text:
BY title, they are economic advisers to the president. By training, they are disciples of Marty.
Marty -- Martin S. Feldstein -- may well be the most influential economist in Washington, even though he has not worked there since 1984, when he returned to the Harvard faculty.
Lawrence B. Lindsey, President Bush's top economic official, once worked as Mr. Feldstein's top teaching assistant, overseeing the logistics of his big economics lecture to Harvard undergraduates.
R. Glenn Hubbard, now chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, fed punch cards filled with data into an early computer to help Mr. Feldstein with his research.
In one of Mr. Hubbard's first classes as a graduate student at Harvard -- taught, of course, by Mr. Feldstein -- he sometimes sat with Richard H. Clarida, who now runs the economic policy division of the Treasury Department.
Add Mr. Clarida's deputy and Mr. Hubbard's chief of staff, among others, and the Bush administration's economic team begins to look like a Feldstein alumni club.Continue reading the main story
''I don't think it's chance,'' Mr. Lindsey said. ''I think it's Marty.''
Almost two decades after the soft-spoken but hard-driving Mr. Feldstein ended a fractious stint in the Reagan administration, he has built an empire of influence that is probably unmatched in his field. Aside from his administration ties, he holds sway over many fellow economists as president of the nation's premier economic research organization, and thousands of Harvard students who have taken his, and only his, economics class during their Harvard years have gone on to become policy makers and corporate executives.
Mr. Feldstein's stature and his vigorous defense of Mr. Bush's economic policies have won him frequent mention as a possible candidate to succeed Alan Greenspan eventually as chairman of the Federal Reserve.
Known for his wide-ranging research on taxes and government spending that examines the ways public policy affects people's behavior, Mr. Feldstein has helped shift the economic consensus to the right over the last three decades. As an adviser to Mr. Bush's 2000 campaign and a frequent contributor to op-ed pages, Mr. Feldstein provided much of the intellectual rationale for the tax cut last year. He continues to push for changes in the Social Security system that would include private investment accounts.
A slight, bookish man with a friendly manner, Mr. Feldstein has become a mentor even to many economists who think he exaggerates the effect of taxes.
''His work was on the one hand on the cutting edge of research theory and on the other hand directly relevant to the policy of the day,'' said Lawrence H. Summers, the president of Harvard, another student of Mr. Feldstein and a Treasury secretary in the Clinton administration. ''That's why he drew so many graduate students to him.''
Jonathan Gruber, an economist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who studied with Mr. Feldstein and also worked in the Clinton administration's Treasury Department, added, ''He has shown that taxes matter.''
Since 1977, Mr. Feldstein has wielded academic power as the president of the National Bureau of Economic Research, an elite, nonpartisan group of about 500 economists best known as the body that decides when recessions begin and end. More important, it publishes research papers long before any academic journal does, determining which work is likely to receive wide attention.
From his corner office at the bureau, above a Cambridge furniture store, Mr. Feldstein helps shape the public debate and determine the research priorities of other economists as he chooses the subjects of the bureau's books and conferences. Aside from traveling with his wife, Kathleen, who is also an economist, and spending time at their homes in the Boston suburbs, Cape Cod and Vermont, Mr. Feldstein is almost always at the bureau.
When he is at Harvard, he shows a fondness for the classroom unusual for his rank. He still teaches that introductory economics class, the college's largest lecture. While the curriculum is by no means out of the mainstream, it does bear his conservative stamp.
''I think that is quite a remarkable number,'' he said during a lecture one recent Monday, using a laser pointer to direct attention to ''43.65 percent'' displayed on an enormous screen inside the steeply tiered Sanders Theater, just off Harvard Yard. The percentage signified the portion of every additional dollar earned by somebody making $35,000 a year that goes to paying taxes.
''I find it quite strange that somebody at this relatively low income is paying about half of his income in taxes,'' he said in his clear, dry speaking style. ''What high marginal tax rates do is distort behavior.''
Except for a few beeps emanating from electronic devices, the class could have happened decades earlier. Mr. Feldstein himself took introductory economics in this theater as a freshman more than 40 years ago. At the time, he planned to follow the career path of his father, a lawyer, but was seduced by economics.
Since then, he has joined a long line of Harvard professors who have broken out of the ivory tower and influenced policy. What sets him apart are the number of his protégés who have followed his path and the confluence of a group of them near the height of government about 25 years after they all studied in Cambridge.
''There was something in the air in those days,'' Mr. Clarida said of the late 1970's. Then, with the inflation and unemployment rates both hovering near 10 percent, and oil-producing countries squelching production, economists were forced to look for new answers.
''Marty was a real inspiration to us,'' said Mr. Clarida, who speaks to Mr. Feldstein about once a month. ''When Glenn and I and others were there, Marty went from the halls of academia to the pinnacles of economic advising.''
The crimson hue of Mr. Bush's economic team and the prominence of Mr. Feldstein also suggest that Harvard's reputation as a training ground only for Democratic administrations needs updating.
Fourteen years ago, George H. W. Bush teased his opponent in the presidential campaign, Michael S. Dukakis, a graduate of the university's law school, for having opinions ''born in Harvard Yard's boutique.'' Today, another Republican president named Bush is relying on advisers who learned their trade in the very same Harvard quadrangle.
''The Kremlin on the Charles doesn't seem to be true anymore,'' Mr. Feldstein said.
MR. FELDSTEIN'S life's work began in what amounts to enemy territory for a free-market economist: Britain's government-run hospitals.
After graduating from Harvard College, he won a Fulbright scholarship to study at Oxford University and ended up staying six years. Armed with the new power of computers, which then filled entire rooms, he wrote his dissertation on the ways that hospital spending affected health care.
''I felt I was the kid in the candy store,'' he said. ''Imagine, you're a 24-year-old, a 25-year-old, and you've got these new tools.''
He showed British government officials how different levels of financing affected doctors' decisions, he recalled, ''and they would say: 'Oh my God. I had no idea.' ''
Back at Harvard as a young professor, he expanded his research. He has long argued that Social Security causes people to save less money than they should, although a technical error in an old paper undermined some of his arguments. He corrected the mistake, calling it insignificant, but many economists say he did not take the matter seriously enough and call it the worst moment in his career. He has also said that unemployment benefits keep joblessness higher than it otherwise would be and that taxes often cause people and companies to act in inefficient ways.
''He is basically the father of supply-side economics -- not the Laffer curve, the stupid side of supply-side economics,'' said Mr. Gruber, referring to a graph purporting to show that tax cuts can pay for themselves.
Mr. Feldstein's writings in policy journals during the 1970's began to attract the attention of other free-market fans. Mr. Hubbard, for example, as an engineering student at the University of Central Florida, read Mr. Feldstein's work and made a decision that was then unusual: he chose Harvard over M.I.T. ''The more I was familiar with what Marty was doing, the more I wanted to go to Harvard,'' Mr. Hubbard said.
Mr. Feldstein also became a regular at Capitol Hill hearings, and in 1978, one Republican Congressman invited him to Kennebunkport, Me. There, he met the elder George Bush, who was starting to plan his first presidential run.
''I spent some time one on one with Bush to make sure he understood economics better,'' Mr. Feldstein said, building up to a typically self-deprecating comment for an economist. ''Whether he would have been better served spending that time campaigning, I don't know.''
Although Mr. Bush lost the 1980 nomination to Mr. Reagan, Mr. Feldstein had made enough friends to be named the chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers. He hired both Mr. Lindsey and Mr. Lindsey's new wife, Susan, for the council's staff and tried to convince them to start work the Monday after their wedding. They took a weeklong honeymoon instead.
The council employs members of both political parties, and Mr. Feldstein also hired two economists who would become prominent Democrats: Paul Krugman, who now teaches at Princeton and is a columnist for The New York Times who often criticizes the Bush administration, and Mr. Summers.
''The great hidden secret of his career,'' Mr. Feldstein said of Mr. Summers, ''is that he began life in the Reagan administration.''
Mr. Feldstein's two years in Washington made him famous and won him wide respect as a teller of uncomfortable truths, but his term was hardly a political success. While other Reagan aides argued for ever more tax cuts and military spending, Mr. Feldstein warned of the dangers of looming budget deficits and became something of a persona non grata in the West Wing. During one press briefing, Larry Speakes, a spokesman for the president, alternated between pronouncing Mr. Feldstein's name accurately (Feld-stine) and inaccurately (Feld-steen), in a move widely seen as an attempt to belittle him.
The experience appears to have affected both Mr. Feldstein and his disciples. Mr. Clarida, Mr. Hubbard and Mr. Lindsey all say they talk to him often, but none remembered asking his advice about working in Washington.
For his part, Mr. Feldstein has shown little taste since the 1980's for straying from the Republican Party line. In 1992, he predicted that the Clinton administration's tax increase would stifle economic growth and do little to erase the deficit. An article he wrote for The Wall Street Journal in 2000 was headlined ''Bush's Tax Plan Is Even Better Than the Campaign Says.'' (Mr. Feldstein helped create the plan.) In 2001, when President Bush was forming his cabinet, Mr. Feldstein and his wife began a Boston Globe article by writing, ''Paul O'Neill was an inspired choice for secretary of the Treasury.'' Mr. Feldstein is also on the board of Eli Lilly, the pharmaceutical company with strong Republican ties.
In many ways, Mr. Feldstein has cultivated two different public personas: political fighter and academic sage. At the center of his academic life, the National Bureau of Economic Research, he emphasizes the less partisan part of his political past by hanging framed editorial cartoons that depict his battles within the Reagan administration.
Mr. Feldstein has run the bureau since 1977, except for the two years he spent in Washington. Regardless of their politics, economists credit him with building the bureau from a small institution with a few dozen researchers to a center of intellectual firepower that stands apart from any single university.
''There's been enormous speculation about the post-Greenspan Fed,'' said Alan B. Krueger, a former Feldstein student who worked in the Clinton administration and now teaches at Princeton. ''Of more importance to the economics profession is the post-Feldstein N.B.E.R.''
Mr. Gruber, the M.I.T. professor, put it this way: ''My guess is that except for one or two journals, people see my articles more often as N.B.E.R. working papers. Now, it's not as prestigious on my vitae. But what do I care? I have tenure. What I care is that people see my research.''
The bureau's three floors resemble a small business, with people in their 20's and 30's sitting in paper-filled cubicles and photographs of new arrivals taped to a door. Graduate students from Harvard and M.I.T. often come to the office in the afternoon, after their teaching duties are done, and stay well into the night. Mr. Feldstein sometimes joins them.
''I have a Harvard office, but I hardly ever, ever use it,'' he said, sitting in a bureau conference room beneath the wall of framed cartoons.
As Mr. Clarida said, ''Nobody gets very involved in the bureau without Marty wanting it to happen.''
ECONOMISTS on left and right say Mr. Feldstein selects the bureau's researchers without regard to their politics. If he has a weakness, they add, it is for economists at elite universities.
''He's very supportive of people who disagree with him ideologically, of people who are to the left of him,'' said Robert B. Reich, a labor secretary during Bill Clinton's tenure and a former Harvard professor. ''Basically, he's an honest intellectual.''
One of the bureau's few political controversies involves Mr. Feldstein's choice of the few articles highlighted in the bureau's monthly digest and that then appear regularly in the mass media.
Some moderates and liberals -- who refused to be quoted by name, noting that they are affiliated researchers -- said they saw a clear preference for conservative-leaning papers. The November digest, for example, summarizes a study arguing that inequality is less severe than it sometimes seems and another documenting a benefit of a flat tax.
Mr. Feldstein said he selected studies only with an eye toward what a large audience would find interesting. His teaching philosophy is similar, he says: ''This course tries hard not to be conservative.''
Mr. Summers is among the Democrats who deliver guest lectures, and Mr. Feldstein is careful to point out to students the differences between what he considers political choices and economic laws.
Still, Ec10, as it is known at Harvard, is hardly neutral -- in its readings or its lectures -- and its point of view contributes a good deal to his importance. Over the last two decades, thousands of Harvard undergraduates have received a decidedly anti-tax, free-market-leaning introduction to economics.
In a recent lecture on taxes, Mr. Feldstein stood almost motionless at the center of the same stage used by Winston Churchill and Martin Luther King Jr. and led the class through a discussion of the costs of high taxes.
Taxes, he said, cause people to spend large sums on housing and to place an unnaturally high value on company benefits, because both offer tax advantages, he said.
''I wish I could give this part of the lecture to the United States Congress,'' he told students.
Mr. Feldstein likes to think of the class's impact in intellectual rather than political terms: it teaches students to think like economists, he says. But he understands the effect it can have on students, nonetheless.
''I really like it; I've been doing it for 18 years,'' he said. ''I think it changes the way they see the world.''
Martin Stuart Feldstein
BORN -- Nov. 25, 1939, New York.
HOMETOWN -- Belmont, Mass.
EDUCATION -- A.B., Harvard College, 1961; B. Litt., Oxford University, 1963; M.A., Oxford, 1964; D. Phil., Oxford, 1967.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS -- Professor of economics, Harvard, 1969-present (began as assistant professor, 1967); president, National Bureau of Economic Research, 1977-82, 1984-present; chairman, Council of Economic Advisers, 1982-84; president-elect, American Economic Association, 2003; author of more than 300 scientific papers and several books.
CORPORATE BOARDS -- American International Group, Eli Lilly, HCA, TRW.
FAMILY -- Wife, Kathleen Feldstein; two daughters.
HOBBY -- Travel
Orbit of Influence
Some prominent economic figures who were students of Martin S. Feldstein at Harvard or who worked with him there.
Alan J. Auerbach -- Director of the Burch Center for Tax Policy and Public Finance at the University of California at Berkeley. Was the deputy chief of staff of the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation in 1992.
Richard H. Clarida -- Assistant secretary for economic policy at the Treasury Department and a professor at Columbia University.
Douglas W. Elmendorf -- Vice chariman of the Federal Reserve Board. Worked for the White House Council of Economic Advisers and was deputy assistant secretary of the Treasury during the Clinton administration.
Roger W. Ferguson Jr. -- Vice chairman of the Federal Reserve Board. Was a partner at McKinsey & Company.
Jonathan Gruber -- Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Was deputy assistant secretary for economic policy at the Treasury Department during the Clinton administration.
R. Glenn Hubbard -- Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers.
Alan B. Krueger -- Professor at Princeton University. Was chief economist of the Labor Department for two years during the Clinton administration.
Jeffrey B. Liebman -- Professor at Harvard. Was a special assistant to the president on the National Economic Council during the Clinton administration.
Lawrence B. Lindsey -- Assistant to the president for economic policy
and director of the National Economic Council.
Alicia H. Munnell -- Professor at Boston College. Was a member of the Council of Economic Advisers and assistant secretary of the Treasury for economic policy during the Clinton administration.
Lawrence H. Summers -- President of Harvard. Was Treasury secretary during the Clinton administration.
Mark J. Warshawsky -- Deputy assistant Treasury secretary for economic policy. Was director of research at the TIAA-CREF Institute.
Because of an editing error, a chart last Sunday with an article about Martin S. Feldstein and his influence on economic policy through his teaching at Harvard misstated the current job of Douglas W. Elmendorf, who was both a student and a colleague there. He is chief of the macroeconomic analysis section at the Federal Reserve Board, not vice chairman.


