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Setting the Stage for Future
Happy to share that I Official represented India at 8th Senior Rhythmic Gymnastics Asian Championships held at Tashkent, Uzbekistan from 8th to 10th May 2016. Planning is the key for any best output, so my preparation for this Game was done in advance with anticipation.
To prepare for the Asian Championships, I planned to get training at Tashkent, Uzbekistan. We have planned with my coach in India Krupali Madam and mom. We reached out to Uzbekistan Gymnastics Federation for supporting my training with the support of Indian Embassy and whom we know through Capt.Veeresh Uncle who is our family friend. Tashkent is the closest place for India. Its just about 2.30 hours journey. So, I landed and I was assigned a coach in Tashkent who was Maya , she is such a beautiful and talented lady who supported me in everything. She saw my routines and suggested some changes and helped me to practice. Just before the competition, I had to visit India for few days to participate in School Games in Hyderabad between 26-29th April 2016. I was happy that I returned being an overall champion when I left for Tashkent. Its great to have joined our Indian Team when they arrived for the competition. The formalities of Accredition and to submit the required form and CD's were done before the Day.
|Meghana : Clubs @ Tashkent
7th May 2016 : Podium Training
Today was the official podium training. We as Team India was allotted time was 2:40 pm to 3:00 PM. During this time we would get to do our routines on the competition carpet along with music. Maya was busy these few days as she was one of the volunteer in the competition, so she assigned Nasiba an other coach to support,who is also one of the finest ladies I ever met. Since I needed time to warm up and practice my routines before the podium training, Nasiba had asked me to come to the stadium at 12:00 in the noon.
There was an issue of my accreditation card for entry into the stadium. Finally when we realised that it was missing, Maya went to the federation office to get other one for me. I got to the stadium before the rest of the Indian team ,so since Nasiba asked me to start at 12:00 I did. By the time the rest of the team arrived I was done with my warm up so I greeted them and then went on to do my stretching.
When it was time for the podium training I started with my hoop routine followed by ball,clubs,and then at last I did the ribbon routine. My Hoop and ball were not as good as I hoped it would go but clubs and ribbon were better. We had some extra time so I repeated my ribbon routine. Before finishing off I did all the risks of all my apparatus. Once the podium training was over I went and got my apparatus checked. This is done at every major international competition to make sure that the apparatus are according to the given specifications. I took rest for the rest of the day since my competition was starting the next day .
8th May 2016 : Ball & Hoop
|Meghana : Beginning with Ball Routine
This day there were four groups in total. Group A, B, C & D. I was in the Group B. Today the order was group B followed by group A,D and C. There was group competition followed by the individuals which started at around 3:45 PM therefore Nasiba asked me to come at 1:00. I started with my warm up and stretching followed by my 9 difficulties without the apparatus. After this I did my hoop routine with out music and then my ball routine without music. My start order was Ball and then Hoop. By this time the rest of the Indian team had arrived as their competition was in group A and D which was after mine.About a half hour before my competition had started I changed into the brand new leotard that I had gotten just the day before. Then I did my ball routine 3 times without music and did all the risks individually. Just 15 min before my turn I started to practice all the elements which were hard for me. When there were only 3 players left I stopped practice and with the help of Nasiba I started to prepare myself to go on to the carpet. This was the mental preparation which included going through my routine in my mind. Nasiba was there with me until it was my turn. She could not stay with me after that since it had to be an Indian official coach for this competition to send me on to the carpet.
|Meghana : Enjoy Hoop @ Tashkent
The routine was all very nice except for one major mistake with my first balance which is Plénche Balance where I could not hold it. After that I made sure that I thought of every single movement before doing it. After my ball routine I had only 10 more gymnasts before I was on with my hoop routine. I did One full routine of Hoop after which I worked on only my individual elements. Once again when there were only 3 players, Nasiba started to prepare me .The first risk however I did not complete all my rotations and the mixed balance again I was not able to hold. It was not how I wanted to perform but I did and I was not going to sit and worry about it but instead I wanted to make sure that the ribbon and clubs routine were better.
My Scores in Ball : 11.650 Hoop : 11.250
After me there were 3 other Indian team players in 2 other group and also there was an opening ceremony that I had to attend so after I was finished competing for the day I changed my leotard and went and sat with the rest of the team to watch the performances. Before going to meet the rest of the Indian team, I met with Maya and nasiba to ask how my routines were. They told me the corrections I had to work on and told to give my best the next day.
Proud Moment : Being with the Flag
|Meghana With Flag @ Opening Ceremony
It was time to send only one player from India for the Opening Ceremony. Ms. Varsha madam (International judge from India ) had asked to send the player who scored the highest from India to go ,which was me. This was the first time that I was playing an international competition representing India and I was going to do so in the opening ceremony as well and I could not have felt prouder.
|Opening Ceremony @ Tashkent
After the opening ceremony mom and my self came back to the hotel, it was pretty late and I was exhausted so I went to bed almost immediately.
9th May 2016 : Ribbon & Clubs
On this day the rotation of the groups had changed ,today group B was third which meant that my competition would start a little later than 5:45 PM. So I went to the stadium at 3:00 to start my warm up and just like the previous day I started with basic warm up and then went on to stretching. Before I took my apparatus I did all my elements free hand.
|Meghana : See the Un-Known : Tashkent
Today I was starting my competition with ribbon followed by clubs. So I first started practicing with clubs before moving on to ribbon. A half hour before my competition started I changed into my leotards. Today i was going to wear two of my earlier leotards. A blue one for my ribbon and a black one for my clubs. I have to agree but I was freaking out a little bit by now. And before I knew it I was up, the routine was completely messed up. The first throw had slipped from my hand so I could not complete the rest of it and then my second risk also I did only two rotations when I was supposed to do three. The only good thing was that my mixed balance was counted. I was so disappointed when I finished the routine but I did not want that to get in the way of my clubs routine. Clubs was my favourite apparatus so I had to make sure that it was the best routine and it was except for the mixed balance again. I was feeling really happy that the competition was over but at the same time I felt that I could have done better. Its all about that 90 Seconds it counts to get the score. My Scores in Ribbon : 10.050 Clubs : 11.500
10th May 2016 : India - People Choice
Today was the event finals as well as the group finals. Usually only 8 teams qualify for the finals and in group competition there were only 8 teams which meant that the Indian team was competing in the finals. Since I did not come in the top 8 of the individual category I was not qualified, but I did go there to support the Uzbekistan team with whom I had been practicing for the past month.
Moment of Recognition for India :
After the group competition was over we had an official Indian team photo session. Towards the end of the day there was the closing ceremony for which the whole team has to attend. The Indian team coaches and judges thought that since we will not get anything they could skip the same. I was there at the Stadium, but to everyone's suprise I got awarded the people's choice award. I was really surprised as well as proud . It meant that India was finally being recognized. It was great to wrap my first ever international competition with a recognition. Many countries congratulated for my recognisable performance.
My performance has been the best from India so far. To begin I could get pass gymnasts from Indonesia, Hongkong & Thailand in the lead table. Look to climb the ladder continuously.
Along with the whole Indian team we started from Tashkent on the 11 th of May. It has been an amazing experience for me. This one that taught more than any of my other competitions. And this time I was going to work on all the mistakes I made so that by my next competition everyone who knows me should be surprised.
|Meghana : Preparing for NEXT
Thank you my coaches Krupali madam, Brij Kishore Sir, Maya & Nasiba for your support. Thank you Gymnastics Federation Of India Gymnastics Association of Telangana State (GATS) & Sports authority of Telangana State (SATS) for encouraging me. IFCI Financial Services LTD for supporting my Training.


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Vinay Sud is UNTETHER.tv's latest contributor, and the founder of Global LBS, a location based services trend spotter. Vinay will be dropping in from time to time to talk LBS, and what's going on in the mobile space across the pond. This is his latest post in a series on White Space, the Internet of Things, and their potential impact on mobile.
In April, wireless pioneer Neul announced the deployment of the world's first city-wide, fully functional wireless network in White Space, which would enable a whole host of smart city applications in Cambridge.
The initiative was in collaboration with BGlobal, and showcased the first ever smart electricity meter reading over a White Space network. It was the first step towards smart grids facilitating electricity supply to be more efficiently matched to real time demand.
Neul's network opens up a number of fascinating possibilities like smarter transport and traffic management, city lighting and other municipal services. The city of the future is being delivered through a new wireless standard called 'Weightless', specifically designed to be embed in electricity and gas meters, air quality sensors, recycling points, street lighting, parking spaces and traffic lights.
