SPECIM Launches Full Spectrum Sensor at Intergeo - 14/10/2014
SPECIM, a leading manufacturer of hyperspectral imaging instruments and systems, introduced AisaFENIX 1K, a full spectrum sensor that cuts the costs of hyperspectral data capture, at Intergeo 2014 in Berlin, Germany. The full spectrum hyperspectral sensor with 1,024 spatial pixels produces readily co-registered VNIR and SWIR data and is developed to take the productivity of hyperspectral imaging to a new level.
The sensor is able to produce the same high-quality full spectrum hyperspectral data as its forerunner, AisaFENIX and, at the same time, to reduce the flight costs by 60%, because less flight lines are required.
Petri Nygrén, navigator and SPECIM’s sales manager explained that covering a 10 km2 square at 1m GSD, 30% sidelap, 120 kts ground speed and 3 minute turns required 3 hours 46 minutes with the previous model of AisaFENIX. With the AisaFENIX 1K, this time is reduced to 1 hour 29 minutes, 40% of the previous. Exactly half of this time is spent in turns, so reduction in the money spent for flying is even more pronounced if the form of the area or gyro stabilisation allows planning for less flight lines.
Last updated: 05/07/2020
AisaFENIX 1K is recognised as a good solution for various remote sensing applications such as environmental monitoring, forestry, vegetation mapping, geology, law enforcement and defence.


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I Want It All by Queen - Function Band Horn Section
I Want It All for Function Band Horns
composed by John Deacon, Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor
arranged by Matt Smith
I Want It All byQueen, arranged for function band horns: Alto Sax, Tenor Sax, Trumpet and Trombone.
Alto Saxophone in Eb
Tenor Saxophone in Bb
Trumpet in Bb
Easy - Grade 1-3
Intermediate - Grade 4-6
Hard - Grade 6-8
Advanced - Grade 8+
Contact Matt if you need a part transposing differently, and he can easily make them for you.

domain: artistic


Door garage. Thursday , October 12th , 2017 - 15:16:54 PM
Vehicle owners require a proper garage with good garage doors for the safety of their vehicles. However, when you are looking for garage doors, you should choose something that offers extra security and comfort to you. Garage doors that open manually are an option but it can be quite time consuming to open and close the doors. Garage door openers are devices which operate on motor and allow opening and closing of garage doors. You can either have a remote or switch on the garage wall to control it.
Garage doors for small garages. If your house has a short drive and is generally restricted space-wise, then a roller garage door might just be what you are looking for. A roller door rolls straight up a drum found above the opening, so there are no outswings or overhangs. A sectional garage door, on the other hand, differs in the manner by which the door is stored once opened. Like the roller door, there is no outswing so you can park your car flush to the garage door.
Why do some people want to have higher garage doors and looking for tall door garage plans? It is because the standard sized single car garage door is usually eight or 9 feet wide and 7 feet tall which is sometimes narrow for other cars. So when building a new garage or modifying the existing one, you must know the vertical clearance needed through the height of your vehicle. Some of the vehicles usually parked are trucks, motor boats, and trailers. If you will be using taller door, more often than not, the materials will be different. The ideal type is heavy metals and larger chain so that it can be sturdier and you can easily open and close them.


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Tripura is the 2nd smallest state in terms of area, but the 2nd most populous state in the North Eastern Region. Although the state is small with a population of only over three million, the social composition of the population of Tripura is diverse. In particular, around one-third of the population comprises people belonging to the Scheduled Tribes.
According to final results of 2001 census, the state’s population stood at 31.99 lakh, with a density of 305 persons per sq. km. […]
There are 19 sub-tribes among the scheduled tribes in the state with their own distinctive cultures.
Population pattern and demography have always been sensitive issues in Tripura over the past century which saw an actual decline in indigenous tribal population in terms of percentage because of resettlement of non-tribals in the state, particularly in the aftermath of the partition of the country in 1947. […]
Evidently, the tribal people were reduced from over a half to barely more than a quarter of the state’s population in a century. […]
A feature of note is that around 97.4 per cent of the tribal population is rural. Human development among tribal people is thus very closely tied to the evolution of the rural economy.
Source: Demographic Features – Tripura – States and Union Territories – Know India: National Portal of India
Address : http://www.knowindia.gov.in/knowindia/state_uts.php?id=88
Date Visited: Sat Jan 31 2015 12:00:58 GMT+0100 (CET)
August 2, 2011 The Hindu, UDHAGAMANDALAM,
A group of tribals from Tripura have been on a visit to the Nilgiris. The tribals from various parts of India have been brought to the Nilgiris under a scheme sponsored by the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs. The visit is aimed at bridging cultural differences among the tribals and promoting camaraderie among them. The group comprising 10 members from the Chakma, Riang, Lushai, Halam and Rupini tribal communities of Tripura have been studying the lifestyle of tribal groups of the Nilgiris like Todas in Tarnadumund and Paniyans and Mullukurumbars in Pandhalur taluk.
They also interacted with officials and voluntary agencies involved in tribal welfare-related activities.
Before concluding their visit on Wednesday, they are scheduled to exchange notes with a few other tribal groups like the Kotas.
Tribal Research Centre (TRC) Director C.R. Sathyanarayanan, who is coordinating the visit, told The Hindu that they would return with mixed feelings. Mr. Sathyanarayanan said the tribals were very impressed with the landscape of the Nilgiris, its verdancy and places where Toda munds (villages) were located. They were also happy to see that the Todas had balanced development with culture. However, the members, particularly two women Birota Chakma, a local body representative and Rammuan Tuii, a farmer, were upset over the living conditions in the settlements of Paniyans Bettukurumbas and Kaatunaikens in Pandhalur.
They expressed their disappointment over the socio-economic backwardness of the communities, the condition of their houses and the appalling standard of hygiene and sanitation, Mr. Sathyanarayanan said.
While pointing out that the living conditions in tribal settlements in Tripura were far better and economically they were more than comfortable, they hoped something would be done to ensure equitable development of the tribal groups in the Nilgiris.
Source: Tripura tribals better off than their Nilgiris bretheren – The Hindu
Address : http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tripura-tribals-better-off-than-their-nilgiris-bretheren/article2314983.ece
Date Visited: Sat Jan 31 2015 12:14:51 GMT+0100 (CET)
[Bold typeface added above for emphasis]
- Search a combination of keywords like “Tripura tribe education” or “Tripura communities” in the search window here: Google custom search – Indian press coverage of tribal culture and education >>
- Learn more about Government institutions and NGOs: Custom search engine: Govt. of India, NGOs and international organisations >>
- Book on the distinctive ear ornaments of the northeastern “Seven Sister States”: Proudly worn by women and men – Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura
- Economy and development
- Government of India
- Maps | Government of India State Maps
- Seven Sister States
- Western Ghats – tribal heritage & ecology
More about the “Seven Sister States”

domain: geography


We’re spending significant time in the northern hemisphere this week, starting off with legendary Afghan Ghazal singer Dr. Mohammad Sadiq Fitrat a.k.a. Nashenas, and moving swiftly into contemporary hypnotic Thai sounds from Mogambo.
Trips to Sweden, Israel, and the UK follow, including the fabulous new recorder-led record from Laura Cannell, and surf-infused pop music from Armon בשחור לבן. We have more South Asian-influenced sounds from London’s Darama, whose debut EP tips a hat to UK funky and garage as well as Punjabi rhythms. We also have a stunning record from Sweden’s Shida Shahabi.
We dip under the equator briefly for a wonderful set of field recordings from Rio de Janeiro’s Verónica Cerrotta. Elsewhere, there’s the cracking spoken word metronomic sounds of Reigns, heavy Canadian noise from BUÑUEL and much more.
Nashenas – The Way I Love My Beloved (Strut Records, Germany)
Mogambo – Urvi (उर्वी) (Siamese Twins Records, Thailand)
Reigns – The Horder (Wrong Speed Records, UK)
Verónica Cerrotta – IV (Pakapi Records, Argentina)
Shida Shahabi – Alice (FatCat Records, UK)
Armon ארמון – בשחור לבן (Kame’a Music, Israel)
BUÑUEL – Hornets (Profound Lore, Canada)
Laura Cannell – For the Gatherers (Brawl Records, UK)
Fears – 16 (TULLE, UK)
Darama – Vera (More Time, UK)
This week’s episode is sponsored by the state51 Conspiracy, an independent music house. Go to state51.com to find out more about everything they do: state51 Factory sessions and events; hand-made Atelier products; a diverse roster of Label releases; Greedbag stores, pop-up and fanzine, and the Collective of distribution partner labels and artistsProduced and edited by Nick McCorriston. Produced and edited by Nick McCorriston.