text:
Our "Project Runway" predictions center has been open for less than 48 hours, but already two favorites have emerged to potentially win the Season 14 crown: Ashley Nell Tipton and Amanda Perna. Do you agree with these early results? Hurry — make your predictions and you could win our prize of a $100 Amazon gift certificate. It's fun and easy, so start now by scrolling down and predicting who will be out next.
Who will win 'Project Runway'? See exclusive predictions
According to exclusive Gold Derby odds that are derived from the predictions made by users like you, Ashley had leading 13/5 odds to win the season, while Amanda is in second place with 5/1 odds.
Following them on our winner's chart is Swapnil Shinde and Edmond Newton, who are both tied for third/fourth place with odds of 8/1.
Click on the left-hand chart for up-to-date odds and rankings. "Project Runway" airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. on Lifetime.
Do you agree that these are the five frontrunners for Season 14? In our "Project Runway" predictions center, you get to answer the following questions each week:
Which designer will be eliminated?
Who will be in the bottom two, but not out?
Which designer will win the challenge?
Who will win 'Project Runway'?
At the end of each week, the eligible user with the highest prediction accuracy and most points will win a $100 Amazon gift certificate, so it's beneficial to keep coming back often and making/updating your predictions.
Making your predictions is fun and easy. Just log into your Gold Derby account, or you can register for a free account via Facebook, Twitter or Google.
After logging in, click on the "Predictions" button found at the top-right of every page. That will bring you to a list of every event currently being predicted at Gold Derby — everything from the Emmys and Television Critics Association Awards to "Big Brother" and "So You Think You Can Dance."
Click on any box and then scroll down to start making your predictions. For each TV show, cast your votes on several different questions relating to the upcoming episode.
If you click on the "Project Runway" button, you'll see something like this:
To vote for who you think will be out next, drag your chosen designers over from the left to the right and arrange them in your predicted order.
Every time someone logs their predictions, the racetrack odds of the contestants are automatically updated. If the majority of users think Gabrielle will be out, that means she'll have the best odds and will go to the front of the pack. Conversely, the contestants who don't receive many predictions have the worst odds and will go to the bottom of the pile.
'Project Runway' contest winner sounds off: Sean Kelly had 'worst collection'
Remember that coming out on top doesn't just mean answering that week's questions correctly. You also have to use your three big bets (500 points and two of 200 points) strategically to score the most game points. If you bet on a longshot who pulls off an upset, you can really rack up the points, so don't take them for granted.
Average Gold Derby users just like YOU often turn out to be our smartest prognosticators, so it's important that you give us your predictions. You can continue to update and change your predictions throughout the week, just click "Save Predictions" when you've settled on your choice.
Get started by making your prediction as to which designer will be eliminated next. And be sure to sound off on the current season of "Project Runway" in Gold Derby's reality TV forum.
Photo: Ashley Nell Tipton and Amanda Perna. Credit: Lifetime

