Reduces Federal Overreach of NCLB Increases Support for Teachers, Promotes Innovation in the Classroom Washington, DC - Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet, a former superintendent of the Denver Public School District, today joined 80 senators to pass a long overdue fix to No Child Left Behind. The bill, also known as the Every Child Achieves Act, reauthorizes the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), the chief federal law addressing K-12 education. It reforms many of the policies from No Child Left Behind, the previous version of the bill, while maintaining several key policies that have proved successful.
"Passing this bill has been a long time coming, and it's encouraging we were able to do it with overwhelming bipartisan support,"
Bennet said. "Chairman Alexander and Ranking Member Murray deserve credit for their leadership throughout this process."
As superintendent of the Denver school district, Bennet was often on the receiving end of well-intentioned but misguided policies coming down from Washington. As a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, he helped write the bill, securing dozens of provisions during the committee's consideration of the bill and during the debate on the Senate floor. Bennet's work on the bill stems from his time spent as superintendent and from dozens of conversations with parents, students, teachers, and administrators from around the state.
"The updates we passed in this bill address many of the problems with No Child Left Behind, while maintaining its strengths,"
Bennet added. "Part of what we've been trying to do is bring the lessons learned in Denver - from families, principals, teachers, schools, and kids - and now schools that we've had a chance to visit all over the state. The views of Coloradans are threaded throughout this bill. We've worked to re-empower those closest to our kids to ensure decisions are being made by those who know them best. And we've supported new opportunities for teachers and schools to expand the innovative strategies that are helping kids learn and grow in the classroom. While this bill isn't perfect, it includes many necessary tools to help our states, school districts, principals, and teachers to ensure our kids succeed."
Bennet's chief priorities focused on improving equity and addressing inequalities for teachers and students, reducing federal overreach while ensuring kids from low-income families receive access to a great education, encouraging innovation to meet our most persistent education challenges, and supporting rural schools to meet their unique needs in the face of limited resources.
Studies show that teachers are the single most important factor in school in ensuring a child is receiving a great education. To that end, Bennet worked to include support for teachers to prepare and grow in their profession. Among the provisions he secured is a measure to create new leadership opportunities for teachers within schools, such as career ladders, mentorships, and academic coaching. Along with this provision, he secured a separate measure providing access to higher-quality teacher development that has proven to help teachers grow. He also included support for teacher and school leader residency programs modeled off of the Denver Teacher Residency Program.
One of the chief complaints about No Child Left Behind was its prescriptive, top-down approach to helping failing schools. Bennet worked to ensure the bill reduced federal overreach and promoted state-driven accountability systems, while ensuring we take steps to close the achievement gap and provide all kids with a quality education. While maintaining annual assessments and requiring state to break down that data to identify and track achievement gaps for different subgroups of students, Bennet passed an amendment to help reduce the burden of data reporting requirements for local school districts.
Often the strategies proven to help students succeed are being developed in the classroom by innovative teachers. Bennet secured several measures to dedicate funding to help schools and districts expand those strategies to more classrooms and schools. Elements of Bennet's English Learning and Innovation Act and updates to the Charter School Program he championed were included in the bill. He also secured measures based on his bipartisan Social Impact Partnership Act to support early childhood education.
For a full list of provisions Bennet secured in the
Every Child Achieves Act, CLICK HERE.
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Our success helping healthcare brands grow stems from the insight that meaningful doctor/patient communications are a pivotal “point of convergence” between the HCP and patient information journeys.
Our relentless focus on these make-or-break interactions informs a unique approach to segmentation and communications that closely considers both sides of the point of care conversation.
We call it perspectives-based planning, starting with discovery that uncovers the unique “digital DNA” of our audiences. Understanding the challenges, beliefs, and media sources that influence treatment decisions informs a marketing game plan tailored to break through and inspire action.
Digital technology has essentially dissolved the boundaries between channel and content, placing the onus on media experts to create content that resonates for audiences throughout the media mix. They need to know your brand, your market, and your customers.
At CPM we create dynamic experiences optimized for each touch point along the treatment journey. We seamlessly partner with brand teams and their clinical, regulatory, and communications experts to ensure effective and compliant omnichannel activation.
Bringing top talent to your everyday business ensures your content is strategically on-point and tactically just right for the channels we choose. From SEM ad extensions to social media infographics, programmatic interactivity to landing page experiences, CPM is the brains behind the campaign.
Learn how effectively your brand is getting found and gaining traction with your audience, and how you measure up against your full-stack audience activation and engagement potential.


Solvent cabinet
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but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. (October 2019) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)
In a chemistry laboratory a
solvent cabinet is a chemical storage cabinet or cupboard which is properly labeled and equipped, for the storage of solvents (especially those that are combustible). A solvent cabinet should be positioned separately from acid cabinet or base cabinet (used for storing acids and caustic bases respectively, as solvents are not compatible with these substances. (Some carts for transporting containers of chemicals come equipped with a built in solvent cabinet).
A solvent cabinet must incorporate a number of safety features. It should be adequately ventilated, preventing the release of excessive fumes (being either sealed or vented). It should be equipped to contain fires and isolate the contents from sources of ignition, be grounded (to prevent sparks and static discharge).
References[edit] PETER URBEN (22 October 2013). Bretherick's Handbook of Reactive Chemical Hazards. Academic Press. p. 381. ISBN 978-0-08-052340-8.
This chemistry-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.


Intra Strength is a comprehensive blend of 9 plant based amino acids designed to take your workouts to the next level. With added electrolytes, vitamins, minerals and superfoods, this powerhouse formulation works to support hydration, endurance, recovery and muscle repair.
If your struggling to make the most of your workout session, try fuelling yourself with PranaOn Intra Strength!
PranaOn has formulated the ultimate amino acid formula to support muscle endurance and energy during workouts. Intra Strength is a powerful blend of Branched Chain Amino Acids and Superfoods designed to fuel your body with Nitrates, Electrolytes, Vitamins, Minerals & Antioxidants.
Featuring an effective dose of Fermented Branched Chain Amino acids in a 2:1:1 ratio, these three key aminos help play a direct role in muscle tissue repair and growth. Intra Strength also features Electrolytes from Coconut Water powder to promote rehydration, Vitamin C to combat the effects of oxidative stress (i.e. exercise) and Nitrates from Beetroot Powder to increase blood flow. To further support the immune system we have included L-Glutamine and Vitamins B6 and B12.


Compliance Confidence
IRS Issues Relief From Distributing 1095-Bs IRS Issues Relief From Distributing 1095-Bs In Notice 2019-63, the IRS provides a welcome ACA reporting relief for employers and insurance carriers.
As with prior years, the IRS extended the deadlines to complete and distribute certain ACA reporting forms.
Form To IRS To IRS To Employee To Employee 1095-C No Extension Jan. 31 Mar. 2 1095-B No Extension Jan. 31 Mar. 2
The IRS provided additional relief to entities required to distribute Form 1095-B. The insurance carrier typically issues the 1095-B for insured plans. There are also some employers that must complete and distribute the 1095-B if it is a non-ALE (applicable large employer) self-insured plan. The 1095-B is intended to report coverage for purposes of individual mandate compliance. However, beginning January 1, 2019, the individual mandate penalty was eliminated.
For these two groups reporting on the B forms, the IRS stated that it will not assess a penalty for failure to distribute Form 1095-B to participants in cases where the reporting entity meets the following requirements:
Prominently place a notice on its website with an email address, physical address, and telephone number, where individuals can contact the entity to request a copy of the 1095-B; and The reporting entity provides a copy of the 1095-B within 30 days of the request.
Importantly, this relief does not apply to the employer mandate reporting requirement to complete and distribute Form 1095-C. ALEs must still furnish a copy Form 1095-C to its full-time employee by the extended deadline, including completing Part III that is required for self-insured plans.


Spectra collected by the Near Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (NIMS) onboard the Galileo spacecraft determined that a variety of near-infrared absorption bands overprint the dominantly ‘dirty’ H
2O ice spectral signature of Callisto’s surface. One such absorption band centered near 4 µm has been attributed to the presence of SO 2 on Callisto, as well as on Europa and Ganymede. This 4-µm feature is thought to originate from S-rich species that are erupted from volcanoes on Io, ionized, and subsequently transported in Jupiter’s co-rotating plasma to the three icy Galilean moons. This process can explain the presence of the 4-µm feature on the trailing hemispheres of Europa and Ganymede. On Callisto, however, the 4-µm band is stronger on its leading hemisphere, hinting at a different origin for this band and/or different contributing species, possibly including carbonates. Complicating matters, the often low signal-to-noise and low resolving power (R ~40–200) of spectra collected by NIMS has limited our ability to interpret the origin and composition of the 4-µm feature.
To further investigate Callisto’s 4-µm band, we collected new near-infrared spectra with the SpeX spectrograph on NASA’s Infrared Telescope Facility (~1.9–5.3 µm, R ~2500), representing a significant improvement over the quality of the available NIMS spectra. These SpeX spectra show that the 4-µm feature is significantly stronger on Callisto’s leading hemisphere, supporting prior analysis of the distribution of the 4-µm feature detected by NIMS. The central wavelength position of the feature we detected is shifted to 4.02 µm, whereas the SO
2 combination band ( ν 1 + ν 3) detected on Io is centered near 4.07 µm, casting doubt on SO 2 as the primary constituent contributing to Callisto’s 4-µm band. Our results are more consistent with other S-bearing species like H 2S 2 or HS 2, which could be formed by charged particle radiolysis of hydrogen sulfide (H 2S). Additionally, the spectral signature of carbonates like Na 2CO 3 can also provide a good match to the 4-µm feature. The clear hemispherical asymmetry in the distribution of the 4-µm band is consistent with in-falling dust grains from Jupiter’s retrograde irregular satellites, which should contribute material primarily to Callisto’s leading side. Alternatively, the species contributing to Callisto’s 4-µm band could be native to this moon and are exposed by dust particle collisions that spur regolith overturn, as well as larger impact events that sample greater depths into its subsurface.


