text:
Watch the right side of your screen. Just the right side. Do it. JUST WATCH.
In the movie Final Destination, which I found to be pretty bad, but somehow a million sequels were made, people are just constantly killed by all sorts of random and sudden occurrences after a plane crash or whatever. It's all very complicated. People just die from electrical wiring, drowning, maybe there was an axe? I can't remember. It wasn't very good, it was fictional, and you don't really need to know more than that.
But this poor guy in Russia basically just lived a whole big part of the film. There he was, just walking along, minding his own business, in Russia, like ya do, when a crane came crashing down. Like, right nearly on top of him. He almost died in a second.
But such is life in Russia. One minute you're walking along, the next minute you're killed by a falling crane. Oh well. It's all very Dostoyevsky-ish.


text:
We asked Awl contributor Abe Sauer to write a profanity-filled, Spring Break-themed servicey piece, one that could be useful for both dopey sun-poisoned college kids and backyard BBQ enthusiasts. The Awl agreed to let us borrow its occasional series. Enjoy.
Because you didn't want to look like the neophyte that you are, you cavalierly told the liquor store dude you had "done it a hundred times" when he offered a quick tutorial on the process. Or worse, like an asshole, you told the party's host, "Oh yeah, I can tap the keg. No problem."
Knowing how to properly tap a keg is a skill no man or woman should go on Spring Break without. Here's how to fucking do it.
Don't just start stabbing that keg hole with the tap like a fucking teenager losing his virginity. That shit has to be set up properly.
Maybe you have to move that keg before fucking tapping it. Do that first. A keg shouldn't be moved after it's tapped unless absolutely fucking necessary. Why? Because if it's dropped and the tapper breaks, your party is fucked. Now, while you might be tempted to just pick that bitch up and carry it like a moose, don't. It's heavy as fuck and you might get a hernia. Hernias ruin Spring Break. Worse, you might drop it on some girl's foot. Anyway, know what percentage of single, horny, Spring Breaking women find a man's ability to lift a keg attractive? Yep, zero. Ok, so move the keg. For fuck's sake DO NOT RATTLE THE KEG AROUND. You ever shake up a soda can and then open it? Ex-fucking-actly.
Always roll a keg on its edge.
Is the keg in a big plastic bucket or some kind of lined container? Put it in one. Why be such a fucking Martha Stewart about it? Well, first of all, if you rattled that shit while moving it you're going to make a fucking mess. Also, it may come as a surprise, but drunks make a mess around the keg. And if this party is in a rented room, you'll save yourself the damage charges. That's money better spent on another keg. More importantly, when all the beer is gone, you are going to beg for just one more fucking drink. You know where you'll find that horribly watery tepid last beer? That's right, the keg swamp in the bottom of that container. Yeah, yeah, you say you won't drink that shit now ...
You will.
Once the keg is in the proper place and chilled ... wait, you did chill your keg right? Well, too fucking late now.
So take the tapper and ...
Imported? No, there is no different system for tapping a keg of imported beer. There are however different tap sizes. The guy who sold you the keg should have given you the correct tap. Anyway, this is Spring Break. Imported? What the fuck is wrong with you? ARE YOU EVEN PAYING ATTENTION?
Again, get the keg tap.
A keg tap looks like a little tire pump. A penis pump? Fine, it looks a little like a penis pump. Get it. The "ball" end is the pump and the other end with the cobra coming out is the coupler. Yes, it's very cool that it's called that. Yes, it's because it kinda looks like a cobra hood. Shut the fuck up and pay attention.
The coupler goes in the keg. If you're lucky you have a lever coupler. How will you know? IT HAS A FUCKING LEVER. Line up the indents on the tap coupler with the notches on the keg outlet. Push it in and rotate the tap clockwise about a quarter turn until it stops. Pull out the lever and then lock it down.
Do not make any kind of boisterous announcement about the keg being tapped. For Chrissake, especially not "BOO-YA." As Jules said, just be cool about it. Tap that keg like fucking Fonzie.
Now, if you are less lucky, or cheap, you have a goddamn wing coupler. How will you know you have a wing coupler? It does NOT have a fucking lever. Anyway, do the same fucking thing except instead of locking down the lever, give the wings another 90 degree clockwise turn. You'll feel it lock down. Unless of course, you fuck it up.
You will know you have not fucked up tapping that fucking keg if you are still dry.
If you got sprayed, take a breath and try again. Sprayed again? Give! Up! You are wasting fucking beer. Maybe being a useful person is just not your "thing."
No! Do not immediately pump that fucking tap! Christ. First, test the spigot. If you get a solid flow, it's carbonated enough. The No. 1 giveaway of a keg rookie is an overeagerness to pump the fuck out of the goddamn tap. Too much pumping just makes foam.
Did you pump too much or was the keg warm? You'll probably have to vet it for foam. The first few cups might be shitty head. Especially if you did not listen about moving the keg slowly. Wait, what are you doing? Don't throw it out, you dipshit. Eventually some of that will be drinkable. Set. It. Aside.
By now a line has certainly formed behind you. You may hear comments such as, "What the fuck is going on with the beer asshole?!" DO NOT LOOK UP. Just continue clearing the foam. If you make eye contact, that person will demand some. Ever been in a packed bar and notice the bartender just fucking ignores everyone? Well, now you know why.
If you're getting a clean flow, bravo. Without letting go of the cobra head, nab four cups. With four in one hand and the cobra in the other, fill them all up. Be fucking quick about it. Make absolutely no eye contact while doing this. OK, hand that hose to the next in line and clear out.
Hand two of those cups to whichever girl waiting in line catches your fancy. Smile. SAY NOTHING. Smile again. You are indeed a fucking Fonzie.
The other two beers are for you. You deserve them.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Mississippi Continuing Education Requirements:
|Total Hours
|Elective Hours
|You Need:
|We Offer:
|License Renewal Period: 2 years
Mississippi Continuing Education Packages
|Total Hours
|Elective Hours
|Mandatory Hours
|Add To Cart
16-Hr. MS CE Package #1 (with Ethics course)
16-Hr. MS CE Package #2
Mississippi Requirement Details for Real Estate Continuing Education
Continuing Education and Renewal Date: Every two years
Hours Required By The State: 16 hours
- 8 mandatory hours
- 2 hours in License Law
- 2 hours in Contract Law
- 4 hours in Agency Law
- 8 elective hours
The CE Shop's Offering: 16 hours
Reporting: Real estate course completions are reported to the Real Estate Commission. The state requires schools to report course completions within seven to ten days from the course completion date. Course completions will be reported and posted within this time frame.
Expiration Date of Course: Course expiration dates vary by course but are generally one year after order date. Each course has an individual expiration date which is listed in your account.
Final Exams: Final exams must be passed with at least a 70% and may be taken as many times as necessary in order to pass.
Certificates: Upon completion of the course, The CE Shop will provide students with an electronic Certificate of Completion. Certificates will remain in your account for a minimum of five years, should you need additional copies. Please refer to your license renewal application to determine if you need to submit your Certificate of Completion with your license renewal request. Course completion dates are recorded using Central Standard Time. Please note that the date of your Certificate of Completion will reflect this.
Additional Licensing Information:
License Renewal Process: The process to renew in this state is to log in to the licensing system online and follow the prompts to renew. http://appserver.mrec.ms.gov/login.asp
Post-Licensing: Salespersons and Brokers are required to take a 30-hour Commission prescribed Post-Licensing course within one year of initial licensure. The CE Shop currently does not offer the Post-Licensing course.
Mississippi Real Estate Commission
Street Address: Lefleur's Bluff Tower, Suite 300, 4780 I-55 North, Jackson, MS 39211
Mailing Address: PO Box 12685, Jackson, MS 39236
Telephone: 601.321.6970
Fax: 601.321.6955
Website Registration Instructions


