Asian Carp continue to be a clear and present threat to the Great Lakes as they try to migrate up the Mississippi River system from the southern United States. The US Army Corps of Engineers have built three electric fences in the Chicago diversion canal which is the most likely pathway that Asian Carp could use to enter Lake Michigan. These barriers emit low level electricity into the water that has been sufficient to stop the advance of these invasive fish. Targeted poison that biodegrades has also been used in the canal and adjoining river to knock back populations of these fish particularly when the fences have had to be turned off for maintenance. Another vector for possible infiltration of Asian Carp into the Great Lakes are during unusual rain events which leads to some of the Mississippi tributaries to overflow their banks and possibly spill into small streams that could ultimately flow into one of the Great Lakes. With the amount of rain we have experienced this year it is likely that some river overflow has occurred. The third and last possible way for Carp to get into the Great Lakes is through people inadvertently releasing them either as released bait fish or as mature adults. There was a time not long ago that companies were importing live Asian Carp from the US into Canada to sell in fish markets. There is a demand for such live fish by some Asian customers. The Ontario government banned the practice of importing live fish two years ago.
As it stands right now invasive Grass Carp have been found in small numbers in Lakes Ontario and Erie. MNRF has been working with their US counterparts to DNA sample these fish to determine where exactly they came from and to determine if they have been able to successfully breed. The most recent and more alarming find has been a Silver Carp on the Great Lakes side of the electric barriers 14 Kilometers from Lake Michigan. Toronto Star article June 23rd, 2017 .
Over the past 6 years GBA has written to both our Federal and Provincial governments expressing our concern about Asian Carp. We have made deputations to the International Joint Commission and signed onto several petitions that have been circulated by fellow Non-Government Organizations. Most recently we have added our voice to others who were lobbying US elected officials to not support the White House’s call for a $290 million US cut to Great Lakes funding. Part of that money supports the work of the US Army Corps of Engineers in thwarting the advance of Asian Carp, and field research into the few escapes that seem to have made it into the Lakes, or at least past the electric barriers. The White House backed down on their cuts for 2017 but are advocating for cuts to the Great Lakes budget in 2018 and beyond.


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ALL-NEW AUDI A8 TRAVELS LIGHT TO MIAMI DEBUT
All-aluminium construction and an array of advanced technology enables new Audi flagship to take an even more responsible approach to luxury
All-new Audi luxury saloon opens for order this month for first deliveries in spring 2010 – OTR prices from £54,760 to £66,240
Highlights include all-LED headlights, new touch screen Multi Media Interface (MMI) incorporating new ‘anticipatory’ satellite navigation with night vision, Audi drive select adaptive dynamics system with optional sports differential
Launches with three enhanced FSI and TDI engines with more power and torque and economy improvements of up to 22 per cent, mated to new eight-speed tiptronic automatic transmission and latest generation quattro all-wheel-drive with asymmetric torque distribution
All models feature energy recuperation technology, 3.0 TDI versions also include engine start-stop function
Additional 3.0 TDI engine with 204PS and lowest-in-class CO2 output of 159g/km to follow in 2010
The last word in luxury and the height of efficiency converge in the all-new Audi A8, which makes its world public debut this week at the Design Miami exhibition in Florida, USA. Crafted entirely from lightweight aluminium like its forebears, and bristling with new technology that not only contributes to best-in-class economy and exemplary comfort but also to even greater dynamic accomplishment, the elegant new flagship of the Audi saloon range opens for UK order this month priced from £54,760 OTR.
Packed inside the even lighter and 24 per cent more rigid evolution of the aluminium Audi Space Frame (ASF) which forms the ‘skeleton’ of the new A8 are myriad new technological advances. These of course include fundamentals such as economy and emissions advantages for the three significantly reworked FSI and TDI engines that will be available from launch – the 3.0-litre V6 TDI with 250PS and 550Nm of torque (up from 233PS and 450Nm), the 4.2-litre V8 TDI with 350PS and 800Nm (up from 326PS and 650Nm) and the 4.2-litre V8 FSI with 372PS and 445Nm (up from 350PS and 440Nm).
The upgraded 4.2-litre FSI benefits from a 13 per cent improvement in fuel economy, taking its combined figure to 29.7mpg and dropping CO2 output to 219g/km. The equivalent V8 TDI gets a 19 per cent boost to 37.2mpg with CO2 emissions down to 199g/km, while the 3.0-litre TDI moves to the top of the luxury saloon class in economy terms with a 22 per cent economy hike to 42.8mpg with CO2 of 174g/km.
During 2010, an even more economy and emissions-focused version of the 3.0-litre TDI unit will be added. Driving the front wheels only, it will combine a 204PS power peak with 47.1mpg economy on the combined cycle and CO2 emissions of just 159g/km.
All engines are complemented by recuperation technology which provides further fuel and CO2 savings by recycling a proportion of the wasted kinetic energy which is generated under normal braking and normally dissipated as heat, and storing this temporarily in the vehicle battery to reduce the engine load when the car subsequently accelerates again. The A8 3.0 TDI also saves fuel through its engine start-stop function, cutting engine power at idle when the brake pedal is depressed, and then restarting in just two-tenths of a second when it is released.
The much improved efficiency of these enhanced engines is matched by the new eight-speed tiptronic automatic transmission with which all of them work. With an especially high overall gear ratio of 7.0:1, it reduces overall fuel consumption by around six per cent, but is equally notable for its quick and virtually seamless changes.
Satellite navigation influences gear shift strategy
This advanced transmission can also ‘talk’ to the new, next generation MMI Touch in-car infotainment system, networking with the detailed route data supplied by its inbuilt navigation system to factor corners into its gearshift strategy and avoid unnecessary, fuel-sapping gear changes. The state-of-the-art adaptive cruise control and adaptive light swivelling cornering light systems are also influenced by feedback from the navigation unit.
As well as ultra-intelligent 3D navigation mapping, the new touch screen Multi Media Interface, or MMI Touch, can also store audio tracks and telephone data on its sizeable hard disk. To enter a destination or phone number, the driver need only now draw the required letters or numbers with their index finger on the touch screen.
As an option, a GPRS module can also be specified. Fed with news and weather information from the Web by internet service provider Google, it enables A8 drivers to plot detailed routes on a home computer and download them to the navigation system when they start a trip. During 2010, the system will also be upgraded with a UMTS module which will enable Google Earth images to be beamed to the MMI monitor in 3D for navigation purposes. Eventually, full internet connection via UMTS will be possible, making the A8 a mobile WLAN hotspot.
Audi drive select and sport differential make A8 debut
High technology has also filtered even deeper into the chassis of the A8, which already offered sophisticated aluminium suspension refined by adaptive four-mode air springs. This system has been further improved in the interest of ride comfort by newly developed struts with enlarged air capacity, and is now backed up by the Audi drive select adaptive dynamics system. Audi drive select enables the driver to fine-tune throttle response, steering assistance and transmission shift points to suit personal preferences or prevailing road conditions.
The active sport differential which won so much critical acclaim at its debut in the S4 quattro further enhances 4.2 TDI models as standard, and can be added at extra cost for all other models. The new differential enables the latest generation asymmetric quattro system to not only transfer torque between the front and rear axles to counter traction losses, but also between the rear wheels. When the steering wheel is turned or the car accelerated in a corner, power is redirected in a controlled manner to the outer rear wheel, literally pushing the car through the corner. The driver benefits from reduced steering effort and a feeling of even greater adjustability and control. In addition, dynamic steering, allowing alteration of the actual ratio of the steering for optimum feel, can be added at extra cost.
The most rigid body shell in the premium sector helps not only to maximise agility in the new A8, but also to boost safety in conjunction with adaptive restraint systems and the new Audi pre-sense system which is fitted as standard.
In its standard form the pre-sense system analyses the information from the ESP sensors. When they signal maximum brake application or skidding, the control unit intervenes. Depending on the situation, it activates the hazard warning lights and closes the side windows and the sunroof; it also tensions the front seat belts. Electric motors trigger this process, which is reversible – if the situation ends well, the belts are released again.
The system can be expanded at extra cost to include Audi pre-sense front, Audi pre- sense plus and Audi pre-sense rear. These are integrated in the optional adaptive cruise control with stop & go function and Audi side assist systems.
Working with Adaptive Cruise Control stop & go, Audi pre-sense front monitors the traffic in front of the new Audi A8 and supports the driver in multiple stages. The first is a warning signal, and the second a warning jerk in the form of a brief deceleration. If the driver now depresses the pedal, the brake assist system initiates precise braking relative to the preceding vehicle. If the driver remains passive, the third stage follows – autonomous partial braking that slows the A8 at a rate of 3 m/s2. Windows and the sunroof are closed, the hazard warning lights are activated and the seat belts are tensioned.
If the full version of Audi pre-sense plus is on board, a fourth stage comes into play: braking with an initial deceleration of 5 m/s2 followed by maximum braking. This phase is initiated roughly one half second before the collision. While a collision can no longer be avoided in this case, its consequences are greatly reduced – up to impact the A8 has reduced the speed by about 25mph.
The Audi pre-sense rear system mitigates the consequences of a rear end collision. Here, too, it closes the windows and sunroof, tensions the seat belts and moves the memory front seats into the optimum position for passenger protection.
In this safe haven, A8 passengers are surrounded by high-quality workmanship showing attention to the smallest detail, and of course the leading edge technology that defines the Vorsprung durch Technik brand. Swathed in supple Valcona leather, shielded from the elements by double glazing and bathed in soothing LED ambient lighting the interior’s highlights include the Audi Parking System Plus, DAB digital radio, four-zone climate control, Audi Music Interface iPod connection, MMI Touch infotainment incorporating HDD satellite navigation with predictive route technology, cruise control and a keyless go system.
Two specification levels will be available to UK A8 customers – SE and SE Executive – the latter adding to this equipment list features such as electrically operated boot closing, the Audi Parking System Advanced with rear parking camera and larger 19-inch wheels in place of the 18-inch design fitted to SE models.
To create an even more exceptional looking A8, customers will be able to specify all-LED headlights in place of the standard Xenon set-up, and for even greater opulence five-mode seats with ventilation and massage function, a rear seat entertainment package and a 1,400-watt Bang & Olufsen audio system.
Online connectivity, night vision assist capable of marking out pedestrians, Audi side and lane assist and Audi pre-sense expansion packages will also be available to further enhance this technological tour de force.