Front cover; Copyright page; Contents; List of Illustrations; Acknowledgments; Introduction; 1. Parental Socialization in the Jim Crow South; 2. The Growth of White Privilege in Southern Schools; 3. White Children and the Culture of Segregation; 4. The Violent Reality of White Youth's Socialization; 5. Ritual and Performance in Southern Lynchings; 6. White Girls' Participation in Southern Lynchings; Conclusion; Notes; Bibliography; Index.
Summary
White southerners recognized that the perpetuation of segregation required whites of all ages to uphold a strict social order-especially the young members of the next generation. White children rested at the core of the system of segregation between 1890 and 1939 because their participation was crucial to ensuring the future of white supremacy. Their socialization in the segregated South offers an examination of white supremacy from the inside, showcasing the culture's efforts to preserve itself by teaching its beliefs to the next generation. In Raising Racists: The Socialization of White Child.


It is vitally important that vehicles are kept clean, at a level that minimizes the spread of the coronavirus, particularly between drivers’ change. Coronavirus is transmitted mainly by droplets (for example, from sneezing, coughing, or contamination from the hand to the mouth to the surface). Therefore, the areas of greatest risk are likely to be those in front of the. driver's mouth and nose, and those that touch. These include the steering wheel, gear lever, operating panel (radio, a/c conditioner, etc.), seat belts, mirrors, door handles, window controls, air conditioning controls, controls and displays of infotainment, the dashboard, the fuel cap and the keys.
These areas should be thoroughly cleaned at the end of each driver's service period, each. day or before each delivery, whichever comes first, using disinfectant wipes (which must be available / stored in each vehicle). The process: 1. Before cleaning, the driver must perform hand hygiene with alcohol gel. 2. Put on nitrile gloves. 3. Remove and dispose of general trash. 4. Clean vehicle areas described above, including keys. 5. Complete the cleaning log and view it on the dash visible through the windscreen. 6. Get out of the vehicle and lock it. 7. Take gloves off and dispose of them (for general cleaning, this is not a "biohazardous waste" and can be placed in an ordinary landfill). 8. Repeat hand hygiene with gel alcohol. Cleaning should be methodical and thorough. In the event that a vehicle is delivered after driver self-isolation or a confirmed COVID-19 infection, a deep cleaning may be necessary. If a new driver takes over a vehicle, and the cleaning log is not visible or it is not clear that cleaning has been performed, you should carry out hand hygiene, wear nitrile gloves, clean the vehicle as directed and then complete the registration. JAGUAR TEAM


Clauses that are parallel in form and meaning show processing advantages in ellipsis and coordination structures (Frazier et al. 1984; Kehler 2000; Carlson 2002). However, the constructions that have been used to show a parallelism advantage do not always require a strong semantic relationship between clauses. We present two eye tracking while reading studies on focus-sensitive coordination structures, an understudied form of ellipsis which requires the generation of a contextually salient semantic relation or scale between conjuncts. However, when the remnant of ellipsis lacks an overt correlate in the matrix clause and must be ‘sprouted’ in the ellipsis site, the relation between clauses is simplified to entailment. Instead of facilitation for sentences with an entailment relation between clauses, our online processing results suggest that violating parallelism is costly, even when doing so could ease the semantic relations required for interpretation.


Cotecna launches Atlas®, a pioneering land and property tax solution Cotecna Inspection S.A. is pleased to announce the launch of Atlas®, a solution designed to manage the property tax system on behalf of local governments. The service is based on cutting-edge technology and helps them boost their property tax revenue in a cost-effective manner.
Property tax is a valuable source of revenue for governments, yet they often lack the resources to fully benefit from it. Atlas® is a “one-stop-shop” which provides a comprehensive management support across the entire process from identifying and recording all properties via satellite imagery, to implementing targeted enforcement measures in line with local legislations.
Sébastien Dannaud, CEO, Cotecna Inspection S.A., comments: “Atlas is a modular and scalable solution that offers governments flexible processes, access to experienced professionals, advanced technology and stable funding. It is unique in that it brings immediate and tangible benefits to both the government and the taxpayer.”
The benefits of Atlas® include:
Increase in revenue through fair property valuation and optimised tax collection Revenue projection and budgeting based on reliable information High level of compliance and efficient enforcement mechanism Enhanced public awareness about the importance of property tax
This new offering confirms Cotecna’s ambition to diversify its portfolio of services aimed at government agencies and boasting the latest technology. The company which recently acquired a leading Indian laboratory, Shiva Analyticals, aims to increase its geographical coverage in key regions and expand its reach through organic growth and acquisitions.
For more information About Cotecna
Cotecna is a leading provider of testing, inspection and certification services. We offer solutions to facilitate trade and make supply chain safer and more efficient for our clients. Our trusted network of professionals and certified laboratories provide expertise across four key sectors: agriculture & food, government & trade, minerals & metals, and general cargo. Founded in Switzerland in 1974, Cotecna started off as a family business and has now grown to become a world-class international player with 3,000 employees in close to 100 offices across more than 50 countries.


France’s international digital strategy, presented by the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs on 15 December 2017, serves both as a framework and roadmap for the coming years. It is centred around three key focuses: governance, the economy and security.
Digital technology is now a key issue for France’s foreign policy and public action as a whole, be it for the success of France’s economy in the global competitive sphere or for conditions of stability, security and power on a global scale.
These changes carry with them the risk of a deregulated, dangerous and closed digital sphere and as such it is time for France to define the principles for digital technology that it wishes to see succeed around the world. To achieve this, France must promote a model which is faithful to its values.
This model opposes the trends of compartmentalization, control of networks and destabilization which we are currently witnessing. Furthermore, this model does not resemble the model supported by large American and Chinese tech firms, it aims to provide greater protection by ensuring fundamental rights are respected, by supporting the principle of loyalty and by defending fair competition and taxation.
It is with this context in mind that the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs has drawn up France’s International Digital Strategy (.pdf, in French). It has done so in consultation with all administrations concerned and by opening up its text to public consultation. The Strategy is focused on three key pillars: governance, the economy and security.
It represents a reference framework and diplomatic roadmap for the years ahead. This document enables France to promote a world which associates freedom and respect for standards. This world is situated in a European context as only the European Union has the ability to incarnate and convey this vision on the world’s stage.


This text serves as a convenient one-stop resource on the pathogenesis, diagnosis and treatment of kidney diseases in context of advanced heart failure and presence of ventricular assist devices. Advances in managing heart failure, evidence-based practices and therapies are covered, along with the management of this unique and complex subset of patients. The book also provides insights into combined heart and kidney transplantation. Authored by leaders in nephrology, cardiology and transplantation, this book fills a critical knowledge gap in understanding and treating patients with acute or chronic dysfunction of the heart and kidneys and how one induces dysfunction in the other organ.


In summary:
Last week, Amazon Web Services held its annual AWS re:Invent conference in Las Vegas, a learning event designed to reach stakeholders in global cloud computing. As part of the event, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell announced the league would be partnering with AWS on machine learning applications. Specifically, the partnership intends to help reduce traumatic head injuries by leveraging the expertise of AWS. According to Tech Crunch, meticulous data files and decades of video mean the NFL has a head start, and AWS can use the information to create meaningful simulations. These could help influence helmet design and identify necessary rule changes that would reduce concussion risks. A recent study of former football players uncovered that 87% of them suffered from degenerative brain disease. The NFL-AWS initiative is part of a larger approach to safety the NFL is calling “The Engineering Roadmap,” which is intended to move the helmet industry forward.


T cell-based tracking of multidrug resistant tuberculosis infection after brief exposure. Richeldi L., Ewer K., Losi M., Bergamini BM., Roversi P., Deeks J., Fabbri LM., Lalvani A.
Molecular epidemiology indicates significant transmission of Mycobacterium tuberculosis after casual contact with infectious tuberculosis cases. We investigated M. tuberculosis transmission after brief exposure using a T cell-based assay, the enzyme-linked-immunospot (ELISPOT) for IFN-gamma. After childbirth, a mother was diagnosed with sputum smear-positive multidrug-resistant tuberculosis. Forty-one neonates and 47 adults were present during her admission on the maternity unit; 11 weeks later, all underwent tuberculin skin testing (TST) and ELISPOT. We correlated test results with markers of exposure to the index case. The participants, who were asymptomatic and predominantly had no prior tuberculosis exposure, had 6.05 hours mean exposure (range: 0-65 hours) to the index case. Seventeen individuals, including two newborns, were ELISPOT-positive, and ELISPOT results correlated significantly with three of four predefined measures of tuberculosis exposure. For each hour sharing room air with the index case, the odds of a positive ELISPOT result increased by 1.05 (95% CI: 1.02-1.09, p = 0.003). Only four adults were TST-positive and TST results did not correlate with exposure. Thus, ELISPOT, but not TST, suggested quite extensive nosocomial transmission of multidrug-resistant M. tuberculosis after brief exposure. These results help to explain the apparent importance of casual contact for tuberculosis transmission, and may have implications for prevention.


Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii Infection in Refugee and Migrant Pregnant Women along the Thailand-Myanmar Border. van Enter BJD., Lau Y-L., Ling CL., Watthanaworawit W., Sukthana Y., Lee W-C., Nosten F., McGready R.
Toxoplasma gondii primary infection in pregnancy is associated with poor obstetric outcomes. This study aimed to determine the seroprevalence of Toxoplasma infection in pregnant migrant and refugee women from Myanmar attending antenatal care in Thailand. A random selection of 199 residual blood samples from first antenatal screen in 2014-2015 was tested for Toxoplasma IgG and IgM antibodies. Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma infection was 31.7% (95% confidence interval = 25.6-38.4). Avidity testing in the three positive IgM cases indicated all were past infections. Multiparity (≥ 3 children) was significantly associated with higher Toxoplasma seropositivity rates. Seroprevalence of T. gondii infection in this pregnant population is similar to the only other report from Myanmar, where multiparity was also identified as a significant association. Toxoplasma infection is important in pregnant women. Nevertheless, in this marginalized population, this infection may be given less priority, due to resource constraints in providing the most basic components of safe motherhood programs.


Within two weeks, we co-created the solution and went live starting in the first week of August. This is a COVID-19 information helpline for 300 healthcare workers for the entire Kampala operations of Healthy Entrepreneurs.“
What are the next steps for the solution?
"Since the solution is developed in the cloud and not specific to the Ugandan market, Healthy Entrepreneurs is planning to expand the solution to other countries in Africa, starting with Kenya."
What is your take on this voluntary project?
“I have learned a few lessons which I will take with me. For instance, innovation does not always need to be complex and time-consuming. Sometimes a simple innovation can make a huge difference. On a personal level, it was great to work with real users (i.e., patients, doctors and nurses) of healthcare solutions, which I don’t usually do.
Secondly, further privacy and regulation in healthcare does not always have to be complicated. Necessity - in this context, a global crisis - makes everything possible. Decentralization can make it easier, but it is mostly less easy for bigger companies. When creating a solution, complex programming is not always needed. The fundamental understanding of business context and the ability to chose the right technology is more than enough. COVID-19 provides us with a lot of opportunities to make a real impact for the end beneficiaries, where technology is a key enabler in making a difference in healthcare solutions.”
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To have a better understanding of the work of Healthy Entrepreneurs, click here.


Belgian tax on securities accounts: also for expats? Belgian tax on securities accounts: also for expats?
The Belgian law implementing a tax on securities accounts (TSA) has been adopted back in February 2018. As a reminder, the TSA is a new tax levied at the rate of 0.15% on the total value of in-scope securities held by Belgian individual tax residents on securities accounts with Belgian or foreign banks; or foreign individuals on securities accounts maintained with Belgian banks.
The tax is not due on savings accounts or term deposit accounts. Investments held in a unitized life assurance policy linked to one or more investment funds (‘insurance wrapper’) or in a pension savings account are also exempt from the TSA.
To the extent that the average annual value of such securities exceeds € 500,000 per account holder, the TSA would be due. The € 500,000 threshold is calculated in accordance with a specific mechanism.
The following instruments would be considered to determine the total value :
(i) stocks (both of listed and unlisted companies) and certificates of such shares;
(ii) bonds (irrespective of whether they are listed) and certificates of such bonds; (iii) rights in mutual investment funds or shares in investment companies; (iv) cash bonds; (v) warrants (but not stock options).
The TSA follows in the footsteps of the Belgian stock exchange tax introduced already in 2017. Both tax regimes can have significant extraterritorial implications and foresee optional withholding mechanisms for non-Belgian financial intermediaries.
Your Belgian bank will report the values of the securities and the tax due per account holder and deduct the tax from the account holder’s account. The tax is to be reported and paid by 20 December, starting this year. Overseas banks may also report and pay the tax via a fiscal representative in Belgium.
Belgian non-resident taxpayers
The tax on securities accounts aims at securities accounts of private individuals. Securities accounts of legal entities (e.g. companies and non-profit organizations) are excluded from the scope.
In the first place, it applies to private individuals who are Belgian tax resident, including professionals, who during the reference year are the beneficiary of one or more securities accounts held with a Belgian or foreign intermediary (e.g. a bank).
Initially it was the intention, as is the case with the Belgian stock exchange tax, to only tax securities accounts of Belgian residents. But eventually, it was decided to also apply the TSA on securities accounts held by non-resident taxpayers with a Belgian bank. Therefore, Belgian securities accounts of (foreign) expats, diplomats, EU officials, etc. who, on the basis of specific regulation, have the status of Belgian non-resident taxpayer, are also subject to the TSA.
This implies an equal treatment of Belgian resident and non-resident taxpayers, as both categories would be subject to the TSA.
However, the question arises whether an extension of the scope of the TSA to non-residents will not simply lead to the transfer of their securities account(s) to another country. As non-residents can only be taxed at source, Belgium cannot levy the TSA on a foreign securities account held by a foreigner who qualifies as a Belgian non-resident taxpayer.
As a result, the taxability of Belgian securities accounts of non-residents may not result in significant additional tax revenue and entails a significant risk of capital and employment in (foreign) banks and asset managers active in Belgium focusing mainly on non-residents, being chased away.
Double tax treaty
The question is also whether the applicable double tax treaty does not prevent Belgium from imposing such a (wealth) tax on a Belgian securities account held by a non-resident. Assuming that the TSA can be qualified as a wealth tax, it needs to be verified first whether the applicable treaty does not prevent the Belgian tax authority from levying such a tax.
For example, for a Dutch tax resident, the double tax treaty between Belgium and the Netherlands (Article 22, 3 ° DTT) stipulates that assets such as securities on a securities account may only be taxed in the country of residence (i.e. the Netherlands) and thus not in Belgium.
This will undoubtedly lead to discussions with the Belgian tax authorities.


If you don't like public speaking, you aren't alone. Public speaking is a common anxiety.
But Presentr may be a solution to overcoming your fear. With the help of artificial intelligence, you receive a personal coach who helps you hone your speaking skills either via the app or desktop platform. With it, you can record yourself giving a speech, and the system will provide feedback, such as alerting you on whether you are speaking at a good volume or highlighting the words you commonly use.
Presentr isn't only an option for individuals, though. Multiple employees can use the app, and managers can track their efforts and progress. Companies can also use the app during live training sessions to gather analytics on participants.
This tool offers various pricing plans. The free one gives users 60 minutes of recording time, an assessment score, and tips. An individual user plan ($9 a month) and a team plan ($15 a month) offer more robust features, while a custom plan could provide whole companies with the full spectrum of services.
Presentr may be the solution to overcoming a fear of public speaking.


The Payment Services Bill - A New Regulatory Framework for Payments29 Nov 2018 LegisWatch
The Monetary Authority of Singapore ("
MAS") currently regulates various payment services under the Payment Systems (Oversight) Act (" PS(O)A") and the Money-changing and Remittance Businesses Act (" MCRBA"). New payment models and services have since developed which create uncertainty over the regulatory scope of the PS(O)A and MCRBA and present new risks to be addressed. MAS conducted a public consultation on key proposals in the proposed Payment Services Bill (" PSB") on 21 November 2017 (our update on this can be accessed here) and issued its response to feedback received on the public consultation on 19 November 2018 (available here). On 19 November 2018, the PSB (available here) was read in Parliament for the first time.
The PSB will:
streamline payment services under a single legislative framework by combining the PS(O)A and the MCRBA;
enhance the scope of regulated activities by taking into account developments in payment services; and
take a risk-based approach, i.e., it will calibrate regulations according to the risks posed by the various regulated activities by adopting a modular regulatory regime,
and comprises two parallel regulatory frameworks:
a licensing framework for payment service providers; and
a designation framework for significant payment systems.
This Update highlights the key points of the Payment Services Bill.
If you would like information on this or any other area of law, you may wish to contact the partner at WongPartnership that you normally work with or the following partner:


Authors: Jessica Blythe and Chris Cvitanovic
The unique challenges presented by the Anthropocene to marine socio-ecological systems necessitate new approaches of knowledge production that are capable of integrating scientific disciplines to develop solutions that are desirable, equitable, and viable. Despite increasing rhetorical support for interdisciplinary marine research, however, significant challenges associated with doing interdisciplinary research persist, and undermine progress towards tackling and navigating the complex challenges faced by marine social-ecological systems. While a growing body of literature has sought to identify strategies for overcoming the documented barriers to building capacity for interdisciplinary research at the individual level, there is very little empirically derived guidance for how to build institutional capacity and structures that support interdisciplinary research, particularly for research organizations focused on developing solutions to marine sustainability challenges. To address this gap, in our new open access study published in Frontiers in Marine Science, we undertake an in-depth evaluation of the Centre for Marine Socioecology (CMS) in Tasmania, Australia, which brings together disciplinary expertise in physics, law, economics, biology, sociology and governance to solve the grand challenges facing the worlds coastal and marine environments. In doing so we identified five key organizational features that enable successful interdisciplinary marine research: 1) Support female leadership, 2) Forge partnerships outside of academia, 3) Develop impact-based performance metrics, 4) Cultivate a visible brand and 5) Seek long-term funding. We also identify strategies for achieving each of these five features. Future engagement with these five principles, including exploration of how they translate across contexts, scales, and geographies, will be critical for building the interdisciplinary research capacity that is required to tackle our most pressing scientific and societal questions.


