text:
Shoes: not just for hobo soups! Some of us have been known to adorn our feet with them. But what about those of us who have claustrophobic feet, feet, like both the the English peasantry and trigger-happy restaurateur Roy Rogers, that wish not to be enclosed? Are we to suffer the indignity of encapsulation? What if this little piggy is achluophobic? Must our decision to ride a bicycle mean we must also wear full and proper shoes? I say no.
The answer my friends is the humble flip flop, a shoe invented, I believe, some time in late 2004 by Ken Mehlman. Also known as a thong sandal (a name ignominiously disavowed circa late 1999), the flip flop may be identified by its sparse, thin flat bottom (insert joke) and the narrow bands of material which marry somewhere towards the point between big toe and pointer toe (Create. Inform. Engage. Toes.) before diving downward to attach once more to platform upon which the foot rests. That which makes the flip flop functional is its minimalism. That which makes it beautiful is its use of negative space. Unlike a "shoe," which treats your foot like a cloistered nun, the flip flop is of the footwear of liberation and libertines. It's also the footwear of Arlington, which is neither here nor there, though mostly it's just on the other side of the Potomac.
Your feet remain cool in the heat. If you ride in the rain, you don't have to worry about stuffing a flip flop with newspapers. When it's perfectly temperate, your feet experience, without intermediation, perfect temperateness. Do flip flops negatively affect your max power on your upstroke? Yeah. But there's more to life than that, isn't there? Shouldn't there be?
Perhaps the flip flop isn't for you. Perhaps you're worried about amorphous things like "street grime" and "needing a tetanus shot." Perhaps you just can't let go. Perhaps you need to think about each ride as some sort of crazy competition in which your feet need to be maximally engaged, cooped up like foot-shaped hens in the industrial egg farm that is your bicycle-based pursuit. Maybe the flip flop is inappropriate for your destination, such as a court appearance or non-beach wedding. You can always bring shoes into which to change. Or scatter shoes about the city (I have shoes strategically taped to the undersides of USPS mailboxes throughout much of the Northwest. My loafer budget is off the chain.) that you may change when you arrive at your destination. I mean, if you were riding in bike-specific clippy shoes, you'd have to change those anyway, so why not ride in relative comfort?
I started riding in flip flops (note: not bike sandals) about a month ago and my bike commuting life has vastly improved. For example, the amount of sock laundry I have is considerably less. My feet are happier. Bike shoes, while practical for longer rides, always feel like such a "thing," and by "thing" I mean a thing that makes me seem like I'm not just a normal person who happens to be on a bike. Flip flops have a magical power of deflecting wannabe Cat 6 racers. They also have a way of reminding me to have fun and to be relaxed. That turns 90 minutes of daily commuting from an errand into a vacation. And who doesn't want more vacation? Aside from those people in horror movies who are just so happy to get away from civilization for some resting and relaxing at the cabin in the middle of the woods that was probably built atop a haunted Indian burial ground? But pretty much everyone else loves vacation and wants more of it.
If there's one rule to which I subscribe, it's that you have to make your own fun (You should also try to make your own salad dressing. It's really easy, especially a vinaigrette). And flip flops- even the name itself!- are my own fun. Maybe they could be your fun too.
On the joys and travails of cycling in flip flops
2 comments:
Aren't you afraid of toe-chain entanglement? I wear sandals every day during my summer bike commute, but they have proper toe protection. My ankles are exposed to the dangers of the drivetrain, though.ReplyDelete
Flip-flops are comfy but if you go down you run the risk of road rash on your feet/toes. I can tell you from experience that it's not a pleasurable experience.ReplyDelete
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text:
Kevin Christensen
West Albany High Class of 2007
Personal Info
- Name:
- Kevin Christensen
- Maiden Name:
- Christensen
- Graduation Year:
- 2007
Register to view Current location, Gender, Birthday, Relationship Status, Children, Employer, Military, College, and Interests
Memories of Kevin Christensen
What I'm doing now:Register to see what Kevin Christensen is up to now!
Kevin Christensen's Latest Activity:
|- Updated his profile picture. 2016
|- Registered as a WAHS Class of 2007 alumni. 2016
|- Added photos to their personal photo gallery. 2016

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Not a single Indian cricketer featured in the ICC Women's World Cup team of the tournament even as players from Australia and England dominated the list announced here today.
Sri Lanka's Eshani Kaushalya was the lone Asian representative in the team.
Finalists Australia and West Indies contributed a total of six players to the team, which was announced today with Player of the Tournament, New Zealand's Suzie Bates, named as captain.
"Chosen by a select group of experts, the team was aimed at being suited for India conditions on the basis of performances in the tournament only. Statistics were used but were not the sole basis for selections," the ICC said in a statement.
The side features not only players from Australia and West Indies, but also sees four England players, one New Zealander and one Sri Lankan in the side.
The panel struggled with deciding the final 12 for the women's team and players who were considered included Arran Brindle and Sarah Taylor of England, Amy Satterthwaite and Sian Ruck of New Zealand, Shashikala Siriwardena of Sri Lanka, Erin Osborne of Australia and South Africa's Shabnim Ismail.
On being named captain of the team, Bates said: "It's obviously a great honour that the panel not only thought to bestow title of Player of the Tournament on me but also the captaincy of the Team of the Tournament.
"It's been a great event here in India and I, of course, would have loved to have led my team to the final but it wasn't to be for us this year."
ICC Women's World Cup India 2013 Team of the Tournament (in batting order): Suzie Bates (New Zealand – captain), Charlotte Edwards (England), Rachael Haynes (Australia), Stafanie Taylor (West Indies), Deandra Dottin (West Indies) Eshani Kaushalya (Sri Lanka), Jodie Fields (wicketkeeper – Australia), Katherine Brunt (England), Holly Colvin (England), Anya Shrubsole (England), Megan Schutt (Australia), 12th Player: Holly Ferling (Australia).


text:
Exotic Porcelain decorative and serving dishes
Work Available from:
Contemporary Ceramics, London
Contemporary Applied Arts, London
The Gallery at Bevere, Worcestershire
The New School House Gallery, Old School House, Peasholme Green, York, North Yorkshire YO1 7PW
I mix 2% paper fibre in Limoges Porcelain and manipulate it while very wet, as if forming with velvet, allowing it to create soft folds as I 'sew' thrown and slab-built components together to create flowing forms. Feet and handles are often pulled separately and added on at 'leather-hard' stage.
I biscuit fire slowly (22-24 hours) to 1000c. A transparent glaze is thickly applied and fluid coloured glazes are then strategically brushed onto it. During the glaze firing (1260c, oxidation) the pots are suspended above the kiln shelf using wadding clay or ceramic blanket, and balanced over porcelain setters. The glazes run into each other, pool in the folds of clay, drip off feet and edges, and so, accentuate the sense of overflowing plenty.
I was born in Israel and having completed a BA in History of Art and English Literature at the Hebrew University, came to England to study ceramics.
I became deeply interested in functional domestic ware during the HND Ceramic Design course at Harrow College. For many years I have been making tableware for every day use.
Following my MA studies at the Royal College of Art, I am currently continuing to develop a range of ceremonial serving dishes for special occasions.
2005 - 2006 ECDL (European Computer Driving Licence).
2001 - 2004 MA Ceramics and Glass. The Royal college of Art.
1984 - 1986 BTEC HND Ceramic Design. Harrow College of Higher Education.
1976 - 1981 BA History of Art & English Literature. Hebrew University, Israel.
2004 Present Re-started my pottery workshop, producing new work.
1999 Present Part-time Pottery Tutor, Community Education Lewisham, London.
2007 2008 Visiting Lecturer, Central St Martin's college of Art, London.
2006 Visiting lecturer, Buckingham Chilterns University College.
2006 Visiting Lecturer, University of Hertfordshire.
2004 Visiting lecturer, Buckingham Chilterns University College.
1995 - 1997 Visiting lecturer, School of Design & Media, University of Westminster.
1986 - 2001 Set up and worked in my own pottery workshop in London.
2006 - Present Member of Contemporary Applied Arts.
1997 - Present Fellow of The Craft Potters Association.
Exhibition Curation
1996 Dining Rites, Primavera, Cambridge.
2011 (September) Red Barn Gallery, Penrith, Cumbria.
2010 'Home', The New School House Gallery, York.
2010 Ceramic Art London 2010, Royal College of Art, London.
2009 The Domestic Interior, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland.
2008 Eat Drink and Be Merry, Llantarnam Grange Art Centre, Wales.
2008 Christmas Show', Bettles Gallery, Ringwood, Hampshire.
2008 Origin 2008, Somerset House, London.
2008 Ceramic Art London, Royal College of Art, London.
2007 A Seasonal Exhibition, Bettles Gallery, Ringwood, Hampshire
2007 The Power of Pots, Royal College of Art, London.
2006 Take Me Home, Contemporary Applied Arts, London.
2006 What A Dish, contemporary Ceramics, London.
2006 Ceramic Art London, Royal College of art, London.
2005 Ceramic Art London, Royal College of Art, London.
2005 Blind Art, Royal College of Art, London.
2005 Setting Out - Contemporary Ceramics, London.
2004 The Show: One - Royal College of Art, London.
2003 Ten to One, Canary Wharf - Canada Square, London.
One Woman Show
August 2006 'Summer Exhibition', The Gallery at Bevere, Worcestershire.
2011. 'Ritual and Sensuality', an article in Ceramic Review issue 251 September/October.
2005 Bendavid, K, Dinner Party Politics, Ceramic Review 216, pp 40-45
2000 Ben-David, K, Consuming Craft – International Conference, in 'Awayday', Ceramic Review 185, p.54.
1996 Ben-David, K., The Maker. Dining Rites. Call Printers, 1996.
1989 Ben-David, K., On Being A Student At Harrow. The Harrow Connection, England: Ceolfrith Press. Northern Centre For Contemporary Art.
2011 Ceramic Review no 252, November/December 2011 Issue, p 44 in 'Heritage of Harrow.'
2008 The Ceramics Book, Ceramic Review Publishing Ltd, p. 20
2007 Artist of the month, AIR e-Bulletin-May.
2006 Ceramic Review 218, p.19.
2006 The Ceramics Book, Ceramic Review Publishing Ltd, p. 21
2005 Crafts Magazine No.196, P.70
2005 Ceramic Review 211, p. 44.
2004 www.bbc.co.uk/dna/collective, David Hilton, 04 Degree Shows.
2003 Rector's Review, 2002/2003, Royal college of Art, p.6.
2002 Mattison, S. The complete Potter, Quarto Publishing Plc.
2001 Mattison, S. The Potter's Guide to Ceramic Surfaces, Quarto Publishing Plc.
1999 The Food Programme – BBC Radio Four.
1998 French, N. The Potter's Dictionary of Shape and Form, Quattro Inc.


