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Rosa María Torres
(Texto en español: Los Laureados con el Premio WISE a la Educación)
2011 WISE Prize for Education Laureate:
Sir Fazle Hasan Abed (Bangladesh)
2012 WISE Prize Laureate:
Dr. Madhav Chavan (India). Interview.
2013 WISE Prize for Education Laureate:
Vicky Colbert (Colombia). Interview.
2014 WISE Prize for Education Laureate:
Ann Cotton (UK) - Interview
"The WISE Prize for Education is the first distinction of its kind to recognize an individual or a team of up to six people working together for an outstanding, world-class contribution to education. Established in 2011 by Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Chairperson of Qatar Foundation, the WISE Prize for Education sets the standard for excellence in education, giving it similar status to other areas for which international prizes already exist, such as literature, peace and economics. The Laureate receives a monetary prize of $500,000 (US) and a gold medal. The WISE Prize for Education Laureate is honored as a global role model and ambassador for education."
What are the educational innovations that draw the attention of the global education community at this point in time? The first four winners of the WISE Prize for Education (2011, 2012, 2013, 2014) and their respective education programs share several common characteristics. One of them: they are bottom-up innovators and innovations, that have started small and local, have become national and later expanded internationally over a long and sustained period of time. My personal knowledge of two of them, BRAC and Escuela Nueva, through study visits, research and follow up over many years, provides some insights into the specific nature and process of these inspiring educational models and experiences.
BRAC - Bangladesh
The 2011 WISE Prize for Education was awarded to Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, Founder and Chairman of BRAC, "the largest development organization in the world." Created in 1972 in a remote rural village, BRAC (Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee) reaches today nearly 135 million people in 11 countries in Asia and Africa, and also in Haiti in the Caribbean.
BRAC is not only an education-related NGO. Its holistic and multifaceted approach to development covers various areas and issues: microfinance, education, healthcare, legal services, community empowerment, and social enterprises. Education has been one of its key and most successful areas.
So-called BRAC Non-Formal Primary Schools, which became internationally renowned in the 1990s, have spread as a viable and replicable primary school model. Starting with ver modest primary schools, BRAC has developed a whole education system, that includes today BRAC University.
WISE Jury and Committee
Pratham - India
The 2012 WISE Prize for Education was awarded to Dr. Madhav Chavan, Co-founder and CEO of Pratham, the largest education NGO in India. Pratham's mission is "Every child in school and learning well". It was created in 1994 to provide pre-school education to children living in the slums of Mumbai. Community volunteers were recruited, trained, provided basic teaching-learning materials, and encouraged to organize classes in any space available in the communities (temples, offices, people's houses, etc.).
Pratham Balwadis (pre-school classes) multiplied in other locations. Today Pratham reaches millions of children in rural and urban areas in 19 of the country's 28 states, through early childhood education, learning support to in-school and out-of-school children, mainstreaming of out-of-school children, computer literacy, vocational training for youth and special programs for vulnerable and working children.
An area approach (whole community interventions) was adopted in 2002-2003. Pratham's Learn to Read (L2R) technique is an accelerated learning technique targeted at teaching both in-school and out-of-school children how to read in 4- 8 weeks. Facilitated by Pratham, The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) is the largest survey undertaken in India by people outside the government. It measures the enrollment as well as the reading and arithmetic levels of children in the age group of 6-14 years.
WISE Jury and Committee
Escuela Nueva - Colombia
The 2013 WISE Prize for Education was awarded to Vicky Colbert, founder and director of Fundación Escuela Nueva, and co-creator (together with Prof. Oscar Mogollón) of the Escuela Nueva (EN) model from its start.
EN was initiated as a local project in 1975, covering a few public schools in rural areas, and grew as a regular program within Colombia's Ministry of Education. In 1985, EN was adopted by the Colombian government as a national policy to universalize quality primary education in rural areas.
EN has shown that the multigrade school (one or two teachers in charge of all levels in a single classroom), if given appropriate conditions and treated as a multigrade system, can become a quality alternative rather than a "poor temporary solution for the poor". In fact, Colombia has been the only country in Latin America where students in rural areas have shown higher learning achievements than children in urban areas when UNESCO's LLECE tests were applied. EN has also shown that, even with many problems and ups and downs, radical and meaningful innovation can be developed within government structures and within formal, mainstream education.
The Escuela Nueva Foundation was created in 1987 in order to help strengthen the program, adapt it to urban areas, and expand it to other countries (the EN model has been experimented in 16 countries). Over the years, EN has received numerous international awards, including a WISE Award in 2009.
WISE Jury and Committee
CAMFED - Zimbabwe, Zambia, Ghana, Tanzania and Malawi
The 2014 WISE Prize for Education was awarded to Ann Cotton, a UK citizen founder of CAMFED.
"When you educate a girl in Africa, everything changes. She'll be three times less likely to get HIV/AIDS, earn 25 percent more income and have a smaller, healthier family."
In every country, Camfed works through national and local systems - with parents, teachers, government officials, and traditional authorities. It does not set up a parallel system. Programs are devised, managed, and monitored by the community, and all of Africa offices are staffed by nationals of that country.
The Camfed Alumnae Association (CAMA) is a pan-African network of Camfed graduates, currently with 24,436-members. They receive training in health, financial literacy and ICT, as well as business development and entrepreneurship. They, in turn, support vulnerable children to stay in school, and deliver health and financial literacy training to over 150,000 students and community members in their own countries.
Camfed's values are: 1. Focus on the Girl, 2. Involve the community, 3. Operate transparent, accountable programs. Camfed's model has been recognised as best practice by the OECD for setting the standard for governance, sustainability and development innovation at scale.
WISE Jury and Committee
What do these four education programs have in common?
Two of them are located in Asia, in two of the "nine most populous countries" on earth, where education issues and problems are massive and extremely complex. One is located in Latin America, in comparatively small Colombia, affected by long-term violence, social inequity and conflict. One works in Sub-Saharan Africa - Zimbabwe, Zambia, Ghana, Tanzania and Malawi - where social and education challenges are extremely big. Very different "developing countries", each of them unique and specific within their own regions.
The four programs:
» Have a long history and process behind: BRAC started in 1972, Escuela Nueva in 1975, Camfed in 1993, Pratham in 1994.
» Started local and small, before expanding and becoming national and later international models. This bottom-up approach, plus the long term effort, have been key to their sustainability and success.
» Emerged as educational alternatives for the poor and some of the most disadvantaged groups in their respective societies. BRAC, Escuela Nueva and Camfed were rooted in rural areas. Their respective education models were tailored for the specific conditions of rural areas.
» Serve children, through primary education in the case of BRAC and Escuela Nueva, early childhood and pre-school education in the case of Pratham, and primary and secondary education in the case of Camfed. BRAC started targetting girls, given the huge gender gap in primary education enrollment and attendance in Bangladesh at that time. Camfed is devoted to girls and women.
» Expanded gradually beyond their original visions, missions and scopes, paying attention to the needs revealed by reality and by the learning process itself. They ventured into new areas, covered new ages and levels. All of them were aware of the importance of involving parents, families and communities, and have worked consistently in that direction.
» Focus on ensuring the basics: reading, writing and numeracy, survival, life and social skills, family and community empowerment.
» Give great importance to pedagogy and to pedagogical transformation, much more than to infrastructure, administration or technologies. They all adopt learner-centered pedagogies.
» Have been developed by NGOs, with the exception of Escuela Nueva, which was built within the existing ministry of education structure. In this case, the NGO has played an indispensable role in accompanying, sustaining and promoting the innovation. Camfed is an international NGO.
» Are low cost: they take advantage of all human and material resources available in the school, the family and the community.
» Have been supported by several international agencies, especially from the United Nations as well as from the World Bank and other regional banks and organizations. Also by the private sector.
» Have received much recognition both at national and international levels.
» Curiously enough and worth noticing: all of them have a rather low technological profile. Technologies are not the driving force. Human beings, participation, volunteering, school-community relationship, pedagogical transformation, are the key.
See also:Rosa María Torres and Manzoor Ahmed, Reaching the Unreached: Non-formal Approaches and Universal Primary Education
Rosa María Torres, Escuela Nueva: An innovation within formal education (Colombia)
Rosa María Torres, "Antes, aquí era Escuela Vieja" (Colombia)
Rosa María Torres, On Innovation and Change in Education
Rosa María Torres, The Green, the Blue, the Red and the Pink Schools
Rosa María Torres, On Learning Anytime, Anywhere (WISE 2011)
Rosa María Torres, Knowldedge-based international aid: Do we want it? Do we need it?