text:
Just-released analysis by Judy Diamond Associates shows that the top 1% of plans hold 71.1% of all 401(k) assets — giving large employers an "outsized influence" on the retirement market, according to managing director Eric Ryles.
Judy Diamond's research found that while there were approximately 500,000 active 401(k) plans in the fourth quarter of 2013, with a collective $3.5 trillion in total assets, nearly three-quarters, or $2.54 trillion, was controlled by the top 1% (5,000 companies).
The other 99%, or 495,000 companies, of all 401(k) plans nationwide control only 29% of the total assets.
Judy Diamond's research showed that fewer than two-tenths of 1% of 401(k) plan sponsors are responsible for fully half of the nation's 401(k) retirement plan assets. "That's only 630 very large companies controlling $1.75 trillion in assets," Ryles says.
Indeed, one "needn't look any further than the rise of target-date funds to see the influence of the top 1%," Ryles told ThinkAdvisor. "The Pension Protection Act of 2006 allowed 401(k) plans to embrace target-date funds" as a qualified default investment alternative (QDIA), "and early adoption by the 1% led to an explosion in popularity."
The investment options that large plan sponsors choose to make available to their participants "set the agenda for smaller companies to follow suit," he says.
According to Ibbotson, during Q4, flows into target-date funds had a sizeable rebound, nearing $13 billion compared with $2.3 billion in the earlier period. Total assets held by investors in target-date funds were nearly $621 billion, a 28% jump from the end of 2012. For the 2013 calendar year, the average total return for target-date funds was a respectable 16.3%.
But Joni Tibbetts, vice president of retirement and investor services at the Principal Financial Group, said of the Judy Diamond findings that "whether big or small, plan sponsors have a fiduciary duty to design retirement plans and select and monitor investments based on the best interests of their participants."
Even among big plans, she says, "there will be differences based on the unique needs of each plan's demographic. In our experience with small to medium-size plans, we know they watch trends but ultimately decisions are based on their business objectives and the best interests of their participants."
Tibbetts adds that service providers and financial professionals "who work with the other 495,000 plans — which still hold $1 trillion in assets—understand how to provide the services needed for all plan sizes. Those numbers: $1 trillion in 495,000 plans — which hold a significant share of participants — mean those other plan sponsors have an important impact as well."
Washington-based Judy Diamond, a sister company to ThinkAdvisor, based its research on the most recent 401(k) plan disclosure documents released by the Department of Labor, which is available in Judy Diamond's Retirement Plan Prospector database.


text:
Motorcycle how to videos. If you have any home videos or links to YouTube videos that show the maintenance and repair of motorcycles this is the place to share them.
Use this control to limit the display of threads to those newer than the specified time frame.
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text:
Early voting for the Sept. 10 city council primary opens Saturday.
Early voting will take place Saturday, Aug. 31, and Tuesday, Sept. 3 to Saturday, Sept. 7. Elections offices will be open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday. Offices will be closed Sunday and Monday for Labor Day.
Early voting will take place at the Constitutional Complex at 2480 Thompson St. in Fort Myers on the 3rd floor, as well as the Cape Coral office at 1031 S.E. 9th Place, behind the Lee County Government Building.
Voters can still call for an absentee ballot, but the deadline is Wednesday, Sept. 4, said Sharon Harrington, supervisor of Lee County Elections.
In election day, the polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and everyone should go to their normal precincts throughout town, said City Clerk Rebecca van Deutekom.
Van Duetekom warned that it's important to have an updated registration card.
"Sometimes people will get the new card and not replace the old one. It's amazing how often someone comes in with an outdated card," Van Duetekom said.
This primary election, six candidates are running for the mayor's seat - Daniel "Dan" Ashby, Alan "A.J." Boyd, David P. Carr, Vincent A. Cummings, Marni Lin Sawicki and incumbent John J. Sullivan. Four are running for the District 1 council seat - James "Jim" Burch, Steven L. Golub, David R. Headd and Graham Madison Morris.
The top two vote getters in each non-partisan race will advance to the general election in November.
The races in Districts 4 and 6 have only two candidates, and thus will be decided in the Nov. 5 general election as well.
In District 4, incumbent Chris Chulakes-Leetz faces Richard Leon, while incumbent Kevin McGrail face Rick Williams for the District 6 seat.
Every registered voter gets to vote in every race on the ballot in both the primary and the general election: City council races are non-partisan, and all council members are elected citywide although officials must live in the district they represent.
Voter turnout for local primaries is traditionally light. In 2011, only 11.1 percent of registered voters cast ballots - 10,355 out of 92,995 eligible voters cast a ballot, with 2,908 voting early and 1,242 casting absentee ballots.
That number improved only slightly in the general election, with 16.5 percent voting, or 20,149 out of 122,073 registered. Of those, 4,281 were early voters and 2,874 of the absentee variety.
Harrington said it's important for local voters to understand the need to vote in something so seemingly small as a local primary.
"The first point of contact for someone to listen to your concerns is your councilman. The further you get from that central point, the more people and issues they have to deal with," Harrington said. "Your councilman is probably down the street running over the same pothole."
"There's no excuse to not vote. Everyone has an opportunity to vote and you can request a ballot that comes to your home," Van Duetekom said. "We make it so convenient."
For more information you can log onto the Lee County Elections Website, www.leeelections.com or the city Website, capecoral.net


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Whittingham keeps the faith
Peter Whittingham believes Cardiff have given themselves a "fighting chance" of staving off relegation with their victory at Southampton.
Juan Cala was the hero at St Mary's, with the centre-back's wondrous 20-yard strike securing the Premier League's worst travellers a vital 1-0 win.
Few had expected Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side to return from the south coast with a point never mind all three and that result has seen them claw back some of their relegation rivals.
The Bluebirds remain 19th in the standings but have halved the gap to safety to three points as the season enters the final four matches.
"It is huge," midfielder Whittingham said. "It was a must-win for us and to get three points drags a lot of teams into it and gives us a fighting chance.
"I said before it was a must-win. We felt like if we didn't get three points then it would probably leave us a little bit out in the cold.
"But it was a good result for us against a good Southampton team, so to get three points was unbelievable.
"The last 10 minutes they had so much of the ball and putting it in our box, so it was about how we defended.
"The boys defended really well and we're really happy to get three points."
Next up for Cardiff is another must-win clash against Stoke, who head to south Wales buoyed by four wins from their past five matches.
"It is going to take a lot of fight," Whittingham said. "There are no easy wins in the Premier League.
"It would be nice to follow this up with another win on Saturday, back-to-back wins would be huge. It is about how we prepare again this week."
Victory against Mark Hughes' side will be vital to any hopes they have of beating the drop and would be just the fourth in the league during Solskjaer's reign.
Arriving as Malky Mackay's replacement in January, the Norwegian has so far struggled at the Cardiff City Stadium even though his approach has impressed the players.
"He has brought an air of calmness, to be honest," Whittingham added.
"He wants us to play the right way, wants us to play football, but it is how we fight as well.
"We did that and it is a great result for him and, of course, the fans."
In truth, the deciding factor at St Mary's was the grit and determination Cardiff showed after Cala found the net.
Southampton bossed the encounter but they failed to turn their dominance into goals, with manager Mauricio Pochettino bemoaning a lack of cutting edge afterwards.
Saints midfielder Steven Davis echoed those sentiments and vowed to kick on when they travel to face his former club Aston Villa next weekend.
"I think we played generally quite well, moved the ball well and had a lot of possession, created a lot of chances, but we didn't do enough in front of goal before they got the first one," he told Saints Player.
"We'll go away from it feeling disappointed and frustrated because we always look to win our home games and unfortunately we couldn't do that.
"It's just a frustrating day more than anything because of the way that we've played.
"There are positives to take but it didn't drop for us in front of goal and we couldn't get the three points so we have to look forward now to our four remaining games and try to pick up as many points as possible.
"I think in the way we've shown in every game this season, the demands we've placed on each other to drive this club forward, and to try and drive each other on as much as possible, and there's still four games with a lot to play for in our minds, so we need to play and train in that way."
Who is your sportstar of the year?
Vote in the Irish Independent Sport Star Awards and you could win the ultimate sports prize.
Prizes include, tickets to Ireland's against Scotland in the Six Nations, All Ireland football and hurling final tickets and much more.
Simply click here to register your vote
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text:
|(AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File)
Cuban officials promised that the cable would in use last fall, but Rodriguez finds no evidence that it is use in government offices or elsewhere. She interviewed a dozen employees of public institutions who said they have seen no noticeable improvement in their work connections. Some said that download speeds have even gotten a little slower. She also made "multiple attempts to get Cuban and Venezuelan government officials to comment," but was unsuccessful.
She is a reporter who is on the ground in Cuba and unable to find evidence of the deployment or application of the cable.
How might we explain this? I can think of three hypotheses:
- There have been claims of corruption, and some of the peple Rodgriguez interviewed corroborate that assertion.
- I have suggested earlier that a fast undersea cable would be a strong link in a weak (or nonexistent) chain if Cuba's domestic Internet infrastructure were not upgraded to utilize it. Skilled networking technicians would also be needed. Perhaps capital to upgrade the domestic network is not available.
- The Arab Spring may have frightened the government. Raúl Castro opposed the Internet when Cuba connected in the mid-1990s. In October 1997 he stated that "Glasnost, which undermined the USSR and other socialist countries, consisted of handing over the mass media, one by one, to the enemies of socialism." Perhaps he fears an Internet supported "Cuban Spring."
Is Ms. Rodgriguez wrong? Does anyone have evidence of the cable being in operation? I would love to hear about it and, even better, run a few pings and traceroutes.