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Search Our Jobs
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Job Description
BIG BOWL is hiring SERVERS for our DINING ROOM team!
Chinese and Thai
Authentic Asian dishes served up in a team-oriented, friendly atmosphere
Caring. Creative. Careers.
Join the Lettuce Entertain You family! Our 100+ restaurants are nationally recognized for great food and service and as great places to work. We hire and care deeply for people with creativity, passion and the drive to be the best. And we reward our teams with top notch benefits, career-long training and development and opportunities for growth.
Is this you?
- You take care of yourself. (Energy and stamina. You'll need both.)
- You care for others. (Teamwork and success. They are one and the same.)
- You care about guests. (Quality. The bar is high.)
If you want a career at a progressive company with a long-standing commitment to people, join our caring and creative team.
EOE. We participate in E-Verify / Participamos en E-Verify
Job Requirements
Responsible for exceeding guests' expectations by providing efficient, friendly guest service. Teamwork, enthusiasm, a high energy level, food and wine knowledge and ability to multi-task are necessary for success in this position.
- Be able to work a variety of hours, days and shifts, including weekends
- Get along with others and be a team player
- Be genuinely committed to ensuring that the overall guest experience exceeds expectations, including greeting guests with a warm, sincere smile and anticipating guest needs
- Use tact and good judgment when dealing with guest challenges, responding to their needs with patience and courtesy
- Follow all steps of service
- Understand and respond knowledgeably to questions about the restaurant and menu
- Use sales techniques and present and encourage current promotions to guests
- Accurately record and account for all items ordered, process payment from guests, and account for and balance all sales and receipts at the end of the shift in compliance with restaurant policies and procedures
- Understand and follow the food allergy procedure and special orders/restrictions
- Comply with all safety and sanitation (including handwashing) guidelines and procedures
- Be proficient in the use and operation of all necessary tools and equipment, including the Point of Sale system, Frequent Diner and Gift Certificate terminals, credit card terminals, and coffee/tea and cappuccino machines
- Successfully complete alcohol awareness training
- Follow all rules, policies, procedures and conditions of employment, including those outlined in the Employee Handbook
- Other duties will be assigned as needed
- Effectively service a 3 – 6 table station
- Safely and effectively transport food to a table of three in a single trip, and beverages to a table of three in a single trip
- Communicate in English in order to comprehend and perform/follow job requirements in written and spoken direction
- Perform more than one task at a time, calmly and effectively in an extremely busy and stressful work environment
- Work in a confined, crowded space of variable noise and temperature levels
- Lift and move up to 10 pounds, frequently lift and/or move up to 25 pounds and occasionally lift and/or move up to 50 pounds
- Safely and effectively use all necessary tools and equipment
- Stand and walk for an entire shift, including moving safely through all areas of the restaurant, which may include stairs, uneven and slick surfaces
- Accessibility varies by location


text:
Mariana Ruiz Villareal
An artist's conception shows a pair of Alamosaurus sanjuanensis dinosaurs.
Here's a trivia question for your dino-crazy kids: What's the biggest dinosaur to roam North America? Paleontologists report that it's Alamosaurus sanjuanensis, one of many breeds of long-necked, long-tailed sauropods to roam the continent 69 million years ago.
Montana State University's Denver Fowler and the State Museum of Pennsylvania's Robert Sullivan make that judgment on the basis of two huge vertebrae and a femur that they collected in New Mexico between 2003 and 2006. Based on the bones' proportions, they figure that Alamosaurus could be around the same size as South America's giant sauropods, such as the 70-ton Argentinosaurus.
If Fowler and Sullivan are correct, that'd make Alamosaurus twice as heavy as paleontologists thought it was just a few years ago. Their research was published Tuesday in Acta Palaeontologica Polonica.
"Over the past 20 years, Argentinean and Brazilian paleontologists have been unearthing bigger and bigger dinosaurs, putting the rest of the world in the shade," Fowler said in an MSU news release issued Tuesday. "However, our new finds not only show that Alamosaurus is newly recognized as the biggest dinosaur from North America, but also that it was right up there with the biggest South American species: The U.S. is back in the fight for the No.1 spot."
There's more at stake here than mere bragging rights. "Our findings show that Alamosaurus was originally described based on immature material, and this is a problem, as characteristics that define a species are typically only fully gained at adult size," said Fowler, a doctoral student at MSU's Museum of the Rockies. "This means that we might be misinterpreting the relationships of Alamosaurus and possibly other sauropod dinosaurs too."
Researchers from MSU and the Pennsylvania museum are continuing to collect Alamosaurus bones to resolve the size question as well as other details about the dinosaurs' life and death. To keep up with the research — and perhaps eventually find out whether Alamosaurus pushes aside Argentinosaurus and its Russian rival, Ruyangosaurus, check in with the Facebook page for the Horner Paleo Lab at the Museum of the Rockies. You can also check out this video about the Alamosaurus quest:
Never-before-seen dinosaur fossils will go on exhibit when a new science museum opens in Dallas in 2013. KXAS-TV's Julie Tam reports.
Alan Boyle is msnbc.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter and adding the Cosmic Log page to your Google+ presence. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.