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Amy Winehouse played Joe's Pub Tuesday night. I wasn't there because everybody else was. Seriously, from what I understand, if you're in the music biz or you write about the music biz or you date someone who writes about the music biz, chances are you either had a seat or were trying to get a seat for these two shows.
I got to sit in on the soundcheck.
I guess this is how it works.
Right now, only a few of us Americans know about her, but Amy's really big in England. Huge. She's got it all--talent, controversy, talent and controversy. Also, more hair than a Wookie. And tattoos. And a great album that hasn't come out in the States yet. It's coming in March. This visit is the shotgun blast across the bow, it's the prelude to the main event, it's the meet and greet.
Did I mention she heckled Bono at an awards show? Well, everyone will when they write about her. You will grow sick and tired of hearing about that one.
As the band checked levels, she wandered around Joe's doing a couple of phone interviews. I could hear her talking about all-girl groups that influenced her and how she had a great boyfriend and how much she liked the new songs and I imagined reading the finished piece in a month or two when there's some product to push--it must be nice to have an organized marketting campaign. She flipped through the pages of a magazine during some down-time, grooving to the musicians finding their levels. She seemed relaxed and she took it all in stride, enjoying the last moments of this sustained moment before whatever happens next happens.
Who knows? Maybe this afternoon was like the Beatles first flight to America--a last quiet moment before everyone starts screaming. Maybe it's the beginning of a beautiful relationship where all the controversy that swirls around her in England won't matter because we all get to hear her for the first time. It's a clean slate. Maybe she has a couple of classic albums coming down the pike--songs that people will be singing along with in their cars on the way to the beach. Songs that people will play to remember long-lost moments and faded friends. They'll get all wistful and turn to the person next to them and say, "Amy Winehouse always makes me smile."
Or maybe no one will care. Maybe there's going to be a bigger story in two months. Maybe the stars won't align. Maybe Bono will blame African famine on her and we'll all buy it because she has a lot of hair and sometimes sings drunk on British television (for God's sake, it was a Michael Jackson cover--I'd get drunk and pull a late-career Dylan on it too).
Who knows? She certainly didn't behave as if she had any expectations . . .
Last night she played two short shows for the opinion makers, but yesterday afternoon she sang a bunch of songs, laughed with her singers, taught the guitarist a tricky chord change and I called Jeff to make him jealous. And, although I really would have liked to be at the shows, I can't say that I much minded having the place to myself. I got me a private show before everyone else started telling me what it was I was supposed to think about her--and I'm a very impressionable person. So, for me, Amy Winehouse is always going to remind me of that time I was just starting as the resident artist at Joe's Pub and it was time for a final soundcheck.
For more links and a nice little sample track go to Tofuhut.

domain: entertainment


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Greetings, fellow adventurers and wildlife enthusiasts! I'm thrilled to welcome you to my corner of the internet where I'll be your guide to the fascinating world of Southern African safaris. My name is Louise Meyer, and I'm not just a photographer; I'm a storyteller, a nature enthusiast, and your window to the untamed wilderness of this breathtaking region.
A symphony of stories
Every safari is a unique symphony of stories. I've been fortunate to accompany travelers from all corners of the globe on their expeditions into the heart of Africa. These journeys have been incredible tapestries of moments, woven from the threads of awe-inspiring sunsets, heart-pounding wildlife encounters, and the serene stillness of the savannah at dawn.
As a photographer, my mission goes beyond capturing the perfect shot. It's about connecting you with the soul of this remarkable region. It's about conveying the magic of the Maasai Mara, the grandeur of Victoria Falls, the enigmatic beauty of the Kalahari Desert, and the lush greenery of the Okavango Delta. My lens seeks not only to showcase the grandeur of the "Big Five" but also to reveal the intricate interactions of all creatures, great and small.
Let's Explore Together
So, here we are – you, me, and the promise of countless adventures waiting to be discovered. In the pages of this blog, I'll share with you not just the pictures I capture but the stories behind them. You'll learn about the animals I've encountered, the people I've met, and the cultures I've experienced. I'll also provide you with tips, insights, and recommendations to make your own safari experiences unforgettable.
I invite you to join me on this exhilarating journey through the lens, as we delve into the heart of Southern Africa's wilderness. Feel free to reach out, ask questions, and share your own experiences – for in this wild world, we're all fellow travelers.
Stay tuned for exciting tales, breathtaking visuals, and a deeper understanding of the incredible biodiversity and landscapes that make up Southern Africa. Together, we'll explore, learn, and create lasting memories.
Thank you for joining me, and let's embark on this wild adventure together!

domain: travel


In the realm of college football, there is one defining factor that determines how popular a team is. It’s not the coach’s clever tactics, it’s not the players’ athleticism, it’s not even the cheerleaders. No, the only thing that matters to get a huge crowd in a college stadium is a good mascot. That’s right, a guy in a goofy anthropomorphic suit and a jersey, looking like a furry with an insane amount of school spirit, is the herald of your team’s victory. The first foot to land on the battlefield to announce their presence is covered in faux fur. Surprisingly, it seems these silent heroes of the field are doomed to go unappreciated for the efforts they put into inspiring the crowd and players alike. In an effort to combat such leniency, here’s a rundown of the 15 best college football mascots.
Brutus Buckeye, Ohio State
Considering that the State of Ohio is affectionately known as “the buckeye state,” choosing the particularly tough tree nut as a mascot not only shows off Ohio State’s swell of hometown pride but also its teams’ rigid and unbreaking resilience. Named in a contest by Kerry Reed in 1965, Brutus Buckeye inspires such animosity in rival teams that Ohio Bobcats mascot-wearer Brandon Hanning confessed that his purpose in trying out for the position was so he could tackle Brutus. This revelation came after the fact.
Willie The Wildcat, Northwestern University
The wildcat is a pretty standard animal mascot and Willie is even a fairly standard name for a wildcat to have. So how does the grey cat in purple and white make this list? Because he was created by a Chicago Tribune journalist who, in 1924, wrote that even in a loss to University of Chicago, the Northwestern players were “like wildcats…had come down from Evanston. The name stuck and the mascot was created later. Northwestern: vicious as a feral feline since 1924.
Sparty The Spartan, Michigan State
Spartans make for great team mascots. The ancient Greek culture focused primarily on military power and aggression always invokes images of strong warriors and dangerous enemies. Of all the Spartan mascots, however, Sparty of Michigan State takes the cake. He’s got a hilarious yet chant-able name, looks particularly muscular even by cartoon Spartan standards and is one of the best human mascot costumes in the league.
Nittany Lion, Penn State
The Nittany Lion is actually supposed to be an Eastern Mountain Lion, specifically from nearby Mt. Nittany. It was created by H.D. Mason after being taunted by some Princeton students at an away game. On the spot, Mason declared that the Princeton Tigers would be slain by the superior right arms of the Nittany Lion. The story is commemorated by a shrine on campus and the Penn State practice of cumulative, one-armed pushups after every touchdown, showing off their ‘superior right arms.’
Mr. And Mrs. Wuf, NC State
Couples mascots can be tricky to pull off, but NC state got it right with Mr. and Mrs. Wuf. Dressed like a couple out of a 1950s high school, the gray wild canines are as vicious as they are dotting. To inspire their team with their love, the two will occasionally get ‘married’ before a game, accepting a North Carolina victory as a wedding present. And if they can’t win with the power of love, Mr. and Mrs. Wuf will be more than happy to show players how to nash their teeth intimidatingly.
There is no animal, person or object more terrifying than a rampaging hot pepper. Looking a bit more demonic than was likely intended this giant cayenne pepper strolls along with the Ragin’ Cajuns as an embodiment of their school spirit and their pride in Acadiana. He’s also just intimidating to look at. In the future, Louisiana-Lafayette students might start using cayenne in their battle strategy, at which point it may appear on the banned substance list.
The Sooner Schooner, Oklahoma
Who says a mascot has to be an animal or a person or even something living? Leave it to the alma mater of Good ole JR to parade a small covered wagon around the field, drawn by a pair of decorated white ponies, all the way to the 50-yard line after every touchdown. It even used to be part of a stunt where the driver would have to ride towards the goal post as fast as they could and duck their head down at the last minute. This was later stopped because football is dangerous enough as it is.
Ralphie The Buffalo, University of Colorado
The practice of using live animals as mascots has largely gone away due to safety and animal rights concerns. Apparently, the University of Colorado didn’t get the memo though because they’re currently on Ralphie number five. Led around by no less than five handlers, Ralphie loops the field twice at each home game. Despite the name Ralphie, the school exclusively uses female buffalo for, among other reasons, insurance purposes.
Chief Osceola & Renegade, Florida State University
Cultural appropriation issues aside, this is one of the most insane mascots ever. Based on the real-life Seminole chief, Osceola rides into home games on a live horse before tossing a flaming spear into midfield. Though many prominent members of the Seminole tribe have given the mascot their unofficial blessing, and some have even praised this representation of one of their culture’s unsung heroes, the depiction is still considered controversial to some.
Otto The Orange, Syracuse
As the saying goes, if you can’t eat them, baffle them. Otto the Orange is a literal anthropomorphic orange and is one of Syracuse’s most enduring institutions. Which isn’t saying much as their previous mascots were the offensive Native American stereotype Big Chief Bill Orange and the vehemently unpopular Orange Gladiator. Still, the playful and mischevious Otto is a homegrown staple of the student body and is one of the most beloved mascots in the division.
Big Red, Western Kentucky
It’s big and it’s red and that’s about all there is to it. But somehow the furry scarlet blob became an instant hit with the student body when it was introduced in 1980. Since then, its popularity has led to it placing highly in multiple cheerleading competitions and even feature fairly regularly on ESPN. He was even a part of an international lawsuit in 2004 when an Italian television show’s mascot was discovered to be eerily similar to good ole Big Red.
Sebastian The Ibis, Universtiy of Miami
For a team called the Hurricanes, what better symbol than the local marsh bird best known for braving the massive storms? Known for his classic C-A-N-E-S cheer and for being the only openly Hispanic mascot (he identifies as Cuban), Sebastian made history by being the first mascot to avoid arrest by being a mascot. After being tackled to the ground while trying to put out Chief Osceola’s flaming spear, he was released when officers realized they were literally arresting a bird in a fireman’s outfit.
Buzz & The Ramblin’ Wreck, Georgia Tech
If you have a gilded 1930 Ford Model A Sport coupe on standby, you probably would bust that baby out at every available opportunity too. Almost always accompanied by Buzz the Bee and a gaggle of enthusiastic cheerleaders, the Ramblin’ Wreck has been leading students to the football field in one form or another for the better part of sixty years. Unfortunately, it’s a prime target for rival schools and has been defaced, sabotaged and even stolen on multiple occasions.
The Demon Deacon, Wake Forest University
In 1923, Wake Forest school newspaper editor Mayon Parker got into some hot water by referring to the football team of the Baptist college as “demon deacons” for their “devilish” tactics. Fortunately for Parker, the student body embraced the description wholeheartedly. Nowadays, every Wake Forest home game begins with the thousands of cheers as a bespoke, softly smirking deacon rides into the stadium on a custom chopper, announcing the arrival of a demonic presence.
Sam The Minuteman, UMass Amherst
Named after both a popular Boston children’s book and the famed Son of Liberty and brewer Sam Adams, Sam the Minuteman is a patriotic staple of any and every UMass Amherst game. Never seen without his crimson tri-point hat and matching vest, the character is a model of having a hometown represent the college as opposed to the other way around. He’s popular enough to have appeared on ESPN segments and even tag-teamed with Pat Patriot on occasion.
Honorable mentions go to Ephelia the Purple Cow of Williams College, Sammy the Banana Slug of UC Santa Cruz and the ‘Fightin’ Irish’ Leprechaun of Notre Dame.