text:
Co-Founder and Partner, First Round Capital
Written by: Craig
Craig Kollegger is digital strategist and Chief Technical Officer of Agility First! Forum. He is also the founder of START 7, a global collaboration consultancy that provids just-in-time expert advisors for small and mid-stage startups to assist with technical, sales and marketing, legal, and globalization strategies. An expert in product development, workflow optimization, team management, and execution strategies, Craig has worked closely with entrepreneurs and founders to help bring their vision to life and ideas to market.


text: I am replacing my suspension and don't know whether urethane subframe bushings, diff mounts and RTAB's are going to be too harsh on a street driven car? The car will also be used for track days and autocrossing. Does anyone have any insight? I am between getting all stock vs. getting urethane bushings from AKG Motorsports. Is there anything else I should be looking at? Thanks.


text:
Dolphins defensive end Phillip Merling was arrested Wednesday after police said he battered a pregnant woman.
Merling, 25, was arrested in Weston for aggravated battery on his girlfriend, identified as Kristen Lennon, who he should have known was pregnant, according to police records.
He allegedly hit her on the face and head, causing redness and swelling and even a cut on her lip, according to police.
He made a court appearance later Thursday where his bail was set at $15,000.
Lennon is two months pregnant with thecouple's second child.
The 6-foot-4 1/2, 300 pound backup was drafted in the second round in 2008 by Miami after a stellar career at Clemson, where he earned second-team All-ACC honors in 2007.
Merling posted 33 tackles for the Dolphins last year to go along with his 2.5 sacks.
Just this past Sunday, in a Miami Herald article titled "Miami Dolphins' Merling Out to Prove Himself," Merling said he hoped to live up the expectations that came after he was taken with the Dolphins' 32nd overall pick.
"This is a big year for me," Merling told the Herald. "I was not pleased with last year, not even a little bit. I feel like I'm a rookie this year, trying to prove myself. It's time for me to start contributing like coaches want me to. My coaches and teammates want me to get better, and I don't want to let them down."
Merling's let down Wednesday was just the latest in a trouble-filled off season for Miami. Lineman Tony McDaniel was arrested in early February after a domestic dispute with his girlfriend, followed by cornerback Will Allen's DUI arrest two weeks later. Running back Ronnie Brown was busted for DUI a month later in Atlanta.


text:
Forbes Autos is up to the list-making again, giving us the top ten list of luxe cars with the primary driver being a woman. While not as sexy as the men's list, the vehicles are more practical and comfortable, and packed with a lot more Volvos. Interesting to note that our favorite Saturn designer, Miss Vicki Vlachakis is quoted in the story about quality, "I think women have such a good eye for detail, the attention to detail is really important on the interior; on all of the key driving interfaces such as the gauges, shifter area, steering wheel and seats." Yeah, what she said. We accidentally put Vicki's gallery below the fold, along with the Forbes list, cause after all, who the heck wants to sit through Forbes' boring traffic baiting when you can sit through ours?
Forbes Top 10 Luxury Cars Driven by Women
10) Lexus IS350
9) Cadillac SRX
8) Range Rover Sport
7) Audi A6
6) Volvo S40
5) Lincoln MKZ
4) Volvo V70/C70 - data was collected together for these two. Yeah, wagon and hardtop vert, same segment.
3) Volvo S80
2) Audi A3


text:
U.S. Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission
Motherhood Maternity Refused to Hire Pregnant Applicants and Fired Assistant Manager for Complaining, Agency Charged
MIAMI – A Philadelphia-based maternity clothes retailer will pay $375,000 to settle a pregnancy discrimination and retaliation lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today. The EEOC had charged that Mothers Work, Inc., doing business as Motherhood Maternity, refused to hire qualified female applicants because they were pregnant.
According to the EEOC's lawsuit (Case No. 3:05-CV-990-J-32TEM in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Jacksonville Division), LaShonda Burns, a former assistant manager, complained about Motherhood's policy and practice of discrimination against pregnant applicants. The EEOC said Motherhood illegally disciplined and ultimately fired Burns because it believed she was pregnant and in retaliation for her complaints.
Such alleged conduct violates the Pregnancy Discrimination Act. The EEOC filed suit after first attempting to reach a voluntary settlement, and Burns also took part in the suit with a private attorney.
The three-year consent decree settling the suit requires Motherhood to pay Ms. Burns $135,000 in compensatory and punitive damages; $50,000 in back pay; $130,000 for Burns's private attorney's fees and costs; and $20,000 in compensatory and punitive damages to each of three women who were denied employment opportunities because they were pregnant – Lakevia Rollins, Aimee Tart and Jackie Ciardiello. Motherhood must also adopt and distribute an anti-discrimination policy that specifically prohibits denying women employment opportunities because of their pregnancy; train all of its Florida current and future employees on the new policy and federal employment discrimination laws; post a notice of resolution of the lawsuit; and report to EEOC twice annually regarding pregnancy discrimination complaints.
"The EEOC hopes that employers understand that the agency will take a very aggressive approach in combating the disturbing rise in pregnancy discrimination," said Federico Costales, the EEOC's Miami district director.
According to company information, Motherhood, which began its operations in 1982, employs over 5,000 people. It is the leading designer, manufacturer and retailer of maternity fashion in the United States, with over 1,000 stores nationwide and Internet retailing. Motherhood owns leading brands including Mimi Maternity, A Pea in the Pod, and Maternitymall.com.
In Florida, the EEOC's Miami District Office received 223 pregnancy-related charges of discrimination in Fiscal Year 2005 compared to 114 in Fiscal Year 1992. Nationally, pregnancy-related charge filings have risen from 3,385 in FY 1992 to 4,512 in FY 2005.
"It is shocking that a corporation whose market is pregnant women would refuse to employ them and then retaliate against a woman who complained about the practice," said Nora Curtin, supervisory trial attorney of the Miami District Office. "We are pleased that this settlement will steer this important company to better treatment of pregnant employees."
The EEOC is responsible for enforcing the nation's laws prohibiting employment discrimination based on race, color, gender (including sexual harassment and pregnancy), religion, national origin, age, disability and retaliation. Further information about the EEOC is available on its web site at www.eeoc.gov.


text:
One of the weaknesses of many blogs, including my own, is the difficulty of finding old, useful articles. There are a few ways to find articles written previously, such as the Archives, the categories and the tags. But to be honest, a lot of the stuff I write is only relevant (at best) at the time of publishing. And even I have difficulty finding my useful posts again.
There are several possible solutions, e.g. I could tag pages within delicious as curiousprogrammer/useful. For the moment, I've decided to keep a blog highlights page, and list the posts which are useful for me. Later on I might try a more comprehensive index.


text:
- UEFA news
Cardiff's stadium to host Super Cup
The Cardiff City Stadium will host the 2014 European Super Cup, UEFA has confirmed.
The annual match, which pits the winners of the previous season's Champions League against the winners of the Europa League, has been held at Monaco's Stade Louis II since 1998, when the previous two-legged format was abandoned.
But the principality will no longer be permanent hosts of the showpiece game after this year, with Eden Park in Prague the destination of the 2013 edition.
Cardiff will then host the 2014 Super Cup, with the Mikheil Meskhi Stadium in Tbilisi, Georgia, having that honour in 2015. Both stadiums have capacities around the 28,000 mark.
First Minister of Wales Carwyn Jones said: "This is fantastic news and confirms once again how our capital city is in the champions league itself when it comes to hosting world class sporting events.
"The European Super Cup will be a major boost to not only to the city, but also for the global profile of Wales.''
Barcelona won last season's Super Cup with a convincing 4-0 victory over FC Porto, while Champions League winners Chelsea will take on Europa League champions Atletico Madrid on August 30 this year.
AC Milan have won the Super Cup more than any other club, claiming the trophy on five occasions.


text:
Since Tuesday is #charitytuesday on twitter, we thought we'd do a weekly feature on one of our favorite water charities. Today we've picked one that's not on our original water charity list: World Walks for Water. It's a global event that takes place from March 19-22 of this year, that aims to raise awareness of the world's clean water and sanitation crisis. Anyone may participate in this global demand for strong government action to stop the needless death of thousands every day.
I think of it as a peaceful protest for clean water.
Millions of women and children miss out on the chance to get an education due to the poverty that ensues from a lack of access to clean water. They must spend hours a day traveling to and fro to collect water for their families – water that is dirty and will likely make them sick – and even more hours a day caring for their sick loved ones. Though many water charities exist and are working to solve this crisis, corrupt politics can often ruin even the most sincere charitable efforts. World Walks for Water stands up to those politics, by demanding that these issues be ignored no longer.
Those of us who are more privileged take clean water for granted. What's worse, rather than investing in technology that purifies water in safe, healthy ways, our governments use toxic chemicals to disinfect our water. (Fortunately, there are companies like Filters Fast that provide ways to filter them out.) World Walks for Water is a chance for all of us to stand up and demand that the world's entire population, rich or poor, have access to safe water and sanitation. It's an event that unites people from all walks of life.
You can join the online walk directly on the website. Online walkers are featured on the home page with cartoon characters holding water jugs and walking in a straight line. Each time your mouse rolls over a character, a quote, like "taps and toilets for all," or "children at school, not walking for water" is displayed on his or her water jug. To join this colorful cast of characters, simply visit the website and fill out the form. Then, if you want to sign up to participate in a walk in your area, or even organize your own walk, you can do that from the website as well. We just joined the virtual walk and are pretty excited about it.
Join the walk for water, and tell your friends by retweeting this post!