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Bulareyaung Pagarlava, a Cloud Gate Dance Theatre performer and prominent figure in Taiwan's performing arts scene, traveled to Hualien County in early 2012 to watch a performance by singer/songwriter Sangpuy Katatepan. After the show, Sangpuy asked Bulareyaung whether he could speak the Paiwan language, and the latter responded that he could only speak a little.
"If we cannot speak our mother tongue, how will we speak to the gods and our ancestors when we die?" Sangpuy, who is from Taitung's Pinuyumayan community, asked Bulareyaung, who is a member of the Paiwan people.
Though the two had just met in person for the first time, they already shared a history stretching back more than a decade. It was about 12 years ago that Bulareyaung first heard Sangpuy's voice and was deeply moved by its power and passion. After watching Sangpuy's performance, Bulareyaung promised him to do whatever he could to bring his music to a wider audience. For him, Sangpuy's songs went beyond music, inspiring him to reconnect with roots he had lost long ago.
"He gave me the courage to know who I am," Bulareyaung says.
As a youth, Sangpuy had been one of the few children in the tribal area of Katatipul, or Jhihben (知本) as it is known in Chinese, to learn the Pinuyumayan language, which was banned from being spoken in school when he was a child. So great was his skill and dedication that tribal elders asked that he extend the usual three years of training Pinuyumayan youth undergo when being groomed for potential tribal leadership to six.
Though Sangpuy wrestled with the decision, he and his family eventually agreed, even though this meant putting off finding a job, pursuing his musical career and even having a girlfriend. His training would be a full-time endeavor.
Bulareyaung, on the other hand, picked up just enough of the Paiwan language to get by as a youngster, all but abandoning his roots at the age of 14 when he left his village, also in Taitung County, for the southern port city of Kaohsiung. It was, he explains, something he simply had to do in order to further his education as well as his aspirations of becoming a dancer.
Today, the two men are united in the common cause of preserving Aboriginal culture. They agree that the ancient and now dwindling language of their forbearers is the key to keeping the traditions of their respective peoples alive. As Sangpuy puts it bluntly: "If you don't know your language, it's like you don't exist."
Sangpuy moved to Taipei eight years ago, working construction jobs by day while practicing his music by night. But his goal goes further than merely seeking fame and fortune. It's about reviving a dying tongue.
"Most singers want to be superstars, but I don't," he says with a look of intensity. "I learned many songs from my elders, but as I grew up I saw that the young Beinan people did not speak our language, so they cannot sing the most beautiful songs. So I thought that if I have this album, the young generation can learn through it."
The album Sangpuy speaks of is called Dalan. The CD came out last October, and Sangpuy has been touring Taiwan ever since. At one performance at Taipei's The Wall (這牆) in March, a crowd of supporters — Aborigines, Taiwanese and those from overseas — listened as he explained the meanings behind his songs before launching into his original compositions and traditional Pinuyumayan chants set against an acoustic guitar. One such chant, Malikasaw, or "Cheerful Waggle Dance," roused the crowd to perform the simple side-shuffle dance steps alongside several Pinuyumayan who had arrived from Taitung just for the performance.

subset: commoncrawl


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American skier Lindsey Vonn was released from an Austrian hospital Tuesday after being treated for a knee injury suffered during the world championships in Schladming.
The four-time overall World Cup champion lost balance on her right leg while landing after a jump Tuesday during the super-G. Her ski came off immediately, and Vonn slid off course and hit a gate before coming to a halt. Check out footage of the crash here.
For full sports coverage, visit NBCSports.com.
Vonn received medical treatment on the slope for 12 minutes before being airlifted to the hospital.
"Right knee/ankle bent awkwardly. Looked scary," tweeted NBC Olympics researcher Alex Goldberger.
She suffered a torn ACL and MCL in her right knee and a lateral tibial plateau fracture, U.S. Ski Team Medical Director Kyle Wilkens told NBC Sports. Vonn will be out for the remainder of this season, but she is expected to return to racing for the 2013-14 Audi FIS World Cup season.
The hospital released a statement Tuesday indicating that Vonn and her team would have to decide what sort of therapy to pursue following her discharge.
Vonn is also expected to compete at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, which will begin exactly one year from Wednesday.
Vonn returned to the circuit last month after an almost monthlong break from racing to fully recover from an intestinal illness that put her in a hospital for two days in November.
She is the second most winning woman in World Cup history, just three races shy of the record. Vonn is also a two-time world champion gold medalist and notched a gold in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, NBC Sports reported.
Vonn trailed race winner Tina Maze of Slovenia by 0.12 seconds shortly before Tuesday's crash.
The race, which was postponed for 3½ hours because of fog, resumed after another 15-minute delay. Several racers struggled with the conditions.
"It's not a very difficult course, but in some parts you couldn't see anything," Fabienne Suter of Switzerland said.
Vonn is building a long list of medical mishaps. Two years ago, she pulled out midway through the last worlds in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, because of a mild concussion. At the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, Vonn skied despite a severely bruised shin to win the downhill and take bronze in the super-G.
At the 2009 worlds in Val d'Isere, France, she sliced her thumb on a champagne bottle after sweeping gold in the downhill and super-G, forcing her out of the giant slalom. At the 2007 worlds in Are, Sweden, Vonn injured her knee in training and missed her final two events.
And at the 2006 Turin Olympics, she had a horrific crash during downhill training and went directly from her hospital room to the mountain to compete in four of her five events.
Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy


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Andrew Perloff writes on SI.com a whole 2013 preview for the Jets and shares an interesting note about the Jets running game and what the Jets need to do about it.
Draft a running back. According to to Pro Football Focus, free-agent Shonn Greene averaged one forced missed tackle every 5.42 carries -- the worst mark in the NFL. And Greene doesn't have the receiving skills for Mornhinweg's system. Idzik was part of a staff that traded for Marshawn Lynch and drafted promising running back Robert Turbin in the fourth round of the '12 draft. He can find a productive back in the mid or late rounds.Targeting a player in the draft would come a lot cheaper in terms of cap room for 2013 than if they go out and get a retread through free agency. It's hard to say where players will settle in just yet, but if the Jets played their cards right they might be able to snag a player like Stepfan Taylor out of Stanford. I've sen Taylor has high as the second round but generally coming in somewhere on the top of the third. While Taylor might garner the most interest, there's other second and third day selections that could be nice pickups for the Jets.


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MySurveyExpert necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 114 diseños de 44 diseñadores freelance.
My Tech Purse
My Tech Purse brings together a highly-skilled specialist in web development and coding (Ben Schultz) with a PhD sociologist (Jeanne Hurlbert) who is an online marketer. Ben, who is trained as an electrical engineer, has extensive experience in coding (including PHP) and database development and management. He works with small and large businesses, as an entrepreneur. Jeanne has spent 25 years using surveys to study social networks; she helps small businesses do better surveys (through MySurveyExpert, w/partner Mike Koenigs) and MySocial MediaSolution (w/Joan Stewart). Jeanne and Ben constantly see women entrepreneurs who are hamstrung by tech challenges and/or held hostage by unscrupulous tech consultants. When Jeanne found Ben, she finally overcame those challenges because he not only is extremely competent but also has "people skills." They quickly realized the potential to help other women entrepreneurs achieve their dreams by showing them how to accomplish the basic tasks that they MUST know themselves and giving them access to competent tech support, for the tasks that can and should be outsourced, so they can grow their businesses and achieve their dreams.
Women entrepreneurs who either run online businesses or have a strong online presence. Even successful women entrepreneurs are often held back by failing to understand how to accomplish simple tech tasks. For example, Jeanne has seen JV partners who could not email their lists if their assistant was sick, because they had no clue how to do so. We will focus first on real estate agents, then move to other service-related niches and aspiring online marketers. Although a large part of the target market will be women entrepreneurs who are just starting out online, it will not be exclusively "newbies:" Many successful, "seasoned veteran" women entrepreneurs will flock to our services for affordable, high-quality tech support; the opportunity to develop continuity programs; assistance with social media; opportunities to develop video marketing; and more.
We want a simple, clean design that will appeal to women. Because we're targeting women entrepreneurs, we want it to be professional; but it clearly needs to appeal to women and be aesthetically pleasing.
My image is of a flowing outline of a female figure (reminiscent of some of the lines of R. C. Gorman) with something techy; something that represents being free to succeed would be what we're going for.
We do not want anything cheesy, condescending, or too "chicky;" your challenge, as a designer, will be to strike the balance between the professional side and the female appeal.
It needs to blend old and new, in the sense that it needs to combine strong knowledge with cutting-edge tech.
The logo must convey authority, credibility, and expertise. At the same time, it can't be intimidating; women need to feel that this is welcoming.
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


