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Boat Ramming Incident Reported in South China Sea
by Simone Orendain June 25, 2012
MANILA -The Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary said Monday there are no Philippine or Chinese vessels inside Scarborough Shoal, which has been the site of a months-long standoff between the two countries that each claim the area. However authorities are still closely monitoring the region and investigating a still unexplained deadly ramming of a Philippine fishing boat.
Authorities are now looking into last week's rare collision in an area north of the Scarborough Shoal where eight fishermen were thrown overboard after their boat was rammed and sunk.
Civil Defense Office Secretary Benito Ramos said one person among the four rescued has since died. Four others are still missing. “We continue to investigate. That’s why we decline to comment about the identity of the boat because it has some diplomatic repercussions,” he said.
A coast guard spokesman told a local news channel Monday that his office believes it was a Hong Kong boat that hit the fishing vessel, but that it was an accident and the boat did not deliberately hit it before fleeing the scene. He said his office is in contact with Hong Kong’s Maritime Rescue Coordinating Center to try to confirm the incident.
Philippine President Benigno Aquino said as of Monday that the country is not blaming China for the incident.
In Manila, the spokesman for the Chinese embassy says his office is also looking into the reported collision. Spokesman Zhang Hua said the reports still have to be verified.
“The Chinese embassy immediately checked with the relevant authorities in China and was told that, up until now there have been no reports of vessel collision accident or SOS requests on the reported dates and in the reported waters,” he stated.
The ramming incident follows the months-long standoff between Manila and Beijing at the shoal.
Philippines China dispute
The Philippines claims in April, Chinese fishing boats poached endangered species in its waters, but China says it was well within its own territory. The incident saw Chinese civilian boats facing off with the Philippines' largest warship and coast guard vessels.
China has laid claim to practically the entire South China Sea based on a centuries old map. The Philippines says the shoal, just west of Zambales province, is part of its exclusive economic zone. The zone is designated by international law as 370 kilometers beyond a country’s coastline.
President Aquino ordered the Philippine ships to leave last week due to bad weather. Chinese ships also left the area for the same reason.
Apart from the Philippines and China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei also claim all or part of the resource-rich South China Sea.
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Tip-Off for 3/21/13 (featuring March Madness): The Miami Heat survive a wild night in Cleveland, stun Cavaliers in comeback 98-95
A young fan his makes an unofficial pitch to LeBron James.
LeBron James posted a triple-double against the Cleveland Cavaliers on a night which included a 40-minute delay for a leaking scoreboard and a fan — who admitted to James that he missed him ran out onto the floor.
There was a basketball game as well. The Miami Heat overcame a 27-point deficit in the 3rd quarter to defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers 98-95.
Bobcats 107 – Raptors 101 – The Bobcats have won two games in a row, tying their season series with Toronto. Byron Mullens led Charlotte with 25 points. Rudy Gay led the visiting Raptors with 25 points.
Heat 98 – Cavaliers 95 – LeBron James finished with 25 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists. Wayne Ellington led the Cavs with 20 points. The Heat’s winning streak now stands at 24 games.
Knicks 106 – Magic 94 – The Knicks have won back to back games after dropping three in a row. Carmelo Anthony returned to the lineup after missing three games with a knee ailment. Anthony scored 21 points and J.R. Smith led the Knicks with 22 points off the bench. Tobias Harris led Orlando with 14 points.
Hawks 98 – Bucks 90 – The Hawks pulled away in the third quarter only to allow the Bucks back in the game in the fourth. Jeff Teague led Atlanta with 27 points and 11 assists. Brandon Jennings led the Bucks with 21 points.
Grizzlies 90 – Thunder 89 (ot) – Marc Gasol tipped in a Zach Randolph miss with .08 seconds remaining. There were 12 lead changes between the fourth quarter and the overtime period. Randolph finished with 15 points and 18 boards. Kevin Durant scored a game-high 32 points for Oklahoma City.
Hornets 87 – Celtics 86 – Anthony Davis tip in at the horn completed a come from behind win for New Orleans. Ryan Anderson led the Hornets with 21 points. Paul Pierce scored a game-high 28 points for Boston.
Rockets 100 – Jazz 93 – The Jazz scored 33 points in the first half, but their late rally fell short. James Harden led the Rockets with 29 points. Gordon Hayward led Utah with 27 points.
Nets 113 – Mavericks 96 – The Mavericks blew an early double-digit lead at home. Brook Lopez scored a game-high 38 points and Reggie Evans grabbed 22 boards. Dirk Nowitzki led the Mavericks with 16 points.
Spurs 104 – Warriors 93 – The Spurs exploded for 38 points in the second quarter. Tim Duncan led the San Antonio with 25 points and 13 rebounds. Steph Curry scored 25 points for Golden State.
Wizards 88 – Suns 79 – John Wall continued his impressive play with 19 points and 9 assists. Wesley Johnson led Phoenix with 18 points.
Clippers 101 – 76ers 72 – The Sixers scored no more than 22 points in any period against the Clippers. Chris Paul scored 19 points and handed out 9 assists. Spencer Hawes led Philadelphia with 16 points.
The latest from The Shadow League (The Shadow League).
NHL Power Rankings (Philly.com).
Pau Gasol still believes in the Lakers (Mike and McGoutry).
New Music (Antwan Davis).
Iman Schumpert had an uncomfortable sensation in his knees (Sulia.com).
Check out Jason Clinkscales (The Sports Fan Journal).
Kentucky may have the greatest recruiting class ever (Dime Magazine).
Bear TE Evan Rodriguez arrested in Miami (Pro Football Talk).
Join the CBS sports experts pool (CBS Sports).
Embrace the Madness!!!

domain: sports


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“You can’t save what you can’t measure” is a phrase often used in the energy efficiency world. For the last four years, New York City has been closely measuring its energy use in large buildings, and the savings are accruing!
The Department of Energy’s new study, New York City Benchmarking and Transparency Policy Impact Evaluation Report, published in May 2015, reports that New York City has decreased its energy use by 5.7% since 2010, when benchmarking and transparency laws were enacted. The study uses DOE methodology to assess energy savings, determine challenges, and address barriers to further progress. The report also reviews broader implications for New York City and other cities nationwide.
Officials in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy at the U.S. Department of Energy said that, “Top-line findings from the NYC report are that covered buildings reduced energy use by 5.7% between 2010 and 2013 while NYC’s GDP grew and electricity prices fell. More importantly, the findings suggest that early indicators of market transformation are beginning to appear, so that the policies are likely to have their intended long-term effects of changing the way the real estate sector looks at energy efficiency.” Even in its infancy, NYC’s benchmarking law represents great potential for change.
New York City is a national leader in energy efficiency. The 2009 Greener, Greater Buildings Plan mandated that NYC become one of the first cities to annually benchmark its large buildings (Local Law 84). Approximately 13,000 properties representing 1.5 billion square feet are required to benchmark every year. Within the first 3 years, the study found that covered buildings reduced their weather normalized source energy use by 5.7%. Additionally, greenhouse gas emissions decreased by 8.3%, and the market for auditors grew, creating 7,000 new jobs.
In addition to looking at the change in energy consumption, the report explores the causes of these savings. In the past few years GDP and population have increased while electricity prices decreased. One might imagine that this would cause an increase in energy use. However, the data shows just the opposite. Building owners and tenants, especially in the commercial sector, are becoming more aware of energy conservation and laws and codes surrounding efficiency.
Implementing energy efficiency policy has had great economic, environmental, and social impacts in New York City. As we continue to track the changes in the City’s energy use, there will be greater opportunity for improvement. The City is already primed for programs, such as the Retrofit Accelerator, that will help increase the rate of energy efficiency retrofits.
The Building Energy Exchange’s upcoming report, Retrofitting Affordability, looks at one year of benchmarking and audit data in order to classify which buildings and energy efficiency retrofit measures have the greatest potential for carbon reduction, and how these benefits relate to affordability and the City’s climate action plan. Additionally, the report identifies opportunities to continue the savings trend and to add to mayor’s retrofit accelerator.

domain: news


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Suffolk pupils 'at risk' at unregistered tuition centres
Children excluded from Suffolk schools are being put at risk in unregistered education centres, it is claimed.
Serious incidents, such as a child stamping on another's head and a rope being placed around another's neck, have not been reported, say staff.
Unregistered centres are neither known to, nor inspected by Ofsted, the education watchdog.
Suffolk County Council admits it has nine unregistered centres but denies children there are unsafe.
The authority said all the centres would be registered by October and stated it took the issue of safeguarding extremely seriously.
'Threatened with gun'
In an email seen by the BBC, the Department for Education (DfE) admitted this meant Ofsted had been unable to offer assurance that safeguarding standards were being met.
BBC Look East began investigating after a member of staff at one centre was alleged to have threatened a pupil with a gun in March.
Police investigated and searched the staff member's home, seizing a decommissioned antique weapon.
The member of staff was questioned and given "words of advice" but no further action was taken.
Read more... (BBC News - 24 July)


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- 30g stale bread
- 100g mixed soft fresh herb stems, such as flat-leaf parsley, basil and mint
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
- 2 anchovies
- 4ml extra virgin olive oil, plus extra to cover
- Sea salt and black pepper
Soak the bread in some warm water in a bowl. Meanwhile, wash the herb stems and put them in a food processor or blender along with the garlic, vinegar, anchovies and oil and pulse a few times to lightly blend. Squeeze the liquid from the bread and add it to the processor. Blend until you have a creamy sauce but not too thick. Season with salt and pepper to taste, cover with oil and rest in the fridge for 2 hours. It will keep for up to a week in the fridge.

domain: food


6ix9ine has been on top of the moment, nearly disgraced, it's been a rough year for the rainbow-haired rapper. As he preps for his upcoming release of his DUMMY BOY album on Friday, he is yet in another hot water.
Reports say Tekashi and his ex-manager Shottie are in federal custody over racketeering charges, he's almost certainly headed to prison. A close ally of 6ix9ine who first broke the news as began the "Free 6ix9ine" movement on his socials.
He is currently on probation, so depending on how serious the charges are, he could be going for a long time in prison.


