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It would be no surprise to know how popular cryptocurrencies have become in the global market given their current demand. If you're already aware of the cryptocurrencies then there's a high chance of you being familiar with cryptocurrency exchanges as well. A lot of interested investors went on to look at the top cryptocurrency exchanges at Reddit. On finding out, we came across a list of some of the best cryptocurrency exchanges Reddit recommended. Before we dive into the list, let's find out what a cryptocurrency exchange is all about.
What is a Cryptocurrency Exchange?
A cryptocurrency exchange is a platform or more precisely, an online portal, that allows you to buy, sell, or exchange cryptocurrencies for other ones or even a fiat currency like US dollars, UK pounds, or Euro, depending upon the type of exchange.
There are different types of cryptocurrencies exchanges that offer the facility of professional trading, occasional trading, or even broker trading. There are trading platforms that allow you to trade cryptocurrencies professionally and require you to verify your ID and open an account. On the other hand, there are exchanges that help you make occasional, upfront trade without requiring you to set up an account. With broker trading platforms, you can trade cryptocurrencies in the price set by the broker.
Since you already know cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, and the other leading cryptocurrencies are slowly paving their ways to success, this is the right time to invest in them if you are really keen on trying your luck in the markets.
Best Cryptocurrency Exchanges Reddit Recommendations
To begin investing in a cryptocurrency of your choice, you need to first look out for the cryptocurrency exchange that can help you in trading the digital currencies. With abundant of cryptocurrency exchanges out there in the market, we have made the job easier for you by listing some of the best ones as also recommended by Reddit.
Reddit is an online forum where various users gather from all across the globe and share their opinions and views on diverse topics. We have picked out the best cryptocurrency exchanges that have been repeatedly discussed by users in the top cryptocurrency groups and communities available on Reddit.
Following is a list of best cryptocurrency exchanges for your reference in no particular order.
Binance is regarded as one of the most popular cryptocurrency exchanges worldwide. You can go ahead with this exchange if your sole focus lies in trading in cryptocurrencies only. Hailing from China, this exchange offers impressive features along with charging a low trading fee. Binance has its own coin named as BNB (Binance coin.) Since it's a centralized exchange, a trader can get decent discounts if they chose to conduct trade in their town BNB tokens. Furthermore, it allows you to register and operate on both web and mobile (iOS and Android) interfaces, making your trading experience simple and user-friendly.
Bittrex is a US-based cryptocurrency exchange which is also known as one of the leading crypto exchanges across the world. It allows users to trade in a large number of trading crypto pairs. You can buy major cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and many other leading altcoins on this exchange platform. If reliable security is your major concern, then you should go for Bittrex as it offers 2FA. It is well-regulated as well as compliant with the rules of the US.
Bitfinex is yet another popular cryptocurrency exchange platform that lets you trade cryptocurrencies of your choice conveniently. With its headquarter based in Hong Kong, Bitfinex has seen great levels of success since it was founded back in 2012. The reliability of this popular exchange can be measured in terms of its daily trading volumes having a net worth of around USD 1 billion. It's highly customizable interface platform makes it easy for the newbies as well as the professional traders to conduct the trading process.
CEX.io is another cryptocurrency exchange to have emerged as a success in the crypto market. Users can conveniently trade fiat money with cryptocurrencies and vice versa using this cryptocurrency exchange platform. It provides user-friendly and customized trading dashboards and margin trading to those who want to professionally trade Bitcoins. Moreover, CEX also provides a brokerage service which helps beginners buy Bitcoin at prices that may or may not be in accordance with the market rate. The website of its platform is extremely secure, storing your cryptocurrencies in safe cold storage.
Starting off its operations in 2014, the US-based Poloniex is being regarded as a preferred cryptocurrency exchange for trading by the users who want to trade Ether. This platform holds the highest volume for Ether and supports both Ethereum and Bitcoin markers independently. Like Bittrex, this is also a crypto-only exchange, allowing you to trade by depositing Tether dollars. The fee it charges depends upon your choice whether you are a market maker or a taker and can range from 0.15% to 0.25% accordingly. The only possible downside of Poloniex is that it doesn't come with a mobile app. It only allows you to trade cryptos on its web-based exchange platform. This exchange suits really well to the professional traders but might be a bit challenging for the amateurs.
Kraken was found in 2011 and since then it has only gone higher by becoming one of the largest cryptocurrency exchange in euro volume and liquidity and also being a partner of the first cryptocurrency bank. Trading of Bitcoins with fiat currencies as well as other cryptocurrencies is possible with Kraken. This cryptocurrency exchange offers margin trading and a bunch of other trading features for highly experienced users, thus becoming more suitable for them.
When we're talking about world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges, how can we skip mentioning about Coinbase? Coinbase enjoys the title of being one of the most well-known trading platform and brokers for USD transactions in the world. Digital currency can be security bought, used, stored, and traded on this platform. Headquartered in San Francisco, it has been in operation since 2011 and is generally considered as the most secure and reliable cryptocurrency exchange with over 13 million users. Users can purchase cryptos through a digital wallet available on their iPhone and Android or they can also purchase through trading with other users on the company's subsidiary, GDAX, which allows professionals to trade digital assets. The only drawback of using this platform is that it charges a high amount of trading fee.


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By Prime Publishing
Imagine rest room paper rolls are only trash? reassess! This e-book is stuffed with artistic makes use of for empty cardboard rest room paper rolls. think it or no longer, you can also make every little thing from table organizers to ornamental wall artwork with quite a few reasonably cheap provides. Use your mind's eye and discover your curiosity in green crafts as you create goods for your self, friends and family. supply the various crafts as presents yet make sure to avoid wasting for your self – you'll certainly are looking to blow their own horns your designs.
Read or Download 14 Toilet Paper Roll Craft Ideas PDF
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When wondering whether it's a good time to kiss your partner or not, look into their eyes. Do they look keen and interested? Are they encouraging you to get closer? If they are then great, if not then pick a better time when they aren't so distracted. 138. To avoid awkwardness, move slowly. Moving in too fast can make your partner uncomfortable. As you move in, make sure that you're both in a comfortable position so that you avoid clashing noses! 139. If you're worried that a full-on kiss may scare her off, why not just brush her cheek lightly with your lips?
Another common fear of many men is the shape of their penis. Some men become concerned because their penis bends downwards, or to the left, but be assured they come in all shapes and sizes. 262. What time of day you have sex doesn't really matter – choosing the right moment is what counts. Some couples are wide awake and ready to enjoy sex first thing in the morning, others couldn't think of anything worse. 263. If your partner is much more of an afternoon person and the time is right, then go for it, when hopefully your energy levels will be high and you'll both be on a roll.
If you take your time and go slowly then first-time sex can be a wonderful experience for both of you. 222. Talk things through with your partner so that you both know exactly where you stand and how far you want to go in the physical relationship. 223. If you are young and can confide about first-time sex in a trustworthy adult, then great. They may well be able to advise you on your decision and perhaps make you appreciate that it's fine to be ruled by your head and not your heart so that you don't end up taking a step you will regret.

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Movements for 2nd January 2009
Posted in Movement
Haverfordwest Movements:
G-IANJ C150K Touch and Go's noted 1300 to 1330 departed on a local flight at 1435.
Helimed57E G-WAAS MBB 105 lifted from Withybush Hospital to Swansea for Fuel 1317
G-CECV Vans RV7 heard operating to the field 1319 intention not heard. Heard Leaving the circuit at 1326… returning home to base at 1446
G-**SJ possibly heard calling the field 1423 Could this be G-BRSJ from Swansea?
G-**OR/OG heard calling also before the above but unable to confirm OR or if it was OG.
G-BPWR C172K II inbound the field at 1438
Manorbier Range Movements:
Castlemartin Range Movements:
Ranges UnActive


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Sometimes, due to disease or bone atrophy, many teeth in the mouth are in need of being replaced. When this is the case, a full-arch restoration can be used to replace an entire row of teeth at one time. Similar to a single dental implant, a full-arch restoration can provide you with long-lasting, natural-looking results that will keep you smiling for years to come with proper oral care, such as regular brushing and flossing. This procedure can be done using as few as four dental implant posts to attach a full row of artificial teeth.
Some of our patients have shared their stories about receiving a full-arch restoration at our practice. Please listen to them talk about their positive experiences with The Oral Surgery & Dental Implant Specialists of San Diego so that you can rest assured knowing that our oral surgeons are highly skilled and able to fully restore your smile.
If you need to replace entire arch of teeth, you may be interested in learning more about full-arch restoration. Full-arch restoration is an exciting treatment that utilizes as few as four to six dental plants for fully functional and natural-looking new teeth. We find that many of our patients are good candidates for full-arch restoration even if they have bone loss and are not ideal candidates for dental implants. Like individual dental implants, this solution can prevent bone loss and other oral health problems but is more cost-effective and requires less surgery than individual implants. Our patients that choose full-arch restoration can enjoy a new arch of teeth that is permanent and secure. During your consultation with Dr. Koshgerian or Dr. Shelton at one of our locations in San Diego, you and your doctor will decide if this is the optimal treatment option for you based on your individual condition.
Full-arch replacement restores smiles and oral health benefits, just like individual implants — but with a reduced recovery time for a faster, brand-new smile.
This dental implant-based tooth replacement solution is popular at our practice for several reasons:
The results of full-arch replacement are so lifelike that you will once again be able to enjoy the foods that you love and speak and smile with confidence. Your new smile will be custom-designed for your mouth and can last a lifetime if cared for well.
This treatment is performed by your oral surgeon in collaboration with a restorative dentist, who will design and create your custom dental prosthesis. The first step is a visit to our practice for your consultation, during which time we will use advanced diagnostic tools to evaluate your oral health condition and determine a treatment plan that works for you, including your choice of anesthesia. The surgical procedure which will take place in the comfort of one of our hospital-style surgical suites. During your procedure, your oral surgeon will remove any teeth that remain in the mouth and carefully place your implants into your jaw bone. The surgical sites will be stitched closed, and you will rest comfortably until your anesthesia has worn off.
While your implant sites are healing, you will wear a natural-looking temporary denture. Once healing is complete and the implants have successfully fused with your jaw bone, your permanent fixed denture will be placed. It's time to smile again!
Dr. Koshgerian and Dr. Shelton are passionate about restoring smiles. It is their highest goal to provide their patients with a smile that looks, feels, and functions like natural, healthy teeth. If you need to restore your oral function and smile and are interested in dental implants, full-arch restoration, or have questions about any of the other procedures we offer at The Oral Surgery & Dental Implant Specialists of San Diego, please contact us to schedule a consultation. We look forward to seeing your new healthy smile!