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Sign up to receive our free weekly enewsletter, and gain access all our FREE articles, tools, and resources.
Data are the objective information needed to demonstrate the need for certain actions to be taken in order for the desired change to take place. Data aggregation helps identify problems, offers consensus on best practices and evidence-based medicine, and affords the opportunity to share information with colleagues and peers. By using an automated or electronic reporting system, data collection, analysis, and reporting can be simplified. However, there does need to be a systematic approach to data collection, and data can be collected via a multitude of ways-through chart reviews, incident reports, lawsuit and claims reporting, financial and medical record coding, surveys, and many other data collection activities. The Institute of Medicine recommends that a combination of narrative and coded elements be collected when it comes to what information should be provided about near misses and adverse events and should, at a minimum, include the following:
When staff members are assured that the data being reported will not be used punitively but to develop better practices of care, reporting will increase and staff members will begin to include more information than just those data elements listed above. Narrative data are just as important, (sometimes if not more so) as objective data because they can provide additional information pertinent to the circumstances surrounding the event (i.e., whether the event occurred at the change of a shift, whether there were a lot of visitors, or whether there were students present, etc.).
-Vivian B. Miller, BA, CPHQ, LHRM, CPHRM, FASHRM
(May 2012)
1Solomon, Ronni, and Simons, Sherri, Data for Safety Actionable Knowledge Tack Force, Data for Safety: Turning Lessons Learned into Actionable Knowledge. American Society for Healthcare Risk Management of the American Hospital Association, 2008.
Subscribe to Nurse Leader Insider!
Get expert advice, tips, and best practice strategies on nursing burnout, recruitment and retention, communication, leadership, and much more!
Click here to subscribe


text:
Norspan Versus Oxycontin as Postoperative Painkiller to Proximal Extracapsular Fractures of the Femur
|The safety and scientific validity of this study is the responsibility of the study sponsor and investigators. Listing a study does not mean it has been evaluated by the U.S. Federal Government. Read our disclaimer for details.
|ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00964808
Recruitment Status : Completed
First Posted : August 25, 2009
Last Update Posted : December 8, 2014
- Study Details
- Tabular View
- No Results Posted
- Disclaimer
- How to Read a Study Record
Effective treatment of pain after hip fractures is very important but difficult. It is often an old patient who has many adverse effects with the use of morphine.
This is a randomized pilot study where the investigators want to compare Norspan plaster to Oxycontin tablets to patients with particular kind of hip fractures. The investigators will evaluate mobilization, pain, use of rescue medicine, adverse effects and length of stay. No clinical study about the effect of Norspan as acute painkiller has never been done before. Can the investigators get the patients mobilized earlier with less adverse effects?
|Condition or disease
|Pain, Postoperative
|Drug: Buprenorphine Drug: Oxycodone
|Phase 4
|Study Type :
|Interventional (Clinical Trial)
|Actual Enrollment :
|76 participants
|Intervention Model:
|Parallel Assignment
|Quadruple (Participant, Care Provider, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
|Primary Purpose:
|Official Title:
|Norspan Versus Oxycontin as Postoperative Painkiller to Proximal Extracapsular Fractures of the Femur
|Study Start Date :
|September 2009
|Actual Primary Completion Date :
|May 2013
|Actual Study Completion Date :
|August 2013
Experimental: Buprenorphine
Double dummy; Group A: Active Buprenorphine and placebo oxycodone
Drug: Buprenorphine
Start: Day 0 (T=0), 10 micrograms/t until the day of discharge from the Hospital. New plaster at T= 7 days.
Other Name: Norspan
Experimental: Oxycodone
Double Dummy:
Group B: Placebo Buprenorphine and Active Oxycodone
Drug: Oxycodone
Start: 10 hours (+/- 2 hours) after the operation. Dosage: 10 mg * 2 pr. day until time to discharge from the Hospital or latest at day 12.
Other Name: Oxycontin
- Mobilization measured daily using Cumulated Ambulation Score. [ Time Frame: 12 days ]
- Pain intensity measured daily on a verbal rating scale [ Time Frame: 12 days ]
- Adverse effects [ Time Frame: 12 days + 14 days ]
- Opioid consumption. [ Time Frame: 12 days ]
- Length of stay in Hospital [ Time Frame: Untill discharge ]
Choosing to participate in a study is an important personal decision. Talk with your doctor and family members or friends about deciding to join a study. To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the contacts provided below. For general information, Learn About Clinical Studies.
|Ages Eligible for Study:
|18 Years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
|Sexes Eligible for Study:
|Accepts Healthy Volunteers:
Inclusion Criteria:
- Males and females age 18 years or more
- X-ray confirming basicervical, pertrochanteric or subtrochanteric femur fracture and planning operation with DHS or PFN.
- Subjects must have 7 or more points in the Hindsøes test.
Exclusion Criteria:
- Subjects where spinal anaesthesia cannot be applied.
- Subject in Plavix® treatment seven days before admission to the hospital.
- Subjects with extracapsular hip fracture due to bone metastasis.
- Subjects with a BMI over 30.
- Subjects under 45 kg.
- Subjects who are currently taking monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) or have taken MAOIs within 2 weeks prior admission to the hospital.
- Substance or alcohol abuse, or subjects who, in the opinion of the investigator have demonstrated addictive or substance abuse behavior.
- Untreated depression or other psychiatric disorder in such a way that participation in the study may in the opinion of the investigator pos an unacceptable risk to the subject.
- Dermatological disorder at any relevant patch application site.
- Any contraindications listed in the Summary of Product Characteristics for Norspan®, OxyNorm® and OxyContin®.
- Patient does not tolerate oxynorm.
- User of wheelchair.
- Daily use of morphine before hospitalization.
- More than one fracture. Patients with myasthenia gravis. Patients with severe respiratory function. Patients know need re-operation women of childbearing potential must have a negative pregnancy test and be non-lactating
To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the contact information provided by the sponsor.
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier (NCT number): NCT00964808
|Orthopaedic Department
|Vejle, Denmark, 7100
|Study Director:
|Per Kjaersgaard-Andersen, MD
|Orthopaedic Department, Vejle Hospital, Denmark
|Responsible Party:
|Vejle Hospital
|ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
|NCT00964808 History of Changes
|Other Study ID Numbers:
|First Posted:
|August 25, 2009 Key Record Dates
|Last Update Posted:
|December 8, 2014
|Last Verified:
|December 2014
Keywords provided by Vejle Hospital:
Hip fractures
Treatment Outcome
Additional relevant MeSH terms:
Pain, Postoperative
Postoperative Complications
Pathologic Processes
Neurologic Manifestations
Signs and Symptoms
Analgesics, Opioid
Central Nervous System Depressants
Physiological Effects of Drugs
Sensory System Agents
Peripheral Nervous System Agents
Narcotic Antagonists