text: A realty lawyer is a specialist who assesses and advises on realty deals. They likewise discuss agreements and also carry out due persistance on a property. They are trained to determine troubles as well as issues, as well as act as the client’s supporter. Along with representing a client’s passions, a realty legal representative also works as a watchdog. Right here are some of one of the most typical tasks that a real estate attorney can perform. Listed below are some of the main obligations of a legal representative in the property market. When buying property, you ought to employ a real estate attorney. These legal representatives have substantial experience managing realty deals. They recognize what to look for and also what to avoid. They are likewise skilled in zoning regulations as well as building laws. Additionally, they will certainly recognize with any kind of concerns concerning these legislations, and also explain exactly how these legislations might impact a particular building purchase. A realty legal representative will additionally see to it that the home action is correct and also effectively defines the building being transferred. A realty attorney can aid fix any type of disagreement between you and the various other celebration. This might include trespassing or advancement on your residential property. They can also aid you define borders and also fix other disagreements between you and your neighbor. Consequently, a realty lawyer can be very handy in the real estate transaction process. An attorney can help you avoid troubles that might arise from a residential property deal as well as make the procedure much easier for every person included. A realty lawyer can also help you balance the interests of both celebrations in a joint sale. They can take care of the agreement details and see to it that you are obtaining the most effective possible deal for your money. Short sales can be complicated and also demanding, as well as employing a realty lawyer will assist shield your possessions as well as conserve you time and money. They likewise provide a riches of resources, which can be very useful for your property deals. Whether you need a lawyer or otherwise, a property lawyer is the best option. A property legal representative can aid in arrangements and litigation. They will be able to work out as well as compose the lease contract. They can also represent their client during arrangements. Some individuals are not in a placement to possess their own property, but their property owner might be. This is when a real estate lawyer is available in useful. An attorney can guarantee that both events have the best possible deals. The very best real estate attorneys are likewise good at networking. A real estate attorney can aid a customer get ready for a claim. A real estate attorney can aid in settlements. They will review all the files as well as the financials of the residential property. They will certainly likewise evaluate the board minutes and also other records that relate to the building. They can recommend their customer on any potential dangers or issues related to the building they are interested in. Each property will have unique scenarios, so it is best to have actually an attorney associated with these arrangements. Additionally, a real estate attorney will certainly aid you stay clear of any kind of unpleasant shocks.

domain: law


ANZZI is committed to introducing the latest in European bath fixture design to the North American home. ANZZI presents the Enti Series Single Handle Vessel Sink Faucet. Crafted using lead-free RHINO ALLOY certified brass as the interior and our Lustrous Polished Chrome rust resistant finish. This all metal combination of high quality materials ensures you will enjoy a flawlessly performing faucet for many years to come. The deceptively simple single handle design allows for complete and easy control of both water flow and temperature while maintain the fine minimalist aesthetic to match with any modern or contemporary décor style. The ANZZI Enti Series is listed certified under cUPC, NSF for installation within North America.
Lustrous Polished Chrome finish
RHINO ALLOY certified lead-free solid brass with rust resistant finish
Singular (1) lever handle control
Elegantly arching spout inspired by the latest European styles
Deck mounted single (1) hole installation
Spout Reach: 6.02 in.; Spout Height: 8.87 in.
Flow rate: 1.2 gpm
cUPC, NSF certified and listed for North America
Limited Lifetime Warranty
To speak to a knowledgeable and dedicated ANZZI specialist simply call 1-844-44-ANZZI or visit us on the web at www.ANZZI.com


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Unscientifically speaking, vending machines probably account for most of our guilty eating, especially if we're cooped up in an office or craving strawberry Pop Tarts on the fly. Want a cupcake? Done. Meat? Um, okay, if you really want it.
Medical marijuana? Patients in Connecticut will now be able to join their buds in California and other West Coast spots.
According to Dr. Bruce Bedrick, CEO of Kind Clinics, a consulting firm for marijuana dispensaries, the drug is available for medical use only. Customers with a prescription would now simply be able to walk up to the machine, swipe a card, have their fingerprints scanned for identity purposes and walk away, green in hand.
“It is the most safe, secure, legally compliant marijuana dispensary system available,” Bedrick told WWLP-TV in Massachusetts. “The technology was created in order to have a safe, efficient and regulated way to dispense the drug.”
Bedrick also leads Medbox, the firm that manufactures the machine. Since the Connecticut House of Representatives voted to legalize the medical use of marijuana in April, Medbox opened an office in Hartford to serve in this new market.
According to Bedrick, this new state-of-the-art marijuana dispensary system is absolutely flawless, and is already booming in other states.
Can a system meant to dispense a taboo (and still largely illegal) drug be totally unblemished? When asked how abuse of the product will be prevented, Bedrick stated that limits will be outlined for all users.
“That’s a great question and a benefit of the Medbox clinics model,” said Bedrick. “The state is going to create certain limits ... in a certain time.”
While Bedrick and those at Medbox are optimistic, others aren’t as thrilled. Prasad Srinivasan, a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives, has his reservations.
“This is supposed to be dispensed in a relatively ideal way,” said Srinivasan. “What the ideal way is, we do not know.”
If the prospect of an automated box O’ bud still seems a little bizarre, the good folks at Kind Clinics have released a video demonstrating how the machine will work. Medical marijuana users, the future is here.

domain: politics


For the Minnesota Vikings and their fans, last Sunday must have felt like pure hell. Not only does the team get their ass whooped in the NFC championship game, but traveling Vikings fans had to endure the inhumane species known as Philadelphia Eagles fans.
Via Yahoo Sports
Though it looked like Lincoln Financial Field was completely full of Eagles fans, there were Minnesota Vikings fans present. They not only had to watch their team get stomped by the Eagles, they had to endure some less-than-friendly behavior from Eagles fans.
Here’s what the Vikings fans described seeing:
Vikings hats being stolen, put into urinals and urinated on;
An Eagles fan pushing a Vikings fan to the ground and punching him in the face;
“Random acts of violence.”
TV station KARE 11 out of Minneapolis also interviewed a few fans who vaguely spoke of Eagles fans being “bad.” This quote, though, is a little perplexing.
“It’s a damper on everything, yes. Not interested in going to the Super Bowl anymore.”
The Vikings fan is saying that Eagles fans are what’s going to keep him from going to the Super Bowl in Minneapolis in a few weeks.
Well, Vikings fans are plotting their revenge for Philly fans next Sunday at the Super Bowl in Minnesota, and have taken to social media to put their pretty diabolical plan in place.
So who wants to become an Uber drive with me JUST for the Super Bowl so we can drop Eagles fans off at entirely wrong places?
— Kendra Susan (@Kendra_Susan) January 23, 2018
I’m signing up to be an Uber Driver just for the Super Bowl. It’ll be fun dropping off Eagles fans in random wrong places. #SKOL
— MlSSINGinACTION XB1 (@SportsGeekDeek) January 23, 2018
Going to sign up as a Uber Driver just so I can drop Eagles fans off at random places…
— David Landsteiner (@deltalima21) January 23, 2018
I liked the suggestion on @BDandG963 this morning, where everyone signs up to be a Uber/Lyft drivers and drop Eagles fans off at random locations.
— Gina (@Peril_in_Pink) January 23, 2018


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Q&A@F&B No. 6: Kevin Knight
In this episode of Q&A@F&B, we sit down with music and environmental portrait photographer Kevin Knight. Kevin’s work has been featured in magazines like Zedura, Alternative Press, Bon Appetit and most recently Juxtapoz, where he shot artist Greg “Craola” Simkins. In the interview, Kevin talks about life as a full-time photographer and how his passion for photography lead him to a risky and dramatic career change.
Download this episode

domain: entertainment


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SAMOS , Greece
3 NotebooksFor Alpha Center students
2 PensFor Alpha Center students
Alpha Center Supplies
In May 2017 we moved into our own building, The Alpha Center, just a few minutes walk from the camp. In this new space we are holding language classes for adults in English, German, French and Greek. We offer up to 5 levels of each language, ranging from absolute beginner to advanced. In our center, Alpha, in addition to our daily language classes, we offer adult art, dance and music workshops. We also have a women-and-baby space, where we are hosting activities usually requested by the women themselves (such as knitting, pottery, jewellery-making, yoga and meditation, and dress-making), with a safe play area for their young children. We also offer tea and coffee to all our students. We depend on donations to cover the supplies for all these classes and activities. We currently have over 3700 + visits per mont.