What is White Space?
In my introduction post to the Internet of Things, I only briefly touched upon White Space. White Space is the unused and underused parts of the wireless spectrum originally dedicated to television networks that are now left vacant in most locations. Neul's technology opens up these channels and will also allow underused frequencies within other UHF licensed and unlicensed bands to be used efficiently for wireless communication.
Neul's network is built on the successful completion of the first phase of the Cambridge White Space Consortium's network. The consortium's phase one network used Neul's equipment and cloud interface, together with the Weightless communications standard, proving that its White Space network co-exists perfectly with televisions and wireless microphones without causing interference or disruption. It is now anticipated that the full roll out scheduled of this technology is 2013 would make Cambridge the first smart city in the world.
Glenn Collinson, co-founder and director at Neul, has said:
In a world of smart phones and mobile broadband it is easy to imagine that wireless connectivity has now been solved.
It hasn't. Mobile broadband is too expensive for 'things' in the smart city. Also mobile broadband means battery powered devices would need changing far too often. And all those sensors would load the cellular networks to such a level that there would be little network capacity left.
Mobile networks are great for people but terrible for machines. At Neul we have demonstrated that the smart city can happen now through Weightless.
Ofcom backs White Space
Ofcom (http://www.ofcom.org.uk/) has backed the technological and regulatory push for mass White Space implementation in the UK. It stated that, "what the industry requires now is a 'kick start' of rapid regulatory turnaround for the common good, rapid occupation of the spectrum, and deployment of machine-to-machine white space standards and technology to demonstrate use cases."
Ofcom CEO, Ed Richards told a EU Policy debate in Brussels that White Space was now a priority for Ofcom. He stressed the importance of moving regulation to a point where companies can occupy the spectrum as a means of demonstrating the worth of dynamic spectrum access, and of propelling the industry forwards.
With this backing, Weightless is steering the machine to machine communication standard for the White Space spectrum and has the innovation that regulators are seeking to stimulate momentum in delivery of White Space solutions. Weightless expects to see white space M2M standards and network infrastructure in place by 2013, if not the end of 2012.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a bill which legally allows soccer spectators possessing a 'fan ID' visa-free entry into Russia. This would be issued by the Russian Government during the time of the FIFA World Cup 2018 event and also for a period of ten days ahead of the tournament and after it.
In order to enter Russia, the fan ID holders would be required to provide an identification document, tickets to the matches and a document that validates the ticket purchase.
This procedure is said to be similar to the system used during Sochi Olympics held in 2014, which allowed spectators to transfer their personal data to an online database so that they obtain the identification document from the authorities in Russia.
The draft law ratified the visa-free entry, which was announced by Putin in 2014, to be passed in June by the two houses of the Russian parliament, the State Duma and the Federation Council.


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Leoville Las Cases 2000
Winemaker's Notes
Chateau Leoville Las Cases is one of the largest and oldest classified growths in the Medoc region of France. The fruit is harvested by hand. The fermentation vessels include a fascinating mix of wooden, cement and stainless steel vats. When finished the wine is pumped to the barrel cellar. Here it is transferred into oak barrique, between 50% and 100% new for the grand vin, depending on the vintage.
Critical Acclaim
Wine Spectator - "Absolutely fantastic. This is one of the most exciting young reds I have tasted in a long, long time. It shows intense aromas of berries, currants and minerals, with hints of mint. Full-bodied and packed with fruit and tannins, its long finish is refined and silky. A benchmark for the vintage. Las Cases has always wanted to make first-growth quality in a top-notch vintage, and it certainly did in 2000. Best after 2012. 15,000 cases made."
The Wine Advocate - "Along with the Medoc first growths, Leoville Barton, Chateau Montrose, Sociando Mallet, and a handful of other producers, Leoville Las Cases continues to make a wine meant for very long-term cellaring. When I did my earlier tastings of the 2000, my projected maturity dates were 2012-2040, but it is looking more like 2020-2050. This full-bodied blend of nearly 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14.4% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc still has a youthful ruby/purple color, notes of graphite, kirsch liqueur, black currants, and lead pencil shavings, with good acidity, the tell-tale purity, layered ripeness and intensity, and a profound finish. However, with its high level of tannin and brooding backwardness, this superb effort needs to be forgotten for up to a decade.
98+ Points"
International Wine Cellar - "Full, bright ruby. Superripe aromas of roasted currant, violet and black licorice. Powerful and highly aromatic in the mouth, with brooding black fruit, violet and chocolate flavors. A step up in acidity from the Clos du Marquis, giving the wine great vinosity and cut. Extremely long and aromatic on the finish, with big, chewy, thoroughly ripe tannins.
95(+?) Points"


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Companions, of course, received a fairly significant overhaul in 4.0. Whereas previously you needed to gear a Companion up and they each had their own set roles, they now no longer need gear and their roles are no longer set, meaning that each Companion can either deal damage, heal, or tank opponents.
This wasn't the only change, of course. Affection was renamed to Influence and became the only way to improve a Companion's stats. Additionally, the amount of Influence one could gain from conversations drastically increased to match the similar increase of maximum Influence from 10,000 to 250,000.
Now that the basics that everyone knows about by now have been covered, it's time to deliver my long-overdue opinions on the matter!
Whilst I have very fond memories of carefully attending to my Sniper's fully-modifiable gear for HK-51 from 2.6 to 3.3 - HK-51's modifiable droid gear was one of the only few items which never received a Legacy-Bound equivalent - I personally have no qualms about Companions no longer needing gear.
This is due to several reasons. The first of which is, quite simply, because it makes it easier to give them whatever items of clothing you think look decent without needing to give them an overhaul with mods and augments or what-have-you. This also has the adverse side-effect of people just putting their female companions in dancer gear whilst they're still dishing out the same damage/heals as they would before.
Yes, we get that some people like drooling over someone's boobs like a ravenous infant, but do they really have to make us feel sorry for your Companion whilst doing so?
Secondly, this means that, no matter what happens, you'll never be left with a weak Companion if you decide to switch out as soon as you get a new one. Pre-4.0 the Knight really suffered from this in their final class mission even with a puzzle which helped them to acquire some pieces of gear for T7.
Finally, it means that you no longer need to worry about maintaining a "good Healer" or "good Tank" Companion Legacy set. It was fantastic when BioWare introduced the Devoted Allies gear for Companions to achieve this effect for lazy people, but this has taken it one step further. Your companion's gear not in your Legacy Bay? No matter; just bring them out naked!
Disclaimer: Here at Galactic Antics we do not endorse punishing your Companions in this manner. If said Companion happens to be Skadge, this is more a punishment for nearby players than it is for Skadge himself and is not to be attempted without suitable protection.
This having been said, it is worth mentioning that hilts and barrels in a Companion's weapon does affect output. I previously thought that it was only a superficial change on the character sheet, but damage does increase with better equipment. This is the only case of a Companion's gear affecting their role now, and sadly I don't see it being fixed any time soon. I'd love to be wrong, though!
HK actually stands for Heal/Kiss-it-better
The idea of having every Companion be able to fulfil any of the three roles is an interesting idea in-theory, but in-practice the whole idea does seem bizarre. Whilst I initially thought highly of the idea, I found myself reversing my opinion pretty quickly afterwards, as the established patterns really do make a lot more sense.
I am still fond of it in one regard as in some cases the role-switching can make sense - for example, Mako can fit as a DPS but not as a Tank - but in others it just doesn't work. Notably, Tharan Cedrax is a self-professed (so much so that his "did I mention I'm a pacifist?" line is seared in my mind...) pacifist, so he can only suit Healer as otherwise he's a blasted hypocrite. Yes, tell us more about your pacifist tendencies while you shoot that poor defenceless Rodian in the face because I told you to!
I do personally try to adhere to the strict regimes as much as possible, even going so far as to switch Companions I don't use to their previous roles in the Companion list. The only Companion whom I have used regularly in an alternate role than their previously set one has been Lokin; whilst he was previously a Healer, his Rakghoul form being his DPS and Tank 'stance' makes him an actually logical role-switcher, although I feel that he makes more sense as a DPS than he does a Tank.
However, I can't deny that having only one 'good' Companion renders this a little more 'unstable'; there is a fair amount of logic behind making your best Companion flexible if switching to a lesser one simply because the better one doesn't fit their new role is a risky alternative. I've been guilty of this on my Gunslinger with Vette during Rounds 6 and 7 of the Eternal Championship, given that Calph's three Influence 50 Companions are a Tank (Bowdaar) and two DPS (Gault and Vette) whilst her next-highest is M1-4X at 23.