Extracting the underlying trend signal is a crucial step to facilitate time series analysis like forecasting and anomaly detection. Besides noise signal, time series can contain not only outliers but also abrupt trend changes in real-world scenarios. To deal with these challenges, we propose a robust trend filtering algorithm based on robust statistics and sparse learning. Specifically, we adopt the Huber loss to suppress outliers, and utilize a combination of the first order and second order difference on the trend component as regularization to capture both slow and abrupt trend changes. Furthermore, an efficient method is designed to solve the proposed robust trend filtering based on majorization minimization (MM) and alternative direction method of multipliers (ADMM). We compared our proposed robust trend filter with other nine state-of-the-art trend filtering algorithms on both synthetic and real-world datasets. The experiments demonstrate that our algorithm outperforms existing methods.
Jun-9-2019


Civil Rights
Block on Trump's Asylum Ban Upheld by Supreme Court
Earlier this week the Tenth Circuit reviewed two sections of the amended Utah Sexual Solicitation Statute for First Amendment facial challenges by several escort service businesses. The district court upheld § 1313(1)(c), but found § 1313(2) unconstitutionally vague.
The Tenth Circuit, reversed in part, and affirmed in part, holding that the two sections were constitutional and did not infringe on appellants' First Amendment rights.
Issue Preclusion
Appellants argued that issue preclusion should apply because a predecessor sexual solicitation statute, previously held unconstitutional, had similar language. The court did not agree because the new statute was different, enacted separately, had distinct purposes, different effects and different definitions of "sexual activity."
Whether the Statute Is Over Broad
The court noted that the test for over-breadth is more stringent when criminal conduct is concerned, because of a state's legitimate interest in enforcing criminal laws. Appellants argued that the statute would prohibit conduct meant to be artistic or entertaining but the court did not agree. The court emphasized the fact that the statute required the acts coupled with the intent to engage in sexual activity for a fee. Without that intent, the conduct would not be considered criminal.
Whether the Statue Is Vague
Last, the court had to determine whether the statue was vague. The court noted that the statute gives "fair notice of what conduct it prohibits." The fact that intent was required bolstered its position. The 10th Circuit stated the fact that surrounding circumstances could be used to infer intent was not problematic and cited examples such as the 10th Circuit Criminal Pattern Jury Instructions, and carjacking case law to illustrate its point.
It seems the Utah legislature got it right the second time around. After the predecessor sexual solicitation statute was found unconstitutional, it went back and drafted a statute that contained more specific language. This is a text book example of our balance of powers at play.
Related Resources:


A recent Comment, published in The Lancet Digital Health, has provided key insights into public perceptions on data sharing. Data sharing
Data science and artificial intelligence (AI) have the ability to transform how healthcare is delivered. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has been a key example of how global data sharing improves data-driven responses. Researchers have been able to rapidly collect, analyse, model and report data timely.
Nevertheless, data sharing in some cases is still a controversial subject. The most common concern is in relation to privacy. Despite efforts to ensure anonymity, malicious hackers remain a risk in re-identifying individuals. For many, the risk of data sharing outweighs the benefits.
Previous surveys have explored the range of views that the public hold about data sharing. It is clear that the public question the safety of their data. In particular, they are concerned about sharing their health data with third parties.
A survey
In this study, researchers surveyed individuals across the UK and USA to examine public attitudes towards data sharing, data access and the use of AI in healthcare. The team selected these countries as comparators, as both are high-income countries with significant investment in advanced health information technology and data-driven care. They also wanted to observe whether the contrasting healthcare delivery systems would influence public attitudes.
The researchers developed an online YouGov survey. From this, they obtained data from 3,194 respondents aged >18 years across the UK (n=2,080) and USA (n=1,114).
Perceptions on data sharing
Whist more respondents were aware of electronic health records, their use was not widespread, particularly in the UK (14.3% vs 44.5% in the USA). Access to medical records was also low (59.0% in the UK and 70.1% in the USA). Nonetheless, many respondents still regarded access to their medical records as useful.
Willingness to share anonymised health information was different depending on who was receiving it. Respondents were less willing to share their anonymised data to institutions using it for a more commercial purpose, e.g. insurance or tech companies. Older respondents were less trustful on sharing their personal information with any organisation compared to younger respondents.
Most respondents, from both countries, felt happier to receive advice from a healthcare professional without assistance from AI (58.2% vs 54.8% in the UK and 51.8% vs 38.2% in the USA). However, a small majority of UK respondents, in contrast to the USA, felt happy to receive care from AI software if it was there just as a support for healthcare professionals. Younger respondents were more open to receiving advice from independent AI than older respondents.
Implications
These results highlight that access and use of EHRs is not widespread. There are several barriers to accessing health records, including poor usability and interoperability, language barriers and overall mistrust in healthcare systems. Previous studies have shown that in the USA, ethnic minorities and lower income patients adopt EHRs less often than white and higher income patients. This emphasises the importance of tackling inequity in digital health. Patient involvement in the design of digital applications will likely be key in responding to the rapidly evolving expectations of digital services.
Another concern is the lack of trust. In the USA, over a third of patients were not willing to share their data with their doctor. It is clear that individuals are concerned about people profiting off their data. This was reinforced by the fact respondents were less willing to share their data with commercial end-users.
The team highlighted that these results represent a sharp shift in public opinion compared to the 2016 Wellcome Trust survey. In this survey, respondents were willing to share data with commercial organisations. This shift represents the increased public awareness of risks and consequences of data sharing with commercial industries.
The researchers emphasise the need for public standards that secure regulation and transparency of data use and sharing. They also suggest the importance of communicating this to patients clearly so that they understand how and why their data is being used.


You are here: A New Beginning EMAN'S STORY
For many Syrian refugees seeking shelter from the bombing and violence which has shattered their lives, Jordan is a sanctuary that allows them to focus once again on living, rather than struggling for survival.
But even away from the fighting, their horrific experiences can often continue to dominate their futures.
Eman had been happy in Homs, before the war touched the city. At 51 she was a recognised artist, with a popular gallery and a career as an art teacher – passing on her passion to younger generations of Syrians. Her husband was a successful businessman, they had a comfortable home and led prosperous lives.
All this was lost when they fled and, in Jordan, Eman could not stop crying. She was overcome with sadness at every moment, withdrew from her family and stopped eating or sleeping. She could not see a way forward.
She agreed to meet with an International Medical Corps case worker, and complained that her family's lives were ruined. They were struggling to find employment in their new surroundings, she could not face leaving their house and her children were suffering. Her son had reached Norway illegally and was struggling to adapt, while her daughter Mais – who had been studying law at Homs University – could now not complete her studies.
It was all too much for Eman; she had no energy, no desire to do anything and couldn’t even bring herself to complete the daily chores.
She too was lost.
International Medical Corps’ case worker referred her to a psychiatrist and, just two days, later she was diagnosed with Major Depression Disorder.
Now, through mental healthcare programmes funded with aid from the British people, Eman's recovery could begin. She was provided with medication and set a schedule of therapy sessions where she could explore the feelings she was struggling with. On the psychiatrist’s recommendation, she was also encouraged to begin volunteering as part of the NGO’s work in the country – providing her with a reason to get up in the morning and fill her day.
Eman began teaching again, providing young refugees with a creative outlet to express their feelings and views. Her work began to bring in money, and her family’s financial issues began to improve. Through encouragement from her case worker, the family applied for a scholarship at Al Yarmouk University for Mais – her daughter won the opportunity and returned to her studies. A more motivated Eman began phoning her son in Norway every day, providing the support he needed to begin moving forward – her days filled up and her depression lessened.
Today Eman is enjoying her life once again.
She is more sociable, is part of the community there and able to engage in her art – the outlet which is so important to her. While the stresses that such refugees face still exist for her, she feels she can cope with them, with the support of those medical professionals who have encouraged her to regain her future.


December 9, 11-11:45 AM EDT
Partnerships are critical to ensure a patient’s safe transition of care—especially during a public health emergency.
Eight months into the COVID-19 pandemic, an adequate PPE supply and access to testing are essential but not always enough. Equally important are our partnerships with providers of healthcare in our community.
This virus serves as a wake-up call. Let’s strengthen relationships and tackle challenges in a more committed, enduring way. Explore how Community Coalition Leaders connected with partners across the continuum to collectively address COVID-19 challenges.
Discover ways to: Harness the power of provider coalitions Establish a COVID-19 focused coalition Tackle critical areas as a coalition Invite Your Community Partners Share our flyer with your partners to ensure your community is engaged in this webinar.


Condominium and Cooperative Law in California
Condominiums and cooperatives are forms of "common interest" communities.
These are communities in which each resident rents or owns a residential unit. The residential units are part of a larger building, or complex of buildings, which are owned by another entity, such as a corporation or association. The residents are accountable for the upkeep of common areas, such as lawns and walkways. Rather than personally tending to these things, residents typically pay a fee that covers these necessities.
If you simply look at a condominium or cooperative community, you likely won't be able to tell if it's one or the other.
This is due to the fact that there are no visual or physical characteristics that can distinguish one from the other. All the differences between them lie in the ownership arrangements that the residents have. With a condominium, the residents typically own their housing unit, and collectively own the land on which it sits. In a cooperative, the residents rent the units, and the land is owned by a single entity, either a corporation or other type of business association.
Laws and Regulations Concerning Common Interest Communities in Redlands, California
While there are a lot of Redlands, California laws that will affect the residents and owners of condominium and cooperative communities, there are few that are actually specific to such communities. Alternatively, they are mostly governed by laws of more general application, such as contract law, zoning laws, and landlord/tenant law.
The daily lives of residents, and what they are and aren't allowed to do in their residences, will be far more heavily impacted by rules and regulations that the homeowner's association, or the owner of the land, has imposed.
The land that common interest communities occupy is typically private property. Therefore, the owners of the property are free to make certain rules governing what is and isn't allowed on it. A good manager or owner will typically make every effort to strike a balance between residents' freedom to do what they want in their homes, and the rights of their neighbors to a safe, clean, and reasonably quiet living space.
This authority, however, has limits. There are some rules which landowners cannot impose. Most obviously, they can't bar people from renting or buying units based on their race, religion, or national origin in Redlands, California. This conduct is illegal under state and federal law, and can result in grave civil penalties.
Can a Redlands, California Attorney Help?
If you have problems with your landlord, your homeowners association, or a neighbor, a reliable Redlands, California real estate lawyer may prove invaluable.


