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I was recently searching for a quick way of testing the WMI on remote machine. Apparently you can accomplish this task by using PowerShell or VBScript etc. However there seems to be much easier way. The Windows Management Instrumentation Command (WMIC) perfectly fits here. Following command allows checking the state of Server service on a […]Read More
Monthly archives for March, 2013
Script Event log creation
How to script Log Event creation? … By default the vbscript does not allow to log events with custom Source or custom Event ID; however the command line tool eventcreate does it. Please find default and custom way of writing in Event Viewer log. ' ############ Event Types for LogInEV_A ' Ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee156617.aspx Const […]Read More


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As a developer now you can find bigger and better value with a solution that shifts the focus from individuals products based on price to a bundle offering that meets broader business needs and better ROI. Termobuild "Smart" floors are setting performance beyond the technology limitations.
"Simplicity is the Ultimate sophistication". Leonardo da Vinci
"Smart" Floors with Termobuild Is not just a solution delivered to the site it's where the smart money goes for better returns and lower risk by setting performance beyond the technology limitations.
By using our method you can take advantage of today's "high performance" standards and position yourself and your business for new and profitable developments already on the horizon with low energy buildings. How?
Consider minimalist building design that emphasizes indoor comfort respects your budget and meets the triple bottom line: environmental, economic and social agenda. Our "smart" floors are minimize your up-front expenditure and immediate benefits (rather than paying off in the long term).fully aligned with your goals.
They set performance beyond the technology limitations.
Termobuild is simply a the sleek, sophisticated air-driven concrete cooling and radiant heating solution without wet systems that replaces traditional bulky and wasteful heating/cooling systems in buildings by setting performance beyond the technology limitations.
We work with developers that are on the lookout for new ways to enhance new buildings particularly when it comes to increasing comfort, energy efficiency, safety, sustainability and cost effectiveness.
If you're looking for a cost-effective solution for heating and cooling your new building project, then you should consider how the TermoBuild method uses ordinary materials to produce extraordinary results.
If you currently own, manage, plan to design or are seeking to invest in green real estate, TermoBuild is right for you. Our all air-driven radiant heating and radiant cooling system is based on two integrated and indivisible aspects – that is, radiant heating/cooling + thermal storage. Most important, the system is applicable and operates in any climate.
As a brief technical background, the premise of TermoBuild is based on increasing a building's intelligence by implementing the scientific principle of thermal storage that is able to capture, store and release heating and cooling energy upon demand through strategically-placed concrete hollow core slabs integrated into the building at the design stage. The result offers an improved return on investment (ROI) and a proven solution for establishing low and zero energy building. Thermal storage has been decoded through precision engineering and has been widely applied in buildings all over the world.
The TermoBuild method represents the next evolutionary step and paves the way for subsequent generations of low-energy buildings. Moreover, thermal storage unveils a solution for dealing with our contemporary realities of over-consuming energy and its ensuing stress on our ecosystem. It costs the same to construct a thermally-charged building as it does a conventional, energy-guzzling building. In this sense, the TermoBuild design makes perfect business sense.
Our experts can provide you with a concise overview of our system works and how it fits perfectly in line with anyone seeking to construct high performance buildings at conventional costs.
For an up-to-the-minute status on how TermoBuild's supercharged thermal storage buildings can work for your project, please contact our green team at firstname.lastname@example.com.
Integrated design adds value and benefits in a wide range of buildings at no extra cost. To achieve this integrated design links mechanical system with the hollow core slabs in a way that it creates a smart structure from ordinary building elements to unleash dormant potential is needed.
Advanced Architectural Structures – is about building smarter with conventional materials.
|By adding intelligence you can unleash the untapped potential of Thermal Energy Storage.
Indoor Air Quality is enhanced.
Green Tip #1 Night Pre-cooling to reduce your Carbon foot print.
Economics of Peak Power Reduction without making ice at night are compelling.
Economics of radiant air comfort are compelling without the need for wet systems.

subset: commoncrawl


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Amazon's hit TV show Transparent has racked up a slew of awards over its short run, including five Emmys, two Critics' Choice Awards, and two Golden Globes, and Season 2 of the series is up for three more Globes at this weekend's ceremony. But while the accolades are nice, one of the series' stars says the show is doing far more than just collecting critical acclaim — it's changing the way people view and interact with the transgender community.
In an interview with TheWrap, actress Melora Hardin discussed the cultural significance of Transparent and the overall success of the transgender movement in 2015. Hardin praised President Obama for becoming the first president to use the word "transgender" and for hiring a transgender woman at the White House to "oversee the transgender movement."
"I just feel so fortunate to be on a show that's really changing, I think, the way people might interact with a trans person," Hardin told TheWrap. "I certainly didn't have trans people in my life before the show. I'd met some trans people but I hadn't had an opportunity to have relationships with them."
Transparent, one of Amazon's first original television series, follows the exploits of a Los Angeles family as they navigate the transition of patriarch Mort Pfefferman (Jeffery Tambor) into Maura Pfefferman.
In November, the White House held a screening of Transparent and transgender-themed film The Danish Girl as part of its "LGBT Artists Champions of Change" event, which honored nine people "for their artistry in advocating for the LGBT community."
Hardin called the trip to the White House "really moving."
"It seems to me that if you're able to push through all the pain and all the prejudice and all the judgement, and become what you feel you are… the people that I've met who have pushed through that really difficult time and now are on the other side living as a woman, living as a man, they have a kind of kindness about them," Hardin said. "It takes such extraordinary courage to actually become who you are in the face of everybody just looking at you like you're crazy."
"I just hope people can have more compassion," the actress concluded. "If they fall in love with those characters on our show, then maybe when they meet a trans person in life, they can just sort of have more empathy for what they've had to go through to actually realize who they feel they are."
Season 2 of Transparent is currently streaming on Amazon Instant Video. The series is nominated for three Golden Globes at this weekend's ceremony, including Best Television Series – Comedy or Musical.


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Eck Institute for Global Health
Capstone Projects - Class of 2014
Name: Austin Atherton MS '14
Degree and Year: Psychology and Pre-Health Studies
University of Notre Dame, 2013
Capstone Project: Investigating determinants of healthy facility choice in rural Zambia
Abstract: Bed occupancy rates are a commonly used tool for measuring hospital efficiency. Over the past 15 years, Chikankata Mission Hospital, a 200-bed mission hospital in Zambia's Southern Province, has been experiencing a steady decline in bed occupancy rates an average decrease of 2.5 percent per year, resulting in a mere 29 percent occupancy rate at the end of 2013. This low level of bed utilization complicates the securement of government funding and results in inadequate training opportunities for students at adjacent training facilities. To better understand the negative trend, researchers conducted a multi-cluster two-stage probabilistic household survey to determine factors influencing health facility choice and related indicators, such as general health status and willingness to pay for health services. Focus groups were also carried out to gain a qualitative understanding of the views and opinions the catchment area has for their health facility options. The final goal was to identify avenues for the hospital to adapt to the current situation and improve their bed occupancy rates. The initial analyses provided descriptive statistics of the results. Identifying accessibility as one of the primary determinants of facility choice, researchers conducted a chi-square analysis and confirmed a significant relationship between the rural health center catchment area in which participants reside and their past (stated) facility choice. These findings support previous research that accessibility is a significant factor for health facility choice. While the hospital cannot directly address the issue of distance to increase their utilization, focus group discussions yielded many areas where adjustments and improvements can be made such as facility cleanliness and staff attitude in order for the hospital to better cater to their catchment area population.