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blinders and other metaphors personified
The number one stumper was my dear friend to the right here. She was head-to-toe in glittering things and battery-powered lights. The BrE speakers had a hard time guessing, but when they were told, they said "Ah!" The AmE speakers, on the other hand, said "Huh?" She was (if you haven't guessed from the title) a blinder--that is, "Something 'dazzlingly' good or difficult" (OED), or in this case a "looker" (orig. AmE). Unsure that people would believe that she'd been called a blinder, she carried with her the sweetest love letter from long, long ago. (It would be impolite of me to tell you how long ago.) The universal reaction to the love letter was "My god, why didn't you marry him?" (Not that we have anything against Blinder's better half--but he didn't come to the party to defend his own hono(u)r, so we got all moony over [the idea of] Love Letter Boy.) Incidentally, Blinder won one of the evening's prizes--the Elbow Grease prize for the most effort devoted to the reali{s/z}ation of the metaphor. We got literal about our metaphorical prizes--the Elbow Grease was Body Shop Body Butter.
My dad, pictured right, was another transatlantic stumper. He and my mother came as what they (claim to) call each other (never in front of the children, though!). Mom came as "the cat's (AmE) pajamas/(BrE) pyjamas", wearing p{y/a}jamas with cats on them. Dad's was a less visuali{s/z}able metaphor, though the BrE speakers consistently guessed that he was the cat's whiskers (='the acme of excellence'--OED). While that was originally an AmE expression, it's now mainly used in BrE. In AmE, the expression is more usually (at least where we're from) the cat's meow. (All of these are a bit dated, like my dad, who celebrates a big birthday next month. Despite having enjoyed my metaphorty party, he's declined having a metaseventy party.)
Another American friend came as a mixed metaphor--so it's no surprise that people had a hard time guessing what he was. He had a target, with an antlered deer superimposed on it, taped to his back. By his estimation, he was "a moving stag", mixing the metaphors of a moving target and going stag to a party (i.e., 'without a date'). The latter of these (as the telltale bold font indicates) is AmE, and relates back to the notion of a stag party (orig. AmE), which was raised when we discussed local fauna terms.
Please steal the metaphorty party idea (leave off the -ty if you're not forty, but have the party all the same)! It's a helluva lotta fun, and if you invite both AmE and BrE speakers, you can report back to us any further metaphors that don't translate. My own metaphor required translation as well, but only because it was in Swedish. Jag var en djävil på Scrabble. (I was a demon at Scrabble--the first metaphor that I was called [to my face] på svenska.)
Or, join the virtual party in the comments area. What would your metaphor be? (Try to keep it clean, please!)
12 comments
- Anonymous12 December, 2006 09:43
Happy metaphortical birthday!ReplyDelete
I think if I was going, I would have to go as 'jammy'. I could fashion a jam jar out of cardboard. I guess that metaphor wouldn't translate well? OR it's longer counterpart that my parents mutter at me: Oooh, you've more jam than Hartley's!
Jammy doesn't travel well, as we've seen here. Neither does Hartley's, for that matter!ReplyDelete
Thanks for the happy wishes, but the metaphortical birthday was some time ago. As another friend said to me, it's harder to turn 41 than 40, because 40 is just forty, but 41 is "in your forties".
- Anonymous13 December, 2006 10:08
My mother cried when she reached 46 because she realised she was then in her 'late forties'. She doesn't look older than 40, though. One day I'll catch up to her, I swear.ReplyDelete
The party looks marvellous, Lynne. Thank you for the pictures. I'm 52 and weep daily at the thought. I'm sat here surrounded by newly-coined, gift-wrapped Turkish expletives which I must FedEx before the festive deadline, but have also been taxed by how to costum-ise my epithet. A lot of my work has involved editing others' text, which activity is seldom well-received. Indeed, I am sometimes called pedantic. This is particularly hurtful, you see, because of my name. To my horror, the Danotron™, my patent text-machine which I have lately been using to generate words in imitation of Essex-girl's hugely successful and lucrative word-sale, recently spat out pauldantic and its correlate PDantic, which the integrated dictionary defines as obsessed with matters of verbal style, verging dangerously on the prescriptive. I fear, therefore, that it has to be something to do with ants and antennae (waving around for bad usage) a bit like this.ReplyDelete
- Anonymous14 December, 2006 21:46
Hi there, I just thought I'd let you know that today I received the word your student created for me to give as a Christmas gift for someone very special to me, and it's fantastic!ReplyDelete
Multitrefzosculation (n., Lat.): the act of kissing your soulmate over and over again
(Note: the "trefz" stem is derived from the last name of my friend). She even threw in a free bonus infinitive verb form: to multitrefzosculate, lol.
Congratulations. What a word, eh? I'm having a hard time knowing how to pronounce the fz. If I pronounce the f as a /f/, I find I haven't got time to switch on voicing before I say the z so it comes out as /s/. If I try to say the z as /z/, the f becomes /v/. Help!ReplyDelete
- Anonymous15 December, 2006 14:51
The "f" in Trefz is pronounced as a "v" (btw, the e prior to it in the word is a short-e sound, pronounced like "bet" or "get"). So the "z" is naturally (at least the way I speak) pronounced more like a "z" and not the softer-sounding (at least to my ears) "s". Not being a linguist, I don't know how to reproduce these sounds with the proper symbols (the kind student who created the word did provide the phonetic symbols, etc., but I don't know how to type them here). I hope my description above helps :o)ReplyDelete
Many thanks, MQB. Since posting my call for help above, I worked out (on a train as it happens, to the puzzlement of other passengers) that you might pronounce the fz as /fz/ but only if you put a syllable-break between them and, thus, imply that there was a zoscul morpheme. (I surmise that the morphemes are actually multi, trefz, oscul and ation.) May I have a hack at the IPA? /'mʌltitɹɛvz'ɔkju'lɛiʃn/ Not good at secondary stress.ReplyDelete
Sorry, folks: /'mʌltitɹɛvz'ɔskju'lɛiʃn/ReplyDelete
Why do I only spot mistakes after posting?
Mine is to easy, well I would think so, I am definitely a wall flowerReplyDelete
I've never heard blinder referring to a person, only to a performance, and always ( or almost always) in the collocation played/playing a blinder.ReplyDelete
I think the OED supports my impression.The full entry is:
Something [my emphasis] 'dazzlingly' good or difficult, esp. an excellent piece of play in Rugby Football or Cricket. colloq.
All three quotations relate to sporting performances
1950 W. Hammond Cricketers' School iii. 35 Striking out at an innocent-looking ball, I've sent a blinder—dead into the fieldsman's hands.
1960 D. Storey This Sporting Life i. ii. 17 You played a blinder... It was the best game I ever saw.
1963 Times 16 Feb. 3/3 They dropped one easy catch and caught three blinders.
I'm not saying that nobody ever used blinder to refer to a person, but I do believe it was unusual, perhaps confined to a group of friends.
There was a term popularised by Yorshireman broadcaster Wifred Pickles She's a bobby dazzler!.
And I think I'm right in saying that in the USA, horses wear blinders, where in the UK they wear blinkers.ReplyDelete


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"type=missing" and MLM
Mplus Discussion
Confirmatory Factor Analysis
Yan Li
posted on Friday, December 08, 2006 - 9:47 am
I was trying to use both "estimator=MLM" and "type=missing H1" at the same time and I got this error message:
" Estimator MLM is not allowed with TYPE = GENERAL MISSING.Default will be used."
Can you let me know what's going on? Thank you!
Below is my syntax:
Usevar are
tr1-tr7 tr16 tr17 pn9 pn10 pn12
tr8-tr11 pn6-pn8;
analysis: type=missing H1;
SA by tr1-tr7 tr16 tr17 pn9 pn10 pn12;
OA by tr8-tr11 pn6-pn8;
SA with OA;
output: stand;sampstat; mod (20);
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Friday, December 08, 2006 - 10:32 am
We no longer allow MLM and MISSING. We recommend MLR and MISSING instead if you want a robust estimator.
Yan Li
posted on Monday, December 11, 2006 - 8:38 pm
Thank you Dr. Muthen. Here is a follow up question. I want to do a model comparison for nested and comparison models. I read your guidance about "Difference Testing Using the Loglikelihood" on the website. One thing confuses me is that I got L0 and L1 for both models (2 L0 and 2 L1 values) and I don't know which L0/L1 to plug into the formula (TRd = -2*(L0 - L1)/cd).
(2) Also does the parameters p0/p1 refer to the # of free parameters in the output?
(3) At last, when we have the TRd, shall I look at the chi-square table using df difference (nested df-comparison df) and check out the p value?
I appreciate any help you can give. Thank you!
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Tuesday, December 12, 2006 - 3:01 pm
1. L0 is the more restrictive model. L1 is the less restrictive model. You want the H0 loglikelihood from L0 and L1. The H1 loglikelihoods are not needed.
2. Yes.
3. Yes.
posted on Sunday, September 29, 2013 - 10:25 pm
What estimator should I use if I have data that has high skewness and kurtosis? I heard that MLM is the one to choose. Is this correct? Thank you!
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Monday, September 30, 2013 - 6:36 am
Both MLM and MLR are robust to non-normality. With MLM, listwise deletion of any observation with a missing value on one or more analysis variables is used. MLR uses all available information.
posted on Monday, September 30, 2013 - 7:02 am
I see. Thank you so much. I wonder, if I have categorical indicators as well as continuous indicators with skewness and kurtosis issues, should I still use MLR? Or do I need to use WLSMV?
Thank you.
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Monday, September 30, 2013 - 10:44 am
WLSMV is not robust to non-normality for continuous variables. You can use MLR with a combination of continuous and categorical indicators. Factors with categorical indicators require numerical integration so we recommend not too many of these factors.
Yessenia Castro
posted on Monday, November 25, 2013 - 9:41 am
Under similar circumstances listed by RuoShui above (a model with continuous predictor variables, one of which exhibits kurtosis, and a categorical outcome variable), is MLR still appropriate if the categorical variable is in fact binary?
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Monday, November 25, 2013 - 12:31 pm
In regression, the model is estimated conditioned on the observed exogenous variables. No distributional assumptions are made about them. You can use WLSMV or MLR with a binary dependent variable. Distributional assumptions are made about only continuous dependent variables.
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Nev. gets 1-year pass on federal school standards
CARSON CITY, Nev. — Nevada schools are getting another year-long exemption from the tough requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind Act.
State Superintendent Dale Erquiaga said Thursday that the waiver for the 2014-2015 school year will allow Nevada to continue on the path of implementing standards-based teaching and performance assessments for students and educators.
Officials with the U.S. Department of Education say they're pleased with Nevada's progress carrying out reforms, and will allow the state even more flexibility if it stays on track to implement teacher and administrator evaluation systems.
The George W. Bush-era No Child Left Behind Act would have required 100 percent of students to pass state tests in the 2013-2014 school year. State officials say few, if any, Nevada schools could meet that expectation.


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Advanced Allergy &
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Always prompt and friendly. They work well with my schedule and flex if I need to. Would recommend to anyone. ~ Rebecca R.
Our commitment
Every member of our team shares one common goal – and that is helping you. We are dedicated to providing quality care, delivered with compassion in a comfortable environment. The rapidly changing face of medical care has left many people feeling forgotten, rushed through busy offices like an item in a factory assembly line. We strive to provide a very different kind of experience.
Our patients are not numbers to us. They are real human beings, whose lives and families are being devastated unnecessarily. We know that allergies and asthma can be miserable, debilitating, and even life threatening. Our knowledgeable staff is always happy to answer your questions, and help you in any way possible. We know that personal attention, honest answers, customer service, and attention to detail can make all the difference in your medical care.
We want you to know that help is available, from trained professionals who care about you. There is a place where you will be treated with respect and dignity. There are actually three places – the offices of Advanced Allergy & Asthma Associates/Food Allergy Center of Illinois, located in Elgin and Crystal Lake. Please, let us help you enjoy the quality of life that you deserve. Call (847) 888-8802 and schedule a consultation today.
Our Hospital Affiliations - Advocate Health System, Northwest Community Hospital, Northwestern, and Amita Health
Were you referred to one of our wonderfully talented asthma and allergy specialist from your Primary Care Provider or during your hospital stay? If your visit was at Advocate Health System, Northwest Community Hospital, Northwestern, or Amita health hospitals or Clinics then it was to Advanced Allergy & Asthma Associates/ Food Allergy Center Of Illinois team.
We are dedicated to helping as many patients as possible take control of their allergies and breathing conditions so that they can enjoy their optimal quality of life. Therefore, Dr. Noga Askenazi, and Dr. Eugenia Hahn are on staff at several local hospitals.
Our hospital affiliations include:
- Advocate Children's Hospital – Park Ridge
- Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital – Barrington
- Advocate Lutheran General Hospital – Park Ridge
- Advocate Sherman Hospital – Elgin
- Northwestern Medicine – Huntley
- Northwestern Medicine – McHenry
- Northwestern Medicine – Woodstock
- AMITA Health Saint Joseph Hospital – Elgin
- AMITA Health St. Alexius Medical Center – Hoffman Estates
- Northwest Community Hospital - Arlington Heights


text:
UW Policy Regarding Health Screenings for Personnel in Animal Use and Care Environments
Unreturned Dosimeter Policy
It is expected that 90% of dosimeters issued to a series will be accounted for within 30 days of the end of the wear period specified on each dosimeter. If a series fails to meet this expectation it...
University-Wide Health and Safety Committee Charter
Serum Banking Policy
This document outlines the serum banking policy at UW for research and support staff.
Transportation of Dangerous Goods Regulations-Guide to Category A and Category B Assignment
Shipping a Biological Substance, Category B using IATA packing instruction 6502
Health Sciences Students Requirements for Immunization and TB Screening Compliance
This document contains the Health Sciences Immunization Program (HSIP) policy for immunization and screening requirements for students in a participating health sciences program.