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Locals 2020: Picking Pete Pleasant’s brain about Craig’s history
Pete Pleasant rings with numbers he doesn’t recognize more often than yours. Sometimes, it’s those dang-blasted marketers trying to sell him something. But many times, it’s someone wanting to pick his brain about Craig.
Pleasant was born in Craig in 1939, and save for college and a brief stint in the military that ended when his football injuries sent him home (honorably), he spent his whole life here.
“I’m not smart enough to leave,” Pleasant said.
Pleasant likes to say things like that because he likes to joke a lot, but he will also admit that he likes his status as one of the town’s historians. He didn’t plan on being that, but his memory, sharper than a paper cut, left him with no choice. He hasn’t written anything down or taken photos. It’s all up in his head. He can, for instance, walk downtown with you and tell you every single business that was there in the 1940s and 1950s. He can remember someone in a photo from a 1950s carnival. He can remember someone and help friends or distant family members find them, either because he knows where they are now or because he can name a family member who can help.
“I’ve been very fortunate,” Pleasant said of his memory.
He hasn’t really researched much of anything either: What he knows is what he’s lived. But that kind of background is important, said Dan Davidson, the director of the Museum of Northwest Colorado in Craig.
“He’s a great person to understand what was actually happening at the time,” Davidson said. “It wasn’t all stuff that made the newspaper. It was just the events and the activity and the people.”
That’s especially important this week, Davidson said, as COVID-19 and old age works its way through Craig.
“This has been the worst week for losing people” in his 31 years of working at the museum, he said. Pleasant keeps the fabric of the community strong, instead of allowing it to fray, as it might under the friction of the pandemic.
“These people are a huge part of the fabric of what makes Craig, Craig,” Davidson said. “They understand the people and the place and the time. It’s that connection to people.”
Sid Pleasant, an attorney and Pete’s father, was Davidson’s first resource, but Pete became one after he worked for his grandfather’s insurance business and then took it over until Pete retired in 2012 or 13 (ironically, he doesn’t remember the exact year). Pleasant married Madge, who died 21 years ago, and raised two boys, Jeff and Dan. Jeff gave him two grandsons, and Dan gave him two granddaughters. He spent many days with all of them fishing and hunting, and Cody, the oldest, still lives in Craig, not far from Jeff, who lives in Grand Junction.
Pleasant’s love for the outdoors, for hunting the area’s trophy elk and fishing the great Colorado streams and shooting small game, convinced him to stick around.
“I had opportunities to go elsewhere,” Pleasant said, “but you don’t have any freedom in Denver. You could go in your pickup and drive five minutes and be out in a field shooting rabbits. You can’t drive five hours in Denver and do that.”
He made a good living because he knew practically everyone, and he remembered their kids and businesses and lives. That helps keep clients. He still has more than 90 percent of their numbers in his head.
“I’d like to think that helped,” Pleasant said.
Pleasant enjoys the phone calls from strangers or old friends or residents, and they run in spurts.
“People now are calling me to ask about people and their condition,” he said. “Sometimes it’s a learning lesson for me because I didn’t know someone was sick. It’s a different world we are living in now.
“Of course I think it’s important. It keeps me going.”
That memory remains a vault of Craig, and along with Albert Shepherd and Louie Wyman and the efforts of the museum to write some of it down, he said, the town’s history should be preserved a little while longer, regardless of what COVID-19 tries to do to wipe it out.
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domain: news


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Christmas love illustrations and clipart (31,541) Christmas Love Stock Illustration by ivaleksa 7 / 123 Christmas love heart pine tree Drawing by cienpies 6 / 662 Merry Christmas love concept icons. Clipart by cienpies 5 / 192 Reindeer Christmas Love Drawings by Kakigori 3 / 557 Christmas greeting card Stock Illustration by Meikis 20 / 814 Christmas multicultural kids Tree isolated on white
Stock Illustrations by BEEANDGLOW 39 / 3,062 template of christmas card Drawings by zoyalipets 9 / 787 Christmas deer stag heads, vector Stock Illustration by jstan 18 / 1,524 Couple in love together, christmas illustration for your design Stock Illustration by Kudryashka 1 / 21 I love Christmas background Stock Illustrations by roxanabalint 1 / 18 Family love in a big heart Drawing by glopphy 4 / 532 Christmas pine tree hang tag Clip Art by cienpies 2 / 105 Peace Dove Clip Art by LadyLite 12 / 3,016 Christmas Love Clipart by ivaleksa 3 / 245 Christmas Love Kiss Stock Illustration by Kakigori 1 / 2,236 Happy holiday, funny tree with balloons Stock Illustration by Kudryashka 691 / 192,931 Merry Christmas Card Stock Illustration by pdesign 24 / 1,922 christmas deer, vector Clipart by jstan 38 / 3,058 Christmas love heart Drawings by antishock 1 / 17 Christmas love heart Stock Illustration by antishock 1 / 4 christmas card Stock Illustrations by andreakaulitzki 36 / 2,425 Christmas gift icons Stock Illustrations by lemony 10 / 659 Christmas love heart Stock Illustration by antishock 0 / 3 Vintage valentine Stock Illustrations by rgbspace 43 / 2,031 Christmas landscape Clipart by Andreus 33 / 4,567 Love is in the air in this romantic winter illustration scene. Great spacing for text. Perfect for any Valentine or Christmas needs. Clip Art by LouisDavilla 6 / 1,529 Love heart vector Drawings by Millisenta 22 / 1,641 Christmas background with open gift Stock Illustration by almoond 8 / 153 Woman preparing christmas cookies Stock Illustration by BEEANDGLOW 36 / 6,220 Merry Christmas Card Stock Illustration by pdesign 6 / 399 Christmas landscape Stock Illustration by Andreus 16 / 1,345 Abstract Christmas background Stock Illustration by Megapixelina 16 / 156 Christmas nativity 25th december Clipart by glopphy 19 / 1,348 Retro Christmas Card - Birds on Christmas Tree - for invitation, congratulation in vector Stock Illustration by wooster 65 / 9,196 Christmas landscape Stock Illustrations by Andreus 19 / 704 The 12 Days of Christmas Stock Illustration by Eireann 49 / 2,425 Christmas Love Stock Illustration by liveslow 0 / 67 Christmas bear family greeting car Stock Illustrations by Dazdraperma 11 / 766 Christmas love Clip Art by prawny 0 / 41 Christmas love heart Clip Art by antishock 0 / 4 Madonna and Child Nativity Stock Illustrations by Irisangel 55 / 4,697 Merry christmas! Happy peoples for your design Stock Illustration by Kudryashka 12 / 287 Bell sketch for Christmas or wedding with bow Stock Illustration by svetap 39 / 1,489 owl family christmas set Drawings by pauljune 24 / 598 Vintage merry christmas concept heart Drawing by cienpies 10 / 474 Christmas Card Stock Illustrations by pdesign 5 / 85 Christmas Card with Angel Stock Illustration by ESSL 11 / 685 Merry Christmas decorations elements border. Clipart by cienpies 36 / 701 Happy family and snowman, christmas holiday Drawings by Kudryashka 13 / 727 Christmas Penguin Stock Illustration by yayayoyo 4 / 664 rudolph?s love Clip Art by gatterwe 3 / 108 Vintage christmas elements set Stock Illustrations by cienpies 9 / 572 Christmas love Stock Illustration by prawny 0 / 17 Colorful Merry Christmas circle shape with reindeers and love elements composition. EPS10 vector file organized in layers for easy editing.
Stock Illustrations by cienpies 6 / 398 Christmas Panda with heart banner Drawings by Rixie 17 / 3,339 Merry Christmas Greeting Card - Angels - paper cut style - in vector Clipart by wooster 15 / 1,861 xmas card merry christmas Stock Illustration by pdesign 15 / 456 christmas ornament, gift and tree Drawings by pauljune 15 / 302 Christmas scenery Drawing by joneshon 4 / 135 Golden background with stars and twinkly lights Stock Illustrations by Megapixelina 213 / 4,874 Fashion Christmas Ball Drawings by ivaleksa 7 / 396 Christmas birds Stock Illustrations by BEEANDGLOW 7 / 864 Vector Christmas Background Clip Art by ramonakaulitzki 21 / 262 Four seasons - spring, summer, autumn, winter. Art tree heart shape for your design Stock Illustration by Kudryashka 82 / 11,031 Big set of gift bows with ribbons. Stock Illustrations by almoond 19 / 1,434 owl family christmas greeting Drawings by pauljune 10 / 597 christmas tree III Clipart by Milanj 35 / 3,690 Vintage Christmas elements, reindeer with text seamless pattern background. EPS10 vector file organized in layers for easy editing. Stock Illustration by cienpies 26 / 1,284 Birds at Christmas Clip Art by adrenalina 4 / 111 Christmas boy and girl elves Drawings by BEEANDGLOW 21 / 2,695 Merry Christmas Greeting Card - Angels - paper cut style - in vector Stock Illustration by wooster 8 / 2,478 Merry Christmas elements ornament background vector file. Stock Illustrations by cienpies 21 / 1,154 Red glowing simple Christmas background. Stock Illustrations by Gile68 19 / 80 Vector Christmas Background Drawing by ramonakaulitzki 11 / 145 Merry Christmas Stock Illustration by tharun15 1 / 9


