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To receive email alerts from our News page, please click here
Follow us on Twitter: Follow @ZevinAssetMgmt
America faces a caregiving crisis. Approximately 87 percent of private sector workers in the United States do not have access to a single day of paid family leave. This can drive risk and opportunity for companies. Companies offering paid family leave to all workers, not just those at the top, report improved morale, as well as cost savings from less employee turnover.
In the absence of policy at the federal level, last year Zevin Asset Management decided it was time for responsible investors to ask companies about paid family leave policy and push big employers in the right direction. As featured in a recent issue of Fortune, our shareholder advocacy has already helped win key changes at major companies like CVS Health, Starbucks, and Walmart.
Pat Miguel Tomaino has the story on our paid family leave work and a look ahead in our latest Impact Brief.
Thanks for reading, watching the video above, and sharing comments with firstname.lastname@example.com.
Category: Shareholder Activism
In the first quarter of 2018, we continued using shareholder advocacy for positive impact and long-term risk management. We won a landmark majority vote on climate risk management at Kinder Morgan; we joined with fellow investors to call out companies enabling the Trump administration's risky and inhumane immigrant detention policies; we moved Google's parent company Alphabet, and other tech companies, closer to racial and gender inclusion; we challenged Verizon on privacy and net neutrality; and, we joined a global coalition of investors pushing for access to medicines in the global South countries that need them. Pat Miguel Tomaino has our quarterly advocacy update.
Category: Shareholder Activism
In the first quarter of 2018, we continued using shareholder advocacy for positive impact and long-term risk management. We joined with fellow socially responsible investors to urge gunmakers, retailers, and financial firms to address the risks of gun violence; we moved hotel giant Marriott toward greater diversity and equity; we joined a campaign to push companies toward carbon disclosure; and we continued work pressing employers on paid family leave policy, with new wins at CVS Health and TJX Companies. Pat Miguel Tomaino has our quarterly Advocacy Update.
Category: Shareholder Activism
Zevin Asset Management has been honored as a leading socially responsible investment manager by experts at Real Impact Tracker. Real Impact Tracker is an easy-to-use, new tool to help individuals and institutions find money managers that create positive social and environmental benefit with their investments. Real Impact Tracker estimates that only 7 percent of investment funds would qualify for the certification Zevin Asset Management has received. Read more about this new tool and Zevin's rating.
Categories: Shareholder Activism, Organizational News
In the fourth quarter of 2017, we continued using shareholder advocacy for positive impact and long-term risk management. We led climate risk proposals at oil and gas majors, continued our push on paid family leave and human capital management, pushed TJX on supply chain working conditions, and co-filed a first-ever proposal for opioid accountability in the pharmaceutical sector. Pat Miguel Tomaino has our quarterly Advocacy Update.
Category: Shareholder Activism
Our shareholder advocate Pat Miguel Tomaino has been honored by Bloomberg Businessweek as one of 20 people who will change business in 2018. Download a full press release, or check out the list and learn about the impact investing work Pat and Emily DeMasi are leading on paid family leave.
Categories: Shareholder Activism, In the Press
Amid the #MeToo campaign, the fight for pay equity, and under an administration that ignores women's health, investors, consumers & lenders must push for gender equality. Read more about ZAM's upcoming collaboration with Take The Lead and Women Investing for a Sustainable Economy and how we are addressing gender equity issues in our portfolios.
Category: Shareholder Activism
In the third quarter of 2017, we continued using shareholder advocacy for positive impact with companies in our clients' portfolios. We urged tech companies to tie CEO pay to commonsense diversity metrics, challenged pay gaps in retail, filed a first-ever shareholder proposal on paid family leave, pushed industrial companies on climate accountability, and achieved a milestone on animal welfare. Pat Miguel Tomaino has our quarterly Advocacy Update.
Category: Shareholder Activism
Pat Tomaino wrote recently about some of the hard-fought progress that socially responsible investors are making to hold major energy companies accountable for climate change. At ExxonMobil's annual meeting in May, an unprecedented majority of investors voted for a shareholder proposal demanding a new report on how global carbon regulation will hurt the company's bottom line.
That proposal — which Zevin co-sponsored on behalf of clients who hold legacy shares in the company — challenges ExxonMobil's executives on climate risk and intensifies pressure on the entire oil and gas sector sector.
It's a victory for climate activists and for our model of socially responsible impact investment, which presses companies to create positive change and manage risk in client portfolios.
But just how big a win is it — especially as President Trump dumps the Paris Accord and the physical effects of climate change begin to add up? And where do we go from here?
Read Pat's new issue brief for an inside look at our shareholder advocacy with ExxonMobil and how impact investors are working for accountability and business model disruption in the oil and gas sector. And be sure to reach out with any questions, thoughts, or suggestions at email@example.com.
Category: Shareholder Activism
In the second quarter of 2017, we responded to climate change uncertainty and pressed companies in our clients' portfolios for positive impact on greenhouse gas reduction, paid parental leave, supply chain labor standards, and fair pay/hiring. Pat Miguel Tomaino has our quarterly Advocacy Update.
Category: Shareholder Activism
Past performance is not indicative of any specific investment or future results. Views regarding the economy, securities markets or other specialized areas, like all predictors of future events, cannot be guaranteed to be accurate and may result in economic loss to the investor. Specific securities identified and described may or may not be held in portfolios managed by Zevin Asset Management, LLC and do not represent all of the securities purchased, sold, or recommended for advisory clients. The reader should not assume that investments in the securities identified and discussed were or will be profitable. Any securities identified may not have beenselected based on their performance but as an illustrative tool for demonstrating ZAM's shareholder advocacy approach.


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Building Resilient Services: Learning Lessons from Azure with Mark Russinovich
Useful information. I wish there was some example code for the exception handlers mentioned that conditionally log and check if they have been thrown within the hour. There was enough detail about how and when to throw exceptions that you could almost do a clinic on exceptions alone.
Overall, really good information and interesting to listen to. Practical and relevant advice.
Microsoft ASP.NET, Web, and Cloud Tools Preview
Glad to have bootstrap included. It will be much easier to integrate with our designers. (all the other stuff is really great too, that was just a nice surprise I hadn't seen coming)
Testing Un-testable Code with Fakes in Visual Studio 2012
Very good presentation with interesting example code and good discussions points for best case and worst case scenarios.
Windows PowerShell Crash Course (repeated from 6/11 at 1:15
Fast paced. Provides the concepts behind how to use it and some examples of it's power, and where to go to find more help.
Internet Information Services (IIS) Express for Web Developers
Excellent fast paced presentation about the Express version. If you don't manage your IIS server, this is all you need. Great news for devloping web apps. If you do manage the IIS public server, you might consider watching the full IIS presentations first as that may answer more of your questions.
Enjoyed it!
Visual C#/Visual Basic: Becoming a Guru with Existing Features
Starts slow and is somewhat quiet. Most of the time is spent in code examples, presented in a very clear way. He shows a program written in .Net 1.1 and over the hour revises the code using new features of .Net 2, 3, 4, and 4.5. The final code is much more concise, and since he explained what each new feature improved upon or replaced, it was easier to understand what the new features did behind the scenes.
While most of the code is explained in C#, he shows all the same features in VB, explaining where the feature differs from the C# version.
He demonstrates:
- IAsyncResult
- Partial Classes
- anonymous delegate methods
- generics (briefly)
- the yield keyword
- implicitly typed variables (the var keyword)
- Object collections (ICollection)
- Lambdas (including the difference between statement and expression lambdas)
- Extension methods
- Linq to objects
- Task Parallel Library
- Async / Await keywords
I found it to be a helpful demonstration.
Progressively enable the mobile web with ASP.NET MVC 4, HTML5, and jQuery Mobile
Good stuff. Can't wait to hear more from you about MVC 4. I'm really enjoying my MVC 3 projects!
Windows Server 8
Very good session! I'm looking forward to all of the features announced. Good demos.
Using the Windows Runtime from C# and Visual Basic
Enjoyed the talk. I'd love to see more from these presenters together.
Building offline access in Metro style apps and websites using HTML5
There is a problem with the MP4 on this course. Looks like a 404.

subset: commoncrawl


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Friday 27th May 2016
Dear Parents,
Clubs after half term
Our new clubs will start after half term and children have received their confirmation booking slips. Thank you to all our staff and parent helpers for the excellent range of clubs on offer; Rounders, Football, Athletics, Choir, Craft, Rural Challenge, Cricket, Eco, Cookery, Recorders.
Whole School trip to Beamish Museum
Each year in the summer term we have a whole school visit. This year all children will be visiting Beamish Museum on Tuesday 21st June. Please see the letter and details sent home today.
Year 6 Leaver's Hoodies
For the first time last year Y6 parents organised Leaver's hoodies with the children's names on the reverse. Mrs Wright has kindly agreed to organise this for the current Y6. Please ensure you have returned your forms to Mrs Wright if you would like a hoodie this year.
Instrumental Lessons in school
If your child is interested in starting instrumental lessons in school we have places available for flute, guitar, violin, piano and cello from September. Please speak to Mrs Dobson. If you wish to finish lessons please give half a terms notice in writing.
Marrick Priory Residential for current Year 5
A reminder that the first payment of £50 is due by 31st May. Please pay in ParentPay or cheques made payable to 'Bolton-on-Swale School Fund'.
Current Year 6 NHS Healthly Child Team Questionnaire
Please return the Year 6 Health Questionnaire after half term and read the accompanying information on children questionnaires. There is an opt out form if you do not wish your child to complete the questionnaire in school.
Reminders for after half term
Please name your child's clothes; particularly sweatshirts and cardigans.
Your child should keep their PE kit in school for the week and this should include a plain white t shirt, black shorts and trainers for outdoor PE. Swimming continues for Y1 upwards.
Please ensure your child has a change of shoes for indoors/outdoors so that our carpeted areas of school remain clean.
Sun safety
Whilst our children have lots of areas of shade in which to spend outdoor time, it is also good to send a hat on sunny days and to apply sun cream before your child comes to school.
Headlice in school
We have had some cases of headlice in school. Please be vigilant about checking and treating your child's hair over the half term break.
Junior Golf at Richmond Golf Club
This starts on 10.5.16 every Tuesday from 4.30-5.45pm. For 6-13 year olds; equipment provided. Contact Richie Bastow, Junior Coordinator on 07411 63 6765 for more details.
Friends of the School
Parent led Cookery Club – needs more parents to help after school on Thursday; this could be on a rota and is great fun with new recipes to learn!
Second hand uniform and fancy dress/dressing up clothes. FoS will be washing and packaging these to be sold at the Summer Fair. Please bring them into school in a labelled bag. The next Bags2School is Friday 24th June.
Half Term
We finish for half term today and return to school on Monday 6th June.
Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any queries.
Yours sincerely,
Nicola Dobson