Even then, Forex isn't exactly who I would want to go to for a nice soothing Kolto session...
As far as I'm concerned, making Influence play an active part in combat and not just a minimal increase of Crew Skill ratings (which has also received a significant boost since 4.0) is one of the best changes brought to the game thus far.
There never really was a reason to grind Affection in the past once you'd already done the conversations on previously-levelled characters of the same class. Sure, it was extra XP, but you'd already got the stats and Presence boosts, so what point was there in doing all that grind for nothing?
This change makes this grind actually mean something, even if it is another grind in an overall fairly grindy expansion.
Even then, there have been ways to negate this for the Alliance Alerts; not only were the Star Fortress Companions boosted to Influence 10 before you even grouped with them to invade the shield generator, but Blizz, Bowdaar, and Qyzen all reached Influence 10 once you'd completed their objectives - unless you happened to be a Consular or Hunter, in which case Qyzen and Blizz could be left at Influence Level 1 for some people.
Even the "most grindy" Companions could be 'skipped'; aside from Consulars and Hunters as mentioned above, Troopers and Warriors could convince Forex and Pierce to come with them without doing anything else, whilst Agents could avoid gathering materials for Lokin but would still need to go to the Rakghoul Tunnels. Heck, even the mission for Talos can be bypassed by Inquisitors, and his recruitment mission is one of the least tedious missions yet!
Of course, being Valor 40 and skipping the completion of Warzone requirements for Forex and Pierce also raises their Influence Rank to 10. Yay for ways to skip stuff..?
Back on-topic.
Of course, an oak tree from a little acorn grows. Because the amount of Influence you could gain drastically increased with 4.0, you'd find yourself rising through the Ranks incredibly quickly. Nowadays, when doing everything including Esseles and constantly making choices which elicited a response from your Companion - if they do not respond at all to two options but disapprove of the third, 9/10 times it's better to choose this option - your first Companion will be in the 20s if not higher when leaving the starter planet.
This in itself leads to a bit of a bigger problem. For Healers and Tanks, this is fine, as their damage output and fighting 'style' is almost negligible. For DPS Companions, however, this of course means that with each increased Rank that's more damage they're going to be doing, meaning that fights will more often than not go too quickly, even against Strongs and Elites.
As someone who seemingly exclusively goes DPS these days, this is still ever-so-mildly annoying to get used to. It doesn't help that at low-level when we're still struggling with the barebones of specs our Companions have all of their abilities - including an actual execute - compared to pre-4.0 when they needed to reach Level 35 to get their final ability.
I'm happy with Influence being the driving force behind a Companion's combat performance. It's currently the closest thing we've got to 'designating' a primary selection of Companions, something which as I've stated before, I would love to be able to do more 'properly' in future.
Magnitudinal Firepower
I can't finish this post without addressing the Ortolan in the room, and he's looking very shiftily at an elephant who is wondering exactly when this metaphor lost its way.
Trust me, I don't know either.
The performance of Companions was insanely high back when 4.0 launched. To give some context, in PvP Combat a player's damage could be outhealed by their opponent's Companion, making killing them almost an impossibility. Damage output also needed to be seen to be believed, whilst Tanks... had a broken Shield generator.
Great success!
The output was toned down, but people complained, so it was increased again, and we still haven't reached a happy medium. Healer Companions are still powerful, DPS Companions can still hit for 20k with their executes, and Tanks actually have a working Shield.
I don't know exactly what went on behind the scenes when these changes were suggested, but it does surprise me that seemingly nobody thought that maybe, just maybe, they were barking up several wrong trees with the performance. Still, what's done is done, and BioWare has lost face for it.
I also can't go much further without also expressing my disappointment that so many Companions lost their unique abilities. Blizz no longer has his Rocket Launcher, HK-51 no longer has his Blindside or his Assassinate, and Raina Temple no longer has a Force Blast.
That said, I am happy that Lokin still has his Rakghoul form and Tharan actually retains a second stun throughout all three specs: Holiday!
Whether or not Companions will receive yet another overhaul in future remains to be seen, of course. I for one am hopeful that, if they do, it will purely be to bring some of that unique flavour back to the specific Companions whilst still making them function in theoretically the same manner.
On the whole, I do like what they've done with the Companions in 4.0, even if the practice is a bit screwy. The role-switching doesn't make logical sense for the most part, but not needing gear and mainly gaining combat performance from Influence are fantastic developments.
I do have to say that I absolutely adore the Tanks with their triple-pull and lack of comparable squishiness. Bowdaar, Choza, and Xalek, I salute you three in particular.


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RadTech Hosts Successful UV LED 2015
By David Savastano, editor
Ink World
SUBMITTED Click Thumbnails to View
UV curing has been a growth area for years, and the technology has evolved over time. Now, for a variety of performance and environmental reasons, UV LED has become a major opportunity in the graphic arts market.
With that in mind, RadTech North America held UV LED 2015 in Troy, New York. In keeping with the interest in the area, the conference was sold out, with the talks drawing standing-room-only audiences. Attendees heard a wide range of talks and attended a tour of RPIs Smart Labs.
After a tribute to the late Dr. James K. Ciravello of RPI, the conference opened with Jennifer Heathcote of Phoseon Technology, who discussed Technology Trends Driving the Adoption of UV LED Curing. Heathcote gave a general presentation on UV LED curing equipment. LEDs are going to increase in output, Heathcote noted. Laboratory LED work is being done at much higher levels. She added that higher outputs currently come with a tradeoff of shorter life.
There is interest in curing at other UV wavelengths, but right now, Heathcote said that everything is being done at the UV-A level. In three to five years, we will start to have products with UV-B and UV-C, she added.
Heathcote said that UV LED systems are far more complex than traditional mercury lamps. Construction and operation of UV LED curing systems have more in common with a smart phone than a microwave or arc lamp, she noted, pointing out the use of semiconductors and clean rooms.
All in all, the UV LED market is making major strides in all areas. Life cycle testing has exceeded 50,000 hours, Heathcote reported. Market opportunity is expanding rapidly. Since 2008, the amount of projects and high-level meetings has grown by magnitudes. Everyone is looking at UV LED. Digital inkjet remains the largest market and, in the next few years, UV inkjet will be almost entirely LED. UV flexo is growing by leaps and bounds, and screen and adhesives also are growing. To illustrate the growth in UV LED in flexo, Heathcote added that at Labelexpo 2015, 35 percent of the UV systems on presses were LED, compared to less than 5 percent in 2011.
Regulatory concerns over the use of mercury lamps in Europe have come forward, and there are calls to eliminate conventional UV systems. This may lead to UV LED becoming the preferred option. There is more regulatory scrutiny of mercury lamps, Heathcote said. Its hard to predict.
Next, Mike Idacavage of Colorado Photopolymer Solutions spoke on The Effect of Mercury vs. LED Light Sources on Tack Free Curing.
Oxygen inhibition scales with photoinitiator concentration in all cases and scales non-linearly with PI concentration, affected by viscosity and addition of thiol monomer, but relatively unaffected by different types of acrylates, Idacavage observed. Achieving tack-free curing with LED is more difficult. Mercury appears to be better for tack-free curing than LED. This may be due to broader wavelength, and the LED light was lower power. Thiol-based systems and higher PI concentrations can result in comparative belt speeds to classic mercury lamp curing.
Dene Taylor, SPF Inc., then focused on UV LED Inkjet – Its Inks Turn to Lead. Printing isnt just paper – it can be outdoor advertising, automobile interiors, containers and labels, furniture and fixtures, and building and home interiors, said Taylor. These days, everyone wants digital print. Inkjet is most versatile and productive. You can print porous materials – rough materials – with inkjet. UV cure adheres very well, with great color and durability, and it is cured immediately.
LED cure is preferred by printers due to long life, rapid on/off, low-energy emissions, for heat-sensitive substrates, and it is cost effective for new installations, Taylor added. Printers see benefits, and it is the latest technology, but they are heavily invested in traditional technologies and have to reformulate inks for end use performance which leads to more SKUs. In packaging and industrial, there are dozens of applications, hundreds of substrates and varieties.