domain: design


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To tell you the truth, I steer clear of store-bought ketchup because I haven’t managed to make me familiar with its artificial taste. Sure, making your own homemade tomato sauce is not as convenient as squeezing a bottle, but once you taste it, you will never want to buy ketchup. The process lasts a few hours, but don’t take fright. Its flavour and the fact that it doesn’t contain additives win against the industrial recipe. It’s the best choice if you are concerned about your health.
- 5 kg (~11 lbs) ripe tomatoes
- 200 g (~7 oz) celeriac
- 5 large red onions
- 6 garlic cloves
- 5-6 cm / 2 inch piece of ginger
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tsp thyme
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp chili powder
- 7-8 whole allspice corns
- 1/2 tsp coriander seeds
- 2 tsp salt
- a large bunch of basil
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
Wash and cut the tomatoes up into quarters. Pass them through a special machine called passata machine that removes skins and seeds.
Bring tomato juice to a boil and cook for an hour while stiring occasionally.
Meanwhile peel celeriac, red onions, garlic cloves and ginger. Cut them up into larger pieces and drop them into a food processor to chop. Fry the chopped vegetables in the olive oil until they are tender.
In a mortar crush coriander seeds and allspice corns.
Add the onion-celeriac-garlic-ginger mixture to the tomato juice, then mix in the spices: salt, pepper, chili powder, thyme, allspice and coriander while stiring continously. Simmer gently until the sauce reduces by half.
Add basil leaves, then puree the sauce in a food processor or with an immersion blender. Taste it and if necessary, correct seasoning. Stir in vinegar and sugar.
Place the sauce back on the heat, and while stiring continously simmer until it reduces and thickens to the consistency of tomato ketchup. Spoon the ketchup into sterilized jars, seal tightly and cover them with blankets to cool them slowly. Once the jars got cool, store them in a cool, dark place. After opening refrigerate it.

domain: food


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This is a very big luxury house that awaits you :)
Enjoy our wellness room, with jacuzzi and the sauna. Also we have a movie room where you can watch your own films too, and a big outside water pool! :)
Or just enjoy the beautiful house! Include: Towel, clean bed linen, infra sauna, bbq, int the terrace, the garden, the kitchen, jacuzzi, movie room, outside water pool. Very quietly neighborhoud, a great place for relaxing. Only 20 min from Budapest.
- Parcheggio gratuito incluso
- Aria condizionata

domain: travel


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States push 15-week abortion bans as the right argues over a post-Roe strategy
Legislators say they’re taking what they see as a politically and legally safer approach, even if it means the vast majority of abortions in their states could still take place.
Several GOP-controlled states could ban abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy as soon as this week, passing bills modeled on a Mississippi law that the Supreme Court could soon deem constitutional.
But those same states aren’t taking restrictions as far as Texas, which bans all abortions after six weeks.
The approach has opened fissures in the conservative movement, with some urging more caution while others demand states swiftly follow Texas or go even further.
Legislators in Arizona, Florida, West Virginia and several other states advancing 15-week bans say they’re taking what they see as a politically and legally safer approach, even if it means the vast majority of abortions in their states could still take place.
Their strategy underscores the confidence conservatives feel that the Supreme Court will rule their way and limit or eliminate Roe v. Wade later this year, and the concern many have that the Texas law could ultimately be undone by a barrage of ongoing legal challenges.
“States don’t want to pass laws that are going to be struck down. They don’t want an exercise in futility,” said Denise Harle, the senior counsel for the anti-abortion group Alliance Defending Freedom. “The prudence of doing 15 weeks right now, when a green light for them is likely, is clear.”
Yet even as they acknowledge the political and legal hurdles, many in the anti-abortion movement say they’re frustrated lawmakers aren’t following Texas’ lead.
“Some national and state groups believe we should proceed cautiously and strategically,” said Kristi Hamrick, the spokesperson for Students for Life of America, which is pushing bills in dozens of states that mirror Texas’, and outlaw the use of abortion pills early in pregnancy. “We respectfully disagree.”
“We want to see less incrementalism,” she added. “This is a time to move in for the win.”
Abortion-rights activists, meanwhile, say they face multiple challenges: They likely don’t have the votes to stop these bills from moving forward and they are struggling to convince a distracted and exhausted public to mobilize against policies that haven’t drawn the attention and outrage of Texas’ unique private enforcement scheme.
“These states are often introducing Texas copycat bills at the same time,” said Jessica Arons, a senior policy counsel with the ACLU, citing Texas-style six-week bans that have been introduced in Arizona and Florida but have yet to advance. “Then, when they ultimately pass the 15-week bill, it allows them to position it as a reasonable compromise. They’re moving the Overton window and pushing the idea of what is an acceptable center.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who signaled he intends to sign the 15-week abortion ban expected to pass as early as this week, told reporters in January that the bill was “very reasonable” and said he believes “a lot of people would be happy with that.”
West Virginia Del. Ruth Rowan called her 15-week legislation “a beginning” and “a good start.”
Arizona state Sen. Nancy Barto on the Senate floor last week said that while she believes “every life should be protected,” 15 weeks is a “common sense limit” and a “step in the right direction.”
Some on the left see in the wave of 15-week bans an attempt to make Democratic lawmakers take a more difficult vote — as polling finds more public support for restrictions on abortions after that point in pregnancy than the more sweeping Texas-style legislation.
“The six-week bans have generated a lot of outrage and protest. So when they pull back with a 15-week ban, it flies under the radar a little more,” said Olivia Cappello, who works on state policy fights with Planned Parenthood. “But any sort of arbitrary limitation on what you can and cannot do with your body and what decisions you can make about your pregnancy has a terrible impact on people and the children they already have.”
The vast majority of abortions in the U.S. happen prior to the 15-week mark — over 90 percent, according to federal data. But thousands of people terminate a later pregnancy each year for a host of reasons — from the discovery of a fetal abnormality to challenges saving up money and arranging travel for the procedure.
Most anti-abortion groups say they understand that conservative lawmakers are going as far as they feel they can, and see a 15-week ban as a major improvement on the roughly 24 weeks allowed under Roe v. Wade.
“This legislation will save approximately 5,000 babies a year, and so I’ll take those 5,000 babies and, if we were playing poker, I’d say I’ll take those 5,000 babies and up you for all of them,” Florida Right to Life President Lynda Bell told POLITICO. “I truly do want to see us go further.”
Advocacy groups on the right have long argued it should be the states — not the federal government — that determine abortion policy, and say they welcome a future where, for example, Florida takes one path while Texas takes another.
“Good minds can disagree on how to best maximize this opportunity, and every state is different,” said Sue Swayze Liebel, the state policy director for Susan B. Anthony List, which is advising dozens of states on the effort. “What is the makeup of their House and Senate? Who is the governor? Who is up for reelection this year? All of that goes together.”
Yet other groups on the right, concerned about getting bogged down in costly legal battles, are urging lawmakers to wait until the Supreme Court issues a decision and states know exactly what the law of the land will be.
The anti-abortion group West Virginians for Life, for example, is warning state lawmakers not to push forward either a 15-week abortion ban or a Texas-style abortion ban this year, saying in a letter to state lawmakers on Monday that it is “prudential” to wait.
“We have no idea what the Supreme Court will decide this year in regard to abortion jurisprudence,” the group stressed.
In addition to the pending questions of what the Supreme Court will allow, other experts worry that privacy rights embedded in nearly a dozen state constitutions could stymie efforts to enact total or near-total abortion bans — a legal hurdle that has already blocked bills in Montana and could come into play in Florida, Alaska and other GOP-controlled states looking to restrict access to the procedure.
There is also a concern among anti-abortion-rights advocates that Texas’ law is so unpalatable that it might harm their cause.
Texas Alliance for Life’s special counsel Paul Linton, writing in his personal capacity, sent a memo in January to lawmakers in multiple states weighing different kinds of abortion bans arguing that “states should not enact their own versions of Texas Senate Bill 8” ahead of the Supreme Court’s decision on Mississippi’s law, saying that such bills are “more likely to alienate the justices whose votes we need to overrule Roe than they are to appeal to them.”
Linton, in the letter obtained by POLITICO, pointed to justices’ vocal discomfort about the implications of the private enforcement mechanism of Texas’ abortion ban — which critics have dubbed a “bounty hunter” or “vigilante” scheme — and argued it “smacks of open defiance of the Court and an illegitimate attempt to circumvent its precedents.”
Linton, however, has another complaint about Texas’ 6-week ban that many in the movement share: It doesn’t go far enough. A better path for states, he argues, is passing “trigger laws” that would ban all abortions at any stage of pregnancy if Roe v. Wade is overturned.
“A bill to prohibit abortion only after the unborn child has a detectable heartbeat represents an unprincipled retreat from the comprehensive protection all unborn children deserve,” he wrote.