"Even without the actual research, the experience I gained more than made the time there worth it."
Name: Macy Brusich MS '14
Degree and Year: Integrative Biology and Environmental Science
University of Illinois- Urbana Champaign, 2012
Capstone Project: Targeting educational campaigns for prevention of vector-borne disease: An assessment of rural vs. urban settings in Thailand
Abstract: The goal of this study was to collect information that will help to reduce the risk of malaria and/or dengue fever diseases in at-risk populations. The study utilized a mixed method design to capture data using a forced choice and open-ended questionnaire that assessed household construction and knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of patients seeking point-of-care treatment for malaria and/or dengue fever in a rural and urban district of Thailand. Additional quantitative findings from household mosquito collections were also performed. Study objectives were to compare individual and household level health practices and to quantify differences in KAP between rural and urban settings. Sixty-four participants were recruited in total to assess differences in key variables at the individual and household level that may influence health behaviors related to the prevention of malaria and dengue fever disease. While statistically significant findings should be interpreted with caution, results from this pilot study indicate knowledge surrounding malaria and dengue fever exists, however gaps in behavior, perception, and adequate protection from mosquito vectors were found. Significant associations between study site and household construction were found to influence household level practices in the types of mosquito control products purchased and the abundance of mosquitoes in homes. Overall, education from malaria and dengue fever Ministry of Health intervention campaigns is reaching the intended target populations. Results are intended to guide future MOH health education campaigns in these study settings that target specific community needs.
"This field experience allowed me to gain transferrable skills that I can apply in future global health settings as I begin my exciting career path in Global Health."
Name: Christiane Shizuko Cardoza MS '14
Degree and Year: Environmental Sciences
University of Notre Dame, 2010
Capstone Project: Non-partner sexual violence against women and children in Gujarat, India
Abstract: Non-partner sexual violence is a severe but undocumented problem within India as a whole and within Gujarat specifically. Sensationalized events have occurred in the past decade, bringing the spotlight to events of non-partner sexual violence. The purpose of this paper was to create a methodology for measuring and tracking non-partner sexual violence, to use this methodology to begin to evaluate non-partner sexual violence in India, to understand determinants of cyclical sexual violence, and to propose solutions to address both the problem of event monitoring and the determinants of non-partner sexual violence. A content analysis of Indian-based English-language newspapers and five informational interviews was performed. Although events data were not available for each month, this study demonstrated how aggregate levels of non-partner sexual violence could be illustrated and compared. In order to address sexual violence events, several interventions are recommended including continued and improved events monitoring, crowd-sourcing and crowd-feeding, and education and empowerment programs.
"Using data we gathered, Will developed a platform to map sexual violence event reports from eyewitnesses through texts on a basic cell phone, providing another option for victims to report these crimes."
Name: Michael Clark MS '14
Degree and Year: Biology
University of Notre Dame, 2012
Capstone Project: Design and assessment of a mobile database management system for arthropod-borne disease surveillance in Belize
Abstract: Dengue fever is an emerging public health burden in the tropics and subtropics. With the looming threat of insecticide resistance and the lack of a vaccine, surveillance has been proposed as the most effective way to prevent outbreaks of this emerging disease. This project introduces a mobile database management system, Skeeter Tracker, to improve upon a paper based on dengue vector surveillance program in Belize, Central America. Members of the Belize Ministry of Health vector control program underwent a three-tier training program designed to compare data capture using a tablet and digitized form to data capture using the standard paper form, moving from a controlled setting to a more complex semi-field setting and finally routine surveillance environments. Weekly technical training sessions informed changes to tablet forms and provided knowledge transfer on the use of the tablet system. Proof of concept risk maps were generated from dengue vector surveillance data collected by the newly developed Skeeter Tracker system, environmental parameters, and human case data reported from Orange Walk, Cayo, and Corozal districts. Under controlled conditions the digitized premise inspection form was both more accurate and faster to populate per data field than the paper-and-pen model. These advantages were neutralized when tested under semi-field conditions; however, sunlight did not significantly negatively affect accuracy of data input when using the tablet outdoors. Collaborative data collection indicated tablet and paper data capture do not provide 100% agreement most likely based on observer bias during premise inspection. The newly developed system introduced in the current study matches or improves upon currently employed paper-and-pen model by: 1) potentially faster data entry, 2) potentially more accurate data recording, 3) not being limited by environmental parameters encountered during routine surveillance activities, such as sunlight, 4) the ability to geo-reference data, 5) the ability to transmit data in near real time with Wi-Fi connection, 6) diversified reporting capabilities, 7) potential to alter surveillance paradigms from response to preventative; and 8) potential for expansion of surveillance for other diseases and/or country settings using a single platform. Perhaps most important, data collected using the Skeeter Tracker system can be fed into complex mapping systems for development of disease transmission risk maps thereby reducing the probability of disease transmission in at-risk populations.
"For my project we introduced a novel mobile database management system, called the Skeeter Tracker surveillance system, and assessed the early successes and shortcomings."
Name: Megan Finneran MS '14
Degree and Year: Preprofessional Studies and Spanish
University of Notre Dame, 2013
Capstone Project: An assessment of healthcare access and its limitations in Ecuador's District 15D01
Abstract: The Ministry of Health (MOH) in Ecuador and medical brigades conducted by the nonprofit Timmy Global Health (TGH) provide medical attention in district 15D01 of the Napo province. However, limited collective information exists about the services provided and the gaps that exist within the healthcare system. This study aims to explore the medical services available at various facilities and to compare patient demographics, health behaviors, obstacles in accessing medical attention, transportation details, and healthcare experience. A checklist was used to gather information about available services at three hospitals, fourteen MOH centers, two TGH brigade sites, and five miscellaneous providers. Patient interviews were conducted in Spanish with 28 patients in MOH facilities and 75 patients at brigade sites. The MOH facilities act as the permanent presence for healthcare but patient obstacles to seek care still exist. TGH brigades serve to overcome transportation-related obstacles by working directly in communities and allowing patients to walk and to travel less time to reach care. Medications were the number one patient motivator for choosing brigade care instead of an alternative facility. Collaboration between the MOH and TGH is essential to best attend to patient needs. Brigade focus should be put on rural communities distanced from an MOH facility that face the greatest obstacles in seeking care. The role of brigades as a medication dispenser calls for future work to better understand its effect on patients.
"I spent three weeks in Ministry of Health (MOH) centers, where I interviewed 28 patients to gather information about demographics, health behaviors, transportation methods, travel times, and level of satisfaction with the experience in the given facility."
Name: Bianca Garcia MS '14
Degree and Year: Biology and Chemistry
University of New Mexico, 2013
Capstone Project: Assessing the effect of caregiver burden on the health outcomes of children in rural Lesotho
Abstract: Caregiver burden, a multifaceted burden, and malnutrition in children have been negatively affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic especially in Lesotho. This study was conducted in Mokhotlong, Lesotho. It explored if there was an association between caregiver burden and child health outcomes, specifically if there was an association between individual caregiver's physical health and economic variables and child health outcomes, as well as an association between primary caregiver relationship (i.e. grandmother or mother) and child health outcomes. Oral surveys were conducted among 38 caregivers, but only 30 were analyzed. Thirty-four children had their height and weight measured. Of those 30 were analyzed. In total 127 de-identified client records were extracted from Touching Tiny Lives' database and 117 were analyzed. Results from the surveys revealed all non-significant associations. Results from the database collection revealed that earned household income has a negative effect on the level of stunting in children particularly when grandmothers are caregivers. Earned household income also has a negative effect on the level of undernourishment particularly when mothers are caregivers. The findings of this study provide sufficient evidence to justify further explanation of the relationship between caregiver burden and children's health outcomes of wasting, stunting, and undernourishment in rural Lesotho.