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Digital Public Defence: Tone Westergren
Cand. pharm. Tone Westergren at Institute of Clinical Medicine will be defending the thesis “Reporting of adverse effects in clinical trials, systematic reviews, and guidelines. How events are lost along the evidence chain” for the degree of PhD (Philosophiae Doctor).
Photo: Laila Bruun, OUS
The public defence will be held as a video conference over Zoom.
The defence will follow regular procedure as far as possible, hence it will be open to the public and the audience can ask ex auditorio questions when invited to do so.
Due to copyright reasons, an electronic copy of the thesis must be ordered from the faculty. In order for the faculty to have time to process the order, it must be received by the faculty no later than 2 days prior to the public defence. Orders received later than 2 days before the defence will not be processed. Inquiries regarding the thesis after the public defence must be addressed to the candidate.
Digital Trial Lecture – time and place
- First opponent: Professor Gert Jan van der Wilt, Radboud University Medical Centre
- Second opponent: Professor Anne Gerd Granås, Norwegian Centre for E-health Research
- Third member and chair of the evaluation committee: Researcher Vigdis Vindenes, University of Oslo
Chair of the Defence
Associate Professor Susanne Dudman, University of Oslo
Associate Professor Marianne Klemp, University of Oslo
Knowledge about adverse effects of a medication is essential to assess treatment benefits versus risks. Several researchers have found that not all adverse effects are included when results from clinical trials are published. Consequently, evaluations of risk profiles may result in conflicting conclusions. Differences in what is counted as an adverse effect, and what is mentioned in publications, may influence the risk assessments that are presented to doctors and patients. The researchers found that adverse effects observed in clinical trials are not always presented in study publications or reflected in systematic reviews and guidelines.
The aims of this thesis were to assess how adverse effects in clinical trials are identified and communicated, and how adverse effects are described in therapy guidelines. The researchers addressed two model areas: Risk of gastrointestinal bleeding due to corticosteroid therapy, and risk of adverse effects from antidepressants in children and adolescents.
The researchers found that use of corticosteroids was associated with increased risk of gastrointestinal bleeding in hospitalized patients. There were few cases of gastrointestinal bleeding in ambulant patients. What was counted as a gastrointestinal bleeding differed considerably between trials. Many trial publications did not fulfil all international criteria for reporting of harms.
Risk of adverse effects from antidepressants in children and adolescents has not been extensively studied. The researchers found that adverse effects from treatment in a pivotal trial had been incompletely reported. The publications on adverse effects focused on suicidality, and did not describe other adverse reactions for treatment lasting more than 12 weeks.
Therapy guidelines on depression in children and adolescents mention adverse effects to a varying degree. All the assessed guidelines mentioned risk of suicidality, but many guidelines did not mention other types of adverse effects.
Contact the research support staff.

domain: medical


The United States and the UK have the greatest market penetration of HDTV with 39 percent and 35 percent, respectively, and a majority of consumers in each country are aware of Blu-ray Disc technology, according to new research from Interpret.
The research reveals that 60 percent of U.S. consumers and 56 percent of consumers in the UK are aware of the HD disc format and that 9 percent of consumers in both countries own the format. In Japan, where 28 percent of households have HDTVs, consumer awareness of Blu-ray stands at 45 percent.
In France and Germany, HDTV penetration is relatively low, the study found, with 21 percent of French consumers and 18 percent of German consumers owning HDTVs. Awareness of Blu-ray in Germany stood at 49 percent, and in France only 30 percent of consumers have heard of the format.
When it comes to buying HD disc-based content, the survey found mixed results. In the United States over the past six months, HD disc sales exceeded SD sales at a rate of 8.7 to 7.7. In the UK, the situation was reversed with SD discs outselling HD discs during the same period — 11.4 to 7.9. In Japan, the rate was 5.3 to .6 for SD versus HD disc sales.
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Apple announced its 13-inch M2 MacBook Pro during its WWDC 2022 keynote but did not hint on what exact date customers would be able to order it. The technology giant has now rolled out a press release mentioning that you will be able to order the portable Mac starting June 17.
No Word on When the Redesigned M2 MacBook Air Will Officially Be Available for Customers
Assuming that customers only want to purchase new MacBook Pro because of the upgraded M2 chip, they will likely ignore the MacBook Air. It is possible Apple has not publicly announced the MacBook Air because of supply chain issues, preventing certain parts from being shipped in large quantities, including the M2 SoC. Regardless of what is happening in the background, the M2 MacBook Pro will be available to purchase in less than a week and retains the same design as its predecessor, the M1 MacBook Pro.
This means that currently, this is the only portable Mac available in Apple’s lineup to ship with a Touch Bar, and on the inside, you will be greeted with multiple upgrades, including the M2. Apple’s latest custom silicon may ship with the same 8-core CPU configuration as the M1, but it can be customized to tout a 10-core GPU, resulting in slightly improved graphics performance in a multitude of tasks.
Additionally, the M2 MacBook Pro can be upgraded to up to 24GB of LPDDR5 unified RAM and 2TB of PCIe NVMe storage. However, do note that customers will need to configure their machines prior to placing the order since all the components are soldered to the logic board, so you will not be able to upgrade anything down the line.
The M2 MacBook Pro will be available in various regions through Apple’s App Store app and Authorized Resellers. It will begin arriving to customers and will be in select Apple Store locations on June 24. Pricing starts from $1,299 for the base version, with students getting a $100 discount, bringing the price down to $1,199.
The post Apple’s 13-inch M2 MacBook Pro Will Be Available to Order Worldwide Starting June 17 by Omar Sohail appeared first on Wccftech.


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Skittles and bowling balls arranged in flower forms (based on the semi-regular octagon and square grid) with additional interleaving bell-like flowers, oriented for a centred lattice; all given a stained glass style (zoom in for detail), suitable for a shrine to bowling. Currently displaying a 4" repeat (scaled down from 6") in white, red and cool azure blues. Also available in hot bright tropical colours and the other lattice orientation. Other colours, stylings, sizes and orientations are available on request and you can even ask for a combination of several designs together.


(ANSA) – Rangoon, Aug. 25 – The former British ambassador to Burma has been arrested by Burmese authorities. This was announced by a diplomatic source told AFP. Vicki Bowman, who served between 2002 and 2006, was arrested yesterday in Rangoon, the country’s economic capital amid violent struggles after the February 1, 2021 coup, according to the source who requested anonymity.
According to the same diplomatic source, the British authorities also arrested her husband, Burmese artist Hattin Lane, a former political prisoner. “We are concerned about the arrest of a British woman in Burma,” a British embassy spokesman told AFP. “We are in contact with the local authorities and provide the necessary consular assistance,” he added. Local media reported that the couple, who were transferred to Insein Prison in Rangoon, have been arrested for allegedly violating immigration laws, an offense punishable by up to five years in prison. A spokesman for the military council declined to comment on the matter. (Dealing).
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France, there is an increase in young people with precedents who will be offered a military path
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Widening social storm and new strikes paralyze Great Britain – the world


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Kendall Jenner Would Be Beyoncé's Personal Assistant For This Relatable Reason
Kaley Cuoco chats with Access on the red carpet at PaleyFest 2018 about Bill Gates' upcoming guest appearance on "Big Bang Theory." How did his first take go on set? Then, Kunal Nayyar dishes on working with the tech icon. And, Executive Producer Steve Holland reveals how Gates' guest spot came about.


