text:
Diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder that stemmed from numerous deployments as a Marine, Christian Boles now finds solace with his furry friend, Fisher, by his side. More often than not, Fisher will begin consoling and cuddling up to Boles before he is aware he is having a problem.
RICHLANDS � Fisher is not just a dog to Christian Boles.
�The bond we share is more than just that of man�s best friend,� said Boles, 40, of Richlands. �He is a four-legged guardian angel. There�s been many instances where I�d be lost without him.�
Diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder that stemmed from numerous deployments as a Marine, Boles now finds solace with his furry friend, Fisher, by his side. More often than not, Fisher will begin consoling and cuddling up to Boles before he is aware he is having a problem.
Fisher was already Boles� household pet when the dog was subsequently trained by Paws-4-Vets to become fully certified as a service animal. Many various types of service dogs exist ranging from Seeing Eye dogs, PTSD service dogs to seizure alert dogs and more.
�He keeps me in check when I go from zero to 100,� said Boles, who is still on active duty. �He�s my shadow that doesn�t speak � my silent companion.�
Marines and sailors of all ranks have been very understanding when Boles walks into places on base with Fisher.
�Nobody on base really questions why I have a dog with me,� Boles said. �What makes having the dog difficult around Marines and sailors is that it means I�m walking my symptoms around on a leash for everyone to see.�
However, Boles said, when he leaves the base he sometimes runs into problems having Fisher with him.
�People tell me I can�t come into their establishment with an animal,� Boles said. �People ask if I�m blind and when I say no, they often ask why I need a dog. Sometimes they even think Fisher is an attack dog.�
According to the American Disability Act, Boles is legally allowed to bring Fisher with him into all businesses and nonprofit organizations that serve the general public.
�The looks I get burn into me,� Boles said. �The eyes ask the question people don�t or won�t ask. They wonder why I�m there with a dog because I look OK.�
The Transportation Security Administration even gave him a hassle with Fisher last year as Boles was flying out of Colorado, he said.
�They made me strip him out of his vest and gear so they could search him,� Boles said. �Then they separated the two of us. It was very condescending to both of us. Neither of us deserved to be treated like that.�
One of Boles� pet peeves is when people touch or pet Fisher while he is wearing his vest. He is understanding of children though, he said.
�I tell the children he is like my superhero and his vest is his cape,� Boles said. �When it�s on he�s working for me, protecting me. When it�s off he is a normal dog that you can pet.�
With psychiatric service dogs more prevalent in Eastern North Carolina due to the many military bases, Boles said people need to be aware of certain things regarding the many �six-legged functioning teams� that can be seen out in town:
n Not all service dogs are retired military working dogs
n You don�t have to ignore people with service dogs
n Please ask to pet the dog while they are working
n Do not ask, �What�s wrong with you that you need a dog?�
n Know that the dogs can be considered saviors by their handlers
�Every service dog is trained for something different,� said Sylvia Cash, the head trainer for Unleashed Dog Training of Jacksonville. �... Some dogs need to interact with the people, others do not.
�We do not want people to be afraid of service dogs. They are not violent.�
Cash feels as though a lot of people do not want the dogs in their establishments because of an increasing number of �service� dogs that really aren�t.
�You can buy a vest online or get your dog certified on various websites but it�s not really legitimate,� Cash said. �Many untrained service dogs will have a lack of basic obedience. Real service dogs go through a lot of training. If the dog doesn�t have manners like sitting, staying at various distances or not pulling on the leash, they may not be properly trained.
�It�s very few that are fake or poorly trained, but it ruins it for those who are legitimate.�
According to Cash, a properly trained PTSD service dog attends a six-week basic obedience course with their handler. The course focuses on socialization with other animals and mastering simple tasks such as sit and stay. Next, the dog and handler are taken to public places where the same basic obedience tasks are mastered in public spaces. Finally, the dog are taught tasks specific to what the handler needs.
Once fully trained, a PTSD service dog offers assistance with emotional overload, anxiety and navigating new and troubling environments.
Currently, the American Disability Act does not require dogs to be trained in a certain manner in order to be a service dog although certain training is recommended for each specific type of dog and their handlers� needs. Also, the ADA does not require identification for the dog or the handler, but it is also recommended.
Properly trained service dogs should be an accepted part of society, and impersonating a service dog is a class-3 misdemeanor, said Cash.
�I don�t want people to think they need to completely move out of the dog�s way,� Cash said. �But they do need to know that it�s customary to ask the handler if it�s okay to touch the dog first. We need people to know that the dogs aren�t scary � it�s okay to have them around.
For information on service dogs or obedience courses, contact Unleashed Dog Training at 910-333-5881.
You can reach Thomas Brennan at 910-219-8453 or firstname.lastname@example.com. Follow him on Twitter at @thomasjbrennan.