Brian Jasenak, Kopp Glass, discussed Improving UV LED Light Distribution to Prevent Cure Striping, and offered a case study of lighting for airfields. Airfield lighting adopted LEDs very early, but the market wasnt ready, Jasenak said. We redesigned lenses to reduce brightness. The push for UV LED adoption was due to improved energy efficiency, dropping prices and more flexible designs. We came up with a molded UV optic solution and added LED lights to eliminate the striping issue and create more uniform lighting.
Marvin Ruffin of Excelitas Technologies Corp. presented a talk on Improved Surface Cure with UVC LEDs, a look at the need for UVC systems. LED systems have many functional advantages over lamp-based systems, and formulation modifications have enabled the use of many UV LED-curable materials, Ruffin said. Surface cure remains a challenge, as free radical adhesives are susceptible to curing with a tacky surface when exposed to air. UVC LEDs are short wavelength, using 285 nm, which is the most efficient wavelength. He added that exposed adhesive and conformable coatings were tested with UVA and UVC, with the latter achieving a tack-free surface with a reduced UVA dose.
The Status of UV LED Measurement Standardization was covered by Jim Raymont of EIT Instrument Markets. UV curing depends on the right photons, Raymont noted, and he updated the industrys latest measurement efforts.
Dr. Robert Berg of NIST covered Comparison of Commercial UV LED Sources and Radiometers: Thoughts on Developing a Universal Measurement Protocol. There is a need for a universal measurement protocol, Berg said. Polycarbonate safety glasses dont protect at 395 nm. Companies should state the uncertainties in the specifications, and specifying the height at which the source irraditation occurs should be a no brainer.
Patrick Henry of WhatTheyThink.com led a panel discussion on the Current State of UV LED Technology Applications. The panel included Paul Mills of the UV LED Curing Community; Don Duncan, Wikoff Color; Tom Hammer, Flint Group Narrow Web; Greg Palm, Mark Andy; Mike Higgins, Phoseon Technology; and Brian Chambers, Novagard.
The UV LED Curing Community was formed to be a hub for information about UV LED technology, said Mills.
Duncan said that the largest penetration for UV LED is in inkjet. UV LED flexo is a legitimate business and is growing, he noted. Packaging is probably the best area in offset for UV LED. There are a few UV LED sheetfed presses out there, but it is still experimental. There is one provider of UV LED sheetfed presses – Ryobi and if every other press manufacturer offered it, there would be more sold.
There is a lot of concern in Europe about mercury and standard lamps, and it could be on the edge of a panic, said Duncan. UV LED technology doesnt seem to have the same environmental concerns.
UV LED is growing tremendously in flexo and other markets, Higgins reported. The digital inkjet market is well established. Offset printing is high speed and wide web. The inks and lamps are coming along tremendously. The biggest advantage is overall throughput, as there is less need for maintenance.
Palm reported that 80 percent of Mark Andys shipments are on UV LED flexo. Operators want it because it is easier to run and they are running more, Palm added.
Shrink films are a legacy situation as operators manage the mercury UV, but LED would make things easier, Duncan noted. Hammer said that Flint Group has been commercial with a lot of UV LED technologies since 2012. UV LED solves technical problems, Hammer said. Presses are more complex. LED cures thicker, denser coatings at faster speeds. Productivity pays back the investment, but solving everyday problems helped it take off.
Chambers said that Novagard saw thermal issues as the key reason to install UV LED. We wanted to solve a problem. UV LED is a continuous operation and instant-on, instant-off is good, he said. We wanted to go to 100 percent solids chemistry. We started formulating and learned about UV LED. When I started my project, I didnt consider UV LED because of all the negatives and myths I heard about it, but when I got a lamp in my lab, I saw how well it runs.
After a tabletop exhibit and reception, Susan Bailey, adjunct professor, SUNY-ESF Outreach and technical development manager, IGM Resins, led a short course on The Chemistry of UV/EB, and tours were held at the RPI Smart Energy Lighting Center.
RadTechs leaders were happy with the presentations and the turnout. I thought this conference was fantastic, said Peter Weissman of Quaker Chemical, who is serving as RadTechs president. It was well attended, with lots of energy and lots of new people.
We were astonished at the response for our first UV LED event, added Mickey Fortune of RadTech. The whole supply chain participated. It shows the promise UV LED holds for our industry.


text:
Ride the Ranges
Sunday 27 April, 2014
Seven Creeks Park
Kirkland Avenue
Euroa VIC 3666
Contact: Neil Tubb
Phone: 0428 574 165
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Start times:
8:00am for the 130km course
8:15am for the 85km course
8:30am for the 30km course
Level: Hard & Recreational
Surface: Road
30km - $30 or $35 if paid after 23 April
85 & 130km - $50, or $60 if paid after 23 April
Kids under 12yo are free.
Spectacular Autumn in the North East can be experienced on some of the prettiest rides in rural Victoria. Choose from three distance rides on offer – all commencing and finishing in the foothills of the Strathbogie Ranges.
All rides are fully supported with a complimentary BBQ and refreshments at the finish. Euroa is an easy hour and a half drive from Melbourne on the Hume Freeway.
Ride the Ranges is a charity event supporting local rotary youth project.
Ride the Ranges 2012 Photos
Photos: P.Ward (Mac-Access)


text: Social networking: it's social, creative, participatory and immediate, and more than high school pals and fan clubs. What is its professional use? Eighty percent of companies use social networking to find employees. Professionals use it to network, find experts, talk through ideas, search for jobs, and more! This workshop is a hands-on exploration of sites and tools to give you strategies and skills for professional social networking.


text:
As much as I like fall turkey hunting and of course archery season here in Pennsylvania I just have been unable to get out.
Good luck to all of you hunters, please continue to send me your photos and stories. If you have any ideas or would like to promote accessible hunting, or share your successful hunt, just let me know.


text:
I've Never Done This Before...
I have a little faith in this dude for some reason, so i'm going to start showing it.
"Let Me Tell You Something!"
Damn...he's a hottie. Hmmm. I'm pulling for you guys. :-)
Cute couple. You are wearing the hell out of that red sweater - it looks great on you!
Wow, ya'll are like lesbians...I mean we moving fast, go on a cruise and a month later taking pictures, like y'all have been together for years...kudos and congrads!
I'm glad you are in good spirits and happy right now.
Dirty and Perverted thought are running amuck in my head as I see these pics...thought that I am going to have to ask you about privately on IM...lol Man my head is always in the gutter...hmmm good times.
I will have to agree with Croco too...I was thinking the same thing, you are wearing that red sweater. I don't know if it is the sweater or the color, but it looks great on you. I hope you have more reds in your closet, because it looks good on you.
hmm y'all both look happy and cheesy..haaa
It's not just nice to see love at any age. It's important to see it. Very nice.
1. You all look great together, love it
2. You looking very cute and mature, LOVE IT
ALWAYS nice to show a little faith...LOVE the pic...
OMG! The two of you look great together. Kudos to you both! Finding someone special is always special. Best wishes to you guys.
You guys look great together. I wish you two success.
Yesssss...step out on faith babe!@ Love won't happen any other way...
Ya'll look cute together! Like a match! lol Love it! =0)
Can yall smile any harder? LOL!
Awww, congrats on that and best of luck to you brother!
so this is what love and happiness looks like :)
Oh you guyz look so good and happy together. He is very handsome as are you good luck...
Awww you guys look very cute.
nice looking couple...happy expressions
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text:
- Research
- Open Access
Tactile feedback for relief of deafferentation pain using virtual reality system: a pilot study
© The Author(s). 2016
- Received: 8 November 2015
- Accepted: 3 June 2016
- Published: 28 June 2016
Previous studies have tried to relieve deafferentation pain (DP) by using virtual reality rehabilitation systems. However, the effectiveness of multimodal sensory feedback was not validated. The objective of this study is to relieve DP by neurorehabilitation using a virtual reality system with multimodal sensory feedback and to validate the efficacy of tactile feedback on immediate pain reduction.
We have developed a virtual reality rehabilitation system with multimodal sensory feedback and applied it to seven patients with DP caused by brachial plexus avulsion or arm amputation. The patients executed a reaching task using the virtual phantom limb manipulated by their real intact limb. The reaching task was conducted under two conditions: one with tactile feedback on the intact hand and one without. The pain intensity was evaluated through a questionnaire.
We found that the task with the tactile feedback reduced DP more (41.8 ± 19.8 %) than the task without the tactile feedback (28.2 ± 29.5 %), which was supported by a Wilcoxon signed-rank test result (p < 0.05).
Overall, our findings indicate that the tactile feedback improves the immediate pain intensity through rehabilitation using our virtual reality system.