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Taking a whole beef roast and turning it into a family-friendly dinner in no time is what this Electric Pressure Cooker Taco Beef recipe is all about.
Barbara's family loves tacos…any kind of tacos. And, she always has plenty of beef roasts in the freezer from our cattle. You could also use a shoulder or arm roast for this recipe. Unsure about the different cuts of beef? Check out this post from our friend Sarah over at Farmwife Crafts.
But if you don't have a freezer full of beef, keep your eyes out for good deals on beef roasts and stock up – this taco beef recipe is worth it!
Barbara doesn't have an Instant Pot but she does have an electric pressure cooker which works similarly.
Electric Pressure Cooker Taco Beef
What we love about this recipe is that we can serve it in tacos for dinner one night and then serve it over rice another night for two different meals!
This taco beef would also be great as a substitute for the ground beef on our Taco Salad with Homemade Dressing or our Flank Steak Salad.
Taking a whole beef roast and turning it into a family-friendly dinner in no time is what this Electric Pressure Cooker Taco Beef recipe is all about.
- 3 lb. chuck roast thawed
- 1 packet of taco seasoning
- 14.5 oz. can of diced tomatoes
- 1/4 cup water
- Place beef roast in a 6 quart Instant Pot or electric pressure cooker.
- Mix together diced tomatoes, taco seasoning and water; pour over top of the roast.
- Secure lid and set lid to seal.
- Set pressure cooker on Manual for 60 minutes with the warming feature off. (To do this on the Instant Pot, press manual button twice). It can take up to 15 minutes for the pot/cooker to reach full pressure before the time will begin.
- Allow the Instant Pot or electric pressure cooker to naturally release pressure.
- Shred or chop and serve in tacos or on a salad.
Linking up to Whatcha Crockin' Wednesday Week 54!


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My research explores long-term technological change in the Web industry. Drawing on fields such as economics, cultural evolution and sociology, I am gathering theoretically informed and data driven insights into how Web technology developed over the last three decades. My current methodological approach relies primarily on patent records as a source for quantitative analysis.
Priestley, Maria and Mesoudi, Alex (2015) Do online voting patterns reflect evolved features of human cognition? An exploratory empirical investigation. PLoS ONE, 10 (6), e0129703-[15pp]. (doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0129703).


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Search Engine Optimisation Services
Search Engine Optimisation is no longer just an option for digital-based businesses. It's fast becoming a necessity and if you found us by searching SEO Brisbane, then you have witnessed the power of search engine optimisation. . Without a well thought out SEO campaign, your organic online presence will hardly be felt to people not going directly to your website. In order for you to successfully bring your company's name in front of your target audience, you need to establish a Search Engine Optimisation Brisbane campaign today.
SEO in Brisbane is not an easy thing to engineer, climbing up to the top of the Search Engine Results Pages takes a local level of understanding. We are one of the trusted SEO companies in Brisbane helping multiple companies across many Australian industries attract more customers and we are sure that we can help you understand the landscape of SEO and how the Brisbane market will respond to the changes that we provide to you current campaign or the plan we provide for moving forward with a new campaign.
Be it content creation, keyword analysis or user experience, our Brisbane SEO team and will help you from day one to convert more leads and attract more traffic.


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I just read that my fellow MS blogger, Sherry, lost her daughter yesterday. My heart breaks for any parent that loses a child but learning of this news on my own daughter's birthday makes it somehow even sadder. It is against the natural order of things for a parent to outlive a child. I hope that you will all join me in remembering Sherry and her family in your prayers/meditation/thoughts as they navigate this incredible loss.
Review: The Invisible Man
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Immigration Today
Displaying 249 through 256 of 4031
Bi-Partisan Positive Steps To Reform High-Skilled Immigration Published: Jun 4, 2012 "Two bills to positively reform the highly skilled immigration system were recently introduced in the Senate. The STAR Act, introduced by John Cornyn (R-TX), would eliminate the diversity lottery and redirect those green cards toward foreign graduates of American universities in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields (STEM). The SMART
Activists press US gov't on processing of immigrant families Published: Jun 1, 2012 "Several pro-immigrant organizations demanded on Thursday that the Obama administration implement the proposal for a new procedure that would allow the spouses and children of U.S. citizens to remain in the country while their immigration situation is regularized. On Jan. 6, the president and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, or USCIS, announced
DREAMers Start Campaign addressing President Obama's Immigration Failures Published: May 31, 2012 "Young immigrants, saying President Obama has done little to diminish the threat of deportations they face despite repeated promises, have started a campaign to press him to use executive powers to allow them to remain legally in the country. The campaign is led by the United We Dream Network, the largest organization of young immigrants here illegally
Romney's Latino Strategy Comes Into Focus Published: May 30, 2012 "Mitt Romney's campaign and surrogates may have decided on the three-pronged Latino strategy heading into the general election: Focus solely on the economy to compete for the small slice of Latino voters willing to look past anti-immigrant rhetoric and policies; Have the candidate avoid discussing immigration, even when speaking before Latino audiences;
Supreme Court Likely to Decide Arizona Immigration Law Case by Late June Published: May 29, 2012 "The Supreme Court will likely hand down a decision regarding Arizonas controversial immigration law, SB 1070, in late June, according to the Associated Press. One never knows when the Supreme Court will pronounce its last, often biggest, opinions of the term. But the justices' summer travel schedules make it a pretty safe bet that blockbuster health care
Immigration war is causing real pain to farmers Published: May 29, 2012 "Farmers and ranchers in states like Mississippi and Arizona are currently caught in the crosshairs of an immigration battle thats been waged over state versus federal control. Arizona took their case for state authority (based on legislation S1070) all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court in May and is expecting a decision later this month. In the meantime,
Woman Who Made Domestic Violence Call Ends up in Immigration Custody Published: May 25, 2012 "A Colorado woman who called police for help in an alleged domestic violence incident said she ended up being turned over to immigration agents and held in their custody for nearly two weeks. Virginia Urtusuastegui's case is one of three that the Colorado American Civil Liberties Union said it has documented in the Western Slope county in which suspected
Obama as "worse than Joe Arpaio" on immigration Published: May 25, 2012 "Latinos should reconsider their support for the president over his having overseen a record number of deportations of illegal immigrants, which he describes as "a policy of massive and systematic deportations that is much more punitive than the Arizona law." He argues that Mr. Obama has been "worse than Joe Arpaio" on immigration, claiming that the


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James is a sales guru who has a passion for helping others to grow, He swapped his life in England for a life down under and hasn't looked back since. His talents in Sales and BDM range from Juniors to Directors and he is always willing to help.
Aside from work he loves to be involved with sport whether it be watching or jumping in on the action and helping to win! He is also a massive foodie so if you want to talk about places to eat he's your guy.
He loves to get out and meet new people so you'll probably bump into him at a meetup. If you want to have a chat and swap some stories give him a call on 0490 249 860 or drop him an email firstname.lastname@example.com