domain: law


text:
Rapper, songwriter and unofficial ambassador to Web3, Snoop Dogg, has launched the ‘Passport Series’ NFT to compliment his latest world tour. Through the magnificent digital asset, fans will be able to join Snoop and his team behind the scenes on his journey around the globe.
As he gears to spread his own particular brand of music to folks far and wide, Mr. Dogg has debuted a new kind of NFT so fans can follow him wherever he goes. As a result, the first ever ‘evolving tour collectible’ will provide holders with a unique opportunity to experience life backstage with the legendary musician.
Available now via a dedicated website, interested parties can pick up the ‘Passport Series’ NFT for the modest fee of 0.025 ETH using a crypto wallet, or $46 in old money via the Crossmint platform. Once in possession, holders will unlock regular tour updates such as videos and images, as well as free art airdrops, music and merch access, and priority minting for future drops.
The excellent new assets were developed in collaboration with Web3 development studio, Transient Labs, in a deal brokered by the WME talent agency.
“With the Passport Series, I can give my fans the opportunity to travel the world with me — no one’s ever done that.” – Snoop Dogg
Snoop Dogg Continues to Champion the Web3 Cause
Snoop Dogg has made no secret of his love for all things Web3, continually shining a light on the innovative tech from his lofty perch. Back in 2022, he revealed his intentions to turn Death Row Records into a Web3 record label, then performed at the glamorous VMAs with fellow rap legend, Eminem, in the persona of their Bored Ape NFTs. All in addition to setting up residence within the ever-growing Sandbox Metaverse.
So, as music artists continue to innovate within the Web3 sphere, Snoop Dogg may have hit on a novel application for the highly versatile NFT.
Want more? Connect with NFT Plazas
*All investment/financial opinions expressed by NFT Plazas are from the personal research and experience of our site moderators and are intended as educational material only. Individuals are required to fully research any product prior to making any kind of investment.
Decentralised human, Explorer, Adventurer.
If this article, video or photo intrigues any copyright, please indicate it to the author’s email or in the comment box.

domain: artistic


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ACCORDING TO A NEW ruling by the Federal Trade Commission, board members of savings and loan institutions may not simultaneouly be board members of banks in the same jursidiction. The ruling, an affirmation of an earlier decision by an FTC administrative judge, may put to rest much of the controversy that has surrounded corporate board membership for more than 20 years. At question was whether a few individuals who sat on the boards of both savings and loan institutions and banks were, in effect, participating in anticompetitive practices by putting one institution in a position to benefit from information that the board members may have gleaned from the other. The principle at stake is hardly new; for years the FTC has busied itself with the problem of so-called interlocking directorships in private industry. What this means in anti-trust terms, is simply a situation in which the same people are board members of private companies in the same or comparable industry that may be in competition with each other. What is new about the commission's decision concerning savings and loan boards is simply that it marks the FTCs first venture of this sort into the banking community.
What brought the matter to the commission's attention was a case involving Perpetual Savings and Loan, the largest savings and loan institution in Washington. Several of Perpetual's board members also serve on boards of banks in this city: American Security and Trust, National Bank of Washington, and Union First. After reviewing the case, the commission concluded that there were no clear signs of anticompetitive behaviour, but that the possibility for such activity was there. The reason for the FTC decision was that both the savings and loans and the banks were competing to provide many of the same services - savings accounts and mortgage loans in particular. The FTC concluded that because of the similarity of activity, Perpetual's board members had to resign either from Perpetua1 or from the bank on which they served.
Th commission's decision will no doubt have a significant effect on the financial community both in the District and throughout the rest of the country. One result will be that savings and loan institutions will now have an incentive to reach out more widely into their communities to recruit new board members. This is something the Federal Home Loan Bank Board has been encouraging savings and loans to do as part of its monitoring of red-lining - a practice by which whole neighborhoods are discriminated against in mortgage lending. The FTC ruling won't result in a complete turnaround in the board memberships of either savings and loan institutions or of banks - nor should it. What it will do is get those institutions to rely on a larger group of local residents for local financial policies and practices. And that strikes us as right on the money.

domain: finance


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From September 2nd to November 4th 2020, Safran invites you to participate in the MIMESIS photo contest to capture the treasures of Nature. Here are some explanations on this particular thematic.
Focus on the resonances between nature and technology
Since the beginning of life on Earth, 4 billion years ago, the mineral, vegetal and animal genius has developed in shapes, matters and systems which have the most incredible abilities : to breath, to light up, to warm up, to resist, and even to fly.
These amazing “inventions” are everywhere: Dragonfly wings, granite striations, insects alveoli, crystals, spiders’ silk, jellyfish propulsion, waves oscillation…
By looking at these treasures – from up close or far away – some parallels can be made with high technology inventions.
From structures and textures to organizations, some high technology inventions seem to be directly inspired by Nature. With the MIMESIS photo contest, Safran invites you to capture – from up close or far away – the treasures of Nature that illustrates theses convergences and resonances with technology, may it be real or coming out of your imagination…
An exhibition in spring 2021!
At the end of the contest, an exceptional jury will meet to choose the pictures which will be part of the MIMESIS picture collection. These award-winning images and other favorite images identified by the jury will be the subject of an exhibition on the gates of the Musée des Arts et Métiers in Paris, between March and May 2021.
The jury will be composed of photographers Alexandre Darmon, Denis Dubesset and Stas Bartnikas. Each in their own manner have produced work related to the Mimesis thematic. They will be joined by Dominique Leglu (Director of the Sciences et Avenir redaction), Marie-Laure Estignard (Director of musée des Arts et Métiers) and Kalina Raskin (physical chemist, doctor in biology and director of the Biomimetism Excellence European Centre). Will also be present Pascale Dubois (Head of Communication and Patronage at Safran) and Julie Plus (CEO of Wipplay).
Many prizes to win!
★ 3 jury prizes : Camera with macro lens + a book of photographs + some surprises from Safran (1st prize) ; Photo and video drone + a book of photographs + some surprises from Safran (2nd prize) ; Microscope with digital eyepiece + a book of photographs + some surprises from Safran (3rd prize).
★ 3 public prizes : An art print of the winning picture + a book of photographs + some surprises from Safran (1st prize) ; An art print of the winning picture + some surprises from Safran (2nd prize) ; An art print of the winning picture + some surprises from Safran (3rd prize).
Time to grab your camera ☞ MIMESIS photo contest


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STATE TIMES NEWS SAMBA: As per the details, taking strong note of call on 181 (Woman Helpline No.), a team of Police Station Vijaypur headed by SHO Inspr. Chaman Gorkha on receiving some vital clues during investigation raided a suspected location in the Vijaypur area and recovered the missing girl along with accused person. The missing minor girl who was kidnapped from Saraipali District Mahasamund, Chattisgarh along with accused person namely Anil Chouhan handed over to Chattisgarh Police team.
Jackie Shroff to team up with son Tiger in ‘Baaghi 3’
Want to make film on Chandragupta Maurya: Kangana Ranaut
Depression like any other illness and treatable: Deepika Padukone
Bachchan-Hashmi’s ‘Chehre’ to now release on July 17
Will not apologise for remark on Periyar rally: Rajinikanth
© 2017 State Times Daily Newspaper

