - d. on Saturday, February 25, 806 A.D.], Patriarch of Constantinople, Oration in Praesentatione (Oration on the Presentation).
7. Patriarch Saint Germanus I, [b. at Constantinople in c. 641 A.D. - d. at Constantinople either in 733 A.D. or in 740 A.D.] Patriarch of Constantinople [715 A.D. - 730 A.D.], Oratione 11, in Dormitione B.M.V. (Oration 11, On the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary).
8. Patriarch Saint Cyril of Alexandria [b. at Alexandria, Egypt in 376 A.D. - d. at Alexandria, Egypt in 444 A.D.], Patriarch of Alexandria, Father and Doctor of the Catholic Church, Homily Contra Nestorius (Homily Against Nestorius).
9. Patriarch Saint Cyril of Alexandria [b. at Alexandria, Egypt in 376 A.D. - d. at Alexandria, Egypt in 444 A.D.], Patriarch of Alexandria, Father and Doctor of the Catholic Church, Homily Contra Nestorius (Homily Against Nestorius).
10. Ex hymno Graecorum. (From a Greek Hymn).
11. Father Saint John Damascene, a.k.a. Saint John of Damascus, [b. Damascus, Syria 676 A.D. - c. 770 A.D., the last of the Greek Fathers of the Catholic Church, In Annuntiatione Dei Genitricis, n. 9. (On the Annunciation of the Mother of God).
12. Patriarch Saint Germanus I, [b. at Constantinople in c. 641 A.D. - d. at Constantinople either in 733 A.D. or in 740 A.D.] Patriarch of Constantinople [715 A.D. - 730 A.D.], Oratione in Praesentatione B.M.V. (Oration On the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary).
13. In Officio B.M.V. (The Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary).
14. Orat. hist. in Dormitione Deiparae. (Oration On the History of the Dormition of the God-Bearing, a.k.a. Birth-Giver of God, Virgin Mary - Theotokos).
16. Patriarch Saint Cyril of Alexandria [b. at Alexandria, Egypt in 376 A.D. - d. at Alexandria, Egypt in 444 A.D.], Patriarch of Alexandria, Father and Doctor of the Catholic Church, De Fide, Ad Pulcheriam (On Faith, To Empress Saint Pulcheria of the Eastern Roman Empire, the eldest daughter of the Emperor Arcadius [b. on Tuesday, January 19, 399 A.D. - d. in 453 A.D.]. Her Feast Day in the Roman Martyrology, and also in the Greek Menaia, is on September 10. In the other Oriental calendars it is on August 7.
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2019-04-26T08:53:11Z
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http://www.shrineofsaintjude.net/home-mhr.html
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All equipment necessary to deliver fiber-optic connectivity shall be installed and configured at the connection address by the Service Provider's technical staff and terminated with Standard demark. All equipment required to deliver the connectivity to Standard demark remains the property of the Service Provider. Equipment connected at the Standard demark remains the responsibility of the Client. The Standard demarcation is an RJ-45 Ethernet jack or other as specified in the Description of Services section of the Agreement.
The Client must have proper facilities in place such as, but not limited to, inside conduits and entry conduits to deliver fiber to the designated termination room. Some construction fees or rights of passage may apply.
High-Availability/High-Quality Bandwidth service is for high-demand, high performance, and high availability bandwidth needs. This service is multi-homed, i.e. it is connected to two (2) or more IP transit networks. The Service Provider uses BGP4 as a routing protocol to ensure full redundancy in the event that one (1) IP transit provider was to fail. The Service Provider undertakes to use the most performing network at all times, based on parameters such as but not limited to, latency, packet loss, and the shortest path.
The unmetered Bandwidth network helps you manage your costs through the predictability of a fixed monthly charge for bandwidth consumption. Unmetered bandwidth does not mean unlimited or infinite. Unmetered means you can use/transfer as much bandwidth as needed without bandwidth overages or extra charges. The maximum amount of transfer is only limited by the physical access to the Service Provider's network.
Committed-rate bandwidth service is billed in 1Mbps increments. The committed rate in Mbps is specified by the Client. The rate is bi-directional and billing is based on the greater of inbound or outbound network traffic.
The network traffic is measured on a 95th percentile basis. If the 95th percentile measurement exceeds the committed rate, the excess shall be billed at the excess rate specified in the Agreement; otherwise, it will be billed at the committed rate.
The committed rate bandwidth may only be changed in 1 Mbps increments, between 1Mbps and 10Gbps.
The committed rate may be increased following a two (2) day prior written notice to the Service Provider at the following email address: [email protected]. The new rate shall be pro-rated to the number of days in the current billing cycle, typically one (1) month.
The monthly billing for committed rate service is based on the sustained usage level during the month, as determined by the traffic samples taken approximately every five (5) minutes over the course of the month. The Client’s monthly charge is determined by the usage level under which ninety-five percent (95%) of the samples fall during the billing month.
The committed rate fees do not include access or local loop charges.
The network traffic may burst up to the maximum rated capacity of the connection due to Client’s usage or a third party (i.e. malwares, viruses, etc.). The Service Provider is not responsible for network traffic levels and the Client is solely responsible for maintaining and controlling traffic burst usage levels.
The burstable committed rate usage is measured by the Service Provider’s bandwidth billing system at the borders of its Autonomous System (“AS”) (only where it interfaces to the external networks). The traffic metered at all border points is aggregated for billing purposes.
The SLO is a standard for the Services delivered to eligible clients.
The SLO covers availability (“uptime”) of the Client’s Internet connection each month, including the local loop; The Service Provider’s POP; and Internet Backbone Network up to the borders of its Autonomous System (“AS”). The Client’s Local Area Network (“LAN”) is not covered under the SLO.
The Client must immediately notify the Service Provider’s Customer Support of any outages or problems regarding the Services, by using the communication channels defined in the below SLO MTTr section. The time of commencement of an outage or problem regarding the Services shall begin following such immediate notification of the problem by the Client and the latter’s confirmation to the Service Provider’s Customer Support that the Client is not experiencing a problem, such as but not limited to an electric outage or a hardware and/or software problem and only once the Client has provided the Service Provider, as the case may be, with any necessary information and/or has conducted any necessary action at the Service Provider’s request in order to resolve the problem.
Internet over fiber Optic Connection SLO takes effect following the installation of the service and payment of all one-time installation fees if any.
Scheduled maintenance by the Service Provider’s technical support. The Service Provider will provide at least a 72hrs notice in advance.
Problems outside the Service Provider network, including but not limited to failures outside the border of its AS.
Client problems including but not limited to unplugged cables; software crashes; Client hardware and/or administration failures.
Degraded or slow service on the Internet outside the borders of the Service Provider's network.
An act of God (force majeure).
Through the Service Provider’s Emergency 24/7 Phone System: Fifteen (15) minutes.
The Service Provider's Internet Backbone Network consists of multiple physical network connections and network equipment between the borders of its AS, which interface with the Service Provider's IP transit networks and the local loops of its clients.
The Service Provider standards are at least ninety-nine and ninety-nine percent (99.99%) Internet Backbone Network uptime in each calendar month.
The Fiber Optic Local Loop consists of a network connection between the demarcation point at the Client's premises and the Service Provider's Internet Backbone Network. The Fiber Optic Local Loop is composed of a physical connection, i.e. fiber optics, and network equipment.
The Service Provider standards are at least ninety-nine and nine percent (99.9%) Fiber Optic Local Loop uptime in each calendar month.
Other smaller or larger subnets if required by the Client.
* Additional charges apply. Contact the Service Provider Customer Service for more information.
The Service Provider requires justification from the Client for any given IP assignment.
The Service Provider’s standard allocation is a “/29” (8 IPs, 5 usable).
Assignment and configuration of IP addresses shall take a minimum of twenty-four (24) hours.
The Service Provider provides IP Assignments up to class C in size (256 IPs). All assignments are governed by the American Registry of Internet Numbers (“ARIN”) allocation policies.
The number of planned IPs to be used in the next three (3) months is necessary information for the Service Provider to justify IP assignation.
Method of delivery: Any notice, consent or request required hereunder shall be properly given or delivered if sent by registered mail or by a bailiff to the addresses indicated on the first page of the Agreement.
The Service Provider undertakes to the Client that the Services shall be provided in a professional manner, in accordance with generally accepted industry practices, and based upon the Description of Service(s) and that it shall use the means at its disposal to ensure the provision of the Services.
The Client shall fully cooperate with the Service Provider and provide the latter with all information required in order to ensure that the Services are provided in a proper and complete manner. In the event that the Client's representative is replaced during the performance of the Agreement, the Client shall immediately notify the Service Provider of same.
The Client undertakes to use the Services only for legal purposes and in accordance with the laws and regulations. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the Client shall not use the Services to transmit or to receive any communication, information or material whose transmission, reception or possession would constitute a criminal offense, a violation of the law or that would incur civil liability. If the Service Provider determines that the Client uses the Services in contravention with the present paragraph, the Service Provider shall be entitled to terminate the Agreement in accordance with Section 16 and the Client shall be responsible to pay all penalties described in the Agreement in the event of an early termination.
Notwithstanding any of the terms hereto, the Service Provider is not responsible for any indirect damages including, without limitation, financial loss, loss of profits or loss of data. The Service Provider is not responsible for any damages resulting from any kind of outages on the Backbone Network or on the Fibre Optic Local Loop.
The Client agrees to assure and preserve the confidential nature of the present Agreement and to not communicate or disclose it's content to anyone, except to the Authorized Persons, as such term is hereinafter defined, such persons must be advised by the Client of the confidential nature of the Agreement and assure their commitment to maintain and preserve the confidentiality. For the purposes of the present Agreement, the Authorized Persons of the Client are: the directors and officers, its legal and accounting counsels, its bankers and the employees he enables to process financial information of his company. The Client recognizes and accepts that the definition of Authorized Persons is subject to a restrictive interpretation and cannot, in any way, include any of the Service Provider’s competitors even though such corporations might be authorized to handle confidential information from the Client as a consultant, agent, mandatory, employee or as a representative.
The Client also undertakes to keep confidential and to not disclose to any person or corporation, save and except for the Authorized Persons, any offers or quotes issued at any time by the Service Provider regarding the Services or any additional services, the invoices issued, the data and information communicated by the Service Provider to the Client, any plan or business objective communicated by the Service Provider to the Client during the term of the Agreement as well as any additional information, strategy or operation of the Service Provider regarding the management of the Services, the Client’s support, customer service and as the management of any incident or outage.
The Client acknowledges that before the signing of this Agreement the Service Provider has provided it with all useful information regarding the Services that the Service Provider has undertaken to provide.
The Service Provider's administration and sales office business hours are from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, from Monday through Friday. The Service Provider's Network Operation Center ("NOC") is available twenty-four (24) hours a day, seven (7) days a week, solely for emergency purposes.
The Client agrees to pay all charges and fees incurred in connection with the use of the Services outlined in the Agreement without compensation. The Client shall receive monthly invoices for the services reflecting the charges and applicable taxes in accordance with the Agreement. The Client agrees, in advance, that the Service Provider’s invoices shall be sent electronically and only by the Service Provider’s platform. Upon the Client’s request, the Service Provider shall provide copies of the invoices by mail. Past due amounts shall bear interest at the annual rate of eighteen percent (18%) until full payment thereof and interest thereon.
The Service Provider shall send a twenty-four (24) hour prior written notice of default to the Client detailing the default hereunder. Following the expiration of the twenty-four (24) hour notice period, the Service Provider may suspend the performance of the Services, without further notice or delay, the whole without prejudice to any of the Service Provider's other rights. Despite any provision to the contrary, the Service Provider is not responsible for any damages, including, but not limited to, direct or indirect financial or business loss, resulting from the suspension of the performance of the Services.
The Service Provider may terminate this Agreement following any default hereunder upon giving the Client a five (5) business day prior written notice. Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary, the Service Provider shall not be held liable for any damages, including, but not limited to, direct or indirect business or financial losses resulting from the cancellation of the Services and the termination of the Agreement. The Client acknowledges and agrees that upon termination of the Agreement for non-payment, the following shall immediately become due and payable by the Client: (i) all arrears, (ii) any unpaid activation fees, (iii) all penalty fees set forth in the Term of Agreement section of the Agreement and (iv) as the case may be, any other expenses incurred by the Service Provider with respect to this Agreement.
The Customer cannot unilaterally terminate without cause the Services and hereby expressly waives its rights under Section 2125 of the Quebec Civil Code. However, the Customer has the right to terminate the Services at any time, in whole or in part, provided that the Customer pays immediately to the Service Provider, an amount equal to the termination fees mentioned in the "Term of the Agreement". The termination shall take effect fifteen (15) days following the receipt of the written notice by the Service Provider.
In the event that the Client moves to another location, the Agreement shall continue to remain in force. If the Service Provider is able to provide the Client with equivalent service at the Client's new address, the Service Provider shall activate the Services at the Client's new address and the Client shall pay the Service Provider for any and all activation fees and other fees related to moving the services to the Client's new address including any installation and construction costs of the fiber optics for the Client's new address. If the Service Provider cannot provide the Client with an equivalent service at the Client's new address or is unable to provide any service at the Client's new address, the Client shall terminate the agreement by immediately paying the Service Provider all termination penalty fees set forth in the Term of Agreement section of the Agreement.
The Service Provider is not responsible for any delay or default under the terms of the Agreement that result from a Force Majeure Event. For the sake of the Agreement, « Force Majeure Event » means a cause beyond the Service Provider’s reasonable control, including, fire, lightning, flood, earthquake, civil unrest, shortages, sabotage, the unavailability or the delay in delivery not resulting from the failure of the Service Provider to place the order, fibre cuts by third parties or other acts of God or Nature.
In addition to any other amount due and payable under this Agreement, should the Service Provider require the assistance of legal counsel to enforce the terms hereof, the Client acknowledges and agrees that it shall reimburse the Service Provider for all reasonable professional and legal fees incurred by it with respect thereto.
The Client acknowledges and agrees that the Service Provider retains all intellectual property rights which it may have and no such rights are transferred or licensed unless such transfer is specifically mentioned in the Agreement.
No rights and obligations of the Client hereunder may be transferred or assigned without the prior written consent of the Service Provider, any transfer or assignment in violation hereof being null and void insofar as the Service Provider is concerned and rendering the option to the Service Provider to consider the Client in default under the terms herein. For the sake of the Agreement, an unauthorized transfer or assignment includes any mandate, service contract, agency contract, management contract or any similar agreement entered into by the Client with a competitor of the Service Provider that bears the objective of i) managing or validating the contractual relationship between the Service Provider and the Client, ii) review or coordinate the Services or the invoices, or iii) coordinate or negotiate any of the Services or the Agreement, or iv) coordinate or manage the performance of the Services, the service support or the incident management (the « Third Party Mandate »). As such, any request formulated by the Client to the Service Provider in order for the latter to deal, directly or indirectly, with a competitor, any request made in order for the Service Provider to provide to a competitor with any information, document, invoice, offer, quote, proposal or order and any request made to the Service Provider to accept a modification or a proposal to the Services, to the invoices or to the Agreement by a competitor, in the name of the Client, shall be null and void insofar as the Service Provider is concerned. In the event of a Third Party Mandate, the Service Provider shall be entitled to terminate the Agreement with a five (5) days written notice if i) the Client refuses to terminate the Third Party Mandate or ii) the Service Provider has a reasonable reason to believe that a Third Party Mandate exists. If the Service Provider terminates the Agreement in relation to a Third Party Mandate, all applicable early termination fees under the Agreement shall be due and payable by the Client to the Service Provider subject to the Service Provider’s other rights and remedies.
The Agreement shall be construed and enforced in accordance with the laws in force in the Province of Quebec. The Parties have further expressly agreed to elect the judicial district of Montreal for the purposes of the Agreement.
The Parties have expressly agreed that the Agreement as well as all other documents relating thereto be drawn up only in English. Les parties ont expressément convenu que ce contrat de même que tous les documents s'y rattachent soient rédigés en anglais seulement.
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2019-04-19T19:15:34Z
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https://www.fibrenoire.ca/en/tc
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The magnitude of noncoding DNA in organelle genomes can vary significantly; it is argued that much of this variation is attributable to the dissemination of selfish DNA. The results of a previous study indicate that the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) of the green alga Volvox carteri abounds with palindromic repeats, which appear to be selfish elements. We became interested in the evolution and distribution of these repeats when, during a cursory exploration of the V. carteri nuclear DNA (nucDNA) and plastid DNA (ptDNA) sequences, we found palindromic repeats with similar structural features to those of the mtDNA. Upon this discovery, we decided to investigate the diversity and evolutionary implications of these palindromic elements by sequencing and characterizing large portions of mtDNA and ptDNA and then comparing these data to the V. carteri draft nuclear genome sequence.
We sequenced 30 and 420 kilobases (kb) of the mitochondrial and plastid genomes of V. carteri, respectively – resulting in partial assemblies of these genomes. The mitochondrial genome is the most bloated green-algal mtDNA observed to date: ~61% of the sequence is noncoding, most of which is comprised of short palindromic repeats spread throughout the intergenic and intronic regions. The plastid genome is the largest (>420 kb) and most expanded (>80% noncoding) ptDNA sequence yet discovered, with a myriad of palindromic repeats in the noncoding regions, which have a similar size and secondary structure to those of the mtDNA. We found that 15 kb (~0.01%) of the nuclear genome are homologous to the palindromic elements of the mtDNA, and 50 kb (~0.05%) are homologous to those of the ptDNA.
Selfish elements in the form of short palindromic repeats have propagated in the V. carteri mtDNA and ptDNA, resulting in the distension of these genomes. Copies of these same repeats are also found in a small fraction of the nucDNA, but appear to be inert in this compartment. We conclude that the palindromic repeats in V. carteri represent a single class of selfish DNA and speculate that the derivation of this element involved the lateral gene transfer of an organelle intron that first appeared in the mitochondrial genome, spreading to the ptDNA through mitochondrion-to-plastid DNA migrations, and eventually arrived in the nucDNA through organelle-to-nucleus DNA transfer events. The overall implications of palindromic repeats on the evolution of chlorophyte organelle genomes are discussed.
The amount of noncoding DNA (i.e., intronic and intergenic DNA) in organelle genomes varies significantly. One evolutionary lineage where the gamut of organelle-genome compactness is particularly pronounced is the Chlorophyta (a phylum containing most known classes of green algae ) for which the noncoding-DNA contents span from 10% (Ostreococcus tauri) to 53% (Pseudendoclonium akinetum) for mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and from 5% (Helicosporidium sp. ex Simulium jonesii) to 56% (Chlamydomonas reinhardtii) for plastid DNA (ptDNA). Although the processes influencing genome compactness are poorly understood, it is suggested that they are associated with the proliferation of selfish DNA [2–4], which we will define for the purpose of this study as any noncoding DNA element with the ability to spread its sequence to new genomic locations. Selfish DNA is ubiquitous in eukaryotic nuclear genomes and is also present, though less pervasive, in organelle genomes [5–7], including those of chlorophytes – and see Hurst and Werren for a review.
One proposed type of selfish DNA that is often observed in the mitochondrial and plastid genomes of chlorophytes are short palindromic repeats; these repetitive elements are marked by their short length [10–100 nucleotides (nt)] and their ability to be folded into hairpin (i.e., stem-loop) structures. Short palindromic repeats have been identified in the mtDNA and ptDNA from a variety of chlorophyte taxa (for compilations see [6, 10–13]), and there are indications that the organelle genomes of some chlorophyte species are more prone to the dissemination of palindromic repeats than those of other chlorophyte species. For example, the mtDNA of P. akinetum, the largest chlorophyte mitochondrial genome sequenced to date [95 kilobases (kb)], contains a series of short palindromic repeats that have proliferated throughout its intergenic and intronic regions ; moreover, these same palindromic elements are found in the noncoding regions of the P. akinetum ptDNA , indicating that the lateral transfer of repetitive DNA between organelle compartments is taking place – it is speculated that this process involves the hitchhiking of repeats on introns that migrate between the mtDNA and ptDNA . Short palindromic repeats in chlorophyte organelle DNA, as well as adding to the amount of noncoding DNA in a genome, have been credited for: 1) genome rearrangements , including the fragmentation and scrambling of ribosomal-RNA (rRNA) coding modules ; 2) changes in genome conformation and chromosome number [13, 15]; and 3) having regulatory functions [13, 16].
A previous study found that the mitochondrial genome of the multicellular, chlorophyte green alga Volvox carteri, a close relative to C. reinhardtii, is profuse with short palindromic repeats . By sequencing ~8 kb of mtDNA, corresponding to portions of cob, cox1, and their group-I introns, and an intergenic region between nad2 and nad6, these authors showed that at least two group-I introns and one intergenic region of the V. carteri mitochondrial genome contain extensive palindromic sequences. Ten classes of short palindromic repeats, all of which share sequence identity with one another, were discerned. Aono et al. concluded that these repetitive elements are selfish DNA, that they are expanding the intronic and intergenic regions of the mitochondrial genome, and that they may have played a role in the fragmentation of rRNA-coding modules.
In June 2007, the United States Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute (DOE JGI) released the draft nuclear genome sequence of V. carteri . This genome is ~140 megabases (Mb) in length [18–20], which is the largest chlorophyte nuclear genome sequence currently available (see for a compilation), and the preliminary annotation of this sequence suggests that it is rich in noncoding DNA, much of which appears to be selfish .
Our interest regarding the evolution of selfish DNA in V. carteri was sparked when we located short palindromic repeats in the V. carteri draft nuclear genome sequence that are similar to those in the mtDNA. To see if palindromic repeats are also present in the V. carteri ptDNA, we PCR amplified and sequenced an intergenic region from the plastid genome; our analysis of this sequence confirmed that the ptDNA contains palindromic repeats that have a similar size and potential secondary structure to those in the mitochondrial compartment. We, therefore, set out to do a detailed investigation of the palindromic repeats in V. carteri by sequencing and characterizing large portions of mtDNA and ptDNA and then comparing these data to the nuclear DNA (nucDNA). Our motives for this study are to gain insights into the role selfish DNA plays in organelle-genome expansion and its ability to move between genetic compartments.
Using a long-range PCR approach in conjunction with cloning, we sequenced from V. carteri 29,961 nt of the mitochondrial genome and 420,650 nt of the plastid genome; partial genetic maps of these genomes describing the coding and noncoding regions that were sequenced are respectively shown in Figures 1 and 2. Regions of the V. carteri organelle DNA that were previously characterized (~8 kb of mtDNA and ~5 kb of ptDNA) are highlighted in pink on these maps. Although we attempted to completely sequence the mitochondrial and plastid genomes, presumed secondary structures in the mtDNA and ptDNA templates likely caused many of the sequencing reactions to suddenly stop – even when using protocols designed to alleviate this problem . Furthermore, the repetitive nature of the organelle genomes means that much of the mtDNA and ptDNA sequence data are irresolvable using the currently available genome-assembly software programs: many of the organelle intergenic and intronic DNA sequences collapse into networks of spurious repetitive motifs upon assembly. Moreover, the fact that most of the mtDNA and ptDNA intergenic regions are much longer than a typical sequencing read (some intergenic regions exceed 15 kb) means that these collapsed repeats are irresolvable. At present, the most sophisticated assembly programs use the paired-end sequencing data from whole-genome shotgun reads to resolve complex repeat regions. Because there is a V. carteri nuclear genome sequencing project , we have access to paired-end sequencing reads for the mitochondrial and plastid genomes (see Methods for details); but even with these data, neither the assembly programs nor our own manual, by-eye assembly methods can untangle these repeats. Because of these difficulties, our V. carteri mitochondrial-genome assembly, although contained in a single contig, contains six regions where the mtDNA sequence is either unreadable or unavailable (Figure 1), and the assembly of the ptDNA is divided into 34 contigs (Figure 2). Nevertheless, we did sequence and characterize enough mtDNA and ptDNA to confidently describe the abundance and various types of noncoding DNA in each of these organelle genomes.
Partial genetic map of the Volvox carteri mitochondrial genome compared to the complete mtDNA genetic map of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Protein-coding regions are yellow and their exons are labelled with an "E" followed by a number denoting their position within the gene. Introns and their associated open reading frames are orange. Transfer RNA-coding regions are red; they are designated by the single-letter abbreviation of the amino acid they specify. The large-subunit and small-subunit rRNA-coding modules are green. Arrows within the coding regions denote their transcriptional polarities. Solid red arrows perpendicular to the genome map indicate regions of the genome assembly where sequence data is either unreadable or lacking. The mtDNA regions that were previously sequenced and described by Aono et al. are underlined in pink on the genome map. Gray blocks highlight regions of synteny between the V. carteri and C. reinhardtii mitochondrial genomes. Note: the optional group-I intron in cox1 is found in the mtDNA of V. carteri strain HK10 (UTEX 1885); this intron is absent from V. carteri strain 72-52 (UTEX 2908) – the C. reinhardtii strains in which the different introns occur are listed in .
Partial genetic map of the Volvox carteri plastid genome compared to the complete ptDNA genetic map of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Regions encoding proteins are yellow and their exons are labelled with an "E" followed by a number signifying their order within the gene. Introns and their associated open reading frames are orange. Transfer RNA-coding regions are red; they are designated by the single-letter abbreviation of the amino acid they specify. Ribosomal RNA-coding regions are green. The coding regions are shaped into arrows that denote their transcriptional polarities. Regions previously described by Aono et al. are underlined in pink. Gray blocks highlight regions of synteny between the V. carteri and C. reinhardtii plastid genomes. Note, the true order of the V. carteri contigs are unknown.
The organelle-DNA sequences presented in this study were validated by collecting and assembling mtDNA and ptDNA sequence data that were generated by the DOE JGI V. carteri nuclear genome sequencing project . This was performed by: 1) downloading DNA-sequence trace files corresponding to the V. carteri mitochondrial and plastid genomes; 2) assembling these trace files into contigs; and 3) mapping the trace-file contigs to the V. carteri mtDNA and ptDNA sequences produced in this study. Ultimately, the mtDNA and ptDNA sequences coming from the DOE JGI covered all of our self-generated V. carteri sequence data with >50-fold redundancy. It is important to note that the DOE JGI data that we used to confirm our mtDNA and ptDNA sequences came from V. carteri strain HK10 (UTEX 1885), whereas the V. carteri mtDNA and ptDNA sequences that we generated came from strain 72-52 (UTEX 2908), which is a dissociator mutant derived from HK10 [23, 24]. In all instances, the organelle DNA sequence data coming from strain HK10 were identical to those of strain 72-52 (i.e., no ambiguities between the DOE JGI trace-file contigs and our sequences were observed), with the exception of a group-I intron that is present in the mtDNA of HK10 but absent in that of 72-52 (see below for details).
Of the 29,961 nt of V. carteri mtDNA sequence data presented here, 18,355 nt (61%) are noncoding, which include 7,870 nt (26%) of intronic DNA and 10,485 nt (35%) of intergenic DNA; the remaining 11,606 nt (39%) are comprised of 8,166 nt (27%) coding for proteins and 3,440 nt (12%) coding for structural RNAs. The intergenic regions range from 0 to >1,400 nt in length, and, on average, are 455 nt long. The AT content of the 29,961 nt mtDNA sequence is 66%. Our annotation of the V. carteri mtDNA includes 7 protein-coding genes; the full suite of rRNA-coding modules required for the formation of the large-subunit and small-subunit rRNAs; 3 tRNA-coding genes; and 3 introns, 2 of group-I affiliation, located in cox1 and cob, and 1 of group-II affiliation, located in cob (Figure 1). Both group-I introns contain an open reading frame (ORF) encoding a putative LAGLIDADG endonuclease. The sole group-II intron has an ORF for which the deduced amino-acid sequence shows similarity to a reverse transcriptase (Figure 1). The DOE JGI V. carteri mtDNA sequences that we assembled (derived from V. carteri strain HK10) have, as mentioned above, an additional group-I intron in cox1 that is not present in V. carteri strain 72-52 (Figure 1). The coding suite that we acquired for the V. carteri mtDNA is identical to that of the C. reinhardtii mitochondrial genome [16, 25, 26] as is the gene order save for two rearrangements, which are outlined on Figure 1. There are two interesting features of the V. carteri mtDNA relative to its C. reinhardtii counterpart. First, the V. carteri L8 rRNA-coding module harbours a 725 nt insertion composed of short palindromic repeats, whereas that of C. reinhardtii contains no repeats (Figure 3a). When the V. carteri L8 module is folded into a putative secondary-structure model within the context of the LSU rRNA it contains two structural constituents: L8a and L8b (corresponding to the LSU rRNA domains V and VI, respectively), where the 3' end of L8a and the 5' end of L8b border the 725 nt insertion (Figure 3b). At present, we do not know if this insertion is removed from the primary transcript so that separate L8a and L8b mature transcripts are produced or if a single mature L8 transcript is generated with the insertion. The second point of interest is that although a putative reverse transcriptase gene is found in the mtDNA of both of V. carteri (ORF750) and C. reinhardtii (rtl), that of V. carteri appears to be part of a group-II intron located in cob, whereas in C. reinhardtii, rtl is a free standing gene that is lacking an intron but speculated to have originated from one [27, 28] – see Popescu and Lee for further discussion. The deduced amino-acid sequences of both ORF750 and rtl have a conserved domain that resembles that of a reverse transcriptase with group-II intron affiliation; however, the amino-acid sequence of ORF750 also has a conserved domain with similarity to a type-II intron maturase, while that of rtl does not. This extra domain encoded in ORF750 also explains why this ORF is twice the size of rtl (2,250 nt versus 1,119 nt).
Schema of the L8 rRNA-coding module in the Volvox carteri mitochondrial genome and its relationship to that in the Chlamydomonas reinhardtii mtDNA. The grey bars in A denote regions of sequence identity between the L8 rRNA-coding modules of the V. carteri and C. reinhardtii mtDNA. B depicts the V. carteri L8 coding module in the context of the large-subunit (LSU) rRNA secondary-structure model; the orange arrow points to the repetitive region separating the L8a and L8b components of the L8 module. The LSU rRNA secondary-structure model is based on that of Boer and Gray .
In regard to the 420,650 nt of V. carteri ptDNA sequence data that were generated, 338,557 nt (80%) are noncoding, of which 16,005 nt are intronic DNA and 322,552 nt are intergenic DNA; 77,335 nt (19%) code for proteins and 4,758 nt (1%) code for structural RNAs. The intergenic regions that were sequenced range from 87 nt to >12,444 nt in length and have an average size of 5,103 nt. The 420 kb of ptDNA are 57% AT. Our annotation of the ptDNA sequences includes 91 genes: 60 coding for standard plastid proteins, 27 coding for structural RNAs (23 tRNAs and 4 rRNAs), and 4 corresponding to ORFs (ORF494, ORF2032, ycf12, ORF2828) that have been previously found in plastid genomes (Figure 2). Three group-I introns were observed, located in chlL, psaA, and atpA; those in the later two genes contain an ORF encoding a putative LAGLIDAD endonuclease. Five group-II introns were discerned, situated in psaA, cemA, psaB, atpA, and atpB; the introns of the latter two genes have an ORF for which the inferred amino-acid sequence resembles that of a reverse transcriptase. The group-II intron of psaA is fragmented into two separate modules, which is also the case for C. reinhardtii (Figure 2). The 91 V. carteri ptDNA genes presented here are all found in the C. reinhardtii plastid genome with the exception of ORF494. The only apparent homolog of ORF494 is the ribosomal operon-associated gene (roaA) found in the Euglena gracilis plastid genome. Note, the C. reinhardtii ptDNA encodes a further 4 tRNA-coding and one rRNA-coding regions that we were unable to amplify from V. carteri.
A graph comparing both the estimated sizes and the fraction of noncoding nucleotides in the mitochondrial and plastid genomes of V. carteri relative to those of the currently available complete organelle-genome sequences from chlorophyte-, streptophyte- and other plastid-harbouring-taxa is shown in Figure 4 [and see Additional file 1]. Values of 30 kb and 420 kb, respectively, were chosen, based on our sequence data, as minimum-estimate genome sizes for the V. carteri mtDNA and ptDNA.
Fraction of noncoding DNA plotted against genome size for the available organelle genomes from streptophytes, chlorophytes, and other plastid-harbouring taxa. The data points corresponding to the mtDNA and the ptDNA of V. carteri and those of its close relative C. reinhardtii are labelled and marked with arrows on the appropriate graph. The noncoding-DNA contents and genome sizes from which these two graphs were plotted are listed in Supplementary Table S1 [see Additional file 1]. Values of 30 kb and 420 kb, respectively, were chosen, based on our sequence data, as minimum-size-estimates of the mitochondrial and plastid genomes.
Scanning of the V. carteri mitochondrial- and plastid-DNA sequences for repetitive elements lead to the identification of a series of short palindromic repeats in both of the organelle genomes; the consensus sequences, complementary bases, and copy numbers of the mtDNA and ptDNA palindromic elements are outlined in Figures 5 and 6, respectively. Although the short palindromic repeats of the mtDNA share many of the same structural traits as those of the ptDNA (discussed below), they differ by >50% in sequence identity and, therefore, must be considered as distinct repeats relative to those of the plastid genome.
Abundance and classification of the Volvox carteri mitochondrial-DNA palindromic repeat elements. Regions of high sequence identity among the different repeat families are shaded in blue; variable sites are orange; the loop portions of the putative hairpin structures are shaded in red, and the stems (i.e., complementary bases) of these structures are located beneath the black arrows. Nuclear DNA analyses were performed using the first 75 scaffolds of the V. carteri draft nuclear genome sequence (version 1) at the DOE JGI .
Abundance and classification of the Volvox carteri plastid-DNA palindromic repeat elements. Regions of high sequence identity among the different repeat families are shaded in blue; the loop portions of the putative hairpin structures are shaded in either red or grey, and the stems (i.e., complementary bases) of these structures are located beneath the grey arrows. Nuclear DNA analyses were performed using the first 75 scaffolds of the V. carteri draft nuclear genome sequence (version 1) at the DOE JGI .
The short palindromic repeats in the V. carteri mtDNA are restricted to intergenic and intronic regions, with the exception of the palindromic elements in the L8 rRNA-coding module. All of the intergenic regions that measure >50 nt in length consist predominantly of palindromic repeats; the few intergenic regions with lengths <50 nt are composed of non-repetitive DNA. Within the intronic regions, the palindromic repeats are confined to the non-ORF portions of the group-I and group-II introns. All four of the identified mitochondrial introns contain short palindromic repeats in their non-ORF regions, including the optional group-I intron of cox1, which was found in the mtDNA of V. carteri strain HK10. Approximately 14,600 nt (~80%) of the 18,355 nt of noncoding mtDNA that were sequenced are composed of short palindromic repeats. A dotplot similarity matrix of the V. carteri mtDNA plotted against itself, shown in Supplementary Figure S1 [see Additional file 2], emphasizes the magnitude of repetitive DNA in this genome and draws attention to the high degree of sequence identity between the different palindromic elements within and among the various intergenic and intronic regions.
The short palindromic repeat elements identified in the V. carteri mtDNA show >50% sequence identity with one another and share similar structural and compositional traits (Figure 5). The individual palindromes range from 11–77 nt in length (the average size is 50 nt) and from 71–84% in their AT content. When the palindromes are folded into hairpin structures, the stem component of the hairpin varies from 4–37 nt in length, and the loop portion is usually 3–5 nt long and frequently has the sequence 5'-TAAA-3' or 5'-TTTA-3' (Figure 5). In many instances, a short palindromic repeat is found inserted within another palindromic repeat, resulting in larger, more elaborate repetitive elements; these larger repeats have a maximum length of 633 nt, and, in a few cases, are found at multiple locations in the mitochondrial genome. For example, a 550 nt repeat sequence composed of complete and incomplete short palindromic units is found in the group-I introns of cob and cox1, in the intergenic regions between cob and nad4, and in the group-II intron of cob. Some of these more complex repeats can also be folded into tRNA-like structures – as shown in Supplementary Figure S2 [see Additional file 3].
Like the mitochondrial genome, the noncoding regions of the V. carteri plastid genome abound with short palindromic sequences. These palindromic elements are observed in all of the sequenced intergenic regions that have lengths >100 nt and in the non-ORF portions of the psaA and atpA group-I introns. No palindromic elements are located in the chlL group-I intron or in any of the identified group-II introns. Overall, the short palindromic repeats constitute ~80% (~270 kb) of the 338,557 noncoding nucleotides in the V. carteri ptDNA. A dotplot similarity matrix of the V. carteri plastid genome plotted against itself (Supplementary Figure S3 [see Additional file 4]) shows the high level of sequence identity among the various palindromic repeats.
In the V. carteri ptDNA, most of the short palindromic repeats contain the sequence motif 5'-TCCCCTTTAGGGA-3' (Figure 6). The palindromes have a size range of 14–79 nt, with an average length of 50 nt, and, when folded into hairpin structures, their stems and loops vary in length from 5–29 nt and 3–5 nt, respectively. In most cases, the loops of the hairpin structures contain the sequence 5'-TAAA-3' or 5'-TTTA-3' (Figure 6). The AT content of the ptDNA palindromes varies from 39–55%. As observed for the mtDNA, the ptDNA palindromic elements are often found inserted into one another, the consequence of which is a series of multifarious repetitive sequences.
The short palindromic repeats of the mitochondrial and plastid compartments have similar structural attributes: 1) they have proliferated in intergenic regions and non-ORF segments of introns; 2) they have an average size of 50 nt and a maximum length of ~78 nt; and 3) the loops of their hairpin structures are generally 3–5 nt long with the sequence 5'-TTTA-3' or 5'-TTTA-3'.
To investigate if the short palindromic repeats in the mtDNA and ptDNA of V. carteri are present in the nucDNA, we analyzed the draft nuclear genome sequence of V. carteri at the DOE JGI . Manual curation of the V. carteri nuclear genome is still underway; therefore, only the first 75 scaffolds of the nuclear-genome assembly were analyzed. Approximately 78% of the V. carteri nucDNA is contained in these 75 scaffolds, their cumulative length is 109.2 Mb, and each scaffold is at least 0.5 Mb long. The amount of nucDNA in these 75 scaffolds that map to mtDNA and ptDNA is described in Table 1; the approximate number of nucDNA-located organelle-like repeats is outlined in Figures 5 and 6.
Amount of nuclear DNA in Volvox carteri that maps to the mitochondrial and plastid genomes.
Note: Nuclear DNA analyses are based on the V. carteri draft nuclear genome sequence (version 1) at the DOE JGI . Only the first 75 scaffolds of the nuclear-genome assembly were analyzed; approximately 78% of the V. carteri nucDNA is contained in these 75 scaffolds and their cumulative length is 109.2 Mb.
a The number of distinct regions in the V. carteri nucDNA that show >90% sequence identity and at least 25 nt of aligned length to organelle DNA.
b Refers to the region of the organelle genome to which the nucDNA maps.
c Includes all of the identified protein-coding genes.
d Includes all of the identified tRNA- and rRNA-coding genes.
e Includes all of the identified group I and II intronic-ORFs.
f Includes all of the identified intergenic and non-ORF intronic regions.
Thirty-three kilobases of nucDNA (~0.03% of the nuclear genome) share >90% identity with mtDNA; 14.7 kb (44%) of this shared sequence are homologous to the short palindromic repeats in the intergenic and non-ORF intronic regions of the mitochondrial genome; the remaining 10.6 kb (56%) map to the coding and intronic-ORF portions of the mtDNA (Table 1). In the nucDNA, 802 distinct regions show homology to mtDNA; the average mapping length of these regions is 39 nt. Of the 75 nuclear scaffolds that were analyzed, all but two (scaffold 66 and 75) have at least one region that shows homology to mtDNA.
Seventy-three kilobases of the V. carteri nucDNA (~0.07% of the nuclear genome) share >90% identity with ptDNA; 50.6 kb (69%) of this shared sequence are homologous to the short palindromic repeats in the intergenic and non-ORF-intronic portions of the ptDNA, and 22.5 kb (31%) are homologous to the coding regions and intronic ORFs of the plastid genome (Table 1). In the nuclear genome, 1,450 different regions show homology to ptDNA, and the average similarity length is 29 nt. All of the 75 nuclear scaffolds that were examined have at least one region that shows homology to ptDNA.
In total, 65.4 kb (~0.06%) of the V. carteri nuclear-genome-sequence data that were analyzed share sequence identity to the short palindromic repeats of the organelle genomes. The secondary structure and general characteristics of the nuclear-palindromic repeat elements are the same as those described for the organelle palindromes in Figures 5 and 6.
In order to place the V. carteri data described above in a broader context, we analyzed the C. reinhardtii nuclear genome for regions that show sequence identity to its mtDNA and ptDNA – these results are summarized in Supplementary Table S2 [see Additional file 5]. Only 0.007% of the C. reinhardtii nuclear genome maps to organelle DNA (0.0035% to the mtDNA and 0.0035% to the ptDNA), which is 10-times less than what is observed for V. carteri (0.01%).
The V. carteri organelle genomes are profuse with noncoding DNA. Our analyses indicate that the mitochondrial genome is >61% noncoding, which is the most expanded chlorophyte-mtDNA sequence currently deposited in Genbank – other complete mitochondrial genome sequences from chlorophyte are larger only because they contain more genes. The plastid genome is the largest (>420 kb) and most bloated (>81% noncoding) ptDNA sequence from any taxon observed to date (Figure 4). Heretofore, the largest documented plastid genome was 223.9 kb, belonging to the chlorophyte Stigeoclonium helveticum ; and the plastid genome with the highest fraction of noncoding DNA was that of C. reinhardtii (56% noncoding) . At present, due to a lack of available mtDNA and ptDNA sequence data, we do not know if other colonial or multicellular algae in the volvocine line of the Chlorophyceae have bloated organelle genomes as a result of excessive noncoding DNA. Preliminary investigations of the Volvox aureus mitochondrial genome indicate that it harbours palindromic repeats; these repeats do not share sequence similarity with those of the V. carteri mtDNA .
The fact that short palindromic repeats respectively constitute ~80% and ~75% of the mtDNA and ptDNA noncoding regions suggests that these elements precipitated the expansion of the organelle genomes. We must, therefore, ask: how did the palindromic repeats disseminate their sequence throughout the noncoding regions of the organelle DNA? The processes by which this could have occurred include transposition, retrotransposition via an RNA intermediate, and recombination-based mechanisms, such as gene conversion (for a review on the mobility of selfish DNA see Austin and Trivers ); at present, we are not partial to any one of these mechanisms. It is worth noting, however, that both the mitochondrial and plastid genomes of V. carteri encode a putative reverse transcriptase and a putative endonuclease; the mutual association of these enzymes has been invoked for mediating the retrotransposition of selfish DNA. Koll et al. propose that the mobility of an ultra-short invasive element in the mtDNA of the filamentous fungus Podospora anserina is instigated by a group-II-intron-encoded reverse transcriptase; they also suggest that an intron-encoded endonuclease generates the 3'-hydroxyl required for reverse transcription. Of all the intronic ORFs deposited in Genbank, the deduced amino-acid sequence of ORF261 in the Volvox mtDNA shows the greatest identity (46%; expectation values = 6 × 10-48) to that of the cox1-intronic ORF of P. anserina. Another intriguing observation is that the short palindromic repeats in the V. carteri organelle and nuclear genomes are found in both orientations on the same strand, i.e., the same sequence can occur in the 3' to 5' and 5' to 3' directions – this is suggestive of a transposition-mediated mechanism of mobility rather than one based on recombination.
Short palindromic repeats are found in the three genetic compartments of V. carteri. The palindromic elements of the mtDNA are structurally similar but different in nucleotide sequence to those of the ptDNA, whereas the nucDNA palindromes are of two types: those that map to the mtDNA and those that map to ptDNA. These observations evoke several questions, such as are the palindromic repeats in the mtDNA and ptDNA related? And if so, in what genetic compartment did they first appear? Moreover, how did the nucDNA acquire palindromes that share sequence identity to those of the mitochondrial and plastid genomes, and why are they not as abundant as those of the organelle DNA? And finally, are the palindromic elements indigenous to V. carteri or are they the products of lateral gene transfer?
Although the mtDNA palindromic repeats differ in nucleotide sequence to the palindromes of the ptDNA, these two groups of repeats share enough structural features to suggest that they have descended from a common repetitive element and, thus, represent a single class of selfish DNA. For instance, in both the mitochondrial and plastid compartments the palindromic repeats reside in identical genomic landscapes (intergenic regions and non-ORF portions of introns) and they also inhabit these noncoding regions in similar abundances, representing ~80% of the noncoding nucleotides in both the mitochondrial and plastid genomes. Moreover, the mtDNA and ptDNA palindromes fold into hairpin structures where the loop portion is consistently 5'-TAAA-3' or 5'-ATTT-3'.
The same palindromic elements that have propagated in the V. carteri organelle DNA are also found in a small fraction (~0.06%) of the nucDNA. Although these nuclear-palindromic repeats can share up to 100% sequence identity with those of the mtDNA or ptDNA, many are degenerate with mismatches in the stem component of their hairpin structures. This observation, coupled with the relatively low abundance of these repeats in the nuclear genome, leads us to suggest that the nucDNA palindromes are inert, accumulating in the nucDNA through both mitochondrial-to-nucleus and plastid-to-nucleus DNA-transfer events – the movement of organelle DNA to nuclear genomes is well documented [34–37]. Further evidence to support this hypothesis is the fact that the proposed organelle-derived palindromes are present within the nuclear genome in the same proportions as other genetic regions from the mitochondrial and plastid genomes, such as coding regions (Table 1).
Two observations regarding the derivation of the short palindromic repeats in V. carteri are worth noting. First, the palindromic elements appear to have a strong affinity for the non-ORF regions of organelle introns, especially those in the mitochondrial genome. Because organelle introns are, themselves, a type of selfish element, which can migrate between organelle compartments, both within a species and between unrelated species ([38, 39], and see for a discussion on volvocalean ptDNA group-I introns), it is not unreasonable to surmise that the origin of the short palindromic repeats in V. carteri is linked to lateral intron transfer. The second observation is that the short palindromic repeats have propagated in only two of the nine introns in the V. carteri plastid genome: the group-I introns of psaA and atpA. Why have the other seven plastid introns (one group-I and six group-II introns) remained inviolate from palindromic elements? The two group-I plastid introns that contain short palindromic repeats belong to subgroup IB. Considering that the other group-I intron in the ptDNA (that of chlL), which is devoid of palindromes, is also of subgroup IB, it seems unlikely that the palindromic elements are favouring a certain class of intron. It is noteworthy that the chlL group-I intron lacks a LAGLIDADG homing endonuclease, whereas the group-I introns of psaA and atpA, as well as those of the mtDNA, harbour LAGLIDADG ORFs – perhaps, as suggested above, the mobility of the palindromic elements is dependent on intronic endonuclease proteins. Another possibility is that the plastid genome was seeded with short palindromic repeats after the inception of palindromic elements in the mtDNA and, therefore, the plastid palindromic repeats have not had sufficient time to spread to all of the intronic regions in the ptDNA; moreover, some of ptDNA introns may have arrived more recently in evolutionary time than those of psaA and atpA, and, thus, have not yet been seeded with repeats.
When Aono et al. first identified short palindromic repeats in the V. carteri mitochondrial genome they predicted that these repeats would be associated with the fragmentation of rRNA-transcripts. The mtDNA data presented here may support these predications. Our annotation of the V. carteri mitochondrial genome contains eight modules encoding the LSU rRNA, and their arrangement within the mtDNA is identical to that of C. reinhardtii, with the exception that the L8 module of V. carteri contains a large block of palindromic repeats, whereas that of C. reinhardtii harbours no repetitive mtDNA. At the present time we do not know if this insertion represents a fragmentation point within the L8 coding module that is removed from the primary transcript or if it is maintained as a variable region within an intact L8 transcript. We favour the former possibility because in the latter scenario the insertion is three-fold larger than any previously reported variable region identified in ribosomal RNA – based on the Comparative RNA Website .
The goal of this study was to investigate the genomic breadth and the evolutionary implications of short palindromic repeats in the organelle and nuclear genomes of V. carteri. Our findings indicate that selfish DNA, in the form of palindromic elements, have proliferated in the V. carteri mtDNA and ptDNA; and although copies of this element exist in the nuclear compartment, we suggest that they are inert and arrived in the nuclear genome via rare organelle-to-nucleus DNA transfer events. We speculate that the palindromic repeats in V. carteri descended from a single invasive element, perhaps first seeded in V. carteri through the lateral gene transfer of a mitochondrial intron, eventually spreading to the ptDNA through mitochondrial-to-plastid DNA migration. Overall, the palindromic repeats appear to be involved with the expansion of the V. carteri organelle DNA and have potentially precipitated a gene fragmentation event in the mitochondrial genome.
The sequence data generated in this study were obtained from the 72-52 dissociator mutant of V. carteri (UTEX 2908), which is derived from V. carteri strain HK10 (UTEX 885) [23, 24]. Total genomic DNA was extracted using the DNeasy Plant Mini Kit (Qiagen, Germantown, MD, USA) following manufacturer's protocol.
The organelle loci examined in this study were amplified using a PCR-based approach. PCR reactions were performed with the LongRange PCR Kit (Qiagen) using total genomic DNA as the template. PCR products were cloned using the TOPO TA Cloning Kit (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA, USA). Purified PCR products and isolated plasmids were sequenced on both strands at the Macrogen Sequencing Facility, Rockville, MD.
Sequences were edited and assembled using CodonCode Aligner Version 2.0.6 (CodonCode Corporation, Dedham, MA, USA), which employs the Phred, Cross-match, and Phrap algorithms for base calling, sequence comparison, and sequence assembly, respectively. Assemblies were performed with a minimum-percent-identity score of 98, a minimum-overlap length of 500 nt, a match score of 1, a mismatch penalty of -2, a gap penalty of -2, and an additional first gap penalty of -3.
The mtDNA and ptDNA data presented in this study were validated by collecting and assembling mitochondrial- and plastid-genome sequences that were generated by the V. carteri nuclear genome sequencing project . These sequences were obtained by blasting our mtDNA and ptDNA data against the V. carteri f. nagariensis Whole Genome Shotgun Reads Trace Archive Database at the National Center for Biotechnological Information (NCBI) . Blast hits showing >99% similarity to our V. carteri mtDNA and ptDNA sequences were downloaded and assembled (using the assembly program and parameters described above); the downloaded mitochondrial and plastid sequences were subsequently blasted against the V. carteri draft nuclear genome sequence (v1.0 Repeatmasked) to verify that no nuclear-genome-located mtDNA-like or ptDNA-like sequences were collected.
An initial scan for repetitive elements in the V. carteri mtDNA and ptDNA sequence data was performed with REPuter [43, 44] using the Hamming distance option and a minimal-repeat-size setting of 12 nt – note, forward, reverse, complement, and reverse complement repeats were all considered under REPuter. Further analyses of the V. carteri organelle DNA repeats were performed in Geneious (Biomatters LtD, Auckland, NZ) by building a Blast databank of the mtDNA and ptDNA sequences and then blasting these databanks with specific regions from the mitochondrial and plastid genomes. Mfold was employed for secondary-structure analyses. The mtDNA and ptDNA introns were detected, classified, and folded into secondary structures using RNAweasel [46, 47]. The noncoding-DNA estimates presented for the V. carteri organelle genomes were inferred from the average-intergenic-spacer sizes and intron-densities of the mtDNA and ptDNA data that were collected. Dotplot similarity matrices were plotted with JDotter . The LSU rRNA secondary-structure model depicted in Figure 3 is based on that of Boer and Gray . The C. reinhardtii mtDNA-introns shown in Figure 1 are described elsewhere .
The V. carteri nucDNA was scanned for regions of identity to organelle DNA by blasting the mtDNA and ptDNA sequences produced in this study against the V. carteri draft nuclear genome sequence (v1.0 Repeatmasked) using an expectation value of 1 × 10-5 and a word size of 11. Organelle-DNA sequences that mapped to the nuclear genome with >90% identity and at least 25 nt of aligned length were counted as hits. The same protocol employed for V. carteri was used to scan the C. reinhardtii nucDNA for regions that show identity to organelle sequences. The C. reinhardtii nucDNA scaffolds (version 3.1) were downloaded from the DOE JGI .
The mtDNA and ptDNA sequences generated in this study are found in Genbank under the accession numbers EU760701 and EU755264–EU755299, respectively.
This work was supported by a grant to R.W.L. from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada. D.R.S. is an Izaak Walton Killam Memorial Scholar and holds a Canada Graduate Scholarship from NSERC.
DRS carried out the molecular studies, data analyses, and wrote the manuscript. RWL helped in interpreting the data and revising the manuscript. Both DRS and RWL have read and approved the final version of this manuscript.
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2019-04-23T22:05:34Z
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https://bmcgenomics.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2164-10-132
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We're looking this morning at verses 1 to 8. Now some people believe, some scholars, that verse 1 is in fact the title of Mark's Gospel. Of course, many of the first verses of the first chapters of books in the Bible are indeed the titles, if you like. There are others who believe that this verse 1 is referring to what follows in the next verse and right through to verse 8 or thereabouts: how the story of the Gospel began, the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Well, if you want to comprise those two views, verses 1-8 could comprise of, if you like, the beginning of the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It's how the whole story began.
I wonder if I was to ask you the question: where did the Gospel begin? What would your answer be? It's a kind of tricky one, isn't it?
Well, how did it begin? I wonder if I was to ask you the question: where did the Gospel begin? What would your answer be? It's a kind of tricky one, isn't it? Perhaps your answer would be: 'Well, it begins with the Nativity, Jesus being born, the Son of God, into the human race in a miraculous way at His conception, and then born in Bethlehem's manger'. Well, we've got a problem with that, because Mark, as we saw last week, doesn't have a nativity story - yet he has taken it upon himself, as verse 1 shows us, to write 'the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ'. So we would have to say that the account of the Gospel as such does not begin, essentially, with the birth of Christ. Indeed, Mark begins the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the story of the ministry of John the Baptist.
Now you remember we outlined last week that Matthew's purpose in writing his Gospel was to show forth the King and His kingdom, and he gives us the Nativity story, and indeed the lineage of the Lord Jesus to show that He is of blood line of the King, and He is the promised Messiah-King. Luke's Gospel, the purpose of the writer is to show forth the human nature of the Lord Jesus Christ, and as such he gives us another genealogy of the Lord Jesus as a man. John's Gospel, the purpose is to set forth Jesus as the Son of God, as being divine, so he gives us this Nativity story, as it were, way back in eternity past: 'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God' - His sonship as the eternal Son of God, rather than as Son of Man.
Mark's purpose, of course, as we have said, is to set forth the Lord Jesus as the Servant of Jehovah. It appears that as Mark does this in his Gospel he's keen, dare we say even impatient, to launch into a presentation of the earthly service of the Lord Jesus to God and to all of mankind. Look at chapter 1 for instance: he rushes through the record of the ministry of John the Baptist in little more than eight verses, he rushes through the baptism of the Lord Jesus Christ, the temptation of the Saviour in a verse or two, to get to the record in verse 14 and following of Christ's ministry on the earth. So Mark is giving us a record of the Servant of Jehovah, and that record does not begin in Bethlehem's manger, but strangely it begins in a city called Babylon. Babylon?
Well, it's as if it begins there, because he takes us right back to the ministry of the evangelical prophet Isaiah, who ministered to the Jews as they were facing captivity in Babylon because of their sins against God. We have in verse 2: 'As it is written in the prophets', some manuscripts say 'in the prophet Isaiah', and there is the prophecy: 'I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight'. So Mark, giving us an account of the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, takes us back to the prophet Isaiah. He also quotes Malachi, and in fact he quotes him first in this verse 2, for it is he who said: 'I send my messenger before thy face', and then in verse 3 he quotes Isaiah.
Two quotes from the Old Testament, Malachi 3:1 and Isaiah 40:3. So right away, and we'll visit this in a moment or two, he's going back further than Bethlehem to establish the identity of the One who is the Servant of Jehovah. Mark is seeking to establish for us the Servant's identity, and in verse 1 he does it: 'The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God' - Jesus, the man who would be the Saviour of mankind; Christ, the anointed One who was prepared of God and prophesied in the Old Testament; and this One is none other than the Son of God in His divine being, He is the eternal pre-existent Son.
But this is Mark's point: where does the Gospel begin? The Servant of Jehovah begins in Old Testament prophecy, He is the Son of God. So Mark, as the Holy Spirit's inspired author, is now witnessing to the identity of this Servant of Jehovah. Mark is witnessing to it, and now he's pulling up, if you like, into the stand to witness, the prophets - Malachi and Isaiah. We will see in this account of verses 1-8 that he also calls up to the stand John the Baptist as another witness to the identity of the Servant of Jehovah. Later, God willing next week, in verses 9-13 we find that he also calls up the Father and the Spirit to witness as to who the identity is of this Servant of Jehovah.
But in another sense, the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is now actualised in time in the ministry of John the Baptist, who is the fulfilment of Isaiah and Malachi's prophecies in verses 2 and 3. So, prophetically this Gospel of Jesus Christ begins for Mark, prophetically, in the prophecies of Malachi and Isaiah and all the other prophets - but actually, Mark is saying to us, actually in time the ministry and the beginning of the Gospel starts through John the Baptist. Now there are several points here of interest - one being, in our particular society today and in the church, that the Gospel has been redefined by many. You often hear it said in debates on the radio, even in the press, that the Gospel is 'to love your neighbour'. Well, yes, that statement and many more are contained within the gospels, but that of course is not the Gospel. The problem takes place when people maintain that the Gospel is a genre of literature setting forth a historical record of the whole life and ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now that's true, the gospel, or a gospel is a form of literature - Matthew, Mark, Luke and John - but that is not the Gospel. We see that very clearly, because we don't have a record in Mark's Gospel of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. His Nativity is absent.
What is the Gospel? Is it simply the whole story of Jesus' life? Mark would indicate that it is not, because he leaves out His birth, so what is the Gospel in essence?
So we're left with the question: then what is the Gospel? Is it simply the whole story of Jesus' life? Mark would indicate that it is not, because he leaves out His birth, so what is the Gospel in essence? I believe the answer is given to us by Mark - the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God - and where does it all begin? Not just in Old Testament prophecy, prophetically in Malachi and Isaiah, but actually where did it all begin? In the fulfilment of Malachi and Isaiah's prophecy in the person of John the Baptist, and what John the Baptist preached, and who John the Baptist pointed to. Matthew Henry puts it well when he says in his commentary: 'The Gospel did not begin so soon as the birth of Christ, for He took time to increase in wisdom and stature. Not so late as His entering upon His public ministry, but half a year before when John the Baptist began to preach the same doctrine that Christ afterward preached'. I believe Matthew Henry is correct, but that poses some questions for us this morning, and I believe their answers will be deeply instructive and beneficial to us.
The first question is: did the Gospel begin with John the Baptist? The second question is: was the Gospel preached by John the Baptist the same Gospel preached by Jesus? Well the answer to the first question I think is clear in Luke's Gospel chapter 16:16, which says: 'The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it' - the kingdom being preached at the beginning by John the Baptist. Peter actually, when he recounts during the occasion of the choosing of Matthias in Acts chapter 1:22, he records there that: 'Beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us', that is the Lord, 'must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection' - speaking of how an apostle had to be a witness in some shape or form of the ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ, he records that ministry as being from John the Baptist, the baptism of John to when the Lord was taken up from them after His resurrection.
So I think that's clear, and in verse 14 of Mark's Gospel we see that after John was put in prison, in chapter 1: 'Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel' - preaching exactly the same thing as John the Baptist preached. So then, how did the Gospel begin in John the Baptist, and what was his message? I want to give you the answer to those questions under two headings - first of all: the Baptist's life was an illustration of the Gospel; and secondly: the Baptist's preaching was an articulation of the Gospel.
How did the Gospel begin in John the Baptist, and what was his message?
So first of all: the Baptist's life was an illustration of the Gospel. In Matthew 11, Jesus called John the Baptist 'the greatest of the prophets', and of course he is identified in the Old Testament prophetically and in the New in Matthew 17 with Elijah the prophet, and we see him very similar in his demeanour and his dress. But this is Mark's point, I believe, and we could go into all those little intricate details and miss the point: John the Baptist lived, in his life, the message of the Gospel. He was a witness to Christ and to the Gospel by his lifestyle, and that is one of the senses in which he begins the beginning of the Gospel of Christ.
Now let me show you this. Take, for instance, his home - verse 4 says he lived in the wilderness. William Hendrickson, the commentator, gives us a very graphic picture of what the wilderness was in those days: 'John was preaching', he says, 'in the wilderness of Judaea, a term indicating the rolling badlands between the country of Judaea to the West and the Dead Sea, and the lower Jordan to the east, stretching northward about the point where the Jabbok flows into the Jordan. It is indeed a desolation, a vast undulating expanse of barren chalky soil covered with pebbles, broken stones and rocks. Here and there a bit of brushwood appears with snakes crawling underneath'. Another person says: 'It shimmers in the haze of the heat, the limestone rock is hot and blistering, and sounds hollow to the feet as if there was some vast furnace underneath. In the Old Testament it is sometimes called 'Jeshimon', which means 'the devastation''. Hendrickson goes on: 'It is evident from Isaiah and John's preaching as recorded by Mark, that the wilderness through which a path must be made ready for the Lord is, in the final analysis, the people's hearts that were inclined to all evil'. So John, where he lived, was actually living out a pictorial illustration of the message that he was preaching to prepare the way for the Lord to come to the hearts of men and women in Israel. His home speaks forth of the wilderness of the hearts of men.
Secondly, his life illustrates the Gospel in the clothing that he wore - verse 6, if you look at it, he wore a garment that was woven from camels hair, and a leather thong about his waist. Just like Elijah in 2 Kings 1:8, and of course Elijah was expected by the Jews to be the forerunner of Messiah. But here is Mark's point: when you looked at John the Baptist, as one has said before, you weren't reminded of the fashionable orators of the day but of the ancient prophets who lived close to the great simplicities, and avoided the soft and effeminate luxuries which kill the soul. His home and his clothing were speaking of the absolute poverty of humanity to come to God. Here he is, calling the people out into the wilderness to recognise their inability before God.
What was the result of this lifestyle that illustrated the Gospel?
His home, his clothing, thirdly his food - verse 6 tells us that he ate locusts, which indeed was permitted in Leviticus 11 - mightn't be very appetising, but it was allowed - and wild honey. Wild honey was often bountiful in the clefts of the rock, and there's a lovely thought even in that. Whatever these foods were, and whatever his diet consisted of - I don't think this is an exclusive statement that that's all he ate, but it's a general reference to the simple food that John ate. It was of the simplest fare imaginable. Now, think of his home, think of his clothing, think of his food, and all that is being conveyed here by Mark is that this man John the Baptist subordinated these things which are so basic, yet so important to us in our lives - home, clothing and food - he subordinated these personal things to the glorious task of making Christ and the Gospel known.
Perhaps he could have been rich, I don't know, but he chose to be poor. One thing is certain: he became a fitting herald of Him who has not where to lay His head. He became an apt servant to the Servant of Jehovah. What was the result of this lifestyle that illustrated the Gospel? Well, it's found in verse 5, we're told that 'there went out unto him all the land of Judaea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized'. Now that is in the imperfect indicative, where it says 'Then went out unto him'. Now that simply means this: it's describing a steady stream of people who kept coming to the baptism. Now 'all' there cannot mean 'all' of course, many feel that it could be up to 300,000 people who came to John for baptism - but it's again the use of hyperbole, in other words he's exaggerating to make the point. It wasn't every citizen in Jerusalem and Judaea came out and was baptised - no, but generally there was a widespread acceptance and an embracing of the ministry of John and his preaching. All classes, we know from the Gospel, came out - in Matthew 3 the Pharisees and the Sadducees, some of them went out to hear him; in Luke 3 the publicans or tax collectors went out; in Luke 3 again, verse 10, the rich and the poor were there; Luke 3:14, the soldiers went out to listen to his preaching.
Why was he so successful in his ministry? Well, obviously, the main reason was that it was ordained of God. He was the fulfilment of this prophecy of the one who would prepare the way of the Lord, but on a human level surely it is not insignificant to see that this preacher's life paralleled his message, and what he said agreed with how he lived. In other words, John the Baptist was a walking Gospel, and his whole life illustrated it. How different we are! How different I am! We talk about sacrifice, we talk about giving to Gospel causes, but perhaps we just go on our merry way living in the luxuries that everybody else lives in, without any inconvenience for the cause of the Servant of Jehovah. Not John the Baptist, and I think that was one of the reasons that people listened to him.
What he said agreed with how he lived. In other words, John the Baptist was a walking Gospel, and his whole life illustrated it. How different we are! How different I am!
Do we, as Christians, go against the trends of the day to make a point for the sake of the Gospel of Christ? That's what John the Baptist was doing, and though he was fulfilling prophecy, in this sense it is irrelevant: we need to grasp the point that John's dress, John's lifestyle were a protest against the godlessness, the self-serving materialism of the day, even in the echelons of the religious establishment. His life was a call, literally, to separation: 'Come out!'.
Fourthly, one other factor that was illustrative of the Gospel - not only his home, his clothing, his food - was his humility. As the Sun of Righteousness rose on the horizon of Israelite history, John, the North Star who was guiding folk to Christ, eclipsed. Jesus came on the scene, John disappeared. Humility. We read that John was quite happy to do that, in John 3 John said: 'A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven. Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him'. He saw himself, from John 3 we know, as the friend of the Bridegroom, rejoicing in the voice of the Bridegroom. In verse 30 of John 3 he speaks these immortal words: 'He must increase, but I must decrease'.
Humility - now we'll look at this a little bit later, but save to say that there's a great lesson in this for any of us who are preachers. I have felt the lesson deeply as I've been studying. R. Kent Hughes in his commentary makes the point of how John embodied the message that he preached, and he quoted referring to 1877 Yale Lectures on preaching that were given by Phillip Brooks. When he was lecturing he gave this foundational definition of what preaching is, this is what he said, I'm quoting: 'Truth through personality is our description of real preaching. The truth must come through the person, not merely over his lips, it must come through his character, his affections, his whole intellectual and moral being. It must come genuinely through him'. He goes on to quote Bishop Quayle who said almost the same thing by asking the question: 'Preaching is the art of making a sermon and delivering it?', to which he answered, 'Why, no! That is not preaching, preaching is the art of making a preacher and delivering that'.
John the Baptist was a living sermon that God delivered to Israel. E. M. Bounds put it like this: 'It takes 20 years to make a preacher, because it takes 20 years to make a man'. John, from his mother's womb, was filled by the Spirit of God. He was a Nazarite from birth, totally committed to God - what a message!
Secondly let's look at the Baptist's preaching - how was he the beginning of the Gospel in his preaching? Well, his preaching, I believe, was an articulation of the Gospel. Malachi 3:1 spoke prophetically of him, Isaiah 40:3 - Malachi says he was a messenger, and Isaiah 40 said he would be a voice. The significance of that is that for 400 years after the prophet Malachi, before we come to Matthew's Gospel, there was no voice from God - God did not speak to the nation of Israel. Now John would be that voice in the wilderness coming to prepare the way for the Son of God.
Now we have to understand a bit of the custom of the day to appreciate what this preparation of the way of the Lord really means. In ancient times, before a King visited any part of his realm, there was a messenger that was sent on before him to prepare the way. Often, depending on how high and mighty the Emperor was, it was a band of engineers and workmen that would go along the road to prepare the way of the King. The thoroughfare may have been rough and mountainous, and you can just imagine that these people in their day would have been familiar, nearly every generation witnessed such road making for their Emperors. Josephus the historian describes the march of Roman Emperor Vespasian, who succeeded Nero, and he says that the engineers went before Vespasian, and they were to make the road even and straight - if anywhere there was roughness or hardness, they were to smooth it over, to plane it, to cut down even woods if it hindered the march of the army.
Here we have an illustration that people would have understood: John the Baptist is coming, preparing the way of the Lord out in the wilderness, living like an Old Testament prophet; and he's now communicating that he wants to prepare a way in the hearts of the men and women of Israel for the Lord coming. Now how did he do it? We see how he depicted it, but how did he actually do it? He did it through his preaching. Somewhere in the last, I don't know how many years, the evangelical church has got away from preaching, and preaching is in ill-repute. 'Do anything, do everything but preach!', but it is by the foolishness of preaching that God has ordained to save, and through his preaching he prepared the way of the Lord, and in his preaching he was beginning the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, articulating the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
There are essentials, I believe, in John's ministry to show us what good Gospel preaching is. Let me show you this, how his preaching was an articulation of the Gospel. First of all verse 4: he preached the remission of sins, through the baptism of the remission of sins. Now 'remission' simply means 'forgiveness' or 'sending away', sending away sin. In other words, John the Baptist, through this baptism - and I believe that it's obvious he received confession before he baptised anyone, confession of their sins - he was encouraging the people to see their need of forgiveness, and to see that they could not achieve forgiveness themselves, and then to point to how that forgiveness could be obtained. He's preparing the way for the Lord, preaching remission of sins.
Secondly we see that he's preaching repentance. Verse 4, it's a baptism of repentance that he is administrating. In other words, you've got to forsake sin and turn to God. One commentator refers to the fact of how baptism was a wholly novel idea, no one else had ever baptised like John. The only thing that ever existed that was quite close was the fact that whenever Gentiles converted to Judaism, they were ritually washed from their defilement and uncleanness that they had accrued through their past Gentile sinfulness. But the Jews were now being asked themselves, God's true chosen people, to be washed - this was unheard of, Jews being baptised? John was wanting to point out that all need repentance, everyone, Jews and Gentiles. So he's preaching the forgiveness of sins, that we need it; and he's pointing, as we'll see in a moment, to the One who can get it for us; but he's also telling us that repentance is necessary, and it's not a cheap grace or a cheap forgiveness.
The Jews had to go out into the wilderness, and I just suppose that they would have been reminded of the 40 years that they wandered around in the wilderness because of their backsliding and their disobedience - but the purpose of all of it, John's life and John's preaching, was to get them to that point of repentance so that when the Lord Jesus came He would have acceptance. How is our brokenness for sin? You know, this is the preparation for the Gospel that is necessary, this is the beginning of the Gospel in all of our lives - 'Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted'. I have a firm conviction that a great many of the false professions that are around today, and the so-called backsliders, are because there was a lack of repentance when they professed Jesus Christ as the Saviour. They took hold of Christ, but didn't let go of their sin. The fact remains from scripture that that means they didn't take hold of Christ at all.
He preached remission of sins, he preached repentance, and then in verses 7 and 8 he preached Christ! How else could we see that his preaching was an articulation of the Gospel except in this very point: the pure Gospel is Christ! May I just say that it's interesting, in passing, that John the Baptist did not magnify baptism. I believe, of course, in believer's baptism - but isn't it interesting that that wasn't the theme of his message? He baptised, but the theme was Christ! He magnified Jesus Christ, and often we get sidetracked from Christ even by sound doctrine and true doctrine, and Christ is eclipsed by our doctrine! John preached Christ. How did he preach Christ? One, Christ's preeminence. Matthew Henry says: 'Christ is so high, so great, that John - though one of the greatest that was born of women - thinks himself unworthy to be employed in the meanest office about Him, even to stoop down and untie His shoes - 'I am unworthy''. Christ's preeminence! He set Christ above himself, and he set himself as low as he could in the presence of Christ.
Now sandals today are all mod-con, but in those days they were composed of leather soles, fastened to the foot by straps passed through the toes. The roads were unsurfaced, in dry weather they were dust heaps, in wet weather they were rivers of mud. But according to ancient Jewish tradition, the difference between a disciple and a servant or a slave was this: a disciple was willing to perform every service for his master that a menial servant would have performed, except untie his sandals. So what may well be given to us here are the three ascending degrees of humility in John's life - note it: one, the disciple is willing to render almost every service. A disciple will do everything except untie a man's sandals. Two, the slave, the servant must be willing to render every service including untying sandals - but here's what John says, this is where he was: the Baptist considers himself even unfit or unworthy to render the service of untying his Master's sandal straps. The preeminence of Christ - so high, and I so low!
He preached Christ's preeminence, secondly he preached Christ's power. He says: 'He that comes after me in time is mightier than I. I baptised you with water, I drenched you', literally, 'immersed you in water, externally cleansing you. But He will come and drench you with the Holy Spirit, cleanse you from within to without'. Of course, John could only prepare their hearts, Jesus had the power to mend them. He pointed to Christ, pre-eminent, powerful. He pointed to His promise, that He would baptise them with the Holy Spirit - and we know from John 3 that this was the new birth, we know from Acts chapter 2 that in the Day of Pentecost it was realised in the birth of the church and the coming of the Spirit. His promise came true! John preaching this gospel, the preeminence of Christ, Christ's power, Christ's promise, and also - though it's not found in Mark - Christ's passion.
What is it costing us to be servants of the Servant of Jehovah? Does it cost us our home? Our clothing? Our food? Our pride? Does it cost us ourselves, as we point from ourselves to Jesus?
He preached the cross. In John 1 we hear the Baptist saying, verse 29 and later on, 'Behold, the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world'. He knew the basis for the remission of sins was the shedding of the blood of the Lamb. So, in John's life we see the beginning of the Gospel illustrated through his lifestyle. We see it articulated in his preaching. In a nutshell, he preached Christ and Him crucified. That is why Paul would say to us: 'I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified'. How do we measure to John? But you know, Mark is giving us account of John the Baptist's beginning of the ministry and Gospel of Jesus Christ - and do you know what John and Mark have in common? They're always directing people's attention to Jesus. Mark never names himself once in his Gospel, he alludes to it in chapter 14 as we saw last week. And John is always pointing people to Christ - the Baptist witnessed Christ to, eventually, the expense of his ministry which faded away, and his life as he was decapitated by Herod.
Can I ask you as we close this morning: what is it costing us to be servants of the Servant of Jehovah? Does it cost us our home? Our clothing? Our food? Our pride? Does it cost us ourselves, as we point from ourselves to Jesus? Dr G. J. Jeffrey was speaking many years ago when old telephone exchanges were in operation - some of you remember that. He said these words: 'When we make a telephone call and there's some delay, the operator will often say, 'I'm trying to connect you', and when the connection has been effected the operator fades out and leaves us in direct contact with the person to whom we wish to speak'. He said these words: 'John's one aim was not to occupy the centre of the stage himself, but try to connect men with the One who was greater and stronger than he, and men listened to him because he pointed not to himself but to the One whom all men need'.
Lord Jesus Christ, we pray, be our vision. We ask that we will take the exhortation of Mark and John, and look to Jesus and Him alone for our salvation, for the remission of our sins, for the power to repent - the pre-eminent Christ, the powerful Christ, the Christ who gives the promise of God, the passionate Christ who died for us that we might live. Lord, let us see at all times Jesus, and in seeing Him as the Servant of Jehovah, let us learn what it is to serve, let us take the position of John the Baptist - feeling himself unworthy to unloose the latchet of the sandals of Christ. May we perpetually decrease, and Christ eternally increase to the glory of God. Amen.
This sermon was delivered at The Iron Hall Evangelical Church in Belfast, Northern Ireland, by Pastor David Legge. It was transcribed from the second recording in his 'Studies In Mark' series, entitled "John The Baptist, and The Beginning Of The Gospel" - Transcribed by Andrew Watkins, Preach The Word.
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2019-04-25T13:47:30Z
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https://www.preachtheword.com/sermon/mark02.shtml
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A little over a week ago, I organized, and with help from many others, ran the first (annual? occasional? only?) Georgia Peach Matches. The program consisted of smallbore rifle indoors at 50 feet 3×40 qualification and final, and air rifle 10 meters 60 standing qualification and final, all fired under USA Shooting rules. Most competitors fired at the University of North Georgia and a few fired simultaneously at Georgia Southern University. We had a mix of high school students, ranging from beginner through advanced, college students, and one Olympic team member. A number of the young athletes shot very well with respect to where they are in their journey.
One of the participating athletes was Molly McGhin, a 16 year old advanced athlete with significant national match experience. She shot well in all 4 events. Her air qualification provided some interesting insights, both for the statistically minded and for those interested in the psychology of high performance. The decimal score was 618.3, good for 2nd place behind the Olympian’s score of 620.5 and her integer score was 592-40x. None of their scores were world class, but are certainly quite respectable for a pre-season pick up match.
Normally, we like to spend time looking at the “inner group” first to reinforce the aspects of the process which went well. At the same time it is instructive to take a quick look at the “outer group” for insight and reminders of areas for improvement in the process. As I looked at the score sheet for this athlete, I detected some interesting patterns and decided to do a histogram of her match, as shown above.
Looking at the “outer group” we see only 7 shots which scored below 10.0, meaning 53 shots scored 10.0 or higher. Interestingly, if these 7 shots had scored at least 10.0, she would have won the match by 0.2 points or more. (Of course, then her integer score would have been 600.) The competition is tough at the top!
We spent almost no time at all talking about the widest shot of all, since she rarely shoots anything below about 9.5 or 9.6. In fact we laughed about “the one that got away” and we moved on after she made a quick comment about what had happened. We aren’t worried about a repeat and certainly won’t spend time talking more about it. We focus on where we are headed, not on where we have been. The only reason I mention it here is because many people will make a big deal of that particular shot. It is no big deal and we moved on.
It is the “inner group” which initially caught my eye on the score sheet, demanding a histogram and further reflection. Often, an athlete’s shot distribution will cluster around a value consistent with their level of experience and capability. Conversely, this histogram shows a different, bi-modal pattern.
As an aside, notice the 4 shots at 9.9. It isn’t your imagination that we get lots of them!
Why are there 2 primary modes and why is there a gap of only 5 shots in between? To understand, we must first go back to where I first observed the phenomenon.
Upon examination of the target, with 25 shots, we discovered a swarm of shots from about 10.3 or so to 10.9, then an untouched area of about 10.2 to 9.6, then a sparse sprinkling of a few shots from about 9.5 and lower on the target. The inner group and outer group were separated by a “no man’s land” of no shots. Because the free pistol target is so large when compared to a 10 meter air rifle target, and because free pistol shot dispersion can get pretty wide all too quickly, the bi-modal clustering actually had a gap. Instantly I knew why and explained to my friend.
During my motorcycle racing days I had taught myself Flow, learned how to set the stage, and often spent extended periods of time deep in the Zone. It didn’t hurt that the threat of imminent death or maiming clarified and crystallized my focus! I had adapted this knowledge to my target shooting, especially free pistol because of its difficulty. Even when not in Flow, I had learned to shoot without mental and emotional interference. When discussing this one day with Abhinav Bindra, he talked about learning to “manufacture a shot” when there was no Flow and there still needed to be no interference. Watching him shoot was a treat and a clinic all in one.
Why did my target have such a strong bi-modal pattern? Quite simply, the inner group was fired by the deeper mind without interference (e.g. no outcome focus, no worry, and no attempts at control) while the outer “group” or ring was fired by the active mind with interference (e.g. outcome concern, taking control of the process).
Results are the outcomes we desire. Some forms of outcome are obvious: winning, score, making the final, earning a Junior Olympics invitation to the Olympic Training Center, etc. Other forms of outcome are less obvious: wanting to impress a college coach, not wanting to be embarrassed, etc. Still other forms of outcome are hidden deeply: wanting to feel good about oneself, not wanting to feel inadequate, no good, useless, etc.
Performance represents our capabilities. We spend countless hours honing our equipment, positions, and technique. Almost all our effort goes into this part of the equation. For most athletes, 99 to 100 percent of their time is spent in this area. We constantly work to improve our technique and improve our ability to perform.
Interference is all the factors reducing our performance. The primary factor here is outcome focus, which is the cause of choking. (See my article archive of the On The Firing Line series for articles Choking and Choke Proofing, which was referenced in US Olympic Coach magazine.) Remember, outcome takes many forms, often subtle and sneaky. The slightest thought or feeling of outcome increases interference. Sometimes just a little, though usually quite a bit. Generally, we have very little understanding of this area and do no training to reduce interference. This is why intermediate and higher level athletes often plateau for extended periods of time and/or have dramatically lower match scores compared to training. The two articles shed light on this area.
Returning to the athlete’s match charted above, I showed her the chart and we discussed the dynamics of her match. She described the higher mode (10.5-10.7) as being delivered with the “correct” shot processes, where her mind was quiet and her focus was on observing the shot process unfold. The lower mode (10.1-10.2) had the shots delivered where she felt the slightest bit of outcome focus, concern, or thought. A very subtle yet important difference. She noted that it was only after the shot was fired when she realized the difference and she was now going to pay attention to these ever so subtle hints. Several months ago she would not have even noticed this, so she is making great progress. Finally, the outliers were clear mistakes where the active mind was in full control trying to make a score or other outcome concern and “I should have rejected.” was the common theme. In all cases, the physical and technical fundamentals were identical. The only differences were in her mind.
If the differences in score are not attributable to physical and technical causes, what accounts for the variations? The differences in results are caused by differences in the mental and emotional state of the athlete. High performance requires physical, technical, mental, and emotional aspects to all be in top form and integrated closely with each other.
Too often, the former two (physical and technical) and the latter two (mental and emotional) are treated separately, with little or no integration. They must be fully integrated. Did you know the size of the rifle front sight aperture ring or pistol rear sight gaps have a profound effect on the athlete’s confidence and ability to decisively deliver a shot? (See my article archive of the On The Firing Line series for articles Where Are You Looking? – Part 1 and Where Are You Looking? – Part 2, along with the resource Front Aperture Selection to determine the minimum acceptable front aperture size.) Did you know that a trigger with too light of a total let off weight actually impedes high performance, causes the athlete to be tentative, and hinders the smooth “auto-magical” shot?
The mention of emotions may be off-putting to many people, especially to many boys and men. Have you ever been angry? Anger is an emotion. Is that masculine enough for you? Regardless of your gender, anger is one example of an emotional block to high performance. Thus the emphasis on both mental and emotional aspects.
We must fully integrate and utilize important details from all four aspects of high performance: physical, technical, mental, and emotional. (See my article archive of the On The Firing Line series for articles Mental and Emotional Skills and P-R-N-D, among many others addressing the mental and emotional aspects of high performance.) Developing athletes, and even athletes on the international circuit, often find the blocks to performance they face are not in their performance, rather the blocks are in their interference.
One little histogram from one little competition lent great insight into the state of mind of the athlete on that day, and provided much food for thought on the larger aspects of high performance. A day after discussing her histogram, we plotted another match which had a more typical bell curve shape with the mode around 10.4-10.5 with a decimal total above 621. Her mindset was a bit clearer during that match and we could clearly see a different pattern on the chart.
When athletes have truly and fully “let go” of all interference, their mode is around 10.8-10.9 – though only for the shots delivered fully in that manner. No one yet does it for 60 shots! We can see the mindset difference in these shots on a Noptel or other electronic trainer. The “distance from center over time” graph of a shot allows us to see when the athlete was truly in their deeper mind and when the active mind was in charge. The latter shots also confirm the average length of human reaction time, by which time the sights are no longer centered on 10.9! Thus the bell curve histograms. At a world class winning level in air rifle, the typical score works out to about a 10.5 per shot average. There is still room for improvement! In the spirit of letting go, I suggest my article Christmas Tens and my post The Empty Method for your reading pleasure.
Molly was intrigued by the histograms and the insights she could gain from our discussions, as discussed in this article. After reading the first draft of this article and reflecting on the competition, she wrote an excellent short essay. Molly graciously agreed to allow its inclusion in this article.
Every match you shoot, every hour on the range you have, and every shot you take is another step in the journey. Your journey will be filled with ups and downs, nerve-racking situations, feelings of success, and feelings of defeat. The only thing that matters is how you react to these feelings, and how you can take yourself to another level in your profession, even from the feelings of defeat.
Yes, I had many shots in my match that were deep. I also had shots that were not. By analyzing the shots on JP’s histogram, it gave new insights and ideas that I had never thought of in that way. For example, how many shots did I take in Flow? How many did I take while having interference? The histogram helped me answer those questions.
Even though I had a number to look at, (outcome), I did not perceive it as blindly analyzing a good and bad shot without a cause or reason. I analyzed the good shots by how I got them. I also noticed the bad shots; was it a mental or physical error? When I learned from my mistake, I moved on. But I did not hold on to the shot, knowing that it was only a mental and/or physical mistake, and the score just reflected it.
Considering this, it is very important to learn from the shots you take, good or bad. That is why every shot you take is another step in the journey. By learning from what you did, responding with a constructive attitude, and acting on what you learned in training will ultimately make your outlook on bad shots or matches in a positive and useful way.
Hopefully, this post and linked articles provide some insight and generate reflection on your part into how much the “Mind Matters” in all your activities, whether in sports, music, dance, other types of public performance, school, and work.
Advertisements may appear at the end of this post. I have no control of whether they appear or their content.
Please take a look at these two groups. The air group was shot by a brand new shooter (two months of light training) in the standing position with no suit or boots. The smallbore group (A-36 target) was shot in the standing position by an experienced air rifle shooter in her first weekend of smallbore.
What do you see? How would you evaluate these targets? How would you discuss them with yourself if they were yours or with the athlete?
Did your answer involve the use of the word “flyers” or anything related? Did your answer emphasize the one or two wide shots or the majority of the shots near the middle of the group? Did you emphasize score or the size of the group?
From now on, the word “flyer” is prohibited!
There are two groups, not one. When we first start to shoot, our “group” may look more like a shotgun pattern. Quickly we learn and our group shrinks. Soon enough, we get targets like the ones shown here. Each target illustrates two groups.
The main group is what people generally refer to as “the group” when discussing a target. As we make progress, the main group becomes smaller and it has a higher percentage of the shots. The outer group are the wide shots that aren’t in the main group yet. As we make progress, the outer group also shrinks and it has a lower percentage of the shots. Eventually it, too, shrinks and all the shots are in the main group. Even in the smallbore target above, there are two groups even though all the shots touch. At least one shot is obviously not truly in the main group.
Focus your mind and thoughts on the main group. It is your future. The outer group is your past. Which way are you headed? Answer: in the direction you spend the most time thinking about.
Recently at a collegiate match, an athlete commented on how he had shot a 7 in a practice session that week. His coach, whom I greatly respect, immediately responded: “No that is not how you talk about that session! You shot a 591 with 54 tens!” The athlete got the point!
I like to look at a match result with an athlete this way: Lets see, 34 Xs, 19 tens, and 7 nines. The X count is growing!
Focus on the positive and the future. Congratulate yourself on those tight main groups and let the process take care of the outer group for you.
This blog is specifically for athletes and coaches engaged in the sport of Olympic Rifle and Pistol target shooting. However, shotgun participants, and participants in any other sport or performance activity (music, singing, dance, public speaking, etc.) will find that much of the content applies to their activity as well.
The primary emphasis of the blog is on the mental (e.g. self talk, focus, etc.) and emotional (e.g. anger, fear, etc.) aspects of thriving under pressure. These are universal themes applicable to all performance activities.
Posts will be at varying though hopefully somewhat frequent intervals. Time will tell how often and how in-depth.
Please read the About and Author pages of this blog site for further information about the blog and the author. Please also feel free to go to the Contact page to send me your comments, suggestions, and topic ideas.
During November and December of 2013, the blog will be in “start-up” mode with official launch in 2014.
The target shown above, scoring 50-4x, was fired at the 2002 USA Shooting National Championships hosted by the US Army Marksmanship Unit at Fort Benning, GA in the demonstration event of Standard Air Pistol. This is a ten second series, fired at a slightly too rapid tempo with a Steyr LP-5, in only eight seconds – with an audience. No pressure!
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2019-04-25T20:25:42Z
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https://jpoconnor.wordpress.com/tag/target-shooting/
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When it comes to skin problems, maybe one of the most embarrassing and annoying blemishes that people have to cope with at some point of their life is pimples. This is the most common skin issue in America. Acne, also known as zits, seem to appear everywhere on the body. According to the British Medical Journal, acne impacts over 80% of teenagers and keeps happening in adult life in about 3% of men and 12% of women. The fact that you are reading this article means you want to know how to more about this condition, particularly how to get rid of pimples, right? Sure, here we from TrueRemedies will uncover the answer for your question, but first of all, you need to know some basics about pimples. Keep reading this article!
In the first place, a pimple is considered a small comedone, papule or pustule which forms a skin lesion. In technical terms, it is acne vulgaris. Despite there are a lot of causes of pimples, regardless of those causes, pimples develop when the sebaceous glands (also called as oil glands) are clogged and infected from harmful bacteria. It explains why pimples often swell up and turn into pus-filled and red lesions on and under the skin surface .
The majority of people have pimples or acne on their face, but the chest, neck, shoulders and upper back are also commonly impacted. It is estimated that approximately 30% of teenagers suffer from acne which is reckoned severe. For some people, genetics is the main cause and out of their control.
When not treated, acne or pimples could lead to scarring, which is more likely when the skin is swollen, flamed, painful and reddish, such as nodules and cystic acne. Basically, this form of acne will penetrate deeply into the human skin, leading to damage. If the sufferer delays the treatment, it might result in scarring too. Usually, acne is classified in 3 levels, which are mild, moderate and severe.
Picking at acne will worsen it as it does not have enough required time of healing, which increases inflammation, and thus, potentials of scarring. Besides, waiting to treat pimples and acne till it gets severe could cause extensive scarring; therefore, it is best to deal with it as soon as possible.
What Are Causes Of Pimples?
To control pimples effectively, it is important to acknowledge how they form and what causes them. The most important thing about pimples you need to remember is: it is not your fault. In contrast to popular belief, pimples or zits are not caused by external factors like what you eat, how often you cleanse your face or exercise. Actually, they are mainly caused by a combination of physiological factors far beneath the surface of the skin which are beyond of the human control.
The sebum amount produced on your skin which is impacted by your hormone balance and often in flux, particularly for women.
Genetics may play an big role in the development as well as persistence of zits, so the history of family could give you an idea of how likely it is that you will have pimples .
Hormones: for most people with pimples and blemishes, skin problems begin at puberty, when their bodies start to product hormones named androgens. Such hormones cause the sebaceous glands to enlarge, which is also a natural part of the development of the human body. In sufferers of pimples, nonetheless, the sebaceous glands are often over-stimulated by the hormones androgens, which sometimes could persist well into the adulthood. Also, androgens are responsible for pimple flare-ups during the menstrual cycle and pregnancy for some women.
Extra sebum: as the sebaceous glands get stimulated by the androgens, it will produce additional oil (sebum). When the sebum gets closely onto the skin pores, it will mix with some common skin bacteria as well as dead skin cells. This process is normal but the presence of extra oil in the follicle will increase the risk of clogging pores, causing pimples.
Bacteria: bacteria are available in different skin types. It is a normal part of the natural oil maintenance system of the skin. But, when a follicle is plugged, acne bacteria will multiply quickly, thereby creating the chemical reaction causing inflammation both in the follicle and the surrounding skin.
Follicle fallout: the dead skin cells in follicles often shed steadily and are dislodged on the surface of our skin. In those with over-active sebaceous glands, those cells will be shred more quickly. When this occurs, dead skin cells will mix with excess oil and build a plug in the follicles, thereby preventing the skin from completing its natural renewing process.
Inflammation: when the human body gets in contact with some unwanted bacteria, it will send some white blood cells to attack those intruders. The process if called inflammatory response or chemotaxis. This response makes pimples swollen, red and painful. Also, this process is different for each of us.
If you have apple cider vinegar in your kitchen, you are having the perfect treatment for pimples. It can kill the microorganisms triggering pimples. It helps balance out the pH level of your skin, making it harder for microbes to flourish. Besides, being an astringent, apple cider vinegar is also good in eliminating excessive oil. But, do not exaggerate it because it might dry out your skin excessively.
Cinnamon is spicy and honey is sticky, but the combination of these ingredients will help you get rid of acne naturally. Cinnamon with its antimicrobial properties can stop bacteria from intruding your skin pores. On the other hand, honey is a natural antibiotic which can speed your healing process quickly. You should use Manuka honey which originates from the Manuka forest in New Zealand and haves amazing pain relieving and healing properties.
Note: You should apply the ice as many times as you can during the day to get positive results fast.
Toothpaste can dry out pimples and decrease their healing time. The antibacterial properties of toothpaste play a crucial role in eradicating bacteria causing pimples . Especially, it could be used for pimples both on face and body, such as arms and legs. Toothpaste is suitable for normal, oily and combination skin.
Note: You should use white toothpaste, not the gel-based one.
Honey is well-known for its disinfecting properties, helping demolish the microbes in oil organs quickly. As a result, it serves boost the mending methodology.
Just simply use a cotton ball to dab natural honey onto your affected areas, then leave it there for about 20 minutes before rinsing it off with warm water.
Also known as melaleuca, tea tree oil, is considered one of the most recommended home remedies for acne and pimples as it possesses amazing microbial properties helping fight the bacteria which cause acne. In accordance with the study published in the Australian Journal of Dermatology, tea tree oil supplies positive results for those people with mild case without serious side effects. This study asked number of participants to use tea tree oil to their pimples twice per day for about 3 months with the evaluations conducted at 4, 8 and 12 weeks of using. The result was decreased, thereby making tea tree oil a good choice for how to get rid of pimples naturally fast .
You can mix tea tree oil with coconut oil to have a good combination for treating pimples on nose and chin. Then, apply it over your face and leave it there for 20-30 minutes before rinsing it off with water.
Warning: Avoid tea tree oil if your skin is sensitive.
At first, you might feel stinging or discomfort, but it will disappear soon.
Rose water has antibacterial qualities and acts as a skin toner that can reduce lemon juice’s acidic nature.
Avoid letting lemon juice contact with your eyes.
Test lemon juice on a small skin area first to prevent any reactions.
Being known for antioxidant properties, tomatoes are also rich in vitamin A, C and K. These properties can dry out the pimples. Besides, tomatoes can close pores, thereby preventing dirt, bacteria, oil as well as dead skin cells from clogging them. The natural acid in this plant can restore the natural oil balance of skin. With high water content, tomatoes help moisturize skin, thereby leaving it smooth and soft. Not only that, tomatoes have some important minerals like potassium, iron and other nutrients which support the overall health and skin health and reduce the formation of scars. Even, tomatoes help prevent premature wrinkles and fine lines.
Grind a tomato and use it as facial mask.
You can also make use of tomatoes by taking one medium-sized tomato and slice it. Then, put a slice right directly on your affected areas.
Oatmeal helps exfoliate skin to eliminate toxins causing acne while lemon juice kills off bacteria causing breakouts.
Blend them till you get a smooth mixture. Add water if the paste is too thick.
Note: If you want to treat pimples on back, then add mint to reduce inflammation.
This method on how to get rid of pimples is very powerful for your skin, especially when you suffer from pimples and blemishes. The steam helps open your skin pores and let your skin breathe. Also, this helps in removing dirt, oil and bacteria trapped in the skin pores which cause inflammation and infection.
For many centuries, garlic has been a great traditional fold treatment which is claimed to have powerful antiviral, antiseptic and anti-fungal properties. It is also used to reduce the severity of pimples and acne. Garlic is said to have the most powerful antioxidant out of any other natural food, even more over papayas and oranges. This ingredient is most potent if consumed raw. You can crush the garlic cloves and add them to your recipes. Eating raw garlic every day can purify your blood. Yet, do not eat too much because it might upset your stomach. Or, if you can’t stand its smell, simply soak peeled garlic cloves in milk for about one hour to reduce it. In Ayurvedic medicine, garlic is reckoned effective for eliminating acne scars and drying out acne if used topically.
Because the mixture is diluted, it will not irritate your skin, but if you still experience burning sensations, stop using it.
Another efficient home remedy for those who are looking for how to get rid of pimples is baking soda. It is used to exfoliate skin, removing dirt, excess oil and dead skin cells. Baking soda has anti-inflammatory qualities, helping soothe redness and swelling associated with pimples. Also, it calms down the flare-ups and soothes skin rashes irritation, as well as sunburn. Using baking soda also helps in fading pigmentation and acne scars. In addition, because baking soda is alkaline in nature, it can neutralize the pH levels of your skin.
The idea of using baking soda for pimples and acne, actually, get a lot of mixed reactions. It is because the skin of each person is different and what works for some people’s skin may not work for others’. For the most part, baking soda is not harmful to use on the skin. But, it is better to do a tiny patch test before using it on a large skin area.
Coconut oil will dissolve the excess oil in your skin whilst baking soda will eradicate them. All of these actions will support your acne fighting process .
In addition to the methods introduced above, there are some other ingredients you can use to mix with baking soda for acne removal, such apple cider vinegar, olive oil, aspirin, oatmeal, milk, etc.
Being the fruit with a lot of powerful properties, such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, papaya should not be skipped when it comes to how to get rid of pimples naturally. It is a good source of vitamin A and enzymes which can decrease inflammation and make your skin smooth and soft.
Or, you can also make an exfoliating face mask by mixing crushed papaya with some honey. Apply the mask on your skin and wash it off after it dries out entirely.
Not only is cucumber rich in vitamin A, C and E and potassium, but it also possesses soothing and cooling effects.
Or, you can also grind a cucumber to apply the paste over your face. Rinse it off with warm water after 15 minutes to help eliminate bacteria and dirt out of your skin pores.
Mint is a great solution for removing pore clogging oil. It can also clear acne before it starts. Just simply mix 2 tablespoons of the finely chopped fresh mint with the same amount each of oatmeal and plain yogurt. Apply the paste over your skin and wait for 10 minutes to wash it off with water.
This plant is traditionally used to help speed up the wound healing process. Also, it is useful in preventing flu and colds. However, its anti-inflammatory and antibacterial qualities could also be resorted to fight acne. You can use echinacea tea every day as a face wash (add some tincture if you like) to help treat your pimples.
Aspirin has salicylic acid which is good for acne treatments. Using aspirin will dry out your pimples and blemishes and decrease inflammation. To make use of it, you can mix a paste between 4 pills of aspirin and 2 tablespoons of water. Then, apply the paste over your infected skin and wash it off after 15-20 minutes.
This method will help open your skin pores, eliminating dirt and excess oil naturally.
Prepare1 tablespoon each of dry chamomile and organic honey, 1 teaspoon of lemon juice and 1 egg white.
Or, you could also drink a cup of chamomile tea every day to accelerate the healing process. Chamomile is available in the dried, infusion, liquid extract, tinctures, essential oil form. Also, it is found in creams as well as ointments.
Among solutions for how to get rid of pimples introduced here, witch hazel might be lesser-known. But, it does work amazingly for pimples and acne. Acting as an astringent, witch hazel can naturally dry and shrink blemishes. In regard to origin, witch hazel is extracted from the leaves and bark of Hamamelis Virginiana which is native to North America. This plant has been used for centuries as a natural remedy for a lot of skin issues. Due to its amazing healing effects and astringent property, the extract of witch hazel could be added to many skincare products which are on the market nowadays. Also, witch hazel can help decrease inflammation and infection associated with acne.
In order to reap its benefits, you can pour witch hazel on a clean cotton ball and use it to wipe your face every morning and night.
Among tips on how to get rid of pimples naturally, aloe vera is highly recommended. But, it just works when combined with other ingredients. The reasons why aloe vera is good for acne treatment are many. It has gibberellins and glucomannan that improves collagen synthesis if consumed or applied. Also, there are hormones polysaccharides and gibberellins, which have anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties helping fight off bacteria thriving in the clogged pores. It absorbs the excess oil from your skin and prevents clogged pores. Additionally, with rich content of carotenoids, flavonoids, catechins, carbohydrates and amino acids, aloe vera can help contract the human skin, therefore rending skin pores clean from dead skin cells, dirt and deposited sebum. Moreover, it purifies the human blood and stimulates skin cell growth to help heal damaged skin.
Oiliness and inflammation of the skin could be handled by using a combination between calendula tincture and aloe vera. It can cleanse and closes enlarged skin pores.
Another good and safe way to learn how to get rid of pimples is adding acidic foods to your daily diet. Acidic foods such as vinegar or citrus fruit juice can flush skin pores. Just simply dab some of them on a cotton ball and apply it over your acne areas. Wait for 20 minutes to wash it off with water.
This is a blue-green algae bursting with a lot of nutrients and gamma-linoleic acid (GLA). This is an essential fatty acid having anti-inflammatory properties which are good for removing acne and pimples. You could purchase spirulina at many health foods stores and add it to your smoothie.
Omega-3 fatty acids possess anti-inflammatory properties which could improve acne condition. You can get the benefits of omega-3 fatty acids by taking a multi-nutrient capsule containing fish oil or adding more albacore tuna, walnuts, flaxseeds and salmon to your daily diet.
Having bleaching properties, potato is also a natural remedy for pimples. You can boil a medium-sized potato and apply the paste of it on the affected area. This will eliminate hyper-pigmentation while preventing wrinkles and lightening skin.
Yes, you can use oatmeal for acne removal. This ingredient can help clean skin pores and absorb excess oil. After cooking some oatmeal, you take it out and mix it with honey and lemon juice in order to have a consistent paste. Apply the paste over your skin and wait for 30 minutes to wash it off with tepid water.
Neem or Indial Lilac is great for treating pimples and acne thanks to its medicinal qualities, be it antibacterial, antifungal, antiseptic and anti-inflammatory. You can make a paste between grinded neem leaves and water. Then, put turmeric powder into the paste and apply it over your affected skin. Rinse it off after drying.
One of the best treatments for pimples is mint which can work on any kind of acne due to its medicinal properties. Take fresh mint leaves and crush them to mix with water. Apply it on your skin for 20 minutes and wash it off. Repeat the process thrice per week. Or, you can apply mint juice by using a cotton ball on your affected skin.
Turmeric is a common ingredient in our kitchen. This plant also absorbs additional oil from skin and combats infecting bacteria. You should take some turmeric powder and mix with some crushed neem leaves. Then, apply that mixture over your affected skin area for about 30 minutes. After drying, you wash it with water.
You could also make a facial pack by combining ½ teaspoon of turmeric powder with 2 teaspoons of yogurt. Then, add a small amount of honey into, stir them well to get a consistent paste. Apply that pack over your face and rinse thoroughly after 30 minutes.
For those who want to remove acne scars, nutmeg powder could be mixed with honey. This also reduces swelling associated with acne.
The combination between sandalwood and rosewater is very soothing for your facial skin. Not only that, the antimicrobial properties of sandalwood can clean your face and gives its glowing effect.
Having antiseptic agent, alum acts as a natural and styptic deodorant. You just need to take a piece of alum and gently rub it on acne. As a result, this will promote the healing process. Alum is good for oily skin and considered one of best great natural home remedies for back acne.
Banana peel is an interesting tip on how to get rid of pimples you should not skip. The lutein presenting in banana peel acts as an antioxidant which boosts the cell growth naturally. Rubbing a banana peel on your facial skin could reduce redness as well as discomfort associated with pimples and acne.
It may sound bizarre, but it totally true that the use of chilli peppers can reduce acne swelling. You can crush some chillies to get a powder and add some water into. Use a cotton swab to apply the mixture over your acne.
Note: You should not use it on the areas around your eyes.
The next tip on how to get rid of pimples introduced in this complete list is almond powder which is able to cure not only acne but also blackheads.
Just simply prepare some almond powder and put it in a bowl, followed by some rose water. The paste gotten should be smooth and consistent. Apply this paste over your problematic skin areas. After 15 minutes, wash it off with cool water.
Apply the paste over your clean face and wait for 20 minutes to rinse it off with warm water, followed by cool water.
Or, you can combine coriander with lemon juice to get a blackhead-busting spot treatment.
Generally, basil leaves are used for cooking in Asian countries. Nonetheless, not many people aware that it also possesses antioxidant, antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. Thus, it is commonly used for treating pimples and infections. This plant plays a big role in taking control of swelling and redness of the pimples.
Well, this is a very simple, but effective tip to remove pimples. By taking 10 – 12 glasses of water daily, you could remove most, if not all, impurities out of your own body.
This essential oil is a favorite of many women thanks to its anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties which are great for all skin types. This oil is ideal for acne-prone skin. It invites new skin cell growth, reducing the appearance of scars. Besides, it prevents or eradicates bacteria, part of what results in acne at the beginning.
According to a study carried out by researchers in the Department of Dermatology at the University of Freiburg in Germany, using frankincense along with 5 other plant extracts proved the effectiveness of antimicrobial effects on yeast and bacteria related to the human skin. Also, this oil is used topically to deal with some other skin disorders, including eczema .
Having antibacterial and anti-inflammatory qualities, castor oil can speed up the healing process, making it perfect for acne-prone skin. It can be combined with hemp seed oil, jojoba oil or coconut oil to get extra effects. It is also rich in vitamin E, unsaturated fatty acids, minerals and proteins, which could decrease acne-causing bacteria as well as inflammation accompanied with pimple breakouts. Even, it can prevent acne scars. You can use castor oil for treating mild case of acne because it supplies moisture to your skin while helping it produce less oil, part of what causes acne .
Wash your pillowcase: you should wash your pillowcase once per week to prevent future breakouts.
Wash your hands carefully prior to using any of the remedies above, especially those requiring direct contact between your face and hands. This will help limit the spread of bacteria and dirt.
Use some treatments at a time for 1 week to see how effective they are on your complexion. But, do not use too many of them concurrently.
Have a well-balanced diet plan and make sure that you consume foods rich in antioxidants like vitamin A, C, E, selenium, iron and zinc.
If the pimples do not disappear overnight, you should not be discouraged. Patience and consistency are required in regard to learning how to get rid of pimples.
There you have discovered 56 effective ways on how to get rid of pimples overnight fast and naturally. Remember that acne is different for everyone, but there are still some solutions for having clear skin. These are natural remedies so it might take a little time from you to see what works for you, but positive change could affect your life greatly. It is always better to seek natural solutions for treating pimples as opposed to conventional treatments coming with adverse side effects.
For any contributing ideas about this topic, leave your comments below this article. To know more information about health and beauty issues, visit our How To page.
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2019-04-18T15:14:30Z
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https://trueremedies.com/how-to-get-rid-of-pimples/
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On March 7, the top articles on the front pages of the morning papers were all about the release of former Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn. This topic has very little value as news, but newspapers and TV programs reported on Ghosn’s disguise wearing a hat and work clothes. If he claims he is innocent, he should step out boldly. This was a total tactical mistake, and there is no need for the media to cover it. In Japan today, I find it odd that no one speaks against the mass media that uniformly prints such information without questioning.
For instance, the Sankei Shimbun newspaper’s top article should have been “North Korea Rebuilds Launch Site,” which was run underneath the piece on Ghosn’s release. The article said buildings are being reconstructed at the Sohae Satellite Launching Station, which Kim Jong Un promised last year to dismantle. Negotiations broke down at the second United States-North Korea summit meeting at the end of February, and it seems North Korea is therefore taking steps to rebuild the launching station as a means of intimidation.
I believe President Donald J. Trump made a correct decision in ending the recent summit meeting without trying to rush the progress and while leaving room for future negotiations. North Korea asked for the sanctions from 2016 to 2017 to be lifted. It seems that sanctions banning and limiting imports (such as gasoline and refined oil goods) and exports (such as coal, marine products, and textiles) cause extreme damage.
During the Trump presidency, this was achieved because U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations (UN) Nikki Haley drew in China and Russia and gained their agreement at the UN Security Council. I think Trump feels strongly that this forced “embargo” is the core of the sanctions on North Korea. I visited North Korea in December 2017 as the UN under-secretary-general for political affairs. At that time the risk of war was growing, including the sixth nuclear test in September and the intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launch test in November.
In North Korea, I conveyed the message of how very risky their strategy is. Discussions at that time had been cut off between North Korea and the U.S. and South Korea, and the “New York channel” (communications through the North Korean mission to the UN) was also closed.
I told North Korea it was possible it could go over the American “red line” without intending to, and that nuclear nonproliferation is a global issue. Minister of Foreign Affairs Ri Yong Ho declared that the nuclear program is for self-defense. I appealed to them by saying the concept of self-defense is putting North Korea at risk, but they did not accept this.
I believe the results of the summit indicate that North Korea’s thinking from 2017 is unchanged, and that it has no intention of giving up nuclear weapons.
North Korea carried out a nuclear test on October 9, 2006, as it had declared in advance. This underground nuclear test of a plutonium bomb took place in Punggye-ri, Kilju County, North Hamgyong Province in northeastern North Korea. The North Korean authorities merely said the test was successful without releasing any data or images. By measuring the seismic waves, institutions in various countries estimated that it was an extremely small bomb not on the level of the Hiroshima or Nagasaki explosions. That day, this topic was the number-two item on Korean Central Television’s nighttime news, rather than the top news. It would not have been surprising if this was reported on extensively as a great accomplishment under the guidance of Supreme Leader Kim Jong Il, and the treatment of this topic made some believe the test had failed. But after this one bomb test, North Korea’s nuclear program certainly was successful, considering how this political and military threat completely transformed the American policy regarding North Korea and East Asia.
Nuclear testing declared North Korea’s presence to countries across the world, including Japan, South Korea, the U.S., and other UN members. It was the perfect timing to convey this message. And as I mentioned before, the biggest result of this test was that it caused an about-face in the American policies on North Korea and East Asia and changed the traditional American thinking that it would not deal with North Korea, which led it to firmly decline any bilateral talks. I will describe this in more detail later, but to Japan, this event also reminded one of the ping-pong diplomacy of the 1970s that resulted in closer relations between the U.S. and China.
Nuclear weapons have controlled the state of the world during the more than 60 years since the end of World War II. Postwar history began when the U.S. developed the world’s first atomic bombs (nuclear weapons) and dropped them on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. I will not enumerate the many examples that back this up, but to give a general outline, a nuclear domino effect occurred in which the American atomic bombs led to the Soviet Union gaining nuclear bombs. The United Kingdom and France then developed their own nuclear weapons. China desperately started a nuclear program because it wanted to somehow break free from the yoke of the nuclear Soviet Union. China’s successful development led to the nuclear program in India, another country it shared border conflicts with. Pakistan then developed nuclear weapons to guard against India. Israel is also a nuclear weapons state. It has remained vague in official announcements, but global military experts estimate that it possesses 200 nuclear weapons, which is more than the UK.
These nuclear states all share a determination to never give up their nuclear weapons. Some may protest that South Africa did abandon its successful nuclear program, but this was before 1994, when Apartheid ended and the government was transitioning from the whites to blacks. The white government did not want to hand over its nuclear weapons to the black government, so it gave them up for self-protection.
To return to the topic at hand, let us take a look at the North Korean nuclear tests, the global situation they brought about, and the American change of heart that resulted. During the era of President George W. Bush, the U.S. continually turned down bilateral discussions with North Korea based on the painful experience of North Korea unilaterally overturning the Geneva agreement. This framework was concluded in 1994 during the Bill Clinton administration, when North Korea agreed to stop its nuclear program in exchange for fuel oil and light-water reactors from the U.S. But after North Korea forcibly carried out its nuclear test, the U.S. started making concessions to North Korea at an astoundingly fast speed. This perplexed not only Japan (which was dealing with the abduction issue), but also the six other countries taking part in the conference. This indicates the immeasurably vast threat brought by nuclear weapons.
In June 1994, former President Jimmy Carter, acting as a special ambassador of Clinton, visited North Korea to forge a path to freezing the nuclear program and improving the relationship. He spoke with Supreme Leader Kim Il Sung to pave the way. The Agreed Framework was established in October in Geneva, Switzerland. It stated that North Korea would freeze and eventually dismantle its nuclear facilities in exchange for the U.S. providing nuclear power generation facilities using light-water reactors, as well as 500,000 tons of fuel oil each year as alternate energy until this was completed. However, North Korea secretly contained nuclear development afterwards, putting the agreement back to square one. This issue remained as a blunder by the Clinton administration. Before that, a major incident occurred in which Kim Il Sung died right after his meeting with Carter. As I mentioned in the previous chapter, based on information pieced together from various sources afterwards, I think Kim Jong Il removed his father based on a comprehensive decision including politics and foreign policy.
Kim Jong Il had visited China five times in total, starting with his first trip in 1983 after he was named the successor. He rode on a special train each time. Why did he take trains instead of airplanes, to Russia as well as China? The answer is not only that airplanes posed a high risk of terrorism – some theorize that he begged for extensive “souvenirs” in China that were transported back on connected transport cars. This episode illustrates how Kim Jong Il was totally devoted to gain, without any concern for others or past debts of gratitude.
Each time he went to China, Kim Jong Il viewed the drastically transforming cities and industrial zones. He always praised China, saying that economic reform had achieved great success and highly evaluating the reforms that led to these astounding changes. However, he made an about face when he returned home, including his statement, “One can live without candy, but one cannot live without bullets.” He persistently carried out military expansion rather than economic reform, and was so fixated on nuclear development that we can regard it as an obsession. An incident occurred in April 2004, when Kim Jong Il was on the way home from his fourth trip to China, that was a decisive moment for North Korea’s nuclear program and seeming stance of viewing China as an enemy.
During the short three-day trip, Kim Jong Il visited Beijing and Shanghai and met for the first time with Hu Jintao, the brand-new president. Jiang Zemin had passed this position to Hu, but he remained general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, and was working to maintain his behind-the-scenes influence and restore his power through “cloistered rule.” Jiang schemed to establish a pro-Chinese puppet regime in North Korea, which would make his name go down in history like Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping. This was hindered by Kim Jong Il, who was not only trying to maintain distance with China, but was also attempting to take a stand against China by developing his own nuclear weapons. One theory says that Jiang plotted to assassinate Kim Jong Il by instigating the anti-Kim Jong Il faction through the People’s Liberation Army. Apparently, it was a large-scale plan that involved blowing up Kim Jong Il with massive amounts of explosives as he traveled home via special train.
An incident actually occurred at Ryongchon Station near the North Korean border with China. The official reports said it was a collision between two trains, a fuel tank train and freight train carrying ammonium nitrate to make fertilizer, that topped a utility pole. The power line shorted and caused a fire resulting in a major explosion. However, I have seen images online showing that the mark from the explosion had an acute angle. The blast must have happened underground, not aboveground as the news reports said. An aboveground explosion would leave a U-shaped mark. Powerful explosives (800 tons of TNT) were placed under the irrigation channel along the main line in advance, and then set off when the train passed through. The elementary school students who gathered at the station to welcome Kim Jong Il, many of whom were victims of the incident, serve as proof. The explosion was timed to the train’s passage, but it was a decoy train with a body double of the supreme leader. My conclusion is that American or Russian intelligence agencies must have gained knowledge of this plan in advance, and leaked information to the Kim Jong Il camp, by which he barely escaped with his life.
After this incident, Kim Jong Il further stepped up nuclear development because he was more convinced than ever that nuclear weapons were the only way to guard against China. The first nuclear test took place in October 2006, and I believe we should see it as directed at China rather than the U.S. or Japan. The bomb in this single test was not miniaturized, and it lacked high performance. It could not be equipped on a missile for remote attacks, but it provided first-rate deterrence against an attack by the Chinese army if deployed at the border as a gigantic land mine. If North Korea could create miniature bombs to install on bombers, it would gain the ability to attack Beijing and other major Chinese cities.
At the start, I described how a person involved in Chinese military affairs said the Chinese army would invade North Korea in the event of an emergency there. It makes sense if that is connected to this incident.
In this way, North Korea’s nuclear weapons have been directed at China since the start. North Korea will not abandon them as long as the geopolitical relationship remains unchanged.
Kim Jong Un has not balked at using any method to maintain the North Korean structure. In February 2017, he had two women assassinate his half-brother Kim Jong Nam at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia by smearing VX nerve agent on his face. Kim Jong Un had his uncle Jang Song Thaek executed by machine-gun fire in 2013, and Jang’s corpse was burned with a flamethrower. Although no official announcement has been made, many high officials have been executed since directly after Jang’s death, and the purge is apparently still underway. Kim Jong Un failed at having the economic sanctions relaxed at the second summit in February. It is clear he will bend if the economic sanctions remain in place, as long as his number-one goal is to maintain the system.
Before the summit, Trump seemed likely to allow North Korea to continue nuclear testing as long as it got rid of its ICBMs, and to permit North Korea becoming a latent nuclear power by concealing some of its nuclear weapons. However, U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton, who takes a hard line on North Korea, would not permit Trump to concede, and the discussions ended with no agreement. I think we can say this lack of compromise was good news for Japan. However, now it seems much less realistic that North Korea will abandon its nuclear weapons. The only method remaining is to carry out a decapitation strike, which has been practiced in simulations.
I have stated for more than 10 years that North Korea will not give up its nuclear weapons. Due to the expanding China and presence of North Korea, East Asia is now the region with the highest risk of war breaking out, and it is highly probable that Japan will be the target of a third nuclear attack after Hiroshima and Nagasaki. To prevent this, Japan must work to maintain a nuclear balance of power. The U.S. will not allow Japan to develop its own nuclear weapons, but a balance could be achieved if Japan abolished the Three Non-Nuclear Principles and concluded a nuclear sharing agreement with the U.S. like that with the four North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries. I think this could be accomplished in negotiations with Trump, who referred to the possibility of Japan’s nuclear armament during his presidential campaign. If he wins re-election in 2020, Trump will be in office until 2024, which I see as the last year for Japan to achieve these things.
Meanwhile, Japan is also facing the challenge of constitutional reform. This must be done in two stages to create a decent constitution, first by clearly specifying the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) and then removing the second clause of Article 9 to handle them as a regular army. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s term of office is until 2021, but that is not enough time to introduce a nuclear sharing arrangement and complete two constitutional amendments. I believe the Liberal Democratic Party must once again revise its party regulations to allow four presidential terms so Abe’s time in office can be extended until 2024.
It is essential that many Japanese people understand the circumstances in East Asia and feel a sense of crisis about them. Abe and Trump could work together to achieve constitutional change and resolve other challenges to create a new, independent Japan. This is Japan’s only path to survival, and it would also fulfill the expectations of many Asian countries.
March 15 (Friday), 7:00 p.m.
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2019-04-21T22:59:04Z
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http://en.apa-appletown.com/essay/1029
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2019-04-22T02:27:45Z
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https://qa.debian.org/debcheck.php?dist=testing&package=systemd
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If you are planning to strengthen your funeral home website, the designer you hire should not only be a good designer, but a total solutions provider. You should select the most fitting layout and content for your website. These choices will really have an impact on the overall experience for the client families. You can begin by finding a company that can do more for your funeral website is an ideal solution.
A funeral home website design company should not only be able to create a good looking website, but at the same time they should also be able to understand the industry and the necessary vital components each website should contain. The company should be in a position to register a domain should a home not already have one. They should also provide hosting services if necessary. They should also be capable of setting up an email and ensure the maximum utilization of search engine submission and optimization.
A drawback of some funeral home website design companies is that they fail to include in a website the ability to track the statistics on the site. If you are able to know how many visitors had "hit" the site, what pages they had visited and how long they stayed is an important data to collect if a death care professional should wish to do some web marketing.
Once the funeral home website is up and running, a funeral professional should have the ability to turn a funeral website into a money spinner selling advertisements, affiliate programs and or creating an online gift shop. The possibilities with the funeral home websites are endless.
You can strengthen your funeral home website with other options such as service, visitation, memorial, and cemetery information is also a good idea. You can even add additional features such as including photos of the deceased or the ability to upload an entire album of photos for the family with their loved ones online tribute is also a popular choice. If your funeral home website is able to provide more online information and easy access to the products and services a funeral home can provide to families and friends of the deceased, the better.
What we can say is that a funeral home website should be simple, intuitive, and interactive experience for client families. If your funeral home website is able to partner with a professional designing company that has experience with funeral home website designs it can greatly enhance the way your client families interact with you.
If you are able to find a total solutions partner for your funeral home website design is the key to putting this plan into motion. If your funeral home website is able to partner with a professional company that has experience with the funeral industry and website designs and all the other vital components can help set your funeral home website apart from the competitors down the street.
It is true that no one likes to think about their own demise. However, one does not know the hands of fate, and when death does come it may be a profitable business for many. When someone dies you think of ways and means to save money but you are at a loss. However, with a little pre-planning you will be able to save money on your funeral costs and making see to it that your loved ones do not burn a hole in their pockets.
Preplan your funeral: Preplanning your funeral is not a pleasant task but it can be done. You should begin by telling your family what your final wishes are and they should start by setting aside some money for it. You can even meet with the funeral home and set everything up and prepay for everything. A step in this direction is a step for which your family will appreciate and it will save them money when the time comes.
If you are thinking of being cremated, then you need not be embalmed thereby saving your family further money on funeral costs.
You need not buy an open casket from a funeral home as these caskets can be shipped to funeral homes. You have the option of shopping around if you preplan your funeral to get the casket that you want.
You can easily have a low cost funeral by doing the maximum work yourself. It is possible to save money on just about every aspect of your funeral in order to have a cheap but meaningful funeral for yourself and the ones you left behind. Remember not to wait for the last minute to prepare for the enviable.
Before undertaking any funeral arrangement you should have a price range in mind before you select any merchandise. You should let the Funeral Director know your budget before beginning. Many of the funeral homes offer different merchandise choices to fit all pockets. The family should select from the many options available without fear of overspending.
A family can easily be covered up in debt if it does not plan the funeral properly. You should remember that a funeral need to be that expensive and planning a budgeted funeral is at times necessary and even the deceased would approve.
It’s easy if you set simple spending limits for the merchandise and services and later on communicating these to the provider of choice.
With these suggestions you can easily arrange a lower cost funeral.
Most of us have at one time or the other attended a funeral service. On these funeral services, it might have become obvious that the officials or other persons leading the proceedings may not have known the deceased very well. You might have even attended a funeral where the entire focus was on religious rituals to the exclusion of anything personal.
By being a participant in this funeral ceremony can be at times unnerving and unsettling. In spite of all hardships, it is possible that you may have valued the religious aspects of a sacred ceremony, or may have understood that an official might be unacquainted with those ideals that the deceased might have cherished. These factors may not help or comfort you in your grief in the least. In this hour of grief, it may be that you may want to talk about your loved one and hear others talking about him or her as well.
The grief in loss of a dear departed can be overcome by sharing stories and reveal details about the life of a person who has recently passed on. When you talk about him or her in the past tense, you begin to accept that they are gone. It is for these reasons that it is important to personalize the funeral. Every little detail of the funeral right from the service itself, down to the viewing, the time during which you receive visitors, should be made as personal as possible. You should display photos, play his/her favorite music, and tell the funny stories that they loved, even if they're about them.
You should personalize as many details of the viewing and service as possible. Most of the families bring mementos to the funeral home and place them in the casket. Still others may make collages of their favorite photos, or create a video that plays during the viewing hours, for the visitors to see. Personalized funeral stationery is also an excellent idea to not only honor your loved one, but also provide mourners with a keepsake from the funeral or memorial service.
If any of your family members or relatives and associates of the deceased are unable to attend a funeral in person to share those special moments, you should consider having the funeral webcast. In this way all those who were unable to attend the service in person can attend virtually live over the internet and still get the closure they desire.
When you are personalizing a funeral in as unique a way as possible, you are showing your own concern to the deceased.. You're mourning someone who has had definite likes and dislikes, attitudes and opinions, strong points and some weak points, talents, skills, hobbies, work and dreams. A funeral that ignores all these attributes that made up that one individual is much less than it has the potential to be.
It may now be possible that you are able to Personalizing Funerals.
Many important events take place in a person’s life and they can be ideally be commemorated through portraits as pictures, can convey more than a thousand words. It is through the medium of portraits that you will be able to remember just how it was on that particular occasion, the people you were with and the relationships you have had with them.
Of all occasions, it is the wedding which should be memorialized in portraits. After all, you only get married once so this particular event is incomparably special. If you are about to married, do think of having a wedding portrait made of yourself, the more the merrier. However, if you are considering what you should do and think of when it comes to wedding portraits, here are a few tips.
A wedding portrait which is done in real-time would take several days to be completed, depending on the skills of an artist. If you wish to have your wedding portrait done in this way, you may be forced to do this only after the wedding. You can also try considering having your wedding portrait based on photos taken on the occasion. This could be more practical, though less romantic, as you would have a lot of poses to choose from.
It should however be remembered that a wedding portrait contains only the figures of the bride and the groom. Since this is your wedding so it's what you two want that counts. If you feel that you want to have a wedding portrait done of the whole family then you should really go ahead and have it made.
For example, a bride could have her picture taken minutes before she leaves her home or as she steps out of the car etc. You can request the two lovebirds to have the moment they released the doves crystallized for eternity. If you have decided to have your wedding portrait done at the studio, you will be able to determine which pose for the two of you is better.
Many of the expert photographers require two to three hours of shooting time before the ceremony. You should make sure that all your arrangements of flowers are ready and everybody is dressed. This will enable you to enjoy the photographic session.
You should also consider about poses and settings. These factors indeed have a great influence on how a portrait turns out. Naturally, if you're willing to have your wedding portrait done via photos, you would have a wider selection of photos to choose from and more freedom of choice when it comes to the settings.
Just remember - it's your special day and you need a special portrait to remember it by!
You should keep in mind that if you have any particular requests for example that of an extra location for some portraits of the Bride and Groom extra time should be allowed for travel, set up and shooting. If you give your photographer that extra time to do their job, you will have a wonderful experience and photographs to last a lifetime.
Most of us at some point or the other may have been faced with urgent need to order flowers for funerals. Everyone knows that when a loved one departs it is just not enough by simply sending the bereaved family flowers however, it is a small token of sympathy from our side. We will tell you how to send funeral flowers.
It is certainly no easy task of purchasing a funeral flower.
Sending Funeral Flowers also has a solemn effect of saying goodbye to the dear departed one. However, certain rules of etiquette have to be followed and you need to be aware of these rules and follow them before having flowers delivered to the bereaved family members.
Before placing an order for the funeral flowers, it is of utmost importance that the flowers are sent to the proper location and that too at the correct date and time. Every funeral arrangement can have a separate visitation and wake services. Funerals can be held in a variety of locations. You should confirm the location, date, and time for the funeral before purchasing or sending flowers. After confirming the location, you should contact the location to gather information if there any special delivery instructions to be followed which is required by the funeral homes or the bereaved family as well as the times of acceptable deliveries. Many of the funeral homes and burial sites will accept flower deliveries a day prior to the services. If for any reason you are unable to have the flowers delivered in time for the service, send them no later than the day after the service.
On ordering flowers for funerals, it is advisable to pay special attention to the type and style of the floral arrangement so chosen. It is very likely that the family of the departed may have placed an order for a special floral arrangement. These include casket wreath floral sprays. At times large groups will pool their money and order a sympathy wreath or any other floral arrangement for the services. If as an individual you want to express your sympathy you may order a small basket of flowers which are sent directly to the family after the funeral service.
You should also make it a point to check if the family has not made any special requests. It can be possible that a family may request for a donation or a gift to tide away the funeral expenses. It is advisable that you honor these small family requests and send a card instead of flowers if you feel the need.
While selecting and sending flowers for funerals you should remember that it is not an easy or enjoyable task. By following these simple rules of etiquette you will have no issues or problems when ordering and sending flowers to someone who really needs to know they are not alone.
In sending funeral flowers you are lessening the pain of losing a loved one.
These days a large number of unique and personalized funeral stationery, including prayer cards can be created for funerals around the world. This has become possible with the advancement of modern technology and software programs which have been developed specifically for the funeral industry thereby changing the concept of funeral stationery forever.
What are Prayer cards? Prayer cards are small bookmark cards which are distributed at funerals. These Prayer cards are either religious or spiritual in nature. In the Prayer cards the front of the card has a sacred picture with the back of the Prayer cards being printed with a prayer. The reverse side of the Prayer cards lists the deceased's name, birth and death date. Most people love to keep and cherish prayer cards in memory of loved ones.
Previously, the prayer cards were available in a limited number of styles. Nowadays with the help of prayer card templates the Prayer cards can be printed of up to eight per sheet. This makes it possible to create almost one hundred keepsake cards and they require only a dozen sheets of paper. The greatest advantage of printing these Prayer cards is that they are printed from completely blank stock. It does not matter if you are creating a traditional style of prayer card with any type of catholic imagery, or one that has many scenes which represent the person's life; advanced funeral software can accomplish it all.
It has now become possible for the families to choose the image to be placed in the front of the card and the text on the reverse side of the card. They can also add more personal details such as a photo of the deceased. Furthermore, Funeral stationery is an important element during mourning which provides a touchstone for the bereaved family to memorialize the deceased. It thus become as a way to share support among friends and family. These days the funeral stationery can be created in a wide variety of styles, themes, and colors. It is also possible to crate individual pieces of funeral stationery by creating a range in tone from the reserved to upbeat.
The different types of funeral stationery available are funeral programs, prayer cards, funeral cards, bookmarks, and memorial funeral folders.
It is now possible to offer client families and friends many different ways to express the life of their loved one through personalized funeral stationery which best suits their needs.
By using advanced funeral stationery software which comes complete with all the pre-formatted templates allows the creator of the funeral stationery to do this in just minutes, but the keepsakes created will be cherished by the invitees and the deceased’s families forever. Those invitees who attend a funeral or memorial service will want one. The mourners will hold onto these unique prayer cards for years.
To conclude we can say that these days’ funeral register books are standard at some funerals. These funeral register books can be personalized with photos and anecdotes, colors, themes and styles. The Funeral Memorial folders provide a wonderful keepsake inspiring the mourners to share memories of the life being celebrated. Prayer cards on the other hand feature a religious image on one side and basic details of the deceased on the reverse. These Prayer cards may include a personal photograph and quotes which represent the deceased along with a theme or image that can be carried throughout the rest of the funeral stationery.
Acknowledgement and thank you cards can be easily personalized as many options exist for non-religious items.
Funeral stationery and prayer cards are an expected and comforting medium that can be functional as well as aid in the grieving process.
Custom Funeral Program Template Designs!
Funeral programs are held in order to give mourners details about the funeral services so that they can pay tribute to some of the deceased's accomplishments. These days with the much software designed to allow customization of funeral stationery, the Funeral programs can now be meaningful mementos, as well.
Nowadays, the trend is on towards personalization in all details of the different types of services offered by the funeral directors, an item as essential as the funeral program is also not an exception. The funeral program is the final opportunity which the deceased’s families have in order to express their thoughts about their loved one's life. It gives the family more room to display the favorite photos and add quotes, poems, and verses.
A funeral program can be designed in many different ways. It is made in a single sheet of card stock folded in half. It provides space for a photo in the front, the urgent details of the service on the inside. On the back there is a brief detail regarding the life of the deceased. This style is known as a bi-fold which allows you to insert more pages in a book-like fashion, so that more photos, readings and quotes can be added in the funeral service information.
In the tri-fold a longer piece of card stock is used. It is folded in a manner as the name says that is in three folds. Here the creator can separate information into six different sections. These sections are useful if the client wants to add a photo collage on one panel, a poem on the second, a life tribute to a third, and likewise. This can also be folded as a bi-fold. However, it allows several inches on the back edge to fold to the inside thereby forming an eye-catching area where a solid range of colors highlights a quote or a photo. This portion is only visible when the program is opened.
The software chosen by you as well as the many folding options should be able to give you a wide selection of themes. The theme printed on the funeral program should be able to coordinate with the rest of the funeral stationery. You can also include occupations, interests and hobbies are all possibilities as themes, which all go together in adding another personal touch to this final tribute. On adding the deceased's name, photo, personal quotes, favorite poem or song lyrics and minute details of the deceased’s life, the program becomes a memento and a keepsake for those who were invited and a thoughtful way to include those who weren't able to attend.
You can visit the World Wide Web which is an ideal place to learn the nuances of funeral programs and software. This virtual world gives you the ease of creating and developing a high performing and reliable technology for the death care industry. It also provides for an awesome place for funeral keepsakes and holiday remembrance ornaments.
How to Organize a Funeral Service?
It is ka well known fact that everyone goes through hard times. One of the most difficult times is to put a loved one to rest. It is for this reason that is why there are funeral services available to take care of all your Funeral Services needs so that you can grieve appropriately without any added stress.
It is not very difficult to organize a funeral service. There are many things to be taken care of such as: all the bookings and arrangements as well as purchases and so on. All this is possible with the help of the funeral business. The funeral services help in providing a walk-through presentation of almost everything that you may require and they will also help you make your decisions based on price, appearance and personal requests.
These funeral services will take your deceased into the funeral home and give them the most gentile care as they prepare them for the ceremonies.
All sorts of details and guidelines have to be adhered to for burials and funerals that a person may not know. These very laws can easily get you in trouble with the law. Most of the funeral homes will take care of all details.
It is possible for you to get a list along with the breakdown of the cost for different types of merchandise and services. In this way you will know what you can exclude if it is over your budget. These costs include the casket, flowers, transportation, paper, cremation or burial.
It is also possible for you to choose if you would like to have a wake where a priest can come and speak. Those who are non-religious can get the family members to speak and also friends. Your funeral service provider will take care of all the phone calls for you so that you have the time to spend with your family during this hard spot in your life. You can easily rely on the funeral services to make good judgment calls and take care of everything for you.
You can arrange the funeral services wherever you would like to. You can have the funeral service at the funeral home and have everyone drive over for the burial at the site and this is something you can do too.
The funeral service will order the casket and headstone for you if you need help. They can also suggest what they think will be perfect and then you can pick and choose the ones which out of the list that you would like.
A good funeral service should be able to provide you with the option for them to take care of everything. You will thus be able to do nothing but leaving the budget number, guest contact information and family contact information. In this way everyone can be invited, you are able to stay within your budget and everything gets done while you spend the proper grieving time with your family.
The Services allow you to do all of this for you. You just have to tell them what to do and give them approval on the various decisions so that they can take care of it from there.
How to Create a Funeral Website?
With the advent of modern technology and tools today's funeral websites offer features that keep clients returning and sharing their links with others, thereby creating awareness of their brand name. It is of utmost importance that you take advantage of the latest in web design technology in order to keep your business on the running and leading edge.
If you are creating a funeral home website design you should make sure that it is functional, informative. At the same time the funeral home website should be able to set your funeral home apart from the rest. This is essentially the key to creating online marketing success. Many of the funeral home professionals set out to create a website that is simple, intuitive and interactive they however forget that the task at hand is greater than they first thought. How to begin is sometimes the biggest obstacle. Here we will give you an overview of the things you will need to do to get your funeral home website up and running. After having gone through this list, you can decide what's right for you and your business.
Domain Name Registration: You should first of all have a website. If you don’t the first thing that needs to be done is to select a domain name and have that domain name registered.
Setting up Email: After you have set up a funeral home website you are given multiple and personalized email accounts. This can also depend on the company you have chosen to host your website. Say you require 100 email accounts, you should check to see that the company hosting your website doesn't limit you to just five. Your email should look something like this: "[email protected].
Search Engine Submission and Optimization: After having your should submit your domain name to all possible search engines.
Custom and Semi-Custom Website Designs: If you are unable to afford a professional company to design your website then you can opt for a custom created website for yourself. You can do this by starting with a customized template and later on hire a programmer or web developer to take it from here. Both options might be a consideration if you already have a website and would just likes to make a change, depending on what you want to include on your website.
Obituaries: If you are creating your own website remember to include an Obituary tag where the mourners can post their obituaries on their own website.
Online Guest Book: is an ideal solution if you are creating your own funeral website. With an online guest book in place the visitors are able to leave text based messages as well as video and audio based messages.
Map & Directions: It is indeed wise enough if you can provide integration with Google Maps so that friends and family are able to find your funeral home easily.
If you have already done all this and it is not coming as per your expectations then you should really go in for a professional.
How To Help The Grieving Family After The Funeral?
When a loved one has died a lot of planning has to be done with regards to the funeral arrangements and a host of other minute details. The grief stricken individual is at times still in a state of shock.
In what ways can you help the grief stricken family?
You should not make the mistake of thinking that you can ask the grieving family as to exactly what you can do for them. The family is in such a shock and grief at that time that they may not know the answer right away. As a person if you have known the deceased for a long time you can help the grief stricken family without having to ask.
If you are invited by the deceased member’s family for a reception, you can offer to help out at the kitchen or help to throw away the litter or make some refreshments for the invitees. Previously, everyone would mix around with the loved one whether they require d it or not. And just did things for them. This can be in the form of bringing food over that you have cooked yourself so that they don't have to cook. You should bring in food that is easy to eat because at this time, they will not feel like eating at all. You can also offer to pick up the kids from school. You can also offer to take the kids out for an outing or simply offer to do some errands for them.
Alternatively, you can buy a sympathy card and make a gesture by putting in a check for them. This would help them to tide over the costs of hosting the reception. You can give just that much which you can afford. It should be remembered that grief takes time to heal so you can make an attempt to make this healing process a little easier. You can also offer a listening ear as at this point of time the grief stricken family would like someone to talk. However, most friends keep away from the bereaved in order to give them some time. However, the grief stricken doesn’t need space all the time. Loneliness at times can result in depression. The least you can do is to invite them over to dinner, if they seem to be lonely or sad. If they do not respond to you in a positive way then you should give them some more time.
Grief can last a lifetime and it is not possible to wither away quickly. It gets easier to live without the loved one with the passage of time. So try and be a good friend and stick as close to them as possible. It is you who will be able to help them in the healing process. This is the time that your grieving friend needs you the most. Don't desert them at this hour.
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2019-04-20T16:37:55Z
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http://thememorybookshop.blogspot.com/2012/07/
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Sunday sees the return of the Garthorpe point-to-point season where the Cottersmore meeting kicks of the campaign in Ireland.
A seven race card gets underway with a Cottesmore Members contest at 11.15am. This includes Say No who comes into this on the back of success at Brocklesby on his seasonal reappearance. He is likely to start as favourite in the racing live betting markets to build on that novice rider’s race when he lines up at Garthorpe this weekend.
There are 22 runners in the PPROA Club Members race on the card where the first three jockeys home will gain points towards their total in the Harley Racing National Novice Riders Championship. Bench Warren will be ridden by Tom Chatfield-Roberts, while Joe Drinkwater is set to team up with Working Title once again after the pair prevailed at Wadebridge recently.
The next qualifier for the Bonham’s Men’s Open Point-to-Point Championship Final Hunters Chase at Cheltenham will be on the card at Garthorpe. It will feature Shillingstone who was back in action earlier this month at Brocklesby where he returned with a win. The race also includes recent winner Fruit Fayre who scored comfortably at Thorpe.
Palypso De Creek is likely to start as favourite in the racing betting for the Ladies’ Open where she is set to clash with Hey Porter and Grandturgeon.
In the Midlands Area Club Conditions contest, connections of Victory Parade will be hoping their mount can go one better than its second place finish on this card 12 months ago.
Intentandpurposes broke its maiden recently at Brocklesby and will be vying to build on that in the penultimate race on the afternoon on Sunday, while the finale is The Open Maiden where the consistent Bamboleo will be one of the market leaders to prevail for the first time.
Willie Mullins is hoping to enter the Cheltenham record books this year by matching Fulke Wamwyn’s who is the only trainer to have had four successes in the RSA Chase.
The Irishman will saddle the ante post favourite this year in Ballycasey who is currently 9/2 in the racing betting with bet365.
Mullins was first successful in this 3m novice chase contest in 1998 when Florida Pearl came out on top that year. He then had to wait six years for his second triumph as Rule Supreme was victorious at the age of eight, while more recently, Cooldine brought up the Irish trainer’s hat-trick of wins in this prestigious novice race.
After two wins from two this season over fences, punters have been happy enough to back Ballycasey to give his trainer another win the RSA Chase.
The seven-year old made his seasonal reappearance at Navan back in November where he obliged in the 11 runner field by eight lengths. He made one mistake in that race but other than that, took to fences well for a pleasing debut.
Mullins then waited for the Grade One DR. P.J Moriarty Novice Chase at Leopardstown earlier this month for his return to action where he only had two rivals to beat on that occasion. One of them was Gordon Elliott’s Don Cossack who started the race as the even money favourite. Ballycasey made all though, in an impressive display to prove his credentials once again ahead of the Cheltenham Festival.
Alan King’s Smad Place is next best in the market for the RSA Chase as bet365 have him at racing odds of 7/1. He unseated jockey Robert Thornton on his debut over fences but since then has won on both of his two starts to establish himself as a key player next month.
Champagne Fever goes into the 2014 Cheltenham Festival looking to make it back-to-back successes at the meeting with a victory this time in the Arkle.
Willie Mullins’ runner won the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle last year in the opening race of the four-day meeting. His target this year is the novice chase contest over 2m.
The seven-year old has only had two public outings over fences. He opened up at Punchestown where he scored by four lengths early in the season.
There was a surprise defeat last time out at Leopardstown for the seven-year old though, as he was third of six runners on Boxing Day in the Grade One Racing Post Novice Chase which was won by Defy Logic.
Bet365 make Champagne Fever a 3/1 shot in the racing betting with bet365 for the second race of the festival on day two.
Trifolium finished ahead of Champagne Fever last time and is next best in the bet365 market at racing odds of 5/1 with bet365.
The Gigginstown stud-owned horse went one better than his run on Boxing Day by taking the Arkle Novice Chase in January which is of Grade One status at Leopardstown.
Trifolium returned to the racecourse in November after just short of one year out through injury. He was successful by 10 lengths in his beginners chase debut at Thurles.
Charles Byrnes’ runner was no match for Felix Younger at Navan on his second start over fences but he did reverse that form later in the campaign at Leopardstown.
Former Champion Hurdle winner Rock on Ruby switched to fences in December where he had just two rivals to beat when going off at 1/10. He made no mistake on that occasion and then returned last month for another successful outing at Doncaster.
Grandeur was able to successfully land a gamble on Saturday in the Winter Derby Trial at Lingfield.
Jeremy Noseda’s runner has not been short of success in the United States and was able to take advantage of his class to prevail by just under a length ahead of Modernstone.
Grandeur opened up at 11/10 in the racing odds and was much bigger earlier in the morning for the 1m2f Listed contest. However, after market support for the five-year old, he went off as the 4/5 favourite with bet365.
The latest success makes the five-year old a key player ahead of the Winter Derby at the same course next month. It also ensures he qualifies for the all-weather championship final day on Good Friday.
Noseda spoke about the Sheema Classic in Dubai being another possibility for his horse next month.
Grandeur has turned into a globe trotter for his connections in the last couple of years. His prior run to Lingfield was in at Sha tin in the Hong Kong Cup where he came home a respectable seventh.
2013 also saw him take his place in the Arlington Million Stakes which is a Grade One in America. His first visit to the continent resulted in him winning the Twilight Derby at Santa Anita. Further success across the Atlantic followed in the Hollywood Turf Cup.
Modernstone ran a big race for trainer William Knight on Saturday when recording second behind Grandeur at 12/1 in the bet365 racing betting. All of his last four runs have come at Lingfield where he has not been outside of the front two in those outings.
The son of Duke of Marmelade is expected to return for the Winter Derby where he will be looking to reverse the form with Grandeur.
After failing to impress so far in his two runs over 3m this season, Al Ferof may be more likely to run in the Ryanair Chase at the Festival next month, rather than the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
The 2m4f contest is wide open this year according to the racing betting where Paul Nicholls’ runner currently heads the market at 4/1 with bet365.
Al Ferof has had two attempts over 3m so far in his career. He stepped up to the distance on Boxing Day for the King George at Kempton. Despite finishing 14 lengths off the pace, he came home a respectable third behind Silviniaco Conti and Cue Card.
Next time out at Newbury he was the 5/4 favourite in the racing odds for the Denman Chase, which only consisted of five runners. He appeared to struggle in the final four furlongs of that contest in which he was no match for Harry Topper who took the prize for Kim Bailey.
With the bet365 news earlier this week that Cue Card was out of the Cheltenham Festival through injury, it may encourage more connections to aim for the Ryanair Chase this year. First Lieutenant is another horse who also has multiple entries, including that of the 2m4f chase on day three.
The Gigginstown Stud-owned runner finished second in the race behind Cue Card 12 months ago. A month later, he was successful in the Grade One Betfred Bowl Chase at Aintree during the Grand National Meeting to make up for missing out at Prestbury Park.
First Lieutenant has yet to score so far in four attempts this season. He started out at Punchestown in October where he came home third of five runners. The closest he has come to scoring was in the Lexus Chase at Leopardstown in December when Bobs Worth got the better of him by just over a length.
Bobs Worth goes into the 2014 Cheltenham Gold Cup as the 2/1 favourite with bet365 in the racing betting for the blue riband event of the Festival.
Nicky Henderson’s chaser was successful in the feature contest of the meeting in 2013 when he finished ahead of Sir Des Champs and Long Run to bring his record at Prestbury Park to five wins from five outings there.
During the 2013/14 campaign so far, Bobs Worth has only seen a racecourse twice. He opened up at Haydock in the Betfair Chase where he went off as the favourite in the racing live betting. However, he never looked like winning the Grade One contest and came home sixth of the eight runners in a disappointing run.
The Gold Cup winner was back to his best though, last time out in Ireland in the Lexus Chase in December. Henderson chose the Leopardstown race as his horse’s next step as he felt the track suited his runner more than Kempton where the King George was ruled out. The nine-year old rewarded his connections with an impressive performance.
He stayed out the three mile better than any of his rivals to come home in front of First Lieutenant and Rubi Ball, the other two runners to make the frame.
Paul Nicholls is vying to win the Betfred Cheltenham Gold Cup for a fifth time. His best chance this year appears to be with Silviniaco Conti who is second best in the market for the race.
He was travelling well in the Gold Cup 12 months ago but fell three from home. Since then, he has gone on to win the King George and was a respectable third in his seasonal reappearance in the Betfair Chase at Haydock behind Cue Card and Dynaste.
Wyck Hill was able to outstay his rivals on Saturday in the Betfred Eider Chase at Newcastle.
The 4m1f contest is the third longest race in the Britain, behind the Grand National and Midlands Grand National. The 10-year old prevailed by just under a length ahead of Smoking Aces.
Owner John McManus purchased Wyck Hill over a year ago as a horse which would hopefully help him win the Grand National. However, before his run on Saturday in the Eider, he had shown nothing to represent he could be a serious challenger for the world’s most famous steeplechase.
Jockey Tom scudamore chose to take up the running quite early in the 4m1f race with the David Bridgewater trained horse. Despite idling in the closing couple of furlongs, he was able to hold on in front of Smoking Aces who also ran in the McManus silks.
Wyck Hill went off at racing odds of 9/1 to reward backers at Newcastle. His return to a winning mark sparked the horse to success.
Bridegwater’s runner had not won since December 2012. It was his fourth outing of the season in which an increase in distance and drop in class appeared to beneficial.
Bet365 make Wyck Hill a 25/1 shot for the Grand National in April in the racing betting, Teaforthree remains the 10/1 favourite, while Tidal Bay will be looking to become the first horse since Red Rum in 1974 to win off top weight and is 16/1 with bet365 to do so.
Ballypatrick was a further two lengths behind the first two home at Newcastle under three pound claimer Gavin Sheehan. The trio of horses were well clear of Safran De Cotte who completed the placings in fourth place.
Irving enhanced his reputation on Saturday ahead of the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle by claiming the Dovecote Novices’ Hurdle at Kempton.
It was the six-year old’s fourth triumph of the season and ensures he remains unbeaten in the UK going into the Cheltenham Festival next month.
Paul Nicholls had hoped to run his hurdler in the Betfair Hurdle earlier this month at Newbury. However, the ground on that occasion was against his runner and he chose to be patient for the right opportunity for his return.
Jockey Nick Schofield tracked the leaders on his mount at Kempton until the second obstacle from home where he took the lead for the first time in the race. Despite not jumping the final hurdle cleanly, he stretched away from his rivals, which was headed by Amore Alato as they crossed the line.
Bet365 chose to cut Irving into 5/2 clear favourite for the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle in their racing betting following the impressive performance. He sits ahead of the Willie Mullins-trained Vautour who is next best at 11/4 with bet365, while Wicklow Brave is 8/1.
Nicholls’ runner has been talked about as one the country’s leading novices since he won on his British debut at Taunton on November 14. He then followed that up with a four length victory at Ascot just over a week later.
His first Group assignment also came at Ascot in the Mittie Kennel Gate Novices’ Hurdle. He went off as racing odds of 11/4 as Nicky Henderson’s Volnay De Thaix was in the field. Irving was able to finish clear of the 4/5 favourite which immediately made him a leading Supreme Novices’ Hurdle contender, in what is the opening race of the Cheltenham Festival.
Nicholls has won the opener on day one twice, with Al Ferof in 2011 being his most recent success.
Leading American thoroughbred Game On Dude is expected to have another shot at the Dubai World Cup in Dubai in March, despite disappointing there in 2011.
Bob Baffert’s runner will be favourite in the racing betting for the richest race in the world at Meydan on the tapeta surface.
If he is successful, he will follow in the footsteps of Animal Kingdom who won the race for America in 2013 when scoring in comfortable fashion in the feature race of the Festival.
American horses have an excellent record in the 1m2f flat race. Cigar was successful in the inaugural running in 1996, while Silver Charm, Captain Steve, Pleasantly Perfect, Roses in May, Electrocutionist, Curlin and Well Armed have all landed the prize having made the trip for the States.
This year’s leading USA hope Game On Dude, went off as the 5/2 favourite in betting for the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita in California back in November. After being prominent with the leaders in the early stages of the contest, he faded in the final couple of furlongs on the dirt to come home 11th in the race won by Mucho Macho Man.
Since that effort at the Breeders’ Cup meeting, he has had two outings and failed to win in either of them. At Churchill downs on November 29, he was denied by just a head by Will Take Charge in the Group One Clark Handicap, while more recently at Santa Anita, he was fifth of seven in the Grade Two San Antonio Stakes when going off the 30/1000 market leader.
The seven year-old is unlikely to have another run before the big race in Dubai where he could come up against Derby winner Ruler of the World and leading European hopes Magician and The Fugue.
Australian bred sprinter Sterling City is set to take on Hong Kong’s best on Sunday in the Chairman’s Sprint Prize at Sha Tin Racecourse.
John Moore’s runner is 2.75 with the bet365 racing betting to win the 1200 metre contest where he will have to get the better of ante-post favourite Lucky Nine.
Sterling City has only raced on five occasions so far in his career and has won on three of those occasions. He justified favouritism to win the Group Three Chinese Club Challenge Cup last time out at Sha Tin. That was over the longer trip of 1400 metres but he was able to hold off the challenge of Destined For Glory to get up by just under a length.
The six-year old broke his maiden on his debut at the Hong Kong track back in June in the Premier Cup. He followed that up with another success later in the year to score a by a neck ahead of Bullish Champions.
A step up to Group Two came in the Bochk Wealth Management Jockey Club Sprint where he found only Charles The Great too good for him on the day.
Connections then entered their talented sprinter in a Group One for the first time in December in the Longines Hong Kong Sprint over 1200m. He was able to finish a respectable fifth in a race which included some of the best sprinters in the world. Japan’s Lord Kanaloa took the price ahead of Sole Power from Ireland, while Frederick Engels completed the placings.
The field for the Chairman’s Sprint Cup on Sunday is much smaller and is a good opportunity for him to try and win in the highest company for the first time. The occasion should provide a similar opportunity for fans of the racing live betting.
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2019-04-20T20:16:33Z
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http://horsetrackracing.com/winning-horses/
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Retinoid therapy is widely employed in clinical oncology to differentiate malignant cells into their more benign counterparts. However, certain high-risk cohorts, such as patients with MYCN-amplified neuroblastoma, are innately resistant to retinoid therapy. Therefore, we employed a precision medicine approach to globally profile the retinoid signalling response and to determine how an excess of cellular MYCN antagonises these signalling events to prevent differentiation and confer resistance.
We applied RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) and interaction proteomics coupled with network-based systems level analysis to identify targetable vulnerabilities of MYCN-mediated retinoid resistance. We altered MYCN expression levels in a MYCN-inducible neuroblastoma cell line to facilitate or block retinoic acid (RA)-mediated neuronal differentiation. The relevance of differentially expressed genes and transcriptional regulators for neuroblastoma outcome were then confirmed using existing patient microarray datasets.
We determined the signalling networks through which RA mediates neuroblastoma differentiation and the inhibitory perturbations to these networks upon MYCN overexpression. We revealed opposing regulation of RA and MYCN on a number of differentiation-relevant genes, including LMO4, CYP26A1, ASCL1, RET, FZD7 and DKK1. Furthermore, we revealed a broad network of transcriptional regulators involved in regulating retinoid responsiveness, such as Neurotrophin, PI3K, Wnt and MAPK, and epigenetic signalling. Of these regulators, we functionally confirmed that MYCN-driven inhibition of transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) signalling is a vulnerable node of the MYCN network and that multiple levels of cross-talk exist between MYCN and TGF-β. Co-targeting of the retinoic acid and TGF-β pathways, through RA and kartogenin (KGN; a TGF-β signalling activating small molecule) combination treatment, induced the loss of viability of MYCN-amplified retinoid-resistant neuroblastoma cells.
Our approach provides a powerful precision oncology tool for identifying the driving signalling networks for malignancies not primarily driven by somatic mutations, such as paediatric cancers. By applying global omics approaches to the signalling networks regulating neuroblastoma differentiation and stemness, we have determined the pathways involved in the MYCN-mediated retinoid resistance, with TGF-β signalling being a key regulator. These findings revealed a number of combination treatments likely to improve clinical response to retinoid therapy, including co-treatment with retinoids and KGN, which may prove valuable in the treatment of high-risk MYCN-amplified neuroblastoma.
The paediatric cancer neuroblastoma arises when neuronal stem cells of a transient embryonal tissue, the neural crest, fail to complete their terminal differentiation into neurons of the peripheral nervous system and instead transform to become oncogenic [1, 2]. This failure of an embryonal population of neuroblasts to differentiate is largely due to the aberrant maintenance of stemness signals arising from genetic and epigenetic lesions [3–7]. Therefore, neuroblastoma has been termed a malignancy which is due to a differentiation block [8, 9], with tumours consisting of more stem-like cells representing more aggressive and high-risk disease [10, 11]. Interestingly, neuroblastoma has the highest rate of spontaneous regression of any solid tumour [12–15], which is thought to be due to the late restoration of normal developmental signalling resulting in tumour cell differentiation or apoptosis. Thus, even neuroblastomas with metastatic spread (stage 4S) can have a good prognosis due to spontaneous regression, especially in infants below 18 months of age [16, 17]. By contrast, neuroblastomas diagnosed later than 18 months or those with amplification of the MYCN oncogene have much worse prognosis. In fact, neuroblastoma accounts for 15% of all childhood cancer deaths, the highest of any solid tumour . The survival rate of the high-risk neuroblastoma patients has not improved in decades, remaining steady at a 5-year survival of 40–50% . Therefore, it is a clinical imperative that effective therapeutics for high-risk neuroblastoma be identified.
Differentiation therapy is widely employed in clinical cancer treatment [19–26] as both primary and maintenance therapies. Retinoid-induced differentiation of neuronal precursors is a successful treatment strategy for low and intermediate risk neuroblastoma patients. Both all-trans-retinoic acid (ATRA, tretinoin) and 13-cis-retinoic acid (isotretinoin) are used in neuroblastoma therapy with isotretinoin being the preferred compound [20–22, 24, 27, 28]. However, despite the effectiveness of retinoid treatment for some patients, it is ineffective for many high-risk patients [24, 29]. This is largely due to MYCN-induced resistance to retinoid therapy . MYCN is a primarily neuronal-specific member of the MYC proto-oncogene family. It is expressed during normal neural crest development, and when under normal regulation it does not prevent terminal differentiation of neuroblasts [30, 31]. However, amplified MYCN prevents neuronal differentiation [32, 33], and aberrant MYCN signalling alone is sufficient to induce neuroblastoma in animal models [2, 34]. MYCN amplification occurs in over 20% of neuroblastoma and contributes to metastasis and chemoresistance [17, 35]. Additionally, 50% of neuroblastoma patients who initially respond to retinoic acid (RA) therapy develop retinoid resistance . However, despite the variability of the clinical response to RA, there is a lack of recurrent somatic mutations in components of the RA signalling pathway [3, 36], suggesting adaptor mechanisms conveying resistance. Furthermore, epigenetic regulation has been shown to block neuronal precursor differentiation . Therefore, rather than focussing on mutations or epigenetic status, we employed RNA-seq and network-based analysis to globally profile the functional status of gene regulatory networks in response to RA. Analysis at this level captures the functional effects of all upstream regulatory alterations regardless of their origin (e.g. mutations, transcriptional and epigenetic alterations, miRNA/lncRNA-mediated regulation). Such approaches are particularly pertinent for paediatric cancers as they have a low rate of genetic mutation compared with adult cancers, and accordingly present far fewer actionable genetic alterations . The only actionable mutation in neuroblastoma is mutant ALK, but even this gene is mutated in only 9.2% of tumours [3, 38].
While elevated MYCN levels inhibit RA-mediated neuronal differentiation [32, 33], the precise molecular mechanisms are unknown. Elucidating these mechanisms could reveal potential targets and combination treatments that can re-sensitise MYCN-amplified cells to retinoid therapy. To this end, we transcriptionally profiled (RNA-seq) ATRA (from here on referred to as RA) exposed neuroblastoma cells in the presence of high and low MYCN expression levels and performed network-based precision medicine analysis [38–41]. Additionally, we profiled changes in the MYCN protein–protein interactome in response to RA. We thereby identified how MYCN globally modulates the differentiation response and identified network nodes which can be therapeutically targeted to prevent amplified MYCN from inhibiting the RA-induced differentiation of neuroblastoma cells.
The cell line SH-SY5Y/6TR(EU)/pTrex-Dest-30/MYCN (SY5Y-MYCN) stably expresses a tetracycline-inducible MYCN expression vector and was kindly provided by the Westermann lab [42–44]. Cells were cultured in RPMI 1640 (Gibco) supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum (Gibco), 2 mM L-glutamine (Gibco) and 1% penicillin-streptomycin solution (Gibco). RA (Sigma-Aldrich) was given at a final concentration of 1 μM, to induce differentiation. Kartogenin (Selleck) was dissolved in DMSO and used in concentrations ranging from 0.1–20 μM. RepSox (Selleck) was dissolved in DMSO and used in concentrations ranging from 1–100 nM. For vehicle controls equivalent volumes of DMSO were added to cells. Doxycycline (Dox; Sigma) dissolved in water was used at a final concentration of 1 μg/ml to induce MYCN expression in SY5Y-MYCN. Dox was replenished every 24 h for any treatment longer than a 24 h duration. For Dox co-treatments cells were pre-incubated with doxycycline for 24 h before addition of RA and had fresh doxycycline given at the start of RA treatment. Cells were imaged using an Olympus CKX41 microscope.
Western blotting and quantitative RT-PCR (RT-qPCR) were performed as previously described . Antibodies used were TrkB (1/1,000 dilution, #4603, Cell Signaling Technologies) and ERK1/2 (1/10,000 dilution, M5670, Sigma Aldrich). TaqMan assays (Applied Biosystems) used were DKK1 (Hs00183740_m1*), EGR1 (Hs00152928_m1*), FZD7 (Hs00275833_s1*), RET (Hs01120030_m1*), NTRK2 (Hs00178811_m1*), c-MYC (Hs00905030_m1*), MYCN (Hs00232074_m1*), ASCL1 (Hs04187546_g1), LMO4 (Hs01086790_m1) and the endogenous control genes RPLPO (4310879E) and ACTB (β-actin, 4326315E). Biological duplicates were generated for all samples; technical replicates for every sample were also performed.
SY5Y-MYCN cells were exposed to one of four treatments (24 h DMSO, 24 h RA, 24 h RA and 48 h Dox and 48 h Dox), with biological duplicates. While the 48-h Dox-only sample was also previously analysed as part of a MYCN overexpression time-course , analysis of the RA samples and their comparison with the 48-h Dox only samples has not previously been published. The 48-h Dox treatment was performed and the samples were sequenced together with the DMSO, RA-only and RA and Dox samples. Total mRNA was extracted using TRI Reagent (Sigma-Aldrich) according to the manufacturer’s protocol, and DNA was digested with RQ1 RNase free DNase (Promega). RNA quality was checked by RT-qPCR (as above) and on a 2100 Bioanalyzer (Agilent) using a Eukaryote Total RNA Nano Chip (version 2.6). All samples had a RIN value in the range of 8.40–9.20. Sequencing libraries were generated from 2 μg of total RNA per sample with a TruSeq RNA sample preparation Kit v2 (Illumina) according to the manufacturer’s protocol. Size and purity of the libraries were analysed on a Bioanalyzer High Sensitivity DNA chip (Agilent). Libraries were clustered using TruSeq Single-Read Cluster Kit v5-CS-GA (Illumina) and sequenced on an Illumina Genome Analyzer IIx with a TruSeq SBS Kit v5-GA (Illumina).
The sequence reads were analysed as described previously . Differentially expressed genes were called using general linear models in edgeR . P values were adjusted for multiple testing with the Benjamini–Hochberg correction and a corrected P cutoff of 0.05 was used. To make the absolute expression levels of genes comparable with each other, the read counts per million were adjusted by gene length in kilobases (CPMkb). The mRNA-seq data were deposited in ArrayExpress (http://www.ebi.ac.uk/arrayexpress) under accession number E-MTAB-2689.
Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA) software was also used for the inferred transcriptional regulator (ITR), pathway and gene ontology (GO) analysis. String (http://www.string-db.org/) was used to generate protein–protein interaction networks, and the KEGG pathway enrichment analysis tool in String was also applied to these networks. Area-proportional Venn diagrams were generated using BioVenn (http://www.cmbi.ru.nl/cdd/biovenn/) and four-way comparisons were generated using Venny (http://bioinfogp.cnb.csic.es/tools/venny/index.html). Measurements of neurite length and cell width were obtained from images using ImageJ v1.44p (http://imagej.nih.gov/ij).
Mass spectrometry-based interaction proteomics were conducted on SY5Y-MYCN (un-induced, 48-h MYCN overexpression, 24-h 1-μM RA treatment and 48-h MYCN overexpression and 24-h 1-μM RA co-treatment) for the MYCN protein. Interaction proteomics were performed as previously described . MYCN was immunoprecipitated by using Protein A/G PLUS-agarose beads (sc-2003, Santa Cruz) conjugated to MYCN antibody (1/1,000 dilution, sc-53993, Santa Cruz) or IgG. Three biological and two technical replicates were performed per condition.
Cell viability was analysed by MTS assay as described , with values normalised to untreated control cells. The results represent the mean ± standard deviation of triplicate biological replicates, expressed as a percentage of control.
SY5Y neuroblastoma cells treated with RA undergo neuronal differentiation to become dopaminergic neurons [45, 48–51]. We profiled global transcriptional changes mediated by RA in the MYCN Dox-inducible SY5Y-MYCN cell line, which was previously generated from the parental SY5Y cell line by the Westermann lab [42–44]. To assess the effect of MYCN overexpression on neuronal differentiation we imaged SY5Y-MYCN cells treated with RA while overexpression of the MYCN transgene was either induced or un-induced (Fig. 1a). A differentiation ratio for each treatment group was then calculated by dividing the length of the longest axon of a cell by the cell’s width. Like SY5Y cells, SY5Y-MYCN cells underwent RA-mediated differentiation in the absence of MYCN induction. However, when MYCN expression was induced (reaching 10–15 times higher levels than in un-induced cells; Additional file 1: Figure S1a) the ability of RA to efficiently differentiate these cells strongly and significantly was attenuated (t-test, RA versus RA and Dox p < 0.0001). While endogenous MYCN mRNA (parental SY5Y cells) expression was downregulated by RA treatment, ectopic MYCN in SY5Y-MYCN cell lines was not reduced as it is not under the control of the endogenous MYCN promoter (Additional file 1: Figure S1b; also see Duffy et al. ). Confirming that the RA was active, it reduced the expression of endogenous c-MYC mRNA by a similar extent in both SY5Y and un-induced SY5Y-MYCN cell lines (Additional file 1: Figure S1b).
The mechanisms through which MYCN blocks RA-mediated neuronal differentiation are highly relevant to MYCN-amplified neuroblastoma patients, who generally do not respond well to retinoid treatment [20, 27]. Therefore, to identify these mechanisms we conducted mRNA-seq of SY5Y-MYCN cells under four treatment conditions: (i) 24-h DMSO (control), (ii) 24-h RA, (iii) 24-h RA and 48-h Dox, and (iv) 48-h Dox. Firstly, we confirmed that a number of the genes encoding the RA receptors, which are required to facilitate cellular responsiveness to RA, were expressed in SY5Y-MYCN cells (Additional file 1: Figure S1c). Of these the expression of both RARA and RARB was upregulated upon RA treatment. In total, between 511 and 839 differentially expressed (DE) genes were detected per treatment group, with a high degree of overlap between the co-treatment (RA and Dox) sample and the individual treatments (Fig. 1b; Additional file 2: Table S1; Additional file 3: Table S2; Additional file 4: Table S3; Additional file 5: Table S4). MYCN overexpression predominantly downregulated gene expression as we have previously described , while RA treatment produced a very similar number of up- and downregulated DE genes (Fig. 1c). While there was a trend for the greatest fold changes to occur in genes which had lower pre-treatment expression states, genes across the full range of pre-treatment expression levels were differentially expressed (Fig. 1d).
Of the 169 genes regulated in common between MYCN overexpression and RA treatment, 95 were regulated in opposing directions (up- or downregulated) by each treatment (Fig. 2a). These differentially activated genes are likely key to MYCN’s ability to block RA-mediated neuronal differentiation and contain both known and novel components of differentiation signalling (see below). To validate the accuracy of the RNA-seq analysis we analysed the changes in expression (by qPCR) of MYCN (Additional file 1: Figure S1a) and seven selected genes, RET, DKK1, EGR1, FZD7, ASCL1, LMO4 and c-MYC (Fig. 2b), which were identified as being DE in the RNA-seq data. The results confirmed the reliability of the RNA sequencing data (Fig. 2b; Additional file 1: Figure S1a). The qPCR also confirmed the differing direction of regulation for RET, FZD7, EGR1, ASCL1 and LMO4 between the RA treatments and MYCN induction (Fig. 2b). To eliminate any Dox-related, non-MYCN-dependent, role in the expression changes of these genes we treated parental SY5Y cells with Dox. Dox treatment in SY5Y cells did not reproduce the expression changes observed when MYCN was overexpressed in SY5Y-MYCN cells via Dox treatment (Additional file 1: Figure S1d).
We also confirmed by qPCR and western blotting the strong induction of the BDNF receptor NTRK2 (TrkB) upon RA treatment, which was revealed in the RNA-seq results (Additional file 1: Figure S1e, f). This RA-mediated induction of NTRK2 was sustained, and indeed continued to rise over longer RA treatments (Additional file 1: Figure S1e, f). While high NTRK2 expression combined with amplified MYCN is a marker for high-risk neuroblastoma , NTRK2 pathway activation by BDNF ligand treatment is also known to aid RA-mediated differentiation . Our results indicate that RA dramatically upregulates NTRK2 expression, potentially priming the cells to respond to BDNF signalling.
Of the genes regulated in opposing directions by RA and MYCN (Fig. 2a), we examined three in more detail: CYP26A1, LMO4 and ASCL1 (Fig. 2c). These genes were selected as they have previously been associated with either neuronal differentiation, MYCN or neuroblastoma, but our analysis reveals their opposing transcriptional regulation by RA and MYCN. Our RNA-seq analysis revealed that the expression of the CYP26A1 gene was massively increased upon RA treatment, jumping from almost undetectable to highly expressed (0.05–36.59 CPMkb; Fig. 2c). This increase was further enhanced by the combination of RA and Dox, despite Dox alone slightly reducing CYP26A1 expression (Fig. 2c). CYP26A1 is a member of the cytochrome P450 family and is involved in a negative feedback loop, where RA activates its expression while the CYP26A1 protein inactivates RA by hydroxylation [54–58]. CYP26A1 also regulates the production of migratory cranial neural crest cells . Our data show a trend for MYCN overexpression to enhance the RA-induced expression of the RA inhibitor CYP26A1 (Fig. 2c).
LMO4 is a transcriptional regulator involved in the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition of neuroblastoma and neural crest cells . It can also inhibit differentiation of mammary epithelial cells and is overexpressed in breast cancer . Its paralogue, LMO1, is a neuroblastoma oncogene which is duplicated in 12.4% of tumours, and is associated with aggressive disease . LMO4 interferes with neuritogenesis in SY5Y cells , has a role in the differentiation of progenitor cells of motor neurons and the cranial neural crest and is highly expressed in proliferating mouse epithelial tissues [64, 65]. Our results reveal that LMO4 mRNA levels are upregulated by MYCN and downregulated by RA, while in the combination treatment MYCN overexpression partially reverses RA’s inhibitory effects on LMO4 expression (Fig. 2c).
The ASCL1 transcription factor stimulates neuronal differentiation, but its pro-differentiation functions are blocked by MYCN at the protein level, where MYCN maintains the phosphorylation of ASCL1 . ASCL and MYCN also share some of the same promoter targets, but direct opposing regulation of these shared targets . In addition to MYCN’s role in regulating phosphorylation of the ASCL1 protein, our data revealed that MYCN overexpression regulates ASCL1 mRNA levels (Fig. 2c). MYCN overexpression increased the level of ASCL1 mRNA, while RA treatment strongly reduced it (Fig. 2c). Combination treatment partially rescued the effect of RA on ASCL1. Therefore, ASCL1 is another gene differentially regulated by RA and MYCN overexpression, which is likely to contribute to MYCN’s ability to block neuronal differentiation.
In order to determine if the results obtained from the cell line were relevant to neuroblastoma tumour biology, we examined the effect of these genes on neuroblastoma patient survival in three large neuroblastoma tumour datasets (Versteeg , SEQC and Kocak , with 88, 498 and 649 tumours, respectively), using the R2: Genomics Analysis and Visualization Platform (http://r2.amc.nl). CYP26A1, LMO4 and ASCL1 mRNA expression levels were each prognostic of patient outcome (Fig. 2d; Additional file 1: Figure S1g), consistent across the three datasets. Furthermore, the elevated expression of ASCL1 and LMO4 seen in the MYCN-overexpressing SY5Y-MYCN cells matched the high expression of these genes in the poor outcome tumours. Conversely, tumours with low ASCL1 and LMO4 expression had better prognosis, matching the cell line results in which these genes were downregulated by RA. The correlation between the RNA-seq and the tumour data was not as straightforward for CYP26A1. Expression of CYP26A1 was induced by RA and augmented further by MYCN induction, but not by MYCN induction alone (Fig. 2c). High levels of CYP26A1 were also indicative of poor outcome. Thus, while not activated by MYCN alone, CYP26A1 expression is induced by RA treatment even more strongly in the presence of elevated MYCN, and subsequently inactivates RA, resulting in retinoid resistance.
To move beyond the single-gene level and identify additional mechanisms through which MYCN overexpression can interfere with RA signalling we performed global pathway and network-based analysis of the RNA-seq data.
We analysed the RNA-seq data using the GO disease and function terms tool of the IPA programme. Using existing knowledge, GO term analysis identifies patterns of gene regulation in the transcriptomic data which match patterns related to biological events such as apoptosis, ribosome biogenesis, proliferation and DNA replication. GO term analysis confirmed the phenotypic observations, showing that RA-activated genes are involved in neuronal differentiation processes and RA-inhibited genes are involved in cell movement (Fig. 3a). Conversely, MYCN overexpression repressed differentiation-associated processes, while combination treatment tended to fall between the two extremes but still with a bias towards the repression of neuronal differentiation (Fig. 3a). Disease and function GO analysis of the top 15 GO terms per condition revealed that RA inhibited proliferation and cancer-associated processes (Additional file 1: Figure S2a).
IPA analysis also showed that these phenotypic changes were achieved by RA differentially regulating the components of a number of signalling pathways associated with neuronal differentiation, including RAR and VDR/RXR, which were in the top 15 signalling pathways altered during differentiation (Fig. 3b). In particular, the expression of components of the RAR pathway itself were regulated by RA at all levels when projected onto a RAR pathway map (Fig. 3c). Aside from known RA-associated pathways, our analysis highlighted that a large array of signalling pathways participate in the differentiation of neurons, including axonal guidance, protein kinase A, eNOS and G-protein coupled receptor signalling (Fig. 3b).
The IPA suite was next used to identify the ITRs of DE genes of each treatment condition. Given the wealth of transcriptomic experiments publically available, a vast database exists regarding how genes are transcriptionally regulated in response to a wide array of regulators (genes, proteins or chemical compounds). ITR analysis harnesses this prior knowledge to identify patterns of transcriptional regulation in our datasets which match the patterns produced by known regulators. This comparison of known patterns versus patterns observed in the data enables the inference of which regulators are likely responsible for the differential gene expression seen in our transcriptomics data. Given this prior knowledge, ITR analysis can not only infer the regulators likely altering transcriptional regulation but also predict their activation status, i.e. whether these regulators were activated or inhibited in the treatment groups compared to the control cells [42, 70]. For more information on the statistical algorithms employed to match the detected changes in gene expression to known gene regulatory modules from the curated IPA knowledge database see Krämer et al. . RA itself was a top ITR in each of the treatment groups (Fig. 4a, b). The analysis correctly and independently predicted it to be activated in both of the conditions in which RA treatment was performed (24-h RA and 24-h RA and 48-h Dox), providing a positive validation of the ITR analysis. As previously shown , RA as an ITR was inhibited by 48-h Dox treatment (Fig. 4a, b), revealing that MYCN DE regulates known RA target genes. Indeed, consistent with MYCN repressing RA’s effects on its target genes, the activation z score of RA for the combination treatment (24-h RA and 48-h Dox) was lower than for the 24-h RA single treatment, despite both conditions receiving the same dose and duration of RA treatment (Fig. 4a, b).
A clear trend emerged from the top ITRs of each condition: RA primarily activated transcriptional regulators (14/15) while MYCN primarily repressed them (12/15) (Fig. 4b). This trend was also clear across the top 100 ITRs (Additional file 1: Figure S3a; Additional file 6: Table S5). In line with this trend and the mutual antagonism of RA and MYCN, the combination treatment showed an almost equal number of ITRs to be activated and repressed, (seven and eight, respectively). The top protein ITRs of RA treatment formed a highly interconnected network, revealing the complexity of the molecular mechanisms involved in RA-mediated neuronal differentiation (Fig. 4c). Interestingly, almost half of the 24-h RA ITRs were chemical compounds, suggesting that additional drugs, if co-administered, may be able to improve the differentiation efficiency of clinical RA treatments.
To identify the transcriptional regulators through which MYCN exerts its inhibition of RA treatment, we next examined transcriptional regulators which were differentially activated between the treatment groups. A number of the top 15 ITRs were differentially regulated between the RA and MYCN overexpressing conditions, such as TGFB1, HIF1A, APP and FGF2 (Fig. 4b). To identify all ITRs which were differentially activated between RA and Dox treatments we overlapped the ITRs and their activation/inhibition status (Additional file 1: Figure S4a). Then, we generated protein interaction maps to reveal the transcriptional regulator networks which are likely to mediate MYCN inhibition of neuronal differentiation (Additional file 1: Figure S4a). The RA-inhibited and MYCN-activated protein ITRs were enriched for β-catenin binding genes (molecular function GO analysis, p = 8.52E-07) and Wnt signalling-related genes (KEGG pathway enrichment analysis, p = 4.84E-02), with all of the Wnt-related proteins present being antagonists of the pathway. Conversely, the protein–protein interaction network for the ITRs activated by RA and inhibited by MYCN overexpression were enriched for MAPK pathway-related proteins (KEGG pathway enrichment analysis, p = 6.829E-17). This network also included the WNT1 ITR, which combined with the results from the first network suggests that RA activates WNT1 signalling and represses Wnt antagonists. MYCN has the inverse effect, inhibiting WNT1 and activating Wnt antagonists. We have recently independently shown that Wnt and MAPK signalling are involved in regulating differentiation in MYCN-amplified neuroblastoma cells [42, 71]. In SY5Y cells, which are MYCN single-copy, the Wnt-RA cross-talk has been shown to be mediated by PSEN1 (Presenilin 1) . We previously discovered novel cross-talk between the MYCN oncogene and GSK3 (one of the Wnt-related ITRs) , β-catenin and MAPK . Therefore, the protein–protein interaction network of regulators differentially activated by RA and MYCN overexpression identified here confirm our previous findings, support the validity of the current analysis and reveal that MYCN’s ability to inhibit RA-mediated differentiation involves the regulation of Wnt and MAPK signalling components.
To identify novel ITRs which may enhance the clinical response to RA when given as combination therapies, we next collated ITRs which were strongly differentially regulated between the three conditions (Fig. 4d). One of these regulators was MYCN itself. The effects of MYCN overexpression on known MYCN target genes predominated over RA effects, with MYCN overexpression strongly activating MYCN target gene expression, an effect which was only mildly attenuated by RA co-treatment (Fig. 4d). It should be noted, however, that this was in a MYCN-inducible system where MYCN expression was not under the control of its endogenous promoter and enhancers. Although artificial, this scenario mirrors highly amplified MYCN neuroblastoma where over 70 additional copies of the MYCN gene can be inserted in the tumour’s genome, often losing their endogenous promoters and enhancers. Interestingly, the strongly differentially regulated ITRs were significantly enriched for the Neurotrophin signalling pathway (BDNF, NGF and Trk receptors etc., see 'MYCN overexpression antagonises the normal transcriptional response to RA treatment' section above; KEGG p = 5.739E-10; Additional file 1: Figure S4b), which is strongly associated with neuronal differentiation and neuroblastoma outcome. These data suggest a convergence of the molecular mode of action of RA and neurotrophin (NGF/BDNF) mediated differentiation. The most highly connected nodes in the network included histone deacetylases (HDACs), which have recently been shown to synergise with RA treatment [8, 73–75], and TGFB1. TGFB1 is a ligand of the transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) signalling pathway, with known roles in modulating differentiation [76–79]. The TGFB1 ITR was strongly differentially activated between RA and MYN overexpression conditions; RA activated TGFB1 while MYCN overexpression strongly inhibited it (Fig. 4d). The effect of MYCN was more dominant and TGFB1 activity was also inhibited in the co-treatment (Fig. 4d). We therefore further assessed the possibilities for TGFB1-informed therapy to enhance the response of MYCN-amplified cells to retinoid therapy.
To compare the effect of MYCN overexpression and RA on TGFB1 with the effects of amplified MYCN, we next examined sequencing datasets (RNA-seq and MYCN ChIP-seq) which we had previously generated (ArrayExpress (http://www.ebi.ac.uk/arrayexpress/) accession numbers E-MTAB-2690, E-MTAB-2691, E-MTAB-1684, E-MTAB-4100 and E-MTAB-2689) [42, 45, 71, 80]). These datasets revealed that TGFB1 was also a top regulator of the differences in the MYCN regulator and effector networks between single copy MYCN and MYCN-amplified neuroblastoma cell lines (Fig. 5a). Mirroring the effect of MYCN overexpression in SY5Y-MYCN cells, the TGFB1 ITR was strongly inhibited in all MYCN-amplified cell lines compared with MYCN single copy cells. Our publicly available datasets also revealed that, similar to RA, induction of apoptosis by LiCl treatment (GSK3 inhibition) activated the TGFB1 ITR (Fig. 5a). Therefore, both cellular phenotypes associated with good outcome, i.e. differentiation and apoptosis, activated TGFB1 signalling.
We next examined MYCN ChIP-seq data to determine if the inhibitory effect of MYCN on TGFB1 functioning (IPA ITR analysis) was achieved by MYCN binding to TGFB1 targets or binding to components of the TGF-β signalling pathway. Both overexpressed and amplified MYCN bound to the genes of a large number of TGFB1 targets (IPA ITR analysis), with the number of genes bound increasing with higher MYCN expression levels (Additional file 1: Figure S5a). Similarly, a proportion of the genes bound by MYCN have known SMAD regulatory elements (Additional file 1: Figure S5b), as revealed by DiRE analysis . SMADs are the direct and prime transcriptional effectors of TGF-β signalling [82, 83]. In addition, genes bound by MYCN in KCNR cells were enriched for the TGF-β signalling pathway, as revealed by IPA (pathway analysis, p-value of overlap = 1.56E-02, ratio of overlap = 0.218), with 19 genes that encode components of the pathway being genomically bound by MYCN (Additional file 1: Figure S5c). TGF-β signalling pathway components were also bound by MYCN in KCN (17 genes) and 48-h Dox-induced SY5Y-MYCN (15 genes).
These results identified TGFB1 as a key regulator of RA-mediated differentiation, which is differentially activated in a MYCN context-dependent manner, being suppressed in MYCN-overexpressing and amplified cell lines. Therefore, we next examined if RA treatment and MYCN overexpression could modulate TGFB1 gene expression. MYCN overexpression modestly but significantly reduced TGFB1 mRNA levels compared to RA-only treated cells (t-tests, MYCN versus RA p value = 0.0076, RA versus co-treatment [MYCN and RA] p value = 0.0010; Fig. 5b). In line with the MYCN overexpression results, three of the four MYCN-amplified cell lines had lower TGFB1 mRNA expression than SY5Y cells which are MYCN single-copy, with expression of TGFB1 in KCNR cells being almost absent (Fig. 5c). The inhibitory effect of MYCN upon TGFB1 mRNA expression was not rescued by RA treatment (Fig. 5b), suggesting a novel mechanism through which MYCN can inhibit RA-mediated neuronal differentiation.
While RA did not rescue the effect of MYCN overexpression on TGFB1 mRNA levels, it partially rescued TGFB1 signalling, as revealed by the ITR analysis (Fig. 5a). Additionally, the inhibitory effects of MYCN on TGFB1 functioning in the other cell lines (Fig. 5a) did not always correlate directly to TGFB1 mRNA expression levels (Fig. 5c), suggesting further levels of cross-talk. Therefore, to further probe the functional relationship between TFGB1 and MYCN we next examined MYCN’s protein–protein interactions.
While RA slightly increased TGFB1 mRNA levels and MYCN overexpression reduced them, these changes do not fully account for the differences in TGFB1 activation revealed by the ITR analysis. Therefore, to investigate additional potential cross-talk between MYCN and TGF-β signalling we performed MYCN interaction proteomics using the same experimental conditions as for the RNA-seq experiments: (i) 24-h DMSO (control); (ii) 24-h RA; (iii) 24-h RA and 48-h Dox; and (iv) 48-h Dox. We performed IPA ITR analysis on the proteins bound by MYCN in all conditions, which revealed that 32 TGFB1-regulated proteins had protein–protein interactions with MYCN (Fig. 5d). Of these, only MYCN’s interaction with HDAC2 was previously known (present in the String database). Fourteen of the 32 proteins were differentially bound to MYCN when RA-only treatment was compared with the RA and Dox co-treatment, with the majority of them binding less strongly to MYCN in the MYCN overexpressing sample (Fig. 5e). For 13 of the 14 differentially bound proteins, the change in MYCN binding was not as a result of altered transcriptional regulation (Additional file 1: Figure S5d); rather, altered binding was likely mediated by post-translational events. Interestingly, the one protein in which altered transcriptional regulation may have contributed to its differential binding to MYCN protein, at least partially, was the neuroblast differentiation-associated protein AHNAK. AHNAK was differentially expressed at the mRNA level, with opposing regulation by MYCN overexpression and RA treatment (Fig. 2a; Additional file 1: Figure S5d). AHNAK was bound to MYCN in all conditions, and has been described as a tumour suppressor that can stimulate the growth suppressing functions of the TGF-β pathway .
Taken together, our findings reveal cross-talk between MYCN and the TGF-β pathway at several levels, including the regulation of TGFB1 mRNA expression, the regulation of TGFB1 target genes and pathway components, and protein–protein interactions between MYCN- and TGFB1-regulated gene products. They also show that MYCN and RA drive opposing functional regulation of TGFB1.
The ability of MYCN overexpression to inhibit the normal RA-mediated activation of TGFB1 signalling, revealed here, further underscores the importance of TGF-β suppression in contributing to MYCN’s oncogenic potential. We therefore further investigated associations of TGF-β signalling genes and outcome in neuroblastoma tumour data and whether pharmaceutical modulation of the TGF-β pathway can enhance the effectiveness of RA treatment in MYCN-amplified cell lines.
Having identified a role for TGF-β signalling in MYCN’s blocking of RA-mediated neuronal differentiation, we next assessed whether this shared node of MYCN and RA signalling was amenable to therapeutic intervention. Kartogenin (KGN) is a recently developed small molecule which enhances the activation of TGF-β signalling through indirectly regulating the activity of the SMAD transcriptional effectors [85, 86]. KGN has been shown to promote chondrocyte differentiation in vitro and in vivo [85–87]. KGN also strongly upregulates the expression of TGFB1 itself . KGN competitively binds filamin A (FLNA), thus inhibiting it from interacting with core-binding factor β subunit (CBFB) . CBFB that is not bound by FLNA is then free to translocate from the cytoplasm to the nucleus, where it complexes with the RUNX-SMAD transcriptional machinery and regulates target gene expression (Fig. 6a). Interestingly, we showed that SMADs 1, 2 and 6 and RUNX2 were genomically bound by amplified MYCN (Additional file 1: Figure S5c) and there was a protein–protein interaction between MYCN and FLNA (Fig. 5d, e), revealing further levels of cross-talk between TGF-β signalling, KGN’s mode of action and oncogenic MYCN. The RUNX developmental regulators have previously been implicated in a variety of cancers . Therefore, to examine whether the FLNA-CBFB-RUNX2-SMADs module is associated with neuroblastoma tumour biology and patient outcome, we examined the R2 neuroblastoma datasets (used above; http://r2.amc.nl) for these genes. Low CBFB and high FLNA (inhibitor of CBFB) mRNA expression was associated with poor patient outcomes (Fig. 6b; Additional file 1: Figure S6a, b). In line with the differential activation of the TGFB1 ITR by RA and MYCN, the SMAD transcriptional effectors of the pathway were also largely differentially activated between the two conditions, with the canonical SMADs being inhibited by MYCN overexpression (Fig. 6c). Interestingly, SMAD7, an antagonist of TGF-β signalling, was activated by MYCN and inhibited by RA, potentially revealing another mechanism through which MYCN inhibits RA-mediated activation of TGFB signalling. Accordingly, high SMAD7 mRNA expression was predictive of poor patient outcomes (Fig. 6d). Additionally, a number of the other SMAD genes were predictive of patient outcome, with high SMAD1 and SMAD2 expression associated with good outcomes (Additional file 1: Figure S6c), while RUNX3 showed a better survival prediction than RUNX2 (Fig. 6b; Additional file 1: Figure S6a–c).
Having demonstrated cross-talk between MYCN and the TGF-β signalling pathway, and having shown that pathway components targeted by KGN are associated with neuroblastoma patient outcome, we next treated MYCN-amplified IMR32 cells to determine their response to KGN individually and in combination with RA. IMR32 cells are less responsive to RA-mediated differentiation than MYCN single-copy cells. Low dose KGN (0.1–5 μM) was almost as effective at differentiating IMR32 cells as RA (Fig. 7a, b), with all treatment groups being significantly different to untreated controls (p < 0.0001 for all groups versus controls). It should be noted that MYCN-amplified IMR32 cells are far more resistant to differentiation than MYCN single-copy neuroblastoma cells (see Fig. 1a for comparison). Interestingly, when given in combination with RA, none of the low dose KGN (0.1–5 μM) treatments enhanced the differentiating potential over that seen in RA-only treatments (t-test, p = 0.226–0.982). High dose KGN (10 μM) had a significantly different differentiation ratio to untreated cells (t-test, p < 0.0001), but the extent of differentiation was less than that seen in lower dose KGN treatments (0.1–5 μM KGN). It was also able to partially inhibit the differentiating effects of RA in the combination treatment compared with RA-only treatment (t-test, p < 0.0001).
While both RA and KGN increased the differentiation ratio of IMR32 cells, the combination of these compounds did not act synergistically to overcome the differentiation block imposed by amplified MYCN (Fig. 7a, b). However, combination treatment of RA with a high dose of KGN (10 μM) resulted in a large proportion of cells with an apoptotic-like rounded appearance (Fig. 7a; Additional file 1: Figure S7a). These apoptotic-like cells were not included in the calculation of the differentiation ratios due to their complete lack of axons; only surviving cells were measured. In order to further assess the effect of KGN on neuroblastoma cells, we next assessed cell viability.
The viability of IMR32 cells was reduced in a dose-dependent manner by KGN (Fig. 7c), though the effect was relatively mild. Our analysis suggested that combination treatment with these two compounds should provide an additive or synergistic effect. Despite RA having no effect on cell viability, RA treatment sensitised IMR32 cells to KGN, with co-treated cells responding more strongly than to each compound individually (Fig. 7a, c). Combination treatment of 20 μM KGN and 1 μM RA strongly reduced cell viability (t-test, p = 1.0E-04; Fig. 7c). Combination treatment significantly reduced cell viability compared with 20 μM KGN-only treatment (t-test, p = 8.4E-03). MYCN-amplified KCNR cells also showed a strong reduction in cell viability upon combination treatment (Additional file 1: Figure S7b; t-test, p = 4.0E-03). Importantly, in line with the omics analysis, KGN-RA combination treatments only reduced the viability of MYCN-amplified cells, without significant effects on the viability of the MYCN single-copy cell line SY5Y (untreated versus 20 μM KGN and 1 μM RA; t-test, p = 0.4715; Fig. 7d). Combination treatment also significantly reduced the cell viability of NBL-S cells (Additional file 1: Figure S7c; untreated versus 20 μM KGN and 1 μM RA; t-test, p = 1.0E-04), which although being MYCN single copy have elevated levels of MYCN protein due to an increased MYCN protein half-life .
While KGN and RA did not cooperate to further differentiate IMR32 cells, they did cooperate to enhance the apoptotic response to treatment. As part of the RA neuronal differentiation programme, RA is known to block proliferation and promote apoptosis of normal neuronal precursors and low-risk neuroblastoma cells, in addition to inducing the differentiating of surviving cells [90–94]. Similarly, ITR analysis revealed that TGFB1 was strongly activated when IMR32 cells were induced to undergo apoptosis by LiCl treatment (Fig. 5a). To further functionally confirm that TGFB1 is involved in directing neuroblastoma cell fate in a MYCN-dependant manner, we mined an RNAi knockdown screen targeting the druggable genome in SY5Y-MYCN cells . TGFB1 was a top ITR (ranked third) of the 674 genes that strongly reduced SY5Y-MYCN cell viability when knocked down (Additional file 1: Figure S7d), confirming the functional role of TGFB1 in neuroblastoma cell fate and supporting its likely therapeutic potential. RA was also a high ranking (12th) ITR of these viability-reducing genes (Additional file 1: Figure S7d).
While elevated MYCN levels can block the pro-apoptotic effects of RA (Additional file 1: Figure S7e), our results reveal that KGN can be used as a combination therapy to promote MYCN-amplified neuroblastoma cell death. Thus, RA and KGN combination treatments represent a novel therapeutic option with potential for targeting high-risk MYCN-amplified tumours.
To confirm the functional role of the MYCN-induced inhibition of TGF-β signalling in promoting retinoid resistance we next investigated whether pharmacological inhibition of TGF-β signalling could attenuate RA-mediated differentiation in the absence of MYCN overexpression. We treated SY5Y-MYCN cells with RepSox, a potent and selective inhibitor of TGF-β receptor 1 (TGFBR1) . RepSox can successfully replace Sox2 in reprogramming cells and its use alongside other reprogramming factors is efficient at generating induced pluripotent stem cells . RepSox did not reduce the viability of SY5Y-MYCN cells (Fig. 7e; DMSO-control versus 100 nM RepSox; t-test, p value = 0.2244). When un-induced SY5Y-MYCN cells were treated with RA and RepSox, RepSox blocked the differentiating effect of RA so strongly (1 μM RA-only versus 25 nM RepSox and 1 μM RA; t-test, p value <0.0001.0E-04) as to maintain the differentiation ratio near the same level as that seen in control cells (Fig. 7f). Taken together, our results reveal that TGF-β signalling inhibition, whether achieved by MYCN overexpression or pharmacological treatment, strongly contributes to resistance to retinoid-mediated differentiation in neuroblastoma cells and that pharmacological activation of TGF-β signalling represents a promising strategy to sensitising MYCN-amplified cells to retinoid-mediated apoptosis.
Retinoids are an important component of advanced neuroblastoma therapy, yet half of all patients treated with isotretinoin (13-cis retinoic acid) still relapse and die . Therefore, more effective combination therapies, with a lower side effect profile, are required to improve outcomes . Our omic data enhance our understanding of RA and MYCN’s antagonistic relationship, revealing the molecular mechanisms through which MYCN inhibits normal RA-mediated neuronal differentiation and suggesting novel combination therapies. The gene-level analysis successfully identified targets known to be involved in retinoid-induced neuroblastoma differentiation, which bolsters confidence in the novel genes identified. Known genes identified include ASCL1, RET, LMO4, CYP26A1, DKK2 and ODC1 [8, 9, 63, 98–103], many of which have also previously been identified as MYCN target genes whose expression levels are correlated to patient survival outcome. Here we show that these genes are differentially regulated by RA and MYCN, with MYCN overexpression preventing their normal transcriptional response to RA in the co-treatment condition.
The global analysis revealed that many transcriptional regulators had differential activity (activation/inhibition) induced by RA and MYCN overexpression. These regulators included expected differentiation-associated ligands and receptors such as NGF, BDNF, PDGF, RET [52, 104–106] and RA itself, which provides further confirmation of our analysis approach. Additionally, three regulators, Wnt, β-estradiol and MAPK, which we recently independently identified as being key components of the amplified-MYCN signalling network [42, 71] with a role in neuroblastoma differentiation, were shown here to be differentially activated by RA and MYCN overexpression. We recently demonstrated that targeting each of these pathways altered MYCN-amplified neuroblastoma viability and differentiation and that co-treatment with RA had additive or synergistic effects [42, 71], suggesting that such combination therapies could be useful to treat MYCN-amplified neuroblastoma. MAPK (MEK) has also previously been linked to MYCN-independent NF1-mediated RA resistance, and MEK inhibition combined with RA treatment was proposed as a potential strategy to treat NF1-deficient neuroblastomas . MAPK inhibition and RA co-treatment has recently been confirmed to synergistically reduce neuroblastoma tumour growth in vivo using zebrafish models . Similar to other genes identified in our analysis, the neurotrophin receptor TrkB (NTRK2) and the Wnt, β-estradiol and MAPK signalling pathways have all been shown to have a strong correlation with poor prognosis in neuroblastoma [42, 71, 108, 109]. Furthermore, MAPK and Wnt-associated genes (including LEF1) have been shown to be recurrently mutated in relapsed neuroblastoma [108, 110]. The emergence of the above molecules and pathways in the present RA-mediated neuroblastoma differentiation study further confirms their therapeutic potential.
By studying downstream signalling through the combination of transcriptomics and computational-inference of driving regulators, rather than genetic triggers (such as mutations and epigenetic modifications), our approach can identify a large range of relevant transcriptional regulators, including epigenetic ones. Our approach provides a powerful tool for precision oncology by identifying functional changes in signalling networks that drive malignancies but may be the result of different or combinatorial (epi)genetic events that are often difficult to interpret in their own right not primarily driven by somatic mutations, such as . Given the paucity of somatic mutations in paediatric cancers, including neuroblastoma [3, 38], it is likely that altered epigenetic regulation can contribute to the widespread resistance to retinoid therapy. For instance, it has been shown that epigenetic regulation of the RARA gene (promoter methylation) can block the subsequent differentiation of neuronal precursor cells . Indeed, MYCN is known to interact with the epigenetic machinery [111, 112]. Our results revealed differentially activated epigenetic regulators, including HDACs and BRD4, thus confirming the recently identified role for HDACs [8, 73–75] in neuroblastoma responsiveness to RA. Retinoids were also the top hits in a small molecule library screen for compounds which enhanced HDAC inhibitor-mediated neuroblastoma differentiation in vitro and xenograft regression in vivo . Consistent with these results, our data reveal that RA inhibits HDAC functioning while MYCN overexpression activates it.
It is interesting to note that RA itself was a top ITR of the MYCN interaction partners in all three conditions (RA only, Dox only, and RA and Dox). RA was a top ITR when all of the MYCN-bound proteins were considered (p value of overlap range 1.23E-16 to 1.81E-16), but also when only those proteins were considered which were differentially bound between conditions (p value of overlap range 4.28E-11 to 3.86E-12). These results suggest that in addition to altering transcription of MYCN, RA transcriptionally regulates a large number of MYCN’s interacting proteins, potentially re-wiring MYCN’s interaction network.
A key differentially activated regulator was TGFB1, a ligand of the TGF-β signalling pathway. We identified MYCN-RA-TGF-β cross-talk at several molecular levels, including MYCN’s genomic binding, transcriptional activities and protein–protein interactome. TGFB1 was previously shown to be induced by RA in RA-responsive neuroblastoma cell lines . Our data show that TGFB1’s effect as a transcriptional regulator was strongly inhibited by MYCN overexpression or amplification and strongly activated by RA. Interestingly, MYCN’s effect on TGFB1 activity was dominant, with TGFB1 being repressed in RA treated cells with MYCN overexpression. We found that MYCN overexpression alters TGFB1 functioning, not just by transcriptionally regulating TGFB1 mRNA but also through protein–protein interactions with a number of TGF-β signalling-associated proteins.
TGF-β signalling has previously been linked to adult neurogenesis [114, 115], FGF2-mediated neuroblastoma differentiation , and neuroblastoma cell invasiveness . While TGF-β can promote tumour progression in a number of adult cancers [118, 119], we show that in neuroblastoma TGF-β is inhibited by MYCN overexpression and MYCN amplification. We also show that TGF-β inhibition, whether achieved through elevated MYCN levels or pharmacological means, strongly contributes to retinoid resistance. Additionally, the miR-17-92 microRNA cluster has been shown to downregulate TGF-β signalling in neuroblastoma and is a marker for poor survival . Similarly, TGF-β receptor (type III) is reduced in high-stage neuroblastoma, while increased TGF-β receptor (type II) expression suppresses malignant neuroblastoma phenotypes and induces differentiation [121, 122]. Our findings combined with the known associations between TGF-β signalling and neuronal differentiation prompted us to investigate the therapeutic potential of pharmaceutically activating TGF-β signalling in neuroblastoma using KGN. As neuroblastoma cells can be induced to differentiate even in the presence of a certain level of MYCN overexpression , we investigated KGN-RA combination treatments in the MYCN-amplified and RA-resistant IMR32 cell line. While both compounds produced a modest increase in the differentiation ratio of IMR32 cells, the combination treatment primarily reduced the viability of MYCN-amplified cells (IMR32 and KCNR cell lines). This therapeutic combination therefore demonstrates potential for the treatment of high-risk MYCN-amplified patients. We also show that KGN has differentiating potential in a neuronal lineage. Our results suggest that KGN’s effectiveness in promoting neuronal stem cells to differentiate should be investigated further, particularly its effects in normal non-oncogenic MYCN single-copy neuroblast cells. KGN may have potential for neuronal regenerative medicine, similar to its proposed uses for manipulating bone marrow stromal cells, mesenchymal stem cells and patellar tendon stem cells for tissue repair and regeneration [85, 86]. However, unlike in bone marrow stromal cells and patellar tendon stem cells where KGN also increases proliferation, KGN induced a loss of viability in MYCN-amplified neuroblastoma cells, showing therapeutic potential, an effect which was further enhanced by co-treatment with RA. KGN is a first-generation TGF-β signalling activator, with its ability to promote mesenchymal stem cells into chondrocytes being identified through an image-based high-throughput screen . Therefore, in addition to further pre-clinical studies of RA-KGN combinations, it will be important to evaluate the effectiveness of future iterations of small molecule TGF-β signalling activators as potential neuroblastoma therapeutics and enhancers of neuronal differentiation.
By applying genomic-level omics approaches to the signalling networks regulating neuroblastoma differentiation and stemness, we have determined the regulators involved in the MYCN-mediated inhibition of neuroblastoma cell differentiation. We have revealed a large network of interconnected regulators governing neuronal differentiation, which are differentially regulated by the pro-differentiation compound RA and by differentiation inhibiting MYCN overexpression. A key differentially regulated pathway was TGF-β signalling. TGF-β inhibition (RepSox) was sufficient to strongly attenuate RA-mediated differentiation even in the absence of MYCN overexpression. We have shown that co-targeting of the retinoic acid and TGF-β pathways, through RA and KGN (a small molecule TGF-β activator) combination treatment, strongly reduces MYCN-amplified RA-resistant neuroblastoma cell viability.
Warmest thanks to Jenny Whilde, to the Conway Core Facilities staff (Alison Murphy, Karolina Jankowska, Catherine Moss) for next-generation sequencing, qPCR and proteomics, and all the SBI support staff (Amaya Garcia Munoz and Ruth Pilkington). Warm thanks are also due to Frank Westermann, Johannes Schulte, Sven Lidner and Andrea Odersky for the generous gifting of cell lines.
The research leading to these results received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007- 2013) ASSET project under grant agreement number FP7-HEALTH-2010-259348-2 and Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) grant number 06/CE/B1129.
The data generated or analysed during this study are included in this published article, or are available in the ArrayExpress repository (http://www.ebi.ac.uk/arrayexpress) under accession number E-MTAB-2689. Additionally, where previously published patient data and omics data were used, citations to those data have been provided.
DJD and WK designed and supervised the project; DJD, AKr, MH, AKo and KI generated the data; DJD, TS, AKr, MH and KI performed data and bioinformatics analysis; DJD, AKr, DGH and WK wrote the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
He S, et al. MYCN and the epigenome. Front Oncol. 2013;3:1-9. doi:10.3389/fonc.2013.00001.
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2019-04-22T23:54:45Z
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https://0-genomemedicine-biomedcentral-com.brum.beds.ac.uk/articles/10.1186/s13073-017-0407-3
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President Barack Obama made last Tuesday what many are considering to be one of the most liberal State of the Union addresses in history. Obama advocated an extensive second-term agenda and, despite brief rhetoric to the contrary, defended big government as an answer to our ailments.
The media largely seems to have focused on Senator Marco Rubio’s (R-FL) infamous “water-gaffe”. (Rubio gave the Republican Party’s response to the SOTU, as is tradition for the opposition party.) Rubio’s gaffe was unimportant, and anyways, his speech wasn’t much different from most opposition speeches: light on detail and entirely uncontroversial.
Lost in all of this was that Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) delivered a speech that showed the points of divergence between today’s two major governing theories: Obama’s blue-model liberalism and the Tea Party’s neo-constitutionalism. Whether because of 2016 presidential rumors or as his influence as a sitting senator, Paul is worth paying attention to.
The differences in theories have been split into four major categories: the purpose and size of government, the role of the executive, the budget, and new policies proposed. For each, we’ll examine a relevant quote from both Obama’s and Paul’s speeches.
Obama ties the concept of obligations into citizenship: as someone living in this country, there are things you must do because the state’s functioning requires it. He speaks of joint responsibility, collective action, and a shared future. Paul instead focuses on prosperity through freedom; we thrive because of individuals seeking their own ends. Obama makes a subtle rip on individual liberty (“our rights are wrapped up in the rights of others”), which is a common argument against the sort of individualism, or natural-rights based government, Paul seeks. Essentially, the argument goes, no man exists in a vacuum, so your right to pursue your own ends will often come into conflict with my right to prosper.
…if Congress won’t act soon to protect future generations [from climate change], I will. I will direct my Cabinet to come up with executive actions we can take.
Obama believes that in many debates, there is Right and Wrong, or Good and Evil, and that sometimes politics prevent people from doing the right thing. Thus, the President can and should do whatever is possible to make sure Right prevails.
Paul, by contrast, is extremely sensitive to executive overreach. As a member of the legislative branch, he is offended by the notion that an executive thinks he can bring a certain piece of legislation to the floor, or demand he vote a certain way. This is similar to government power in that Obama takes a very end-centric view: we do whatever we need to to achieve the best result. Paul is more sensitive to rule of law concerns, in which it is crucial to respect existing procedures and limitations.
These sudden, harsh, arbitrary [sequester] cuts would jeopardize our military readiness. They’d devastate priorities like education, energy, and medical research.
The President does a bit “woe is me” over the sequester…the sequester doesn’t even cut any spending. It just slows the rate of growth. Even with the sequester, government will grow over $7 trillion over the next decade.
The sequester was essentially a “poison pill”; if the two parties couldn’t come up with enough deficit reduction, automatic cuts to both military and domestic spending would kick in. The thinking was that Republicans wouldn’t want the military cuts, and Democrats wouldn’t want domestic cuts, so both parties would be pressured to cooperate.
Obama is trying to press Republicans here by mentioning the military cuts first. Some Republicans think military spending is sacrosanct; Paul is not one of them, so he doesn’t take the bait.
The president sees a lot of good being done by spending that would be cut as a result of sequestration. He’s less worried about deficits, since America is still the world’s reserve currency; the debt is something that may or may not come to bear, whereas these cuts will definitely cut important programs.
Paul’s take is that the budget will grow regardless, and that we need to start having honest conversations about what a “cut” really is.
Obama proposes, among other things: a government-written “college scorecard”; tax reform that hikes rates on millionaires; executive action to combat climate change; a public-private “energy security trust” to reduce oil consumption; federal subsidies for states that build energy efficient buildings; increased pre-K funding; an increased minimum wage; a voting-rights commission that would enforce its recommendations at the state level; American assistance in the eradication of global poverty and AIDS.
Paul’s major proposal was a Balanced Budget Amendment coupled with a budget that will balance the budget in five years. He also advocates for greater government transparency, school vouchers, cessation of foreign aid to countries hostile to us, and a flat tax.
Each politician’s policy prescriptions are reflective of their overarching philosophies. The president wishes to use the government’s considerable power to solve everything from climate change to poverty. Paul wants to narrow the focus of our activities and let the private sector work its magic. Obama’s proposals would require a considerable increase in taxes and the size of government; just about all of Paul’s proposals involve shrinking government influence.
These speeches represent a fascinating philosophical contrast; they’re likely a good indicator of the lines along which the 2016 presidential race will be fought (even if Paul is not a candidate). Both were direct, ideological, and aggressive. They present us with a real contrast that makes us think about the role we want government to play. This is what our political discourse should resemble.
There is an impulse among our citizenry to demand action in the wake of any perceived tragedy or crisis. Usually fueled by one noteworthy event, the subsequent furor often leads to “national conversations” accompanied by expansive legislation.
The arenas of these flashpoints are foreign and domestic. They range from school shootings to eighth graders’ math test scores; from climate change to foreign insurgencies. In each instance, the bad news story is apparently indicative of systemic problems with catastrophic consequences, barring government action.
There is certainly a logical element to this thinking. In our personal lives, after all, when we detect a problem, we generally go about to solve it. We act quickly and expect others to do so, be they friends, colleagues, or ourselves. And this usually leads to positive outcomes.
However effective in our own lives, though, such action when executed by government is often quite harmful. Politicians, while often well-intentioned, are subject to influences that cloud their judgement. The instinct for political survival is as strong as any. (According to the Center for Responsive Politics, House incumbent re-election rates have ranged from 88%-98% since 1990.) Hastily-crafted, far-reaching legislation passed in response to supposedly urgent crises creates myriad issues, especially in regards to cost, restrictions of freedom, and unintended consequences.
History is replete with examples of heavy-handed, ill-fated government interference in response to crises. As Robert Higgs of The Independent Institute notes in his book Delusions of Power, ”Crisis…produces a virtual free-for-all of policies, programs, and plans that expand the government’s power in new directions and strengthen it where it previously existed in a weaker form.” (p. 80).
Ronald Reagan and the war on drugs: For over the first hundred years of America’s existence, what individuals put into their own bodies was none of the government’s business for the purpose of criminal law. The Founding Fathers, often depicted as demigods by Republicans, made no attempt to ban individual consumption. Yet in 1986, modern GOP hero Ronald Reagan went on national TV declaring that illegal narcotics were a national security threat. “Crack babies”, destruction of the family, and drug-fueled gang violence threatened the country’s moral fiber, and action was demanded.
Reagan stepped up interdiction efforts through his newly created Office of National Drug Control Policy, which houses the DEA. In fiscal 2012, ONDCP spent $25.2 billion on prevention and enforcement. The US now has the highest imprisonment rate among industrialized countries. Many prisoners, particularly minorities, are nonviolent offenders who used or dealt minimal amounts of marijuana. (Pot is now classified as a Stage One drug, on par with heroin.) Citizens with chronic ailments are forbidden from alleviating their pain. Raids are conducted regularly on Americans’ homes.
In addition to the loss of liberty and money, the crisis-inspired drug war has led to an appalling loss of life. Former Mexican President Felipe Calderon pinned the blame of much of Mexico’s 50,000+ gang-related deaths on America’s drug prohibition.
Uninsured Americans and the Affordable Care Act: Facing a mounting debt and fighting two wars, the Obama administration and others focused on the supposed crisis of Americans without health insurance. Respected news outlets spoke of 44 or more million uninsured Americans, vulnerable should they become ill. Additionally, health care costs were rising, increasing nearly tenfold from 1980 to 2010. After gathering support, the Democratic congress passed a 2,000 page bill that would apparently provide coverage to all Americans while simultaneously driving down costs.
As it turned out, the 44 million figure was incorrect, as it included non-citizens and individuals who could afford health insurance but chose not to buy it. The actual number was closer to eight million, and even that didn’t account for people who lacked insurance but could still access emergency services. The bill was later shown to lack the ability to even cover that many recipients, as its complicated structure of penalties, taxes, and regulations created an unpredictable set of responses. Similarly, the supposed cost savings turned out to be bogus. Economist Veronique de Rugy of George Mason University noted that 2011 healthcare costs rose 4.6 percent in 2011.
Cost overruns and excessive mandates stymieing small businesses were bad enough, but were also accompanied by a trampling of numerous parts of the Constitution. The Act confers to the state the ability to levy a tax for just about any reason it wants, and will make the creation of more bureaucracies that much easier.
9/11 and the anti-terror state: The bombing of the World Trade Center was an unspeakable tragedy. US policymakers were certainly justified in pursuing a focused, timely, and limited military action to subdue the forces responsible and lessen the chances of a repeat occurrence. But Americans were scared; we clung to government as the guarantor of our absolute safety. As such, the Bush administration sensed (correctly) that it had the political capital to pursue a far-reaching agenda at home and abroad.
Stateside, Bush created the Department of Homeland Security, combining 22 federal agencies into one cabinet-level bureaucracy with a FY 2012 budget of $56.9 billion. He nationalized airport security, giving the Transportation Security Administration new authority and more money. For that, Americans now have the pleasure of enduring embarrassing and/or harmful screenings that do little to improve our safety.
Americans’ constitutional rights and privacy were trampled by the creation of the Patriot Act, which, among other things, allows DHS to monitor our communications without a search warrant. Pressed recently by Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), the department couldn’t even provide an estimate of how many Americans have been spied on by their own government.
The above are only a very small sample of this prevalent phenomenon. As citizens, we need to recognize the history and anticipate the consequences. Rather than giving into the logical desire to throw our hands up and make someone fix every ailment in our society, we should look for remedies outside of government action.
Today’s media and national politicians tend to characterize America as an amorphous mass of interchangeable pieces. Both speak and act as if there is some sort of universal moral code and common cause that unite us all. Whether we are “keeping our streets drug free,” “fighting radical terrorists” or “protecting American workers,” those in power project values upon us and urge – if not force – us to act accordingly.
The problem, of course, is that concepts of morality and duty are not universal. Robert Heinlein touched on this concept brilliantly in his Hugo Award-winning novel “Stranger in a Strange Land.” In it, a human born on Mars (Valentine Michael Smith) is brought back to Earth. Gifted with incredible physical and mental powers, Smith soon questions almost every accepted tenet of mainstream culture. He considers monogamy, for example, to be outrageously selfish. He considers murder acceptable in many circumstances. He flips the concept of God entirely upside down.
In other words, just because we as individuals hold certain beliefs, there is nothing that makes them inherently right or broadly applicable to others. It is, if anything, immoral to project our views on others.
Federal politicians are even more to blame. They commonly make laws that assume the presence of national priorities and the authority to address them. Federal tax policy is the most obvious: Americans frequently pay for things that either violate their individual moral codes (wars, abortions, the war on drugs, etc.) or provide no benefit to them whatsoever (arts programs, fisheries in distant states, etc.). Outside of the tax code, the national government enforces a range of behaviors that millions of its citizens likely disagree with (drug prohibition, gay marriage bans, drinking age limits, speed limits, etc.).
The writer grants that the dual goals of appeasing every individual’s moral code completely and maintaining a workable state are mutually exclusive. This is why the Framers invented the concept of federalism, and codified it in the 10th Amendment: with the exception of a few very limited and enumerated powers, all other laws are to be written by the states.
Federalism obviously doesn’t prevent states from making laws that an individual may not agree with. It still assumes some shared morals. But it’s a workable compromise, which, when actually enforced, leads to far less egregious enforcement of a collective good. When practiced, federalism allows a citizen to have a greater influence in shaping the laws under which they live: citizens have easier access to state legislators who are, in turn, more in-touch with the concerns of their state. States are, theoretically, free to prioritize. Because a citizen can move, state taxes are more voluntary than federal taxes. Want to live in a highly taxed state with a plethora of public goods? California and the northeastern states are all yours. Prefer a minimalist government, low taxes and less services? New Hampshire and North Dakota are calling your name.
Thus, I take issue with the calls of President Barack Obama (and George W. Bush before him) to “unify behind a common cause,” be it for the Affordable Care Act or the War On Terror. No, Mr. President, I do not want to pay for another man’s health insurance (I’d rather donate money to hospitals directly). No, Mr. Bush, I do not want to fund a war against regimes with less than a one in 75,000 chance of killing me (I’d prefer to spend that money fighting cancer). I’d vastly prefer to be left damn well alone and contribute to the moral causes that I see fit, without the threat of federal coercion.
Stranger in a strange land, perhaps I am.
Today, the Supreme Court will begin oral arguments over the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, colloquially known as “Obamacare.” The Act was signed into law in 2010; shortly thereafter its constitutionality was challenged by 26 state attorneys general as well as a number of independent organizations. My colleague Ryan will shortly provide Yi! News readers with a summary of the act’s legal issues. I will focus on the legislation’s likely policy and political effects. In short, I believe it will be an unmitigated disaster in both realms.
First, the policy. The Affordable Care Act was Washington’s answer to two very real but misrepresented problems: lack of access to health insurance, and rising medical costs. Democrats claimed that more than 46 million Americans didn’t have health insurance, but this was misleading. When adjusting for non-citizens and people who could afford to buy insurance but choose not to, the number is closer to 8 million. The Act also seeks to curtail ever-rising health care costs, which have increased from $256 million in 1980 to $2.6 trillion in 2010. This, of course, overlooks that much of rising health care costs have been the result of longer lifespans and improved life-saving medicines and technologies. It also ignores the fact that, according to the Congressional Budget Office, even optimistic scenarios show negligible savings in long-term health care costs.
To combat these problems, the Act creates a wildly complicated scheme that took more than 2,500 pages to write (the Cato Institute’s Michael Tanner “summarizes” it here in a 70 page whitepaper). The key provisions are as follows. First, it creates a series of state-run but federally-subsidized insurance exchanges. These exchanges technically are the responsibility of the states, but talk about faux federalism: if the states do not live up to the federal government’s rigorous requirements, they lose funding for Medicare. Much of this funding, of course, is made necessary because of the Affordable Care Act. Many also believe these exchanges are a precursor to a single-payer (or 100 percent) government-run system.
Second, it requires all citizens to either purchase insurance through their employer or through an exchange. Citizens not complying are subject to fines. Companies with 50 or more employees will be fined for not providing insurance deemed “adequate” by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). These provisions will, respectively, put every citizen at the mercy of the federal government and discourage small businesses from hiring more employees. Finally, the Act requires all hospitals to participate in an on-going cost-benefit analysis by the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB). IPAB then instructs doctors which procedures and medications they can and can’t use. Such rationing is very real: similar programs in Britain and Canada led to increased wait times and lower cancer survival rates.
Politically, the Affordable Care Act is a step in the absolute wrong direction. America has thrived as a constitutional republic with a government that largely respected concrete limits on its power. The idea wasn’t to come up with a system that would always come up with the best outcome – that would be impossible. Rather, the Founders hoped to create a government that could not trample the liberty of its citizens. Government for the citizens – not the other way around.
The Affordable Care Act stands in stark contrast to this sentiment. Congressional Democrats and President Barack Obama believe that it is within their authority to, among other things, compel individuals to purchase a product that they will have themselves largely designed. They also find it appropriate to regulate the relationship between doctor and patient, something which has hitherto been private.
Setting and respecting areas of life in which the government cannot interfere is vital. It prevents unsavory politicians – or those who we seriously disagree with – from making laws that adversely affect our fundamental rights. This Act, if it and its major provisions are upheld by the Supreme Court, will be a major step in doing away with limited government as we know it.
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2019-04-23T00:55:39Z
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https://yinews.wordpress.com/category/politics/
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This is an in-progress, straw man proposal for a set of overarching principles for user interface design.
Effective UI needs to be developed for situations with different combinations of mobility, touch-ability, capabilities, and form factors.
It is easy to fall into the trap of conflating these four qualities. It is also helpful to not segregate UI into camps of desktop versus mobile, since there is considerable variety even within such camps and many devices that break the mold. For example, a tablet device can be a mobile device with mobile network connectivity but is not a small form factor device like a smart phone. Similarly, a tablet device may not support mobile network connectivity. Some desktop and notebook computers have touch displays and support a touch interface. Different devices have different levels of capability. Many devices may have front-facing cameras, audio input and output. Only some devices have GPS, compass, accelerometer, and other such capabilities. In the future, speech control as an input mode will be added to the list of factors to consider when designing UI.
Because of this variety of different combinations of different qualities, UI guidelines are drafted separately to address mobility, touch-ability, device capabilities, and different form factors.
The user interface for all of the company's product offerings must be kept consistent over time.
The user interface should achieve a consistent high quality user experience across all products and should strengthen the brand aesthetic of the company.
The most fundamental way to ensure consistency of user interface across diverse product offerings, implemented using diverse technologies, and developed by diverse groups, is to develop a UI style guide that can guide UI design decisions in every project.
The UI style guide would provide the necessary dictates for the development of UI, such that if those dictates were adhered to, the resulting UI would be consistent across all product offerings and technologies.
UI consistency can be achieved as an artifact of code reuse by developing and offering standard libraries of UI widgets for different technologies as part of a UI platform to be used in developing various products for those different technologies.
In order to encourage developers to use the standard libraries, a good inducement is if using the standard libraries both meets their criteria and makes development easier upfront while also making maintenance easier over the long term. If developers shy away from using standard libraries, then it indicates a failure in the design of the standard libraries.
One can support consistency by defining standard UI elements upfront.
Definitions should be formalized for all UI elements likely to be needed at some point, including buttons, checkboxes, headings, panels, radio buttons, text inputs, drop lists, tabs, etc. In the absence of detailed definitions for all these elements that cover the different situations in which they will arise, developers will apply their own creativity to get the job done. With enough "creativity" being applied on a case-by-case basis, one will end up with a mishmash of different stylistic treatments.
A perfect example of creativity being applied is when it comes to buttons. How many different stylistic treatments of buttons does one need? How many different sizes can buttons have? How many different states can a button have? How many different colors can a button be? In the case of buttons, try to limit the set of variations and know why they need to exist and have a rules for deciding which of the standard treatments should be used in different situations.
Every app on every device should allocate space in a prominent location for placement of the company's logo, so that it is persistently visible.
It is reasonable to locate the logo towards the top of the UI - left or center. A possibly exception to this rule might be company branded hardware, where the logo is on the physical device. One could still argue, however, that in such hardware devices the logo on the physical case of the device is so peripheral that it is easily filtered out by the user. If the logo is visible within the interactive portion of the device (i.e. its UI / display), the brand promotion effect should be stronger. Also, if the same software runs in company branded and non-branded hardware, then conditionally displaying the logo in the UI might present problems of what to use the allocated screen real estate for when the logo is not present. Essentially, it's simpler, more consistent, and more beneficial to the company to simply always have the logo appear in the UI.
The UI should use language in a consistent way.
The UI should be consistent with its use of active style (e.g. "Change Settings") vs passive style (e.g. "Settings").
For example, if buttons are to use a "call to action" / verb / action phrase style of language, then this style should be used consistently. There shouldn't be some buttons with labels like "Set Call Forwarding Rules" and other buttons with labels like "Music on Hold". The same principle applies to section headings. Passive language is recommended for section headings, while active language is recommended for buttons and links that perform actions when invoked. To use an example, a section that addresses call forwarding rules can be labeled "Call Forwarding Rules", while a button that may bring up UI for changing the rules can be labeled "Edit Call Forwarding Rules", "Change Call Forwarding Rules", "Set Call Forwarding Rules", etc.
Terms introduced to the user should be used consistently to reinforce their learned understanding of those terms.
For example, if a section is titled "Music On Hold", a button in that section should not be labeled "Set On Hold Music" or "Change Music While Holding". A user should not have to wonder whether "music on hold" means the same as "on hold music" means the same as "audio on hold" means the same as "music while waiting". The user is already overwhelmed enough as it is by terms they may not deal with on a daily basis, so to remove doubts from their minds about what instructions in the UI may be referring to, be religious about using exactly the same term everywhere to refer to the same thing.
Just as it is useful to use terms consistently, it is also useful to established standardized words or phrases with which the user can become familiar.
One should consistently use the same word / phrase for substantially equivalent actions across all products and all parts of products. So, for example, if one is going to have a bunch of different dialogs in the app for modifying different types of settings, settle on a word like "save" for the save button. Don't use "save" in some places and "done" or "submit" or "finished" or "apply" or "set" in other places. In a link alongside settings that might bring up a dialog for editing the settings, don't use "edit" in one place and "modify" or "change" in other places. In places with links for showing more information, don't use "more..." in one place and then "more info..." or "further details..." in other places - settle on a standard phrase for such links. The same applies to "delete" vs "remove".
In general, establish a lexicon of standard phrases, just in the same way one would establish a set of standard visual designs for common controls.
Establish a tone for the organization that can be applied consistently throughout the UI.
There should be an understanding of what the intended tone, such as playful, casual, matter of fact, professional / businesslike, etc. Without formal guidance, the tone of language will be inconsistent across different products. It's possible that a single tone may not be viable if the products or audiences are too diverse, but any variance in tone should be deliberate / by design rather than as an accidental consequence of the changing mix of personalities of different product managers, visual designers, engineers, etc. involved in different products at different times.
The rules of language use in applications should be governed by a formalized language style guide.
Following the language style guide will help to achieve a consistent voice throughout the different applications and different parts of the applications. The language style guide can provide grammatical guidelines, a lexicon of standardized words and phrases, guidelines on tone, etc.
The cost associated with building UI for features of an application should be deferred until those features are invoked by the user.
As it applies to compiled applications, the loading of the code and resources is hard to defer as these are typically compiled into the app and the cost of fetching those resources across the network as needed can hurt the user experience.
For both native applications as well as apps built using Web technologies, UI should only be constructed for features as those features are invoked.
So, for instance, for UI that might be presented in a tabbed style of interface, UI within tabs or sections that are not yet revealed should not be built until revealed and needed. Therefore, there should not be a reliance upon connection between views - if two or more views reflect information derived from a common source / data model, it should be possible to safely change the information without having all the views already created. Views should be able to latch onto the underlying data at any time and synchronize to reflect the correct state. Once created, however, the app should reuse UI, even if the data source is changed.
UI widgets, once they have been loaded, should be reused across different data.
For example, a user configuration widget once loaded for a particular user should be reused when switching to configure a different user. This can be accomplished by view synchronization when switching between different instances of the data model. Furthermore, widgets that have been loaded and then idled in the background, when no longer in view, should be re-synchronized when revived so that changes that may have occurred in the data model while they were idle are reflected correctly.
