text:
Slackware Linux is the oldest surviving Linux distribution, and still one of the most popular. Last week's release of version 12.0 is a milestone for the Slackware team, as it marks Slackware's first use of a default 2.6.x kernel. Other new components include KDE 3.5.7, Xfce 4.4.1, Xorg 7.2.0, and GCC 4.1.2. Slackware is now nearing the bleeding edge without sacrificing stability, making this truly an exciting release.
I downloaded the first three CD-ROM images as torrents. They came in suprisingly fast for torrents, indicating many seeders.
Slackware's installer has remained largely unchanged -- a menu-driven interactive ncurses installer. The basic steps include partitioning the drive if necessary, activating a swap partition, designating a root partition, choosing software, setting up a root password, and installing LILO (or not). Slackware provides four kernel choices: the generic kernel, generic-smp (for multiprocessor/multicore machines), huge (built with about every driver in kernel), and huge-smp. I used a huge kernel for my Hewlett-Packard dv6105 notebook. With a 2.0GHz AMD Turion CPU and 512MB RAM, it boots in an impressive 30 seconds. One new option available during install is the choice of making a USB boot stick instead of a boot diskette, but that option didn't do anything for me -- it didn't format the media or write anything.
Slackware has been a long-time favorite of mine because of its simplicity in hardware configuration. Now with Linux 18.104.22.168, udev, and HAL, hardware configuration is supposed to be even easier, but I still had to do some manual setup. Most of my common hardware was functional at boot, but I had to add support for my wireless chipset, ACPI, and CPU scaling. It was refreshing to find I could still easily enable these by manually editing the /etc/rc.d/rc.modules file. Users should be able to automount removable media if they are members of the cdrom and plugdev groups, but that didn't seem to work for me; I receive an error with USB sticks and saw an empty window with CD-ROMS and DVDs.
Slackware doesn't ship with Ndiswrapper, which I needed to get my network adapter working. I downloaded the latest stable version from SourceForge.net and easily compiled it and brought up my Internet connection. This is another reason Slackware has found its way into my heart and onto my disks; I can't remember having a source package that would not compile in Slackware.
On the other hand, you don't really have to do very much compiling. Slackware comes with an impressive list of software.
As in Slackwares past, KDE is delivered just as KDE developers packaged it. I visited kde-look.org for a background and window decoration. After five minutes and three or four tweaks, Slackware looked as pretty as any distro.
Besides the complete suite of KDE, including Accesssibility, Games, Edutainment, and Development applications, Slackware also ships with KOffice, K3b for CD burning, Amarok music player, Firefox and Seamonkey for Web browsing, Thunderbird for email, Pan for newsgroup reading, and XChat for IRC. For image viewing and manipulation it offers GQView and the GIMP, and for multimedia needs it has Audacious, Juk, Xine, and Gxine. Browser plugins include support for Java and video formats. Xine includes support for all the video formats I tested, including AVI and MP4, but the audio apps lacked support for the Ogg Vorbis format, and Gxine froze when it started up.
Slackware doesn't ship with a lot of graphical configuration utilities. Some of what isn't automatically configured can be handled by the desktop environments. For example, after loading the correct kernel modules, I used KLaptop to set up my laptop battery monitoring and CPU performance profiles. They worked fairly well, although the suspend and hibernate options weren't available. Slackware provides the CUPS browser interface for printers. I had to use standard configuration files or the command line for other tasks, such as for setting up my wireless connection using Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) or making adjustments to my screen resolution.
You can use KDE's Kpackage to assist with package management, but Slackware's primary software manager is pkgtool, a menu-driven console tool to add, remove, and upgrade Slackware packages. Unfortunately, it still won't download packages from a remote location. At one time one could install slapt-get or swaret for that functionality, but it looks like those projects haven't been updated in a while. To install software using pkgtool you'll need to download Slackware packages to your local machine and navigate to their location. Beside Slackware's repositories, there are third-party collection such as Linuxpackages, and many individual projects offer Slackware packages. You can also use pkgtool to make your own Slackware packages out of source directories, to ease in management.
This release also gives users the ability to upgrade 11.0 to 12.0 using the slackpkg tool. You can find instructions on how to use it in the CHANGES_AND_HINTS.TXT file. The procedure looks long and complicated; I think it would be easier and faster to back up all needed files and start with a fresh install. However, the option is available for those who wish to use it.
If KDE isn't your first choice in a desktop environment, Slackware offers others. Xfce 4.4.1, for instance, like KDE, is delivered as the original developers intended. Xfce is easier than ever to customize, as it provides graphical configurations for backgrounds, icons, themes, window behavior, and much more. Fluxbox, another available option, is a wonderful choice for anyone needing a lightweight desktop environment. Still others are WindowMaker, Blackbox, and FWMV. Third-party GNOME packages for Slackware were available for operating system versions past, but I found no 12.0 support as of yet.
With all the improvements in the new version, Slackware is better than ever. Hardware support and autoconfiguration are about on par with most other Linux distros. The software included is the latest versions available, yet Slackware remains one of the most stable systems I have used. Limited package management, a complicated upgrade procedure, buggy removable media support, and a lack of graphical configuration tools are some of the drawbacks I found in using Slackware.
In the end, Slackware 12.0 is still Slackware -- steeped in nostalgia, patriarch to a whole generation of distros, and still trying to keep it simple.


text:
October 18, 2011
Joe Lee, Past President
Ground Water Protection Council
GWPC is the National Association of State Ground Water and Underground Injection Control Agencies
Our Mission is to Promote the Protection and Conservation of Ground Water Resources for all Beneficial Uses, Recognizing Ground Water as a Critical Component of the Ecosystem
Who is the GWPC?
To provide a forum for stakeholder
communication and research in order to improve
governments governments' role in the protection and
conservation of ground water •1997
– GWPC submitted an amicus brief in the LEAF case
•2000 – Passed a resolution calling on congress to clarify status of HFPassed HF relative to
•2000 – Passed a resolution calling for the banning of diesel fuel use in HF in
coalbed methane zones that are also USDWs
•1998 to 2009 Conducted surveys related to hydraulic fracturing r
regulation egulation
•2009 - Provided congressional testimony to House Environment and Natur Natural al
Resources committee
•2009 to 2011 2011– Held HF sessions at UIC Conferences, Annual Forums, NGWA
Meeting and RBDMS Fall TrainingMeeting Training
•2009 - Published 2 reports that included significant discussions of HFPublished HF (Shale Gas
Primer) and (State Regulations Designed to Protect Water Resourc Resources) es)
- Submitted comment letter to EPA about the scope of HF studySubmitted study
– GWPC Board passed Resolution 10 10-1: with states, develop HF Registry
– Working with states and EPA concerning diesel fuel use guidance
2011– Developing RBDMS HF Schema
•2011 – Published a two state study of contamination incident investiga investigations tions
(categorized by oilfield practice) (September, 2011)
2011– Launched FracFocus Hydraulic Fracturing Chemical Disclosure RegLaunched Registry istry
– GWPC Board passed Resolution 11 11-3: reporting all intentional chemicals ◦ University of Texas (HF efficiency)
◦ Resources for the Future (Risk analysis)
◦ Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Water usage)
◦ Many others ( Fluid management, geochemical
interaction, federal lands, safety safety…… …….) .)
◦ U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Science Advisory
Board (Evaluation of contamination probabilities) Final
◦ U.S. Department of Energy, Science & Environmental
AAddvviissoorryy BBooaarrdd ((RReeccoommmendations for future actions) August 2011 @
www.shalegas.energy.gov/resources/081111_90_day_r eport.pdf
Ground Water Protection Council USEPA and State Regulatory Actions
◦ Diesel fuel use in HF (Guidance)
September, 2011
Legal questions
State implementation
◦ State disclosure regulations
Pennsylvania, Montana, Wyoming, Texas, New
Mexico, California, Colorado, West Virginia,
Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana Louisiana…… …….
Ground Water Protection Council- Why FracFocus? FracFocus?-
To provide factual information to the
public about the process of hydraulic
fracturing and the chemicals used in
that process
Hydraulic Fracturing: How it Works
Groundwater Protection
Regulations by State
Chemical Use
Frequent Questions
Find a Well by State
These elements describe the fracturing process, the methods used to protect groundwater, why chemicals are used and which chemicals are used. To find information about the state regulatory agencies and their regulations. We also provide answers to frequently asked questions and provide a means for the public to pose questions about hydraulic fracturing. The site also allows a person to see the hydraulic fracturing records of individual wells Select a combination of criteria from the listed fields and click on the search buttonIf the search produces results they will be presented as a list from which you can choose a record to view. Click on the pdf logo to see the record.Select a combination of criteria from the listed fields and click on the search button and zoom in on mapNumber and colors in circles indicate number of wells reported in that area given the zoom / scale resolutionSelect a well ("blue drop") and a description of the well comes up.FracFocus: Growth Chart of Reported Wells Since April 11,
2011 FracFocus has
◦ Acquired 66
companies (49
reporting to date)
◦ Had over 5,200
hydraulic fracturing
records loaded; and
◦ Been visited by more
tthhaann 6655,,000000 ppeeooppllee from 125 countries
The future of
◦ Easier search and
record access capability
◦ Operator tools to
facilitate easier record
◦ Administrative tools to
help operators manage
their records
◦ Communication with
state database systems
Montana (Rule final)
Louisiana (Rule pending)
Texas (By statute, rule pending)
New Mexico (Proposed rule)
Under consideration
West Virginia
Ground Water Protection CouncilJoe Lee, Past President
Ground Water Protection Council
Click tabs to swap between content that is broken into logical sections.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
The popularity of sites featuring user-generated content (UGC) has increased dramatically in the UK over the last year, according to research by comScore.
The firm found Wikipedia to be the top UGC property, and the sixteenth most popular site overall with 6.5m visitors in July 2006, up 253% from a year earlier.
Other UGC sites that have moved into the top 50 in the UK include MySpace.com (up 467% to 5.2m visitors), Piczo.com (up 393% to 4m), YouTube.com (3.9m visitors), and Bebo.com (up 328% to 3.9m).
"Web 2.0 is clearly architected for participation, as it attempts to harness the collective intelligence of Web users," commented Bob Ivins, MD of comScore Europe.
"Many of the sites experiencing the fastest growth today are the ones that understand their audience's need for expression and have made it easy for them to share pictures, upload music and video, and provide their own commentary, thus stimulating others to do the same. It is the classic network effect at work."
UGC sites, according to the study, are also much more 'sticky' than their counterparts.
The research showed they draw more frequent visits than non-UGC sites (4.2 vs. 3.5 average usage days per month), longer periods of engagement (79.9 vs. 33.2 average minutes per visitor), and more pages viewed (217 vs. 52 average pages per visitor).
Users of the top social networking sites demonstrate particularly high levels of engagement, with visitors to MySpace.com and Bebo.com averaging at least 5 usage days, 2 hours of use, and 300 pages viewed per visitor during July.
The question now is how they can monetise their popularity without alienating their users.
"It is clear that UGC sites – and in particular social networking sites – represent potentially fertile ground for advertisers and marketers," said Ivins.
"Users on these sites visit more frequently, stay longer, and view more content, which means more opportunities for marketers to communicate key messages. The challenge right now is to determine effective ways to integrate this messaging while maintaining a positive user experience."