text:
Before I get to the topic of this blog, I have to write a short discourse on 'cruising.' My sister had wanted to go to the Greek Islands forever and the only logical way seemed to be on a cruise. While she had been on a Caribbean cruise, I had never cruised and had no […]Read More
Author: blwidick
Attitude is Everything
I've been threatening to write this article ever since I started my blog but it seems especially relevant now (September 2017). As I mentioned in my most recent post, Flying Solo, I'm leaving for Italy September 21st and will spend the first two weeks alone, living in an apartment in Florence while attending a […]Read More
Flying solo
My love for travel I'm not sure what genetic mutation made me yearn to travel from the time I was in high school but I certainly didn't pass it on to my daughter although it may have skipped a generation to her older son–time will tell there, but he at least has the beginnings of […]Read More
Ostuni and the Puglia
This post will overlap somewhat with my Flying Solo post since my experience in this area came through a volunteer trip helping teach English in Ostuni. According to the travel guides, summer in the Puglia region of southern Italy is hot and dry which may account for the fact that there seem to be fewer […]Read More
Places to Eat
Restaurants, wine bars and other fun places Before I write about some of my favorite restaurants (plus a few places to avoid or that were disappointing) I want to talk about why I generally love the dining experience in France and Italy. My daughter says I'm the slowest eater in the Western Hemisphere and maybe […]Read More
This will be a fairly short article, at least for me, since this past September 2016 was my first visit to Rome and we only had two nights and a day and a half there. But I wanted to share a few thoughts and pictures on what we did. Since our walking tour ended in […]Read More
The Towns of Chianti
Florence and Fiesole as well as Siena and San Gimignano are the topics of separate posts. This article will be about the smaller towns of Chianti that I've come to love. It will also be an ongoing article as I add towns and more information. On my first bike trip to Italy we started at […]Read More
Siena to St. Gimignano
Between Siena and San Gimignano Usually the centerpiece of any article about Siena is the incredible Duomo; however I've included a discussion of it in my Cathedrals and Abbeys post and will focus on a theme similar to the one I used for Florence/Firenze–walking and people watching. I saw Siena for the first time on […]Read More
Florence and Fiesole
It's difficult to know where to start in writing about Florence (Firenze) and Fiesole. I fell in love with the city the first time I came following a bike trip and have returned 7 times since then. One of my favorite memories from that trip was walking down a narrow street from my hotel on […]Read More
Cathedrals and Abbeys
Prologue I dedicate this article to my mother, Shirley Marguerite McNeil Wright, 1920 to 2009, who lived by the principle of leaving the world a better place. She was a staunch Methodist but loved going to the St. Cecilia Cathedral flower show (Omaha, NE). I went this past January 2017 for the first time since […]Read More


text:
Thieves used a stolen tractor to rip a cash machine from the wall of a village newsagents.
The cash machine was stolen from the McColls store on High Street, Holme-on-Spalding Moor, this morning (1 April).
Police received a call shortly after 2.30am today from a member of the public reporting the incident.
A teleloader - a tractor with a lifting arm - stolen from a local farm, was used to remove the cash machine.
The ATM was then taken from the scene in a vehicle described as a black pick-up.
A spokesman for Humberside Police said: "Initial inquiries have been conducted at the scene and enquiries are ongoing today."
Anyone with information should call 101 referring to log 22 of Friday 1 April or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
This is the latest in a series of cash machine thefts in the area. Thieves used a digger to steal a cash machine from the wall of a Co-operative store, on George Street, Pocklington in January this year.
In June last year, thieves also used a JCB to steal a cash machine from a petrol station in Dunnington, and a JCB was also used to rip a cash machine from the wall of a bank in South Cave last February.