Abstract
A spike protein mutation D614G became dominant in SARS-CoV-2 during the COVID-19 pandemic
1,2. However, the impact on viral spread and vaccine efficacy remains to be defined. Here, we engineer the D614G mutation in the USA-WA1/2020 strain and characterize its effect. D614G enhances replication on human lung epithelial cells and primary human airway tissues through an improved infectivity of virions. Hamsters infected with the G614 variant produced higher infectious titers in the nasal washes and trachea, but not lungs, confirming clinical evidence that the D614G mutation enhances viral loads in the upper respiratory tract of COVID-19 patients and may increases transmission. Sera from D614-infected hamsters exhibit modestly higher neutralization titers against G614 virus than against D614 virus, indicating that (i) the mutation may not reduce the ability of vaccines in clinical trials to protect against COVID-19 and (ii) therapeutic antibodies should be tested against the circulating G614 virus. Together with clinical findings, our work underscores the importance of this mutation in viral spread, vaccine efficacy, and antibody therapy. ASJC Scopus subject areas General


The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Thursday announced the ban of firecrackers as the state government requested them to. Considering the Maharashtra Government’s appeal to citizens, for avoiding the use of firecrackers this Diwali, initially, BMC has drafted a notice to silence them.
Earlier, this major step was taken by the Madhya Pradesh government, as Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, requested the citizens to avoid the use of firecrackers and discourage the foreign goods that could harm the environment. As the pollution is rising day by day, the government is fearful that increased smoke will result, in poor air that can harm the covid patients.
While the whole world is combating this virus, new difficulties may arise with the growing pollution. However, in view of the present scenario, the senior officials may review the draft within two days while counseling with the state before announcing it. Earlier States like Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, and West Bengal had banned the use of firecrackers.
Municipal Commissioner Suresh Kakani said, “We cannot confirm anything yet as no decision has been taken. However, as soon as the government will give us orders we will initiate the request. We are following up on the issue.” Additionally, a civic official stated that such drafts have been made by the government of Rajasthan as well. Commissioner warned that any sought of active participation in the firecracker business will result in penalization.
The increased risk of infections and other severe symptoms, such as asthma or lung failure can be injurious for children and senior citizens. The State Environment Minister, Aditya Thackerey, has asked the BMC to delve into the matter while exploring various possibilities to silence the use of firecrackers. Thus, less amount of smoke in the air and decreased sound during the festival can be peaceful for many Covid-19 patients.
Under the Epidemic Diseases Act, the government and the BMC can ban the use of firecrackers for safeguarding many lives that are under threat.
As the BMC officials are waiting for the government orders, the state has appealed to people to discourage the use of firecrackers which can lead to noise pollution. As Mumbai was the state with the highest number of covid cases till October, therefore, the state is not willing to risk the life of its citizens just for the sake of a festival.
Even if one applies sense, it could exasperate the health situations which could be fatal. Keeping all the concerns and repercussions in mind, citizens must avoid the use of firecrackers. Thus, considering the bleak Covid-19 conditions, the second wave of this virus may hit the nation.
The public health minister Rajesh Tope proposed the idea of a ‘Cracker – Free Diwali’. Organizing a meeting with the Covid-19 task force, the minister stated, “We discussed several topics in the cabinet. Additionally, the use of crackers was also discussed and we appeal to the general public not to burst crackers at any cost.” The smoke will settle in the atmosphere and could continue in the form of fog that can last through the winters.


This new project, a partnership between NLGN, Barrow Cadbury Trust, Carnegie UK Trust, and Power to Change, aims to capture and share the good practices that have emerged during the Covid-19 pandemic, and find ways to embed and build on them.
If you work for a local authority, public service, community group or simply have a story to share, they would be interested to hear from you.
If you would like to contribute your experiences to this research, contact Simon Kaye, skaye@nlgn.org.uk.


Now that the tax season has passed and the demands of the holidays are far behind us, we can take a moment to reflect on the blessings of Independence Day. As advisors, we have the opportunity to help our clients pursue their unalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Now, perhaps more than ever, is a perfect time to revisit your clients’ current financial plans to ensure they are focused on the right objectives for the future. Here are just a few ideas to help you initiate these discussions with your clients.
Hard times for boomers The baby boomer generation currently faces financial challenges no generation has previously encountered, including pension terminations, unabated healthcare costs, growing uncertainty about government programs such as Medicare and Social Security combined with decreased personal savings rates in an era of increased life expectancy. These realities will call upon most boomers to significantly adjust their lifestyles to accommodate the possible loss of a job, healthcare coverage or personal savings.
Despite these ongoing challenges, with your wise counsel baby boomers can still find comfort and security as they plan for retirement. First and foremost we must convince clients to live below their means. This will leave them with income now to save for the future. Some of the most valuable elements of any strong financial plan are built on a foundation of life insurance and annuities.
A safe solution Annuities deliver guaranteed income clients can’t outlive, while life insurance creates tax-free capital to assure that their debts and obligations will not outlive them. If the current downturn in the economy has taught us anything, it is that life insurance and annuities were built for times like these.
Life insurance provides clients’ heirs with the confidence and peace of mind that there will be dollars free of income-, capital gains- and, when properly structured, estate-tax, for their loved ones and beneficiaries. It is important for advisors to realize financial planning, especially during retirement is relative. Our current economic challenges affect all clients, regardless of their income or financial portfolio.
As challenging as it might be, it’s our duty to help our clients muster the confidence to believe the future is in their hands, not the government. Together we can help them build a lifetime of independence that our founders fought so valiantly for.


Heaton, Pam F..2009.Assessing musical skills in autistic children who are not savants.Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 364(1522),pp. 1443-1447.ISSN 0962-8436[Article]
Descriptions of autistic musical savants suggest that they possess extraordinary skills within the domain. However, until recently little was known about the musical skills and potential of individuals with autism who are not savants. The results from these more recent studies investigating music perception, cognition and learning in musically untrained children with autism have revealed a pattern of abilities that are either enhanced or spared. For example, increased sensitivity to musical pitch and timbre is frequently observed, and studies investigating perception of musical structure and emotions have consistently failed to reveal deficits in autism. While the phenomenon of the savant syndrome is of considerable theoretical interest, it may have led to an under-consideration of the potential talents and skills of that vast majority of autistic individuals, who do not meet savant criteria. Data from empirical studies show that many autistic children possess musical potential that can and should be developed.


I’ve walked past the oak tree a few times, since meeting Finola, feeling her absence there, and wondering about isolation.
A few weeks ago, the sound of suitcase wheels, outside on the pavement, caught my attention, hooking into a longing for freedom; their squealing protests echoing an over-laden world in lockdown.
It stopped beneath my window, creating a silence that stepped into absence, loneliness and then curiosity as a woman’s quiet northern lilt ushered her presence into the room through the open window.
I lent into the alcove to look at her. She was busy rummaging in a holdall that was resting on top of her black suitcase, eventually, pulling out a large stainless-steel flask and passing it to the shop’s security guard. I recognised that sense of familiarity, a habit, and I felt the loss of those habits that coat-hanger the day.
It was a travelling bag, her essentials to hand, and she quickly pulled out a jumper to put on over the small rucksack on her back; preparing for an evening chill that would reach into a cold night.
She came back at more or less the same time every evening, keeping a distance from other homeless people who were congregating close to the shop. I wanted to imagine her life; how locked-in worked for those locked-out, but the lack of sureness and a foothold in my everyday imagining seemed unlikely.
Sadly though, being stranded in a city with relatively quiet empty streets, imagining seemed unnecessary. The sleeping spaces, often created behind buildings near heat sources, were more visible on the streets, and sitting places – homing into where people were coming and going. Competition for money and food fierce at times, as people tried to secure what they needed.
Walking in the streets, I found myself looking for her, but we eventually met in a park of fields, a couple of miles away. She was sitting, leaning against an oak tree. I stood looking at her as she took in the warmth of the sun as it fell, reaching under the canopy of new leaves and trailing blossom as the blackbirds were singing. The suitcase lying open, her belongings cascading onto the grass as though she had been rummaging again; an arresting image.
She looked tired and weather-worn but relaxed, and it felt as though we shared a sense of being at home in green open spaces. She looked like she’d fallen asleep in the grass at some point, with bits of dry twigs and leaves snagged in her hair, and earth caught under her fingernails.
As I stopped to say hello, an insect landed in my eye and she quickly offered me her wipes; it eased us into a conversation that felt a bit awkward to start with but seemed to find its own way. I don’t know what I expected, but it largely settled on the the burning issue of the epidemic.
I suppose, I thought her interest might rest with the practical everyday aspects of it, but she wanted to discuss the wider societal implications. Whilst we chatted a bit about ourselves, there was a feeling that we came from different worlds, but that Covid-19 seemed to question the reality of that.
There was a sense of beauty in our unexpected connection, as with her name, Fonola, that derives from Fionnuala – the carrier of Gaelic legends.


