text:
Check Out the CEO's Paycheck
88 comments
As images of holiday bonuses dance through our heads, we thought it was a good time to look at the compensation of a handful of the semiconductor industry's CEOs. We found packages that ranged from less than $3 million to nearly $20 million.
To put that in perspective, the average pay of 327 CEOs of the biggest companies in the U.S. was $12.3 million in 2012, including salaries, bonuses, perks, stock awards, stock options and other incentives. That's according to research conducted by the AFL-CIO. The worker's union also reported that the CEO of an S&P 500 Index company made, on average, 354 times the wage of a rank-and-file U.S. worker in 2012.
There is no legislation capping pay for executives in what IC Insights says are the countries that produce most of the world's semiconductors -- Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and the United States. However, several other countries are considering limits to executive pay.
In the U.S. the Securities and Exchange Commission proposed in September a new rule that would require public companies to disclose the ratio of the compensation of its chief executive to the median compensation of its employees.
In November, Swiss voters rejected a proposal to curb executive compensation. The "1:12 -- for fair wages" initiative, which proposed capping executive salaries at 12 times the level of the lowest paid employee, was rejected by 65.3 percent of voters. It failed to win majority support in any of the country's 26 districts, CNN reported .
European Union officials are working to limit bonuses for bankers earning more than 500,000 euros ($678,000) a year, limiting bonuses to twice the executives annual salary. The proposal would affect more than 35,000 bankers around the world and is being challenged by the British government.
In Germany, Europes largest fiscally solvent country, officials vowed to take up pay inequity in the next parliamentary session. Chancellor Angela Merkel stated that exorbitance cannot be allowed in a free and socially minded society.
As of September 2013, CEOs of French state firms cannot make more than 20 times the salaries the lowest-paid employee earns. Thus salaries are capped at around $600,000, NPR reported. Meanwhile, Dutch officials announced new legislation that would cap golden parachutes at a maximum of 75,000 euros ($98,000).
With this perspective we invite you to click through the following pages to read what some of the top semiconductor companies are paying their chief executive officers.
Yes they are big, but not nearly so breathtaking as some high tech execs such as Oracle's Larry Ellison who reportedly took home nearly $100 million in 2012. Ka-ching!


text:
This study is provided by ICPSR. ICPSR provides leadership and training in data access, curation, and methods of analysis for a diverse and expanding social science research community.
Census of Population and Housing, 2000 [United States]: 1998 Dress Rehearsal, 100-Percent Summary Files for 11 Counties in South Carolina, Sacramento, California, and Menominee County, Wisconsin (ICPSR 3020)
Principal Investigator(s): United States Department of Commerce. Bureau of the Census
This collection provides 100-percent data from the Census 2000 Dress Rehearsal conducted in 1998 in the following locations: (1) Columbia, South Carolina, and surrounding areas, including the town of Irmo and the counties of Chester, Chesterfield, Darlington, Fairfield, Kershaw, Lancaster, Lee, Marlboro, Newberry, Richland, and Union, (2) Sacramento, California, and (3) Menominee County, Wisconsin, including the Menominee American Indian Reservation. The collection includes data on population, race, Hispanic/Latino origin, age, sex, marital status, family type and presence of own children, household relationship, household type and size, and group quarters. There are 104 population (P) and 42 housing (H) tables that provide data down to the block level. There are 29 additional population tables that provide data down to the census tract level. Also provided are accompanying map files, including Census Block and Census Tract Maps, in two formats, Portable Document Format (PDF) for viewing and Hewlett-Packard Graphics Language (HP-GL) for plotting large-scale maps. The Corner Point files contain the bounding latitude and longitude coordinates for each individual map sheet of the 1998 Dress Rehearsal 100-Percent Summary Files map products.
Series: Census of Population and Housing, 2000 [United States] Series
Access Notes
Data in this collection are available only to users at ICPSR member institutions. Please log in so we can determine if you are with a member institution and have access to these data files.
WARNING: Because this study has many datasets, the download all files option has been suppressed, and you will need to download one dataset at a time.
WARNING: This study is over 150MB in size and may take several minutes to download on a typical internet connection.
Study Description
U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of the Census. CENSUS OF POPULATION AND HOUSING, 2000 [UNITED STATES]: 1998 DRESS REHEARSAL, 100-PERCENT SUMMARY FILES FOR 11 COUNTIES IN SOUTH CAROLINA, SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA, AND MENOMINEE COUNTY, WISCONSIN. ICPSR03020-v1. Washington, DC: U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of the Census [producer], 2000. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2008-05-15. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR03020.v1
Persistent URL: https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR03020.v1
Export Citation:
- RIS (generic format for RefWorks, EndNote, etc.)
- EndNote XML (EndNote X4.0.1 or higher)
Scope of Study
Subject Terms: census data, census methods, census tract level, computer aided mapping, congressional districts, counties, election districts, ethnicity, geographic information systems, household composition, housing, housing conditions, legislative districts, population, redistricting, states (USA)
Geographic Coverage: United States
- 1998
- 1998-04
Universe: All persons and housing units in the Census 2000 Dress Rehearsal area.
Census 2000 Dress Rehearsal data recorded with a variety of encoding techniques, such as automated map scanning, manual map digitizing, standard data keying, and computer file matching.
Original ICPSR Release: 2008-05-15
Metadata Exports
- Citations exports are provided above.
Export Study-level metadata (does not include variable-level metadata)
If you're looking for collection-level metadata rather than an individual metadata record, please visit our Metadata Records page.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Hypernatremia is when there is too much sodium in the body. It may be serious and requires care from your doctor.
Hypernatremia happens when there is an imbalance in the amount of water and sodium in the body—too little water, too much sodium.
The main cause of hypernatremia is having more water leave your body than enter it. This causes dehydration . A person can become dehydrated in different ways, such as:
- Drinking too little fluids
- Excessive sweating
Risk Factors
Factors that may increase your chance of hypernatremia include:
Hypernatremia may cause:
- Being thirsty
- Dry mouth
- Muscle weakness or muscle cramps
- Decreased urination
- Weight loss
- Lightheadedness
- Irritability
- Confusion
- Muscle twitching
Untreated hypernatremia can be fatal.
You will be asked about your symptoms and medical history. You will be asked about your fluid intake and urine output. A physical exam will be done.
Your bodily fluids may be tested. This can be done with:
- Blood tests
- Urine tests
Fluid Replacement
Liquids can be given by mouth or IV to balance the fluids in your body. The fluid will contain a specific concentration of water, sugar, and sodium. Reintroducing fluids slowly into your body will lower the sodium to a normal level. Talk with your doctor about the best treatment plan for you.
You may also be given medication to treat nausea.
To help reduce your chance of getting hypernatremia:
- Stay hydrated by drinking plenty of the fluids
- Work with your doctor to manage any health conditions
Revision Information
- Reviewer: Michael Woods, MD
- Review Date: 12/2014 -
- Update Date: 12/20/2014 -


text:
Money One FCU Names Beverly Zook New President/CEO
Beverly Zook has been promoted to president/CEO of the $107 million Money One Federal Credit Union in Largo, Md., effective July 1.
She succeeds Debra Connors, who plans to retire from Money One on June 30, the 12,700-member credit union said.
Zook is vice president of member service and was CEO of KC Councils FCU when it merged into Money One in 2009.
"I am very proud to be selected as the next CEO for Money One, a credit union with a long history of serving members and potential members of our employer groups. I look forward to continuing to help our members realize their financial dreams," Zook said in the Maryland credit union's announcement.
Founded in 1951, Money One FCU serves employees of Safeway stores and affiliates and more than 100 100 area employers and associations.