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John and Leila Juracek's British friends tell them their 1929 Tudor Revival house in Baltimore's Homeland neighborhood is more like an English cottage than the country cottages in England.
The L-shaped exterior is of 18-inch-thick stone dressed in ivy and topped with a second-story, timber and stucco construction. Formal gardens grace the back of the home, while inside, leaded-glass mullioned windows with chintz and toile draperies, solid traditional furniture and needlepoint rugs impart a heady sense of living on the pages of an Agatha Christie novel.
Anglophiles to their core, the Juraceks appreciate entertaining, serving up iced tea and cookies under a canvas canopy on a flagstone porch.
"I call this patio our little summer living room," said Leila Juracek, a retired commercial Realtor, as she talks about new British serials on public television, their garden and the dream home they have lived in for almost 29 years.
"Each house is different in this neighborhood," added her husband, a retired executive with W.R. Grace & Co. "Ours was built by E.H. Glidden."
The Homeland neighborhood was designed by sons of Frederick Law Olmsted, the landscape architect who designed Central Park. Inspired by the designs of the Olmsted brothers, John Juracek has planted his garden around old oaks, evergreens and boxwood. He has included crape myrtle, a magnolia and a sugar maple tree. While English Ivy hugs the front of the home, Boston ivy covers the back and all but hides the backyard garage, around which irises, roses, impatiens and hydrangea bushes bloom.
As the third owners of the home, the Juraceks paid $159,000 in 1983 for the house on a little over an eighth of an acre. Over the years, the upkeep has included replacing the slate hip roof and repair to some of the mullioned windows. They also painted and papered interior walls. The kitchen was updated three times, and they turned the attic into a beautifully decorated loft designed by local architect, Myrna Poirier.
The 3,000-square-foot interior consists of a living room, dining room, kitchen, sunroom and powder room on the first floor, three bedrooms, two baths and a study on the second level, and the third floor's loft. Two bedrooms are for guests and relatives while the couple's grandchildren and great nieces and nephews romp in the loft.
The walls of the Juracek kitchen are painted butter yellow — all the better to contrast with black-and-white tile floors and white cabinets bearing delft ceramic knobs. The other predominant color here is blue, as in the rich delft blue of large platters, blue-checked tablecloth, blue toile fabric inside cutout shutters at the windows, and finally, the dramatic blue of Silestone countertops specked with silver. Each accessory bears a story of its origin.
"I love stuff, and stuff loves me," said Leila Juracek with a smile.
Hand-stitched needlepoint rugs sit on the oak floors of the living room, sunroom and dining room. English rose-colored paint on the dining room walls deepens the rich tone of a carved mahogany table and sideboard filled with silver pieces. Rose-patterned china is stacked on shelves of the sideboard, and some pieces hang on walls against which are upholstered and monogrammed dining chairs. Black-and-white-striped swags contrast with the cream-colored molding of the windows and rose walls.
The living room is cozy, even as it abounds in all the trappings of a country cottage. Painted walls in soft yellow contrast with dark wooden window sills. Chintz draperies undulate inside the window frame and fall gently along the sides. Two traditional sofas in light green-on-green fabric serve as a showcase for floral needlework pillows that are found everywhere throughout the home. A four-tiered lacquer screen with floral blocks sits in one corner of the room, while a working fireplace, its hearth of delft tiles, is on an opposite wall.
The couple's sunroom is decorated in blue with slate flooring and stucco walls painted white, which was one of John Juracek's larger projects around the home.
A grandfather clock chimes in a corner of the front hall that has been wallpapered in large floral print.
The staircase to the second level leads to a landing where a stately Duncan Phyfe reproduction table sits under a gilt-framed mirror, glowing in the light of two hurricane lamps.
The master bedroom on the second level is painted in a restful shade of medium blue called Duchess' Choice. Once again, toile draperies adorn the windows, while porcelain lamps and vases of flowers provide a soft ambience throughout. A large brass bed is the recipient of a blue toile quilt. Here, and in the other bedrooms and in the red-white-and-blue nautical decor of the loft, needlepoint pillows can be found on floor and furniture.
"I have a lot of family, and that means a lot of gifts," said Leila Juracek. "But I think I have everything I need now."
John Juracek is quick on the uptake, inquiring, "What was that, dear?"
"Well, I might get a second wind," comes the reply.
Have you found your dream home? Tell us about it. Send an email to email@example.com.
Making the dream
Dream location: The Juraceks appreciate Homeland and its stately houses in bucolic environs. "This is a very happy home," said Leila Juracek. We've had wonderful parties here — even a wedding 12 years ago. We get a lot of visitors June [through] September, and we've been on three house-and-garden tours."
John Juracek, an avid gardener, added, "Where we lost a tree [in a storm], we planted a garden."
John and Leila Juracek's British friends tell them their 1929 Tudor Revival house in Baltimore's Homeland neighborhood is more like an English cottage than the country cottages in England.


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Flat Iron Test
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Lotus Soundbar
|The Lotus Soundbar is still a work in progress, but it's fast becoming one of those rare reasons for locals to venture into Waikiki. The first-floor lounge--with its cozy couches, backlit bar and attentive servers--gets patrons warmed up for the night. Upstairs, club-goers groove to one of the Islands' most state-of-the-art sound systems, a $100,000 custom design by New York-based sound engineer Craig "Shorty" Bernabeu. Music varies by night, from hip-hop and R&B to downtempo and house. Open Monday through Thursday, 9 p.m to 3 a.m., and Friday and Sunday, 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. 2301 Kuhio Ave., 924-1688, www.lotusoundbar.com. photo: Sergio Goes


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"Be good – do good – be one" sums up the teachings of Sant Kirpal Singh
"Be good" means to lead a life of higher values, "do good", means that a true human not only lives for himself, but also lives for others. "Be one" means to realize the unity of the soul with the Godpower and thus the unity of all life, and to live according to this highest consciousness.
The different aspects of the movement and its projects are ways to put this ideal into practice. All our activities are carried out by cooperation of people from all the world over – different from nation, language and religion, but one from heart.
KIRPAL SAGAR our main project is dedicated to help man to develop all around – socially, intellectually and spiritually.CENTRES have been set up in various countries; besides, regular lectures are given at different places.
CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES in India supply help in the field of medicine, education, professional job training, etc.
All activities are performed in an honorary capacity and the resources are derived exclusively from voluntary contributions.