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Definition: Short Block vs Long Block
You've probably heard the terms "short block" and "long block" used in reference to automotive engines. The terms are sometimes mistakenly used to refer to engine swap packages, with "short block" meaning just the engine, and "long block" meaning a complete motor swap package (engine, transmission, ecu, etc.). Using the terms in this manner is incorrect and should be avoided.
Now that we've dispelled the incorrect usage of the terms, let's move on to the true definitions:
A Short Block can be defined as the engine block only. This would include the block casting, pistons, rods, and crank, etc., minus the head. A short block is basically the bottom end of a motor.
A Long Block can be defined as a complete motor assembly, i.e. the short block plus the head. A long block may also include some of the motor's accessories, such as the intake and exhaust manifolds, throttle body, fuel rail and injectors, distributor, alternator, intake tubing and filter box, etc.
If you purchase a long block to install in your project car, you will also need to secure a compatible transmission and ECU, any of the above-mentioned accessories that are not present, plus various other parts (mounts, wiring harnesses, axles, shift linkages, sensors, etc.) to make the swap work.
If you purchase a short block, you will need everything mentioned above plus a compatible cylinder head to make the motor swap complete.
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Isaiah 16:1 Then sent the Lordes of the lande a man of warre, from the rocke that lyeth toward the deserte vnto the hyl of þe doughter Sion. Isaiah 16:2 (For as for the doughters of Moab, they were as it had bene a trembling byrd, that is put oute of her nest, by the fery of Arnon) whiche messaunger sayde: Isaiah 16:3 gather you councell, come together couer vs wyth your shadowe in the middaye, as the nyght doeth: hyd the chased, and be wray not them that are fled, Isaiah 16:4 let the persecuted Moabites dwel among you, be you open refuge against the destroyer: for the aduersarye opppresseth vs, the robber vndoeth vs, & the tiraunt driueth vs oute of oure lande. Isaiah 16:5 But the trone of youre Kyngedome is full of grace, therfore he that sitteth vpon it with faythfulnesse and trueth in the house of Dauid, knowe the thing, and do his diligence to helpe shortly, according to equite and ryghteousnes.
Isaiah 16:6 As for Moabs pride (shal they answere) it is well knowne. And all thoughe they be excellent, proude, arrogante and hye minded: yet is their strength nothing lyke. Isaiah 16:7 And therfore Moab complayneth vnto Moab, where thorowe they come all to mourne: and now that they be smytten, they take their deuyce beneth by the bryckwall, & make theyr complaynte. Isaiah 16:8 The suburbes also of Hesebon were made waste, & the Princes of the Gentyles hewed doune the vyneyardes of Sibma, whyche were planted with noble grapes, and spred vnto Iazer, and wente vnto the ende of the deserte, whose braunches stretched their selues forth beyonde the sea.
Isaiah 16:9 Therfore I mourned for Iazer, & for the vineyardes of Sibma with great sorowe. I poured my teares vpon Hesebon and Eleale, for al their songes were layde doune, in their haruest and gatherynge of their grapes. Isaiah 16:10 Myrth and there was gone out of the felde and vyneyardes, in so muche that noman was glad nor songe. There went no treader into the wynepresse, their merye chere was layde doune. Isaiah 16:11 Wherfore my belye rombled (as it had bene a lute) for Moabs sake and mine inward membres, for the brickwalles sake.
Isaiah 16:12 For it happened thus also: when Moab sawe that she was turned vpsyde doune: she went vpon on hye into her Sanctuarie, to make her prayer there, but she might not be helped. Isaiah 16:13 This is the deuyce, whyche the Lorde toke in hande at that tyme agaynste Moab. Isaiah 16:14 But now the Lorde sayeth thus: In the yeare shall the power of Moab wyth their pompe (whiche is greate) be minished, lyke as the burthen of an hyred seruaunt. And as for the remnaunt of them, they shalbe lesse then a fewe, and not rekened muche worth.


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In which our Diva is kind of a wee bit all over the place tonight, and rolling with it
Mao's Last Dancer, which I had never heard of until it happened to be one of the movies on my flight back from London. A bit heavy-handed at times, as these things tend to be, but generally an interesting biopic and the dancing is superb and (a clincher for me) mostly even filmed well. The funny thing is, I got about ten minutes into it and went "Wait, everyone is calling this guy Li, and he's arriving in Houston in 1981... OMG, is this about Li Cunxin?"
See, I actually saw him dance Swan Lake on Houston Ballet's tour in 1982, in the midst of my hardcore ballet-baby phase, an occasion memorable for being the first time I saw ballet of that caliber in person. If I'd thought about it when I was older, I would have realized it was almost a given that his life story would be a dramatic one, but I hadn't, and I had no idea. And (unsurprisingly, given that ballet has its politics and mercenary side just like everything else) not all the drama was the fault of the Chinese government.
Bruce Greenwood with a British accent (as artistic director Ben Stevenson) is a little blink-inducing, but once you get used to it he works well. Of the three actors playing Cunxin, it's actually the middle one, Chengwu Guo -- covering his teenage years in Beijing -- who impressed me most, as both actor and dancer. It gets a little on the soapy side, but nobody (except maybe Madame Mao, who was kind of a living caricature anyway) comes off as either a saint or a villain. It's a collection of flawed people with their own goals and agendas, some of whom happen to dance gloriously.
Eat: Ancho Chili BBQ Burrito at Qdoba. Ridiculously good. And reheats well, which is important, since it's one of those burrito-as-big-as-your-head places, so the thing is easily two meals.
Resonance trailer -- I'm having an attack of see-something-cool-and-want-to-try-it with respect to parkour. Which may or may not be practical (given my schedule, dodgy knees, and questionable upper-body strength), but I've been watching Jump City on G4, reading articles and watching videos on GirlParkour.com, and eyeing the mentions of beginner jams on the Chicago Parkour site. For all that it looks pretty outside most days, of course, it's still too chilly for me to want to actually be out there if I can help it, but I can smell spring, darnit!
All this is proving once again that part of me is still the slightly reckless eight-year-old who was prone to things like taking a friend's big brother's go-cart (the old-school home-built kind you may have heard about from Bill Cosby) down a rather steeper incline than it was, strictly speaking, intended for. Suffice it to say the cart and I parted company well before the bottom, and I arrived there with noticeably less skin than I'd started with. (And yes, this coincided with the hardcore ballet-baby phase. I'm a complex creature. *g*)
Listen: I'm always behind the curve with pop music -- I have no patience for commercial radio, and most often find music I like because it appears in movies or TV shows I like, or because it's used for fannish music videos -- so I only recently downloaded Paramore's Brand New Eyes. The first track, "Careful," is getting a lot of repetition on my MP3 player because I've mentally adopted it as the theme song of a Chicago-based Resonance character. (I'll tell you who when she goes public, and you can decide for yourself how well it fits.) But it's "Brick By Boring Brick" that has the video I keep rewatching.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Five things make a post
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I'm so pleased that you're enjoying Murphy's "The Walker Papers" series! She's been a delight for me since I discovered her a few years ago... and I think I'm going to leave that declaration undefined as to whether I mean the author or the protagonist. :-) My copy of Spirit Dances, the newest book in the series, arrived last night -- purchased with a Christmas gift certificate -- and I'm looking forward to it as a genuine treat.
(Wordpress is not accepting my OpenID. At least it's accepting the post...)
- March 25, 2011 at 12:48 PM
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27 South Asian (Indo-Canadian / Pakistani-Canadian / Bangladeshi-Canadian) candidates in four major parties
A Forum Poll shows that 45 per cent of Albertans will vote NDP while the Wildrose Party (WRP) and the Progressive Conservatives (PC) will garner only 23 per cent support each. Very few will vote Liberal (4%), for the Alberta Party (3%) or for any other party (2%).
The NDP is dominant in Edmonton (59%), and leads in Calgary (39%) and every other region of Alberta.
The Progressive Conservatives are in second place in Calgary (26%) and Edmonton (20%), but trail in the rest of the province. As many past PC voters will vote NDP this time (39%) as will vote for their own party again (40%), while one fifth of past Wildrose voters will also vote NDP this time around (22%).
If these results are projected up to an 87-seat Legislature, the NDP would capture 63, 19 more than a majority, while Wildrose would take 19 seats and the PC would be reduced to just 5 seats, according to the Forum Poll.
Elections Alberta said on Monday that the number of voters at advance polling stations was up 31 per cent from the previous record in 2012.
THE NDP surge is bad news for South Asian / Indo-Canadian candidates because most of them are from the other three major parties. Incidentally, there are quite a few Pakistani-Canadian candidates in the three major parties. There is also a Bangladeshi-Canadian candidate.
Anyway, a South Asian (Indo-Canadian or Pakistani-Canadian) is sure to be elected from one riding – that of CALGARY MCCALL, where candidates from the NDP, PC, WRP and the Liberals are all South Asians: Irfan Sabir, Jagdeep Kaur Sahota, Happy Mann and Avinash Khangura, respectively.
Other South Asian candidates:
* Calgary Greenway: Manmeet Bhullar (PC) / Devinder Toor (WRP)
* Calgary-Glenmore: Anam Kazim (NDP)
* Calgary-West: Mizanur Rahman (NDP)
* Calgary-Cross: Moiz Mahmood (WRP) / Manjot S. Gill (Lib)
* Calgary-Fort: Jeevan Mangat (WRP)
* Calgary-Northern Hills: Prasad Panda (WRP)
* Calgary-Buffalo: David Khan (Lib)
* Calgary-Hawkwood: Harbaksh S. Sekhon (Lib)
* Calgary-Hays: Shawn Emran (Lib)
* Calgary-MacKay-Nose Hill: Prab Lashar (Lib)
* Calgary-Southeast: Gladwin Gill
* Edmonton-Ellerslie: Harman Kandola (PC)
* Edmonton-Manning: Gurcharan Garcha (PC) / Atiq Rehman (WRP)
* Edmonton-Mill Woods: Sohail Quadri (PC) / Baljit Sall (WRP)
* Edmonton-Mill Creek: Saqib Raja (WRP) / Harpreet Singh (Lib)
* Edmonton-Calder: Amit Batra (Lib)
* Chestermere-Rocky View: Leela Aheer (WRP)
* St. Albert: Stephen Khan (PC)
THERE appears to be a strong desire for change and this could be bad news for the federal Conservatives.
So the whole country will be watching today's results in Alberta.