Samburu and Marsabit Counties in Kenya are home to several pastoralist tribes, among them the Samburu, the Borana, the Rendille and the Gabra. These tribes are distinct in language and customs, but one similarity they share is that they continue to practice Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C) and Child, Early and Forced Marriages (CEFM) despite Kenyan laws outlawing both in 2001.
An average of 76% of women across these tribes underwent FGM/C and 70% were married before they were 18. Each tribe is led by elders who make the decisions for the rest of their community and play a crucial role in maintaining these harmful practices.
The practices are linked; when a girl (typically between 8-15 years old) undergoes FGM/C, she is considered ready to be married off, often to a much older man and is expected to drop out of school once she is married.
Through funding from USAID and our donors, we created Koota Injena — which translates to “Come let us talk” in the Borana language — where we promote the use of community dialogues to end FGM/C and CEFM in 40 communities who identify as Samburu, Borana, Rendille and Gabra in Samburu County and Marsabit County


Our lifestyle is made up of choices. From the food we eat to the words we use, they all have a rippling affect in our lives and those around us. The next challenge is to be intentional with the words you choose - spoken, written and thought. Take the following into consideration:
Be Positive
Choose To vs. Have To/Can't
Want To vs. Have To
Can vs. Can't
Choice vs. Should
Want vs. Don't Want
For example, I am allergic to dairy and gluten. You will rarely hear me say, "I can't have that." I would more likely say, "I choose not to eat that." Another example, I explained to Crystal (my dear friend) a challenge I was having at work. She observed the language I was using and found me consistently using "don't want." Bringing this to my attention, she encouraged me to identify and put my energy (thought and action) to what I DO want.
I challenge you to use your words - spoken, written and in thought - with intention for your greatest good and that of others.


This paper focuses on the present condition and future of the professoriate and is part of a long-term study on how the academic profession is changing, now more rapidly than at any time in memory. These dramatic shifts have led to a deep restructuring of academic appointments, work, and careers. The question now looming is whether the forces that have triggered academic restructuring will, in time, so transform the academic profession that its role—its unique contribution—is becoming ever more vulnerable to dangerous compromise. Whether the academic profession is able to negotiate successfully its role in the new era—to preserve core values and to ensure the indispensable contributions of the academy to society—remains to be seen.


Well that’s not what I said. I’m saying that when we stop judging we can make adult decisions about what to do next. By calling them “bad” and shaming them, we’re just staying in relationship with them. When we see them for what they are—mentally ill people—we can take appropriate action, such as walking away, or removing the authority from them (or encouraging or requiring them to get treatment for PTSD). When we cannot see them for what they are, we turn them into these scary bogey-people that we don’t know what to do with.


Abstract
This study assessed the usefulness of passing euthanized Atlantic salmon
Salmo salar smolts through an Archimedean screw turbine to test for external damage, as compared with live, actively swimming smolts. Scale loss was the only observed effect. Severe scale loss was 5·9 times more prevalent in euthanized turbine‐passed fish (45%) than the live fish (7·6%). Additionally, distinctive patterns of scale loss, consistent with grinding between the turbine helices and housing trough, were observed in 35% of euthanized turbine‐passed smolts. This distinctive pattern of scale loss was not seen in live turbine‐passed smolts, nor in control groups (live and euthanized smolts released downstream of the turbine), which suggests that the altered behaviour of dead fish in turbine flows generates biased injury outcomes.


The explosive growth in online video streaming gives rise to challenges on efficiently extracting the spatial-temporal information to perform video understanding. Conventional 2D CNNs are computationally cheap but cannot capture long-term temporal relationships; 3D CNN based methods can achieve good performance but are computationally intensive, making it expensive to deploy. In this paper, we propose a generic and effective Temporal Shift Module (TSM) that enjoys both high efficiency and high performance. Specifically, it can achieve the performance of 3D CNN but maintain 2D complexity. The central idea of TSM is to shift part of the channels along the temporal dimension, which facilitates information exchange among neighboring frames. TSM can be inserted into 2D CNNs to achieve temporal modeling at the cost of zero FLOPs and zero parameters. On the Something-Something-V1 dataset which focuses on temporal modeling, we achieved better results than I3D family and ECO family using 6X and 2.7X fewer FLOPs respectively. Measured on P100 GPU, our single model achieved 1.8% higher accuracy at 8X lower latency and 12X higher throughput compared to I3D. Remarkably, our framework ranks the first on both Something-Something V1 and V2 leaderboards upon this paper's submission.


detail - Regional Programme Australia and the Pacific Online-Seminar This portlet should not exist anymore Details
This year’s dialogue will take place in a slightly altered, virtual format – the overarching theme of ‘
Cybersecurity in Crisis Times- A Way Forward for Europe and Australia’ will be addressed through three separate interactive discussion sessions with speakers from Europe and Australia.
The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted not only the interconnectedness of the world but also the associated vulnerabilities. This requires us to look at how we manage global interdependence, particularly in the area of cyberspace, as a politically contested space shaped by hyper-connectivity and lack of overarching global governance. The topic for the entire dialogue/discussion series hence centres around multilateral and multi-stakeholder engagement and the potential for increasing cooperation as the COVID-19 pandemic has widened the attack surface for cyber operations. While this first discussion in the series will focus on global cyber norms, subsequent sessions (one later in August and one in September) will respectively be dedicated to joint responses to large-scale cyber incidents and the EU approach as well as AI governance.
We are supported in the organization by three experts from the Stiftung Neue Verantwortung – a Berlin think tank at the intersection of technology and society – who will chair these sessions.
This event will be held under Chatham House Rule (not open to the public). Experts are invited to these discussions as part of a selected group to allow for the opportunity to actively engage and share insights.
Session One
The opening discussion will be on
‘Covid-19 and the road to global cyber norms: The case of banning cyber operations against public health infrastructures’.
Input speakers from the European and Australian side are:
Ms Johanna Weaver, Head of the Australian delegation to the UN Open-ended Working Group on cyber norms, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Mr Wolfram von Heynitz, Head of the Cyber Policy Coordination Staff, German Federal Foreign Office Mr Lukasz Olejnik, independent adviser and researcher Mr Bart Hogeveen, Head of Cyber Capacity building, International Cyber Policy Centre, Australian Strategic Policy Institute
The session will be chaired by Alexandra Paulus from the Stiftung Neue Verantwortung (SNV)
Thematic Overview: Following multiple cyber operations targeting public health infrastructures, various groups of states and non-state actors condemned such attacks and even advanced concrete proposals for establishing a norm banning cyber operations against public health infrastructures. This case study raises interesting questions and implications regarding the process of establishing global cyber norms at the United Nations and beyond. For example, what steps would be necessary to make such a norm sufficiently robust? How is this relevant for European-Australian cooperation in this matter?


Suppliers and Quality Agreements Managing global supplier audits to allow more efficient monitoring of suppliers across sites, while improving supplier-related quality processes and saving time and effort. Generica QMS Suppliers and Quality Agreements module addresses challenges such as potential supplier inspection, supplier quality and approval process, agreement management, as well as external supplier audit planning and execution. This module assists the quality team in ensuring a valid and up-to-date agreement for each product and each supplier, as well as controlling individual suppliers while maintaining a global perspective.
Generica QMS is used for managing suppliers and quality agreements on a global basis. A part of the wide responsibility manufacturers in the Life Science industry have for the quality of their producs is verifying the quality delivered by their suppliers. This includes conducting audits to approve the suppliers, performing periodic assessments, tracking all suppliers quality occurrences, closely managing quality agreements, verifying commitments, and so on.
Managing suppliers and agreements with Generica QMS avoids duplications resulted form suppliers that supply multiple sites, improves process quality, and saves time and effort for the site quality teams. Generica Suppliers and Qulity Agreements module addresses challenges ranging from potential supplier inspection, to the quality approval process, agreements management all the way to external supplier audit planning and execution.
One of the things make Generica QMS an intuitive and friendly systme for users is its seamless integration with standard tools such as Word, Excel and PDF. This allows users to remian in their familiar work environment when performing their daily activities, and not needing to leave their relevant document. The majority of the actual work can be easily performed from those common tools, while they are being leveraged by Generica to support Generica QMS functionality and processes. This increases user productivity, while helping to ensure regulatory compliance.
Generica Suppliers and Quality Agreements includes a pre-defined solution and best practices, but can also be easily configured to meet company’s specific processes and needs.