- Deafferentation pain
- Phantom limb
- Virtual reality
- Tactile feedback
- Bilaterality
- Brachial plexus avulsion
- Arm amputation
Phantom limb pain [1] is a common neuropathic pain syndrome following amputation [2], occurring in up to 80 % of patients [3, 4]. It is differentiated from non-painful phantom phenomena or residual-limb pain [5]. Because equivalent pain is induced by deafferentation such as brachial plexus avulsion as well as by amputation [2], we hereafter refer to the pain induced by deafferentation including amputation as deafferentation pain (DP).
Conventional treatments for DP frequently fail. The maximum reduction rate of about 30 % has been reported from symptomatic treatments such as pharmacological intervention, surgical operation, local anesthesia, and psychological and neurostimulation methods [5].
Mirror visual feedback (MVF) therapy has been proposed for phantom limb pain treatment by Ramachandran et al. [6, 7]. In MVF therapy, a visual image of a patient's intact limb is displayed in place of the missing limb using a mirror. MVF therapy can help an upper limb amputee feel as if his or her phantom limb is moving together with his or her intact limb, thereby relieving the phantom limb pain. Another study showed that MVF therapy has efficacy for DP caused by brachial plexus avulsion injury in addition to that by limb amputation [8].
There have been some reports of brain activity correlated with MVF therapy [1, 9]. Flor et al. found via neuromagnetic imaging that a intensity of phantom limb pain and the reorganization of the primary somatosensory cortex (S1) are correlated [10]. Further, after successive MVF therapy, DP was relieved with a reversed dysfunctional cortical reorganization in S1 [11]. Diers et al. showed that both S1 and primary motor cortex (M1) were activated during MVF therapy in a fMRI study [12].
The original MVF therapy does not necessarily have a sufficient therapeutic effect on all patients with DP. The main problem is that MVF can present only a virtual visual image of the affected limb, which is often insufficient in terms of reflecting the reality of patients' experiences.
Considering this limitation of MVF therapy, several studies have tried to relieve DP by using virtual reality systems. Sato et al. showed that four out of five patients with complex regional pain syndrome, after executing a target-oriented motor control task in a virtual environment, experienced pain reduction of more than 50 % [13]. Desmond et al. developed an augmented reality system capable of presenting asymmetric finger movements and applied it to upper limb amputees, with results showing that it relieved DP in one of three patients [14]. Cole et al. developed a virtual reality system for patients with arm or leg amputation that detects and translates the patient's stump into virtual limb movements, resulting in pain amelioration of 22–100 % in ten out of 14 amputees [15]. They also reported that a feeling of agency and sensation was essential for the pain reduction. Murray et al. developed an immersive virtual reality system including a head mounted display for relieving DP [16–19].
These four studies are insufficient in terms of multimodal sensory feedback such as auditory and tactile input for representing the reality of phantom limb movements. Such input is crucial for enhancing the patient's task experience, e.g., interacting with virtual objects by the virtual limb. Actually, the sound of hands clapping in synchrony with an upper limb amputee's movement during MVF therapy was shown to improve his DP [20]. Furthermore, the tactile feedback to both intact and affected limbs was shown to be beneficial for alleviating the phantom pain of arm amputees when performing their advanced MVF therapy [21]. Therefore, it is expected that MVF therapy using a virtual reality technique could also be improved by incorporating auditory and tactile feedback.
We have developed a multimodal virtual reality MVF system that strongly enhances the reality of the patient's experiences by introducing interaction between the virtual arm and virtual objects with visual, auditory, and tactile feedback. The objectives of this research are to apply this system to patients with DP and to validate the efficacy of the tactile feedback on immediate pain relief. The analgesic potency is evaluated by subjective indices—specifically, a short-form McGill pain questionnaire and questionnaire for sense of reality—and motor coordination is evaluated using an objective index—specifically, a correlation between the joint angles of the intact and affected arms. Some patients with deafferentation can move their affected arm to a small extent during MVF therapy, even though they usually have difficulty in smoothly and voluntarily doing so.
Seven patients with DP caused by brachial plexus avulsion or arm amputation participated in our experiments. The patients with brachial plexus avulsion could barely move their affected arms smoothly or voluntarily in daily life, but in our experiments, they occasionally moved their affected arms slightly.
The inclusion criteria were as follows: (1) diagnosis of upper limb deafferentation pain ipsilateral to injury after brachial plexus avulsion or arm amputation (irrespective of its origin); (2) mean pain intensity in the past week of >4 on an 11-point numerical rating scale (where 0 stands for no pain and 10 for worst possible pain); (3) pain duration >3 months; and (4) age between 20 and 80 years. Patients with cognitive dysfunction were excluded.
All participants were outpatients at the Department of Pain and Palliative Medicine, the University of Tokyo Hospital. This study was approved by the Ethical Review Board of the Faculty of Medicine, the University of Tokyo, and was conducted in accordance with the regulations of the Ethical Review Board. We explained the content and purpose of this study to all participants and obtained their written consent prior to participation in the experiments.
Overall view
The collision detection between the virtual affected arm and the virtual target object was calculated in real time. According to this calculation, an auditory stimulus (the collision sound) and a tactile stimulus (the vibration by the vibrating motor) were provided to the participant. Each participant executed reaching actions in which he/she was required to touch the target object with the virtual affected hand operated by the real intact arm/hand. When the affected hand reached the object, it disappeared with a collision sound and vibration.
Detection of arm movement
The movement of both the intact and affected arms was detected by Kinect ver. 1. Kinect detects movement of the human body by using RGB and depth images, making it advantageous in that it can detect movements without the optical markers typically required in motion capture systems. The position and orientation of each joint of the arms (shoulder, elbow, wrist, and hand) were recorded at 30 frames per second as quaternion values.
The joint values included noise due to errors in the estimation of body movement by Kinect. To reduce this noise, we applied an adaptive double exponential smoothing filter [23] implemented in Kinect for Windows SDK (Microsoft). The movement of fingers was detected by CyberGlove II. Kinect cannot detect fingers because they are often hidden behind each other, meaning that RGB and depth images have insufficient information pertaining to finger position. CyberGlove II, a glove with strain sensors, can detect the 18 angles of finger joints with an error of less than 1°.
Mirror-reversed conversion
The position and orientation of arm joints and the angles of finger joints of the intact arm were transformed symmetrically with respect to the sagittal plane to those of the affected arm.
Visual stimuli
Unity is a cross-platform game engine with an integrated development environment. Oculus is a head mounted display that displays an image stereoscopically and detects the angle of the participant's head with an acceleration sensor. The head angle was filtered out with a Kalman filter [24] to reduce noise.
The head angle was input to Unity for controlling the image. In the virtual environment of Unity, two cameras were set 63.5 mm apart to match the average human interpupillary distance (default Unity setting). The 3D image was displayed stereoscopically using the two images taken by the cameras. The computer-graphic model of the arms was produced in a game engine Blender (Blender Foundation), which is especially suitable for 3D modeling. The models of the arms were the same size and color for all the participants. The target object was relocated to a random position on the virtual floor within reaching distance after every touch.
Auditory stimulus
Auditory stimulus was provided to participants via earphones. When the affected hand reached the target object, a collision sound was played at equal volume for both ears.
Tactile stimulus
Tactile stimulus was provided to participants by vibrating motors (4 F442, T.P.C. DC Motor) 12 mm in diameter, which are commonly embedded in cellular phones. The vibrating motors were placed on the five fingertips of each participant's intact hand using a glove with a hook and loop fastener.
The vibrating motors were controlled by a motor driver (TA7291P, TOSHIBA) and a microcontroller (Arduino Uno™, Arduino). When the affected hand reached the target object, the vibrating motors were activated for 150 msec. This activation time was appropriate in terms of vibrotactile sensitivity [25].
Because the participants felt little or no sensory input on the affected hands, tactile stimulus was presented to the intact hands. This is expected to be effective with regard to intermanual referral of tactile sensations [1]. Actually, tactile feedback on the intact hand during MVF therapy elicited tactile sensation on the corresponding location of the phantom hand [7, 26].
We instructed the seven participants to move their real intact arms so as to reach the virtual target object with the virtual affected hand. We also asked each participant to imagine that both arms were moving symmetrically like MVF during the reaching task.