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Campaign Stats:
- 37 Pieces of Coverage
- 122 Minutes of Airtime
- Audience Reach 86.5 Million
- 596K Estimated coverage views
- 580 social shares
- 114K circulation
Campaign Highlights:
- GQ Online
- GQ Print
- MailOnline
- Metro
- Closer Magazine
- Sky News Radio
- Capital North East
- Capital Yorkshire
- Jazz FM
- Sky News Sunrise
- BBC Radio West Midlands
- TalkRADIO
- BBC Radio Scotland
London Live
- Big City Radio
- And more!
4media group recently worked with location based dating app, Happn, to assist in promoting their app to new audiences via an integrated campaign consisting of research, broadcast and news generation elements. The integrated campaign was fronted by dating expert Hayley Quinn and Claire Certain, who looks at the trends of daters at Happn.
The research, conducted by our in-house research company, Atomik Research, revealed the dating habits of the UK. It was revealed that 63% of single adults in the UK use online dating sites or dating apps, with men dating more regularly than women. Despite this however, the data indicated a cautiousness about UK daters, as they spend an average of 21 days talking to someone online before they actually meet up with them.
Our media team generated an impressive 22 media interviews including 3 TV interviews with Sky News, London Live and ITV News as well as radio interviews with Talk Radio, BBC West Midlands, BBC Scotland and more! The campaign also secured 15 items of news coverage including the Mail Online, GQ, The Metro, Closer and more!


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How Ayurveda Activates Herbs for Maximum Results
According to Ayurveda, herbal formulations can be "activated" in certain ways to boost their bio-availability and effectiveness. Herbal formulas using whole, organically-grown herbs of good quality, combined with other herbs to enhance their intelligence, and taken in-season can provide a combination of nutritional benefit, probiotic support, and a needed therapeutic impact. In this article, I


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You are now at: Home » welcome
Kee Chi Co., Ltd. is the world's first R & D and production of silicone cloth pad manufacturers.
Products with multi-national patents, and won the 2011 and 2012 French Invention Bronze Award.
Silicone cloth pad with non-toxic environmental protection, waterproof slip, easy to wash fast drying, anti-bacterial, high temperature sterilization characteristics of the product. [Details]


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Respected flyweight Darren Uyenoyama will make his second PXC appearance against Kentaro Watanabe of Japan at PXC 47 in Guam.
The news was confirmed by Uyenoyama to MMA-in-Asia Monday night.
Uyenoyama first stepped inside the PXC cage last October of 2014 at PXC 45 against Saipan's top prospect in Shane Alvarez.
The 35-year-old San Francisco, California native made quick work of Alvarez as he stopped him via TKO in the very first round, proving that he is a force to be reckoned with in the PXC's 125 pound division. Uyenoyama is a world-class athlete with a well-rounded mixed martial arts game in his arsenal: he is a fighter who can trade punches with anyone as well as finish fighters off his back.
"BC" will be facing a fighter who is very explosive and heavy-handed in Watanabe. The Japanese fighter from Shooto is coming off a unanimous decision defeat at the hands of top Filipino flyweight fighter Geje Eustaquio in his recent and only outing with ONE FC last June of 2014. The Osaka native never really found his rhythm that night as he struggled to connect his strikes against the tricky Eustaquio.
Watanabe is one of those fighters who is gifted with explosiveness and speed. His footwork is terrific as well as his striking. It would be interesting to see how he matches up with Uyenoyama's jiujitsu and ground game. Watanabe aims to get back into his winning ways on March at PXC 47 as he faces his stiffest opponent to date in Uyenoyama.
PXC 47 will also feature the first title defense of their Welterweight champion, Zebaztian Kadestam.
The Legacy Gym product earned himself notoriety in 2013 with a devastating body kick finish of Ross Ebanez. So when Lim Hyun-Gyu vacated the Welterweight title for his UFC debut, Kadestam got called up to face Josh Calvo in the main event of PXC 44. Five rounds of brutality later, the Swede had his hand raised and a belt wrapped around his waist. Kadestam's challenger has not been announced as of the notice.
Also as previously announced on the card, Featherweight Champ Kim Jang-Yong will defend his title for the second time, likely against Yusuke Yachi.
Kim became the Champ when he stopped the then undefeated Filipino fighter Mark Striegl at PXC 39 via third round leg scissor choke. "The Beast" then took on Hawaii's heavy-handed prospect, Toby Misech, and displayed his intimidating ground game by finishing him with a kimura.
Former Sooto Pacific Rim Champ Yachi is riding a three-fight winning streak including his unanimous decision wins over Kyle Aguon and Ryan Mulvihill.
March 13, 2015 (TBA)
Guam, USA
Featherweight Championship
Kim Jang-Yong vs Yusuke Yachi (Unofficial)
Welterweight Championship
Zebaztian Kadestam vs TBA
Darren Uyenoyama vs Kentaro Watanabe (Unofficial)


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The former Conservative MP who joined the newly-formed Independent Group believes Theresa May has a personal issue with immigration, which explains her hard stance on Brexit and especially Freedom of Movement.
Anna Soubry, one of the three Tory MPs who just quit the Conservative Party yesterday morning to join The Independent Group gave an interview to BBC Newsnight last night in which she told Kirsty Wark that she believes Theresa May has a personal issue with immigration which is why she is not budging on her red lines in the negotiations with the European Union, especially her freedom of movement red line.
Obviously referring to the Hostile Environment Theresa May created whilst she was the Home Secretary, Anna Soubry said:
"What's really worried me about Theresa (May) — and she has history at the Home Office that supports this — I think she's got a problem with immigration. I really honestly do."
BBC Newsnight
Let's have a look at some of the things Theresa May has done on immigration since 2010:
- She made changes to immigration rules for family members;
- She was found in contempt of court over an immigration issue involving a Detention Centre;
- She arranged for a seriously ill asylum seeker to be deported on a private jet;
- She launched an advertising campaign against illegal immigrants in the form of Go-Home-Or-Face-Arrest vans;
- She created the Hostile Environment policy, the government policy that resulted in the Windrush Scandal;
- She refused to guarantee the rights of EU nationals living in the UK during the Brexit negotiations to maintain a bargaining hand;
- She told the 2016 Conservative Party Conference, "If you believe you are a citizen of the world, you're a citizen of nowhere."
Just a few examples which Anna Soubry probably had in mind when she spoke to Kirsty Wark last night.🔷
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(This is an original piece, first published by the author in PoliticsMeansPolitics.com. | The author writes in a personal capacity.)


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Living Last Supper
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When high school students at Lincoln City Adventist School re-enacted the Last Supper, they packed the church two nights in a row—and made the front page of the local newspaper! "We wanted to reach out to the community," says Phil Rand, English teacher. "The play gave us a simple, dramatic way to do this as we told the story of Jesus."