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Difference between revisions of "WTP/VisualEditorForXML"
(Download added)
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== Download ==
== Download ==
* [http://build.eclipse.org/webtools/committers/ Integration Builds]
* [[WTP/VisualEditorForXML/CommittersResources|Check-out source code]]
Revision as of 05:02, 3 December 2009
Vex - Visual Editor for XML
XML is being used more and more in document file formats. Such formats as Docbook, and DITA have been used to help provide a common format for document meta data. It helps separate the content from the presentation. As word processor formats move to XML like OpenOfficeXML and OpenDocument, it becomes more critical to have a WYSIWYG interface for these file formats. Most users that have to write books, articles, and other print related material don't want to deal with the tag markups for the files, but they want the convience and separation of presentation that these formats provide.
The code base is based off of an initial code contribution from John Krasney and his original project at sourceforge. John has contributed that code base to Eclipse as of August 2008. All code is now licensed under the Eclipse Public License.
The Visual XML Editor is a set of plugins that provide WYSIWYG editing ability for XML files. This can be used regardless of the XML involved, and uses CSS stylesheets to provide the formatting for the presentation layer. All that is needed is an stylesheet and an appropriate XML file to edit. It hides the XML tags from the user, allow them to have a word processor like experience but store the information in the native XML format.
Project Description
The eclipse Vex will be based off of a contribution from the Vex project, originally created by John Krasnay and hosted at sourceforge.net. The goal of the project is to provide a WYSIWYG XML Editor primarily targeted for those using XML authoring file formats. It will be leverage existing XML support and frameworks from the Web Developers Tools project. Particularly, the Structure Source Editor, as well as the WTP validation frameworks. It will also make use of the DTD and possibly the XML schema support for the files as well. Future aditions could include RelaxNG as an additional language for the grammar and content model.
It's main focus though is to provide a word processor like feel for working with XML files.
Feature Requests - User Community Feature Requests.
Original Project Proposal - The original project proposal.
Committers and Contributors - Resources for those interested in contributing and working with the Vex source code.