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40 khz crystals are not easily available, maybe 32.768 khz xtals from clocks and watches.
Any configuration can be used, provided the output PP waveform does not exceed the receiving device max limit.
Any crystal osc. is stable, when compared to RC or LC configuarations, but quite expensive. To achieve even more accuracy, a higher Freq crystal is used and dividers are used to reduce it to the wanted freq.
For eg. $MHz crystal oscillator with a 1/100 divider chain will produce a better stable signal than a crystal osc with a 40KHz crystal.
For the purpose of Ultrasonic txrx, a 555 will do nicely ( with polycarbonate or polyester, greencap capacitors for the RC time constant . NOT Ceramic disc!!!, ) unless you REALLY need accurate an stable sig.
Ceramic capacitors are good ONLY as bypass caps. Not for Timing. They are rated for +20% to -60% temp coeff. You can make a simple and wonderful temp sensor out of it; the freq will change by "blowing" on the capacitor!!
use 555 to generate a 400khz or 800khz and then divide it to get 40khz that way u will get better precision in less cost..
555 wont work at 800KHz.
4040, 4060 may be used with appropriate crystals for 2^n division.
4MHz xtal /100 using 2 74LS90/ 93 or 2 4017 ics
But these methods simply complicate things.
why not use a uC for 40Khz.. i always use one , Maybe because my programming is stronger than my electronics .
ok its way more exp ... but just an idea !!!
Vikas Patial
for sonar, you might need to fine tune your oscillator with your ultrasonic transducer for maximum efficiency. So it will be better to use 555 for ultrasonic purposes. however, if you want to modulate IR with 40 khz, crystal can be used. If you can solder SMDs, 555 smds can save some space.
Alternatively, as Vikas mentioned, a low pincount controller (like 10F220) can be used to generate the frequency. however, you require programming, and external crystal(not req if you need low frequencies) for this.
After trying all these, one might resort to the classic 555 for freq<50-100khz :wink:
.... I didnt do it ! ....


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The Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art presents art of Mike Helbing and Roxane Legenstein, two contemporary Chicago artists working with metals in innovative ways.
Mike Helbing's sculptures exist as the material state of the spirit of play. He uses many found elements, so many of his pieces are additive and the first step in his sculptural process is collecting materials. After he finds a piece of metal of exactly the right shape and size, he balances or plays off one shape against another as he builds his structures.
Roxane Legenstein keeps color to a minimum, using just copper, gold, silver and iron filings on vinyl, a process she originated herself, inspired by the black sand she encountered on Lake Michigan's eastern beaches.
The exhibit runs from August 19th – October 6th, 2011Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art
2320 W. Chicago Avenue
Gallery Hours: Wednesdays through Sundays, Noon – 4:00pm


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Vereinfachte Prozesse und schlanke Workflows
February 26, 2018 | manage it
About Appian
Appian provides a leading low-code software development platform that enables organizations to rapidly develop powerful and unique applications. The applications created on Appian's platform help companies drive digital transformation and competitive differentiation. For more information, visit www.appian.com.


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Newcastle star Steven Taylor is still enjoying dream home
STEVEN TAYLOR is happy to snub a move to Arsenal to stay 'living the dream' at Newcastle.
"I'm still living the dream of every young lad in this city. "Steven Taylor
Toon's England squad defender is an £8.5m summer target for the Gunners, but the 27-year-old (left) has no intention of quitting St James' Park for a crack at the Champions League.
After a decade and almost 250 games in the senior set-up, Taylor sees no reason to move on when he's loving life so much under Alan Pardew.
With three years left on his £30,000-a-week Toon contract, he said: "Being at Newcastle is the best thing that's ever happened to me.
"I'm still living the dream of every young lad in this city. It's what I've always wanted to do and, to be honest, I have to keep pinching myself that it's happening."


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Woods of Terror
October 30, 2009 - Bryan and I love Halloween. So last night we picked up Melissa and went to one of our local haunted houses. Woods of Ter...Read the Full Post »
Lexington BBQ Festival
October 29, 2009 - Last Saturday we decided to go to the Lexington BBQ festival. We had never been before and have always wanted to go....Read the Full Post »
Unlucky Friday
October 26, 2009 - Boy, Do Bryan and I ever have some bad luck. Just this month a storm took out our heating and cooling system (thank God...Read the Full Post »
Trinity's 3rd Birthday Party
October 03, 2009 - My sweet niece turned 3 on September 29th. We had a small family party for her this afternoon. My Dad made these...Read the Full Post »
Walt Disney World-Annual Passholders-2017
Disney Dream 2017
Walt Disney World- Annual Passholders- 2016
Disney Magic 2015
Disney Fantasy 2012
Disney Dream 2011
Walt Disney World 2010
January February March April May June July August September October November December


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Critical success factors for the efficient conversion of oil tankers to floating production storage offloading facilities [FPSOs]
Document Type
Publication details
Mierendorff, R 2011, 'Critical success factors for the efficient conversion of oil tankers to floating production storage offloading facilities [FPSOs]', DBA thesis, Southern Cross University, Lismore, NSW.
Copyright R Mierendorff 2011
The rate of demand for Floating Production Storage and Offloading Facilities (FPSOs) in the offshore frontier areas where hydrocarbon production and pipeline infrastructure is absent continues to increase rapidly due to growing worldwide energy requirements coupled with insufficient supplies. This demand has translated into major shipyard conversion programs of tanker vessels into FPSOs to offset the twin challenges of bridging the absence of oilfield infrastructure and the shortfall in hydrocarbon supply.
The number of marine shipyard tanker conversions has grown threefold between 2005 and 2008. The growing complexity of FPSO conversions has resulted in the majority of conversions being well over planned budget and taking substantially longer time to complete than estimated. Due to different stakeholders, variable drivers and dynamics in the industry, finding a common instant fix solution to this problem has remained elusive.
This study examines the underlying reasons contributing to the poor performance of these expensive conversion projects and attempts to determine the critical success factors that impact on budget and time to completion. The study investigates and analyses feedback from a variety of stakeholders that actively influence project performance.
Exploratory research methodology is adopted to answer this research problem using qualitative and quantitative processes. The methodology employed uses a structured process of focus groups, face to face interviews, and survey instruments. The study examines data from a variety of sources to identify the critical success factors, and an order of importance of these critical success factors. Attempts have been made to identify new techniques that positively affect project management methodologies and investigate new knowledge derived from the study that could influence future performance.
The study findings identify and rank the major critical success factors and critically analyses them. The study also contributes to the body of knowledge by stressing the importance of project and interface management as key management tools in improving project performance by optimising communication between internal and external stakeholders. It also proposes further investigation into utilisation of the safety case regime and total cost of ownership concepts as added tools. The study will identify an improved project management model for conversions for the offshore oil and gas industry.
Based on the findings this study provides recommendations and guidelines for policy and best practices to industry practitioners in the conversion industry to improve project service delivery and management performance.


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Asia's largest toy & baby products fair to open on October 14th in Shanghai with record number of exhibitors
2014 China Toy Expo and China Kids Expo, the largest toy and bay products fair in Asia by exhibition space, will open its doors from October 14-16, with 120,000sqm exhibition space and 1,364 global exhibitors taking part, up 24% compared with last year. It is expected that over 80,000 visitors from China and worldwide will participate the shows this year.
«Although the exhibition space has been sold out early September, we are still receiving many requests and interests to participate the show both from domestic and international companies" said May Liang, Executive Vice President of China Toy & Juvenile Products Association (CTJPA). «I am also pleased to release that show visitor pre-registrations from Chinese mainland and overseas has increased by 72% and 149% respectively. The ever-increasing participations well proved not only the toy and baby products markets are fast growing, but also the effectiveness of the trade platform are recognized by more people. "
Export-ready manufacturers reach new high, ready to enhance cooperation with overseas buyers
As the shows' international influence and overseas visitors increase rapidly year on year, export-ready Chinese manufacturers for exhibiting have seen a huge growth. Among the new exhibitors this year, 90% of them are Chinese manufacturers. Totally 87% of the Chinese exhibitors are export-ready in 2014. These manufacturers, big or small, take international orders, and have high reliability and capability for product innovation and quality control to satisfy global buyers various demands.
Production regions make joint participation
Nearly 20 production regions such as Chenghai, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Shenzhen, Jinjiang in South China, Kunshan, Ningbo, Pinghu, Cixi, Baoying, Yongjia and Yunhe in East China, Pingxiang, Gaomi and Qingdao in North China etc will organize local toy and baby products factories to showcase their latest products, including plush toys, plastic & remote control toys, wooden toys, preschool and playground equipment, strollers, baby ride-ons and more.
Not only the leading manufacturers from these production regions exhibit regularly on the show, but also the small and medium sized quality factories will make the joint participation. And more importantly, many of them are new exhibitors and have never exhibited in any other trade events before. It is the only show in China where you can meet all.
Strollers and car seat continue to be the key strength, cribs/baby furniture and feeding products make breakthrough
Co-hosted by CTJPA and Koelnmesse, China Kids Expo continues to maintain its strength on strollers and car seat, once again saw over 50% growth in these exhibitors and hosting more stroller and car seat exhibitors and leading manufacturers than any other baby products fairs. Cribs/baby furniture and feeding products have made new breakthrough, respectively grew 38% and 70% in the exhibition space.
China Kids Expo will also bring buyers new experience in visiting, as exhibitors & products will be displayed by categories, where people will see exhibition halls of strollers, car seats, baby ride-ons and baby nursery products.
Pre-school supplies and playground equipment continue to feature on the show
China Toy Expo continues to launch the Preschool and Playground Equipment Hall in W3 to accommodate almost 200 factories for pre-school teaching aids, learning toys, board games, school furniture and playground equipment.
Exhibitors of playground equipment are mostly from Yongjia and Baoying County in East China of Zhejiang and Jiangsu province respectively, the top two production regions for pre-school supplies and playground equipment in China. It is the only show in the world where the two production regions will make joint appearances, of which the number of Chinese playground equipment factories represented is largest compared other fairs worldwide, allowing worldwide visitors to meet them all and satisfy different buyers' needs.
International brands grow 32%, the ideal platform to expand business in China
Over 300 international toy and baby products brands from more than 30 countries and regions will be exhibiting at the shows 2014, specially the China Kids Expo. Apart from regular-exhibiting baby products brands of Barbie, LEGO, Transformers, Hot Wheels, BANDAI, Siku, Schleich, Aprica, Avent, Britax, Chicco, Combi, Maxi-cosi, Pigeon, TAKATA etc, and many other famous brands including Cybex, Richell, CAM, MAM, Recaro, Ferrari, Emmaljunga and more will participate in the show for the first time.
Also the German pavilion will first appear on 2014 China Kids Expo where a group of best-quality German brands and products will be exhibited.
Pre-registered overseas buyers increase by 149%
Till the mid of September, the pre-registered overseas visitors of the shows has increased by 149%, significantly for East European and South American countries, such as Russia, Brazil, Poland, and Australia, UK etc. Local toy and baby products importers, distributors and large retailers have registered and are expected to attend 2014 shows, including Carrefour, Home Retail Group, Kmart, Toysrus, GIFI and Les Mousquetaires from France, El Corte Ingles from Spain, Ost-com from Russia, Metr Plus from Ukraine, Marko from Poland, Nishimatsuya from Japan etc.
For more information of the shows, please visit the website www.china-toy-expo.com or www.china-kids-expo.com or contact Kent Luo by email firstname.lastname@example.com for your enquires.
About China Toy & Juvenile Products Association (CTJPA)
CTJPA is the not-for-profit trade association representing the interests of Chinese toy and juvenile products industry. CTJPA is the only official representative in ICTI appointed by Chinese government and the governance board member of ICTI Care Process. The government, the trade, the media and consumers recognize CTJPA as the authoritative voice of industry. CTJPA was founded in 1986 as the China Toy Association. Total registered members are over 5,000.