domain: artistic


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So between sessions and the factor for this. Do Betterhelp Therapists Have To Answer 24/7… really to help you practice the abilities and methods that your in session out of session and you will find that you will advance far more rapidly through the therapy process if you do your homework sort of similar to in school so a few other things to know about cognitive behavioral therapy are that it’s typically a more structured approach than other types of therapies and it includes recognizing goals that you and the counselor consent to work with on together and the other key point is that in CBT therapy the counselor truly gets and welcomes feedback on how things are going so this goes back to the concept that it’s a very collective technique and it’s not this
concept of the therapist having more knowledge than you but simply that the therapist has proficiency in different locations that they can offer and maybe provide you different methods of considering your problems one of the more typical mistaken beliefs about CBT is that c.b.c therapists will not look at your past at all or analyze how your past might be affecting your present which’s really not true in CBT the focus is absolutely more on the present and how you’re working in today however to see a good CBT therapist will deal with you on examining if there are any problems in your past that are still impacting your capability to function effectively and successfully today if you like this video please feel free to register for our YouTube channel where you’ll find a lot more content on a range of psychological health subjects and if you’re interested in finding out more about online counseling
to skip to any of those bits if you look in the description below you’ll see time stamps that will take you to those particular locations you’ll likewise see a link to talk area presently they’re providing about 100 pounds or 100 off your very first month which is considerable and i’ll speak about pricing soon so if you have actually viewed any of the other videos you’ll understand that my approach my technique truly is that taking antidepressants without access to treatment is a bit like purchasing some actually great running shoes and after that never ever going out running the antidepressants can make you feel nice for a bit and in fact can solve a lot of the problems but if you wish to get to the source of the issue actually you require a certified therapist and you even need to be beinged in a space with them or as is the case now with things like talk space and better help being able to communicate
in a virtual environment with one so i have actually had face-to-face therapy and it’s been truly beneficial a range of counselling sessions cbt sessions and each time i discovered it really actually valuable as this video has actually been filmed it’s just before christmas and you can see the little little led tree behind me and that could be rather a difficult time stress and anxieties tend to be enhanced at this time of year you know financial worries relationship worries social anxieties all of these things can be like improved throughout the december holiday period it’s really tough to get face-to-face therapy at the moment because of covid but i in fact think that now i have actually tried online treatment this this simply works it doesn’t matter if you’re on lockdown or you’re viewing this video in two years time actually the benefits
of virtual treatment and virtual counselling to me appear rather immediately clear and i’ll concern those in a minute i picked talkspace instead of betterhelp merely due to the fact that when i was reviewing the site i liked the features i felt assured by the offer the price for talkspace was much better than much better aid and i likewise like the alternatives the talks based off of me you basically get to choose whether you want to participate in chat only treatment whether you desire chat plus one video call a month or chat plus i think 4 or five video objectives a month obviously that varieties in rate before we go anywhere appears like a lot however if you have actually.
It prevails to experience anxiety in life. It is a natural response to stress, pressure, or when you feel threatened. It could also signify something more considerable such as generalized anxiety disorder depending on the level of stress and anxiety and how typically it occurs. Feeling distressed prevails when waiting on test results, driving through rush-hour traffic, or handling issues at work. Stress and anxiety might impact daily living when signs are not dealt with. Considering that anxiety signs affect individuals differently, it is crucial to learn how to acknowledge them and when they might require professional aid.
Typical Vs. Problematic Stress And Anxiety. Child Anger Therapist Near Me
There are various experiences throughout life that cause anxiety. The feeling of stress and anxiety is associated with the body’s fight-or-flight action. It gets triggered in tough situations such as test-taking, a job interview, or when you do something for the very first time, such as going on a date. Since it assists you stay focused and encouraged, such anxiety might be useful. When out alone at night, you’re likely to work harder on your test or be on alert. While stress and anxiety may assist some, it may become an issue for others.
When anxiety is a problem, it occurs with more vigorous intensity. Bothersome stress and anxiety may be chronic or unreasonable while impacting everyday activities.
so the lessons discovered then may not be as useful now 5. learn how to manage your feelings take a deep breath and discover a main point to collect and relax yourself managing your sensations helps avoid anxious ideas while allowing you to concentrate on what matters most 6. acknowledge and avoid mind traps include presuming you understand things without proof believing the worst case scenario and taking things too personally such ideas can make you feel even worse while contributing to relationship difficulties as you find out more about how accessory anxiety impacts you and the assistance readily available to help you manage it healthy relationships with people you appreciate will reinforce assistance from a licensed counselor through online therapy options such as better aid may introduce you to brand-new and practical resources to improve yourself while challenging your emotional obstacles|} a lot of us have knowledgeable seasons of life when we feel like we just do not wish to do anything at all we feel tired all the time even if we get 8 hours of sleep during the night we don’t want to rise to deal with the day’s obstacles and we don’t wish to deal with our everyday responsibilities there are lots of coping systems to assist increase inspiration for instance you might try a brand-new hobby set a timer or discover a responsibility partner while sometimes an absence of inspiration is simply a phase that will pass in due time you may be fretted that it’s due to something larger like anxiety feeling unmotivated is typical and everybody battles with this from time to time but if you discover this season of no motivation is lasting for longer than typical and you can’t overcome it alone it might be time to seek help if you believe
you may be experiencing a season of depression there is support readily available for you understand that you should have to live a delighted and satisfied life our online counselors at betterhelp can help you overcome your lack of inspiration and your sensations of anxiety [Music] if you are experiencing depression you will likely likewise experience other signs these signs can range from person to person however they often consist of sensations like unhappiness irritation and perhaps even ideas of self-harm if you are considering self-harm please right away call the Betterhelp Policy.
national suicide prevention

domain: psychology


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WTTC Predicts a Strong Recovery of the European Travel & Tourism Sector in 2022
The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has revealed bookings for intra-European travel over the Easter period have increased by more than 250 percent, while summer bookings are currently 80 percent above 2021 levels.
Omicron Emergence a Yardstick for the Hotel Industry
Just as the world was rounding the corner on the Delta variant, along came Omicron—a rowdy interloper arriving to a party all hoped was winding down. And though the intrusion was noisy at first, Omicron could potentially be more insipid than insidious.
A Review of Hotel Company Key Performance Metrics in 2021
The recovery of the hotel industry from the ongoing global pandemic can be measured by improvements to key performance metrics, which dropped precipitously as lockdowns and travel restrictions were imposed in March 2020, and have improved through starts and stops since.
U.S. Travel Association Biannual Forecast Shows Uneven Travel Recovery
Days after the U.S. reopened its land and air borders to vaccinated international visitors, U.S. Travel Association released its biannual forecast, which shows an uneven recovery for the international inbound and business travel segments, while domestic leisure travel has returned to near pre-pandemic levels.
Hoteliers Evolve Operations To Focus More on Experiences
Experiential travel and hotel stays have been the buzz of the past few years, and top the agendas of many hotel brand operators. Lenders now are also paying attention to the demand for hotel experiences, according to executives who spoke at the recent Gulf & Indian Ocean Hotel Investors’ Summit in Ras al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates.
International Travel Ban Ends as Borders Open to Visitors from Dozens of Countries
From Dublin, Sao Paolo, Brussels, London and other cities around the world, international visitors spilled into U.S. airports Monday in joyous celebrations that marked the end of a pandemic-related travel ban that kept them separated from loved ones for more than 18 months.
Article by Lori Aratani and Ian Duncan for The Washington Post
Business Travel Spend Set to Reach Two Thirds of Pre-Pandemic Levels by 2022
Worldwide business travel spending looks set to rise by more than a quarter this year and reach two thirds of pre-pandemic levels by 2022, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC). The forecast comes in a major new WTTC report in collaboration with McKinsey & Company.
The U.S. Will Open Land Borders for Fully Vaccinated Travelers in November
The Biden administration will lift travel restrictions at the borders with Canada and Mexico starting in November for fully vaccinated travelers, reopening the doors of the United States to tourists and separated family members who have been sealed out of the country during the pandemic.
Article by Zolan Kanno-Youngs & Emily Cochrane for the New York Times
SkiftX unpacks how 5G can impact every dimension of the hotel experience, from customer convenience and deeper guest personalization, to amazing entertainment resources, enhanced meetings and events, and streamlined operations industry-wide.
The Texas Hotel Conference is Texas owners' opportunity to connect with the larger hotel community and hear industry leaders and experts share the latest hotel market trends and policy updates impacting your hotel.
Throughout the years, the HTNG European Conference continues to bring together key industry decision makers in the European region. Expect to network with some of the industry's top experts, attend diverse sessions focused on hospitality technology trends and expand your company's business development.
Hotel & Resort Innovation Expo is the UK's leading business event dedicated to the hotel sector. Every year the show connects the industry's most ambitions professionals with the solutions, services and innovations they need to achieve excellence and stay ahead of the curve.
AHIF has always been a platform for both learning and networking. Now, in a post-COVID world, this event is as much a source of reconnecting as well as a source of support and solidarity in driving business into Africa.
The HX conference and expo offers unparalleled opportunities to experience today's must-have hospitality innovations. The exhibit floor gives hotel owners and operators direct access to a comprehensive range of operating supplies, equipment and managing expertise, from extraordinary guest amenities to back-of-house products and systems that improve overall profitability.

domain: geography


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YouTube star Daniel Howell is releasing a guide to mental health, You Will Get Through This Night, with HarperCollins imprint HQ.
Kate Fox, deputy publishing director at HQ, negotiated a deal for world all language rights with Daniel Kirschen of ICM Partners. The print edition will be led by Fox and the audiobook by audio editor Rebecca Fortuin. The book will be published in the US by vice-president and editorial director Carrie Thornton of Dey Street Books. It will be released in hardback, e-book and audio download in the UK on 18th May 2021.
Howell, who rose to fame through comedy YouTube videos that have racked up more than one bilion views, scored a hit with his debut publication with Phil Lester, The Amazing Book is Not on Fire (Ebury), in 2015. It became a Sunday Times and New York Times number one bestseller, selling 167,000 copies for £1.6m in the UK, and was followed by a sell-out world tour.
The new book, his first solo publishing venture, is inspired by his own mental health journey shared with millions on fans on stage and screen, along with his work as an ambassador for mental health charity Young Minds. He will mark the publication by donating £10,000 to the charity.
HarperCollins said: “You Will Get Through This Night will be a practical guide to understanding and taking control of your mental health, written in an entertaining and personal way from someone who has been through it all.”
Howell explained: “Mental health is a huge part of all of our lives and for too many of us it’s a mystery, but if we understand our minds we can put ourselves in control so we can really live. I’ve been open about my story, letting people laugh and learn from my struggles and You Will Get Through This Night represents all of it. It's deep, it's dark, it's personal, it'll make you laugh, it'll make you cry and it actually has profound professional mental health advice that might completely change your life.’
Spilt over three sections; This Night, Tomorrow and The Day After, the book “provides a refreshing, realistic approach to looking after your mental wellbeing the way we all experience it—whether you are in a crisis, just looking to make a change or want to know how to look after yourself every day.”
The print book was written in consultation with psychologist Dr Heather Bolton and the audio edition will also feature meditations and guides to use as entertaining and practical tools.
Fox said: “Dan has already been so generous with his story, and helped so many people. Rebecca and I are thrilled to be working with him and Dr Heather Bolton to create a book to bring that understanding, inimitable voice, coupled with expert advice, to even more readers.”

domain: literature


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Top Line Credit Union Robbery
Charges: Bloomington man claimed he had bomb, stole $4,100 from bank
Mark Nils Johnson, 40, is also accused of leading police on a chase through a residential area.
Bank robber claiming to have bomb arrested in Bloomington
The robbery took place at TopLine Federal Credit Union Thursday afternoon.