"This research showed a significant association between the caregiver's household monthly income and the child's health outcomes."
Name: Maria Hinson MS '14
Degree and Year: Biology, Ecology, and Evolutionary Biology
University of Tennessee Knoxville, 2013
Capstone Project: Transmission heterogeneities of onchocerciasis and its elimination in Uganda
Abstract: Onchocerciasis affects more than 18 million people in 31 countries, 99% of whom live in sub-Saharan Africa. Although elimination programs have been successful in South America, there is still work to do regarding elimination efforts in sub-Saharan hyperendemic communities. Despite reports of disease elimination in Mali, Senegal, and Nigeria, areas such as onchocerciasis endemic Uganda continue to be affected by the filarial Onchocerca volvulus parasite. The objective of this research is to understand the transmission heterogeneities of onchocerciasis and to verify a deterministic multi-species model with Ugandan data. Using entomologic and microfilariae prevalence data, the project aims to verify the multi-species model and evaluate the efficacy of the Carter Center River Blindness Elimination Program. As foci in Uganda have yet to reach elimination with ongoing control efforts, quantifying the efficacy of interventions and number of years required to reach elimination will allow control program officials to make more informed decisions regarding onchocerciasis eradication and cessation of their programs.
"It was because of my confidence in my organization that I was able to feel comfortable in my environment and complete my research. If I could do everything over again, I would not change one decision I made this year: going to Uganda is the best thing I have ever done."
Name: Katherine Kralievits MS '14
Degree and Year: Mathematics and Spanish
University of Notre Dame, 2013
Capstone Project: Cost analysis and qualitative assessment of the Catholic Medical Mission Board's "Taking Care in the First 1,000 Days" Program in Trujillo, Peru
Abstract: Iron deficiency anemia is a severe public health problem that affects over 50% of children under 5 years of age and nearly half of pregnant women and adolescents in Peru. Iron supplementation has been identified as an efficient public health intervention; however, implementing anemia reduction programs that include both micronutrient supplementation and education components will yield more sustainable results. The goal of this study was to perform an assessment of Catholic Medical Mission Board's "Taking Care in the First 1,000 Days" program. The objectives were to 1) evaluate the reduction in anemia prevalence among a sample population of those enrolled in the "Taking Care in the First 1,000 Days" program, 2) determine the number of children and pregnant women recovered from anemia among this sample population, and 3) estimate the total cost required to reduce anemia among this population of children 6-35 months and pregnant women in Trujillo, Peru. Using the estimated total cost and health outcome data, the cost per participant recovered from anemia was calculated. When excluding costs for the participants who withdrew from the program, the cost per participant recovered from anemia was S/. 521 PEN ($186.54 USD) per child between 6 and 35 months and S/. 311 PEN ($111.35 USD) per pregnant woman. The cost analysis was supplemented with in-depth interviews with participating mothers and pregnant women to better understand their perceptions, challenges, and barriers while enrolled in the program. Using the data collected, several recommendations for future program improvements were made.
"This rewarding field research experience through the University of Notre Dame and the Catholic Medical Mission Board in Peru allowed me to develop a specialized skillset that I will able to use in my future career in global health."
Name: Marcos Marugan-Wyatt MS '14
Degree and Year: Biology and Anthropology
University of Notre Dame, 2013
Capstone Project: Assessment of clinical infrastructure and resource availability for antibiotic resistance testing, treatment, and prevention in Quito, Ecuador
Abstract: In the last few decades, antibiotic resistance in bacteria has increased at an alarming rate. The situation has quickly escalated from bacteria resistant to one or two treatment options to those that are resistant to all known forms of antibiotics. This is not merely a problem localized to a specific country; instead it is quickly becoming a global crisis. No one is more likely to be feeling the burden of this issue than the underdeveloped nations in which resources and clinical infrastructure necessary for early detection and treatment are not on par with those of the more developed countries. This research aimed to specifically study antibiotic use and resistance in southern Quito, Ecuador. The goal was to do an initial assessment of the current state of antibiotic resistance in the area, followed by the administering of surveys to better understand the public's awareness and knowledge with regards to this growing problem. The findings of this research indicated a strong need for the implementation of educational programs aimed at teaching correct antibiotic use, regulations directed at controlling the over the counter administration of antibiotics by pharmacies, and campaigns against self-medication.
"My results were interesting, indicating that antibiotic resistance is a large, ongoing, and growing problem in southern Quito, Ecuador, that lack of antibiotic distribution control, a medical culture of self-medication, and deficient public awareness of antibiotic use and antibiotic resistance are among the main factors at fault."
Name: Cesar Padilla MS '14
Degree and Year: Biology
California State University- LA, 2012
Capstone Project: Social determinants of intent to perform oral hygiene behavior in rural Dominican Republic
Abstract: The goal of the study was to identify the psychosocial determinants of oral hygiene behavior centered on the theory of planned behavior in rural Dominican Republic. The cross sectional study included 150 participants. Participants completed a voluntary, 54 question, culturally adapted survey which included both demographic and oral health questions. Correlation and regression analyses were used to determine variable associations and construct a model determining the intent to perform the minimum recommended oral hygiene behavior. The statistically significant model of intent to perform oral hygiene behavior accounted for 58.8% of the variance (p<0.005). Perceived behavioral control and attitude were identified as the statistically significant social determinants of the intention to perform minimum oral hygiene behavior (p<0.05). This study further stresses the need to identify the social determinants of oral health behavior in order to create evidence-based interventions. In the case of rural Dominican Republic, oral health interventions need to be targeted at changing individuals attitudes and perception of their care in regards to ideal oral hygiene behavior.
"In the case of rural Dominican Republic, oral health interventions need to be targeted at changing individuals' attitudes and perceptions of their care in regards to ideal oral hygiene behavior."
Name: Luke Peters MS '14
Degree and Year: Biology
University of Notre Dame, 2013
Capstone Project: Characterizing a vector: An investigation of polyandry & longevity in the dengue vector aedes aegypti in Trinidad
Abstract: Dengue is currently one of the world's most devastating and widespread vector borne diseases. With infection rates estimated close to 400 million per year, and more than 100 countries at risk, it is clear that this global health issue needs to be addressed. Classical interventions such as vaccines, insecticides, indoor residual spraying, and bed nets have been inefficient ways of controlling Aedes aegypti and dengue, but innovative intervention strategies such as transgenic mosquitoes and the use of the Wolbachia bacteria have been particularly promising. In order for these innovative interventions to be well informed and accurately applied, a more complete understanding of the vector is needed, especially in regards to characteristics that affect population dynamics and disease transmission like polyandry and longevity. In this study, techniques are demonstrated for the investigation of polyandry and longevity in Aedes aegypti populations in Trinidad. With this goal in mind, male specific PCR primers that target polymorphic microsatellites were developed so that a molecular assay of polyandry could be achieved. In addition, survival analysis of field collected mosquitoes from Trinidad was prepared to investigate heritability and variation of lifespan. Application and development of these techniques will continue to provide more complete characterization of the Aedes aegypti vector that can be used to supplement innovative intervention strategies that can have a significant health impact.