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(1) Present preliminary psychometrics for the Children's Report of Sleep Patterns (CRSP), a three-module measure of Sleep Patterns, Sleep Hygiene, and Sleep Disturbance; and (2) explore whether the CRSP provides information about a child's sleep above and beyond parental report.
A multi-method, multi-reporter approach was used to validate the CRSP with 456 children aged 8-12 years (inclusive). Participants were recruited from pediatricians' offices, sleep clinics/laboratories, children's hospitals, schools, and the general population. Participants completed measures of sleep habits, sleep hygiene, anxiety, and sleepiness, with actigraphy and polysomnography used to provide objective measures of child sleep.
The CRSP demonstrated good reliability and validity. Differences in sleep hygiene and sleep disturbances were found for children presenting to a sleep clinic/laboratory (vs. community population); for younger children (vs. older children); and for children who slept less than 8 hours or had a sleep onset later than 22:00 on actigraphy. Further, significant associations were found between the CRSP and child-reported anxiety or sleepiness. Notably, approximately 40% of parents were not aware of child reported difficulties with sleep onset latency, night wakings, or poor sleep quality.
The three modules of the CRSP can be used together or independently, providing a reliable and valid self-report measure of sleep patterns, sleep hygiene, and sleep disturbances for children ages 8-12 years. Children not only provide valid information about their sleep, but may provide information that would not be otherwise captured in both clinical and research settings if relying solely on parental report.
Meltzer LJ; Avis KT; Biggs S; Reynolds AC; Crab-tree VM; Bevans KB. The Children's Report of Sleep Patterns (CRSP): a self-report measure of sleep for school-aged children. J Clin Sleep Med 2013;9(3):235-245.
Sleep is a highly complex physiological process that accounts for approximately 40% of a child's life by the age of 18 years.1 Obtaining sufficient sleep is important for multiple aspects of health and well-being in children. Disturbed or insufficient sleep has been associated with obesity2–5; poorer cognitive functioning, including learning, attention, and school performance6–9; difficulties with emotion regulation, including symptoms of depression and anxiety10–12; and disrupted family functioning.13 Thus, it is important to have measures that capture different aspects of children's sleep.
In 2003, the NIH's National Center for Sleep Disorders issued a research plan that called for development of new measures of pediatric sleep to advance clinical and outcomes research.14 Sleep is assessed in children with objective monitoring, sleep diaries, and questionnaires. While polysomnography is generally considered the gold standard for the assessment of sleep disordered breathing, it is limited by cost, availability, and the lack of data on the subjective experience of sleep quality. Similarly, although actigraphy can provide an estimate of sleep continuity for extended periods, it provides no information on subjective sleep quality or sleep hygiene, which requires direct input from children and parents. As of 2011, more than 180 patient-reported measures had been developed to assess pediatric sleep; while there are several adolescent self-report measures, very few measures have been validated for children ages 8-12 years.15
Current Knowledge/Study Rationale: Children as young as 8 years old can report on their own health, yet few self-report sleep measures exist for 8-12 year old children. The Children's Report of Sleep Patterns (CRSP) was developed to provide a multi-dimensional self-report questionnaire for school-aged children.
Study Impact: This study demonstrates that the CRSP is a valid and reliable self-report measure of sleep patterns, sleep hygiene, and sleep disturbances in school-aged children. This measure can provide complementary information to parental report in both clinical settings and research studies.
Children as young as 8 years of age can provide reliable, valid, and meaningful reports of health when developmentally appropriate assessment methods are applied.16 A recent Good Research Practices Task Force Report from the International Society of Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research reported on the feasibility and reliability of self-reports in children 8 years and older.17 Specifically, they discussed how children in this age group have the cognitive capacity to understand health vocabulary and/or disease concepts,18 as shown with both cognitive interviews19 and when using Likert scales.20–22
While none of these studies looked at sleep constructs per se, several studies have found that child report can provide information that is useful and unique from parental report. Indeed, the inclusion of children's perspectives about sleep may provide insight in both clinical and research settings that may be missed if relying solely on parental report. One study found that in the absence of children's report, one-third of sleep problems may go unidentified.23 Despite the literature suggesting the value of child report, the need remains for a comprehensive self-report measure of children's sleep that provides an accompanying view to parental report.14,23,24 Because of the need for a well-validated self-report measure of sleep in children ages 8-12 years, we developed the Children's Report of Sleep Patterns (CRSP), a questionnaire that includes three modules (Sleep Patterns, Sleep Hygiene Index, Sleep Disturbances Scale) that can be used independently or in combination. Based on the existing literature, clinical experience, and interviews with pediatric sleep experts, these three modules were chosen due to their potential to identify sleep problems or insufficient sleep.
As children get older, sleep patterns change with later bedtimes and less parental involvement with the child's sleep routine.8,24–26 Although parents may have a good sense of the child's bedtime and wake time, they may not be aware of what happens once the child tries to fall asleep or during the night.23,24 For example, more than 60% of 5th graders in one study reported being awake at least several nights per week when parents thought they were asleep.27 As parents may not be aware of later bedtimes, difficulties falling asleep, or night wakings that can contribute to insufficient sleep, children's self-report of sleep patterns should be considered.
A limited number of published studies have examined sleep hygiene (e.g., caffeine, technology in the bedroom) in children and adolescents.28–31 However, to our knowledge, no studies have examined the self-reported sleep hygiene of typically developing healthy children. Since parents may be unaware of certain aspects of children's sleep hygiene (e.g., caffeine consumption during the day or technology usage in the bedroom), it is important to include sleep hygiene in a self-report measure for children as young as 8 years.
For sleep disturbances, such as sleep disordered breathing or partial arousal parasomnias, parental report is likely to be more accurate than child report, since the child may be unaware of snoring at night or sleepwalking on occasion. However, for disorders of initiating and maintaining sleep, sleep-wake transition, or sleep arousal, children's reports may provide complementary information.23,24,32 In addition, unless asked, children may not report discomfort that they experience at bedtime or during the night, and as such parents may be unaware of it. This discomfort could be symptomatic of restless legs syndrome or another underlying cause of sleep disruptions (e.g., pain). In one study, nearly one-third of children reported significant body pains during the night that the parents were not aware of.24 Thus, there is a need for a measure that asks children directly about symptoms of sleep disturbances.
This report provides preliminary psychometrics for the Children's Report of Sleep Patterns (CRSP), a multidimensional self-report measure for children that provides a complementary report for clinicians and researchers. This paper addresses two questions: (1) Is the CRSP a valid and reliable self-report measure of sleep for children? and (2) Does the inclusion of a child self-report measure such as the CRSP provide information about a child's sleep that enhances parental report and/or would not be captured by parental report alone?
Six hundred seventy children were recruited from the following settings: (1) primary care pediatricians' offices, (2) an outpatient pediatric sleep clinic, (3) community flyers and advertisements, (4) two independent Australian schools, (5) two different pediatric sleep laboratories, and (6) outpatient clinics or inpatient units of a children's hospital for oncology patients (Table 1). Institutional review board approval was obtained for each individual site, and informed consent/assent was obtained from all participants.
Demographic information about study participants and inclusion in psychometric analyses
(more ...)
A total of 456 children completed the Children's Report of Sleep Patterns (CRSP), a 68% participation rate. Children who completed the CRSP were 49% male, had a mean age 10.1 (1.4) years (range 8-12 years inclusive, distributed across ages: 8 years = 16.7%, 9 years = 22.6%, 10 years = 21.3%, 11 years = 16.0%, 12 years = 23.5%), and were 62.6% White, 29.0% Black, 4.1% Hispanic, 1.6% Asian, and 2.8% Other. The most common reasons for not participating were not enough time or not interested. No significant difference between participants and non-participants was found for any demographic variable, including age distribution. Complete demographic information is seen in Table 1. Information about race was not collected for the Australian sample.
While all participants completed the CRSP, other measures were not uniformly collected across sites. Table 1 shows the different measures completed by each group of participants.
The Children's Report of Sleep Patterns (CRSP) is a 60-item questionnaire that has 3 modules: Sleep Patterns, Sleep Hygiene Index, and Sleep Disturbance Scale (Appendix - Click to view document). Sleep Patterns includes questions about bedtimes, wake times, sleep onset latency, night waking frequency and duration, naps, sleep schedule variability, and subjective sleep quality, with separate questions for last night, typical weekdays when the child is in school, typical weekends/holidays when the child is not in school, and overall sleep "most days." The Sleep Hygiene Index included questions about caffeine use, activities in the hour before bed, sleep location (where child falls asleep and wakes up), and electronics used at the time of sleep onset. The Sleep Disturbance Scale had questions about bedtime fears/worries, restless legs syndrome symptoms, parasomnias, and insomnia. Additional indicator items were included for snoring, enuresis, and nightmares. Higher scores indicate poorer sleep hygiene or greater sleep disturbances.
The Sleep Hygiene Index and Sleep Disturbance Scale questions were asked in regards to a typical week. For most items the following Likert-type scale was used: "Never" (never happens), "Not very often" (less than once a week), "Sometimes" (once or twice a week), "Usually" (3-5 times a week), or "Always" (every day). For 5 sleep disturbance items that occur during sleep (snoring, kicking, restless sleep, sleep talking, sleepwalking/ terrors), children were asked if anyone told them that they engaged in these behaviors. Answer choices were: "All the time," "Sometimes," or "Never."
Items were developed based on the existing literature and clinical experience of the investigators. Once developed, a group of 15 pediatric sleep experts (physicians, nurses, and psychologists) reviewed the items and were asked to place each item into one of the 3 modules (Sleep Patterns, Sleep Hygiene Index, Sleep Disturbance Scale), and then into the specific indices/scales (e.g., Caffeine Use, Restless Legs). All items had > 53% agreement across experts, with the majority (77%) of items achieving consensus rates of 87% or above.
A parent proxy version of the CRSP was also administered to a subset of parents in both community and sleep laboratory populations (n = 158). This proxy version was used to measure convergent validity. No significant differences were found between children whose parents completed the CRSP Proxy and children whose parents did not complete the CRSP Proxy.
The Children's Report of Sleep Patterns–Sleepiness Scale (CRSP-S) has 5 items that ask children to recall how often they felt sleepy or fell asleep in different situations (at school, during short car rides, while playing, while eating, and while talking).33 Higher scores indicate more sleepiness.
The Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children–10 item (MASC-10) is a child self-report measure of anxiety.34 This well-validated measure has been used as a screening tool in both clinical and research settings.35 The 10 items are summed to provide a single score, which is then translated to a standard T-score. The MASC-10 was used as a measure of construct validity in a subset of 159 participants in pediatricians' offices or an outpatient sleep clinic.
The Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ) is a 45-item parent-report measure of children's sleep.36 Parents are asked to recall sleep behaviors during a typical recent week. The CSHQ has demonstrated adequate reliability (coefficient α 0.68 to 0.78, test-retest 0.62 to 0.79) and validity, differentiating between children with and without sleep disorders.24,36 For the current study, subscale scores and the total Sleep Disturbances score were used to examine construct validity. For the CSHQ, higher scores indicate greater sleep disturbances. The CSHQ was completed by a subset of 159 parents in pediatricians' offices and an outpatient pediatric sleep clinic.
The Children's Sleep Hygiene Scale (CSHS) is a 22-item parent-report measure of children's sleep hygiene. This measure has demonstrated adequate reliability (coefficient α 0.60 to 0.86) in studies of children and adolescents.37 Subscale scores of the CSHS (physiological, cognitive, environmental, emotional, bedtime routines, sleep stability) were used to examine construct validity. For the CSHS, higher scores suggest better sleep hygiene. The CSHS was completed by a subset of 159 parents in the pediatricians' offices and outpatient pediatric sleep clinic.
The Micro Motionlogger Sleep Watch (Ambulatory Monitoring Inc., Ardsley, NY) was worn by 90 children (recruited from the community through advertisements and peer-nominations) for one week on their nondominant wrist. Data were excluded for one participant due to a device failure (n = 1), resulting in usable actigraphy data for 89 children. Data were collected in 1-min epochs using the zero crossing mode and the Sadeh algorithm.38 Sleep onset time and sleep offset time were manually scored using the 3/5-minute rule (first min of 3 consecutive min of sleep for sleep onset, last minute of 5 consecutive min of sleep for sleep offset).39 Participants pressed an event marker to indicate the time they attempted to fall asleep at night and the time they woke in the morning. In addition, participants kept a concurrent daily sleep diary that was used to facilitate the scoring of sleep intervals and identify artifact. Measures derived for this study were sleep onset time, sleep offset time, and total sleep time (TST: minutes of sleep from sleep onset to sleep offset).
Overnight polysomnography (PSG) was performed on 110 clinically referred children using either the Rembrandt polysomnography system (n = 61; Embla, Broomfield, CO) or the Sandman 9.2 PSG system (n = 49; Embla, Broomfield, CO). Recorded parameters included electroencephalography (F3-M2, F4-M1, C3-M2, C4-M1, O1-M2, O2-M1); left and right electrooculogram; submental electromyogram; bilateral tibial electromyogram; electrocardiogram; oronasal airflow with 3-pronged thermistor; nasal pressure with pressure transducer; rib cage and abdominal wall motion via respiratory impedance plethysmography; and end-tidal capnometry. Arterial oxygen saturation with pulse waveform was also recorded, as well as digital video and audio. Studies were scored based on American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) pediatric criteria.40 The apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) was the primary variable of interest, with the AHI also providing severity of obstructive sleep apnea (no OSA: AHI < 1.5; mild OSA: AHI = 1.5-5, moderate/ severe OSA: AHI > 5).
Composite scores were created for each of the 4 Sleep Hygiene indices and 4 Sleep Disturbances scales. Preliminary analyses were conducted to examine age differences across groups used for comparison (e.g., clinical vs. community, > or < 8 h of actigraphic recorded sleep). If significant differences were found, age was controlled for (ANCOVA) in those analyses.
Cronbach α coefficients were used to measure internal consistency for the individual Sleep Disturbance scales. Because there were multiple indicators for each Sleep Hygiene index score that may not be related (e.g., a child who drinks soda may not also drink tea or coffee, but together these items indicate the frequency of caffeine use), we did not evaluate the internal consistency for sleep hygiene indices. Test-retest reliability (n = 123, mean days between administration = 19.2, range 7-28 days) was examined with Pearson correlation coefficients for indices/scales and Spearman rank order correlations for the individual items; paired t-tests were used to compare time 1 and time 2 sleep hygiene indices and sleep disturbances scales.
Primary analyses including the full sample examined construct validity with group comparisons for the index/scale scores using ANOVA or ANCOVA (n = 456). Comparisons were made for group (clinical vs. community); age (8-10 years vs. 11-12 years); typical sleep quality (great/good vs. okay/ poor); and typical nap frequency (always/sometimes vs. never/ only when sick). Based on clinical experience, it was expected that more sleep disturbances would be reported in the clinical sample, that poorer sleep hygiene would be reported in older children, and that more sleep disturbances and poorer sleep hygiene would be reported in children with poor sleep quality or children who nap more frequently.
Convergent and divergent validity were further evaluated with Pearson correlation examining the association between the index/scale scores and both child-reported daytime sleepiness (n = 456) and child-reported anxiety (n = 159).
Secondary analyses to examine criterion validity were conducted with subsamples of the study population. For children who wore actigraphy (n = 89), one-way ANOVA or ANCOVA was used to examine differences in sleep hygiene and sleep disturbances between (1) children getting < and > 8 h of sleep (per actigraphy) and (2) children with a sleep onset time before and after 22:00 (per actigraphy, time determined by median split). Further, differences in actigraphic sleep onset time, sleep offset time, and TST were examined with one-way ANOVA for children who napped regularly (sometimes/always) versus infrequently (never/only when sick). For children who had overnight PSG (n = 110), one-way ANOVA was used to examine differences in sleep hygiene and sleep disturbances for children without OSA (AHI < 1.5), mild OSA (AHI 1.5-5), and moderate/severe OSA (AHI > 5); and Pearson correlation was used to examine the association between child reported sleep disturbances and AHI.
Parent-completed legacy measures (CSHQ and CSHS) were also used to examine validity. Pearson correlation was used to examine the association between child-reported sleep (CRSP) and parent-reported sleep patterns and sleep disturbances (CSHQ, n = 159), as well as the association between child-reported (CRSP) and parent-reported sleep hygiene (CSHS, n = 159). In addition, one-way ANCOVA was used to examine differences in sleep hygiene and sleep disturbances for children scoring above and below the clinical cutoff of 41 on the CSHQ.
The value of child report was examined 2 ways. First, using the question "Most nights do you consider yourself to be a _____ sleeper" (great/good, okay/poor), differences in parental report of sleep (CSHQ and CRSP) were examined. Second, Cohen κ was used to examine interrater reliability for sleep pattern variables (Child CRSP and parent proxy CRSP, n = 156; questions about "Last Night": sleep onset latency [SOL], night waking frequency, and sleep quality; as well as questions about "Typical Night": weekday bedtime, wake time, night waking frequency, and sleep quality). The mean, standard deviation, intraclass correlations, and effect size were used to examine parent-child agreement for the Sleep Hygiene Indices and the Sleep Disturbances Scales.
Means and standard deviations for individual items, Sleep Hygiene Indices, and Sleep Disturbance Scales can be found in Table 2; a correlation matrix for the indices/scales can be found in Table 3.
Descriptive statistics (mean, SD), internal consistency (coefficient α), correlations and paired t-tests for CRSP Sleep Hygiene Indices and Sleep Disturbances Scales for the full sample and test-retest sample
Correlation matrix for Sleep Hygiene Indices and Sleep Disturbances Scales
As seen in Table 2, with the exception of the 2-item Parasomnia Scale (α = 0.64), the Cronbach α coefficients for the Sleep Disturbance scales were acceptable (α ≥ 0.70). Test-retest reliability in general was good for all subscales, with correlations > 0.80 for all indices/scales with the exception of the Restless Legs Scale (r = 0.65). Differences from time 1 to time 2 were found for the Sleep Location Index Score, with children sleeping in a location other than their own bed more often at time 1.
Significant group differences were found (controlling for age), with children presenting to a sleep clinic, sleep laboratory, or pediatric oncology hospital reporting poorer sleep hygiene (sleeping somewhere other than their own bed, more electronics at sleep onset; Table 4) and more sleep disturbance (more symptoms of bedtime fears/worries, restless legs syndrome, parasomnias, and insomnia; Table 5). Further, children in the clinical sample reported snoring and enuresis more often than children in the community sample.
Means and standard deviations for the CRSP Sleep Hygiene Index ANOVA/ANCOVA analyses
Means and standard deviations for the CRSP Sleep Disturbance Scale ANOVA/ANCOVA analyses
Differences between age groups were found for sleep hygiene (Table 4), with younger children reporting less caffeine use and engaging in fewer stimulating activities in the hour before bed than older children, but sleeping somewhere other than their own bed more often than older children.
Compared to children who classified themselves as good sleepers, children who classified themselves as poor sleepers reported both poorer sleep hygiene (sleeping somewhere other their own bed, more frequent use of electronics at sleep onset, Table 4) and more sleep disturbances (more bedtime fears/worries, and more symptoms of RLS, parasomnias, and insomnia, Table 5). Further, poor sleepers reported more frequent snoring, enuresis, and nightmares.
Finally, children who reported regular napping also reported poorer sleep hygiene, including more caffeine use, more stimulating activities in the hour before bed, sleeping somewhere other than their own bed, and more electronics use at sleep onset (Table 4).
Significant associations (p ≤ 0.002) were found between child-reported daytime sleepiness and all of the CRSP Sleep Hygiene Indices and Sleep Disturbances Scales. The strongest associations suggested that children who had greater daytime sleepiness also sleep somewhere other than their own bed (r = 0.33), use electronics more often at sleep onset (r = 0.27), and have more symptoms of RLS (r = 0.38).
Significant associations (p ≤ 0.007) were found between child reported anxiety (MASC-10) and the Sleep Location Index (r = 0.21), the Bedtime Fears/Worries Scale (r = 0.42), the Insomnia Scale (r = 0.24), and the Parasomnia scale (r = 0.22), suggesting that children who report more anxiety also report sleeping somewhere other than their own bed, more bedtime fears/worries, and more symptoms of insomnia and parasomnias. A significant association was also found between self-reported anxiety and nightmares (r = 0.35). As expected, other indices/scales were not correlated with anxiety.
Children with shorter sleep duration and a later bedtime were older than children with longer sleep duration and an earlier bedtime; thus age was controlled for in these analyses. Of the children who underwent actigraphy, those who slept < 8 h/night reported more symptoms of insomnia and more frequent snoring than children obtaining > 8 h of sleep per night (Table 5). Children with a sleep onset later than 22:00 reported more caffeine use, more stimulating activities in the hour before bed, sleeping more often somewhere other than their own bed, and more nightmares (Table 4).
Children who had moderate/severe OSA (AHI > 5) reported more snoring than children without OSA (AHI = 0, F2,107 = 4.06, p = 0.02). No other differences on the CRSP were found between children with no, mild, or moderate/severe OSA. AHI was significantly correlated with the snoring item (r = 0.25, p = 0.01), but was not correlated with any of the Sleep Hygiene Indices or Sleep Disturbances Scales.
When parents reported poor sleep quality (above the clinical cutoff of 41 on CSHQ, controlling for child age) children reported sleeping somewhere other than their own bed and greater use of electronics at sleep onset; more symptoms of bedtime/ fears worries, parasomnias, and insomnia; and more frequent snoring and enuresis (Tables 4 and 5).
Significant associations (p ≤ 0.006) were found between the CSHQ and the CRSP for both the Sleep Hygiene Indices and Sleep Disturbances Scales. For the Sleep Hygiene Indices, children who reported sleeping somewhere other than their bed had parents who reported more bedtime resistance (r = 0.42) and more sleep anxiety (r = 0.29). Similarly, children who reported greater use of electronics to fall asleep had parents who reported more bedtime resistance (r = 0.23), greater sleep onset delay (r = 0.30), and more sleep anxiety (r = 0.28). Further, children who reported more worries at bedtime had parents who reported more bedtime resistance (r = 0.40), greater sleep onset delay (r = 0.24), and more sleep anxiety (r = 0.48).
For the Sleep Disturbances Scales, children who reported more parasomnias had parents who reported shorter sleep duration (r = 0.23) and more parasomnias (r = 0.41); children who reported more symptoms of insomnia had parents who reported shorter sleep duration (r = 0.32) and more night wakings (r = 0.41); children who reported more frequent snoring had parents who reported more sleep disordered breathing (r = 0.59); finally, children who reported more frequent nightmares had parents who reported shorter sleep duration (r = 0.31) and more night wakings (r = 0.22).
Significant associations (p ≤ 0.001) were found between the CRSP Sleep Hygiene Indices (higher scores indicate poorer sleep hygiene) and the CSHS Scales (lower scores indicate poorer sleep hygiene). Specifically, associations were found between the CRSP Caffeine Index and the CSHS Physiological Scale (a measure of caffeine use, food and liquids consumed before bed, and rough play before bed, r = -0.25); the CRSP Activities in the Hour Before Bed Index and the CSHS Bedtime Routine Scale (a measure of having a calming bedtime routine, r = -0.39); the CRSP Sleep Location Index and the CSHS Sleep Stability Scale (a measure of consistency of sleep schedule and location of sleeping r = -0.36); the CRSP Sleep Electronics Index, and the CSHS Cognitive Scale (a measure of electronics use before bed and in bed, r = -0.37); and the CRSP Bedtime Fears/Worries Scale and the CSHS Emotional Scale (a measure of being upset or worried at bedtime, r = -0.41).
Differences in parent-reported sleep habits/sleep patterns (CSHQ and CRSP) were found between children who identified themselves as good versus poor sleepers (Table 6). This suggests that children who self-identify as okay/poor sleepers have parents who report more sleep disturbances in their children.
Comparison (means, SD, ANOVA p-values) for the Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire and the CRSP Parent Proxy Report for children who self-report as great/ good sleepers versus okay/poor sleepers
For children who reported a long SOL the previous night, 38% of parents reported the child had a short SOL (κ = 0.33). For children who reported ≥ 1 night waking the previous night, 38% of parents reported no night wakings the previous night (κ = 0.40). For children reporting an okay/poor sleep quality the previous night, 42% of parents reported a good/great sleep quality the previous night (κ = 0.42).
Similar results were found for typical sleep patterns. Of children who reported a typical weekday bedtime later than 21:00, only 12% of parents reported a typical weekday bedtime before 21:00 (κ = 0.69). When children reported a typical weekday wake time before 07:00, only 17% of their parents reported a typical weekday wake time after 07:00 (κ = 0.49). For children who reported having ≥ 1 night waking per week, 42% of parents reported that the child had night wakings less than once a week (κ = 0.42). Finally, of children who reported a typical sleep quality of okay/poor, 39% of their parents reported the child had a typical sleep quality of good/great (κ = 0.43). All variables were also examined by age category, with no differences found in the results.
Moderate agreement between parent and child report (ICC > 0.50) was found for caffeine use, sleep location, and electronics use at sleep onset; as well as symptoms of both RLS and insomnia (Table 7). Fair agreement (ICC < 0.50) was found for stimulating activities in the hour before bed, bedtime fears/ worries, and parasomnias.
Comparison (mean, SD, ICC, effect size) of child-report and parent-report for CRSP Sleep Hygiene Indices and Sleep Disturbances Scales (n = 107)
In this paper we have presented the preliminary psychometrics of the Children's Report of Sleep Patterns (CRSP), a self-report measure for children ages 8-12 years that includes three modules: Sleep Patterns, Sleep Hygiene Index, and Sleep Disturbances Scale. The CRSP demonstrated good reliability and validity, and provides support for children 8 years and older reporting information about their own sleep. Further, our findings suggest that children may provide information about sleep patterns and disturbances that may not be captured if relying solely on parental report. The strengths of this study include the use of a multi-modal (objective and subjective measures) and multi-reporter (child and parent) approach for the validation of the CRSP.
The reliability of the CRSP was demonstrated through good internal consistency for three of the four sleep disturbance scales. The exception to this was the Parasomnias Scale, which included only two items, both of which focused on what happens while the child is asleep. Test-retest reliability showed that the CRSP items, indices, and scales were relatively stable over time. The only scale that differed from time 1 to time 2 was the Sleep Location Scale, a result that may be due to greater dayto-day variability in where the child falls asleep and wakes up.
The group differences found on the CRSP highlight the validity of this measure. As would be expected, children seen in a sleep clinic, sleep laboratory, or children's hospital had more sleep disturbances, including bedtime fears/worries, parasomnias, insomnia, snoring, and enuresis. The higher scores on the Sleep Location Index and Electronics Use at Sleep Onset Index support the fact that behavioral sleep issues (e.g., children "migrating" to the parents bed during the night, poor sleep hygiene) are commonly seen in pediatric sleep clinics.41
National surveys have shown that caffeine use and technology in the bedroom both increase with age.25,42 Thus, it was not surprising that we found that older children reported more caffeine use and more stimulating activities in the hour before bed. With earlier school start times, it is possible that older children use more caffeine to help them stay awake and alert in the evening, which allows them to engage in more alerting activities before bed (e.g., playing video games, watching television). Consequently, older children may be obtaining less sleep which perpetuates the cycle of evening caffeine use and stimulation.
Children who were self-reported poor sleepers consistently reported more sleep disturbances, demonstrating that children are not only aware of factors that disturb their sleep (e.g., bedtime worries, difficulties initiating/maintaining sleep), but also potential underlying sleep disruptors (e.g., RLS, snoring). In terms of sleep hygiene, children who reported regular napping also reported poorer sleep hygiene, including more caffeine use, and engaging in stimulating activities in the hour before bed. Notably, children who napped regularly also reported increased symptoms of underlying sleep disruptors. Asking children about napping frequency in a clinical setting could provide valuable information about potential poor sleep hygiene and/or underlying sleep disruptors.
A key strength of the present study was inclusion of objective measures to quantify sleep duration and compare with subjective reports in the CRSP. Actigraphy provided an objective measure to demonstrate the validity of the CRSP, highlighting that children provide important information about sleep disturbances, particularly insomnia and snoring. Although not statistically significant, children who slept less than 8 hours also reported more symptoms of RLS, suggesting that their sleep may have been disturbed by their discomfort. Child report of RLS symptoms was greater than parental report, suggesting children may not be reporting their discomfort to their parents. As such, children who are at least 8 years old should be directly asked about any discomfort at bedtime or during the night.
Both the well-established CSHQ and the parent proxy CRSP showed that children are able to provide information about their own sleep habits and sleep disturbances. Children scoring above the clinical cutoff for the CSHQ reported poorer sleep hygiene and more sleep disturbances. Further, children self-identified as poor sleepers had parents who also reported more sleep disturbances on the CSHQ and poorer sleep hygiene on the parent proxy CRSP.
The value that a children's report of sleep patterns provides for a clinical interview or research study was best highlighted with the examination of parent-child agreement for sleep patterns. As would be expected, there was high agreement between parents and children for typical weekday bedtimes and wake times. Although parents become less involved with the bedtime routine as children get older, the awareness of bedtimes and wake times is likely greater in children than adolescents, with teenagers often going to sleep later than their parents. What was notable, however, was that in this study approximately 40% of parents were not aware that their child had difficulties falling asleep, night wakings, or poor sleep quality either the previous night or on a typical night. Although sleep quality is based on a subjective report, self-reported sleep quality is an important treatment outcome, especially for children with insomnia. As such, this result has important clinical implications.
Parents and children had poor agreement on report of parasomnias, with parents reporting more parasomnia symptoms than children. As expected, a behavior that occurs during sleep is better reported by the parent as an outside observer than by the child. This provides evidence for the importance of obtaining both parent and child report of sleep disorders.
Study limitations should be noted. First and foremost, while the full sample was robust in size and diversity, not all participants completed each of the different measures. In addition, some of the subsamples may have lacked variability (e.g., children who wore actigraphy were primarily healthy, good sleepers), while other samples may have been biased (e.g., children recruited from schools or primary care practices may have had undiagnosed sleep disorders), resulting in muted differences between groups. Further, while a diverse sample would suggest generalizability, race/ethnicity data were not collected from the Australian sample, and no additional SES data were obtained. Finally, although we did not find any differences in terms of completion rates or any reported difficulties for younger children in completing this measure, it is possible that the CRSP may be challenging for younger children to complete. Thus we would recommend that adult supervision be available if needed, including someone to read the questions aloud, when younger children complete the CRSP.
Despite these limitations, the CRSP is a valid and reliable measure that can provide additional and important information (beyond parental report) to clinicians and researchers. Although the CRSP was not designed to be a diagnostic clinical tool, we believe this measure has utility in a clinical setting. Many pediatric sleep providers rely solely on parent-completed questionnaires about their child's sleep. As shown by the current results, this may lead to an incomplete or misinformed assessment of the child's sleep. The inclusion of the CRSP may provide additional information to a clinical provider, as well as be utilized as a pre-post treatment measure. In research studies, the CRSP can provide complementary information to parental report, as well as identify sleep patterns or sleep disturbances that parents may not be aware of such as delayed sleep onset latency and multiple night wakings.
This was not an industry supported study. The authors have indicated no financial conflicts of interest.
The authors thank the children and families who participated in this study. In addition, we thank Kelly Ann Davis, Colleen Walsh, Julie Ormsby, and Nancy West, for their assistance with data collection and data entry. This study was funded in part by MH077662.
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Say tweet again. SAY TWEET AGAIN. I dare you, I double dare you, motherfucker. Say tweet one more goddamn time.
If you haven't seen Pulp Fiction then you haven't lived. Do yourself a favor and buy, rent, steal, or Netflix Pulp Fiction. You owe yourself that much. By the way, you can pick up this shirt from Headline Shirts for $24.