During the task, each participant executed the reaching actions shown in Fig. 2 repeatedly. The participant started to touch the target object with the virtual affected arm, as shown in the upper half of Fig. 2, which was operated by the contralateral real intact arm shown in the lower half of Fig. 2. When the participant succeeded in touching the target object, it disappeared with a collision sound and vibration. Then a new target object reappeared at a different position after a two-second break, and the participant began to try to touch it again. In the virtual environment, the intact arm was displayed translucently in a symmetrical position to the affected arm with respect to the sagittal plane.
At the beginning of each experimental session, each participant practiced the reaching action for a couple of minutes and then executed the reaching task for 5 min. Because the task required concentration, the duration of the task was kept short so as not to overtire the participants. The number of reaching actions during the task was recorded as described in the results section.
- (1)
No tactile feedback condition
- (2)
Tactile feedback condition
Each participant was evaluated one or more times under each condition (see Table 3). Several sessions under the same condition were conducted on different days at intervals of three weeks or more. In the case of different conditions examined on the same day, the experiments were conducted with breaks of at least five minutes in between so as to mitigate carry-over effects.
The effect of the above-mentioned tasks was evaluated by subjective indices pertaining to pain intensity and sense of reality and by an objective index calculated from the trajectories of the intact and affected arms.
Questionnaire for pain intensity
Short-form McGill pain questionnaire. Each question item was evaluated on a scale of 0 to 3. (0: none, 1: mild, 2: moderate, 3: severe)
Question item
Questionnaire for sense of reality
Questionnaire for sense of reality. Each statement was evaluated on a scale of 0 to 6 (0: none, 6: extremely strong)
I felt as if the virtual arm was my real affected arm.
I felt as if I was looking at my own arm.
I felt as if I could control the movements of the virtual hand.
The virtual arm was obeying my will and I could make it move as I wanted to.
Trajectory analysis of arm movement
where θ ea is an elbow angle [deg], V es is an elbow-shoulder vector, V eω is an elbow-wrist vector, V es ⋅ V eω is an inner product of V es and V eω , and | * | means a norm of the * vector. θ ea was then put through a low-pass 1-Hz filter to eliminate noisy, quick motions. A cross-correlation between θ ea of the intact arm and of the affected arm was calculated. The "similarity" of the intact and affected arms was defined as the absolute value of the cross-correlation at time lag = 0. We used the absolute value because a negative correlation, as well as positive one, indicates some coordination between the two arms.
Statistical analysis
As for pain reduction rate, an average of the reduction rates was calculated for each participant under each condition. In order to test if the efficacy of the tactile FB was significant, the average reduction rates of all participants under the two conditions were subjected to a two-sided Wilcoxon signed-rank test [30] (between-group analysis). Additionally, the average reduction rates under each condition were subjected to the Wilcoxon two-sided signed-rank test to determine if they were significantly different from 0 (within-group analysis). The average ownership/agency scores of all participants under the two conditions were subjected to the two-sided Wilcoxon signed-rank test in the same manner as the pain reduction rate (between-group analysis). As for similarity of the elbow angles of the intact and affected arms, the average similarities of all participants under the two conditions were subjected to the two-sided Wilcoxon signed-rank test (between-group analysis). A Pearson's correlation coefficient between the average ownership/agency scores and the pain reduction rates and that between the similarities of the elbow angles and the pain reduction rates were calculated. All the tests were calculated by MATLAB (R2014a).
Participants. Pain qualities indicate the top three items (or two items if several items tied for third place) in a short-form McGill pain questionnaire on the basis of average scores before tests. Non-painful sensations are added in parentheses if the participant reported them
Time since AA/BPA (years)
Affected hand
Completeness of BPA/Position of AA
Movement disorder
Intercostal nerve transfer
Pain qualities (non-painful sensation if any)
Number of tests
No tactile FB
Tactile FB
Incomplete (C5,6)
Upper arm
Incomplete (C5-8)
Result of deafferentation pain relief
Evaluation results of sense of reality
Trajectory analysis results of arm movement
The similarities (excluding one arm amputee (P5)) are shown in Fig. 7 (b). The average of the similarities under the tactile FB condition (0.18 ± 0.08) was higher than that under the no tactile FB condition (0.09 ± 0.05) but not significantly (p = 0.09), as shown in Fig. 7 (c). For five out of six participants (excluding P6), the individual similarity under the tactile FB condition was descriptively higher than that under the no tactile FB condition. The correlation coefficient between the similarities and the pain reduction rates under both of the conditions was 0.30 (p = 0.57). Specifically, the correlation coefficient between the similarities and the pain reduction rates under the tactile FB condition was 0.55 (p = 0.25) while that under the no tactile FB condition was −0.086 (p = 0.87).
Result of deafferentation pain relief
The result that DP was significantly more alleviated under the tactile FB condition than under the no tactile FB condition (p = 0.047 < 0.05) demonstrates that tactile FB might be effective for DP relief during neurorehabilitation using our virtual reality system. In addition, the result that the average pain reduction rate under the tactile FB condition was significantly higher than 0 (p = 0.02 < 0.05) shows that our virtual reality system would be effective for DP relief.
As for the mechanism behind this DP relief, we focus on the "sensorimotor incongruence theory" proposed by Blakemore et al. and McCabe et al. [31, 32]. According to their model, after limb amputation, the discrepancy between the predicted arm state based on "efference copy" (of the motor command signals) and the actual state based on sensory signals increases, and patients accordingly feel pain or the sensation of a new third limb [33, 34]. Although many studies agree with this theory [12, 35–38], its reliability remains highly controversial [39, 40]. As one of the several possibilities, we speculate that the tactile FB in the present study could help decrease the sensorimotor discrepancy, resulting in alleviation of DP.
In this study, the tactile stimulus was applied to the intact hands because the participants felt little or no sensory input on the affected hands. Nonetheless, the tactile stimulus was effective, probably because of intermanual referral of tactile sensations [1]. A relevant finding is that tactile feedback on the intact hand during MVF therapy elicited tactile sensation on the corresponding location of the phantom hand [6, 26].
The duration of the proposed task (5 min) was significantly short compared to the 30–90 min cited in previous studies [15, 17]. Considering these differences, our system might be advantageous in terms of relieving pain with less effort. However, the analgesic duration of the proposed task was only a few minutes. The relationship between the duration of the task and the analgesic duration or efficacy should be investigated in the future.
Correlation between intact and affected arms
The bilateral arm movement similarity under the tactile FB condition tended to be higher than that under the no tactile FB condition (not significant, p = 0.09). This suggests the possibility that the correlation between the intact and affected arm movements might be an effective marker for evaluating the sensorimotor integration. Assuming that the sensorimotor incongruence theory is correct, the present result that the bilateral arm movement similarities and the pain reduction rates under the tactile FB condition were moderately correlated (r = 0.55, not significant, p = 0.25) might be consistent with this speculation. This speculation might also be consistent with the fact that five out of six participants with brachial plexus avulsion (excluding P7) had an incomplete injury or underwent an intercostal nerve transfer for restoring the functions of their affected limb.
The above speculation is relevant to the "convergence of sensory representation of bilateral hands" proposed by Sumitani et al. [41], which is the hypothesis that somatosensory information from bilateral hands would be convergent to one sensory representation in the hierarchical somatosensory processing. We extend their hypothesis, which is concerned with sensory information, to motor command: specifically, the convergent motor representation of bilateral arms. The correlation between the arms in the present study would be an outcome of the convergent motor representation of bilateral arms. One possible cortical area responsible for it may be the supplementary motor area [42]. Our instruction to move both arms symmetrically, as well as the translucent image of the affected arm displayed on the screen, probably helped to form the convergent motor representation of bilateral arms.
The higher correlation between the intact and affected arms with tactile FB suggests that motor commands to a phantom limb are reinforced as well as those to the real affected arm. In regard to the relationship between motor commands to a phantom limb and DP, Sumitani et al. proposed the hypothesis that voluntary movements of a phantom limb are associated with reduction of DP [43]. This hypothesis is consistent with a previous study indicating that DP could not be reduced by motor imagery without sensory input, and that visual feedback was essential [44], while another study showed that DP could be reduced by intensive 6-week training using only mental imagery [45]. Sumitani's hypothesis is also supported by a study that found using a virtual reality system without a feeling of agency concerned with a phantom limb did not lead to any pain reduction, and that pain reduction always followed, but did not precede, the restoration of agency [15]. Another study using fMRI showed that pain reduction after successive MVF therapy was related to a decrease of activity in the inferior parietal cortex [11], which is a region that is activated when agency is interrupted [46]. It seems that the results reported in the present study—namely, that the agency score tended to be higher under the tactile FB condition than under the no tactile FB condition (not significant, p = 0.69)—might be consistent with these findings. Further study with a larger number of participants is required.