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Starting at: £1,195.00
With over 40 years of Sound Measurement experience, here at Castle we are proud to be able to say we are the experts in sound. We provide thousands of sound meters for a vast range of applications in just about every different market sector you could think of. If you need to measure any form of sound, we can help you.
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The majority of sound and noise level meters fall into one of three categories. These are Class 1, Class 2 and Sound Level Indicators. Class 1 and 2 Sound Meters are required to meet the full specifications of IEC 61672:2013, meaning they are suitable for performing measurements for Noise at Work.
Class 1 Sound Level Meters
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Material and Process Parameters that Affect Accuracy in Stereolithography
Experimental real time linear shrinkage rate measurements simulating stereolithography are used in an analysis of shrinkage during line drawing in stereolithography. While the amount of shrinkage depends on the polymerization kinetics, shrinkage kinetics and overall degree of cure, it also depends on the length of time to draw a line of plastic. A line drawn slowly will exhibit less apparent shrinkage than one drawn very quickly because much of the shrinkage is compensated for as the line is drawn. The data also indicates that a typical stereolithography resin in the green state may shrink to only 65% of its maximum, thus retaining considerable potential for shrinkage during post-cure. This infonnation can be used to predict the amount of shrinkage to be expected under certain exposure conditions and to fonnulate overall strategies to reduce shrinkage and subsequent warpage that causes shape distortion.


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Mar 26, 2012, 3:35 PM EST
It seems the Philadelphia Flyers have adopted the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mantra when it comes to goaltending as Ilya Bryzgalov will make his 19th start in the last 20 games tonight against Tampa Bay.
“He’s played extremely well this month,” Flyers coach Peter Laviolette told NHL.com, explaining why Bryzgalov got the nod. “He’s a big reason why we’ve been able to push up the standings. Our team needs that.
“Teams at the top of the conference are usually led by their goaltender and he’s been excellent this month.”
Bryz has been outstanding in March, posting a 10-1-1 record with a 1.22 GAA and .956 save percentage. He’s recorded four shutouts and come up huge in key games — most notably, a 38-save effort in a 3-2 win over Pittsburgh and a 30-save performance in a 2-1 win over Washington last Thursday (in which he made the game-saving shootout stop on Troy Brouwer.)
The 31-year-old Russian has also allowed two or fewer goals in 11 consecutive starts. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, he’s the first Flyers goalie to accomplish that feat since Bernie Parent did it in 1974-75.
Of note, the Flyers went on to win the Stanley Cup that year, defeating Buffalo in six games.
- Video: Team Foligno survives shootout, wins Skills Competition 0
- Video: Weber wins hardest shot with 108.5 mph blast 4
- Video: Lightning’s Drouin wins fastest skater 7
- WATCH LIVE: NHL All-Star Skills Competition 1
- Will the Youngstars even have a chance? (Updated) 10
- Unique World Cup format allows ‘more of the very best players’ to participate 10
- NHL unveils 2016 Winter Classic, Stadium Series games 16
- Players have fun, show off personalities in water-fueled All-Star Fantasy Draft 9
- Video: ‘Coachable’ Kessel goes from last pick to 2nd overall 5
- Video: Team Foligno takes Ryan Johansen first overall in All-Star Fantasy Draft 1
- Columnist: Flyers ‘orchestrated’ fight night versus Pens during meal at ‘a local steakhouse’ (130)
- Flyers’ Rinaldo: ‘I changed the whole game, man’ (112)
- Video: Rinaldo tossed for boarding Letang (79)
- Metro sensational: Rangers continue dominance of division, Pens (61)
- Report: Flyers’ Rinaldo waives right to an in-person hearing (61)


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To help you choose the best decoupage ideas, it can be a good idea to first view other people's finished projects, then look at different craft book options. You may also want to consider taking a decoupage class. It's important to choose decoupage ideas that match well with both your interests and skill level.
Beginner's decoupage books or booklets give learners the basics of the craft. They'll learn how to use decoupage medium as well as apply basic techniques in adding paper cutouts to different surfaces to create simple projects. If you're just beginning in the craft of decoupage, it's best to first start with projects done on a flat surface, such as the top of a small side table. Flat surfaces can also allow you to work more easily with the varnish or polyurethane needed to protect the surface of your cutout paper crafts.
The best intermediate decoupage ideas often involve expanding on beginner techniques such as in creating colored paper cutouts from many different kinds of papers, such as those with texture or shine. If you're at an intermediate stage in decoupaging, you may want to have fun using many different types of materials in your projects such as fabric, candy wrappers, foil, paper doilies, postcards and ribbon. Learning how to use special paint effects as a background, or backdrop, for decoupage cutouts can give more sophistication and artistic appeal to your projects as well.
Adding a sense of depth and the illusion of some cutouts appearing far away in the project, while making others seem closer also can make your decoupage projects look artistic. This type of perspective is one of the best advanced decoupage ideas, as many different details can be used in the piece without it being overwhelming if the sense of closeness versus distance is achieved. Learning how to add gold leaf when decoupaging is another advanced technique that can make your projects look elegant and sophisticated.
When choosing a decoupage class to learn new techniques and ideas, pay attention to the projects the class is scheduled to make. If the types of boxes, plates, pictures or other decoupaged pieces don't interest you, it's best to pick another class to attend. If there's a display of artist's decoupaged pieces at your local art gallery, try to take some time to view these to help inspire you to come up with your own decoupage ideas for projects.

domain: design


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Long Island Now
The latest community buzz and updates. | Sign up for community newsletters.
BloggersDavid Reich-Hale Denise M. Bonilla Sophia Chang Tara Conry Carl Corry Erin Geismar Scott Eidler Mackenzie Issler Carl MacGowan Deborah S. Morris Ted Phillips Candice Ruud Nicholas Spangler Joshua Stewart
Sporting sunglasses and a leather jacket, actor James Franco late Wednesday night greeted about 70 fans who had been staked outside East Rockaway High School for hours waiting for a glimpse of the star.
“There’s going to be one photo,” the Oscar-nominated actor told the crowd, which had been lined up single-file, smartphones in hand, ready to take selfies with him.
Instead, the “Spider-Man”...Read more »
For the 11th year in a row, the Town of Huntington plans to host its "Movies on the Lawn" program.
The family-friendly fun starts on Monday with Walt Disney's "Frozen" at Heckscher Park and continues through August at various locations.
"Bring your picnic supper, lawn chairs and blankets and enjoy this summer's movie lineup," town board member Mark Cuthbertson, host of the event, said.
On...Read more »


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Oh. My. God.
I had a lot of celebrity crush!!! But well, if it’s only five then…
So there they are! I got Rupert Grint at number one because he’s been my crush since I was 12 or 13 I guess. I remember that was because I watched Harry Potter. Number two I got Matthew Goode. He is an actor and I find him very much attractive in the film Leap Year (2010), God he was and still is so handsome. Number three, it’s Ben Whishaw of course! Love him in the film Bright Star as John Keats, very attractive. I like his hair to be honest haha. Next, my favorite man the only one Hitoshi Sakou. He is a member of a band called Bird Bear Hare and Fish, he’s the kind of shy guy and I found him very much attractive. He replied one of my question on Twitter once! Okay, on to the last which is also my favorite, Keanu Reeves. Guys, who doesn’t know him? I mean, he’s a good actor, he’s handsome, he’s generous, he’s kind, he is cute! He loves dogs and cats, oh my God. Keanu Reeves fits perfectly in every aspects and I just love him.
Now, who’s with me with this list?

domain: celebrity


Driveshaft Shop's carbon, 1 piece driveshaft is specifically designed for those WRX owners that are swapping over to the STI 6-speed transmission. Coming in at half of the weight of the factory driveshaft, this shaft will give you a noticeable increase in performance and feel. The car will become more responsive with less drivetrain loss as the power makes it's way to the wheels. This will also eliminate the need for the hanger bearing the stock driveshaft uses with the 2-piece stock system. All heat shielding, covers, etc can be reused as this driveshaft is made to fit as well as the factory driveshaft. This 1-piece carbon driveshaft for the WRX is rated to 850whp and will handle speeds of up to 180mph.
*NOTE: Differential flange mounting holes must be drilled to accept 10mm bolts!


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Payroll Tax Cut
Gesara.news » News » Payroll Tax CutNews Date: August 5, 2020
President Trump said Wednesday that he has the absolute right to suspend payroll tax collections without the approval of Congress.
The president has considered issuing an executive order suspending evictions and payroll cuts.
President Trump recent tweeted Payroll Tax Cut plus Dollars!
Also, in march 2020, Trump proposed eliminating payroll tax through the end of the year.
Trump nominee Judy Shelton to pass Senate next weekJudy Shelton, President Trumps nominee to the Federal Reserve, will receive a vote on the Senate floor next week and is expected to pass.
Her support appears enough to get Shelton through the Senate, where Republicans control 53 seats. Every Democrat is expected to vote against her.
> eliminating the Feds independence and federal deposit insurance
> returning the U.S. to a gold standard
Iran and Egypt signed a memorandum to join SCOThe Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is an intergovernmental organization founded in Shanghai on 15 June 2001.
After 21 years, the organization has become not only a strong pillar of global peace and development but also a major force for international equity and justice.
The SCO currently comprises eight Member States (China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan), four Observer States interested in acceding to full membership (Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran, and Mongolia) and six 'Dialogue Partners' (Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cambodia, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Turkiye).
Egypt and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding on Egypt's accession to the organization as a dialogue partner ahead of the summit of heads of state and government of the organization's member states scheduled to be held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on 16 September.
Also, Iran has signed a Memorandum of Obligations to become a permanent member of the SCO, the Iranian foreign minister said.
Sources: dailynewsegypt , azertag
IMF, World Bank annual meetings on economic developmentThe International Monetary Fund and World Bank will hold their annual meetings, with both calling on the Group of 20 largest economies to extend a freeze in debt payments from the worlds poorest nations that is set to expire at year end.
The annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the Board of Governors of the World Bank Group (WBG) are going to kick off on Monday 12, and will remain in session till 18 October. The meetings come amid unprecedented conditions because of the COVID-19 outbreak and the severe impact it has had on the whole world.
The meetings are designed to bring together central bankers, ministers of finance and development, private sector executives, representatives from civil society organizations, and academics to discuss issues of global concern, including the world economic outlook, poverty eradication, economic development, and aid effectiveness.
IMF to revalue its Special Drawing Rights (SDR) - the world's reserve currency waiting in the wings.
Sources:www.bloomberg.com, ahram.org.eg, gesara.news
The old system is taken over by NESARA?Washington DC is a Ghost Town. FBI building boarded up. IRS offices closed. Banks closed. Gov. Buildings closed. Commuter trains entering DC empty. Capitol Hill remained behind wire fence as it had since the Biden Inauguration.
Reports that the Edgar Hoover building is part boarded up.
NESARA take-over via the military means that the old cabal-system is taken over by the new system. The court system is taken over, the banking system, the school system etc.
Sources: rumble.com, dinarchronicles.com, simonparkes.org
The Kraken is a Cray XT5 supercomputer to Break PetascaleThe University of Tennessee supercomputer, Kraken, has broken a major barrier to become the worlds first academic supercomputer to enter the petascale, performing more than 1 thousand trillion operations per second, a landmark achievement.
The Kraken Cray XT5 supercomputer at the National Institute for Computational Sciences (NICS) has been upgraded to become the first academic computer in the world to exceed one petaflop of calculation power.
Sources: news.utk.edu, news.softpedia.com