text:
(→Misc: ofono init)
(→X.org: touchscreen working)
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|Line 220:
X is up and running with XFCE
X is up and running with XFCE I have the touchscreen working. I can do touchscreen calibration.
# as root, I did this via ssh when networking was working
# as root, I did this via ssh when networking was working
Revision as of 11:14, 1 March 2010
I have installed Fedora 12 on my Nokia N900.
Screen reads:
Fedora release 12 (Constantine) Kernel 2.6.28-omap1-jebba5 on an arm7l (tty1) fedora-arm login: _
HOWTO Install Fedora 12 on Nokia N900
It boots up happily. No GUI, no phonecalls, no battery charging support, etc. Wifi works. Testing xorg RSN.
You will need to install a kernel that has a framebuffer console. You can use your own or use mine. See: Installing my custom kernel if you would like to use mine. Version 2.6.28-omap1-jebba5 is known to "work".
You need to have getbootstate version 1.0.35+0m5 or greater for this to work. These docs are basically the same as installing Mer.
dpkg -l getbootstate
(As a side note, getbootstate is closed software. Please vote for this bug and/or clamour for it to be released as free software.)
I have four partitions on my MicroSD card. The first one is 100M of VFAT just to shut up fremantle. The second is 1G of swap. The third is 7G of space for fremantle. The remaining space is around 7G of space for Fedora. You can install it in far less space, but I have a 16G card, so that's what I did. These docs assume you use my partitioning.
# Boot up into Maemo / Fremantle # Grab this package: wget http://www.daimi.au.dk/~cvm/bootmenu_1.6_armel.deb # Be root sudo gainroot # Install bootmenu dpkg -i bootmenu_1.6_armel.deb
Then tappy tap tap the bootmenu install icon and answer yes.
Now you need to set up Fedora in the menu for bootmenu. See also: Mer bootmenu docs.
I put everything on the forth partition on an ext3 formatted "external" MicroSD card (the one that's right next to the camera).
# edit/create this file to create a boot menu item for Fedora: vim /etc/bootmenu.d/fedora.ext.item # Make it look justa lika thisa: ITEM_NAME="Fedora 12 (external SD, partition 4)" ITEM_ID="fedora" ITEM_DEVICE="${EXT_CARD}p4" ITEM_MODULES="mbcache jbd ext3" ITEM_FSTYPE="ext3" ITEM_FSOPTIONS="noatime,rw"
Then shutoff the phone and reboot with KEYBOARD SLID OUT, so you get the bootmenu.
Boot into your system like "normal" into Maemo fremantle.
Set up and download the needed files:
# This will be a nice place to keep things mkdir -p /home/user/MyDocs/Fedora/rootfs # go hence cd /home/user/MyDocs/Fedora/rootfs # grab the root image wget http://ftp.linux.org.uk/pub/linux/arm/fedora/rootfs/rootfs-f12.tar.bz2
Make this file and put it here: /home/user/MyDocs/Fedora/fedora-setup-in-chroot
Note, in future revisions, I will have more in this script, this is just a starting point for now.
#!/bin/sh set -x echo "uh, set a root password!" passwd
Make & run this script:
#!/bin/sh set -x echo "this is going to format your microsd, take care!" echo "THIS FORMATS PARTITION 4 ON YOUR MICROSD" read ok read ok exit 0 # you get this i hope echo sudo umount /dev/mmcblk1p4 sudo mkfs.ext3 -j -m1 /dev/mmcblk1p4 sudo fsck -vvv /dev/mmcblk1p4 sudo mkdir -p /media/mmc4 sudo mount -o noatime /dev/mmcblk1p4 /media/mmc4/ cd /media/mmc4/ bzcat /home/user/MyDocs/Fedora/rootfs/rootfs-f12.tar.bz2 | sudo tar x sudo mv rootfs-f12/* . sudo rmdir rootfs-f12 sudo cp -a /lib/modules/* /media/mmc4/lib/modules/ echo "WARNING WARNING WARNING!!!!" echo "Copying over NON-FREE FIRMWARE" echo "PAY PENANCE!!!!" sudo cp -a /lib/firmware/* /media/mmc4/lib/firmware/ sudo cp -p /home/user/MyDocs/Fedora/fedora-setup-in-chroot ./ sudo chmod +x fedora-setup-in-chroot sync echo echo "now run ./fedora-setup-in-chroot after you enter the chroot" echo "this is convenient too:" echo "export HOME=/root" echo sudo chroot /media/mmc4 /bin/bash
Disable watchdog
You have to disable the watchdog with the flasher tool or the system will just shut down on bootup:
./flasher-3.5 --set-rd-flags=no-omap-wd ./flasher-3.5 --set-rd-flags=no-ext-wd ./flasher-3.5 --enable-rd-mode
You'll also need to add "." to root's PATH or put that somewhere it root's PATH.
[root@fedora-arm ~]# tail -1 /root/.bashrc
Here's a crufty crappy script to get wifi and net:
# cat wlanon #!/bin/sh WLAN=`iwconfig |grep wlan | cut -f 1 -d " "` echo "$WLAN" ifconfig $WLAN down sleep 1 iwconfig $WLAN mode managed sleep 1 ifconfig $WLAN up sleep 1 iwconfig $WLAN essid consume sleep 1 ifconfig $WLAN 10.0.0.3 netmask 255.255.255.0 up iwconfig $WLAN sleep 2 ifconfig $WLAN route add default gw 10.0.0.2
(Will add this to script later)
I got wifi going by writing a simple script that I can run at boot. Can't use many of the keys, so no "0", "/" etc. I used iwconfig which I yum installed in the chroot, but this could easily be done with the more modern "iw" which comes installed.
[root@fedora-arm ~]# cat startiwconfig #!/bin/sh iwconfig wlan0 essid consume dhclient wlan0
# cat /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-wlan0 # WLAN Interface DEVICE=wlan0 #HWADDR=00:00:00:00:00:00 ONBOOT=no BOOTPROTO=dhcp TYPE=Wireless NM_CONTROLLED=no USERCTL=yes PEERDNS=yes IPV6INIT=no #MODE=Master RATE=auto ESSID=consume CHANNEL=
Note: I had wifi working fine, then I installed a bunch of apps and network config broke and can't find the device anymore. :(
Note 2: If you reboot without powering off or perhaps yanking the battery, your device may appear as wlan2 or wlan3 etc.
X is up and running with XFCE & openbox. I have the touchscreen working. I can do touchscreen calibration.
# as root, I did this via ssh when networking was working yum groupinstall Base-X # grab a desktop. No openbox or lxde available at the moment for ARM. yum groupinstall XFCE # Screen config. yum install tslib xorg-x11-apps # fix /etc/hosts to this so XFCE doesn't complain: 127.0.0.1 localhost localhost.localdomain fedora-arm # since keyboard isn't working you have to set up this script from # chroot or ssh in: echo "TSLIB_TSDEVICE=/dev/input/event3 TSLIB_CONFFILE=/etc/ts.conf ts_calibrate" > /root/ts chmod +x /root/ts # then next time you boot up, log in as root and run "ts" to calibrate. # Uncomment this line in /etc/ts.conf: module_raw input
In a chroot I wanted to do a `yum update` and installs. Did a `mount -a` and needed to create a device:
cd /dev MAKEDEV urandom
yum update yum install wireless-tools openssh-clients git
route add default gw 192.168.1.1
- disable /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0
- Have lame network startup script run at boot.
- stop startup stuff
chkconfig abrtd off chkconfig auditd off chkconfig ip6tables off chkconfig iptables off chkconfig netconsole off chkconfig netfs off chkconfig restorecond off
- Build tools:
yum groupinstall --skip-broken "Development Tools"
yum install -y vim-enhanced file gqview xorg-x11-apps xterm
- Auto login, edit /etc/gdm/custom.conf
[daemon] AutomaticLoginEnable=true AutomaticLogin=jebba
- Edit /etc/inittab to set default runlevel to 5.
To get X pointer and keyboard working:
- Mount up Maemo root partition:
mkdir -p /mnt/maemo mount -t ubifs ubi0:rootfs /mnt/maemo
- /usr/share/hal/fdi/* stuff from maemo to get touchscreen working in X. Copy it to /etc/hal/...
- Copy over xkb stuff to get numbers etc from keyboard working:
mv /usr/share/X11/xkb /usr/share/X11/xkb.f12 cp -a /mnt/maemo/usr/share/X11/xkb /usr/share/X11/xkb
- ofono
yum -y install glib2-devel dbus-devel libudev-devel
To initialize modem, you need to run this non-free command:
/mnt/initfs/sbin/phonet -a 0x6C -i phonet0 ifconfig phonet0 up # or: ip link set dev phonet0 up
- misc misc misc
yum -y install openbox rxvt-unicode alsa-utils sox
Copying over the script from Mer to get the battery working appears to run, not certain how it is working yet.
cp -p /mnt/mer/etc/init.d/n900-support /etc/init.d/ # edit n900-support, adding this line: # chkconfig: - 58 74 chkconfig --level 35 n900-support on
To disable R&D mode, try this:
yum -y install watchdog wget http://atorkhov.fedorapeople.org/n900_wd-1-1.noarch.rpm rpm -Uvh n900_wd-1-1.noarch.rpm
kludge up symlinks
chroot /mnt/initfs/ ln -s /f12/tmp/bme-dbus-socket /tmp/bme-dbus-socket
Outside chroot:
ln -s /mnt/initfs/tmp/dsmesock /tmp/ sudo ln -s /mnt/initfs/tmp/.bmesrv /tmp/ cp -p /mnt/initfs/usr/lib/libbmeipc.so.0 /usr/lib cp -p /mnt/initfs/usr/lib/hal/hald-addon-bme /usr/libexec/hald-addon-bme cp -p /mnt/initfs/usr/share/hal/fdi/policy/10osvendor/10-bme.fdi /etc/hal/fdi/policy/10osvendor/

subset: commoncrawl


text:
You have no items in your shopping bag
Regular fit light Terry zip jacket with quilted polyamide parts and a fancy pocket on the left chest.
100% Cotton
Decide on your size by measuring a sweater you like and own already. Measure the sweater or hoodie on the chest and shoulders. Are you in doubt about the size? Choose a smaller size for a more slim look and the bigger one for a more loose and relaxed effect. Choose the one you like best and just order multiple sizes if you are in doubt, shipping and returning is totally free of charge.
Measure your full chest on the widest part below your armpit.
Measure the shoulder seam on the backside of the sweater from one side to another.
Measure the length from the middle of the collar to the end of the sleeve.
Measure from the side of the neck down to the end of the hem.
Profit from free delivery! Ordered on Monday - Saturday before 9PM and on Sunday before 1PM, delivered: next working day (Netherlands) or withing two working days (Germany, Austria, Belgium). Shipping by DHL.
You can easily return your order for free via a DHL Parcel shop. Find more detailed information about returns in our FAQ.
We accept numerous payment methods: iDeal, PayPal, VISA and Mastercard. All of our payments are secured by a Secure connection guaranteed by Comodo.
Our webshop service team is here to help you, we are open on Monday – Friday from 08:00 - 22:00 and on Saturday and Sunday from 09.00 - 21.00hrs. You can contact our team via phone +31 (0)88 05 30 550 or send an e-mail:
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text:
SMASH Season 2 Premiere Ratings Take a Dip
Last night was the two-hour premiere of Season 2 of NBC's Golden Globe-nominated musical drama series SMASH, and according to Deadline.com the ratings took a major dip. Compared to the Season 1 premiere, the show's viewers were down 71%, and 39% from the season 1 finale. 4.47 million viewers tuned in last night, compared to the Season 1 premiere turnout of 11.4 million viewers.
Click here to read the full article.
In the episodes, back from a successful run in Boston, Eileen, Julia and Tom are blindsided by both personal and professional obstacles as they seek to take "Bombshell" to Broadway. Karen consults her new mentor, Broadway star Veronica "Ronnie" Moore, as she finds herself on the brink of fame, but her success may come at cost to Ivy. A new talent is discovered in an unexpected place. Meanwhile, Derek copes with a damaging accusation. The second season begins with "Bombshell" running into financial trouble that threatens the production. Meanwhile, Karen is mentored by a Broadway star and discovers a new artist in an unexpected place; and Julia faces a personal crisis with her husband.
From Universal Television in association with DreamWorks Television, "Smash" stemmed from an idea of executive producer and multiple Emmy and Oscar winner Steven Spielberg ("ER," "Schindler's List"). The series' executive producers also include Joshua Safran ("Gossip Girl"), Craig Zadan and Neil Meron (Oscar-winning "Chicago," "Hairspray"), Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey ("United States of Tara," "The Borgias"), Tony and Grammy Award winners Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman ("Hairspray," "Catch Me If You Can"), Jim Chory ("Heroes," "American Dreams") and Theresa Rebeck.