Limitations of this study
The pain relief results were confined to immediate pain intensity, not long-term effectiveness. The relationship between the frequency and duration of the proposed task and the duration and intensity of the pain relief should be explored in detail in the future.
The present study was preliminary to the extent that only seven patients were evaluated and the number of tests was low. Previous studies have also presented preliminary experiments evaluating only 3–7 patients with pain in their arms [27–29, 31]. In the future, statistical significance by evaluating large numbers of patients should be demonstrated in a randomized controlled trial so as to properly confirm the efficacy of our proposed system.
The tactile FB in the present study was provided on the intact hand. In light of our finding that the tactile FB was effective for DP relief, we speculate that this tactile FB would be effective with regard to intermanual referral of tactile sensations [1]. However, if this speculation was not correct, new sensory incongruence between the affected hand and the intact hand could be induced. There is a possibility that the results reported here—namely, that the ownership score tended to be lower under the tactile FB condition than under the no tactile FB condition (not significant, p = 0.13)—might be consistent with this speculation. Thus, a more suitable body position to which tactile FB is provided should be investigated in future work.
The present results could possibly include a placebo effect and a distraction effect. Cole et al. have also suggested that a placebo effect may be present in rehabilitation using a virtual reality system [29]. However, our comparison of the two conditions was not influenced by the placebo effect because both conditions might include the placebo effect, thus cancelling it out. On the other hand, a distraction effect concerned with tactile perception could be induced only under the tactile FB condition. It is therefore possible that a distraction effect might have influenced the present results.
We conducted fewer experiments under the no tactile feedback condition than under the tactile feedback condition. Depending on the convenience of the participants, the experiments could not be performed several times. Previous studies have already shown that virtual reality MVF without tactile feedback was effective [27–30], so we gave priority to evaluating the tactile feedback condition in order to confirm its effectiveness for certain. Furthermore, the no tactile feedback condition tended to be conducted only at the beginning of the day, but not always (four out of seven participants). This experimental condition might have had an influence on the pain relief effect. However, because the pain relief effect last for only a few minutes, as mentioned in the results section, it is unlikely that the present result was influenced by that.
In the present study, we applied a virtual reality system with multimodal sensory feedback to patients with deafferentation pain (DP) and validated the efficacy of the tactile feedback on immediate pain relief.
Seven patients with DP caused by brachial plexus avulsion or arm amputation executed a reaching task using a virtual affected limb operated by a real intact limb. The experiments were conducted under two conditions: one with tactile feedback on the intact hand and one without. The intensity of DP was evaluated after the experiments by using a questionnaire.
Results showed that the sum of the McGill pain score decreased from 41.8 ± 19.8 % after the task under the tactile feedback condition and decreased from 28.2 ± 29.5 % after the task under the no tactile feedback condition. These reduction rates under the two conditions were different with a significance probability p < 0.05. This finding indicates that tactile feedback strengthens the pain reduction effect of the task in the virtual reality system.
AA, arm amputation; BPA, brachial plexus avulsion; DP, deafferentation pain; FB, feedback; MVF, mirror visual feedback; S1, primary somatosensory cortex
The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support from two MEXT Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas "Constructive Developmental Science" nos. 24119002 and 24119006.
The work reported in this paper has been supported by two MEXT Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas "Constructive Developmental Science" nos. 24119002 and 24119006.
Availability of data and materials
The dataset pertaining to pain reduction supporting the conclusion of this article is included within the article and its additional files.
Authors' contributions
YS, AI, MO, NW, MS, and YK defined the study protocol. NW, AI, and YS developed the virtual reality system. MS was responsible for patient recruitment. YS, AI, MO, NW, and RO conducted the experiments. YS performed the analysis and interpretation of the data and wrote the manuscript. MS, YK, MO, AI, NW, and SK gave advice on writing the manuscript.
Competing interests
Yuko Sano is an employee of Hitachi Co. Ltd., Tokyo, Japan. However, this study has no connection with the company. There is no competing interest concerned with the company.
Consent for publication
We obtained written informed consent for publication from all of the participants.
Ethics approval and consent to participate
This study was approved by the Ethical Review Board of the Faculty of Medicine, the University of Tokyo (No. 10263-(1)), and was conducted in accordance with the regulations of the Ethical Review Board. We explained the content and purpose of this study to all participants and obtained their written consent prior to participation in the experiments.
Open AccessThis article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
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The success of Trece Uho (Third Ear) Festival depends on generous donations by you. We invite individuals and local businesses to partner with us in upholding the mission of festival, mainly offering free cultural events of quality outside of the tourist season.
We hope you heed our call to support Trece Uho (Third Ear) Festival, an event which promotes multi-cultural ideals and aims to strengthen our local community through participation.
For Festival Treće uho
Bank account: 2402006-1100539952 (Erste & Steiermärkische Bank)
Udruga za razvoj civilnog društva Bonsai, OIB 06331562549


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Data-informed management is hardly a new idea. Management accounting emerged during the first half of the 20th Century, and an emphasis on non-fiscal metrics was cemented with the arrival of the Balanced Scorecard in the early-90s.
The approach advocates a diligent cascade of mission, strategy and tactics to achieve defined strategic outcomes. It requires the design of the right balance of appropriate metrics to guide performance and helps secure organisational alignment.
That organizational alignment isn't a once-off activity. Kaplan and Norton insist:
The alignment process, much like budgeting, should be part of the annual governance cycle.
It's this corpus of work that informs one of our favourite BPM maxims:
Measure what you should, not what you can.
These two assertions are a good starting point for considering how the Quantified Organization is set apart from business performance management (BPM) approaches such as the Balanced Scorecard.
Firstly, anyone aspiring to develop a Responsive Organization will shudder at the idea that alignment is an annual process – such a drumbeat lost its relevance with the passing of agrarian society. The responsive organization is a quantified organization and it's real-time.
In The Business of Influence, Philip Sheldrake presents an augmentation of the Balanced Scorecard he labels the Influence Scorecard, aspiring to leverage today's centralized structures and BPM capabilities to embed performance management as sensory feedback throughout the organization, to prompt and qualify transformation.


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If you're like most "Rick & Morty" fans, then you are probably itching for new episodes at this point. While season 3 still doesn't have a premiere date, the franchise is at least creating new content for fans. While Adult Swim preps new episodes for the show's third season, there's a cure for your schwifty-blues, and it comes in the form of comics.
Recently Oni Press released the first deluxe hardcover collection of comics based on the popular Adult Swim series, and you can order a copy on Amazon.com. The collection of comics is based on the same antics created by Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland, and is a perfect addition to any "Rick & Morty" fan's home. The comics follow the same theme as the show, telling more tales of the mad-scientist Rick Sanchez as he tears through the galaxy with his grandson Morty. The comics also feature the wonderful supporting characters from the show, including Morty's sister Summer, Morty's mother Beth, and his wet-blanket father Jerry.
According to the publishers, "This collection features the first ten issues of the comic book series, including ""The Wubba Lubba Dub Dub of Wall Street," "Mort-Balls!," "Ball Fondlers Special," and more, along with hilarious mini-comics showcasing the whole family." The special hardcover edition also includes an exclusive sound clip of Rick and Morty and all the cover art from the first ten issues of the comic book series.
You can find the collection on Amazon.com.
Adult Swim renewed "Rick & Morty" for a third-season back in August, and since then we have all been waiting for a premiere date to end the season 2 cliffhanger. The show was an instant success on the network, and season's one and two are available to stream on Hulu. The season 2 premiere of "Rick and Morty" was also a major draw for Adult Swim's video-streaming service and apps, which back in July 2015, saw an overall total of 29.7M streams.
The show was created and is executive produced by Dan Harmon (Community) and Justin Roiland (Adventure Time).


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Safeco Field
1250 First Avenue South
Seattle, WA 98194
Additional Venue Information
Capacity: Safeco Field offers a variety of spaces to accommodate every group size. Small, intimate gatherings of 10–50 people will enjoy our boardrooms and private suites. Mid–size groups of 100–250 take advantage of the Club Level Lounges, while the large groups of 350 – 30,000+ use the main concourse, seating bowl, and even the field for the venue of a lifetime!