text:
Latitude 3330 Education and Small Business Laptop
Sorry, this item is not available anymore for purchase online. Please see our recommended replacement product.
Features and Design
Strong, affordable Latitude performance
Teach, learn or work with the Latitude™ 3330 for a level of performance and a lightweight mobility that's hard to find in this class.
- Powerful processors, including the 3rd Gen Intel® Core™ i5* processor option, provide performance that's suitable for all levels of education and most small business environments. (Please contact your Dell Sales Representative to customize your Latitude 3330 with Intel® Core™ i5 processor options)
- Available with Windows 8 Pro* or Windows 7 Professional enables you to optimize your Latitude for your environment.
- Aluminum backing on the 13" LCD screen adds durability for the classroom and a professional look for the business world.
- Its lightweight design (3.4 lb/1.5 kg with a 4-cell battery) enables easy portability between classrooms or wherever business takes you.
Connect, collaborate and maintain productivity
Lead a classroom or present to your peers with technologies that are designed to help you get the most out of every minute of your day.
- Collaborate around a 13" antiglare screen that's compact enough to fit on most desktops.
- Bring interactive teaching to your classroom with a built-in HD 720p webcam.
- Boot up quickly with hybrid and solid-state hard drive options that deliver dependable performance and fast return from sleep mode.
- Swap batteries for long periods of productivity away from an outlet. Keep extra batteries for easy swaps on the move.
Reach your students through technology
Latitude 3330 is a powerful yet affordable laptop that's ideal for all levels of education from K-12 to college classrooms. It has a thin, lightweight design, but with significant processing power and many of the management and protection features that make the Latitude a leading business laptop.
- Easily integrate the Latitude 3330 into your classroom with a Dell™ Mobile Cart.
- Facilitate teaching and testing with a 13" display that easily accommodates many classroom applications.
- Maximize performance with Independent Software Vendor (ISV) certifications for popular classroom products, including those from CrossTec Corporation, Pearson Education/Assessment, Knob and Texas Instruments.
Move from class to class with the Dell Mobile Computing Cart
Integrate your Latitude 3330 into a Dell Mobile Cart solution (offering available in select countries) for a complete presentation and education tool. With a Dell Mobile Cart solution, you can securely store, charge and transport your Latitude laptops while maintaining connectivity with your wireless network. External outlets enable simple connection to other classroom peripherals.
There are two types of Dell Mobile Computing Carts: managed and unmanaged. Managed carts ship with an Ethernet switch and cabling to allow for remote management of your devices after hours, so IT personnel can perform updates and maintenance as needed for maximum uptime.
There are two types of Dell Mobile Computing Carts: managed and unmanaged. Managed carts ship with an Ethernet switch and cabling to allow for remote management of your devices after hours, so IT personnel can perform updates and maintenance as needed for maximum uptime.
Protect and manage your Latitude with integrated solutions
With your Latitude 3330 comes access to various tools that can unify and simplify management of your organization's hardware and software.
- Simplify hardware management with a Dell KACE solution. From inventory tracking and software distribution to automated patch delivery, Dell KACE solutions can help you keep all your laptops, desktops and mobile devices updated.
- Protect data across your network with Dell Data Protection │Encryption (coming summer 2013). This nondisrupting endpoint encryption solution allows you to quickly and easily deploy encryption across your entire organization and audit and enforce security policies.
- Empower your faculty or coworkers to use the devices and applications they need to be productive through support for Microsoft System Center 2012 Configuration Manager. This solution unifies physical, virtual and mobile client systems and allows single-pane management of them all.
Maintain consistent performance with long lifecycles and support
Help maximise the performance of your Latitude 3330 laptop throughout its life with a comprehensive suite of Dell service and support options.
- Simplify deployments and create a standardized environment through long lifecycles with Dell Configuration and Deployment Services and Dell Imaging Services.
- Work confidently with optional Dell ProSupport™,* knowing you have an expert engineer available 24x7 online or by phone for unexpected hardware and software issues.
Minimize your impact on the environment
Latitude 3330 is designed with the environment in mind. From its power supply to its packaging, you can feel confident that you're making a responsible laptop investment.
- Quick-release battery: Simplify battery recycling with easy removal and replacement of your battery when necessary.
- Recyclable packaging: 100 percent of the Latitude 3330 packaging is recyclable, so you can help minimize waste.*
- EPEAT registered: Latitude is EPEAT certified in all participating countries.*
- ENERGY STAR qualified: The Latitude 3330 is qualified to the latest ENERGY STAR® release version.
Choose your accessories and services
Essential accessories for your Latitude
Complete your Latitude 3330 with a protective backpack, a docking station with fast USB 3.0, an HD monitor or a wireless keyboard and mouse. Look for these great products and more at checkout.
Dell Adventure Backpack
Slip your laptop into a sporty, protective backpack and travel in comfort.
Dell D3000 SuperSpeed USB 3.0 Docking Station
Connect your laptop quickly and easily to external displays
and devices at your desk
Dell E2313H Monitor
Get brilliant color and sharp images from a dependable Full HD monitor.
Dell KM632 Wireless Keyboard and Mouse
Free yourself from cable clutter with a wireless keyboard
and mouse combo.
Global Services and Support
Dell Services can help reduce IT complexity, lower costs and eliminate inefficiencies by making IT and business solutions work harder for you. The Dell Services team takes a holistic view of your needs and designs solutions for your environment and business objectives.
|Customization and setup
Deployment services
Our end-to-end deployment services are designed to simplify and accelerate the customization and utilization of your new systems. Dell Deployment Services include everything from order consolidation to coordination of deployment resources.
Managed deployment
Dell Managed Deployment Services are for customers who need a complete, end-to-end deployment solution. Managed deployments are useful within complex logistical environments that require a single point of contact.
Custom factory integration
Dell offers custom factory integration services to help accelerate your system deployments. We can perform a range of services, such as custom configuration, consolidation and integration in our factory so that you can deploy your systems right out of the box.
ImageDirect is a web-based, hosted image management service that enables customers to easily create, manage and load custom images for Dell commercial client systems.
Intel® AMT and Intel vPro™ support — Not supported on Latitude 2100. For Intel AMT and Intel vPro customers, new deployment service options such as unique password prepopulation, pre-configured management settings and no-touch deployment can help ease deployment concerns while saving time and money.
Advanced configuration services — Not available on Latitude 2100. With advanced configuration services (ACS), you can save time and resources by selecting various settings during the purchase process. You can choose to partition your hard drive, select boot order, change BIOS settings and modify various standard software configuration settings.
Asset Recovery Services
Asset Recovery Services offers safe and environmentally appropriate disposal solutions for outdated or end-of-life IT assets. This service includes transportation, flexible logistics, equipment processing, detailed data security and environmental reports at an affordable price.
Drivers, Manuals & Support
Dell Support
From drivers and manuals to diagnostic tools and replacement parts, Dell Product Support has you covered!


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Little loop
My 1 hour loop.
Meet at Sheetz. Cruise through suburbia, swing by narcissi winery and head north on back country roads. Skirt around saxonburg and then across route 8 to Evans City and up to Harmony Inn for lunch.
This trip starts and ends at the cemetery at SR 350 and SR 3036, is mostly rural roads with only 22 miles of interstate driving.
Nice easy ride
first day
A lot of winding roads that you can get some great corners in.
loop in the back country road of Wilkes-Barre
Great ride
A great bikers haven. Lots of bikes to see, an outdoor venue with band, bar, and BBQ.
A lot of curves! Nice views
A lot of curves with good road surface
North of toronto. stay the night to enjoy the scenery.
Nice road, great scenery!
B/w Millertown rd. and 487
Start at the Scheetz on Route 220. Head up the mountain towards Snowshoe. Watch the right turn to stay on Rt 144 along the ridge to down into Renovo. When hiking or taking a break along the ridge keep your eyes peeled for rattle snakes!
Now follow the river for a winding road all the way back to Lock Haven.
This route takes you from Dunnville, at Muddy the Catfish http://www.dunnvillemudcat.com through Stromness with the Feeder Canal running on your right side. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Welland_Canal You ride past some of the many wind turbines in Haldimand county. A nice trip along the Lake Erie shoreline is next. The last section of the ride involves an old mill on the shoreline of Port Colborne, as you approach you can see big windows that fill the road view ahead, but as you get closer the old mill gets smaller and smaller.... something to do with the rise of the land and the limited view... nevertheless a cool site!
Thru the mountains. Take it slow and easy (enjoy)!
Nice back way from Corning to Bath, NY
A Nice loop around Corning, Caton, West Elmira. Several nice place to stop, ie:
Fran's Landing on Rt 417 (near Addison), and
Tag's on Rt 352 in Big Flats.
Beautifully ride thru the mountains around Pine Creek Valley. A number of good Mountain Bars w/ good food and adult beverages. Many unbelievable short hikes with great vista, water falls, etc.
This is a great ride thru some of the most mountainous area of Pencil-tucky (especially Rt 44 from Coudersport to Waterville.