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An interesting proposal, but will it actually happen?
City breaks, seaside getaways, and other trips outside the capital.
A short break in the Merseyside Metropolis.
Tea + cake + delightful surroundings.
Things to do on a short break in 'London-on-Sea'.
Steam train through the Yorkshire hills.
Castles, cobblestones, crazy art.
Via beaches, nature reserves and historical sites.
Hockey, jam and Roald Dahl.
Pumpkin patches for the picking.
Go on an 'expotition' to find the North Pole... in East Sussex.
If it's good enough for a former Lord Mayor of London
Great swims, great views.
Time machines, pancakes, and more.
Beautiful buildings, independent shops, and historic locations.
Plus a Shakespearean garden, and an enchanting folly to explore.
Countryside meets seaside.
Views over three counties and out to sea.
History, sandy beaches, and all the fun of the fair.
Essex’s beach hut capital.
The Beatles and the Michelin Man rub (ceramic) shoulders.
Where an unseen Star Wars scene was filmed.
Listen carefully, and you can hear the sounds of the M25 from Pluto.
Plan your day ahead or read the day's London headlines with our daily emails.
The best things to do in London. The must-read London articles. The coolest London events from our partners.
Something wrong with this article? Let us know here.


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"The Original Water-Color Paintings for The Birds of America" by Audubon, 1966
|Title and Author/Editor||The Original Water-Color Paintings by John James Audubon for “The Birds of America”|
|Genre||Art and Photography|
|Illustrator||John James Audubon (American, 1785–1851)|
|Binding||Cloth on board, Slipcase|
|Publisher or Printer||American Heritage Publishing Co.|
|Period||Mid-20th Century, 1960s, Vintage|
|Place of Publication||New York|
|Number of Books||2|
- shaken but tight bindings; slightly loose hinges; light rubbing and wear to boards and backstrips; bumped spines and corners; page toning; wear to slipcase.
- measures set.

domain: library


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On a long plane ride to Atlanta, I finally found time to catch up on a writing reference I’ve been trying to finish. In preparation for the novel contest in November, I’ve been studying the basics on plot, characters, dialogue, and point of view. One of my favorite aspects of studying writing is the many top-notch authors that the books sample. In one fell swoop, I can discover new authors and remember why I appreciate the ones I already know.
On the point-of-view chapter, William Faulkner was referenced, of course. As anybody would know from reading this blog, I’m a pretty big fan of the king of Southern Gothic. In particular, the book talked about his novel “The Sound and the Fury,” but my mind instantly brought up another great one, “As I Lay Dying.” Faulkner’s mastery of point-of-view techniques in that latter book has always struck me because its power revolved around a disturbingly quizzical character, Darl Bundren. Not only is he responsible for the majority of the narrative, but he also represents the mind of an artist, a writer, in particular.
I had been thinking about this a great deal, especially after a recent discovery of John Milton’s “Il Penseroso.” I’ve even written about it on this blog several times. Our culture has a deep and long-lasting trope on the image of the Romantic artist. They are usually eccentric, isolated, dressed in dark clothes, roaming the woods at night, and scribbling furiously into notebooks or drawing pads. And let’s not forget the most important and perhaps most dangerous characteristic…they are usually melancholy at best, outright psychologically disturbed at worse. (For the first part, you can sometimes substitute mathematical or scientific genius, which would satisfy most people’s preconceptions, but the second half almost exclusively belongs to writers, painters, musicians, actors). Artists carry the burden of their culture’s emotions and experiences, and boy, do they show it. As the story goes, it wears on them until they goes completely insane or end their lives. Before they get there, though, they are also horrendous company at the dinner table.
Of course, they would rather be loitering under the stars somewhere, waiting for inspiration to strike, trying to make sense of it all, trying to solve a specific human problem that plagues them and ultimately has no solution.
This is the Darl Bundren of the novel. He’s a character every reader trusts because he is an objective point of view. He sees and hears everything, even things he shouldn’t technically be aware of. Yet, in the world of the novel, he is known for being quiet and even shiftlessly lazy about the place, which leads to the discomfort of the people around him. They think he’s strange because he sees through everyone and everything, but without actively participating in any of it, which makes him a great narrator but a poor social being (i.e. inadequate brother/son/productive member of society). Although he is a failure as a human being, he’s a great writer; a critic attributes to him the mind of an artist because of his poetic ability to paint scenes and understand their deeper significance.
Of course, he “goes crazy” at the end, and we realize that his superb narrator brain was simply a elaborate mask covering deep layers of emotional and psychological pain, suppressed feelings of abandonment, anger, jealousy, and obvious grief from his mother’s rejection of him and her death.
The theme here seems to be that poetic genius stems from psychological conflict, or that damage somehow makes an artist more observant, more intuitive, more perceptive. It’s a cultural trope, so it must be correct, right?
I think I’ve been an unconscious member of the melancholy poet club. I’ve had enough irritating reminders from work colleagues to smile more in the middle of a lunch-time rush when I’m lost in thought, trying to figure out a huge existential issue. Perhaps I’m pondering over serious aspects of our daily lives and I carry an air of pensive sadness, but am I unhappy when I rush away at the first moment to write down what I’ve seen and heard, what I’ve learned? I can be a fulfilled person without smiling all of the time. But to be completely honest, the necessity of psychological trauma, depression, or mania is not a prerequisite to art either.
Artists share their unique sensory experiences of the world (their unique minds). Perhaps it seems more romantic if their genius is accompanied by some fantastical story of their poor, poor lives. What do you think? Do you believe that severe circumstances not only influences how writers think (i.e. differently from the rest of the population), but also produces good art?


In this report I provide an overview of the recent evolution and the state of the art future projections of sea level in Cabo Verde. I use observational data from two tide gauges (Palmeira and Porto Grande) and from satellite altimetry and show that despite local time variability the sea level trend over the satellite altimetry period (1992-2019) in Cabo Verde is around 3 mm/year which is similar to global sea level rise over the same period. However, a sea level drop is found in Porto Grande between 1991 and 1996 which would require further investigations to understand. Sea level projections from SROCC, the latest IPCC report, are used to show that sea level rise in the 21st century in Capo Verde will be just a few centimetres higher than to global mean sea level rise in 2100. This holds for three very different climate scenarios. As a result, sea level in 2100 in Cabo Verde will be between 30 cm and 120 cm higher than during the period 1986-2005 depending on emissions and climate response uncertainties.
D. le Bars. Past and future sealevel in the Archipelago of Cabo Verde
KNMI number: TR-401, Year: 2022, Pages: 11