text:
France's unpopular president faces a moment of truth after his Socialist Party suffered a drubbing at the polls and the far-right made advances across the country.
Will his package of spending cuts and reforms wither and die like so many previous efforts to reform France's economy, following the setback suffered by his party in the first round of municipal elections on Sunday?
France, Europe's number 2 economy, has been generating a lot of negative headlines and Francois Hollande thinks it needs to move with the times to boost growth and bring down sky-high levels of unemployment.
His new approach, outlined earlier this year, is not what he promised voters in the presidential election of 2012. His stump speech then defended the country's welfare and labor benefits and a tax squeeze on the rich.
In anticipation of a setback in the elections in towns and cities, Hollande appeared determined to stick the course, telling journalists that France had to lower its labor costs and boost its competiveness. He also promised decisions on spending cuts by the end of April.
More clarity may well emerge after the second round of voting next weekend — in France, there's another round of voting if no one party gained a majority. Hollande is widely expected to reshuffle his government even though the municipal elections don't directly affect his ability to govern and push through policies.
At the start of this year, Hollande laid out his new approach, promising a 30 billion-euro ($41 billion) payroll tax cut by 2017, in exchange for more investment and hiring by companies. In addition, he announced 50 billion euros in cuts in government spending.
His blueprint has gone down well among many officials in the European Union who have worried that France's indebted economy could hobble the region's economic recovery.
France's recovery has been fairly anemic: It has an unemployment rate of more than 10 percent; its debt burden is running at over 90 percent of its national income and foreign direct investment dropped 77 percent in 2013, according to the UN.
Amid that backdrop, the Socialists faltered in Sunday's elections with the conservative UMP party doing best in results described by commentators as a "slap in the face" of the French president. Perhaps most dramatically, the Socialists came third in Marseille, France's second-biggest city behind the UMP and the far-right National Front.
Samia Ghali, a Socialist candidate in Marseille, told BFM television that there's an impression that "the government is on one planet and France on another. I think they have to come back to earth and take account of the situation of the French."
Economists, such as Marc Touati, president of French business consulting group ACDEFI, said France must do the reforms that so many others, particularly in the 18-country eurozone, have pushed through over the past few crisis-afflicted years.
France, said Touati, "must take draconian measures to restore confidence and growth— which means: cut taxes, and in order to do that, you must cut public spending."
And Hall Gardner, a professor of politics at the American University of Paris, indicated that he's going to find it tough even if he pushes through with his plans to make France more dynamic.
"Hollande has created a kind of bureaucratic vacuum, nothing seems to be moving in a very dynamic way," he said.


text:
|Happy Acres Family Resort, Middlefield, CT
(Digital Images. Photographs Privately Held By Cynthia Shenette; Photographs and Text, Copyright (c) 2013 Cynthia Shenette) My mom, Christine (Szerejko) Shenette always use to talk about Happy Acres Family Resort. She and her sister, Helene (Szerejko) Dingle use to spend their summer vacations there in the late 1940s. After Helene got married in 1948 mom still vacationed there. Mom would meet her friend, Rosalie (Wagner) Massey, at the resort. Rosalie lived in New York City so it was a nice place for the girls to meet between Worcester, Massachusetts and NYC.
|Left, Christine (Szerejko) Shenette; Middle, Mary Foersta ; Left, Helene (Szerejko) Dingle
23 August 1947
|Christine (Szerejko) Shenette
Mom use to talk about the fun she had at Happy Acres--tennis, games, swimming. One of her most vivid memories was of meeting Rosalie at the resort. Apparently, Happy Acres employed an accordionist to play music as guests arrived at the resort. My mom said on this particular day the accordionist played the song Rosalie over and over again as people arrived. When mom's friend Rosalie finally arrived at the resort the accordionist played Rosalie one more time. Rosalie was thrilled because she thought he was playing it especially for her!
Travel back in time with me.
Happy Acres offers...
|Christine (Szerejko) Shenette
|Left, Unidentified Friend; Right, Helen (Szerejko) Dingle
|Left, Helen (Szerejko) Dingle; Right, Unidentified Little Friend
|Left, Christine (Szerejko) Shenette; Left, Unidentified Friend
|Helene (Szerejko) Dingle
|Left, Helene (Szerejko) Dingle; Right, Unidentified Friend
|The "Sharayko" Girls
Left, Christine (Szerejko) Shenette; Right, Helen (Szerejko) Dingle
Other Posts You Might Like:
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun...
Taking A Dip
Climbing Over Rocky Mountain - Wordless Wednesday


text:
Gray is the rarest natural coloration. Shades range from silver to rust to charcoal.
46-49" x 36-38", the wool is ~4-8" long
Note: Measurements are approximate, taken from the fur side.
The processing of these sheepskin conforms to strict EU directives concerning environmental preservation and protection — no chromium or bleaches were used in the tanning process.
Actual product is shown in these images.
To see images in situ, please visit our Tumblr
We highly recommend purchasing a brush to maintain your sheepskin.


text:
MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. – Freshman Faith Flanders (Dublin, Ga.) has been named Bobcat Athlete of the Week for her performance in helping the softball team to a 2-2 record this past weekend in the 2014 Bobcat Blast.
In her first collegiate softball pitching appearance, Flanders tossed seven shutout innings for the Bobcats against Queens University, only allowing three hits and no walks. She picked up her first win as the Bobcats defeated the Royals, 3-0.
Flanders had stretches of setting down nine and then another eight hitters in a row during the game, and allowed just two runners to reach third base. Flanders also added her first collegiate hit over the weekend, going 1-6 at the plate with a walk.
The Bobcats host Albany State University Friday, Feb. 7 for a doubleheader starting at 2 p.m. at the Peeler Complex.
The Georgia College Department of Athletics, two-time winners of the PBC Commissioner's Cup, sponsors 11 varsity athletic programs at the NCAA Division II level. As a Division II program, Bobcat Athletics prides itself on balancing the life of the student-athlete, evidenced by the teams' multiple appearances in post-season competition as well as documented academic success and community-service involvement. Sign up at @GCBobcats on Twitter and Facebook for up-to-the-minute reports, and visit www.GCBobcats.com for more information, and to nominate your favorite former Bobcats and Colonials to the GC Athletics Hall of Fame.


text:
Printer Friendly Version
Standard ECMA-385
NFC-SEC: NFCIP-1 Security Services and Protocol
4th edition (June 2015)
This Standard specifies the NFC-SEC secure channel and shared secret services for NFCIP-1 and the PDUs and protocol for those services. The NFC-SEC cryptography standards identified in the PID registry complement and use the services and protocol specified in this Standard.
The following file can be freely downloaded:
This Ecma publication is also approved as ISO/IEC 13157-1.
The previous replaced "historical" editions of this Ecma Standard are available here.


text:
Olympia Le-Tan Moliere Book Clutch, as seen on Natalie Portman & Michelle Williams
- Item Number
- 408
- Estimated Value
- Leading Bid
- Number of Bids
- 1 - Bid History
Item Description
Here's your chance to own a coveted Olympia Le-Tan book clutch before it premieres next spring. Adored by literary-loving starlets and fashion insiders everywhere, these much sought-after handbags are perenially sold-out at Net-A-Porter, Opening Ceremony, and elsewhere.
French designer Olympia Le-Tan's artisanal collection of handbags reimagines classic book covers and transforms them into whimsical clutches and accessories. From the painstaking hand-embroidery and sleek gold frame to the Liberty-print lining, meticulous attention is lavished on every detail. Let this limited-edition style pop against your favorite LBD for a standout evening look sure to impress bibliophiles and fashionistas alike.
Up for auction is Le-Tan's handbag-recreation of a hardbound edition of Molière's Le Malade imaginaire (The Imaginary Invalid), the classic comedy from one of history's most brilliant satirists. This particular clutch is not available anywhere and will not be in stock in Europe and the United States until next spring.
- Handmade
- Blue ribbon canvas, white felt, and black embroidery, designer-stamped, gold metal frame, stitched identity number at back (edition of 16)
- Internal pouch pocket
- Fully lined in floral Liberty-print poplin
- Clasp fastening
More about Olympia Le-Tan
Olympia Le-Tan is a self-taught fashion designer. She was born in London and raised in Paris and likes to say she is English, French and Vietnamese. She started her career at the Chanel design studio with Karl Lagerfeld then went on to Balmain where she worked closely with Gilles Dufour who then created his own brand with Olympia by his side.
In 2009, she launched her eponymous accessories label, combining her two obsessions, embroidery (a talent she inherited from her grand-mother), and literature (a passion she shares with her father, French illustrator Pierre Le-Tan) to create one of a kind handbags and minaudières. The bags are handmade with love in France in very limited editions. They are now distributed in over 30 select shops around the world. The brand's signature book-clutch has been seen on Tilda Swinton, Natalie Portman or Clémence Poésy to name a few.
In 2011, Olympia's felt embroideries were the main inspiration for the short stop-motion animation film Mourir Auprès de Toi which she collaborated on with Spike Jonze and Simon Cahn. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and was then presented at the Locarno Film Festival.
In January 2012, Olympia Le-Tan was the guest designer at Pitti W in Florence. For the occasion she created a special collection inspired by Italian literature and cinema, which was presented at the Museo Bellini.
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text:
hope4delaney2011 necesitaba un nuevo diseño de camiseta y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 72 diseños de 19 diseñadores freelance.
We established our organization, Hope 4 Delaney to raise money for the Cystic Fibrosis Center at the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia. My 2 year old daughter Delaney was diagnosed with this terminal disease at one week of age. With no family history, we were devastated. We established Hope 4 Delaney to raise funding to assist others and their families that battle this disease. Its just one way for us to help beat the odds and help find a cure.
We have an annual fundraiser where we sell the t-shirts with a list of our sponsors on the back. Just one way to get our name out there, to let people know who we are and what we are fighting for.
We have a website, hope4delaney.com that you will be able to get a better idea about us and what we do. You'll get a really good idea of who this is really about, Delaney.....our very spunky, head strong, independant and hysterically adorable little bean!
Please help us out. We'll advertise your name or design company at the event.
thanks so much.
Our target is the general public. We want the shirts to be catchy but not too over the top. Something that people will read or ask what Hope 4 Delaney is. I am hopeful that people that see the shirt will want to buy it because they like the design, not just to support the cause.
It has to be something that men and women will wear.
*our organization name HOPE 4 DELANEY (will be displayed on the front of the shirt)
we are basing the "theme" of the event on the strength of Delaney. How she has blossomed into a fighter, a headstrong and beautiful little girl.
She reminds me of the sun. . . . its brightness, its strength, its powerful ability to bring happiness and warmth to all things it touches.
There is a quote that embodies our lives and what we have learned over the last two years. "Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, but learning to dance in the rain."
we would like to put a catchy quote on the back of the shirt that will be displayed above the sponsors logos.
" ** something ** 4 CHOP 2011 " the quote would correlate with our "theme". (last year was CHUG n CHEW 4 CHOP beer, food, gumballs, etc)