text:
International Data Base, February 1990 (ICPSR 8490)
Principal Investigator(s): United States Department of Commerce. Bureau of the Census
This dataset contains information from tables of demographic, economic and social data for the countries of the world. Information presented includes population, health, nutrition, mortality, fertility, family planning and contraceptive use, literacy, housing, and economic activity data. Tabular data are broken down by such variables as age, sex, and urban/rural residence.
Access Notes
Data in this collection are available only to users at ICPSR member institutions. Please log in so we can determine if you are with a member institution and have access to these data files.
This study is provided by ICPSR. ICPSR provides leadership and training in data access, curation, and methods of analysis for a diverse and expanding social science research community.
Study Description
United States Department of Commerce. Bureau of the Census. International Data Base, February 1990. ICPSR08490-v3. Ann Arbor MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2014-01-23. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR08490.v3
Persistent URL: https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR08490.v3
Export Citation:
- RIS (generic format for RefWorks, EndNote, etc.)
- EndNote XML (EndNote X4.0.1 or higher)
Scope of Study
Subject Terms: aging, agriculture, birth control, birth rates, demographic characteristics, education, employment, ethnicity, fertility rates, Gross National Product, health, health care facilities, households, housing, immigration, income, labor force, literacy, mortality rates, nutrition, occupations, population, population migration, religion, unemployment, vital statistics, youths
Geographic Coverage: Global
Data are organized as a series of statistical tables identified by country and table number. Each record consists of the data values associated with a single row of a given table. There are 105 tables with data for 208 countries. The second file is a note file, containing text of notes associated with various tables. These notes provide information such as definitions of categories (i.e. urban/rural) and how various values were calculated.
Original ICPSR Release: 1986-06-06
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- Citations exports are provided above.
Export Study-level metadata (does not include variable-level metadata)
If you're looking for collection-level metadata rather than an individual metadata record, please visit our Metadata Records page.


text:
Submit News
Study: Human Evolution Forced by Chaotic Landscape
Jason Mick
December 27, 2012 1:45 PM
Recipient E-mail
Sender E-mail
Adversity breeds strength -- and perhaps human intelligence
It's a widely held hypothesis that ecological and climatological changes had a crucial driving role in evolution throughout history. Now
Penn State University
geoscience professor
Katherine Freeman
and her graduate student, Clayton Magill, have put forth an intriguing study, which suggests that chaos in the ecosystem of East Africa drove
mankind's ancestors
radically evolve
2 million years ago.
I. Life on the Chaotic Savanna
Mr. Magill comments, "The landscape early humans were inhabiting transitioned rapidly back and forth between a closed woodland and an open grassland about five to six times during a period of 200,000 years. These changes happened very abruptly, with each transition occurring over hundreds to just a few thousand years."
To examine the ecological transition that coincided with this crucial phase of
hominid evolution
the researchers traveled to the
Olduvai Gorge
in northern Tanzania, collecting lake sediments. Filtering the sediments of different ages, they performed biochemical analysis looking for fossilized chemical traces of grasses and trees.
Specifically, they sifted through sediments looking for leaf waxes, hardy biochemicals that tend to resist breakdown and survive, even over millions of years. By performing gas chromatography and mass spectrometry analyses on the various waxes, the researchers were able to pinpoint both the foliage and composition to within a couple centuries.
Biochemical analysis of local sediments in a Tanzania gorge have offered key clues as to the evolutionary path of mankind's hominid ancestors. [Image Source: Gail Ashley]
What they discovered was that the "Great Drying", which is widely proven to have occurred in Africa around 3 million years ago, was not as much of a one-way process as was previously thought. Rather, the sediments showed that the local ecosystem appears to have gone through a chaotic transition period in which the climate would fluctuate between wet and dry, before eventually gravitating fully to drier savanna.
To better understand the source of such strange and chaotic cycling, the researchers used statistical and mathematical models to formulate a hypothesis on the causes.
Explains Professor Freeman, "The orbit of the Earth around the sun slowly changes with time. These changes were tied to the local climate at Olduvai Gorge through changes in the monsoon system in Africa. Slight changes in the amount of sunshine changed the intensity of atmospheric circulation and the supply of water. The rain patterns that drive the plant patterns follow this monsoon circulation."
"We found a correlation between changes in the environment and planetary movement. We find complementary forcing mechanisms: one is the way Earth orbits, and the other is variation in ocean temperatures surrounding Africa."
II. Adversity Breeds Evolved Intelligence
The chaos would obviously cause great stress on hominids living in the region forcing them to
adapt to different food sources
, different landscape, and different predators. Mr. Magill and Professor Freeman suggest this was a key driver of the evolution of human intelligence.
Comments Mr. Magill, "Early humans went from having trees available to having only grasses available in just 10 to 100 generations, and their diets would have had to change in response. Changes in food availability, food type, or the way you get food can trigger evolutionary mechanisms to deal with those changes."
"The result can be increased brain size and cognition, changes in locomotion and even social changes -- how you interact with others in a group. Our data are consistent with these hypotheses. We show that the environment changed dramatically over a short time, and this variability coincides with an important period in our human evolution when the genus Homo was first established and when there was first evidence of tool use."
The papers suggest chaotic climate changes triggered the rise of human intelligence.
[Image Source: Pace J. Miller]
The research was published as a
of papers
[abstracts] in the prestigious peer-reviewed journal
The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
). Among the other researchers working on the team was
Rutgers University
earth and planetary sciences professor
Gail Ashley
. The research was funded by a
National Science Foundation
(NSF) grant.
"My sex life is pretty good" -- Steve Jobs' random musings during the 2010 D8 conference
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text:
At first i wanted to have Sasuke obtain the Rinnegan, but not so much right now. I get that Rinnegan is the final evolution of the Sharingan. Sasuke deserves better than the Rinnegan to be honest. I just can't seem him being another ocular user of the Rinnegan that would not fit well with Sasuke's character. He is a character that creates impressive jutsu, tricks, and formulates good battle plans. For him to obtain a dojutsu that has been used by Madara, Obito, Nagato, and SO6P it just been overused. Also, Kishimoto said that Sasuke has to been nearly on par with Naruto. Naruto already knows the weaknesses of the Paths. So if Sasuke comes up with that similar tactic in order to defeat Naruto. You and me both know that Naruto will have an easy fight with Sasuke.
I just see him with Rinnegan and it won't make up for an interesting thing. I rather see Sasuke get his ass beat with EMS than with Rinnegan. I mean that eye technique just bores me. Heck, i wish only there was just one Rinnegan user or two Rinnegan users, but no more. I bet it might be inevitable since EMS is the last step after that it's just Rinnegan. I only wish Kishimoto gave Sasuke something different. Like let's say there was a mysterious dojutsu that the Uchiha never had in existance, except the Elder Son. I would love for Sasuke to obtain a dojutsu that no one has obtained before in the series. That would not only be interesting, but it will show that Naruto and Sasuke can have a final match with him not having the Rinnegan.
Let's put this eye as just an example. I have read that some of you want Sasuke to have an eye similar to this one. I wouldn't mind the idea. I would rather him have this eyes than the same old Rinnegan that has been overused by some many ninjas. What's your thought about Sasuke obtaining the Rinnegan? Should Kishi give him a different eye technique? Or should he just get a legendary eye jutsu?


text:
Younger Crowd More Likely to Use Online Retirement Planning Tools: Survey
Younger retirement plan participants are more likely to use online retirement calculators, interactive charts and mobile apps in preparing for retirement than their older counterparts, according to an online retirement participant survey conducted by the American United Life Insurance Co., a OneAmerica company.
More than 60% of retirement plan participants under age 40 said they found online retirement calculators most helpful, compared to 51% of those age 41 to 50 and 41% of those over age 50.
Sixty-seven percent of the over-50 crowd also found articles most helpful in making retirement decisions, compared to only 45% of those between the ages of 20 and 30, the survey found.
Younger plan participants (24%) also found mobile apps helpful, compared to only 12% of 40-to-50-year-olds. Only 7% of those over 50 found mobile apps helpful.
"Retirement plan providers need to work with their trusted advisers to ensure that plan sponsors are providing a wide variety of tools and the information participants need in various formats in order to reach all audiences successfully," said Bill Yoerger, president of retirement business for the OneAmerica companies.
The companies of OneAmerica surveyed 6,360 visitors to its participant website to determine how they learned about finances and prepared for retirement, what resources are most effective and how confident they are with their retirement preparations.
The participants responded to the online survey, which OneAmerica plans to replicate in coming years to gauge progress in helping participants prepare for a secure retirement.
The survey also found that the digital divide extends to the sources where participants read about financial issues. Participants in the 20- to 30-year-old range are more than twice as likely to read about financial issues via blogs as 40- to 50-year-olds (20% vs. 9%). And 28% of the younger group of workers read about financial issues via social media. This compares to only 16% of 40- to 50-year-olds.
This article was originallly posted at BenefitsPro.com, a sister site of Credit Union Times.