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Friends, spring is almost here! We are mere hours away from stepping out of this snowy/freezing February and I couldn’t be more excited and anxious to embrace all that March is about to offer.
Even with the negative degree temps, February did bring some pretty great stuff. Lots of snow, means lots of reading and tea time. (There is always a positive side!) I celebrated Valentine’s Day with a little Eleanor & Park and I absolutely thought it was adorable. It left me with all kinds of feels and made my heart happy. Young love, is there anything better? I also began The Bone Season series by Samantha Shannon. I’ve noticed there has been a lot of book buzz about it recently, probably because the sequel, The Mime Order, (which I am currently reading) released late January. The series is great, however each book takes me FOREVER to read. (I’m not entirely sure why that is.) Have you read this series yet? What do you think?
Some other books I picked up were The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black and The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma. Speaking of The Walls Around Us…let’s talk about March’s new releases!
1. The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro
Releases: March 3rd by Knopf
The Romans have long since departed and Britain is steadily declining into ruin. But, at least, the wars that once ravaged the country have ceased. Axl and Beatrice, a couple of elderly Britons, decide that now is the time, finally, for them to set off across this troubled land of mist and rain to find the son they have not seen for years, the son they can scarcely remember. They know they will face many hazards—some strange and otherworldly—but they cannot foresee how their journey will reveal to them the dark and forgotten corners of their love for each other. Nor can they foresee that they will be joined on their journey by a Saxon warrior, his orphan charge, and a knight—each of them, like Axl and Beatrice, lost in some way to his own past, but drawn inexorably toward the comfort, and the burden, of the fullness of a life’s memories.
Sometimes savage, sometimes mysterious, always intensely moving, Kazuo Ishiguro’s first novel in a decade tells a luminous story about the act of forgetting and the power of memory, a resonant tale of love, vengeance, and war.
2. Vanishing Girls by Lauren Oliver
Releases: March 10th by HarperCollins
New York Times bestselling author Lauren Oliver delivers a gripping story about two sisters inexorably altered by a terrible accident.
Dara and Nick used to be inseparable, but that was before the accident that left Dara’s beautiful face scarred and the two sisters totally estranged. When Dara vanishes on her birthday, Nick thinks Dara is just playing around. But another girl, nine-year-old Madeline Snow, has vanished, too, and Nick becomes increasingly convinced that the two disappearances are linked. Now Nick has to find her sister, before it’s too late.
In this edgy and compelling novel, Lauren Oliver creates a world of intrigue, loss, and suspicion as two sisters search to find themselves, and each other.
5. Hausfrau by Jill Alexander Essbaum
Releases: March 17th by Random House
haus·frau haus-frau n 1: Origin: German.
Housewife, homemaker. 2: A married woman. 3: A novel by jill alexander essbaum
Anna was a good wife, mostly.
Anna Benz, an American in her late thirties, lives with her Swiss husband, Bruno—a banker—and their three young children in a postcard-perfect suburb of Zürich. Though she leads a comfortable, well-appointed life, Anna is falling apart inside. Adrift and increasingly unable to connect with the emotionally unavailable Bruno or even with her own thoughts and feelings, Anna tries to rouse herself with new experiences: German language classes, Jungian analysis, and a series of sexual affairs she enters with an ease that surprises even her.
But Anna can’t easily extract herself from these affairs. When she wants to end them, she finds it’s difficult. Tensions escalate, and her lies start to spin out of control. Having crossed a moral threshold, Anna will discover where a woman goes when there is no going back.
Intimate, intense, and written with the precision of a Swiss Army knife, Jill Alexander Essbaum’s debut novel is an unforgettable story of marriage, fidelity, sex, morality, and most especially self. Navigating the lines between lust and love, guilt and shame, excuses and reasons, Anna Benz is an electrifying heroine whose passions and choices readers will debate with recognition and fury. Her story reveals, with honesty and great beauty, how we create ourselves and how we lose ourselves and the sometimes disastrous choices we make to find ourselves.
2. The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma
Releases: March 24th by Algonquin Young Readers
I had the opportunity to get my hands on an advanced copy of this wonderful book. (Thank you NetGalley & Algonquin!) I’m not sure I can eloquently relay how great this book is, but I did try. You can read my review for this haunting read here.
“Ori’s dead because of what happened out behind the theater, in the tunnel made out of trees. She’s dead because she got sent to that place upstate, locked up with those monsters. And she got sent there because of me.”
The Walls Around Us is a ghostly story of suspense told in two voices—one still living and one long dead. On the outside, there’s Violet, an eighteen-year-old dancer days away from the life of her dreams when something threatens to expose the shocking truth of her achievement. On the inside, within the walls of a girls’ juvenile detention center, there’s Amber, locked up for so long she can’t imagine freedom. Tying these two worlds together is Orianna, who holds the key to unlocking all the girls’ darkest mysteries.
We hear Amber’s story and Violet’s, and through them Orianna’s, first from one angle, then from another, until gradually we begin to get the whole picture—which is not necessarily the one that either Amber or Violet wants us to see.
Nova Ren Suma tells a supernatural tale of guilt and innocence, and what happens when one is mistaken for the other.
4. The Haunting of Sunshine Girl by Paige Mckenzie
Releases: March 24th by Weinstein Books
Based on the wildly popular YouTube channel, The Haunting of Sunshine Girl has been described as “ Gilmore Girls meets Paranormal Activity for the new media age.” YA fans new and old will learn the secrets behind Sunshine—the adorkable girl living in a haunted house—a story that is much bigger, and runs much deeper, than even the most devoted viewer can imagine…
6. We All Looked Up by Tommy Wallach
Releases: March 24th by Simon and Schuster
Four high school seniors put their hopes, hearts, and humanity on the line as an asteroid hurtles toward Earth in this contemporary novel.
They always say that high school is the best time of your life.
Peter, the star basketball player at his school, is worried “they” might actually be right. Meanwhile Eliza can’t wait to escape Seattle—and her reputation—and perfect-on-paper Anita wonders if admission to Princeton is worth the price of abandoning her real dreams. Andy, for his part, doesn’t understand all the fuss about college and career—the future can wait.
Or can it? Because it turns out the future is hurtling through space with the potential to wipe out life on Earth. As these four seniors—along with the rest of the planet—wait to see what damage an asteroid will cause, they must abandon all thoughts of the future and decide how they’re going to spend what remains of the present.
All opinions are my own and are not endorsed or affiliated with any company or organization.


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Hi everyone, our todays latest coloring picture that your kids can have fun with is City Coloring Page For Kids, published under City category. This below coloring picture dimension is around 600 pixel x 760 pixel with approximate file size for around 115.01 Kilobytes.
To get more picture similar to the image given above, your kids can explore the below Related Images section at the end of the site or alternatively surfing by category. You may find many other exciting coloring picture to collect. Enjoy the fun!


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The climbing season at Baldwin Creek could be year-round, but due to seasonal road closures it is June 1 to November 1. The middle of the summer tends to be very hot due to the southern exposure of the climbs, though early morning and late afternoon are survivable. Fall is the best season here, but that is true for 95% of all climbing areas. Precipitation presents minimal problems, though an occasional thunderstorm is possible in the late summer.
Baldwin is a fairly straightforward sport climbing area; quickdraws and a rope are all you need. Bring plenty of water for hot days and a headlamp for the hard-to-follow-in-the-dark trail. Be aware that the road requires a higher clearance vehicle and is subject to closure later than June 1 and earlier than November 1 if weather requires it.


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- Cape student sues, accuses school officials of slamming her to ground multiple times (04/28/16)44
- Bob Evans restaurant in Cape Girardeau among chain's 21 closings (04/26/16)9
- Missouri House votes to allow concealed weapons without permits (04/28/16)6
- Two hurt in motorcycle wreck on Interstate 55 (04/25/16)1
- Law firm requests information about Cape's traffic cameras (04/25/16)2
- Local lawmakers split over failed medical marijuana bill; voters may have a say (04/26/16)19
- Police report filed, but no charges in incident at Cape Central (04/29/16)35
- Tanker truck catches fire near Oak Ridge (04/24/16)7
- Local company makes eco-friendly kitty litter that cuts cat-box smell (04/25/16)
- Senator introduces bill for I-57 that would connect Sikeston with Little Rock (04/28/16)4
Three Tigers suspended
Three Central boys basketball players were suspended from the team indefinitely on Monday for violations of the school citizenship guidelines.
"We have high expectations of our athletes with the citizenship guidelines and when its broken we have no choice but to act," Central athletic director Darrick Smith said.
Smith would not reveal the names of the three players, but said they would not be playing for the team for the immediate future.
Central is scheduled to host Doniphan tonight and then travels to Poplar Bluff on Friday.
-- Jeremy Joffray


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A plane operated by a private airline in Nepal went missing on Sunday with 22 people on board, airline and government officials told Reuters.
The small plane was flying from the tourist town of Pokhara, some 200 km northwest of the capital, Kathmandu, to Jomsom, about 80 km to the northwest, they said. It is operated by Tara Air which mainly flies Canadian-built Twin Otter planes.
An airline official said the plane was carrying four Indians and two other foreigners, though their nationality was not known.
Nepal, home to the world’s highest mountain, does have a record of accidents on its extensive domestic air network, with changeable weather and airstrips in difficult mountain locations.
Iranian jet crashes, two pilots killed: ReportTwo Iranian pilots died after their F7 fighter jet crashed on Tuesday near Anarak, 200 km (124 miles) east of the city of Isfahan, Iran’s official ... Middle East
Tourist plane crash kills five in France: Emergency servicesFive people, including four members of the same family, were killed in a tourist plane crash in the French Alps on Saturday, rescue services said.The ... World News
Myanmar military jet crashes after ‘technical failure’A Myanmar military jet crashed Wednesday morning after a “technical failure” while flying in the country’s north, the junta’s information team said in ... World News

domain: travel


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In this project, we aim to use ultrasound of the quadriceps to evaluate the effect of the nutritional practices of the EFFORT parent trial on muscle mass.
Our Research Question:
In critically ill patients with nutrition ‘risk factors’, what is the effect of prescribing a higher dose (≥2.2 grams/kg/day) of protein/amino acid administration compared to patients prescribed a usual protein dose (≤1.2 gram/kg/day) on muscle quality and quantity measured by US of quadriceps?
Site who have signed up and registered for participation in the parent EFFORT trial have the opportunity to participate in this substudy.
In order to participate in this trial, sites must have access to ultrasound equipment and undergo specialized training conducted by CERU Staff or local experts who have been trained on our ultrasound procedures.
Ultrasonography is an accessible, non-invasive, portable and user-friendly tool that is gaining popularity in the ICU and can be used to quantify structural and physical characteristics of skeletal muscle at the bedside. Diverse ultrasound protocols have been developed and applied in an ICU setting to quantify muscle thickness, cross sectional area of the rectus femoris, and other measures of muscle quality such as echogenicity. These measures have largely been shown to be reliable in critically ill patient populations and have some degree of validity as they predict for total body skeletal muscle and more distal functional outcomes.
In this trial, we will use an US protocol that we have developed and are using in our other research projects. These measures will be taken locally at baseline (within 24 hrs of randomization), 10 days post randomization and just prior to hospital discharge and sent securely via the internet to a central storage facility where they will be read by experts.
EFFORT Ultrasound Protocol:
Ultrasound Procedure Manual:
Launch and Training:
We have partnered with Dr Rosa Larreategui who is organizing the Panamanian Conference on Clinical Nutrition, October 2-4th in Panama City. Here we will have experts on hand to offer hands-on training for the ultrasound procedures to be used in EFFORT US.
Dr Daren Heyland will also be present to answer questions about the study.
More details will be announced closer to the the conference.

domain: biology


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Carrot and orange soup
Spicy, yummy, with simple ingredients
1) Boil stock, carrot, garlic and potato. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes until veg is tender
2) Stir in orange juice, seasoning and mint (haven’t tried it with fresh mint but dried works fine). Simmer for 5 minutes.