text:
Middle School After School Program
Wilson Forward Partnering with Healthcare Foundation of Wilson for Future After-School Program
In March of 2018, the Healthcare Foundation of Wilson funded a six-month planning and evaluation study to explore the feasibility of a new after-school program that is designed to positively impact the lives of middle school students in Wilson. This study was led jointly by Healthcare Foundation of Wilson and Wilson Forward, reflecting the close partnership and alignment of the two organizations to benefit the community.
In October of 2018, The Healthcare Foundation of Wilson committed $22 million dollars in funding to launch an after-school program for Wilson County middle-schoolers. Wilson Forward is proud to be a part of this collaborative effort as we work together to improve the future opportunities for the youth of our community.
After-School Initiative News:
Nonprofits to study countywide afterschool program
Healthcare Foundation of Wilson plans $22M after-school program
Youth Master Plan
Youth Master Plan – A Community Plan To Support Our Youth
The Youth Master Plan originated through a partnership of Wilson Forward and Wilson County Schools to bring together educators, parents, community members, nonprofits, businesses, churches, law enforcement, and government agencies to work together on five key focus areas where attention and action were warranted — Education and Workforce, K-12 Academic Achievement, Health and Wellness, Out of School Time, and Safety. The many achievements recognized through the implementation of this plan have assured us that we are a community who cares about each and every child.
As stated in the original plan document, this Plan is not the end, but instead, it is the beginning of a journey for us to serve our youth and to provide a brighter future built upon strong community relationships. The Youth Master Plan Final Report highlights many of the goals achieved since the Plan's development in 2014. The success demonstrated by each team is the result of numerous community partners who are dedicated to improving the outcomes for all youth
in Wilson.
Transition to College – David Lyndon, Executive Director of Secondary Education, Wilson County Schools
Transition to Workforce – Wendy Winslow, Site Compliance Lead, Merck
To empower youth and their families to become better educated and more productive
Wilson youth will have expanded access to college through increased support avenues, effective communication channels and funding opportunities.
- Established partnerships between Wilson County Schools (WCS), Barton College and Wilson Community College (WCC) to assist local high school students with the college application process
- Enhanced the Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) programs in WCS by recruiting local college students to tutor AVID students; establishing a fall and spring AVID Day at Barton and WCC for AVID students; and recruiting former AVID students currently enrolled in college to share their college transition experiences with local high school students
- Implemented College Application Week for college-bound high school students to learn resume-writing techniques, interview skills and test-taking strategies
- Established financial aid workshops at WCC and Barton College for local college-bound students and parents
- Expanded and enhanced the College Matters event for Wilson high school students and parents to learn more about the college application process
- Established WCC as a local ACT test administration site
- Waived the Barton College registration and application fee for WCS students
- Created a page on all WCS counseling center websites to provide information about financial assistance and scholarships for college
Wilson youth will be prepared for employment after graduation from high school or completion of a high school equivalency exam.
- Established Wilson Academy of Applied Technology (WAAT) to teach students specific manufacturing skills needed by local employers (Note: Graduates from WAAT will earn a high school diploma and an Associate of Applied Science degree in Applied Engineering Technology from Wilson Community College at no cost.)
- Established Career and Technical Education (CTE) elective options (such as Family and Consumer Science and Agricultural Science) for 7th and 8th grade WCS students
- Implemented Groundhog Day, an opportunity for WCS students to "shadow" an employee and visit related work sites for a day
- Developed and distributed marketing materials to local businesses (through the Chamber of Commerce) to describe the opportunities needed for students to experience work-based learning opportunities; developed materials to share at high school orientations so parents and students would become familiar with work-based learning opportunities; and included all information on appropriate websites
- Increased student participation in work-based learning opportunities from 10 students in 2016 to34 students in 2017
- Placed Career Development Coordinators in the three WCS traditional high schools
- Identified soft skills needed for the success of high school students and established a partnership between WCS and Barton College to offer appropriate workshops in two high schools
Candice Rountree, Program Manager, Wilson County Department of Social Services
Mary Mallory, Program Manager, Wilson County Department of Social Services
Working collectively to improve the health and wellness of children and youth
Children and youth will make responsible healthy decisions.
- Expanded the Success in Schools program to serve more teen parents by securing a social worker through NC Division of Public Health grant funding to serve all local middle and high schools (Note: A social worker provides direct services at Beddingfield High School and implemented Partners for a Healthy Baby, which is an evidence-based model.)
- Secured grant funding through the Healthcare Foundation of Wilson to establish the community's first school-based health centers at Forest Hills Middle School and Beddingfield High School to provide on-site health and wellness evaluations and education for middle school youth to promote healthy choices (Note: The Health Center also addresses parenting education through co-location of a Wilson County Department of Social Services (DSS) prevention social worker and provides behavioral health support services through Eastpointe.)
- Established monthly clinic hours for teens at the Wilson County Health Department
- Expanded prevention efforts and awareness of youth substance use through a statewide multimedia campaign for Talk It Out NC, specifically addressing prescription drug misuse prevention (Note: The messaging focuses on how to properly use, store and dispose of Rx medications.)
- Created a complete prevention package between the Wilson County Substance Prevention Coalition (WCSPC) and a local private school to appropriately address youth, parents, faculty and staff in training/education, programming and policy (Note: Drug Information Training for Educational Professionals (DITEP) is being provided to the faculty and staff, and programming is being purchased for educating youth. A parent education series is being planned, and a comprehensive school policy is being developed to address substance use.)
- Recognized by the National Association of Counties (NACo) for our collaborative work with children and youth in 2016
Children and youth will be physically healthy.
- Implemented the MATCH (Motivating Adolescents with Technology to CHOOSE Health) Wellness Program for all 7th graders in WCS to measure and monitor Body Mass Index (BMI) and childhood obesity
- Secured grant funding through the Healthcare Foundation of Wilson to establish and increase the number of walking tracks from 17 schools to all 26 WCS locations
- Secured grant funding through the Healthcare Foundation of Wilson for the Wilson Family YMCA to establish the Y SAY Fit gym to provide access to exercise for the students served in the SAY after school program
- Secured grant funding from the Healthcare Foundation of Wilson to implement the Eat Smart, Move More campaign at 30 locations throughout the community to encourage increased consumption of water and reduced consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages
- Established the Wilson Food Network (comprised of community hunger assistance groups) to address community needs and identify food gaps (Note: The access to community gardens within low-income neighborhoods and schools has increased, which includes new gardens within the Wilson Housing Authority properties, Hope Station, and the expansion of existing community gardens at White Oak Church and Wilson Community Improvement Association.)
- Established breakfast and lunch at no cost in WCS elementary schools and select middle schools through the federal Community Eligibility Provision
- Established health checks and dental and vision screenings for local youth who attend the annual Community Health Fair
Children and youth will be emotionally healthy.
- Established regular behavioral health screenings to administer to children during well visit check ups with local pediatricians
- Implemented evidence-based Positive Behavior Intervention Strategies (PBIS) at all 26 WCS schools
- Provided Youth Mental Health First Aid and Adult Mental Health First Aid to hundreds of community members and professionals (Note: This training provides a framework for responding to mental health challenges in the community and helps remove the stigma of mental health, substance use and developmental disabilities.)
- Implemented and installed mental health screening kiosks at four community health provider locations to promote awareness and provide treatment information for identified at-risk patients
- Established and routinely update a Community Resource Guide posted on the United Way of Wilson County website to increase access and awareness to resources and services
- Secured a tele-psychiatry unit for behavioral health illnesses at Wilson Medical Center
- Improved collaboration between WCS and Wilson County DSS for home visits to provide services for youth and families who are living in poverty
- Developed and implemented Darkness to Light training with multiple community partners, which provides a basic understanding of child abuse and neglect and the community's responsibility to be more proactive
- Implemented Project Broadcast at Wilson County DSS to provide trauma screenings for all children involved with child welfare (Note: Foster parents also receive trauma training to better understand and meet the needs of children in foster care.)
- Secured an Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) for Wilson County DSS to assist homeless families (Note: Through ESG funding and community collaboration of Wilson Energy, Wilson County DSS, Wilson Housing Authority and Hope Station, 92 families have been placed in safe and permanent housing.)
Children will have healthy beginnings.
- Secured grant funding for Healthy Families America through the Division of Public Health for Wilson County DSS to serve families with children ages 0-5 and focus on the prevention of child maltreatment
Susan Bullock, Assistant Superintendent, Wilson County Schools
All Wilson County students will be prepared to be lifelong learners who are responsible and productive citizens and leaders with a global and cultural awareness. Students will be innovative problem solver who can collaborate and communicate and will be 21st century ready.
Students will be prepared to enroll in rigorous courses.
Students will be aware of the importance of being lifelong learners.
Students will have social, civic and academic responsibility.
- Developed and shared curriculum frameworks with all teachers based on the NC Standard Course of Study
- Conducted Data Bootcamps with principals to review pertinent school-level data
- Implemented The Gentlemen's Agreement, a mentoring program for minority males in each of the comprehensive high schools to reinforce academic capacity
- Trained school teams in NCStar and aligned all School Improvement Plans with the district improvement plan
- Conducted monthly Professional Development/Professional Learning Communities meetings with principals to analyze student achievement data and to monitor the instructional program at each school
- Implemented a Multi-Tiered System of Support
- Continued to support the implementation of Positive Behavior Intervention Support in all schools
- Created a plan for the district implementation of the Learning Focused® Instructional Framework
- Monitored and analyzed student attendance, tardies and discipline incidents with principals
- Created a plan to address writing skills across the curriculum
- Offered Parent Academies focusing on academic needs of students at home
- Implemented 90-minute reading and math blocks in grades K-5
- Trained and supported principals on creating and implementing Mandatory Improvement Plans for teachers
- Provided support for all beginning teachers through the teacher mentor program including mentors, super mentors and a district beginning teacher coach
- Supported the Aspiring Administrators Program for teachers to build leadership capacity
- Partnered with Barton College to create a cohort for aspiring administrators
To ensure all children and youth have access to and participate in a variety of quality programs during out of school time
Youth and parents will be aware of safe programs and activities offered during out of school time.
- Created and shared information on the City of Wilson website beginning in September 2014 to list and link all Wilson youth programs
- Connected students who were not selected for WCS middle school athletic teams with other sports programs (Note: Transportation was provided.)
- Created a central point on the Wilson 20/20 website to link all community calendars to enable citizens to have easy access to event information
- Created a network of youth program leaders to plan a program fair for all youth and parents (Note: The fair was not offered due to lack of interest, but alternate ideas are being considered.)
- Evaluated options and hosted discussions with community program leaders to identify a Smartphone app to connect youth with immediate opportunities during out of school time (Note: Development is pending available funding.)
Youth will be engaged in quality out of school time programs and activities.
- Established The Gentlemen's Agreement in 2015 to mentor at-risk minority males who are in high school and began a female equivalent called Her PRIDE in February 2017
- Created an opportunity for local youth to learn and experience volunteerism in the summer months through the United Way of Wilson County
- Expanded the YMCA Young Leaders Program to include representatives from all area high schools, including students in home schools and private schools
- Expanded summer art enrichment days in Wilson County townships and areas of underserved youth in the City of Wilson
Youth will be provided safe transportation enabling them to attend out of school time programs and activities.
- Trained and prepared local law enforcement officers to utilize school bus transportation when needed for out of school activities sponsored by the Wilson Police Athletic League
- Established conversations with appropriate community representatives to evaluate alternative options for the use of public transportation funding
- Improved specific areas of bike routes and public walkways used by youth who do not have alternative transportation to school and out of school activities
Youth will have quality tutoring programs in alignment with the NC Standard Course of Study.
- Created and distributed a comprehensive list of all after school tutoring programs available in Wilson
- Established Parent Academies in elementary schools to share tutoring information and to teach advocacy skills for parents to appropriately connect students with necessary support
- Expanded the services of Communities In Schools to appropriately connect underserved students with the talents and resources of community volunteers
Scott Biddle, Major, Wilson Police Department
Identify, make accessible, and create resources that provide the safest environment possible for the youth of Wilson to make appropriate decisions and become the future leaders of Wilson
Safe environments will be established for students in our schools.
- Received The Director's Award from NC Emergency Management in recognition of WCS being one of the safest school districts in the state
- Installed buzz-in systems at the front door of every WCS school allowing office staff to grant building access to visitors; updated school emergency plans; conducted safety assessments; distributed emergency bags to every classroom in the district filled with important documents and items needed in an evacuation; distributed picture ID badges to staff to identify school system employees; trained staff members in CPR/AED training at no cost; and installed panic buttons in all public schools to notify law enforcement in an emergency
- Held the first Active Assailant Training Exercise in the county in collaboration with WCS, law enforcement and other partners to simulate an active shooter in a school, and organized a Parent Reunification Training Exercise in collaboration with law enforcement to simulate reunifying parents and children (Note: This was the first exercise of its kind in the state.)
- Secured a bomb dog at the Wilson County Sheriff's Office (WCSO)
- Certified all WCS high school students in CPR through the health curriculum pathway
- Secured interior and exterior cameras on all WCS school buses, which includes audio
- Established a partnership between WCS and the Wilson Youth Council on an anti-bullying campaign for all students and created an anti-bullying webpage on the district's website
- Secured a mental health therapist in five WCS schools as a pilot program
- Partnered with law enforcement K-9 Units for regular visits to WCS middle and high schools
Safe environments will be established for the youth in our community.
- Established a mentoring program called Boyz to Men and Girls in Progress through the Wilson Police Department's Police Athletic League to address life choices such as etiquette, dating, hygiene, education and careers
- Established a prescription multimedia campaign for The Wilson County Substance Prevention Coalition (WCSPC) promoting safe use, storage and disposal of prescription medicines (Note: In collaboration with the Wilson Police Department (WPD), WCSPC provides prescription pill drop-offs twice a year and now has permanent prescription pill drop boxes in the vestibules of both the WPD and WCSO.)
- Distributed 100 intranasal naloxone kits between the WPD, WCSO and the Wilson County Health Department through the Lazarus Project
- Attained 501(c)(3) status for WPD's Police Athletic League, which has enabled them to raise funds to increase camps and activities (Note: In 2015-2016, they were able to hold 28 camps and activities and reach over 700 kids. All camps and activities are offered free of charge and include transportation and meals.)
- Developed a Violent Offender Task Force at the WPD to identify chronic violent offenders and gang members who are negatively influencing youth