text: the.. hunter's Blog gosshawk out of action my immature mate goss has damidged his leg and he had to go to the vets. reluctantly i then had to hand over £102 for a 10 day corse of antibiotic and anti inflamitry. he will be out of action for two weeks just as he started to catch game and rabbit on a regular basis. sods law i surpose. fortunatly i have 5 more birds to occupy me wich is a good consilation i surpose. cant wait to get him back into the swing of things. hes only been off for two days and im missing it allready hence why i have desided to make a blog as i have alittle more time than usual . will keep you posted on how it heels. the.. hunter October 2, 2012 0


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Symptom Checker
Step 4: Read and complete the decision guide to learn more about your symptoms.
Sometimes people are distressed to find out that their symptoms do not fit into a typical pattern.
Being described as "atypical," however, is usually not bad news. In a sense, each of us is atypical. No two forms of depression are alike.
Instead of being concerned about "diagnosing" depression, it may be better to think instead about being alert to mood problems and getting them evaluated by a trained professional. The different diagnostic categories give you and your healthcare provider a framework for evaluating the problems you have.
In fact, most people don't fit perfectly into one specific category. Over time, the goal is to gradually define your specific problems and to carefully review treatment options, understanding the advantages and disadvantages of each. All the while, it's good to keep an open mind, trying different approaches until you figure out what works best.
Sometimes a depression is called "atypical" because another illness is more significant: another psychiatric illness (for example, an eating disorder or anxiety disorder); a problem with substance use or abuse; a medical illness (like an underactive thyroid gland); or a medication effect (for example, a side effect of prednisone). Thus, it always remains important to pay attention to your general health rather than thinking about mental health in isolation.
Please provide feedback to help us improve the Drugs.com Symptom Checker.
- General Health
See also
- Anxiety
- Blacking Out, Fainting, or Loss of Consciousness
- Blood Magnesium Test
- Daytime Drowsiness
- Depression
- Diffuse Muscle Weakness
- Diffuse Pain
- Fever in Adults
- Forgetfulness Memory Loss
- Gout
- Helping Dry Skin
- Hot Flashes
- Imbalance
- Insomnia
- Itching Without Rash
- Jaundice in Adults
- Numbness or Tingling
- Positive ANA
- Positive Rheumatoid Factor
- Raynaud's
- Unexplained Weight Gain
- Unintentional Weight Loss
- Start over
Disclaimer: This content should not be considered complete and should not be used in place of a call or visit to a health professional. Use of this content is subject to specific Terms of Use & Medical Disclaimers.


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Save on XINDA products at Nizaza Inal. Hurry! Limited time offers. Offers valid only while supplies last.
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From the daily archives: Saturday, October 22, 2016
Bad News On Job Losses Rains On Kasich's Sunny Assessment
On October 22, 2016 By John Michael Spinelli
New estimates of Ohio employment for September 2016, released Friday by the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services, rained on previous sunny assessments given by lame-duck, term-limited Gov. John Kasich.
Analysts who have combed through the data note that the new figures are considerably different and far more accurate than similar figures in reports released during all of 2015, because revisions impact both seasonally adjusted and not seasonally adjusted monthly data for the last nine years in Ohio.
Downward Revisions Not So Sunny For Kasich
Upward revisions to prior 2015 months were excessively large, according to George Zeller, […]Full Story... →


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No public relations campaign is the same in the digital and information age. From market research surveys to satellite media tours - all client demands are different. Let's talk so we can collaborate to create a customized solution!
700 SE 5th Street, Suite 38
Bentonville, AR 72712
Liz LaBrasca
VP, Creative Client Solutions
+1 (312) 330-5844
Mary del Castillo
SVP, Creative Client Solutions
+1 (202) 255-6472
Javier Robles
VP, Executive Producer
+1 (407) 885-7018
When You Need Us Working, We are...
Monday - Sunday


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Learning does not have to be dry and boring! Interactive lessons using a variety of text and living books, videos, hands-on projects, games, worksheets, mini-books and lapbooks, online flash materials, webquests, and more involving all of the senses to create multi-curricular unit studies help students to learn and remember important concepts.
Powered by


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Preserving the Past – Before computers and advanced technology, it was the patternmaker who created the basis for our molds. In the past, patterns were created using hard woods such as teak and mahogany; some of those forms are still in use. Our patternmakers take two-dimensional drawings and transform them into three-dimensional forms.
The Old-Fashioned Way
At Maddox, we have the experience and expertise to help our customers with refurbishing and restoration projects.
Computer Assisted Design
Using computer-assisted design, we can accurately replicate a worn or broken part.
Wood or Styrofoam?
In the past, patterns were made from hard woods such as teak and mahogany. Today, Maddox uses a more environmentally-sensitive alternative of pine and styrofoam.
Vintage Patterns
We have many designs and patterns – many of them dating back to the early days of the company - that's more than 104 years ago! And if we don't have the right pattern – we'll make one!
Replicating and Creating
Whether by hand or using computer-assisted design, Maddox has the experience and expertise to replicate and create custom products.


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Quickstart with Docker
- Working recent version of Docker (1.12 and up recommended)
Starting a local node
Start a local node with the command
docker run -d --name antidote -p "8087:8087" antidotedb/antidote
This should fetch the Antidote image automatically. For updating to the latest version use the command
docker pull antidotedb/antidote.
Wait until Antidote is ready. The current log can be inspected with
docker logs antidote.
Wait until the log message
Application antidote started on node 'firstname.lastname@example.com' appears.
Antidote should now be running on port 8087 on localhost.
Building Antidote releases
- An UNIX-like OS
- Erlang 18.3 or later
Getting Antidote
The source code is available open-source at Github.
You can clone it to your machine via
git clone firstname.lastname@example.com:SyncFree/antidote.git
Building a single node cluster
Antidote uses rebar3 for building releases.
make rel
Rebar3 will now pull all the dependencies it needs from Github, and build the application, and make an Erlang "release" of a single node. If all went well (if it didn't, contact us at firstname.lastname@example.com), then you should be able to start a node:
15:55:05:antidote $ make console
Eshell V5.10.3 (abort with ^G)
Ctrl-g and
q to quit the shell and stop the node.
Reading from and writing to a CRDT object stored in antidote:
Antidote can store and manage different crdts. Here we see how to update and read a counter.
Start a node (if you haven't done it yet):
make console
Perform a write operation (example):
CounterObj = {my_counter, antidote_crdt_counter_pn, my_bucket}.
{ok, TxId} = antidote:start_transaction(ignore, []).
ok = antidote:update_objects([{CounterObj, increment, 1}], TxId).
{ok, _CommitTime} = antidote:commit_transaction(TxId).
You can also update objects with a single call as follows:
CounterObj = {my_counter, antidote_crdt_counter_pn, my_bucket}.
{ok, _CommitTime} = antidote:update_objects(ignore, [], [{CounterObj, increment, 1}]).
Perform a read operation (example):
CounterObj = {my_counter, antidote_crdt_counter_pn, my_bucket}.
{ok, TxId} = antidote:start_transaction(ignore, []).
{ok, [CounterVal]} = antidote:read_objects([CounterObj], TxId).
{ok, _CommitTime3} = antidote:commit_transaction(TxId).
Or in a single call:
CounterObj = {my_counter, antidote_crdt_counter_pn, my_bucket}.
{ok, Res, _CommitTime} = antidote:read_objects(ignore, [], [CounterObj]).
[CounterVal] = Res.
More about the API is described here.
Running Tests
Run all tests
make systests
Running specific tests
Tests are located in $ANTIDOTE/test/
make systests SUITE=xxx_SUITE


text:
BioCity's new Discovery building was unveiled a few days ago, with a unique solar installation, titled Corona, designed by Nottingham artist Wolfgang Buttress in partnership with Nottingham Trent University physicist Dr Martin Bencsik. Fibre-optic lights and aluminum tubes use real-time solar data from NASA, creating a light display which is always unique.
My 360 video with spatial audio:
360 still images:


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Walgreens Baby Clearance
Walgreens has a lot of their baby items on clearance. It varies by store. I read about these deals on other blogs and decided to check them out for myself.
I bought two Pampers Easy Ups on clearance for $3.29 each and used two $2.00 off coupons making them $1.29 each. Since I bought two packages, I got $3.00 in register rewards to use towards my next purchase. (The register reward is a special deal this week on pampers.) This is like getting the pampers for free and making a little money on them. I only saw Easy Ups marked down this much.
I bought six bottles of Yes to Baby Carrots shampoo & body wash and two tubes of Yes to Baby Carrots baby lotion marked down from $7.99 to $2.19 each. At this price I decided to stock up. We use a lot of baby wash. Plus these will make nice additions to baby gifts.
I bought a package of 2 MAM infant pacifiers for $3.89. I bought a Tyklight Glomate Jr nightlight toy marked down from $14.99 to $3.79 and two Gerber 4 oz. juices for 32 cents each.
There are lots of products on clearance throughout the store. Dawn dish liquid (10.3 oz) is on sale this week for 99 cents. Use the 50 cents off coupon from Sunday's paper and get it for 49 cents. I also bought a 2-box bonus package of Mrs. Fields Cookies for $2.49 and two small boxes of Cream of Wheat for 50 cents each.
Leave a Reply.
Welcome to Home Ec @ Home
Hi, I'm Faith, a former Family and Consumer Science (Home Economics) Teacher turned work at home Mom, bringing you family friendly, homemade recipes and homemaking tips to simplify your life. Join me on my homemaking and mothering journey.
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Description: Baiyun Guan was originally built in a different location in 1863; in 2004, it was moved to its present location. The temple is one of only two Taoist temples in China (the other is in Beijing) to possess the pr...
Address:8, 100 Nong, Xilin Houlu (Back Street), Laoximen, Huangpu District, ...
Description: Pan Yunduan ordered this Buddhist temple built in honor of his mother in 1600. It was almost completely destroyed during the Cultural Revolution, but, in 1989, restoration finally began, culminating in its rece...
Address:29 Chenxiangge Lu, Huangpu District, Shanghai
Description: In ancient times, every Chinese city had a ''Temple of the Town God'', the central shrine for Taoist worship. Shanghai's version dates to 1403, though the name itself dates back only to 1929. During the Cultura...
Address:249 Fangbang Zhonglu,Huangpu District, Shanghai
Description: Once the largest church in Shanghai, Dongjiadu Catholic Church was established in 1853. The Spanish Baroque style church has arched roofs, thick pillars, and lotus-shaped bas-reliefs inside. Chinese couplets ar...
Address:185 Dongjiadu Lu, Huangpu District, Shanghai
Address:378 Fuyou Lu, near Lishui Lu, Huangpu District, Shanghai
Completed in 1869, Holy Trinity Church is the oldest, largest, and most elegant Anglican church in Shanghai. Locals refer to it as the ''Red Church'' because of its red brick walls....
Address:Jiujiang Lu, Huangpu District, Shanghai
Description: Although not as old as many Chinese shrines, Jing An Si, the Temple of Tranquility, can boast the longest history of any religious structure in the city of Shanghai. Housed in the temple are a Ming Dynasty copp...
Address:1686 Nanjing Xilu, Jing'an District, Shanghai
Description: Longhua is one of the earliest and largest religious shrines in Shanghai. You can climb the bell tower and beat the ancient bronze bell on New Year's Eve - the echoes are guaranteed to bring you peace and happi...
Address:2853 Longhua Lu, Xuhui District, Shanghai
This mosque adheres to West Asian Islamic style and was where the Shanghai Muslim Association was founded....
Address:52 Xiaotaoyuan Jie,Fuxing Donglu, Huangpu District, Shanghai
Description: Formerly known as the Moore Church, Mu'en Tang was established by American missionaries in 1887. In 1931, it underwent expansion to accommodate up to 1000 worshipers. Originally, it was a Methodist Church, but ...
Address:316 Xizang Zhonglu, Huangpu District, Shanghai
Description: One of the earliest Taoist temples in Shanghai, Qin Ci Yang Dian was established by the Dongwu leader Sunqun during the Three Kingdoms Dynasty. Many pilgrims come to worship in the third, fourth, seventh and ni...
Address:476 Yuanshen Lu, Pudong New District, Shanghai
The Buddhist Lodge was established in 1919; it comprises a lower-storey worshipping hall and an upstairs ''Rites Hall.'' There are religious activities on the 8th day and 23rd day of each month....
Address:418 Changde Lu, Putuo District, Shanghai
Description: Established in 1871, this European style church was constructed by French Catholic missionaries. It is located approximately 40-minutes from the city center in Songjian County, and serves as a important place o...
Address:Beishe Mountain, Songjiang City, Songjiang District, Shanghai
Songjian is one of the oldest Mosques in Shanghai, boasting well-preserved Islamic architecture built during the Yuan and Ming dynasties....
Address:21 Gangbeng Xiang, Songjiang Town, Songjiang District, Shanghai
Description: St Joseph's Catholic Church, founded in 1860, is a Gothic structure built of red brick. On the roof are four 3-m tall bell towers surrounding a 5-m high steeple with beautiful stained-glass windows and shutters...
Address:36 Sichuan Nanlu, Huangpu District, Shanghai
Description: English Saturday 5pm, Sunday 11am (check for updates at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ShanghaiInternationalCatholics-SPICES/) German 1st and 3rd Sundays at 3pm (but check for updates at http://www.dcgs.net/html...
Address:3/F 270 Chongqing Nanlu, Luwan District, Shanghai
Description: After four years of construction (1906-11), this Neo-Romanesque style church was opened to the public. Situated in the southern part of Shanghai, Xuiahui district, it is one of the largest local Catholic church...
Address:158 Puxi Lu, Xuhui District, Shanghai
Description: Yu Fo Temple, Jade Buddha Temple, an active Zen Buddhist monastery, is the most famous Buddhist temple in Shanghai. The temple houses two beautiful white jade Buddhas, one sitting and one reclining, impressivel...
Address:170 Anyuan Lu, Putuo District, Shanghai
In 1934, Master Yuanying, the first president of the Chinese Buddhist Association of Shanghai, established Yuanming Buddhist Rites Hall....
Address:434 Yan' an Xilu, Jing'an District, Shanghai
Description: Zhenru Temple, one of the four ancient Buddha temples of Shanghai, is located in Zhenru Town of Putuo District. It was established during the Southern Song Dynasty as "Wanshou (Longevity) Temple" and renamed Zh...
Address:5 Houshanmen, Zhenru Town, Putuo District, Shanghai
Aug 15 Shanghai Other Teaching/Training
Aug 14 Shanghai English Teaching
Aug 16 Shanghai English Teaching
Aug 15 Shanghai English Teaching
Aug 13 Beijing English Teaching
Aug 14 Hangzhou Other Teaching/Training
Aug 06 Shanghai Translation/Proofreading


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|Taking the 2012 Polar Bear Challenge.
ALEXANDRIA, VA. - When my daughter-in-law Sarah challenged me last April to the 16th annual MSP Polar Bear Plunge to raise money for Maryland's Special Olympics program, it seemed like a good idea at the time. Then, the closer it got to the January 28 plunge date, the worse the idea got.
|Sarah and me pre-plunge. Note the fleeces
and sweaters.
It wasn't the flying leap into the Chesapeake Bay in the middle of winter that bothered me as much as what expletive would fly out of my mouth once I surfaced. While Sarah wanted to bring her two babies, my grandkids, along to share this family bonding event, I was pretty sure that one loud f-bomb from me would ban me from grandma-hood.
Two days before the plunge, when I finally read the rules, I saw that we were not allowed to dive. We were to wade into the water from the shore, and ankle deep was good enough for the MSP organizers. It was good enough for me too.
Second, the event, now in its sixteen year, had grown so big that we were shuttled to Sandy Point Beach from the parking lot of the Naval Academy football stadium-a 30 minute drive. Not the ideal situation for a baby and a toddler, so the grandkids stayed home with dad.
Family crisis averted.
|Sandy Point Beach before the plunge.
When we arrived at Sandy Point–Sarah, me and my husband Mike, playing both photographer and pack mule-we ran into over 64,000 of our closest friends – some of the 14,000 plungers were already showing off in bikinis and shorts (no Speedos, thankfully) in the 50-degree weather, while their posses of 50,000 huddled in fleeces. (For the record, the water was 40 degrees. Last year's combined water/land temperature was 69 degrees, so this day was balmy by comparison).
Still, brrr.
What a block party it was–a cross between a state fair and a carnival. It is, I'm told, the biggest Special Olympics fundraiser in the country (almost $2.2 million raised last time I checked their site) and Sarah and I had both contributed our $50 entry fee. After check-in and receiving our Polar Bear sweatshirt (OK, now we had to do this) we ran into a wall of pizza, funnel cake and hot dog vendors.
Did the 20 minute wait-before-swimming rule apply here?
|Thousands of people move toward the
A band played everything from Meatloaf covers to rap, and vendors sold Smirnoff hot chocolate from inside the "adult" tent. Costumed plungers mingled among us, kids had their own game area to occupy them and military recruiters beckoned us to be the few and the proud.
The closer it got to the 1 p.m. plunge (another plunge was set for 3 p.m. This was definitely not a day of leisure) the crowds moved toward the beach and the clothes shedding began.
Being first-timers, Sarah and I decided to wait until the first wave of plungers finished and ran past us into the heated changing tent.
Thousands of almost-naked humanity lined up at the shore's edge as news helicopters hovered overhead, send currents of cold water toward the shore. The music got louder, the emcee was screaming.
Tides of people ran into the icy water, and just as quickly, ran past us back into the heated tent. The crowd thinned. It was our time.
|Sarah crossed off "polar bear plunge" from her
bucket list.
I've never stripped down to a bathing suit so fast in my life. There was maybe 30 feet of beach between us and the water and there was only one way to get through this.
I haven't sprinted since seventh grade, but it was the only way I was getting into bay. Speakers blared (what else?) Vanilla Ice's "Ice, Ice Baby" as we darted across the sand to, I was sure, death by hypothermia.
I stopped when my legs went numb, when the water was about mid-thigh. "Had enough?" I asked Sarah. Our original plan was to dunk ourselves and experience the full-body immersion. Now, standing in the almost-freezing water, that seemed like a really stupid idea.
"Yep," she said. We turned around and tried to dash out, discovering that it's much slower to run against tide than with it.
We dried off and victoriously donned our Polar Bear Plunge sweatshirts.
We did it.