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Air pollution irritates this lung condition. But could smog cause asthma? (From the magazine's archives; first published in 2006.)
The smog hanging over downtown Toronto was so thick in June 2005 that you couldn't see the CN Tower from the mid-town restaurant where Sara La Rocque was waiting tables at an outdoor patio. That was when Sara, a 21-year-old creative writing student, quit her job to go home and strip wallpaper.
One day later, she couldn't breathe properly. Although she had experienced asthma briefly as a child, this was different. It was like breathing through a straw. For most of the rest of the summer, as Ontario lumbered through a record summer of smog advisories, Sara stayed indoors. She was miserable.
It wasn't until six weeks later that she could even walk around the block with the family's golden retriever (she is not allergic to dog dander) or the Burmese mountain dog.
Sara's pretty sure what triggered her condition, and it wasn't the wallpaper: "My asthma is smog-induced," she says. "I think that's what caused it." A few years ago, most scientists would have doubted her analysis. The common wisdom was that air pollution could only exacerbate symptoms in people already living with asthma.
But now, a handful of mavericks in the scientific world are building a case to prove Sara's point – that pollution might not just worsen asthma, but cause it. Not that these asthma researchers can yet say how this might happen. That's still under study.
When it comes to asthma, theories abound as to why it develops, starting with the hygiene hypothesis. This suggests that our urban society is too germ- and virus-free, causing the underworked immune systems of those who inherit the allergic tendency to react to proteins – such as inhaled pollen or dust mites – that should be harmless. The immune system's over-reaction results in airway inflammation and allergic asthma attacks.
There are also new indications that antibiotics in early life and obesity may be contributing factors. But some scientists keep coming back to the relationship between asthma and air pollution, particularly to that dense layer of smog that blights our cities all too often in the summer.
Somewhere in that haze of pollution, they believe, lies an answer to the mystery of why asthma gets switched on with such frequency in the urban world.
Over the past decade, scientists have found compelling evidence that air pollution irritates the lungs and triggers attacks in those who already have asthma. Some research indicates it can also worsen asthmatic flare-ups to allergens such as pollen, dust mites or pet dander.
"Air pollution remains one of the most under-appreciated contributors to asthma exacerbation," wrote George Thurston, an associate professor of environmental medicine at New York University School of Medicine, in a 2005 article in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.
A classic instance: When a strike closed a steel mill in the Utah Valley for the winter during the mid-1980s, researchers found that admissions of children to hospital for asthma and pneumonia were cut in half – and they climbed right back up the following winter after the steel mill had reopened. That's a vivid example of pollution's effect on asthma, and there are plenty more.
California Studies Link Traffic to Onset
A group of researchers from California are now taking the relationship a step beyond the theory that air pollution triggers or worsens asthma in those who have already been diagnosed.
In a series of studies, scientists from the University of Southern California have been following thousands of California schoolchildren over several years to examine how their health is affected by the key components of smog, such as emissions from cars and trucks and ground-level ozone.
Their findings indicate that living beside a roadway greatly increases a child's chance of developing asthma in the first place. What's more, they've found that kids who take part in three or more sports breathe in high concentrations of ozone while playing, and are more likely to develop asthma than equally sporty kids playing in cleaner air.
These studies suggest that "air pollution is related to the onset and not just the exacerbation (of asthma)," says Jim Gauderman, associate professor of preventive medicine at USC's Keck School of Medicine and one of the study co-authors. Does that mean that pollution causes asthma? "That kind of definitive statement is quite a way off," Gauderman acknowledges in an interview.
For one thing, the pathology of how pollution might lead to the development of asthma is not clear, and scientists don't even know which of the airborne chemicals is doing the damage.
Proving the case that pollution causes asthma will require plenty more studies – research with human populations to confirm the California findings, plus more studies of animals in the lab to show how pollution may result in asthma, Gauderman says. "Then we can talk cause."
To even suggest that it might lead to its onset is a highly controversial proposition. Earlier studies found no evidence that air pollution increased the risk of getting asthma. What's more, the 58 per cent increase in the prevalence of childhood asthma since 1980 happened at a time when North America's air became cleaner, not dirtier.
As Noreen Clark, a public health professor at the University of Michigan, put it in an often cited 1999 review: "Studies illustrating the causal effect between outdoor air pollution and asthma prevalence are scant." Clark's skepticism is the prevailing view.
But the USC scientists are challenging that thinking. The previous researchers didn't see the link between asthma and pollution, Gauderman says, because they relied on community-wide air monitors to assess levels of pollution. "And locally increased levels not captured by a community-wide monitor may be more important."
Pollutants in the air can vary considerably depending on where you are in a community, and whether you're breathing in a lot of dirty air while playing sports outdoors. By looking more closely at people who breathe in more polluted air – either because they live in a pocket of pollution or because they're playing sports and breathing harder – the link between air pollution and asthma becomes more visible.


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Not only is the Eko traffic light very practical, it's also "green"... as in environmentally friendly. I don't really know that many people who would agree with the "green" part, but we sure can use the idea to avoid green-light honkers...
Eko: Information design on traffic lights is sexy!
Article No :436 | December 2, 2009 | by Constantinos Demetriadis
Not sure what you define as sexy, but i'm thinking more about something like this :D http://visdiaz.com/sexy-farmer-img/ ;)
This is a cool idea, although in my opinion it would actually be equally or more useful on the *green* light. I have a feeling more accidents are caused by people trying to figure out whether to hit the brakes or run through yellow-turning-red lights than by not knowing how long until the red light turns green.
There are also ways to address this that don't require any hardware modifications to the traffic light.
Traffic lights in Russia (and perhaps other parts of Europe) have an interesting pattern where the green light blinks for several seconds before the light turns yellow and then red. Going in the opposite direction, the yellow light turns on for a second along with the red, before the whole thing switches to green. (And unlike in the states, there's no brief pause where all directions are red before the next turns green -- while one direction has a yellow light about to turn red, the other direction has red+yellow about to turn green, and the first direction goes to red at the same instant the other goes to green)
All together it definitely cuts down on the blasting through yellow lights. People will actually start slowing down and stopping at blinking green, and will be ready and starting to go right when the light turns green.


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To get a quick insight into the 9900 Transmitter product line.
9900 Transmitter App
The most recent addition to Georg Fischer Signet's new line of SmartProTM products is the Signet 9900 Transmitter. The Signet 9900 Transmitter App gives you an idea of the look and feel of Signet devices. The app is available in several languages and offers full insight into the functions of the new device.


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Ideas For VelocityTools 2.x
- TransparentOnDemandToolsLoading: Instead of a standard HashMap, the idea here is to have a Toolbox, which will instantiate a tool from its tool-info only when the generic getter is called. This should be a quite interesting performance gain in some situations. If it seems useful, we could add a special attribute to force a tool to be instantiated at toolbox initialization ('instantiate-on-load' ?). The Toolboxes may then pool or at least hold on to instantiated tools for subsequent requests from the template or from other parts of the webapp (see idea 2 below). (STATUS: done except for the 'instantiate-on-load' attribute)
2. EasierToolAccessOutsideTemplates: Other objects in my webapp are often jealous of the VelocityViewServlet. They also would like to use some of the tools. Session scoped tools can be reached via the session, but it's not the case for application or request scoped tools. To achieve this, there would be a few things to do:
- create a separate Toolbox for each scope and store it in the attributes of the corresponding servlet API object (request->ServletRequest, session->HttpSession, application->ServletContext). (STATUS: done)
- the ViewToolContext (successor of ChainedContext) will search the attributes for these Toolboxes and pass requests for the tools on to them. (STATUS: done)
- We could create a simple utility to help other classes retrieve tools, so they needn't all duplicate the code for finding the toolbox in the attributes and then requesting the tool from the toolbox... (STATUS: done)
3. SimplifiedToolboxXML: In line with the ideas above, we could cut out some repetition in toolbox.xml by better organizing it and using XML more appropriately. For instance, the toolbox.xml for the "simple" example could be simplified further to something like:
<data type="number" key="version" value="1.1"/>
<data type="boolean" key="isSimple" value="true"/>
<data key="foo" value="this is foo."/>
<data key="bar">this is bar.</data>
<toolbox scope="request" xhtml="true">
<tool key="toytool" class="ToyTool" restrictTo="index.vm"/>
<toolbox scope="session">
<property name="create-session" value="true" type="boolean"/>
<tool key="map" class="java.util.HashMap"/>
<toolbox scope="application">
<tool class="org.apache.velocity.tools.generic.DateTool"/>
(STATUS: done, and now our tools come with a @DefaultKey annotation to make it even simpler)
4. FactorOutBasicVelocityViewStuff: This would create a better basis for bring the Veltag into the project as a sibling of the VelocityViewServlet. (STATUS: done)
5. SupportAlternateToolboxConfiguration: Not everyone likes XML. I'd like us to make Toolbox management pluggable with provided support for configuration via properties file as well as XML, and i want it to be easier to configure and manage in Java as well. (STATUS: done, but needs more testing)
6. Simplify the package structure of VelocityTools. There are a lot of sub-packages that seem redundant or unnecessary. I'd like to shift things about as much as possible to reduce that. (STATUS: done)
Backwards Compatibility For VelocityTools 2.x
- Basic user interfaces - these are things that people use directly without extending
- Our tools - the biggest thing here is the tools themselves. we shouldn't make users have to change their templates at all. we might consider finding some way to provide deprecation notices for things we'd like to change, but i don't think there's many places we'll need to do that. in the meantime, the most we may do is move packages and put deprecated subclasses with init() support in the old tool locations. (STATUS: DONE)
- Custom tools - the trick will be to support the init() method. Not sure how this will work, but i'm pretty determined to find a way. (STATUS: done)
- Servlets - A lot of people directly use the VVS and VLS. So, while i've moved them to a new package, there are deprecated subclasses at their old location to make this a seamless transition for these folks. (STATUS: done)
- toolbox.xml - We need to create a FactoryConfiguration that can translate the old xml configuration format to fit the new tool management structure. This should not be too difficult. The trickier part is where we should automatically check for the old format (probably in the deprecated VVS and deprecated VLS, at least). Some thought may need to be put into this. Anyway, the goal is to not force people to update their configurations right away. (STATUS: done, though not quite as described above)
- Logging stuff - The old CommonsLog-LogSystem bridges are deprecated and now extend their successors, the CommonsLog-LogChute implementations. I now think that CommonsLogLogChute belongs in Engine, not Tools, but it will have to have a copy here until at least the Engine 1.6 release. Also, ServletLogger is deprecated and extends its successor, ServletLogChute. For all of these, the transition should be seamless for users also using Engine 1.5. (STATUS: done)
- WebappLoader - This has been deprecated and now extends its successor, WebappResourceLoader, which is better named and has logging improvements to match those of the other loaders in Engine 1.5. Again, upgrading to 2.x should not break anything for users also using Engine 1.5. (STATUS: done)
2. Common extension points - places where people extend the tools, servlets
- Servlet subclasses - we need to support this as much as possible. (STATUS: partly done)
- Tool subclasses that change init() or configure() - if we meet all the goals in #1 above, then this should happen automatically for the most part. we just need to leave our init() and configure() methods in place, so that calls to super.init() or super.configure() do not fail. (STATUS: done)
3. Advanced API users - those that use tool management without using the servlets (e.g. Spring MVC or "standalone" toolbox users)
- ViewContext users - can use deprecated one at old location for now (STATUS: done) though anyone who implemented their own version will find that the tools no longer recognize it. they need to update to the new ViewContext package name.
- ChainedContext users - ChainedContext extends ViewToolContext, everything should work superficially as it did before. (STATUS: done)
- XMLToolboxManager users - may be possible to hack up a version that reads old toolbox.xml format, and returns a Map of initialized tools for getToolbox(initData), but that initData part is tricky. partial support is probably the best we can do here, unless we leave all the old code intact and just deprecate it. (STATUS: deprecated, but left otherwise as-is. also, old tools still have deprecated but functional init() methods so they work with it)
- ServletToolboxManager users - similar situation to that of XMLToolboxManager, but worse. again, probably a choice between partial integration with new infrastructure or else leaving both infrastructures side-by-side with one deprecated. (STATUS: same as XMLToolboxManager)
4. Anyone else that digs further into the tool management API for 1.x - Unless we decide to only deprecate the old tool management infrastructure, these people shouldn't upgrade until they're ready to make a lot of changes.