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Richard Walker
Networking series Part6 : A low cost router
Richard Walker
This time, we are going to look at setting up a low-cost software router device for sharing one Internet connection between a number of other computers over a network. The theory behind this was discussed in detail in the previous article. Various types of Internet connection can be shared with such a router.
Dial-up options
Broadband options
Note that if you have a device that connects to an ISDN or ADSL socket, and then directly into an Ethernet network, it may include built-in connection sharing features. If not, you can connect it a router, just like anything else.
Also, it may sound crazy to share a plain 56k dial-up modem connection, but it's actually quite practical. Remember that each computer won't necessarily want to use the full 56k bandwidth all of the time. Internet activity is often in bursts — consider that you might wait for a web page to download, but then spend a few minutes reading it.
To visualise the concept of such a router, study figure 1.
Note that in the case presented in figure 1, the Internet connection is provided by a cable modem which connects itself to the router via Ethernet. This could just as easily be USB - indeed, many cable and ADSL modems connect via USB. Getting slightly more complicated, the connection could also be provided by a standard 56k modem, connected via the serial port.
The slightly more tricky bit to visualise is that the router's WAN network interface card and the modem could be provided on one single card, so we would end up with something like figure 2.
Note that the ISDN interface card provides the ISDN-specific hardware (equivalent to the kind of thing a cable or ADSL modem does) and it also appears as a standard network interface card. It's an all-in-one solution.
Logically, the exact same scenario is possible with a standard 56k PSTN modem card: the 'WAN interface' will be either a serial /USB port (for connecting an external modem) or an internal PCI/ISA modem card. Although you may not think of these as 'network cards', for the purposes of routing, they are!
Obviously, PSTN and ISDN dial-up solutions are not always connected (unlike broadband) so the router would have to have some kind of connection control - just like the connect/hangup functionality provided by the ANT Internet Suite or R-Comp's DialUp. Many dial-up routers can be configured to dial on demand ('demand-dial') within certain times of the day (e.g. at evenings) or week, and can automatically disconnect after a period of inactivity (e.g. five minutes).
The router itself
The principal component of the router is an old 486/Pentium PC. Note that it doesn't have to be old, but there is simply no point in using anything modern for the simple task of routing — it's a waste of processor power. It's quite possible to come across a 486 or low-end Pentium (between 60 and 233 MHz) sitting gathering dust in a cupboard in a local school or business, or even in a skip! (Yep - thats where a lot of my stuff came from -ED). It is desirable to stick to systems that have PCI slots rather than the ISA or VLB — they are far easier to configure!
As a bare minimum, you will need a base unit with a working power supply, motherboard, processor and RAM. If you come across a number of similar machines, it might be a good idea to grab the RAM from several, so you can have more in the one machine you take. Other essentials are a floppy drive and keyboard, but you may be able to get these from elsewhere.
Study figures 1 and 2, and decide if you need one or two Ethernet cards - it depends on your equipment. If you need two, it is absolutely fine to install two of the same make and model, or two completely different cards.
The first network card will connect to your local area network (which is probably Ethernet). The second will connect to the hardware that provides your Internet connection. If your PC didn"t come with network cards then you can always purchase one or two — new ones can be had for less than £10 each. Go for NE2000-compatible PCI cards, preferably a model with 10/100baseT and 10base2 (for maximum flexibility). RealTek RTL8029 cards are particularly common, and I have used them many times without a problem.
A note on TCP/IP
It's assumed that your have a local area network already set up (see the advice in previous articles). The router will obviously require it's own IP address and hostname, and must be configured so it fits in with your own addressing scheme. For example, my own network is illustrated in figure 3.
If you forget about the router and the cable modem, there is a fully-functional TCP/IP network there. It it possible for each computer to communicate with another one for the usual network activities (file and printer sharing, playing games, sending messages etc.). The router adds Internet access to the computers already on the network.
PC cleaning and building
It is always a good idea to give the computer a strip-down, thorough clean, and re-build — they are usually full of dust! In addition, you might wish to discard some parts (e.g. such as sound cards), as they are not needed, and it makes sense to have as little as possible fitted. When you switch the machine back on, it's a good idea to load the default BIOS settings (this is equivalent to a DELETE-power-on on a RISC OS machine) and check things like the time are correct.
PC-based routing software
There are two kinds of software that you can install to actually perform the routing on this computer: single-floppy or hard disk based. The latter will be have extended functionality, such as extra logging and optional services (e.g. a caching proxy server or web server). If you want such extra functionality, then the computer will obviously need a hard disk - otherwise, you can run the computer without one. The advantages of not using a hard disk include: less moving parts and no worries about unexpected power losses.
Freesco is a popular single-floppy disk system. See www.freesco.org. SmoothWall GPL is a popular hard disk system. See www.smoothwall.org.
Both Freesco and SmoothWall are actually based on Linux. They use a cut-down kernel and the bare minimum of required tools to get a system up and running, all of which is surprisingly compact (around the size of a floppy disk in the case of Freesco). SmoothWall has a number of extras such as a caching proxy server, dynamic DNS clients, and support for more exotic routing and logging.
The router software is freely available, and to get it onto your router computer, you need to download a 'disk image' (from the Internet) which is then written to a real floppy disk. You can do this with another computer running just about any operating system (even RISC OS!).
Freesco actually works from this floppy disk. The router PC will boot from it, and use it for everything. SmoothWall uses two floppies, but they are only used to for the basic installation (a CD ROM or network connection is required for the remainder), and the PC will boot from and use the hard disk in general.
So, with the right PC hardware all connected up, you can insert a Freesco floppy disk. The PC should boot from there and take you to a configuration walk-through system. I will cover this in more detail next time.
Simpler router software?
If all this sounds too technical, there are router programs available for Windows, if you would rather install that on your router PC (this does raise the minimum hardware specification, though!). Windows 98SE, Me, 2000 and XP include 'Internet Connection Sharing'. This just requires a few clicks in Control Panel to setup, and if you are unsure, Windows Help will guide you through it. ICS works in exactly the same way as Freesco and SmoothWall (NAT) but it does seem wasteful to have a whole Windows licence and installation just for routing!
You could, of course, use one of your general-purpose Windows PCs (if you have one!) as a router in addition to it's current tasks. ICS runs in the background, and doesn't use much in the way of system resources. Therefore, when the Windows PC is switched on, the RISC OS machine will be able to use the Internet connection. If you tend to have your Windows machine switched on for most of the time that the RISC OS machine is switched on, then maybe you could get away with this kind of arrangement.
Client-side configuration
Once the router is correctly configured, the other computers on the network need to be made aware of it. Thankfully, this is simple. We simply need to tell them that non-local computers (i.e. the Internet!) are reachable via our router, and ensure that domain name lookups work.
On a RISC OS 3.7 or 4.0 computer, the procedure with Boot/Configure is:
Double-click Boot to start Configure
Set the gateway to the IP address of your router Click Set then Click Hostnames. Set the primary name server to the IP address of your router Select 'Use name servers also' Click Set Click Close and re-boot as suggested Run Browse (or whatever) and check that you can reach a machine on the Internet (e.g. go to http://news.bbc.co.uk).
You can also connect to the computer running Freesco or SmoothWall with a terminal program (such as Nettle) and/or a web browser (such as Fresco). This will show you the system status, and allow you to make configuration changes and perform tasks such as re-booting or shutting down. Therefore, you can run the router without it's own keyboard and monitor most of the time. OK, so it's not quite as elegant as a dedicated hardware router, but it's much cheaper!
Why not use old Acorns?
You may be wondering why an old PC was used for this task, rather than an old Acorn machine (e.g. an Archimedes 310). The reasons for this are simple: hardware cost/availability and software suitability. On the hardware front, an Ethernet, USB or high-speed serial card for an A310 is very expensive. Also, RISC OS doesn't have the required TCP/IP routing software — this was only provided by FreeNet 2.0 (a freeware alternative to Acorn"s TCP/IP modules, back in the days when Acorn"s cost £199) which was never released beyond alpha/beta status (Acorn decided to freely release their modules!).
In theory, you could install Linux on an old Archimedes, and so long as appropriate drivers existed for your network interfaces, it would work. This would require a pretty massive effort, as the standard editions of Freesco and SmoothWall would not support such a configuration. Only a true Acorn die-hard would consider it! Actually, I'd be interested to hear from anyone with such a setup!
Signing off
Next time, we will look at the configuration side of Freesco or SmoothWall in more detail, and explain a little more about what they can do. In the mean time, their web sites are an excellent source of information. As usual, please get in touch with The Editor or myself if you want to make suggestions or raise queries regarding this series.
Richard Walker