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|Military Space A Travel FAQ
|1. Introduction
|1.1) What is Space A?
Space A is short for "space available air transportation on government owned or controlled aircraft." Now you know why people shorten it to Space A :-) Basically Space A is a byproduct of military aircraft and commercial charter flights that are scheduled by the Department of Defense to perform military missions. When mission and cargo loads allow, there are often seats made available to eligible people. With a little bit of patience and flexibility, you can travel all over the world for almost nothing.
1.2) Is Space A travel a reasonable substitute for airline travel?
That depends on what your goals are. Success with Space A travel depends on flexibility and good timing. If your schedule is flexible and you have the financial resources to cover the "worst case" scenario (paying for a hotel for several days and then flying home commercial), space available travel can save you money most of the time. In fact, if the place you want to visit is a remote military base that is difficult to reach by commercial flights, Space A might actually be more convenient than trying to arrange commercial flights.
1.3) Will Space A travel cost much?
In general, no. There is a head tax on CONUS outbound or federal inspection fee on CONUS inbound international commercial charters. Meals may be purchased at a nominal fee (usually under $3.00) at of most air terminals. Meal service on Air Force commercial charter flights is free. And you might spend a bit on phone calls to find out about flights, a room for the night along the way, or a bus fare to get from one base to another. As a rule of thumb, figure that a domestic Space A trip will average between $25 and $50 each way, depending on how frugal you are (e.g. take a bus vs. rent a car) and how lucky you are (e.g. get a room on base vs. pay for a hotel room).
|Send corrections/additions to the FAQ Maintainer:


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Submissions support riparian protection plan
Submissions to Environment Waikato's draft Annual and Strategic Plan have expressed strong support for a proposal to fence and plant river and stream banks to improve water quality.
Submissions to Environment Waikato's draft Annual and Strategic Plan have expressed strong support for a proposal to fence and plant river and stream banks to improve water quality.
The internet has a new site where surfers can find a wealth of information on how the Waikato environment is doing right now.
Environment Waikato is to pay $170,000 in damages to Hamilton City Buses to settle a contractual dispute.
Labour MP Martin Gallagher has called for a closer relationship between national and local government to achieve environmental outcomes in his submission to Environment Waikato's draft Annual and Strategic Plan yesterday.
Government incentives will be needed to reduce greenhouse gases in New Zealand, this month's Environment Waikato Environment Committee meeting heard.
Environment Waikato and Franklin District Council have granted resource consents for a large broiler chicken farming operation on a rural property at Puni, south east of Pukekohe.
Collapse of the dam holding back the Ruapehu crater lake could generate a lahar half as big again as the one which caused the Tangiwai Disaster – and it's likely to happen in the next few years.
Environment Waikato will lose one of the country's most experienced resource management specialists when Policy Group Manager Dr Lex Rennes retires at the end of May.
Environment Waikato's new Group Manager, Policy is Jeanette Black, formerly General Manager, Contracts for the New Zealand Blood Service.
How much soil conservation and flood protection work should be carried out in the Upper and Middle Waipa catchments and who should pay for it?
Possum control could be on the cards for the northern Hakarimata Range, with the Northern Hakarimata Walkway Committee, the Department of Conservation and Environment Waikato working together with landowners to come up with a management plan.
Local government in New Zealand will be promoting sustainable development and examining how it can contribute, according to Environment Waikato chairman Neil Clarke.
Glen Murray landowners have given Environment Waikato a clear message that they want integrated flood protection works, but should be left to deal with soil conservation as they individually see fit.
Environment Waikato is to extend its current Regional Pest Management Strategy for a further year to allow enough time for the approval process for its revised strategy.
Environment Waikato has presented two $2000 scholarships to Waikato Maori students to assist with their university studies.
More stock being moved between farms during the change-over period from June 1 may contribute to more effluent spillages, says Waikato Federated Farmers vice-president John Fisher.
The chances of being caught speeding in the Waikato are increasing with the launch of a new open road patrol campaign.
The High Court has given a judgement that Environment Waikato has acted legally in its rating of properties in the Piako River Protection Scheme.
Environment Waikato is to review consents allowing Wallace Corporation to irrigate wastewater after an increase in nitrate was detected in monitoring bores under the irrigation farms.
Environment Waikato has praised Tatua Co-operative Dairy Company for achieving consistently high compliance with resource consent conditions at its Tatanui site.