Price Range: Prices vary according to the event; call for current information or visit www.mariners.com/events
Catering: Full–service, in–house catering by Centerplate Catering; customized menus and chef tastings available
Types of Events: Corporate meetings, team–building, job fairs, concerts, pregame parties, banquets, weddings, receptions, rehearsal dinners, bar/bat mitzvahs, proms, graduations, fundraisers, and other social, business, and private events
Availability and Terms
Availability may be limited during the baseball season (April–October). We recommend reserving as early as possible. Standard deposit amounts will apply for each function.
Description of Services and Facility
ADA: Fully accessible
Parking: On–site, Safeco Field Parking Garage located on Edgar Martinez Drive (2,000 spaces)
Banquet Services
• Seating: Tables and chairs provided and arranged to your specification; rates vary
• Servers: Staff included in catering costs
• Bar Facilities: Full–service hosted or cash bar available
• Linens, Napkins, China and Glassware: Provided
• Decorations: Please inquire; no helium balloons allowed
• Cleanup: Please remove everything you bring in, our housekeeping team will do the rest
Meeting and Event Services
• Audio Visual and Equipment: Full A/V services available for an additional fee; Scoreboard messaging, Videoboard, cameras, and TV monitors available for an additional fee
• Ballpark Tours: Available for an additional fee
• Mariner Moose Appearance: Available for an additional fee
• Customized Items: Personalized baseball jerseys and home plates available for an additional fee
Safeco Field is a convenient, affordable, and functional venue for groups of all sizes. Planners find value in the easy and affordable parking, unique indoor/outdoor spaces, and teambuilding experiences. Attendees enjoy a truly memorable, once–in–a–lifetime experience inside a field of dreams. Think outside the ballroom and book the ballpark!
Be sure to let this business know you saw them on BanquetEvent.com


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The slide show above gives glimpses of life in the dozens of villages in Alaska that lack flush toilets and running water.
To find out more, click on the links below, Parts 1-5, to see and hear the series "Kick the Bucket: Rural Sanitation in Alaska."
This project was made possible with the support of: Annenberg School for Communications and Journalism, University of Southern California; the Dennis A. Hunt Fund for Health Journalism; RAVN Airlines, Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, Sonosky, Chambers, Sachse, Miller & Munson, and KYUK-FM in Bethel, Alaska. A special thanks goes to KYUK's Charles Enoch, field producer for interviews in Bethel, Kwethluk, and Tuntutuliak.


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Experts in Communications and Network Technology
Proudly serving Omaha, NE & surrounding areas
Call today to discuss how we can help you
(402) 571-9049
Voice & Data Systems, Inc. knows that security is a vital safety feature of any organization. Video Surveillance offers protection for employees, clients, partners and customers. When a video surveillance system is in place, you can rest assured that your property is being well monitored, minimizing security threats.
As a business owner, you want to protect your property and ensure that both people and assets remain safe. Video surveillance systems not only prevent theft and intruders, but they allow you to monitor the daily happenings in case of an emergency. Video surveillance is a basic safety feature that provides an affordable safety measure that provides you peace of mind.
Voice & Data Systems is an authorized reseller, installer for both Vivotek and Axis Communications.


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Transcript of Interview, 2GB with Ross Greenwood
16 July 2014
Qantas Sale Act, Foreign Nationals in Syria
Ross Greenwood: I want to go to another issue that's very important now, because as you may be aware, going through parliament, all these bills—the budget bills, a range of different things—there's also been one in regards to Qantas. Now, the thing is, in regards to Qantas, as you are aware, the Government was seeking to try and raise foreign investment caps and also, in many ways, wanted to see them removed completely. Now what's happened is that the Government has effectively agreed to allow Qantas to remain Australian owned. There's a new deal that will get the airline's Sale Act through the Senate, but under the deal our foreign ownership limits for individuals and foreign airlines will be limited to 49 per cent.
I know that he will have been busy in the recent days. Let's now go to the Leader of the Nationals, the Minister for Infrastructure, Regional Development and Transport, most importantly, and that is Warren Truss. He's on the line right now. Many thanks for your time, Warren.
Warren Truss: Good afternoon.
Ross Greenwood: So can you explain this with Qantas? What have you managed to get through? It's not obviously what you really would have hoped or planned to have got through the Senate, but do you believe it's a reasonable compromise?
Warren Truss: Well, it hasn't yet been voted on in the Senate, but certainly I'm optimistic that there will be some movement. The Government passed legislation through the House of Representatives quite some time ago with the objective of removing part three from the Qantas Sale Act. The Qantas Sale—part three is the section of the act which places a number of restrictions on the operation of Qantas which don't apply to other airlines. We've proposed instead that the Air Navigation Act apply to Qantas as it does to all other airlines. So as a result, then Qantas would have had a level playing field with other airlines operating in Australia.
Now, it is clear that that legislation won't pass the Senate. I'm concerned about speculation about Qantas's results, which are due to be announced fairly soon. Qantas supported the Government's legislation, but in reality they need more flexibility to be able to make sure that they can trade profitably, can get their airline working successfully again, they want more flexibility and the capacity to go into the market to get new investors and new capital. What's proposed now is to remove one section of part three, that is the section that limits individual foreign shareholders to 25 per cent of the total value of the share capital, and airlines, between them, to a total of 35 per cent of the total value.
So that will mean an individual shareholder could, whether it be an airline or a private individual, could own up to 49 per cent of Qantas.
Ross Greenwood: So in other words, they could, in all but name, say that they controlled Qantas, because if you have 49 per cent of the airline, it's highly likely that you'll have the majority of the board seats, or at least be able to exert some executive control over that airline.
Warren Truss: Yes. Well, certainly you'll be the dominant shareholder if you've got something like 49 per cent, but the remainder of the Qantas Sale Act remains in place. In other words, there will still have to be two thirds of the directors who would be Australian citizens, the board would have to be in Australia, the chairman has to be an Australian citizen, the majority of Qantas's activities have to occur in Australia. So there's a clear stamp of Australianism on it. Now, if they were merely subject to the Air Navigation Act, these same sorts of rules would apply to their international operations, but not to their domestic operations.
People like Virgin and others who use Australia's landing rights in other parts of the world do need to comply with the Air Navigation Act, which means that they've got to be 51 per cent Australian owned in their international operations.
Ross Greenwood: I think I understand that. I think that's exactly—so in other words it becomes a more level playing field. Can I take you to one other matter that is important, and obviously in your role as Deputy Prime Minister you'll be well across what was taking place with Senator George Brandis today, the Attorney-General, in regards to foreign nationals. As we heard from David Irvine today, the ASIO chief, some 60 Australians could be in Syria and he's worried that many of them, the vast majority I think he said, his quote was could be moving towards groups that are either controlled directly or indirectly by al-Qaeda.
He also indicated that there are tens of such people who may have re-entered Australia, indeed, there could be 150 Australians who are now under the observation of our security forces. There is also suggestion from George Brandis that there could be even some form of retrospective law that could be taken against these so-called Jihadists coming back into Australia. Where does the Government's position sit on that currently?
Warren Truss: Well, the Government is naturally concerned to protect our borders and that means from within and from without. It is a concern that there seems to be rising enthusiasm amongst some people from the extremist section of the Muslim faith. Now, that sort of thing is potentially a concern if people go and fight in Syria, become battle hardened. We don't want those sort of skills, for all of their evil, to be brought back into Australia.
So it is an issue of concern. Clearly, the Government is seeking to monitor the activities of people who are of concern and we have certain abilities to prevent some of those from coming back to Australia. But, of course, Australian citizens do have privileges and we will need to manage any people who come back to Australia who have been trained while they're overseas to undertake terrorist activities.
Ross Greenwood: This is interesting, because though it is illegal for an Australian citizen to engage in hostile activity in a foreign state, the truth is it's hard to gather evidence of that activity, illegal though it might be, and the point is, as you say, if they are Australian citizens with an Australian passport, then their ability to come back into the country, it would appear to be relatively straight forward.
Warren Truss: Well, if they have dual citizenship, then the option is open to us to cancel their Australian citizenship and, of course, many of the people that are being spoken about would, in fact, have dual citizenship. Others, though, have been born in Australia and they all have acquired citizenship and, exclusively, Australian citizenship since they've been in this country and, therefore, we need to have a strategy to also make sure that those people who have ill intent towards our country are properly managed and there's adequate surveillance in place.
Ross Greenwood: I've got to say, these are very important issues and clearly there's other matters, including the Budget and so forth, that the Government is considering trying to push through the Senate at the moment. The Deputy Prime Minister and also the Minister for Infrastructure Regional Development and Transport, Warren Truss, as always, we appreciate your time.
Warren Truss: You're welcome.