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- Material: Poly cotton, super soft and excellent hand feeling, 90 GSM cloth.
- Size: Twin (60″ x 70″), Queen (70″ x 80″) and King (90″ x 102″)
- Care: Easy to clean, machine washable and dries quickly.
Dachshund Christmas Blanket AU2802 82O34
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Discover Benicia
Historic Benicia lies on the East Bay shoreline just 37 miles northeast of San Francisco and 58 miles southwest of Sacramento. Nestled against Carquinez Strait, this waterfront community boasts a thriving marina, antique shops, art studios, and eclectic boutiques.
Excelling in small-town appeal and historic charm, the city is known throughout the Bay Area as a wonderful place to live and raise a family. The abundant leisure and recreational activities include a wide variety of colorful events and activities from home and gallery tours to craft fairs and a downtown farmers market.
Downtown Benicia is rich in California's history with more than 30 historical points of interest. Tree-lined streets showcase Victorian-inspired architecture that blends with false-front Western architectural examples that date back to the 1850s. Popular recreational activities include boating, hiking, swimming, fishing, and sailing.


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Be sure to make an annual visual inspection of your facility and check connections throughout the grounding system. And, don't forget to take bonding resistance measurements between grounding electrodes.
Beware: The dreaded lightning season is near. Yes, between May and September, electronic equipment will be at the mercy of this unpredictable yet devastating force of nature. Sure, it's almost impossible to predict where or when lightning will strike. But based on extensive field work, this author believes you can prevent much of the equipment damage caused by lightning-if you make periodic visual inspections of your premises wiring system to locate trouble areas. Let's look at some items you should check prior to lightning season.
Checkpoint 1: The grounding electrode system. Make sure you inspect this system at the main service entrance and look for anything that may contribute to lightning damage. For instance, check all grounding electrode system connections. If surge currents are present on the grounding electrode system, loose or corroded connections can increase the overall impedance of the lightning dissipation path. This correlates into a higher voltage with respect to ground and can result in equipment damage.
Checkpoint 2: Bonding between grounding electrodes. If you use more than one electrode to reference your premises wiring system, make sure you effectively bond them together. If you don't, any lightning surge current will create enormous voltages between the ground rod and the building's grounding electrode system. We know this voltage as transferred earth potential. Transferred earth potentials often create damage to the input/output (I/O) printed circuit boards within electronic equipment. To determine if two electrodes are effectively bonded together, you should make two-point bonding resistance measurements (also known as Direct Method testing) between electrodes. The bonding resistance between any two electrodes should be less than 0.1 ohm.
Checkpoint 3: Separately driven electrodes. In the field, this author recalls seeing lightning damage where separately driven electrodes exist at equipment locations. Often, the maintenance electrician does this to satisfy an equipment manufacturer's mistaken interpretation of required or recommended grounding practices. There are two places in a facility where you may find separately driven electrodes: at the base of industrial machine tools in manufacturing plants and in the telecommunication/data equipment room. If either of these locations requires a supplemental equipment grounding connection to enhance the equipment grounding system, you should bond the grounding planes for both to structural steel (assuming the structural steel bonds to the main service entrance ground). But remember: Separately driven electrodes at the telecommunication equipment are transparent to the end-user because of their installation without the end-user's knowledge or consent. As such, don't just rely on the end user's information; make the inspection at the telecommunications equipment yourself.
Checkpoint 4: Connections between buildings. Transferred earth potentials can also develop between buildings when lightning strikes a structure. Lightning damage at I/O boards is an indication this condition exists. Conductive connections provided by power and data wiring run between buildings can create a path for surge energy. Yes, fiber-optic (FO) cabling is one method to eliminate this problem, but be careful. Some FO cabling contains a conductive wire that's run in or around the cable's outer jacket for support. If you terminate this wire to equipment at both buildings, you may negate the benefit of installing an FO cable.
Checkpoint 5: Surge protection. Lightning damage can occur at the AC input to electronic equipment. For this reason, you may have to install surge protection devices at various points within the electrical distribution system. At the very least, you should provide surge protection at the main service entrance panelboards to prevent AC power line surges from traveling downstream to any equipment.
Some end-users also prefer to install additional surge protection at outlets that feed hardware critical to their operation. As an example, a LAN server may require an uninterrupted power supply (UPS) that has surge protection provided at its input.
If you're installing surge protection at the equipment location, test the branch circuits for correct wiring. Verify the equipment grounding conductor impedances are at the lowest practical value. (IEEE Std. 1100-1992 recommends 0.25 ohms or less.) This ensures the equipment grounding system is adequate for providing a low impedance path to dissipate surge currents.