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What I Carry in My Teaching Bag
There are a number of ways musicians offer private lessons these days. While there are many teachers experimenting with the online market, others like myself prefer to stick with a brick and mortar layout where we can meet face to face with our students. Even within the list of options for a physical location, you still see lessons being offered out of a private home, religious venue or the local music store or university. There is a lot of variety to choose from as a teacher and student. All options have their own benefits and drawbacks, which I'm hoping to address in another blog post soon!
As of the fall of 2018, I currently operate my studio by spending two days a week at the local Music and Arts, two days a week at the Community Music School at Shepherd University and one day each at a home studio and a local private school, Grace Academy. All of these venues are slightly different in terms of payment and scheduling, but one thing remains the same – I travel to a different location every day of the week, so I must bring along my own teaching supplies. Here is a list of the items I carry with me every day to help me be prepared for any teaching situation that may arise at these different locations! I've also included links to all products mentioned just in case you want to invest in some of these items yourself.
These are the items I keep with me for every lesson because I've found they can help make or break the finite time I have with my students. Having a consistent tool kit I can pull from regardless of my teaching location also allows me to ensure everyone is getting the same quality lesson as well. What are some of the things you always keep handy when you're teaching?
Let me know in the comments below!
Today I wanted to share my top five tips for parents and guardians to use and help their students do well in their weekly music lesson. These are things that would happen in an ideal world, but I truly believe the more you implement these ideas the better experience your child and you will have while taking private lessons. Some of these ideas will look different depending on how old your child is, whether school is in session or not and other factors. Please use these as a starting point to discuss with me or your own music teacher!
1.Take Care of the Basics
This might seem simple, but encourage your student to take a sip of water, have a snack and visit the restroom before their lesson. Even though most lessons are only a half hour lesson, you would be surprised how these little things can determine the course of a lesson. Though it has happened only once in my experience, students can also have accidents in lessons if they are afraid to disappoint parents or their teacher by asking for a bathroom break. Even better would be to let your students have a special snack or drink before their lesson, to help them associate a special or unique treat with lesson time.
2.Establish Responsibility for Lesson Materials
This can change depending on the age of the student, but coordinate with your student or other parent who is responsible for making sure they have all materials ready and together for a lesson time. Several times a week I see students leave a book or practice sheet behind only to immediately turn to Mom or Dad to ask where their materials are. As a general rule of thumb, I would say responsibility for bringing the correct materials can be switched over to students between eight and ten years old. This includes all the books we are using in lessons, their instrument, bow, shoulder rest and anything else we use on a regular basis. I often see shoulder rests get left behind, or a book the student doesn't like conveniently forgotten at home. This can really slow down our progress, make an already difficult task take even longer and drain motivation and momentum more than necessary.
3.Create an Environment at Home that Supports Practice
Students know when they are prepared for a lesson and most often they feel prepared when they've had a chance to practice. No one ever wants to practice all the time which is why it is important to create an environment where you can eliminate as many reasons to not practice as possible. Some of the most common reasons I get for little or no practice include no designated space in the house or no time. This might be an indication that your family is too busy. But it can also be as simple as asking your child "Have you practiced today?" before they go outside to play or before they get to play some video games on their tablet. If they don't feel they have a space to practice, find a corner of their room where they can leave their music stand up through the week and leave their instrument unpacked. These little things make the instrument seem more accessible and serve as little reminders to pick the instrument up a couple times a day.
4.Be Encouraging
No matter the size of the accomplishment, encourage your child whenever they make a small step in the right direction. Celebrate the fact that they practiced today. Suggest having a weekly or monthly recital on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon where they can show their siblings or both sets of parents what they've been working on. This can be particularly fun when siblings get in on this together. When a baby first says "Dada", they're not really referring to their dad, but with the consistent praise and prompting, they eventually form "Dad" or "Daddy" and go from there to form phrases and sentences. This is true for music study, too. When you shift your expectation from a matter of if to just a matter of when, you can really find joy in all the little pieces that will add up.
5.Communicate Effectively
As a parent you are responsible for communicating with the teacher. This includes notifying your teacher of upcoming absences that might distract from or completely prevent students from practicing. Other useful bits of information for your teacher to know are diagnoses of learning disabilities, physical limitations, home life situations and more. This helps your teacher most effectively plan lessons for your child – And isn't the whole point of a private lesson to give your student an individualized experience?
Communication is a two way street, of course. Please make it a priority to learn how your teacher shares upcoming studio events, changes in the teaching schedule and the best way to reach them. For myself, I prefer communication through email so I can stay organized and file away our conversations, though last minute notices about illness, accidents on the way to lessons or more are welcome by phone. I share my studio events through newsletters three times a year and update my studio's Facebook with specific information for upcoming field trips, recitals and more. But that is how I operate. Other teachers may prefer texting, while others would like a phone call. I encourage all parents to talk with their private teachers to see what their preferences are. I find this can go a long way in smoothing out teacher and parent relationships, which then allows lesson time to focus on the child's progress.
These are just my top five suggestions for parents interested in helping each lesson be a great lesson for their child at this time. Parents are so important for setting the tone for a child's life, whether that be music lessons, school or anything in between. All of these tips apply for both parents of a student as well – I've seen this in action in my own studio. When students can sense music lessons are less of a priority to one parent or the other, this can be discouraging for motivated students and an easy out for students who are less engaged in their lessons. Let's all work together to make private music lessons for your child the best and most enriching experience for them!
For parents, what are some ways you have found to work with your own child in lessons? For other teachers, what do you think of these tips? Are there other ideas you would add to this list? Feel free to share those ideas in the comments below and share this post with your own studio families!
For the students I start in private lessons, their first taste of violin is purely of a solo nature. One of the reasons I enjoy teaching individual lessons is the ability to work one on one, getting to know the student and the parents in a unique way that I believe is difficult to replicate in the classroom setting. But how do we help our students prepare for playing with others? Especially for string instruments, large ensemble works are so important to what our instruments can do - Think of Beethoven's symphonies or Haydn's string quartets. What I've noticed as an often occurrence is stage fright does kick in if students are never exposed to other players or people outside of their circle of friends and family. How do we expose them to larger works for either chamber groups or large symphonies outside of assigning more listening homework?
This is where group lessons and participating in local community groups come into play. Only so much can be accomplished for a student in the private lesson and a teacher can only simulate playing with others by playing duets or accompaniments for so long. I work hard to keep students informed on the group opportunities available to them throughout the year and have prioritized offering limited, free group lessons in the summers to help my students become exposed to these experiences. Here are a couple of the reasons I truly believe playing in a group benefits all music students:
These are just a handful of the benefits I see when my students get to participate in musical groups. Feel free to ask what others might exist specifically for you or your child. In Hagerstown, MD and the surrounding areas, I am so thrilled to see so many opportunities for people to get out and interact in a musical way. There is the Shepherd Community Orchestra and Junior Strings, which I direct, only a short drive away in Shepherdstown. The Cumberland Valley School of Music also offers a five week community orchestra in the fall and spring, and this fall they're starting a new beginner orchestra called "Fiddlesticks" - How cute is that? There's also string ensembles available at many of the local community colleges. There truly is something for everyone at all ages, levels and commitment levels, and it is my hope that every one of my students takes the time to play in a group at some point in their musical journey.
For those of you outside of the Hagerstown, MD and surrounding areas, what programs do you have available to you? What benefits have you observed in your students or your own playing? How do you encourage participation in your studios? Let me know in the comments below or on Instagram – Find me at @shawstrings!
Musically Yours,
Renee Shaw
App Review: Rhythm Cat
Full disclaimer: I originally wrote this review in 2015, when I still had a handful of beginning piano students in my studio. Now that I've had three additional years of using this app with my students, I can say it has become a tried and true resource for me with students for review and theory work. What teacher can't use more of that? Read below to find out more!
Recently I found myself looking for an application to review basic rhythmic notation and syllables with students studying either piano, violin and viola in my studio. It was with this goal in mind that I found Rhythm Cat and immediately found it to be very complementary for my students to use in their lesson times and in their homes.
Initial Thoughts
I found the bright colors and whimsical images to be very fun and light-hearted - perfect for children! Beginning with level one, I felt confident in proceeding after reading the simple instructions provided. As I quickly found out, it is important to make sure each tap is sustained long enough for your device to register your rhythm. After adjusting my tapping, this was no problem in further levels. Following the first level, students are steadily guided through half notes, quarter rests and more with increasingly difficult exercises.
As a Suzuki violin/viola instructor and piano instructor who has traditionally used the Alfred method series, this fits right in with the progression of students' first pieces in both methods. I am happy to report my students have taken quickly to this app, with many requesting to play this game in the last few minutes of their lessons; some have even downloaded it at home on their own devices! Several parents have even reported use at home without prompting - Something I love to hear! And I think parents appreciate not having to hound their children to do something musical or education related. Personally, I have found myself using this app in lessons when students have had an exceptionally good lesson or to introduce a change of pace when a student needs a bit of a brain break.
Pros: Logical progression for rhythm, fitting with Suzuki and the Alfred Piano series, particularly "Music for Little Mozarts". This has proved to be a fun way for my students to review rhythm values and syllables. Best of all, there is both a free and paid option! For my purposes, I have been using the Lite version to just give students a little taste of the game and keep them from expecting to do it every single week.
Cons: There is a slight learning curve when adjusting to how the game will give four counts before students should begin tapping the written rhythm. I found it helps students to demonstrate how to play the app first before giving them a turn on their own.
Overall, I have been very happy I added this application to my arsenal and I am looking forward to trying out the two partner applications, Treble Cat and Bass Cat as my students have need for these skills. I hope my students, their families and other music educators consider adding Rhythm Cat to their devices at home and in their studios!
For more information on this app and it's developers, please visit their website here.
This app is available on both iOS and Google Play. Check it out!
Musically Yours,
Renee Shaw
Hello and welcome to my new blog: Shaw Strings and Things!
My name is Renee Shaw and I am a violin and viola instructor based out of my hometown of Hagerstown, MD. I started my studio while completing my undergraduate degree at Shepherd University through a home studio and Shepherd's Preparatory Division in 2011. Gradually I added studios through Music and Arts and the Cumberland Valley School of Music as I completed my time in school. Soon after graduation I added Grace Academy of Hagerstown, Maryland to my teaching locations in 2015, which rounds out my teaching schedules as of June 2018. Through these fortuitous openings, I have been able to establish a private studio that would allow me to keep my students as my full focus and devote extra time to performing in local nursing homes, holding student recitals, scheduling field trips to our local symphony orchestra and more – I wouldn't have it any other way! I love getting to see students on an individual basis each week and seeing them progress on their own terms.
When I'm not working with students or keeping up with the administrative side of the studio, you will probably find me at home: Sipping my coffee or tea, snuggled up with my two cats, journaling and reading some French folk tales or poetry. Or I might be tending to my growing house plant collection and tackling my next house project. Between now and November 2018, I'll also be planning my biggest event to date: My wedding to the most patient and sweet man I've ever known, who also happens to be quite the guitarist. We're fresh off our adventures to England and France and eagerly looking forward to our future together - Hopefully with even more trips to far flung places!
So you might be wondering, why would a private music instructor want to start a blog?
Especially when it sounds like you're always planning something! Since the third grade I have maintained a physical personal journal – Writing is one my primary modes of processing everything around me. Teaching is not excluded from this! I take my job as an educator seriously and strive to be the best teacher I can be. By having a writing space designated for this part of my life, I hope to be better suited to recognize patterns, fully develop my own teaching philosophy and continue to work on my craft. As John Dewey said, "We do not learn from experience… We learn from reflecting on experience." I want to constantly be reflecting and learning how to be a better teacher.
What Are You Going to Be Blogging About?
What I do day in and day out is about much more than teaching the violin – I am teaching and encouraging others to push themselves. A teacher trainer in the Suzuki method once told me Dr. Suzuki's philosophy could be distilled to the phrase "every child can". It is my job as a teacher to find the best means possible to cultivate ability in anyone I work with. Somedays that might cause me to reflect on the teaching supplies I use, other days I might be analyzing why we stress listening to our repertoire or attending performances. Even discussing the business of teaching directly impacts the kind of teacher I can be, so I would expect posts on that as well. Anything that might make me a better violin instructor is fair game! Hopefully you find these thoughts, review of my teaching techniques and more to be beneficial to you, too.
Who Are You Writing For?
So far you've heard a lot about me and what I hope to get out of this blog. However, I believe I am not the only instructor out there who believes in being the most creative and engaging teacher they can be. If you've found this blog, you might be one of those teachers, too. It is so easy to look around, see the teachers who are just phoning it in, aren't engaged or invested in improving themselves or their students. I hope to be a lifelong learner in this field I've chosen and I know there must be other teachers out there that feel the same way. I hope this blog can help connect more teachers like myself so we don't fall into complacency!
One of the few downsides I experience in teaching privately is the sense of isolation from other teachers. Where can I observe others' techniques to teach music theory? How can I see what tricks other teachers have to maintain interest in the Twinkle Variations and Theme? When dealing with parents, how do I approach them in a way that reassures them my first interest is their child's progress and well-being? There are many tough questions rolling around in my brain and I only have solutions for some.
By writing this blog, I am hoping to access all of you! The teachers who are struggling with these issues in their own studios. The parents and caregivers looking to know how to work with their children and teachers in the most effective way possible. The students interested in knowing the motivation behind their teachers nagging to fit in 15 more minutes a day. If you fit any of these categories, I believe you'll find something of value here.
This sounds great – How can I get connected?
Let's be friends! Please enter your email to receive updates on when new blog posts come out – My goal is to post at least two new posts a month. This list is for my eyes only and I'll only send material that I feel has really benefitted me and my teaching. You can also follow me and my studio on Facebook and Instagram! When you're there, you can see how I conduct my studio in real time and get more regular updates on what I have in the works with my students. Hopefully you can find good ideas for your own studio so more students can have a wonderful experience with their music! And isn't that the whole point?
Thanks for joining me around the studio!
Musically Yours,
Renee Shaw
Welcome to Shaw Strings and Things!
This blog is dedicated to sharing my teaching experiences and resources as a private violin/viola music instructor. I think most agree you can always be improving, learning and developing new techniques as a teacher - I'm glad we're doing it together!
October 2018