text:
|Niet op voorraad
Sleeveless lambs leather top
Available in black and cognac
Perfect waistline
ATELIERAMSTRDM (before: NMBRNINE) is a luxurious fashion brand, which specializes in exclusive women's clothes, bags and accessories made from exotic leather like python and lizard. The collections include some very special items, like the python leather biker jacket and soft lambs leather dresses. All the products are made by hand and with the use of only the highest quality of materials.


text:
If you want to become a successful income property investor but are prone to impatience, you may want to steer clear of new condos and budget-busting renos, says the host of HGTV's Income Property.
Licensed contractor Scott McGillivray is an authority on the subject not just because he has his own show, now in its eighth season, but also because he's a well-versed investor with hundreds of properties to his name.
"When you are buying an investment property, it is a little bit different than just looking for a home," says McGillivray, 35, whose show was expanded to an hour last year to devote more time to helping homeowners find the right property in the first place.
"For me, going to an hour allowed me to answer some of those questions. We do the home tours and point out things that I think most conventional people shopping for a property wouldn't particularly (consider)."
McGillivray checks out three to five properties per show and spends about a 1½ hours at each location, where he will do a cursory inspection and renovation estimate. He'll look for costly concerns - like foundation and structural issues and mould and mildew.
He says the toughest task during the house hunt is keeping his clients' emotions in check and focusing on the income potential.
"If I know it's just going to be way out of control with the budget, it's not going to make sense," he says. "The whole idea of what we do is to help people afford their homes and to help people make money in real estate. If I notice right away there is no profitability to be made, then we are looking at the wrong house ... I don't want to see them over-invest."
The income potential creates a "safety net" that protects the homeowner in case of unforeseen things such as market fluctuation, he says. "Our average homeowner is having more than half of their mortgage costs covered by the rental income coming in. So even if you are approved for a $500,000 home, and we buy you a $500,000 home, you are making payments as if it was a $200,000 home."
So where should you put your money? Eight or nine years ago, he may have shown buyers a condo, but now he is steering them away from that market and toward singlefamily dwellings.
"For investment purposes, the prices on condos have risen quite significantly, unproportionally actually, in most markets." He says that when he did invest in condos they were usually older. Now, with the explosion of new builds, featuring elaborate designs and amenities, comes condo fees that are going through the roof, sometimes doubling within the first few years.
"Your profitability in terms of investment is just paid out in condo fees," says McGillivray. "There isn't a lot of control. I prefer to be in the driver's seat, which is why ... I believe in investing in freehold properties."
For those looking to buy a property under market value, he says the best time to buy is now. According to seasonally adjusted figures, prices are reduced by five to seven per cent between October and December.
Once the rent cheques start to flow in, homeowners should expect to build wealth gradually, he says. If they want to make a quick buck they're in the wrong business.
"It's not just about the $800 a month; the tenants are paying down the mortgage, the property is going up in value, there are other elements at play here that take time," he says. "Real estate is a get rich slow process. If you try to get rich quick, you are going to get burnt."
Income Property airs Thursdays at 10 p.m. on HGTV.


text:
A young person talks about discovering their true nature as a boy:
Transcription, from 0:11 to 5:40
Today I'm going to be talking about how I knew I was trans. Probably back in the 3rd grade when I started realizing that I wasn't like other girls. I just loved Pokemon, I loved Dragonball Z, I loved…I didn't really like Dragonball Z. I liked the…Bayblades, I liked, you know, things like that. Things that you don't find in the girl's section of the toy store. Of course I didn't know I was trans at that time, I just knew that I…didn't like doing what other girls liked doing. I hated makeup. I hated pink. I hated dresses. I literally cried at my 8th grade graduation cause my mom forced me to wear a dress. I cried. Like full-blown, tears crying tantrum, I cried. Like, cried. There are several instances in my life that I'm looking back at now and actually cracking up about because it was so blatantly obvious, and no one in my family, no one at all really, knew what transgender was, so obviously no one could really put a term to it.
Liking Pokemon and Beyblades are now signs that a person born female is not really a female after all. Likewise hating pink and makeup. Notice how this young woman was policed into gender roles by her mother, forcing her to wear a dress to her graduation.
The video has many comments, including this comment by a 12 year old child:
My problem is I'm a girl but I don't like it at all, I like to wear guy clothes like collar shirts or loose pants or the guys hip pants were there really loose. I can't tell my family because they will think it just a fase or I'm just a tomboy. As of like you said, I don't like to be indemnified as a girl, I want to known as a guy but I'm scared to talk to m ups rents about it cause I'm only 12 but Im really smart and I'm like an 15 year old. I don't know what to do after and if I tell my parents about it, like will they take me to a doctor or something? Do I get surgery to get rid of chest? How did it work for you? Do u still have a female body or no? Please let me know as soon as possible, thanks: [redacted]
Wanting to wear collar shirts and loose pants: reason to have surgery to remove your chest.
Another comment by a 15 year old male:
Yet another comment:
In a world where toys are more divided by gender now than they were 50 years ago, and where it's easy to find popular videos on YouTube of kids claiming to know they are "really" the opposite sex because they enjoy things meant for the opposite sex, is it really strange that "gender clinics" are seeing a massive rise in referrals?
Like the male child in this article, whose parents took him to multiple psychologists and therapists because he liked "girly" things:
Tru preferred playing with dolls rather than trucks and cars. There was a lot of role playing in female characters, dressing up as a fairy and pretending to have long hair.
Michelle and husband Garfield spoke to the preschool teacher about Tru's behavior and were told at such a young age it's not a flag for anything; kids are just curious and try things out.
"And then it progressed and kept getting stronger and stronger, and every chance she had to dress up she was wearing a dress and fairy wings," says Michelle. "As soon as I got home, I would put on my favourite fairy wings, my favourite sparkly dress, my favourite wig," Tru says.
"It's acceptable for girls to be tomboys," says Michelle. "Who wouldn't want to be masculine and tough? But for boys to persist in [feminine] behavior, it usually is an indicator of something more."
Or how about these siblings, who liked activities not stereotypically associated with their sex:
Beth and her husband Russ — who moved to Cincinnati when kids Russie and Aly were tiny — noticed their children were different from a young age.
At five, Russie liked to play dressing up with girls and Aly, three years younger, preferred to kick a football with the boys.
Or this individual, who felt like he needed "butt pads" to live as his "real me":
When I was a child I played with Barbie dolls and all my friends were girls. I had an automatic bond with everything feminine and beautiful. We had a gorgeous long hallway and every chance I got I would take a few steps, kneel, and pull down my pants. One day when I was five, my mother noticed this and asked, "Why would you do that?" I couldn't explain it and I was scared, knowing she was angry, so I kept quiet. "Never do that again," she told me, and I never did. Later I realized that although I was doing it completely wrong, I was imitating a woman I had seen in a movie, curtsying down that hall.
For Halloween when I was 9, my sister dressed me up in an ugly green gown and grey wig. I felt like a beauty queen, walking up and down the street waving at every car that drove by. My mother couldn't get me in the house, until she finally had enough. That day was the happiest day of my life until I was 22.
It was then I realized I couldn't live the life others wanted me to live, and slowly begin transitioning. I threw away my boy clothes and gradually accumulated everything that I needed to feel like myself: nails, wigs, makeup, clothing, and even butt pads. I was living two lives, male by day, woman by night.
However, many transgender activists are quick to assure everyone that being trans has nothing at all to do with stereotypes.
It has nothing to do with stereotypes, which is why there are multiple threads in reddit's r/asktransgender where people list characteristics that make them realize in retrospect that they are trans (archive), such as:
Visit the linked post for more examples. Being transgender is not about gender stereotypes, except when it is. Which is often.


text:
The Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia
The smooth jawi script, intricately carved with the words 'Tengku Khazijah binti Seri Maharaja Sultan Abdul Jalil, Riau 1127 (Hijrah)', shone brightly in the glass case. The words were inscribed onto a silver tray, replete with small motifs. It must have once been an important household item, used by the Riau royal family. Present in the early days of the Riau Sultanate, it would have been used to carry delicious cooked food, and warm drinks for family members, guests and friends.