text:
The economic threshold, or time to control horn flies, is when cattle average approximately 200 flies per animal, or 100 per side, Baldwin notes.
"Benefits of horn fly control will be in the growth and weight," Baldwin says, adding, "Cows will wean heavier calves, while stocker, or yearling cattle, will gain more weight faster. Research indicates an approximate 1.5 pound weight increase for every week of horn fly control."
LSU AgCenter experts recommend several ways to control horn flies. These methods actually are different means of insecticide delivery, Baldwin points out. They include ear tags, pour-ons and sprays, plus self-treatment devices, such as back rubbers and dust bags.
Each of these methods of delivery has advantages and disadvantages. Sprays, ear tags and pour-ons require cattle to be rounded up and placed in a catch pen. Ear tags and pour-ons also require a squeeze chute.
"Of these methods, the application of ear tags is the most labor intensive and most stressful to the animals," Baldwin says. "But ear tag application is much easier with cattle that already have an ear hole from previous ear tag use. On the other hand, in general, ear tags also are the most expensive treatment."
The advantage of insecticide ear tags is that they can provide three to four months of highly effective fly control, and this reduces the overall cost of labor and insecticide. The residual effectiveness of pour-ons and sprays is generally much shorter, with pour-ons usually providing longer control than sprays.
But Baldwin says the advantages of an ear tag quickly disappear if the fly population is resistant to the ear tag being used.
"Insecticide resistance can make horn fly control very unpredictable," the LSU AgCenter entomologist explains. "Although resistance can develop with any means of insecticide delivery, ear tags are the most notorious because they provide constant insecticide exposure for most of the horn fly season."
Ear tags contain insecticides from two major chemical classes - pyrethroids and organophosphates.
"Pyrethroid resistance has been a bigger problem in Louisiana, but horn flies can develop resistance to an organophosphate tag just as well," Baldwin says, adding, "Research has demonstrated that continuous, annual use of an ear tag in either chemical class can result in resistance after three to four years."
Producers who experienced control failures with ear tags last year should not use the same ear tag or any other tag in that same chemical class for at least two years, Baldwin advises, saying research has shown that it takes about two years for a horn fly population to breed out resistance or to revert back to a susceptible population that can be controlled again with the same ear tag.
"To maintain effective horn fly control with ear tags, producers should follow a three-year rotation," the entomologist says.
Pyrethroid ear tags should only be used once every three years. Organophosphate ear tags can be used the other two years, but it is preferred that ear tags not be used at all in one of the three years, according to Baldwin.
"In that year, producers should rely on other means of insecticide delivery, such as sprays, pour-ons or self-treatment devices," he says, adding, "Also, do not use more than one ear tag treatment in a season, regardless if it is one or two tags per animal. If an ear tag does not provide season-long control (and most of them do not), the producer should use some other means of delivery to finish out the fly season."
Pyrethroid ear tags recommended by the LSU AgCenter include Cutter Gold, Python and Saber Extra.
"These pyrethroids are more potent than the original pyrethroid ear tags sold in the early 1980s, but they can still lose their effectiveness if a resistance management program is not followed," Baldwin says.
Recommended organophosphate ear tags include Patriot, Cutter1, Commando, Warrior, Cutter Blue, Terminator, Optimizer and Rotator.
For additional information about horn fly control, contact an Extension agent in your parish LSU AgCenter office.
Contact: Jack Baldwin at (225) 578-2180 or firstname.lastname@example.com


text:
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text:
Kevin Bacon as Ryan Hardy in "The Following."
It only took one degree of Kevin Bacon to spoil "The Following's" latest stomach-turning twist.
"To all the fans abroad and late watchers I'm truly sorry I retweeted a spoiler," the actor tweeted yesterday. "I just wasn't thinking. Won't happen again. #MyBad."
For good measure, he also posted a Vine video of him repeating "my bad" three times.
(SPOILER ALERT: You may want to stop reading right here if you have not seen Monday's episode.)
NEWS: "The Following" scoop: Can the FBI be trusted?
So, what did Bacon reveal to be shakin' not long after the newest episode, "The Curse," aired on Fox?
He retweeted this from fan Jodi Gomes: "@kevinbacon is a murderer too! Nice twist @kevwilliamson @thefollowingfox #JoeCarol."
But hang on, it's not what it sounds like.
WATCH: Joe Carroll starts to unravel
Bacon's haunted ex-FBI agent, Ryan Hardy, isn't a member of the cult of worship that has formed around serial killer Joe Carroll, played by James Purefoy.
Well, not that we know of, anyway. No, Hardy just let the druggie who killed his dad die of an overdose.
("Murderer" is a little harsh, isn't it? We'd call him more of an eye-for-an-eye enthusiast.)
Purefoy, meanwhile, apparently had no such issues containing his enthusiasm, simply tweeting yesterday: "Thank you to all the the followers of #TheFollowing for their impressions of last night's Ep. Incredible reactions. You are so d--- smart."
PHOTOS: See the latest best TV moments
More in The Clicker:


text: Quality and patient safety We are totally committed to the quality of your care and to your safety while you are with us. Legacy Health participates in quality improvement initiatives, tracks its progress, and trains and rewards its employees based on quality and safety. When our senior leadership gathers each week, the meeting begins with a "safety huddle" intended to surface common issues across the system and ensure that the solutions are widely adopted. Our Board of Directors even begins each meeting with a "patient safety story" that keeps the patient at the top of their minds. They also spend more time evaluating quality and patient safety than financial goals. We're very proud of the progress we've made but we continue to become better. We want to share this with you in two forms: our initiatives and our results. Quality and safety initiatives Legacy has many initiatives to improve quality and safety. We also have two overarching "Big Aims:" Eliminate needless deaths. Eliminate preventable harm. Learn more about our Big Aims and how we're doing with them here. This link also has information on many other quality initiatives. Quality and safety reporting Quality and safety information about hospitals used to be difficult to find. Today this information is available on the web from the government and from other sources. We believe: You deserve easily available information to help you select a hospital or other provider based on the quality of care you expect to receive. We should routinely measure our performance against accepted standards. Many of the quality measures we track are also reported to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) , and publicly available on the Hospital Compare website and the Oregon Hospital Guide website. We encourage you to visit those sites, where you can get information on Legacy hospitals and others in the region. We share a few of the more common measures for all our hospitals here. Patient confidentiality To protect patient confidentiality, Legacy only reports combined data for all our patients as a group. We do not report information about specific patients, and we follow rules set out in the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which protects against the sharing of patient-specific information without proper authorization. Legacy's HIPAA Privacy Statement Federal HIPAA rules and regulations


text:
We're excited to announce the launch of a new show on TeenIdentityMag.com. It's called "2 Minutes with Taylor." It's a kind of variety show starring one of our Teen Identity team members, Taylor Smith. For months we've been planning to create original content for the online magazine that will get teen girls coming back again and again. This benefits them (a positive and entertaining alternative to what's currently being marketed to teen girls) and it will benefit our Network members as traffic to the site increases.
At first glance, the show may not seem like much. Just a girl talking to the camera with a colorful background. However, based on our research of shows that have huge followings on YouTube, we think this has great potential. Shows like juicystar07, iJustine, kevjumba, and perhaps the most popular YouTube channel of all NigaHiga . Three key essentials we've noticed are
- Relatability
- Simplicity
- Comedy
We should state that it is not our goal to become an uber-Tuber. It would be great if we ended up with hundreds of thousands (or even tens of thousands) of views. But, we're doing this because we sincerely want to create a slate of shows for teen girls that is truly a positive alternative.
Keep up to date with all the Teen Identity shows at our YouTube channel or subscribe to them in iTunes.