Secure Newly Remote Privileged Users
Secure remote access for your privileged users who must access critical systems and data
Deemed Critical Infrastructure? Get a free six-month license from Prianto
As more IT administrators are required to work remotely, securing and monitoring their activities is extremely important, particularly when accessing critical infrastructure and sensitive systems.
One Identity Safeguard for Privileged Sessions (former Shell Control Box solution) enables you to control, monitor and record privileged sessions (including for those administrators working from home), remote vendors and other high-risk users. It serves as a proxy, inspecting application-level protocol traffic and rejecting any traffic that violates the protocol – making it an effective shield against attacks. We realize that you are being asked to rapidly transition to a remote workforce. This can be particularly challenging with your privileged users who now must work from home but still access privileged systems and data to keep your organization moving forward. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) recommends that as organizations explore various alternate workplace options that they should enhance system monitoring to ensure early detection of threats and abnormal activity.
One Identity can help meet these recommendations and smooth migration to supporting an expanded remote workforce, including privileged users. We have the solutions and experience to help organizations that are deemed critical infrastructure enhance security through additional monitoring with Safeguard for Privileged Sessions.
Safeguard for Privileged Sessions compliments your existing remote-access system by recording and monitoring access to privileged or critical systems. Sessions are monitored in real time and, if unusual or unwanted behavior is detected, actions can be taken immediately, including sending an alert or terminating a session. You can even enable policies that restrict clipboard access and SFTP to limit the transfer of data to the users’ remote machine.
Safeguard for Privileged Sessions is a turnkey appliance, which means installation and configuration are simple and quick. Operating at the network level, it is transparent to the user and yet it enables them to continue using client applications and workflow processes. Your organization will begin to experience value within a day and full implementation typically takes around three to five days.
Free Six-Month License
Organizations that are deemed critical infrastructure qualify for a free, six-month license to help secure your environment. This license may be extended if the crisis continues. Once you register, our technical team can demonstrate the capabilities of the One Identity Safeguard solution and discuss the architecture as well as the installation process.
Register for the program Watch our video on securing privileged remote access Learn more about Safeguard for Privileged Sessions
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The epidemiology of norovirus gastroenteritis in China: disease burden and distribution of genotypes. Zhou H., Wang S., von Seidlein L., Wang X.
With the improvements of sanitation and nationwide safe water supply the occurrence of bacterial diarrhea declined remarkably, while viruses became the leading causes of acute gastroenteritis (AGE). Of these viruses, noroviruses (NoVs) are responsible for a considerable burden of gastroenteritis, especially in children < 2 years and elderly ⩾ 65 years. NoVs circulating in the Chinese population are antigenically highly diverse with the genotype GII.4 being the dominant strain followed by GII.3. Given the widespread contamination in environmental sources, and highly infectious nature of NoVs, vaccination would be the desirable strategy for the control of NoV infections. However, a better understanding of acquired immunity after infection, and a reliable immunological surrogate marker are urgently needed, since two vaccine candidates based on virus-like particles (VLPs) are currently moving into clinical evaluations in China.


On 24 September the European Commission issued a
Digital Finance Package, which includes the Digital Finance Strategy for the EU.
As the Covid-19 pandemic spread through Europe, the uptake on new digital financial solutions increased while the need for a widespread adoption became evident. With the Digital Finance Package, the European Commission is aiming to tackle the challenge of promoting digital finance services while addressing the risks that may arise for users and for the stability of the financial market.
The Commission has identified
four priorities to guide digital transformation until 2024: Harmonization of the Digital Single Market for financial services to allow financial firms to scale up across borders, eliminating many restrictions for FinTech providers. This includes regulation on electronic identification and trust services for electronic transactions, extending the latter to the private sector. Empowerment of digital innovation through a regulatory framework that promotes the responsible useof digital financial services. The main focuses of the European Commission are c rypto-assets and distributed ledger technology(e.g. blockchain), further developed in the proposal for Regulation on Markets in Crypto-assets. The proposal also addresses the use of critical ICT providers(e.g. cloud service providers) by crypto-asset providers. Enhancement of data-driven innovation and data-sharing across sectors, supporting a Single Market for Data. Enforcement of the principle “same activity, same risk, same rules” between new market players and existing financial institutions. The European Commission aims to safeguard the Union’s financial stability through a proposal for a new Framework for digital operational resilience for the financial sector.
This proposal intends to:
Guide financial institutions through ICT risk management; Establish rigorous resilience testingfor ICT systems used in these institutions; Create awareness in financial supervisors for cyber-attacksand for the dependencyof finance firms on ICT service providers; Create a report mechanismfor ICT incidents in the sector.
At VdA, our interdisciplinary Team of FinTech experts, composed of members from the ICT and the B&F practice areas is delivering rigorous and strategic legal advice to prepare our clients for the new challenges arising from the Digital Finance Package.


Are you easily distracted, unable to keep focus and continuously failing to complete tasks? ADD is formulated to specifically address these issues. It is a combination of nutrients aimed at stabilising blood sugar, increasing Adrenal function, raising blood pressure and eliminating brain fog, ADD, autism and poor concentration.
Ingredients: 5HTP, Calcium D-Pantothenate (B5), Chromium Polynicotinate, DMAE, Grape Seed Extract, L-Glutamine, Oatstraw (Avena Sativa), Pine Bark Extract, Quercetin, Reishi Mushroom Extract, Vanadyl Sulphate, Vitamin B Complex, Zinc Gluconate


Entertainment law offers services such as contracts and copyrights that are particularly designed for pieces of entertainment like books, movies and visual arts. It is an imminent concern for those who work in the entertainment industries that their work is never plagiarized or exploited. Artists have certain intellectual property rights in Missouri, which are safeguarded in part by copyright and trademark laws.
What is A Copyright?
A party holding a copyright can exclusively produce a given form of entertainment, requiring any others who want to use it to get consent first. In order to comply with the entertainment laws in Missouri, someone seeking to use your copyrighted material must negotiate and acquire a license or contract from you first. A copyright does not last forever, and all procedures surrounding copyrights are controlled by state entertainment laws. You will want to familiarize yourself with the specifics, whether you want to simply protect your property rights or you are interested in selling licenses for your work.
What is a Trademark?
A symbol or other notable visual characteristic that people associate with a brand is a trademark. Visual cues are key in the entertainment industry to create product recognition. Trademarks, unlike copyrights, do not expire. However, they must be registered with the U.S. patent and trademark office. Once you have your trademark, creating brand identity becomes much easier.
How Can a Missouri Attorney Help?
Deciding whether you need a trademark or copyright is often a decision best made with the advice of an attorney in Cameron that has experienced in entertainment law. The filing process in Missouri can also go more smoothly with an attorney to guide you.


By Howie Berman, executive director, American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages.
Imagine being rushed to the emergency room after a car accident or a heart attack. You’re in terrible pain, perhaps confused and disoriented. The last thing you want to have to worry about at that critical moment is the ability to communicate with a doctor. Yet, for many patients in America, this is the unfortunate reality.
According to 2017 Census Bureau data, a record of 66.6 million U.S. residents spoke a language other than English at home. By 2010, the Limited English Proficiency (LEP) population, those individuals who are not fluent in English, rose to 8.7%, up from 6.1% from 1999. In those 10 years, the U.S. saw an influx of over 11 million LEP individuals, driving the need for qualified language services.
In an increasingly globalized world, the healthcare industry is lacking in world language skills, and the need for multilingual healthcare professionals is rapidly growing.
Healthcare providers should be capable of communicating with patients in a way that allows them to make informed decisions about their health. Effective communication with patients is critical to the safety and quality of treatment, but in modern society that’s not always the case.
ACTFL’s
Making Languages Our Business report shows the results of a national survey among 1,200 upper-level managers and human resources professionals with knowledge of their organization’s foreign language needs. The report was conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs, with support from Pearson LLC and Language Testing International. The report points to a critical and growing language skills gap across multiple business sectors—and the U.S. healthcare system is not immune to the challenges that this gap presents. Language Barriers in Healthcare
According to the report, the healthcare and social assistance sectors are more likely than any other industry to have foreign language needs exclusively for the domestic market. Additionally, employers in healthcare are also the most likely of the sectors represented in the report to expect an increase in demand for foreign language skills in the next five years.
While there are several laws in place designed to ensure healthcare organizations can communicate to patients in multiple languages, not all organizations adhere to them.
Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Affordable Care Act (ACA) all require federal healthcare programs such as Medicare or Medicaid to provide patients with interpretation/translation services if they have a language barrier or sensory impairment.
If a medical organization neglects to seek assistance from a qualified interpreter or does not provide translated written materials, and it results in harm to the patient, this constitutes medical malpractice.
Patient Risk
The consequences of ineffective communication between physicians and patients can have devastating results. A physician who cannot communicate with a patient due to a language barrier may deliver delayed or incorrect medical care. The Federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality recognizes Limited English Proficient (LEP) patients are at higher risk for injury during medical treatment than those fluent in English, often resulting in greater harm to the patient, and cost to both the patient and healthcare provider. Further, language miscommunication with LEP patients leads to treatment delays, patient confusion, more extended hospital stays and even lawsuits.
It’s evident a change is needed. How then can healthcare organizations build a pipeline of multilingual employees and ensure all patients have access to high-quality care?
Bridging the Language Skills Gap
One way that healthcare professionals can work to solve the skills gap is by conducting language needs analyses within their healthcare institutions. Identify linguistic strengths and weaknesses in the organization and define current and future language needs. A language audit will help create clear goals and measurable outcomes for attaining the necessary language capacity.
Additionally, making world languages a strategic focus throughout the recruitment process is also a critical step to addressing the need for multilingual employees. Set hiring targets for employees with foreign language skills based on organizational goals.
Providing care in a patient’s native language prioritizes patient safety, facilitates a critical human connection, enhances money-saving efficiency and decreases liability. By addressing the language skills gap, U.S. healthcare employers will not only benefit from a pipeline of prospective multilingual employees but also improve the patient experience and overall health of Americans in the process.


Terry Laughlin and I, as well as many TI Master Coaches, have discovered that teaching/learning correct shoulder and scapular articulation can significantly accelerate the process of mastering efficient, effective and enduring swim technique while diminishing the risk of injury.
Like the martial arts, TI Swimming movements are sourced from your pelvic core – specifically your Don Tien – as it is known in T’ai Chi. All bio-mechanically efficient movements start deep in the center of your body.
Mastering the scapular and shoulder articulation in all phases of the freestyle swim stroke assures the correct mediation between your powerful pelvic core and your more delicate extremities.
Now you are swimming with your core, not your hands! This is the key to efficiency and endurance.