text:
2013's 5 Biggest Online/Mobile Cyber Threats
You ain't seen nothing yet.
That's the collective worry voiced by security professionals who look ahead and see a world with ever more and ever more sophisticated cyber threats to credit unions.
A generation ago it took a gun to rob a credit union. Now the weapon of choice is a computer mouse and these crooks are smarter and more ruthless than the bandits of yesterday
Here are the five threats most likely to cause problems for U.S. credit unions in 2013.
* DDoS - Denial of Service attacks
DDoS attacks made splashy headlines in 2012 as many big banks went down, sometimes for several days, The worse news: expect many more such attacks in 2013, according to Stu Scholly, president of Prolexic, a Hollywood, Fla.-based developer of defenses against DDoS.
Credit unions may well be in the line of attack, Scholly suggested.
The essence of DDoS is simple: the attacker seeks to overwhelm a computer system with a barrage of irrelevant data. Eventually the system cannot handle legitimate requests – member log-ins to online banking for instance – because it so busy fighting off the DDoS blizzard.
The still worse news: botnets – computer networks typically composed of machines whose owners do not know they have been compromised and conscripted into a botnet – now are easily rented by the hour, often for small amounts of money. "A couple hundred dollars should get you a botnet for a day," said Scholly.
And that botnet might throw off enough traffic to cripple a typical credit union's Internet abilities.
"Most companies are unprotected against DDoS," said Scholly.
Who launches a DDoS attack? Some are old-fa1shioned extortion, some are vandalism, but, said Scholly, it's believed that an increasing number are caused by disgruntled employees (or ex-employees). But anybody with a grudge can now launch a DDoS and that makes this is a threat to reckon with in 2013.
The numbers frighten: Some 36 million Euros have been pilfered from 30,000 bank accounts in several European countries via a newly documented malware threat and what is more frightening is that the exploit, known as Eurograbber, piggybacks on the use of cellphone SMS as a two-factor authentication tool.
Darrell Burkey, a security expert with Check Point Software Technologies in San Carlos, Calif.-explained that in Eurograbber a computer is first infected with a Zeus key-logger variant that cleverly asks the computer user for a cellphone number so an SMS with security code can be sent to the phone.
Click on the link in the SMS and it downloads a version of Zeus for mobile and now the crook is positioned to begin looting the account.
Eurograbber has emerged as the first large-scale attack on financial accounts involving the mobile phone. So far, said Burkey, it has been found only on Android and BlackBerry phones, not iPhones.
There are no known instances of Eurograbber in the United States, in part, suggested Burkey, because not that many institutions here use cellphone SMS as a routine part of two-factor authentication.
Those that do, he suggested, need to study Eurograbber attack in detail.
More broadly, Steve Santorelli, a spokesman with security experts Team Cymru, said that in 2013 the mobile channel will be under intense probing by well-funded criminals. A particular focus, he suggested, will be a hunt for ways to fool the two big apps stores (Apple's and Google's) into accepting tainted apps that come with a malware payload. They are not there yet but, suggested Santorelli, their intent is to get there.
Matters were bad enough that in 2012 the FBI issued a warning, saying that it had found evidence bank and credit union employees are increasingly targeted by cybercriminals.
George Tubin, a security expert with Trusteer, predicted: "We will see more of this in 2013. It is extremely dangerous when they gain access to an employee's computer."
BYOD - "bring your own device" - policies where employees bring their own iPads and laptops and mobile phones into the credit union and connect to the institution's network aggravates problems by offering criminals easier targets for deploying malware and key loggers such as Zeus, said experts.
Bottom line: crooks have realized that infecting just one financial institution employee's computer potentially gives access to many thousands of member records and that is why Tubin sees efforts in this direction intensifying in 2013.
Shamoon is about simply destroying an institution's data – wiping its records clean – and, said Justin Seitz, a security expert with Immunity in Miami Beach, Fla., "We expect to see these attacks launched against credit unions in 2013, to disrupt the economy."
Running Shamoon, it is believed, are sophisticated terrorists in the Middle East – sometimes said to be funded by Iran, although that is unproven.
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, after he reviewed a Shamoon attack on the Saudi oil company Aramco, called it the most destructive attack yet witnessed against a business.
"More than 30,000 computers that it infected [at ARAMCO] were rendered useless, and had to be replaced," Panetta said in an October speech shortly after details of the Shamoon assault were revealed.
What Shamoon does to an infected machine is erase files, then it deletes the master boot record, preventing the computer from rebooting.
Shamoon deployment thus far has very limited but if Seitz is right, the next year will see much more activity and that is a worrisome prospect, he said.
When at first they don't succeed, some cyber-criminals are learning from the tactics used by a credit union to detect and thwart them – and they are coming back in 90 to 120 days with an improved scheme to loot the institution and its members' accounts, said Rob Kraus, a security expert with Omaha, Neb.-based Solutionary, a provider of managed security services.
Discover an in-progress cyber theft, stop it and nowadays that does not mean the fight has been won. Often they will be back, Kraus said.
Kraus also said he has seen evidence that criminals are studying ACH and wireless payments processes, in detail, probing for vulnerabilities and patiently hunting for places to attack. "We are seeing a maturation of techniques as attackers study the system," said Kraus.
Cyber crooks today, he suggested, are exhibiting higher patience and richer skills, which makes them an ever more formidable foe.


text:
Student Loan Delinquencies Climb
A new report from FICO Labs states U.S. student loan delinquency rates climbed by nearly 22% in the past five years.
The delinquency rate on student loans originated from 2005 to 2007 is 12.4%, while the delinquency rate on student loans originated from 2010 to 2012 is 15.1%, FICO said.
The research, which FICO said was based on an examination of 10 million consumer credit files in 2012, also revealed the average amount of U.S. student loan debt increased by 58% from 2005 to 2012–$17,233 to $27,253–while average U.S. credit card and auto loan debt amounts declined.
Additionally, in a quarterly survey conducted by FICO in December 2012, nearly 60% of responding bank risk managers said they expected student loan delinquencies to increase over the next six months and delinquencies on all other types of consumer loans to decrease over the next six months.
"This situation is simply unsustainable and we're already suffering the consequences," said Andrew Jennings, chief analytics officer for FICO and head of FICO Labs.


text:
A Hundred Grand For Music Therapy
The Kids-N-Hope Foundation of the $1.2 billion, 119,000-member American Heritage Federal Credit Union has concluded its fundraising year with a $100,000 contribution to the Children's Seashore House of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
The hospital's music therapy program will use the funds to provide musical equipment, a music therapist and guest performers trained to help children with developmental disabilities.
This year's contribution is a $20,000 increase from last year's gift to the Children's Seashore House, which offers specialized care and rehabilitation to children with developmental disabilities or chronic illnesses.
The foundation was created in 1996. Fundraising events, including the Gelatin Olympics and Golf Classic, are held throughout the year by American Heritage employees.


text:
The type of treatment depends on the kind of infection you have. Infections caused by bacteria will be treated with antibiotics. Your doctor will prescribe antibiotics that are safe to use during pregnancy. If you have a viral infection, such as herpes or hepatitis, your doctor will give you antiviral medications. For some infections, particularly viral infections like CMV and fifth disease , there is no medication available. Your doctor will carefully monitor your health and the health of your developing baby.
Treatment options include:
Revision Information
- Reviewer: Michael Woods, MD
- Review Date: 06/2016 -
- Update Date: 05/20/2015 -