text:
Flowers in a Gift
An Empty Vase has many "flowers in a gift" that come in an unique vase that can be used many times! The recipient will think of you every time they use it! An Empty Vase in Boerne, TX has Flowers in a Gift suitable for every occasion.


text:
The Ben Pimlott Writer in Residence Programme
The Department of Politics launched the Ben Pimlott Writer in Residence Programme in 2014. This programme allows suitably qualified writers to spend up to a year at Birkbeck. During this time, the Ben Pimlott Writer in Residence will work on a book or series of articles on a political theme aimed at a broad readership. He or she will also be expected to contribute to the intellectual life of the Department. This is an unpaid position but the Writer in Residence will receive access to computing facilities, the library and office space. Mentoring from members of the Department of Politics will also be provided, where appropriate.
The Ben Pimlott Writer in Residence Programme is named in honour of the late Ben Pimlott, who was Professor of Politics at Birkbeck between 1981 and 1998. Highly regarded for his research on British politics, the Labour Party and the trade union movement, he also wrote widely read biographies of Queen Elizabeth, Hugh Dalton and Harold Wilson. Naming the programme after Ben Pimlott is a tribute not only to his time at Birkbeck but also his commitment to, and passion for, fine political writing.
Ben Pimlott Writer in Residence 2018
The Ben Pimlott Writer in Residence for 2018 is Sian Norris.
Sian is a novelist, journalist, poet and short story writer. She is a regular contributor to the New Statesman, the Guardian, the Pool, Prospect UK, politics.co.uk, and 50.50 openDemocracy. Her short fiction has been published in 3am Magazine, the Wales Arts Review and Halcyon. In 2017 she was the writer in residence at Spike Island. Sian is the founder and director of the Bristol Women's Literature Festival, and is co-editor of the Read Women project. Her first novel Greta and Boris: A Daring Rescue explores the lives of women in Gertrude Stein's circle, and in 2016 Sian was nominated for the Lucy Cavendish Prize. Her agent is Kate Johnson at Mackenzie Wolf.
Expressions of Interest
Expressions of interest for participation in the Ben Pimlott Writer in Residence Programme should be sent to Dr Dermot Hodson, who directs the programme, and Prof. Deborah Mabbett. Applicants should have a strong track record as a writer, a specific writing project in mind and a clear rationale for wanting to come to Birkbeck.


text:
Born: 2/24/13
AGS Country Daze Farm Zagnut x AGS Pemberley Acres PIM's Penelope
Zagnut is the son of Rosebud, so we were hoping to combine her fabulous capacity with Penny's amazing attachments with this doe. I sold her as a kid and regretted it, but we were able to get her back and couldn't be happier with her development! Not only is she gorgeous, she has a great personality and is always happy to be with you.
2015: Doppel kidded triplet girls!
Selected Show History:
(will fill in as I find information 🙂 )


text:
NA ELECTIONS 2018 - Know Your Candidates
NA Elections 2018
Click on the map for details.
Zhemgang: Panbang
Registered voters -7,778
Male registered voters - 3,849
Female registered voters - 3,929
Dorji Wangdi
Total Registered Voters - 438,663
Male Registered Voters - 214,113
Female Registered Voters - 224,550
Registered Postal Voters - 133,795
ECB Notifications
NA Poll Day For The Primary Round
Public Advisory -Postal Ballot Facilitation Booth
NA Poll Day For The Primary Round
Update On Election Disputes
Cases Received By The ECB Related To The Primary Round Campaign Period And Decisions Taken.
Copyright: Kuensel


text:
Dr. Margherita Cantorna Receives Title of Distinguished Professor
Posted: February 7, 2014
The special academic title of "Distinguished Professor" recently was awarded to Dr. Margherita Cantorna, of the Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences (VBS) Department. She joins fellow VBS faculty member Dr. Jeff Peters, who also holds this title.
During her 15-year career at Penn State, Dr. Cantorna has developed an internationally recognized research program studying the role of vitamin D in the immune system. In addition to her work in vitamin D, she also is interested in other nutrients including vitamin A, selenium and edible mushrooms.
In 2012, the American Society for Nutrition acknowledged the importance of her work with the prized Osborne and Mendel Award for outstanding recent basic research accomplishments in nutrition.
Dr. Cantorna also is quite successful at promoting the training and careers of undergraduate, graduate, and post-doctoral students, and junior faculty. Numerous students trained in Dr. Cantorna's lab have been placed in high positions within academia and industry.
Dr. Cantorna has demonstrated important leadership skills while representing Penn State. She is the head of the Graduate Program in Immunology and Infectious Diseases and heads the Center of Molecular Immunology and Infectious Diseases. Furthermore, she has completed four years of service on the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Immunity and Host Defense study section, as well as service on training grants, minority affairs, and program project-related review panels; and now serves on the Integrated Nutrition and Metabolic Processes NIH study section.
As summarized by a retired VBS department head, "Dr. Cantorna believes that we must create an intellectual environment that is stimulating for students and faculty, where new ideas and discoveries are generated that will improve the direction of the Institutional Programs in the 21st Century."