"In this Capstone project, in partnership with the University of the West Indies at St. Augustine, Trinidad, techniques were demonstrated for the investigation of polyandry and longevity in Aedes aegypti populations in Trinidad."
Name: Shereen Shojaat MS '14
Degree and Year: Kinesiology and Health
Iowa State University, 2013
Capstone Project: A health needs assessment at Basile Moreau School in Carrefour, Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Abstract: Environmental factors, food insecurities, poverty, political unrest, and natural disasters influence the health of Haitians, particularly children. A school setting as a health intervention site can be effective, due to high accessibility and enrollment rates of children in Haiti. To determine the health needs of the Basile Moreau School student population in Port-au-Prince Haiti, this study investigated the need for improving school-based health and health services for children attending the school through key informant interviews, observation, and a parent survey. Results suggest the need for addressing health-related issues at Basile Moreau School. Overall, our recommendation includes a coordinated school health approach consisting of eight core components, developed by the Centers for Disease Control, as an efficient and practical strategy for improving the health of students at Basile Moreau School. All component recommendations propose comprehensive program strategies, which extend beyond an onsite school healthcare facility. This approach may not only influence improved health outcomes for students at Basile Moreau, but has the potential to become a sustainable model for schools throughout Haiti.
"I will use all the knowledge and skills I gained through this work and apply it in my future career in global health, as well as life outside of my career."
Name: Andrew Taniguchi MS '14
Degree and Year: Preprofessional Studies
University of Notre Dame, 2013
Capstone Project: Recovery of leishmania promastigotes from infected sandflies: A study in phlebotomine artificial blood feeding
Abstract: Leishmaniasis is a disease caused by the trypanosomatid parasite Leishmania and manifests itself in a variety of symptoms from cutaneous ulcers to degradation of mucosal areas, and is fatal in certain cases when left untreated. It is a neglected tropical disease that continues to be a burden for many countries because of the limited amount of diagnostic tools and complex treatments with severe side effects. The parasite causing the disease features a digenic lifecycle and requires the sand fly as an essential intermediary host and vector to continue propagating. This project explores the methods used for infecting Phlebotomus papatasi, Lutzomyia verrucarum, and Lutzomyia peruensis sandflies with Leishmania promastigotes. The sand fly infections with Leishmania major and Leishmania peruviana were accomplished via artificial membrane feeding procedures using a variety of animal skin membranes, and both human and mouse blood to mimic conditions in which natural infections are transmitted. Detailed instructions on how to prepare membranes, blood meals, and dissections are outlined for successful recovery of motile promastigotes from infected sandflies and their subsequent re-culture for future molecular assays of Leishmania promastigotes. These protozoa contain a sophisticated signaling cascade system of phosphorylated proteins to transduce environmental signals. It is because of these signaling transductions that Leishmania are able to respond to stress and adapt to their environments in order to survive. Future experiments aimed at extracting these phosphorylated proteins, and identifying the associated kinases, phosphatases, and their downstream targets represent new avenues for the discovery of novel drug targets and therapies designed to mitigate the signaling pathways of Leishmania, effectively haling the lifecycle of Leishmania and/or preventing clinical disease from manifesting itself in treated hosts or vectors.
"This was a phenomenal opportunity to establish collaboration between the University of Notre Dame and NAMRU-6 and an immersion into a wonderful culture and group of people."
Name: Rebecca Tracy MS '14
Degree and Year: Psychology and Pre-Health Studies
University of Notre Dame, 2013
Capstone Project: Post-project sustainability study of the Child Health Opportunities Integrated with Community Empowerment (CHOICE) Project, Indonesia: correlations between cognitive and physical development and infant nutrition
Abstract: Post-project sustainability studies allow for an analysis of the outcomes and the long-term benefits of a development programs. In this study Project Concern International's (PCI) Child Health Opportunities Integrated with Community Engagement (CHOICE) program is evaluated seven years after its completion for its long term affects on children's cognitive development. A survey of CATCH indicators was utilized along with an infant development checklist and the Raven's Coloured
Progressive Matrices for data collection. Two populations (0-2 year olds and 8-10 year olds) were evaluated in order to look at the effects the CHOICE program had on development both from when the program was run and its lasting effects on the current population. The development of 0-2 year olds and 8-10 year olds was modeled using general linear modeling and analyzed based on different areas affected by CHOICE program activities in particular children's nutrition and physical growth. While there were no overall significant differences found between CHOICE villages and control villages due to treatment, trends in the data suggest that CHOICE villages performed better on the development tests compared to control villages as well as on many of the outcome indicators the CHOICE program aimed to improve. Based on this analysis the CHOICE program activities related to nutrition, hygiene and maternal knowledge made an impact on the community, which was sustained seven years later. Based on the research presented in this paper development programs that aim to improve the nutritional status of mothers and children can have long-term positive effects on children's cognitive development.
"My specific portion of this study was focused on one of the long-term aspects of nutrition and health improvement programs – cognitive development."
Name: Thomas Ulsby MS '14
Degree and Year: Biology
Gustuvus Adolphus College, 2012
Capstone Project: The impact of globalization on nutrition, KAP, and health of type II diabetics at Dr. Mohan's Diabetes Specialties Center
Abstract: Diabetes is now considered a global pandemic showing particularly severe effects in low and middle-income populations. Although all populations are affected, depending on a person's genetic background, family history, health, and behavior, the susceptibly for the disease may rise or fall. Health, behavior, and knowledge impact the attention a person will devote to health challenges and changes in their life which may in turn be impacted by globalization. The current study aimed to investigate if rural-urban differences in these variables impact the spread of Diabetes Mellitus in India via the carrying out a comparative case study in two Indian population settings. The project investigated differences in 24 hour nutrition recall and Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices (KAP) of type II diabetic patients from Dr. Mohan's Diabetes Specialties Center at Gopalapuram, Chennai, Tamil Nadu (located in a major Indian urban setting) with Chunampet, Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu (located in a more rural setting). 225 outpatients were surveyed in total (110 from Gopalapuram and 115 from Chunampet). 15 survey respondents (5 from Gopalapuram and 10 from Chunampet) were then interviewed to provide contextualization for the trends represented in the summarized survey. Respondent answers were scored by variable, analyzed, and summarized. Differences in nutrition and knowledge scores were found between the study populations (< 0.05 = 95%). Nutrition and knowledge scores produced negative regressions when controlling for location (< 0.05 = 95%), suggesting that rural variables reduce nutrition and knowledge scores of diabetic patients. However, even with these differences diabetes, is still prevalent in both locations. Globalization may be influencing the opportunities of type II diabetes patients for practicing good nutrition and health. As interactions between urban and rural centers grow, the spread of more urban and non-communicable health problems will also spread into the rural environments. As this research shows, current differences in nutrition and knowledge between urban and rural centers may indicate an association with the presence of a disease and poor care experienced by rural patients. However, despite this finding, the fact that diabetes is still highly prevalent among the urban subjects indicates that other factors may need to be evaluated to explain the observed disease variability. Health behavior models, Integral Human Development, and economic growth may help explain why these differences were observed and what can be done to change the epidemic.
"It has been a rewarding experience and I have felt extremely blessed to be here among such great researchers and doctors. Thank you for your help, guidance, hospitality, and care."