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ATLANTA — U.S. health officials said Thursday that doctors should consider giving an AIDS prevention pill to women and heterosexual men who are at high risk for getting the virus.
Don't miss these Health stories
More women opting for preventive mastectomy - but should they be?
Rates of women who are opting for preventive mastectomies, such as Angeline Jolie, have increased by an estimated 50 percent in recent years, experts say. But many doctors are puzzled because the operation doesn't carry a 100 percent guarantee, it's major surgery -- and women have other options, from a once-a-day pill to careful monitoring.
- Larry Page's damaged vocal cords: Treatment comes with trade-offs
- Report questioning salt guidelines riles heart experts
- CDC: 2012 was deadliest year for West Nile in US
- What stresses moms most? Themselves, survey says
- More women opting for preventive mastectomy - but should they be?
The government previously advised doctors to give the once-a-day pill Truvada to high-risk gay and bisexual men only. However, more than a quarter of new HIV cases each year are heterosexuals, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"That's not a portion of the epidemic we want to ignore," said Dr. Dawn Smith, the CDC physician who was lead author of the new guidance.
Truvada has been on the market since 2004 to treat people who already have the AIDS virus. But after studies showed it could help prevent infection among gay and bisexual men, U.S. health officials last year said doctors could prescribe it as a preventive for men at high risk.
Since then, studies have found it also can prevent the virus in women and heterosexual men.
Last month, the Food and Drug Administration formally approved the sale of Truvada as a preventive measure for healthy people at high risk of getting HIV.
The CDC is not recommending the pill for all sexually active heterosexuals. And even among couples where one person has HIV, regular condom use generally is effective protection. There an estimated 140,000 heterosexual couples in which one person is infected with the AIDS virus.
But the pill would be a good option for a couple that wanted to have a baby, Smith said, describing one possible scenario.
The drug's manufacturer, Gilead Sciences Inc., said this week it's difficult to break down what portion of Truvada sales have been for prevention.
When used as a preventive, the pill is taken once a day. It costs between $6,000 and $12,000 a year, although some private insurers and Medicaid programs have been covering it, Smith said.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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gose necesitaba un nuevo diseño de otro y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 22 diseños de 6 diseñadores freelance.
Thanksgiving Quiz
I'm creating a quiz application for the iPhone that will quiz people on Thanksgiving trivia (U.S. & Canada holiday).
Ages 8 and up.
An icon for this application: available in 512x512 and 57x57 pixel sizes
A splash screen: 320 x 480 pixels (w x h)
The attached screenshots need to be themed. Primary colors should be brown, orange, yellow and black. Thanksgiving elements like a turkey, Fall leaves, pumpkin pie, etc. can be tied into the theme if it looks good.
The name of the application is "Thanksgiving Quiz". This is the only font that can be changed to make it align with your theme. The remaining fonts should stay Helvetica (or a standard Mac font).
Handover requirements:
- PSD or AI source file with well-layered components
- PNG exports of the various design elements that are ready-to-use
The source file should allow me to change the text on a button, hide/remove elements, etc.
I like clean, crisp designs with elements that seem to pop out of the screen.


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Life Insurance & Financial Services Industry Marketing Support Team
Finding a reliable outsource for you and your company's marketing, advertising, project management and communications needs can be critical in taking your product to market or finding new markets. Finally, there is a source that understands life insurance, annuities, long term care, variable products, distribution systems, banking and credit unions. Take that project off the backburner — Help is here!
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Capture your Audience's Hearts and Minds with our Brandingfor Insurance Financial Services Strategies — Brand Development, Challenger Branding, Image Creation and Planning — from Experienced Professionals Who Understand the Categories and Niches in the Life Industry and in the Consumer Environment.
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Marketing Communications — Strategic Planning, Advertising, Promotion and Concepts, Design, Copywriting and more — Finally a Team that Understands = Banks - Credit Unions - Insurance Companies - Brokerage General Agenices - Agencies - Financial Services Professionals - Marketing Organizations - eSalers! Knowledge of Advanced Marketing Life, Annuity, Retirement and Estate Planning Marketing — The Key to Developing All Marketing Materials and Strategies.
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Life Insurance Newsletters (eNewsletters and Traditional) for Brokerage General Agencies, Independent Marketing Organizations and Direct to Consumer — Created by Compliance Experienced Professionals.
And Much More. Contact us today! and follow us:


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Paperback edition available September 7, 2014
Body Counts:
An important new book by Sean Strub
As a teenager fresh from Iowa and
deeply closeted, Sean Strub ran a
"Senators Only" elevator in the U.S. Capitol,
and eventually came out and became
deeply enmeshed in national Democratic
politics and the nascent LGBT rights
When the AIDS epidemic hit in the early 80s, his life was, as he says "hijacked" and he turned to activism to make sense of what was happening in his young life. Initially focused on fundraising, after he was formally diagnosed in 1985 he joined the People With AIDS Coalition/New York and, later, ACT UP/New York where he participated in some of the group's most daring demonstrations.
In 1990, Strub became the first openly HIV positive person to run for the U.S. Congress and later produced the hit play The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me and founded the groundbreaking POZ Magazine. His remarkable life has intersected with a fascinating cast of personalities along the way, including Keith Haring, Tennessee Williams, Yoko Ono, Andy Warhol, Gore Vidal and others.
Over the course of the epidemic, he became increasingly enmeshed in the behind-the-scenes politics, complicated personalities and conflicting priorities that continue to define the response to HIV/AIDS. In the mid 90s, he faced his own mortality with a destroyed immune system, a body covered in Kaposi's Sarcoma lesions and a skyrocketing viral load. He was near death when combination therapy was introduced in 1996 and Lazarus-like, he came back to life to continue his vital advocacy. Body Counts is the story of a truly remarkable life and provides valuable insight into what it means to live a vibrant life in the face of life-threatening illness as well as on the challenges that have yet to be overcome in the battle against HIV.
Body Counts will be available in bookstores by mid-January. To pre-order the book, please visit any one of the following links:


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David Concordel, Senior Vice President Global Retail, International Business, Fujitsu
"Auchan is focused on effectively using technology to improve both store operational efficiency as well as the retail experience for customers and employees. Fujitsu and Auchan have teamed up to implement an end-to-end retail solution that is creating efficiencies throughout the value chain, changing the way the retail industry works, and noticeably helping to improve the shopping experience for consumers."
Valérie Vendeville, Marketing Director, Head of POS Line of Business, Auchan, France
"For more than twenty years Auchan has been able to rely on Fujitsu as a key partner to provide state-of-the-art technologies that make our ambitious retail plans a reality. We at Auchan are convinced that Fujitsu's solutions are well suited to addressing the major challenges in the consumer retail environment."
Fujitsu is the leading Japanese information and communication technology (ICT) company offering a full range of technology products, solutions and services. Approximately 170,000 Fujitsu people support customers in more than 100 countries. We use our experience and the power of ICT to shape the future of society with our customers. Fujitsu Limited (TSE:6702) reported consolidated revenues of 4.4 trillion yen (US$47 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2013. For more information, please see http://www.fujitsu.com.
In Continental Europe, the Middle East, Africa and India, Fujitsu is the leading IT infrastructure provider with a presence in all key markets serving large, medium-sized and small businesses. The company offers a full portfolio of IT products, business solutions and services, ranging from workplace systems to datacenter solutions, managed services, and cloud-based software and solutions. In CEMEA&I Fujitsu employs approximately 13,000 people and is part of the global Fujitsu Group. For more information, please see: ts.fujitsu.com/aboutus.
All other company or product names mentioned herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. Information provided in this press release is accurate at time of publication and is subject to change without advance notice.
Dr. Laura Bonamici
Phone: +49 89 62060 4454
E-mail: email@example.com
VP Corporate Communications, International Business
Simon Jones
Phone: +49 89 30 90 51629
E-mail: email@example.com
Company:OnPR GmbH
Date: 17 февраля, 2014
City: Dusseldorf/Munich


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APG-15 Plunger
Ceramic-coated stainless steel plunger for Kranzle APG-15 pumps. 18mm diameter. The pump uses three plungers.
Part Number: 9742908
Find the right pressure washer accessory for your job. There is a wide variety of attachments that greatly expand the utility of a pressure washer.Browse
Kranzle Pumps
Learn about the unique design of the German-built Kränzle pump and why it has been proven superior in independent tests.Learn More
Diagrams / Manuals
Find the parts diagram or manual for your Kränzle pump or pressure washer.Find Yours