text:
- This is a verified supplier can provide quality products and have passed the Business License Check.
Home>Products>peanut sieving machine>Hot Sell Peanuts Sieving Machine Pecan Cashew Sesame Sieving Large Capacity
Hot Sell Peanuts Sieving Machine Pecan Cashew Sesame Sieving Large Capacity
- Original Hot Sell Peanuts Sieving Machine Pecan Cashew Sesame Sieving Large Capacity
- Negotiation
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- Within 5 working days
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Product Description
|Place of Origin :
|Shandong, China (Mainland)
|Brand Name :
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|Model Number :
|1 set
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|Packaging Details :
|strong plywood box or according to customers' requirements
|Delivery Time :
|30 days
|Payment Terms :
Hot Sell Peanuts Sieving Machine Pecan Cashew Sesame Sieving Large Capacity
This machine is divided into large type, medium type and small type, compact structure,
reliable performance, convenient operation, sorting 2 - 6 specifications, a single screening
can meet customers' demands.
Peanut sieving machine absorbed the advantages of similar products at home and abroad with compact structure, reasonable, high efficiency, save energy consumption and easy to use. It has the characteristic such as being reliable, applicable in selected peanut kernels and achieve precise classification standard. The sprocket, chain drive push rod, sieve body smooth reciprocating screening, the screen piece are made with iron plate punching, each layer sieve body are returned to the disc, it can make the material in the screen piece by the whole process above screening, and clear materials in the halfway or front screen that is caused by the classification is not clear into the disadvantages, and each layer sieve bottom after all have certain lists, facilitate the material flow smoothly.
Main parameter of the machine:
Sorter Level: 5 level
Sorter way: by size
Size: 1800*1600*1200
Compact structure Strong Durability High efficiency Easy to use
Model: SX800 Peanut sieving machine
Capacity: 2.5~4t/hr
Power: 1.5kw
Installation size: 3350*1350*1750mm
Net Weight: 1100kg
Model: SX1000 Peanut sieving machine
Capacity: 4-5t/hr
Power: 2.2kw
Installation size: 3800*1670*1500mm
Net Weight: 1850kg
Our company
our factory and workshop
Our service
a.) Consultation service before, during, and after sales;
b.) Project planning and design service;
c.) Debugging of equipment until everything is functional;
d.) Management of equipments' long distance shipping from seller's factory to the named place by buyer;
e.) Training of equipment maintenance and operating personally;
f.) New production techniques and formulas;
g.) Provide 1 year complete warranty and life-time maintenance service.
By strong plywood box or according to customers' requirements
By sea from Qingdao, China
Welcome to visit our factory and company, hope we can reach a long-time cooperation
If you have any questions about our products, please feel free to contact us, we will try our best to find suitable products for you!
We are committed to Peanut Sieving Machine industry
Contact Us
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Product Categories
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New Products
- Electric Peanuts Sieving Machine Soybean Grain Groundnuts Kernel Sieving
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- Large Capacity Peanuts Sieving Machine Pecan Almond Cashew Kernel Classifying Durable
- Peanuts Sieving Machine For nuts High Effiency and Energy Saving Commercial Use
- Large Capacity Peanuts Sieving Machine Nuts Kernel Shelling High Efficiency


text:
Healing Powers of Al-Asma al-Husna
It has been discovered by Doctor Ibrahim Karim (Biologist) that Asma ul Husna, most beautiful names of Allah (SWT) have healing power to a large number of diseases.
He used precision methods in the measurement of energy within the human body and discovered that every one of the names of Allah (SWT) stimulates energy in the immune system of the human body to work efficiently in a certain ideal human body.
He discovered that the mere mention (reciting) of most beautiful names of Allah (SWT) leads to improvement in the tracks Bio Energy within the human body, and after a 3-years of research Doctor Ibrahim Karim reached to the following:
01. Ear - As Sami (The all Hearing)
02. Bone - An Nafi (The creator of good)
03. Backbone - Al Jabbar (The Compeller)
04. Knee - Al Ra uf (The Clement)
05. Hair - Al Badi (The Originator)
06. Heart - Al Nur (The Light)
07. Muscles - Al Qawi (The All Strength)
08. Heart Waves - Al Wahab (The giver of All)
09. Heart Muscle - Al Razaqq (The Sustainer)
10. Nerve - Al Mughni (The Enricher)
11. Artery - Al Jabbar (The Compeller)
12. Stomach - Al Razaqq (The Sustainer)
13. Cancer - Al Jalil (The Mighty)
14. Thyroid - Al Jabbar (The Compeller)
15. Thigh- Al Rafi (The Exalter)
16. Migraine - Al Ghani (The Rich One)
17. Eye Arteries - Al Muta ali (The Supreme One)
18. Kidney - Al Hayy (The Ever Living One)
19. Colon - Al Ra uf (The Clement)
20. Intestine - Al Razzaq (The Sustainer)
21. Liver - Al Nafi (The creator of good)
22. Pancreas - Al Bari (The Make of Order)
23. Fatty Sacks - Al Nafi (The creator of good)
24. Womb - Al Khaliq (The Creator)
25. Bladder - Al Hadi (The Guide)
26. Rheumatism - Al Muhaymin (The Guardian)
27. Prostat - Al Rashid (The Righteous Teacher)
28. Nerves of the Eye - Al Zahir (The Manifest One)
29. Pineal Gland - Al Hadi (The Guide)
30. Blood Pressure - Al Khafed (The Abaser)
31. Lung - Al Razzaq (The Sustainer)
32. Thymus Gland - Al Qawi (The All Strength)
33. Gland above the Kidney - Al Bari (The Make of Order)
34. Hair Peel - Al Jalil (The Mighty)
35. The Nasal Cavities - (Al Latif, Al Ghani, Al Raheem)
36. Eye - (Al Nur, Al Basir, Al Wahab)
Method of treatment: Lay your hands on the place of pain and praise Allah (SWT) names above according to your disease until the pain heals or cure away Insha Allah.
Note: Please keep in mind whatever takes place in result of reciting the names of Allah (SWT) depends on the will of Allah, the Almighty
8 hours ago


text: 3.01 Kirin 1.2.3900.21605 Portable Application Description, or PAD for short, is a data set that is used by shareware authors to disseminate information to anyone interested in their software products. To find out more go to http://www.asp-shareware.org/pad Pmcc Lisboa Portugal http://pmcchp.com/cardshark/index.html Pedro Cardoso firstname.lastname@example.com Pedro Cardoso email@example.com firstname.lastname@example.com firstname.lastname@example.com email@example.com CardShark 3.6.3902.15263 9 7 2010 0 Freeware Minor Update Install and Uninstall Windows 2000,Windows XP,Windows Server 2003,Windows Vista/Server 2008,Windows 7/Server 2008 R2 English Utilities System Utilities::Other .NET Framework 3.5 9347584 9128 8.91 N Days CardShark, Pmcc CardShark is a card game compilation with Blackjack, Euchre, Espadinha, Hearts, Kemps, Sobe e Desce, Spades, Sueca and Poker. CardShark is a card game compilation with Blackjack, Euchre, Espadinha, Hearts, Kemps, Sobe e Desce, Spades, Sueca and Poker. CardShark is a card game compilation with Blackjack, Euchre, Espadinha, Hearts, Kemps, Sobe e Desce, Spades, Sueca and Poker. http://pmcchp.com/cardshark/index.html http://pmcchp.com/cardshark/images/i1.jpg http://pmcchp.com/downloads/cardshark.zip END-USER LICENSE AGREEMENT FOR PMCC SOFTWARE IMPORTANT-READ CAREFULLY: This PMCC End-User License Agreement ("EULA") is a legal agreement between you (either an individual or a single entity) and PMCC Corporation ("PMCC") for the PMCC software product identified below, which includes computer software and may include associated media, printed materials, and "online" or electronic documentation ("PRODUCT"). By installing, copying, or otherwise using the PRODUCT, you agree to be bound by the terms of this EULA. If you do not agree to the terms of this EULA, do not install, copy or use the PRODUCT. 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In Press
Adaptive Coding for Dynamic Sensory Inference. eLife (In Press).
Comparing human and monkey neural circuits for processing social scenes. Organization for Computational Neurosciences - CNS 2018 (In Press). at <http://www.cnsorg.org/cns-2018>
Development of automated interictal spike detector. 40th International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society - EMBC 2018 (In Press). at <https://embc.embs.org/2018/>
Image interpretation above and below the object level. Proceedings of the Royal Society: Interface Focus (In Press). 2018-BenYosef_Ullman-Image_interpretation_above_and_below the object_level.pdf (3.26 MB)
Learning scene gist with convolutional neural networks to improve object recognition. 2018 52nd Annual Conference on Information Sciences and Systems (CISS) (In Press). doi:10.1109/CISS.2018.8362305 08362305.pdf (3.17 MB)
Lucky or clever? From changed expectations to attributions of responsibility. Cognition (In Press).
The ability to predict actions of others from distributed cues is still developing in children. PsyArXiv Preprints (2020). doi:10.31234/osf.io/pu3tf Action_prediction_in_children.pdf (427.84 KB)
Scale and translation-invariance for novel objects in human vision. Scientific Reports 10, (2020). s41598-019-57261-6.pdf (1.46 MB)
An analysis of training and generalization errors in shallow and deep networks. (2019). CBMM-Memo-098.pdf (687.36 KB) CBMM Memo 098 v4 (08/2019) (2.63 MB)
Are topographic deep convolutional neural networks better models of the ventral visual stream?. Conference on Cognitive Computational Neuroscience (2019).
Beating SGD Saturation with Tail-Averaging and Minibatching. Neural Information Processing Systems (NeurIPS 2019) (2019). 9422-beating-sgd-saturation-with-tail-averaging-and-minibatching.pdf (389.35 KB)
Biologically-Plausible Learning Algorithms Can Scale to Large Datasets. International Conference on Learning Representations (2019).
Blind Constant Modulus Multiuser Detection via Low-Rank Approximation. IEEE Signal Processing Letters 1 - 1 (2019). doi:10.1109/LSP.9710.1109/LSP.2019.2918001
Brain Signals Localization by Alternating Projections. arXiv (2019). CBMM-Memo-099.pdf (421.67 KB)
Brain-Like Object Recognition with High-Performing Shallow Recurrent ANNs. 33rd Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems (NeurIPS 2019) (2019). 2019-10-28 NeurIPS-camera_ready.pdf (1.88 MB)
Constant modulus algorithms via low-rank approximation. Signal Processing 160, 263 - 270 (2019).
Data for free: Fewer-shot algorithm learning with parametricity data augmentation. ICLR 2019 (2019).
Deep neural network models of sensory systems: windows onto the role of task constraints. Current Opinion in Neurobiology 55, 121 - 132 (2019).
Deep Recurrent Architectures for Seismic Tomography. 81st EAGE Conference and Exhibition 2019 (2019).
Direct Localization by Partly Calibrated Arrays: A Relaxed Maximum Likelihood Solution. 27th European Signal Processing Conference, EUSIPCO 2019 (2019). at <http://eusipco2019.org/technical-program>
Divergence in the functional organization of human and macaque auditory cortex revealed by fMRI responses to harmonic tones. Nature Neuroscience (2019). doi:10.1038/s41593-019-0410-7
Double descent in the condition number. (2019). Fixing typos, clarifying error in y, best approach is crossvalidation (837.18 KB) Edits, adding bound for test error, stability (845.63 KB) Added words and a footnote (887.9 KB) Incorporated footnote in text plus other edits (854.05 KB) Deleted previous discussion on kernel regression and deep nets: it will appear, extended, in a separate paper (795.28 KB)
Draping an Elephant: Uncovering Children's Reasoning About Cloth-Covered Objects. Cognitive Science Society (2019). at <https://mindmodeling.org/cogsci2019/papers/0506/index.html> Draping an Elephant: Uncovering Children's Reasoning About Cloth-Covered Objects.pdf (2.62 MB)
Evidence that recurrent circuits are critical to the ventral stream's execution of core object recognition behavior. Nature Neuroscience (2019). doi:10.1038/s41593-019-0392-5 Author's last draft (1.74 MB)