Name: Geoffrey Wright MS '14
Degree and Year: Biology
Wabash College, 2012
Capstone Project: Investigating determinants of healthy facility choice in rural Zambia
Abstract: Bed occupancy rates are a commonly used tool for measuring hospital efficiency. Over the past 15 years, Chikankata Mission Hospital, a 200-bed mission hospital in Zambia's Southern Province, has been experiencing a steady decline in bed occupancy rates an average decrease of 2.5 percent per year, resulting in a mere 29 percent occupancy rate at the end of 2013. This low level of bed utilization complicates the securement of government funding and results in inadequate training opportunities for students at adjacent training facilities. To better understand the negative trend, researchers conducted a multi-cluster two-stage probabilistic household survey to determine factors influencing health facility choice and related indicators, such as general health status and willingness to pay for health services. Focus groups were also carried out to gain a qualitative understanding of the views and opinions the catchment area has for their health facility options. The final goal was to identify avenues for the hospital to adapt to the current situation and improve their bed occupancy rates. The initial analyses provided descriptive statistics of the results. Identifying accessibility as one of the primary determinants of facility choice, researchers conducted a chi-square analysis and confirmed a significant relationship between the rural health center catchment area in which participants reside and their past (stated) facility choice. These findings support previous research that accessibility is a significant factor for health facility choice. While the hospital cannot directly address the issue of distance to increase their utilization, focus group discussions yielded many areas where adjustments and improvements can be made such as facility cleanliness and staff attitude in order for the hospital to better cater to their catchment area population.
"The project helped me to develop countless life and career skills, such as human and resource management, financial budgeting, and conflict management."
Name: Jingmeng Sally Xie MS '14
Degree and Year: Nutrition Science
Purdue University, 2012
Capstone Project: An investigation into breast cancer risk factors among Kenyans
Abstract: Moi University researchers found that the breast cancer seen in patients in Western Kenya is different from what is commonly seen in the United States. Patients are diagnosed at very young age and the cancer usually expresses in very aggressive forms. Aggressive breast cancer compared to normal breast cancer cells have later-stage tumors at diagnosis, present with larger tumors, have a greater likelihood of having positive lymph node involvement, have higher histologic and nuclear grade tumors, are more likely to be estrogen receptor (ER−) and/or progesterone receptor negative (PR−), are diagnosed at a younger age, are more likely to have inflammatory breast cancers and are less likely to survive a breast cancer diagnosis (Standish et al. 2008). In order to find out what causes this breast cancer and why it's different from other types of breast cancers, a research effort was established through collaboration of University of Notre Dame and Moi University. As a part of this collaboration, this study provides general information about Kenyans and breast cancer in Kenya that will help current and future researchers to design new research projects. This research project is divided into three sections. In the first section, current cancer and breast cancer trends, literature of breast cancer risk factors in Kenya were reviewed. In the second section, I analyzed a dataset collected from patients in Eldoret, Kenya and their relations to the cancer and estrogen receptor (ER) status. The last section is a risk assessment study I conducted during this summer about 24 breast cancer risk factors in Kenyans in the U.S. Risk factors analyzed in the two risk assessment studies do not show strong association with cancer or ER status. Nevertheless, valuable information is gained through the literature review and the two studies to help us characterize Kenyan population and the breast cancer disparities.
"I designed a questionnaire which includes the commonly recognized risk factors associated with breast cancer. After recruitment through local news and online media, direct contact and referrals, I was able to include 36 Kenyans in the study from the local area. Through interviews to these participants, I studied the selected risk factors along with their health believes and living style changes."


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Clinicians were so informative and made it so fun!
Written by Kelly Hall who attended the WDAOH – September 2013
Thank you for a great two days! I know these things are so much work. Looking forward to being more involved along with our university students. This is a perfect direction for our program to grow and we look forward to learning more in the future.


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If you see the error:
XMLHttpRequest cannot load [...] No 'Access-Control-Allow-Origin' header is present on the requested resource. Origin [...] is therefore not allowed access.
or this one:
Cross-Origin Request Blocked: The Same Origin Policy disallows reading the remote resource at http://[couchDBIP]:[couchDBPort]/[dbname]/?_nonce=[request hash]. This can be fixed by moving the resource to the same domain or enabling CORS
it's because you need to enable CORS on CouchDB/Cloudant/whatever you're using. Otherwise, your scripts can only access the server database if they're served from the same origin — the protocol (ex: http://, https://), domain, and port number must match.
You can enable CORS in CouchDB using
curl or the Futon web interface, but we've saved you some time by making a Node script called add-cors-to-couchdb. Just run:
Or if your database is not at
You can check that CORS is now enabled by visiting http://localhost:5984/_utils/config.html in your browser. You should see something like this:
Reading from/writing to a local database from an
iframe with a different origin will cause PouchDB to throw a
No valid adapter found error in Firefox. This is due to Firefox's IndexedDB implementation.
IndexedDB has a same-origin restriction. Read/write operations from another origin will always fail, but only Firefox triggers a
No valid adapter found error. Chrome / Opera will instead throw an
On iOS and Safari, if you expect your app to use more than 5MB of space, you will need to request the space up-front from the user. In certain versions of Safari, you can never request more than what the user originally grants you.
To get around this, when you create your PouchDB, use the
opts.size option for the expected maximum size of the database in MB. Valid increments are 10, 50, 100, 500, and 1000. For instance, if you request 50, then Safari will show a popup saying "allow 50MB?" but if you request 51, then Safari will show a popup saying "allow 100MB?".
If you don't use the
size option, then you'll be able to use up to 5MB without any popup, but then once you use more, there will be a popup asking for 10.
new PouchDB('mydb', {size: 10}); // request 10 MB with a popup
new PouchDB('mydb', {size: 50}); // request 50 MB with a popup
new PouchDB('mydb'); // implicitly request 5 MB, no popup until you exceed 5MB
This does not affect any backend other than Web SQL. Chrome, Android, and Opera do not show the popup. On PhoneGap/Cordova apps, you can also use the SQLite plugin to get around this problem. Here's more information about storage quotas and details on the Safari/iOS bug.
Don't worry, nothing is amiss, this is expected behaviour: During PouchDB's initial replication PouchDB will check for a checkpoint, if it doesn't exist a 404 will be returned and a checkpoint will subsequently be written.
Are you in private browsing mode? IndexedDB is disabled in private browsing mode in Firefox.
There is a limit of one database per app in some versions of the Android WebView. Install the SQLite plugin, then PouchDB will use that if it is available.
If you see this warning:
(node) warning: possible EventEmitter memory leak detected. 11 listeners added.
Use emitter.setMaxListeners() to increase limit.
This is because PouchDB uses Node-style EventEmitters for its events. An EventEmitter is any object that has an
.on() or
once() method, such as
db.changes().on('change', ....
By default, all EventEmitters have 10 listeners, and if you exceed that limit, e.g. by attaching many
changes() listeners or running many simultaneous
replicate() or
sync() events, then you may exceed this limit.
This could indicate a memory leak in your code. Check to make sure that you are calling
cancel() on any
replicate(), or
sync() handlers, if you are constantly starting and stopping those events.
If you're sure it's not a memory leak, though, you can increase the limit by doing:
In the above example,
db refers to a database object you created using
new PouchDB('dbname').
If you're storing large amounts of data, such as PNG attachments, the SQLite plugin is again your friend. (See issue #1260 for details.)