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algebraic theory / 2-algebraic theory / (∞,1)-algebraic theory
algebra over an algebraic theory
symmetric monoidal (∞,1)-category of spectra
model structure on simplicial T-algebras / homotopy T-algebra
abstract duality: opposite category,
concrete duality: dual object, dualizable object, fully dualizable object, dualizing object
between higher geometry/higher algebra
Langlands duality, geometric Langlands duality, quantum geometric Langlands duality
Koszul duality (named after Jean-Louis Koszul) is a duality and phenomenon generalizing the duality between the symmetric and exterior algebra of a vector space to so-called quadratic differential graded algebras (which can be obtained as a free dga module an ideal of relations which live in degree 2). For a pair of Koszul dual algebras, there is a correspondence between certain parts of their derived categories (precise formulation involves some finiteness conditions). In a setup in which one of the algebras is replaced by a cocomplete dg coalgebra, there is a formulation free of finiteness conditions, but involving twisting cochain (see that entry).
Koszul duality is a duality between quadratic operad?s, predicted in
and developed in
From Ben Webster on mathoverflow:
There are a lot of algebras whose derived categories are equivalent in surprising ways. Morita equivalences are pretty simple, especially for finite dimensional algebras; essentially the only free parameter is the dimension of the object.
Namely, if and are equivalent, then the image of as a module over itself is a projective generator of , and for a finite-dimensional algebra, essentially the only thing you can do is take several copies of the indecomposible projectives of .
On the other hand, if you take the derived category of dg-modules over (the dg part of this is not a huge deal; it's just that they're very close to, but a bit better behaved than, actual derived/triangulated categories, which are just crude truncations of truly functorial dg/ versions), this is equivalent to the category of dg-modules over the endomorphism algebra (this is in the dg sense, so it's a dg-algebra whose cohomology is the algebra) of any generating object. There are a lot more generating objects than projective generators, so there are a lot of derived equivalences.
In particular, let be a finite dimensional algebra , than an obvious not-very-projective generating object is the sum of all the simple modules, say . As mentioned above, there's an equivalence , just given by taking .
In general, is in a very complicated object (for example, often for group algebras over finite fields), but sometimes it turns out to be nice. For example, if is an exterior algebra, you'll get a polynomial ring on the dual vector space. Another (closely related) example is that the cohomology of a reductive group (over ) is Koszul dual to the cohomology of its classifying space.
One way to ensure that is nice is if the algebra is graded. Then inherits an "internal" grading in addition to its homological one. If these coincide, then is called Koszul.
In this case, is forced to be formal (if it had any interesting operations, they would break the grading), so you're dealing with a derived equivalence between actual algebras, though you have to be a bit careful about the dg-issues. Thus the derived category of usual modules over is equivalent to dg-modules over (with its unique grading) and vice versa. This can be fixed by taking graded modules on both sides.
The most famous example of Koszul dual algebras are the exterior algebra and the polynomial algebra .
A regular block of category O? for any semisimple Lie algebra is a self-Koszul dual.
Braden, Licata, Proudfoot and Webster gave a combinatorial construction of a large family of Koszul dual algebras in Gale duality and Koszul duality.
Other historical references on Koszul duality include
A. A. Beĭlinson, V. A. Ginsburg, V. V. Schechtman, Koszul duality, J. Geom. Phys. 5 (1988), no. 3, 317–350 MR1048505 doi
Alexander Beilinson, Victor Ginzburg, Wolfgang Soergel, Koszul duality patterns in representation theory, J. Amer. Math. Soc. 9 (1996), no. 2, 473–527 corrigenda
Koszul duality is also discussed in
The Everything Seminar , koszul-duality-and-lie-algebroids
MathOverflow: What is Koszul duality?, Beilinson-Bernstein and Koszul duality, what-extra-conditions-are-necessary-for-the-following-version-of-koszul-duality
David Eisenbud, Gunnar Fløystad, Frank-Olaf Schreyer, Sheaf cohomology and free resolutions over exterior algebras, Trans. Amer. Math. Soc. 355 (2003), 4397-4426 MR1990756 doi
Tyler Foster, Po Hu, Igor Kriz, D-structures and derived Koszul duality for unital operad algebras, arxiv./1507.07151
A "curved" generalization is discussed in
Bernhard Keller and his student Lefèvre-Hasegawa described rather general framework for Koszul duality using dg-(co)algebras and twisting cochains:
Last revised on October 9, 2019 at 09:33:43. See the history of this page for a list of all contributions to it.


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Oracle Compatibility Functions: Project Home – pgFoundry
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Serves 4
1 Tbs olive oil
500g carrots, chopped
1 onion, diced
1 cup of leek, sliced - just use the white part
1 clove garlic
2 tsp smoked sweet paprika, plus a little extra to garnish
2 oranges, juice and zest
1 Tbs sherry vinegar
1 litre vegetable or chicken stock
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Greek yoghurt to serve
Extra virgin olive oil to serve
Small mint leaves to garnish
1 Heat a frypan, add the oil then the carrots, onion, leek, garlic and paprika. Cover and cook for 5 minutes.
2 Add the orange juice and finely grated zest. Add the vinegar and stock then simmer until the carrot is very soft.
3 Reserve a cup of the liquid. Puree the mixture, adding enough of the reserved liquid to produce a smooth consistency that is not too thick. Taste for seasoning then chill.
4 Serve with a spoonful of yoghurt, a swirl of olive oil, a pinch of paprika and mint leaves.


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Weekend Review: TCM Goes to the Oscars, Sherlock's "Last Vow"
Jan 31, 2014 9:27 AM EST
"It's a room full of excitement. It's a room full of sweat," recalls Ellen Burstyn, who won her Oscar in 1975 for Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. "It's your bar mitzvah times a million," says director-writer Jason Reitman, a four-time nominee (Up in… Read more


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Language in Social Worlds
Language in Social Worlds
ISBN: 978-0-631-19335-7 September 2002 Wiley-Blackwell 386 Pages
Download Product Flyer
Table of contents
List of Tables.
1. Contextual Framework for Social Psychology of Language in Communication: Aims and Issues.
2. Language in and out of Context: Structure and Substance.
3. Functions of Language.
4. Non-Verbal Communication in Non-Human Creatures.
5. Human Non-Verbal Communication.
6. Encounter Regulation and Conversation.
7. Regulation of States and Behaviour of Self and Others.
8. Regulation and Marking of Social Relationships: Shaking Hands.
9. Terms of Address and Reference, and Being Polite.
10. Marking of States, Identities, and Settings: Issues.
11. Marking of States, Identities, and Settings: Data and Their Interpretation.
12. The Representational Function (F7).
13. Mass-Mediated Communication: Spirals of Spin and Broken Swords of Truth.
14. Representation and Regulation: Their Relevance to Social Class.
15. Five Theories and a Representation-As-Default Thesis.
16. Retrospect and Prospect.
Name Index.
Subject Index.
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This is a series of questions and answers concerning the snake in the garden of eden.
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Answers in Genesis is an apologetics ministry, dedicated to helping Christians defend their faith and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ.