text:
Android development
We have been wanting to try the Android platform for some time and just recently bought an HTC Desire phone (It rocks, not so much the multitouch implementation).
Right now we are:
- Investigating the platform, going through the API and Best Practices, to see what kind of games we can do, and how easy it is.
- Decoupling our engine from some libraries like Slick2d and Groovy in order to test if we can reuse it for Android development.
One huge issue with Android right now is that the market has support for selling apps from a little list of countries. Of course Uruguay which is where we are from is not one of those. So we have to see if we can make things that can be supported with ads, donations, other markets (not the main android market), or some other solution.
We will be making some update when we have more knlowledge about this interesting platform.


text:
On Tue, 1 Feb 2005, Kelly Pierce wrote: > I remember how this was a big issue in the late 1990s. the mainstream was > using Netscape navigator or Internet Explorer with Windows and many blind > computer users were still using Lynx on a Unix shell with DOS. Switching to > Windows meant buying a completely new computer with new application software > and a new screen reader, which cost considerable money. nearly all of those > users have transitioned from DOS to windows in the past five to seven years > as they needed to replace their computer systems. At a certain point > though, I wonder how long the far trailing edge of technology needs to be > supported. Linux, Lynx and emacspeak are all still fully supported and Linux FC3 is as new as last month. > I'm happy to be in Windows and not have to type commands for everything I do > online like I needed to do with Unix. Ceaseless typing and occasional > consulting of reference cards was getting old. different folks, different strokes....forcing one to buy new computers and software just to use a site that should be accessible. just because you don't like typing commands doesn't mean another person might hate using a mouse, I touch type at 65wpm and hate mice, they slow me down and they are very hard to use in text, heck half my software won't even work with a mouse even if I wanted to. and for what it is worth I have less than $35 in all the software on my computer, I own it all and it is all legal, why in the name of all that is sensible would I want to hobble my computer with bloated insecure software that costs a fortune and forces me to keep buying more and more stuff I don't want or need. and I am not alone, more and more folks are making that decision every day. Bob > > Kelly > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: <email@example.com> > To: <email@example.com>; <firstname.lastname@example.com>; > <email@example.com>; <email@example.com> > Sent: Tuesday, February 01, 2005 9:55 AM > Subject: RE: accessible banking: > > > What I am thinking about is how the poverty issue impacts the security > issue. > I describe it as a poverty issue since the statement "The law should read > that anyone should be able to access and fully use any tehnology appropriate > for a task and which fits their needs." includes people without disabilities > and I believe is an attempt to include less economically fortunate members > of the communities addressed by the W3C WAI Guidelines. Poverty is not an > accessibility issue unique to these communities as it impacts many outside > of these communities. > > The problem arises when an Internet user fortunate enough to have an early > 1990's era system attempts to visit a secure site. This system is probably > not capable of supporting current encryption standards. Does the secure > site > owner have an obligation to provide this user access at the risk of > compromising security? Or does the "...appropriate for a task..." part of > this statement mean this era browser would be exempt from the site owners > obligation? And if we make this exception, is it not also fair to say > users of "free" browsers capable of supporting current encryption standards > and 'modeling' IE browser behavior have access to any site optimized for > accessibility with an IE browser? > > Given that non-Internet Explorer browsers are now able to 'model' the > behavior > of an Internet Explorer browser, a distinction between the product > Internet Explorer and the behavior of this product needs to be made. To say > a site is only accessible with an IE browser can mean two different things. > Either the product Internet Explorer or the behavior of an IE browser is > needed. "Free" browsers able to 'model' Internet Explorer behavior provide > the means for less economically fortunate users to access sites optimized > for the Internet Explorer browser without incurring any expense or exposure > to any of the Internet Explorer security issues often cited. > > > Kurt Mattes > > > -----Original Message----- > From: david poehlman [mailto:firstname.lastname@example.com] > Sent: Tuesday, February 01, 2005 9:37 AM > To: Mattes, Kurt (Bank One); firstname.lastname@example.com; > firstname.lastname@example.com; email@example.com > Subject: Re: accessible banking: > > > I guess so but could you ellaborate on your question. > > Johnnie Apple Seed > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: <email@example.com> > To: <email@example.com>; <firstname.lastname@example.com>; > <firstname.lastname@example.com>; <email@example.com> > Sent: Tuesday, February 01, 2005 9:22 AM > Subject: RE: accessible banking: > > > > Does "The law should read that anyone should be able to access > and fully use any tehnology appropriate for a task and which fits their > needs." include any browser capable of connecting to the Internet? > > Kurt Mattes > > > -----Original Message----- > From: email@example.com [mailto:email@example.com]On > Behalf Of david poehlman > Sent: Tuesday, February 01, 2005 9:10 AM > To: Kelly Pierce; John Carpenter; wai-ig list > Subject: Re: accessible banking: > > > > Kelly and all, the laws are flawed in this fashion. they assume lack of > people function when the issue is lack of technology function. I just read > a piece on this in fact from the ncd called "righting the ada" which sadly > carries this mal assumption forward. 90 ercent or more of the issues we > face are artificial and the sooner they are dealt with, the better. It is > as you point out 2005 and was not right in any age to task technology with > setting the tone for people's lives but rather technology should be tasked > to serve us. > > I did state in my message that this has nothing to do with law, but perhaps > I was in error. The law should read that anyone should be able to access > and fully use any tehnology appropriate for a task and which fits their > needs. There are many places in the country and in the world where is is a > mis fit and always will be. > > Johnnie Apple Seed > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Kelly Pierce" <firstname.lastname@example.com> > To: "david poehlman" <email@example.com>; "John > Carpenter" <firstname.lastname@example.com>; "wai-ig list" <firstname.lastname@example.com> > Sent: Tuesday, February 01, 2005 9:03 AM > Subject: Re: accessible banking: > > > > > From: "david poehlman" <firstname.lastname@example.com> > To: "Kelly Pierce" <firstname.lastname@example.com>; "John Carpenter" > <email@example.com>; "wai-ig list" <email@example.com> > Sent: Tuesday, February 01, 2005 7:42 AM > Subject: Re: accessible banking: > > > > Part of accessibility is choice. I should be able to access any web site > > with any combination of user agent and technology accessibly and it be > > accessible. Is this a tall order? Yes, is it necessary, yes. > > **Not under the Americans with Disabilities Act. As long as the means of > communication made available to you is effective, I.e. allowing you to > complete a certain task, then the bank has fulfilled its access obligations. > Under the ADA, courts view access by functional performance, not by process. > they also don't consider optimal or preferential means but the means that is > sufficient to complete the specified task. You may choose not to use > Internet Explorer, but in 2005 I have not seen an argument saying that it is > unreasonable or insufficient to require people with disabilities only to use > Internet Explorer to access online banking services. It seems like you want > access beyond what is required beyond that of the ADA. > > Kelly > > > > > > > > > > > ********************************************************************** > This transmission may contain information that is privileged, confidential > and/or exempt from disclosure under applicable law. If you are not the > intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, > distribution, or use of the information contained herein (including any > reliance thereon) is STRICTLY PROHIBITED. If you received this transmission > in error, please immediately contact the sender and destroy the material in > its entirety, whether in electronic or hard copy format. Thank you > ********************************************************************** > > > > > > ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ CONFIGURE YOUR E-MAIL TO SEND TEXT ONLY, see http://expita.com/nomime.html +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve Neither liberty nor safety", Benjamin Franklin - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ASCII Ribbon Campaign accessBob NO HTML/PDF/RTF in e-mail firstname.lastname@example.com NO MSWord docs in e-mail Access Systems, engineers NO attachments in e-mail, *LINUX powered* access is a civil right *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# THIS message and any attachments are CONFIDENTIAL and may be privileged. They are intended ONLY for the individual or entity namedReceived on Wednesday, 2 February 2005 03:25:43 UTC
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text:
Integration of freshwater biodiversity in the development process throughout Africa: mobilising information and site demonstrations
This project was comprised within the project entitled "Integration of freshwater biodiversity in the development process throughout Africa: mobilising information and site demonstrations. The project ended in 2010.
IUCN-Med's role
The North Africa part of the project was coordinated by the IUCN - Centre for Mediterranean cooperation and covered the following countries: Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco. The North African part of the project aimed at mobilizing existing information and expertise on freshwater biodiversity to synthesize it and make it available to all stakeholders involved in freshwater issues.
Ensure that environmental planning for water resource development throughout Africa is based on the integration of reliable information on the status, distribution and ecological requirements of freshwater biodiversity for priority taxonomic groups such as: Fishes, Aquatic Plants, Molluscs, Odonata (dragonflies) and Crustacea (crabs).
Project outcomes:
· The assessments of these five taxonomic groups were extended to the whole Mediterranean region.
· An analytical document entitled "The Status and Distribution of Freshwater Biodiversity in Northern Africa" was published and distributed among the Mediterranean members.
· Sixty three regional experts were identified within the Mediterranean region
· Regional capacity for biodiversity assessment and data management were significantly increased through the training activities.
The Moulouya Integration of scientific knowledge in the local management plans
The Moulouya water basin in Africa was identified as a demonstration site. The work was developed in collaboration with the Agence du Bassin Hydraulic de la Moulouya (ABHM) in Morocco as well as different regional partners including the University of Oujda. The main activities involved in this demonstration site were:
· Detailed diagnosis and assessment of the aquatic biodiversity in the region: This work was developed in participation with different IUCN Specialist Groups (the Odonata specialist group…) and other local partners (University of Oujda). The diagnosis identified included field work activities, and lab. analysis.
· Establishment of a biodiversity assessment (increase the knowledge) of the species present in the 5 taxonomic groups present in the region as well as their key habitats.
· Training of the local freshwater experts and managers involved in the Moulouya basin on the use of GIS techniques.
· Presentation of the biodiversity assessment results to the local decision makers, putting in place a monitoring network for the biodiversity in the region (ABHM), and promoting the networking and the communication between the parties involved in the biodiversity management of the region.
· Outreach activities and vulgarization of the results as well as communication material on the state of biodiversity of the Moulouya in order to raise awareness to the local community (the Moulouya caravane). This activity involved previously the publishing of field guides on the fresh water flora and fauna present in the Moulouya region.
· Formulation of recommendations about the introduction of the key results obtained in the management plans of the region.
International Institute for Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC)
Centro de Investigación en Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos (CIBIO)
Agence du Bassin Hydraulogic de la Moulouya (ABHM)
WWF; Tour du Valat, UNDP RAC/SPA, Med Wet
European Commission. Co-funding for this project was provided by the MAVA Foundation and the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation Development (AECID).
January 2007 -September 2010
More information: [email protected]
IUCN-Med receives core financial support from the Ministry of Environment of the Junta de Andalucía, the Ministry of Environment and Rural and Marine Affairs and the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) among others.