text:
Health and Child Development Sites
AAP - You and Your Family
This website, from the American Academy of Pediatrics, points parents to information on family and medical leave, immunizations, and safety and injury prevention among many other topics.
Facts for Families
A web site developed by the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry to provide concise and up-to-date information on issues that affect children, teenagers, and their families.
Internet Safety
Child Safety on the Information Highway
For parents looking for internet safety sites, safekids.com offers articles and suggestions on how to keep your children safe as they surf the internet.
FBI's Internet Safety Guide
The FBI shares their expertise with parents in this Internet Safety guide.
The Kids Internet Guide
A fun workbook for kids that teaches them how the Internet works.
Homeschool Curriculum Co-op
Homeschooling parents buy, sell, and trade used books and materials
ACT Assessment
ACT information from the test makers themselves is located here.
College Board
Information on Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and SAT II, the Preliminary SAT (PSAT) and the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (NMSQT) is found here.
Ohio Proficiency Tests
Complete information from the Ohio Department of Education on all levels of the Ohio Proficiency Tests is found here. There are sample tests as well as test dates. Individual test results are not available.
Ohio's GED Credential
Complete GED (General Education Development) information for Ohio residents is located here.


text:
ARLINGTON — Former Navy SEAL Chris Kyle's autobiography introduced the public to the "most lethal sniper" in U.S. military history. But his public memorial service Monday at Cowboys Stadium reveled in the contrasts of the man called softhearted by family and the Devil of Ramadi by enemies in Iraq.
Kyle was a warrior who choked out countless friends as a gag, something they described as his hug. But one friend also spoke about how "that proud cowboy cried his eyes out" when one of his closest friends died.
Speaker after speaker — from family to military — described Kyle as a father who loved cuddling with his children, a passionate husband, the most devoted friend possible and a prankster with a "cackling" laugh. He was given the nickname The Legend by friends as a joke but eventually earned it with more than 150 confirmed kills, the most of any U.S. military sniper.
Taya Kyle, who spoke near the end of the two-hour ceremony, said she'll need every bit of strength she learned from her husband.
"Chris always said, 'The body will do whatever the mind tells it to,'" she said. "I'm counting on that now. I stand before you a broken woman, but I am now and always will be the wife of a man who was a warrior both on and off the battlefield."
Kyle, 38, and friend Chad Littlefield, 35, were shot and killed Feb. 2 at a gun range at Rough Creek Lodge and Resort, southwest of Glen Rose in Erath County. Eddie Ray Routh, 25, a veteran believed to have mental problems, whom Kyle was helping, has been charged with two counts of capital murder.
The funeral for Littlefield, a husband and father of a young daughter, was Friday in Midlothian.
Taya Kyle also paid tribute to Littlefield, a fellow father with an "easy smile" and comforting presence whom Kyle met through youth sports. Littlefield "blessed Chris with a friend that was the one that Chris needed more than anything," Taya Kyle said. "It was just effortless."
The public memorial service for Kyle, who gained fame through his best-selling book, American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History, drew a crowd in Arlington estimated at 6,500 to 7,000, and some local television stations broadcast the service live.
His flag-draped coffin rested on the Cowboys star at the 50-yard line, and photos from childhood through fatherhood were shown on the video board.
Randy Travis and other notable country music singers performed as a tribute to Kyle, and the crowd included team owner Jerry Jones and former Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman. Former GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin also wrote on her Facebook page that she was attending.
A procession will leave Tuesday morning from Midlothian to take Kyle's body to Austin, where he'll be buried at the Texas State Cemetery.
One speaker read a letter from Kyle's parents, who tried to distill a lifetime. They described a boy and man who lived life at "full blast" and recalled his bear hugs and professions of love for them.
"God anointed you with the name The Protector," they wrote. "You're life embodied the full meaning of that. You were tender to the young. Compassionate with the wounded. And sympathetic for the less fortunate. The Lord had his hand on you the moment you were born. You were destined for greatness."
Organizers of the service declined to identify the speakers, but one military member described Kyle as a man who lived up to the hype but went against the grain of what many expect. When his fellow SEALs slept after a mission, Kyle would play video game marathons. Despite the SEALs' aquatic heritage, he said, Kyle hated the water and always found excuses to skip training in the ocean.
He was a disciplined warrior on the battlefield but "seldom in anything resembling a military uniform."
The speaker said Kyle painted a comic book logo on his gear, cut the sleeves off his shirts and wore hunting boots instead of military footwear.
"Instead of the ballistic protection of a Kevlar helmet, he preferred to sport a faded University of Texas Longhorn ball cap just to make sure the enemy knew Texas was being represented and that Texans shot straight," the speaker said.
But the man said that despite Kyle's skill and dedication to his mission, he left for the sake of his family. Even then, he found time to raise money and work with veterans charities.
"His big heart had more," the speaker said.
Taya Kyle said he was the type of man who was "all in" whenever he committed to someone or something. But for Kyle, she said, being a father was the highlight of his life.
Addressing their son, Taya Kyle said her husband called him "little man" because he could already see and feel the man he will become one day. And speaking to their daughter, Taya Kyle said their "baby girl" would "soften and melt his heart with her many kisses and hugs."
"Life has a way of working out," she said as the service was closing. "And you have showed me that in life, and even in death, some people are always with you. I love you, Chris. I love. I love you."


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Sidebar to the article Prisoner Radicalization: Assessing the Threat in U.S. Correctional Institutions by Mark S. Hamm, Ph.D.
JIS Recruitment Strategy
NIJ image (see reuse policy).
The link between prisoner radicalization and terrorism can be seen in the JIS case, particularly in the way the group recruited
and operated. JIS began with a traditional form of American Islam (Nation of Islam). This was used to create an alternative
religious vision expressed in a pious but mutating form of Sunni-inspired "Prison Islam," which encompasses gang values and
fierce intra-group loyalties based on "cut-and-paste" interpretations of the Koran.[1] This vision provided JIS members with identity, meaning and a form of collective resistance.
So powerful was the attachment to this form of Prison Islam that two JIS devotees — members of rival gangs — were able to
overcome past grievances, thus fusing JIS's spiritual identity to its gang history. While on parole, one of the devotees took
the group's terrorist plot to the community and turned to a street gang for firearms. Additional members were recruited from
the international jihad movement inspired by the war in Iraq. All the while, the JIS plot continued to be directed by its
charismatic leader, who remained incarcerated in maximum-security custody.
Back to: Prisoner Radicalization: Assessing the Threat in U.S. Correctional Institutions.
[note 1]Knox, G.W., "Melanics: A Gang Profile Analysis," Journal of Gang Research 9 (2002): 1-76.
National Institute of Justice, 810 Seventh Street, NW, Washington, DC 20531


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Romney holds all-star Ohio rally
WEST CHESTER, Ohio — Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan fired up the Republican base here Friday night with the biggest rally yet of their campaign as they headed into the final weekend before Election Day.
On a frigid fall night — you could see your breath in the air, and organizers handed out fleece blankets and hand warmers to the press — 100 GOP all-star surrogates gathered in this key state, some throwing red meat to the sprawling crowd and stressing that Ohioans hold the fate of the election in their hands.
Story Continued Below
It was an awesome visual. Those appearing with Romney and Ryan included former GOP rivals Rick Santorum and Rick Perry, and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte. They lined up in rows to Romney's right in matching red or blue fleeces.
Organizers of tonight's mega-event said the goal was to create the feeling of a week-long party convention in one night — complete with the the GOP's rising stars and stalwarts, as well as a performance by Kid Rock.
The crowd loved it. Many waved small Ohio flags. Romney supporters wearing red, white and blue T-shirts positioned themselves behind Romney to create a human image of Ohio's flag.
There's no question that this was Romney's biggest rally of the campaign — but just how many people turned out is unclear in this hard-fought state in which public polls show Romney narrowly trailing President Barack Obama. The campaign announced that 30,000 people attended, but Secret Service sources said just 15,000 went through metal detectors. And local law enforcement counted the crowd at 18,000.
From Cincinnati, the surrogates for Romney and Ryan will fan out to 11 swing states for events in the final three full days before voters cast their ballots. The program is called the "Romney-Ryan Real Recovery Road Rally."
"That's R-6 for short," Romney joked at the start of his speech.
The former Massachusetts governor stressed that the final march kicked off in Ohio because the state is central to the GOP nominee's hopes next Tuesday. No Republican has won the White House without it, and Romney has spent a lot of time and money in the state in the campaign's final stretch.
"Your state is the one I'm counting on, by the way," Romney said. "This is the one we have to win."
Ryan called Ohio, where he attended college, the "linchpin."
"Ohio, you know you are the linchpin, you are the battleground of battlegrounds. Ohio — you gonna help us win this thing," he said as the crowd chanted "four more days."
"This is our moment Ohio. This is the time when we want to wake up on Wednesday morning and see that we met the moment," Ryan added. "We want to make sure that we talked to everybody we know that thought hope and change sounded good, but they now know it didn't work. This is the time to elect a leader. This is the moment when the man and the moment are meeting personally."