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The Chinese economy has grown rapidly in most years since 1978. Between 1982 and 2012, the thirty-year period focused on in Chapters 1–4, China experienced an astounding average annual GDP growth rate of 10.2% and an annual GDP per capita growth rate of 9.12%, according to official figures.Footnote 1 In contrast, over the same period, global GDP per capita registered an average growth rate of just 1.48%, while the same figure for high–income developed OECD countries was only 1.86%.Footnote 2 Even after 2012, when the Chinese economy began to slow down, its growth remained one of the fastest in the world. Note that the headline measure of a country’s economic growth is normally the growth rate of GDP. However, in this book, I use the average annual growth rate of GDP per capita (over a given period, say ten years or longer) as a preferred measure of long-term growth to capture the speed of the rise in the standard of living.
Chinese Growth from a Global Comparative Perspective
The fact that China has grown faster than developed countries is not remarkable. Most readers will probably attribute this to China’s very low initial per capita GDP. Economists call this the “catch-up effect.” But do low-income countries always grow faster than high-income countries? Not really. In fact, it is usually the opposite. Table 1.1 shows that between 1982 and 2012, the average annual growth rate of GDP per capita in low-income countries was only 1.38 percent, which was lower than that of developed countries. The average annual growth rate of middle-income countries, including China, was 3.08 percent. Thus, in terms of economic growth, China has outperformed not only high-income developed countries but also low- and middle-income developing countries, and by a large margin. It is this last fact that constitutes the Chinese growth puzzle.
|Country or Group of Countries||Average Annual Growth Rate of GDP Per Capita (%)|
|High-income OECD countries||1.86|
|Latin America and the Caribbean (all countries)||1.21|
|Sub-Saharan Africa (all countries)||0.45|
Note: Unless stated otherwise, all data in this book are from the data set of World Development Indicators published by the World Bank (https://datacatalog.worldbank.org/dataset/world-development-indicators). The version of the dataset used in this book for the 1982–2012 period was published on December 18, 2013. All average growth rates between 1982 and 2012 were calculated as an average of thirty annual growth rates from 1983 to 2012.
In this book, I use the World Bank classification of all countries into low-income, middle-income (including lower middle and upper middle), and high-income groups. Both low-income and middle-income countries are referred to as developing countries, while high-income countries are referred to as developed countries. The World Bank’s latest classification criteria were based on countries’ gross national income per capita (GNI per capita, which is roughly the same as GDP per capita). In 2012, low-income countries were those with a GNI per capita of US$1,035 or less; lower middle-income countries were those with a GNI per capita between US$1,036 and US$4,085; upper middle-income countries were those with a GNI per capita between US$4,085 and US$12,615; and high-income countries were those with a GNI per capita above US$12,615. These income criteria were adjusted slightly downward in 2018. According to this classification, all Western countries, Japan, and the four Asian Tigers are high-income developed economies, while developing countries include upper middle-income countries, such as China, Malaysia, and Brazil; lower middle-income countries, such as India, Nigeria, and the Philippines; and low-income countries, such as Haiti, Tanzania, and Bangladesh.Footnote 3 Most countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean are developing countries.
The rate of economic growth varies not only across countries but also across different periods. Table 1.2 breaks down the 1980–2010 period into three decades (the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s), leading to the following observations. First, China’s economic growth was the fastest in the world in all three decades. In addition, India had a much slower growth rate than China but still grew faster than other developing countries.
Second, the so-called BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, South Africa, and China) had little in common other than the fact that they were relatively large economies among developing countries. Among these five countries, only China and India experienced fast economic growth, while Russia, Brazil, and South Africa only grew modestly. In addition, Russia’s economy suffered negative growth in the 1980s and 1990s. Its growth between 2001 and 2010 largely represented an economic recovery after a long recession and was more or less driven by oil and gas. Brazil’s economic growth was even slower than the average growth rate of all developing countries. Its slightly more robust growth in the 2000s was also mainly due to the resource boom of the decade. With the end of the resource boom, Russia and Brazil have again stagnated in recent years.
Third, the four Asian Tigers grew relatively quickly in the 1980s, but by 1990, they were all high-income developed economies, and their growth rate slowed significantly. In the twenty-first century, their GDP per capita growth rate fell to around 3.5 percent, a growth figure still significantly higher than that of other developed economies.
Fourth, during these three decades, the overall economic growth of developing countries generally accelerated, while that of high-income developed economies (including the Asian Tigers) slowed over time. However, apart from countries in East Asia and the Pacific region (mainly China and Southeast Asian countries) and South Asia (mainly India), which had significantly higher growth than that of developed countries, other developing regions tended to grow more slowly than high-income developed countries in the 1980s and the 1990s. It was not until the twenty-first century that the growth of these regions started to outpace that of high-income countries. This was probably due to the resource boom brought about by rapid growth in China and India, as many developing countries are rich in natural resources.
How Accurate Are China’s GDP Data?
Whether compared with its own past or with other countries, China’s economic growth seems to have been too fast to be credible. Could this be due to China’s official data overestimating or overstating the country’s growth rate? Some twenty years ago, Thomas Rawski, an eminent scholar of the Chinese economy, published an article questioning the credibility of China’s GDP data for 1998, the year of the Asian financial crisis, pointing out that the official GDP growth rate of 7.8 percent did not match electricity usage data and other relevant figures.Footnote 4 This article sparked great media interest and debate. In fact, China’s current Premier Li Keqiang did not really trust the official GDP data when he was the party secretary in Liaoning Province, opting instead to trust the figures on power generation, railway freight, and bank loans. The Economist even created a “Keqiang Index” using these three indicators to measure the health of China’s macroeconomy.Footnote 5
GDP growth has always been a key performance measure in China for provincial and local officials, which means that they may have a strong incentive to falsify GDP reports, especially when the local economy is not doing well. As a result, China’s national GDP growth may be overstated.Footnote 6 Local over-reporting is only one reason for the inaccuracy of China’s GDP growth figures. Economists familiar with Chinese statistics have long recognized that underestimating inflation is another important reason for the overestimation of China’s GDP growth.Footnote 7 Real GDP growth is equal to nominal GDP growth minus inflation. Thus, if inflation is underestimated, real GDP growth will be overestimated.
So, how much of China’s GDP growth has been overstated? According to Angus Maddison and Harry Wu, two authorities on Chinese GDP statistics, China’s annual growth between 1978 and 2003 was 7.85 percent, not 9.59 percent as in the official data.Footnote 8 Their research had an influence on the Penn World Table, a widely used data set of national income accounts based on PPP, which also lowered its estimates of China’s GDP growth rate over the years. Table 1.3 shows the compound annual growth rate of China and other countries between 1980 and 2010 based on GDP figures from the Maddison Project and the Penn World Table.Footnote 9 These two data sets lowered China’s growth rate by about 2 percent and 3 percent, respectively, from the official statistics. Yet even with these adjustments, China’s economic growth was still far ahead of every other country.
|Country||Maddison Project||Penn World Table 8.0|
Note: The author made the calculations using data from the Maddison Project Database 2013 (www.rug.nl/ggdc/historicaldevelopment/maddison/releases/maddison-project-database-2013) and the Penn World Table version 8.0 (www.rug.nl/ggdc/productivity/pwt/pwt-releases/pwt8.0).
Although China’s GDP growth is very likely to have been overstated, its GDP level has probably been underestimated (Maddison Reference Maddison2007).Footnote 10 This statement may sound contradictory, but it is plausible for two reasons. First, China’s overestimation of real GDP growth may be largely due to an underestimation of inflation, not to an overestimation of its nominal GDP levels.Footnote 11 Second, the value added of the service industry has been constantly underestimated due to poor coverage and other shortcomings in the national statistical system. For example, after the first national economic census in 2004, the NBS revised upward the GDP level for 2004 by 16.8 percent, with an increase in the service industry accounting for more than 90 percent of the total increase.Footnote 12 A 2009 report from Morgan Stanley’s Asia Research department pointed out that the official value added of the service sector significantly underestimated housing costs and personal medical expenses.Footnote 13 My own research with Jun Zhang also showed that during the 2004–2011 period, the imputed rent of resident-owned housing alone, a component of GDP, was underestimated in official statistics by an amount equivalent to 4–5 percent of GDP.Footnote 14
As a household’s income level increases, the ratio of its food expenditure to total consumption expenditure will decrease. This is called Engel’s Law, which was proposed by nineteenth–century German statistician Ernst Engel (1821–1896). The ratio is called the Engel coefficient. Engel’s Law also applies at the national level: That is, the proportion of a country’s household food expenditure in total consumption expenditure decreases as per capita income increases. Government officials in China may have incentives to falsify GDP figures, but not household consumption expenditure. By quantifying Engel’s Law, linking the Engel coefficient with national income per capita, it is possible to use the change in the Engel coefficient over time to infer the change in income, that is, economic growth.
In a study published in 2011, Richard Anker of the University of Massachusetts collected the Engel coefficients of 207 economies around the world.Footnote 15 He divided these economies into ten deciles, classifying them from low income to high income by their GDP per capita (in constant 2005 PPP dollars) in the year the Engel coefficient was available. Each decile contained about twenty economies. Professor Anker then calculated the average Engel coefficient of all economies in each decile. The results are presented in the first two columns of Table 1.4. I added the third column, which divides all economies in the World Development Indicators data set into ten equal deciles by GDP per capita in 1998 and lists the range of GDP per capita for each decile for that year. I used 1998 because Anker collected data on the Engel coefficient over various years and the average data year was 1998. As GDP per capita here is measured in constant dollars, the year chosen should not have a significant effect on the results. My assumption here is that when a country’s per capita GDP falls within a certain decile range in the third column, its Engel coefficient should be around the value in the corresponding decile, and vice versa.
|Decile Ranked by Income (i.e., GDP Per Capita) from Low to High||Decile Average of the Engel Coefficient (%)||Range of GDP Per Capita for Each Income Decile in 1998 (in Constant 2005 PPP Dollars)|
|1 (Lowest Income Decile)||50.1||(122–342)|
|10 (Highest Income Decile)||14.8||(30,612–116,108)|
Note: The first two columns are reproduced from table 11 in Anker (Reference Anker2011), and the third column is based on data from the World Development Indicators published by the World Bank.