domain: news


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By Malou Innocent, Special to CNN
Editor’s note: Malou Innocent is a foreign policy analyst at the Cato Institute and can be followed @malouinnocent. The views expressed are the writer’s own.
During his recent unannounced visit to Afghanistan, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met with prominent female entrepreneurs and the captain of the women’s soccer team to discuss the hard-won progress of Afghan women and their uncertain future. Like his predecessor, Secretary Kerry has admirably pledged to prioritize women’s rights in his foreign policy agenda. But the underpinnings of this pledge – the entrenchment of women’s rights across Afghanistan – are beyond the ability of the United States to uphold. It is time to stop making promises we cannot keep.
If the past 12 years in Afghanistan (and Iraq) has taught us anything, it’s that we are not very good at spreading Western-style, Jeffersonian democracy – and all the attendant rights – to foreign cultures. In the end, our military and diplomacy cannot transform deep-rooted societal norms. The future of Afghan women deserves U.S. support, but not a false promise tied to the open-ended presence of U.S. troops.
Undoubtedly, since the overthrow of the Taliban regime, the quality of life for many Afghan women has undergone extraordinary transformations. But the progress may be illusionary. As Reuter’s senior correspondent in Afghanistan Amie Ferris-Rotman argued in Foreign Policy last month, President Hamid Karzai has been “increasingly ambivalent on women’s rights,” and the local government has failed to motivate Afghan society at large to adopt new habits to accept gender equality.
Misogynistic warlords and conservative Afghan traditionalists still wield considerable influence over traditions and customs that govern property rights, marriage and divorce, inheritance, and custody. Despite women’s constitutionally guaranteed rights, fundamentalists in parliament and government ministries continue indigenous cultural prohibitions that discriminate against women.
More from GPS: A unified nation at stake?
In addition, women’s rights activists observe that forced marriages involving young girls remain common. Beatings, torture, and other forms of domestic violence against Afghan women persist. Worse, women and girls are often shot, stabbed, or even stoned to death in honor killings when captured for running away from their abusers.
Because Afghan society’s acceptance of women’s social and legal rights has yet to take root organically, from the bottom up, the most viable alternative for changing its long-standing customs and social practices would be top-down with the help of the international community. But as University of California Santa Barbara Assistant Professor Robert W. Rauchhaus has noted, third parties willing to protect a discriminated minority would need to focus not only on the group that is at risk – Afghan women – but also on more effective punishments against those who provoke violence against that discriminated minority, namely Afghan traditionalists.
America’s reluctance to punish domestic parties resistant to Afghan social change highlights what the late political scientist Samuel Huntington argued in his influential book The Clash of Civilizations.
Huntington wrote that Western attempts to impose its will onto foreign societies is “contrary to the Western values of self-determination and democracy.” Indeed, what truly “clashes” is the liberal tolerance of diverse cultures and perspectives against the liberal interventions intended to spread liberty. Principles aside, the extent to which methods of punishment and exclusion would incite an internal rebellion also raises a practical problem.
Before the nearly 40 year reign of King Zahir Shah, who oversaw Afghanistan’s most prolonged period of prosperity and internal stability during the middle of the 20th century, King Amanullah had made repeated attempts to reform the Afghan state. The Ataturk-style modernist styled himself a “revolutionary ruler.” He demanded Afghans wear Western-style suits and hats in government precincts in Kabul. He changed the Friday weekly holiday to Thursday. And he pushed to end the seclusion of women and abolish the veil. The pace of his reforms proved far too fast for the country to absorb, and he was overthrown in a coup in 1929.
Today, although current foreign-led efforts meant to assist Afghan women remain morally defensible, they tell us little about the unforeseen consequences that arise when operating in a foreign culture. The most contentious issues between the Afghan state and society have been policies concerning the rights of women, marriage, and other issues deeply rooted in Afghan cultural values and the social framework of Islam.
Sadly, while many Afghan women justifiably fear that their progress could be undone if the Taliban reemerge onto the political scene, the past 12 years have underscored the enormous difficulty of advancing democracy in general and women’s rights in particular.
Secretary Kerry is right to speak out against gender-based oppression and other affronts to human rights and individual freedom. But emphasizing local drivers of social change can be a more effective way to export Western liberal values to Afghanistan’s illiberal society. The United States and its coalition partners can continue to support independent media and other local institutions in Afghanistan even after they remove their soldiers. That assistance would recognize that gender relations are firmly embedded in values and traditions that command local legitimacy.
This legitimacy will not come from an indefinite commitment by the United States in aid and troops. Like the other gains reaped during the 12-year occupation, without developing institutions and norms in the context of Afghan culture, the transformation of women’s rights may ultimately prove ephemeral. Secretary Kerry and others in Washington should be honest and admit our limitations. The United States can offer support, but it cannot deliver women’s rights to Afghanistan.
Alas, I too fear things will revert to their barbaric past once we leave. Women would do better to protect their own safety in an insane society!
The media label their men as opressors of their women in order to justify a zionist agenda. It does fool the foolish.
It is just pure silly to go around world, granting women the rights to orgasm at gun point, with borrowed money. Do you want your kid be shot for someone's rights to orgasm?
Their society had women from day two. They will make adjustments at their own pace.
The West still doesn't get it. "Societal Norms" are NOT the problem but merely a symptom. The position and ill treatment of Muslim women is rooted in Islamic sacred texts, ahadith, et al, and continuously reinforced by most Islamic clerics as well as the Mecca of Islamic orthodoxy Al-Azhar University in Cairo. Until Muslim women and the West arrive at this reality, nothing is likely to change.
SUCK MY PENIS
Please POOPE, do cut that Tea Party lingo out. That's some that Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann, Christine O'Donnell or any other uncouth Tea Partier would post!
People in power know this, but they know that as long as the Gulf Arabs have the oil and the natural gas, they are powerless to speak against it
Only when the Gulf Arabs lose their wealth and power, will people be able to speak out against Islam
Malou is correct that GOVERNMENT is "not very good at spreading Western-style, Jeffersonian democracy – and all the attendant rights – to foreign cultures." She says that, "In the end, our military and diplomacy cannot transform deep-rooted societal norms." and that is true, government cannot. But that is NOT to say that "we" cannot do this. The question really is, "What do we do that does spread "western-style, Jeffersonian democracy"? That answer might be found in this book which does and excellent job of assimilating the data coming from Enlightenment/libertarian ideas. That book is already a NYtimes best seller. Its 'THE BETTER ANGELS OF OUR NATURE: WHY VIOLENCE HAS DECLINED', by Dr. Steven Pinker. Its well worth the read. If we try to understand why the libertarian-humanitarian rights revolution has worked in the West, smothering the horrible violence found in the Middle Ages, we might have an idea as to what will work in the East. Treg
If Afghani/Pakistani women started committing suicide en masse (not recommnended), would the men change their ways? What if they murdered their own children first. Would that make the men take notice? Or would it be the same misogynist crap? What percentage of the women would have to kill themselves to get the men to change? Would foreign women be dumb enough to take their places?
Get an airplane and fly out leaflets with sign images, Dari and Pashto, AND tape recorders with messages in Dari and Pashto saying that
Hand guns are the answer to this problem-Next time some towel head trys to impose their brand of justice the woman should pull out her pistol and introduce the guy to Allaha.
"Why the US can't deliver rights to Afghan women" – why is this America's decision or responsibility in a complex world? Is it because only Americans have the intelligence, might, and right to make such decisions on behalf of all global inhabitants? Regardless of how Afghan women are treated, the concept and exceptional-ism of American zealots is a big part of many world problems. Look at the mess in the middle east expecting democracy to solve all those problems. Get your heads in and let people solve their own problems in their own way.
Is there no such thing as universal truth among humans concerning evil that all of us can recognize as overriding any particular global group's fancy for control, power, abuse, hacking up, stoning, burning, crushing to dust the women of their gruop? You don't have to be an American or westerner to recognize evil and call it such. You only need to breathe in and out. I'm really sick of men saying, "those women aren't our problem." Everything Afghanistan does is our problem, or have you been asleep since 9/11?
Welll put, Kathy. I am proud to be in a country that sees evils outside its own doors and doesn't just stand idlely by. SOMEONE has to speak out against the inhumanity going on in these third world countries.
Read the chain emails decrying the Taliban before 2001...
And also third worlders complain when we meddle, but they also complain when we are absent. Look at Latin America.
Women in Towel Head countries have no rights.
Who is USA to deliver human rights to Afghan women, hindu immoral society of the west has nothing to offer, but hinduism immorality to rest of the human kind, Keep way of hindu secular ism, filthy self center ism for your self, it of the animals, not of human.
Progressive things cannot be brought to Islam. Islam stands on revelation, rest of the world stands on reason.
Take their holy book, get a green pen, and declare parts to be "FALSE" because we humans know it, and if a cleric tries to condone, say, prebubescent girls marrying and having relations with older men, declare that girls who get pregnant too soon have health problems such as urine leakage, so we know God didn't design them for that, so we know it to be FALSE – if clerics argue against you, declare them "apostates against humanity" and declare any Muslim who tries to punish a person who leaves Islam an "apostate against humanity"
women's rights cannot co-exist with Shariah (islamic law)... Man are allowed to beat women, at court needs 2 women to be equal with 1 men.. Man can have 4 wife.. Etc...
Take a green pen and cross out every passage in the Quran saying that a woman's testimony is half of a man's, or that being a woman makes you stupid
And declare any Muslim, ANY MUSLIM who says this is a truth as an "apostate against humanity" because we humans today KNOW that a woman is as clever as a man is, and vice versa
And if a god was really telling us this, we'd rebel and beat him into a pulp. We humans can beat up a god.
Wish of a hindu ignorant , follower of hindu ram, rap st of his sister to follow hinduism, racism, take your hindu filthy hinduism, rap ism and shove it in you hindu rap st kirs na hind, hindu secular from hindered gutter of hindu secular ism, filthy kenjer ism india.
The Jim Hodge Allied story has a number of considerations that every business owner should consider. Jimhodgeallied.com
Without discussing the misogyny of the Quran, this issue will never go away.
"Men have authority over women because God has made the one superior to the other, and because they spend their wealth to maintain them. Good women are obedient.... As for those from whom you fear disobedience, admonish...and beat them." Quran 4:34
Thank you for reminding us that this is a RELIGIOUS problem that can never be fixed by social means.
Ya, hinduism, fabrication of hindu secular s, filthy self centered by faith from hindered gutter of hindu secular ism, filthy kenjer ism calledin dia.
So let's wait till the Gulf Arabs lose their wealth. Then we can take over Islam and declare clerics who insist on stupid things just because it's in a Holy Book to be apostates against humanity
There are plenty of misogyinistic passages in the bible, yet somehow we have (well, most of us have) learned that that doesn't excuse crimes against women now.
The problem is Islam. Period.
Only by hindu secular s, criminal self centered, kenjer by faith, from hindered gutter of hindu secular ism, immoral kenjjer ism bu called india.
Then we need to seize control of Islam
This is my second tour in Afghanistan. Apart from this fact, I also hail from this region (hence I know the language, religion, culture and the social norms prevalent in AFG). Everyday I hear and see people speaking out of their rear-ends about issues they have no idea about. They sound off because of various reasons I don't want to get to. Everybody has their reasons.
However, one thing I know for sure is that our soldiers (including myself) cannot and should not be the agents of cultural change anywhere least of all in AFG. That type of change can only come at a snale's pace and further it should be championed by indigenious populations only. Any other attempts to do otherwise will be intereprested as interference and/or influencing internal affairs of a soverign nation.
Having said that, the US has and will always stand up for human rights in AFG and we do even more so for AFG women. There's nothing immoral about that. We are a democracy that cares about other people's fate. To whom much is given, much is expected. We should do whatever we can for AFG women by informing and/or educating the AFG men and religious figures not by punishing and imprisonment. The same thing should go for the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Government. That is the only peaceful way out of the current state of affairs. Punishment and imprisonment will only breed more violence. The current perpetrators think and believe that they are justified just by the mere fact that they are doing what they are supposed to do and what they were taught to do. It may sound strange to you and me but not to them.
Hope this makes sense.
You bring a voice of reason and clarity, although I feel a sense of frustration that the answer to women's issues more often than not are to train the men, enlighten the men, work with the men. How unimaginably screwed up the planet is that the vast majority of power lies within the hands of ignorant men. Yes, I'll call them ignorant. Women who clearly CLEARLY have more sense of a grand design among humans whereby empathy and dignity are self-evident as necessary among all humans are subject to ill-begotten training and customs by those wishing to maintain power. The power of beliefs is strong, and yes, men need trained. That said, it's pitiful that so many men behave so much worse than dogs, cows and insects. For everyone's sake, let the women rise up and claim their power. Maybe the younger girls will lead it. I pray they do. If women wait for men to be taught, they may be waiting indefinitely
It is not the fault of the USA or its allies that women suffer in Afghanistan in the first place and it is not their failing that changing that is proving so difficult now. I, for one, am proud of our efforts to effect change, however slowly that may occur. It is much more than what most of the rest of the world is doing.
The year that the coup happened again Shah is incorrect. Please fix. It is off by several decades. Not sure how that happened.
If you are talking about mens rights then the Afghans are wise in not implementing any cultural changes as the US is leaving.This country has a enough problems without women's lib.
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domain: sociology


