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Persistence of pain in patients with chronic low back pain reported via weekly automated text messages over one year
Charlotte Leboeuf-Yde1, 2Email author,
Rikke Krüger Jensen1, 2 and
Niels Wedderkopp2, 3
© Leboeuf-Yde et al. 2015
Accepted: 5 October 2015
A previous study has suggested that it is uncommon for patients with chronic bothersome low back pain (LBP), who consult the secondary health care sector, to report at least four consecutive weeks without such bothersome pain in 1 year. It is not yet known, however, how many days of the week they experience pain throughout the year.
The current study analyzed data collected in two randomized clinical studies conducted in 2007–9 on patients with back pain (Study 1 and 2). Study participants were patients with LBP for more than 2 months, one group with MRI-defined Modic changes (Study 1) and the other without any pathological explanation for the pain (Study 2). In both studies, participants were followed over 1 year with weekly automated text messages (SMS-Track). Each week they reported the number of days they had experienced bothersome LBP (0–7 days). The number of weeks with 7 days of bothersome LBP was calculated for both study groups. As baseline and outcome characteristics were similar between the intervention and control groups in each study, the data from treatment and control groups in each study were analyzed together, regardless of treatment allocation and the results compared between the two study samples.
The proportion of patients reporting bothersome LBP all days of the week ranged from 0 to 100 %, with the findings arranged in a U-shaped curve. The pain frequency patterns were remarkably similar for the two study samples. At one extreme, 31 % of participants reported 0–10 % of weeks with daily LBP. At the other extreme, 25 % of participants reported 91–100 % of weeks with daily LBP. The distribution between these values was also very similar for the two groups.
This study revealed there to be considerable variation in weekly persistence of symptoms during 1 year in patients from the secondary care sector with chronic LBP. The results range from bothersome pain each day of the week, every week of the year, to no weeks at all with 7 days of pain. Interestingly, this pattern is near-identical in the two study samples; those with non-specific LBP and those with LBP and Modic changes. This heterogeneic pain profile in patients with chronic LBP deserves to be further investigated.
Non-specific low back pain
Bothersomeness
Modic changes
Text-messages
Low back pain (LBP) is common in the general population. In a large Danish study that included 34,902 individuals aged 20–71 years, 12 % reported having LBP for at least 30 days in total during the preceding year with no obvious variations in relation to age and sex [1]. However, in a smaller study of the general middle-aged Danish population, in which data were collected every fortnight over 1 year, approximately one-third of respondents could be classified as having chronic "bothersome" LBP [2].
Regardless the exact definition of LBP, the proportion of respondents with chronic or very persistent LBP is likely to differ depending on the origin of the study sample. We would thus expect a step-wise increase going from the general population (via the primary care sector) to the secondary care sector. One would also expect that different LBP-groups would be differently affected, such as people with more benign diagnoses vs. those with definite, pathological labels.
Although information is available in the literature on the outcome of LBP at different points in time both in the general [3] and clinical [4] populations, no study appears to have compared the trajectory over time in different types of clinical populations, a method that would bring more detailed information than simple retrospective information on self-reported duration of pain in the past.
Two clinical study populations with chronic LBP have previously been followed over one year with automated text messages (SMS-Track) [5]. Study participants were patients at a specialized outpatient spine clinic who were subsequently included in one of two randomized controlled clinical trials, one dealing with patients with LBP and Modic changes and the other including patients with LBP of unknown origin, so-called non-specific LBP. During the study period of 1 year, participants were asked every week, how many days in the previous week that they had "problems with LBP" (translated from Danish). For ease of reporting this will be referred to as "bothersome LBP", as the term "bothersome LBP" is a commonly used term for LBP that exceeds the occasional twinge or simple awareness of some pain, and as the term correlates with the conception of the original phrasing in Danish.
A previous analysis of these two study samples [5] showed that the majority of participants (65 and 56 %, respectively) never reported an entire week without bothersome LBP during that year. The proportion who at some time during the study period reported 0 days of bothersome LBP for at least 4 weeks in a row was 20 and 18 %, respectively. A four-week duration period was used, as it was previously recommended as a suitable period of demarcation for absence of LBP for research purposes [6].
Because absence of bothersome LBP was so rare, a preliminary conclusion could be that these two groups of patients have true chronic LBP. However, even though it was more common to report weeks with at least some bothersome LBP than weeks entirely without, and even though absence of bothersome LBP for an entire month was never reached by 80 % of the participants, there would still be room for considerable variation during the weeks, when at least some bothersome pain could be reported but not necessarily each and every day.
To establish the exact extent of truly persistent bothersome LBP, it would be relevant also to determine the number of weeks that study participants reported such LBP every day. We returned, therefore, to our previous data material from these two clinical study samples [5], this time to study the one-year pattern for weeks with 7 days of bothersome LBP and not, as in the previous report, the one-year prevalence of weeks with 0 days of pain. Baseline and outcome variables were similar for participants in the intervention and control groups in both studies. For the purposes of the current SMS-Track study, therefore, data were combined and analyzed together for each study regardless of treatment allocation, as it was done in the previous study.