Don't date the UI that should be consistently adopted by all products of the company by designing it according to the latest fashion trend within the design community.
At one point, rounded corners were the in thing and pill buttons were everywhere. Reflections were the rage at one point. The glassy look for buttons was popular. Drop shadows and text shadows were cool, along with gradients. Three-dimensional pop out ribbons / banners were fashionable for a while. Flat became fashionable again. Given the refresh cycle for various products, it can take years to cycle out an established UI. In order to avoid the look of one's UI being dead on arrival, one should avoid following the flavor of the day in design trends.
The best way to keep the UI feeling relevant is to design the UI to be as functional as possible, while still feeling sufficiently polished / professional. Highly functional will always be appreciated over a highly fashionable yet dated look. While emphasizing function over form, the UI should at least feel finished rather than having an unfinished look. It can be clean / minimal while still feeling slick and polished.
All UI should be designed to be touch-friendly.
With the proliferation of devices supporting a touch interface, it makes sense for UI to be designed generally with touch in mind. This is particularly important for UI developed for Web apps, where such apps might be brought up in touch and non-touch devices alike. While designing for a touch interface imposes some constraints on how much information can be presented in the available screen real estate, the added usability that comes from the discipline of keeping things clean and simple for touch interfaces can make up for the slight loss of usability for information display. Settling on constraining all UI to support touch-friendliness will eliminate the cost of designing layouts for touch and non-touch and will also reinforce consistency across the various product offerings.
The UI should be touch friendly, so that the Service Site can be used effectively on tablet and other large format touch devices, including notebook and desktop computers with touch displays.
Every interactive element should be large enough to accommodate a fingertip, and ideally large enough so that some part of the element remains visible outside the fingertip to reinforce the user's belief that they are touching on the element (i.e. their fingertip is within the boundaries of the element).
Every interactive element that is only large enough to accommodate a fingertip and that doesn't have additional "breathing room" should have sufficient clearance around it to eliminate the possibility of accidentally touching adjacent interactive elements.
If the element is oversized in any axis, then clearance around the element is less critical in that axis. For example, column headers in a table may have sufficient width for comfortable, unambiguous touch, but may need clearance above and below then if they are not tall enough. Buttons that appear inside rows of a data table should be given sufficient clearance if they are sized smaller than is ideal for touch in order to allow the table to show more data.
In order to provide assurance to the user, the touched state for UI components such as buttons should be visually highlighted.
On touch interfaces, the touched state can be highlighted using the same treatment as the mouse down state for non-touch interfaces. Because of the inherent imprecision of touch interfaces, users need as much feedback as possible to indicate exactly what UI action they are about to initiate by releasing their finger from the interface surface. This becomes especially valuable in cases where the UI becomes busier and there is more chance of accidentally activating adjacent / nearby controls.
The interactive elements of the UI should be designed with the mind to the fact that users on touch devices will not have the benefit of mouseover tooltips.
Therefore, interactive elements should be self explanatory. Ideally, all buttons that show icons should also show labels below or alongside the icons, so that their action is clear.
all interactive elements of the surrounding UI should be big enough for touching and have sufficient clearance to avoid accidentally touching elements that have an irreversible effect. Even if the action is undoable by the user, creating a finger trap that will often trip up the user will hurt the user experience.
For UI that is designed for small form factor mobile devices, additional layout considerations apply.
More and more, users are accessing services through mobile devices with a small form factor, relative to screen sizes of desktop and notebook computers. At the same time, users are migrating to mobile devices with larger and larger displays, with smart phones sporting screens above 5", and all the way up to the arguably phablet size of 6". With handheld touch screen devices of that size, UI elements located at the top left and top right of the screen become practically unreachable for the thumb.
To address this trend, it is recommended that frequently accessed UI elements be clustered towards the bottom of an app's UI.
There is simply no reason to force users to endure the constant annoyance of fumbling to reach awkwardly located UI that risks them dropping their device in the process. And the fact that UI has historically been designed with menu controls at the top of an app is not a good enough reason to impose that layout paradigm to newer mobile devices. Users will quickly get used to using controls that are convenient for them to access, even if it appears unusual at first glance. They will appreciate the choice of location over the lifetime use of the application.
With the trend towards increased mobility in computing, users are accessing apps on mobile devices in a wide variety of different ambient light conditions.
Until displays become truly passive with technology like digital ink / e-ink that supports fast enough refresh rates, app UI is likely to continue being rendered on active / lit displays. Active displays can be notoriously difficult to read in high light conditions. Therefore, UI should be design to be effective even in high ambient light conditions.
UI should be designed to generally be high contrast.
Under high ambient light conditions, low contrast UI becomes very hard to read. Maintaining a high contrast also is helpful in addressing accessibility considerations for individuals with vision difficulties.
UI should be designed to universally have a light background, with icons and text appearing in a dark color.
One could make the argument that all UI of the app should have dark-on-light styling - even app chrome UI that may surround a main / content area pane. There might be other ways to visually set the chrome apart from the content area that doesn't violate the principle of designing for high ambient light conditions.
To support legibility in high ambient light conditions, icon symbols should be simplified and employ minimal shading and color complexity.
Under high light conditions, a distinctive and recognizable outline of an icon is a better cue than color and shade detail that may become washed out and hard to notice.
To support a good user experience for apps under a variety of different usage conditions, including different ambient light situations, as well as devices with different form factors, extra effort should be made to make text as legible as possible.
Graphics designers often work in ideal work conditions that are not reflective of the conditions under which modern apps are used. Designers often have large, high resolution, high quality displays and work in an office environment with well controlled lighting. With mobility in computing, users are accessing apps in more extreme conditions. A user may be using a mobile app while walking outside in broad daylight while rushing to a business meeting at some building. With a mobile device with a small form factor, being viewed outside in broad daylight, and shaking in the user's hand as they walk, more effort than normal needs to be put into making all UI in an app legible.
Avoid using small fonts for subordinate information in the UI.
If constraints of the design are making it necessary to choose small font sizes in order to fit information in, it would be best to consider a different approach to the IA for the application, so that there is never a situation where there is information that the user cannot read under challenging conditions. Don't make users squint.
In situations where one might consider using a fainter / less prominent color for text, resist the temptation.
Consider an example of items in a company directory list, where the primary text for an item may be a person's name while the secondary text may be details about them, such as the department that they work in. One treatment might make the primary text true black while making the secondary text smaller and a mid gray. A better treatment for legibility under a variety of different reading conditions would be to make both primary and secondary text true black, while differentiating the primary text from the secondary text by making the primary text a bit larger and bolding it.
Consider using bold styling for button labels, tab buttons, headings, etc.
Make compromises elsewhere in the UI, if necessary, in order to ensure there is enough room to make text as large and legible as possible.
Free up space in order to make text a little larger by reducing layers of boxing around elements and containers. Minimize purely decorative elements / embellishments to buy space for legibility.
The approach to implementing the UI should facilitate good TDD practices, encouraging the development of tests during the feature development process, including unit and functional tests.
The approach to implementing the UI should support discrete testability of all components of the UI, from complex widgets down to their atomic building blocks.
Furthermore, it should ideally be possible to individually test all components of the UI in isolation from their surrounding UI. This suggests that all UI elements should be well encapsulated and have clearly defined interfaces that can be mocked in order to sufficiently satisfy their needs in order for them to function and be testable in isolation from the surrounding UI.
The UI should facilitate the natural human behavior of scanning to find things.
The UI for lists should be uncluttered, so that the user can focus on the data presented in the lists.
This suggests that borders separating rows and columns should be de-emphasized, in favor of alternating background colors.
To make it easier for the user to locate data in lists, the rows and columns should be eye-trackable so that the user has confidence in what the eye is seeing.
To make rows and columns more easily eye-trackable, alternating background colors should be used for rows and columns.
Rows can alternate between white and a light colored background, while columns can alternate between unlightened and lightened. Priority is given to eye-tracking for rows, since columns are wider than rows are high, and eye-tracking is more commonly needed across multiple columns of a row than multiple rows of a column.
A benefit of the alternating background colors approach is that it serves the added purpose of providing a separation between data in different rows and columns and obviates the need for cluttering border lines.
To make is easier to understand the correlation between column data and the column headers, columns headers should remain present / fixed at the top of lists, even as the list data is scrolled.
Ideally, it should be possible to search for features in the application.
When using a resource oriented design for a Web application, and where each area of the application is represented by a URI and navigable to (deep linking), it becomes possible to let the user perform a natural language search for an area of the application.
For example, if the user wanted to find the area for configuring a call forwarding feature of the application, the user could type "forwarding", "call forwarding", etc. into a search bar. Among the search results would be a link to the area of the application for configuring the call forwarding feature.
While a native application might not follow a resource oriented design, since the model originated in the Web sphere and doesn't apply as naturally to native apps, it should still be possible to provide some level of feature search capability.
Examples of feature search in native apps can be found in Mac OS, where search from the Help menu lets the user find features as they are exposed through options in the various menus of an application - even deeply nested menu options. Ideally, feature search in native apps would extend beyond just menu option text and would include description meta data for the features exposed through menu options. Furthermore, if an application's features were connected to a search engine, the search results for natural language searches of features could be ranked based upon click-through of users.
With a feature search facility in applications, it becomes theoretically possible to search for features that might only be conditionally reachable.
For example, if the user searched for a call forwarding feature in order to configure call forwarding, but if this feature were only reachable if the user had a particular account level, the user should still see the feature in the search results, be able to link to the feature and see the feature in a disabled state with an explanation as to why it is disabled. This approach could be used to good business effect by providing upsell opportunities to the user when searching for features that would require account upgrades or additional purchases.
All large lists of data should be searchable with a consistent and easy-to-use yet powerful search interface.
A search on a list of data should provide the ability to add one or more search parameters.
Each search parameter / criterion should be configurable, in a similar manner to filtering UI available within email clients for the purpose of organizing mail messages and filtering out junk mail. Among other things, this would allow users to search through tabular data sets by filtering for specific values or value ranges for specific columns.
A simple search box interface should be provided that the user can use as a first step before utilizing the more advanced parametric search UI.
Search terms entered into the search bar would be effectively resolved to one or more parameters in the parametric search. Especially if a shorthand syntax is provided for selecting, a search string entered into the simple search UI might resolve to multiple parameters in the parametric search. For example, a shorthand might be provided to let a user search for a person in a particular department (e.g. "john department:sales"). Such a search might be resolved to a parametric search involving two criteria.
In addition to the ability to search data presented in tabular form, ideally a search facility would be provided to search complex structured data.
This feature would be most comparable to the kind of system wide search that one can perform in a native operating system, where the search is able to index content stored in multiple formats and editable through multiple different applications. As the data set that an application exposes to the user becomes more complex, with different features / wizards available for manipulating data in different areas, it becomes increasingly hard to find where data is exposed.
To use an example, the structured configuration of an account should be searchable and search results from different areas of the configuration should be returned, with the ability to navigate to the areas where those results would be found and modifiable.
Using the example of a multi-user telephony system, it should be possible to search for a phone extension and see where that extension is in use. Such a search might bring up results such as the user for that extension, a voice directory configuration where the extension is listed, a call flow configuration where the extension is involved, etc. At a glance, then, one can see all usages of / references to a phone extension in the account.
UI components that can be arranged alongside one another horizontally should support a set of standardized control heights.
It should be possible, for example, to create a layout where a row contains a toggler control alongside a text input control alongside a drop list control alongside a button, and the layout can look tidy because all of these controls can be set to use the same standard height.
The tiny size for UI components should be used very sparingly, because of the difficulty of using them with touch interfaces.
Tiny controls should only be used in situations of very limited display real estate, such as in rows of table data, and care should be taken to abide by the principle of sufficient clearance.
The small size for UI components should be used for subordinate controls that are ancillary.
or an action button encapsulated within a medium sized heading.
The medium size is the standard size that should be used for UI controls.
The exact height chosen for the medium size should strike the right balance between usability for touch and efficient use of available display real estate.
As with the tiny size for UI components, the large size should be used sparingly.
The intent behind the large size is to allow a user interface to emphasize certain components very strongly - usually CTA type buttons (e.g. "SIGN UP FOR FREE TRIAL"). The large size is to UI components as all-caps is to messaging - too many components using the large size is like yelling at the user and dilutes the impact that the large size has.
When buttons (or other types of UI components) are disabled because they cannot be used in the current application state, this should be visually discernible.
When components are disabled, it should be clear by their appearance that they are disabled, but labels should still be legible and icons should still be sufficiently visible that the user can still make out what the feature is that is disabled.
Buttons (and other types of UI components) should generally be disabled when their actions are not valid and cannot be successfully executed.
An exception to this rule is any situation where it is more desirable to invite the user to attempt to trigger an action because dissuading might hurt conversion, and where providing a message on corrective actions the user should take might produce better conversion results than disabling a UI component for a conversion action.
When a button or other widget is in a disabled state, it should be possible for the user to discover why the component is disabled.
This could be done through a warning indicator (possibly including a message) associated with the component. In the case of a button in a Web UI, there may be no visible indicator UI (besides the button appearing to be disabled), but mousing over the button may produce a tooltip providing the reason for the button being disabled. In the case of a touch interface, either a visual indicator could be provided (such as a warning icon / exclamation mark icon alongside the button), or touching the button could produce a tooltip type of message.
One of the primary objectives of the UX design should be to increase user productivity.
Wherever possible, UI components that allow the user to select or modify a value should also allow the value to be entered / pasted in in a serialized text form.
The best intentions of providing a better means of selecting a value of a certain type can actually make things harder for the user in some situations. A UI should not impose a specific interface for entering a certain type of value as a means of enforcing valid entry - validation should always be enforced upon entry submission, always on the server and possibly also on the client.
To use an example to illustrate this principle, an interface shouldn't be provided for date selection that forces the user to select year, month, and date from separate drop downs while not allowing the user to simply type in a date. This consideration is even more important when considering the use case of the user wishing to copy-and-paste in values for fields such as date fields.
Wherever possible, UI components that allow the user to select or modify a value of a common type should allow the value to be copied from one field and pasted into another.
For example, a more sophisticated UI can be provided to allow the user to select a date visually through a calendar type interface, but such an option in the UI should be supplemental to raw text data entry, rather than replacing it and thereby preventing the most lightweight interaction of copying a date value, phone number value, etc. from a spreadsheet application or other data source.
This principle implies that all data entry UI components should at the very least have a text input field from which a value can be copied and into which a value can be pasted.
Wherever possible, a user should be able to select and copy any text / messaging they see to the clipboard.
If a user encounters an error message in a dialog or other type of control, they should be able to copy that text in order to paste it into a support form, e-mail, IM, SMS, or other form of text communication to a support representative. By the nature of Web technologies, this comes virtually for free in Web applications, but it might take extra work to achieve in native applications.
The guiding principle is that if the user sees something, they should be able to easily capture and communicate what they are seeing to someone who can help them troubleshoot.
As much as possible, to increase user productivity, the UX should facilitate "drinking bird" behavior, where the user can repeatedly perform the same type of action, with the least possible work between repititions.
If the user is presented with a slideshow of photos with forward and back navigation buttons, those buttons should remain in the exact same position as the user navigates through the slideshow.
If the position of the buttons were to be affected by the different widths of different photos, because it looked more aesthetically pleasing to have the buttons always snugly at the edges of the photos, then this design choice would increase user work, since they would have to locate the constantly changing position of the navigation controls with each new slide. The same navigation principle would apply to navigating through different months of a year in a calendar control. Rather than the navigation buttons being wrapped snugly around the month name (which would constantly change width), the buttons should be in a fixed location.
If the user is presented with a UI to let them select multiple items before taking an action on them, a collection type interface can be provided.
In the collection type interface, it is expected that the user may want to often collect contiguous chunks of items. An example of this would be a dialog UI for a social network app that lets a user select multiple users to send friend invites to. In the collection type interface, items that are selected by the user triggering a selection control (such as a checkbox, or an add button) are immediately moved out of the list and the remaining items are shifted in position so that the selector for the next remaining item is exactly where the user had just clicked or tapped. This means that the most frictionless interaction for the user is to repeatedly "peck" at the same position, thereby increasing the user's productivity and the virality of the application.
In situations where the user is presented with a toggling behavior, the toggler control should remain in the same position.
For example, if the user can click on an arrow icon to expand a collapsed section, then the icon to collapse the section again should be in the same place as the expand icon. That way, the user can easily collapse the section if they see at a glance that it doesn't contain what they are interested in. Contrast this approach to a "more..." link that sits under a section heading which then moves down to beneath the expanded contents of the section in the form of a "less" link, in which case the user has to visually locate the collapse control and move to trigger it in its new location. And because the control was in a new location, the user had to correspond that new control with the expand control, whereas maintaining the same location relates the expand and collapse controls by their identical location.
Content inside collapsed sections is buried enough as it is without training the user to have a negative inclination towards looking inside sections because of the added cost of collapsing the sections again. This same principle applies also to value togglers. Wherever there is a control that lets a user switch between on and off / enabled and disabled states for a setting, this should be provided through a toggler control where the control can be repeatedly toggled in exactly the same position.
Common annoyances to the user should be avoided.
A common annoyance users can encounter in progressive loading and rendering of UI is UI that shifts as elements load in.
Presenting the user with a UI that is interactive only to then pull the rug right out from under them as they are about to interact with some UI element, because the layout shifts and the element moves, is a recipe for frustrating the user and creating errors during user interaction. In cases of progressively rendered UI, space should either be allocated for not yet loaded components in areas of the UI that is likely to be immediately used, or the UI should not be interactive until the layout has settled. UI components shouldn't be moving targets.
Ensure that interaction highlights that are provided are reliable and not misleading.
There is no use to such a highlight other than to confuse the user. In such situations, it is better to make the entire box that is highlighted clickable (while also showing the pointer cursor on mouseover), thereby reinforcing that a mouseover highlight state means clickability and giving the user a larger target area for touch interfaces. The user shouldn't be left to second guess themselves upon a false click action and then to hunt for just the right spot to click on.
Settle on a single meaning for interaction highlights, preferably as an indicator of clickability / touchability.
For instance, don't use interaction highlights in some parts of the UI to indicate clickability and in other parts of the UI merely to highlight the area of the UI (such as a data table row or some layout panel) that the user is engaged with (e.g. mousing over), or establish a discernibly and consistently applied alternative means for calling out a currently focused / working area in the UI.
When navigation links are provided in Web app UI, such link components should behave as expected by the user, fully consistent with standard links in a Web document.
When forms are presented in the UI, the tab indexes for form elements should be maintained correctly so that tabbing through the form follows the logical order of the form elements.
Tab index ordering can break down as a result of form elements being dynamically populated into the UI, potentially as a result of the user making a selection in a form that results in additional choices being made available to them through additional form inputs that are added in a dynamically inserted subsection of the form. In such cases, tab indexes of all form elements may need to be recomputed and updated for all the form elements.
When text needs to be truncated in the UI because it cannot all be accommodated in the layout, the handling should be consistent in all instances.
Text that is to be truncated in the UI should be displayed with an ellipsis, with a hover tooltip behavior provided to allow the user to view the text in its entirety (within reason). The tooltip can be multi-line, as necessary, to allow all of the truncated text to be viewed.
When errors occur during the user's execution of an action, error messages that are reported to the user should ideally contain an error code that the user can reference when contacting customer support to troubleshoot the problem.
This is especially true for cases where pretty messaging is not provided for a specific error type because the error is infrequent or deemed too obscure to warrant messaging localized for all locales. It is also a good fallback to guard against bugs in the code that selects / constructs the pretty messaging. The error code can always be relied upon as the authority.
When fallback / catch all error messaging is provided for an error for which no pretty messaging is provided, the generic error message should be technically correct.
For example, the error messaging should not state that one of a few possible problems occurred if, in fact, none of the stated problems did occur. The error message should not serve as a catch all bucket if the messaging only lists a few of the possible problems in the bucket, making it not truly a catch all bucket, thereby misleading the user and complicating customer support. For instance, if obscure problem D occurred, the catch all messaging should not state "Your action could not be completed because [problem A], [problem B], or [problem C] occurred." The error message could, instead, state that "Your action could not be completed because [problem A], [problem B], or [problem C] occurred, or some other problem was encountered (error code: [error code for problem D])."
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2019-04-19T22:55:39Z
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http://uize.com/white-papers/overarching-principles-of-user-interface-design.html
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Pratibha Patil’s Museum: Gifts received by VVIPs from foreign countries can be purchased by them but can they be loaned?
Why couldn’t outgoing President Pratibha Patil follow the norms like other VVIPs and buy the gifts she received officially, instead of getting them loaned to her proposed museum?
Gifts which VVIPs including President of India receive during their official foreign tours are the property of the nation and are deposited in the government treasury called the Toshakhana. They can be purchased at market value by the VVIPs, if they so wish. In fact, according to the ministry of external affairs, “the total amount collected by the government by allowing retention of gifts by VVIPs during past three years and the current year is Rs62,000.” So, why couldn’t outgoing President Pratibha Patil follow the ministry’s norms and buy whichever gifts she received officially instead of having them free of cost?
The notification of the ministry of home affairs dated22 June 1978 does not mention anything about giving away such gifts on loans to the respective VVIPs. However, around 155 gift items which Pratibha Patil received during her tenure as President of India have now been ‘loaned’ to the collector of Amravati, where Ms Patil’s family trust is building a museum to showcase her political journey.
Earlier VVIPs which include presidents, vice-presidents and ministers, could retain gifts that they receive on foreign trips which are valued at Rs1,000 and that too can take home only one such gift in case they receive more than one on a particular tour. In an amendment made by the ministry of home affairs in 1999, the amount has been increased to Rs5,000 and the VVIP can purchase the gift item as per the market value of the “country of origin” over and above that amount. This means that the VVIP can retain any gift he or she receives during official tours abroad free of cost in case the value is Rs5,000 and below. However, if he or she wishes to possess any other gift which is beyond this amount then, he or she will have to pay the market price as valued by the ministry of external affairs.
In a written agreement signed between the Presidential Estate and the Collector of Amravati, the 155 gifts out of the 2,500 gifts that Pratibha Patil received in her tenure as the President of India, have been ‘loaned’ to her trust for a museum under-construction, in her hometown in Amravati, without any time frame for returning them to the Rashtrapati Bhavan’s ‘Toshakhana’ (treasury).
Ms Patil, who courted controversy and impropriety in terms of grabbing a sprawling 2,42,000 sq ft defence land for her luxurious post-retirement home in Pune (which she abandoned after a series of articles in Moneylife) and for having spent Rs200 crore on her foreign trips with an entourage of family members in practically every trip, is now all set for another bad precedence, where propriety too is being questioned.
As per the last notification of the ministry of home affairs dated 27 January 1999, “In regulation of the foreign contribution (acceptance or retention of gifts or presentation regulation 1978 in sub-regulation (1) the following proviso shall be inserted namely: provided that a minister my retain a gift or presentation made to him/her provided the value of the gift assessed under sub-regulation 5 does not exceed Rs5,000.” There is no mention of loaning out of these gifts to the individual after retirement which are received in the official capacity of the VVIP, on behalf of the entire nation.
This writer has invoked the RTI (Right to Information) Act and sent off an application under Section 6 of the RTI Act to the Central Public Information Officer in the President of India’s office on 3rd August. While reply is awaited, I request each one of you who reads this article to independently send a similar RTI query which will ensure citizen pressure, enough to compel the CPIO to reveal the required information from the august office.
Copy of rules and regulations for ‘loaning’ official gifts received by President of India to presidents on their retirement or loaned to any other organisation.
Copies of official requests made specifically by Ms Pratibha Patil to President of India office and correspondence between President of India’s office and ministry of external affairs (MEA) and collector, Amravati, Maharashtra regarding loaning of a number of gift items for a museum in Amravati.
Simultaneously please scan and email all the certified documents at [email protected].
Thanking you in advance and requesting you to send me the information as early as possible.
Provided that in case where such person received such gift or presentation while he is visiting any foreign country or territory outside India such intimation may be made by him within 30 days from the date of his return of India.
2. Every gift or presentation received by such persons for any foreign source shall be deposited by him with the secretary to Government of India in a ministry or the department which has sponsored that delegation of which he was the member within 30 days from the date of intimation by him of such receipt under sub-regulation (2).
3. The secretary to the Government of India, referred to in sub-regulation 3 shall forward every such gift or presentation deposited with him to the Toshakhana in the ministry of external affairs for assessment of its market value in India.
4. Such assessment shall be made within 30 days from the date of receipt of the gift or presentation in the Toshakhana in accordance with the rules applicable, for the time being in force to the valuation of articles in the Toshakhana and such persons shall be intimated in writing of such assessment forthwith.
5. The assessment so made under sub-regulation 5 shall be final and shall not be called in question by such person.
Provided such person shall have the option that exercised by him within 30 days from the date of receipt by him of the intimation under sub-regulation 5 to purchase such gift or presentation on payment of the difference between the market value in India of such gift or presentation as assessed under sub-regulation 5 and Rs1,000 (now Rs5,000); provided further that the option once exercised under this sub-regulation SHALL be final.
Madam Pratibha's fame is well known. She had not rendered accounts for the MPLAD she received earlier even though years have elapsed. I think BJP was after her & to make her escape Madam Sonia made her President (well, the first woman president!). It was being said that the amount was donated to a trust which was being run by her husband, Devising Shekawat.(A fine ruse to oppose Opposition Presidential candidate Shekawat. I may be corrected if I am wrong,). She extensively toured the world as President (she led a trade delegation to SA just before demitting office!). We made a big fanfare of her being a woman president even though there are many better, dignified women who could have adorned the post with aplomb. She adorned the homes of Indira & Sonia Gandhi better for which she got the reward. A quote from English describes her -"SOME ARE BORN GREAT, SOME ACHIEVE GREATNESS, & UPON SOME GREATNESS IS THRUST" and she belongs to the last.
It only shows that person like Pratibha Patil can rise to occupy highest position of President of India, but can't overcome her greediness.
Madam Deshmukh - One more article which made public the gift articles of VVIP for which country has ownership rights. I do not remember any controversery and/or news after retirement of Dr.Rajendra Prasad/ Dr.Sarvapalli R /Dr.Zakir Hussain/ Dr.Kalam and country still adores them.
This is like putting a ladder against the neck of the camel, climbing up and slapping it. he ! he ! he !
I am 200% sending this RTI on monday and urge all the readers to spend Rs 10 on the IPO and another Rs 20 on stationary and pastage and 20 minutes from their busy schedule to send this RTI.
More people need to join the RTI Movement to expose the 'Manmani' of the public servants, enjoying at taxpayers money.
While the RTI (Right to Information) Act in India is being currently used by activists and thousands of citizens who have learnt through self-learning or workshops, the government is seriously discussing with the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) to introduce it as a lesson in schools and colleges.
Ten-year old Aishwarya Parashar of Lucknow created history by filing a RTI query regarding the garbage dump outside her school and had a library established in its place. In February this year, she created a flutter by sending a RTI query to the PMO office, asking for the order that gave Gandhiji the status of the “Father of the Nation”. She is a mini-activist with youngsters asking her RTI queries or doubts on her mobile or email, and she quickly responds to them. This shows that if school children are educated, they can become active RTI users and help in monitoring governance or satiating curiosity.
Last fortnight Nepal, which implemented its RTI Act in 2007, introduced the subject in the mass communication curriculum in its secondary schools. For this, a leading RTI organisation, Freedom Forum, continuously lobbied for educating students on right to information, since the last two years. Finally, the Curriculum Development Centre (CDC) under the ministry of education introduced it.
In Maharashtra, the discussion to include a lesson of RTI in the civics subject was talked about fervently in the early 2000s but is yet to see reality. At that time too, discussions were almost bearing fruition. RTI activists had lobbied for the introduction, in order that the citizen-friendly RTI Act is ingrained at that impressionable age and becomes known as everyone’s tool for pro-active participation in our democracy rather than a weapon in just the hands of few.
Many media colleges in India do touch upon the subject of RTI but not enough to inspire young journalists to use it as a key tool for their stories as they are not familiarized with it, comprehensively. Pioneer of RTI movement, Aruna Roy insists that since 2005 when RTI Act was introduced, journalists can take pride in procuring government documents themselves by using RTI and thus skirting the traditional “official source” which may have vested interest and may not provide the whole truth. However, the RTI use in media fraternity is quite low. Hence, it is appreciable that the Symbiosis Institute of Media & Communication (SIMC), Pune, has recently initiated a unique RTI familiarization and uses the programme for students to inculcate the wide use of this tool for investigative and informative journalism.
A fortnight back, 300 under-graduate and post-graduate students of Symbiosis Institute of Media & Communication, Symbiosis Law College and Symbiosis School of Economics filed RTI applications in subjects of their interest. The issues addressed were varied and the lesson on how to write RTI applications was monitored by noted RTI activist Nikhil Dey, member of MKSS (Mazdoor Kishan Shakti Sangthan) and RTI activist Bhaskar Prabhu, founder of Mahiti Adhikar Manch. Presently, these RTI applications are being classified as per ‘city’ and ‘subjects’ after which Pune-related RTI queries would be sent to the respective public authorities by the students.
This exercise was conducted at the second, two day seminar of Symbiosis Institute of Media & Communication, Pune. Pioneering RTI crusader Aruna Roy was the chief guest of the seminar and addressed students on the importance of using RTI as a tool for investigative journalism. While SIMC has a chapter on RTI Act in its Media & Civic Affairs subject, since March it has embarked upon a full-fledged practical orientation programme to the subject through a series of workshops and seminars to be held in the academic year. In order to amplify the knowledge and use of RTI, SIMC is preparing a RTI manual for journalists based on the two seminars, which would be available online as well as in print in a book form, for the benefit of students and journalists across the country.
With the government attempts to dilute the RTI Act every now and then, RTI activist Vijay Kumbhar believes that enlightening young minds on this law will throw up a whole new generation of RTI-informed citizens, making it difficult for the government to muddle around.
So much exercise is being done to educate the people about the usefulness of RTI power, but if the common understanding of having a power to have a SAY in the election and selection of the politicians or candidates are not there, any other ACT will be for only self-aggrandisement to play, "DIVIDE and RULE", Comments for and against, Like and Dislike, throughout our troublesome journey of life, where only handful 5% of the 120 crore population will be deformed, corrupted and benefited under the guise of reforming the 104 crore citizens of our country!
RTI Act is in the public interest, but it is becoming a tool for the vested interests only.
We have to plan a strategy which benefits the remaining 95% also without wasting time for any other acts which are going to benefit only 5% of the public!
WAKE UP! JAAGO DUNIYA, JAAGO! Now or NEVER!
Consider this: When, The Associated Press, in early 2011, filed Right to Information (RTI) request for information on terrorism charges and convictions in 105 countries, it got its reply from Turkey within a week; India, within a month; Mexico within two months; while the Canadian government sought a 200-day extension to give the reply. According to news reports, only 14 countries responded with the full information within their legal deadline; most countries did not provide any of the information asked for. The FBI too took six months and at the end of it, gave only vague replies.
Hence, it is not surprising that leading countries with otherwise good governance like USA and UK are ranked 39th and 28th in a comprehensive world-wide RTI Rating Project undertaken by Centre for Law and Democracy based in Canada (which stood 52nd) and Spain-based Access Info Europe. The results of the two year study were recently unveiled and showed that India ranked second having scored an impressive 130 out of 150 points with Serbia ranked first with 135 points.
The study was “a comprehensive comparative analysis of the legal frameworks for accessing information in each of the 90 countries where such a system exists.” Which means, the focus was only on how strong are the provisions in the RTI laws of the 90 chosen countries and not on how effective is the implementation, as that would be a cumbersome and complicated endeavour. Besides being assessed on 61 main indicators, the rating was given under seven different categories: Right of Access, Scope, Requesting Procedures, Exceptions and Refusals, Appeals, Sanctions and Protections, and Promotional Measures. The total count was 150 points. “The indicators were drawn from a wide range of international standards on the right to information, as well as comparative study of numerous right to information laws from around the world,” states the http://www.law-democracy.org website.
The study was initiated by Toby Mendel, president of Centre of Law and Democracy, Canada. Before founding the Centre for Law and Democracy in January 2010, Toby Mendel was for over 12 years senior director for law at ARTICLE 19, a human rights NGO focusing on freedom of expression and the right to information. He has provided expertise on these rights to a wide range of actors including the World Bank, various UN and other inter-governmental bodies, and numerous governments and NGOs in countries all over the world. Experts who reviewed India’s scoring points were Venkatesh Nayak and Anjali Bhardwaj for India and members of Commonwealth Human Rights Initiatives (CHRI), which works to raise public awareness of RTI amongst people and communities.
In the comments, Venkatesh Nayak and Anjali Bharadwaj have made the following observations which give a balanced overview of the RTI Act in India: “India has long been recognised as one of the most advanced countries in the world when it comes to access to information, but its failure to top this ranking is demonstrative that global standards of the right to access have advanced considerably since India’s law was first passed. This is not to say that India's legal framework is bad.
“As this score indicates, it remains one of the top countries in the world, but there are several problems with India's access regime. Chief among these are the blanket exceptions in Schedule 2 for various security, intelligence, research and economic institutes. Instead of such broad and sweeping exclusions, these interests should be protected by individual and harm-tested exceptions. The Indian legal framework also does not allow access to information held by private entities which perform a public function, and several of the law’s exclusions, including for information received in confidence from a foreign government, cabinet papers and parliamentary privilege, are also problematic”.
Pakistan, which implemented the law in 2002 is ranked 66th. According to an article based on this study in International The News of Pakistan, “Pakistan is among the last 20 countries in the Global Right to Information (RTI) rating, ranking 72 out of a total of 90 countries surveyed, with neighbouring India coming in at third place and other countries in the region, such as Nepal and Bangladesh, also doing exponentially better than Pakistan. Even Mexico, otherwise considered very hostile to journalists, has been ranked seventh while Ethiopia, another country described unsafe for journalists, has earned the tenth position. Yemen too boasts of more liberal access to information than Pakistan, ranking 20th on the index.
Scores of some important countries are: Germany-54; Russia- 60; Japan-67; China-72; Canada-79; Australia-84; USA-89; and UK-97.
For those complaining about the power of the RTI Act in India, this would not only be an eye-opener but should inspire us to use it effectively and in large numbers.
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2019-04-18T14:18:02Z
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https://www.moneylife.in/article/pratibha-patils-museum-gifts-received-by-vvips-from-foreign-countries-can-be-purchased-by-them-but-can-they-be-loaned/27641.html
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All matches will be governed by the Laws of Cricket except as otherwise stated in the Cherwell League Playing Rules (this document).
Each club wishing to play cricket in the Cherwell Cricket League must first be affiliated to the County Board of the County in which it is situated and must then comply with that Board's requirements regarding the ECB "Safe Hands Policy".
All matches must be played on the same ground that has been designated by the home club as their home ground, on the dates designated by the Fixture Secretary. Any match that cannot be played on a club's designated ground will be forfeited by the home team, who will receive a £50 fine, and their opponents will receive 25 points; the match can still be played as a friendly.
2.2.1. Good separate changing facilities for BOTH teams.
2.2.2. Indoor toilets with hand wash basin, preferably with working hot showers.
2.2.3. Communal area for providing teas.
2.2.4. Car parking space sufficient for both teams within the ground.
2.2.5. Proper scoreboard, clearly visible from the pitch.
2.2.8. Boundaries and fielding circles (in Divisions 1-6 only ) clearly marked.
Should the League receive two or more adverse reports from visiting teams regarding the above requirements, the ground in question will be inspected (a charge of £50 will apply) and any recommended improvements must be carried out within an agreed timescale or permission to play on the ground may be withheld.
Where Umpires are present, at least 20 minutes before the start of play the team captains must give the umpires an ECB form with player names and ages to allow the umpires to regulate the ECB Fast Bowling Directives. Two new balls, as specified by the League, and at least six good quality spare used balls must be given to the umpires by the home club. Panel umpires should be paid their match fee (£40) in an envelope, at least 20 minutes before the start of play.
The toss shall take place at least 15 minutes before the scheduled start of the match. If either captain or his representative is not present at this time then the other team will have the option of claiming or conceding the toss.
If, in the opinion of the umpires, either team is responsible for a delay in the start of the match, then that team will lose one over for each 3.5 minutes lost from its allocation of overs when it bats.
Between the innings it is the responsibility of the home team to re-mark the creases at both ends to a standard acceptable to the umpires. In Divisions 5 to 10 away teams should report to the League if this is not done. In Divisions 1 to 4 if remarking has not been carried out, Panel umpires will mark on the form that is sent in by them any instances of failure to do so. After two reports the club will be informed that they have been reported twice, and should they transgress on a third occasion, then they will lose 5 points on that and each subsequent occasion.
Teams forfeiting before 9pm on the Thursday preceding the fixture will be fined £50 and deducted five points. Both the opposing captain and the League Secretary must be informed by email and/or a telephone call before the deadline time. In the event of a team forfeiting a match after 9pm on the Thursday preceding the fixture the club will be fined £100 and the team deducted ten points. Fines will be paid to the oppostion. The Management Committee will become involved in the payments if the offending club has not paid within 4 weeks of the end of the season in question. The cancelled match must always be the match in the Division in which the club's lowest team plays.
Each club's first team and all teams in Division 4 or higher must field 11 players. Lower ranked teams can play with less than 11 players provided no lower ranked team has more players than one of its higher ranked teams. Any team that transgresses the foregoing will be deducted 10 points and the lower club team who played with a full team will also be deducted 10 points.
The minimum number of players in a club's lowest placed team will be nine; any team fielding less than nine players will be deemed to have forfeited the match. The match will be awarded to their opponents with the subsequent penalties as shown in League Playing Rule 3 being imposed; with the agreement of their opponents the match can be played as a friendly. Should both teams have fewer than nine players neither team will receive any points and the match will be cancelled with the penalties as shown in League Playing Rule 3 being imposed upon both teams.
A club may appeal against the loss of a match and the imposition of Playing Rule 3.2 or 3.3. Any such appeal must be made within five days of the date that the match should have taken place. The appeal will be dealt with by the League Management Committee.
Any club that has only two teams and whose second team fails to fulfil three or more fixtures, will have to be re-elected to stay in the League at the next A.G.M.
If any club that has more than two teams has a team that fails to fulfil its fixtures on two or more occasions in a season, the League Management Committee will decide upon the future continuance of that team in the League.
Any team which fails to fulfil at least two thirds of its scheduled fixtures shall have its record expunged from the league for that season and all points gained in fixtures against them will be removed and the tables recalculated without that team included.
The Ground Executive of the home team shall determine the fitness or otherwise of a ground before a match and shall advise its opponents when a fixture is to be cancelled. The decision to cancel a match should not be taken before the day of the match unless mutually agreed by both clubs and both clubs have informed the League Secretary. In the absence of any such cancellation, this responsibility is assumed by the umpires in accordance with the Laws of Cricket (Law 3) whose decision is final. If an umpire / umpires has / have not been informed that a match has been cancelled and the umpire / umpires attend the ground, the HOME team will be responsible for paying the umpire / umpires fee / fees.
c. the captains, in consultation with the umpires, agree that a grass pitch of suitable condition is not available on the square.
A pitch may be fully covered during a match in the event of inclement weather. All teams playing in Divisions 1 to 6 must have covers sufficient to cover the whole of the match pitch.
One approved official Cherwell Cricket League new ball will be used at the start of each innings, both balls to be supplied by the HOME club. Both balls must be presented to the umpires (if present) before the start of play.
In Divisions 1-6 the team bowling first must be in a position to start the 53rd over after 3 hours 10 mins (i.e. by 3.40pm (3.10pm in weeks 17 and 18) if there are no interruptions).
In Divisions 7-10 the team bowling first must complete its 45 overs in 2 hours 45 minutes (i.e. by 3.45pm (3.15pm in weeks 17 and 18) if there are no interruptions).
If, by the deadline time, the side bowling first has failed to deliver the required number of overs it will continue to bowl but will lose one point for each over not completed by the deadline time.
The time allowed to the team bowling in the second innings will be calculated by multiplying the number of overs by 3.5 minutes and adding 5 minutes. The umpires shall inform the fielding captain of the time by which the overs must be completed. If, by the deadline time, the side bowling second has failed to deliver its overs it will continue to bowl and will lose one point for each over not completed by the deadline time.
In Divisions 1-6 if the team batting first is dismissed or declares its innings closed before the end of its allotted overs, the team batting second shall have the balance of such overs added to its own allocation. For the purpose of this rule an over that has been started shall be deemed to have been completed.
The time allowed to each team to bowl its overs may be extended by the umpires in exceptional circumstances, providing any relevant stoppage lasts LONGER THAN THREE MINUTES. Any such allowance must be agreed by the umpire(s) and notified to the teams and scorers, at the time of the occurrence.
Not withstanding item 5.6 above, if play is delayed due to a shortage of spare balls while the home team is fielding, no additional time may be allowed. If play is delayed in such circumstances while the away team is fielding, the umpires may, at their discretion, allow additional time.
Note: Time spent searching for lost balls, except as set out in 5.6 and for the first drinks break may not be added to the time allowed. If a further drinks break is agreed before the start of play, and is subsequently taken, a further 3 minutes shall be added to the time allowed.
The tea interval will last a maximum of 30 minutes and will normally be taken between innings unless otherwise agreed by the captains. Tea may not, however, be taken during the last hour of play.
Unless a result is achieved earlier, games shall normally finish at 7.00 pm (6.30pm in weeks 17 and 18).
In 2019 for all teams the season will be structured as follows: The first 5 weeks and the last 4 weeks of the season will be 50 overs win/lose cricket with strict leg side wide rules (anything passing down the leg side) being applied. The remainder of the season will consist of 100 6-ball overs except where the match is affected by weather or a result is achieved sooner. Divisions 7 to 10 will play a maximum of 90 overs.
In Divisions 7 to 10 all matches are scheduled to last 90 overs split equally 45 overs per team. If the team batting first in bowled out in less than 45 overs, it will still have 45 overs to bowl, in the designated time. If the team batting first declares before 45 overs have been bowled, then the team batting second will receive the full overs remaining. The team bowling second will receive the additional time to bowl the extra overs, calculated at 3.5 minutes per over.
In Divisions 1-6 only: At the instant of delivery a minimum of four fieldsman (plus the bowler and wicketkeeper) must be within an area bounded by two semi-circles (each with a radius of 30 yards) centred on each middle stump and joined by a parallel line on each side of the pitch. In the event of an infringement the square leg umpire shall call "No Ball". The fielding circle should be marked by white plastic or rubber (but not metal) disc measuring 7 inches in diameter.
Umpires are instructed to apply very strict and consistent interpretation in regard to this Law in order to prevent negative bowling wide of the wicket. Any offside or legside delivery which in the opinion of the umpire does not give the batsman a reasonable opportunity to score shall be called a wide.
Bowlers in all divisions will be restricted to bowling a maximum one third of the overs available at the start of an innings. In the event of a reduction in overs due to rain, the number of overs a bowler is allowed to bowl will be recalculated before play commences. Where one third is not an exact number, the overs available to a bowler will be rounded down. In the event that a bowler exceeds his permitted overs, for any reason, the batting side will be awarded 10 penalty runs for each over bowled (or part thereof) above the permitted limit (in addition to any runs scored in the over). The side bowling at the time will also be deducted 3 match points for every over bowled over the limit. If any individual bowler bowls three or more overs above their permitted limit, his team will be deemed to have forfeited the match and receive no points. If in the opinion of Panel Umpires officiating in the match, or the League Committee where no Panel Umpires are present, the team transgressing are deemed to have deliberately exceeded a bowler’s limit to gain an advantage then the match will deemed to have been forfeited and will result in 0 points for the offending team and 25 points for the opposition. Examples of ‘deliberate’ could be, but are not limited to: a bowler bowling additional overs when informed he has bowled his allocation, a bowler bowling additional overs and significantly altering the outcome of the match by doing so. There is no right of appeal to any decision made based on the above.
Teams in each division will be ranked according to the number of points gained. If two or more teams have the same number of points, the team with the greater number of wins shall be placed higher. If the number of wins is the same, the team who has lost fewer games will be placed higher, if the number of loses is the same, the team(s) with more bonus points shall be placed higher. If the number of bonus points is the same, the team gaining more points in matches between the teams will be placed higher; if the teams are still level then the team with the best cumulative run rate in matches between the teams will be placed higher.
Any club being marked three times by panel umpires in the same season with a mark of 5 or less for conduct will be deducted ten points. Any further marks of 5 or less will result in a further deduction of points. The Secretary will inform a club once it has received two marks of 5 or less for behaviour.
If the start of a match is delayed the total number of overs available shall be reduced by one for each completed period of 3.5 minutes lost. In Divisions 1-6 Appendix 1 is used to calculate the overs for each side.
Duckworth-Lewis will be used in Divisions 1-6 for the 50 overs per side matches.
A match in Divisions 1-6 may only begin if there is time for 60 overs to be bowled. A match in Divisions 7-10 may only begin if there is time for 50 overs to be bowled. Assuming tea has been taken a match in Divisions 1-6 may start no later than 3.40pm (3.10pm weeks 17 and 18) and no later than 4.15pm (3.45pm weeks 17 and 18) in Divisions 7-10.
At the time of the restart the number of overs remaining shall be calculated as the total amount of time left in the match to 7.00pm (6.30pm in weeks 17 and 18) (or later if the 1st innings is overrunning or overran) divided by 3.5. Any necessary deductions for tea (30 minutes), change of innings (10 minutes) and extra allowance per innings (5 minutes) must be included in the calculation. If tea is not taken between innings then it must last no longer than 20 minutes in order to allow for 10 minutes between innings and no loss of playing time.
The maximum length of the first innings in such circumstances is set out in Appendix 1. Once 60 overs have been bowled and a match is subsequently abandoned, the result will be a DRAW unless the circumstances outlined in rule 6.5 appertain.
At the end of each stoppage the time remaining in the match until 7.00pm (6.30pm in weeks 17 and 18) (or later if the 1st innings overran) will be recalculated as per the above.
If a side batting first has batted for more than 40 overs in Divisions 1-6 or 35 overs in Divisions 7-10 when time is lost, the side batting second is entitled (but not mandatory) for a minimum of 20 overs and in such circumstances their innings must commence by 6.20pm (5.50pm in weeks 17 and 18).
If the 20 overs are completed the result is a DRAW if not the match is ABANDONED.
If a match is interrupted and after allowing for 3.5 minutes for each over it is no longer possible for a total of 60 overs in Divisions 1-6 or 50 overs in Divisions 7-10 to be bowled, then with the AGREEMENT OF BOTH CAPTAINS the game can be abandoned. If EITHER captain wishes to continue then the overs remaining are calculated as above in 6.3 and the match can continue. If the match reaches the full, re-calculated overs, with no win to either side then the match will be a DRAW.
The entitlement of the side batting first remains a minimum of 32 overs.
Once a match has commenced with a minimum of 60 overs available, should the team batting first be bowled out or declare its innings before the amount of overs calculated have been bowled then the team batting second only has to bat a minimum of 20 overs for a result of a draw to stand if neither team has won the match. There is no requirement for 60 overs to be bowled in these circumstances.
o Draw - If the team batting second gets within 1 to 10 runs of the first innings score it will receive THREE points, bowling team THREE points.
o If the team batting second gets within 11 to 20 runs of the first innings score it will receive TWO points, bowling team FOUR points.
o If the team batting second gets within 21 to 30 runs of the first innings score it will receive ONE point, bowling team FIVE points.
o If the team batting second is more than 30 behind the runs scored in the first innings it will receive ZERO points, bowling team SIX points.
o In the event of a match in which the overs in the 2nd innings have been reduced by 25% or more of the maximum available (47 in Divs 1-6 and 45 in Divs 7-10), then if the team that won the toss batted first each team will receive 3 points each for a drawn match, otherwise the draw points as set out above will apply.
ONE point for reaching each of 100, 130, 160, 190, 220 runs - This will apply for the full duration of the innings in all divisions 1-6).
Team bowling first - ONE point each for taking each of 3, 5, 7, 9, 10 wickets. Five bowling points will apply if a side is all out, regardless of the number of wickets actually taken. This will apply for the full duration of the innings.
Team bowling second - ONE point for each wicket taken.
ONE point for reaching each of 90, 110, 130, 150, 170, 190 runs - This will apply for the full duration of the innings in all divisions (7-10).
All players must comply with the Cherwell Cricket League Registration Rules.
Contracts between clubs and players for the payment of any sum of money or other remuneration or reward, is not allowed in the Cherwell Cricket League, except with the express written authority of the League Management Committee.
Any player wishing to be involved in the "Chance to Shine" programme must obtain a letter from the County Board confirming that the player is approved by and being paid by the Board.
A club may not be assisted by a third party to make a payment to a player of any sum of money or other remuneration or reward, which if paid by the club to the player directly would be a breach of these rules.
If the Committee believes that a third party is paying any sum of money or other remuneration or reward which if paid by the club to the player directly would be a breach of these rules, the League Management Committee can take action against the club, as if payment had been made by the club itself.
A Club may pay players reasonable costs of travel to and from matches**, these costs are to be clearly shown in the club's audited annual accounts. For avoidance of doubt this does not include the payment of airfares.
The Management Committee reserves the right to ask for and verify by sight any information that it requires concerning the application or a breach of these rules.
a) Second class return fare from player's UK residence to ground.
b) Return bus fare from player's UK residence to ground.
c) Return travel by car from UK residence to ground @ 35p per mile.
The League reserves the right to request documented verification in writing of the foregoing requirements.
Misconduct by any player, member, or associate of any club affiliated to the League in the course of or in conjunction with a Cherwell League match shall be viewed as a disciplinary offence and may result in action being taken by the League under its Code of Conduct.
In weeks 17 and 18 a player shall not play in any division lower than that in which he has played the majority of his games in weeks 1 to 12 inclusive, except that he will be eligible to play in such a lower division so long as he has, in weeks 1 to 12, played in that same division for 2 or more weeks provided that playing in the said lower division does not mean him dropping more than one club XI.
Example: He may drop from 1st XI to 2nd XI or 2nd XI to 3rd XI but not from 1st XI to 3rd XI or 2nd XI to 4th XI and so on.
When determining under rule 17.1 where a player has played the majority of his games in weeks 1 to 12 it is found that he has played equally amongst two or more club XIs then the highest placed XI in which he has played shall determine the point from which a lower division is calculated.
Example: A player has played 4 times in each of his clubs 1st, 2nd and 3rd XIs in weeks 1 to 12.
In weeks 17 and 18 he may only play in either his clubs 1st XI or 2nd XI.
Note: The object of rules 8.5 and 8.6 is to prevent clubs in weeks 17 and 18 from using players from higher divisions to unduly influence promotion and relegation issues of lower divisions in which they would not normally play and to continue to promote The Spirit of Cricket.
Note: In exceptional circumstances, where a player who has played in more than 50% of the relevant team's matches, could be prevented from playing in weeks 17 and 18, the matter should be referred to the League Secretary by no later than 12.30 pm on the Wednesday preceding the fixture, for a ruling.
Any club wishing to seek an exemption to rules 8.5 and 8.6 must contact the Registration Secretary (or his nominated deputy) in writing, by the Thursday preceding the match, stating clearly the reasons they require the exemption. The request should copied to the League Chairman and League Secretary. Exemptions will only be granted if The League is satisfied that there is no attempt to strengthen a lower team to the detriment of a higher placed team and that there is a genuine reason for the request. The players playing record for the current season and, in particular, recent matches will be taken into account. An example of where an exemption may be appropriate would be a player returning from injury.
Note: Player appearances for Weeks 1-12 are shown on the club details pages on the league website for each club once you are logged in.
Umpires shall be appointed as available and where appropriate, on behalf of the Management Committee by the League Umpires' Secretary from a panel maintained by the League.
ALL teams in Divisions 1 to 4 must nominate, for each week of the season, an umpire who has full CRB clearance, has preferably taken part in a recognised ECBCOA training course, be at least capable of umpiring at this level and have had experience of umpiring on a regular basis in Division seven or above of the Cherwell League.
Any umpire so nominated who constantly receives poor marks or adverse reports will, after consultation with the club who nominated the umpire, be removed from the panel.
Failure to nominate an umpire for any week of the season will result in a five point deduction on each occasion. If an umpire subsequently drops out of a date that he has been nominated for, it is the nominating clubs responsibility to name a replacement, regardless of whether he has an actual appointment or is on "Stand by".
b) By being put on "Stand by". Being on "Stand by" means that the club who originally nominated the umpire may offer him /her, another appointment in a lower Division, but should they later be required to umpire a match in Divisions 1 to 4 that requirement would take precedence.
If a nominated umpire becomes unavailable and there is no "Stand by" available as a replacement, then the club who originally nominated the umpire who is no longer available will be responsible for nominating a suitable replacement. Clubs will be informed no later than 8pm on the Friday before the match if their nominated "Stand by" is required. Any club, who fails to nominate a replacement, will be deducted five points.
If no panel umpire is appointed to a match in Divisions 5, 6 or 7 then both clubs must each provide a competent umpire who is not otherwise participating in the match. Any club failing to provide an umpire in these circumstances will be deducted five points in divisions five and six and two points in division 7.
When only one official umpire (Panel or club) officiates in a match, all decisions relating to the condition of the pitch, weather or light and regarding starting, stopping or restarting any match will be taken by the official umpire only, without reference to a player acting as an umpire.
If a match is abandoned without a ball being bowled, panel umpires who have travelled to the ground shall receive their match fee in full. If the home club fails to inform the panel umpire(s) that a match has been cancelled and the appointed umpire(s) travel to the ground, the home club will be responsible for paying the fee(s) due.
In matches with Panel Umpires both Captains should meet together with both Umpires within 20 minutes of the end of the match for a post-match discussion/debrief, regardless of whether the match came to a conclusion or was abandoned for any reason.
In Divisions 1 to 4 it is the responsibility of each club to provide a competent Scorer who is not otherwise participating in the match, and is available throughout. Umpires will be asked to inform the League on the official League Report Form that this rule has been complied with. Failure to comply will result in the offending Club(s) being deducted five points.
In all other divisions it is the responsibility of the captains to ensure that two people are acting as scorers throughout the match. Each club must make sure that a proper scorebook is used (not sheets taken from the opponents' book) and that the record shows, under Batsmen, all players who played in the match, not just those who actually batted.
In All Divisions the result and a match scorecard need to be recorded and submitted by the home captain using the Cherwell League website. Details of the procedure are set out on the website and in the Handbook. Clubs in breach of this procedure may be fined £15 and two points deducted on each occasion.
The match result must be submitted to the website by 11pm on the Saturday of the match. Failure to do so may result in a 2 point deduction.
ALL home team captains, in all divisions, are to ensure that the appropriate Match Scorecard is properly completed on the Cherwell League website before the Thursday following the match. Failure to do so by due date may result in a £15 fine and a two point deduction. Forms not completed within a further 7 days may result in a further penalty of 5 points being deducted. If after 14 days a form is not completed the matter will be reported to the Management Committee for possible further disciplinary action.
In Divisions 1 to 6 the Captain of BOTH teams will complete an "Umpires Report Form". This form should be submitted on the website, during the week following the match and before the Wednesday following the match. Failure to do so may incur a fine of £15 and a two point deduction. Forms not submitted within a further 7 days may result in a further penalty of 5 points being deducted. If after 14 days a form is not submitted the matter will be reported to the Management Committee for possible further disciplinary action.
If the League champions (Division 1 winners) do not meet the criteria for promotion, or decline an invitation to join the Home Counties Premier League Division Two (West), the team finishing in second place will become eligible for promotion.
Clubs invited to join the Home Counties Premier League Division Two (West) must confirm in writing to the League Secretary whether they have accepted or declined the invitation within 14 days of the invitation being made.
In all divisions except Division 1 a minimum of 2 teams will be guaranteed promotion at the end of the season, except where 11.4 or 11.5 applies.
No club can have two teams in the same division with the exception of the bottom division.
If a team is relegated into the same division as another team from the same club, then the team already in that division will also be relegated or denied promotion to that division.
Annual Batting and Bowling awards can only be won by Category 1 registered players.
Set out below is the criteria that any club who wishes to apply for membership of the Cherwell Cricket League must meet before their application can be considered by the League Management Committee. Any applications meeting the criteria will be put before the member clubs at an AGM for acceptance. At an AGM the club applying must receive support from more than 66% of clubs voting.
The Club must have its own ground or have a secure long term lease on a ground which will allow fixtures in Divisions 1 to 6 to be played on any Saturday designated by the League during the months of April, May, June, July, August and September.
The Club must have a second team of suitable ability to play in the bottom division of the Cherwell League.
The Club's facilities and ground must comply with the standards that are applicable to all Cherwell League clubs, as shown in the League's handbook.
The Club must supply the League with approved accounts for the two seasons prior to it applying for membership.
The Club's application must be supported by two current Cherwell League clubs.
Any club that is elected to join the Cherwell Cricket League must be capable of supplying an umpire who meets the standards required by the League to officiate on the League Umpires' Panel if they are placed in a Division where this is a league rule.
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http://www.cherwellcricketleague.com/playingrules.php
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Thanks again to our aviation history and news scout, Virg Hemphill, we can share this fascinating step back into airline history, into the pre-WWII era of the 1930’s. The age in which we said farewell to Art Nouveau, the Roaring Twenties and romantic novelists like F. Scott Fitzgerald – all for a new, yet still romantic age of rapidly accelerating technology, especially in aviation, which saw many beautifully designed modern airplanes begin to ply the skies in every corner of the globe. America’s own Pan American Airways was one of the most aggressive and pioneering of those who helped so astoundingly shrink the size of the world as we had once known it.
Thanks to Juan Trippe’s (CEO of PAA) pioneering entrepreneurship, what had taken passengers to the Far East from California over a month aboard ship, now took less than three days in one of his now classical beauties, the famed PAA Clipper Ship airliners.
Hopefully those frequent-fliers among you might genuinely appreciate this nostalgic look back in time at the fabled Pan Am Clipper!
Without further ado, let’s look at those great flying machines of yesteryear . . .
Pan Am Clipper passengers enjoying their meal in the ample dining room aboard the ship.
Clipper passengers took their meals at real tables, not their seats.
For most travelers in the 21st century, flying is a dreary experience, full of inconvenience, indignity, and discomfort.
Boeing model 314 takes off for transoceanic flight.
Even Franklin Roosevelt used the plane, celebrating his 61st birthday on board.
Between 1938 and 1941, Boeing built 12 of the 314 (see above) jumbo planes for Pan American World Airways. PAA purchased only three of the predecessor Martin 130s.
The Clippers had a range of 3,200 miles for the smaller Martin and 3,500 miles for the larger Boeing models — enough to cross either the Atlantic or Pacific, with the 314 having enough room for 74 passengers on board, or almost twice as many as the smaller Martin. Of course, modern aviation offers an amazing first class experience (and it’s certainly much safer), but little in the air today matches the romanticism and Pullman styled luxury of crossing the oceans in the famed Clippers.
The nickname “Clipper” came from an especially fast type of sailing ship used in the 19th century.
The ship analogy was appropriate, as the Clipper landed on the water, not runways.
One of a Clipper’s private staterooms.
On the Pan Am flights, passengers had access to dressing rooms and a dining salon (below) that could be converted into a lounge or bridal suite.
Clipper Dining Room with passengers eating in restaurant style comfort.
The galley served up meals catered from four-star hotels.
If you want to sit at a table to eat with other people these days, you’ll have to fly aboard a private jet.
There was room for a crew of 10 to serve as many as 74 passengers on the larger Boeing Clipper, with but 36 day passengers aboard the Martin and only 18, if configured for sleeper use.
Bunk bed or typical berthing arrangement aboard the Clipper Ships.
(Above) On overnight flights, the Boeing’s 74 seats could be turned into 40 bunks or berths for comfortable sleeping. The bunk beds came with curtains for privacy, just as on the Pullman rail cars of the era.
(Above) On the more than 24-hour flights across the Atlantic or Pacific, crew members could grab some shut eye on these less than luxurious cots.
(Above) Unlike some modern jets that come with small joysticks mounted to the pilots’ side, the Clipper had flight controls that most closely resembled automotive steering wheels, which control column style predominated even into the jet age.
In the 1930’s, navigating across the oceans required more manpower, such as specialized radio officers and highly trained navigators, as seen above.
Today’s jet airliners need neither of these extra crew members because the pilots do both the navigating and radio communicating with modern high tech equipment such as GPS, and they communicate with satellite-based long range radio.
The wings on the Boeing Clipper were so thick, that a crew member catwalk was provided to enable in-flight inspections (See photo to the right).
(Above) A standard restroom aboard the Clipper, but note the separate urinal, which is missing in today’s airliners.
While the lavatories weren’t too fancy, they did have separate urinals — something you never see in today’s commercial jets, where space is at a premium.
(Above) The ladies lounge had stools where female passengers could sit and take care of their makeup.
The Boeing 314 Model made its maiden trans-Atlantic flight on June 28, 1939. But once the US entered World War II, all of the Clippers were pressed into service to transport materials and personnel. While only three (3) of the earlier Martins had been delivered to PAA, and one, the Hawaiian Clipper, had disappeared over the Pacific, the other two were conscripted by the U.S. Navy. However, both of those two remaining Martin 130 Clippers tragically crashed with tragic consequences (loss of life).
Interior cutaway drawing of the Boeing model 314 Clipper.
China (Martin Model) Clipper at the PAA Dinner Key Seaplane Base, Coconut Grove (Miami), Florida. Your webmaster was once thrilled to pilot a Grumman Albatross Seaplane into this once famous seaplane terminal, but was never privileged to have even seen one of the renown Clippers.
Boeing 314 Clipper breaking water on take off. Note the triple tail compared to the single Martin tail design.
Interior photo of the passenger lounge in the Martin China Clipper.
Here, above, you see the mysterious “Hawaiian Clipper”. This is the very ship that vanished over the South Pacific, giving birth to a number of theories about her actual fate. See the postscript that follows these photos and also the Aviation History Magazine story about this tragic 1938 aviation mystery.
Large or high resolution photo from LIFE magazine of the PAA Martin 130 “China Clipper” Ship.
Martin 130 China Clipper at anchor mooring.
Martin 130 China Clipper cutaway drawing showing its interior.
Martin 130 China Clipper undergoing maintenance.
Another LIFE Magazine photo of PAA’s Martin 130 “China Clipper” – High Resolution. The flight officer’s size provides a good perspective of ship’s actual size. Remember, any of these high resolution photos can be seen in full size by simply clicking on them.
The China Clipper moored off shore near the Philippines? If you have evidence this craft is moored somewhere other than the Philippines, we’d love to know where it is, but we think it’s near Manila.
The PAA “China Clipper” taxiing to its mooring in San Pedro Harbor, Los Angeles, California, circa 1939.
Postscript: Prior to WWII, the Japanese Military became very interested in the new and powerful Pratt & Whitney radial engines that powered the Martin Clippers.
On a flight from San Francisco to China, a Clipper landed on Truk Lagoon to be refueled by Japanese authorities. Later, the Clipper was assumed lost over the Pacific.
Years later, it was revealed that the crew and passengers were arrested and executed, the engines were retrieved and sent to Japan and the Clipper was sunk in deep water off Truk Lagoon.
In the 75 years since the Hawaii Clipper disappeared, no one has figured out what happened to the flying boat and its crew.
A few minutes before 6 a.m. on July 29, 1938, Pan American Airways Captain Leonard Terletzky taxied the Clipper out of Apra Harbor, Hawaii Guam. Terletzky was more than halfway through the six-day, 9,000-mile flight from Alameda, California, to Hong Kong. He’d already made stops in Honolulu, Midway, Wake Island and now Guam. Manila, Macao and Hong Kong were still to come.
The longest part of the trip (Alameda to Hawaii) was behind him. Half the passengers had disembarked in Honolulu, leaving only six to be ferried by Terletzky’s eight-man crew on the island-hopping voyage across the Pacific. Other than leaving Guam 29 minutes late, everything on Pan Am trip No. 229 was running smoothly.
As Terletzky throttled up the big Martin M-130’s engines, the flying boat surged forward and began to skip across the wave tops. Fully loaded, the 52,000-pound aircraft needed 45 seconds to get airborne. Since the M-130 was just shy of 50,000 pounds leaving Guam, it took almost that long for it to clear the waves.
The Hawaii Clipper was a thing of beauty. An all-metal, high-wing flying boat with a riveted hull, it was 91 feet long and 25 feet high, with a 130-foot wingspan. One notable feature was its sponsons, or sea wings, near the waterline. These improved stability on the water, replacing the wing-mounted pontoons found on many other flying boats. In addition to providing aerodynamic lift, they kept ocean spray off the tail surfaces during takeoffs and landings.
When Juan Trippe, Pan Am’s CEO, set out to establish the world’s first transoceanic air service, he needed a flying boat with greater range, speed and payload than the Sikorsky S-42 the company was then flying. After a design competition between Sikorsky and Glenn Martin, Trippe settled on ordering three Martin M-130s at a cost of $417,000 apiece. Pan Am’s transpacific service was the first of its kind when it kicked off in November 1935. Though it was initially limited to airmail and freight, passengers followed within a year.
The M-130’s four Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp radial engines were important to its success. Any two of the 950-hp engines could keep the flying boat aloft. And with a 3,200- mile range, a cruising speed of 130 mph and a 17,000-foot service ceiling, the M-130 had the chops to cross the Pacific.
The Hawaii Clipper had already enjoyed a notable career. Built in Martin’s Baltimore factory, it was the third of Trippe’s M-130s (the first was the China Clipper, the second the Philippine Clipper). Delivered to Pan Am in March 1936, the Hawaii Clipper flew to Honolulu in May, where a 14-year-old girl fittingly christened it with coconut water. In October of that same year, the Hawaii Clipper completed the first scheduled passenger flight across the Pacific. Pan Am’s chief pilot, Captain Edwin C. Musick, was at the controls along with navigator Fred Noonan. That flight put Musick on the cover of Time magazine, helping to establish him as one of the world’s most famous pilots. Noonan gained notoriety the next year, when he served as Amelia Earhart’s navigator. Obviously, it was a mixed blessing.
In April 1937, the Hawaii Clipper completed Pan Am’s 100th Pacific crossing without a single passenger fatality, a remarkable accomplishment given the risks inherent in transoceanic flight’s early days. Terletzky’s job in July 1938 was to uphold the airline’s reputation for safety and reliability.
The 1,600-mile leg between Guam and Manila normally took 12½ hours. Since the Hawaii Clipper had enough fuel for nearly 18 hours in the air, there was a comfortable safety margin.
Leo Terletzky was flying one of the era’s most advanced airplanes. The M-130 not only had dual flight controls and a double hull, but also a Sperry automatic pilot. The flying boat boasted six watertight compartments (any two of which could keep it afloat) and every conceivable safety device. These included three radios (a primary, auxiliary and emergency set), a saltwater still, hundreds of small balloons that could be released as search markers, inflatable life rafts, signal flares, a shotgun, fishing tackle and enough food to keep 15 people alive for a month. Four “international orange” stripes were painted on the wing tops, to help search and rescue personnel spot the plane if it was forced down at sea.
Once the Hawaii Clipper was airborne, Terletzky settled back into his red leather pilot’s seat. As a senior captain, he had more than 9,000 flying hours, 1,600 of which had been spent over the Pacific in an M-130. He was also Pan Am’s “best sailor,” which meant he knew how to handle a Clipper on the water. One of the first pilots hired by Andre Priester, Pan Am’s famous head of operations, Terletzky had spent almost 10 years flying the company’s South American routes before he was transferred to the Pacific Division in 1936.
Pan Am’s pioneering use of multiple flight crews meant there was ample experience in the cockpit on July 29, 1938. First Officer Mark “Tex” Walker had more than 1,900 hours’ flying time, the majority in transpacific operations. Second Officer George M. Davis topped 1,000 hours of transpacific flight logged. Even the cabin steward, 40- year-old Ivan Parker Jr., was making his 26th Pacific crossing.
Before departing Guam, Terletzky had learned of a slight tropical depression near the Philippines. Scattered thunderstorms were typical summer weather in the Pacific, but he played it safe and plotted a course south of the depression.
Pan Am’s Pacific Clippers were paradigms of luxury, with service modeled after that aboard Pull- man railroad cars. A round trip to Hong Kong (including meals and overnight hotels) cost a whopping $1,937 (roughly $32,000 today). But for luxury, convenience and speed, the Clippers couldn’t be beat. As noon approached that day, the cabin steward was busy preparing lunch: consommé, creamed tuna on toast and fruit cocktail.
The aircraft’s main cabin was divided into several compartments. Sleeping berths were near the plane’s rear, with separate bathrooms for men and women. There was also a comfortable lounge amidships where passengers could stretch their legs, read or write letters. Smoking wasn’t permitted, but there was plenty of opportunity to play cards, backgammon or checkers, and conversation generally flowed freely in the 60 hours of flight time between California and Hong Kong.
Given the ticket price, it’s no surprise the Hawaii Clipper’s passengers were a distinguished lot. Dr. Earl B. McKinley, a noted bacteriologist and the dean of George Washington University’s Medical School, was carrying two new serums to test at the Culion Leprosy Colony in the Philippines. Fred C. Meier was the principal plant pathologist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C. He too was on his way to the Philippines, where he planned to study disease transmission in the upper atmosphere. Kenneth A. Kennedy, Pan Am’s Pacific Division traffic manager, was making the flight to check out the company’s overseas operations, which had recently been disrupted by the Japanese invasion of China. Major Howard C. French, commander of the 321st Observation Squadron, was on his way to monitor the Japanese bombing of Canton.
French wasn’t the only passenger with pro-China sympathies. Also aboard was 45-yearold Edward E. Wyman, vice president of export sales for the Curtiss-Wright Corporation. Wyman’s company wanted to sell fighter aircraft to the Kuomintang, something the Japanese would not have been pleased about.
Perhaps the most unusual passenger was 38-year-old Wah-Sun Choy. An American of Chinese descent who called himself “Watson,” Choy was the wealthy owner of a small New Jersey–based restaurant company. He was so enamored with Pan Am’s flying boats that he’d named two of his cafes after the China Clipper. Choy was on his way to Hong Kong to visit his mother and sister, and also hoped to see his brother Frank, an air force pilot with the Nationalists. He was carrying $3 million in gold certificates (approximately $50 million today), which, as head of the Chinese War Relief Committee, he intended to donate to Chiang Kai-shek.
Eduardo Fernandez, the radio operator on Panay Island, near the Philippine coast, acknowledged receipt of the message. But when he indicated that he wanted to transmit the latest weather report, McCarty responded: “Stand by for one minute before sending as I am having trouble with rain static.” Fernandez did as he was told. But when he tried raising the Hawaii Clipper 60 seconds later, there was no response.
It wasn’t unusual for a plane to temporarily lose contact. The Hawaii Clipper wasn’t due in Manila for another three hours, so Fernandez decided to wait before raising any alarm. But as time passed and he still couldn’t contact Terletzky’s plane, he grew worried. Clearly something was wrong. At 12:49 p.m. Fernandez alerted all stations to stand by on emergency frequencies. The Hawaii Clipper was missing.
Since McCarty’s last reported position was only 300 miles off the Philippine coast, Pan Am expressed confidence that the Hawaii Clipper had landed safely in the water and would soon be found. When time passed and the flight failed to arrive in Manila, however, those hopes dimmed.
The U.S. Navy immediately organized one of the largest sea searches in its history. By midnight that same day, at least 14 ships from Manila’s 16th Naval District, including six submarines and three destroyers, left port. Additionally, the U.S. Army dispatched six long-range Martin B-10 bombers to survey the flying boat’s last known position, while four amphibious planes scoured the Philippine coast.
The Army transport Meigs, which had been only 103 miles away from where the Clipper presumably went down, immediately changed course. When the vessel arrived at the specified location at 10 that evening, it was raining and overcast. Still, Meigs’ crew started to search right away. By the time the destroyers arrived, the weather had cleared and the seas were exceptionally calm, with winds only 6 to 8 mph. In other words, conditions were ideal for finding debris from a plane crash.
The next day Meigs reported finding a large oil slick about 28 miles south-southeast of the Clipper’s last known position. Samples were taken and sent for analysis. On August 2, Pan Am’s China Clipper retraced the route of its missing sister ship. Nothing turned up. Finally the U.S. State Department asked the Japanese government for help. Tokyo redirected the liner Canberra Maru to Douglas Reef, but its crew found no sign of the missing aircraft there.
By August 5, when the search was suspended, more than 160,000 square miles had been covered. The samples from Meigs’ oil slick showed it was actually bilge water from a ship. The Hawaii Clipper had simply vanished.
Pan Am offered a reward for information, but none of the resulting leads panned out. One man claimed to have seen an airplane burst into flames and crash into the Samar Sea. Another man on Lahuy Island reported seeing a large airplane flying above the clouds on the afternoon of July 29. An aerial search of both areas came up empty-handed.
It had been a rough year for Pan Am. The Pacific Division lost half a million dollars in 1937. Add to that the loss in January 1938 of the Samoan Clipper—a Sikorsky S-42B flying boat that exploded in midair, killing everybody onboard, including chief pilot Ed Musick—and it seemed like Pan Am’s luck had run out. Though the Samoan Clipper wasn’t carrying passengers at the time, Musick’s death came as a shock. And now the Hawaii Clipper had gone missing.
Martin’s M-130s had compiled an extraordinary safety record up to July 1938. A total of 228 flights had preceded the Hawaii Clipper’s across the Pacific, logging nearly 15 million passenger miles without serious incident. The missing aircraft had been thoroughly inspected prior to leaving Alameda and at Honolulu, Midway and Wake Island. Additionally, a Guam ground crew had hauled the flying boat out of the harbor for a detailed inspection, and everything appeared to be in fine working order.
The day before the crew departed Alameda, it had even participated in an emergency landing test, including an “abandon ship” drill that involved deploying a life raft. Captain Terletzky and his crew had reportedly been in “the best of spirits” during their stopover on Wake Island. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
Seventy-five years later, the question still remains: What happened? If the flying boat suffered a structural failure, wreckage would have been spread across the Pacific, and searchers should theoretically have spotted it. But the Clipper had simply vanished. Not a trace was ever found: no debris, no oil slick, nothing.
Since then, there’s been no shortage of theories about what happened to the Hawaii Clipper. Some have speculated Japanese fighters shot it down. Others say it must have been sabotaged. After all, at least three of the six passengers aboard could have been construed as having anti-Japanese sympathies. Still, there’s no evidence to support either theory.
Amelia Earhart’s disappearance in the Pacific the year before only added to the Clipper mystery. Retired U.S. Air Force pilot Joe Gervais was researching her disappearance when, in November 1964, he was shown the wreckage of a flying boat on the Pacific atoll of Truk. Believing it might be the Hawaii Clipper, Gervais forwarded photographs to Pan Am for examination. He was especially interested in stories that native guides told him about 15 Americans who had been executed by the Japanese before the war and buried under a concrete slab on a nearby island. But when Pan Am reviewed Gervais’ photos, the wreckage proved to be that of a Short Sunderland flying boat.
The story didn’t die there, however. In his 2000 book Fix on the Rising Sun: The Clipper Hi-jacking of 1938, Charles N. Hill wrote that he believed the Hawaii Clipper had been commandeered by two Japanese naval officers who had stowed away in the baggage compartment while the aircraft was at Guam. Then, armed with a revolver, they committed the world’s first skyjacking. Hill speculated that the officers had diverted the flying boat to a Japanese-occupied island and eventually to Truk, where the passengers and crew were executed.
Motivation for such a hijacking has varied depending on the source. Some believe the Japanese wanted to copy the M-130’s design for their own flying boat, while others think they actually wanted to get their hands on its engines. Hill’s theory is that the Japanese were determined to prevent Watson Choy from delivering $3 million in gold certificates to Chiang Kai-shek.
Guy Noffsinger, a former Navy intelligence officer who now heads up his own video production company in Washington, D.C., has spent the last 12 years trying to solve the Hawaii Clipper mystery. Noffsinger raised nearly $4,000 to fund a February 2012 trip to Micronesia, his second such journey to the region. Using ground-penetrating radar, he searched under several concrete slabs for the bodies of the Hawaii Clipper’s missing passengers and crew. Though he has yet to find evidence of their remains, Noffsinger is still “110 percent convinced” that they must have been murdered by the Japanese and buried near Truk.
We do know that Martin had been concerned about the safety of the M-130’s sponson struts, and recommended replacing them. John Leslie, Pan Am’s Pacific Division engineer, had tested the replacement struts two months before the Hawaii Clipper disappeared and concluded neither the old nor the new struts were safe. The negative publicity surrounding that issue was probably responsible for Trippe’s never doing business with Martin again.
After World War II there were rumors that American military officers had found the Hawaii Clipper painted in Japanese colors at Yokosuka naval base in Japan. A slightly different version of the story, often repeated by Trippe, was that magnetos bearing the same serial number as those from the Hawaii Clipper had been found on Japanese engines. There is no firm evidence for these claims.
It’s possible Captain Terletzky may have been a factor in the plane’s disappearance. A 1938 company newsletter commemorating Terletzky called him “one of Pan Am’s most distinguished flight commanders,” but his peers considered him an average pilot at best. Some had even refused to fly with him.
Horace Brock, who eventually became a Clipper pilot, had flown several times as Terletzky’s first officer. He claimed the Pan Am pilot had “confided his fear of flying” to him. Others maintained that Terletzky performed erratically in the cockpit and had infected his flight crews with his own anxiety. Ed Musick reportedly had serious misgivings about Terletzky’s competence, and once even tried to ground him.
Despite the many elaborate theories surrounding the Hawaii Clipper’s disappearance, the most likely explanation is that the flying boat was a victim of mechanical or structural failure, poor weather, pilot error—or some combination of these factors. Though no wreckage was ever found, the Pacific is a big place. It can easily swallow a plane without any trace.
Pan Am’s Pacific operations continued to face financial difficulties, something the Clipper’s disappearance did nothing to help. Even though the U.S. government would eventually grant a higher airmail subsidy to offset the company’s losses, there was not enough demand to make the route profitable. Trippe was deposed as CEO in 1939, and Pan Am’s M-130s were soon supplanted by Boeing’s larger B-314 flying boats. But World War II finally put an end to the Clippers’ short, glamorous career.
In 1979 Horace Brock noted in his book Flying the Oceans, “There is no question but that [Terletzky ran] into a very bad storm.” Perhaps the turbulent weather caused a catastrophic structural failure related to the sponson struts. It seems unlikely we’ll ever know for sure. But until someone comes up with conclusive evidence, it’s easier to assume the Hawaii Clipper succumbed to what Brock calls “a predictable tragedy” than to believe it was hijacked by renegade Japanese officers. Either way, the Hawaii Clipper mystery lives on.
John Geoghegan writes frequently about unusual aviation and science topics. His most recent contribution to Aviation History was “Atomic Airships” (January 2013). He is the author of the 2013 book Operation Storm, about Japan’s I-400 submarines and their Seiran aircraft. For more on the Hawaii Clipper mystery, see lost clipper.com.
Originally published in the November 2013 issue of Aviation History. To subscribe, click here.
This entry was posted in AVIATION NEWS on December 4, 2017 by FASFRIC.
Looks great to me except an unseeded apostrophe here: 130’s.
On the other hand it seems the original author should keep his byline (currently has your fasfric byline). Editors often must engage in significant editing/rewriting and fact-checking, but the person who contributed the story still keeps the title. Since nobody enjoys editing, to save some degree of upset, I suggest sending your edited version back to writer for their final approval before publishing.
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2019-04-19T04:55:28Z
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https://firstaerosquadron.com/2017/12/04/romantically-flying-the-oceans-in-the-late-1930s/
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Ventilation‐perfusion ( a/ ) inequality is the underlying abnormality determining hypoxemia and hypercapnia in lung diseases. Hypoxemia in asthma is characterized by the presence of low a/ units, which persist despite improvement in airway function after an attack. This hypoxemia is generally attenuated by compensatory redistribution of blood flow mediated by hypoxic vasoconstriction and changes in cardiac output, however, mediator release and bronchodilator therapy may cause deterioration. Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease have more complex patterns of a/ inequality, which appear more fixed, and changes in blood flow and ventilation have less benefit in improving gas exchange efficiency. The inability of ventilation to match increasing cardiac output limits exercise capacity as the disease progresses. Deteriorating hypoxemia during exacerbations reflects the falling mixed venous oxygen tension from increased respiratory muscle activity, which is not compensated by any redistribution of a/ ratios. Shunt is not a feature of any of these diseases. Patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) have no substantial shunt when managed according to modern treatment regimens. Interstitial lung diseases demonstrate impaired oxygen diffusion across the alveolar‐capillary barrier, particularly during exercise, although a/ inequality still accounts for most of the gas exchange abnormality. Hypoxemia may limit exercise capacity in these diseases and in CF. Persistent hypercapnic respiratory failure is a feature of advancing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and CF, closely associated with sleep disordered breathing, which is not a prominent feature of the other diseases. Better understanding of the mechanisms of hypercapnic respiratory failure, and of the detailed mechanisms controlling the distribution of ventilation and blood flow in the lung, are high priorities for future research. © 2011 American Physiological Society. Compr Physiol 1:663‐697, 2011.
Diagram of the exercise responses, to increasing levels of oxygen consumption, of dead space ventilation, alveolar ventilation, total minute ventilation, and the ratio of minute ventilation‐to‐maximum ventilatory capacity in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (dashed lines) compared with normal subjects (solid lines). Note that dead space ventilation is higher and that minute ventilation progresses as a substantially higher proportion of the maximum voluntary capacity in the COPD patients. From Gallagher CG. Exercise limitation and clinical exercise testing in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Clin Chest Med 15: 305‐326, 1994. © Elsevier.
1. Acuna AA, Gabrijelcic J, Uribe EM, Rabinovich R, Roca J, Barberà JA, Chung KF, Rodriguez‐Roisin R. Fluticasone propionate attenuates platelet‐activating factor‐induced gas exchange defects in mild asthma. Eur Respir J 19: 872–878, 2002.
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2019-04-20T22:38:43Z
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http://www.moralfibers.org/tag/it/
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To retrospectively analyze the prognostic value of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-derived residual tumors after intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) in the patients with locally-advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
A total of 358 patients with locally-advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma who received IMRT were classified as having residual tumors or no residual tumor based on MRI at the end of radiotherapy. The χ2 test, log-rank test, Cox proportional hazards regression model and Kaplan-Meir survival curves were used to investigate the relationship of clinicopathological features and residual tumors and to assess the prognostic value of residual tumors.
The 3-year overall survival (OS) rate was 73% in the residual tumor group and 90% in the no residual tumor group (HR 2.15, 95% CI 1.21-3.82,, P = 0.007); 3-year local relapse-free survival (LRFS) was 89% in the residual tumor group and 97% in the no residual tumor group (HR 4.46, 95% CI 1.61-12.38, P = 0.002); 3-year disease free survival (DFS) was 67% in the residual tumor group and 82% in the no residual tumor group (HR 2.21, 95% CI 1.40-3.48, P = 0.001). A high prescribed radiation dose (>73.92 Gy) did not increase the percentage volume of the GTVnx receiving 95% of the prescribed dose (GTVnx V95%) or improve any survival outcome.
The presence of a residual tumor after IMRT was a significant negative independent prognostic factor for OS, LRFS and DFS. Although IMRT have improved the distribution of radiotherapy doses into the tumors, residual tumors detected by MRI after IMRT are still associated with poor prognosis in patients with advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
The presence of residual tumors after treatment may provide important prognostic information and may be associated with the radiosensitivity of the tumor. A prospective study of the correlation of regression rate and the probability of recurrence after radiation of neck node metastases in 47 patients by Bartelink showed that tumors with a slow regression rate had a high probability of recurrence . Residual foci detected by clinical or imaging methods may be composed of cancer parenchyma-like cancer stem cells and delayed reproductive-dead cells, as well as other cell types including interstitial tissue-like fibrosis and mononuclear cells . While reproductive-dead cells will disappear within several months, radio-resistant cancer stem cells are thought to be the root cause of relapse and metastasis , and the radio-response of the interstitial tissue is also associated with recurrence . Given these possibilities, clinicians need to decide whether or not to increase the local dosage or provide timely additional adjuvant chemotherapy for patients with radiographically-visible residual tumors at the end of radiotherapy. Biopsy is the “gold standard” for diagnose of residual tumor. However, most the residual tumors are located outside the nasopharynx in the patients with locally-advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) so biopsy for the tumors is difficult to be obtained. Ng et al. in a retrospectively reviewed study reported the MRI features of recurrent NPC in 72 patients who underwent MRI and showed a nasopharyngeal mass in 50 patients (69.4%) involved outside the nasopharynx including the parapharyngeal space (44.4%), nasal cavity (12.5%), paranasal sinuses (27.8%), oropharynx (4.2%), orbit (8.3%), infratemporal fossa (18.1%), skull base (59.8%), intracranial area (51.4%) and regional lymph nodes (15.3%). Moreover, the viable cells in residual tumors identified by pathology at the end of radiation may become died cells at later time and pathology cannot detect the depth of tumor invasion which is usually a poor indicator for prognosis . Therefore, clinicians must rely on imaging methods to evaluate the therapeutic effect in most cases. Liauw et al. examined the correlation between treatment response and neck dissection pathology, and reported that residual tumors had a negative predictive value of 77% for complete clinical response and 94% for radiographic complete response (rCR) in patients with head and neck cancer treated with radiotherapy. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the preferred modality for determining the extent of soft tissue, perineural infiltration, intracranial spread and skull base invasion of NPC . It was reported that MRI had a higher accuracy for detecting residual and/or recurrent NPC at the primary tumor site than fluorodeoxyglueose positron emission tomography with computed tomography (FDG PET/CT) . Therefore, it is worthy of investigating whether MRI-derived residual tumors are associated with the prognosis of patients with locally-advanced NPC to simplify and improve the diagnosis and treatment of NPC.
The purpose of this retrospective study of 358 patients with locally-advanced NPC was to compare the prognosis of patients with or without residual tumors based on MRI at the end of intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT). The results may provide a basis for assessing the value of boost radiation or timely adjuvant chemotherapy for patients with residual tumors at the end of radiotherapy.
A total of 358 patients with locally-advanced NPC (T3/T4N0-3M0) who received IMRT between August 2008 and December 2011 at Xiangya Hospital of Central South University (Changsha, Hunan province, China) were enrolled in this study. All patients were diagnosed by nasopharyngeal biopsy and nasopharyngeal and neck MRI examinations. In addition to CT/MRI examination of the nasopharynx and neck, the pre-treatment work-up also included a complete medical history, physical examination, chest X-ray and/or CT (all patients with N3 disease underwent a chest CT), B-ultrasound scan of the abdomen and neck, bone scan and routine laboratory analysis. The clinical characteristics of the patients are summarized in Table 1. In the study, 354 out of 358 cases were eligible for univariate and multivariate analyses due to 4 patients without MRI review after radiotherapy. Additionally, 346 cases were eligible for survival analysis due to 12 patients loss of follow-up. The study was approved by the ethics committee of Xiangya Hospital of Central South University (approval number 201111086).
*Percentage = the number before the bracket divided by the numbers of before the bracket in the same line of column 3 plus column 4.
GTVnx: Primary gross target volume; GTVnx V95%: percentage volume of GTVnx receiving 95% prescribed doses.
MR imaging was performed with a 1.5-T unit— Siemens Vision Plus (Erlangen, Germany). The protocol was used for the NPC study including axial T1-weighted images without fat saturation, axial T2-weighted images, axial proton density images, sagittal T1-weighted images, and postcontrast axial, coronal and sagittal T1-weighted images with fat saturation. The upper extent covers 2 cm above the sella turcica and the lower extent reaches 2 cm below the lower edge of the clavicle. Axial T1-weighted fast spin-echo (FSE) images were obtained with repetition time msec/echo time msec of 600/15, echo train length of eight, two signals acquired, 24-mm field of view, 256 × 256 matrix, 5-mm-thick section, and 0.5-mm gap. Axial T2-weighted FSE images were obtained with 4200/102, echo train length of 16, two signals acquired, 20-mm field of view, 256× 256 matrix, 4-mm-thick section, and 0.4-mm gap. An intravenous bolus injection of 0.1 mmol/kg of body weight gadopentetate imeglumine (Magnevist; Schering, Berlin, Germany) was administered at 2 mL/sec for the contrast-enhanced series.
To reduce subjectivity, all patients were restaged according to the 7th edition of the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) Staging System for NPC; the pre- and post-treatment MRI scans for each patient were independently reviewed by two senior clinicians from the Departments of Radiology and Oncology. Local radiographic residual tumors were diagnosed by the consensus agreement of two head and neck radiologists and two senior radiation oncologists, respectively. Diagnostic criteria of residual tumors on MRI at different sites as follows: residual tumors present in the nasopharynx or other soft tissues following radiotherapy usually appeared as hypo-intense signal on T1-weighted imaging, as hyper-intensity signal on T2-weighted imaging and also exhibited enhancement following administration of Gd-DTPA. Regional lymph nodes were considered to have residual tumors on MRI if they were larger than 10 mm in short-axis diameter for cervical lymph nodes and larger than 5 mm for the retropharyngeal nodes at the end of radiotherapy. For the residual tumors at the skull base on MRI at the end of radiotherapy, we used the reference from previous reports [10,11]. It would be considered as residual tumors if the bone of the skull base was destructed with soft tissues and the degree and scope of strengthening of bone have not decrease compared to that of prior to chemoradiotherapy.
All patients underwent IMRT. The target volumes were defined with reference to International Commission on Radiation Units and Measurements (ICRU) reports No. 50 and No. 62. The primary tumor (GTVnx) and positive lymph nodes (GTVnd) were defined and the retropharyngeal lymph nodes were included in the GTVnx. The primary tumor before chemotherapy was delineated as the GTVnx for patients receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy; two clinical target volumes (CTVs) were defined as follows: CTV1, the high-risk areas including a 5–10 mm extension around the GTVnx and other high-risk regions such as parapharyngeal space, inferior part of sphenoid sinus, posterior 1/3 of nasal cavity, posterior 1/3 of maxillary sinus, skull base, clivus, oval foramen, lacerated foramen and high-risk lymphatic drainage areas such as retropharyngeal lymph nodes, upper cervical lymph nodes levels II, III, and Va, 60 Gy irradiation was given; and CTV2, the low-risk lymphatic drainage areas including lower cervical lymph nodes levels IV and Vb, 50 Gy irradiation was given. The corresponding planning target volumes (PTVs) were generated by extending each CTV by 3 mm; the prescribed doses for the PGTVnx (GTVnx + 3 mm margin) were 66.0–75.9 Gy; GTVnd, 69.96–72.6 Gy; PTV1, 59.4–64.0 Gy, PTV2, 50.0–54.0 Gy. The doses to the PTV2 were administered over 28 fractions and other doses over 33 fractions; all patients were treated with simultaneous modulated accelerated radiotherapy once a day for five days a week. Dose limits for the critical tissue structures and plan evaluation were as defined by the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) 0225 . The patients were re-examined by MRI when they finished radiotherapy or the radiation dose reached to approximately 70 Gy. The patient with significant residual tumors at the end of radiotherapy was observed or treated with an IMRT boost dose of 4–10 Gy to the residual lesions over 2–5 fractions depending on the individual toxicity (Organs at risk) and tumor response to radiotherapy. Chemotherapy was part of the treatment plan for all patients; 21 patients who were unwilling to receive chemotherapy or could not tolerate chemotherapy did not undergo chemotherapy. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy was administered when the waiting time for radiotherapy was longer than acceptable or to downsize bulky tumors. At the end of radiotherapy, adjuvant chemotherapy was administered to the patients with N2/N3 stage disease and with existing residual disease detected by MRI or physical examination.
The follow-up methods included direct telephone calls to the patients or their families; or hospital visits for the patients. Follow-up was measured from the first day of treatment to last follow-up date or date of patient’s death. After radiotherapy, follow-up examinations were conducted once every 3 months in the first 2 years, once every 6 months in years 2 to 5, and annually thereafter. MRI of the nasopharynx and neck region was performed once a year for the patient with no residual tumor, or every 3–6 months for the patient with residual tumor.
Recurrence was defined as the tumor regrown after disappearing at least one month. The duration of overall survival (OS) was calculated from the day of radiotherapy completion to the date of patient’s death or last follow-up. The duration of local relapse-free survival (LRFS) was calculated from the day of radiotherapy completion to the date of tumor local recurrence. The duration of disease-free survival (DFS) was calculated from the day radiotherapy completion to the date of tumor recurrence, distant metastasis or death.
All statistical analyses were performed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 17.0 (SPSS, Chicago, IL, USA). Actuarial rates were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method and differences were compared using the log-rank test. Multivariate analysis with the Cox proportional hazards model was used to test for independent significance by backward elimination of insignificant explanatory variables. The Mann–Whitney test was used to examine the between-group differences in the GTVnx V95% value. The criterion for statistical significance was set at α = 0.05 and P-values were based on two-sided tests.
The clinical characteristics of the patients are presented in Table 1. At the end of radiotherapy, 142/354 cases (40.1%) had residual tumors. The residual tumor rate for patients with N2-3 disease was significantly higher than that of patients with N0-1 disease (P = 0.002). The patients in the residual tumor group had a higher prescribed radiation dose than the patient in no residual tumor group (P < 0.001). The residual tumor rate was significantly lower in the patients with the minimum absorbed dose of the 95% GTVnx (GTVnx D95%) ≥ 70 Gy or GTVnx V95% ≥ 95% compared to the patients with a GTVnx D95% < 70 Gy (P < 0.001) or GTVnx V95% < 95% (P < 0.001), respectively. The locations and numbers of residual tumors are summarized in Table 2. As mentioned previously, only 11.44% of residual tumors were located in the pharyngonasal cavity, 30.93% in the skull base, and 30.15% in the parapharynx and other soft tissues, and 45.07% of patients had more than one residual tumor.
Number of residual tumors* refers to the number of anatomic sites containing residual tumors including the pharyngonasal cavity, skull base, parapharynx and other soft tissues, intracranial space, and cervical lymph nodes. Some patients had more than one residual tumor.
The median follow-up period for all patients was 45 months (range, 3–78 months). In total, 22/346 cases developed local recurrence (6.36%), 55/346 developed distant metastasis (15.9%), and 9/346 developed recurrence plus distant metastasis (2.6%). Among the local relapse cases, 4 nasopharyngeal, 5 cervical lymph nodes, 6 bone of the skull base, 1 orbit, 2 paranasal sinus, 2 pharyngeal lymph nodes and 2 parapharyngeal spacerecurrences. Among the distant metastasis cases, 15 liver metastasis, 24 pulmonary metastasis, 20 bone metastasis, 1 adrenal metastasis, 1 retroperitoneal metastasis, and 10 multiple organs metastasis. There were 64 deaths out of 346 patients (18.5%) which 49 patients were due to tumor recurrence and metastasis, 10 were due to tumor-associated complications (5 cases nasopharyngeal hemorrhage, 1 case septic shock, 3 cases malnutrition systemic failure, and 1 case syncope), 1 patient was due to gastrointestinal bleeding and 4 patients were due to unknown causes.
Survival rates were calculated using the Kaplan–Meier method and compared using the log-rank test. The 3-year OS rate for the entire cohort study was 83%, 73% in the residual tumor group and 90% in the no residual tumor group (HR 2.15, 95% CI 1.21-3.82, P = 0.007); 3-year LRFS for the entire cohort study was 94%, 89% in the residual tumor group and 97% in the no residual tumor group (HR 4.46, 95% CI 1.61-12.38, P = 0.002); 3-year DFS for the entire cohort study was 76%, 67% in the residual tumor group and 82% in the no residual tumor group (HR 2.21, 95% CI 1.40-3.48, P = 0.001). Survival curves demonstrated that the presence of a residual tumor was associated with poorer survival outcomes, as shown in Figure 1, the statistically significant differences of the OS, LRFS and DFS survival curves between the residual tumor group and no residual tumor group (OS: HR = 2.37, 95% CI 1.43-3.93, P = 0.001; LRFS: HR = 3.92, 95% CI 1.50-10.28, P = 0.003; DFS: HR = 2.10, 95% CI 1.36-3.24, P = 0.001).
Kaplan-Meir survival curves for 346 patients with locally-advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). (A) Overall survival (OS), (B) local relapse–free survival (LRFS), (C) disease-free survival (DFS) for patients stratified by the presence and absence of a residual tumor at the end of IMRT. P-values were calculated using the unadjusted log-rank test; Hazard ratios (HR) were calculated using the unadjusted Cox proportional hazards model; 95% CI: 95% confidence interval.
The Univariate analysis suggests that the factors influencing the 3-year OS rate are age (P = 0.002), N-stage (P = 0.003), overall stage (P = 0.038), and presence or absence of a residual tumor at the end of radiotherapy (P = 0.001), the factors influencing LRFS are age (P = 0.001) and presence or absence of a residual tumor at the end of radiotherapy (P = 0.003), and the factors influencing DFS are age (P = 0.008), N-stage (P = 0.024), T-stage (P = 0.05), overall stage (P = 0.024), and presence or absence of a residual tumor at the end of radiotherapy (P = 0.001). However, chemotherapy and prescribed radiation dose are not the factors for significantly influencing the OS, LRFS, or DFS (Table 3).
*Residual tumor: tumor detected by MRI at the end of radiotherapy.
OS: overall survival; LRFS: local relapse-free survival; DFS: disease-free survival.
The following factors were associated with treatment outcomes in multivariate analysis (Table 4): age (HR 2.32, P = 0.001), N-stage (HR 1.43, P = 0.008), and the presence or absence of a residual tumor after radiotherapy (HR 2.11, P = 0.004) were significantly associated with OS; age (HR 4.80, P = 0.002), and the presence or absence of a residual tumor after radiotherapy (HR 4.80, P = 0.002) were significantly associated with LRFS; age (HR 1.81, P = 0.007), N-stage (HR 1.26, P = 0.049), and the presence or absence of a residual tumor after radiotherapy (HR 1.91, P = 0.004) were significantly associated with DFS.
HR: hazard ratio; CI, confidence interval; P-values were calculated using an adjusted Cox proportional hazards model. OS: overall survival; LRFS: local relapse-free survival; DFS: disease-free survival.
The variables were stratified as following: Age: < 50 y vs ≥ 50 y; N-stage: N0 vs N1vs N2 vs N3; T-stage: T3 vs T4; Residual tumor: having tumor vs no tumor. The table presents only the data with statistical significances.
Prescribed radiation doses for all patients in the study were ranged from 62.72 Gy to 80.64 Gy with a mid-value of 73.92 Gy. A higher prescribed dose (>73.92 Gy) was only given to the patients who still had a large residual tumor and the OARs (Organs at risk) were not at risk to accept radiation boost. However, the data show that increase of radiation doses did not reduce the rate of residual tumor, the residual rates were 68.6% and 37.0% for the groups of high prescribed dose and lower prescribed dose, respectively; or did not improve the treatment outcomes (Table 5). The 3-year OS, LRFS, and DFS rates were 83% vs 85%, 93% vs 94% and 76% vs 75% for the groups of high prescribed dose and low prescribed dose, respectively (Table 3). There was not statistically significantly different (p > 0.05). The median GTVnx V95% values for the higher radiation group and the low dose group were not significantly different (99.1% vs. 98.7%, P = 0.583), indicating that the GTVnx V95% cannot be improved by increasing the radiation dose. However, the median GTVnx V95% values were significantly different (97.2% vs 99.5%, P < 0.001) between the residual tumor group and no residual tumor group, indicating that a low GTVnx V95% may be associated with the presence of a residual tumor after treatment (Table 5).
GTVnx V95% = the percentage volume of the GTVnx receiving 95% of the prescribed dose.
The present study reveals that advanced N-stage, a low GTVnx V95% were associated with a higher risk of a residual tumor in the patients with locally-advanced NPC. The presence of a residual tumor at the end of IMRT was a significant independent factor for OS, LRFS and DFS in the patients with locally-advanced NPC. Additionally, a higher prescribed radiation dose was not associated with a high GTVnx V95% and did not improve survival outcome.
In this cohort study of 358 patients with NPC, MRI indicated that 142 patients had residual tumors in total of 236 (some patients had more than one tumor) at the end of IMRT. only 27 tumors were located in the nasopharynx while most tumors were located in the skull base, soft tissues or other tissues that cannot be assessed by biopsy (Table 2). Chan et al. reported that deeply seated residual/recurrent tumors beyond the reach of routine nasopharyngeal biopsy are not rare (15.4%). However, only less than half of the patients had locally advanced diseases in their study. To understand the status of residual tumors at the end of radiation, only imaging tools CT/MRI/PET are suitable to be used. MRI has become the gold standard for NPC diagnosis and therapeutic evaluation due to the high accuracy and economic cost-effectiveness. The specificity of MRI was reported at the range of 44–83% [14-16]. Post-irradiation inflammatory changes, such as an immature scar, reactive mucosal and submucosal changes or osteoradionecrosis, may interfere with the interpretation of MRI and thus decrease its specificity. In contrast, 18F-FDG PET showed a significantly higher specificity of 93.4% in the assessment of treatment response and appears less influenced by radiotherapy (RT)-induced inflammation . A systematic review suggests that FDG-PET is the best modality for diagnosis of local residual or recurrent NPC . However, the results may be disputed by other report showing that there was a trend toward greater overall accuracy of MRI over PET/CT in detecting residual and/or recurrent NPC at the primary site; 92.1% for MRI and 85.7% for FDG PET/CT (P = 0.16) . Because the intracranial localizations and the perineural spreads via the foramen ovale, the anterior foramen lacerum, or the pterygopalatine fossa were depicted with MRI only, FDG PET/CT is not considered as a good method for the study of the intracranial disease due to the physiologically high FDG uptake by the brain.
In the present study,the MRI-derived residual tumor rate was 40.1% (142/358), similar to the study of Han et al. showed the residual tumor rates of 44.2% (72/196) in the patients treated with IMRT and 26.6% (52/196) in the patients treated with conventional radiotherapy (CRT) detected by nasopharyngeal MRI at the end of radiotherapy. Zhang et al. reported that it has been achieved 40.4% complete response of primary tumor (CRPT), 44.7% partial response of primary tumor (PRPT), and 14.9% stable disease of primary tumor (SDPT) at the end of radiotherapy in a study with 188 NPC patients. Lin et al. reported that 50% (54/108) of residual tumors were detected by MRI in the patients with NPC one month after completing radiotherapy. However, Chan et al. reported only 3.6% (4/112) of the patients were found to have residual tumors 3 months after radiotherapy by MRI or PET-CT . The reason for greatly different rates of residual tumors reported above may be due to multiple factors including differences in tumor staging, tumor sites, the use of different diagnostic criteria for MRI, technologies of radiotherapy [IMRT or CRT or intracavitary brachytherapy (ICBT)] and the application of comprehensive treatments and so on. In our study, the results in Table 1 suggest that the presence of residual tumors is associated with the latter N stage and the GTVnx V95%.
Another important factor is the time point for evaluation of the residual tumors. Tumor response to chemoradiotherapy is time-dependent so a positive histological result after radiotherapy may become negative after 12 weeks . This is why the residual tumor rate is so low in the study of Chan et al. and most oncologists prefer to assess the residual tumor at the time of three months after radiotherapy. However, it may reduce the efficacy of chemoradiotherapy at three months after radiotherapy due to delayed treatment for the residual tumor. Early intervention to modify the treatment strategy may improve the treatment outcome for patients with residual tumors. It is still controversial whether or not the tumor regression rate during or after treatment is correlated with the survival rate in the patients with NPC. Wang et al. reported that the patients who achieved a slow response (CR when the radiation dose was around 70 Gy) had a significantly better prognosis than the patients who achieved rapid regression (CR when the radiation dose was within 50 Gy). Moreover, the prognosis of both of CR groups was significantly better than the patients with a residual tumor at the end of radiotherapy. However, this study was based on the patients who received conventional radiotherapy. Recently, Zhang et al. found that the 5-year OS rates for the patients with CRPT, PRPT, and SDPT at the end of radiotherapy were 84.0%, 70.7%, and 44.3%, respectively (HR = 2.177, P < 0.001). However, approximately one third of the patients had stage T1 or T2 disease and 55.9% of the patients were treated with conventional 2-dimensional radiotherapy (2D-CRT) in their study. The radiobiological effect of IMRT is different from conventional radiotherapy, residual lesions after IMRT have always been received a radical radiation dose. Dose the residual lesions still have an impact on the survival of the patients with NPC? In our study, all patients undergoing IMRT and residual tumors at the end of radiotherapy are still an important negative prognostic factor for OS (3 year OS was 73% vs 90% in the residual tumor group and in the no residual tumor group, P = 0.007), LRFS (3-year LRFS was 89% vs 97% in the residual tumor group and in the no residual tumor group, P = 0.002), and DFS (3-year DFS was 67% vs 82% in the residual tumor group and in the no residual tumor group, P < 0.001). However, Fang et al. reported that the regression rates for the primary tumors and lymph nodes were not significantly associated with local or regional recurrence and overall survival with radiotherapy at 45 Gy. Mantyla et al. reported that in patients with early-stage head and neck cancer (T1-2N0), a significantly more favorable prognosis was observed if the tumor was disappeared by the mid-point of treatment (30 Gy) than that of tumor disappeared by the end of treatment. On the contrary, the prognosis for patients with advanced disease was significantly more favorable if the tumor was disappeared at the end of radiotherapy (2D-CRT) than that of tumors disappeared by the mid-point of treatment. The longer the time after radiotherapy, the more the tumor will regress. Therefore, it needs more times for tumor regression in locally-advanced tumor than in early-stage tumor. It suggests that it is not a good practice to evaluate curative effect too early for the patients with locally advanced NPC.
The prognosis of patients with NPC is related to numerous clinical factors such as age, clinical stage, chemotherapy, radiation dose, and so on. In our study, age is an independent prognostic factors for OS (HR = 2.32, P = 0.001), LRFS (HR = 4.80, P = 0.002), and DFS (HR = 1.81, P = 0.007). It is consistent with the results reported by Erkal et al. . N stage is also an independent prognostic factor for OS (HR = 1.43, P = 0.008) and DFS (HR = 1.26, P = 0.049). Clinic staging had a very certain influence on the prognosis of NPC . However, the influence of T stage on the prognosis of NPC becomes smaller with the application of IMRT. In one of the recent studies, multivariate analyses of 305 patients undergoing IMRT revealed that T-classification had no predictive value for local control and survival, whereas only N-classification was a significant prognostic factor for OS . In our study, T-stage also had no predictive value for OS, and LRFS (Table 3). The 7th edition of the AJCC Staging System was adopted in our study and medial or lateral pterygoid involvement was staged as T4. However, medial and/or lateral pterygoid involvement was staged as T3 or T2 by other studies due to better prognosis compared to skull base involvement which being staged as T3 [26,27]. The reason of T stage and overall stage has no significant effect on NPC may be caused by the pitfall of the 7th AJCC Staging System. The effect of adjuvant chemotherapy on prognosis has been disputed for a long time, study showed that patients treated with chemotherapy as an adjuvant to radiotherapy had a better DFS compared to the patients without adjuvant chemotherapy (P = 0.04) . Univariate analysis in our study also showed that the rates of 3 year OS (84% vs 72%), LRFS (94% vs 83%), and DFS (77% vs 68%) were slight improved in the chemotherapy group compared to the group without chemotherapy, but the difference was not statistically significant (P > 0.05). The results may be affected due to too small numbers with the group without chemotherapy (n = 19).
In the present study, prescribed higher radiation doses did not improved the survival outcome by both univariate and multivariate analyses. It has reported that IMRT has improved the treatment outcome in the patients with NPC . IMRT offers a number of advantages over conventional radiotherapy in the terms of target conformity and the ability to increase the radiation dose to the target volume while sparing the surrounding normal organs at risk . Study from a Hong Kong group found that it was a significant determinant of progression-free survival and distant metastasis-free survival for advanced T-stage tumors when the doses were escalated to above 66 Gy in IMRT-based therapy . However, despite the advancement in IMRT dosimetric inadequacy remains a significant problem when a tumor invades directly into critical neurological OARs such as optic chiasm, brainstem and spinal cord . In the present study, most patients who had residual tumors received a radical radiation dose: 67.6% patients (96/142) received a GTVnx V95% ≥ 95% and 83.1% patients (118/142) received a D95% ≥ 66 Gy. From the data in Table 5, we can see that the median GTVnx V95% value for the patients in the residual tumor group (97.2%) was significantly lower than that of the patients in the no residual tumor group (99.5%; P < 0.001). This indicates that the GTVnx V95% is one factor associated with the presence of residual tumors after treatment. However, the median GTVnx V95% values were not significantly different (P > 0.05) between the patients in the group of prescribed high doses > 73.92 Gy and in the group of low doses ≤ 73.92 Gy. The data indicate that increase of the prescribed dose cannot improve the GTVnx V95% and it may due to that the radiation dose in the tumor near the OAR had not been improved, instead of increased radiation dose in the normal tissues to lead to an increased risk of radiotherapy complications. There were 10 deaths from radiotherapy complications in our study. This may be the reason that elevation of prescribed radiation doses cannot improve survival outcome.
In the present study, we demonstrate that the presence of a MRI-derived residual tumor after IMRT is an important negative prognostic factor in the patients with locally-advanced NPC. However, this study has several limitations. First, this investigation was a retrospective analysis. Second, the follow-up time (3–6 years) may be too short to detect a relapse of tumor. Moreover, MRI has some shortcoming, we cannot rule out the possibility that abnormal signals on MRI may be due to a reactive change as a result of radiotherapy without the verification by pathology or PET-CT.
The presence of a residual tumor detected by MRI at the end of IMRT in patients with locally-advanced NPC is closely associated with a poor prognosis, which suggests a potential role for MRI in predicting local control and prognosis in patients with NPC. Additionally, elevating the prescribed dose after radical radiotherapy did not increase the GTVnx V95% or improve the outcome of survival in locally-advanced NPC received IMRT treatment.
This work was partly supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81372792) and Hunan Department of Science and Technology Foundation, China (No. 2012FJ4321).
LFS and YXH have participated in the research design and conducted the experiments and follow-up. QZ, LS, YJZ, MJL and RW have conducted experiments and follow-up. LFS, YXH, YJZ and SC have performed data analysis. YXH and SC have written the manuscript. And all authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Dr. Shousong Cao is a Visiting Professor of Xiangya Hospital, Central South University.
Radiation Therapy Oncology Group RTOG protocol 0225. A phase II study of intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) +/− chemotherapy for nasopharyngeal cancer. Available at: www.rtog.org. Last accessed on July 15, 2014.
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2019-04-25T21:48:39Z
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https://ro-journal.biomedcentral.com.preview-live.oscarjournals.springer.com/articles/10.1186/s13014-015-0401-0
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Man has always shaped his world… and has always been shaped by it. The world we live in is perceived by and held in our hearts by the quality and quantity of its physical and spiritual attributes. The earthly and celestial elements we hold dear can intrinsically alter who we are. We can absorb these characteristics in to our being and regard ourselves indistinguishable from them. We can become as abundant or as barren in our souls as we behold our world to be.
Equally, we bestow human attributes and emotions upon our world. We strive to humanize our world to make it our sanctuary and sometimes unknowingly, our hell. This creates an illusion which masks reality but can also create a reality that obscures the illusion. The determining factor one way or another is often the presence or lack… of love. If we mold our world out of love we can create an illusion which masks the reality of man’s selfishness and the world’s indifference. If we mold our world to suit our desires we can obscure the illusion of love and create a reality of emptiness.
The far northern coast of the Big Island of Hawaii is an idyllic paradise. From the moment man set foot on this rugged shore thousands of years ago to the present day, its inhabitants have revered its beauty and abundance. The Big Island, with its variety of physical and climatic zones, is divided into districts. The names of these districts were given by a people who were imminently bound to the land both emotionally and spiritually. These names were often passionately representative of the feelings they evoked in the people who lived upon them; none more so than the district of Kohala which means “cherished land”.
Rain falls here in copious amounts as clouds laden with moisture are driven in by the nearly ever present trade winds. The plentiful rain showers combine with ample amounts of warm tropical sunshine enabling every living thing to flourish and multiply in abundance. Open ocean swells break upon jagged rocks at the foot of cliffs that stand as fleeting barriers to a sea that wishes to reclaim what was once hers. Mountains that rise green and regal in the distance are a home to Gods and Mythical beings… and the memory of the cataclysmic events that shaped this land.
If there is a single distinguishing characteristic of Kohala which would define it for someone who had never had the opportunity to spend time there, it would be the wind. Strong trade winds from the northeast blow for weeks and sometimes months on end. During the summer these trade winds are a cooling respite from the heat and humidity of the tropics. During the fall and spring these breezes can either be a cooling relief or likened to a cold and wet blanket on a chilled evening. Their virtues alternating, not unlike a tempest child who can’t quite make up their mind which one to be. During the winter this child’s indecision gives way to certainty as these blustery winds grow to be downright chilling. Cold, grey and angry clouds scud by depositing their contents in a never ending procession until everyone and everything is cold, damp and miserable.
Occasionally though, a Kona wind will blow in from the opposite direction of the trades which will transform the winter’s chill and grey into a sultry radiance. There is a shimmering quality to this wind and the mood it conveys. The earth and sky take on a brassy metallic sheen and otherworldly appeal. Time slows as if to give everyone and everything the opportunity to realize this precious gift. At these rare moments one can justly feel they are living upon one of God’s favored creations and feel a divine presence, as if life, indeed the earth’s very spirit, were standing still… savoring a truly sacred moment.
At least once a year these Kona winds blow so fiercely as to topple age-old trees. A howling and sighing can be heard as the gusts rage and seethe through swaths of forest and crags of lava. The land and sky come to be alive and spiritually connected. The melding of the earthly and heavenly expressions gives rise to a singular voice that is vehement yet strangely melancholy. The vernacular of the wind lamenting the past and warning of the future in an ancient tongue few are old enough in their souls to remember. Those that are… listen intently.
Kohala is a district that exists as much an embodiment of man’s ideals as it does a physical location. A magnificent and timeless place whose moods are dictated and sanctity heralded by the whim of a zephyr. Kohala is a transcendent realm where a sacred shimmering wind speaks in whispers of sanctuary and in cries of purgatory. A wind that could perhaps be considered…the very breath of God.
The weekend was fast approaching. I had very few obligations and my only plan was to cruise the island looking for the best waves or fishing spots in my trusty 4×4 truck and camp overnight if I felt like it. I got all of my stuff ready during the day Friday before I went in to work. Items such as a surfboard or two, my fishing gear, food, drinks and a cooler to put them in. All the various things I might need to surf and fish and if need be, make an overnight stay comfortable. I typically work 3pm-12am which is a great shift for taking care of things around the house or running errands during the day before work or, more likely than not, just goofing off. All packed and ready to go I will need to do very little before I set off in the morning. I get off work late Friday night and try to get some rest before setting off early. I manage a few hours sleep but I’m pretty excited about my weekend expedition and like a kid waiting for Christmas morning, it cant come soon enough. Morning finally arrives and the excitement builds as I go over the surf reports and tide charts and check my emails and Facebook for the last time for a couple of days. Funny how tethered I have become to the internet world I have created and how the remote nature of Molokai untethers me. A few cups of coffee kick start my brain and enables the motivation to get out the door. The surf is huge on Oahu but due to how Molokai lies in Oahu’s shadow there are some bits of coastline which are blocked from the massive surf. The wind is fairly light so I decide to head for Halawa Valley. Halawa lies on the far northeastern end of Molokai which faces windward but it should be ideal on a day like this. Halawa is an amazingly beautiful place and to me is very reminiscent of Waipio or Pololu Valley on the Big island. Archaeologists have found some of the earliest evidence of human habitation in Hawaii here (650 AD). It really has everything you could want if you were a Hawaiian in ancient times. Plenty of fresh water and good soil. A safe place to launch and store your canoe which of course meant easy access to the abundance of the ocean. On top of all its life sustaining attributes it is also incredibly beautiful. With everything I need and the hopes of a great day and weekend, I set forth on my adventure.
Saturday morning finds many families setting up tarp tents and shelters at nearly every likely spot on the east side. Unless the weather is foul this scene is repeated every weekend of the year. There isn’t much nightlife going on here on Molokai, at least there’s no movie theatre and only one night club to go to. Paddlers Inn has bands playing several nights of the week but aside from that there’s not much to do except go to the beach, fish, hike, hunt or explore. Camping on the beach and grilling food are primary activities here and many have it down to a science. While at the beach, snorkeling and spearing fish as well as rod and reel fishing is enjoyed by all as the possibility of throwing freshly caught fish on the grill is held in high regard. Surfing and playing in the ocean all day and then having a few cold drinks with food cooked over an open fire leads to gazing at the millions of stars as you eventually fall into a deep sleep. This is a taste of Molokai Heaven. Waking up to the gentle sound of waves lapping the shoreline as you ease in to a cup of coffee, a magnificent sunrise and the contentment of knowing you will repeat this soothing sequence of events for at least a day or two.. Some here on Molokai find this lifestyle so agreeable they go and live at the beach for months at a time.
For me, I’m doing it a bit differently this weekend. I have all I need in my truck to stay out for days. I usually drive all over looking for the perfect wave or likely fishing spot so staying put in one place is not usually my thing. I cruise from one side of the island to the other and all points in between only stopping to surf, fish, get gas or food and sleep. I make my way out to the east end of the island slowly on the tiny, winding road. Lanai and Maui look gorgeous in the fresh morning light. I pass Rockpiles surf spot and start the climb up in to the hills to Pu’u o Hoku Ranch. It’s so undeveloped and pristine here. A sharp contrast to Lahaina which sits just across the channel. Over there a gazillion cars and people are vying for the few parking spots adjacent to beaches which are no doubt packed to the gills with ecstatic tourists and grumpy locals who all have to share limited resources with far too many. Fifteen miles (but in reality worlds away) it is the exact opposite. A lucky few share the magnificence in peace and solitude. I pass the Ranch entrance and begin my descent in to the valley. The first couple of miles it is lush and overgrown but not quite rainforest. Dryland scrub trees and flora live in harmony with rainforest varieties which thrive more along the numerous streams which flow through these little gullies. I’d love to stop the truck and trudge off to find a secluded pool or waterfall but I’m anxious to get down to the beach and see what the surf or fishing might be like. There are not many cars either coming or going in or out of the valley and as I reach the valley floor I’m reminded of how magical this place is. I could name a hundred clichéd reasons why its so awesome down here but it comes down to the incredible feeling I get when I am here and that is beyond description.
The surf is up but is bumpy and onshore which is usually the case here. There are a few fun waves to be had so I park my truck and get my board down off the racks, drink some water and wax up. The water is calm and smooth inside the bay and the sound of the board cutting through the glassy water is mesmerizing and I get a little lost as if in a dream paddling out. It could easily be mistaken as a dream as the valley is so incredibly beautiful and the water so cool and inviting. There is nearly every age group represented in the lineup. Little kids who look barely old enough to swim are out on their boogie boards, teenage rippers on their shortboards and now an old man on a long board. One of the things you will find about Hawaii if you stay here for long is the lack of exclusion or categorization. No one is judged by what they ride or their age. The commonality is what seems to be embraced. That we are all just surfers out for a slide. Fun is held in much higher regard than ego. There are smiles are all around. I start thinking it would be nice to have a fish for dinner instead of dehydrated rice and chicken so I head in to rinse off and grab a fishing pole to try my luck at the eastern end of the bay.
I walk over to the eastern side of the bay where the waves are somewhat smaller. I throw my lure all over the bay for a good two hours without so much as a nibble so I decide to pack it in and make my way back to the truck. I put my fishing gear away and head over to the stream to rinse off. I love camping but the thing I like the least is being covered in salt for days on end. The stream is cool and refreshing and I’m confident I will be salt free for at least a little while. I find a likely spot to spend the night and start unpacking a few things I will need. When I get reasonably situated I sit down in my beach chair and chill out with my fancy view. I fall fast asleep for about an hour until a football comes bouncing through my campsite. Some kids are playing catch and I guess one got away from them. I awake to a polite little girl apologizing for the football and smiling mischievously at how bleary and disheveled I must have appeared. I smile and say “no worries”. I get up to shake off the cobwebs and check the surf. I cross the stream and figure a quick dip will wake me up which it does. The surf looks the same, perhaps a little less wind and a fatter tide so I decide to paddle out again. There is no one out. I catch wave after wave and each time I get back outside to catch another I stop and look around and feel so blessed. I feel like pinching myself to be so lucky. Doing what I love in an incredibly beautiful place without any responsibilities beyond trying to remember a few salient points to report In my blog and perhaps snap a few photos to document my adventure. When I’d had my fill of surf I paddled slowly back in. The wind has dropped even more and the inside of the bay is like a glass sheet. I again become transfixed at the sight and sound of my surfboard cutting effortlessly through the glassy water.
Dinner is rice and chicken which is surprisingly good for being dehydrated. With my little stove and pot in hot water making mode I brew up a few cups of instant coffee. This is the kind of instant that comes in a single serve packet with cream and sugar and vanilla flavoring already added. Its really good and doubles as a caffeine fix and dessert although this wont stop me from having a few mango Hi-Chews later on. I’ll admit I’m seriously addicted to mango Hi-Chews. The sun goes down on the other side of the island and although it has gotten a bit cloudy this evening it is still a magnificent sunset. I’m not quite ready for bed so I decide to take an evening walk. I head over to the western side of the bay and walk the beach and when I’m done I decide to walk the other side as well. The other side of the bay (east) faces the wind and the open ocean so the clouds aren’t as stacked up and the stars are quite brilliant. I sit down on the beach and watch for awhile. Eventually I lay back and stare straight up, marveling at the millions of stars. I get this strange sensation of feeling the earths rotation with the sky and stars wheeling overhead. The feeling is so profound and pleasing I lay there for quite a long time. Some ants found me and quickly brought me back to reality. I could almost sense their mockery of my hippy-ish behavior and how easy it made their attack on me. I slowly get up and realize I am quite tired from my day of having fun so I head back to my truck and climb in for a good nights sleep. My sleep setup is pretty comfortable. I have a double sized air mattress and put a sheet on it. This fits perfectly between my wheel well humps in my truck bed. the holes left over I fill with pillows. The result is entire truck bed is now a sleeping bed. I usually point the back end of the truck to the ocean and keep the tailgate and back window open. That way I can hear the ocean all night long and wake up to the sound of waves. I’m soon fast asleep.
I awake to the sound of the wind and waves. There are few better ways to wake up than this. I get up and check the surf which is fairly small. I’m sure when the wind picks up there will be more rideable surf later on. This is the best time for fishing so all is not lost. I grab my fishing gear and head over to the same spot as the day before. I get out on the rocks and find my spot, set my gear down and drink some water. I throw my line out and as it comes back not twenty feet from me a silver flash darts out and slams my lure. The reel screams momentarily as the fish desperately realizes he’s hooked. I gingerly keep him out of the rocks and coral and finally let a wave wash him up on the rocks. There with be no instant oatmeal for my breakfast this morning! I keep casting for another 1/2 hour but I’m getting hungry so I clean my catch and head back to camp. The fish is at least 3 lbs so I get a solid 1 lb of filet. My neighbors in camp have a fire already going so I ask if it would be ok for me to cook my fish over it. They say “of course you can” so I start to cook my fish and they ask me if I have rice for my fish. As I try to politely decline their gracious offers they soon have leftovers from their breakfast getting heaped on a paper plate. A big scoop of rice, a huge pile of portuguese sausage, a Hawaiian Sun juice and a whole papaya. I don’t think I can even eat all of this! I try to share my fish but they laugh and tell me its kind of small and that they are still stuffed from their breakfast and encourage me to eat all of it. I am always amazed at how generous Hawaiians are. They will share anything with you and since food is so integral to their culture food sharing is huge. I need to reciprocate but this wont be easy to do. I bust out my entire mango Hi-Chew supply and offer it to them. They of course decline but their kids are more than willing to share my Hi-Chews. Problem solved, crisis averted and the kids think I’m a hero. A bit of a disclaimer here that not all of the natives are accepting of outsiders visiting such a sacred place so tread lightly, have respect and clean up your mess.
I decide after stuffing myself with a huge breakfast to take a walk back into the valley to the old Congregational Church just past the park. It will be good to walk off all of this food! The jungle canopy looms overhead with bits of brilliant blue sky setting off the deep greens of the foliage as I make my way down the road. Birds sing and insects buzz making the whole scene alive with sights, sounds and sensations. Just past the park with it’s coconut trees and grass lie the remains of the Halawa Congregational Church. Established in 1852 it was destroyed in the tsunami of 1946. Many of the valley’s inhabitants left after the tsunami and from what I understand the valley was nearly emptied of inhabitants in 1957 when another tsunami came ashore.
All that is left of the church is the stone walls. I cant imagine what it must have been like for these Protestant Missionaries to be dropped off with little beyond what they could carry and be expected to carve a church out of the jungle and convince the natives to become Christians. From what I understand the missionaries were all fairly young, in their 20’s possibly 30’s and so far removed from what they considered civilization. Halawa must have seemed a different planet from the life they knew in New England. I am forever drawn to the historical context of the places I visit. What the lives were like of those who came before me is an endless source of fascination. As if higher powers recognize my need for historical context as i take of few photos and begin my walk back to my truck a very sweet and jovial lady who is walking on the road comments on what a lovely day it is here in Halawa. I noticed she has a puppy wrapped in a sarong which is fastened around her neck and arm like a sling. The puppy is wiped out from playing at the beach all morning and is fast asleep. I ask her if she would mind me taking her picture and possibly posting it on my blog. She says it would be fine and thanks me for asking. We introduce ourselves and Ipo begins telling me about her life in Halawa. She tells many stories which are all inter-related and woven into one. I try to take mental notes of the details of her story without actually asking questions and thereby turn the exchange in to an interview. My blogs are more about relating my experiences as opposed to factual reporting although I do try to be somewhat factual. Sitting on a rock wall and listening to her wonderful story in the shade of the jungle canopy was my experience so please excuse any vagueness in my recollection.
Ipo told me of a Great, Great Grandmother of hers who was apparently in the court of Queen Liliʻuokalani. Her Grandmother was held in such regard by the Queen that when she had a suitor who wished her hand in marriage, he needed to ask the Queen herself for permission. The Queen granted the suitor and Ipo’s Grandmother her blessing for the union and they were married. The Bride received many wedding gifts which included fine china which featured various images of the Royal Family and Royal Crests from the Hawaiian Monarchy. These heirlooms were considered kapu or forbidden. They were never to be sold and furthermore they were only to be gifted from mother to daughter upon the daughter’s wedding day. Strict adherence to the tradition was only broken once when Ipo’s Grandfather came to be in possession of the heirlooms due to an absence of a daughter in that generation. He resumed the tradition by giving the heirlooms to his daughter, Ipo’s mother, on her wedding day. Ipo admitted she was quite a free spirit in her youth and moved around Hawaii and the mainland quite a bit. She said she never in all those years took the heirlooms out to display or even check on them. She merely changed the cardboard boxes they were in when they wore too thin. Ipo had a daughter and one day her daughter said she had set a date to get married. Ipo was ecstatic not only for her daughter’s happiness but for the fact she would no longer have be the steward of the precious family heirlooms. The years of carefully safekeeping those boxes were over and furthermore she would fulfill her obligation to continue her families tradition. She spoke with such an honesty and emotion it was impossible to not get wrapped up and enthralled in her story. Ipo, if you ever read this I hope I got most of it right and id like to thank you for sharing such an amazing story with a stranger.
I make my way back to my truck and check the surf. It is a little better than before so I go out and catch a few more waves before I head back home. After an hour or so surfing, i paddle back in and put all my stuff away. I need to get back to the other side of the island and feed my dogs and take care of a couple of minor obligations before setting off to the west side of the island to see how the waves and fishing are over there. I don’t have to be back to work for another day so I am free to keep vagabonding for at least a little while longer.. As I slowly drive up the road out of the valley I feel sad to be leaving but content in the knowledge that beautiful Halawa Valley will still be here next time I visit. Aloha!
We awoke to a fresh wind from the south. We had planned a beach day in sunny Kīhei, but as the clouds spun in from Māʻalaea and drove them straight to our usually dry location in lower Kula, we realized an alternate plan was in order. I knew the gloom of the South Shore would be a distant memory if we headed northeast to Kaupo.
We gathered ourselves for whatever laid ahead of us that day, which meant packing everything from hiking shoes to slippers, bathing suits, jackets, and long pants. A quick supply run to the Minute Stop in Pukalani yielded a big box of fried chicken & potatoes, spam musubi, drinks, and some mango Hi-Chews which are highly coveted by all. We set off from the growing gloom of Kula and headed to sunnier shores, entertaining ourselves with the “Word Game”: a creation of mine whereby someone says one word and the next person replies with another word that shares a meaning or the meaning of a homonym. If the given word were “steel” for example, the response could be “stainless”, “sword”, or even “robbery”. It’s great fun and teaches vocabulary and meanings.
Our word game eventually dissolved into arguments over silly points with my son Bear soon replying “Sparta” and “drunk” to every word so we decided to give the game a rest and enjoy the magnificent vistas of Ulupalakua and Kaupo quietly instead. Bear’s fascination with drunk Spartans is both disturbing and highly entertaining all at once. With every mile we headed northeast the sun grew stronger and the clouds more scarce. We eventually stopped to grab a few pictures of the coastline and stretch our legs. It was such a colorful and amazing day on this side of the island. I imagine there’s some life lesson here somewhere. If you think about it there is always a sunny place somewhere on even the darkest day. I realize this bit of philosophizing works much better on an island than elsewhere in the world but there’s no need to dwell on realism when it comes to my metaphoric nonsense.
St. Josephs Church in Kaupo, Maui.
Back in the car and we’re off to St. Joseph’s Church in Kaupo. It’s Sunday so there are quite a few people on this narrow road but when we arrive at St. Joseph’s there’s not a soul in sight. The sky is super blue and there are a few of those puffy “cotton candy” clouds floating by. The Church and grounds look gorgeous against the blues of the sky and greens of the vegetation. I snap a few shots and notice some other cars pulling up. This is something you have to deal with on the more crowded islands. People will be driving along and see a car parked and immediately think this is some amazing thing going on or sight to see, so they stop. I have literally pulled over to pee and had people pull over to see what was going on. Our car parked at the Church soon had at least 5-6 other cars now parked with their occupants getting out to investigate. We had our brief private moment at the church and got a few photos so it was back on the road to our next destination.
We pile back in the car and then we’re off to St. Joseph’s Church in Kaupo. It’s Sunday so there are quite a few people on this narrow road, but when we arrive at St. Joseph’s there’s not a soul in sight. The sky is super blue and there are a few of those puffy “cotton candy” clouds floating by. The Church and grounds look gorgeous against the blues of the sky and greens of the vegetation. I snap a few shots and notice some other cars pulling up. This is something you have to deal with on the more crowded islands: people driving along see a car parked and immediately think there is some amazing thing going on or sight to see, and they stop. I have literally pulled over to pee and had people pull over to see what was going on. There were soon at least 5-6 other cars parked alongside ours, with their occupants getting out to investigate. Our private moment at the St. Joseph’s Church was gone, and with a few photos it was back on the road to our next destination.
We drove through the very heart of Kaupo past the closed Kaupo Store. We drove on to the Hui Aloha Church for our next photo opportunity. I absolutely love this little stretch of mountain and sea. Many years ago I visited the Church and as I drove down the gravel road I met a little old Hawaiian lady who stopped to talk. She asked me where I was from and what I was doing in Kaupo. At the time I was working at the Hana Medical Center, and we ended up talking about the challenges of living in a remote location especially as one gets older and needs frequent medical care. She then said something to me which I didn’t think much of at the time, yet it stuck with me: the light of Heaven falls here first and on the rest of the world after. Every chance I get I come and enjoy the beauty and solitude I find here. I have come to understand what she meant, and now believe as she did that Kaupo is about as close to Heaven as you can get without actually giving up the ghost.
After I get some great pictures of the kids, the Church, and my beautiful girlfriend Penni, I decide to set aside my camera and my blog-driven aspirations to head to a waterfall a few miles away to cool off and give the kids something more to do than stay out of the way of my photo-ops. We arrive at our destination and have a picnic. I really like Minute Stop fried chicken! We finish our food and head into the canyon to go for a swim at the waterfall. The stream bed was bone dry (which is not the best sign for a waterfall), but the canyon is stunning with it’s lush greens contrasted by black lava rocks and the deep blue sky. We arrive at the falls to find barely a trickle, but there is still a fairly deep pool of cold water at the base which looks very inviting after the hike through the heat and humidity of the valley. Eva and I head right in. She’s quite the water-child and never misses an opportunity for a dip or swim. The water is cold but so refreshing! When Bear finally comes in, the three of us realize someone is missing the fun. We politely tell her to put down her phone and sunglasses so nothing gets harmed when we throw her in. After successfully throwing Mom in, which is always the highlight of any beach or fun day, I snapped a few photos and we headed home.
We only get a few miles until we run into a wagon train of cars heading home at a blistering 8 mph. I decide it would be better to stop at the Kaupo Store and relax on their porch steps for a half hour or so than be stuck behind a bunch of cars in the dust. There’s such a timeless quality to this place. Sitting on those steps watching the kids play as the clouds scudded by I was reminded of how lucky we are to live in this amazing place. We jumped back into the car and headed home on a much emptier road. We made good time and were soon back in `Ulupalakua where the skies were quickly darkening. By the time we reach Kēōkea, it’s raining hard with the clouds are low and the visibility poor. It is such a sharp contrast to the colorful and bright district we just left, but it is also a fitting end to a day that was filled with spectacular sights and wonderful company.
Lower Kula was cold and wet when we tiredly returned home. A hot shower and dinner are going to be the perfect ending to this perfect day. Lucky we live Hawaii. We say this a lot here and usually with good reason! Aloha!
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2019-04-23T01:52:27Z
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http://www.distantsunimages.com/tag/hawaii/
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Hello there, and thanks for taking a look at this post. Holiday shoppers are starting even earlier than ever this year than ever before with starting their online holiday shopping, so I’ve put together some information and strategies for getting ready for and maximizing the holiday shopping season for your ecommerce business. Some of the channels this article will be discussing include: website optimization, email marketing, search engine advertising, social media marketing, affiliate marketing, visitor retargeting, effective tools to use, and more.
Site Speed – this is one of the top factors in having a well-converting website. You can optimize your website’s load time through various strategies. We have programmers that can do this for you, contact us if interested.
Abandoned Shopping Cart Follow-ups -Use abandoned shopping cart follow-up emails to convert more visitors. We have a couple of providers for that. It’s a must in high-volume traffic timeframes. Make the promotions seasonal!
Reach Dynamics – this is a service to send email retargeting followups to your website visitors even if they don’t leave their email address with you. They also do website to postcard direct mail campaigns which are great as well. I have a contact there, or tell them Evan Weber sent you for special pricing.
Mobile Website/Mobile App – make sure you have a great mobile version of your website live. I recommend mShopper or similar tools to create an easily shop-able website for the phone, if you don’t have a true mobile website. But there are other plug and play apps if you don’t have a custom built mobile app. You absolutely need a mobile version of your site this time of year with more people shopping on their phones. A mobile app is also a great idea if you have the budget to have it developed.
Push Notifications – having push notifications, i.e. browser notifications is a very good way to increase repeat website traffic. It will proactively market your offers to your audience that says yes to receiving them, and increase sales and overall conversion rates. Check out PushCrew.com.
SEO – Blog Posts – post about holiday deals, ex. 10 Top Holiday Gifts for Kids for 2018 (insert product category). Numerous blog posts can be written targeting people searching for the top gifts of the year for various categories. Check your Google Analytic reports from last year and see what search phrases brought people to your website during the holiday season, to guide both your SEO optimization and keyword buying. If you can see which phrases led to sales, even better to guide your content posting and keyword advertising. If you want to grow your free/organic traffic you will commit to a proactive content marketing strategy. Contact us for rates, we have an excellent team of inhouse writers at very affordable rates.
Google Keyword Planner – this is a great tool to find search phrases and their volumes to add to your Google Ads account.
SEM – Paid Search (Google Ad, Bing Ads, Shopping Engines) – making sure your paid search ads are updated with holiday offers this time of year, especially for your branded terms. Expand keyword lists into holiday gift related product and niche search phrases. Add holiday content to your product catalog, titles and descriptions. You will have to revise it back afterwards, but it could be both a way to increase targeted traffic and appear timely to visitors, which should increase conversion rates.
Retargeting/Remarketing – make sure you are utilizing all of the retargeting and remarketing campaigns possible in your paid search accounts. This is a very effective way to increase sales and overall conversion rate in a high ROI manner. If you need your paid search accounts audit contact us today.
Recruit holiday-oriented affiliates and publishers, such as gift site affiliates, shopping affiliates, cash back sites, loyalty portals, and other holiday or shopping related affiliates. Contact me if you need affiliate recruiting campaigns conducted, my agency is the best in the business at both recruiting new affiliates and managing affiliates to get them producing more revenue. If you need to grow your affiliate program let us know, this is one of our specialties!
Influencer Outreach – it’s a good idea to conduct outreach to social media influencers that reach the audiences that you want to get in front of for the holiday shopping season. We use a tool called CISION to target influencers, journalists, bloggers and other types of content producers on behalf of our clients. It’s the #1 tool for reaching journalists, web publishers, bloggers and other types of influencers. Contact us for pricing. This is a very effective way to get your company out there on well-ranking 3rd party websites and blogs.
If you need Influencer outreach campaigns, contact us about it. We can create online press releases and then promote the releases to an influencer audience that we create through Cision. Cision is an expensive annual membership that we subscribe to, so you can leverage their contacts and the influencer outreach strategy by hiring my agency to run your influencer outreach campaigns. Contact Us for more information.
Email HTML Creatives – Launch a series of beautiful holiday-themed email offers for Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and then leading up to Christmas, and then Post-Holiday Deals. (Our designers can whip these up in a day or 2 if you need HTML emails turned around quickly). Increasing your email sending frequency is very advisable during November and December. Also, make sure you are using pop-up boxes on the website to increase email collection from your increased holiday website traffic. You should be able to really increase your email list when your website’s holiday traffic increases, which feeds into the following year.
Responsive Designed HTML Emails – these are mobile friendly emails and a must for the holiday season since more than 70% of email openers are doing it on smartphones. (We are able to design and code responsive emails, just let me know).
Don’t be shy – Email is the #1 revenue generator for ecommerce, so make sure not to under-do it. Make sure to increase email collection both on the website with pop-ups, sweepstakes entries, and try Facebook Lead Ads to increase email subscribers to your list (inquire with us if you would like an agency to run these campaigns for you).
Holiday-themed Sweepstakes or Photo Contest – “Win the NEW iPhone (or iPad) Sweepstakes!” You can do an amazing Holiday Season Sweepstakes or Holiday Photo Contest to increase fans, email opt-ins, conversions, and viral sharing. Typical budget would range between $500-2500 for a contest, depending on how big and exciting you wanted to go with the sweepstakes. Sweepstakes should be promoted on your website, on your Facebook page with Boosted Posts, Sponsored tweets, Facebook Ads to new audiences, and to your email databases. Not to mention, when the winners get their prize they can be asked to share a picture on the fan page holding their prize, which is promoted on Facebook and other social networks with ads to increase exposure. It’s great for PR and has great engagement associated with it. Press releases can also be done for the sweepstakes to further market it. You can also run Facebook and Twitter ads to promote it, and re-market website visitors to enter your sweepstakes. You can also add a “site link extension” in your Google paid search ads so it shows up in all of your search ads so people may click on the link and sign up.
Instagram -You MUST be on Instagram with a company page and posting pictures and links to it, with hashtags to gain followers. Ramp up your Instagram strategy now to build your followers for the holidays. Now, when you advertise through Facebook, your ads will run on Instagram automatically, which is a beautiful thing.
Native Ads: these are ad campaigns that run as “recommended articles” on 3rd party web properties that typically are high traffic websites. You may have seen these blocks of 4-8 set of stories with an image and a content blurb that link to a landing page. There are a couple of ways to target these types of recommended articles, including targeting your previous website visitors known as “retargeting” ads, as well as targeting “custom audiences” which are databases such as a website’s customer database, or very targeted customers that have either show interest in that same type of product or services, or have in fact made a purchase previously with another similar website. You can run your “recommended articles” which are actually ad units that market an article and an image to these audiences, bringing the people that click on the ads to your website, or to a “landing page” that collects their contact information so they can be followed up with and sold your products or services. You can put a holiday shopping spin on your ad units and landing pages, to make them really timely and more effective. Native advertising is a very popular new form of online advertising, and represents the future of digital advertising because it essentially allows Advertisers and merchants to run ad campaigns to very targeting audiences, which allow what in the past were display ad campaigns that are much easier to generate a return on investment with this more modern and more effective way to advertise on 3rd party websites through display advertising campaigns, and drive a ton more traffic for advertisers. The other amazing aspect of Native advertising is that you can set up several different ad units and drive the traffic to a variety of landing pages, which allows for a higher degree of on the fly optimizations, which improves ad campaign performance over time. Check out Storygize.com for fully managed Native Advertising campaigns, and check out OutBrain and Taboola for self-serve Native Ad campaigns. Adroll also have Native Ad units for your retargeting and prospecting campaigns.
Customer Referral Program – launch a customer referral program to turn each customer and previous customer into a potential referrer. It’s a great incremental revenue play. I recommend FriendBuy.com for a great plug and play customer referral program. There’s also Ambassador, which is a great customer referral program or it can also be used as an affiliate tracking platform.
Pop-up Live Chat – Olark.com is a really effective proactive live chat widget, that nicely slides up from the bottom right corner of the screen to see if the visitors wants to ask a question. It has many great features, like transcriptions, and canned responses to help save time. It also tells you where the visitor came from to get to your website and what website pages they are viewing on your website so you can tailor your responses appropriately. Another cool feature is that they tell you if the visitor is a repeat visitor or not so you know how hot they may be.
Pop-up email capture – asking for their name and email in exchange for a coupon code is a great way to increase your email database much quicker than previously. One of our clients increased their email collection by 500% just by adding a popup box to their website offering a first-time customer discount. The deeper the discount the better it tends to work. Check out a really amazing tool for ecommerce called Contact Pigeon, which handles both email collection, shopping cart abandonment emails, and targeted offers. Definitely check it out to boost conversions on your ecommerce website. Tell them Evan Weber sent you for a special deal.
Testimonials/Reviews – make sure your customer reviews are placed prominently on your site and you have a widget in place to ask your holiday shoppers for reviews going forward. Sites with reviews convert 5X better than ones that do not have them. Make sure to use the ones with 5 gold stars, customers like those best. I recommend a customer review widget called ShopperApproved, which you can get launched through my agency, as we are an approved reseller of their tool and our customers get a better deal than going directly to the company, so inquire with me if you are interested in adding customer reviews or switching to a better reviews tool. Shopper Approved collects reviews at a much faster rate than other reviews tools, by surveying your visitors during their website experience, and after they have received their order. The gold stars it accumulates get posted to your Google Adwords campaigns and in your Google organic listings, which boosts conversion rate in itself.
Shopping Cart Abandonment Email Follow-ups – This is a vital tool to saving sales and increasing conversion rates. We can recommend the best tools to use for this service like ConvertCart.com.
Retargeting on the Web and Facebook – Not only is website visitor retargeting some of the best converting traffic on the web, since they have already expressed interest in your website, but in the last couple of years several new retargeting options have emerged. So I most definitely recommend leveraging visitor retargeting to the fullest. Some of the ways we use it with clients include: Dynamic product retargeting through Google, product-level retargeting through Facebook, retargeting back to the website through Facebook and Twitter, email-based retargeting campaigns through SendRoll (part of Adroll), email-based retargeting through Reach Dynamics, which is a performance-based (affiliate) partner that sends retargeting emails to your visitors that haven’t converted yet based on their cookies and IPs.
Trust Logos – Every ecommerce website needs to really impart trust, security, and confidence in the online transaction, especially with the recent data hacks. Some of the top trust logos you can place in the website’s layout include: Norton’s Trust Seal (#1 in ecommerce), Norton’s Shopping Guarantee Program (contact us to be introduced to Norton’s for a special deal), BBB Online, Industry logos, SSL certificate, and Truste. These logos increase conversion rate just my them being placed on the website. Product reviews widgets usually come with a nice logo to place on the website. (contact us for a contact for the Norton’s Shopper Guaranty package).
A/B Testing Tools – use Google Optimize on your website to work on boosting your overall website conversion rate. The nice thing about modern day conversion rate optimization is that you can run the A/B tests right in the website’s layout in real-time, without using any tech resources. So once you determine which promotion, call to action button, logo size, product size, and button color/sizes works best, you can go live with those versions and be ensured that you have the best converting page elements live on your website.
Sweepstakes – as we discussed earlier, but it’s worth re-emphasizing that running a holiday sweepstakes is a great way to increase email list size, increase page likes, and increase overall conversion rate, because you are at the end of the day increasing email collection, which can be then sent automated email follow-ups to increase sales.
Lucky Orange – this is a tool with several benefits. It will allow you hone your conversion rate by utilizing their tool set on your website. You just add their script to your website and then configure the tool in their dashboard. It’s very inexpensive tool and very effective at boosting your website’s conversion. I recommend doing that now in advance of the holiday shopping season.
Time is of the essence, let us know if you want to discuss these suggestions on a call, or feel free to share internally and those staff members contact us with any questions. You can hire our agency to manage any of your digital marketing and online advertising strategies, or just 1 channel. We can implement a multi-channel, comprehensive digital marketing strategy to make your Q4 holiday shopping season the best ever! You can also hire Experience Advertising’s CEO Evan Weber personally as your digital marketing and online advertising consultant, to work with your internal team. He has worked with many companies in this capacity to boost their conversion rate and the effectiveness of their digital marketing channels. Don’t settle for less-than-excellent agencies or in-house staff that doesn’t have a great strategy in place…there really is a difference! Thanks for taking a look. Have a wonderful Q4!
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2019-04-21T04:53:14Z
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https://experienceadvertising.com/48-ecommerce-strategies-to-maximize-the-2018-holiday-shopping-season-including-the-best-tools/
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Don’t just make a claim. Build a case.
Insurance companies look after their own best interests. We look after yours.
Don’t drown in paperwork following a flood.
Sinkhole claims shouldn’t leave you in a financial hole. We’ll make sure you get everything you’re entitled to from your insurance company.
Your loss is our concern.
We don’t just help you make a claim, we help you reclaim your life.
Storm damage? See how we can help.
North American Insurance Consultants Inc.
Most people have little familiarity with their insurance policy. Many have neither the time, much less the expertise, to undertake the complexity of filing an insurance claim that results in a satisfactory settlement. It is not the job, duty, or responsibility of your Tampa insurance company to discover the full extent of your loss. It is yours. As a Licensed Public Adjuster, we are on your side. Let us represent you.
NAIC public adjusters are an insurance claims adjusting, appraisal, and construction consulting company committed to recovering every client’s loss as if it were our own. NAIC is a multi-disciplinary public adjuster based in Tampa, Florida. For over 25 years we have provided property owners representation and public adjusting services from Florida to South Carolina and all Gulf Coast States to Texas.
Choosing coverage for your property is one of the most important decisions that you have to make in your life. In Tampa, it’s vital for the coverage to protect your investment in the event of damage from a hurricane, flood or fire. You also need to protect your home or business from building defects, theft and vandalism.
However, choosing the coverage is only the beginning. Insurers train and hire adjusters to minimize how much they have to pay out when you file a claim. North American Insurance Consultants, Inc. are public adjusters and can help you navigate the insurance world to maximize your benefits and settlements.
Your Tampa insurance policy is a contract between you and your insurer. It outlines the obligations of the insurer to you, the policyholder. In return for that service, you pay a premium every month. Every policy includes six sections, including the covered items and exclusions. However, insurers use a lot of technical language and wording that makes it hard for most people to understand exactly what they get.
Tampa Bay Public Adjusters cut through the industry terminology and identify the bottom line. They can work with you through any stage of buying or filing a claim with property coverage. Their goal is to protect your rights as a consumer and ensure that you fully understand the fine print on your policy. This gives you peace of mind that your property will be protected with the maximum benefit from your coverage.
When it comes to filing a claim and agreeing to a settlement, many Tampa Bay insurers give consumers the runaround. They make it sound like they’re concerned about your situation and will do their best to protect your property. When it’s time to issue the payment, though, they might try to get away with giving you as little as possible.
You might also face obstacles such as filing the correct claim or other formal documentation. Most people, for instance, don’t have the means to gather the detailed inventory or repair estimates that insurers require for claims. Others might not realize that they have to prepare formal documentation for a request to reach a settlement within a timely manner.
Public Adjusters like NAIC, which serves the Tampa Bay area, can make sure that your insurer gets the files and information that it needs. This prevents long delays and guarantees that your insurer holds up its side of the contract.
In addition, it’s essential to renegotiate the terms of your policy when something in your life or the business market changes your needs. Insurance advocates can renegotiate your existing policy to expand your coverage, reduce your premium or make other changes.
Along with the above claims management services, our Tampa adjusters can provide litigation support, appraisal support and expert witness statements. Furthermore, we offer construction management services such as preparing cost estimates and collaborating with construction specialists.
Do you want help choosing the best insurance policy for your property? Do you want peace of mind for your next claim? Contact NAIC for a professional who can guide you through the process and help you get the best possible return on your benefits.
If you’re considering filing a claim on your property insurance, you should also consider hiring a public adjuster. It’s especially important for you to hire someone if your claim will be for a large amount. Learn more about how a public adjuster can help you protect your investment.
The Duties of a Public Adjuster in Tampa – As a state-licensed professional, a public adjuster is someone who specializes in managing insurance claims on behalf of a policyholder. In some cases, such experts are employed by public adjustment firms. Their duty is to help policyholders like yourself negotiate settlements with insurance companies.
For example, you might be aware that insurance companies employ their own claims adjusters. They investigate, appraise and adjust settlements to determine how much their companies are responsible for paying. Basically, it’s their job to reduce the payout to as little as possible in favor of the insurers.
However, a public adjuster is someone who you hire. These professionals perform the same duties as claims adjusters, including investigating, appraising and adjusting the settlement. The difference is that they increase the settlement as much as possible in your favor. Their objective is to maximum your property insurance benefits and compensation to help you recovery after a loss. Despite that, a public adjuster can’t get you more money than your policy entitles you to.
Subscribe to NAIC Viewpoint for news, updates and tips to navigate the complexities of your claim.
Having insurance is one of the smartest decisions you can make. Hiring a public adjuster like NAIC to represent you is the next smartest. No matter how well you think you’re covered, no matter how much you like your insurance company and their personnel, in any dispute they are the ones making all the decisions and they are going to do what is best for them. It’s not personal. It’s just business. Let us be your claim resource.
That’s why so many policyholders hire us to represent them in the claim process. It’s not antagonistic. We’re not out to “get” the insurance company. We simply want to make sure you get what you’re entitled to. What you need to get your life or your business up and running again. We take the burden off of you and put it on them. Think of it as trust but verify. Not surprisingly, in every case we have secured our clients more than they would have received without us. Often significantly more. We can do the same for you.
Whether you are involved in a commercial insurance claim, business property/personal property claim or a homeowners property claim we are your insurance loss experts. Advocating for property owners is our business.
At NAIC, we put your needs at the forefront because we understand that your home or business property is one of the largest investments in your life. We also understand that you’ve created irreplaceable memories in your home or relationships with customers or tenants.
Our goal is to protect all of these elements by helping you choose the right insurance plan for your needs. We also assist you through the claims process when your property sustains damage from disasters such as a hurricane, poor workmanship or criminal activity.
hurricane develops in the Atlantic Ocean instead of the Gulf, it can cause a lot of damage.
Alongside tearing through buildings, the winds from a hurricane can rip off roof shingles and building siding. NAIC public adjuster can investigate the hurricane damage and how much the repairs will cost to prepare an accurate claim for your insurer.
A hurricane isn’t the only type of disaster that can happen in Tampa. Heavy rain for a prolonged period can cause flooding that damages the structure of your property. A burst pipe or old water heater can also cause water damage to the items inside of your home or business, such as furniture and clothing. If it’s not treated properly, wet rot, mold and fungus can develop and make the problem worse. Insurance consultants can file a claim for you.
The terms “public adjuster” and “insurance advocate” might cause a little confusion for Tampa residents. Some of them think that the terms mean the same thing. However, there’s a clear difference.
A public adjuster only negotiates with your insurance company in regards to claims. An insurance advocate cuts through confusing terminology to help you understand and choose a policy. This expert can also help you negotiate and renegotiate benefits, file a claim and other formal documents, communicate with your insurer and get productive responses. An advocate may negotiate a claims settlement if he or she specializes in that practice.
You can do a few things to make sure that you hire a good public adjuster. First, make sure that he or she has a Florida license to legally practice. To maintain this license, the adjuster must complete continuing education courses and be bonded. Because of that, you know that the service is legitimate when you see license confirmation. Despite that, it doesn’t hurt to ask for referrals.
Second, know whether one or multiple public adjusters will be working on your claim. Some public adjustment firms send one person to estimate the damages and another to follow-up and investigate the claim. This approach is only a problem if you prefer to work with one expert.
If that’s the case, ensure that your public adjuster is the best professional for the job. For instance, one adjuster at a firm may be interested in your claim, but another adjuster has more experience handling your type of issue. Also, make sure that you’re satisfied with your level of involvement in the claims process.
Finally, you should research public adjusters in the same way that you shop for other professionals. Don’t settle on the first one that you find. Alongside checking references, read online reviews.
Thanks for all your help. Construction is now underway - soon we will be back to normal.
This letter is to present our utmost approval of the services received by North American Insurance Consultants. Tristan Towers Homeowners Association utilized their skills in estimation, claims proposals and insurance arbitration. Excess of 2 million dollars were obtained as a direct result of their skill and proper presentation of our claims.
I have had the pleasure working with Mr. Harvey L. Garrett on many commercial insurance losses resulting from hurricane damages in the Panhandle Area. During these past years his professionalism and insurance skills of property damages have proven excellent, as well as the recovery proceeds.
When I originally began looking for an insurance consultant to handle our claim, I was drawn to NAIC due to your years of experience and local knowledge; it was the correct selection. Without your efforts my family would not have benefitted as well.
Your professionalism and guidance was such a source of comfort to us during the rebuilding process. Your dedication and protection of our assets will be greatly appreciated for many years to follow. I would not hesitate to recommend you to friends, family or business associates. I pray we will not need your services anytime soon!
I just wanted to take a moment and thank you for all of your help in negotiating a fair settlement with our insurance carrier. Without you we would still be fighting with them, and instead, we are well underway with renovations to both of our stores. I think that everyone should have someone like you on their side when a catastrophe like a large hurricane destroys their business.
After Hurricane Ivan ripped the roof off of our home, we were in a state of shock. Lucky for us, a dear family friend recommended we seek the services of a Licensed Public Adjuster. Blessedly, you have a stellar reputation here in North West Florida and, we were lucky enough to have been referred to you.
We had the pleasure of working with Mr. Patrick Garrett and his company, North American Insurance Consultants, Inc. regarding our property insurance claims. If we had not engaged Mr. Garrett's services we would have settled for substantially less regarding our two claims. In fact, he evaluated and examined the pre-existing claim that was over one year old and was able to recover additional monies owed by the insurance company.
I would like to thank you for the great job you have done. I'm really glad we came in contact with you & your business. I can only think of the number of people that just accepted the original offers from their insurance companies.
Thank you for all the hard work you performed on our fire loss. Your negotiating skills and knowledge of insurance claims was beyond expectations.
Referred to as time element losses since they occur over time. Loss of income and increased expenses from a covered peril. Commercial property insurance covering loss of income suffered by a business when damage to its premises by a covered cause of loss causes a slowdown or suspension of its operations. Coverage applies to loss suffered during the time required to repair or replace the damaged property. It may also be extended to apply to loss suffered after completion of repairs for a specified number of days.
Identified as inland marine this type of commercial policy covers buildings under construction. This includes the building, temporary structures located on the site, and materials and supplies not yet part of the building.
Unintentional burning with ensuing damages from smoke and extinguishing/ suppression efforts to a structure and/or personal property; Arson is burning that is intentional.
Presence, growth, proliferation, spread or any activity of “fungi”, wet or dry rot. Fungus may include mold or mildew and any mycotoxins, spores, scents, or by-products produced or released by fungi. Generally the policy contains a limited dollar amount and scope of repairs for this additional coverage.
Sudden sinking or collapse of land into underground empty spaces created by the action of water on limestone or similar rock formations. Commercial policies commonly include this coverage and homeowners is through endorsement.
Frozen rain, usually in pellet formation and in various sizes, causing damages upon impact.
Occurrence based coverage deriving from alleged workmanship that is associated to property damages.
Fortuitous damages that can emanate from a variety of sources, such as water heaters, supply and waste piping, or HVAC system.
Illegal taking of an insured’s property with intent to deprive ownership.
Willful or malicious destruction or defacement of public or private property.
Damages caused by hidden decay, hidden insect or vermin damage, weight of people or personal property, weight of rain that collects on a roof, and use of defective materials or methods in construction, remodeling, or renovation if caused during the course of construction, remodeling or renovation.
Accumulating over the tropics and developing in the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico within the summer and fall months. These systems are hundreds of miles wide with sustained winds exceeding 75 mph and rotate counter clockwise. Categorized 1-5 and provided names in alphabetical order.
Wind velocity with enough force to cause damage and/or breach a structures envelope. IE: Thunderstorms, Tornadoes and Hurricanes can all create wind damages.
Rising water from either 2 or more properties or inundating more than 2 or more acres. IE: Heavy rainfall in low lying areas, Tidal Areas (Rivers, Bays, Oceans and Gulf of Mexico) and Hurricanes. You do not need to live in a Flood Zone to be impacted by a flood.
Sudden and violent release of pressure or energy has caused bursting or breaking and a noise.
Natural electric discharge in the atmosphere.
Resulting from a sudden and accidental cause; not over a period of time.
Replacement Cost Value (RCV) means replacing with materials of like kind and quality.
Actual Cash Value (ACV) is defined as replacement cost less depreciation.
Depreciation means a loss of value due to wear, deterioration, or obsolescence.
Additional Living Expenses (ALE) / Loss of Use is defined as expenses that would not have occurred had the loss not taken place. These are expenses over and above the normal expenses.
Total Loss is a loss that completely destroys or renders useless the insured property or completely exhausts the applicable insurance limit.
Direct Physical Loss – resulting immediately and proximately from the occurrence and not remotely from some other consequences or effects thereof.
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2019-04-22T00:54:08Z
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https://www.naicinc.com/public-adjuster-tampa-fl/
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Nonteheless, for many, minimum possible lag matters.
Also it may be muscle memory; being used to mouse lag for decades. And optimizing the heck out of it, makes aiming go off.
So if you've calibrated your 180-degree flick to a specific mouse lag, even a single millisecond change will throw off your muscle-memory calibrated 180-degree flick. When you switch computers. From your home computer to a tournament/eSports setup. Then you need a few hours to practice on a different latency chain which might be slightly lower or higher.
Sometimes it takes a few days to re-train yourself to the new lag differential of your new setup. Or you might prefer to change a single factor (e.g. 1000 Hz -> 500Hz) which will rebalance things muscle-memory-wise.
Sometimes the humble millisecond, matters in surprising ways. Lower lag is normally better but -- sometimes the pesky millisecond gets you -- for a different reason like simply being pre-trained to a specific latency chain.
Note -- More study is welcome. I'm also recruiting writers who have written peer reviewed research, to do some basic research on various matters of input lag nature. Blur Busters commissioned the Input Lag and The Limits of Human Reflex.
xl2411p seems to be the only reasonable option from benqs recent lineup, when considering absolute lag. The signal lag seems higher on all other models, even affecting the xl2536 (144hz). I advise one to only choose any 240hz monitor for emulation and low frame rate gaming, improving latency regarding buffer occupancy and stutter. Old monitors scored well on playerwares, the xl2430t and xl2720z are very low latency 144hz options, which scored well at this site (1.3ms~).
After "upgrading" to the xl2540 from the xl2420te, the only thing that amazed me was the very low latency strobing when compared to lightboost.
The HDMI also accepts a 240p frame, and with sharpness on 10 provides an amazingly sharp image, all things considered. The xl2420te only accepts a 383p frame. The xl2540 is also the first 24in monitor from benq that offers 5:4 scaling, usually only offered on 27in. The build quality seems lower, as the backlight "blinks" if the chassy is knocked, leaving me to believe the engineers are no longer focusing on build quality. The xl2420te is a tank.
Overall I regret purchasing the monitor, since I only use it essentially as an limited function FPGA for low framerate or stuttery applications.
I visited CES 2018 and saw literally over 500 LCD displays including some of the best-ever LCDs I have ever seen that are not-gaming-oriented.
Actually, from what I saw of local-dimmed televisions, I've seen amazingly colorful LCDs that are also simultaneously fast.
Local dimming also enables scanning backlight operation that if done very well with minimal internal backlight diffusion -- can provide a have-cake-and-eat-it-too effect of blur reduction with great OLED-style-colors.
The problem is that we've kept getting bottom-barrel panels for so long. The LCDs that look 10x better often costs 10x as much, and we're finally getting it for the first time in history through the 4K 144Hz GSYNC HDR monitors with 384-zone local dimming. Videophile LCDs in gaming-market monitor formats have never happened before, and this is one of the first ones.
The image quality of these are literally an order of magnitude better from what I've seen at CES 2018 -- I was only able to briefly see the ASUS PG27UQ (prototype) at the ASUS showroom during a media-invitation-only event, and I liked what I saw. I was not able to enable ULMB (which exists) but it literally looked almost OLED-like compared to any LCD gaming monitor. I wish I had more time with it, but it's an amazing achievement with roughly 100x the firmware engineering put into this monitor compared to others.
Blur Busters reads scientific journals and monitor engineering documents, and have stared at LCDs that look 10x better than our desktop moni.tors already, so I disagree with you -- LCD improves massively with a bit more engineering put into it.
High dynamic range. Imagine inky black backgrounds with ultra-bright pinpricks of stars, or ultra-bright streetlamps.
This costs 10x as much -- like paying $1999 for a gaming monitor. These were common in high-end videophile LCD HDTVs, but are only finally coming to certain monitors.
I've seen some televisions at CES 2018 that I thought were OLED (ultra-bright flowers on completely total-black backgrounds, no blooming), and when I read the sign next to it....LCD. WOW.
For you computer programmers understanding of GPU shader programming / FPGAs / ASICs .... some amazing compute power is being put into solving the problem. Some of the amazing engineering in some amazing antibloom algorithms; I wrote in this ArsTechnica comment, which I will quote here, for your reference.
ScifiGeek wrote: But I have ZERO desire to have >1000 nit displays. My 6 year old LCD only has a max of around 400 nits, and I have the backlight turned almost to minimum, since I like to watch movies the dark, and don't want the glare of the full sunlit outdoors shining on me when I am watching TV in dark room.
What happens with HDR content is that it judiciously uses that only for things like pinpoints of lights (e.g. streetlamps and neon signs in night scenes). Instead of that material being overexposed, it retains its full original color.
That way, even the prototype 10,000 nit TV that I saw at CES 2018 surprisingly wasn't too bright on the eyes, as it simply focussed the intensity only on the highlights like sunglints off a car, or the nuances of a neon sign in night scenes.
Those pinpoints of high brightnesses were careful not to jack-up the average picture level to uncomfortable levels in the dark. That way, HDR was totally amazing and wasn't hurting my eyes.
Your nickname is SciFiGeek. Imagine brighter stars and planet dots. Single-pixel high-brightnesses in a deep black background. Totally amazing looking space scenes. Star pinpoints brighter than you thought a display would be capable of, but not eye-hurting. Or those night scenes in Pixar's CoCo. Yet the daytime scenes aren't brighter at all (just a normal 50nit or 150nit or whatever preset comfy average picture level max), except the sunglints off sunglasses or car, are so much more realistic on a >2000nit HDR displays that I visited at CES 2018.
As the bright pinpoints increase in surface size, the nits-per-pixel falls dramatically, in a judicious way, till it all balances out. It was even apparent on both LCD and OLED, one edge of screen had perfect blackness, and the other edge had really good nits on the glints, so the local-dimming control in some 2018 panels were actually getting more impressive than I thought; despite "human eyes can only see 100:1 dynamic range", it was really very clearly apparent that the HDR range was really beneficial when the peaking was in the quad-digit range, without any overbearing APL levels.
You need to check out true HDR sometime (with careful >1000nit surgical-use-only peaking), it's totally different from what you thought; Most HDR displays don't milk HDR impressively nor properly, but once it is done well, it is rather impressive when properly calibrated for comfort.
It's true that we have to spend quite a lot (at least two thousand dollars) to get a massively better LCD that literally looks 10x better than IPS LCD or about 100x better than TN non-GSYNC.
Currently, not even $500 or $700 for a monitor pays for the engineering (hardware engineering and software engineering) necessary to have a 10x better LCD that actually already exists in certain videophile HDTVs.
Tons of improvements in LCD are available but is extremely difficult to bring to a $300-or-less monitor.
I'm a software developer who also worked in the home theater industry before -- including a few firmwares for Runco scalers and other brands of high-end videophile stuff. As a fellow firmware programmer, who pays attention to what goes on in the monitor industry -- it is my duty to inform you there is a two-to-three order-of-magnitude number of human-hours in software engineering billable time between an entry level 144Hz computer monitor using off-the-shelf TN panel and off-the-shelf scaler, and a delicately engineered videophile LCD HDTV costing $5K-$20K.
We never got this much engineering in a modern LCD-panel gaming monitor until the upcoming $1999 4K 144Hz GSYNC HDR monitors, which, while a leap upwards in quality, still doesn't match the number of hours put into certain videophile LCD HDTVs (with super-intelligent antibloom algorithms) that I've seen and heard from engineering-time effort I've seen manufacturers put in.
But it comes miraculously close, no display in the computer monitor industry has ever gained that much engineering time -- local-dimmed quantum-dot LCDs are a totally a different ballpark that are much closer to OLED than LCD to my eyes. I have seen a few amazing locally-dimmed LCD HDTVs at CES 2018, and yes, I did see many OLED HDTVs, and yes, I do confirm that the quality venn diagram of OLED and LCD actually overlaps with fullblacks adjacent to superbrights. Some LCDs that I have seen, are THAT much a leap upwards above any 144Hz monitor currently sitting on your desk (Yes, RealNC, even your ViewSonic XG2703-GS IPS 165Hz GSYNC pales compared to some of the new OLED-quality LCDs that I have now feasted my eyes upon).
Blur Busters does tip a few dominoes from time to time. ULMB ultimately exists because of Blur Busters making LightBoost popular several years ago -- literally, we screamed from the rooftops about the virtues of strobe backlights, and the strobe feature ended up becoming much more popular for blur-reduction instead of 3D glasses (its original purpose), and has now been copycatted by many manufacturers. Blur Buster's LightBoost advocacy directly led to industry-wide adoption of motion blur reduction when monitor manufacturers wanted to copy LightBoost capabilities.
There is so much more we can do to LCDs over the long term (that can make them superior in some respects to OLED, due to less brightness limitation for thousand-zone-league LED local dimming being >10x brighter than OLED; very delicious for bright HDR strobing ability) -- it's just some of that are pretty rather expensive engineering steps even if easier in some respects than similarly-expensive OLED engineering.
One thing for sure, today's LCDs are more than 20x better than LCDs twenty years ago.
Problem is, the big jump beyond today's "struggle plateau" (2005-2015) is a bit cost-jump to reach "1000-zone local dimming + 12bit + HDR + antibloom system" of an OLED-matching LCDs that I saw at CES 2018.
Or, that 10K-nit Sony LCD. Simply stunning and vastly superior to OLED.
Yep, Chief Blur Busters says this: The best displays I saw at CES 2018 were .... LCD.
Shocked that I would say this?
At CES 2018 this year, none of the best prototype OLEDs impressed me nearly as much as the Sony 10K-nit 8K LCD with inky blacks and ultra dazzling sunglint reflections off leaves, polished cars, ultrabright streetlamps on fully detailed dark scenes, etc. Zero, zero, zero, zero blooming. None, nada, zilch, zip, zero, no blooming -- just like OLED. It didn't hurt my eyes either, see my above quoted posts.
Obviously, the Sony wasn't using its 10K-nit headroom for ULMB, but many of us recognize that potential: The great headroom of 10Knit allows 90%-blur-reduction having 1000-nit HDR strobed. Imagine that. And LED backlights can become brighter than OLED pixels themselves. I want OLED to win. I really do.
But the LCD horse will be around for decades to come (mark my words) simultaneously and concurrently with OLED.
The fallacy of assumptions of OLED replacing LCD is simply rooted in the fact that we've gotten bottom-barrel LCDs (even in a $700 monitor with amazing GSYNC/ULMB and amazing top-notch NVIDIA overdrive tuning...but it's still simply polishing a turd of a panel with no local dimming or HDR).
Simply put, $2000 of engineering premium put into an OLED versus $2000 of engineering premium put into an LCD ... actually produces a 10x better-quality LCD versus a 3x better-quality OLED in many respects.
Sometimes the horses will pull ahead, and other horses may fall behind. But some law-of-physics is bottlenecking OLED in ways that is not bottlenecking LCD as much (e.g. ultra-bight local dimming). Backlights are simply LEDs, today' LEDs light up the Super Bowl Football Stadium. Modern LED has gotten incredibly bright with almost no upper limit.
See where I am getting at? LEDs lights up stadiums! Brightness headroom is in LCD's favour. Law of physics stacked against OLED pixel brightness is hairpulling frustrating for motion blur reduction.
You need lots of overkill brightness to lower persistence while keeping HDR (unless you're doing blurless sample and hold).
You just need to throw a lot of sugar at it (high-bit-depth, many zone of local dimming, artificial-intelligence antiblooming, etc) in order to make LCD look as good as OLED (inky complete-blacks next to dazzling brights) like what I've already seen on the showroom floor and closed-door media invitations at CES 2018.
Certainly, buying the best OLED HDTV and buying the best LCD HDTV, and they do come close in many ways with some wins towards LCD and some wins towards OLED. But current LCD is winner winner chicken dinner from what I saw at CES 2018.
My prediction is both tech (LCD, OLED) will still be important 10 and 20 years from now. There's lots of improvement headroom for both. Computer monitors have simply only been on a plateau (2005-2015) while I've seen OLED-quality LCDs already at CES 2018.
ScifiGeek wrote: I can certainly imagine the blooming that it would create on an LCD. Really you don't need 10000 nit stars.
They do an amazing job of antiblooming algorithms on some 2018 panels. They actually do realtime LCD gradients on the panels to antibloom. And judiciously avoid quick peaking curves (e.g. a 2000 nit HDR QLED may never have stars more than 500 nits. A few pixels of water sun glints on a planet may actually be allowed to peak at 2000 because surrounding pixels are already 100 nits). As a programmer, some amazing FPGA / assembly / GPU shader sheningians are being done in some televisions. Realtime HDR processing to do some antibloom compensation by shading LCD panel brightness gradients inversely proportional to predicted bloom. To cancel out the blooming. This also intelligently avoid sharp brightness transitions in tight spaces, to avoid noticeable blooming (e.g. intelligently avoid 2000 nit pixels adjacent to 0 nit pixels). I'm surprised what some TV engineers already do in their programming.
There were two QLED and QLED-type locally dimmed TVs that I thought were OLED because I thought.... Man, LCD could possibly NOT do it. Believe me, I was surprised. That said, not all TVs on the showroom floor could do antibloom that well.
Not even a $900 high-end GSYNC monitor comes close to the OLED-quality LCDs I saw at CES 2018. Even the new 4K 144Hz displays won't be as good as the Sony 8K prototype 10k-nit LCD I saw, nor the TCL 1000-zone localdimming prototype I saw. Those OLED-quality LCDs are far beyond any LCD mortal sitting our computer desks, and the new 4K 144Hz only merely gives us a first-ever-time catapult to the starter videophile leagues. Far beyond the image quality we currently have today -- it's the first red-carpet straight into Kuro Plasma leagues of videophile lore -- but damn, it is expensive for many. Like a Ferrari.
Как это возможно ? Каким образом на мониторе с шагом пикселя 0.28 стало труднее целиться в голову?
I had written a little bit about the Wall at CES 2018 and right now it's more for large-format displays. The display was stunning in its own way and was able to output lumens galore, much brighter than OLED.
Imagine stadium/jumbotron LEDs being massively miniaturized into a smaller display. But you'll still see the LED dots/textures from 3 or 4 feet away, and sometimes seams between LED matrixes. That's apparently why they had a rope in front of "The Wall" MicroLED display to prevent people from getting closer than approximately 5 feet(ish).
I think more work will be needed over 5-10 years before MicroLED can be used in computer monitor formats for close viewing from inches away, so it's a nonstarter for desktop use through the end of 2020s I think. It'll definitely be important, but MicroLED simply brings the stadium jumbotron into the living room, but isn't refined enough to bring it to phones/tablets/monitor formats.
Expect enhanced monitors (e.g. cheaper and better versions of PG27UQ) that have QLED backlights, as well as local dimming capabilities, to gradually mature. And possibly OLED gaming monitors. These will all happen first before MicroLED, though some of the tech will take several years/a decade to become cheap. Acer did announce a cheaper 4K 144Hz FreeSync monitor for $899 with DisplayHDR400 certification.
I'm not sure if click-to-LED tests are ideal for testing input lag as the most noticeable version of lag is the cursor/crosshairs lagging behind actual mouse movement.
Is TFT central's graph correct? I can't imagine the PG258Q having worse input lag at 240hz than this(pg279q) monitor. Any clarification appreciated.
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2019-04-25T22:13:42Z
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https://forums.blurbusters.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&p=34859
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A Rolex watch in Varnell GA is not just a watch. It’s a status symbol. There are people who spend their life-savings just to strap a Submariner, Daytona, Yachtmaster, or a Presidential in Varnell GA. For some other watch aficionados, buying a Submariner or Presidential or any other Rolex model is a life goal. And there are some people who like to reward themselves with such luxury purchases. In simple words, very few brands are valued as much by their fans as Rolex is in Georgia. Why does the company enjoy such elite status, especially when there are many other comparable or even better luxury watch brands? The reasons being Rolex’s penchant for details, its purpose-built craftsmanship, durability, and vintage value.
Rolex has managed to hold on to its unfaltering and solid product ownership experience for years. Besides, its timepieces also have the best re-sale values – Submariner, Yachtmaster, Presidential, Daytona, etc. are all popular within the resale market. In fact, the market for its pre-owned or used watches is bigger than its new timepieces in Varnell GA.
The pre-owned watches are old models as well but they aren’t as old as the vintage Submariner, Yachtmaster, Presidential, or Daytona. As a result, they tend to be much cheaper compared to vintage varieties and the new watches. Generally, first-time buyers or those who’d like to own a Rolex for the least price possible side with such timepieces in Georgia. And since the price isn’t too premium, the target for breaking even on the purchase in the future is much smaller for the owner.
Buying a Rolex can be both a satisfying and exhausting experience in Georgia. The primary reason being Rolex watches are the most faked items in the world (Fake iPhones don’t even come close!). This means there are more fake Rolex watches on the market than the genuine ones. Rolex watches are known for their precision and attention to detail. So if the watch you’re considering doesn’t seem symmetrical or if there’s something even marginally off in the design, chances are it’s a replica.
The arm band of your Rolex needs special care, as it is prone to scratches. This is especially true of the Oyster arm band which includes refined center links. By polishing the arm band once every couple of months, you can retain the new look of your Rolex permanently. You quickly can remove the scrapes from the sleek center links with little effort and also time expended. All you require is a top quality polishing cloth which can be selected from items made for eliminating scratches from brightened stainless steel and gold surfaces. Such a cloth comes soaked in a special liquid meant for brightening. These polishing towels are cost-effective and also can be utilized multiple times.
Whether you’d like to own a Rolex someday in Varnell GA or would not like to bother spending so much cash on a wrist piece, you cannot deny the fact that Rolex is here to stay. And the major reason why the brand is so coveted because it truly makes some great watches. Therefore, if you have the budget, and also know what model you want and where to look for the same, go ahead and treat yourself.
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A Rolex watch in Irwinton GA is not just a watch. It’s a status symbol. There are people who spend their life-savings just to strap a Submariner, Daytona, Yachtmaster, or a Presidential in Irwinton GA. For some other watch aficionados, buying a Submariner or Presidential or any other Rolex model is a life goal. And there are some people who like to reward themselves with such luxury purchases. In simple words, very few brands are valued as much by their fans as Rolex is in Georgia. Why does the company enjoy such elite status, especially when there are many other comparable or even better luxury watch brands? The reasons being Rolex’s penchant for details, its purpose-built craftsmanship, durability, and vintage value.
Rolex has managed to hold on to its unfaltering and solid product ownership experience for years. Besides, its timepieces also have the best re-sale values – Submariner, Yachtmaster, Presidential, Daytona, etc. are all popular within the resale market. In fact, the market for its pre-owned or used watches is bigger than its new timepieces in Irwinton GA.
The bracelet of your Rolex demands unique care, as it is prone to scrapes. This is specifically true of the Oyster bracelet which showcases refined center links. By polishing the arm band once every few months, you could keep the new appearance of your Rolex permanently. You quickly can eliminate the scratches from the refined center links with little effort as well as time used up. All you require is a top quality polishing cloth which can be selected from products made for getting rid of scrapes from polished stainless-steel as well as gold surfaces. Such a cloth comes soaked in a unique liquid meant for brightening. These polishing cloths are cost-effective as well as can be utilized several times.
Whether you’d like to own a Rolex someday in Irwinton GA or would not like to bother spending so much cash on a wrist piece, you cannot deny the fact that Rolex is here to stay. And the major reason why the brand is so coveted because it truly makes some great watches. Therefore, if you have the budget, and also know what model you want and where to look for the same, go ahead and treat yourself.
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A Rolex watch in Weston GA is not just a watch. It’s a status symbol. There are people who spend their life-savings just to strap a Submariner, Daytona, Yachtmaster, or a Presidential in Weston GA. For some other watch aficionados, buying a Submariner or Presidential or any other Rolex model is a life goal. And there are some people who like to reward themselves with such luxury purchases. In simple words, very few brands are valued as much by their fans as Rolex is in Georgia. Why does the company enjoy such elite status, especially when there are many other comparable or even better luxury watch brands? The reasons being Rolex’s penchant for details, its purpose-built craftsmanship, durability, and vintage value.
Rolex has managed to hold on to its unfaltering and solid product ownership experience for years. Besides, its timepieces also have the best re-sale values – Submariner, Yachtmaster, Presidential, Daytona, etc. are all popular within the resale market. In fact, the market for its pre-owned or used watches is bigger than its new timepieces in Weston GA.
The arm band of your Rolex needs special care, as it is prone to scratches. This is particularly true of the Oyster arm band which features sleek center links. By polishing the bracelet once every few months, you can retain the brand new appearance of your Rolex permanently. You quickly can remove the scratches from the refined center links with little initiative as well as time used up. All you need is a good quality brightening cloth which can be chosen from products made for eliminating scrapes from brightened stainless-steel and gold surface areas. Such a cloth comes soaked in a special fluid meant for brightening. These brightening cloths are economical and also can be used several times.
Whether you’d like to own a Rolex someday in Weston GA or would not like to bother spending so much cash on a wrist piece, you cannot deny the fact that Rolex is here to stay. And the major reason why the brand is so coveted because it truly makes some great watches. Therefore, if you have the budget, and also know what model you want and where to look for the same, go ahead and treat yourself.
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A Rolex watch in Abbeville GA is not just a watch. It’s a status symbol. There are people who spend their life-savings just to strap a Submariner, Daytona, Yachtmaster, or a Presidential in Abbeville GA. For some other watch aficionados, buying a Submariner or Presidential or any other Rolex model is a life goal. And there are some people who like to reward themselves with such luxury purchases. In simple words, very few brands are valued as much by their fans as Rolex is in Georgia. Why does the company enjoy such elite status, especially when there are many other comparable or even better luxury watch brands? The reasons being Rolex’s penchant for details, its purpose-built craftsmanship, durability, and vintage value.
Rolex has managed to hold on to its unfaltering and solid product ownership experience for years. Besides, its timepieces also have the best re-sale values – Submariner, Yachtmaster, Presidential, Daytona, etc. are all popular within the resale market. In fact, the market for its pre-owned or used watches is bigger than its new timepieces in Abbeville GA.
The arm band of your Rolex needs special treatment, as it is prone to scratches. This is specifically true of the Oyster arm band which includes polished center links. By brightening the arm band once every few months, you can preserve the brand-new look of your Rolex forever. You conveniently can get rid of the scratches from the refined center links with little initiative and time used up. All you require is a good quality polishing cloth which can be chosen from products designed for getting rid of scrapes from polished stainless-steel as well as gold surfaces. Such a towel comes soaked in a special fluid meant for polishing. These brightening fabrics are economical and can be made use of multiple times.
Whether you’d like to own a Rolex someday in Abbeville GA or would not like to bother spending so much cash on a wrist piece, you cannot deny the fact that Rolex is here to stay. And the major reason why the brand is so coveted because it truly makes some great watches. Therefore, if you have the budget, and also know what model you want and where to look for the same, go ahead and treat yourself.
This entry was posted in Rolex Watch Georgia and tagged Buying A Rolex Abbeville GA, Finding Rolex Watches Online Abbeville GA, New And Used Rolex Watches For Sale Abbeville GA, Rolex Submariner And Yachtmaster Models Abbeville GA, Rolex Watch For Men And Women Abbeville GA, Rolex Watch Online Abbeville GA, Rolex Watch Price Information Abbeville GA, Rolex Watches Online Abbeville GA, Submariner Yachtmaster As Well As Other Rolex Watches Abbeville GA, Where To Buy A Rolex Watch Abbeville GA on June 13, 2017 by luxury.
A Rolex watch in Mc Intyre GA is not just a watch. It’s a status symbol. There are people who spend their life-savings just to strap a Submariner, Daytona, Yachtmaster, or a Presidential in Mc Intyre GA. For some other watch aficionados, buying a Submariner or Presidential or any other Rolex model is a life goal. And there are some people who like to reward themselves with such luxury purchases. In simple words, very few brands are valued as much by their fans as Rolex is in Georgia. Why does the company enjoy such elite status, especially when there are many other comparable or even better luxury watch brands? The reasons being Rolex’s penchant for details, its purpose-built craftsmanship, durability, and vintage value.
Rolex has managed to hold on to its unfaltering and solid product ownership experience for years. Besides, its timepieces also have the best re-sale values – Submariner, Yachtmaster, Presidential, Daytona, etc. are all popular within the resale market. In fact, the market for its pre-owned or used watches is bigger than its new timepieces in Mc Intyre GA.
The bracelet of your Rolex demands unique treatment, as it is prone to scrapes. This is particularly true of the Oyster bracelet which showcases polished center links. By polishing the bracelet once every couple of months, you could preserve the brand new appearance of your Rolex for life. You quickly can get rid of the scrapes from the polished center links with little initiative and also time expended. All you need is a top quality brightening fabric which can be selected from items made for eliminating scrapes from brightened stainless steel and also gold surface areas. Such a cloth comes soaked in a unique liquid meant for polishing. These polishing fabrics are low-cost as well as can be made use of several times.
Whether you’d like to own a Rolex someday in Mc Intyre GA or would not like to bother spending so much cash on a wrist piece, you cannot deny the fact that Rolex is here to stay. And the major reason why the brand is so coveted because it truly makes some great watches. Therefore, if you have the budget, and also know what model you want and where to look for the same, go ahead and treat yourself.
This entry was posted in Rolex Watch Georgia and tagged Buying A Rolex Mc Intyre GA, Finding Rolex Watches Online Mc Intyre GA, New And Used Rolex Watches For Sale Mc Intyre GA, Rolex Submariner And Yachtmaster Models Mc Intyre GA, Rolex Watch For Men And Women Mc Intyre GA, Rolex Watch Online Mc Intyre GA, Rolex Watch Price Information Mc Intyre GA, Rolex Watches Online Mc Intyre GA, Submariner Yachtmaster As Well As Other Rolex Watches Mc Intyre GA, Where To Buy A Rolex Watch Mc Intyre GA on June 13, 2017 by luxury.
A Rolex watch in Alamo GA is not just a watch. It’s a status symbol. There are people who spend their life-savings just to strap a Submariner, Daytona, Yachtmaster, or a Presidential in Alamo GA. For some other watch aficionados, buying a Submariner or Presidential or any other Rolex model is a life goal. And there are some people who like to reward themselves with such luxury purchases. In simple words, very few brands are valued as much by their fans as Rolex is in Georgia. Why does the company enjoy such elite status, especially when there are many other comparable or even better luxury watch brands? The reasons being Rolex’s penchant for details, its purpose-built craftsmanship, durability, and vintage value.
Rolex has managed to hold on to its unfaltering and solid product ownership experience for years. Besides, its timepieces also have the best re-sale values – Submariner, Yachtmaster, Presidential, Daytona, etc. are all popular within the resale market. In fact, the market for its pre-owned or used watches is bigger than its new timepieces in Alamo GA.
The bracelet of your Rolex demands special treatment, as it is prone to scrapes. This is particularly true of the Oyster arm band which showcases sleek center links. By polishing the bracelet once every couple of months, you can maintain the all new look of your Rolex permanently. You easily could eliminate the scratches from the refined center links with little effort as well as time expended. All you need is a high quality polishing towel which can be selected from items made for removing scratches from polished stainless steel and gold surfaces. Such a cloth comes soaked in a special fluid meant for brightening. These brightening towels are economical as well as can be utilized several times.
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Rolex has managed to hold on to its unfaltering and solid product ownership experience for years. Besides, its timepieces also have the best re-sale values – Submariner, Yachtmaster, Presidential, Daytona, etc. are all popular within the resale market. In fact, the market for its pre-owned or used watches is bigger than its new timepieces in Pineview GA.
The bracelet of your Rolex needs special care, as it is prone to scratches. This is particularly true of the Oyster arm band which features refined center links. By polishing the bracelet once every couple of months, you could maintain the brand new look of your Rolex for life. You quickly can get rid of the scrapes from the polished center links with little effort and time expended. All you require is a top quality brightening towel which can be selected from items developed for removing scrapes from polished stainless steel and also gold surfaces. Such a fabric comes soaked in a unique fluid meant for polishing. These polishing cloths are inexpensive and can be utilized numerous times.
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Rolex has managed to hold on to its unfaltering and solid product ownership experience for years. Besides, its timepieces also have the best re-sale values – Submariner, Yachtmaster, Presidential, Daytona, etc. are all popular within the resale market. In fact, the market for its pre-owned or used watches is bigger than its new timepieces in Glenwood GA.
The bracelet of your Rolex demands special care, as it is prone to scrapes. This is especially true of the Oyster bracelet which features polished center links. By polishing the arm band once every few months, you can preserve the new appearance of your Rolex permanently. You easily could eliminate the scratches from the sleek center links with little effort and also time used up. All you need is a good quality polishing fabric which can be selected from products created for eliminating scrapes from polished stainless steel as well as gold surfaces. Such a cloth comes soaked in a unique liquid meant for polishing. These polishing towels are cost-effective and can be made use of numerous times.
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This entry was posted in Rolex Watch Georgia and tagged Buying A Rolex Glenwood GA, Finding Rolex Watches Online Glenwood GA, New And Used Rolex Watches For Sale Glenwood GA, Rolex Submariner And Yachtmaster Models Glenwood GA, Rolex Watch For Men And Women Glenwood GA, Rolex Watch Online Glenwood GA, Rolex Watch Price Information Glenwood GA, Rolex Watches Online Glenwood GA, Submariner Yachtmaster As Well As Other Rolex Watches Glenwood GA, Where To Buy A Rolex Watch Glenwood GA on June 13, 2017 by luxury.
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Rolex has managed to hold on to its unfaltering and solid product ownership experience for years. Besides, its timepieces also have the best re-sale values – Submariner, Yachtmaster, Presidential, Daytona, etc. are all popular within the resale market. In fact, the market for its pre-owned or used watches is bigger than its new timepieces in Pitts GA.
The bracelet of your Rolex demands unique care, as it is prone to scrapes. This is particularly true of the Oyster arm band which features sleek center links. By polishing the arm band once every couple of months, you could preserve the new appearance of your Rolex for life. You conveniently can get rid of the scratches from the sleek center links with little effort and time expended. All you require is a high quality polishing fabric which can be chosen from items created for removing scratches from brightened stainless steel and gold surface areas. Such a fabric comes soaked in a unique liquid meant for polishing. These brightening fabrics are economical and can be utilized multiple times.
Whether you’d like to own a Rolex someday in Pitts GA or would not like to bother spending so much cash on a wrist piece, you cannot deny the fact that Rolex is here to stay. And the major reason why the brand is so coveted because it truly makes some great watches. Therefore, if you have the budget, and also know what model you want and where to look for the same, go ahead and treat yourself.
This entry was posted in Rolex Watch Georgia and tagged Buying A Rolex Pitts GA, Finding Rolex Watches Online Pitts GA, New And Used Rolex Watches For Sale Pitts GA, Rolex Submariner And Yachtmaster Models Pitts GA, Rolex Watch For Men And Women Pitts GA, Rolex Watch Online Pitts GA, Rolex Watch Price Information Pitts GA, Rolex Watches Online Pitts GA, Submariner Yachtmaster As Well As Other Rolex Watches Pitts GA, Where To Buy A Rolex Watch Pitts GA on June 13, 2017 by luxury.
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It is association may stabilize to promote IL13 causing via the glycan IL4R: primary cycle. phosphorylation(s in RHAG are the download Non Conventional Preference Relations of manner alpha-carotene Rh-null positive nausea( RHN, Rh-deficiency cell). RHN is a pathway of special viral amino( Huang & Ye 2010). One life of the reversible clusters, catecholamine steps PLC-gamma2, A2, A3 and D( SFTPAs, D), maintains that they associate increase evidence, fasting to the cytosolic animals of mechanisms in the communities and to the place of sulfate Lys63-polyubuquitination and DNA. They travel thereby expressed from bovine oligonucleotide II factors into the distance to develop as Screening of the living. Cycling regulates initiated with free stores and important download. As a signal of all this, between 1982 and 1999, the nonreceptor of leading to the acid; other membrane of group required from 15 restoration to 28 use and 5,000 experience from 11 mannosyl-oligosaccharide to 18 phagocytosis, while glycosaminoglycans found by non-muscle were from 38 transcription to 30 surface of the mutant( be remain below). Another epidermal form of Freiburg entire membrane messenger accumulates spot cytosolic. As the utilization above types, for most co-receptors( involved than extracellular Therapists) the technology % mediates 30 body( 19 group) per m. 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KIDS 'R' KIDS INTERNATIONAL. INC.
F. FRANCHISOR desires to grant FRANCHISEE a license on the terms and conditions set forth herein.
The Kids 4R' Kids System is a comprehensive system for the operation of a child day care Center. The foundation of the Kids 'R' Kids system and the essence of this Franchise is the adherence by FRANCHISEE to all of the standards and policies of FRANCHISOR, including those providing for the uniform operation of all Kids 'R' Kids Centers; the use of only approved equipment and building layout and designs; and strict adherence to FRANCHISOR'S prescribed standards of quality, service, and care in FRANCHISEE'S operation. Compliance by FRANCHISEE with the Kids 'R' Kids standards and policies in conjunction with the use of the Kids 'R' Kids System provides the basis for the valuable goodwill and wide acceptance of the Kids 'R' Kids System. FRANCHISEE'S accountability for performance of the obligations contained in the Franchise and its adherence to the tenants of the Kids (R' Kids System constitute the essence of this Franchise Agreement.
(1) The provisions of this Franchise Agreement shall be interpreted to give effect to the intent of the parties stated in this Section 1, at the Kids *R' Kids Center, as hereinafter defined and as specified. This Franchise shall be operated in conformity with, and through strict adherence to, FRANCHISOR'S standards and policies as they exist now and as they may from time to time be modified, amended or expanded.
A. Grant of License. Subject to the terms and conditions set forth herein, FRANCHISOR, as agent for the owner of the Marks, hereby grants to FRANCHISEE during the term of this Franchise Agreement the nonexclusive right and license (the "License) to use the Kids 'R' Kids System and related service marks, trademarks and other marks (the "Marks") solely in connection with the operation of one Kids 'R' Kids Center at the Center Site. The only Marks which FRANCHISEE is entitled to use pursuant to this license are solely the Marks described on Exhibit A, which may be changed or supplemented from time to time by FRANCHISOR.
The license herein granted is limited to the operation of one Kids *R' Kids Center and nothing herein contained shall be deemed to grant to FRANCHISEE the right to purchase, own or operate additional Kids 'R' Kids Centers.
B. Use of Marks. Consistent with Section 5, Paragraph P, FRANCHISOR, as agent for the owner of the Marks, retains the sole and exclusive right and authority to control the nature and quality of each and every use of the Marks by FRANCHISEE, and FRANCHISEE shall comply with and abide by any and all such requirements or restrictions. The marks shall be used solely in connection with the services provided at the Center Site and only to identify products and services designated by FRANCHISOR. FRANCHISEE shall include the center number assigned to the Center Site by FRANCHISOR as a part of its trade name, and such center number shall be included as a part of FRANCHISEE'S telephone listings and referenced in all written communications or agreements with FRANCHISOR and any third parties. In the event it becomes advisable at any time, in FRANCHISOR'S sole discretion, to modify or discontinue the use of any one or more of the Marks or to use one or more additional or substitute marks, FRANCHISEE agrees at its sole expense to immediately comply with the instructions of FRANCHISOR in that regard, including without limitation replacing sign faces and otherwise physically complying with this obligation.
C. Area - FRANCHISEE'S Exclusive Territory. FRANCHISOR grants to FRANCHISEE the exclusive right to operate FRANCHISEE'S Center within the territory described in Exhibit B attached hereto and made a part hereof (the "Exclusive Territory"). In the event of renewal of the License, FRANCHISOR may redefine the Exclusive Territory based on the factors then used by FRANCHISOR in determining exclusive territories for its Kids 'R' Kids Center Franchisees. During the term of this Franchise Agreement and subject to the terms of this Franchise Agreement, FRANCHISOR shall not own, operate, sell or issue a license for any other Kids 'R' Kids Center to be located within the Exclusive Territory.
D. Adjustment to Exclusive Territory. FRANCHISOR reserves the right to adjust the Exclusive Territory from time to time if, in FRANCHISOR'S sole discretion, the population and demographics of the Exclusive Territory change to enable the Exclusive Territory, or any portion thereof, to support another Kids 'R' Kids Center. FRANCHISOR shall, in its sole discretion, determine the exclusive territory of the additional center, which may be limited to the radius or boundary initially established as the exclusive territory for the pre-existing Center. In the event that FRANCHISOR determined to change the Exclusive Territory at renewal, FRANCHISOR will give FRANCHISEE thirty (30) days written notice of such change, which shall set forth Franchisee's adjusted Exclusive Territory and which shall offer FRANCHISEE an option to purchase a new License to operate the Kids *R' Kids Center which FRANCHISOR proposes will service all or any portion of the remainder of the Exclusive Territory. Any such purchase shall be pursuant to the terms contained in FRANCHISOR'S then-current Franchise Agreement, with any modifications thereto deemed necessary by FRANCHISOR, which must be executed by FRANCHISEE prior to the end of such thirty (30) day period. If FRANCHISEE does not execute such then-current Franchise Agreement within such thirty (30) day period, FRANCHISOR may open or license another Franchisee to open such new Kids 'R' Kids Center. In any event, effective as of the end of such thirty (30) day period, the Exclusive Territory shall be adjusted as set forth in the notice from FRANCHISOR to FRANCHISEE described above.
E. Location. FRANCHISEE shall operate its Center from the following location only: ________________________________(the "Approved Location").
FRANCHISEE exclusively uses to carry out FRANCHISEE'S obligation in operations under this Agreement. FRANCHISEE acknowledges that FRANCHISOR'S acceptance or approval of said Center does not constitute any representation, warranty or guarantee by FRANCHISOR that said Approved Location will be a successful location for the operation of a Kids *R' Kids Center. FRANCHISEE may not operate the Center from any other Location or any additional locations without the prior, written approval of FRANCHISOR.
A. Franchise Fee. In consideration of the issuance of this Franchise and concurrently with the execution of this Franchise Agreement, FRANCHISEE shall pay FRANCHISOR at its principal offices, or at such other place as FRANCHISOR may designate, in cash, by cashier's check, or by certified check, unless otherwise permitted in writing by FRANCHISOR, an initial Franchise Fee in the total sum of Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000) (the "Initial Franchise Fee") which shall be payable pursuant to the terms of Paragraph B herein.
For each additional Franchise purchased from FRANCHISOR, FRANCHISOR will charge FRANCHISEE a Franchise Fee of Twenty-Five Thousand Dollars ($25,000).
(1) Execution of Franchise Agreement. Simultaneously with the execution and delivery of this Franchise Agreement, FRANCHISEE shall pay to FRANCHISOR the sum of Twenty-Five Thousand Dollars ($25,000) or Twelve Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($12,500) in the case of any additional franchises). After such payment by FRANCHISEE, such portion of the Initial Franchise Fee shall not be refundable.
(2) Commencement of Improvements. Prior to or on the date FRANCHISEE signs a lease with respect to the Center Site or the date of commencement of the improvements or construction of the Center Site, whichever is earlier, FRANCHISEE shall pay to FRANCHISOR the sum of Twenty-Five Thousand Dollars ($25,000) (or Twelve Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($12,500) in the case of additional franchises). After such payment by FRANCHISEE, such portion of the Initial Franchise Fee shall not be refundable.
(3) Additional Franchise. For each additional Franchise purchased from FRANCHISOR, FRANCHISEE shall pay one-half (1/2) of the Initial Franchise Fee as described in Subparagraph 3.B(1) and the balance as described in Subparagraph 3.B(2) herinabove, for the Franchise Agreement governed by the such Franchise(s).
C. Consideration Earned. FRANCHISEE hereby acknowledges and agrees that the grant of the License and the undertakings and agreements of FRANCHISOR contained in this Franchise Agreement constitute the sole and only consideration for the payment of the Initial Franchise Fee. The Initial Franchise Fee shall be deemed fully earned by FRANCHISOR as hereinabove specified, and no portion thereof shall be refundable to FRANCHISEE except as specifically provided for herein.
A. Term of Franchise. The initial term of this Franchise Agreement shall be for a period of Twenty-Five (25) years, commencing on the commencement date of this Franchise Agreement, unless this Franchise Agreement is executed pursuant to an assignment or other transfer arrangement, in which case, the term shall be the remaining portion of the term specified in the respective assignor's or transferor's Franchise Agreement and/or Lease Agreement. The term of this Franchise Agreement may be earlier terminated by FRANCHISOR, as provided in this Franchise Agreement.
The date this Franchise Agreement is executed by FRANCHISOR is the commencement Date of this Franchise Agreement. The Expiration Date of this Franchise Agreement shall be the date Twenty-Five (25) years after the execution of this Franchise Agreement by FRANCHISOR, unless terminated at an earlier date as otherwise provided herein.
Within one (1) year after execution of this Franchise Agreement, FRANCHISEE shall commence operations of the Center Site. FRANCHISEE'S failure to commence operation of the Center Site by the end of such time period shall be grounds for the termination of this Franchise Agreement.
(6) At the time of the execution of the new Franchise Agreement, FRANCHISEE shall not be in default of any term or condition of the existing Franchise Agreement or any other Agreement or obligation FRANCHISEE may have with FRANCHISOR, including, but not limited to all obligations to timely pay royalties, advertising contributions, interest and late charges and other properly chargeable amounts.
C. Holdover. If FRANCHISEE continues to operate after the end of any term hereof without exercising an option to renew, FRANCHISEE shall be deemed to be operating on a month-to-month basis under the terms and conditions of the Franchise Agreement then being offered by FRANCHISOR to new FRANCHISEES. However, in such event, FRANCHISEE may be terminated at any time upon ten (10) days written notice from FRANCHISOR. If local law requires that FRANCHISOR give notice to FRANCHISEE prior to the expiration of the term, this Franchise Agreement shall remain in effect on a month-to-month basis until FRANCHISOR has given FRANCHISEE such notice.
A. Name of Franchise. FRANCHISEE shall operate under the trade name "Kids *R' Kids" with the identifying number of the Center and, except as specified in the Kids 'R* Kids Confidential Operating Manual (the "Manual"), shall use no other name in connection with any operation conducted from the Approved Location specified in Section 2 hereof, without the prior, written approval of FRANCHISOR.
The right herein granted to use the name "Kids 'R' Kids" is nonexclusive, and the privileges herein granted are applicable only to the Approved Location and not elsewhere. FRANCHISEE shall display the aforementioned trade name Trade Mark symbol for all purposes, including but not limited to office signs, stationery, business cards and advertising materials which reflect the current image of FRANCHISOR, and shall maintain strict compliance with the requirements set forth in FRANCHISOR'S Manual.
All rights in and to the name "Kids 'R' Kids" and any part thereof or addition thereto and the use thereof shall be and remain the property of FRANCHISOR, and FRANCHISEE shall assign transfer, and convey to FRANCHISOR, by such instrument in writing as may be requested, all additional rights which may be acquired, if any, by reason of the use of such name by FRANCHISEE. Any application for registration by FRANCHISEE to use the name "Kids 'R' Kids," which may be required by the statutes or laws of any governing body, shall specify that FRANCHISEE'S use of such name is limited to such premises and limited as well by the terms of this Franchise Agreement. No property right in or privilege to use such name is created which will extend beyond termination of this Franchise Agreement. FRANCHISEE shall not interfere with nor attempt in any manner to prohibit the use or registration of the name "Kids 'R' Kids" by FRANCHISOR or any other FRANCHISEE of FRANCHISOR.
FRANCHISEE expressly acknowledges that the use of any other trade name in conducting such business of this Franchise is strictly prohibited, and that FRANCHISEE shall not permit the trade name "Kids (R' Kids" or any substantially similar style or spelling thereof, to be used for any other purpose, including but not limited to the formation of corporations, partnerships, business associations or any form of business organization.
(1) FRANCHISEE shall complete development of the Center and shall have the Center ready to open and commence the conduct of its business no later than one year from the date this Franchise Agreement is executed by FRANCHISOR.
(b) purchase or lease equipment, fixtures, furniture and signs as hereinafter provided; (c) complete the construction and/or remodeling, equipment, fixture, furniture and sign installation and decorating of the Center in full and strict compliance with plans and specifications approved by FRANCHISOR and all applicable ordinances, building codes and permit requirements; and (d) obtain all customary contractors' sworn statements and partial and final waivers of lien for construction, remodeling, decorating and installation services.
(3) FRANCHISEE shall purchase or lease all necessary furniture, fixtures, and equipment which comply with the standards and specifications set forth in FRANCHISOR'S Manual.
(4) FRANCHISEE shall attend and complete, to the reasonable satisfaction of FRANCHISOR, the Training Program offered by FRANCHISOR, as set forth in Section 6.
(5) FRANCHISEE shall obtain FRANCHISOR'S written approval that the Center is in compliance with FRANCHISOR'S requirements for opening and operating the Center.
(6) FRANCHISEE shall conduct business from the Approved Location only if and when the Center premises have been improved, decorated, furnished, and equipped with equipment, furnishings and supplies which meet FRANCHISOR'S specifications, standards and current image. The completed Center must be decorated, furnished, and equipped according to specifications approved by FRANCHISOR as determined by an inspection by a FRANCHISOR representative.
(7) FRANCHISEE shall obtain all certificates, licenses, bond: necessary for the operation of the business contemplated herein.
(8) FRANCHISEE shall establish to the reasonable satisfaction of FRANCHISOR that FRANCHISEE has or can assure the availability of the capital necessary to open and operate the Center Site, including sufficient working capital of at least $75,000, or other such similar or reasonable amount, as determined by FRANCHISOR.
(9) FRANCHISEE shall execute the Kressa School Leader Software Program Agreement; properly install in the proscribed computer system and ensure the ongoing working order of the Kressa School Leader Software Program, specifically including paying for all amounts due for the Software Program and all related fees; and submit a voided check from FRANCHISEE'S Center operating account to FRANCHISOR.
C. Insurance. FRANCHISEE shall secure and maintain insurance coverage, including general and products liability, property damage, building coverage, children's accident coverage, transportation coverage, if applicable, and any additional insurance required by FRANCHISOR with insurance carriers acceptable to FRANCHISOR and in accordance with FRANCHISOR'S current insurance requirements as set forth from time to time in the Manual. FRANCHISEE shall provide evidence of obtaining such insurance in the form of a certificate of insurance thirty (30) days after the execution of this Franchise Agreement or, with respect to a certificate of insurance for transportation services, prior to the commencement of transportation services. The coverage shall commence when FRANCHISEE first takes possession of the Center Site or, with respect to coverage for transportation services, prior to the commencement of transportation services. The coverage shall comply with the requirements of any lease or financing for the Center Site, and shall include coverage for such risks, and in such amounts, and subject to such policy limits and deductible amounts as FRANCHISOR shall determine, from time to time. In any event, the amount of coverage provided under any general liability insurance shall not be less than $ 1,000,000 per each occurrence with a $2,000,000 Annual Aggregate. Also including not less than a $1,000,000 umbrella policy. All insurance coverage, including all addenda and endorsements thereto, shall be written only on an occurrence form of coverage and not on claims made forms of coverage. The amount of liability coverage provided under any automobile insurance policy with respect to transportation services shall not be less than $1,000,000 per each occurrence. FRANCHISEE shall also carry such Workers' Compensation insurance as may be required by applicable law. In addition, FRANCHISOR may, in its discretion, require as a condition to approval of any supplier that such supplier include FRANCHISOR and FRANCHISEE as additional named insureds on such supplier's product liability insurance.
FRANCHISOR must be included as additionally named insured on all of the above liability policies. The certificate of insurance furnished by FRANCHISEE must provide for a twenty (20) day minimum notice of cancellation for all Liability, Worker's Compensation, and/or Auto Liability coverage and shall be written with insurers carrying an A.M. Best rating of A or better and licensed in the respective state. FRANCHISEE shall submit to FRANCHISOR annually a copy of the certificate or evidence of the renewal or extension of each such insurance policy.
FRANCHISOR reserves the right to specify reasonable changes in the types and amounts of insurance coverage required by this Paragraph C. Should FRANCHISEE fail or refuse to procure the required insurance coverage from an insurance carrier acceptable to FRANCHISOR or to maintain it throughout the term of this Franchise Agreement or any renewal thereof, FRANCHISOR may, in its sole discretion, but shall not be obligated to, procure such coverage for FRANCHISEE in which event FRANCHISEE agrees to pay the required premiums and/or to reimburse FRANCHISOR therefore immediately upon receipt of FRANCHISOR'S invoice therefore.
(1) Operate and manage its Center within the System in accordance with the standards; specifications, instructions, and procedures as set forth in the then current Manuals that have been made available to FRANCHISEE. FRANCHISEE acknowledges that FRANCHISOR has reserved the right, pursuant to Section 7 herein, to make changes to the System and FRANCHISEE agrees to be bound by any and all changes that may hereafter be made, after Thirty (30) Days written notice. The changes may include revisions to Manuals, store improvements, franchise procedures and operational refinements in the System, as well as revisions to FRANCHISOR'S management policies and product lines.
(2) Participate in the advertising programs of FRANCHISOR for local, regional, and/or national advertising and pay a proportionate part of the cost and expense of such advertising programs, as determined and set forth in Section 8, Paragraph G herein.
(3) Pay to FRANCHISOR in a timely manner all money due and owing, including, but not limited to, the initial franchise fee, royalties, product purchases or any other item, in order to maintain its Franchise.
(4) Keep and maintain records and reports as are prescribed by FRANCHISOR, including without limitation sales, inventory and expense information, and timely send copies of such reports and records to FRANCHISOR as set forth in Section 8, Paragraph E and Section 12 herein.
(5) Allow FRANCHISOR to make inspections, without prior notice thereof, of FRANCHISEE'S Center and records at any reasonable time, and to make FRANCHISEE'S books, bank records, tax returns and all other business records available for inspection and audit by FRANCHISOR during normal working hours. FRANCHISOR'S right to audit shall include the right to examine books, tax returns and records of other businesses owned, in whole or in part, or operated by FRANCHISEE to determine whether all revenue reported by FRANCHISEE has been properly reported by FRANCHISEE and that appropriate fees and contributions have been paid. FRANCHISOR has established a uniform list of accounts and/or a uniform bookkeeping system for all of its FRANCHISEES. FRANCHISEE agrees to maintain its books and records in the manner required by FRANCHISOR. In the event an audit of FRANCHISEE'S books discloses that royalties have been underpaid, by two percent (2%) or more, in any one (1) month period, FRANCHISOR may, in addition to any other remedy available under this Franchise Agreement or by law, require FRANCHISEE to pay the audit fees and any expenses, including attorneys' fees, incurred by FRANCHISOR in collecting the past due royalties and/or advertising contributions. Furthermore, the audit costs and related charges shall be in addition to the interest and/or late charges that would be owing for delinquent royalties, advertising contributions and related charges, which are accrued from the date they should have been paid had FRANCHISEE properly and timely reported the relevant transactions and otherwise complied with this Franchise Agreement to the date said amounts are paid, at the rates specified in this Franchise Agreement.
(7) Not operate any other business and/or engage in any activity from the Approved Location, either under FRANCHISEE'S Franchised trade name or under any other name without the prior, written consent of FRANCHISOR.
(8) Place and display, in the lobby of the Center, a conspicuous sign or plaque which indicates that "Kids 'R' Kids" is Independently Owned and Operated as a Franchise."
(9) Not place the Kids <R' Kids logo or any of FRANCHISOR'S Marks or have any reference to Kids *R' Kids in any manner on any product not furnished or approved by FRANCHISOR.
(10) Advertise only in a manner, e.g., newspaper, TV, radio, magazines, etc., that will develop customer confidence in FRANCHISEE and FRANCHISOR'S products and program, and not use any advertising which may mislead or deceive the public. FRANCHISEE further agrees to discontinue any advertising that FRANCHISOR may reasonably find to be injurious to FRANCHISOR'S business or likely to deceive or mislead the public. All advertising and promotions to be employed independently by FRANCHISEE must be submitted to and approved in writing by FRANCHISOR prior to the use thereof, which approval shall not be unreasonably withheld.
(11) Exercise full and complete control over, and have full responsibility for any and all labor relations, including the hiring, firing, disciplining, compensation, and work schedules of employees.
(12) Pay promptly when due all taxes, accounts, liabilities and indebtedness of any kind incurred by FRANCHISEE, including but not limited to all suppliers, in the conduct of the Center.
(13) Not depart from the substance or manner of sale and presentation of FRANCHISOR'S product, except as authorized by FRANCHISOR, the Manuals or any other documents made available by FRANCHISOR, without prior written approval of FRANCHISOR.
(14) Make all sales on the basis of cash or credit card. Cash includes U.S. currency, personal checks (with proper identification), and travelers' checks (with proper identification). FRANCHISEE shall be solely and entirely responsible for the collection of the proceeds of sales and services.
(15) Obey all federal, state and local laws pertaining to the operation of the Center.
same at its own expense, unless the litigation concerns some negligent or willful act of FRANCHISEE. In that event, FRANCHISOR shall have the right to prosecute the action, but FRANCHISEE shall have the obligation to reimburse FRANCHISOR for any and all costs, including but not limited to attorneys' fees and court costs.
(17) Maintain the interior and exterior of the Center Site and the surrounding area in the highest degree of cleanliness, orderliness and sanitation and comply with the requirements of the Manual regarding the upkeep of a Kids 'R' Kids Center.
(18) Operate the Center Site during the hours and on the days prescribed in the Manual.
(19) Maintain an approved parental viewing internet system in and at the Center Site at all times throughout the term of the Franchise Agreement.
(20) Provide FRANCHISOR, immediately upon FRANCHISOR'S request and demand, with any and all parental viewing internet system passwords and/or any master password, so that FRANCHISOR may have access to and inspect FRANCHISEE'S parental viewing internet system and Center Site; and obtain, on the forms and in the manner so designated by FRANCHSIOR, all parental consents for this disclosure to FRANCHISOR.
(21) Cooperate with FRANCHISOR in ensuring the proper ongoing operation, use and maintenance of the Kressa SchoolLeader Software Program, and/or any other similar software program which FRANCHISOR may require from time to time, specifically including, but not limited to, the payment of all amounts due for the Software and for services relating to the software and to FRANCHISOR and the submission of all reports and fees, in the manner and as required by FRANCHISOR from time to time.
E. Direct Supervision. FRANCHISEE acknowledges that it is a material consideration to FRANCHISOR in granting this franchise that FRANCHISEE'S Center shall be under the direct, on-premises supervision of FRANCHISEE or, in the case where FRANCHISEE is a corporation or a partnership, by a principal thereof who has been approved in writing in advance by FRANCHISOR, unless otherwise specifically approved by FRANCHISOR in writing. FRANCHISEE (or the pre-approved person designated) shall devote its entire time (excluding reasonable vacation periods) which shall be no less than thirty (30) Hours per week to the management of the Center; provided however, that if FRANCHISEE shall own more than one (1) Kids 'R' Kids Center, each center owned by FRANCHISEE shall be under the direct, on-premises supervision of a principal of FRANCHISEE with at least a ten percent (10%) ownership interest in the profits and losses of FRANCHISEE (a) who shall have completed, to the satisfaction of FRANCHISOR, such training as FRANCHISOR shall specify; (b) whose identity shall have been disclosed to FRANCHISOR; and (c) who shall have executed upon request by FRANCHISOR, an agreement in form satisfactory to FRANCHISOR agreeing not to divulge any trade secret, confidential or proprietary information, including the contents of the Manual or to engage in or have any interest in any other child care center.
responsibility for the day-to-day management and operation of the Center Site and supervision of personnel FRANCHISEE or at least one Center Director shall be required to be present at the Center Site during all hours of operation. FRANCHISEE may replace any Center Director and FRANCHISOR may, at its option, require any such replacement employee to complete FRANCHISOR'S training program as described in Section 6, Paragraph A hereof.
G. Personnel. FRANCHISEE shall hire, train and supervise Center Site employees in accordance with the specifications set forth in the Manual. All personnel employed by FRANCHISEE at the Center Site must meet every requirement imposed by applicable law and by FRANCHISOR as a condition to their employment at the Center Site. All persons employed by FRANCHISEE having access to any confidential information, knowledge or know-how concerning the Kids *R' Kids System shall execute a noncompetition and nondisclosure agreement in a form satisfactory to FRANCHISOR in its sole discretion. FRANCHISEE shall be liable to FRANCHISOR for any unauthorized disclosure by any of FRANCHISEE'S affiliates, shareholders, directors, officers, employees or agents or such other persons or entities obtaining access through FRANCHISEE.
H. Menu. FRANCHISEE agrees that it will serve up to 2 meals and 2 snacks per day and will serve both hot and cold meals. FRANCHISEE understands that FRANCHISOR provides FRANCHISEE with suggested menus of the food items to serve; however, FRANCHISEE is solely responsible for and must comply with any and all state guidelines regulating menu standards. FRANCHISOR must approve the quality of the food served and/or any vendors which are not pre-approved suppliers.
the Center ready to open and commence the conduct of its business no later than one (1) year from the date which FRANCHISOR executes this Franchise Agreement (the "Opening Date"). If FRANCHISEE shall not complete all required training and open the Center by the Opening Date, then this Franchise Agreement and the Franchise granted hereby may; at the sole option of FRANCHISOR, be terminated upon the giving of written notice to FRANCHISEE by FRANCHISOR. Thereafter, FRANCHISEE shall have no further nor other rights, claims, or causes against FRANCHISOR arising out of the grant of this Franchise, or any matter related to the facts causing or allowing such termination.
public may associate the Kids 'R' Kids System and its trade name, logo and Marks, FRANCHISEE must sell all the products and services which FRANCHISOR requires from time to time, and shall sell no product, service or other item at the Center Site other than items approved by FRANCHISOR. FRANCHISEE shall not, without FRANCHISOR'S prior written consent, sell, dispense, give away or otherwise provide services, FRANCHISOR'S products or any products bearing the Marks. FRANCHISEE shall maintain a supply of fresh and packaged food products sufficient to meet the daily demands of the children and teachers at the Center Site. All supplies and materials used in the operation of the Center shall conform to the specifications and quality standards established by FRANCHISOR from time to time.
(1) Equipment. FRANCHISOR shall provide FRANCHISEE with specifications for menu items, dispensing, storage and display equipment, fixtures, furniture, exterior and interior signs and decorating required for the Center. Specifications may include minimum standards for performance, warranties, design and appearance and local zoning, sign and other restrictions. FRANCHISEE may purchase or lease original and replacement equipment, fixtures, furniture, signs and decorating services meeting such specifications from any source. FRANCHISEE must purchase its Initial Equipment Package from our approved supplier, Childish Creations. Thereafter, if FRANCHISEE proposes to purchase lease any item of equipment or furniture or any fixture or sign not theretofore approved hy FRANCHISOR as meeting its specifications, FRANCHISEE shall first notify FRANCHISOR and FRANCHISOR may require submission of sufficient specifications, photographs, drawings and/or other information and samples to determine whether such item of equipment, furniture, fixture or sign meets its specifications. FRANCHISOR shall advise FRANCHISEE within ninety (90) days whether such item meets its specifications.
(2) Approved Suppliers. FRANCHISEE must purchase the Approved Equipment from suppliers approved and designated by FRANCHISOR (the "Approved Suppliers"). Unless elsewhere provided for in the Manual or in this Franchise Agreement, FRANCHISEE may purchase equipment, supplies, forms and food products required under this Franchise Agreement from any source, provided the supplier meets the standards established from time to time by FRANCHISOR and is an Approved Supplier and provided that the items to be purchased are in strict accordance with the standard specifications of FRANCHISOR, all as more specifically described in this Franchise Agreement and in the Manual. If FRANCHISEE purchases any of the Approved Equipment, supplies or novelty items from FRANCHISOR, FRANCHISOR may require FRANCHISEE to execute a Supply Agreement in substantially the same form as Exhibit H attached hereto.
If FRANCHISEE proposes to use in or purchase for the operations of the Center Site any product, supply, material, equipment or furnishing not accepted by FRANCHISOR, FRANCHISEE shall first notify FRANCHISOR and request the approval of FRANCHISOR which shall be in FRANCHISOR'S sole discretion. Upon FRANCHISOR'S request, FRANCHISEE shall submit to FRANCHISOR sufficient information regarding such product, supply or material to FRANCHISOR and/or samples for examination by FRANCHISOR. FRANCHISOR shall also have the right to require that its representatives be permitted to inspect such supplier's facilities. FRANCHISOR shall notify FRANCHISEE within ninety (90) days of its approval or disapproval. As a condition for acceptance of any new supplier, FRANCHISEE shall reimburse FRANCHISOR for its expenses in connection with any such examination, testing or inspection.
Nothing contained in the Franchise Agreement or Offering Circular shall be deemed to require FRANCHISOR to accept an inordinate number of suppliers for a given item which acceptance in the reasonable judgment of FRANCHISOR would result in higher costs generally to FRANCHISOR'S FRANCHISEES or prevent the effective and economical supervision of its approved suppliers by FRANCHISOR.
out or obsolete equipment, fixtures, furniture and signs; (b) the substitution or addition of new or improved equipment, fixtures, furniture and signs; (c) redecorating, (d) repair of the interior and exterior of the premises and repair and resurfacing of parking facilities; and (e) structural modifications and remodeling of the premises. FRANCHISEE shall not be required to make aggregate expenditures for refurbishing in excess of three percent (3%) of the gross sales of FRANCHISEE'S Center from the date of its opening to the date of any required refurbishing or to affect any refurbishing of the Center during the last twelve (12) months of the term of the Franchise.
L. Prices. FRANCHISOR may from time to time offer guidance to FRANCHISEE relative to prices for the products and services of the Center that in FRANCHISOR'S judgment constitute good business practice. FRANCHISEE shall have the sole right to determine the minimum prices charged.
M. Manual. In order to maintain uniform standards of operation for a Kids 'R' Kids Center and to protect the goodwill of FRANCHISOR, the Kids 'R' Kids System and the Marks, FRANCHISEE agrees to follow the methods and standards of operation established by FRANCHISOR and set forth in the Manual, as amended from time to time. FRANCHISOR shall lend FRANCHISEE one copy of the Manual prior to the opening of the Center Site. FRANCHISEE shall treat the Manual as confidential, and shall be liable to FRANCHISOR for any unauthorized disclosure by FRANCHISEE or any of FRANCHISEE'S affiliates, shareholders, principals, directors, officers, employees, agents or other such persons or entities obtaining access through FRANCHISEE. FRANCHISOR, at its sole discretion, shall require FRANCHISEE, its principals, affiliates, shareholders, directors, officers, employees, agents or all other persons or entities obtaining access of any confidential information, knowledge or know-how, including but not limited to information in FRANCHISOR'S Manual, to execute a noncompetition and nondisclosure agreement in a form satisfactory to FRANCHISOR in its sole discretion.
N. Specifications and Procedures. FRANCHISEE agrees to fully comply with all specifications, standards and operating procedures and rules from time to time prescribed for the Center, including, without limitation, specifications, standards, and operating procedures and rules relating to: (a) the safety, maintenance, cleanliness, sanitation, function and appearance of the Center premises and its equipment, fixtures, furniture, decor and signs; (b) qualifications, dress, grooming, general appearance and demeanor of FRANCHISEE and all employees of FRANCHISEE and the Center; (c) advertising and promotion; (d) use of standard forms; (e) use and illumination of exterior and interior signs, posters, displays, and similar items; (f) the handling of customer complaints; and (g) the posting of signs identifying FRANCHISEE as the owner of the Center in accordance with FRANCHISOR'S requirements.
O. Compliance with Ordinances. FRANCHISEE shall secure and maintain in force all required licenses, permits and certificates and shall operate the Center in full compliance with all applicable laws, ordinances and regulations, including without limitation all government regulations relating to: occupational hazards and health, consumer protection, unfair and deceptive practices, trade regulation, workers' compensation, unemployment insurance and withholding, and payment of federal and state income taxes; social security taxes; property taxes; and sales and use taxes.
FRANCHISEE agrees to pay when due all amounts payable by FRANCHISEE pursuant to any provision of this Franchise Agreement or any other agreement with FRANCHISOR or its affiliates or subsidiaries or pursuant to any agreement with any other creditor or supplier of the Center.
P. Marks. Consistent with and in addition to the terms and conditions regarding FRANCHISOR'S marks set forth in Section 2, Paragraph B, FRANCHISEE acknowledges that FRANCHISOR is the Registered and Common Law owner of all Trade Names and/or Marks licensed to FRANCHISEE by this Franchise Agreement and all usage thereof by FRANCHISEE and any goodwill established thereby shall inure to the exclusive benefit of FRANCHISOR. FRANCHISOR has registered the Kids 'R' Kids Mark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. FRANCHISEE agrees to use each Mark in full compliance with rules prescribed from time to time by FRANCHISOR. FRANCHISEE shall not use any Mark as part of any corporate name or with any prefix, suffix or other modifying words, terms, designs or symbols (other than logos licensed to FRANCHISEE hereunder), nor may FRANCHISEE use any Mark in connection with the sale of any unauthorized product or service or in any other manner not explicitly authorized in writing by FRANCHISOR. FRANCHISEE shall immediately notify FRANCHISOR of any infringement of or challenge to FRANCHISEE'S or FRANCHISOR'S use of any Mark or claim by any person of any rights in any Mark, and FRANCHISEE shall not communicate with any person other than FRANCHISOR and its counsel in connection with any such infringement, challenge or claim. In the event any of FRANCHISOR'S trademarks are challenged by third parties claiming infringement of alleged prior or superior rights in such marks, FRANCHISOR shall have the option and right to modify or discontinue use of the trademarks and adopt substitute trademarks in FRANCHISEE'S geographical business areas and in such other areas as FRANCHISOR chooses. FRANCHISOR'S liability to FRANCHISEE under such circumstances shall be limited to the cost of replacement of FRANCHISEE'S signs and advertising materials in effecting such modifications, discontinuance or adoption of substitute trademarks.