text:
Press Release
New EMC Storage Arrays, Systems & Software-Defined Storage Speed IT Transformation
EMC VNX and VSPEX Systems Transform Virtualized Infrastructure; EMC ViPR Software-Defined Storage Provides Bridge To Next-Generation Architectures; EMC Previews "Project Nile" Elastic Cloud Storage Platform
Story Highlights
- Today EMC executives, customers and partners kicked off an around-the-world, 24-hour live broadcast from Milan Italy, announcing new products that help give customers the speed they need to lead their IT Transformation.
- EMC announced the revolutionary new EMC ® VNX ® Series delivers unprecedented price/performance—one-third the price for the same performance of the previous generation.
- The world's fastest-growing reference architecture, EMC VSPEX ™ , now delivers 2X more virtual machines at the same price, and an even broader spectrum of choice for workloads that matter most—powered by the new EMC VNX Series.
- EMC announced the general availability of EMC ViPR ® Software-Defined Storage Platform, planned for later this month. It is scheduled to include both ViPR Controller and ViPR Object Data Services to store, access and manipulate objects.
- EMC today unveiled the "Project Nile" Elastic Cloud Storage platform that is focused on delivering Private Cloud control, security and flexibility with the scale, economics and ease-of-use generally associated with the public cloud.
- New EMC XtremSW Cache ™ 2.0 server-flash caching software provides new management capabilities and advanced support for VMware, AIX and Oracle RAC environments.
- EMC and Lotus F1 Team celebrated their technology partnership with the new EMC VNX5400 Lotus Team F1 Limited Edition arrays.
Interact with EMC Online:
- View the 24-hour live EMC broadcast for additional access to EMC content and experts
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- View additional related news from EMC via EMC Pulse Blog
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Today EMC Corporation (NYSE:EMC) kicked off a 24-hour, around-the-world live broadcast announcing new products that help give customers the speed they need to lead their IT Transformation. Today's news includes revolutionary technology advances in the EMC VNX line of midrange storage, new capabilities for the world's fastest growing reference architecture – EMC VSPEX, the upcoming general availability of EMC ViPR – a new Software-Defined Storage platform, and finally, a preview of "Project Nile" – which EMC expects to be the world's first commercially-available complete, Web-scale storage infrastructure for the data center.
Collectively these new innovations provide customers and partners with the essential building blocks they need to build Public, Private and Hybrid Cloud environments. EMC President and Chief Operating Officer, David Goulden, had this to say about the impact of EMC's new innovations for the market, customers and partners:
" Customers are demanding more performance and efficiency from their current data center infrastructure while, at the same time, deploying new architectures for their next generation mobile and Web applications. By fully embracing and exploiting disruptive technologies such as Intel MultiCore, virtualization and flash, EMC is providing customers with the products and solutions they need to help transform their IT department–not only delivering unprecedented levels of performance and efficiency but also providing the agility needed for their business to remain competitive. "
Today's announcement includes the following highlights:
- The new, highly anticipated range of VNX unified storage systems (VNX5200, VNX5400, VNX5600, VNX5800, VNX7600, VNX8000 and VNX-F), that shatter the definition and economics of midrange storage. The new VNX raises the bar for application performance, storage efficiency, data protection, data availability and ease-of-use. Through new MCx™ software the new VNX fully unleashes the power of flash, accelerating application and file performance by up-to 4X. The new platform also delivers unprecedented price/performance—one-third the price for the same performance of the previous generation .
- All EMC VSPEX reference architectures are now powered by the new VNX Series—delivering 2X more virtual machines at the same prices, and with a broader spectrum of choice for workloads that matter most. VSPEX is the worlds fastest growing reference architecture with 3,600 shipments adopted by 3,000 customers and 1,500 partners.
- EMC announced that the ViPR Software-Defined Storage Platform is planned to be generally available later this month. ViPR is scheduled to include both the ViPR Controller and ViPR Object Data Services. ViPR Object Data Services gives customers the ability to view objects as files, providing file access performance without the latency inherent in current object storage models.
- EMC also offered a technology preview of "Project Nile", which EMC expects will be the first commercially-available complete, Web-scale storage infrastructure for the data center.
- New EMC XtremSW Cache 2.0 software offers deeper integration with EMC arrays including the new VNX Series—further driving down latency by 65%. The advanced caching software also delivers greater interoperability with VMware vCenter, industry first IBM AIX support and distributed cache coherency for Oracle RAC environments (scheduled to be available in the fourth quarter of 2013) as well as increased support for any server flash SSD or PCIe hardware (including EMC XtremSF ™ server flash hardware).
- EMC is celebrating its technology partnership with the Lotus F1 Team by jointly announcing the EMCVNX 5400 Lotus Team F1 Limited Edition arrays in Lotus F1 Team colors.
Partner Quotes
Satinder Sethi, Vice President, Data Center Group, Cisco
"Cisco's vision is to make data centers more application centric – with infrastructure that dynamically and automatically responds to the needs of business-critical applications. Cisco and EMC have partnered closely to deliver three paths to speed our customers' journey to the cloud: custom-designed infrastructure, validated reference architectures via EMC VSPEX Proven Infrastructure, and pre-integrated converged infrastructure with VCE Vblock Systems. Over the past year, Cisco solutions integrated with offerings from EMC and VCE have generated significant momentum with customers and partners. Today, Cisco and EMC have hundreds of joint channel partners and thousands of joint customers around the world. Together, Cisco and EMC plan to accelerate this success with our mutual channel partners. We also believe that EMC's next-generation VNX technology will complement Cisco's Unified Compute and Unified Fabric solutions, helping customers maximize their existing infrastructure and further simplify cloud deployments."
Raghu Raghuram, Executive Vice President, Cloud Infrastructure and Management, VMware
"As organizations realize the benefits of the software-defined data center, VMware is continuing to offer customers choice and flexibility. VMware infrastructure with the VNX Series, ViPR and VSPEX Proven Infrastructure enables businesses to speed time-to-value, and provides an opportunity for organizations to be efficient and agile as their requirements grow."
Additional Resources
- All news today includes related information and content via EMC Pulse Blog
- Visit the Lead with Speed Community on ECN
- Video: New DataCrunchers: Unified Storage Road Race
- Reflections Blog: Click Here
- What is Speed?
- Connect with EMC via Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn
About EMC
EMC Corporation is a global leader in enabling businesses and service providers to transform their operations and deliver IT as a service. Fundamental to this transformation is cloud computing. Through innovative products and services, EMC accelerates the journey to cloud computing, helping IT departments to store, manage, protect and analyze their most valuable asset — information — in a more agile, trusted and cost-efficient way. Additional information about EMC can be found at www.EMC.com.
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(781) 267-5147
EMC, MCx, VNX, ViPR, VSPEX and XtremSW are either registered trademarks or trademarks of EMC Corporation in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks used herein are the property of their respective owners.
Forward-Looking Statement Legend
This release contains "forward-looking statements" as defined under the Federal Securities Laws. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of certain risk factors, including but not limited to: (i) adverse changes in general economic or market conditions; (ii) delays or reductions in information technology spending; (iii) the relative and varying rates of product price and component cost declines and the volume and mixture of product and services revenues; (iv) competitive factors, including but not limited to pricing pressures and new product introductions; (v) component and product quality and availability; (vi) fluctuations in VMware, Inc.'s operating results and risks associated with trading of VMware stock; (vii) the transition to new products, the uncertainty of customer acceptance of new product offerings and rapid technological and market change; (viii) risks associated with managing the growth of our business, including risks associated with acquisitions and investments and the challenges and costs of integration, restructuring and achieving anticipated synergies; (ix) the ability to attract and retain highly qualified employees; (x) insufficient, excess or obsolete inventory; (xi) fluctuating currency exchange rates; (xii) threats and other disruptions to our secure data centers or networks; (xiii) our ability to protect our proprietary technology; (xiv) war or acts of terrorism; and (xv) other one-time events and other important factors disclosed previously and from time to time in EMC's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. EMC disclaims any obligation to update any such forward-looking statements after the date of this release.