In China, the relevant data to calculate the Engel coefficient as defined by Anker are only available from 1992 and only for urban households. I made the calculations for the years between 1992 and 2012. China’s Engel coefficient was 43 percent in 1992 and 25 percent in 2012. Comparing these figures with the results in Table 1.4, we can see that the Engel coefficient for Chinese urban households in 1992 was between the third and fourth deciles. Based on the third column, the corresponding GDP per capita (in constant 2005 PPP dollars) should be around US$1,040. In 2012, China’s Engel coefficient fell to 25 percent, between the seventh and eighth deciles in the table, with a corresponding GDP per capita in the third column around US$7,400. If the aforementioned inference is correct, GDP per capita in urban China increased sixfold between 1992 and 2012, implying an average annual growth rate of about 10 percent. Taking into account the slower growth rate of rural household income in China (about 1 percentage poin slower), the overall growth rate of GDP per capita in China over these two decades was just under 10 percent.
The correlation between the Engel coefficient and GDP per capita is of course not perfect. Therefore, using Engel’s Law to infer economic growth may not be very accurate. Nevertheless, the fact remains that China’s Engel coefficient went from a lower middle-income economy (about 30th percentile) to an upper middle-income economy (about 70th percentile) in twenty years, suggesting that China’s economic growth during these twenty years was indeed very fast.
The GDP growth rate is only one indicator of economic growth. The growth of disposable household income is another indicator, and it better reflects the improvement in the standard of living. China’s disposable income data are collected through household income and expenditure surveys. Unlike GDP, until recently, household income was not part of the performance assessment of Chinese government officials; therefore, the likelihood of falsification was low. Some studies have shown that China’s household income may have been significantly underestimated, mainly because high-income households are significantly underrepresented in income surveys.Footnote 16 However, as long as the degree of underestimation remains basically constant each year, the growth rate of household income should be fairly accurate.Footnote 17
Table 1.5 shows in the second column that between 1982 and 2012, China’s nominal disposable income per capita increased fiftyfold, with a compound annual growth rate of 14.01%.Footnote 18 Over the same period, the consumer price index increased by 5.56% per year. Therefore, after accounting for the rise in prices, the real growth rate should be around 8.45%, slightly lower than the growth rate of GDP per capita of 9.12% over the same period. Of course, China’s inflation rate may also have been underestimated, so that real income growth may not have been as high as 8.45%. To avoid using the official inflation rate, in the third column of the table, I converted all income figures in RMB to US dollars based on the official exchange rate. China’s disposable income per capita in 2012 was US$2,640.63, 13.63 times the 1982 figure of US$193.71. The compound annual growth rate should then have been 9.1% over this period. In other words, Chinese household income increased by 9.1% per year in US dollars. In comparison, the compound annual growth rate of disposable income of American households was only 3.14% over the same period, almost 6 percentage points lower than that of China. The inflation rate of the US dollar during this period was 2.93%, so the annual growth rate of income per capita in China measured by constant US dollars was 6.17%, while that of the United States was only 0.21%. As China’s RMB exchange rate was overvalued in 1982 and generally considered to be undervalued in 2012, the growth rate of disposable income in China calculated with the official exchange rate is actually an underestimation.
|RMB||Calculated in US$ with the Official Exchange Rate||Calculated in US$ with the World Bank’s PPP–Adjusted Exchange Rate|
|Disposable Income Per Capita, 1982||326||194||200|
|Disposable Income Per Capita, 2012||16,669||2,641||4,003|
|Nominal Compound Annual Growth Rate||14.01%||9.10%||10.50%|
|Inflation Rate (CPI), RMB, or US$||5.56%||2.93%||2.93%|
|Real Compound Annual Growth Rate||8.45%||6.17%||7.57%|
Note: The author made these calculations using data from the CEIC Global Database and the World Development Indicators. The official exchange rates in 1982 and 2012 published by the Chinese government were US$1 for RMB1.68 and RMB6.31, respectively, while the PPP–adjusted exchange rates published by the World Bank were US$1 for RMB1.63 and RMB4.16, respectively.
In the last column, I used the PPP–adjusted exchange rate published by the World Bank to convert RMB income to US dollars. As a result, China’s per capita income in 1982 was US$200 and reached US$4,003 in 2012, twenty times higher. In this calculation, the nominal compound annual growth rate would be 10.5%, and even adjusted for inflation, it would be as high as 7.57%.
Regardless of the data set we use, there is no doubt that China has indeed grown rapidly. The level and growth rate of China’s GDP in any given year may not be reliable, and its long-term average growth rate may not have reached 10 percent per year, but the fact remains that China has experienced the fastest growth rate in the world in the past three to four decades. So, unless otherwise noted, I use the official growth figures in the rest of this book with the understanding that the debate over the accuracy of the figures does not qualitatively affect my arguments.
Although China’s rapid economic growth in recent decades has been extraordinary, it should be noted that China was not the first country in history to sustain rapid growth for three decades or more. Using a compound annual growth rate in GDP per capita of 6 percent or more during any thirty-year period as a benchmark, seven other economies experienced similar growth miracles after WWII according to Angus Maddison’s data.Footnote 19 As shown in Table 1.6, these economies include Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, and Hong Kong in East Asia, Botswana in Africa, and Saudi Arabia in the Middle East. The rapid growth of Japan and Saudi Arabia occurred between 1950 and 1980. The economic miracles of the Asian Tigers and Botswana took place ten years later, from the 1960s to the 1990s, while the Chinese economy took off twenty years after that. These eight economies have increased their GDP per capita fivefold or more in one generation.Footnote 20
|Economies||Fastest Growing 30 Years||Compound Annual Growth Rate||1950–1960||1960–1970||1970–1980||1980–1990||1990–2000||2000–2010|
The growth miracles all happened in economies that were trying to catch up to countries at the technological frontier. In theory, an economy far from the technological frontier can potentially grow rapidly by adopting existing technologies instead of inventing new ones. This catch-up effect is also called “convergence” in economics. Table 1.7 shows that the United States, the world’s largest economy and one of the most advanced economies, experienced a GDP per capita growth rate of about 2 percent per year between 1950 and 2010. The average growth rate of Western European countries between 1950 and 1970 exceeded 4 percent, much faster than that of the United States. This was largely due to the effect of Europe’s postwar reconstruction and catching up to the United States. After 1970, the growth of developed countries in both Western Europe and the United States generally declined, and in the first decade of the new century, it fell below 1 percent. Table 1.7 also shows that the growth rate of developing countries in Latin America and Africa in general was not higher, but lower than that of developed countries. As a result, the gap between them did not decrease, but widened. This is in stark contrast to the miracle economies.
|Country or Region||Fastest Growing 30 Years||Compound Annual Growth Rate||1950–1960||1960–1970||1970–1980||1980–1990||1990–2000||2000–2010|
In class, I often ask my Chinese students to guess the annual growth rate of GDP per capita in the United Kingdom during the Industrial Revolution. First, a student may give an estimate of 30%, to which I say no, not that fast. Others may then answer 20%, 15%, or 10%, but I tell them those are still too optimistic. They may then propose 8%, 5%, and so on, with no one guessing 2% or less. Table 1.8 shows the estimated historical growth rate of selected large economies between 1500 and 1940. Unless you are an expert, you will be surprised to find that the annual GDP per capita growth rate of the United Kingdom during the Industrial Revolution (around 1750–1850) was actually less than 0.5%. You may wonder how such “slow” growth can be called a “revolution.” But consider this: in the 250 years before the Industrial Revolution, GDP per capita in the United Kingdom grew at an annual rate of only 0.18% according to Maddison’s data, while its growth rate before 1500 was almost 0. In fact, before the Industrial Revolution, the growth rate of per capita income of every nation in the world was close to 0. In 1940, China’s GDP per capita was actually lower than in 1850. It is very possible that the living standard of Chinese people in 1940 was not much better than a thousand years earlier during the Song Dynasty.Footnote 21
|Country||GDP Per Capita|
(Measured in 1990 US Dollars)
|Compound Annual Growth Rate of GDP Per Capita|
Now imagine that China had started to grow at a rate of 1 percent per year since the Song Dynasty, 1,000 years ago. How much higher would China’s GDP be today? Without a calculator, you may guess ten, twenty, or even fifty times higher. However, the correct answer is 20,000 times! In other words, if, during the reign of Emperor Zhenzong in the Song Dynasty, China had a per capita income of US$300 measured in current currency, then with an average growth rate of 1 percent per year, it would have reached an incredible US$6 million today. Even with an annual growth rate of 0.4 percent, GDP per capita would have multiplied fifty times in 1,000 years. This is the power of compound growth.
Therefore, it is no exaggeration to say that the annual GDP per capita growth rate of 0.4 percent that the United Kingdom was able to achieve between 1750 and 1800 was truly the greatest leap forward in economic history. The term “revolution” is indeed well deserved. The total size of the world economy before the Industrial Revolution had certainly increased over time with population growth, but income per capita had never been able to sustain steady growth before this point. In economic jargon, the world was stuck in the “Malthusian trap,” named after the great classical economist Thomas Robert Malthus (1766–1834), who believed that population growth will always catch up with economic growth, thereby bringing income per capita to subsistence level.
Before WWII, the average annual growth rate of GDP per capita in Western countries never exceeded 2 percent. As a latecomer, Japan developed rapidly after the Meiji Restoration, with a growth rate of 2.25 percent between 1900 and 1940, surpassing that of Europe and the United States. This was due to the catch-up effect mentioned earlier. Japan benefited from “the advantage of backwardness,” meaning that a country with a relatively backward economy does not need to reinvent the wheel to develop, but can simply learn and absorb technologies from more advanced countries to achieve faster growth. The Industrial Revolution started relatively late in Germany and the United States compared with the United Kingdom, but their economic growth after 1800 exceeded that of the United Kingdom.
After WWII, economic growth in Western developed countries accelerated and average GDP per capita growth exceeded 2 percent for much of the fifty years before 2000. Third World countries also began to industrialize, but most did not grow faster than developed countries, indicating their inability to achieve the catch-up effect of latecomers. As shown, Japan and the four Asian Tigers sustained a growth rate of over 6 percent for more than thirty years. Outside East Asia, Saudi Arabia and Botswana were exceptions. Saudi Arabia’s economic growth was driven by its abundant oil reserves. Between 1980 and 2010, its real GDP per capita not only failed to grow but actually contracted. Similar to Saudi Arabia, Botswana’s economic development relied heavily on its abundant diamond reserves. When its GDP per capita was still below US$3,000 in 1990, the Botswanan economy lost momentum and slowed considerably. After 1990, its GDP per capita growth returned to a more modest level of around 2.5 percent per year.
Thus, only six economies in the Maddison Dataset, all from East Asia, maintained rapid growth for more than thirty years in the absence of abundant natural resources.Footnote 22 Apart from China, which had a late start in 1978, the other five economies (i.e., Japan and the four Asian Tigers) all joined the ranks of high-income economies and crossed the finish line in the race to catch up with developed economies. This leads to three questions. First, how did Japan become the first non-Western country to achieve successful industrialization? Second, why did the Asian Tigers manage to catch up with developed countries through sustained rapid growth after WWII? Third, why has China been the fastest growing economy in the past four decades? These three questions constitute what I call the “East Asian growth puzzle,” and the Chinese growth puzzle is only one part of it. The answer to the third question should help answer the first two.