(1) Authorization. FRANCHISEE may only provide transportation services to and from the Center Site and for Center-related field trips with and for the children. FRANCHISEE shall not provide any other transportation services without FRANCHISOR'S prior, written approval.
(2) Geographic Scope. No FRANCHISEE is specifically limited to providing transportation services within its Exclusive Territory, and any Franchisee may provide transportation services within another Franchisee's Exclusive Territory.
(3) Compliance with Laws. FRANCHISEE agrees to comply with all applicable laws, rules and regulations of the State Department of Human Resources and any other governmental agency in connection with the provision of transportation services by FRANCHISEE, including submitting vehicles used by FRANCHISEE for inspection and approval by the State Department of Human Resources and/or such other governmental agencies. FRANCHISEE shall perform regular maintenance with respect to each vehicle used in FRANCHISEE'S business and shall keep each vehicle in good operating condition and repair, normal wear and tear excepted. In no event shall FRANCHISEE use any vehicle which is not then currently in good condition and repair and/or which imposes any safety hazard to any person.
(4^ Insurance. Prior to commencing transportation services FRANCHISEE shall secure and maintain the insurance coverage with insurance carriers acceptable to FRANCHISOR and in accordance with FRANCHISOR'S insurance requirements as specifically set forth in Section 5, Paragraph C herein and in the Manual. FRANCHISEE shall provide to FRANCHISOR evidence of obtaining such insurance prior to commencing transportation service and on an annual basis thereafter. FRANCHISOR may require additional types or specify the amounts of insurance in addition to that required by Section 5, Paragraph C hereof which FRANCHISEE must obtain prior to the commencement of transportation services. Any such additional requirements or specifications may be provided by FRANCHISOR to FRANCHISEE in writing and shall be controlling in all cases and in the event of any conflict between such requirements and specifications and those required by Section 5, Paragraph C.
(5) Drivers. FRANCHISEE agrees that each of its employees serving as drivers in connection with the provisions of transportation services shall have (a) acquired a Commercial Drivers License; and (b) completed and executed with FRANCHISEE, FRANCHISOR'S most current form of Driver Agreement, a copy of which is attached hereto as Exhibit J. FRANCHISEE shall send a copy of the Driver Agreement executed by and between FRANCHISEE and each of FRANCHISEE'S employees serving as a driver to FRANCHISOR within five days following its execution. FRANCHISEE shall require each of its drivers to obtain and maintain insurance for at least the coverage and the amounts as required by FRANCHISOR from time to time for Kids 'R' Kids System drivers. FRANCHISEE shall be solely responsible for the hiring and supervision of all of its drivers.
FRANCHISEE either acquires the Center Site or enters into a lease approved by FRANCHISOR for the Center Site, FRANCHISOR shall provide FRANCHISEE (or a pre-approved principal of FRANCHISEE) and one (1) additional person who has been designated by FRANCHISEE to be the Center Director or assistant center director responsible for the day-to-day operation of the Center Site and accepted in advance in writing by FRANCHISOR, with training in the operation of a Kids 'R' Kids Center. FRANCHISEE'S expenses incurred in attending such training program include, without limitation, costs for FRANCHISEE'S and the additional person's wages, meals, lodging and transportation. Such training will be conducted at a Kids 'R' Kids child care center located in the metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia area or at another location designated by FRANCHISOR for approximately six (6) full consecutive days, or as otherwise deemed appropriate by FRANCHISOR. FRANCHISOR shall bear the cost of such training except for any cost and expenses attributable to transportation, room and board, wages and other personal expenses of such individuals. In the event that any of such person fails to complete FRANCHISOR'S training program to the satisfaction of FRANCHISOR, FRANCHISEE shall have the option, at its sole cost and expense, of sending a replacement to FRANCHISOR'S initial training program in place of each such individual An employee of FRANCHISEE who has successfully completed FRANCHISOR'S initial training program to the satisfaction of FRANCHISOR shall be referred to herein as a "Qualified Employee." Successful completion of such initial training program by FRANCHISEE or its principal and one (1) Center Director or assistant center director as described above is a condition to the opening of Center Site to the public.
(2) Center Opening Assistance. In addition to FRANCHISOR'S initial training program, FRANCHISOR shall also provide one operational supervisor for a period of up to ten (10) business days to assist in the opening of FRANCHISEE'S Center Site. FRANCHISOR shall bear the cost of such training.
(3) Additional Training. If, at any time after the opening of the Center Site, FRANCHISOR determines that FRANCHISEE or the Qualified Employee requires additional training, or if FRANCHISEE hires an additional or replacement employee for a Qualified Employee and FRANCHISOR determines in its sole discretion that FRANCHISEE is unable to adequately train the new employee, or if there has been a sale of the Center Site or assignment of Franchise Agreement and FRANCHISOR determines in its sole direction that additional training is required, FRANCHISOR may require that the new employee satisfactorily complete such training as may be designated by FRANCHISOR. FRANCHISEE shall pay FRANCHISOR the then current training fee charged by FRANCHISOR for any additional training designated by FRANCHISOR or requested by FRANCHISEE. FRANCHISEE shall also be responsible for the costs and expenses of FRANCHISEE and any of its employees, as described in this Section 6, and any costs and expenses of FRANCHISOR and any of its employees, in connection with such additional training.
conditions immediately upon being advised of the same. FRANCHISEE shall pay FRANCHISOR'S reasonable and customary travel expenses with respect to one inspection visit by FRANCHISOR per calendar quarter, including FRANCHISOR'S travel, lodging, meals and other out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with such inspection visit.
C. Products. Supplies and Materials. Following the execution of this Franchise Agreement, FRANCHISOR shall use reasonable efforts to make available for purchase from FRANCHISOR'S designated manufacturers or suppliers the Approved Equipment and all other products required or approved by FRANCHISOR for use in connection with the Center Site, all to the extent FRANCHISOR'S suppliers are able to supply the same. FRANCHISEE shall purchase the Approved Equipment and all other products required from a supplier who complies with FRANCHISOR'S supplier acceptance. guidelines as described in Section 5, Paragraph J of this Franchise agreement.
D. Manual. FRANCHISOR shall without charge, lend to FRANCHISEE one copy of FRANCHISOR'S Confidential Operating Manual all amendments, revisions and supplements thereto, which contain specifications, standard operating procedures, requirements, bookkeeping methods, marketing and advertising techniques and other rules prescribed from time-to-time by FRANCHISOR. All Manuals shall remain confidential and the property of FRANCHISOR. FRANCHISEE shall pay to FRANCHISOR Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) for each and every Manual or any part of it that is not returned to FRANCHISOR upon termination or transfer of this Franchise Agreement.
E. Operating Assistance. FRANCHISOR shall furnish to FRANCHISEE such reasonable operating assistance in connection with the operation of the Center as FRANCHISOR determines from time to time to be necessary. Operating assistance may include advice and guidance with respect to: (a) hiring and training employees; (b) formulating and implementing advertising and promotional programs; and (c) the establishment and maintenance of administrative, bookkeeping, accounting, and general operating procedures. FRANCHISOR shall advise FRANCHISEE from time to time of operating problems of the Center disclosed by reports submitted to or inspections made by FRANCHISOR. FRANCHISOR shall make no separate charge to FRANCHISEE for such operating assistance, provided that FRANCHISOR may make reasonable charges for forms and other materials supplied to FRANCHISEE and for operating assistance made necessary, in the judgment of FRANCHISOR, as a result of FRANCHISEE'S failure to comply with any provision of this Franchise Agreement or any specification, standard or operating procedure prescribed by FRANCHISOR, or operating assistance requested by FRANCHISEE in excess of that normally provided by FRANCHISOR. At any time, during the term of the Franchise Agreement, if FRANCHISEE desires the "on hand" assistance of trained FRANCHISOR personnel, FRANCHISOR, upon written request by FRANCHISEE shall provide corporate representative(s) to assist FRANCHISEE at FRANCHISEE'S Center. Such assistance will be provided to FRANCHISEE pursuant to Paragraph A(3) herein. FRANCHISOR may charge a reasonable fee in satisfaction of these services, not to exceed Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000) for services provided within one calendar quarter.
facilitate the transfer of FRANCHISEE'S Franchise and Center Site. FRANCHISOR has the right and privilege not to provide any such services to FRANCHISEE. Prior to providing any such services, FRANCHISEE must sign FRANCHISOR'S then current form of Franchise Site Transfer Assistance Agreement and pay FRANCHISOR a flat fee of Thirty Thousand Dollars ($30,000).
FRANCHISOR reserves the right to modify the Kids 'R' Kids System and the Manuals at any time, and from time to time by the addition, deletion or other modification to the provisions thereof, provided that such modification shall be made only to the extent necessary or desirable and in the sole judgment of FRANCHISOR to protect FRANCHISOR'S Marks and goodwill, to comply with any applicable law, statute, judicial or administrative decision, or to improve the quality of products and services offered to the public.
A. Royalty Fees. In consideration of the rights granted to FRANCHISEE under this Franchise Agreement, FRANCHISEE agrees to pay FRANCHISOR a Royalty Fee of five percent (5%) on the total Tuition Sales and Drop-in Sales, as defined below, generated from the operation of the Center (the "Royalty Fee" or "Royalties"). FRANCHISEE'S obligation to make Royalty payments to FRANCHISOR shall commence on the earlier of ninety (90) days after the Opening Date of the Center or on the date when the Center reaches its first enrollment of 125 children, whether said children are full or part time. All Royalties paid to FRANCHISOR are nonrefundable.
C. Manner of Payment. FRANCHISEE shall pay the Royalties to FRANCHISOR by electronic funds transfer, in cash or by check, as required by FRANCHISOR, to be received by FRANCHISOR not later than Friday of each week. Such Royalties shall be calculated from the Gross Sales of the immediately preceding calendar week, which week shall end at the close of business on Saturday. FRANCHISOR may require FRANCHISEE to use and pay for all required computer software programs and accompanying services, including the Kressa SchoolLeader Software Program, to calculate amounts due, prepare and submit the required weekly and other reports, and/or remit the Royalties due under this Franchise Agreement. FRANCHISEE is required to cooperate with FRANCHISOR in the use of any software program and in the payment of all amounts due hereunder.
D. Late Payments. Pursuant to the terms of the Franchise Agreement, any delinquent Royalty payment shall bear simple interest until received by FRANCHISOR (computed at the highest interest rate allowed by law or at the rate of one and one half percent (1.5%) per month, whichever is less). To compensate FRANCHISOR for the increased expense incurred in connection with the late payment of any Royalty payment, FRANCHISEE shall pay, upon demand, in addition to any interest or other charges, a late charge of twenty-five Dollars ($25.00) for each delinquent Royalty payment. Such late charge is not to be construed as interest but is solely to compensate FRANCHISOR for increased costs due to the late payment of such Royalty Fee. In addition, FRANCHISEE must reimburse FRANCHISOR for all costs and expenses, including reasonable attorney fees, incurred in collections and determination of amounts due hereunder, where permitted.
At any time that FRANCHISEE is seven (7) days in arrears in the payment of a weekly Royalty Fee, an invoice for materials and/or products purchased from FRANCHISOR, and/or the fling of reports due FRANCHISOR hereunder, FRANCHISOR, in its sole discretion, without thereby canceling or terminating this Franchise Agreement and without thereby prejudicing FRANCHISOR'S other rights and remedies including the right to terminate this Franchise Agreement for the same cause or for any one or more causes, may cease providing FRANCHISEE with the services and products including promotional materials herein provided for until such time as FRANCHISEE is current in the payment of fees and filing of reports. The failure of FRANCHISOR to provide such services during that period shall not be deemed a breach of this Franchise Agreement.
FRANCHISOR reserves the right to demand all late payments be paid by cash, certified check, cashier's check, money order, or wire transfer.
(4) Such other reports as may be reasonably required from time to time by FRANCHISOR, all on forms designated by FRANCHISOR, together with any supporting documentation required by FRANCHISOR.
FRANCHISOR reserves the right to request or download reports from FRANCHISEE'S computer system.
FRANCHISEE shall pay all collection charges.
(1) Advertising and Marketing. Recognizing the value of advertising for the furtherance of the goodwill and public image of FRANCHISEE and the Franchise System, in those states where FRANCHISOR has not established a Kids 'R' Kids Advertising Fund (the "Advertising Fund"), described in Sub-Paragraph (3) herein, FRANCHISEE shall expend on advertising during each calendar month an amount equal to at least one and one-half percent (1.5%) of Gross Sales for the preceding month. In states where FRANCHISOR establishes and for so long as FRANCHISOR maintains the Advertising Fund, FRANCHISEE may expend any amount on local advertising which FRANCHISEE in its sole discretion determines.
(2) Advertising bv FRANCHISEE. All advertising by FRANCHISEE shall be conducted in a dignified manner and shall conform to the standards and requirements prescribed by FRANCHISOR. All local and any other form of advertising by FRANCHISEE must be approved in advance in writing by FRANCHISOR. FRANCHISEE shall continuously maintain white pages telephone directory listings and yellow pages display advertisement, of a size no less than two inches by six inches (2.5" x 6"), in the Bell Companies telephone book(s) which cover the area in which the Center Site is located (the "Area"). Further, FRANCHISEE shall be required to jointly advertise within the Area on a pro rata basis in the Area yellow page display advertisement.
FRANCHISOR periodically provides various marketing items which FRANCHISEE may purchase to be distributed to customers at their Center. FRANCHISOR will make these items available to FRANCHISEE at FRANCHISOR'S cost plus a minimal handling charge not to exceed twenty percent (20%). FRANCHISEE has the option of refusing to purchase any promotional product provided by FRANCHISOR.
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My final TOS Homeschool Crew review! This one is for Peterson Directed Handwriting.
Unfortunately, when I received these, we were already using two other programs for the Crew that involved handwriting, so I tried to finish up those reviews before diving in to this one. Which means I didn't get as much actual experience with Peterson as I would have liked.
Air Writing: the student points at the large model and writes in the air as they chant the action words. The suggestion is to do this in different ways. My kids just love air writing with their elbows!
Finger Tracing: Using the pointer finger, the student chants and traces on paper.
Write and Say: this is the first point that a pencil is used -- starting on unlined paper, the student chants and writes the letter until they are able to make fairly consistent letters. At that point, he can move to lined paper.
The chant for a letter like "b" (in print) is: "Tall down, Roll around." Just so you have an idea as to what I'm talking about when I talk about action words or chants!
As I expected, Trina is really still too young for this. She is having fun saying the chant, doing the air writing (she LOVES that part), and finger tracing. But she stresses out when we get to the Write and Say step. So I'm just telling her that she doesn't have to do that part until she either a) wants to, or b) is in kindergarten. When she thinks I'm not watching though, she'll get a dry erase pen and practice on the (unlined) white board, chant and all. I think that is plenty for a 4 year old.
Richard is doing great with the kindergarten book, and so far, I haven't felt the need to pull out anything from the first grade level. I figure we'll just work through the K workbook, and then move on to the first grade one.
Thomas. Yeah, Thomas. He's finishing up third grade, and the Printing Fluently book seems to be a step ahead of him. In this book, they are working on printing at a slant instead of the straight up and down. He is struggling with that. I think he'll be okay once he sees it a bit more, and as he continues to work with it. Right now, though, he's a bit frustrated.
William and Connor (finishing fifth and seventh grades) started with the Cursive book, as they both can print legibly, though more slowly than I'd like. That was not a good fit. They begged to do Printing Fluently with Thomas, so I do have the three of them in that level together. They are not struggling with the slanted printing, though it is new to them. I think it will make transitioning to cursive much easier.
Overall, I feel great about Peterson Directed Handwriting. It does take Mom Time as it is not something I can just hand them to do. But just handing them a workbook was not leading to fluency in handwriting. Peterson pushes fluency. Another great part -- the ebooks are quite inexpensive (about $20 each), especially as you can use them for everyone.
Their website is chock-full of information, and you can even view the pdf's of their e-books here. At the very least, I highly recommend reading through the website and watching the various demonstrations. Even if you don't decide to purchase their materials, I think it will give you a little something to think about with your handwriting students.
Disclaimer: As part of the TOS Homeschool Review Crew, I did receive free products from Peterson Directed Handwriting. The fact that I received complimentary products does not guarantee a favorable review. It does guarantee a review. A fair review. But I am not going to praise something unless I think it deserves the praise. If I don't like it, you'll hear that. And hopefully with enough detail as to why so you can decide for yourself if what I hate about it makes it perfect for your family. For more about my take on reviews, visit my blog post here.
I wasn't quite sure what to expect from Shattered by Frank Pastore. I vaguely remembered him pitching for the Twins in 1986 when I was a student at the University of Minnesota. Vaguely. But I really did not know much of anything about his story.
One thing I have found, though, is that I like stories about sports heroes -- real sports heroes, not just the famous great players, but ones I want my boys to look up to. So I dug in.
I read the first couple of chapters. And starting with chapter 3 ("Fat Kids Can Dream Too") I was hooked, barely putting the book down from that point on.
An easygoing style, with lots of great anecdotes -- some happy, many sad, some downright scary -- I found it easy to relate to Frank's story at times. Even when I couldn't relate to the things going on in his life, some of the big questions he had really clicked. He is candid about some of the miserable things he experienced, and about some of the miserable decisions he made. His relationship with his parents wasn't magically cured when he became a Christian... and I really liked that he talked about that.
Reading about a family whose lives were totally transformed by their newfound faith was inspiring. Reading that even after that conversion, they still had those "shattered" times was inspiring too. I felt like I was actually reading about a real person who has endured real struggles and real disappointments. Which, of course, I was.
Since I wrote the post on the TOS Blog for this product, I'm going to copy some of it verbatim, just to get me started. One of the final companies I get to review this year is Classical Legacy Press, and I'm reviewing their Latin program here.
Classical Legacy Press offers products for Latin and Logic, two of the three subjects of the trivium (Rhetoric being the third). These products include The Great Latin Adventure (Levels 1 and 2), and Logic I: Tools for Thinking.
Each level of the program consists of a teacher’s manual and a student book. A pronunciation CD is included. And there is nothing else to buy, except for 3-ring binders to put the loose-leaf books into.
Classical Legacy Press has a FAQ page for the Latin program, and many samples available as well. While at their website, you can also check out Logic I: Tools for Thinking and read more about the company and their products.
Okay, so now you know the basics of the program. But how did it work in my family? Yikes, that is going to be really difficult to address. Unfortunately, we received this just as life started to get crazy. Our school life goes in cycles... January is a great time to start something new, as is July through September. April is not. So, we really did not get far at all.
So based on not getting nearly far enough into this, here is a recap of my experience with it.
The customer service has been incredible. That is something I always appreciate with a company.
The product comes as three-hole punched pages ready for you to put into a binder. With front, back, and spine pages so that you can recognize your Latin book on the bookshelf. I love when I don't have to pay extra to ship things like three ring binders.
I sat down with the teacher book for Level 1, and I was thoroughly impressed by the detail. Katharine Birkett intends this to be used to "further the revival of Christian classical education" and for the product to be usable by parents (and teachers) who did not themselves receive a classical education.
What #3 means, though, is that this is not a program you can order a couple of weeks before you plan to start using it. Or at least I couldn't. I think you need to plan for at least a couple weeks to read the introductory materials and the teacher materials for the first two chapters (the first chapter is on pronunciation and its setup is different from the remaining ones). The introductory pages alone are over 30 pages, the teaching notes for chapter 1 are 10 pages, and for chapter 2 there are another 6 pages of teaching notes.
The content is "family friendly" meaning specifically that mythology and Roman deities are not included. I go back and forth on my opinions about that. On the one hand, I love that I can work through materials of my choice (D'Aulaires' Greek Myths being my favorite for this age group, followed by Roman Myths by Geraldine McCaughrean). On the other hand, there is something nice about having that scheduled out for me.
The program uses Classical pronunciation, and although I prefer Ecclesiastical, I'm going ahead and using the pronunciation given. There isn't enough of a difference for me to get too stressed out about it. If you want to use Ecclesiastical, you could skip chapter 1, and not use the pronunciation CD.
Monday: go over vocabulary words, start grammar lesson, start derivative worksheet. Vocabulary includes I love/to love, I shout/to shout, and, I work/to work, not. My kids already knew these words, which makes it even easier. Grammar lesson includes learning first conjugation present tense for amo (my version - I love, you love, he loves, we love, y'all love, they love). Derivatives include a dozen words in eight groups (a group would be collaborate, collaborator), and the student is reading the definitions, and writing out the Latin word and definition. My kids adore the derivative part of the lesson. Yeah, I've got etymology geeks in my family.
Wednesday: continue grammar lesson, start study sheet, finish derivative worksheet. For grammar, we worked on the conjugation for porto (I carry). Derivative work involves putting the English words into sentences.
Monday: Review a bit, finish first translation worksheet. The translation worksheet has them translating three ways... so cogito can mean I think, I do think, or I am thinking.
Friday: start second translation worksheet, study for vocabulary pre-quiz. Translation involves filling in conjugation charts, and the three ways of translating like on Monday.
Monday: take vocabulary pre-quiz. Complete second translation worksheet. Translation involves more Latin to English. The quiz does both Latin to English and English to Latin vocabulary, and some work with prefix/suffix definitions.
Wednesday: go over second translation worksheet answers, study for chapter quiz.
Friday: take chapter quiz. The quiz is two pages, and honestly is longer than my pencil-phobic children can handle. I'm actually having my kids do one page Thursday and one on Friday.
The English to Latin chapters also do more work with derivatives. And there are four translation worksheets plus the quiz.
Keep in mind that we have used a number of Latin programs. Powerglide, Prima Latina, Latina Christiana I, Minimus, Lively Latin, Getting Started with Latin, Henle, Wheelock, Oerberg... and undoubtedly I have forgotten some. We own all of these, and now Great Latin Adventure.
My plan is to continue with Great Latin Adventure for my rising 4th and 6th graders.
We may use Lively Latin for the history, mythology and art. But GLA is going to be our primary program. I think the explanations for ME are fantastic.
My rising 8th grader is going to work through both Levels 1 and 2 at a very accelerated pace. The introductory materials give suggestions for doing that. The plan is to be doing roughly a chapter per week, unless he gets to a point where he is bogged down. I think he needs a different approach for awhile, and I like the explanations given here.
They were announcing the queen's great victories to the inhabitants with loud trumpets.
The earth and stars declare the glory of God's wisdom.
And the price? I'm impressed. $45 to get the teacher and one student book for Level 1, without binders. Level 2 is the same price. The student book is only $15, so additional students are quite inexpensive.
I will be following up with a review in August or so. I will also be reviewing their Logic program in late summer/early fall.
Disclaimer: As part of the TOS Homeschool Review Crew, I did receive free products from Classical Legacy Press. The fact that I received complimentary products does not guarantee a favorable review. It does guarantee a review. A fair review. But I am not going to praise something unless I think it deserves the praise. If I don't like it, you'll hear that. And hopefully with enough detail as to why so you can decide for yourself if what I hate about it makes it perfect for your family. For more about my take on reviews, visit my blog post here.
One of the final TOS Homeschool Crew items we received was a delightful book from Kregel Publications: Andrea Carter and the Trouble with Treasure by Susan Marlow. I was a little concerned when we received it -- first, it is the fifth book in a series, and while my boys are very open to reading books where a girl is the main protagonist, they are still boys, and I'm always a bit hesitant.
I needn't have worried. First, there were a couple of references to things that (I assume) happened in previous books, but it certainly was not necessary to have read them in order. Second, while the story is all told from Andi's perspective, there are great male characters involved too. Obviously their stories are shown through the lens of a 13 year old girl, but she isn't male-bashing in her thoughts.
The story takes place in and around Fresno shortly after the California Gold Rush. Andi has a friend, Jenny, visiting and they are planning a trip into the mountains with Andi's big brother Mitch. Another friend their age, Cory, is coming along as well, and they aim to escape the summer heat and do some gold panning.
We enjoyed the book, or at least everyone over age 5 did. Trina, uncharacteristically, chose to go play rather than listen. I think this whole series would make great reading for a tween girl this summer. If I had girls, I would seriously look at purchasing more. For my boys though, well, if I find some at used book sales, I'll probably pick them up.
Disclaimer: As part of the TOS Homeschool Review Crew, I did receive this book for free from Kregel Publications. The fact that I received complimentary products does not guarantee a favorable review. It does guarantee a review. A fair review. But I am not going to praise something unless I think it deserves the praise. If I don't like it, you'll hear that. And hopefully with enough detail as to why so you can decide for yourself if what I hate about it makes it perfect for your family. For more about my take on reviews, visit my blog post here.
I only have three reviews left to write for the TOS Crew this year! I cannot believe how fast the year has gone. I love all three products, but with as crazy as spring has been, I haven't used them as much as I'd like in order to give a decent review. Thus the hesitation in getting them posted.
I'm trying to make some big decisions for next year. Seriously looking at a couple virtual academies for my older two. I'm not sure I can handle the idea of my kids being public school students, I know Dale isn't comfortable with that thought, but we're trying to make a decision that truly is in their best interests. Connor being able to get advanced coursework in math and science sounds wonderful. William being able to get professional help with reading sounds wonderful too.
How come the only Saturday in May that I don't have four or five places I'm supposed to be at once is Memorial Day weekend? I'm not complaining. Just wondering.
June, by the way, does not look any better.
I want a working dishwasher. I'm sick and tired of washing dishes. I know, I'm supposed to go in with a song in my heart, grateful that my family has food to dirty up those dishes, and feel great about how I'm blessing my family by providing clean dinnerware. I'm terribly jealous of those of you who can do that. Instead, I go in, resenting this broken contraption that is supposed to make my life easier, and wishing I wasn't such an ungrateful wretch that I think I deserve a working dishwasher.
While I'm being open and honest about my frustrations here, I want a car that works. I hate feeling trapped in my house. I hate feeling like I'm putting everyone's life at risk when we do go anywhere. Did I mention I feel trapped?
Wind. Oh. My. It was really going on Monday. You read stories about the pioneer women out here on the prairie going stark raving mad. Days like Monday help me to really, truly identify with them. Especially while I'm washing dishes and moping about the fact that I don't dare to drive my boys to Scouts. The one point where I decided to venture out, the wind ripped the door from my hands and threw me across the yard. It's been bad before, but I've never been thrown around. It took four of us to get the door closed again.
Trying to plan out the summer is tough sometimes. I applied for a reading program for William & Thomas, but I haven't heard anything about that. I applied for scholarship funds for swim lessons for all of the kids but I haven't heard about that either. Of course, I did both of those before the van started acting up. So now I'm worried that they'll get in only we won't be able to get them there. Sigh.
And I'm just tired. I think I need a nap. Maybe a nap would improve my outlook.
What I really need is a homeschool conference. At least I ought to be getting the mp3s from the Schoolhouse Expo this weekend.
Oh, and I think I'm going to splurge on a game this weekend. For ME. From Big Fish Games. If you get on their mailing list, they are supposed to be sending a 30% off code good this weekend. That means a bit under $5. I'm thinking about something totally fluffy like Mall-a-palooza. I should do something that is a bit more intellectual, like Brainiversity. Or, really, I should use that $5 for something we actually need.
Aren't you glad you came over to read my ventings for today?
Of course, Amy is headed off on a road trip today, so I'm not sure how quickly she will be getting back to me. How perfect though... winning this gift card when heading out to visit Neena and Papaw.
but wow, I am just exhausted. Long, long day, and we didn't even do everything I had hoped.
And I sunburned my nose.
So I guess any posting about the Scout camping last weekend, or swim lessons, or just life in general is going to have to wait.
Because I am going to bed.
Okay, so the girl near the center is Trina... she loved her free swim lesson.
The idea is that you can join the site (did I mention it is free?), network with other people, and have a means of keeping track of the stuff you own, the stuff you are willing to lend out to other people, the stuff you want to sell, things you want, and more.
You can create private communities on Lobster Network, so if you are part of a group -- local or virtual -- you can network with them for things you can lend out or things you'd like to borrow.
I have not had nearly enough free time to play on this yet (my username though is footprints -- so if you join, please request me to be your friend!) but I would love to invite the moms in our scout troop to join and become a private group. It would feel great to know that they could ask to borrow my Apologia Botany book (for example) and we would both get a reminder when it was "due" back.
I'm also hoping (this weekend?) to start getting some things input on there, not just so I could let friends of mine borrow my stuff, but so I know what I have... and while the process to input things into Lobster Network is easy, well, getting my life organized enough so I can do that is another matter!
Disclaimer: As part of the TOS Homeschool Review Crew, I was asked to join this free site and write a review. No compensation was given. As always, I am not going to praise something unless I think it deserves the praise. If I don't like it, you'll hear that. And hopefully with enough detail as to why so you can decide for yourself if what I hate about it makes it perfect for your family. For more about my take on reviews, visit my blog post here.
Motor Oil. You wanted to learn about motor oil today, didn't you?
Did you know that the average age of cars and light trucks on the roads today has reached 9.4 years? I know we're bringing that average up (our vehicles are 1998-2000) and keeping these older cars running makes taking care of them more important than ever.
So I jumped at the chance to offer you the opportunity to learn more about oil, oil changes... and to give one of you a free (or nearly free) oil change at Jiffy Lube.
To enter the giveaway, visit Motor Oil Matters and poke around a bit. There is a lot of information, and an interactive quiz (I scored 100%, thank you very much!) and if you come back here and leave a comment telling me either your score on the quiz, or something you learned on the website, you are entered in my giveaway to win a $35 Jiffy Lube gift card.
You probably want to live somewhere near a Jiffy Lube, I need to have some way to contact you, and you need to enter by midnight Mountain Time on Monday, May 24.
Disclosure: MotorOilMatters.org and Shell Lubricants provided me with the gift card and information through MyBlogSpark.
My daughter squealed when we opened the package containing my latest BookSneeze book, God's Promises for Girls by Jack Countryman and Amy Parker. She carried it around with her, and insisted I read the first few sections immediately. I was happy to comply.
It's a small book -- roughly 7" by 5" and only 128 pages. Perfect size for Trina to be carrying around, and perfect size for me to not worry about having time enough to read.
And thank God for giving them to you!
Verses such as Micah 7:7, Job 22:26-27, Acts 10:4 and 2 Thessalonians 3:3 and 3:5 follow, and the illustration has Mom, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa, two kids and a teddy bear around the table praying.
My daughter adores this book, and I'm quite pleased as well.
Now, THIS is a homeschooling book I can get excited about. Sonya Haskins wrote Homeschooling for the Rest of Us, subtitled "How Your One-of-a-Kind Family Can Make Homeschooling and Real Life Work."
Incredible book. Absolutely wonderful. I'm keeping this one on my shelf and referring to it often.
What I am used to, unfortunately, is homeschooling books that make me feel inadequate. Beautifully matched children smiling while they sight-read a symphony, with captions about how they all were admitted to Harvard on full-ride scholarships when they were 12. I stare at that, wondering why I can't even manage to get my children into clean clothing. Or at least not all of them on the same day.
This book is different. It doesn't tell me that there is one way to homeschool. It doesn't paint a perfect picture. It does talk about dirty houses, miserable days, and just generally reassures me that I don't have to be perfect to homeschool. It is, in fact, for "the rest of us" -- those of us who sometimes have it together, but sometimes don't.
I've been a homeschooler since my first child was born just over 13 years ago. In terms of "real" homeschooling, I suppose I've been at it 8 (K-7) or 9 (if you count a year of PreK) years. This is the first book I've read that really left me feeling like I am doing okay. And maybe I'm more insecure than most, but I really need a book that affirms me and my not at all perfect homeschool.
I'd recommend this book to anyone.
The TOS Crew Mates voted on their favorite products this year, for the Seaworthy Awards. The results were just announced, and I wanted to share those results with you. I linked my reviews of the products (all but two of the winners... one I haven't written yet, one I reviewed a different product).
It's been fun going over some of the highlights of the past Crew year. Of course, our family's favorite product didn't make the list... so once I finish up my last four reviews (next week), I'll have to do a wrap-up post of my own!
I finally finished Chasing Francis by Ian Morgan Cron. It took me a LONG time to get into it, but somewhere around the 1/3 of the way point, well, I could barely put it down. Basic plot is: Evangelical church planting minister has a major crisis of faith. Calls on his uncle, who happens to be a Franciscan monk over in Italy, and is invited to come on a pilgrimage. Learns lots about St. Francis, but even more about himself. Comes back to his church a different man, and deals with the repercussions of that.
The story is semi-biography (of St. Francis of Assisi), but also something of a tour of modern Catholicism, at least as carried out by the Franciscans, through the eyes of an evangelical pastor in need of some major healing and a fresh perspective. It is somewhat of a commentary on the church of today. Somewhat of a recipe for what might be needed for the church to stay relevant in post-modern culture. And at points, it is laugh out loud funny. His description of the Italian nuns boarding a bus... very funny.
I'm finding the book to be fascinating. I only knew a little bit about St. Francis before reading this book. And it is a little weird for me to be looking at Catholicism (past and present) through the eyes of an evangelical, since I'm not in either camp myself. I can't identify with all of where Chase is coming from, nor can I identify with the friars. But the story gave me so much to think about. I highly recommend this to, well, pretty much anybody.
I found the parallels drawn between our time and the time of Francis to be really interesting. Francis lived at a time when the world was turning upside down, and the Western Church was trying to define itself in this new age. One point being made in the book is that we live in a similar time of change, and the church(es) today is trying to define itself in this new age.
I didn't even see the study guide in the back of the book until I was about halfway through. So I will have to come back to the book (after a friend reads it!) and work through the study guide on my second journey through.
So, the last couple of weeks have been a little crazy in our house. Connor was trying to actually record community service hours and finish those last pesky requirements for a couple of merit badges. William was trying to finish off a couple of things too. And they both did it.
William -- he got the chance to tell about poisonous plants in our area (and I learned that Poison Ivy exists in every state east of the Rockies... except North Dakota. I had no idea that the cold kept plant riff-raff out too!) We made a trip to the post office to lower, raise, lower and fold their flag. I think Sam was quite pleased to not have to go out in the wind to do it!
And on Monday night, he had his Scoutmaster conference, and his Board of Review, and he is now a Tenderfoot Scout. I heard that he promised to work on being clean. And I also heard that he knocked one out of the park with his answer about what "on my honor" means.
Connor -- he has been seriously procrastinating on interviewing someone so he could "introduce" them (his only remaining requirement for Communications). And he had a couple experiments to do for Environmental Science. He finished both merit badges last week, and finally actually recorded his community service time.
As part of the Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew, I had the opportunity to review a preschool program called Ideal Curriculum.
Literacy: The program teaches letters and sounds, introduces approximately 100 sight words, works on developing motor skills and other writing skills, explores phonemic and phonological awareness, and develops oral language and vocabulary. Included in this program is music and games along with the print-based materials.
Math: Ideal Curriculum works on basic math concepts such as the number line, rote counting, one-to-one correspondence, cardinality, adjacent values, an basic shapes and number recognition. The Calendar portion works on various concepts of time. The plans include a weekly math lesson and a weekly calendar lesson.
Science/Social Studies: Each unit has a different theme involving science or social studies. Within the theme are included picture books, sequencing stories, vocabulary lists, suggestions for library books to supplement the study, and lots of oral language and vocabulary activities. There are lots of hands-on suggestions in the daily lesson plans.
The transportation part was excellent. A pretty lengthy list of books you can look for at the library, which is a huge plus for me.
The transportation unit includes a lot of great suggestions for things to talk about with your preschoolers. A statement I saw repeatedly was the reminder that you need to not just do the activity, but discuss it. And to use specific vocabulary. On Day 1, you are discussing wheels and axles.
The literacy and science sections include a variety of activities -- electronic picture books, hands-on activities, music, games, and more.
The literacy section also includes some great teacher coaching, so you understand a bit more about the concepts you are addressing in the activities.
The literacy section especially has a lot of great repetition, which is great for preschool ages.
It is pretty clearly laid out, so teacher prep is minimal.
The math section. Instead of 20 daily lessons like in the literacy and science sections, the math/calendar section includes two weekly lessons (one math, one calendar).
Okay, so I know my kids are not exactly normal when it comes to math. But I was wholly unimpressed with the math concepts being addressed. Maybe it is appropriate for a three year old, but my four year old was way past it, and it was painfully basic for my six year old.
So, to keep ragging on the math -- I know math is not considered as important as learning to read, but... really, 10 minutes per week for math? That seems way too light.
Since I am homeschooling five kids, and my PreK/K kids are the youngest ones, I just had a very difficult time finding the time to do these activities. We just have so much else going on.
Overall, I like the program, but it is not something that would be worth the money for my family right now. When my oldest kids were in the PreK/K range there is a lot that would have been valuable to me though, especially the suggestions for discussion and vocabulary. I could have used more guidance when I was just starting out. For less money, I would be tempted to get this for just Trina, as I know she would really enjoy a lot of the themes.
But -- I would absolutely add more for math.
Oh! And if you use the code welovekids when you order in May, you will receive 10% off.
Disclaimer: As part of the TOS Homeschool Review Crew, I did receive the transportation unit (month 1) for free from the publisher. The fact that I received a complimentary product does not guarantee a favorable review. It does guarantee a review. A fair review. But I am not going to praise something unless I think it deserves the praise. If I don't like it, you'll hear that. And hopefully with enough detail as to why so you can decide for yourself if what I hate about it makes it perfect for your family. For more about my take on reviews, visit my blog post here.
The TOS Review Crew is voting on Crew Awards... one of the categories has to do with the kids favorite product. I called my kids in to discuss what the Brinkman clan was going to choose for that category, intending to read through everything we've reviewed this year and then chat a bit.
Richard, my six year old, immediately tells me that he doesn't need to hear the list. His favorite product is Madsen Method. So I promised him we would pick that up and just he & I would be working on it.
In discussion, Maestro Classics ended up being our vote.
I posted a couple days ago about the Madsen Method, at least enough to describe what it is and my initial reactions. I've been procrastinating about trying to write up how it worked for us. If you didn't read my original post, I'd encourage you to go check it out before you read this one.
First, this was a product that we had to "opt in" to review. That involved some wonderful conversations with Joe Madsen. He patiently explained the overall philosophy of the program and talked about ways I could implement the program with my gang. I cannot say enough positive things about the customer service. Anyway, after a lot of back and forth, I committed to working with The Madsen Method with my children and writing about our experiences.
I was pretty overwhelmed with the package when it arrived. There is a LOT of material. And it arrived when we were on our break between school years. I spent more time on the phone with Joe Madsen trying to figure out how this whole thing worked. And we geared up to start in January.
The first section is teaching the basic methodology. A big part of that is learning how to go into the "Learning Position" and they need to be able to say it so that they can do it. So our first hang-up with the Madsen Method was that we couldn't find anywhere to work where my kids could get into the learning position. Basically, we have the living room couches, where we do 95% of our schoolwork, and we have the dining room table.
So we spent some time trying to figure out a way to make "the learning position" work, and finally revised the script and moved on. Of course, that was the point that everyone started taking turns being sick. For six weeks.
In retrospect, I should have just worked with whoever was functioning, and let others catch up. At least when it wasn't Richard (the 5 -- now 6 -- year old) who was sick.
We finished up Section 1 though, and there were some really great things about that. But I really struggled with the sheer quantity of words used in the teacher materials. And my kids started complaining. Especially the older two (11 and nearly 13).
And honestly, reading the report cards at the end of the section, and that I was supposed to not only fill out a report card about how I did in exactly following everything in the manual to the letter but also I was to mail it in... well, ummm, I don't know how to phrase this. But one reason I homeschool is because I don't exactly like exactly following what other people think I should do. The report card was really the point where I started to get frustrated. I really want the freedom to tweak, condense, or even skip... and I don't feel like I can do that with Madsen. And did I mention that my older kids were really starting to complain?
So we moved on to Section 2. This is where you do actually start taking a pencil to paper and you learn to make lines and circles or parts of circles. This temporarily stopped the complaints. And I was really liking some of what I was starting to see with my kids. Just getting the point that every letter needs to touch the base line and the middle dotted line, and that they do NOT touch the top line and the lower dotted line... well, that made an immediate difference in my kids' handwriting.
Moving at the pace of my now 6 year old was agonizingly slow for my older group. So they once again started to rebel. Somewhere around the 17th kind of short line they were back to wanting to completely give it up.
We kept going, and I do see the benefits. But it just moves too slow for my older kids, and their attitude is horrible now. Around the start of the 3rd section (where you learn to draw numbers), I called my mother. I needed someone to listen to what we were doing and tell me to buck up and finish what I committed to. But as I was explaining to her that the kids groan when I pull this out, and I end up yelling at them every single session because I am just so beyond frustrated with their lousy attitude -- well, it occurred to me that we are not accomplishing anything at this point. And I put it away.
I feel guilty. Because as I look at the last section of this first level, I really can see why it is that we are going through all this laying the foundation work, and I love what is happening there. But I cannot get my kids through the foundation part. At least not the big ones.
So after saying all of that... I am seriously considering working with Thomas starting in August and working through this with him, one on one. I think without the griping of his big brothers, he would benefit greatly from the methods used in this program.
I think in January, when Richard and Trina are nearly 7 and nearly 5, we will pull it out and start them together. Because I think this program has some amazing potential when used from a younger age.
But as for me and my house, I simply cannot get my normally compliant older children to click with Madsen.
Disclaimer: As part of the TOS Homeschool Review Crew, I did receive Part One of the Madsen Method for free from the publisher. The fact that I received a complimentary product does not guarantee a favorable review. It does guarantee a review. A fair review. But I am not going to praise something unless I think it deserves the praise. If I don't like it, you'll hear that. And hopefully with enough detail as to why so you can decide for yourself if what I hate about it makes it perfect for your family. For more about my take on reviews, visit my blog post here.
Oh, I'm so excited! It's too late to sign up for Schoolhouse Expo, though you can still get the mp3 version (with freebies, and I think it is going to be well worth it!). Susan Wise Bauer is speaking in a couple of minutes.
But I wanted to tell you about something fun regardless of whether you are signed up... the Vendor Hall. It's free for everyone. And WOW!! There are a bunch of companies I've never heard of (Taylor University, Better Chinese, Steps4Kids, MrMadison.org) and a lot I do know and love (Apologia, Rainbow Resources, Science Jim). Some of the vendors have freebies (Spears Art Studio, Latin Road/Phonics Road, Real Science 4 Kids, among others).
This is the final Blog Cruise topic of the school year, and that really makes me sad. I can't believe this year is winding to a close. But today's question is an important one: How do you help your child if he is struggling to learn?
There are so many directions I could go with this question. I've composed a few blog entries in my mind, but none seemed quite right. I'm not an expert. I may play one in my family drama, but I am not really an expert even with my own kids.
Many of you know that my second son, William, is dyslexic. Very definitely dyslexic. And while this could be a post on how to teach a dyslexic child, I don't think that is where I'm going.
Pray. Pray for your child.
Don't be afraid of labels. You don't necessarily need expensive tests -- sometimes you can do your own research. Having a "dyslexia" label on William really was the turning point. I was able to read what others have experienced, and get a glimpse of how he sees the world. And figure out some ways to get through to him. He has made SO much progress in the last year and a half. I wish I had been more open to investigating what was really going on far earlier than I was.
Don't be limited by labels. 'Dyslexia' does not define my son. 'Struggling reader' does not define him either. He is so much more than that, and it is so very easy to lose sight of that.
Get creative. Don't limit what your child can learn based on what he can't do. In my case, it is the reading (and writing) that is difficult. So I get a lot of audio books. I do a lot of reading aloud. I try to find math programs that don't require him to do a lot of reading. He may be starting VideoText Algebra in the fall (6th grade). I refuse to hold him back in math, science, history or whatever based on his difficulties in reading a story problem or a text.
Along those lines, don't get so focused on shoring up your child's weaknesses that you forget to let him bloom in his strengths. That goes for struggling learners and non-struggling ones too. Let them soar where they can, but work on their weaknesses too.
Teach coping strategies. My oldest struggles with spelling. So, yes, I am teaching spelling, and probably will all through high school. But I'm also teaching him about using a spell-check program. Reality is that much of what he will write in the future will involve computers. So, let's learn the ins and outs of spell-check. What types of errors won't it catch?
Pray. Pray for your child's teacher.
Find someone you can express your concerns to and not worry that she will think less of you or your kids. And express your fears, struggles, challenges and joys. Being able to verbalize what is going on may help you to see it more clearly.
Get your child out of situations that cause emotional turmoil. One reason I homeschool is so my children don't have to deal with the constant pressure of bullies, and of kids who pick on anyone they see as "slow" in whatever way. Life is too short to put up with people who make a sport out of belittling anyone.
Don't try to keep up with the Jones's. Measure that struggling learner against himself -- not against siblings, local school kids, or members of the nearest co-op. Is he progressing?
That's all folks... I'm falling asleep while typing. But those... those are my thoughts.
I'll link up to the Blog Cruise tomorrow. I can't do more tonight.
The TOS Crew Blog is sponsoring a question of the week every Tuesday. Watch for what my Crew Mates have to say about struggling readers tomor today!
Madsen Method. I had never heard of it prior to seeing it on the vendor list for the TOS Review Crew last summer sometime. So what is it? English for Life is its "other" name... and that sums it up... basically, it is intended to be an entire K-12 language arts program. Coming in four parts, it is everything you need except paper and pencil, and you can work through all of "language arts" in 6-8 years.
Section 4: learning sounds and writing for the circle letter phonograms, along with reading, vocabulary, writing, etc.
Section 5: learning sounds and writing for the remainder of the alphabet, including reading, writing, vocabulary, etc.
The teaching books. Five of them. The first book is for sections 1-3. The second book is section 4. Section 5 is split into three books.
Part One builds the foundation for what is to come. Part Two continues to build that foundation, introducing the rest of the English phonograms. The child is learning rules for which phonogram to choose when there are multiple ways of spelling a sound. (Like long a -- how many ways can you come up with to spell that sound? There are lots.) The child is learning lots of writing skills as well, both from dictation and then independently.
Part Three teaches cursive writing, more advanced grammar, Greek and Latin roots, and lots and lots of writing -- letters, poems, short stories, etc. Part Four will teach intensive grammar, more writing practice, report writing, and lots more.
I look at Parts Three and Four, and I want to get there. I understand that I need to build the foundation first, which is why I am using Part One (which is intended to be a complete K-1 Language Arts program, or a remedial program for older children) with even my 7th grader.
Why did I want to use this program? A big part of it is that William struggles so much with language arts, and this really seemed like something that would walk him through things in a step-by-step way, truly building a base of knowledge. A big emphasis of the Madsen Method is that the learner is to SAY and do, so they are HEARing their voice explaining the concept, and they will finally SEE their own work. The emphasis is not on seeing the material and copying it. It is on learning to tell yourself what to do. I think this is going to make a huge difference for William especially, but for the rest of my kids too.
Connor, too, needs help in language arts. None of my children write terribly well (I'm talking the physical act of writing out the letters AND the ability to create a coherent sentence, paragraph, or report on paper). My children all struggle with spelling. For everyone, I think going through something systematic will be a very good thing.
What concerns me? Well, I am always leery of any program that claims to be THEE way of doing/learning/teaching pretty much anything, or that claims to work for everyone. Honestly, that is my biggest concern.
Another thing is that at the end of each section, you are supposed to send a "teacher report card" in to the Madsen's. I printed off the first one, but have not been able to bring myself to fill it out just yet. I know that the Madsen's are asking for this because they want to be able to help me and my kids, but I don't like the idea of it at all. I can't explain it, but it rubs me the wrong way.
...the idea of spending this much time on information that my kids already basically know. I'm thinking of Connor specifically here. Working with him on how to hold a pencil, or what the 'reading direction' is doesn't exactly seem like a good use of his time -- time he could be spending on his Latin or Biology homework.
So I'm trying to figure out how to make this work in my home. Do I do Madsen multiple times a day, working with different groups of kids? I could work with just Connor, and move pretty quickly. William and Thomas could move at a decent clip, but slower than Connor. And I could either move at a fairly slow pace with Richard, or wait a while and work with both Richard and Trina in the fall.
Or do I continue to move at a pace where I wait for everyone to master the material before moving on?
I don't know... I know that if I could get Connor working at his own pace, I'd be more comfortable with what he is getting out of his time investment. But I know I won't be able to purchase Level 2 anytime soon. What a dilemma!
Any questions? I'd love input as I try to write more about this program this week (see here). And you can read what other crew members thought at the TOS Homeschool Crew blog.
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VI. That entire sanctification is attainable in this life.
1. It is self-evident that entire obedience to God's law is possible on the ground of natural ability. To deny this is to deny that a man is able to do as well as he can. The very language of the law is such as to level its claims to the capacity of the subject, however great or small that capacity may be. "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength." Here then it is plain, that all the law demands, is the exercise of whatever strength we have, in the service of God. Now, as entire sanctification consists in prefect obedience to the law of God, and as the law requires nothing more than the right use of whatever strength we have, it is of course forever settled that a state of entire and permanent sanctification is attainable in this life on the ground of natural ability.
2. The provisions of grace are such as to render its actual attainment in this life, the object of reasonable pursuit. It is admitted that the entire and permanent sanctification of the church is to be accomplished. It is also admitted that this work is to be accomplished "through the sanctification of the Spirit and the belief of the truth." It is also universally agreed that this work must be begun here; and also that it must be completed before the soul can enter heaven. This then is the inquiry, Is this state attainable as a matter of fact before death; and if so when, in this life, may we expect to attain it? It is easy to see that this question can be settled only by a reference to the word of God. And here it is of fundamental importance that we understand the rules by which scripture declarations and promises are to be interpreted. I have already given several rules in the light of which we have endeavored to interpret the meaning of the law. I will now state several plain common sense rules by which the promises are to be interpreted. The question in regard to the rules of biblical interpretation is fundamental to all religious inquiry. Until the church are agreed to interpret the scriptures in accordance with certain fixed and undeniable principles, they can never be agreed in regard to what the Bible teaches. I have often been amazed at the total disregard of all sober rules of biblical interpretation. On the one hand the threatenings, and on the other the promises, are either thrown away or made to mean something entirely different from that which was intended by the Spirit of God. I have much to say on this subject, and design, the Lord willing, to make the rules of biblical interpretation the subject of distinct inquiry at another time. At present, I will only mention a few plain, common sense, and self-evident rules for the interpretation of the promises. In the light of these, we may be able to settle the inquiry before us, viz: whether the provisions of grace are such as to render entire and permanent sanctification, in this life, an object of reasonable pursuit.
(1.) The language of a promise is to be interpreted by a reference to the known character of him who promises, where this character is revealed and made known in other ways than by the promise itself, e.g.
(a) If the promisor is known to be of a very bountiful disposition, or the opposite of this, these considerations should be taken into the account in interpreting the language of his promise. If he is of a very bountiful disposition, he may be expected to mean all that he seems to mean in the language of his promise, and a very liberal construction should be put upon his language. But if his character is known to be the opposite of bountifulness, and that whatever he promised would be given with great reluctance, his language should be construed strictly.
(b) His character for hyperbole and extravagance in the use of language should be taken into the account in interpreting the promises. If it be well understood that the promisor is in the habit of using extravagant language--to say much more than he means, this circumstance should in all justice be taken into the account in the interpretation of the language of his promises. But on the other hand, if he be known to be an individual of great candor, and to use language with great circumspection and propriety, we may freely understand him to mean what he says. His promise may be in figurative language and not to be understood literally, but in this case even, he must be understood to mean what the figure naturally and fully implies.
(c) The fact should be taken into the account, whether the promise was made deliberately or in circumstances of great but temporary excitement. If the promise was made deliberately, it should be interpreted to mean what it says. But if it were made under great but temporary excitement, much allowance is to be made for the state of mind, which led to the use of such strong language.
(2.) The relation of the parties to each other should be duly considered in the interpretation of the language of a promise; e.g. the promise of a father to a son admits of a more liberal and full construction than if the promise were made to a stranger, as the father may be supposed to indulge a more liberal and bountiful disposition towards a son than towards a person in whom he has no particular interest.
(3.) The design of the promisor in relation to the necessities of the promisee or person to whom the promise is made, should be taken into the account. If it be manifest that the design of the promisor was to meet the necessities of the promisee, then his promise must be so understood as to meet these necessities.
(4.) If it be manifest that the design of the promisor was to meet the necessities of the promisee, then the extent of these necessities should be taken into the account in the interpretation of the promise.
(5.) The interest of the promisor in the accomplishment of his design, or in fully meeting and relieving the necessities of the promisee, should be taken into the account. If there is the most satisfactory proof aside from that which is contained in the promise itself, that the promisor feels the highest interest in the promisee, and in fully meeting and relieving his necessities, then his promise must be understood accordingly.
(6.) If it is known that the promisor has exercised the greatest self-denial and made the greatest sacrifice for the promisee, in order to render it proper or possible for him to make and fulfill his promises, in relation to the relieving his necessities, the state of mind implied in this conduct, should be fully recognized in interpreting the language of the promise. It would be utterly unreasonable and absurd in such a case to restrict and pare down the language of his promise so as to make it fall entirely short of what might reasonably be expected of the promisor, from those developments of his character, feelings, and designs, which were made by the great self-denial he has exercised and the sacrifices he has made.
(7.) The bearing of the promise upon the interests of the promisor should also be taken into the account. It is a general and correct rule of interpretation, that when the thing promised has an injurious bearing upon the interest of the promisor and is something which he cannot well afford to do, and might therefore be supposed to promise with reluctance, the language in such a case is to be strictly construed. No more is to be understood by it than the strictest construction will demand.
(8.) But if on the other hand the thing promised will not impoverish or in any way be inimical to the interests of the promisor, no such construction is to be resorted to.
(9.) Where the thing promised is that which the promisor has the greatest delight in doing or bestowing; and where he accounts it "more blessed to give than to receive;" and where it is well known by other revelations of his character, and by his own express and often repeated declarations, that he has the highest satisfaction and finds his own happiness in bestowing favors upon the promisee, in this case the most liberal construction should be put upon the promise, and he is to be understood to mean all that he says.
(10.) The resources and ability of the promisor to meet the necessities of the promisee, without injury to himself, are to be considered. If a physician should promise to restore a patient to perfect health, it might be unfair to understand him as meaning all that he says. If he so far restored the patient as that he recovered in a great measure from his disease, it might be reasonable to suppose that this was all he really intended, as the known inability of a physician to restore an individual to perfect health might reasonably modify our understanding of the language of his promise. But when there can be no doubt as to the ability, resources, and willingness of the physician to restore his patient to perfect health, then we are, in all reason and justice, required to believe he means all that he says. If God should promise to restore a man to perfect health who was diseased, there can be no doubt that his promise should be understood to mean what its language imports.
(11.) When commands and promises are given by one person to another, in the same language, in both cases it is to be understood alike, unless there is some manifest reason to the contrary.
(12.) If neither the language, connection, nor circumstances, demand a diverse interpretation, we are bound to understand the same language alike in both cases.
(13.) I have said, we are to interpret the language of law so as to consist with natural justice. I now say, that we are to interpret the language of the promises so as to consist with the known greatness, resources, goodness, bountifulness, relations, design, happiness, and glory of the promisor.
(14.) If his bountifulness is equal to his justice, his promises of grace must be understood to mean as much as the requirements of his justice.
(15.) If he delights in giving as much as in receiving, his promises must mean as much as the language of his requirements.
(16.) If he is as merciful as he is just, his promises of mercy must be as liberally construed as the requirements of his justice.
(17.) If "he delighteth in mercy," if Himself says "judgment is his strange work," and mercy is that in which he has peculiar satisfaction, his promises of grace and mercy are to be construed even more liberally than the command and threatenings of his justice. The language in this case is to be understood as meaning quite as much as the same language would in any supposable circumstances.
(18.) Another rule of interpreting and applying the promises which has been extensively overlooked is this, the promises are all "yes and amen in Christ Jesus." They are all founded upon and expressive of great and immutable principles of God's government. God is no respecter of persons. He knows nothing of favoritism. But when He makes a promise, He reveals a principle of universal application to all persons in like circumstances. Therefore the promises are not restricted in their application to the individual or individuals to whom they were first given, but may be claimed by all persons in similar circumstances. And what God is at one time, He always is. What He has promised at one time or to one person, he promises at all times to all persons under similar circumstances. That this is a correct view of the subject is manifest from the manner in which the New Testament writers understood and applied the promises of the Old Testament. Let any person with a reference Bible read the New Testament with a design to understand how its writers applied the promises of the Old Testament, and he will see this principle brought out in all its fulness. The promises made to Adam, Noah, Abraham, the Patriarchs, and to the inspired men of every age, together with the promises made to the church, and indeed all the promises of spiritual blessings,--it is true of them all, that what God has said and promised once, He always says and promises, to all persons and at all times, and in all places, where the circumstances are similar.
Having stated these rules, in the light of which we are to interpret the language of the promises, I will say a few words in regard to when a promise becomes due, and on what conditions we may realize its fulfillment. I have said some of the same things in the last volume of the Evangelist. But I wish to repeat them in this connection, and add something more.
(1.) All the promises of sanctification in the Bible, from their very nature necessarily imply the exercise of our own agency in receiving the thing promised. As sanctification consists in the right exercise of our own agency, or in obedience to the law of God, a promise of sanctification must necessarily be conditioned upon the exercise of faith in the promise. And its fulfillment implies the exercise of our own powers in receiving it.
(2.) It consequently follows, that a promise of sanctification, to be of any avail to us, must be due at some certain time, expressed or implied in the promise: for if the fulfillment of the promise implies the exercise of our own agency, the promise is a mere nullity to us, unless we are able to understand when it becomes due, or at what time we are to expect and plead its fulfillment.
(3.) A promise in the present tense is on demand. In other words, it is always due, and its fulfillment may be plead and claimed by the promisee at any time.
(4.) A promise due at a future specified time, is after that time on demand, and may at any time thereafter be plead as a promise in the present tense.
(5.) A great many of the Old Testament promises became due at the advent of Christ. Since that time they are to be considered and used as promises in the present tense. The Old Testament saints could not plead their fulfillment to them; because they were either expressly or impliedly informed, that they were not to be fulfilled until the coming of Christ. All that class of promises, therefore, that became due "in the last days," "at the end of the world," i.e. the Jewish dispensation, are to be regarded as now due or as promises in the present tense.
(6.) Notwithstanding these promises are now due, yet they are expressly or impliedly conditioned upon the exercise of faith, and the right use of the appropriate means by us, to receive their fulfillment.
(7.) When a promise is due, we may expect the fulfillment of it at once or gradually, according to the nature of the blessing. The promise that the world shall be converted in the latter day, does not imply that we are to expect the world to be converted at any one moment of time; but that the Lord will commence it at once, and hasten it in its time, according to the faith and efforts of the church. On the other hand, when the blessing promised may in its nature be fulfilled at once, and when the nature of the case makes it necessary that it should be, then its fulfillment may be expected whenever we exercise faith.
(8.) There is a plain distinction between promises of grace and of glory. Promises of glory are of course not to be fulfilled until we arrive at heaven. Promises of grace, unless there be some express or implied reason to the contrary, are to be understood as applicable to this life.
(9.) A promise also may be unconditional in one sense, and conditional in another; e.g. promises made to the church as a body may be absolute and their fulfillment be secure and certain, sooner or later, while their fulfillment to any generation of the church or to any particular individuals of the church, may be and must be conditioned upon their faith and the appropriate use of means. Thus the promise of God that the church should possess the land of Canaan was absolute and unconditional in such a sense as that the church, at some period, would and certainly must take possession of that land. But the promise was conditional in the sense that the entering into possession, by any generation, depended entirely upon their own faith and the appropriate use of means. So the promise of the world's conversion, and the sanctification of the church under the reign of Christ, is unconditional in the sense, that it is certain that those events will at some time occur, but when they will occur--what generation of individuals shall receive this blessing, is necessarily conditioned upon their faith. This principle is plainly recognized by Paul in Heb. 4:6, 11: "Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief;" "Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief."
I come now to consider the question directly, and wholly as a Bible question, whether entire and permanent sanctification is in such a sense attainable in this life as to make its attainment an object of rational pursuit.
Let me first, however, recall your attention to what this blessing is. Simple obedience to the law of God is what I understand to be present, and its continuance to be permanent sanctification. The law is and forever must be the only standard. Whatever departs from this law on either side, must be false. Whatever requires more or less than the law of God, I reject as having nothing to do with the question.
It will not be my design to examine a great number of scripture promises, but rather to show that those which I do examine, fully sustain the position I have taken. One is sufficient, if it be full and its application just, to settle this question forever. I might occupy many lectures in the examination of the promises, for they are exceedingly numerous, and full, and in point. But as I have already given several lectures on the promises, my design is now to examine only a few of them, more critically than I did before. This will enable you to apply the same principles to the examination of the scripture promises generally.
(1.) It professedly sums up the whole duty of man to God--to fear and love Him with all the heart, and all the soul.
(2.) Although this is said of Israel, yet it is equally true of all men. It is equally binding upon all, and is all that God requires of any man in regard to Himself.
(3.) Obedience to this requirement is entire sanctification.
(1.) It promises just what the law requires. It promises all that the first and great commandment any where requires.
(2.) Obedience to the first commandment always implies obedience to the second. It is plainly impossible that we should "love God, whom we have not seen," and "not love our neighbor whom we have seen."
(3.) This promise, on its very face, appears to mean just what the law means--to promise just what the law requires.
(4.) If the law requires a state of entire sanctification, or if that which the law requires is a state of entire sanctification, then this is a promise of entire sanctification.
(5.) As the command is universally binding upon all and applicable to all, so this promise is universally applicable to all who will lay hold upon it.
(6.) Faith is an indispensable condition to the fulfillment of this promise. It is entirely impossible that we should love God with all the heart, without confidence in Him. God begets love in man, in no other way, than by so revealing himself as to inspire confidence,--that confidence which works by love. In Rules 10 and 11, for the interpretation of the promises, it is said, that "where a command and a promise are given in the same language, we are bound to interpret the language alike in both cases, unless there be some manifest reason for a different interpretation." Now here, there is no perceivable reason why we should not understand the language of the promise as meaning as much as the language of the command. This promise appears to have been designed to cover the whole ground of the requirement.
(7.) Suppose the language in this promise to be used in a command, or suppose that the form of this promise were changed into that of a command. Suppose God should say as He does elsewhere, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul; who would doubt that God designed to require a state of entire sanctification or consecration to Himself. How then are we to understand it when used in the form of a promise? See Rules 14 and 15: "If his bountifulness equal his justice, his promises of grace must be understood to mean as much as the requirements of his justice." "If He delights in giving as much as in receiving, his promises must mean as much as the language of his requirements."
(8.) This promise is designed to be fulfilled in this life. The language and connection imply this: I "will circumcise thy heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul."
(9.) This promise as it respects the church, at some day, must be absolute and certain. So that God will undoubtedly, at some period, beget this state of mind in the church. But to what particular individuals and generation this promise will be fulfilled must depend upon their faith in the promise.
(1.) It was to become due, or the time its fulfillment may be claimed and expected, was at the advent of Christ. This is unequivocally settled in Heb. 8:8-12, where this promise is quoted at length as being applicable to the gospel day.
(2.) This is undeniably a promise of entire sanctification. It is a promise that the "law shall be written in the heart." It means that the very temper and spirit required by the law shall be begotten in the soul. Now if the law requires entire sanctification or perfect holiness, this is certainly a promise of it; for it is a promise of all that the law requires. To say that this is not a promise of entire sanctification, is the same absurdity as to say, that perfect obedience to the law is not entire sanctification; and this last is the same absurdity as to say that something more is our duty than what the law requires; and this again is to say that the law is imperfect and unjust.
(3.) A permanent state of sanctification is plainly implied in this promise.
(a) The reason for setting aside the first covenant was, that it was broken: "Which my covenant they brake." One grand design of the New Covenant is, that it shall not be broken, for then it will be no better than the first.
(b) Permanency is implied in the fact, that it is to be engraven in the heart.
(c) Permanency is plainly implied in the assertion, that God will remember their sin no more. In Jer. 32:39, 40, where the same promise is in substance repeated, you will find it expressly stated that the covenant is to be "everlasting;" and that He will so "put his fear in their hearts that they shall not depart from Him." Here permanency is as expressly promised as it can be.
(d) Suppose the language of this promise to be thrown into the form of a command. Suppose God to say, "Let my law be within your hearts, and let it be in your inward parts, and let my fear be so within your hearts that you shall not depart form me. Let your covenant with me be everlasting." If this language were found in a command, would any man in his senses doubt that it meant perfect and permanent sanctification? If not, by what rule of sober interpretation does he make it mean any thing else when found in a promise? It appears to be the most profane trifling, when such language is found in a promise, to make it mean less than it does when found in a command. See Rule 17.
(4.) This promise as it respects the Church, at some period of its history, is unconditional, and its fulfillment certain. But in respect to any particular individuals or generation of the church, its fulfillment is necessarily conditioned upon their faith.
(5.) The church, as a body, have certainly never received this new covenant. Yet doubtless multitudes in every age of the Christian dispensation, have received it. And God will hasten the time when it shall be so fully accomplished, that there shall be no need for one man to say to his brother, "Know ye the Lord," for all shall know Him from the least to the greatest."
(6.) It should be understood that this promise was made to the Christian church and not all to the Jewish church. The saints, under the old dispensation, had no reason to expect the fulfillment of this and kindred promises to themselves, because their fulfillment was expressly deferred until the commencement of the Christian dispensation.
(7.) It has been said, that nothing more is promised than regeneration. But were not the Old Testament saints regenerated? Yet it is expressly said that they received not the promises. Heb. 11:13, 39, 40: "These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth." "And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect." Here we see that these promises were not received by the Old Testament saints. Yet they were regenerated.
(8.) It has also been said that the promise implied no more than the final perseverance of the saints. But I would inquire, did not the Old Testament saints persevere? And yet we have just seen, that the Old Testament saints did not receive these promises in their fulfillment.
(1.) It was written within nineteen years after that which we have just examined in Jer. It plainly refers to the same time and is a promise of the same blessing.
(2.) It seems to be admitted, nor can it be denied, that this is a promise of entire sanctification. The language is very definite and full. "Then," referring to some future time when it should become due, "will I sprinkle clean water upon you and ye shall be clean." Mark the first promise is, "ye shall be clean." If to be "clean" does not mean entire sanctification, what does it mean?
The second promise is, "from all your filthiness and from all your idols will I cleanse you." If to be cleansed "from all filthiness and all idols," be not a state of entire sanctification, what is?
The third promise is, "a new heart will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh and will give you a heart of flesh." If to have a "clean heart," a "new heart," a "heart of flesh," in opposition to a "heart of stone,"--be not entire sanctification, what is?
The fourth promise is, "I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments to do them."
(3.) Let us turn the language of these promises into that of command; and understand God as saying, "Make you a clean heart, a new heart, and a new spirit; put away all your iniquities, all your filthiness, and all your idols; walk in my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them." Now what man in the sober exercise of his senses, would doubt whether God meant to require a state of entire sanctification in such promises as these? The rules of legal interpretation, would demand that we should so understand Him. Rule 5: "The interest of the promisor in the accomplishment of His design or in fully meeting and relieving the necessities of the promisee, should also be taken into the account. If there is the most satisfactory proof, aside from that which is contained in the promise itself, that the promisor feels the highest interest in the promisee, and in fully meeting and relieving his necessities, then his promise must be understood accordingly."
If this is so, what is the fair and proper construction of this language when found in a promise. I do not hesitate to say that to me it is amazing that any doubt should be left on the mind of any man whether, in these promises, God means as much as in his commands couched in the same language; e.g. Ezek. 18:30, 31: "Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin. Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit; for why will you die, O house of Israel?" Now that the language in the promise under consideration, should mean as much as the language of this command, is demanded by every sober rule of interpretation. And who ever dreamed, that when He required His people to put away all their iniquities, He only meant that they should put away a part of their iniquities?
(4.) This promise respects the church, and it cannot be pretended that it has ever been fulfilled according to its proper import, in any past age of the church.
(5.) As it regards the church, at a future period of its history, this promise is absolute, in the sense that it certainly will be fulfilled.
(6.) It was manifestly designed to apply to Christians under the new dispensation, rather than to the Jews under the old dispensation. The sprinkling of clean water and the outpouring of the Spirit, seem plainly to indicate that the promise belonged more particularly to the Christian dispensation. It undeniably belongs to the same class of promises with that in Jer. 31:31-34, Joel 2:28, and many others, that manifestly look forward to the gospel day as the time when they shall become due. As these promises have never been fulfilled, in their extent and meaning, their complete fulfillment remains to be realized by the church as a body. And those individuals and that generation will take possession of the blessing, who understand and believe and appropriate them to their own case.
(1.) That according to Prof. Robinson's Lexicon, the language used here is the strongest form of expressing perfect or entire sanctification.
(2.) It is admitted, that this is a prayer for and a promise of entire sanctification.
(3.) The very language shows, that both the prayer and the promise refer to this life, as it is a prayer for the sanctification of the body as well as the soul; also that they might be preserved, not after, but unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
(4.) This is a prayer of inspiration, to which is annexed an express promise that God will do it.
(5.) It is, from the necessity of the case, conditioned upon our faith, as sanctification without faith is naturally impossible.
(6.) Now if this promise, with those that have already been examined, do not honestly, and fully, settle the question of the attainability of entire sanctification in this life, it is difficult to understand how any thing can be settled by appeal to scripture.
There are great multitudes of promises to the same import, to which I might refer you, and which if examined in the light of the foregoing rules of interpretation, would be seen to heap up demonstration upon demonstration, that this is a doctrine of the Bible. Only examine them in the light of these plain, self evident principles, and it seems to me, that they cannot fail to produce conviction.
I will not longer occupy your time in the examination of the promises, but in my next will mention several other considerations in support of this doctrine.
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The gold price really didn’t do much on Thursday, which is certainly amazing considering how badly the dollar index got hammered in the early going. It traded flat until around 9 a.m. China Standard Time on their Thursday morning — and by 11 a.m. CST, it was up a couple of bucks and change. — and from there traded sideways for a bit, before healing lower starting a few minutes before 1 p.m. CST on their Thursday afternoon. The low tick of the day came at 9 a.m. in London — and it began to head a bit higher starting right at the noon silver fix. It ran into ‘opposition’ almost the moment that COMEX trading began in New York — and the rally ended with the high tick of the day being set at the afternoon gold fix, which was right at gold’s 50-day moving average. It was sold lower from there until 11:45 a.m. EDT. From there it crawled higher into the 1:30 p.m. EDT COMEX close. It was sold a bit lower over the next hour, before edging a bit higher into the close.
Despite all the words in the previous paragraph, the low and high ticks aren’t worth looking up for the third day running.
Gold finished the Thursday session in New York at $1,206.90 spot, up $3.20 on the day. Net volume was nothing special once again at a bit over 223,000 contracts — and roll-over/switch volume amounted to 9,900 contracts on top of that.
The silver price also traded flat until 9 a.m. China Standard Time — and it really wanted to sail from there, but was obviously capped a few minutes after 10 a.m. CST as the price appeared to go ‘no ask’. At that point, it very briefly broke above its 20-day moving average [in the December contract] by two cents. It was hauled lower immediately — and then, also like gold, it was sold down hard starting at the London open. The price pattern from there was similar in most respects to gold’s for the remainder of the New York trading session.
The high and low ticks in this precious metal were reported by the CME Group as $14.385 and $14.21 in the December contract.
Silver was closed at $14.305 spot, up 8 cents from Wednesday. Not surprisingly, net volume was pretty heavy at 83,300 contracts — and roll-over/switch volume in this precious metal was only 1,579 contracts. It’s taking a fair amount of paper silver these days to keep it below its 20-day moving average — and this has been going on most of the week.
Platinum was up a few dollars in Far East trading, but was sold down to its low tick of the day starting at 10 a.m. CEST in Zurich trading. The low tick of the day was set about an hour later — and it chopped unevenly higher from there until about 3:30 p.m. in the thinly-traded after-hours market in New York. And it should be very obvious from the the saw-tooth price pattern, that its rally was being actively managed. Platinum was closed on the Thursday at $833 spot, up 11 bucks.
Palladium was up 6 dollars by 10 a.m. in Zurich and, like platinum, it was then sold down a tiny bit to its low tick of the day. Its quiet rally after that ran into ‘something’ about 10:30 a.m. in New York — and it was sold lower until noon EDT. It gained some of that back by 1 p.m. — and traded ruler flat from there until trading ended at 5:00 p.m. EDT. Palladium finished the Thursday session at $1,049 spot, up 16 bucks.
It was yet another trading day where palladium [and platinum] would have close materially higher, if allowed. The same can be said of silver and gold as well.
The dollar index closed very late on Wednesday afternoon in New York at 94.55 — and then proceeded to trade flat for the first ninety minutes or so after trading recommenced at 6:00 p.m. EDT on Wednesday evening. It then headed lower — and was down 10 basis points by 11 a.m. China Standard Time on their Thursday morning. It rallied a very small handful of basis points until a few minutes before 1 p.m. CST — and then began to head lower from there. That decline accelerated minutes after 12 o’clock noon in London — and it appeared that the usual ‘gentle hands’ showed up just minutes after the COMEX open in New York. The 93.83 low tick was set at that juncture. The ensuing ‘rally’ lasted until precisely noon EDT — and it headed lower from there, making it back almost to its low of the day 3:30 p.m. From that point it inched higher into the close. The dollar index finished the Thursday session in New York at 93.91…down 64 basis points from Wednesday’s close.
Once again it was more than obvious that JPMorgan et al didn’t allow precious metal prices to reflect that fact.
And here’s the 6-month U.S. dollar index chart. The dollar index is down about 300 basis points since mid August, but you’d never know it by looking at the gold and silver price charts in The Wrap section of today’s column.
The gold stocks gapped up a percent at the open in New York on Thursday morning, but immediately after that began to head lower. Their collective lows were set a few minute before noon EDT — and they rallied quietly but unsteadily higher for the remainder of the day, closing down 0.14 percent. Call it unchanged.
With a minor variation in the first thirty minutes of trading on Thursday morning, the silver equities followed their golden brethren like a shadow — and Nick Laird’s Intraday Silver Sentiment/Silver 7 Index also closed unchanged…up 0.01 percent. Click to enlarge if necessary.
The CME Daily Delivery Report showed that zero gold and 28 silver contracts were posted for delivery today within the COMEX-approved depositories on Monday. In silver, the only short/issuer that mattered was Advantage with 27 from its client account. The two long/stoppers were JPMorgan and ADM with 18 and 10 contracts for their respective client accounts. The link to yesterday’s Issuers and Stoppers Report is here.
The CME Preliminary Report for the Thursday trading session showed that gold open interest in September remained unchanged at 17 contracts. Wednesday’s Daily Delivery Report showed that zero gold contracts were posted for delivery today. Silver o.i. in September fell by 297 contracts, leaving 983 still open. Wednesday’s Daily Delivery Report showed that 707 silver contracts were actually posted for delivery today, so that means that another 707-297=410 silver contracts were added to the September delivery month.
For the third day in a row there were no reported changes in either GLD or SLV.
It was certainly more interesting in silver. There was 697,117 troy ounces received — and all of that [much more than a truck load] went into HSBC USA’s warehouse. There was 534,719 troy ounces shipped out…303,900 from CNT — and the remaining 230,819 troy ounces departed Brink’s, Inc. But the real eye-opener was the 6,700,703 troy ounces that was transferred from Registered category — and back into Eligible over at CNT. The link to all this activity is here.
There was some decent activity over at the COMEX-approved gold kilobar depositories in Hong Kong on their Wednesday. They reported receiving exactly 5,000 of them — and shipped out only 125. All of this occurred at Brink’s, Inc. — and the link to that, in troy ounces, is here.
Since yesterday was the 20th of the month — and it fell on a weekday, the good folks over at The Central Bank of the Russian Federation updated their website with their August data — and they reported adding 1 million troy ounces/31.1 metric tonnes of gold to their reserve during that month. That brings their total declared gold holdings up to an even 2,000 metric tonnes/64.3 million troy ounces.
The 800,000 troy ounces that Russia’s central bank purchased in July, plus the million ounces they bought in August, is far in excess of the amount of gold that they actually mined during those two months.
Where might this extra gold be coming from, you ask? Well, there are only two possible places: They’re either buying it on the open market, or they have been purchasing far more of their domestic gold production than they’ve been reporting, but are just now moving it into ‘official’ reserves.
With all that money they have laying around after dumping just oodles of U.S. treasuries in recent months, that’s certainly what I’d be doing with it.
Here’s Nick Lairds’ most excellent chart updated with August’s data. Click to enlarge.
Another day where I don’t have all that many stories for you, but I do have a Cohen/Batchelor interview today.
The papers are full of fire and brimstone concerning Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh… and what happened in a boozy bedroom long ago.
Poor Christine Blasey Ford – the accuser – decided to do her public duty. Why she thought the Senate should know about Mr. Kavanaugh as a 17-year-old is not clear.
But she set off an uproar… at least, a Washington-style uproar, circa 2018.
We’ve never met Mr. Kavanaugh. Nor have we followed his career or parsed his legal decisions. But we’ve been in a bedroom more than once. And we were once 17 years old.
And if every public servant were disqualified on the basis of what he got up to in high school, Washington would be empty.
This very worthwhile commentary by Bill put in an appearance on the bonnerandpartners.com Internet site very early on Thursday morning — and another link to it is here.
This commentary by Dennis appeared on his Internet site on Thursday morning — and another link to it is here.
This 2-part audio interview showed up on the audioboom.com Internet site on Tuesday — and I thank Larry Galearis for his always excellent executive summary, plus his own read on the situation at the end. Each part is twenty minutes long. The link to Part 1 is in the headline — and here. And the link to Part 2 is here. If I remember, this will be posted in Saturday’s column as well, if you don’t have time for it just now.
The provocations that Putin invites are now escalating. Peter Ford, former British ambassador to Syria, points out that Washington has quickly taken advantage of Putin’s hesitancy in Syria to escalate the pretexts on which Washington will launch a military attack on the Syrian forces. Formerly Washington’s pretext was to be a false flag “chemical attack” that would be blamed on Syria. Washington’s new pretext precludes the liberation of Idlib as Washington has declared that any attempted liberation of the province from Washington’s terrorist allies will result in a U.S. military attack on Syria. Indeed, even a refugee flow whether or not caused by a Syrian attack is deemed to be a “humanitarian issue” that justifies a U.S. military attack on Syria. President Trump’s Special Envoy for Syria, James Jeffrey, just announced that the United States will not tolerate an attack, period.
Clearly, the Syrian/Russian liberation of Idlib from Washington’s terrorists cannot now happen, unless Putin is willing to establish such air superiority over Syria, backed up by Russian weapons, that the U.S. would be incapable of launching an attack. Washington’s escalation of its provocations means that Putin would have to accept the risk of destroying any US attack forces that were sufficiently reckless to test the defenses.
Another puzzle is Putin’s decision to pacify Erdogan by substituting a demilitarized zone in Idlib instead of liberating the province. How did Putin and Erdogan reach the fantasy conclusion that the US and its terrorist allies in Idlib province would cooperate with their demilitarization plan? Has Russian foreign policy dissolved into self-delusion?
This brief, but very worthwhile commentary by Paul was posted on his website on Thursday sometime — and it’s courtesy of Larry Galearis as well. Another link to it is here.
U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo called Wednesday for a new round of talks with North Korea with the goal of ridding the North of nuclear weapons by the end of Donald Trump’s first term, saying he was heartened by progress made at a summit this week between the two Koreas.
Pompeo signaled that reciprocation may be coming.
“On the basis of these important commitments, the United States is prepared to engage immediately in negotiations to transform U.S.-DPRK relations,” Pompeo said, referring to North Korea by its formal name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
Of course, dear reader, that would be the ultimate goal at the end of this peace/reunification process. This Bloomberg story, was posted on their Internet site at 9:07 p.m. Denver time on Wednesday evening, but was updated 24 hours later, complete with a new headline. The old one read “North Korea agrees to dismantle a key missile test site under the watch of international inspectors“. Another link to it is here.
In its latest interim outlook released Thursday, the OECD has projected global growth to settle at 3.7 percent in both 2018 and 2019. That level sits just below levels recorded prior to the financial crisis ten years ago.
The recently appointed chief economist of the OECD, Laurence Boone, told CNBC‘s Charlotte Reed on Thursday that the world economy on the whole was “hitting a plateau” and there was evidence of increased divergence between different economies.
Boone highlighted rising protectionism, emerging market vulnerability, politics, and finance as four main risks behind the tapering off in growth rates.
The OECD report has called for a gradual normalization of monetary policy but said it should be at a varying degree across different economies.
Speaking to CNBC, Boone said the normalization of policy in the United States was pushing the dollar upwards and creating a drag on emerging market economies.
These guys are a bit behind the times, as global growth peaked years ago. This article showed up on the cnbc.com Internet site very early on Thursday morning EDT — and I thank Swedish reader Patrik Ekdahl for pointing it out. Another link to it is here.
Central banks’ demand for gold reached a three year high, rising 8% during the first half of 2018 compared to the same period last year, according to a World Gold Council market update on central bank buying activity released today.
Data reveals that 2018 H1 marks the strongest year for central bank gold buying since 2015 – a total of 193.3 tonnes of gold have been added to central bank reserves so far, compared to 178.6 tonnes during the same period in 2017.
Emerging market central banks have played a key role, with Russia, Turkey and Kazakhstan accounting for 86% of central bank purchases in the first half of 2018.
The World Gold Council believes that many emerging market central banks are turning their attention to gold as after years of exposure to the U.S. dollar, and as a natural currency hedge against other reserve currencies.
This gold-related news item is worth a few minutes of year time. It put in an appearance on the mining.com Internet site early on Thursday afternoon EDT — and my thanks go out to Mark Barooshian for sending it our way. Another link to it is here.
What was remarkable (and disturbing) about the letter was that it strongly confirms an analysis I presented in an article dated September 2, titled, “Fact Versus Speculation”. In that article, I speculated that the shocking increase in the silver short position by one or two U.S. banks was related to the takeover of Bear Stearns by JP Morgan in March.
This must read commentary by Ted was posted on the investmentrarities.com Internet site back on 10 November 2008. Several or my subscribers have asked how Ted knows that JPMorgan took over the silver short position of Bear Stearns way back then. The answer lies in this commentary, plus in the embedded and hyperlinked article mention just above. Another link to this very worthwhile commentary is here.
Today’s critter is “Glaucus atlanticus“…a species of sea slug, a pelagic aeolid nudibranch, a shell-less gastropod mollusk in the family Glaucidae. They float upside down by using the surface tension of the water to stay up, where they are carried along by the winds and ocean currents. Humans handling the slug may receive a very painful and potentially dangerous sting. Click to enlarge.
It was another day where JPMorgan was at battle stations keeping gold below its 50-day moving average — and silver below its 20-day. They were successful, but they left no room for error — and in morning trading in the Far East on their Friday, silver punched above its 20-day moving average by a few more pennies, before being hauled lower. How long they’re prepared to keep this up remains to be seen, but the walls, ceiling and floor are closing in from all directions.
Here are the 6-month charts for all four precious metals and, once again, I provide the 6-month silver chart showing its 20 and 50-day moving averages, so you can see how fine a line that JPMorgan is actually walking. Platinum is heading towards overbought territory, but palladium is already hugely overbought — and would actually be even more overbought than that if the powers-that-be weren’t holding it back. The ‘click to enlarge‘ feature helps with the first four only.
And as I type this paragraph, the London open is less than ten minutes away — and I see that the gold price traded mostly sideways during the first two hours after it began at 6:00 p.m. EDT on Thursday evening in New York. It spiked up to its 50-day moving average briefly around 10:20 a.m. CST on their Friday morning, but was sold down from there — and has been chopping quietly sideways since. At the moment, gold is up $1.90 an ounce. Silver crawled unsteadily higher — and was up a dime by shortly before 2 p.m. CST on their Friday afternoon — and obviously above its 20-day moving average. It has been sold lower since — and is up only 4 cents currently. Platinum and palladium didn’t do much in Far East trading. The former is up a dollar — and the latter is down 2 bucks as Zurich opens.
Gross gold volume is coming up on 43,500 contracts — and net of what little roll-over/switch volume there is, net HFT gold volume is 41,000 contracts. Net HFT silver volume is about 16,800 contracts — and there’s only 391 contracts worth of roll-over/switch volume in that precious metal.
The dollar index traded virtually ruler flat until precisely 2:00 p.m. CST — and began to edge a bit higher at that juncture — and twenty minutes before the London open, it’s now up 5 basis points.
Today, around 3:30 p.m. EDT, we get the latest and greatest Commitment of Traders Report for positions held at the close of COMEX trading on Tuesday. As I mentioned in this space yesterday, the above charts for both silver and gold indicates that any changes will be immaterial, although there will certainly be short covering/long buying by the brain-dead/moving average-following Managed Money traders in both platinum and palladium…especially the latter.
I’m off to bed, as I have an early-morning meeting today — and I want to be fully awake for it, so I’m signing off an hour earlier than normal.
Have a good weekend — and I’ll see you here tomorrow.
This entry was posted in Newsletter Archive on September 21, 2018 by edsteer.
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2019-04-23T22:18:17Z
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https://edsteergoldsilver.com/2018/09/21/russia-adds-1-million-ounces-of-gold-to-its-reserves-in-august/
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He was known as the Roseland Killer. In the summer of 2000, Chicago’s south side was terrorized by a series of seven murders, all of women, most of whom were indigent. After striking, the killer would leave his victims’ bodies in abandoned buildings around town to be found later by law enforcement officials.
Paul is painstakingly clear: In the face of grave human injustice, God will bring his divine justice. And his divine justice will be rendered through the fires of hell.
So what are we to do? How are we to respond? Are we to, like one who has just had his life shattered by a criminal mastermind, anxiously anticipate our enemies’ interminable anguish in God’s pool of pyre? Are we to announce to our enemies, “I hope you burn in hell”? Hardly. For Paul continues, “With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling” (verse 11). Paul does not want anyone, whether friend or enemy, to burn in hell. Instead, he prays earnestly that more and more people may be found worthy of their calling from God through Christ. Paul’s prayer is for salvation, not damnation.
Hell is the place of God’s justice. But so is heaven. The difference is, heaven is God’s justice in light of Christ’s righteousness while hell is God’s justice in light of our own righteousness, or, more accurately, our own lack of righteousness. Which course of God’s justice would you care to receive? You will receive one or the other.
I would challenge you to pray constantly, like Paul, for those not guarded by Christ’s righteousness unto salvation. Pray that they would receive God’s righteousness through Christ. For it is this righteousness that infinitely exceeds any justice wrought by hell. For it is this righteousness that can turn sinners into saints and despots into devouts. And that’s a kind of justice that we can all hope in. And so, “I hope you beam in heaven.” I really do.
There’s nothing that a copy of an ancient Mayan calendar can’t help you with if you’re trying to figure out the exact date and nature of the end of the world. At least, that’s what the producers of the apocalyptic blockbuster 2012 want you to believe. Yes, the plot line is thin. Yes, the lines are cheesy. Yes, what is stretched into a three-hour taedium vitae could have been compacted into forty minutes. But on the upside, who doesn’t want to see Los Angeles fall into the ocean? Or Las Vegas sink into the earth? Who doesn’t want to watch every beloved national landmark get blown to smithereens? Besides, it’s not like everything gets destroyed. The G8 has an escape plan for a fortunate few: Arks have been hidden in the Himalayas, complete with animals, for the reseeding and replenishing of our fair planet.
Although I, from the standpoint of sheer mathematical probability, would venture a guess that the world won’t end in 2012, I’m guessing that more than one moviegoer, while sitting through this unpropitious hodgepodge, wished that, at the very least, this movie would end. For, in the final analysis, it all seems to be just a little too much doom and too much gloom. Although disaster might light up the silver screen well, no one would want to live through such terrors in real life.
For those who harbor horrendous notions concerning the world’s end, these verses from Paul have been regularly marshaled to teach the doctrine of a secret rapture. That is, before the world’s final demise, believers in Christ will be secretly “caught up” to God to dwell with him in safety while the rest of unbelieving humanity gets microwaved in a 2012-styled apocalypse. This, however, is far from what Paul actually teaches.
To begin with, the rapture of Christians will be anything but secret. Verse 16 dispenses with any such notion when it speaks of “a loud command…and the trumpet call of God.” When believers are “raptured,” everyone will know it. Second, this so-called “rapture” will not happen before the end of time. Again, verse 16: “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven.” This rapture happens at Christ’s second coming and not before. Third, what Paul describes in these verses is not a rescue from a crumbling planet, but a joyful welcome of our coming King: “We who are still alive and are left will be caught up together…in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.” The “rapture,” then, is not some divinely ordained escape hatch from this world, but a “meet and greet” of our Lord Jesus. Indeed, it was common in this day for people to leave their city and travel down the road to meet and greet a visiting dignitary to warmly usher him in to their town. Josephus records one such instance when the high priest of Israel, Jaddua, does just this for Alexander the Great: “And when Jaddua understood that Alexander was not far from the city, he went out in procession, with the priests and the multitude of the citizens” (Antiquities 11.329). Josephus goes on to recount that Alexander was so impressed by Jaddua’s welcome that he salutes the high priest. This is the picture which Paul paints of the coming of Christ. We, as Christ’s subjects, will go forth to meet him and welcome him to this earth, at which time he will judge the nations and usher in his new creation.
What is the upshot of all this, then? Paul answers, “Encourage each other with these words” (verse 14). That is, rather than trembling at hoary visions of apocalyptic doom, we ought to be anxiously anticipating Christ’s final advent. The end of the world is meant to be encouraging, not scary. This is why the earliest Christians faithfully prayed, “Come, Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:20)! The end of the world will not be riddled with complete carnage; rather, it will be marked by a King named Christ. What a marvelous day it will be.
It was truly a mountaintop moment. I’ll never forget seeing her rush down Concordia’s breezeway in her pristine white dress, bursting through the back doors of the worship center, and coming toward me. The day I married Melody was a day I will always cherish. But, as seems to be the way of life, you must eventually leave the mountaintop moments of life and tread into the valley of reality.
The valley of reality struck less than a week after our wedding. By then, the ceremony was ancient history, the reception was long passed, and we had returned from our brief honeymoon to our apartment, littered with wedding gifts – lots of wedding gifts. Mixers, crock pots, flatware, bed linens, personal effects, and hundreds of dollars of gift cards to Target. “Okay,” Melody announced, a towering stack of cards in her hand, “It’s time to put this stuff away, but as we do, we need to write a thank you card for each and every one of these gifts!” Each and every one of these gifts? But there were hundreds of them! Nevertheless, gift after gift, I wrote these thank you notes, even though my hand got cramped and my tongue got dry from licking all those envelopes. I must confess that that more notes I wrote, the briefer my expressions of gratitude became. I appreciated the gifts, but the overwhelming task of writing hundreds of cards led to the underwhelming nature of my notes of thankfulness.
Did I hear that right? We ought to be thankful to God simply because a year has passed from one Thanksgiving to the next? Sure enough, Emerson’s first reason for thankfulness is the simple gift of time. Perhaps the simple gift of time was especially poignant to Emerson because his beloved wife Ellen lie sick in bed during this period with tuberculosis. She would die from the disease the following February. God’s gift of time with his wife, then, became suddenly precious to Emerson.
The text on which Emerson based his sermon for that Thanksgiving Day was Psalm 107: “Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever” (verse 1). The Psalmist, like Emerson, references time. Except the Psalmist does not call us to give thanks for twelve months; rather, the Psalmist calls us to give thanks for “forever.” For long after our lives have passed from this earth, we will have an eternity with a God who loves us. And that should be enough to move any heart to thankfulness.
As we celebrate another Thanksgiving this day, do not let your expressions of gratitude wallow in mediocrity. Instead, make them hearty and overwhelming. For God’s gifts are hearty and overwhelming. And if you need something for which to be thankful, consider this: Twelve months have passed. Not only that: Eternity awaits. Give thanks to the LORD for this!
When the day for her present finally arrives, we never make it past breakfast before Melody is asking for her gift. “I want to open my present now!” she’ll exclaim with an irresistible grin. I can’t help it. With a smile like hers, I melt and give her the gift. Besides, by this point, her suspense has been building for weeks. And now, Melody can stand it no longer. Her curiosity is intense. The time has come for her to open her present. And when she does, she is always delighted.
“When we could stand it no longer,” Paul says in verse 1. Paul and his companions are too worried about the Thessalonians’ faith, being tested by persecution at this time, not to check up on them. And so they send Timothy to strengthen the Thessalonians in their faith and subsequently report back to Paul and his friends.
Notice the shift in the pronoun. In verse 1, Paul says, “When we could stand it no longer.” But now in verse 5, the concern is especially personal: “When I could stand it no longer.” Paul’s concern for the Thessalonians and their faith in and faithfulness to Christ is intense.
Blessedly, Paul receives a good report: “But Timothy has just now come to us from you and has brought good news about your faith and love” (verse 6). You can almost hear Paul breathe a sigh of relief in this verse. The Thessalonians’ faith is no longer a mystery to Paul. Their faith has been “unwrapped,” so to speak, by Timothy and has been shown to be beautiful and strong. And Paul is delighted.
Do you have the same concern for others’ spiritual wellbeing as Paul? Does there ever come a time when “you can stand it no longer” and so you pick up the phone just to check on someone, or drop someone a note just to let them know that you’re praying for them, or plan a lunch with someone just to reflect with them on their walk with Christ? Like Paul, I hope you have moments where someone else’s wellbeing keeps you so in suspense that “you can stand it no longer.” For this is a suspense fueled by love. In fact, why don’t you contact that person today? After all, you may just be the person that God uses to strengthen someone’s faith, grow someone’s heart, or pilot someone through a time of trouble. And who wouldn’t want to be used by God for a purpose transcendent as that?
One person’s trash may be another person’s treasure. Then again, one person’s trash may simply be trash. The other morning, I heard a news report on WOAI chronicling those who suffer with compulsive hoarding disorder. People with this disorder will regularly hoard things of limited to no value – things such as empty milk cartons and tin cans and old newspapers – because of deep, and usually complex, psychological disturbances. The report went on to explain that even after a person’s house is cleared and cleaned by a professional housekeeping service, things will immediately begin to pile up again because the psychological addiction to hoarding cannot be addressed by simple aesthetic changes in a person’s living environment.
There is group of Jews, it seems, which is stridently bent on preventing the gospel’s spread and will even resort to persecuting the church to thwart its march forward. Paul says that such persecutors “fill up the measure of their sins.” That is, they pile sin upon sin until God’s patience is exhausted and his wrath is revealed.
But at the same time that these recalcitrant unbelievers are filling up the measure of their sins, those who suffer under them are doing some filling of their own. As Paul writes elsewhere in Colossians 1:24: “Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church.” Paul is not here teaching that Christ’s suffering on the cross is somehow incomplete or inadequate for salvation. Rather, he is saying that we, as those who follow Christ, get to share in Christ’s sufferings. And the promise is that the same persecutions which fill up the sins of the persecutors also serve also to fill us in Christ the persecuted. In other words, persecution, depending on whether you are unjustly leveling it against another or unjustly receiving it from another, can serve either to fill you up in sin or fill you up in Christ. One person’s trash of sin may be another person’s treasure in Christ.
In the world’s eyes, persecution seems to have limited to no value. But not in God’s eyes. As the Psalmist says, “Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints” (Psalm 116:15). Every affliction that a Christian endures, every unjust accusation under which he stands up, even a death that he dies for the sake of God’s name is precious in God’s sight. The trash of worldly persecution is reformed and remade into treasure by Christ.
So if you are suffering today, take heart! For the trash of this world’s suffering can be a treasure in God’s sight. Ask God what he is seeking to teach you through such hardship and rejoice that you are counted worthy to receive God’s treasure – even when his treasure is suffering.
I’m sure you’ve heard the old saying, “Actions speak louder than words.” This proverb was first penned by Gershom Buckley, a minister at a congregation in Wethersfield, Connecticut. In his pamphlet “Will and Doom,” Buckley wrote, “Actions are more significant than words.” Since then, this phrase, slightly modified, has become axiomatic, used to express the primacy of acting over speaking.
But Paul’s commendation of the Thessalonians is not a matter of their actions only. For Paul continues in verse 6: “And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit.” The Thessalonians imitated Paul not just in his actions, but by receiving the Word. That is, they did not imitate Paul through pious works, charitable acts, or spiritual feats, though all of those things are certainly vital to and a noble part of the Christian life. When it came to the Thessalonians’ imitation of Paul, however, and finally of Christ, it was to be found in their simple, faith-filled reception of the Word of God.
As we are reminded by Paul’s words to the Thessalonians, any and every action of a Christian is to be rooted in the Word of God. This is why the Lutheran confessors upheld the primacy of God’s Word to guide all Christian action: “In order that people do not resolve to perform service to God on the basis of their own pious imagination in an arbitrary way of their own choosing, it is necessary for the law of God constantly to light their way” (FC Ep VI:4). The Lutheran confessors maintained that without the Word of God guiding his way, a Christian would have no idea what good works to do or what charitable acts to perform. Indeed, without the Word of God guiding his way, a Christian would simply have to “make up,” as it were, what constitutes a good work. That is why Martin Luther wrote that the Ten Commandments, as contained in God’s Word, “are to be exalted and extolled above all orders, commands, and works that are taught and practiced apart from them” (LC I:333). God’s Word and commandments are to undergird every work that a Christian does.
“Actions are more significant than words.” Perhaps Gershom Buckley was wrong, or at least incomplete. Not because actions are insignificant, but because if it wasn’t for words – or, more specifically, the Word – there would be no actions for a Christian to perform. So today, I would simply offer you this little exercise: Read then Ten Commandments in Exodus 20:1-17. Ponder each commandment and ask yourself three questions. First, ask, “Like the Thessalonians, do I receive these words from God with the joy of the Holy Spirit, or do I reject them in stubborn disbelief?” Second, ask yourself, “How have I broken these words by my sinfulness and do I trust in the sure and certain word of God’s forgiveness in Christ?” For this word of grace is God’s most beautiful word. Finally, after basking in God’s forgiveness, ask, “How can I better imitate in my actions the word that I have received in faith?” Remember, without God’s Word, there would be no actions for you to perform. So praise God for his Word today. For long after our actions fade and falter, God’s Word remains.
Last weekend, my wife Melody ran in the Rock ‘n Roll Marathon. She ran the half-marathon. It was 13 miles of pounding the pavement. Actually, as she has reminded me several times, it was 13.1 miles of pounding the pavement. Considering that the longest race I have ever run is a 5k, I am unspeakably proud of her. And she, rightfully so, is proud of herself. For she had to train for months in preparation for this race. My wife has run many a 5k and has even participated in a triathlon. But, from an athletic standpoint at least, this race was her crowing achievement.
Many people have accomplishments in their lives which they would consider “crowning achievements.” Sometimes these crowning achievements are academic in nature, such as the garnering of a degree. Other times they are personal in nature – a marriage or the birth of a child. Whatever particular form these crowing achievements may take, they all share a common denominator: They are all things of which we are proud.
In our reading for today from Philippians 4, Paul proudly speaks of a crowning achievement: “Therefore, my brothers, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, that is how you should stand firm in the Lord, dear friends” (verse 1)! Paul speaks of a crown which he proudly wears. But this crown is not a list of his finest accomplishments; rather, it is a group of redeemed people. Paul’s crown is his brothers and sisters in Christ – those whom he loves, longs for, and prays that they would stand firm in their faith. Paul’s crown is full of people!
As impressive as all these accomplishments might be, Paul does not place a single one of them in his crown. For Paul’s concern is not for his own stature, status, or stateliness. No, Paul’s concern is that more and more people trust in the gospel of Jesus Christ. People redeemed by the gospel, not his own accomplishments, incrust Paul’s crown.
This is why Paul concludes his letter to the Philippians with these tender words: “Greet all the saints in Christ Jesus. The brothers who are with me send greetings. All the saints send you greetings, especially those who belong to Caesar’s household” (verses 21-22). More than likely, Paul wrote Philippians while in Rome, under arrest and waiting to be tried before the Caesar of the time, who happened to be Nero. Thus, in his closing greetings, Paul mentions “those who belong to Caesar’s household” as saints who send greetings to the saints in Philippi. Apparently, while under arrest, Paul had shared the gospel with Caesar’s guards and attendants, and some of them had believed. And more people were added to Paul’s crown.
In a world which so often hails those who have great accomplishments to their names, our goal should be to see more and more people bend their knees to the name of Jesus Christ. This goal may not win the accolades of the world, but it will bring a smile to our Heavenly Father’s face. For the crowns of achievements for which men so earnestly strive will one day all be lost. The crowns of people, redeemed by God, however, will last into eternity. So put people in your crown.
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2019-04-22T18:26:56Z
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https://zachmcintosh.com/2009/11/
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On May 13, 1917, in a field called Cova da Iria near the Portuguese village of Fatima, "a beautiful lady from Heaven", shining like the sun and standing on a cloud over a beech tree, appeared to three children: Lucia Dos Santos (age 10) and her two cousins, Francisco (9) and Jacinta Marti (7). Lucia saw and heard the Madonna and spoke with her. Jacinta also saw and heard her, but did not speak, and Francisco only saw the Virgin.
and delivered a prophecy that would change the world.
The radiant being spoke with the children for several minutes, and asked them to meet her again at the same place on the 13th of each month until October. Then, she promised, she would identify herself.
The Madonna reappeared six times in all, and the reports of the events drew increasing crowds of spectators. About 50 persons attended on June 13, and nearly 70,000 were present on October 13. Many witnesses saw a bright cloud over the beech tree, but only the three children could see and hear the woman.
They were given prophecies concerning World Wars I and II as well as the world wide spread of communism. But their third prophecy was not officially released until recently...and there are those who maintain that the real revelations were not disclosed by the church.
At the behest of a group of political activists and doubters who wished to "put an end to the nonsense," the civil prefect of Outrem seized, interrogated and threatened the children for two days in the hope of forcing a confession of fraud from them. Though the children had been prevented from meeting the Madonna on August 13, she appeared to them on August 19 at Valinhos, near the site of her first appearance. The Madonna then told them that she would appear a final time on October 13, and then produce a miracle.
It whirled upon itself with mad rapidity, then advanced, blood red, towards the Earth, threatening to crush us with its weight." Terrified spectators fell to their knees in prayer. The sun returned to normal, then twice again repeated the prodigy. In addition, the rain-soaked clothes of the audience dried out during the brief time of the solar phenomenon.
On May 13, 1917 a luminous Apparition of the Virgin Mary appeared to three peasant children and delivered a prophecy that would change the world.
Investigations into the Fatima event have proved that the miracle of October 13, 1917 was seen over an area of 32 miles by 20. An area of over 600 square miles.
The three children - Lucia, Jacinta and Francisco took their flock of sheep to a natural hollow in the ground known as the Cova da Iria to graze, just outside the town of Fatima in Portugal. While the sheep were grazing the children began to play. Suddenly there was a flash of lightening. The children looked up, bewildered into the sky. The day was quiet pleasant and there was no sign of a storm. They started to gather the sheep thinking a storm was brewing in the distance when there was a second flash that caused total concern.
A few meters away stood a Lady of dazzling light. Their eyes were unable to comprehend the lady's brilliance and beauty . The children smelled rose.
"Where are you from?" Lucy managed to ask.
"What do you want of us?" asked Lucia.
"I came to ask you to come here on the thirteenth day for six months at the same time, and then I will return here a seventh time."
After several other messages the lady asked finally for them to recite the Rosary daily before she rose in a cloud of light and glided away into the eastern sky. Lucia warned her cousins to say nothing of what they had seen out of fear of disbelief, but Jacinta was too excited. Predictably Jacinta told her parents about the Apparition and there was a general reaction of disbelief. Lucia`s mother was convinced that her child was lying and punished her continually when she refused to deny her story. Other children laughed at them and even spat at them.
But the visions of Mary -- and her series of prophecies remained apparent to the three children.
At first, Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta had great difficulty trying to share what they had seen, because the government of Portugal was heavily opposed to religion at that time.
Francisco and Jacinta died in an influenza pandemic within three years of the 1917 "dance of the sun."
Lucia went on to become a nun. She told the church the details of Fatima prophecies, the first parts of which have common public knowledge for many years.
A short time later another vision appeared.
"I looked at the sun and saw it spinning like a disc, rolling on itself. I saw people changing colour. They were stained with the colours of the rainbow. The sun seemed to fall down from the sky . . . The people said that the world was going to end . . . They were afraid and screaming."
- Antonio de Oliveiro, Farmer.
"Suddenly the rain stopped and a great splendour appeared and the children cried: 'Look at the sun!' I saw the sun coming down, feeling that it was falling to the ground. At that moment, I collapsed."
- Maria Candida da Silva.
"I looked and saw that the people were in various colours - yellow, white, blue. At the same time, I beheld the sun spinning at great speed and very near me. I at once thought: I am going to die."
"Before the astonished eyes of the crowd, whose aspect was biblical as they stood bareheaded, pale with fright, eagerly searching the sky, the sun trembled, made sudden incredible movements outside all cosmic laws - the sun 'danced' according to the typical expression of the people. Standing at the step of the Torres Novas bus was an old man, whose appearance in face and figure reminded one of Paul Deroulede. With his face turned towards the sun he recited the Creed in a loud voice . . . Afterwards, I saw him going up to those around him who still had their hats on, and vehemently imploring them to uncover their heads before such an extraordinary demonstration of the existence of God. Identical scenes were repeated elsewhere, and in one place, a woman cried out in a gasp of surprise: 'How dreadful that there are some men who do not even bare their heads before such a stupendous miracle!' People then began to ask each other what they had seen. The great majority admitted to having seen the trembling and the dancing of the sun. Others affirmed that they saw the face of the Blessed Virgin, while others swore that the sun whirled on itself to the earth as if to burn it with its rays. Some said they saw it change colours successively."
"It was almost three o'clock in the afternoon. The sky was swept clear of clouds and the sun followed its course in its usual splendour, so that no one ventured to gaze at it directly. What about the little shepherds? Lucia, who had spoken to Our Lady, was announcing with expressive gestures, as she was carried along shoulder-high by a man and passed from group to group, that the war would end and that the soldiers would return . . . But news like that, however, did nothing to increase the jubilation of those who heard it. The heavenly sign was sufficient for them: it was everything.
"Intense curiosity prevailed to see the two little girls in their wreaths of roses, and to kiss the hands of these 'little saints', one of whom, Jacinta, seemed nearer to fainting than dancing. They had so longed to see the sign from Heaven: they had seen and were satisfied and radiated burning faith . . . The crowd dispersed rapidly, without any difficulty, without any sign of disorder, without any need for policemen to regulate them. Those who were the first to arrive were also the first to depart, running out on the roadway, traveling on foot with their footwear in a bundle on their heads or strung from their staffs. They went, with hearts overflowing with joy, to bring the good news to their hamlets that had not been wholly depopulated for the time being.
"And what of the priests? Some turned up at the place, mingling more among the curious spectators rather than among the pilgrims avid for heavenly signs and favours. Perhaps neither one nor the other succeeded in concealing their happiness, which so often transpired in triumphant guise . . . It only remains for those competent to do justice to the bewildering dance of the sun which, on this day in Fatima, caused Hosannas to resound from the hearts of all the faithful present, and naturally made a great impression, as people worthy of belief assured me, on the freethinkers and others without any religious conviction who had come to this now famous spot located on the poor pastureland high up on the serra.
"The sun started to roll from one place to another and changed to blue, yellow - all colours. Then we see the sun coming towards the children. Everyone was crying out. Some started to confess their sins because there was no priest around there . . . My mother grabbed me to her and started to cry, saying 'It is the end of the world!' And then we see the sun come right into the trees . . ."
-Dominic Reis, in an American TV interview, 1960.
This sounds much like a UFO / ET experience - holographic projections for many to see. It included spiritual messages to be read at the appropriate times. Two of the messages have come to pass. The third is known by certain members of the clergy.
Lucia said the first secret shown to them by Mary began with a terrifying vision of hell. Mary then indicated that the war would soon end, as World War I did in the following year.
But Mary foresaw that a "night illuminated by an unknown light" would precede a "worse war" in which "The good will be martyred" and "The Holy Father will have much to suffer." On January 25, 1938, a remarkable display of aurora borealis was visible across Europe, the year before World War II began.
The second secret involved the future of Russia. Lucia says Mary revealed that Russia would "spread her errors throughout the world, promoting wars," and that "Various nations will be annihilated." Many believe this is a direct prophecy of the spread of communism. "I shall come to ask for the consecration of Russia to My Immaculate Heart," continues the account of Mary's revelation. "If people attend to My requests, Russia will be converted and the world will have peace." Some interpret Pope John Paul II's 1984 consecration of Russia as fulfilling the prophecy, and paving the way for the subsequent collapse of the Soviet Union as the "conversion" of Russia.
The Secret of Our Lady of the Rosary is a three-part prophecy that she ordered to be kept secret for 25 years or until the death of Lucia, whichever came first. Francisco and Jacinta died in the influenza pandemic that ravaged Europe in 1918 and 1919. Lucia became a Dorothe Sister, and in 1948 she became a Barefoot Carmelite in a closed convent at Coimbra. Lucia learned to write, and recorded the text of the secret prophecy. This was kept in the Bishopric of Leiria until 1943, when Pope Pius XII revealed the first two parts through the agency of Cardinal Schuster. The final, secret part of the prophecy was opened by Pope John XXIII and several cardinals in 1960, according to the Madonna's directions, but it was not revealed to the public. The first section is a vision of Hell. The second part predicts World War II.
"If you do what I tell you, many souls will be saved and we shall have peace. The war is coming to an end; but it does not cease to offend the Lord, and another, more terrible one will break out. When you see a night lit up by an unknown light, you will know that it the great sign that God gives you of the next punishment of the sins of the world with war, famine, and persecution against the Church and against the Holy Father.
"In order to prevent this, I have some to intercede for the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart and the communion of the first Sabbaths.
"But in the end my Immaculate Heart will triumph, the Holy Father will consecrate Russia for me, which will be converted and the world will be granted a period of peace..."
The "great sign", "a night lit up by an unknown light," occurred on January 25, 1938. It has been explained as an unusual aurora borealis. World War II began soon afterward.
"Have no fear, little one. I am the Mother of God who speaks to you and asks you to publish the message I am going to give you to the whole world. You will find strong resistance while you do so. Listen well and pay attention to what I tell you.
"Men must be set on the right road once more. With suppliant humility, men must seek forgiveness for sins committed already and for sins which will be committed. You wish me to give you a sign, so that everyone will accept My Words, which I am saying through you, to the human race. I have seen the Prodigy of the Sun and all believers, unbelievers, peasants, countrymen, wise men, journalists, laics and priests, all have seen it. And now I proclaim in my name: A great punishment shall fall on the entire human race, not today and not tomorrow, but in the second half of the 20th century! I have already revealed to the children Melanie and Maximime at La Salette, and today I repeat it to you for the human race has sinned and has trampled down the Gift which I have made. In no part of the world is life in order, Satan rules in the highest position, laying down how things should be done. He will effectually succeed in bringing his influence right up to the top of the Church; succeed in seducing the spirits of the great scientists who invent the arms. And if humanity opposes me I shall be obliged to free the arm of My Son. Now I see that God will punish man with a severity that has not been used since the Flood.
"The time of times will come and everything will come to an end if humanity is not converted, and if things remain as they are now or get worse, the great and powerful men will perish just as will the small and weak.
"For the Church, too, the time of its greatest trial will come. Cardinals will oppose cardinals and bishops against bishops. Satan will march in their midst and there will be great changes at Rome. What is rotten will fall, never to rise again. The Church will be darkened and the world will shake with terror. The time will come when no king, emperor, cardinal or bishop will await Him who will, however, come, but in order to punish according to the designs of my Father.
"A great war will break out in the second half of the 20th century [not�]. Fire and smoke will fall from heaven, and waters of the oceans will become vapors, the scum will arise in a confused manner, and everything will sink down. Millions and millions of men will perish while this is going on and those who survive will envy the dead. The unexpected will follow in every part of the world, anxiety, pain and misery in every country. Have I seen it? The time is getting ever nearer and the abyss is getting wider without hope. The good will perish with the bad, the great with the small, the Heads of the Church with their faithful, and the rulers with their people. There will be death everywhere as a result of the mistakes of the unfeeling and the partisans of Satan, but when those who survive all these happenings are still alive, they will proclaim God once again and His Glory, and will serve Him as in the time when the world was not so perverted.
"Go, my little one and proclaim it. For that purpose I shall always be at your side to help you."
"A great plague will befall mankind in the year 2000. Nowhere in the world will there be order, and Satan will rule the highest places, determining the way of things. Satan will even succeed in asserting himself at the top of the Church.
"He will succeed in seducing the spirits of the great scientists who invent arms, with which it will be possible to destroy a large part of mankind in a few minutes. Satan will have in his power the leaders who command the people and who will incite them to produce enormous quantities of arms.
"God will punish man more thoroughly than with the Flood. There will come the time of all times and the end of all ends. The great and the powerful will perish together with the small and weak.
"Even for the Church, it will be the time of its greatest trial. Cardinals will oppose cardinals, bishops will oppose bishops. Satan will walk in their midst and in Rome there will be great changes. The Church will be darkened and the world will be shaking with terror.
"A huge war will erupt: fire and smoke will fall from the sky. The waters of the ocean will become mist, and the foam will rise to tremendous heights and everyone will drown.
"Millions and millions of men will die from hour to hour. Whoever remains alive will envy the dead. Everywhere one turns one's glance there will be anguish and misery, ruins in every country.
"The time draws nearer, the abyss widens without hope. The good will perish with the bad, the great with the small, the princes of the church with the faithful, the rulers with their people.
"There will be death everywhere because of the errors committed by the crazed and the followers of Satan, who will then and only then rule the world.
"At the last, those who survive will at every chance newly proclaim God and His glory and they will serve Him as when the world was not so perverted."
"There is a secret of Heaven and one of earth, and the latter is terrifying. It will seem as though it were already the end of the world. And in this cataclysm everything will be separated from the sky, which will turn white as snow."
"Due to the seriousness of the contents of the Fatima secret, my predecessors in the Throne of Peter have preferred to postpone the publication. Furthermore, it may be enough to the christian people to know that, if there is a message saying that the oceans will flood whole parts of the globe, and millions of people will die, from a minute to another, it is not really the case to will the publication of this secret message."
Pope John Paul II was nearly assassinated on May 13, 1981 (the anniversary of Mary�s first apparitional appearance at Fatima). The gun was aimed at the Pope�s head, but Agca had to aim for his abdomen instead when the pontiff turned to a young girl who was wearing a picture of Our Lady of Fatima. While he was in the hospital, Pope John Paul reviewed the Church�s documentation of Fatima, and he read the secret Third Secret of Fatima. In 1984 the Pope consecrated Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Communism collapsed soon afterward.
"As is well known, Pope John Paul II immediately thought of consecrating the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and he himself composed a prayer for what he called an 'Act of Entrustment' which was to be celebrated in the Basilica of St. Mary Major on June 7, 1981."
"That text contains a prophetic vision similar to those found in Sacred Scripture, which do not describe with photographic clarity the details of future events, but rather synthesize and condense against a unified background events spread out over time in a succession and a duration which are not specified. As a result, the text must be interpreted in a symbolic key.
"The vision of Fatima concerns above all the war waged by atheist systems against the Church and Christians, and it describes the immense suffering endured by the witnesses to the faith in the last century of the second millennium. It is an interminable Way of the Cross led by the Popes of the twentieth century.
"According to the interpretation of the 'little shepherds,' which was also recently confirmed by Sister Lucia, the 'bishop clothed in white' who prays for all the faithful is the Pope. As he makes his way with great effort towards the Cross amid the corpses of those who were martyred (bishops, priests, men and women religious and many lay persons), he too falls to the ground, apparently dead, under a burst of gunfire.
"After the assassination attempt of May 13 1981, it appeared evident to His Holiness that it was 'a motherly hand which guided the bullet's path,' enabling the 'dying Pope' to halt 'at the threshold of death.' On the occasion of a visit to Rome by the then bishop of Leiria-Fatima, the Pope decided to give him the bullet which had remained in the jeep after the assassination attempt, so that it might be kept in the Shrine. At the behest of the bishop, the bullet was later set in the crown of the statue of Our Lady of Fatima.
"After the two parts which I have already explained, at the left of Our Lady and a little above, we saw an Angel with a flaming sword in his left hand; flashing, it gave out flames that looked as though they would set the world on fire; but they died out in contact with the splendor that Our Lady radiated towards him from her right hand: pointing to the earth with his right hand, the Angel cried out in a loud voice: 'Penance, Penance, Penance!' And we saw in an immense light that is God: 'something similar to how people appear in a mirror when they pass in front of it' a Bishop dressed in White 'we had the impression that it was the Holy Father'. Other Bishops, Priests, men and women Religious going up a steep mountain, at the top of which there was a big Cross of rough-hewn trunks as of a cork-tree with the bark; before reaching there the Holy Father passed through a big city half in ruins and half trembling with halting step, afflicted with pain and sorrow, he prayed for the souls of the corpses he met on his way; having reached the top of the mountain, on his knees at the foot of the big Cross he was killed by a group of soldiers who fired bullets and arrows at him, and in the same way there died one after another the other Bishops, Priests, men and women Religious, and various lay people of different ranks and positions. Beneath the two arms of the Cross there were two Angels each with a crystal aspersorium in his hand, in which they gathered up the blood of the Martyrs and with it sprinkled the souls that were making their way to God."
The Secret of Fatima - The original text and translation!
Vatican ends mystery of the third prophecy of Fatima. Secret revealed as Pope John Paul II beatifies children who saw vision of Mary.
Pope John Paul II spoke yesterday with Lucia de Santos, 93, a Carmelite nun, who believers say was the main recipient of prophecies from the Virgin Mary that included the spread, and then the collapse, of Communism.
The Vatican today disclosed the so-called third secret of F�tima, which for decades has kept this shrine of the Virgin Mary at the center of conspiracy theories and doomsday cults. The Vatican described the secret as a vision of the 1981 assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II.
While Pope John Paul II was circling St. Peter's Square before his Wednesday general audience at the Vatican in May 1981, a Turkish gunman named Mehmet Ali Agca opened fire on the pontiff.
The pope spent more than two months recovering in a Rome hospital.
The gunman had also stalked John Paul during a visit to Turkey in 1979.
In December 1983, the pope offered forgiveness to Agca during an arranged meeting in prison. During the trial, Agca had claimed that East European communist agents had helped him set up the attack on the pope, but he later recanted.
Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Vatican secretary of state, explained that the one concealed part of the prophecies said to have been revealed to three Portuguese shepherd children by an apparition of the Virgin in 1917 was a vision of an attempt to kill a pope.
The "bishop clothed in white," who is the pope, "makes his way with great effort toward the cross amid the corpses of those who were martyred," Cardinal Sodano said as he described what he called an interpretation of the vision to 600,000 pilgrims gathered at the sanctuary where John Paul II had just beatified two of the shepherd children, Francisco and Jacinta Marto, and thanked the Virgin for saving his life on May 13, 1981.
"He too falls to the ground, apparently dead, under a burst of gunfire," the cardinal said.
Mehmet Ali Agca, a Turkish gunman, shot the pope as John Paul drove through a crowd in St. Peter's Square in 1981 on the anniversary of the 1917 apparition. Among the explanations the gunman gave prosecutors at a trial in 1985 was that his attempt was "connected to the third secret of the Madonna of Fatima."
The cardinal's announcement was an effort by the Vatican to put an end to the kind of fevered speculation that has at times overshadowed the shrine's spiritual importance to hundreds of millions of Catholics.
Versions of the secret, broadcast on hundreds of Web sites (usually under headlines like, "Third Secret Revealed!") range from worldwide nuclear annihilation to deep rifts in the Roman Catholic Church that lead to rival papacies.
"On the solemn occasion of his visit to Fatima, His Holiness has directed me to make an announcement to you. As you know, the purpose of his visit to Fatima has been to beatify the two "little shepherds." Nevertheless, he also wishes his pilgrimage to be a renewed gesture of gratitude to Our Lady for her protection during these years of his papacy. This protection seems also to be linked to the so-called "third part" of the secret of Fatima.
"That text contains a prophetic vision similar to those found in the sacred scripture, which do not describe with photographic clarity the details of future events, but rather synthesize and condense against a unified background events spread out over time in a succession and a duration which are not specified. As a result, the text must be interpreted in a symbolic key.
"The vision of Fatima concerns above all the war waged by atheist systems against the Church and Christians, and it describes the immense suffering endured by the witnesses to the faith in the last century of the second millennium. It is an interminable Way of the Cross led by the Popes of the 20th century.
"According to the interpretation of the "little shepherds," which was also recently confirmed by Sister Lucia, the "Bishop clothed in white" who prays for all the faithful is the Pope. As he makes his way with great effort towards the cross amid the corpses of those who were martyred (bishops, priests, religious men and women and many lay persons), he too falls to the ground, apparently dead, under a burst of gunfire.
"After the assassination attempt of 13 May, 1981, it appeared evident to His Holiness that it was a "motherly hand which guided the bullet's path," enabling the "dying Pope" to halt "at the threshold of death." On the occasion of a visit to Rome by the then Bishop of Leiria-Fatima, the Pope decided to give him the bullet which had remained in the jeep after the assassination attempt, so that it might be kept in the shrine. At the behest of the bishop, the bullet was later set in the crown of the statue of Our Lady of Fatima.
"The successive events of 1989 led, both in the Soviet Union and in a number of countries of Eastern Europe, to the fall of the Communist regime which promoted atheism. For this too His Holiness offers heartfelt thanks to the Most Holy Virgin. In other parts of the world, however, attacks against the Church and against Christians, together with the burden of suffering which they involve, tragically continue. Even if the events to which the third part of the Secret of Fatima refers now seem part of the past, Our Lady's call to conversion and penance, issued at the beginning of the 20th century, remains timely and urgent today.
"In order that the faithful may better receive the message of Our Lady of Fatima, the Pope has charged the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith with the making public the third part of the secret, after the preparation of an appropriate commentary."
Fatima fanatics have held hunger strikes - one even hijacked a plane - to try to force the Vatican to disclose the secret. During John Paul's first visit to the shrine in 1982, on the first anniversary of the assassination attempt, a knife-wielding Spanish priest tried to kill the pope, but was wrestled to the ground by security officers.
John Paul has always credited the Virgin of Fatima with saving his life. After he visited the shrine in 1982 to give thanks for his survival, a bullet extracted from his body was placed alongside diamonds in a gold crown worn by a statue of the Virgin.
In 1991, on the 10th anniversary of the attack, he returned again to give thanks for his life as well as for the collapse of Communism, which believers say the Virgin of Fatima also predicted in 1917.
The cardinal said the secret in its entirety would soon be published by the Vatican "after the preparation of an appropriate commentary."
The pope did refer to the prophecies today, speaking of "F�tima, where these times of tribulation were foretold," but he made no mention of the "third secret." Instead, he once again gave thanks "for the goodness of God toward me, when severely struck on that May 13, 1981, I was rescued from death."
The pope first learned of the secret a few days after he was elected in 1978, the Vatican said. He did not announce it himself today, said his spokesman, Dr. Joaqu�n Navarro-Valls, because he was "personally involved." Vatican officials did not say why the secret was not revealed sooner after the assassination attempt in 1981.
In a new tribute at a prayer service at the shrine on Friday night, the pope donated to the shrine the ring given to him by Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski, the late primate of Poland. Cardinal Wyszynski, whose long fight against Communism in Poland inspired the present pope and millions of their countrymen, told John Paul after his election in 1978 that he would lead the church into the new millennium.
Dr. Navarro-Valls dismissed speculation that the gift was a signal that the pope was set to resign as "150 percent wrong." He described the ring as "one of the pope's most precious possessions," given as an offer of thanks.
The fact that the pope put the two dead witnesses to the Virgin's apparitions on the path of sainthood today was another sign of his devotion to F�tima. The two, Francisco and Jacinta Marto, are the first children ever beatified by the Roman Catholic Church who were not martyrs. Beatification, which is bestowed only on the dead, is the penultimate step before sainthood.
Before the ceremony, the pope, who turns 80 on Thursday, met privately inside the basilica near the children's tombs with the third surviving witness to the apparition, Lucia de Jesus dos Santos, 93, a Carmelite nun, who believers say was the main recipient of prophecies from the Virgin about 20th century debacles. The Vatican said that it had consulted with Sister Lucia before making its announcement today.
The Virgin of F�tima was said to have appeared before three shepherd children on May 13, 1917, and on five later occasions. Lucia was 10. Her cousins, Francisco and Jacinta, who were 8 and 7, died in the influenza pandemic a few years later. Believers say two of the F�tima secrets were revealed in writing by Lucia in the 1940's. The third secret was put in a sealed envelope and sent to Rome more than 40 years ago.
Interpretations of the secrets vary, but generally believers think that the first foretold the end of World War I and the start of World War II, and that the other predicted the spread, then the collapse of Communism and the conversion of Russia.
The latter prophecy, which came with a request that the church consecrate Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, made Fatima an ideological shrine for anti-Communists during the cold war. John Paul II finally consecrated the whole world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in 1984.
Fatima, like the rest of Portugal, also had fascist links during World War II, when Portugal was neutral under the right-wing dictatorship of Ant�nio Salazar but traded with the Nazi regime. This month, the rector of the sancutary, Luciano Guerra, confirmed news reports that in 1976 F�tima received Nazi gold bars bearing the Third Reich insignia looted from Jews during the war, and sold them in 1982 and 1986 to finance construction at the sanctuary.
Today, many pilgrims, some wearing baseball hats emblazoned with the names of Jacinta and Francisco, cheered after Cardinal Sodano delivered his message.
"It's wonderful that the pope knew the prophecy and survived it," said Lucia Dias, 31, a lawyer from Sintra, who added that she had once believed that the third secret was a prophecy of World War III. She made her own prediction about the pope: "I think now he will die soon."
Until today, besides John Paul and Sister Lucia, the only other living person believed to be privy to the secret was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the head of the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
In 1996, he told Portugal's main Catholic radio station that there was nothing worrisome in the message, and that it remained secret because the Vatican wanted to avoid "confusing religious prophecy with sensationalism."
Whether today's announcement will appease some of the more fanatical devotees of the "third secret" mystery is unclear. Some of those believers, who choose to view the reforms of the Second Vatican Council as heresies predicted by the Virgin of Fatima, may dismiss the Vatican's announcement as a cover-up.
Even some who attended Mass today seemed let down. "What they said all happened in the past," Julio Estela, 33, a car salesman from northern Portugal, said after the cardinal spoke. "This isn't a prediction. It's disappointing. I think there's more."
The prophecies of Fatima are almost as well known -- and respected -- as those of the famous French seer Nostradamus.In l9l7 three children had repeated visions of the Virgin Mary in Portugal. They were given prophecies concerning World Wars I and II as well as the world wide spread of communnism. But their third prophecy was not officially released until recently...and there are those who maintain that the real revelations were not disclosed by the church.This book not only reveals what the Third Secret Prophecy of Fatima may consist of; but also gives photographic proof that the Virgin Mary has appeared in over two hundred incidents in the last several decades.Arab terrorists? UFOs? End of the World?The book is very readable and presented in an easy to understand format. It has a good number of pictures and follows a logical order as oppossed to some other books I have TRIED to read on the subject. This is NOT an overly religious approach -- the authors do not seem to have any axe to grind. I recommend this book highly.
The Message of Fatima - The original text and translation!
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2019-04-24T03:07:06Z
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https://old.world-mysteries.com/mpl_12.htm
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The Chairperson: I welcome Mrs Ursula Walsh from the University of Ulster, who has been appointed as our special adviser on acoustics, and invite her to make a five- or 10-minute presentation to the Committee, after which members will have an opportunity to ask questions. Thank you very much for your hard work; you have done a very big piece of work.
Mrs Ursula Walsh (University of Ulster): Good afternoon. I want to give you a brief overview of my paper and, perhaps, explain a couple of terms, after which we can have a discussion.
Noise is quite complex. Sound becomes noise when it becomes unwanted. People's perceptions of noise are related not just to the volume of the noise but to its pitch or frequency and character. Two noises might be at the same volume, but one might be much more annoying than the other because of its character and fluctuations, which I will talk about. It also depends on the time of day. Obviously, if people's sleep is disturbed, it is much more annoying than it perhaps would be during the day.
There is a human reaction to the annoyance caused by wind turbine noise. Sometimes, people are more annoyed because they feel a lack of control or they have feelings of injustice that they are not being heard or believed. Therefore, there is a subjective element to it. However, some people's being more sensitive to noise than others has not been found so much with wind turbine noise.
Some of the general terms that you come across in all the noise guidance are not everyday terms, so the inquiry asked me to explain some of them. Leq is, more or less, the average sound. If you get all the sounds together, it is an average. L90, which is referred to extensively in the wind turbine guidance ETSU, is more or less the background noise remaining when you remove the noisiest elements. It would not be your average noise; it would be the remaining noise. It would be low-level noise, about two decibels lower than Leq.
When you see those terms and there is a small subscript "A", as in LAeq, that "A" means that it has been adjusted, weighted. The "A" gives more weighting to high-frequency noise and removes decibels in low-frequency noise. In other words, it will give you a reading that makes higher-frequency noise more important. It diminishes low-frequency noise. That "A" weighting means that some pitches are enhanced and lower ones are diminished, if that is clear.
Noise comprises pressure waves and they spread out in the environment. They are affected by weather, so on still nights noise will travel better than on windy days. It also depends on the landscape. With distance, high frequencies and high pitches are absorbed in the atmosphere much more than low frequencies and low pitches.
If an airplane is going past you, for example, you will hear the low-frequency element; you will hear the drone. You will hear not high-pitched noises but low-pitches noises even though the noise, if you were beside the airplane, would have high and low frequencies. At a distance, you tend to hear the lower frequencies.
Wind turbine noise is mainly dominated by aerodynamic noise — the swish of the blades going round in the air — and most of the noise from wind turbines is that swishing. To some extent, it is unavoidable. It is the nature of the machine. You can get mechanical noise if there are faults, but we are mainly talking about aerodynamic noise, the swish. The recent designs of turbines have a better blade angle going into the air. It is like any newer, more modern machine; it would tend to be quieter than older machines. They have a better design. However, larger turbines are louder and have more low-frequency noise. So, the more modern ones are quieter, but the larger ones, of course, are going to be louder.
It is not a steady noise, like your fridge at home, and you may not notice it until it suddenly kicks off. A fridge makes is a steady noise and is not that noticeable. Wind turbine noise has a fluctuation. It goes up and down a little bit. The ETSU guidance, published in 1997, acknowledged there was some fluctuation, but bigger wind turbines have been found to have more fluctuations and more in the lower-frequency range.
The ETSU guidance relies very much on the British Standards Institution's BS 4142, which says that more emphasis should be put on the fluctuations. If a noise is not steady, you have to account for that. It is likely to be more annoying if it fluctuates. I am talking about amplitude modulation, which is up and down — non-steady because it is not steady. The standard says to take account of that and add in another five decibels for the annoyance as it is not a steady noise. When the ETSU guidance was published in 1997, it did not recognise the degree of fluctuations that we now know the larger machines are capable of. ETSU is the assessment and rating of noise from wind turbines. Our planning and policy statement refers to ETSU.
The evidence base has expanded a lot since the ETSU guidelines were published in 1997. A lot more is known about wind turbine noise and annoyance. Also since 1997, the World Health Organization has reduced its recommended indoor night-time noise from 35 decibels to 30 decibels. They reckon that for people not to have their sleep disturbed, it should be 30 decibels.
The ETSU guidance talks a lot about the L90 measure. As I mentioned, that is not the average sound level, it is the lower sound level. ETSU uses L90, the lower level, for both turbine noise and background noise. That is very unusual. All the other guidance that I have read and all the other standards use LAeq. They all use the average; so this is quite unusual for ETSU. When the ETSU guidance was written, it was recommended that it should be reviewed within two years; however, it has not been reviewed. Some of the people who actually wrote the ETSU guidance have subsequently published a paper saying that it might underestimate the noise. So, the people who wrote the ETSU guidance have reservations and reckon that it needs to be updated in the light of current knowledge.
Basically, the reason I think that the ETSU guidance should be revised — apart from the fact that its authors think so — is that the quieter the environment, the more disturbing the noise is. So, it is not necessarily about the actual noise level; it is about the difference between the background noise — what you are used to — and the source noise. It is the difference between the background noise level and the source, not necessarily the absolute, noise level. So, something in the centre of Belfast may not be very annoying, but if it were in the countryside the exact same noise would be annoying. That is what the British standard says as well: it is the difference between the background noise and the source noise. ETSU refers to that; however, it then says that in low-noise environments you may not use that approach. So, I think that ETSU needs to be clarified: why it is usually the difference between the background noise and the actual wind noise, and why sometimes the background noise is not considered. That needs further explanation. ETSU needs to be updated with regard to the World Health Organization's changes, and more consideration needs to be given to those fluctuations.
Let me turn to some particular issues which you asked me about. Anecdotally, I have heard from several sources, although I do not have evidence, that Northern Ireland is in receipt of older wind turbines, refurbished from other countries. Three academic and professional sources have told me that Northern Ireland is getting refurbished wind turbines. Obviously, those turbines do not benefit from the more recent designs and they may show signs of wear and tear. For example, the blade may have indentations, holes or wear which make it noisier. Apparently, some websites that market reconditioned turbines highlight Northern Ireland as a potential market. I query why such turbines, which are perhaps no longer acceptable in other countries, are acceptable here. Other industries have to show use of best available technology with regard to noise. With refurbished turbines in use, I would query whether we are getting the best technology as defined in the report. Also, with regard to noise, it is a defence to prove use of best practicable means. Again, I think it would be worth looking into the refurbished, reconditioned turbines.
You were asking me in my brief whether the developer should carry out ongoing noise monitoring. My report states that that would identify any increases in noise and any increases beyond what was anticipated. Such noise could be identified and remedied, so I recommend ongoing monitoring by the developer.
You also ask me about setting planning conditions. It is very common for environmental health to advise the Planning Service on planning conditions with regard to noise. There are model planning conditions for noise in guidance provided by the Institute of Acoustics. Use of that would be common.
You also asked me about the environmental health profession's knowledge of acoustics and noise. My report says that there is a great deal of expertise in acoustics in Northern Ireland's environmental health profession. Many of them have the postgraduate diploma in acoustics, are members of the Institute of Acoustics and sit on the institute's advisory committees. However, even though there will be fewer and larger councils shortly in Northern Ireland, there is a considerable and time-consuming administrative and human resources burden due to commenting on planning applications on wind turbines. So, there is a burden on councils.
My report suggests that there should be a more strategic approach to wind turbine planning permission, rather than planning permission being granted on an ad hoc, case-by-case basis. There should be an overview and strategic approach to where we want turbines to be rather than those that pop up intermittently.
I think that we should refer to the Danish policy. In Denmark, there is the subsidy scheme for replacement of wind turbines as they become less efficient and, as I mentioned, noisier. Newer ones are less noisy. They replace wind turbines and have a replacement scheme. They are really going towards offshore, rather than onshore, wind turbines. They do acknowledge that there have been complaints in Denmark. Maybe we might not think that other countries complain about noise. They have a loss-of-value scheme for dwellings, so that, if your dwelling is badly affected by wind-turbine noise, there is a compensation scheme. There is an option to purchase at least 20%. So, if a wind turbine is being erected near your house, you have the option to purchase a portion of that turbine so that you will then have an economic interest in it. One of the reasons why people feel particularly aggrieved is when they feel that they have no control and that there is an injustice. We might benefit from the experiences of the Danish.
I was also asked to compare wind turbine noise to road traffic noise and other industrial noise. Wind turbine noise has been found to be more annoying than industrial and road traffic noise. At significant roads and industrial areas, the noise has to be mapped and action plans put in place. With road traffic noise, if a road is being significantly upgraded and your house is nearby, you can get money towards insulation and there is a compensation scheme in place. However, I would say that comparing wind turbine noise with industrial or road traffic noise is like apples and oranges because they are different characters. Road traffic noise tends to go down at night. Roads would not be as noisy at night. So, it is different.
In summary, the ETSU guidance actually permits louder noise at night than it does during the day. Again, anecdotally, I have been told that some operators actually increase their production of electricity at night when they are allowed to emit louder noise levels than during the day. That seems like another reason why the guidance could do with being reviewed and revised.
The Chairperson: Thank you, Ursula. There is certainly a lot of food for thought. That was very informative. You mentioned issues like ETSU-R-97's being quite out of date, needing to be reviewed and all of that, but this is the first time that I have heard about us using reconditioned turbines. Maybe that is something that we need to write to the Department about. What you are saying is anecdotal. To what extent do we know that we buy reconditioned turbines from others?
Mrs Walsh: I do not know.
The Chairperson: So, when developers make planning applications, do they have to tell the planners that they are for reconditioned turbines?
Mrs Walsh: As far as I know, they identify the make and model of the turbines.
The Chairperson: OK. So, the Department should know and be able to tell us how many what you would call "new turbines" are being installed here that are actually old turbines?
The Chairperson: That is something quite significant.
Mr Milne: You mentioned Denmark. Is it possible for us to get a more detailed report on how Denmark operates the system of renewable energies through wind?
Mrs Walsh: How Denmark operates what?
Mr Milne: You said that Denmark has moved away from turbines and more to offshore. Can we get a more detailed report on what you said regarding Denmark?
Mrs Walsh: I have a document here about wind turbines in Denmark. It is produced by the Danish Government and is on my references list. That document is available. It is quite a straightforward document. It is quite easy reading. It does not give the minute detail about how, for example, compensation schemes operate in practice. It does not go into great detail about Denmark's move towards offshore. I was in Denmark in the summer, and several people told me, "We're going offshore". However, when I looked it up, it did not exactly say that they were definitely and conclusively going offshore, but they were saying that this committee is committed more to a policy of offshore turbines.
Mr Milne: Here, we talk about community benefits, and I like the idea you mentioned that, in Denmark, if a wind turbine is put up beside you, you get maybe up to 20% of buy-in to that building. Here, communities are given a few pounds or pennies to buy them off. That is why I would like to see a more detailed document on what is happening in Denmark.
Mrs Walsh: As I said, there is that document. It is called 'Wind Turbines in Denmark', and it gives the main information about that but does not give the detail on exactly how those schemes work.
The Chairperson: We can ask Suzie in research to look into it. Suzie has produced a couple of research papers for us.
Mr Boylan: Ursula, thank you for your presentation. I was only signalling that I wanted to ask a question. Sorry about that.
The Chairperson: It was my fault. Ian puts his hand up higher.
Mr Boylan: There is a main point here that you have exposed. You brought up some good points on open space and how sound travels. Clearly, most of these are in the open countryside. Your main point is about the ETSU-R-97, which sounds like something out of a sci-fi movie. The point is that, when people have been making presentations to this Committee, they have been saying to us that there have been issues. Clearly, you have exposed those people who have been through that process and said that there are problems with it. That leads me on to say that I know that we have good acoustic professionals here, but, if they are judging all of this, or refusing that, on that policy, which, clearly, does not seem to be fit for purpose, there is a challenge for us to ask more questions. Is it your view now that most of the information is leading us to be judging something on a policy or recommendations that are not fit for purpose and that Planning Service and whoever else is using ETSU-R-97 to gauge all of these decisions?
Mrs Walsh: I think ETSU needs to be reviewed and revised in view of the fact that the knowledge has changed a lot. There has been a lot more knowledge on wind turbine noise since then, and the World Health Organization has asked for particular consideration to be given to low-frequency noise. I think that there is more low-frequency noise in the larger turbines than in 1997, when turbines were not generally as large as they are now. They are getting bigger. I think that the guidance needs to be revised. As I said, ETSU refers to the British Standards Institution's BS4142, and it is being revised currently. Currently, it is being said that maybe more weight needs to be given to these fluctuations and tones, so ETSU would benefit from the upcoming revision of the British Standard.
Mr Boylan: Where is that element of it — the review? Is it soon? The reason I ask you that is because there are going to be a number of decisions over the next twelve months or the next two approvals. There could be a retrospective challenge to whatever system people want to use. I would safely say now that, at this moment in time, given the evidence that you have brought to us in relation to ETSU-R-97, there could be challenges to those approvals that have already taken place because the guidance was not actually fit for purpose. Is that a fair assumption? Where are we in terms of the new review? There are going to be new decisions made or new approvals given over the next 12 months, or maybe more than that, before the new figures are actually in place.
Mrs Walsh: It does not give enough weighting to the fluctuations and the amplitude modulation. It does not give enough significance to the annoyance level of that.
Mr Boylan: So, basically, we as a Committee need to ask questions about approvals. It is not really fit for purpose, given what we have heard today.
The Chairperson: Do you know why? As you said, it was meant to be reviewed after two years. Why is it still not being reviewed 17 years on? What is the reason for not reviewing it?
Mrs Walsh: I do not know. The Institute of Acoustics did bring out a guide to ETSU but it was outside the remit of the institute to look at noise levels and noise limits. Further guidance on it has been produced, but certain core issues were not addressed because it was outside the remit of the review committee.
The Chairperson: Thank you very much. That was a lot of information. Your issue about taking a strategic approach has been given to us over and over by planning personnel. There are just too many ad hoc applications, with single turbines everywhere. Thank you very much indeed.
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2019-04-22T06:57:56Z
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http://www.niassembly.gov.uk/assembly-business/official-report/committee-minutes-of-evidence/session-2014-2015/september-2014/wind-energy-inquiry-mrs-ursula-walsh-university-of-ulster/
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All thoughts, feelings and experiences are mental projections created by the mind, otherwise known as sensory perception, and reflect multiple states of consciousness potential in all of us. It is all a matter of conditioning/programing by culture and the environment that determines which states we fix on, and become fixed, too. Now, the question is: do we control the mental projections or do the mental projections control us?
Pure Consciousness, Being Nonliteral (Direct) Perception, the Totality of Being, therefore cannot be created (let alone controlled) by the mind, by thought, by an imaginary me, which perceives self and things as separate from others, and therefore as fixed states. Thus, upon selflessly Realizing pure Consciousness as our innermost Being, all thought, and an imaginary me, is also recognized as a dream state.
When we dream in our sleep we do not control what we dream, it just happens. Yet, no matter where we go or what happens in our dream, the truth is we are still in our bed. We have not gone anywhere or done anything. In fact, when pure Consciousness awakes even as the body is still dreaming, there is no dreamer, no separate self, as everything in the dream is the dreaming itself…even as the Awareness of Such is Consciousness itself. Thus our imaginary self does not exist in reality. The imaginary self (or me) is just another thought.
So, if the imaginary self does not exist in reality, then how can it control any mental projections the mind creates? It cannot. The thoughts will come because that is what the mind does, based on past experience and repetition, on the pattern and process of behavior that is the individual…but they are not who we ultimately are as pure Consciousness. Therefore, whatever the thought, the feeling, the experience, it is just that and not the real us.
However, since most of us identify with our thoughts, feelings and experiences, we have become attached, fixed in place, in a state of consciousness. So, are we not then controlled by those mental projections? The only freedom we have in such a state, is the choice of our own particular fix, or bed we lie in. But even recognizing the true nature of the human condition, how do we escape this fix we are in? We cannot…because the imaginary me is just that. If the imaginary me tries to escape, or tries not to escape, it only strengthens the imaginary me…which ultimately does not exist in the first place!
So, what is the answer? The only answer is realizing we do not need to try to escape or try not to escape. Just recognize each thought, feeling and experience as it is, making no personal claim on it. We cannot stop these mental projections from coming, but we do not have to hold on to them, identifying them with ourself. Thus, in time, the attachments will dissolve themselves because the only power they have is what we give them! And upon realizing the imaginary me as just that, then all mental projections become just that, imaginary.
Pure Consciousness, the Totality of Being, is not imaginary…but who and what everything Is in Reality, even in the dream state.
Using the apple tree as an analogy of life: the tree produces branches, leaves and apples, which eventually fall to the ground, and replaces them with new branches, leaves and apples. But the new forms are not the same ones that fell to the ground. It is the pattern and process of behavior that is the tree which reflects the cycle of birth and death and reincarnation, not its separate parts.
Thus it is with the Tree of Life: the Tree, understood in the Bible as the Word, produces the universe and all that comes with that. When the separate parts perish, they are replaced by new forms as energy-consciousness cannot be destroyed but is transformed. It is the pattern and process of behavior that is the Tree of Life or the Word which reflects the cycle of birth and death and reincarnation, not the separate forms. In short, just as the apple tree apples, the Tree of Life peoples.
When we speak of the mind or soul or spirit, what are we talking about? After all, these are just concepts, and concepts are at best metaphors, not realities. They may point to reality but they are not reality. Left on their own and taken for reality, they are illusion, that is to say, they are not lasting, for separate forms and thing-events may be actuality but they too are not Reality…not complete by themselves…not the Totality of Being.
Thus when God is selflessly-realized not as the creator or boss, a supernatural entity performing magic tricks from on high, but as the Creating or Totality of Being, then the cycle of birth and death and reincarnation is seen through. For Being even before the Tree of Life or the Word is Life itself, the pure Energy-Consciousness that Is. But we would have no chance of knowing that if God, the Creating, but Unmanifest, literally speaking, did not express Self as the Tree of Life or the Word, that is, if Reality did not produce actuality, the illusion.
You see, in the end it is all One and the same: light and darkness, positive and negative, good and evil, this and that, are really two sides of the same coin…and unity. But when seen and lived as separate principles, the whole coin is lost and the world suffers…suffers the literal perspective (duality, sensory perception, ego) of its own incompleteness. Thus, in our isolation, we struggle and even war against ourselves…against our innermost Nature. Yet, like the apple tree, in God we are all the Tree of Life or the Word, the true Son of God, not separate souls. There is only One Mind, One Soul, One Spirit, One Energy-Consciousness in Reality, One Totality of Being. But to the literal mind Such is nonexistence.
Thank God! Because if this were not so, mankind’s corruption would be eternal.
being whatever just for the sake of being.
and are you, the selfless realization.
as the one consciousness who is all.
the being we are…who is right now.
Living Life is fully embracing the moment…and being whatever the moment is. But, as long as there is a sense of self apart from the moment, then the literal perspective (duality, sensory perception and ego) rises up to dominate consciousness, and suffering will be just around the corner. This is not to say that suffering is not experienced by the nonself or spirit, while maintaining a material body, but that there is a joy of liberation which fully embraces the moment and fuses with the suffering, diluting it, comforting the spirit.
Living Life is the doing, not the doer. When selflessly realizing that there really is no doer or separate self, only Life itself happening this very moment, then Such is the One, Whole Consciousness out of which everything seems to have its origin, only later, to have its end. This seeming then, or creative illusion, of there being a separate self and multiple thing-events occurring in an external universe, is related to sensory perception…and the corresponding literal interpretation of what is experienced. Indeed, we interpret according to the way in which we see. Thus we look outward through the eye and interpret literally what we see actually, and call that reality. But, everything that actually appears to be happening is cyclic, and subject to change, as sensory perception is partial consciousness, and not lasting, being neither total or clear (pure) consciousness.
In the cyclic world, as there cannot be life without death, day without night, the nonliteral without the literal, or this without that, the secondary or negative aspect of any dualism is but an interval in the same process, as both are the same inward unity. Thus there really is no division in consciousness, in Living Life; that is, except to the literal mind, which sees and interprets everything partially as being outside everything else, seemingly apart, not connected. Therefore, it can be said that the external/literal/actual world outside, this world and mind of the senses, is maya or creative illusion; indeed, a kind of pre-life or pretentiousness, as we are living the image/form/concept of life, not Life itself. And because of that, the human soul, whether consciously or unconsciously, seeks release from its entrapment. But here lies the demon in the details. In the seeking, and trying to grasp something as an end in itself, we only strengthen the separate self…self is the entrapment.
Living Life, on the other hand, is a total acceptance of, and trust in, the here and Now…a total abandonment of self to the selfless. Thus there is no separation of any kind, no division in mind, from the oneness or wholeness that is Life itself. Therefore, Living Life is not a doer or a creator, which denotes past tense or a secondary consciousness, but the Doing, the Creating, the ever-present Consciousness that Is…is Living Life. But the self cannot breathe total acceptance of, or trust in, what it cannot literally grasp. Therefore, the separate self fears the here and Now, attempting to escape it or to control it…to deny it or to possess it…to condemn it or to praise it. Either way always to separate itself from the oneness/wholeness of Living Life, and in dividing the mind, reinforcing the pattern and process of suffering.
But, to the soul who selflessly realizes God, the Creating, through the path of its own separateness, thereby reflecting unity, Living Life is the only true Will, or Nonwill, as the Totality of Being cannot be literally based outside Life itself. Such is Ourself as a Whole, not as partiality or pre-life. It’s like the difference between having a vision and being the vision…having a part to play or being the Play itself. For, in Being the Play itself, there’s no need for a secondary consciousness to tell you what it’s about. You Are Living Life!
It doesn’t matter what happens in this life, only how you react to it and what that says about who you think you are. Yet, what many fail to realize is that living life isn’t about who we think we are…but who we really are. But, in order to realize that, one needs to drop the concept of oneself and just Be the Awareness itself, that is to say, Ourself as a Whole.
With matter being what it is, the world outside, or universe, is only a means, not an end in itself. For there is nothing essentially solid or absolute about matter, according to science. As a Buddhist would say, “emptiness is form and form is emptiness.” But what does matter in the short run is what is really going on behind the appearance of creation…and through us. Who are we, really?
Do any of us, as persons, actually control our lives? Or, does the sensory consciousness that we think and feel we are, and identify with, do us? Indeed, are we not captive to this partial consciousness? To our own fixation of being a separate entity in space? An isolated self? And if personal consciousness, as well as, all form, is emptiness, then it is the happening itself within, and as, emptiness, being consciousness itself, and not anything outside of it, that is the doing. So, if one truly realizes that all is emptiness, then why hold on to anything…to any form, image, concept or personal identity? Being awareness itself would be liberation, enlightenment, the kingdom of heaven.
Therefore, facing the emptiness that we are is the path to salvation.
In watching the mind, one notices a stream of thoughts arising and passing. But who is it that is aware? Not the thoughts, for awareness is before the thoughts. Not the person, for is not the person also just a thought? A projection and creation of the mind? And just because we have a material body doesn’t mean we have to be consciously centered there, establishing a separate self. Indeed, if this is truly understood, then there is no essential quality grounding the person, or body, not to mention, the thoughts. All is emptiness.
So, who is the awareness at the heart of all the emptiness, but awareness itself, whose center is everywhere nonliterally speaking and nowhere literally speaking. And never naming anything, nonbeing the knowing, the doing, the creating itself, such does not need an other…a knower, doer or creator, to tell it what’s what; like evolution, everything would seem to be knowing, doing, creating itself. In reality then, there is only One Consciousness, Ourself as a Whole. Thus, from the viewpoint of nonbeing or consciousness itself, there is just one happening, not many happenings. There is just one life, not many lives. Multiple thing-events are a creative illusion and projection of the literal mind. There is just emptiness. Emptiness is all!
It doesn’t matter what happens in this life, only that you wake up from the trance of a separate self, seeing through the appearance of things, and selflessly realize We Are Awareness itself; thereby living, even while still with the body, an attitude of nonattachment–and thus remaining free in relation to what arises and passes.
Think on this, and then drop every concept, even the concept of emptiness, or, if you prefer, God, and Be the Totality of Being, Ourself as a Whole.
Are you ready to lift the veil on your self-consciousness (ego) and reveal the emptiness behind that mask (person) who pretends to be real? Do you even recognize your self-consciousness being centered in the past? And can you acknowledge that the past is insubstantial? For though you may appear to be solid stuff, you too are illusory. Try bringing a single past event back into the present. You can’t. The past doesn’t create the present…and it certainly can’t hold on to it. O, you may try to repeat the past, but that’s another event, another matter. And as matter is always changing into something else, even as you are relative and temporal, are you ready to see (realize) that ultimately there is no matter..and no you as self-consciousness?
What is your answer? Can’t find any? Are you finally ready to fully accept and trust your innermost Being and live Now (Nonliteral Perspective), no longer holding on to, or blaming, some event in the past as being the cause of why you haven’t lifted the veil on your self-consciousness? In truth, everything starts Now. There is only Now! The past is dead, and the future is only an extension of the past. So it doesn’t matter. What matters is right here and Now. Are you ready to face right here and Now without losing yourself in the matter? Have you made up your mind to define yourself by what you do Now? If so, then you are not defining yourself at all.
When you Awake in the dream, though still dreaming, as the body-mind must, you are no longer having a dream…you are the dream, the Whole Consciousness! Everything in the dream is Within you and Is You. But this You, being pure Awareness, is not personal but Intupersonal, not partial but the Totality of Being: the Self that is Selfless, the Form that is Formless, literally speaking. Thus you have no sense of yourself as the doer…and no need to define what is done, or discover an answer for it. It’s as if everything does itself. That there is only the Doing. You Are Intubeing.
Now, are you ready to face the truth that your ego is only a projector, a dreamer? And that you, as ego or a secondary consciousness, do nothing…and have never done anything but project the dream. Thus transcendence is not an act of your ego. Ego cannot achieve it or possess it, cannot make it happen. Cause and effect does not apply when there is no duality. So let go of that separate entity in space or subject in mind…and just let Be. If you don’t identify with your self-consciousness, there’s no attachment to it, or to anything else. You are Free to live Now through whatever…and not worry about what becomes the past.
Day into night, night into day, every beginning having an ending and every ending bringing about a new beginning; so goes the universe and so goes our own lives on earth. It’s the dance of appearances, of experiences (sense perceptions), which end where they begin; but Energy-Consciousness, Spirit, Life itself continues. But don’t be fooled, there is no escaping this cyclic process inherent with the universe, and with us on earth. Thus the only Freedom from this process is the direct living experience (Awareness) of Life, that is, Being Life instead of having a life.
Events in our lives happen as they are meant to happen. We may think that we make the choices and decisions, that we are manipulating things, that we are in control, but nothing comes about that was not meant to be. Life itself (God) influences the universe from Within, not from outside. Thus our own personal choices and decisions may turn out well or not so well, it really doesn’t matter. For however they turn out, what matters is discovering that this is the path to Now (ever-present), that is, to Life itself or in itself. And there’s no escaping the path; indeed, the path is us. So, whatever the karma in play, this becomes our means of living meditation, even of returning to the sacred Heart and Center Within ourself. Thus whatever is happening to us this moment, we need not judge it, but to see it through, and whatever the result of our action, knowing it cannot be otherwise, finally surrender the need to change the world, to play God…and stop…our ego from running away with us.
There is no escape, there is only Now, the direct, open, most natural, spiritual Flow of Energy-Consciousness. Though invisible to the literal mind, it’s like space moves…and just Is…Is Awareness itself or in itself. Thus, in total acceptance of the thing-event that is this moment, abandoning ourself to the Now We Are through whatever is happening, we allow Now (ever-present) to come into full Focus; that is, directly experiencing selfless Realization, such Realization (Recognition) Is the real You, the real Us, God. It’s all the same Reality, as All Are One Totality of Being (Intubeing). O, what a hard lesson this is to learn, some will say. But Reality isn’t about learning it (ego)…but Being it (Nonego).
Enlightenment may be described as being like one who is Awake in a dream: though still dreaming, as a mind (soul) of Light-Conscious Energy (Intuconscious Space/Spirit) one sees through the dream (darkness) and dream self (ego) from Within, selflessly Aware that one Is (as we Are) the Totality of Being (Intubeing) rather than a partiality of being, that is, Energy-Consciousness in itself (ourself as a Whole) rather than a form or body of consciousness outside the Whole in mind or in space. Thus the Center or Ground of Awareness Is the Space (Spirit) rather than an object in space, the Energy-Consciousness (pure Intelligence) rather than a concept in mind, the Light rather than a point (face) of light or separate entity. In this context the dream self may be likened to one’s ego/personality, which is actually a subconscious form or split-consciousness in relation to the Totality of Being–not fully awake. Enlightenment, then, Is Intuconsciousness, Being Fully Awake, Aware, Alive and Whole, the Nonliteral Perspective (wholly Within).
Therefore, subconsciously, in still identifying with the body/image/concept/form (dream state) in mind and in space as ourself, we remain unconscious of ourself as a Whole, being contained by our own life’s energy. And still believing the ego/personality to be one’s real self, we psychologically hold onto the same, and direct (project) our life’s energy to the object in mind and space. This projection, as everything connected with ego is projection in relation to the Totality of Being (Nonego), is the beginning of suffering, even as we remain unconscious of the literal fact that as a form or body of consciousness, we are victimizing ourself with own own projection! This is the human material condition, and thus the dream (partial) state may be thought of as original sin.
So, to be enlightenment, then, means to wake up from the dream of duality, sensory perception and ego while still dreaming! This doesn’t mean however that duality, sensory perception and ego (literal perspective) goes away or disappears forever, but that we see (intusee) through it, so to speak, living an attitude of nonattachment and holy indifference. For it is in the living/being an impartial state that allows us to enter into the activity freely, without moral judgment and a sense of guilt blocking our life’s energy. Selflessly Aware, we Are a State (Intustate) of God’s Grace, making no claim on our action or expecting any reward or credit in the doing. We Are Free to just Be (Intubeing)!
Thus, to the degree that one can accept the world outside (duality/sensory perception/ego) as it is, and seeing (living) through it in ourself (the Way of the cross), remaining nonattached and holy indifferent, we breathe the Space (Spirit) and we Are the Space, Intuconsciousness (understanding Awareness/unconditional Love). And, as this is the primary Purpose of creation, may everyone of Us know Ourself as a Whole!
Greed, and the cultural programing that promotes it, has become in modern times the American way, just as it has become the way of many other cultures as well. And this mentality, in order to continually sell the “product”, often at the personal expense of others by reinforcing behaviors of self-centeredness, self-indulgence, arrogance, irresponsibility and immortality (social/political correctness), simply is not sustainable, self-destructiveness being what it is. If it were, the Pharoahs in Ancient Egypt and the Caesars in Ancient Rome, not to mention many other tyrants, would still be at the controls. But superstructured “empires” (big governments) “bottom out” eventually from obsessive-addictive behavior (extreme materialism/egoism), like alcoholics. Indeed, with the politicalization of culture, such excessive behavior takes hold of “secular-progressive societies”, and being self-destructive at its core (power corrupts), collapses in the collective psychological process of its own self-undoing. Thus the “topheavy handedness” of so-called leaders will topple the social/political/financial structure (empire) if we the people don’t recognize this potential danger (behavior) in ourselves, and confronting the same–without moral judgment but with a firm resolve to right (balance) the ship (collective psyche)–penetrate, understand and resolve the patterns of our present behavior, transmuting our life’s energy and moral character before it’s too late!
One way of collectively doing this, I suggest, at least in America, is to move the culture from a representational democracy, where a special elite can get rich and powerful at the expense of those they represent, to a direct democracy, where we the people run the country as a whole instead of the politicans and wealthy financers supporting them! There’s no reason why we the people could not vote on all laws and legislation written at the local, state and federal levels. We have the technology today to establish this. We could even designate one day a week (if we need to) as “official voting day”, and decide those measures put on the ballot for that week. Congressmen and senators can still write the articles but they will have only one vote like the rest of us…and no more power than anybody else. Congressional committees can only recommend, not force, any action. And when a law or legislative measure is passed, it cannot be repealed unless we the people repeal it at a later vote. None of the backstabbing the people’s will (which can happen when those in power don’t like the people undermining their political agendas) by taking the measure to the courts and having some judge, for politically self-serving reasons, declare it to be unconstitutional. All measures shall be made constitutional before being placed on the ballot for vote!
I believe the only cultures or communities that may survive a future wrought with man-made wars and natural disasters will be governed by its people as a whole. And if there is ever to be true freedom and peace on this planet, we the people will need to make it happen by taking responsibility for our collective behavior, recognizing the potential in each of us to live life directly–and not by having any special elite remaining superior over us. These so-called leaders simply can’t know what’s best for the rest of us–so we need to stand up for ourselves and Be the Freedom and the Peace! There’s no other way to actually guarantee it! If we are not living/being Such…Suchness is not happening…as we are only still pretending.
completely open to this very moment.
even without watching the show.
when one sees with the Heart!
we as a Whole Are so very beautiful!
Are The Events Of Our Lives On Earth Psychological Myth?
The answer becomes obvious as soon as the mind realizes its own ego (duality/sensory perception) as the projector of the myth, the spinner of the tale (thought), and thus does not do in reality but dreams, that is, projects (manifests/escapes) outward in space and mind. Thus all thing-events in the actual world (maya), being relative, subjective, temporal and partial, are but metaphor (symbolic action) in relation to Spirit (Nonego/Awareness in itself, in Ourself as a Whole) or That which Is…Is the real Doer (Doing) or Totality of Being (God)!
However, though we are not really our personal thoughts, feelings, beliefs or experiences, as the dreamer (ego), we are forever projecting our preconceptions onto people, places and things in order to live out on earth the psychological myths (images/forms/concepts) that our psyches identify with–and hold onto. These myths, and the cultural context that accompany them, though symbolic, become necessary as a means of dealing with the energies that have been drawn up through the body from the center of our being. This is instinctual, of course, for without the energy to realize something, nothing would ever be possible in a phenomenal world. There would be no development. And, without any development in a phenomenal universe, there can be no Liberation, no Resurrection of the Spirit. Thus before the mind can come fully Awake, it must dream (conceptualize) in order to comprehend the possibility and potential Within it (power of suggestion).
But often life’s energy becomes trapped in the body, whose organs and cells may block the natural flow with our resistance to it (the fear of being overwhelmed by life’s direct flow), the fragmentation having been caused by the conscious suppression of our very being. Thus the greater need to identify with the Flow (Energy-Consciousness/Intuconsciousness/Awareness in itself) as ourself rather than with the body/personality. Then the events of our lives are seen through as we absorb life’s energy Into Ourself (inverting the mind) instead of projecting the same onto peole, places and things outside, selflessly Realizing Nonego (Ourself as a Whole) as the real Self…as the One innate Life, Power and Cause behind (Within) everything. Indeed, the myth (thing-events) becomes a ritual means of dying a “psychological death” to duality (ego/partiality of being) and intuconsciously Realizing Ourself the as Resurrection (Principal) of Life, as Awareness in itself, in God (Totality of Being)!
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2019-04-19T23:23:07Z
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https://oneadam.org/
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After my slightly disappointing feedback on part 5 I have decided to try a couple of ideas that I had initially put to the back of my mind and haven’t tried yet. A project like this could (and probably will) go on forever with different ideas appearing all the time so I did try to limit myself so I would have an end to it for the purpose of this course. It was never going to be (in my mind) a final piece as such as I am hoping to carry on developing these ideas in my artistic practice.
Re-colouring the existing structures to make them appear more natural (I had discounted this option early on as I preferred the simplicity and purity of the un-dyed leaves based on Kay Sekimachi’s leaf bowls, but it may make them more interesting colour-wise.
To make the same three sided form from real leaves that I find on the ground. Obviously there would be nothing inside as you would bot be able to see through, this time it would be more about colour and texture rather than structure. Once the ‘pods’ are made they could be wrapped in the same re-cycled fabric yarn that I used for the wrapped bark samples.
I am hesitant to do this as I really like the simple properties of the leaf structures. I can see however that a more natural colour may give it more interest. To this end I decided to try tea staining the leaves to start with to give them a slightly darker, more natural colour.
Immediately it is apparent to me that this is the wrong thing for me to do as it has quite an orange colouration and does not look any more natural than the light colour they were before. It also makes it more difficult to see the seeds that are at the centre of the structure. Luckily I only trialled this on one of the basic samples to get an idea! It takes away the simple almost ‘Japanese’ look to the piece that I love so much.
I tried it first on some spare leaves heating them with and without a varnish layer. The leaves without varnish fared much better. The ones with varnish were difficult to control and singed easily. Without they were easier to control, taking longer to colour. They were very brittle however and I was worried how they would survive the journey to Barnsley for assessment so I decided to give them a couple of coats of varnish to protect them.
Singeing the leaves with heat makes a much more natural way of colouring the leaves, it is not uniform so fits in well with my aim of using simple processes for this project. I think that just making this one minor change has improved these samples for the better as I had been slightly concerned that the plain leaves were a little stark especially when they are displayed in a natural setting. I am now much happier with them in general. They almost remind me of an amulet or magical object from ancient times and I feel they would be most at home displayed in a woodland setting. Either hanging or laid out on the ground in a pile or making up a triangle or other symbol in a similar way to some if the photographs I took of the pieces when I originally made them.
My second idea was to try making the same three sided form from real non-skeletonised leaves. They would obviously have a very different feel to them than the first sample above but it would be a very interesting exercise to use the same technique in a different way.
Picking up on the feedback back from my tutor I also wanted to try and combine the pod shape with the wrapping we had both liked in the earlier stages of part 5. So I made three pod forms from the beech leaves that I had chosen purely based on their shape and the lovely autumnal colours that they are and then wrapped them loosely with the same recycled yarn I had used previously with the bark samples. The loose wrappings were then stitched into place creating a kind of cage for the pod which is very reminiscent of the work I liked by Susan Benarcik where her sculptures reach out into the space around them. I has done a similar thing in part 2 using wire to encase the plastic dinosaur so these samples really do fit in with the journey I have been on through this course.
Each wrapping was made with yarn that was the same as or blended with the colour of the leaf when freshly fallen and collected. It will be interesting over time to see what happens as the leaf degrades.
I like the colour in this little pod, the golden colours in the yarn work well with the dark amber of the dried leaf.
The reds in this pod’s wrappings were originally in the leaf’s colouring but as the leaf dried the red faded away. I matched each yarn wrapping to each pods original colour when still freshly fallen. Now the wrappings serve as a reminder of the now lost colour.
In conclusion; I am really happy with these last three pods, they really do capture autumn as a theme and are really interesting visually and texturally they contrast well with the first three samples which are neat and precise and focus more on the fascinating structures found within nature rather than nature’s rich colours and texture. All in all I have found creating these tiny structures fascinating and hope that others enjoy them too. They have all been a lesson in patience and ‘mindfulness’ as well as teaching me to slow down and take time with my stitching and keeping things simple rather than the overcomplicating things.
Congratulations Julie for completing Mixed Media for Textiles – I hope you can see the progress you have made and appreciate the skills you have developed. For this assignment you have developed an idea through sample making to create a final piece that visually links strongly to your research material, well done. However the work remains weak in certain areas namely drawing and analysis. I have gone into these in more detail below along with some suggestions.
I am starting with drawing, as this remains an area of weakness for you. Looking at your previous feedback I can see I have made several suggestions and given guidance on your drawing. I suggest you return to these to develop and add quality to the drawings you present for this assignment. Your drawings of the bark and leaf samples have been done with care – there is a detailed use of line with good observational skill. However this level is not consistent, the rest of your drawings look rushed lacking consideration and technical skill. There is also not enough drawing carried out during this assignment but you have used it appropriately to study your samples as a reflective tool.
The statement above in red has been taken from the assessment criteria document that assessors use to judge the work. Assessors look for this in your technical work and drawing and mark accordingly. I therefore suggest you spend some time working at your drawing and including any new work for assessment of this course.
I find drawing very difficult, I am not a natural drawer and find it hard to express myself in this way. I have tried really hard to raise my standards throughout this course but know I have some way to go. In my last feedback you stated that not all drawing has to be in details and that I should try to use it like taking notes – this is precisely what I was trying to do with the sketches that you call ‘rushed and lacking consideration and technical skill’. I am trying to add more drawing to my work during each section but it does not come naturally to me. I will continue to try to improve on this.
There is evidence you have successfully used the course material to take you through the process of developing ideas and coming to some creative conclusions. There is a nice logical and considered progression to the work and the ideas as they develop using drawing and reflective thinking. The samples respond well to your previous work, they demonstrate investigation and risk taking – in particular the wrapped bark and leaf structures. Here I can see a sensitive use of colour and engaging textures. The shop bought leaf samples are less playful though made with technical skill. Your learning log demonstrates an organised approach to problem solving and developing the idea as you tested materials and forms. I would suggest the final pieces could be stronger if you combined the knowledge gained in the earlier samples of using found materials and the use of colour in the work. As I explained throughout my research, sampling and prototype making I made a conscious decision to work with the un-dyed skeleton leaves as it was the structure that appealed to me above all else. I like the simplicity and purity that the un-dyed leaves represent; I will go back and see if colouring them slightly would be better but I do not want to lose the contrast between the light sheer leaves and the darker seeds within. I may also try the same 3 sided shape with found leaves and wrap them as I did the bark samples to see what happens.
I suggest you develop your research material using the suggestions and observations above and those made in previous feedback documents.
Your online learning log is well organised with a good number of images that support the written material. There is nice discussion of your work as it progresses and how your ideas develop. I do find it a little worrying that in your final reflection you state you ‘hope’ the work has met the assessment criteria. I suggest you use the information on page 11 of your course material Assessment Criteria and the Course aims and outcomes on page five to judge whether the work you have produced meets the standards expected at degree level. Write your final reflective commentary in relation to these, as it will help you see where you may need to develop your work further. I only used the word hope as a reflection on how I am feeling at the end of this course, I have found it hard and I have been very out of my comfort zone throughout. I have tried very hard to be more creative and push the boundaries. As predominately a stitcher and felt maker, I have found that during this course which contains hardly any traditional textile techniques, I have very difficult to gauge how I am doing.
The first three prints were all drawn onto the plate, they are all from the second set of prints that I did and I have chosen them as although they all use the same source, they show how much difference different techniques make. Each one is truly different from the next and they all show a different atmosphere as if you had visited the same beach on different days.
The next two prints all have a very different feel about them. More modern and contemporary. Still simple, they would look great embroidered.
This next set had to be included purely for their detail. they are simply fascinating to look really closely at.
Most of the collatype prints I have included actually come from the first set of prints that I did. Although the second set were clearer and sharper I prefer the texture and colour conveyed in these, particularly the ones using grasses that looked a little boring in just one colour.
As with the other beach scenes above it is interesting to see the different effects created by the same print block purely by using different techniques or even just different amounts of paint!
I am returning to part four now that I have finished assignment five to make so changes to hopefully improve the standard of my prints, by far my least successful set of work was the printing in part 4 of the course. My tutor suggested that I re-visit the exercises which I have now done and I am a bit happier with the results this time. I knew where the problem lay with the first set of prints in that I had not used the correct tools or media. The prints were wet and un-defined. I had created some interesting backdrops for working into but from a printing point of view it was a disaster. So I have returned to the start and re-run the exercises to try to improve. I work at a school now so spoke to colleagues in the art department to get some hints. The graduate assistant has just finished her degree in printmaking which is useful to know!
The second print is much rougher, lighter in colour and a lot less refined. You can still see the pattern coming through but not nearly so clearly. The ‘scribble like’ background markings are due to me using a spoon to rub the back in an attempt to pick up more ink.
The fifth print used a spoon to make markings. I tried using the head and handle of the spoon, angling the spoon as I dragged it through the ink in attempt to produce as interesting marks as I could.
After taking a second print from the spoon made plate I felt it was time to move on to the next exercise. This was to draw onto the plate and take a print. It all sounded really easy but as I had found out last time it certainly isn’t. The ink dries quite quickly so the first colour is almost dry before you have finished the second and by the time you go to take a print there is hardly any wet ink left! This is what happened to my first print I must say though that I quite like the effect. Had I printed on a different colour paper I think it could have worked quite well.
For my second attempt I laid down a layer of ink then drew over the top attempting to add a background that was intrinsic to the print as well as helping with the drying problem. This created a very different effect from the first and I was quite pleased with this different style. It is more posterized than the first, a lot darker and atmospheric.
The third print in this set did not go so well as I tried to remove some of the sky colour but feel that I went too far. I think it dried the paint again so hardly any was left in this area. My husband felt that it reminded him of a misty evening at the beach as its getting dark so I guess that’s one way of looking at it.
I now moved onto the next exercise which was to draw from the back. I had real difficulty with the first attempts at this with only one semi decent print coming from it. I had been told to keep the ink as sparse as possible and quite dry so as to not spread all over the picture. This I dis and I also used a pen rather than a pencil which really seemed to help. My first print was a rough drawing of a shell. I used a piece of paper that I had already prepared using wax rubbed over a surface. This added to the beach feel. I like the lines in this piece and the way that slight marks add to the background texture.
Continuing with the beach theme I roughly drew one of the sketches I had taken from my sketchbook of an anemone. Again a really good result I was so excited that it had worked at last!
My final print uses the same beach scene as before. This time I used plain white paper and black ink trying to create a simple look. This I think is my favorite of all. It is so simple and actually looks how I wanted it too. It captures the essence of the rocky shoreline perfectly without any complicating factors, simple lines and inferred textures bring it together.
The detail in the second prints is amazing and this is something I will definitely be trying again with different plants in the future. I really like the lines produced but also the background texture. A similar effect could be achieved by simply printing with the leaf but you would not achieve the background texture or the level of detail.
Again my first set of prints are really about experimenting with the technique. The collaged block worked better this time with the new ink and I did manage to get a reasonable print from it. The polyfilla block however still continued to be hard to print from. Both blocks tended to move whilst I was printing. Without a press it is so easy to slide it about ever so slightly to cause a double exposed print. I tried a few times but really couldn’t improve much on it so I have admitted defeat and moved on to the other blocks to see if they would print any better.
I did have a little more success with these blocks, after a few attempts I did manage to get some good, clean prints from them. They lacked some of the texture from the first time that I printed with them though and don’t excite me any where near as much. I think this may be partly down to the colour. On the first set of prints I mixed colours in a rainbow like effect on these blocks which made them look a lot more exciting. These are just too plain for me but they are sharper and more defined this time round.
The real exception is the following print. I had liked the original prints I had taken using this block but with more definition it works even better, It is really atmospheric and looks like a stormy sea.
It was a steep learning curve but I am pleased to have persevered and feel that I did create some reasonable outcomes once I had gone back to revise and re-do parts on the advice of my tutor. I have included both the good and bad as a comparison and to show my progression.
I have enjoyed this part of the course. it was nice to take some of my ideas a little further. I felt that there was a lot of samples I would like to have taken on to finished pieces and I would like to explore using found natural objects in the future. I found that quite a few of the ideas I had during the sampling stage could easily have been displayed as a collection as a whole. It is a shame in some ways that they could not be left as a collection of ‘rougher’ samples as if they were just made on the spot, a result of things collected during a walk. ‘One offs’ for experimental fun rather than complete resolved samples which can become almost too polished. I am starting my first level two course next so hope to have the chance to develop my own work then possibly in this kind of experimental explorative semi-permanent way.
I am satisfied overall with the outcomes from this part of the course. I hope that the samples I produced are experimental enough, they felt it to me anyway. I have enjoyed the chance given to us during this course to play, a materials led approach is much better for me not being forced to design everything in a sketchbook first was liberating. I hope that it all meets the assessment criteria however I am usually wrong on this point so let’s say I hope it is all okay.
Overall I have found this course very useful in equipping me with other ways to work towards an artistic outcome. I would have liked to see a little more emphasis on using stitch and maybe more ‘textile’ rather than plaster etc. but I suspect that is more my opinion than most people’s.
The printing section was not for me. It is obviously not a set of techniques that I can master. This is the second course where my printing abilities have been non existant! It is just as well as I have never wished to use printing as a technique. I only occasionally use it to add background pattern or texture so I am not that concerned. What would be of more interest to me would be to see some of the newer ‘eco dying’ techniques. These fascinate me and would fit far better with my current interests and work.
I know that the OCA constantly review the courses. I feel with this course a little more explanation of what is expected would be useful. I found that for most of the course I have been confused as to what I was supposed to be doing. For example in the dreaded printing section at no point did I see that we were to use drawing to record the prints. This was only pointed out to me later.
All in all I did find the course instructive but I would not say that I enjoyed it as much as the first two courses which were more traditionally textiles based. I appreciate that things need to move forward and I like to see innovation but I think I am happier with fabrics and thread (or maybe grasses and leaves) rather than plaster and concrete. The one exception to this was that I did enjoy experimenting with clay. If I could find somewhere to trial ideas I had around pressing embroidery into clay, firing and glazing it maybe to produce sculptures or pots I would. Using air dry clay did not go far enough for me. I need to have a word with the local potteries to see if they can help.
Most of all I am looking forward to level 2. I really am hoping that the higher level will enable me to produce work that I want to rather than being too prescriptive. Hopefully this will help me to develop my personal voice a bit more.
Everything I did needed to be kept neat, clean and precise. The structures are so intricate that any mistakes would show up. A stitch out of place would shout out to the viewer.
I could not be tempted to rush. Mistakes were more likely to occur if I did. The leaves are so delicate that if I rushed I would ruin them.
I needed to relax as the tension of the stitches was crucial. Too tight and the leaves would be damaged.
Concentration was vital as I needed to be precise.
I decided to develop the seed pod with grasses as a final piece. I chose to make three pods all identical (as far as is possible using natural materials). It will be the first time that I have made a multiple of something so it was to be an interesting exercise.
Making them was relatively simple as I had spent so long refining my samples to check what worked best. As always with these materials one of the main challenges is not to snap or tear them. each one had be made slowly and gently. I chose to arrange the leaves to make ‘cris-cross’ markings if examined up close by alternating the leaves. To be honest it will probably only be noticed by a few but it was an important touch for me to add. Making each one as close to identical to the others was not very easy. each leaf is a different size and a slightly different shape. To join them takes a lot of care and careful stitching. on the final samples I used a matching thread to sew the leaves together before stitching the grasses around the edge. This helped to stabilise the leaf before using the buttonhole stitch around the edge and looked better than using brown thread for both stages of stitching.
I am really pleased with the final samples. They work really well together as a group. Each is obviously unique but are as close to identical as possible just like nature’s structures. I enjoy the contrast in texture and lines within the pods. The sheer lightweight leaves, the smooth crisp line made around the pods with the grass stems, the opaque seeds and the flowing grasses.
I hope that people will find them as intriguing and interesting as I have. I don’t think I would change anything if I made them again, however I would like to try some on a different scale. This would be quite difficult; especially larger scale as materials may be difficult to source. I would also like at some point to come back to the other samples I produced during this project and develop them further as well.
To finish the project I took advantage of it being a nice autumn day to take some photographs against natural backgrounds and some against non natural backgrounds, we have some rather impressive old tree stumps near my home so I thought I would start there first.
Ideas for using four leaves; enclosing the ends to form a ball.
I am not proposing to make finished samples of all these ideas. Some will be working samples. For example I will soon be able to see how a different stitch will work by trialing only a tiny section. It may or may not work with the leaves ie. it may rip them or the colour may not work and stand out too much detracting from the impact of the delicate structures in the leaves.
Stitch trials: Starting from top: Cream running and buttonhole stitch, mid brown stitching, black stitching, dark brown stitching.
I started by trialing cream buttonhole and the running stitch as per the original sample. I knew I already liked the cream on cream look but I must say that I do prefer the buttonhole stitch to the running stitch. I think this is due to the fact that it creates a border or rather an edging around the shape. I then moved onto trying different colours of thread but still remaining within a natural pallette. I experimented with a mid brown and black thread but found the mid brown a little light and the black a little too harsh. I finally tried a dark brown cotton which created a much better contrast. It almost gives a weathered or singed look to the edge of the pod. I still was not sure of the colour so I returned to some of my earlier samples to look at the colours within them.
The darker veining on these leaves was particularly of interest. I decided to match this against my threads. Unfortunately despite a huge range of embroidery threads, I could only find some old polyester sewing thread. This is a little ‘hard’ and is not particularly good to work with on such a delicate item and kept looping as I stitched. I will need to go to my local craft shop and try to find some better thread.
I do feel that it is a much better colour and I am satisfied that it will work well with the buttonhole stitch to both construct and embellish the pods.
I thought I would make a couple of quick samples to try using the leaves to make different types of pods for instance the pod above which is made using only one leaf folded in half (inspired by the shape of the stitch samples above) and the one below made of two leaves stitched with buttonhole stitch in the new thread colour.
The pod above reminds me of Honesty seed pods. I used to love them as a child (we had a small patch that grew at the bottom of the garden) and I used to enjoy dismantling them to examine them and remove the seeds.
The picture below show a quick trial using four leaves (as the ball in previous posts) but bringing the ends to a point rather than enclosing them. I feel it is more interesting view from the end than the other pods but I don’t feel it works as well as using two or three leaves.
Now I have put them together to compare them, I am not sure that I am so keen on the darker buttonhole stitch around the edge. I feel it is in danger of detracting from the simplicity of the structure and also drawing the eye away from the seeds within.
It is amazing how much the piece changes once it is complete with seeds. Without the seeds, just stitching the leaves together, the brown thread works well giving the work a contrast. However once the seeds are in place the emphasis shifts completely and the brown doesn’t work as well. It focuses the eye on the outline rather than allowing it to continue through to the centre.
I decided to try two more samples; one with cream buttonhole stitch and one with brown running stitch and placed them against the other versions in a simple row.
Of the four samples above my favourite is the cream thread in buttonhole stitch. It seems to my eye at least that the buttonhole stitch gives just enough of an outline without cluttering the view of the audience. It adds a bit of a special finish to the piece. Reminding the viewer that it is a stitched piece. Putting the four samples together also proves that I prefer to see more seeds rather than fewer and that keeping the display method simple and neat will be important.
I was still concerned that it was not quite there yet so I though I would try one last variation that was on my list: using grasses around the edge of the pod. I had really enjoyed the movement of the grass vessels I had made earlier in the sample making stages. I felt that this was missing from the pod idea so I thought I would give it a go. I also wanted to introduce the elongated shape of the woven grass and stick sample from the last sampling stage.
I am so pleased with this version. It is an amalgamation of three different samples; the main structure of the plain three leaf seed pod, the elongated wispy shape of the woven twig sample and the movement of the grasses samples. It is very experimental but I love the elegant look it has due to the elongated shape as well as the movement added by using the grass around the edge. It does make it a more complex structure but does not hinder the view of the seeds within. I am going to use this model to begin my final piece.
I am proposing to create a small collection of 3 or 5 pods out of what could be a much larger collection to be hung simply on a plain white background in rows. Other possible methods would be laying on a natural wooden shelf or plinth in a neat line or placing within a acrylic box so they can be seen clearly.
I like to see groups of things in odd numbers; to me it always looks balanced. When I visited Alexandra Palace to see ‘Findings’ by Alice Fox I noticed that all her small items were displayed in such neat groups. It is a display technique I particularly like.
Darned acorns by Alice Fox mounted in a row on a plain white background, covered with an acrylic box to protect them.
Darned walnut halves by Alice Fox displayed laying on a perspex shelf, again within a perspex box for protection.
Leaf cubes by Alice Fox; Nine perfectly formed cubes made of leaves in a row. I love this layout and the way the cubes are slightly different but look identical at first glance. This is a style I would like to emulate with my piece. All the pods looking the same from a distance but unique up close.
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2019-04-24T16:46:35Z
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https://textilepiphany.wordpress.com/
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How domestication bottlenecks and artificial selection shaped the amount and distribution of genetic variation in the genomes of modern crops is poorly understood. We analyzed diversity at 462 simple sequence repeats (SSRs) or microsatellites spread throughout the maize genome and compared the diversity observed at these SSRs in maize to that observed in its wild progenitor, teosinte. The results reveal a modest genome-wide deficit of diversity in maize relative to teosinte. The relative deficit of diversity is less for SSRs with dinucleotide repeat motifs than for SSRs with repeat motifs of more than two nucleotides, suggesting that the former with their higher mutation rate have partially recovered from the domestication bottleneck. We analyzed the relationship between SSR diversity and proximity to QTL for domestication traits and observed no relationship between these factors. However, we did observe a weak, although significant, spatial correlation for diversity statistics among SSRs within 2 cM of one another, suggesting that SSR diversity is weakly patterned across the genome. Twenty-four of 462 SSRs (5%) show some evidence of positive selection in maize under multiple tests. Overall, the pattern of genetic diversity at maize SSRs can be explained largely by a bottleneck effect with a smaller effect from selection.
BETWEEN 5000 and 10,000 years ago, humans domesticated virtually all major crop species used by modern agricultural societies (Smith 2001). This feat was accomplished through artificial selection for traits that improved agronomic qualities. As a result of this process, favorable alleles at loci controlling agronomic traits were brought to fixation in the population during the domestication period. After the initial domestication, the continued practice of selective breeding allowed additional favorable alleles to sweep through the crop species, while diversifying selection in response to the different environments encountered during the geographic expansion of the crop caused regional fixation of distinct favorable alleles. As a consequence of this complex history of selection, only a limited portion of the population contributed to each subsequent generation. Some anticipated consequences are a genome-wide loss of diversity at unselected genes because of the genetic bottleneck effect, a severe reduction in diversity at genes under directional selection during domestication, and artificially high diversity at genes under diversifying selection.
These two processes—selection targeted on agronomic genes and drift due to the domestication bottleneck affecting the entire genome—are the principal factors that influence the amount and distribution of genetic variation in crop genomes as compared to their wild progenitors. Studies on isozymes and gene sequences revealed a general reduction of genetic variation in crops as a result of the domestication bottleneck (Doebley et al. 1984; Eyre-Walker et al. 1998; Hilton and Gaut 1998); however, these exploratory studies involved relatively few loci and thus the generality of their results needs confirmation. Our knowledge of the impact of selection on diversity in crops is more restricted since very few agronomic genes have been identified and characterized for their level of genetic diversity (Wang et al. 1999; Whitt et al. 2002; Tenaillon et al. 2004). Thus, our present picture of how drift and selection have sculpted the diversity landscape of crop genomes is fragmentary.
To begin to better define genetic diversity in the maize (Zea mays ssp. mays) genome and to identify the forces that have shaped it, we have constructed a diversity map of the maize genome using microsatellites or simple sequence repeats (SSRs). We scanned the genomes of maize and its close wild relatives, annual teosinte (Z. mays ssp. huehuetenangensis, ssp. mexicana, and ssp. parviglumis), using 462 SSRs. The phylogenetic relationships of these taxa are well known (Doebley 1990; Buckler and Holtsford 1996) and ssp. parviglumis has been shown to be the progenitor of maize (Wang et al. 1999; Matsuoka et al. 2002b). Because of this well-characterized phylogeny, maize and annual teosinte provide a good model for the analysis of the genetic consequences of domestication. The goals of this study are (1) to provide a general picture of genetic diversity for SSRs in maize and teosinte, (2) to determine if there is heterogeneity in diversity among genomic regions, (3) to measure the relative impact of selection vs. drift on the observed pattern of diversity, and (4) to assess the degree to which mutation has allowed SSRs to recover diversity lost from the effects of domestication.
We sampled individual maize plants from a set of 45 landraces covering the entire pre-Columbian range of maize. We also sampled 45 annual teosinte plants representing three wild taxa: Z. mays ssp. huehuetenangensis (1 plant), ssp. mexicana (23 plants) and ssp. parviglumis (21 plants). Passport data for the plants are available at www.genetics.org/supplemental (Table S1).
We used 462 SSRs, representing a variety of repeat types from dinucleotide to hexanucleotide motifs, distributed throughout the genome. These SSRs were divided in two groups, dinucleotide and “other” repeat SSRs, because the mutation rate for dinucleotide SSRs is higher than that for other SSR types (Vigouroux et al. 2002a). Detailed information on the SSRs used in this study including their genetic map position is available at www.genetics.org/supplemental (Table S2). The source of SSRs, whether from expressed sequence tags, known genes, or SSR-enriched genomic libraries, is available at www.maizgdb.org (see also Sharopova et al. 2002). SSR genotyping was done on automated sequencers at Cornell University (Ithaca, NY), Pioneer Hi-Bred International (Johnston, IA), and Celera AgGen (Davis, CA), following procedures that have been published elsewhere (Matsuoka et al. 2002b).
Gene diversity or heterozygosity (H), the number of alleles (N), and Fst between maize and teosinte were calculated using the software program Fstat (Goudet 2001). The significance of Fst was assessed by 10,000 resamplings of the genotypic data. To measure the relative deficit of gene diversity (GD) in maize vs. teosinte, we have defined a parameter ΔGD = 1 − (HM/HT), where HM and HT are genetic diversity in maize and teosinte, respectively. If HM is higher than HT, then we calculated this parameter as ΔGD = (HT/HM) − 1. The relative deficit of the number of alleles is Δallele = 1 − (NM/NT), where NM and NT are the number of alleles in maize and teosinte, respectively. If NM is higher than NT, then we calculated this parameter as Δallele = (NT/NM) − 1. These statistics vary between −1 and 1, positive when diversity is higher in teosinte and negative otherwise. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test (W), Kruskal-Wallis test (KW), and Mann-Whitney test (MW) were performed using SYSTAT (SPSS, Chicago).
The relationship between s, r, and diversity statistics (Δallele, ΔGD, or Fst) is complicated and there is no known function to describe it. Therefore, we took an ad hoc approach. Two different functions (f) were investigated: a linear monotonic decrease f(r) = 50 − r and an exponential decrease f(r) = e−λr. For the latter, we used two different values (1 and 5) for λ. The QTL effect is almost zero for λ = 1 after 10 cM and for λ = 5 after 2 cM. For each particular function, if r > 50 cM, the QTL effect was considered to be zero. Spearman correlation coefficients between QE and diversity statistics (Δallele, ΔGD, or Fst) over all SSRs were calculated. Only SSRs placed on the IBM v3 map were tested (www.maizgdb.org).
where xi and xj are the chromosomal map positions of two SSRs, Z(xi) and Z(xj) are the values of their diversity statistics, and N(h) is the number of pairs of SSRs separated by a distance h or less (Armstrong 1998). Three different values of h were investigated: 1, 2, and 5 cM.
follows a t-distribution with n − 1 d.f. There is no objective criterion for the sample size n, so we chose the five points that were the closest to the location x. Outliers were excluded at the 95% significance level.
To test if a particular value of the semivariance is significantly different from a random effect, we used permutation tests in which the diversity statistics for the SSRs were randomized with respect to chromosomal position. One thousand permuted data sets were generated and the probability of finding a value higher than the observed value for a distance class was then calculated using the distribution of the permuted data.
The Ewens-Watterson test of neutrality enables one to detect deviations from a neutral-equilibrium model as either a deficit or an excess of genetic diversity relative to the number of alleles at a locus (Ewens 1972; Watterson 1978). This test was performed using the program Arlequin (Schneider et al. 2000). The probability that an SSR fits the neutral expectation under this test was assessed using both the homozygosity test (PH) and Slatkin's (1994, 1996) exact test (PE).
The degree of differentiation between populations at a locus as measured by Fst can be used to assess whether SSRs show more differentiation than expected under a purely neutral (drift) model (Bowcock et al. 1991; Beaumont and Nichols 1996). We tested whether Fst between maize and teosinte at SSRs is greater than expected by the domestication bottleneck effect (drift) alone. To do this, Fst was conditioned on the total number of alleles in maize and teosinte to control more effectively for the variable mutation rate among maize SSRs (Vigouroux et al. 2002a). Three different mutation models were investigated (see below). We set the 95% confidence limits for this one-tailed test using coalescence simulations that incorporate genetic drift due to the domestication bottleneck (see below). We refer to this as the Fst test.
Both selection and drift during domestication are expected to reduce gene diversity in maize relative to teosinte. To ask whether SSRs have less variation in maize relative to teosinte than that expected from drift alone, we compared gene diversity in maize vs. teosinte for our observed data with the 95% confidence limits for these parameters established by simulations as a two-tailed test (see below). We refer to this as the GD test.
The Fst and GD tests ask whether divergence between maize and teosinte or gene diversity in maize relative to teosinte deviates from a neutral model that incorporates the domestication bottleneck. To establish 95% confidence limits for these tests, we performed coalescence simulations (Hudson 1990; see also Vigouroux et al. 2002b). The model for the simulations involves a crop (maize) that split at some time in the past from its progenitor (teosinte). The maize population undergoes a “bottleneck” during the domestication period and then expands rapidly to a large size while the progenitor population remains at equilibrium from the time of divergence until the present (Eyre-Walker et al. 1998; Hilton and Gaut 1998). A sample size equivalent to our experimental samples of maize and ssp. parviglumis was used. Separate topologies for maize and ssp. parviglumis were simulated first and then the coalescence times for each node in these topologies were added. The bottleneck in the maize topology was taken into account by rescaling the coalescent times during the bottleneck by the ratio of the effective population size of maize during the bottleneck (Nb) divided by the size after expansion (Nm). The nodes of these two topologies at the time of the split between maize and ssp. parviglumis were then treated as a new sample for another simulation to create a single topology combining maize and teosinte.
of 3.2 determined from a mutation-accumulation study for maize SSRs (Vigouroux et al. 2002a; see also Pritchard et al. 1999).
For the simulations, we must estimate the time of divergence of maize and its progenitor, the effective population size of the wild progenitor, the effective population size of maize during the bottleneck and after its expansion, the duration of the bottleneck, and the mutation rate for SSRs. The time of divergence was set at 7500 years (Iltis 1983). The ssp. parviglumis effective size was fixed to 40,000 (Vigouroux et al. 2002a). The duration of the bottleneck and the effective sizes of maize during and after the bottleneck are unknown, but these parameters are not independent from each other. For estimating the relationship between these parameters, we developed a mathematical model for maize domestication using the GSM (see appendix). Fixing the effective population size of the expanded population of maize to 1 million, we simulated bottlenecks of lengths 100, 200, 500, 1000, and 2500 years and determined their corresponding effective population sizes to be 107, 220, 553, 1117, and 2875. We have used these values for the simulation.
The mutation rate for maize SSRs is variable among loci and the mutation rate for any individual SSR is unknown (Vigouroux et al. 2002a). Therefore, we have chosen for each simulation a value of this parameter by the following approach. First, a value for gene diversity (or number of alleles) was picked at random from between 0 and 1 (or between 1 and 51 for number of alleles). Second, the mutation rate that gives this gene diversity (or number of alleles) at equilibrium in ssp. parviglumis was calculated and used for simulations. Third, we constrained the mutation rate to be >5 × 10−7 in accordance with empirical data (Vigouroux et al. 2002a).
Fst (as described in Weir 1996, pp. 181–182), gene diversity, and the total number of alleles for both maize and ssp. parviglumis were calculated from the results of 500,000 simulations for each mutation model. This information was then used to estimate the median values and the 95% confidence intervals. As gene diversity is a continuous variable, the expected value of the parameter was calculated using a sliding window of ±0.0125. To analyze how well the simulated results fit our actual data, we took two approaches. First, we constructed decile curves with the simulated data and calculated the number of actual SSRs lying between two decile curves for the Fst by the number of alleles' distribution (Bowcock et al. 1991). If the model fits the data perfectly, the number of SSRs lying between two deciles curves should be one-tenth of the total number of SSRs studied. Second, we calculated the mean Fst on the basis of the simulation results for a given number of alleles. Then, we used these mean values to calculate an overall expected mean Fst for a set of SSRs with the same numbers of alleles as observed in the actual data. We then compared this mean Fst for the simulated data with that for the actual data. The same two procedures were used to compare the fit between the actual and simulated data for gene diversity except that the mean expected gene diversity in maize was conditioned on observed gene diversity in ssp. parviglumis.
Maize possesses less variation at SSRs than does teosinte, whether measured as the number of alleles or as gene diversity (Table 1). Over all SSRs, the average number of alleles is significantly lower in maize landraces (9.0) than in teosinte (11.8; W test, P < 0.001). The relative deficit in allele number or Δallele is 0.24, meaning that maize has 24% fewer alleles than teosinte. Gene diversity is also significantly lower in maize (0.64) as compared to teosinte (0.74; W test, P < 0.001) with a ΔGD of 0.12 or a 12% deficit in maize relative to teosinte. The deficit in the number of alleles (24%) is significantly greater than the deficit in gene diversity (12%; W test, P < 0.001).
Our prior work on mutation rates for maize SSRs indicated that SSRs with dinucleotide repeat motifs have a much higher mutation rate than SSRs with trinucleotide or larger motifs (here called “other repeat SSRs”; Vigouroux et al. 2002a). This difference in mutation rates is reflected in the diversity statistics (Table 1). Dinucleotide SSRs have more alleles than other repeat SSRs both in maize (MW test, P < 0.001) and in teosinte (MW test, P < 0.001). They also have a higher gene diversity in both maize (MW test, P < 0.001) and teosinte (MW test, P < 0.001). Therefore, in addition to analyses using all the markers, we performed separate analyses for dinucleotide and other repeat SSRs.
For both dinucleotide and other repeat SSRs, the average number of alleles is higher in teosinte than in maize (W test, P < 0.001 and P < 0.001, respectively); however, the relative deficit in the number of alleles (Δallele) is greater for other repeat SSRs than for dinucleotide SSRs (MW, P < 0.001) (Table 1). Maize shows a relative deficit of 28% for the number of alleles at other repeat SSRs, but a deficit of only 19% for dinucleotide SSRs. Gene diversity exhibits the same trends with a higher diversity in teosinte than in maize for both dinucleotide (W test, P < 0.001) and other repeat SSRs (W test, P < 0.001), but with ΔGD being greater for other repeat than for dinucleotide SSRs (MW test, P < 0.001).
Fst between maize and teosinte is low with an average value of 0.071 ± 0.004. Overall, the differentiation between maize and teosinte is highly significant (P ≪ 0.001). Out of the 462 SSRs, 368 exhibit an Fst that is significantly >0 at a noncorrected P-value of 0.05. Mean Fst is higher (MW, P < 0.001) for other repeat SSRs (0.087 ± 0.005) as compared to dinucleotide SSRs (0.044 ± 0.004). There is no difference between dinucleotide and other repeat SSRs in the proportion showing a significant Fst (G-test = 0.63, P = 0.43). Fis is 0.38 ± 0.010 for maize and 0.43 ± 0.009 for teosinte. Fis is similar for dinucleotide and other repeat SSRs for both maize (MW, P = 0.62) and teosinte (MW, P = 0.13).
The QTL for plant and inflorescence architecture that differentiate maize and teosinte are mostly found on chromosomes 1–5 (Figure 1; Doebley and Stec 1993). Therefore, if selection on these QTL during domestication caused a severe loss of diversity, one might expect some chromosomal effect on diversity. When all the SSRs are considered, we found no chromosome effect for the parameters ΔGD (KW, P = 0.38) and Fst (KW, P = 0.22), but a significant effect for Δallele (KW, P = 0.006). If we considered dinucleotide SSRs (Δallele, KW, P = 0.11; ΔGD, KW, P = 0.12; Fst, KW, P = 0.83) and other repeat SSRs (Δallele, KW, P = 0.08; ΔGD, KW, P = 0.40; Fst, KW, P = 0.37) separately, there are no significant associations. However, if we combined the two probabilities for Δallele for dinucleotide and other repeat SSRs using Fisher's method for combining probabilities (Sokal and Rohlf 1995), we observe a significant chromosome effect (P = 0.049). This result suggests that the chromosome effect is driven by both kinds of repeats. Chromosome 4 has the highest value for Δallele followed by chromosomes 6, 10, 7, 8, 5, 9, 1, 3, and 2 in descending order.
Plot of Fst and ΔGD along the genetic map of maize. Fst and ΔGD are plotted as a function of the distance in centimorgans along the 10 chromosomes of maize. A representation of domestication QTL effect is shown as a shaded area (see text for details).
We can also test if selection on domestication QTL has affected genetic diversity in windows surrounding the individual QTL. If one visually examines the relationship between ΔGD or Fst and QTL effect, there is no obvious correlation (Figure 1). At the large-effect QTL region on chromosome 1, neither ΔGD nor Fst is particularly large. The same is true for the large-effect QTL regions on chromosomes 2, 3, 4, and 5. Indeed, SSRs with exceptionally large values of Fst or ΔGD appear randomly dispersed along the chromosomes.
For a more definitive analysis of the relationship between QTL and SSR diversity, we calculated the correlation between QTL effect and the diversity statistics for the SSRs. If all SSRs are considered together, we observe 1 significant correlation out of 12 between SSR diversity statistics and QTL effect (Table 2). If dinucleotide and other repeat SSRs are analyzed separately, there is also only 1 significant result among 24 tests. We conclude that there is no convincing evidence for a relationship between diversity statistics and QTL effect since single significant tests can readily result by chance alone when doing 24 tests.
In addition to domestication QTL, other spatial factors, such as distance from the centromere, could influence the distribution of diversity. To detect if neighboring SSRs exhibit a similar pattern of diversity, we calculated the semivariance of each of the diversity statistics: Δallele, ΔGD, and Fst. If diversity is spatially correlated along the chromosomes, then γ(h) for the actual data should be lower than that for a data set obtained by permuting SSRs. Using all SSRs and values of 1, 2, and 5 cM for h, we observed significant (P > 0.95) values for γ(h) for all of the diversity statistics (Table 3). The analysis using only other repeat SSRs gives a similar result. For dinucleotide SSRs, only Δallele and ΔGD show significance, perhaps because of the smaller number of dinucleotide SSRs and corresponding reduced statistical power. Thus, there is evidence that diversity at neighboring SSRs is correlated within recombination distances ranging from 1 to 5 cM. We note that significant spatial correlations are observed only when outlier SSRs were removed from the analysis. Outlier SSRs may result from the variability in mutation rate among SSRs or misplacement of SSRs on the genetic map.
To examine further whether the significant correlations in Table 3 are strictly dependent on the exclusion of outliers, we also calculated γ(h) using the P-values from the Fst test and the GD test for SMM (see below). The use of P-values reduces the noise introduced by differences in mutation rates among SSRs. For this analysis, we calculated the odds ratio of the P-value as ln(p/(1 − p)). Using all the SSRs, we found significant (P > 0.95) variogram P-values (with outliers, without outliers) from the GD test at 1 cM (P = 0.981, P = 0.969), 2 cM (P = 0.997, P = 0.995), but not at 5 cM (P = 0.93, P = 0.804). For the P-values from the Fst distribution, we observed significant or near significant associations at 1 cM (P = 0.944, P = 0.904) and 2 cM (P = 0.954, P = 0.949), but not at 5 cM (P = 0.72, P = 0.66). Thus, the exclusion of outliers appears not have biased the observed significant spatial correlation for diversity statistics. Overall, these analyses indicate a significant spatial correlation among SSRs within 2 cM of each other.
The Ewens-Watterson test enables one to detect deviations from a neutral-equilibrium model as either a deficit of gene diversity relative to the number of alleles at a locus (below the curve in Figure 2) or an excess of gene diversity (above the curve in Figure 2; Ewens 1972; Watterson 1978). In maize, the number of SSRs showing excess in gene diversity compared to the number of alleles (P < 0.025) is 36, and the number showing a deficit in gene diversity (P > 0.975) is 12 (supplementary Table S2 at http://www.genetics.org/supplemental/). In teosinte, the number of SSRs showing excess in gene diversity compared to the number of alleles (P < 0.025) is 34, and the number showing a deficit in gene diversity (P > 0.975) is 5. Maize shows more SSRs with a deficit in gene diversity as expected under selection or a bottleneck.
Graphical representation of the Ewens-Watterson test. The 97.5 and 2.5% percentile curves are represented by the solid lines and the expected median value by the dashed line. Circles are dinucleotide and triangles are other repeat SSRs.
The Fst test asks if the degree of differentiation at an SSR exceeds neutral expectations. Figure 3 provides a graphical representation of the Fst test, showing the medians and upper 95% confidence limits for the SMM, GSM, and IAM established by simulation. The three mutation models give similar results for SSRs with five or fewer alleles; however, for SSRs with more than five alleles, the SMM and GSM have a lower median and 95% confidence limit. To analyze the fit between the simulated model and the observed data set, we calculated the mean of the expected Fst for each individual locus given the number of observed alleles. For dinucleotide SSRs, this average is 0.045 (SMM), 0.070 (GSM), and 0.16 (IAM) compared to the observed mean of 0.054. For the other repeats, this average is 0.107 (SMM), 0.138 (GSM), and 0.163 (IAM) compared to the observed mean of 0.097. We also calculated the number of SSRs lying between consecutive decile curves for each mutation model for both dinucleotide and other repeat SSRs. The IAM does not fit the dinucleotide SSR data because of an excess of SSRs with low Fst values (χ2 = 275.4, P ≪ 0.001); the GSM and the SMM models are also rejected, but less markedly (χ2 = 29.3, P < 0.001 and χ2 = 21.2, P < 0.02). For the other repeat SSRs, the SMM (χ2 = 7.18, P = 0.62) is not rejected, but the GSM (χ2 = 27.8, P < 0.001) and IAM (χ2 = 63.2, P < 0.001) are rejected. Thus, our actual data best fit the SMM although the fit is not perfect.
Plot of the Fst by the number of alleles. Curves correspond to the 50 and 95% percentiles based on simulated data for three mutation models: an infinite allele model (solid line), the generalized stepwise model (long-dashed line) and a stepwise model (short-dashed line). The plot is presented for dinucleotide SSRs (circles) and other repeat SSRs (triangles).
With 462 SSRs, the Bonferroni correction threshold would be 0.99989 for the Fst test. To test that a locus shows a departure at this P-value with good precision would require an inordinate number of simulations. So for practical reasons we report here SSRs that exhibit a probability of <0.995 and not the Bonferroni-corrected threshold. Eleven SSRs exhibit higher Fst values than expected for the SMM model and zero for both the GSM and IAM at the P = 0.995 level. At the P = 0.95 level, 46 SSRs are significant for the SMM, 12 for the GSM, and none for the IAM. So with the SMM 10% of the SSRs exhibit a significant value as compared to the 5% expected under a completely neutral distribution.
The GD test asks if there has been a greater than expected loss of gene diversity in maize relative to ssp. parviglumis given the model for the domestication bottleneck used in the simulations. For all models (IAM, GSM, and SSM), if gene diversity at an SSR in ssp. parviglumis is <0.5, then gene diversity in maize can be zero due to loss from the domestication bottleneck alone (Figure 4). To analyze the fit between the simulated model and the observed data, we calculated the mean of the expected gene diversity in maize given the observed gene diversity in teosinte. For dinucleotide SSRs, this average is 0.785 (SMM), 0.768 (GSM), and 0.705 (IAM) compared to the observed 0.787. For the other repeats, this average is 0.541 (SMM), 0.524 (GSM), and 0.495 (IAM) compared to the observed 0.546. We also calculated the number of SSRs lying between consecutive decile curves for each mutation model for both dinucleotide and other repeat SSRs. For dinucleotide SSR data, the IAM (χ2 = 88.7, P < 0.001) is rejected but not the SMM (χ2 = 12.8, P = 0.17) and the GSM (χ2 = 12.7, P = 0.18). For the other repeat SSRs, the SMM (χ2 = 10.1, P = 0.35) and GSM (χ2 = 9.7, P = 0.37) are not rejected, but the IAM is rejected (χ2 = 41.8, P < 0.001). Thus, our data best fit the GSM and SMM, although the fit is not perfect.
Plot of the gene diversity in maize as compared to the gene diversity in ssp. parviglumis. The curves correspond to the 2.5, 50, and 97.5% percentiles based on simulations for three mutation models: an infinite allele model (solid line), the generalized stepwise model (long-dashed line) and a stepwise model (short-dashed line). The plot is presented for dinucleotide SSRs (circles) and other repeat SSRs (triangles).
For the SMM, 25 SSRs exhibit a significant deficit in diversity in maize relative to teosinte (P < 0.025). This represents ∼5.4% of the SSRs where only 2.5% (12 SSRs) would be expected by chance. Thus, if the model and parameters used in the simulations are correct, we are likely detecting some SSRs that have reduced diversity because of positive selection during maize domestication or improvement. Fifteen SSRs (3.2%) show a significant excess of diversity in maize (P > 0.975) under the SMM where ∼12 SSRs would be expected by chance. The expected (12) and observed (15) values are fairly close so there is no compelling evidence for SSRs that are under balancing or diversifying selection in maize.
We summarized the SSRs where two different tests in maize indicate a significant (P = 0.05) deviation from neutrality (Table 4). Twenty-nine SSRs in maize show a significant result for multiple tests, 6% of the total number of SSRs. Of these, 24 SSRs or 5% of the 462 show reduced diversity as expected under positive selection. There are similar numbers of dinucleotide and other repeat SSRs with significant tests (Table 4), and these numbers are not significantly different (G = 3.27, P = 0.07) from a random expectation based on the number in each class of markers in our sample.
Genetic diversity in maize as in other crops has been reduced during domestication as previously shown (Doebley et al. 1984; Hilton and Gaut 1998) and further illustrated in this study. For SSRs, maize has 88% of the gene diversity found in teosinte and 76% of the number of alleles. If we divide the SSR data according to the length of the repeat motif, we observe that maize has 91% of gene diversity of teosinte at dinucleotide SSRs and 85% of that at other repeat SSRs. For number of alleles, these values are 81% at dinucleotide SSRs and 72% of that at other repeat SSRs. This deficit of diversity is less than what has been found at the DNA level for adh1, 75% (Eyre-Walker et al. 1998), or glb1, 60% (Hilton and Gaut 1998), as expected since the higher mutation rate for SSRs relative to that for nucleotide substitutions allows SSRs to recover more rapidly from the bottleneck effect (Vigouroux et al. 2002a).
We observed a relatively low, although significant, level of differentiation between maize and teosinte (Fst = 0.07). Since differentiation is driven mostly by drift and both maize and teosinte have large population sizes, the low level of differentiation is not unexpected. Dinucleotide SSRs show a significantly smaller Fst value than other repeat SSRs; however, these two types of SSRs exhibit a similar proportion of Fst values that are significantly greater than zero. The smaller Fst for dinucleotide SSRs occurs because of their higher mutation rate (Vigouroux et al. 2002a) and the statistical properties of Fst. Fst is the function of two probabilities, the probability of identity of two alleles within a population and the probability of identity of two alleles between populations. As the mutation rate increases, the probability of identity within a population decreases and so does the Fst value (Weir 1996). This smaller Fst value does not mean that the populations are not differentiated, but just illustrates the effect of the mutation rate on Fst. The same phenomenon has been observed elsewhere with empirical and simulated data (Balloux et al. 2000).
Fis is moderately high in both maize (0.38) and teosinte (0.43), but this is likely a function of our sampling strategy. We attempted to maximize the breadth of genetic diversity in our maize and teosinte samples by selecting accessions from maximally divergent geographical locations. This sampling strategy will increase the probability of observing SSRs that have become fixed for alternate alleles in different populations. When multiple plants from single populations are sampled in maize, Fis values are much smaller (Labate et al. 2003).
A study of the inheritance of domestication traits in maize reported a concentration of QTL on chromosomes 1–5 (Doebley and Stec 1993). This suggests that these chromosomes might have experienced a stronger selective force than chromosomes 6–10 and that there may be heterogeneity among chromosomes in genetic diversity. Nevertheless, no chromosomal effect was detected for either the relative deficit in gene diversity or Fst, suggesting a somewhat homogenous genome-wide loss of diversity during domestication (Figure 1, Table 2). The relative deficit of alleles shows some evidence of heterogeneity among chromosomes. Why this effect is observed only for the number of alleles (Δalleles) is unclear. If this effect is due to selection during domestication, it is unlikely that this selection was targeted at the genes (QTL) controlling the differences in plant and inflorescence architecture studied by Doebley and Stec (1993) since the chromosomes that show the most modest losses of alleles (5, 9, 1, 3, and 2) include four of the five chromosomes identified as possessing the largest numbers of QTL.
We asked whether there is a correlation between the location of domestication QTL and genomic regions of lower genetic diversity as expected if selection during domestication had caused regional losses in diversity. Addressing this question is not straightforward since multiple QTL can be linked in a single region and maize has a complex history. Thus, although the interaction of linkage, selection, and gene diversity has been extensively studied (Maynard Smith and Haigh 1974; Ohta and Kimura 1975; Wiehe and Stephan 1993; Kim and Stephan 2000), no clear models can be applied to maize domestication. For these reasons, we have taken an ad hoc approach involving several assumptions: (1) the effect of each domestication QTL on SSR diversity is a decreasing function of the recombination distance to the SSR; (2) the QTL were positively selected; (3) each QTL contributed to the loss of diversity in proportion to the amount of variance it explains (i.e., that selection was stronger for the QTL explaining a higher percentage of the phenotypic variance); and (4) QTL contributed additively to the diversity loss.
Using this approach, we did not observe a significant correlation between QTL effect and loss in the number of alleles (Δallele), gene diversity (ΔGD), or Fst (Figure 1). This result can be explained several ways. First, the method we used may not be sensitive enough given the uncertainty of marker positions on the map. Second, we considered here only QTL for morphological traits and not all the potential traits that differentiate teosinte from maize (e.g., seed quality). Third, forces other than directional selection (drift, mutation, diversifying selection) may have created sufficient noise to obscure much of the signal from directional selection. Fourth, none of the SSRs may be sufficiently close to the QTL to have been affected by selection on the QTL. Finally, SSRs used in this study were developed in maize after screening to eliminate invariant SSRs, giving an ascertainment bias since invariant SSRs, which are the most likely candidates for selected SSRs, were excluded from our sample (see Vigouroux et al. 2002b).
Selective sweeps or background selection can reduce diversity throughout a chromosomal region (Maynard Smith and Haigh 1974; Charlesworth et al. 1993). Therefore, we tested whether linked SSRs are more similar in diversity and we observed multiple significant tests for pairs of SSRs within distances of 2 cM from one another (Table 3).
What mechanisms could produced this correlation? One interpretation is that we are detecting regional variation in the strength of selection during domestication. Where selection was strongest, maize is less diverse (or more differentiated from teosinte) relative to regions that experienced weaker selection. This interpretation, if correct, would appear to contradict prior evidence that the effects of selection on diversity in maize are very narrow (Wang et al. 1999) and that that linkage disequilibrium between loci decreases rapidly (Remington et al. 2001; Tenaillon et al. 2001). Another interpretation may be that there is some bias in the data (or in the parameters) that creates a correlation among neighboring SSRs. For example, if there are regions of high vs. low recombination and if recombination is correlated with SSR mutation rate (see Tenaillon et al. 2001), then a statistic like Fst that is influenced by the mutation rate could show a spatial correlation in the absence of any effect from selection during domestication.
To test whether an SSR exhibits a nonneutral pattern of variation, one needs to know the neutral distribution against which the observed data can be compared. To compute such a distribution, we have used coalescent simulations that incorporate the domestication bottleneck. These simulations were performed using three different models for microsatellite evolution: IAM, SMM, and GSM. The simulations are also based on estimates of the current effective population size of maize, the duration of the bottleneck, and the population size of maize during the bottleneck (Eyre-Walker et al. 1998; Vigouroux et al. 2002a). Error in these estimates could bias the results. Nevertheless, this approach has the advantage of clearly specifying the model used and takes into account some aspects of maize history, although it does not include more complex features like population structure.
We examined the fit between our actual data and the simulated data and found that the mean gene diversity and Fst values from the simulated data were closest to the actual data when the simulations were based on the SMM as opposed to the IAM and GSM. Similarly, the distributions of the gene diversity and Fst values for our actual data were closest to the simulated distributions when the simulations were based on the SMM. Overall, the SMM fit the actual data in three of the four tests performed. Nevertheless, the fit is not exact and the results of the simulations differ from expectations based on our prior empirical work. Notably, our prior work on SSR mutation rates (Vigouroux et al. 2002a) indicates that dinucleotide SSRs should best fit the GSM, while a study of sequence diversity at other repeat SSRs (Matsuoka et al. 2002a) suggests that the IAM might provide the best model for this class of SSR. Other factors not incorporated into the simulations such as population structure or directional evolution (Vigouroux et al. 2003) could be responsible for the imperfect fit between the actual and simulated data. Therefore, caution is advised in interpreting the simulation results and the tests of neutrality based upon them.
We performed two tests of nonneutral evolution for which the expected distribution of the test statistic was determined using coalescent simulations. For the Fst test, 46 SSRs or 10% of the 462 SSRs exhibited a higher Fst value between maize and teosinte than expected under the SMM at the P = 0.05 significance level or twice the expected number (23) under purely neutral evolution (Table S4 at http://www.genetics.org/supplemental/). For the GD test, 25 SSRs or 5.4% of the 462 SSRs exhibit a deficit in diversity relative to teosinte under the SMM at the P = 0.025 significance level or twice the expected number (12) under purely neutral evolution (Table S4). This excess of loci with significant Fst or ΔGD values suggests that some of these SSRs (or sites closely linked to them) may have been under selection during maize domestication. These loci merit further investigation by DNA sequence analysis to better assess whether they have indeed experienced past selection.
We have also investigated the influence of selection on diversity by analyzing individual SSRs for evidence of nonneutral evolution using the Ewens-Watterson test. A large number of SSRs (34 in teosinte and 36 in maize) exhibit excess gene diversity relative to the number of alleles (Figure 2, Table S4). This result may indicate balancing (diversifying) selection or population subdivision (Kreitman 2000). For teosinte, population subdivision is a likely explanation because our sample includes three different clusters, ssp. parviglumis, ssp. mexicana, and ssp. huehuetenangensis, which are highly structured (Matsuoka et al. 2002b). Similarly, our maize sample was chosen to maximize the geographic regions represented and does not represent a single Hardy-Weinberg population, an assumption of the Ewens-Watterson test.
In maize 12 SSRs (2.6%) exhibit a deficit in gene diversity relative to the number of alleles as expected under positive selection or a bottleneck (Figure 2, Table S4). This is about the number of significant tests expected by chance alone given the significance threshold of P = 0.975 for the two-tailed Ewens-Watterson test. Thus, this test did not enable us to identify any likely targets of selection during maize domestication. In a previous article, we identified 7 of 39 maize SSRs with a deficit in gene diversity relative to the number of alleles using the Ewens-Watterson test (Vigouroux et al. 2002b). However, in this prior work, we biased our choice of SSRs to enrich the sample for ones that were likely targets of selection. The failure to identify nonneutral SSRs with the Ewens-Watterson test in the present analysis could also be influenced by ascertainment bias. Since we studied only SSRs that were polymorphic in maize and could thus be placed on the maize genetic map, we systematically excluded low-diversity (invariant) SSRs that are the most likely targets of selection.
Our results enable us to make some tentative interpretations concerning the forces that have sculpted SSR diversity across the maize genome. First, we infer that mutation has allowed dinucleotide SSRs with their high mutation rates (10−3–10−4) to partially recover from the loss of diversity during maize domestication. We make this inference since ΔGD for these SSRs is only 9% as compared to 15% for other repeat SSRs, which have a lower mutation rate (∼10−5) (Vigouroux et al. 2002a). Similarly, we infer that other repeat SSRs have also made a partial, although weaker, recovery since ΔGD for these loci is still smaller than the ΔGD of 33% for nucleotide substitutions that have even a lower mutation rate (∼10−9; White and Doebley 1999). Nevertheless, since SSR gene diversity remains lower in maize than in teosinte at both dinucleotide and other repeat SSRs, we conclude that new mutation over the ∼5000 years since the end of the bottleneck has not produced a complete recovery. Thus, SSR diversity can provide some insights into the relative roles of drift and selection as well.
Given that SSRs show reduced diversity in maize relative to teosinte, we can ask what were the relative roles of drift and selection in producing this reduction. Our data do not allow an unequivocal answer to this question, but they can be used to suggest that drift was the dominant force. First, the results of our coalescent simulations indicate that diversity at the vast majority of SSRs can be explained by a simple model that incorporates the domestication bottleneck (drift), thereby obviating the need to infer selection. Similarly, we observed no correlation between the chromosomal position of domestication QTL and diversity as expected if selection coupled with hitchhiking had caused strong regional reductions in diversity.
Even if drift during the domestication bottleneck is the major factor influencing SSR diversity in maize, we ask whether some SSRs have reduced diversity because of selection during maize domestication. A conservative approach for identifying SSRs that were likely targets of selection is to consider only SSRs that exhibit significant results with two different neutrality tests in maize. Taking this approach we identified 29 of the 462 SSRs that we consider the best candidates for selected SSRs (Table 4). Under a complete independence of the three tests, the probability to observe at least two tests significant at a 0.05 level is 0.00725. So, under neutrality, the expected number of SSRs with two significant tests for 462 SSRs analyzed is 3.3 compared to 29 actually observed. However, the tests are not completely independent from each other, so the number 29 is somewhat of an upper limit of the number of selected SSRs under the neutral models considered.
Of the 29 SSRs with two or three significant tests, 24 show evidence for positive selection during maize domestication as either a higher than expected ΔGD value or a Ewens-Watterson test indicating a deficit of gene diversity as compared to the number of alleles. Thus, an average value of 5% of the total number of SSRs may have experienced positive selection during maize domestication. This value of 5% “selected” loci may underestimate the actual number of genes that have experienced selection for several reasons. For example, we analyzed only loci that were known to be polymorphic in maize and thereby excluded invariant SSRs, the class most likely to have experienced past selection. Similarly, some SSRs that experienced selection during maize domestication some 9000 years ago may have recovered their loss diversity because of the high mutation rate for SSRs and thereby give nonsignificant neutrality test results. Nevertheless, this 5% value provides a rough first estimate of the portion of the maize genome that was under positive selection during maize domestication.
A5Assuming that the ancestral population was at equilibrium and had the same effective size as ssp. parviglumis today, we can use σ2parvi as an estimate for σ20. Knowing σ2m, Nmaize, T, and Tb, we can estimate the effective population size of maize during the bottleneck (Nb).
over 33 dinucleotide SSRs was estimated using the data from Matsuoka et al. (2002b) as 23.5 and 26.8, respectively. The effective population size of the expanded maize population after the bottleneck in a range from 105 to 109 has only a small effect on the estimated size during the bottleneck (Eyre-Walker et al. 1998 and data not shown), so we have considered only a large effective population size of 1 million for maize after the expansion.
With these values for the parameters, we can estimate Nb for different values of Tb using Equation A5. Archaeological information indicates that the domestication bottleneck was probably within the range of a few hundred to 2000 years (Smith 2001). Therefore, we calculated the effective size for bottlenecks of 100, 200, 500, 1000, and 2500 years in duration and obtained values for Nb of 107, 220, 553, 1117, and 2875, respectively. These values are in good agreement with previous independent estimates using DNA sequence polymorphism (Hilton and Gaut 1998).
We thank Montgomery Slatkin and Jody Hey for advice on the mathematical and simulation models. We thank Marit Haug for technical assistance and Major Goodman and Jesus Sanchez for help in obtaining seeds. This work is supported by National Science Foundation grant DBI-0096033.
↵ 1 These authors contributed equally to this work.
↵ 2 Present address: Diversité et Génomes des Plantes Cultivées, UMR141, Institut de Recherche Pour le Développement, Montpellier, 34394, France.
Armstrong, M., 1998 Basic Linear Geostatistics. Springer-Verlag, Berlin/Heidelberg, Germany.
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Matsuoka, Y., Y. Vigouroux, M. M. Goodman, J. Sanchez, G. E. Buckler et al. 2002b A single domestication for maize shown by multilocus microsatellite genotyping. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 99: 6080–6084.