text: Oh Dog! Dear DeDe here! Last night was the first night of Hanukkah, and so I want to wish all of our Jewish friends Chag Chanukah Sameach! I want to remind you to enter our Take the Pledge! Contest. Entries are accepted through midnight Central, so take the pledge to not shop at stores that sell … Continue reading


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Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research
versão On-line ISSN 2219-0635
versão impressa ISSN 0030-2465
Onderstepoort j. vet. res. vol.81 no.2 Pretoria Fev. 2014
The changing landscape of rabies epidemiology and control
Sarah CleavelandI; Hawthorne BeyerII; Katie HampsonI, III; Daniel HaydonI; Felix LankesterI, IV, V; Tiziana LemboI; Francois-Xavier MeslinVI; Michelle MortersVII; Zacharia MtemaI, III; Maganga SamboIII; Sunny TownsendI
IBoyd Orr Centre for Population and Ecosystem Health, Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Scotland
IIARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions, Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science, University of Queensland, Australia
IIIIfakara Health Institute, Ifakara, Tanzania
IVPaul G. Allen School of Global Animal Health, Washington State University, United States
VLincoln Park Zoo, Chicago, United States
VIWorld Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland
VIIDepartment of Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
Over the past 20 years, major progress has been made in our understanding of critical aspects of rabies epidemiology and control. This paper presents results of recent research, highlighting methodological advances that have been applied to burden of disease studies, rabies epidemiological modelling and rabies surveillance. These results contribute new insights and understanding with regard to the epidemiology of rabies and help to counteract misperceptions that currently hamper rabies control efforts in Africa. The conclusion of these analyses is that the elimination of canine rabies in Africa is feasible, even in wildlife-rich areas, through mass vaccination of domestic dogs and without the need for indiscriminate culling to reduce dog population density. Furthermore, the research provides valuable practical insights that support the operational planning and design of dog vaccination campaigns and rabies surveillance measures.
Over the past 20 years, much progress has been made in understanding the epidemiology of rabies in Africa, supporting the view that canine rabies elimination is both feasible and cost-effective through mass vaccination of domestic dogs (Lembo et al. 2010; Rupprecht et al. 2008; World Health Organization [WHO] 2004; WHO 2013). This research has resulted in a groundswell of momentum amongst rabies scientists and international human and animal health agencies to drive forward ambitious plans for canine rabies elimination. However, despite huge progress in some parts of the world, most notably Latin America where canine rabies elimination is targeted for 2015 (WHO 2012), substantial challenges remain in Africa where few national programmes are in existence.
An enduring problem relates to several misperceptions that currently hamper rabies control efforts in Africa (Lembo et al. 2010) (Figure 1). For example, there is a perception that rabies is relatively insignificant as a disease of public health concern; that rabies is a problem of 'stray' dogs that are not accessible for parenteral vaccination; that rabies can only be controlled through culling or reduction in the dog population density; and that wildlife play a major role in sustaining rabies cycles in Africa. These misperceptions drive a cycle of neglect, where the implementation of ineffective control measures results in demotivation of policy-makers and veterinary field staff and fuels the erroneous impression that rabies control is futile.
Here we review the most recent evidence from rabies epidemiology studies that address these misperceptions, highlighting how new approaches and analytical techniques are being applied and illustrating how the results are constantly reinforcing the evidence base as to the feasibility of canine rabies elimination in Africa.
Rabies burden of disease studies
In common with many 'neglected' diseases, a principal factor contributing to the low prioritisation of rabies control has been the lack of information about the burden and impact of rabies, particularly in low-income countries that are most affected by the disease. The development of a probability-tree model for estimating human rabies deaths from the incidence of suspect rabid animal bite injuries and human post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) (Cleaveland et al. 2002) has paved the way for several estimates of human rabies incidence in Africa and Asia (Coleman, Fèvre & Cleaveland 2004; Fèvre et al. 2005; Hossain et al. 2012; Knobel et al. 2005; Ly et al. 2009; Tenzin et al. 2011). These studies have indicated that rabies incidence in Africa, estimated to be ~24 000 deaths per year (Knobel et al. 2005), is at least 100 times higher than officially reported.
The most recent estimates of rabies burden incorporate more detailed country-level data, including updated information on human PEP use. These analyses, part of the global burden of disease studies coordinated by the Partners for Rabies Prevention, have also included consideration of economic losses as a result of premature deaths. Overall, using the probability model, global estimates of human rabies deaths are similar to previous studies, with an estimated 61 000 human rabies deaths per year occurring globally (95% CI, 52 200-70 700) and 23 800 in Africa (95% CI, 21 000-28 000) (WHO 2013). However, the apparent consistency in estimates masks substantial local variation, most notably the decline in human rabies deaths in several countries in Asia because of increased availability of rabies PEP and, in some areas, dog rabies control. Whilst any decline in human rabies deaths is to be celebrated, this progress has come at a high cost, with PEP costs in Asia estimated at around US$1.5 billion. These contribute substantially to the estimated global annual cost of rabies of US$6b (95% CI, 4.6-7.3), which also includes productivity losses of US$2b as a result of premature deaths (WHO 2013).
Empirical data to both parameterise and validate estimates of human rabies deaths have been generated from community surveys (Hossain et al. 2012), large-scale verbal autopsy surveys (Suraweera et al. 2012) and active surveillance and contact tracing (Hampson et al. 2008). Nonetheless, it is clear that these data are still very scarce and that any figures based on models that incorporate incomplete and imprecise data are likely to have a high degree of uncertainty.
Despite these uncertainties, clinical studies in Malawi have demonstrated that rabies is a more common cause of childhood encephalitis than recognised previously and can be misdiagnosed easily as malaria, even by experienced clinicians (Mallewa et al. 2007). This may seem surprising, given that rabies exhibits several distinct clinical features in humans, such as aerophobia and hydrophobia, but serves to highlight the importance of improving awareness amongst clinicians and submitting samples for laboratory diagnosis to ensure that the rabies disease burden is not masked by high levels of misdiagnosis, particularly in malaria-endemic areas of Africa.
Although rabies does not have the pandemic potential that characterises the emerging zoonoses of greatest concern to high-income countries (Figure 2), its burden and impact cannot be considered negligible. The physical, psychological and economic consequences of rabies are borne by the poorest communities in the world and the continued suffering caused by the disease is entirely preventable and remains a conspicuous failure of the veterinary and medical professions to deliver on existing solutions.
Epidemiological modelling
The advent of powerful analytical and modelling tools now allows valuable insights regarding the epidemiology and control of rabies to be generated from a wide variety of epidemiological, genetic and geographic data. Patch occupancy models, developed from metapopulation theory to explore persistence of species in fragmented habitats (Hanski & Ovaskainen 2000), have recently been applied to the study of rabies persistence in structured populations in the Serengeti ecosystem. In this study, hospital-derived animal-bite injury cases were used as a measure of disease occurrence in villages ('patches'), exploiting an easily accessible source of data to parameterise spatially-explicit models of disease on a regional scale (Beyer et al. 2011). Biteinjury case records typify the type of coarse field data that is often the only information available to epidemiologists in Africa. These data contain many uncertainties that have previously limited their utility for epidemiological inference. However, the use of state-space models provides a powerful framework for modelling the effects of uncertainty and have allowed us to exploit accessible but 'noisy' data in order to generate new insights into regional-scale transmission dynamics. For example, the Serengeti model highlighted the importance of spatial structure, with village-to-village transmission of dog rabies being more important in driving regional-scale dynamics than transmission from wildlife-protected areas; and being consistent with results of earlier studies that identified dogs, not wildlife, as being rabies reservoirs in the Serengeti (Lembo et al. 2008). These models also have potential for the design of spatially-structured vaccination campaigns by identifying communities that contribute most to the persistence of rabies; they could, therefore, be prioritised for vaccination in situations where resources are limited (Beyer et al. 2012).
Whilst much effort has focused on understanding the epidemiology and control of rabies in endemic settings, attention is now turning toward prospects for the elimination of canine rabies. The feasibility of canine rabies elimination has been supported by a strong body of evidence from epidemiological field studies, phylogenetic analyses and epidemiological modelling (summarised in Lembo et al. 2010). A key finding has been the low value of R0, which consistently falls between 1.0 and 2.0 for canine rabies in dog populations across the world, despite wide variation in dog densities and demographic characteristics in urban and rural communities in different countries (Hampson et al. 2009). The lack of density-dependence in rabies transmission was evidenced again with an R0 estimate of 1.2 for the 2008-2010 rabies outbreak in Bali, Indonesia in communities with very high dog densities (Townsend et al. 2013).
These findings have two major implications for rabies control and elimination: firstly, that elimination of canine rabies through vaccination of ~70% dogs is epidemiologically feasible in most settings, including high-density populations; and secondly, that tackling rabies through dog density reduction (e.g. mass culling) is likely to be ineffective (Morters et al. 2013). These conclusions are also supported by previous experience. For example, despite substantial reductions in the dog population of Flores, Indonesia as part of a culling program to control a rabies outbreak in 1996, the disease remains endemic (Windiyaningsih et al. 2004). Similarly, culling failed to control canine rabies in Korea, Israel, and Bali, whereas subsequent mass dog vaccination programmes have resulted in control of the disease (Knobel et al. 2013). In addition to having no demonstrable beneficial impact on the control of rabies, indiscriminate culling of dogs also has substantial ethical and welfare implications and no evidence exists to support its use in rabies control strategies. However, misperceptions remain widespread (presumably because conclusions from research studies run counter to many intuitive assumptions) and culling is still considered a feasible policy option by many veterinary services in Africa. Engaging with policy-makers therefore remains a high priority to ensure uptake of research findings and to instill confidence as to the feasibility of rabies control and elimination through mass dog vaccination.
Epidemiological models also provide critical support for the development and design of elimination strategies in terms of understanding elimination dynamics; designing the most cost-effective strategies for disease control and surveillance at national, regional and global levels; and providing guidance for policymakers about expected times to elimination. A spatially-explicit stochastic simulation model of rabies in Bali, Indonesia, for example, has indicated that time to elimination of rabies is critically dependent on high levels of contiguous vaccination coverage and that even small pockets of low coverage (e.g. involving < 0.5% of the dog population) can cause a significant delay in progress (Townsend et al. 2013). In contrast, the probability of rabies elimination is only slightly affected by the timing of campaigns (e.g. intensive synchronised versus more prolonged dog vaccination campaigns), so campaigns can be tailored to optimise logistic efficiency and resource availability in order to achieve the high vaccination coverage required.
Surveillance approaches
Surveillance is a critical element of the control and elimination of infectious diseases. As control programmes progress toward elimination, surveillance efforts need to be intensified in order to detect new incursions and to declare freedom from disease with confidence. Surveillance remains arguably the weakest element of many national and regional control and elimination strategies, particularly in Africa and Asia, with well-recognised difficulties associated with detection and confirmation of both animal and human cases. A further problem relates to the potentially long incubation period of rabies (Fekadu 1993; Hampson et al. 2009), making it difficult to determine whether rabies has truly been eliminated during periods with no detected cases.
Several questions therefore remain as to the optimum control strategies that should be adopted in the face of low case-detection probabilities, as well as regarding the duration and level of surveillance efforts that are needed in order to provide confidence that rabies has truly been eliminated. Although definitions for freedom from canine rabies have been proposed (WHO 2013), current international guidelines lack quantitative definitions about the level of surveillance that would be required by an effective surveillance system for the purpose of declaring freedom from rabies (OIE 2011). Recent modelling work provides useful insights, for example, in the use of outbreak simulation techniques to explore the effectiveness of control and elimination strategies. In relatively isolated areas that are not subject to frequent reintroductions (e.g. islands), but which have realistic levels of rabies surveillance (i.e. case-detection probabilities < 10%), mass dog vaccination is more effective at controlling rabies (and is no more costly) than vaccinating only in response to detected outbreaks. These models further indicate that surveillance measures need to be able to detect at least 5% of rabies cases in order to be confident that rabies has been eliminated under the current guidelines for declaration of freedom (Townsend et al. 2012).
These models were developed initially for populations without repeat introductions but, in reality, high levels of legal and illegal dog movements remain a concern for maintaining rabies-free status in areas where the disease has been eliminated. Informal movement of dogs through road and water-based transport can represent a considerable challenge in many areas and, whilst cross-boundary coordination and effective rabies control over large geographic regions should mitigate the risk of new introductions, effective surveillance will still be needed in order to detect and respond to new incursions. Maintaining surveillance levels is also important so as to detect outbreaks that may be triggered by rare spillover transmission from other reservoir hosts, such as bats, and to contain outbreaks that might otherwise have the potential to establish new epidemic cycles.