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LEGO Ninjago, Masters of Spinjitzu
The Visual DictionaryBook - 2014
Presents facts about the heroes, enemies, weapons, and vehicles of the LEGO Ninjago universe, sharing behind-the-scenes information about the creation and stories of every minifigure and set.
Publisher: New York :, DK Publishing,, 2014
Branch Call Number: j688.725 DOL NVD
Characteristics: 96 pages : color illustrations ; 31 cm
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domain: entertainment


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“..It was an absolute pleasure working with mario. After some initial nerves I was instantly put at ease and thoroughly enjoyed the few hours spent photographing. Mario was professional, experimental and open to ideas.The photographs turned out exceptionally well and far exceeded my expectations..”
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Great headshot session today with the actor David Gillies. What a great honour!
David’s TV appearances include “A touch of frost”, “The sweeney”, “The bill” , “Eastenders” and many other TV series as well as film work like “A month in the country” starring alongside Colin Firth and Kenneth Branagh.
To book your headshot session click here. Our Headshot packages start from £75.
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A new deal between doctors and the province was signed this morning. The agreement between the Alberta government, Alberta Health Services and Alberta Medical Association is projected to save up to 500 million dollars over the next two years.
It changes the terms of an existing contract that runs until 2018 and is meant to make health services more efficient. Included is a plan to put doctors in places where they’re most needed, and the government says it will improve information sharing.
When votes were counted last month, 74 per cent of voting physicians were in favour of ratifying the deal.

domain: economics


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The COVID-19 vaccine: a favourite topic in the present day. When will it arrive? Why are they taking so long? And most importantly, do we really need them, or is herd immunity enough in a country like ours?
In this article we try and answer these questions, from Dr Chandrakant Lahariya, Dr Gagandeep Kang and Dr Randeep Guleria.
India is the largest producer (by volume or number of doses) of vaccines in the world, and provides vaccines to UNICEF which then distributes them in Africa, South America and Asia. For UNICEF to buy the vaccines, the vaccines have to be pre-qualified or approved for purchase by the WHO. The WHO’s approval process relies on the fact that the country which makes the vaccines has a national regulatory authority that meets the standards laid down by the WHO. India’s CDSCO has met these criteria and ensures that the vaccines made in India are of high quality and safe. Indian vaccine manufacturers, which have grown in number and capacity since they were established decades ago, have good and long experience with manufacturing in high volumes. However, they have only recently begun modest investments in research towards new vaccines. With a population of 138 crore, India needs local and indigenous production of the COVID-19 vaccine to ensure widespread availability.
The development and availability of the vaccine in India has been part of some of the early discussions on the country’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. A national task force for vaccine research and development was set up in April 2020. The progress on the vaccines, both globally and in India, has been reviewed by high-level committees, and planning for delivery of the vaccines is ongoing. In early October 2020, the health minister announced a proposal to vaccinate 20 to 25 crore Indians by July 2021. In parallel with many such efforts around the world, discussions are on about the prioritization of target populations for initial vaccination.
When can we expect the first vaccine against COVID-19?
Till October 2020, six vaccines had been given limited licence in China and Russia. While a definite timeline is difficult to predict, there is a possibility that some vaccines may be available by early 2021. However, vaccination will be an ongoing process and it will be two to three years before sufficient vaccines are available to vaccinate all those in need.
There are a number of vaccines in the last stage of clinical trials, why is it taking so much time?
It is true that there are COVID-19 vaccines in phase III of clinical trials across the world, with trials starting in India. However, there are no guaranteed successes, and we need to wait for the results to know what works and what does not. If successful, the data need to be submitted to the regulatory authorities for approval. This is followed by production by one or more vaccine companies and then supply, resulting finally in availability. All these steps are expected to take some time.
What is herd immunity? Do we really need COVID-19 vaccines or is herd immunity enough?
Herd immunity is also called herd effect, community immunity, population immunity or social immunity. It is a form of indirect protection from infectious disease which happens when a defined proportion of the population has been infected and has become immune to an infection. As an increasing number of people are infected or vaccinated, the number of people who can be infected (‘susceptibles’) decreases and transmission or spread also decreases. When herd immunity is reached, it is important to note that this is a feature that works at the population level—a decrease in spread within a defined group; it is not perfect protection of all uninfected people. At the individual level, the status of immunity depends on that person’s exposure or vaccination status. This means that if a susceptible individual is no longer within the ‘herd’, then they are likely to be infected on exposure, and are not ‘immune’.
When the level of infection or vaccination that is required is calculated, then the basic reproductive rate of the virus has to be known. The higher the reproductive rate, the greater the proportion of the herd that needs to be infected or vaccinated to prevent the spread. For measles, which is very infectious, we would like to reach 95 per cent vaccination to prevent outbreaks. At this time, data from sero-surveys in India shows 7 per cent seropositivity in a national survey at the end of August but pockets of high positivity in urban areas (56 per cent in some localities in Mumbai and 51 per cent in areas of Pune and 29 per cent in Delhi). This indicates that herd immunity is still far for most of the country, and we should be looking to a vaccine for more predictable development of immunity.
Offering insights on how India continues to fight the pandemic, their book Till We Win is a must-read for everyone. It is a book for the people, for political leaders, policymakers and physicians, with the promise and potential to transform public health in India.

domain: medical


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Welcome to the new look Build Threads. Please bookmark this new URL, and if you’re nice enough to have me in your blogroll, please take the time to update the link.
I was planning to work on the appearance of the new blog behind the scenes, and debut it looking all nice and polished once it was ready. But I was running out of time, and I didn’t want to keep putting out new posts on the old one while I worked on this one at the same time. So I’ve modified the old header and thrown it up top, and everything else is pretty much a standard theme. This will all change soon though, as I’m planning on making some small changes to make it more unique.
Therefore, you will all witness the evolution of this new site as it happens, which I think in the end is rather fitting, as this is Build Threads after all, and we all love the journey much more than the destination.
I’ll have a new build thread up for you guys in the next couple of days. Hope you enjoy the new look as it gets hammered, riveted, sanded, painted, and polished into shape.


Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan, while speaking to journalists in Lahore on Wednesday, claimed that he had no decision-making authority during his three-and-half years as prime minister, though he did not clarify who this power rested with.
Running the country was supposed to be my responsibility, he said, but “orders were coming from somewhere else.” Claiming that if he had enjoyed “complete authority,” his rule could have competed with the reign of Sher Shah Suri—founder of India’s Suri empire—he alleged that these “rulers” had prevented him from achieving his dream of a Naya Pakistan.
“Our hands were tied,” he continued. “We were blackmailed from everywhere. Power wasn’t with us. Everyone knows where the power lies in Pakistan so we had to rely on them,” he said, without specifically naming who he was accusing of wielding the power. “We relied on them all the time,” he said. “They did a lot of good things too but they didn’t do many things that should’ve been done. They have the power because they control institutions such as NAB, which wasn’t in our control,” he said, hinting he was referring to the security establishment.
According to Khan, all responsibility and authority should lay with the prime minister to ensure balance between a strong Army and strong government. He accused the “handlers”—who he has earlier claimed were instrumental in ensuring the PTI’s various pieces of legislation passed—of “damaging the country more than its enemies” by allowing “looters”—his euphemism for his political rivals—to escape accountability.
Curiously, Khan’s remarks appear to justify his opponents’ allegations of him being little more than a “puppet P.M.” The repeated accusations were often met with loud condemnations and denials from the PTI, including Khan, when the party was in power. Then-science and technology minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain had gone so far as to describe the criticisms as “irrational.”


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Pre-diabetes is a condition in which blood glucose levels are higher than normal, but not high enough to be classified as full-blown diabetes. People with pre-diabetes are at increased risk of developing type-2 diabetes within a decade unless they adopt a healthier lifestyle that includes weight loss and more physical activity. They also have an increased risk of developing heart disease.
Diabetes is defined as having a fasting plasma blood glucose level of 126 mg/dl or greater on two separate occasions. If diabetes symptoms exist and you have a casual blood glucose taken at any time that is equal to or greater than 200 mg/dl, and a second test shows the same high blood glucose level, then you have diabetes.
In general, people who have a fasting plasma blood glucose in the 100-125 mg/dl range are defined as having impaired fasting glucose. If your doctor gives you an oral glucose tolerance test, and at two-hours your blood glucose is 140-199 mg/dl, you have "impaired glucose tolerance". Be sure to ask your doctor what your exact blood sugar test results are when he tells you that you have "pre-diabetes." Some physicians are not as familiar as they should be with the new national guidelines for diagnosing diabetes. They may be telling you that you have pre-diabetes, when in fact you have actual diabetes.
Pre-diabetes is when your fasting blood glucose (blood sugar) level is above normal.
Normal fasting glucose: 60 to 99 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dl)
Pre-diabetes (impaired fasting glucose): 100 to 125 mg/dl
Diabetes: 126 mg/dl or higher on 2 occasions
Among those who should be screened for pre-diabetes include overweight adults age 45 and older and those under age 45 who are overweight and who have one or more of the following risk factors:
- Are habitually physically inactive
- Have previously been identified as having IFG (impaired fasting glucose) or IGT (impaired glucose tolerance)
- Have a family history of diabetes
- Are members of certain ethnic groups (including Asian American, African-American, Hispanic American, and Native American)
- Have had gestational diabetes or have given birth to a child weighing more than 9 pounds
- Have elevated blood pressure
- Have an HDL cholesterol level (the “good” cholesterol) of 35 mg/dl or lower and/or triglyceride level of 250 mg/dl or higher
- Have polycystic ovary syndrome
- Have a history of vascular disease
Subtle Symptoms of Diabetes
A few of these subtle symptoms should certainly prompt you to see your doctor. Consider asking yourself the following questions.
- Are you suddenly feeling much thirstier, hungrier, and losing weight without trying?
- Do you feel more fatigued or weaker than usual? If you've started exercising significantly more, these changes could be expected. But if your diet and exercise patterns have remained stable, discuss these changes with your doctor promptly.
- Are you experiencing blurred vision or recurring skin or gum infections?
- Have you noticed that cuts and bruises take longer to heal? Are you urinating more often or feeling tingling in your hands, feet, or legs?
These, too, may initially seem insignificant, especially in isolation. But having any combination of these symptoms should not be ignored.
Fortunately, if pre-diabetes is diagnosed early enough, the condition can be reversed through various lifestyle changes. Pre-diabetes should be taken as a warning sign. It presents you with an opportunity to make positive lifestyle changes to prevent pre-diabetes from developing into something much more serious. The key is to keep blood sugar levels within the target range. By doing this, the risk of further complications is significantly reduced.
What to Eat
If you are overweight, your first and foremost goal should be to lose weight. This means working with a registered dietitian to determine the quantity and type of food you should eat at each meal. One of the key issues in losing weight is controlling portion size. Your dietitian will also direct you how to make food choices that cut down on the amount of fat you eat because each gram of fat has significantly more calories in it than a gram of carbohydrate or protein.
Healthier choices of food are whole grains (whole wheat bread, brown rice, whole grain pasta, quinoa, whole oats, bulgur), beans, lentils, fruits, and non-starchy vegetables (spinach, carrots, broccoli, green beans).
You should minimize intake of white bread, white rice, pasta, pastries, potatoes, sugared soda, highly processed foods (cakes, cookies, chips, and candy). Remember, the more processed a food is, the less fiber, vitamins, and minerals it has — leaving behind mostly starch.
Please avoid pastries, sugared soda, highly processed foods (cakes, cookies, chips, and candy).
Along with weight loss, your goal will be to begin program of physical activity, if you aren't getting regular exercise now. Physical activity will help you use the insulin you produce to convert the food you eat into energy. This will help keep your blood glucose lower. If you have a small piece of cake with a meal, follow it up with a brisk walk.
EHC takes this opportunity to remind you that healthy choices of lifestyle, food, and physical activity will lead to a good life without worrying about diabetes.


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Wednesday, 7 March 2012
Women in Mali have developed over the last decades specific skills in terms of textile dyeing. This activity provides many employment opportunities for women, as their production is being exported all throughout the sub-region. However, since chemical dyeing products are being used and polluted waste water released in water drainage canals or in the Niger River, this activity entails water ...


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Is there a secret to styling the perfect bookcase? Not really. It doesn’t take talent or a whole lot of money to make your bookcases look picture perfect, just a few simple rules and a few hours. I’m here to share 8 simple steps for styling the perfect shelfie.
Bookcase Styling SOS
This past week a client called me for a bookcase styling SOS. She loved her bookcases but thought they needed a pop of color and some finishing touches. It doesn’t hurt to start with a beautiful stacked stone fireplace wall with natural wood stained bookcases flanking a gas fireplace! But don’t worry. You don’t have to have a mac daddy shelving unit to get beautiful styled shelves. These tips can be used on everything from kitchen shelving, formal living room and family room to free standing and built-ins.
1. Mix Old and New
Your home should be a refection of you and your interest. Bookcases and shelves are the perfect spot to highlight your collections or favorite things. It’s no fun seeing 100% store bought decor. I am a bibliophile and never can get enough books. Books are an affordable decor staple that adds, interest, height and color. On install day, in came a big bag of blue books to bring in the colors of the lake just outside the room. I also shopped at HomeGoods and filled my carts with accent pillows, faux greenery, art and white and driftwood decor pieces. It was a two cart day!
2. Start with a Blank Slate
Sometimes it is difficult to see beyond what was there so I recommend taking down all the decor and beginning with empty shelves. This is the perfect time to give your bookcase(s) a cleaning. I unpack and lay out all my decor so that I have a clear picture of what I have. It is always better to have more and not use it all rather than not having enough.
3. Art and Picture Frames
These bookcases had a streamline mini puck light built in. Before (on the left) there was a family photo. I replaced it with a piece of original art. Can you name the artist? This natural stained wood was too nice to drive any nails into so I leaned all my art. But if a bookcase is painted, I often hang art up on the back to add visual balance. Since it was a medium wood tone, I shopped for frames with white borders and large white mattes that contrasted. Make sure to stagger art and photos for visual interest.
Before you head out shopping measure the depth of each shelf and height between shelves if they are not adjustable. It is no fun bringing home the perfect decor piece and not having it fit!
4. Decorating with Books
A bookcase with out books is boring! More often than not homeowners have more than enough books stashed away in the bottom cabinets. That is a hidden treasure for a stylist. I prefer the look of the canvas spines over paper dust jackets. Off come all the dust jackets and they get saved. If I don’t care for the spine font color or subject, I turn the book around and the pages become a resting spot for the eye. When styling bookcases arrange groupings both horizontal and vertical.
5. Layer Color and Texture
When styling bookcases, I strive for a balance between colors and textures on each shelf. Blue glassware, books, photo albums, and pottery compliment greenery and frames. Smaller decor pieces like the driftwood candle holder fits perfectly in front of the girls portrait. The pointy features of the white ceramic orb on the top shelf echos the leaning ceramic starfish.
6. Styling Coffee Table Trays
Left over decor from the bookcases? No problem. Artfully display coasters, candles, greenery, boxes and books along side and in a tray. Decor can be beautiful arranged on the table until it comes to a time when you need to move it for more space. A tray can easily be moved so that the family can set up games, snacks and projects.
Boxes are the perfect spot to hide remotes, games and cards, hand held devices and all sorts of treasures.
7. Creating a Cozy Corner
Don’t be afraid to place furniture in front of your shelves. We gave the slipcovered sofa and chair a fresh Spring vibe with down filled accent pillows and a fringed navy and cream throw blanket. This is the best spot in the house in my opinion. It has the a great view of the fireplace AND Lake Ontario. A trio of wood framed woven graphic navy and cream art are hung around the room.
Here is the finished look. Stylish and still family friendly!
8. Move Decor from Room to Room
I always say “use what you have.” Sometimes all you need is to change your decor’s location. The formal living rooms tall white shelves also got a mini Spring refresh. We rearranged what was already there and added the darker wood frames from the family room. The dark wood pops against the bright white painted carpentry. A fun splash of yellow keeps things fresh and playful.
Take pictures of your finished and favorite styling. And do not forget to swap out seasonal decor and family pictures for a updated look when styling bookcases.
Styling shelves is one of my all time favorite thing to do. I hope you found these tips helpful and feel free to drop me a note in the comments about your favorite shelf decor! Until then I will see you at the next garage, tag or library sale. You’ll find me hidden in the art book section.
Photography by Debbie Ramsager