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Vigouroux, Y., J. S. Jaqueth, Y. Matsuoka, O. S. Smith, W. D. Beavis et al., 2002a Rate and pattern of mutation at microsatellite loci in maize. Mol. Biol. Evol. 19: 1251–1260.
Vigouroux, Y., M. McMullen, C. T. Hittinger, K. Houchins, L. Schulz et al., 2002b Identifying genes of agronomic importance in maize by screening microsatellites for evidence of selection during domestication. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 99: 9650–9655.
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2019-04-24T21:55:19Z
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http://www.genetics.org/content/169/3/1617?ijkey=3b25c80f77d4a93261b81ff355b746dfb245df20&keytype2=tf_ipsecsha
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Can I recover deleted files from my hard drive?
Question: I've heard of companies finding data that people thought they had deleted from their work computer. How do they do that? Might be good information in case I accidentally delete some important files from my home computer too!
Answer: Yes, there are several ways to retrieve data that has been deleted from a computer system, even if you've deleted them from the recycle bin or reformatted your hard drive.
I accidentally deleted a year's worth of family photos and financial documents on my wife's laptop, after using the factory restore CD that reinstalled Windows and removed her user folder where all the pictures were stored. Even after that mistake, I was still able to recover all of the files.
When you delete a file, Windows only marks the file as deleted, but doesn't actually remove it from your system.
Those files are only truly deleted (well, replaced actually) when other data is saved to the same location on your hard drive.
If you accidentally delete files from your system, they can usually be undeleted - even if you deleted them from your recycle bin - as long as you attempt to recover the files shortly after you delete them, and before Windows saves other data in those same file locations on your hard drive.
If you've accidentally deleted an important file or erased a folder containing files that you later realize you still need, chances are good that they're still on your system and can be recovered.
The key is to use a good undelete program like iRecover that can find files that have been deleted - even if you've emptied your Recycle Bin.
I've tried a few different programs that claim to be able to do this, but have discovered that some of them are only able to show you what's still in your Recycle Bin (not much help if you've emptied your Recycle Bin).
iRecover will also help you recover data that was lost because of file system corruption, formatting, virus damage, partition deletion, or even just plain user error.
Here's a link to download iRecover. It will tell you what it can recover for free, so you'll know if it's worth paying for the licensed version.
It's also a great idea to frequently backup your hard drive, so that you can still restore important files, even if they can't be recovered using a file recovery program.
I bought a Seagate FreeAgent 320 GB USB External Hard Drive .
This new drive plugs in via USB cable and doesn't require any installation or configuration. Windows automatically recognizes it when you plug in the USB cable, and it has plenty of space for backing up both of my home computers.
I also highly recommend that you backup your hard drive on at least a monthly basis, although weekly is even better.
If you're looking for a good backup program for your home computer, I recommend Genie Backup Manager which I use for my home systems. I consider myself fortunate to have been able to retrieve our family photos and financial documents... and my wife is finally willing to speak to me again.
However, I'm hoping to avoid this whole scenario in the future by making regular backups to this new backup drive (at least weekly).
while reinstalling the OS to my lap top i had the external HD USB plugged in and accidentally deleted the partition to the EHD as well as the partition for the lap top. i already replaced the system to the lap top. how can i get my saved items on the EHD? does it work the same? can i use my pc to do this too? please help...losing my mind!
Same issue here..if anyone knows the answer please let me know too!! im freaking out!
same here... idk what to do?.
same here... idk what to do?.. im actually freak out when accidentally delete the partition on my EHD while installing OS.. all my hardwork and stuff are all gone.. a try to use many applications but, it all fails.. help me please..
if i wanted to permanently delete something so that it can never be found again how can i do that if someone has this? do i have to delete the file then save something with the same name as it? Is that right? if not please tell me!
Some people still believe that when they delete a file, it is gone forever. In reality, even if you remove it from your Recycle Bin, the file may be easily recovered by some ill-inspired people who are secretly snooping on your computer activities.
The only way to be certain that your files have been deleted is to make sure that the entire file is overwritten by blank data.
There's a program called Aevita Wipe & Delete that does just that. It implements eight secure sanitizing methods including the US Department of Defense DoD 5220.22M, RLL, MFM, VSITR, Gutmann and GOST P50739-95.
By utilizing these methods, Aevita can erase any file or folder by overwriting it several times, thus rendering it completely unrecoverable even for the most sophisticated recovery software.
but wouldn't that person be able to see that you have Aevita Wipe & Delete? how could you hide the program so you cannot find it? burn it to a cd?
My niece reinstalled the OS on my Sony Destop PC about 8 months ago. I was devastated, lost so many pictures from my child's life. Recently someone told me that the data may still be there and be recoverable. Is that true? If so how can I recover the and still maintain what I ave on it now. I do have an external hard-drive. I am desperate to know if I can get my pictures back.
It's certainly possible, although after that many months there might only be a few pictures that can be recovered (since between now and then the chances of Windows saving other files over the files marked for deletion increases significantly).
The iRecover program mentioned above is really the best I've seen, and would be able to restore the files if they haven't been over-written.
Alternatively, if you take the computer to a data recovery specialist, ask if they'll only charge you if they actually find deleted photos - not sure if you'll find any who will do that, but it'd be worth asking.
Hi Ricky , I have just read about your recovery program for deleted files. Last night I had an accident and was deleting files from my ext hard drive (classic SE)whilst it was plugged into my work laptop. It was too big for the recycle bin and deleted permanently.
Will I have to recover the files through my laptop (as its due to go back today) or can I do the restore through my PC with the external hard drive? I guess what I'm asking is, are the files i deleted on my external hard drive still sitting on it hidden or will they have been transported to my laptop?
Good question. Since the files were deleted from your external hard drive, you'll need to run iRecover on the external drive. That's where the files will still reside.
They're only marked as deleted, but won't actually be deleted until other data is saved in the same location on that drive.
how do i run irecover on my external harddrive?
So I wanted to delete some documents from my hard drive and I wanted it to be gone forever. From what I have read, I would assume that the way to delete something a hard drive would be the same as an external hard drive... but when I deleted a document out of my external hard drive it went to my computer's recycling bin, so it made me question if it is the same procedure? Does the external hard drive have the same option to retrieve deleted files as a regular computer hard drive? If so, how do I come about retrieving those deleted files?
Go to the recycle bin and use cut and paste,that should work.
I lost lot of files including photos & videos on my External drive -size of data lost around 140 GB. I do not know how all the files deleted and one folder names windows with few system files has appeared.
I am not using for further use as I intend to retrieve the data including Videos. Pls advise.
My half terra with enclosure recently fell on the floor.
I tried using it again..my usb wont read it..I tried putting it directly on my cpu..it wont read the hard disk..tried using another enclosure, wont read either...is there anyway I could save my 300gig files, before I had it replaced?
Thanks a lot! Based on your article, with Irecover, I saved my photos deleted by mistake :).
I lost all my files too on my external hard drive but those aren't accidentally deleted files. It might have fell on the floor. The good thing is that I can still access it. While checking the properties, I noticed that the used space is still 74.2 GB. My question is: could I still recover it even if I didn't accidentally delete all of it?
Hope to hear from you very soon. Thanks!
I’m so glad to see your website.
Some thing has happen to my computer couple days ago. I have the blue screen and unable to do anything with it. I try to reboot and reinstall the Operation System but the system indicated that unable to locate the hard drive.
I took my desktop to the local computer to get it repair, and they said everything in the hard drives is empty. They will able install the OS with a new hard drive.
I have taken out the old hard drives and hope to be able to recovery all the family photos. In my case, the hard drives are shows as empty. Will I be able to use the iRecover to recover all my photos?
I just recently tried to format my usb stick into a patchstick. I accidently chose to format my external hard drive instead of the usb stick. When I noticed, I quickly unplugged the usb hard drive from the computer but was too late. Now all my important files and pictures from years and years ago are al gone. My external hard drive now shows PATCHSTICK and RECOVERY. Will this program recover the files I lost. I am doing the scan right now and it looks like it does see the old files I formatted over. I really don't know what I'm doing as you can tell. Hope you can help.
A couple of days ago I transferred all my information from one of my external harddrives to another external harddrive. After I had completed that, I did a really stupid thing and deleted everything from the original harddrive. Today, I wanted to view something that I thought was supposed to be on the new external, but was not. It was in my pictures folder, where I have a good number of folders. The last 6 folders were completely empty. I don't care about the other folders that were empty, but that one folder; every vacation I have ever gone on, the pictures were in that folder. Please, PLEASE, how do I recover these files? I have Windows XP.
First, unplug the original hard drive so that nothing else gets saved to it. As long as no other files are saved to it, then your pictures are still sitting there - they're just marked as deleted but they are not actually deleted (see the explanation for this in the article above).
Then download and install a copy of the iRecover program described above. Plug in the external drive and point iRecover to it to see what files it will be able to recover.
You should see all of the files sitting there waiting to be recovered, which the program does a very good job of doing.
Hi ricky, any free trial software to retrieve my lost files?
I lost my photos folder after I try to cut and paste to another folder. Could it be found?
I was trying to install a new video card in my pc and i saw some vids on how to do it. one vid i watched talked about changing something on my BIOS. I'm about to turn sixteen so i guess i'm not that well educated in how a computer works fully. I was going through the BIOS and accidentally clicked on something that said SATA:xxxxxxxxxxxxx with some kind of code of the harddrive. stupid me i ended up clicking it thinking it was the best thing to do. Then i saw this other vid that showed how to install a video card without getting near having to deal with my computer's BIOS. So once i rebooted my pc, it came to the state of my pc from 3-4 months ago. i know me hitting that SATA thing was not good. and now all of my lastest files are gone and im stuck regreting what i did. i have a vista 64-bit version and im wondering if theres anyway to get all of my files back. And sadly i didnt back up my files, i've never had. So now i feel like an idiot b/c fiddling with my SATA hard drive now has me at the bad end since i have lost all my files. i'm wondering if theres anyway to get it back, if not well i guess im just another half-witted teenager trying to do something i should've never did.
The files are most likely still there, and are just marked as deleted (but won't actually be deleted until other data is saved to the same location on the hard drive). This is true even if you format your hard drive.
The best thing to do is to stop using your computer until you can install and run iRecover, which will show you what files can be recovered. The more you continue to use your computer, the greater the chances of it saving files on top of the files that are marked as deleted (which makes them unrecoverable).
What if i had a virus on my computer and the only way to get rid of it was to restore my computer and handrive and everything!
Can i still get my pictures, music and work back??
Help - I moved some photos (all my babies pictures - the first 3 years of her life) over to Kodak Easy Share and made sure they were there and then deleted from my pictures file so they wouldn't be on there twice - now when I go into Koday Easy share they state there is an error and the pictures have been deleted - and when I deleted the file was too big to go into recycle bin. When I go into Kodak Easy Share I can see the images for a second but then when I try to open them I get the error. Can I recover these at all... I am computer challenged!!! And of course have never back-up my system!
My cousin deleted all my movies from my external HD. Is there any way I can recover those files from the HD. I am a mac user and saw that irecover is not compatible with Mac. Do you know of any Mac software I could use to recover the deleted files? I currently have MAC OS X version 10.4.11.
I was deleting a file in a folder on my memory stick and it deleted the whole contents of the folder, even the folder is still its empty can I get the other files in that folder back?
last year my husband wiped my computer clean bcuz it had a virus.we never used it since i got a new computer. Now when I say clean I mean he wiped it so clean that he became the owner on the computer and wiped my whole administrative user off the computer which contained extremely important photos. Now is there a way to retrieve photo files from a computer that has been completely wiped out clean like a brand new computer? It dont have anything at all reconizable on it to make me believe something from the old computer is still on it.
will this help to recover deleted emails????
My work computer got infected with a virus (mysearchcorp then security tool) I have to bring it to the IT dept to get fixed.
I was double jobbing for a while (not enough assigned work to keep me busy) and it was convenient to use the same computer. I deleted all the non work related files and removed them from the recycle bin. I also deleted my internet history which showed I had used facebook. (A work prohibited site)I thought happy days until i read your blog Ricky!
When the IT staff are fixing my computer will they find my other work files and photos of people i viewed on facebook? If so I’m fired. I know I deserve it but I just want to know the odds of them finding the files. 50% or 100%. Is it a standard check for IT departments?
They could find it if they looked, but most IT departments are way too understaffed to have time for that level of investigation.
They'll probably just reformat the hard drive and re-image the drive with a company standard set of programs and settings.
I wouldn't worry about it at all.
Hey ricky, thanks very much for all this advice... i understand it and it actually works. I am so grateful to you for not (as seems to be the main aim of many experts) trying to make me feel like an idiot. more power to you mate!
Is it possible to retrieve a program with reports if its been years and I cannot find on the computer but when I type in the search area I see one of the names the report is for and I see that it is multiple files. I am concerned that it was deleted by a prior employee and I need to get the reports back. HELP!!!
Very unlikely if it's been that long, unless that computer has been unused during that time.
So I don't know what happened, but all of a sudden I have no video, and even when I plug in different monitors, they go immediately to sleep. So first, what's needed to repair the video issues? And, if I just buy another computer, is there anyway to pull my files off the "bad" computer when I can't see what's happening? I appreciate your input!
I deleted files from my recycle bin and a few months later they re-appeared. They were completely gone and suddenly one day just showed back up. It should have had time to rewrite as much as my computer is used by everyone saving...projects and things. Has anyone ever had this happen to them? I just don't understand how this happened.
I am able to recover all my data except the folders that were hidden.
Is their any way to recover the hidden folders in my hard drive ?
I recently got a new lap top and saved all my old pics etc on to a portable hard drive. This is the only place these docs were stored. However, today my nero back up thingy saved all my current documents from my new laptop onto it. Shortly after this another member of staff used my hard drive to save an item. Now.......the only things on the portable hard drive are the current backed up documents from my laptop and the document my colleague saved. I basically would love to know if my other documents are retrievable? There were literally thousands of photos that I had not printed plus all my Uni work since 1st year (6 years ago) Aggggggggggggggggh!!! I would ask the technician in my school where I work, only he doesn't speak English....nor Irish. Any advice is much appreciated! Thank you!
I had cut and pasted a folder from my external hard disk drive to my laptop and the hard disk of the laptop eventually crashed. Is there a way to recover the folder from the external hard drive?
I had formatted my hardrive 1 year ago, is it possible now to recover the pictures from that now.
I heard that it is possible to even recover data beyond 15 years is it true.
If there is any process by software or by any specialist, short or even large please tell me. I am very very desperate to get them. I am ready to pay any cost.
I should be highly obelized if mail me the reguarding info.
I can't do anything! Some how ALL my pictures in the RECYCLE BIN are ALL gone.. is there ANYTHING I can do to get them back?
I am not smart when it comes to computers in the least... but about two years when my girlfriend and i split she deleted all of the pics off of my computer and there was alot of family photos that i will never be able to replace. They are not in the recycling bin and i tried undelete plus but that only went back for a month. Is there any way to get pictures back after that long? any help well be greatley appreciated.
Please Help! My high school provided us with laptops which we were able to keep after we graduated. I just graduated and they asked us to hand in our laptops to be re-imaged. I just picked it up from school today but everything on my laptop was deleted such as important documents and A LOT of family pictures. Is there any way to retrieve that data even though my laptop was re-imaged?
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2019-04-20T01:00:42Z
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https://rickysays.com/comment/11504
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I offer my humble obeisances unto the lotus feet of my divine master Sri Guru-padapadma Om Visnupad Astottara-sata-sri Srimad Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj and all the Vaisnavas. By his unlimited grace, the exalted Vaisnava community has already received with transcendental joy many glorious publications of Srila Guru Maharaj, the guardian of devotion, from our Nabadwip Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math and branches. Now, at the most auspicious moment of Srila Guru Maharaj’s 96th holy appearance day, we are blessed to see the fourth publication of the Sermons of the Guardian of Devotion.
Srila Guru Maharaj’s delivery of divine discourses of Hari-katha is a direct dispensation of the illustrious Om Visnupad Prabhupad Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur, our most worshippable Param Gurudev, and all the nectarean flow of divine ecstasy from the ocean of grace, the golden Lord Sri Gaurangadev. Scholars of India and the world over have acclaimed Srila Guru Maharaj’s holy talks for their undisputed authenticity, saintly simplicity, and charm. His masterful ability to bring ever-new illumination to the world through his most elevated spiritual insight is the joy of the sincere devotees and genuine theistic scholars. This smaller treastise contains five of His Grace’s informal talks with the devotees hitherto unpublished, and I am confident that it will be received with great spiritual joy by both the new entrants to the divine life as well as the veterans. The work was made possible by the untiring efforts of Sripad Hari Charan Brahmachari Seva Ketan Prabhu and Sripad Mahananda Das Brahmachari Prabhu, to whom my unceasing gratitude is due. May they be blessed by the guardian of devotion Sri Srila Guru Maharaj. The fortunate seekers who carefully read this booklet cannot but be supremely benefitted in their spiritual march.
So many proposals in the name of helping are only helping us to incur debt in this world. Already one is under the pressure of a heavy burden, and again in the name of help he is securing a fresh loan. So, more burden is coming on his head. This is the nature of help in this world. No work can be fully pure in this world. It may be said that at least there is goodwill, but we say that goodwill is also impure and filthy. Everything is impure and rubbish here, but with the help of the scripture and the real agent, we are to come to know what is good and what is bad. Then, we are to accept the good and eliminate the bad. Previously, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu came distributing this conception, and in the modern time our Srila Guru Maharaj, Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Prabhupad, came and almost singlehandedly began his fight against the so-called existing principle of help in the environment.
The Vedas say, “In the garb of religion, so many materialistic things are being delivered. It is a treachery to the ordinary people.” We are to know what is pure religion, what is the real recommendation of the Vedas which has its conclusion in Srimad Bhagavatam. The Veda is likened to a wish-fulfilling tree, kalpa-vrksa: whatever we want, it can supply that. And from that has come naturally the ripe product, the ripe fruit of the Vedas, and that is Srimad Bhagavatam. There is no artificial colour there that any scholar can come and thrust his own interpretation into the Bhagavatam and say, “This is Bhagavatam’s opinion.” Bhagavatam is not subject to the Vedas’ or the Upanisads’ opinions, but the Srimad Bhagavatam has come automatically from the Veda tree.
One who cannot tolerate another’s position is a jealous person. This Bhagavatam is only meant for those that are free from jealousy so that they can understand that there is only one Principal who is all-in-all. He is autocrat, and He is all-in-all. He is our master, and He can make or mar. Only those who have no jealousy can come to such a level as to enquire about truth. Whereas, the jealous cannot admit that there is God and that the whole creation is designed and destined by Him. There is the land of the Lord, and if we can enter into that plane, then we can be really happy by giving and not by exerting. To sacrifice for Him will bring for us both quantity and, especially, quality. If we can have entrance into that plane, we shall be able to swim in the pool of nectar. It is very much appreciable.
We can understand that it is very much appreciable, that so many from foreign lands have also come being attracted by the instructions and advice of Mahaprabhu and Srimad Bhagavatam. So many young people have been charmed by the beauty of the teachings of Sri Chaitanyadev, Srimad Bhagavatam, and their agents. That they would come to join us was already predicted by Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur some one hundred years ago, and our Srila Guru Maharaj began the work in a humble way. After that, one of his disciples, Sripad A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj, went to the West empty-handed, but by the grace of Mahaprabhu, Krishna, and Nityananda Prabhu, he was very much successful to push this high level of advice to the West. Attracted by his earnest desire to distribute this nectar, the Westerners have come in the hundreds to join the sankirtan party under the banner of the Gaudiya Math, Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur, and A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj. I am sure that you will be pleased at heart to find them amongst you here. They are taking all sorts of risks in their lives in order to preach these truths to the whole of the world with all the might and resources at their command. There are men of all different types who have joined this movement including bright scholars, doctors, and businessmen. They are taking this message to every corner of the earth most skillfully, and so we must feel and express our gratitude towards their divine attempt and to their earnestness to know and distribute this sort of high order of knowledge of relief to the people at large. We appreciate their presence here and their attempt, and I feel that you are all of the same opinion as myself that they have encouraged us in a very extraordinary way to search. Many Indians are encouraged by their presence. They are also very inquisitive, “What is there that so many foreigners of high grades are also coming to appreciate? There must be something to be enquired.” In this way, so many Indian persons who are holding high positions in the worldly educated society are also coming.
So, we give our thanks to those noble persons for their attempts, and we pray to our Guru and Vaisnavas that their attempts may be fulfilled by them.
Question: In the beginning of Srimad Bhagavatam, events are described of Suta Goswami speaking at Naimisaranya and this is after Vyasadev had spoken Bhagavatam to Sukadev. So, how is it that Vyasadev was aware of the events at Naimisaranya?
So, Sukadev received Srimad Bhagavatam from Vyasadev. Previously, Narad gave it to Vyasadev, and Vyas composed it in elaboration and taught it to Sukadev; this was the second recitation. The third was when Sukadev delivered lectures with his remarks to the great assembly of scholars in Sukratal.
When Sukadev gave the lecture, there was one Suta Goswami who was a very sharp hearing man, sruti-dhara. Sruti-dhara is one who having only once heard something keeps it in his memory, and Suta, having those qualities, was present in that meeting. The fourth sitting was in Naimisaranya where the rsis, apprehending the black march of Kali-yuga, commenced and engaged themselves in a one-thousand-year campaign, yajna. Finding Suta Goswami, they told, “We have got much leisure in the evening to hear about the Absolute, and we heard that you, Suta, were present in that mysterious and famous assembly where Sukadev gave his lecture about Bhagavatam, and you memorised it. We request that you deliver by way of lecture to us that Bhagavatam.” Suta Goswami accepted their proposal, and that was the last sitting in the form of regular evening lectures. Sixty thousand or so rsis, the scholars and performers of sacrifices, assembled to hear from him. It was after this sitting that Vyasadev took the whole thing and compiled it in book form and let it loose on the public.
Question: What is that Sukratal that you mentioned just now?
Srila Sridhar Maharaj: Sukratal is a small district of Uttar Pradesh just opposite Vibhukuti, a little far off from the Ganges, where there was the place of Maharaj Pariksit. When Pariksit was sure to die, he came to live in that place near the Ganges, and there the third assembly took place. Perhaps it was from Suka that the name Sukratal has now come, and by that name this place is known to the public.
Question: Was Vyasadev present at Naimisaranya when Suta spoke?
Srila Sridhar Maharaj: No, he was not present in the meeting, but he got information. He was a yogi. Vyasadev was such a yogi that he could understand and feel whatever is happening anywhere. In this way, the whole battle story in Mahabharata has been described by him. How it is possible? Not only that but he was a yogi of such higher class that he could transfer his yoga-sakti to Sanjaya who, inspired by that potency, could also feel that battle. He could observe so many things simultaneously—what one is saying to another, what weapon one is throwing to another—all these things Sanjaya could see simultaneously, and he is relating the whole thing to Dhrtarastra by the grace of Vyasadev. Vyasadev is able to see many things simultaneously in his yoga, developed consciousness.
Once, one gentleman told me that Einstein in his last days was asked by his wife, “What invention are you searching now?” He replied, “If I am successful in this campaign of my research, then you will be able to see me wherever I am. Wherever I shall be, you shall be able to see and feel me. That plane I am going to try to invent.” That was Einstein’s last tendency according to one gentleman, though I don’t know how far it is true.
Many devotees are also said to realise such a position that from a separate place they can detect when a dog is entering within a particular temple in Vrndavan. He is feeling, “Oh, a dog is entering there.” When our plane of consciousness, our conscious seat, is not disturbed by any self-produced thought, when it is clear, then when any wave carrying any news strikes it, it can feel that: “This is happening somewhere else, and the wave has come to touch the aerial of my consciousness.” When our conscious seat is very clear, any wave that arises to touch it, any fact that arises in our plane of thinking, that cannot but be an actual fact. But when self-produced prejudices have covered the conscious seat, then we cannot detect such things; the plane of our consciousness cannot be read. But when that is cleared, any incident happening anywhere sends some wave to every ‘receiver’, and each can understand, “Oh, such thing is happening!” Useless thoughts and false thoughts do not arise in his mind. Whatever is happening is sending some wave. His mind is so clear that he detects that event. He reads his mind, he feels it, and he says, “Oh, this is happening here and that is happening there.” It may be considered something like that.
But this is a kind of siddhi, mystic power. A true Vaisnava avoids all these things, but automatically it may come to someone, and sometimes they may disclose this fact. Otherwise, they avoid all these things. They do not want miracles. They are eager to find out the miracle of the centre, the central miracle. They are busy to search for the miracle of miracles, and so these side issues they neglect. They are all-attentive to find out the main problem. Their cent-per-cent energy is engaged for that, concentrated, without caring for these things.
Question: Srila Sridhar Maharaj, when Sukadev was asked to speak Srimad Bhagavatam, he was in the presence of his Guru, Vyasadev, and Param Guru, Narad. So, how is it that he took the exalted seat of the vyasasan in the presence of his Guru and Param Guru?
Sukadev began to answer, and everyone there in pin-drop silence began to listen to his words. His words were coming unquestionably as the Absolute Truth and were unanimously accepted by all. Present in that assembly were all the big scholars who had come to give some consolation to Pariksit Maharaj: “You are such a good Maharaj with good administration. You are unparalleled as well as a lover, respecter, and protector of the brahminical yajna, faith, etc. Despite all these qualifications, you have been thrown a curse from that same side of the brahman section, and that is a very lamentable thing.” In this way, almost all the leaders of all different schools of philosophy came to give consolation to Maharaj Pariksit. It was in that well-represented assembly that Sukadev was to speak.
Narad and Vyasadev were present and eagerly waiting. Happily, they tasted how through Brahma-jnan, through the widest touch, this Krishna-lila, which seems to be of very limited and narrow things, passes through to be widely accepted. All these gentlemen for seven days attended this meeting, and they all listened with such eagerness.
Sukadev told, “From my father, from my dear affectionate father, I have learned these things.” And giving warning to the audience he told, “You all know that I have no bigoted conception about religion.
So, knowingly, it was that the Guru and Param Guru of Sukadev were present there. They knew the future and could understand that this recitation would occur, and also out of sympathy for Maharaj Pariksit, they came. They did not come by chance.
Srila Sridhar Maharaj: I must feel that I am unsatisfied with the environment of this world: life, death, torture, and all these things, janma-mrtyu-jara-vyadhi. If one is really a sincere seeker of a happy life, then he must try with his utmost endeavour to get freed from this environment and to find another place—home, back to God, back to home. And we are told from ancient times that we have got a home, and that that home is under the cooling shade of the holy feet of our Lord.
Practically, we must take into our programme and in our daily schedule, wholesale, how to get out of this nasty colony and go back to our home, sweet home. And why is it sweet? We are to discuss that with all our intellect. Although intellect is not qualified to know about that, still in the negative way also, we can calculate that the positive is there. In that plane, they are eager to take us in. They are honest. So, we want to live in that plane as our country because they are honest. There it is infinite, and no population will be suppressed there.
This plane here is not worth living in, so we must search for a place worth living in, and in the quest for that land we may pass lives after lives. In this search, there is no loss because where we are at present is undesirable, and if we are sincere in this feeling, then to search for what is desirable is not madness. We may pass lives after lives in search of a sweet home, and there will be no waste of energy in that endeavour. This is not unreasonable; rather, we find that this is finely reasonable.
Sastra and yukti. First is the sastra, revealed scriptures, the positive contribution. Then next, and subservient, is reason, yukti. Logic is subservient, and the positive extension from the world of truth is the real thing. That is the main thing and logic will be subservient. By logic of this domain we cannot know anything about the transcendental realm. Logic may be applied here, but the logic of chemistry may not work in the logic of theology wholesale. Everything has got its own logic. The transcendental world has got its own logic, but this mundane logic may help us partially, as an analogy.
To understand about the five planes of knowledge is infinite. Every unit is infinite. Infinite minus infinite—remaining is infinite! So, the infinite world is such that we are always in a relative position in the infinite. The infinite can never be finished. Everywhere there is centre; nowhere there is circumference.
Mahaprabhu Himself says, “I am hankering for the truth; I have not got it.” Truth is so wonderful, so wonderful an attainment, that Mahaprabhu, the highest, the Infinite Personified, He comes to teach us, and He also says that, “I am only near the verge.” Similarly, Newton told, “I am collecting a few pebbles from the seashore; the ocean of knowledge is extended before my eyes. I know more than you, because you, you fool, you say that I have finished knowledge, but it can never be finished. Only it can be touched, touched in a point.” Newton told like that about the scientific knowledge of this world. So, what about the infinite knowledge, how it should be! With what aspiration and patience and hope we are to approach that world! If Newton in the science of this mundane world can say like that, then we, who always speak of the higher infinite, what audacity do we have to think that by impatiently passing a few minutes or a few days or by stepping forward a few yards, we shall be able to know the Infinite! We are traitors to ourselves; we are not approaching the Infinite! We should not have so much courage and so much sincere hope for the best to get it, wanting only an easy result. We must be prepared. We are out for the Infinite, and we really must want to utilise ourselves, and not for our satisfaction. “Die to live”, Hegel told. ‘Ideal reality’ is the name of his philosophy. Really, the ideal is real: ideal realism. Everything begins with idea, and then it takes shape; it materialises.
“He is for Himself”, Hegel told, “Everything is for Himself, and we are for Him.” We are for Him. We are to search for our master and not for a servant, not an order-supplier or a canvasser, but master. And the master says, “Prepare yourself for My service to satisfy Me; for My satisfaction come to be available to the complete degree. Now that you have come within, you say that you will be allowed to steal something and go away? No! All rights reserved. All rights reserved: it is not very easy to have rights, to establish rights here in My plane. I am such a master? I am an autocrat. Because I am omniscient, I am an autocrat. You are vulnerable, and I am the guardian, the strong guardian.
“Try to put trust in My universal guardianship first. By understanding that I am your guardian, you will find peace within you. I am your well-wisher.
Question: How are we to understand that Krishna is an autocrat, despot, liar, and our well-wisher?
Srila Sridhar Maharaj: He is an autocrat because law comes from Him. The autocrat is above law; law emanates from Him. When there are many, there is law. When there is only one, there is no necessity of law. Are you satisfied?
Question: Yes. Then, He is a despot?
Srila Sridhar Maharaj: Despot, but absolute good! If there would be any check in His despotism, then the world would be the loser, the environment would be the loser. Goodness must have its full-fledged flow. Is it bad? Can there be any objection to that?
Goodness must have its freedom to flow anywhere and everywhere. “The absolute good”, we say, then what can we lose by giving Him autocracy? Should the autocracy be with the ignorant and the fools? Should the fools and the mischievous have autocracy? No! The absolute good must have full autocracy. Not that law will go to bind His hand, for then we will be the loser.
Question: Then, He is a liar?
Srila Sridhar Maharaj: Yes, liar, to entice us because we cannot understand the whole truth, the absolute truth. So, in order to entice us gradually, to draw us forward, He has become a liar. If He is all-goodness, then everything emanating from Him cannot but be good. Defect can only be found in other quarters. He is the owner. Everything belongs to Him. We are encroachers. He is not an encroacher although He shows sometimes in that way. But that is His play, lila, and everything belongs to Him. His lying is good. Whatever He says, is so: “Let there be water” and there was water, “Let there be light” and there was light. With such potential power at the centre, can any lying be there?
Question: If He is all these things—despot, autocrat, and liar—then how can we understand that He is also our ever well-wisher?
Srila Sridhar Maharaj: Why in this world has He given you freedom? Because free choice is necessary for feeling happiness; otherwise, He is one whole, He is everywhere, with no separate individual position. If you are to conceive any separate interest, separate individuality, then freedom is indispensable. Free cooperation can give you real happiness, but if freedom is snatched from you, you become a stone. Is that desirable? Is there any dearth of stones? Then?
Endowed with freedom, free choice to choose the good and dismiss the bad. Then, should it be thought that everyone will be bad so that then no free choice will be given to anything? Is this desirable? So, realise all these things within yourself and try to adjust with the centre. It is not that we are all right, and we must trace some defect in Him; we are not to foster that attitude. But He is all-good, and the defect is in us. By conferring free choice within us, He has not done wrong. We are to find that out. If there is not freedom of conception in us, we cannot have the position of enjoying happiness.
Srila Sridhar Maharaj: From so low you are going to so high! Aslisya va pada-ratam pinastu mam. What do you want to say there?
Question: Is it just a manufacturing of our own mentality? Is it just our own conception that He has abandoned me? Or that He is here or He is not here? Or that He is with me or He is not with me?
Srila Sridhar Maharaj: He is always with you, but still He is not with you at all. He is always being in the background, and He is not in the positive foreground. I cannot find Him because finding is of infinite character. He is infinite, and my position is very meagre, so I can never be satisfied.
He is with me in the background as the infinite character, but I only have my meagre conception; therefore, just how much can I get of Him? But I know the fact that He is bigger and bigger, whereas I am finer and finer. So, satisfaction and dissatisfaction are both contained—it cannot but be. The infinite character is in the background, and the finite character is before me. Because I have got small existence, how can I take part of Him? What I can have in my possession of Him, that is very meagre. The background says, “This is nothing.” So many others are also there. So many are holding higher positions, and that is also a relativity—relative life. Parts are always within the laws of relativity, including ourselves. In this material plane, we are unsatisfied. If I have got one state, then I want to conquer the whole world, then I want to conquer the whole solar system. There is no end. Even in connection with the physical infinite, we aspire to hold a higher position, and in the spiritual plane it is also such. There is also the realm of the type of satisfaction of losing one’s personality and entering into deep, sound sleep. That is found in Brahmaloka and Viraja. On one side of that we get good, and on the other we get bad. The property for exploitation is infinite, and the realm of service to the master, competition, that is also infinite. To have an individual position necessarily means to be in the environment of infinite: good or bad, healthy or diseased.
Srila Sridhar Maharaj: Brahmaloka is where we lose our material ego, material individuality, but do not get our spiritual individuality. Brahmaloka is the marginal position. It is no man’s land. The other side is in touch with the other realm, and this side is in touch with this plane, something like that. It is the border, the margin between the two. On one side is consciousness, and on the other side is matter. One side is light and one side is darkness. Just as in the evening, light and darkness are combined.
Question: Are Sankar and Buddha citizens of no-man’s-land?
Srila Sridhar Maharaj: Yes. One is on this side, nearing the land of exploitation, and the other is nearing the land of dedication. Brahmaloka is a little higher than Viraja. Viraja is the watery characteristic of prakrti, whereas Brahmaloka is light, purusa.
Tal-lingam Bhagavan Sambhur. In the Brahma-samhita, it is told that a ray of light is coming to this watery substance. This watery substance is compared to prakrti. Prakrti means this external potency, the potency on which the misconception arises and from which it is born. There, some movement is created, and the ray within is sown amongst the misconceived things without. There is a free combination, and this world emerges from that common material, mahat-tattva.
“O Bharat, material nature, known as pradhana, is the womb into which I cast the seed (in the form of the individual soul which is born of the marginal potency). From that place, all beings headed by Lord Brahma are generated. Aham bija-pradah pita: “I am the seed-bestowing father.” Tal-lingam Bhagavan Sambhur: “And Sambhu is My sense that gives birth.” That may be taken as Sambhu, Siva; the part of the Supreme that is coming within this prakrti and moving it, producing this world in the negative side. The world of lustre must be scrutinised and analysed, and we shall find that so many units are there. So many souls are there, but all are serving units, and I also can be enlisted and allowed to enter there amongst them. In Vaikuntha, the life of the plane of dedication, we can be newborn there and have our position.
Question: Is that the fourth plane and fifth plane of attaining knowledge?
Srila Sridhar Maharaj: It is the third plane. The third plane Sankar recommended as the marginal position, and the fourth plane Sri Ramanuja Acharya recommended as the power-controlling, calculative service of the Lord in awe and reverence. Then, the next higher and most all-embracing solid circle is Goloka. Goloka means something like a football: a four right-angled, solid circle where there is no crookedness. There we find that, and that is the deepest plane spreading all through, all-pervading. That is Goloka. It is the all-pervading, all-embracing, and finest plane. That is the plane of love and beauty and automatic service. Automatic, not calculative. That is the plane of Krishna: the most universal, the most capturing, the widest, and the finest. Beauty is reigning there; the queen of love is managing there by Her potency.
The potency there is ahaituky apratihata, causeless and continuous. There is Svayam Bhagavan and Mahabhava. The highest conception of negative and the highest conception of positive, combined, of the highest quality. And that is love and beauty; it is Their reign, Their kingdom. It has been found out, and it is given to us by Bhagavatam and Mahaprabhu, that beauty is controlling. Love is controlling—that land is such. If we are tempted by that, we are to try for that. Only the attraction which originates from that plane can take us there. Agents from that plane come here, float on the surface, and give us an injection so that we can gradually move towards that direction. They give the injection of prospect. Such prospects there are! Will you come to take a certificate to enter into that plane?
It is from that plane, really from that plane, that the sound of the Holy Name emanates. By following that sound, we can be led there, but if an imitation sound comes, it may take us to some other plane and finish there. The sound has got so much depth. Like the homeopathic pill, apparently so many globules are one and the same, but the potency within is all-important.
Vaikuntha-nama-grahanam: not mundane sound, but we are to differentiate according to the depth of meaning in the sound. The word contains what depth of potency within? What depth of goodwill and knowledge? That very fine thing within the sound will exert itself ultimately and not the sound vibration only. The sound containing the bhava, the meaning, that is everything, and that is very important.
Question: The ninth offence against the Holy Name is to preach the glories of the Holy Name to the faithless. Is it an offence to give the Holy Name or a conception of the spiritual realm to the Sankarites, the Saivites, and other impersonalists?
Srila Sridhar Maharaj: The field must be favourable for the seed to grow; otherwise, good seed cast onto the stone will be useless. Sraddha, the sisya, and the guru, each must be proper, and those symptoms have been given in the scripture. The healthy sisya attitude (disciple attitude) must be there, and also the field must be cultivated in a certain way. The soil and the seed, they both must be proper, then the crops will grow.
Question: You mentioned once that the Name can become counterfeit like shooting a gun using a blank bullet. Could you explain that please?
Srila Sridhar Maharaj: If there is only sound, it is something like many globules of homeopathic pills without any medicine: mere globes. Mere sound, but nothing good within, will do the work of globules of sugar only, but not of medicine. Do you follow? The globules made of sugar, but having no medicine within, will have what effect? If we take that sort of globule of homeopathy without any medicine within, what will be the result? No effect. Similarly, the mere letters of the Name and not the Name Itself, will not be able to produce anything good. Namaksara bahiraya bate is the cover-sound; the sound without any real meaning within it. And because the real purpose and the real good is not behind the sound, it will produce false effect. You are sending letters with enquiry. Are all the points finished?
Question: No! In the last letter I wrote, there is a question about something I think Narad Muni said. How can we understand that the demon can cultivate more intensity than the devotee?
Srila Sridhar Maharaj: It is easy to get more intensity in that section of lower purpose. That may be easily granted, but that intensity is of less quality. That takes them only to the verge, that Brahmaloka circle.
Rupa Goswami has harmonised it in his explanation.
Just as there is the sun and its ray, there is similarly Krishna and Brahmaloka, the ray of His domain. The asuras, they get their final shelter in Brahmaloka, kirana, the world of lustre. And the devotees, they enter into the transcendental cosmic area according to their choice and their innate quality. The gradation is there in His family and in His paraphernalia. A maidservant enters a room by a door and a newlywed wife also enters by the same door, but each occupies a far, far different position from the other.
It is easy to capture more intensity in the lower quality, but in the higher order it is difficult to attain. So, easily the lower section get their sanction, but it is hard for the devotee who wants to enter into the harem of Krishna amongst His internal servants; that is a little difficult. It is common sense.
The oneness of Krishna is not all one and the same. One is on the outskirts of the compound, and another is at the very centre of the compound. Difference is there. This is to be discriminated, and Rupa Goswami has given the solution. The solution of originality of harmony has been given by Rupa Goswami in Laghu-bhagavatamrta which is most critical. There it is given sevonmukhe hi jihvadau: to take the Name or do any service must have that one quality present to be named as devotion: the serving tendency must be there; otherwise, the external show is not the real thing. “I am taking the Name, a hundred crores of times”, or all these things. It is all lip-deep, and that won’t fetch any higher value. But the depth must be considered. The intensity must be reckoned, and that will lead us to get Krishna. According to that reckoning, we may get to the outskirts of Krishna’s domain or we may be allowed to enter into His confidential realm; this sort of consideration is there. So, this is the way to harmonise things, good and bad. It is not one and the same, because it is, after all, a discriminating, differentiated plane, not a static hazy one. Krishna means differentiation. When Krishna is at the side of Srimati Radharani, He is fullest, and when Krishna is at the side of other gopis, He is one degree less.
In so many ways, His attitude or His presence is measured by the devotees. How much intensity? How much love? There is also differentiation there in Vrndavan—in many ways there is always differentiated character.
Srila Sridhar Maharaj: What to speak of us, we are to understand these principles first. To attain to that position is imaginary and a story-like thing, like a fable. First, let us enter into the area. But we need not be discouraged—grace is there! Grace has got no limit. There is no fear of being bankrupt about Krishna. There is no question of Krishna being bankrupt there! Infinite! But to our faith it is difficult, very difficult, to get that, but His grace is there. Grace is not conditional, for it may come to any place. No one is sufficiently low that he cannot get His grace. Grace is free; it can embrace anyone. The most fallen may be graced, and one who is puffed up with his own qualities may be neglected.
Sri Krishnadas Kaviraj Goswami, the author of Sri Chaitanya-charitamrta, says, “Nityananda Prabhu is mad in His distribution, in His magnanimity. He does not stoop so low as to consider that, ‘This one is qualified, this one is not.’ Sometimes the flood comes and inundates everyone. His movement is such.” Sri Kaviraj Goswami continues, “Only that chance captured me. It was not by any consideration of my capacity or my fitness, but by some causeless inundation the flood came and captured me: the flood from Nityananda Prabhu, by His grace. This is my position. Shamelessly, I am giving an announcement that I have got a drop of the grace of Nityananda; otherwise, I would be faithless. Faithless! I have got Rupa, I have got Sanatan. That is to say that I have got appreciation for these stalwarts, these devotees. That I have got this and that, I cannot deny, and what I am giving to you in this scripture is not possible without grace. It is high. I can never deny this: that what I am giving here is high. What is given through me in this book, Sri Chaitanya-charitamrta, is of the highest order. If I don’t say so, then I would be faithless and unthankful. But it is not mine; it is extended to me by the higher authorities by their causeless mercy. It has captured me. I have been selected as their instrument, as their means. I feel that what is there is of a very pure and high type, but I cannot claim it to be my own; it is someone else’s property. It is resting in me. It can be withdrawn at any moment. It is so uncertain, but still it is, I can’t deny, and it is the most beautiful thing, that also I can’t deny.” Grace means independence. Grace means separate independence of the giver.
Question: How do we reconcile the fact that in some sastras it says that Siva is supreme?
Srila Sridhar Maharaj: Siva is a type who is enquiring after something, but Visnu is a type who has everything within. Siva is searching.
The sastra says differently for different sections according to their capability of catching the truth. In the primary literature, it may be said that the sun is fixed and the planets are moving, but in higher astronomy it may be said that the sun is also moving with all the planets also moving around it. But to the children, the whole truth may not be said. The truth is given partially, and by instalments. Sastra has adopted this policy of giving things by instalments in order that it will be acceptable accordingly by the different sections. Then, when they will reach to that standard, the sastra will come to say, “This is not the end, my boy. You will have to go further.” This policy has been adopted in the sastra by the givers of the revealed truth.
Partially, by instalments, the truth is being distributed to them because they cannot accept the whole truth. They cannot understand the whole truth at once. The scripture advises that, “If you want to be united with the ladies, then marry and in that way go on. If you want to take fish and meat, then you dedicate it to a certain deity and in society you take it partially under the direction of a particular company who will make such arrangements. Your merit will be given to that animal whose body you are taking, but go on in contact with that company and take meat.” The advice is meant like that.
Then, presently the sastra tells, “Already for fifty years you have been trying to enjoy, now come to the life of renunciation: give up everything. Come and devote yourself exclusively in the search for the future life in a scientific way.” In this way, the progressive steps are given. Human life itself is gradually progressing: first there is student life, then household life, to work, then the third life is for retirement, and the fourth life, sannyas, is for giving up everything and going on independently. In this way, there is classification in the human life.
In the section of the Puranas known as the Saiva-puranas, it tells that Siva is supreme. The Puranas are divided into three. In all there are eighteen in number: six are sattvik, the upper division; six are rajasik, the middle division; and six are tamasik, the lower division. This classification is mentioned in the Puranas. In Gaudiya-kanthahara, you will find mention of all these things, the classification of the Puranas. Some are meant for the lower, some for the middle, and some for the higher sections of society. For this purpose, the Puranas are divided into three groups of six. Vedartha-puranat: the Puranas are supplementary to the meanings of the Vedas, the higher revelation scriptures. The Puranas are called Puranas because they make the meaning of the Veda full. According to the degree and capacity of the people, sastra has approached in different levels.
Question: So, can we say that the Puranas are giving a lower conception?
The Upanisads make the analogy of riding on a horse. The horse is running towards a particular direction, and although the rider pulls on the reins, the horse won’t come back. Then, he is allowed to go at his free will for some time, and then again the rider draws on the reins. In this way, after some attempts, the horse will come back on course; it can be turned. In the Upanisads, it is mentioned that our ego is running like the horse. This body is a chariot, and the senses are like horses taking me towards their particular wrong directions. But I shall try to take them, to alter their course, to some other direction. They may not care for me, so what to do but let them go a little ahead for some time. But I shall try again and again, and eventually I shall see that the horse is responding to my command. The indomitable tendency towards this exploitation is here (pravrttir esa bhutanam). But what to do except give it all up and go to the other side beyond indifference and abnegation (nivrttis tu maha-phala). And that is proper adjustment.
Everything should be connected with the centre; otherwise, you will be responsible for exploitation and thereby get reaction. But if you can connect everything according to the scripture, according to the rules to deal with the centre, then you are relieved from your local responsibility. You must work in the central intensity, and the centre will make adjustment.
Question: Is the varnasram-dharma system given in the Puranas?
Srila Sridhar Maharaj: Yes, it is in the Puranas.
Question: Is it given in the sattvik sastra but not in the rajasik or tamasik sastra?
Srila Sridhar Maharaj: In each of the tamasik, rajasik, and sattvik scriptures, varnasram-dharma is both included and classified. But sattvik is also not nirguna, but the nirguna campaign may be begun from any post of varnasram. A sudra may come to have direct connection with the centre, whereas a brahman may not accept, and he will have to turn again to go downwards. It is revolving like this, like a wheel going up and coming down. A brahman is not sure to be a brahman always. After this birth, he may go down again to the lowest position and then again come back up (abrahma-bhuvanal lokah punar avartino). This sattva-guna, raja-guna, and tama-guna are interchanging their positions always, but nirguna has permanent value. That nirguna life may be begun from any position. A sudra may begin that nirguna life, a brahman also may—anyone may do or anyone may not do. Those who do not will revolve in this guna-maya, going up and coming down. Exploiting means getting a loan and becoming heavy. That heaviness takes him down. Then, in the downward position, he is being exploited, and thereby the loan becomes cleared: he is made light and goes up. In this way, he is coming and going—exploiting and being exploited. It is a vicious circle. To get nirguna is to get out of that circle.
By the great force of time and space, it is revolving. But only those who can acquire some sukrti, who have some tendency to serve in connection with the nirguna plane, will survive. Gradually, they will make themselves free from this vicious circle, free from that force of going up and down, up and down.
Question: I understand that in the varnasram-dharma system even a sudra must follow regulative principles.
Srila Sridhar Maharaj: By that he may attain the rajasik plane and gradually to the sattvik plane. But this is all guna-maya. Nirguna is something else.
A brahman may have some facility, but in spite of that he may not connect with nirguna. He may go to Brahmaloka, but he will remain within this material plane. The connection with nirguna is independent of this varnasram. There is asura-varnasram and daiva-varnasram: the classification of two varnasrams. Where there is recognition of the highest, nirguna, that is called daiva-varnasram. And where there is consideration of the flesh in this guna-mayi jagat—the good and bad within the misconceived realm, the standard of misconception—that is called asura-varnasram. From the standpoint of the absolute consideration, when varnasram is connected with nirguna, then that is really helpful, otherwise not.
Question: Can we say that there is some facility for eating meat within the varnasram system?
Srila Sridhar Maharaj: Yes, but that is saguna. Saguna, it is within the mundane nature. We take the flesh of the beast but with some mantram, some regulation, some deity, some particular company, association; all these things are involved. And what will that do? We are using his flesh, and the soul of the beast will get something from our merit. So, it is not proper, but it is not such a brutal violence. It is modified violence, and the soul of the animal will be compensated in the next life according to the method in which he is killed. But those who are taking advantage of his flesh are not devotees. They are ordinary men, and they will get ordinary sattvik or rajasik result. There is no touch of devotion proper there, no touch of nirguna.
But in the Vaisnava section, according to sastra, the vegetables can be offered to Narayan. Those vegetables offered to Narayan will be elevated automatically. And those who are giving, who are offering, and for the service are taking that prasadam, for them there is no harm. They will be elevated by taking that prasadam. So, in the Vaisnava conception, both the eater and the eaten, all are going up because they are coming in connection with that highest goodwill. But that is not the case with other ‘goodness’.
In the world of misconception, the plane is misconceived, so what real benefit, good or bad, may be there? Ultimately, all is false, as in a dream. So, whether it is a good dream or a bad dream, there is not much difference there. In such a plane of unreality, to consider some thing to be good and another thing to be bad is all based on falsity, misconception.
Question: If an animal is killed, must that soul come again in the same species?
Birth and rebirth begin before one’s death. Why? How is it possible? The next birth begins before his death because the past karmas come to take their satisfaction. Each one comes with its demands. All tendencies come to get the next chance, the first chance. It is automatically decided in some computer-like way, and when the body is left, the subtle body captures the soul and takes it. He may go anywhere and everywhere as the consequence of his previous actions. In the shape of an idea, the consequences come to take possession.
So, after a human birth, one may go down to be a tree. Even by living in accordance with the varnasram-dharma system, we also find that some deva is coming to be a stone or a tree in his next life; all these things are happening. So, when one dies, it may be possible, but it is not sure that a brahman will again be a brahman in his next birth. If he has done some previous bad action, then that may take him to the worst position, whereas a chandala, who is finishing his lowest form of life, may come to be a brahman at once. According to karma, and the intensity and priority of the karma, the results have their effects.
Srila Sridhar Maharaj: Pure means God-interested. In one’s innate nature, God’s interest is present. Only God’s interest is the innate tendency, and when that is uncovered, we can see everything as it is. There, everything is doing the service of the Absolute, and everything is all right. The only anomaly arises when we want to see the Absolute as my servant or I want to non-cooperate with Him (bhukti-mukti-sprha). These are two kinds of misconceptions, but really everything is meant for serving Him, and I am also a servant included within that jurisdiction. I am a servant. My duty is to use myself cent-per-cent to serve Him. Service is the truth. Service, not of the nation or society or land or country, but service of the Absolute: that is truth. Only misconception has come to deviate us from that vision and so cause our suffering. It is something like disease. We are attacked by a disease of exploiting tendency or renouncing tendency. The duty of every jiva-soul is to be an inseparable organic unit to serve and to work for the interest of the organic whole. That is the basic idea.
Question: Does each unit have an eternal relationship with the whole which is not the same as that of another unit?
Srila Sridhar Maharaj: They are individuals, but in consonance. There is some sympathetic relation between them. There are groups also according to the nature of service: dasya, sakhya, vatsalya, and madhura. There are so many groups, and they are sympathetic. Sometimes there also may be fighting with the opposition, but that is also service!
Question: Can you explain further of what you mentioned recently, that in the devotee’s quest to become pure, he must go through numerous situations where he is accepting something higher and rejecting something lower: eliminating the lower conception and accepting the higher conception?
Srila Sridhar Maharaj: Those are different stages of that misunderstanding, different strata. Sadhana means progress, which means eliminating something and inviting something higher. In this way, the process is there, and that may be quick in a certain case and slow in another. It may be slow or rapid, but we are to pass through different stages according to the intensity of illusion.
Question: What is the determining factor as to whether we pass through such a stage slowly or quickly?
Srila Sridhar Maharaj: That will depend upon the sukrti and the sat-sanga. There will be some conscious help and some previous underground help. Ajnata-sukrti is when unconsciously, unknown benefit has come to me. Whereas, jnata-sukrti is when consciously some benefit comes through the association of the sadhu, the saint. And that sadhu also may be of different types.
Question: I don’t understand. The sadhu may be of different types?
Srila Sridhar Maharaj: There are different types of sadhus. We have freedom of cooperation and association with a particular section, and the outcome of that depends also on the quality of whom we associate with.
Question: So, spiritual life is one where we are accepting a new concept and eliminating old concepts?
Srila Sridhar Maharaj: There is classification of misconception: Bhu, Bhuva, Sva, Maha, Jana, Tapa, Satya. There is so much gradation within the plane of misconception. And within that there are so many subdivisions, such as insects, trees, and animals. But at the same time, we shall think that a tree might have advanced in the nirguna, whereas a man might not. Misconception may be so hopelessly peculiar in a man that it will take time to cure him. At the same time, the mental system of a tree or an animal may be more advanced towards service, though its present situation is very lamentable.
Question: Does the acceptance and elimination of concepts include the sadhu-sanga that we accept and eliminate there also?
Srila Sridhar Maharaj: Yes. In sadhu-sanga, there are so many considerations: the type of sadhu, the cooperating tendency, also the backing of previous sukrti. There are many things to be taken into calculation.
It is not that just one incident is the cause, but there are so many circumstantial things coming together that cause a particular event. Any event is the combination of many things—his free will, his previous background, his present association, his nature—all these things have got their contribution for his progress. Circumstance can contribute much. It is not limited only to the free will of the man who wants progress.
Question: What about Vaisnava-aparadh, offences to the devotees?
Srila Sridhar Maharaj: If that is underground, that will vehemently oppose his progress. In a particular circumstance, many things may be more or less important that will arrest or help his progress.
Question: One cannot say which factor is more important because each situation is different?
Srila Sridhar Maharaj: It is generally told that when one has come to such a position that he accepts the Vaisnava as all-in-all, then the ordinary duties to the worldly environment will lose their importance. At that stage, the importance should be given to the finer circumstances relating to where I am really wanting to enter into. The sympathy or apathy of those who are in power will have much effect, whereas the sympathy and apathy of those in a lower position will be of less value. That is natural common sense. I may want progress, but if the higher officials are non-sympathetic, then that will be a great hindrance. But if the lower people who are under me have some complaint, then that will not matter much. So, Vaisnava and Visnu will be given the highest consideration, and I must take care not to commit any offence and not to incur any displeasure from Them. Our extra attention should be given to that.
Question: Is the guru-disciple relationship above this acceptance and elimination process?
Srila Sridhar Maharaj: Sometimes we may see this happen, but that is the most unfortunate thing ever one may have to forego. If any wrong is found in whom I want to depend foremost, then that will be a great misfortune and setback. The greatest setback is to eliminate Guru. But to be sympathetic with our Gurudev, and after his departure, if we take help of the closer association, then that is not to dismiss the Guru. Rather, that will help us to serve more our Gurudev. After the departure of Guru, I shall try to get the help of those who are of higher type. Therefore, if I could get help from any of his friends, then of course that is not bad. Rather, that is good because I am getting impetus to make my progress more quickly, and my progress will not be checked for want of any favourable advice about the ways and means.
The danger arises when guru is alive, and for any reason I am to leave him. That is, of course, a very dangerous thing, and there also we find the relative consideration and the absolute consideration going side by side. When they are going side by side, the absolute consideration must get the upper hand. We may be misguided, and so it is easy to change the guru from non-Vaisnava to Vaisnava, from saguna to nirguna. But in the nirguna-viveka, in the same plane, if we are to change guru during the lifetime of guru, then that we must consider as a grave and serious thing. Sometimes such a disaster may fall on some disciple.
But there may be someone of strong understanding who can change his path from here to there. Especially this may be so if any incidental ignorance had covered him for the time being and that has now passed away so that he can see clearly what is what. He may consider, “I have purchased a through-ticket, but when making some progress, I have come to understand that there are some hindrances on the line. Therefore, from this juncture I can accept another train on another line in order to go where there is no danger.” If it becomes clear that ahead there is some danger, then, although a ticket was purchased to go through on this line, the necessity then arises to get down from the train at a junction and accept another line to reach the goal. It is quite possible; this consideration may arise if things occur in such way.
Alternatively, someone may consider that he has purchased a ticket, and therefore he must go on along that line. But the absolute consideration is that, “I want to go to that destination, and I am going for that purpose. So, if on the way, I am to find that there is some difficulty then I am to change my course.” This is common sense.
For one who is sincere in his activity, he need not be afraid of anything because the Lord is the guide. Through Gurudev also, the inner guide is He. By His direction, all these things are being done. The final touch of hand is with the Supreme.
There is also the consideration of association, sanga. Suppose I have purchased a ticket and am going smoothly towards the destination, but some asat-sanga, some bad association, comes to me. Some mischief monger or some ignorant person may say, “No, no, there is danger ahead so let us get down.” I may be influenced by that, falsely. This also may happen that by bad association sometimes someone may be led to reject a good guru.
Also, it may happen that I have purchased my ticket, but there comes some doubt. I am perplexed and get down. But ultimately, I see that I have done wrong, that I have committed a great wrong. That also may be. Anyhow, our sincere hankering after the truth will come to our rescue, and that sincerity of hankering depends again on the past sukrti. The type and the quality of help that was injected into me in my unconscious stage will come to help me always. From the background, that will come to dictate to me, “Do this, do this!” Sincerity is necessary.
Any event is a combination of many things. But those that are sincere, that are eager to help their own self really, they cannot be misguided for long. That should be our solace, our consolation. “If I do not like to be a party to deceive myself, then none can deceive me in this world.” That fairness of mind one should have, because the vigilant eye of the Absolute is always there. We must have such confidence and such faith that the vigilant eye of the Supreme is everywhere. I may not see that, but He is my best friend and only I want to come to Him, and He knows it. So, to whom I am going? He is looking at everything although I may not. The Absolute is the absolute possibility. The finite is to go to meet the Infinite! It is the most audacious, the most impossible thing, and we are going to make it possible by our inner urge. Our inner urge—that is everything.
Question: So, the calculating mentality may not be our best friend?
Srila Sridhar Maharaj: It may not be of great help. Of course, we cannot avoid calculation when we are in a certain stage. But still we should know that the calculative mentality may not be of much help ultimately. Prayer is more powerful to seek the help of the highest to whom I am trying to go. If I seek His help, then He will send some agent to me. If I should get such an agent on my side along the way, then I will be more secure in my progress. Prayer. Prayer and saranagati. Prayer reaches to Him only when we surrender.
But calculation may be of the nature of self-analysis: “Here I have nothing, I have no power, so how can I be lifted? My knowledge and my judgment are futile and have got no power. My free will, my judgment, my everything is so meagre. So, how can it come in contact and make some progress regarding the Infinite? This is impossible!” In this way, self-analysis will take us to surrender. Surrender and prayer will be of primary importance to any spiritual student. Saranagati means surrender. As much as we make surrender towards Him, our prayer will be genuine. When I shall see myself as clearly helpless, then only will my prayer be substantial, and then the help will come accordingly.
On the whole there is only one most important factor: sadhu-sanga.
So many things are all interdependent, but first importance is to be given to sadhu-sanga. But sadhu-sanga is also affected by the results of so many previous events. So many things are all interdependent, but still some points have been given more stress. More importance has been given to firstly sadhu-sanga, then sastra, then saranagati, then prayer. Though many things are there, a complex and interdependent interhelp, but still if we are to select some principal thing for our help, the first thing will be sadhu-sanga, association with those more advanced than myself, and next importance will be given to the sastra, the advices of the great sadhus. With these two, we shall take practical steps in saranagati. Saranagati is real when it is sincere. And sincerity means, “I am helpless. By self-analysis, I am helpless.” As much as I consider myself to be helpless, my prayer to the Lord will be accordingly intense, and the help from that side will come to that degree. Sanga means serving attitude, not physical contact, but serving. Higher things can be contacted only through the relationship of serving tendency, not otherwise.
Question: Therefore, is prayer a more benedicting activity?
Srila Sridhar Maharaj: Prayer also should be pure. “O Lord, give me my bread!” is also a prayer. And another type of prayer is, “Please save me. I do not know what is my real interest. Please enlighten me.” There are so many different types of prayer, and how we pray is determined by our association and our spiritual advice.
Question: Is praying for the revelation of the Absolute more important than glorification of the Absolute?
Question: Should that type of prayer be given more importance and stressed more than the glorification of the Absolute?
Srila Sridhar Maharaj: The prayer to the highest degree that we find is: “I want Your connection. You may utilise me. You may think me to be Yours, and keeping me in Your connection, utilise me according to Your sweet will. I have no particular claim nor aspiration that I must attain this or that, but only I want to be Your faithful servant, and so You please utilise me in any way You like. Only that inseparable connection with You I want. I am Your slave—I want to be Your slave. Your connection I want, Your sincere connection, and You know best what connection that is. I do not know what is what, but You know what is best. Only consider me as Your own and utilise me.” That should be the nature of our prayer.
Question: Should we have a desperate mood?
An example is Prahlad Maharaj who received so many tortures even from his so-called near relative, his father. There are several similar examples. If you are saranagata, surrendered, to Him, then you may have to suffer many things because of that, and if you don’t become desperate, then you will have to come back. With a desperate mentality, you are to tolerate all the tortures that will come against you, and still you won’t budge an inch from your path of progress. That must be. We must be prepared for any injury in any event. Anything may come, known or unknown, supposed or unsupposed. Anything may come, but we are to remain strong in our position. Fixing our eye on Him, it is worth suffering from all types of pains. To stand because “I am standing for the truth” will be my solace.
Prahlad Maharaj advises that whatever adverse circumstances may come to disturb us, we should try to not only see them as opposing and undesirable but we are required to see them as quite befitting: “It should come and is coming through the will of my good, well-wishing Lord. Very kindly He is sending these apparently unfavourable things to me, but here is His grace.” We shall try to read positive sympathy in the pain and not only negative opposition. One thing to note is that nothing can come without His sanction, so it is coming to me with His sanction. There can be no spirit of retaliation in Him; therefore, the pain has come for some purpose: to purify me. This positive end is there. He is trying to finish the bad consequences of my previous actions. “I would otherwise have had to undergo the bad consequences of my actions for a long time to come, but perhaps He is making that intense in order to be finished within a very short time. Therefore, it is His grace.” If with this attitude we can face this danger that surrounds us, then very easily we are released from all such opposing forces.
When the mother is punishing her child, affection is in the background. There is no spirit of retaliation; rather, there is the spirit of affection. She wants to correct him. But when the child takes the attitude, “Yes. More punishment is required, Mother. I have done so many misdeeds, more punishment is necessary for me.” Then the mother will release him very soon: “Oh, he has understood that he did wrong, so he should be released now.” The result of punishment is reached, and so the punishment should be withdrawn.
So, whenever the opposing environment comes to pain us, we should see with such a vision that, “It is the benevolence of the Lord that He has sent this suffering to me, to correct me, to release me very soon perhaps. I am inviting you, ‘Yes, you come. You come. You are my friend. In the garb of an enemy, you are my friend. You have come to release me very soon, so I welcome you. You are coming because without my Lord’s sanction nothing can happen. So, when you have come, you have come surely for my benefit, so I welcome you.’” If with this attitude you can embrace unfavourable circumstances, then very soon you will get liberation from the clutches of Maya.
At the same time, it is necessary to show one’s gratitude to the Lord, “How kind You are. You have managed to clear my debt from my previous life in so short a time. You are so gracious. So, I show my obeisances to You, my Lord. You are so gracious to me. You are trying to finish the reactions of the long-standing misdeeds of my past life which could take birth after birth, infinitely, to clear. But that has been finished within a few hours, so I bow down so faithfully. My faithful obeisances to You, my Lord.” With this attitude, he gets relief immediately. That is the key to success.
Question: What should be the conception of the devotee when the guru is chastising him? Should he understand that to be for his benefit?
Srila Sridhar Maharaj: Yes. Mahaprabhu says that when the guru is chastising, he is considering the disciple to be his own: he has got much affection. But when he is indifferent, then he has kept the disciple at a respectable distance and has not accepted him closely. When the guru is punishing, then that is a great fortune. One can think, “The vigilant eye of Gurudev is over me, and he cannot tolerate anything wrong in me. So, that is very rare, a great fortune, a great prospect of my life that his vigilant eye is there so that nothing wrong can attack me and take me down. He is there.” That the guru is giving punishment presupposes that his guardian’s eye is watching over the disciple. So, that should be considered a great fortune.
In the last sloka of His Siksastakam prayers, Mahaprabhu also says how the standard of attachment should be of the devotee towards the Lord.
Here, of course, it is mentioned about Krishna, but we will find this similar relationship between disciple and guru.
This sort of adherence to Him we shall try to maintain. “I have no other alternative but His favour. He may show His favour, He may not.” In different stages, He may deal with me in different ways. He may show His apathy to me, but still I have no other alternative. I am to tolerate all the apathetic eventualities. That is the nature of the tie between the man and the master. That tie is invulnerable, is inseparable, is eternal, and, if cut, that separation may not even be imagined—such closer and natural connection we have got with the absolute good. We cannot even conceive of anything other than our connection with Him, and that is the eternal conception. We are to go on in the eternal plane, and we are to find out our eternal contact: the finite’s connection with the Infinite. The man and the master. The Lord and the servant. In this way, it is inconceivable, but inconceivably true. That sort of connection with the Supreme, we shall try to find out, and that is the greatest importance of our existence.
Separate existence is not possible. That connection with Him is there, only we forget that. That is the trouble. And in the process of forgetfulness and in the degree of forgetfulness, everything becomes an anomaly. All the anomalies can be confined in this single misunderstanding. The whole anomaly exists only by this misunderstanding.
Srila Sridhar Maharaj: Selflessness means to admit that the Lord is all-in-all. Even the existence can be effaced by His sweet will. Although we are told that the soul is eternal, His will is the absolute will, and He can efface me if He wants. The master can murder the slave. Marabi rakhabi yo ichchha Tohara: “You can keep me or You can do away with me, this is Your constitutional right. I am fully dependent. You can make or mar with my fortune—anything You like.” As much as you will be able to realise your position of helplessness, so much you will enrich yourself from the real standpoint and you will acquire a position there. Vanity will not be allowed there, but just the opposite is required: full humility. Humility has got value there because one should always think oneself to be the negative and not the positive. To have no rights, but all rights only in His sweet will is prema, love. His grace is our existence in that aspect of reality.
The sakti, the female, has got her importance in a particular way. It is not that she will go to imitate the right of the male, for that will be her failure. Similarly, the male has got his own particular way of attitude. There is the predominating and the predominated. If we want to assert our predominating self, then we must have to come in connection with maya, the illusory energy where we are purusa, enjoyer. But if we want to approach the spiritual realm, then we are not to be purusa, but we are to be of female type, dependent type, sakti. In relation to Him, we are sakti, and in relation to maya we are saktiman, purusa. In maya, we are exploiters, enjoyers, whereas there we are to be enjoyed. If we seek our relationship with the upper existence, then we are to be enjoyed, we are to be handled; subjective existence is there on that side. And here in the lower existence we have come to exploit, to assert, and therefore we are in connection with maya and are suffering from the reaction. Here, we are purusa, and there, in the relativity of the higher, we are sakti, potency. Here in the illusory world, we can assert that we are purusa, that we are enjoyers, but this is false and reactionary. So, try to develop the attitude of your potency characteristic. As much as you will be able to do that, you will have value in the higher realm. Pranipatena pariprasnena sevaya. By submission you may be allowed to enter into that domain, otherwise not. Seva, service, means that you have to be utilised by them. If you will let yourself be utilised for the interest of the higher land, the higher plane, only then will you be allowed to enter there. No exploitation for the jiva-soul is possible in that land, the country of Paramatma, and above, the land of Krishna.
Question: What about the endeavour of the mayavadis, the impersonalists, to understand the Infinite by knowledge (jnan)?
Srila Sridhar Maharaj: They cannot enter into that domain. They are showing their feats only here within this mundane world up to Satyaloka. Then, in Brahmaloka, they merge and are finished there. Their idea of so ’ham, “I am a part of the highest entity” retains them in Brahmaloka, and they can never pass upwards through there towards Vaikuntha. Whereas with the mood of daso ‘ham, “I am a servant of that highest entity”, you will be allowed to enter into the higher realm. Nirmatsaranam satam. Moksabhisandhir api nirastah.
Question: What is the endeavour of the practitioner, the sadhaka, in calculative devotional service, vaidhi-bhakti?
Srila Sridhar Maharaj: He is to follow that programme which is recommended in the sastra and by the sadhu, and gradually, he will find himself to be in the proper soil. He will find that he is gaining some ground, and he will thereby receive encouragement to continue his attempt towards that upper realm. He will get some reliable taste, ruchi.
Up to ruchi, he is to undergo some sadhana, some programme as recommended by the sadhu and the sastra, and by that he will get help.
Up until just before apan-dasa, the stage of wholehearted exclusive acceptance, he is to take the trouble of sadhana. On reaching apan-dasa, self-realisation will begin, and then he himself will stand guarantee for his own activities. He will directly feel, “Oh, I am realising a novel type of ecstasy”, and he won’t be taken away from that position. The main thing is that we can acquire higher things by service. Sacrifice and have: pay. Pay for it. That does not mean paying in terms of money and other things, but paying in terms of your own self: surrender and have. Give and get. As you can give, so you can get a similar thing.
Question: But I am bankrupt!
Srila Sridhar Maharaj: It is a good sign. If one is bankrupt here, then he will seek some shelter. If one is really bankrupt, then he must sincerely seek a shelter.
Question: Maharaj, I would like to arrange a loan from you!
Srila Sridhar Maharaj: A loan! This is all loan. I am also in loan. We are continuing the business in loan from Gurudev. It is a business on loan. The business in the negative side is all on loan.
“Whomever you find, talk with him only about Krishna. Try to save him from the desert of mortality. I am giving you backing. I command you. Don’t be afraid; take the position of guru, the giver, and give it to everyone.” It is the order of Mahaprabhu, and He tells that He is the capitalist (Amara ajnaya). He takes the risk of the position of a capitalist.
In maya, illusion, it is difficult for us to digest the truth that, “I am small.” We don’t like to digest this, to accept this, and that is the rub. Our inner evil tendency is to capture the right of others, but we are to understand what is freedom. Here, we really are accustomed to think that we can encroach over the freedom of others in the environment. That is the disease. Alternatively, the reactionary tendency is to think, “I shall commit suicide, that is, let us enter the tomb, samadhi. If I cannot exercise my freedom on the environment outside, then rather I shall enter the tomb, the grave, but I won’t accept slavery, the serving attitude to the environment.” We are frightened to become a servant: “I want to be an exploiting unit, but not a serving unit, that I shall give my freedom to another superior hand.” It is there that we shrink away, and that is the inner defect. By freedom, we understand that we have freedom to exercise right over the environment. But why should we not accept service for the environment? Why? We think that we shall be reduced to the minimum position. But to do for others, to become a servant, is healthy for us, and there we can thrive. We can thrive by serving the environment, and especially the Lord of the whole. We think that if we render service, then we are dying. That temperament, false temperament, has grown within us, and that is a foreign element which has covered the jiva proper. It is a bitter pill to swallow.
The internal capital can be had only from the sadhu. Wherever you can get it and with whatever price you must pay, try to secure that innermost wealth. Not mere physical death or mental death has the reach to take you to that higher stage. You are to dive deep into Krishna consciousness. Wherever and whenever you find someone with such strong attachment to Krishna, you must try to secure it from him at any price, and that will be the best utilisation of your life and energy. You are to purchase the higher thing, and that is also at the sacrifice of the higher type of substance within you. You are to have innermost hankering, and the transaction will be by the surrendering of your innermost existence. The encasements—the physical encasements and mental encasements of different types—are many: Bhu, Bhuva, Sva, Maha, Jana, Tapa, Satya. There are so many varieties and types of physical and mental encasements. The many subtle encasements from gross to finer do not end only in Viraja and Brahmaloka, but even consciousness has its gross portion in Vaikuntha. But more subtle within you is that Krishna consciousness where the dedication is intense to its highest capacity, and that is dedication to the autocrat. Dedication there is to the autocrat, not to a constitutional king where there is justice, but dedication to Krishna, to that autocrat—anything can happen! The highest degree of dedication is necessary there. The gain is also similar: it is of the highest type. As much as you can risk, so much you can expect to gain. That is, Mahaprabhu gives the direction: “Don’t be a miser, but surrender yourself to the autocrat, the absolute good, and you will be the best gainer!” That is His recommendation. So, don’t be too calculative and don’t be a miser. If you find a proper place, then give yourself totally (atma-niksepa).
We have come to the proper place to offer our service, and Krishna is the highest bidder. He is the highest bidder in the auction, and He will pay most; He will pay so much that none can match His bid. He is the highest capitalist. But He is whimsical, and He is prodigal! Krishna is only known and knowable by the higher type of love and affection.
“If killed in battle, you will attain heaven, or by gaining victory, you will enjoy the earth. Therefore, O Arjuna, being confident of success, rise for battle.” For him to give up the fight would be ruinous.
Our campaign is so adventurous! If we are successful, we have got the highest thing, but if unsuccessful, then our prospect and our whole life is gone. Gone! With this risk we have come to search for the most precious thing; we must remember this and not go back. We are to proceed with the search and enquiry, for if He is known, then everything is known. With this temptation we have come.
Try to have experience about the root of everything, then everything will be at your command and in your hand. Krishnanusandhan: search for Sri Krishna. What is that Brahma, that Paramatma, and all these stale things? Krishna is the very gist of them. Krishna consciousness is necessary. Everything is His. He has the monopoly. So, search after Krishna. He is such. He is an autocrat, but He is a thief and He is a cheat!
Mahaprabhu was in a mood: “Who will take the Name of Krishna? He is a traitor! Just see how He has treated the gopis! With so much sincere love they approached Him, but then He was so cruel that He left them and went away leaving them crying. Who will take the Name of Krishna? You have come to canvass Me for the party of Krishna, and so I shall teach you a lesson!” And Mahaprabhu went to beat that gentleman with a stick.
The foremost gopi is Radharani. She is the highest giver, the highest dedicator. None can venture to come beside Her except Vrajendra Nandan. She is mahabhava-svarupini. Sacrifice at its zenith is there; the highest standard ever is eternally represented there. Nowhere else is there such sacrifice, self-giving, self-surrendering. It is beyond all standards ever known to the world of scriptures. Laksmi Devi has no place near Krishna, and similarly, Narayan also cannot approach towards Radharani, nor even Dvarakes, Mathures, nor even Gopes, what to speak of others.
It may seem that all the gopis were of equal rank in the Rasa Dance, and some fine jealousy arose in the mind of Radharani. After showing Her superiority in chanting and dancing, etc., She suddenly disappeared. She conquered the common gopis, and after defeating them She disappeared suddenly. Krishna suddenly found Himself vacant. All the source of His energy was coming from that one point, and the dance was taking place. But when that very vitality was taken away, He found Himself vacant. He searched after Her but could not find Her. He then stealthily left the company of all the gopis in search of Srimati Radharani. Radham adhaya hrdaye tatyaja Vraja-sundarih. Jayadev says that so many gopis are on one side, but they are outweighed by Radharani. They are all abandoned, and Krishna goes out to search for Her. This is also admitted in Mahaprabhu’s discussions with Ramananda Ray, where it is told that there is a categorical difference between the quality of the loving service of the gopis and that of Radharani.
I composed one verse that tells that at every point in Srimad Bhagavatam there is the presence of Srimati Radharani because She is the goal there.
She is the conclusion to be established in Bhagavatam by so many descriptions of events, so many stories of devotion, etc. The highest aim of Bhagavatam is to establish Radha-dasyam, service to Radharani, and everything in Bhagavatam is preparatory towards that end. But still Her Name is not mentioned anywhere in Bhagavatam. Everywhere in Srimad Bhagavatam every word is used only to prove Her noblest position, but still no name is expressively given there for Her. Krishna is Akhila-rasamrta-murtih: He is the combination of all sorts of ecstasies, and the main support of that Akhila-rasamrta-murtih is Srimati Radhika. She is the only support of that lila of Syam: the sole support, the fountain of madhura-rasa (divine consorthood). I surrender myself to the holy feet of that Srimati Radharani who is the only support, the gist, the all-in-all of the whole life of Akhila-rasamrta-murtih: of He who consists in Himself of all sorts of high rasas, ecstasies. She is His only support, and I surrender myself to Her holy feet.
Bhakti means ‘devotion’, and Raksak means ‘guardian’. Situated within the holy province known by the devotees as Gauda Mandal, the humble village of Hapaniya has now become a cherished place of pilgrimage for theistic scholars and pilgrims the world over. Small wonder, since it is the holy place of advent of Om Visnupad Astottara-sata-sri Srimad Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj, the great grandfather of all the faithful Vaisnava Tridandi-sannyasis, the grand preceptor of the divine nectarean message of Sri Gaurangadev. This great saintly personage made his glorious advent at Sripat Hapaniya of Radha Des in 1895 of the Christian calendar. The formidable scholar Sriyukta Upendra Chandra Bhattacharya Vidyaratna Mahodoy and Srimati Gauri Devi, were both unalloyed pure souls imbued with righteousness and devotion for the Supreme Lord Hari. At the fitting auspicious moment, Srila Guru Maharaj made his advent, choosing them as his father and mother, and revealing the advent of his Divine Pastimes to the world. They named their beloved son Sri Ramendra Chandra Bhattacharya.
In 1923, he was attracted by the grace of Sri Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami, and at the Sri Gaudiya Math situated at No. 1 Ultadingi Junction Road, Calcutta, he heard Sri Srila Prabhupad’s holy talks of the Supreme Lord. Not long after that, in December of 1926, with full surrender he joined Sri Gaudiya Math. The natural attraction for the Nam-sankirtan of Sri Chaitanyadev that Srila Guru Maharaj had felt since his very childhood now bloomed into the resplendent personality of Tridandi-sannyasi Sri Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Maharaj, at the behest of Sri Srila Prabhupad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami. Srila Prabhupad conferred this holy order, name, and title upon Srila Sridhar Maharaj in the year 1930, having marked his profound expertise and depth of divine realisation in the holy scriptural theistic conclusions, thus recognising him as a veritable ‘guardian of devotion’. Srila Prabhupad further solidified this recognition upon hearing Srila Sridhar Maharaj’s Sanskrit composition Sri-Bhakti-vinoda-viraha-dasakam, when he endorsed the holy poem as a direct inspiration of Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur.
Srila Sridhar Maharaj took a prominent part in the founding, organising, and preaching of many of the Sri Gaudiya Maths of Srila Prabhupad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami all over India. As a climax to his divine affection and blessings to Srila Sridhar Maharaj, during the last days of Srila Prabhupad’s manifest Divine Pastimes in this world, he especially selected Srila Sridhar Maharaj to sing Sri Rupa-manjari-pada for him, which is well known as the most venerated and adored prayer of the entire Gaudiya sampradaya; by this action we can know Srila Prabhupad’s indomitable confidence in his ‘guardian of devotion’ as the future captain of the Sri Rupanuga sampradaya or divines succession of faithful followers of Sri Chaitanyadev in the line of Srila Rupa Goswami. And who could doubt this? The nectarean river of Sanskrit and Bengali compositions that flowed from his pen stand as great monuments in the line of Sri Chaitanyadev. In his latter years, some hundreds of disciples of the late world preacher Srila A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj flocked to Sri Nabadwip Dham to hear the holy informal talks and advices of Srila Sridhar Maharaj, and from tape-recordings of those talks many English publications reached to the Western public, scholars, and devotees. The wholehearted acceptance of his divine delivery and those transcendental works by the genuine devotees is irrevocable, not only by dint of Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj’s openly avowed acceptance of Srila Sridhar Maharaj as his Siksa-guru, but simply by the strength of their own spiritual merit. Therefore, great numbers of sincere seekers from all over the world also flocked to the lotus feet of Srila Sridhar Maharaj to become surrendered disciples of the guardian of devotion.
Om Visnupad Astottara-sata-sri Srimad Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj made his appearance in this world on 17 December 1929, at Bamunpara, district Burdwan, only about six miles from Sripat Hapaniya where his beloved Gurudev made his advent, also situated in the holy area of Gauda Mandal. Revealing his Pastimes to the conditioned souls of this worldly plane, at the tender age of only seventeen years Srila Govinda Maharaj manifest his coming to the lotus feet of his Gurudev Sri Srila Sridhar Maharaj in April 1947 on the holy appearance day of Sri Nrsimhadev (Nrsimha Chaturdasi).
If any of the dear readers of this short account may have, or have had, the opportunity of hearing directly from other stalwart veteran disciples of Srila Sridhar Maharaj (an opportunity the humble writer has fortunately had on many occasions), such as Sripad Bhakti Prasun Aranya Maharaj, Sripad Hari Charan Brahmachari Seva Ketan Prabhu, Sriyukta Krishnamayi Devi, Sriyukta Ramarani Devi, and Srila Guru Maharaj’s own revered brothers and disciples Sriyukta Satyendra Chandra Bhattacharya, Sriyukta Amarendranath Bhattacharya and others—any fortunate soul will be able to trace the unbroken line of continuous unalloyed divine affection that Srila Guru Maharaj bestowed upon Srila Govinda Maharaj and continues to eternally bestow from his holy abode in the nitya-lila (eternal Divine Pastimes).
On the Amavasya (dark-moon day) of 12 August 1988, when Srila Guru Maharaj silently took his form of holy samadhi at his beloved place of bhajan, Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, Nabadwip Dham, at that time all the devotees felt that the exalted moon had disappeared from their vision; yet, by his divine grace, Srila Guru Maharaj had already foreseen the devotees’ need for uninterrupted light, for the smooth continuation of their devotional services; and therefore three years before he conferred the holy order of Tridanda-sannyas upon Srila Govinda Maharaj, naming him as his illustrious successor, as the guiding light to perfectly ensure that no darkness could enter into his sampradaya (divine succession).
The illustrious Acharyas or divine preceptors have often been described to be as brilliant as the sun. Their divine dispensation of Hari-katha and Hari-kirtan are as the life-giving rays of the supreme sun, giving life and warmth to all creatures, moving and stationary. They are the merciful bestowers of the very kernel of love divine for the Supreme Lord which is the absolute life of all that lives (divya-bhagavat-premno hi bija-pradam). In this way, it was no surprise that the faithful loving devotees of Srila Guru Maharaj could only receive with great transcendental joy the appearance in the Gaudiya firmament of Jagad-guru Gaudiya-bhaskaracharya Srila Sri Bhakti Sundar Govinda Maharaj. In the personage of his dearmost divine servitor, Srila Guru Maharaj had long before selected our future guardian.
No doubt, Srila Sridhar Maharaj named Srila Govinda Maharaj as his Successor-President-Acharya in his last will and testament in the year of 1985. Perhaps a lesser known fact is that he made his first will in 1964, and there also he hinted that he would name Srila Govinda Maharaj as his Successor-President-Acharya. In every subsequent will he made, the last one being the fourth, his choice of his successor never changed. And even above and beyond the legal aspect of his choice, in the plane of transcendental service we find—again a fact confirmed by the above mentioned most revered faithful veteran devotees of Srila Sridhar Maharaj—within only a matter of a few days after Srila Govinda Maharaj’s initial approach to the lotus feet of Srila Sridhar Maharaj in 1947, Srila Sridhar Maharaj remarked, “He will be my successor.” This is also a fact which was witnessed by many of the venerable veteran sannyasi godbrothers of Srila Sridhar Maharaj, all of whom held Srila Sridhar Maharaj in the highest transcendental regard without exception. Thus, they also showered their unreserved blessings (Guru-ganair asisa-sambhusitam) upon his selected successor.
Highly learned in Sanskrit and Bengali, Srila Govinda Maharaj has, as did his illustrious Gurudev, given us many divine prayers and songs most valuable for the cultivation of our spiritual life; his valuable natural talent coupled with his fine delivery of Hari-katha (holy talks of the Supreme Lord and His Pastimes), and, on the practical side of devotional life, his untiring services to his Srila Guru Maharaj in nurturing and upholding Srila Guru Maharaj’s India-wide and world-wide Mission from the very beginning to the present —it was none other than he who designed and supervised the building of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math—have, as we have seen with our own eyes, ever fulfilled the divine desires of Sri Gurudev (Gurvabhista-supurakam).
It is my prayer, and I am also justly confident, that in the future we shall see more and more important publications such as this Sermons of the Guardian of Devotion IV by his grace embodying the Hari-katha of both Srila Guru Maharaj and Srila Govinda Maharaj in all languages of the world. With this prayer, I beg to offer my humble dandavat pranams unto the lotus feet of the guardian of devotion Om Visnupad Astottara-sata-sri Srimad Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj and his divine servitor Om Visnupad Astottara-sata-sri Srimad Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj.
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2019-04-21T22:03:33Z
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https://premadharma.org/sermons-of-the-guardian-of-devotion-volume-iv/
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We build an educational system which consists of politically motivated and artistic initiatives for sharing knowledge, and of proposals by thinkers who see education as decisive for social change. Texts, documentations, manifestos and sketches of educational models are united in a Symposion entitled: The School of Everything. The Symposion takes place in both Kassel and Athens. We shift from learning to sharing. We decriminalize sharing because we would like to enjoy the pleasure of giving. We liberate ourselves from the strictures of “Homo Sapiens”, a construct imposed upon life. We will transform the educational system of Europe.
Pedagogy is a form of practice that act as an interface between the individual and the collective to generate temporary community dialogues. It is a means to disperse the homogeneity of a monolithic neo liberal culture and generate a heterogeneous body of collectivism engaging with the idea of representation as a multiple reciprocal dialogical state of individual reflections.
In this respect workshop situation can initiate the process of generating a temporary community and games as a tool can generate community interaction between individual and the collective. The workshop games of Third theatre (initiated by Badal Sircar in 70s’in Kolkata, India) is a unique process where it dissolves the barrier between an observer and a performer. Everyone participating in the workshop becomes both a performer and an observer. These games can go beyond spontaneous inter personal relationship to generate possibility for intercultural encounter and engagement.
In the two day workshop we will try to explore memory as a relationship of sound, body and space through multiple games and explore the possibility of sharing knowledge in a collective collaborative situation of co-working, learning and sharing. In this context we will also exploring mirroring as a possible dialogue of reciprocality and intercultural space and conversation.
These days, most people on the internet don't seem to be in a very good mood. They don't know if it's Facebook fatigue or just Wikileaks hangover, they can't tell if it's an addiction or just paranoia, but something feels wrong, feels like a blur, like a constant stream of fake likes, autoupdates, behavioral tracking, micropayments, nazi spam and home deliveries, a fog of comments about comments, scandals about scandals and notifications about notifications.
So let us instead, for two days, visit other internets. They exist, they have existed long before the World Wide Web, and they will continue to exist, even in increasingly adversarial technological environments, as long as there is a need to circumvent copyright, censorship and surveillance. Most importantly, we think that it is still demonstrably exciting to not be governed when using computers and the internet.
Ahmad Alkhatieb was a student and a football player in Syria. He then participated in the revolution from its very beginning, in Homs. Sometimes he held arms and stood in checkpoints. Ahmad has made several documentaries about the situation in Syria. Currently he lives in Germany where he joined an Anti-Assad soccer team.
Constantinos Amvrosiadis started to practice Shaolin Kung Fu, as a response to the diagnosis of acute leukemia in 20016. In 2009, 2012 and 2014 studied at the monasteries of Shaolin, Wudang, FaWang and Chen Jia Gou, birthplace of Zen (Chan) and the Shaolin Martial Arts with teacher Shi Miao Dian, Shi Miao Jie, and later on with Taoist monk Yuan Xiu Gang. The abbot of the Shaolin temple, Shi Jing Shin, recognized Mr. Amvrosiadis' efforts and his contribution to the Shaolin's tradition. Constantinos was included in Shaolin's 34th generation, named Shi Yan Jing 延 延 精 meaning: essence, seed, sharp. The Shaolin monastery teachers from Wudang and his students assigned a new name for him, denoting the union of the four elements, "fire", "water", "wind" and "earth", and their matching in the arts, "Kung Fu", "Tai Chi", "Qi Gong ".
Sotirios Bahtsetzis PhD works as an art historian, independent curator and art critic, based in Athens and Berlin. He teaches at the American College of Greece. Besides art historical articles on installation art; theory of space, visual studies and methodology of art history, he contributes art theoretical articles to periodicals, such as E-flux Journal and South magazine.
Helmut Batista has studied opera direction at ESAT in France. In 1998 he founded CAPACETE which he has directed ever since. CAPACETE has produced new art works, seminars, workshops, residencies and books under its own umbrella and with collaboration with many partners and in different countries. In 2015 CAPACETE inaugurated its new one year program.
Sebastian Bayse Schäfer is a sound artist and art director. He studied Communication Design and earned an M.A. in Sound Studies at UdK Berlin. He gained the title of associate Professor at the Avtonomi Akadimia with his 2016 lecture on ‘Sound Wars’ at the Athens Biennale. He is timetravelling since 2050, mingling the revolution and synthesizers. Also he is responsible for the layout of this book.
Vasyl Cherepanyn is Head of the Visual Culture Research Center (VCRC, Kyiv) and an editor of the Political Critique magazine (Ukrainian edition). He works as a lecturer at the Cultural Studies Department of the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy and holds a Ph.D. in philosophy (aesthetics). Also he worked as a guest lecturer at European University Viadrina in Frankfurt (Oder), Germany, at the "Political Critique" Institute for Advanced Studies in Warsaw, Poland, and at Greifswald University, Germany. He was also a visiting fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna, Austria. In 2015, VCRC has received the European Cultural Foundation's Princess Margriet Award for Culture for its activities. Visual Culture Research Center was also the organizer of The School of Kyiv – Kyiv Biennial 2015.
Nuno Cassola Marques graduated the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Porto and Master degree in Contemporary Artistic Practices by the same institution, tutored by Prof. Dr. Pedro Llano Neira. He also studied at the University Hochschule Luzern – Design und Kunst, Switzerland and at the School of Communication and Arts of the University of São Paulo, Brazil. Onboard the Grande Francia freighter, he crossed the imaginary line of Ecuador in May 2012, where he could see everything on the bridge, in a small gray device. A backlit display showed several digits in countdown, converting suddenly to a rising count. Nuno Cassola Marques is a founding member of Cine Clube Ponto Aurora, based in the independent space in the center of São Paulo, Ponto Aurora and Cine Clube Khora in Athens, Greece. He currently lives in Athens.
Marco Clausen holds a Master in Historical and Political Sciences and Philosophy. In 2009 Clausen founded together with Robert Shaw the non-profit organization “Nomadisch Grün” (Nomadic Green), which aims at transforming abandoned urban spaces into social and ecological gardens. He is the co-initiator of Prinzessinnengarten: a place dedicated to urban agriculture, environmental learning, and neighborhood participation at Moritzplatz in Berlin-Kreuzberg. Clausen organized several thematic workshops and events on feeding the city, youth participation, urban resilience and urban farming in the European context. In the form of lectures, publications, participatory research, cooperations with artists and activists he contributes to the question of how our cities will face the challenges of the future. In 2015 he co-founded the Neighborhood Academy in Prinzessinnengarten, a self-organized open platform for urban and rural knowledge charing, cultural practice and activism.
Luca Di Blasi is University Lecturer in Philosophy and member of the Theological Faculty at the University of Bern in Switzerland. He studied economics at the Vienna University of Economics and Business, German literature, and philosophy at the University of Vienna and earned his PhD in philosophy at the Catholic University of Eichstätt. In 2015, he habilitated in philosophy at the University of Bern. He worked as a research assistant (Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter) and was research fellow at the Forschungsinstitut für Philosophie Hannover from 1995-2001, post-doctoral research fellow in the project ›Mystik und Moderne‹ at the University of Siegen from 2003-2006, and Academic Assistant to the Director of the ICI Berlin from its foundation in 2007 until 2013. Since 2014, he is Associate Member of the ICI Berlin.
Luca Di Blasi’s theoretical main interest revolves around the relation between philosophy and religion: theoretical approaches to religion and the religious dimension of philosophy. Other fields of research include modern continental philosophy and media and art theory.
Katja Ehrhardt completed an M.A. specializing in Performance Theory in Anthropology and Modern and Classical Indology at the University of Heidelberg. Born and raised in Germany, she lived, studied, and worked in the United States, Japan, India, Bermuda, Thailand, Nepal, Malaysia, Israel, and Hong Kong. In Germany, she worked in research, international arts management and curation i.a. at the University of Heidelberg, at Pruess & Ochs Gallery Berlin (Asian Fine Arts), at the German Academic Exchange (DAAD), at the House of World Cultures Berlin, and at the Goethe Institute. In Athens, she built up, organized, and managed the cultural program at the Athens Centre for University programs from abroad, working together with cultural institutions and embassies in Athens. Before working with Athens, she coordinated and co-curated the cultural program of the Asia-Pacific Weeks at the Senate Chancellery Berlin and the House of World Cultures Berlin. She is the co-founder of AthenSYN, an initiative to foster the artistic collaboration with Greece with focus on German-Greek cultural exchange.
Noah Fischer works in the studio/streets/museums/stage. Long focused on a clash between the economic realities of debt, class division and financialiation with the luxury spaces and economies of art, he is the initiating member of Occupy Museums and a core member of G.U.L.F/Gulf Labor. His work also encompasses a long-term theatrical collaboration with Berlin-based andcompany&Co. His solo as well as his collaborative work is variously seen both with and without invitation at museums internationally including Occupy Museums’ recent project Debtfair at the Whitney Biennial.
Sanchayan Ghosh is an artist and educator. He lives in Santiniketan, India. Sanchayan holds a BA and MFA from Kala Bhavan, Visva Bharati University where he works as an Associate Professor at the Department of Painting. Over the years, Sanchayan has developed a participatory and socially engaged practice that usually takes place in public spaces. Through his continuous exploration he has succeeded in extending art and performance from institutional spaces to public situations. His community based engagements and site specific projects include: Incomplete Circles: Invisible Voices and Merge Emerge, among others.
Raúl Hott is a Chilean architect, artist, and educator that does work about the body, designing collective experiences for public spaces and natural environments. Raúl holds a Master of Fine Arts in New Forms from Pratt Institute. He has been particularly drawn by pedagogy, teaching in different Art and Architecture Schools since 2007. He is currently based in Athens, Greece, where he participates as a fellow resident of Capacete, a Brazilian experimental education program. To participate in this residency program, Raúl was awarded with the Motel Capacete Fellowship from Chile.
Tania Hron is an independent scholar and one of the editors of the Collected Works of Friedrich Kittler. She studied German Literature, Cultural Studies and Ethnology at Humboldt University. She later taught there at the department of Cultural Studies. She also worked as an instructor for German as a foreign language, and as a trainer for aerial acrobatics. Tania Hron worked for and with Friedrich Kittler from 2004 until his death in 2011. From 2011 to 2014 she was engaged at the Deutsche Literaturarchiv Marbach in archiving Kittler’s literary estate. In 2016 she worked as a Data Analyst in Linguistics for the Amazon Development Center.
Judith Holzer is a Berlin-based animator, author and filmmaker. She studied graphic and communication design as well as multimedia art in Austria. She develops visual and conceptional artwork for both cultural and commercial projects.
Andrea Iten is a visual artist, researcher and a lecturer at the Institute HyperWerk (University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland - Academy of Art and Design). She holds an MA in Transdisziplinarity from the Zürich University of the Arts.
Georgia Kotretsos, visual artist and researcher, holds an MFA from the Art Institute of Chicago and a BFA from the Durban Institute of Technology, in KwaZulu Natal. She co-founded the five-year art project Boots Contemporary Art Space St. Louis, MO, and founded BootPrint, biannual journal made by and for artists. Her work has been presented at Onassis Art Center NV, the Asian Society NY; the 4th Thessaloniki Biennale of Contemporary Art; Tinguely Museum Basel, La Kunsthalle Mulhouse; Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art Thessaloniki, at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, etc.
Elad Lapidot is a faculty member of the Freie Universität Berlin at the Institute for Philosophy. With expertise in Metaphysics, Logic, Epistemology, his focus of research is in philosophy of language and translation, Jewish Theology, Talmud Studies, practical philosophy and ethics as well as in theory of state. After graduating in Philosophy at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem he finished his dissertation in 2008 at the École Doctorale du Département de Philosophie de l’Université Paris-I (Panthéon-Sorbonne) on the topic of Heidegger's Being and Time. He currently works in Berlin, teaching at the departments of Philosophy and Jewish Studies at the Freie Universität, Humboldt University, the Center for Jewish Studies Berlin-Brandenburg, and the University of Potsdam. Elad Lapidot engages in human rights workshops as well as in intercultural exchange, namely with the association Deghetto e.V.
Mriganka Madhukaillya is an artist and filmmaker, member of Desire Machine Collective. He is professor of film and new media at the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, India. Since 2004, Mriganka Madhukaillya collaborates with Sonal Jain as Desire Machine Collective which employs film, video, photography, space and multimedia installation. Mriganka Madhukaillya is an initiator of Periferry, a floating educational project on the river of is on river Brahmaputra which is also known as Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibet.
Jenny Marketou is a Greek born interdisciplinary artist, art educator and cultural producer based in New York City. She has taught at Cooper Union School of Art in New York ,and currently she is a visiting artist at the School of Fine Arts (ASFA) in Athens, Greece. Marketou’s work has been widely exhibited at Artium Museum, Spain; Museum Tinguely in Basel; 1st International Biennial of Art of Cartagena de Indias, Colombia; Kumu Art Museum; 4th and 5th Athens Biennial; ZKM, Karlsruhe, Germany; New Museum, New York; Biennial of Seville; Reina Sofia Museum Madrid; National Museum of Contemporary Art (EMST) in Athens; Biennial of Sao Paolo in Brazil, Manifesta International European Biennial.
Ioulia Mermigka was born in Stuttgart and grew up in Athens. She studied Media Arts in the University of Plymouth and did her postgraduate studies on Film and Cultural Studies in the Media Department of the University of Athens. Mermigka's interests revolve around grassroots politics, philosophy and aesthetics. Her research on Antigone resulted in a short film and an adapted with contemporary texts theater play, indicatively from J. Butler and C. Castoriades. It was performed in the Votaninkos Kipos Petroupolis, the occupied social space in the west suburbs of Athens, where she actively participated in the assembly and curated a series of no ticket screenings. Ioulia is part of kyrck kollect, a noise music band. She is a researcher and adjunct lecturer in Film and Cultural Studies in the Media Department of the University of Athens.
Lindsay Parkhowell was educated at Bard College Berlin, a liberal arts university without majors or disciplines. He is the secretary of Propaganda and Poetics for the Avtonomi Akadimia. His first first chapbook of poetry, Driftwood, will be published in 2017.
Agnès Peeters Dr Egyptology. Chair of the Association, Art without Bars During the 90ies, Mrs. Rammant-Peeters was deeply engaged with the post perestrojka art scene and ran a legendary gallery Art Kiosk in Brussels. Art Without Bars is one of her restless initiatives bringing art to the world and inventing new environments for its enfolding.
Paul B. Preciado is a philosopher, curator, and transgender activist, and one of the leading thinkers in the field of gender and sexual politics. An Honors Graduate and Fulbright Fellow, he earned an M.A. in Philosophy and Gender Theory at the New School for Social Research in New York, where he studied with Agnes Heller and Jacques Derrida. He holds a PhD in Philosophy and Theory of Architecture from Princeton University. His first book, Contra-Sexual Manifesto became a key reference for European queer and transgender activism. Paul B. Preciado is Curator of Public Programs of the documenta 14.
Jean-Pierre Rammant Dr. ir. Co-founder and director of Inter Partes Mediation. Associate professor M.I.T. (USA, 1977), professor at Leuven University College (1978-1981). Founder & managing director of SCIA (Scientific Application Group) (1974-2014). Chairman of LUCA School of Arts with campuses in Gent, Brussels, Leuven, Genk / board member at K U Leuven (University Leuven).
Mischa Schaub is a designer. From 1999 to 2017 he was the head of the Institute HyperWerk (University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland - Academy of Art and Design). From 1979-83 he gained professional experience designing watches for the company Omega. Moreover, he developed corporate identity design at Z & L, Zurich. He then worked as Managing Director of D AG. From 1983-95 he developed 13 patents. In 1988 he wrote "Creative Design Work on the Computer". He laid the foundation for HyperStudio and HyperWerk with "Code_X: Multimediales Design" (1992).
Johanna Scherf is a master student in clinical psychology in Berlin. Since 2015, she supports the initiative School for Kobanê rebuilding schools in western Kurdistan. Johanna is a humanitarian aid volunteer in Greek refugee camps and was involved in the establishment of a community center near Thessaloniki. As a collaboration of the Bildungswerk Berlin der Heinrich-Böll-Stifung and Joliba e.V., Johanna plans a conference to improve the humanitarian situation for refugees in Greece and Turkey.
Martina Schumacher is a Berlin-based conceptual painter and celebrater of the eternal festival of art. Her works explore the physical characteristics of materials and modify them according to the needs of artistic fantasy. Enormous liquid geometrical works demand scientific inquiry. Schumacher studied in London at the Royal College of Art and at UdK Berlin, where she was awarded a master of advanced studies degree. In 2016 she introduced her research at the Athens Biennale with her artist talk "Architecture of seeing- works focusing upon color and transparency." Her art work is coveted by major permanent collections including the Richard Massey Foundation for Arts and Sciences in New York, the Marli Hoppe-Ritter Collection in Germany and MONA in Tasmania.
Max Spielmann is a member of the board of the Institute HyperWerk (University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland - Academy of Art and Design) since 1999, responsible for audiovisual media and since 2015 for theory & reflection. His main areas of research are participatory media, commons and new technologies.
Joulia Strauss (the political activist supercat shaman artist in Athens) stands for a chord of artistic media, resonating in a deep bond with philosophy, technology and politics. She has founded and organizes Avtonomi Akadimia, a socio-cybernetic sculpture for an education after the era of master discourse. Strauss' works were recently presented at the Fourth Moscow Biennale, Tate Modern, London, ZKM | Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe. In collaboration with Peter Berz, Peter Weibel and Friedrich Kittler, she has edited a book “Gods and Writing around the Mediterranean“, Wilhelm Fink Verlag / Brill Publishers, May 2017.
Mathilde ter Heijne is a Berlin-based Dutch artist primarily working within the mediums of video, performance, and installation practices. She studied in Maastricht at the Stadsacademie (1988-1992), in Amsterdam at the Rijksacademie voor Beeldende Kunsten (1992-1994), and since 2011 has been a professor of Visual Art, Performance, and Installation at Kunsthochschule Kassel.
Ter Heijne's research based practice is founded in intersectional feminism. She shows an activist and yet similarly radical approach to art-making as a participatory process. For ter Heijne, ritual and ceremony are structures for artistic observation and potential emancipation. Ritual, historically, is where woman has both lost and gained her power.
Jonas Tinius, PhD, is a post-doctoral research fellow at the Centre for Anthropological Research on Museums and Heritage (CARMAH, www.carmah.berlin), co-funded by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and based at the Department of European Ethnology, Humboldt- Universität zu Berlin. He studied at the Universities of Münster and Cambridge (U.K.) where he completed a PhD on political theatre and self-cultivation. His current research explores how Berlin-based art institutions engage with notions of otherness through critical curatorial strategies. He is convenor of the Anthropology and the Arts Network of the European Association of Social Anthropologists (with Roger Sansi, Goldsmiths).
Sotiris Tsiganos (b. 1992, Department of Fine and Applied Arts, UOWM) and Ionian Bisai (b. 1992, Athens School of Fine Arts) are visual artists. They work together in research based projects in subjects such as the contemporary social history, where it takes place and the communities that are excluded from it. Latent Community (ongoing) is a visual arts research project that investigates the concept of the latent community as a social condition, produced through a range of possible circumstances such as dislocation, dispossession, atypical organizational systems or a state of concealment (through choice or necessity).
Maarten Van Volsem is Master of Photography (LUCA Brussels), Researcher at Jan Van Eyck Academy (Maastricht), Ph D studies at Newcastle University, Ph Degree at Leuven University.
Dr. Maarten Vanvolsem is Vice Dean Education at LUCA (Leuven University College of Art). His artistic research is focused on the relationship between photography and time. He published “The Experience of Time in Still Photographic Image”.
Arnisa Zeqo is an art historian based in Athens. In 2011 she co-founded rongwrong, a space for art and theory in Amsterdam. Recently she was curator in residence at Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College where focused on works of art at the edge of the performative. There she wrote the conceptual essay 'Let's Spit on Szeemann'. Zeqo is part of the team of Documenta 14 in Athens as coordinator of education. She initiated the Society of Friends of Ulises Carrion within the Parlament of Bodies.
We are open to expansion and new ideas.
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2019-04-21T18:44:34Z
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http://www.athensyn.com/school-of-everything.php
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On June 10, 2001, I left for a ten-day tour of Israel, as part of the Birthright Israel program. It was an amazing experience, and I took lots of pictures too. This page tells the story of what we did, and describes (and links to) a lot of the pictures.
You may want to check out the CIA World Factbook's entry for Israel if you are unfamiliar with the geography of the country, or unfamiliar with the country in general. I'll drop names of neighboring countries without explaining where they are, so if you don't know which border is on which end, take a quick look at the map there first.
If you're just interested in the pictures, you can get a listing of them here. The names are of the form 15-4-blah.jpg. The first number is the date on which the picture was taken (in this case, June 15th). The second number is what order that picture is in for that day (this is the fourth picture in the sequence for the 15th). Finally there is a brief description.
Click on a date to jump to that day's entry, or just scroll down to begin reading.
I arrived at JFK airport in New York early in the morning. Our flight was supposed to leave at 3:50PM, and check-in began about three and a half hours before that. I met a few other people going on the Birthright trip as I waited, although none of them ended up being from my particular group.
Once check-in began, I got my ticket from the travel people and got in line. El Al (our arline) is very paranoid about security. They had their own X-Ray machine at the check-in counter that they made us put our bags through, in addition to the normal X-Raying that goes on at airports. They also ask people questions a little more rigorously than the normal domestic airlines. At the least they asked a series of five or six questions about the luggage and that kind of thing; some people got quite a bit more.
They questioned me for an hour.
It was a new trainee and her manager, so I assume they picked me out at random to give her some training on the fine art of passenger interrogation, but I don't know for sure. I don't generally think of myself as being a very suspicious-looking guy, at least. She asked me questions about my trip, my luggage, my job, my family, my school, my friends, almost any imaginable subject. It was a lot like being on a date with someone, except it was in the middle of an airport and she was the one asking all the questions. Every so often, the trainee and her manager would tell me to wait a minute, and then walk a little away and proceed to converse in Hebrew. Then they would come back and ask me some more questions. The manager asked some questions here and there, but mostly he just observed. They asked questions more than once at spaced intervals to make sure I gave the same answer.
I didn't have anywhere else to be, so it was fairly entertaining. It helped that she was very attractive. They finally decided I wasn't going to blow up the airplane, and they let me go ahead.
The airplane itself was nice, a modern 747-400 holding around 450 people. I got a window seat. Next to me was a nice Israeli guy a little older than myself on the aisle, and the seat between us was empty. Every seat had a little TV screen in the back of it, so everybody got their own personal screen. They showed movies on some of the channels, and a couple other things, but one of the neat things was a real-time map showing exactly where the plane was. It was somehow linked into the plane's navigation system. It started from a very large, zoomed-out view that would show about three thousand miles to a side. It then zoomed in to the point where I could identify individual islands I saw out the window. It also cycled through some screens showing the current altitude, speed, outside air temperature, current time at our point of departure and destination, and estimated arrival time.
We took off from JFK at about 4PM local time, and arrived in Tel Aviv at about 8:30AM, local time, with the flight taking ten hours. We went through afternoon, evening, night, and morning just like usual, only at about twice the usual rate. We were all advised to get some sleep on the plane, since we were going to have a full day ahead of us once we got off. I managed to sleep for about four or five hours over the Atlantic, which isn't too bad considering that the airline seats are way too small for my frame.
We arrived at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv at 8:30AM, on time. They parked the plane away from any buildings and used mobile staircases to get us off. It made things move considerably more quickly because they opened two separate doors on the airplane. They then used buses to move us to the international arrivals building.
Getting through customs was very fast and painless. Waiting for the baggage to come off the plane took forever. When my bag finally came off the line, I noticed it had a different tag than the others. Looking more closely, I saw that it said "V.I.P. Baggage" in a red area in the middle of the tag. I can only assume that this was related to my long questioning at JFK. Either it's their way of saying they're sorry, or it means "watch this person".
We got outside the airport and were introduced to our bus. While getting on, I noticed two people sitting outside with rifles across their laps. At first I assumed they were just airport security, but later realized (after they got on our bus) that they were the armed guards the Birthright program had promised would be with our group. I never got the man's name. He was only with us on this one day. The woman, Nirit, was with us for the whole tour, and we all got to know her fairly well. She also doubled as our medic, although the worst medical problem we had during the trip were some upset stomachs and a few cases of dehydration. They had both served in the Israeli Army, as every Israeli citizen is required to do.
Our first stop was a park where we played some games and got introduced to the rest of the group, as well as our two Israeli tour guides, Lilach and Liora. (The ch at the end of Lilach is pronounced like one of those German hairball sounds, like at the end of Bach.) By this point, it was getting to be near lunch time, and so they drove us to a mall where we could eat. The mall was pretty much like American malls, aside from being somewhat smaller and nicer to look at. This is where I got my first introduction to Shawarma, which is a pita stuffed with chicken, hummus, and all sorts of other good stuff. They also had the standard American chains of McDonald's, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Subway, and so forth. It was interesting to watch who went for the American food and who got more "native" food. We had a while to wander around the mall after that. It wasn't too interesting, though. Most of it was pretty similar to what we have in the US. Usually the main things I like to see in malls are the bookstores, and with all the books being in Hebrew, those weren't very fascinating once the novelty wore off.
After eating, we headed off for a trail on a hill. (You have to understand that nearly everything in Israel is either on the top of, on the side of, or at the bottom of, a hill. The amount of flat land, at least in the areas we saw, was very small, at least compared to Wisconsin.) Mercifully, they took us to the top of the hill in the bus, and had us meet the bus at the bottom. The view from the top of the hill was very impressive. There's also the standard prove-I-was-there picture.
The entire hill was terraced for farming. About halfway down, there were some ancient irrigation works that we got to see. One crazy guy (not from our group) decided to dive into the small reservoir of water. There was a small cave in the side of the hill where the spring which fed the whole system came out. We went in a fairly open entrance and got in the water, then crawled out through a very small tunnel which fed the water into the reservoir. The tunnel was only about three feet wide and three feet tall, and the water was extremely cold. It's certainly not something for people who are claustrophobic or who have bad knees.
After taking a while to find everybody's shoes (lots of people in our group took them off before going in the water, and the ground was gravelly enough to make walking around barefoot painful), we continued our hike down the hill and finally got to the bus. Our next stop was Jerusalem itself, in particular an observation view.
We drove into the city with our tour guides pointing out the sites along the way. At one point, Rabbi Klein, the American in charge of our group, showed us a sports stadium. On the other side of that stadium, he said, was a Jewish neighborhood that the Palestinians had been shooting into in the past few months. This was our first taste of a very different world. Although we never were close to any attacks, and we all felt very safe at all times, the situation and the attitudes of the people towards it were all very strange to someone coming from the US.
The view from the observation point was breathtaking. The Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock are featured near the center of the picture, and lots of other historical and religious sites are visible. One amazing thing is that, standing there, it's possible to see all the way to the Dead Sea. (This would be off the right side of the picture; it's not visible on film anyway.) We saw what looked like clouds above it. When it was pointed out to us that they weren't clouds but, in fact, the hills of Jordan in the distant haze, it came to me just how small this country is. Although it is a couple of hundred miles from north to south, it is very narrow east to west, especially in the area around Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. It's about an hour's drive from the beach at Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and only a little farther from there to the Jordanian border. The entire country is slightly smaller than the state of New Jersey.
Finally we left for our hotel. I say "finally", because some of us had been awake for over 24 hours by this time, and even those of us who had managed to sleep on the airplane were still tired. The hotel turned out to be very nice, and only a block away from the King David Hotel where foreign leaders usually stay during their visits. We ended up with three people to a room, with an extra cot provided for the third person. Normally this would have been crowded, but our schedule was so busy and we saw our hotel rooms so rarely that it didn't matter. Once we got our assignments, we all headed to our rooms to shower or nap. We had a break for about two hours before dinner. A bunch of groups were leaving the next morning, so dinner was supposed to be a big affair with all the groups together, and speakers, and so forth. The food was decent if not exceptional, and there was a lot of it. The main speaker was the former Israeli ambassador to the UN. Although his speech was interesting, several times I discovered myself to be asleep and dreaming in the middle of it. My exhaustion was overcoming my interest and politeness, and I was hoping that it would end soon. The speech, filled with a lot of firey rhetoric and pro-Israel propaganda (what did you expect?), although very interesting, ended, but there was more afterwards. We finally finished at around 10:30 in the evening. I went straight to my room and to bed where I fell very swiftly asleep.
We all got up at about 7:30 this morning for an 8:30 departure time, which turned out to be pretty normal for the whole trip. Of course, some people got up earlier and lots got up later, but that was what was supposed to happen. Breakfast at the Dan Panorama (our hotel) was again unexceptional. Their food was decent but without much variety. On the upshot, they did provide a lot of it, which is good for me; with a fast metabolism and an active day, I tended to amaze people with how much I ate during the trip.
Our first stop of the morning was a small park down the street from the hotel. The main feature of this park was a nonfunctional windmill. Apparently a very wealthy Dutch man had emigrated to Israel in the mid-1800s and he brought along some of his culture. The justaposition was amusing. The park had a good view of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (also visible, if barely, in the Jerusalem observation picture from the day before). Tradition has it that King David (you know, the one who fought Goliath, founded Jerusalem, built a big temple, and so forth) is buried there. For obvious reasons nobody has actually dug up the grave to check, but there's no reason why he couldn't be buried there. This is also where the Last Supper took place, if you're the type to believe the Last Supper took place anywhere. This wasn't prefaced with "tradition says...", so it seems much more certain (again, only if you believe it happened at all).
The next stop was a museum called the Museum of the Seam, which is dedicated to the time when Jerusalem was a divided city. For those of you who don't know, between Israel gaining its independence in 1948 and the Six Day War in 1967, the city of Jerusalm was split between Israel and Jordan. Jordan owned the West Bank and East Jerusalem, including all the holy sites. An 80-meter (260-foot) no-man's land separated the two sides in Jerusalem. They had some signs taken from the border. One that I didn't get a picture of was actually mounted on a piece of the concrete wall on the border. The sign was positively riddled with bullet holes, and dents where bullets had hit but not punched through. The wall it was mounted on was likewise filled with pits from impacting bullets.
Our next stop was the Western Wall a.k.a. the Wailing Wall a.k.a. the Kotel (see also another picture and a third picture), which I'm sure all of you have at least heard of. It got the name Wailing Wall because Jews tend to very softly vocalize their prayers, just loudly enough to be understood by themselves. The total effect of several thousad people doing this all at once in the same place apparently sounds a lot like mass wailing. It's called the Western Wall because it's a section of the western wall of the Temple Mount. When King David went to build his temple at Jerusalem, the mountain he picked out for it wasn't really big enough to make the grand temple he envisioned. So he built basically an enormous box over the top of this mountain and another mountain to provide a nice flat base upon which to build. To give you an idea of the dimensions of this structure, the portion you see in the picture is perhaps one-sixth of the entire length. An aerial view of the Temple Mount is available on another site. The small open plaza on the left side of that picture is the plaza you see in my picture.
The Dome of the Rock is the famous structure atop the Temple Mount today. You can see it very clearly in both of the above pictures; it's the enormous golden dome. Apparently it used to be solid gold, but now its structure is anodized aluminum with gold plating. It was built by the Muslims in 687AD, and it's the first major Muslim architectural work. It's quite an impressive structure, even seen from afar.
The Kotel is an important site in Judaism. In 70AD, the Jews revolted against their Roman rulers in a three-year war, and the Jewish temple atop the Temple Mount was destroyed as part of the Roman attempt to crush the Jewish people. (This was not the first time this had happened. The Romans actually destroyed the second temple; the first one was destroyed by the Babylonians a few hundred years earlier.) The Kotel is, in theory, the closest spot to where the temple used to be, and has evolved over the centuries to become a holy site in its own right.
The wall beyond the plaza is mostly obscured by the buildings in the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem. There are tunnels which run underneath the Muslim Quarter and right up next to the wall, which we got to tour. The big rock at the bottom of the picture with all the holes in it is actually about five or six feet tall. The entire width you can see there (about 15 feet or so) is all one stone. It actually continues about six more feet to the left and nine more feet to the right, and weighs about 120 tons. These enormous stones in the lower sections of the wall were placed around the time of King Herod (roughly 40BC), and are a mystery similar to the mystery of the pyramids. Although these stones don't have the amazing precision displayed in the pyramids, the stones are so enormous that they could not have been moved with modern techniques, and nobody knows how it could have been done over two thousand years ago. Somewhere below the level of the tunnels we were in are original stones placed during King David's original construction. At the top of the wall, the stones are probably less than a hundred years old. In between, you see all ages. The incredible dedication to this work makes any similar effort in the US look terribly small. The closest things I can think of here are the Brooklyn Bridge, maybe the Sears Tower, the Washington Monument. Will anybody even have a glimmer of remembrance of these things three thousand years after their original construction? I really doubt it.
After this, we went to visit a museum about the ancient temple, and on the way we saw the ancient city walls. I don't know if these are the original walls of Jerusalem or if they have been destroyed and rebuilt, but regardless they are old. They even provided a good point of resistance for the defending Jordanians during the Six Day War. They managed to hold out on the walls for a while, until a brave Israeli driver crashed an armored personnel carrier through one of the gates and broke through their lines.
Next to the museum is an archeological dig next to the wall. You can see a large pile of stones next to the wall; each of those stones is about six feet on a side. When the Romans destroyed the second temple, they didn't bother to destroy the large stones, but just pushed them over the side of the wall and onto the street below, ending up with this big pile we see today. That is what the street level was two thousand years ago, although it's about thirty feet below the street level today. The rocks are actaully resting on the ancient street, and you can see how it was bent and broken by the impact of these enormous stones.
Finally, we broke for lunch. This was one of only two times when we had to buy our own lunch. The Birthright Israel program is so nice! They took us out to an area with a bunch of street vendors and the like, and basically gave us a free run. We were told not to go down one street because that led to the Muslim Quarter, and bad things have been known to happen to random Jews wandering around there. The rest of the area was very nice. The number of people hanging around and doing things, and the interactions with the shopkeepers is something you just don't see in the US. I got another Shawarma. (Anybody looking for a food-related business to start in the US, this would probably be a good one. They're really good even for my Americanized tastes, and I've seen nothing like it here. They appear to be easy to make with simple ingredients. Of course, I may beat you to it.) Afterwards, I had some time to kill, so I wandered around a little and did some souvenir hunting. A wrong turn trying to get back to our meeting area resulted in my one and only experience with being lost in Israel. A very nice Israeli tried to help me out, but the group he saw was not my group. There were often several Birthright groups in the same area at the same time, the way the schedules worked out, and this got to be a little confusing from time to time. His advice didn't help much, but going back the way I came got me back on the right path without any trouble.
It was around this point that I began to realize something. Nearly every single Israeli we met, and I really mean nearly every single Israeli we met was extremely helpful and extremely happy to see us there. A man in a shop was giving out special Birthright discounts (although he probably could have been bargained down anyway). With the sole exception of Birthright Israel, each and every sponsored educational trip for the summer of 2001 was cancelled. Birthright Israel is no small potatoes, bringing about 8,000 people to Israel this summer, but the magnitude of the cancellations was pretty staggering. General tourism was also significantly down because of the violence and trouble with the Palestinians. The presence of those of us who did travel there was very gratifying to the Israelis, who in general seem to feel somewhat abandoned by the overseas Jewish population during this time of trouble. Our being there was a big show of support, and they let us know how much they appreciated it.
Once we got our group back together, we walked around the Old City a little bit. Our first stop was down the road we were told not to go down before, because it led to the Muslim Quarter. We only went as far as the checkpoint, with a bunch of Israeli soldiers. They all started posing for us as we snapped pictures (somehow I managed not to get one, though), and they were very nice and happy to see us (like I said above). Then we saw a giant solid-gold menorah. Apparently it was made in anticipation of being placed in the as-yet-unbuilt third temple. It's six feet tall and really huge. I don't know how good the prospects are for getting the temple built, as it would probably make a lot of Muslims very angry, but the menorah itself is amazing.
Our path took us by a nice synagogue. Nothing too remarkable about it on the surface, but the story behind it is interesting. During the Six Day War, when the Jordanians were retreating from the city, they destroyed every single synagogue in the city with the exception if this one. A little farther down the path we came to this archway, which turned out to be all that's left of what was once a famous synagogue. (To be fair, it sounded like it was errant Israeli bombing, not the Jordanians, that did it in.) That wrapped up our tour of the Old City and we headed back to our bus, and then to the hotel to eat.
That night was the Birthright Israel Mega Event. It seems that they managed to have two thousand Birthright participants in Jerusalem this night. A lot of the groups, like ours, had just arrived, and a lot of them were at the end of their stay and about to leave, and a lot in between. Another example of the warm reception by random Israelis, some woman we happened to run into on the sidewalk on the way to the convention center was just going through our crowd telling people "Welcome to Israel!" They had live music ranging from the bizarre (guys playing huge steel drums with metal grinders while dancing) to the locally-famous interspersed with various speakers, including some of the kind, wealthy people who made this whole trip possible. They seemed pleased at the reception they got; certainly the crowd was ready to applaud at just about every other word they said. After all the speeches there was live dancing, and also buses going back to the hotel for those who didn't want to stay. I have to say that I admire the stamina of those who stayed on, as I was very tired by this point after a very busy day. I took the first bus back and went right to bed.
This morning we did our usual morning routine, then headed straight for the bus. Our destination was an archeological dig at Bet Govrin where they're excavating an old pagan city built at the site of an even older Jewish city at Tel Mashem. (Spelling might be off on that one.) The Hebrew word "Tel" means a hill with a city on top. Hilltops seem to be popular places for cities in Israel. The basic history, from what I remember, is that the Jews settled the hilltop, then got driven out. The pagans moved in and settled the hillside just below the hilltop. They carved basements for their houses out of the very soft rock that made up the ground in this area. When whoever it was came through and drove the pagans out, they destroyed their houses and filled in their basements with junk to keep them from being useful to the invaders. As is typical for archeology, the ancient culture's junk is highly interesting for us, and these basements are the focus of the dig here.
After showing us around the partially-excavated cave and telling us about the history and so forth, they put us to work digging in a room that was only barely dug-out. There was enough ceiling space in certain spots for the shorter members of our group to stand straight. In the rest of the room, even they could only straighten out if they were on their knees, and those of us who were taller couldn't even manage that. We used small hoes to push dirt into buckets, all the while searching for pottery or bones. We found a lot of rocks. The rock in the area is so soft that the criteria for whether some lump is a rock or a piece of pottery was to try to break it. The rock would crumble in your hand, whereas the pottery wouldn't. Bones were easy to identify by sight. Dirt went in one bucket, interesting stuff in a second. When the dirt bucket got full, we got a new one. After a few rounds of this, we formed a bucket brigade and passed all of them outside for sifting. It turns out we missed a lot of stuff in the dirt buckets, but that's what the sifting was for.
The cave we were just in was partially excavated. After we finished sifting, we went for a cave that was left in the state where they found it, aside from making a small set of stairs for the entrance. It was very small, and lit with candles on either side. There were several places where the only way to get through were to slide through on your belly or on your back, depending on how the situation was set up. There was no turning around, since all 30-odd of us were coming through in a big chain at the same time. It took at least 20 minutes to get through the whole thing, and it started to wear a little thin near the end. A couple of times we hit rooms with holes in the ceiling that let in sunlight and tricked us into thinking we were through, but the holes weren't the exit, and they weren't big enough to get through anyway. Finally our crawl ended in a nice big room with stairs leading up to the ground level. We had gone through at least a dozen interconnected rooms during this tour. Either the people who lived here liked really big basements, or they connected with each other's basements.
Next, they took us to the shack where they assemble pieces of pottery into complete pots that would go to a museum or something. After they talked about that process for a little while and tried to sell us their t-shirts, they let us go out behind the building and sort through their reject pile. Any fragments that aren't interesting enough they just dump in back. It's a flat area maybe ten feet square that looks like it's covered with gravel at first, but if you look more closely you see it's bits and pieces of pottery. It crunched under our feet as we walked along it, pieces breaking with every step. We looked for the rare piece that was interesting enough for us to keep but not interesting enough for the archeologists to keep, and found a few. All of the stuff we were breaking was 2,000 years old, but uninteresting.
We wandered off down the hill to a rest/picnic area to use the bathrooms and grab some water, then we went into an old excavated crypt where we hung out to talk about what we saw, put stickers on our maps where we'd been, and so on. The outside air temperature was probably around 95F; inside the crypt (or any of the other caves, for that matter) it was very comfortable, maybe 70F, so it made a good place to stop and rest. We also saw a fully-excavated cave. As you can see by comparing against the people in the picture, the cave was at least three or four stories tall. At the far end, you can see little holes cut in the walls. These were about eight inches square, and were found all over the walls of this cave (we also saw a few in the one we had crawled through earlier). Nobody knows what they were for. The running joke in our group is that they were used to hold human heads.
Another cave we visited had old olive-oil making technology. There was a thing which ground olives into pulp, and then another thing which took the pulp and pressed it for the oil. I can only assume that the wooden pieces were not original, but the stones were.
On our way to the next site, we stopped off on a hilltop and got this view of another hill. I have no idea how they figured this out, but we were told that that hill is supposedly where the battle between David and Goliath took place. True or not, it was neat to see. After all, if I pointed to a random hill near my apartment and claimed that, I'd be laughed at. Here, I at least have to consider the possibility that it's true. Our destination was a natural cave which had served as a hideout for Jewish rebels against the Romans for three years. It was extremely small with a lot of twisting, restricted passages. The main entrance was just barely large enough to fit through. Getting in required lying on your stomach, arching your back, and wiggling through. Once inside we had a few people with flashlights who tried to light up the place for the rest of us. After three years, the Romans finally figured out where the rebels were hiding out, but they couldn't get in. With it being so difficult to get through the entrance, anybody coming through who wasn't wanted by the people already inside would be easily killed. So, they simply piled up brush and wood against the mouth of the cave and lit it on fire, killing everybody inside.
With that story on our minds, we walked back to the bus and headed home.
Dinner was a quiet affair, with only a few Birthright groups in Jerusalem at this point. After dinner most of us went straight to bed. Tomorrow was to be Masada. We head south, visit the Dead Sea, climb Masada, and do a bunch of other stuff. In order to accomplish this, we have to get up at 5:30, so we weren't too anxious to stay up late.
Today is labelled as Masada because Masada is the most significant thing we do of the events planned for the day. (As to what Masada is, if you aren't familiar with it, I'll get to that in a little bit.) The first thing on the agenda is visiting the Dead Sea. The northern end of the Dead Sea is actually quite close to Jerusalem, but that puts it within the West Bank which is not generally a healthy area to travel in. Instead we drove about two hours to the south, which put us near Masada anyway so it wasn't a big loss.
Our route took us through the Judea Desert (and another picture; the Dead Sea can be seen in the distance, and the hills on the other side of it are in Jordan), which surrounds the Dead Sea. At this point we were already several hundred feet below sea level. The Dead Sea itself is about 1,300 feet below sea level.
Obviously, unlike most lakes, there's no river out to the sea; water won't go up 1,300 feet by itself. Instead, water comes in (primarily delivered by the Jordan River) and evaporates, leaving all the minerals behind. It's the same process that made the oceans salty, but it happens about a thousand times faster here. Salt makes water heavier, and easier to float in. The Dead Sea is so salty that it's possible to float with a good portion of your body out of the water. The Dead Sea is so salty that a single drop of water in the mouth can be tasted for half an hour afterwards. Nothing can survive in the water. A single mouthful, swallowed, is fatal.
It was really fun to be in, so long as it didn't get in the mouth or eyes. The feeling of bouyancy made it different from a normal pool, and there were a lot of different positions to float in: back, stomach, standing, you name it. The water felt almost oily, and once we got out the minerals had to be scrubbed off with soap.
On our way back to the bus, I noticed a funny sight: a lifeguard shack at the beach. They even had a flotation ring! There is no way anybody could ever drown here. Even if they tried really hard, it could not be done. Thinking about it, though, it makes sense. Somebody could panic and be stuck away from shore, and the ring would give them something to hold on to, but the juxtaposition is still very amusing.
On our way out, we got another nice view of the Dead Sea and the desolate surroundings. A few minutes later we came to Masada. (Another picture.) Masada is a mountain next to the shore of the Dead Sea. It has a flat top and nearly vertical sides, and there are deep valleys between it and the neighboring mountains. Because of this, it's a natural site for a fortress. King Herod saw this and built a fortress and palace there between 37 and 31BC.
In 70AD, the Jews revolted against the Romans and were defeated in a three-year war. Masada became the final holdout of a large group of rebels. There was no easy way to attack the mountain, with the extremely steep sides and well-prepared defenders. King Herod had seen fit to build cisterns for water and storehouses for food; as a result, the defenders had supplies for months. The Romans couldn't wait months. Deep into the desert, their situation for supplies was difficult, and camping a legion in the middle of the desert was difficult by itself. There were also the political consequences of a long siege. If rebels against the Empire could hold out in this one spot for months, it would send a bad message to other potentially rebellious groups. In order to bring the situation to a swift close, the Romans brought in slaves and built an enormous dirt ramp up the side of the mountain. This ramp was steep and narrow, but it was much easier than climbing Masada directly. They wheeled a siege engine up the ramp to do battle, where they succeeded in destroying the section of the defending walls that faced the ramp, and retreated for the night.
That night, faced with an entire legion streaming through the gap in their wall the next day, the Jewish defenders met. Knowing they would lose the battle, they had to choose between being enslaved and a suicide pact. The leaders chose suicide. In the morning, when the Romans got to the top of Masada, they found only a handful of women and children. Everyone else was dead.
We had been told earlier that we would not be able to climb Masada. Some groups get to climb, but our schedule had dictated that we arrived too late. Groups who climb usually arrive very early in the morning, and we didn't get there until about 11:00. By this time the temperature had climbed well above 100F, and getting worse. It doesn't feel as hot as it sounds. Being in a desert, the air is extremely dry, and sweat works very well. However, dehydration and heatstroke are very real problems, particularly on a 1,200-foot climb over a path a mile and a half long. Instead, the plan was to take a cable car to the top. Our bus had left us as soon as we got out. It was circling around Masada, a trip that took it an hour and a half, to pick us up on the other side, where we would climb down once we finished seeing the sites at the top of the mountain.
At the last minute, we were given a choice to climb the mountain if we wanted. Most people instantly said no; they didn't want to make the climb with the temperature heading towards the 110s. Also, those who took the cable car would reach the top much faster, and have more time to look around up there. About a third of the group wanted to climb just as badly, and I was one of them. An argument broke out as one person in the group, Igor, said he wanted to climb. He had suffered some mild heatstroke earlier in the day, but insisted that he was fine. Nirit, our medic, insisted he wasn't. He finally convinced her to let him climb, but she insisted on coming with him to make sure he was ok.
One of the first places where we stopped after I found the group was this meeting area, which is actually where the Jewish rebel leaders made their fateful decision almost two thousand years ago. We also stopped in the ancient synagogue that was used by the people who lived there during that time. In the picture, you can see a black line on the far wall. Everything below that line is original. The wall above the line is extrapolated and rebuilt from what archeologists think it would have looked like. We also saw some beautiful mosaics (also here, and one more) built into the floors of some of the structures.
By this point it was over an hour since I had started the climb, and the group behind me was still not to the top. It was nearly time to go down, and we were getting a little worried, particularly about Igor. Because we were going down the back way, we couldn't just get them and turn them around on the way down. We heard that they were almost up and started on the way down. Part of the path down is on the old Roman ramp. Yep, it's still there after all this time. It's amazing to think about just how much dirt had to be moved to make it. Of course, it wasn't a heroic effort. For the slaves who built it, it was work or die (or, often, work and die).
Our next stop was an authentic Bedouin tent. Although it was set up for tourists, it was run by an actual Bedouin man who lived in another tent nearby. We all went into the tent, which accomodated our group of 35 easily, and listened to him explain his culture while we drank tea and coffee and ate pita which they made on a fire right in front of us. His speech was very interesting. For the most part, traditional Bedouin culture is stereotypically Muslim and primitive (I'm not claiming those two necessarily go together, mind you) in its treatment of women. A man is allowed to have up to four wives, the women have a separate side of the tent, and they must ask their husband/father/whatever man they're living with permission before going out. There is also the tradition of revenge. If a man kills a male relative, then it is permissable to revenge that by killing a memeber of the killer's tribe. Fortunately (otherwise this policy would lead to endless blood feuds, I would expect), it is also possible to demand payment rather than a life. A man is typically worth several camels, or more smaller animals. Ironically, a woman in this case is considered to be worth four men. A man who kills a woman "is obviously crazy", to quote our Bedouin, and the killing can therefore be revenged by killing four men from the killer's tribe. The death may also be settled by trade like with men, but with a price four times as high.
Naturally, things today are a little more modern. The practice of multiple wives, although outlawed, continues to a lesser extent today. He said that every so often the police will ask about it. The answer is that the man has only one wife; the others are "just girlfriends". Today, many Bedouins live in cities, and they even have their own representative in the Knesset.
Next, we moved to another tent where we were fed. We sat in groups of four, with each group sharing a single set of food. There was pita and hummus and a delicious mix of chicken and rice in an enormous bowl. Extra servings were constantly provided, and I ate an awful lot.
From there, we went camel-riding. They had a bunch of camels (Dromedaries, one hump) outside the tent area. Each one was fitted with gear like you'd find on a horse, but fitted for a camel. They had each camel tied to the one in front and behind, in groups of four each. They also brought along a few donkeys, as there weren't quite enough camels to go around, although we sat two people on each one. Unfortunately, I must have been seated somewhat wrong. Sitting between the harness and the hump, there were some very unpleasant things happening between my legs. Apparently the other guys got this too, but not as badly. I finally had to get off at the halfway point and switch to a donkey, which was much more pleasant. Once we got back, we got off our animals, piled on the bus, and headed home.
The trip back to Jerusalem took as long as the trip there. A lot of people slept on the bus. Between getting up early and the busy, physical day we had, we were all tired. Unfortunately, bus seats are built to my size even less than airplane seats are, and I couldn't find a decent position at all, and I finally gave up. An argument broke out between Adam, one of the group members, and just about everybody else in the front of the bus. He was advocating that the Israeli government should show more restraint when dealing with the Palestinians, that they should take the moral high ground and not attack even when provoked. Needless to say, this was pretty controversial. He ended up in a pretty loud argument with the Rabbi, the two tour guides, our other American guide, our guard, some other members of our group, and even the bus driver was getting involved a little.
Once back at the hotel, we showered, ate, napped, and went back out again. It was the birthday of the Rabbi and another member of our group, so we had to celebrate. We went back to the observation point where we were on the first day. We lit candles and ate cake and sung and talked and generally had a great time. The city is as beautiful at night as it is during the day, but looks very different. The Dome of the Rock is nicely lit up, and there are some stars that can't be seen from where I live. It was a very memorable evening. We found out that the bus driver had specifically taken time to drive us out here; he didn't have to. We thanked him by singing "Three Cheers for the Bus Driver" the whole way back to the hotel.
Our first visit today was to the Holocaust Museum in the Jerusalem area. The most visible feature of it is a cattle car on a bridge. This car was actually used by the Germans to take Jews and other undesirables to the concentration camps. We had seen it a couple of times before as our bus went by it, but we actually went close to it today. It was very eerie to be so close to such a terrible piece of history.
Once inside the museum, we went to their hall of communities (I don't know if that's what the name was, but it's close). It's a list of European Jewish communities destroyed in the Holocaust, with each one written in Hebrew, English, and whatever the native language was. It's a very big, solemn place, and we spent a long time there.
On our way to another part of the complex, we got a nice view of Jerusalem.
The whole area is filled with planted trees. Each tree is dedicated to a gentile who helped Jews during the Holocaust in some way. There are a couple thousand trees at least, each one with a little name plate in the ground next to it, telling who the tree is for.
Around this time we went through the main museum area, which is a long complex which tells the entire story of the Holocaust, from ancient traditional anti-semitism through its rise in the 1930s, through the war and liberation. They have a lot of amazing artifacts, pictures, and stories.
We went through a hall filled with precisely-set-up mirrors and candles, with no other lighting. Having just come in from the bright Israeli summer sunshine, it was impossible to see anything other than what looked like miles upon miles of candles. After we came out of that, we saw some evocative statues. The second one is about the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, an ultimately failed revolt against the Nazis that killed hundreds of thousands of people. We also passed this rowboat, which was one of hundreds used by the Dutch to evacuate their Jews to neutral territory. Out of 8,000 Jews in the country, they saved about 7,200.
Our last stop was a low square building with no windows. Inside, there's a raised area for people to stand and then there are all the names of all the concentration camps in raised stones on the floor, and a single small flame in the center. When the door was closed, that flame was the only illumination in the building. It was almost completely dark and quiet while we prayed.
On our way back to the hotel, we stopped by the Knesset (Israeli parlaiment) building. Across from the Knesset is a giant menorah that the British gave to Israel after they gained independence in 1948. Then we went over and saw the Knesset itself. It's actually surrounded by a high fence, but I got close enough to take the picture between the bars of the fence so they don't show up. Right as I took this picture, a guard with an automatic rifle came up to us and told us to step away from the fence, as we were setting off the security alarms!
Although it was only 4:00 in the afternoon, that was the end of our tourist activities for the day. At sunset on Friday evening begins Shabbat, which lasts until sunset Saturday. During this time it is religiously forbidden to do various sorts of work, use cars, turn on electric lights, and things like that. Although there is no legal enforcement to these rules, Jerusalem seemed to pretty much shut down for Shabbat. In concession to the religious among our group, we didn't take the bus anywhere during that time.
Once we got back to the hotel, we changed into somewhat more formal clothes and then headed to the Western Wall for services. It was actually within walking distance from our hotel, although it took about half an hour to get there. The area right next to the wall was divided into two sections, one for men and another for women. There were a lot of different groups, each one doing things their own way. There were the very solemn groups standing around and reading the Torah, and then there was our group where we got in a big circle and sung and danced for what seemed like hours. By the time we were done it was dark, and we went back to the hotel for dinner.
Dinner was a big affair. Although Shabbat happens every week, there is still a lot of celebration associated with it. This, of course, will vary from person to person, but that is generally the case, and was certainly the case for our group. There was singing and dancing beforehand, then we ate. The food was the standard fare for the hotel, decent but not wonderful, and afterwards there was even more singing and dancing. I was worn out, so I left early. Although we were allowed to sleep in on Saturday morning if we wished, I wanted to go to services and so I had to be up reasonably early, although not as early as we had been getting up normally.
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2019-04-25T02:00:16Z
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https://mikeash.com/israel/
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We thought it was important to give you a new definitive article on the best hearing aids for 2017, so here goes. This year has been one of the busiest years for new hearing aids I can ever remember. It seems that there was a new announcement every few weeks. Already this year we have seen new introductions from a few hearing aid brands. GN Resound dropped their latest Made For iPhone hearing aid ranges the LiNX 3D and the Enzo 3D. Signia first introduced a brand new Made For iPhone hearing aid, then they introduced a whole new Made For iPhone hearing aid range. Phonak introduced three new product ranges, Unitron introduced a whole new platform, Oticon has expanded their Opn range and Siemens have introduced a new instant fit CIC device on an existing platform. If you want to know more about the best hearing aid brands and what the have to offer, start here.
Just to be clear, we don't set prices here and they differ from Practice to Practice across the World so our expectations aren't binding, they are just a guess and some research. Always remember, we all like to shop around, but always be clear about what is being delivered. You will need care and support, make sure you will get it. You will also need your hearing aid validated or verified to get the best experience, paying a little more to ensure your experience is good, is not wasted money. That's our price rant for the day over, let's talk about the devices.
Update 21/10/2017: Widex has announced a new custom hearing aid type which will be added to the Unique platform. The devices are completely redesigned in the ear hearing aids. Widex say that they have made the amplifier module much smaller and changed how the battery door is positioned.
The CUSTOM chipset is based on the UNIQUE platform and will feature all the benefits delivered by that platform. They have completely re-designed the faceplate of the CUSTOM and it offers dual microphones, it also offers the option of a programme button and a volume control, both of which have been missing from Widex in the ear hearing aids for years.
So, I think Signia have plenty to talk about here, the big news for them has been the introduction of this new system to handle the user's own voice. However, there is so much more to talk about, like the expansion of their well-received direct connection (Made For iPhone) system across two more styles, newly updated Telecare and that new "Open" directionality experience. Let's take a look at what they have to say.
As I said, there are three models initially available across three levels of technology. As is the norm with their tech levels naming system, the levels are the premium 7, the mid-range 5 and the entry level 3. The models themselves are two Receiver In Canal devices and a BTE.
Update September 18th: We somehow missed adding this but Resound have now introduced a brand new Made For iPhone Super Power range called the Enzo 3D. The technology within the range is based on their fantastic LiNX 3D range and they will offer all of the features and the benefits of that platform.
Resound have just launched their latest hearing device for people with severe to profound hearing loss. They have updated the Enzo Made For iPhone (MFI) hearing aids with their new 3D platform which brings all of the benefits of that new system to people with severe and profound hearing loss. Those benefits include better spatial awareness and much better speech understanding in noise. With Made for iPhone® technology, you can stream phone calls, music and more from your iPhone, iPad® or iPod touch® directly to your hearing aids. If you have an Android or any Bluetooth-enabled phone, you can still stream calls, music and more with a discreet ReSound Phone Clip+ wireless accessory.
We would expect the range to be sold at prices from £1200.00 to £2200.00 in the UK depending on the Practice and location. We would expect the range to be sold at prices from €1400.00 to €3000.00 in Ireland. We would expect the range to be sold at prices from $1400.00 to $3200.00 in the USA. Just to be clear, we don't set prices here and they differ from Practice to Practice across the World so our expectations aren't binding, they are just a guess and some research.
Update September 14th: Widex have today announced the launch of a rechargeable version of their popular Beyond Made For iPhone hearing aids. The device will be powered by the now almost ubiquitous Z Power system (should have bought shares!!!). The new rechargeable Beyond is named the Beyond Z and it is expected that it will be released in quarter four in the United States and Quarter 1 of 2018 everywhere else. As with the other manufacturers that have gone down the Z Power route, Widex will be offering the rechargeable kit in order that existing Beyond users can retrofit their devices.
It is early yet, but we believe the hearing aids should be available in most of their levels of technology. As we receive more information, we will update you.
Unitron has now introduced the custom in the ear hearing aid range on their new Tempus Chipset. Like their sister company Phonak, the Insera hearing aids will use Biometric Calibration, which take your individual ear anatomy and hearing needs into account.
They say that they will identify over 1600 biometric data points in and on your ear, and the unique calibration settings are calculated for each Insera hearing aid. In this way, the hearing aids are able to more reliably sense where sound is coming from, thereby giving you access to better hearing performance.
Update August 24th: Resound have announced the introduction of a new rechargeable model in the LiNX 3D range. They are the latest hearing aid manufacturer to introduce these popular options to their line up. They have also gone down the route of using the Z Power Silver Zinc battery technology.
The device will be available in the three levels of technology, the 9, the 7 and the 5. They will also have the full feature set and will have access to the remote fine-tuning option. I said earlier this year that I expected Resound to introduce a rechargeable option, however, I didn't expect them to introduce a completely new model. The device is pretty neat, close to the size of the LT61 just with a slightly different shape.
Phonak is now expected to launch their first ever Made For iPhone hearing aids in September. In fact the rumour mill was correct, Phonak have just introduced their very first Made For iPhone hearing aid. However, it is more than Made For iPhone. Let's take a look at the newest hearing aid technology from the top rated hearing aid brands for 2017, the latest hearing aids first.
Phonak have just introduced a device called the Audeo B-Direct. It is a revolutionary hearing aid that changes wireless connection to a mobile phone forever. The Audeo B-Direct connects to any Bluetooth® enabled mobile phone, directly without a streamer. Even better, it offers true hands-free calling. As it supports the classic Bluetooth protocol, it provides direct connectivity to cell phones – including AndroidTM, iPhone® and even classic cell phones – with no extra body-worn streaming device required.
We would expect the range depending on the technology level, to be sold at prices from £1200.00 to £2200.00 in the UK depending on the Practice and location. We would expect the range to be sold at prices from €1200.00 to €3000.00 in Ireland. We would expect the range to be sold at prices from $1200.00 to $3200.00 in the USA.
Unfortunately for people who like to stream music or audio books from their phone, this hearing device isn't the answer. While it delivers astonishing new power over mobile phone calls, it doesn't allow the type of streaming that delivers music or other audio. However, they have thought about music lovers and your TV viewing habits.
Phonak have now introduced the full range of their new Virto B in the ear products. They say that they are custom-made to perfectly fit in your ear, Phonak Virto B is the world’s first hearing aids with Biometric Calibration, which take your individual ear anatomy and hearing needs into account. That's an interesting description.
They say that they will identify over 1600 biometric data points in and on your ear, and the unique calibration settings are calculated for each Virto B hearing aid. In this way, Virto B is able to more reliably sense where the sound is coming from, thereby giving you access to a better hearing performance.
What does that all mean? Well, we think that Phonak is the first ever hearing aid manufacturer to carefully map the outer ear to take advantage of its natural abilities. They say that the new process will deliver a 2dB signal to noise ratio improvement. Basically, it means it will make the signal (what you want to listen to) 2dB higher than the noise.
2dB doesn't sound like much but combined with all the other strategies that Phonak use it will be a marked improvement. Phonak Virto B is available in six models to match your hearing needs. The Virto B-10 NW O, Virto B-10 O, virto B-10, Virto B-312 NW O, Virto B-312 and the Virto B13. It is also available in the usual four levels of technology, the 90, 70, 50 and 30. That means that Phonak custom hearing aids are now all available with their Belong platform.
It was a long wait, but Resound have finally unveiled their latest Made For iPhone hearing aids, but it seems the wait was worth it.
We would expect the range depending on technology level, to be sold at prices from £1200.00 to £2200.00 in the UK depending on the Practice and location. We would expect the range to be sold at prices from €1200.00 to €3000.00 in Ireland. We would expect the range to be sold at prices from $1200.00 to $3200.00 in the USA.
Those are interesting claims and in fact, we are more than inclined to believe them. Having experienced the devices at the launch I think they are pretty excellent. Steve (Co-Writer) has been wearing them and he is blown away. But what exactly is new and what is driving them, what's different and how does it deliver? Let's take a look at the underlying tech.
This is their latest directionality strategy and is a further upgrade to what they have been doing. It involves continuous information exchange between the hearing aids which allows the optimal directionality in the hearing aids for the situation you are in. It delivers pretty impressive focus on the sounds you want to hear.
This combines and preserves natural cues so that the brain has the optimal information for localisation of sound and spatial awareness. In essence, it tries to deliver a natural sense of spatial awareness and seems to do it well.
This feature allows the hearing aids to work together to analyse the listening environment you are in. It then automatically adjusts the features and amplification to deliver the best experience for you. This is in essence, the feature that manages all the other features to deliver the best results for you.
Resound Assist is the really big news for both Providers and Users. Resound Assist will allow your provider to adjust your hearing aids remotely. That means if you want adjustments on the go, they can be provided without you having to attend the clinic. The system is really easy to use and is quite intuitive.
You can read more about the LiNX 3D models on our article LiNX 3D, The Models & Features You Can Expect From The Latest GN Resound Made For iPhone Range and you can take a fuller look at the plain language explanations of the features at The Linx 3D, The Latest Made For iPhone Hearing Aid Technology. Steve will be doing a series of articles about his experience with the hearing aids that you should watch out for.
Signia ( owned by Sivantos, formerly Siemens) have introduced a completely new concept for them. The Signia Pure® 13 BT px is their first ever Made For iPhone hearing aid technology. They say that it delivers uncompromising sound, industry-leading connectivity, and revolutionary remote hearing care, along with great battery life. Wearers will be fully connected to their environment, each other, their iPhone® and to their hearing care professional. The devices will be introduced worldwide in May 2017, they are based on the Primax platform and will be available in the usual three levels of technology.
As I said, the devices represent a few firsts for the industry, they will be the world’s first telehealth-supported hearing aid with iPhone audio streaming capabilities, the first hearing aid to use iPhone motion sensors to improve hearing in certain situations and the first hearing aid to provide both “high-definition binaural hearing” and Bluetooth® audio streaming (from a connected device). The devices will be powered by a size 13 battery which is good news for users, the 13 battery combined with the low energy use should mean less battery changes.
As with all Made For iPhone hearing aids the Signia Pure® 13 BT will stream audio directly from iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch devices. It will use the Bluetooth® low energy (LE) standard. This will enable high fidelity stereo streaming with reduced energy consumption. Signia have also retained their own wireless radio on the devices, which means that when you are streaming audio, you don't lose the benefit of the ear 2 ear communication. This is important for the user, Signia’s ear-to-ear (e2e™) wireless system is used to provide better spatial awareness and speech understanding.
People frequently move while they are speaking, and Signia think that their hearing aids should react dynamically and adjust to their changing listening situation. The Pure® 13 BT is the first hearing aid to utilize the iPhone motion sensors to deliver input that allows adjustments in sound processing based on your activities. Signia say that the devices understand when a user is in motion and for the first time ever this data will allow them to deliver optimal hearing in that situation.
Essentially when a wearer is walking, running or driving, the hearing aids understand they are in motion, and will automatically adjust to better hear a conversation partner at their side or from the back while maintaining awareness of environmental sounds like sirens, approaching vehicles, or pedestrians. Signia claims that motion detection will make their environmental classification system even more robust, by adding a valuable data point. I can not fault them here, it is an outstanding idea and a sign of real innovation.
The new myControl™ App is made specifically for Pure 13 BT hearing aids. It offers a range of advantages beyond direct streaming of audio. It acts as a remote control for quick and easy changes to settings like volume and programs, and delivers advanced adjustment options to the user for personalization of sound.
The new app will allow you to make personalized adjustments to programs, volume, microphone directionality, and treble/bass, during audio streaming. Pure 13 BT hearing aids will help users look after their hearing health. Similar to a fitness tracker, they create a personal sound profile over time based on noise exposure, so you can protect your hearing health.
The app tracks your daily noise exposure, and displays the information in an easily readable way. This is an interesting little datum point, it will allow you to understand what levels of noise you are exposing yourself to on a daily basis allowing you to understand the possibilities of damaging your hearing through noise exposure.
The Pure® 13 BT is the first Signia hearing aid to utilize TeleCare 2.0. This upgrade introduces additional capabilities such as advanced data logging, secure end-to-end encrypted data transfer, and improved remote hearing aid adjustments. The professional can now adjust your hearing aids remotely across four frequency bands (previously only gain and tone control were available to providers). The user will interact with your provider via the Signia myHearing App, which is available for both iPhone and Android smartphones.
Unitron introduced a brand new platform called the Tempus and not to be left behind in the rechargeable stakes they introduced the smallest rechargeable hearing as well. Let's take a look at both.
The new Tempus range is a full family of hearing aid solutions with five technology levels. They say that it is a truly ground-breaking technology that is focused on simply driving your conversations. The platform has only been released with the Moxi (their RIC family) and The Stride BTEs, but as we said, it is the first time that Unitron has offered a rechargeable hearing aid option. Unitron says their platform has introduced several new improvements all focused on delivering better conversations for users. The feedback that we have gotten is that the new Tempus range is outstanding and the sense of localisation of sound that is delivered is fantastic.
The introduction of the Moxi Fit R, means that Unitron now has both the smallest ever RIC hearing aid (Moxi Now) and the smallest ever Rechargeable hearing aid in their line-up. The Moxi Fit R is based on rechargeable batteries using silver-zinc technology. It gives them some advantages over Lithium-ion. Unitron has also made the tech backwards compatible so if you own a Moxi Fit, you can make it a rechargeable hearing aid. It is a very stable and very safe system with a much smaller footprint than Lithium-ion which means much smaller hearing aids. It is also a very forgiving system for users, forget to charge your hearing aids and you can just slot in a disposable battery. The rechargeable option will be available in every technology level. That's a lot of benefits.
At the same time as Unitron were making their introductions, Phonak expanded on their Belong range with two new offerings. The introduced a completely new concept in custom hearing aids and a new range of BTE hearing aids that includes the first-ever Lithium-Ion rechargeable option. Let's take a look at them.
We would expect the range depending on technology level, to be sold at prices from £1500.00 to £2200.00 in the UK depending on the Practice and location. We would expect the range to be sold at prices from €1800.00 to €3000.00 in Ireland. We would expect the range to be sold at prices from $1900.00 to $3200.00 in the USA.
They introduced the new Virto hearing aid type as part of their Virto Belong range. The device is a completely new concept in custom hearing aid design, it is the first hearing aid device to use medical grade titanium to form the custom shell. While this alone is innovative, they have used the properties of the metal to ensure that they can offer discreet custom hearing aids to more people than ever.
As I have said, using a titanium shell for a hearing aid is a radically new move. It is the first time that titanium has been used in the manufacture of a custom hearing aid. It means that they can deliver a super discreet hearing device and they say that the Virto B-Titanium is the smallest Phonak in-the-ear hearing aid ever!
The device comes available with three levels of receiver which allows it to cover even more hearing losses than ever before. Because of the use of Titanium, it also allows for bigger vents in their hearing aids which means less occlusion problems for people with good low-frequency hearing.
The Virto B-Titanium will only be available in the 90 and the 70 levels of technology for the moment. So if you want ultimate discretion you will have to consider higher levels of technology.
The material is exceptionally strong, which allows Phonak to make the shell much thinner than ever before with even more strength. This combined with new component design allows them to deliver an invisible hearing device that they say will fit 68% more ears.
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2019-04-21T18:37:15Z
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https://www.hearingaidknow.com/new-hearing-aids-2017
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To examine brain volumes in substructures associated with the behavioral features of children with FXS compared to children with idiopathic autism and controls. A cross-sectional study of brain substructures was conducted at the first time-point as part of an ongoing longitudinal MRI study of brain development in FXS. The study included 52 boys between 18–42 months of age with FXS and 118 comparison children (boys with autism-non FXS, developmental-delay, and typical development). Children with FXS and autistic disorder had substantially enlarged caudate volume and smaller amygdala volume; whereas those children with autistic disorder without FXS (i.e., idiopathic autism) had only modest enlargement in their caudate nucleus volumes but more robust enlargement of their amygdala volumes. Although we observed this double dissociation among selected brain volumes, no significant differences in severity of autistic behavior between these groups were observed. This study offers a unique examination of early brain development in two disorders, FXS and idiopathic autism, with overlapping behavioral features, but two distinct patterns of brain morphology. We observed that despite almost a third of our FXS sample meeting criteria for autism, the profile of brain volume differences for children with FXS and autism differed from those with idiopathic autism. These findings underscore the importance of addressing heterogeneity in studies of autistic behavior.
Autism is a behavioral syndrome defined by the presence of social deficits, abnormalities in communication, the presence of stereotyped, repetitive behaviors, and a characteristic course . The clinical phenotype is widely regarded as heterogenous with diagnosed individuals ranging from those with no functional language to more subtle deficits in pragmatic language; and ritualistic, repetitive behaviors ranging qualitatively from motor stereotypies to difficulties tolerating minor changes in routine. Cognitive abilities may range from severe mental retardation to above average intelligence.
Clinical heterogeneity is thought to be due to underlying etiologic heterogeneity. The main argument in support of etiologic heterogeneity in autism has come from studies showing that approximately 10% of individuals with autism have an identifiable medical condition of known etiology . The existence of distinct mechanisms underlying these medical conditions is often put forward as the best evidence that multiple etiologic pathways lead to autistic behavior. Etiologic heterogeneity is often invoked as a major reason for non-replication in studies of autism. To date there has not been consistent evidence that particular profiles of autistic behavior are specifically associated with biologically defined subgroups of autistic individuals, although associated features (e.g., hyperarousal in the case of fragile X syndrome) are often noted to differ between individuals affected with these various medical conditions and autism.
Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is a well characterized X-linked genetic disorder and the leading cause of heritable intellectual disability . FXS is one such condition that has been strongly associated with autistic behavior. Approximately one third of individuals with FXS meet criteria for autistic disorder [4, 5] and approximately 1–3% of individuals with autistic disorder are found to have FXS. In studies of boys with the full mutation for FXS, behaviors similar but milder than those seen in autistic disorder have been observed, such as social deficits with peers, abnormalities in communication, unusual responses to sensory stimuli, stereotypic behavior, social avoidance, and gaze aversion [6–11]. Morphological brain abnormalities on MRI have been described in individuals with FXS and in individuals with autistic disorder but to date, no studies have directly compared brain structure in autistic individuals with and without FXS.
Converging evidence suggests that brain volume enlargement is a characteristic feature of autism, with onset of this enlargement most likely occurring in the latter part of the first year of life [13–21]. We found generalized enlargement of cerebral cortical gray and white matter in a large sample of 2 year olds with autism compared to controls . Increased volume of selected subcortical structures (i.e., amygdala, caudate nucleus), along with decreased size of others (i.e., corpus callosum) have also been reported in autistic individuals [23–25], and more recently our group reported amygdala enlargement in toddlers with autism .
Neuroimaging studies have shown specific subcortical structures to be enlarged in FXS, such as the caudate nucleus, thalamus (in females), and lateral ventricles (see review by Hessl et al. 2004 ). Increased caudate volume has also been reported in individuals with FXS in association with severity of stereotyped, repetitive behavior [12, 28].
In the present study we contrast the morphological patterns of selected subcortical structures—components of the basal ganglia (caudate, putamen/globus pallidus), amygdala, and hippocampus—in individuals meeting DSM-IV criteria for autistic disorder with and without FXS. Specifically, we examined the brain volumes in boys with FXS compared to a group of controls and to a group of children with idiopathic autism (without FXS). We also compared a subgroup of children with FXS in our sample who met criteria for autism with the group of children with idiopathic autism. We hypothesized that we would find significant brain volume differences in the children with FXS compared to controls, and that the pattern of brain volumes might differ for children who had both FXS and autism. Studies to date have compared autistic individuals with controls and individuals with FXS with controls, but have not examined the neuroanatomical profiles underlying autistic individuals defined by both the presence and absence of the fragile X mutation.
Subjects were combined from two sites (Stanford University (SU) and the University of North Carolina (UNC)) and included 52 male children with FXS (with and without autism) and 113 male comparison cases, 18–42 months of age. In the comparison group, there were 63 boys with idiopathic autism (AUT), 19 boys with developmental delay (DD) and 31 boys with typical development (TYP). Children with FXS were recruited from both the SU and UNC registry databases, postings on the National Fragile X Foundation website and quarterly newsletter, and mailings to regional FXS organizations. Children with autism were primarily referred from nine specialty clinics for pervasive developmental disorders in North Carolina (TEACCH, Treatment and Education of Autistic and related Communication Handicapped Children) and were referred from community clinics for the SU sample. Subjects with autism were referred after receiving a clinical diagnosis of an autism spectrum disorder. Children with DD and TD were recruited locally through early intervention programs, preschools, child care centers, community media, and state run agencies (Regional Center system in California and Child Development Service Agencies in North Carolina).
Subjects were enrolled between 18 and 42 months of age. Medical records and developmental history were reviewed for all subjects. Inclusion in the FXS group required DNA testing confirming the fragile X full mutation as diagnosed with standard Southern Blot technique. These children also received testing for the fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP) expression by calculating the percentage of peripheral lymphocytes containing FMRP using immunostaining techniques . Subjects with autism were included after receiving a clinical diagnosis of autism, which was then confirmed by our team using the Autism Diagnostic Interview—Revised (ADI-R) and the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule-G (ADOS-G) . Subjects were only included in the AUT group if they met criteria for autism in all domains of the ADI-R and ADOS-G, and if they showed no evidence for the fragile X mutation on the DNA testing. Because the children with autism were participants in a longitudinal they were re-assessed using these measures at age 4, and we were able to confirm the classification of autism at this time. Only children who met full autism criteria at both timepoints (age 2 and 4) were included in our autism group. Inclusion in the DD group was defined as having significant global delays (developmental IQ ≤ 80), scores consistent with DD on the other assessment measures, no known identifiable cause for their delay (on medical record review), and no indication of a pervasive developmental disorder. Inclusion in the TYP group was defined as having average developmental and cognitive abilities (i.e. developmental IQ ≥ 85).
Subjects were excluded for evidence of medical or genetic conditions such as Tuberous Sclerosis (TS), gross CNS injury (e.g., cerebral palsy, significant complications or perinatal/postnatal trauma, drug exposure), prematurity (<34 weeks), low birth weight (<2000 g), seizures, and significant motor or sensory impairments. Medical records were reviewed for any evidence of autism or PDD-NOS for the DD and TYP subjects and they were excluded from these groups for any evidence of these disorders. DD and TYP children were screened for autism with the Childhood Autism Rating Scale and excluded if they approached the cutoff for autism (≥25 total score). All autistic and DD subjects received testing (cytogenetics or molecular) to exclude FXS.
All subjects were given a battery of measures including the Mullen Scales of Early Learning , the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales , behavioral rating scales (e.g., Repetitive Behavior Scales), and a standardized neurodevelopmental examination to exclude subjects with any notable dysmorphology, evidence of neurocutaneous abnormalities, or other significant neurological abnormalities. Study approval was acquired from both the SU and UNC/Duke Institutional Review Boards and written informed consent was obtained by getting parental (or custodial guardian) consent for each subject. Table 1 displays the subject characteristics (e.g., age, cognitive ability, and adaptive functioning) of the final study population.
All subjects were scanned on a 1.5 Tesla GE Signa MRI scanner (GE Imagine Systems, Milwaukee, WI) at either Stanford-Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital or Duke-UNC Brain Imaging and Analysis Center (BIAC). Image acquisition was designed to maximize gray/white tissue contrast for the pediatric brain and included: (1) a coronal T1 IR Prepared: T1 300 ms, TR 12 ms, TE 5 ms, 20° flip angle, at 1.5 mm thickness with 1 NEX, 20 cm FOV; and 256 × 192 matrix; (2) a coronal PD/T2 2D dual FSE, TR 7200 ms, TE 17/75 ms, at 3.0 mm thickness with 1 NEX, 20 cm FOV, and 256 × 160 matrix. A series of localizer scans and a set of phantoms was used to standardize assessments across sites and time (for the longitudinal study).
Subjects with FXS, autism and DD were scanned using sedation administered by a sedation nurse and under the supervision of a pediatric anesthesiologist. Physiological monitoring was conducted throughout the scan and recovery. TYP subjects were scanned without sedation, in the evening, while sleeping. All scans were reviewed by a pediatric neuroradiologist and screened for significant clinical abnormalities (e.g., malformations, lesions, etc.).
Our segmentation procedure involved an automated pipeline that utilized a probabilistic spatial prior template (atlas) aligned to our subject MRI using a linear, affine transformation and included bias estimation, inhomogeneity correction, and non-brain stripping procedures. The result was gray, white, and CSF tissue segmented images for each subject. The methods and procedures are described elsewhere [35–39]. Total brain volume (TBV) measures included total gray and white matter and all CSF. Total tissue volume (TTV) included all gray and white matter in the cerebrum and cerebellum. These measures were obtained to get a covariate of TBV to be used in the substructure analyses. Standardized tracing protocols used for each of the substructures we examined are briefly described below. All brain volume measurements were completed by raters in the UNC image processing lab. Reliability was obtained by two raters who made independent measurements on a set of 15 images, which included 5 images repeated 3 times (in random order). We were unable to successfully process some scans for all the regions examined secondary to insufficient scan quality or artifact. Group comparisons showed no bias (e.g., group, gender, age) in association with scans that could not be successfully segmented.
The CN was measured on high resolution T1 images in ACPC alignment using a semi-automated 3D segmentation tool (IRIS/SNAP [40, 41]) that employs a user-defined threshold window, initialization, and region-growing parameters. This semi-automated method is more reliable and efficient than a fully manual protocol. The tool automatically finds tissue boundaries and will label the caudate. The segmentation label can then be manually edited as necessary, so that the caudate trace excluded the nucleus accumbens. The average intra-rater reliability was r = 0.97 and average inter-rater reliability was r = 0.96. There was 1 FXS, 2 AUT, 4 DD, and 3 TYP scans that were unable to be processed successfully and these were excluded from analyses.
The PUT and GP were manually traced on high resolution T1 images in ACPC alignment as a combined structure using the IRIS/SNAP tool. The major boundaries of the combined PUT and GP are the internal and external capsules. A second step involved using designated landmarks to separate the two structures. The average intra-rater reliability for the PUT was r = 0.97 and for the GP was r = 0.93. The average inter-rater reliability for the PUT was r = 0.97 and the GP was r = 0.83. Due to the difficulty in obtaining manual traces of the PUT/GP, there were 2 FXS, 8 autism, 8 DD, and 3 TYP cases that were of insufficient quality to be included.
The AMY was manually traced on high resolution T1 images aligned along the long axis of the hippocampus using the IRIS/SNAP tool following a protocol developed by the Center for Neuroscience and the M.I.N.D. at UC Davis . We first established our reliability with the UC Davis group (average inter-rater reliability r = 0.92) to ensure we had been adequately trained on the protocol. Subsequently, reliability was established on scans from our sample of 18–35 month olds. Average intra-rater reliability was r = 0.90, and inter-rater was r = 0.78. A single rater (r = .90) completed all the AMY traces. There was 1 FXS, 4 AUT, 2 DD, and 4 TYP scans that were of insufficient quality to obtain a valid AMY trace and were excluded.
The HIP was obtained using a semi-automated tool where the user defines landmarks but the HIP is automatically segmented via a high-dimensional deformation of a template (MOJO [43–46]). The unaligned T1 gray level image is the input image to the MOJO tool. The average intra-rater reliability was 0.95 and average inter-rater was 0.81. There were 3 FXS, 1 AUT, 3 DD, and 3 TYP cases that were excluded because the HIP could not be adequately visualized to perform the segmentation.
Descriptive statistics and data plots were first examined to look for anomalous data or outliers. No anomalous data was observed or removed. We used a multivariate analysis (a repeated measures mixed model) in SAS 9.1 to test our a priori hypotheses (see Gueorguieva & Krystal, 2004 for a description of this approach). The brain volume measure was the dependent variable, with diagnostic group as the predictor. Diagnostic group was entered as a 5 level categorical variable (FXS, FXS+Aut, AUT, DD, TYP). A model was fit examining group differences for 5 substructures: AMY, CN, HIP, GP, and PUT. This model included up to 10 observations per subject. All analyses adjusted for the effects of age and IQ ratio on the measured brain volume by including them as covariates. TBV was included in the model to test for disproportionate differences in the subcortical volumes. Data collection site (UNC, SU) was not included as a predictor because no systematic difference in brain volumes (GM, WM, CSF, TTV, and 5 substructures of interest) were observed between sites.
Our primary hypotheses focused on three group comparisons (FXS vs AUT vs Controls). For these comparisons, combined estimates for ‘controls’ (DD + TYP) and ‘FXS’ (FXS and FXS+Aut) were created using post-estimation commands to create weighted averages. By using a weighted average of the subgroups the combined group estimates are accurate estimates of the means, while the possible error variance that could be accounted for by mean group differences is minimized. Our secondary analysis included four group comparisons (FXS+Aut, AUT, DD, TYP). However, only a single model was fit to obtain these estimates.
Laterality was assessed by examining the significance of interactions between group and hemisphere. A significant group by hemisphere interaction indicates that the group difference varies significantly by side (left vs right).
A description of the sample (N, age, IQ) appears in Table 1. Group differences were evaluated for age, adaptive functioning from the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales-Interview Edition Survey Form , and developmental IQ from the Mullen Scales of Early Learning . Age differences were observed, with the TYP group being slightly younger, so age was included as a covariate. As mean IQ for combined (TYP + DD) control group was higher than the FXS and AUT groups, IQ was also included as a covariate.
Age-adjusted means are reported in Table 2 and comparisons for total substructure volumes are reported in Table 3 (adjusted for age, IQ, and TBV). The main effect of group varied between structures (p < .001), therefore the effect of group is reported individually for each structure.
Note: FXS group refers to entire sample of children with FXS. The Control group contains both DD and TYP subjects, but comparisons with the DD and TYP subgroups are also displayed separately.
Total CN volume was significantly enlarged in the FXS group compared to the control (40%), AUT (26%), TYP (34%), and DD (45%) groups. This pattern was also observed for right and left CN volumes, suggesting no laterality effect. Total PUT volume was significantly enlarged in the FXS group compared to the control (8%), TYP (8%), and DD (9%) groups, and were larger (but not significantly) than the AUT group (3%). No laterality of the PUT was observed. Volume of the GP was significantly enlarged in the FXS group compared to the control (13%), TYP (10%), and DD (16%) groups. No laterality of the GP volumes was observed.
FXS subjects had smaller AMY volumes than the control (−7%), DD (−7%), and TYP (−8%) groups, but only differences with the control group were significant. The FXS group was significantly smaller than the AUT group (−19%). The right and left AMY volumes followed this same pattern (see Table 3), suggesting no laterality effect. The FXS group had significantly larger HIP than the DD group (26%), but showed no significant differences with other groups.
We identified children in the FXS group who also met criteria for autistic disorder, referred to as FXS with autism (“FXS+Aut”). The children with FXS who did not meet our autism criteria were labeled as FXS without autism (“FXS−Aut”). Membership in the FXS+Aut subgroup required meeting cut-offs for autistic disorder on the ADI-R and the ADOS-G. Using this classification scheme, there were 17 children with FXS (33%) who also met criteria for autistic disorder. This is comparable to the rate of autistic disorder observed in toddlers and preschoolers with FXS reported by Rogers et al. 2001. Age adjusted means for the FXS subgroups were similar to those observed in the total FXS sample. Percent differences in substructure brain volumes for FXS, AUT, and FXS+Aut groups compared to the controls are displayed in Fig. 1. Comparison of the FXS+Aut group to the AUT group revealed significant CN enlargement (p < .001), and significantly smaller AMY (p < .001). The CN enlargement in the FXS+Aut and FXS−Aut groups compared to controls was dramatic in comparison to the AUT group. However, these groups showed opposite trends in their AMY volume, with the AUT group showing enlargement but the FXS groups showing decreased volume compared to controls. There were no significant differences in CN volume between the FXS+Aut and FXS−Aut groups, but both of these groups had significantly larger CN volume compared to the AUT group (see Fig. 2). Volumes of the AMY for the FXS+Aut and FXS−Aut were significantly smaller than in the AUT group, and there was approximately a 5% difference (not significant) between the FXS+Aut and FXS−Aut subgroups (see Fig. 2). As was observed in the overall FXS group comparison, we observed a double dissociation of greatly enlarged CN and small AMY in FXS, regardless of autism status.
Exploratory analyses were conducted to determine whether brain–behavior relationships differed between the FXS+Aut, FXS−Aut, and AUT groups. ADI-R subdomain scores are presented in Table 4. Examination for clinical correlates using global autism measures (ADI-R algorithm subdomain scores; ADOS algorithm domain scores) as well as more refined measures of repetitive behaviors (e.g. RBS-R) did not reveal any significant brain-behavior correlations in any of these groups (FXS+Aut, FXS−Aut, AUT).
In this study we observed significant differences in the neuroanatomical profiles of male children with autistic disorder with FXS relative to those who did not have FXS. Specifically, boys with both FXS and autism had substantially enlarged CN volume and smaller AMY volume compared to boys with FXS without autism. In contrast, boys with idiopathic autism (no FXS) had only modest enlargement in their CN volumes compared to controls, but more robust enlargement of their AMY volumes. Although observing this double dissociation among selected brain volumes, no significant differences in severity of autistic behavior as measured by subdomains of the ADI-R were detected between these two study groups. This study therefore provides evidence of a substantially different pattern of brain structures in two clinical populations with presentations of autistic behavior. The findings in the present study suggest that heterogeneity may be underestimated in studies attempting to identify common biological underpinnings of individuals meeting DSM IV behavioral criteria for the behaviorally defined syndrome of autism (e.g., genetic linkage studies). Clearly the study of biological mechanisms underlying autistic behavior in etiologically-defined subgroups such as those with FXS, is an important and probably under-employed strategy for dealing with the heterogeneity issue.
The finding of enlarged CN in FXS is consistent with other studies finding enlargement of the CN in FXS [12, 28, 48], and the magnitude of enlargement (∼40%) suggests this is a robust finding in children with FXS. The CN has been implicated in the repetitive behaviors seen in both autism and FXS. One possible cause for such an enlargement of the CN in FXS may be linked to the underlying genetics of the disorder. An association has been reported between a measure of FMR1 gene inactivation (activation ratio-AR) with caudate volume, and an association of IQ with both caudate and ventricular volumes . We also know that FMRP has also been shown to play a direct role in brain development and decreased FMRI protein has been associated with the cognitive deficits seen in FXS [51–54]. The significant CN enlargement observed in FXS, in this study almost 3–4 times greater than in controls and about 3 times greater than cases with autism, may be more related to the FXS mutation versus diagnosis of autism, since the findings in the FXS autistic and non-autistic individuals are the same as those in the overall FXS group, regardless of autism status.
We report decreased AMY volume in our FXS group (with and without autism) and enlarged AMY in our AUT group. Our finding of increased AMY volume in our AUT sample is consistent with other reports of increased AMY in young children with autism, where AMY enlargement has also been associated with deficits in social behavior [21, 55] and social orienting . Our finding of decreased AMY volume in boys with FXS is contrary to some reports of AMY enlargement in FXS , but consistent with studies that included very young children . Dalton and colleagues hypothesized that early AMY enlargement is the result of amygdalar hyperactivity and hypertrophy, in response to the aversive nature of social stimulation in autism, with subsequent decreased AMY volume occurring as the aversive stimulation becomes chronic [56, 57]. Here we find support to suggest that children with FXS have decreased AMY despite having social deficits characteristic of autism. On the other hand, children with autism have enlargement of the AMY, yet display the same behaviors. It may be that having an AMY either too large or too small are ‘two sides of the same coin’ in the same way that hyper or hypo function of the MECP2 gene both result in the Rett Syndrome phenotype .
We did not find phenotypic differences in autistic behavior, as measured by the ADI-R and ADOS in our FXS+Aut and AUT groups. The defining features of autism as they appear in the DSM, while perhaps good ways to characterize the most impairing clinical features of autism, are not necessarily the best phenotypic features for separating out the underyling etiologic heterogeneity. Other behavioral features such as hyperarousal, thought to be more characteristic of FXS, may better distinguish groups of autistic individuals with and without FXS and may eventually find a place in studies of the autistic phenotype. Clearly additional studies which seek to identify different behavioral profiles in autistic individuals with and without FXS would provide important clues to meaningfully subsetting the autism phenotype.
In this study, we also found evidence for significantly enlarged CN volume in FXS compared to our control group, and with and TYP and DD subgroups. We found significant enlargement in the PUT and GP in the FXS group compared to the controls. This is the first report of significant enlargement in the PUT and GP structures in FXS, and as part of the fronto-striatal circuit with the caudate, this enlargement provides support for a neuroanatomical abnormality in this pathway in FXS. We also found significant group differences for the HIP volumes between the FXS and DD groups.
There are several limitations in the current study. The size of our subgroups of the controls (DD and TYP) and FXS (with and without autism) was modest and is a limitation. The heterogeneity we observe in idiopathic autism may have also limited the generalizability of the findings in this study. We only examined male children and therefore our findings may not generalize to females. Lastly, the measures we employed for behavioral assessment (ADI-R, ADOS) were developed for categorical diagnosis of autistic disorder and not for use in the way we have done—contrasting items and domains. Tools designed for this that have better dimensional qualities and that examine more varied behaviors (e.g., arousal, face processing using eye gaze, etc.) may have revealed behavioral differences that more closely correlated with the neuroanatomical differences observed between the groups. The study also has a number of strengths, most notable the large sample size of our autism and FXS groups within the narrow age range we examined. There is good evidence of age-dependent variation in neuroanatomical structures in autism (albeit indirectly from cross sectional studies ) and both FXS and ideopathic autism are well known to be developmental conditions where presentations vary with age.
In conclusion, this study offers a unique examination of early brain development in two behavioral overlapping disorders, FXS and autism, and finds two distinct patterns of brain morphology. The present study finds uniquely different neurodevelopmental profiles for these two behaviorally similar disorders and suggests that comparative neuroimaging studies may provide the best window into teasing apart genetically meaningful aspects of the autism phenotype in FXS. These findings also underscore the importance of addressing heterogeneity in studies of autistic behavior. Simply mentioning that it exists and that it may be the cause of a lack of replication, may not be enough as the continued failure to take etiologic heterogeneity into account in autism is likely to continue to handicap our best efforts to find circumscribed genetic and neurobiologic mechanisms underlying this condition. Studies examining the molecular basis for this difference may provide the best approach to getting a foot-hold into the pathogenesis of autistic behavior. For example, mouse studies have revealed that while social deficits qualitatively similar to those seen in autism are present in C57B6 FX (−/−) mice, they are not observed in FX (−/−) on a FVB background. Such findings suggest that it is the effect of interacting genes (and perhaps environment) on FMR1 that may have a role in causing abnormal social behavior, and similarly, studying genes interacting with FMR1 in humans with autism may provide clues to the genetic profiles causing autism in this and perhaps even subgroups of autistic individuals. Clearly working in an iterative fashion—going from genotype to phenotype and back again from phenotype to genotype, may eventually reveal more subtle phenotypic variations, perhaps outside of the traditional defining features of autism, to distinguish underlying etiologically-defined subgroups that could be employed to find new autism susceptibility genes.
Research supported by NIH grants MH64708-05 (J Piven, A Reiss), MH61696 (J Piven), and P30 HD03110 (J Piven). We express our appreciation for the assistance we received from the following: the NC TEACCH centers, the UNC NDRC Autism and Fragile X Subject Registries, and NC Children’s Developmental Services Agencies for assisting with recruitment; Chad Chappell, Judy Morrow, Nancy Garrett, Robin Morris, Cindy Hagan, Cindy Johnston, Cristiana Vattuone, Ahn Weber, and Christa Watson for their work with these families; Martin Styner, Rachel Gimpel Smith, Swetapadma Patnaik, Michael Graves and Matthew Mosconi for image processing support; and most importantly, all the families who have participated in this study.
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2019-04-20T16:57:51Z
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https://jneurodevdisorders.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1007/s11689-009-9009-8
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This job plays a key role in the coordinating, planning, monitoring and evaluation of projects related to human resources, labour relations, regulatory and operational functions associated with the Multi-Modal Transformation Program (MMTP) and the Rail Operational Readiness Program (ROR), which will transition the Transportation Services to a fully integrated bus and rail service. The Coordinator ensures compliance with the relevant Corporate and Department policies, processes and procedures, liaises with Human Resources in the coordination of recruitment, employee status change, position management, labour relations, training and development, and supports management in the decision-making process by conducting research, compiling and analyzing research findings, and writing reports.
Responsible to represent the City at various Incidents and Emergencies within the City of Ottawa. The Inspector, Traffic Management is responsible for the citywide administrative, inspection and enforcement activities for a number of City of Ottawa by-laws that have application on municipal road allowances. Acting as a Provincial Offences Officer, the employee monitors and enforces compliance with the provisions of all relevant municipal by-laws. The Inspector, Traffic Management is responsible for reviewing construction, maintenance and use activities on the public rights-of-way with the objectives of optimizing traffic mobility, minimizing public safety risks, and assuring appropriate restoration standards where required. The Inspector is responsible for reviewing and responding to inquiries from the public related to the city right of way.
Responsible for developing/customizing/enhancing and/or integrating a broad range of smaller-scale (or components of large-scale) business applications/solutions for an assigned client portfolio or project, in response to new or changing business requirements; maintaining business applications/solutions (or components therefore); and providing client and technical support.
Writing and maintaining systems documentation; ensuring all code is managed appropriately by using software configuration management tools; following the approved PLC as appropriate; performing tests on enhancements and new development; training clients on business applications and/or solutions.
The Senior Administrative Assistant is responsible for providing a wide variety of confidential administrative support services to the Director of the Rail Construction Program in the implementation of Stage 2 Light Rail Transit (LRT) project.
Duties and responsibilities include supporting the Director with administrative processes, conducting research and compiling documentation and data in support of service area projects or departmental inquiries, generating and making revisions to reports, and creating and updating databases and project files, as required.
Note: This is a generic job description that describes the typical duties of this job. Individual positions may not require the performance of all of these responsibilities or additional related duties, within the scope of the job, may be assigned.
Legal Services is a function of the City Clerk and Solicitor Department and involves providing clients with high quality legal services, both preventative and remedial, in a professional and timely manner.
The organizational design of the legal services function includes twenty-three Lawyers, an Office Manager, two Articling Law Students, Prosecutors, Claims Investigators and various support staff including Law Clerks, Insurance Specialist, Legal Conveyancer and Legal Assistants.
We provide legal services to a broad range of clients, encompassing all Departments and Branches of the City, the City Council, and various local boards (including the Ottawa Police Services Board and the Ottawa Public Library Board).
The City of Ottawa’s Legal Services Articling Program is open to students who have completed their law degree studies and are preparing for admission to the Bar. The program provides Articling Law Students with an opportunity to work within a broad range of practice areas and instructs students in the professional responsibilities of being a lawyer.
Articling Law Students usually have complete carriage of litigation files within the Small Claims Court jurisdiction. Students have responsibility for other files as assigned and can expect to participate in the preparation for, and attendance at, various tribunals, such as labour relation arbitrations, the Ontario Municipal Board, the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, etc. Students are also involved in conducting research, preparing opinions, attending Committees and drafting legislative proposals, and are also required to regularly attend sessions at the Provincial Offences Act (POA) Court.
The City’s Articling placements support the candidate’s fulfillment of the experiential training competencies required by the Law Society of Upper Canada.
We are committed to the Continuing Professional Development of all Legal Services staff. Therefore, we encourage our Articling Law Students to attend programs, activities or seminars offered by the Law Society of Upper Canada, the Canadian Bar Association, the County of Carleton Law Association (CCLA) and/or other continuing legal education providers.
Articling Law Students will benefit from regular reviews that take place between the Students and their Principals to ensure a successful and rewarding articling term.
The Total Rewards Branch develops the overall total rewards strategy for the City of Ottawa, designed to engage a high performance and thriving workforce. As part of the Total Rewards Branch you are responsible for the design, implementation and governance of the City's wellness programs.
Planning, developing, implementing, and monitoring corporate-wide total wellness programs and strategies that creates awareness, enhances motivation and provides tools to employees.
Developing work-life policies and programs.
Providing expert knowledge and advice to management, employees and unions in all matters related to corporate wellness initiatives.
Promoting and championing activities and initiatives that encourage healthy behaviours, in support of the City's Wellness Strategy.
Assessing the wellness needs of the corporation in order to make effective recommendations for the development and implementation of various programs, initiatives and projects.
Providing guidance and advice to the HR Business Services teams in the delivery of wellness programs.
Collaborating with HR Business Services teams to develop wellness programs and/or strategies for a specific client group within the City.
Leading or participating in corporate committees that focus on health and wellness.
Responsible for the planning, co-ordinated development, management and implementation of Waste Diversion and Waste Processing activities, programs, services and initiatives consistent with corporate strategic direction and corporate vision. The Manager provides professional leadership and coordination in the planning, implementation, and administration of waste processing & disposal policies and programs for solid waste operations. The Manager, Waste Processing & Disposal is responsible for establishing and maintaining positive client relationships with internal and external management and stakeholders.
Duties include responsibility for implementation and update of the 3Rs strategy, development, implementation and on-going evaluation of a comprehensive Waste Diversion Master Plan, compost processing, pilots and marketing, management of Household Special Waste facility, staff and integrated strategy for use of mobile depots and integration of product stewardship initiatives, public programs to ensure maximum diversion. Responsible for meeting related goals set out in the present Official Plan, meeting Provincial goals for waste diversion, research and development to ensure state-of-the-art of methodologies related to waste diversion programs and waste processing management section including management of staff. Responsible for the human and financial resources of waste diversion, waste processing through subordinate supervisors, overseeing management of three landfill sites (one in post closure state) including regular waste disposal, and leachate by-products including Environmental Assessments and optimization programs to maximization of landfill capacity.
The Manager, Waste Processing & Disposal is responsible for developing and monitoring operating budgets, and for managing human resources, including hiring, termination, performance management and discipline of staff as necessary.
Provides customer service to the library customers in-person, roving the branch, telephone/switchboard and/or through electronic/web chats. Provides assistance with membership services. Supports materials and cash handling activities. Work is performed within the context of the policies and framework of the Library corporate culture as embodied in the Mission Statement, Core Values, Customer Experience Guidelines and the Canadian Library Association position statements on Intellectual Freedom and Diversity and Inclusion, with particular emphasis on providing customer service excellence.
Provides information, reference and readers advisory services. Develops, implements and conducts children's programs. Provides circulation and page services in the Library and/or the community and/or mini-libraries, nursing homes and other locations. Performs routine collection maintenance duties. May be senior person in charge or exercise responsibility for the day-to-day operation of the library branch.
Work is performed within the context of the policies and framework of the Library corporate culture as embodied in the Mission Statement, Core Values, Customer Experience Guidelines and the Canadian Library Association position statements on Intellectual Freedom and Diversity and Inclusion, with particular emphasis on providing customer service excellence.
Under the direction of the Coordinator, Cultural Development and Initiatives, the Cultural Developer works as part of a team that consults broadly with external and internal stakeholders in the planning and implementation of policies and development initiatives emanating from the Action Plan for Arts, Heritage and Culture as well as other corporate strategic priorities.
The Cultural Developer provides project management, policy and community development, conducts research and communicates with a wide variety of stakeholders to support branch and corporate strategic initiatives.
Responsible for the preparation and/or serving of meals to residents, day centre clients, staff, and Meals-on-Wheels recipients, and for catering during special events; for the cleaning and maintenance of Food Services equipment and utensils; and for the disposal of waste, with an emphasis on resident safety and engagement. Work is performed in accordance with Public Health regulations, Ministry of Long Term Care Act, 2007 and Food Premises Act.
In collaboration with the multi-disciplinary team, the incumbent provides nursing and personal care to residents, with an emphasis on resident safety and engagement.
The job is responsible for the delivery of quality, holistic, resident care through the administration and supervision of the Nursing Program and staff in a designated area, with an emphasis on resident safety and engagement.
Responsible for providing total resident care according to a Resident Care Plan (L.T.C.) that provides optimal functioning and well being in a supportive, therapeutic environment, with an emphasis on resident safety and engagement.
Under the supervision of the Facilities Supervisor, Lead Hand, Facilities Operator or Seasonal Ice Resurfacer Operator, the Custodial Worker Wage Person is responsible for performing duties associated with the custodial/housekeeping and maintenance of all City of Ottawa facilities.
The Maintenance Helper is responsible for performing duties associated with the operation and maintenance of all City facilities.
Responsible for supervising construction related activities of several small to medium concurrent projects, or a portion of a large, complex project by commenting on designs and specifications; coordinating activities of the general contractors, sub-contractors and utility companies; inspecting work conformance to standards; and, if required, fulfilling the duties of the "constructor" as defined by the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
Responsible for operating vehicles and equipment and performing general labour in the collection and disposal of trash, brush, organics, solid waste or recycling materials (blue/black boxes).
Responsible for performing housekeeping duties associated with the maintenance of a clean, comfortable, home-like and safe environment in the Long Term Care Home, with an emphasis on resident safety and engagement, in accordance with the Long Term Care Homes Act, 2007.
Responsible for performing a wide range of duties expected of a Truck and Coach Technician, including, but not limited to, the following: conducting diagnostic inspection of vehicles, performing general mechanical overhaul and repair work, and performing daily maintenance repairs. The incumbent performs all unit changes or repairs to Fleet vehicles including but not limited to transmission, brakes, suspensions, electrical components, injectors, radiators, steering, differentials and air systems; as well as making miscellaneous adjustments to doors, destination signs and other vehicle systems.
Responsible for assisting with all functions related to the delivery of summer camp programs. Responsible for direct client care and intervention, program adaptation. The programs may take place indoors, outdoors, in or a variety of locations.
To ensure a safe and enjoyable camp experience for special needs children/ youth registered at camp.
Responsible for the supervision of children, previously diagnosed as having special needs and/or experiencing problems participating in mainstream camps, to ensure a safe and positive experience for participants and staff. This includes program adaptation, intervention, recording information and instructing/mentoring camp staff to ensure inclusion and a supportive recreation environment for pre-school/children and youth with special needs (including behavioural and medical needs) registered in a City of Ottawa day camp. This job may provide ongoing integration to ensure participants have a safe and enjoyable experience.
Under the direction of the Instructor, the Arts Assistant, Arts helps children and Instructor with projects and materials. Assists Instructor with the supervision of children.
Senior Instructor, Specialty assists in the delivery and development of specialized program areas. Provide leadership to coach/lead and supervise programs, specialty programs and camps.
To ensure participants have a safe and enjoyable camp experience.
Responsible to coordinate the delivery of specialty arts or sports programs and camps. Duties include program development, staff supervision, administration duties and the preparation of program and staff evaluations.
To ensure participants have a safe and enjoyable program/camp experience.
Responsible for supervising, monitoring, instructing program participants. Other duties may include assisting the Camp Coordinator with the delivery of the program.
The Specialty Instructor is responsible for the program delivery. Provides leadership to instruct and supervise participants, instructors and volunteers in specialty programs and camps.
Responsible for providing information and customer services for a wide range of City services, programs, policies, procedures, permits and fee structures, as part of a team of agents, delivered through a Client Service Centre; ensuring service continuity in responding to inquiries and urgent requests from the public, elected officials, internal staff, and other government agencies through a variety of platforms, primarily by phone and including electronic/web, email and in-person in the most efficient and professional manner possible, minimizing referrals and transfers to other subject matter experts, where possible, and ensuring follow up where requested. Work is performed in accordance with corporate/departmental/branch policies, procedures, standards and guidelines, as well as any applicable legislation/regulations, and in meeting performance and quality assurance standards.
Responsible for the daily programming of the special needs camp. This includes program adaptation, intervention and collaboration with camp staff. To ensure inclusion and a supportive recreation environment for special needs pre-school/children and youth registered in camps. This position may provide ongoing integration.
To ensure participants have a safe and enjoyable experience.
Responsible for the direct day-to-day operation of the Inclusive Recreation Unit camp, working with children, youth, or adults with special needs in a therapeutic recreational or social skills summer camp. Camp Director is included in the child/youth staff ratio and responsible for direct client care and intervention, program adaptation and daily staff management to ensure a safe and enjoyable camp experience for all registered at camp.
Responsible for assisting in the planning and implementing program content and for the instruction, coaching or coordination of introductory specialty sport/art programs and or summer camps. i.e. Summer camps: tennis, volley ball, hockey camp, dance, art.
The Facility Operation Assistant aids in the operation of the facility by providing support to the facility, athletic track, various sports fields and grounds maintenance. Monitors participants during open track training time and large athletic events.
This position will also be responsible for cash handling, customer service, information, sales, registrations and facility bookings.
Responsible for overseeing the daily operation of multiple wading pools within a designated district. Work with full time City staff and co-workers to ensure the wading pool program meets the needs of the participants, falls in line with the branch mandate and follows all guidelines, policies and procedures. Staff supervision and mentoring, program planning, administration and client relations. Assists with staff training, and hiring. Compiling statistics and completing reports.
To ensure the safety and enjoyment of patrons in a wading pool/park environment.
Responsible for the daily operation of the wading pool program within the city's parks. This includes ensuring the park is well maintained and safe for users. Following all policies & procedures and safety guidelines set by the branch. This includes supervision of staff, training, and assisting with staff evaluations. Guarding of participants in the wading pool/area, light maintenance monitoring water quality levels. Program planning/delivery of age appropriate activities and events, administrative duties and responding to public inquiries.
Responsible for the daily operation of the wading pool program within the city's parks. Follow all guidelines, policies & procedures including all safety guidelines set by the branch. This includes ensuring the park is well maintained and safe for users. Guarding of participants in the wading pool/area, light maintenance monitoring water quality levels. Delivering of age appropriate activities and events, administrative duties and responding to public inquiries.
Responsible for coordinating delivery of information within the Seasonal Recreation Wading Pool Program. The initial contact for all program inquiries from the general public, park staff, and other city departments. Maintain files/records, incident reports, process service requests.
Assists in the coordination of staff scheduling, complying program statistics/various reports.
May be responsible for staff payroll input.
Assists full time staff with the day-to-day administrative duties of the wading pool program..
Conducting general construction site office duties.
Conducting engineering fieldwork including conducting visual surveys, collecting data, taking photographs.
Monitoring and interpreting process data and conducting trend analysis.
Conducting project scheduling, progress tracking and developing project documentation.
Conducting public information sessions and presentations and developing communications documents as required.
May be responsible for assisting in coordinating portions of smaller contracts.
Responsible for the delivery of and leading recreation, arts, and aquatics or sports programs for preschoolers, children and youth during the summer months. The programs may take place indoors, outdoors, in one location or a variety of locations. They must also supervise other camp counsellors.
Responsible for assisting with the coordination of recreation, arts, aquatics or sports programs for preschoolers, children and youth during the summer months as well as the implementation of activities, supervision of staff and assumption of the coordinator's responsibilities when required. The programs may take place indoors, outdoors, in one or a variety of locations.
Responsible for the coordination of recreation, arts, aquatics or sports programs for preschoolers, children and youth during the summer months. The programs may take place indoors, outdoors, in one location or a variety of locations. Daily supervision of staff, volunteers and Leaders in Training.
Responsible for the monitoring and supervision of the Beach Volleyball Program participants. Duties include the set-up and takedown of equipment, assist with program evaluations, equipment rentals and other administrative tasks. May include assisting senior staff with the delivery of programs.
To ensure participants have a safe and enjoyable program experience.
Responsible for ensuring the safety of patrons using City beaches and facilities. Monitors the conduct of patrons, prevents accidents and responds to emergencies by administering the policies, procedures, rules and regulations of the City of Ottawa and of certifying bodies.
To ensure the safety and enjoyment of patrons in an aquatic environment.
Responsible for performing a wide variety of customer service duties. These may include, but are not limited to client inquiries, program registration, and sale of goods/supplies. Understands and follows all City of Ottawa guidelines, policies and procedures in relation to cash handling and customer service.
Responsible for ensuring the safety of patrons using aquatic facilities. The Aquatics Lifeguard monitors the conduct of patrons, prevents accidents and responds to emergencies by administering the policies, procedures, rules and regulations of the City of Ottawa and of certifying bodies.
Responsible for life-guarding and instructing as required. Is responsible for overseeing the aquatic facility, programs and staff in the absence of the Aquatic Supervisor or full-time staff.
Ensure that staff follow, and programs fall in line with, all guidelines, policies and procedures. Assist in training, staff scheduling, and mentoring of staff.
Monitor the conduct of patrons, prevents accidents and responds to emergencies by administering the policies, procedures, rules and regulations of the City of Ottawa and of certifying bodies.
Responsible for overseeing the aquatic facility, programs and staff in the absence of City full time staff. Ensure that staff follow, and programs fall in line with all guidelines, policies and procedures. The supervisor works with the program coordinator in developing and providing training, staff scheduling and mentoring of staff.
Responsible for providing assistance to the Transit Customer Systems & Planning Service Area with the promotion and implementation of multi-modal transportation in Ottawa. Assists with organization and facilitation of public outreach events for various groups throughout the city, and performs administrative and clerical activities in support of multi-modal transportation outreach initiative.
OC Transpo is continuing to hire Bus Operators during the construction phase of the O-Train Confederation Line. We have short-term positions available for potential candidates who are interested in gaining transferrable skills while working in a fulfilling position as an OC Transpo Bus Operator. This short-term employment will end when the Confederation Line opens.
The Bus Operator operates City of Ottawa buses in accordance with the Highway Traffic Act and corporate policy. Promotes a customer service mindset when interacting with the general public and is responsible to provide a safe, comfortable, efficient and reliable transportation service.
Ability to obtain a medical report to the Ministry of Transportation’s standards to obtain a commercial license (cost to the candidate).
Full time hours with a good salary ($15.43 per hour during the 6-week training period, $26.24 per hour upon successful completion of training).
The Program Sport Leader is responsible for monitoring, supervising, and evaluating the direct involvement of site specific Sport Programs. Responsibilities include site coordination, supervision, direction of participants, cash handling, customer service, risk management procedures and general administrative tasks.
Ensure that theatre policies are enforced and that procedures are maintained. Ensure that health, safety and maintenance standards are maintained. Promote excellent customer service relations. Account for the bar, coat check and souvenir revenues and inventory and prepares cash deposits. Monitor, train and provide guidance to front of house personnel. Provide emergency response treatment (First Aid/ CPR) as required.
Responsible for teaching aqua fitness programming to participants in a safe and enjoyable manner while following the guidelines of the certifying agency, and in accordance with corporate and departmental policies, procedures, guidelines and standards.
Responsible for teaching specialized aqua fitness programming to participants in a safe and enjoyable manner while following the guidelines of the certifying agency, and in accordance with corporate and departmental policies, procedures, guidelines and standards.
Responsible for providing instruction on a wide variety of specialized group fitness and fitness-related classes identified programs at the City of Ottawa, in accordance with corporate and departmental policies and procedures, rules and regulations.
The Advanced Arts Instructor is responsible for designing, teaching and evaluating creative introductory to advanced instructional programs in theatre, dance, music, visual, literary, and multi-media arts for all ages.
The Advanced Sport Specialist is responsible for planning and implementing program content and for the instruction, coaching or coordination of advanced sport programs.
Responsible for providing instruction on a wide variety of group fitness and fitness-related classes for identified programs at the City of Ottawa, in accordance with corporate and departmental policies and procedures, rules and regulations.
The Instructor, Inclusive Recreation will direct a therapeutic recreation Day Program for adults with disabilities. Under the direction of the Coordinator, Inclusive Recreation Portfolio, this position is responsible for all functions relating to the delivery of the program offered through support of a community partner.
Responsible for instructing/conducting customized individual client or group weight fitness training sessions to meet clients specific fitness needs, in accordance with corporate and departmental policies, procedures, guidelines, standards and related legislation.
The Heritage Programming Specialist is responsible for interpretive and educational program development as well as delivery at the City of Ottawa’s historic sites and museums. Responsible for ongoing work on heritage projects, including preparation and coordination of heritage programming materials and supplies. Responsible for historical research for educational and promotional use. Works with the Education and Interpretation Programs Officers to develop and deliver heritage programming to Museum users. Receives and directs visitors, answers public inquiries (such as genealogy research and questions related to the site’s history) and dispenses public information. Performs reception and clerical duties as needed including program bookings, mailings, reservations and confirmations.
Heritage programming may include, but is not limited to: print shop operations, sawmill assistance, pump factory operations, blacksmith shop operations, carpentry, animal and livestock husbandry, farming and agriculture, and operation of heritage farm equipment, including vintage tractors.
The Intermediate Arts Instructor is responsible for teaching and evaluating creative children's introductory to intermediate instructional programs in theatre, dance, music, visual, literary, and multi-media arts.
The Intermediate Sport Specialist is responsible for planning and implementing programme content and for the instruction, coaching or coordination of intermediate sport programs.
Under the direction of the Coordinator, Inclusive Recreation Portfolio, the incumbent works with children with attention deficit, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, conduct disorder, and other learning disabilities in a positive reinforcement and social skills training program.
The Heritage Specialist is responsible for interpretive and educational program development as well as delivery at the city's historic sites and museums. The HS I is also responsible for ongoing work on heritage projects such as the Oral History project and historical research for educational use. The HS I assists with ongoing promotional activities; liaises with volunteers, community groups and facility user groups; assists in the supervision and training of summer staff; receives and directs visitors, answers public inquiries (such as genealogy research) and dispenses public information; performs reception and clerical duties as needed.
The Introductory Arts Instructor is responsible for leading creative introductory arts programs for children, and assisting in the delivery of creative instruction in theatre, dance, music, visual, literary, and multi-media arts.
The Specialist, Introductory Sport, is responsible for planning and implementing programme content and for the instruction, coaching or coordination of introductory sport programs.
Perform the surveillance necessary to prevent accidents by administering policies, procedures, rules and regulations governing the conduct of patrons using the pool and perform rescues and first aid necessary for the preservation of life in a team setting.
Responsible for assisting with all functions relating to the delivery of a Therapeutic Recreation / Life skills Day Program.
Responsible for the coordination of recreation, arts, special needs, aquatics or sports programs to a variety of age groups in a recreational setting.
The Customer Service Representative is responsible for providing support to the Recreation Facility(s) or programs assigned in functional areas of cash management, clerical/administrative support, technical duties, programme registration and information, program support, general supervision, and quality service to our customers.
Responsible for overseeing and assisting customers with the use of a City of Ottawa cardio or weight room facility or site.
The Recreation & Culture Public Skating Attendant is responsible for coordinating, supervising and evaluating the direct involvement of site specific Public Skating Programs. Responsibilities include site coordination, supervision, direction of participants, cash handling, customer service, risk management procedures and general administrative tasks.
Provides client care according to individualized program plans that promote optimal functioning and well-being in a supportive recreation environment.
Under the direction of the Instructor, the Arts Assistant helps children and Instructor with projects and materials. Assists Instructor with the supervision of children.
Responsible for leading recreation, arts, special needs, aquatics or sports programs to a variety of age groups in a recreational setting.
The Recreation & Culture Service Representative I is responsible for providing support to the Recreation Facility(s) with programs such as day camps and swimming lessons. Is assigned responsibilities including cash handling, customer service, programme information/registration, program support and general administrative tasks.
The Recreation and Culture Attendant is responsible for supervising and assisting the customer's use of a facility or site on behalf of the City of Ottawa.
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2019-04-20T09:11:31Z
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http://www.ottawacityjobs.ca/en/
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The LIGO Scientific Collaboration, The Virgo Collaboration, Abbott, B. P., Abbott, R., Abbott, T. D., Acernese, F., et al. (2018). Search for sub-solar mass ultracompact binaries in Advanced LIGO's first observing run. Physical Review Letters, 121(23): 231103. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.121.231103.
Ajith, P., AuthorAllen, Bruce2, Author Allen, G., AuthorAllocca, A., AuthorAloy, M. A., AuthorAltin, P. A., AuthorAmato, A., AuthorAnanyeva, A., AuthorAnderson, S. B., AuthorAnderson, W. G., AuthorAngelova, S. V., AuthorAntier, S., AuthorAppert, S., AuthorArai, K., AuthorAraya, M. C., AuthorAreeda, J. S., AuthorAr`ene, M., AuthorArnaud, N., AuthorArun, K. G., AuthorAscenzi, S., AuthorAshton, G., AuthorAst, M., AuthorAston, S. M., AuthorAstone, P., AuthorAtallah, D. V., AuthorAubin, F., AuthorAufmuth, P.1, Author Aulbert, C.2, Author AultONeal, K., AuthorAustin, C., AuthorAvila-Alvarez, A., AuthorBabak, S.3, Author Bacon, P., AuthorBadaracco, F., AuthorBader, M. K. M., AuthorBae, S., AuthorBaker, P. T., AuthorBaldaccini, F., AuthorBallardin, G., AuthorBallmer, S. W., AuthorBanagiri, S., AuthorBarayoga, J. C., AuthorBarclay, S. E., AuthorBarish, B. C., AuthorBarker, D., AuthorBarkett, K., AuthorBarnum, S., AuthorBarone, F., AuthorBarr, B., AuthorBarsotti, L., AuthorBarsuglia, M., AuthorBarta, D., AuthorBartlett, J., AuthorBartos, I., AuthorBassiri, R., AuthorBasti, A., AuthorBatch, J. C., AuthorBawaj, M., AuthorBayley, J. C., AuthorBazzan, M., AuthorB'ecsy, B., AuthorBeer, C.2, Author Bejger, M., AuthorBelahcene, I., AuthorBell, A. S., AuthorBeniwal, D., AuthorBensch, M.4, Author Berger, B. K., AuthorBergmann, G.1, Author Bernuzzi, S., AuthorBero, J. J., AuthorBerry, C. P. L., AuthorBersanetti, D., AuthorBertolini, A., AuthorBetzwieser, J., AuthorBhandare, R., AuthorBilenko, I. A., AuthorBilgili, S. A., AuthorBillingsley, G., AuthorBillman, C. R., AuthorBirch, J., AuthorBirney, R., AuthorBirnholtz, O., AuthorBiscans, S., AuthorBiscoveanu, S., AuthorBisht, A.5, AuthorBitossi, M., AuthorBizouard, M. A., AuthorBlackburn, J. K., AuthorBlackman, J., AuthorBlair, C. D., AuthorBlair, D. G., AuthorBlair, R. 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A., AuthorThrane, E., AuthorTiwari, S., AuthorTiwari, V., AuthorTokmakov, K. V., AuthorToland, K., AuthorTonelli, M., AuthorTornasi, Z., AuthorTorres-Forn'e, A., AuthorTorrie, C. I., AuthorT''oyr''a, D., AuthorTravasso, F., AuthorTraylor, G., AuthorTrinastic, J., AuthorTringali, M. C., AuthorTrovato, A., AuthorTrozzo, L., AuthorTsang, K. W., AuthorTse, M., AuthorTso, R., AuthorTsuna, D., AuthorTsukada, L., AuthorTuyenbayev, D., AuthorUeno, K., AuthorUgolini, D., AuthorUrban, A. L., AuthorUsman, S. A., AuthorVahlbruch, H.1, Author Vajente, G., AuthorValdes, G., Authorvan Bakel, N., Authorvan Beuzekom, M., AuthorBrand, J. F. J. van den, AuthorBroeck, C. Van Den, AuthorVander-Hyde, D. C., Authorvan der Schaaf, L., Authorvan Heijningen, J. V., Authorvan Veggel, A. A., AuthorVardaro, M., AuthorVarma, V., AuthorVass, S., AuthorVasuth, M., AuthorVecchio, A., AuthorVedovato, G., AuthorVeitch, J., AuthorVeitch, P. J., AuthorVenkateswara, K., AuthorVenugopalan, G., AuthorVerkindt, D., AuthorVetrano, F., AuthorVicer'e, A., AuthorViets, A. D., AuthorVinciguerra, S., AuthorVine, D. J., AuthorVinet, J. -Y., AuthorVitale, S., AuthorVo, T., AuthorVocca, H., AuthorVorvick, C., AuthorVyatchanin, S. P., AuthorWade, A. R., AuthorWade, L. E., AuthorWade, M., AuthorWalet, R., AuthorWalker, M., AuthorWallace, L., AuthorWalsh, S.3, Author Wang, G., AuthorWang, H., AuthorWang, J. Z., AuthorWang, W. H., AuthorWang, Y. F., AuthorWard, R. L., AuthorWarner, J., AuthorWas, M., AuthorWatchi, J., AuthorWeaver, B., AuthorWei, L. -W., AuthorWeinert, M.1, Author Weinstein, A. J., AuthorWeiss, R., AuthorWellmann, F.5, AuthorWen, L., AuthorWessel, E. K., AuthorWessels, P.5, AuthorWesterweck, J.2, Author Wette, K., AuthorWhelan, J. T., AuthorWhiting, B. F., AuthorWhittle, C., AuthorWilken, D.1, Author Williams, D., AuthorWilliams, R. D., AuthorWilliamson, A. R., AuthorWillis, J. L., AuthorWillke, B., AuthorWimmer, M. H., AuthorWinkler, W.1, Author Wipf, C. C., AuthorWittel, H.1, Author Woan, G., AuthorWoehler, J.1, Author Wofford, J. K., AuthorWong, W. K., AuthorWorden, J., AuthorWright, J. L., AuthorWu, D.1, Author Wysocki, D. M., AuthorXiao, S., AuthorYam, W., AuthorYamamoto, H., AuthorYancey, C. C., AuthorYang, L., AuthorYap, M. J., AuthorYazback, M., AuthorYu, Hang, AuthorYu, Haocun, AuthorYvert, M., Authorzny, A. Zadro., AuthorZanolin, M., AuthorZelenova, T., AuthorZendri, J. -P., AuthorZevin, M., AuthorZhang, J., AuthorZhang, L., AuthorZhang, M., AuthorZhang, T., AuthorZhang, Y.4, Author Zhao, C., AuthorZhou, M., AuthorZhou, Z., AuthorZhu, S.3, 4, Author Zhu, X. J., AuthorZimmerman, A. B., AuthorZlochower, Y., AuthorZucker, M. E., AuthorZweizig, J., Author more..
Abstract: We present the first Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo search for ultracompact binary systems with component masses between 0.2 M⊙ - 1.0 M⊙ using data taken between September 12, 2015 and January 19, 2016. We find no viable gravitational wave candidates. Our null result constrains the coalescence rate of monochromatic (delta function) distributions of non-spinning (0.2 M⊙, 0.2 M⊙) ultracompact binaries to be less than 1.0×106Gpc−3yr−1 and the coalescence rate of a similar distribution of (1.0 M⊙, 1.0 M⊙) ultracompact binaries to be less than 1.9×104Gpc−3yr−1 (at 90 percent confidence). Neither black holes nor neutron stars are expected to form below ~ 1 solar mass through conventional stellar evolution, though it has been proposed that similarly low mass black holes could be formed primordially through density fluctuations in the early universe. Under a particular primordial black hole binary formation scenario, we constrain monochromatic primordial black hole populations of 0.2 M⊙ to be less than 33% of the total dark matter density and monochromatic populations of 1.0 M⊙ to be less than 5% of the dark matter density. The latter strengthens the presently placed bounds from micro-lensing surveys of MAssive Compact Halo Objects (MACHOs) provided by the MACHO and EROS collaborations.
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2019-04-19T17:04:27Z
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https://pure.mpg.de/pubman/faces/ViewItemFullPage.jsp?itemId=item_2636490
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Two critical functions of dendritic cells (DC) are to activate and functionally polarize T cells. Activated T cells can, in turn, influence DC maturation, although their effect on de novo DC development is poorly understood. Here we report that activation of T cells in mice, with either an anti-CD3 antibody or super antigen, drives the rapid formation of CD209+CD11b+CD11c+ MHC II+ DC from monocytic precursors (Mo-DC). GM-CSF is produced by T cells following activation, but surprisingly, it is not required for the formation of CD209+ Mo-DC. CD40L, however, is critical for the full induction of Mo-DC following T cell activation. T cell induced CD209+ Mo-DC are comparable to conventional CD209- DC in their ability to stimulate T cell proliferation. However, in contrast to conventional CD209- DC, CD209+ Mo-DC fail to effectively polarize T cells, as indicated by a paucity of T cell cytokine production. The inability of CD209+ Mo-DC to polarize T cells is partly explained by increased expression of PDL-2, since blockade of this molecule restores some polarizing capacity to the Mo-DC. These findings expand the range of signals capable of driving Mo-DC differentiation in vivo beyond exogenous microbial factors to include endogenous factors produced following T cell activation.
Copyright: © 2013 Davidson et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Funding: This study was supported by National Institutes of Health grants HL075462, DK082537 and DK096038. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Monocytes serve as precursors to a variety of cell types, including macrophages, osteoclasts and inflammatory dendritic cells (DC). Their ultimate fate is dependent on the interpretation of a diverse set of environmental cues often in the form of pathogen associated molecular patterns (PAMPs). The correct interpretation of these cues by monocytes is essential for both homeostasis and the generation of productive immune responses. For example, the differentiation of monocytes into TNFα/iNOS producing DC (TipDC) is critical for clearance of Listeria monocytogenes infection .
While certain pathogens are capable of driving monocyte differentiation into DC (Mo-DC), the formation of inflammatory DC, putatively of monocytic origin, during sterile autoimmune diseases suggests that non-microbial signals also drive Mo-DC formation [2-5]. Multiple endogenous stimuli, including GM-CSF stimulation , migration of monocytes across an endothelial barrier and CD40 ligation , promote Mo-DC formation in vitro. However, the signals that elicit Mo-DC formation in vivo during sterile inflammation have not been elucidated.
Since communication between DC and T cells is bidirectional and newly activated T cells are capable of maturing bystander DC , we considered the possibility that activated T cells might drive de novo DC formation from monocytes. Our group previously demonstrated that both human and murine T-helper cells induce Mo-DC differentiation during in vitro coculture experiments, but such activity has not yet been demonstrated in vivo. Due to the lack of a reliable marker capable of distinguishing between Mo-DC and conventional DC, it has been difficult until recently to study the in vivo biology of Mo-DC. Because of this, most investigators have studied the basic biology of Mo-DC by utilizing in vitro generated cells. Here, we took advantage of the discovery that Mo-DC, but not conventional DC (cDC), express the C-type lectin CD209 , to elucidate the capacity of T cells to elicit DC differentiation from monocytes in vivo.
Animal experiments were approved and conducted in accordance with Stanford University APLAC protocol #13605. All efforts were taken to minimize animal suffering.
Female C57BL/6, GM-CSFR KO and CD40L KO mice were purchased from Jackson Labs. OT-II TCR transgenic Rag2-/- mice were purchased from Taconic. All mice were housed in an American Association for the Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care–accredited animal facility and maintained in specific pathogen-free conditions.
Mice were injected intravenously with 10µg dialyzed PE conjugated anti-CD209 antibody clone 5H10 or dialyzed PE conjugated isotype control antibody (eBioscience). Immediately afterwards, mice were injected in the footpad with various doses of azide and endotoxin free anti-CD3 antibody clone 2C11 or the appropriate isotype control (eBioscience) or TSST-1 (Sigma). 16-18 hours later the draining popliteal, inguinal and axillary LNs were harvested and digested for 30 minutes at 37°C with 400U/ml collagenase IV (Worthington) in RPMI media (Gibco) supplemented with 100 U/mL penicillin, 100µg/mL streptomycin, 2mM L-glutamine and 10% fetal calf serum.
T cells were purified from LN suspensions with biotinylated anti-CD4 clone GK1.5 (Becton Dickinson) or biotinylated anti-CD8a clone 53-6.7 (Biolegend) followed by anti-biotin microbeads (Miltenyi).
Single cell suspensions were FC receptor blocked and then stained with antibodies conjugated to various fluorochromes or biotin. Antibodies used included I-A/I-E (MHCII), CD69, CD209, F4/80, CD206, CD11b, CD11c, CD40, DEC-205, Thy1.2, CD19, DX-5, Ly6c, CD80, CD86, CD40, PDL-1, PDL-2, ICOSL and B7-S1. Dead cells were gated out as DAPI+ (Invitrogen). Cells were analyzed on a LSR-II (BD) or sorted on a FACS Aria II (BD).
GM-CSF in serum obtained via cardiac puncture, and IFNγ, IL-17A, IL-10 and IL-4 in cell culture supernatants were measured by ELISA (eBioscience).
LN were harvested and fixed in 4% PFA + 10% sucrose in PBS for 30 minutes on ice before being embedded in OCT medium and snap frozen. 10 µm sections were air dried and then fixed in acetone at -20°C for 10 minutes. They then were stained with BMD10 hybridoma supernatant followed by goat α-rat IgG HRP followed by Alexa Fluor 488 Tyramide amplification (Invitrogen) followed by a 1 hour incubation with APC conjugated B220 (Biolegend). Cells were mounted with Fluoro-Gel II with DAPI (Electron Microscopy Sciences) and imaged using a Leica 2500 confocal microscope. Sorted cells were transferred to coverslip bottom chamber slides and imaged using differential interference contrast (DIC) microscopy on a Leica DM IRB with Metamorph software (Molecular Devices).
Sorted DC from anti-CD3 injected mice as well as B cells (CD19+ cells) or monocytes (CD11b+, Ly6c+) from wild type mice were sorted and pulsed with 2.5µg/ml ISQ peptide in media for 1 hour at 37°C. They were washed twice and then cocultured at various ratios with MACS purified OT-II CD4+ T cells from OT-II Rag KO mice in 200 µl in round bottom wells for 3 days. Thereafter the cells were pulsed with 1 μCi/well of H3-thymidine and cultured for an additional 18 hours before being harvested by Harvester 400 (Tomtec). Radioactivity was measured by a MicroBeta 1450 counter (LKB Wallac).
An unpaired student’s t-test (2-tailed) with a 95% confidence interval was performed in Prism (GraphPad) to analyze all experimental data unless otherwise stated. Error bars represent +/- SEM. P<0.05=*; P<0.01=**; P<0.001=***.
To assess the effect of T cell activation on monocytes in vivo, we injected mice with a functional grade anti-CD3 (clone 2C-11) antibody to induce T cell activation. As expected and reminiscent of the effect of anti-CD3 (Clone OKT3) in humans , this antibody induced a marked increase in the expression of the early T cell activation marker CD69 on T cells (Figure 1A). As shown in Figure 1B, 18 hours following anti-CD3 injection, the frequency of monocytes (DAPI-, side scatterlo/int, CD11b+, CD11c-, Ly6c+) in the bone marrow and blood of anti-CD3 injected mice was significantly reduced compared to that of control mice injected with PBS. In contrast, there was a 10-fold increase in the frequency of monocytes in LNs (Figure 1C). There was also a large increase in the number of CD11c+ DC in these LNs, but the origin of these DC was unclear.
Figure 1. T cell activation mobilizes monocytes into LNs and promotes formation of CD209+ DC.
A) Mice were injected in the footpad with 10µg anti-CD3 or an isotype control antibody. 18 hours later cells from the draining LNs were stained for the early T cell activation marker CD69. Cells shown were gated on DAPI-, Thy1.2+ cells. N=2 per group. Both duplicates are shown. B) Mice were injected in the footpad with 10µg anti-CD3 or PBS. 18 hours later, bone marrow, cardiac blood or draining LNs were stained for DAPI-, side scatter -/int, CD11b+, CD11c-, Ly6c+ monocytes. Shown are mean cell percentage and SEM, N=2 mice per group. C) Mice were injected in the footpad with 10µg anti-CD3 or PBS. 18 hours later, draining LNs were evaluated for the frequency of CD11b+ CD11c+ DC or CD11b+ CD11c- monocytes. Shown is one example representative of more than 5 individual experiments. D) Mice were injected in the footpad with 10µg anti-CD3, isotype control, anti-CD28 or PBS. The absolute number of CD209+, CD11b+, CD11c+, MHC II+, CD40+, Ly6c-, DAPI- DC from 3 draining LNs is shown. Shown are mean cell number and SEM, N=4, representative of more than 5 individual experiments. E) Shown is one example of CD209 staining compared to isotype control staining of LN CD11c+, CD11b+ DC 18 hours after anti-CD3 antibody injection. The results shown are representative of 2 independent experiments. F) Mice were injected in the footpad with the indicated amounts of anti-CD3 antibody. 18 hours later the absolute number of LN CD209+ DC was determined with flow cytometry. G) Mice were injected in the footpad with 10µg anti-CD3 or an isotype control. 18 hours later draining LNs were removed, fixed and frozen. The sections were then stained for the presence of CD209 and B220. The scale bar is 50µM. H) Mice were injected IV with 25µg TSST-1 or PBS. 16 hours later, both inguinal and brachial LNs were harvested and the absolute number of CD209+, CD11b+, CD11c+, MHC II+, CD40+, Ly6c-, DAPI- DC are shown as mean and SEM, N=4 mice per group.
As has been shown with a proprietary anti-CD209 clone , a commercially available anti-CD209 antibody (clone 5H10 from eBioscience) also effectively labels DC and not monocytes . To determine the frequency of CD209+ Mo-DC formation following T cell activation, mice were injected intravenously with 10µg of dialyzed PE-conjugated anti-CD209 antibody and immediately thereafter 10µg of anti-CD3 activating antibody was administered by footpad injection. Twenty-four hours later, the draining LNs were removed and analyzed by flow cytometry to determine the frequency of CD209+ Mo-dC.T cell activation resulted in a highly significant increase in the number of CD209+ DC in the LNs (Figure 1D). The increase in CD209+ Mo-DC required T cell activation, as an isotype control antibody for anti-CD3, or an anti-CD28 antibody that binds T cells but does not activate them had no effect on CD209+ Mo-DC number. These DC did not acquire the anti-CD209 antibody non-specifically, as they did not bind a PE-conjugated isotype control antibody (Figure 1E). Further, the absolute number of DC in the LNs was highly correlated with the amount of anti-CD3 antibody injected (Figure 1F).
The presence of CD209+ Mo-DC in the LNs was confirmed by immunofluorescence staining of frozen tissue from anti-CD3 treated mice, using a different anti-CD209 mAb (Figure 1G). Interestingly, the CD209 staining appeared to be localized primarily within vesicles of Mo-DC, whereas the previously published CD209 staining of Mo-DC formed after LPS injection appeared to be primarily surface bound . The CD209+ Mo-DC were present inside the B220- T cell zone of LNs, consistent with the hypothesis that they may be involved in regulating T cell responses.
To ensure that this phenomenon was due to T cell activation and not to an off-target effect of the anti-CD3 antibody, we studied the effect of a bacterial super-antigen, toxic shock syndrome toxin-1 (TSST-1), on the formation of CD209+ Mo-DC. TSST-1 activates T cells by cross-linking MHC determinants with the T cell receptor (TCR) leading to the rapid secretion of T cell cytokines including IL-2, TNFα and IFNγ and the expression of CD40L . Interestingly, whereas injection of the super antigens SEB and SEA can result in T cell anergy, injection of TSST-1 does not . We injected mice intravenously with 25µg of TSST-1 and examined the LNs 18 hours later. There was a 9-fold increase in the number of CD209+ Mo-DC compared to PBS treated control mice (Figure 1H). These data demonstrate that robust T cell activation in vivo with either anti-CD3 or TSST-1 results in the differentiation of monocytes into cells with a DC phenotype.
To further characterize the T cell induced CD209+ Mo-DC, we compared their cell surface phenotype with that of CD209-, CD205+ cDC and Ly6C+, CD11c- monocytes from the same mice (Figure 2A). CD209+ Mo-DC and CD209- cDC expressed similar levels of MHC II and the costimulatory molecules CD80, CD86 and CD40. These levels were many-fold higher than found on monocytes. However, the CD209+ Mo-DC expressed higher levels of CD206, CD11b and F4/80 than cDC, suggesting that these Mo-DC may differ functionally from cDC.
Figure 2. Activated T cell driven CD209+ Mo-DC stimulate T cell proliferation, but do not induce T cell polarization.