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Developmental coordination disorder
|Developmental coordination disorder
|Classification and external resources
Developmental coordination disorder (DCD),[1][2][3][4][5] also known as developmental dyspraxia or simply dyspraxia,[6][7][8][9][10] is a chronic neurological disorder beginning in childhood that can affect planning of movements and co-ordination as a result of brain messages not being accurately transmitted to the body. Developmental coordination disorder is diagnosed in the absence of other neurological impairments like cerebral palsy,[11] muscular dystrophy,[6] multiple sclerosis or Parkinson's disease. It affects 5 to 6 percent of school-aged children.[12] This disorder progresses to adulthood, therefore making it a lifelong condition.
Developmental coordination disorder is classified (by doctors) in the fifth revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) as a motor disorder, in the category of neurodevelopmental disorders.[13]
Signs and symptoms
Various areas of development can be affected by developmental coordination disorder and these will persist into adulthood,[10] as DCD has no cure. Often various coping strategies are developed, and these can be enhanced through occupational therapy, psychomotor therapy, physiotherapy, speech therapy, or psychological training.
In addition to the physical impairments, developmental coordination disorder is associated with problems with memory, especially working memory.[14] This typically results in difficulty remembering instructions, difficulty organizing one's time and remembering deadlines, increased propensity to lose things or problems carrying out tasks which require remembering several steps in sequence (such as cooking). Whilst most of the general population experience these problems to some extent, they have a much more significant impact on the lives of dyspraxic people.[15] However, many dyspraxics have excellent long-term memories, despite poor short-term memory.[15] Many dyspraxics benefit from working in a structured environment, as repeating the same routine minimises difficulty with time-management and allows them to commit procedures to long-term memory.
People with developmental coordination disorder sometimes have difficulty moderating the amount of sensory information that their body is constantly sending them, so as a result dyspraxics are prone to sensory overload and panic attacks.[15]
Many dyspraxics struggle to distinguish left from right, even as adults, and have extremely poor sense of direction generally.
Moderate to extreme difficulty doing physical tasks is experienced by some dyspraxics, and fatigue is common because so much extra energy is expended while trying to execute physical movements correctly. Some (but not all) dyspraxics suffer from hypotonia, low muscle tone, which like DCD can detrimentally affect balance.[2]
Gross motor control
Whole body movement and motor coordination issues mean that major developmental targets including walking, running, climbing and jumping can be affected. The difficulties vary from person to person and can include the following:
- Poor timing[16]
- Poor balance[16][17] (sometimes even falling over in mid-step). Tripping over one's own feet is also common.
- Difficulty combining movements into a controlled sequence.
- Difficulty remembering the next movement in a sequence.
- Problems with spatial awareness,[17][18] or proprioception.
- Trouble picking up and holding onto simple objects such as pencils, owing to poor muscle tone or proprioception.
- "Clumsiness," to the point of knocking things over and bumping into people accidentally.
- Difficulty in determining left from right.
- Cross-laterality, ambidexterity, and a shift in the preferred hand are also common in people with developmental coordination disorder.
- Problems with chewing foods.
Fine motor control
Fine-motor problems can cause difficulty with a wide variety of other tasks such as using a knife and fork, fastening buttons and shoelaces, cooking, brushing one's teeth, styling one's hair, shaving,[2][19] applying cosmetics, opening jars and packets, locking and unlocking doors, and doing housework.
Difficulties with fine motor co-ordination lead to problems with handwriting,[2] which may be due to either ideational or ideo-motor difficulties.[16][20] Problems associated with this area may include:
- Learning basic movement patterns.[21]
- Developing a desired writing speed.[19]
- Establishing the correct pencil grip[19]
- The acquisition of graphemes – e.g. the letters of the Latin alphabet, as well as numbers.
Developmental verbal dyspraxia
Developmental verbal dyspraxia (DVD) is a type of ideational dyspraxia, causing speech and language impairments. This is the favoured term in the UK; however, it is also sometimes referred to as articulatory dyspraxia, and in the United States the usual term is childhood apraxia of speech (CAS).[22][23][24]
Key problems include:
- Difficulties controlling the speech organs.
- Difficulties making speech sounds
- Difficulty sequencing sounds
- Within a word
- Forming words into sentences
- Difficulty controlling breathing, suppressing salivation and phonation when talking or singing with lyrics.
- Slow language development
Associated disorders and secondary consequences
People who have developmental coordination disorder may also have one or more of these co-morbid conditions:
- Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) (inattention, hyperactivity, impulsive behaviour).[8][25][26]
- Autism spectrum disorder[26][27][28][29]
- Dyscalculia (difficulty with mathematics),[30]
- Dysgraphia (an inability to write neatly or draw),[31]
- Dyslexia (difficulty with reading and spelling),[32]:28
- Hypotonia (low muscle tone)[2]
- Sensory processing disorder[33][34]
- Specific language impairment (SLI)[35]
- Visual perception deficits[36]
However, they are unlikely to have all of these conditions. The pattern of difficulty varies widely from person to person, and it is important to understand that an area of major weakness for one dyspraxic can be an area of strength or gift for another. For example, while some dyspraxics have difficulty with reading and spelling due to an overlap with dyslexia, or numeracy due to an overlap with dyscalculia, others may have brilliant reading and spelling or mathematical abilities. Some estimates show that up to 50% of dyspraxics have ADHD.[37]
Sensory processing disorder
Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) concerns having abnormal oversensitivity or undersensitivity to physical stimuli, such as touch, light, sound, and smell.[38] This may manifest itself as an inability to tolerate certain textures such as sandpaper or certain fabrics and including oral toleration of excessively textured food (commonly known as picky eating), or even being touched by another individual (in the case of touch oversensitivity) or may require the consistent use of sunglasses outdoors since sunlight may be intense enough to cause discomfort to a dyspraxic (in the case of light oversensitivity). An aversion to loud music and naturally loud environments (such as clubs and bars) is typical behavior of a dyspraxic individual who suffers from auditory oversensitivity, while only being comfortable in unusually warm or cold environments is typical of a dyspraxic with temperature oversensitivity. Undersensitivity to stimuli may also cause problems. Dyspraxics who are undersensitive to pain may injure themselves without realising.[34] Some dyspraxics may be oversensitive to some stimuli and undersensitive to others.[34]
Specific language impairment
Specific Language Impairment (SLI), research has found that students with developmental coordination disorder and normal language skills still experience learning difficulties despite relative strengths in language. This means that for students with developmental coordination disorder their working memory abilities determine their learning difficulties. Any strength in language that they have is not able to sufficiently support their learning.[35]
Students with developmental coordination disorder struggle most in visual-spatial memory. When compared to their peers who don't have motor difficulties, students with developmental coordination disorder are seven times more likely than typically developing students to achieve very poor scores in visual-spatial memory.[39] As a result of this working memory impairment, students with developmental coordination disorder have learning deficits as well.[40]
Psychological and social consequences
Psychological domain: Children with DCD struggle with lower self-efficacy and lower self-perceived competence in peer and social relations. They demonstrate greater aggressiveness and hyperactivity.[41]
Social domain: Children are more vulnerable to social rejection and bullying, along with higher levels of loneliness.[41]
Assessments for developmental coordination disorder typically require a developmental history,[7] detailing ages at which significant developmental milestones, such as crawling and walking,[5][6][8] occurred. Motor skills screening includes activities designed to indicate developmental coordination disorder, including balancing, physical sequencing, touch sensitivity, and variations on walking activities.
Screening tests which can be used to assess developmental coordination disorder include:-
- Movement Assessment Battery for Children (Movement-ABC – Movement-ABC 2)[42][43][44][45][46]
- Peabody Developmental Motor Scales- Second Edition (PDMS-2)[42]
- Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency (BOTMP-BOT-2)[42][47][48][49]
- Motoriktest für vier- bis sechsjährige Kinder (MOT 4-6)[42][50]
- Körperkoordinationtest für Kinder (KTK)[42]
- Test of Gross Motor Development, Second Edition (TGMD-2)[42]
- Maastrichtse Motoriek Test (MMT)[42]
- Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-IV)
- Wechsler Individual Achievement Test (WAIT-II)
- Test of Word Reading Efficiency (TOWRE-2)
Currently there is no single gold standard assessment test.[42]
A baseline motor assessment establishes the starting point for developmental intervention programs. Comparing children to normal rates of development may help to establish areas of significant difficulty.
However, research in the British Journal of Special Education has shown that knowledge is severely limited in many who should be trained to recognise and respond to various difficulties, including developmental coordination disorder, dyslexia and deficits in attention, motor control and perception (DAMP).[8] The earlier that difficulties are noted and timely assessments occur, the quicker intervention can begin. A teacher or GP could miss a diagnosis if they are only applying a cursory knowledge.
"Teachers will not be able to recognise or accommodate the child with learning difficulties in class if their knowledge is limited. Similarly GPs will find it difficult to detect and appropriately refer children with learning difficulties."[51]
Developmental coordination disorder is a lifelong neurological condition that is more common in males than in females, with a ratio of approximately four males to every female. The exact proportion of people with the disorder is unknown since the disorder can be difficult to detect due to a lack of specific laboratory tests, thus making diagnosis of the condition one of elimination of all other possible causes/diseases. Approximately 5–6% of children are affected by this condition.[2][4][5][52]
Collier first described developmental coordination disorder as 'congenital maladroitness'. A. Jean Ayres referred to developmental coordination disorder as a disorder of sensory integration in 1972,[53][54] while in 1975 Dr Sasson Gubbay called it the 'clumsy child syndrome'.[7][26][55] Developmental coordination disorder has also been called minimal brain dysfunction although the two latter names are no longer in use.
Other names include: Developmental Apraxia,[7] Disorder of Attention and Motor Perception (DAMP)[7][26] Dyspraxia,[6] Developmental Dyspraxia,[7] Motor Learning Difficulties,[7][26] Perceptuo-motor dysfunction,[7][26][54] Sensorimotor dysfunction.[7]
The World Health Organisation currently lists developmental coordination disorder as Specific Developmental Disorder of Motor Function.[6]
Notable cases
Living people who have publicly stated they have been diagnosed with developmental coordination disorder include actor Daniel Radcliffe,[56] photographer David Bailey, actress Cara Delevingne,[57] singer Florence Welch,[58] and UK politician Emma Lewell-Buck.[59]
See also
- ↑ Polatajko, H.; Fox, M.; Missiuna, C. (1995). "An International Consensus on Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder". Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy. 62 (1): 3–6. doi:10.1177/000841749506200101. ISSN 0008-4174.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Barnhart, RC.; Davenport, MJ.; Epps, SB.; Nordquist, VM. (Aug 2003). "Developmental coordination disorder". Phys Therapy. 83 (8): 722–31. PMID 12882613.
- ↑ "Consensus Statements". CanChild.
- 1 2 Blank R, Smits-Engelsman B, Polatajko H, Wilson P (January 2012). "European Academy for Childhood Disability (EACD): recommendations on the definition, diagnosis and intervention of developmental coordination disorder (long version)". Dev Med Child Neurol. 54 (1): 54–93. doi:10.1111/j.1469-8749.2011.04171.x. PMID 22171930.
- 1 2 3 Zwicker JG, Missiuna C, Harris SR, Boyd LA (November 2012). "Developmental coordination disorder: a review and update". Eur. J. Paediatr. Neurol. 16 (6): 573–81. doi:10.1016/j.ejpn.2012.05.005. PMID 22705270.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Henderson, SE; Henderson, L (2003). "Toward an understanding of developmental coordination disorder: terminological and diagnostic issues". Neural Plast. 10 (1–2): 1–13. doi:10.1155/NP.2003.1. PMC 2565424. PMID 14640303.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Gibbs J, Appleton J, Appleton R (June 2007). "Dyspraxia or developmental coordination disorder? Unravelling the enigma". Arch. Dis. Child. 92 (6): 534–9. doi:10.1136/adc.2005.088054. PMC 2066137. PMID 17515623.
- 1 2 3 4 Kirby A, Sugden DA (April 2007). "Children with developmental coordination disorders". J R Soc Med. 100 (4): 182–6. doi:10.1258/jrsm.100.4.182. PMC 1847727. PMID 17404341.
- ↑ Magalhães LC, Missiuna C, Wong S (November 2006). "Terminology used in research reports of developmental coordination disorder". Dev Med Child Neurol. 48 (11): 937–41. doi:10.1017/S0012162206002040. PMID 17044965.
- 1 2 Kirby A, Edwards L, Sugden D, Rosenblum S (2010). "The development and standardization of the Adult Developmental Co-ordination Disorders/Dyspraxia Checklist (ADC)". Res Dev Disabil. 31 (1): 131–9. doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2009.08.010. PMID 19819107.
- ↑ Pearsall-Jones JG, Piek JP, Levy F (October 2010). "Developmental Coordination Disorder and cerebral palsy: categories or a continuum?". Hum Mov Sci. 29 (5): 787–98. doi:10.1016/j.humov.2010.04.006. PMID 20594606.
- ↑ "Developmental Coordination Disorder". CanChild.
- ↑ American Psychiatric Association (2013). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Fifth ed.). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing. pp. 74–7. ISBN 978-0-89042-555-8.
- ↑ Alloway TP, Rajendran G, Archibald LM (2009). "Working memory in children with developmental disorders". J Learn Disabil. 42 (4): 372–82. doi:10.1177/0022219409335214. PMID 19380495.
- 1 2 3 Biggs, Victoria (2005). "3 A Survival Guide to School". Caged in chaos : a dyspraxic guide to breaking free. London ; Philadelphia: Jessica Kingsley Publishers. ISBN 978-1-84310-347-9. OCLC 57316751.
- 1 2 3 Missiuna C, Gaines R, Soucie H, McLean J (October 2006). "Parental questions about developmental coordination disorder: A synopsis of current evidence". Paediatr Child Health. 11 (8): 507–12. PMC 2528644. PMID 19030319.
- 1 2 Geuze RH (2005). "Postural control in children with developmental coordination disorder". Neural Plast. 12 (2–3): 183–96; discussion 263–72. doi:10.1155/NP.2005.183. PMC 2565450. PMID 16097486.
- ↑ Wilson PH, McKenzie BE (September 1998). "Information processing deficits associated with developmental coordination disorder: a meta-analysis of research findings". J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 39 (6): 829–40. doi:10.1111/1469-7610.00384. PMID 9758192.
- 1 2 3 Polatajko HJ, Cantin N (December 2005). "Developmental coordination disorder (dyspraxia): an overview of the state of the art". Semin Pediatr Neurol. 12 (4): 250–8. doi:10.1016/j.spen.2005.12.007. PMID 16780296.
- ↑ Rosenblum S (2013). "Handwriting measures as reflectors of executive functions among adults with Developmental Coordination Disorders (DCD)". Front Psychol. 4: 357. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00357. PMC 3693067. PMID 23805113.
- ↑ Lacquaniti F (August 1989). "Central representations of human limb movement as revealed by studies of drawing and handwriting". Trends Neurosci. 12 (8): 287–91. doi:10.1016/0166-2236(89)90008-8. PMID 2475946.
- ↑ Vargha-Khadem F, Gadian DG, Copp A, Mishkin M (February 2005). "FOXP2 and the neuroanatomy of speech and language" (PDF). Nat. Rev. Neurosci. 6 (2): 131–8. doi:10.1038/nrn1605. PMID 15685218.
- ↑ Bacon C, Rappold GA (November 2012). "The distinct and overlapping phenotypic spectra of FOXP1 and FOXP2 in cognitive disorders". Hum. Genet. 131 (11): 1687–98. doi:10.1007/s00439-012-1193-z. PMC 3470686. PMID 22736078.
- ↑ Scharff C, Petri J (July 2011). "Evo-devo, deep homology and FoxP2: implications for the evolution of speech and language". Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond., B, Biol. Sci. 366 (1574): 2124–40. doi:10.1098/rstb.2011.0001. PMC 3130369. PMID 21690130.
- ↑ Fliers EA, Franke B, Buitelaar JK (2011). "[Motor problems in children with ADHD receive too little attention in clinical practice]". Ned Tijdschr Geneeskd (in Dutch). 155 (50): A3559. PMID 22186361.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Gillberg C, Kadesjö B (2003). "Why bother about clumsiness? The implications of having developmental coordination disorder (DCD)". Neural Plast. 10 (1–2): 59–68. doi:10.1155/NP.2003.59. PMC 2565425. PMID 14640308.
- ↑ Dziuk MA, Gidley Larson JC, Apostu A, Mahone EM, Denckla MB, Mostofsky SH (October 2007). "Dyspraxia in autism: association with motor, social, and communicative deficits". Dev Med Child Neurol. 49 (10): 734–9. doi:10.1111/j.1469-8749.2007.00734.x. PMID 17880641.
- ↑ Jeste SS (April 2011). "The neurology of autism spectrum disorders". Curr. Opin. Neurol. 24 (2): 132–9. doi:10.1097/WCO.0b013e3283446450. PMC 3160764. PMID 21293268.
- ↑ Miyahara, M. (2013). "Meta review of systematic and meta analytic reviews on movement differences, effect of movement based interventions, and the underlying neural mechanisms in autism spectrum disorder". Front Integr Neurosci. 7: 16. doi:10.3389/fnint.2013.00016. PMC 3607787. PMID 23532374.
- ↑ Pieters, S.; Desoete, A.; Van Waelvelde, H.; Vanderswalmen, R.; Roeyers, H. (2012). "Mathematical problems in children with developmental coordination disorder". Res Dev Disabil. 33 (4): 1128–35. doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2012.02.007. PMID 22502838.
- ↑ Van Waelvelde, H.; Hellinckx, T.; Peersman, W.; Smits-Engelsman, BC. (Aug 2012). "SOS: a screening instrument to identify children with handwriting impairments". Phys Occup Ther Pediatr. 32 (3): 306–19. doi:10.3109/01942638.2012.678971. PMID 22515913.
- ↑ Susan J. Pickering (2012). "Chapter 2. Working Memory in Dyslexia". In Tracy Packiam Alloway; Susan E. Gathercole. Working Memory and Neurodevelopmental Disorders. Psychology Press. ISBN 978-1-135-42134-2.
- ↑ Elbasan, B; Kayıhan, H; Duzgun, I (April 2012). "Sensory integration and activities of daily living in children with developmental coordination disorder". Ital J Pediatr. 38 (1): 14. doi:10.1186/1824-7288-38-14. PMC 3395584. PMID 22546072.
- 1 2 3 Biggs, Victoria (2005). "2 The Hidden People at Home". Caged in chaos : a dyspraxic guide to breaking free. London ; Philadelphia: Jessica Kingsley Publishers. ISBN 978-1-84310-347-9. OCLC 57316751.
- 1 2 Alloway, TP; Archibald, L (2008). "Working Memory and Learning in Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder and Specific Language Impairment". Journal of Learning Disabilities. 41 (3): 251–62. doi:10.1177/0022219408315815. PMID 18434291.
- ↑ Schoemaker, MM.; van der Wees, M.; Flapper, B.; Verheij-Jansen, N.; Scholten-Jaegers, S.; Geuze, RH. (Mar 2001). "Perceptual skills of children with developmental coordination disorder" (PDF). Hum Mov Sci. 20 (1–2): 111–33. doi:10.1016/s0167-9457(01)00031-8. PMID 11471393.
- ↑ Barkley, Russell A. (1990). Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder: a handbook for diagnosis and treatment. New York: Guilford Press. ISBN 0-89862-443-6. OCLC 21335369.
- ↑ Miller LJ, Anzalone ME, Lane SJ, Cermak SA, Osten ET (2007). "Concept evolution in sensory integration: a proposed nosology for diagnosis" (PDF). Am J Occup Ther. 61 (2): 135–40. doi:10.5014/ajot.61.2.135. PMID 17436834.
- ↑ Alloway, TP (2007). "Working Memory, Reading and Mathematical Skills in Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder". Journal of Experimental Child Psychology. 96 (1): 20–36. doi:10.1016/j.jecp.2006.07.002. PMID 17010988.
- ↑ Alloway, TP; Temple, K (2007). "A Comparison of Working Memory Profiles and Learning in Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder and Moderate Learning Difficulties". Applied Cognitive Psychology. 21 (4): 473–487. doi:10.1002/acp.1284.
- 1 2 Zwicker, J. G.; Harris, S. R.; Klassen, A. F. (2013-07-01). "Quality of life domains affected in children with developmental coordination disorder: a systematic review". Child: Care, Health and Development. 39 (4): 562–580. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2214.2012.01379.x. ISSN 1365-2214.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Cools, W.; Martelaer, KD.; Samaey, C.; Andries, C. (2009). "Movement Skill Assessment of Typically Developing Preschool Children: A Review of Seven Movement Skill Assessment Tools". J Sports Sci Med. 8 (2): 154–168. PMC 3761481. PMID 24149522.
- ↑ Wright, HC.; Sugden, DA. (Dec 1996). "A two-step procedure for the identification of children with developmental co-ordination disorder in Singapore". Dev Med Child Neurol. 38 (12): 1099–105. doi:10.1111/j.1469-8749.1996.tb15073.x. PMID 8973295.
- ↑ Venetsanou, F.; Kambas, A.; Ellinoudis, T.; Fatouros, I.; Giannakidou, D.; Kourtessis, T. (2011). "Can the movement assessment battery for children-test be the gold standard for the motor assessment of children with Developmental Coordination Disorder?". Res Dev Disabil. 32 (1): 1–10. doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2010.09.006. PMID 20940096.
- ↑ Ellinoudis, T.; Evaggelinou, C.; Kourtessis, T.; Konstantinidou, Z.; Venetsanou, F.; Kambas, A. (2011). "Reliability and validity of age band 1 of the Movement Assessment Battery for Children--second edition". Res Dev Disabil. 32 (3): 1046–51. doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2011.01.035. PMID 21333488.
- ↑ Schoemaker, Marina M; Niemeijer, Anuschka S; Flapper, Boudien C T; Smits-Engelsman, Bouwien C M (2012). "Validity and reliability of the Movement Assessment Battery for Children-2 Checklist for children with and without motor impairments". Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology. 54 (4): 368–375. doi:10.1111/j.1469-8749.2012.04226.x. PMID 22320829.
- ↑ Venetsanou, F.; Kambas, A.; Aggeloussis, N.; Serbezis, V.; Taxildaris, K. (Nov 2007). "Use of the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency for identifying children with motor impairment". Dev Med Child Neurol. 49 (11): 846–8. doi:10.1111/j.1469-8749.2007.00846.x. PMID 17979863.
- ↑ Venetsanou, F.; Kambas, A.; Aggeloussis, N.; Fatouros, I.; Taxildaris, K. (Aug 2009). "Motor assessment of preschool aged children: A preliminary investigation of the validity of the Bruininks-Oseretsky test of motor proficiency – short form". Hum Mov Sci. 28 (4): 543–50. doi:10.1016/j.humov.2009.03.002. PMID 19443065.
- ↑ Lucas, BR.; Latimer, J.; Doney, R.; Ferreira, ML.; Adams, R.; Hawkes, G.; Fitzpatrick, JP.; Hand, M.; Oscar, J.; Carter, Maureen; Elliott, Elizabeth J (2013). "The Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency-Short Form is reliable in children living in remote Australian Aboriginal communities". BMC Pediatr. 13: 135. doi:10.1186/1471-2431-13-135. PMID 24010634.
- ↑ Kambas, A.; Venetsanou, F.; Giannakidou, D.; Fatouros, IG.; Avloniti, A.; Chatzinikolaou, A.; Draganidis, D.; Zimmer, R. (2012). "The Motor-Proficiency-Test for children between 4 and 6 years of age (MOT 4-6): an investigation of its suitability in Greece". Res Dev Disabil. 33 (5): 1626–32. doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2012.04.002. PMID 22543059.
- ↑ Kirby, Amanda; Davies, Rhys; Bryant, Amy (2005). "Do teachers know more about specific learning difficulties than general practitioners?". British Journal of Special Education. 32 (3): 122–126. doi:10.1111/j.0952-3383.2005.00384.x. ISSN 0952-3383.
- ↑ Gaines, Robin; Cheryl Missiuna; Mary Egan; Jennifer McLean (2008-01-22). "Educational outreach and collaborative care enhances physician's perceived knowledge about Developmental Coordination Disorder". BMC Health Services Research. 8: 21. doi:10.1186/1472-6963-8-21. PMC 2254381. PMID 18218082. Retrieved 2011-07-20.
- ↑ Ayres AJ (1972). "Types of sensory integrative dysfunction among disabled learners". Am J Occup Ther. 26 (1): 13–8. PMID 5008164.
- 1 2 Willoughby C, Polatajko HJ (September 1995). "Motor problems in children with developmental coordination disorder: review of the literature" (PDF). Am J Occup Ther. 49 (8): 787–94. doi:10.5014/ajot.49.8.787. PMID 8526224.
- ↑ Gubbay SS (October 1978). "The management of developmental apraxia". Dev Med Child Neurol. 20 (5): 643–6. doi:10.1111/j.1469-8749.1978.tb15283.x. PMID 729912.
- ↑ Irvine, Chris (2008-08-17). "Harry Potter's Daniel Radcliffe has dyspraxia". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 2010-05-16.
- ↑ Haskell, Rob (19 June 2015). "Cara Delevingne Opens Up About Her Childhood, Love Life, and Why Modeling Just Isn't Enough". Vogue. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
- ↑ Hussey, Patrick (15 May 2008). "Interview: Florence & The Machine". Run Riot. Retrieved 7 March 2010.
- ↑ Irvine, Chris (2013-09-28). "'I'd love to wear eyeliner, but that requires a steady hand' Labour MP Emma Lewell-Buck struggled with clumsiness, until a diagnosis of dyspraxia helped her become a politician". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 2013-09-28.
Further reading
- Human Movement Science (2003). "Developmental Coordination Disorder: Mechanisms, measurement and management". Human Movement Science. 22: 407–411. doi:10.1016/j.humov.2003.09.001. Retrieved 14 September 2013.
External links
- Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder: At home, at school, and in the community – CanChild Centre McMaster University
- Developmental Verbal Dyspraxia – Pam Williams of Nuffield Hearing and Speech Centre
- UK Dyspraxia Foundation – What is dyspraxia?
- USA Dyspraxia Foundation – What is dyspraxia?