Certain URL rewrites are broken by PouchDB's cache-busting; try adding
{cache : false} to the PouchDB constructor. (See issue #1233 for details.)
Did you include the es6-promise shim library? Not every browser implements ES6 Promises correctly. (See issue #1747 for details.)
Did you include the es5-shim library? PouchDB is written in ES5, which is supported by modern browsers, but requires shims for older browsers (e.g. IE 9, Android 2.1 WebView).
In Android, if you're loading PouchDB directly via
webView.loadUrl('javascript://' + js'), you should prefer the minified PouchDB javascript file to the unminified one, since code comments can also cause parse errors.
Safari requires users to confirm that they want to allow an app to store data locally ("Allow this website to use space on your disk?"). If PouchDB is loaded in an
iframe or some other unusual way, the dialog might not be shown, and the database will silently fail.
In Chrome apps, you'll see the warning "window.localStorage is not available in packaged apps. Use chrome.storage.local instead." This is harmless; since PouchDB doesn't use localStorage if it's not available.
Are you using a webserver to host and run your code? This error can be caused by running your script/file locally using the
file:/// setting in Firefox, since Firefox does not allow access to IndexedDB locally. You can use the SimpleHTTPServer to deploy your script by running
python -m SimpleHTTPServer from the directory containing the script, or use the Apache webserver and then access the script by using
This can occur when attempting to read from or write to IndexedDB from a different origin. IndexedDB has a same-origin restriction. Attempting to write to the database associated with http://example.com from an
iframe served from http://api.example.com, for example, will fail.
In Firefox, PouchDB instead throws a
No valid adapter found error.
If you ever see:
Uncaught DataCloneError:
Failed to execute 'put' on 'IDBObjectStore':
An object could not be cloned.
DataCloneError: The object could not be cloned.
Then the problem is that the document you are trying to store is not a pure JSON object. For example, an object with its own class (
new Foo()) or with special methods like getters and setters cannot be stored in PouchDB/CouchDB.
If you are ever unsure, then run this on the document:
If the object you get out is the same as the object you put in, then you are storing the right kind of object.
Note that this also means that you cannot store
Dates in your document. You must convert them to strings or numbers first.
Dates will be stored as-is in IndexedDB, but in the other adapters and in CouchDB, they will be automatically converted to ISO string format, e.g.
'2015-01-01T12:00:00.000Z'. This can caused unwanted results. See #2351 and #2158 for details.
This applies to hybrid apps designed to run in Android pre-Kitkat (i.e. before 4.4).
If you are directly using a
WebView and not using Cordova/PhoneGap, you will probably either run into an error where PouchDB silently fails or you see
Error: SECURITY_ERR: DOM Exception 18 in the console. As a sanity test, you can run this JavaScript:
openDatabase('mydatabase', 1, 'mydatabase', 5000000, function (db) { console.log('it works!'); });
If you see "it works" in the console, then everything's peachy. Otherwise there are a few things you have to do.
First, make sure Web SQL is enabled on your
WebView in the first place using setDatabaseEnabled:
Second, specify a path for the database. Yes, you need to do this, even though it's deprecated in Kitkat:
String databasePath = getContext().getApplicationContext().getDir(
"database", Context.MODE_PRIVATE).getPath();
Third, you'll need to set an
onExceededDatabaseQuota handler. Yes, it's also deprecated in Kitkat. Yes, you still need to do it.
webView.setWebChromeClient(new WebChromeClient() {
public void onExceededDatabaseQuota(String url, String databaseIdentifier, long currentQuota, long estimatedSize,
long totalUsedQuota, WebStorage.QuotaUpdater quotaUpdater) {
quotaUpdater.updateQuota(estimatedSize * 2);
If you skip any one of these three steps, then you will get the
DOM Exception 18 error. You need to do all three.
Alternatively, you can also load the
WebView with a fake
http:// URL, but this may cause other errors when you try to fetch files based on a relative path:
It is known that building/compiling Node modules with native code on Windows can be frustrating, as there are lots of required dependencies to be installed, which may take many Gigabytes, as opossed to Unix platforms, where compiling is a breeze. Installing PouchDB on Node for Windows gave many headaches, specifically with the leveldown dep.
Since v3.2.1 leveldown was changed to be an optional dependency: this way, npm will not refuse installing PouchDB even when having compiling errors. That way, you can use PouchDB normally, and will get an error only when trying to use leveldown as the backend. To avoid that, you can specify any compatible adapter, as pointed in the Adapters section.
For example, if you want a SQLite backend, you can install:
and then use PouchDB with:
var db = new PouchDB('database', { db: require('sqldown') });
Also, you have the option to use leveldown(https://github.com/level/leveldown), which avoids native leveldown building when installing. Make sure the
win32-x64.tar.gz is uploaded for your leveldown version. Then for use leveldown as backend, you can install:
and instance your PouchDB like this:
var db = new PouchDB('database', { db: require('leveldown') });
The symptoms for this issues are:
- Replicating a database that has many attachments from a CouchDB server is either slow or fails randomly.
- You get server error message of the nature
No buffer space available.
Chances are that your server runs inside a virtual machine. The host system, or hypervisor, imposes limits on how much data each virtual machine can use for networking. If you are on a cheap virtual server, it is possible, that the default settings for PouchDB pull-replication (10 parallel batches of 100 documents each) exhaust the narrow limit of your server. Even a single client can cause this.
The solution is to move to a better server, but if that is not an immediate option, a workaround would be reducing the
options.batch_size and
options.batches_limit replication options.
To find optimal values, start by setting them both to 1 (meaning that PouchDB should download one document after the other) and increase from there and stop when the symptoms begin again. Note that multiple concurrent clients can still cause an issue, if you get too many. If all your documents have one or more attachments (e.g. a photos database), setting both options to
1 is probably a good idea.
PouchDB may have various dependencies that may not play nicely with WebPack. Here are some issues you may run into and their resolutions:
You may need an appropriate loader to handle this file type.
If you run into the following error (or similar):
ERROR in ./~/pouchdb/~/levelup/package.json
Module parse failed: /path/to/node_modules/pouchdb/node_modules/levelup/package.json Line 2: Unexpected token :
You may need an appropriate loader to handle this file type.
| {
| "name": "levelup",
| "description": "Fast & simple storage - a Node.js-style LevelDB wrapper",
| "version": "0.18.6",
@ ./~/pouchdb/~/levelup/lib/util.js 102:30-56
WebPack needs to be configured to recognize how to load json files. Simply, install
json-loader and edit
webpack.config.js as follows:
module: {
loaders: [
// https://github.com/pouchdb/pouchdb/issues/3319
test: /\.json$/,
loader: "json-loader"
If you are using Couchbase Lite to sync with PouchDB then you cannot use capital letters in your database name as Couchbase Lite has restrictions on valid database names.
When using PouchDB in a WebExtension (at least in Chromium 55 and Firefox 50), but apparently only if the
manifest.json contains the
store permission, a live changes feed in one tab or background process may not detect changes made in another tab/process. It will of course still report those changes upon the next change that it does detect.
Minimal code to reproduce this can be found here.


text:
Picture this: I'm at an event and meet two people for the first time. Eventually, the conversation turns to career talk, and that's when I tell them what I do for a living: I teach math.
I'm met with one of two reactions:
- They say something witty about how they loved/hated math in high school, and that they've haven't used it once in a real-life scenario; or
- Their face drops and they reply with one, simple word: "why?"