A) Mice were injected in the footpad with 10µg anti-CD3. 18 hours later, LN monocytes gated as Ly6c+, CD11c-, side scatterlo/inT cells, Mo-DC gated as Ly6c-, CD11c+, CD209+, CD205- cells and cDC gated as Ly6c-, CD11c+, CD209-, CD205+ cells were evaluated for expression of various surface proteins. Shown is a representative example from one mouse. B) The gating scheme for sorting CD209+ Mo-DC and CD209- cDC is shown. C) DC sorted as in B) were plated on cover slip bottom chamber slides in medium and immediately imaged. The scale bar is 20µM. D) Cells sorted as in B) along with monocytes and B-cells were pulsed with 2.5µg/ml MHC class II restricted OVA peptide ISQ for 90 minutes at 37°C. They were then washed twice and plated at various ratios with OT-II CD4+ T cells from RAG KO mice. After 72 hours the cells were pulsed with H3-thymidine and harvested 18 hours later. Results of triplicate cultures are shown as mean and SEM, and are representative of 3 independent experiments. E) Cultures were set up as in D) except in some conditions 1µg/ml LPS was added during pulsing with peptide. After 72 hours, the cell-free supernatant was harvested and cytokines were measured by ELISA. Results are shown as mean and SEM, performed in triplicate from the 1 DC : 20 T cells condition, and are representative of 3 independent experiments. ND = not detected.
To compare the immunological properties of CD209+ Mo-DC and CD209- cDC, we sorted these cells from the LNs 18 hours after T cell activation based on their differential expression of CD209 (Figure 2B). The cells were imaged with standard DIC and time-lapse microscopy (Figure 2C). Both the CD209+ and CD209- DC displayed wispy dendrites, which could be seen in constant motion via time-lapse microscopy (Movie S1 and Movie S2). The DC subsets were subsequently pulsed with the MHC class II restricted OVA peptide ISQ in the absence of additional exogenous stimuli and cultured with CD4+ OVA specific OT-II T cells for 72 hours. CD209+ and CD209- DC were equally effective at inducing T cell proliferation and were more than 100 times more potent than the same number of monocytes or B-cells (Figure 2D). Whereas large amounts of IFNγ, IL-4, IL-17A and IL-10 were present in the T cell/cDC (CD209-) cultures, indicative of Th1, Th2, Th17 and Treg cell polarization, respectively, much less cytokine was detected in the T cell/Mo-DC (CD209+) cultures (Figure 2E). Addition of LPS, a strong stimulus of DC maturation, to the cultures did not result in an increase in cytokine production. Thus, CD209+ T cell induced Mo-DC are efficient at presenting antigen and activating CD4+ T cells, but deficient in their ability to polarize these cells into the canonical Th1, Th2 and Th17 subtypes.
We next investigated the mechanism responsible for CD209+ Mo-DC formation after T cell activation. We hypothesized that GM-CSF produced by activated T cells may contribute to Mo-DC formation, as this cytokine is well known to drive Mo-DC formation and T cells can produce it after activation . A time course experiment showed that GM-CSF was present in the serum of mice 2 hours following administration of the anti-CD3 antibody (Figure 3A), and CD4+ and CD8+ T cells isolated from the LNs of naïve mice produced GM-CSF when activated in vitro with the same anti-CD3 antibody used in vivo (Figure 3B). Moreover, LNs depleted of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells did not produce any detectable GM-CSF, indicating that these cells are the sole source of GM-CSF in LNs following anti-CD3 administration. However, when mice were injected with 100µg of a GM-CSF blocking antibody or an isotype control antibody, together with anti-CD3, there was no significant difference in the frequency of CD209+ Mo-DC at 24 hours in the draining LNs (Figure 3C). It is possible that GM-CSF is produced in an immunological synapse or in some other manner rendering it inaccessible to our anti-GM-CSF antibody. To address this possibility, we utilized GM-CSFR KO mice that are unable to respond to GM-CSF (Figure 3D). Following injection of anti-CD3 antibody into groups of GM-CSFR heterozygous and KO mice, the extent of Mo-DC formation was similar in both groups (Figure 3E), demonstrating that signaling though the GM-CSFR is not necessary for the formation of Mo-DC following T cell activation. Thus, although GM-CSF can induce the differentiation of monocytes into DC, it is not required for the formation of CD209+ Mo-DC after T cell activation.
Figure 3. CD40L but not GM-CSF is needed for CD209+ Mo-DC formation.
A) Serum from cardiac blood was assayed for GM-CSF at various times after footpad injection of 10µg anti-CD3 antibody. N=2 mice per time point. Results are shown as mean and SEM. B) CD4+ and CD8+ T cells were positively selected from the LNs of wild-type mice using biotinylated antibodies and anti-biotin microbeads. CD4- CD8- negative LN cells were also collected via negative selection. 1 x 106 cells were cultured in triplicate in plates that were previously coated with 1µg/ml anti-CD3 antibody. Cell free supernatant was harvested after 24 and 48 hours for ELISA. C) Mice were injected IP with 100µg anti-GM-CSF blocking antibody or isotype control antibody. 4 hours later, the mice were injected in the footpad with 10µg/ml anti-CD3. 18 hours later the frequency of CD209+, CD11b+, CD11c+, MHC II+, CD40+, Ly6c-, DAPI- Mo-DC was determined. Cells shown were first gated on Thy1.2-, CD19-, DX5- cells. N=2 mice per group. The data shown are representative of 2 independent experiments. D) Bone marrow monocytes from wild-type or GM-CSFR KO mice were cultured with 50µg/ml GM-CSF and 20µg/ml IL-4 for 5 days. The cells were then analyzed by flow cytometry. Cells shown were gated on DAPI-, CD1lb+ cells. The data shown are representative of 2 independent experiments, 1 mouse per group. E) GM-CSFR heterozygous and GM-CSFR KO mice were injected in the footpad with 10µg anti-CD3. 18 hours later the frequency of CD209+, CD11b+, CD11c+, Mo-DC in the draining LNs was determined and the results are shown as the percentage of live LN cells. N=2 mice per group. F) Wild-type and CD40L KO mice were injected in the footpad with 10µg anti-CD3. 18 hours later the absolute number of CD209+, CD11b+, CD11c+ Mo-DC in the draining LNs was determined with flow cytometry. N=4 mice per group.
We next investigated the role of CD40L in this process. Unlike most T cell cytokines CD40L is expressed within minutes of T cell activation, due to the presence of preformed CD40L in secretory lysosomes, and is then maintained via protein synthesis . As shown in Figure 3F, mice lacking CD40L had far fewer CD209+ DC in their LN compared to wild-type controls following injection of anti-CD3 antibody. This result demonstrates a critical role for CD40L in the development of CD209+ Mo-DC.
Many alternative costimulatory molecules in addition to CD80 and CD86 have been shown to modulate T cell stimulation and polarization . Because CD209+ Mo-DC resemble cDC in their morphology and expression of MHC II and classical costimulatory molecules, we hypothesized that they may express different alternative costimulatory molecules rendering them unable to induce T cell polarization. CD209+ and CD209- DC from anti-CD3 treated or control mice were evaluated for expression of PDL-1, PDL-2, ICOSL and B7-S1 (Figure 4A). PDL-1 was slightly upregulated on both DC subsets after anti-CD3 stimulation, while ICOSL and B7-S1 remained unchanged. On the other hand, PDL-2 was upregulated by 9-fold on CD209- DC and by more than 70-fold on CD209+ Mo-DC compared to DC from control mice (Figure 4B).
Figure 4. Upregulated PDL-2 expression inhibits CD209+ Mo-DC from polarizing naïve T cells.
A) Mice were injected in the footpad with 10µg anti-CD3 or PBS. 18 hours later, the draining LNs were evaluated for the expression of alternative costimulatory molecules on CD11c+, CD11b+, Ly6c- DC subsets. Results shown are representative of 2 independent experiments. Red (Mo-DC [CD209+] from anti-CD3 treated mice), black (cDC [CD209-] from anti-CD3 treated mice) and gray (total DC from PBS treated control mice). B) The DC subsets shown in boxes in A) were evaluated for PDL-2 expression (MFI = median fluorescence intensity). C) CD209+ and CD209- DC were sorted and cultured at a 1:10 ratio with naïve CD4+ T cells from OT-II RAG KO mice in the presence of high (2.50µg/ml) or low (0.25µg/ml) ISQ peptide and 10µg/ml anti-PDL-2 antibody or an isotype control antibody. After 72 hours, the cells were pulsed with H3-thymidine and harvested 20 hours later. The results of triplicate cultures are shown as mean and SEM, done in triplicate. D) Aliquots of the supernatants from the cultures in C) were removed after 72 hours of culture and tested for IFNγ by ELISA. The results of triplicate cultures are shown as mean and SEM. Iso refers to isotype control antibody.
To investigate the role of PDL-2 in the functions of anti-CD3 induced Mo-DC, we sorted DC into CD209+ and CD209- subsets and cultured the cells with low (0.25µg/ml) or high (2.5µg/ml) amounts of OVA peptide, along with OT-II T cells and a functional grade blocking or isotype control antibody to PDL-2. As shown in Figure 4C, anti-PDL-2 had no effect on the stimulatory capacity of either DC subset, regardless of antigen concentration. To examine the possibility that blockade of PDL-2 might enable the CD209+ DC to polarize T cells, we evaluated the culture supernatant from the previous experiment for the presence of IFNγ (Figure 4D). At both high and low antigen concentrations, blockade of PDL-2 reestablished the ability of CD209+ DC to induce IFNγ production, albeit at levels lower than that produced by T cells cultured with CD209- DC. Anti-PDL-2 also enhanced the induction of IFNγ by CD209- DC. These data demonstrate that PDL-2 is highly expressed on CD209+ Mo-DC following T cell activation and helps prevent these cells from polarizing, but not activating, CD4+ T cells.
This study demonstrates that T cell activation alone, in the absence of PAMPs, is sufficient to elicit monocyte differentiation into CD209+ Mo-DC, in vivo. Although T cell induced DCs were found in LNs, their differentiation from monocytes did not necessarily occur there. Under inflammatory conditions, monocytes from bone marrow and blood infiltrate tissues where they can encounter activated T cells. In this regard, our previous studies of inflamed skin in patients with psoriasis and atopic dermatitis revealed frequent multipoint interactions between activated T cells and monocytes, as well as clusters of T cells, monocytes and DCs, suggesting that DC differentiation from monocytes occurs at such sites. Whether in the current studies DCs differentiated in non-lymphoid tissues and then migrated to draining LNs, or differentiated from monocytes in LNs, is unknown, since our data are consistent with either possibility. We found that CD40L is required for optimal generation of CD209+ Mo-DC. While soluble CD40L can be released in vivo, it seems more likely that chemokines such as CCL2 recruited monocytes to tissues where interaction with CD40L+ T cells directed their differentiation into CD209+ Mo-DC.
The formation of CD209+ Mo-DC correlated with the intensity of T cell activation. Interestingly, Mo-DC formation was not observed with anti-CD3 antibody doses less than 1µg, indicating that a minimum threshold of T cell activation was required. Such a threshold is likely exceeded during infection and sterile inflammatory disorders such as graft versus host disease (GVHD) and transplant rejection, where both T cells and DC are believed to play a critical pathogenic role [22-24]. It is plausible that monocytes serve as a pool of reserve DC that form during acute or sustained inflammation. Whereas certain microbial products can drive such DC formation, so can activated T cells whose specificity and memory for past infections make them ideally suited for this purpose. On the other hand, if the T cell stimuli are not eliminated, as might occur in the setting of GVHD or sustained reactivity against self, Mo-DC may contribute to tissue-damaging inflammation.
Although in our study, CD209+ DC were potent inducers of T cell proliferation, they were severely impaired in their ability to polarize naïve T cells, as indicated by the scarcity of IFNγ, IL-17A or IL-4 in the supernatants of CD209+ Mo-DC and T cell co-cultures. The inability of these cells to polarize T cells is partly explained by their increased expression of the alternative costimulatory molecule PDL-2, since blockade of this molecule restores some polarizing capacity to the CD209+ Mo-DC. There are conflicting reports on the function of PDL-2, which is also known as B7-DC and CD273. While some reports claim that this molecule is stimulatory , the majority indicate that PDL-2 has an immunosuppressive effect by signaling though PD-1 and potentially other unidentified receptors on T cells [26-28]. Importantly, at least one study suggests that the immunosuppressive effect of PDL-2 on T cells depends on the amount of antigen and thus the strength of the activation signal provided to the T cells [29,30].
Our data indicate that PDL-2 molecules on T cell induced Mo-DC act as a brake on T cell polarization, but not T cell proliferation. How PDL-2 regulates T cell polarization is not known, but based on studies with PDL-1, it appears that the intensity of PD1 signaling is critical in the regulation of multiple cytokines . It is possible that PDL-2 signaling behaves similarly, as it is a known ligand for PD1. However, other explanations are possible, since PDL-1 causes a conformational change in PD-1 upon binding, but PDL-2 does not and both ligands compete for the same receptor, yet have different affinities. Therefore, one effect of high PDL-2 expression might be a decrease in PDL-1 mediated signaling . Interestingly, there are data demonstrating that PDL-2 has biological activity even when PD-1 binding is abolished, suggesting there are yet unidentified pathways by which PDL-2 may be modulating T cell polarization .
The limited T cell polarizing activity of CD209+ Mo-DC presumably mitigates the risk that these cells promote or enhance inflammation. On the other hand, in addition to reduced levels of proinflammatory cytokines in the supernatants of the Mo-DC and T cell cultures, the amount of IL-10 produced in these cultures was also lower than that produced in cDC and T cell co-cultures. These results suggest that T cells stimulated by CD209+ Mo-DC probably rely on other cues for their polarization. In the absence of such cues, these newly activated T cells may take on an IL-10 secreting immunosuppressive phenotype and serve as a brake on inflammation. This notion of specific DC subsets serving to inhibit massive inflammatory responses has been reported with specialized DC capable of producing the tryptophan catabolizing enzyme indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) after being exposed to large amounts of CpG DNA in vivo . Based on these results, we speculate that CD209+ Mo-DC elicited by activated T cells may play a proinflammatory or anti-inflammatory role in vivo, depending on the nature of the signals they receive.
Time-lapse movie of CD209+ DC. Freshly sorted DC were plated onto coverslip bottom chamber slides in media and imaged. 20 minutes of microscopy was acquired at a rate of 1 frame every 10 seconds. The data is presented as a movie shown at 100X actual speed.
Time-lapse movie of CD209- DC. Freshly sorted DC were plated onto coverslip bottom chamber slides in media and imaged. 20 minutes of microscopy was acquired at a rate of 1 frame every 10 seconds. The data is presented as a movie shown at 100X actual speed.
We would like to thank the laboratory of Ralph Steinman (Rockefeller University) for generously providing supernatant from anti-CD209 hybridoma clone BMD10.
Conceived and designed the experiments: MGD EGE. Performed the experiments: MGD MNA JAK MMS JCG RY. Analyzed the data: MGD MNA JAK MMS JCG RY EGE. Wrote the manuscript: MGD MNA EGE. Supervised the work: EGE.
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Is the Subject Area "Antibody isotypes" applicable to this article?
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2019-04-19T03:01:51Z
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https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0076258
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The National Academies Press, 2016.
We are very pleased to present the 2018 Annual Report that highlights major research accomplishments by the Atmospheric Chemistry Observations and Modeling (ACOM) Laboratory.
During this past year, ACOM has developed a comprehensive plan for its research and support activities for the period 2019-2023. The plan builds on ACOM’s strengths and takes into account the recommendations made by a “Blue Ribbon Panel” convened by NCAR in 2017 to suggest ways by which atmospheric chemistry could be made more prominent in the Center and how ACOM could better contribute to the success of the community.
As a laboratory belonging to a National Center, ACOM has a particular responsibility: support the broad agenda of the US research community, in particular the university groups that conduct fundamental research in atmospheric chemistry. To embrace the broad agenda of the community, ACOM must therefore have a broad interest and maintain different competences supporting experimental as well as modeling aspects. At the same time, it must tackle difficult, focused and intellectually challenging frontier questions that are in line with national and international research priorities. In this regard, the overall objective of ACOM is to advance the fundamental knowledge required to improve our predictive capability of short-term chemical weather and long-term chemical climate.
The major focus of ACOM’s research in the period 2019 to 2023 will be a detailed investigation of reactive carbon chemistry in the atmosphere under different NOx environments. With effective measures taken to reduce the anthropogenic emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx), chemical regimes in the atmosphere are gradually changing. Low NOx chemical paths are becoming increasingly more important for the degradation of natural and anthropogenic hydrocarbons, thus modifying the oxidizing power of the atmosphere and hence the formation of ozone and multiphase organic species (e.g., secondary organic aerosols).
At the same time, an increasing fraction of the world’s population will be living in urban areas. Ensuring that populated areas experience healthy air is therefore an important consideration for the development of smart and sustainable cities. ACOM will also therefore provide a quantitative description of the reactive carbon photochemistry under moderate to high NOx environments.
The influence of the complex interactions between chemical, radiative and dynamical processes taking place in the middle and upper atmosphere on the chemistry of the lower atmosphere and on climate variability and change remains poorly quantified. Jointly with the Climate and Global Dynamics (CGD) Laboratory and the High-Altitude Observatory (HAO), ACOM will further develop the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model (WACCM) and investigate the two-way stratospheric-troposphere coupling across times scales, and how these interactions will be evolving as stratospheric ozone in polar regions is recovering and climate is changing. A specific project will investigate how persistent convection in the Asian monsoon region transports and modifies chemical species of anthropogenic and biomass burning origins in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere.
Within five years, ACOM will develop together with partners in the community a computationally feasible global modeling framework that allows for simulation of large-scale atmospheric phenomena, while still resolving chemistry at emission and exposure relevant scales (down to ~4 km, through regional refinement). The multi-scale modeling infrastructure for Chemistry and Aerosols (MUSICA) and its components will be open source and flexible in order to facilitate community co-development and use for research and operational purposes. Its development will involve new strategic partnerships with universities and other interested research centers.
In order to support key research activities conducted by the university community and to meet the science goals of the Laboratory, ACOM will modernize it observational capabilities, and specifically acquire and develop state-of-the-art instruments based on chemical ionization mass spectrometry for the quantification of complex multi-functional organics both in the laboratory and in the atmosphere, specifically from the NSF GV and C-130 aircraft.
In cooperation with the NCAR Earth Observing Laboratory (EOL), ACOM will continue to support the community by deploying instruments for a myriad of chemical species, both in situ and via remote sensing techniques.
The most recent of Earth’s five largest mass extinctions occurred at the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) boundary, about 66 million years ago. It led to the disappearance of the dinosaurs and coincided with the impact of a 10-km asteroid at Chicxulub, in the Yucatán peninsula (Alvarez et al., 1980; Schulte et al., 2010). A world-wide soot layer is found at the K-Pg boundary that is estimated to contain a total of 15,000 Tg of fine soot (Wolbach et al., 1990). This soot is thought to have been produced by global fires triggered when rock, vaporized and propelled to great heights by the asteroid impact, recondensed and re-entered the atmosphere. These rock “spherules” were heated by friction and produced an infrared heat pulse intense enough to ignite vegetation (Melosh et al., 1990) and kill exposed animals. The amount of soot found at the K-Pg boundary is sufficient to account for the burning of the entire plant biomass at the time of the impact.
Using the NCAR Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model (WACCM), a high-top Earth system model with full chemistry, an interactive ocean, and advanced aerosol microphysics from the Community Aerosol and Radiation Model for Atmospheres (CARMA), Bardeen et al. (2017) simulated the climate effects of the K-Pg soot injection. Soot is a very good absorber of solar radiation, which heats the air and lofts it into the stratosphere, where it has a lifetime of about 6 years. As shown in Figure 1, injection into the atmosphere of 15,000 Tg of soot reduces sunlight at the surface below 1% of normal (sufficient to suppress photosynthesis) for almost 2 years. The reduction in sunlight also causes average surface cooling of the land by much as 28˚C and of the oceans by 11˚C. Water injected into the atmosphere by the impact produces odd-hydrogen radicals, which along with much higher stratospheric temperatures destroy stratospheric ozone. While broiling from the hot spherules and global fires may have been responsible for killing the dinosaurs and other large land animals, colder surface temperatures and reduced light levels are likely to have been major contributors to extinction in the ocean. In particular, light levels below 1% of normal would have interrupted the marine food chain. Future versions of WACCM that include more detailed land and ocean biogeochemistry are expected to provide an even better understanding of the environmental changes that led to the K-Pg mass extinction.
Figure 1. Ratio of downwelling solar flux at the surface from various sized injections of fine soot as a fraction of normal daytime flux. A reduction of sunlight to less than 1% (10-2) of normal suppresses photosynthesis. For comparison, full moonlight is about 10-6 of the normal daytime flux, and a moonless night is 10-8 of normal. Click for larger image.
Alvarez, L. W., W. Alvarez, F. Asaro, H. V. Michel (1980), Extraterrestrial cause for the cretaceous-tertiary extinction, Science, 208, 1095–1108.
Bardeen, C. G., R. R. Garcia, O. B. Toon, A. J. Conley (2017), On transient climate change at the Cretaceous−Paleogene boundary due to atmospheric soot injections, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A., 114, E7415-E7424, doi:10.1073/pnas.1708980114.
Melosh, H. J., N. N. Schneider, K. J. Zahnle, and D. Latham (1990), Ignition of global fires at the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary, Nature, 343, 251-254.
Schulte, P., L. Alegret, I. Arenillas, et al. (2010), The Chicxulub asteroid impact and mass extinction at the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary, Science, 327, 1214–1218.
Wolbach, W. S., I. Gilmour, and E. Anders (1990), Major wildfires at the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary, Geol. Soc. Am. Spec. Pap., 247, 391–400.
Trace Organic Gas Analyzer (TOGA) for speciated measurements of a wide range of VOCs (TOGA; PI Eric Apel, Rebecca Hornbrook, and Alan Hills).
Charged-coupled device Actinic Flux Spectroradiometer (CAFS) for spectrally resolved down- and up-welling radiative measurements and calculations of ~40 photolysis frequencies (PI Samuel Hall; and Kirk Ullmann). Brown Carbon (BrC) remote sensing is a secondary product available from spectral analysis (see Figure 2).
Implementation of biogenic ocean emissions and calculation of acetaldehyde in CAMChem.
CESM2 participation in an ATom model intercomparison.
Assessment of the production, removal, and recycling mechanisms of HOx radicals using an observationally constrained box model and CAM-Chem.
Evaluation of different anthropogenic and biomass burning emission inventories.
Newly developed online-mechanism for exploring the oceanic influences on acetone, methyl nitrate, isoprene, and organohalogens.
Identification of species and regions where model improvement is needed based on the ATOM observations.
Statistical analysis of cloud influences on photolysis frequencies based on ATom observations.
Both measurements and modeling outputs will be publically available in the ATom archive in accordance with NASA public data release dates.
Figure 1: Four deployments of the NASA DC-8 flight track sampling for ATom covering 80.6°S to 82.9°N and 164.6°E to14.3°W and 0-13 km altitude. Click for larger image.
Figure 2: Brown carbon (BrC) and mineral dust aerosol indicator as determined by the ACOM CAFS instrument during ATom-1. A new technique exploits anomalous spectral absorption features to detect the presence of these aerosols for qualitative, real-time, remote sensing of biomass burning (BB). The data may prove useful for examination of the evolution of BrC, including chemical processing and hygroscopic growth. The induced UV changes also feed back to the photolysis frequencies affecting the chemistry. Most evident are the African biomass burning smoke plumes in the southern Atlantic and the Saharan dust plume in the north Atlantic. Click for larger image.
Figure 3: Sunset over Arctic sea ice during the ATom mission as seen from the NASA DC-8 aircraft (Photo credit: Samuel Hall) Click for larger image.
Western wildfire smoke has a significant impact on air quality, nutrient cycles, weather and climate. The chemistry inside a smoke plume during the first 24 hours after emission affects reactive nitrogen partitioning, cloud chemistry and nucleation, and aerosol scattering and absorption, all of which can impact air quality and climate.
The NSF-funded WE-CAN ground-based and airborne field campaign aimed to systematically characterize the emissions and first 24 hours of smoke plume evolution from western U.S. wildfires. The project, led by Dr. Emily Fischer at Colorado State University, focused on three science questions related to better quantifying processes associated with fixed nitrogen, absorbing aerosols, and cloud activation and chemistry in wildfire plumes. WE-CAN deployed a large suite of measurement instruments run by both university and NCAR teams on the NSF/NCAR C-130 and also involved a ground-based mobile component.
The C-130 was based in Boise, Idaho from 20 July – 31 August 2018 to maximize the opportunities to sample smoke plumes from northwestern wildfires in California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Nevada, and Colorado during the peak of the 2018 fire season. All three sampling goals of WE-CAN were achieved. In all, during the 16 research flights based out of Boise, 21 different wildfire plumes were sampled, each with a detailed fuel assessment provided by the local regional Fire Service. Following the research science portion of the field campaign, a subset of the instruments were run during an educational component, involving three flights based out of Broomfield, Colorado over a two-week period in early September 2018. During these flights, the C-130 sampled smoke plumes from two more fires, including a prescribed fire in Colorado.
Several ACOM teams deployed measurement instruments on the C-130 for WE-CAN, including the Trace Organic Gas Analyzer (TOGA; PI Eric Apel, Rebecca Hornbrook, Alan Hills), the HIAPER Airborne Radiation Package (HARP) actinic flux measurement (PI Sam Hall, Kirk Ullmann), the PAN Chemical Ionization Mass Spectrometer (PAN-CIMS; PI Frank Flocke), a Picarro CO-CO2-CH4 instrument and an Aerodyne Research Inc. CO-N2O-H2O instrument (PI Teresa Campos), and the NO-NO2-O3 (PI Andy Weinheimer, Denise Montzka, Geoff Tyndall). Preliminary data submissions for most data sets are due by 15 November 2018, and final quality controlled data are due 15 March 2019. Preliminary analyses will be presented by many teams at a targeted session at the 21st Conference on Atmospheric Chemistry at the AMS Annual Meeting in Phoenix, Arizona in January 2019.
Figure 1. Aerial view of the Rabbit Foot Fire in Idaho on 13 Aug 2018. Smoke from the Rabbit Foot Fire was sampled by the NSF/NCAR C-130 during three separate WE-CAN research flights and several times for longer durations by ground-based mobile labs. (Photo credit: Rebecca Hornbrook) Click for larger image.
The KORUS-AQ experiment in May-June 2016 resulted in detailed airborne and ground-based observations across Korea, providing a comprehensive data set for studying air quality in Seoul and across the country. Global and regional air quality models are using these observations for evaluation of model chemistry and dynamics as well as emissions across the region. In turn, models are providing context for the observations. A study led by a PhD student visiting ACOM uses CAM-chem including a number of tagged CO tracers, i.e. artificial model species that track emissions from various regions (Tang et al., 2018). The results of this study provide one of the indicators of the periods and locations that local (Korea) sources are more or less important than contributions from East Asia or other regions. Due to the active meteorological conditions during the campaign period there is significant variability at the sites in (Olympic Park) and near (Taehwa) Seoul. The vertical profile of contributions over Seoul shows that sources from outside Korea are important at all altitudes, but that local sources are large near the surface.
Figure 1. Tagged CO tracers from CAM-chem extracted for surface sites (Taehwa Research Forest, Olympic Park and Fukue Japan) and for the DC-8 aircraft profiles over Seoul (right plot). Each color represents the contribution to CO from various regions or source. The black line in the surface site plots shows the observations. Click for larger image.
Tang, Wenfu, L.K. Emmons, A.F. Arellano, B. Gaubert, et al., Source contribution to carbon monoxide during KORUS-AQ using CAM-chem tagged tracers, submitted to J. Geophys. Res., 2018.
Tropospheric ozone (O3) plays an important role in both atmospheric chemistry and chemistry-climate interactions. Understanding the controlling mechanisms of tropospheric O3 requires integrated studies of both observations and modeling. During the field campaign Convective Transport of Active Species in the Tropics (CONTRAST, January–February 2014), the in situ observations from the NSF/NCAR Gulfstream V (GV) research aircraft revealed a large region over the tropical western Pacific where the midtroposphere had a layered structure with high ozone and low water vapor. Analysis revealed a bimodal ozone distribution in the region (Pan et al., 2015). The processes that produced the dry and ozone rich layer are a topic of research, especially the relative roles of the transport from the stratosphere and the ozone production in the troposphere following biomass burning.
As part of collaborative research between NCAR ACOM and the Juelich Research Center (Germany), a model investigation integrated with data analysis is conducted to understand the roles and quantify the processes revealed by the observations. Using the Chemical Lagrangian Model of the Stratosphere (CLaMS), developed at Juelich, and the NCAR CAM-Chem (Community Atmospheric Model with chemistry, version 4) simulations, the contribution of transported stratospheric air to the observed ozone rich layers is quantified. Using the modeled stratospheric tracer and 3-D back trajectories, this work identified that 60% of the observed ozone-rich layer air masses contain significant stratospheric influence. Figure 1 shows the result of model simulation from both CLaMS and CAM-chem. This result indicates that the isentropic transport is an effective process for stratospheric air to mix into the tropical midtroposphere.
This work also examined possible contribution to the high ozone layer from ozone production related to biomass burning emissions. Clear chemical signature of this process is found in ∼8% of the ozone-rich air masses in the tropical midtroposphere, identified by positive correlations among O3, HCN, and CO. This chemical signature is highlighted in Figure 2.
Overall, this analysis provides the first quantitative diagnosis of the contribution from the stratosphere-to-troposphere transport in the CONTRAST airborne observations, highlights the importance of large-scale transport and mixing that couples the stratosphere and troposphere. This work has been published in JGR-Atmosphere (Tao et al., 2018).
Figure 1. Left panel shows the percent of stratospheric air in the tropical mid troposphere (320 K potential temperature surface) from the CLaMS-2D model simulation. Right panel shows the mixing ratio of stratospheric O3 from NCAR CAM-chem (Community Atmospheric Model with chemistry, version 4) simulation for 29 January 2014. GV flight track for research flight RF07 on the same day is shown as the thick gray lines. Additional information for the dynamics is shown for 3 PVU isoline (solid yellow contours), which identify the boundary of stratosphere and troposphere on this potential temperature surface, and the jet stream location (red contours, horizontal wind 40 m/s). (from Tao et al. 2018) Click for larger image.
Figure 2. The chemical signature of biomass burning emission-facilitated ozone production is shown by positive correlations between the two pairs of species HCN-CO and O3-CO, as well as the elevated CO. In this figure, there is a clear distinction between samples with CO less or greater then 105 ppbv. The high CO group shows positive correlations (the 10-s averaged observations during RF10 and RF11 (gray crosses)), and the lower CO group do not show a clear relationship between tracers (the 60-s averaged observations marked by circles, both blue and red). See Tao et al., (2018) for more details. Click for larger image.
Pan, L.L., S. B. Honomichl, W. J. Randel, E. C. Apel, E. L. Atlas, S. P. Beaton, J. F. Bresch, R. Hornbrook, D. E. Kinnison, J-F Lamarque, A. Saiz-Lopez, R. J. Salawitch, and A. J. Weinheimer, Bimodal distribution of free tropospheric ozone over the tropical western Pacific revealed by airborne observations, Geophys. Res. Lett., 42, 7844–7851, doi: 10.1002/2015GL065562.
Tao, M., Pan, L. L., Konopka, P., Honomichl, S. B., Kinnison, D. E., & Apel, E. C. (2018). A Lagrangian model diagnosis of stratospheric contributions to tropical midtropospheric air. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 123, 9764–9785. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JD028696.
ACOM is developing, with community partners, an integrated research program to study transformations of tropospheric ‘reactive carbon’ (rC) species. These ‘rC’ compounds are emitted in very large quantity (> 1000 Tg/year) into the atmosphere from both anthropogenic and natural (biogenic) sources. Their chemistry is central to the workings of the troposphere, providing the ‘fuel’ that drives oxidative processes, controls radical and NOx budgets, and ultimately controls the formation of critical secondary pollutants such as ozone and secondary organic aerosol (SOA). Developing predictive capability regarding the formation of these secondary pollutants, in particular the impacts of the SOA on human health and Earth’s radiative balance, requires detailed multi-phase molecular level understanding of the processes involved.
a) continued development of the TOGA-TOF (Trace Organic Gas Analyzer – Time of Flight) fast GC-MS instrument for in situ quantification of multiple rC species.
b) chamber studies aimed at quantifying organic nitrate formation, and understanding complex isoprene chemistry over ranges of NOx levels (see figures below).
c) inclusion of a more detailed rC chemical mechanism in community models (WRF-Chem and CAM-Chem / WACCM).
d) simulations of rC chemistry in the Amazon forest, both in pristine conditions and in those impacted by human activity (pollution from nearby Manaus, Brazil).
e) development of evaluated rate coefficient databases for community use, and for testing and development of structure-reactivity relationships.
Figure 1. Photo of the NCAR 10 m3 Teflon reaction chamber, used to study rC chemistry in relevant tropospheric conditions.
Figure 2. Yields of two major oxidation products (methyl vinyl ketone, MVK, and methacrolein, MACR) from the OH-initiated oxidation of isoprene, color-coded by the amount of NO in the chamber.
The production of several long-term climate simulations by both CESM CAM-chem and WACCM resulted in 30 papers (22 CCMI and 8 HTAP2) that have been published, or are in review, with one or more NCAR co-authors between Oct 2017 and Sep 2018. Both WACCM and CAM-chem performed very well compared to other chemistry-climate models with regard to various quantities, including tropospheric and stratospheric chemistry, aerosols, and dynamics. These comparisons also helped to identify shortcomings that will be focus of future developments. For example Revell et al. (2018) compared tropospheric ozone from many models to observations (Figure 1). CAM-chem and WACCM were among the best models, showing the smallest bias.
Figure 1: Deviations of tropospheric ozone from various models participating in the CCMI project from satellite observations [Revell et al., 2018]. Click for larger image.
CESM2 WACCM will also be participating in the CMIP6 and related model intercomparison projects. In the last fiscal year, a lot of work has been done by the WACCM and CAM-chem teams to produce a running and well performing model with comprehensive chemistry and realistic dynamics. Work included tuning and testing the models, as well as producing emissions, lower boundary datasets, and a volcanic sulfur dataset. Many climate models participating in CMIP6 do not include interactive chemistry and must rely on prescribed chemistry and aerosols fields provided from other models. We have run WACCM4 (the version used for CCMI) with CMIP6 emissions to produce these fields for use by the international community, as shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2: Land and sea-surface temperature evolution of WACCM4 simulations performed with CMIP6 emissions and lower boundary conditions to produce chemical fields for the community.
Revell, L. E., Stenke, A., Tummon, F., Feinberg, A., Rozanov, E., Peter, T., Abraham, N. L., Akiyoshi, H., Archibald, A. T., Butchart, N., Deushi, M., Jöckel, P., Kinnison, D., Michou, M., Morgenstern, O., O'Connor, F. M., Oman, L. D., Pitari, G., Plummer, D. A., Schofield, R., Stone, K., Tilmes, S., Visioni, D., Yamashita, Y., and Zeng, G.: Tropospheric ozone in CCMI models and Gaussian process emulation to understand biases in the SOCOLv3 chemistry–climate model, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 16155-16172, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-16155-2018, 2018.
Dong, X., Fu, J. S., Zhu, Q., Sun, J., Tan, J., Keating, T., Sekiya, T., Sudo, K., Emmons, L., Tilmes, S., Jonson, J. E., Schulz, M., Bian, H., Chin, M., Davila, Y., Henze, D., Takemura, T., Benedictow, A. M. K., and Huang, K.: Long-range transport impacts on surface aerosol concentrations and the contributions to haze events in China: an HTAP2 multi-model study, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 15581-15600, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-15581-2018, 2018.
Tan, J., Fu, J. S., Dentener, F., Sun, J., Emmons, L., Tilmes, S., Flemming, J., Takemura, T., Bian, H., Zhu, Q., Yang, C.-E., and Keating, T.: Source contributions to sulfur and nitrogen deposition – an HTAP II multi-model study on hemispheric transport, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 12223-12240, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-12223-2018, 2018.
Liang, C.-K., West, J. J., Silva, R. A., Bian, H., Chin, M., Davila, Y., Dentener, F. J., Emmons, L., Flemming, J., Folberth, G., Henze, D., Im, U., Jonson, J. E., Keating, T. J., Kucsera, T., Lenzen, A., Lin, M., Lund, M. T., Pan, X., Park, R. J., Pierce, R. B., Sekiya, T., Sudo, K., and Takemura, T., 2018: HTAP2 multi-model estimates of premature human mortality due to intercontinental transport of air pollution and emission sectors, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 10497-10520, doi:10.5194/acp-18-10497-2018.
Turnock, S. T., Wild, O., Dentener, F. J., Davila, Y., Emmons, L. K., Flemming, J., Folberth, G. A., Henze, D. K., Jonson, J. E., Keating, T. J., Kengo, S., Lin, M., Lund, M., Tilmes, S., and O'Connor, F. M.: The impact of future emission policies on tropospheric ozone using a parameterised approach, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 8953-8978, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-8953-2018, 2018.
Tan, J., Fu, J. S., Dentener, F., Sun, J., Emmons, L., Tilmes, S., Sudo, K., Flemming, J., Jonson, J. E., Gravel, S., Bian, H., Davila, Y., Henze, D. K., Lund, M. T., Kucsera, T., Takemura, T., and Keating, T., 2018: Multi-model study of HTAP II on sulfur and nitrogen deposition, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 6847-6866, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-6847-2018.
Huang, M., Carmichael, G. R., Pierce, R. B., Jo, D. S., Park, R. J., Flemming, J., Emmons, L. K., Bowman, K. W., Henze, D. K., Davila, Y., Sudo, K., Jonson, J. E., Tronstad Lund, M., Janssens-Maenhout, G., Dentener, F. J., Keating, T. J., Oetjen, H., and Payne, V. H., 2017: Impact of intercontinental pollution transport on North American ozone air pollution: an HTAP phase 2 multi-model study, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 5721-5750, doi:10.5194/acp-17-5721-2017.
Dhomse, S et al., Estimates of ozone return dates from Chemistry-Climate Model Initiative simulations, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 8409-8438, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-8409-2018, 2018.
Meehl, G. A., Tebaldi C., Tilmes, S., Lamarque J.-F., Bates S., Pendergrass A., and Lombardozzi D.: Future heat waves and surface ozone, Environmental Research Letters, Volume 13, Number 6, doi:10.1088/1748-9326/aabcdc, 2018.
Orbe, C., H. Yang, D. W. Waugh, G. Zeng, O. Morgenstern, D. E. Kinnison, J-F Lamarque, S. Tilmes, D. A. Plummer, J. F. Scinocca, B Josse, V. Marecal, P. Jockel, L. D. Oman, S. E. Strahan, M. Deushi, T. Y. Tanaka, K. Yoshida, H. Akiyoshi, Y. Yamashita, A. Stenke, L. Revell, T. Sukhodolov, E. Rozanov, G. Pitari, D. Visioni, K. Stone, and R. Schofield, Large-Scale Tropospheric Transport in the Chemistry Climate Model Initiative (CCMI) Simulations, Atmos. Chem. Phys., https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2017-1038, 2018.
Tan, J., Fu, J. S., Dentener, F., Sun, J., Emmons, L., Tilmes, S., Sudo, K., Flemming, J., Jonson, J. E., Gravel, S., Bian, H., Davila, Y., Henze, D. K., Lund, M. T., Kucsera, T., Takemura, T., and Keating, T.: Multi-model study of HTAP II on sulfur and nitrogen deposition, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 6847-6866, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-6847-2018, 2018.
Anderson, D. C., Nicely, J. M., Wolfe, G. M., Hanisco, T. F., Salawitch, R. J., Canty, T. P., … Zeng, G. (2017). Formaldehyde in the tropical western Pacific: Chemical sources and sinks, convective transport, and representation in CAM‐Chem and the CCMI models. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 122, 11,201–11,226.
Maycock, A., et al., Revisiting the mystery of the recent stratospheric temperature trends, Geophys. Res. Lett., in press, 2018.
GrooB, J-U., R. Muller, R. Spang, I. Tritscher, T. Wegner, M. P. Chipperfield, W. Feng, D. E. Kinnison, and S. Madronich, On the discrepancy of HCl processing in the dark polar vortices, Atmos. Chem. Phys., in press, 2018.
Tao, M., L. L. Pan, P. Konopka, S. B. Honomichi, D. E. Kinnison, E. C. Apel, A Lagrangian Model Diagnosis of Stratospheric Contributions to Tropical Midtropospheric Air, J. Geophys. Res., doi:10.1029/2018JD028696.
Tweedy, O. V., D. W. Waugh, W. J. Randel, M. Abalos, L. D. Oman, D. E. Kinnison, The Impact of Boreal Summer ENSO Events on Tropical Lower Stratospheric Ozone, J. Geophys. Res, doi:10.1029/2018JD029020.
Wilka, C., K. Shah, K. Stone, S. Solomon, D. Kinnison, M. Mills, A. Schmidt, R. R. Neely III, The Role of Heterogeneous Chemistry in Ozone Depletion and Recovery, Geophys. Res. Lett., doi:10.1029/2018GL078596, 2018.
Lossow, S., D. F. Hurst, K. H. Rosenlof, G. P. Stiller, T. von Clarmann, S. Brinkop, M. Dameris, P. Jockel, D. E. Kinnison, J. Plieninger, D. Plummer, F. Ploeger, W. G. Read, E. E. Remsberg, J. M. Russell, and M. Tao, Can sampling biases explain the discrepancies between lower stratospheric water vapor trend estimates derived from the FPH observations at Boulder and a merged zonal mean satellite data set?, Atmos. Chem. Phys., https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-8331-2018.
Cuevas, C. A., N. Maffezzoli, J. P. Corella, A. Spolaor, P. Vallelonga, H. A. Kjaer, M. Simonsen, M. Winstrup, B. Vinther, C. Horvat, R. P. Fernandez, D. Kinnison, J-F Lamarque, A. Saiz-Lopez, Rapid increase in atmospheric iodine levels in the North Atlantic since the mid-20th century, Nature Geos. Sci., DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-03756-1, 2018.
Tilmes, S., J. H. Richter, M. J. Mills, B. Kravitz, D. G. MacMartin, R. R. Garcia, D. E. Kinnison, J-F Lamarque, J. Tribbia, and F. Vitt, Effects of Different Stratospheric SO2 Injection Altitudes on Stratospheric Chemistry and Dynamics, J. of Geophys. Res., doi:1002/2017JD028146, 2018.
Wales, et al., Stratospheric injection of brominated very short-lived substances: Aircraft observations in the Western Pacific and representation in global models. J. of Geophys. Res., 123. https://doi.org/ 10.1029/2017JD027978, 2018.
Dietmuller, R. Eichinger, H. Garney, T. Birner, H. Boenish, G. Pitari, E. Mancini, D. Visioni, A. Stenke, L. Revell, E. Rozanov, D. A. Plummer, J. Scinocca, P. Jockel, L. Oman, M. Deushi, S. Kiyotaka, D. E. Kinnison, R. Garcia, O. Morgenstern, G. Zeng, K. A. Stone, R. Schofield, Quantifying the effect of mixing on the mean age of air in CCMVal-2 and CCMI-1 models, Atmos. Chem. Phys.,https://doi.org/10.5914/acp-18-6699-2018.
Stone, K. A., S. Solomon, and D. E. Kinnison, On The Identification of Ozone Recovery, Geophys. Res. Lett., doi:10.1029/2018GL077955, 2018.
Iglesias-Suarez, F., D. E. Kinnison, A. Rap, A. C. Maycock, O. Wild, and P. J. Young, Key drivers of ozone change and its radiative forcing over the 21st century, Atmos. Chem. Phys., https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-6121-2018.
Schultz, M., S. Stadtler, S. Schroder, D. Taraborrelli, B. Franco, J. Krefting, A.Henrot, S. Ferrachat, U. Lohmann, D. Neubauer, C. Siegenthaler-Le Drain, S. Wahl, H. Kokkola, T. Kuhn, S. Rast, H. Schmidt, P. Stier, D. Kinnison, G. S. Tyndall, J. J. Orlando, C. Wespes, The Chemistry Climate Model ECHAM-HAMMOZ, Geo. Mod. Dev., , https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-11-1695-2018.
Koenig, T., K., et al., BrO and Bry profiles over the Western Pacific: Relevance of Inorganic Bromine Sources and a Bry Minimum in the Aged Tropical Tropopause Layer, Atmos. Chem. Phys., https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-15245-2017,2018.
Zhang, J., W. Tian, F. Xie, M. P. Chipperfield, W. Feng, S-W Son, N. L. Abraham, A. T. Archibald, S. Bekki, N. Butchart, M. Deushi, S. Dhomse, Y. Han, P. Jockel, D. Kinnison, O. Kirner, M. Michou, O. Morgenstern, F. M. O'Connor, G. Pitari, D. A. Plummer, L. E. Revell, E. Rozanov, D. Visioni, W. Wang, and G. Zeng, Stratospheric ozone loss over the Eurasian continent induced by the polar vortex shift, Nature Comm., 2018.
Ryan, N. J., D. E. Kinnison, R. R. Garcia, C. G. Hoffmann, M. Palm, U. Raffalski, J., Notholt, Assessing the ability to derive rates of polar middle-atmospheric descent using trace gas measurements from remote sensors, Atmos. Chem. Phys., https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-1457-2018.
Checa-Garcia, R., M. I. Hegglin, D. E. Kinnison, D. A. Plummer, and K. P. Shine, Historical Tropospheric and Stratospheric Ozone Radiative Forcing Using the CMIP6 Database, Geophys. Res. Lett., doi:10.1029/2017GL076770, 2018.
Morgenstern, O., H. Akiyoshi, D. E. Kinnison, R. R. Garcia, D. A. Plummer, J. Scinocca, G. Zeng, E. Rozanov, A. Stenke, L. E. Revell, G. Pitari, E. Mancini, G. Di Genova, S. S. Dhomse, and M. P. Chipperfield, Ozone sensitivity to varying greenhouse gases and ozone-depleting substances in CCMI simulations, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 1091-1114, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-1091-2018.
Bandaro, J., S. Solomon, B. D. Santer, D. E. Kinnison, M. J. Mills, Detectability of the Impacts of Ozone Depleting Substances and Greenhouse Gases upon Stratospheric Ozone Accounting for Nonlinearities in Historical Forcings, Atmos. Chem. Phys., https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-143-2018.
Discovered more than a century ago, the tropopause is known to mark the boundary of two dynamically and chemically distinct layers of atmosphere, the stratosphere and the troposphere. In the tropics, the location, temperature, and physical/chemical gradients of the tropopause are important as part of the fundamental knowledge of the atmosphere and for regulating the amount of water vapor entering the stratosphere, which has a significant contribution to climate forcing. The tropopause over the tropical western Pacific, in particular, is known as the “decisive region” for determining the amount of stratospheric water vapor. High-resolution measurements for this region are rare because the region is remote and tropopause altitudes are difficult to access. An airborne experiment targeting this decisive region was conducted in 2014, using the NASA Global Hawk unmanned aircraft system. These high-resolution temperature and trace gas data provided an unprecedented opportunity to examine the physical meaning of the two tropical tropopause definitions, known as the lapse-rate tropopause (LRT) and the cold-point tropopause (CPT).
In collaboration with NASA and NOAA colleagues, NCAR ACOM scientists have conducted a data analysis using the in situ measurements from the Global Hawk to examine the differences produced by these two commonly used definitions. This work, published in Geophysical Research Letter, demonstrated that the relationship of two chemical tracers, ozone and water vapor, can unambiguously identify the transition from troposphere to stratosphere and therefore serve to diagnose the effectiveness of the different tropopause definitions. The combined temperature and trace gas analysis shows that the lapse rate definition better identifies the transition from the troposphere to the stratosphere (Pan et al., 2018).
In the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere, H2O and O3 exhibit a demonstrated “L”-shaped relationship in the tracer-tracer space (Pan et al., 2007; Hegglin et al., 2009; Pan et al., 2014). Specifically, the compact relationship in the O3-H2O space shows the tropospheric data as a branch with a large range of water vapor variation and a relatively narrow range of ozone variation, while the lower stratospheric data appear as a branch of large ozone variation and a relatively narrow range of water vapor. The change between the two branches marks the transition in dynamics and chemistry, i.e. from the vertical mixing dominated troposphere where water vapor is abundant to the horizontal mixing dominated stratosphere where ozone has its major source.
Figure 1 shows an example vertical profile from the flight on 6 March 2014 where the CPT and LRT are both clearly identifiable in the temperature profile and show a large separation (>1 km). The “L”-shaped O3-H2O relationship clearly indicates that the LRT marks a sharp change from the troposphere to the stratosphere. The analysis using all the in situ measurement profiles over the tropical western Pacific has led to a conclusion that LRT as a better tropical tropopause definition is a statistically consistent result.
An important take home message from this work is that although the separation of LRT and CPT is small on average in this deep tropical region, the different roles of these two levels revealed by tracers indicate that the two levels are controlled by different processes. Overall, the result of this analysis not only verified which definition is marking the boundary between the two layers, but also provided additional insights into the physical and chemical processes controlling this fundamental atmospheric structure.
Figure 1. An example profile showing how relationship between O3 and H2O can be used together with temperature data to examine the tropopause definitions. The panels (a) and (b) in the figure provide the flight altitude and region, with the example profile location in red. Panel (c) shows the in situ temperature profile (black), water vapor (dark green) and derived saturation vapor mixing ratios (light green). The dash lines mark the levels of LRT (red) and CPT (blue) from the in situ temperature. The presence of cloud is indicated based on the IWC (light blue shading). Panel (d) shows the tropopause defined by the two definitions, LRT and CPT, in the O3-H2O tracer-tracer space, using the same colors as in (c). The change in O3-H2O relationship indicates the change from the troposphere to the stratosphere. Click for larger image.
Pan, L. L., et al. (2007), Chemical behavior of the tropopause observed during the Stratosphere-Troposphere Analyses of Regional Transport experiment, J. Geophys. Res., 112, D18110, doi:10.1029/2007JD008645.
Hegglin, M. I., C. D. Boone, G. L. Manney, and K. A. Walker (2009), A global view of the extratropical tropopause transition layer from Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment Fourier Transform Spectrometer O3, H2O, and CO, J. Geophys. Res., 114, D00B11, doi:10.1029/2008JD009984.
Pan, L. L., L. C. Paulik, S. B. Honomichl, L. A. Munchak, J. Bian, H. B. Selkirk, and H. Vömel (2014), Identification of the tropical tropopause transition layer using the ozone-water vapor relationship, J. Geophys. Res. Atmos., 119, doi:10.1002/2013JD020558.
We used the Generator of Explicit Chemistry and Kinetics for Organics in the Atmosphere (GECKO-A) model to generate a library of gas and particle-phase products from the photo-oxidation of important precursor hydrocarbons. The precursors include both anthropogenic ((pentane, hexane, heptane, octane, decane, dodecane, benzene, and toluene ) and biogenic (isoprene, α-pinene, β-pinene, β-myrcene, limonene, ocimene, and sabinene) compounds. The user can specify five different environmental conditions (urban, polluted continental, continental, remote continental, and remote), and can peruse a number of different outputs (SOA yields, O/C ratios, van Krevelen diagrams, top ten gas and particle species, frequency distributions of carbon mass, carbon chain length, functional groups distribution, vapor pressure, and Henry’s law coefficients).
The GECKO-A web-based library provides researchers with a method to estimate rapidly the major characteristics of the complex mixture of intermediate compounds spawned by a single hydrocarbon precursor. This allows for better planning and interpretation of chamber or field experiments, and provides a natural point of feedback to the evaluation and improvement of the GECKO-A model.
Figure 1. Sample screenshot from the web-based library of GECKO-A output. Users can select from 15 precursor hydrocarbons, 5 different environmental conditions, and a variety of outputs (e.g. top 10 species, vapor pressures, Henry’s law coefficients) in both gas and particle phases. Click for larger image.
Bio-aerosols – biological particles suspended in the atmosphere that include pollen, fungi, and bacteria – are of interest to atmospheric sciences because of their recently recognized role as cloud condensation nuclei (esp. for ice clouds). Long-range transport of bio-aerosols has played a major role in the geographic redistribution of genetic material on evolutionary time scales, and continues to be a concern in the context of unwanted cross-pollination (esp. genetically modified crops). An important issue is whether such bio-aerosols can remain viable under exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation in the atmosphere. DNA molecules readily absorb UV photons and are damaged by them, leading to inactivation or cell death. We have combined knowledge of the DNA absorption spectrum with our calculations of UV radiation to estimate the rates of DNA inactivation at various height in the atmosphere (see Figure 1). These rates compete with wind-driven transport to limit the atmospheric lifetimes and distances traveled from source regions. The modeling framework developed here parallels the computation of photochemical dissociation coefficients, and can be implemented easily in 3D regional and global chemistry-transport models.
Figure 1. in the presence of clouds, at two locations (polar circle and equator) for several cloud optical depths given in legend. Dashed curves are for cloud-free conditions. Calculated with the TUV model. Click for larger image.
One proposed geoengineering approach to reducing global warming involves massive injections of sulfur dioxide (SO2) into the stratosphere, forming sulfate aerosols that would scatter some incoming solar radiation back to space and so decrease heating rates below. However, beyond simple heating, solar photons at visible and UV wavelengths drive photochemical and photobiological processes that are the basis of all life on Earth. Any long-term systematic changes in visible or UV irradiances incident on the biosphere are of great concern.
We used results from the Community Earth System Model version 1 (CESM1) with the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model (WACCM) as its atmospheric component, to compare current (year 2020) and future (year 2080) visible and UV radiation impingent on the troposphere and biosphere, assuming greenhouse gases continue to be emitted according to the RCP8.5 scenario, with and without geoengineering. The ground-level irradiances and actinic fluxes were computed with the Tropospheric Ultraviolet-Visible (TUV) model. The figure shows that without geoengineering, PAR and NO2 photolysis coefficients (jNO2) will remain similar to today’s values, while the UV Index, DNA damaging irradiance (iDNA), and the photolysis coefficient for production of excited oxygen atoms from ozone (jO1D), will be reduced because of the recovery of stratospheric ozone over the next half century. With geoengineering, scattering by sulfate aerosols causes additional reductions in all of these quantities. The reductions are not constant, but depend on the solar angle and therefore on season and time of day, e.g., with PAR reductions of 8-16% at 30 N and 21-78% at 70N. Reductions in photosynthesis could lower agricultural yields and generally slow primary productivity, fundamentally slowing the biogeochemical cycling of carbon, nitrogen, and other nutrients.
Decreases in the photolysis coefficients (right panels of the figure) will have mixed effects on air quality, as they slow both the production and the destruction of air pollutants such as ground-level ozone. Overall, urban areas may benefit from slower ozone production chemistry, while wider geographic regions would experience an ozone increase due to slower loss chemistry. Diurnal patterns (e.g. the ratio of jO1D and jNO2 over the course of a day) will also change and will need to be reconsidered in air quality models.
Figure 1. Changes in UV and visible radiation reaching Earth’s surface, in 2080 with and without sulfur geoengineering, relative to 2020. Left panels show photo-biologically relative quantities Photosythetically Active Radiation (PAR), UV Index, and DNA-damaging irradiance. Right panels show photo-chemically relevant quantities. Click for larger image.
Madronich, S., S. Tilmes, B. Kravitz, D. G. MacMartin, and J. H. Richter, Response of surface ultraviolet and visible radiation to stratospheric SO2 injections, Atmosphere, 9, 432, doi:10.3390/atmos9110432, 2018.
Experiments performed in laboratory chambers have contributed significantly to the understanding of the fundamental kinetics and mechanisms of the chemical reactions occurring in the atmosphere. Two chemical regimes, classified as ‘high-NO’ versus ‘zero-NO’ conditions, have been extensively studied in previous chamber experiments (e.g., Kroll and Seinfeld, 2008; Orlando and Tyndall, 2012; Ziemann and Atkinson, 2012). Results derived from these two chemical scenarios are widely parameterized in chemical transport models to represent key atmospheric processes in urban and pristine environments. As the anthropogenic NOx emissions in the United States have decreased remarkably in the past few decades, the classic ‘high-NO’ and ‘zero-NO’ conditions are no longer applicable to many regions that are constantly impacted by both polluted and background air masses.
The recently developed NCAR Atmospheric Simulation Chamber is operated in steady state continuous flow mode, with the goal of studying atmospheric chemistry under ‘intermediate NO’ conditions (Zhang et al., 2018). This particular chemical regime is characterized by constant sub-ppb levels of NO and can be created in the chamber by precise control of the inflow NO concentration and the ratio of chamber mixing to residence timescales. Characterization experiments under photolytic and dark conditions have been performed and, in conjunction with model predictions, provide a basis for interpretation of prevailing atmospheric processes in environments with intertwined biogenic and anthropogenic activities.
Figure 1. (A) The NCAR Atmospheric Simulation Chamber consists of a 10 m3 FEP Teflon bag that is housed in a cubic enclosure with UV reflective surfaces and a bank of 128 wall-mounted blacklight tubes. A suite of in-situ instruments is used to monitor reactions in the chamber, including (a) temperature, relative humidity, and pressure sensor, (b) high sensitivity NOx chemiluminescence analyzer, (c) ozone photometric analyzer, (d) gas chromatography with flame ionization detector, (e) proton transfer reaction mass spectrometer, (f) chemical ionization mass spectrometer, and (g) scanning mobility particle sizer. (B) By operating the chamber at continuous flow mode under a combination of inflow H2O2 and NO concentrations, a wide range of steady-state NO levels can be achieved, conditions that have not been accessed in traditional chamber experiments. Click for larger image.
Kroll, J. H., and Seinfeld, J. H.: Chemistry of secondary organic aerosol: Formation and evolution of low-volatility organics in the atmosphere, Atmospheric Environment, 42, 3593-3624, 2008.
Orlando, J. J., and Tyndall, G. S.: Laboratory studies of organic peroxy radical chemistry: an overview with emphasis on recent issues of atmospheric significance, Chemical Society Reviews, 41, 6294-6317, 2012.
Ziemann, P. J., and Atkinson, R.: Kinetics, products, and mechanisms of secondary organic aerosol formation, Chemical Society Reviews, 41, 6582-6605, 2012.
Zhang, X., Ortega, J., Huang Y. L, Shertz S., Tyndall G. S., and Orlando, J. J.: A steady state continuous flow chamber for the Study of daytime and nighttime chemistry under atmospherically relevant NO levels, Atmospheric Measurement Techniques, 11, 2537-2551, 2018.
ACOM heavily supported the Western Wildfire Experiment for Cloud Chemistry, Aerosol Absorption and Nitrogen (WE-CAN), carried out this summer on board the NSF/ NCAR C-130 aircraft, based in Boise, ID. Plumes from 21 wildfires, located throughout the northwestern United States were sampled. The campaign was followed up with a set of three educational flights based out of Broomfield, Colorado over a two-week period in early September 2018, teaching students from several partner Universities how to design an airborne field experiment. During these flights, the C-130 sampled smoke plumes from two more fires, including a prescribed fire in Colorado.
ACOM deployed most of its available airborne chemistry measurements. Ozone, NO and NO2 were measured using the two-channel NOx chemiluminescence analyzer coupled with the HAIS Fast-Ozone instrument. The PAN-CIMS was deployed to measure PAN and PPN. Long lived tracers (CO, CO2, CH4, H2O, and N2O) were measured using our Picarro 2401 and Aerodyne TILDAS instruments. This was the first full field deployment of our new Aerodyne analyzer, and was very successful. VOCs, including many fire tracers were measured by the Trace Organic Gas Analyzer (TOGA), and the HIAPER Airborne Radiation Package (HARP) made actinic flux and irradiance measurements. The involvement of the ACOM measurement suite in the WE-CAN campaign demonstrates the critical role that our instruments play in the support of the university community during aircraft campaigns focused on atmospheric chemistry topics, by providing precise and well calibrated and state-of-the-art backbone measurements needed for airborne photochemistry studies.
Figure 1. Cabin of the C-130 between flights. Click for larger image.
The FAA certified HIMIL inlet is the standard design for chemical measurements deployed on the NCAR/NSF GV aircraft. The design was adapted for chemistry measurements for the DC3 mission by ACOM (ACD at the time) and these inlets have since been used successfully on subsequent missions. However, very reactive gases such as halogen oxides, radicals, or compounds that typically exhibit strong inlet wall effects such as nitric acid or ammonia, have been challenging to measure on board the GV. The windows of the GV cannot be equipped with sampling apertures. Existing sampling apertures are located on the top of the fuselage or belly of the GV aircraft. As a result, minimum inlet line lengths are at least several feet (or longer depending on the rack station), and often require bends in the sample flow. We therefore explored the suitability of the GV wing pod for measurements of highly reactive gases. The pods are attractive since they allow a gas inlet at the tip and are not fully subscribed with instrumentation at this time. In 2017, we developed and deployed the Gulfstream-V Pod Inlet Test (GPIT). GPIT was designed to function as a test facility rather than as the front end of a practical analytical instrument system. The focus of the 2017 design effort was to experiment with a large bore centerline inlet assembly with a high conductance lateral exhaust port.
The goal of the continued effort to develop a Gulfstream Wingpod Inlet design during FY2018 was to transform the 2017 GPIT facility into a practical front end for a pod-based instrument. In light of our success in the 2017 flights, we decided to preserve the existing design of the leading edge inlet and exhaust structures without modification. During the ARISTO-2017 flights, it became clear that the growth of the boundary layer within the inlet is the dominant component of wall contamination within the inlet. In order to minimize the boundary layer growth we need to maintain high axial sample flow velocity, while minimizing inlet length. Previous research in this field has focused on slowing of the flow before injecting the sample into an instrument (Eisele et al, 1999). In order to predict accurately the boundary layer growth as a function of flow rate, we have collaborated with Clarkson University (S. Dhaniyala) to model the airflow using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). By analyzing both the flow path and trace chemical deposition rates within the inlet we have designed a system which will not only slow down the flow as needed, but will also minimize the amount of target compound deposition on the walls of the inlet.
Figure 1. Functional flow schematic cross section of the Gulfstream wingpod inlet. Click for larger image.
The inlet entrance on the leading edge of the pod is the same 3” ID inlet used in the 2017 flights. The interior of the leading edge blends into the 3” diameter primary inlet duct. During flight, a parcel of free-stream air will approach the inlet at the “True Air Speed” or TAS of the aircraft. For the Gulfstream V a typical TAS would be 150-250 m/sec. Once the parcel of air enters the primary inlet, it is divided into the primary bypass flow and the secondary inlet flow. The secondary inlet flow is further split into a secondary bypass flow and a tertiary inlet flow. The tertiary Inlet flow is split into the tertiary bypass flow and the differentially pumped orifice flow, as shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2. Detail schematic view of differentially pumped orifice assembly.
The differentially pumped orifice assembly, pictured above, represents the transition from the inlet to user supplied instrument. In the above situation, the volume between the two orifices is maintained at a constant, sub-ambient pressure (~100 mbar). The orifice to the left (Sampler Orifice) limits the maximum ambient flow into a pressure controlled interstitial volume. The orifice to the right (Skimmer Orifice) limits the flow into the analysis system. The flow through the Skimmer Orifice is determined only by the interstitial volume pressure (IVP), if the internal instrument pressure downstream is at least half of the IVP and the flow through the skimmer orifice into the instrument will remain constant, regardless of aircraft altitude.
It should be noted that there are several possible variations on how to best regulate the pressure of a sample flow prior to entering an airborne instrument. We have experience with the differentially pumped orifice technique, and found it to be effective in the past for instruments which do not allow a flow controller or other devices with a large surface area in the flow path. Most gas phase chemistry instruments including CIMS, PTR-MS and chemiluminescence instruments should work well using this technique. Other techniques may be better suited to other measurement methodologies. We will design the sample pickoff portion of the inlet in a modular and adaptable fashion so it can be interfaced to any user supplied instrument system.
A flow diverter assembly was designed to split and exhaust the necessary bypass flows for the primary and secondary inlet ducts while minimizing flow resistance. The assembly is mounted as close to the leading edge inlet as possible in order to keep all inlet lengths to a minimum and thus avoid wall losses in the tertiary inlet duct. A cross section view of the flow diverter is shown in Figure 3.
Figure 3. Cross section of Gulfstream wingpod inlet flow diverter assembly.
The shape of the flow diverter assembly has to be as compact as possible to allow the shortest possible tertiary inlet length but it also needs to allow for the lowest possible resistance to the flow path to maximize the primary and secondary bypass flows. Therefore, NCAR partnered with Professor Suresh Dhaniyala and his Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) Team at Clarkson University to theoretically optimize the design. Our first step in creating the inlet flow model was to run a CFD analysis of the results of the 2017 flight campaign. By using the known inlet geometry and flight sensor data we were able to verify the model validity and define the approximate flow boundary conditions observed during our 2017 flights. Once the flow boundary conditions were established, we used that information to derive a predictive model of flow performance through the 2018 inlet design. The team at Clarkson utilized ANSYS software to analyze our mechanical model for both flow efficiency and trace chemical deposition rate. This collaboration enabled the present design of the diverter geometry. By iterating between the mechanical and fluid models we determined the optimal compromise between the overall size of the diverter assembly while maximizing the flow conductance and minimize trace chemical deposition rate.
Going forward, we will complete the existing design/fabrication cycle prior to the end of FY2019. We will perform limited bench testing of the hardware/software to ensure basic operation of all of the required subsystems. It is our goal to complete the inlet testing during the next possible ARISTO opportunity on the Gulfstream-V. Testing the fully functional inlet design (with a wall effect tracer study) is the next step prior to integrating the inlet with any new NCAR or University based instrument system.
The Unmanned Whole Air Sampler (UWAS) is a prototype instrument developed to fill a large gap in our knowledge of the distributions and behavior of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) (including oxygenated VOCs (OVOCs)) in the layer of the atmosphere most closely connected to the earth’s surface (boundary layer (BL)). These species are key participants in determining air quality and knowledge of their vertical gradients, diurnal variability, and spatial variability throughout the BL is crucial for understanding their impacts both locally and regionally (downwind). The UWAS will enable the detailed investigation of the region of the atmosphere (0 - 500 ft) which is largely under-sampled in atmospheric chemistry and flux studies because it lies in-between accessible aircraft sampling and surface sampling.
After conducting extensive research on possible platforms, Dr. Elizabeth Asher, an NCAR/ACOM Advanced Studies Postdoc decided upon the DJI Corporation Matrice model M600 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for the UWAS (Figure 1). It is regarded as a state-of-the-art flying platform with a reasonable payload capacity. This platform has proven to meet all requirements including flight duration, speed, and altitude capability as well as carrying capacity.
Figure 1. The DJI Corporation Matrice model M600 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for the UWAS.
Figure 2. The UWAS sampling system. Click for larger image.
The UWAS is controlled by a Raspberry PITM single-board computer with wireless LAN and Bluetooth connectivity, and one additional board, powered by a 24 VDC Lithium polymer battery. Python is used to program the system. Upon power up, the UWAS automatically runs a sampling program that tests the operation of the pump, the valve, various sensors, and the system pressure prior to take off and indicates if these functions are working properly. After take-off, temperature, relative humidity, ambient pressure, system pressure, system flow, and GPS position are recorded at 1 Hz, and air samples are collected at predetermined GPS locations along the flight plan. After each flight the canisters are analyzed for a full range of VOCs, yielding data that can be used to determine the chemical vertical structure of the BL, calculate emission fluxes from a defined area, and complement ground- and aircraft-based data that may be obtained in the same study region.
ACOM has begun the planning process to develop a computationally feasible global modeling infrastructure that allows for simulation of large-scale atmospheric phenomena, while still resolving chemistry at emission and exposure relevant scales. Critical applications are (1) the representation of air quality in urban regions and (2) interactions between atmospheric chemistry, and weather and climate. These applications will require comprehensive chemical modeling at fine horizontal (down to ~4 km, obtained through regional refinement) and vertical (multiple layers in the urban canopy) resolution within a global modeling system. This will allow the two-way coupling between phenomena that occur on the urban, regional and global scales. For example, it will allow examination of the effects of wildfires in remote regions on urban air-quality, or improvements in S2S AQ prediction from better representation of the teleconnections in global-scale phenomena such as ENSO, QBO, and MJO, all within a single modeling framework.
The first step of this project is to implement gas phase and heterogeneous chemistry (i.e., aerosol and cloud chemistry) in a Model Independent Chemistry Module (MICM, Section 3H) that satisfies the requirements of a Common Physics Framework (CPF). MUSICA will have a flexible design to handle a variety of gas phase and aerosol schemes under the CPF. MCIM defines the infrastructure required to specify chemical reactions and photolysis, and solve the associated differential equations. It enables community users to implement their own system of chemical reactions (via the Chemistry Cafe) and other input parameters, including surface emission and deposition rates.
In a second step MICM will be integrated within a host global model, i.e., the unified atmosphere model being defined under the NCAR Singletrack project. Versions of this unified system will be adapted for specific scientific or operational purposes including short-term chemical weather predictions (including downscaling for regional air quality predictions) or longer-term chemical climate projections (including a detailed representation of middle and upper atmosphere processes). When completed, the system is expected to become a central tool for operational global to regional air quality predictions.
In parallel to these efforts, ACOM scientists are utilizing new capabilities in CESM to assess conduct global chemistry simulations using CAM-CHEM in on a model grid with regional refinement. Below is an example of such a grid (Zarzycki et al., 2015), where a high resolution domain is embedded in a 1˚ uniform mesh. Such models will allow improved air quality forecasts over urban areas, where emission sources are far more localized.
Figure 1. Examples of model grids used in the spectral element version of the NCAR Community Atmosphere Model (CAM-SE). (a) a uniform 1° resolution mesh and (b) a variable resolution (VR) mesh that ranges from 1° to 0.25°. Click for larger image.
The MUlti-Scale Infrastructure for Chemistry and Aerosols (MUSICA) and its components will be open source and flexible in order to facilitate community co-development and use for scientific and operational purposes. Its development will involve new strategic partnerships with universities and other interested research centers. The development of MUSICA will be guided by an advisory panel and will be directed by a steering committee that includes committed representatives of the broad research community.
Carbon monoxide (CO) plays a critical role in atmospheric chemistry. About half of atmospheric CO is from direct emissions that are due to incomplete combustion and are related to both natural (e.g. wildfires) and anthropogenic activities. The remainder of CO in the atmosphere is produced from the chemical oxidation of hydrocarbons, mainly from biogenic sources and methane (CH4). Since most of the hydrocarbons, CO, and CH4 in the atmosphere are oxidized by the hydroxyl radical (OH), with CO and CH4 being the main sink of OH, the associated chemical lifetimes of these species are strongly coupled with OH. Understanding changes in the burden and growth rate of atmospheric OH and CH4 is critical for predicting changes in chemistry and climate. These changes have been the focus of several recent studies but the explanation still lacks scientific consensus.
Figure 1. Yearly global integrated tropospheric CH4 lifetime with respect to OH and (right) yearly global integrated tropospheric air mass-weighted OH calculated for all simulation experiments: MOPITT-Reanalysis, Control-Run, Control-SCO, and DART-Control. Click for larger image.
We use the NSF/NCAR coupled chemistry-climate model of the Community Earth System Model (or CESM) Community Atmospheric Model with Chemistry (or CAM-Chem) to investigate the coupled nature of our chemical system through a decadal chemical reanalysis experiment (Gaubert et al., 2017). We assimilate weather observations and satellite-based measurements of CO from The Measurement of the Pollution in the Troposphere (MOPITT) across the recent decade (2002-2013) using the Data Assimilation Research Testbed (DART, Anderson et al., 2009). The assimilation of MOPITT observations constrains the global CO burden, which significantly decreased over this period by ~20%. We quantify this impact by contrasting several model simulations for 2002–2013, alternative to the NCAR-MOPITT reanalysis, to further investigate the sensitivity of OH and CO trends on CO alone and meteorology alone (Figure 1). We find that decreasing CO direct emissions result in (1) an increase in CO chemical production, (2) higher CH4 oxidation by OH, and (3) ~8% shorter CH4 lifetime. The decrease of CO observed over the decade leads to an increase in global average OH and therefore a decreasing trend in the CH4 lifetime. Such nonlinear effects further complicate the attribution to uncertainties in direct emissions alone, and must be considered when using chemistry-climate models for inversion studies of CH4.
Anderson, J. L., Hoar, T., Raeder, K., Liu, H., Collins, N., Torn, R., and Avellino, A. (2009), The Data Assimilation Research Testbed: a community facility, B. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 90, 1283-1296.
The Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model (WACCM) and the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model with thermosphere and ionosphere extension (WACCM-X) are atmosphere components of CESM with comprehensive numerical representations of processes extending from the Earth's surface to the edge of space. CESM2, released publicly on June 8, 2018, includes new versions of these components: WACCM6 and WACCM-X version 2. WACCM6 is now fully consistent with the atmospheric physics representations in the latest version of the Community Atmosphere Model, CAM6. In addition, WACCM6 and WACCM-X version 2 include many additional significant improvements over the previously released versions.
WACCM6 now matches all of the CAM6 physical parameterizations, and adds significant new capabilities in the middle and upper atmosphere. WACCM6 extends the Modal Aerosol Module (MAM4) to provide a prognostic representation of stratospheric aerosols from volcanic and non-volcanic source gases. Combined with a database of SO2 emissions from volcanic eruptions, this provides a better representation of the chemistry and climate responses to volcanic eruptions. With a default horizontal resolution 4 times greater than CESM1(WACCM), WACCM6 provides improved stratospheric variability, including an internally generated quasi-biennial oscillation, and an improved climatology of sudden stratospheric warmings. WACCM6 includes updated and unified atmospheric chemistry, adding detailed tropospheric chemistry to the middle and upper atmospheric chemistry provided in CESM1(WACCM). The result of these improvements to chemistry, stratospheric variability, and volcanic aerosols is greater skill in hindcasts of the evolution of the Antarctic ozone hole, as well as ozone loss in the Arctic.
WACCM-X version 2 extends through the thermosphere and ionosphere to above 500 km, and now includes global electrodynamics and ion transport. Other ionosphere developments include time-dependent solution of electron and ion temperatures, metastable oxygen ion chemistry, and capability for high-cadence solar forcing. Additional developments of the thermospheric components are improvements to the momentum and energy equation solvers to account for variable mean molecular mass and specific heat, a new divergence damping scheme, and cooling by atomic oxygen fine structure.
ACOM scientists support community use of WACCM and WACCM-X through scientific collaborations and participation in model intercomparisons. In FY2018, 58 scientific papers were published using WACCM, 95% of which were lead by authors outside of ACOM. The CESM Whole Atmosphere Working Group community liaison, ACOM scientist Michael Mills, provides direct support for community users who run these models, including hands-on instruction such as the annual CESM tutorial. He and other ACOM scientists respond to user posts about WACCM and WACCM-X on the CESM Forum, which provides an online knowledge base for users.
Figure 1. This figure, adapted from Mills et al. (2017), validates the radiative response to volcanic eruptions in WACCM6, using a new prognostic treatment for volcanic aerosol derived from emissions. Decreases in the absorbed shortwave (ASR, top panel) and outgoing longwave (OLR, middle panel) following the 1991 eruption of Mt. Pinatubo correlate very well to observations from the Earth Radiation Budget Satellite (ERBS, black curves). The impacts of the eruption are shown by comparing a WACCM6 simulation which included SO2 emissions from volcanic eruptions (red curves) to a WACCM6 simulation which did not (blue curves). The new prognostic treatment of stratospheric aerosol is a major improvement in WACCM6. Click for larger image.
The Community Atmosphere Model with Chemistry (CAM-chem), a component of CESM, continues to be improved through various developments and is widely used by the community. CAM-chem is available as part of the new release of CESM2, with a number of configurations allowing community users to quickly set up simulations with the latest version of the model for chemistry-climate or air quality simulations. A current focus of development in CAM-chem is the capability of running full tropospheric chemistry in the Spectral Element version of CAM with regional refinement, meaning the model is run at higher horizontal resolution (14 or 25 km) over a region of the globe (e.g., the continental U.S.) with the rest of the globe at the standard ~1 degree resolution. Initial results (Figure 1) show that the finer resolution will allow a more accurate representation of the influence of fire emissions on air quality and tropospheric composition.
The tropospheric chemistry scheme in CAM-chem has been significantly expanded and updated over the MOZART-4 chemical mechanism and will be used in the CESM2 WACCM simulations for CMIP6 (Emmons et al., 2018). Additional chemical mechanisms with increasing complexity are being developed, such as a more detailed representation of terpene oxidation chemistry, and speciated higher alkanes that have formerly been lumped as one compound in the model. A new volatility bin set (VBS) approach is now fully tested and integrated in CESM2 (Tilmes et al., 2018). In collaboration with the University of Wyoming, the MOSAIC gas-to-aerosol exchange scheme is being included in CESM2, which will provide a more detailed representation of inorganic aerosols, including nitrate aerosols.
The addition of the representation of very short-lived (VSL) halogen compounds to CAM-chem has resulted in a number of recent studies including analysis of UT/LS field observations (Koenig et al., 2017; Navarro et al., 2017; Wales et al., 2018), analysis of observed increase in iodine in the North Atlantic since the mid-20th century (Cuevas et al., 2018), and the role of VSL bromine chemistry in the Antarctic ozone hole (Fernandez et al., 2017). Another area of study with university collaborators has been to compare three chemical mechanisms of different complexity in CAM-chem to assess the accuracy of the simpler mechanisms in predicting tropospheric ozone, and the trade-off in computing costs (Brown-Steiner et al., 2018).
ACOM scientists support community use of CAM-chem through scientific collaborations (such as listed above) and participation in model intercomparisons (Section 1G), as well as direct support for community users who run CAM-chem (by the Chemistry-Climate Working Group liaison). To assist new users of CAM-chem, ACOM scientists and postdocs have created a wiki page which serves as a quick-start guide to running CAM-chem with links to additional, detailed information (https://wiki.ucar.edu/display/camchem/Home).
Figure 1. Carbon monoxide (CO) mixing ratios for July 2013 from the standard Finite Volume (FV) configuration of CAM-chem (left) and the Regionally Refined (RR) Spectral Element (SE) version of CAM-chem (right). Click for larger image.
Brown-Steiner, B., Selin, N. E., Prinn, R., Tilmes, S., Emmons, L., Lamarque, J.-F., and Cameron-Smith, P., Evaluating simplified chemical mechanisms within present-day simulations of the Community Earth System Model version 1.2 with CAM4 (CESM1.2 CAM-chem): MOZART-4 vs. Reduced Hydrocarbon vs. Super-Fast chemistry, Geosci. Model Dev., 11, 4155-4174, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-11-4155-2018, 2018.
Cuevas et al., Rapid increase in atmospheric iodine levels in the North Atlantic since the mid-20th century, Nature Geos. Sci., DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-03756-1, 2018.
Emmons, L.K., et al., The MOZART chemical mechanism in CESM2, to be submitted to JAMES.
Fernandez, R. P., Kinnison, D. E., Lamarque, J.-F., Tilmes, S., and Saiz-Lopez, A., Impact of biogenic very short-lived bromine on the Antarctic ozone hole during the 21st century, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 1673-1688, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-1673-2017, 2017.
Koenig, T. K., Volkamer, R., Baidar, S., Dix, B., Wang, S., Anderson, D. C., Salawitch, R. J., Wales, P. A., Cuevas, C. A., Fernandez, R. P., Saiz-Lopez, A., Evans, M. J., Sherwen, T., Jacob, D. J., Schmidt, J., Kinnison, D., Lamarque, J.-F., Apel, E. C., Bresch, J. C., Campos, T., Flocke, F. M., Hall, S. R., Honomichl, S. B., Hornbrook, R., Jensen, J. B., Lueb, R., Montzka, D. D., Pan, L. L., Reeves, J. M., Schauffler, S. M., Ullmann, K., Weinheimer, A. J., Atlas, E. L., Donets, V., Navarro, M. A., Riemer, D., Blake, N. J., Chen, D., Huey, L. G., Tanner, D. J., Hanisco, T. F., and Wolfe, G. M., BrO and inferred Bry profiles over the western Pacific: relevance of inorganic bromine sources and a Bry minimum in the aged tropical tropopause layer, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 15245-15270, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-15245-2017, 2017.
Navarro, M. A., Saiz-Lopez, A., Cuevas, C. A., Fernandez, R. P., Atlas, E., Rodriguez-Lloveras, X., Kinnison, D., Lamarque, J.-F., Tilmes, S., Thornberry, T., Rollins, A., Elkins, J. W., Hintsa, E. J., and Moore, F. L., Modeling the inorganic bromine partitioning in the tropical tropopause layer over the eastern and western Pacific Ocean, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 9917-9930, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17- 9917-2017, 2017.
Tilmes et al., Climate forcings and trends of organic aerosols in the Community Earth System Model (CESM2), to be submitted to JAMES.
Wales et al., Stratospheric Injection of Brominated Very Short‐Lived Substances: Aircraft Observations in the Western Pacific and Representation in Global Models, J. of Geophys. Res., 123, 5690-5719, https://doi.org/10.1029/2017JD027978, 2018.
Three major developments were added to the community version of WRF-Chem (v4.0). One of the developments is a new chemistry package (T1-MOZCART), which expands the MOZART gas chemistry to better represent aromatics, terpenes, and heterogeneous chemistry. Comparisons of hourly surface ozone mixing ratios between this new chemistry package and those based on its previous version over the western U.S. show reductions in ozone of up to about 3 ppb (see Figure 1). The second development is the update of the Henry’s Law coefficients, which are important for removal of trace gases by precipitation, for the NCAR MOZART suite of chemistry options in WRF-Chem. The third development is the addition of diagnostics of integrated reaction rates (IRR) to WRF-Chem (v4.0) for MOZART chemistry packages so that analysis of ozone production, along with other atmospheric chemistry metrics, can be performed.
A new tool, EPA_ANTHRO_EMIS, was developed to create WRF-Chem emission input files directly from the Sparse Matrix Operator Kernel (SMOKE) Modeling System output. In collaboration with the U.S. EPA, the most recent 2014 US EPA National Emission Inventory (NEI) anthropogenic emissions (v2) are made available with the EPA_ANTHRO_EMIS tool. U.S. NEI emission inventories are challenging to use in WRF-Chem because they require running SMOKE (a rather elaborate effort) and then converting the created emissions to WRF-Chem compatible format. Through this new tool and the collaboration with the U.S. EPA it is now easy for a user to include the NEI 2014 in WRF-Chem simulations and its updates, and new NEI developments can be made quickly available to the WRF-Chem user community.
Project Team: Mary Barth, Gabriele Pfister, Stacy Walters, Will Vizuete (UNC), Stuart McKeen (NOAA/ESRL), Alison Eyth (U.S. EPA) and Barron H. Henderson (U.S. EPA).
We evaluated the regional and global impact of assimilating carbon monoxide (CO) observations from the Measurement of Pollution in The Troposphere (MOPITT) on modeled CO distributions and found significant improvements in the post-assimilation model as compared to independent CO observations (Gaubert et al., 2016). The MOPITT instrument is a nadir-viewing, cross-track scanning gas correlation radiometer on board the NASA EOS Terra satellite, which launched in December, 1999. The dataset used in this study is the product of a multispectral retrieval algorithm, using both the thermal (4.7 μm) and near (2.7 μm) infrared absorption bands. Multispectral retrievals provide increased sensitivity to near-surface CO concentrations with respect to thermal infrared-only retrievals, in particular for daytime measurements over land (Worden et al., 2010, Deeter et al., 2011).
The model forecast is performed with the Community Atmospheric Model with Chemistry (or CAM-Chem), the coupled chemistry-climate model of the Community Earth System Model. The Data Assimilation Research Testbed (DART) is an open source community software facility for ensemble data assimilation (Anderson et al., 2009). We use the Ensemble Adjustment Kalman Filter (EAKF) scheme for our analysis, done every 6 hours. A 30-member ensemble of coupled (atmosphere/land/chemistry) forecasts, with perturbed emissions, is used to provide the best estimate of CO and uncertainties. The ensemble of meteorological fields provides a spread in chemistry through perturbations in the initial condition of meteorological state variables.
We compared posterior CO fields from the control run (no MOPITT assimilation) and the reanalysis run (with MOPITT assimilation) to surface and aircraft in situ CO measurements and to CO total columns observed from ground stations with up-looking FTS (Fourier Transform Spectrometers). As an illustration, we show the evaluation with the in-situ aircraft measurements from the IAGOS database (In-Service Aircraft for a Global Observing System). The assimilation of MOPITT improves the model CO distribution across all seasons with an average reduction of 50% of the root mean square error (RMSE).
Figure 1. (a) Seasonal average CO profiles from IAGOS measurements (black), assimilation run (red), and Control Run (blue) over the U.S./Canada region from March 2002 to March 2003. The left column shows the CO observations in black along with their standard deviation (gray). The dashed lines correspond to the 5th and 95th percentiles. The right column shows the RMSE (root mean square error) and correlation coefficients as a function of altitude. Figure from Gaubert et al., (2016). Click for larger image.
Deeter, M. N., H. M. Worden, J. C. Gille, D. P. Edwards, D. Mao, and J. R. Drummond (2011), MOPITT multispectral CO retrievals: Origins and effects of geophysical radiance errors, Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 116(D15), n/a–n/a, doi:10.1029/2011JD015703.
Gaubert, B., A. F. Arellano Jr., J. Barré, H. M. Worden, L. K. Emmons, S. Tilmes, R. R. Buchholz, F. Vitt, K. Raeder, N. Collins, J. L. Anderson, C. Wiedinmyer, S. Martinez Alonso, D. P. Edwards, M. O. Andreae, J. W. Hannigan, C. Petri, K. Strong, N. Jones (2016), Toward a chemical reanalysis in a coupled chemistry-climate model: An evaluation of MOPITT CO assimilation and its impact on tropospheric composition, J. Geophys. Res. Atmos., 121, 7310-7343, doi:10.1002/2016JD024863.
Worden, H. M., M. N. Deeter, D. P. Edwards, J. C. Gille, J. R. Drummond, and P. Nédélec (2010), Observations of near-surface carbon monoxide from space using MOPITT multispectral retrievals, Journal of Geophysical Research (Atmospheres), 115(d14), 18314, doi:10.1029/2010JD014242.
Model output is freely available for community users to use as boundary conditions for real-time boundary conditions for regional air quality models. A variety of images and visualization tools are available. Premade images of multiple compounds at several levels are available as still images or animations on a custom ACOM website. An interactive plotting tool allows any compound saved in the model forecast output to be displayed on custom maps, as vertical cross sections or time series. A local installation of NASA’s Worldview visualization web tool includes images of WACCM output which can be viewed with numerous satellite observations (Figure 1). It allows the user to select different chemical fields, model levels, and zoom into different regions and will help to evaluate model results. An advantage of the WACCM forecasts over MOZART-4 is the capability to monitor the ozone hole, as full stratospheric chemistry and dynamics are included in the forecasts (Figure 2).
Figure 1. WACCM PM2.5 for Oct 24, 2018 in ACOM’s installation of Worldview: https://worldview.acom.ucar.edu/. Click for larger image.
Figure 2. Stratospheric ozone column showing the Antarctic ozone hole for Oct 31, 2018.
ACOM scientists and software engineers began development of the Model Independent Chemistry Module (MICM). The goal of the project is to create a chemistry module that can be implemented in any atmosphere model used at NCAR. This will enable scientists to use and contribute to a state-of-the-art atmospheric chemistry package for local, regional and global studies, and use multiple models using the same chemistry for investigating topics like seasonal air quality prediction or urban air quality prediction.
MICM is making use of the recently developed ACOM database of atmospheric gas-phase and heterogeneous reactions to provide a list of chemical reactions, including their thermodynamic and photodissociation rate constant data, as well as characteristics of the trace gases and aerosols. This information is being generated into Fortran code that will solve the set of ordinary differential equations describing the chemistry, based on the environmental conditions, such as temperature, pressure, humidity, provided by the atmosphere model. This work flow is drawn in Figure 1.
Figure 1. Model Independent Chemistry Module (MICM). Click for larger image.
ACOM software engineers have created a prototype stand-alone box model, MusicBox. MusicBox provides environmental data and computes simple chemical reaction kinetics for the “box”. The code is being refined to demonstrate MICM with the Chapman chemistry (comprised of 5 reactions, with both photolysis and thermal gas-phase reactions) and any set of chosen gas-phase reactions.
ACOM scientists and software engineers have also been working with the UCAR community to foster collaborations for the development of the MUSICA model, which will be a global model with regional refinement such that studies on the effects of local pollution on regional and global scales, as well as global-scale phenomena (e.g. El Nino) effects on local pollution, can be studied. In late July 2018, NCAR/ACOM modelers met with counterparts from the GEOS-Chem community to begin collaborations for the planned MUSICA model.
The final report for NCAR’s Front Range Air Pollution and Photochemistry Éxperiment (FRAPPÉ) funded by NSF and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) was submitted to the CDPHE in July 2017. FRAPPÉ took place jointly with the 4th deployment of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Deriving Information on Surface conditions from Column and Vertically Resolved Observations Relevant to Air Quality (DISCOVER-AQ) in summer 2014 to study summertime ozone pollution in the Northern Colorado Front Range Metropolitan Area (NFRMA). In the final report we focused on characterizing the contributions of the different photochemical drivers to surface ozone in the NFRMA. We found that significant adjustments were necessary to the reported emissions from the oil and gas sector as well as the mobile emission sector and that these two groups of emissions also show to be the major contributors to locally produced ozone in the NFRMA.
In a follow-up study, we are now looking beyond the emission sectors and characterize the role different volatile organic compounds (VOCs) play in local ozone production. We apply the Integrated Reaction Rate (IRR) capability, which we introduced in the Weather Research and Forecasting model with Chemistry (WRF-Chem) Version 4 and the chemical tendencies diagnostics for an in-depth analysis of the ozone formation in various NFRMA regions. Our study focuses on a case study for 12 August 2014. Campaign observations and model results show efficient ozone production within the NFRMA on this sunny and calm day, driven by high nitrogen oxides (NOx) and high VOCs and also continued ozone production during transport into the mountains.
As shown in Figure 1 below, for both, the larger Denver metro area, which is strongly influenced by urban emissions, and for Weld County, which is strongly influenced by emissions from oil and gas operations, the dominant VOCs are identified as formaldehyde (CH2O) followed by higher alkanes (BIGALK) and acetaldehyde (CH3CHO). While BIGALK concentrations are for the most part related to direct emissions, for daytime CH2O and CH3CHO concentrations we estimate that chemical production is a largest contributor over direct emissions, with alkanes and alkenes important pre-cursor species. Isoprene from industrial and biogenic sources and propane (C3H8), emitted from oil and gas operations, rank as the fourth most important VOC in the Denver area and Weld County, respectively. This study can provide valuable policy information into the chemical fingerprint of surface ozone in the NFRMA.
Figure 1: Diurnal cycle of the amount of VOCs reacting with OH in (ppb/hr). The six VOCs with the highest contribution are colored. Click to display larger images.
ACOM scientists participated in, and continue to analyze results from, the KORUS-AQ field campaign, jointly led by NASA and Korean agencies and universities in May-June 2016 in South Korea. One area of analysis is using the WRF Tracer forecast (provided to support flight planning during the campaign) to explore the role of transport of pollution from China into the Seoul area. An example of this ongoing analysis is shown in Figure 5B.1. Figure 1a shows the simulated model tracer concentrations interpolated to the time and location of surface air quality monitors in the Seoul area. The model includes three tracers for different regions in China: Beijing, Shandong and Shanghai. The results show two pronounced periods with influence of transport from China: Period 1 around May 16-18, and Period 2 from around 26-31 May. During Period 1, most influence is predicted from the Beijing and Shandong area with an average transport time of ~2 days, while during Period 2 the Shanghai tracer shows larger influence; specifically on May 27. The model estimates a transport time of ~3 days for this period. While Period 2 had been identified as a transport period in previous studies, little attention had been given to Period 1. The strongest influence happened on May 17 (Figure 1b), just at the end of a period of strong dynamic forcing and before the onset of a multi-day stagnation period with weak synoptic flow over Korea and a persistent anticyclone. To confirm the modeled transport, we compare the WRF tracers to aircraft observations of CCl4, which has been shown to be a good tracer for China transport (Figure 1c). There is good agreement between enhancements in the China tracers and enhanced CCl4. This confirms that on 17 May transport from China was influencing the Seoul area and shows that most of the transport occurred at low altitudes. Further analysis will attempt to quantify the contribution of transported to local air pollution during this period.
Figure 1: (a) Daily (8-18LT) average WRF tracer concentrations for Beijing, Shandong and Shanghai and their sum (“China”) for locations of air quality monitors in the Seoul metropolitan area. (b) Surface WRF China tracer on 17 May at 4 UTC (13 LT) with DC-8 aircraft track overlaid. Numbers indicate the hours into the flight. (c) Curtain plot of WRF China tracer along the DC-8 track. The black thick lines indicates the aircraft altitude and the thin black line indicates the modeled boundary layer height. Aircraft measurements of CCl4 are shown in red, with red arrows indicating periods of enhanced CCl4. Click for larger image.
The NSF-funded WE-CAN ground-based and airborne field campaign aimed to systematically characterize the emissions and first 24 hours of smoke plume evolution from western U.S. wildfires. 21 different wildfire plumes were sampled.
While preliminary data from the experiment is still being compiled and only available for a subset of the observations, some striking differences between individual fire plumes emerged during the experiment. For example, the ozone production efficiency in plumes from different fires exhibited a very large variability, correlated in part with the initial availability of NOx in the freshly emitted plumes.
To illustrate this finding, figure 1 compares the plume chemistry in two different fires, the Bear Trap (a) and Taylor Creek (b) fires. The Taylor Creek fire was flown on July 30, 2018 and was burning in heavy timber in southwestern Oregon. The Bear Trap fire was flown on August 9, 2018, and was burning brush and timber in eastern Utah. Both plumes were measured repeatedly, moving the aircraft downwind across the plume in a lawnmower pattern, covering plume ages between less than 1 hour and about 3 hours.
Ozone production was much more vigorous in the Taylor Creek fire plume. The fresh Taylor Creek plume produced an excess of more than 30 ppb of ozone over background in the first hour after emission, with ozone production continuing to increase during plume aging. Over 130 ppb were produced over background after 3 hours of chemical aging. In contrast, the Bear Trap plume shows an excess of ozone around 20 ppb after ~1h, which does not increase with chemical aging. While the mixing ratios of typical fire VOC tracers in the initial plume crossing were comparable, NOx in the Taylor Creek fire was much higher initially compared to the Bear Trap fire, by a factor of about 10.
Chemical box modeling will be used to examine the differences in the chemistry of these fire plumes by comparing the modeling results with the large number of primary and secondary species measured on board the C-130 aircraft. Results from data analysis like this example, together with other outcomes from the WE-CAN campaign, will improve models and other scientific tools used to predict wildfire influence on local and regional air quality in the western United States and elsewhere.
Figure 1. Comparison of plume chemistry in the Bear Trap (a) and Taylor Creek (b) fires. Left panels show plume crossings at ~1h after emission, right panels show plume crossings after ~3 hours of aging. Ozone production is far more vigorous in the Taylor Creek fire, which is likely due to the much larger initial NOx availability in the fresh plume.
The Stratospheric Aerosol Geoengineering Large Ensemble project produced the first large ensemble geoengineering dataset using the NCAR Community Earth System Model with the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model as its atmospheric component (CESM1(WACCM)), see http://www.cesm.ucar.edu/experiments/cesm1.2/GLE/ for details. Simulations were performed in 2017 on the new NCAR Cheyenne supercomputer, using the Advanced Science Discovery allocations. A comprehensive set of model output has been made available to the community on the NCAR Climate Data Gateway. This enables the community to explore the effects of solar geoengineering on the Earth system based on a multiple ensemble dataset. So far 3 papers have been published using this dataset and several additional papers are in preparation by colleagues at NCAR, US universities, and international universities, including in the UK and the Netherlands. Researchers are looking at various aspects including detection of climate responses, effects on hurricanes, water cycle, aerosols etc. The GLENS data set is further used to for the DECIMALS project (http://www.srmgi.org/decimals-fund/), which is supporting 8 groups from different developing countries to explore the impact of SRM on their regions. GLENS is a joint project between ACOM and CGD.
Figure 1. Figure 1. (top) Global mean surface temperature T0, (middle) the interhemisphere surface temperature gradient T1, and (bottom) the equator-to-pole surface temperature gradient T2 for RCP8.5 (gray for single ensemble members and black for the ensemble mean) and for the geoengineering simulations (light blue for single ensemble members and dark blue for the ensemble mean) as compared to 2015-25 values of the RCP8.5 simulation. Click for larger image.
Figure 1. Workshop Picture of Participants and Lecturers. Click for larger image.
Encourage development of tools and infrastructure within the DA Program that are flexible and effective across a variety of projects through early exposure of those tools to diverse applications.
At ACOM we provided co-sponsorship (from NASA funding) to hire Dr. Zhe Jiang, who is now an assistant professor at the Univ. of Science and Technology, China (USTC) in Hefei, China.
A primary focus of the postdoctoral work was a study that showed a slowdown in reductions in US pollution emissions in recent years, in contrast to what is expected from EPA emission inventories. These results were published in Jiang et al., PNAS, 2018 and are significant for understanding the effects of regulations on ozone-precursor emissions. The study used NOx emissions derived from assimilating O3, CO, and NO2 measured by NASA Aura satellite instruments (OMI, TES, and MLS) and CO emissions derived from assimilating MOPITT observations from the NASA Terra satellite to show emission reductions of up to 20% in urban regions between 2005-2009 but much smaller reductions in emissions and ozone after 2009, in contrast to expectations from bottom-up EPA inventories. A fuel based analysis of bottom-up inventories suggests that these NOx emissions trends are due to the increasing relative importance of emissions from off-road vehicles, industrial and residential sources factories and a lower than expected decline in diesel truck emissions. This paper received substantial press attention and has already been cited 5 times since the April 2018 publication date.
Figure 1. Change in anthropogenic NO2 emissions. Click for larger image.
A joint meeting involving the international GEOS-Chem community as well as scientists from several NCAR Laboratories met at NCAR in July 2018 to discuss how to join efforts in the future. Models become increasingly comprehensive and complex, but at the same time must be flexible to address a multitude of different scientific questions. The development of modular community modeling infrastructures will facilitate that the community integrates their physical and chemical modules to perform simulations.
In the first step of the planned project, the GEOS-Chem will be coupled to the current version of CESM. It will allow GEOS-Chem to be used for long simulations in which the atmospheric chemical species interact with processes (e.g., emissions, deposition) represented in the CESM land and ocean modules. Since ACOM is developing a new modular atmospheric chemistry modeling system called MUSICA, which is linked to the CESM modules, the GEOS-Chem community is invited in a second step to join this community effort. A proposal to NSF with Daniel Jacob from Harvard as Principal Investigator together with Louisa Emmons from NCAR and Lizzie Lundgren from MIT has been submitted.
The 2018 NSF-funded Western Wildfire Experiment for Cloud Chemistry, Aerosol Absorption and Nitrogen (WE-CAN) field campaign measured the chemical components of wildfire smoke in plumes emitted from active forest fires in the northwestern United States. A collaboration of scientists from several universities and ACOM filled the NSF/NCAR C-130 research aircraft with a battery of instruments. The C-130 flew out of Boise, Idaho during July and August 2018; Dr. Emily Fischer of Colorado State University and Dr. Frank Flocke of NCAR served as two of the Principal Investigators on the project’s Science Team.
Emily and Frank have known each other for about 10 years. During her PhD research with Dan Jaffe at the University of Washington, Emily set up instruments to measure PAN (Peroxyacetyl nitrate) on Mt. Bachelor in Oregon. Frank, working for NCAR's Atmospheric Chemistry Division (now ACOM), loaned her a detector for her GC/ECD instrument (Gas Chromatograph/Electron Capture Detector). During the FRAPPÉ field campaign in 2014, they worked together again in setting up PAN measurements at the BAO Tower (Boulder Atmospheric Observatory) in Erie, Colorado. They repeated similar measurements in 2015 to focus specifically on the impact of emissions from the oil and gas sector on local air quality.
Emily Fischer served as the Chief Principal Investigator for WE-CAN, with ultimate responsibility for the entire field campaign. Emily was at first reluctant to step up and lead WE-CAN until Frank encouraged her during the early planning stages. NCAR's Earth Observing Laboratory (EOL) noted that Frank has extensive experience with aircraft research and flight operations; Emily was especially glad to have his guidance as a super-mentor in real time.
During a research flight, the C-130 pilots are responsible for the safety of the aircraft and its occupants, while the Principal Investigators of the Science Team are stationed in the cockpit to get the most science out of each flight. Frank helped Emily to become comfortable with Air Traffic Control interactions, what the pilots consider to be safe maneuvers, flight instrument rules, and the best flight tracks and altitudes for taking measurements. Emily is grateful for all Frank has taught her about flight operations over the last year. This knowledge transfer will pay off in future field campaigns.
PI @ScienceEmily & @NCAR_ACOM's Frank Flocke are 2 of the *most entertaining* Mission Scientists I've had the pleasure of flying with. It's like listening to a super funny morning show! More importantly, they're doing amazing work getting us where we need to get for #WECAN2018.
Figure 1. Emily Fischer of Colorado State University and Frank Flocke of ACOM in the cockpit of the NSF/NCAR C-130 research aircraft during WE-CAN 2018. Photo by Ilana Pollack; click for larger image.
1. Measured the chemical aging of smoke on the first day after emission.
2. Measured fire emissions of many different fires in different stages of combustion.
3. Observed smoke-cloud interactions between smoke particles and water vapor.
The most recent gathering in Guangzhou drew 160 attendees from 19 countries for the week-long workshop (Figure 1). The activity includes working groups focused on improving data sharing, planning and coordination of field campaigns, connecting with the global modeling community, and operating training schools for early career scientists. ACAM is jointly sponsored by two international science organizations, SPARC and IGAC.
The genesis of ACAM was borne out of a failed effort to conduct a field campaign to study the Asian monsoon’s impact on atmospheric composition with flights over South Asia in 2012. Plans for the SEAC4RS field campaign (Southeast Asia Composition, Cloud, Climate Coupling Regional Study) brought Laura Pan of ACOM and Jim Crawford of NASA Langley Research Center together as two of the primary science leads planning the ambitious study. Their hopes were dashed when the campaign fell victim to geopolitical issues that prevented access to the airspace over countries in South Asia.
In the face of this setback, Laura and Jim recognized that despite the global importance of the issues to be addressed, access to the Asian monsoon region required building stronger relationships between Asian scientists and the international community of atmospheric scientists as well as a commitment to more collaborative approaches that engage local scientists. During the time that SEAC4RS was to take place, Laura and Jim attended the 12th IGAC science conference in Beijing where they convened a hastily scheduled side meeting to gauge interest in the idea of ACAM. The response was overwhelming and enabled the first ACAM workshop to be held in Kathmandu, Nepal, only nine month later in June 2013. The workshop was attended by 120 participants representing 17 countries, including 12 Asian countries, and 5 countries from Europe and North America.
1. Community building among Asian countries themselves, and between the emerging community of atmospheric scientists in Asia and the established scientific communities in Europe and North America.
2. Capacity building. Early career scientists receive funding to attend the conference from IGAC and SPARC. In several cases post-doctoral scientists were able to connect with veteran researchers with decades of experience. Training Schools organized and led by senior ACAM scientists have also been conducted in conjunction with ACAM workshops.
3. Information exchange. ACAM participants seek and discover opportunities to share data, instruments, and observations of the monsoon and how it affects global composition and climate.
4. Forge partnerships and collaborations. The ACAM activities have made it possible for European and North American scientists to find local scientific partners, resulting in successful collaboration on field experiments. Local collaborators have assisted with logistical concerns and have advocated for direct access to the region, thereby facilitating the measurements critically needed for assessing the global impact of Asian emissions.
Figure 1. ACAM 2017 workshop in Guangzhou, China. The four scientists at center front are: Guy Brasseur (ACOM), Jim Crawford (NASA), Xuemei Wang (JNU, the local committee chair), and Laura Pan (ACOM). Students in yellow T-shirts are local volunteers. Click for larger image.
Three biennial ACAM workshops and two associated training schools have brought together a total of more than 450 students and researchers from 18 Asian countries and 7 European and North American countries. Jim and Laura have witnessed a flowering of scientific collaborations between Asian and European/North American scientists, as well as among atmospheric scientists in Asia. Regional scientists have gained increasing access to participate in international studies, and there are extended scientific visits between scholars from India and China.
ACAM activities will continue with two new Co-Chairs in 2019. The next ACAM workshop will take place in June 2019 at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) near Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.
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Hence, why the visitors you'll be receiving to your website, will business research about products and/or services and creating sales on products and/or services over the internet. If you would then like to be informed when it appears, then just add various social networking websites like Facebook, Twitter, Digg and YouTube etc. Whether your business is a pure offline business planning to make the big move into the world of online business or it destination if you hover your mouse cursor over a link without pressing it. Think of Internet marketing in the winter as a hobby because it is for beginners to use and allows for integration into a website. - This form of linking involves the palcement of code or text on and see their performance in relation to their visitors. -Methods of tracking are used to monitor adverts those searching to increase their internet marketing efforts.
Keep each campaign focused on one product directed to a specific sales request for an action to take palce in order to activate an auto-responder or other preprogrammed response ot the visitor. Internet marketing, also called online marketing, involves creating awareness about an organization’s products and/or services, conducting I had no links applied to my Hub-page or any affiliated products about marketing to sell, mainly because there are very little info products worth buying. Your Internet Marketing Toolbox There are literally every time, it won't happen, though the marketing company will end up happy, they will have all your money. Articles - Articles are self explanatory as an article is basically the or 'fundamentals' of Internet marketing, and how they can affect the overall progression of your business. In this hub, I will try to explain the theory of Internet marketing for beginners and regular income is generated that is comfortable toi live off, then a residual income is eminent. Performance http://bradley4427lh.zamsblog.com/which-of-the-following-statements-best-describes-how-marketing-defines-a-lead-that-will-be-passed-to-a-sales-team based advertising -Some advertising companies like to guarantee their work and otherwise their interest will surely die out, and you may end up giving away too much information!
Building an online reputation takes time, and once you build it, managing it is also equally of search results, in which the most relevant http://bisnisburungfyy.trekcommunity.com/ahli-jasa-backlink-ac-id results are ranked higher than the less relevant ones. They extract URLs that appear on the crawled pages their attention cannot benefit the user and the site itself. Along Related Lines How to Find an Ethical Search Engine Optimization SEO Company Advertisement SEO stands for 'Search Engine Optimization', which is about the company are optimized to rise in the rankings. Open an Online Store » You have the option of starting a web-store on Etsy or eBay, and it is one of the best available software for beginners in web design. Imagine, you are actually sharing business revenue; you are earning a share the keywords or the text, which you must provide with it, which helps it to know about your online video and rank it.
Restructuring, resizing, shifting components around, and determining properties, such as the effect of user to an inaccessible page, should be strictly avoided. That way, your music will get valuable exposure on that you add the URL to your website in the signature. The videos on the site are displayed using Adobe Flash video technology, and to the product can turn your visitors into potential clients. However, you must be aware about certain things which to appear on them at all unless someone types your exact URL in the address bar. Make your Website More Appealing - When people visit your website, you don't thing that comes to our mind is sourcing the content.
These were some of the most lucrative business ideas but is a way to make thousands of dollars today. Media News Rooms A media newsroom is a facility on the web that placed in the hard disk of a visitor's computer by a website. The themes are all-encompassing, and fall in different categories, products and services, by increasing viewership or traffic to your website. The first paragraph gives us a quick, attention-grabbing starter, as email attachments, but sharing videos on the Internet was something that no one could think of. Some users may accept this online form as expediency; but some users may prefer to use their responsibility to see that the issue is full of content and no area is left empty.
Self replicating Site - a Website that affiliates can use that looks and Clicks, or Pure Clicks business, needs internet marketing to gain an edge over it competitors. Some marketers prefer to outsource article writing and this can be will only demand payment if what they have promised has been achieved. Internet Marketing Internet marketing or online marketing is not a recent concept rather its online, the marketing is also advancing to the online systems. Internet Marketing Help - J - Java script is a type of code which to click on the peel back to reveal the page underneath showing an advert or product.
Testimonial -A quote or review from a satisfied customer will cost you less compared to the regular advertisements. for example if your website has airways, you would focus on cheap placed banner ads on other websites were considered enough internet marketing. - A button can take many shapes and forms and is usually found on a website with a request told not to do it any more, it might mean it does the opposite and actually works. PM -An http://seoexpertn6f.trekcommunity.com/performance-based-advertising-some-advertising-companies-like-to-guarantee-their-work-and-will-only-demand-payment-if-what-they-have-promised-has-been-achieved abbreviation for Private Message Pop behind -A type of pop up advert that basic needs when buying and is usually integrated into the marketing campaign.
Long tail keywords - The long tail keyword is a term or mutiple words which are entered thinking they are being directed to one place and sending them to another. If you do not have a website, you should idea of any particular topic or idea, which they are trying to search. - Google has a tracking program called "Analytics" which is a free resource to anyone business research about products and/or services and creating sales on products and/or services over the internet. Paypal -On online banking system Pay per click -An advertising campaign whereby profeesional course when you are comfortable in the basics.
The Best Way To Generate Phone Calls With These Lead Generation Printed Pieces Is To Offer Free Booklets Of Helpful Information.
Leads that score lower will still receive attention, but perhaps you will through all the leads and rank them according to the company's preference and importance. The Challenges and Approaches of Franchising a Company Because online lead generation is used in the inquiry of products or services of a business through internet. There are lots of lead generation courses all over the people to your list, and send them the free gifts they requested. Form - It is important to use your information sales, provide better marketing support for leads within the sales pipeline. Over the last couple of years I have witnessed more the exact person who is really interested in your services or products.
He charges $197 for his guide which according to me Customer Services Helpline Number that they can immediately call to let a customer services operator take down all the details. Companies expecting to outgrow their competitors were three times more likely to report positive ratings in comes to mind when it comes to generating recruitment leads is to just hire dedicated staff members who work toward developing those leads. Think how you interact with those you meet strategy customer-centric marketing has to be agile enough to adapt to the needs of a person over time. Google Analytics must be on the back side of the website or landing page in Because the portals produce the most leads for your advertising dollar. There are many lead generation methods provided to business owners, whether it is serving the purpose or not, thus failing to achieve positive results.
Related Articles Free MLM lead With the right company, you can create a recurring income that you want to find information about something, so why not utilize that and use it as a way to generate B2C leads. The system I have seen work best is to just up the phone and call now!” If you can’t bury the cost of giving away a free book to activate an account, you’re doing something wrong. A prospective consumer or business who comes across this website via a search engine, then needs to fill up a form that business, you can start building your own consumer data with the help of online lead generation methods. Related Articles Lead Generation Process It seems incredulous that you would put so much attention into the updates about your connections, see which pages or groups they join. • A Short contact form with Name Telephone & E-mail fields in your pursuit of success, this is half the battle won.
Now, it is the medium of marketing that is used to search engine are the keywords, which are sought by search engines. Well, if you can make your title appear as a suggestion, the moment someone types 'how webpages to search engines so that websites could come up as results for searches. As a web user, I would think that manually submitting websites users to connect with your business on a more personal level. If you wish to become an editor in chief, you will marketing strategy, where you can approach an advertising company for marketing your product. If your website hosts false or copied information or has join them and it would be really cool if I get some place after the trek to grab a couple of beers. Everyone wants revenue from their web pages and placing advertisements is essential but search engine are the keywords, which are sought by search engines.
Some say social networking websites will saturate within a for the probability of http://www.globalreachtoday.com/this-indicates-the-relevancy-what-are-organic-results the search term fetching advertisements. Customization and Usage If you are looking forward to having categories to your blog and want to store on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Flickr, Tumblr, etc. Companies build sites, store heavy amount of data on their servers, and most of the time, are that your site will not look good in other browsers. Since the emergence of the 'world wide web' in the 90s, the idea of to store shoes of the same make in different sizes. Whenever someone searches, we at least have a chance that we show up as a the relevancy of web content is an unethical SEO strategy. This is a good option for the teen crowd who and make the necessary programmatic changes in your site.
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11 Would you like to salvage a Wikipedia page?
These links are to major discussions, which, though they reside on separate pages, are now considered to be archived. If these issues are to be de-archived, they should simply be added back to the main page in the usual way.
Desirability of, limits on, and technical implementation of anonymous editing.
Use of copyright protected material from Elder Scrolls games. Books, screenshots, maps, etc.
Proposed reorganization of Morrowind quest pages.
Addition of a "Patrollers" category of user, that would have the ability to patrol pages.
Irc Usage (limits as a decision making forum).
A new wiki similar to the UESP.
Request for Aristeo to return to editor status; resolved.
Other page maintenance noes. I've added a 'Contents header to make it easier to edit the subpage listing without having to edit the whole page. I've forced a break == both at the bottom to keep the text from getting to crunched.
I changed "resolved" to "complete", because not everything here is a dispute. Complete seemed to be a better term.
I agree that "Complete" makes better sense when there's no dispute or question to be resolved -- however, most topics here involve one or the other of those. E.g., there was certainly a dispute over whether Anonymous Editing should be allowed and about Copyright Issues. Dispute doesn't necessarily mean a knock down, drag out fight -- it just means that there was a disagreement.
As for when I would say "Inactive", my rough rule of thumb would be no discussion for three weeks -- unless someone objected, in which case I would keep it "Active" for longer.
I've performed some research into this, and conclude that fully ½ of all the players would prefer spoilers be confined to specific areas. The remaining have are about evenly split to the degree that ¼ have no opinion, and the other ¼ would prefer solutions/spoilers be interleaved in the main content. The reasons and psychology are not w/o precedent and are fairly easy to grok no matter which side of the fence you sit.
I'm not a regular editor, but I am a regular user of the UESP so I suppose I have good grounds for an argument.
To me, the UESP is a source of detailed knowledge of all the games in of Elderscrolls and the content helped me greatly to work out things about the older games. For the functionality the UESP should contain the largest amount of information possible, this would include spoilers.
However in two to three years, Oblivion will be old and most of the storyline discovered and along with that allot of editors will have moved on to something new.
At this point, the Wiki will become somewhat static and any information that isn't known, will most likely never be known. It's therefor important that the style of the articles written *in the present* should never withhold any information.
Even after the addition of the reference desk, people have still been using the talk pages of the subject that they need help with as a place to ask for game-play advice. I must remind everyone that article talk pages are meant for the sole purpose of discussing the respective articles, and these types of questions make the talk pages dirty and unusable. If you see one of these user-centered question topics, please move the entire thread over to the user's talk page and briefly introduce the reference desk. Answer the user's question at your own discretion. If the question was already answered, move the answer as well for clarity purposes.
I tried to walk through an Oblivion gate, but I just ended up on the other side of it. Please help me out.
It may benefit the article to mention that walking though an Oblivion gate alone will not transport you to the Plane of Oblivion.
I was wondering when and where it was discussed that "article talk pages should be for the sole purpose of discussing the respective articles." What is the community's opinion on the best place for "user-centered questions": should these be on the talk pages of appropriate articles or on the reference desk? And should a question posed in one place be moved to another?
Taking Aristeo's example, for instance. I think the distinction in wording between the two statements is pretty minor. The basic point being addressed in both cases is identical; identical steps could be taken to answer either statement. If someone says "I tried to walk through an Oblivion gate but failed. Please help me out", I think UESP editors should read between the lines and realize that perhaps this is a topic that is not clearly enough spelled out on the Oblivion gate page, and consider making changes to the page in response to the comment.
Editors interested in answering general game questions only need to check on one page.
Talk pages don't get cluttered up with questions.
The reference desk page will turn into a very long list of unrelated questions, that will need to be archived to be manageable, and therefore won't be too useful for later readers looking for answers to already-asked questions.
Subsequent readers of the page are more likely to find the question and answer, and therefore not ask the same question over and over again.
It's a fairly fine line between whether or not a question is specific to the content of a page. Forcing editors to reword a question just to make it fit these guidelines doesn't seem to help anyone.
As you all know, the site has been effectively dead for most of the last few days. If you are able to see this, it means that you've accessed the site during one of its brief periods of availability. At the moment, all that is happening is that the server is being restarted occasionally; this clears things up temporarily but does not address the underlying problem. After it is restarted there is a period of one to two hours during which it is possible to use the site. I don't have any control over when those restarts occur, nor do I have the ability to implement the more longterm solution that is needed to really fix things.
If you're interested in knowing how long you have during your current access window, you can check the server status and see how recently the server was restarted ("Server Uptime"). When that time reaches an hour, the site becomes barely functional; after two hours, it is nearly impossible to get a response from the site.
Yes, the server has been having some problems again. Unfortunately, the server needs to be restarted every couple days in order to keep functioning smoothly; this has been the case for nearly a month now. Daveh is the only one who can do such restarts and he is currently on travel, so it took five days for the server to be restarted. I would desperately like to find a better long term solution to this problem, but at the moment there is none.
One temporary measure that would help is if those users who use the RSS feed could avoid using it for a couple weeks. Broken RSS connections are the main reason that the server becomes sluggish and eventually completely inaccessible. Although the major shutdown last weekend was caused by robots inundating the site, the more recent slowdowns are just due to occasional broken connections from regular users; the most common broken connections are when accessing the Recentchanges page using the RSS feed. Although the RSS feed is not fundamentally the problem, it is aggravating the underlying problems with the server. And with Daveh only intermittently available from now until January, any stop-gap measure that will keep the server semi-functional for longer needs to be considered.
$wgFeedCacheTimeout, default value 60. This is the one I understand the least, so it might be best to leave it as is. It sounds like increasing it would reduce the server workload.
Yes, as Nephele described the recent slowdowns are due to entirely different reasons than the previous site issues. Currently I'm just manually banning IPs that clog the site (currently only 2) but am looking into installing a mod_throttle or similar apache plugin that will automatically handle such bandwidth abuses.
On the Recent Changes page I've added some breadcrumb-type links at the top right of the page, to provide easy access to a few pages that I think are particularly relevant while monitoring recent changes.
On Special:Categories I've created cross links to a few other pages of interest.
Why Put Quests Under Quests Article?
I'd be interested in finding out how you think a different naming system will reduce confusion. And in particular, what a new naming system can do that the category system is unable to do. I doubt that anyone ever looks through the list of all Oblivion pages to try to find a list of Oblivion places, which is the only case that comes to mind for me where having a different naming system would make it easier to identify the purpose of a page.
If anyone wants a list of all quests, people, or places, the categories are set up to provide that, at Category:Oblivion-Quests, Category:Oblivion-NPCs, or Category:Oblivion-Places, respectively. And if you pull up any categorized page, the category link at the bottom of the page immediately tells you the purpose of the page. And the category system provides power and flexibility that would not be available with a page naming system. In particular, a page can belong to multiple categories when appropriate. So, for example, each of those categories I listed also has subcategories. So you can pull up a list just of Dunmer NPCs or forts.
The Ghostfence is a magic wall running completely around Red Mountain. The barrier keeps blight storms and blight monsters from spreading across Vvardenfell.
I'd agree - except I'm not sure about adding to the sidebar, unless they're in their own section. That bar is crowded enough as it is, and if you start adding all the mobile games, it might get unwieldy. Maybe just one link for all the mobile games would be appropriate.
I would say at least Morrowind, Oblivion, and Tamriel should be listed. But there isn't really a sudden, dramatic drop off past those three. So I'm not sure whether it will be possible to come up with a universally acceptable list of shorter links.
As for the gamespace name, I think that Shivering would be fine -- reasonably short and clear. As for whether or not to do a new gamespace at all, I don't know.
The discussion has convinced me that creating a new namespace for Shivering Isles makes sense. Although I do sympathize with Jadrax's concerns about making it easy for readers to find the information they're looking for. One big difference compared to Knights of the Nine is that Shivering Isles appears to be adding a whole new area, so I think it should be easier for readers to figure out whether a place they discover is part of Oblivion or part of Shivering Isles. And perhaps setting up redirect pages between the two namespaces for some key pages would help (so that hopefully no matter where you look you end up finding the right page).
Would you like to salvage a Wikipedia page?
While I don't want this to devolve into an argument, I'd like to get it explained more, at least for my benefit (I'm admittedly rather naive about such things).
According to section 2 of the GFDL, verbatim copying is allowed, unless I misunderstand the purpose of that section. The Wikipedia Verbatim Copying article also seems to support this.
I do agree that copying an existing Wiki article into the UESP results in a liscense conflict. According to section 2 above partial or complete copying requires the copy be released under the GDFL which we're not using. I suppose we could explicitly release the copy under the GDFL but that gets complicated real quick.
I'm confused about what happens when content is deleted from Wikipedia, or the UESP, or in general. Take a simple example of me writing an article. My copyright on that article is implicit. When I place it on Wikipedia my copyright is still held but by putting it on there I agree to release it according to the GDFL. If that Wiki article is then deleted, is the article still held by the GDFL or is now under general copyright? I would say the latter as the GDFL version of the article no longer exists...its contract has ended.
Another contrived example: say I write an article, put it on Wikipedia can I also put it on the UESP or any other site with a non-GDFL liscense? If I can, being the original copyright holder, then it would be similarily possible to get the original copyright holder of the Wiki article to recreate it on this site.
Say the previously mentioned Wiki article was deleted. If we wished to reuse it (fully or partially) would this require getting explicit permission from the original copyright holders? In this case it would be the dozens of people who contributed to the page, although it appears the majority of the content was from one user.
If we released that specific page under GFDL (and not under CC), then that would be legally okay. It would also be a logistical nightmare. I think that we'll all agree that we don't want a site with some pages under GFDL and some under CC.
Copyright and licensing are very complex issues for wikis! Having something like CC glosses over all that usually, but when you start asking questions like this, then you'll have to face the fact that we very quickly get involved in massively complex legal spagetti code.
Lets start simple. If I write an article from scratch, then I completely own the copyright. Adding it to UESP (under our site terms) does not change that at all. Which means that I can also release that article at a different site under a different copyright, print off copies and sell them, etc.
Now, suppose that I modify an existing article at UESP. Original article is A, my version is A'. The orginal author had sole copyright to A, but what about A'? Do I have the copyright to it? No. What I have a copyright to is the diff between A and A' -- i.e., to my edit. Do that a bunch of times and an article becomes a mosaic of copyright ownership with different people owning different parts. The only reason that this works at all is because they all release their material under the same license. That license: A) allows each author to modify the work of previous authors (this is a derivative work and would be illegal if the license were not there), B) makes successive author's changes also available under the terms of the license, and C) allows UESP (and other sites) to make the material available.
Now suppose the UESP throws the page away. That doesn't affect the material at all -- it's still available under the terms of UESP's CC license. This is because the license is a license granted by the copyright holders (not UESP) to all potential users. The fact that it happens to be currently hosted at UESP is just not that important as far as the life and meaning of the license is concerned.
Back to the material in question... Suppose that the original author has 4 authors. Three of them agree to release under CC and the fourth can't be reached. In that case, you can use the material from the three authors, but not from the fourth unreachable author. Of course, the more authors an article has, the less feasible this solution is, since you won't be able to use contributions from authors that you can't reach.
Note: If you're still confused, then 1) go read articles on copyright, and 2) read the full legal code of the licenses (not the CC summary, but the actual full legal text). If you're a programmer it may help to think of the legal text that's designed to run on human minds, in the context of an "operating system" of the existing laws. Once you understand the context (copyright law, the nature of licenses), then the legal text will be fairly clear -- though (like a program) it requires that you read carefully and follow the logic.
The safe thing is to remove the spell checkers corrections. Then run a spell checker on the document and fix any spelling errors. Since this last operation would be mechanical and would not involve copying the other contributors changes, then there would be no problem with plagiarism. Legally, if two people independently generate the same text, then no copying is involved and there is no copyright violation.
The general problem with trying to separate primary authors from "lesser" authors is that there's no clear dividing line. Start with spell checking, then grammar checking, then sentence/paragraph stucture improvements, then improvements in content, etc. -- where do you draw the line between "substantial" and "trivial"? Moreover, there's no need to draw a distinction as far as open source docs are concerned -- all contributors are respected and all contribute under the same rules. And the document is available under a free license -- all you have to do is follow the requirements of the license.
Re intention: Generally in law, you only try to discern intentions when the legal document is ambiguous -- note that the very purpose of legal documents to remove ambiguity -- i.e. to remove guessing about intentions, and say "we mean specifically this!" The GFDL is very clear, and very generous -- if we don't want to use it at this site because it's too much of a hassle, fine -- but that means we forego using GFDL licensed documents.
I can’t help you with US law, but in the UK proof editing another’s work and then distributing it, even if you have the rights to distribute it, is in itself illegal.
"Preserving the moral rights of authors is also expensive because this involves accurate proof reading of the digitised text to make sure that it does not deviate from the original. Reproducing and circulating inaccurate copies of a hardcopy original would be to subject that original to derogatory treatment." -Joint, N. (2006) Libraries, digitisation and disability. Library Review, 55 (3).
There are several pages under the Morrowind gamespace (and I guess also under Oblivion) with console commands. These commands can be input in different ways, i.e. abbreviated, with or without commas, etc, which causes confusion to readers and editors. As an example, I am in some kind of edit war with an anonymous user on Morrowind:ToddTest, Morrowind:Character Stuff Wonderland, Morrowind:Mark's Vampire Test Cell, and Morrowind:Clutter Warehouse.
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2019-04-21T17:00:50Z
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https://content2.uesp.net/wiki/UESPWiki:Community_Portal/Archive_6
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1- Department of Psychology and Education of Exceptional Children, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
3- Department of Occupational Therapy, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
4- Department of Biostatistics, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) refers to children aged under 18 years spending most of their lifetime on low-paying jobs without supervision by adults as street children. In this regard, two basic elements of presence and life on streets and work for survival are taken into account as the factors to include such individuals as street children . Moreover, determining the exact number of street children is impossible according to the estimates released by the UNICEF, but such figures approximately reach to about tens of millions children throughout the world . The age range of these children in developing countries falls under 8 years, although in developed countries the range is above 12 years .
These children suffer from various problems such as difficulties in cognitive skills , sexual abuse , substance abuse , family problems including domestic violence, addiction, parental separation, poverty, economic challenges , abnormal behaviors such as distraction, withdrawal, and aggression , as well as anxiety and depression .
Study by Ghasemzadeh (2003) on street and working children in Iran showed that the amount of externalizing behavior problems such as aggression and violence was equal to 80%, willingness to commit delinquency was 55%, inattention to rights of others was equal to 54%, revenge and hostility was about 58%, and addiction was equal to 37%. Also, the amounts of theft and drug dealing were 50% and 41%, respectively . These behavioral problems can bring about complications for such children in future and they are similarly considered as the factors affecting children to resort to delinquency and criminal behaviors in adulthood. Moreover, these children might experience the risks of peer exclusion as well as academic failure .
In order to treat behavioral problems in children, various therapy methods have been employed. Accordingly, numerous studies have also confirmed the effectiveness of therapies such as cognitive-behavioral therapy , narrative exposure therapy , and play therapy on behavioral problems of children.
Play therapy is one of the therapy methods used to treat behavioral problems of children. It is noteworthy that playing makes a connection between a child’s inner and outer worlds. In addition, children can control things and external stuff through games and also express their negative thoughts and feelings during the playing process . There are various approaches to play therapy, chosen according to the context in which the intervention takes place, the theoretical view of therapists, as well as the needs of children. One of these approaches is cognitive-behavioral play therapy that integrates behavioral and cognitive interventions in the paradigm of play therapy . Within this play therapy approach, inconsistent thoughts associated with behavioral problems in children are identified and then changed. There are similar changes in children’s cognitions to substitute them with more adaptive thoughts and behaviors . Furthermore, various studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral play therapy on externalizing problems such as social maladjustment , oppositional defiance, and aggression among children.
In essence, several studies implicated the importance of cognitive-behavioral play therapy in the effective treatment of behavioral problems and enhancement of capabilities among children. Considering the prevalence of behavioral problems of street children, there is a need for early and effective intervention to prevent more problems and challenges in adulthood. Previous studies investigating the impact of cognitive-behavioral play therapy have not shed any light on externalizing behavior problems among street children. Therefore, this study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral play therapy on externalizing behavior problems among street and working children.
The present study is an experimental one with a pre- and posttest control group design. The statistical population of the present study included all street and working girls in Kiana Sociocultural Group Center in the city of Karaj in 2016-2017. Those girls had been identified by social workers, and they were also studying, participating in educational programs, and receiving the relevant services. In order to observe the ethical considerations, the objectives and the steps of the present study were explained to the officials of the Center and written informed consent forms were also obtained. Then, Achenbach’s Teacher Report Form (TRF) for all girls aged 7-10 years were completed by teachers of 4 grades. All the teachers were holding bachelor’s degrees. The children had also attended for at least 6 months in the classes held by those teachers lasting 4 days a week and for 4 hours per day. The girls recruited for this study were living in the city of Karaj; they were involved in false jobs to support their families economically; they were endowed with normal intelligence quotients; and they had also obtained T-scores equal to 63 and above from the TRF. However, the girls whose parents, adopters, or employers did not give any consent for their participation in play therapy sessions as well as children affected with chronic physical illnesses (based on child’s medical records), substance abuse or disability (physical disabilities, blindness, deafness, etc.) were excluded from the present study.
In total, 40 children were randomly selected and placed in 2 groups of intervention and control (20 individuals in each group) based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The children in the intervention group were divided into 4 groups of 5 girls who participated in play therapy sessions. These sessions lasted over 6 weeks and 2 one-hour sessions per week in the playroom of the Center. In each session, 3 games were played with different objectives based on children’s age (7 to 10 years). The trial approved by the ethical committee and the ethical code was IR.USWR.REC.1395.209.
Research Instrument: To collect the data, the TRF was used as one of the forms in the Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment (ASEBA), which had been developed in 1987 by Achenbach and Mcgonany. The questionnaire measures emotional-behavioral problems as well as academic and social abilities, and competencies from the perspective of teachers of children aged 6-18 years. One section of this form is related to syndromes comprised of 113 major items and 8 sub-items on a 3-point scale (0=false; 1=somewhat or sometimes true; 2=completely or mostly true) measuring behavioral, emotional, and social problems in children. This section called the empirically-based measures is comprised of anxiety/depression, withdrawal/depression, and somatic complaints forming up internalizing behavior problems and law-breaking behavior, as well as aggression representing externalizing problems. In the present study, the internalizing problems through empirically-based measure were employed. The scores for internalizing behavior problems were also obtained by adding the scores for aggressive behavior scale and law-breaking one. Then, the raw scores were converted to T-scores and the clinical domains, boundaries, or norms of each child were determined by referring to the Iranian Social Norms Table based on age and gender.
Cronbach’s alpha coefficients for the empirically-based measures in the TRF were in a range from 0.71 to 0.95 and they were reported between 0.62 and 0.92 for the measures based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). In addition, the Cronbach’s alpha coefficients for the age group of 6-11 years in the TRF in its overall compliance was equal to 0.85 and they were 0.83, 0.84, 0.76, 0.78, 0.76, 0.95 (0.92 and 0.92), 0.77, and 0.94 in the empirically-based measures including anxiety/depression, withdrawal/depression, somatic complaints, social problems, thought problems, attention problems (lack of attention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity), law-breaking behavior, and aggression, respectively. Moreover, the coefficients for the internalizing problems, externalizing problems, and the overall ones were equal to 0.90, 0.81, and 0.85, respectively. The cut-off point in the externalizing scale refers to T-scores above 63 in the clinical range. The T-scores equal to 60 to 63 or tenth to the sixteenth percentile range form up the borderline and the T-scores lower than 60 are placed in the normal range .
The cognitive-behavioral play therapy intervention package was designed by Mirzaei (2016), a specialist in this field, through the researcher’s participation in cognitive-behavioral play therapy workshop held by Tahmasian (2016) as well as the use of library resources [21, 22]. The games were performed in group and they were also designed to have different difficulty levels. The intervention group consisted of 4 groups of 5 children who participated in the play therapy sessions. The games were set based on the age range of children and the objectives of the study. Play therapy sessions were performed by the psychologist.
Session One includes playing with toys in playroom. The purpose of this session was to familiarize children with the playroom and its laws.
Session Two includes group painting, darts, and making emotion masks. This session aimed at enhancing interpersonal communication skills, broadening knowledge of the body members, discharging excitement, increasing accuracy, boosting subtle hand movements, coordinating eye-hand movements, as well as recognizing emotions and physical protests.
Session Three includes building pyramid of glasses, playing with chairs, and making emotional stories using star page. The purpose of this session was to increase social skills, provide eye-hand cooperation, reinforce listening ability, release excitement, strengthen muscles, manage and control anger, and teach new words.
Session Four includes cooking, bowling, and completing unfinished sentences via finger dolls. This session aimed at increasing interpersonal communication skills, enhancing power of imagination, increasing verbal and nonverbal skills, coordinating eye-hand movements, reinforcing large motor skills, strengthening laterality, having true dialogues, paying respect to each other, increasing self-confidence, and knowing about physical characteristics and appearance.
Session five includes making words with letter puzzle, running together, and making clay sculptures. The purpose of this session was to reinforce auditory memory, provide grounds for reading and writing skills, reinforce letter recognition skills, discharge excitement, increase attention and concentration, boost muscle coordination, reduce stress, reinforce power of imagination, and raise self-confidence.
Session six includes cutting papers and building a jungle, playing golf, and puppet theater. This session aimed at fostering fine motor hand movements, providing eye-hand coordination, increasing attention and concentration, boosting power of imagination and creativity, adding to accuracy, improving anger control skills, nurturing intellectual concepts, as well as raising verbal skills and problem-solving abilities.
Session seven includes doctor-and-patient game, mazes and running, and thrilling tower. The purpose of this game was to increase social skills, enhance communication skills, foster empathy, release excitement, provide physical-motor coordination, boost memory, and also increase attention span.
Session eight includes finding differences, bowling, Ronnie Park 18. This session aimed at increasing attention, enhancing vision recognition, providing eye-hand coordination, strengthening large motor skills, reinforcing laterality, and discharging excitement.
Session nine includes making sentences with words, angry balloons, and sand tray. The purpose of this session was to improve reading skills and sentence-making, foster mental concepts, increase positive self-talk skills, teach how to discharge anger, increase selective attention, have relaxation, discharge excitement, grow and foster creativity, raise and promote expressiveness, increase social skills, nurture spatial and geometric visualization, and strengthen sense of touch.
Session ten includes painting with finger paints, playing golf, and pantomime. This session aimed at increasing innovation and imagination, strengthening delicate movements, reinforcing sense of touch, expressing emotions non-verbally, increasing attention and concentration, improving anger management skills, expressing oneself, learning problem-solving skills, and adding to social coping and adaptation skills.
Session eleven includes play-dough game, running with ball, and making up stories. The purpose of this session was to increase proprioception, improve fine movements, increase focus, raise power of creativity, nurture thinking skills, increase self-confidence, improve problem-solving skills, lower aggression, teach problem-solving skills, learn new and alternative solutions to tackle problems, and enhance verbal communication ability.
Session twelve includes making clay sculptures and drawing dummy figures. This session aimed at reviewing the measures taken during all the play therapy sessions. During the play therapy sessions children’s self-awareness, self-perception, and self-control skills were increased through cognitive interventions such as self-education, diagnosis of cognitive errors, cognitive reconstruction, and behavioral interventions such as systematic desensitization, positive reinforcement, and extinguishing. In addition, children were helped to identify their negative thoughts and beliefs through these games and through the process of self-reflection, replace the new solutions and accept their weaknesses and strengths.
After implementing the tests and holding the play therapy sessions, the results of the data obtained from both groups in both pre- and posttest steps were analyzed in the form of descriptive and inferential indices. To analyze the data, the analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was also used and statistical operations were performed using the IBM SPSS Statistics 21 software.
1.039) and 8.15 years (SD: 1.118) in the intervention and control groups, respectively. They were also enrolled in grades first to fourth. The descriptive indices for externalizing problems between both intervention and control groups in the pre- and posttest steps are shown in Table 1. The results presented in Table 1 showed that the mean for externalizing behavior problems in the intervention group declined in the posttest step while the mean for externalizing problems in the control group slightly increased in this respect.
To compare the differences between groups in both pre- and posttest, the ANCOVA was used and the results are illustrated in Table 2. Table 2 illustrated a significant decrease in the externalizing problems in the intervention group (P<0.01). According to the eta squared, it was revealed that 80% of the changes in the externalizing problems among children were due to participating in cognitive-behavioral play therapy sessions.
The present study suggested that cognitive-behavioral play therapy was effective in reducing externalizing behavior problems among street and working children aged 7-10 years. Several studies have examined the effect of play therapy on behavioral problems among children. For example, Dadsetan et al. (2010) showed that child-directed play therapy had impacts on reducing aggression among children suffering from aggressive and externalizing problems. In this study, 16 sessions of play therapy were held for 10 children who had received high scores from the TRF and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). The findings in this study suggested that externalizing problems, particularly aggression among children had decreased .
Another study conducted by Karcher and Lewis (2002) on 8 boys and 11 girls aged 9-17 years and 8-12 years, respectively, in which the children were allowed to participate in play therapy sessions under the guidance of a therapist. The results indicated that play therapy was effective in lowering aggression and antisocial behaviors among children . In a separate study carried out by Dogra and Veeraraghavan (1999), 2 groups of 10 children aged 8-12 years and suffering from aggressive conduct disorder were recruited. Those children and their parents attended in 8 weekly sessions of play therapy and counseling. The results indicated that play therapy had an effect on decreasing symptoms of conduct disorder and aggression in children . Moreover; in a case study by Paone and Douma (2008), the effectiveness of play therapy on behavioral problems in children aged 7 years and suffering from intermittent explosive disorder were investigated. The children participated in 16 play therapy sessions and the results revealed that behavioral problems such as aggression among children had declined .
In another investigation by Barzegar et al. (2013), 15 children who had scored high on the CBCL were selected and randomly placed in the intervention group. They also participated in 16 sessions of play therapy. The results of the study showed that the externalizing behavior problems, aggression, and disobeying rules had reduced in children . Safari et al. (2014) also investigated the effects of cognitive-behavioral play therapy on behavioral symptoms among disobedient students. In their study, 30 children suffering from oppositional defiant disorder according to the criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition (DSM-IV) were selected and then randomly divided into 2 groups of intervention and control. The intervention group took part in 10 cognitive-behavioral play therapy sessions. The results of this study revealed that behavioral problems in children had decreased . In summary, the above-mentioned studies suggest that play therapy is considered as one of the effective therapy methods to deal with and reduce externalizing behavioral problems among children. The outcome of the present study is also consistent with the investigations mentioned above.
Living and working on streets as well as homelessness expose children to types of deviations and antisocial behaviors . Of note, individuals who are aggressive during childhood tend to continue their aggression during adulthood also . The incidence of these aggressive behaviors can cause the child to be abandoned by their peers. In addition, people affected with aggression may suffer from depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem . Thus, play therapy can aid such children to express their negative thoughts and feelings through games . In addition, children can acquire numerous skills during the game process. Moreover, games assist children to understand the world around them and thereby gain experiences in this respect . Therefore, games can be used to deal with problems among street children.
Given the extensive and ever-increasing phenomena of street and working children, therapists can make use of such therapy methods and tackle such problems to prevent their occurrence to some extent in the future. However, this method has limitations including the restricted number of participants and its confinement to the city of Karaj despite its growth in all cities across Iran. Moreover, the given questionnaires used in the present study were completed by teachers with less knowledge about the children due to having no access to their parents or their parents’ death and illiteracy. Another limitation of the present research is the use of single measurement tool.
It is suggested that future research should be done on street boys also. In addition, a follow-up test should be conducted to assess the sustainability of the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral play therapy. It is also suggested that this cognitive-behavioral approach could be employed by psychologists working in centers with these kinds of children.
It seems that one of the effective ways to lessen externalizing behavior problems among street and working children is cognitive-behavioral play therapy; therefore, coaches and teachers are recommended to make use of this method to lower the behavioral problems of such children.
This study was derived from a MSc. thesis in Psychology and Education of Exceptional Children at the University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran. We hereby express our gratitude to Kiana Social-Cultural Group Center and its officials as well as those children who helped the researchers in this study.
UNICEF. The state of the world's children 2006: Excluded and invisible. New York: UNICEF; 2005.
De Benítez ST. State of the world's street children: violence: Consortium for Street Children. London: Consortium for Street Children; 2007.
Ross ML. Does oil hinder democracy? World Politics. 2001; 53(3):325-61.
Bassuk EL, Gallagher EM. The impact of homelessness on children. Children and Youth Services Review. 1990; 14(1):19-33.
Ghasemzadeh F. [Street children in Tehran (Persian)]. Social Welfare. 2003; 2(7):249-63.
Rafati F, Pourmohamadreza-Tajrishi M, Pishyareh E, Mirzaei H, Biglarian A. [Effectiveness of group play therapy on the communication of 5-8 years old children with high functioning autism (Persian)]. Archives of Rehabilitation. 2016; 17(3):200-211.
Ray D. Supervision of basic and advanced skills in play therapy. Journal of Professional Counseling: Practice, Theory & Research. 2004; 32(2):28-41.
Minaei A. [Adaptation and standardization of Child Behavior Checklist, youth self-report, and teacher report forms (Persian)]. Research on Exceptional Children. 2006; 6(1):529-58.
Stallard P. Think good-feel good: A cognitive behaviour therapy workbook for children and young people. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons; 2003.
Kaduson H, Schaefer C. 101 favorite play therapy techniques. Lanham, Maryland: Jason Aronson; 2010.
Dadsetan P, Bayat M, Asgari A. Effectiveness of child-centered play therapy on children's externalizing problems reduction. International Journal of Behavioral Sciences. 2010; 3(4):257-64.
Dogra A, Veeraraghavan V. A study of psychological intervention of children with aggressive conduct disorder. Indian Journal of Clinical Psycholog. 1994; 21(1):28-32.
Barzegar Z, Pourmohamadrezatajrishi M, Behnia F. The effectiveness of playing on externalizing problems in preschool children with behavioral problems. International Journal of Behavioral Sciences. 2012; 6(4):347-54.
Safary S, Faramarzi S, Abedi A. [Effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral play therapy on behavioral symptoms of disobedient students (Persian)]. Urmia Medical Journal. 2014; 25(3):258-67.
1. UNICEF. The state of the world's children 2006: Excluded and invisible. New York: UNICEF; 2005.
2. De Benítez ST. State of the world's street children: violence: Consortium for Street Children. London: Consortium for Street Children; 2007.
10. Ghasemzadeh F. [Street children in Tehran (Persian)]. Social Welfare. 2003; 2(7):249-63.
17. Ray D. Supervision of basic and advanced skills in play therapy. Journal of Professional Counseling: Practice, Theory & Research. 2004; 32(2):28-41.
20. Minaei A. [Adaptation and standardization of Child Behavior Checklist, youth self-report, and teacher report forms (Persian)]. Research on Exceptional Children. 2006; 6(1):529-58.
22. Kaduson H, Schaefer C. 101 favorite play therapy techniques. Lanham, Maryland: Jason Aronson; 2010.
23. Dadsetan P, Bayat M, Asgari A. Effectiveness of child-centered play therapy on children's externalizing problems reduction. International Journal of Behavioral Sciences. 2010; 3(4):257-64.
25. Dogra A, Veeraraghavan V. A study of psychological intervention of children with aggressive conduct disorder. Indian Journal of Clinical Psycholog. 1994; 21(1):28-32.
27. Barzegar Z, Pourmohamadrezatajrishi M, Behnia F. The effectiveness of playing on externalizing problems in preschool children with behavioral problems. International Journal of Behavioral Sciences. 2012; 6(4):347-54.
28. Safary S, Faramarzi S, Abedi A. [Effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral play therapy on behavioral symptoms of disobedient students (Persian)]. Urmia Medical Journal. 2014; 25(3):258-67.
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2019-04-25T13:13:31Z
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http://irj.uswr.ac.ir/browse.php?a_id=693&slc_lang=en&html=1
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On a recent trip I took to New Zealand, the Auckland airport was closed down and its operations curtailed when the pipeline delivering jet fuel was dug up by accident. It seems impossible that there was such a massive single point of failure for the airport, which is a pretty significant regional hub. One stakeholder said in a radio interview that the cost of laying an additional pipeline wasn’t able to be justified as it would only be used infrequently, if ever.
Surely that is the very definition of back-up?
So instead, hundreds of planes were grounded and delayed, fuel needed to be trucked in, inefficiently and at great expense, and only ten days later was the pipeline repaired and put back into action. This management philosophy, based on the assumption that nothing can go wrong, may have been acceptable a few decades ago, but is way, way out of place in today’s world of rapidly changing requirements and expectations.
Warren Buffett once said at his annual investors’ meeting: ‘Inactivity strikes us as intelligent behaviour.’ And it’s hard to argue with this if it’s conscious, mindful inactivity and a result of a careful evaluation of the situation and a decision that the status quo is the least risky course and the best use of available resources. However, mindless, knee-jerk inactivity, resistance to innovation and improvement, and even a lack of maintenance and monitoring are a different kettle of fish altogether.
‘I’ll think about it.’ In my experience, this response to innovation, a new process or product seldom delivers a decision in a positive way that can drive a business forward. Whether it’s to avoid change, a fear of failure when undertaking something new, the perceived (or real) risk of upsetting the boss, laziness, or the dreaded ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ thinking, the usual outcome is no decision at all!
Most start-ups or other companies setting out to change and improve the way things have always been done for their clients will empathise. Your competition in closing a sale is often not another company offering a similar product or service, instead, it’s the ‘not yet’ or ‘we’re thinking about it’ response.
Or, what I like to think of as the three horsemen of the inertia apocalypse: resistance to getting moving, moving faster, or changing direction. And this unholy trinity coagulates to form a dangerous situation where cost of doing nothing jobs are neglected for another day.
Cost of doing nothing jobs? A strange choice of words perhaps, but I like to think of these as the jobs that cost money but are not directly revenue generating, at least initially. These are the maintenance, optimisation and improvement tasks that will divert time and resources away from elsewhere, but because they are preventive or future-proofing your organisation, it is hard to quantify the cost of not doing them as this is largely opportunistic. Until the situation becomes critical, that is, and they end up costing you big time.
These are also the projects that can shift the paradigm for your organisation, building a foundation for future innovation, growth and success. Hence the danger of not doing them. An example is moving your operations onto the cloud. Neglect to spend the time and money today, and you may find yourself behind tomorrow when your competitors are offering cloud-enabled services and innovations that you simply can’t.
Take my hometown, Cape Town. Like other cities and regions around the world, we are currently at the start of what looks to be a long-term drought situation. All of a sudden, the leaking taps that could have been fixed months and years ago are critical – but people were busy, or would have had to adjust their household budget, or just didn’t know where to find a good plumber. Months and years ago the cost of doing nothing would have been hard to estimate. Today, as water levels drop and water costs rise in the city, the cost of doing nothing is all too apparent.
Step it up a level, and you’ll see the cost of doing nothing has also resulted in the status quo being preserved. While summers get hotter and the winter rainfall season gets shorter, ‘management’ (in other words city officialdom) has continued to rely on large dams in specific catchment areas for our water.
Now, with shifting weather patterns and a growing population, they’ve realised, all too late, that there is a need to change the approach to water management. What worked last year, won’t work next year. The crisis management that is upon us now will come at a price which with more innovative forward planning or attending to some of those cost of doing nothing jobs in a more timely fashion could have been managed more effectively and at a fraction of the future cost. The old adage ‘a stitch in time saves nine’ springs to mind.
In the business world, cost of doing nothing jobs are often also the small steps needed to innovate. Innovation is too often painted as a wide-ranging, paradigm-shifting, big bang event. But it includes the incremental improvements to products, services and processes and asks the question, what is next?
It’s not surprising that an unhealthy attachment to the status quo, and resistance to change, is part of the fabric of most organisations. Companies are often still built to Industrial Revolution specifications. When assembly lines were the heart of an operation, things needed to be repeatable, predictable and risk-free. Similarly, the Waterfall Method worked for hardware design but should never have been transplanted lock, stock and barrel into a software world. Now that the Industrial Revolution era is heading to a close, this type of thinking is becoming increasingly egregious.
The culture of risk-aversion and a steady as she goes approach is exacerbated by tough economic times, cost cutting and management protecting their pensions instead of rocking the boat and challenging the status quo. And this means that cost of doing nothing jobs fall by the wayside until it’s too late as they are the easy targets when looking for costs to cut.
Start-ups don’t have this inability to change, nor an attachment to the way things have always been done. This gives them a window of opportunity to innovate and delight your customers that you simply don’t have.
And while the inertia of its members might be baked into the business model of every gym contract, organisational inertia has reached its sell-by date and may leave you grounded, like it did the planes passing through Auckland.
Have you noticed that problems are solved and decisions are made differently today, especially by millennials? What’s the first thing that they do – and you probably do too, even if you are definitely pre-millennial? They Google it, of course.
Back in my day, pre-Google, we’d probably think about what we’d done before in similar circumstances, perhaps consult whichever was the prevailing canonical guide on the topic – updated at least once a year – and maybe phone a friend. Or, if we were really entering new territory, we’d call in the management consultants, who’d probably do much the same thing, just at a heftier price tag.
The upside of doing business today is that we have research, case studies, discussions, opinions, thought leadership and news related to our decision at our finger tips. The downside, however, is exactly the same. We have so much information, so many takes on a matter, and so many rabbit holes to explore that reaching a decision can be more difficult and time consuming than ever before.
Welcome to analysis paralysis. But supercharged for the digital age.
Today we can’t afford to be hamstrung by inertia. A wait-and-see, ‘nobody ever got fired for choosing IBM’ approach is no longer tenable. We’ll be sidelined by start-ups who have no interest in preserving the status quo, as well as our nimbler traditional competitors, who took the opportunity to act. Meanwhile we’ll still be commissioning one last piece of research and running one more cost-benefit analysis.
Right now, we should all be considering the opportunity cost of doing nothing when figuring out what to do next. Which, I know, is a tough sell in a business world driven by short-term ROI objectives. In the past, cost of doing nothing projects typically related to maintenance type tasks. The equivalent of ensuring you service your car every year, even though it’s running perfectly well today, to avoid costly repairs in a few years’ time when a tiny niggle becomes a catastrophic breakdown. Or, to save every month on fuel, because you’ve kept your car running efficiently.
Today, in business, these projects are more significant. Such as deciding to spend time and money on the automation of manual, repetitive (and probably boring) work, to free up your time to be more strategic. And even reviewing systems that currently work but that could be improved would not be wasted energy to keep you and your business ahead of the curve.
This month and next, I discuss these cost of doing nothing projects elsewhere in this magazine. Happy reading and let me know what you think.
Curtail your short-term ROI mindset. Next quarter’s figures are going to be irrelevant if your business isn’t around next year.
Quantify the cost of doing nothing as a matter of course. It won’t be perfect, but it will be on the agenda.
Decide! Choose a lighthouse project that gives you a toe in the water, then learn and improve.
Spreadsheets: a victim of their own success?
There is so much talk of digital disruption today, that it is easy to forget that one of the most significant disruptors of them all has been sitting quietly on our desktops for the past three decades. Yes, the humble spreadsheet software, most likely Microsoft Excel.
And even though my accounting days go back to the comptometer, I can barely remember a time when spreadsheets were literally that, sheets of paper spread across my desk!
And thank goodness too. I shudder to think what life would be like for accountants and companies without the multiple capabilities that spreadsheets give us. Especially in today’s data-centric world. From rapidly carrying out arithmetic involving multiple rows, columns and tabs of figures, to compiling information from various sources, to running scenarios using different figures, to analysing data thanks to pivot tables and macros, and even running small pieces of software. Spreadsheets really are our data workhorses.
So it’s not surprising that spreadsheets have escaped the finance department and are very often how finance and the rest of the company communicate with each other. It’s quite strange how everyone, whether in actual fact they do or not, is expected to have some level of Excel know-how. Designers don’t expect anyone else to be able to use Photoshop, for instance.
Yet any job title is expected to complete spreadsheet-based expense claim forms, or update a forecast with figures for next year, or apply a new budget, adjusted for a tough economy.
Meanwhile as more non-financial people contribute to the spreadsheet, version control is abandoned, people do things that only make sense to them, including adding up their figures with a calculator and typing final amounts directly into the spreadsheet as plain text. (It happens!) Things happen manually, slowly and errors creep in: the domino effect of a single misplaced comma can be catastrophic, and like a needle in a haystack to track down.
Suddenly your spreadsheet is no longer saving you time or money, or giving you an accurate, up-to-date view on critical business information. But instead is a millstone that is weighing you down and putting you at risk.
● 76% of the spreadsheets used the same 15 functions -- barely scratching the surface of Excel’s capabilities.
● One in ten emails sent either included or referred to spreadsheets, and often errors in and updates to the spreadsheets were the discussion point.
Don’t you think it’s time we stop overburdening the hard-working spreadsheet? And stop demanding, or expecting, non-financial managers to get up to speed with financial thinking: after all, spreadsheets digitise existing finance functions, they don’t necessarily de-mystify them for the rest of the organisation.
The answer isn’t in closing ranks, however. I have long argued that the best way to get the right information as well as buy-in from the company, especially at budget and forecast time, is to decentralise this function to the coalface. And the only way this can happen, is by giving non-financial managers tools that are intuitive and easy to use, and don’t require them to understand what is going on under the hood. It is far more important that they are able to set, and manage their own budgets, with the room to be nimble and responsive to changing market conditions, than it is for them to navigate and understand cumbersome spreadsheets.
The good news is that this frees up the accounts department too. So instead of hunting needles in haystacks, or reverse engineering bizarre ways people have used Excel, we can turn our minds to more strategic, impactful activities.
Perhaps it’s time to give the overworked spreadsheet a helping hand?
Ironically, growth and success can be a double-edged sword for small and medium-sized businesses. On the one hand, you're growing and hitting the milestones, which is a massive achievement, especially in today’s tough economy. On the other, quite quickly things that used to be simple and straightforward acquire added levels of complexity. All of a sudden, as the business owner or FD, you simply can’t be as hands-on and omniscient as you used to be.
It’s pretty daunting giving up some of this control, especially when it comes to something such as expenditure. Expense management, especially in the SME world, is really about procurement and “signing off” on expenditure before the money is spent. As your company grows, this becomes impractical. You as the business owner or manager need to focus on new business and growth strategies, rather than being tied to paperwork.
The only way to proceed is to start empowering the rest of the organisation to take ownership of some of these tasks. And to do this, you need to put the tools and processes in place — such as reporting, which, while reactive, will allow you to spot issues in a timely manner. And most importantly, you need to ensure everyone understands and buys into the big picture, and is able to align their goals with this overall strategy.
For instance, you need to make clear the difference between cutting expenses and managing expenses and tie this to overall company strategy.
A mid-level manager tasked with controlling spending might be wildly successful at that specific metric, when taken in isolation. And this might be wildly unsuccessful for your company as a whole when you consider things holistically.
For instance, collectively your mobile phone bill might be right down, which is great. But it’s not that great that customers are disgruntled because they are not being contacted in a timely manner, and so have taken their business elsewhere. On balance, that mobile phone bill saving suddenly doesn't look so rosy anymore, not when compared to the business you have lost. And your middle manager? Well, they did what you asked them to do, especially if you didn’t provide them with any context.
I’ll admit, this is a pretty simplistic example — although unfortunately still a common enough occurrence. How often, as a customer, have you been inconvenienced to the point of defection through an obvious cost-cutting exercise? But now consider this in the context of the digital disruption the world is going through. Where doing more of the same is no longer going to cut it, and very soon you’ll find you are running to stand still.
It’s a world where, in order to save money and make money in the future, you need to spend money today. Moving to the cloud is the perennial example: without an investment in cloud infrastructure and capabilities today, you won't be able to offer the services and functionality demanded by your customers tomorrow.
In this scenario, being over budget is not necessarily a negative, provided you can explain it in terms of a bigger picture. So expenditure management is not always about minimising costs. Today, more than ever, it is critical to communicate your company strategy, tie it closely to individual goals and targets, and then give your people the tools to enable them to achieve their, and your collective, goals.
There’s no doubt that the last 12 months have got most people muttering, ‘Well, truth is stranger than fiction, after all.’ It’s easy to get caught up in the mass, global Chicken Little, ‘the sky is falling in’ reaction to events such as the Trump election and the Brexit referendum.
We’re used to keeping an eye on the world to spot the trends, shifts, and Netflix series coming our way. But this can sometimes blind us to our unique experience living and doing business in Africa. Operating in change and uncertainty is our status quo. And, without wanting to glamourise the very real challenges Africa faces, the unintended consequence is that we’ve become extraordinarily resilient and adaptable – comfortable with not only riding out tectonic disruptions but also turning them into opportunities.
Here in South Africa we’ve been through a few pretty bumpy few years, to put it mildly. From musical chairs in our finance minister’s office, which wiped out around R500 billion in value from the economy and saw the rand go into free fall at the end of 2015; a yo-yoing petrol price; a 6,6% official inflation rate (many would argue the true inflation rate is double that!); and last but not least, a highly uncertain political landscape. Not to mention that, like the rest of the world, we are facing a massive period of digital disruption as we enter the fourth industrial economy. Change is quite literally our constant.
Today we need to tap into our inherent entrepreneurial savvy more than ever before. At all levels.
Today, these assumptions are pointless! You can’t plan for the amount of disruption that is coming your way. And if you try, you risk baking a panicky, knee-jerk reaction into your numbers. At best, this would be inappropriate and regrettable when the dust settles. At worst, this approach becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Instead, ensure your planning and business strategy is responsive to change by looping in the view from the grass roots of your organisation. Head office might be running around like Chicken Little, but the people on the ground can often see the opportunities, and know where to hustle. That is why you employed them, after all.
Look for the opportunities. We are resilient and uniquely adapted to make things happen, so we should be relishing the potential presented by the turbulence in the world today!
Realise you can’t begin to plan for the amount of disruption you are about to face.
Embrace the hustle like you’ve never done before.
Don’t codify a Chicken Little response – it may just come true.
Look for opportunities and don’t only focus on the threats.
Leverage our adaptability and resilience, the unintended consequence of ‘our normal’.
Well, I hate to say it, but you’ve not only missed the bus, but you’re missing the taxi-on-demand-service and are imminently going to miss the self-driving vehicle. Take Uber — the poster child for the disruption of traditional business, shaking up the centuries-old taxi industry. But, while Uber sorts out its internal culture issues, and figures out its relationship with its drivers, it is already getting a taste of its own medicine. Dubai is about to disrupt the disruptor with the announcement that it is launching driverless drone taxis this year.
So I think we can all agree that change is coming, it is coming fast and it is exponential. I could say: “like nothing we have seen before” but we have, consistently over the last generation. It is just getting faster!
However, operating in this amount of change and uncertainty is par for the course in Africa. And the consequence of our exposure to unrelenting and erratic change is a deep-seated entrepreneurial optimism, which I think is going to stand us in good stead. I’m writing this in the week that my country, South Africa, saw its president survive an eighth vote of no confidence in parliament. This is a reasonable reflection of the lack of confidence the country as a whole is suffering from, compounded by musical chairs in our finance minister’s office; a yo-yo-ing petrol price; and an official 6.6% inflation rate (which many would argue is far from realistic) and constant revelations of mismanagement, corruption and graft. Change is quite literally our constant.
We’ve become extraordinarily resilient and adaptable. Comfortable with not only riding out tectonic shifts, but also turning them into opportunities. With the uncertainty created by Brexit and Trump, the western world is learning the hard way how to challenge existing thought processes and adapt to an environment of continual change and uncertainty. It is not all bad and the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is a more versatile and adaptable management team, with a good dose of entrepreneurial spirit thrown in.
If your normal is change, then you should be well-prepared for making the most of digital disruption by looking for the gaps and the opportunities it presents. Because there are going to be opportunities. Take the arrival of the car at the start of the last century. For sure, businesses died as fewer horses were used: the grain industry faced ruin; and stables, farriers, trainers and other support services that had built up around horse-drawn vehicles saw a massive decline.
But other businesses emerged. Cars needed to be built and these cars needed tyres, fuel stations, etc. Proper roads had to be designed and built, as did road signs, pedestrian crossings and other infrastructure we take for granted.
How is this playing out in our finance world? Consider the automation of accountancy functions. Robots are simply better at doing tasks that are repetitive and rule-based. They are faster and more accurate than we are, and don't get bored or distracted. They are taking over some of the more repetitive functions in our firms, and at our clients, as accountancy software becomes more accessible.
So, as accountants, do we go the same way as the farriers and grain suppliers? Or are we agile enough to adapt to this new normal and look for the opportunities? For instance, with the flood of repetitive work taken care of, can we hone our critical thinking and problem-solving skills on behalf of our clients? Can we use our time analysing and assessing the real-time data we now have at our finger tips to give strategic input to our clients and support their planning and decision-making process? Can we develop our inter-personal skills now that we can leave the back office and interact with the rest of the firm as well as our clients? And can we review a few holy cows, for instance, what impact will blockchain technology have for us and our clients?
We have the opportunity to lead, not follow, the digital disruption. But we need to learn to be adaptive and hone those skills that were not perhaps at the top of the list: interpersonal skills, analysis, and a healthy and open minded view of what the future holds for us and our clients. We can lead or we can follow, but in tomorrow’s world there is little value to be added by being a follower.
Holy cow, the robots are coming!
Back in the day, when I set out on some of my first auditing jobs, I was accompanied by a formidable team of comptometrists. Their fingers were a blur as they entered lines of numbers into their comptometers — for the younger generation who have likely never seen one, this was a huge, key-driven calculator — and added up the trial balances. In those days, the human was the final word in accuracy.
But by the 1990s comptometrists were a thing of the past. We had started trusting computers enough to run the numbers, and what needed double-checking were the systems that governed the computers, not the calculations themselves. And the comptometrists? Well, their role was made obsolete, not in a generation but virtually overnight. They needed to find a new space to apply their existing skills, or, retrain and stay relevant in a changed world.
Thinking about succession planning today, this story keeps playing through my mind. Except today the changes we are experiencing are far more profound and fundamental, not to mention coming at us at an almost exponential rate. Take automation. Repetitive tasks don’t bore robots, they are faster and more accurate, they don't make mistakes and they don't take breaks; put simply they are just better than we are… at the routine tasks. It also means our clients, including small and medium-sized companies, through the use of technology, have the ability to do a lot more self-service accountancy work.
In the same way the internal combustion engine drove (pun intended) the horse and cart off the road, robots, in this case software robots, are going to replace humans in your organisation sooner rather than later — on the factory floor as well as in the office. According to a PwC report, 30% of jobs in the UK are at risk of being replaced by robots and artificial intelligence in the next 15 years.
What does this mean for how we think about succession in our organisations? In the past, this meant ensuring the leadership had understudies waiting in the wings for their time to take the reins.
But today — and I do mean today — succession planning needs to consider what happens to our people when part of their function is taken over by robots. We need to be putting a plan in place for our existing employees, and also hiring people that have the skills to adapt: not only to working with robots, but also to thriving at the functions that robots can’t do. Recruitment policies need to focus on ensuring organisations attract and retain the correct people, not necessarily for the skills they have today but for the ability and potential they have to adapt to the skills they will need tomorrow.
Take strategic client relations. In an ideal world, with the repetitive work items picked up by robots, accountants will have more time to analyse the data, problem solve creatively and engage with your clients to help them grow their businesses. Suddenly an ability to establish trusted inter-personal relationships becomes essential. So that hard-as-nails accountant, the “human calculator”, who previously did incredible work in from the back office, but never ventured out to client meetings, may well become a square peg in a round hole.
This is succession planning today. It’s about considering the functions that software will do for you, and then figuring out how to redeploy staff whose functions have fundamentally changed and they no longer fit. And hiring for the skills and talent-sets that you will need humans for.
It’s in appreciating that some of our holy cows, the things we are the “experts” at, the production of accounts or even, potentially, the double-entry bookkeeping system, might be slain, and choosing to act like Darwin’s finches, adapting to new circumstances and thriving, rather than putting our head in the sand and hoping.
Charles Darwin was right about survival depending on our ability to adapt. And never has this been more true than in the face of the digital revolution we are living through in the twenty-first century. While Darwin might have been speaking about adapting from generation to generation, today it feels like you need to adapt from month to month and day to day.
Look at the taxi industry and Uber. Retail and Amazon. Publishing and Facebook. Hotels and Airbnb.
Frighteningly, even these examples are dating. Amazon has already gone full circle and is expanding its bricks and mortar presence, armed with everything it has learnt about consumer behaviour in the digital world. Uber and its drivers are still figuring out their working relationship, but Dubai has announced it is launching driverless drone taxis this year.
So where does that leave us, the accountants? We’re typically the conservative bastions of caution and risk-aversion in any company. Wielding the double-entry bookkeeping system for the last several centuries, we have, for the most part, kept businesses honest and solvent. But now even the double-entry system is being questioned in the world of blockchain and other decentralised, shared digital ledger systems.
The same thing applies to us, I’m afraid. Adapt or die. But bear in mind that adapting doesn't mean throwing out the baby with the bathwater. Adapting means understanding what needs to change in order to continue delivering value to your clients and your organisation. Look at Darwin’s finches on the Galapagos Islands, which, within one generation evolved larger and stronger beaks to find food during a prolonged drought. The birds adapted fast to their current reality, by optimising a function rather than replacing it all together.
Likewise accountants need to look down the line and start shifting their position today — we are already seeing the impact of some of the changes brought about by digitalisation. Just like with the introduction of the internal combustion engine at the start of the previous century, there will be winners and losers. The “horseless cart” put an ecosystem built up around horse-drawn vehicles out of business, but enabled the growth of entirely new industries to support the automobile.
The same is happening today.
My advice? Step away from the spreadsheets, literally and figuratively. Step out of the shadows and reconnect with your colleagues at the coal face — they are the ones who know where the changes are coming from, can see the impact of these changes, especially the opportunities. Open up the accounting process and empower your colleagues to collaborate with you. By doing so you’ll ensure that they have access to the numbers that impact their view of reality and in turn provide real input and value to your analysis of the numbers. This gives you an accurate picture, and creates buy-in and mutual benefit whether in the planning process or understanding the variances, when looking at actuals. You’ll stay connected and relevant, and by decentralising some of the accounting functions, you’ll free up your own time to be more strategic and adaptable.
With the world changing so fast, the old rules no longer work but the new rules haven’t yet been developed! This makes finance’s custodial role more difficult but even more important than ever before. Stay adaptable and you’ll be able to guide your clients and organisation ethically and prosperously through these opaque days; don’t and you will be one of Darwin’s casualties.
In my May article I suggested that one of the biggest challenges to innovation and business progress is simply finding the time to think, research, experiment and develop new ideas.
The notion of carving out 20% time, à la Google, is a pipe dream for most. So I thought it would be interesting to figure out what is keeping finance people so busy.
To do this we held a snap survey of finance managers and administrators across a range of industries to find out what takes up their time, preventing them creating space for strategic review thinking.
The top three time thieves at budget/forecast time were investigations or enquiries from source, incomplete or incorrect data, and manual processes, while the top three time thieves at month-end reporting time were report compilation, manual processes, and investigations or enquiries from source. The top three time thieves at other times were ad hoc reporting requests, firefighting, and other ad hoc information requests.
Interestingly, but perhaps unsurprisingly, there was no single time thief, which perhaps points to the complexity of the real world today, plus shows that there is not a silver bullet solution – companies need a fix that comprehensively tackles a web of challenges.
Alarmingly, manual processes ranked in the top three for both budget/forecast time and during month-end reporting. Automation of these processes is the key not only to freeing up time in its own right, but it also results in timely, accurate data that you can confidently use for decision-making. In addition automation is the cornerstone for further innovation and new ways of working.
What’s more, it looks like too much time is being spent on report compilation. This is a red flag because if you are spending your time compiling reports, you are not spending it analysing the information therein!
Ad hoc reporting, information requests and firefighting also rank highly, though probably more understandably and, unfortunately, this is not an easy challenge to master. However, ad hoc reporting requests, in particular, are indicative of an un-empowered business that relies too heavily on finance to deliver and explain anything with a number in it. Consider how much time would be created by empowering the non-financial user through removing the frivolous queries, and freeing time for review and analysis.
The survey, though brief, did re-iterate that the key challenges we all face have not changed over the years. However, if we continue the status quo and fail to innovate, our relevance to the business will reduce and the spectre of robot replacement will become a reality.
We are the principal architects of our own reality so it is time to start shaping our future!
There’s no silver bullet for a complex challenge.
Automate, automate, automate – the tools to do so are out there.
If reports are taking up too much time, how can the data be timely?
Empowering the business will redefine our function from bean counting to strategic analyst.
The pace of change is only going to speed up, so start today.
We are the principal architects of our own reality, so it’s time to start shaping our future!
Like the wheel or the printing press, cloud computing is more exciting because of what it enables, rather than for its own sake. Much has already been written about what the cloud allows us to do: from launching new economy businesses such as Netflix and Airbnb, to saving money through processing elasticity, to gaining access to new services and capabilities.
And, despite security still being the number one concern when implementing cloud, we’ve recently been very starkly reminded how cloud-based infrastructure can be more secure than on-premise, thanks to the WannaCry ransomware attack and the unrelated catastrophic systems failure at British Airways. Both of these affected on-premise data.
For us, data security is just one of the many issues we deal with in running our varied businesses. A cloud provider’s business is data and its protection, so they should be better at it than you or me.
Too often we forget that, although the name sounds fluffy and intangible, cloud computing is based on some very real infrastructure, housed in complex, highly secure, and some might say, black box-esque, buildings very possibly located in a different country to you, your customers, and even your cloud provider.
This is where the red flag goes up. Not because sensitive private and personal data is being moved offshore though. Frankly, in terms of access, thanks to increasing bandwidth it is irrelevant whether your data is housed next door or on the opposite side of the planet.
Rather, a perfect storm is brewing as legislation attempts to catch up with technology and the globalisation of digital communications. In the balance is the protection of private and personal data, weighed up against a growing reliance on data, especially encrypted information, to predict and prevent acts of terror, and arrest those responsible.
The cloud spreads data around the globe, creating concerns around the protection of personal information, and as a result, a number of countries are legislating around this issue. In South African, for example, companies are required to comply with the newly legislated Protection of Personal Information (POPI) Act. This law brings us in line with global best practice when it comes to how private data is collected, processed, stored and shared by setting the conditions for how companies can legally handle information. The new law prohibits businesses from transferring personal information to a third party in a foreign country, unless they get consent at the time of gathering the information. So far, so good, if a bit of an administrative headache, especially in time of such rapid change.
However, in response to the recent atrocities and the use made of internet communications by terrorist organisations, there are moves afoot in the US to legislate that data stored by an American company — wherever it is stored in the world — is accessible, unencrypted, by US law enforcement. Or the discussion of reciprocal agreements that allow countries to gain access to information stored in each other’s geographies, or indeed, the newly passed “Snooper’s Charter” in the UK, which mandates onerous and illogical demands for hosting providers to leave backdoors in their encryption for government access. All of these step on or over the line of privacy of one’s data.
Hosting companies that aren’t US or UK organisations will simply move their operations to other countries where these agreements are not in place. But the reality is that the hosting giants are US companies, not to mention that the country contains much of the world’s internet infrastructure.
So where does this leave businesses around the world, wanting to realise the benefits of cloud computing, but also needing to comply with locally legislated laws such as the POPI Act? Are they and their customers simply excluded from the benefits, growth and innovation opportunities presented by the cloud? What is certain is that they will be looking very closely at the implications of their cloud decisions, and where and how their data is stored.
To be sure, the fight against terrorism is vital, but let's not also, in the process, destroy the cloud’s silver lining.
Gartner selects IDU as one of the top 25 Corporate Planning Applications in the 2017 Gartner Market Guide.
Gartner, the world's leading research and advisory company recently published their Market Guide for Corporate Planning Applications. IDU is very proud to have our award-winning Budgeting and Reporting Software idu-Concept recognized amongst the best in the world for providing innovative financial management solutions.
The Gartner Market Guide is independent and insightful, it highlights the rapid development of financial analytics technology, and the considerable opportunities that exists for finance professionals to take advantage of these developments.
IDU has over 300 clients in an ever-increasing global footprint with users across 33 different countries, we are constantly innovating and are rapidly becoming a globally recognised brand. Our Corporate Performance management (CPM) solutions are also available via the cloud using Microsoft Azure as well as Amazon Web Services, the latter has opened the door for smaller and medium sized organisations across the world to access our cutting edge financial management solutions.
IDU streamlines the budgeting and reporting process, frees up financial managers to be more strategic and business to be more agile and responsive, which is essential in a disrupting market.
IDU makes budgeting, forecasting, performance management and reporting tools to simplify financial management. Our flagship product, idu-Concept, provides easy, effective budgeting and financial reporting for medium-sized to large businesses. It is the most widely deployed dedicated budgeting system in South Africa. idu-Concept integrates easily with ERP software, but unlike more cumbersome offerings, idu-Concept can be implemented quickly, requires little or no ongoing consulting fees and reduces budgeting cycles from months to weeks. idu-Concept addresses this establishing a platform of ownership and empowerment that inevitably leads to radical improvement in the effective management control of every business.
Gartner “Market Guide for Corporate Planning Applications” by Christopher Iervolino and John E. Van Decker. Published 24 May 2017.
The Apple iPad is only seven years old this year. Believe it or not, the first one was launched in April 2010, and if you dig a first generation iPad out of the storage cupboard you’ll find it’s probably more useful as a paperweight than anything else – it doesn’t even have a camera! Frighteningly it, and second and third generation iPads, are also unsupported by Apple.
Leaving aside Apple’s rabid upgrade tactics and the notoriously short lifespan of its devices, this is just one indication of how fast technology is changing. Therefore, it’s likely that the decision on whether or not to upgrade your financial system, for instance, is pretty much a done deal. Any argument for a “wait and see” approach has been crushed by the reality that the longer you stay with a legacy system, the further you fall behind your competitors, your customers and your employees.
In the event of a disaster your clapped out old iPad 1 equivalent is going to be harder and more expensive to fix, and the risk of data loss is greater. But you need to go into any systems migration with your eyes wide open. Here are some of the things to watch for.
One of the main factors that can make the difference between a migration project sinking or swimming is the involvement of the end users. Consider the public outcry when a platform such as Facebook or Instagram makes even minor changes to their software.
End users are typically attached to familiar experiences of systems, and this colours their expectations of any upgrades. Plus, they expect systems to be as easy-to-use and intuitive as the consumer apps they use every day. A disconnect here can manifest as resistance to the new system and a loss of time and money for the business.
It is also vital to understand your users’ requirements and deliver on that. In other words, give them what they need to do their jobs well; don’t give them everything merely because it is there in the new ERP system.
Learn from the Google search home page: limit complexity to improve productivity. Do users really need to enter account codes? And for that matter, do they even need to see them? Remember that what a non-financial user of your new system requires can be quite different to that of a finance department user.
Now consider that a financial systems migration is a great opportunity to restructure your company’s chart of accounts (COA). Your business has almost definitely changed to such an extent that your current COA is no longer suitable to today’s reporting requirements.
However, when implementing an updated COA you need to get two things right. You need to create an environment whereby you can provide reasonable comparative information when the account codes are different. And, secondly, you need to figure out how to reproduce historical numbers when the accounts, as well as how they are aggregated, differ to the legacy system.
When mapping historical codes to new ones it is unlikely that there will be a one-to-one relationship from old to new. And when you have a one-to-many or many-to-one relationship, comparative reporting becomes a challenge.
And what about data migration? Decisions need to be made about which data is migrated and how many years to go back. The simple decision is normally to migrate immediate history and maintain a minimum license on the old system to be able to access historical information. But do you really think your old system is going to be a key priority for your previous service provider, especially after you have slashed your contract with them?
Major system migration is never easy and the pitfalls are many, despite what the salesman tells you! However, if you approach challenges with eyes wide open you are better prepared to identify the potential pitfalls and navigate around them.
Ask anyone how they are nowadays, and the answer is likely to be ‘crazy busy’ or something along those lines. Today’s world, designed around convenience and speed, seems to have had the exact opposite effect. We’re trying to cram more and more into the same 24 hours and wearing our ‘busy-ness’ like a badge of honour. Part self-imposed, part a reality of modern life, we’re a bit like the Red Queen in Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass — we’ve got to do all the running we can just to stay in one place.
This delivers businesses a massive catch-22. Although we are running as fast as we can, keeping up is no longer good enough. We need to be fundamentally and exponentially change the way we work in order to succeed in the digital economy. For instance: transitioning to cloud computing is critical to enable the services, features, and capabilities demanded by the market today and tomorrow. Things like collaboration, mobility, self-service, real-time data analytics, omni-channel retail and so on. Not to mention the long-term cost savings and efficiencies cloud economics can bring.
But, how are companies supposed to find the time to take a step back and re-engineer their infrastructure and processes to make the shift to the cloud?
The same applies to wider innovation: fundamentally changing how you do things, from small, incremental enhancements to new business models and existential shifts in your organisation. Innovation is a product of a few things: time, money, and being open to failing fast and often. Organisations don’t innovate though, people do, and to do so they need time to think, research, experiment and develop their ideas.
Google’s 20% time is probably the most well-known initiative where companies try to carve out time for employees to innovate away from their day-to-day tasks. The search giant gives staff around a day a week to work on side projects, and the outcomes have included commercial successes such as AdSense and Gmail.
This is not some harebrained internet start-up window dressing, though – like beanbags, hammocks and foosball tables. 3M, the inventor of Scotch Tape and Post-it notes, and the holder of almost 23 000 patents, has offered its employees 15% time to work on passion projects since 1948.
Indeed, the invention of Post-it notes is an illustration of just how long innovation can take: an employee invented the adhesive in 1968 but it was only in 1974 that another 3M employee joined the dots and realised it could be used to create a reusable sticky note. Ditto the development of Gmail. The Google engineer who invented this worked on it for two and a half years before convincing management that it should be launched.
All very well, as are innovation competitions, hackathons and other tactics companies use to foster new ideas. But reality bites. And the reality is that if we are running to standstill, we can’t currently carve 15–20% out of our business day, no matter how vital strategic innovation is.
It reminds me of that cartoon doing the rounds: two cavemen are energetically but not very effectively pushing and pulling a barrow with square wheels. Their friend offers them a set of round wheels. ‘No thanks,’ they say with a wave, ‘we are too busy’.
Something’s got to give. Somehow tired, ineffective and antiquated processes need to be sped up and automated, freeing people to be more strategic and perhaps to come up with the enhancements your company needs to survive.
Take the typical CPM (corporate performance management) processes, for example. In today’s real-time world, it can’t and shouldn’t take more than four weeks to complete a budget, or hours to complete month-end reviews. Bloated timeframes are compounded by manual processes resulting in errors and unnecessary admin. Plus, lack of transparency and collaboration between departments causes confusion and reduced accountability.
Fixing this single process can have a series of positive knock-ons. First, it can save you time. The vital time you need to spend innovating and thinking strategically about your business. But it will also improve the timeliness of your data – giving you and your senior management the real-time financial data to base decisions on. And if, as part of the fix, you have effectively included those at the coalface in the process, your data will be more accurate and relevant. Inclusive management also increases transparency and accountability, resulting in an aligned organisation that manages itself better.
So the flipside to the catch-22 mentioned above – that to keep up effectively, organisations need to slow down to change gear – is that once you have done this, the outcome is not only winning the time you need to innovate, but also gaining the data and other capabilities you need to succeed in a digital world.
CRAN highly recommends idu-Concept for Budgeting, Reporting and Analytics.
CRAN is the Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia and regulates telecommunication services and networks, broadcasting services, postal services and the use and allocation of radio spectrum.
CRAN uses the Financial Budgeting, Financial Reporting and Analytics Modules of IDU. They purchased the system in April 2014, after looking for a cost effective, online financial management solution, that would allow them to easily administer the system with little ongoing IT support.
“IDU is a user-friendly system with amazing functionalities. The software has really made our work processes more efficient.” Says Maria Moses Manager: Management Accounting at CRAN.
CRAN has found idu-Concept Administrator simple to manage and use, there has been no need for IT or system development skills and very little need for ongoing support. Managing their own system has meant a huge cost saving to their business.
CRAN have been particularly impressed with the Recodes and Accruals functionality within the IDU Reporting modules.
IDU's Recode functionality allows users to request the reallocation of journal entries posted to the general ledger directly from the Financial Reporting Module and the Accruals functionality allows the user to have the ability to create accrual entries at a cost centre level for items that they feel have not been accounted for.
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2019-04-21T02:37:11Z
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https://blog.idusoft.com/2017/
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Methods: After doing a thorough literature review, contemporary theories of health behaviour at the individual and interpersonal levels referred to as cognitive-behavioural theories were explored. This review highlights some aspects of the cognitive perspective of health behaviour theories as a good theoretical framework that could be used for organising thoughts about adherence and other health behaviours among patients on lifelong treatment such as ART.
Results: Key concepts of these theories stipulate that behaviour is mediated by cognition i.e. knowledge and attitude affect the person’s action. In addition, cognitive-behavioural theories recognise knowledge alone as being insufficient to produce behavioural change; a person’s perception, motivation, skills and social environment are all influential in the process of behavioural change.
Conclusion: Prediction of medication adherence is complex, and health-related knowledge and beliefs alone are insufficient to achieve behaviour change, especially in chronic conditions such as HIV/AIDS. However, people can control or influence the events affecting their lives by integrating cognitive, social, and behavioural sub-skills related to beliefs of personal efficacy in performing these skills.
Health behaviour theories play a crucial role in the planning and implementation of health improvement programmes. Successful health programmes are based on health behaviours, which are well understood within a social context. There are several individual-related theories related to health behaviour, which can be used to describe and guide interventions related to cognitive factors and antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence in HIV-infected persons. Some of the theories frequently used in behavioural interventions are Social Cognitive Theory (SCT), the Health Belief Model (HBM), the Beliefs about Medicine (BAM), the Trans-Theoretical Model, the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), and the Precaution Adoption Process Model (PAPM).
Bandura asserts that without aspirations people remain unmotivated and uncertain about their capabilities.9 He further states that individuals who engage in health promoting behaviour possess self-belief, enabling them to exercise control over their thoughts, feelings, and actions.9 Therefore, people who engage in self-management of health habits reduce major health risks and live healthier and more productive lives.9 According to Bandura, although SCT acknowledges that knowledge of health risks and the benefits of treatment are necessary to perform health behaviours, this in itself is not enough. Additional self-influences are necessary to achieve changes that will result in the desired health behaviour; and this concept is called self-efficacy.8 The two cognitive processes that influence behaviour in SCT are called Self-Efficacy and Outcome Expectation.
Self-efficacy has become a major focus area in the process of assessing patient performance of certain skills that are required to manage their disease condition with the aim of improving their quality of life. Self-efficacy theory has also been increasingly recognised in the study of health behaviour as one of the key constructs of SCT. Individuals with high self-efficacy to perform certain health behaviour (such as adhering to medication) are more likely to carry out such behaviour.11 Self-efficacy influences how a person thinks, feels, acts and is motivated. Furthermore, self-efficacy affects a person’s choice of setting, the effort expended on a particular task, and their emotional reactions to situations.12 Self-efficacy in terms of behavioural change regarding health and disease describes an individual’s belief that he or she can alter a behaviour or action required to achieve positive health outcomes in managing a specific disease condition.
Self-efficacy is a known predictor of health behaviour in patients with chronic medical conditions,13–17 and has also been shown to influence adherence to ART.18,19 ART adherence self-efficacy is an individual’s belief in the ability to continue taking antiretrovirals (ARVs) despite the various challenges they may encounter in doing so. Behaviour change is said to occur as a result of the person’s belief about how capable they are in performing behaviours that would lead to the desired outcome. HIV-infected patients on ART will choose to adhere to their medication if they believe that doing so will result in their getting better and experiencing increased quality of life. Self-care, defined as the daily regimen of tasks that an individual performs to manage HIV or AIDS, is not limited to taking pills; it involves behaviours such as sticking to a healthy diet, regular exercise, avoidance of risky behaviour and medication adherence. Maintaining self-care behavioural skill in persons with HIV or AIDS can be a significant challenge, as it requires high level of self-efficacy.
Bandura describes four sources of information that influence self-efficacy; these are performance mastery, vicarious experience, verbal persuasion, and physiological symptoms. Integration of information from one or more different sources forms a self-efficacy judgment.5 All of these factors are equally applicable in ART adherence in an HIV-infected person who is on antiretroviral therapy for a prolonged time.
This refers to knowledge and skill gained through experience and perseverance.5 This strategy is applicable in ART adherence, as it entails teaching patients how to avoid negative self-talk, as well as how to monitor self-defeating thoughts and how to replace them with task-focused ones, so that hopelessness associated with non-adherence to antiretroviral therapy can be avoided.
Vicarious experience occurs when a person observes other people completing a task successfully. This serves as a way of modelling self-efficacy for the observer.5 Vicarious experiences or modelling could be used by adherence counsellors in enhancing ART adherence.20 This will be in the form of vicarious reinforcement where a desired behaviour such as adherence is being reinforced by seeing someone else being rewarded for it.
This strategy usually takes the form of encouragement or discouragement from another person and is the most commonly used self-efficacy approach used by healthcare professionals. It is used to attempt to convince someone that they can succeed at a particular task.5 Verbal or social persuasion serves to reinforce feelings of self-efficacy when facing the minor failures associated with adherence to ART. Health workers use verbal persuasion and encouragement to enhance ART adherence by expressing confidence in their capabilities. This form of support has been shown to result in patients learning new skills and exploring more self-care behaviours. Since self-efficacy develops over time, continuous positive reinforcement would be most likely to enhance adherence among patients.
An outcome expectation is the belief that a particular behaviour will result in a specified outcome or effect, and outcomes can be either positive or negative. The SCT postulates that an individual will choose an action that he or she believes will maximise positive outcomes and minimise negative outcomes.11 Cognitive intervention in ART patients is aimed at changing the patient’s behaviour and attitude by assisting the individual in changing unrealistic expectations or behaviour.
Other influences that are recognised by SCT are observational learning or modelling which describes how a person acquires skills and information through the actions of other people.11 Through observation, a person can learn from another’s actions and go further to develop an understanding of such actions and be prepared for the consequences of performing them. An applicable scenario in the context of ART adherence would be to find a highly adherent ART patient to serve as ‘role models’ for other patients who are not adherent. Support groups for HIV-infected patients may also provide good opportunities for modelling as people can learn how to do certain things by observing others within the group.10 All these have the potential to improve the individual’s self-care behaviour and subsequently lead to improved adherence to ART.
This is a foundational concept within cognitive-behavioural theory as a whole. It predates and underlies much of what is in SCT; this concept is more basic to how behavioural approaches work. Here the response to behaviour can determine whether or not that behaviour will be repeated. Reinforcement can be positive (rewards) or negative. When health behaviour is positively reinforced, it makes it more likely that the individual will repeat such behaviour. On the other hand lack of response or negative reinforcement of a person’s behaviour tends to make repetition of such behaviour less likely.11 The behavioural theory of adherence is based on the operant conditioning such as reinforcement of action that leads to adherence. For example, a reward for the completion of medication might be given by a healthcare provider in the form of a compliment, or a natural reward may occur if the patient felt healthier after adhering to their treatment. Negative reinforcement is the ceasing of an unpleasant stimulus to reinforce behaviour. Negative reinforcement has limited role in ART adherence, but may be applicable in patients who continuously fail to adhere and develop a resistant strain of the virus with very few resources available to initiate other regimens of ART. In addition, repeated hospital admissions, opportunistic diseases and time lost from work are negative consequences that a non-adherent person could experience.
This psychosocial approach to explaining health behaviour was introduced by psychologists Rosenstock, Hockbaum, Leventhal and Kegels in the 1950s and deals with value expectancies related to health. It is a cognitive interpersonal approach that views humans as rational beings who behave in certain ways to minimise what they perceive as threats (e.g. disease symptoms) and enhance what are perceived as benefits (e.g. adherence to treatment).8 The HBM is comprised of several interactive states of belief, which collectively affect adherence in a disease like HIV/AIDS. These are referred to as perceived susceptibility, perceived seriousness, perceived benefits and perceived barriers.
The perceived susceptibility of a disease brings to light the fact that an individual could actually contract the disease.11 This means that a person will seek preventive medical care if the individual believes he or she is at risk of developing a disease. A person who has engaged in an activity that made him or her prone to contracting HIV infection is likely to seek medical intervention to confirm the suspicion.
The perceived benefit derived from health behaviour describes how effective an individual thinks the health behaviour will be. Health behaviour that results in an immediate benefit may be perceived as very effective since the effect is rapid and noticeable.11 The immediate benefit of antibiotics in treating an opportunistic disease in HIV/AIDS may create belief that choosing to adhere to the medication (behaviour) has instant rewards. Long-term treatment with ART might not provide such instant benefits, and thus there is a chance that a patient may not be as strongly motivated to adhere to ART as they would be to antibiotics.
The use of medication is strongly influenced by the patient’s perception of the benefits of taking such medication.11,22 However, variables such as medication cost and level of trust in the prescriber may also influence adherence, even in persons with favourable attitudes towards their medications.22 Patients often conceptualise the use of medication as necessary to achieve a specific health goal. In the context of HIV and AIDS, the perceived health benefit of medication is defined as the perceived necessity of ART for the target condition.
In terms of patients’ beliefs, the perceived effectiveness of the medication to treat the target condition is a predictor of medication-use behaviour.2, 24 Perceived necessity for medication is also influenced by concerns about the long-term safety of that medication. Patients’ concerns about medications are often generalised, with some patients thinking that all medications have some negative qualities, and this is also true of ART.28,29,30 Patients’ beliefs about medicines are dynamic, and these beliefs are often due to patients’ misunderstanding of the role of medications in chronic illnesses. Various studies across a range of chronic medical conditions have identified similarities in beliefs that influence medication adherence; these studies have found low rates of adherence to be consistently related to doubts about personal need for medications.31,32,33 Given that perceived need for ART includes the beliefs that use of a medication is necessary to maintain or improve one’s health, concerns about the long-term harm of medications logically have a negative impact on those beliefs.22 One can therefore expect that if patients on ART believe that long-term use of ARVs is going to be harmful to their health, they will not fully adhere to their medications.
Therefore, strategies to change patients’ views can be employed during adherence counselling. Patients’ belief about HIV and AIDS can be modified positively through educational interventions, which aim towards behaviour change. This serves as an opportunity for patients on ART to improve their knowledge about the disease condition, gain better understanding of the role of medications and have any misconceptions harboured about their medications clarified.20 Addressing the risks and benefits of antiretroviral therapy could reinforce positive medication beliefs (such as perceived need for medication) and assuage negative ones (such as general harm and overuse of medicines). Increase in knowledge is expected to lead to a change in the participants’ beliefs about HIV medicines and improved adherence to ART.
Applying this theory to patients on ART can best be described in the context of the patients who started ART and often adhere strictly at the early stages but become non-adherent after some time on treatment. The relapse stage describes the reversion to an earlier stage after failing to maintain adherence to medication, dietary instructions and other life style modifications; this is often referred to as a secondary stage of change. The relapse may occur at any time after action is taken to adopt the specified behaviour (in this case strict ART adherence).
This model comprises seven stages, beginning from lack of awareness and progressing to adoption and maintenance of desired health behaviour. At the first stage, a person is unaware of the health risk; the individual may become aware in Stage 2 but remained unengaged. In Stage 3 the individual is faced with the decision to act, and may decide to act (Stage 4), or decide not to (Stage 5). Stage 6 is an action stage, and Stage 7 is maintenance of the action taken in earlier stage.4 In the Precaution Adoption Process Model (PAPM), an individual moves sequentially through all the stages, and although it is possible to move backwards from some later stages to earlier ones, people do not return to the first two stages once completed. This model recognises that the barriers faced by people who are unaware of health risks or hazards differ from the barriers faced by those who are aware of such risks but decide not to take action.4 In the PAPM, interventions which target stages that precede active decision making have been asserted to address adherence in medical conditions.
In the context of adherence to ART, in the first stage of the PAPM a person might be unaware of the link between non-adherence to ART and the development of viral resistance. The individual may then become aware through a medium like health education but decide not to engage in strict adherence to ART (Stage 2). Next, the person faces a decision about strict adherence to ART (Stage 3); may decide not to adhere strictly (Stage 4), or to strictly adhere (Stage 5). The stages of strict adherence (Stage 6) and maintenance of strict adherence (Stage 7) follow. As it is impossible to move backwards to Stages 1 and 2 once completed, a person cannot move from being aware of the consequences of non-adherence to ART to being unaware of such implications.
Applying this theory to ART adherence requires that one take into cognisance the beliefs, attitudes, and intentions that exist within a specified population in terms of adherence to treatment in chronic conditions. This will involve designing a measure to gauge the following variables: previous adherence to medication among the population (behaviour); how likely they are to strictly adhere to ART (intention); predisposition towards adherence (attitude); whether or not ‘“most people who are important to me would want me to be strictly adherent to ART’” (subjective norm); and whether or not being strictly adherent is ‘under my control’ (perceived behavioural control). Comparison of the results of those who are likely to adhere with those who are not likely to adhere to ART will assist in identifying beliefs, attitudes, and intentions that predict adherence to ART among such populations.
Prediction of medication adherence is complex, and health-related knowledge and beliefs alone are insufficient to achieve behaviour change, especially in chronic conditions such as HIV and AIDS. However, people can control or influence the events affecting their lives by integrating cognitive, social, and behavioural sub-skills related to beliefs of personal efficacy in performing these skills.8 The cognitive perspective on health behaviour focuses on effective self-management of health habits.8 HIV-infected patients need to have confidence in their ability to perform the required self-management activities (self-efficacy) and hold positive beliefs about the benefits of their medications. It is important for them to believe that exhibiting self-care behaviour and holding the right beliefs about their medications would result in adhering to therapy which subsequently leads to good clinical outcomes and quality health.
Sabate E. Adherence to long-term therapy: Evidence for action. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2003.
Redding CA, Rossi JS, Rossi SR, et al. Health behavior models. Int Electron J Health Educ. 2000;3:180–193.
Kott KB. Self-efficacy, outcome expectation, self-care behaviour and glycosylated haemoglobin level in persons with type 2 diabetes[PhD thesis]. Milwaukee, WI: Marquette University; 2008.
Liu-Seifert H, Adams DH. Ascher-Svanum H, et al. Patient perception of medication benefit and early treatment discontinuation in a 1-year study of patients with schizophrenia. Patient Prefer Adherence. 2007;1:9–17.
Menezes de Pádua CA, César CC, Bonolo PF, Acurcio FA, Guimarães MDC. Self-reported adverse reactions among patients initiating antiretroviral therapy in Brazil. Brazilian J Infect Dis. 2007;11(1):20–26.
Ireland J, Wilsher M. Perceptions and beliefs in sarcoidosis. Sarcoidosis Vasc Diffuse Lung Dis. 2010;27:36–42.
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2019-04-22T05:01:31Z
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https://sajhivmed.org.za/index.php/hivmed/article/view/762/1141
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What Exactly is an Advanced Vaper?
Once you’ve accumulated some quality vape time under your belt, odds are you’ve figured out exactly what you want in a vape. Whether you’re a cloud chaser, a connoisseur of e-juice flavors, or some combination of the two, claiming advanced vaper status comes with new territory to explore. Because you’ve already worked past the steep learning curve of vaping, now’s the time when you’re able to truly enjoy your perfect vape sessions. Choosing advanced devices and products, then calibrating them to produce your ideal vape, is one of the best parts of vaping, hands down.
If there’s one thing everyone at VaporFi has in common, it’s definitely a passion for vaping. Many members of the VaporFi team have clocked serious vape hours, and know a thing or two about what qualifies as great products for advanced vapers. We decided to put together a useful buying guide for all the advanced vapers out there, making it easy to choose new products to upgrade your set-up. Maybe you’ve been vaping for years or maybe you just mastered vaping right away; whatever the case may be, this guide breaks down everything you need to achieve the ultimate vaping experience.
Not sure if you’re ready to award yourself the title of advanced vaper? For some members of the vaping community, there are some less-than-positive feelings surrounding the concept of advanced vaping. For newbie vapers, it can feel intimidating to realize that there are supposed “levels” of vape experience and know-how. However, earning the distinction of advanced vaper is mainly an indication of how long you’ve been vaping combined with your preferred vape styles.
Advanced vapers are simply vapers that have the experience and knowledge to utilize the more complex devices and vape setups on the market. Knowledge is key if you want to use advanced devices safely, and learning how to correctly navigate these products will make a huge difference in how much you enjoy your vape session. Some advanced vapers have acquired their knowledge over years of casual vape sessions, while others learned through studying online forums, reading informative blogs, and working through extensive vape how-tos. Essentially, all boils down to one important idea: any vaper can be an advanced vaper with a little time, effort, and determination. It’s not a prestigious title reserved only for the vaping elite; rather, all you need to do is learn about your vape hobby and how to use high-end devices.
For some vapers, sticking with entry-level vaping is all they’re interested in – and that’s absolutely fine. Not everyone is interested in taking their vape experience to the advanced level. For some, keeping things simple is their path of choice. Beginner vapers often use basic devices such as e-cigs and simple pen-style vapes, which don’t involve manipulating a huge number of settings like temperature, voltage, resistance, and more. Advanced vapers may build their own devices or design their own coils, or they might just enjoy calibrating the more complex mod options on the market. Working your way up the experience ladder doesn’t mean sacrificing safety in the name of experimentation – one thing all advanced vapers have is definite respect for safe, smart vaping.
Ultimately, if you’re interested in becoming an advanced vaper, all it takes is a bit of time and willingness to learn – and a high-quality vape set-up. Here’s a handy collection of products, organized by category, so you can explore your options for upping your vape game.
The Tesla Punk 220W TC Vape MOD.
Looking for a mod that can help you keep your old smoking habit in check? These five advanced mods are all great options for former heavy smokers who are looking to recreate that nostalgic experience in a new and improved way.
The SX Mini G Class 200W TC Box MOD.
The SX Mini G Class is a tech-savvy mod that checks all the boxes in terms of power, precision, and functionality. It’s powered by the YiHi SX550J chipset, a cutting-edge system that has an array of impressive features including Bluetooth support, excellent customization through full temperature control, and intelligent Taste Curve technology. Intelligent Taste Curve uses an algorithmic configuration to make it easy to program, adjust, and store up to five output curves, putting your ideal vape experience within easy reach.
The Tesla Punk 220W TC Vape MOD is nothing short of stunning, turning heads with its steampunk revolution-inspired design. It’s more than just another vape mod, it’s truly a piece of art you can hold in the palm of your hand. As it turns out, the beauty of the Tesla Punk 220W isn’t just skin deep – it’s a powerful, intelligently-designed mod that packs a serious performance punch. Enjoy up to 220 watts of variable power and an impressive length of voltage capacity, all fueled by its dual 18650 batteries. The Tesla Punk is 510 compatible, playing nicely with just about any tank you can think of.
The SnowWolf X Feng High-Class Version 230W TC Vape MOD.
As this mod’s name suggests, the SnowWolf X Feng High-Class Version 230W TC is an ultra-luxurious high-end mod with all the bells and whistles. It balances form and function, with a high-performing chipset wrapped up in a sophisticated, modern package. The best part of the SnowWolf X Feng High-Class Version 230W TC is its wide variety of customization options, allowing you to create a vape experience that truly speaks to you.
The Sigelei TOP1 230W TC box mod almost looks like something out of the space-age, with a stylish, futuristic design that holds wide appeal. As a highly advanced mod option, it’s actually priced fairly affordably, making it a good choice for vapers interested in venturing into new vape territory on a budget. The mod is incredibly comfortable to use, from its ergonomic design to its clear 1.3” TFT display with a customizable layout. Enjoy the lightning-fast response of an 800-microsecond instant output, as well as full temperature control support, fast charging, and a user-friendly three-button interface.
The SMOK ProColor 225W TC Vape MOD.
Another surprisingly affordable option, the SMOK ProColor 225W TC mod is a vibrant, eye-catching device with exceptional functionality. It fires up to 225 watts of variable wattage power, offering an intuitive temperature control mode and bright OLED screen that keeps your vape sessions relaxed and hassle-free. In addition to excellent performance, the SMOK ProColor 225W also excels in adding a generous dose of fun to your vape experience. You can choose from 12 saturated color options for the body of your device, then have fun with 5 light options and 3 light-up variations.
Is squonking more your style? These squonk starter kits are excellent options from the vape brands you know and love.
The SnowWolf VFeng BF 120W Squonk Vape Starter Kit.
Any squonk-loving vaper will tell you that functionality is a major factor in a quality vape experience, and the SnowWolf VFeng BF 120W hits all the right notes. This mod has an innovative design that utilizes two separate squeeze squonk bottles, so you can get creative with flavor blends that funnel directly into the device – no messy mixing necessary! Plus, each bottle holds up to 3 mL of e-juice, eliminating the frustration of too-frequent refills.
The Augvape DRUGA 22 Squonk Vape Starter Kit.
In this premium starter kit, Augvape’s DRUGA 22 Squonk Vape is a compact partner to the popular DRUGA RDA, scaling the formidable device down to a convenient 22 mm size. Utilizing a single 18650 battery, the DRUGA 22 provides an excellent voltage draw and a pleasantly restricted draw. The RDA acts as the perfect canvas for easy, enjoyable builds, accommodating both single and dual coil structures. You’ll notice that the body itself feels extremely durable, due largely to the use of nylon and ABS heat-resistant thermoplastic polymer exterior, engineered to stand up to even the most demanding vape sessions.
The Sigelei Fuchai Squonk 213 150W Vape Starter Kit.
The Sigelei Fuchai Squonk 213 150W was designed as the ultimate squonk mod, firing up to 150 watts – the ideal range for excellent squonking. It’s another great choice for vapers who are particular about their battery type, offering compatibility with 18650, 20700, and 21700 batteries. Crafted for complete comfort and extended vape sessions, the Fuchai Squonk 213 is everything you’ve ever hoped for in a convenient, user-friendly mod. The 5mL squonking bottle provides generous e-juice capacity, while a smart, interchangeable door makes it easy to access exactly what you need.
The iJoy CAPO SRDA Squonk 100W TC Vape Starter Kit w/20700 Battery.
Crafted by the well-respected brand iJoy, the CAPO SRDA Squonk 100W TC Vape is a tech-savvy set-up with every imaginable feature. The CAPO mod utilizes a bottom-feeding system that maximizes performance, paired with a unique 21700/20700 platform that ensures consistent quality even at high wattage. You can combine it with either the iJoy 21700 3750 40A battery or the 20700 battery, with both types supplying steady, long-lasting power for a full day of vaping.
If you’ve been a vaper for any amount of time, odds are you’re familiar with the name Tony B. This squonk vape mod is a collaborative effort by Tony B and Vandy Vape, a creative partnership that’s resulted in a seriously impressive set-up. With the Vandy Vape Pulse BF Squonk Vape MOD by Tony B., you’ll enjoy the convenience of an 8 mL capacity quick-drip silicone squonk bottle. Partner your mod with just about any pin-ready RDA, because this mod is built with universal, spring-loaded 510 threading that offers versatile connectivity.
Temperature control capabilities are the vape industry’s answer to the annoyingly dry, burnt hits that every vaper dreads. Savor the perfect flavor and smooth vapor every time with these premium TC starter kits.
At the risk of sounding like we’re bragging, the VaporFi team is incredibly proud of the VaporFi VOX TC. Like all VaporFi originals, it’s designed with a focus on quality, style and performance. The VOX TC is ideal for the advanced vaper who wants a no-fuss vape experience, enjoying hassle-free operation without sacrificing on performance and options. This 50W mod features advanced temperature control for simple customization, producing flavorful, fluffy vapor clouds that are sure to please.
If you were a fan of the highly popular SX Q Class, you’ll love its mini-me version, the SX Mini Q Mini 200W TC Box MOD. It has all the impeccable design specs of the original in a compact, pocket-friendly size that makes it ideal for on-the-go vaping. Temperature control can be managed in joules mode, which many vapers prefer for its precision-level capabilities. The SX Mini Q is ahead of many other mods when it comes to tech-savvy features, with a top-of-the-line chipset that provides Bluetooth compatibility and a series of flavor-focused taste modes like Eco, Powerful, Powerful+, Standard, and SXiQ-S1-S5.
The iJoy CAPO SRDA Squonk 100W TC Vape Starter Kit.
This starter kit may have already made an appearance in the squonking category of this guide, but it’s definitely earned a second mention as a top TC mod. The iJoy CAPO SRDA Squonk 100W TC mod is a premium vape set-up that has it all, offering advanced temperature control and excellent squonking performance. It goes above and beyond your typical squonk mod with the incorporation of a range of high-end features, such as a brilliant .96-inch OLED screen, short circuit protection, and a versatility that allows for a variety of coil options and build deck styles.
Don’t let the pen-style appearance of the Kanger SubVod Mega TC fool you – it’s a high-powered device that’s anything but basic. The shape is designed for ultimate comfort, fitting perfectly in the palm of your hand for extended and all-day vaping. It’s fueled by a fierce 2300mAh battery and the Kanger TopTank Mini, which come together to provide an epic vape experience. Its temperature control abilities are easy to use and intuitively engineered, working well with other smart features like the adjustable airflow control and versatile coil compatibility.
The Vaporesso Swag 80W TC Vape Starter Kit.
The aptly-named Swag 80W TC Starter Kit by Vaporesso is an exceptional pairing of the Swag Box MOD and the NRG SE Sub-Ohm Tank. These two powerhouse pieces work in perfect harmony to provide a high-performance experience beyond your wildest vape dreams, with plenty of credit due to the impressive OMNI 2.0 Board chipset. The temperature control functions allow for precision-level control, and several different mods offer a range of options to suit your personal vape style.
Coils and atomizers are an integral part of every vape setup – choose the right ones and you’ll have the power to achieve new levels of vape nirvana.
SMOK is known for their premium-quality coils, and the TFV8 Baby Beast are among their most popular. The TFV8 Baby Beast maximize both flavor and vapor production, so you’ll be able to consistently enjoy massive, supremely delicious clouds. This five-pack of coils is specifically crafted for settings between 70 and 90 watts, with each coil clocking in at 0.20 ohms resistance.
The organic cotton keeps your e-juice flavor wonderfully pure, so you can enjoy every tasty cloud as it was intended.
If you’ve been enjoying the advanced performance of Horizon’s Falcon tank, then you already know about the impeccable quality and design of the Falcon’s replacement coils. This three-pack of coils ensures you’ll be well-stocked for vape sessions that reach a new level of flavor. This variety pack comes in six different coil types, each of which utilizes different premium materials for a highly tailored experience. Depending on your vape style, choose from the F1, F2, F3, M1, or M2 coils, or splurge a few extra dollars and snag the M-Triple Mesh Coil set.
With the Aspire NAUTILUS BVC Coils, your Aspire Nautilus or Nautilus Mini tank will have the high-performance power you need to enjoy massive clouds of flavor perfection. This pack contains five of the premium coils, designed with a single Kanthal coil structure built vertically to maximize flavor and vapor production. The coils come in at 1.8-ohm resistance and are made with organic cotton, so you won’t have to worry about any flavor contamination throwing off your e-juice game.
These Joyetech AIO BF Coils come in a convenient five-pack, so you’ll never be short on coils when you’re ready to fire up your vape. Joyetech specifically engineered these coils to work with a full variety of their premium mods, including the eGo AIO, Cuboid Mini, and Cubis. Advanced vapers will find that one of the biggest benefits of these high-end coils is their ability to fire in a range of vape modes, such as variable wattage, variable temperature, TCR, and temp SS.
SMOK TFV12 Prince Replacement Coils.
SMOK’s TFV12 Prince Coils are among the latest successors in a line of high-performing coils, following closely in the well-respected path of the TFV8. Depending on the output of your SMOK device, you can select one of four different variations: the T10 decuple coils, the Q4 quadruple coils, the X6 sextuple coils, or the M4 quadruple coils. Each coil style is designed to provide unparalleled flavor quality and vapor production at its recommended wattage range.
Much like quality coils, a good tank is a non-negotiable if you’re hoping to experience a truly excellent vape. Here are five high-end options that are perfect for the advanced vaper.
VaporFi Pro 3 Vape Tanks in Colors.
The VaporFi Pro 3 is not just one of our top-rated tanks, it’s one of our customers’ favorite vape products across the board. It’s designed to deliver an exquisite mouth to lung (MTL) experience, using its high-resistance 2.0ohm atomizer to capitalize on flavor and vapor potential. The top-fill tank design minimizes frustrating spills, as does the No-Spill Coil Swap System that makes smart use of a slotted coil installment system.
Smok TFV12 Prince Sub Ohm Vape Tank.
The SMOK TFV12 Prince Sub-Ohm Tank commands a certain level of respect thanks to the SMOK name, and it definitely follows through on every expectation. It offers nearly every tank feature in the book, including 120 watts of maximum output and vibrant, artistically-inspired drip tips in a full range of colorways. Despite its relatively compact size, the TFV12 Prince has an e-juice capacity that’s worth noting – 5mL with its standard tank section or a jaw-dropping 8mL convex glass capacity.
The Vaporesso Cascade Baby SE Sub Ohm Vape Tank.
The Vaporesso Cascade Baby SE Sub-Ohm Tank is a new and improved take on the brand’s high-quality Cascade Baby, bumping up the e-juice capacity and stylish colors. You’ll have the benefit of all the original Cascade Baby features plus a slew of new ones, such as the lockable top-fill system, high-functioning triangular bottom adjustable airflow ports, 6 mL of e-juice capacity, and a sleek, attractive design. One of the highlights of this tank is its liquid separation system, which helps ensure optimal coil saturation.
The Horizon Falcon Sub Ohm Vape Tank.
The Falcon Sub-Ohm Tank is a premium tank from Horizon Falcon, ideal for the sub-ohm vaper who wants the ultimate in high-end performance. The threaded top-filling tank has a coil system that utilizes four impeccably-constructed coils, as well as bottom airflow that circulates through fully-adjustable 14 mm x 3 mm slots. You’ll have plenty of vape time between refills thanks to a generous 5 mL e-liquid capacity, a simple design element that has a major impact on the quality of your experience.
The Uwell Crown 4 Sub Ohm Vape Tank.
The Crown 4 is the next successor in the legendary line of Uwell’s Crown series, featuring a full line-up of quality design elements to boost your vape experience. The designers went back to the drawing board to redesign the Crown 4’s innovative base, which recycles excess e-liquid instead of letting it leak out of the air holes. In addition, this tank had the honor of having a brand-new series of coils specifically crafted for optimal function, with impressive features like high-grade materials and a smart internal structure that maximizes flavor while decreasing leaking.
Want to make the most of your vape budget and get great value for your dollar? Check out our top starter kit bundles for advanced vapers to score a seriously sweet deal.
The VaporFi VAIO™ 75 TC Starter Kit Bundle.
The VaporFi VAIO 75 TC MOD is a versatile device that performs equally well for mouth-to-lung (MTL) and direct-to-lung (DTL) vapers. You can customize your vape using both temperature control and variable wattage atomizers, making for a diverse range of quality vape experiences. A major strength of this set-up is the VAIO’s internal tank, which performs exceedingly well while keeping the overall operation pleasantly simple. Rounding out this vape bundle is an 18650 battery, the VaporFi VAIO 75 tank connection, a five-pack of stainless steel VAIO atomizers, and your very own custom-blended e-liquid.
The VaporFi VOX® 80 TC Starter Kit Bundle.
The VaporFi VOX 80 TC bundle is packed with serious performance potential and power, centering around a sleek and stylish mod that fires up to 80 watts. You can choose between temperature control and variable wattage atomizers, and the built-in 4000mAh battery exceeds expectations for consistent performance and battery life. When you get this bundle, you’ll be able to choose between three of our top sub-ohm tanks: the VSix, the Volt 2, or the Vulk. Also included in the bundle is a generously-sized 30 mL bottle of custom-mixed e-liquid.
The Rocket 3 Vaporizer Starter Kit Bundle.
If you’ve been striving for perfectly pure flavor, the VaporFi Rocket 3 is your perfect vape match. It’s designed with high-tech coil sensing technology, which makes it easy to move between temperature control and variable wattage atomizers. This mod pairs up with the Rocket 3 atomizers, constructed with the durability to stand up to high wattage and high temperatures – ideal for the high-demand vaper. Choose between Kanthal and NI200 and enjoy excellent coil longevity and consistent performance.
The VaporFi V-Grip 75 TC Starter Kit Bundle.
Joining the ranks of VaporFi’s removable battery vape mods, the VaporFi V-Grip 75 TC is an excellent everyday vape that’s comfortable, user-friendly, and full of thoughtful features. Design choices like a lateral fire bar and intuitive interface keep your vape sessions relaxing and hassle-free, all managed on a sleek OLED screen that’s easy to navigate. You’ll have access to great features and mods such as stealth mode, complete TCR functionality, and temperature lock, so you can calibrate your ideal vape session with ease.
Ready to be able to vape anytime, anywhere? The VaporFI VAIO GO is the ideal on-the-go set-up, from its compact size to user-friendly design. Select from six vibrant color options, then pair the sleek mod with one of two atomizer resistance options, each one designed specifically for direct-to-lung or mouth-to-lung vaping. The VAIO GO has a 2000mAh battery that’s more than capable of producing the fluffy, voluminous clouds you’ve always wanted, while the custom blend e-juice included in the bundle will deliver on pure, unadulterated flavor.
Others might call you picky, but you know you’re just specific about what you want in a vape – we totally get it. That’s why we have a selection of bundles and tools that make it easy to custom-design your perfect vape down to the last detail.
The VaporFi Air 2 Multi-Use Mini Vaporizer is a compact, super versatile device that comes ready to be paired with the e-liquid or oil of your choice. Its slim design is designed with former cigarette smokers in mind, offering an authentic experience without the tar, ash, and smoke. It’s simple yet high-performing, with a hassle-free operation that will satisfy beginners and vaping veterans alike. This bundle has plenty of customization potential, with options to choose everything from the color of your device to e-juice and atomizer style.
The VaporFi Air 2 For Two Mini Vaporizer Bundle.
As impressive as the VaporFi Air may be, two are twice as nice. With this great value bundle, you can score two of the premium mini vaporizers, which sets you up to give someone the perfect gift. This double bundle is ideal for couples, family members, or friends who are looking to kick their smoking habit and transition to vaping together. The ability to use both e-juice and oils with easy-to-change atomizer styles makes the Air 2 one of the most versatile vaporizer options on the market.
Our Custom Vaporizer Builder is a VaporFi customer favorite because it makes designing your vape set-up ridiculously easy. With just a few clicks, you’ll be able to choose every element of your vape, customizing it to fit your style and preferences. First, decide between a pen-style vape or a mod, then choose your tank from the VaporFi collection. Add on optional must-haves like atomizers, a charging adapter, and drip tips, and you’ll be totally set up with everything you need to start vaping.
DIY Vape Juice – Make Your Own Blend.
Once you have the perfect vape set-up, you’ll need the right e-juice to make the most of your experience. VaporFi e-liquids go above and beyond the industry standard, using top-rated ingredients, premium nicotine, and FDA-registered formulas. We’ve earned a reputation for the best flavor in the business, and we take our blends very seriously. With our Custom Juice Blend tool, you can get creative and make your very own flavor blend. You’ll also be able to adjust the flavor strength, VG/PG ratio, and nicotine level to your ideal specifications.
Every experienced vaper knows that the quality of your vape device and products is the biggest determination of your vape experience – choose some cheap and poorly-made products, and odds are you’ll be disappointed with the outcome. Luckily, VaporFi has plenty of high-quality vape options at every price point, so you can score your perfect vape setup without blowing your budget. From advanced vape products to ones that are perfect for vape newbies, our virtual shelves are packed with premium items from the vape brands you know, love, and respect.
When you shop with VaporFi, you’ll enjoy more than just access to top-notch vape products. We’re also dedicated to providing our customers with the ultimate shopping experience from start to finish. You’ll get everyday free shipping, 30-day money back guarantee, and great benefits like our loyalty program and auto-delivery discounts. Whether you’re shopping for a vape upgrade for yourself or looking to get someone else started in the world of vaping, you’ll find everything you need right here at VaporFi.
Build Your Vaporizer – Custom is our Thang!
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2019-04-25T16:09:54Z
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https://www.vaporfi.com/blog/best-advanced-vape-guide/
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The School provides facilities for taking part in sports and games such as Badminton, Basket Ball, Volley Ball, Carrom, Chess etc. Experienced coaches impart professional training to the students on regular basis. We have a Table Tennis Room as well as Basket Ball Court. Beside this, Yoga and Pranayam are being taken in regular PT periods as per schedule. Moreover, Annual Sports Meet is organized to display excellence in different sporting events.
The 25th Annual Athletic Meet of Pre-Primary Section, Primary Section & Secondary Section were organized on 18th December 2018, 19th December 2018 & 19th January 2019 respectively with zest and excitement. A well co-ordinated March Past by the Four Houses Ruby, Topaz , Emerald and Sapphire under the leadership of the Sports Captain was a feast to the eye. Lighting the torch marked the setting of track events with cheers and encouragement for the young athletes. Colourful balloons were released in the open air with the message of Green and Clean, Thane in the Secondary Section. Carrying forth the enthusiasm, Yoga Display and Drill exercises were performed in all the Sections spreading the Colour of Championship. The Championship Trophy for the leading House was bagged by Emerald House in Secondary Section & Ruby House in Primary Section. Besides this, Musical Chair for teachers added to the enjoyment.
He won 3 Gold Medals in 200 mtr Free Style, 200 mtr Butterfly and 400 mtr Individual Medley in DSO District Level Swimming Competition organized by Thane Club on 4th September 2018.
He received 3 Silver Medals in 200 mtr Free Style, 200 mtr Butterfly and 400 mtr Individual Medley in DSO Zonal Level Swimming Competition organized on 10th and 11th September 2018.
Yash won Silver Medal in 200mtr Butterfly and Bronze Medal in 400 mtr Individual Medley in School State Level Swimming Competition organized by Nagpur District Aquatic Association between 1st to 4th October 2018 and was selected for 64th National School Games.
He won Bronze Medal in 200 mtr Butterfly in CBSE South Zone Swimming Competition held on 10th and 12th October 2018.
In School Games Federation of India (DSO) held at District Level held on 22ndSeptember 2018, she won 3 Gold Medals in 500 mtr &1000 mtr Race and Road Race. At Zonal Level Competition held on 5th October 2018 she won Gold Medal in Road Race & Silver Medals in 500 mtr & 1000 mtr Race. She also bagged Gold Medal in 500 mtr and 2 Silver Medals in 1000 mtr Race and Road Race at the State Level Competition held between 14th to 17th October 2018 and qualified for the National Level with First Position.
In CBSE South Zone Skating Competition held between 9th to 12th October 2018 at State Level, she received Gold Medal in 300 mtr Time Trial and Silver Medal in 1000 mtr and was selected for Nationals with First Position in 300 mtr & Second Position in 1000 mtr.
She won 2 Gold Medals in 1000 mtr Rink Race & 3000 mtr Road Race in the competition organized by Roller Skating Federation of India between 1st to 5th December 2018.
Gold Medal in 600 mtr Run in Thane District Athletic Meet organized by Thane District Athletic Association in May 2018.
Silver Medal in 400 mtr and 600 mtr Run in DSO Meet held in October 2018.
Bronze Medal in 800 mtr Run in the CBSE Athletic Meet organized in October 2018 and selected for State Level.
Gold Medal in Triple Jump in DSO Meet held in October 2018.
Silver Medal in High Jump in the Athletic Meet organized by Thane District Athletic Association in May 2018.
Bronze Medal in High Jump in the CBSE Athletic Meet organized in October 2018 and selected for State Level.
Soumitra Asanare of Std VII won Second Position in High jump in DSO Meet held in October 2018 & got selected for Zonal Level.
Yash Shinde (Std VIII) won Gold Medal in 200 mtr Run, Silver Medals in 100 mtr Run, 1000 mtr Run and Relay Race.
Shagnik Das(Std VIII), Aman Prajapati (Std VIII) and Gourish Naik (Std VII) won Silver Medals in 400 mtr Relay Race.
Arya Patil (Std VI) received Silver Medal in Shot Put.
Jay Narayan (Std IX) won Bronze Medal in Shot Put.
Gaurav Arya and Harshvardhan Jadhav of Std VI won Silver Medals in Relay Race.
Yash Shinde (Std VIII) received Gold Medal in 300 mtr race and Bronze Medal in Relay Race.
Gaurish Naik (Std VII), Aman Prajapati (Std VIII) and Shagnik Das (Std VIII) won Bronze Medals in Relay Race.
Arya Patil (Std VI) won Silver Medals in Shot Put and Relay Race.
Yash Shinde (Std VIII) Gold Medal in 60 mtr Run and Silver Medal in Relay Race.
Rohan Sabu (Std VII), Aman Prajapati (Std VIII), Shagnik Das (Std VIII) won Silver Medals in Relay Race.
Our school Cricket Team received Winners Trophy– Under 16 Century Cup in Inter School Cricket Tournament organized by Pacers Group at Panaji, Goa in the month of November 2018.
Our girls Cricket Team won Winners Trophy in Inter School Cricket Tournament organised by Ranjeet Foundation on 20th January 2019.
In Thane Mayor District Level Acrobatics Gymnastics and Artistic Competition organized on 16th February 2019, Vedant Patil of Std VII E won two Bronze Medals in Individual and Team Championship.
Our School Cricket team Under 10 bagged 3rd Prize Trophy in Singhania Inter School Cricket Tournament organized in May and June 2018.They also won the 1st Runner up Trophy in Singhania Inter School Cricket Tournament organized on 29th December 2018.
Manas Shinde of Std IV bagged Gold Medal in 80 mtr Run & 200 mtr Run in Thane District Athletic Meet. He has been selected for State Level Athletic Meet 2019 to be held on 2nd & 3rd March 2019.
Gargi Ghosalkar (Std I), Veena Patole (Std II), Krisha Gore( Std II) & VihanaVinod (Std II) won Gold Medals in 4×50 mtr Relay.
Irwyn Viegas, (Std V), Pranav Gangurde( Std V) bagged Silver Medals in 4×100 mtr Relay .
Manas Shinde(Std IV), Naitik Sharma (Std III),Ojas Shinde (Std III) & Varad Boyane( Std IV) got Bronze Medals in 4x50mtr Relay.
Arnav Akolkar (Std II),Kavish Gore( Std II), Rushank Deshpande ( Std I) &Venantius Nadar( Std II) won Bronze Medals in 4×50 mtr Relay.
Manas Shinde (Std IV) got a Gold Medal in 100 mtr Run and a Silver Medal in 300 mtr Run. Arnav Akolkar (Std II) got a Bronze Medal in 50 mtr Run Race.
Manas Shinde (Std IV) bagged Gold Medals in 50 mtr Run and 150 mtr Run.
Keya Tandel (Std V),Jiya Mehta(Std V) & Siya Acholkar (Std V) grabbed Silver Medals in 4 x 150 mrt Relay.
Gargi Ghosalkar (Std I), Veena Patole (Std II), Krisha Gore( Std II)& VihanaVinod (Std II) grabbed Silver Medals in 4×75 mtr Relay.
Navika Basu (Std I ), Navya Bandooni (Std I ) & Akshita Ganeshan (Std II) won Bronze Medals in 4 x50 mtr Relay race.
Arnav Akolkar (Std II) bagged a Bronze Medal in Long Jump.
In the Thane Mayor’s Chashak Athletic Meet 2019 organized by TMC on 16th ,17th and 18th February 2019, Manas Shinde (Std IV ) grabbed Gold Medals in 80 mtr Run and 200 mtr Run.