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What does the (draft) Republican Platform say about creating jobs? The meat of the plan is to do the infrastructure projects they have been blocking!
The Record
Let's look at the jobs proposals in the (draft) Republican platform. But first for context: In the last month of the Bush presidency the economy lost 815,000 jobs.
The first chapter of the The final language of the 2012 Republican Party Platform is titled, Restoring the American Dream:Rebuilding the Economy and Creating Jobs.
The beginning of this section makes the claim that the current administration has enacted, "policies which, for the last three and a half years, have stifled growth,destroyed jobs, halted investment, created unprece-dented uncertainty, and prolonged the worst eco-nomic downturn since the Great Depression. "
Here is the record:
The Proposals
The platform offers a prescription for creating jobs:
The tax system must be simplified. Government spending and regulation must be reined in. American companies must be more competitive in the world market, and we must be aggressive in promoting U.S. products abroad and securing open markets for them. A federal-State-private partnership must invest in the nation's infrastructure: roads, bridges, airports, ports, and water systems, among others. Federal training programs have to be overhauled and made relevant for the workplace of the twenty-first century. Potential employers need certainty and predictability for their hiring decisions, and the team of a Republican President and Congress will create the confidence that will get Americans back to work.
Note that several of the following sections have little, if anything, to do with creating jobs. But they are in the job-creation section, so…
From the draft platform, it's all about more money for those who already have lots of it:
- Extend the 2001 and 2003 tax relief packages—commonly known as the Bush tax cuts—pending reform of the tax code, to keep tax rates from rising on income, interest, dividends, and capital gains;
- Reform the tax code by reducing marginal tax rates by 20 percent across-the-board in a revenue-neutral manner;
- Eliminate the taxes on interest, dividends,and capital gains altogether for lower and middle-income taxpayers;
- End the Death Tax;
- and Repeal the Alternative Minimum Tax.
Corporate taxes:
- a reduction of thecorporate rate to keep U.S. corporations competitive internationally, with a permanent research and development tax credit, and a repeal of the corporate alternative minimum tax.
- switch to a territorial system of corporate taxation
- any value added tax or national sales tax must be tied to the simultaneous repeal of the Sixteenth Amendment, which established the federal income tax.
Cutting Spending
The "Balancing the Budget" section of the "job creation" chapter of the platform specifically calls for ending Medicare and replacing it with a voucher program, which the Romney/Ryan campaign denies is the plan:
Medicare, in particular, is the largest driver of future debt. Our reform of healthcare will empower mil-lions of seniors to control their personal healthcare decisions, unlike Obamacare that empowered a handful of bureaucrats to cut Medicare in ways that will deny care for the elderly.
(Note - the budget was balanced at the end of the Clinton presidency, before the very Bush tax cuts that the Republican platform calls for continuing and extending.)
The platform calls for a Balanced Budget Amendment, "a Constitutional amendment requiring asuper-majority for any tax increase, with exceptionsfor only war and national emergencies, and imposing a cap limiting spending to the historical average percentage of GDP so that future Congresses cannot balance the budget by raising taxes."
Inflation And The Federal Reserve
The Republican platform is very concerned with the inflation problem, and says inflation "transfers wealth from Main Street to Wall Street." (Actually, economists will explain that it does the opposite.)
The platform gets something right -- it calls for transparency and accountability from the Federal Reserve, and an annual audit.
Gold Standard. To "clean up the wreckage of the current Administration's policies, we propose a … commission to investigate possible ways to set a fixed value for the dollar."
Apparently Obama caused the housing crash because it occurred "over the last four years." The Obama administration has done little to clean up the mess, and made it worse by somehow, "discouraging private sector investment."
Financial Regulation
Apparently the real job killer has been regulation of the financial industry:
"Making matters worse, the Congress, under Democrat control, enacted the Dodd-Frank Act, a massive labyrinth of costly new regulations that deter lenders from lending to creditworthy homebuyers and that disproportionately harms small and community banks."
Government, not Wall Street caused the financial crisis. The job-creation section of the platform says:
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were a primary cause of the housing crisis because their implicit government guarantee allowed them to avoid market discipline and make risky investments. Their favored political status enriched their politically-connected executives and their shareholders at the expense of the nation.
The Meat Of The Plan: Do The Infrastructure Projects They Kept Obama From Doing
Finally the "job creation" section gets to its point: infrastructure, the very "government spending" that the Republicans have been blocking. Infrastructure is the "you didn't build that" part of what government does to create the conditions for businesses to thrive.
America's infrastructure networks are critical foreconomic growth, international competitiveness, and national security.
… What most Americans take for granted—the safety and availability of our water supply—is in perilous condition. Engineering surveys report crumbling drinking water systems, aging dams, and overwhelmed wastewater infrastructure. Investmentin these areas, as well as with levees and inland waterways, can renew communities, attract businesses,and create jobs. Most importantly, it can assure the health and safety of the American people.
Etc… This is the meat of the Republican plan to create jobs. If they are elected, they will begin a massive infrastructure maintenance and modernization effort, which will employ millions. This is precisely what they have been blocking President Obama from doing. It's called The American Jobs Act.
Yahoo News: Republicans filibuster Obama infrastructure bill
Fifty-one senators voted for a measure to promote job growth by providing $60 billion to fund transportation projects and create a new infrastructure bank. … But because Republicans mounted a filibuster, 60 votes were needed to begin debate.
Austin American-Statesman: GOP filibuster blocks Obama's jobs plan,
United against President Barack Obama, Senate Republicans voted Tuesday night to kill the jobs package the president had spent weeks campaigning for across the country, a stinging loss at the hands of lawmakers opposed to stimulus-style spending and a tax increase on the very wealthy.
AFL-CIO Blog: Republicans Prefer Filibuster to Putting Americans Back to Work,
All 46 Senate Republicans voted against President Obama's American Jobs Act Monday evening. With 60 votes needed to end the Republican filibuster against the act that would create as many as 2 million new jobs and keep 280,000 teachers from being laid off. This bill is unlikely to see any other action.
The platform also calls for getting rid of Amtrack and stopping any further development of high-speed rail, so the oil companies can maintain dominance.
Along with calling for a a territorial system of corporate taxation, which gives companies incentive to move jobs and production out of the country, the Republican platform calls for more NAFTA-style trade agreements.
The platform calls for action to confront China over their currency manipulation, even as House Republican leadership is blocking the bill to confront China over currency manipulation, passed by the Senate and co-sponsored by over 60 House Republicans!
Worker Training
Even as they call for less government involvement, they call for government to take over from companies the responsibility to do more worker training.
They also call for replacing high-paid American professionals with lower-paid foreign workers, through "strategic immigration, granting more work visas to holders of advanced degrees inscience, technology, engineering, and math from other nations. Highly educated immigrants can a-sist in creating new services and products. "
Finally, Get Rid Of Unions
The last section of the "job creation" chapter of the platform calls for changing the National Labor Relations Board back into the Bush-era anti-union agency. Also,
We demand an end to the Project Labor Agreements; and we call for repeal of the Davis-Bacon Act, which costs the taxpayers billions of dollars annually in artificially high wages on government projects. We support the right of States to enact Right-to-Work laws and encourage them to do so to promote greater economic liberty.
Ultimately, we support the enactment of a National Right-to-Work law to promote worker freedom and to promote greater economic liberty.
They also propose prohibiting unions from political activity.