With recognition of the critical importance of strengthening rabies surveillance, much effort is therefore being directed at improvements in detection, reporting and laboratory diagnosis of rabies. Examples include the application of mobile phone technologies to enhance reporting of human rabies exposures at bite treatment centres in Tanzania (Mtema 2013). Mobile phone systems also allow for rapid communication between human and animal health sectors to ensure follow up of animal cases; reminder texts to be sent to patients to complete the full course of PEP; and improved distribution of vaccine stocks to avoid the vaccine shortages that occur frequently in many of the more remote parts of Africa (Mtema 2013).
The advent of new diagnostic techniques is also helping to overcome some of the logistic, technical and cultural barriers associated with submitting human and animal samples for centralised laboratory diagnosis using conventional fluorescence techniques. These include (1) new diagnostic tests that use light microscopy rather than fluorescence microscopy and can therefore be carried out at local facilities with very high specificity and sensitivity (Dürr et al. 2008; Lembo et al. 2006); (2) field-based lateral flow devices, that may provide a useful tool for generating surveillance data (Markotter et al. 2009) and for empowering and incentivising field workers to engage with rabies surveillance (Halliday et al. 2012); (3) new techniques for intra vitam diagnosis of human rabies cases (Dacheux et al. 2008; Fooks et al. 2009); and (4) culturally-acceptable methods for post-mortem sampling of brain material for human rabies diagnosis (Mallewa et al. 2007).
Although these techniques are improving capacity for laboratory-confirmed diagnosis in Africa, attention also needs to be given to improving the reporting of clinical cases, which provides the entry point for building an effective rabies surveillance system. Whilst laboratory diagnosis provides robust confirmation of rabies and is important for effective administration of PEP, clinical case reporting also needs strengthening as the central pillar of rabies surveillance. For example, surveillance in the smallpox eradication programme was underpinned by clinical case reporting from health centres (Henderson & Klepac 2013) and during the rinderpest eradication campaigns in Africa, participatory surveillance based on the engagement of local communities was the primary surveillance tool in the final stages of eradication (Roeder, Mariner & Kock 2012).
Given the distinctive nature of dog rabies, recognition amongst local communities in Africa can be high (e.g. 74% of cases reported as suspect rabid animals in rural Tanzania were confirmed positive on laboratory diagnosis; Lembo et al. 2008). Whilst clinical surveillance is clearly neither 100% specific nor sensitive, these cases can contribute valuable epidemiological data for the comparative analysis of trends, initiating follow-up investigations and, most critically, providing a stimulus for disease control measures. Indeed, the lack of feedback or beneficial response to mitigate disease problems is arguably the greatest barrier to the reporting of zoonoses, particularly within resource-poor systems, and this chronic lack of response (or capacity to respond) is disempowering and demotivating at the grassroots level for healthcare and veterinary workers alike (Halliday et al. 2012). Therefore, whilst there is no doubt that laboratory diagnostic capacity needs strengthening throughout most of Africa, the lack of capacity should not act as a deterrent to initiating rabies control measures. Rather, effective rabies control measures should be integrated within responsive surveillance systems and should provide motivation to field staff to improve case reporting and submission of samples.
Economic analyses
Whilst confidence is growing as to the epidemiological feasibility of canine rabies control and elimination through mass dog vaccination, a key question relates to the cost and sustainability of control measures, particularly in low-income countries. In Tanzania, mass vaccination campaigns have led to dramatic declines in demand for PEP (Cleaveland et al. 2003) and the concomitant savings to the public health sector generate a potential mechanism for sustaining dog vaccination campaigns. Cost-effectiveness analysis, incorporating deterministic models of dog-to-human transmission, indicate that strategies involving dog vaccination and PEP are likely, over the longer term, to be more cost effective for preventing human rabies deaths than human PEP alone (Bogel & Meslin 1990; Zinsstag et al. 2009).
However, the relationship between dog rabies incidence and human PEP demand, which is a critical determinant of cost-effectiveness, is likely to vary considerably across different socioeconomic settings. In northern Tanzania, for example, the incidence of bite injuries reported at health clinics declines rapidly as the incidence of rabies falls (Cleaveland et al. 2003) and can decline to zero in areas where canine rabies has been eliminated (Lembo et al. 2010). This suggests that people in these communities seek PEP only when they recognise the risk of rabies - they would not seek treatment for bite injuries from non-rabies suspect animals, a situation which presumably reflects both a high level of rabies recognition and the high private costs associated with PEP in comparison with household incomes in Africa (Knobel et al. 2005). In contrast, in many higher-income settings or where rabies occurs more sporadically, the scale of PEP use may be driven both by health-seeking behaviour of more affluent and knowledgeable members of the community as well as clinician decision making. In these situations, pressures and uncertainties faced by clinicians regarding the genuine need for PEP means that PEP use can remain very high even when the incidence of animal rabies cases and risk of exposure to rabies is extremely low (Lardon et al. 2010), with important implications for the cost-effectiveness of human rabies prevention through rabies control in the animal reservoir.
Research findings have also contributed important information for practical field operations, including fundamental questions relating to dog population ecology and ownership patterns, which are central to the design of rabies control measures.
Dog ecology studies
An enduring misperception relating to dog ecology in Africa is the widely-held, but erroneous, impression that a large proportion of dogs are ownerless or 'stray' dogs that are not accessible for vaccination. This has had major implications for rabies control across Africa, with policy makers being reluctant to invest in dog vaccination campaigns and resources rather being directed toward ineffective strategies, such as culling (Figure 1).
A key finding from dog ecology studies is that, although most dogs in Africa are free-roaming, the number of ownerless dogs or those inaccessible for vaccination remains very low. For example, only 1%, 8% and 11% of dogs respectively were unowned in three study sites in N'Djamena (Kayali et al. 2003). In Zimbabwe, all dogs on communal lands were owned (Butler & Bingham 2000) and in Tanzania, < 1% of dogs were unowned in an urban site that was specifically targeted for dog ecology studies on the basis of reports of a large population of 'stray' dogs (Gsell et al. 2012). Although precise estimates of ownerless dogs are difficult to obtain, a robust conclusion remains that the level of dog ownership and dog accessibility is sufficiently high in all these communities to be able to control dog rabies through mass dog vaccination of owned dogs.
Estimating the size of dog populations has been considered a key operational requirement for mass dog vaccination campaigns. However, although several approaches to determining the dog population size have been described (summarised in the Canine Rabies Blueprint [Global Alliance for Rabies Control 2013]), difficulties still remain.
For owned dogs, knowledge of the human:dog ratio (HDR) combined with human population data can provide useful preliminary estimates. Dog ecology studies from across Africa indicate relatively consistent HDR values in rural settings (Davlin & Vonville 2012; Knobel et al. 2008), but the HDR can vary widely, particularly in urban settings. Furthermore, human population figures are generally obtained from census data, which may only be collected every 10 years, and projections from these data are usually generated from average population growth rates. However, with rapid changes in human demographics, including high rates of urbanisation in Africa (UN Habitat 2008), population growth rates at a local level can vary widely, leading to uncertainties in projected population sizes and, hence, dog population estimates. Therefore, whilst an initial crude estimate of the dog population size can be generated using the projected human population sizes and 'average' or 'typical' HDRs for planning of first campaigns, these figures should be refined progressively as campaigns are implemented.
An important point in designing household dog population surveys is that estimates of HDR need to explicitly include pups, because pups are not always considered as 'dogs' in answer to the question about the number of dogs in a household. It is also important to note that young pups (less than three 3 months of age) need to be included for rabies vaccination during annual campaigns (a point that is often not well recognised by either the owners of puppies or veterinary officers). Determining vaccination coverage levels for puppies separately from adults can be useful in order to identify whether low coverage in pups is a problem that needs to be addressed.
Despite uncertainties in most approaches to estimating dog population sizes, it is clear that extremely precise data may not be critical at the initial stages of implementing national strategies and more precise data can be generated as campaigns are rolled out. For procurement purposes, estimates should over-estimate rather than underestimate dog population sizes; provision of excess vaccines at the start of a rabies control programme is generally not problematic, provided the shelf life allows for vaccine to be used in successive campaigns.
In addition to planning campaigns, knowledge of the dog population size is also important in order to determine vaccination coverage, a critical parameter for monitoring vaccination campaigns. During campaigns, vaccination coverage is often determined from the number of dogs vaccinated during a campaign (or vaccine doses used) divided by the estimated dog population size, but given the uncertainties in dog population sizes, these figures are also likely to be unreliable. It should also be noted that, during recurrent campaigns, using vaccine doses to estimate coverage would only provide a conservative estimate, as dogs vaccinated in the previous year(s) and not during the current campaign would not be included in coverage estimates. However, if using vaccines with 2-3 years' duration of immunity (as is the case for most commercial vaccines), some of these dogs may still be protected against rabies and contributing to population immunity. Because of the critical importance of monitoring vaccination coverage during national control programmes, alternative methods should be adopted to generate more precise values at the community level. Household surveys generate accurate and useful data and it is feasible to include them in vaccination campaigns that adopt 'house-to-house' strategies. However, logistic and resource constraints may preclude sampling other communities and, as the 'even-ness' of coverage is likely to be an important measure (Townsend et al. 2013), greater emphasis may need to be given to developing relatively cheap and simple population- and community-based survey tools that could be applied more broadly in all vaccinated communities. Other forms of post-vaccination survey include mark-resight surveys, which capture coverage in free-roaming dogs (e.g. Kaare et al. 2009; Kayali et al. 2003; Matter et al. 2000) and could be encouraged as standard methodology for campaigns which are conducted using centralised vaccination stations and in areas with a high proportion of free-roaming dogs. These methods have, in addition, been used to estimate the size of the ownerless dog population (e.g. Gsell et al. 2012).
International partnerships
With strong interdisciplinary partnerships now established, involving the Partners for Rabies Prevention, the tripartite partnership of the World Health Organization (WHO), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), as well as other international health and animal welfare agencies, there is a growing international momentum toward canine rabies elimination (Lembo et al. 2011). Rabies has been included within the WHO Roadmap for Neglected Tropical Diseases (WHO 2012), with targets set for regional elimination of canine rabies in Latin America by 2015 and South-East Asia by 2020. To support the development of national rabies control plans, a step-wise strategy has been developed (FAO 2013), identifying the key activities and capacities that need to be established at different stages of disease control and elimination. This framework is further supported by practical guidelines (the 'Canine Rabies Blueprint') in order to support field operations (Lembo 2012).
In summary, there are clearly strong grounds for optimism that canine rabies can be controlled and eliminated in Africa. Multiple strands of evidence from empirical and theoretical research studies generate confidence as to the epidemiological feasibility of canine rabies elimination, with the principal focus of activities directed toward mass dog vaccination. In addition, findings from operational research studies, in tandem with strong international partnerships, provide practical guidance and support needed for the design and implementation of effective national and regional elimination programmes.
Support for research on the epidemiology and surveillance of rabies in Tanzania, including support for M.S. (Ifakara Health Institute, Tanzania) and K.H. (University of Glasgow and Ifakara Health Institute, Tanzania) was provided by grants from the Wellcome Trust (082715, 084615MA and 087393/B/08/Z), the UBS Optimus Foundation and the Leverhulme Trust (support for H.B. [University of Queensland]). S.T. (University of Glasgow) was supported by a grant from the UK Medical Research Council (G0901135) and T.L. (University of Glasgow) by a grant from the BBSRC DfID CIDLID initiative (BB/H009302/1). The authors would like to thank SACIDS and Afrique One for organisation of the One Health conference at which this paper was presented.
Competing interests
The authors declare that they have no financial or personal relationship(s) that may have inappropriately influenced them in writing this article.
Authors' contributions
The study was conceived by S.C. (University of Glasgow), T.L. (University of Glasgow) and K.H. (University of Glasgow and Ifakara Health Institute, Tanzania) and all authors contributed to writing the article. Figure 1 was conceived by S.C. and D.H. (University of Glasgow) and Figure 2 was conceived by S.C., T.L. and S.T. (all University of Glasgow) and F-X.M. (World Health Organization, Geneva).
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Sarah Cleaveland
Graham Kerr Building, University of Glasgow
Glasgow G12 8QQ, United Kingdom
Note: Proceedings of the 2nd One Health Conference in Africa. Jointly organised by the Southern African Centre for Infectious Disease Surveillance and the Tanzania National Institute for Medical Research, held at the Snow Crest Hotel in Arusha, Tanzania from 16th to 19th April 2013: http://www.sacids.org/kms/frontend/index.php?m=119.