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4.5"x4.5" Oil and Cold Wax on Paper
12"x12" Hand Cut Mat
SWA Demonstration Painting
Challenge Painting Forty-Five
by Ruth Andre
Yesterday I was the speaker for the Sierra Wax Artists group. The headline for my talk was, "Where the Ideas Come From". I was able to talk about how to find ideas and how important it is to find ideas for painting that are meaningful to you. If you have passion for what you are painting it will comes through to the finished work. I also talked a little about my background working as an artist representative in Los Angeles and then working for a New York textile company with a showroom in Los Angeles as an outside sales rep. I got to see how artists worked their creative genius and how the art directors took those idea to make ad campaigns. Being surrounded by the products of designers from around the world at the design center let me see the very best designed home and office furnishings. It was a busy time and I loved the energy of both industries. There is more to the story but for today I will just say design has been a big part of my life.
Here is a photo of Kae Sable running through the SWA coming events. She also set the stage for my program and introduced me to the group. Kae is a SWA volunteer and does a fabulous job making sure the website and events are set to go. I also want to mention Charlotte Cooper, an encaustic artist and one of the SWA board members. Charlotte was the go to person for any and all questions that I had and made sure all went smoothly for the meeting.
My artist friend Bruce Hancock took a few photos of me getting ready to for the demo. The whole event went smoothly and the audience was enthusiastic. It was a good day and, "A Painting Day".

domain: hobby


text: The Special Consensus is a four person acoustic bluegrass band that began performing in the Midwest in 1975. Their recording “Scratch Gravel Road” was nominated Best Bluegrass Album Grammy Award in 2012. This superb bluegrass outfit have received several IBMA Awards and just released the 19th band recording “River and Roads” in March 2018. The center of Special Consensus is co-founder Greg Cahill on Banjo, along with (Madolinist) Rick Faris, (Bassist) David Thomas and (Guitarist) Dustin Benson. Special Consensus approaches this hallowed American musical form with boundless energy and an aesthetic reverence that tickles the rib, tugs at the heart and puts a restless two-step in boots and are feet.


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Cats are territorial by nature – they form strong attachments to their environment and don’t like to be taken out of their comfort zone. The upheaval associated with moving house can therefore be a stressful experience. Planning and preparation is the key to ensuring that moving house with your cat goes as smoothly as possible.
Preparing to Move
It is easy to get stressed about an upcoming move, but try to keep as calm as possible. Cats are intuitive, and will pick up on your emotions and stress levels as well as noticing the visual cues – the open boxes and belongings strewn on the floor ready to be packed. Follow these simple tips when getting ready to move:
- Leave your moving boxes out a few weeks prior to starting to pack to give your cat time to get used to them.
- If your cat is anxious whilst you’re packing confine him to another room away from the activity and noise.
- Throughout the packing period, continue with your cat’s usual daily routine – feeding, playtime, attention, brushing etc. to reinforce that ‘life is the same’ during this period of impending change.
Before the removal van arrives, place your cat in a bedroom that you have already cleared of boxes and furniture, ensuring that there is fresh water, food, a bed and a litter tray available. This will shield him from the activity and noise going on in the rest of the house. It’s also a smart idea to place a ‘Do Not Open – Cat Inside’ sign on the door, so that the removalists know not to open the door.
When all the other rooms have been packed and boxes are loaded onto the removal truck you can put your cat in his carrier and start to make the journey to your new home. Placing a familiar item such as a blanket in the carrier may help to comfort your cat whilst travelling. Cats should always travel in the car with you, never in the back of a removal truck.
If you have a particularly anxious cat you may choose to place them in a cattery overnight so that they avoid moving day altogether.
Settling Into Your New Home
Once you arrive at your new home, settle your cat into a bedroom, once again ensuring that there is fresh water, food, a bed and a litter tray available. A family member may like to sit in the room while your cat adjusts to this new space. By remaining calm you will signal to your cat that this is a safe environment. Keep the door shut and your cat confined until the removalists have unloaded your furniture, the bulk of the moving activity is over and the house is relatively quiet.
Once the removalists have left you can choose when to allow your cat to investigate the rest of the house. Before you do this, securely close any doors and windows, and block any other escape routes. Some cats are very relaxed about moving house; others will hide under a bed for days. How slowly or quickly you introduce your cat to its new home will depend on your cat and their personality. If you have a scaredy-cat who is timid or skittish then it’s best to let them explore one room at a time under your supervision. If your cat is brave and adventurous then you can let them explore and familiarise themselves with their new home more quickly.
To help your cat settle into its new home, keep up the familiar routines of feeding, playing, attention and grooming that were part of life in your previous home. Family members and familiar furniture will also help your cat to settle in.
Letting Your Cat Outside
If you have an outdoor cat, try to keep him indoors for 10-14 days to give him time to settle into his new home. When you first allow your cat outside, you may like to supervise to make sure he knows the way back home. You can also leave the door to the house open, so that your cat can run indoors if a sudden noise or other animals frighten him. If there wasn’t a cat in the house previously, neighbourhood cats may have claimed your garden for themselves, supervision will help prevent any territorial disputes.
It is also a good idea to ensure that your cat is microchipped and wearing a collar and tag just in case he decides to wander too far away from your new home when he is let outside to explore.
Have you moved house with your cat? What did you do to make the move easier for both of you?

domain: pet


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Orville Buchner (born January 17, 1936) was a professional American Welterweight boxer from Miami Beach, Florida. Buchner was born in La Crosse, Wisconsin, and fought in the Golden Gloves in La Crosse. He then joined the United States Army and gained more amateur boxing experience. After being discharged from the Army Buchner attended State College of Wisconsin where he majored in economics.
Buchner moved from Wisconsin to Miami Beach, Florida, to pursue a professional boxing career. On August 7, 1961, Buckner turned professional and boxed a four round draw with Dave Gaitor at the Sir John Club in Miami, Florida. One month later Buchner knocked out Dave Gaitor in two rounds. After boxing a four round draw with tough Hilton Lumpkin, Buchner reeled off four straight wins.
On April 19, 1962, Buchner lost his first professional fight by four round decision to Hollywood, Florida's Ray Lavarro at the Little River Auditorium in Miami, Florida. On August 23, 1962, at the Little River Auditorium, Buchner scored a five round technical knockout win over Hilton Lumpkin.
At Miami on October 4, 1962, Buchner surprised the South Florida boxing community by boxing a four round draw with veteran boxer Duane Simpson.
Buchner was a boxer without a spectacular punch that relied on his boxing skills. He had lots of heart and determination. Buchner worked as a hotel auditor on Miami Beach during his boxing career.
Buchner's unofficial professional record was eleven wins four losses and four draws.

domain: sports


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Beta/ ARC We're All Mad by N.A. Wetzel
Published: Oct. 13, 2016
Publisher: Pen Dragon Publishing
Review: ARC provided by author
Buy Links: Amazon, Amazon.uk
You would think a shift shaman could catch a break and that a house full of demons could find a moments peace. Nope, not this group of messed up friends.
Convel finds himself staring at more issues than he knows how to handle. Six months ago, Convel walked away from Natasha after making a love confession, he went on to be responsible and became a guardian for his clan. There should be smooth sailing in his life now, in all their lives, right?
Wrong. . .
The Shift Shaman’s have been outed and are trying to merge into society, Convel is now the known as the Prince of Broken Hearts, Natasha’s been thrown into a holding cell at Militar, Lyth is searching for the source of Convel’s recent issues, and, at the peak of all this chaos, a low grade witch coven is causing life threatening issues for Convel and everyone he cares about.
To make matters worse, Convel’s personal escort to this train wreck that he now calls his life is The Blue Eyed Nightingale herself, Ashley.
If being madder than the Mad Hatter himself wasn’t a big enough issue, it seems that a prophecy is unfolding and Convel and the others are smack-dab-in-the-middle of the whole thing.
I received this book to give an honest review.
It took me a while to get back into this story of Convel and his friends. I would say this book needs to be read as soon as you read book two but that is just me. I don't think it would be good as a stand alone.
Convel has been pretty much keeping to himself and keeping busy with work especially since it has come out that there are shift shamans out among the humans.
With him working he has started noticing something out of the ordinary at times like a shadow but what the heck is it? He is going to have to enlist the help of his friends to find out what this shadow is.
While finding out answers he also has to come to terms with Natasha, you see he did something that she can not forgive him for and they haven't seen each other since that night. We see how Ashley tries to bring them both together even though I am sure Natasha wants to rip his throat out.
Now there was a scene within the story that I was very surprised at. It wasn't horrible or anything but it deals with Ashley and we get to see a bit of who she truly is and I liked it.
The humor Convel has in this story is just as awesome as his humor in the other books. He is such a smart aleck even in the worse of times.
Well Convel and the others be able to stop what evil has came upon them or will evil prevail this time? Also will Convel and Natasha put everything in the past behind them or still go at each others throats?
N. A. Wetzel is from a small town in North Carolina, and is the author of many stand-alone titles, and the Otherworldly Prophecies book series. She has always enjoyed writing YA and NA novels of all genres and probably always will.
**From the author**
I am the parent of two precious princesses, one charming son, and a furry, 85 lbs cuddle monster, which all rule my heart and home. I am the soul mate to the one I searched for all my life, slave to the written word, and lover of the dark and robust brew, coffee.
There isn't a whole lot that I can say about myself without it turning into another novel.