domain: finance


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Houston, Space City USA is a visual celebration of the city’s historic ties to the US human space program. When President Kennedy declared, “We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard,” he did so from the campus of Rice University. More than half a century later, Houston continues to serve as the nerve center of the American human space program.
Author and photographer Ray Viator, a longtime Houstonian, has lovingly captured the spirit of a city’s devotion to space exploration from then to now. Using striking photographs of the full moon as a visual motif of Houston’s connection to spaceflight, Viator also weaves together historic images to show how former cow pastures transformed into mission control. Some connections are obvious—the Houston Astros or the Houston Rockets. Others are hidden in plain sight, like the arm patches on the uniform of every Houston police officer that read, “Space City U.S.A.” Viator’s lens captures this and more.
Houston, Space City USA not only marks the important milestone of the first lunar landing, but it also helps readers discover and rediscover a city’s constellation of connections to one of humankind’s greatest achievements.
The author's proceeds from the sale of this book will benefit Houston Public Media.
About the Author
Published by Texas A&M University Press

domain: library


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"The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted both the importance of connectivity to how we live and work in today's economy, and how capable CenturyLink's fiber and IP-based network is in delivering those needs quickly, reliably, and at scale. The relevance and capability of our network, together with our financial strength, positions us well to support our customers and deliver long-term shareholder value," said Jeff Storey, president and CEO of CenturyLink.
CenturyLink has reported a net income of $314 million for the first quarter 2020, excluding Integration and Transformation Costs and Special Items, reported Net Income of $399 million. The company has noted a generated adjusted EBITDA of $2.243 billion for the first quarter 2020, excluding $34 million of Integration and Transformation Costs.
The company's expanded adjusted EBITDA margin, excluding Integration and Transformation Costs, moved to 42.9 percent in the first quarter 2020, from 41.7 percent in the first quarter 2019 and its generated net cash provided by operating activities reached $1.299 billion for the first quarter 2020.
CenturyLink's generated free cash flow was reported at $407 million for the first quarter 2020, excluding $82 million of cash paid for integration and transformation costs and special items. The company has achieved approximately $510 million of annualized run-rate adjusted EBITDA cost transformation savings against the three-year goal of $800 million to $1 billion.
Due to the impact of COVID-19 and economic uncertainty, the company withdrew its full year 2020 financial outlook for Adjusted EBITDA, Free Cash Flow and Capital Expenditures. Prior capital allocation decisions and refinancing activity lead to strong liquidity position; Company reaffirms deleveraging target and dividend policy.
CenturyLink reported total revenue was $5.228 billion for the first quarter 2020, compared to $5.427 billion for the first quarter 2019. The company's diluted earnings per share was $0.29 for the first quarter 2020, compared to ($5.77) for first quarter 2019.
The company's diluted earnings per share for the first quarter 2020 was $0.37, compared to $0.34 per share for the first quarter in 2019, excluding the aggregate effects of Integration and Transformation Costs and Special Items of $85 million and $6.525 billion, respectively.
As of March 31, 2020, CenturyLink had cash and cash equivalents of $1.564 billion, a portion of which was used to pay approximately $1.0 billion of the 5.625 percent senior notes at maturity on April 1, 2020.
"As we exit the first quarter 2020, we are in a strong financial position as a result of our capital allocation decisions and refinancing activity in 2019," said Neel Dev, CenturyLink's executive vice president and chief financial officer. "With a strong liquidity position, we are supporting and investing in our customers, our employees and our business."
CenturyLink (NYSE: CTL) is a technology leader delivering hybrid networking, cloud connectivity, and security solutions to customers around the world. Through its extensive global fiber network, CenturyLink provides secure and reliable services to meet the growing digital demands of businesses and consumers. CenturyLink strives to be the trusted connection to the networked world and is focused on delivering technology that enhances the customer experience.


text: Politics UK PM May says pictures of children “being held in what appear to be cages” are “deeply disturbing,” and the Trump admin.’s “zero-tolerance” policy is “wrong” and she “doesn’t agree with it.” 21/06/2018 No comment UK PM May says pictures of children "being held in what appear to be cages" are "deeply disturbing,” and the Trump admin.'s "zero-tolerance" policy is "wrong" and she "doesn't agree with it." https://t.co/ATzpviw9P9 pic.twitter.com/wrSMLO5gJp — NBC News (@NBCNews) June 21, 2018 Source: Twitter Share this:ShareEmailPrintTweetWhatsAppTelegramShare on Tumblr Related Tags: Post navigation Previous Previous post: British News Agency News247WorldPress Announces the prize of the Romanian National Administration of Penitentiaries and Jilava Prison Hospital of the yearNext Next post: UK Ministry of Justice: You, your family and the people you care about will be better protected from ‘upskirting’. Follow our feed for updates on the #UpskirtingBill being introduced in Parliament today. Related Posts North Korea claims it is ‘on standby’ for missile launch By Robert Williams 13/08/2017 Sure of a win, Putin barely appears on the election campaign trail By Robert Williams 16/03/2018 ‘The reason I took the job as Brexit secretary is because I want to see the UK leave the EU in the best possible way’ – @DominicRaab says there are currently 7,000 staff working on Brexit, with plans to hire 9,000 more. By Robert Williams 23/08/2018 You must log in to post a comment.This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.


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New Chicago-style candy store to open this month in downtown St. Cloud
ST. CLOUD — Save on the plane ticket. As of this month, two locals are bringing more Chicago staples to the St. Cloud area — this time, in the form of candy and snacks.
Diyon Lee and Anthony Kemp are Chicago natives, longtime friends and now business partners. Together, they're responsible for No Good Candy, which will open mid-June on the ground floor of St. Cloud's Radio City Music Hall at 619 St. Germain St.
The name is an exercise in irony, Kemp said.
"Candy's supposed to be no good," he said. "... Candy's no good for you, but we're making it good for you," he said.
The store will sell classic Chicago candy and snacks (think Super Donuts, chips and cheese, Chick-O-Sticks and Kool-Aid pickles) — "stuff that they don't sell in Minnesota," Lee said. (No Good Candy will also sell soda.)
"The root of it all is not being able to get our hands on that stuff on a regular basis," Lee said.
Its offerings will be almost as bright as the space itself, painted in vivid tones with snack logos, geometric shapes and, along one wall, a vibrant recreation of the Chicago skyline. (Kemp, whose sister came in from Chicago to paint the space, said he plans to put a basketball hoop up, and if customers can make a shot from downtown Chicago, there's a prize.)
Lee said she's excited to be going into business with her best friend and to set an example for younger generations of her family. For Kemp, it's exciting to provide St. Cloud youth — and adults, he added — a place to go.
Bag Lady's food truck another taste of Chicago
This isn't the only way Lee is working to bring a taste of Chicago food culture to St. Cloud.
As a separate business venture, Lee also runs Bag Lady's Kitchen and caters Chicago soul food out of a rented commercial kitchen. As of this month, she's also acquired a food truck for Bag Lady's with help from a grant through Stearns County. Having that funding for her food truck allowed her to move forward on both ventures simultaneously, Lee said.
"This food truck has been a dream of mine," she said.
Her catering business presented a fair share of challenges in the last few years, Lee said. But since turning 30 almost two years ago, her mindset changed. She decided to make the business her top priority, and since then, she's had the great feeling that things are starting to change. Her goal is to continue catering and to start a food truck fleet.
In that time, she's also watched her son (whom she was at first hesitant to have in the kitchen) bloom into a good cook in his own right, Lee said. She said he calls himself The Bag Boy (a riff on his mother's nickname).
"I can't give up," Lee said. "The kids are watching me."
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For tonight’s dinner, make this simple, delicious, and richly Italian inspired Crockpot Tuscan Chicken. Chicken is slow cooked with sun roasted tomatoes and Italian seasonings, then served with pasta and tossed with homemade Alfredo sauce!
Slow Cooker Tuscan Chicken Recipe
Unlike most slow cooker recipes, this Tuscan chicken takes under 3 hours to make! That’s right – no waiting around for hours on end while the kitchen smells like delicious food and your stomach growls. As far as slow cooker recipes go, this is a quick one.
And don’t worry! Just because it’s quick doesn’t mean it’s not incredibly delicious. This dish is intensely Italian flavored, creamy, and undeniably satisfying. Even the pickiest eaters at your table will be begging for seconds of this chicken and pasta dinner!
Why You’ll Love this Crockpot Tuscan Chicken Recipe:
- Slow cooker recipe: The best part about using the slow cooker is knowing that every time, the chicken will turn out tender and delicious! Also, I love that the slow cooker pretty much does all the work for me.
- Italian: If you’re an Italian food lover, this recipe is right up your alley. With ingredients like sun-dried tomatoes and Italian seasonings, this dish is truly deliziosa!
- Satisfying: Between the tender, slow cooked chicken, the rich Italian flavors, and the bed of pasta tossed in creamy homemade Alfredo sauce, this is a dinner with a 100% satisfaction rate.
How to make Creamy Tuscan Chicken in a Crockpot
Be sure to see the recipe card below for full ingredients & instructions!
- Place the chicken in the bottom of the Crockpot and season it.
- Add the heavy cream, chicken stock, and sun-dried tomatoes.
- Cook on high for 2-2.5 hours.
- Add the spinach and parmesan.
- Thicken the Alfredo sauce by removing the chicken and adding butter, flour, and pasta water to the sauce.
- Add in the pasta and chicken.
- Top with parmesan, serve, and enjoy!
How long will this chicken dinner stay fresh?
In an airtight container in the fridge, any leftovers you have will stay fresh for up to 3 days.
To reheat, I recommend popping everything back in the Crockpot on the high setting. Stir every 10 minutes or so until it’s thoroughly heated up!
How can I tell if the chicken is fully cooked?
Always use a meat thermometer to check the temperature of the chicken before serving. If the thermometer reads at least 165°F, the chicken is safe to eat!
When you slice the chicken, also double check that there are no pink areas. If there are, place the chicken back in the Crockpot and cook it until the meat it completely white.
What kind of noodles should I use?
I love using fettuccine pasta for this recipe! However, there are no rules here. Use whatever pasta you prefer!
Linguine, spaghetti, and even bowtie pasta are all examples of pastas that work well with this recipe.
Recipe Tips and Notes
- Do not use whole milk instead of heavy cream! Heavy cream is what will make your sauce thick and creamy.
- For an extra Italian flair, sprinkle fresh parsley on top of your dish. It’s a great way to present the dish, plus, it’s delicious!
- Heat things up by adding a tablespoon of crushed red pepper to the Crockpot when cooking the chicken!
This Crockpot Tuscan chicken recipe is an easy weeknight dinner that never disappoints. It’s a creamy Italian dish that is pretty much perfection!
More Slow Cooker Chicken recipes we love
- Slow Cooker Chicken Enchilada Soup
- Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken Drumsticks
- Slow Cooker White Chicken Chili
- Slow Cooker Chicken Fried Rice
If you’ve made this recipe, please be sure to let us know by leaving a star rating or a comment below. Enjoy!
Crockpot Tuscan Chicken Recipe
- 4 large chicken breasts
- 1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ½ cup chicken stock
- ¼ cup sun-dried tomatoes
- 2 cups fresh spinach
- ½ cup grated parmesan
- Optional 12 ounce fettuccine pasta
- Add the chicken breasts in a single layer to the bottom of the crockpot. Sprinkle over the Italian seasoning, kosher salt, and pepper.
- Next, add the heavy cream, chicken stock, and sun-dried tomatoes.
- Cook on high for 2-2.5 hours, or until the chicken registers an internal temperature of 165F on an instant read thermometer.
- Add the spinach and parmesan and allow the spinach to wilt for 5 minutes.
- (Optional) To thicken the sauce to an Alfredo-style consistency, remove the chicken to a plate. Melt one tablespoon of butter and one tablespoon of flour in a large saucepan. Whisk in the sauce from the crockpot and thin to your desired consistency with pasta water (about 1/2 cup). Then add in the pasta and chicken. Top with parmesan and serve.
- Make sure to use heavy cream in this recipe– milk will thin too the sauce too much.
Chicken thighs would also be delicious in this recipe, although they will take longer to cook if still on the bone.
- While thickening the sauce is an extra step, it really makes a difference! I highly recommend it!
- For an extra kick, add red pepper flakes to taste.