Abstract
A 34-year-old woman had simultaneous photorefractive keratectomy and corneal collagen crosslinking with riboflavin-ultraviolet-A irradiation for the treatment of progressive pellucid marginal corneal degeneration in both eyes. No intraoperative or early postoperative complications occurred. Twelve months postoperatively, the uncorrected visual acuity was assessed at 20/40 in both eyes compared with counting fingers preoperatively. The corrected visual acuity also improved from 20/50 and 20/63 to 20/25 and 20/32 in the right eye and left eye, respectively. Corneal topography revealed a significant improvement in both eyes. Despite the encouraging results, longer follow-up is necessary to confirm the stability of the results.
ASJC Scopus subject areas Surgery Ophthalmology Sensory Systems


Over 250,000 people who work for an employer who has voluntarily signed up to the "real living wage" are set for a pay boost of 20p to £9.50 an hour and by 10p in London to £10.85.
This is not to be confused with the compulsory National Living Wage, which is currently £8.72 an hour for anyone over the age of 25.
The increase is designed to help workers and families through the pandemic. Over 800 more employers have accredited with the Living Wage Foundation since the start of lockdown, including Tate and Lyle, Network Rail, Capital One and the All England Lawn Tennis Club. They join a network of almost 7,000 employers across the UK who are already paying this recommended rate to ensure all staff earn a wage that meets the real cost of living, and covers everyday needs.
The increase should be implemented as soon as possible but in any event within six months.


Abstract:
Promising research on DNA repair signaling pathways predicts a new age of anti-tumor drugs. This research was initiated through the discovery and characterization of proteins that functioned together in signaling pathways to sense, respond, and repair DNA damage. It was realized that tumor cells often lacked distinct DNA repair pathways, but simultaneously relied heavily on compensating pathways. More recently, researchers have begun to manipulate these compensating pathways to reign in and kill tumor cells. In a striking example it was shown that tumors derived from mutations in the DNA repair genes, of BRCA-FA pathway, were selectively sensitive to inhibition of the base excision repair pathway. These findings suggest that tumors derived from defects in DNA repair genes will be easier to treat clinically, providing a streamlined and targeted therapy that spares healthy cells. In the future, identifying patients with susceptible tumors and discovering additional DNA repair targets amenable to anti-tumor drugs will have a major impact on the course of cancer treatment.


Morristown Airport's Economic Impact Airports are a crucial part of New Jersey’s overall economy. As such, the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) periodically reviews and updates the New Jersey State Airport System Plan (NJSASP). Revisions to the economic impacts of its system airports are included to maintain accurate data on which to base business decisions made by the State, municipalities, airport community and other entities. Airports play a vital role in New Jersey’s local and state economies, not only providing transportation for residents, businesses and visitors; but also serving as key economic drivers. All airports included in this study contribute jobs, payroll, and output to the local economy. Based on the data collected, each airport was evaluated to determine the impacts on the economy of New Jersey. Below is the economic impact of Morristown Airport from the 2016 NJDOT report.
The Morris County Economic Development Corporation, a division of the Morris County Chamber of Commerce, is a partnership of business and government dedicated to growing the economy of Morris County, New Jersey through programs and services that result in business attraction, creation, retention, and expansion, and to assist government in managing growth for the benefit of present and future generations.


The coronavirus pandemic has drastically changed the K-12 landscape across the U.S. As school administrators, teachers, staff and students navigate the new and challenging academic year ahead, effective communication and engagement will be more vital than ever.
This comprehensive guide outlines how a critical communication and collaboration platform can improve information flow, expedite response efforts and allow school communities to adapt to any situation that may arise on campus or remotely.


Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), Malaysia’s largest electricity utility, has commissioned an enterprise energy management (EEM) system from Power Measurement of Canada to help optimise power quality and reliability across its national distribution network. Under the terms of the agreement, Power Measurement’s Malaysian agent, SFG Technology (M) Sdn Bhd, will supply, install, test and commission the EEM system, which consists of a network of ION® intelligent energy meters and web-enabled software.
The EEM system will automatically monitor and report on power quality conditions at each substation. As a detailed source of both real-time and historical information, it will help staff identify potentially disruptive conditions, investigate the source of faults, and restore power quickly after an outage. This technology will also provide operations and planning staff with the information to evaluate network performance through monthly and annual power quality reports. Additionally, the EEM system is expected to accommodate TNB’s benchmarking objectives by helping to analyse harmonics, and routinely monitoring compliance with international power quality standards such as EN50160, SEMI F47 and ITIC.


Update on Injured Ontario Workers and Bill 148
Injured workers who currently receive benefits under the provincial Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) should be aware of proposed changes to Ontario’s minimum wage laws.
In mid-July 2017, the Ontario Ministry of Labour announced that it intended to create more opportunity and security for workers through its Bill 148, which is the proposed Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act, 2017.
Among the proposed changes is an increase in the minimum wage across the province, to $15 per hour, and taking steps to ensure part-time workers are paid the same hourly wage as full-time workers.
To examine the impact of these proposed amendments, the province subsequently undertook a two-week consultation on Bill 148, and established a Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs. The Committee travelled to 10 communities to hear from residents and business owners, and conducted a clause-by-clause review of the Bill.
That Committee heard from advocacy groups for injured workers and specifically those who are currently receiving WSIB benefits for wage loss due to workplace related injuries or illnesses. Those groups’ concern focused on the interplay between the WSIB’s practice of “determining” or “deeming” the wage-levels of injured workers who would otherwise be employed and the level of WSIB benefits that those workers are entitled to receive.
Specifically, these advocacy groups noted that if the minimum wage is increased to $15 per hour as proposed by Bill 148, then injured workers currently on WSIB benefits could see those benefits decrease, based on the Board’s determination of the level of income such workers might otherwise earn were it not for their work-related illness or injury. The full impact of the proposed minimum-wage increase on existing WSIB benefit entitlements was the subject of a formal submission to the Standing Committee.
It should be emphasized that the changes proposed under Bill 148 – which affect a broad range of employment and labour issues have not yet been finalized. On August 21, 2017, the Standing Committee adopted at least some of the suggested improvements of the stakeholders’ on various topics. Those amendments will be reported back to the Ontario Legislature when it resumes sitting on September 11, 2017.


Dive Brief: Wheelabrator is suing Baltimore County, Maryland for failing to deliver a contractually-mandated minimum of 215,000 annual tons of waste to the company's Baltimore incinerator, as first reported by the Baltimore Sun. According to the lawsuit, Baltimore County provided 65,813 fewer tons last year than stipulated by a 2011 contractual amendment. As of April 5, the county has reportedly sent 2,223 tons to the Wheelabrator facility and has announced plans to curtail its business before the contract term is up. "The damages the County will incur for failure to deliver the waste guaranteed to be delivered by it in the contract are more than $32 million," said Wheelabrator spokesperson Michelle Nadeau in a statement. "We are confident the court will find in our favor, unnecessarily costing Baltimore County taxpayers as much as $46 million in total contract savings and damages." Dive Insight:
The complaint, which was filed last Thursday in the Baltimore County Circuit Court, seems likely to exacerbate the already-fraught relationship between Wheelabrator and local officials in the Baltimore area. Following sustained public backlash against Wheelabrator's local incinerator, the Baltimore City Council voted unanimously in February to approve emissions standards far outstripping the state's current requirements — a move widely regarded as an attempt to close the facility.
Opposition against the 30-plus-year-old incinerator has also found increased political support at the state level. Earlier this year, the Maryland Senate voted to remove WTE as a qualified source of renewable energy — a designation that allows the facility to reap over $1 million in subsidies each year from utility customers. That "green energy" label has since been restored in a final bill awaiting Gov. Larry Hogan's signature.
According to the filed complaint, Baltimore County's original 2009 contract, which lacked a minimum tonnage requirement, was amended in 2011 to stipulate that the county deliver a minimum of 215,000 tons of waste annually in exchange for waste disposal price reductions, a one-time payment of $2.15 million by Wheelabrator and other conditions.
"We regret that multiple attempts to resolve this issue through good-faith negotiations — including a cost reduction that would have saved Baltimore County more than $14 million over the remaining term of our contract — have been unsuccessful," Nadeau said in a statement. "We continue to believe it is in both parties' interest to resolve this matter amicably."
Wheelabrator has maintained that the city's new emissions requirements could effectively shut down the facility, and efforts to change the company's state renewable energy status aren't likely to taper off. Still, many industry stakeholders continue to broadcast optimism regarding the future of WTE in the U.S. — during a presentation at this year's NAWTEC conference, Macquarie's recent purchase of Wheelabrator was framed as a long-term play destined to weather present scrutiny.
"Wheelabrator has been around a long time — it's one of the leading energy platforms in the world," said Paul Mitchener, a managing director at Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets, at the event. "It has a mix of UK and U.S. energy assets, a proven and respectable environmental management team, and has invested a lot of money in upgrades."
Wheelabrator's strong regional presence was also highlighted as a deciding factor in Macquarie's investment.
"We like the Northeast disposal market — it's on the cusp of change," Mitchener declared, noting the region's high population density, consistent and diverse waste generation, and relative economic stability. "It's the most European market today. Prices have been rising for landfill disposal, but WTE plants are still receiving a lot of waste — and we don't think there's going to be any change in technology or regulation that's going to drive away a lot of the waste that's going to facilities we're investing in."
"We believe in WTE," he added. "We don't care that some of these assets are 30 years old. We see a great future in this business."