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203 N Hill St, London, KY 40741
Toll Free: 877-221-4902 24hr: 606-864-7010 Local: 606-864-7010Email Us
- 203 N Hill St, London, KY 40741
UK Memory GlobeCAT1
The CELEBRATE 8 collectible, Memory Globe™ is a high-quality glass globe with intricate, hand painted, three-dimensional interiors that is customized with our Kentucky Wildcat Mascot and 8 basketballs that comes to life inside the handcrafted Memory Globe™ for a commemorative collectible that will be treasured for a lifetime. The comes gift boxed in a high gloss Kentucky Blue with a white satin lining. Limited Edition. Approx. 5 1/2H x 4W
- For U.S. and Canada deliveries only
- Delivery Information
All items featured on this site represent the types of arrangements we offer and may vary depending upon availability in certain regions. Substitution Policy


text:
more ways to contact us
Don't like filling forms?
Don't like filling forms?
Here are our contact details.
By PhoneEnquiries: 1300 312 354 Customer Service: 1300 600 664 Jobs: 1300 859 616
By EmailEnquiries: email@example.com Customer Service: firstname.lastname@example.com Employment: firstname.lastname@example.com
By PostSydney Level 8 253 Oxford St Bondi Junction NSW 2022 Melbourne Level 9 440 Collins St Melbourne VIC 3000 Brisbane Level 19 10 Eagle Street Brisbane, QLD 4000
Getting Started
Step 1:
Call us at 1300 312 354 to arrange for a trial lesson.
Step 2:
A tutor will come to your home at a time that is convenient for you, and administer a trial lesson to determine your child's strengths and weaknesses in knowledge and learning strategy. The course of the trial lesson will tell your tutor what areas your child needs help with. It will also tell you if the tutor is a good match for your child, and if not we will organise another tutor for you to try.
Step 3:
Based on the progress of your first introductory lesson, your tutor commence a tutoring program to fit your busy schedule. Your child can meet with his or her tutor as little or as often as you want.
Send us an enquiry to email@example.com


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Applications due 07/20/17
Job Description:
Lehigh University is seeking an outgoing, organized, and self-directed individual to join our Swim team as the new Assistant Coach. The Assistant Coach provides leadership and direction to all facets of the swimming and diving program. We are looking for someone who can advance the mission of the team, the University, and the Department of Athletics through strong relationship building, recruiting, and coaching efforts.
Specific areas of responsibility include (but are not limited to)
Recruiting and Outreach: Help Lehigh recruit and retain the top swimming talent from across the country. Candidates should be approachable and comfortable meeting with potential recruits and their families to identify athletic talent. Ideal candidates can foster these relationships through close communication, and careful consideration of the perspective athlete's character and willingness to play a defined role for the team. A successful candidate will cultivate strong relationships with students, families, coaches and other universities
Sport Specific Coaching Seeking an individual who can successfully guide specific strength and conditioning sessions, organize and manage swim camps/clinics, support inner-team development, plan team-building activities, and help grow student athletes both as swimmers and as individuals.
Administration and Management: Looking for a social media guru to help promote and market LU Swimming utilizing various media platforms. We are also looking for someone who can help analyze team data to help identify strengths, weaknesses, and competitiveness within the Patriot League. Lastly, this position is responsible for supervising and managing office work study students and conducting themselves and all activities within the policies and resource framework of the University, the Athletics Department, the Patriot League and the NCAA.
- Bachelor's degree
- Out-going and professional with exceptional communication skills, both written and verbal
- High degree of organization, self-reliance, initiative, and creativity
- Social media marketing and promotion expertise
- USA Swimming certification (Level 2)
- Lifeguard certification (Instructor PLUS)
- CPR certification
- Tech savvy (Google Hangout, Excel, Blackboard, HY-Tek)
Travel and hours: This position affords you the opportunity to travel extensively and often and allows for a flexible work schedule.
Lehigh offers a competitive benefits package including tuition benefits, generous vacation for a healthy work life balance, and a retirement package including a 50% match. For more information or to apply please visit: https://lehigh.hiretouch.com/position-details?jobID=41301&job=assistant-coach-swimming
Lehigh University is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of age, color, disability, gender, gender identity, genetic information, marital status, national or ethnic origin, race, religion, sexual orientation, or veteran status. Lehigh University provides comprehensive benefits including partner benefits.
Apply Here
How to Apply
Apply Online


text:
Hazard Mitigation Planning
The Colville Tribes have received a FEMA grant to prepare a Hazard Mitigation Plan for the Reservation. This planning effort has three goals:
- Identify natural and technology-based hazards/threats to the health and safety, cultural heritage, and property of members and residents;
- Identify ways to minimize those risks; and
- Make the Confederated Tribes eligible for pre-disaster mitigation grants, which are only available once a Hazard Mitigation Plan (HMP) has been completed and accepted by FEMA.
The planning effort will kick off with a meeting at the Lucy Covington Government Center on Wednesday, November 9th, beginning at 1 p.m. in the events center. All are welcome to participate in the initial scoping meeting. For those who cannot come to this kick-off meeting, individual sessions will be scheduled within each district during November to make sure that everyone has a chance to be heard.
A survey form will be available at the meetings to help the planning effort. It can be handed in at any of the meetings or sessions, or can be faxed or e-mailed to the coordinator.
The draft HMP is expected to be ready for public comment by April 2017. After comments are received and revisions made, the plan will be forwarded to FEMA by August 2017.
For further information, please contact the coordinator for this project, Randy August, at firstname.lastname@example.com or by phone at (509)634-2134.
The managers responsible for this project can be reached at the e-mail addresses below:
Larry Robinette
Public Safety Director
Del Ostenberg
Commander, Emergency Management Services/Fire/Rescue


text:
Nora Armchair
£ 209.99
The Nora Armchair boasts generously foam filled cushioning and a sprung seat which will provide you with a comfortable space for you to relax on at home. The sturdy wooden legs mean the Nora is just as robust as it is comfortable.About This BrandLeader Lifestyle design and manufacture high quality, designer furniture at affordable prices. You will be spoilt for choice with a huge range of products on offer from Leader Lifestyle, which includes sofas, armchairs, sofa beds, multi-functional furniture and home accessories. With a focus on versatile styles to suit all living areas, you are sure to find your perfect piece of furniture from leader Lifestyle.


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Fable Anniversary Review (Xbox 360)
Thu, 3 Apr 2014, 10:10 am
by Ashley Underwood, Do Gaming journalist
Tags: Fable, Fable Anniversary, Lionhead Studios
Fable Anniversary is an HD remake of the well-liked Fable: The Lost Chapters. Although Fable: The Lost Chapters was not the first Fable game released, it is an extended version of Fable, which was released in September 2005. This was a year after the original release of Fable on the Xbox 360.
I started out with Fable: The Lost Chapters on PC and absolutely loved it. It was one of the few games I have actually finished multiple times and from there I was hooked. I enjoyed Fable II and when I found out Fable III had a multiplayer aspect, I was over the moon. My brother and I sat for hours figuring out the best ways to play the game. When I look back at Fable: The Lost Chapters now, I feel a little disappointed as it just seems old and clunky. Fable Anniversary has revitalised the love I have for the series.
Unfortunately, as with most games there are a few bugs and glitches, Fable Anniversary is no exception. Within the first few minutes of gameplay I experienced a bug where talking to people would make the camera either zoom in on your shoes or on your back, completely blocking out the other character. This doesn't completely break the game, but it is a little on the annoying side.
There is a feature, Xbox 360 SmartGlass, that allows you to link up to your game through your phone, iPad or Tab but I found that it was not needed and a little bit of a waste of time considering what it could do. All it really does is help you to find Demon Doors, which you can already find on the map, and treasures that were otherwise not shown.
Score: 8 / 10
Copyright © 2008-2018 do Broadband. Powered by Gaming League Enterprises engine. Terms of Use. All Rights Reserved.


text:
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DLD News
Risky Forecast
Jeanny Gering
Glaciers are loud. Deep layers of ice crackle and scrunch as the ice shifts under its own pressure, but the monumental sounds of freezing terrains are falling more and more silent. Globally rising ...
This Exquisite Forest
Lukas Kubina
In the early 20th century, the French surrealists invented a parlor game they called the Exquisite Corpse. Write down a word, fold the paper and hand it to someone else, who writes the next word, ...
China's Winds of Change
Jeanny Gering
Beijing, one of the largest cities in the world's most populated country, is waiting for wind. Pollution levels have risen beyond the scale that measures the fine dust particles in the atmosphere. ...
Patterns in Geo-Politics
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When the best performer in a market is able to capture a very large share of the rewards, and the remaining competitors are left with very little, it's called a winner-take-all market. Dambisa ...
Transforming the Classroom
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Esther Wojcicki, known as "Woj" to her students, has never been interested in convention. So, when she left a career in newspapers to teach journalism at California's Palo Alto High School in ...
A More Accessible World
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Social entrepreneur Raul Krauthausen is launching a new project which wants to bring a-thousand-and-one wheelchair ramps to public places across Germany. Often a small staircase, with only a step ...
Higher Education All Round
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Imagine if higher education was instantly attainable to anyone, anywhere in the world, and economics and societal constraints were no longer a barrier. That future is already here, thanks to the ...
Women on Boards
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The African Geek Girl
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Refering to herself as 'African geek girl', Juliana Rotich is an ICT evangelist and advocates its impact across the continent. She has just moved back to Nairobi and her tireless work towards ...
A Social Platform For Brands
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This article is one of 12 appearing in a DLD Informilo special edition print magazine that was distributed at the DLD conference in Moscow May 28-29, 2012. When you're put on hold at Backplane, ...