text:
This study is provided by ICPSR. ICPSR provides leadership and training in data access, curation, and methods of analysis for a diverse and expanding social science research community.
Direction of Trade (ICPSR 7628)
Principal Investigator(s): International Monetary Fund
These time series data supply detailed information on imports and exports for various countries and geographical areas of the world. Countries are grouped into three main categories: (1) Industrial Countries, (2) Developing Countries, and (3) USSR, Eastern Europe, etc. Along with data from reporting countries, estimates are provided by partner countries for nonreporting countries or for those that are slow to report. A subset of these data (Part 4), containing annual data from 1948 to 1978, is available as well.
Series: Direction of Trade Series
Access Notes
Data in this collection are available only to users at ICPSR member institutions. Please log in so we can determine if you are with a member institution and have access to these data files.
WARNING: This study is over 150MB in size and may take several minutes to download on a typical internet connection.
Study Description
International Monetary Fund. Direction of Trade. ICPSR07628-v2. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2014-10-23. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR07628.v2
Persistent URL: https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR07628.v2
Export Citation:
- RIS (generic format for RefWorks, EndNote, etc.)
- EndNote XML (EndNote X4.0.1 or higher)
Scope of Study
Subject Terms: balance of trade, developing nations, economic behavior, economic indicators, exports, financial policy, foreign affairs, government expenditures, Gross National Product, imports, industrial nations, international economics, international trade, markets, nations
Smallest Geographic Unit: Country
Geographic Coverage: Afghanistan, Africa, Albania, Algeria, American Samoa, Angola, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Aruba, Asia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bermuda Islands, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Botswana, Brazil, British Virgin Islands, Brunei, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China (Peoples Republic), Colombia, Comoros, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, East Timor, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Europe, Falkland Islands, Faroe Islands, Fiji, Finland, France, French Guiana, French Polynesia, Gabon, Gambia, Gaza Strip, Georgia (Republic), Germany, Ghana, Gibralter, Global, Greece, Greenland, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guam, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macao, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Marshall Islands, Martinique, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia (Federated States), Moldova, Mongolia, Montserrat, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Netherlands, Netherlands Antilles, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, North America, North Korea, Norway, Oman, Pacific Ocean, Pakistan, Palau, Palestine, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Pitcairn Island, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Reunion, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Saint Helena, Saint Kitts-Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, South America, South Korea, Soviet Union, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Vietnam (Socialist Republic), Wake Island, Wallis and Futuna, Western Samoa, Yemen, Yugoslavia, Zambia, Zimbabwe
- 1948--1998
- 1948--1998
Universe: Approximately 180 countries and geographical areas.
Data Type(s): administrative records data, aggregate data, event/transaction data, program source code, survey data
Due to an agreement between ICPSR and the IMF, this study is available only to users at ICPSR member institutions. Those who wish to use the study and are at non-member institutions should contact the IMF directly.
ICPSR's subscription with the the IMF for monthly updates of the DIRECTION OF TRADE (ICPSR 7628) series expired with the July 1998 tapes.
Part 1 data are stored in the packed zoned decimal format as distributed by the IMF. A supplemental COBOL processing program is available for use with this data file in the zipped package file (pkg07628-0001.zip). Datasets 2, 3 and 5 are no longer distributed. Datasets 6, 7 and 8, respectively, comprise the yearly, quarterly, and monthly records as extracted from the IMF data file.
The legacy documentation also documents the following IMF studies: DIRECTION OF TRADE (ICPSR S07628), INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL STATISTICS (ICPSR S07629), BALANCE OF PAYMENTS STATISTICS (ICPSR S08623), and GOVERNMENT FINANCE STATISTICS (ICPSR S08624). The original codebook is part of dataset 1 for all four studies. Dataset 4 was reprocessed and now includes the current suite of ICPSR distribution files. The legacy documentation now distributed with this collection was distributed as the codebook for dataset 4 in previous releases of this study.
Each time series in Part 1 can contain a variable number of logical records. The exact number of records in any time series in this collection is dependent upon the availability of annual, quarterly, and monthly data for trading partners. Approximately 61,000 time series are included in this collection.
The term "country," as used in this dataset, does not in all cases refer to a territorial entity that is a state as understood by international law and practice. The term also covers some territorial entities that are not states but for which statistical data are maintained and provided internationally on a separate and independent basis. Data are expressed in millions of United States dollars.
All exports are valued "free on board" (f.o.b.) and all imports "cost, insurance, and freight" (c.i.f.).
Three datasets have been added to the collection. The new datasets comprise the yearly, quarterly, and monthly records extracted from the IMF data file. The variable extraction was performed using SAS's PROC DATASOURCE. Data files generated by this extraction were subsequently processed using ICPSR's automated production routine. The new data files should be considered as minimally processed as no variable value checks or comparisons were performed. The layout and/or content of the new data files may not match those of the original data files. The codebooks for each new dataset document only the variables in that dataset's data file and should be used in conjunction with the legacy documentation.
Weight: Data for Parts 1, 4, 6, 7 and 8 are not weighted. The data do not contain a weight variable.
Mode of Data Collection: record abstracts
Central bank reports and bulletins, IMF area departments, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, International Labor Organization, IMF Treasurer's Department, the United Nations, the National Bureau of Economic Research, and information from national authorities.
Restrictions: ICPSR obtained these data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) under the terms of a contract that states that the data are for the sole use of ICPSR and may not be sold or provided to third parties outside of the ICPSR membership. Individuals at institutions that are not members of ICPSR may obtain these data directly from the IMF.
Original ICPSR Release: 1984-05-11
- 2014-10-23 Three datasets have been added comprising yearly, quarterly, and monthly records extracted from the original IMF data file in part 1 of this collection using SAS's PROC DATASOURCE. The Annual Data: 1948-1978 data file and the yearly, quarterly, and monthly data files have been processed using ICPSR's automated production routine as Part 4, 6, 7, and 8, respectively. These four parts include SPSS, SAS, and Stata setup files, SAS transport (CPORT) file, tab-delimited ASCII data file, R data file, and Variable description and Frequencies. The legacy codebook in Part 4 is now being distributed as a Data Documentation File. The COBOL FUNPACK program previously distributed as part 5 is now included in the zipped package file (pkg07628-0001.zip).
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Recently, an appointment took me to Durango, where I discovered the price of regular gas was generally $3.21 per gallon. On my return to Cortez, regular gas was still selling at the stubborn price of $3.57. How can this be? We are 50 miles from Durango. Is Cortez gasoline supplied by cargo planes flown directly here from Saudi Arabia?
As local consumers, we are encouraged to shop locally. Most of us are glad to do this. We prefer it. But I thought loyalty was a two-way street. Why should putting 20 gallons in your tank in Cortez cost over $5 more than the same amount in Durango?
What do we have to do to get our local dealers to engage in collusion that is more fair and reasonable? Organizing a boycott caravan to Durango is not practical. The word boycott derives from a certain 19th century English land agent in Ireland Charles Boycott who refused to lower rents to conform to the trend. Surely our local merchants do not want to be characterized as robber barons. Please get real.
Denton May


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text: Was just watching NBA Gameday this morning and Ramon Sessions commented how the "Raptors are coming in Wednesday" and it is a game they "should get". Can someone please find a way to get this onto the Raptors chalk board before the game. Have we fallen so low that teams like the Bobcats look at the Raptors as a winnable game?


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Salt River, Peoria set to clash for AFL championship
By Jonathan Mayo / MLB.com
That competitive spirit will be on display on Saturday in the AFL championship game between the Salt River Rafters and Peoria Javelinas (3 p.m. ET, live on MLB Network and MLB.com) at Scottsdale Stadium. This might be an easygoing league, but in the one-game, winter-takes-all format of the finale, the desire to be crowned champion will be clearly evident.
"It means a lot, to go into the championship game," said Nationals right-hander Ryan Perry, who will start the game for the Rafters. "With the kind of talent that's out here, it's something special. Fighting for a ring is always a good time."
This will be the Rafters' second straight trip to the championship game, giving them the chance to win two years in a row since moving to Salt River Fields. The Rafters beat the Surprise Saguaros, 9-3, a year ago and now they will have the task of beating the Javelinas to repeat as champions.
The Rafters' roster is comprised of players from the D-backs, White Sox, Rockies, Blue Jays and Nationals. The Javelinas squad includes Reds, Twins, Phillies, Padres and Mariners prospects.
There was a chance of a championship game rematch, with Peoria not clinching the West Division title until the regular season's final day on Thursday. Robbie Erlin's five shutout innings allowed Peoria to finish ahead of Surprise and advance.
"Between Surprise and us, we had some good games," said Peoria manager Dusty Wathan, who tabbed the Reds' Tim Crabbe as his starter on Saturday. "I think anything can happen on any given day, especially in this league with the talent so high."
Wathan has grown used to having the season hang in the balance. His Reading Phillies team didn't clinch a spot in the Double-A Eastern League playoffs until the season's final game.
"Our year in Reading came down to the last day, too," Wathan said. "We never played a game that didn't mean something, on any of my teams. That's good for player development, when you're always playing for something."
"This league has been so tight," Salt River manager Matt Williams said. "We go into the last day of the season and we don't have a winner on the other side, that just means everyone is competing. That's good. They know what's in front of them, what they need to do, how they need to prepare. They'll let it all hang out on Saturday and we'll see what happens."
Salt River will have to find a way to tame Peoria's offense, arguably the best in the league this fall. The Javelinas led the AFL in a host of offensive categories, including runs scored, batting average and OPS. They are led by speedster Billy Hamilton, who stole 10 more bases in the AFL after his record-breaking, 155-steal performance during the regular season. Mariners prospects Nick Franklin, Stefen Romero and first-round Draft pick Mike Zunino have also been instrumental in their success.
The Rafters aren't exactly coming with a punchless lineup. The Blue Jays' Kevin Pillar finished sixth in the AFL with his .371 average. Rockies outfielder Corey Dickerson wasn't far behind at .364, while Nationals prospect Anthony Rendon hit .338 and fellow Nat Brian Goodwin provided Salt River with its own dynamic leadoff hitter.
"I'm just trying to give my team a chance," Perry said. "We have great hitters, some guys who can put up some runs. My goal is just to keep the game close and give us a chance.
"It's been a challenge. Pitching out here is tough. You have good hitters one through nine. It makes it interesting, you have to work on your stuff, locate and keep everything down, otherwise you'll be taken out of the park. I'm pretty fatigued, but a chance to go out there and compete one more time, I'm not going to complain."
"I think any time guys eventually get into a competitive situation, everybody wants to win," Wathan said. "When it gets down to it, everyone wants to win. It's a great thing for these guys. It's more exposure. And more exposure creates more opportunities."
Jonathan Mayo is a reporter for MLB.com and writes a blog, B3. Follow @JonathanMayoB3 on Twitter. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


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text:
Just wondering. Do you ever check in there? A couple of times a month? Weekly? Every couple of days?
I just realized that through this whole off-season I haven't been there once and don't think I was there more than twice or three times last year. Mostly just to check game stats after the fact.