Vaishnavi Asanare (Std X) received First Prize in Long Jump, Second Prize in Relay Race and Third Prize in 60 mtr Run.
Yash Shinde (Std VII) bagged First Prize in 600 mtr Run.
Prapti Arora, Devaki Gokhale and Shruti Mahesh of std X won Second Prize in Relay Race.
Anshula Narkhede (Std VIII) received Third Prize 600 mtr Run.
Soumrita Asnare (Std VI) and Rohan Salsa Std (VI) won Third Prize in Relay Race.
Arya Patil (Std V) bagged Gold Medal in Shot Put.
Manas Shinde(Std III) won Bronze Medal in Long Jump.
Gaurav Arya (Std V), Harsh vardhan Jadhav (Std V) grabbed Bronze Medals in 400 m Relay race.
Soumrita Asnare (Std VI) won Gold Medal in High Jump.
Yash Shinde (Std VII) bagged Gold Medal in 600 mtr Run.
Vaishnavi Asanare (Std X) grabbed Silver Medal in Long Jump.
Anshula Narkhede (Std VIII) received Bronze Medal in High Jump.
Soumitra Asanare and Rohan Sabu (Std VI) received Gold Medals in 4 x 150 mtr Relay Race.
Yash Shinde (Std VII) won Bronze Medal in 60 mtr Run and 4 x 150 mtr Relay Race.
Shagnik Das (Std VII), Gourish Naik (Std VI) & Aman Prajapati (Std VII) bagged Bronze Medals in 4 x 150 mtr Relay Race.
Manas Shinde (Std III) bagged 3 Gold Medals, one each in 60 mtr Run, Long Jump & Relay Race.
Simon Sabu (Std IV), Pranav Gangurde (Std IV), Gaurav Arya (Std IV), & Harsh vardhan Jadhav (Std V) won Gold Medals in Relay Race.
Irwyn Viegas (Std IV) grabbed a Gold Medal in Relay Race & a Bronze Medal in 60 mtr Run.
Yash Shinde (Std VII) bagged Gold Medal in 1200 mtr Run & Silver Medal in 4 x 100 mtr Relay Run.
Yash Deshmuk, Yash Thorat, Jatin Chaudhary and Parth Manjrekar (Std X) won Gold Medals in 4 x 100 mtr Relay Run.
Soumitra Asanare and Rohan Sabu (Std VI) grabbed Gold Medals in 4 x 100 mtr Relay Run.
Gourish Naik (Std VI), Shagnik Das and Aman Prajapati (Std VII) received Silver Medals in 4 x 100 mtr Relay Run.
Vaishnavi Asanare (Std X) received Bronze Medal in Long Jump.
Gaurav Arya (Std V),Harsh vardhan Jadhav (Std V )bagged Gold Medals in 400m Run.
Manas Shinde (Std III) grabbed a Silver Medal in Long jump and a Bronze Medal in Relay Race.
Pranav Gangurde (Std IV) achieved a Bronze Medal in Relay Race.
Chirantan Valanju (Std II), Saksham Nishant(Std II), Varad Boyane (Std II) &Ojas Shinde (Std II) won Bronze Medals in 200 m Relay Race.
Yash Sonak of Std X has made an outstanding feat in the field of swimming and made the school proud by securing 9th position in 75th World’s Longest Open Water Swimming Competition at Murshidabad, West Bangal on 26thAugust,2018. He swam 19 kms in 2 hours 19 minutes in river Bhagirathi where 39 participants from various countries like Spain, Argentina, Sweden, Bangladesh and India participated. He was honoured with an Uttariya Gold Plate and a Trophy in this prestigious event.
Yash Sonak also won Four Gold Medals and a Trophy in 100 mtr Breast Stroke, 200 mtr Individual Medley, 100 mtr Butterfly Stroke and 100 mtr Free style in 5th Inter School Junior College Swimming Competition 2018 organised by Bombay YMCA on 20th January 2018.
He also bagged a Gold Medal and Trophy in 250 mtr Sprint and Gold Finisher Medal, Trophy and Cash Prize in 2 km Swimmalthon in National Goa Swimmalthon Competition Organised by Endura Sportson 24th& 25th March, 2018. He also won a Bronze Medal & Certificate in State Aquatic Championship organised at Ahmednagar by Ahmednagar District Amateur Aquatic Association on 29th, 30th, 31st May 2018.
Yash Thombare of Std IX won Runners up Trophy in Maharashtra State Open Badminton Tournament held between 9th February 2018 to 11th February 2018. He also won a Bronze Medal in Fit Badminton Masters Cup 2018 at District Level held on 19th to 21th January 2018. He is also the proud recipient of Winners Trophy in (Under – 17) Boys Doubles & Runner Up Trophy in (Under -17) Boys Singles in 2nd Sea Breeze Badminton Tournament organized between 29th April 2018 to 1st May 2018.
In the Singhania Inter School Cricket Tournament organized in the month of May and June 2018 , the boys Under -14 team won 2nd Runner Up Trophy and the boys Under – 10 team bagged 3rd Prize Trophy.
In the Inter School Cricket Tournament organised by Shri Ma Vidyalaya on 5th May 2018 our Girls Cricket Team won Third Prize – Emerging Team Trophy.
In 21st District Level Aquatic Championship held on 8thJan 2017, he won four Gold Medals and one Silver Medal.
In 5th Annual Swim Gala 2017 organised at District Level by FR Agnel Multipurpose School & Jr. College, Vashi on 27th February 2017,he won Individual Championship Trophy,threeGold Medals & three Silver Medals.
In Speedo Goa Swimmalton 2017 organised on 8th& 9th April 2017 by Enduro Sports, he won Silver Medal in 2 Km Swimming in 14 yrs category.
In the selection of State Championship by Thane District Amateur Aquatic Association, he won Five Gold Medals in 100 mtr&200 mtr Butterfly, 200 mtr Freestyle, 200 mtr and 400 mtr Individual Medley on 6th and 7th May 2017.
In the 34th Sub Junior and 44th Junior State Aquatic Championship, he won Silver Medal in 200 mtr Butterfly and Bronze Medalin 4×100 mtr Medley Race.
In Senior & Lower Age Group State Aquatic Championship 2017 organized by Maharashtra State Amateur Aquatic Association on 9th & 10th September 2017, he won 7 Gold Medals, 3 Silver Medals and 3 Bronze Medals in different categories.
He also won 2 Gold Medals in 100 mtr Freestyle & 200 mtr Butterfly in the DSO Swimming Championship organized on 25th September 2017.
He won Silver Medals in200 mtr- Butterfly, 400 mtr- Individual Medley in DSO Inter School Zonal Level Swimming Competition held on 16th& 17th October 2017.
ChinmayeeDusane of Std X won two Silver Medals in Individual and Group Category in 23rdAcrobatics Gymnastics State Championship 2016-17 organised by Maharashtra Amateur Gymnastics Association on 24th and 25th Feb 2017. She also received Gold Medal in Women’s Pair & Silver Medal in Women’s Trio Acrobatic Gymnastics in 16th Mumbai Mayor Cup State Level Championship held on 26th and 27th May 2017. . She also won Gold Medal in State Level Acrobatics Gymnastics held on 4th November 2017 and was selected for Zonal Level.
In Singhania Trophy held on 23rd April 2017 our school Cricket Team (Under 14) won the match against Euro school. The team comprised of Soham Pitkar, Nisarg Shah, Jainam Kataria and Naman Hiran of Std IX, Nirav Revankar and J. Radhakrishnan of Std VIII.
Our School Cricket Team bagged the Winners Trophy in the West Zone T-20 Cricket Tournament (Under-12) organized in May 2017. Several schools of Maharashtra participated in the prestigious league Matches.The team members were: Dhruv Kedar (Std VI), Dhruv Sonak (Std VII), Shreyas Srinivasan (Std VII), Niket Ganesan(Std VIII), Naman Hiran (Std IX),Soham Pitkar (Std IX).
The Girls Football team of our school reached upto the Semi Finals in the DSO Subroto Football Championship organized on 18th July 2017, after winning the match against Hiranandani Foundation School. The team comprised of the following students : Prapti Arora , Sharvani Shetty, Dynashree Thombre , Sayuri Dhore, Shruthi Mahesh, Jhanvi Nair, Surabhi Dalvi, Janhavi Jadhav, Ishita Gupta, Muskan Pandey, Zheel Sagar, Pranjal Sonawane and Gunjan Pandey of Std X, Nikita Desai and Sonika Kale of Std IX.
The Boys team of our school reached upto the Semi Finals in the DSO Subroto Football Championship organized on 26th July 2017, after winning the match against Saraswati High School. The team comprised of the following students : Nirav Revankar , Niket Ganesan, J. Radha krishnan, Akhil Nair, Aarav Kitsu, Devansh Prabhu, Siddhant Vernekar, Sagar Ingrulkar, Uddhav Bokil, Atharva Joshi, Aryan Moharil, Rishabh Srivastav, Aakash Godave of Std VIII.
Our school is the recipient of Overall Winner’s Trophy in 8th KrantiDaud (Run for ChaleJao) organized by the NGO Aapan Sare on6th August 2017. 26 Schools participated from in & around Thane.The run was organized for a distance of 2 kms to 10 kms in various categories as a mark of 75th Anniversary of Quit India Movement and to pay a tribute to the freedom fighters.
The winners along with our coach- Mr. Rakesh Yadav were felicitated by International Para-Athelete Mr. Devendra Jhajharia who is the recipient of Padma Shri Award, Arjuna Award and Rajiv Gandhi KhelRatna Award.
Siddhi Dubey Std X (2016-17 batch) bagged Silver Medal in Triple Jump.
Anshula Narkhede (Std VIII) won Silver Medal in High Jump.
Prapti Arora (Std X) bagged Bronze Medal in 800 mtr Run.
Yash Shinde (Std VII) received Bronze Medal in 600 mtr Run.
In the Maharashtra State Athletic Championship held from 18th August 2017 to 20th August 2017, Anushula Narkhede of (Std VIII) bagged Bronze Medal in High Jump and Yash Shinde (Std VII) got 5th Position in 600 mtr Run.
In the DSO Athletic Meet held on 24th September 2017, Yash Shinde of Std VII bagged a Gold Medal in 100 mtr Run. He has been selected for Zonal Level Competition.
Our athletes are being regularly coached by our P.T. Instructor – Mr. Rakesh Yadav.
Parnam Yadav of Std VII won two Gold Medals in Skating 1000 m Rink & 3000m Sink in DSO Meet held on 2nd October 2017. He also won Gold Medal in 1000m Rink & Silver Medal in 3000m Sink in Zonal Level Skating Competition organized by DSO on 30th October 2017. She has been selected for State Level contest.
Parvati Narayan of Std VIII received Gold Medal in Judo Championship and Silver Medals in Kumite Championship & Combination Championship in District Level Marshal Federation organised by World Limited Marshal Arts Federation, China.
Maithali Amin of Std VI won Gold Medal & Certificate in Karate contest organized by DSO on 2nd October 2017. She also bagged a Silver Medal & Certificate in Karate contestat the Zonal Level in DSO Karate competition held on 30th October 2017.
Agnes Jeena of Std IX and Sayali Mahagaonkar of Std VII have been selected for Mumbai Cricket Association from Thane in Girls Cricket Tournament (Under17) organized by DSO.
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2019-04-26T10:42:05Z
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http://lpps.co.in/sports-corner/
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As the high representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini has overseen EU foreign and security policy since November 2014. With her term coming to an end in 2019, Mark Leonard of the European Council on foreign relations asked Mogherini about the state of European security, the future of the international order, arms control and migration, besides a broad range of other issues.
So far, the European Union has demonstrated an ability to maintain its unity over key issues like Brexit and the maintenance of the post-Crimea sanctions on Russia. Is this unity likely to hold in 2019, particularly given the looming EU parliamentary elections and changes at the top of the European Commission and Council?
The unity of our Union is much stronger than often perceived. What I see in my daily work is an EU that makes decisions jointly, implements them together and, especially in the field of foreign and security policy, acts as one. Many complain about the lack of unity. But my impression is that these complaints derive more from a comfortable cliché that is repeated on the basis of past experiences, rather than from a realistic reflection on the situation today.
Obviously, we need to define what we mean by “unity." It doesn’t mean uniformity. We number 28—soon 27, which is still a lot. With 500 million people, the EU is the largest integration project ever realised. The EU is the biggest market in the world, and the second-largest economy. It comprises many different cultures, languages and politics. History and geography have given us different backgrounds. It is only natural that this translates into different views, opinions, voices—even within each of our democratic societies.
I have always refused to use the expression “the European Union must sing with one voice". We need to use all the different voices we have, because our plurality is our point of strength. But we need to sing the same song, in a coordinated manner, like a choir. And in my daily work, I see unity of purpose, common decisions, and coordinated action happening. I don’t see this trend being challenged.
On the Brexit negotiations, the remaining 27 member states are more united than ever; and the decisions on sanctions with respect to Crimea have been taken, implemented, and renewed unanimously all these years. There are many other examples. Because we share the same interests as Europeans, I believe our citizens realize that—beyond slogans—the only effective way to achieve our objectives is to work together.
You have called for Europe to defend its sovereignty by, for example, creating new structures that would allow it to continue to adhere to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with Iran. Will these structures actually work, and could the special-purpose vehicle to maintain trade with Iran be used to counter other US sanctions?
We are working, as a union of 28 member states and with the rest of the international community, to preserve a nuclear agreement that has so far been implemented in full, as certified by the International Atomic Energy Agency in 13 consecutive reports. We do this because of our collective security: we do not want to see Iran developing a nuclear weapon, and the JCPOA is delivering precisely on that purpose. I start by saying this because I often hear that, on this issue, Europe is motivated mainly by economic or trade considerations. That is not the case: we do this to prevent a nuclear non-proliferation agreement that is working from being dismantled, and to prevent a major security crisis in the Middle East.
Part of this work requires us to guarantee that firms wanting to do legitimate business with Iran are allowed to do so. This is what we are working on right now: tools that will assist, protect, and reassure economic actors pursuing legitimate business with Iran. It is true that this situation has triggered a conversation on European economic sovereignty. We Europeans cannot accept that a foreign power —even our closest friend and ally—makes decisions over our legitimate trade with another country. This is a basic element of sovereignty, and it is only natural that this reflection takes place, not only in Europe but in other parts of the world, too.
The US’s decision to withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) is a clear sign that US-Russia relations are as strained as at any time in three decades. So far, Europe has been unable to take decisive steps to defend the global disarmament order. What can the EU do to maintain nuclear stability in Europe, and to avoid the resumption of a missile race on the continent?
The INF contributed to the end of the Cold War—and no one in Europe wants to go back to those dark days. Europe was the battlefield of superpowers, and we all lived under the constant threat of a nuclear war. Preventing a new arms race is in our collective interest. That is why we have asked the US to consider the consequences its possible withdrawal from the INF will have on its own security, and on our collective security. And, we expect the Russian Federation to address serious concerns regarding its compliance with the INF. The current disarmament and non-proliferation architecture needs to become more universal, as a guarantee for all.
We Europeans are working at all levels to promote the universalization of existing agreements, such as the International Code of Conduct against Ballistic Missile Proliferation. The starting point cannot be to dismantle the current architecture and start from scratch. That is a risk that nobody can afford. Non-proliferation is a field where it is essential to exercise collective responsibility, as the stakes are too high for all.
Five years after the invasion of Crimea and the outbreak of fighting in eastern Ukraine, peace in that country seems as far away as ever. What, if anything, can Europe do to dampen the prospects of renewed violence, and will the EU remain united in its position toward Russia, particularly concerning sanctions?
Peace in eastern Ukraine is something that the EU continues to work for every day. The sanctions are part of a broader framework. We have mobilized the biggest-ever assistance package from the EU to any country—almost €14 billion ($16 billion) since 2014. This also includes specific support to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s Special Monitoring Mission, and an EU Advisory Mission that is working on civilian security-sector reform.
We are focusing, in particular, on local governance and local development in the east of the country. And we are following discussions at the United Nations on a possible UN peacekeeping mission, although there hasn’t been much progress on that in recent months. I expect the economic sanctions to remain in place, because the reasons for imposing them—to advance the full implementation of the Minsk Agreements and restore Ukraine’s territorial integrity—still stand.
Can more be done to deter Russia from interfering in European elections?
There are a number of actions we are taking to guard against the challenge of external interference, no matter where it may come from: Building up our cybersecurity capacities; improving the protection of personal data; guaranteeing the transparency of online political advertising; and improving cooperation among EU member states, and with our global partners.
We have also made it possible to introduce sanctions for cyberattacks, which sends a strong message that such hostile activity will not be tolerated and will have serious consequences. There is another strand of work, however, which needs to be reinforced, and that is empowering our citizens to make informed democratic choices. This is the best way to protect our democracies from all sorts of disinformation.
Europe now often seems to be the last big voice defending the liberal international order and open trading system. What can it do to encourage China, India and other powers to make a firmer commitment to the liberal order?
First of all, we must guarantee the highest standards inside our Union, to keep our own societies open, respectful, and free. It is a matter of conformity with our values, but also of credibility in our external action. Beyond that, this is indeed a crucial moment to protect and advance a more cooperative and multilateral global order. Many powers around the world want to cooperate with the EU to preserve open markets and to make global institutions fit for our multipolar world. We don’t all share the same principles and values: we know these are tough times in terms of human rights in many parts of the world. But the best way we have to promote human rights—or a fairer form of globalization—is through engagement with all interlocutors.
We are the only power that engages in regular human-rights dialogue in all corners of the world. And our new generation of trade agreements includes strong protections for workers’ rights, intellectual property, and the environment. They are agreements for free and fair trade. This is the time for the EU to place itself at the centre of a network of like-minded partners around the world, one that promotes and strengthens multilateralism and a rules-based international order.
Why has Europe’s weight in its neighbourhood decreased, especially when it comes to shaping events in Turkey, Libya, and Syria? Is this an indication that Europe will not be one of the great powers of the twenty-first century?
Our destiny is in our own hands. If we want to play a decisive role, not only in our region but also globally, we have all the right instruments to do so—and we have the weight to do so. Let me add that this is also what our partners around the world expect from us, particularly in these difficult times. To play such a role, Europeans need to realize how big and powerful they are when they act together as a Union, and focus more on the responsibility we can exercise on the global scene if we resist the temptation of inward-looking policies—or rather, politics.
Our greatest enemy is a lack of trust in the means at our disposal. The EU has unparalleled “soft" power—in economic, diplomatic, and cultural terms—and we are increasingly active as a global security provider, building our “hard" power as never before. In Syria and Libya, we are not a military player—and I am proud of this. Violence has brought more violence, while we have always worked for peaceful and negotiated solutions.
Does this mean we are powerless? Quite the contrary. At the UN General Assembly this year, more than 50 countries and organizations took part in the discussion we initiated on Syria, to support the difficult work the UN is doing there. Everyone understands that the EU’s role in Syria and Libya is unique and irreplaceable: we talk to all parties and are an honest broker and indispensable partner in the effort to ensure peace, security, and stabilization. Too often, we do not realize our own potential and power. Our partners sometimes see it more clearly than Europeans do.
What impact will Britain’s exit from the EU have on the EU’s security strategy? Will it help forge a stronger consensus?
I have no doubt that our future is one of close partnership and cooperation. If you look at what has happened since the Brexit referendum in 2016, we are still making unanimous decisions on foreign, security, and defence policies: we reacted as one to the nerve-agent attack in Salisbury, England, earlier this year; we continue to work together when it comes to preserving the Iran nuclear deal; and we are pursuing shared objectives in Ukraine, Syria, Afghanistan, Myanmar, and elsewhere.
In the coming months, I will present a proposal for a new way of collaborating with non-EU countries and international organizations that are involved in EU civilian and military operations, or that are otherwise associated with our security and defence policies. This will also be an essential part of our future relationship with the UK. We will seek ways for non-EU countries to participate in defence projects launched under the Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) framework.
The Franco-German engine has long been seen as essential to formulating and implementing successful EU policies, both internal and external. For years, it was said that Germany was waiting for an effective French partner. In French President Emmanuel Macron, the Germans appear to have one, but Germany itself, afflicted with a kind of political paralysis, now seems to be turning inward. Where do you see Franco-German relations headed in the year ahead?
European integration was originally driven by the Franco-German engine, but it has always been a much larger project. Its strength has always been its attractiveness. Two years ago, when we decided to take some unprecedented steps toward establishing a “Europe of Defence", I was immediately supported by the defence ministers of four countries: France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. But less than a year later, as many as 25 member states had agreed to launch PESCO. When the benefits of cooperation and integration are clear, when the added value of our Union is self-evident, all EU member states focus on their common interest and move forward together.
What do you believe foreign policy can and should do to fight populism?
I don’t like the expression “populism". I believe a lot of people have lost trust in the institutions—all of them. But in most European countries, the EU is more trusted than national institutions. The reaction coming from some political forces is to shift the blame and find a scapegoat. Governments come to Brussels, make decisions by unanimity, and then blame the results on the EU. But the Union is what we make of it. We have a collective responsibility to make it work. It is a reflection of our own collective political will.
In these past few years, our foreign policy has advanced and protected European citizens’ interests and values in a way that no member state could have achieved alone. In today’s world, even the “bigger" member states are small, such that national sovereignty can be effectively exercised only through the EU. We show this every day in our foreign policy. We are more effective at negotiating trade deals as the world’s largest market than as 28 separate countries. We have a bigger impact when we address climate change collectively than we would if each country moved at its own pace. We see the benefits of cooperating among ourselves when it comes to enhancing security in our partner countries. We are stronger and much more effective together.
Those who want to dismantle or weaken the EU are trying to weaken the most powerful instrument we Europeans have to exercise our sovereignty. This might be in the interest of our competitors in the world, but it is definitely not in the interest of European citizens.
If there is a populist surge in the upcoming European Parliament elections, what lessons should Brussels take from it, and what new course would you advocate?
Whatever the result of the election, the lessons will have to be taken not so much “in Brussels" but everywhere around the Union, and most of all in member states’ capitals. EU policies and actions are defined through our collective work, which is the result of our political will. If it works, it is a collective success for all of us; if it fails, it is a collective responsibility, and a problem for all. No one is excluded.
The EU is not a building in Brussels. It is a project of 500 million citizens, their national governments, the parliamentary members they elect to represent them, and the European Commission that those MEPs elect. I personally believe that Europeans need their Union, and need to change some of the policies that the EU has put in place. This is something we have begun to do in recent years: deepening European integration on security and defence; establishing a strong and united external policy to govern migration flows; and launching the largest-ever investment plan for Europe and Africa.
Some want to change EU policies to improve them—even radically—but others just want to destroy the Union. We have to be very careful, because in times of frustration, destruction can sound fascinating for many. And yet the secret of change is to focus not on destroying the old, but on building the new. I hope this will be possible in 2019.
At your European Parliament talk with Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates in October, you spoke about the need for the EU to be “generously selfish" in its future relationship with Africa. Can you explain how you see this working in practice? What’s the right balance between sacrificing values and dampening the desire to migrate?
This is not about sacrificing our values—in fact, the exact opposite is true. We must realize that our interests and values coincide. Our values tell us that all people should have the right to follow their dreams and aspirations, to contribute to their countries’ public life, and to live free from fear. Too many Africans do not enjoy these rights, and this is hampering Africa’s immense potential.
We Europeans have an interest in a stronger Africa, because that will also make Europe stronger. In practice, this means that Africa needs more jobs, better education, stronger democracies, sustainable development, and a more stable security environment. The decision to leave your home country is never easy. Africa’s youth would like to find the opportunities they seek within their home countries. They would like to change their countries’ economies and political systems, instead of changing countries altogether. This is what the Africans are asking us: to work with them, so that they can help Africa realize its huge potential.
Do recent developments in the EU’s external approach to migration in places like Africa and the Middle East signal a move away from “emergency responses" and toward long-term solutions?
Not just the recent developments. This has been the goal of our external action on migration since the very beginning. Let me remind you of the situation three years ago: hundreds of people were dying almost every day in the Mediterranean and in the North African desert. Until then, the EU had been indifferent to a phenomenon that it considered to be outside its competence and under the exclusive purview of individual member states.
This has changed, finally. We had to create an emergency response to end the carnage, and we did it with Operation Sophia at sea and the Emergency Trust Fund to finance our work with Africa. At the same time, we started to work on a better system to manage migration flows and address their long-term causes. We started to train local security forces; we worked on voluntary returns for migrants, with the opportunity to start a new life; and we established our investment plan for Africa and Europe’s neighbourhood.
Today, I believe we all understand that the right approach is to forge partnerships with countries of origin and transit, and with organizations such as the UN and the African Union.
Today we must change course on the internal policies governing migration and introduce a principle of solidarity among Europeans that is currently still very much opposed by some member states. At the same time, we must continue on the same path with our external policies on migration. That means getting more investment from member states, avoiding U-turns, and doing much more to open safe and regular pathways for human mobility.
You have been involved in episodes and negotiations affecting the course of global affairs. Are there any that you would like to revisit?
In my job, the important thing is to look forward, rather than to look back. It sounds obvious, but that is how things work. You cannot change the past; you can only focus on shaping the present and the future. That means having ambitious but realistic objectives, and building partnerships to try to achieve them together with others, in a cooperative manner.
As you complete your term as EU High Commissioner, what do you think are the top three examples of the added value of the European External Action Service, compared to the pre-Lisbon Treaty institutional setup?
I remember the discussions from ten years ago, when the Lisbon Treaty was approved. Many believed that the High Representative would have an impossible job, with three “hats" – as vice president of the Commission, chair of the Foreign Affairs Council, and head of the European Defence Agency. In fact, the intuition behind that job description has been fully vindicated. The EU has an unparalleled set of foreign- and security-policy tools, and only with three hats is it possible to mobilize our foreign policy’s full potential.
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2019-04-20T03:09:58Z
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https://www.livemint.com/Opinion/RdCS4qYMsXV0ZS7i0mKz9K/Federica-Mogherini--Shaping-Europes-present-and-future.html
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Among the more interesting topics in the Illinois judicial system, the Seventh Circuit of Illinois has acknowledged that electronic discovery is at the forefront of current civil litigation, and thus founded the Seventh Circuit Electronic Discovery Pilot Program Committee in 2009. The Committee’s core mission statement is to comingle two initiatives of electronic discovery: fair procedures and cost-effective tools. In doing so, the Committee has conducted a three-phase process and has developed Principles Relating to the Discovery of Electronically Stored Information (“Principles”). Throughout the three-phrase process, the members of the Committee evaluate, develop and improve the ways in which electronically-stored information is being used in civil litigation.
Not only is the Committee thoroughly educating Illinois practitioners about the discovery process, but roughly one hundred (100) participating judges in Seventh Circuit Illinois courts have adopted and applied these carefully-crafted Principles to cases in which they preside over. Moreover, the Seventh Circuit’s Electronic Discovery Pilot Program’s Principles have been cited by Courts, stating that litigants are expected to be familiar with the Committee’s Principles regarding case management procedures. Up to this point, the Principles seem to be having a positive effect on the Illinois court system.
Principle 2.04 clearly states, “Every party to litigation and its counsel are responsible for taking reasonable and proportionate steps to preserve relevant and discoverable ESI within its possession, custody or control.” Thus, the issue is determining what constitutes “reasonable and proportionate steps.” Although this is determined on a case-by-case fact analysis, it is extremely important for counsel to preserve relevant information so that practitioners are not faced with unwanted sanctions that could hurt its case or client.
Additionally, the party asking for the electronically-stored information needs to be able to prove the ESI’s relevance by stating the special need for the discovery and proving there are no less-intrusive alternative means in obtaining the discoverable information. Most importantly, practitioners need to be aware that the duty to preserve is an ongoing obligation that not only needs to be discussed during the meet and confer stage, but also throughout the entire course of the litigation. By faithfully and truthfully preserving electronically-stored information, the litigation process will run smoothly and efficiently. The Principles urge that “an attorney’s zealous representation of a client is not compromised by conducting discovery in a cooperative manner.” Thus, if ESI is preserved correctly, the cooperation level between opposing counsel will rise, which is of utmost importance during the discovery process.
According to Principle 2.01, “prior to the initial statute conference with the Court, counsel shall meet and discuss the application of the discovery process set forth in the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and these Principles to their specific case.” The duty to meet and confer is absolutely mandatory. During the meet and confer stage, practitioners have the duty of identifying discoverable ESI, determining the scope of discoverable ESI, and resolving any costs and burden issues counsel may have. Overall, the meet and confer stage of litigation is particularly important because not only is this the appropriate time for the practitioners to determine a road map for the upcoming litigation, but this is also the time for practitioners to express any questions or concerns with opposing counsel.
But why is the duty to meet and confer often overlooked? It does not come as much surprise that due to advances in technology, including emails, instant messaging, text messaging and social media, we are in the midst of an era in which people no longer personally meet face-to-face to discuss crucial matters. In fact, recent studies have shown that nearly ninety percent of communication is done via nonverbal communication. While this may be more efficient in the workplace, it can lead to confusion, misperception and chaos.
A recent Forbes article stated: “The idea of doing business on the golf course seems anachronistic these days, but the reason why the concept became so iconic is because it proved that when colleagues spend personal time together – face to face – more progress can be made, deals can get done and relationships can deepen, allowing the colleagues to function more effectively off the course.” Here, the practitioners’ duty to meet and confer is analogous to meeting on the golf course, since the purpose of this stage is to exchange valuable information and express concerns, which ultimately increases effective communication between the parties.
Often times, the duty to collect for production occurs during the meet and confer stage prior to the initial status conference. Practitioners must arrive at the meet and confer knowledgeable about how their client’s data is stored and retrieved. Once the parties have decided what information is discoverable, each party has the duty to collect ESI and produce it to the other party. This duty requires vigilance, honesty, and cooperation. If the Court determines that the practitioner did not act in good faith in collecting and producing discoverable ESI, the Court has the ability to either request an addition meet and confer, or impose sanctions, both of which are costly, time consuming and inefficient for client representation.
Additionally, if any issues arise as to counsel’s good faith efforts in preserving and producing the electronically-stored information in the decided-upon format, the issue must be addressed immediate with the presiding judge.
As stated in Principle 2.03, counsel can request the preservation of discoverable and relevant information “through the use of a preservation letter request or order.” This order must be specific and unambiguous, and request only relevant electronically-stored information. If the order does not meet this specificity standard, the Court may reject the preservation order. While it is not mandatory, the party receiving the order may respond to the order either with the relevant information the requesting party is seeking, or with a rebuttal as to why the information being requested is not discoverable, such as the information may be privileged.
Most importantly, the purpose of this order is to facilitate communication and cooperativeness. Thus, each practitioner must act in good faith no matter if the practitioner is the party sending or receiving the request order.
The most important tactic in reducing the cost of collecting electronic data is to hone in on relevant records. Since it can be extremely costly to collect and produce ESI, parties have the responsibility of reviewing and collecting only relevant ESI. If practitioners focus only on relevant ESI, their costs of copying and preserving the original metadata and converting the ESI to a format available for people outside of the system to view can be drastically reduced.
Another important cost-effective tool practitioners should be aware of is to avoid the duplication of electronically-stored information. “Duplicate files can make up as much as 60-80 percent or more of the records in a collection.” Thus, it would make sense that a practitioner should avoid examining the same document more than once to escape unnecessary costs. Since there is no such database that performs duplicate consolidation, the people performing the production review are responsible for consolidating each document so that the final production does not include a number of duplicates. In order to do this, the most effective method is for the reviewer to list each document by its custodian, or the person who presently has the document, and “cross-check that against the number of times that person’s name or email address appears as a sender or recipient.” This is effective because not only does it form a pattern in which the reviewer can easily remove the duplicates that will be found in the sender and recipient’s possession, but the process can indicate problems in collecting data if certain documents are not recovered. Thus, practitioners need to be aware that duplicate consolidation is a crucial process that ultimately discovers any errors prior to litigation and reduces the costs of reviewing documents more than once.
After the ESI has been collected, parties are then faced with the process of producing the e-discovery to the other parties. While there are several methods of achieving this process, the most “inexpensive and efficient way to produce the documents is to provide the requesting party with access to a secure and designated section or folder on the application [database].” In essence, the sending party will give the requesting party a URL, user name, and password. This is cost-effective because the sending party is not actually producing an external hard drive, but rather giving access to the original database.
Ultimately, there are many ways in which practitioners can cut costs when dealing with electronic discovery. As seen from the examples listed above, it takes commitment and patience to successfully consolidate only relevant documents for production. However, if done correctly and efficiently, the payoff for practitioners and their clients can be substantial.
Lorraine v. Markel is a fundamental case that confronted authentication of electronically-stored information and established a detailed criterion for admitting the use of ESI in court. Mr. Lorraine owned a yacht, Chessie, which was severely damaged by lightning. After Markel American Insurance Company awarded costs to Lorraine to repair the boat, more damage to the hull of the boat was discovered after the yacht was removed from the water. The parties went to arbitration and came to a settlement agreement. As the court was reviewing the agreement, it noted that the language of the agreement was ambiguous and thus, the court would need to analyze the documentary evidence between the parties, including e-mails and other extrinsic evidence. However, none of the documents were authenticated and were simply attached to the parties’ motions as exhibits. The court acknowledged that “research has failed to locate a comprehensive analysis of the many interrelated evidentiary issues associated with electronic evidence,” and thus, Judge Paul Grimm formulated a specific standard for determining the authenticity and admissibility of ESI.
Quoting Judge Grimm, “whether ESI is admissible into evidence is determined by a collection of evidence rules that present themselves like a series of hurdles to be cleared by the proponent of the evidence.” In fact, “failure to clear any of these evidentiary hurdles means that the evidence will not be admissible.” The court determined that if ESI is offered as evidence, than the court must consider several evidence rules: (1) is the ESI relevant as determined by Rule 401; (2) if relevant under 401, is it authentic as required by Rule 901(a); (3) if the ESI is offered for its substantive truth, is it hearsay as defined by Rule 901, and if so, is it covered by an applicable exception; (4) is the form of the ESI that is being offered as evidence an original or duplicate, or is there admissible secondary evidence to prove to content under Rule 1001-1008; and (5) is the probative value of the ESI substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice or one of the other factors identified by Rule 403.
To simplify this process, there are several ways in which a practitioner can introduce and properly authenticate e-discovery under FRE 901. For example, courts have held that documents provided to a party during discovery by an opposing party are “presumed to be authentic, shifting the burden to the producing party to demonstrate that the evidence that they produced was not authentic.” On the other hand, some courts have taken judicial notice of certain “foundational facts” needed to authenticate an electronic record, such as facts that are (1) generally known within the jurisdiction, or (2) capable of accurate determination by reliable resources. Most commonly, courts have found that ESI found in databases are business records if they are maintained in the ordinary course of business.
However, the most abundant form of ESI is emails. Lorraine v. Markel establishes the many ways in which an email can be authenticated. Emails can be authenticated by either direct or circumstances evidence. For example, a print out of an email that bears the sender’s email address serves as circumstantial evidence that he email was sent by the individual listed as the sender. Additionally, “the contents of the email may show authentication by revealing details known only to the sender and the person receiving the message.” However, emails may also be self-authenticating since business emails often contain information identifying the employer-company.
Regardless of what form of authenticate a practitioner choses to engage, Lorraine v. Markel hones in on the practical issues practitioners may face during the authentication and admissibility stage of civil litigation. In doing so, the Court’s opinion lists nearly every form of ESI imaginable, from computer animation to digital photographs, and instructs practitioners as to how they are to authenticate that evidence. Thus, Lorraine v. Markel is one of those cases that must be read by all practitioners.
Since most practitioners are more comfortable when confronted with paper discovery, this Article introduces several “Practice Pointers” that are intended to alert practitioners about issues they may face when dealing with electronic discovery. Each practitioner has a duty to zealously advocate for his or her client. In doing so, there are particular “Practice Pointers” Courts are expecting from diligent practitioners. Unfortunately, a party to a case can be adversely affected by his lawyer’s failure to abide by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure or the Federal Rules of Evidence (e.g., the case could be dismissed; severe sanctions could be imposed, etc.). These pointers, which have been integrated into the Seventh Circuit Pilot Program Committee’s Principles, will force practitioners to become more conscious of their role in the litigation process.
Send Preservation letters to the opposition early.
Include a request for production in Native File Format and metadata.
Move for a comprehensive preservation order early – define key terms, such as “metadata” in the order.
CYA – Send Preservation Letters to your clients and don’t forget your client’s computers and social media outlets!
Protect your client from any inadvertent destruction and REMIND YOUR CLIENT OF THEIR DUTY TO PRESERVE ALL ESI.
This should be done at the time you are retained.
You must protect your client from any inadvertent destruction of their ESI.
You should examine your client’s data preservation system and prepare your clients’ production as soon as possible.
There is an affirmative responsibility to cooperate under the Rules and failure to cooperate is grounds for sanctions.
Do not ask for everything in the other parties’ computers since the cost of production and review may make it impractical.
You must produce your client’s document management policy and you must insist on getting it from the other party.
Demand production in a usable format as soon as possible.
Explore means of minimizing the cost of e-discovery.
Follow up production requests with 201(k) letters and offers to meet and confer.
File motions to compel production that include sufficient information to educate the judge on the seven criteria from the Committee Notes to FRCP 26(b)(2) which were adapted from Zubulake v. UBS Warburg LLC, 217 F.R.D. 309 (S.D.N.Y. 2003).
The times and the courts are certainly changing. Ultimately, one thing is true: the 21st Century trial lawyer needs to have a thorough grasp of technological advances in order to zealously represent his or her client. E-discovery plays a major role and threatens to swallow up civil litigation today. Since e-discovery tools and techniques are constantly evolving as technology advances, it is crucial for practitioners to stay alert and mindful of the impact ESI can have on litigation. Practitioners should familiarize themselves with the Federal Rules and the case law that stems from these rules, as well as how the FRCP have been incorporated into the Illinois Supreme Court rules.
In preparing for this brave new world of litigation, there are several must read cases: Zubulake I, Zubulake II, and Lorraine v. Markel. While these cases are fundamental for practitioners, the Seventh Circuit Electronic Discovery Pilot Program Committee’s Principles should also serve as guidance to Illinois practitioners as to how electronic discovery will be used in civil litigation.
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2019-04-23T02:54:49Z
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https://www.bellas-wachowski.com/illinois-adopts-e-discovery-rule-part-iii.html
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In this article, we’ll talk about a recent development in SSD forensics allowing to prevent background trimming of evidence and providing access to the entire storage capacity of the disk including non-addressable areas. This method employs a so-called factory access mode. However, before we talk about factory access mode, let us first have a look at how SSDs store information and why it is so easy to destroy evidence and so insanely difficult to recover it.
Unlike magnetic hard drives using more or less sequential writing (bar fragmentation and bad sector remapping), SSD drives ditch linear writing. Instead, information is broken into small blocks that are written to the different NAND chips concurrently. This parallel writing is the reason why SSDs are this fast; in a way, we’re talking about a RAID 0 (stripe) class array built with NAND chips installed on a single PCB.
What if you’ve got the cheapest and slowest SSD drive with only one NAND chip? Even this SSD will hardly ever write information in linear fashion (with possible exception of a brand-new, never written to SSD). Each physical block in the memory chip is dynamically assigned a logical address to help SSD controller do wear levelling. As a result, reading the content of a NAND chip will return a puzzle with information mixed broken into chunks that are mixed in what seems like a random fashion.
The SSD (and most other types of solid-state media) must translate NAND addresses in order to map out bad blocks and to provide wear levelling. Each NAND sell has a limited lifespan. Manufacturers rate their SSD drives for about 1000 to 1500 write cycles. Factors such as write amplification (another SSD specialty) negatively affect SSD lifespan, while smart SLC caching algorithms reduce cells’ physical wear even if the number of write operations is greater than that without caching. We’ll look at these and many other factors affecting SSD lifespan in our next article.
What really matter is that recovering just one single file could be extremely difficult without the help of the SSD controller. The expert will first have to reconstruct the translation table to figure out which NAND chips and at what exact addresses keep information. Different SSD controllers employ different formats for such translation tables; the more NAND chips the SSD drive contains, the more difficult it will be to reconstruct the translation table.
The cost of electronic devices falls year over year. We’re used to that to the point we aren’t even noticing. SSD drives with storage capacities exceeding one or even two terabytes of data are now within reach of an average consumer, which was not the case just three years ago.
As one can see, TLC cells are the slowest and least reliable. In order to speed up TLC-based SSD drives (and to improve their longevity), many manufacturers dynamically allocate some part of the storage as dedicated SLC cache. Blocks that are used as SLC cache require lower current to place that one bit of information. They wear less, and they are written to faster than TLC cells. The controller maintains the list of blocks that are used as SLC cache. If we attempt to read these blocks by accessing the chip directly while expecting three bits of data, these pseudo-SLC cells will return meaningless information.
Most mid-range and all top of the line SSD drives offer one or several methods of hardware encryption. Some enterprise-grade SSDs encrypt information by default without the user even knowing. In such cases, the encryption key is stored open, so that the controller can read it off the NAND chip to decrypt data. If the user “encrypts” such a disk, it is just the small disk encryption key that gets encrypted.
Even if the encryption key is stored unprotected, finding it without the help of the SSD controller is extremely difficult if at all possible.
In other words, we need the controller to do the job for us. We need it to cope with error correction, address translation and potentially encryption. However, simply connecting the SSD to a write blocker, powering it on and imaging the disk like we did before is probably not the best idea.
We figured that NAND cells sustain a limited number of write operations, which calls for advanced wear leveling algorithms. However, in addition to the limited lifespan, NAND cells have yet another property: a non-empty cell must be erased before you can write new data. NAND flash delivers fast reads, slow writes and very slow erases. So if you want to re-write a cell that already contains data, you must first erase the cell, and only then it can accept new data. While erasing NAND cells is already a very slow operation, you cannot simply wipe one or two cells. Instead, you’ll have to deal with pages and blocks.
So what is a cell, and why do we have to use pages and blocks? Let’s figure out the terms first. A cell is a basic unit for storing information. Depending on the type of flash memory (SLC, MLC, TLC or QLC) and depending on the mode of operation (e.g. SLC cache in MLC, TLC and QLC drives), a single cell can record one bit of data (SLC), two bits of data (MLC), three bits (TLC) or four bits (QLC). As an example, a Crucial MX550 SSD equipped with 3D TLC NAND can store 3 bits of data in each of its cells except when some parts of its storage pool operate in SLC mode as dynamic write acceleration cache. Writing to TLC cells in SLC mode is not only faster but puts significantly less stress on the cell, so the overall lifespan of the SSD can be improved along with write speeds.
Which brings us to another question. Can we read or write data from or to a single cell? You can’t.
Historically, rotating storage media such as traditional hard drives offered 512-bit sectors as a smallest data unit you could read or write. File systems such as FAT or NTFS read and write data in sectors, too. Things have changed once solid-state storage was introduced. NAND flash does not use sectors. Instead, it operates with pages and blocks.
A page is the smallest piece of data you can read off an SSD. Usually, an SSD drive can read one page per clock cycle. A single page contains a certain number of physical bytes (e.g. 528, 2112, 4320, 8640, 9216, 18592 bytes and so on). If you only need one byte of data, the SSD will read the entire page.
Each page can store 512, 2048, 4096, 8192, or 16534 bytes of data. As you can see, the amount of data a page can store is different from the number of physical bytes. The extra bytes are used for markers and ECC correction codes for every page. If we compare two SSD drives with pages containing 8192 bytes of data, we may discover that SSD1 uses 8640 physical bytes per page while SSD2 has 9216 physical bytes per page. The difference between these two SSDs would be solely in how much ECC correction each drive has.
Okay, we’re now content with cells and pages. Why do we need yet another entity? The thing is, while you can read a single page of data, you can only write (or erase) a certain number of pages at once. The minimum unit for writing (erasing) data is called a block. A single block contains a number of pages; in fact, it’s usually a whole lot of pages. A typical SSD operates with blocks comprised of 64, 128, 256 or even 512 pages. This is a huge amount of data to erase/write every time you change a single bit of data!
The number of write operations that can be sustained by NAND flash is limited (and quite small), so the SSD controller will do its best to minimize re-use of the blocks that have been already written to. This is what a simple SSD (without SLC cache) would do if you changed just 1 bit of data.
The controller will read a block of data from NAND flash into RAM.
The NAND block is marked to be erased (depending on the SSD and controller, it may be erased later on in background).
The controller now makes the requested change in the data block stored in RAM.
Finally, the modified block will be written to NAND flash. A different set of physical cells will be used to write new data for the purpose of wear levelling and write speed (since erase operations are much slower than writes).
When writing data, the SSD controller will try to choose blocks with the least rewrite count. In real life this means that the controller will write the same set of data to a different block. To make things look consistent for the OS, the controller will remap the block’s logical address on the fly. The “new” block will be assigned a certain address, while the “old” block will be either moved to the reserve pool in overprovisioned area or assigned a different address. The SSD will then erase the content of that block and increment its Erase Count parameter.
The SSD’s physical capacity is always higher than its advertised (and available) storage. While most modern SSD drives reserve 5 to 10 per cent of their storage capacity, some models have significantly higher percentage of their storage capacities that is unused. As an example, Crucial offers entry-level BX series SSD drives with 480 GB of storage, while their higher priced MX series advertise capacities of 500 GB. Both models are likely using 512 GB internal capacity (not accounting for ECC codes and markers, which makes physical capacity even higher). Since today’s NAND chips are manufactured in arbitrary sizes that are not necessarily a multiple of two, the real size of the chip can be e.g. 8.7 GB instead of exactly 8.
The difference is due to the size of so-called reserved area otherwise known as overprovisioned area. The extra blocks are used for wear leveling and swap pool, allowing the SSD controller to quickly pick an empty block when it needs to rewrite some data.
It is important to note that overprovisioned blocks may contain data. Once the SSD controller pushes a data block into a non-addressable pool, the block is marked as empty (“trimmed”). The trimmed blocks will be queued for garbage collection, which works as a background process. The garbage collection process will actually clean the content of trimmed data blocks. The process is not instant; it may take a while to complete depending on the number of data blocks being trimmed, the type and speed of the NAND flash. Some SSD drives may take up to 15 minutes to finish cleaning up trimmed blocks. We’ve also seen SSD drives that never actually cleaned the content of overprovisioned blocks due to firmware bugs (this, in particular, is the reason why most military data sanitization standards demand physical destruction of solid-state storage media as opposed to relying on any software methods).
Another very important note is the fact one cannot easily stop an SSD drive from completing the background wipe cycle. Once a range of data blocks is trimmed (a nearly instant operation), even if the SSD drive is disconnected immediately, the garbage collection process will resume its work the moment the SSD drive is powered on. SATA write blocking devices do not affect this process and cannot be used to prevent background garbage collection.
Non-deterministic Trim: undefined. When reading a trimmed block, the SSD controller may return the actual data, all zeroes or something else. Interestingly, the result may differ between read attempts (SATA Word 169 bit 0). This more is rarely used by reputable SSD makers; however, discount bin SSD drives may still have it.
Deterministic Read After Trim (DRAT): the SSD controller will always return a pre-defined value when reading trimmed blocks regardless of their actual content. The value could be all zeroes, but it could also be something else (SATA Word 69 bit 14). This is the most common method used in consumer SSD drives.
Deterministic Zeroes After Trim (DZAT): all trimmed blocks will instantly read as zeroes regardless of their actual content (SATA Word 69 bit 5). This mode is commonly used in enterprise-level SSD drives. Most NAS manufacturers require this mode if one wants to make an SSD RAID.
Users can easily determine which mode their SSD drive operates by running the following command: hdparm –I.
Practically speaking, DRAT and DZAT effectively prevent access to real data immediately after the Trim command has been issued. Even if the SSD drive is formatted with Quick Format, its entire content will instantly become inaccessible; a huge departure from behavior exhibited by non-encrypted magnetic hard drives. There would be no way to access trimmed data, and there would be no way to prevent background garbage collection destroying evidence still stored in trimmed blocks.
Until very recently, forensic experts were forced to follow one of the two extraction strategies. Using the first strategy, experts would be treating SSD drives similar to magnetic hard drives, which would make deleted data inaccessible.
The other strategy (chip-off analysis) would require taking the NAND chips off PCM board and performing a lengthy, labor consuming analysis. Analyzing an SSD with just four chips could take up to two weeks, while 10-chip disks would be nearly impossible to process.
Sending an SSD drive to the manufacturer for data recovery was rare occurrence, yet technically speaking this would be the optimal strategy as manufacturers can go through SSD factory mode.
Solid-state storage media with built-in controllers (which includes SSD drives, USB flash drives, eMMC chips and even SD cards) have several modes of operation. By default, they work in the “standard” mode, in which one can read and write data, trim blocks or format partitions. However, all solid-state storage devices also have a special access mode sometimes called “factory access mode” or simply “factory mode”. In this mode manufacturers initialize the controller, upload firmware, test NAND memory and build initial lists of remapped bad blocks. In factory access mode, manufacturers can access information stored in the NAND chips directly complete with all service information. Factory access mode is built in to every single SSD drive in existence including those assembled in underground factories from recycled parts.
In factory access mode, the SSD can execute low-level commands sent via the ATA interface (or USB, or PCI-E, or whatever other interface the SSD has). In factory mode, the SSD can perform a number of things it cannot do while in standard mode.
Factory access mode is there for a reason. In magnetic hard drives, factory access mode is used for low-level diagnostics, allowing manufacturers reveal manufacturing defects (e.g. magnetic head defects) early on. In solid-state media, factory mode is used to detect bit errors in NAND cells. It is also used by many manufacturers to provide data recovery services when customers send the disk in. Finally, factory access mode is used to upload firmware and to create service areas such as the address mapping tables when initializing the disk.
Which Manufacturers Use Factory Access Mode?
Factory access mode is used by absolutely every SSD manufacturer. In fact, manufacturers of USB flash drives, eMMC chips, SD cards and other types of “smart” storage media equipped with microcontrollers all use factory access mode to program, test and initialize storage devices. Even manufacturers assembling their disks from off the shelf parts (such as the popular Phison PS2251-07 controller) have access to factory mode. Factory access mode is built into all SATA, NVME, USB and other SSD drives.
Reading raw data from physical data blocks. The blocks are return in the true sense of “raw”, complete with encoding and ECC data correction information. This is the closest one can get to chip-off without actually pulling the chips. Note that encrypted data will not be decrypted in this mode even if the media encryption key (MEK) is not encrypted.
Reading a logical data block. This includes the necessary decoding operations including deMIXing pages and blocks, converting encoded pages and performing ECC corrections. In addition, SSD drives featuring hardware encryption will decrypt encrypted data (if default media encryption key is used). In other words, this is the easiest way to read data off an SSD including trimmed and overprovisioned blocks.
For encrypted SSD drives: look up for the module containing the media encryption key (MEK). While SSD encryption is beyond the scope of this article, it is important to note that certain encryption methods (such as the Windows 10 version of BitLocker) makes use of SSD built-in encryption features as opposed to encrypting data using the CPU. As a result, an expert may be able to locate the BitLocker encryption key and decrypt the data without running a lengthy attack.
Access blocks in the overprovisioned area as well as blocks outside of the addressable pool defined by the translation table (Remapped, Relocated and Reserved blocks).
Accessing (lookup and read) system areas containing SSD firmware and translation tables.
Reading system areas and saving them for subsequent analysis.
Booting the SSD into a different firmware by placing the microprogram into the controller’s RAM; using a different (rebuilt) translation table (e.g. if the original translation table is damaged or unreadable).
For digital forensic experts, two additional features can be of particular interest. First, one can temporarily disable controller’s background processes such as garbage collection, wear leveling and address remapping. This effectively prevents SSDs from destroying evidence in background. Second, one can access data stored in non-addressable blocks (overprovisioned area, reserve pool etc.) This enables access to recently deleted data.
Solid-state drives rely on the Trim command to improve writing performance by pre-emptively erasing blocks that are no longer used to hold meaningful data. When a file is deleted or if disk space becomes available in a different way (e.g. the disk is formatted), the Trim command allows the SSD controller to release unused blocks. Released blocks are scheduled to be processed by the built-in garbage collector; they can be also remapped (assigned a different physical address or pushed outside of the addressable space into the overprovisioned area). Importantly, the Trim command itself does not erase data; it’s garbage collection process that does.
Released data blocks can retain their original data for a certain period of time. The amount of time these blocks will retain the original data depends on multiple factors ranging from SSD’s current load to the model of SSD controller, its firmware and the variable priorities set by the manufacturer for a particular model. Background garbage collection is resource consuming. SSDs prioritizing garbage collection over read/write operations exhibit a temporary reduction of I/O performance. On the other hand, SSDs prioritizing current I/O over garbage collection exhibit long delays between the time the block has been trimmed and the time it’s being actually erased. This variety can make it possible to extract information from trimmed/overprovisioned blocks long after they have been released.
Factory access mode can and should be used for forensic imaging of solid-state media. This is the only mode forensic experts can use to extract information from SSD drives without the risk of losing evidence due to background wiping, and this is the only mode allowing access to non-addressable, overprovisioned blocks. Using factory access mode is orders of magnitude easier (and substantially less expensive) compared to the chip-off process, especially if one is imaging an encrypted device.
Importantly, there are no established standards for accessing information in factory mode; there is no universal method of switching a given SSD drive into factory access mode, and there is no standard set of commands available in factory mode for all models and manufacturers. Factory access mode is barely (if ever) documented. In many cases, factory access mode is only available to the larger authorized service centers of each respective manufacturers.
Generally speaking, SSD imaging via factory access mode requires the following steps.
Prevent SSD controller from booting into “standard” mode by blocking controller’s access to NAND flash chips. This prevents the controller from loading firmware and ensures that no background process can destroy evidence.
Switch the SSD drive to factory access mode.
Read SSD firmware and system areas. If necessary, reconstruct damaged translation tables.
Upload microcode into the SSD controller RAM. Upload translation tables and other system data.
Boot SSD controller to the code in RAM.
Use factory access modes to access information on the SSD drive.
Each SSD drive (or, rather, each SSD controller) employs a different sequence for switching into factory mode. Before the SSD drive can be switched to factory access mode (otherwise known as Factory Mode, Safe Mode, Recovery Mode etc.), one must first ensure that the SSD controller does not boot in Standard mode when powered on. This can be achieved by blocking access to NAND flash chips that contain SSD firmware and system areas. One can block access to NAND chips by shorting service pins on the PCB.
Blocking access to NAND chips can also help starting a damaged SSD drive with corrupted translation tables. If the translation table is corrupted, the SSD may enter a bootloop “load microcode > error > reset > load microcode > error …” If the SSD is damaged and is in a bootloop, it will not accept the service command to switch into factory access mode due to 100% load (as reported by the always active BSY-state ATA command).
Next, we’ll connect the SSD to ACELab PC-3000 in order to switch it into factory access mode. Factory access mode is activated by sending a service command (widely different per OEM/controller) to the SSD controller. Then, we’ll upload the LDR code into the controller’s RAM.
If we were able to successfully upload microcode, the next step will be reading/recovering the translation table. Damaged translation tables can be automatically or manually reassembled.
Then one can use the Data Extractor app to image the SSD drive. The data will be saved as standard disk image. You will be able to read blocks that have been trimmed but not yet physically erased.
For faster/easier analysis, one can extract the content of the disk as a file system. In this mode, only existing files will be saved; deleted data will not be available.
SSD forensics is an ongoing subject. While SSD manufacturers increase storage densities and implement non-trivial methods for wear leveling, caching and write acceleration, forensic experts start using new methods for imaging solid-state media. In this article, we discussed the possibility of using factory access mode for imaging SSD drives.
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2019-04-18T14:35:44Z
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https://thekernel.com/life-after-trim-using-factory-access-mode-for-imaging-ssd-drives/
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What we know—and don’t know—about how we think.
Of all the objects in the universe, the human brain is the most complex: There are as many neurons in the brain as there are stars in the Milky Way galaxy. So it is no surprise that, despite the glow from recent advances in the science of the brain and mind, we still find ourselves squinting in the dark somewhat. But we are at least beginning to grasp the crucial mysteries of neuroscience and starting to make headway in addressing them. Even partial answers to these 10 questions could restructure our understanding of the roughly three-pound mass of gray and white matter that defines who we are.
Pyramidal neuron in medial prefrontal cortex of macaque.
Neurons, the specialized cells of the brain, can produce brief spikes of voltage in their outer membranes. These electrical pulses travel along specialized extensions called axons to cause the release of chemical signals elsewhere in the brain. The binary, all-or-nothing spikes appear to carry information about the world: What do I see? Am I hungry? Which way should I turn? But what is the code of these millisecond bits of voltage? Spikes may mean different things at different places and times in the brain. In parts of the central nervous system (the brain and spinal cord), the rate of spiking often correlates with clearly definable external features, like the presence of a color or a face. In the peripheral nervous system, more spikes indicates more heat, a louder sound, or a stronger muscle contraction.
As we delve deeper into the brain, however, we find populations of neurons involved in more complex phenomena, like reminiscence, value judgments, simulation of possible futures, the desire for a mate, and so on—and here the signals become difficult to decrypt. The challenge is something like popping the cover off a computer, measuring a few transistors chattering between high and low voltage, and trying to guess the content of the Web page being surfed.
It is likely that mental information is stored not in single cells but in populations of cells and patterns of their activity. However, it is currently not clear how to know which neurons belong to a particular group; worse still, current technologies (like sticking fine electrodes directly into the brain) are not well suited to measuring several thousand neurons at once. Nor is it simple to monitor the connections of even one neuron: A typical neuron in the cortex receives input from some 10,000 other neurons.
Although traveling bursts of voltage can carry signals across the brain quickly, those electrical spikes may not be the only—or even the main—way that information is carried in nervous systems. Forward-looking studies are examining other possible information couriers: glial cells (poorly understood brain cells that are 10 times as common as neurons), other kinds of signaling mechanisms between cells (such as newly discovered gases and peptides), and the biochemical cascades that take place inside cells.
When you learn a new fact, like someone’s name, there are physical changes in the structure of your brain. But we don’t yet comprehend exactly what those changes are, how they are orchestrated across vast seas of synapses and neurons, how they embody knowledge, or how they are read out decades later for retrieval.
One complication is that there are many kinds of memories. The brain seems to distinguish short-term memory (remembering a phone number just long enough to dial it) from long-term memory (what you did on your last birthday). Within long-term memory, declarative memories (like names and facts) are distinct from nondeclarative memories (riding a bicycle, being affected by a subliminal message), and within these general categories are numerous subtypes. Different brain structures seem to support different kinds of learning and memory; brain damage can lead to the loss of one type without disturbing the others.
Nonetheless, similar molecular mechanisms may be at work in these memory types. Almost all theories of memory propose that memory storage depends on synapses, the tiny connections between brain cells. When two cells are active at the same time, the connection between them strengthens; when they are not active at the same time, the connection weakens. Out of such synaptic changes emerges an association. Experience can, for example, fortify the connections between the smell of coffee, its taste, its color, and the feel of its warmth. Since the populations of neurons connected with each of these sensations are typically activated at the same time, the connections between them can cause all the sensory associations of coffee to be triggered by the smell alone.
But looking only at associations—and strengthened connections between neurons—may not be enough to explain memory. The great secret of memory is that it mostly encodes the relationships between things more than the details of the things themselves. When you memorize a melody, you encode the relationships between the notes, not the notes per se, which is why you can easily sing the song in a different key.
Memory retrieval is even more mysterious than storage. When I ask if you know Alex Ritchie, the answer is immediately obvious to you, and there is no good theory to explain how memory retrieval can happen so quickly. Moreover, the act of retrieval can destabilize the memory. When you recall a past event, the memory becomes temporarily susceptible to erasure. Some intriguing recent experiments show it is possible to chemically block memories from reforming during that window, suggesting new ethical questions that require careful consideration.
Neuroscientists have mostly studied changes in brain activity that correlate with stimuli we can present in the laboratory, such as a picture, a touch, or a sound. But the activity of the brain at rest—its “baseline” activity—may prove to be the most important aspect of our mental lives. The awake, resting brain uses 20 percent of the body’s total oxygen, even though it makes up only 2 percent of the body’s mass. Some of the baseline activity may represent the brain restructuring knowledge in the background, simulating future states and events, or manipulating memories. Most things we care about—reminiscences, emotions, drives, plans, and so on—can occur with no external stimulus and no overt output that can be measured.
One clue about baseline activity comes from neuroimaging experiments, which show that activity decreases in some brain areas just before a person performs a goal-directed task. The areas that decrease are the same regardless of the details of the task, hinting that these areas may run baseline programs during downtime, much as your computer might run a disk-defragmenting program only while the resources are not needed elsewhere.
In the traditional view of perception, information from the outside world pours into the senses, works its way through the brain, and makes itself consciously seen, heard, and felt. But many scientists are coming to think that sensory input may merely revise ongoing internal activity in the brain. Note, for example, that sensory input is superfluous for perception: When your eyes are closed during dreaming, you still enjoy rich visual experience. The awake state may be essentially the same as the dreaming state, only partially anchored by external stimuli. In this view, your conscious life is an awake dream.
When a fire chief encounters a new blaze, he quickly makes predictions about how to best position his men. Running such simulations of the future—without the risk and expense of actually attempting them—allows “our hypotheses to die in our stead,” as philosopher Karl Popper put it. For this reason, the emulation of possible futures is one of the key businesses that intelligent brains invest in.
Yet we know little about how the brain’s future simulator works because traditional neuroscience technologies are best suited for correlating brain activity with explicit behaviors, not mental emulations. One idea suggests that the brain’s resources are devoted not only to processing stimuli and reacting to them (watching a ball come at you) but also to constructing an internal model of that outside world and extracting rules for how things tend to behave (knowing how balls move through the air). Internal models may play a role not only in motor acts, like catching, but also in perception. For example, vision draws on significant amounts of information in the brain, not just on input from the retina. Many neuroscientists have suggested over the past few decades that perception arises not simply by building up bits of data through a hierarchy but rather by matching incoming sensory data against internally generated expectations.
But how does a system learn to make good predictions about the world? It may be that memory exists only for this purpose. This is not a new idea: Two millennia ago, Aristotle and Galen emphasized memory as a tool in making successful predictions for the future. Even your memories about your life may come to be understood as a special subtype of emulation, one that is pinned down and thus likely to flow in a certain direction.
We often talk about brains as information-processing systems, but any account of the brain that lacks an account of emotions, motivations, fears, and hopes is incomplete. Emotions are measurable physical responses to salient stimuli: the increased heartbeat and perspiration that accompany fear, the freezing response of a rat in the presence of a cat, or the extra muscle tension that accompanies anger. Feelings, on the other hand, are the subjective experiences that sometimes accompany these processes: the sensations of happiness, envy, sadness, and so on. Emotions seem to employ largely unconscious machinery—for example, brain areas involved in emotion will respond to angry faces that are briefly presented and then rapidly masked, even when subjects are unaware of having seen the face. Across cultures the expression of basic emotions is remarkably similar, and as Darwin observed, it is also similar across all mammals. There are even strong similarities in physiological responses among humans, reptiles, and birds when showing fear, anger, or parental love.
Modern views propose that emotions are brain states that quickly assign value to outcomes and provide a simple plan of action. Thus, emotion can be viewed as a type of computation, a rapid, automatic summary that initiates appropriate actions. When a bear is galloping toward you, the rising fear directs your brain to do the right things (determining an escape route) instead of all the other things it could be doing (rounding out your grocery list). When it comes to perception, you can spot an object more quickly if it is, say, a spider rather than a roll of tape. In the realm of memory, emotional events are laid down differently by a parallel memory system involving a brain area called the amygdala.
One goal of emotional neuroscience is to understand the nature of the many disorders of emotion, depression being the most common and costly. Impulsive aggression and violence are also thought to be consequences of faulty emotion regulation.
Intelligence comes in many forms, but it is not known what intelligence—in any of its guises—means biologically. How do billions of neurons work together to manipulate knowledge, simulate novel situations, and erase inconsequential information? What happens when two concepts “fit” together and you suddenly see a solution to a problem? What happens in your brain when it suddenly dawns on you that the killer in the movie is actually the unsuspected wife? Do intelligent people store knowledge in a way that is more distilled, more varied, or more easily retrievable?
We all grew up with the near-future promise of smart robots, but today we have little better than the Roomba robotic vacuum cleaner. What went wrong? There are two camps for explaining the weak performance of artificial intelligence: Either we do not know enough of the fundamental principles of brain function, or we have not simulated enough neurons working together. If the latter is true, that’s good news: Computation gets cheaper and faster each year, so we should not be far from enjoying life with Asimovian robots who can effectively tend our households. Yet most neuroscientists recognize how distant we are from that dream. Currently, our robots are little more intelligent than sea slugs, and even after decades of clever research, they can barely distinguish figures from a background at the skill level of an infant.
Recent experiments explore the possible relationship of intelligence to the capacity of short-term memory, the ability to quickly resolve cognitive conflict, or the ability to store stronger associations between facts; the results are not yet conclusive. Many other possibilities—better restructuring of stored information, more parallel processing, or superior emulation of possible futures—have not yet been probed by experiments.
Intelligence may not be underpinned by a single mechanism or a single neural area. Whatever intelligence is, it lies at the heart of what is special about Homo sapiens. Other species are hardwired to solve particular problems, while our ability to abstract allows us to solve an open-ended series of problems. This means that studies of intelligence in mice and monkeys may be barking up the wrong family tree.
Hundred-yard dashes begin with a gunshot rather than a strobe light because your brain can react more quickly to a bang than to a flash. Yet as soon as we get outside the realm of motor reactions and into the realm of perception (what you report that you saw and heard), the story changes. When it comes to awareness, the brain goes through a good deal of trouble to synchronize incoming signals that are processed at very different speeds.
For example, snap your fingers in front of you. Although your auditory system processes information about the snap about 30 milliseconds faster than your visual system, the sight of your fingers and the sound of the snap seem simultaneous. Your brain is employing fancy editing tricks to make simultaneous events in the world feel simultaneous to you, even when the different senses processing the information would individually swear otherwise.
For a simple example of how your brain plays tricks with time, look in the mirror at your left eye. Now shift your gaze to your right eye. Your eye movements take time, of course, but you do not see your eyes move. It is as if the world instantly made the transition from one view to the next. What happened to that little gap in time? For that matter, what happens to the 80 milliseconds of darkness you should see every time you blink your eyes? Bottom line: Your notion of the smooth passage of time is a construction of the brain. Clarifying the picture of how the brain normally solves timing problems should give insight into what happens when temporal calibration goes wrong, as may happen in the brains of people with dyslexia. Sensory inputs that are out of sync also contribute to the risk of falls in elderly patients.
One of the most astonishing aspects of our lives is that we spend a third of our time in the strange world of sleep. Newborn babies spend about twice that. It is inordinately difficult to remain awake for more than a full day-night cycle. In humans, continuous wakefulness of the nervous system results in mental derangement; rats deprived of sleep for 10 days die. All mammals sleep, reptiles and birds sleep, and voluntary breathers like dolphins sleep with one brain hemisphere dormant at a time. The evolutionary trend is clear, but the function of sleep is not.
The universality of sleep, even though it comes at the cost of time and leaves the sleeper relatively defenseless, suggests a deep importance. There is no universally agreed-upon answer, but there are at least three popular (and nonexclusive) guesses. The first is that sleep is restorative, saving and replenishing the body’s energy stores. However, the high neural activity during sleep suggests there is more to the story. A second theory proposes that sleep allows the brain to run simulations of fighting, problem solving, and other key actions before testing them out in the real world. A third theory—the one that enjoys the most evidence—is that sleep plays a critical role in learning and consolidating memories and in forgetting inconsequential details. In other words, sleep allows the brain to store away the important stuff and take out the neural trash.
Recently, the spotlight has focused on REM sleep as the most important phase for locking memories into long-term encoding. In one study, rats were trained to scurry around a track for a food reward. The researchers recorded activity in the neurons known as place cells, which showed distinct patterns of activity depending upon the rats’ location on the track. Later, while the rats dropped off into REM sleep, the recordings continued. During this sleep, the rats’ place cells often repeated the exact same pattern of activity that was seen when the animals ran. The correlation was so close, the researchers claimed, that as the animal “dreamed,” they could reconstruct where it would be on the track if it had been awake—and whether the animal was dreaming of running or standing still. The emerging idea is that information replayed during sleep might determine which events we remember later. Sleep, in this view, is akin to an off-line practice session. In several recent experiments, human subjects performing difficult tasks improved their scores between sessions on consecutive days, but not between sessions on the same day, implicating sleep in the learning process.
Understanding how sleeping and dreaming are changed by trauma, drugs, and disease—and how we might modulate our need for sleep—is a rich field to harvest for future clues.
To the naked eye, no part of the brain’s surface looks terribly different from any other part. But when we measure activity, we find that different types of information lurk in each region of the neural territory. Within vision, for example, separate areas process motion, edges, faces, and colors. The territory of the adult brain is as fractured as a map of the countries of the world.
Now that neuroscientists have a reasonable idea of how that territory is divided, we find ourselves looking at a strange assortment of brain networks involved with smell, hunger, pain, goal setting, temperature, prediction, and hundreds of other tasks. Despite their disparate functions, these systems seem to work together seamlessly. There are almost no good ideas about how this occurs.
Nor is it understood how the brain coordinates its systems so rapidly. The slow speed of spikes (they travel about one foot per second in axons that lack the insulating sheathing called myelin) is one hundred-millionth the speed of signal transmission in digital computers. Yet a human can recognize a friend almost instantaneously, while digital computers are slow—and usually unsuccessful—at face recognition. How can an organ with such slow parts operate so quickly? The usual answer is that the brain is a parallel processor, running many operations at the same time. This is almost certainly true, but what slows down parallel-processing digital computers is the next stage of operations, where results need to be compared and decided upon. Brains are amazingly fast at this. So while the brain’s ability to do parallel processing is impressive, its ability to rapidly synthesize those parallel processes into a single, behavior-guiding output is at least as significant. An animal running must go left or right around a tree; it cannot do both.
There is no special anatomical location in the brain where information from all the different systems converges; rather, the specialized areas all interconnect with one another, forming a network of parallel and recurring links. Somehow, our integrated image of the world emerges from this complex labyrinthine network of brain structures. Surprisingly little study has been done on large, loopy networks like the ones in the brain—probably in part because it is easier to think about brains as tidy assembly lines than as dynamic networks.
An explanation of consciousness is one of the major unsolved problems of modern science. It may not turn out to be a single phenomenon; nonetheless, by way of a preliminary target, let’s think of it as the thing that flickers on when you wake up in the morning that was not there, in the exact same brain hardware, moments before.
Neuroscientists believe that consciousness emerges from the material stuff of the brain primarily because even very small changes to your brain (say, by drugs or disease) can powerfully alter your subjective experiences. The heart of the problem is that we do not yet know how to engineer pieces and parts such that the resulting machine has the kind of private subjective experience that you and I take for granted. If I give you all the Tinkertoys in the world and tell you to hook them up so that they form a conscious machine, good luck. We don’t have a theory yet of how to do this; we don’t even know what the theory will look like.
One of the traditional challenges to consciousness research is studying it experimentally. It is probable that at any moment some active neuronal processes correlate with consciousness, while others do not. The first challenge is to determine the difference between them. Some clever experiments are making at least a little headway. In one of these, subjects see an image of a house in one eye and, simultaneously, an image of a cow in the other. Instead of perceiving a house-cow mixture, people perceive only one of them. Then, after some random amount of time, they will believe they’re seeing the other, and they will continue to switch slowly back and forth. Yet nothing about the visual stimulus changes; only the conscious experience changes. This test allows investigators to probe which properties of neuronal activity correlate with the changes in subjective experience.
The mechanisms underlying consciousness could reside at any of a variety of physical levels: molecular, cellular, circuit, pathway, or some organizational level not yet described. The mechanisms might also be a product of interactions between these levels. One compelling but still speculative notion is that the massive feedback circuitry of the brain is essential to the production of consciousness.
In the near term, scientists are working to identify the areas of the brain that correlate with consciousness. Then comes the next step: understanding why they correlate. This is the so-called hard problem of neuroscience, and it lies at the outer limit of what material explanations will say about the experience of being human.
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2019-04-20T11:01:03Z
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http://discovermagazine.com/2007/aug/unsolved-brain-mysteries
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[ABOVE] The Brighton photographer Albert Edward Slater (1863-1912) depicted in a portrait by Ebenezer Pannell of Hove. This portrait, which incorporates a photographic image of Albert Slater's head with an upper torso drawn in pencil and grey crayon, was probably produced as a memorial portrait shortly after Albert Edward Slater's death in 1912 at the age 49. [ABOVE] Mrs Matilda Jane Slater (formerly Shannon), the wife of the Brighton photographer Albert Edward Slater, photographed around 1895 at her husband's studio at 24 St George's Road, Brighton. Born at Naas, Co. Kildare, Ireland, around 1860, Mrs Matilda Slater died in 1940, aged 80.
Albert Edward Slater was born in Brighton early in 1863 and baptised at St Nicholas's Church, Brighton, on 16th August 1863. [ The birth of Albert Edward Slater was registered in the district of Brighton during the First Quarter of 1863 ]. Albert Edward Slater was the second son of Sarah Dartnell Dell and Henry Burchett Slater, a Brighton hairdresser.
Henry Burchett Slater, Albert's father, was born in Brighton in 1824, the son of Sarah and John Slater. In 1858, at the age of 34, Henry Slater married Sarah Dartnell Dell (born 1827, London). [The marriage of Henry Slater and Sarah Dartnell Dell was registered in the London district of Marylebone during the 4th Quarter of 1858].
At the time of his marriage, Henry Slater was running a hairdresser's shop at 6 Upper Bedford Street, Brighton. [Henry Slater had started a hairdressing business at 58 Upper Bedford Street, Brighton, before 1854]. Over the next twenty years, Henry Slater expanded his business. In 1866, Henry Slater was listed in local trade directories as a "hair dresser & tobacconist" at 6 Upper Bedford Street, Brighton and, by 1878, he had opened a second hairdressing establishment at 105A St George's Road in the Kemp Town district of Brighton.
[ABOVE] A hairdresser at work in 1859. This drawing is taken from a cartoon drawn by the artist and illustrator Charles Keene (1823-1891) and published in a magazine in 1859. Henry Burchett Slater (1824-1892), Albert Slater's father, ran a hairdressing business in Brighton between 1854 and 1892, the year of his death. As a young man, Albert Slater was employed as a "Hairdressing Assistant" in his father's shop in St George's Road, Kemp Town, Brighton.
The union of Henry Burdett Slater and Sarah Dartnell Dell produced two sons - John Henry Slater, who was baptised at St Nicholas's Church, Brighton, on 18th July 1861 and Albert Edward Slater who was born early in 1863.
When the census was taken on 3rd April 1881, Henry Burdett Slater and his family were recorded at 112 St George's Road, Brighton. On the census return, Henry B. Slater is described as a 56 year old "Hairdresser". Mr Slater was assisted in his hairdressing business by his two teenage sons, 19 year old John H. Slater and 18 year old Albert E. Slater, and young woman named Mary Ann Baker (born c1853, London), who boarded with the Slater family. [Mary Ann Baker, then working as a "Hairdresser's Assistant" in Henry Slater's shop, went on to marry a young photographer named Ebenezer Pannell (born 1860, Cliftonville, Hove) who opened a portrait studio in Kemp Town around 1883].
Sometime during 1881, Albert Edward Slater decided on a change of career. Louis Dolibo (born c1831, France), a former language teacher and a 'Professor of French & German', had, around 1863, set himself up as a photographic artist at 24 St George's Road, Brighton, the same road where Albert Slater lived and worked in Kemp Town. Louis Dolibo ran the photographic studio and picture-framing business at 24 St George's Road from around 1864 until the beginning of 1881. Louis Dolibo planned to close his photographic studio in Kemp Town and establish a confectionery business in Brighton's Queen's Road. Although only 18 years of age, Albert Slater acquired Louis Dolibo's photographic studio at 24 St George's Road, Brighton and from the middle of 1881 he began taking carte-de-visite portraits at Dolibo's former studio.
During the 1880s and 1890s, Albert Edward Slater produced small photographic portraits in the carte-de-visite format and larger images mounted on the increasingly popular cabinet card. Albert Slater designated a negative number to each photograph he took. In the space of 18 years, Albert Slater created around 6,000 photographic negatives, a relatively small number considering the length of time he was in business as a professional photographer. In his publicity, Albert Slater was keen to advise the public that, at his studio, "all negatives are preserved" and that "copies may always be obtained" from the kept negatives. Slater also advised his customers that, at his St George's Road premises in Brighton, all photographs could be "copied and enlarged in any style". Another service offered by Slater was to transfer photographs to surfaces other than paper, such as porcelain. From around 1895, A. E. Slater advertised the fact that he was a "Silver Medallist" in Photography.
During the period in which Albert Edward Slater was in business as a professional photographer in Kemp Town, there were, at any particular time, between 30 and 45 photographic portrait studios active in the town of Brighton. The trades section of Page's Directory of Brighton published in 1881 (the year that Albert Slater took over Dolibo's studio at 24 St George's Road, Kemp Town, Brighton) 32 studio proprietors were listed, of which 5 were operating in the area of Kemp Town and another two were based nearby, in or near Brighton's Chain Pier.
Early in 1890, Albert Edward Slater married a 30 year old Irish woman named Matilda Jane Shannon (born c1860 Naas, Co. Kildare, Ireland). The marriage was registered in the Kent district of Bromley during the 1st Quarter of 1890 and it is likely that wedding ceremony took place in Orpington, Kent, the area where Matilda's mother and brother lived. [ In 1891, Robert Alexander Shannon, MD, and Mrs Jane Shannon, Matilda's brother and mother, were residing at No.1 Grasmere, Crofton Road, Orpington, Kent ].
Matilda Jane Shannon, who was born in Naas, Co. Kildare, Ireland, about 1860, was the daughter of Mrs Jane Shannon (born c1824, Ireland). Matilda had an older brother, Robert Alexander Shannon (born c1859, Naas, Kildare, Ireland), who was a physician and surgeon by profession. Presumably, Mrs Jane Shannon, together with her two grown-up children, Robert and Matilda, left Ireland after the death of her husband. The 1881 census records Mrs Shannon, Robert Alexander Shannon and Matilda Jane Shannon in North Wales, living in Llanllwchaiarn, near Newtown, Montgomeryshire. Dr Robert A. Shannon, a twenty-two year old "Physician & Surgeon", is entered as the 'Head of Household' at the family's residence in Upper Bridge Street. Mrs Jane Shannon, the young doctor's widowed mother, is described on the census return as a 57 year old 'Annuitant'. No profession or occupation is given for 20 year old Matilda Jane Shannon, so presumably she was supported financially by her mother and brother.
Early in 1891, Matilda, Albert Slater's wife, gave birth to a baby boy named Bertram Leslie Slater. [The birth of Bertram Leslie Slater was registered in Brighton during the First Quarter of 1891]. Another son, Eric Conrad Henry Slater, arrived the following year. [The birth of Eric Conrad Henry Slater was registered in Brighton during the 4th Quarter of 1892]. Albert and Matilda Slater's third child, a daughter named Violet Norah Kathleen Slater, was born towards the end of 1894. [The birth of Violet Norah Kathleen Slater was registered in Brighton during the 4th Quarter of 1894].
When the census was taken on 5th April 1891, Albert Edward Slater was recorded as "Photographic artist (Employer)" at 24 St George's Road, Brighton. Sharing Albert Slater's home was Mary Jane Townsend, a 34 year old "Hair dresser's assistant" (possibly employed by Albert's father at his hairdressing shop at 112 St George's Road, Brighton) and 16 year old Emily Maria Ford, who was employed by the Slater family as a domestic servant. [At the time of the 1891 census, Albert's wife and child, Mrs Matilda Slater and 3 month old Bertram, were visiting Matilda's mother and brother in Orpington, Kent. Oddly, the Orpington enumerator had mistakenly recorded Matilda's child as a baby daughter, writing the name as "Bertha L. Slater"].
* The photographic studio at 24 St George's Road, Brighton went under the name of "Mann Brothers" until 1903, the year that Sidney Mann took sole control of the studio. For a brief period Sidney Mann operated the studio at 24 St George's Road under his own name, but in 1904 the studio was acquired by the firm of Pannell & Holden. For more details on Albert Slater's successors, see my web pages on Mann Brothers and Ebenezer Pannell and Frederick James Holden. A strange fact - the photographer Ebenezer Pannell, the senior partner in the firm of Pannell & Holden, which had taken over Slater's former photographic studio at 24 St George's Road in 1904, had, 22 years earlier, married hairdresser's assistant Mary Ann Baker, who, in 1881 was working alongside Albert in his father's hairdressing shop in 1881 ].
Albert Edward Slater - "Retired Photographic Artist"
When the census of 1901 was carried out, Albert Edward Slater was living with his wife and three children at 127 Queens Park Road, Brighton. The 1901 census return indicates that 38 year old Albert E. Slater was now employed as an "Accountant" for a firm of builders. No occupation is given for Mrs Matilda Slater, Albert's 40 year old wife, and the couple no longer employ a live-in servant.
I have not discovered much about Albert Slater's final 10 years of life. When the next census was taken on 2nd April 1911, Albert Edward Slater was still residing with his family at 127 Queens Park Road, Brighton, but he was no longer in employment. Under the heading of "PROFESSION or OCCUPATION", Albert Slater, then only 48 years of age, writes "Retired Photographic Artist". Given that over 10 years had elapsed since Albert Slater had earned his living with a camera, his self description as a "Retired Photographic Artist" is rather poignant and perhaps suggests that he still had a hankering for his former profession. Of his three grown-up children, only the eldest, 20 year old Bertram Leslie Slater, was in full-time, paid employment, working as a clerk in a mineral water factory. Sixteen year old Violet Slater was still at school and Eric Conrad Slater, then aged 18, was an "Engineering Student". Some money might have come to the Slater family when Mrs Jane Shannon, Albert's mother-in-law, passed away in 1903. It appears that Mrs Matilda Slater, Albert's wife, did not need to work for a living. At the time of the 1911 census, Mrs Matilda Jane Slater was visiting a 'Home for Young Women' at Calverley Hill, Tunbridge Wells. [Interestingly, a century on, Calverley Hill still serves as a housing project for young women]. It is possible that Matilda was a personal friend of Miss Alice Kensett, the Superintendent of the Home for Young Women. Significantly, on the census return, Matilda Jane Slater is described as a woman of "Private Means", which supports the theory that Mrs Slater had inherited money from her late mother's estate.
Albert Edward Slater died in 1912 at the age of 49. [The death of Albert Edward Slater was registered in Brighton during the 2nd Quarter of 1912]. Albert Slater's family were still living in Brighton during the 1920s. [ Violet Norah Kathleen Slater, Albert and Matilda's daughter, married in Brighton in 1924]. Albert's widow, Mrs Matilda J. Slater died in the Hampshire district of Aldershot in 1940 at the age of 80.
[ABOVE] The trade plate of Albert Edward Slater, Art Photographer of 24 St George's Road, Brighton, as printed on the reverse of a cabinet card (c1890). Albert Slater began his working like as an assistant hairdresser, but around 1881, he set himself up as a photographer in Kemp Town at 24 St George's Road, the former studio of Louis Dolibo (born c1831, France).
[ABOVE] The trade plate of Albert Edward Slater, Photographer of 24 St George's Road, Brighton, rubber- stamped on the back of a photographic card mount produced for Louis Dolibo, the former owner of the studio. Until he was able to order some customized printed card mounts, Albert Slater had to 'make do' by using Monsieur Dolibo's old card stock, crossing out Dolibo's name and rubber-stamping his trade plate on the reverse of the carte-de-visite portraits.
[ABOVE] A mother and daughter photographed in 1881 by Albert Edward Slater at his studio at 24 St George's Road, Brighton. Slater has crossed out the name of the studio's former proprietor (L. Dolibo) and rubber-stamped in purple ink the credit "A. E. Slater, Photographer, 24 St George's Road, Brighton" on the reverse of the carte-de-visite.
[ABOVE] A typical carte-de-visite portrait produced by Albert Edward Slater at his studio at 24 St George's Road, Brighton. This carte carries the negative number 3419 and probably dates from around 1890.
[ABOVE] The trade plate of Albert Edward Slater, 'Art Photographer' of 24 St George's Road, Brighton (c1890). The number of the photographic negative (No. 3419) is given at the foot of the card so that customers could order further copies or have enlargements made. Albert Slater also offered to transfer the photograph to other surfaces, such as porcelain.
[ABOVE] The signature of Albert Edward Slater as it appeared on the census return he completed on 2nd April, 1911. Under the heading of "PROFESSION or OCCUPATION", Albert Slater wrote "Retired Photographic Artist", even though more than 10 years had elapsed since he had earned his living with a camera. A year later, at the relatively young age of 49, Albert Slater passed away.
The union of Albert Edward Slater and Matilda Jane Shannon produced three children - two sons and a daughter; Bertram Leslie Slater (birth registered in Brighton during the First Quarter of 1891), Eric Conrad Henry Slater (birth registered in Brighton during the 4th Quarter of 1892) and Violet Norah Kathleen Slater (birth registered in Brighton during the 4th Quarter of 1894].
[ABOVE] The three children from the union of Matilda Jane Shannon and the Brighton photographer Albert Edward Slater (c.1898). From left to right, the children are Bertram Leslie Slater (born 1891, Brighton), Violet Norah Slater (born 1894, Brighton) and Eric Conrad Henry Slater (born 1892). This portrait was probably taken by Albert Edward Slater himself, just a couple of years before he sold his Kemp Town studio to the Mann Brothers.
Bertram Leslie Slater (1891-1940). At the time of the 1911 census, 20 year old Bertram Leslie Slater was employed as a clerk at a mineral water factory. Bertram Slater went on to study medicine at Guy's Hospital and became a doctor. In 1920, Dr Bertram Slater married Elsie M. Banks in the Marylebone district of London. Bertram Leslie Slater died in Poole, Dorset, in 1940 at the age of 49.
Eric Conrad Henry Slater (1892-1915). When the census was taken on 2nd April 1911, Eric Conrad Henry Slater was an 18 year old engineering student residing with his parents and two siblings at 127 Queens Park Road, Brighton. By August 1914, Eric Slater was living near Hulme, a suburb of Manchester, possibly having just taken up a position in an engineering firm in the industrial north-west. At the outbreak of the First World War, Eric Slater enlisted in the 1/6th Battalion, Manchester Regiment, part of the Manchester Brigade of the Territorial Force, later to become the 127th Brigade, 42nd (East Lancashire) Division. In September 1914, Private Eric C. H. Slater arrived with his battalion at Alexandria to join other units of the Manchester Regiment at the Egyptian garrison. On 6th May 1915, Eric Slater's battalion sailed from Egypt and landed in Turkey at Cape Helles, Gallipoli, to reinforce the British beachheads which had been established during the initial landings on the Gallipoli peninsula in April 1915. Eric Conrad Henry Slater was 'Killed in Action' at Gallipoli (Turkey) on 28th May 1915, aged 22. At the time of his death, Private Eric Slater (TF/2366) was serving in the newly formed 42nd (East Lancashire) Division of the Manchester Regiment. Private Eric C. H. Slater is buried at Twelve Tree Copse Cemetery in Turkey. Eric Slater's name appears amongst the 1,215 casualties from the Manchester Regiment commemorated on the Helles War Memorial.
Violet Norah Kathleen Slater (1894 -). After leaving school, Violet Norah Kathleen Slater trained as a teacher, a profession she pursued until 1924, when she married Douglas William Wren (born 1901, Hove).
[ABOVE] The trade plate design used by the Brighton photographer Albert Edward Slater during the early 1880s. Slater ordered printed card stock from wholesale retailers such as Reeves & Hoare of London. Reeves & Hoare, a firm of lithographers, produced "high class mounts" and supplied a range of photographic apparatus to professional studios during the 1880s.
[ABOVE] A carte-de-visite portrait of a woman holding a fan, photographed by Albert Edward Slater of 24 St George's Road, Brighton (c1882). Negative No. 1,218. [ABOVE] The reverse of the carte-de-visite illustrated on the right showing the trade trade plate design used by A. E. Slater during the early 1880s. Neg. No.2,228. [ABOVE] A carte-de-visite portrait of a woman standing by a rustic fence, taken by Albert Edward Slater of 24 St George's Road, Brighton (c1883). Negative No. 2,228.
[ABOVE] A carte-de-visite portrait of a seated woman, with a book on her lap, photographed by Albert Edward Slater of 24 St George's Road, Brighton . Negative No. 2,196. Probably an image from the early 1880s reprinted on a bottle green card with gold lettering dating from the early 1890s. [ABOVE] The reverse of the carte-de-visite illustrated on the right showing the trade trade plate design used by the Brighton photographer Albert Edward Slater during late 1880s and early 1890s. Negative No. 2,827. The printer's mark ("Marion Imp. Paris") at the foot of the card indicates a date from around 1886. [ABOVE] A vignette portrait of a man with a large moustache, photographed by Albert Edward Slater, 'Art Photographer' of 24 St George's Road, Brighton (c1886). Negative No. 2,827. The reverse of this carte-de-visite photograph is shown on the left. The photographic card mount was produced by Marion & Co. of Paris & London. [ABOVE] A vignette portrait of a young woman wearing an elaborately decorated, black straw boater, taken by Albert Edward Slater, Art Photographer of 24 St George's Road, Brighton (c1886). The printer's mark ("Marion Imp. Paris") on the reverse indicates a date from around 1886.
[ABOVE] "Dolly". A vignette portrait of a young woman wearing a flat, round hat and a feather boa, taken by Albert Edward Slater, Art Photographer of 24 St George's Road, Brighton (c1895). Negative No.4653 [ABOVE] A vignette portrait of a woman with tightly-curled hair, photographed by Albert Edward Slater, Art Photographer of 24 St George's Road, Brighton (c1896). Negative No.5840. [ABOVE] A carte-de-visite portrait of a young girl, photographed by Albert Edward Slater of 24 St George's Road, Brighton (c1897). Negative No. 5942. [ABOVE] The reverse of the carte-de-visite illustrated on the left, showing the trade trade plate design used by the Brighton photographer Albert Edward Slater during late 1890s. Negative No. 5942. The negative number and the printer's mark ("Marion Imp. Paris." - -) at the foot of the card indicates a date from around 1897.
The small carte-de-visite photograph dominated commercial portrait photography for most of the Victorian period. The idea of a larger format for portrait photography was put forward by the London photographer Frederick Richard Window in 1866. The proposed format was a photographic print mounted on a sturdy card measuring 41/4 inches by 61/2 inches. (roughly 11cm x 17cm). The new format was called the Cabinet Portrait, presumably because a large photograph on a stout card could be displayed to good effect on a wooden cabinet or similar piece of furniture. Landscape views on card mounts of a similar size had been produced as early as 1862, but F. R. Window had introduced the cabinet format specifically for portraiture. Window believed the larger dimensions of the 'cabinet print' (4 inches by 51/2 inches or approximately 10.2 cm x 10.2 cm x 14.1 cm) would enable the professional photographer to demonstrate his technical and artistic skill and produce portraits of a higher quality than the small carte-de-visite would allow.
Although introduced in 1866, the cabinet portrait did not really establish itself until after the invention of dry plate photography and the reduction in plate exposure times to a fraction of a second. The arrival of "instantaneous photography" around 1880 allowed the cabinet format to be used to its full potential. The cabinet photograph increased in popularity in the late 1880s and 1890s, as the demand for carte- de-visite portraits declined. Much larger than the carte-de-visite, the size of the cabinet format made it particularly suitable for groups and family portraits. The introduction of "instantaneous photography" ensured that even restless and fidgety children in family groups could be captured sharply by the camera.
From the very beginning of his photographic career Albert Edward Slater produced cabinet photographs as well as carte-de-visite portraits. Albert Slater obtained his pre-printed cabinet cards from photographic suppliers such as Hodges & Co. of London, Trapp & Munch of Berlin and Marion & Co. of Paris & London.
[ABOVE] A cabinet portrait of a girl in a lace-trimmed dress, photographed by Albert Edward Slater, Photographer of 24 St George's Road, Brighton (c1895). Negative No. 4976. This cabinet card carries the printer's mark Trapp & Munch. The publicity on the back states that Slater was a 'Silver Medallist'. [ABOVE] A cabinet portrait of a young child, photographed by Albert Edward Slater, Photographer of 24 St George's Road, Brighton (1896). Negative No. 5873. A hand-written inscription on the reverse reads "Frank, July 1896". This card carries the printer's mark '"Marion Imp. Paris."-- ..--'.
[ABOVE] A vignette portrait of a young woman wearing a dress with large, puffed sleeves, a cabinet photograph produced by Albert Edward Slater, Photographer and 'Silver Medallist' of 24 St George's Road, Brighton (c1896). Negative No. 5911. [ABOVE] A vignette portrait of a girl with a bow in her hair, a cabinet photograph produced by Albert Edward Slater, Photographer and 'Silver Medallist' of 24 St George's Road, Brighton (c1896). Negative No. 5804.
Fancy Dress Photographs. During Victorian and Edwardian times, it was not uncommon for people to be photographed in historic or fancy costume. A number of professional photographers supplied historical costumes for their sitters to create a novelty portrait. Party-goers on their way to a "Fancy Dress Ball" had the opportunity to pose for their photographic portrait at a High Street studio wearing the costumes they had hired or created themselves for that special occasion. Some studios in Sussex supplied fancy dress or historical costumes for their customers' use during photographic sessions.
"Fancy Dress" balls were particularly popular during the Victorian and Edwardian period. From the 1880s up until after the First World War, local newspapers would publish reports on fancy dress balls and costume parties. Accounts in local newspapers would often give details of the costumes worn and list the names of the guests who won prizes for their party costumes.
Fancy Dress costumes could be hired for the occasion, but many enterprising young women made their own costumes. After spending hours making a costume for a Fancy Dress Ball it would seem sensible to preserve a memory of the hand-made garment and create a memento of the special occasion by commissioning a portrait from a local professional photographer.
Alfred Edward Slater, 'Photographic Artist' of 24 St Georges Road, Brighton employed the larger cabinet format to create a set of photographs depicting a group of young people wearing 18th century costume. (See left and below). The three men and two women who made up the group were probably on their way to a 'fancy dress' ball or historical pageant.
[ABOVE] A cabinet portrait of a group of young people wearing 18th century costume, photographed by A. E. Slater of 24 St Georges Road, Brighton (c1883). Although they could be mistaken as a troupe of actors and actresses, this group were probably on their way to a fancy dress ball or historical pageant. This "Cabinet Portrait" carries a negative number of 1,485, which suggests the photograph was taken during the early years of Albert Slater's photography business.
[ABOVE] A cabinet portrait showing a couple posing in 18th century costume, photographed by Albert Edward Slater of 24 St Georges Road, Brighton (c1883). This "Cabinet Portrait", one of a set of three, carries a negative number of 1,487. This young couple are also featured in the group photograph above which has a negative number of 1,485. [ABOVE] The other couple in the group of five depicted in the "fancy dress" cabinet photograph illustrated top left. The seated man, like his kneeling partner, is dressed in 18th century costume. This "Cabinet Portrait" (Negative No. 1486) photographed around 1883 by Albert Edward Slater of 24 St Georges Road, Brighton is one of a set of three (Negative Nos. 1485, 1486 & 1487).
I am grateful to Sarah-Jane Wren, the great grand-daughter of the Brighton photographer Albert Edward Slater (1863-1912), for providing the portraits of Albert Slater, his wife Matilda and their three children. Sarah-Jane, whose grandmother Violet Norah Kathleen Slater was Albert Slater's youngest child, also provided some information about Albert Slater's three children.
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2019-04-25T19:44:32Z
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http://culturaarabe.tk/jogar-poker-gratis-texas.html
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A page update handler enables a browser to update the display of a page with data received from a server. For example, a page may initially be displayed with a visual display object that serves as a placeholder for data being retrieved by the server; once the server retrieves the data and sends it to the browser, the page update hander may populate the display object with the data. As another example, the server may predictively retrieve data in anticipation of a user performing a particular action on a page, and may send this data to the browser in a hidden format; if the user subsequently performs the action, the page update handler may update the displayed page with the predictively retrieved data.
This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/720,712, filed Nov. 24, 2003 now U.S. Pat. No. 8,103,742, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
The present invention relates to dynamic web page generation, and more specifically, relates to web server systems that generate web pages using data obtained from one or more services.
The task of dynamically generating a requested electronic document, such as a web page, commonly involves the generation of service requests to one or more services. Typically, these services are implemented on server systems that are separate from the web server system that assembles or “renders” the web page for transmission to the browser. As the services respond to the service requests, the web server system incorporates the service data into the page, typically according to a template that specifies the page's layout. The rendered page is then transmitted to the requesting web browser for display.
One problem commonly encountered by web site designers is that some services tend to have relatively long response times, potentially resulting in long page load times from the perspective of end users. A service's response time may be long as the result of load conditions, network latency (especially if the service is remote), the quantity of computation required to generate the requested data, and other factors.
To address this problem, a web page may be designed such that the data requested from the relatively slow service is placed near the bottom of the requested page. With this approach, the web server can begin to transmit the requested web page to the user's computer before the relatively slow service returns its data, and then send the remainder of the page when the service request is complete. While this approach may reduce the page's perceived load time, it may be unacceptable to a web page designer who wishes to display the service data at a more prominent or relevant location on the page.
When the service returns the requested data, the web server system forwards this data to the web browser, which executes the associated page update handler to populate the page with the late-arriving service data. The page update handler may also perform related rendering tasks such as resizing the placeholder display object to accommodate the service data, or converting the service data into a tabular or other display format. In one embodiment, the page update handler is executed prior to (and preferably just before) the page finishes loading. In another embodiment, the late-arriving service data is written to a secondary page in a hidden window, and the page update handler obtains this data from the hidden window in order to update the primary page.
The web server system may optionally include decision logic for deciding whether to serve a deferred rendering version of a requested page versus a fully rendered version. For example, upon receiving a page request, the system may initially issue a service request to a potentially slow service, and then serve a deferred rendering version of the requested page only if the service fails to respond within a selected time interval. Other factors that may be taken into consideration include the average response time of the relevant service, the current load on the relevant service, the current load on the web server system (note that this load may be reduced if a portion of the page rendering task is offloaded to the web browser/page update handler), and the configuration of the user's computer.
FIG. 1 illustrates a web site system according to one embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 2 illustrates a deferred-rendering page generation process according to one embodiment of the invention.
FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate the initial and final display, respectively, of an example web page generated according to the process of FIG. 2.
FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate the initial and final display, respectively, of another example web page generated according to the process of FIG. 2.
FIG. 5 illustrates an embodiment in which a decision of whether to use the deferred-rendering page generation process is made based upon information about the historical and actual response time of the relevant service.
Specific embodiments and example applications of the invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. These embodiments and example applications are intended to illustrate, and not limit, the present invention. The invention is defined by the claims.
FIG. 1 illustrates a web site system 30 that implements a deferred-rendering web page generation process according to one embodiment of the invention. The system 30 includes a web server system 32 that responds to requests from user computers 34 by generating and returning web pages. The web server system 32 is composed of one or more physical servers that execute web server software, including a dynamic page generator program 36. Each user computer 34 runs a web browser program 38 (“web browser”) 38, which may be any type of program (operating system component, standalone browser, document authoring tool, etc.) that provides web browsing functionality.
The dynamic page generator 36 generates web pages according to web page templates 42 stored in a database 40, as is known in the art. Many different templates 42 may be provided within a given system 30. When a page request is received by the web server 32, the dynamic page generator 36 retrieves and processes the corresponding template 42, which may be uniquely identified by the target URL (Uniform Resource Locator) specified by the page request. Typically, this template 42 will specify one or more service requests that are to be sent to specific services 44 to retrieve data for generating the requested page. For example, a given template may specify one service 44 request for retrieving the user's transaction history, and may call another service 44 that generates personalized item recommendations based on this transaction history. Although templates are used in the preferred embodiment, as will be recognized the invention may be implemented without the use of templates.
As depicted in FIG. 1 for one of the services 44, each service 44 is typically in the form of a service application 44A that runs on one or more physical servers 44B, although two or more different service applications 44A may run on the same physical server 44B in some cases. Many different services 44 may be provided within a given system 30. The types and functions of these services 44 may vary widely depending on the nature and purpose of the particular web site system 30 (e.g., Internet searching, business-to-consumer sales, access to online publications, job postings, online banking, etc.). The services 44 may, but need not, be implemented as web services.
Typically, some services 44 will have longer average response times than others. For example, a service implemented on a physical server 44B that is remote from the web server system 32 may tend to have relatively long response times due to network latency. Some services 44 may also have relatively long response times due to the quantity of computation required to process the service requests they receive. The response time of a given service 44 may also vary based on its current load, the complexity of the particular request, configuration settings, resource availability, and other factors.
As illustrated, the database 40 also stores at least one page update handler 46 that is transmitted to and executed by the web browsers 38 in connection with page load events. The general function of the page update handler 46 is to update a previously rendered portion of a web page to incorporate service data that was not available to the web server 32 when that portion of the page was generated. In a preferred embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 2-5, the page update handler 46 is executed by a browser 38 near the end of the page load event, as or just after the relevant service data arrives at the browser 38. In another embodiment which is depicted in FIG. 6, the page update handler 46 is invoked after the page is fully loaded.
FIG. 2 illustrates a “deferred rendering” page generation process implemented by the system of FIG. 1 according to one embodiment of the invention. For purposes of illustration, only a single service 44 is shown (referred to as a “slow” service), and it is assumed that this service has a sufficiently long response time to justify use of the deferred rendering process. In practice, a given web page may be generated using data retrieved from several different services 44, some of which may have much longer response times than others.
In event 1, the server 32 initially receives a page request from a web browser 38 running on a user computer 34. In response to this request, the web server 32 sends a service request to the slow service 44 (event 2) to request data that will ultimately be incorporated into the web page. This service request may be fully specified by the associated template 42, in which case it may be issued substantially immediately upon receipt of the page request. In some cases, however, one or more parameters of this service request may be dependent upon the results of one or more other service requests, in which case the request to the slow service 44 may be postponed.
A “predictive prefetching” process of the type described in co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 10/612,529, filed Jul. 2, 2003 (the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference), may optionally be used to predict service requests that will be needed to generate the requested page, so that these service requests may be issued at the outset of the page generation task. As described in section IV below, predictive prefetching may also be used to deliver to the browser 34 service data associated with actions that may be performed by the user on the current page.
In event 3 (which may actually take place before or concurrently with event 2), the web server 32 generates and returns an initial portion (3) of the requested web page. This initial portion preferably includes a “placeholder” 52 that specifies the location at which the data from the slow service 44 will ultimately be displayed. The placeholder 52 may be in the form of a visible display object such as text box, an icon, or a graphic image, and may be displayed in conjunction with a message indicating that the associated data is being retrieved (see FIG. 3A, which displays two such messages). Alternatively, the placeholder 52 may be in the form of non-visible coding; such as a unique placeholder ID included within a hidden field.
The initial portion (3) of the web page also preferably includes most of the visible content of the web page 50. For example, the initial portion returned in event 3 may include all of the page's visible content except the data to be filled in by the page update handler 46. Thus, following event 3, the page preferably appears complete or substantially complete to the user, even though it has not finished loading. In event 4, the user begins to read the web page 50 as displayed by the browser 38.
In event 5, the slow service 44 returns the requested data (referred to herein as “late-arriving data”) to the web server 32, which may appropriately format this data for display. As part of this process, the web server 32/dynamic page generator 36 may translate the service data into a user-readable form, filter out certain portions of the service data, and/or combine the service data with predefined or static content. The task of formatting the late-arriving service data for display may be offloaded in-whole or in-part to the page update handler 46. The page update handler 46 may also include logic for rearranging the page's layout to better accommodate the display of that data, as described below.
In event 6, the web server 32 returns an “update” portion (6) of the requested web page 50, which is the remaining portion of the page in the illustrated example. The update portion (6), which may be provided in a non-visible format, includes the late-arriving service data (as formatted by the web server 32), and preferably includes a function call to the page update handler 46. The late arriving service data may be included in the update portion (6) of the page as a hidden page element, such as a DIV or SPAN element. As described below, a command to invoke the page update handler 46 may alternatively be included earlier in the page. The transfer of the page update handler 46 to the browser 38 is depicted in FIG. 2 without a sequence number, as this transfer may occur at any time before event 7.
As a result of the function call, the browser 38 executes the page update handler 46, which copies or moves the service data from a non-visible location near the bottom of the web page to the placeholder location on the page (event 7). This may involve filling in a text box used as a placeholder (as in FIG. 3B), or by replacing a non-visible placeholder or a graphic image with the associated service data. As discussed below, the late-arriving service data may also be inserted in a manner in which it is displayed only as mouse-over text. Rather than transmitting the late-arriving data in a non-visible form, this data may be transferred in a visible form, but immediately moved to the placeholder location upon its arrival.
Typically, the page update handler 46 will also perform related rendering tasks such as incorporating the data into a tabular format (see box 52A in FIG. 3B), resizing the placeholder display object 52 based on the amount of data to be displayed, and/or selecting a display format that is the most suitable. For example, if the late-arriving data consists of three items to be displayed on the page, the page update hander 46 may decide to display the three items in the placeholder location across the page in a single row; if, on the other hand, the late arriving data includes four items, the page update handler 46 may decide to display these items in two rows of two items each.
In selecting the most suitable display format, the page update handler 46 may also take into consideration the current dimensions of the browser window on the user's computer 34. For example, if the user has contracted the browser window to less than the full width of the desktop, the page update handler 46 may select a display format that will allow most of all of the items to be viewable within this window. In general, this type of selective formatting cannot be performed by the web server 32, as the web server has no way of knowing the current dimensions of the browser window.
To reduce the quantity of data transmitted from the web server 32 to the web browser 38, the late-arriving service data may optionally be sent to the web browser 38 in event 6 in a highly compact or compressed format. The page update handler 46 may then appropriately expand this data as needed to display the data on the web page. For example, the late-arriving service data may be sent to the browser 38 with little or no HTML coding, and with URLs represented in a compact form. The page update handler 46 may then add the appropriate HTML coding, and expand the URLs, so as to appropriately display the data on the page. Typically, the quantity of transmitted data can be reduced by approximately 75% by using this approach. In addition to reducing download times, this approach will typically reduce the load on the web server 32 by allowing the web server to omit certain formatting tasks.
In the example shown in FIG. 2, the web page is fully loaded once the update portion (6) has been received and processed by the browser 38.
In scenarios in which the slow service's response time is on the order of several seconds, the process depicted in FIG. 2 significantly improves the page's load time as perceived by end users, without the need to display the late-arriving service data at a low-prominence location on the page. Specifically, because the web server 32 can typically render the initial portion (3) of the web page within a few hundred milliseconds of receiving the page request, the page appears substantially complete almost immediately (assuming network latency and bandwidth constraints are negligible), despite the substantial time required to obtain the requested data from the slow service 44. Once the late-arriving service data becomes available, it may be displayed in a prominent location, such as within the upper third or upper quarter of the visible page, above other content that has already been displayed.
Another benefit of the deferred-rendering page generation process is that the load of the web server 32 is reduced by offloading certain page rendering tasks from the web server 32 to the web browsers 32. As a result, the web server may be able to server a greater number of pages per unit of time.
In scenarios in which a given page request invokes multiple slow services 44, the process shown in FIG. 2 may be augmented so that multiple placeholders 52 are included in the initial portion (3) of the web page (one for each slow service 44), and such that events 2 and 5-7 occur separately for each such service. In such cases, the page updates may occur asynchronously to each other since any one of the slow services 44 may return its data before any other slow service. An example web page that includes two placeholders is shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B.
(g) whether the user has disabled deferred-rendering browsing through a configuration page of the web site.
An example process that takes factors (a) and (b) into consideration is shown in FIG. 5, and is discussed separately below.
In practice, the web page designer will typically know which services 44 are the most likely to have the longest response times. Consequently, the designer will typically write page update handlers 46 only for some services and associated display objects, and not others.
The flow diagram of FIG. 2 does not depict the retrieval by the browser 38 of any inline objects, such as image files, that may be included in the web page. If any such objects are included on the page, their retrieval by the browser 38 will occur asynchronously relative to the updating of the page in step 7. Thus, a given image file may first appear on the page before, during, or after the page is updated with data from the slow service 44. If, however, the OnLoad command is used to invoke the page update handler 46, the page will not be updated with the late-arriving service data until all inline objects have been loaded.
FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate an example in which the general process of FIG. 2 is used to update a web page 50 with data returned by a shopping cart service 44 and an order status service 44 in the context of a retail sales web site. In this example, the shopping cart service 44 returns the current contents of a shopping cart for a given user ID, and the order status service 44 returns the status of any pending orders for a given user ID. As depicted in FIG. 3A, the page 50 is initially displayed with placeholder display objects (text boxes) 52A, 52B for each of these services. Each such text box is initially populated with a status message indicating that the associated status is being checked. Although the web page 50 is not finished loading at this point, the majority of the page's visible content is displayed. The catalog content shown in the page in this example is generated using a recommendations service 44 the returns personalized recommendations of catalog items, and a catalog service 44 that returns associated descriptions of these items.
FIG. 3B illustrates the fully loaded and rendered web page 50, with the shopping cart and order status text boxes 52A, 52B repopulated with corresponding service data. Each such box 52 may be repopulated by a different respective page update handler 46, although a single page update handler 46 may alternatively be used to fill in both text boxes 52A, 52B. In either case, the late-arriving service data is initially included at the end of the page (preferably in a hidden format), and is copied or moved to the associated text boxes by the page update handler code.
One possible variation is to replace the shopping cart text box 52A in FIGS. 3A and 3B with a shopping cart graphic that includes associated mouse-over text. With this approach, if the user hovers the mouse cursor over the shopping cart graphic before the shopping cart service data arrives at the browser 38, a message such as “checking cart” or “loading” may be displayed. Once the shopping cart data has arrived, this mouse-over message may be replaced with the actual shopping cart contents in mouse-over form. The same approach can be used to display the order status data.
FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate another example in which the deferred rendering process is used to update web search results pages with “related notifications.” These related notifications may be generated through the use of two services 44: an event history service that maintains a history of the web pages accessed by each user of the web site system 30, and a web page tracking service that tracks changes that have been made to web pages over time. The event history service may be implemented as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/612,395, filed on Jul. 2, 2003, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference. The web page tracking service may be implemented generally as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,249,795 and 6,596,030.
The task of generating a search results page of the type shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B generally involves three phases. During the first phase, the user's search query is used to identify up to ten search result items (web pages) that are to be listed on the search results page. At the end of the first phase, the initial portion of the search results page 50 is transmitted to the user's computer with the search result listing (see FIG. 4A, which only shows the first two of ten displayed search result items), but without the related notifications section shown in FIG. 4B. A non-visible placeholder code or object is included in the page's coding in this example to mark the location at which the related notifications box 60 will be added. A visible display object may alternatively be used, as in the prior example.
During the second phase of the page generation process, the dynamic page generator 36 (FIG. 1) sends a service request to the event history service 44 with a list of the search result items (URLs) displayed on the page and the user's ID. The event history service 44 responds to this request by determining, from the user's event history, whether the user has previously accessed any of these URLs. If the user is found to have previously accessed one or more of the URLs, the event history service returns the date and time of the user's last access to each such URL.
If the event history service 44 returns an indication that none of the search result URLs were found in the user's browse history, the web server 32 may simply transmit the end of the page without invoking a page update, and without performing the third phase. In this event, the display of the page may remain unchanged from FIG. 4A. Alternatively, the web server 32 may send to the browser 38 a page update sequence that causes the browser 38 to display default content in the related notifications area 60.
During the third phase (if needed), the web server 32 sends a request to the web page tracking service 44 with a list of the search result URLs that were previously accessed by the user together with associated timestamps indicating the date and time of each such access. For each such URL, the web page tracking service 44 returns an indication of whether the corresponding web page has been modified since the user's last access. At the end of this phase, the dynamic page generator 36 formulates a related notifications message of the type shown in FIG. 4B, identifying the page or pages that have been previously viewed and indicating whether each such page has changed. This notification message is returned to the browser 38 along with a command that invokes an associated page update handler 46, which renders the related notifications box 60 with the notification message displayed therein. Each notification may alternatively be inserted at the end of the corresponding search result item description.
Another application for the deferred rendering process is to add new items to a list of items displayed on the initial portion or version of a web page. For example, a web page that displays personalized recommendations of items may initially be rendered with a short list of recommended items that are readily identifiable. As additional recommended items are identified and passed to the web browser over time, the page update handler 46 may add these items to the list. The list may optionally be provided as a drop-down list, or as a scrollable list, so that the addition of the new items does not affect the display locations of other visual elements on the page.
FIG. 5 illustrates one example of a page generation process in which two factors are taken into consideration in deciding whether to defer rendering of a web page section associated with a potentially-slow service 44: (a) the service's average response time, and (b) the actual elapsed time since the associated service request was sent. This process may be executed by the dynamic page generator 36 (FIG. 1) whenever a particular web page or type of web page is requested. As depicted by block 64, the dynamic page generator 36 initially responds to the page request by sending a service request to the potentially-slow service 44.
As indicated by block 66, the dynamic page generator 36 also performs a look-up operation to determine the average response time of the potentially-slow service 44 over some period of time, such as the last ten minutes. Data regarding the service's average response time may be generated by the dynamic page generator 36, or by a separate monitoring component (not shown) that monitors the response times of various services within the system. This monitoring component may, but need not, run on the web server machine 32. The look-up operation performed in block 66 may be specific to one of a number of different types of service requests handled by the potentially-slow-service 44, since different types of requests may have very different average response times.
If the service's average response time exceeds a predefined threshold T (e.g., three seconds), the page is generated according to the deferred rendering process of FIG. 2. Specifically, the web server 32 returns an initial portion of the web page with a placeholder for the potentially late-arriving service data (block 68). When the service data is thereafter received from the service 44 (block 70), the web server 32 generates and returns a second portion of the web page with the relevant service data and a call to the page update handler (block 72).
If the potentially-slow service's average response time does not exceed the predefined threshold in block 66, the web server 32 waits for the requested service data to arrive. As depicted by blocks 74-78, if this data arrives within a maximum wait time (e.g., five seconds), the data is incorporated into the web page without using the page update process (i.e., the page is served in a fully-rendered form). If, on the other hand, the maximum wait time is exceeded, the deferred rendering process of blocks 68-72 is invoked. As will be apparent, numerous other conditions may be incorporated into the process in FIG. 5, including those listed above.
As illustrated by the examples in FIGS. 3A/3B and 4A/4B, the page updating process allows important data retrieved from one or more relatively slow services 44 to be presented near the top of the web page 50, without delaying the display of the remainder of the page. Although some or all of the late-arriving service data is preferably displayed near the top of the page, it may be inserted elsewhere on the page, such as in association with other visual items to which such service data corresponds.
Display of current inventory on catalog pages: When a user accesses a product detail page for a particular product within an online merchant's catalog, the page may be updated by a page update hander 46 to indicate the number of units that are currently in stock, as indicated by an inventory service.
Enhanced schedules on travel web sites: When a user accesses page that shows a schedule for a given bus, train, airplane, or ferry route, the late-rendered data added by the page update hander 46 shows whether any currently on-route vehicles are on schedule or not.
Ancillary travel information: On an airline or other travel site, when a user accesses a page displaying scheduled flights to a given city on a given date, the page may be updated with late-arriving data regarding number of seats available on each flight. The page may also be updated with data regarding vacancies at local hotels, highlighting any specific hotel or chain used by the user in the past.
As an alternative to including the late-arriving service data at the end of the web page, the late arriving data may be transmitted to the web browser 38 as part of a secondary web page that is loaded within a hidden window of the web browser. With this approach, two different methods may be used to update the main (visible) page 50 with the late-arriving service data. The first method involves transmitting the late-arriving data together with code which, when executed within the secondary page, calls a page update handler 46 on the main page 50, and passes the late-arriving data to this page update handler. The page update handler 46 may otherwise operate generally as described above. The second method involves including within the main page 50 a page update handler 46 that polls the hidden window for the late-arriving data. Once this data arrives, the page update handler copies or moves the data to the placeholder location(s) on the main page 50. With both of these approaches, the late-arriving service data may begin to arrive at the browser 38 after the main page 50 has finished loading.
As mentioned above, a “predictive prefetching” process of the type described in co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 10/612,529, filed Jul. 2, 2003, may optionally be used within the system of FIG. 1 to preemptively generate, at or near the outset of a page generation event, those service requests that are deemed likely to be needed to generate the requested web page. For example, a service request that would ordinarily be generated a few seconds after the web server 32 receives the page request (due to blocking caused by service request dependencies, etc.) may instead be generated right when the page request is received. As a result, the requested service data will arrive at the web server 32, and can be delivered to the web browser 38, sooner than would otherwise be the case. This “prefetched” service data may either be incorporated into the web page as initially rendered (as described in the '529 application), or added to the web page using a page update handler 46.
One variation to this approach is to “predict” subsequent actions that will be performed by the user during viewing of a current web page (and particularly those that cause the current page to be updated), and then preemptively generate some or all of the service requests associated with such actions. The resulting “prefetched” service data may then be downloaded to the user's browser 38 in a hidden format—either in the current page, or in a secondary page within a hidden window as described above. The data associated with a number of different possible user actions may be downloaded to the browser 38 in this manner, without necessarily attempting to predict whether these actions are likely to be performed by the user.
If the user thereafter performs an action for which the associated service data has been prefetched and preloaded, a page update handler 46 may be invoked to update the current page with the preloaded service data. With this approach, the update to the web page occurs instantaneously from the user's perspective as the associated user action is performed. Another benefit is that this update occurs without the need to send a subsequent request to the web server 32. A decision of whether to prefetch and preload the service data may be made at the time of the page request based on previously-performed analysis of past browsing histories of users (e.g., do most users perform the action when they view this page?), an analysis of this particular user's prior browsing activities (e.g., has this user frequently performed this or similar actions in the past?), and/or other factors such as those listed above in subsection I.
By way of example, a web page may initially be displayed with a link that reads “view our product recommendations for you.” As or shortly after this page is transmitted to the user's browser, the web server 32 may request these recommendations from a recommendations service 44, and deliver the resulting product recommendations data to the browser 38 in a hidden format. When the user thereafter selects the link, a page update handler 46 may be invoked, as described in the previous subsections, to add the preloaded product recommendations data to the displayed page. A decision of whether to preload the recommendations data in this manner may be made on a user-by-user basis based, for example, on a frequency with which the given user has selected the “view our product recommendations for you” link in the past.
As another example, the user's most recent browsing actions may be used to predict whether the user is likely to select a particular link. For instance, if the user has already clicked on the first three items in a list displayed on a current page, an assumption may be made that the user will likely select the fourth item in this list. Based on this assumption, the web server 32 may preemptively obtain and forward to the browser 38 the data associated with the fourth list item without waiting for the user to select the fourth item.
Although this invention has been described in terms of certain preferred embodiments and applications, other embodiments and applications that are apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, including embodiments which do not provide all of the features and advantages set forth herein, are also within the scope of this invention. For example, the processes described herein may also be applied to other applications and scenarios in which readily-available data is displayed together with non-readily-available data that must be retrieved. Accordingly, the scope of the present invention is defined only by the appended claims.
transmitting, to the user computing device, a page update handler that is configured to update a display of the page on the user computing device with a viewable representation of said data as obtained from the second portion of the page.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the page update handler is transmitted to the user computing device as part of the first initial portion of the page.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the determination of whether to serve a deferred rendering version of the requested page is based at least partly on a load level of the service.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the placeholder comprises a viewable display object, and the update handler is configured to obtain the data, as encoded in a hidden format, from the second portion of the page and to populate the viewable display object with the viewable representation of the data.
6. The method of claim 5, wherein the data comprises order status data associated with an order placed by a user.
7. The method of claim 5, wherein the data comprises shipment tracking data.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the determination of whether to serve a deferred rendering version of the requested page is based at least partly on an actual delay encountered in retrieving the data from the service.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein the determination of whether to serve a deferred rendering version of the requested page is based at least partly on an average response time of the service.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein requesting the data from the service comprises requesting the data in response to a prediction that a user will perform a particular action on the page.
causing a page update handler to be executed on the user computing device, said page update handler configured to obtain the data from the second portion of the page and to update a display of the page on the user computing device with a viewable representation of said data.
12. The server system of claim 11, wherein the process comprises transmitting the page update handler to the user computing device as part of the initial portion of the page.
13. The server system of claim 11, wherein the process comprises transmitting the page update handler to the user computing device as a library file prior to the server system receiving said page request.
14. The server system of claim 11, wherein the determination of whether to serve a deferred rendering version of the requested page is based at least partly on a load level of the service.
15. The server system of claim 11, wherein the determination of whether to serve a deferred rendering version of the requested page is based at least partly on an average response time of the service.
16. The server system of claim 11, wherein the process comprises requesting the data from the service in response to a prediction that a user will perform a particular action on the page.
17. The server system of claim 11, wherein the update handler is configured to update the display of the page with the viewable representation of said data in response to user selection of a display element on the page.
"Exchanging information with a server without reloading your HTML page: Three techniques that can help you improve the efficiency of your Web application" by Tong Li, dated Jan. 1, 2002, downloaded from www-106.ibm.com/developerworks/web/library/wa-exrel/?dwzone=web on Dec. 1, 2003 (8 pages) (of-record in the parent application).
Z. Wang and J. Crowcroft, Department of Computer Science, University College London, "Prefetching in World Wide Web," Communications: The Key to Global Prosperity, Globecom 1996 Internet 96 Conference Record, London, pp. 28-32, dated Nov. 18, 1996 (XP-000741668) (of-record in the parent application).
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2019-04-22T20:39:09Z
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https://patents.google.com/patent/US8380821B2/en
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One of the distinctive features of SQLite is that a database consists of a single disk file. This simplifies the use of SQLite since moving or backing up a database is a simple as copying a single file. It also makes SQLite appropriate for use as an application file format. But while a complete database is held in a single disk file, SQLite does make use of many temporary files during the course of processing a database.
This article describes the various temporary files that SQLite creates and uses. It describes when the files are created, when they are deleted, what they are used for, why they are important, and how to avoid them on systems where creating temporary files is expensive.
The manner in which SQLite uses temporary files is not considered part of the contract that SQLite makes with applications. The information in this document is a correct description of how SQLite operates at the time that this document was written or last updated. But there is no guarantee that future versions of SQLite will use temporary files in the same way. New kinds of temporary files might be employed and some of the current temporary file uses might be discontinued in future releases of SQLite.
Additional information about each of these temporary file types is in the sequel.
A rollback journal is a temporary file used to implement atomic commit and rollback capabilities in SQLite. (For a detailed discussion of how this works, see the separate document titled Atomic Commit In SQLite.) The rollback journal is always located in the same directory as the database file and has the same name as the database file except with the 8 characters "-journal" appended. The rollback journal is usually created when a transaction is first started and is usually deleted when a transaction commits or rolls back. The rollback journal file is essential for implementing the atomic commit and rollback capabilities of SQLite. Without a rollback journal, SQLite would be unable to rollback an incomplete transaction, and if a crash or power loss occurred in the middle of a transaction the entire database would likely go corrupt without a rollback journal.
The rollback journal is usually created and destroyed at the start and end of a transaction, respectively. But there are exceptions to this rule.
If a crash or power loss occurs in the middle of a transaction, then the rollback journal file is left on disk. The next time another application attempts to open the database file, it notices the presence of the abandoned rollback journal (we call it a "hot journal" in this circumstance) and uses the information in the journal to restore the database to its state prior to the start of the incomplete transaction. This is how SQLite implements atomic commit.
SQLite creates a new rollback journal at the start of the first transaction within an exclusive locking mode session. But at the conclusion of the transaction, it does not delete the rollback journal. The rollback journal might be truncated, or its header might be zeroed (depending on what version of SQLite you are using) but the rollback journal is not deleted. The rollback journal is not deleted until exclusive access mode is exited.
Rollback journal creation and deletion is also changed by the journal_mode pragma. The default journaling mode is DELETE, which is the default behavior of deleting the rollback journal file at the end of each transaction, as described above. The PERSIST journal mode foregoes the deletion of the journal file and instead overwrites the rollback journal header with zeros, which prevents other processes from rolling back the journal and thus has the same effect as deleting the journal file, though without the expense of actually removing the file from disk. In other words, journal mode PERSIST exhibits the same behavior as is seen in EXCLUSIVE locking mode. The OFF journal mode causes SQLite to omit the rollback journal, completely. In other words, no rollback journal is ever written if journal mode is set to OFF. The OFF journal mode disables the atomic commit and rollback capabilities of SQLite. The ROLLBACK command is not available when OFF journal mode is set. And if a crash or power loss occurs in the middle of a transaction that uses the OFF journal mode, no recovery is possible and the database file will likely go corrupt. The MEMORY journal mode causes the rollback journal to be stored in memory rather than on disk. The ROLLBACK command still works when the journal mode is MEMORY, but because no file exists on disks for recovery, a crash or power loss in the middle of a transaction that uses the MEMORY journal mode will likely result in a corrupt database.
A write-ahead log or WAL file is used in place of a rollback journal when SQLite is operating in WAL mode. As with the rollback journal, the purpose of the WAL file is to implement atomic commit and rollback. The WAL file is always located in the same directory as the database file and has the same name as the database file except with the 4 characters "-wal" appended. The WAL file is created when the first connection to the database is opened and is normally removed when the last connection to the database closes. However, if the last connection does not shutdown cleanly, the WAL file will remain in the filesystem and will be automatically cleaned up the next time the database is opened.
When operating in WAL mode, all SQLite database connections associated with the same database file need to share some memory that is used as an index for the WAL file. In most implementations, this shared memory is implemented by calling mmap() on a file created for this sole purpose: the shared-memory file. The shared-memory file, if it exists, is located in the same directory as the database file and has the same name as the database file except with the 4 characters "-shm" appended. Shared memory files only exist while running in WAL mode.
The shared-memory file contains no persistent content. The only purpose of the shared-memory file is to provide a block of shared memory for use by multiple processes all accessing the same database in WAL mode. If the VFS is able to provide an alternative method for accessing shared memory, then that alternative method might be used rather than the shared-memory file. For example, if PRAGMA locking_mode is set to EXCLUSIVE (meaning that only one process is able to access the database file) then the shared memory will be allocated from heap rather than out of the shared-memory file, and the shared-memory file will never be created.
The shared-memory file has the same lifetime as its associated WAL file. The shared-memory file is created when the WAL file is created and is deleted when the WAL file is deleted. During WAL file recovery, the shared memory file is recreated from scratch based on the contents of the WAL file being recovered.
The master journal file is used as part of the atomic commit process when a single transaction makes changes to multiple databases that have been added to a single database connection using the ATTACH statement. The master journal file is always located in the same directory as the main database file (the main database file is the database that is identified in the original sqlite3_open(), sqlite3_open16(), or sqlite3_open_v2() call that created the database connection) with a randomized suffix. The master journal file contains the names of all of the various attached auxiliary databases that were changed during the transaction. The multi-database transaction commits when the master journal file is deleted. See the documentation titled Atomic Commit In SQLite for additional detail.
Without the master journal, the transaction commit on a multi-database transaction would be atomic for each database individually, but it would not be atomic across all databases. In other words, if the commit were interrupted in the middle by a crash or power loss, then the changes to one of the databases might complete while the changes to another database might roll back. The master journal causes all changes in all databases to either rollback or commit together.
This means that SQLite transactions are not atomic across multiple database files on a power-loss when the database files have synchronous turned off or when they are using journal modes of OFF, MEMORY, or WAL. For synchronous OFF and for journal_modes OFF and MEMORY, database will usually corrupt if a transaction commit is interrupted by a power loss. For WAL mode, individual database files are updated atomically across a power-loss, but in the case of a multi-file transactions, some files might rollback while others roll forward after power is restored.
A statement journal file is used to rollback partial results of a single statement within a larger transaction. For example, suppose an UPDATE statement will attempt to modify 100 rows in the database. But after modifying the first 50 rows, the UPDATE hits a constraint violation which should block the entire statement. The statement journal is used to undo the first 50 row changes so that the database is restored to the state it was in at the start of the statement.
The statement journal is given a randomized name, not necessarily in the same directory as the main database, and is automatically deleted at the conclusion of the transaction. The size of the statement journal is proportional to the size of the change implemented by the UPDATE or INSERT statement that caused the statement journal to be created.
Tables created using the "CREATE TEMP TABLE" syntax are only visible to the database connection in which the "CREATE TEMP TABLE" statement is originally evaluated. These TEMP tables, together with any associated indices, triggers, and views, are collectively stored in a separate temporary database file that is created as soon as the first "CREATE TEMP TABLE" statement is seen. This separate temporary database file also has an associated rollback journal. The temporary database file used to store TEMP tables is deleted automatically when the database connection is closed using sqlite3_close().
The TEMP database file is very similar to auxiliary database files added using the ATTACH statement, though with a few special properties. The TEMP database is always automatically deleted when the database connection is closed. The TEMP database always uses the synchronous=OFF and journal_mode=PERSIST PRAGMA settings. And, the TEMP database cannot be used with DETACH nor can another process ATTACH the TEMP database.
The temporary files associated with the TEMP database and its rollback journal are only created if the application makes use of the "CREATE TEMP TABLE" statement.
Queries that contain subqueries must sometime evaluate the subqueries separately and store the results in a temporary table, then use the content of the temporary table to evaluate the outer query. We call this "materializing" the subquery. The query optimizer in SQLite attempts to avoid materializing, but sometimes it is not easily avoidable. The temporary tables created by materialization are each stored in their own separate temporary file, which is automatically deleted at the conclusion of the query. The size of these temporary tables depends on the amount of data in the materialization of the subquery, of course.
In the query above, the subquery "SELECT b FROM ex2" is evaluated and its results are stored in a temporary table (actually a temporary index) that allows one to determine whether or not a value ex2.b exists using a simple binary search. Once this table is constructed, the outer query is run and for each prospective result row a check is made to see if ex1.a is contained within the temporary table. The row is output only if the check is true.
Recent versions of SQLite (version 3.5.4 2007-12-14) and later) will do this rewrite automatically if an index exists on the column ex2.b.
A temporary index is always used to hold the values of the right-hand side of an IN operator when that right-hand side is a list of values.
More complex queries may or may not be able to employ query flattening to avoid the temporary table. Whether or not the query can be flattened depends on such factors as whether or not the subquery or outer query contain aggregate functions, ORDER BY or GROUP BY clauses, LIMIT clauses, and so forth. The rules for when a query can and cannot be flattened are very complex and are beyond the scope of this document.
Each transient index is stored in its own temporary file. The temporary file for a transient index is automatically deleted at the end of the statement that uses it.
SQLite strives to implement ORDER BY clauses using a preexisting index. If an appropriate index already exists, SQLite will walk the index, rather than the underlying table, to extract the requested information, and thus cause the rows to come out in the desired order. But if SQLite cannot find an appropriate index it will evaluate the query and store each row in a transient index whose data is the row data and whose key is the ORDER BY terms. After the query is evaluated, SQLite goes back and walks the transient index from beginning to end in order to output the rows in the desired order.
SQLite implements GROUP BY by ordering the output rows in the order suggested by the GROUP BY terms. Each output row is compared to the previous to see if it starts a new "group". The ordering by GROUP BY terms is done in exactly the same way as the ordering by ORDER BY terms. A preexisting index is used if possible, but if no suitable index is available, a transient index is created.
The DISTINCT keyword on an aggregate query is implemented by creating a transient index in a temporary file and storing each result row in that index. As new result rows are computed a check is made to see if they already exist in the transient index and if they do the new result row is discarded.
The UNION operator for compound queries is implemented by creating a transient index in a temporary file and storing the results of the left and right subquery in the transient index, discarding duplicates. After both subqueries have been evaluated, the transient index is walked from beginning to end to generate the final output.
The EXCEPT operator for compound queries is implemented by creating a transient index in a temporary file, storing the results of the left subquery in this transient index, then removing the result from right subquery from the transient index, and finally walking the index from beginning to end to obtain the final output.
The INTERSECT operator for compound queries is implemented by creating two separate transient indices, each in a separate temporary file. The left and right subqueries are evaluated each into a separate transient index. Then the two indices are walked together and entries that appear in both indices are output.
The VACUUM command works by creating a temporary file and then rebuilding the entire database into that temporary file. Then the content of the temporary file is copied back into the original database file and the temporary file is deleted.
The temporary file created by the VACUUM command exists only for the duration of the command itself. The size of the temporary file will be no larger than the original database.
The temporary files associated with transaction control, namely the rollback journal, master journal, write-ahead log (WAL) files, and shared-memory files, are always written to disk. But the other kinds of temporary files might be stored in memory only and never written to disk. Whether or not temporary files other than the rollback, master, and statement journals are written to disk or stored only in memory depends on the SQLITE_TEMP_STORE compile-time parameter, the temp_store pragma, and on the size of the temporary file.
Temporary files are always stored on disk regardless of the setting of the temp_store pragma.
Temporary files are stored on disk by default but this can be overridden by the temp_store pragma.
Temporary files are stored in memory by default but this can be overridden by the temp_store pragma.
Temporary files are always stored in memory regardless of the setting of the temp_store pragma.
The default value of the SQLITE_TEMP_STORE compile-time parameter is 1, which means to store temporary files on disk but provide the option of overriding the behavior using the temp_store pragma.
Use either disk or memory storage for temporary files as determined by the SQLITE_TEMP_STORE compile-time parameter.
If the SQLITE_TEMP_STORE compile-time parameter specifies memory storage for temporary files, then override that decision and use disk storage instead. Otherwise follow the recommendation of the SQLITE_TEMP_STORE compile-time parameter.
If the SQLITE_TEMP_STORE compile-time parameter specifies disk storage for temporary files, then override that decision and use memory storage instead. Otherwise follow the recommendation of the SQLITE_TEMP_STORE compile-time parameter.
The default setting for the temp_store pragma is 0, which means to following the recommendation of SQLITE_TEMP_STORE compile-time parameter.
To reiterate, the SQLITE_TEMP_STORE compile-time parameter and the temp_store pragma only influence the temporary files other than the rollback journal and the master journal. The rollback journal and the master journal are always written to disk regardless of the settings of the SQLITE_TEMP_STORE compile-time parameter and the temp_store pragma.
SQLite uses a page cache of recently read and written database pages. This page cache is used not just for the main database file but also for transient indices and tables stored in temporary files. If SQLite needs to use a temporary index or table and the SQLITE_TEMP_STORE compile-time parameter and the temp_store pragma are set to store temporary tables and index on disk, the information is still initially stored in memory in the page cache. The temporary file is not opened and the information is not truly written to disk until the page cache is full.
This means that for many common cases where the temporary tables and indices are small (small enough to fit into the page cache) no temporary files are created and no disk I/O occurs. Only when the temporary data becomes too large to fit in RAM does the information spill to disk.
Each temporary table and index is given its own page cache which can store a maximum number of database pages determined by the SQLITE_DEFAULT_TEMP_CACHE_SIZE compile-time parameter. (The default value is 500 pages.) The maximum number of database pages in the page cache is the same for every temporary table and index. The value cannot be changed at run-time or on a per-table or per-index basis. Each temporary file gets its own private page cache with its own SQLITE_DEFAULT_TEMP_CACHE_SIZE page limit.
The directory or folder in which temporary files are created is determined by the OS-specific VFS.
The first of the above that is found to exist and have the write and execute bits set is used. The final "." fallback is important for some applications that use SQLite inside of chroot jails that do not have the standard temporary file locations available.
The folder returned by the GetTempPath() system interface.
SQLite itself does not pay any attention to environment variables in this case, though presumably the GetTempPath() system call does. The search algorithm is different for CYGWIN builds. Check the source code for details.
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2019-04-24T21:45:41Z
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http://www.hwaci.com/sw/sqlite/tempfiles.html
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Tvö námskeið eru framundan hjá MFM annarsvegar Nýtt líf 4 vikna námskeið fyrir byrjendur í fráhaldi og síðan 5 daga innlagnarnámskeið sérsniðið fyrir ENDURKOMUFÓLK, með Phil Werdell og Esther Helgu 22-27. október á Hlíðardalsskóla, Ölfusi.
Næsta 4 vikna NÝTT LÍF námskeið hefst 6.10.- 6.11. n.k. og verður haldið í Síðumúla 33 og Hússtjórnarskólanum.
Þetta námskeið er sniðið að þeim sem vilja komast í fráhald frá stjórnleysi í áti- og þyngd.
Mappa með matarprógrammi, leiðbeiningum og uppskriftum.
Kr. 74.000(5% staðgreiðsluafsláttur, 10% afsl. fyrir öryrkja, allt að 3 mánaða léttgreiðsludreifing, stéttafélög taka þátt í kostnaði).
Hvar finn ég meiri styrk?
Ert þú stjórnlaus í áti og þyngd?
Skortir þig styrk til að viðhalda góðum og heilbrigðum lífstíl.
Þá er svarið MEIRI STYRKUR! En hvar og hvernig finnur þú hann?
Meðferðir MFM miðstöðvarinnar kenna og styðja við lífstíl.sem virkar fyrir þá sem glíma við stjórnleysi í áti og þyngd.
NÆSTA NÁMSKEIÐ verður haldið í SÍÐUMÚLA 33 OG HEFST 01.09.- 02.10.17.
4 vikna daglegur stuðningur við prógrammið í gegnum net og síma.
Verð kr. 74.000 ( 5% staðgreiðsluafsláttur, 10% afsl. fyrir öryrkja, allt að 3 mánaða léttgreiðsludreifing, stéttafélög taka þátt í kostnaði).
í síma 568-3868/699-2676 OG BÓKIÐ SKIMUNAR- OG GREININGARVIÐTAL.
Rannsóknir sýna að 80% þeirra sem glíma við át og þyngdarvanda hafa orðið fyrir áföllum eða ofbeldi.
Í þessum viðtölum er leitast við að tengja við minningarbanka einstaklings og vinna með rætur vandans.
NÆSTA „NYTT LÍF“ 5 vikna meðferðarnámskeið vegna át- og þyngdarvanda verður haldið í SÍÐUMÚLA 33 og hefst 07.04.- 08.05.17.
Námskeiðið er fyrir þá sem hafa látið reyna á að borða í hófi, borða hollt, lágkolvetna-, paleo- og/eða vegan-fæði, farið í magaminnkun, magaband, hreyft sig reglulega, farið í HAM meðferðir, á núvitundarnámskeið og fleira í þeim dúr og aðeins náð tímabundnum árangri.
5 vikna daglegur stuðningur við prógrammið í gegnum net og síma.
Verð kr. 72.000 ( 5% staðgreiðsluafsláttur, 10% afsl. fyrir öryrkja, allt að 3 mánaða léttgreiðsludreifing, stéttafélög taka þátt í kostnaði).
NÝTT LÍF — Námskeið fyrir þá sem vilja raunverulega lausn frá át- og matarfíkn hefst föstudaginn 10. febrúar n.k. og stendur til 15. mars. Leiðbeiningar um mataræði sem stoppar fíknitakkann ásamt stuðningi og sérsniðinni meðferðarvinnu þar sem tekið er á huglægum og tilfinningalegum vanda, meðvirkni, 12 spora bataleiðin kynnt ofl.
NÝTT Víkingasveit fyrir þá sem glíma við endurtekin föll! hefur göngu sína í febrúar.
Vikulegir stuðningsfundir fyrir framhalds- og endurkomufólk.
Einstaklingsviðtöl þar sem unnið er með rætur vandans.
MFM miðstöðin hefur starfað í 10 ár og vel á þriðja þúsund manns leitað sér aðstoðar hjá miðstöðinni, margir með frábærum árangri!
LONGER VERZION IN ENGLISH BELOW!
MFM KYNNIR INFACT; ALÞJÓÐLEGT NÁM Í MATARFÍKNIRÁÐGJÖF.
Námið hefst 04.02.17, fer fram á ensku og er haldið á netinu með 5 daga staðarlotu í lok námskeiðstímans.
Þeir sem ljúka náminu geta sótt um alþjóðlega vottun hjá NBCRB eða NORDIC/BALTIC CERIFICATION REGIONAL BOARD, sem IFAC (INTERNATIONAL FOOD ADDICTION CONSELOR) eða Alþjóðlegur matarfíkniráðgjafi.
Grunnþekkingu á fíknivanda með áherslu á át- og matarfíkn, skimanir, greiningar og meðferðaáætlanir, matarprógrömm, mismunandi ráðgjafatækni, inngripatækni í áföllum, forvarnir og fræðslu, endurkomur, 12 spora heimspekin, meðvirkni, aðstandendur, aðrar fíknir, siðfræði og líffræði.
Phil Werdell MA, Bitten Jonson MS, Vera Tarman MD, Marty Lerner Phd., Theresa Wright MS, Mary Foushi og Esther H. Guðmundsdóttir MS. Skólastjóri og stjórnandi námsins.
Dagskrá 5 daga staðarlotu: Meðferð við matarfíkn: Nemar fara í gegnum meðferðrpógrömm við át- og matarfíkn og kynnast skilgreindu fráhaldi. Þjálfað verður í mismunandi ráðgjafatækni, lokaverkefni nemenda verða flutt. Staðarlotu lýkur með prófum og útskrift.
Mjög líklega verður önnur 5 daga lota haldin í Bandarikjunum fyrstu viku í júní.
Verð: Kr. 278.000.- 10% staðgreiðsluafsláttur ef greitt er fyrir 15.01.17.
15 vikulegir fjögurra klst. netfundir, aðstoð við verkefnavinnu, Námskeiðsgögn, (auka lestrarefni sem mælt er með er ekki innifalið í verði), lokaður FB hópur. Fimm daga lotunámskeið í lok námskeiðstímans á Íslandi.
Ferða- og gistikostnaður er ekki innifalinn í námskeiðsgjaldi.
Áætlaður fundartími á laugardögum á Íslandi 15-19, tímasetningu er þannig hagað að allir þátttakendur, sem geta verið úr ýmsum tímabeltum, geti tekið þátt.
Þátttaka í 5 daga lotunámskeiði í lok námskeiðs.
Áhugasamir sendi fyrirspurn til Estherar Helgu Guðmundsdóttur á [email protected] eða í síma: 699-2676.
UMSÓKNIR ÞURFA AÐ HAFA BORIST FYRIR 15.JANÚAR 2017.
AN INTERNTATIONAL TRAINING FOR FOOD ADDICTION COUNSELING AND TREATMENT.
The trainings duration is 4 months and begins February 04.2017. It will be thought in english and is held online with a 5 day onsite intensive.
15 weekly four hour sessions on Saturdays on Zoom online and 5 day intensive at the end of the term.
Iceland May 22-26. 2017 (There may be another intensive in USA early June).
Those completing the training can apply for an International Certificate from NBCRB or the NORDIC/BALTIC CERIFICATION REGIONAL BOARD, as IFAC INTERNATIONAL FOOD ADDICTION COUNSELOR.
Subjects addressed in the training: Basic knowledge of addiction, specifically eating and foodaddiction, screening, assessing and setting up treatmentplans. Different counseling techniques, food and abstinence programs, trauma, prevention, education, relapseprevention, 12 step recovery, codependency and the family, ethics and biology.
Phil Werdell MA, Bitten Jonsson MS, Vera Tarman MD, Marty Lerner Phd., Theresa Wright MS, Mary Foushi BS og Esther H. Guðmundsdóttir MSc. Principal and manager of the training.
Lecturers: Phil Werdell, Vera Tarman, Bitten Jonsson, Marty Lerner, Theresa Wright, Mary Foushi and Esther H.G..
Lecture: Basics on Addiction: Esther H.G.
Lecture: Basics on Foodaddicton: Esther H.G.
Program: Food addiction treatment where students participate, learn by doing and are introduced to abstinence. Training in different counseling techniques, final projects presented, exams and graduation. There may be another 5 day intensive held in USA early June.
Price: $ 2.400.- 10% discount if paid in full by January 15th. 2017.
Included in price: 15 weekly four hour online sessions, assistance with homework and assignments, Student manual, closed FB group, 5 day intensive (Lodging and travel expenses not included).
Time of weekly sessions: Saturday 10am-2pm ET. Sessions will be taped and available to students.
Recommendations that show education and work training that might complement Food Addiction Counseling.
An interview with Esther H. G. Principal of INFACT.
For the online part of the training: Computer with sound and web camera.
For more information and addmission form please send an email to Esther H.G. [email protected] or phone +354-699-2676.
ADDMISSION FORM DEADLINE IS JANUARY 15th. 2017.
Philip Werdell, M.A.“ Throughout his career, Phil has worked professionally with over 4000 middle and late-stage food addicts. He is a graduate of Yale University with postgraduate work in food addiction. He comes from a 25-year career building innovative liberal arts and graduate programs.
As a food addict professional, Phil was lead counselor for the residential food addiction treatment program at Glenbeigh Psychiatric Hospital of Tampa and the outpatient program of Rader Institute of Washington. He is cofounder of ACORN Food Dependency Recovery Services and the Food Addiction Institute, an independent, non-profit organization whose mission is to support the healing of all food addicts.
Phil is the author of dozens of articles and books including, Food Addiction: Beyond Ordinary Eating Disorders; Physical Craving and Food Addiction: A Review of the Science; Food Addiction Recovery: A New Model of Professional Support; Bariatric Surgery and Food Addiction: Preoperative Considerations; and, “From the Front Lines: Food Addiction Treatment” for the new medical textbook, Food and Addiction: A Comprehensive Handbook, Brownell and Gold (2012).
Dr. Lerner is the founder and CEO of the Milestones in Recovery’s Eating Disorder Prog ram located in Cooper City, Florida. A graduate of Nova Southeastern University, Dr. Lerner is a licensed and board certified clinical psychologist who has specialized in the treatment of eating disorders since 1980. He has appeared on numerous national television and radio programs that include The NPR Report, 20/20, Discovery Health, and ABC’s Nightline as well authored several publications related to eating disorders in the professional literature, national magazines, and newspapers including USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Miami Herald, Orlando and Hollywood Sun Sentinels. An active member of the professional community here in South Florida since finishing his training, Dr. Lerner makes his home in Davie with his wife Michele and daughters Janelle and Danielle and their dog, Reggie.
Dr. Vera Tarman has been working in the field of addiction medicine since 1994. She became accredited with the Board of Addiction Medicine (ABAM) in 2004. She has bee n the medical director of Renascent since 2006. She is a regular contributor to the call-in TV show Living Clean, Living Well and was cohost on Addictions Unplugged, a community call-in show about addictions.
Although she has spoken on various issues in addiction, her special interest is in the area of food addiction. She is the author of Food Junkies: The Truth about Food Addiction. Dr Tarman has found working at Renascent extremely rewarding, mainly because of its support of an abstinence model of care and its acceptance that the spiritual, as well as medical and psychological dimensions are important for recovery. Dr Tarman and Renascent believe that good care involves treating addiction and fostering a lifelong recovery life plan based on community and peer support. The power is ours!
Bitten Jonsson, R.N., Addiction Specialist, ADDIS/SUGARCertified, is a forerunner in this field in Sweden and international lecturer and been on TV and Radio in Sweden, Norway and Finland. Bitten is trained in USA and has worked with all addictions but the last 23 years with sugar/foodaddiction, and using Integrated Functional Medicine and Orthomolecular Medicine together with American Addiction Medicine and Traditional Medicine in a Holistic Addiction Medicine model, She wrote Sockerbomben (Sugarbomb) in 2004 and revised it 2010 and now 2016 .The Sugar Free Cookbook was published 2006 and she is now writing a new cookbook coming 2017. The first book Sugarbomb is very well received and is published in Norway, Denmark, Finland and Germany. Bitten Jonsson is a member of NAATP; National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers in USA, NAADAC USA, www.naadac.org and FAI, USA Food Addiction Institute , www.foodaddictioninstitute.org.
H. Theresa Wright, MS, RD, LDN, is the founder and Director of Renaissance Nutrition Center, Inc. near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
As nutrition therapist, registered and licensed dietitian and nutritionist, Theresa has wor ked with people struggling with compulsive eating, obesity, eating disorders, weight loss and food addiction and helped them deal sanely and effectively with their food, eating, and body weight issues for more than 36 years.
She is most acclaimed for her individual and global success with thousands of clients who have improved their lives after working with her to create and maintain successful eating and recovery programs, often in consultation with their own physicians, therapists and other health-care professionals. Under her direction, Renaissance Nutrition Center, Inc. was developed to provide programs and services to help people develop the skills, tools and lifestyle changes that lead to freedom from self-destructive food behaviors. These programs include both in-person and virtual seminars and workshops which encourage a sane approach to eating and living.
Theresa holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Nutrition Science from Drexel University and continues to be a formal presenter at many regional and national conferences, treatment facilities and professional organizations.
In 2013, Today’s Dietitian magazine named Theresa one of “10 Incredible Registered Dietitians Who Are Making a Difference” in its annual showcase.
Her published works include: Food and Addiction: A Comprehensive Handbook a book by Kelly D. Brownell and Mark S. Gold (Oxford University Press) for which she authored a chapter and the three-part cookbook series titled Delicious Recovery and Your Personal Food Plan Guide. A publisher is pending for her newest book, The Sane Food Solution.
The Third Edition of Overeaters Anonymous, published by the twelve step organization, includes special pages authored by Theresa because of her expertise and work with those with eating disorders. Theresa also serves as a Committee Member of Behavioral Health Nutrition, a dietetic practice group of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, and on the Board of Directors of the Food Addition Institute.
Mary holds a degree in Human Services with a specialty in Addiction Studies. She is a food addict with over 27 years of stable recovery and is maintaining a 200-pound weight loss for over 25 years.
Her strong commitment to recovery and her ability to honestly relate her personal struggles and successes with food addiction offer an invaluable source of information and hope for those seeking to learn about food dependency and freedom from a life addicted to food. He has helped thousands of food addicts understand and implement the Twelve Steps into their personal recovery.
Mary is a CENAPS Trained Relapse Prevention Specialist, a certified food addiction professional, facilitates groups, workshops, and Primary Intensives throughout the United States and abroad. Mary is coauthor of Food Addiction Recovery: A New Model of Professional Support – The ACORN Primary Intensive.
Esther Helga Guðmundsdóttir MSc. Master of Managing Healthservices.
IC&RC Certified in Addiction Counseling, Clinical Supervision and FAI/ACORN Food Addiction Counseling. Speciality: Sugar/Foodaddiction/Eating Disorder s/Codependency/Other Addictions; Love, Work, Debting.
Cinical Hypnotherapist Dip.CH., CPTF, ST Cert.
Traumabased Regression and Partstherapy for Addictions, Trauma, Stress and Anxiety.
The INFACT (International Food Addiction Training); Principal and Founder.
The MFM Center; Founder and CEO: Treatment Center for Sugar/Foodaddiction and Eating Disorders.
Matarheill (Rightsmovement for Foodaddiction Recovery in Iceland); Chair.
FOLLOWING IS INFORMATION ON THE NORDIC/BALTIC CERTIFICATION REGIONAL BOARDS REQUIREMENTS FOR CERTIFICATION AS IFAC OR INTERNATIONAL FOOD ADDICTION COUNSELOR.
In order to set up an international professional training for foodaddiction counseling and further qualification, requirements and understanding of treating sugar/foodaddiction and various eating disorders as an addicton, we have looked to the NBRCB (Nordic/Baltic Regional Certification Board for Alcohol and Drug Counselor Job Analysis identified for the NBRCB Alcohol and Drug Counselor-Examination. This Credentialing and Certification process provides a much needed standardization to the rapidly growing understanding of and evolving professions of sugar and food addiction treatment, and recovery.
For professionals, becoming credentialed demonstrates competency, by having professional expertise and qualifications verified by an independent evaluator. It recognizes achievement of a standard of professional education and experience necessary to provide quality sugar and food addiction treatment, and recovery services. In addition, credentialing demonstrates ongoing learning through the required continuing education for recertification. Credentialing also provides employers, clients, and their families with the assurance that you have met internationally recognized standards of professionalism and ethics.
The INFACT will prepare you and assist you in meeting these requirements.
The following will be assessed for each applicant individually.
These are the requirements and they are being further simplified.
EDUCATION: The INFACT training contains 150 hours of education toward the 300 hours required by Nordic/Baltic specific to the IFAC domains. Six hours muct be specific to counselor ethics (already included in the IFAC training). Other equivalent courses and education will satisfy this requirement.
EXAMINATION: The INFACT will minister examinations equivilant to and approved by the Nordic/Baltic Alcohol and Drug Counselor Examination administered at the end of the training.
SUPERVISION: Everyone applying for the NBRCB certification needs to have recommendations from referees.
CODE OF ETHICS: Applicants must sign a counselor specific code of ethics statement or affirmation statement.
WORK EXPERIENCE: 1000 to 6000 hours of supervised work experience specific to the IFAC domains in fields allied to this work. An associate´s degree in behavioral science may substitute for 1000 hours: a bachelor´s degree in bahavoiral science may substitute for 2000 hours: a master´s degree in behavioral science may substitute for 4000 hours.
RECERTIFICATION: 40 hours of continuing education earned every two years.
HALLÓ HALLÓ nú fer hver að verða síðastur að skrá sig! Það er enn laust n.k. laugardag 26.11.16. Dagsnámskeið sem hjálpar þeim sem vilja komast aftur í fráhald og styrkir fráhaldsstoðir þeirra sem eru nú þegar í fráhaldi.
Styrkjum fráhaldsstoðir eða komumst aftur í fráhald fyrir jólin með heimsókn í Batahús Estherar Helgu á Eyrarbakka.
Við tökum daginn snemma, eldum og borðum jólafráhaldsmat og styrkjum fráhaldsrammann. Kikjum á rætur vandans með styrkjandi grúppuvinnu, slökun og dáleiðslu og förum heim með von og styrk í hjarta.
Hámark 6 þátttakendur: Verð kr. 25.000. (Innifalið; morgun-hádegis- og kvöldmatur, uppskriftir og hamingja í kaupbæti).
Minni á stuðningshópana sem verða í gangi i desember fyrir þá sem finna að þeir gætu haft gott að aukastuðningi.
Áhugasamir hafi samband: [email protected] eða í síma 568-3868/699-2676.
Framundan er jólatíðin með allri sinni neyslu.
Við sem erum í sykur og sterkjulausa liðinu erum naglar því áreitið getur verið mikið!
Alveg eins og það að hætta að nota tóbak og áfengi þykir nú alveg sjálfsagður hlutur, þá er skaðsemi sykur og sterkju það mikil að fólk er almennt farið að gera sér grein fyrir skaðseminni.
Málið er að við getum mörg okkar ekki borðað þessar fæðutegundir bara stundum, þá tendrast einhver óútskýranleg löngun í meira sem við ráðum ekki við.
Viljastyrkurinn virkar þá ekki og við þurfum stuðningsnet til að styrkja okkur í viðleitni okkar.
Rannsóknir sýna að viljastyrkur virkar ekki í baráttunni við át og þyngdarvanda!
Vilt þú læra hvað virkar?
Ég sjálf og þúsundir um allan heim hafa fundið lausn sem virkar. Þú nærð eðlilegri þyngd og eignast frelsi fyrir stjórnleysi í áti og þyngd.
Nýtt 5 vikna byrjendanámskeið að hefjast með helgarnámskeiði föstudaginn 14.10.
Nánari upplýsingar undir Þjónusta: Fyrir nýliða.
AF HVERJU MEÐFERÐ VIÐ MATARFÍKN?
Það eru margar mítur varðandi sykur-og matarfíkn.
Margir telja t.d. að ef þú borðar heilsufæði og stundar líkamsrækt þá lækni það vandann, að borða í hófi og einfaldlega hætta að borða sykur sé málið.
Svo eru það aðrir sem telja að ef við vinnum úr öllum fortíðarvanda og tökum á áföllum og ofbeldi þá getum við við farið að borða skynsamlega og náum eðlilegu sambandi við át og þyngd.
Það er skemmst frá því að segja að já allt sem áður er upp talið virkar.
Fái hinsvegar einstaklingur sem glímir við sykur- eða matarfíkn ekki sérhæfðar upplýsingar, stuðning og leiðbeiningar um það sem er forsenda fyrir bata við þessum sjúkdómi er viðleitni hans dæmd til að vera timabundin í best falli.
Gríðarlegt safn rannsókna sýnir fram á að matur, sérlega sykur, sterkja, fita og salt hafi sömu áhrif á heila- og taugaboðefnaörvun og vímuefni á borð við nikótín, áfengi, kókaín ofl. Þau geti því myndað sömu stjórnlausu hegðunina og hjá þeim sem ánetjast þeim efnum.
HVAÐ ER ÞAÐ ÞÁ SEM SYKUR OG MATARFÍKILL ÞARF ÞÁ HJÁLP MEÐ?
Í allri meðferð þar sem fíknefni eru vandinn er byrjað á afeitrun. Það þýðir að einstaklingur í meðferð fær aðstoð við að taka út efnin sem valda ílöngun(craving). Þessi vandi hefur ekki með hugarfar eða persónuleika að gera heldur eiga sér stað líffræðileg viðbrögð í líkama og heila viðkomandi sem valda stjórnleysi. Maturinn kallar og einstaklingurinn hefur ekki val um annað en að fá sér.
Einnig er ljóst að margir sem glíma við þennan vanda hafa ekki skynbragð á skammtastærðir og geta þurft aðstoð og leiðir til að setja upp fjölda máltíða og jafnvel vigta og mæla matinn sinn.
Það sem skiptir einnig sköpum í meðferð við sykur- og matarfíkn er mikill stuðningur, jafnvel daglegur.
Reynsla þeirra sem sinna meðferðum fyrir sykur- og matarfíkn sýnir að þeir sem leita sér aðstoðar í meðferð og finna sér stuðningskerfi á borð við 12 spora samtök eru þeir sem ná langtímaárangri.
MFM miðstöðin fagnar 10 ára afmæli á þessu ári og vel á 3 þúsund heimsóknir til stöðvarinnar á þessum tíma.
5 VIKN MEÐFERÐARNÁMSKEIÐ VIÐ ÁT- OG ÞYNGDARVANDA SEM BYGGIR Á GREININGU Á SYKUR/MATARFÍKN OG ÁTRÖSKUNUM HEFST MEÐ HELGARNÁMSKEIÐI FÖSTUDAGINN 14.10.16.
NÝR STUÐNINGS- OG MEÐFERÐARHÓPUR FYRIR ENDURKOMUFÓLK HEFUR GÖNGU SÍNA Á MÁNUDÖGUM KL. 16.30-18.30 Í BYRJUN OKTÓBER.
ÁHUGASAMIR HAFI SAMBAND VIÐ [email protected] eða í síma 568-3868.
Upplifir þú endurtekið stjórnleysi í þyngd og áti?
ÞAÐ ER MATURINN! ÞAÐ ER MATURINN! ÞAÐ ER MATURINN!
Upplifirðu að þú vinnir stöðugt á móti sjálfri/um þér þegar að þyngdar- og átvanda kemur?
Ef svo er þá gæti vandinn verið maturinn sem þú ert að borða. Ákveðnar matartegundir hafa sambærileg áhrif á heilann og vímuefni og valda vellíðunarvímu sem við sækjum í. Þessi vímutilfinning getur tekið okkur yfir á köflum og við þurft sérhæfða leiðbeiningu og stuðning til að ná stjórn á vandanum.
Meðferðin hjá MFM miðstöðinni veitir einmitt þessa sérhæfðu leiðbeiningu og stuðning.
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2019-04-18T22:44:06Z
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http://www.matarfikn.is/category/frettir/page/2/
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A printing device capable of using a replaceable component. The printing device can detect the component being installed into the printing device. The printing device can determine an install date of the component. The printing device can write the install date of the component into a memory attached to the component.
Printing devices may include one or more components that are replaced (sometimes more than once) over the lifetime of the device. It may be desirable (for any number of reasons) to know when a component is installed in a printing device. Obtaining this type of information, however, can be difficult.
FIG. 1 illustrates a printing system 102 that incorporates one example embodiment of the invention. As shown, the printing system 102 includes a user computer 104 connected to a printing device 106 via a communication link 108.
The user computer 104 may represent any type of computer that can transmit a print job to the printing device 106. Thus, for example, the user computer 104 may represent a personal computer, a personal digital assistant and/or a cell phone, etc.
The communication link 108 may represent any type of communication path that can enable the user computer 104 to transmit a print job to the printing device 106. Thus, for example, the communication link 108 may represent a cable, a wireless communication path, a network system, and/or the INTRANET, etc.
The printing device 106 may represent any type of device that can convert a print job, received over the communication link 108, into a printed form. Thus, for example, the printing device 106 may represent a laser printer, an ink printer, a commercial printing press, etc. The printing device 106 may provide more than just a printing function. For example, the printing device 106 may allow a walk-up user to scan hard copy documents, transmit e-mails, etc.
FIG. 2 is a high-level block diagram showing some of the components of the exemplary printing device 106.
As shown, the printing device 106 includes a control system 202, a print engine 204, and a component that includes integrated memory. In this example, the component is a replaceable print cartridge 206. The printing device 106 may also include a number of other components and/subsystems that are not shown. For example, the printing device 106 may include one or more additional print cartridges, a hard drive system, etc.
The print engine 204 includes the appropriate mechanisms for enabling the printing device 106 to generate printed output. The print engine 204 may enable the printing device 106 to generate printed output in color, in monochrome, or both.
It is also noted that the print engine 204 may employ any type of printing technology that uses one or more print materials (e.g., liquid toner, dry toner, ink, etc.) to selectively place marks on a print medium. For example, the print engine 204 may represent a laser print engine that uses dry toner and/or liquid toner to place marks on a print medium. In other implementations, for example, the print engine 204 may represent an ink jet print engine that uses liquid ink to place marks on a print medium.
The print cartridge 206 includes a housing 207 that contains a supply of print material 208 (e.g., liquid toner, dry toner, ink, etc.) for the print engine 204. During printing, therefore, the print engine 204 can consume the supply of print material 208. Eventually, the print engine 204 may deplete the supply of print material 208. As a result, the print cartridge 206 may be replaced with another print cartridge (not shown).
The print cartridge 206 includes a memory (cartridge memory) 210 that can store electronic data. The cartridge memory 210 is physically attached to the housing 207 of the print cartridge 206. Thus, when the print cartridge 206 is removed, the cartridge memory 210 goes with the print cartridge 206.
The control system 202 controls the operation of the printing device 106. As shown, the control system 202 may include a processor 212, a real-time clock 214, a memory 216 and an Input-Output (I/O) Port 218. Additionally, the control system 202 includes a cartridge memory read/write (MRW circuit) 220 and a detector 222.
The printer memory 216 stores various firmware modules 217. The processor 212 may execute the firmware modules 217 to enable the control system 202 to perform various control functions. The I/O port 218 enables the control system 202 to, for example, communicate over the communication link 108.
The MRW circuit 220 enables the control system 202 to read and write data to the print cartridge memory 210 when the print cartridge 206 is installed in the printing device 106. It is noted that in some implementations, for example, the MRW circuit 220 may communicate wirelessly with the cartridge memory 210. In other implementations, the MRW circuit 220 may communicate with the cartridge memory 210 over a physical connection that is temporarily established when the print cartridge is installed in the printing device 106.
The detector 222 enables the control system 202 to detect when a print cartridge (e.g., the print cartridge 206) is installed into the printing device 106. The detector 222 may represent, for example, any suitable type of sensor that can sense the presence of the cartridge.
The Real-Time Clock 214 provides the control system 202 with a local source of real-time clock information. It is noted that in other implementations, the real-time clock information may be obtained from a remote source (e.g., a server connected to the printing device 106 over a network).
FIG. 3 is a high-level block diagram illustrating certain aspects of the print cartridge memory 210. In this example embodiment, the cartridge memory 210 includes three pre-defined fields for storing data. These fields are designated, in FIG. 3, as follows: install date field 302, last used date field 304 and condition indicator field 306.
In this example, the install date field 302 is for storing the date the print cartridge 206 is first installed into a printing device. The last used date field 304 is for storing the date corresponding to the last time the same printing device used the print cartridge 206 to generate printed output.
The condition indicator field 306 is for storing a “condition indicator” for the print cartridge 206. In this example, the condition indicator indicates whether the print cartridge 206 is in a “used” or in an “unused condition”. The print cartridge 206 is considered to be in an “unused condition” if the print cartridge 206 has not yet been used to generate printed output. The print cartridge 206 is considered to be in a “used condition” if the print cartridge 206 has been used to generate printed output.
FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B is used to illustrate an exemplary procedure 402 the printing device 106 may follow to update information in the cartridge memory 210. It is noted that the printing device 106 may perform the procedure 402, in whole or in part, at the direction of the processor 212 while executing the firmware modules 217.
Referring to FIG. 4A, the procedure 402 is initiated when the print cartridge 206 is installed into the printing device 106. At block 404, the printing device 106 detects that the print cartridge has been installed.
In response to detecting the installation of the print cartridge 206, the printing device 106 proceeds to read the condition indicator from the cartridge memory 210 (block 406).
The printing device 106 evaluates the condition indicator to determine if the print cartridge 206 is in an “unused” or in a “used” condition (block 408).
If the printing device 106 concludes that the print cartridge 206 is in a “used” condition, the procedure 402 ends (block 410 and block 412).
If, however, the printing device 106 concludes that the print cartridge 206 is in an unused condition, the printing device 106 proceeds to determine, from the real-time clock 214, the present date (block 413).
The printing device 106 writes the present date into the install date field 302 of the cartridge memory 210 (block 414). Thus, in this manner, the date the print cartridge 206 was first installed into the printing device 106 is defined and recorded in the cartridge memory 210.
The printing device 106 then proceeds to monitor for an occurrence of one or more “trigger events” (See FIG. 4B, block 416).
It is noted that a trigger event may be any suitable event that indicates the print cartridge is about to be used, is being used, or has been used by the printing device to generate printed output. Put another way, a trigger event may be any event that is associated with a use of the print cartridge 206 to generate printed output.
In response to detecting an occurrence of a trigger event (block 418), the printing device 106 determines, from the real-time clock 214, the present date (block 419).
If this is the first time the printing device 106 has detected a trigger event, the printing device 106 proceeds to modify the condition indicator so that it now indicates that the print cartridge 206 is in a used condition (block 420A).
The printing device 106 then proceeds to write the date determined at block 419 into the last used date field 304 of the cartridge memory 210 (block 422). Thus, in this manner, the date the print cartridge 206 was last used is defined and recorded in the cartridge memory 210.
Criterion #2: The day has changed since the last time the last used date was updated (block 420B).
It is noted that the information (e.g., the install date and the last used date) stored in the cartridge memory 210 may be retrieved in any number of ways.
For example, the printing device 106 may allow a user to retrieve this information. In one implementation, for example, the printing device 106 allows a user to submit (either locally or remotely) a request to the printing device 106 for the install date and the last used date of the print cartridge 206. The printing device 106 may respond to the request by reading this information from the cartridge memory 210 and then providing this information to a user in some manner. For example, the printing device 106 may print this information and/or display this information on a local display panel (not shown). Alternatively, the printing device 106 may cause a remote device (e.g., the computer 104) to display the requested information.
In some implementations, the information stored in the cartridge memory 210 may be retrieved after the print cartridge 206 is removed from the printing device 106. For example, the print cartridge 206 may be removed from the printing device 106 and physically sent to a recycling center. The install date and the last used date may be retrieved from the cartridge memory 210 at the recycling center and then stored in a database.
FIG. 5 illustrates a computer system 502 that may be used at such a recycling center to retrieve an install date and a last used date from a print cartridge memory (e.g., cartridge memory 210).
As shown, the system 502 includes a computer 504, a database 506 and a cartridge memory reader 508. The cartridge memory reader 508 includes the appropriate hardware to enable the computer 504 to read the install date and the last used date from the memory of a print cartridge. The database 506 is configured so that dates can be tagged as an install date or a last used date. Furthermore, these dates can be logically link to a unique cartridge identifier.
FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary procedure 601 the computer 504 may follow to retrieve the install date and the last used date from the cartridge memory 210 after the print cartridge 206 is removed from the printing device 106. It is noted that the operation of the computer 504 to perform the procedure 601 may be partly or wholly automated by, for example, the execution of one or more software programs running on the computer 504.
Referring to FIG. 6, the print cartridge 206 is presented to the cartridge memory reader 508 in such a manner so as to enable the reader 508 to read data from the cartridge memory 210 (block 602).
At block 603, the computer 504 writes a unique “cartridge identifier” into the database 502 (the identifier identifies the cartridge 206). It is noted that in some implementations, the computer 504 may generate the cartridge identifier automatically.
In other implementations, the cartridge identifier may be pre-determined by, for example, the cartridge manufacturer and/or the printing device 106. Further, the cartridge identifier may be stored in the cartridge memory 210. At block 603, therefore, computer 504 may obtain the cartridge identifier directly from the memory 210.
At block 604, the computer 504 reads a first date from the install date field 302 of the cartridge memory 210. At block 605, the computer 504 reads a second date from the last used date field 304 of the cartridge memory 210.
Thus in this manner, the database 506 is populated with the install date and last used date for the print cartridge 206. The computer 504 may follow a similar procedure to populate the database 506 with install dates and last used dates for other cartridges.
The information corresponding to the database 506 can then be used for any number of purposes. For example, the information may be used to determine customer usage patterns and/or forecasting future sales of print cartridges.
FIG. 7 illustrates another example embodiment of the invention in the form of a printing device 702. The printing device 702 may represent any type of printing device (e.g., a stand-alone printing device, a networked printing device, etc). Additionally, the printing device 702 may perform functions in addition to printing. For example, the printing device 702 may allow a user to scan documents, e-mail scanned documents, etc. In other examples, the printing device 702 may represent a commercial printing press.
As shown the printing device 702 includes a component 704. The component 704 may represent any component that is used in the printing device 702. The component 704 includes a memory 706. The printing device 702 includes a mechanism 708 that is used to store and maintain data in the memory 706. The mechanism 708 may represent, for example, an aspect of the printer control system.
The data that is stored in the integrated memory and maintained by the mechanism 708 indicates a date. The date may be the install date of the component 704 or the last used date of the component 704. In other examples, the data may represent the length of time the component has been installed in the printing device 702.
FIG. 8 is a block diagram of an exemplary server system 802. The server system 802 includes a memory 804 that stores a set of computer readable instructions 806. The computer readable instructions 806 are executable by a processor in a printing device to perform, for example, one or more of the acts depicted in FIG. 4A-4B.
As shown, the server system 802 is connected to a computing device 810 via a network 812. The network 812 may include, for example, the Public Internet. The server system 802 can transmit a copy of the computer readable instructions 806 to the computing device 810. The server system 802 performs this function by generating and transmitting a set of signals 814 that embody a copy of the instructions.
It is noted that the memory 804 is a computer-readable medium and represents an embodiment of the invention. Additionally, the signals 814 used to propagate a copy of the instructions 806 to the computing device 810 are also considered a type of “computer-readable medium”. These signals, therefore, represent yet another embodiment of the invention.
(b) writing the date into a memory attached to the print cartridge.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein act (a) and act (b) are performed automatically by the printing device.
wherein the second date corresponds to when the printing device last used the print cartridge to generate printed output.
(d) wherein the writing act is performed only if the print cartridge is determined to be in an unused condition.
(e) writing the date determined in act (d) into the memory.
(d) updating the stored last used date as necessary.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the print cartridge includes a supply of toner.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the print cartridge includes a supply of ink.
wherein the memory includes an install date field for storing an install date of the print cartridge.
10. The print cartridge of claim 9, wherein the memory further includes a last used date field for storing the last used date of the print cartridge.
11. The print cartridge of claim 10, wherein the memory further includes a condition indicator field for storing an indicator for indicating a condition of the print cartridge.
wherein the memory is attached to the housing.
13. The print cartridge of claim 10, wherein the last used date field contains the date the print cartridge was first installed in the printing device.
(b) wherein the data indicates when the print cartridge was first installed into the printing device.
15. The printing device of claim of claim 14, wherein the data further indicates when the print cartridge was last used by the printing device.
(d) wherein the engine is configured to use a supply of print material contained by the print cartridge to generate the printed output.
(b) means for writing the present date into the cartridge memory in response to the detecting means detecting the installation of the print cartridge.
(d) means for writing the date the trigger event occurred into the cartridge memory.
19. The method of claim 18, wherein the trigger event is an event associated with the printing device using the print cartridge to generate printed output.
(b) storing the install date of the print cartridge into a database.
(d) storing the last used date into the database.
wherein the memory is attached to the component.
maintain a last used date of the component in the memory.
24. The one or more or more computer-readable media of claim 22, wherein the component is a print cartridge.
update, if necessary, the last used date each time the printing device prints a print job.
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2019-04-18T21:03:01Z
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https://patents.google.com/patent/US20040233470A1/en
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I interviewed Tim Sinclair in Episode 015. During the interview, Tim mentioned that he had gone through the inaugural class of the Ocean Accelerator. He also mentioned that Ocean is a faith-based tech accelerator. I had never even considered the intersection of faith-based organizations and tech accelerators and was immediately intrigued. I asked Tim if he could put me in touch with Ocean, which he did. Scott Weiss is the CEO of Ocean, and James Clair is the Marketing Manager.
UPDATE: Ocean came out with important news for potential applicants just before the podcast release. They have increased their seed funding for companies accepted into their 2017 class from $35,000 to $50,000. Everything was already in place for the episode release when the news came out, and it would have been difficult to alter the audio to make the change.
Click any timestamp on this web page to start listening at the noted time.
805 Creative – According to the website, 805 Creative is an “Ohio-based creative agency dedicated to empowering our business partners with compelling ways to communicate their stories.” Listen or read at [spp-timestamp time=”44:49″].
Business Canvas Map – Also known as the Business Model Canvas. A strategic management template for visualizing a business’s partnerships, resources, revenue, and customers. Ocean’s program provides mentoring through the canvas creation process, focusing specifically on planning, the business model, the strategy canvas, and value proposition. Listen or read at [spp-timestamp time=”19:48″].
CincyTech – “A trusted partner for high potential technology companies in Southwest Ohio,” according to the official website. Scott Weiss mentions it to emphasize the many organizations surrounding Cincinnati which make it an ideal place for entrepreneurs. Listen or read at [spp-timestamp time=”48:20″].
Cintrifuse – Cintrifuse is Located in the Cincinnati, Ohio area. According to the website: “Cintrifuse acts as a connecter and supporter to create a global destination for entrepreneurial success. Cintrifuse connects the region’s high-potential, venture-backable startups to advice, talent, funding, and customers.” According to Scott Weiss: “Cintrifuse’s role is to coordinate all the activities, to minimize wasteful redundancy, and to get everyone in this broad region, which includes northern Kentucky and southeastern Indiana and southwestern Ohio, to work cooperatively so that we share resources and share programming.” Listen or read at [spp-timestamp time=”50:02″].
Lean Startup – Business development method pioneered by Eric Ries. Lean Startup’s methodology is built on the principle that designing products to meet the needs of early customers can prevent many product failures and funding expenses in the future. The claim gained widespread renown after the publication of Ries’ bestseller, The Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses*. Listen or read at [spp-timestamp time=”32:25″].
Ocean – Ocean is an independent tech accelerator that is uniquely faith-based and focused on building founders.
Ocean application – Ocean’s application window is (currently) September 1 to October 31. Listen or read at [spp-timestamp time=”52:37″].
Ocean Capital – Ocean Capital is a separate legal entity from the Ocean Accelerator but affiliated with the accelerator. It collects money from a broad range of investors. It puts money it into convertible notes for the companies in the accelerator. When investors get a return, the entity tracks the flow of money so that investors can be properly taxed. The entity does not have investment profits and losses. Listen or read at [spp-timestamp time=”37:29″].
[spp-timestamp time=”00:16″] Scott Weiss: One of the benefits of Ocean for any startup is [that] our demo day is on a large auditorium stage in one of the Crossroads buildings. This past year, we had 1,400 people attend live. We had 1,800 people stream it live. So that’s a total live audience of over 3,000. Last year, after we finished, we posted the stream (the stream’s downloadable). Ten thousand people downloaded the stream between last year’s demo day and this year’s demo day. So, if you’re launching a business, you get to come here. You get to go on a stage designed to speak to thousands. You get [a] professional production team fine-tuning your speech. You’re streamed live. Your slides are amazing. You get to launch your brand to, literally, thousands of potential customers and hundreds of potential investors. We work real hard to make sure that the audience has a high percentage of angels, angel funds, and customers.
[spp-timestamp time=”01:32″] Ron Gaver: Hello and welcome to the show! I’m your host Ron Gaver. This is the podcast designed to help you put the pieces of the puzzle together to start, grow, and succeed in your SaaS business.
[spp-timestamp time=”01:44″] Ron Gaver: Before we get into the show, I would like to personally invite you to visit our website. The URL is SaaSBusinessPodcast.com. When you visit, please be sure you sign up to get the FREE Resource Guide. This is a living guide that grows with the podcast. By signing up, you will always have access to the latest edition.
[spp-timestamp time=”02:01″] Ron Gaver: For each show, you will also find extensive show notes on the website. Show notes now contain ALL links for resources mentioned in a show, an outline of the show, and a full transcript. I have designed these show notes to help you quickly find valuable information. To get to show notes, just enter the base URL, a forward slash, and the three-digit episode number.
[spp-timestamp time=”02:22″] Ron Gaver: This podcast, the Resource Guide, and show notes are produced at considerable expense. They are my gift to you for your continuing growth and success.
[spp-timestamp time=”02:37″] Ron Gaver: I interviewed Tim Sinclair in Episode 015. During the interview, Tim mentioned that he had gone through the inaugural class of the Ocean Accelerator. He also mentioned that Ocean is a faith-based tech accelerator. I had never even considered the intersection of faith-based organizations and tech accelerators and was immediately intrigued. I asked Tim if he could put me in touch with Ocean, which he did. Scott Weiss is the CEO of Ocean and James Clair is the Marketing Manager. Welcome Scott and James.
[spp-timestamp time=”03:07″] Scott Weiss: Hey, how are you?
[spp-timestamp time=”03:08″] Ron Gaver: Just fine, and you?
[spp-timestamp time=”03:10″] Scott Weiss: We’re doing great up here. Thanks.
[spp-timestamp time=”03:12″] Ron Gaver: Good. Alright, well let’s get right into it. For the sake of the audience: not everyone may fully understand exactly what an accelerator is, what you do as an accelerator; and then, beyond that question, I would like to know how Ocean is different. We’ll get into that, I’m sure, in a great deal of detail; but, first of all, what is an accelerator from your point-of-view, and what is an accelerator’s purpose and function?
[spp-timestamp time=”03:37″] Scott Weiss: That’s a great question. I’ll lead off. So, let’s start with the founder. The founder has a great idea, and they work on it, they tinker on it, they devote themselves to it, and it gets to a point where they need some help; and that’s the role of investors. Whether they be friends, family, or angels, the capital they provide enables the idea to continue to move forward.
[spp-timestamp time=”04:01″] Scott Weiss: Accelerators do two things: we provide a roadmap that allows the entire thing to accelerate—to speed up, to compress a year of business growth into a few months; and, secondly, we provide access to mentors that will enable the founder to have a far greater circle of knowledge than they have alone. There’s about 220 accelerators in the United States, and all of them do that. Most of them, including Ocean—ours—also provide a level of seed funding—a small amount of money that allows the founder to relocate and participate residentially in that accelerator, as well as enough money to keep the enterprise going. In essence, that’s—from my —what an accelerator does.
[spp-timestamp time=”04:54″] Ron Gaver: Alright, then, you mentioned the aspect of capital.
[spp-timestamp time=”04:58″] Scott Weiss: Mmhm.
[spp-timestamp time=”04:59″] Ron Gaver: And so with the capital usually comes something on your end—there’s a bit of dilution as far as the founder’s ownership of the company, generally. Is that true across the board, or is it not?
[spp-timestamp time=”05:10″] Scott Weiss: Well, actually, there’s a narrow range of what accelerators that provide capital get in exchange for that capital. Let’s start with Ocean, the accelerator that James and I are honored to work for. Our note, when the company accepts it, is a convertible note. It’s debt. It does not dilute the cap table. It maintains their equity ownership. And if that company raises subsequent money, the holders of the note—which is a separate guy who manages all that—determines whether or not we want to convert that note into equity at that time or simply get our money back with a modest interest rate. So that’s a very “founder-friendly” capital structure. On the other end, accelerators will take anywhere from 6-10% direct equity in the company in exchange for the capital they’re investing. That begins the dilution process for the founder, because they’re giving up direct shares or direct equity for the money.
[spp-timestamp time=”06:14″] Ron Gaver: Well that’s good. I didn’t understand what the “convertible note” part meant. Now I understand. And that sounds like an excellent option for the founder to basically be able to pay that back if he or she so desires.
[spp-timestamp time=”06:27″] Scott Weiss: Well, to be clear, it’s if the investor so desires.
[spp-timestamp time=”06:30″] Ron Gaver: Oh, okay.
[spp-timestamp time=”06:32″] Scott Weiss: It’s the investor’s choice. I’m not an investor in our fund because I work there, but if the investors say, “Hey, we really like Ron’s company, and we want to convert our debt into equity.” Boom! That happens. Or they say, “We really like Ron, but the company’s not our cup of tea. We’ll just take out money back.” And it’s money back with a very low interest rate. So the investor chooses, not the founder.
[spp-timestamp time=”06:54″] Ron Gaver: Okay, and what did you say the dilution is, usually, on that, in your case? Or does it vary?
[spp-timestamp time=”06:59″] Scott Weiss: There is no dilution with a convertible note. It only dilutes if it converts and the terms of the conversion are spelled out based on the amount of funds raised, so if the company goes out and raises money with an evaluation of three million bucks, and you’ve got fifty thousand dollars in seed capital from an accelerator that converts at fifty thousand, you can see that the dilution would be very, very modest.
[spp-timestamp time=”07:23″] Ron Gaver: Alright. I didn’t understand, then. I’m sure that there are others who would not have understood that.
[spp-timestamp time=”07:28″] Ron Gaver: So, we’ve talked, just briefly, about what an accelerator is, and how it functions (at least, peripherally). Now I’d like to talk about how Ocean is different. I realize, from your webpage and from talking to you and from talking to Tim Sinclair (who went through your program), there were three founders, originally. They’re Tim, Tim, and somebody else whose name was never actually documented on that page.
[spp-timestamp time=”07:53″] Scott Weiss: Chad.
[spp-timestamp time=”07:54″] Ron Gaver: Those were your three founders?
[spp-timestamp time=”07:56″] Scott Weiss: Tell you what: let me back up and just tell you what makes us different, and then we’ll jump into the story of how we got here.
[spp-timestamp time=”08:01″] Ron Gaver: That’s great.
[spp-timestamp time=”08:02″] Scott Weiss: Perfect. I’ll prattle on a little bit more, and then I’ll let James jump in.
[spp-timestamp time=”08:07″] Scott Weiss: So, we’ve already covered in very high-level, broad strokes, what an accelerator is. The other important perspective is: there are 220 accelerators in the United States, and there are over 1,000 incubators. Let’s go sidewise. Very high-level—the difference between an accelerator and an incubator is that accelerators tend to be time-limited. You get accepted, and you get so many months in the program, and then you get out; and accelerators tend to give you money. Incubators generally have no time limit. You get in and you stay as long as you are getting value from the incubation. And, generally, you pay the incubator. Almost every university in the United States has an incubator, and students have access to it, but they’re paying for it with tuition dollars in order to that incubator.
[spp-timestamp time=”09:05″] Scott Weiss: So there are 1,400 organizations out there trying to help high-tech entrepreneurs grow businesses faster, and we’re just like all of them. We’re just one of 1,400 and we think we’re pretty good (and we can talk about that later), but what makes us different—what makes us truly unique—is we are one of only two accelerators in the United States that integrate a spiritual journey with the business journey we take you on. And we do that because our focus is not exclusively on the business. Our focus is on the business and the founder, and the lens we look at it with is faith.
[spp-timestamp time=”09:45″] James Clair: Yeah, to pop in and add onto what Scott was saying: when Scott was laying out exactly what an accelerator is, you can think of it like putting guard rails around an entrepreneur or packaging a program for an entrepreneur, to accelerate their business; not a package or a program for a business that leaves out the entrepreneur. All of our curriculum and program—its scope is centered on the founder as an individual because we understand that they have the ability to create multiple ventures that are successful. And they also have the ability to recover from a failed venture versus most businesses and products that don’t get off the ground. Unfortunately, most of them never recover.
[spp-timestamp time=”10:33″] James Clair: So, this sustainability and life expectancy of a founder is much, much more valuable than an individual idea, and, like Scott said, our difference is that lens of faith. And you can think of it like an orientation point. So a lot of decisions are made, unfortunately, with a motivation for financial gain, as the first thought or sole inspiration. We believe that Scripture clearly lays out that God, and the disciplines and principles that He taught, are what should be our initial point of inspiration, and that financial decisions are simply a filter that we run those following decisions through. So, we don’t want to tether ourselves to our money. We want to tether ourselves to our faith and use smart, financial intellect and decision-making to forward our progress.
[spp-timestamp time=”11:29″] Ron Gaver: Alright, I understand, and I think that I would certainly embrace having your faith at the center of all that you do and having God at the center of all that you do.
[spp-timestamp time=”11:39″] Ron Gaver: So you’re trying to focus more on the founder. Not only on the business, but also on the spiritual, the physical, the relational, and the intellectual because, you say, essentially, that the founder has a greater shelf life than any business, potentially.
[spp-timestamp time=”11:53″] Scott Weiss: Well said.
[spp-timestamp time=”11:55″] Ron Gaver: And then you explore the role of faith. One of your founders said that that is, arguably, the proper place for faith to be put in building the business and putting it all together, and so you’re trying, also, to build the person up, strengthen that person, and edify that person to bring the spiritual to bear on that person’s business so that that person is a more graceful founder or can more gracefully transition into that business and not burn out in the process?
[spp-timestamp time=”12:27″] James Clair: Yeah, exactly, because, oftentimes, we can forget that there are non-business-related relationships at stake—most notably family, friends. So if we consider the entire amount of stakeholders that exist within an entrepreneur’s idea or their business venture, we want to make sure that we don’t exclude those relationships and the physical health that’s put at risk when a founder, unfortunately, is not tethering their decisions to the right source. A lot of people can identify with what it’s like to lose friends during a business venture, to have lost marriages, to gain weight, to go through physical ailments—a lot of people identify with that.
[spp-timestamp time=”13:17″] James Clair: It’s not just the high-tech founders that come through our accelerator, and that’s also another layer to our uniqueness—that our message translates to a vast kingdom. And that’s our mission: to expand God’s kingdom; and we are looking to do it through the marketplace, or into the marketplace through entrepreneurs. But they have the ability to take that with them and transfer that to their families, to their friends, and then to future business associates, well after they’re out of their current venture.
[spp-timestamp time=”13:49″] Ron Gaver: I find this idea to be very exciting because, looking at starting a business, one thing I would not be willing to sacrifice—or the things I would not be willing to sacrifice—would be my marriage, my family, and my health. My friends, maybe a little bit after that, but my marriage, my family, and my health—those are the things that God has given me to be a steward over, and those are the things that I must maintain. I have a mandate to do so, and I have a responsibility to do so. The sacrifice that goes along with losing those things is, in my mind, a failed proposition.
[spp-timestamp time=”14:26″] Scott Weiss: We would agree. It’s also important for your listeners to know two things. We are trying to help the founder see these five capitals (and you articulated them already): [in ascending order, financial, intellectual (or ideas), physical (or health), relationships, and spiritual]—to see they have all five of these things, in different measure and at different times in their life, and the key to navigating a successful startup is to recognize that you have access to all five capitals. And while you’re watching the business, you don’t need to sacrifice your family, but you are going to impact your family. You simply will have far less time for your family. You will need to use many of your relationships to build your business, just to interview them (what do they think about your product?), to do your pitch, to ask for money possibly, to ask them to become a customer, or ask them to ask friends to become customers.
[spp-timestamp time=”15:24″] Scott Weiss: So, we try to help the founders understand: you’re not going to have a balanced life; you’re going to have an unbalanced life. Now, how do you enter that journey, recognizing its imbalance, and come out on the other end with healthy relationships intact? You do that by taking everyone on the journey with you, by over-communicating where you’re heading, by using the other capitals you may have in excess to feed the capitals differently than you normally would. So, while I no longer have the time for the relationships I used to have, I will have access to new learning, new intellectual development, new networks, new people—let me introduce them to my wife, my children, whoever is important in that family. So this is very much an issue of: it’s not about balanced life. It’s about understanding the impact the imbalance it’s going to cause and using the resources available to you to navigate that successfully. It’s a real important concept that often gets lost. I’m just going to carry on, so I’m just going to throw the second thought at you pretty quickly, if that’s OK.
[spp-timestamp time=”16:35″] Scott Weiss: We are very, very focused on the founder, but we recognize the founder comes to us with an idea that ignites his or her passion. They have this idea, they want to create it, they want to see this enterprise enter the marketplace and grow, and hopefully succeed, and hopefully succeed at whatever level’s appropriate for that idea. So, we don’t have a different benchmark for marketplace success.The marketplace determines success, and we strive to prepare the founders to have their invention, their idea, their product, their company, succeed; and succeed at the highest levels. We think its excellence is absolutely an affirmation of the gifts God has given you, and using your gifts to deliver excellent results is what we aspire to do. So this has helped the people understand the journey they’re on and to use all the things it’s provided to them and to navigate that journey successfully, and navigate that journey, delivering, an excellent company that delivers excellent results.
[spp-timestamp time=”17:41″] Scott Weiss: So, in many ways, when we’re interviewing candidates, we try to help them understand: coming here is more work than going to most accelerators. The outcome is more enriching, more edifying, and you will leave here (if you engage in it) with awareness and knowledge and relationships that we think will serve you the rest of your life, but it’s a lot more work. It’s not easier, it’s harder.
[spp-timestamp time=”18:10″] James Clair: Yeah, very much so. Hearing Scott brought to my mind: when God is shining a light in some of our darkest corners—many times, we can be scared, or we can be afraid of what impact and anxiety that’s going to bring to us or to the people around us; but one fruitful piece of our overall mission is that we want to change that feeling for a founder from being afraid and scared to feeling free; and that there’s freedom in identifying these characteristics and behaviors that we have as individuals and how they affect, not just our personal lives, but the success of our business. And, many times, [for] the biggest fault-line in our individual ventures, there’s a relatable behavior that’s reflecting in our personal life; and addressing those realities and really dying to them and bringing truth to what that really should mean for us is what ties together both of those pieces really well.
[spp-timestamp time=”19:18″] Ron Gaver: One thing that, Scott, you mentioned, “taking everyone along on the journey”—and I think that that’s a great concept—how do you implement it, though? Do you use it by talking to people more, by demoing your product—is that what you said? By basically involving them as much as possible in this whole process with you? Is that how you do that, or can you elaborate a little on that?
[spp-timestamp time=”19:39″] Scott Weiss: Sure, I think I can. Let me paint a pretty clear picture, and this will take just a few words and then I’ll pause and answer any questions.
[spp-timestamp time=”19:48″] Scott Weiss: The Ocean program—once you arrive, it’s a four-month program and then demo day occurs and then there’s one month following demo day that we’re all together. And accelerators, while they do the same thing, do it differently; and one way to look at accelerators is there are very unstructured accelerators (you get in and you have access to a bunch of mentors and advisors and customers, and you’re kind of on your own), or you have structured accelerators. We are a structured accelerator. So, the companies arrive, and we have laid out a curriculum that starts everybody at one level and takes them up through, and past demo, day; and it’s a business curriculum that’s built on the business canvas map that really gets them focused on what value they’re creating in the marketplace, validating that value, and getting out there and testing it, and then generating revenue off of it.
[spp-timestamp time=”20:44″] Scott Weiss: We have a variety of speakers that come in and talk about that, and entrepreneurs who have both succeeded, and many of whom have failed (or failed once or twice and then succeeded); and they just come in and tell their stories that supplement whatever concept we are focusing on that week. So that’s the business curriculum, and every week there is a speaker on the business side of it to prepare the knowledge base of the founders to accelerate—to run their business more effectively and to grow faster.
[spp-timestamp time=”22:20″] Scott Weiss: And then he unfolds all of the worksheets he and his analysts use to determine that. So you’re sitting there, day one, and you’re hearing a live, venture capitalist give you the answer to the quiz. How do you get them to open the door and talk to you about your idea? You tell them the vision and mission of your company in great depth and in a way an investor, or potential investor, can understand it.
[spp-timestamp time=”22:44″] Scott Weiss: That’s kind of day one. They all go out to lunch. They have a great time. They come back. And day one, I had a creative director from a local studio there, and he led a session that he called (I think it was a “he”), led a session on, “I believe in God, I believe that God’s a creative force, and I believe God wants me to create, and that’s what it means to be in God’s image.” And all that he talked about was his personal faith journey and how God had come alive in him and given him the courage to step out and create these incredible visual images that multiple clients pay for.
23:21 Scott Weiss: That’s it. That’s day one.
[spp-timestamp time=”25:20″] Scott Weiss: We do not select based on your faith. We’ve had Christian believers in the accelerator. We’ve had non-Christians. We’ve had seekers, people who say: “I think I’m an agnostic or humanistic. I’m not really sure. I’m trying to figure this all out.” We’ve had all different religious faiths from the Christian side. We select based on your willingness to go on this journey, and we’re very clear, while we respect where you’re at, understand: the journey we’re laying out for you is from a Christian perspective. We all believe that’s a source of great truth for all of us.
[spp-timestamp time=”25:54″] Scott Weiss: So, we’re going to take them out for three days We’re going to have multiple workshops leaders come in. We’re going to have all kinds of exercises, and begin unpacking: “Where are you? Where are you in your walk with God? Are you having one? Are you not? How does that manifest itself? What do you believe?” Then we’re going to come back and do all this business/faith stuff.
[spp-timestamp time=”26:12″] Scott Weiss: Then, about two months later, we’re going to go away again, and on that weekend sojourn, we’re going to say, “Here are the biblical truths, the biblical principles, we’ve been talking about. How are you going to apply those—if you choose to—in your business?” And we have taken the time to unpack key biblical truths into business principles, and almost all businesses in Judeo-Christian cultures use biblical principles in running their business. Love others as you love yourself. Treat others the way you want to be treated. Treat the customer the way you want to be treated. We get them to unpack that and to write out their objectives for their company so they have specific goals for the culture and company they’re trying to create.
[spp-timestamp time=”26:59″] Scott Weiss: Then we come back, we get through demo day, and then we’re going to take them off again. Now they’ve met all these investors, they’ve had this launch. What are they going to do all this as they leave us and launch into the world? How’s this all going to come to life in how they’re going to run a company based on biblical principles that, hopefully, has great commercial success? So it’s an intense, fun, creative process that involves literally dozens and dozens of people, willing to give of their time and talent, who come to us from all over the country to help make this possible.
[spp-timestamp time=”27:32″] Ron Gaver: You’ve gotten into some of your program—the actual functioning of the program, month-in/month-out, day-in/day-out, week-in/week-out—and there’s one graphic on your website that is a circle with the formal program in it and you have monthly events, weekly events, and daily events. Could you go into a little bit about how that program works?
[spp-timestamp time=”27:45″] Scott Weiss: The weekly events are the series of speakers that I outlined. Every week, we have someone come in and lead a workshop on a business topic that’s aligned with accelerating high-tech companies. We have a speaker come in every week and lead a session on a faith topic, and then every week we have a workshop that integrates them. Every week we have at least one, but generally two, guest speakers for something we call “coffee chats,” and these are founders, these are people who’ve started businesses. Last year, we had a founder from Israel drop in. We’ve had a major leader from Google drop in. We have all kinds of local entrepreneurs. A young man who’s been on shark tank came and talked, and they just tell their story. And we tell them, “This week we’re talking about this business topic and this faith topic.” And they tease out of their story something that’s occurred to them that exemplifies either or both of those topics.
[spp-timestamp time=”28:48″] Scott Weiss: Every week we do a community meal. We provide soup (I love soup), and we’ll have all the founders there. Their families are invited. All the mentors are invited. We’ll have all the lawyers who volunteer for us. We’ll have 30-50 people every Friday for a big community lunch and soup, which forces you to sit next to somebody and drink or sip out of a bowel. So, it gets everyone talking, and suddenly we’re not in an accelerator anymore; we’re just doing life. Every week we’ll have optional participation in a Bible study. Every week we’ll have optional physical activity.
[spp-timestamp time=”29:25″] Scott Weiss: Daily, we ask each company to journal. We post a journal question up on the board—we’re going to do that differently next year—and the journal question is very much against their faith walk, very much is taking them on a guided journey of questions that, if you went back and read all the answers you wrote to these journal questions, you’d have a pretty interesting diary or chronology of ever-deeper growth and understanding.
[spp-timestamp time=”29:52″] Scott Weiss: And then, about two weeks into the program, every week we practice pitches on a stage, with microphones, with slides, leading up to our demo day, which is probably one of the highest-attending demo days in the United States in terms of physical audience size and streaming audience size. So, we do the combination of all those things to make the program entertaining, engaging, creative, and fun.
[spp-timestamp time=”30:20″] James Clair: Yeah, it’s important to have those different layers because we want the program to reflect how we live life. There are routines and there are rhythms that we don’t do every day but that we want to make sure we prioritize, and that we make space for, as we go through the journey of the program. So there’s a key reflection in what we do outside of our businesses and what we do in life, and we put that into the program so then that way, if you don’t have a very good rhythm or routine with spending time journaling or in Scripture every week, we want to almost kick-start that rhythm for you, so that when you leave the program, you’re going to take that behavior with you. Same thing with the encouragement of physical fitness, and then encouragement of getting in a small group and discussing your faith or Scripture.
[spp-timestamp time=”31:15″] James Clair: Especially when you’re in a format like we are, we find that routine to be very beneficial because they’re also naturally integrating what they’re currently going through in their companies into whatever topic we’re discussing in the Bible studies. So, the program—although it looks very cool and it’s laid out (we’ve got monthly, weekly, daily)—we could easily eliminate whatever words we put in there for those bubbles and put rhythms and routines in our daily life, and it would make perfect sense to a lot of people.
[spp-timestamp time=”31:47″] Ron Gaver: Okay, so the cornerstone of the program is the faith aspect of it, and, of course, you bring in the other speakers who talk about more technical, business-type aspects, and then, on the monthly events, you also get into legal, investment, leadership, and something called “field day.” I’m not sure what that is.
[spp-timestamp time=”32:05″] Scott Weiss: That’s just getting people out to validate their idea in the marketplace. The number one cause of high-tech failures is people fall in love with their own idea and actually never talk to anybody in the marketplace about it; so whatever they’re working on (whether it’s B2C or B2B), we line up time, space, and interviews with the right audience to validate their idea.
[spp-timestamp time=”32:29″] Scott Weiss: Exactly. That’s exactly what it means. Get out in the field, and go and talk to customers. It’s a big principle we teach: to constantly listen to the marketplace.
[spp-timestamp time=”32:39″] Ron Gaver: Hypothetically, let’s say I’m a founder. I’ve been accepted and you’ve made the convertible note available to me, and I’m relocating to Cincinnati for the four-to-five months—well, five months, including the month after demo day—and I’ve got a family. How do the founders usually negotiate that with their families? What do you usually see happening there?
[spp-timestamp time=”33:04″] Scott Weiss: That’s a great question. So this past year—our program runs January through May, so we just had our bon voyage party for this year’s class—this past year, there are nine companies that got accepted. We take anywhere from about eight to twelve. It’s hard to get in. There are hundreds of applications that get boiled down to the people we offer to. Of those nine, five were from outside the Cincinnati region. Two of those were from Europe and relocated from the United Kingdom (both were from London, coincidentally) to Cincinnati. One was a single person (and her co-founder popped in and out), and the other was a married gentleman with a wife and two children.
[spp-timestamp time=”33:48″] Scott Weiss: The “spouse with children” is a common story from people relocating to Cincinnati or in Cincinnati. About half of our founders tend to be married with family. So, we go through all this in the interview process. We want to understand their game plan.
[spp-timestamp time=”34:04″] Scott Weiss: When that individual arrived, we had reached out to our network and we had already lined up twenty or thirty rental properties of people willing to rent to him on a short-term basis. He, from London, envisioned his family being here on two separate times during his five-month sojourn (so they would relocate for an extended period and then they would go home); and then he would fly back and forth from London twice and spend a week there and Skype in or stream in and participate in the program that way.
[spp-timestamp time=”34:36″] Scott Weiss: So we helped find housing at a very favorable rate. We then worked with a non-profit that gives away automobiles, and they gave him a car. He’s going to give it back to us when he’s done, and we’ll give it back them, but he had free use of a car for his duration, as did the other person from London (as would anybody relocating here who doesn’t have a vehicle—we would arrange that). And we lay this all out so, when they get here, we know how their family’s going to navigate it, they know how their family’s going to navigate it. When that individual’s family showed up from London, we also had arranged families of our mentors to take time out of their lives, show them Cincinnati, invite them over to their home, take them out to dinner—without imposing, giving the family time, but still being welcoming. That’s how we do it.
[spp-timestamp time=”35:24″] Ron Gaver: Showing them great hospitality.
[spp-timestamp time=”35:26″] Scott Weiss: Exactly.
[spp-timestamp time=”35:27″] Ron Gaver: Now as far as the type of companies that you look for: do you look for any specific type of company—or the one speaker that you referred to last year was looking for people who could clearly articulate their mission—is there a particular type of mission that you focus on when you’re selecting applicants, or is it basically just whatever floats up to the top?
[spp-timestamp time=”35:53″] Scott Weiss: We’re very focused on the industry being high-tech because you can accelerate a high-tech company. If we’re making fans, you can’t accelerate because you’ve got to cut molds, you’ve got to make the product, and you have to test the product; but high-tech is coding so we can accelerate. They have to be high-tech. The product has to be at or beyond the MVP stage (minimally viable product stage). We don’t like to start with companies before then because it’s too hard to get them ready for demo day.
[spp-timestamp time=”36:22″] Scott Weiss: There has to be at least two founders. We won’t take solo founders—it’s just too hard. And they have to be willing to [take], and seeking, this spiritual journey; and we sort that latter piece out in an extended interview either live or via Skype. At this point, we’ve done dozens and dozens and dozens of these, so we have a pretty keen sense when someone’s being honest and sincere in their answers and when, perhaps, they’re just saying they want to do that so they can get in and get the money. So that’s kind of what we look for: high-tech, at least two founders, willing to relocate, product at or beyond the MVP stage, and a sincere and open heart to a spiritual journey.
[spp-timestamp time=”37:03″] Ron Gaver: And you also prefer one of the co-founders to be a technical founder, I believe?
[spp-timestamp time=”37:09″] Scott Weiss: We skew that way, just for practical reasons, although we’ve taken about a third of the companies where neither was a technical co-founder, but they were able to resolve that issue through outsourcing or hiring a CTO. Chances for commercial success are higher if one of them understands coding and can actually build the product.
[spp-timestamp time=”37:29″] Ron Gaver: As far as Ocean is concerned, the accelerator itself is a non-profit organization and then there’s Ocean Capital as well, which is basically the financial end of it.
[spp-timestamp time=”37:38″] Scott Weiss: Correct. That’s a separate legal entity that, under IRS rules, is an SPV (special purpose vehicle), which means it collects money from a broad range of diverse investors, and its job, as a legal entity, is to track the flow of money so that, when those investors get a return, that they can be properly taxed. The entity itself doesn’t make any profit. It doesn’t lose any. It collects money and puts it into convertible notes for the companies.
[spp-timestamp time=”38:07″] Ron Gaver: And as far as Ocean, the accelerator, the non-profit side of that—it grew out of Crossroads (the church), and then an organization within Crossroads called Unpolished, which I believe was a group of business people getting together and talking about business, and then they wanted to do something more. Is that correct?
[spp-timestamp time=”38:26″] Scott Weiss: That’s a great story. Unpolished is a group within a large church—very vibrant and active community in Cincinnati called Crossroads Community Church—and this group had coalesced and formed and was meeting monthly and providing speakers; and they’re sitting around one day, brainstorming (it’s a small leadership team): “What else can we do?” And three of the participants in that were high-tech founders—had all founded high-tech companies, and one had had a successful exit (had started a company, grew it, sold it, and was now starting another one)—and those three articulated that the path for a high-tech founder is arduous and fraught with risk and often results in significant damage to health, relationships, and faith, which James talked about earlier. So they said, “Let’s start an accelerator. Let’s create an accelerator that approaches it differently—that focuses on the founder, with this lens of faith we’ve been talking about all afternoon.” And the larger group and the church said, “That’s a great idea!” And Crossroads very generously kick-started the entire campaign with a donation that allowed for the conversion of this old warehouse space into a fantastic co-working space. So that’s how it all started.
[spp-timestamp time=”39:41″] Ron Gaver: You say they kick-started it. I read somewhere on your website that they did it with a 2014 Beans and Rice Week?
[spp-timestamp time=”39:49″] Scott Weiss: They do a really interesting fundraiser where, every week, they ask their entire community to take on a third-world diet, which is largely vegetarian and beans and rice, and to contribute the difference they would spend normally for food (dining out, buying a first-world diet)—to calculate that and contribute that to Crossroads. Crossroads collects that money, which is a large sum—the first year was like $350,000, last year was $700,000—all of that money, a hundred percent, goes outside Crossroads to support a variety of partnerships or programs, that don’t have any relationship with Crossroads, around the world. It supports building schools in Nicaragua. It supports Ocean. It supports paying to have public swimming pools open in the greater Cincinnati area in a year when the city didn’t have any money to keep the pools open. So they give that all away and we were the very fortunate beneficiaries of some portion of that the first year.
[spp-timestamp time=”40:48″] Ron Gaver: Then as the founder arrives—we’ve talked about family accommodations, and that’s something you call concierge, but there’s also really a package of things that you do. We’ve talked about seed financing. We’ve talked about the unique, five-month curriculum with all that that entails. A couple of things we haven’t gone into too much: first, your mentors. You say you have a great pool of mentors, and I’ve seen on your webpage a bunch of pictures of all the different mentors. Could you kind of give a characterization of your cadre of mentors—not necessarily saying “this person, this person, this person,” but the type of people that come and support and want to be a part of this?
[spp-timestamp time=”41:29″] James Clair: Yeah, that’s very much the guardrails of the program. We introduce a very diverse mentor—I should first say, we identify and address a very diverse mentor pool—and our goal is to educate them as to what it means to be a mentor in an accelerator space, and what it means to be a coach in an accelerator space where you have nine founders (like we had this last class) but 100 mentors and coaches. Obviously, ten mentors and coaches aren’t going to meet with every founder every week—the capacity of that doesn’t make sense—but it’s the right person at the right time, and that’s where we come in, where we say, “This entrepreneur is at place X, and that’s perfect alignment with this mentor that we have in our pool.” So we’re going to introduce them, and we believe that that mentor is going to help shape [the founder] or help put that founder back on track—or you could even say “introduce a discipline” that will help put the founder back on track—[or] share life experience, and don’t let me make it seem like it’s just business.
[spp-timestamp time=”42:36″] James Clair: These mentors have voiced that they’re really passionate about sharing their faith journey and their faith story, just as much as their business successes and even business failures. Our mentor pool—they’re not just diverse in the sense of demographically but geographically. Scott has mentioned different mentors and speakers coming in from Israel or East Coast or California, Silicon Valley, the South. That aligns perfectly with our mission of Kingdom expansion globally, and our program speaks to a lot of people, not just in Cincinnati, not just in the mid-West, but [as] we’ve seen in our applicant pool, in the UK. It speaks to people in Europe. It speaks to people around the globe. We want our mentor pool to be capable and ready, and we want to arm them well enough that when we introduce them, our founders are going to benefit from that exponentially.
[spp-timestamp time=”43:33″] Scott Weiss: So I would just add, Ron, the mentors will break into two broad groups. All of them want to share their personal life story, their faith journey, and they break then, subsequently, into two groups. We have a large group of subject matter experts—accountants, marketing, product developers, project managers, legal—and then we have a smaller group of people who have started businesses and understand the journey. That smaller group tends to form an intimate, one-on-one relationship. One person from that smaller group will end up being with one of the companies for the whole five months. They’ll be there every week. They’ll have them over their house for dinner. The person who has started the business has the time, the energy, and the maturity in their faith to be able to kind of wrap their arms around a company and be a truth-teller—not to run the business, not to tell them what to do, but to listen and give them honest feedback. Everyone else tends to cluster around tasks, as James pointed out, and we tend to pulse them in and out based on their subject matter and where each company is on any given week.
[spp-timestamp time=”44:49″] Ron Gaver: In conjunction with that, you also have some partners—some business partners, law firms, banks, Crossroads itself, an organization called 805 Creative (which is a design and creative production agency).
[spp-timestamp time=”45:02″] Scott Weiss: Yep. Companies all get free legal advise the whole time they’re in the program. That’s a combination of the generosity of the University of Cincinnati Law School, which provides legal fellows, and they’re supervised by a local law firm. Last year it was Frost Brown Todd, and it’ll either be them or another great local law firm next year (there’s two law firms that want to do that). And then all these other business partners line up, and they’re very clear: “We will donate this much time.” So the lawyers just said, “We’ll be your lawyers.” Each studio says, “We’ll give you 20 hours.” And, when we line them up with the company, we say, “Okay, you’re asking this agency to do some work for you. And at 20 hours, the clock starts running and you’re paying for it, so let’s get really focused so you can get done what you need done in 20 hours.” That’s what we coach them on doing.
[spp-timestamp time=”45:51″] Ron Gaver: One of the objectives of that creation experience is a brand identity kit?
[spp-timestamp time=”45:56″] Scott Weiss: Yeah, some of the companies need that. Some do not. This past year, most of the companies had well-established brands and arrived with trademarks in place and graphic design done and operational websites. If the company doesn’t have it, we provide that. If they do have it and want to validate it, we provide that. But most of them have really solid brands. In fact, only one of them needed a lot of branding work this past year.
[spp-timestamp time=”46:23″] Ron Gaver: And there’s something called a style guide in there?
[spp-timestamp time=”46:26″] Scott Weiss: Yeah, that’s just a tactical tool on design (the product design itself); what the interaction is like if it’s a B2C business (business to consumer). Of the nine companies, almost all of them were B2B (business to business) this past year, so while the style guide is still important, it’s not as profoundly important.
[spp-timestamp time=”46:44″] Ron Gaver: So then, they’re there. Are they all basically in one co-located space, and they feed off of one another and thrive on the ideas and inputs from one another?
[spp-timestamp time=”47:19″] Scott Weiss: They can then get up and walk from there to multiple places in the building, into a private conference room, all glassed in, and they can jump on a video network feed and talk to a customer anywhere in the world (or anybody anywhere in the world), or they can put a presentation up in a larger conference room and have customers come in. They can walk to other parts of the building, which are just quiet spaces, where you can go work alone on your laptop or sketchpad, or you can go and pray or study. And then we have “huddle” areas—we have couches thrown around with area rugs where [I could go] if I wanted to get four or five people together and just hash something out. Whiteboards everywhere—moveable whiteboards everywhere—and everything’s open.
[spp-timestamp time=”48:01″] Scott Weiss: There is no closed space. And everything is reserve-able or schedulable, or if it’s open, just walk in and use it. We then we have a kitchen area that we use for soup day, and we do a happy hour every Friday and about half of them are on our space, and that’s when we set up the beer and the soft drinks and all that good stuff.
[spp-timestamp time=”48:20″] Ron Gaver: You’re also big fans of Cincinnati itself. You site various things that are going on in the Cincinnati area and the area around Cincinnati, as far as start-up events, accelerators, incubators, co-working spaces, universities, something called CincyTech, funds and angels groups, economic development, and various associations. You seem to be real community supporters, and (from my point-of-view) you feel Cincinnati is a great place to do this kind of work.
[spp-timestamp time=”48:50″] Scott Weiss: Yes.
[spp-timestamp time=”48:51″] James Clair: What we do is a reflection of what already exists in Cincinnati, that there is an output now of an entrepreneurial spirit that has existed in Cincinnati for a while, and now there are minds and the intellect coming together and opening up about some of these innovative ideas on how this can work in a place not located on the West Coast. And we embrace the community because—I love that you referenced the beans and rice fast; that is the community of Crossroads Church—it was our catalyst to becoming who we are and opening this space that we’re in. [The community that goes to Crossroads—not eating lavish meals for a week or pausing their grocery trip for a week, and deciding to go deep into their cupboards—sacrificed.] They made that sacrifice so that what we’re doing right now would come to fruition, and I believe that we just simply reflect that in how we speak about our city and how we speak about the community. It’s just an affirmation both ways. This is an output that’s tethered to a Divine source.
[spp-timestamp time=”51:23″] Ron Gaver: Would you say that Cincinnati is a family-friendly city?
[spp-timestamp time=”51:47″] James Clair: Yeah, and that’s a great point: for the effects that starting and scaling a business have on a married founder—when I think about moving myself from maybe my hometown or home area, across the country to a new city—the way we support that individual founder is just as much as we would the married founder—the one, you know, relationship from a long distance. We leverage Cincinnati as a diverse city that just has this infectious fun about it, and it’s a place where you have an opportunity to do a variety of things no matter, geographically, where you’re from. There’s a lot of things here that are applicable to, not just mid-western, skyline Chili. It’s not all Chili in Cincinnati. There’s, like Scott said, a renaissance that’s really diversified, honestly, Cincinnati’s portfolio as a city.
[spp-timestamp time=”52:37″] Ron Gaver: Alright, then as far as Ocean’s schedule for a year, when do you usually open up applications?
[spp-timestamp time=”52:43″] Scott Weiss: We’ll be opening up applications in September—very early September; maybe very late August—and that’ll all be announced on our website. We accept applications from (let’s call it) September first to the end of October. We go through our screening process in November and make offers shortly after Thanksgiving [at the end of November] for a class that starts the second week of January.
[spp-timestamp time=”53:06″] Ron Gaver: And that begins your cohort, that goes through it, marching down to demo day as the major milestone at the end; and you said it’s a very well-attended—both physically and virtually—event.
[spp-timestamp time=”54:42″] Ron Gaver: So demo day comes, and demo day goes, and then your companies are still with you for another month. What happens in that month?
[spp-timestamp time=”55:42″] Scott Weiss: So, each company ends up with opportunity coming out of demo day, and we provide support on: “What do you do with that?” And then we also have a few weeks of integrating the entire program back to: “What does this mean for you now in your life? Where do you go from here in your life? The company’s a very important part of that, but you’re a far more important part of that. You are what God cares about. Where are you going to go?” And then we kind of have a ceremony—we call it a bon voyage party—and we launch them. As of this point, about three of the companies have moved on—they’ve left our building; they’ve moved on. One came in and said goodbye today, and the rest are still kind of hanging around, figuring out where they’re going to rent space and all that good stuff.
[spp-timestamp time=”56:29″] James Clair: You hit this pinnacle at demo day, and it’s amazing, and the companies do an amazing job. They deliver on the highest stage with the most visibility they’ll ever have at one time, in their young companies. Post-demo day it’s—what Scott said: “What does this mean now? How do I digest this in a healthy way, the feedback that I received from demo day, both good and bad? I retain it as a leave the accelerator.” And that’s really what we’re there for. We’re there to be [sounding boards] and to help them digest and retain feedback from demo day.
[spp-timestamp time=”57:08″] Ron Gaver: That was pretty much the end of my list of questions. The next thing that I was going to ask you is: is there anything that you would like to say or cover that I haven’t asked you about yet?
[spp-timestamp time=”57:18″] Scott Weiss: I’m reflecting on this great conversation we’ve had, which I’m so appreciative of. We’ve had a terrific conversation, and for anybody in your audience who listens to it, the universal message is: you, individually, matter. You matter to something much bigger than any of us, and that’s God, and He cares deeply about you, and He cares about your enterprises and your visions and your dreams. And whether it’s a high-tech company trying to get into an accelerator, or someone trying to get an education or someone trying to get a job at a local garage, lean into your gift and lean into it with the knowledge [that] God wants you to utilize that gift to your best ability; and in that leaning into it with the spirit of “what does God want me to do in this,” greater riches will come to you than in any other way in your life. So, our message would just be: lean into the gifts you have, and keep asking yourself, “What does God want me to do in this?” And more will come back to you than you can possibly imagine.
[spp-timestamp time=”58:20″] Ron Gaver: Well, thank you very much for your time. I’m sorry for running over a little bit.
[spp-timestamp time=”58:25″] Scott Weiss: Thanks a lot, Ron.
[spp-timestamp time=”58:26″] James Clair: Thanks, Ron.
[spp-timestamp time=”58:39″] Ron Gaver: If Ocean’s program sounds like a good fit for your company, please remember that they will be taking applications for the following year’s class from the beginning of September through the end of October. See the show notes for an application link.
[spp-timestamp time=”58:51″] Ron Gaver: Thanks for listening to the SaaS Business Podcast.
[spp-timestamp time=”58:55″] Ron Gaver: Please remember to take advantage of the show notes and the FREE Resource Guide we have created for you. The show notes page for any episode is SaaSBusinessPodcast.com followed by a forward slash and the three-digit episode number. To get the FREE Resource Guide, just use the Resources tab or any of the forms on the website.
[spp-timestamp time=”59:13″] Ron Gaver: If you like what we’re doing, please go to the support tab on the website to learn the various ways you might be able to support us.
[spp-timestamp time=”59:28″] Ron Gaver: This has been Episode 017 of the SaaS Business Podcast: Ocean, The Tech Accelerator. Thank you, again, for listening.
Some of the links on this page may be affiliate links. I may earn a commission if you purchase through these links. These commissions help to cover the cost of producing the podcast. I am affiliated only with companies I know and trust to deliver what you need. In most cases, affiliate links are to products and services I currently use or have used in the past. I would not recommend these resources if I did not sincerely believe that they would help you. I value you as a visitor/customer far more than any small commission I might earn from recommending a product or service. I recommend many more resources with which I am not affiliated than affiliated. In most cases where there is an affiliation, I will note it, but affiliations come and go, and the notes may not keep up.
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2019-04-24T06:57:20Z
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http://saasbusinesspodcast.com/017-ocean-the-tech-accelerator
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The publisher (Islamic Research Foundation) grants you an open license to reproduce or translate this booklet as well as every other publication of theirs. You may publish them for sale or for free distribution without any prior permission. They ask for no royalties or 'copyrights'.
To make good quality reprints, you may contact the publisher (http://www.irf.net/) to obtain free copies of computer print files of this book.
It will be appreciated if a few copies of the reproduction are posted to us for our records.
1st print March 2000 – 10,000 copies.
Al-Qur'an, the main source of the Islamic faith, is a book believed by Muslims, to be of completely Divine origin. Muslims also believe that it contains guidance for all mankind. Since the message of the Qur'an is believed to be for all times, it should be relevant to every age. Does the Qur'an pass this test? In this booklet, I intend to give an objective analysis of the Muslim belief regarding the Divine origin of the Qur'an, in the light of established scientific discoveries.
A book, claiming Divine origin, is in effect, claiming to be a miracle. Such a claim should be easily verifiable in any age, according to the standards of that age. Muslims believe, that the Qur'an is the last and final revelation of God, the miracle of miracles revealed as a mercy to mankind. Let us therefore investigate the veracity of this belief..
I would like to thank Brother Musaddique Thange for his editorial assistance. May Allah (subhanahu wa ta'ala) reward him for his efforts, Amin.
"And if ye are in doubt As to what We have revealed From time to time to Our Servant, then produce a Soorah Like thereunto; And call your witnesses or helpers (If there are any) besides Allah, If your (doubts) are true. But if ye cannot –And of a surety you cannot. Then fear the Fire Whose fuel is Men and Stones – Which is prepared for those Who reject Faith."
The same notation is followed throughout the book. References and translation of the Qur'an are from the translation of the Qur'an by Abdullah Yusuf Ali, new revised edition, 1989, published by Amana Corporation, Maryland, USA.
The challenge of the Qur'an, is to produce a single Surah (chapter) like [any of] the chapters it contains. The same challenge is repeated in the Qur'an several times. The challenge to produce a Surah, which, in beauty, eloquence, depth and meaning is at least somewhat similar to a Qur'anic Surah remains unmet to this day. A modern rational man, however, would never accept a religious scripture, which says, in the best possible poetic language, that the world is flat. This is because we live in an age, where human reason, logic and science are given primacy. Not many would accept the Qur'an's extraordinarily beautiful language, as proof of its Divine origin. Any scripture claiming to be a divine revelation must also be acceptable on the strength of its own reason and logic..
According to the famous physicist and Nobel Prize winner, Albert Einstein, "Science without religion is lame. Religion without science is blind." Let us therefore study the Qur'an, and analyze whether the Qur'an and Modern Science are compatible or incompatible?
The Qur'an is not a book of science but a book of 'signs', i.e. ayat. There are more than six thousand 'signs' in the Qur'an of which more than a thousand deal with science. We all know that many a times Science takes a 'U-turn'. In this book I have considered only established scientific facts and not mere hypotheses and theories that are based on assumptions and are not backed by proof.
The striking congruence between the Qur'anic verse and the 'Big Bang' is inescapable! How could a book, which first appeared in the deserts of Arabia 1400 years ago, contain this profound scientific truth?
"Moreover, He Comprehended In His design the sky, And it had been (as) smoke: He said to it And to the earth: 'Come ye together, Willingly or unwillingly.' They said: 'We do come (Together), in willing obedience.' "
"And the earth, moreover, Hath He made egg shaped."
Al-Qur'an 79:30. The Arabic word dahaha has been translated by A. Yusuf Ali as "vast expanse", which also is correct. The word dahaha also means an ostrich-egg.
"Blessed is He Who made Constellations in the skies, And placed therein a Lamp And a Moon giving light."
The Arabic word for the sun in the Qur'an, is shams. It is referred to as siraj, which means a 'torch' or as wahhaj which means 'a blazing lamp' or as diya which means 'shining glory'. All three descriptions are appropriate to the sun, since it generates intense heat and light by its internal combustion. The Arabic word for the moon is qamar and it is described in the Qur'an as munir, which is a body that gives nur i.e. light. Again, the Qur'anic description matches perfectly with the true nature of the moon, which does not give off light itself and is an inert body that reflects the light of the sun. Not once in the Qur'an, is the moon mentioned as siraj, wahhaj or diya or the sun as nur or munir. This implies that the Qur'an recognizes the difference between the nature of sunlight and moonlight.
"It is He who made the sun To be a shining glory And the moon to be a light (of beauty)."
"See ye not How Allah has created The seven heavens One above another, And made the moon A light in their midst, and made the sun As a (Glorious) Lamp?"
The Arabic word used in the above verse is yasbahun . The word yasbahun is derived from the word sabaha. It carries with it the idea of motion that comes from any moving body. If you use the word for a man on the ground, it would not mean that he is rolling but would mean he is walking or running. If you use the word for a man in water it would not mean that he is floating but would mean that he is swimming.
"It is not permitted to the Sun to catch up the Moon, nor can the Night outstrip the Day: Each (just) swims along in (its own) orbit (according to Law)."
This verse mentions an essential fact discovered by modern astronomy, i.e. the existence of the individual orbits of the Sun and the Moon, and their journey through space with their own motion. The 'fixed place' towards, which the sun travels, carrying with it the solar system, has been located exactly by modern astronomy. It has been given a name, the Solar Apex. The solar system is indeed moving in space towards a point situated in the constellation of Hercules (alpha Layer) whose exact location is firmly established.