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If you have an event you'd like us to know about, please email us at firstname.lastname@example.com!
Slow Food Boone-High Country and Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture are co-sponsoring a symposium on Gender and Food, to be held Saturday, May 1 starting at 4:00 pm at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. At 5:30 pm, a community potluck will follow the discussion on the role of gender in food production, distribution and preparation.
Have you ever wondered why most professional chefs are men, while most cooks are women? Did you know that in Africa, most food production labor is done by women, while in Europe, most is done by men? What kinds of gender differences exist in the local food movement? How do local organizations deal with gender differences?
Panelists who are active in local food production and education will discuss these and other questions posed by the audience. Come join in the discussion and bring your questions for Franya Hutchins, CSA High Country facilitator; Brooke Cuttino, ASU Sustainable Development farm manager; Lynne Getz, Professor, History, ASU; Maggie McFadden, Professor Emerita, Women's Studies; and a member of Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture.
Potluck at 5:30 pm follows the discussion. Please bring a dish to share. All are welcome and there is no charge. For further information email Maggie McFadden at email@example.com.
Make Your own Mozzarella Cheese
Monday , November 9th
6:30 pm
For more information visit Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture.
Film Series to begin November 19th
The Dragonfly Theater will show a food film series over the next several months. It will begin with the movie, Fresh, on November 19th. Details to come.
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Chapel services at Soutwestern Seminary are a vital part of campus life. It is our desire to promote the spiritual growth and health of our students, staff, and faculty and everyone who would like to be a part of our chapel services either in person or via our recorded chapel broadcasts.
We offer chapel services during both Fall and Spring semesters.
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Chapel services are held in the J.W. MacGorman Chapel.
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We are delighted in your interest of our campus Chapel Services. If you have any questions or would like further information, please click here to contact us.
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A Mixture of Joy and Sorrow By: Pastor Henry Wiebe
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59 Victoria St, Port Burwell, ON, Canada
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Welcome to Lighthouse Gospel Church. We are a non-denominational body of believers who gather in Port Burwell, Ontario Canada. We would be glad to have you join us.
Lighthouse Gospel Church
59 Victoria St, PO Box 130,
Port Burwell
ON, Canada