If they discuss their love or hate of math, I'm happy to agree with them! They are absolutely right. Often, you either "get" math or have challenges with it. In most careers, chances are you won't come across a denominator that needs rationalizing in order to meet a deadline for a boss. If they are persistent about math not being applicable outside of high school, I explain that it's not specific mathematical skills that help post-secondary; rather, the problem-solving methods that we give students enables them to be successful at a multitude of tasks later in life.
I'll level with you—I know I'm not going to change a person's feeling about math after high school. I just hope they don't pass this philosophy on to their children. When someone comes into a classroom with a preconceived notion that math is useless, their chances of success are as good as the Leafs taking part in a Stanley Cup parade this season. Okay, I'll give the student better odds than that.
Let's get back to the party career talk. If I get a deadpan reaction and am asked why, in the name of Good Will Hunting, would I ever choose this career, I first thank them for comparing me to Matt Damon's character. It must be because we look so alike. When it comes to why I decided to go into the field of math, I have an easy answer: teaching math is fun.
There, I said it.
I love the cleanliness that is math. A well-written solution to a problem can be a beautiful thing. Getting students to understand a concept is what drives me. I can be having the worst day at work, and all that I need is to see a student have the famous Oprah "A-ha" moment. (For the record: I never watched the Oprah Show. I swear.) This moment usually comes after spending 10 minutes explaining why a quadratic function has an end behaviour of infinity as x approaches infinity (trust me, it does). That exact moment is what makes teaching math worth it. (That, and the math jokes I can break out at any moment.)
But if the question is why do I teach?, then answer is simple. I teach because I love it.
I know I wouldn't be where I am today without having some fantastic teachers who guided and gave me the encouragement I needed to succeed. Whether it's adding humour, like my high school math teacher Rob Neilen, or pushing to be the best I can be, like my coaches Dale Baker and Brad Graham pushed me on the volleyball court, I strive to embody the characteristics of the teachers that made my academic career so much fun.
I know not everyone is good at math. I get that. But it doesn't mean that I can't try to make a student's schooling a little more fun and meaningful for them. Maybe they will pick something up along the way and become something great in their own right. It could be math, or it could be acquiring a problem-solving skill. But, I hope it's accompanied by the desire to give back to the system that helped them as students.
In the coming weeks I hope to show you what makes one math teacher and coach give back, highlighting the highs and lows of teaching, as well as generate some discussion with my readers about anything education as I strive to become the best teacher I can be.
If I learn anything inspiring along the way, maybe everyone will get a car in my class! (Okay, maybe I watch a little bit of Oprah every once in a while.)
Jason Wilson is a math teacher at Bradford District High School, a volleyball coach and a regular contributor to Sharing Simcoe. Read his bio here.


text:
Words that start with cgsg
Found 3 words that start with cgsg. Browse our Scrabble Word Finder, Words With Friends cheat dictionary, and WordHub word solver to find words starting with cgsg. Or use our Unscramble word solver to find your best possible play! Related: Words that end in cgsg, Words containing cgsg
- Scrabble
- Words With Friends
- WordHub
- Crossword


text:
Lawyer Marketing, Legal Marketing, Legal SEO
How to Market Your Law Firm Online to Attract Leads
Managing a legal website is not a "if you build it, they will come" kind of situation. Think of a website as a digital business card – it must have the most updated information and be present at some of the most popular social networking events in order to stay relevant. Once you've invested in a professional legal website you need to begin marketing your site in order to attract more clients and build a thriving firm. Here are 5 key ways you can strategically market your law firm's website online.
Lawyer Marketing, Legal Marketing, Legal SEO
How To Choose A Domain Name For Your Law Firm
Choosing a domain name for your law firm is one of the most important decisions you'll make when it comes to marketing your firm online. Your domain name not only helps identify you as a law firm, but it also plays a significant role in your firm's search visibility, online branding, and even your offline advertising activities.
Unlike the physical world where a building or neighborhood can provide an impression of your law firm or clues to what you practice, the digital world is left entirely up to imagination. This is why it's important to choose a domain name that helps potential clients understand what your firm is all about. Before purchasing a domain name think about what it says about your law firm. What message does it convey? Is it easy to remember? And even more importantly, is it easy for people to spell without typos?
Legal Marketing
Why Digital PR Is Necessary for Every Law Firm
As a law firm you have a lot of competition and the value of getting your website on the first page of Google cannot be underestimated. But in Google's never ending battle to be "more human" the search engine giant is now placing more value on social signals and quality content than the number of backlinks, or other technical SEO elements, a website has.
As Google continues to adjust their algorithm to deliver more relevant results, the rise of "Digital PR" is beginning to transform the way we look at online marketing. Here's what it means for your law firm.
Legal Marketing
5 Key Features Every Law Firm Website Should Have
A well designed website is like an online business card – it lets potential clients know who you are, how to contact you, and that you're open for business. Nowadays, every law firm needs to have website that clicks. Here are a few basic features every legal website should have in order to have a credible and professional online presence.


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Recently I sat down with my physically disabled friend, Todd, to hear what he had to say about his life. Todd and I get together every Thanksgiving, so I was eager to get an update.
I have reshaped Todd's words to put them in story form. Here is Todd's story:
* * *
I know what people think when they see me for the first time--he's severely disabled. He doesn't have arms. He's not a tall man, and once more, he's confined to a wheelchair. What kind of life is that?
I'm sure their thoughts do not stop there. Other thoughts may be, "How does he do it? How does he eat, bathe, scratch himself, answer the phone, blow his nose, go to the bathroom?" If I was an able bodied man and saw my wheelchair-bound self in the street, I'd probably ask the same questions.
I have to tell you that I am not put off by people thinking these things.
Most people want to know why I don't have arms. When I tell them I'm from Middletown, Pennsylvania, the area around Three Mile Island, many immediately think of the big nuclear accident there, and they surmise that this might have caused my disability. But no, that's not true. I was born before the nuclear accident at Three Mile Island.
Some people will ask me if my mother took Thalidomide, a drug that was given to women by doctors in the early 1960s. But my mother never took Thalidomide; at least that's what she always told me, unless she's telling a major fib. I know my mother is being truthful. As far as I can tell, I am the way I am because of genetic factors although as far as I know nobody else in my family was born this way. Perhaps if I traced my family history back 200 years, I might find somebody who was, but I won't be doing that much research any time soon.
So, yes, I have a number of disabilities. Looking at the bright side, I can honestly say that at least I was not born able bodied and had to deal with an accident that made me disabled. Then I would have had the memory of a tragic loss, the loss of my arms, but since I was never able-bodied, I don't know what it is like to have arms, or even to be tall, or to scratch myself with hands or dial a phone without using my feet.
I can be thankful for that!
My feet, you see, are my arms. They are my hands. I use them to type, to eat, to point, to open mail, to pet my cat Leo, to work the remote control for my TV.
One more thing, people think that because I am disabled, I don't work but rather collect disability checks while watching TV all day, but that's not the case at all. I am a full time Data Entry Clerk at Verizon in Center City Philadelphia, and I've had that job for over 21 years. I'm proud that I was able to find and keep a job like this, although just because I'm handicapped doesn't mean that I have to be satisfied with the boring duties of a Data Entry Clerk. While I love getting up early and getting ready to leave the house, I don't always love the fact that my job is among the world's most boring jobs.