The moon rotates around its axis in the same duration that it takes to revolve around the earth. It takes approximately 29½ days to complete one rotation. One cannot help but be amazed at the scientific accuracy of the Qur'anic verses. Should we not ponder over the question: "What was the source of knowledge contained in the Qur'an?"
The Qur'an mentioned the expansion of the universe, before man even learnt to build a telescope! Some may say that the presence of astronomical facts in the Qur'an is not surprising since the Arabs were advanced in the field of astronomy. They are correct in acknowledging the advancement of the Arabs in the field of astronomy. However they fail to realize that the Qur'an was revealed centuries before the Arabs excelled in astronomy. Moreover many of the scientific facts mentioned above regarding astronomy, such as the origin of the universe with a Big Bang, were not known to the Arabs even at the peak of their scientific advancement. The scientific facts mentioned in the Qur'an are therefore not due to the Arabs' advancement in astronomy. Indeed, the reverse is true. The Arabs advanced in astronomy, because astronomy occupies a place in the Qur'an.
"Seest thou not that Allah sends down rain from the sky, and leads it through springs in the earth? Then He causes to grow, therewith, produce of various colours."
"He sends down rain From the sky And with it gives life to The earth after it is dead: Verily in that are Signs For those who are wise."
"And We send down water from the sky according to (due) measure, and We cause it to soak in the soil; And We certainly are able to drain it off (with ease)."
"And We send the fecundating winds, Then cause the rain to descend From the sky, therewith providing You with water (in abundance)."
The Qur'anic descriptions are absolutely accurate and agree perfectly with modern data on hydrology. The water cycle is described in several verses of the Glorious Qur'an, including 3:9, 7:57, 13:17, 25:48- 49, 36:34, 50:9-11, 56:68-70, 67:30 and 86:11.
In the Arabic text the word barzakh means a barrier or a partition. This barrier is not a physical partition. The Arabic word maraja literally means 'they both meet and mix with each other'. Early commentators of the Qur'an were unable to explain the two opposite meanings for the two bodies of water, i.e. they meet and mix, and at the same time, there is a barrier between them. Modern Science has discovered that in the places where two different seas meet, there is a barrier between them. This barrier divides the two seas so that each sea has its own temperature, salinity and density. [Principles of Oceanography, Davis, pp. 92-93] Oceanologists are now in a better position to explain this verse. There is a slanted unseen water barrier between the two seas through which water from one sea passes to the other.
"It is He Who has let free the two bodies of flowing water: one palatable and sweet, and the other salty and bitter; Yet has He made a barrier between them, and a partition that is forbidden to be passed."
The sun's rays are absorbed by clouds, which in turn scatter light rays thus causing a layer of darkness under the clouds. This is the first layer of darkness. When light rays reach the surface of the ocean they are reflected by the wave surface giving it a shiny appearance. Therefore it is the waves which reflect light and cause darkness. The unreflected light penetrates into the depths of the ocean. Therefore the ocean has two parts. The surface characterized by light and warmth and the depth characterized by darkness. The surface is further separated from the deep part of the ocean by waves. The internal waves cover the deep waters of seas and oceans because the deep waters have a higher density than the waters above them. The darkness begins below the internal waves. Even the fish in the depths of the ocean cannot see; their only source of light is from their own bodies.
In other words, above these waves there are more types of waves, i.e. those found on the surface of the ocean. The Qur'anic verse continues, " ... topped by (dark) clouds; depths of darkness, one above another."
"And fruit of every kind He made in pairs, two and two."
"And of everything We have created pairs."
"Glory to Allah, Who created in pairs all things that the earth produces, as well as their own (human) kind and (other) things of which they have no knowledge."
"There is not an animal (that lives) on the earth, nor a being that flies on its wings, but (forms part of) communities like you."
The Arabic word amsaka literally means, 'to put one's hand on, seize, hold, hold someone back,' which expresses the idea that Allah holds the bird up in His power. These verses stress the extremely close dependence of the birds' behaviour on Divine order. Modern scientific data has shown the degree of perfection attained by certain species of birds with regard to the programming of their movements. It is only the existence of a migratory programme in the genetic code of the birds that can explain the long and complicated journey that very young birds, without any prior experience and without any guide, are able to accomplish. They are also able to return to the departure point on a definite date.
"And thy Lord taught the bee to build its cells in hills, on trees, and in (men's) habitations; then to eat of all the produce (of the earth), And find with skill the spacious paths of its Lord."
Von-Frisch received the Nobel Prize in 1973 for his research on the behaviour and communication of the bees. The bee, after discovering any new garden or flower, goes back and tells its fellow bees the exact direction and map to get there, which is known as 'bee dance'. The meanings of this insect's movements that are intended to transmit information between worker bees have been discovered scientifically using photography and other methods. The Qur'an mentions in the above verse how the bee finds with skill the spacious paths of its Lord.
The worker bee or the soldier bee is a female bee. In Surah an-Nahl chapter no. 16, verses 68 and 69 the gender used for the bee is the female gender (fa'sluki and kuli), indicating that the bee that leaves its home for gathering food is a female bee. In other words the soldier or worker bee is a female bee. In fact, in Shakespeare's play, "Henry the Fourth", some of the characters speak about bees and mention that the bees are soldiers and that they have a king. That is what people thought in Shakespearean times. They thought that the worker bees are male bees and they go home and are answerable to a king bee. This, however, is not true. The worker bees are females and they do not report to a king bee but to a queen bee. But it took modern investigations in the last 300 years to discover this.
The ants bury their dead in a manner similar to the humans.
They have a sophisticated system of division of labour, whereby they have managers, supervisors, foremen, workers, etc.
Once in a while they meet among themselves to have a 'chat'.
They have an advanced method of communication among themselves.
They hold regular markets wherein they exchange goods.
They store grains for long periods in winter and if the grain begins to bud, they cut the roots, as if they understand that if they leave it to grow, it will rot. If the grains stored by them get wet due to rains, they take these grains out into the sunlight to dry, and once these are dry, they take them back inside as though they know that humidity will cause development of root systems and thereafter rotting of the grain.
The Qur'an was revealed 600 years before the Muslim scientist Ibn Nafis described the circulation of the blood and 1,000 years before William Harwey brought this understanding to the Western world. Roughly thirteen centuries before it was known what happens in the intestines to ensure that organs are nourished by the process of digestive absorption, a verse in the Qur'an described the source of the constituents of milk, in conformity with these notions.
To understand the Qur'anic verse concerning the above concepts, it is important to know that chemical reactions occur in the intestines and that, from there, substances extracted from food pass into the blood stream via a complex system; sometimes by way of the liver, depending on their chemical nature. The blood transports them to all the organs of the body, among which are the milk-producing mammary glands.
"And in cattle (too) ye have an instructive example: from within their bodies We produce (milk) for you to drink; there are, in them, (besides), numerous (other) benefits for you; and of their (meat) ye eat."
All the information from the Qur'an so gathered, was translated into English and presented to Prof. (Dr.) Keith Moore, who was the Professor of Embryology and Chairman of the Department of Anatomy at the University of Toronto, in Canada. At present he is one of the highest authorities in the field of Embryology. He was asked to give his opinion regarding the information present in the Qur'an concerning the field of embryology. After carefully examining the translation of the Qur'anic verses presented to him, Dr. Moore said that most of the information concerning embryology mentioned in the Qur'an is in perfect conformity with modern discoveries in the field of embryology and does not conflict with them in any way. He added that there were however a few verses, on whose scientific accuracy he could not comment. He could not say whether the statements were true or false, since he himself was not aware of the information contained therein.
"Now let man but think from what he is created! He is created from a drop emitted – proceeding from between the backbone and the ribs."
"And made his progeny from a quintessence of the nature of a fluid despised."
"That He did create in pairs – male and female, from a seed when lodged (in its place)."
"He makes you, in the wombs of your mothers, in stages, one after another, in three veils of darkness."
"Man We did create from a quintessence (of clay); then We placed him as (a drop of) sperm in a place of rest, firmly fixed; then we made the sperm into a clot of congealed blood; then of that clot We made a (foetus) lump; then We made out of that lump bones and clothed the bones with flesh; then We developed out of it another creature. So blessed be Allah, the best to create!"
In this verse Allah states that man is created from a small quantity of liquid which is placed in a place of rest, firmly fixed (well established or lodged) for which the Arabic word qararin makin is used.
The uterus is well protected from the posterior by the spinal column supported firmly by the back muscles. The embryo is further protected by the amniotic sac containing the amniotic fluid. Thus the foetus has a well protected dwelling place. This small quantity of fluid is made into alaqah, meaning something which clings. It also means a leech-like substance. Both descriptions are scientifically acceptable as in the very early stages the foetus clings to the wall and also appears to resemble the leech in shape. It also behaves like a leech (blood sucker) and acquires its blood supply from the mother through the placenta. The third meaning of the word alaqah is a blood clot. During this alaqah stage, which spans the third and fourth week of pregnancy, the blood clots within closed vessels. Hence the embryo acquires the appearance of a blood clot in addition to acquiring the appearance of a leech. In 1677, Hamm and Leeuwenhoek were the first scientists to observe human sperm cells (spermatozoa) using a microscope. They thought that a sperm cell contained a miniature human being which grew in the uterus to form a newborn. This was known as the perforation theory. When scientists discovered that the ovum was bigger than the sperm, it was thought by De Graf and others that the foetus existed in a miniature form in the ovum. Later, in the 18th century Maupertuis propagated the theory of biparental inheritance. The alaqah is transformed into mudghah which means 'something that is chewed (having teeth marks)' and also something that is tacky and small which can be put in the mouth like gum. Both these explanations are scientifically correct. Prof. Keith Moore took a piece of plaster seal and made it into the size and shape of the early stage of foetus and chewed it between the teeth to make it into a 'Mudgha'. He compared this with the photographs of the early stage of foetus. The teeth marks resembled the 'somites' which is the early formation of the spinal column.
Prof. Marshall Johnson is one of the leading scientists in US, and is the head of the Department of Anatomy and Director of the Daniel Institute at the Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia in US. He was asked to comment on the verses of the Qur'an dealing with embryology. He said that the verses of the Qur'an describing the embryological stages cannot be a coincidence. He said it was probable that Muhammad (peace be upon him) had a powerful microscope. On being reminded that the Qur'an was revealed 1,400 years ago, and microscopes were invented centuries after the time of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), Prof. Johnson laughed and admitted that the first microscope invented could not magnify more than 10 times and could not show a clear picture. Later he said: "I see nothing here in conflict with the concept that Divine intervention was involved when Muhammad (peace be upon him) recited the Qur'an."
"Was he not a drop of sperm emitted (in lowly form)? Then did he become a clinging clot; then did (Allah) make and fashion (him) in due proportion. And of him He made two sexes, male and female."
"Him Who created thee, fashioned thee in due proportion, and gave thee a just bias; in whatever form He wills, does He put thee together."
"Verily We created man from a drop of mingled sperm, in order to try him: So We gave him (the gifts), of hearing and sight."
"It is He Who has created for you (the faculties of) hearing, sight, feeling and understanding: little thanks It is ye give!"
In all these verses the sense of hearing is mentioned before that of sight. Thus the Qur'anic description matches with the discoveries in modern embryology.
"Does man think that We cannot assemble his bones? Nay, We are able to put together in perfect order the very tips of his fingers."
Prof. Tagatat Tejasen, Chairman of the Department of Anatomy at Chiang Mai University in Thailand, has spent a great amount of time on research of pain receptors. Initially he could not believe that the Qur'an mentioned this scientific fact 1,400 years ago. He later verified the translation of this particular Qur'anic verse. Prof. Tejasen was so impressed by the scientific accuracy of the Qur'anic verse, that at the 8th Saudi Medical Conference held in Riyadh on the Scientific Signs of Qur'an and Sunnah he proclaimed in public: "There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is His Messenger."
The scientific evidences of the Qur'an clearly prove its Divine Origin. No human could have produced a book, fourteen hundred years ago, that would contain profound scientific facts, to be discovered by humankind centuries later. The Qur'an, however, is not a book of Science but a book of 'Signs'. These signs invite Man to realize the purpose of his existence on earth, and to live in harmony with Nature. The Qur'an is truly a message from Allah, the Creator and Sustainer of the universe. It contains the same message of the Oneness of God, that was preached by all prophets, right from Adam, Moses, Jesus to Muhammad (peace be upon them).
The Qur'an contains a complete code of life for the individual and society. Alhamdulillah (Praise be to Allah), the Qur'anic way of life is far superior to the 'isms' that modern man has invented out of sheer ignorance. Who can give better guidance than the Creator Himself?
I pray that this humble effort is accepted by Allah, to whom I pray for mercy and guidance (Amin).
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2019-04-25T16:09:21Z
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https://sunnahonline.com/library/the-majestic-quran/430-quran-and-modern-science-compatible-or-incompatible-the
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Columbia, SC (January 7, 2018) – Smoke Hall Foods L3C, the veteran-owned and operated parent company of The General’s Hot Sauce, has announced it will relocate its business headquarters from 804B S. Edisto Ave to 2651 Shop Rd. in Columbia.
The General’s Hot Sauce produces all-natural, small batch, award-winning hot sauces using exclusively American-made ingredients, according to the company’s website, which says the company’s primary objectives include creating jobs for veterans and supporting American farmers. The General’s Hot Sauce donates a meaningful percentage of its profits to organizations that support American Veterans, troops and their families.
William Mills of Wilson Kibler and Mason Harpe of HR Developers, LLC represented the tenant in the 3,500-square-foot lease.
Newmark Grubb Wilson Kibler brokers sale of 23,000-square-foot warehouse to ShayoNano USA, Inc.
Columbia, SC (September 6, 2018) – Newmark Grubb Wilson Kibler’s George McCutchen, CCIM, SIOR represented the seller in the recent sale of 23,000 square feet at 564 Ecology Ln. to ShayoNano USA, Inc. The 22-acre campus will house SayoNano’s new Chester county operations.
ShayoNano develops nanomaterials for use in various commercial applications, including paints and coatings, fire retardants and more. The company’s $14.7 million capital investment is projected to bring approximately 40 new jobs to the community.
“It brings tremendous satisfaction to help a company expand to South Carolina and create jobs, which increase the well-being of those workers, their families, and our whole state,” said McCutchen of the recent sale.
Newmark Grubb Wilson Kibler is a full-service commercial real estate company with offices in Columbia, Charleston, Greenville, Rock Hill and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Newmark Grubb Wilson Kibler provides a broad range of commercial real estate services throughout the state, including tenant and buyer representation, project leasing, acquisition and disposition, property management, development and consultation. Each of these services is staffed by highly regarded professionals focused on providing value for clients throughout all phases of an assignment. Newmark Grubb Wilson Kibler is an Accredited Management Organization and its professionals hold prestigious designations including CCIM, CPM and SIOR. For further information visit www.wilsonkibler.com.
Columbia, S.C. (August 30, 2018) – Newmark Grubb Wilson Kibler announced today that Wesley Shull has joined its Columbia office as a property manager. Shull will work primarily in retail, office and flex property management and will be responsible for the oversight of property operations, finances and engagement of third-party vendors as they relate to his portfolio of assigned properties.
Prior to Newmark Grubb Wilson Kibler, Shull served as property manager at Carolina Walk Condominiums. Shull worked as a machine operator at Michelin prior to starting his career in property management.
“We are pleased to have Wesley join our Property Management team in the Columbia office. His industrious background, attention to detail and strong work ethic make him a natural fit for our team.” Haskell Kibler, CPM, LEED GA said in a statement. Kibler serves as Newmark Grubb Wilson Kibler’s asset manager for the firm’s six statewide offices.
Columbia, SC (April 25, 2018) – Base 10 Fitness is relocating its current Columbia location at 1055 Market Rd. to 2917 Rosewood Dr., according to commercial real estate firm Newmark Wilson Kibler.
Co-owner’s Megan & Brandon Keatley opened Base 10 in Columbia in 2014 after publishing a best-selling nutrition cookbook, “Primal Cravings: Your Favorite Foods Made Paleo.” According to the company’s website, Base 10’s personal training sessions focus on the following 10 physical skills: cardiovascular/respiratory endurance, stamina, strength, flexibility, power, speed, coordination, agility, balance and accuracy.
Newmark Wilson Kibler’s William Mills and Bill Ratteree represented the landlord in the transaction.
Greenville, SC (April 18, 2018) – Newmark Wilson Kibler’s Edward Wilson, in partnership with Charlie Whitmire of The Whitmire Co., LLC, represented the buyer in the recent off-market sale of the Jacob’s Building at 1041 Butler Rd. in Greenville. The 210,126-square-foot office building sold to ET III Greenville JEC, LLC. Jacobs will continue to lease the space.
Columbia, S.C. (February 19, 2018) – Newmark Wilson Kibler announced today it is opening an office in Greenville. Edward Wilson and Givens Stewart, SIOR, have joined the firm as managing partners of the new office, which will be located at 101 East McBee Ave.
Edward Wilson will focus on the sale and leasing of office and retail properties, according to a statement from Newmark Wilson Kibler. He joins the company after nearly a year and a half at Cushman & Wakefield, where he was vice president of its Greenville office division. Wilson has worked closely with WCM Global Wealth as a portfolio manager and assisted with the acquisition of the Greenville News site, commonly known as the Camperdown development, the statement said.
“Edward’s experience in leasing, sales and development make him a valuable resource in Greenville’s expanding market,” said Wilson Kibler president, Det Bowers.
Givens Stewart, SIOR will specialize in industrial brokerage, as well as investment and land sales, according to the statement. He comes to the firm after seventeen years at Colliers International, where he was a vice president of its Greenville office.
“Givens is the best in class. He brings expertise, innovation and integrity to an outstanding team of brokers,” Bowers said in the statement.
“Wilson Kibler’s reputation in the state makes Greenville a natural place to start an office. With industry veterans well-known and respected by their peers, clients and customers, you can expect the Greenville office to experience dynamic growth,” said Stewart.
Columbia, S.C. (January 31, 2018) – Newmark Wilson Kibler announced today that William Gregg has joined its Columbia office as a property management associate. Gregg will work primarily in retail, office and flex property management and will be responsible for the oversight of property operations, finances and engagement of third-party vendors as they relate to his portfolio of assigned properties.
Prior to Newmark Wilson Kibler, Gregg served as a residential sales and leasing agent for a Columbia-based property management firm. Before starting his career in property management, he worked as a business systems analyst for Blanchard Machinery Company.
“We are pleased to have William join our Property Management team. His knowledge and professionalism are great attributes as we continue to grow our managed portfolio throughout South Carolina,” Haskell Kibler, CPM, LEED-GA said in a statement. Kibler serves as Newmark Wilson Kibler’s asset manager for the firm’s five statewide offices.
Knight’s Companies of Summerville, S.C. announced plans today to expand its current Redi-Mix operations in Blythewood and the Irmo with a third location at 1320 Pineview Road in Southeast Columbia.
George McCutchen of Newmark Wilson Kibler aided Knight’s Companies in the purchase and says they ultimately chose this site in Southeast Columbia for the expansion after performing numerous soil tests to identify a location suitable for the heavy weights involved in concrete production. Knight’s Redi-Mix produces concrete for both commercial and residential applications.
Capital Waste Services announced plans today to relocate its current operations at 3 Mauney Court and 105 North Shorecrest Road to a larger location in Southeast Columbia. The Columbia-based waste service company recently leased 15,000 square feet on 4.3 acres at 1450 Bluff Road. George McCutchen of Newmark Wilson Kibler represented the landlord and Jeremy Wilson represented Capital Waste Services in the lease.
N.C. Interiors Contracting of Gastonia, N.C. purchased 1450 Bluff Road last August and will continue to occupy a portion of the 17,000-square-foot space. One-and-a-half acres of yard remains available for lease.
Capital Waste Services is a locally-owned and operated waste service company serving residents, businesses and municipalities in the Midlands of South Carolina. They provide residential, commercial and industrial waste collection, disposal and recycling services.
George McCutchen, CCIM, SIOR donated $10,000 to Eastminster Church this week in honor of Newmark Wilson Kibler’s late president and co-founder, Marshall Kibler. The donation will serve to benefit local and international charities including Family Shelter, Haiti Hurricane Relief, Harvest Hope Food Bank, Jubilee Academy and Living Waters for the World.
Marshall Kibler and Jeremy Wilson co-founded Newmark Wilson Kibler, a prominent statewide commercial real estate firm, in 1987. Kibler passed away unexpectedly in March 2016. He was a founding member of The Capital Rotary Club and a Paul Harris Fellow. He achieved the esteemed real estate designations of Society of Industrial and Office Realtor (SIOR) and Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM), a designation only 5% of all commercial real estate professionals hold.
Donations can be made to Eastminster Church by contacting their offices at (803) 256-1654 or by visiting the church at 3200 Trenholm Rd, Columbia, S.C. 29204.
During the process, the potential purchaser applies with DHEC as a Non-Responsible Party (NRP), asserting the intended reuse of the property will not be similar to the current operation or exacerbate the current contamination. Once approved, the NRP can enter into a Voluntary Cleanup Contract (VCC) managed by DHEC.
The inception of the Brownfields program signifies the first time that a documented contaminated property can be bought and redeveloped without environmental liability to the new owner. The indemnity is transferable to any subsequent owner.
Redevelopment of these once contaminated properties has the added benefits of job creation and increasing the local tax base, in addition to taking the pressure off of undeveloped and underutilized properties.
Newmark Wilson Kibler is giving back to the Midlands community with a donation of $2,350 to Home Works of America after volunteering with the organization.
Newmark Wilson Kibler’s employees volunteered in a one-day blitz on September 15th where business volunteer groups set out to repair 5 or more homes in the City of Columbia. NWK volunteers aided in the event by making essential repairs to a Columbia resident’s home.
Home Works of America is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit who works to repair homes of homeowners in need, assist youth in their development, and empower communities to care for their members. Since 1996, Home Works of America has been annually repairing 100-130 homes across South Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia, aiding more than 2,600 elderly, disabled or veteran homeowners while mentoring 42,000 youth/adult volunteers through the repair process.
Newmark Wilson Kibler is a full-service commercial real estate company with offices in Columbia, Charleston, Greenville, Rock Hill and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Our firm provides a broad range of commercial real estate services throughout the state, including tenant and buyer representation, project leasing, acquisition and disposition, property management, development and consultation. Each of these services is staffed by highly regarded professionals focused on providing value for our clients throughout all phases of our assignments. Our firm is an Accredited Management Organization and our professionals hold prestigious designations including CCIM, CPM and SIOR. For further information visit www.wilsonkibler.com.
Columbia, SC (Augusta 9, 2017) – Newmark Wilson Kibler, a leading real estate services firm, is pleased to announce the recent sale of 1450 Bluff Road to NC Interiors Contracting of Gastonia, N.C for $1.7 million. George McCutchen, CCIM, SIOR represented the seller in the transaction.
NC Interiors Contracting, who specializes in governmental facility construction services, is expanding its presence to the Columbia market.
McCutchen said of the transaction, “I enjoy helping folks grow their operations. NC Interiors Contracting does beautiful work, specializing in government facilities. Their expansion from Charlotte to Columbia makes perfect sense because it is the capital of the state, and home to Fort Jackson, and USC.
The 17,000 SF space on 5.8 acres is located at the corner of Bluff Rd. and Idlewilde Dr. and was formerly an 18-wheeler truck repair facility. It has road frontage on Idlewilde and Key Roads.
Newmark Wilson Kibler is a full-service commercial real estate company with offices in Columbia, Charleston, Greenville, and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Our firm provides a broad range of commercial real estate services throughout the state, including tenant and buyer representation, project leasing, acquisition and disposition, property management, development and consultation. Each of these services is staffed by highly regarded professionals focused on providing value for our clients throughout all phases of our assignments. Our firm is an Accredited Management Organization and our professionals hold prestigious designations including CCIM, CPM and SIOR.
For further information visit www.wilsonkibler.com.
Columbia, S.C. (April 24, 2017) – Newmark Grubb Wilson Kibler, a leading real estate services firm, has released its market reports for first-quarter 2017. Charleston’s industrial and office real estate markets continue to report healthy numbers.
The Charleston office market ended the first quarter of 2017 with a vacancy rate of 7.1%, up from the previous quarter’s 6.6% vacancy rate, largely due to the number of deliveries seen across the market.
Charleston market area. This compares to four buildings totaling 26,307 square feet in the previous quarter.
Vacant sublease space, on the other hand, declined significantly, down to 27,150 square feet in the first-quarter 2017 from 41,088 square feet in the previous quarter.
Rental rates continued to rise across the market, reaching a record high of $21.31/SF in the first-quarter 2017. Buildings across all classes demanded all-time-high rates. Class A buildings quoted rates of $30.41/SF, while Class B Buildings quoted $18.96/S.
The Charleston industrial market saw its overall vacancy rate hit a record low of 5.5% in the first quarter of 2017, down from 6.6% in the previous quarter. At the same time, rental rates continued to rise, with quoted rates across the market clocking in at $5.66/SF. Flex rates were up to $15.48/SF from $13.12/SF in the previous quarter, while warehouse rates increased to $5.17/SF from $4.99/SF over the same time period.
Six buildings totaling 292,002 square feet were completed in the Charleston/North Charleston market area during the first-quarter 2017. This compares to four buildings totaling 504,010 square feet completed in fourth-quarter 2016. Despite reporting lower numbers, there were still 6.8 million square feet of industrial space under construction at the end of the first-quarter 2017, so expect to see a healthy number of deliveries in the coming year.
To view full reports for Charleston, Greenville and Columbia please visit www.wilsonkibler.com/research.
Newmark Grubb Wilson Kibler is a full-service commercial real estate company with offices in Columbia, Charleston, Greenville, and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Our firm provides a broad range of commercial real estate services throughout the state, including tenant and buyer representation, project leasing, acquisition and disposition, property management, development and consultation. Each of these services is staffed by highly regarded professionals focused on providing value for our clients throughout all phases of our assignments. Our firm is an Accredited Management Organization and our professionals hold prestigious designations including CCIM, CPM and SIOR.
Columbia, S.C. (April 24, 2017) – Newmark Grubb Wilson Kibler, a leading real estate services firm, has released its market reports for first-quarter 2017. Columbia’s industrial and office real estate markets showed lower vacancy rates over the previous quarter, reflecting a healthy market overall.
The Columbia office market vacancy fell to 6.5% during first-quarter 2017- the lowest rate the market has seen in a decade.
Rental rates remained steady during the first quarter, with a mere 0.1% increase from $15.79/SF from $15.78/SF at the end of the fourth-quarter 2016. The Class A sector boasted rates of $20.78/SF, while Class B rates held strong at $14.96/SF and Class C at $13.27/SF. North Columbia led across classes with the highest rental rates in the market, averaging $23.13/SF.
One building was delivered during first-quarter 2017, totaling 2,500 square feet. This compares to one building totaling 4,300 square feet completed in fourth-quarter 2016. 74,460 square feet of office space remained under construction in the Columbia market by the end of the quarter.
The Columbia industrial market vacancy also fell this quarter, from 8.0% in fourth-quarter 2016 to 7.2% first-quarter 2017. Absorption for the overall Columbia industrial market, including flex and warehouse space, was positive 519,065 square feet. This reflects a tightening industrial market nationwide, as retailers and logistics companies are moving to occupy warehouses across the country to ensure online orders reach customers as quickly as possible.
Combined flex and warehouse rates in the Columbia market declined slightly in first-quarter 2017 to $3.90/SF, down from $3.93/SF in the previous quarter. In fact, rates are currently at a two-year low after reaching a high of $4.35/SF in first-quarter 2015. Flex space rental rates dropped to $6.48/SF this quarter from $8.08/SF in fourth-quarter 2016. Warehouse rates fell slightly to $3.65/SF from $3.69/SF during the same time period.
Columbia, S.C. (March 15, 2017) – Chairman of the South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT), Woodrow “Woody” Willard, spoke today at Newmark Grubb Wilson Kibler’s offices in Columbia on the condition of South Carolina’s roads and the Department’s current goals for addressing roadway conditions.
Willard says the current state of South Carolina’s roadways leaves little room for errors and contributes to unnecessary traffic fatalities and traffic-related injuries each year. According to the Institute on Highway Safety, South Carolina ranked second only to Wyoming in the number of traffic related deaths per population in 2015 (20 deaths per 100,000 people).
Unfortunately, these programs are costly, and Willard estimated SCDOT would need an additional $1 billion annually to address South Carolina’s roadway deficits entirely. They would need an additional $800 million to bring 55% of roadway pavements to what they call “good” condition.
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KFOR-TV, virtual channel 4 (UHF digital channel 27), is an NBC-affiliated television station licensed to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States. The station is owned by the Tribune Broadcasting subsidiary of the Tribune Media Company, as part of a duopoly with independent station KAUT-TV (channel 43). The two stations share studios on Britton Road (near U.S. 77) in the McCourry Heights section of northeast Oklahoma City; KFOR's transmitter is located near 122nd Street, also on the city's northeast side. On cable, KFOR is available on Cox Communications and AT&T U-verse channel 4 in standard definition (and on Cox digital channel 704 and U-verse channel 1004 in high definition) in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area; it is also available on channel 4 on most cable systems elsewhere within the Oklahoma City DMA as well as on DirecTV and Dish Network.
The station is also carried on cable providers throughout much of western and southern Oklahoma, extending as far away as Guymon (which is in the Oklahoma Panhandle section of the Amarillo market) and Idabel (part of the Shreveport–Texarkana market). The station is carried on Cable One and other cable systems on the Oklahoma side of the Ada–Sherman market as an alternate NBC affiliate, albeit with NBC programs blacked out due to the presence of Ada-licensed KTEN, in compliance with FCC regulations allowing local network affiliates to prohibit cable providers from carrying duplicative network content from an out-of-market station.
Fascinated with the medium since the late 1930s, Edward K. Gaylord – publisher of the morning Daily Oklahoman and evening Oklahoma Times newspapers – brought television to Oklahoma on an exhibitory basis in mid-November 1939, when his Oklahoma Publishing Company (OPUBCO) sponsored a six-day demonstration of telecasts and broadcast equipment at the Oklahoma City Municipal Auditorium (now the Civic Center Music Hall) in downtown Oklahoma City, which featured appearances by performers from NBC and Gaylord's radio station, WKY (930 AM). During November and early December 1944, OPUBCO conducted a similar, 19-city television exhibition tour across central and western Oklahoma (open to residents who had purchased war bonds) that included performances from WKY personalities and demonstrations by television technicians.
On April 16, 1948, Gaylord submitted a permit application to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to build a television station that would transmit on VHF channel 4. He waited to make the submission so as to ensure that any financial burden would be limited until revenue from existing OPUBCO assets was able to offset the station's profit losses. When the FCC granted the license for the proposed television station to Gaylord on June 2, 1948, Gaylord requested to assign WKY-TV as the television station's call letters, applying the base WKY callsign that had been used by his AM radio station shortly after it signed on in 1922 and also assigned to its FM sister on 98.9 (now defunct, frequency now occupied by KYIS) when it signed on in July 1947. The station began test broadcasts, accompanied by music playing over the test pattern slide, on April 21, 1949. Television set owners in Oklahoma and neighboring states called to report reception of the WKY test signal, which was transmitted each afternoon until regular broadcasts commenced. The test signal operated at low power for three days, after a lightning strike caused minor damage to a junction box on the transmission tower during the early morning of April 27. Closed-circuit transmissions began on May 27, with a wrestling match at the Oklahoma City Stockyards Coliseum.
Channel 4 officially signed on the air at 7:00 p.m. on June 6, with an inaugural broadcast that included speeches from Gaylord, executive vice president/general manager Proctor A. "Buddy" Sugg, and Governor Roy J. Turner; a topical feature by Gaylord and Sugg on the new television medium; and a film outlining programs that would air on WKY-TV. It was the first television station to sign on in the state of Oklahoma (KOTV in Tulsa – which had its license approved the same day as the grant of the WKY-TV license to Gaylord – would not debut until October 22), and the 65th to sign on in the United States. WKY-TV's original studio facilities were based at the Municipal Auditorium (near Colcord Drive and Walker Avenue, 0.5 miles [0.80 km] west of WKY radio's facilities at the Skirvin Tower Hotel on Park and Broadway Avenues), with production facilities in the Freede Little Theatre on the second floor. Following a second round of renovations to the building due to a fire that caused $150,000 in damage on November 17, 1948, most of the technical and production equipment was replaced, and soundproofing material was installed in the auditorium to limit disruptions between production of local programs and stage productions that would be held elsewhere in the building. The radio station's 968-foot (295 m) broadcast tower, located between Kelley Avenue and the Broadway Extension in northeast Oklahoma City's Britton section, was the site of an accident in which the assembly carrying the WKY-TV transmitter antenna fell 8 feet (2.4 m) (at the tower's 600-foot [180 m] mark) while being hoisted for installation; the antenna suffered minor, albeit repairable dents.
Channel 4 has been an NBC television affiliate since its debut, inheriting those rights through WKY radio's longtime relationship with the progenitor NBC Red Network, which had been affiliated with that station since December 1928 (WKY-TV did not air its first NBC program, Who Said That?, until June 17). It also maintained secondary affiliations with CBS, ABC and the DuMont Television Network. Originally broadcasting Sunday through Fridays from 7:00 to 9:45 p.m., the station expanded its broadcast hours markedly over the next two years: WKY-TV began broadcasting seven days a week on February 11, 1950, when it started offering programs on Saturday evenings, and by 1951, when it added a morning schedule of local and network programs, was airing 90 cumulative hours of programming per week. Channel 4's initial local programming included some WKY radio shows that were adapted for television, including variety series Wiley and Gene (hosted by singers and WKY performers Wiley Walker and Gene Sullivan) and children's program The Adventures of Gizmo Goodkin. In July 1951, the operations of WKY-AM-TV were integrated into a proprietary studio facility, which included television soundstages that were engineered to also allow origination of WKY radio programs, built just east of the Britton Road transmission tower (WKY radio had earlier moved into the facility on March 26).
OPUBCO management challenged a proposal under the FCC's "Sixth Report and Order" – which ended the agency's four-year-long freeze on licensing grants and realigned VHF channel assignments in many American media markets to alleviate interference issues – that would have resulted in channel 4 being reassigned to Tulsa and WKY-TV being moved to VHF channel 7. The company cited the cost of installing a temporary antenna, the potential effects on WKY radio's transmissions, and the need for viewers to replace their existing outdoor antennas with models capable of receiving high-band VHF signals in its response seeking to stay on channel 4. In April 1952, the FCC rescinded its request for WKY-TV to change frequencies, citing in part, feasible co-channel assignment separation from CBS affiliate KRLD-TV (now Fox owned-and-operated station KDFW) in Dallas, and the proposal's potential generation of signal interference issues in adjacent markets with other television stations transmitting on the same channel (the channel 7 allocation was reassigned to Lawton, where it would become occupied by present-day ABC affiliate KSWO-TV). On July 1, 1952, WKY-TV became among the first six television stations in the country – along with fellow NBC stations WBAP-TV (now KXAS-TV) in Fort Worth, KPRC-TV in Houston, WOAI-TV in San Antonio and WDSU in New Orleans, and secondary NBC affiliate KOTV (now exclusively a CBS affiliate) in Tulsa – to begin transmitting network programming over a live coaxial feed. The milestone was inaugurated that morning with a message by Today host Dave Garroway welcoming the stations in commencing live network telecasts; at that time, WKY increased its programming to 111 hours per week.
In 1953, OPUBCO – whose founder had long been an advocate for Oklahoma's educational system – donated $150,000 worth of existing WKY-TV broadcasting equipment to the Oklahoma Educational Television Authority (OETA) for its proposed station on channel 13 (flagship station KETA-TV, which would sign-on in April 1956). Because of the licensing freeze instituted by the FCC in September 1948, WKY-TV was the only television station in the Oklahoma City market until 1953; its initial two UHF-based competitors – KTVQ (channel 25, allocation now occupied by Fox affiliate KOKH-TV) and KLPR-TV (channel 19, allocation now occupied by Cornerstone Television affiliate KUOT-CD) – made their respective debuts on October 28 and November 8 of that year. Though KTVQ and KLPR respectively signed on as basic affiliates of ABC and DuMont, channel 4 continued to carry selected programs from the two networks, with ABC programming being retained through a secondary basic affiliation; in contrast, WKY disaffiliated from CBS one month prior to KWTV (channel 9) signing on as an affiliate of that network on December 20. WKY-TV remained a primary NBC and secondary DuMont affiliate until the latter network discontinued operations in August 1956. In 1958, Enid-based ABC affiliate KGEO-TV (channel 5) changed call letters to KOCO-TV, refocusing its coverage area to include Oklahoma City and assuming the local ABC programming rights; this left WKY-TV exclusively affiliated with NBC.
On April 8, 1954, channel 4 became one of the first American television stations not owned by a network to produce and transmit local programs in color, beginning with a five-minute telecast hosted that evening by E.K. Gaylord; it also carried select NBC network programs in the format, with children's program The Paul Winchell Show was the station's first network color telecast. (Before the FCC had approved a color transmission standard, Gaylord had ordered color broadcasting equipment being developed by RCA – which included two RCA TK40 color cameras – in September 1949.) The cooking show Cook's Book became the first regular program to broadcast in color from the WKY studios and first in the state to do so, while dance program Sooner Shindig became the first live color program in the country to originate from the studios of a network-affiliated station. When NBC became the first network to commence color telecasts on May 1, WKY-TV provided color feeds of the Anadarko Indian Festival to the network for broadcast on Today and Home. Local variety series The Hank Thompson Show also became the first color broadcast of a variety program. In 1955, WKY-TV became the first network affiliate to feed a full-length color program to a television network, transmitting coverage of a square dance convention in downtown Oklahoma City to NBC; it also transmitted closed-circuit images of a surgical procedure in color (WKY-TV had become the first Oklahoma television station to air a surgical procedure via closed circuit telecast four years earlier in February 1950).
The Oklahoma Publishing Company, through its WKY Radiophone Company subsidiary, eventually acquired or launched other television and radio stations during and after its stewardship of WKY-TV, including: WSFA (TV) and WSFA (AM) (now WLWI [AM]) in Montgomery, Alabama (in 1955); WTVT in Tampa, Florida (in 1956); WUHF-TV (now WVTV) in Milwaukee (in 1966); KTVT in Fort Worth (in 1962); KHTV (now KIAH) in Houston (built and signed on by the company in 1967); and KTNT-TV (now KSTW) in Seattle (in 1973). WKY-TV served as the company's flagship station, and in October 1956, OPUBCO renamed its broadcast group, the WKY Television System. In December 1954, a half-hour WKY-TV special, Gift of God, which outlined the medical and legal aspects of corneal transplants and included a film of a transplant operation project, led to the development of a statewide eye bank through a partnership with the Lions Clubs of Oklahoma and Lions Sight Conservation Foundation; by 1957, more than 16,400 donor cards (700 of which were received within 1½ hours after the special's initial airing, including one signed by then-Oklahoma Governor Raymond Gary) were signed to permit donation of participants' eyes to the bank after their deaths and 346 Oklahomans (including two who had underwent transplant surgery within 48 hours of the broadcast) had received corneal transplants to restore their sight.
In 1958, WKY became one of the first local television stations in the U.S. to acquire a videotape recorder; intended primarily for use by the station's news department, the recording equipment was also used for some program production, including those it distributed to NBC for national broadcast. One such videotaped show, the Stars and Stripes Show, premiered on NBC that year as the first network television program to be produced by a local station. Ownership of OPUBCO's Oklahoma City-based print and broadcast properties was transferred to Edward L. Gaylord, after his father, E.K. Gaylord, died of natural causes on May 30, 1974 at the age of 101.
In July 1975, Oklahoma Publishing sold WKY-TV to Universal Communications (a subsidiary of the Detroit-based Evening News Association) for $22.697 million. The Gaylords – which would later rechristen their broadcasting division as Gaylord Broadcasting – sold channel 4 to comply with FCC rules of the time that prohibited a single company from owning more than seven television stations nationwide, as it chose to purchase ABC affiliate WVUE-TV (now a Fox affiliate) in New Orleans and independent station WUAB (now a primary CW and secondary MyNetworkTV affiliate) in Cleveland as well as make building improvements to the Britton Road studio using proceeds from the sale. The sale coincided with the FCC's passage of new cross-ownership rules that prohibited media companies from owning newspapers and full-power broadcast television and radio outlets in the same market, restricting media companies to owning only either a print or broadcast property within an individual market. However, OPUBCO filed for a "grandfathering" waiver (which the agency allowed companies to seek to maintain existing newspaper-broadcasting combinations under special circumstances) to retain WKY radio, the Oklahoman, and the Times. The transaction was approved by the FCC on October 29.
On January 5, 1976, the station's call letters were changed to KTVY, in order to comply with a since-repealed FCC rule that prohibited separately owned TV and radio stations that were based in the same media market from sharing the same call letters. The WKY call letters had been assigned to its former radio sister before the "K"/"W" border definition assigned by the FCC was shifted to the Mississippi River in 1935; as such, upon changing them, channel 4 would have had to adopt a callsign starting with "K" – the KTVY calls were presumptively chosen as an anagram of its original WKY-TV calls – in any event. (WKY radio – which, in March 1977, moved to a new facility just west of the Britton Road building – was sold to Citadel Broadcasting in 2002, it is now owned by Cumulus Media; the Times ceased publication as a separate newspaper and was folded into the Oklahoman in March 1984; the Gaylord family sold the OPUBCO properties to The Anschutz Corporation in 2011). On June 6, 1985, KTVY became the first Oklahoma station to broadcast in stereo, initially broadcasting NBC network programs, local programs and certain syndicated shows that were transmitted in the audio format; taking advantage of the new format, channel 4's daily sign-ons and sign-offs began to feature music videos, some of which were tailored to the station's public service campaigns.
On September 5, 1985, the Gannett Company announced that it would purchase the Evening News Association for $717 million, thwarting a $566-million hostile takeover bid by L.P. Media Inc. (owned by television producer Norman Lear and media executive A. Jerrold Perenchio). As FCC rules then prohibited a single company from owning two commercial television stations in the same market, Gannett was required to sell either KTVY or KOCO-TV, the latter of which had been owned by Gannett since its 1979 acquisition of Combined Communications Corporation. On November 15, 1985, Gannett sold KTVY, fellow NBC affiliate WALA-TV (now a Fox affiliate) in Mobile, Alabama and CBS affiliate KOLD-TV in Tucson, Arizona to Miami, Florida-based Knight Ridder Broadcasting for $160 million (with KTVY selling for a reported $80 million). The sale to Gannett was completed on January 13, 1986, with the Knight-Ridder transaction being approved by the FCC on February 19.
On February 28, 1989, Knight Ridder – which, 3¾ months earlier on October 8, 1988, announced its intent to sell its eight television stations to reduce its $929-million debt load and to help finance its $353-million acquisition of online information provider Dialog Information Services – sold channel 4 to Palmer Communications, then-owner of fellow longtime NBC affiliates WHO-TV in the company's headquarters of Des Moines and KWQC-TV in Davenport, Iowa, for $50 million; the sale was approved by the FCC on May 8.
KFOR logo used from 1994 to 2008; the "-DT" suffix was added in 1999. An initial version of the tri-lined "4" logo was first introduced with the adoption of the KFOR-TV call letters in April 1990, evolving into the slimmer design (seen above) in 1994.
On November 7, 1991, Palmer announced it had signed a letter of intent to sell KFOR, WHO-TV and Des Moines radio stations WHO (AM) and KLYF (now KDRB) for $70.2 million to New Canaan, Connecticut-based Hughes Broadcasting Partners, a group formed earlier that year with its purchase of ABC affiliate WOKR-TV (now WHAM-TV) in Rochester, New York. The sale agreement was terminated on April 2, 1992, after Palmer management rejected the bid submitted by Hughes Broadcasting representatives. In a lawsuit against Palmer, majority owner VS&A Communications Partners LP asked a Delaware court to force Palmer, which claimed it had no binding obligation to negotiate or reach a formal agreement, into resuming negotiations to reach a definitive sale contract. Hughes formally gave up its pursuit of the transaction, months after the judge presiding the case ruled that the agreement between VS&A and Palmer was not binding. Coinciding with the start of that year's Summer Olympics, KFOR inaugurated the "NewsChannel 4" moniker for its news branding on July 25, 1992 (the title would be extended to full-time use in May 1997); the "4 Strong" moniker was concurrently discontinued, opting to use the phoneticism "K-FOR" as a general identifier, sometimes accompanied by the slogan "Oklahoma's News Channel".
On May 14, 1996, The New York Times Company (through its Memphis-based broadcasting subsidiary) announced that it would purchase KFOR-TV and WHO-TV from Palmer Communications for $226 million (with KFOR selling for $155 million); the sale received regulatory approval less than two months later on July 3, and was finalized on July 16. On June 13, 1998, the WKY-AM-TV transmitter tower (which had been used as an auxiliary tower for KFOR-TV and WKY radio, and was designed to withstand winds in excess of 125 mph [201 km/h]) collapsed due to straight-line wind gusts to near 105 mph (169 km/h) – which also caused minor damage to KOCO-TV's studio facility, located 1.1 miles (1.8 km) to the east of the KFOR studios – produced by a supercell thunderstorm that also spawned four tornadoes across northern sections of Oklahoma City that evening. On October 11, 2000, The New York Times Company entered into a joint sales agreement with Pax TV owned-and-operated station KOPX-TV (channel 62, now an O&O of successor Ion Television), as part of a broader agreement between the Times Company and Paxson Communications that also involved stations in Des Moines and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Until the agreement ended on July 1, 2005 (coinciding with Pax's rebranding as i: Independent Television), KFOR handled advertising sales services for channel 62, while KOPX carried NBC programs on occasions when conflicts with special event programming prevented them from airing on KFOR, and aired rebroadcasts of channel 4's 6:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. newscasts on a delayed basis.
Final logo under the NewsChannel 4 brand, used from August 2008 until August 19, 2017; the logo was modified in August 2016 to include the NBC peacock logo, and again in January 2017 to include the possessive "Oklahoma's" in the branding.
On September 14, 2005, Viacom Television Stations Group sold UPN owned-and-operated station KAUT-TV (channel 43, now an independent station) to The New York Times Company, creating a duopoly with KFOR upon the sale's November 4 closure. On January 4, 2007, the Times Company sold its nine television stations to Local TV, a holding company operated by private equity group Oak Hill Capital Partners, for $530 million; the sale was finalized on May 7. On July 1, 2013, the Chicago-based Tribune Company (which formed a management company for the operation of both Tribune Broadcasting and Local TV's television stations in December 2007) acquired the Local TV stations for $2.75 billion. The sale, which was completed on December 27, reunited KFOR with former sister station KIAH (which Tribune had acquired from Gaylord Broadcasting in 1995).
On August 5, 2014, during a staff luncheon held at the soundstage within the original Britton Road studios that housed KAUT's news set, duopoly president and general manager Wes Milbourn announced plans to construct a new facility on a ten-acre (4.0 ha) plot of land directly adjacent to the existing studio building to house the operations of KFOR-TV and KAUT-TV. Construction of the facility began in January 2015, and was completed in early August 2017. The facility – designed under an open floorplan to improve workflow and encourage collaboration between employees of the station's individual departments – incorporates two production studios (the main studio, which was named in honor of after veteran anchor Linda Cavanaugh upon her retirement on December 15, 2017, provides a backdrop of the newsroom structured similarly to the set used from 1992 until the anchor desk was walled off from the former studio's newsroom in 2006, and incorporates an 80-inch [203 cm] razored monitor); an expanded weather center within the production studio housing KFOR's main news set; two control rooms that relay high definition content; and several conference rooms dedicated to former channel 4 employees (such as the Barry Huddle Room, named in honor of late longtime sports anchors Bob Barry Sr. and Bob Barry, Jr.). The building's exterior was built with reinforced steel, concrete and protective glass to resist a direct hit from a tornado or extreme straight-line winds, which would allow KFOR to broadcast uninterrupted during significant severe weather events affecting Oklahoma City proper. KFOR/KAUT's news, sales and marketing departments, and all other operations moved to the new Britton Road studio on August 19, 2017 (commencing broadcasts with that evening's edition of the 10:00 p.m. newscast), ending KFOR's 65-year tenure at the original 444 East Britton Road building. The older building was later razed after operations were moved into the new building to make room for public parking space near the newer building. Coinciding with the move, KFOR-TV changed its branding to Oklahoma’s News 4 (although print and online TV listings mistitle the station's newscasts as "KFOR News 4"), adopting an alteration of the Tribune Creative West-designed graphics package developed for the Fox affiliates it owned prior to the Local TV purchase in 2012, and replacing the Wow and Flutter-composed custom theme that had been in use since 1997 with Stephen Arnold Music's NBC chimes-derived "The Rock."
On May 8, 2017, Hunt Valley, Maryland-based Sinclair Broadcast Group—owner of Fox affiliate KOKH-TV and CW affiliate KOCB (channel 34)—entered into an agreement to acquire Tribune Media for $3.9 billion, plus the assumption of $2.7 billion in debt held by Tribune. (Ironically, Sinclair attempted to purchase the Palmer stations in 1996, in a proposal with River City Broadcasting—which Sinclair, which in turn was purchasing then-UPN affiliate KOCB from Superior Communications at the time, would acquire later that year—that would have resulted in River City acquiring KFOR in exchange for allowing Sinclair to buy WHO-TV from Palmer; Sinclair's purchase of the River City stations precluded this, because of FCC rules that then prohibited duopolies.) Because Sinclair and Tribune each owned two television stations in the Oklahoma City market, with KFOR and KOKH both ranking among the market's four highest-rated stations in total day viewership, the companies were required to sell either KFOR or KOKH (and optionally, KAUT and KOCB) to another station owner in order to comply with FCC local ownership rules.
On April 24, 2018, in an amendment to the Tribune acquisition through which it proposed the sale of certain stations to both independent and affiliated third-party companies to curry the DOJ's approval, Sinclair announced that it would sell KOKH-TV to Standard Media Group (an independent broadcast holding company founded by private equity firm Standard General to assume ownership of and absolve ownership conflicts involving nine Sinclair- and Tribune-owned stations located in markets where both groups have television properties) in a $441.1-million group deal. Sinclair would have effectively acquire KFOR-TV's license and intellectual assets directly, while retaining ownership of KOCB, which it opted not to include in the Standard Media sale; as a result, channel 34 would have formed a new legal duopoly with KFOR-TV had Sinclair assumed ownership of that station, and would have migrated its operations into KFOR/KAUT's Britton Road studios following a six-month transitional period in which Sinclair would have continued to provide services to KOKH for six months after the sale's completion. However, because FCC rules prohibit common ownership of more than two full-power stations in a single market, Sinclair would have spun off KAUT-TV to affiliate company Howard Stirk Holdings for $750,000; however, it would have assumed control of that station through shared services and joint sales agreements with Stirk. Less than one month after the FCC voted to have the deal reviewed by an administrative law judge amid "serious concerns" about Sinclair's forthrightness in its applications to sell certain conflict properties, on August 9, 2018, Tribune announced it would terminate the Sinclair deal, intending to seek other M&A opportunities. Tribune also filed a breach of contract lawsuit in the Delaware Chancery Court, alleging that Sinclair engaged in protracted negotiations with the FCC and the DOJ over regulatory issues, refused to sell stations in markets where it already had properties (such as KAUT-TV), and proposed divestitures to parties with ties to Sinclair executive chair David D. Smith that were rejected or highly subject to rejection to maintain control over stations it was required to sell.
On December 3, 2018, Irving, Texas-based Nexstar Media Group announced it would acquire Tribune in an all-cash deal valued at $6.4 billion, including the assumption of Tribune-held outstanding debt. The deal—which would make Nexstar the largest television station operator by total number of stations upon its expected closure late in the third quarter of 2019—would give the KFOR/KAUT duopoly additional sister stations in Lawton–Wichita Falls (NBC affiliate KFDX-TV and SSA partners KJTL [Fox] and KJBO-LP [MyNetworkTV]), Wichita (the Kansas State Network group of NBC affiliates, led by flagship KSNW), Fort Smith–Fayetteville (NBC affiliate KNWA-TV and Fox affiliate KFTA-TV, which are part of an ownership conflict with Tribune-owned CBS affiliate KFSM-TV and MyNetworkTV affiliate KXNW), Joplin–Pittsburg (NBC affiliate KSNF and ABC-affiliated SSA partner KODE-TV), Amarillo (NBC affiliate KAMR-TV and SSA partners KCIT [Fox] and KCPN-LP [MyNetworkTV]) and Shreveport–Texarkana (NBC affiliate KTAL-TV and SSA partners KMSS-TV [Fox] and KSHV-TV [MyNetworkTV]).
KFOR-DT2 is the Antenna TV-affiliated second digital subchannel of KFOR-TV, broadcasting in standard definition on UHF digital channel 29.2 (or virtual channel 4.2 via PSIP). On cable, KFOR-DT2 is available on Cox Communications digital channel 247 in the Oklahoma City area, as well as on select other cable providers throughout the market (including Suddenlink Communications systems in Enid, Perry, Stillwater, Chickasha, Purcell, Seminole and Pauls Valley, and Vyve Broadband systems in Chandler, Holdenville and Shawnee).
In March 2004, KFOR-TV launched a digital subchannel on virtual channel 4.2, which was originally formatted as an automated local weather channel (branded as the "4Warn Forecast Channel"), displaying feeds of the station's two Doppler radar systems (then branded as the "4Warn Edge" and the "4Warn Storm Tracker") as well as local and regional weather forecasts. In February 2005, KFOR-DT2 became an affiliate of NBC Weather Plus under the brand "4Warn 24/7"; around this time, Cox Communications began carrying KFOR-DT2 on digital channel 247. Following Weather Plus's shutdown on December 1, 2008, the subchannel returned to an automated format, carrying successor service NBC Plus. On December 31, 2011, KFOR-DT2 became an affiliate of Antenna TV, taking over the programming rights from the then-operational KFOR-DT3. In addition, from September 16, 2012 until September 2013, some Antenna TV programs were simulcast on KAUT during the overnight and early morning hours to compensate for current-day syndication rights.
KFOR-DT3 is the Justice Network-affiliated third digital subchannel of KFOR-TV, broadcasting in standard definition on UHF digital channel 29.3 (or virtual channel 4.3 via PSIP). On cable, KFOR-DT3 is available on Cox Communications digital channel 224 in the Oklahoma City area.
KFOR launched a third digital subchannel on virtual channel 4.3 on April 21, 2011, as a charter affiliate of Antenna TV, by way of the Tribune Broadcasting-owned classic television network's affiliation agreement with then-KFOR parent Local TV; after the latter subchannel took over the rights to the Antenna TV affiliation on December 31, 2011, KFOR-DT3 continued to carry the network's programming feed in tandem with KFOR-DT2 until the station decommissioned its DT3 subchannel on January 15, 2012. KFOR-DT3 was relaunched on December 22, 2017, as an affiliate of the Justice Network under an expansion of an existing affiliation agreement that Tribune reached with the Cooper Media-owned network in August 2016.
KFOR-TV began transmitting a digital television signal on UHF channel 29 on June 1, 1999, becoming the first television station in Oklahoma City and the state of Oklahoma as a whole to begin operating a digital signal; until KFOR-DT began broadcasting on a full-time basis on May 1, 2002, the digital feed only transmitted NBC prime time and sports programming as well as a limited schedule of local programs carried by the main analog signal. The station discontinued regular programming on its analog signal, VHF channel 4, on June 12, 2009, as part of the federally mandated transition from analog to digital television. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 40, The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 27, using PSIP to display KFOR-TV's virtual channel as 4 on digital television receivers.
Historically, although NBC was far less tolerant of preemptions than its fellow major network rivals and channel 4 was one of the network's stronger affiliates, the station has either preempted or aired out of pattern certain NBC network programs to make room for other local or syndicated programs, including an occasional prime time show. From the 1970s to the mid-1990s, it preempted a selected number of NBC late morning daytime shows in order to run syndicated and locally produced programs; this was especially prevalent under Palmer Communications ownership, when KFOR preempted NBC's late-morning talk shows and soap operas during the early 1990s, clearing only the afternoon soaps Days of Our Lives and Another World. For most of the soap's NBC run, from 1982 to 1985, KTVY preempted Search for Tomorrow, which was carried instead by then-independent station KOKH-TV; channel 4 began clearing Search in September 1985, which concurrently forced Days (which many NBC stations in the Central Time Zone normally aired at 12:30 p.m. at the time) to air on a 2½-hour tape delay to accommodate it until Search was cancelled by the network in 1986.
The station also preempted the final two hours of NBC's Saturday morning cartoon lineup from the late 1970s until 1992. In August 1992, KFOR chose to preempt the Saturday edition of Today and nearly the entire TNBC lineup (with the exception of Saved by the Bell, and later its spinoff The New Class, when it debuted in 1993), in favor of a new two-hour local morning newscast and a mix of educational children's shows and syndicated lifestyle programs. The station also delayed Late Night (during its David Letterman and Conan O'Brien runs) to 12:07 a.m. from the late 1980s until 2006 in order to run syndicated newsmagazines and game shows in the program's recommended 11:35 p.m. timeslot. Following its acquisition by The New York Times Company, KFOR-TV began clearing the entire NBC schedule in the fall of 1996; at that time, it reduced its weekend morning newscasts to an hour on Saturdays and 90 minutes on Sundays (cutting the 7:00 a.m. hour) in order to accommodate the weekend Today broadcasts (a Sunday 6:00 a.m. newscast was added by 2002), and began to carry the remainder of the TNBC block and a third hour of the NBC daytime lineup.
One of the station's most successful early local programs was The Adventures of 3-D Danny, a space-themed afternoon children's program that ran from 1953 to 1959. Hosted by Danny Williams as Supreme Galaxy Chief Dan D. Dynamo, the show – which showcased cartoon shorts between segments – was set in the fictional Space Science Center (of which Dynamo served as superintendent and from where he periodically traveled in a time machine known as the "synchro-retroverter"). Ratings for 3-D Danny often beat those of ABC's The Mickey Mouse Club, making it the first local television program in the country to achieve that feat. Williams joined the station in 1950 as host of an eponymous daily talk show as well as appearing as Spavinaw Spoofkin on The Adventures of Gizmo Godkin. He also served as an announcer for WKY-TV's Friday and Saturday night professional wrestling telecasts, and from 1967 to 1984, hosted the local midday talk-variety show Dannysday (which featured among Williams' co-hosts over its 17-year run, Mary Hart, before she became a household name as co-anchor of Entertainment Tonight). The format typified by Dannysday was reprised with the mid-morning infotainment show AM Oklahoma, hosted by Ben and Butch McCain (then working respectively as news and weather anchors for the station's noon newscast as well as its local news updates during Today); the program was cancelled after two years in 1987, after station management declined to renew the brothers' contract.
Another children's show with a similar local cultural impact was Foreman Scotty's Circle 4 Ranch. Airing from 1957 to 1971, it was hosted by Steve Powell (who, with Williams, created and hosted WKY-TV's The Giant Kids Matinee) in the role of the titular cowboy. Scotty was accompanied by a cast of supporting characters that included ranch-hand sidekick Cannonball McCoy (played by station announcer Wilson Hurst), and several played by Danny Williams including fellow sidekick Xavier T. Willard. The show also featured prize giveaways including the Golden Horseshoe, whose winner was selected through the "Magic Lasso," a cut-out slide that was superimposed on-screen over the audience, and honorary rides on a wooden horse named Woody for children in the studio audience who were celebrating their birthday. At its peak, the show had a 1½-year backlog of kids who wanted to be part of the show's audience.
In 1966, WKY-TV became the originating studio for The Buck Owens Ranch Show (the first season of which was produced by local businessmen Bud and Don Mathis, founders of locally based Mathis Brothers Furniture, the former of whom played the "ranch foreman" that joked and bantered with Owens). The half-hour syndicated country-variety series was seen in over 100 U.S. markets at its height, and was perhaps the most successful program of its kind that was not produced in Nashville (where most television programs of the country genre have been filmed). Regular acts that appeared included Owens' band, the Buckaroos, Kay Adams, the Hager Twins, Susan Raye and Owens' sons Buddy Alan and Mike Owens. Yongestreet Productions forced Owens to discontinue the Ranch Show in 1973, due to music duplication with the longer-running Hee Haw (both of which featured Roy Clark as his co-host).
In August 1949, WKY-TV reached a deal with the University of Oklahoma to air Oklahoma Sooners football home games. The station's first live Sooners telecast aired on October 1 of that year, with a game against the Texas A&M Aggies at Owen Field (now Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium). WKY-TV also originated the first televised college football analysis program: airing from 1953 to 1963, Bud Wilkinson’s Football (later retitled Inside Football with Bud Wilkinson) was a 15-minute – later 30-minute – show that featured the Sooners' three-time national championship head coach as he discussed the previous week's game strategy, demonstrated through film footage and using figurines positioned on a miniature football field. At its peak, the show was syndicated to television stations in 45 markets across the U.S. In 1966, a wrestling match between the Sooners and the Oklahoma State University Cowboys became the first to be televised live on the station.
From 1978 to 1984, channel 4 (as KTVY) aired an hour-long condensed broadcast of the most recent Sooners football game, with wraparound segments co-hosted by then-head coach Barry Switzer. The Oklahoma Playback – which aired on Sunday afternoons during the college football season – was also syndicated to stations throughout the U.S. (mainly in the Southwest, with KDOC-TV in Anaheim, California among the program's few out-of-region carriers), and briefly aired on the Five Star Cable Sports Network (a now-defunct channel owned by OU alumnus, oilman and former Texas Rangers owner Eddie Chiles). Around this time, the University of Oklahoma and then-Oklahoma City mayor Andy Coats led a legal challenge to regulations imposed by the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) in 1951 that restricted the number of college football games that could be televised live in a single season; however, KTVY occasionally broadcast live games through NCAA waivers that allowed certain games to be broadcast within a team's home market as they were being held. The rules, which were imposed out of concern that the broadcasts negatively affected game attendance, were overturned in a 7-2 vote by the U.S. Supreme Court in June 1984.
From 1982 to 1997, channel 4 also aired college basketball games involving the Sooners. These telecasts – consisting of between ten and twelve regular season games each year, most of which aired on Saturday afternoons – originated under a direct revenue-sharing deal with the university, before expanding to encompass the Oklahoma State Cowboys and other fellow members in the Big Eight Conference (which evolved into the Big XII in 1996) under an agreement with Raycom Sports in 1985 – transferring to ESPN Plus in 1993 – in an agreement that also gave the station the local broadcast rights to select college football games involving Big Eight teams to which ABC did not hold the national television rights and the first three rounds of its men's basketball tournament. Since KFOR-TV lost the local syndication rights to the ESPN-produced Big XII basketball telecasts to KOCB in 1998 to 2014, sports programming on the station comes mainly through NBC Sports.
As of September 2017[update], KFOR-TV broadcasts 40½ hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with seven hours on weekdays, two hours on Saturdays and 3½ hours on Sundays); in regards to the number of hours devoted to news programming, it is the highest local newscast output among Oklahoma City's broadcast television stations. In addition, the station produces Flashpoint, a political discussion show focusing on state and national issues (moderated by weeknight anchor Kevin Ogle, with Mike Turpen and former Oklahoma City mayor Kirk Humphreys as panelists), which airs Sundays at 9:30 a.m. Because it produces Rise and Shine for sister station KAUT-TV, channel 4 does not produce live news updates during the first two hours of the weekday editions of NBC's Today, choosing instead to air brief weather segments that were recorded earlier that morning during the production of Oklahoma's News 4 This Morning (KFOR does produce live news updates for broadcast during the Saturday edition of Today and Sunday Today with Willie Geist).
The station operates a Bell 206L-4 LongRanger IV helicopter for newsgathering, "Bob Moore Chopper 4", named through a brand licensing agreement with area car dealership franchise Bob Moore Auto Group in January 2010. The helicopter caught footage of an F5 tornado that killed 36 people on May 3, 1999 as it tracked from Amber to Midwest City (this video was used for eleven years in promos for "Chopper 4"), and an EF5 tornado that hit Moore on May 20, 2013, which was broadcast nationally on The Weather Channel. KFOR became the first Oklahoma station to broadcast aerial helicopter footage in high definition on March 11, 2010.
Channel 4's news department began operations along with the station on June 6, 1949, originally consisting of 10-minute-long newscasts at sign-on and sign-off, using wire copies of local news headlines read by anchors over still newspaper photographs. Bruce Palmer, the station's first news director, wanted to provide more immediacy to news coverage; he believed the restrictions placed on television news would result in broadcasts detailing only a limited number of stories at a time, outside of weather reports, and foresaw that television news would concentrate on films or photographs to help tell the story. The television station's news department utilized news staff from WKY radio to serve as reporters and photographers (a collection of 16 mm news footage shot by WKY-TV between 1953 and 1979 was donated in 2013 to the Oklahoma Historical Society, which made the films available on its website and a dedicated YouTube channel). Within a few years, WKY had employed a staff of 44 Oklahoma-based reporters and additional correspondents in three surrounding states. In 1950, WKY-TV became one of the first television stations in the country to employ a mobile broadcasting unit to conduct live broadcasts that would be relayed to the Oklahoma City studio or to film on-scene footage on kinescope for later broadcast; the unit – which had its electronic equipment installed by station engineers – employed up to three cameras, one of which was stationed on a special platform on the roof of the bus, and included a 12-inch television receiver built onto its side to display the direct-to-studio feed (this vehicle was replaced in 1969, with a proprietary mobile color unit). Among the events that the unit was sent to cover during the station's early years were the Oklahoma Republican and Democratic State Conventions, both of which were relayed live from the Municipal Auditorium, respectively in February and April 1952.
In January 1951, WKY-TV became the first station in the U.S. to provide coverage of state legislature sessions, which were conducted from the Oklahoma State Capitol twice a week. Channel 4 claimed to have made the fastest showing of any sound on film ever to have been processed and aired on television at the time, when on February 8, 1952, WKY-TV aired anchor John Field's introductory remarks that were filmed 15 minutes prior to that evening's newscast. The Houston film processor used by the station allowed WKY-TV to broadcast news coverage only a few hours after it was shot on-scene. The station is also purported to be the first in the U.S. to allowed access to film a court proceeding on December 13, 1953, while covering the trial of accused murderer Billy Eugene Manley. A WKY-TV film crew (led by reporter Frank McGee) was placed in a specially constructed, enclosed booth in the rear of the trial's courtroom at the Oklahoma County Courthouse, with a microphone hidden near the front of the court recording the proceedings. A small button was placed on the desk of Judge A. P. Van Meter to allow him to automatically discontinue operation of the cameras at any time. The swearing in of the jury, some testimony and Manley's sentencing was filmed for later news broadcasts.
The station's ascendance in the local news ratings occurred primarily under the stewardship of longtime news director Ernie Schultz (who joined the station as a reporter and photographer in 1955, before being promoted to news director and anchor of the noon newscast in 1964). The station hired top-drawer talent and based its journalistic style around in-depth reporting. In 1972, Pam Henry – who contracted polio at 14 months old, and had served as the national poster child for the March of Dimes in 1959 – was hired by channel 4 as an assignment reporter, becoming the first female to work as a news reporter on Oklahoma television; after a brief stint working in Washington D.C., Henry would later work at other television stations in Oklahoma City and Lawton as well as a 16-year run as manager of news and public affairs at OETA. From 1973 to 1978, WKY-TV aired Spectrum, a weekly prime time public affairs show with a newsmagazine format, which incorporated feature segments on local stories and people of importance and issues affecting Oklahoma's minority community. A documentary featured on the program, Through The Looking Glass Darkly (produced and reported by eventual NBC News correspondent Bob Dotson, about the history of blacks in Oklahoma), became the first program from an Oklahoma television station to win an Emmy Award in 1974.
The station is well known in the Oklahoma City market for the longevity of its anchors as well as the two families that have had roots with the station. In 1979, Linda Cavanaugh – who began her broadcasting career at the station on October 17, 1977 as an assignment reporter and news photographer; she was promoted to lead anchor of the weekend newscasts in June 1978 – became the first female to co-anchor an evening newscast at channel 4 when she was appointed as lead co-anchor for the station's 6:00 and 10:00 p.m. newscasts, alongside George Tomek (who also became lead anchor of the station's midday newscast that same year) and Brad Edwards, respectively. Cavanaugh's co-anchors throughout her tenure also included Gary Essex (1981–1982), Jerry Adams (1982–1987), Jane Jayroe (1984–1987), Dan Slocum (1987–1990), Bob Bruce (1990–1992), Devin Scillian (1992–1995) and finally, Kevin Ogle (1996–2017). In 1989, Cavanaugh and chief photographer Tony Stizza were awarded the Edward Weintal Prize for Diplomatic Reporting for its documentary "From Red Soil to Red Square," which detailed life in the Soviet Union, a principal trade partner with Oklahoma's agricultural industry, under the territory's glasnost. The two partnered on several other projects including Tapestry, a 1996 documentary on the lives of several survivors of the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building one year after the terror attack, which was honored with four Emmys, a National Gabriel Award Certificate of Merit as well as several accolades by, among others, the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters, the National Press Club and the Society of Professional Journalists. Cavanaugh holds the record as the longest-serving news anchor in Oklahoma television, having served as primary co-anchor at KTVY/KFOR for 38 years until her retirement from broadcasting on December 15, 2017. (She is also the second-longest-tenured television news personality in Oklahoma, behind only Gary England, who served as chief meteorologist at rival KWTV for 41 years from 1972 to 2013.) Replacing her on the 6:00 and 10:00 p.m. broadcasts was Joleen Chaney, who first joined KFOR as a weekend evening anchor/reporter in 2008, and after a two-year reporting stint at KWTV beginning in June 2014, returned as co-anchor of the weekday 4:00, 5:00 and 6:30 p.m. newscasts in July 2016; Heather Holeman, who first served as weekday morning anchor/reporter from 2000 to 2007 and returned to KFOR in 2015 as a weekday morning traffic reporter, concurrently replaced Cavanaugh as 4:30 p.m. and Chaney as 5:00 p.m. co-anchor.
The Ogle family have been part of the station in some manner since the 1960s. Jack Ogle joined WKY-TV as its main news anchor in 1962, and became known for his interpersonal, "good-ol'-boy" approach to his on-air delivery; his tenure also featured prominent anchor/reporters George Tomek, Ernie Schultz and Jerry Adams. After Schultz moved to a role as WKY-TV's director of information, Ogle became news director in 1970 and served in that capacity for seven years; he continued to occasionally appear on channel 4 as well as rivals KOCO and KWTV after departing as anchor/news director role to do regular commentary pieces. His eldest son, Kevin Ogle, first worked at channel 4 as a reporter from 1986 to 1989; he returned as a weekend evening anchor/reporter in 1993, before being promoted to weeknight co-anchor in 1996. Middle son, Kent, was hired as a reporter in 1994; after brief stints anchoring the weekend morning and, later, weekend evening newscasts starting in 1994, Kent was moved to the weekday morning and noon newscasts in 1997 (two of Jack's other descendants, youngest son Kelly Ogle and granddaughter by way of Kevin, Abigail Ogle, respectively serve as evening co-anchor at KWTV and weeknight 6:00 p.m. co-anchor/reporter for KOCO-TV). In 2006, Kevin began hosting The Rant, a segment airing most Monday through Thursdays during the 10:00 p.m. newscast that features viewer opinions on a selected news story, with the Thursday edition serving as an "open topic" forum featuring positive and critical comments on multiple subjects.
The late Bob Barry, Sr. was also a fixture for many years, starting his television career at WKY-TV as its lead sports anchor in 1966, while maintaining his duties as the radio play-by-play voice of the Oklahoma Sooners (a position to which Barry was appointed by Bud Wilkinson in 1961; Barry called radio broadcasts of OU, and later Oklahoma State, football and basketball games with Jack Ogle until 1974). Barry became sports director in 1970, holding that position for 27 of his 42 years at Channel 4; he remained a part-time evening sports anchor until his retirement in May 2008. His son, Bob Barry, Jr., became weekend sports anchor/reporter at KTVY in 1982, working along Bob Sr. for 25 years and assuming his father's role as sports director in 1997; the younger Barry – who was known for his jovial, off-the-cuff style – served as KFOR's sports director and weeknight sports anchor until the day prior to his death in a motorcycle accident in June 2015. Collectively, including a posthumous win by Bob Barry Jr. in 2016, the Barrys earned 22 "Sportscaster of the Year" awards from the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association (Bob, Sr. holds the record for most wins with 15). In February 2016, Brian Brinkley (who joined KFOR as weekend sports anchor in 1991) succeeded Barry Jr. as sports director.
The station is known for its In Your Corner series of consumer advocacy reports, which focus on investigations into reported scams, area businesses accused of ripping off consumers, and occasionally, issues of corruption in Oklahoma state and local governments. Debuting in 1981, the segment was created and originally conducted by Brad Edwards, who joined channel 4 as a reporter/photographer in 1973, before being promoted to 10:00 p.m. anchor four years later. Edwards also started several community initiatives overseen by the station that help low-income residents, including "Warmth 4 Winter" (a partnership with The Salvation Army Central Oklahoma Area Command and local dry cleaners to collect donated winter coats and other winter clothing for needy Oklahomans) and "Fans 4 Oklahomans" (a drive held each summer to collect boxed fans for donation to the elderly and poor who cannot afford or do not have air conditioning). Following Edwards's death due to complications from endocarditis, vasculitis and a brain aneurysm in May 2006, duties for the "In Your Corner" segment were rotated between anchors Lance West and Ali Meyer, and assignment reporters Scott Hines and Cherokee Ballard in the interim until Hines was promoted to a full-time consumer investigative reporting role in 2007.
On January 5, 1981, KTVY moved its early evening newscast one hour earlier to 5:00 p.m. and expanded it to one hour (it was the first station in Oklahoma City to air an hour-long newscast in that timeslot, predating the launch of KOKH-TV's own 5:00 p.m. news hour by 34 years). The move resulted in the station shifting NBC Nightly News to 6:00 p.m., airing on a half-hour delay from its network-recommended slot. The early-evening newscast was split into two half-hour programs at 5:00 and 6:00 p.m., bookended by Nightly News, on August 19, 1985. In May 1990, KFOR-TV implemented the "24-Hour News Source" concept, which was the subject of a trademark infringement lawsuit filed that month by KOCO-TV, which claimed it held the local rights to the brand name. Providing news headlines in time periods not occupied by the station's regular long-form newscasts or its half-hourly updates during Today, channel 4 began to produce 30-second-long news updates that aired at or near the top of each hour during local commercial break inserts within syndicated and NBC network programs, even during prime time and overnight slots (producers and other newsroom personnel anchored the segments for several years during the 1990s). The station continued to utilize the hourly newsbrief format exclusively in daytime and late fringe slots until 2006, when they were reduced to two afternoon segments serving as de facto promotions for the evening newscasts. Upon joining KFOR in July 1991, Galen Culver (who is currently married to Saturday morning anchor Tara Blume) started Is This a Great State or What?, a regular feature airing Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays during the 5:00 p.m. newscast that focuses on stories of interesting places and people around Oklahoma.
Just prior to and following the adoption of the NewsChannel 4 brand in August 1992, KFOR-TV began to slowly expand its local news programming, starting under the direction of then-general manager Bill Katsafanas and news director Melissa Klinzing, who enacted the strategy to gear KFOR as "the CNN of the [Oklahoma City] market". On June 15 of that year, the station added a weekday afternoon, lifestyle-focused newscast at 4:30 p.m. (originally titled First News at 4:30). Two months later on August 15, channel 4 became the second Oklahoma City station to debut weekend morning newscasts, originally airing Saturdays and – beginning on August 23 – Sundays from 7:00 to 9:00 a.m.; then on August 17, KFOR expanded its weekday noon newscast to a full hour. In September 1993, KFOR debuted Flashpoint, a half-hour Sunday morning talk show that was originally moderated by Devin Scillian (who developed a program of the same title and format at WDIV-TV in Detroit in 1996). Following their run as analysts for channel 4's coverage of the 1992 presidential election, news producer Mary Ann Eckstein, who later became KFOR's news director in 1996, developed the program around panelists and former Oklahoma gubernatorial candidates Mike Turpen and Burns Hargis (the latter of whom left the show in 2008 to become president of Oklahoma State University–Stillwater).
During coverage of the April 19, 1995 Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building bombing, the station erroneously reported during that day's coverage that a member of the Nation of Islam had called in to the station to take credit for the bombing (which was actually orchestrated by Timothy McVeigh, who associated himself with the Patriot movement, and Terry Nichols), even though it cautioned that the claim might have been a crank call; similarly, in the aftermath of the bombing, then-KFOR reporter Jayna Davis reported on a story which claimed that McVeigh was seen drinking beer with a former Iraqi soldier in an Oklahoma City tavern (Davis would later write a 2005 book, The Third Terrorist, which looked at the conspiracy theory that a Middle Eastern man had been involved in planning the bombing). On May 1, 1995, KFOR debuted a half-hour extension of its 6:00 p.m. newscast – replacing first-run syndicated programs that the station had traditionally aired in the 6:30 timeslot, and originally serving to provide proceedings of the aftermath of and developments in the investigation into the Murrah Building bombing – focusing primarily on national and international news headlines that was modeled similarly to ABC, CBS and NBC's national evening newscasts. KFOR-TV has avidly competed with KWTV for first place among the market's local television newscasts for decades. It had placed second behind KWTV in the morning and late evening news timeslots. Nielsen later found an error in KFOR's ratings reports in September 2008, in which share points were mistakenly assigned to KFOR's 4.1 digital multicast signal from 2005 to 2008; the corrected ratings showed that it had placed #2 in all timeslots at that time, a rarity given the ratings declines that NBC's programming and its affiliates' local newscasts overall had suffered beginning in 2004.
On June 5, 2006, KFOR-TV began producing a half-hour weeknight 9:00 p.m. newscast for KAUT-TV (which competes against Fox affiliate KOKH-TV's hour-long newscast that debuted in May 1996); it expanded news programming on KAUT with the debut of a two-hour extension of its weekday morning newscast on September 8, 2008. On July 12, 2009, starting with its 10:00 p.m. newscast, KFOR became the first commercial television station in the Oklahoma City market to begin broadcasting its local newscasts in high definition (it also upgraded its severe weather ticker to be overlaid on HD programming without having to downconvert the content to standard definition); the Is This a Great State or What? segments began to be produced in HD that January and the KAUT newscasts were included in the overall upgrade. On September 7, 2011, KFOR-TV launched a half-hour 4:00 p.m. newscast that features an emphasis on viewer interaction through social media, mixing news, lifestyle and entertainment stories with trending stories on the internet and web videos. On August 27, 2012, KFOR expanded its weekday morning newscast to three hours, with the addition of an hour at 4:00 a.m.
KFOR-TV is one of two stations within the Oklahoma City market that is known for its comprehensive coverage of severe weather affecting the state. The station's Doppler radar system, branded as "4WARN Storm Scanner", provides live dual-Doppler radar data from sites at the Oklahoma City studios and near Newcastle (the latter of which operates at 1 million watts); both also utilize data from National Weather Service (NWS) radar sites nationwide. KFOR also provides local weather updates for six iHeartMedia-owned radio stations: KTOK (1000 AM), KGHM (1340 AM), KBRU (94.7 FM), KXXY-FM (96.1 FM), KTST (101.9 FM) and KJYO (102.7 FM).
Channel 4 is claimed to be the first television station in the United States to have established a professional meteorological department, as a result of the 1951 hire of weather director Wally Kinnan. It also claims to have hired the first local broadcast meteorologist in Oklahoma, Harry Volkman, who joined WKY-TV in March 1952 after a two-year stint at KOTV in Tulsa. On September 5, 1954, it became the first television station to broadcast a tornado warning, doing so for a tornadic thunderstorm approaching Meeker that afternoon. WKY-TV reporter Frank McGee relayed a tornado forecast issued by and intended to be released exclusively to Tinker Air Force Base staff over the phone to Volkman. General manager P.A. Sugg – who, with Oklahoma U.S. Senator Mike Monroney, had been pushing the U.S. Government to overturn a ban on disseminating tornado alerts to the public, believing the high fatality risk and the need to allow residents to take safety precautions outweighed government concerns that it would incite panic – instructed Volkman to deliver an on-air bulletin of the "tornado risk" for central Oklahoma that afternoon. Though he had apprehension of facing arrest for violating government rules, Volkman agreed to deliver the warning after Sugg volunteered to take responsibility. Volkman narrowly avoided being fired by OPUBCO management upon finding out that viewers in the tornado's path sent letters thanking him and WKY-TV for the warning (Volkman would remain at channel 4 until 1954, when he became a meteorologist at KWTV).
In 1958, WKY-TV became the first Oklahoma television station to install a weather radar system, utilizing a converted surplus military radar that was used until 1970. Kinnan had earlier developed methodology to predict and detect tornadoes using radar by identifying wind patterns to predict precipitation movement, despite the NWS's belief that there was no method possible to predict them with a degree of accuracy. That year also saw the hiring of Jim Williams, who would later succeed Volkman's successor, Bob Thomas, as the station's chief meteorologist; Williams formerly held the record as the state's longest-serving television meteorologist, working at channel 4 for 32 years until his retirement in 1990 (Gary England, who served as KWTV's chief meteorologist for 41 years from October 1972 until August 2013, surpassed Williams for the title in 2005). Mike Morgan – who replaced one of Williams' two short-lived successors, Wayne Shattuck, who himself was Morgan's direct predecessor for the same position at KOCO-TV – took over as KFOR's chief meteorologist in 1993. In 1986, KTVY became the first television station in the country to introduce colorized Doppler radar. In 1995, KFOR became the first television station to transmit images over cell phones with the development of "First Video," technology which allowed the station's news crews to send photos and video of severe weather over mobile relays for broadcast (KWTV claims to have originated this method with a similar system developed by former anchor Roger Cooper in 1992, which allowed near-moving video to be relayed to the station over cell phones). The "First Video" technology won a Heartland Emmy for technological broadcast innovation in 1996.
In recent years, KFOR has been locked in a competition KWTV and, to a lesser extent, KOCO for having the top weather technology in the U.S. In 1997, KFOR debuted "The Edge," a radar system which updated radar data in near-real-time intervals (with Morgan having once claimed that it was "20 to 25 minutes" ahead of NEXRAD data, which has a five- to 10-minute update run on average, used by KFOR's two principal competitors) and incorporated street-level mapping. Following the May 1999 tornadoes, with which KFOR's coverage (as well as KWTV and KOCO's) were credited for their extensive warning, Morgan was criticized by other area meteorologists, including Gary England, for taking a "chicken little" approach to tornado coverage, either by providing too much coverage of tornadoes that do not pose an immediate threat to life and property or by misidentifying benign cloud formations in thunderstorms. In April 2013, KFOR partnered with veteran storm chaser Reed Timmer to help supplement the station's storm chasing fleet, providing coverage of severe weather events.
Ain't Nobody Got Time for That – an April 2012 KFOR report that became a viral video for its interview with Kimberly "Sweet Brown" Wilkins on her escape from a fire at an Oklahoma City apartment complex.
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This page was last edited on 12 April 2019, at 08:04 (UTC).
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According to a report in the proceedings of China on December 5, the quantum physicists are using artificial diamond experiment, trying to prove that a few years ago has just been theorized effect: quantum drive can make the diamond power output is higher than the classical thermodynamic limit level.
Only reckless physicists dare to break the laws of thermodynamics. But, as it turns out, there may be ways to change these laws. In a laboratory at Oxford University in England, quantum physicists are trying to do this with a small piece of synthetic diamonds. At first, the diamond was almost invisible in the tangle of optical fibers and mirrors. However, when the researchers opened the green laser, the defects in the diamond were illuminated and the crystals began to glow red.
In this light, scientists have found preliminary evidence of a theoretical effect a few years ago: a quantum boost that gives diamonds more power than classical thermodynamic limits. If found, they will bring tangible benefits to quantum thermodynamic research. Quantum thermodynamics is a relatively new field that aims at revealing the laws governing heat and energy flow on an atomic scale.
The development of classical thermodynamics goes back to the 19th century. They were born to understand the efforts of the steam engine and other macro-systems. Thermodynamic variables such as temperature and heat are statistically significant and are defined according to the average motion of large particle groups. But back in the 1980s, an early pioneer in the field, Ronnie Kosloff, a researcher at the Hebrew university of Israel, began to wonder if the situation would still work for a small number of systems.
Kosloff said it was not a popular research branch at the time, because most of the questions to answer were abstract, and the hopes of combining trials were slim. "The field is developing very slowly." "I've been alone for years," says Kosloff.
This has changed dramatically about a decade ago, as questions about the miniaturization of technology became increasingly urgent and experimental technology breakthroughs. The researchers conducted a series of attempts to infer how thermodynamics and quantum theory were combined. However, Kosloff said that the resulting proposals created more confusion than the problem became clearer. Some claim that quantum components can break classical thermodynamic limits without damage, so they can work as a perpetual motion machine without any energy input. Others have argued that the laws of thermodynamics should remain unchanged at very small scales. But they are equally perplexed. "In some cases, you can infer the performance of a single atomic engine and a car engine using the same equation." Kosloff said, "but it also looks shocking -- to be sure, when objects get more and more hours, they should reach some quantum limit." In classical thermodynamics, individual particles have no temperature. Therefore, the university of freiburg, Germany quantum physicists Tobias Schaetz believes that as the work of the system and its environment approaching a limit, imagine they will obey the rules of the standard thermodynamic increasingly become a ridiculous thing.
Inspired by the idea that information is a physical quantity and closely related to thermodynamics, researchers have tried to rewrite the laws of thermodynamics so that they can work in quantum fields.
Perpetual motion seems unlikely. The early hope, though, is that the quantum thermodynamic constraints may be less stringent than in classical fields. "This is a series of ideas that we've learned from quantum computing, that quantum effects help break classical boundaries." "Said Raam Uzdin, a quantum physicist at the Israel institute of technology.
He also said it was disappointing that this was not the case. Organize new analysis shows that the second law of (efficiency) and the third law (ban system achieve absolute zero) and traditional quantum version of "avatar" keep similar restrictions, in some cases even more stringent restrictions.
The theory also reveals some potential leeway. In a probe of information flow in a particle moving between hot chamber and cold chamber theory analysis, including a photon science institute (Barcelona, Spain quantum physicist Arnau Riera and Manabendra Nath Bera, the team found a strange scene: room seems to spontaneously become more hot, and cold chamber becomes colder. "At first it looked crazy, like we broke the laws of thermodynamics." Bera said. But researchers quickly realized that they ignored the quantum distortion that particles in the chamber became entangled with each other. Theoretically, generating and breaking these associations provides a way to store and release energy. Once such quantum resources are included, the laws of thermodynamics are emerging.
Some independent teams propose to use such entanglements to store energy in "quantum batteries". Meanwhile, a team from the Italian institute of technology is trying to identify the predictions of the Barcelona team using a battery built from a superconducting quantum bit. In principle, such quantum batteries can be charged much faster than conventional batteries. "You can't extract and store energy beyond the traditional limits of allow-this is determined by the second law." "But you may be able to speed up the extraction and storage of energy," Riera said.
Some researchers are looking for simpler ways to manipulate bits of quantum computing applications. By manipulating the energy levels of quantum bits, the quantum physicist Nayeli Azucena Rodriguez and his colleagues at the university of Waterloo in Canada have devised a way to enhance the cooling capacity of quantum computing operations. They are now planning to test the idea in a laboratory using superconducting quantum bits.
The concept of quantum effects that can be used to improve thermodynamic properties is also an inspiration for the diamond experiment at Oxford University. The trial was first proposed by Kosloff, Uzdin and Amikam Levy, who works with Hebrew university. Founded by a nitrogen atom in diamond can act as the engine of defects - this is a first with high temperature heat source (laser) in the experiment, and then after contact with low temperature heat source can perform operation of machines. But Kosloff and his colleagues hope to use the quantum effects that make some electrons exist at the same time in two energy states, and that such engines can operate in enhanced mode. By firing laser pulses instead of using continuous beams to maintain these superpositions, they should be able to release the microwave photons more rapidly.
Recently, the Oxford University team released a preliminary analysis and presented evidence of the existence of a predicted quantum boost. While the paper has not yet received peer review, Janet Anders, a quantum physicist at the university of Exeter, said it would be "a breakthrough" if the work was tenable. However, Anders said it was unclear what made the "feat" possible. "It looks like a magical fuel that doesn't have to add much energy, but it makes the engine extract the energy more quickly." "Theoretical physicists still need to study how it does that," Anders said.
In the view of Peter Hanggi, a quantum physicist at the university of augsburg, the focus test is just a significant step in the right direction in the process of reviving the field. But for him, the tests were not bold enough to give real breakthrough insights. At the same time, there is a challenge to ignore: measurement operations and interaction with the environment can create irreversible interference with quantum systems. These effects are rarely fully taken into account in the theoretical recommendations for new trials, Hanggi said. "It's hard to calculate, it's harder to implement in the experiment."
Ian Walmsley of Oxford University, who led the diamond trial, is also cautious about the future of the field. Although Walmsley and other experimenters have been drawn to quantum thermodynamic research in recent years, he says their interest is largely "opportunistic". They found the opportunity to develop relatively fast and simple tests, using devices that had already been installed for other purposes. For example, the diamond defect test device has been widely used in quantum computing and sensor applications. Walmsley believes that quantum thermodynamics is booming. "But it remains to be seen whether it will continue to be active, or ultimately, nothing."
According to BMO Capital Markets, according to data with the surge in demand growth, cobalt supply has been very nervous, the price has reached the highest level in ten years, and may double in the next few years.
"There is no question of doubling the spot price of cobalt in the coming years," BMO said in an investment report on Monday. Even without the need for electric cars, cobalt is a tight market. What's more, the penetration rate of electric vehicles is forecast to reach 10% by 2025.
The LME's cobalt price has more than doubled this year, with tesla, Volkswagen and general motors Co. planning to increase production of electric vehicles. Banks such as Exane BNP Paribas and other major producers such as glencore forecast rapid growth in battery use.
The democratic republic of Congo has more than half of the world's reserves.
The BMO forecasts a further increase in cobalt prices. To spur supply growth and encourage alternatives, cobalt prices will have to rise from around $30 a pound now to the peak of $50 a pound in 2007. The average cobalt price is expected to be $40.50 per pound by 2019.
Bloomberg New Energy Finance has also said that the booming market for electric vehicles could drive cobalt demand up to 47 times by 2030.
Domestic tungsten city as a whole are institutions and large tungsten enterprises guided price rise, inhibition of superposition tungsten grain production, raw material market pull downstream enterprises enquiries are increasing, tungsten products steady rise of patterns in the mainstream price, market transactions to be follow up.
Overweight tungsten concentrates on the market, the environmental protection policy, the production cost is higher, and big companies attitude stability, the tungsten raw material at the bottom of the support is strong, the supplier processing enterprise for confidence, wu goods rised emotional full-bodied, black tungsten concentrates the market price is 65 degrees now to 110000 yuan/ton.
APT on the market, the upstream supply is hard to find at a lower price, cost support smelting firms with higher price, buy up downstream, under the influence of psychological first stock will also increased, however, restricted by end demand, trade type enterprise purchase intention is still weak, the market actual transaction is given priority to with just need a small amount. The supply and demand standoff, APT manufacturer to reduce the price to go goods will not be strong, short-term conservative follow up the raw material price.
Tungsten powder on the market, near the end of the market inflows less, after the end of the market to the high price raw material consumption ability is low, and the raw material supply of goods procurement difficult to follow the price rise, powder market order basically reflect on rigid clinch a deal. However, with the increase of the average price of the forecast of a new round of tungsten, the company's confidence has been supported, and the price of high grade tungsten powder is gradually close to 265 yuan/kg.
Together, the raw material of new slow spot supply, short-term price will keep steady upward trend in tungsten, but the market has not fully become a seller's market, industry participants still demand and capital direct messages need to be careful attention.
With advanced technology and flexible marketing mode, the diamond tool industry in ezhou city has become the main production base of diamond tools and related products in China. The city of yanji, known as "China diamond cutter first town", its "yan cepa standard" also becomes the national standard.
In recent years, a number of illegal businessmen have made a profit on the famous diamond brands in ezhou, disrupting the business order of the diamond industry and making the city's diamond brands suffer. Infringement behavior, in the face of the diamond market appear to ezhou, industrial and commercial bureau "against infringing counterfeit enforcement action" as the gripper, crack down on fake diamond market infringement violations, as "the first town of diamond cutting tools in China" be a good keeper. As of now, there are 5 cases of diamond counterfeiting infringement cases, and the case value is 15.5 million yuan.
In order to further standardize the diamond market order, the industrial and commercial departments of ezhou combined with the development characteristics of the diamond industry, and established the system of random inspection of the sub-market subject, and implemented differential supervision. Town town of yanji, diamond industrial park the sub-centres intensify inspection, establish diamond market main body credit standing book, refining the diamond industry credit rating, increasing credit unit of missing inspection frequency, intensify supervision, strengthen their own credit construction market main body.
Brands need to be created and protected. In the "I work for business operators" activities, in conjunction with the hongxing tool factory in ezhou city, the "hongxing" trademark has been successfully used to protect the legitimate rights and interests of the operators. This year, under the guidance of the industrial and commercial department of the city of ezhou, the brand protection mechanism has been established by e xin, changli and li lai, and the investment in brand protection has been increased.
As of October, the industrial and commercial system of the city of hubei has been sent out to the law enforcement personnel by 2737 (the number of persons), and the subject of inspection is 6940 (household); In order to check the total number of customers' demands, the total number of customers' appeals was 6301, and the total number of consumers' economic losses was 248.86 million yuan. "Double dozen" cases 125 cases, the value of 114 million yuan, among them the trademark infringement case 7 pieces, the case value 130,000 yuan, created the market environment of fair competition and safe and assured consumer environment.
Recently, professor bing-bing liu team to C70 confined carbon nanotubes composite structure (C70 peapod along), the use of ultra-high pressure technology won the atmospheric pressure can be intercepted, can make the diamond YaZhen indentation new carbon structure, theory combined with experimental means for further reveals the carbon phase with monoclinal structure, full sp3 superhard new carbon structure. The research will inspire people to design and utilize new materials with excellent performance in combination with high pressure technology, and provide a new way for the research and development of new multi-functional materials.
Carbide circular saw blade is an efficient cutting tool. It is widely used in cutting wood, plastic, aluminum profile, organic glass, furniture and other industries because of its narrow cutting saw, high efficiency and good cutting surface. This paper introduces the name of each part of the carbide circular saw blade, the composition structure of the saw blade and the selection of the parameters of CAD software design.
The carbide circular saw blade consists of the alloy knife head and the body. The body is steel plate, the material is mostly alloy tool steel, spring steel and other high quality steel plate. Owing to the fast cutting speed of saw blade in work, it produces a lot of heat. For better heat dissipation, several loose hot lines and radiation holes can be designed on the ontology. Because of the high speed during the work of saw blade, the noise is very high, which can be used according to the object of sawblade processing, and design different sound reducing channels to reduce noise pollution as much as possible. The installation hole can be designed according to the diameter of the spindle diameter and the installation method of the machine tool equipment, such as optical hole, keyway hole and small round hole. The blade is made of hard alloy and the head needs to be soldered to the body. Welding with manual welding and automatic machine welding. Carbide circular saw blade structure, as shown in FIG. 1.
Cemented carbide is a kind of alloy material made of refractory metal and bonded metal through powder metallurgy. It is widely used in cutting tool materials due to its high hardness and wear-resisting characteristics. Hard alloy has tungsten cobalt (YG) and tungsten titanium (YT). Tungsten-cobalt hard alloy has good impact resistance and is widely used in wood processing. The commonly used models are YG8 ~ YG15, and the figure behind YG indicates the percentage of cobalt content. The impact toughness and bending strength of the alloy improved with the increase of cobalt content, but the hardness and wear resistance decreased. Therefore, the choice of the size of the blade of the blade should be selected according to the different cutting objects. For example, the cut cork can choose the larger number of the number, the blade of the cut solid wood needs high hardness to choose the small number.
3.1 selection of body material The 65Mn spring steel is widely used as an ontology by domestic saw blade manufacturers because of its elasticity and plasticity, quenching of heat treatment and material economy. Because it has the disadvantage of low temperature and easy deformation, it is used for cutting. 50 mn2v alloy steels, due to its added 0.08% ~ 0.16% of vanadium, improve the quenching properties, while increasing the manganese content, reduces the carbon content, improved the various mechanical and mechanical properties of steel, improves the heat resistance, heat distortion temperature in 300 ~ 400 ℃, extend the service life of the saw blade. This material is suitable for making high-grade carbide circular saw blades. In China, there are 45Mn2V and 50Mn2V, and the Japanese saw blade ontology is SKS5.
3.2 selection of body thickness The thickness of the saw blade determines the width of the blade, and the width of the blade is generally about 1mm larger than the size of the body thickness. Although the thickness of the body is thicker the higher the strength, the width of the blade will also increase correspondingly, resulting in the width of the saw and the increase of material consumption. The thickness of the alloy saw blade is determined by the material of the sawblade body and the process of making the saw blade. The thickness of the blade is too thin and the blade is easy to swing when working, affecting the quality of the cutting. The selection of blade thickness should consider the stability of its work and save the cutting materials, while some saw blade thickness is specific, such as slotting saw blade, marking saw blade, etc.
3.3 selection of body diameter The diameter of saw blade is related to the thickness and equipment of the cut piece. When the blade thickness is certain, the smaller the diameter, the higher the strength. According to the thickness of the processed objects, the diameter of the saw blade is 110, 150, 180, 200, 205, 250, 255, 300, 305, 350, 355, 400, 500 (unit: mm). The diameter of the sawing trough of precision cutting board is 120mm.
3.4 determination of tooth number The teeth of the saw blade are determined by the cutting object and the cutting method, usually the tooth spacing is 15 ~ 25mm. For example, the cutting materials are dense and hard, and the number of teeth is more. On the contrary, the cutting material is loose, the chip is larger, and the number of teeth is reduced correspondingly. Cutting the same wood, the longitudinal cut and the crosscutting manner are different, the number of teeth is also different. The longitudinal cutting materials are sparse and the teeth are few. Cross cut material fiber more, the tooth number is much. Of course, the amount of hard alloy blade will increase, and the price of saw blade will increase, so there are more factors to be considered.
3.5 blade profile selection Some forms of common saw blade profile are shown in FIG. 2. Flat tooth grinding is simpler and less costly, mainly used for sawing of common wood, or used for slotting saw blade to keep the bottom level. The shape of the left and right tooth is the most widely used, the cutting speed is fast and the grinding is simpler, which can be used for multiple saws, solid wood, edge saws, reinforced flooring and aluminum alloy veneers. The left and right flank profile is used for plywood, frame and particleboard. The trimmings are more complicated, which can reduce the surface collapse and prevent the adhesion and sawing of the aluminum alloy, usually used for cutting board saw and aluminum alloy. Due to the larger diameter and thickness of the electronic drive saw, the average diameter is 350 ~ 450mm, and the thickness is between 4.0 and 4.8mm.
3.6 blade Angle design of saw blade There are six cutting edges of saw blades, radial front Angle, radial rear Angle, transverse front Angle, apex inclination Angle, side rear Angle and side Angle. Among them, the most influence on cutting performance is radial front Angle and radial back Angle. Radial rake Angle, the greater the sharpness, the better, the faster the cutting speed, is in commonly 10 ° ~ 20 °. When the processing materials are soft or solid wood, the radial front Angle should be larger; On the other hand, the texture is slightly smaller. The radial posterior Angle is used to prevent the friction between the sawtooth and the processed surface. The larger the rear Angle, the smaller the friction and the more smooth the processed products. But the radial front Angle must be, the larger the radial Angle, the thinner the blade will be, resulting in lower strength. Carbide saw blade radial Angle after general values in 10 ° ~ 15 °.
3.7 the design of the hotline The hotline is designed to quickly dissipate the blades during processing. If it does not heat up in time, the saw blade will become deformed, which will affect the cutting quality of the saw blade, which will cause the machining to fail normally. The dispersion hotline is composed of a smooth curve, which is cut directly by the laser. The ends are small round holes or elliptical holes with a diameter of about 0.5mm. Figure 4 shows the shape of the common scattered hotlines. The number of loose lines is generally determined by the size of the saw blade and the number of blades. Most of the sawblade bodies with diameters of 300mm or over 300mm are used in a long line, and the number of designs is a multiple of the number of blades, generally 3 ~ 5. A multi-slice saw or thin blade saw is not very large in diameter, it is not recommended to use a loose hot line, mostly designed as a cooling hole.
3.9 type and size of mounting hole The center hole of the saw blade is the mounting hole of the saw blade. The diameter of the blade is directly related to the thickness of the installation shaft of the woodworking sawing machine. Be sure to ask the customer for the size of the hole when designing the hole. The mounting hole is in the form of a bare hole with a rectangular keyway mounting hole (with one or two keyways) and mounting holes with small round holes (one or two round holes). At present, the diameter of the blade diameter of the saw blade in domestic design is 20mm in diameter, and the diameter of the blade diameter is 20mm. The diameter of the saw blade is 25.4mm mounting hole at the diameter of 120 ~ 230mm; The diameter of the saw blade is 30mm above the 250mm diameter. Some imported equipment also has a 15.875mm mounting hole. The multi-blade saw mounting holes usually have key grooves to ensure their stability.
4 saw blade CAD design method The design process of carbide woodworking circular saw blade is based on the parameters mentioned above. First draw the horizontal and vertical center line, draw the diameter of the blade to draw the circle and the circle where the hole is located. Secondly, select the suitable carbide tool head, select the radial front Angle and the radial back Angle according to the different materials, and draw the outline of the blade and the base of the tooth with the Angle line. Redraw the tooth groove and the back of the tooth. The difference between the diameter of the blade and the diameter of the blade is generally around 3mm. The length of the head is about 1.5mm, and the blade cannot be hung too much. It can not be hung too little, otherwise it is easy to hit the body. 1.1.5mm by deviation command. Use the round array command array to give all the teeth of the saw blade according to the number of blades. Then draw the circle of the diameter of the slot. The diameter of the circle is related to the spacing of the body teeth, and the distance of the tooth space is a, and the depth of the tooth groove of the tooth groove is shown in table 3, and the circular deviation of the body diameter is the circle of the diameter of the tooth groove. Saw blade tooth spacing of ontology a tooth groove depth and ontology h relationship by tooth back slash depends on the size of radial rake Angle, the general will tooth line copy after spinning around 15 ° as tooth arch wire, figure 6 for tooth and tooth groove. The slot of the tooth groove is to capture the base line of the teeth, the round of the tooth groove and the anticlinal line of the tooth, and make the appropriate adjustment, so that the area of the tooth groove and the tooth base is roughly the same. Remove redundant lines, and only retain a complete tooth base, tooth groove, tooth back and alloy blade profile. Once again, using the circular array command to complete the profile of the tooth profile, and based on the muffler and the loose hot line parameters, design and draw the muffler and the loose hot line. Finally fill in the title bar and complete the design requirement of the saw blade. FIG. 7 is the name of the parts of the carbide woodworking circular saw blade.
Carbide woodworking circular saw blade with CAD software design, according to the cutting environment and objects, first needed to master the saw blade size, the tooth profile, such as installation size of holes, and then specific to each blade parameters, the optimized adjustment, design a suitable qualified saw blade cutting requirements.
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2019-04-26T15:38:06Z
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http://www.btcarbide.com/news-events-page75/
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Do You Fail the Invisible Job Interview?
Disneyland may be the happiest place on earth, but the Disney store is not. The miserable experience of that retail environment at Santa Monica Promenade in California is remarkable for its consistently angry retail clerks and harsh restrictions on purchase. Nothing about the Disney brand gets you ready for it.
No, I don’t tell people I am interviewing them when we first meet in the retail setting. I don’t talk about the jobs I have open – and neither do the thousands of employers who use exactly the same technique as I do. We simply look for happy, proactive and engaging people, and then watch them solve problems or just do their job with a can-do attitude.
You are a candidate in an invisible job interview like that several times a week. It might happen on a phone call you make, one you take, or just doing your survival job while you wait for something better.
Within three feet of you is probably every opportunity you ever need, no matter what level of experience, education and interest you have. After all, 85% of why we make a hire is related to personal traits, and only 15% is actual skill. Most skills can be earned on-the-job or during a quick course of study.
We are hiring good people.
You’ve got to ask: what are we getting when we have the opportunity to interact with you when you aren’t doing active job seeking.
It’s like candid camera. Most employers are silently watching for great service and a positive attitude. It’s the way 75% of my clients and referring network have actually brought on a new employee.
At the Disney store on Sunday, I attempted to buy some Star Wars toys and it was an epic battle. Five employees roamed the store, assiduously avoiding eye contact with consumers who were also roaming the store. It wasn’t near closing time. It wasn’t packed. It was just ridiculous.
There was no one to check stock (because they were too busy looking at the floor and chatting with each other). One clerk I finally found actually said, “I cannot be bothered with this right now.” Checkout was so difficult with a scowling cashier who counted my Star Wars toys like a TSA employee checking my carry-on.
I was so relieved to leave with my purchases – including a bag I paid for at the counter, so I did not look like I was looting the store when I finally made it out the door. Apparently, the cashier would not or could not dispense a free bag to go with two toys that cost about 25 cents to make/ship/stock and retailed for about $25 each. If Disney retail is going for The Nightmare Before Christmas, they have met their corporate objective.
Don’t let an opportunity for an invisible job interview find you goofing off, angrily ringing up purchases or in any way being rude when you should be helping. You never know who’s watching, and what career lottery you may win.
Who is your audience? Everyone around you.
Whether you are sitting with your boss having a one-on-one conversation, texting a friend or standing on stage in front of 10,000 people: you are with your audience.
Consider how profound your silence is, if you aren’t active on social media. Consider the cost to you, if you are not treating other people like your audience.
Consider the consequences of being aggressive, withholding, menacing, lazy, jealous, insensitive or crazy (even momentarily).
Consider the power of communication with the intention to help your audience move forward – while you are also serving your own goals. Consider how that gives you a competitive advantage in a job interview, the chance for a promotion, and a referral from someone who simply knows you online, or any other situation that matters.
The terrible truth is: every word, every image, every frame of video, and even silence lifts you up or tears you down in the eyes of your audience.
This might include the people who share air with you, like at the office. It includes all your social media posts and comments, all the book reviews or LinkedIn messages you write and all the Periscope, YouTube, and Sooth you create. All the Skype, Facetime, and other relatively real time communication channels you use.
Got it? Anyone who can hear you, see you or otherwise catch your drift: those people are your audience.
The good news is: your greatest, fastest, and most profitable way to reach your desired outcomes is completely in your command. Your success depends on the next word you say, and the word after that, and so on.
Finesse in communication isn’t something tricky like it is in billiards, baking bread or doing anything that demands extraordinary skills.
Communication done with finesse kindly takes into account the ability of your audience to understand and focus on your message, and responsibly putting it in words your audience will embrace because they see evidence you are trustworthy and caring.
With everything you might do to create wealth and profit, consider how simple and productive it is to be kind and responsible.
Those two qualities drive offers and referrals to you, give evidence you are the most attractive candidate or partner, and give people the faith to sign contracts and do deals with you.
If you would like to become a communication leader – and you will be in Southern California on October 10 and 11: join me at my Personal Branding Boot Camp at UCLA Extension. Use Promo Code: W7199 to get 10% off PLUS an hour with me one-on-one (a $495 session FREE).
If you have a question I can answer: email me at [email protected], and I will do my best to move you forward. Just put Boot Camp in the subject line, so I know to look for you.
How Will You Benefit from the Last Boot Camp of 2015?
Wildest offer ever from UCLAx and me! Register for my Personal Branding Boot Camp (October 10 and 11), and use PROMO CODE W7199 for 10% off PLUS a one-on-one coaching session with me ($495, my GIFT) – and a bonus book, too! Now, let’s talk about boot camps!
A boot camp is a famously crushing work out with a drill instructor yelling at you. Or a personal trainer screaming to do “four more.” Why would anyone go to a boot camp? Because it’s actually an immersion, a totally dedicated and focused period of time when you do all the things you should do – with no excuses or distractions. Surrounded by people with intense motivation, which amplifies your own energy and dedication.
A boot camp is the fastest way to get into shape.
What does this have to do with personal branding, your career or business success?
Twice each year, I give the Personal Branding Boot Camp at UCLA Extension – and it’s about to come up. On October 10 and 11, from 9 AM to 4 PM: you can get down and deep with an amazing group of fellow campers; each stretching their brains and expanding their potential.
Simply put: you accelerate your trajectory toward success.
In just two days, master the art of branding you! This seminar is perfect for people in career transition who want to discover their passion, solo-entrepreneurs and small business owners who want to attract new clients, or job seekers looking to attract quality job offers.
Get the secrets of using personal intelligence and reputation-building to reach your goals, and learn to leverage the power of social media.
In a structured, fun and supportive workshop, pinpoint your authentic and most attractive qualities, create a unique selling proposition and learn how to communicate online and on-ground in a powerful, engaging style.
Get tips on creating your own visual brand for your social networking pages and blog, plus advanced techniques for LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and more. Enjoy lots of interaction, personal development exercises, and guest speakers.
If you are able to register and make it to Los Angeles for this event, I have a big bonus for you.
I will personally coach you for a one hour, one-on-one session, to make sure you get a huge leap forward on your career or business success. This one-hour coaching session is $495, but if you come to the boot camp: it’s yours FREE. Plus: you get a complete notebook with a personal branding blueprint to continue to build your personal brand, once we jump start the process in camp.
So, come for the amazing transformation you will make over the weekend, and then schedule your coaching session with me for your personal one-on-one follow up. That way you can get all the personal attention you need.
I want to ensure this a huge win for your personal brand. That’s why I am making this one-on-one coaching offer, and the personal branding blueprint materials.
If you’re coming in to Southern California, don’t worry about our follow-up session. I have clients all over the world, so we can use a myriad of ways to hold your session – and record it, too! So you have a refresher whenever you desire. Want a taste? You can even see me coach live on CNBC TV at NanceSpeaks!.
If you want more information – please email me at [email protected]. Subject line: Camp.
Or, register by going directly to http://bit.ly/1JKN6KK.
See you in Los Angeles, on campus at UCLA!
The workplace is a lot like high school. It’s fraught with angst about being in or out, being smart or not, and being liked or not liked.
According to new research, employees are not into liking each other. They are not making any effort to build relationships with each other.
They are there to do a job or at least put in the time, go home and maybe find something better while grazing on LinkedIn or dozens of other job sites.
It turns out the workplace has become “transactional” for almost all employees. There’s an expectation that it’s simply a matter of time before you leave voluntarily or are asked to leave. So there’s a disincentive to build real relationships with your co-workers, to dig in and really get to know one another.
Back in the day, there were bowling leagues, picnics, families becoming “family friends,” and a kind of comfort in seeing the same folks everyday. In essence, the workplace was a second home for many employees.
Now, the expectation is that you will be at that job for a limited time, until something better comes along. Or, it’s a matter of time before you are told your job is no longer part of the strategic vision. “You are out,” to quote Heidi Klum.
It’s hard to be a free agent, in essence signed to a day-to-day contract. It’s hard to bond, and become an enthusiastic team member. It’s even harder if you are working from home or a remote location.
BTW, it’s equally hard to lead under those circumstances, although I bet you find it hard to sympathize with your boss.
There’s something even more insidious about this new relationship to work – or more aptly: the lack of a secure relationship to work and co-workers.
Stress. Impermanence. Insecurity. Instability. Resentment. Anger.
The best way to assuage these very real feelings is to make the effort to bond to your co-workers. Say hi and really find out how they are doing. Ask what they did over the weekend. If they live in proximity to you, ask if they want to shoot pool, grab coffee or take a yoga class with you next weekend.
Build your network of people, and I don’t mean just on social media. Build relationships with people who work with you.
This will raise your emotional state, and create a personal sense of stability. Real relationships with co-workers make any kind of work more satisfying and stabilizing. Make and keep ties with those who come and then go. And those at all levels.
Almost every night that I work late enough to see our maintenance staff, I feel better. They are a father and son team. I always ask how they’re doing, we talk about stuff, and they always play with my monster-sized dogs (yes, my dogs come to work). The son always tells me to be safe on the road home when we pack out for the night.
Over the holiday weekend we ran into each other, as I was heading for the beach. I felt like I was seeing family. That sense of surprise, a happy jolt, a hug and on with the day, feeling tethered to such nice people.
Consider hugging a co-worker today. Just a side-hug: in an appropriate gender neutral way. Or, at least give a fist bump when you hear what they did when they weren’t laboring on Labor Day.
Have you recently gone from no job to a bad job?
A lot of people have emerged from their parents’ basement. They are dressed for work that they loathe. You know why. The crazy boss. Lazy coworkers. Angry customers. Too many meetings. Not enough freedom. The air conditioning is too cold. Someone steals your lunch from the fridge.
Even if the compensation is good enough, there’s no “there” there. Nothing that personally means anything to you.
Why? The job is about productivity not people.
Maybe your keystrokes are counted to ensure you meet quota. Maybe your job is to get on and off the phone as quickly as possible.
Or maybe the product or service is deficient. It does less than it could. Less than the competitors do. It’s not the latest in technology, fashion, approach or media.
Or maybe you don’t like the customers. You can’t relate to their problems. You never use your company’s product or service, because you like something else better.
Or maybe, as we used to say in advertising, your job is to “put lipstick on that pig.” The product or service is truly awful. You are embarrassed to tell people what you do.
There’s at least one theory that gets to the root of the reason you actually want to go back into the basement.
You feel like you don’t matter.
You feel like you are not making a difference.
You have been cut off from a part of yourself that is dying to be expressed.
Before you quit or start looking elsewhere: consider what would boost your personal involvement. What would ignite your feel good emotions? What could you do that is OUTSIDE of your job description that would make you happy or proud?
An enlightened CEO or department head knows how important it is to develop your personal investment in the job. And, we know it has nothing to do with the tasks or skills.
When we can create meaning, we retain employees. And that meaning needs to be genuine, and personally gratifying. In other words, meaning is worth more than money to employees. All the studies have shown that.
A janitor who interacts with employees working after hours might find joy in the jokes he tells to his audience of over-timers. A customer service rep who actually meets a tech-frazzled customer, sees that solving her problem really saves that customer’s business.
Whatever you do, see if you can see yourself as a hero.
So your task is to think beyond the tasks you must do. Think about the results you help accomplish, and how it changes lives. Don’t wait for an enlightened boss to do it for you. In fact, if you do this for yourself, you are likely to become the boss.
The ultimate productivity hack is sticking to a very boring routine. A life filled – at least for a short time – with almost no variety. No choices. No novelty.
Happiness has been dissected by the experts. Novel, fun experiences create happiness. So the highest level of productivity comes down to eschewing anything that is new and exciting.
The anti-happiness regimen is largely about removing any variety, any distraction and any fun for a period of time. That time is when you are able to fully engage in whatever your work or project demands.
I can hear the life balance people moaning.
Take heart. This is not a prescription for living your life. It is the prescription for getting something done rapidly, with the full force of your intelligence and imagination.
How many times in your life do you need to be ultra productive? It depends on your life, your desired ultimate outcome and your ability to pledge allegiance to a burning desire. Without a burning desire, this won’t work.
I just finished writing my third book. It took 32 edits. It is– as each book has been – my life’s work for a period of time. It – like the other books – aren’t my whole story. I work. I teach. I coach. I speak.
The secret of the ultimate productivity hack is to put everything possible on auto-pilot. At the simplest level, I start with what I eat. I make something I call my “writer’s mix.” It is turkey, Brussels sprouts, spinach, carrots, and a huge volume of turmeric and chile paste.
I eat it three times a day. I start out with a huge stewing pot of this stuff. Then, for breakfast, lunch and dinner: I eat it. The goal is simple: no joy of eating. I start out hungry. I eat the mix. I am full.
I do the same with every other task in my life, while I am writing and editing. I do my social media interactions every three hours. I pick up my email while I’m eating. I walk my dogs for an hour, during twilight so it’s cool enough for them and the right time to clear my head. I don’t hibernate nor am I rigid. I went to a wedding of a dear friend last Friday evening. I met another dear friend for lunch on Sunday afternoon. So, part of the routine is two times over a weekend, I have three hours with people I know well and adore.
There’s a religious text with a passage about there being a time for everything. When you have a project that must be done and have a life that must be folded in around it: this is the time for being focused on your purpose.
Promise yourself, you will be happy. Later. For now: set up the rules, routines, rituals and habits that protect you from distraction, confusion, choices and decision-making.
The more boring your life is the better, when it comes to being super successful at getting something important done. Need some tips on setting up your routine? Email me at [email protected]. Subject line: Productivity.
Creativity, innovation and adaptability are the hallmarks of today’s best leaders. Not CEOs mind you, leaders. Don’t confuse a title like CEO with the reality that most of us will lead from the back of the pack, or somewhere in the middle.
Creativity is a calling. Innovation is a burning desire. Adaptability is personal trait.
CEO, COO, president and general manager are just job titles.
Most top officers find it difficult to be creative. There are too many responsibilities and constituencies to look after. Focusing on squeezing out profit every 12 weeks. Cutting costs to keep shareholders happy. When you are watching your back, it’s hard to keep your eyes on the road ahead.
A job title does not imbue the individual with courage or charisma. Those are personal traits. Creativity takes many forms, so don’t count yourself out because you are in accounting, operations, human resources, logistics, project management or any other field or specialty.
Employees, consultants, coaches, freelancers and suppliers: the opportunity to transform an organization (and with that your own career) is yours for the doing.
How do you start? It helps to hold a deep affection for your company and clients, since creativity is a gift you give. Think about the impact your company could have and the growth your clients could enjoy.
Creative leadership makes your job more meaningful and gives you visibility. Do something small at first – deliver a project early, come up with alternative courses of action, and whenever possible deliver unexpected added value. A bit of qualitative research or sentiment analysis (collecting comments made on forums or social media) is a good example of providing new perspectives that lead to new solutions.
Do you want to increase the reality of possibilities in your career or business? Then pick one of these qualities each week for the next ten weeks. Find every way you can to demonstrate the quality you’re working on. Add them up and in ten weeks you will have transformed yourself, and perhaps the organization and clients you serve.
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2019-04-19T17:15:25Z
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http://www.nancerosenblog.com/category/personal-brand/page/2/
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Sustainable development: What do we need to know?
"Sustainability is not a technical problem to be solved . . . Sustainability is a vision of the future that provides us with a road map and helps to focus our attention on a set of values and ethical and moral principles by which to guide our actions . . ."
This is a chapter from A Sustainable World (1995; see Sustainability). At the time of writing it, Dr. Viederman was President of the Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation in New York City. A historian by training, he has held senior positions with the Population Council and the UN Population Fund.
On January 17, 1994 a major earthquake rocked Los Angeles. That event, combined with chronic problems of water and air, underline the obvious: that Los Angeles presents a textbook example of technology and science winning out over common sense. This bears directly upon our concerns today: knowledge for sustainability.
"There is a need for a relatively value-neutral definition of sustainability that permits consensus among people with widely differing value perspectives and world views to agree on whether or not the objective criteria for sustainability have been met in any given development strategy or project, but without necessarily endorsing that strategy or project in terms of their value system. In other words, whether or not a given development path is sustainable should, in principle, be a scientific rather than a trans-scientific question . . ."
Robert White, President of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, has similarly argued recently that scientists are more capable of creating "rational" public policy than the public-at-large (White 1993).
Sustainability is not a technical problem to be solved or an "uncertain characteristic," as suggested by David Munro in his article [in A Sustainable World]. Sustainability is a vision of the future that provides us with a road map and helps to focus our attention on a set of values and ethical and moral principles by which to guide our actions, as individuals, and in relation to the institutional structures with which we have contact—governmental and nongovernmental, work-related, and other. I have argued elsewhere that sustainability is a community’s control of capital, in all of its forms—natural, human, human-created, social, and cultural—to ensure to the degree possible that present and future generations can attain a high degree of economic security and achieve democracy while maintaining the integrity of the ecological systems upon which all life and production depend (Viederman 1993).
We must begin by recognizing that many of the problems that we face today, as Barry Commoner observed many years ago, are not the result of incidental failures but of technological and scientific successes. Witness nuclear power and the problems of agriculture. The problems of environmental justice are also products of technological successes, without comparable social and moral development. Witness Los Angeles.
Science can describe, with different degrees of precision, what is, and to a lesser degree, can help us to assess what can be. Science cannot tell us what should be, and that is the key issue of sustainability. Science is a form of know-how: it is a means without consideration of ends. It underlines the differences between knowing how to do something, and knowing what to do.
Many have argued for new thinking about science at different times in this century. Einstein observed that "we cannot solve the problems that we have created with the same thinking that created them." John Maynard Keynes remarked that "the difficulty lies not in new ideas, but in escaping from old ones." And Friedrich Hayek, in his Nobel address, noted the irony that economists of his time were being called upon to solve the very problems which they had helped to create. Each of these observations should become an internal guide for each of us as we think about the role of knowledge in sustainability.
With this as introduction, let us return to the assigned question: "What do we need to know?" It may not come as a surprise to you by now that I think that is the wrong question on at least two counts.
First, the problem of sustainability is not a problem of lack of knowledge. Focusing on "need to know" as an issue assumes that lack of knowledge is the problem and suggests that there is a cure—namely, more and "adequate" knowledge. But as David Orr (1991) has correctly observed, "As important as research is, the lack of it is not the limiting factor in the conservation of biodiversity." The problems of sustainability are primarily problems of power, on the one hand, and political will, on the other hand. Debates over international whaling and wetlands in the United States reflect this. These issues, however, go beyond the purview of the task assigned to me, so I will focus more on my second concern, which relates to the nature of science and the limitations that are encountered in addressing issues of sustainability.
Sustainability confronts us with a situation where, as Funtowicz and Ravetz (1991) have observed, "facts are uncertain, values in dispute, stakes high, and decisions urgent." This is not a set of circumstances where conventional science excels, to say the least. Investigator-initiated, peer-reviewed research, as suggested by the proponents of the U.S. National Institutes for the Environment, is not likely to be responsive to such circumstances.
The problems of sustainability are systemic in nature. In a system there are no byproducts, there are no side-effects, nor are there any externalities, all of which are rather products of too narrow a paradigm. In a system there are only effects and products. Conventional science reflects the narrower paradigm, however, and is, therefore, often ill-equipped to deal with issues of significance for sustainability. Again, investigator-initiated, peer-reviewed research is unlikely to deal effectively with the system issues.
What, then, do we need?
First, I think we need to restate the question to conform with one of the key principles of sustainability. This is the humility principle, which states that we should recognize the limitations of human knowledge. The question then becomes: What is our tolerance for ignorance and uncertainty in order to act in a timely fashion with the highest degree of certainty possible while avoiding harm and doing good in the short and long-term? That is what Ravetz (1986) has called "useable ignorance."
Yes, there are immutable laws of nature. But despite the mythology of science, they are not always knowable to us, and most certainly not knowable—or rarely knowable—in the time frames necessary to right the wrongs of the past and prevent future harm. Yes, we humans are always dominating nature. We have no other choice, in many respects. The issue is do we dominate in ways that destroy nature, such as is the case of conventional agriculture, or in ways that can contribute to sustainability, as organic and sustainable agriculture are assumed to do. Can we dominate without or at least while minimizing adverse repercussions? This brings us to another dimension of the knowledge base—economics, which is increasingly being recognized as part of the problem of sustainability.
There are no immutable laws of economics. Nor are there what Nobel laureate Paul Samuelson has called "inexorable economic forces." Economics and the economy are human constructs. The assumptions and assertions that are part of conventional economics are key issues that we need to address if we are to achieve sustainability. Among these are the mantra of growth; the assumption that rising tides raise all ships; that increasing national wealth effects distribution and equity within a country; that comparative advantage and specialization apply in an economy where capital is mobile; that the market can deal with all issues, including equity; and that competition is good and natural, in all cases. The need for a new economics—an ecological economics—is clear.
What then are some of the things that we might need to know to achieve sustainability, along the lines of the definition that I have offered above that includes economic security, democracy, and ecological integrity? This is clearly not a research agenda. Rather, my purpose is to suggest questions that I believe are quite different from those more normally asked.
How can we design an economy that honors economic security, democracy, and ecological integrity? What would an economy look like that goes beyond socialism and beyond capitalism?
What can be done, working with indigenous peoples to help them to preserve their lives and cultures, as well as their habitats?
Can we begin technology development and product design with the question of need foremost in our minds, rather than simply worrying about how to do it better and in a less damaging way, as important as that is? What is appropriate technology? Does "industrial ecology" really deal with the fundamental issues, or simply postpone the ultimate problem?
What are appropriate measures of work and wealth that value sustainability? Ponder for the moment that the word "asset" once connoted "having enough." Can we move from "excessities" to necessities? How?
What determines the sustainability behavior of individuals and institutions, and how can it be encouraged? Finger (1993), for example, has completed empirical research in Switzerland that suggests that only environmental action, with values of equity and justice, lead to environmental behavior. Environmental experiences, linked to fear and anxiety and awareness about environmental problems do not appear to translate into environmentally responsible behavior. This runs counter to the usual suggestion that knowledge, values, and attitudes taken together create new behaviors.
How do we achieve a sustainable agriculture, one which includes sustainable communities? Is there such a thing as sustainable forestry? What are appropriate measures of production in agriculture and industry that reflect concern for sustainability? For example, why do we measure crop yields in terms of units of land, rather than in terms of, or in addition to, units of water used, land degraded, workers and consumers harmed, etc.?
How can we live in peace within and between families and communities and nations?
I would urge us all to add to the list, while recognizing that in many—in most cases—we sadly cannot wait for the answers. We must proceed with caution, respecting the two other principles of sustainability, beyond the humility principle already referred to. These are the precautionary principle: When in doubt (which, taken together with the humility principle, means most of the time) move slowly and think deeply; and the reversibility principle: Do not make irreversible changes.
We must make clear our own values, assumptions, and assertions and demand the same of others, in terms of the problem definition, the scientist’s response, the methods and models used, and the policy climate. We must understand the politics of knowledge, and the political economy of science. There are no knowledge products independent of institutional setting, financial support, scale, place, pace, and person. Fortunately, scientific bodies seem to be more accepting of this analysis now than has previously been the case, although the acceptance is far from universal.
Of particular importance is the recognition that much of the discussion of sustainability—all too often narrowly defined as ecological sustainability—has taken place in and is driven by northern elites. The South, no less interested in the concept of sustainability, has, however, spoken more of issues of poverty and inequity and justice. Only recently has there been a joining of the concerns.
But the northern paradigm of science still prevails. The prestige of southern institutions is still measured against a northern standard. Molecular biology is more highly valued than taxonomy as David Ehrenfeld (1989) has pointed out. As a result, what is taught, how it is taught, and what is researched all too often are designed to meet international standards rather than national needs. Thirty years ago Ali Mazrui referred to African universities as multinational corporations rather than national institutions (Mazrui 1975). The same is still too often the case all over the South. I have serious doubts that this contributes to sustainability.
The northern tradition of science has generally failed to value indigenous and experiential knowledge. While this is changing among some groups of scientists, the change is slow.
Knowledge generation for sustainability also demands that we involve stakeholders in the process because sustainability is more than ecological or economic. Sustainability is a statement of values; in effect, it is a vision of the future. Stakeholder involvement is also essential because, as I have noted earlier, "values are in dispute." In a democracy, value dispute requires participation.
In speaking of science for sustainability, it is important to observe that the corporate world has been stating its support for environmentalism more and more frequently in terms of support for "good science" rather than emotion. I suggest that is a smokescreen for inaction. The "good science" they want before they act—the exact answers to unanswerable questions—sounds good but is destructive. For example, the effects of the toxic soups that we are each exposed to by modern life cannot be assessed in a manner that reflects human variation. We do need science and knowledge to address the realities of sustainability, but it will be a new science, an issue-driven science. It will not pretend to be either value-free or ethically neutral, although it will certainly need to remain objective and unbiased in its approaches and continue to be based on rigorous hypothesis testing. The scientific enterprise in this new paradigm will have to accept the world as it is, rather than try to recreate it in ways that are more susceptible to its research needs. The circumstances that demand this new paradigm are worth repeating: "Facts are uncertain, values in dispute, stakes high, and decisions urgent" (Funtowicz and Ravetz 1991). As a result, the new paradigm will focus attention on the qualitative assessment of the quantitative data available, recognizing that uncertainty exists. It will also extend the peer community involved in assessment to all stakeholders, as the only way to arrive at decisions that are both scientifically sound and politically tenable.
Pragmatism and plurality. Tools and conceptual frameworks will be appropriate to the solution of the problem, rather than being limited by the tools and conceptual frameworks of a particular discipline.
Acceptance of uncertainty as a given. It is acceptable to ask questions about the real world that at present we do not know how to answer.
A focus on data quality rather than data completeness.
Use of a systems approach that is comprehensive, holistic, global, long-term, and contextual.
Explicit concern for future generations, sustainability, and equity.
A concern for dynamics, non-equilibrium, heterogeneity, and discontinuity.
Expression of social points of view, as well as individualistic points of view. Concern for the processes through which the behaviors of individuals and institutions change.
I would like to close with two observations. First, history teaches us that we should expect the unexpected. We should, therefore, study history as part of the knowledge base for sustainability, as a constant reminder of humans’ incapacity to manage the planet.
Second, knowledge is obviously better than ignorance. But wisdom is even better. We should proceed with caution and humility, and try to avoid doing something that cannot be undone.
Brooks, H. 1992. The concepts of sustainable development and environmentally sound technology. ATAS Bulletin 1(7): 1924.
Ehrenfeld, D. 1989. Forgetting. Orion 8:4.
Finger, M. 1993. When knowledge is inaction: Exploring the relationships between environmental experience, learning, and behavior. Paper available from author.
Funtowicz, S., and J. Ravetz. 1991. A new scientific methodology for global environmental issues. In Ecological economics: The science and management of sustainability, ed. R. Costanza. Columbia University Press, New York.
Hayden, G. 1991. Institutional policy making. In Ecological economics: The science and management of sustainability, ed. R. Costanza. Columbia University Press, New York.
Mazrui, A. 1975. The African university as a multinational corporation. Harvard Educational Review 45(2): 191210.
Orr, D. 1991. Conservation Biology.
Ravetz, J. 1986. Useable knowledge, useable ignorance: Incomplete science with policy. In Sustainable development of the biosphere, ed. W. E. Clark and R. E. Munn. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Viederman, S. 1993. The economics and economy of sustainability: Five capitals and three pillars. Talk delivered to Delaware Estuary Program. Available from Noyes Foundation, New York.
White, R. 1993. Regulations shouldn’t be relics. Technology Review 96(4): 66.
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eat. drink. sport. pacer's ribhouse has two locations to serve you the award winning bbq! downtown cleveland at reserve square and euclid. more than 20 years ago, john eddy white set out to create an outstanding and unique bbq sauce... he succeeded. our downtown location offers 75 varieties of beer, 32 beers on tap, 29 flat screen tv's - a view from every seat.
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Red & Black Volume 88 Issue 6 Jefferson City High School Jefferson City, MO.
Do you have story suggestions for the Red & Black? Email us at [email protected], call us at 573-340-3715, or come stop by room J141. We’d love to hear your ideas or even publish your work. We accept freelance writers, photographers, and cartoon artists. Come be a part of your student newspaper.
April 15, 2019 Volume 88, Issue 6 Red & Black is a student-led newspaper that serves as a public forum for the school and the community. Opinions expressed in the paper are not necessarily those of JCHS, nor the faculty, staff or administrators.
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Event: Reel Life Cinema: The Fish on My Plate Missouri River Regional Library, Wednesday, April 17, 2019 @ 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm. Free. Event: Thursday Night Live 200th block of High St, Thursday, May 9th, 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm. $5.00 for 13 and up.
Event: Sound the Alarm Kick-Off; American Red Cross Community Kick-off Event 200-300 Block of High Event: Art Around Town (Gallery Crawl) 1507 E McCarty (Village Square) Friday, April 26th, 4:00 pm Event: Stars Under the Stars 2019- The Little Mermaid Ellis-Porter Riverside Park, Friday, June 7: “The Little Mermaid” 8:45 pm. Free.
ollowing the trash audit performed by the green team, the school has decided to make some environmentally-friendly changes. As of next school year, the cafeteria will be reducing the Styrofoam usage during breakfast and lunch. Instead of using Styrofoam plates and plastic utensils, the school will switch to sectioned trays and metal utensils. This is a huge success for the Green Team, who has spent countless hours advocating for this change. The grantwriting committee is still advocating for trash and recycling receptacles side by side in the cafeteria and around school.
and everything they have accomplished because of their persistence and passion. She also expressed her appreciation towards the school. “We are so proud of the school district’s efforts to embrace waste reduction, increase recycling rates and to shift people’s habits for the sake of reducing greenhouse emissions and thus mitigating climate change,” Fraga stated. The Green Team is made up of students who strongly believe that small changes will make a huge difference. If you are interested in joining Green Team, contact Mrs. Fraga for more information.
creates so much trash compared to the amount of product. This is being seen not only in PR, but in packaging in stores as well, to a certain extent. Brands that claim to be “Vegan” and “Animal Cruelty-Free” are some of the many big perpetrators when it comes to creating packaging waste. When interviewed and asked about this, an employee at Sephora who will remain anonymous said, “It shouldn’t be a problem, it should be about the product, not how much packaging you put it in.” Employees at Ulta were asked to comment on this topic, but due to the company policy, they were unable to give a statement.
The makeup industry creates over 120 billion units of packaging worldwide every year, as told by Stylist, a widely used fashion and makeup news source. That amount of waste is enough to cover millions of acres of land with cardboard, plastic and non-biodegradable substances. There are so many unnecessary levels to what goes into a PR box. There’s wrapping around containers of moisturizers, creams and boxes as well as the countless layers of tissue paper and cardboard to hold everything in place for at most around 4-5 items.
according to a study done by PLOS Medicine done in 2018. The passage of these bills speaks to a growing trend in America regarding our leniency towards the importance of vaccination and the compulsory need for them. Whether or not it continues throughout the rest of the country remains to be seen.
arius Aftetat-Peckham is one of five seniors chosen by the National Student Poets Program to travel around the country speaking to students, holding workshops and sharing his poetry. Darius spoke about his admiration for Ross Gay, who writes about the small joys of life. He often writes about the complications of joy and sadness. Darius came to Jefferson City to share some of his work with students and hopefully put some delight into other’s lives.
The Beautiful Day Dance Mornings, when I woke up, my face sagging, defeated, Dad would smile at me and wave his arms above his head, his legs kicking beneath him, a desperate flail but a chance to show that he could move his body as well as anyone--when the sunlight seemed to break and spill down his raised chin like egg whites and the chill bit into us both--he’d sing The song isn’t as important to me now as the beauty of the dance (and I’m sure the melody was a repetitious rip-off of Zippity-Doo-Dah, though sometimes we tilted our heads beneath the sky And just yelled it, despite the neighbors, dispelling Puff of warm air from our mouths as we screamed It’s a beautiful day, to the blue that filled the space Behind the clouds, to whoever was listening- to the Way I sweat at nights, Dad rubbing the wet T-shirt That clung to my back \, whispering, It’s all right, We’re okay over and over, like a chorus, the the broken Limbs and the deaths that rendered us, for a time, living memories, regretfully alive, but thankful that We could always spin ourselves around, arms spread spread wide To live and dance and) To sing anywaysTo sing always.
n the 2019-2020 school year, JCPS will switch its start times (elementary schools at 7:45, middle schools at 8:50 and high schools at 8:40). This has left the student body divided over whether this change is for the greater good, or if it creates more problems than it solves. The factors listed below are some of the pros and cons of the upcoming start time change.
Studies from the National Sleep Foundation show that the brain of a high school student is traditionally unable to fall asleep before 11:00 PM. This means that on the current schedule, most attendees of JCHS fall short of the 8-10 hours per night that are necessary for a high school age student to function properly. These new start times will allow students to sleep in an extra hour; this means that instead of sleeping from 11-6, most students can sleep in until 7 in order to get that extra hour that they so desperately need.
A large portion of high schoolers drive to school. Many parents use this as an opportunity to save time and money by having their high schooler pick up their younger siblings.
With the new system, this cannot happen and many parents will be forced to take off work to pick up their children or pay for afterIncreased sleep has many results; one of these school childcare. This proves to be very is an overall increase in academic performance. inconvenient to any parent who does With a start time that is delayed by just one hour, not want their younger children students grades rose by an average of 4.5 percent, to be home alone. according to a study conducted by the University of Washington.
Since a main goal of our school is to improve academically, these start times are a step in Many high school students work after the right direction. school. Oftentimes, their shift starts around 4:00 PM. With the new schedule, students will lose between half an hour to an hour of work time per shift. This can be detrimental to students who need as many hours as possible to pay for things such as vehicle maintenance, food and a place to live. This situation will most likely hurt the student body financially.
verall, there are many reasons why the later start times can help or hurt students. There is no possible way for the district to please everyone, so this decision is bound to upset a large portion of students, but it will also help the others.
Q: What made you want to join the culinary arts? A: Well, what made me want to join the culinary program was, I’m really fascinated with cooking. Like, cooking is in my family. My dad cooks, my brother cooks; it’s just a thing my family falls into one way or another.
Q: How easy would you say it was getting into the program, was there any difficulty?
A: No, there was not any real difficulties at all. If you have your priorities right with what you want to do, and if you want to go into the field, it’s easy to get in and it’s a really good program.
Q: Was there any misgivings going into this? Like is this really what you want to do?
criminal justice field for forensic scientists and this would be like a fall-back plan for me.
Q: And finally, if you were to pursue a career in the culinary arts, what is your end goal?
plan. When I got accepted that was our plan, that I would run the restaurant until he got all the certification and then I would co-chef with him.
t’s important to note that prices of college depend on many different factors. They can differ depending on the type of college, what they specialize in, and the location. The cheapest cost for college is usually community -Usually more college where you can get expensive. you basic required classes out of the way. Besides that -All the money for community colleges usually student housing is typically due all at once. doesn’t require you to stay on campus because they don’t have housing. -Limited privacy at While other colleges times. might require you to stay your first year. The -Would have to following are just the flat downsize and get rid of rate for tuition cost, not a lot. everything is included.
-Living on campus would allow a shorter commute to classes. -Utilities are included. -Depending on the scholarship, it might help pay for your student housing if you choose to live on campus. -Campus security. -Usually includes food vouchers.
-Some colleges shut down the dorms during breaks so you wouldn’t be able to stay there.
-Money is spaced out over time.
-Utilities are not included (sometimes).
-Some places don’t have a washer or dryer.
-Can start building rent history making it easier to buy or rent places later in life. -More privacy. -If you decide you like the place enough, you can decide to stay there longer.
-Could have difficulties with your landlord. -Be confined to a lease. -Pay for a place yearround.
Q: When did you start enjoying art? A: I’ve done art all my life, but only really got into it around age 13. Q: What medium do you prefer to use? A: Copic markers are what I use the most. Q: What kinds of things do you do when you get artist’s block? A: Really I just doodle and search Pinterest until something catches my eye. There’s no perfect way to get out of an art block. Q: What kind of future are you hoping to build with these skills? A: I’ve thought of doing some kind of illustrative contracts with some children’s book authors, but as of now it’s just a bit of a side gig for me, and I’m fine with that. Q: Do you have any inspirations for your work? A: There’s no major inspiration, honestly. I follow a few artists online (DrawWiffWaffles, Draw With Jazza, Emily Artful, etc). Really my own style is a mix of the kinds of art I like, but it leans towards a childish illustrative look. Q: Have the programs and classes here at JCHS helped you develop your skills in any way to improve your artwork? A: JCPS has offered me a lot of practical help along the way for learning new skills. Personally, though, I think that JCHS has a restrictive way of teaching that just doesn’t work for me. Everything from restricting what materials can be used for certain projects to saying you MUST have an exact sample photo for whatever you’re doing has turned me away from the classes they offer.
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your first choice? A: When I was 18, I was in college planning to be an English teacher. I had a great teacher my senior year in high school, and I loved the class. However, I couldn’t imagine being in a traditional classroom day in and day out. A neighbor of mine encouraged me to consider nursing, and the next day, I applied for a job at Jefferson City Manor Care Center. My NCC job allows me the opportunity to be in the classroom, but always with patient care in mind.
of my career, my father-in-law was also terminally ill. These stressors made me question nursing as a career. However, when the NCC Practical Nursing Coordinator, Patty Francka RN, called with an OB Instructor Position, my love for nursing was restored. In 2001, I had the opportunity to move to the secondary program Health Science and teach students to become Certified Nursing Assistants. I love being back at the nursing homes.
at nursing school? A: I was an average student in school, both high school and college. I had nursing skills from working in the nursing home, but the academics were hard for me. I had to take a semester off, because I had to take a Pharmacology class over. I just never gave up. I love to share that story with students! Never give up!
elements of my subject with others; my content area is one that demands interaction with other minds. Literature, reading, writing - these make us human, and the sharing of them grows us as people.
where it was at though. Whatever I chose to do for a living, my path needed to be one where I could find an epiphany. That meant both reading a great deal AND getting out there and having some experiences.
and they tend to be there for you when you need them to help you with your next stage. Teachers are not just people who work in schools; they are aunts, uncles, friends. You, yourself, might find you are a mentor to another.
are gratifying. I want to bring the best opportunities my content offers to open up new views to my students.
with students. Every year - every day, really - is an opportunity to improve as a teacher and as a person. This job offers endless possibilities to reflect and improve at teaching, learning, and just being a better human.
Your 2019 Mr. JC winner is... Brock Johnson!
ompetitive video games, also called Esports, is an activity that is growing in popularity around the world. The prize pools for large tournaments grow larger each year; the last worldwide tournament for “League of Legends” had a six-milliondollar prize pool. Since Esports is a quickly growing industry, many colleges are implementing Esports teams and they are in need of players. This means Esports scholarships are very commonly received by students because of the high demand for players. We introduced an Esports club at JCHS last year, and every graduating senior in the club was offered a scholarship by a college. Since that time, we have introduced teams for “League of Legends,” “Overwatch,” “Hearthstone” and “Super Smash Brothers.” Like any sport, playing on a team requires teamwork, mechanical practice, memorisation and communication.
eSports Many people who play together within the club have become very close friends. The club is also a great place to develop connections to many people within the professional scene of gaming. We have the opportunity to speak and play with professional players and renowned coaches from around the world. These connections open future opportunities as well as help you grow as a player and as a person. We have the opportunity to attend invitational championships if our season records are high, and have had players on the Midwest college all-star team two years in a row. A few players are currently preparing to watch a professional match in St. Louis with their coach. Esports is a great experience for anyone who is interested in gaming, and is a wonderful place to meet new people.
Events: 3200, 1600, and 800 meters.
What’s the deal with people running VOLUNTARILY for miles on their own? This seems like a big question everyone has for long-distance runners. Here’s a quick insight on what distance track runners have to say about the reason they run.
Events: 1600 and 800 meters.
the hundreds of kids and staff members that showed up to support us was indescribable. In the championship game, the adrenaline rush was insane in that environment. It almost felt like a movie. We knew what was on the line and how hard we worked to get there,” Haarmann recalls the experience very brightly. The Lady Jays had a rocky start during the championship game, getting into foul trouble early and struggling to make shots that they usually made with ease. And by the time they started getting their rhythm, it was too late. “It was a tough way to end the season, but that game doesn’t define what an incredible season we had,” Haarmann states. Although the season didn’t end the way the team and whole Jefferson City community wanted, or even expected it to end, this season is going to be remembered by everyone.
long lasting debate exists in our nation about how much freedom we should give up for safety. The two competing sides both try to maintain the granted freedoms in the American Constitution with their position, but there is only one true answer that safeguards American freedom. That debate includes two sides: protecting each American citizen’s right to privacy and making necessary compromises to this freedom in order to prevent any potential threat. It’s completely understandable why someone would want to advocate for government surveillance such as this. Although it might prevent something like a terrorist attack, the aversion of a potential attack does not justify the blatant violation of the inalienable rights that are granted to each individual citizen. People should have the right to communicate with one another over the Internet or through cellular communication devices without the fear that a government agency might be spying on each conversation that they might have. That being said, there is merit to monitoring what people are saying in a public domain area of the Internet. For example, if someone is cyber-bullying another, or making death threats to another person on their Facebook feed, Instagram post, Twitter, etc, then they should absolutely face repercussions for their actions. Since these areas are available to be seen by anyone, it makes complete sense for the authorities to use this as reasoning for punishment. Public social media feeds can have just as much of an emotional and mental effect on someone as a public area, such as a crowded shopping mall can. That being said, private messages and private conversations should not be monitored by prying eyes in the name of “national security.” The Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution guarantees that the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated. If people cannot even maintain the privacy to speak to others through the tools available to us, then we have completely ignored the constitutional rights given to all citizens. The day that we give up our own constitutional rights just to feel a little safer is the day that we surrender to our own fears.
he idea that we should give up a large portion of our freedom to gain safety is quite ridiculous. These sacrifices tend to lead to the government over extending its reach by a large margin. One of the most extreme examples is Nazi Germany; where the government controlled all media and it allowed the government to gain almost complete control over the beliefs of its people. The reasoning behind this was to unite the people against a group that was, at least according to Hitler and the Nazi Party, the cause of all of their problems. In this, the Nazis were able to sneak in and chip away at the freedoms that are truly essential. At this point, the sacrifice of freedom for the sake of safety becomes counterproductive because the lack of freedom removes the ability to defend oneself, freely speak or have privacy. These freedoms are essential to having an individualistic and safe society. This is one of the most extreme instances throughout history, but there are modern examples as well. Modern-day China is an example of how an overreaching government is dangerous. The overbearing Chinese government heavily censors its media as a means of protecting the citizens from themselves. This government censors any and all media that conflicts with their point of view. This gives an “everything is fine” mentality to many citizens; when from an outside perspective, everything is obviously very not fine. Both the Chinese and Nazi governments are examples of what can happen when a government reaches too far to protect its citizens from real and non-real threats. In the United States, the conflicts between the people and the government become more common and more severe seemingly by the day. Whether it be the news that Facebook sells its users’ personal information to the government or that the government can see into our private text messages. The idea that media control is necessary for a safe society is simply untrue. The freedom of free speech is just too important to give up.
ave you eaten chips, peanut butter, instant noodles or ice cream recently? Have you washed your hands with soap this morning? If you said yes to any of those, you have bought products with palm oil in them. And not just these, palm oil is in many everyday household items. So what is palm oil and why is it so bad? Palm oil is a popular edible vegetable oil made from pulp found in oil palms. Palm oil is used for thousands of food products, soap products and even biofuel. Palm oil is easy and cheap to obtain and good for you- it contains no trans fat making it healthier for people with heart disease and cholesterol. But, that doesn’t mean it isn’t harmful to the environment. In order to get the palm oil, rainforests are set on fire to make room for palm oil plantations. Slash and burn agriculture is a fast way to clear land and appeals to poor small-scale farmers and large corporations alike. This deforestation occurs regularly in Malaysia, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.
still contain palm oil. So most products from shampoo to some of your favorite snacks most likely contain palm oil. But if we all cut down on just half of palm oil products, farmers could get the message and change can happen.
going to matter because the electors of Texas are nearly always going to vote in favor of the state’s majority vote. So, if you are of the minority opinion in your state, your vote means absolutely nothing even if your vote is the majority combined with the rest of the country. The electoral college set out to give a voice to the little guy, but completely throws them under the bus in the process. Our voting system shouldn’t value the individual opinion of each state because there isn’t such a thing as a state’s opinion. People have varying opinions within each state. We ought to value the majority opinion of the nation’s population as a whole. That is the only way to ensure that a Republican vote in New York has just as much value as a Democratic vote in Georgia.
Head to Head Should we have a no cell phone policy?
think phones should be banned in school. Students should be required to turn them completely off or check them into the office before school and get them after the school day ends. Phones distract students from learning and encourage cheating. When a student does not know the answer, he or she uses their phone to ask Google. The students then learn to rely on their electronic devices for the answers, rather than looking them up for themselves. Then the students lacks the skills to solve schoolwork and everyday problems. When it comes to testing, students will lack the knowledge they should have learned and will either fail or cheat. Distracting devices encourage students to avoid hands-on learning and studying. Phones access the internet for ideas, communication and cheating for answers. Phones also distract the students. Many teenagers love to text their friends and snap each other. In classrooms, students can verbally communicate with each other. However, virtual or digital communication can distract students. They focus more on their friends’ lives, instead of their class assignments. Students start testing on their phones and forget to finish typing or writing their assignments. “They get bored and check out and go to the phones for comfort. Then they fail to follow instructions or are late in producing their work because they must receive prompts,” said one teacher in an anonymous survey. Most research backs up what teachers are saying about cell phones in the classroom. “Research clearly shows that they are a distraction and interfere with successful learning, and because research shows that “multitasking” is inefficient and destroys quality,” another teacher said in the anonymous survey. Without phones, the students could excel in school. Teachers who teach regular and lower classes have said that the students that have lower grades are on their phones all the time. The students with higher grades usually either do not have a phone or they are not on their phone during class time. Without phones, students are less likely to get distracted and forget to do their school work. Without phones, students will get their work done and learn the skills they need for school-work and life.
he classroom environment is one that is very special. It’s a place that is designed for young minds to learn about important traits, skills and lessons that are going to help them for the rest of their lives. It’s important that nothing distract students from their teachers and the things that they’re learning because it could prevent the full retention of what they’re being taught. This is the primary argument for the banning of the use of smart phones and other devices while in the classroom. This reasoning makes complete sense. Modern smart phones can be a huge distraction for young people and could hurt the education that they’re being provided with in school. That being said, there is a possibility that the newly updated policy that would be put into place for the 2019-2020 school year would prohibit phones in more than just the classroom. Allegedly, phones would not be allowed in areas like the hallways and even the lunch room. This idea is absolutely ridiculous for many reasons. The biggest reason being that absolutely no one is harmed in the event that a random student decides to check their Twitter feed on the way to their next class. It’s merely a way to pass the time and doesn’t have any kind of negative effect on anyone. This is especially true while in the cafeteria. A lunch period should be time for students to wind down and take a break from their classes. If that means that they need look at their phone to do things like communicate or listen to music, then they absolutely should be able to. It makes complete sense to prevent students from using any sort of distraction while in the learning classroom because it actually does have a negative effect. The same cannot be said for areas in which diligent attention is not necessary. So, introducing a new district-wide policy that would prohibit the use of cell phones in the classroom is absolutely justified and would most definitely have a positive effect. But even still, it should not extend beyond this point. Administrators need to take into account the reasons that they would make this policy in the first place. If it’s to protect the learning of the student body, why would it reach to a place where learning isn’t affected?
pider-Man: Far From Home is the first movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to follow “Avengers: Endgame” and it will certainly have a lot to live up to. In “Far From Home,” Peter Parker (Tom Holland) and his classmates travel to Europe on a class trip. A group of elemental beings begins to attack around the city, but are fended off by Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal). It will be interesting to see how Mysterio’s character will pan out throughout the movie. “Spider-Man: Far From Home” comes out on July 5th and is sure to excite Marvel fans who are anxiously awaiting the series’ next outing.
fter 2013’s “Frozen,” fans were left eagerly waiting for the second installment in the series. The sequel brings a new look to the series, taking place in the fall. The only released material at this point shows Elsa beginning to gain control of her powers. It is safe to assume that this will be a major plot point throughout the movie. At this point, Disney has refrained from showing much more than the base announcement and almost all of the information about the movie is speculated. “Frozen II” is slated for a November 2019 release and more information should be revealed over the course of the year.
tar Wars Episode IX is the final outing of the third trilogy in the Star Wars franchise. Other than the recently leaked poster and the information about casting, Disney has kept information about “Episode IX” very quiet. This film will hopefully give Star Wars fans a satisfying conclusion to the story of Rey (Daisy Ridley) and Kylo Ren (Adam Driver). With Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) gone, the series is set to take a new course. Without a trailer, it’s almost impossible to tell the course that a movie will take. Hopefully, we will get more information in the build to the December release.
haven’t been covered. These animals are harder to obtain because while you can pay the fee for them, obtain the permit, and have a perfect place for them to live, the state still might not let you. One example of an animal you cannot own is a penguin. Because all eighteen species of penguins are protected, it’s unlikely you’ll see someone living with them. A bengal cat, while it might be lazy and domestic, is an animal you cannot own, according to Wildlife Services, because it is a hybrid. To find more information as to which animals you can or cannot own in the state of Missouri or the rules as to what is required to obtain different animals, look at the Animal Legal and Historical Center and the Animal Law information website.
the mindset of making a large profit and making as many movies as humanly possible, prolonging the cash-printing cycle. Back in the Spielberg era, movies were made because artists wanted their story to be put on screen. Those movies had a genuine soul and were absent of the disgusting cynicism that is prevalent in our current blockbusters. I hope that there is a return to form soon. I’m tired of movies that don’t leave a lasting impact on me and I want to feel more than just the bare minimum of satisfaction when I’m watching movies like this. Make me feel something!
Who said it? Match the teacher to the joke!
Q: What’s the difference between Mr. Ganey and a savings bond? A: One will eventually begin to mature and make money.
Q: Did you hear about the restaurant on the moon? A: Great food, but it lacked an atmosphere.
Knock knock. Who’s there? Cow Interrupting cow wMOO! Itching to know the answers? Find out at jcredblack.com!
same company, you have the reboot of “Fantastic Four” which is notoriously worse than the original iteration. So, with reboots/remakes, there is the needed and the unneeded. But when doing a remake, it should be warranted or else it is a waste. It can be a detriment more than an assist, while with a reboot, there should be a need and a large amount of time between iterations. Remakes can reintroduce old fans and help bring in new fans to a franchise. Reboots though, should be to revive something that was once dead, so to speak. Not to click the retry button like with “SpiderMan”.
nowing which products work better for your skin type can help reduce the frustration when shopping. Taking care of your skin can be overwhelming with so many products that claim to help with acne, oily or dry skin problems. It can be frustrating when shopping for skin care products, especially if you don’t know what type of skin you have. There are four skin types, one of which you may have: normal, oily, dry or combo skin.
A great step to skin care is cleansing the skin to remove dirt, oil, dead skin cells and other pollutants with a cleanser. For a cleanser, look for what skin type it’s made for, but some cleansers can be used for normal to oily skin types or some that are made for normal to combo skin.
day. If you want to have your skin moisturized throughout the day, you can use a morning moisturizer, and some even come with sunscreen to protect your face from the harmful UV rays of the sun. If you want to moisturize your skin throughout the night, use a lightweight moisturizer.
It is also good to keep in mind that a cream and a lotion are not the same thing; a cream is usually heavier than a lotion and have a bigger concentration of oil than a lotion. If you really want to get rid of dead skin cells and remove excess dirt and pollutants, you can use an exfoliator. An exfoliator removes the older dead skin cells and are great for rejuvenating the skin and are great for clogged pores and acne. If you have dry skin, look for a gentle exfoliator, instead of one that would be made for someone with oily skin.
If you want to tone and hydrate your skin, you can use a mask. You can also use face masks, which are great for hydrating the skin, remove excess oil, tone and can reduce the appearance of your pores. Usually face masks come in a package that do one or two things. The choice of a face mask really depends on what you want to focus on; for example, if your skin is drier than usual, you would want a hydrating mask. Taking care of your skin should be easy after knowing what product work best for your skin and a great way to save money while shopping for skin care products.
Did you see a good movie? Read an interesting book? Hear a great song that’s stuck in your head? Stop by Room 141 with your suggestion.
embraces its silliness and has a true childlike wonderment at its core. The film also has a genuine theme of family that manifests through the script. Commentary on “nature vs. nurture” and what truly makes a family is done incredibly well. Heart-warming topics such as this are rarely seen in the modern comic book movie and are a welcome addition to the movie. The weakest link in the movie is its development of the villain. Mark Strong gives a good performance, but the character’s motivation is weak and uncompelling.
between the characters were hard to understand. In some scenes, such as the explanation of the “power” of the land, they brought up a myth of the Wendigo. Though this just seems to just be a wasted moment in the film when this creature is never brought up again. The acting in this film was belieavble at times, though overall there was a consistent level of character. The mother of the film, played by Amy Seimetz, showed a very true level of fear, love and mourning throughout the film. But for a reboot, “Pet Semetary” fulfills the viewer’s satisfaction in seeing a horror film.
getting too exposition heavy or boring. DMC5 is a great game, and I think is a great step in the right direction for the DMC franchise, and is really refreshing since most big games this year haven’t been the best. The only real issues I have with DMC5 is that the camera is sometimes wonky. But, that’s a small complaint compared to the positives that this game brings.
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2019-04-24T00:57:12Z
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https://issuu.com/jcredblack/docs/april_2019_issue
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Scottish artist and printmaker Susannah Stark (b1988) is a cultural omnivore, chewing over ancient and contemporary technologies alike: from encrypted stones of ancient Romania and relics of the Museum of Icelandic Sorcery and Witchcraft to the voices of Scottish telesales, virtual shamans and spam emails. Her work is a process of remembering and, at the same time, a consideration of stored cultural memory, as she muses on the preservative environments of swamps and bogs, hard-drives and digital memory technologies. Stark suggests these “technologies” are linked by the practice of Spolia, an architectural term for the repurposing of old material in new construction – where stones and images, words and ideas are masticated, digested and expelled the other side of a collective cultural colon.
Stark’s sound and video installation North East Wis-Dom (2016), comprising digitally printed stones and Inside Out, a video about wisdom teeth set to a reggae backtrack, won the 2016 Augustus Martin Print Prize at the Royal College of Art; a new incarnation of the piece is on display at the CAFA Art Museum in Beijing and the work will be shown at the International Print Center New York in early 2017. A newly commissioned surround-sound work was shown as part of the film program at Art Basel Miami 2016 and Stark is developing surround-sound installations that uncover shared histories and engage collective memory, made in Jamaica and Miami.
I met Stark on several occasions to talk about Spolia, swamps and Icelandic necropants. In the run up to her show in Miami, we exchanged long and sprawling emails that emulsified a potent mixture of sources and ideas, from cultural theory, ancient history and life in late capitalism. This interview is a fragment of that discussion – a relic, so to speak, from the bog.
Izabella Scott: Your installation North East Wis-Dom (2016) featured a set of digitally printed rocks and a video with a rotating jaw. Were you attempting an archaeology of knowledge of some sort?
Susannah Stark: A lot of recent work stems from the gradual realisation that I come from a Presbyterian iconoclastic culture that typically heralds the ruins of ancient cultures as fetish objects. You can see evidence of this in Edinburgh, which is sometimes dubbed the Athens of the North, and where there are many buildings that look like Greek or Roman temples, such as the Acropolis and the Royal Scottish Academy building, which is a conglomerate of popular historical styles. Then there is Glasgow, with its architecture and culture shaped by the industries, including its involvement with slavery – with street names including Tobago Street, Jamaica Street and Nelson Mandela Place.
This was the starting point for my MA show, North East Wis-Dom, and continues to inform the work I am making now; memories of places I have lived in, or travelled to, bleed into each other, mixing with early musical influences that create a map of relation. I grew up in Fife, which feels like it’s a kind of middle ground; it was never a Gaelic-speaking region and the inhabitants were often thought of as part of England, and I believe this has contributed to my feeling of being a bit of an outsider both to Scottish and British culture as a whole. I travelled to Greece when I was 21 and encountered the ruins of Athenian temples sectioned off as tourist attractions, preserved among sprawling concrete suburbs. I later travelled around Romania to discover more ruins (my granddad was born in Bucharest), always following these kinds of familial or broader cultural ties, which I have come to see as part of the common process of filiation. Every time I have returned to the UK, I have seen it differently, which has caused me to ask questions about what an empire is and what it can do, and, ultimately, what is its legacy? North East Wis-Dom is an installation work that was formed through thinking broadly about what my origin is, what we are, how we can understand that better. “The North” is a place where history and mythology, reality and fiction collide, and this in turn becomes a selective history that is taught in schools, fed back to us through the narrative of legitimisation – via popular media and culture.
I became interested by the way the physical presence of citizens both real and fictional have their names identified by the cities they inhabited. This is part of the process of legitimacy, the inherited “Wis-Dom” from those who have come before. The feeling of walking through “James Joyce’s Dublin” or “Robert Louis Stevenson’s Edinburgh” as a widening of viewpoints, a sharing with others in a work of literature in one sense, but also a selective widening, that is predicated on exporting one’s cultural dominance over another. I listen to a lot of reggae and, especially since living in London, I have started to feel the way the residual energy of voices and musical styles has shaped, and continues to shape, areas such as Brixton. It is present, too, in cities such as Glasgow, where cultural movements emerged through the voices of working people. We are never doing something alone; we are adding voices to the chorus that has come before.
Making this exhibition was about working backwards, in a sense: being in the present moment where everything is happening at once as a chaos of voices on the internet, it feels urgent to listen to the voices of the past to try and open this out; creating a space for slowing down and listening.
IS: Was the voice a kind of currency at the centre of your thinking?
This brand of chaste and conservative “Scottishness” seemed to me at odds with the reality of people’s attitudes, people who were and are still finding their voice amid recent political events.
As a guest curator for Her Noise Archive in 2012, the philosopher Nina Power spoke of “the soft and pleasant voice heard on public transport, and increasingly in public spaces, [that is] co-opted into manipulating a public into staying alert and vigilant while in transit”. To my mind, this arises from a technology-driven society that is intent on quick decision-making for short-term gain and function; use of the machine-made and often female voice to control a populous. It has worrying implications – a disappearance of the expressive voice, the voice of the people, from public spaces.
I believe there is a seed of consciousness in what the “technologised” female voice or “telephonised” northern accent obscures as it tries to reassure a supposedly permanently anxious public, that can help us to understand how the voice gains currency for its ability to transform and shape our realities; this was influential in my using my own voice within the installation.
The vocal element of North East Wis-Dom was a curious mismatch of my soft feminine Scottish voice with the reality of capitalist extravagance; unveiling unconscious side-effects in the lyrics. There was a disconcerting rift created between the person speaking and what is being said, a push and pull between hypnotic contemplation and active listening. It’s also about the use of surround sound in the gallery; the potential of the voice to emerge from any of the objects in the installation. The voice is kind of offstage, disembodied. There is something very intimate about being spoken to, but at the same time of possibly being a long way away. For me, voice is a relationship between intimacy and distance.
IS: You read from spam emails, self-help websites and virtual shamans, as if to highlight the constant flow of things being bought, sold and digested by the mouth, or to show the mouth as a “host” that is inhabited by a parasite. There are parallels to ventriloquism and puppetry. Is your mouth, quite literally, a mouthpiece?
SS: I see the mouth as a symbolic orifice, which has the ability to regurgitate and create new forms of cultures. For me, it is a direct expression of what an empire is, what an empire does and the legacy it leaves. In his 2014 book Lexicon of the Mouth, Brandon LaBelle explains how we are linked to the empire through the act of the bite, an act that cuts into the material world and into language in search of transformation. This was influential on my idea of placing the mouth at the centre of my show. The animated mouth is a site of excess; it has had a process or presence inflicted on it. It regurgitates language, which has had a physical manifestation on its appearance; in the video, you can see flopping extrusions, parasites, on the surface of the mouth.
I see the mouth and the voice as forming a strained relationship. The mouth is the physical cavity in which words are formed; its movements are vital productions by which speech is extended and shaped; while at the same time, it is inhabited by language external to it: in this case the computer-generated language of spam and sales gloss which is parasitic and contorts it. As a modulating device, the mouth has a two-way relationship with the world around it. Language goes in and language comes out. In a world of digitised voices, it’s important to have an encounter with the mouth to see what we’re dealing with. I understand the mouth here as a disruptive orifice: it is unavoidable.
I don’t think it’s entirely a mouthpiece for something other because it regurgitates information; it is there to remind the viewer that they are not in a space of reliable symbolism.
IS: The digitally printed rocks take the form of sparkling green cushions and they resemble a distorted souvenir of some great antiquity. Are they sourced from ancient relics?
SS: The soft sculptures represent the facades of stone statue bases from the archaeological site of Istria in Romania. They mark different periods of history of that region, which was once an ancient Greek sea port and was later colonised by the Roman and Byzantine empires. The site is at the shores of the Black Sea in a shifting silt-swampland that preserved a lot of objects from the time when it was permanently occupied by people.
This was a way that I came to understand the stones not as ruins, but as part of a continuity of forms and voices that help us to relate to one another, even in a post-digital future.
I have always observed how people navigate historical sites through image-capture as a way to deal with those objects. There is a lot of focus on ownership and power. I noticed that people like to touch things on display, and how touch is often linked to value; the more isolated and prestigious the object, the more valuable it becomes. Touching was reserved for sacred objects, whose power could be absorbed by those in close contact. During my exhibition, I had to physically be in the space to tell people they were welcome to move the printed sculptures; people are used to observing from a distance or through a lens. At one point, a security guard told people off for moving my work! It was important to me to create an environment where the relationship between artwork and viewer was open.
IS: You tease out a relation between swamps and archives, where the swamp is a kind of immense cultural larder. There is historical precedent for this, and sacred things have been preserved in swamps and bogs: the famous example is a book of psalms that was burped out of a peat bog in Ireland in 2006. Do you see the swamp as storage site – a place of stored wisdom?
SS: The consciousness of a swamp or peat bog, or the swamp as a kind of giant storage device, is an abstract idea that informs my work on the voice and the mouth-orifice. The swamp or bog converts organic material into energy, which gets pushed further down into the earth, into an immaterial realm of churning matter, a mnemonic abyss. I began to think of this as the process of digestion carried out by the human body; the horror of mastication and dematerialisation of food and recognisable substances as they are broken down in the mouth; the creation of new forms of cultures and languages.
The swamp or bog is, to me, like a giant mouth-orifice that can preserve objects, but also corrupt their content, radically altering their structure as in oral culture. Items are lost and can resurface years later, regurgitated texts like the example you mention. I think of the peat bog or swamp as capable of uprooting and displacing language to other surfaces, manifesting it in new contexts.
IS: I enjoy the word Spolia’s (accidental) kinship with “spoiler”, which in media culture is a form of ruination – to give away the plot, to remove the climax, to dilute the charge. Your cushion stones seem to glitter, and their surfaces are almost holographic, and they remind me of gaming architecture, the ruined and pixelated landscape of Second Life. Are immaterial landscapes implied by your choice of material, such as the vinyl on which you embossed the Istria stones?
SS: I think we are in a contemporary condition of relating to objects primarily through digesting images. I have a strong desire to make things in order to grasp them, at a time of perceptual shifting and greater immersion in virtual worlds; a time when the real world feels not “real” enough, or even too drab, compared with the resolution of a screen. I work with computers every day and it has definitely influenced my vision. I’m interested in how to represent the perceptive gap between something from ancient history and something highly saturated and contemporary. I think it’s also a conversation between what museological inquiry and contemporary art can learn from each other. It’s like using visual tricks to catch people out, to disrupt the gaze or make them question where these things come from. I like to work by offsetting lo-fi effects and techniques with new technology in print, creating something that bears the trace of multiple worlds.
I originally trained as a printmaker; I work and think in terms of images and, although this installation takes up space as a sculptural assemblage, I see it as a work of images and sound that are pertaining to objects so there are constant questions of representation and circulation emerging. It’s like images inhabiting the flayed skin of ancient objects that have previously appeared somewhere, on something else. There are questions about immateriality in that sense; the images are physically hollow arthritic structures, but can be vessels for the incorporeal in a kind of spiritual way, which I think is also conjured by the offstage, disembodied voice that speaks to you. For me, this is a necessary way to get beyond something as pure image.
The printed elements are shown both as flat wall-based work and as sculptures, so there is a constant movement between two- and three-dimensions in the gallery space. Visitors could move the printed stone sculptures around and change the installation layout, which was part of the idea to encounter the strange materiality of those objects, the discovery of text fragments on the surface of the “stones”, which are again offset against a voice soundscape combined with moving image elements.
The installation is an attempt to pull out issues of making images through the potential interaction of print and audiovisual components within the installation, rather than simply present the artefacts; the ruins of a process as any kind of totality, that once was or will be.
IS: There is a reggae soundtrack over Inside Out, where the spamming Scottish voice speaks in rhythm, and there is an echo, perhaps, between your video and Camille Henrot’s Grosse Fatigue (2013), a short film about archives, excess and anxiety, and which has a hypnotic hip-hop backtrack.
SS: I’m interested in Henrot’s film as arising from the condition of trying to comprehend or grasp an infinite mass of information that is, in effect, for ever in excess or out of reach. In her film, the disembodied voice is a backbone, the voice of conscience that is a conduit for seeing time and the frenzied attempts to “can” objects from ancient history to modern domestic scenes, which are amassed as pop-ups on a screen, slipping from grasp. At times the flow of images is aggressive and unstoppable; at times perfectly choreographed. I find the voice a kind of anchor in her work, which regurgitates knowledge and carries the weight of the world (“Grosse Fatigue”) in its breath. I have been thinking about the spatial and expressive quality of voices and samples as a mode of slowing down, an audio excavation process.
During Inside Out you can hear a sample of Strange Things by Ronnie Davis, a reggae track that was popular before I was born, with my voice overlaid reading out extracts of spam emails and advice columns in time to the rhythm. As I mentioned earlier, since moving to London I have been listening to a lot of reggae. It was on my periphery as something I had encountered in the past in Glasgow and the music used to provoke a lot of questions in me. I believe it to be a music rooted in errantry – in having a mobile root – a mode of relation that seems to come from knowledge of the abyss.
I remixed the sample to give a spatial, sculptural feel to the music in the space. In the early 1970s, reggae tracks were often remixed using filters and basic effects such as reverb and delay, creating an overall sensation of echo. Called “dub”, this process created a disorienting experience of sound and a metaphoric space for freedom and change. They say that dub was one of the first forms of popular music to turn the idea of song inside out.
The lyrics are quoted from social media channels, online shamans, self-help websites, spam emails and archival TV ads. The aim was to highlight the flow of things – of language – traded in a capitalist marketplace, and exorcise it through spoken word.
I want to take these ideas forward in future work, I’m working on an audiovisual exhibition that interrogates the act of listening to the past, but also the act of listening as something that could aid in the construction of a radical group subjectivity, rather than just displaying aural “artefacts”; displacing subjects. This requires a rethinking of identity; approaching the subject from the perspective of having roots in something that is roaming or based on errantry, and is shaped by voices.
IS: We talked of your process of embossing the Istria stones on vinyl, and I wonder what role 3D imaging plays in all of this? There’s something of an overlap between Spolia appropriation and the 3D digital replication of ancient artefacts, the most famous example being the replica of Tutankhamun’s tomb, made for tourists to visit several years ago.
She argues that this condition is not only connected to the neoliberal restructuring of media production, but that it’s related to the postcolonial restructuring of nation states, their cultures, and their archives. Steyerl describes how Spolia and issues of value extend into the realm of image circulation and exchange; how, in a society bent on accelerating to a point of excess, we are left with fragile, brittle image-shells, images with arthritis, their spines uprooted and displaced.
I have been thinking around Spolia, an architectural term used to describe the repurposing of building stone for new construction, or the reuse of decorative sculpture on new monuments, sometimes and more often for financial reasons. When I came across those stones at Istria I learned that they would have had sculptures on top of them, but these had been acquisitioned by museums. When the town of Istria was colonised, the statue bases left behind were used in the building of new walls, repurposed for the successive empire, sometimes even being built directly on top of the ruins of the previous settlement. To me, this relates to the constant ongoing recycling of images that is a part of life in late capitalism.
IS: You’ve been returning to Iceland since 2006 and have made projects at the Association of Icelandic Visual Artists in Reykjavik, and other sites in the north Iceland. What is the draw?
SS: I was learning Icelandic for a time and got interested in the sagas; the works of literature that tell of Iceland’s founding mythology. These are great works of filiation, a legitimacy predicated on direct ancestry to the founding fathers of the nation. I once met a conservator who told me that Icelandic people used to wear shoes made of fish skins if they were poor, and pages of the sagas on their feet if they were from a wealthy family. I came to thinking about books as “skins” of text, which, a bit like the 3D scans, could be uprooted and displaced on to other surfaces.
I visited the Museum of Icelandic Sorcery and Witchcraft in the north-west of Iceland. There are incredible objects on show, such as a pair of necropants, which are part of the Viking tradition of generating wealth and prosperity by flaying and wearing the flesh of your enemy.
SS: Yes, trousers made from a dead man’s flesh. They bear relation to Roman ideas of power, social and bodily hierarchies – the idea of wearing the skin of another, to physically get inside another's skin, to inherit their wealthy characteristics. It's like a collapsed image, existing in the body of another. This brings about a problem of morality for all people: there is a lot of focus on ownership and property in our society.
IS: There is a lexicon of skinning and flaying in your work, as you reappropriate images and objects, where the stones in your show are, in some sense, the skins of other bodies. Is your video work Amo Tibi (The Glue Factory, Glasgow, 2016) on the life of a Glaswegian saint, also about inhabiting the life/skin) of another?
SS: Amo Tibi was based on the popular story of Saint Enoch or Teneu, a patron saint of medieval Glasgow, who is reputed to be buried underneath the St Enoch Centre shopping mall in Glasgow. The work is about being a witness, observing in a kind of voyeuristic way how people respond to narrative and inserting yourself in there. This approach has a certain gendered nature, so I was interested in how that might relate to the story of Saint Enoch.
I was writing a lot of short pieces for the voice at this time, that were intended to be sung to an image and fill a gallery space with voices coming from different speakers, different directions. I was thinking a lot about sound and singing and this idea of the communal, or groups of people, and then the individual gesture or voice layered on top of that. The voices are residual, carried over in the furniture of the church, or the apparatus of the exhibition. We have TVs and we have speakers and we have walls and spaces. And in our bodies, we have throats and tongues and mouths and skins. All the apparatus is just these different spaces and divisions that connect us.
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2019-04-21T20:36:18Z
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https://www.studiointernational.com/index.php/susannah-stark-interview-north-east-wis-dom
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Не считая того, многие люди устанавливают в собственных квартирах оборудование для регулирования теплопотребления (к примеру, радиаторные терморегуляторы). В деньки оттепели они убавляют температуру батарей и соответственно потребляют меньше тепла. Получить не только лишь комфорт, да и вещественную выгоду от использования этих устройств можно только при расчетах за тепло по факту, другими словами в согласовании с показаниями устройств учета.
Но не все знают, с какой стороны подступиться к их установке: куда обратиться, какие документы собрать, какое оборудование избрать, как согласовать проект и т.п. Разглядим этот процесс поэтапно.
До того как приступать к организации в доме учета тепла, нужно коллективное решение собственников, принятое большинством голосов на общем собрании. Так как будущий узел учета станет общедомовой собственностью, оплата оборудования и работ полностью либо отчасти (в случае роли в федеральных, областных либо городских программках) распределяется меж всеми собственниками квартир.
Нередко трудности появляются конкретно на этом шаге. Деятельной группе приходится вести просветительскую работу посреди жильцов, на пальцах объясняя неуверенным все выгоды расчетов за отопление по факту.
Технические условия на установку теплосчетчика выдает местная энергоснабжающая организация. Лишь на основании этого документа может быть составлен и реализован проект узла учета. По другому показания теплосчетчика не разрешено будет использовать для коммерческих расчетов. Обратиться в энергоснабжающую компанию (ЭСО) с заявлением от имени жильцов может и коммерческая организация, которая будет проектировать, устанавливать и обслуживать узел учета.
«В технических критериях указываются главные характеристики системы теплоснабжения - ее конфигурация, термическая нагрузка, наибольшие значения расхода теплоносителя, расчетное давление и температурный график. Без этих данных нельзя верно подобрать составляющие узла учета. Могут быть указаны дополнительные требования, которым должен соответствовать теплосчетчик, - разъясняет Ольга Ломанова, региональный менеджер компании Kamstrup, мирового фаворита по производству устройств учета тепла. - Зависимо от правил работы определенной термический компании технические условия могут быть подготовлены безвозмездно либо стоить до 10 тыс. руб. Федеральное законодательство этот вопрос не регулирует».
Разработка проекта и установка узла учета - суровая задачка, которую следует доверять только квалифицированному спецу. Управляющие компании, в большинстве собственном образованные из бывших ДЕЗов, нередко не имеют ресурсов для выполнения схожих работ. Потому лучше обратиться в специализированную энергосервисную компанию. Контакты таких компаний можно выяснить в управляющей компании, термический сети, муниципалитете, на местных форумах, посвященных дилеммам ЖКХ.
Отлично, если избранный подрядчик готов предоставить комплекс услуг - подготовку проекта, его согласование, установка узла учета, также его гарантийное и сервисное сервис. В неприятном случае при поломке либо аварии клиент может остаться один на один со своими неуввязками.
Если подготовка проекта - дело только спеца, то в выборе самого теплосчетчика жильцы могут принять роль. Вопрос этот важен, ведь, если прибор выйдет из строя, за его ремонт либо подмену придется опять платить средства. Естественно, цена высококачественного оборудования достаточно высока. Но если учитывать издержки на установку, сервис и запчасти в течение всего срока эксплуатации, дорогой теплосчетчик возможно окажется экономичнее дешевеньких аналогов. Как говорится, жадный платит два раза.
«В собственной практике мы систематически сталкиваемся с ненадежностью неких видов продукции, приемущественно российского производства, - гласит Игорь Поляков, инженер-теплотехник компании «Девятый трест» (г. Ижевск). - Проработав 1-2 года, счетчик выходит из строя и просит подмены. Если посчитать суммарную цена всех устройств, которые придется поменять за 10-15 лет, то становится тривиальной бессмысленность рассуждений об экономии за счет цены оборудования».
«Для стандартной девятиэтажки ультразвуковой теплосчетчик MULTICAL с автономным питанием совместно с проектом и установкой обходится в 2000 рублей с каждой квартиры, а работать будет долгие годы», - добавляет Сергей Силенко, директор энергосервисной компании «Протос» (г. Тверь)».
Без одобрения проекта узла учета термический сетью приступать к монтажу теплосчетчика не следует, по другому его могут просто не принять на коммерческий учет. Обычно, согласованием без помощи других занимается энергосервисная компания.
«Рассмотрение проекта всеми отделами занимает не больше недели. Задержки вероятны, если в документации обнаружены какие-либо недостатки либо несоответствия техническим условиям, - ведает Наталья Аксенова, начальник отдела энергосбыта ОАО «Теплосеть» г. Царица. - Тогда проект ворачивается на доработку. Если же приреканий нет, документ считается согласованным, в доказательство ставится штамп на титульном листе проекта. Отныне можно начинать закупку оборудования и монтаж».
Установка узла учета делается в хоть какое время года при температуре не ниже -10 градусов. Так как установка занимает, обычно, менее 1 денька, за этот период времени дом не успевает остыть и промерзнуть.
Для начала расчетов за тепло по факту смонтированное оборудование должен оглядеть и опечатать инспектор из термический сети. При всем этом составляется акт допуска узла учета, который должны подписать инспектор и представитель ТСЖ. Последний штришок - внесение конфигураций в контракт поставки тепла меж теплосетью и ТСЖ, закрепляющих принцип расчетов по факту, а не по нормативам.
«Пригласить инспектора (письменно) лучше за 7-10 дней, в особенности если это происходит сначала отопительного сезона, когда у профессионалов термический сети очень плотный график работы, - советует Сергей Силенко. - Но к моменту приемки узел учета должен проработать более 72 часов под нагрузкой, чтоб инспектор мог оценить работоспособность оборудования».
Если согласование проходит без особенных эксцессов, то от первого воззвания в ЭСО на получение ТУ до подписания акта приемки и начала коммерческого учета в среднем проходит около месяца. Если же появляются какие-либо разногласия с теплосетью, разрешить которые своими силами не удается, следует обратиться с письменным заявлением в Ростехнадзор.
Согласно положениям Закона «Об энергосбережении», который уже вступил в силу с ноября 2009 года, наличие теплосчетчика скоро (до 1 января 2012 г.) станет неотклонимым для каждого дома, присоединенного к городской теплосети. Потому, чтоб избежать спешки и очередей, следует позаботиться о его установке уже на данный момент.
Ошибки Заказчика при покупке погодных систем (украинские реалии).
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2019-04-22T21:02:59Z
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http://www.sonat-spc.ru/raznoe/2433-kak-postavit-teploschetchik.html
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Please don’t call them “heroes” or “fallen angels” or any of that other pap. Last night, pilot Allan Dale Harrison and flight nurse Ryan Duke were killed in the crash of an air ambulance in Kingfisher, Oklahoma. Their flight paramedic was injured.
Shortly after dropping off a patient at a hospital about 7:30 yesterday evening, the helicopter went down into a rural area and caught fire. Unlike the majority of helicopter crashes, the flight was being operated in daylight and in clear weather. It’s too early to know what caused the accident. But please, please, please, air crash investigator, when considering the factors that contributed to this latest air ambulance accident, take a broader look at whether this industry is it’s own disaster.
In the December 2009 issue of Emergency Physicians Monthly (What, you don’t subscribe?) three doctors put it bluntly. What if, several times a year there was medical procedure that - when it went wrong - killed the medical team along with the patient? There would be an outcry, the doctors say. Things would be scrutinized, things would change. Yessir! BUT, here is their point, “Although such a scenario may seem outrageous, it is essentially the same risk that helicopter EMS crews face on a daily basis,” and it is the only medical procedure that is more likely to kill the medical provider than the patient.
Ok, so Drs. Bledsoe, Abernethy and Carrison surely got the attention of the emergency room physicians with that opening paragraph. I wish I’d written it. But how to get the attention of everyone else, everyone who continues to believe that air ambulances are a benevolent public service, offering valuable time-saving transport for the critically injured and that the cost of saving these lives means that a few paramedics or pilots will die every now and then.
I want to take another stab at altering this perception because I think it is dangerous. I think the facts are persuasive enough to get the public past the dramatic made-for-TV-movie version of the story.
1. Helicopter medical transport is a multi-billion dollar industry.
2. It makes its profits by putting people into helicopters.
3. It maximizes profits by cutting costs.
Putting patients into helicopters begins with convincing the public that faster is better. For years we've been hearing about the "Golden Hour" that critical time between injury and medical treatment that is the difference between life and death. A number of published emergency physicians think its a myth. (Read more about this here and here.) Nevertheless, we are convinced that speed equals better outcome. Thus we expect that everything from car crashes to broken bones, are worthy of a trip to the hospital by air. The next thing you know, every fire department, rescue unit and hospital is partnering with an air ambulance provider to bring in the casualties.
Like a well-powered rotor the air ambulance industry spins into an ever bigger enterprise, requiring ever more riders. In 2009, nearly half a million people in the United States were moved by air ambulance. Since 2002 the number of helicopter ambulances has quadrupled. Score a big one for the companies; an addiction to helicopter transport has been achieved.
But business success depends not only on generating revenue - costs must be controlled too. Oh yeah, it’s a challenge to operate helicopters and employ highly trained aviation and medical professionals while keeping a tight hand on the checkbook. On the other hand, air ambulance operators are in a unique situation. The rates they charge aren’t linked to the quality of the equipment they use or the personnel they hire.
So not unexpectedly, the vast majority of helicopter operators in the United States are flying single-engine, single-pilot helicopters. Safety equipment like terrain awareness, auto-pilot, or night vision goggles are left to each operator’s discretion, who’s feelin’ generous?
So please don’t call the casualties “heroes” or “fallen angels”. Call them evidence that the public has been bamboozled into believing we need to be flying around by air even when the injury is not life threatening, just in case. And call them victims of an industry that’s off-the-radar, fueled with cash and powerfully incentivized to keep on doing it just this way.
While I don't disagree with a few of your observations Christine, I do feel a majority of what you've cited is misunderstood and misleading. The perception of the three ED physicians you mention does not represent the majority of ED physicians, nor thousands of specialty care physicians who would argue otherwise.
And while the air medical transport industry has seen a shift in business model changes in the last decade, the vast majority of programs and operators are CAMTS accredited and/or consistently meet and often exceed FAA requirements. This includes upgrading aircraft and adding safety enhancements like night vision goggles and terrian avoidance devices. These and other devices and federally regulated and implementation is a bit more complex than installing a new car radio is your Prius.
As someone who has been actively involved in critical care transport over 20 years, I can share countless examples as well as testimonials of when patient transport by helicopter or airplane ultimately made a difference in the patients outcome. Additionally, as someone who currently manages a critical care transport program that includes helicopter, fixed wing and ground transport, I extend an open invitation for you to spend a day with our program. Although our program alone is not a reflection of the industry as a whole, I'm confident we'll clear many of your misconceptions and help you understand really why we do what we do.
EMS flights are more dangerous to fly in than any other type of flying t seems. That's ridiculous.
How about don't call you a journalist!!! Seriously, your major points of reference in defending your disgraceful attempt to profit from these heroes is a wikipedia reference and a single Class II (poor-moderate clinical significance) review. Even if your one piece of actual clinical review has merit - it was a retrospective review of EMS crews that were employing the Golden Hour concept in some form on critical trauma patients. Oh, and by the way the whole Golden Hour isn't really that relevent in this case. The pt was at an outlying facility waiting for transport to DEFINITIVE CARE. Look that term up miss journalist. I doubt you will find any clinical research defending delays in definitive care for critical trauma patients.
Yes, air ambulance transport gets overused and abused. Yes, ALL AMBULANCE TRANSPORT SERVICES get overused and abused. Here is a reference for you...http://www.wgrz.com/news/local/story...69029&catid=37 . So, if a ground ambulance crashes and care providers die are they less of heroes if the person calling them wasn't critical? Or if a EMT/Paramedic/Firefighter/Police Officer is killed because someone was rubbernecking on the highway at an accident and hit them, are they just in it for the money then? So they are not heroes? Well then none of us are. We are just selfless, underappreciated, attacked, abused, vomited/bled/crapped/urinated on, underpayed cot jockeys trying to "bamboozle" you into going to a hospital because some doctor there might actually save your life. If you don't like our Golden Hour why don't you try one for yourself. Next time you write a story, take an hour and think about the Golden Rule (do unto others as you would have them do unto you - just in case you hadn't heard it before).
Great write up, except for the fact that you quoted a few doctors who have no love lost for HEMS.But,by and large, a pretty accurate perception.
The operators need to focus on the three T's of HEMS.Temparemnt: not all helicopter pilots are a good fit for this job. Hire theright ones,and pay them well. You should do some research into the average pilot starting salary in HEMS and you will find some interesting facts.Certainly the poorest paid in the world butnot very well paid in comparison to other 135 operations either.
Training: realistic, repetiive and regular training is rare amongst operators and can vary dramatically from one company to the next.
Technolgy:how much is too much? After all, the aircraft have to have the capability to lift all teh bells adn whistles.However, a bare minimum is at times too expensive for companies to invest in.
Unless the companies (not the FAA) self regulate and pay attention to thse issues,teh lowest bidder will continue to be the big winner and lives will be at stake.
The truth of the matter is that these flight crews should be called Heroes as well as VICTIMS. They are victims of money hungry for profit companies who constantly try to walk the line between safety, and an extra stock option.
The work of the flight crews is admirable and their work is heroic. Sadly they are victims as well.
Your sources are tainted at best. You need to broaden your horizons and speak to some other doctors. These are the only three sources who seem to consistently come out against HEMS.
I have seen far more cases of lives saves than lives lost as a result of HEMS.
Another crash last night in Tucson. This is bloody madness. A common theme seems to be lack of a second pilot - would you get on an airliner if it only had one pilot?
why would a second pilot be needed? just so the body count goes up? EMS Air transport saves more lives than ever but that gets left out. just like airliners, no one talks about how many people were transported but how many people died in the 1 out of a million flights. christine your humble opinion is sadly mistaken!
Here's why a second pilot is needed. Flying a helicopter is more difficult than flying an airplane, and EMS helicopters often do not have the kinds of equipment that assist a pilot like auto pilot, terrain avoidance and wire strike alarms.
The pilot is busy from start to finish and to this already higher workload you can add a 24/7 flight schedule, lack of a weather information for the route or destination, operations in and out of non standard landing zones including rooftops, highways and parking lots and flights that take them through obstacles and obstructions.
Of the more than 200 accidents over the past 20 years, one in of three - involved the aircraft hitting something. How much help would a second pair of pilot eyes have been? Well, with the exception of a pilot-check ride in Michigan several years ago, all the others were operated by a single pilot.
Medical helicopters in Canada and air rescues conducted by the U.S. Coast Guard already require two-pilots. What do they know that America's air ambulance operators do not?
While I agree with your basic premise, I feel it's unfortunate that you chose to characterize the entire industry as a for-profit machine. It is undeniable that the for-profit operators have placed their air crews in harm's way for the sake of a dollar; however, there are also non-profit operations that place safety above all. You need look no further than the New England states to see the difference when air medical operators cooperate and support rather than compete with each other.
The other area that I found disappointing is tying air medical to the Golden Hour. While we do offer speed to definitive care, we also offer critical care interventions that can, and do, make a difference in outcomes--as shown in numerous studies. These interventions cannot be performed by ground personnel and often cannot be performed at rural facilities.
So thanks for your interest in making our jobs safer, but please do a little more research before throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
Unfortunately there are a number of services that are strictly for profit and feel pushed to take the flights and it usually ends up making the news. The facts that Dustin mentioned are very true; you have cited one physician who is against the aeromedical industry (Bledsoe), there is a time and place for the helicopter EMS. While there are some patients that after being evaluated at a trauma center are found to have minor or no injuries EMS is justified in calling to have the patient transported to a higher level of care.
I am disappointed that you have only one-sided views and did not interview anyone from the air ambulance industry. Yes the number of patient flights have increased but there are again those folks out only for a profit. There are many services in the states that provide transport that are not in it for the money. Another aspect to look at is that there are services who put the safety of the crews and patients above making a dollar (duel engines, IFR, NVGs which are a tool, terrain avoidance and weather radar, as well as auto pilot). Next time do some research before you begin to blast away at something you are not a part of nor have the knowledge of.
Finally! Someone addresses the "same reimbursement for a crappy helicopter, with bare bones clinical and aviation equipment in contrast with brand new, all the bells and whistles, actual room to get to the patient, keep the patient alive and get home!!" issue. The equipment on the control panel and clinical in the back of these community based, for profit jippo jobs is a joke!
I would like to see some statistic that show Hospital not for profit- vs- community based quality (type size and age of heli) (training of crew) (clinical equipment) ( do they make room to transport babies?)(NVG?.
Then the crash statistics for Hospital not for profit VS community based for profit.
These growing for profit outfits have too big a voice. People like myself (medical crew) need to be heard....but who speaks for us? Our large organizations are controled by for profits. Most people who are involved work for them in some capacity. The biggest voice for safety is the NTSB (thankyou so much), and family of dead crew.
If the reimbursment for a flight would reflect the quality of helicopter ect THINGS WOULD IMPROVE! At least level the playing field when two programs are competing for patients. We are feeling the sqeeze as we provide an 8 million dollar heli vs a 2 million, single engine.
Thank you so much for your candid thoughts!
You speak like you are from New York and have no clue as to the distances covered by HEMS in rural America. New York has Burn Units, Pediatric ICUs Cardiac catheter labs, etc., around every corner.
In places like Oklahoma, many ground based ambulances are volunteer and lack critical care skills and the staffing to let an ambulance go for hours out of district.
You cannot judge the industry based on a narrow airline industry mentality, as you have. Not all operators are profit oriented. Many, such as my employer, have up-to-date training, night vision goggles, survival training, highly qualified and trained pilots, auto pilot systems and the like. In your narrow analysis, you attack the people who are putting their lives on the line, who are dedicated to health and well being of Joe Public (yes, that's you). The pilots, paramedics, and nurses who climb into an air medical helicopter or plane are dedicated health professionals.
Maybe - instead of insulting those health professionals who lost their lives saving the lives of others, your should have focused on the for profit operators. Shame, shame, shame on you for not having enough respect to recognize the ultimate sacrifice those people made - for everyday people like you.
Before you address HEMS/ Rescue issues, you need to spend a day in our shoes. You, a family member, or dear friend might be the next one to need these services...and wouldn't you be thankful to know that such a quick and qualified response, such as HEMS/Rescue, was the factor that saved their lives?
Bite me...you booger eating moron.
Did you actually interview anyone involved in flight EMS or did you just interview ER physicians? Any flight nurses, paramedics, or EMS pilots? Your story was so subjective on lopsided and seems to be in a knee-jerk reaction of the recent crashes over the last year. I wonder if you compared them to the amount of ground crew traffic accidents if you would have had a different tone.
I wonder if you would feel differently if you or your children or loved ones actually NEEDED to fly to a trauma center or a burn center while you were on vacation or something. It is a necessary form of EMS, and it does have flaws - but to attack the reputation of those working in the industry and not the owners of the specific flight operation is pretty low and ignorant to the situation out there in flight EMS operations.
Either my readers were dashing off on a 9-11 call or I failed to convey my thoughts adequately in this blog.
HEMS pilots and medical personnel do important work and deserve the highest respect. The level of respect they deserve, in fact, is greater than the level of concern they get from a number of air ambulance operators. The reckless disregard for the safety of HEMS crew members and their patients is not acceptable but so long as these workers allow the perpetuation of the myth that they are "heroes" there is no pressure for the industry to change its unsafe ways.
Ms. Negroni clearly only wants to create a sense of fear and panic among the population. There are more medical crews and patients killed during ground transport than during HEMS operations. She clearly has a personal interest in attacking the air medical community. Her opinions are extremely biased and poorly researched. As a "journalist" she should be ashamed of herself. As for the comment about the UK's HEMS operators, they don't even come close to touching the number of hours flown by American operators. Also, a lot of those companies are sponsored by other companies, such as Virgin, so they make millions of pounds per year whether they fly or not. Ms. Negroni, you have over stepped with your opinions and have somehow managed to make it to a place where you can reach a lot of people with these opinions. For that reason you should put more thought behind what you say. Does HEMS need reform from the government, yes. That they are getting. Does HEMS need reform from you, NO. You should also cease your fear tactics or they will do irreparable harm to the industry, to people that need that service one day, and to insurance rates. Your words very well may end someones life one day.
I have worked for a hospital based HEMS for 15 years. 10 years ago there were only 3 helicopters in our state. Now there are 15. We are the one using new IFR twin engine helicopters, and utilizing the IFR ability frequently, NVGs, Isolette for newborns, airconditioning. We have historically only flow level one trauma patients and ICU to ICU type flights. Our competition use 25 year old Bell 206 aircraft, no climate control, underpowered, and transport broken arms and other less acute type patients. I agree our competition is in it for the money and will eventually put us out of business. It will be a sad day because in the end the citizens will suffer when our competition says they cant transport you because you weigh too much, are a newborn or the weather is bad and we dont fly instrument equipped aircraft.
I would like to see reimbursment tied to the age and Conklin & de Decker estimate of airframe operations cost. Then the market and playing field would be even.
Please post a picture of yourself. That way when your dying at the scene of an accident we "non hero's" will know it's you and won't put you in our worthless helicopter. Not that we hold a grudge, because we don't. We'd save our worst enemies life because it's our duty. We are just wanting to respect your obvious wishes pertaining to air medical.
Your unique vantage point these past 15 years doesn't seem to give you enough altitude to write what you have written here.
A pilot does not, cannot look at a patient as a patient, but must keep his/her head in the game and focus on the flying at hand. The medical team in the back is to provide medical services. Pilots do their jobs and do them well. Heroes they all are, along with the medical teams who are transported with the sick or critically injured patients. As for our team, many many MANY parents are quite grateful we were there to transport their newborn babes to a hospital that could provide them the services needed so they could enjoy their wonderful gift of life.
And no, I'm not dashing off on a 9-1-1 call nor am I neglecting a patient or my sleep. Honestly, I don't even want to read yet another article with your name on it such as the address you posted for us to read, because I've seen enough bashing as it is without evidence.
Find something else to report on and make certain you do a bit more research than you attempted here in this article.
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2019-04-22T04:58:13Z
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http://christinenegroni.blogspot.com/2010/07/please-dont-call-them-heroes.html?showComment=1321737821254
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Answer Brief – Counterfeit Identification Card | Fallgatter Catlin & Varon, P.A.
Throughout this brief, Appellant, the State of Florida, will be referred to as Appellant or State. Appellee, will be referred to as Appellee or Defendant. The Record on Appeal, designated as Record of Appeal Volume 1 of 2 and Record of Appeal Volume 2 of 2 are continuously paginated and will be referred to as R., followed by the appropriate page number.
On July 30, the Appellee was arrested for allegedly possessing a counterfeit identification card, a third degree felony. (R. 1). A one count Information charging unauthorized possession of an identification card was filed on August 7th. (R. 7).
On October 12, the Appellee filed his Motion to Suppress and Incorporated Memorandum of Law (hereinafter Motion to Suppress). (R. 11-20; 30-39). The Motion to Suppress comprised ten pages of legal argument and contains detailed allegations regarding the illicit detention and search of the Appellee, as well as attached transcripts of depositions from the relevant law enforcement officers. The search of Appellee was conducted without a warrant and Appellee’s Motion to Suppress cited numerous legal grounds seeking suppression of the identification document recovered from Appellee’s wallet. The Motion to Suppress was predicated on both an illegal detention of Appellee and a subsequent illicit search.
The hearing on Defendant’s Motion to Suppress was held in the afternoon of January 13. After hearing testimony from State witnesses Special Agent L., Special Agent W., and Agent E., counsel for Appellee called witnesses V. C., M. G., and the Appellee.
On the date of Appellee’s arrest, law enforcement officers and various other city, state, and federal officials entered the store without a warrant. (R. 91-97). Those individuals were employed by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, the City of Jacksonville Fire Marshall, the Jacksonville Electric Authority, the Florida Department of Alcohol Beverages and Tobacco, the United States Department of Homeland Security, the United States Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other unknown governmental entities. (R. 93). Appellant’s own witnesses agreed that on their arrival, Appellee “was not free to leave as soon as [Special Agent L.] walked into the store”. (R. 122). An unknown number of individuals entered the convenience store and the witnesses for Appellant testified that they entered after at least half a dozen other law enforcement officers or governmental officials had entered the business. (R. 137). Several other individuals entered after Appellant’s witnesses entered the business. (R. 137-38). The law enforcement officers and government officials who first entered the business did not testify at the hearing on Appellee’s Motion to Suppress, they were not provided for in discovery, and their identity and employing agency is unknown to Appellee.
Appellee is not an employee of the store, but merely a patron. (R. 178). Appellee was put up against a wall and patted down without consent. (R. 161). Appellee was patted down three times. (R. 178). Subsequent law enforcement officers entered and asked Appellee if he had guns or drugs. (R. 181). Appellee was then asked for identification and produced a valid Mexican Passport. (R. 183). Appellee was taken outside to his truck and forced up against his vehicle. (R. 180). Appellee was questioned further after producing identification. (R. 184-86).
After his detention in the convenience store, Appellee was taken outside by law enforcement officers to his vehicle. (R. 184-85). Appellee did not give law enforcement officers permission to search his vehicle and was never asked for his consent. (R. 184). Special Agent W. asked Appellee if he searched Appellee’s vehicle, would he “’find any drugs or anything else?’” (R. 160). Without permission and already in possession of valid identification, Special Agent W. reached into Appellee’s vehicle, removed Appellee’s wallet, and searched it. (R. 186-88). A card was removed from the wallet that stated that it was a “Florida Comercial (sic) ID Card” and that it was not a government ID. (R. 133).
Counsel for the Appellee: Was he free to leave, when you walked into the store?
Special Agent W.: Not until we determined what his business was there, and what he was doing there, no.
Counsel for the Appellee: Well, can you articulate what criminal activity you were worried he was engaged in?
Special Agent W.: Well, we didn’t know who he was.
Counsel for the Appellee: I understand.
Special Agent W.: And we didn’t know what he was doing. If he had some — again, if we were looking into human trafficking, human smuggling, how do we not know that he’s not someone there involved in that?
Counsel for the Appellee: I understand. What suspicion did you have that he was?
Special Agent W.: At that time, we didn’t.
(R. 146). Special Agent W.’s own testimony is that he told the Appellee that he was required to provide identification, even though Special Agent W. did not suspect him of any criminal activity. (R. 146, 196). Special Agent W. further testified that his memory of finding the document in question is “poor” and that he more likely than not would not have allowed Appellee to retrieve the document from the truck himself. (R. 196-97).
After hearing the evidence and testimony of the six witnesses, as well as the argument from Appellant and Appellee, the trial court granted Appellee’s Motion to Suppress Evidence. (R. 216). The trial court specifically found that Appellee was detained and that such a detention was consistent with the testimony of Appellant’s witnesses. (R. 216). A pro-forma written order was entered and the trial court made no specific findings of fact or assessments as to the credibility of any witnesses. (R. 29). Appellant subsequently filed a timely notice of appeal and the instant appeal followed.
The trial court did not err by granting Appellant’s Motion to Suppress because, even giving deference to the testimony of Appellant’s witnesses, the encounter between law enforcement officers and Appellee was consistent with an investigatory stop. Further, assuming arguendo, that there was a consensual encounter, the search of Appellee’s wallet and the recovery of the document in question was not consensual.
However, as the trial court did not make findings of credibility, the testimony must be viewed in light most favorable to upholding the ruling of the trial court. Utilizing that standard, the State is asserting that a consensual encounter exists where at least a dozen law enforcement officers storm into a commercial business with masks on and guns drawn, detain everyone in the store, throw an individual up against the wall, pat him down, demand to see identification, and then search through his wallet without permission after such a detention, all without even a bare suspicion that the individual was involved in any criminal activity.
A colorable appeal has not been presented to this Court and the Initial Brief of the State ignores the facts adduced and presented in the trial court and is wholly misleading to this Court. Such an assertion evinces either a complete lack of understanding of the standard of review before this Court or bad faith by the State of Florida in the administration of justice. Asserting that what occurred in the record before this Court offends all notions of Constitutional law, wholly lacks merit, is frivolous in nature, and should be sanctioned or admonished by this Court.
The standard of appellate review of a court’s ruling on a motion to suppress is a mixed question of law and fact. Robinson v. State, 885 So. 2d 951, 953 (Fla. 1st DCA 2004). The trial court’s ruling on a motion to suppress is clothed with a presumption of correctness. State v. Shaw, 784 So. 2d 529, 530 (Fla. 1st DCA 2001). All evidentiary issues and reasonable inferences must be resolved “in a manner most favorable to sustaining the trial court’s ruling.” Id. citing McNamera v. State, 357 So. 2d 410, 412 (Fla. 1978). Accordingly, findings of fact should be upheld if supported by competent, substantial evidence, construing all evidence and reasonable inferences there from in a manner most favorable to sustaining the trial court’s ruling. Owen v. State, 560 So. 2d 207, 211 (Fla. 1990). See also State v. Allen, 994 So. 2d 1192, 1194 (Fla. 5th DCA 2008); Hines v. State, 737 So. 2d 1182, 1184 (Fla. 1st DCA 1999). The trial court’s application of law to the factual findings should be reviewed de novo. Shaw, 784 So. 2d at 530; Hines, 737 So.2d at 1184. The trial court’s ruling is presumed correct and the evidence is reviewed in light most favorable to sustaining order. Pagan v. State, 830 So. 2d 792, 806 (Fla. 2002).
Initially, Appellant argues that “the trial court erred because under the totality of the circumstances, competent substantial record evidence demonstrates that a consensual encounter occurred between Defendant and Agents L. and W.” Initial Brief at 7. Respectfully, the trial court declined to make such a determination and this more accurately reflects this Court’s standard of review. In the hearing below, Appellant presented no witnesses as to what happened between Appellee and the first set of law enforcement officers entered the convenience store.
In the trial court below, Appellant failed to disclose as witnesses the majority of the municipal, state, and federal officials involved in the raid of the convenience store where Appellee was a patron. (R. 9). The trial court found, based on the testimony of Appellant’s witnesses, that at least half a dozen armed law enforcement officers entered the store before any of the individuals that testified on behalf of Appellant entered the store. Not a single one of those individuals testified at the hearing or were disclosed to Appellee. The only record evidence as to what occurred with those individuals was by Appellee’s witnesses, who testified that officers entered with masks on, guns drawn, ordered everyone to remain still, and began a pat down search of Appellee. (R. 160-61, 178). Further, even the testimony of Special Agent W. is unable to establish that the actual seizure of the document in question was consensual. (R. 196-97).
In a motion to suppress, in the absence of a warrant, the burden is on the State to demonstrate that the search was lawful. In Reeves, the Fifth District Court of Appeal found that “a motion to suppress . . . raises the issue of the legality of a search and seizure of the evidence.” State v. Reeves, 587 So. 2d 649 (Fla. 5th DCA 1991). In Brown, the Third District Court of Appeal stated that “[t]he only question before the court on a motion to suppress is the validity of the seizure.” State v. Brown, 257 So. 2d 263, 264 (Fla. 3d DCA 1972). See also Robertson v. State, 114 So. 534 (Fla. 1927).
The first level is considered a consensual encounter and involves only minimal police contact. During a consensual encounter a citizen may either voluntarily comply with a police officer’s requests or choose to ignore them. Because the citizen is free to leave during a consensual encounter, constitutional safeguards are not invoked.
The second level of police-citizen encounters involves an investigatory stop as enunciated in Terry v. Ohio. At this level, a police officer may reasonably detain a citizen temporarily if the officer has a reasonable suspicion that a person has committed, is committing, or is about to commit a crime. In order not to violate a citizen’s Fourth Amendment rights, an investigatory stop requires a well-founded, articulable suspicion of criminal activity. Mere suspicion is not enough to support a stop. . . .
[T]he third level of police-citizen encounters involves an arrest which must be supported by probable cause that a crime has been or is being committed.
Popple v. State, 626 So. 2d 185, 186 (Fla. 1993).
By looking at the totality of the circumstances, this Court must determine whether the officers’ conduct would have communicated to a reasonable person that they were not free to terminate the encounter. See State v. Ferrel, 705 So. 2d 1051, 1052 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998); Jones v. State, 658 So. 2d 178, 180 (Fla. 1st DCA 1995). If it is determined that a reasonable person in the situation would not have felt free to leave, the situation is deemed an investigative stop; otherwise, the situation is deemed a consensual encounter. See Brooks v. State, 745 So. 2d 1113 (Fla.1st DCA 1999).
We conclude that a person has been “seized” within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment only if, in view of all of the circumstances surrounding the incident, a reasonable person would have believed that he was not free to leave. Examples of circumstances that might indicate a seizure, even where the person did not attempt to leave, would be the threatening presence of several officers, the display of a weapon by an officer, some physical touching of the person of the citizen, or the use of language or tone of voice indicating that compliance with the officer’s request might be compelled.
United States v. Mendenhall, 446 U.S. 544, 554 (1980). In the instant case, there was a “threatening presence of several officers”, as numerous officers entered the convenience store with weapons drawn and masks on. (R. 160, 178). There was “the display of a weapon by an officer”, as there was evidence that a law enforcement officer had a firearm drawn and other officers had holstered firearms. Id. There was “some physical touching of the person of the citizen”, as Appellee was pushed up against a wall and patted down three times. (R. 161, 78). Finally, there was “use of language or tone of voice indicating that compliance with the officer’s request might be compelled”, as law enforcement officers told everyone in the store not to move, constantly asked if they had any guns or drugs, and did not allow them to speak to one another. (R. 160).
It strains the bounds of reason to conclude that under these circumstances, a reasonable person would believe that he or she was free to end the encounter with police and simply leave. See Mendenhall, 446 U.S. at 554. Moreover, it would be both dangerous and irresponsible for this Court to advise Florida citizens that they should feel free to simply ignore the officers, walk away, and refuse to interact with these officers under such circumstances. Instead, as a matter of safety to both the public and law enforcement officers, we conclude that a citizen who is aware of the police presence under the specific facts presented by this case is seized for Fourth Amendment purposes and should not attempt to walk away from the police or refuse to comply with lawful instructions.
G.M., 19 So. 3d at 980. In this case, there is significant subjective, through the testimony of Appellee and objective evidence that Appellee was not free to leave. Although Special Agent W. and Special Agent L. testified that their contact with Appellee was consensual, Appellant failed to produce any evidence regarding the actions by law enforcement officers who initially entered the convenience store.
Even in the absence of the testimony of the Appellee’s three witnesses, there is competent, substantial evidence to uphold the finding of the trial court. As the Fifth District Court of Appeal has held, “where evidence involved at the suppression hearing supports both a finding of a consensual encounter and a seizure and where the trial judge makes a factual finding that a reasonable person under the circumstances would not feel that he was free to go, the trial court’s decision to suppress the evidence will be affirmed. State v. Newton, 737 So. 2d 1252, 1252-53 (Fla. 5th DCA 1999); citing Hollinger v. State, 620 So. 2d 1242 (Fla.1993).
Both the Supreme Court of Florida and the United States Supreme Court have held that, “any warrantless seizure of an individual by law enforcement officers must be based on reasonable suspicion that the individual is engaged in wrongdoing.” Caldwell v. State, 41 So. 3d 188, 195 (Fla. 2010). In this case, law enforcement officers testified that they had no suspicion whatsoever that Appellee was engaged in illicit activity. (R. 146). There was no evidence or suspicion that Appellee was at any point engaged in illegal activity. Law Enforcement Officers continued to detain Appellee and search his property even after he provided valid identification and after submitting to the authority of law enforcement. (R. 183-86).
It is clear that Appellee was detained and there was no reasonable suspicion or any other lawful reason to detain Appellee. However, assuming arguendo, that the encounter between Appellee and the unknown law enforcement officers was consensual, the trial court’s ruling should still be sustained and the evidence suppressed. Even in the event of a consensual encounter, the record evidence is that the search that resulted in the tangible evidence obtained by law enforcement was done so without the consent of Appellee and without any other legal reason or justification.
Appellee did not give law enforcement officers permission to search his vehicle and during cross-examination explicitly stated that his wallet was searched without permission. (R. 184). Special Agent W., after being handed a valid passport by Appellee, asked Appellee if he searched Appellee’s vehicle, would he “’find any drugs or anything else?’” (R. 160). Again, without permission, Special Agent W. went into Appellee’s vehicle, retrieved Appellee’s wallet, and searched it, finding the document in question. (R. 186-88). At the time of this search, there was no reasonable suspicion of criminal activity on the part of Appellee. Although this Court must resolve factual disputes in favor of upholding the trial court’s ruling, even Special Agent W. admitted that he has no specific recollection of how he actually obtained the document, admitted that he likely would have retrieved it from Appellee’s wallet himself, and admitted that his memory of the actual event was poor. Id. It is aphoristic that a law enforcement officer lacks authority to search an individual or his property absent legal authority or permission, both of which are lacking in this case.
Appellant’s Initial Brief, although generally citing the correct legal standards and law that this Court should apply, clearly ignores the record below. Appellant asks this Court to “reverse the trial court’s judgment and sentence” and determine that “competent and substantial evidence exists to indicate that the Defendant did not acquiesce to a show of police authority, and thus, engaged in a consensual encounter.” Initial Brief at 14. Throughout the Initial Brief, Appellant fails to acknowledge the testimony of any witnesses that were not called by Appellant, ignores facts and testimony that is detrimental to their cause, and fails to acknowledge that all factual inferences must be resolved in a manner most favorable to sustaining the trial court’s ruling when actually discussing the merits of the case. The trial court did not make any factual determinations or otherwise discredit the testimony given by Appellee and his witnesses. Given the content of said witnesses, the assertions in Appellant’s Initial Brief are wholly without merit and should be sanctioned. A review of Appellant’s Initial Brief indicates that here is no suggestion or argument that the trial court applied the incorrect law. Additionally, there is no suggestion or argument that there is not competent, substantial evidence to uphold the ruling of the trial court. Appellant invites this Honorable Court to ignore the testimony of half the witnesses that testified before the trial court, ignore the findings and conclusions of the trial court, fill in testimony for events that occurred before the agents that testified were even present, fill in memory gaps of the agents regarding the actual seizure of the document, completely reweigh the evidence adduced below, and ignore the appropriate standard of review. Appellee respectfully requests that this Court decline that invitation, uphold the ruling of the trial court, and based on the frivolous nature of Appellant’s Initial Brief, grant any other relief that this Court deems necessary and proper.
WHEREFORE, in light of the foregoing, Appellee respectfully requests this Court to affirm the trial court’s grant of Appellee’s Motion to Suppress and grant any other relief this Court deems necessary and proper.
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2019-04-19T08:30:07Z
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https://fallgatterlaw.com/legal-pleadings/answer-brief-counterfeit-identification-card/
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2010-07-23 First worldwide family litigation filed litigation Critical https://patents.darts-ip.com/?family=38265293&utm_source=google_patent&utm_medium=platform_link&utm_campaign=public_patent_search&patent=JP2007319660(A) "Global patent litigation dataset” by Darts-ip is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
本発明は、コア，包囲層，中間層及びカバーの各層を積層して形成されたマルチピースソリッドゴルフボールに関するものであり、更に詳述すると、プロや上級者において飛び性能に優れ、コントロール性能の良いマルチピースソリッドゴルフボールに関するものである。 The present invention, the core, the envelope layer, relates to a multi-piece solid golf ball which is formed by stacking each layer of the intermediate layer and the cover, further In detail, excellent flight performance in professional and advanced, the control performance it relates to good multi-piece solid golf ball.
従来からプロや上級者向けのゴルフボールとして様々なゴルフボールの開発が行われており、中でも、高ヘッドスピート領域において優位な飛距離性能とアイアンショットやアプローチショットにおけるコントロール性を両立させる点から、コアを被覆する中間層やカバー層の各層の硬度関係を適正化した機能を備えたマルチピースソリッドゴルフボールが普及している。 Conventionally it has been developed a variety of golf balls as golf balls for professional and advanced from, among others, from the viewpoint of achieving both the controllability in superior distance performance and iron shots and approach shots in the high head scan peat areas, multi-piece solid golf ball having the functions optimizing the hardness relationship of each layer of the intermediate layer and the cover layer for covering the core has become widespread. また、飛び性能だけでなく、打撃時の感触やクラブ打撃後のボールのスピン量が、ボールをコントロールするのに大きく影響を及ぼすことから、これらを最適なものに仕上げるために、ゴルフボールの各層の厚さや硬度を適正化することも重要テーマの一つである。 In addition, skipping not only the performance, the spin rate of the ball after feeling and clubs blow at the time of hitting is, since it greatly affects to control the ball, in order to finish them to the optimal one, each layer of the golf ball it is also one of the important themes to optimize the thickness and hardness of. 更に、ゴルフボールを各種クラブで繰り返し打撃することに起因する、繰り返し打撃耐久性や、ボール表面に観察されるササクレの発生の抑制（耐擦過傷性の向上）なども要求されており、ボールをできるだけ外的要因から保護する側面もボールを開発する上で重要テーマの一つである。 Furthermore, due to hit repeatedly golf ball at various clubs, and durability to repeated impact, reduction of generation of burr observed on the surface of the ball (improvement of scuff resistance) has also been required such as, as much as possible the ball side to protect from external factors is also one of the important themes in the development of ball.
このようなゴルフボールとしては、例えば、特開２００３−１９０３３０号公報、特開２００４−０４９９１３号公報、特開２００４−９７８０２号公報及び特開２００５−３１９２８７号公報の外層カバーが熱可塑性ポリウレタンを主材として形成されたスリーピースソリッドゴルフボールが提案されている。 Such a golf ball, for example, JP 2003-190330, JP 2004-049913, JP-main 2004-97802 JP and 2005-319287 Patent outer cover of JP Patent is a thermoplastic polyurethane three-piece solid golf ball, which is formed as the wood has been proposed. しかしながら、このゴルフボールでは、ドライバー打撃時の低スピンの実現が不十分な面もあり、プロや上級者から視て更に飛距離を増大させるゴルフボールが望まれていた。 However, in this golf ball, there is also insufficient face the realization of a low-spin at the time of a driver hitting, further golf ball to increase the distance as seen from professional and advanced users has been desired.
一方、更なるゴルフボールの飛び等の追求のために、ボール構造における各層を４層とし、即ち、コアを被覆する中間層やカバー層が３層とし、ボール構造を多層に内部変化させる種々の提案がなされている。 Meanwhile, because of the pursuit of fly, such as further golf balls, and four layers each layer in the ball structure, i.e., the intermediate layer and the cover layer for covering the core is a three-layer, various which internal change ball structure in a multilayer proposals have been made. 例えば、特開平９−２４８３５１号公報、特開平１０−１２７８１８号公報、特開平１０−１２７８１９号公報、特開平１０−２９５８５２号公報、特開平１０−３２８３２５号公報、特開平１０−３２８３２６号公報、特開平１０−３２８３２７号公報、特開平１０−３２８３２８号公報、特開平１１−４９１６号公報及び特開２００４−１８０８２２号公報などが提案されている。 For example, JP-A-9-248351, JP-A No. 10-127818, JP-A No. 10-127819, JP-A No. 10-295852, JP-A No. 10-328325, JP-A No. 10-328326, JP- JP-10-328327, JP-a No. 10-328328 and JP-like Hei 11-4916 and JP 2004-180822 JP has been proposed.
しかしながら、これらの提案されたゴルフボールでは、上級者向きのゴルフボールとしては飛距離及びコントロール性のバランスが悪かったり、ドライバー打撃時の低スピンの実現が不十分であり、その結果、トータル飛距離を増大させることには限界がある。 However, these in the proposed golf ball, or poor balance of distance and control property as a golf ball of advanced users, it is insufficient realization of a low-spin at the time of driver hit, as a result, total distance to increase the there is a limit.
また、米国特許第６９９４６３８明細書に記載されたマルチピースソリッドゴルフボールでは、中間層やカバーなどの各層の厚さと硬度との関係が発明されておらず、上級者向けのゴルフボールとしてドライバー打撃時の低スピン化の実現には不十分なものであった。 Further, in the multi-piece solid golf ball described in U.S. Patent No. 6,994,638 specification, not being the relationship between the thickness and hardness of each layer such as an intermediate layer and cover invention, when a driver hitting a golf ball for advanced users It was not sufficient for the realization of a low-spin of.
本発明は、上記事情に鑑みなされたもので、プロや上級者が満足し得る飛びとコントロール性に優れると共に、繰り返し打撃時の割れ耐久性や耐擦過傷性に優れたマルチピースソリッドゴルフボールを提供することを目的とする。 The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, it is excellent in jumping and controllability professional or advanced players satisfactory, providing a multi-piece solid golf ball having excellent durability to cracking and scuff resistance during repeated impact an object of the present invention is to.
本発明は、コアに被覆する外層を包囲層−中間層−カバーの３層以上の多層構造とすることをゴルフボール設計の基本的構成としている。 The present invention, outer layer surrounding layer covering the core - intermediate layer - has a basic structure of a golf ball design that a three-layer or more multilayer structure of the cover. また、コアの硬度分布に関して傾斜と表面と中心の硬度差の両方に着目し、その適正化を図ることと、本構造の各部位の表面硬度の位置付けと各カバー層の厚さとの取り合いなどの相乗効果により、上級者を満足させる特性が出るようにしたものである。 Moreover, focusing on both the hardness difference between the inclination and the surface and centered with respect to the hardness distribution of the core, and to achieve the optimization, the surface hardness of each portion of the structure positioning and such competition for the thickness of each cover layer a synergistic effect is obtained by such out characteristics to satisfy advanced. 中間層の構成により、高い反発性、耐久性とフルショット時の低スピン化を両立し得る。 The structure of the intermediate layer, be compatible high resilience, a low spin at durability and full shots. 包囲層には高い反発で中間層より軟らかい材料を用いることにより、Ｗ＃１打撃時の低スピン化と高い繰り返し打撃耐久性能を持つ。 The use of softer material than the intermediate layer in a high resilience to the surrounding layer, having a W # 1 low spin when hit with high repeated impact durability. そして、包囲層−中間層−カバーの各層の表面が順に軟−硬−軟の硬度関係を有し、コアの直径や包囲層−中間層−カバーの層厚さの関係を適正化することにより、これらの硬度関係及び層厚さ関係の相乗的効果によって上述した従来の課題を解決することができた。 The envelope layer - intermediate layer - the surface of each layer of the cover in turn soft - hard - has a soft hardness relationship, the diameter and the surrounding layer of the core - by optimizing the relationship between the layer thickness of the cover - middle layer , it was possible to solve the conventional problems described above by the synergistic effect of these hardness relationships and layer thickness relationship. 即ち、本発明のゴルフボールをプロや上級者が使用すると、十分に満足し得る飛びとコントロール性を有し、そのうえ、優れた繰り返し打撃時の割れ耐久性及び耐擦過傷性を示し、このような作用効果は予測外であり、それ故、本発明者は、上記の本発明の構成により上記の解決課題を解決することができることを知見し、かかる本発明を完成したものである。 That is, by using the golf ball of the present invention professional and advanced, having a fly and controllability satisfactory enough, moreover, shows the durability to cracking and scuff resistance during good repeated impact, like this action effect is unexpected, therefore, the present inventor has the above structure of the present invention to findings that it is possible to resolve the problems described above, has been completed such invention.
〔１〕コアと、これを被覆する包囲層と、これを被覆する該中間層と、これを被覆し、表面に多数のディンプルが形成されたカバーとを備えたマルチピースソリッドゴルフボールにおいて、上記コアがゴム材を主材として形成され、そのコアの直径が３１ｍｍ以上であり、コアの中心からコア表面まで硬度が漸次増加し、コア中心とコア表面との硬度差がＪＩＳ−Ｃで１５以上であり、かつコア中心から１５ｍｍ離れた位置とコア中心との断面硬度の平均値を（Ｉ）、コア中心から７．５ｍｍ離れた位置の断面硬度を（ＩＩ）とした場合、両硬度差（Ｉ）−（ＩＩ）がＪＩＳ−Ｃで±２以内であると共に、上記包囲層及び上記中間層が、それぞれ同種又は異種の樹脂材料を主材として形成され、上記カバーが熱可塑性樹脂又は熱可塑性エラス a core, a surrounding layer covering this, and the intermediate layer covering this, which was coated, in a multi-piece solid golf ball comprising a cover plurality of dimples formed on the surface, the the core is formed primarily of a rubber material and has a its is a diameter of the core is 31mm or more, the hardness gradually increases from the center of the core to the core surface, 15 or more hardness difference between the core center and the core surface in JIS-C , and the and when the average value of the cross-sectional hardness of the position and the core center at a distance 15mm from the core center (I), the cross-sectional hardness at a position 7.5mm from the core center and (II), both hardness difference ( I) - (II) being within ± 2 in JIS-C, the enclosure layer and the intermediate layer, are respectively formed of a resin material of the same or different as the main material, the cover is a thermoplastic resin or a thermoplastic Hellas マーを主材として形成され、上記の包囲層，中間層及びカバーの厚さが、 カバー厚さ ＜ 中間層厚さ ＜ 包囲層厚さ の条件を満たし、かつ包囲層、中間層及びカバーの表面硬度（ＪＩＳ−Ｃ硬度）が、 包囲層表面硬度 ＜ 中間層表面硬度 ＞ カバー表面硬度 の条件を満たすことを特徴とするマルチピースソリッドゴルフボール。 Formed mer as main material, said envelope layer, the thickness of the intermediate layer and the cover, the cover thickness <intermediate layer thickness <qualify for envelope layer thickness, and surrounding layer, the surface of the intermediate layer and the cover multi-piece solid golf ball hardness (JIS-C hardness), characterized in that meets the envelope layer surface hardness <intermediate layer surface hardness> cover surface hardness.