text:
Everybody is talking about Proenza Schouler. Even though the "it" bag craze has died down, there are still designers that are churning out handbags that are must have's. The newest addition to this group is Proenza Schouler bags. Celebrities have been flocking to this line and sporting the coveted Proenza Schouler PS1 around town (Mary Kate Olsen and Leighton Meester are two fans). Is the craze really worth it? We believe so. While the suede bags from Proenza Schouler are great, the idea of a suede bag scares most people off. Suede is undoubtably hard to keep clean and shows wear very easily.
This is why we would opt for a bright color in leather, just like the Proenza Schouler PS1 Leather Pochette which is done in vibrant chartreuse. Lime green can be a scary color to wear, but it is brilliant to add the perfect pop of color to an accessory rather than an entire outfit. This bag will stand out with a little black dress or look perfectly chic with jeans and a tee shirt. The PS1 Pochette adds a cool dimension with the strap detailing, which is what this line has become known for. There is a fold over flap with a lock and strap fastening as well as compartments at the front, a zipped compartment at the back, and an inside zipped compartment. Buy through Net A Porter for $895.
P.S. Please consider supporting our small, bag-loving team by clicking our links before shopping or checking out at your favorite online retailers like Amazon, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, or any of the listed partners on our shop page. We truly appreciate your support!


text:
May 2 2016
At the January 1976 meeting of the Board of Directors, the title of the association's manager was changed from General Manager to Executive Director.
A new brochure illustrating careers in the electrical distribution industry was prepared and circulated. The purpose of the booklet was to assist member companies of CEDA in interesting and hiring personnel for the electrical distribution industry. The booklets were available in both English and French.
In April 1976, General Manager Norman McKellar submitted notice of his resignation, stating that he did not wish to participate in the increased involvement with the political scene in Ottawa, and at this point in his career he had decided to pursue some projects of his own. Norman's resignation, effective August 31, was accepted at the July 22 Board of Directors meeting. Richard R. Taylor was selected as the new Executive Director and took up his duties at the beginning of September.
Negotiations were taking place with the Commodity Tax Board in Ottawa over the Federal Sales Tax. CEDA's position (then as now) was that the tax should be applied at a retail level.
CEDA made its two honour awards to manufacturers: Allen-Bradley and Thomas & Betts.
The Canadian Electrical Manufacturers Association changed its name to "EEMAC" (Electrical Manufacturers Association of Canada) and David Armour was appointed President of the renamed association. The new association was in fact joining together of two associations, although the exact date that the merger took place is not recorded in CEDA's minutes.
Shown in the photo: outgoing CEDA president Jeannine Woods presenting the President's gavel to Roy Martin.


text:
A boy who accidentally bumped into a girl in a Northampton fast food restaurant was knocked out by her dad.
The 14-year-old was in the Sixfields branch of McDonald's between 5pm and 6pm on Sunday, December 28, when he accidentally bumped into a young girl and knocked her over.
A police spokesman said: "In retaliation, the girl's father punched the boy, knocking him unconscious and leaving him with a swollen nose, bruised eye, blurred vision and a bump on the back of the head."
The attacker was white, in his mid to late twenties and between 6ft 1ins and 6ft 2ins. Northamptonshire Police said he had "slightly tanned" skin, short black hair and stubble. He was wearing jeans, trainers and either a grey or a blue hoodie.
Witnesses, or anyone with any information about this incident, can call Northamptonshire Police on 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.


text: Look professional in minutes September 26, 2014 Phil Hill - Founder & CEO Feature Image Unleash the power of Gmail as a full features email marketing platform. It designed for anyone to use and takes just minutes! Phil Hill - Founder & CEO Phil is a successful serial internet entrepreneur with a passion to fix problems.


text:
Four hundred million years ago, some fish hoisted themselves out of the water and started a long evolutionary trek to personhood. But how did they learn to walk? A study published in this week's Nature uses modern-day walking fish to mimic that transition.
In the experiment, researchers raised bichirs, which are fish with functional lungs and strong fins. In a pinch, these qualities allow them to walk on land. But this is something new: For eight months, a group of the primitive fish were raised entirely on land so that researchers could compare their development to specimens that grew up in normal, mostly aquatic conditions.
"I was most surprised early in the study when the Polypros [bichir] actually survived in the terrestrial habitat. That was amazing," said Emily Standen, the lead author and an evolutionary biomechanist at the University of Ottawa. "Then when we tested their behavioral and anatomical differences, we were really excited."
Standen and her colleagues thought that the bichir would develop differently if it grew up on land, giving them hints as to how a fish could go from water to earth as it evolved. Sure enough, the fish raised on land walked with a more effective gait. They placed their fins closer to their bodies and raised their heads up higher, which made them slip less than the aquatic walkers. Their skeletons also developed differently, with the bones that support the fins changing shape to support them in higher gravity.
The researchers also saw the fish acquiring more head and neck mobility, which would be important in a transition to life on land. "Fish generally don't have necks, as they can approach their food from any angle in a 3-D environment," Standen said. "Once on a 2-D terrestrial plane, head mobility becomes essential for feeding and other sensory perceptions."
While the changes are subtle, Standen said, they mirror what scientists have seen in the fossil record of fish-to-land-dweller evolution. So it was probably a similar kind of developmental flexibility that allowed the first fish to emerge from the water.


text:
Heavy vehicle fleet operators are faced with mounting pressures and challenges associated with operating in today's highly complex and competitive transport industry. Thin margins, fluctuating fuel costs, driver well-being issues, as well as social and environmental factors are just some of the things modern fleet operators must consider on a day-to-day basis.
Seeking new sources of competitive advantage, leading logistics companies now look to the DECA Pro Driver Program to assist in improving driver ability and skill, enhancing fleet efficiency, safety and overall performance.
The DECA Pro Driver Program focuses on human behaviour and important theories behind safe and efficient driving. No matter their experience, drivers that participate in the program will not only obtain new knowledge and skill, but also develop a heightened sense of professionalism, instilling a culture of pride and responsibility across an entire fleet.
Utilising sound theory and practical based skills training, the DECA Pro Driver Program is the ideal solution for lifting the professionalism and ability of heavy vehicle drivers. Combating everything from fuel savings and reducing maintenance costs, through to time management and the importance of driver health. Not only will your business' bottom-line benefit, but so will your workforce and the greater community.
Throughout the duration of this program the topics covered in depth are as follows.
DECA Shepparton. Training can be conducted at a time and place chosen and convenient for the client.
Four clients per trainer, utilising theory based learning followed with practical skills training.
Two day intensive program
All courses run subject to minimum enrolments. Courses not marked with an asterix (*) may lead to an Australian Qualification Framework (AQF) qualification or statement of attainment. RTO: 3097


text:
Take Advantage Of Free Play When Available
Most online casino games these days offer you the chance to have a go at the particular game in a free play mode which means you don't have to tap into your bankroll to get to grips with what you are playing. Although the thrill and excitement of winning real money is not available, this offer should not be turned down, if is a game you have never played before. Certain games inside the Betfair casino room are self-explanatory therefore you won't need the free play mode as you should be able to go straight into it knowing how...Read More