Just because I am handicapped doesn't mean that I have to settle for a job that doesn't satisfy me. Of course, in this economy, many people work jobs they are not in love with. I guess that's why they call it work. If you can't get what you want, you get what you need. My data entry clerk job did satisfy me for a number of years, and though that has changed in my department at work I am on record as being the 3rd most productive employee. There are some months when I register in at number one. There are 18 people in my department. There used to be 32 but because of downsizing many of my co-workers took early retirement packages, and so now there are a lot of empty desk around me.
There was a time when nobody could get me to say that I am a lot like my mother. To me for many years those were fighting words. But when you allow yourself to grow in life sometimes the truth becomes more than obvious: The fact is. I am a lot like my mother.
I am thankful that I can finally accept the truth!
When my parents went to enroll me in elementary school, the administrators said that would not work because the school was not wheel chair accessible. Those were the years when institutions could say things like that because most buildings were not wheelchair accessible. "He'll have to be bussed to another school district," they said, and my mother took a fit.
She had a monstrous fit. She yelled and screamed until they couldn't take it anymore, and guess what? They made the elementary school wheelchair accessible. My mother did this because she was not afraid to speak up.
You might want to know when I first became aware of the challenges I had to face in life. It didn't start at home, really, but when I would go out to shopping malls with family and friends. People would stare at me. I don't mean quick, polite stares but the long drawn out kind that can stick like glue. The stares didn't bother me so much, but they bothered the people who happened to be with me. A big change I have noticed over the years is that generally people don't stare at me that much anymore. I really attribute this to the increased awareness and visibility of disabled people in society.
For that I am thankful!
I feel very good about this change, though I must confess I used to be bothered by the questions and prolonged stares of little children. Now children are naturally curious beings, and they want to know why something is the way it is, and so over time I began to relax around them and comfortably answer their questions about my disability. But then I found that it was the parents who would draw the children back and tell them, "Don't ask him that. Don't be rude. Come here," which in the end I think is the worse thing a parent can do.
A lot of times I will tell a parent, "Let the kid ask, it is really okay. They should know. How else are they going to know? Let them hear it from me."
Throughout much of my life I've had to pretend to be happy, to put on a happy face for people. This is true until I get to know someone, at which point I will let my guard down and show them that I have different moods just like everyone else. Many people meeting me for the first time will say, "My God, he is always in a good mood. Given the position he's in, he's always in a good mood." Of course, anyone who knows me knows I am not always in a good mood.
The biggest thing about my disability is that I don't want people to feel sorry for me. As a teenager I felt sorry for myself, but that feeling had more to do with how women treated me. Since I have been without arms since birth, I didn't see this treatment as happening because I was necessarily disabled, although some of it may have been connected to that. At the time I felt it was because of my acne. You see, since I was born this way, I don't know any other way, so had my parents kept me in a locked room away from able bodied people, I would never know that I was...disabled. A lot of my insecurity in high school had to with acne....I had the kind of acne nobody should ever get...the kind of acne that is almost impossible to get rid of with over the counter crèmes and ointments. I don't think I started to look good until my twenties...that's when the acne cleared up. Of course, being a teenager even for able bodied people can be a very difficult time. Hormones are racing, the body is changing, and emotions are mixed and confused. It's not an easy time for anybody. So for me accepting the fact that girls didn't find me attractive--not even one girl--was very hard to accept.
That all changed for the better in my twenties, and it changed even more as time went on when I'd eventually get a girlfriend. My teenage years taught me a lot about peoples' reactions to me. One thing I learned is that when both men and women are over attentive or fussing over me excessively, this is a red flag. Too much fuss in my mind translates to "I feel so sorry for you." Conversely, when people are visibly nervous around me I take this as a good sign because I know that I will eventually win them over by being cheerful and happy. And after I win them over they often become my best friends.
And when they become my friends, I no longer have to pretend to always be cheerful, I can be myself. You might say I have a talent for acting. Well, I do, but I also really like people. I really value my independence, as I've stated. I cannot say this often enough.
When I finished high school, I knew I had to figure out what I wanted to do with my life, the kind of job I would get. My goal was to go to a big city, live in my own apartment, make friends, and have a regular job. I wanted to go to a trade school, and eventually I applied and was accepted at a school in Philadelphia. Now, while my parents wanted me to be independent, being that independent scared them. Philadelphia, in their minds, and in the minds of most rural people, is a hornet's nest. They were worried about crime and about my safety. But to tell you the truth, I did not want to live in a rural environment. The city to me has always been exciting, because in the city you can go out and get coffee at 3 in the morning if that's what you want to do.
There are also many more people to meet in the city than there are in isolated rural areas.
When I enrolled as a student, I found a place to live in University City. Later I moved to an apartment in Roxborough, which was fine for a while although I have to tell you that I did too much drinking in Roxborough. I had to learn the hard way, I suppose, and so there were many odd DUI style wheelchair accidents. These were mostly sloppy minor accidents that made me look and feel foolish. I later decided that I had to become sober. (I have been sober for over a decade now).
For that I am thankful!
A lot of my life has been spent on the road...not as a traveler to exotic places, but as a wheelchair driver. Driving through the streets of the city is not always easy. In fact, I have had many, many, near misses with cars, so many in fact that I had to figure out how to get to and from my place of work from my Center City apartment. So I devised a way to get to work via the subway concourse and as a result I more than cut in half the number of car-wheelchair near misses.
I'll never forget my first wheelchair-car near miss. It was in University City near the Penn campus, and I was headed out to the school cafeteria to get some food to bring back to the apartment, when a woman in a car clipped my wheelchair. She got out of the car and began to cry. She couldn't apologize enough, she was really upset, but my mind was only on the food, and so I told her, "It's okay Miss, it is okay." I eventually claimed her down and was able to get my food.
Another time in Center City a male driver almost hit me. He was so apologetic he handed me a twenty dollar bill. Now, I really don't like it when people just hand me money, but in this case I took it. But there have been times when people have just come up to me and handed me money, as if in their minds a disabled person in a wheelchair equals a homeless person in desperate straits. I'm proud to say that I have never accepted money under these circumstances.
Even though I am disabled and going through some pretty scary health problems right now---I have polycystic kidney disease and will need a liver transplant before too long---my parents would not be happy if I threw in the towel and gave up, quit my job and asked them to move home. I would never do that. I consider an action like that falling victim to loser status: a man in his forties living at home with his parents. It's certainly not something my mother would respect, and since I am like my mother, I wouldn't respect myself either. My big personal goal is to meet the right woman and get married and have a family. That's what I really want, and I know I couldn't do that if I became a dependent invalid.
Talking about marriage brings me back to women again. I met my first girlfriend when I was 23. I was in a bar with friends, and they happened to notice a beautiful girl looking at me. It was phenomenal to see that a woman was looking at me because she was attracted to me, rather than because she thought I was a freak. So we became boyfriend and girlfriend for a while but then like a lot of love stories when you're young, the whole thing took a nose dive when she started giving her business card to men while we were out on dates.
Today my life is good in terms of peace and comfort. I love going to work everyday even if I am not in love with my job. I've accepted the fact that living in Center City is lonely. In Center City people tend to say hello how are you, and that's it; friendships are not easily formed as they seem to be formed in neighborhood settings. But feeling lonely has to do with the fact that I no longer drink and go to bars. Meeting people in bars is a big chunk of what happens in the city. So I've learned to trade an exciting life with huge ups and downs for a more solid and quiet life with a secure center.
Yes, for all of these things I am extremely grateful!