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Apple has been having plenty of headaches lately with its MacBook Pro displays failing and experiencing distortion. Worse yet is the iPhone 3G S's quality problems, which include reported overheating and signal issues.
The overheating was first noted in Apple support forums. Soon, though, writers at several tech publications -- PC World, Wired, Le Journal Du Geek and The Telegraph -- began to notice the problems on their own phones. The Le Journal Du Geek writer posted pictures of a white phone and noticed that the overheating was so severe that it colorized the plastic. The heat tended to turn the case pink or brown.
Now, Apple has at last issued a response and it is assigning the blame for the problem on its users' behavior, sunlight, and on the seasons. Apple says that leaving the device in a car on a hot day is one possible culprit causing its phone to overheat. Apparently, like a vampire the phone is no friend of the sun -- Apple states that "leaving it in direct sunlight for extended amounts of time" may cause it to overheat.
Apple lists the use of "GPS tracking in a car on a sunny day or listening to music while in direct sunlight" as two particularly dangerous operations.
According to Apple the following problems are the result of the iPhone's overheating:
Apple says that the iPhone is only meant to operate at temperatures between 0º and 35º C (32º to 95º F) and be stored at temperatures between -20º and 45º C (-4º to 113º F). Unfortunately, this is much lower than the temperatures experienced in much of the American South and Southwest.
Based on Apple's stance it seems there's no immediate solution for iPhone owners. Apple seems unwilling to agree that its hardware needs revision to deal with the problem, instead assigning the blame elsewhere -- the sun, heat, and summer weather. And that means as summer temperatures heat up, users are left to prepare for the worst -- their phones beginning to fail.


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Now, as most fans in the NBA are sure (most specifically Laker, and Raptor fans) of the rumoured deal going on between the two organizations.
The original deal was:
Raptors offer to the Lakers included point guard Jose Calderon, Andrea Bargnani and Linas Kleiza.— Legion Sports (@MySportsLegion) December 6, 2012
Lakers have received trade offers from the Raptors and T-Wolves for Pau Gasol, confirms ESPN.— Legion Sports (@MySportsLegion) December 6, 2012
Now, remember, there was also speculation that BC was not interested in dealing Andrea Bargnani, but that being said, we should continually be reminded to take whatever Coach Casey, or GM Bryan Colangelo say like a grain of salt.
Now, back to the original topic, the consensus pieces of the trade (from what I've read) was Pau Gasol & Steve Blake for Jose Calderon, Andrea Bargnani, and Linas Kleiza.
IF this were to happen, and that is a HUGE IF (considering the front-office promised Nash not to trade Gasol until the return, and BC's 'said-to-be' unwillingness to deal Bargnani), there would be a number of pros & cons for both teams.
Los Angeles Lakers:
- Andrea Bargnani is a stretch four. Under Mike D'antoni's system, he's proven to make very good use of big men with the ability to stretch the floor.
- With Toronto being so tired of him being a #1 option, he can now be the very #3-#4 option on offense where he is better suited. He would be able to play under little pressure, for he will get his shots under a system that runs on a point guard and his ability to find guys shots.
- With Bargnani's defensive deficiencies, a guy like Dwight compared to JV isn't much of a large liability, for Dwight is a proven NBA anchor, and is able to cover much up of a team's defensive woes. This goes same for rebounding. Now, this may or may not be a pro, but I believe it is, for Bargnani adds a whole new dynamic for the Lakers.
- Jose Calderon is able to come in, and bring in some very good contribution right out of the gate. Depending on injuries to Nash, you won't get top notch production out of Duhon and Morris from that spot. That's where Calderon is able to come in, and be an important piece down the road, especially come Spring time if (can't believe that's a question) the Lakers make the playoffs.
- Linas Kleiza. Not a huge trade name, but I believe he adds to that dynamic change for the Lakers. A 3-man who can play inside, and outside. Post-offense is very good, and is a solid bench scorer. Inconsistent though, but LA is also a team that (not as desperately needed) requires some more production from the 3-spot.
- Expiring contract at the end of the 2012-2013 season (current season), with nearly 10-11$ million dollars coming off the books. Kleiza and Bargnani not working? They become trade chips/assets in any trades going out to try and acquire younger players and picks if they're trying to develop for the future.
- Bargnani's deficiencies could prove to hurt the team more than it does the Raptors, and he continues to struggle and put up inefficient scoring for his team. Unlikely though under a change of scenery, and in a role where asked to do limited tasks.
- Calderon is also an older point guard, who experiences injuries basically every season (posted in the past by Matt52, as history shows it), if he goes down, it's back to trying to get production from Morris and Duhon.
- Calderon and Bargnani just end up being 15 minute 'take-a-breather type players'. For this only happens if Calderon and Bargnani just don't fit the system and concept D'antoni is trying to run.
Toronto Raptors:
- Pau Gasol is a proven winner. He will bring a presence to his team. On, and off the court. He has valuable NBA experience, and is still one of the best finesse big men in the league, probably one of the best big men in the league in general (when healthy).
- Pau Gasol would possibly push Coach Casey to instill the slow down, 'grind-it-out' game, where he would be able to flourish, and have a huge impact on the game. The high post, or the low block. His game allows not only himself to have good scoring opportunities, but for his teammates being one of the best passing big men in the game.
- Pau Gasol is an excellent rebounder, and a solid defender. Known to be quite soft, but compared to Bargnani, he doesn't have the one-dimensional outlook Bargnani has.
- Pau Gasol also becomes a type of teacher towards Jonas Valanciunas. JV could be able to learn post-offense, the overall big-man game, and the different parts of the NBA game from a proven NBA big man. This is where - in my opinion - is the best pro throughout this whole process.
- With Calderon gone, Toronto would've had to be forced to play JL3 as the back-up point, which quite frankly he's doing a terrible job of playing the 3rd stringer. Yikes! Blake comes in, and is your prototypical NBA back-up. Scrappy player, changes game tempo, and is able to provide some type of scoring punch (3-point threat specifically).
- Well, Bargnani would be gone. So, I guess that's a pro.
- Health is HUGE. Pau Gasol has tendinitis in both knees, and Blake has some weird injury as well. Whatever the situation, if both were acquired, there wouldn't be much knowledge on when either guy could make their debut... Thus, if both are injured, could set this team back a little bit. Although, that means Ed gets some minutes!
- Pau and Steve may not fit. Depending on how things continually are run (especially with Casey and his weird coaching this year), there might not be a romance to start with, or even end with.
- Hurts the financial flexibility this team has been raving about all off-season long. Pau Gasol nearly eats up 20$ million dollars, but depending on how he performs, that's going to effect this team moving forward.
Two questions for the readers are, do you believe a trade like this is a quick fix, where BC is desperately trying to create something left of the season? Or a move that could bring this team forward, going on without a piece many believe is hurting the progression of this team?
Add pros and cons if you like as well, and argue mine if you would like! Would love to hear others' feed-back on this certain rumour. Please do note that these pros and cons are just my opinions.