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Health care headed for an overhaul
March 29, 2013
by Randy Capitani Deerfield Valley News
WILMINGTON- Big changes in the health care system are coming soon to the state of Vermont and the Deerfield Valley. That was the message delivered by officials of the SVMC Deerfield Valley Campus and its parent company, Southwestern Vermont Medical Center, at an information meeting held Tuesday afternoon at Memorial Hall.
"Health care delivery is going to change," said CEO Tom Dee. "Health care spending is rising, and the average family can't afford this anymore." He presented charts showing the rise in health care spending, from less than $10,000 per year in 2002 for a family to almost $20,000 today, with a projected cost of more than $41,000 in 2021.
Dee said that changes were coming, many of which have been mandated by the federal Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare. The act calls for five key changes in health care, with most beginning in 2014. Those changes include reducing spending and improving quality; creating new financial incentives for health care providers; encouraging the creation of medical homes; expanding the use of electronic records; establishing health insurance exchanges; and reducing payments to health care providers.
Dee noted that the final component, reducing payments to health care providers, will directly impact the health care system's bottom line. What "reducing payments" means is lowering Medicare payments for the same services.
"We're losing money on Medicare patients now," said Dee. "Our average margin is a negative 7% per Medicare patient, but 65% of our business is Medicare dependent." Dee noted that there are only two hospital systems in Vermont that are 65% or more top-heavy with Medicare patients, SVMC and Brattleboro Memorial Hospital.
"Bennington County is the second oldest county, population-wise, in the state of Vermont," Dee said. "We have a unique challenge." That challenge will be to serve an aging population while still maintaining a revenue stream to pay for staff and services.
The other driver of change, at least in Vermont, is mandates created by the Green Mountain Care Board. That group is a five-member panel created be the Legislature in 2011 and appointed by Gov. Peter Shumlin. It is charged with overseeing change to health insurance and health-care delivery in the state.
One change already instituted in Vermont, on the recommendation of the care board, is that hospital revenue growth in the state be capped at 3% per year. While on the surface it seems like a way to hold down health care costs, Dee said it creates tremendous challenges for hospitals around the state.
"The revenue cap is an arbitrary way to hold down medical expenses in Vermont," said Dee. "We can't grow our revenue base by more than 3%, so it will be very challenging for us to start new services." He added that nearby medical facilities in New York and Massachusetts are not operating under the same caps, and that they can offer services that SVMC will not be able to under the GMCB revenue constraints.
"We have to make tough decisions about what types of services we continue to offer and what services to stop offering." Dee added that SVMC currently generates $150 million annually in revenue, and is the largest employer in Bennington County and seventh-largest employer in Vermont.
One decision already made at SVMC was to partner with Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, based in Hanover, NH. Dee noted that partnering with Dartmouth has given SVMC unprecedented access to medical data, top doctors and medical researchers, and an expanded medical provider network that reaches across the country and includes the internationally-known Minnesota-based Mayo Clinic.
Changes coming locally
While SVMC faces many changes on the short-term horizon, the Deerfield Valley health center may in fact benefit from much of that change.
The SVMC Deerfield Valley Campus, as it is formally called, has been a leader of modernization within the SVMC system. According to Dee and Dr. Peter Park, the local health center was the first facility of the SVMC system to be recognized as a "medical home" and the first to push for the use of electronic patient records.
According to Park, a medical home is basically taking a different approach to caring for patients, using a team-based model that includes a doctor, nurse, dietician, and a behavioral health therapist.
One of the reasons for the move to a medical home service model, according to Dee and Park, is to move away from fee-based health care.
"Fee for service is driving patients away from private doctors," said Park. Insurance providers and Medicare are looking to reduce payments for those services. "The fee-for-service model is based on doing things," added Dee. "It's driving the crises in medical costs." Park said that the medical home model is based more on maintaining good patient health and preventing expensive trips to the hospital for surgery and care, if possible.
When asked if prevention of hospital care would lead to rationing of medical services, Park replied that wasn't the goal and didn't foresee that happening. He also noted that prevention might mean the use of more alternative medical practices, including chiropractic and acupuncture treatments, before recommending surgery or other invasive procedures.
"We have a responsibility to take care of ourselves," said audience member Mark Wallace, supporting Park's concept of prevention. "I don't think as a country we do that very well."
Another factor that will drive change in the local system is a move toward more local office- and home-based delivery of health care services. That will mean the Deerfield Valley health center will need to expand to offer more services.
"In the future," said Dee, "there will be less care at the hospital and more care at offices and homes."
Park noted that SVMC has been looking for a new site to move the health center into, saying its current location is too small to handle the volume of patients it now receives, and its layout isn't functional. "It's tired," Park said.
One option may be moving the health center to the current Twin Valley High School building, once the school relocates to Whitingham. Both Dee and Park said the size of the school and its central location were positives. There may also be grant money available to help facilitate the move.
Regardless of where the health center ultimately is housed, there is no doubt Vermonters locally and across the state will see significant changes in health care during the next few years.
"Under the current paradigm, it's not a pretty picture," said Park. "We have to change."
Copyright 2013 Deerfield Valley News. All rights reserved.