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OBJECTIVE: The rate of preterm births has been increasing in the United States, especially for births 34 to 36 weeks of gestation (late preterm), which now constitute 71% of all preterm births. The causes for these trends remain unclear. We characterized the delivery indications for late preterm births and their potential impact on neonatal and infant mortality rates.
PATIENTS AND METHODS: Using the 2001 US Birth Cohort Linked birth/death files of 3 483 496 singleton births, we categorized delivery indications as follows: (1) maternal medical conditions; (2) obstetric complications; (3) major congenital anomalies; (4) isolated spontaneous labor: vaginal delivery without induction and without associated medical/obstetric factors; and (5) no recorded indication.
RESULTS: Of the 292 627 late-preterm births, the first 4 categories (those with indications and isolated spontaneous labor) accounted for 76.8%. The remaining 23.2% (67 909) were classified as deliveries with no recorded indication. Factors significantly increasing the chance of no recorded indication were older maternal age; non-Hispanic, white mother; ≥13 years of education; Southern, Midwestern, and Western region; multiparity; or previous infant with a ≥4000-g birth weight. The neonatal and infant mortality rates were significantly higher among deliveries with no recorded indication compared with deliveries secondary to isolated spontaneous labor but lower compared with deliveries with an obstetric indication or congenital anomaly.
CONCLUSIONS: A total of 23% of late preterm births had no recorded indication for delivery noted on birth certificates. Patient factors may be playing a role in these deliveries. It is concerning that these infants had higher mortality rates compared with those born after spontaneous labor at similar gestational ages. Given the excess risk of mortality, patients and providers need to discuss the risks of delivering a preterm infant in the absence of medical indications at 34 to 36 weeks.
The preterm birth rate has increased in the United States by 20% in 15 years, from 10.6% in 1990 to 12.7% in 2005. Infants born at 34 to 36 weeks (239–259 days) of gestation now account for 71% of all preterm births. This group, referred to as "late preterm" is increasing at a greater rate than all other preterm birth subgroups. The late-preterm birth rate was 7.3% in 1990 compared with 9.1% in 2005, a 25% increase.1
Compared with term infants, late-preterm infants manifest higher frequencies of neonatal and postneonatal morbidities, such as respiratory distress, temperature instability, hypoglycemia, kernicterus, apnea, and feeding problems.2 Their rehospitalization rates after neonatal discharge are also higher,2 as are their rates for neonatal and postneonatal mortality.3 Furthermore, a recent population- based study of all of the preterm infants followed for ≥20 years of age reported significantly increased rates of cerebral palsy, mental retardation, and other major disabilities in the late-preterm infant subset compared with term infants.4 Thus, the increasing late-preterm birth rate should be of great concern, because the societal burden is profound. However, comprehensive studies that address the reasons for the increasing rate of late-preterm births, which may potentially lead to reduction strategies, are lacking. The aim of this study was, therefore, to determine why singleton late-preterm births are taking place and to compare the delivery indications with neonatal and infant mortality rates.
We analyzed data from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) 2001 birth cohort linked birth/death files of 3 483 496 live singleton births at 34 to 41 weeks of gestation. The 2001 birth cohort numerator file consisted of deaths of infants who were born in 2001, and the denominator file consisted of all of the 2001 live births. Neonatal and infant mortality rates were calculated by week of gestation at birth and the indication for delivery. Week 39 (39 to 39 weeks) had the lowest neonatal mortality rate and was, therefore, used as the reference week when comparing mortality by week of delivery.
Late-preterm births (those occurring between 34 through 36 weeks of gestation) were classified by delivery indications into the following 5 categories: (1) maternal medical conditions; (2) obstetric complications; (3) major congenital anomalies; (4) isolated spontaneous labor: vaginal delivery without induction and without associated medical/obstetric factors; and (5) no recorded indication: no documented indications. The complete list of conditions composing categories 1 to 3 is contained in Table 1. The maternal medical conditions, obstetric complications, and major congenital anomaly categories were not mutually exclusive; therefore, a late-preterm birth could be represented in >1 of these categories.
Because birth certificates do not specifically collect information for the spontaneous onset of labor, this category was imputed by including all of the vaginal deliveries that were not accompanied by an induction. Pregnancies in which there was spontaneous onset of labor but there was an obstetric complication leading to a cesarean delivery were captured in the obstetric indications category. Thus, the isolated spontaneous labor category was a subset of all of the vaginal deliveries in which there was no induction of labor and no coexisting reported indications for delivery, including those with missing values for maternal medical conditions, obstetric complications, or major congenital anomalies. Route of delivery was classified either as vaginal delivery (vaginal deliveries and vaginal births after previous cesarean delivery combined) or cesarean delivery (primary and repeat cesarean deliveries combined).
Deliveries with no recorded indication were computed by excluding deliveries with maternal medical conditions, obstetric complications, major congenital anomalies, or isolated spontaneous labor from all of the deliveries. A total of 97.3% of cases with no recorded indication had "none" checked for all of the data fields pertaining to the first 3 categories of conditions noted in Table 1; only in 2.7% of these deliveries was "none" not checked for a category, thus suggesting potentially missing data values. When comparing the mortality rate by indication for delivery, we used the deliveries with no recorded indication as the reference group.
Odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were calculated to assess the association between selected maternal demographic and medical risk factors to late-preterm deliveries. Those factors included maternal age, maternal race/ethnicity, maternal education, region of maternal residence, parity, previous infant with a birth weight ≥4000 g, and previous preterm or small-for-gestational-age infant. Multivariate logistic regression was used to assess the contribution of the above factors to deliveries with no recorded indication versus indicated deliveries (deliveries with clinical indications).
The primary determinant of gestation in the NCHS data files is the interval between the first day of the last menstrual period (LMP) and date of delivery. NCHS edits the data for LMP-based gestational ages that are not consistent with birth weight and plurality. Clinical estimate was used when there was no LMP or there was a gross discrepancy based on weight. All of the data analyses were performed using the statistical software SAS 9.0 (SAS Institute, Cary, NC).
There were 292 627 singleton deliveries at 34 to 36 weeks of gestation, representing 8.4% of singleton births from 34 to 41 weeks of gestation. The neonatal and infant mortality rates were inversely related to gestational age in weeks ≤39 weeks of gestation. At 34 weeks of gestation, the neonatal mortality rate peaked to ∼10-fold higher than that of 39 weeks of gestation. The lowest neonatal mortality rate was seen for singleton births at 39 weeks of gestation (Table 2).
Between 34 and 36 weeks, the percentages of deliveries associated with medical conditions, obstetric complications, and congenital anomalies were highest at 34 weeks, and these progressively decreased with advancing gestational age (Table 3). Of all of the late-preterm deliveries, 49% were associated with isolated spontaneous labor. In addition, 16% were reported to have obstetric complications, 14% had medical conditions, and 1% had major congenital anomalies.
There were 67 909 late preterm deliveries (23.2%) classified as having no recorded indication. Multivariate analyses revealed that deliveries with no recorded indication were associated increasingly with higher maternal age; non-Hispanic white ethnicity; maternal educational level ≥13 years; deliveries occurring in the Midwest, South, and West regions of the United States; multiparity; and a history of previous infant with a birth weight ≥4000 g. Maternal age <35 years and history of previous preterm or small-for-gestational-age infant were significantly less associated with deliveries with no recorded indication (Table 4).
Major congenital anomalies were associated with the highest neonatal and infant mortality rates followed by obstetric complications (Table 5). Deliveries with no recorded indication had significantly higher neonatal and infant mortality rates compared with deliveries attributed to isolated spontaneous labor (P < .001) but lower neonatal and infant mortality rates compared with those deliveries associated with an obstetric indication (P < .001) or congenital anomaly (P < .001).
We found that 23% of late preterm deliveries had no recorded indication for delivery (maternal disease, obstetric complication, congenital anomaly, and spontaneous labor) on the birth certificate. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists guidelines state that delivery before 39 weeks of gestation should only be undertaken when there is an accepted medical or obstetric complication or if fetal lung maturity has been documented.5 In deciding the timing of delivery for women at high risk for adverse pregnancy outcomes before term, the anticipated risk of continuing pregnancy and stillbirth should outweigh the attendant neonatal morbidity and mortality with preterm delivery.