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Microsoft Corp.'s (MSFT)
market cap -- a measure of the total current value of shares -- rests at
$219.9B USD. While that may sound great, competitor Apple, Inc.'s (AAPL)
cap is nearly 46 percent higher at $320.5B USD.
In all practicality, both companies are firing
on all cylinders. But Microsoft is earning far less respect for its
Fueled by record sales of its Windows 7 operating
system and Office software suite, Reuters
I/B/E/S expects Microsoft
to post a profit of $4.7B USD. That's approximately 27 percent less than
Apple's record
earnings of $5.99B USD. But as you can see, the gap in share value is
much larger, percentage wise, than the gap in profit.
There's much debate currently over the investment
community's low valuation of Microsoft. Basically, it largely boils down
to that investors perceive companies like Google and Apple to be growing, while
they feel Microsoft
is fading in the market.
Sales don't currently agree.
Microsoft is expected to earn a record $16.2B USD
in its third fiscal quarter (the first calendar quarter of 2011). And
sales for its Entertainment and Devices Division (Windows Phone 7, Xbox 360,
etc.) are also rapidly growing.
But at the end of the day investors appear
convinced that Microsoft is in for a rough landing. They eye the fact
that the company has been passed by Apple in profit for the first time since
1990. And they also are well aware that International Business Machines (IBM)
-- another foe Microsoft passed in the 1990s -- may soon pass it in value as
well. It currently sits at a market cap of $206.3B USD.
Following the post recession recovery the entire
tech market is booming, but the investors' strongest evidence in their case
against Microsoft may be PC sales. Over the first three months of 2011,
PC sales fell 1 percent. It is believed that is largely due to the sharp
rise in tablet and smart phone sales. People are still buying PCs -- but
they're doing so less frequently as they increasingly rely on mobile devices.
And that's troubling news for Microsoft, who has struggled thus far in
the mobile sector.
Michael Yoshikami, Chief Executive of fund manager
YCMNET Advisors is among those very concerned with this development. In
an interview with Reuters, he states:
What people are going to be focused on is what's happening with
their core PC business. Is that slowing down? That's really going to
dictate what Microsoft's future earnings power is going to look like. In
the long term, their core cash flow business is going to be impacted,
particularly if we start to see an ASP (application service provider) model
where companies are essentially renting software.
His comments allude to a second major crisis
facing Microsoft -- advertising supported and rented software. Both forms
of software tend to produce lower revenues. And most of Microsoft's
profit is still driven by software sales -- particularly the sales of business
licenses. As business software giants like SalesForce.com Inc. (CRM)
and Google Inc. (GOOG) offer
rented software, Microsoft finds its earnings under assault on a second


text:
Hamilton, Weaver spark Angels' rout of Dodgers
Outfielder hits two-run shot in first inning; righty allows one run in spring debut
By Alden Gonzalez / MLB.com
TEMPE, Ariz. -- Josh Hamilton hit his first home run and the Angels erupted for seven runs in the third inning and five more in the seventh of Jered Weaver's debut on Friday, propelling them to their first Cactus League victory, 16-8, over a Dodgers split squad at Tempe Diablo Stadium.
Lefty Hyun-Jin Ryu, making his second appearance of the spring, gave up Hamilton's two-run homer in the first inning and three singles in the second, but got out of that frame unscathed thanks partly to right fielder Yasiel Puig, who threw out Luis Rodriguez trying to go from first to third on a base hit.
The homer to Hamilton -- a shot to right-center field that scored Mike Trout after he drew the first of two walks -- was the first slider Ryu had thrown all spring.
"I wanted to see how Josh would react," Ryu said, "but I got too much of the plate."
Ryu, signed out of South Korea for $36 million, felt very comfortable with his changeup throughout the afternoon, but was having a hard time finding the right grip.
"The seams are very different; the balls are more slippery," Ryu said through a translator. "But I don't want to make any excuses."
Weaver gave up a first-inning run -- on a single and two stolen bases by Dee Gordon, then an RBI double by Luis Cruz -- and retired the Dodgers on three straight flyouts in the second. The 30-year-old right-hander threw 41 pitches, most of them fastballs and changeups.
"It's always exciting getting out there in a game atmosphere, getting the competitive juices flowing again," Weaver said. "I came out of it healthy, so that's all you can ask for right now."
Hamilton, serving as the designated hitter in his second spring game, added a single to left field in his second and last plate appearance, sparking a seven-run inning that sent 10 batters to the plate.
Chris Iannetta reached on a misplayed grounder by Cruz with two outs -- making all of Matt Palmer's runs unearned -- Rodriguez, Luis Jimenez and Andrew Romine added RBI singles, Scott Cousins and Trout each walked, and Peter Bourjos hit a three-run triple to right-center field to give the Angels (1-5-2) a 9-3 lead.
Reliever Kevin Jepsen struggled in his debut, giving up a couple of runs on doubles in the left-center-field gap by Puig and Cruz.
Rodriguez, competing for the Angels' reserve infield spot, went 3-for-3. Cruz went 3-for-3 with two RBIs and Puig also drove in a couple of runs.
"He's a big kid, man," Weaver said of the Cuban outfielder. "It felt like Frank Thomas in the box."
Angels up next: C.J. Wilson will make his spring debut on Saturday, when the Angels take on the Brewers at Maryvale Baseball Park at 12:05 p.m. PT. The Angels have been in camp for almost three weeks, but because of the early start, the starting pitchers aren't getting in games until now.
"It's good," Wilson said of the early start. "It gave me a chance to work off the mound and throw a lot of bullpens, get my delivery where it needs to be, so when I get out there hopefully I hit the ground running."
Dominican shortstop Erick Aybar is expected to start Saturday, marking his final game before leaving for the World Baseball Classic. Reliever Ernesto Frieri is also expected to make his debut.
Alden Gonzalez is a reporter for MLB.com. Read his blog, Gonzo and "The Show", and follow him on Twitter @Alden_Gonzalez. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


text:
Integrated Public Health Surveys, 2010-2011 (ICPSR 33822)
Principal Investigator(s): Jones, Jeff A., University of Kentucky; Lamberth, Cynthia, University of Kentucky; Riddell, Martha, University of Kentucky; Sellers, Katie, Association of State and Territorial Health Officials; Leep, Carolyn, National Association of County and City Health Officials; Fenton, Ginger, National Association of Local Boards of Health; Johnson, Andrew, University of Kentucky
This collection comprises a single data file which was produced as part of the data harmonization efforts of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The file contains merged data from five sources:
2010 National Profile of Local Health Departments, a survey of local health departments conducted by the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO).
2011 National Profile Survey of Local Boards of Health, a survey of local boards of health conducted by the National Association of Local Boards of Health (NALBOH).
2010 State and Territorial Public Health Survey, a survey of state and United States territory health departments conducted by the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO).
2011 County Health Rankings, a compilation of county-level health measures and within-state county health rankings produced by the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute.
2010 Census Demographic Profile Summary File, a series of tables with housing and population data from the 2010 Census.
Produced by matching data from the last four sources to the NACCHO data, the data file contains one case for each of the 2,107 local health departments (LHD) that responded to the NACCHO survey. Each LHD's record in the file includes the ASTHO data for its state health department and the NALBOH data for its local board of health (LBH), if it had a LBH and the LBH responded to the NALBOH survey. (If a LHD had multiple LBHs, then the first one in the NALBOH data was matched to the LHD). In addition, county (or county equivalent)-level data from the County Health Rankings and Census Demographic Profile Summary File were matched to the records of the 1,535 LHDs represented in the data file with a jurisdiction covering a single county or county equivalent.
Access Notes
One or more files in this data collection have special restrictions ; consult the restrictions note to learn more. You can apply online for access to the restricted-use data. A login is required to apply.
The data are restricted from general dissemination for reasons of confidentiality. Users interested in obtaining the data must complete an Agreement for the Use of Confidential Data, specify the reasons for the request, and obtain IRB approval or notice of exemption for their research. Apply for access to these data through the ICPSR restricted data contract portal, which can be accessed via the study home page.
Any public-use data files in this collection are available for access by the general public. Access does not require affiliation with an ICPSR member institution.
This study is maintained and distributed by the Health and Medical Care Archive (HMCA). HMCA is the official data archive of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
ASCII + SAS Setup SPSS Setup
Study Description
Jones, Jeff A., Cynthia Lamberth, Martha Riddell, Katie Sellers, Carolyn Leep, Ginger Fenton, and Andrew Johnson. Integrated Public Health Surveys, 2010-2011. ICPSR33822-v1. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2013-02-26. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR33822.v1
Persistent URL: https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR33822.v1
Export Citation:
- RIS (generic format for RefWorks, EndNote, etc.)
- EndNote XML (EndNote X4.0.1 or higher)
This study was funded by:
- Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (66108)
- United States Department of Health and Human Services. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Scope of Study
Subject Terms: community health, health care services, health departments, health planning, public health
Geographic Coverage: United States
- 2010--2011
- 2010--2011
Universe: ASTHO survey: state health departments. NACCHO survey: LHDs. NALBOH survey: LBHs.
The data file includes health measures from the County Health Rankings but not the ranking scores in this source.
Sample: The NACCHO, NALBOH, and ASTHO surveys attempted to interview all LHDs, LBHs, and state health departments in the United States.
Mode of Data Collection: mail questionnaire, web-based survey
Response Rates: ASTHO survey: 100 percent. NACCHO survey: 83 percent. NALBOH survey: 43 percent.
Extent of Processing: ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection:
- Checked for undocumented or out-of-range codes.
Original ICPSR Release: 2013-01-31
- 2013-02-26 Andrew Johnson was added to the list of principal investigators.
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text:
Apple had a blockbuster
Q3 thanks to strong sales of its iPhone, iPads, and
Mac computers. The Cupertino, California-based company was able to
reel in revenue and profits of $15.7 billion and $3.25 billion
Apple is looking to keep its winning
streak alive with a few updated products. Today saw updates to the iMac and Mac Pro product families along with a new Bluetooth-based accessory.
The new
iMac family is still available in 21.5" and 27" screen
sizes, but firepower for the entire line has been increased. The Core
2 Duo processors have been ditched on the base configurations in
favor of dual-core Intel Core i3 processors.
21.5" iMacs start out with an Intel Core i3 processor running at 3.06GHz and can be optioned with
a Core i5 processor running at 3.6GHz. The 27" iMacs start out
with a 3.2GHz Core i3 processor and top out at a quad-core Core i7
running at 2.93GHz.
ATI graphics solutions blanket the iMac
family with low-end machines getting a 256MB Radeon HD 4670 and
top-ranging 27" iMacs receiving a 1GB Radeon HD 5750.
"We took the world's best
all-in-one and made it even better," said Philip Schiller, Apple's
senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. "With the
latest processors, high-performance graphics and signature aluminum
and glass design, customers are going to love the latest iMac."
The new iMacs start at $1,199 for the
21.5" model and $1,699 for the 27" model.
To complement Apple's new iMacs, a new
Trackpad accessory has been announced. This Bluetooth-based
accessory operates exactly like the trackpad found on MacBook,
MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro notebooks. It retails for $69.
Also seeing an update after a long,
stagnant period is Apple's
Mac Pro. The Mac Pro is now available with quad- and six-core
Intel Xeon processors running at 3.33GHz. When equipped with two
processors, Apple's newest Mac Pros boast up to 12 physical cores and
up to 24 virtual cores with Hyper-Threading.
"The new Mac Pro is the most powerful
and configurable Mac we've ever made," said Schiller added. "With
up to 12 cores, the new Mac Pro outperforms our previous
top-of-the-line system by up to 50 percent, and with over a billion
possible configurations, our customers can create exactly the system
they want."The default graphics card on the new Mac Pros is now an ATI Radeon HD 5770 while a Radeon HD 5870 is optional. Another option that will surely set you back a pretty penny is a quad-512MB SSD array.
The new Mac Pros start at $2,499.One final addition to Apple's new product onslaught is the new 27" Cinema Display. This beauty packs a screen resolution of 2560x1440, an iSight camera, MagSafe connector for your MacBook, and a three-port USB hub. Naturally, all of this doesn't come cheap -- the new display retails for $999.