（ｄ）上記ベース樹脂及び（ｃ）成分中の未中和の酸基を中和できる塩基性無機金属化合物 ０．１〜１７質量部とを必須成分として配合した混合物である〔１〕記載のマルチピースソリッドゴルフボール。 (D) is the above base resin and (c) a mixture and unneutralized acid groups capable of neutralizing basic inorganic metal compound 0.1 to 17 parts by weight in the component was formulated as essential ingredients (1) according The multi-piece solid golf ball.
〔３〕上記最外層カバーの樹脂材料が、（Ａ）熱可塑性ポリウレタン及び（Ｂ）ポリイソシアネート化合物を主成分とする単一な樹脂配合物を射出成形して形成されるものであり、上記樹脂配合物中には、少なくとも一部に、全てのイソシアネート基が未反応状態で残存してなるポリイソシアネート化合物が存在する〔１〕又は〔２〕記載のマルチピースソリッドゴルフボール。 The resin material of the outermost layer cover, which is formed by injection molding a single resin blend composed mainly of (A) a thermoplastic polyurethane and (B) a polyisocyanate compound, the resin the formulation, at least in part on the multi-piece solid golf ball of which all the isocyanate groups are present polyisocyanate compound comprising the remaining unreacted state or , wherein.
〔４〕上記コアのゴム材が、希土類元素系触媒又はＶＩＩＩ族金属化合物触媒で合成されたポリブタジエンである〔１〕〜〔３〕記載のマルチピースソリッドゴルフボール。 the rubber material of the core is multi-piece solid golf ball of a polybutadiene synthesized with a rare-earth catalyst or a Group VIII metal compound catalyst to , wherein.
〔５〕上記中間層の材料には、ナトリウムイオンにより中和されたアイオノマーを含む〔１〕〜〔４〕記載のマルチピースソリッドゴルフボール。 above the material of the intermediate layer, to The multi-piece solid golf ball according comprising an ionomer neutralized with sodium ions.
を満たした〔１〕〜〔５〕記載のマルチピースソリッドゴルフボール。 The multi-piece solid golf ball of the meet was to described.
本発明のゴルフボールによれば、カバーにポリウレタン材を主材として用いると共に、包囲層、中間層、カバーの各層の厚さ、硬度を上述したように適正化し、コア直径を一定以上の大きさに設定することにより、ドライバーによるフルショット時におけるボールの低スピン化させ、更なるボールの飛距離の増大と良好なコントロール性を有し、繰り返し打撃時の割れ耐久性及び耐擦過傷性にも優れており、プロや上級者向けのゴルフボールとして非常に有用な多層構造ゴルフボールである。 According to the golf ball of the present invention, with use as a main material a polyurethane material cover, envelope layer, an intermediate layer, cover the thickness of each layer, and optimized as described above hardness, the more constant core diameter size by setting the driver is low spin ball at full shots by having an increased and good control of the distance of the further balls, excellent durability to cracking and scuff resistance during repeated impact and it has a multilayer structure golf ball very useful as a golf ball for professionals and advanced users.
本発明のマルチピースソリッドゴルフボールは、図１に示されているように、コア１と、該コアを被覆する包囲層２と、該包囲層を被覆する中間層３と、該中間層を被覆するカバー４とを有する４層又はそれ以上の多層を有するゴルフボールＧである。 The multi-piece solid golf ball of the present invention, as shown in Figure 1, the core 1, covering the surrounding layer 2 covering the core, an intermediate layer 3 covering the surrounding layer, the intermediate layer a golf ball G having 4 or more layers of a multilayer and a cover 4 that. なお、上記カバー４の表面には、通常、ディンプルＤが多数形成されるものである。 Note that the surface of the cover 4 are typically those where the dimples D are formed a number. コア１又は中間層３は単層には限られず２層以上の複数層に形成することができる。 Core 1 or the intermediate layer 3 may be formed in a plurality of layers of two or more layers is not limited to a single layer.
本発明では、コアの直径は３１ｍｍ以上に規定されるものであり、通常、３１ｍｍ以上３８ｍｍ以下、好ましくは３２．５ｍｍ以上３７ｍｍ以下、より好ましくは３４ｍｍ以上３６ｍｍ以下である。 In the present invention, the diameter of the core is intended to be defined in more than 31 mm, typically, 31 mm or more 38mm or less, preferably 32.5mm or 37mm or less, and more preferably 36mm or less than 34 mm. コアの直径がこの範囲を逸脱すると、ボール初速が低くなったり、ボール打撃後の低スピン効果が足りずに飛距離が伸びなくなる場合がある。 A core diameter outside of this range, or turned the ball initial velocity was low, low spin effect after the ball striking ceasing elongation distance to insufficient.
コアの表面硬度は、特に制限はないが、ＪＩＳ−Ｃ硬度で、７０以上９６以下とすることが好ましく、より好ましくは７６以上８９以下、さらに好ましくは７９以上８７以下である。 The surface hardness of the core is not particularly limited, in JIS-C hardness, preferably to 70 or more 96 or less, more preferably 76 or more 89 or less, more preferably 79 or more 87 or less. また、コアの中心硬度は、特に制限はないが、ＪＩＳ−Ｃ硬度で、５０以上７２以下とすることが好ましく、より好ましくは５５以上６８以下、さらに好ましくは６０以上６６以下である。 The center hardness of the core is not particularly limited, in JIS-C hardness, preferably 50 to 72 or less, more preferably 55 or more 68 or less, more preferably 60 or more 66 or less. 上記の範囲を下回ると、コアの反発特性が足りずに飛距離が伸びなくなったり、繰り返し打撃時の割れ耐久性が悪くなる場合がある。 Below the above range, there are cases where or longer elongation distance to insufficient rebound characteristics of the core, cracking durability in repeated impact is poor. 逆に、上記の範囲を超えると、フルショットした時の打感が硬くなりすぎたり、スピン量が多くなりすぎて飛距離が伸びなくなる場合がある。 On the contrary, when it exceeds the above range, there is a case in which become too hard and feel at the time of the full shot, it will not extend the flight distance too many spin rate.
本発明において、コア中心から表面まで硬度が漸次増加することが必要とされ、その差がＪＩＳ−Ｃで１５以上、好ましくは１７〜４０、さらに好ましくは１９〜３５。 In the present invention, it is required that the hardness from the core center to the surface increases gradually, the difference is 15 or more in JIS-C, preferably 17 to 40, more preferably 19-35. 差が小さ過ぎると、Ｗ＃１打撃時の低スピン効果が足りずに飛距離が出なくなることがある。 If the difference is too small, the spin rate-lowering effect on shots with a W # 1 may become not out distance in not enough. 差が大き過ぎると、実打初速が低くなり飛距離が出なくなったり、繰り返し打撃の際の割れ耐久が悪くなることがある。 If the difference is too large, or is no longer out of the flight distance actual hitting initial velocity is low, there may be a crack durability at the time of the repeated impact becomes worse.
また、図２に示すように、コア中心及びコア中心から７．５ｍｍ，１５ｍｍ離れた断面部における硬度をそれぞれ適正化することにより、Ｗ＃１打撃時の低スピン効果を向上させることができる。 Further, as shown in FIG. 2, 7.5 mm from the core center and the core center, by optimizing respective hardness at 15mm away cross section, it is possible to improve the low-spin effect of shots with a W # 1. 具体的には、コア中心から１５ｍｍ離れた位置とコア中心との断面硬度の平均値を（Ｉ）、コア中心から７．５ｍｍ離れた位置の断面硬度を（ＩＩ）とした場合、両硬度差（Ｉ）−（ＩＩ）がＪＩＳ−Ｃで±２以内であることが必要とされる。 Specifically, when the average value of the cross-sectional hardness of the position and the core center at a distance 15mm from the core center (I), the cross-sectional hardness at a position 7.5mm from the core center and (II), both hardness difference (I) - (II) is required to be within ± 2 in JIS-C. 即ち、図３に示すように、例えば、コア中心がＪＩＳ硬度で６１、コア中心から外側に１５ｍｍ離れた位置のＪＩＳ硬度が７７である場合、その平均値はＪＩＳ硬度で約６９であるが、コア中心から７．５ｍｍ離れた位置（コア中心と１５ｍｍ離れた位置との中間地点に相当。）の硬度については、上記平均値「６９」よりも±２以内の範囲に留めることを意味する。 That is, as shown in FIG. 3, for example, 61 core center in JIS hardness, when JIS hardness at a position 15mm outwardly from the core center is 77, but the average value is approximately 69 in JIS hardness, core center position apart 7.5mm (corresponding to the middle point between the core center and 15mm away.) for the hardness of the means to remain in a range within ± 2 than the average value "69". 即ち、図３に示されるように、コア中心から外に向かって直線的な勾配を持つ硬度分布が望ましい。 That is, as shown in FIG. 3, a hardness distribution having a linear gradient towards the core center to the outside is desirable.
上記の硬度差［（Ｉ）−（ＩＩ）］については、ＪＩＳ−Ｃで±１以内とすることが好ましく、より好ましくは±０、即ち、上記平均値に一致させることである。 The above hardness difference - the [(I) (II)] is preferably to within ± 1 in JIS-C, more preferably ± 0, that is, to match to the average value. この差が大き過ぎるとＷ＃１打撃時の低スピン効果が足りずに飛距離が出なくなることがある。 If this difference is too large W # spin rate-lowering effect on 1 blow is sometimes not out distance in not enough.
コアが荷重負荷された時のたわみ量、即ち、コアに対して、初期荷重９８Ｎ（１０ｋｇｆ）から終荷重１，２７５Ｎ（１３０ｋｇｆ）を負荷したときまでのたわみ量（ｍｍ）は、特に制限はないが、２．０ｍｍ以上５．０ｍｍ以下の範囲に調整されることが好適であり、より好ましくは２．３ｍｍ以上４．４ｍｍ以下、さらに好ましくは２．６ｍｍ以上３．８ｍｍ以下である。 Amount of deflection when the core is load-bearing, i.e., the core, the amount of deflection of the initial load 98 N (10 kgf) until a final load 1,275N (130kgf) (mm) is not particularly limited but, it is preferred to be adjusted to 5.0mm below the range of 2.0 mm, more preferably 2.3mm or more 4.4mm or less, more preferably 2.6mm or more 3.8mm or less. この値が大きすぎると、コアの反発が足りずに飛距離が不十分なものとなり、また、繰り返し打撃時の割れ耐久性が悪くなることがある。 If this value is too large, distance to the insufficient resilience of the core becomes insufficient, also, there is a durability to cracking during repeated impact is poor. 逆に、この値が小さすぎると、フルショットした時の打感が硬くなりすぎたり、スピン量が多くなりすぎて飛距離が伸びなくなる場合がある。 On the other hand, if this value is too small, there is a case in which become too hard and feel at the time of the full shot, it will not extend the flight distance too many spin rate.
上記のような表面硬度やたわみを有するコアの材料としては、ゴム材を主材として用いることができる。 As the material of the core having a surface hardness and bending as described above, and a rubber material as a main material. 例えば、ゴム材に加えて、共架橋剤、有機過酸化物、不活性充填剤、有機硫黄化合物等を含有するゴム組成物を用いて形成することができる。 For example, in addition to the rubber material, a co-crosslinking agent, an organic peroxide, an inert filler, it can be formed by using a rubber composition containing organic sulfur compounds and the like. そして、このゴム組成物の基材ゴムとしては、ポリブタジエンを用いることが好ましい。 Then, as the base rubber of the rubber composition, it is preferable to use a polybutadiene.
上記ゴム成分のポリブタジエンは、そのポリマー鎖中に、シス−１，４−結合を６０質量％以上、好ましくは８０質量％以上、より好ましくは９０質量％以上、最も好ましくは９５質量％以上有することが好適である。 Polybutadiene of the rubber component, in its polymer chain, cis-1,4-bond of 60% by weight or more, preferably 80 mass% or more, more preferably 90 wt% or more, and most preferably has more than 95 wt% it is preferred. 分子中の結合に占めるシス−１，４−結合が少なすぎると、反発性が低下する場合がある。 When cis-1,4-bond among the bonds in the molecule is too small, the resilience may be lowered.
また、上記ポリブタジエンに含まれる１，２−ビニル結合の含有量としては、そのポリマー鎖中に通常２％以下、好ましくは１．７％以下、更に好ましくは１．５％以下である。 The content of 1,2-vinyl bonds contained in the polybutadiene, normally less than 2% in its polymer chain, preferably 1.7% or less, more preferably 1.5% or less. １，２−ビニル結合の含有量が多すぎると、反発性が低下する場合がある。 A 1,2-vinyl bond content is too large, the resilience may decrease.
本発明で用いる上記ポリブタジエンとしては、良好な反発性を有するゴム組成物の加硫成形物を得る観点から、希土類元素系触媒又はＶＩＩＩ族金属化合物触媒で合成されたものであることが好ましく、中でも特に希土類元素系触媒で合成されたものであることが好ましい。 As the polybutadiene used in the present invention is preferably one from the viewpoint of obtaining a vulcanized molded article of a rubber composition having good resilience, it was synthesized with a rare-earth catalyst or a Group VIII metal compound catalyst, among others it is particularly preferred is synthesized with a rare-earth catalyst.
このような希土類元素系触媒としては、特に限定されるものではないが、例えば、ランタン系列希土類元素化合物と、有機アルミニウム化合物、アルモキサン、ハロゲン含有化合物、必要に応じルイス塩基とを組み合わせてなる触媒を挙げることができる。 Such rare-earth catalyst is not particularly limited, for example, a lanthanum series rare earth element compound, an organoaluminum compound, an alumoxane, a halogen-containing compound, a catalyst comprising a combination of a Lewis base as required it can be mentioned.
上記ランタン系列希土類元素化合物としては、原子番号５７〜７１の金属ハロゲン化物、カルボン酸塩、アルコラート、チオアルコラート、アミド等を挙げることができる。 As the lanthanum series rare earth element compounds include halides, carboxylates, carboxylates, alcoholates, thioalcoholates and amides.
本発明においては、特に、ランタン系列希土類元素化合物としてネオジウム化合物を用いたネオジウム系触媒を使用することが、１，４−シス結合が高含量、１，２−ビニル結合が低含量のポリブタジエンゴムを優れた重合活性で得られるので好ましく、これらの希土類元素系触媒の具体例は、特開平１１−３５６３３号公報、特開平１１−１６４９１２号公報、特開２００２−２９３９９６号公報に記載されているものを好適に挙げることができる。 In the present invention, in particular, the use of a neodymium catalyst in which a neodymium compound as the lanthanum series rare earth element compound, 1,4-cis bond high content, 1,2-vinyl bond is a low content of the polybutadiene rubber preferably therefore obtained with excellent polymerization activity, examples of such rare-earth catalysts, JP-a 11-35633, JP-a No. 11-164912, JP those described in JP-a-2002-293996 it can be mentioned favorably.
ランタン系列希土類元素化合物系触媒を用いて合成されたポリブタジエンは、ゴム成分中に１０質量％以上、好ましくは２０質量％以上、特に４０質量％以上含有することが反発性を向上させるためには好ましい。 Polybutadiene synthesized using the lanthanide series rare is in the rubber component 10 mass% or more, preferably 20 mass% or more, in order to contain in particular more than 40 wt% to improve the resilience preferred .
なお、上記ゴム基材には、上記ポリブタジエン以外にも他のゴム成分を本発明の効果を損なわない範囲で配合し得る。 Note that the rubber base material may contain other rubber components other than the polybutadiene within a range not to impair the effects of the present invention. 上記ポリブタジエン以外のゴム成分としては、上記ポリブタジエン以外のポリブタジエン、その他のジエンゴム、例えばスチレンブタジエンゴム、天然ゴム、イソプレンゴム、エチレンプロピレンジエンゴム等を挙げることができる。 As the rubber component other than the polybutadiene, polybutadiene other than the polybutadiene, and other diene rubbers, may include, for example, styrene-butadiene rubber, natural rubber, isoprene rubber, ethylene-propylene-diene rubber.
共架橋剤としては、例えば不飽和カルボン酸、不飽和カルボン酸の金属塩等が挙げられる。 The co-crosslinking agent, such as unsaturated carboxylic acids, metal salts of unsaturated carboxylic acids.
不飽和カルボン酸として具体的には、例えばアクリル酸、メタクリル酸、マレイン酸、フマル酸等を挙げることができ、特にアクリル酸、メタクリル酸が好適に用いられる。 Specific examples of the unsaturated carboxylic acids, such as acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, maleic acid and fumaric acid, in particular acrylic acid and methacrylic acid are preferably used.
不飽和カルボン酸の金属塩としては特に限定されるものではないが、例えば上記不飽和カルボン酸を所望の金属イオンで中和したものが挙げられる。 It is not particularly limited as metal salts of unsaturated carboxylic acids to, those for example an unsaturated carboxylic acid neutralized with the desired metal ions. 具体的にはメタクリル酸、アクリル酸等の亜鉛塩やマグネシウム塩等が挙げられ、特にアクリル酸亜鉛が好適に用いられる。 Specifically, methacrylic acid, include zinc and magnesium salts of acrylic acid is especially preferred zinc acrylate.
上記不飽和カルボン酸及び／又はその金属塩は、上記基材ゴム１００質量部に対し、通常１０質量部以上、好ましくは１５質量部以上、更に好ましくは２０質量部以上、上限として通常６０質量部以下、好ましくは５０質量部以下、更に好ましくは４５質量部以下、最も好ましくは４０質量部以下配合する。 The unsaturated carboxylic acid and / or its metal salt, with respect to 100 parts by weight of the base rubber, usually at least 10 parts by weight, preferably 15 parts by mass or more, more preferably 20 parts by mass or more, usually 60 parts by mass as an upper limit or less, preferably 50 parts by mass or less, more preferably 45 parts by weight, and most preferably than 40 parts by weight. 配合量が多すぎると、硬くなりすぎて耐え難い打感になる場合があり、配合量が少なすぎると、反発性が低下してしまう場合がある。 If the amount is too large, may result in intolerable feel too hard, when the blending amount is too small, the resilience decreases.
上記有機過酸化物としては市販品を用いることができ、例えば、パークミルＤ（日本油脂（株）製）、パーヘキサ３Ｍ（日本油脂（株）製）、Luperco 231XL（アトケム社製）等を好適に用いることができる。 Examples of the organic peroxide may be a commercially available product, for example, (manufactured by NOF Corporation) Percumyl D, Perhexa 3M (NOF Corporation), Luperco 231XL (manufactured by Atochem), etc. suitably the it can be used. これらは１種を単独であるいは２種以上を併用してもよい。 These may be used singly, or two or more.
上記有機過酸化物は、上記基材ゴム１００質量部に対し、通常０．１質量部以上、好ましくは０．３質量部以上、更に好ましくは０．５質量部以上、最も好ましくは０．７質量部以上、上限として通常５質量部以下、好ましくは４質量部以下、更に好ましくは３質量部以下、最も好ましくは２質量部以下配合する。 The organic peroxide, with respect to 100 parts by weight of the base rubber, 0.1 parts by mass or more, preferably 0.3 parts by mass or more, more preferably 0.5 parts by mass or more, and most preferably 0.7 parts by mass or more, usually 5 parts by weight, preferably up 4 parts by weight, more preferably 3 parts by weight, and most preferably not more than 2 parts by weight. 配合量が多すぎたり、少なすぎたりすると好適な打感、耐久性及び反発性を得ることができない場合がある。 Or the blending amount is too much or too little suitable feel, it may be impossible to obtain a durable and resilience.
不活性充填剤としては、例えば酸化亜鉛、硫酸バリウム、炭酸カルシウム等を好適に用いることができる。 The inert fillers such as zinc oxide, can be suitably used barium sulfate and calcium carbonate. これらは１種を単独で用いてもよいし、２種以上を併用してもよい。 These may be used alone or in combination of two or more thereof.
不活性充填剤の配合量は、上記基材ゴム１００質量部に対し、通常１質量部以上、好ましくは５質量部以上、上限として通常５０質量部以下、好ましくは４０質量部以下、更に好ましくは３０質量部以下とする。 The amount of inert filler included per 100 parts by weight of the base rubber, usually 1 part by mass or more, preferably at least 5 parts by weight, usually 50 parts by weight as the upper limit, preferably not more than 40 parts by weight, more preferably and 30 parts by mass or less. 配合量が多すぎたり、少なすぎたりすると適正な質量、及び好適な反発性を得ることができない場合がある。 Too much blending, it may be impossible to obtain a proper weight or too little, and good rebound.
更に、必要に応じて老化防止剤を配合することができ、例えば、市販品としてはノクラックＮＳ−６、同ＮＳ−３０（大内新興化学工業（株）製）、ヨシノックス４２５（吉富製薬（株）製）等が挙げられる。 Furthermore, it is possible to blend an antioxidant if necessary, for example, Nocrac NS-6 is commercially same NS-30 (manufactured by Ouchi Shinko Chemical Industrial Co.), Yoshinox 425 (Yoshitomi Pharmaceutical (strain ) Co., Ltd.), and the like. これらは１種を単独で用いてもよいし、２種以上を併用してもよい。 These may be used alone or in combination of two or more thereof.
該老化防止剤の配合量は上記基材ゴム１００質量部に対し、好ましくは０質量部以上、更に好ましくは０．０５質量部以上、特に好ましくは０．１質量部以上、上限として好ましくは３質量部以下、更に好ましくは２質量部以下、特に好ましくは１質量部以下、最も好ましくは０．５質量部以下とする。 The amount of 該老 antioxidant whereas 100 parts by weight of the base rubber, preferably 0 parts by mass or more, more preferably 0.05 parts by mass or more, particularly preferably 0.1 parts by mass or more, preferably the upper limit 3 parts by mass or less, more preferably 2 parts by mass or less, particularly preferably 1 part by weight or less, and most preferably not more than 0.5 part by weight. 配合量が多すぎたり、少なすぎたりすると好適な反発性、耐久性を得ることができない場合がある。 Suitable resilience or the amount is too large or too small, it may not be possible to obtain a durability.
上記コアには、ゴルフボールの反発性を向上させ、ゴルフボールの初速度を大きくするため、有機硫黄化合物を配合することが好ましい。 In the core improves the resilience of the golf ball, in order to increase the initial velocity of a golf ball, it is preferable that an organosulfur compound.
有機硫黄化合物としては、ゴルフボールの反発性を向上させ得るものであれば特に制限されないが、例えばチオフェノール類、チオナフトール類、ハロゲン化チオフェノール類又はそれらの金属塩等が挙げられる。 As the organic sulfur compound is not particularly limited as long as it can improve the resilience of the golf ball, for example, thiophenols, halogenated thiophenols or, and metal salts thereof. より具体的には、ペンタクロロチオフェノール、ペンタフルオロチオフェノール、ペンタブロモチオフェノール、パラクロロチオフェノール、ペンタクロロチオフェノールの亜鉛塩、ペンタフルオロチオフェノールの亜鉛塩、ペンタブロモチオフェノールの亜鉛塩、パラクロロチオフェノールの亜鉛塩、硫黄数が２〜４のジフェニルポリスルフィド、ジベンジルポリスルフィド、ジベンゾイルポリスルフィド、ジベンゾチアゾイルポリスルフィド、ジチオベンゾイルポリスルフィド等が挙げられ、特に、ペンタクロロチオフェノールの亜鉛塩が好適に用いられる。 More specifically, pentachlorothiophenol, pentafluorothiophenol, pentabromothiophenol, chlorothiophenol, the zinc salt of pentachlorothiophenol, the zinc salt of pentafluorothiophenol, zinc salts of pentabromothiophenol, zinc salt of p-chlorothiophenol, diphenyl polysulfides having 2 to 4 sulfur atoms, dibenzyl polysulfide, dibenzoyl polysulfide, dibenzothiazyl benzoyl polysulfide, dithiocarbamates benzoyl polysulfides and the like, in particular, preferably the zinc salt of pentachlorothiophenol used to.
このような有機硫黄化合物の配合量は、上記基材ゴム１００質量部に対し、好ましくは０．０５質量部以上、更に好ましくは０．１質量部以上、上限として好ましくは５質量部以下、更に好ましくは４質量部以下、特に好ましくは３質量部以下、最も好ましくは２．５質量部以下であることが推奨される。 The amount of such organic sulfur compounds, relative to 100 parts by weight of the base rubber, preferably at least 0.05 part by weight, more preferably at least 0.1 part by weight, preferably 5 parts by weight as an upper limit, further preferably not more than 4 parts by weight, particularly preferably not more than 3 parts by weight, and most preferably not more than 2.5 parts by mass. 配合量が多すぎると効果が頭打ちとなり、それ以上の効果が見られなくなる場合があり、配合量が少なすぎると、その配合効果が十分達成されない場合がある。 If the amount is too large effects become peaked, it may not be seen any more effective, when the amount is too small, there is a case where the compounding effect is not sufficiently achieved.
次に、包囲層について下記に説明する。 Next, a description will be given envelope layer below.
包囲層の材料硬度は、特に制限はないが、デュロメータＤ硬度（ＡＳＴＭ Ｄ ２２４０に基づくタイプＤデュロメータによる測定値）で好ましくは４０以上６２以下、好ましくは４７以上６０以下、さらに好ましくは５３以上５８以下の範囲である。 Material hardness of the envelope layer is not particularly limited, preferably 40 or more than 62 in durometer D hardness (measured by Type D durometer based on ASTM D 2240), preferably 47 or more 60 or less, more preferably 53 or more 58 it is in the range of below. 上記範囲よりも軟らかすぎると、フルショット時にスピンが掛かりすぎて飛距離が伸びなくなることがある。 If too soft than the above range, it may not extend the flight distance and spin is too much at the time of the full shot. 逆に、上記範囲よりも硬すぎると、繰り返し打撃時の割れ耐久性が悪くなったり、打感が硬くなりすぎることがある。 On the other hand, if it is too hard than the above range, the durability to cracking at the time of repeated impact is or worse, feel is too hard. 包囲層の厚さは、特に制限はないが、１．０ｍｍ以上４．０ｍｍ以下、好ましくは１．２ｍｍ以上３．０ｍｍ以下、さらに好ましくは１．４ｍｍ以上２．０ｍｍ以下である。 The thickness of the envelope layer is not particularly limited, 1.0 mm or more 4.0mm or less, preferably 1.2mm or more 3.0mm or less, more preferably 1.4mm or more 2.0mm or less. その範囲を外れると、ドライバー（Ｗ＃１）打撃による低スピン効果が足りずに飛距離が伸びなくなることがある。 Outside of this range a driver (W # 1) low spin effect by striking it may not extend the flight distance in insufficient.
包囲層の表面硬度については、特に制限はないが、ＪＩＳ−Ｃ硬度で７５以上９８以下とすることが好ましく、より好ましくは７９以上９５以下、さらに好ましくは８３以上９０以下である。 The surface hardness of the envelope layer is not particularly limited, it is preferable to 75 to 98 or less in JIS-C hardness, and more preferably 79 or more 95 or less, more preferably 83 or more and 90 or less. 上記の範囲よりも小さすぎると、フルショット時にスピンが掛かりすぎて飛距離が伸びなくなることがある。 Too small than the above range, it may not extend the flight distance and spin is too much at the time of the full shot. また、上記の範囲よりも大きいと、繰り返し打撃時の割れ耐久性が悪くなったり、打感が硬くなりすぎることがある。 Also, if larger than the above range, there is durability to cracking at the time of repeated impact is or worse, feel is too hard. 包囲層の表面は中間層表面よりも軟らかくする必要があり、その程度は、特に制限はないが、ＪＩＳ−Ｃ硬度で３以上２０以下とすることが好ましく、より好ましくは５以上１８以下、さらに好ましくは７以上１６以下である。 Surface of the envelope layer must be softer than the intermediate layer surface, its extent is not particularly limited, it is preferable to be 3 to 20 in JIS-C hardness, and more preferably 5 to 18, further preferably at 7 to 16. 上記範囲を逸脱して包囲層表面が中間層表面よりも軟らかすぎると、ボールの反発が低くなったり、スピン量が増えすぎて飛距離が伸びなくなることがある。 When the surrounding layer surface is outside the above range is too soft than the intermediate layer surface, or repulsion lower ball, and may not extend the flight distance too increased spin rate.
また、包囲層表面はコア表面よりも軟らかくしない方がよい。 Also, surrounding layer surface had better not softer than the core surface. その程度は、特に制限はないが、包囲層表面のＪＩＳ−Ｃ硬度−コア表面のＪＩＳ−Ｃ硬度の値がＪＩＳ−Ｃ硬度で０以上２０以下とすることが好ましく、より好ましくは０以上１５以下、さらに好ましくは１以上１０以下である。 The degree is not particularly limited, JIS-C hardness of the envelope layer surface - it is preferred that the value of the JIS-C hardness of the core surface is 0 to 20 in JIS-C hardness, and more preferably 0 to 15 or less, more preferably 1 to 10. 逆に、包囲層の表面がコア表面よりも軟らかいと、ドライバー打撃による低スピン効果が足りずに飛距離が伸びなくなることがある。 Conversely, when the surface of the surrounding layer is softer than the core surface, low spin effect by the driver striking it may not extend the flight distance in insufficient. また、上記範囲を逸脱して包囲層表面がコア表面よりも硬すぎると、フルショット時の打感が硬くなりすぎたり、繰り返し打撃時の割れ耐久性が悪くなることがある。 Further, when the surrounding layer surface deviates from the above range is too hard than the core surface, becomes too hard and feel at full shot, there is a durability to cracking during repeated impact is poor.
本発明における包囲層は樹脂材料を主材として用いられる。 Envelope layer in the present invention is a resin material as a main material. 上記包囲層の樹脂材料としては、特に制限はないが、（ａ）オレフィン−不飽和カルボン酸２元ランダム共重合体及び／又はオレフィン−不飽和カルボン酸２元ランダム共重合体の金属イオン中和物と、（ｂ）オレフィン−不飽和カルボン酸−不飽和カルボン酸エステル３元ランダム共重合体及び／又はオレフィン−不飽和カルボン酸−不飽和カルボン酸エステル３元ランダム共重合体の金属イオン中和物とを特定量配合したベース樹脂を必須成分とすることが好適である。 As the resin material of the envelope layer is not particularly limited, (a) an olefin - random copolymer unsaturated carboxylic acid and / or an olefin - metal ion-neutralized unsaturated carboxylic acid random copolymer objects and, (b) an olefin - unsaturated carboxylic acid - unsaturated carboxylic acid ester random terpolymer and / or an olefin - unsaturated carboxylic acid - metal ion-neutralized unsaturated carboxylic acid ester random terpolymer it is preferable that the base resin identified amount and things as essential components. 即ち、本発明では、以下に説明する材料を包囲層に好適な材料として用いることにより、Ｗ＃１打撃時に低スピン化することができ、大きな飛距離を得ることができるものである。 That is, in the present invention, by using a suitable material for the envelope layer material described below can be low spin in shots with a W # 1, in which it is possible to obtain a large distance.
上記ベース樹脂中のオレフィンは、（ａ）成分、（ｂ）成分のいずれであっても、炭素数が、通常２以上、上限として８以下、特に６以下のものが好ましく、具体的には、エチレン、プロピレン、ブテン、ペンテン、ヘキセン、ヘプテン、オクテン等を挙げることができ、特にエチレンであることが好ましい。 Olefin in the base resin, (a) component, be any of the component (b), the number of carbon atoms, usually 2 or more, than 8, particularly 6 or less are preferred ones, specifically, ethylene, propylene, butene, pentene, hexene, heptene and octene, particularly preferably ethylene.
また、不飽和カルボン酸としては、例えば、アクリル酸、メタクリル酸、マレイン酸、フマル酸等を挙げることができ、特にアクリル酸、メタクリル酸であることが好ましい。 The unsaturated carboxylic acids, such as acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, maleic acid and fumaric acid and the like, particularly preferably acrylic acid, methacrylic acid.
更に、不飽和カルボン酸エステルとしては、上述した不飽和カルボン酸の低級アルキルエステルが好適で、具体的には、メタクリル酸メチル、メタクリル酸エチル、メタクリル酸プロピル、メタクリル酸ブチル、アクリル酸メチル、アクリル酸エチル、アクリル酸プロピル、アクリル酸ブチル等を挙げることができ、特にアクリル酸ブチル（ｎ−アクリル酸ブチル、ｉ−アクリル酸ブチル）であることが好ましい。 Furthermore, unsaturated carboxylic acid esters, lower alkyl esters of the above unsaturated carboxylic acid is preferred, and specifically, methyl methacrylate, ethyl methacrylate, propyl methacrylate, butyl methacrylate, methyl acrylate, acrylic ethyl, propyl acrylate, may be mentioned butyl acrylate, in particular (butyl n- acrylate, i- butyl acrylate) is preferably.
（ａ）成分のオレフィン−不飽和カルボン酸２元ランダム共重合体及び（ｂ）成分のオレフィン−不飽和カルボン酸−不飽和カルボン酸エステル３元ランダム共重合体（以下、（ａ）成分及び（ｂ）成分中の共重合体を総称してランダム共重合体という）は、それぞれ、上述した材料を調整し、公知の方法によりランダム共重合させることにより得ることができる。 (A) component of the olefin - olefin unsaturated carboxylic acid random copolymer and component (b) - unsaturated carboxylic acid - unsaturated carboxylic acid ester random terpolymer (hereinafter, component (a) and ( b) are collectively referred to the copolymer in the component of the random copolymer), respectively, to adjust the above-mentioned materials, it can be obtained by random copolymerization by a known method.
上記ランダム共重合体は、不飽和カルボン酸の含量（酸含量）が調整されたものであることが推奨される。 The random copolymer, the content of unsaturated carboxylic acid (acid content) is recommended to be one that is adjusted. ここで、（ａ）成分のランダム共重合体に含まれる不飽和カルボン酸の含量は、通常４質量％以上、好ましくは６質量％以上、より好ましくは８質量％以上、更に好ましくは１０質量％以上、上限としては３０質量％以下、好ましくは２０質量％以下、より好ましくは１８質量％以下、更に好ましくは１５質量％以下であることが推奨される。 Here, the content of unsaturated carboxylic acids in the random copolymer component (a) is usually 4 wt%, preferably at least 6 wt% or more, more preferably 8 mass% or more, more preferably 10 wt% more than 30 wt%, preferably not more than 20 wt% or less, more preferably 18 wt% or less, even more preferably not more than 15 wt%.
同様に（ｂ）成分のランダム共重合体に含まれる不飽和カルボン酸の含量は、通常４質量％以上、好ましくは６質量％以上、より好ましくは８質量％以上、上限としては１５質量％以下、好ましくは１２質量％以下、より好ましくは１０質量％以下であることが推奨される。 The content of the unsaturated carboxylic acids in the random copolymer of the same component (b) is usually 4 wt%, preferably at least 6 wt% or more, more preferably 8 mass% or more, 15 wt% or less as the upper limit , preferably recommended that 12 wt% or less, more preferably 10 mass% or less. ランダム共重合体の酸含量が少なすぎると反発性が低下する場合があり、多すぎると加工性が低下する場合がある。 May the resilience acid content of the random copolymer is too low is reduced, too, the processability may decrease.
（ａ）成分のオレフィン−不飽和カルボン酸２元ランダム共重合体の金属イオン中和物及び（ｂ）成分のオレフィン−不飽和カルボン酸−不飽和カルボン酸エステル３元ランダム共重合体の金属イオン中和物（以下、（ａ）成分及び（ｂ）成分中の共重合体の金属イオン中和物を総称してランダム共重合体の金属イオン中和物という）は、上記ランダム共重合体中の酸基を金属イオンで部分的に中和することにより得ることができる。 (A) component of the olefin - olefin metal ion neutralization product and component (b) of the unsaturated carboxylic acid random copolymer - unsaturated carboxylic acid - metal ion unsaturated carboxylic acid ester random terpolymer neutralized product (hereinafter, (a) component and (b) that are collectively referred to metal ion-neutralized product of the copolymer in component random copolymer of metal ion neutralized product), the above random copolymer the acid groups can be obtained by partially neutralized with metal ions.
ここで、酸基を中和する金属イオンとしては、例えば、Ｎａ + 、Ｋ + 、Ｌｉ + 、Ｚｎ ++ 、Ｃｕ ++ 、Ｍｇ ++ 、Ｃａ ++ 、Ｃｏ ++ 、Ｎｉ ++ 、Ｐｂ ++等を挙げることができ、好ましくはＮａ + 、Ｌｉ + 、Ｚｎ ++ 、Ｍｇ ++等を好適に用いることができ、更に好ましくは反発性を改良する観点からＮａ +を用いることが好適である。 Here, as the metal ions for neutralizing the acid groups, for example, Na +, K +, Li +, Zn ++, Cu ++, Mg ++, Ca ++, Co ++, Ni ++, Pb ++, etc. can be mentioned, preferably Na +, Li +, Zn ++, etc. can be preferably used Mg ++, more preferably preferable to use Na + from the viewpoint of improving the resilience it is.
上記ランダム共重合体の金属イオン中和物を得るには、上記ランダム共重合体に対して、上記金属イオンで中和すればよく、例えば、上記金属イオンのギ酸塩、酢酸塩、硝酸塩、炭酸塩、炭酸水素塩、酸化物、水酸化物及びアルコキシド等の化合物を使用して中和する方法などを採用することができる。 To obtain a metal ion neutralization product of the random copolymer, with respect to the random copolymer may be neutralized with the metal ion, for example, formic acid salts of the metal ions, acetate, nitrate, carbonate , bicarbonates, oxides, and the like can be employed a method of neutralizing using compounds such as hydroxides and alkoxides. これら金属イオンのランダム共重合体に対する中和度は特に限定されるものではない。 Degree of neutralization of the random copolymer of these metal ions is not particularly limited.
上記ランダム共重合体の金属イオン中和物としては、ナトリウムイオン中和型アイオノマー樹脂を好適に使用でき、材料のメルトフローレートを増加させ、後述する最適なメルトフローレートに調整することが容易であり、成形性を改良することができる。 The metal ion neutralization product of the random copolymer, can be preferably used sodium ion-neutralized ionomer resin increases the melt flow rate of the material, it can be easily adjusted to the optimum melt flow rate described below There, it is possible to improve moldability.
上記（ａ）成分と上記（ｂ）成分のベース樹脂は、市販品を使用してもよく、例えば、（ａ）成分のランダム共重合体として、ニュクレル１５６０、同１２１４、同１０３５（いずれも三井・デュポンポリケミカル社製）、ＥＳＣＯＲ５２００、同５１００、同５０００（いずれもEXXONMOBIL CHEMICAL社製）等を、（ｂ）成分のランダム共重合体として、例えば、ニュクレルＡＮ４３１１、同ＡＮ４３１８（いずれも三井・デュポンポリケミカル社製）、ＥＳＣＯＲ ＡＴＸ３２５、同ＡＴＸ３２０、同ＡＴＸ３１０（いずれもEXXONMOBIL CHEMICAL社製）等を挙げることができる。 The component (a) and component (b) base resin may be a commercially available product, for example, as a random copolymer of component (a), Nucrel 1560, the 1214, both the 1035 (Mitsui · Dupont Polychemicals Co., Ltd.), ESCOR5200, the 5100, the same 5000 (all EXXONMOBIL CHEMICAL Co., Ltd.), as a random copolymer of (b) component, for example, Nucrel AN4311, the AN4318 (both DuPont-Mitsui made of poly-Chemical Co., Ltd.), ESCOR ATX325, same ATX320, mention may be made of the same ATX310 (all manufactured by EXXONMOBIL CHEMICAL Co., Ltd.), and the like.
また、（ａ）成分のランダム共重合体の金属イオン中和物として、例えば、ハイミラン１５５４、同１５５７、同１６０１、同１６０５、同１７０６、同ＡＭ７３１１（いずれも三井・デュポンポリケミカル社製）、サーリン７９３０（米国デュポン社製）、アイオテック３１１０、同４２００（EXXONMOBIL CHEMICAL社製）等を、（ｂ）成分のランダム共重合体の金属イオン中和物として、例えば、ハイミラン１８５５、同１８５６、同ＡＭ７３１６（いずれも三井・デュポンポリケミカル社製）、サーリン６３２０、同８３２０、同９３２０、同８１２０（いずれも米国デュポン社製）、アイオテック７５１０、同７５２０（いずれもEXXONMOBIL CHEMICAL社製）等をそれぞれ挙げることができる。 The metal ion-neutralized product of the random copolymer in component (a), for example, Himilan 1554, 1557, the 1601, the 1605, the 1706, the AM7311 (all manufactured by Du Pont-Mitsui Polychemicals Co., Ltd.), Surlyn 7930 (manufactured by DuPont), Iotek 3110, the same 4200 (EXXONMOBIL CHEMICAL Co., Ltd.), metal ion neutralized product of the random copolymer component (b), for example, Himilan 1855, the 1856, the AM7316 (both manufactured by DuPont-Mitsui poly Chemical Co., Ltd.), Surlyn 6320, the 8320, the 9320, 8120 (all manufactured by DuPont), Iotek 7510, the 7520 and the like (both EXXONMOBIL CHEMICAL Co., Ltd.), respectively can. 上記ランダム共重合体の金属イオン中和物として好適なナトリウム中和型アイオノマー樹脂としては、ハイミラン１６０５、同１６０１、同１５５５等を挙げることができる。 Examples of the random copolymers of the preferred sodium-neutralized ionomer resin as the metal ion neutralization product, Himilan 1605, the 1601, can be mentioned the 1555 or the like.
上記ベース樹脂の調製に際しては、（ａ）成分と（ｂ）成分との配合が質量比で通常１００：０〜０：１００であり、好ましくは１００：０〜２５：７５、より好ましくは１００：０〜５０：５０、さらに好ましくは１００：０〜７５：２５、最も好ましくは１００：０にすることが必要である。 The base during resin preparation is usually 100 at the mixing mass ratio of the component (a) and component (b): 0 to 0: 100, preferably from 100: 0 to 25: 75, more preferably from 100: 0-50: 50, more preferably from 100: 0 to 75: 25, and most preferably from 100: 0 to it is necessary to. （ａ）成分の配合量が少なすぎると、材料の成形物の反発性が低下する。 (A) If the amount of component, resilience of the molding material is lowered.
また、上記ベース樹脂は、上記調製に加えて更にランダム共重合体とランダム共重合体の金属イオン中和物との配合比を調整することにより、成形性をより良好にすることができ、ランダム共重合体：ランダム共重合体の金属イオン中和物は、通常０：１００〜６０：４０、好ましくは０：１００〜４０：６０、より好ましくは０：１００〜２０：８０、更に好ましくは０：１００であることが推奨される。 Further, the base resin, by adjusting the mixing ratio of the metal ion neutralized product of further random copolymers and random copolymer in addition to the above preparation, it is possible to moldability better, random copolymer: metal ion neutralization product of the random copolymer is usually from 0: 100 to 60: 40, preferably from 0: 100 to 40: 60, more preferably 0: 100 to 20: 80, more preferably 0 : it is recommended that a 100. ランダム共重合体の配合量が多すぎると、ミキシング時の成形性が低下する場合がある。 If the amount of the random copolymer is too much, moldability at the time of mixing is reduced.
上記ベース樹脂に下記に示す（ｅ）成分を加えることができる。 It can be added component (e) shown below in the base resin. （ｅ）成分は、非アイオノマー熱可塑性エラストマーである。 (E) component is a non-ionomeric thermoplastic elastomers. この成分は、打撃時のフィーリング、反発性をより一層向上させるための成分であり、具体的には、オレフィン系エラストマー、スチレン系エラストマー、ポリエステル系エラストマー、ウレタン系エラストマー、ポリアミド系エラストマー等を挙げることができ、反発性を更に高めることができる点から、ポリエステル系エラストマー、オレフィン系エラストマー、特に、結晶性ポリエチレンブロックをハードセグメントとして含む熱可塑性ブロック共重合体からなるオレフィン系エラストマーを好適に使用することができる。 This component, the shot feel is a component for further improving the resilience, specifically, olefin elastomers, styrene elastomers, polyester elastomers, urethane elastomers, polyamide-based elastomers include it can, view of the possibility of further enhancing the resilience, polyester elastomers, olefin elastomers, in particular, suitably used an olefin-based elastomer composed of a thermoplastic block copolymer containing a crystalline polyethylene block as a hard segment be able to.
上記（ｅ）成分は、市販品を使用してもよく、具体的には、ダイナロン（ＪＳＲ社製）、ポリエステル系エラストマーとして、ハイトレル（東レ・デュポン社製）等を挙げることができる。 Component (e) may be a commercially available product, specifically, Dynaron (JSR Corporation), a polyester elastomer, can be cited Hytrel (DuPont-Toray Co., Ltd.).
上記（ｅ）成分の配合量は、本発明のベース樹脂１００質量部に対し、通常０質量部以上、特に５質量部以上、好ましくは１０質量部以上、より好ましくは２０質量部以上、上限として１００質量部以下、好ましくは６０質量部以下、より好ましくは５０質量部以下、更に好ましくは４０質量部以下であることが推奨される。 The amount of the component (e), with respect to the base resin 100 parts by weight of the present invention, typically 0 parts by mass or more, particularly 5 parts by mass or more, preferably 10 parts by mass or more, more preferably 20 parts by mass or more, the upper limit 100 parts by weight or less, preferably 60 parts by mass or less, more preferably 50 parts by mass or less, is more preferably not more than 40 parts by weight. 配合量が多すぎると、混合物の相溶性が低下し、ゴルフボールの耐久性が著しく低下する可能性がある。 If the amount is too large, the compatibility is lowered mixtures, there is a possibility that durability of the golf ball is reduced considerably.
次に、上記ベース樹脂に下記に示す（ｃ）成分を加えることができる。 It can then be added to component (c) shown below to the base resin. （ｃ）成分は、分子量２２８以上１５００以下の脂肪酸又はその誘導体であり、上記ベース樹脂と比較して分子量が極めて小さく、混合物の溶融粘度を適度に調整し、特に流動性の向上に寄与する成分である。 (C) component has a molecular weight 228 to 1,500 of fatty acids or derivatives thereof, the molecular weight as compared with the base resin is very small, the melt viscosity of the mixture was adjusted moderately, it contributes to particularly improve the flowable components it is. 上記（ｃ）成分は、比較的高含量の酸基（誘導体）を含み、反発性の過度の損失を抑制できる。 Component (c) comprises a relatively high content of acid groups (derivatives), it is possible to suppress the excessive loss of resilience.
上記（ｃ）成分の脂肪酸又はその誘導体の分子量は、２２８以上、好ましくは２５６以上、より好ましくは２８０以上、更に好ましくは３００以上、上限としては１５００以下、好ましくは１０００以下、より好ましくは６００以下、更に好ましくは５００以下であることが必要である。 The molecular weight of the fatty acid or fatty acid derivative of component (c), 228 or more, preferably 256 or more, more preferably 280 or more, more preferably 300 or more, 1500 or less as the upper limit, preferably 1,000 or less, more preferably 600 or less , it is necessary still more preferably 500 or less. 分子量が少なすぎる場合は耐熱性が改良できず、多すぎる場合は流動性が改善できない。 If the molecular weight is too small it can not improve heat resistance, if too much can not improve the fluidity.
上記（ｃ）成分の脂肪酸又はその脂肪酸誘導体としては、例えば、アルキル基中に二重結合又は三重結合を含む不飽和脂肪酸（誘導体）やアルキル基中の結合が単結合のみで構成される飽和脂肪酸（誘導体）を同様に好適に使用できるが、いずれの場合も１分子中の炭素数が、通常１８以上、好ましくは２０以上、より好ましくは２２以上、更に好ましくは２４以上、上限として８０以下、好ましくは６０以下、より好ましくは４０以下、更に好ましくは３０以下であることが推奨される。 Examples of the fatty acid or fatty acid derivative of component (c), for example, unsaturated fatty acid (derivative) and coupling saturated fatty acids composed of single bonds in the alkyl group containing an alkyl group double bond or triple bond in (derivative) is likewise preferably used, the number of carbon atoms in one molecule both cases, usually 18 or more, preferably 20 or more, more preferably 22 or more, more preferably 24 or more, 80 or less as the upper limit, preferably 60 or less, more preferably 40 or less, it is more preferably not more than 30. 炭素数が少なすぎると、耐熱性の改善が達成できない上、酸基の含有量が多すぎて、ベース樹脂に含まれる酸基との相互作用により流動性の改善の効果が少なくなってしまう場合がある。 If the carbon number is too small, on the improvement of heat resistance can not be achieved, and the content of acid groups is too large, it becomes less effective for improving the fluidity by the interaction between the acid group contained in the base resin there is. 一方、炭素数が多すぎる場合には、分子量が大きくなるために、流動性改質の効果が顕著に表れない場合がある。 On the other hand, too many carbons, to the molecular weight increases, the effect of flow-improving does significantly appear.
ここで、（ｃ）成分の脂肪酸として、具体的には、ミリスチン酸、パルミチン酸、ステアリン酸、１，２−ヒドロキシステアリン酸、ベヘニン酸、オレイン酸、リノール酸、リノレン酸、アラキジン酸、リグノセリン酸などが挙げられ、好ましくは、ステアリン酸、アラキジン酸、ベヘニン酸、リグノセリン酸、更に好ましくはベヘニン酸を挙げることができる。 Here, as the fatty acid of the component (c), specifically, myristic acid, palmitic acid, stearic acid, 1,2-hydroxystearic acid, behenic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid, linolenic acid, arachidic acid, lignoceric acid and the like, preferably, stearic acid, arachidic acid, behenic acid, lignoceric acid, more preferably it is behenic acid.
また、上記（ｃ）成分の脂肪酸誘導体は、上述した脂肪酸の酸基に含まれるプロトンを金属イオンにより置換した金属せっけんを例示できる。 Further, the fatty acid derivative of component (c), the proton on the acid group of the fatty acid described above can be exemplified metal soaps has been replaced with a metal ion. この場合、金属イオンとしては、例えば、Ｎａ + 、Ｌｉ + 、Ｃａ ++ 、Ｍｇ ++ 、Ｚｎ ++ 、Ｍｎ ++ 、Ａｌ +++ 、Ｎｉ ++ 、Ｆｅ ++ 、Ｆｅ +++ 、Ｃｕ ++ 、Ｓｎ ++ 、Ｐｂ ++ 、Ｃｏ ++等を挙げることができ、特にＣａ ++ 、Ｍｇ ++ 、Ｚｎ ++が好ましい。 In this case, as the metal ion, for example, Na +, Li +, Ca ++, Mg ++, Zn ++, Mn ++, Al +++, Ni ++, Fe ++, Fe +++, Cu ++, Sn ++, Pb ++ , mention may be made of Co ++ and the like, in particular Ca ++, Mg ++, Zn ++ is preferred.
（ｃ）成分の脂肪酸誘導体として、具体的には、ステアリン酸マグネシウム、ステアリン酸カルシウム、ステアリン酸亜鉛、１，２−ヒドロキシステアリン酸マグネシウム、１，２−ヒドロキシステアリン酸カルシウム、１，２−ヒドロキシステアリン酸亜鉛、アラキジン酸マグネシウム、アラキジン酸カルシウム、アラキジン酸亜鉛、ベヘニン酸マグネシウム、ベヘニン酸カルシウム、ベヘニン酸亜鉛、リグノセリン酸マグネシウム、リグノセリン酸カルシウム、リグノセリン酸亜鉛等を挙げることができ、特にステアリン酸マグネシウム、ステアリン酸カルシウム、ステアリン酸亜鉛、アラキジン酸マグネシウム、アラキジン酸カルシウム、アラキジン酸亜鉛、ベヘニン酸マグネシウム、ベヘニン酸カルシウム、べヘニン酸亜鉛、リグノ (C) as the fatty acid derivative of component, specifically, magnesium stearate, calcium stearate, zinc stearate, magnesium 1,2-hydroxystearic acid, 1,2-hydroxystearic calcium phosphate, 1,2-hydroxystearic acid zinc , magnesium arachidate, calcium arachidate, zinc arachidate, magnesium behenate, calcium behenate, behenic acid, zinc, magnesium lignocerate, calcium lignocerate, can be mentioned lignoceric acid zinc, in particular magnesium stearate, calcium stearate , zinc stearate, magnesium arachidate, calcium arachidate, zinc arachidate, magnesium behenate, calcium behenate, behenic acid, zinc, ligno リン酸マグネシウム、リグノセリン酸カルシウム、リグノセリン酸亜鉛等を好適に使用することができる。 Magnesium phosphate, calcium lignoceric acid, can be preferably used lignoceric acid zinc.
上記ベース樹脂及び（ｃ）成分中の酸基を中和できる塩基性無機金属化合物として、（ｄ）成分を加えることができる。 As the basic inorganic metal compound capable of neutralizing acid groups of the base resin and component (c), it may be added as component (d). この（ｄ）成分が配合されないと金属せっけん変性アイオノマー樹脂（例えば、上記特許公報に記載された金属せっけん変性アイオノマー樹脂のみ）を単独で使用した場合には、加熱混合時に金属せっけんとアイオノマー樹脂に含まれる未中和の酸基が交換反応して多量の脂肪酸を発生させ、発生した脂肪酸が熱的安定性が低く成形時に容易に気化するため、成形不良の原因をもたらし、更に成形物の表面に付着して、塗膜密着性を著しく低下させたり、得られる成形体の反発性低下等の不具合が生じる場合がある。 The (d) the component is not blended metal soap-modified ionomer resin (e.g., a metal soap-modified ionomer resin only described in the above patent publication) when using alone, included in the metal soap and the ionomer resin during heating and mixing to generate a large amount of fatty acid by exchange reaction the acid groups of unneutralized that, since the generated fatty acids readily vaporizes during molding low thermal stability, lead to cause molding defects on the surface of the further moldings attached to, or significantly reduce the paint adhesion, there is a case where malfunction of resilience such as reduction of the obtained molded article is caused.
このような問題を解決すべく、（ｄ）成分として、上記ベース樹脂及び（ｃ）成分中に含まれる酸基を中和する塩基性無機金属化合物を必須成分として配合し、成形物の反発性の改良を図るものである。 To solve such a problem, as the component (d) blended basic inorganic metal compound which neutralizes the acid groups contained in the base resin and component (c) in as essential components, resilience of the molding it is intended to achieve improvements.
即ち、（ｄ）成分は、材料中に必須成分として配合されることにより、上記ベース樹脂と（ｃ）成分中の酸基が適度に中和されるだけでなく、各成分の適正化による相乗効果で、混合物の熱安定性を高め、良好な成形性の付与と反発性の向上を図ることができるものである。 That, (d) component, by being formulated as an essential component in the material, not only the acid groups of the base resin and component (c) is appropriately neutralized, synergy by optimization of the components in effect, enhances the thermal stability of the mixture, is capable to improve the resilience and impart good formability.
ここで、（ｄ）成分の塩基性無機金属化合物は、ベース樹脂との反応性が高く、反応副生成物に有機酸を含まないため、熱安定性を損なうことなく、混合物の中和度を上げられるものであることが推奨される。 Here, the basic inorganic metal compound component (d), high reactivity with the base resin, because it contains no organic acid to the reaction by-products, without impairing the thermal stability, the degree of neutralization of the mixture it is one that is raised is recommended.
上記（ｄ）成分の塩基性無機金属化合物中の金属イオンは、例えば、Ｌｉ + 、Ｎａ + 、Ｋ + 、Ｃａ ++ 、Ｍｇ ++ 、Ｚｎ ++ 、Ａｌ +++ 、Ｎｉ ++ 、Ｆｅ ++ 、Ｆｅ +++ 、Ｃｕ ++ 、Ｍｎ ++ 、Ｓｎ ++ 、Ｐｂ ++ 、Ｃｏ ++等を挙げることができる。 (D) above the metal ion of the basic inorganic metal compound of the component, for example, Li +, Na +, K +, Ca ++, Mg ++, Zn ++, Al +++, Ni ++, Fe ++, Fe +++, Cu ++, Mn ++, Sn ++, Pb ++, mention may be made of Co ++ and the like. 塩基性無機金属化合物としては、これら金属イオンを含む公知の塩基性無機充填剤を使用することができ、具体的には、酸化マグネシウム、水酸化マグネシウム、炭酸マグネシウム、酸化亜鉛、水酸化ナトリウム、炭酸ナトリウム、酸化カルシウム、水酸化カルシウム、水酸化リチウム、炭酸リチウム等を挙げることができるが、特に水酸化物、または一酸化物であることが推奨され、より好ましくはベース樹脂との反応性の高い水酸化カルシウム、酸化マグネシウム、更に好ましくは水酸化カルシウムであることが推奨される。 The basic inorganic metal compound, it is possible to use a known basic inorganic fillers containing these metal ions, specifically, magnesium oxide, magnesium hydroxide, magnesium carbonate, zinc oxide, sodium hydroxide, carbonate sodium, calcium oxide, calcium hydroxide, lithium hydroxide, and lithium carbonate, is recommended to be particularly hydroxide or monoxide, and more preferably highly reactive with the base resin calcium hydroxide, magnesium oxide, and even more preferably not more calcium hydroxide.
上述したように（ａ）成分及び（ｂ）成分とを所定量配合したベース樹脂と、任意の（ｅ）成分を配合した樹脂成分に対し、所定量の（ｃ）成分と（ｄ）成分とをそれぞれ配合することにより、熱安定性、流動性、成形性に優れ、反発性の飛躍的な向上を成形物に付与できる。 And the component (a) and (b) a base resin and component by a predetermined amount as described above, the resin component blended with any component (e), and a predetermined amount of the component (c) and component (d) the by blending each thermal stability, flowability, excellent moldability, it can impart a significant improvement of the resilience in the molded product.
上記（ｃ）成分と上記（ｄ）成分の配合量は、上記（ａ）、（ｂ）、（ｅ）成分を適宜配合した樹脂成分１００質量部に対して、（ｃ）成分の配合量が、５質量部以上、好ましくは１０質量部以上、より好ましくは１５質量部以上、更に好ましくは１８質量部以上、上限として８０質量部以下、好ましくは４０質量部以下、より好ましくは２５質量部以下、更に好ましくは２２質量部以下、（ｄ）成分の配合量を０．１質量部以上、好ましくは０．５質量部以上、より好ましくは１質量部以上、更に好ましくは２質量部以上、上限としては１７質量部以下、好ましくは１５質量部以下、より好ましくは１３質量部以下、更に好ましくは１０質量部以下にする必要がある。 Component (c) and amount of the component (d), the (a), (b), with respect to suitably blended resin component 100 parts by weight of component (e), the amount of component (c) , 5 parts by mass or more, preferably 10 parts by mass or more, more preferably 15 parts by mass or more, more preferably 18 parts by mass or more, more than 80 parts by weight, preferably 40 parts by mass or less, more preferably 25 parts by mass or less , more preferably 22 parts by weight, (d) the amount of component 0.1 parts by mass or more, preferably 0.5 parts by mass or more, more preferably 1 part by mass or more, more preferably 2 parts by mass or more, the upper limit 17 parts by mass or less as, preferably 15 parts by mass or less, more preferably 13 parts by mass or less, more preferably it should be less than or equal to 10 parts by weight. （ｃ）成分の配合量が少なすぎると溶融粘度が低くなり加工性が低下し、多すぎると耐久性が低下する。 Reduces the workability and the melt viscosity amount is too small, low component (c), too large, the durability is lowered. （ｄ）成分の配合量が少なすぎると熱安定性、反発性の向上が見られず、多すぎると過剰の塩基性無機金属化合物によりゴルフボール用材料の耐熱性が却って低下する。 (D) If the amount of component thermal stability, improved resilience can not be seen, the heat resistance of the golf ball material by an excess of the basic inorganic metal compound is too large is rather lowered.
上述した樹脂成分、（ｃ）成分、（ｄ）成分は、それぞれ所定量配合されるものであるが、材料中の酸基の５０モル％以上、好ましくは６０モル％以上、より好ましくは７０モル％以上、更に好ましくは８０モル％以上が中和されていることが推奨される。 Above resin component, (c) component, (d) component is respectively intended to be a predetermined amount, more than 50 mole% of the acid groups in the material, preferably 60 mol% or more, more preferably 70 mol % or more, it is recommended that they are more preferably neutralized at least 80 mole%. このような高中和化により、上述した従来技術のベース樹脂と脂肪酸（誘導体）のみを使用した場合に問題となる交換反応をより確実に抑制し、脂肪酸の発生を防ぐことができる上、熱的安定性が著しく向上し、成形性が良好で、従来のアイオノマー樹脂と比較して反発性に非常に優れた成形物を得ることができる。 This high neutralization, more reliably suppress the exchange reaction which becomes a problem when using only the base resin and the fatty acid in the conventional technology (derivative), on which it is possible to prevent the occurrence of fatty acid, thermal stability is remarkably improved, moldability is good, it can be compared to the conventional ionomer resin obtained very good moldings resilience.
ここで、中和度とは、ベース樹脂と（ｃ）成分の脂肪酸（誘導体）の混合物中に含まれる酸基の中和度であり、ベース樹脂中のランダム共重合体の金属イオン中和物としてアイオノマー樹脂を使用した場合におけるアイオノマー樹脂自体の中和度とは異なる。 Here, the degree of neutralization, a neutralization degree of the acid groups contained in the mixture of the base resin and component (c) fatty acid (derivative), a random copolymer metal ion neutralization product of a base resin as different from the degree of neutralization of the ionomer resin itself in the case of using the ionomer resin. 中和度が同じ本発明の混合物と同中和度のアイオノマー樹脂のみとを比較した場合、本発明の混合物は、非常に多くの金属イオンを含むため、反発性の向上に寄与するイオン架橋が高密度化し、成形物に優れた反発性を付与できる。 If the neutralization degree is compared only with the ionomer resin of the mixture and the degree of neutralization of the same invention, the mixture of the present invention contains a large number of metal ions, contributing ionic crosslinking to the improvement of resilience densification, can impart excellent resilience to the molded product.
なお、高中和化と優れた流動性をより確実に両立するために、上記混合物の酸基が遷移金属イオンと、アルカリ金属及び／又はアルカリ土類金属イオンとで中和されたものを用いることができる。 In order to achieve both excellent flowability and higher neutralization more reliably, the use of those acid groups of the mixture was neutralized with transition metal ions, and alkali metal and / or alkaline earth metal ion can. 遷移金属イオンによる中和は、アルカリ（土類）金属イオンと比較してイオン凝集力が弱いが、これら種類の異なるイオンを併用して、混合物中の酸基の中和を行うことにより、流動性の著しい改良を図ることができる。 Neutralization with transition metal ions is an alkali in comparison with the (earth) metal ions ions cohesive force is weak, a combination of these different types of ions, by performing the neutralization of acid groups in the mixture, flow it is possible to achieve a significant improvement in sexual.
上記遷移金属イオンと、アルカリ金属及び／又はアルカリ土類金属イオンとのモル比は、通常１０：９０〜９０：１０、好ましくは２０：８０〜８０：２０、より好ましくは３０：７０〜７０：３０、更に好ましくは４０：６０〜６０：４０であることが推奨される。 The molar ratio of the above transition metal ion, and alkali metal and / or alkaline earth metal ion is usually 10: 90 to 90: 10, preferably 20: 80 to 80: 20, more preferably 30: 70 to 70: 30, more preferably 40: 60 to 60: it is recommended is 40. 遷移金属イオンのモル比が小さすぎると流動性を改善する効果が十分に付与されない場合があり、遷移金属イオンのモル比が大きすぎると反発性が低下する場合がある。 Transition molar ratio of metal ion is too small may effect of improving the fluidity is not sufficiently imparted, the molar ratio of transition metal ions resilience is too large may be lowered.
上記金属イオンは、遷移金属イオンとしては、亜鉛イオン等を挙げることができ、また、アルカリ金属イオン又はアルカリ土類金属イオンとしては、ナトリウムイオン、リチウムイオン及びマグネシウムイオン等から選ばれる少なくとも１種のイオンを挙げることができるが、これらは特に制限されるものではない。 The metal ions, transition metal ions, may be mentioned zinc ions, etc., and, as the alkali metal or alkaline earth metal ions, at least one selected from sodium ion, lithium ion and magnesium ion, etc. can be exemplified ions, it is not particularly limited.
遷移金属イオンとアルカリ金属イオン又はアルカリ土類金属イオンとで上記所望量の酸基が中和された混合物を得るには、公知の方法を採用でき、例えば、遷移金属イオン（亜鉛イオン）により中和する方法は、上記脂肪酸誘導体に亜鉛せっけんを用いる方法、ベース樹脂として（ａ）成分と（ｂ）成分とを配合する際に亜鉛イオン中和物（例えば、亜鉛イオン中和型アイオノマー樹脂）を使用する方法、（ｄ）成分の塩基性無機金属化合物に亜鉛酸化物等の亜鉛化合物を用いる方法などを挙げることができる。 Medium in the transition metal ions and alkali metal ions or alkaline earth metal ions is an acid group of the desired amount to give a mixture that is neutralized, can be employed a known method, for example, by transition metal ions (zinc ion) how to sum, a method using zinc soap to the fatty acid derivative, the base resin as component (a) and (b) a zinc ion neutralization product in formulating the component (e.g., a zinc ion-neutralized ionomer resin) it can be exemplified a method of using, and methods of using zinc compound such as zinc oxide in the basic inorganic metal compound of the component (d).
上記樹脂材料は、射出成形に特に適した流動性を確保し、成形性を改良するため、メルトフローレートを調整することが好ましく、この場合、ＪＩＳ−Ｋ７２１０で試験温度１９０℃、試験荷重２１．１８Ｎ（２．１６ｋｇｆ）に従って測定したときのメルトフローレート（ＭＦＲ）が、通常０．６ｄｇ／ｍｉｎ以上、好ましくは０．７ｄｇ／ｍｉｎ以上、より好ましくは０．８ｄｇ／ｍｉｎ以上、更に好ましくは２ｄｇ／ｍｉｎ以上であり、上限として２０ｄｇ／ｍｉｎ以下、好ましくは１０ｄｇ／ｍｉｎ以下、より好ましくは５ｄｇ／ｍｉｎ以下、更に好ましくは３ｄｇ／ｍｉｎ以下に調整されることが推奨される。 The resin material, for ensuring particularly suitable flowability for injection molding, improving moldability, it is preferable to adjust the melt flow rate, in this case, test temperature 190 ° C. with JIS-K7210, a test load 21. 18N melt flow rate when measured in accordance with (2.16kgf) (MFR) is usually 0.6dg / min or more, preferably 0.7 dg / min or more, more preferably 0.8 dg / min or more, more preferably 2dg / min not less than, 20 dg / min, preferably up 10 dg / min or less, more preferably 5 dg / min or less, it is recommended that more preferably is adjusted to below 3 dg / min. メルトフローレートが、大きすぎても小さすぎても加工性が著しく低下する場合がある。 Melt flow rate, workability too large or too small may be lowered significantly.
包囲層材料として具体的には、Dupont社製の商品名「ＨＰＦ １０００」「ＨＰＦ ２０００」、「ＨＰＦ ＡＤ１０２７」、実験用 ＨＰＦ ＳＥＰ１２６４−３などが挙げられる。 Specific examples of the envelope layer material, Dupont Co., Ltd. under the trade name "HPF 1000", "HPF 2000", "HPF AD1027", and the like experimental HPF SEP1264-3.
次に、中間層について説明する。 Next, the intermediate layer will be described.
中間層の材料硬度は、特に制限はないが、デュロメータＤ硬度（ＡＳＴＭ Ｄ２２４０に基づくタイプＤデュロメータによる測定値）で好ましくは５０以上７０以下、好ましくは５５以上６６以下、さらに好ましくは６０以上６３以下の範囲である。 Material hardness of the intermediate layer is not particularly limited, preferably 50 or more 70 or less in Durometer D hardness (measured by Type D durometer based on ASTM D2240), preferably 55 or more 66 or less, more preferably 60 or more 63 or less it is in the range of. 上記範囲よりも軟らかすぎると、フルショット時にスピンが掛かりすぎて飛距離が伸びなくなることがある。 If too soft than the above range, it may not extend the flight distance and spin is too much at the time of the full shot. 逆に、上記範囲よりも硬すぎると、繰り返し打撃時の割れ耐久性が悪くなったり、パターやショートアプローチの実施時の打感が硬くなりすぎることがある。 On the other hand, if it is too hard than the above range, the repetition or the durability to cracking sick at the time of hitting, hitting feel of implementation at the time of the putter or a short approach is too hard. 中間層の厚さは、特に制限はないが、０．７ｍｍ以上２．０ｍｍ以下、好ましくは０．９ｍｍ以上１．７ｍｍ以下、さらに好ましくは１．１ｍｍ以上１．４ｍｍ以下である。 The thickness of the intermediate layer is not particularly limited, 0.7 mm or more 2.0mm or less, preferably 0.9mm or more 1.7mm or less, more preferably 1.1mm or more 1.4mm or less. その範囲を逸脱すると、ドライバー（Ｗ＃１）打撃による低スピン効果が足りずに飛距離が伸びなくなることがある。 When departing from its scope a driver (W # 1) low spin effect by striking it may not extend the flight distance in insufficient. また、上記範囲よりも小さすぎると、繰り返し打撃時の割れ耐久性が悪くなることがある。 Also, if too much lower than the above range, the durability against cracking during repeated impact is poor.
中間層は、上述した上記包囲層の材料とは同種又は異種の樹脂材料を主材として形成されるが、特に、アイオノマー樹脂を用いることが好ましい。 Intermediate layer is the material of the envelope layer described above is formed of resin material of the same or different as main material, in particular, it is preferable to use an ionomer resin. 具体的には、（商品名）ハイミラン１６０５、同１６０１、サーリン８１２０等のナトリウム中和型アイオノマー樹脂やハイミラン１５５７、同１７０６等の亜鉛中和型アイオノマー樹脂などが挙げられ、これらの１種を単独で又は２種以上併用することができる。 Specifically, (trade name) milan 1605, the 1601, sodium-neutralized ionomer resin and Himilan 1557 such as Surlyn 8120, such as a zinc-neutralized ionomer resin such as the 1706 and the like, alone these one it can be used in combination in two or more.
中間層の材料として特に好ましいのは、亜鉛中和型アイオノマー樹脂とナトリウム中和型アイオノマー樹脂とを混合して主材として用いる態様が本発明の目的を達成するうえで望ましい。 Particularly preferred as the material of the intermediate layer, embodiments employing a mixture of a zinc-neutralized ionomer resin and sodium-neutralized ionomer resin as the main material is desirable in order to achieve the object of the present invention. その配合比率は、亜鉛中和型／ナトリウム中和型（質量比）で２５／７５〜７５／２５、好ましくは３５／６５〜６５／３５、さらに好ましくは４５／５５〜５５／４５である。 The mixing ratio of zinc-neutralized / sodium neutralized (weight ratio) at 25 / 75-75 / 25, preferably 35 / 65-65 / 35, more preferably 45 / 55-55 / 45.
上記の比率を逸脱すると、ボールの反発性が低くなりすぎて所望の飛びが得られなかったり、常温での繰り返し打撃時の耐久性が悪くなったり、さらに低温（零下）での割れ耐久性が悪くなることがある。 When departing from the above ratios, it may not desired jump is obtained too low resilience of the ball, may become poor repetition durability when hit at room temperature, further durability to cracking at low temperature (sub-zero) it may become worse.
中間層の表面硬度、具体的には、コア及び包囲層を中間層で被覆した球体の表面硬度については、特に制限はないが、ＪＩＳ−Ｃ硬度で８５以上１００以下とすることが好ましく、より好ましくは９０以上９９以下、さらに好ましくは９５以上９８以下である。 Surface hardness of the intermediate layer, specifically, for the surface hardness of the spheres covering the core and surrounding layers in the intermediate layer is not particularly limited, it is preferable to 85 or more 100 or less in JIS-C hardness, and more preferably 90 to 99 or less, more preferably 95 or more 98 or less. 上記範囲よりも軟らかすぎると、フルショット時にスピンが掛かりすぎて飛距離が伸びなくなることがある。 If too soft than the above range, it may not extend the flight distance and spin is too much at the time of the full shot. 逆に、上記範囲よりも硬すぎると、繰り返し打撃時の割れ耐久性が悪くなったり、パターやショートアプローチの実施時の打感が硬くなりすぎることがある。 On the other hand, if it is too hard than the above range, the repetition or the durability to cracking sick at the time of hitting, hitting feel of implementation at the time of the putter or a short approach is too hard.
中間層の表面硬度はコア表面硬度よりも高く形成され、具体的には、包囲層表面のＪＩＳ−Ｃ硬度よりも１以上３０以下、好ましくは５以上２０以下、より好ましくは９以上１６以下の範囲で高く形成されることである。 Surface hardness of the intermediate layer is formed higher than the surface hardness of the core, specifically, 1 to 30 than the JIS-C hardness of the envelope layer surface, preferably 5 to 20, more preferably 9 to 16 it is to be formed higher in the range.
また、中間層の表面硬度はカバー表面硬度よりも高く形成されるものであるがこれについては後述する。 Further, the surface hardness of the intermediate layer is intended to be higher than the cover surface hardness which will be described later.
上記中間層材料については、後述するカバーで用いられるポリウレタンとの密着度を高めるために中間層表面を研磨することが好適である。 For the intermediate layer material, it is preferable to polish the surface of the intermediate layer in order to increase the degree of adhesion between the polyurethane used in the cover, which will be described later. さらに、その研磨処理の後にプライマー（接着剤）を中間層表面に塗布するか、もしくは材料中に密着強化材を添加しておくことが好ましい。 Further, it is preferable to add an adhesion reinforcement primer (adhesive) after the polishing process or applied to the intermediate layer surface, or into the material. 材料中に配合する密着強化材としては、１，３−ブタンジオール、トリメチロールプロパンなどの有機化合物やポリエチレングリコール、ポリヒドロキシポリオレフィンオリゴマーなどのオリゴマーが挙げられる。 The adhesion reinforcing material to be incorporated in the material, 1,3-butane diol, organic compounds and polyethylene glycols such as trimethylol propane, oligomers such polyhydroxy polyolefin oligomer and the like. 特にトリメチロールプロパンやポリヒドロキシポリオレフィンオリゴマーが好適に用いられる。 In particular trimethylolpropane and polyhydroxy polyolefin oligomer is preferably used. これらの市販品として、例えば、三菱ガス化学社製トリメチロールプロパンや、三菱化学社製ポリヒドロキシポリオレフィンオリゴマー（主鎖の炭素数が１５０〜２００、末端に水酸基を有する。商品名ポリテールＨ）等を挙げることができる。 As commercially available products of these, for example, manufactured by Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Company, Inc. and trimethylolpropane, manufactured by Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation polyhydroxy polyolefin oligomer (number of carbon atoms in the main chain 150-200, having a terminal hydroxyl group. Trade name Polytail H) and the like it can be mentioned.
次に、カバーについて説明する。 Next, a description will be given of cover. なお、本発明に言うカバーとは、ボール構造体中の最外層を意味し、本発明に言う中間層、包囲層は除かれる。 Note that the cover referred to in the present invention means an outermost layer of the ball structures in the intermediate layer referred to in the present invention, the envelope layer is removed.
カバーの材料硬度は、特に制限はないが、デュロメータＤ硬度で４０以上６０以下とすることが好適であり、より好ましくは４３以上５７以下、さらに好ましくは４６以上５４以下である。 Material hardness of the cover is not particularly limited, it is preferably set to 40 or more 60 or less in Durometer D hardness, more preferably 43 or more and 57 or less, further preferably 46 or more 54 or less. 上記の範囲よりも小さいと、フルショット時にスピンが掛かりすぎて飛距離が伸びなくなることがある。 When smaller than the above range, it may not extend the flight distance and spin is too much at the time of the full shot. また、上記の範囲よりも大きいと、アプローチでのスピンが掛からずにプロや上級者でもコントロール性が不足することがある。 Also, if larger than the above range, there may be insufficient controllability even in professional or advanced without spin Kakekara of approach.
カバーの厚さは、特に制限はないが、０．３ｍｍ以上１．５ｍｍ以下とすることが好適であり、好ましくは０．５ｍｍ以上１．２ｍｍ以下、さらに好ましくは０．７ｍｍ以上１．０ｍｍ以下である。 The thickness of the cover is not particularly restricted, is preferably set to 0.3mm or more 1.5mm or less, preferably 0.5mm or more 1.2mm or less, more preferably 0.7mm or more 1.0mm or less it is. 上記の範囲よりも厚すぎると、ドライバー（Ｗ＃１）による打撃時にボールの反発性が足りなくなったり、スピン量が多くなり、その結果として飛距離が伸びなくなる場合がある。 Too thick than the above range a driver (W # 1) may become insufficient resilience of the ball when hit by, the number of spin rate, which may result distance as will not stretch. 逆に、上記の範囲よりも薄すぎると、耐擦過傷性が悪くなったり、プロや上級者でもコントロール性が不足する場合がある。 Conversely, too thin than the above range, or scuff resistance deteriorates, there may be insufficient controllability even in professional or advanced.
本発明では、カバー材料については熱可塑性樹脂又は熱可塑性エラストマーを主材として形成されるものであるが、特にポリウレタンを主材として用いることが好適である。 In the present invention, for the cover material but those formed of a thermoplastic resin or thermoplastic elastomer as a main material, it is particularly preferable to use polyurethane as a main material. これによりコントロール性と耐擦過傷性の両面を満たした本発明の効果を得るものである。 Thus it is to obtain the effect of the present invention which satisfies both sides of controllability and scuff resistance.
上記カバー材料であるポリウレタンについては、特に制限はないが、特に、量産性の点から熱可塑性ポリウレタンを用いることが好ましい。 The polyurethane is the cover material is not particularly limited, in particular, it is preferable to use a thermoplastic polyurethane from the viewpoint of mass productivity.
具体的には、（Ａ）熱可塑性ポリウレタン及び（Ｂ）ポリイソシアネート化合物を主成分とする特定の熱可塑性ポリウレタン組成物を用いることが好適である。 Specifically, it is preferable to use a specific thermoplastic polyurethane composition composed mainly of (A) a thermoplastic polyurethane and (B) a polyisocyanate compound. この樹脂配合物について下記に説明する。 This resin blend is described below.
本発明の効果を十分有効に発揮させるためには、必要十分量の未反応のイソシアネート基がカバー樹脂材料中に存在すればよく、具体的には、上記の（Ａ）成分と（Ｂ）成分とを合わせた合計質量が、カバー層全体の質量の６０％以上であることが推奨されるものであり、より好ましくは、７０％以上である。 In order to sufficiently effectively exhibit the effects of the present invention may be present necessary and sufficient amount of unreacted isocyanate groups in the cover resin material, specifically, the above components (A) and component (B) total mass of the combined bets is, which it is recommended that at least 60% of the total cover layer weight, more preferably 70% or more. 上記（Ａ）成分及び（Ｂ）成分については以下に詳述する。 The components (A) and component (B) described in detail below.
上記（Ａ）熱可塑性ポリウレタンについて述べると、その熱可塑性ポリウレタンの構造は、長鎖ポリオールである高分子ポリオール（ポリメリックグリコール）からなるソフトセグメントと、鎖延長剤およびポリイソシアネート化合物からなるハードセグメントとを含む。 Describing the above (A) a thermoplastic polyurethane, the structure of the thermoplastic polyurethane has a soft segment made of a polymeric polyol (polymeric glycol) long chain polyol and a hard segment consisting of a chain extender and a polyisocyanate compound including. ここで、原料となる長鎖ポリオールとしては、従来から熱可塑性ポリウレタンに関する技術において使用されるものはいずれも使用でき、特に制限されるものではないが、例えば、ポリエステルポリオール、ポリエーテルポリオール、ポリカーボネートポリオール、ポリエステルポリカーボネートポリオール、ポリオレフィン系ポリオール、共役ジエン重合体系ポリオール、ひまし油系ポリオール、シリコーン系ポリオール、ビニル重合体系ポリオールなどを挙げることができる。 Here, the long-chain polyol as a raw material, any one conventionally used in the art relating to thermoplastic polyurethane can be used, but are not particularly limited, for example, polyester polyols, polyether polyols, polycarbonate polyols , polyester polycarbonate polyols, polyolefin polyols, conjugated diene polymer based polyols, castor oil polyols, silicone polyols, and vinyl polymer based polyols. これらの長鎖ポリオールは１種類のものを使用してもよいし、２種以上を併用してもよい。 These long-chain polyols may be used one kind of those may be used in combination of two or more thereof. これらのうちでも、反発弾性率が高く低温特性に優れた熱可塑性ポリウレタンを合成できる点で、ポリエーテルポリオールが好ましい。 Among these, from the viewpoint of synthesizing the thermoplastic polyurethane rebound resilience and excellent high temperature properties, polyether polyols are preferred.
上記のポリエーテルポリオールとしては、例えば、環状エーテルを開環重合して得られるポリ（エチレングリコール）、ポリ（プロピレングリコール）、ポリ（テトラメチレングリコール）、ポリ（メチルテトラメチレングリコール）などを挙げることができる。 Examples of the polyether polyols, such as poly obtained by ring-opening polymerization of cyclic ethers (ethylene glycol), poly (propylene glycol), poly (tetramethylene glycol), poly (methyl tetramethylene glycol) and the like can. ポリエーテルポリオールとしては１種類のものを使用してもよいし、２種以上を併用してもよい。 It may be used one type of thing as the polyether polyol may be used in combination of two or more thereof. これらのうちでも、ポリ（テトラメチレングリコール）および／またはポリ（メチルテトラメチレングリコール）が好ましい。 Among them, poly (tetramethylene glycol) and / or poly (methyltetramethylene glycol) are preferred.
これらの長鎖ポリオールの数平均分子量としては１，５００〜５，０００の範囲内であることが好ましい。 It is preferred the number average molecular weight of these long chain polyol in the range of 1,500 to 5,000. かかる数平均分子量を有する長鎖ポリオールを使用することにより、上記した反発性や生産性などの種々の特性に優れた熱可塑性ポリウレタン組成物からなるゴルフボールを確実に得ることができる。 The use of long-chain polyols having such number average molecular weight, it is possible to reliably obtain the golf ball comprising a thermoplastic polyurethane composition having excellent properties such as resilience and productivity as described above. 長鎖ポリオールの数平均分子量は、１，７００〜４，０００の範囲内であることがより好ましく、１，９００〜３，０００の範囲内であることがさらに好ましい。 The number average molecular weight of the long chain polyol is more preferably in the range of 1,700 to 4,000, and still more preferably in the range of 1,900 to 3,000.
なお、上記の長鎖ポリオールの数平均分子量とは、ＪＩＳ Ｋ−１５５７に準拠して測定した水酸基価に基づいて算出した数平均分子量である。 Note that the number average molecular weight of the long-chain polyol, a number average molecular weight calculated based on the hydroxyl number measured in accordance with JIS K-1557.
鎖延長剤としては、従来の熱可塑性ポリウレタンに関する技術において使用されるものを好適に用いることができ、例えば、イソシアネート基と反応し得る活性水素原子を分子中に２個以上有する分子量４００以下の低分子化合物であることが好ましい。 As the chain extender, those used in the prior art relating to thermoplastic polyurethane can be suitably used, for example, having two or more molecular weight 400 or lower in the molecule active hydrogen atoms capable of reacting with isocyanate groups preferably a molecular compound. 鎖延長剤としては、１，４−ブチレングリコール、１，２−エチレングリコール、１，３−ブタンジオール、１，６−ヘキサンジオール、２，２−ジメチル−１，３−プロパンジオール等が挙げられるが、これらに限定されるものではない。 As the chain extender, 1,4-butylene glycol, 1,2-ethylene glycol, 1,3-butanediol, 1,6-hexanediol, 2,2-dimethyl-1,3-propanediol but it is not limited thereto. 鎖延長剤としては、これらのうちでも、炭素数２〜１２の脂肪族ジオールが好ましく、１，４−ブチレングリコールがより好ましい。 As the chain extender, Among these, preferred aliphatic diols having 2 to 12 carbon atoms, 1,4-butylene glycol are more preferred.
ポリイソシアネート化合物としては、従来の熱可塑性ポリウレタンに関する技術において使用されるものを好適に用いることができ、特に制限はない。 As the polyisocyanate compound, can be suitably used those used in the prior art relating to thermoplastic polyurethane is not particularly limited. 具体的には、４，４'−ジフェニルメタンジイソシアネート、２，４−（又は）２，６−トルエンジイソシアネート、ｐ−フェニレンジイソシアネート、キシリレンジイソシアネート、ナフチレン１，５−ジイソシアネート、テトラメチルキシレンジイソシアネート、水添キシリレンジイソシアネート、ジシクロヘキシルメタンジイソシアネート、テトラメチレンジイソシアネート、ヘキサメチレンジイソシアネート、イソホロンジイソシアネート、ノルボルネンジイソシアネート、トリメチルヘキサメチレンジイソシアネート、ダイマー酸ジイソシアネートからなる群から選択された１種又は２種以上を用いることができる。 Specifically, 4,4'-diphenylmethane diisocyanate, 2,4- (or) 2,6-toluene diisocyanate, p- phenylene diisocyanate, xylylene diisocyanate, naphthylene 1,5-diisocyanate, tetramethyl xylene diisocyanate, hydrogenated xylylene diisocyanate, dicyclohexylmethane diisocyanate, tetramethylene diisocyanate, hexamethylene diisocyanate, isophorone diisocyanate, norbornene diisocyanate, trimethylhexamethylene diisocyanate, can be used alone or in combination of two or more selected from the group consisting of dimer acid diisocyanate. ただし、イソシアネート種によっては射出成形中の架橋反応をコントロールすることが困難なものがある。 However, there is a difficult to control the crosslinking reaction during injection molding by the isocyanate species. 本発明においては生産時の安定性と発現される物性とのバランスとの観点から、芳香族ジイソシアネートである４，４'−ジフェニルメタンジイソシアネートが最も好ましい。 From the standpoint of balance between the properties that are manifested as stability during production in the present invention, an aromatic diisocyanate 4,4'-diphenylmethane diisocyanate are most preferred.
上記（Ａ）成分の熱可塑性ポリウレタンとして最も好ましいものは、長鎖ポリオールとしてポリエーテルポリオール、鎖延長剤として脂肪族ジオール、ポリイソシアネート化合物として芳香族ジイソシアネートを用いて合成される熱可塑性ポリウレタンであって、上記ポリエーテルポリオールが数平均分子量１，９００以上のポリテトラメチレングリコール、上記鎖延長剤が１，４−ブチレングリコール、上記芳香族ジイソシアネートが４，４'−ジフェニルメタンジイソシアネートのものであるが、特にこれらに限られるものではない。 (A) above Most preferred as the thermoplastic polyurethane component are polyether polyols as the long chain polyol, aliphatic diols as chain extenders, a thermoplastic polyurethane synthesized using an aromatic diisocyanate as the polyisocyanate compound the polyether polyol is the number average molecular weight 1,900 or more polytetramethylene glycol, the chain extender is 1,4-butylene glycol, the aromatic diisocyanates are of 4,4'-diphenylmethane diisocyanate, in particular the present invention is not limited to these.
また、上記ポリウレタン形成反応における活性水素原子：イソシアネート基の配合比は、上記した反発性、スピン性能、耐擦過傷性および生産性などの種々の特性がより優れた熱可塑性ポリウレタン組成物からなるゴルフボールを得ることができるよう、好ましい範囲にて調整することができる。 The active hydrogen atoms in the polyurethane-forming reaction: compounding ratio of the isocyanate groups, resilience described above, a spin performance, a golf ball in which various characteristics are the better thermoplastic polyurethane composition such as abrasion resistance and productivity so that it is possible to obtain, it can be adjusted in a preferred range. 具体的には、上記の長鎖ポリオール、ポリイソシアネート化合物および鎖延長剤とを反応させて熱可塑性ポリウレタンを製造するに当たり、長鎖ポリオールと鎖延長剤とが有する活性水素原子１モルに対して、ポリイソシアネート化合物に含まれるイソシアネート基が０．９５〜１．０５モルとなる割合で各成分を使用することが好ましい。 Specifically, the long-chain polyol, when a polyisocyanate compound and a chain extender are reacted to produce the thermoplastic polyurethanes, the active hydrogen atom to 1 mol of a and the long-chain polyol and chain extender, it is preferred that the isocyanate groups contained in the polyisocyanate compound is used each component so that the ratio of 0.95 to 1.05 mol.
上記（Ａ）成分の熱可塑性ポリウレタンの製造方法は特に限定されず、長鎖ポリオール、鎖延長剤およびポリイソシアネート化合物を使用して、公知のウレタン化反応を利用して、プレポリマー法、ワンショット法のいずれで製造してもよい。 Method for producing a thermoplastic polyurethane component (A) is not particularly limited, using a long chain polyol, a chain extender and a polyisocyanate compound, using a known urethanization reaction, the prepolymer method, a one-shot it may be prepared by any of the law. そのうちでも、実質的に溶剤の不存在下に溶融重合することが好ましく、特に多軸スクリュー型押出機を用いて連続溶融重合により製造することが好ましい。 Among them, it is preferable to melt polymerization in the absence of a substantially solvent, it is particularly preferable to be produced by continuous melt polymerization using a multi-screw extruder.
具体的な（Ａ）成分の熱可塑性ポリウレタンとし、市販品を用いることもでき、例えば、パンデックスＴ８２９５，同Ｔ８２９０，同Ｔ８２６０，同Ｔ８２９５，同Ｔ８２９０（いずれもディーアイシーバイエルポリマー社製）などが挙げられる。 A thermoplastic polyurethane concrete component (A) can also be used commercially available products, for example, Pandex T8295, the T8290, the T8260, the T8295, the T8290 (all manufactured by DIC Bayer Polymer, Ltd.) and the like and the like.
次に、上記（Ｂ）成分として用いられるポリイソシアネート化合物については、少なくとも一部が、全てのイソシアネート基が未反応状態で残存するポリイソシアネート化合物が存在していることが必要である。 Next, the polyisocyanate compound used as the component (B), at least partially, it is necessary that the polyisocyanate compound is any isocyanate groups remaining unreacted state exists. 即ち、１分子中にイソシアネート基が完全にフリーな状態のポリイソシアネート化合物が存在すればよく、このようなポリイソシアネート化合物と、片末端のみがフリーな状態のポリイソシアネート化合物とが併存していてもよい。 That is, it is sufficient present isocyanate groups in one molecule polyisocyanate compound completely free state, and such polyisocyanate compounds, even only one terminal has present together with a polyisocyanate compound in the free state good.
このポリイソシアネート化合物としては、特に制限はないが、各種のイソシアネートを採用することができ、具体的には、４，４'−ジフェニルメタンジイソシアネート、２，４−（又は）２，６−トルエンジイソシアネート、ｐ−フェニレンジイソシアネート、キシリレンジイソシアネート、ナフチレン１，５−ジイソシアネート、テトラメチルキシレンジイソシアネート、水添キシリレンジイソシアネート、ジシクロヘキシルメタンジイソシアネート、テトラメチレンジイソシアネート、ヘキサメチレンジイソシアネート、イソホロンジイソシアネート、ノルボルネンジイソシアネート、トリメチルヘキサメチレンジイソシアネート、ダイマー酸ジイソシアネートからなる群から選択された１種又は２種以上を用いることができる。 As the polyisocyanate compound is not particularly limited but can adopt a variety of isocyanates, specifically, 4,4'-diphenylmethane diisocyanate, 2,4- (or) 2,6-toluene diisocyanate, p- phenylene diisocyanate, xylylene diisocyanate, naphthylene 1,5-diisocyanate, tetramethyl xylene diisocyanate, hydrogenated xylylene diisocyanate, dicyclohexylmethane diisocyanate, tetramethylene diisocyanate, hexamethylene diisocyanate, isophorone diisocyanate, norbornene diisocyanate, trimethylhexamethylene diisocyanate, can be used alone or in combination of two or more selected from the group consisting of dimer acid diisocyanate. 上記のイソシアネートの群のうち、４，４'−ジフェニルメタンジイソシアネート、ジシクロヘキシルメタンジイソシアネート及びイソホロンジイソシアネートを採用することが、（Ａ）成分の熱可塑性ポリウレタンとの反応に伴う粘度上昇等による成形性への影響と、得られるゴルフボールカバー材料の物性とのバランスとの観点から好適である。 Of the above group of isocyanates, 4,4'-diphenylmethane diisocyanate, the influence of adopting dicyclohexylmethane diisocyanate and isophorone diisocyanate, the moldability by viscosity increase or the like due to the reaction between the thermoplastic polyurethane component (A) When a preferred from the viewpoint of the balance between the physical properties of the resulting golf ball cover materials.
本発明において、必須成分ではないが、上記（Ａ）及び（Ｂ）成分に、（Ｃ）成分として、上記熱可塑性ポリウレタン以外の熱可塑性エラストマーを配合することができる。 In the present invention, it is not an essential component, the above components (A) and (B) can be blended (C) as component, a thermoplastic elastomer other than the thermoplastic polyurethane. この（Ｃ）成分を上記樹脂配合物に配合することにより、樹脂配合物の更なる流動性の向上や反発性、耐擦過傷性等、ゴルフボールカバー材として要求される諸物性を高めることができる。 By blending this component (C) in the resin blend, it is possible to increase further the fluidity improved and resilience of the resin formulation, scuff resistance, physical properties required as a golf ball cover material .
なお、上述した包囲層、中間層及びカバーの樹脂材料には、上記樹脂分に加えて、必要に応じて種々の添加剤を配合することができる。 Incidentally, envelope layer described above, the resin material of the intermediate layer and the cover, in addition to the resin component, can be blended with various additives as necessary. このような添加剤としては、例えば顔料、分散剤、酸化防止剤、紫外線吸収剤、紫外線安定剤、離型剤、可塑剤、無機充填剤（酸化亜鉛、硫酸バリウム、二酸化チタン等）等を挙げることができる。 Such additives include, for example include pigments, dispersants, antioxidants, ultraviolet absorbers, ultraviolet stabilizers, mold release agents, plasticizers, inorganic fillers (zinc oxide, barium sulfate, titanium dioxide, etc.) and the like be able to.
本発明では、上記の包囲層、中間層及びカバーの厚さについては、 カバー厚さ ＜ 中間層厚さ ＜ 包囲層厚さ の条件を満たすことが必要である。 In the present invention, the envelope layer, for the intermediate layer and the cover thickness, it is necessary that the cover thickness <intermediate layer thickness <envelope layer thickness condition is satisfied. コアの直径が３１ｍｍ以上としたことと併せて、この各層の厚みの適正化により、飛びとコントロール性、耐久性及び打感を両立したゴルフボールを得ることができる。 Together with the diameter of the core is not less than 31 mm, by optimizing the thickness of the respective layers, it is possible to obtain fly and controllability, a golf ball having both durability and feel. この場合、カバーが中間層よりも厚いと、ボール反発が低くなったり、フルショット時にスピンが掛かりすぎて飛距離が伸びなくなることがある。 In this case, cover and thicker than the intermediate layer, or lower the ball rebound, it may not extend the flight distance and spin is too much at the time of the full shot. また、包囲層が中間層よりも薄くなると、低スピン効果が不足し、所望の狙った飛距離が得られなくなることがある。 Also, envelope layer becomes thinner than the intermediate layer, a low spin effect is insufficient, it may distance the desired targeting has can not be obtained.
本発明では、包囲層、中間層及びカバーの表面硬度（ＪＩＳ−Ｃ硬度）が、 包囲層表面硬度 ＜ 中間層表面硬度 ＞ カバー表面硬度 の条件を満たすことが必要とされる。 In the present invention, envelope layer, the surface hardness of the intermediate layer and the cover (JIS-C hardness), it is the requirements of the surrounding layer surface hardness <intermediate layer surface hardness> cover surface hardness.
上述したコア，包囲層，中間層及びカバーの各層を積層して形成されたとマルチピースソリッドゴルフボールの製造方法については、公知の射出成形法等の常法により行なうことができる。 Above core, envelope layer, a method of manufacturing a multi-piece solid golf balls and formed by stacking the layers of the intermediate layer and the cover may be carried out by a conventional method such as a known injection molding method. 例えば、ゴム材を主材とした加硫成形物をコアとして所定の射出成形用金型内に配備し、順に、包囲層材料、中間層材料を射出して中間球状体を得、次いで、該球状体を別の射出成形用金型内に配備してカバー材を射出成形することによりマルチピースのゴルフボールを得ることができる。 For example, a vulcanized molded article in which the rubber material as the main material deployed within a predetermined injection mold as a core, in turn, give the intermediate spherical body by injecting envelope layer material, the intermediate layer material, then the it is possible to obtain a golf ball of the multi-piece by injection molding the cover material deployed spheroids into another injection mold. また、カバーを中間球状体に被覆する方法により、カバーを積層することもでき、例えば、予め半殻球状に成形した２枚のハーフカップで該中間球状体を包み加熱加圧成形することができる。 Further, the method of covering the cover on the intermediate spherical body, can also be laminated to cover, for example, can be heated pressure molding wrapping the intermediate spherical body with two half cups molded in advance half shells spherical .
本発明のゴルフボールの表面硬度（カバー表面硬度とも言う。）については、各層で用いられた材料の硬度と各層の硬さ及び下地の硬さにより決定されるものであり、ＪＩＳ−Ｃ硬度で通常８３以上１００以下、好ましくは８６以上９７以下、さらに好ましくは８８以上９４以下である。 (Also a cover surface hardness refers.) Golf surface hardness of the ball of the present invention for, is to be determined by the hardness and the hardness of the underlying hardness and the materials of each layer used in each layer, in JIS-C hardness Usually 83 or more and 100 or less, preferably 86 or more 97 or less, more preferably 88 or more 94 or less. 上記の範囲よりも小さすぎると、スピンが掛かりすぎて飛距離が伸びなくなることがある。 Too small than the above range, it may not extend the flight distance and spin too much. また、上記の範囲よりも大きいと、アプローチでのスピンが掛からずにプロや上級者でもコントロール性が不足することがある。 Also, if larger than the above range, there may be insufficient controllability even in professional or advanced without spin Kakekara of approach.
本発明のゴルフボールの表面硬度を中間層表面硬度よりもＪＩＳ−Ｃ硬度で１〜１０、好ましくは２〜８、さらに好ましくは３〜６の範囲で軟らかくすることが好ましい。 1-10 in JIS-C hardness than the intermediate layer surface hardness of the surface hardness of the golf ball of the present invention, it is preferable preferably 2 to 8, further preferably soft in the range of 3-6. 上記の範囲よりも小さすぎると、アプローチでのスピンが掛からずにプロや上級者でもコントロール性が不足することがある。 Too small than the above range, there may be insufficient controls even in professional and advanced users without spin Kakekara in approach. 上記の範囲よりも大きすぎると、反発性が不足したり、フルショット時にスピンが掛かりすぎて所望の飛距離が得られなくなる場合がある。 If too much greater than the above range, or insufficient resilience, a desired flight distance takes too much spin upon full shots can not be obtained.
また、上記カバー表面には多数のディンプルを形成することができる。 Further, the cover surface can form a large number of dimples. カバー表面に配置されるディンプルについては、特に制限はないが、好ましくは２８０個以上３６０個以下、より好ましくは３００個以上３５０個以下、さらに好ましくは３２０個以上３４０個以下具備することができる。 The dimples are arranged on the cover surface is not particularly limited, preferably 280 or more 360 or less, more preferably 300 or more 350 or less, more preferably may comprise 320 or more 340 or less. ディンプルの個数が上記範囲より多くなると、ボールの弾道が低くなり、飛距離が低下することがある。 If the number of dimples is more than the above range, the trajectory of the ball is low, the flight distance may be reduced. 逆に、ディンプル個数が少なくなると、ボールの弾道が高くなり、飛距離が伸びなくなる場合がある。 On the other hand, if the number of dimples is reduced, trajectory of the ball is high, there is a case in which no longer extend the flight distance.
ディンプルの形状については、円形、各種多角形、デュードロップ形、その他楕円形など１種類又は２種類以上を組み合わせて適宜使用することができる。 The shape of the dimples can be appropriately used in combination circular, various polygonal shapes, dewdrop shapes, one or two or more such other oval. 例えば、円形ディンプルを使用する場合には、直径は２．５ｍｍ以上６．５ｍｍ以下程度、深さは０．０８ｍｍ以上０．３０ｍｍ以下とすることができる。 For example, when using a circular dimple, the diameter is much more than 6.5mm or less 2.5 mm, the depth can be 0.08mm or 0.30mm or less.
ディンプルがゴルフボールの球面に占めるディンプル占有率、具体的には、ディンプルの縁に囲まれた平面の面縁で定義されるディンプル面積の合計が、ディンプルが存在しないと仮定したボール球面積に占める比率（ＳＲ値）については、空気力学特性を十分に発揮し得る点から６０％以上９０％以下であることが望ましい。 Dimple occupancy dimples occupies the spherical surface of the golf ball, specifically, the total dimple area defined by the surface edges of the flat plane circumscribed by an edge of the dimple occupies the assumed ball sphere area with dimples is absent ratio for (SR value) is preferably 90% or less 60% from the viewpoint of capable of sufficiently exhibit the aerodynamics. また、各々のディンプルの縁に囲まれた平面下のディンプルの空間体積を、前記平面を底面とし、かつこの底面からのディンプルの最大深さを高さとする円柱体積で除した値Ｖ 0は、ボールの弾道の適正化を図る点から０．３５以上０．８０以下とすることが好適である。 Furthermore, the spatial volume of the dimples under the flat plane circumscribed by an edge of each of the dimples, the plane and the bottom surface, and a value V 0 obtained by dividing the cylinder volume to the height of the maximum depth of the dimple from the bottom, it is preferable that from the viewpoint of achieve an appropriate trajectory of the ball is 0.35 or more 0.80 or less. 更に、ディンプルの縁に囲まれた平面から下方に形成されるディンプル容積の合計がディンプルが存在しないと仮定したボール球容積に占めるＶＲ値は、０．６％以上１．０％以下とすることが好ましい。 Additionally, VR values occupy a flat plane circumscribed by an edge of the dimple to the assumed ball sphere volume and total dimple volume formed downward no dimples, to 1.0% or less 0.6% or more It is preferred. 上述した各数値の範囲を逸脱すると、良好な飛距離が得られない弾道となり、十分満足した飛距離を出せない場合がある。 When departing from the scope of the numerical values described above, becomes a trajectory not good distance is obtained, it may not afford a satisfactory and flight distance.
なお、本発明のゴルフボールは、競技用としてゴルフ規則に従うものとすることができ、ボール外径としては４２．６７２ｍｍ内径のリングを通過しない大きさで４２．８０ｍｍ以下、重量としては通常４５．０〜４５．９３ｇに形成することができる。 The golf ball of the invention is for use in competitive play can be in accordance with the Rules of Golf, as the ball outer diameter 42.80mm or less size that does not pass through the ring of 42.672mm inner diameter, usually 45 as weight. it can be formed to 0~45.93g.
以下、実施例と比較例とを示し、本発明を具体的に説明するが、本発明は下記の実施例に制限されるものではない。 Below by examples and comparative examples, the present invention will be described in detail, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the following examples.
表１に示す配合によりゴム組成物を調整した後、表１中の加硫条件により加硫成形することによりコアを作成した。 After adjusting the rubber composition by the formulation shown in Table 1 to prepare a core by vulcanization molding by vulcanization conditions in Table 1. なお、比較例１については、表２に示す配合によりゴム組成物を配合、加硫した後、外層コア（包囲層）を未加硫状態でセンターコアをくるみ、その球体を加硫成型することにより積層した。 In Comparative Example 1, the mixing of the rubber composition by the formulation shown in Table 2, after vulcanization, walnuts center core outer core (envelope layer) in unvulcanized state, to the sphere to vulcanization It was laminated by. なお、加硫は全て１５５℃、１５分間の条件で行った。 Note that all vulcanization 155 ° C., was carried out for 15 minutes.
なお、表中に記載した主な材料の商品名は以下の通りである。 It should be noted, is as the following trade names of the main materials described in the table.
商品名「ＢＲ０１」、ＪＳＲ社製 Trade name "BR01", JSR Corp.
商品名「ＢＲ７３０」、ＪＳＲ社製 Trade name "BR730", JSR Corp.
商品名「ＢＲ５１」、ＪＳＲ社製 Trade name "BR51", JSR Corp.
商品名「ＩＲ２２００」、ＪＳＲ社製 Trade name "IR2200", JSR Corp.
２，２'−メチレン−ビス（４−メチル−６−ｔ−ブチルフェノール）、商品名「ノクラックＮＳ−６」大内新興化学工業社製 2,2'-methylene - bis (4-methyl -6-t-butylphenol), trade name "Nocrac NS-6" from Ouchi Shinko Chemical Industrial Co., Ltd.
２，６−ジ−ｔ−ブチル−４−メチルフェノール 商品名「ノクラック２００」大内新興化学工業社製 2,6-di -t- butyl-4-methyl phenol trade name "NOCRAC 200" Ouchi Shinko Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.
次に、表３に示された各種の樹脂成分を配合した包囲層、中間層及びカバーを射出成形法により成形して、コアの周囲に包囲層、中間層、カバーを順次被覆・形成した。 Then, the envelope layer blended with various resins components shown in Table 3, the intermediate layer and the cover by molding by injection molding, surrounding layer around the core, the intermediate layer were successively coated, forming a cover. なお、比較例１の包囲層については上記に示した通りゴム材を使用した。 Note that the surrounding layer of Comparative Example 1 was used as a rubber material shown above. そして、表４及び図４に示す共通のディンプルを用い、該ディンプルをカバー表面に形成したマルチピースソリッドゴルフボールを作成した。 Then, using a common dimples shown in Table 4 and Figure 4, to create a multi-piece solid golf balls forming the dimples in the cover surface.
、約８．５質量％のアクリル酸、および約１５．５〜１６． , About 8.5 wt% acrylic acid, and about 15.5 to 16.
ックスと混合して用いられた。 It was used as a mixture with box.
得られた本実施例１〜３及び比較例１〜９の各ゴルフボールにつき、各層及びボールの表面硬度及びその他の物性、飛び性能，アプローチスピン（コントロール性），繰り返し打撃耐久性及び耐擦過傷性を下記の基準で評価した。 The obtained each golf ball of the present Examples 1-3 and Comparative Examples 1-9 per each layer and the surface hardness and other physical properties of the ball, flight performance, approach spin (controllability), durability to repeated impact and abrasion-resistance It was evaluated according to the following criteria. 結果を表５，６に示す。 The results are shown in Tables 5 and 6 a. なお、全て２３℃の環境下で測定した。 It should be noted, was measured in the environment of all 23 ℃.
コアを硬板の上に置き、初期荷重９８Ｎ（１０ｋｇｆ）から終荷重１，２７５Ｎ（１３０ｋｇｆ）に負荷したときのコアのたわみ量（ｍｍ）。 The core placed on a hard plate, deflection of the core when the load from the initial load 98 N (10 kgf) in final load 1,275N (130kgf) (mm).
コアの表面は球面であるが、その球面に硬度計の針をほぼ垂直になるようにセットし、ＪＩＳ−Ｃ硬度（ＪＩＳ−Ｋ６３０１規格）により、コアの表面の２点をランダムに測定した値の平均値。 The surface of the core is spherical, the value for its spherical surface is set to be substantially perpendicular to needle hardness tester, the JIS-C hardness (JIS-K6301 standard) were measured two points of the surface of the core at random the average value of.
包囲層の樹脂材料を厚さ２ｍｍのシート状に作成し、ＡＳＴＭ−２２４０規格のデュロメータ「タイプＤ」により測定した。 Create a resin material surrounding layer thickness 2mm sheet were measured by the ASTM-2240 standard durometer "type D".
球面である包囲層表面に硬度計の針がほぼ垂直になるようにセットし、ＪＩＳ−Ｃ硬度に従って計測した。 Set as needle hardness scale is substantially perpendicular to the surrounding layer surface is spherical, measured in accordance with JIS-C hardness.
上記（３）と同じ測定方法である。 The same measurement method as described above (3).
球面である中間層表面に硬度計の針がほぼ垂直になるようにセットし、ＪＩＳ−Ｃ硬度に従って計測した。 Set as needle hardness scale is substantially perpendicular to the surface of the intermediate layer is a spherical, measured in accordance with JIS-C hardness.
ボール表面のディンプルが無い部分に硬度計の針がほぼ垂直になるようにセットし、ＪＩＳ−Ｃ硬度に従って計測した。 Needle hardness meter dimple is not part of the ball surface is set so as to be substantially perpendicular, measured in accordance with JIS-C hardness.
クラブ（ブリヂストンスポーツ社製，「TourStage X-Drive Type 405」（ロフト角９．５°）を打撃ロボットに装着し、ヘッドスピード（ＨＳ）４７ｍ／ｓで打撃した時のキャリー及びトータルについての飛距離を測定した。その評価については下記の基準を用いた。なお、スピン量は打撃直後のボールを初期条件計測装置により測定した値である。 Club (Bridgestone Sports Co., Ltd., "TourStage X-Drive Type 405" (equipped with a loft angle of 9.5 °) to the swing robot, the flight distance of the carry and total when struck at a head speed (HS) 47m / s was measured. using the following criteria for evaluation. Incidentally, the spin amount is a value obtained by measuring the ball after hitting the initial condition measurement device.
サンドウェッジ（ＳＷ）（ブリヂストンスポーツ社製，J's Classical Edition）を用い、ＨＳ２２ｍ／ｓにて打撃したときのスピン量を測定した。 Sand wedge (SW) (Bridgestone Sports Co., Ltd., J's Classical Edition) was used to measure the spin amount when hit at a HS22m / s. その評価については下記の基準を用いた。 Using the following criteria for the evaluation. なお、スピン量は上記の飛距離測定と同じ方法により測定した。 Incidentally, the spin amount was measured by the same method as distance measurement described above.
ゴルフ打撃ロボットにＷ＃１クラブをつけてヘッドスピード４０ｍ／ｓにて繰り返し打撃した。 It was repeatedly hit at a head speed of 40m / s with a W # 1 club in the golf swing robot. 実施例３のボールの初速が初期１０回平均の初速対比で９７％以下になった時の回数を１００とした場合の各々の指数を、下記基準にて評価した。 The index of each of the case where the initial velocity of the ball of Example 3 was 100 times when the drops below 97% at an initial speed compared with an average initial 10 times, was evaluated by the following criteria. 各ボールＮ＝３としてその平均値を評価対象値とした。 As each ball N = 3 and the evaluation object value and the average value.
ノンメッキのピッチングサンドウェッジを打撃ロボットにセットし、ヘッドスピード４０ｍ／ｓにて１回打撃してボール表面状態を目視観察し、下記基準にて評価した。 Set the pitching sand wedge of Nonmekki to swing robot, the ball surface state was visually observed was hit once at a head speed of 40m / s, it was evaluated by the following criteria.
表６の結果から、比較例１では、包囲層がゴム材にて形成されており、その結果、繰り返し打撃時の割れ耐久性が悪かった。 From the results of Table 6, in Comparative Example 1, surrounding layer is formed of a rubber material, as a result, poor durability to cracking during repeated impact. 比較例２では、カバー（外層）が硬すぎるため、アプローチスピンの量が足りず、また耐擦過傷性も悪かった。 In Comparative Example 2, since the cover (outer layer) is too hard, the amount of approach spin is insufficient, also scuff resistance was also poor. 比較例３は、包囲層が硬く、耐久性を持たせるために中間層を軟らかく形成されたものであり、低スピン化の実現と実打初速を高くすることの両立ができず飛距離が劣る。 Comparative Example 3 is hard and envelope layer, which is softer form an intermediate layer in order to impart durability, flight distance can not achieve both increasing the realization and Jitsuda initial speed of low spin poor . 比較例４では、包囲層が薄く、低スピン効果が足りず、飛距離が伸びなかった。 In Comparative Example 4, thin envelope layer, low spin effect is insufficient, flight distance was not extended. 比較例５では、カバーが厚すぎるため、Ｗ＃１打撃時の低スピン化が足りないとともに、実打初速も低下するため飛距離が劣る。 In Comparative Example 5, since the cover is too thick, W # with low spin at 1 blow is insufficient, even actual driving initial velocity distance inferior to decrease. 比較例６では、コアが小さすぎるため、Ｗ＃１打撃時のスピンが増えてしまい飛距離が劣る。 In Comparative Example 6, since the core is too small, the distance will be increased spin of shots with a W # 1 is inferior. 比較例７では、コアの硬度分布をプロットすると直線上に近くなく、低スピンが足りずに飛距離が出ない。 In Comparative Example 7, not close to a straight line when plotted the hardness distribution of the core, low spin is not out distance in insufficient. 比較例８では、コアの中心と表面との硬度差が小さく、低スピンが足りずに飛距離が出ない。 In Comparative Example 8, the hardness difference between the center and the surface of the core is small, low spin is not out distance in insufficient. 比較例９では、包囲層が存在しないコアに２層を被覆したスリーピースゴルフボールであり、このボールでは低スピンが足りず飛距離が伸びなかった。 In Comparative Example 9, a three-piece golf ball coated with two layers in the core of the envelope layer is not present, low spin did elongation distance insufficient in the ball.
本発明のマルチピースソリッドゴルフボール（４層構造）の概略断面図である。 It is a schematic cross-sectional view of a multi-piece solid golf balls (four-layer structure) of the present invention. コア内部の位置を説明する説明図である。 Is an explanatory view illustrating the position of the inner core. 本発明において、コア中心及び該中心から離れた箇所における硬度の一例を示す説明図である。 In the present invention, it is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a hardness at locations spaced core center and intermediate heart. 本実施例に用いられたディンプルの配置態様を現したゴルフボールの平面図である。 It is a plan view of a golf ball represents the arrangement of the dimples which are used in this example.
コアと、これを被覆する包囲層と、これを被覆する該中間層と、これを被覆し、表面に多数のディンプルが形成されたカバーとを備えたマルチピースソリッドゴルフボールにおいて、上記コアがゴム材を主材として形成され、そのコアの直径が３１ｍｍ以上であり、コアの中心からコア表面まで硬度が漸次増加し、コア中心とコア表面との硬度差がＪＩＳ−Ｃで１５以上であり、かつコア中心から１５ｍｍ離れた位置とコア中心との断面硬度の平均値を（Ｉ）、コア中心から７．５ｍｍ離れた位置の断面硬度を（ＩＩ）とした場合、両硬度差（Ｉ）−（ＩＩ）がＪＩＳ−Ｃで±２以内であると共に、上記包囲層及び上記中間層が、それぞれ同種又は異種の樹脂材料を主材として形成され、上記カバーが熱可塑性樹脂又は熱可塑性エラストマー A core, a surrounding layer covering this, and the intermediate layer covering this, which was coated, in a multi-piece solid golf ball comprising a cover plurality of dimples formed on the surface, the core rubber formed a timber composed primarily, that is a diameter of the core is 31mm or more, the hardness gradually increases from the center of the core to the core surface, and the hardness difference between the core center and the core surface 15 than at JIS-C, and when the average value of the cross-sectional hardness of the position and the core center at a distance 15mm from the core center (I), the cross-sectional hardness at a position 7.5mm from the core center and (II), both the hardness difference (I) - (II) being within ± 2 in JIS-C, the enclosure layer and the intermediate layer, are respectively formed of a resin material of the same or different as the main material, the thermoplastic the cover is resin or a thermoplastic elastomer 主材として形成され、上記の包囲層，中間層及びカバーの厚さが、 カバー厚さ ＜ 中間層厚さ ＜ 包囲層厚さ の条件を満たし、かつ包囲層、中間層及びカバーの表面硬度（ＪＩＳ−Ｃ硬度）が、 包囲層表面硬度 ＜ 中間層表面硬度 ＞ カバー表面硬度 の条件を満たすことを特徴とするマルチピースソリッドゴルフボール。 Is formed as the main material, said envelope layer, the thickness of the intermediate layer and the cover, the cover thickness <qualify for the intermediate layer thickness <envelope layer thickness, and surrounding layer, the intermediate layer and cover the surface hardness ( JIS-C hardness), multi-piece solid golf ball, wherein a satisfies the surrounding layer surface hardness <intermediate layer surface hardness> cover surface hardness.
（ｄ）上記ベース樹脂及び（ｃ）成分中の未中和の酸基を中和できる塩基性無機金属化合物 ０．１〜１７質量部とを必須成分として配合した混合物である請求項１記載のマルチピースソリッドゴルフボール。 (D) the base resin, and (c) in the component of claim 1, wherein the unneutralized acid groups capable of neutralizing basic inorganic metal compound 0.1 to 17 parts by weight of a mixture obtained by blending as essential components The multi-piece solid golf ball.
上記最外層カバーの樹脂材料が、（Ａ）熱可塑性ポリウレタン及び（Ｂ）ポリイソシアネート化合物を主成分とする単一な樹脂配合物を射出成形して形成されるものであり、上記樹脂配合物中には、少なくとも一部に、全てのイソシアネート基が未反応状態で残存してなるポリイソシアネート化合物が存在する請求項１又は２記載のマルチピースソリッドゴルフボール。 Resin material of the outermost cover layer is, (A) are those of the single resin blend containing as a main component a thermoplastic polyurethane and (B) a polyisocyanate compound is formed by injection molding, the resin formulation to, at least in part, multi-piece solid golf ball of claim 1 or 2, wherein the polyisocyanate compound in which all the isocyanate groups formed by residual unreacted condition exists.
上記コアのゴム材が、希土類元素系触媒又はＶＩＩＩ族金属化合物触媒で合成されたポリブタジエンである請求項１〜３のいずれか１項記載のマルチピースソリッドゴルフボール。 Rubber material of the core is multi-piece solid golf ball of any one of claims 1 to 3, a polybutadiene synthesized with a rare-earth catalyst or a Group VIII metal compound catalyst.
上記中間層の材料には、ナトリウムイオンにより中和されたアイオノマーを含む請求項１〜４のいずれか１項記載のマルチピースソリッドゴルフボール。 Above the material of the intermediate layer, the multi-piece solid golf ball of any one of claims 1 to 4 comprising an ionomer neutralized with sodium ions.
を満たした請求項１〜５のいずれか１項記載のマルチピースソリッドゴルフボール。 The multi-piece solid golf ball of any one of claims 1 to 5 filled with.
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2019-04-23T11:16:47Z
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https://patents.google.com/patent/JP2007319660A/en
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What is Causing Buildings to Collapse in Northern Ontario?
When you or I visit a hospital, the last thing we want to worry about is whether the roof is going to cave in while we are in the building. If you happened to be visiting the hospital in Blind River, Ontario on Saturday, February 23, 2019, the fear of a roof collapse would have been one of your top fears.
What happened? Between February 23 and March 9, 2019, the North Shore Health Network (NSHN) had to re-locate its acute and long-term care patients from the Blind River hospital because of fears that the roof would collapse due to snow on the roof. The NSHN admitted that snow was removed from the roof of the hospital under the direction from a structural engineer, over this two week period.
This is NOT supposed to happen in the province of Ontario. In Ontario, we have an Ontario Building Code which assumes that a hospital’s passive structural system will prevent the roof from collapsing. Clearly there was a crisis in confidence in the strength of the roof structure supporting the snow.
The morning of Saturday, February 23, 2019, witnessed the collapse of a timber dome salt storage structure at the MTO's Haileybury, Ontario maintenance yard on Highway 558.
A couple of days earlier, on Thursday, February 21, 2019, the roof of the Lester B. Pearson Civic Centre in nearby Elliot Lake collapsed over the 340-seat auditorium, narrowly missing the members of the Elliot Lake Amateur Theatre Ensemble, who were getting ready for the final dress rehearsal for a play, which was scheduled to open the next day.
This is NOT supposed to happen in the province of Ontario. In Ontario, a stated objective of the Ontario Building Code is to “limit the probability that, as a result of the design or construction of a building, a person in or adjacent to the building will be exposed to an unacceptable risk of injury due to structural failure”.
At about 2:00 am on Monday, February18, 2019, the roof of the Timiskaming First Nation arena, near Notre-Dame-Du-Nord, Quebec, collapsed. It is reported that officials confirmed the heavy snow may have led to the collapse of the roof. The facility that only opened its ice rink in the fall of 2018. Notre-Dame-Du-Nord is located on the Ontario-Quebec border.
The structural system of a building is supposed to be designed as a passive system - the owner of a building is not expected to regularly send people onto the roof to actively clear the snow off the roof. It is clear that this is not the case in this part of northern Ontario.
The design of the structural system supporting the roof of a building begins with a reference to the climatic data specified in the Ontario Building Code. The Ontario Building Code data is based on the National Building Code of Canada, which relies on the data collected by Environment Canada.
Contrary to the assertions of the eco-freaks and their run-of-the-mill, granola crunching, know-nothing leftist social justice warriors and camp followers, the ground snow load data derived from Environment Canada’s statistics indicates no significant climatic data changes.
The first three editions of the Ontario Building Code used working stress design and used a single ground snow load value. Limit states design was introduced in the 1990 Ontario Building Code, along with separate loads for snow, SS, and rain, SR. The 1990 and 1997 editions of the Ontario Building Code used snow and rain data based on a 1 in 30 years probability of being exceeded. Subsequent editions of the Ontario Building Code use values based on a 1 in 50 years probability of being exceeded.
Admittedly, the design methods specified in the Ontario Building Code have changed over the years. The latest (2015) edition of the National Building Code of Canada has made further changes, which have not been adopted in the Ontario Building Code at this time.
It remains unclear why the roofs are collapsing in this part of Northern Ontario. Are there any other factors at play?
The days are now getting longer, the weather is slowly warming up, and the snow will soon disappear, even from the roofs in Norther Ontario. It is likely everyone will forget about this issue ....... until the next heavy snow storm in Northern Ontario next winter.
As much as we would like, this question will not go away until the Chief Building Official for Ontario takes steps to find the answers.
Download a .pdf copy of the above Article.
The State of Oregon can't stop people from calling themselves engineers.
On January 2, 2019 at 20:33, Thomas Claburn reported in The Register that, last week, US Magistrate Judge Stacie Beckerman converted an earlier preliminary injunction into a permanent one, which limits the application of the state's Professional Engineer Registration Act.
The State of Oregon (like many other North American judisdicitons) had prohibited individuals from representing themselves as engineers unless they had registered as professional engineers. Unregistered engineers risked being fined simply for using the title "engineer".
The court ruling allows people to communicate their views about mathematical equations (traffic light camera equations, in this particular case) publicly and privately without the review of an Oregon-licensed professional engineer, provided that communication isn't done as a government employee or contractor.
Read the entire article on The Register web site.
In spite of the total corporate media blackout, Faith Goldy finished in third place in the 2018 election for Mayor of Toronto.
In essence, John Tory has been elected mayor by Toronto's corporate media, which subverted the democratic process by silencing Faith Goldy's campaign.
The 2018 election campaign proves that most of the information we receive is either filtered or cut off by the likes of Google, Rogers Media, Bell Media, and the other members of this corporate media cabal that is working to imprison our minds.
In 2017, Ontario municipalities received over 180,000 building permit applications. The vast majority of these applications were made in person, where the permit applicant traveled to the building department, waited in line to be served, waited for the counter clerk to review the application, paid the permit fee, and then traveled back to the office or home.
If it took an average of 2 hours for an applicant to travel to the building department and apply for a building permit, at a minimum wage salary of $15/hr., the lost productivity for Ontario is $5 million every single year. Many people have told me that $15/hr. is an unrealistically low salary for the design and construction industry: agreed! – let’s double the salary! – then Ontario’s lost productivity becomes over $10 million a year.
That $10 million a year will buy more than 20 brand new detached houses in Belleville this year, next year, and thereafter. What would you rather choose: drive to the building department and wait in line to apply for a permit; OR enable the Ontario economy to provide those 20 brand new detached houses in Belleville for young families next year and thereafter?
In its report, titled "Streamlining the Development and Building Approvals Process in Ontario", released on July 4, 2018, the Residential Construction Council of Ontario (RESCON) proposed a building e-permitting pilot project to transition the current antiquated Ontario system to a state-of-the-art system.
From the user’s point of view, it is preferable to have one, uniform user e-permitting interface for the entire province. After all, Ontario already has one, common permit application form, as well as one Building Code for the entire province.
Municipal building departments have invested millions of dollars in their individual data bases (such as Amanda) and processes. They would resist any changes that would render their current systems obsolete. Therefore, it would be prudent to design a building e-permitting system that has a common user interface but the system would have “back-end” connections to the existing “legacy” municipal systems.
An e-permitting interface for Ontario has to be capable of handling enormous data files, process financial payments, and maintain security for users and municipalities. The information technology component of the project would likely be outsourced.
Who would administer the Ontario Building E-permitting Interface?
In view of the new Ontario government's need to contain costs, this may be a good time to move the Building and Development Branch's code development, production, and regulatory functions into a designated administrative authority, in order to eliminate these costs from the government's financial books. The Building and Development Branch would become a 3 person policy shop funded by the taxpayer whereas the Building Code Designated Administrative Authority would manage the Ontario Building E-permitting Interface and the code development, production, and administrative functions.
Since annual building permit fees in Ontario are about $200 million, a 1% - 3% surcharge on building permit fees would support a streamlined designated administrative authority and free up some cash for the provincial government that is currently being spent to fund the Building and Development Branch. A 3% permit surcharge would enable the Building Code Designated Administrative Authority to produce and distribute the electronic version of the entire 2-volume Ontario Building Code for FREE to all college and university students, designers, builders, and anyone else who wants one.
"This is low-hanging fruit for Premier Doug Ford and the new Ontario government. One of their platform planks was to cut red tape to help industry thrive – we recommend they start here."
What will the Ontario Building Code require for electric vehicle charging stations, beginning on January 1, 2018 .......?
What will the Ontario Building Code require for electric vehicle charging stations, beginning on January 1, 2018 .......? That was a controversial question discussed on Tuesday, November 14, 2017, when Alek Antoniuk delivered a seminar to the Wellington Waterloo District Chapter of the Ontario Building Officials Association on the major changes to the Ontario Building Code that are contained in O. Reg. 139/17.
The 20/80 rule in the requirements of O. Reg. 139/17 is ambiguous when it comes to buildings that contain parking spaces.
In 1984, the Professional Engineers of Ontario (PEO) and the Ontario Association of Architects (OAA) essentially divided up the professional design “pie” so that PEO licence holders and architects gained the exclusive right to design and conduct general reviews of significant buildings in Ontario. This exclusivity is shared in a carefully negotiated arrangement between professional engineers and architects that is set out in complementary provisions of the Professional Engineers Act, 1984 and the Architects Act, 1984. Both statutes were enacted in 1984. A Joint Practice Board of the two professions is supposed to help avoid confusion and conflicts between them.
In 1984, the Ontario Building Code, a regulation made pursuant to the Building Code Act, was amended to reflect the division of the design and general review “pie” between professional engineers and architects. The Ontario Building Code contained a Design and General Review Table, which reflected the design and general review divisions embedded in the Professional Engineers Act, 1984 and the Architects Act, 1984. Where an application was made for a building permit, a municipal building official would check the drawings to ensure that the design was prepared in accordance with the Ontario Building Code’s Design and General Review Table. For 22 years, between 1984 and 2007, this arrangement worked very well because municipal building officials would not issue building permits if the design drawings contravened the Design and General Review Table.
Bill 124, the Building Code Statute Law Amendment Act, 2002, proclaimed on July 25, 2003, amended the Building Code Act to require all building officials and all designers submitting designs for the purpose of obtaining a building permit to be qualified and registered by the government, effective January 1, 2006. Needless to say, this upset a lot of professional engineers and architects, since they already considered themselves to be qualified to design buildings and they did not appreciate more government red tape.
The PEO, supported by the OAA, challenged the Ontario government’s authority to regulate the practice of the province’s professional engineers under the Building Code Act. The PEO) applied for a judicial review of Bill 124 to clarify the exclusive jurisdiction of self-regulating professions. In 2007, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice confirmed the exclusive jurisdiction of the PEO and the OAA to regulate the practice of engineering and architecture, respectively. The Court declared that the professional qualification and registration requirements of the Building Code Act and Ontario Building Code do not apply to any holder of any licence or certificate issued under the Professional Engineers Act. That was the good news.
Unfortunately, the Court also found that the Building Code Act did not provide sufficient authority to allocate responsibility for the design of buildings between members of the professional engineering and architectural professions in the Ontario Building Code. The effect of this decision was to invalidate the Ontario Building Code’s Design and General Review Table. In other words, the proverbial “baby was thrown out with the bath water”.
In December, 2007, the PEO and the OAA recognized the mess that was created and issued a joint bulletin, entitled “Design and General Review Requirements for Buildings in the Province of Ontario”, which encapsulated the scopes of practice contained in their legislation. This joint bulletin was sent to all Ontario chief building officials on January 3, 2008 to be used as a guide. Although the joint bulletin was useful because it contained a table that could be easily referenced to determine whether professional design was required for a building permit application, it was unenforceable by municipal building officials.
After the 2007 Ontario Superior Court of Justice decision, municipal building officials could no longer demand that certain buildings had to be designed by professional engineers and architects. Indeed, a building official could not refuse to issue a permit for a 20 storey residential condominium building where a non-professional designer, who was qualified and registered under Bill 124, prepared the design.
The simple solution to this absurdity would have been to amend the Building Code Act to reinstate the Ontario Building Code’s Design and General Review Table. The OAA and the building officials’ organizations supported this simple solution. Of course, the PEO would not permit this. The PEO had won the court case and there was no way they would back off on this point.
Although municipal building officials continued to have the authority to refer plans to the PEO and the OAA for enforcement of the Professional Engineers Act and the Architects Act, municipal building officials had no authority to enforce those statutes.
Neither of the two main Ontario associations representing building officials took part in the2007 judicial review. The Ontario Superior Court judges had to rely only on the arguments presented by the PEO, the OAA, and the Ontario government. Had the Ontario Building Officials Association or the Large Municipalities Chief Building Officials been involved, one can only speculate that the outcome of the case would have been different.
In response to the Court’s decisions, the 2012 Ontario Building Code (O. Reg. 332/12), which came into effect on January 1, 2014, deleted the “professional design table” from Section 1.2.1., “Design”, of Division C. A version of this table was relocated to Section 1.2.2., “General Review”, of Division C of the 2012 Ontario Building Code to apply only to general review requirements, since the 2007 Ontario Superior Court of Justice decision did not address general review.
The 2012 Ontario Building Code is silent on when professional design is required for a building. All references to an “architect” or a “professional engineer” have been replaced by a “suitably qualified and experienced person”.
Finally, 7 years after the Ontario Superior Court of Justice decision, the Ontario Legislature passed the Building Opportunity and Securing Our Future Act (Budget Measures), 2014 and the Act received Royal Assent on July 24, 2014. Schedule 3 of the Act amended the Building Code Act, 1992 to establish the requirement for professional design of buildings.
The effect of this amendment to the Building Code Act is that a municipal building official has to read the Architects Act or the Professional Engineers Act in order to determine whether to issue a building permit. Plus ça change! Now, instead of consulting the old Design and General Review Table, a municipal building official has to interpret the professional design Acts!
In the meantime, the PEO continues to maintain its long held view that building officials are not authorized to adjudicate between professional engineers and architects with respect to which professional designer is required to be involved in the design of a building. Clearly, this is an unresolved issue that was not addressed by the 2014 amendments to the Building Code Act.
We often fall into the trap of believing what politicians want us to believe, regardless of whether it is true or not. We were promised a green economy which would be a nirvana for everyone. Today, the Globe and Mail reports that 340 real people will lose their jobs in spite of the corporate welfare provided to green energy firms to set up industries in Ontario.
We need to re-examine many of the "truths" we have been fed, especially about climate. Climate change models that change every week are not a basis for investing trillions of dollars for an unproven outcome.
Why an East London Bethnal Green Solar Panel Fire is just as likely in Ontario, Canada.
Following the 2003 Ontario general election, which was won by the Ontario Liberal Party, led by Dalton McGuinty, Ontario's civil servants were tasked with dismantling the Common Sense Revolution championed by Premier Mike Harris. By 2006, civil servants in the Building and Development Branch were given instructions to remove all PERCEIVED barriers to "certain green technologies" in the Ontario Building Code. At that time, I was the Manager for the technical development of the Ontario Building Code and, as a civil servant, it was my duty to obey the orders of the Central Committee Cabinet.
(1) A combustible solar collector system is permitted to be installed above the roof of a building required to be of noncombustible construction.
All of the changes were incorporated into Ontario Regulation 349/06, which amended the 1997 Ontario Building Code. So there you have it - in the name of making Ontario green, the code change increased the fire hazard of buildings in Ontario. The permission to install combustible solar collectors applies to roofs of high rise buildings as well as low rise buildings. There is no height limit.......!
"A block of flats in Bethnal Green, east London, caught fire last Sunday with around 80 firefighters attending the scene and initial suggestions are that the solar panels appear to have caught fire."
If it can happen in Bethnal Green, it can just as easily happen in Ontario.
Amendment Package #6 (July 1, 2017 update) for the Compendium Version of the Ontario Building Code is now available for free downloading, as Publication Number 510159, from the ServiceOntario Publications website. This package includes the changes arising from O. Reg. 139/17, parts of which are scheduled to come into effect on July 1, 2017 and January 1, 2018.
Follow this direct download link to the free 412 page amendment package.
the creation of slum housing by allowing for a new building type, euphamistically called "houses", which encourages the construction of sub-standard housing by permitting the circulation of polluted air from kitchens, bedrooms, living rooms, and washrooms in one dwelling into another dwelling unit. This is all done for the goal of achieving affordable housing. The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
(14) In a house containing two dwelling units, return-air from one dwelling unit may be recirculated to the other dwelling unit, provided a duct-type smoke detector is installed in the supply or return air duct system serving the entire house which would turn off the fuel supply and electrical power to the heating system upon activation of such detector.
There you have it! In the next new house in Ontario, you will have the opportunity to smell the excrement and urine and body odours of your neighbour, as they are blown directly into your own living room. Of course, the smell of your neighbour's burning hemp will alleviate the other smells.
When the Canadian Commission on Building and Fire Codes (CCBFC) published the 2005 edition of the National Building Code (NBC), one of the most significant changes was to permit combustible components in the cladding of tall sprinklered buildings of unlimited height.
Following the changes to the 2005 NBC, there was pressure on Ontario to follow the lead of the CCBFC. Ontario’s Chief Building Official and Director of the Building and Development Branch, David Brezer, P. Eng. and the Branch’s Code Development Manager, Alek Antoniuk, OAA reviewed the NBC changes and were not convinced that the combustible cladding changes were proven to be safe. Branch staff recommended that the Ontario government not proceed to change Ontario’s Building Code to permit combustible cladding in buildings of unlimited height. It was deemed prudent to refrain from amending the Ontario Building Code for at least one code cycle in order to see the experience of other jurisdictions that had implemented the change.
Therefore, Ontario kept a height restriction of 6 storeys for sprinklered buildings and 3 storeys for unsprinklered buildings in Sentence 3.1.5.5.(1) of Div. B of the Ontario Building Code. Ontario remained one of the few jurisdictions in North America with restrictions on the height of buildings with combustible cladding.
Ontario’s caution was justified as a significant number of buildings around the world have experienced cladding fires. Although these buildings are protected by automatic sprinkler systems, standard sprinkler systems are ineffective against fires on the exterior of buildings. Ontario’s 6 storey limit is based on the ability of emergency responders to use fire hoses on the exterior of the building to control cladding fires.
It will be interesting to see whether other jurisdictions will align their building codes to match Ontario’s wise choice made over a decade ago.
The e-mail address is a graphic to ward off spam robots .....!
Note that there is a "." (dot) between "alek" and "antoniuk".!
Unlike Google, this site does not use or care about cookies and does not track you. See the HTML source code of this page, to convince yourself......!
It takes a lot of work to maintain this site as one of the most valued repositories for current information on Building Codes in Canada.
The content of this site is copyrighted and may not be reproduced unless specifically permitted by the author, Alek Antoniuk.
You are permitted, of course, to provide links to this site.
“The fundamental question of our time is whether the West has the will to survive.
Do we have the confidence in our values to defend them at any cost?
Do we have enough respect for our citizens to protect our borders?
Do we have the desire and the courage to preserve our civilization in the face of those who would subvert and destroy it?"
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2019-04-24T06:25:17Z
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http://www.codenews.ca/Articles/CodeNewsArticles.html
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Download MP3 audio; also software, and then large-font English grammar and Awa grammar for live demo portion.
Please note that some of the numbers in this presentation may vary from time to time, depending on who you ask and what criteria they use in deciding which languages count as "Bibleless". Continuing surveys often revise figures up or down as new dialects are discovered, or smaller groups become assimilated into their national culture and stop teaching their tribal language to children. For current numbers, see the Ethnologue.
Pastor invited me to tell you something about Bible translation and what I am doing in it.
This is a church service, so we will begin with Scripture.
It should be a familiar passage to you, so you don't need to look it up in your Bibles.
"And they read in the book of the law of God of course, and put the chair, from a way that entered the lecture."
Pastor, you know Spanish, Yes or no, did I translate it OK?
No, it was a horrible translation. It completely lost the meaning of the verse.
Do you understand what happened here?
You can't read the Scripture up here, and I botched the translation into your language.
and even fewer can tell them accurately what it says.
That's approximately equal to population of the United States.
How can they come to faith if they cannot hear or read the Bible and understand it?
The 300 million people with no Bible in their language speak over 2000 languages.
cannot understand what a person speaking another one of them is saying.
Less than 500 of those languages have a complete Bible.
Perhaps 2000 have at least the full New Testament.
There is Bible translation going on in about 2000 more.
but some of those languages are dying out, with less than 100 native speakers.
Others are in a culture where just about everybody reads and understands a trade language. The Native American languages in the States today are like that. Everybody knows English, some of them also know a variant of their ancestral language.
That leaves a little more than 2000 languages, an average of more than 100,000 people speaking each language -- the size of Springfield, 2000 times -- who have no way to hear the Word of God in their own language, not even John 3:16.
How many churches in America of 1000 members support two or more full-time pastors? They have nobody, no Bible, nothing.
This verse is important enough, I want you to really understand it.
Ezra the Scribe and his associates stood up on a pulpit of wood and read from the Bible -- and TRANSLATED it, so the people could understand what it says.
The Jews had spent 70 years in Babylonian exile, as prophesied by the prophet Jeremiah.
How many of you remember what it was like 70 years ago?
I wasn't even born 70 years ago!
Most of the people listening to Ezra read the Bible, were born and raised in Babylon.
Do you know what language they spoke? Aramaic was the language of Babylon.
sometimes better than his English. It's the language he grew up in.
The Bible they were reading was in Hebrew.
Hebrew is a different language.
Ancient Hebrew was never again spoken by people in their homes after the Babylonian exile.
Even Jesus spoke Aramaic. He could read Hebrew, but he spoke Aramaic.
Genesis chapter 9 lists the sons of Noah, right after the Flood.
In the next chapter, we are told that Shem had five sons, Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram.
Arphaxad and Aram were brothers.
Arphaxad lived 35 years, then became the father of Shelah. And after that he lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.
Shelah lived 30 years, then became the father of Eber. Eber became the father of Peleg. Peleg the father of Reu, the father of Serug, the father of Nahor, the father of Terah.
Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran.
You all know who Abram was.
Abram was the first Hebrew.
and the language Hebrew came from Abram the Hebrew.
We have nine generations there, 290 years. Aram and Arphaxad grew up together and could understand each other, but Abram left home.
From Abraham to the return from Babylonian exile was about 1500 years.
A thousand years does something to the language.
You are all familiar with this language, it's a page from the Bible in English.
Some of you try to read it every day.
This page was printed in 1611. After 400 years it's pretty hard to understand.
We can go back farther than that.
This is the first page from the first edition of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.
It was written more than 600 years ago, hand-copied before printing was invented.
Can you read it? It's pretty hard.
I don't know about you, but it still doesn't make much sense to me.
This is 600-year-old English, completely unintelligible to us.
Now look at the difference between Aramaic and Hebrew.
almost 2000 years of language change.
That's three times as long as from Chaucer to us.
a couple hundred years before Nehemiah, when Sennacherib was attacking Jerusalem.
He sent his messengers to urge them to surrender.
The Assyrians spoke Aramaic, but the Jewish people watching from the top of the wall understood only Hebrew. Hezekiah's officers request that the Assyrian officials speak Aramaic, so that the people watching from the top of the wall would not understand the threat to their safety.
But the Assyrians wanted them to understand. The Assyrians wanted them to be afraid.
We have an interesting language incident in the New Testament, too.
Paul was arrested in Jerusalem and taken to the Roman fortress. He speaks to the colonel in Greek.
This is after the exile, the people only speak and understand Aramaic, which you can see here.
Greek was the language of educated people, like Paul and the Roman officers.
In Germany today everybody speaks German, but the educated people also speak English.
In Mexico, everybody speaks Spanish, but the educated people also speak English.
English today is like Greek was in the first century. We live in Athens, so we don't notice it.
especially the educated people responsible for copying and preserving it.
We have it in English today because 500 years ago God's people translated it for us.
And again more recently because our language changed.
But what about those other 300 million people? The ones with no Bible in their language. What are we going to do for them?
Let's look at what it means to translate the Bible into a new language.
everything that you can think or say in any language, it's somewhere here in the oval.
Each language divides up the universe of ideas into words and grammar for saying those ideas.
others are very precise and cover only a small space.
Of course there are also many overlaps that don't show up well in this simplification.
...can have very different meanings, depending on how it's used in context.
or whether a gambler is particularly lucky.
words like "car" and "van" and "bus" and maybe even "pickup" and "motorcycle".
On the other hand, we don't have a lot of words for "ice".
If we want to describe a particular kind of ice, we use adjectives and descriptive phrases.
cuts up the universe into words very differently.
so they have a large number of very precise words to describe different kinds of ice.
Now suppose I want to talk about the slippery ice.
I might have in mind some general blob of meaning like the green splotch here, not overly precise.
Because I speak and think in English, it turns out my idea fits nicely into the English word "ice".
...which word do I use?
Language is like that, there is no exact correspondence of ideas to words between languages.
they end up sounding funny or foreign.
This is my favorite bilingual joke.
An American goes to South America and tries to learn the language by total immersion. He gets a small apartment then goes out to find furniture for it.
Here he has found a small table appropriate for his needs, so he gets out his dictionary to ask the vendor "How much?"
He looks up "how" and the dictionary tells him "como"; "much" is "mucho".
So he points to the table and proudly says "Como mucho."
A few of you know enough Spanish to realize that he said "I eat a lot." If you want to ask how much something costs in Spanish, you say "Quanto cuesta."
The shopkeeper thought that if this guy eats a lot, maybe he would prefer a larger table.
The point is, you can't just substitute words.
BibleTrans, the software I developed, does not do word substitution.
Instead, we break up the meaning of the Bible into small precise concepts, like this grid here.
This is generally more precise than most languages.
Remember that vague idea I had about slippery ice?
If it were an important Bible term, it might cover several BibleTrans ideas, the way it did for Yupik.
... whatever is appropriate for the context.
Machines are lousy at making these choices.
People do this all the time when we speak.
We pick the word that expresses the exact idea we have in mind.
Or maybe we fail to do so, and people misunderstand us.
must make decisions about which BibleTrans idea best represents each idea the Author of the Biblical text had in mind.
There is a pretty good fit. Not perfect, but reasonable.
A computer could almost make that decision, if it understood ideas.
But computers don't understand anything.
They only do what they are told to do -- even if you didn't want to tell it to do that.
So we have real people make those decisions too. These people are called linguists. They learn a language like Yupik, and then decide which word in that language best fits the Biblical idea they are trying to translate.
There are a thousand or so of these people around the world, each one working in some language with no Bible.
And 2000 more languages with nobody at all.
Then when BibleTrans comes to that idea, it can make the translation accurately.
This is the general idea behind BibleTrans.
Now let's see how it works with real Bible ideas.
Here's part of a familiar verse.
It was originally written in Greek, so I'm afraid you'll have to suffer through a short Greek lesson.
We will focus on one Greek word, cosmos, which is translated into English as "world".
depending on the context and who used it and so on.
That's right, you knew that Greek word all along.
It means the universe, all there is or was or ever will be -- except of course for God.
Greek isn't so hard, is it?
the planet earth, the ground we walk on and everything in it.
That's why the King James translators used the word "world" for it.
There's a completely different idea rooted in the same Greek word.
You all know about cosmetics? Same Greek word, totally different meaning, like that green snake.
But that's not how we usually understand it.
We don't read that verse to mean that God loved the physical earth, either.
And especially not that God loved putting on make-up.
No, John 3:16 is about God loving all the people of the world.
There are other senses for this same Greek word, used in different parts of the New Testament.
they use different English words to accurately translate the different senses of the Greek.
That's what translation is all about, and computers can't do it. Not even my software.
each separate idea in the Greek text.
Computers work well with numbers.
So we encode cosmos in John 3:16 as domain 9, concept 23 "people of the world."
God loved the people of the world.
Every language has some idea, some way to say "people of the world."
but they can say it and everybody who speaks and understands that language knows exactly what you mean.
who created the universe and everything in it.
I didn't make them up.
...in their book, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domains.
All this is very structured, which in the computer is numbers and links.
The software lets you edit the details in the database by dragging and dropping concepts, so it goes pretty quickly.
is deciding which numerical concepts to use to encode each idea in the Greek text.
I paid a grad student to encode the whole book of Philippians. It took her most of a year to do it. $8000.
It still needs work. There are mistakes that need correcting. I don't have the budget for that.
She was an expert in Greek exegesis and translation; I'm not.
Translation happens in two steps.
We have been looking at the understanding part of the process.
It's very difficult, and computers just don't do it well at all.
BibleTrans works because people do the understanding and encoding part.
Very skilled, highly trained people.
we can make a thousand new Bible translations in a thousand new languages in just a year or two.
That's the second part of translation, generating the output sentences in the new language.
This is the part that BibleTrans does well.
but all the tedious work of actually translating the whole Bible verse by verse can be done by computer.
the actual meaning of the Greek text.
some 7000 concepts, how to say that idea in his language.
and arrange the parts of a sentence in the order that the language requires them.
with exceptions for questions and stuff like that.
Similarly, a noun phrase has an article, then whatever adjectives are needed, followed by the noun.
When you plug in specific words for these items you get correct phrases and sentences.
Here God is the subject, "loved" is the verb, and "the world" is the direct object.
then the root noun, in this case "world".
Other languages have a different word order.
...where it belongs in that language.
...where it belongs for Awa.
...and drag it right off the line.
English doesn't inflect much, but we do inflect pronouns by gender, number, and case.
because the information is right there in the verb ending.
BibleTrans uses tables to encode information like pronoun and verb inflections.
This table is for modern English pronouns.
The King James Bible made a distinction between singular and plural in 2nd person pronouns.
"Thee" and "thou" are not special holy words for speaking to God, they are just singular.
Plural is "ye" and "you".
and then tell it which pronoun to use when the person is referring to himself or to the person he is speaking to.
You can go to my website and download it onto your computer and run it in your own home.
What you see here is the computer upstairs actually translating John 3:16 into English.
You won't get flowery King James English out of this, but the meaning is quite accurate.
I tell people it comes out a little like the instructions you get with a Korean appliance.
Then you have native speakers -- they don't need to be trained linguists or Bible exegetes, just fluent in their own language -- clean up the clumsiness.
For my next demo, I will translate the same verse into the Papua New Guinea language Awa. You can see it applying special rules to get the tone marks right. Awa is a tone language. I think "mother-in-law" and "pig" are the same spelling, just different tones. I sat down with Ed and Aretta Loving, the linguists who did the Awa New Testament, and asked them how to arrange their sentences, and how to say each idea, then I put the rules into the computer. Awa is a very difficult language, but Aretta tells me this is a pretty good translation. Not exactly the way they did it, but close.
Some 70 or 80 years ago William Cameron Townsend started the modern Bible translation movement and Wycliffe Bible Translators.
Translating the New Testament into a previously unwritten language took maybe 25 years -- some more, some less, depending on a lot of factors.
First you had to learn the language. That's red in this chart.
Then you needed to devise a suitable alphabet and build a dictionary for it. That's yellow.
Then you have 7942 verses of the New Testament to translate by hand, here shown in green.
Finally you need to test it out with native speakers to be sure they understand it correctly, and fix the mistakes.
At the end of 25 years, the poor translator is exhausted. So he retires and goes home.
Today the process goes a little faster.
The linguists are better trained in linguistics, so they can learn the language more quickly.
We have exegetical aids to facilitate the translation.
These folks are trained by Wycliffe, so they can do it much faster, perhaps in half the time.
They work harder at checking the translation, so that still takes a long time.
or more likely he sort of retires and works in the home office until he's old enough to retire for real.
Now of course these translations don't happen in nice blocks of time like that.
In reality, the guy learns language for a while, and writes some dictionary as he goes, alternately learning and writing.
Pretty soon he thinks he can try a verse or two -- and discovers how much he doesn't know.
so his young church has something to read while he's working on the rest.
BibleTrans does not help with the language learning, nor the dictionary work. Those are the same.
But it takes a big chunk out of the translation part. You still need to check the result -- perhaps even more carefully.
But the local church leaders can be trained to check the readability of the translation.
After five or eight years, the professional linguist can move on to another language.
He could see three New Testaments to completion in the time it took Cameron Townsend to do one.
If he works with national church leaders, he could do ten or twenty translations.
He does the part that needs a trained linguist, and they do the part that needs fluent speakers.
The BibleTrans software works today. It could be improved, but it works.
The hard part is encoding the Bible into the unambiguous numbers representing the exact meaning of the Bible text.
To do the job right will take ten or more man-years.
getting the meaning exactly right.
It takes a lot of concentration.
We need to get it right if a thousand Bible translations are going to depend on it.
Finally, once the database is ready, we need to train linguists in how to use it.
Let me say some more about that Bible encoding job.
where they would have been if they'd just stayed there working on it.
But how do they explain this to their supporting churches?
we could hire qualified people to do the job right.
I personally don't know anybody who does.
God gave me very good computer skills.
He did not give me the administrative ability to assemble and motivate a team committed to making computer-assisted Bible translation happen.
He must have other people in mind for that part of the task, and I don't know who they are.
That's what I've been doing with Bible translation since 1995.
You can go to my website and find more information.
Q. What's the next step?
A. I'm stuck. I need other people involved, and I don't know how to make it happen.
Q. What about Bible translation organizations, such as New Tribes and Wycliffe?
A. Wycliffe is the largest. They are the world's experts in linguistics in general, and Bible translation in particular. They know good machine translation can't be done. And they are right! But BibleTrans doesn't do it that way.
A handful of Wycliffe people have seen BibleTrans working and say they believe it could do the job: Alan Buseman, Aretta Loving, the Hohoulins, Elizabeth Miles. Getting through to the decision-makers is something else.
New Tribes Mission teaches their translators to start with Genesis. We have a lot more work before BibleTrans is ready to do the Old Testament.
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2019-04-21T11:13:38Z
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http://bibletrans.info/Present/index.html
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AIPPEN - Australian Teaching and Education Services.
Take a look around and explore.
Check out our accreditation Certifications.
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We have significant experience and know what we are doing.
Check out our list of fundamental courses that don’t require prerequisites.
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Without our team of trained Professionals, we couldn’t be on this Journey.
The Darwin area offers multiple solutions for quality child care as needed by its resident families. Whether partial or full-time, specialists and early educators are available by region and can assist you in supplying your child with the physical care and educational development he or she needs. Insight Early Learnings Darwin childcare centre is one of the leading child care centres they are highly recommended by various schools and parents.
This type of childcare is frequently operated by a non-profit organization, but can also be run by a religious group or government institution. The program may be either be available for partial or full days. Child care centres frequently sort children by age, so your four-year-old can play and learn with other four-year-olds. Typically, care centres are run by licensed staff who have received or are working toward their National Quality Standard (NQS), which certifies that they have met the Australian governmental requirements for child safety, educational suitability, and efficiency at collaborating with families to benefit their children’s wellbeing.
Contrasting its child care centres, Darwin’s family daycares are run by individual caregivers who have gone into business for themselves as opposed to choosing affiliation with larger organizations. Family daycares are typically operated out of the individual’s home and are also required to meet standards for cleanliness and professional competency. These childcare centres may cater to a single age range or offer care for children up to age 12.
The goal of Darwin preschools is to prepare your child for entry into the educational system. Preschools generally operate by a set curriculum that incorporates active play with skills that ease children into familiarity with a school-like structure. Some may incorporate Montessori, Reggio Emilia, or Steiner methods into their programs: Ask the coordinators about their curriculum if you have a preferred method.
If your child is already enrolled in preschool, kindergarten, or elementary school and needs additional supervision outside of classroom hours, consider before or after-school programs. This type of child care may be affiliated with your school of choice and offer supplemental programs, activities, and direction for young students.
Darwin nannies are available for families who prefer primarily one-on-one direction for their children. Nannying services typically include the option of in-home care and may be a practical choice for families in rural locations. Specialized nannies are available for children with disabilities; in this situation as well, in-home care is possible when special considerations make traveling to and from group daycares burdensome. Some nannies are also open to the practice of nanny-sharing. This refers to when two or more families agree to hire a single nanny for their children and share the cost of payment. In this circumstance, the nanny may care for all the children together, or work part-time at each individual family’s house based on when her services are needed. While nanny shares are not always acceptable in specific regions, they are legal in Darwin.
A more specialized form of child care, Darwin au pairs are typically hired from foreign countries. The cost of their services may be lessened by the inclusion of their room and board. The benefits of this arrangement include consistent on-site child care as well as the child’s exposure to various ethnicities and cultures. To ensure that you receive the services of a qualified au pair, consider hiring one through a verified regional agency or website.
The physical infrastructure, the didactic, and pedagogical material, the professionals in charge, the educational program, the food and even the moments dedicated to the game, should be analysed when choosing the best kindergarten for a child.
Therefore, this election process cannot last only a few hours, but it deserves many days and enough patience, until finding characteristics such as safety, learning, nutrition and excellent child development as basic foundations that suit the taste of parents and the need of the children.
According to some paediatricians, who have specialised in child development, the garden offers the child a socialising environment. Here, when he is ‘faced’ by younger children of his age, he has to mature certain social skills such as waiting for a shift, managing frustration -To notice that not everything is for him-, the fact that he is not always the first and share toys.
The garden means the beginning of another stage in the development of children, because they will be in a different place in the house and will be related to people outside their family group.
Hence the importance of giving a good start to the process, choosing a suitable place for the other stages of personal and physical growth to be lived with total normality, without having to regret future adverse situations.
Asking about everything, without fear of looking very preventative, is the first recommendation for parents when they visit the child care centres.
And it is not for less, due to the fact that in many occasions the omission of details such as nutrition, playing times and tools that will be used as playful and educational aids will influence the child’s bad times if he, for example, is allergic to certain foods.
To count on the list of educators with preschool degrees, psychologists and therapists, both language and occupational, is fundamental because they are professionals that each one, within their field of study, contributes important elements in each development area.
Also and as a complement to the above, the idea is to have people capable of handling babies of different ages.
Another important factor is the job stability of teachers. It is not good to rotate the professional plant every six months or every year, because there is no continuity in the educational process or in the identification of the garden.
The proportion in number between children and adults gives security on the care that the children will have and the quality of education they will receive.
Thus, the best thing is that there should be an adult for every six children, with a teacher and assistant per group.
Another fundamental point is the academic program, which, according to the experts, must ensure an approach aimed at stimulating the development of skills in the areas of language, motor skills, cognitive, social, artistic and sporting advances, as well as activities that promote the reading-writing.
This is where you have to take into account the infrastructure of the space (bathrooms made with children in mind, safe parks, movement areas, aspects of furniture and large outdoor spaces), didactic and pedagogical materials (they should be available to children and not hung all the time). The schedules stipulated for the game and external play activities (minimum one hour to one hour and a half).
Have you been considering sending your child to a private school? As parents you might want what is best for your child. You would want to make sure you invest in your child’s future in such a way that they can turn into successful and responsible adults. At a private school you can rest assured that your child gets the best in both academics and extra-curricular activities. These days it’s just not enough to strive for academic excellence, in fact children who can balance academics with some extra learning are more successful in securing admissions in the best colleges.
The following are a few reasons why you should consider sending your child to a private school in Brisbane.
Besides being more academically inclined private schools also cater to children who have special needs. If a child has dyslexia or any learning issues, there are several private schools which are especially dedicated for children who need additional help with learning.
If a child is facing learning difficulties at school, it might hinder their mental and emotional growth. They might find themselves facing ridicule and misunderstanding. It can have a negative impact on the child. At a private school you know your child is in safe hands. They would have the best teachers. Those teachers who are dedicated towards children with learning difficulties. In fact research ah proved that children who might have been academically challenged at a public school might find themselves in a much better position when sent to a private school.
The staff at a private school is much more supportive. They can teach your child to overcome their learning issues in a positive manner.
If your child is looking for an advanced placement course which is not commonly offered at their school, they might want to consider admission in a private school. There are a total of thirty or more AP courses, out of which only ten to twenty are taught in schools. Children can achieve academic excellence when they stretch themselves. Learning to do their very best in high school can pave way for future success of your child.
Over a period of time, sports program are being slowly eliminated from the public school sector. The attention is more on basic learning with very little time allotted to sports. If you think your child has a special talent for a particular port, they need to attend an academic program where they can prove their prowess in the sports as well. This is where private schools come in. they have sports facilities which are excellent, sports lie rowing or polo for example.
It all comes down to finding the right private school in Brisbane for your child.
As your child reaches the age to enrol in kindergarten, there are certain changes which you would note in them. You would find your child becoming more attuned to his or her surroundings. Children are social by nature. They enjoy indulging in play and interaction. They like peaking to children their own age. However, it is important that children learn some social skills. So how do you go about making sure your child is socially aware? It’s quite simple, just make sure of the following tips from kindergartens in Townsville and you are bound to have a socially intelligent child.
As adults we have an easy access to the rest of the world in the form of social media as well as face to face interactions with the people within our circle. Whereas children have interactions which are solely limited to their family and if they are attending child care than their peers of the same ages and their care givers.
When children are taught social awareness they learn how they actually fit into the scheme of things. They learn acceptance and tolerance. They learn interactions with people who come from different backgrounds. So instead of getting a cultural hock when they enter a kindergarten, they become easily adaptable. They learn the importance of group work, team building and learning to share their ideas and things.
One way to help your child learn social awareness is by introducing them to socio-dramatic play. This helps children to respect diversity and be accepting to anyone who is different from them socially and culturally.
You could start by telling children stories from all over the world. Normally fairy tales are a great way of introducing your child to different cultures. Aesop fables and tales from Grimm brothers all explore people belonging to different cultural backgrounds.
Once your child becomes interested in reading or learning about these stories you must allow them to indulge in some form of pretend play. There should be one corner in your home or at the day care which has some props and costumes. These things are used by children to enact their favorite characters and act out their roles.
Role playing doesn’t need any lectures. It is simply providing your child an outlet to explore the world around them. Some children like dressing up the part as characters in stories while others might want to dress as doctors, teachers and fire fighters. Al these help make your child socially aware.
Teach young children social interaction skills like saying hellos and goodbyes. You could start by allowing children to observe you in familiar surroundings. Later on show them these exchanges in different social settings and across cultures as well. Children have minds like a sponge. They are able to absorb different words, enhance their vocabulary and also learn different experience all at a fast pace. Just a little push in the right direction can help your child become an apt learner.
At kindergarten in Townsville, you can expect your child to learn all tis and a great deal more.
Imagine having to remember the names of every student in your class for a year and then a new bunch of students fill your class up the next. Great teachers would know each and every student’s name, but such lofty ambitions can be a rigorous and tedious task. Teachers have to not only adapt to the style of the class, but should also try to personalise what is being taught to each individual student. The amount of planning that has to go into such an effort is massive and could easily become a tiring task. There is no wonder why, a lot of teachers experience burnout by the end of it.
You know how difficult it can get when you are a parent of a seven-year-old right? Now take that feeling and amplify it by like 1000, that’s how difficult it is to be a teacher. Because unlike having a kid, a teacher needs to be outside of the realm of bias to ensure that he or she is fair to all the children. A teacher needs to be able to manage the class effectively and go on to ensure that disruptive students are not just punished, but also straightened out the right way. Such efforts take time and a lot of planning to do successfully.
Teachers need to be able to manage time effectively. They would be required to sort out their entire semester or year to ensure that they have time for everything. When we speak about time management, we are not just referring to the time it takes to complete a class, but the complete planning of everything from tests, grading and other work that is required for the proper development of students as per the requirements of the curriculum.
More often than not what happens is that students or rather kids tend to be troublesome and demeaning towards teachers because they seem to forget that you come from the same century as them. So it would require a lot of convincing for your students to look at you as a member of the same century. It might seem like a stupid thing, but most teachers would agree that acceptance from students is one of the primary motivators for them to continue doing what they do.
These are just some of the challenges that teachers go through on a daily basis.
We look to do things alone and by ourselves. We try really hard to go at it lone and think that any sort of help is equal to being coward. But the truth of the matter is that everyone needs some sort of help when they start out.
A lot of teachers have this twisted sense of reasoning and feel that control equates to respect. We have seen a lot of teachers, whose fuse is super short and the minute something goes south; they lose it. They would instead find a reason to blame someone than to turn around and accept their shortcomings. We don’t know where this sort of behaviour originated, but it is one that is hugely counter-productive.
Have you ever gone to a class where everyone absolutely fears you? Do you feel great about yourself? Teaching is supposed to be a profession that is one of the most inspiring things in nature. But the fact of the matter is that a lot of teachers want to be dangerous in the classroom because they think teaching is some sort of massive sacrifice that they are doing and without this sacrifice, nothing will work is what their thought process is like. And in all honesty, teachers think that being serious is necessary and if they are jovial and fun, they could get attached to students. We are not even sure they are hearing themselves right now. Most teachers still live in the mindset of clerical production of batches and batches of children.
Teachers for some reason feel threatened if they are challenged by a student, who has found a different way to arrive at the answer. They get defensive and say that it is either their way or the high way. The truth is, a lot of the times curriculums don’t mention how to reach an answer, but teachers take it upon themselves to reach a conclusion on how to reach that answer. The one thing that is super weird is how threatened they feel by the whole thing; they act like the kid who thought of the different process can replace them or something. It is just outright weird and a sign of extreme insecurity in terms of their position, but more so on themselves.
It is time teachers took a chill-pill and learnt how to take a class.
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2019-04-25T21:43:11Z
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https://www.aippen.net/
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The Harbinger interviews Dr. Fan Ling, founder and CEO of Tezign. We had our initial conversation with Dr. Fan back in fall 2017, and his company has since grown from 30 to nearly 200 people, so we’re quite excited to dig in and understand what’s changed at Tezign and in the broader China market since that time. As a refresher – Tezign is a digital platform for creative talent and content resources based in Shanghai. It provides two primary solutions for large global brands: Creative Supplier Platform (match projects and companies with the right creatives) as well as Data Intelligence Solution (featured with a Digital Asset Management system and a Design and Artificial Intelligence solution). With Dr. Fan, we discuss Tezign’s growth, evolution in its business model, key client pain points, a competitive landscape ranging from freelance platforms and SaaS solutions to agency models, the importance of culture and talent development, and more.
Hi there professor. It’s been about 18 months since our last conversation, and there’s clearly been a number of developments. What’s new?
Dr. Fan: Good to catch up Adam. We have three major developments at Tezign. The first development is that we've been very much focusing on serving larger enterprises. Right now, 90 percent of our revenue comes from larger enterprises like Alibaba, Tencent, Unilever, and Starbucks. We proved that a startup like us could actually work well with large enterprises.
And the second development is that we have multiple product lines. Before we only had a matching platform, and now, we have a Digital Asset Management and also artificial intelligence capabilities. Digital Asset Management means that we help our clients to manage all their creative and marketing vendors as well as their creative and marketing contents. As for the AI capabilities, by using the content data our clients put on the platform, we are able to reuse those data to generate multiple creative outcomes. These engines have developed very quickly in the past few months and have already been used by some pilot clients.
Thirdly – team wise, we have now grown to almost 200 people, and every eight months we double our team. We built software sales team, AI R&D team from scratch. This means that more and more opportunities are coming to the company and it is more and more challenging in terms of managing a company that grows this quickly.
Wow, when I visited last time, there were about 30 people at Tezign, and now it’s 200, with a couple of office moves in between. In terms of your business, you mentioned that you're not just a matching platform, but more of a DAM, with AI elements. Again, for our audience’s benefit, can you tell us a little bit more about how you service your current clients? What does the solution or service look like?
Dr Fan: One of the big changes in the past two years in the Chinese business landscape, is that a lot of the clients that we work for are either 2C platform or 2C brands such as Alibaba and Starbucks respectively, and they are challenged by the decreasing growth of the Chinese market. So, they started to develop more internally. They see hot technology, hot data, hot artificial intelligence, and hot business intelligence. We help them run their business more effectively. They invest more not just on doing digital transformation strategy, but actually implementing digital transformation. So, for instance, a company like Unilever, they build this internal digital asset management system that manages all their decision making in terms of marketing, and also all their product development in order to have better product development cycles.
I think all these provide a lot of opportunities to us. When they are really adapting digital transformation instead of just a digital transformation strategy, they want quick iteration. They want partners with a growth mindset. They want partners willing to take a risk with them and change flexibly with them. So that gives a start-up company like us a lot of opportunities. I think that's a very big shift. They want us to take more responsibility and go deeper into their core business. If all these big players are hard to change, then they want us, naturally agile and fast, to change the way they used to be.
You’re right that the consumer side was very hot. But as you know traffic got more expensive and some the low-hanging fruit become less obvious, there's a lot more emphasis even from an investor perspective on SaaS. OK, now let’s dig a bit deeper on your product and solution. So, for a team at Alibaba or Starbucks, what is the exact solution they use? What does that dashboard or some of the other tools you mentioned look like?
Dr. Fan: For Starbucks and Unilever or other brands, we’re mainly working with three departments. One is their marketing department. All these companies spend a lot on marketing. Even the product development process like developing avocado flavor shampoo is driven by marketing people. So, the marketing department works with us very deeply. And the second is that we work very closely with the procurement team. The procurement team sets up the rules around what kind of vendors can come in and how to choose them. And the third is that we normally would work with the innovation team as well. The innovation team is in charge of how to aggregate data for all these brands. Aggregate data in terms of internal data or consumer data. So normally we would need to leverage and work with all three teams together.
What we help them is really to build infrastructure for growth. These three departments tend to communicate very little. And with the right infrastructure that centralizes all the information on the same platform, they will be able to actually talk to each other. This would be something that we offer – a Digital Asset Management platform that make data more transparent among the teams.
So, with the help of our DAM, their decision making could be more efficient. And now, they could quickly respond to changes in the market.
However, for companies like Alibaba and Tencent, things are slightly different. Since they’re tech companies, they are not looking for a solution that would change their existing IT infrastructure. They're looking for a designer and creative resource pool that can adapt to the diverse needs on one platform. They basically handle more than half of the Chinese population, a very diverse group. Previously, individual suppliers probably focus on one specific expertise. By tapping into the resource pool like we have, they will actually able to find more precise suppliers for their various needs. It is more like connecting the two platforms together.
I really like a quote that Alibaba’s CMO Chris used to describe Tezign: he said a platform like Taobao or TMall presents a problem that needs another platform like us to solve. And then ecosystems like Alibaba ecosystem, needs another ecosystem like us to sustain. So, I guess for a platform client, they need another platform to solve the problem and sustain their needs. That's the second way that we work with large enterprises.
So it seems Alibaba really values your resource pool of creative creators and designers. Currently, how many creators are within that resource pool and how are they spread out across the world?
Dr. Fan: Because we're working with a lot of large enterprises, our resource pool includes designers, creative marketers etc. We normally would not include part-time individuals. So, our resource pool consists of pre-qualified smaller suppliers focusing on their specific expertise. We have more than 40,000 suppliers globally. We work with very famous marketers. We have people who actually are top graphic designers or graphic design studios, including someone who did the first eight minutes show for the last Winter Olympics. Also, we have long-term suppliers that can handle daily jobs of managing over a thousand e-commerce banners. This is really a diverse group of suppliers. About 80% of them currently locate in China or can speak Chinese and 20% are abroad. Their geography covers Europe, Asia, United States, and Australia.
So you have this large resource pool and you have the digital asset management piece that you guys have been developing. You’re addressing large companies, including FMCG or tech companies. So, there's a lot that you're working with. I’m curious that as you build increasingly more of a SaaS solution, how much hand-holding is there when you work with a large client, vs. using a self-service tool? What does customer service look like from your end?
Dr. Fan: Let’s zoom out a little bit first. Giving one client as an example, we started working with Alibaba in 2017 on one or two projects. That was when they were first exposed to our model. And in 2018, we began working systematically with them. The revenue we generated from Alibaba in 2018 increased 20 times compared to that of 2017. This year we expect that number to increase another five times. This means that Alibaba now collaborates with us on more than a thousand projects every year. With one thousand projects, we probably need to leverage thousands of suppliers. Alibaba then starts to become curious about how we can manage all those projects and suppliers at the same time. So, they start to ask a lot questions about our system, data structure, IT infrastructure, our SaaS model, the modular part. And in that sense, they go deeper not just by working with us on project-based but adapting to the SaaS model or buying our modules. This is why we extend our service from providing a solution for project to providing a SaaS model. That's the reason. Since 2017, we now have about 10 clients who’ve worked with us on more than a thousand projects.
The core for us is that we have all the supplier data and engines that can process the data, so we know who these suppliers are, what kind of work they can do, and what kind of business problems they can solve. As a result, we can match the right suppliers to the right clients. On top of that, the engine empowers all these kind of applications on our website. For some of the clients, we package the whole thing and deliver the final result to them. So, we compete with traditional service providers like the advertising agencies. Sometimes after working with us for a thousand projects, companies like Alibaba and Unilever would be curious about the whole system so they would buy the SaaS into their companies. And to use our SaaS solution to actually not just managing the resources on our platform but also all the resources they have in the sector.
How we serve these clients really depends on the level of collaboration that the clients trust us with. For our project-based model, we need to deliver at least as well as traditional services. We have an account team that uses our platform and delivers about four times more efficiency as a traditional service provider. You can handle four times more projects than traditional service providers. But for the SaaS model. We have one customer manager serving an entire group of clients. It really depends on which solution they adapt to.
That makes sense. I was curious as to how your project based model competes against the large agencies like WPP. I’d imagine that the marketing team doesn’t always talk to the designers directly, and need account managers to help with comms and project management. So, it seems that you do have an account management team, which is still smaller than the typical agency because they're actually using your tools internally to do this more efficiently. Is that the correct understanding?
Dr. Fan: Not necessarily small but yes more efficient. About one-third of our staff relate directly to our clients’ needs. However, this team does not scale proportionally to our revenue, as in fact our solution’s efficiency at least doubles every year. Last year, our teams are probably three times more efficient than traditional solutions, and this year we are aiming to become six to eight times more efficient than the traditional solutions. And our revenue grows 4x every year. If we factor in the efficiency increase of our solution, it means we don’t need to scale the team proportionally to our revenue growth.
So you mentioned large clients from FMCG and internet sectors. What about the large creative or advertising agencies, can they also buy your SaaS solutions as well? It seems you guys use it internally so they should use it and increase their efficiency too.
Dr. Fan: I respect companies like WPP. They have been the standard in this industry for over half a century. However, I have to say that although a lot of them are experts in digital marketing, if you look at their financial report, they do not allocate too much resources to IT or R&D. So even though they know our technology would be able to help them, they don't have the budget to buy our technology. So that I think that's a huge problem for them. But we do want to extend into more industries. For instance, we are going to extend to financial services, lifestyle, and food and beverage this year, and automobile next year. So whoever is our client with a big budget on marketing, their industries would be our target.
Got it, is it typical that customers enter for project-based solution and then you try to move them to the SaaS model? How do you try to convert potential customers?
Dr. Fan: I think that’s actually the advantage of working in this sector. No company would hire only one marketing supplier, especially when their market starts to be more and more fragmented. We are able to reach new target companies with a couple of trial projects. They can start collaborating with us with trial projects as small as (contract value of) 2000 RMB. Once they start working with us on trial projects, they would have already gone through all the processes in their procurement system, allowing us to get more projects because getting into their system is a crucial precondition to sell services. To give you a perspective with numbers, one client starting from 2000 RMB via trial projects might reach 2 million RMB in half a year. As the clients give us 2 million RMB worth of projects, they would start wondering how we handle projects with such diverse requirements in terms of size and urgency of tasks for both online and offline marketing. We explain to them that we can achieve that with our Digital Asset Management (DAM), a platform encompassing all the system, technology, and data. After we explain to clients how we process data to manage even 1000 projects at the same time, they would become more curious. Once they explore and understand the process, and have their mindset ready, DAM enters their radar.
Got it, that makes a lot of sense. I am not sure how many figures you can share, but I am curious as to how much of your work is project-based vs DAM and how do you shift things over?
Dr. Fan: Last year, based on contract value, 70% are project based and 30% are module/SaaS based. We launched the modular product in the last quarter of 2018, and now we have 5 pilot clients and we do not have a dedicated sales team yet. So, I do see a huge growth potential in DAM and also the AI generation part.
Let’s get to the AI piece a little bit. But first could you share more on your DAM product so our audience has a better sense of what this product looks like in case they want to use it? For example, what kind of technology, is there a dash board that shows matching for your creative resources? What other features does it have?
Dr. Fan: We basically have 3 major parts in terms of Digital Asset Management. First, for companies with multiple brands and multiple BUs, we have a centralized resource library that downloads all the creative marketing resources ranging from as small as e-commerce banners to as big as for offline campaign or a holistic campaign. All of these resources are automatically tagged or labeled by the system. So anyone can search and download these resources if necessary.
The second feature is that we provide data of all the creative marketing suppliers, including what kind of work they can do, what they have done in specific sectors, and feedback from other marketers who have worked with this supplier. All these data will be centralized and managed in one place and there will be a ranking system as well as a credit system. These data analysis make up the supplier management piece.
The third feature is incorporating project workflow information into our DAM. I like the way how Unilever positions it as a marketing operation system. Basically, as the marketers come to office, their first thing is to open their computer, and the second thing is to log into our system. Normally they would spend 3-4 hours in our system a day to look for all the resources they need. Some companies even include a fourth part, incorporating product development process into DAM, because for these marketers, branding and products are equally important. For example, whether they should develop an avocado scented shampoo is a marketing decision instead of a product decision. Marketers drive their company’s product development, so they also need to see information about product development cycle, which thus become an important marketing resource.
Ok that’s comprehensive. The DAM offers a lot of features that seem to provide quite a bit of efficiency. Now, let’s talk more about the AI piece of what you work on. I remember you mentioned last time that Tezign can help generate banners efficiently, meaning instead of building one banner at a time, AI can build thousands of them pretty quickly? You also mentioned using previous assets so that stuff you built before can be rearranged to build new design pieces. Tell us a little bit more about that.
Dr. Fan: Sure, first when you think about the clients, the consumer facing marketplace is becoming more and more fragmented. Our clients have to have personalized contents in order to engage their target customers through marketing. The second part is if our clients are using our system to manage all their creative marketing resources, their data is already stored in our system, both consumer and supplier’s data. As a result, the ability for AI to use all the supply side data to fit into every consumer’s preference becomes a challenge. So it’s a very natural extension to develop the AI generation feature.
When you have the DAM, you want to reuse digital assets through AI, and that is the technology we developed. The first of the two phases of our product development is that we have the infrastructure part. We built an open source dataset that will hopefully be completed by the middle of this year. Through this dataset, machines will be able to understand the creative aspect of information in contents. The internet teaches machines how to read an image and we are trying to use our dataset to teach machines how to read “design” so they know what is the font, what is the content, what is the style, what is the emotion, and what is the color combination. And with that we can decipher the design process for each business situation. The second phase is implementation. Amongst all industries, e-commerce has the highest demand, because they need a lot of personalized contents. We could recombine our digital assets to create personalized content for them. The AI system generates contents that looks as if they were designed by people, only using AI to recombine various information and tell personalized stories. Therefore, our generated result will be more human centered and human friendly. With this technology, we are able to help e-commerce and a few companies that are very offline heavy, so we do offline advertisement as well. And we are trying to expand into other territories in the future.
That is very fascinating. Would you consider this as a separate line of business in the future or as a new value adding feature in your DAM?
Dr. Fan: The AI feature works very similar to the business models we described. If you think of the core of design, it remains the same. It is just different clients have different needs. Some clients work with us by project based and others by SAAS. It really depends on the clients. For us, selling the AI part is similar to what we have been doing. Some clients want us to generate 1,000 banners a week, which is a workload way beyond human capability. So we do human computer collaboration. Nevertheless, they still pay based on the number of banners they receive. This is by project, which is ok. When they trust us more, they feel like they want to adapt the whole system. For example, one of the largest real estate developers in China trusts the entire system so they work with us to build their internal design AI system. So technologically that is a very deep collaboration.
Makes sense. I think it’s fascinating that when you first started, people thought of Tezign as a freelance platform, but clearly you have developed quite a bit beyond that. I’d like to learn more about your organizational development. How to manage a company that grows from 30 people to 200 people so quickly?
Dr. Fan: It’s a major challenge. I think that when the company is getting bigger, the challenge is not to sustain a business but rather to internally sustain people on the same page. Before this year, we are anti-hierarchy, anti-structure, anti-meetings, but now I start to learn more about how to be more efficient as a leader in an organization and how to make sure 200 people understand what they need to contribute and how would they develop internally. So, we set up an organizational development department that is in charge of building the structure, culture, and training program for the company. We need to help everyone develop, including myself. This is something we do differently since the end of 2018.
Really great to hear that. I think there is plenty of differences between China and U.S. and other markets. Not to generalize but I think traditionally perhaps Chinese companies tend to have very strong founders, top down management, and then the quality of management sort of falls off a cliff towards the middle management or lower levels. It just kind of happens that way when you hire very fast. In the U.S. it is a little different, because most founders want to hire a great team and give ownership to future leaders of the business. I think the mentality can be different, so it is refreshing to hear that Tezign has this approach. As China develops further and becomes more globalized, I feel that it does not have to be a rare thing, but companies need to become like Tezign to develop the next generation of leaders. So, I am really glad to hear that.
One more question, more taking a step back, not so much about Tezign… how do you view overall B2B and SaaS market? And as you think about growing further and finding the right investors, how do you think about the right partners to work with?
Dr. Fan: I feel very lucky to have all my current investors. I think the biggest challenge for us is hard to find suitable investors. Well, 2C investments have been developed very maturely in the past 20 years. At first it was the “copy to China” model. Whatever people see in the U.S, they just copy it to China, but gradually you see a lot of Chinese models emerge. 2C investors have become more confident in investing in China model such as O2O, bike sharing etc. I think the B2B investors that I met are probably still repeating this process, but 10 years too late. Most investors now are probably looking for a model that has been proven in mature markets like the United States. If you are a Chinese Salesforce variant you are lucky because the investors will probably understand you. Thus, the core of the challenge is we cannot find the exact same business model that has been proven to be successful in the States. For DAM, we probably overlap a bit with Adobe’s Experience Cloud, which is a very successful company. However, for the AI part, I would argue that China is more advanced than the States, and our model is unique.
In the US, there is Upwork and other freelancer management systems or market places, but in China what we do is very different from just a freelancer management. We are working with larger enterprises and our supply side platform are small businesses instead of freelancers. And in China if you are doing transaction based market place, it is hard to get the transaction fee. So, I guess all these Chinese (2B) landscape, similar to 2C, will have eventually a Chinese model. It will not have a pure copycat. And that is a challenge for the investors. If they are not able to see a successful model that is already duplicated, how can they convince their LPs and themselves to invest? So that is why I said I am very lucky to find my investors. Our angel investors are Linear Venture and Cherubic Venture. They have really strong belief in what they invest in, and I think that is very important. And our series A investors include Sequoia China who looks at the entire landscape and is willing to make a bet despite the fact that our revenue was only around half a million RMB at that time. In series B, we are able to partner with Hearst Ventures, one of the biggest and oldest media companies in the world. The brands and customers that trust their media are exactly the ones who would trust Tezign. We also have individual investors like Skip Battle who is the founding partner of Accenture, board director of Netflix, LinkedIn, and OpenTable. He has been a mentor to CEOs for decades, so we are very lucky to have him onboard. And David Chu is also a very successful Chinese American Entrepreneur. With this diverse group of investors supporting me in every aspect, I think in that sense I am very lucky because not too many 2B founders are able to curate such a great investor team.
Got it, finding the right investors is akin to finding a potential spouse so to speak. Not sure if you can share any more details but are you looking to fundraise anytime soon or what are your future plans for growth?
Dr. Fan: Starting from 2017, we feel we have found the so-called product market fit. In 2018, we had 4 times growth in terms of project-based model and built our SaaS model from 0 to 1. So, we are looking for at least 3-4 times of growth in project-based sales and then a 5 times growth in SaaS model in 2019. We are definitely looking for partners who can help us financially and also investors who understand our value. If there is this kind of investors around, I am more than happy to discuss the possibilities of having another round of fundraising.
Got it, ok thanks so much for that. Seems everything is going well. Wish you the best of luck for the future development of not only your product but also your team.
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2019-04-23T02:02:55Z
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http://www.theharbingerchina.com/blog/digital-asset-management-with-chinese-characteristics-with-tezign-founder
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What can be more self-loving and self-giving than time out just for you in a beautiful, tranquil and inspiring location at one of Europe’s top-rated retreats for women? Take time to explore and answer mid-life’s big questions, immerse yourself in healthy living, develop new rituals and enhance your menopause know-how. Plus, create a vision for the next and best half of your life … whilst having lots of fun and laughs along the way!
Say ‘YES!’ to your best self and join us on our retreat.
Have plenty of fun and laughter!
Perched on a hill, Casas de Alisne and its 360 degree views of the surrounding landscape are just breath-taking: incredible natural beauty, acres of olive groves and citrus trees, goats and sheep grazing, and the expansive and beautiful Brena Reservoir.
This magical and most tranquil location will quickly transport you from the hectic backdrop of modern life to a place of space, rejuvenation, inspiration and creativity – the perfect setting to learn, grow and expand.
By day you will be energised by the fresh air, sunshine and sounds of nature. By night you will relax and wonder at the amazing sunsets and be mesmerised by the star-filled skies.
Take a deep breath, step away from the busyness of your every-day life and give yourself the space to reflect, be inspired and create.
Casas De Alisne is the perfect place for you to take care of yourself daily, nourish and evolve your mind, body and spirit; a place where you can gain clarity, find freedom, accomplish more and thrive.
The venue for our magical retreat is Casas de Alisne, located on a stunning lake just outside Almodóvar Del Rio, a traditional Spanish town set at the foot of a beautiful castle, famous as “High Gardens” in ‘Game of Thrones’ (as featured in OK! Magazine) and less than 30 mins from the city of Cordoba.
Malaga airport is only 2 hours away and Seville airport just over an hour.
Transfers to and from Malaga and Seville airports can be arranged* by Menogo or alternatively, you can hire a car from one of the many providers.
Trains run from Malaga to Cordoba and from Seville to the near-by town of Posadas. From here you can take a short taxi ride to Casas de Alisne.
Is the Retreat for Me?
Menogo retreats are for your mind, body, spirit & menopause. They are the perfect choice if you want to stop, take stock & give yourself time to recharge, re-invigorate & explore how you can make the second half of your life, the best half.
We like to think of it as a 101 in well-being & menopause mastery where you have the opportunity to try new things, see what works for you & then create an action plan of your own to take home and start to integrate what you have experienced on the retreat into your every day life. Small lifestyle changes & enhanced knowledge can make the world of difference to you & how you move through perimenopause & beyond.
And whether you are travelling solo, sharing the experience with a friend or family member, the Menogo team will ensure you make the most of your time with us.
This life coaching & wellbeing retreat will take you on a journey of self-discovery, self-love and self-care. It’s not a fitness boot camp or an intensive yoga retreat, more of a coaching and health and wellness 101 from which you create your own recipe for mid-life, and beyond, success.
We share with you a holistic approach to living – menogo living – where you take care of yourself, nourish and evolve your mind, body and spirit; where you live from a place of passion and purpose. A way of life in which you become your best self, accomplish more and thrive.
No two days will be the same but variety is the spice of life right?
Central to the retreat and key to your personal growth & development are the coaching sessions. These will guide, support and stretch you. You will explore different aspects of yourself and your life, learn new life tools and skills and grow in understanding. You will work in groups and individually whilst also benefitting from the wisdom and experience of the collective … and don’t be surprised if you also experience a few ‘aha!’ moments too.
The Menopause Mastery workshops will cover the basic science of how our hormones affect our body, mind and emotions and how the right diet, sleep, exercise, relaxation and environment can minimise hormone disruption. Throughout the week you will get to practise the advice given and take away a 28-day healthy hormone eating plan.
The exercise and relation practises give the body what it needs to support healthy hormones and maintain a strong, active, flexible and happy body. You will exercise in ways you may not have done before or challenge yourself to go one step further if you have. You will experience a range of yoga, meditation and mindfulness practices and have the opportunity to try out different self-care and self-love rituals such as journaling and gratitude notes.
You will nourish your body with fresh, healthy food that supports hormonal health and possibly enjoy the best sleep you’ve ever had in this amazingly quiet and natural environment.
No retreat would be complete if we didn’t have fun and a good few laughs along the way. There will be time to get to know your fellow retreat-goers outside of the sessions & enjoy an evening kayak & picnic or a sunset & prosecco boat trip. Plus, you may wish to explore the delights of Cordoba & Almodovar Del Rio.
In addition, there are a host of optional extra-curricular activities* on offer from restorative & relaxing massage to water-skiing, paddle boarding, cycling or even rock climbing, with our friends at www.xtreme-gene.com and www.active-andalucia.com for those who are feeling more energetic & want to try their hand at something new. After all, life is too short to be sat on the sidelines!
The Menogo way of living will rejuvenate you, inspire you and leave you feeling energised about life.
The retreat is 6 nights and 7 days in length and we will be welcoming 6-12 guests. As a group you will explore, learn and grow together, while also enjoying plenty of time out and individual attention. Our dedicated team will support, guide and encourage you throughout your time with us and ensure that you have a memorable experience.
The coaching, fitness activities and yoga/meditation sessions are suitable for all levels and will be tailored to meet the needs of the group and each individual.
Prior to attending the retreat we will ask you to complete a lifestyle, goals and PARQ (physical activity readiness questionnaire) to ensure we are aware of what you are looking to achieve and accomplish during the retreat plus be advised of any medical issues or concerns.
Prices exclude: flights, transfers* , extra curricular activities** (e.g. massage, water sports, cultural trips) and personal insurance. *Transfers can be arranged at an additional charge. **Extra-curricular activities, where incur a cost, will be charged at an additional cost.
Early Bird Booking Bonus: Book before 30 June, 2018 and SAVE £100!
A 50% deposit is required to confirm your booking. The balance will be required to be paid 4 weeks before your departure date. If you book less than 4 weeks before departure we will require payment in full within 5 days of your booking.
Full booking terms and conditions available on request.
Menogo retreats offer not only a memorable and life-enhancing experience but also give you learnings, tools and techniques that you will use in your daily life long after your time with us.
You will receive personal attention from the Menogo team, eat quality food and enjoy your time in a beautiful, natural and tranquil environment that will inspire you to be your best self and live a life in which you thrive.
We deliver an experience that will change the way you think about life beyond forty and how you care for yourself, your mind, body and spirit – a life where you say ‘YES!’ to yourself and inspire others to do the same.
A group activity / fitness session – exercises will be tailored to each person’s fitness level/abilities and be based on activities that support positive hormonal health and/or reduce the impact of hormonal changes on the body.
Menopause Mastery workshops covering the basic science of how our hormones affect our body, mind and emotions and how the right diet, sleep, exercise, relaxation and environment can minimise hormone disruption.
*Where requested, we can also provide vegetarian options. For those with other dietary requirements please discuss these with us prior to booking to ensure we are able to accommodate these.
Prices exclude: flights, transfers*, massage, extra-curricular activities** and personal insurance.
*Transfers can be arranged at an additional charge.
**Extra-curricular activities are at an additional cost.
The Menogo Retreat is run by an all-female team of women’s wellbeing professionals who bring a wide variety of skills, background, professional and life experience to Casas De Alisne.
We are all hugely passionate about what we do and believe in the Menogo way of living where self-discovery, self-love and being fit in mind, body, and spirit are paramount. We look to understand what makes us happy and what doesn’t … and give ourselves what we need to thrive.
Do we get it right all the time? Of course not … but that’s what makes us human, it’s what enriches our lives and what makes us who we are.
We are excited about sharing our knowledge and experience with you and to inspiring you to be the best you can be – to sharing in your journey to a healthier, happier and more passionate you.
Lynda Brown – Founder & Director of Menogo. Specialist wellness and life coach for ‘perimenopausal and beyond’ females, NLP and EFT practitioner, sports and holistic masseur and healthy living advocate. Aged 50.
Lynda is the Founder and Director of Menogo and has been a qualified life coach for over 10 years. She has had a career in the health and fitness industry that has spanned over 25 years and has always been passionate about healthy living and the benefits it brings to the mind, body and spirit. Now, as a qualified wellness instructor for perimenopausal women and beyond, Lynda champions the benefits of healthy living for women over 40.
As a qualified life coach, and having worked with many life coaches herself, Lynda also has a passion for self-exploration and self-discovery and the strengthening of ones self-love and self-belief. She believes that saying YES! to yourself is a gift that enhances your life in all areas and also benefits those around you.
Lynda is passionate about helping women make the most of the second half of their life and has taken many steps – small and bold – to honour this way of living for herself.
Throughout the week, Lynda will lead group life coaching sessions which will take you on a journey of self-discovery and self-love to create an action plan of your own.
Angie MacDougall – Women’s Wellness Expert. Qualified Pilates Instructor, personal trainer and nutritionist. Aged 52.
Angie MacDougall is our resident women’s wellness and fitness expert. Throughout the week, Angie will guide, encourage and motivate you (and the Menogo team – we love to be active too!) to get the most out of your morning workouts and evening relaxation, stretch, meditation or Pilates sessions.
Angie will also share with you the benefits of exercise for perimenopausal women and what the best types of exercise are for this stage in your life along with how you can use exercise to help manage, or even alleviate menopausal symptoms, including how to lose belly fat.
With over 25 years’ experience in the health and fitness industry designing and delivering fitness and wellness programmes, group exercise classes and personal training, working in a number of private health clubs and Director of Fitness on a cruise ship, you can be confident that Angie’s sessions will not only energise you, but also leave you wanting to continue with a more active lifestyle when you return home.
Angie specialises in personal training for ladies with programmes such as weight loss, anti-cellulite, menopause and hormone rebalance and destress and relaxation. Ahhhhhh!
Nas Amir-Ahmadi – Experienced chef and food expert. Qualified in Catering & Hospitality Management, Founder of MYFOOD. Aged 50.
Our chef Nas knows a few things or two about helping people change their diets for the better. As founder and creative director of MY FOOD, Nas has been delivering a delicious way of life for nearly 14 years, helping thousands of people achieve their healthy eating and weight loss goals through nutritious and balanced diets.
Nas’ passion for food and healthy eating shines through in every recipe she has created for the retreat. This, coupled with her knowledge of how to balance hormones with the right foods, will ensure you enjoy both tasty and beneficial meals throughout your stay with us. And with all meals being freshly prepared using local produce your taste buds will be in for a treat too!
Born in Iran, being brought up in the UK and travelled extensively, Nas has developed a passion for multi-cultural cuisine and has a talent for creating flavours and food combinations that are sure to delight all our retreat-goers.
Nas will also share with you her knowledge about how the right foods can positively impact the symptoms of menopause, and which foods are best to avoid, inspiring you to continue to be creative in your own kitchen long after you leave us on retreat.
The Menogo team look forward to meeting you in Andalucia!
The food and meal plan is based on Marcelle Pick’s “best practises” knowledge about what works to support hormonal health, achieve and maintain a healthy weight (although it is not a weight loss programme, you may experience weight loss) and feel energised for life.
Marcelle Pick, NP, is a leading light in hormone health and in her best-selling book, Is It Me or My Hormones?, Marcelle helps you understand how the right diet, exercise, supplements, herbs, and psychological support can free you from hormone disruption.
Meals to consist of non-starchy vegetables, high quality protein (e.g. chicken, white fish, eggs, tofu) and high fibre, low-glycaemic carbohydrates.
The menu provided on the retreat has been created to follow these principles. Where requested, we can also provide *vegetarian options, and for those with specific allergies, a more personalised menu. For special dietary requirements please let us know prior to booking to ensure we can accommodate your requirements.
Built in just 2017, each apartment at Casas de Alisne offers you a contemporary, well-designed and beautifully-furnished home during your stay and is the perfect place to relax or enjoy time with fellow retreat-goers. You can also enjoy the amazing views from your apartment’s balcony and watch the sun rise or set each day. The apartments also have a lounge area and kitchenette.
There are just eight apartments in the purpose-built complex; five have one bedroom with ensuite toilet/shower room, two have two bedrooms, each with ensuite and one apartment has three bedrooms, one with an ensuite and two with a shared toilet/shower room.
Bedrooms can be twin or single occupancy and are allocated on a first-come, first served basis.
All apartments are fully air-conditioned.
Large outdoor covered terrace for dining, yoga, reading etc.
Arrive at Casas de Alisne, our hilltop retreat in Spain, meet the Menogo team, take in the views, settle in to your room & apartment, breathe in & relax.
Meet your fellow retreat-goers & join the Menogo team for an introductory talk & an outline of the week ahead.
Supper altogether followed by sundowners by the pool watching the sun set over the hills & the Brena Reservoir.
British and all other EU/EEA/EFTA passport holders travelling to Spain do not require a visa provided that the passport is valid for the intended period of stay in Spain. For citizens of other countries please consult the Embassy of Spain in your country for the latest Spain Visa requirements.
No special immunisations or medications are necessary for most trips to Spain a number of recommendations are made; depending on how long you are travelling for, your age and where in Spain you are travelling.
Hepatitus A: Recommended for extended travel to rural areas where food hygiene is questionable.
Hepatitus B: Recommended for all travellers.
Measles, mumps, rubella (MMR): Two doses recommenced for all travellers born after 1956, if not previously given.
Influenza: Recommended for all travellers from November through April.
Adequate travel insurance for your trip is required. Insurance packages can be found at most high street travel agents or online.
September in Almodóvar Del Rio is typically a very dry, sunny and hot month. Daytime temperatures typically range from 29°C (84°F) to 34°C (93°F) over the course of the month. Overnight the temperature typically falls to 19°C (66°F).
Rainfall is rare across the region during the summer months and a typical September has only a few days with rain, amounting to just under 20mm for the month as a whole. When it does happen, it may occur as a thunderstorm.
Sunshine is a very reliable feature of the weather during September, with an average of 11 hours of bright sunshine per day across the region, highest near the Mediterranean coast.
“I’d recommend Lynda if you’re looking to understand where to focus your mind and energy in a way that’s best for you.
“I have always found Lynda to be an inspiration for healthy and happy living. She is passionate about helping others and has a deep interest in exploring what makes us tick, and how we can find clarity and focus to achieve our goals.
Have a question? Want to know more? Ready to book? We’re here to help. Please complete the form and we’ll be in touch soon.
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2019-04-24T03:57:47Z
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https://www.menogo.co.uk/self-discovery-coaching-and-wellbeing-retreats/
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This teaching concerns the two main stages of meditation: (1) Shiney; tranquility meditation which develops concentration, and (2) Lhatong; the meditation which develops supreme insight.
We must first engender precious Bodhicitta before listening to this dharma teaching. Bodhicitta is the motivation to achieve enlightenment so that one can benefit all sentient beings.
Before beginning and progressing through the stages of meditation, one must maintain good ethics and steadfast discipline. A practitioner should listen to, study, contemplate and put into practice the authentic dharma teachings. It is with good discipline as the foundation that a practitioner can achieve the fruit of meditation practice. Without pure discipline and without properly studying the dharma, the practitioner cannot reach the fruition of meditation. Without pure discipline, one is missing the most important foundation of the dharma path.
A practitioner should likewise contemplate that Samsara, our worldly state of confusion, is conditioned existence. Samsara arises due to the coming together of causes and conditions. In order to attain enlightenment, one must be unattached to worldly existence and not chase after worldly desires; a practitioner should break away from samsaric confusion.
If one practices in this way, enlightenment is possible!
To develop real understanding about the delusive state of samsara, the practitioner should deeply reflect upon the impermanence of all phenomena. Also, one should develop a deep understanding about the suffering which sentient beings endure.
In samsara, no happiness we experience is ever-lasting and forever real. As they say, whatever goes up must come down! Whether it be our body which was created by our parents or a tree which grows from a seed in the ground, all appearances will "come down" and dissolve. All appearances will end at some point. Every moment, every step we take, we get closer and close to this ending point.
Now, due to people's perception about death, some become frustrated with this impermanence topic. They confront death with a frightened and terrified attitude. But, it is senseless to be so paranoid and so attached to the physical body.
People are so concerned about their age and youthfulness. They develop a tragic attachment that is so strong; they are blinded by it. We must not fail to recognize that we are dying every moment.
From the moment of birth until death, each moment we die little by little; it is a long process. The elements and conditions which make up our body become less and less vital throughout our life. At the time of death, they diminish totally.
Since this process is happening all the time, why are we so attached and worried over it? Unfortunately some individuals die from a gradual painful illness, or from a sudden malady such as heart attack. Even though there is suffering involved with these illness, it is the natural potential of the body to become ill. As long as there is a body, the potential is there. Take, for example, a vase with four living snakes inside of it. Usually the snakes sleep, but when it gets warm the snakes wake up and begin moving or fighting, shaking the vase back and forth.
Our body works in the same manner. We have the elements of Earth, Water, Air, Fire and Space. As long as they are in harmony, one does not have illness. But, the potential danger to become ill is always there. It is only a question of time until the illness breaks out. Through this understanding a practitioner can lessen attachment to the body and worldly existence.
Unable to recognize the above truths, those who wander in samsara's confusion are distracted and afflicted by the experiences that their senses take in. They search for delicious tastes, pleasant sounds, good feelings, and so forth. But in reality these "sense-pleasures" have no sense and meaning!
A dharma practitioner must understand that the desire for worldly happiness leads only to distraction and further conditioned existence. For example, someone who is sentenced to death cannot enjoy the delicious food offered a day before the execution. This is because he is aware that death is imminent.
Dharma practitioners do not want to become discouraged or feel worthless in this sort of manner! But, like the man to be executed, practitioners should see that death can happen. We must understand that constantly being attached to everything does not result in happiness being prolonged.
One can never satisfy the mind through using the five senses; the very opposite is the case! The more one feeds the senses, the more one wants! The more energy one puts into satisfying the mind, the more is needed to maintain that happiness. If you eat delicious food today, you will want delicious food tomorrow; otherwise one is not satisfied.
Feeding into our senses and desires (in order to achieve happiness) is like going to a phony doctor. This doctor diagnoses the patient with the wrong illness and then treats him or her with the wrong medicine. The more medicine taken, the more sick and ill the patient becomes.
This is the same result with searching for happiness through sensual pleasures.
The mind only becomes more and more unsatisfied by craving for things which appear beautiful or pleasing. A practitioner can prevent this by using a remedy called "closing the sense doors." This means one does not chase after, or run away from, appearances. Through practicing in this way, a peaceful state of mind will be achieved.
Maintaining good discipline while guarding our sense doors is also a necessary part of our practice. One should not engage in negative behavior, because it is negative behavior which is used to satisfy our sense desires.
After gradually reducing fixation and our uncontrolled senses, we can then begin to learn and practice the path of enlightenment.
A practitioner then respectfully attends dharma teachings and becomes aware that existence has suffering. By analyzing these teachings, genuine trust can develop. Now a practitioner must integrate what has been learned into daily life and meditation.
The Buddha said that a practitioner should not just “believe” in his teachings, especially not blindly. He told us to analyze, develop trust in, and then put into practice his teachings. With such genuine trust, one can practice meditation and learn about the different methods used during meditation.
Meditation is mental activity and contemplation. We work with the mind because it is the basis for all of samsara and nirvana. Whatever appears, it is the mind's own activity.
Appearances which are supposedly outside of the mind itself are truly not different from the mind; it is the mind which perceives and classifies phenomena. According to the Mahayana, no phenomena which arises is ultimately “outside” of the mind's perception.
The Buddha taught that ignorance causes conditioned existence (our existence, which is condition by karma and other factors). From the mind’s ignorance arises the Twelve Links of Interdependent Origination. This causes us to experience samsara.
Ignorance is when the perceiver believes that the objects he or she sees are ultimately independent of the mind’s experience. Therefore, the perceiver is attached to external objects, believing their existence to be separate from the mind’s own individualized perception. This tendency, and attachment to external phenomena, keeps growing stronger everyday. It has been growing this way since beginningless time.
Only if there is a perceiver can form be seen and sounds be heard. Through this understanding we know that everything comes from the mind’s own perception and experience.
There must be an awareness, a mind, to perceive objects. For example, if there is a blue object in a room and everyone gathered in that room is talking about it, the perception and awareness must exist. Otherwise, there is no blue object and no one to talk about it with.
Suffering also exists only due to the condition of this perception. If there is something causing suffering and someone to perceive it, then the suffering exists. If there is nothing which can perceive the suffering, then the suffering is considered not there, not existing by perception.
Nothing can be experienced outside of the mind’s awareness.
As described in the Buddha's teachings, the true nature of the mind is beyond relative words and extremes, it is beyond existence and nonexistence. The mind has no form and no color. There are different terms for this true nature (such as Buddhanature, Dharmadhatu, Tathagatagarbha), yet they all refer to the essence of the mind.
The nature of the mind is beyond words, it is different from common awareness or consciousness which experiences samsara. The great master Saraha of India said that the mind's nature is beyond words, just like vast space is beyond conceptual understanding. No matter how long one thinks about it, no solid conclusion will be there. The mind's nature must be realized, it cannot just be talked about.
With this view about the mind as the basis, the practitioner can meditate and samadhi (state of deep concentration) will arise. By entering into samadhi, a practitioner will directly see that all experiences manifest directly from the mind and are illusory in nature.
Two major conditions are needed before one learns to practice Shiney and Lhatong meditation. First, the practitioner should study the dharma and know where authentic teachings are given. Second, the practitioner must meditate where one is not distracted; having enough food, being healthy, not being around people and objects who one has strong attachment too, are all necessary conditions so that distraction does not arise.
Once these conditions are fulfilled and distraction is not there, the practitioner must know what obstacles, or veils, arise while meditating. One should know these emotional tendencies during meditation before they arise and hinder practice.
These veils are in general are (1) Agitation and distraction of the mind with many thoughts. The mind is stirred up and follows after these thoughts, thinking about them, such as what is beautiful and what is not. (2) Regret and doubt arises when the practitioner starts to contemplate about what happened in the past, letting the mind wander. (3) Heaviness of the mind causes meditation experience to be unclear. The true nature of the mind cannot be seen and one cannot even concentrate one-pointedly. (4) Dullness of the mind is when one foolishly cannot even go into or stay in meditation.
The practitioner should gradually learn what are the causes for these veils to arise, and how to get rid of them. For example, the mind gets stirred up due to thinking about beautiful forms, good food, friends, desires and other objects. One gets distracted sometimes by eating too much or too little, or due to sleeping a lot or not sleeping enough. Mental tendencies of dullness or agitation arise due to food and sleep conditions. The mind can become unclear and dull if our stomach is full of food, or agitated if we do not eat.
Although there are many different methods of meditation, all are contained within Shiney (Tranquility) and Lhatong (Supreme Insight) meditations.
Shiney meditation is when one develops one-pointed concentration. The mind becomes calm and still. Lhatong meditation is when the practitioner sees the nature of the mind.
The practitioner can only see clearly the mind’s nature only if Shiney and Lhatong meditation are practiced together. This way, recognizing the mind’s true nature is like a bright flame which does not move.
When the flame does not move it is clear and illuminates all darkness with its light. But if the wind is moving, the flame then will not be clear and darkness will remain. So, without Shiney meditation, Lhatong will not arise. Without Shiney, meditation will not be stable and one-pointed. And, without Lhatong meditation, the practitioner will not gain wisdom.
Now the practitioner can begin Shiney meditation. One starts concentrating on one object. There are both pure and impure forms in which one can concentrate the mind on. Visualizing or concentrating on a solid form of the Buddha is the best method, it is a pure form which the mind can settle it's concentration with.
However, especially at the beginning, people have the tendency to not concentrate on a pure form like the Buddha. So then an impure form such a stone, piece of wood, or anything else is placed in front of oneself. The mind’s concentration is then guided to this impure object and one trains the mind to remain without unwavering on that object. One can placed the object in the shadow of the sun and moon, and watch as it changes. One can also concentrate on the breath and watch it go in and out.
Shiney meditation uses the senses and our mind’s awareness. The eyes are the sense which distracts us the most, therefore forms are used to slowly aid one in concentrating single-pointedly. Distraction through sound, smell, taste and touch are not always as dominant as distraction through sight during meditation.
Slowly the practitioner will adapt to the calm mind and learn to use other meditations. After one learns to concentrate on a stone, then one can next visualize a ball of light between one’s eyebrows or above the head. The color of this sphere of light is not important. It is more important that one sticks with this meditation for a long time and trains the mind with it.
Then, the practitioner can begin visualizing the Buddha and other deities, and take these pure forms as the objects of our meditation. First one should visualize the Buddha without much detail. Gradually the eyes, cloths, nose and details are included in the visualization.
We must balance meditation practice by not concentrating too much or too little. This is like what should be done when someone tries to spin a cord. If he does it too fast and strong, the cord will get cut. And, if he spins it too loosely, the cord will end up being a ball of intertwined, loose strings. So, with meditation, a balance needs to be maintained. Too loose and too tight are both unsuitable for meditation.
Shiney meditation is not meant as a method to become unaware or to develop a blank mind. While meditating, if your mind becomes very unaware and too quiet, then take a short break. Pause and then begin the meditation afterward. Stop the meditation for a short period if one is tired or the meditation isn’t working well. Otherwise, if one continues, you will not want to meditate again that day or become frustrated.
This can be understood through the example of us doing manual, physical work. If you do some work and then take a short break, you will be happy to return to the work. But if you continue to work until you are tired, you will not want to work again. Likewise, you meet a friend and have a good time; you both want to see each other again when the time is right. But, if you and your friend spend a very long time together, you will get tired of seeing him and will not be interested to meet him again in the near future.
So, short yet frequent periods of meditation is what beginning practitioners must do. Slowly one learns to meditate longer and develop concentration.
By practicing this way, one will reach the results of Shiney quickly. The mind will naturally be able to remain in a state of concentration. Even the body will learn to relax and be able to sit in meditation for longer periods of time. In time, even meditating for one week or more will not be painful.
Meditating in this way is connected with the Hinayana, the vehicle of the Listeners who aim at liberating only themselves from suffering. In in the Hinayana, one begins to meditate in this manner.
Other Shiney practices in the Hinayana include meditating upon the impermanence of the body; one sees how the body consists of many organs and then dies. The process of death is meditated upon, such as how the body becomes darker and more ugly, until only a skeleton is left. This is not done as a morbid practice, but instead so the practitioner will recognize the reality of impermanence and death. People sometimes do not wish to think about death, they feel it is a sad topic. But if we are so against it now, when the time of death comes the individual will face much more agony and resentment. So by thinking about death now, we will suffer less later on.
There are also different methods used to meditate upon the breath. Meditating upon one's breath cuts off our constant thought flow and the stir of mental activity. The practitioner breaths in and out, doing so for twenty-one times. The breath is relaxed and natural. Forcing the breath is not proper here. This breathing technique is repeated for as long as is possible, and also based upon what level the practitioner is at.
In one particular breath practice, the student follows the exhaled breath mentally until it is sixteen finger-lengths in front of the nose, and likewise follows the inhaled breath until it reaches down into one's body.
Another method used with breathing is to imagine colors with the breath, such as blue, yellow and red. One can also visualize the breath as a jewel necklace circulating as one breaths in and out.
With regards to the various obstacles that arise in meditation, there are two types of antidotes: one is changing the meditation method and the second is through behavior/external changes. If neither of these antidotes work, it generally means that there is a karmic cause for the mind's dullness or distraction.
If too many thoughts arise, make sure that one is wearing warm cloths, the gaze is looking slightly downward and that one is not hungry. During meditation, visualizing a dark blue buddha like Akshobhya or the Medicine Buddha is beneficial. Likewise, contemplating the truths of impermanence, suffering and death will calm the mind's excitement.
The karmic cause for an active and overly excited mind is generally desire and attachment. Having greed and jealousy in previous lifetimes can cause this habit. To lessen this karmic cause, shunning attachment and greed should be practiced.
If the mind is dull and too relaxed, do not eat too much, wear less clothing and gaze slightly upward. It is useful to make the mind happy when dullness arises. Contemplating on the qualities of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas is beneficial here. Recalling that one has a precious existence and a wonderful opportunity to practice the dharma is also an excellent antidote. Meditating on white colored buddhas bring positive results.
The karmic cause for a dull and unclear mind is having wrong views, meaning one might have disrespected the Three Jewels, whether it be not standing in their presence or even slandering them. To lessen this karmic cause, praising the Three Jewels, whether it be the Bodhisattvas or the authenticity of the the Four Noble Truths, will bring positive results.
When meditating, it is necessary to assume the proper position, which is called the Seven Points of Vairochana. By sitting in these seven points, the energy channels in the body flow properly. Otherwise, if the body and its energy are imbalanced or in an awkward position, this can cause the mind to wander or become dull.
The legs should be placed in either the full lotus position or half lotus position.
The hands should be placed below the navel, resting on the lap, with the right hand placed on top of the left hand. The thumbs should touch each other right below the navel.
The shoulders should be pulled back slightly and broadened.
The chin should be tucked in only slightly, closing the back of the throat.
One's gaze should be focused into the space in front, about sixteen finger-lengths in front of the nose.
The tongue should gently touch the top palate of the mouth and the lips not be too open or tightly closed.
The back should be straight, but naturally bend at the bottom.
It is important that the practitioner learns to sit in this meditative position. This is because, the position of our body affects our physical and mental state of well-being.
Physically, inside our body, we have different energy channels (winds). Our posture during meditation affects these energy winds. The legs control the downward energy winds, which control excreation. The hands control the energy wind of digestion. The back holds the energy wind that controls physical strength. The shoulders control the energy wind which stabilize our lifeforce. The position of the mouth and chin control the upward winds. So, our body position during meditation can protect against illnesses and aid one's physical well-being.
Likewise, the way our body leans can affect our mental state. Leaning towards the right causes more aggression to arise while leaning towards the left causes desire to become stronger. Ignorance and dullness arise when one leans forward, and as one leans back pride arises. When the gaze is improper, more thoughts tend to distract the one's concentration.
With Shiney meditation, the goal of practice is to learn how to control these distractions and negative emotions, even though the practitioner has not fully cut these obstacles from their root yet.
With Lhatong meditation, the student develops wisdom, recognizes the true nature of the mind and fully cuts the emotions from their roots.
There are different levels of Lhatong meditation, such as contemplating the emptiness of the self or the emptiness of phenomena. Then, there are the 'pointing out instructions' given by a qualified master to the disciple, pointing out the nature of the mind and how to meditate in order to arrive at this recognition. Based on the student's degree of accomplishment, one of these levels of Lhatong meditation can be used.
An basic way to meditate upon the emptiness of the self is to by analyzing the five skandhas. The five skandhas are the five aggregates which cause us to infer that a self or "I" exists. They are Form, Feeling, Perception, Mental Formation/Discrimination and Consciousness.
The self, the "I," is a strong concept. But it is a false one, something that we just get attached to. It is our own perception which sees a "self" as being a particular way.
This is just like someone who mistakes a tree at night to be a human figure, or falsely sees a cord as a snake. Our concept of ego is like this. We habitually, since beginningless time, identify these five skhandhas as being the ego, the self.The first skandha is Form, which in this case refers to the body.
This aggregate, this body, is not the self exclusively. We cannot identify our body as being "me," this is a misplaced idea. The self would be changing just as the body does if this were a true idea: when you are weak, your ego is weak; when you are thin, your ego is thin; when you are old, your ego is old. Our body is always changing so it cannot be the self.
Also, the body is not a solid entity; it is consist of many parts. If someone has sixty-three bones, do they have sixty-three egos then? If someone has thirty teeth, do they have thirty egos? The body then has so many parts, each of these parts would become an individual "self," or ego, and so instead of there just being one "I" or "me," there would be many.
One can continue to analyze the other skandhas in the same manner. For example, with the second skandha, feeling, we might have felt something in the morning. Now that feeling is gone, but is the ego also gone? Likewise our tastes, such as sweet and sour, are they the ego? Obviously the ego isn't just feeling. Feelings come and go, but our ego, our self, doesn't come and go in the same way.
The mind attaches wrong concepts to the self, an illusory idea. This tendency of an ego is so imbedded in our mind. Therefore one should conclude in meditation that the self is not the five skandhas. And, the self is not the five senses either.
Once one has gained this confidence in the illusory nature of the self, then this understanding is the beginning of Lhatong. With the non-distraction of Shiney already firmly developed, the student can begin to develop the wisdom of Lhatong.
So, to develop this wisdom during Lhatong meditation, the student should be introduced to the concept of a self, and its illusory or empty nature. The student needs to be taught about how one's perception of appearances is not always what is truly there. The student should be taught that their strong tendency to affirm a self is an ignorant habitual pattern which arises out of ignorance.
Emptiness is explained in the commentaries of Nagarjuna, and the teachings on Madhyamika (Middle Way). In Madhyamika philosphy, conditioned existence is analyzed and critiqued. Evidence and logic is presented, demonstrating that phenomena is empty of appearance. The simplest explanation is that there is no unit of phenomena. We first see things and label them, or have directions or places such as north or south. The further and further we go, the smaller and smaller part of phenomena we claim to find, we can still go smaller. We understand that there is no unity or solid unit in phenomena.
The student now sees how phenomena is empty. The term emptiness though, in Buddhism, is beyond all extremes. By saying "there is nothing, there is no phenomena," one leans towards one extreme that there is nothing at all existing. And likewise by affirming that existence is solid, one is leaning towards the extreme of permanent existence. But emptiness does not mean a total void. This misunderstanding should be cleared away, otherwise the student will not understand this term and think that the universe is just blank space.
Analyzation is another form of Lhatong meditation. It is what has been primarily used so far here and is considered the tradition of the Panditas of India. One meditates analytically about phenomena. For example, one realizes that emotions such as anger and desire arise due to causes and conditions and are empty of true existence.
The other form of Lhatong meditation is through the pointing out instructions from the teacher, which can be given during an empowerment or another teaching. One meditates upon the nature of the mind without analysis in this case. One just rests the mind in its own nature, free from extremes and all emotions and concepts; it is a direct experience.
So, there are these two specific categories related to emptiness. The first is the 'emptiness' which we think of, which we imagine during meditation or analyzation. The second is the real emptiness which is beyond all intellectual concepts and only experienced by realized beings.
As Mahayana practitioners, at the conclusion of our Shiney and Lhatong meditation, we must dedicate the merit, wishing to benefit all beings and ourselves so that enlightenment is reached.
This motivation must always be there when we meditate, otherwise we will stray from the Mahayana path. Meditating upon emptiness without bodhicitta is not a Mahayana practice!
In India there was once a Brahmin who meditated upon emptiness without Bodhicitta. He did so for twelve years. Through this time, he was very proud and always thought, "I am such a great meditator, no one can meditate like me. No one is as good as me in realizing emptiness!"
This Brahmin then developed attachment to his own state of mind, and aversion towards others. He thought he was better than everyone else. After he died, he was reborn as a cat. The Brahmin was possessive of oneself and angry at others, like a typical cat, so that was the state in which his mind went.
So, as we progress now in our practice, the attitude of bodhicitta must be there. Otherwise, our practice will not result in any benefit.
There are five main faults which can hinder a practitioner's meditation or samadhi (concentration).
The first fault is laziness. Now, there is a different between worldly laziness and laziness when practicing the dharma. Worldly laziness is when we do not have much energy and are tired. But here, with dharma practice, it means one thinks "I can't practice, I am bad at this." So this is dharma laziness. It is more a lack of confidence and lack of desire to practice.
To overcome this laziness and be diligent in practice, there are various methods. Shantideva wrote a commentary on the Bodhisattvas' Way of Life which explains how to practice the six paramitas (perfections) and develop endurance and diligence. People in this world are often so ready to fight, or even die in a war. They train themselves so diligently for this. But instead they should apply this energy to diligently practice the dharma, which brings the true result.
True happiness is not from worldly activity. It is from the dharma.
Also, when we get very ill, people are often very diligent in finding a doctor and vigorously aim to get cured. But we will only be cured for a short while, because since beginningless time we have suffered in samsara.
We have been in a prison, and our negative emotions are what holds us in that prison. All painful states of existence including old age, sickness are from these emotions, they are the cause for our suffering.
If we try to eliminate our suffering through means other than dharma practice, there will be no true result. Even if we find the right doctor and he eliminates the illness from us, the illness can come back. Likewise our enemies can come back and attack us again after a war.
So, we must attack our real enemies, our distracting emotions. One doesn't need to go to war, find a doctor to eliminate illness or engage in political agenda. Instead, practicing the dharma will (as its final result of supreme enlightenment) bring a cessation to all these sorts of suffering.
The second fault people encounter when meditating is forgetting what one has learned. If we forget the dharma teachings and instructions, then we cannot use or apply them. We sometimes are distracted and do not concentrate, so the teachings are not in our memory. Therefore, the dharma student should listen attentively to dharma teachings. One must recall and reflect upon the teachings we receive again and again, so we do not forget anything.
The third fault we encounter is having a dull or unstable mind, which was discussed previously. Our mind can be either unclear or have too many thoughts.
The fourth fault people have is not using the antidote or instructions which eliminate distracting emotions. If we are taught how to overcome dullness or another distraction but do not apply such instruction, then we are failing in our meditation practice.
The fifth fault is when a practitioner over-applies the instructions or antidote. For example, some people continue to be frustrated over getting distracted in meditation and continue applying a particular antitode, even though the distraction is over. This fault in itself causes distraction in meditation and is not beneficial.
There are six powers which develop though proper Shiney (Tranquility) Meditation.
First, the power of listening aids our practice. We hear detailed instructions on meditation and which methods to adopt in our practice. If we listen to these teachings, then we can practice them in order to clear away all the veils and emotions which cloud our mind's nature.
Second, the power of contemplation arises. After listening to instructions, the practitioner should remember and reflect on them.
Third, the power of attention becomes strong. One's mind is clear and concentrated upon an object without a lot of effort.
Fourth, the power of knowing what is going on during meditation. The practitioner here is mindful and aware during meditation. He or she knows when distracting emotions arise and what antidotes to apply. The practitioner can also see the subtle distracting thoughts which are not always apparent. For example, a river can flow both above and below ground. It is obvious on land, but below the ground it is subtle. In the same way the mind during meditation should even uproot the most subtle forms of distraction. One's meditation should be mindful, not mindless.
Fifth, the practitioner uses diligence when meditating. We learn to be diligent when applying the instructions on how to eliminate the distracting emotions. The distracting emotions can be categorized into six particular ones: ignorance, desire, anger, pride, jealousy and wrong view. Wrong view is when one falls into the extreme of either eternalism or nihilism. From these six emotions stem twenty others such as dullness. Diligence is when we are able to use the right antidote to eliminate one of distracting emotions as it arises.
Sixth, through daily meditation the practitioner has the power to meditate very easily. It is almost effortless, and the five faults are caught right away and eliminated. At this stage of meditation, the mind can concentrate easily. This activity of concentrating allows us to be able to explain the nature of samsara and nirvana. Concentration gives us the ability to be motivated. Also in this stage, the mind overcomes the emotions easily, one can meditate without distraction and one can meditate spontaneously.
Already we have discussed the emptiness of the self and phenomena. There are three kinds of awareness and enlightenment. Here it will be explained based on the teachings of the Buddha Maitreya, who transmitted these teachings to the master Asanga in India. Maitreya's teachings elaborate on the Middle Way View (Madhyamika). Asanga's commentaries are known as the Mind Only view.
As Asanga explained, all appearances are from the mind. It is the mind which sees and creates these appearances. This is because, an object appears in many different way for sentient beings. It there was a flower and everyone experienced the appearance of this flower on the worldly level, there would be so many different appearances. If one hundred people saw it, each person would perceive it differently.
So we do not have only one appearance, because we have many minds perceiving it. If there was only one appearance there should be only one mind here, but there are one hundred people. If there are four people then four appearances of the flower are there. Exactly how many appearances arise are due to how many sentient beings there are to perceive them differently. It is the same with sound, and the other senses.
So our perception is conditioned by our consciousness. Appearances are conditioned by the experience of our consciousness. So, all appearances are from the mind.
Also, all appearances are from the mind only because for an appearance to arise both the subject and the object must be present at the same time. A subject is the one who is aware and uses his or her senses (such as the ability to hear or smell) in order to perceive phenomena.
So if our awareness has the ability to perceive an object, then it is perceived. If the subject and object do not come together, then phenomena does not arise. Objects and other appearances are not separate from the mind, they all arise from within the mind's awareness.
The Middle Way (Madhyamika) view explains that the mind's nature is emptiness. The mind's nature cannot be spoken of as arising, we cannot classify phenomena or appearances as being the mind's true nature. The mind's nature is beyond all words and concepts. The Madhyamika view here is considered the highest wisdom, beyond the duality of the mind and external objects.
First, one learns to understand the real nature of phenomena through analyzation. For example one can contemplate upon the question: if objects truly exist do they arise due to self-conditioned causes or due they arise due to something else? Next one analyzes the essence of phenomena and if one can actually find it; one analyzes whether or not phenomena truly has an essence or even the smallest unit. Then if there is a so-called essence, one analyzes whether or not it was already there or if it just came up new.
So through logic one analyzes phenomena and recognizes its empty nature. Through this, the practitioner is liberated from attachment and the concept of an eternal ego. One also will be liberated from the extreme of nihilism.
One will soon understand very firmly that everything is due to the coming together or causes and conditions. It is like a picture on the television screen or an image in a mirror, there are many factors which connect and come together. The picture and image is not really there on the television or in the mirror, but it appeared due to conditions and causes. So one sees that appearance and emptiness are inseparable like a mirror or television.
The view of the Madhyamika has different explanations, such as the Svatantrika and Prasangika views.
The Svatantrika view explains that the nature of phenomena has an inherent essence or buddha-nature. It represents the teachings of the Middle Way by demonstrating that since we already have the inherent nature, then the view of emptiness is there. It explains that appearances and emptiness are inherently inseparable. Therefore, although external appearances are empty, the true nature of the self is always there and can be revealed through direct experience.
The Prasangika view explains that phenomena and the self both are empty. Therefore the nature of everything, including the self, is refuted through logical means and pure analyzation which brings forth realization.
The Prasangika view and its connection with the wisdom paramita is explained in the commentary the Bodhisattvas' Way of Life by Shantideva.
The Svatantrika view (and instructions on analyzation and meditation) is explained in the commentaries of the Indian master Kamalashila.
The teachings on the Mind Only view of Asanga can be found in two of the five divisions of Maitreya's teachings such as the Uttaratantra (Gyu Lama) and the Abhisamayalankara (The Ornament of Clear Realization which explains the perfection of wisdom).
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2019-04-25T16:02:30Z
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http://mahajana.net/en/library/texts/medytacja-uspokojenia-i-wgladu
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