domain: literature


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for vintage toy organ, voice, and electronics
It was such an honor to write a piece for Molly Joyce, one of my best friends and biggest musical inspirations. The piece questions how technology enables and hinders us. At times, the live performer and the unique toy organ act in complete symbiosis with a fixed electronic track. This relationship breaks down throughout the piece, interrupted by moments of violent stasis. The performer’s raw, unprocessed voice and instrument are only heard in the last section of the piece, still modulated by percussion in the electronics. The piece’s structure resembles that of a drastically slowed-down social media feed, in which various data sources inhabit and take up mental space in mundane but subliminally powerful ways. This formal structure illuminates the drastic complexity imbalance between the highly dense and active electronics, with the static and simplistic live performer’s part, examining the power of queer consumption in a primarily capitalist-heteronormative society. Finally, the soloist’s body is also choreographed, drawing a parallel between the composer-performer relationship and the manner in which we embody the functions of technology and social media.


The London Millennium Bridge is being closed for three weeks due to structural degradation on its underside.
Closing to pedestrians from Saturday 14 October, the Millennium Bridge, also known as the “wobbly” bridge will undergo maintenance following years of wear and tear. With the bridge being a vital footpath across the Thames linking the City of London to the Tate Modern gallery on the South Bank, the structural upgrade will ensure that it can continue to operate safely.
According to the Chair of the City Bridge Foundation, the bridge needs repairs to its separation layer under the bridge deck which will take considerable time, needing work to be carried out “round the clock” to get it back open again.
The bridge is one of London’s most iconic features and spans 325 metres and was first opened in 2000. Since its launch, it has been fitted with shock absorbers to dampen lateral movement. Early users of the bridge complained that it swayed and got the nickname of the wobbly bridge soon thereafter. Structural adjustments were subsequently made before it was reopened in 2002.
The Millennium Bridge was London’s first pedestrian only bridge constructed over the Thames in more than 100 years. Previously, the Tower Bridge was built in 1894.
During the emergency repair works, pedestrians will be able to use alternative routes including the Southwark Bridge and the Blackfriars Bridge.
The Millennium Bridge is scheduled to re-open on 5th November.


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‘We can’t stop this’: Fight against violence continues
WHITE Ribbon may have closed its doors, but those working tirelessly to end domestic violence will continue doing so no matter what.
That's the sentiment from University of the Sunshine Coast lecturer and White Ribbon Queensland chairman Greg Nash, who says "domestic violence isn't going away, so neither are we".
Mr Nash, who joined White Ribbon as an ambassador in 2013 and became the state chairman last year, said White Ribbon committees across Queensland were committed to continuing their efforts despite the organisation's shock closure.
"It blindsided me, it shocked everyone," he said.
"We're out in the community, we're always doing this work. I don't think anyone really realised the precarious position White Ribbon was in at the time."
Mr Nash said in losing White Ribbon, they lost the ability to co-ordinate larger, nationwide activities.
But he said everyone involved in the Sunshine Coast Committee had "no intention of backing away from violence".
"This isn't the end of our activities on the Sunshine Coast," he said.
"We're going to band together, we're talking to the councils and we have every intention of still supporting the programs what we've put forward.
"We're going to keep the fire burning."
Last week, the organisation announced its end after an "analysis of the organisation's future sustainability".
It went into liquidation ahead of White Ribbon Day on November 22.
"For all those who are already planning for White Ribbon Day, we encourage you to continue with those plans alongside the international White Ribbon movement. Continue to raise your voice," the board said.
White Ribbon Sunshine Coast Committee chairman and Superintendent Darryl Johnson said the closure was "extremely disappointing".
"I am quite confident this committee and this community has the drive and will to continue this work together (regardless) of the events from last week," he said.
Mr Nash said it was vital "now more than ever" to keep the message of White Ribbon going.
"We can't stop this We've got to keep the momentum, we've got to keep pushing," he said.


text: Turn your visitors into clients with E-Commerce solutions by Cubeflick. The online retail market is growing day by day. Cubeflick brings e-commerce website design and development solution for you and your visitors. Being a preferred and trusted ecommerce web design and development company our developers built a website which have a friendly user interface, eye catching look and also easy to manage backend because they knows what it takes to establish your online business successful. The Ecommerce website designed at Cubeflick will take you closer to the future of online shopping and also helped business in achieving online retail grip.


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Not every musician wants to play their music in noisy licensed venues, particularly if they’re singing, playing and or writing acoustic-based songs.
Similarly, not all music lovers want to have to filter out the din of people talking or socialising when they’d prefer to hear the nuances of the music and lyrics.
These sensibilities certainly ‘speak’ to Patrick Roberts, so much so that he wants to create an environment where both the audience and the musician can enjoy the intimacy of a performance … and he wants to make it a regular event.
As a musician himself, Patrick says he is “acutely aware how soul-destroying it can be to turn up for a gig only to find the audience speaking louder, and ever louder, to be heard above the ‘noise’ you are making”.
“It is galling to have put in hours of practice and rehearsal to be the best you can be for your audience, only to have them completely ignore you,” he says.
“Consequently the one non-negotiable rule of this group will be that it is a respectful venue; that means when the performance starts, conversations stop.”
To achieve this Patrick is calling “for expressions of interest from musicians and potential audience members to form a folk and acoustic music group based here in Yamba”.
A key consideration is to provide good experiences for both audiences and musicians; for example, pending the formation of the group and any ideas that come from that, by providing a quality ‘main’ act at each performance, along with giving local musicians an opportunity to play as one of several support acts.
“Northern New South Wales is a genuine hot spot for talented musicians,” Patrick says. “If we can create a respectful venue, we may be able to reach out to some of them and have them come and be the main act.”
Contact Patrick Roberts on 0438 387 001 or email [email protected]et.


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Although it sounds like a country in the eastern hemisphere, it is a term for severe eyestrain. Asthenopia is caused from weakness in the visual system, including the visual cortex of the brain. It can lead to any of the following symptoms: headaches, sleepiness, poor concentration, light sensitivity, nausea, temporary blurred vision, burning eyes, difficulty reading, irritability, and pain.
Poor focus or need for eyeglasses is the most common cause. Uncorrected focus power or unequal prescription triggers the eye muscles to work extra hard for reading, computer, or smart-phone use. Subconsciously, the brain gets confused and manifests into the problems listed above. The correct spectacle power can be a quick fix. Wearing proper spectacles will not cause the eyes to get weaker or become dependent. Often, there is a superstitious connection made about dependency on glasses and unnecessary suffering follows.
Binocular vision problems or eye muscle alignment is a close second cause. Often it is under diagnosed at an eye examination. If the eyes cross, turn out, or have misalignment vertically, the brain gets confused about where and how to concentrate. Careful positioning of the optical lens centers or prism built into the spectacles can fix the problem. Premade spectacles, known as cheaters or magnifiers, can’t possibly correct for eye alignment problems the way custom lenses can. Prism can bend the light to alleviate eyestrain or even double vision caused from imperfect eye positioning. Another treatment for binocular vision or strabismus problems is visual training. This part of the brain is changeable especially before the teenage years. Proven therapy can alleviate asthenopia, if caused by binocular vision disorders. Frequently, there is a mechanism in which uncorrected farsighted power causes the eyes to cross, compounding the problem. This is called accomodative esotropia and is easily fixed with proper glasses.
Controlling the visual environment is also effective in relieving asthenopia. Poor light, bad ergonomic posture, and inappropriate near working distance can be culprit s for eyestrain. Generally speaking, reading material should be at least 15 inches away. Computer working distance should be 15 to 30 inches away dependent on the size of the screen. Fixating on a computer screen, smart phone, or book for longer than 20 minutes at a time causes eyestrain. An alternate task, such as looking far away, refreshes the focusing muscles of the eye. Studies show people blink less while using computers. This leads to dry eye and again the dreaded asthenopia.
Eye muscle surgery is likely to be reserved for large amounts of strabismus or binocular vision disorders. It works best at a very young age. It is often done for cosmetic purposes. Proper alignment and focus can help for depth perception leading to better driving and sports activity. Regular eye examinations are the simple fix for asthenopia problems. Following guidelines for each
specific deficiency can alleviate most of the unique visual symptoms.
Dr. Steve Belanger is the optometrist owner of Peak Vision in Dillon Colorado. He is a 1982 graduate of the Michigan College of Optometry with undergraduate work at Central Michigan University and Michigan State University. Dr. Belanger relocated from Toledo, Ohio to Dillon in 2015 and resides in Keystone full time. His hobbies are skiing, golfing, cycling, and guitar.
(970) 468-6591 or visit PeakVision1.com

domain: health