text:
Most drivers have been stuck in a traffic jam at one point or another. Some of the jams are caused by an accident or closed lanes. Other traffic jams crop up with seemingly no reason.
A group of mathematicians at MIT is working on the development of a new model to explain how and why these so-call phantom traffic jams form. According to the researchers, these types of phantom traffic jams form when there are a lot of cars on the road and small disturbances like a driver hitting the brakes too hard or getting too close to another car. These little disturbances can escalate into a self-sustaining traffic jam.
The model developed by the team of researchers may help road designers build roads to minimize the possibility of phantom traffic jams. The key to the study is the discovery that the mathematics of these jams called jamitons are very similar to the equations used to describe the detonation waves produced by explosions.
The discovery of the jamitons allowed the researchers to solve traffic jam equations first theorized in the 1950's. The equations are reportedly similar to those used in fluid mechanics and model traffic jams as self-sustaining waves. The equations allowed the researchers to calculate the conditions that case a jamitons to form and how fast the jamiton will spread.
According to the researchers, once this type of jamiton forms it is nearly impossible to break up and a driver's only choice is to wait the jamiton out. The researchers say that the new model can help road designers to determine speed limits that are safer and find stretches of road where accidents are more likely.
One of the researchers, Aslan Kasimov, said, "We wanted to describe this using a mathematical model similar to that of fluid flow." Kasimov and his team say that they discovered that jamitons have a sonic point that separates traffic flow into upstream and downstream components. Communication of the cause of the jamiton to drivers it the downstream segment of traffic is impossible say the researchers.


text:
This year
has proved to be an important one for NASA, as it has retired two of the three
remaining operational orbiters in its Space Shuttle fleet. Space shuttle
Discovery made its final mission in February, and Space shuttle Endeavour completed its last
jaunt in June. On July 8, the third and final spacecraft, Space shuttle Atlantis,
launched into space one last time before its retirement as well.
Now, NASA is happy to announce that Atlantis made its final docking at
the International Space Station (ISS) on Sunday. Two hours after docking, the
four-person crew, which consists of Commander Chris Ferguson, Pilot Doug Huley
and Mission Specialists Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim, entered the ISS to hug
and take pictures with the six-person crew in the ISS. With NASA retiring its
Space Shuttle fleet, this was an important moment in NASA history, as it may be
awhile before another launch takes place.
While Atlantis arrived safely to the ISS, the trip up until that point wasn't
entirely smooth. Before docking, one of the shuttle's computers failed during a
morning power-up. According to Atlantis' Lead Flight Director Kwatsi Alibaruho,
the on-off switches need to be flipped on a certain way, otherwise they cause a
glitch. The computer was taken offline, allowing the remaining two computers,
which work simultaneously for the sake of redundancy, to take over. The shuttle
also has two spare computers if needed.
In addition, Atlantis' mission management Team Leader LeRoy Cain noted that a
piece of space junk is expected to come close to the ISS and shuttle on
Tuesday, but it is not 100 percent confirmed yet. Cain also was unsure of the
size of the piece of space junk, but said that Atlantis could "fire its
thrusters to move the station out of the way."
Despite these minor troubles, Atlantis has docked and plans to continue doing
what the crew went there to do: resupply the ISS.
The 12-day mission (which may now be a 13-day mission due to extra time needed
for moving cargo), STS-135, is delivering spare parts, clothes, food and
experiments via the Raffaello multipurpose logistics module. The supplies are
expected to last through the end of 2012.
Today, the crew is using the station's robotic arm to move the Raffaello
multipurpose logistics module out of the shuttle's payload bay and connect it
to the ISS to retrieve the cargo. A spacewalk is scheduled for Tuesday, but
most of the trip will require the moving of cargo and extra help around the
While many see the retirement of the Space Shuttle fleet as the end, NASA
Administrator Charles Bolden assures that NASA is only retiring the
"launching-to-orbit business," but has big plans for the future.
"I would encourage the American public to listen to the president,"
said Bolden. "The president has set the goals: an asteroid in 2025, Mars in 2030. I can't
get any more definitive than that."


text:
Skip Top Navigation Skip to Content
Interstate 90 (I 90) is the longest Interstate Highway in the US running from Seattle to Boston. In Washington it runs through Seattle, Bellevue, Ellensburg, Moses Lake and Spokane. It can be found in the following counties: King, Kittitas, Grant, Adams, Lincoln and Spokane counties.