text:
And maybe I should wait to buy these books until I have that copious free time needed to properly digest their contents, but hey, what better motivation to move things along than a growing stack of books that you convince yourself have to be read before the end of the summer? A little pressure never hurt anyone, right?
On with the show - what did I recently add to my collection?
The Definitive ANTLR Reference - if you've ever dreamt of building domain-specific languages, ANTLR is the tool to get if you're not already knee-deep in LEX and YACC. Now why on earth would you need that? Well, if you're building business applications, this sort of embedded scripting languages can make a world of difference when it comes to customizing the workflow of your application.
Granted, if your focus is exclusively on MacOS X, you're better off making your application OSA-scriptable, so that your users can interact with your application via AppleScript. Or go one step further, and embed Automator actions. But if you're not that lucky, and you need cross-platform scripting, ANTLR and the visual grammar development environment ANTLRWorks will make your life a heck of a lot easier - producing code that is actually readable, rather than the undecipherable state machine mess that you get from YACC.
And now that we're talking about MacOS X (ooh, there was a smooth transition to the next book) - I just got my copy of Cocoa Programming for MacOS X by Aaron Hillegass. The just-released third edition was updated for MacOS X Tiger and Leopard, including coverage of XCode 3, Objective-C 2, Core Data, the garbage collector and Core Animation.
While I also have a copy of the Wrox-book Beginning MacOS X Programming, this will be the one that gets me going with Cocoa (that's my story and I'm sticking to it!) as the last Mac-specific development I did was using Think Pascal and the first 5 books of the original Inside Mac series, back in the day when Macs used Motorola 680x0 processors and we were happy to get System 7.
The last book I want to mention is The Art of SQL. Now I may live and breathe databases but you can never learn enough tricks of the trade. In this book, the author aims to teach people who are no longer novices how to write good SQL code from the start and most importantly, to have a view of SQL code that goes beyond individual SQL statements.
Remember the days when developers managed to fit entire accounting applications, including the data, onto a set of floppy disks or (gasp, we will never fill that up) 10 megabyte hard disks, running in 128 kilobyte RAM or less? With the way database sizes are exploding nowadays, you need to plan ahead and employ a different strategy - so I'm definitely looking forward to getting more in-depth than ever.
And just in case you're wondering: no, I don't always cuddle up on the sofa with a mug of hot cocoa and this type of book. Whenever I get a chance, I'll read books by Raymond E. Feist, Tad Williams, David Eddings, Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickmann. Hmm, another stereotypical geek trait: fantasy and science fiction. Ah well, when the shoe fits :-)


text:
AW: AW: Too much of a good thing? Michael Burschik 14 Apr 2003 08:31 UTC
Per Bothner wrote: > Michael Burschik wrote: > > Correct me if I'm wrong, but R5RS does not provide > resizable vectors, and > > functions generating vector element by element have no way > of knowing the > > length of the resulting vector beforehand. > > First, the SRFI process is about extending R5RS, so I don't see > that as a restriction. I am well aware of the fact that SRFIs are about extending R5RS, but I wanted to point out that you cannot assume you have got resizable vectors at your disposal *because* neither R5RS nor SRFI-43 mandate them. > You have to use some data structure or programming convention that > stores the "active length" - i.e. Common Lisp's "fill pointer". If > you're stuck with vanilla Scheme, then this would be a > separate variable > or a convention to use the the first variable of the vector. (The > former is awkward and the latter is worse, whihc is why an extension > is needed.) But this extension is not defined by SRFI-43, nor any other SRFI, as far as I am aware. > But assuming you have a separate fill pointer, then yes: It really is > more efficient to allocate and re-allocate multiple vectors - as long > as you each time double the allocated size. E.g. start with a small > vector of say 8 slots, then when that gets full use one with 16 lots, > then one with 32 slots etc. This uses less memory than cons cells > (especially if you an object or malloc header), provides linear > performance, and much better data locality. Thanks for the explanation. Now, things begin to make sense. But again, the SRFI does not define resizable vectors, and the reference implementation does not use them either. Without resizable vectors, however, many of the functions defined by the SRFI are just list manipulation functions followed by list->vector. Maybe a resizable vector library would be a worthwhile project. Or do many scheme implementations offer resizable vectors? Regards Michael Burschik


text:
Great Books
The foundation of self-improvement is a commitment to perpetual learning. Reading is one of the most effective ways you can acquire knowledge that can be implemented into your everyday life.
I have read each of the books listed below cover-to-cover, and each one can either directly or indirectly help you become a better broadcaster.
They are listed in order of personal impact and importance, but I recommend all of them equally.
Eat Bacon Don't Jog: Get Strong. Get Lean. No Bullshit.
Grant Petersen
If you allow it to, this book can change your life for the better. It does an excellent job explaining the ketogenic lifestyle in an easy-to-read format. Get into the best shape of your life effectively and efficiently.
Grain Brain
David Perlmutter, MD and Kristin Loberg
Explains the benefits of a ketogenic program pertaining to brain function and disease prevention. The resulting fat burning and weight loss are viewed as a secondary benefit. You will never look at sugar and carbohydrates the same way again.
Never Eat Alone
Keith Ferrazzi
Tremendous resource on creating value for others. The chapter on health, wealth, and children is worth the price of the book.
The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership
John C. Maxwell
This is ranked fourth only because of how much I believe in the first three books on the list. Easy read, and invaluable lessons.
Good to Great
Jim Collins
One of the greatest collective case studies of all-time. A must-read regardless of your line of work.
Swim With the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive
Harvey Mackay
Practical advice on building authentic relationships. Real-world examples provided throughout, including one involving the Minnesota Twins.
The Bullpen Gospels
Dirk Hayhurst
Arguably the best baseball book of this generation. If you have ever worked in the minor leagues, you can relate to The Bullpen Gospels. Another one that is very easy to read.
Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner
Freakonomics will develop your thought process when it comes to analyzing large samples of data. I recommend reading this as a precursor to Moneyball or anything else related to Sabermetrics.
The Code
Ross Bernstein
Excellent resource on many of baseball's unwritten rules.
How to Win Friends and Influence People
Dale Carnegie
Business classic similar to Swim With the Sharks. Plenty of real life examples to support its claims.
Getting Things Done
David Allen
Another book filled with practical advice you can immediately apply to your day-to-day routine. The two-minute rule and the value of having a whiteboard are two important takeaways.
Baseball Gold
Dan Schlossberg
An outstanding resource for broadcasters of any level with hundreds of colorful snippets chronicling the game's history.
Baseball Strategies
American Baseball Coaches Association
Comprehensive resource on basic baseball fundamentals. I make sure to pack this on every road trip.
Jason Kendall and Lee Judge
The game seen through the eyes of Major League All-Star catcher Jason Kendall. There is some excellent advice for media types sprinkled in.
Book Yourself Solid
Michael Port
Very helpful material you can use to improve your sales efforts.
Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game
Michael Lewis
The book that helped bring Sabermetrics into the mainstream discussion.
The Only Rule is it Has to Work
Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller
A modern day Moneyball applied to an independent minor league team. Similar to The Bullpen Gospels in that anyone who has worked in minor league baseball can relate.
Trump: The Art of the Deal
Donald Trump and Tony Schwarz
This book does an excellent job providing insight on how to effectively complete large-scale projects from start to finish.
Think and Grow Rich
Napoleon Hill
Another business classic. Can delve into the spiritual and philosophical at times, but still offers some very practical and applicable advice.
This list will be updated regularly.


text:
From the Blog
Cyrus dir. Mark and Jay Duplass — 6.4
I'm generally a fan of the Duplass brother's work, so it's a bit of a disappointment that their first "big" budget film with name stars ends up being so tepid. The acting is good and the dialog is okay. The problem is that there's really no reason for this film to exist. In another hybridization of the psychotic brother/sister/parent/roommate ruining an otherwise perfect relationship, Jonah Hill plays a son whose relationship with his mom (Marissa Tomei) is a little too incestuous. But we never find out if he's truly deranged, merely odd, or faking it. His "self discovery" at the end is inexplicable and unconvincing. Worst of all, it leaves everything that came before it without a whole lot of gravity. John C. Reilly forgives, everyone smiles, and...roll credits.