These principles apply for late-preterm gestations with known or newly diagnosed medical, obstetric, or fetal conditions and complications. Because we found that 1 in 5 late- preterm deliveries occurred with no recorded medical or obstetric indication, we speculate that other factors may have influenced the patient and health care provider's decision regarding the timing of delivery, namely, the perception that infants born in the late preterm period are at no greater risk for mortality and morbidity than term infants. However, confirming several recent reports,3,6–8 our data show that infants born at late-preterm gestations have significantly higher rates of mortality compared with term infants.
Whether increased rates of deliveries with no indication are the source of increasing rates of preterm births (including late-preterm births) in the United States remains unclear. To our knowledge, this is the first study to examine not only the delivery indications for late preterm births but their relationship with neonatal and infant mortality rates using recent US vital statistics data.
A novel finding in our study was that infants born at late preterm delivered without an indication had higher neonatal and infant mortality rates compared with those born after isolated spontaneous labor. It has been hypothesized that, in preterm births, labor may be "triggered" so that the fetus can exit a potentially "hostile" in-utero environment. Thus, spontaneous onset of preterm labor may be a consequence of an earlier idiopathic activation of the normal labor process or the result of a pathologic insult in an attempt to protect the fetus.9 Furthermore, the process of labor itself facilitates fetal lung maturation and improves clearance of pulmonary fluid, reducing the risk of neonatal respiratory distress.10,11 These factors may explain why the neonatal and infant mortality rates for infants born at late preterm after spontaneous labor may be lower than those for infants born at late preterm with no documented indication.
Late-preterm deliveries with an obstetric complication or major congenital anomaly had significantly higher neonatal and infant mortality rates compared with all of the other categories, including deliveries with no recorded indication, suggesting that the underlying condition that prompted the delivery was associated with poorer outcomes. Thus, it seems that survival rates for infants born at late preterm may be affected by the indication for delivery and that, within gestational age strata, all late-preterm infants are not alike with respect to their risk of death. Therefore, the decision to deliver or not during late-preterm gestations should be based on the underlying medical or obstetric factor(s) and a careful assessment of the risks of preterm delivery versus the potential benefits of expectant management.
One study that evaluated the etiology for late-preterm deliveries in a large academic center found that ∼80% were attributed to idiopathic preterm labor or ruptured membranes and 20% to obstetric complications.7 Another study examined the temporal trends in preterm birth subtypes and perinatal mortality in the United States for 1989–1991 and 1995–2000.12 The authors defined medically indicated preterm births as those that followed iatrogenic intervention (labor induction or a primary or repeat cesarean delivery) and spontaneous preterm births as those that were neither associated with ruptured membranes nor were medically indicated. However, we believe that equating "primary cesarean," "repeat cesarean," or "labor induction" from the birth certificate files with "medically indicated deliveries" may be inaccurate. One cannot assume that a clear medical, fetal, or obstetric indication existed for preterm delivery based only on the fact that a delivery was a planned cesarean delivery or labor induction.
Some of the factors reported as contributing to the increase in late-preterm births include increasing rates of elective cesarean delivery and induction13 and increasing rates of multiple gestations.1 A recent study documented that physician practices may have changed over time. Over a 9-year period in an academic institution that had significantly lower baseline cesarean delivery rates compared with the US rates, there was a gradual increase in cesarean delivery rates paralleling their increase in late-preterm birth rates.14 These findings have significant implications as the cesarean delivery rate (24.4 in 2001 and 29.1 in 2004) and preterm birth rate (11.9 in 2001 and 12.5 in 2004) continue to rise, indicating that the magnitude of the late-preterm birth problem will likely increase.
These factors, however, do not fully explain the dramatic increase in the rate of late-preterm births, especially for singleton gestations. Whether the increasing frequency of early cesarean deliveries is because of improved and earlier recognition of medical/obstetric indications or a greater willingness to perform a cesarean delivery for the same or even lesser indications has not been established. In fact, Declercq et al15 found no association between changes in the maternal risk profile and shifts in the primary cesarean delivery rates between 1991 and 2002, suggesting that factors other than medical or obstetric conditions may be related to increasing rates of preterm cesarean deliveries and, indirectly, late preterm births.
Our finding of an association between late-preterm deliveries with no recorded indication and social and geographic factors suggests that patient-driven factors are playing a role in this category of late-preterm births. We found that women with no recorded indication for delivery were more likely to be older, white, have higher levels of education, and live outside the Northeast. If such deliveries are occurring, it can have a major impact on the overall preterm birth rate, because non-Hispanic white women form the majority of US women of reproductive age. There are no studies assessing patient factors related to late-preterm delivery with no recorded indication, but it may be that this group of women is more likely to request that their obstetric provider deliver them before term.16,17 Consequently, patient and provider convenience factors may be contributing to the increasing rate of late-preterm delivery.
The analysis of vital statistics is of value because of the large cohort size representing the United States, comprehensiveness of births and deaths (>99%), reduced selection bias, and the ability to examine subpopulations.18 In our study, the use of linked birth-infant death files allowed us to examine the associations between maternal characteristics and subsequent infant mortality. Studies comparing birth certificate data with hospital records suggest that demographic characteristics and some medical variables, such as method of delivery, are accurately reported on the certificates, lending validity to stratification by those factors.18–23
There are limitations to using vital statistics. The inaccuracies of gestational age estimates in birth certificates are known; however, they are less frequent for late-preterm and term births.24
Underreporting for medical diagnoses, obstetric complications, and congenital anomalies is known to occur and will lead to an overestimate of the number of deliveries with no recorded indication.18–23,25–26 Although we cannot determine the magnitude of underreporting of conditions in our data set, our analyses showed that the contribution of missing data to our findings was minimal.
There is an urgent need to understand the reasons for the increasing rate of late-preterm births and their sequelae. The Institute of Medicine27 and the Surgeon General28 have called for research to understand all facets of this significant public health problem. Our findings that a significant proportion of late-preterm deliveries occur without a recorded medical indication and that these deliveries are associated with an increased mortality rate underscore the need for increased dialogue between providers and patients about the potential negative consequences of late-preterm delivery. Although such assessments may be difficult in certain cases, obstetricians and pediatricians must consult and discuss with the mother and the family the benefits and risks of late- preterm delivery versus continued monitoring. The higher morbidity and mortality for late-preterm infants throughout the first year of age, and possibly beyond, should be included in patient counseling.
We thank Drs Jun Zhang and Robert Goldenberg for critical review of this article.
- Accepted February 10, 2009.
- Address correspondence to Uma M. Reddy, MD, MPH, Pregnancy and Perinatology Branch, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, 6100 Executive Blvd, Room 4B03F, Bethesda, MD 20892-7510. E-mail: reddyu{at}mail.nih.gov
Financial Disclosure: The authors have indicated they have no financial relationships relevant to this article to disclose.
What's Known on This Subject:
Compared with term infants, late-preterm infants manifest higher frequencies of neonatal and postneonatal morbidities and mortality.
What This Study Adds:
Survival rates for infants born at late-preterm gestational ages vary by the indication for delivery. No indication for delivery was recorded on the birth certificate for 1 in 5 late-preterm births.
- Copyright © 2009 by the American Academy of Pediatrics


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Each month has its' own energy, as we move closer to the oncoming month its vibration can be felt by everyone regardless of their birth month.
March is the 1st month of Spring. This month asks us to rationalise our thoughts. Some may allow life to get the better of them. You're asked to dig deep and look ahead, make plans. If you find there is a hiccup in your previous 'well thought' plans then fix it. Use this month's energy to make sure there aren't any loose ends. Some may allow feelings of guilt for past misdemeanors to overcome them to the point of becoming stuck in a rut. Whatever is dragging you down, begin the first month of Spring with positively – it will work wonders.
Sometimes we do have to accept that we are not invincible, that there is a side to us that is affected by criticism or others' actions. Our vulnerability is our strength, embrace it and watch how you grow.
March births are deep, thoughtful and very giving and supportive. Some get lost in their heads and need to ensure they talk about what's bothering them. March births are asked to be courageous and brave the world even if they are not ambitious, to take chances (many don't) and to love self. Sounds easy – for a March birth it isn't. March births are very good at putting a brave front on, they don't allow many to get in close emotionally to them. Criticism can wound them.