text:
Crisis in Syria, part 5: Fear for girls caught up in the Syrian conflict
As the Syrian refugee crisis deepens, World Vision is increasingly concerned about the risk of child marriage among girls as young as 12, as parents fleeing violence in Syria struggle to protect their children amid a deepening humanitarian emergency.
This is the fifth installment in our weekly series about the Syrian conflict and refugee crisis. Miss any of the first four? Read them here.
* * *
Reports from aid agencies and U.N. bodies show that some parents taking refuge are being forced to consider marrying off their children as a way to cope with and survive the incredible difficulties they are facing.
A recent report by World Vision, Untying the Knot, revealed that parents living through an emergency may resort to these marriages because they feel it is the safest option for their children.
"During a conflict like the one in Syria, families lose everything," said Erica Hall, World Vision senior child rights adviser. "They've been stripped of their homes, jobs, and savings -- but also community structures like schools, friends, and family that helped keep their children safe.
"It's hard for parents to know where the next meal is going to come from and how they can protect their children from danger, including the very real threat of sexual violence.
"Parents will feel incredibly vulnerable and may believe that a husband will be able to protect their daughter from these threats, and allow them to better provide for their remaining children, too.
"But early marriages have long-term, negative effects on girls' health, well-being, and future."
With no sign of when refugee families will be able to return home and to a sense of normality, the threat to young girls is likely to remain high. World Vision is calling for more research to determine how many children are being affected.
Staff from the organization met one mother, Amira*, who fears that arranging a marriage for her 12-year-old daughter, Sheereen, is the only remaining option to ensure her family's survival.
Amira is seven months pregnant, with four other children to feed. She doesn't know how she will pay the $100 rent for their one-room apartment.
"Sheereen would be our survival," she said. "I spend my days sleeping or dwelling on my worries. I don't like my life anymore."
While some families are currently choosing to delay marriage for their children, it is likely that more people will soon reach a tipping point. With 8,000 people fleeing Syria every day and many soon running out of money, an early marriage for their daughters may be an option they can no longer avoid.
Families who have fled to countries like Lebanon and Jordan are living in cramped conditions, either in makeshift shelters or overcrowded flats.
More than 3 million people are in need of help, and 1 million of those have fled to neighboring countries, including Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, and Iraq.
World Vision is working to provide food, safe water, hygiene kits, blankets, fuel, and safe places for children to recover from what they have been through.
No child should have to live in fear, and we know that providing a safe place for children can reduce their fear and anxiety about the risks of violence, exploitation, and abuse.
*Names have been changed to protect identities. Additional reporting provided by Vikki Meakin and Patricia Mouamar.
Make a one-time donation to help World Vision provide emergency assistance for Syrian refugees. Your gift will help us deliver basic hygiene kits and food vouchers for refugee families, as well as established Child-Friendly Spaces to provide affected children with a safe place to play, learn, and interact with their peers.
Please join us in prayer for all World Vision staff members working around the world, particularly in this region of conflict.
Also, consider joining World Vision's Hope Prayer Team. Each month, you'll receive an email containing suggested prayer points for those in need, for World Vision's work, and for our staff — as well as news from around the world, guided prayer points for urgent requests, and links to other ways you can care for children in need.


text:
Poll: Fight obesity crisis but keep the junk food
Everyone could use a little help keeping those New Year's resolutions to slim down. But if it means the government limiting junk food, the response is an overwhelming, "No."
Americans call obesity a national health crisis and blame too much screen time and cheap fast food for fueling it. But a new poll finds people are split on how much the government should do to help -- and most draw the line at attempts to force healthier eating.
A third of people say the government should be deeply involved in finding solutions to the epidemic. A similar proportion want it to play little or no role, and the rest are somewhere in the middle, according to the poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
Require more physical activity in school, or provide nutritional guidelines to help people make better choices? Sure, 8 in 10 support those steps. Make restaurants post calorie counts on their menus, as the Food and Drug Administration is poised to do? Some 70 percent think it's a good idea.
Despite the severity of the problem, most of those surveyed say dealing with obesity is up to individuals. Just a third consider obesity a community problem that governments, schools, health care providers and the food industry should be involved in. Twelve percent said it will take work from both individuals and the community.
That finding highlights the dilemma facing public health experts: Societal changes in recent decades have helped spur growing waistlines, and now a third of U.S. children and teens and two-thirds of adults are either overweight or obese.
Kristen Irace, North Adams Regional Hospital's clinical nutrition manager and a registered dietitian, said obesity is a byproduct of an individual's lifestyle.
"For people to lose weight and keep it off in the long run, they are going to have to adopt lifestyle changes that stay over the years," Irace said.
The biggest problem is a lack of exercise, Irace said.
At North Adams Regional Hospital, Irace said the approach to weight reduction includes working with individuals on a one-on-one basis to formulate a plan to achieve it.
Today, restaurants dot more street corners and malls, regular-sized portions are larger, and a fast-food meal can be cheaper than healthier fare. Not to mention electronic distractions that slightly more people surveyed blamed for obesity than fast food.
In the current environment, it's difficult to exercise that personal responsibility, said Jeff Levi of the nonprofit Trust for America's Health, which has closely tracked the rise in obesity.
"We need to create environments where the healthy choice becomes the easy choice, where it's possible for people to bear that responsibility," he said.
And when it comes to restricting what people can buy -- like New York City's recent ban of supersized sodas in restaurants -- three-quarters say, "No way." In the survey, nearly 6 in 10 people oppose taxes targeting unhealthy foods, known as soda taxes or fat taxes.
When asked, some Berkshire County residents also reflected their opinions on the issue.
Everett Kordana said "there is only so much you can regulate" when it comes to government rules to guide people's healthy eating choices. Colleen Murphy, of Pittsfield, agreed: "You can only do so much because personal choice comes along after that."
Sami Strout, a Pittsfield resident and also a registered nurse, said she believes nutritional awareness is key to a healthier lifestyle.
Fast food is easy, Strout said. "You drive up, get it. ... It would be nice if fast food included healthier ingredients and incorporated less preservatives."
Food is only part of the obesity equation; physical activity is key too. About 7 in 10 people said it was easy to find sidewalks or paths for jogging, walking or bike-riding. But 63 percent found it difficult to run errands or get around without a car, reinforcing a sedentary lifestyle.
The AP-NORC Center survey was conducted Nov. 21 through Dec. 14. It involved landline and cellphone interviews with 1,011 adults nationwide and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4.2 percentage points.
If you'd like to leave a comment (or a tip or a question) about this story with the editors, please email us. We also welcome letters to the editor for publication; you can do that by filling out our letters form and submitting it to the newsroom.


text:
There are no definitive tests to confirm osteoarthritis (OA). Your doctor may suspect OA based on symptoms, their pattern, and a physical exam. Imaging tests such as x-rays , ultrasound, or MRI scan may be done to confirm the diagnosis or assess the amount of damage. A joint with OA will have lost some of the normal space that exists between the bones (joint space) which will be visible on an imaging test.
Blood and joint fluids may be tested to rule out other joint disorders with similar symptoms, such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA), gout, or joint infections. Tests may include:
Revision Information
- Reviewer: Warren A. Bodine, DO, CAQSM
- Review Date: 05/2016 -
- Update Date: 05/20/2015 -


text:
Lockheed's F-22 Raptor is the most advanced
fighter in the world with its stealth capabilities, advanced radar, state
of the art weapons systems and ultra-efficient turbofans which allow the F-22
to "supercruise" at supersonic speeds without an afterburner. The
Raptor has gone up against the best that the US Air Force and Navy has to offer
taking out F-15s, F-16s and F/A-18 Super Hornets during simulated war games in
Alaska. The Raptor-led "Blue Air" team was able to rack up an impressive
241-to-2 kill ratio during the exercise against the "Red Air"
threat -- the two kills on the blue team were from the 30-year old F-15
teammates and not the new Raptors.
But while the simulated war games were a somewhat easy feat
for the Raptor, something
more mundane was able to cripple six aircraft on a 12 to 15 hours flight
from Hawaii to Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan. The U.S. Air Force's mighty
Raptor was felled by the International Date Line (IDL).
When the group of Raptors crossed over the IDL, multiple
computer systems crashed on the planes. Everything from fuel subsystems, to navigation and
partial communications were completely taken offline. Numerous attempts were
made to "reboot" the systems to no avail.
Luckily for the Raptors, there were no weather issues that
day so visibility was not a problem. Also, the Raptors had their refueling
tankers as guide dogs to "carry" them back to safety. "They
needed help. Had they gotten separated from their tankers or had the weather
been bad, they had no attitude reference. They had no communications or
navigation," said Retired Air Force Major General Don Shepperd. "They
would have turned around and probably could have found the Hawaiian Islands.
But if the weather had been bad on approach, there could have been real trouble."
"The tankers brought them back to Hawaii. This could
have been real serious. It certainly could have been real serious if the
weather had been bad," Shepperd continued. "It turned out OK. It was
fixed in 48 hours. It was a computer glitch in the millions of lines of code,
somebody made an error in a couple lines of the code and everything goes."
Luckily for the pilots behind the controls of the Raptors,
they were not involved in a combat situation. Had they been, it could have been
a disastrous folly by the U.S. Air Force to have to admit that their aircraft
which cost $125+ million USD apiece were knocked out of the sky due to a few
lines of computer code. "And luckily this time we found out about it
before combat. We got it fixed with tiger teams in about 48 hours and the airplanes
were flying again, completed their deployment. But this could have been real
serious in combat," said Shepperd.