Specialist in high care handling of baby milk powders via Big Bags
The application of Big Bag technology has risen dramatically since it was first introduced. The use of Big Bags offers producers of baby milk powders excellent opportunities to package their products economically, hygienically and safely and provides them with a great many logistic benefits. Dinnissen Process Technology specializes in providing the baby milk powder sector with a wide range of solutions for emptying, filling, sealing, and moving Big Bags. It supplies off-the-shelf products as well as fully customized solutions for packaging products quickly, hygienically, safely, and efficiently in terms of logistics. Dinnissen offers these solutions as part of the client's overall process or as a standalone project, with capacities ranging from filling only one Big Bag per week to 50 per hour. The range of products offered by Dinnissen includes a wide variety of options for packaging and processing the most extreme, hazardous or hygienically sensitive products using Big Bags. The combination of dedicated knowledge and hands-on experience enabled the company to develop its new and innovative solutions for filling Big Bags with premium-quality baby milk powders.
Ultra-hygienic conditions for connecting Big Bags in pallet-free clean rooms
The process of filling Big Bags with baby milk powder starts with ensuring that the clean room is ultra clean and remains ultra clean. The Big Bag filling concept created by Dinnissen therefore starts by ensuring that dirt-sensitive pallets are kept out of the clean room. During the filling process, Big Bags are transported via a special guidance system which minimizes the risk of contact with any type of contaminant. The system used to suspend the Big Bags during the filling process makes it very easy to clean the clean room as thoroughly and frequently as necessary. The first step in filling the Big Bag involves connecting the bag and its clean inner liner to the filler head. This is done using the special decontamination module developed by Dinnissen which safely and securely eliminates dust and dirt particles until the hose used to fill or empty the bag has been securely attached via a special inflatable seal that prevents any dust or other particles from entering or leaving the bag. The bag is then emptied of air by vacuum, after which it is filled with nitrogen or CO2 until it reaches its desired shape. The end result is a clean and oxygen-free (<1%) environment that extends the shelf life of food products. Pre-shaping the Big Bag, if necessary with the help of vibration, also ensures that the entire bag is optimally filled - securely and consistently.
Filling Big Bags safely, securely, and precisely
In order to fill Big Bags ultra-hygienically, it's important to work quickly and precisely and to prevent any particles from escaping. Dinnissen has developed special solutions to accomplish this. For example, large quantities of product can be fed into the system quickly and precisely either from a weighing bunker or directly. To comply with even more rigorous requirements in terms of safety and hygiene, the filling station can also be fitted with an integrated and high-capacity screening system, a metal detector, and/or a fully automated sampling unit. The product dosage system used by Dinnissen is based on several components, of which the "Feedervalve" developed by Dinnissen is the most important. This dosage seal valve has an excellent reputation for its precision and ability to prevent product damage. Various weighing systems, level sensors, and maximum level alarms are used to ensure reliable and accurate measurements of volume and weight. A vacuum lance can be used to remove air from products that are difficult to compact. If precise calibration is important, Dinnissen can also supply clients with the required technology and equipment and assist them with successfully navigating calibration procedures all over the world. Dinnissen also offers Big Bag stations with integrated tracking and tracing systems, including barcode scanning options and the ability to automatically block the Big Bag stations via Profibus or Ethernet. To ensure that no product escapes and contaminates the clean room, Dinnissen uses a specially shaped filler head, an inflatable seal, and the effective removal of fine particles via suction. The option of pneumatically sealing the filler hose before disconnecting it is also an effective method of preventing any contamination of the high care environment.
Airtight closure via Triple-seal technique and pick-and-place of the Big Bags
The last step in the process of hygienically filling the Big Bags is the automatic airtight sealing of the inner liner via the Triple-seal technique. This method guarantees that the oxygen concentration in the Big Bags will remain low for weeks at a time with the help of pre-gassing or post-gassing. The Big Bag can then be sealed and supplied with a clean bottom plate, after which it is transported out of the clean room via a special guidance system. This is done with the help of a special fast-closing door and the use of forced ventilation. While the door is being opened and closed, filtered and conditioned air is blown in a laminar direction at a speed of 0.4 to 0.5 m/s. For medium or low care environments, the Big Bag is placed on a pallet and entered into the logistics process. For this part of the production process Dinnissen offers systems for automatically introducing Big Bags, pallets, and packaging materials via special dispensers as well as solutions for loading and stacking Big Bags in sea containers or trucks. These systems allow companies to reduce labour costs and also ensure them of properly stowed and stable loads.
Operational efficiency and quality
Speed and efficiency are essential when it comes to ensuring that production processes remain profitable. Accordingly, Dinnissen also focuses a great deal of attention on ergonomic aspects in connection with its Big Bag filling stations. Control elements can, for example, be installed at the same height, and hooks, swivelling filler heads and twister heads can be placed in easily accessible locations. Solutions are also available for ensuring that Big Bags are automatically coded and sampled for tracking and tracing, metal detection, and the integration of control screens. It goes without saying that Dinnissen's Big Bag systems comply with all Atex, HACCP and GMP guidelines.
Dinnissen Process Technology offers you a unique mix of expertise plus contracting and manufacturing facilities: from a stand-alone machine to a complete turnkey system, from pre-engineering to project management, and from design to assembly to start-up. Our one-stop shopping concept enables us to operate independently of third-party suppliers. Our extensive international network ensures that we can deliver anywhere in the world.


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Kelly Rowland gets fab in newly released promotional pics shot by famed celebrity photographer Derek Blanks. The singer is still riding high off the success of her hit â€œMotivationâ€ and is currently filming the new season of the UK X-Factor in London as a judge. In a recent interview with Hip Hop Weekly, the diva opened up about finding herself and her voice at 30.
I have a newfound confidence. I just turned 30 this year and it feels really liberating. I feel that Iâ€™ve come into my own. Iâ€™m confident in my voice. Thatâ€™s where my business sense has picked up. Every artist kinda has to manage himself. Itâ€™s fine to have someone there, but it needs to be a partnership. I realize for me, that this is the best thing at this point in my life. Iâ€™m working with Devyne Stephens and Timmy Witherspoon, and we tag team off each other.â€


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What makes Tracey Esteves' work unique?
"Tracey Esteves Art's bold, iconographic style makes her a distinctly recognisable artist in the Australian contemporary art space. "Frances Keevil Gallery Double Bay
“The subject matter is distinctly Australian…the audience instantly recognises it…it’s part of our DNA.” Johnny Romeo Internationally acclaimed Australian Pop Artist (Katoomba 2018).
"I strongly encourage anyone who has the opportunity to witness Tracey's extraordinary and vibrant artworks firsthand. They are truly quite remarkable. " Guy Zangari MP
Expect bold colours, defining lines and characteristic stylisation in her latest exhibition." Frances Keevil Gallery Double Bay


Swansea signs Donnelly
English Premier League newboys Swansea City beat rival bids by Liverpool and Everton to sign highly rated Northern Irish striker Rory Donnelly from Cliftonville on Friday. The 19-year-old — who passed his medical on Friday — will sign a three-and-a-half-year contract when the transfer window officially opens today with the fee, while undisclosed, is more than the original ￡100,000 (US$155,200) they offered earlier. Donnelly’s transfer fee rose after both Liverpool and their city rivals, Everton, declared an interest in the striker, who has scored 17 times this term for the Northern Irish club. “We are delighted to be able to attract one of Northern Ireland’s biggest talents,” Swansea manager Brendan Rodgers said. “I am really looking forward to helping Rory fulfill his potential and, hopefully, over the next few years ensure that Swansea City has another exciting young player blossoming at the club,” he said.
Dockett fined for tackles
Arizona defensive tackle Darnell Dockett was fined a total of US$30,000 by the NFL for two incidents that took place in the Cardinals’ 23-16 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals last week, the league said on Friday. Dockett was fined US$15,000 for tackling quarterback Andy Dalton below the knees and US$15,000 for a high tackle around the shoulders and neck area of running back Bernard Scott. Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch was fined US$10,000 for violating the league’s uniform policy and wearing boots featuring a graphic advertising a product. Fellow Seahawks, Richard Sherman was fined US$15,000 for a high tackle and linebacker Adrian Moten was fined US$7,500 for a late hit. In other fines, Washington Redskins’ safety Reed Doughty and Houston Texans’ defensive end J.J. Watt were fined US$15,000 each for illegal hits on quarterbacks.
Mayweather fined US$1,000
Welterweight boxing champion Floyd Mayweather Jr pleaded no contest on Friday in Las Vegas to misdemeanor battery against a security guard, prosecutors said. Mayweather, a flamboyant 34-year-old boxer widely regarded as the best defensive fighter of his generation, will pay a US$1,000 fine for the offense, according to the district attorney’s office. Mayweather’s no contest plea to the misdemeanor battery charge was entered by his attorney as part of a larger plea deal that last week saw the boxer admit to wrongdoing in a separate attack on his ex-girlfriend, said Tess Driver, a spokeswoman for the Clark County District Attorney’s Office.
ITF rejects Pakistan bid
The International Tennis Federation (ITF) has rejected an appeal by Pakistan to host its Davis Cup tie against Lebanon next year, the Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF) has said. “We had filed an appeal against the decision to move the tie and we assured full security arrangements for the visiting team,” PTF secretary Mumtaz Yousuf said of the Asia/Oceania Group Two tie that is scheduled for Feb 10-12. “But the ITF has rejected our appeal.” The tie was originally supposed to be in Lahore and while Lebanon had said they were prepared to play in Pakistan, the ITF moved the tie to Lebanon because of security concerns. Pakistan have not held a Davis Cup tie at home since 2005 because of security issues, though Mumtaz said the ITF had promised to investigate the possibility of allowing the country to choose a neutral venue for future “home” ties.