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A spectacular painting by Farrell Collett, entitled "The Hole in the Rock", is on display at the Bluff Fort. The story behind the painting is worth retelling.
On February 28, 1980 the San Juan Record ran a story about a painting that DeMar Perkins and Norma Perkins Young purchased from Farrell Collett, entitled "The Hole in the Rock".
Collett was a well-known artist and dean of the department of art at Weber State University for many years. He is a descendant of Reuben Collett, one of the Escalante scouts for the expedition. He died in 2000.
Norma Young saw the piece at the BYU Museum of Art and spoke to Farrell Collett about it. Norma explained that 1980 was the 100th anniversary of the Hole in the Rock Pioneer trek from Escalante to Bluff.
Collett felt that the painting belonged in San Juan County and agreed to sell it for much less than what he could sell it for in the New York market.
Demar and Norma were anxious to take it to San Juan to see if the county would purchase it. No one seemed interested in purchasing it, so it hung in the bank in Monticello for a time and then in the Blanding library. It was displayed several other places for short intervals.
Finally Demar took it home and eventually sold it to Paul Redd in 1998. It is a very impressive painting – 36"x48" – plus the frame.
It is a rare painting for its portrayal of Uncle Ben's Dugway, which was used to help get the wagons through the Hole and down to the Colorado River.
When Norma heard the new visitor center was in the planning stages at Bluff, she told Corrine Roring that the painting would be very much at home there.
Corrine approached Paul about obtaining the painting for the visitor center and he told her they would talk about it when the center was done.
Paul and his wife Diane had become attached to the painting and were reluctant to sell it, but they were willing to have it copied as a gift to the Bluff Fort.
Copying the painting was a process. They first asked an excellent photographer to photograph the painting, but because of the lighting, it could not be photographed successfully.
So after seeking out the heirs of the artist, permission was granted to copy the painting. Paul and Diane took the painting off the wall, wrapped it carefully and drove it to Pixels Foto and Frame in Salt Lake City to have it copied and printed on canvas.
Some barn wood to make the frame was secured from some Blanding "Rockers" who were glad to donate the wood that had been on an old shed owned by the Guyman family.
Keith and Jerri Nielson drove the wood to Paradox so Paul could take it to Pixels to be made into a frame. Farrell Collett had originally had his painting framed in barn wood to give it the rustic feel the painting portrays.
On Friday, October 11, the day before the dedication of the wonderful new Co-op Visitor Center, Paul and Diane drove the new painting to Bluff and helped install it in the proper place to share with the visitors at the Bluff Fort. Many descendants of the San Juan Mission pioneers worked together to get this painting in the Co-op in time for the dedication.
Now it is on display for all to see at the Bluff Fort Visitor Center.