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- Purchase/rental options available:
Manoa 12.2 (2000) 150
[Access article in PDF]
Land of Snows
The Sun God strokes a miraculous silver comb across the earth
To form a Pure Land of snows that ferments the moon in a vat of ice.
When you find the lake hushed as the aqua sky
Don't you know it is His melody
blazing its way through frozen rivers and peaks?
This glacier's ice stores the feelings of a lifetime!
That is why morning and night go on
pulling the multicolored streamers of sun and moon,
And I clear the dust storm's mud
and carry fresh water to my little plot of ground.
The Potala--The Venturer's Mounting-Stone
Silver under the moon, a pagoda towers to heaven;
Golden stones dazzling in the sun, radiant with wisdom.
The constellation of the ten cultures, its thousand halls;
Thirteen-storied temple, messenger of thirteen centuries.
This red-and-white palace is no facade embellishing the snow city.
O venturing sons of the ages, know the will of the ancestors:
The steles at the Potala gate
are mounting-stones for you and me
to vault into the stirrups of our dreams!
Translations by Herbert J. Batt
Yidam Tsering was born in 1933 to Tibetan peasant parents in Tsongkha, on the outskirts of Xining, capital of Qinghai Province. In 1949, after the Communists took control of Qinghai, he entered a provincial cadre-training program, then joined a song-and-dance troupe as a performer, dramatist, and director. He has published numerous collections of poetry. The poems in this issue are from An Anthology of Contemporary Tibetan Authors (zhongguo dangdai zuojia youxiu zuopinji), published by Gansu Minzu Chubanshe (Gansu Nationalities Publishing Co.) in China in 1991.
Herbert J. Batt has a doctorate from the University of Toronto and has taught at Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, and Beijing Capital University. The translator of numerous works from Chinese, he is editor and translator of Tales of Tibet: Sky Burials, Wind Horses, and Prayer Wheels.

domain: literature


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The Bull Street Commission – a board intended to advise Columbia City Council on the redevelopment of the former State Hospital project – held its first organizational meeting on Monday.
No action and little discussion took place, but the board will reconvene Jan. 10 with a full agenda.
Council member Brian DeQuincey Newman, chairman of the commission, said board members should serve as conduits to the community and the region and together should act as an advisory body for City Council.
Redevelopment of the 165-acre Bull Street campus is considered the biggest land deal in modern city history. Greenville developer Bob Hughes has struck a deal with the S.C. Department of Mental Health to turn the area into thousands of new homes, stores and offices – as well as a proposed new minor league baseball stadium.
“This is not just Columbia,” Newman said. “This will affect our region for many years to come.”
The redevelopment is expected to generate $1.2 billion a year in economic impact when it is complete – about two decades from now – and $20 million a year in taxes to local governments and the Richland 1 school district, according to an economic activity study released this summer by the Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce.
By contrast, one of the city’s biggest economic engines – Fort Jackson – generates about $2 billion a year in economic impact, according to studies. But, because it is a federal installation, the fort pays no property taxes.
Bull Street will be built in four phases over the next two decades or more, according to Hughes, the architect for downtown Greenville’s renewal who has agreed to purchase the Bull Street property for $15 million. He will serve as master developer for the 165-acre parcel, building out some tracts himself and parcelling out others to interested developers.
A team already has begun marketing the retail section of the development as Columbia Common. They debuted the plan for the shopping and dining district at a high-profile trade show in Atlanta a month ago.
The commission is tasked with meeting every other month to review such issues as the preservation of historic buildings, minority hiring, interaction with surrounding neighborhoods and the allocation of nearly $50 million in taxpayer funds for parking garages and other infrastructure.
Mayor Steve Benjamin, who has been criticized for pushing through a development deal with Hughes that some say was rushed, briefly addressed the commission Monday.
“We all know the unique opportunity this represents to the people of Columbia, the Midlands and South Carolina,” he said.


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Impacts of Respiratory Viruses in the Elderly
We’re sure you’ve seen coverage of one of the latest emerging diseases out of China: the Coronavirus. While the virus is considered in its early stages of spreading, it’s becoming a growing health concern as places like China are regulating travel to stop its transmission. So far, approximately 910 people have died from the Coronavirus worldwide, and the number is continuing to rise with cases surpassing 40,000 across the globe. This is where the impacts of respiratory viruses need to be considered in the elderly.
Unfortunately, and as tends to be the case with most outbreaks, the people most severely at risk for contracting it are those who are chronically ill and elderly patients – particularly those with respiratory issues like asthma, diabetes, or heart disease, according to the World Health Organization. As more cases pop up around the world, taking measures to keep yourself protected and healthy is now more important than ever. The elderly, especially those who may be receiving outside care for health problems, have to be vigilant.
The Coronavirus and the Elderly
The Coronavirus, also called The 2019 Novel Coronavirus, was first identified in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. Futurism says symptoms of the disease include everything from fever and fatigue to severe pneumonia and septic shock. The respiratory virus is currently thought to be spreading through person-to-person contact, much like how influenza distributes. Officials are still working to determine how easily it’s contracted, as well as its sustainability according to the CDC.
Taking a look back at past outbreaks and diseases, it is often geriatric citizens and younger children who are susceptible. In this case, children seem to be in the clear. So, why are the elderly at a higher risk than the general population? The National Center for Biotechnology Information says: “the classical predisposing factors to viral infections include advanced age, chronic illnesses, and poor immune responses”; and according to Zoomer, it’s because of possible pre-existing comorbidities. For example, they state that adults with Type 2 diabetes are at a higher risk of infections, especially lung-related, which essentially means the lungs are bearing the brunt of the Coronavirus. And elderly patients tend to have a more difficult time with having a healthy lung capacity capable of combating such a sickness.
Interestingly enough, this is the worst outbreak since the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS, that also originated in China in 2003. The virus is circulating itself similarly to influenza, which kills around 12,000 – 61,000 people annually, with between 9 million – 45 million illnesses being reported since 2010. Health officials, like the World Health Organization’s Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus who decided against declaring a global emergency, states that United States citizens aren’t at great risk; but those who exponentially are can follow these tips to keep themselves protected.
How to Protect Yourself
According to Dr. Tedros, the World Health Organization is closely monitoring the outbreak. They are working on preventing human-to-human transmission of the disease, as well as working on diagnostics, therapeutics, and Coronavirus vaccines.
Fortunately, there are some basic measures you can take to increase your body’s security and immune system. And staying on top of these efforts, according to the CDC, can help you ward off a potentially dire case.
Don’t Touch your Face
With diseases like the Coronavirus or the flu, our hands are often the number one source for virus contaminants. From touching our desk at work to just opening a door at home, we can pick up germs anywhere. Avoiding contact with your eyes, nose, and mouth is crucial so you don’t give the virus to yourself by mistake.
Wash Your Hands
An easy, surefire way to keep yourself protected is washing your hands – and washing them frequently – with soap and water. Utilizing a hand sanitizer is also important to remember because thoroughly washing your hands or using a rub with alcohol included will help eliminate the virus on your hands.
As we all fight off the season’s infections, it can be important to also protect others from ourselves. You can do so by covering your nose and mouth when coughing or sneezing, and by making sure your waste is discarded and away from other objects or people. This prevents the spread of germs and keeps viruses contained.
Social Setting Safety
Because the coronavirus is believed to be spread through touch and close proximity, keeping your distance from people can be a good thing for now. It’s recommended that you put at least 3 feet between you and those around you, especially anyone who is showing signs of illness such as coughing or sneezing.
Check on Yourself
If you or a loved one starts showing what could seem like symptoms of the disease, it’s best to head to the doctor. Seeking medical attention and checking on your condition is one way to stay protected or get care if you’ve already contracted anything. If you’re experiencing a fever, a cough, or difficulty breathing, you could save your life.
Avoid Travel to China
While harder to achieve, it can be integral to skip travel to affected countries during a time of an outbreak, particularly if you’re already experiencing respiratory issues or have any respiratory conditions.
Hygiene after Food and Animal Handling
Officials say the Coronavirus allegedly originated from the Huanan Seafood Market, which also sells wild animals, in Wuhan. Because of this, they originally believed the virus was spread by the handling of animals and their products, as well as sick animals and rotten byproducts. Further, the CDC recommends avoiding contact with market surfaces and staying away from any animals in close proximity markets, including stray dogs, cats, birds, and more.
Don’t Eat Raw or Uncooked Animal Products
Along with visiting markets with extra caution, abstaining from handling and consuming raw meat, milk or animal organs is yet another precaution you can take. You can prevent cross-contamination and avoid unhealthy food safety practices – saving you from some uncomfortable stomach problems at the very least.
How South Coast Post Acute Helps
At South Coast Post Acute, a combination of world-class treatment paired with exceptional care for patients has been at the forefront of what we do for more than 40 years. Our patients’ needs range from post-acute care for the elderly after surgery, to rehabilitation and memory care services.
While under our care, patients receive the kind of care that we would want for our own loved ones. This means providing individualized care to the unique needs of each resident – including respiratory care. Because we have teams of nurses available 24/7, medicine physicians, specialists, and more, your loved one will get the care they need to get well – and stay well. This includes vaccinations, hygiene care, and health checkups to make sure they’re in the clear as viruses, like the Coronavirus, are top of mind.
Contact us today to learn more about South Coast Post Acute.
South Coast Post Acute. A team approach to caring.