text:
Year of the Dog Trailer (2007)
"Has the world left you a stray?" 13 April 2007 Drama, Comedy, Romance 97 mins
A secretary's life changes in unexpected ways after her dog dies.
Watch the official Year of the Dog 2007 trailer in HD below or find more Year of the Dog videos on Vidimovie.


text:
Scientists at the University of California - San Diego School of Medicine and Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences have released findings about how the body's immune system counteracts anthrax attacks.
The anthrax bacterium can often begin a deadly response that invades immune cells called macrophages and releases potent toxins to paralyze important biochemical pathways and cause rapid cell death. If unchecked, the process can lead to a complete collapse of the body's immune defenses and eventually septic shock and high mortality.
The researchers found that once macrophages are impacted, they communicate with other immune cells to sound the alarm and develop a survival strategy. The signaling molecule in the survival response is adenosine triphosphate, the basic currency of energy transfer used by all organisms.
"The warning alarm sounded during anthrax infection is elegant, complex and can be effective in slowing spread of the pathogen," Michael Karin, a professor of pharmacology and the senior author of the study, said.
Once the infected macrophage's warning signal is sensed on a second macrophage, the second macrophage assembles and activates a complex of molecules called the inflammasome. The inflammasome releases the immune-activating molecule called interleukin-1beta, which alerts other macrophages to mobilize and increase resistance to anthrax-induced cell death.
The researchers found that if they altered the ATP channel, the ATP receptor, inflammasome proteins or the IL-1beta molecule, the macrophages could not survive, anthrax bacteria grew unchecked or the infected mouse died rapidly. This particular immune response pathway only occurred with the most dangerous bacterial pathogens.
"We hope these findings can be exploited for the design of new treatments to help the body combat serious bacterial pathogens," Victor Nizet, a professor of pediatrics and pharmacy and a contributor to the study, said. "Supporting the survival of macrophages and preserving their immune function may buy patients precious time until antibiotic therapy is brought on board to clear the infection."
Scientists determine how the body counteracts anthrax attacks
Scientists at the University of California - San Diego School of Medicine and Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences have released findings about how the body's immune system counteracts anthrax attacks.


text: Why Do I Need A Supply Chain Management Company? IMS Blog Integrated Merchandising Systems, LLC Jul 01 2015 To self admittedly steal fabulous verbiage from the University of San Francisco's Supply Chain Program, Supply Chain Management (SCM) is an essential element to operational efficiency. SCM can be applied to customer satisfaction and company success, as well as within societal settings, including medical missions; disaster relief operations and other kinds of emergencies; cultural evolution; and it can help improve quality of life. The world is one big supply chain. Supply chain management touches major issues, including the rapid growth of multinational corporations and strategic partnerships; global expansion and sourcing; fluctuating gas prices and environmental concerns, each of these issues dramatically affects corporate strategy and bottom line. Because of these emerging trends, supply chain management is the most critical business discipline in the world today.Some of the benefits include: Boosts Customer Service: SCM impacts customer service by making sure the right product assortment and quantity are delivered in a timely fashion. Additionally, those products must be available in the location that customers expect. Customers should also receive quality after-sale customer support. Improves Bottom Line: SCM has a tremendous impact on the bottom line. Firms value supply chain managers because they decrease the use of large fixed assets such as plants, warehouses and transportation vehicles in the supply chain. Also, cash flow is increased because if delivery of the product can be expedited, profits will also be received quickly. Supply chain management helps streamline everything from day-to-day product flows to unexpected natural disasters.


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Predicting the Fate of Personalized Cells Next Step toward New Therapies
Thursday, 19 May 2011
Kenneth S. Zaret, PhD.
In the past, researchers grew progenitor cells and waited to see what they differentiated into. Now, they aim to use this marker system, outside of a cell's DNA and genes, to predict the eventual fate. This extra-DNA system of gene expression control is called epigenetics.
"We were surprised that there's a difference in the epigenetic marks in the process for liver versus pancreas before the cell-fate 'decision' is made." says Zaret.
"This suggests that we could manipulate the marks to influence fate or look at marks to better guess the fate of cells early in the differentiation process."
"How cells become committed to particular fates is a fundamental question in developmental biology," said Susan Haynes, PhD, program director in the Division of Genetics and Developmental Biology at the National Institutes of Health, which funds this line of research.
"This work provides important new insights into the early steps of this process and suggests new approaches for controlling stem-cell fate in regenerative medicine therapies."
A Guiding Path
How the developing embryo starts to apportion different functions to different cell types is a key question for developmental biology and regenerative medicine. Guidance along the correct path is provided by regulatory proteins that attach to chromosomes, marking part of the genome to be turned on or off. But first the two meters of tightly coiled DNA inside the nucleus of every cell must be loosened a bit. Regulatory proteins help with this, exposing a small domain near the target gene.
Earliest cells that form the liver (blue)
emerging from progenitor cells (yellow)
in the early embryo (green). Credit: Ken
Zaret, PhD, Perelman School of Medicine
at the University of Pennsylvania.
Zaret likens the complexity of this system to the 26-letter alphabet being able to encode Shakespeare or a menu at a restaurant. Many investigators are now trying to broadly reprogram cells into desired cell fates for potential therapeutic uses.
The researchers had previously shown that a particular growth factor that attaches to the cell surface, gives a specific chemical signal for cell-type fate, promoting development along the liver-cell path and suppressing development along the pancreas-cell path. Liver and pancreas cells originate from a common progenitor cell type.
Zaret's group figured out which enzymes — called histone acetyl transferases or methyl transferases (that add methyl groups or acetyl groups to histones) are relevant to the pancreas arm of the liver-pancreas fate decision. They used mice in which they knocked out the function for one enzyme type versus the other to induce the development of fewer liver cells and more pancreas cells.
The transferases mark genes for liver and pancreas fates differently before a cell moves into the next intermediate type along the way to becoming a mature liver or pancreas cell.
Investigators want to make embryonic stem cells for liver or pancreatic beta cells for therapies and research. To do this, they mimic the embryonic developmental steps to proceed from an embryonic stem cell to a mature cell, but have no way of knowing if they are on the right track. The hope is that the findings from this study can be applied to assess the epigenetic state of intermediate progenitor cells.
"By better understanding how a cell is normally programmed we will eventually be able to properly reprogram other cells," notes Zaret. In the near term, the team also aims to generate liver and pancreas cells for research and to screen drugs that repair defects or facilitate cell growth.
With regenerated cells, researchers hope to one day fill the acute shortage in pancreatic and liver tissue available for transplantation in cases of type I diabetes and acute liver failure.
Source: University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
Contact: Karen Kreeger
Chromatin "Prepattern" and Histone Modifiers in a Fate Choice for Liver and Pancreas
Cheng-Ran Xu, Philip A. Cole, David J. Meyers, Jay Kormish, Sharon Dent, and Kenneth S. Zaret
Science 20 May 2011, Vol. 332 no. 6032 pp. 963-966, DOI: 10.1126/science.1202845
For more on stem cells and cloning, go to CellNEWS at


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With the added tool of Kanban Boards you can now understand where your to-dos are in your workflow and prioritize all your To-dos with all your To-do lists. Move to-dos between pipelines and prioritize them in each pipeline. This helps employees understand what to work on and helps you understand the status of a to-do.
Now you can add labels to your to-dos to give greater visibility as to what type of to-dos you have. With the ability to categorize them it's easier to prioritze and understand what to-dos to work on.
Turn on or off tracked Kanban Boards per project to avoid cluttering your Basecamp account. Only use them when you need them.
This is an extension that works for Basecamp 3 with the Chrome browser only.
It's technically impossible to work with the Basecamp app version. Feel free to write in
if you are looking for any feature in particular or if have any questions!


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Health, hygiene and smells
Tips on avoiding smells:
- Recycle food waste weekly in your caddy (you can line your caddy with a plastic bag)
- Rinse out plastic bottles and tins before putting them in your recycling bin.
- Put your loose refuse in carrier bags and double bag nappies (consider using washable nappies).
- Don't leave food exposed in the kitchen where flies can make contact.
- Keep the lids of the wheelie bins and the food waste caddies closed at all times.
- Wash the bins and caddies after they are emptied.
Page owner: Carolyn Jarvis-Grogan. Last updated: 13/03/2018 13:32


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The Galleria in Uptown is one of the largest and best shopping malls in Texas. This magnificent 2.4 million square foot complex provides more than 400 shopping venues. It also houses multiple restaurants, hotels and office towers. The complex has stood for 40 years, and a large remodeling project is planned to take place over the next several years.
The redesign is meant to make the Galleria stand out against its more upscale competitors, and the plans will provide a unique luxury shopping experience. In addition to providing more sales room to luxury boutique owners, the new development will add enhanced accessibility for shoppers and easy access for nearby residents.
Details On The Galleria Redesign Project:
The current Galleria III wing will be torn down and replaced with a 198,000 square foot Saks Fifth Avenue, which is scheduled to open in 2015. The current Saks location will be broken up into 35 smaller boutique stores. Additionally, a multi-tenant building will be raised to provide more space for boutiques. This will provide boutiques like Cartier and Chanel with a prime location that can be entered from outside, rather than inside the mall. As shoppers move toward a preference for outdoor shopping complexes, the Galleria is prepared to meet that demand. In order to support the changes and create a better customer experience, the Galleria is also expanding its parking garage as well as providing substantial interior and exterior renovations to enhance the building's appearance and functionality. Finally, the Simon Property Group, which owns the Galleria, plans to create an exclusive luxury residential complex nearby. The complex will house 300 units and rest on the corner of Sage and West Alabama. Residents of the complex will have easy access to the shopping complex through the use of an indoor walkway connecting the two buildings.
Living The Uptown Lifestyle:
Aside from the Galleria, the Uptown area is host to Houston's fashionista paradise. Anchored by Westheimer Road and Post Oak Boulevard, this neighborhood packs more than 700 upscale retailers into two square miles of city landscape. From beloved restaurant chains to small upscale boutiques, there are places to buy anything you might want in this area.
Nearby neighborhoods include Uptown Park, a classy shopping destination modeled on an Italian villa, and Highland Village, which is populated with both well-known national brands and locally owned shops. Westheimer Road is also one of the major through-streets of Houston, and it will connect you to a variety of destinations in the city.
If you're interested in shopping, dining and entertainment in Houston, there is no better place to visit than the Uptown neighborhood. Not to mention, one of our very own Amazing Lash Studio locations is located right on Westheimer Road, just down the street from the Galleria! Every women deserves a day for herself; enjoy shopping, dining, and a little pampering with some nails and lashes to finish your day off right. Our facility gives convenient access to all of the luxury shopping and entertainment opportunities throughout the neighborhood in Galleria, Houston.