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Cinderella of public health braces itself for a cultural shift
New plans are in place to target the long waiting lists for orthodontic treatment
Stacey McNulty before her treatment.
Stacey McNulty after her treatment. Stacey is one of the success stories of public health orthodontic services.
Jason Sheridan after his treatment.
Jason Sheridan before his treatment.
Dympna Kavanagh, Chief Dental officer at the Department of Health in Limerick. Photograph: Brian Gavin/Press 22
The public health orthodontic service has been hit hard by the recruitment embargo in the health service.
In some areas children requiring orthodontic intervention, and even surgery, are being placed on waiting lists that have no end. There are no dates given for the commencement of treatment, or even for a consultation appointment with an orthodontist.
This is certainly the case in the area the HSE calls Dublin North East (DNE), which covers not only the northern half of the Dublin area but also counties Meath, Louth, Cavan and Monaghan.
In letters sent to parents of children in the Dublin area who have been identified as having orthodontic needs, which have been seen by The Irish Times , managers state, "I am therefore unable to advise you of how long X will remain on our waiting list before being offered a treatment place. Please note that at this point, we have children in X's category awaiting treatment since January 2008 . . ."
The general impression given by this letter was not improved by the fact that although the child concerned had an identifiably female Christian name she was referred to at the outset as "your son, X".
The parents of this child acknowledge her case is not of the highest medical priority. Nevertheless she is a teenager with a prominent jaw and overcrowded teeth.
In fact, this teenager has been recommended for surgical realignment of her jaw.
In preparation for that operation, braces must be worn for several years, but she has not yet been given a date, or even a year, in which the operation might take place, or in which the fitting of braces might begin.
Her mother would like the opportunity to talk over the treatment options for her daughter. She is worried at the prospect of an operation and would like to discuss an alternative to surgery. "But there's no prospect of an appointment to do that," she told The Irish Times .
It is generally accepted that the DNE region, with its burgeoning young population and lower income levels, is at the sharp end of the problems facing the public orthodontic services.
Last autumn the Orthodontic Society of Ireland pointed out that children in that area can wait up to four years for treatment and bemoaned the fact that more orthodontists are not employed by the public service.
DNE has one consultant and eight specialist orthodontists working full-time, with a ninth working part-time. But the whole system is struggling, with varying degrees of success.
"Not too bad," said one orthodontist working outside Dublin. Another said she was sick of the negative picture of the service being painted, while positive patient outcomes were ignored.
"We have a good manager who does her best. Parents should not be panicked by waiting times," this orthodontist said.
Willing to travel
As well as juggling the waiting lists, staff can sometimes use less busy, outlying surgeries in their area if patients are willing to travel. DNE, for example, refers Dublin patients to its surgeries in Navan and Dundalk.
Patients can be referred to the private sector for some procedures and patients can be referred to hospitals and dentists in Northern Ireland; this is already happening in the Sligo area.
It's hard to measure the orthodontic problem using any tools other than the number of specialists – or lack of same – and the length of waiting lists.
For example, according to HSE South, in the Cork and Kerry area which, for many years, was a black spot, it has two consultant orthodontists, four and a half specialists and a connection to dental post-graduates at University College Cork dental school.
All staffing levels are under pressure.
According to the statement from HSE South, its orthodontic services receive 200 referrals a month. Waiting times for treatment extend from three and a half to seven and a half years. Areas, such as DNE in which initial assessment is fast, have more children on their lists.
And with the system of grading patients' needs, it is the less compromised who are a long time on the list.
Dympna Kavanagh, who was appointed chief dental officer at the Department of Health last year, wants to look at the whole dental system a little differently.
She is more worried about adults than she is about children. Some years ago a colleague was asked to supply a denture for the corpse of an old lady, for the purposes of her funeral. The old lady had to die before she got any dental care.
"We have no information about old people. We have huge problems in nursing homes," says Kavanagh.
"I have a real concern also for adults with special needs. The waiting list for them in some areas is up to four years." As she says herself, "There's nothing sexy about adult special needs in the profession."
Cohort of specialists
By contrast, the orthodontic beat seems well patrolled, not least by its cohort of specialists.
Dentistry is the Cinderella of public health.
"Oral health wasn't even in the National Service Plan until January 2014," says Kavanagh. And orthodontics is an island within public dentistry. It's not all bad – for many years, on its island, orthodontics made its own arrangements, unsupervised and unintegrated. For example, Fiona Murphy, as operations manager for the Louth region, is responsible for orthodontics but not dentistry.
But in the absence of a national plan for dentistry as a whole, resources were allotted piecemeal or, as Murphy and Kavanagh frankly put it at a meeting with The Irish Times at the Department of Health, "To whoever shouted loudest." It was here, in the allocation of resources, that D N E suffered .
However, DNE's crisis may be the national public dental service's opportunity. Or one of its opportunities.
First of all there will be new information gathered, using new key performance indicators; not least, information about those waiting lists.
"I want a footfall figure," says Kavanagh. "We want to know waiting figures. Nationally, 7-10 per cent of children with orthodontic needs are not even seen within a year. No one is happy with that."
The problem is getting into the system. Once in the system, both parents and children are satisfied, if not downright impressed, by the service. "But," acknowledges Murphy, "there is this cliff fall before you're seen."
According to Kavanagh, "Parents want to be seen faster – even if it is bad news – so they can start saving." She is talking about the parents whose children may not be eligible for public health dentistry, and have to stump up the the heavy price of private orthodontics for their children.
But there is a new plan to break the log-jam in public orthodontic waiting lists.
In other European countries, including the UK, orthodontics is much more integrated into general dentistry.
More specifically, a specially trained orthodontics therapist – not a dentist – can perform the routine maintenance work that takes up so much of the orthodontist's time. There is a plan in place now for dental nurses and hygienists to train as these new therapists.
Cultural shift
The idea of orthodontic therapists has been around since 2003, but never acted on. Since the economic disaster though there has been what Kavanagh calls "a cultural shift".
In other words, new, perhaps lower-key attitudes to getting things done. An orthodontic specialist costs the taxpayer €140,000 to €160,00 per annum. One of the new therapists will cost between €40,000and €60,000.
It is no wonder then that Kavanagh says "the Minister is enthusiastic" about the new scheme.
The first to volunteer for the pilot scheme, under which dental nurses and hygienists will be given a year's supervised training in orthodontics, was Dr Pat McSherry, the consultant orthodontist in DNE. The Mid West area followed. The two trainees from Dublin North will begin in September, with McSherry as their mentor.
Case study: Jason Sheridan
Jason Sheridan is now 20, and studying environmental science at Dublin City University. He doesn't look like a boy who had his upper jaw pulled apart and then put together again. But this is exactly what happened to him. Jason is a success story from the extremely pressurised area of the orthodontic service, Dublin North East .
Despite all its difficulties Jason's father, Mark Sheridan, says he cannot praise the service given to Jason enough.
Jason had what is known as a negative overjet – or severe mandibular prognathism – which the public health dentists were worried about. "It didn't bother me that much, I kind of got by on it," says Jason. "It's in the family, it's on my mam's side." His mother, Lucinda, nods as she sits in the Swords family home .
Jason is the second youngest of five children . Jason has two older sisters who had similar orthodontic problems which were handled differently. One sister was treated privately and ultimately did not have surgery; one sister went public, needed only bands, and was treated fairly successfully. "So by the time we got to Jason, we knew what to do," Lucinda says.
Jason was put on the list for surgery to realign his jaw. He was referred by the HSE to a dentist in the private sector to have his four wisdom teeth removed. He had to be fitted with bands before the operation could happen. This involved his father, Mark, driving him to regular appointments at the Ashtown Gate Clinic on the Navan Road. "But then Dundalk came on board and things moved faster," says Jason.
Patients at the extremely busy Ashtown Gate facility are offered the option of being seen in the less crowded facilities at Navan and Dundalk, which are part of the Dublin North East area. Many parents baulk at the prospect of driving children to clinics outside the city during the working week. But Jason's father, Mark, who works as a sales representative, was on the road anyway.
"When I was 16 or 17 they put on braces," says Jason. The braces were adjusted every three to six months at first, then left at the last stage "for a good year".
By now Lucinda was driving Jason to see his surgeon, Gerard Kearns, at St James's Hospital.
"We went through the options, whether to operate on the upper or lower jaw," says Jason. "With the lower jaw there's a risk of cutting the mandible nerve." That is, of cutting it and the nerve failing to grow back.
As it was, Jason experienced numbness rather than pain after the operation as the nerves in the upper jaw mended. "It healed up quick enough," he says. He had the operation in April 2013, and was able to travel abroad by June. "I would recommend it," he says, and now he has a girlfriend. " I met her a few weeks before the operation. She says she would have liked me as well if I hadn't had it, but the type of problem I had can get worse in later life. It can progress. So I would recommend it."
Case study: Stacey McNulty
Stacey McNulty has clear views on how you feel with unsightly, crooked teeth. "Teeth are a big factor in people's lives," she says.
"People are very conscious of how they look in pictures, of how they look when they smile. I don't think they should have to wait, just because it's their teeth."
Stacey is a 16 year old with a dazzling smile, but she remembers the misery she felt about her teeth, with what her orthodontist, Dr Ciara Scott, describes as very severe crowding and displacement .
Stacey's two canine teeth were high up in her gum, with no room for them in the normal arch of teeth. "Dr Scott did a fabulous job," says Stacey. "She brought them down somehow."
Similar problems
Two of Stacey's aunts and an uncle and her mother, Carmel, all had similar problems.
It took a lot of hard work over three years from Scott, specialist orthodontist at the HSE's regional orthodontic unit at St Columcille's Hospital in Loughlinstown in HSE's Dublin South region, and from Stacey herself, to change this.
The bands finally came off last summer. "I'm very happy now," says Stacey.
Stacey is one of the success stories of public health orthodontic services, to which she was referred by the public health dentist who visited her when she was in her first year at St Tiernan's Community School in Sandyford, Co Dublin.
Serves people well
Despite recruitment embargoes, cutbacks and an unwieldy bureaucracy, staff, parents and young patients are eager to point out that the public dental health system can still serve people very well.
"We are treating the most complex and challenging cases," says Scott. "That makes our work very rewarding."
Scott points out that Stacey waited two years, on a Grade 4 waiting list.
Stacey cannot praise Scott highly enough.
"She's so nice, it's like we've gained a friend," says Stacey. "It was a long process to get where I am now but it was definitely worth it."
Her case study was presented by Scott at the Orthodontic Society of Ireland's annual conference case study competition and it won.