A randomized controlled study demonstrates significant gains in social isolation, well-being, quality of life, and vulnerability ratings.
Scientists have long known that social isolation is linked to a variety of health problems, such as an increased risk of heart disease and stroke, as well as mental decline and even premature death. Because they are more vulnerable to social isolation and loneliness, older adults are especially at risk. The coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated the situation by requiring social distancing, particularly to keep the world’s elderly healthy.
However, when paired with interactive art-based activities, the same digital technology that allows workers to connect remotely may help older adults become healthier physically, mentally and socially. This is the finding of a recent study, the first to show how trips to virtual museums can significantly improve the quality of life for homebound seniors. The researchers’ findings were published in the journal frontiers in medicine.
Researchers from Canada and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) collaborated to look at the advantages of conducting weekly virtual visits over a three-month period. 106 residents of the Montreal metro area 65 and older were recruited for the research. Half of the participants attended one guided tour each week, while the control group did not participate in any cultural activities during the same time period.
Art improves life
The intervention group showed significant improvements in their social isolation, well-being, quality of life, and ratings of vulnerability when compared to the control group, according to the paper.
Lead author Dr. Olivier Bouchet, Professor at University of Montreal. “Globally, this participatory art-based activity could become a model that could be presented in museums and art institutions around the world to promote active and healthy aging.”
The biggest benefit of the 45-minute virtual museum tours, which also included a 15-minute Q&A at the end with the museum guide, was vulnerability improvement.
Bouchet explained that frailty refers to “a state of vulnerability for individuals to experience negative health incidents and disabilities that negatively affect their quality of life and increase health and social costs.” “Health and social systems need to meet the challenge of reducing vulnerability and the associated negative consequences of an aging population.”
An innovative way to improve health
The new study is an extension of previous research that investigated the potential health benefits of an ongoing MMFA program for seniors called “Thursdays at the Museum.” Findings from the 2018 single-arm pilot study indicated that museum-hosted art activities can improve well-being, quality of life, and health in older adults.
Indeed, the pilot study’s success led to a three-year, multinational study to test the effectiveness of such art-based interventions across societies and cultures. In addition, the Research Center of the Institute of Aging University of Montreal, in collaboration with the MMFA and the University of Montreal, is developing a new program that combines art and health called the Art Lab and Longevity. The purpose of the laboratory is to develop, validate and promote art-based interventions for older adults.
These initiatives reflect approaches advocated by the World Health Organization (WHO) for managing chronic diseases, according to Beauchi. For example, the World Health Organization launched the Aging and Health Program in 2015 which included the use of community organizations to promote culture as a key component of improving health. Traditionally, these types of preventative health activities have occurred in schools, community centers, and workplaces.
“While these are convenient sites that reach a large number of people, there are additional organizations and sectors that can become partners in public health research and practice development,” Bouchet said. Museums are among these potential partners. They are aware of the needs of their communities and are therefore expanding the types of activities they offer.”
Reference: “Benefits of a 3-month course of weekly virtual museum tours in the community housing of older adults: Results of a randomized controlled trial” by Olivier Bouchet, Jacqueline Matskeff, Kevin Galerie, Linda Goossens, Constance Lafontaine, and Kim Suchchuk, August 16, 2022 and frontiers in medicine.
DOI: 10.3389 / fmed.2022.969122
The study was funded by Fonds de recherche du Québec-Société et Culture and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.


The internal energy function is intended to enforce a shape on the deformable contour and to maintain a constant distance between the points in the contour. Additional terms can be added to influence the motion of the contour.
The internal energy function used herein is defined as follows:
where is the continuity energy that enforces the shape of the contour and is a balloon force that causes the contour to grow (balloon) or shrink. and provide the relative weighting of the energy terms.
In the absence of other influences, the continuity energy term coerces an open deformable contour into a straight line and a closed deformable contour into a circle. The formulation of the continuity energy has been adopted from . The energy term for each element, , in the matrix, is defined as follows:
where is the point in the image that corresponds spatially to energy matrix element .
for an open contour. In this case, the minimum energy point is the point exactly half way between and .
For the case of a closed contour, is given a modulus of . Therefore, . is then defined as follows:
Here, the point of minimum energy of is pushed outward so that becomes a circle. This behavior is illustrated in Figure 5.2.
Figure 5.2: An example of the movement of a point in an active contour due to continuity energy. The point, , is the location of minimum energy because it lies on the circle connecting and .
The normalization factor, , in Equation 5.4 is the average distance between points in :
Magnitudes have been left squared to reduce the computational load. The normalization is required to make independent of the size, location, and orientation of .
A balloon force can be used on a closed deformable contour to force the contour to expand (or shrink) in the absence of external influences. A contour initialized within a uniform image object will expand under the influence of a balloon force until it nears the object boundary (at which point the external energy function affects its motion). Figure 5.3 illustrates this behavior.
Figure 5.3: An example of the movement of a deformable contour due to balloon energy. Because the object has uniform intensity, a balloon force is required to push the contour toward the object boundary.
Chalana et al. suggest an adaptive balloon force that varies inversely proportionally to the image gradient magnitude . The adaptive balloon force is strong in homogeneous regions and weak near object boundaries, edges, and lines.
The energy term for each element, , in the matrix, is expressed as a dot product:
where is the outward unit normal of at point and is the point in the neighborhood of corresponding to entry in the energy matrix. Therefore, the balloon energy is smallest at points farthest from in the direction of .
can be found by rotating the tangent vector, , by . is easily computed:
So is a unit vector normal to .
Adaptive balloon forces are scaled by the image gradient magnitude at point . This can be considered part of the regularization process and is discussed in Section 5.2.3.
The external energy function attracts the deformable contour to interesting features, such as object boundaries, in an image. Any energy expression that accomplishes this attraction can be considered for use.
Image gradient and intensity are obvious (and easy) characteristics to look at (another could be object size or shape). Therefore, the following external energy function is investigated:
where is an expression that attracts the contour to high or low intensity regions and is an energy term that moves the contour towards edges. Again, the constants, and , are provided to adjust the relative weights of the terms.
Each element in the intensity energy matrix, is assigned the intensity value of the corresponding image point in the neighborhood of :
Then, if is positive, the contour is attracted to regions of low intensity and vice-versa.
The image gradient energy function attracts the deformable contour to edges in the image. An energy expression proportional to the gradient magnitude will attract the contour to any edge:
When active contours are used to find object boundaries, an energy expression that discriminates between edges of adjacent objects is desirable. The key to such an expression is that the gradients at the edges of the objects have different directions. Further, the direction of the gradient at the object's edge should be similar to the direction of the unit normal of the contour. This situation is illustrated in Figure 5.4.
Figure 5.4: An example of the movement of a deformable contour due to gradient energy. Because the gradient direction at the edge of the object of interest is similar to the outward unit normal direction of the contour, the active contour algorithm moves the snake point from to even though the gradient magnitudes at both points are similar.
The value for each element in the directional gradient energy matrix, , can therefore be defined by a dot product between the unit normal of the deformable contour and the image gradient:
where is the unit normal of the contour at point as defined in Section 5.2.1.
The energy functions introduced in the previous sections should be scaled so that the neighborhood matrices contain comparable values. This process is referred to as regularization. Here, each of the energy functions is adjusted to the range .
The balloon energy is further modified to adapt to the image gradient magnitude. Regularization parameters are added to the intensity and gradient energy terms to stabilize the active contour algorithm.
At each point in the deformable contour, the elements in neighborhood matrix for the continuity energy are simply scaled to the range :
where and are the minimum and maximum valued elements, respectively, in .
The balloon energy is scaled to the range , then adapted to the image gradient intensity:
where is the maximum gradient magnitude in the entire image.
A parameter, , is added to the intensity energy term for regularization:
where is the maximum intensity in the entire image and has a range of . Therefore, determines the sensitivity of the active contour to local variations in image intensity.
The gradient energy term is regularized in the same manner as the intensity energy term:
also has a range of . A large results in an active contour that is insensitive to weak edges.


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With The Ultimate Fighter getting a new home on FX beginning next year, a possible international version of the show is being discussed that would pit Australia against the United Kingdom.
“Right now, we have three Australian broadcasters interested and a number of blue chip sponsors willing to write checks,” UFC managing director of international development Marshall Zelaznik said in an interview recently. “That’s what has us really excited, the fact we have serious backers for a concept that is obviously very expensive to produce. I’d like to think that before the end of the year we could be into pre-production. The pieces are certainly coming together.”
The show would give the UFC another leg up on the international fight market, something UFC President Dana White wants as he pushes the company into the global force he envisions.
White and Zelaznik both talked about expanding TUF internationally during pre-fight press conferences for UFC 127. A possible Philippines version has also been placed on the table.
Possible coaches being discussed include Dan Hardy for the U.K. and Brian Ebersole for the Aussies.


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JAMESTOWN, NY (WNY News Now) – The FBI, alongside Jamestown Police, sized drugs and several weapons following a raid on the city’s southside.
Just after 11 a.m. on Thursday the Jamestown Metro Drug Task Force, and partners, raided 250 Schuyler Street apartment number 10.
36-year-old Vaughn Grant, police said, was arrested following a traffic stop nearby his apartment. He was spotted leaving the area just prior to the raid.
Inside his apartment, police allegedly recovered over 600 grams of meth, nearly 200 grams of crack cocaine, three grams of MDMA, known as molly or ecstasy, three loaded pistols, one which was reported stolen, a loaded AR-15 rifle, ammunition, scales, drug packaging materials and over $14,700 dollars in cash.
As a convicted felon, police said Grant is not legally allowed to possess a firearm.
Following the raid, he was held in federal custody on several charges connected to alleged drug trafficking. He will later be arraigned by a federal court judge.


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DescriptionTelltale Texas Hold'em is a casual poker from the creators of the revived Sam & Max series of games, Telltale. As suggested by the title the only poker present here is Texas Hold'em. The player must compete with four characters, each with his own unique personality and appearance - not that dissimilar in style to the characters seen in Sam & Max games.
During the course of the game, they will comment on everything, changing their responses and reactions properly according to the situation. For example an "All In" move will inevitably cause surprises on the characters' faces. Apart from that the characters may engage into an idle humorous banter, talking about things unrelated to the game and happening for comic relief only.
While not aimed towards serious poker game simulation the game takes pride in its humorous and light-weight approach to the subject, and cleverly scripted AI that allows characters react accordingly to every game situation.
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|Jeuxpo.com||2006||7 out of 10||70|
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