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Hotel SHIPYARD BY WYNDHAM VACATION RENTALS - Hilton Head Island
Dit hotel biedt u:
Stijl en sfeer van het hotel
With its lovely villa accommodations, three golf courses and tennis club, this 800-acre gated resort community is proof that good things do come in small packages on Hilton Head Island. The villa complexes in Shipyard are surrounded by trees draped in Spanish moss, all with swimming pools and within walking distance of the Atlantic Ocean. The numerous lagoons are home to many varieties of semi-tropical birds and wildlife. At our private residential resort community, residents and visitors alike can enjoy all the amenities available over the changing seasons. Shipyard Plantation has a private beach club and reserved parking for resort guests. Bicycling is very popular in Shipyard, and there are more than twelve miles of bike paths. Many take advantage of our most prized possession- the beach. Sunshine by day and warm sea breezes in the evening beckon sun walkers to enjoy the Atlantic shoreline. Check-in is at 4 PM and check-out is at 10 AM. All ResortQuest Hilton Head guests will check-in at the ResortQuest Welcome Center at the location of 21 Pope Avenue, Executive Park Road. The lock box at the ResortQuest Hilton Head Welcome Center office on Pope Avenue is just to the right of our front door. You will be issued an entry code upon confirmation of payment. On the southern end of Hilton Head Island, amidst tall pines, rustic oaks, and tropical palms, lies an experience- Shipyard Plantation. Winding paths, lagoons and island foliage are just a few of the picturesque backgrounds awaiting visitors.
AdresKaart weergeven
10 CARNOUSTIE ROAD, 29928 Hilton Head Island, USA
- Stadtcentrum (Hilton Head Island) 3,94 km
- Luchthaven (Savannah Hilton Head International Airport (SAV)) 42,55 km
Ligging van het hotel
With 12 miles of warm, south Atlantic beaches, a welcoming climate and an historical setting, Hilton Head Island has earned its reputation as a top vacation destination. Famous for golf, tennis and beach attractions, the resort also offers cultural fare such as the Coastal Discovery Museum.
- Diners Club
- Visa
- Eurocard / Mastercard
- American Express
- Japan Credit Bureau (JCB Int'l)
Geaccepteerde betaalmiddelen
- Eigen parkeerplaats


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LYTM - LYTM Designs - Janice Holden
Janice is a designer at heart, and she loves creating fun, whimsical pieces. Her focus is on designing quilts and stylish home accessories that brighten interior spaces and become family treasures. She learned to sew as a little girl, and has been a quilter for more than 25 years. Janice loves to "paint and color with fabric" to create colorful designs. Once fine-tuned, she translates them into patterns and tutorials that inspire you to explore your creative side.
She hopes her love of painting, stained glass and fine crafts shows in her designs, which often combine applique and patchwork to tell a story.
Janice lives in beautiful Satellite Beach, on Florida's Space Coast, and she's very blessed to have a wonderful family, including a big bunch of beautiful granchildren!
Website: www.lytminc.com


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So here we are! We're two weeks into our build time and we've done it, we're live!!
I've built this blog to be really super duper when it comes to SEO which should hopefully mean that it'll be nice and easy for Google (Other Search Engines are available – "Who Cares") to be able to find us and the gadgets I'm chatting about.
I've tried to keep the categories fairly concise but hopefully in the future I'll be able to add more categories as and when the need arrises! I've also made it really easy to edit in the backend of the site so when I get some guest bloggers in they won't get too confused (I hope)!
So enjoy the journey, excuse any bugs or problems you encounter and be sure to comment your thoughts and share!


text: We'd like to offer AnyCast DNS as part of our cPanel hosting. Are there any good, affordable providers who have a cPanel plugin that interfaces with their service? So, for example, if a new client signs up for our hosting, the plugin would set up their domain with the domain provider. I know that dns.com has a beta of such a plugin, but it's not quite finished yet. Thanks, Mark


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Centennial Celebration
In 2014, the YWCA Lower Cape Fear celebrated 100 wonderful years of service to this community.
We recognize that reaching this milestone has only been achievable because of the overwhelming support of this community and we thank you.
YWCA Centennial Quick Links
Because of you the YWCA Lower Cape Fear is able to continue to provide the following at no cost:
Fluid Recovery- a water exercise program for breast cancer survivors
New Choices Program for Displaced Homemakers
"What's Wrong with Different?"
Girls Circle
Fun Swim to every after school, summer camp and preschool participant
Community Outreach Learn to Swim and Water Safety Programs
Stand Against Racism
Child Care Scholarships
Women of Achievement, Young Leaders Scholarships
Get Fit With ...
Get Help With...
Support Us...
Learn About...


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Biden Claims 'Blue Collar Workers' Love Him More Than Trump
"They call me middle-class Joe!"
That's the reason Joe Biden claims middle-class Americans like him more than President Trump.
I guess Biden thinks middle-class Americans are so stupid that they like people for nicknames, not jobs, and economic policies.
Watch the video:


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Scots Law
Ask a Scots Law Question, Get an Answer ASAP!
There should have been an apportionment of the transfer value of the pension fund to take account of the period of the marriage under The Divorce etc. (Pensions) (Scotland) Regulations 2000. If that wasn't done it is likely to be too late to change the agreement but you may have a claim against your solicitors. Happy to discuss further. I hope that helps. Please leave a positive rating so that I am credited for my time.


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Infogix offers a variety of training options for all our products.
A software solution only benefits your organization when your employees know how to use it. Have you just purchased an Infogix Enterprise Data Analysis offering? Or, are you a long-time user of Infogix solutions with a need to get your newest employees up to speed? Infogix offers a variety of training options for all of our products, and for every caliber of user.
Training Courses
Infogix instructor-led training courses are offered in the following areas:
- ACR/Detail® Basic Training
- ACR/Detail® Intermediate Training
- ACR/Detail® Mastery Training
- ACR/Summary® Basic Training
- ACR/Summary® Intermediate Training
- Assure® Basic Training
- Assure® Intermediate Training
- Assure® Advanced Training
- ER® Basic Training
- Insight® Basic Training
- Perceive® Basic Training
- Perceive Studio® Intermediate Training
Training courses are offered in two ways:
a. On-site Training
On-site training is performed at the customer site or at the Infogix Education Center in Naperville, Illinois. This is instructor-led training with many hands-on activities and interactive dialog between the students and instructor. This training is best when you initially engage on a project and need to get a team up to speed on product knowledge and use.
For more information and to schedule nn-site training, please contact us at email@example.com
b. WebEx Training
Webex training is performed remotely via a web conference call with an Infogix instructor. This training is conducted in blocks of 2-hour sessions with an instructor lecturing and demonstrating the product. Participants are then given an assignment, which they complete prior to the next day's session. Assignments are hands-on activities which allow the participant to practice what was demonstrated in the web lecture. Participants are required to register prior to the session.
Register for WebEx Training


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Logbook Servicing
Log book servicing is the specific service set down by the manufacturer for that service interval.
It is a myth that you are required to return to the dealer for servicing to retain your manufacturers new car warranty.
Servicing is not a cost, its a saving. The more regular your servicing, or better said having your service program match your driving habits, the more we will save you. Car Servicing is made simple with iCar. Whether it be our Simple Service from $155, a premium service or a manufacturers log book service. We make sure you get more value for money than with any other service centre.
Our qualified, factory trained technicians are experienced in and able to provide Log Book Servicing for Holden, Toyota, Mazda, Nissan, BMW, Kia, Daewoo,
Ford, Mitsubishi and many more.
Use iCar for your next service, you will;
- have your car serviced exactly to manufacturers specifications
- save money
- have your booked stamped and warranty intact


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V. Krishna Lakkineni
Technology Entrepreneur, Amazon Best Selling Author, Success Coach
I am a digital marketing growth hacker, Amazon bestselling author, public speaker, and CEO at ROI Media Works. Being the founder of digital marketing agency and working with more than 250+ clients, partners including some Fortune 500 companies over the last 15 years helped me understand all aspects of running a successful business. My focus is still on implementing sales & inbound marketing solutions to a number of clients while streamlining some of the processes and tweaking in the process models for optimization.
My interests range from artificial intelligence in marketing, Chatbots and Cryptocurrency to volunteering for nonprofits. I believe in sharing knowledge, love mentoring new entrepreneurs.
In 2013 I have been featured as top 100 branding experts to follow on Twitter. Currently at ~27,000 followers with a reach of ~190 million and ~10million reach on Instagram. I have used simple marketing hacks to gain this organic visibility.#marketing #entrepreneurship #businessmentoring #successcoach
Current Ventures
As a technology entrepreneur my passion is building businesses, turn the ideas into a concept and creating a sustainable businesses that makes a difference.
Don't worry about failures, worry about the chances you miss when you don't even try.
Jack Canfield, America's #1 success coach
Amazon Best Selling Co-Author
I believe in perseverance. I had an opportunity to contribute to the book "The Big Secret" along with Jack Canfield, Chicken soup for the soul series and other elite individuals.
CEO, Founder
Our content marketing agency specialized in inbound marketing, lead generation. Marketing automation is the key to business success
This is my dream project to give back to the humanity. The focus is to help children that experience poverty, war and children trafficking through education and souls nourishment.
A GOLF social platform app for finding and organizing players to play golf with. Allows users to invite players and make new friendships.
Success Coaching
Need help with your business or personal life?
Business Coaching
Not sure about where your business is heading? Need help with financial analysis, mentoring or business model?
Life Coaching
Do you feel stagnant in your life? Having trouble finding your passion? There are ways to help you move forward.
Marketing & Sales are key to any successful business. Need help with prioritizing your marketing goals, create a strategy?
Recent Blog Posts
Eleifend vel est. Donec malesuada hendrerit sollicitudin.
It's the big day! Get your bonuses TODAY! Today is the big day! Just for buying my new book today, I'll give you HUNDREDS OF DOLLARS worth of bonuses! "The ...Read More »
The desire to keep knowledge from circulating is the essence of any secret. In the case of the secret of success, entrepreneurs and forward thinkers have come around to recognizing ...Read More »
My New Book Comes Out Tomorrow! And so do your bonuses! Most everything that you want is just outside of your comfort zone. -Jack Canfield ...Read More »