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Stainless-Steel Service Center Adds Plate Laser
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Saturday, October 1, 2011
Penn Stainless Products, Quakertown, PA, has installed a Tanaka 6-kW laser-cutting machine capable of cutting stainless-steel sheet and plate to 1.125-in. thick, with maximum workpiece size of 13 by 62 ft. The Tanaka TF6000 machine, which employs its stainless-steel nitrogen cutting system, is one of only two operating in North America.
See also: Penn Stainless Products, Tanaka Kousakusho Corporation
Related Enterprise Zones: Fabrication, Materials/Coatings
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main(713) 222-2273
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This relationship gives patients access to more than 700 academically-affiliated physicians representing more than 80 specialties. Leaders in their field, these physicians offer patients the latest treatment available for a wide range of diseases and conditions.


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This is my first baby quilt for a friend of ours who is a rock guitarist, this is his first baby. I was so excited when I found the backing fabric it fits the new family perfectly!
I just started quilting this year I did some sewing in my "ancient past" but not really any quilting.
This forum has been a great inspiration to me and I am glad to have something to share.
I think I have the pictures resized correctly. Thanks for taking a look.


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Yesterday we passed along the news that Fred Smoot, the former cornerback best known for inserting a double-ended dildo into two prostitutes on a Vikings sex cruise, was arrested last month in Washington for a DUI. Among the information in the police affidavit: Smoot urinated down his pants leg while being processed at the police station.
Today we received an email from Brian K. McDaniel, Smoot's attorney. He apparently had no problem with us referring to Smoot "double-donging two hookers" or calling him a "double-dragon-dicker." He does want to dispute that Smoot ever peed himself.
This is the letter we received from McDaniel, who has an aol.com email address. Also, his first email forgot to contain the attachment. Also, it's written in Papyrus.


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DOD Program Works to Help Stressed Military Parents
- Details
- Category: News
- Created: Friday, 05 April 2013 11:30
- Last Updated: Friday, 05 April 2013 11:30
- Written by Administrator
The department has created the New Parent Support Program, a voluntary home-visiting program aimed at helping parents-to-be or those with young children adapt to parenthood through classes, community support groups and other forms of instruction.
"Our whole goal is to provide a safe, stable and nurturing environment for our military families, especially for our military children," Kathy Robertson, the director of the Family Advocacy Program, told American Forces Press Service and the Pentagon Channel. Key to that, she said, is helping families find the social connections and resources within their base or community to get through the challenges of military life.
"We have young military families who are away from their own immediate family who need to rely on us and we need to support them," she said.
Robertson said the level of child abuse and neglect in the military is comparable to society at large, noting that the services had more than 15,000 reports in 2011 of allegations of child abuse and neglect. Neglect -- often related to a lack of supervision, rather than abuse -- is the most frequent situation in those cases, she added.
"We believe it has risen with the result of the wars, with the number of deployments, with levels of depression in some of the parents," Robertson said. "So we're doing all we can to reach out to these families."
Families wanting to learn more about programs designed to prevent abuse and those seeking counseling are urged to contact family centers on their base or installation or through militaryonesource.mil.
"We have over 1,900 professionals working for DOD and family advocacy who work tirelessly every day and are very dedicated to support families," Robertson emphasized. "Child Abuse Prevention Month gives us the opportunity to really look at what we're doing, how effective it is, and what more we can do."
Related Sites:
Military OneSource [ http://www.Militaryonesource.mil/ ]
Military Installations: Resources Available to Service Members, Families [ http://www.militaryinstallations.dod.mil/ ]
Special Report: Military Family Support [ http://www.defense.gov/home/features/2012/0212_familysupport/ ]
Month of the Military Child [ http://www.defense.gov/home/features/2012/0412_militarychild/ ]