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Kurt Haskell
Haskell Family Blog
Monday, February 1st, 2010
The following questions are those that we do not have adequate information (In my mind) on in order to make a final determination.
1. Who is the Man in Orange?
2. Did Mutallab know the Sharp Dressed Man?
3. Was it intended that the bomb explode?
4. Did the U.S. Government know that Mutallab had a bomb when it allowed him to board Flight 253?
5. Why is the U.S. Government seeking a plea deal for Mutallab?
6. Why did a fellow passenger call me to discuss changing my story?
7. Why are the important questions being ignored by the mainstream media?
1. Who is the Man in Orange?
The story of the Man in Orange has been previously discussed at length, so I will not state it again in this article, but who was he?
The following evidence supports the theory that we know the identity of the Man in Orange:
The Detroit Free Press released an account of Flight 253 passenger Samuel Pappy on January 29, 2010. It stated the following:
"Two bomb-sniffing dogs named Jordi and Brenda checked out hundreds of bags and carry-ons that had been deposited in Customs. They cleared every bag except one: The dogs keyed in on a soft-sided black carry-on belonging to Pappy, the Indian born man who said he helped calm other passengers during the flight.
Pappy, who lives in Georgia, said he was hand cuffed in front of other passengers, which he said he found humiliating. A police report said his bags were searched and cleared. He was released with other passengers later that afternoon".
The Free Press account verifies the following aspects of the Man in Orange:
1. Indian Man
2. Bomb-sniffing dogs were alerted to his carry-on bag and no other bags.
3. He was taken away and questioned.
There is further evidence that Pappy may have been the Man in Orange. When a fellow passenger called me in an apparent attempt to get me to change my story, he did not attempt to change my story in regards to the Man in Orange. He actually concurred with my account.
While the evidence indicates strongly that Pappy was the Man in Orange a few questions are raised in my mind.
The following evidence supports the theory that we still do not know the identity of the Man in Orange:
1. Ron Smith, spokesperson for U.S. Customs, changed the official story of the Man in Orange 5 times. Each story appearing after a public statement from myself, which discredited the official version. Why?
2. My account of the Man in Orange indicated that he was NOT handcuffed when he was taken away, but he was handcuffed after he emerged from questioning. This appears to not correspond with version 6 of the official story, which appeared in the Free Press.
3. As he was exiting Flight 253, Mutallab indicated that another bomb was on the plane.
4. How often do bomb-sniffing dogs indicate a false positive?
2. Did Mutallab know the Sharp Dressed Man?
The story of the Sharp Dressed Man has previously been discussed at length and his identity has been proven(To my satisfaction) as an agent of the U.S. Government. However, did Mutallab know the Sharp Dressed Man?
The following evidence supports the theory that Mutallab did know the Sharp Dressed Man:
1. The two men approached the final ticket gate together.
2. The Sharp Dressed Man did all of the talking.
3. The Sharp Dressed Man indicated that Mutallab was from "Sudan", which was an obvious lie.
4. The Sharp Dressed man advocated for Mutallab to board without showing a passport.
5. The U.S. Government is now admitting that Mutallab may have had help in making sure he did not get cold feet when boarding.
The following evidence supports the theory that Mutallab did not know the Sharp Dressed Man:
1. Mutallab was nervous and fidgety as he stood by the Sharp Dressed Man.
2. The account of Shama Chopra, the Montreal passenger who also saw Mutallab before boarding, also described Mutallab as being very nervous as he went through security.
3. Was it intended that the bomb explode?
The only reason I am here today is that Mutallab's bomb did not explode. We have to ask whether it was ever intended to explode?
The following evidence supports the theory that the bomb was intended to explode:
1. Mutallab went all the way to Yemen to obtain the bomb.
2. It was stitched into his underwear.
3. The quantity of explosive was enough to blow up the plane.
4. Mutallab purchased a one-way ticket without luggage (except for one small carry-on bag).
The following evidence supports the theory that the bomb was not intended to explode:
1. The bomb required a detonator to explode. This bomb did not have (Or had a malfunctioning detonator) a detonator.
2. It is difficult to believe that Mutallab would plan for this event in such great detail, but not assure that it would work.
3. A camera man filmed the entire attack from before it started until after it ended.
4. The U.S. Government allowed Mutallab on the plane in order to track him in the U.S. and catch potential accomplices.
4. Did the U.S. Government know that Mutallab had a bomb when it allowed him to board Flight 253?
This is possibly the most important question to be answered.
The following is evidence that the U.S. Government knew Mutallab had a bomb when he boarded Flight 253:
1. The U.S. Government had pre-purchased body scanning machines.
2. The U.S. Government had already begun bombing Yemen.
3. The camera man on the plane. Although, this would indicate that the U.S. Government knew Mutallab had a defective bomb.
4. The extensive evidence over the months leading up to the flight, which included wire tapped intercepts indicating that someone named "Umar Farouk" would be attempting a terrorist attack.
5. Michael Chertoff's ties to the company that produces the body scanning machines.
The following is evidence that the U.S. Government did not know that Mutallab had a bomb when he boarded Flight 253:
1. It is almost incomprehensible to believe that the U.S. Government would intentionally allow it's citizens to be blown up (Although, this would not be the case if it knew that Mutallab's bomb was defective).
2. The bomb was in Mutallab's underwear and may have been difficult to find.
5. Why is the U.S. Government seeking a plea deal for Mutallab?
One has to wonder why the government wants a plea deal when the U.S. Government has plenty of evidence to convict Mutallab.
The following evidence supports the theory that the U.S. Government has a legitimate reason for seeking a plea deal:
1. To seek additional evidence from Mutallab to catch accomplices.
2. To spare the cost of a trial (However, this trial would be very short and not too costly).
The following evidence supports the theory that the U.S. Government does not have a legitimate reason for seeking a plea deal:
1. There is plenty of evidence to convict Mutallab.
2. His crime was particularly heinous and he does not deserve a lenient sentence.
3. Anything less than a life sentence without the possibility of parole would be ridiculous.
4. Mutallab could have been treated as an enemy combatant and denied a court appointed attorney, which could have had the same result as a plea deal, as far as obtaining additional evidence. The U.S. Government already admitted that Mutallab was telling all until his attorney arrived.
5. The truth of the story would be known when evidence was presented at trial.
6. Why did a fellow passenger call me to discuss changing my story?
Approximately one week after Flight 253, and after I had been telling my story to the media, I received a call from a fellow passenger. The important parts of the conversation were as follows:
1. "Kurt, I think you should stop telling your story about the 'Sharp Dressed Man'. It was an unaccompanied minor that you saw. I am sure of it. He was escorted on the flight by an airline employee. I saw him after we landed with the employee. You will look stupid when the truth comes out".
2. "Remember when we took the buses from the plane to the terminal"?
3. "I thought you were crazy when I heard you in the media, but yesterday(One week after the flight) I had a revelation and remembered what happened".
Lets look at the reason this call was made and the importance of the above statements.
The following evidence indicates that the call was made from a concerned fellow passenger:
1. The caller was pleasant and appeared to be concerned.
2. My wife verified that he was, in fact, on our plane.
3. Maybe he did see something, but was something different than what I saw.
4. He did not say that he saw the Sharp Dressed Man before boarding.
5. He provided, on its face, a seemingly believable story.
The following evidence indicates that the call was made from someone trying to "shut me up".
1. The call was made after the caller had a revelation one week after the flight. This would be a highly unlikely event.
2. I have since discovered that the caller has ties to the U.S. Government.
3. U.S. Customs has indicated that there were no unaccompanied minors on our flight.
4. To have an airline employee as an escort, the minor must be age 11 or younger. Although Mutallab looks young (15 or 16 by my estimation), he does not look 11.
5. Why the call out of the blue to me?
6. The statement that we took buses to the terminal was not true. This statement could have been made in an effort to make me believe that the plane landed far away from the terminal. This, if true, would cover up the post-landing gaffes indicated in the January 29, 2010, Detroit News article.
7. Why indicate that he thought I was crazy? Possibly as a subliminal put down to me to make me not talk to the media.
8. Although I have since spoken to many passengers, none have indicated that they saw an unaccompanied minor either before or after landing. One passenger, however, did indicate to me that she saw Mutallab escorted by another individual to the final ticket counter.
9. The numerous amount of evidence that has since come out and now indicates that the U.S. Government intentionally let Mutallab on Flight 253.
10. The U.S. Government knew at that time, that I could not be intimidated by a government official and knew it had to try an alternative means to stop my story from getting out to the public.
11. The caller has since made the following peculiar statement (Which may not be an exact quote but it is close), which is odd considering that it is coming from a victim of a recent terrorist attack:
"The American public should forget about Flight 253 and focus on health care and the economy".
This statement appears to be a statement more attributable to a government official then a passenger of Flight 253.
7. Why are the important questions being ignored by the main stream media?
It would seem that in a free country the press would be investigative on all important questions, including those that may show corrupt/grossly negligent activities by its own government. However, as often has been the case, the mainstream media is all too quick to put the "official" story out to the public and not ask the difficult questions. As I am finding out, it is very difficult for a normal everyday citizen to have his concerns heard in the media. Any official statement from the government, however, is immediately reported worldwide. One has to wonder whether the ties between the large corporations that run the media and the U.S. Government itself, have become so tight as to jeopardize the freedom and safety of the U.S. citizens. It has come to the point that some are calling my wife and I heroes for insisting on the truthful reporting of this story. That is a very sad statement, because we are not heroes, but only eyewitnesses. The belief that we are heroes, speaks of the current sad state of affairs in this country. Those that have something to say are scared to come forward with the truth. The United States of America is no longer a free country.
I look forward to hearing the responses to this post. I know some of you will feel strongly in support of one side or the other on each of the above questions. However, I take no position on these questions at this time. I also look forward to hearing any other questions anyone would like me to blog about, as this is a very involved story and I acknowledge that I may have missed some further unresolved questions.
This article was posted: Monday, February 1, 2010 at 5:39 am