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Ever since the Group of 20 decided to tackle infrastructure as part of its development agenda, in 2010, the push for increasing investment in infrastructure never ceased. Today, infrastructure finance is not only top of the agenda at the Group of 20 – where its sheer continuity would be already remarkable –, but also at public lending institutions, led by the World Bank, and at the United Nations where it is expected to feature prominently in a new financing for development deal for the post-2015 era.
Within the new infrastructure finance agenda emerging in such forums, the USD 85 that institutional investors, and in particular pension funds, are estimated to hold in savings, are seen as playing a starring role.
One could see why pension funds could welcome this move. For over two decades, the collapse of publicly-financed retirement systems, characterized by privatization or precarization of social security systems and the growing ratio of ageing citizens to working citizens, left pension funds looking for alternative investment outlets that can help them respond to the demands of their beneficiaries. The depressed-interest rate environment of the last few years has only made this need more acute.
The new infrastructure agenda posits that increasing investment in infrastructure is a logical path for plugging the financial gap pension funds face. At first sight the claim makes sense. Unmet infrastructure needs, only in the developing world, are estimated to require some additional investment of USD 1 trillion a year. Infrastructure is a long term investment, just as are the liabilities pension funds typically hold.
So this explains why pension funds are, of all institutional investors, the ones most eagerly jumping in the bandwagon of this new agenda. A 2010 survey showed some 800 investors in infrastructure funds worldwide, of which the largest shares corresponded to public and private pension funds, respectively.
But, before jumping into this bandwagon, pension funds would do well to interrogate the model further.
Infrastructure: a higher-than-average return asset class ?
A big assumption that underpins claims about the performance of infrastructure as an asset class is, of course, that it is an asset class. That, however, would call for a degree of homogeneity and standardization across infrastructure projects that hardly exists today. There are some infrastructure projects that performed well in the double-digits, for instance in the energy sector. There are others that did not. High leverage during the "Great moderation" era preceding the financial crisis is also a distorting factor. Moreover, the available information does not allow the creation of time series to make serious claims about the performance in the long term of even specific sectors.
The new infrastructure finance model shows a bias towards public-private partnerships as a preferred method of execution. What not many offers pitching infrastructure investment discuss are the enormous gaps in knowledge about the success rate of public-private partnerships.
The new model also shows a bias towards mega-size projects. Contrary to the expectation that infrastructure projects will generate the increased growth and productivity to pay their financiers, "bridges to nowhere" and other unproductive projects undertaken for political purposes tend to be the rule rather than the exception. In this context, bigger projects are better for political reasons, but carry with them bigger risks. The debt crises that followed the boom in large investment projects in the 1970s should be a reminder that ultimately, no matter how many guarantees accompany a project, investors can never be fully shielded from a mega-project that fails.
Managing risks in the long term
Looking for assets that can be held in the long term also leads to the examination of whether the assets can withstand long term risks. For instance, infrastructure projects typically rely and affect large swathes of land and create large environmental footprints. The way some asset managers are looking at infrastructure reveals that the returns are expected to come at the expense of a presumed unlimited ability by the State to raise user fees and exorbitant guarantees for risks such as inflation or lack of minimum demand, backed up by public funding. The longer the asset has to be held, the likelier that shortcuts that might make projected returns for such investments look very good are going to be challenged by the reality on the ground.
Strong environmental and social safeguards, and ensuring institutional frameworks with adequate checks and balances that ensure a fair risk- and benefit-sharing is built in contracts since the beginning, are not only important from the perspective of citizens, consumers and taxpayers in the infrastructure host countries. They are crucial protections for the retirees whose funds are at stake.
However, while this is good in theory, the way the new infrastructure agenda is being rolled out will in practice severely undercut such standards. In the name of rapidly piling up "bankable" projects, multilateral development banks are being asked to rush project preparation. This will make environmental impact assessments more of an item to check on the list than a tool for effective dialogue with affected stakeholders on ways to avoid or mitigate impacts. Requirements such as or a robust comparison with public works to ascertain private finance involvement is the best option, and shield the project from legitimate citizen questioning in the future, will become less viable. In order to reduce the risk to make projects commercially viable, countries are encouraged to maintain an "enabling business environment." Oftentimes this is code for freezing regulations needed to protect workers, regulations in the public interest or citizens' due process in taking of land or the approval of PPP contracts.
The role of asset managers
Like in any other investment, the role of financial intermediaries needs to be carefully examined. The promise of hedge funds and private equity funds was above-average returns, which justified the above-average fees. Recent studies show that the expected above-average returns did not materialize, leaving only the above-average fees. As a result, the largest pension fund by assets, such as Calpers in the United States, recently announced reductions in their asset allocations to hedge funds. But not everybody is following suit.
Since asset managers have an incentive to increase the size of their fees it is only logical to assume that the more intermediaries between the funds of asset owners and the final projects in which said funds are invested, the higher the chances that intermediary fees will tilt incentives towards the short term. One needs only remember the disastrous consequences of complex mortgage-based assets in the United States. Would infrastructure-based assets, more novel and where due diligence is exponentially more complex, create new types of exposure? And how will asset owners be protected from the potential for unscrupulous arbitrage between the true risk of projects and the perceived credit risk of the assets built upon them?
Commenting on the G20/OECD High-Level Principles of Long-Term Investment Financing by Institutional Investors, the Trade Union Advisory Committee for the OECD demanded that they provide further guidance on matters such as asset managers' capacity and duty to act in line with asset owners' objectives, prevention of conflicts of interest, duties to act in the interest of ultimate beneficiaries and owners, and asset managers contracts. The Principles in the end left that question as a matter pension funds need to watch for by themselves, with almost nothing to say on regulating asset managers in the public interest. It is worth noting even to the extent they address such matters, these principles are, at the moment, of a non-binding nature unless legislations in different countries incorporate them.
A constructive role for pension funds in infrastructure investment
Sounding a cautionary note about pension fund investments in infrastructure does not mean dismissing them as a good idea. It just means questioning the emerging discourse about how to do them and whose interests are shaping it. There is a constructive role that pension funds could play when financing infrastructure.
Pension funds of state employees are, in many developing countries, a viable option to regain autonomy to fund local infrastructure development. Regulatory developments should be geared to ensure they go to the right projects and fulfill a development vision that could help beneficiaries not only through their returns, but also through the living standards they will enjoy thanks to better infrastructure. But this will not happen if local pension funds are only seen as a small contribution to add to big pools of funds that some far away asset manager is putting together to fund a project that they have no say about.
The long term dimensions of infrastructure investment should be addressed upfront, from the very moment of the project selection and design. Financial regulations on the fiduciary duties of asset managers could go a long way to help address such concerns.
One of the advantages of infrastructure projects is their ability to create jobs in the host countries. Financing locally-created jobs can be perfectly done with local currency, and should not require acquiring debt exposure in hard currency. But the new model for infrastructure finance would make projects large and difficult to unbundle into different pieces according to which components can be best financed from different sources. With a more targeted model, pension fund money invested across borders could be channeled towards the really necessary expenses, reducing unnecessary financial risk in the host country and, with that, also the risk of pension fund beneficiaries.
Summing up, the new infrastructure finance model presents private investment in infrastructure as part of a new TINA ("there is no alternative") situation for both infrastructure recipients and social security systems. This need not be the case. Even the UK administration that coined TINA, for a long time (1981 to 1989) had something called the "Ryrie rules"—who owe their name to Sir William Ryrie, a Treasury official at the time. Under these rules, projects should only be financed by private sources when they offered a higher benefits and profits compared with publicly-financed. Importantly, projects were not supposed to offer private investors any degree of security greater than that available in private sector projects.
So far in the discussion on the new model of infrastructure finance an elephant moving quite comfortably in the room is the extent to which the very construction of infrastructure as an asset class is driven by financial industry interests, rather than the real economy of infrastructure projects or the interests of the asset owners.
One can easily picture how the mainstreaming of infrastructure as an asset class will create a new "niche" and demand for the new related services in the financial services industry. It will generate business through the trading of the infrastructure assets, but also for armies of experts whose advice will be required on sectors to buy or sell, how to structure the products, and, why not, how to manage the new risks incorporated in the portfolio by designing new derivatives and providing the required advisory services to understand them.
The question asset owners should be asking is: will their interests be served likewise?


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Monthly Portfolio Update for December 2015 & Market Outlook
For the month of December, there was not much changes, as no new purchases were made, since the market was pretty quiet during the holiday season.
However, it was a good time for us to look back and review our portfolio strategy, which has these 3 criteria in order of importance:
- Preservation of capital
- Steady capital appreciation
- Passive income generation
In line with our strategy, we will continue to monitor the asset rotation cycle to buy cheap assets, and also start the hunt for high-yield assets to generate more passive income.
For my total assets, 13% was used for trading, while 43% was used for investing (the market portfolio), while the rest (44%) was savings, real estate, and other investments.
For the market portfolio allocation, there is a small amount in Fixed income (10%), slightly more in stocks (30%) and commodities (20%), and the bulk remains in cash (40%).
For more on the market outlook for 2016, you can check out my previous post here: http://synapsetrading.com/2015/12/top-5-investment-ideas-for-2016-are-you-ready/
Good luck, and may 2016 be as fruitful as 2015! 😀