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The York College softball team enters their third season of the Nicki Starry era looking to shoot up the standings in the Capital Athletic Conference as well as the South Region. The Spartans, who finished a game below .500 last year, bring a new attitude to a new season as the Green and White looks to climb to the top of the CAC.
"I like the attitude and drive of this team. They come to practice, work hard and push themselves to meet my expectations," says Starry. "It is a good mix of returners and newcomers. This group brings a new life to the program and they are hungry to show what they can do on the field."
Starry turns to her returning core of Spartans Brittany Therres, Brittany Schlorff, Hannah Hugel, Sarah Harris, Erin O'Leary, Cory Urkuski, Rachel Klein, and Alyssa Molino to provide leadership and solid play.
The Spartan mentor welcomes in Sara Thacker, Carly Farr, Cara Rubinaccio, Katie Wickert, Vanessa Mendez, Ashley Chenoweth, Jena Ruby, and Christina Andrulat as they will each have an opportunity to make an impact to the program their rookie year.
Therres is a big part of the foundation for the Spartans as the senior pitcher begins her final season in the Green and White. With her name all over the Spartans' record books she owns a school record 52 wins while she has thrown a school-record 493 innings. Therres has struck out 258 in her three seasons, as she is a three-time All-CAC selection for the Spartans.
"Brittany is an outstanding pitcher and leader who worked very hard this off season to come in better than I have ever seen her," states Starry. "She is solid player and will be a strong presence on the field. I expect her to toss a majority of our innings this year."
Thacker will be York's rookie pitcher who looks to gain experience and confidence on the mound this year. She has good control and is an outstanding athlete that looks to find substantial playing time this season, even when not on the mound.
"Thacker will be a difference maker both in the circle and at the plate for us this year. I am very excited about her potential," says Starry.
The Spartan infield will have a mix of old and new. Harris moves to first base after spending her first two years behind the plate. Thacker and Therres will back her up, giving York depth at the position.
"Sarah has really stepped up to the challenge of moving in front of the plate. She has made the transition a smooth one," states Starry.
The middle infield features a mix of Schlorff, Farr, Wickert and Ruby. Schlorff is the key to the equation as she can play second and short with equal excellence. She was an All-CAC selection last year as she hit .280 with 12 runs scored, 10 RBI, four doubles, and a home run. Farr is a talented young player that will have a chance to earn innings in the middle of the diamond and make an impact early in the Spartan line up. She is a deceptively quick player that can use her speed at the dish. Wickert is a smooth defender that is continuing to progress as an offensive player.
"I like the versatility we have in the middle infield," states Starry. "I am excited to see who steps up and seizes the opportunity."
Urkuski replaces four-time All-CAC third baseman Kelly Smith at the hot corner. She has settled in nicely and brings a career batting average of .304 to the Spartan lineup. The versatile Mendez will be Urkuski's understudy at third.
"Cory has the ability to hit for a good average and can be a good run producer for us in the lower third of the lineup," states Starry. Behind the dish will be Klein, Mendez, and Chenoweth. Klein is the lone returner as she hit .233 in 25 games last year. She split her time between first base and catcher last year and will move behind the plate full time this year.
"I feel comfortable with our trio behind the plate," says Starry. "They all bring a little something different to our team and I believe they will be an asset both offensively and defensively to the roster."
The outfield is an area of maturity for the Spartans as Hugel and O'Leary both have extensive experience for the Green and White. Hugel had her season cut short due to injury last year but still managed to earn All-CAC accolades as she hit .446 with 14 runs scored in her 18 games. Hugel will patrol centerfield as Starry believes she has improved tremendously as a defensive outfielder. O'Leary moves to right this year as Starry will look to capitalize on her offensive talents. Rubinaccio will start in left field and hit near the top of the lineup. Her athleticism will play well in the Spartans' game. Molino and Andrulat give the Spartans quality depth in the outfield.
"Hannah is back, fully healthy and ready to get on base at the top of the lineup for us," says Starry. "She has the ability to set the table and give our run producers the chance to drive her home. Cara has been a great understudy to Hannah and has the potential to be an other great offensive weapon for us. Erin has been very steady during the preseason and looks to take her game to the next level this season," states Starry.
Starry will look to fill the designated player position with a number of different players.
"The DP will be a place were we can use a number of different players and be highly effective," says the third-year Spartan mentor.
"We have really picked it up in the last three weeks," says Starry. "The girls recognize that we needed to be more prepared heading into the season and they have been very diligent in their preparations. I am ready to get on the field and see what we have."
The Spartans open the 2012 campaign with a trip to the Methodist University Early Bird Tournament in Fayetteville, NC. The Spartans play their first 20 games of the year before playing their first game at home on March 28 against Frostburg State.


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If you've ever attended an Ozomatli concert, you know it's sort of like being swept up in a Disneyland parade for adults. The unclassifiable L.A. band -- OK, call its members Latino-hip-hop-reggae-rockers, if you must -- is known for a kinetically feel-good performance style that has set audiences swaying and jumping from L.A. to Myanmar, where Ozo once toured on behalf of the U.S. State Department.
Now, the band has directed its youthful high spirits into a new record aimed at an even bouncier demographic. "Ozomatli Presents Ozokidz," which will be released Sept. 25, is the group's debut kids disc. After roughly 18 years of singing about gang violence, immigration and other R-rated issues, Ozo with "Ozokidz" turns its rhyming skills to topics such as the importance of taking care of trees and avoiding germs, skateboards, spelling and a moose run amok. These crazily catchy tunes may require the guardians of public morality to come up with a new parental warning label: Prolonged Exposure May Cause You to Start Singing "Moose on the Loose" in Your Office Cubicle.
Come to think of it, most office cubicles these days could use a little levity.
Over the weekend, we spoke by phone with Ozo bassist Wil-Dog Abers about the new project and the art of channeling your inner child when you're a middle-age musician with children of your own. Here's an edited transcript of the conversation.
So why a kids album?
We were playing in Chicago, a Tuesday night, I believe, a few years ago, and we weren't selling any tickets. And we were really surprised because we had sold out the Chicago House of Blues less than six months earlier. And I went on Facebook and I was going to "paper" the night and just give away tickets. I went on my Facebook page and said, "Hey, anybody wanna come to Chicago, we're not selling any tickets, I'll get you guys in for free, you'll be on my guest list." And everybody -- I swear I had like 75 posts -- was like, "Sorry, I can't get a babysitter, it's a school night, blah, blah, blah." [laughs] And we realized that our fans have kids now as well. So our drummer, Mario, was like, "We should do a kids album!" That was the idea. Then we just started doing more research about the kids' community in music and saw They Might Be Giants, who we had no idea was even doing this music. And we realized that we could do this too.
At the same time all this was happening, PBS hit us up, just by chance, to write five songs for their PBS kids commercials. And just after that we got commissioned to write music for "Happy Feet Two: The Videogame." So here we are.
What music was beloved to you when you were a kid? Did you have memories from your childhood of what makes kids music good or bad? Were you like a Rafi kid?
To be honest with you, I don't have any memories of listening to children's music, other than watching "Sesame Street" and "The Muppet Show." And those are pretty awesome! When I was 6 years old, I was super into the Clash, and my parents would take me to Clash concerts and Bruce Springsteen, Gil Scott-Heron. I have all these memories of seeing all these bands as a child. I know that other guys in the band did listen to kids music, and their concern was, "It can't be cheesy." I think the main thing is to have fun with it and for there to be subjects. So we kind of took what we learned from doing the "Happy Feet Two" videogame, which is it all had to be dance music, basically, and the subject matters of the PBS kids. When they commissioned us, they said, "You've got to write a one-minute song about oposable thumbs." "Write a one-minute song about nouns." So we kind of took those two ideas: dance music that has subjects kids can relate to, something maybe they're learning in school or something you can possibly teach or somehow to get 'em off the couch and dance.
You guys always seem to be having fun when you perform, and as you say, kids music needs to be fun. Is making music fun harder than it looks?
That's like the first step for us: We've got to be able to have fun and have the audience up. But I think the difference is, playing in front of youngsters, it's a learning curve, man. We don't have it down yet. You know, we've been doing this 18 years, we can pretty much get onstage and figure out what an audience wants and go. With the kid thing there's all these little subtleties that we're realizing as a band, like, "Don't smile too much!" "Don't have a scary smile!" It depends also on the audience's age range. But if you're playing for 2-year-olds, if you go nuts, you could scare 'em! And then there's the 5-year-olds that are like, "I'm cool enough for this," and they want more of that. So there's this fine line of figuring out who your audience is that day.
Have you found any rules or tricks to writing songs that get a message across but don't talk down to kids, who are pretty sharp these days?
Yeah, just keep it to facts, as many facts as you can, and try to relate. It's the difference between trying to relate, versus saying, "I know." There's a humility there. It's kind of like allowing them to have a voice. I think that's with adults as well. We forget that when we become adults. But we still need that in our lives as well, to have a voice, to have power, to be part of something, to be a part of the show. With the kids show, for us it's less about, "Look at us as musicians," and more about "Look at you! You're awesome!"
Do you have children?
I have a 10-year-old girl. Almost everybody in the band has kids, except for two people.
Is she a good audience for you, testing out ideas?
If she starts singing it back, then I know it's cool.
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