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We're on the move!
We've moved to our sparkly new home, where you will be treated to a new interview with Alex Dowsett and an exciting new prize draw in the coming days, so don't forget to sign up and point your browser in our direction. http://www.CyclingShorts.uk.com Why not sign up now to our new email subscription which … Continue reading
Danny Macaskill – Industrial Revolutions
Check out this beautiful new Danny Macaskill short film commissioned for Channel 4's Concrete Circus documentary. For those who are new to Danny's films, he is a stunt cyclist from the Isle of Skye, now based in Edinburgh. A professional Street Trials cyclist riding for Inspired Bicycles Ltd. Street Trials are an … Continue reading


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This is about the use of personas, primarily in the agile development realm.
What value, if any, do personas give during implementation?
On agile modeling, the discussion about personas remains in the context of requirements investigation.
On wikipedia, the benefits are described to "assist with brainstorming, use case specification, and features definition."
I'm familiar with personas in use while writing user stories such as the following:
As Willow, I want ordering a combo meal to give me the option to select alternate sides.
As Xander, I want the default side to be selected when I order a combo meal.
In these examples, Willow is the nutrition-conscientious user of meal-ordering software and Xander is the hungry, impatient user that thinks "fast food should be fast."
When coming up with these requirements, it may have been helpful to have the personas in mind. I imagine a possible discussion:
Person 1: Willow needs to have more options than fries for the combo meal, otherwise she would never order a combo.
Person 2: But Xander doesn't want to have to sift through different options when ordering a combo! He just wants fries and he'll probably always want fries.
This discussion may have created the two requirements above, but once the requirements have been created, why do we mark each requirement with a persona? I wouldn't code the 'default side' requirement any differently knowing that it is for Xander. What value does retaining the "As Willow" and "As Xander" starts to the requirements once they have been written? What value does the persona give to the one who implements the requirement?


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Mangere Bridge No. 1 (1875-1915)
COMPLETION OF MANGERE BRIDGE....The Onehunga bridge is rapidly approaching completion. A little more nailing and tarring of the timbers and the job will be done. All the celebrities in our town are discussing as to how the bridge should be opened. And what preparations, what ceremonies, and what amount of eating, drinking, and speechifying are necessary to be had upon so great an occasion. At the opening of the railway from Auckland to Onehunga the people of Onehunga were only regaled with a smell of the viands at host Sullivan's when the dignitaries of the province celebrated the event. On that occasion, the people of Onehunga were of poor account with the magnates provincial. On the forthcoming event our local dignitaries are determined, if they can, to assert themselves, no matter what amount of cold water may be thrown upon their efforts to the contrary notwithstanding.
Dr. Purchas has been scratching his head and looking awful things in an homeopathical way, and suggests a picnic. Gillman, the chemist, with a knowing look, is agreeable to a picnic, with the addition of a dinner. Everybody says that Capt. Wing, our harbour master, should look after the flags, as he knows how to tackle the bunting. Captain Symonds, it is reported, is agreeable to assent to anything that is pleasant, and will shout with the biggest side. Mr Jackson, our man of all work, has his pen in the ink ready to draw up any amount of resolutions that any collection of wiseheads may agree upon, that the affair may go off with all due decorum. Little Waller, the timber man, is ready to charter his little steamer the Tam 'o Shanter to run up and down the Manukau, so that everybody that likes may see how the bridge looks from a watery point of view. If there should be a dinner, O'Rorke our member to the G. A. must have his speech on the occasion. By the by, when will O'Rorke's speech come off (about) the Vogel business. I suppose we must give up all hopes of that speech now, because of the little affair of the bridge. To have to make two speeches within six months, will be too much for his nerves. If Mr O'Rorke should fail us in speechmaking, there's one man in the place that will make up for any deficiencies. Our host Hardington, of the Manukau, is ready and willing to make everybody jolly, and will have a small escort of cavalry paraded on the occasion (if allowed).
Major Gordon would have let the late Volunteers, had they been alive to fire a salute in honor of the affair, but the minds of our Volunteer soldiers having been poisoned by John Lundon, they have all become defunct, in consequence of taking in too much of Lundon's deleterious nonsense. Never mind, the Templars—as this is a watery occasion—will come out strong, with all sorts of banners of strange device. The people of Mangare are expected to meet those of Onehunga half-way on the bridge, and exchange mutual felicitations. Our old friend Courtenay will be there, and promises to be unusually tractable. The Highway Board is very busy, and must look after the toe paths.
It has been mildly suggested that the Highway Boards on both sides the Manukau will put some soft gravel on each side of the approaches to the bridge, for the newly laid stone in the roadway are plaguey hard to walk upon in these hot days; corns will not stand it. The ladies .promise to come out strong on the occasion, and the milliners of Onehunga have more than tkey can do. Let us hope the day of opening will be a fine one. Everybody here says, "Success to the Bridge, and may Onehunga flourish !"
Mangere Bridge No. 2 (1915-present)
The new ferro-concrete bridge across the Manukau Harbour, connecting Onehunga and Mangere, was formally opened for traffic yesterday afternoon by the Prime Minister (the Rt. Hon. W. F. Massey).The Premier congratulated the local authorities and the district upon having replaced the old bridge with so fine a structure, and dwelt at some length on the importance to the country of road and bridge facilities for the carriage of produce to the markets.
Mangere Bridge No. 3 (1985-present), and beyond, No. 4 (2010-present)
I thought for a minute, when I visited Bridge No. 2, that the writing I could see on one of the metal posts at least referred to the name "Mangere Bridge". But no -- it was just tagging.