Original studies, study participants and ethics permission
Data were available from two randomized clinical trials (Study 1 and Study 2) carried out during 2007–9 as part of PhD projects. Results have been reported elsewhere for one of the studies [7], but the other study has remained unpublished. The profile of the study participants and information on missing data, have been reported in detail elsewhere [5].
Participants were aged 18–60 years and had been referred from general practitioners or chiropractors to a Danish outpatient spine clinic specializing in back pain. Those who fulfilled some minimal criteria (LBP or leg pain ≥3 out of 11 on a numerical rating scale, and a duration of 2–12 months), were screened with a baseline questionnaire and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
Patients originally invited to be included in Study 1 (N = 100) had localized LBP and any type of Modic changes that extended beyond the vertebral endplate, as defined by MRI. Treatment consisted of either a 10-week exercise program based on the "do not worry-keep active" concept or instructions to rest and refrain from hard work.
Participants in Study 2 (N = 258) were patients who were assumed to be suffering from non-specific LBP as they did not have an obvious acute disc problem or other pathology, and were not eligible for Study 1. The intervention group received a needs-based psychosocial approach in addition to the "usual" treatment provided to the control group that included physical examination, information, treatment in the form of training, spinal manipulation and/or medication as considered relevant by the treating clinician, and advice on continued management.
Baseline characteristics were similar for the intervention and control groups in each study. Thus in Study 1, the two groups were similar in terms of age, sex, body mass index, smoking, type of occupation, education, sick leave, LBP intensity, activity limitation, general health, and symptoms of depression. In Study 2, the two groups were similar in terms of age, sex, educational level, psychosocial profile, previous LBP and LBP intensity, dispute about work accidents, and activity limitation. Furthermore, outcomes and number of drop-outs were similar for the intervention and control groups in each study. For the purposes of the current study, therefore, the text message data have been combined for the intervention and control groups in each study, resulting in two samples for statistical analysis (one consisting of all participants in Study 1 and the other of all participants in Study 2).
Patients received written and verbal information about the study, signed informed consent forms and were allowed to withdraw from the study at any time without any consequences for their future treatment at the centre. Both studies were approved by the Ethics Committee for the Region of Southern Denmark (# S-VF-20060111 and 12165) and were registered in the ClinicalTrials.gov data base (Identification numbers NCT00454792 and NCT00459433). Permission for this additional analysis was given by the Research Department.
Data collection and storage
In the original studies, patients completed baseline and follow-up questionnaires and were also followed over 1 year with weekly automated text messages (SMS-Track. http://www.sms-track.com). This report deals only with the SMS-Track data. Each week participants were asked, via a text message, how many days in the previous week they had experienced bothersome LBP. They answered by typing in the relevant number, e.g. 0 for no LBP, or three for 3 days of LBP. Their answers were automatically entered into a data file.
In Study 1, at the onset of the study, phone calls were made to people who failed to respond in order to provide extra explanation of how to respond to the text messages and to improve the compliance. This procedure was not used in Study 2.
Variable of interest and analysis of data
The current analysis used only one of the LBP variables that were collected. The item had the same wording in Study 1 and Study 2: "Using a number between 0 and 7, please answer how many days in the past week you have had problems with your lower back."
Data were collected over 53 weeks. Out of the total number of weeks that a participant returned text messages, we calculated the percentage of weeks that the participants reported bothersome LBP for all seven days. We excluded participants who had none or only occasional responses during the study period. Some participants whose data sets were included in the analysis also had some missing data, but we decided against using imputation or worst/best case analysis. Instead, a separate analysis was made on study subjects who participated for less than 50 % of the weeks, to see if their profile was different from that of the others. No attempts were made to cluster findings on any other type of information.
The results are reported as percentages of weeks with 7 days of bothersome LBP and 95 % confidence intervals. Estimates were near-identical between the two studies, so it was not relevant to test for statistically significant differences.
User-friendliness and validity of text messaging data
A previous inter-method reliability study on participants in Study 2 showed that weekly text messages sent over 1 year were acceptable to participants, and that retrospective data would be more affected by memory decay than frequent data collection [8]. Another previous study on patients with LBP showed the SMS-Track system to be user-friendly, yielding high response rates unaffected by season, and the few drop-outs were not predominantly young men, as is often seen in studies with multiple follow-ups and long follow-up time [9].
In Study 1, 20 of the 100 participants dropped out early during the intervention and were therefore not followed with SMS-Track afterwards. The remaining 80 study subjects had only occasional missing data. In Study 2, however, 19 data sets were removed, as they provided too little information. Of these, 16 participants never responded to any SMS-Track messages and the other three answered only once, twice or three times. Of the remaining 239 participants, 30 provided an answer less than 50 % of the time and were analyzed separately, leaving 209 individuals for the main analysis. For a detailed account of the number of missing weeks in the two study samples used for analysis, please see Table 1.
Number of weeks with missing text-message answers over 1 year in two samples (Study 1; N = 80 and Study 2; N = 209) used for analysis of bothersome low back pain
Number of weeks with missing text-message answers
Number of individuals in Study 1 who failed to answer
Descriptive data
Analysis was performed on data from 80 participants in Study 1 (mean age 46 years, range 21–61 years, 68 % women) and 209 participants in Study 2 (mean age 38 years, range 18–60 years, 54 % women). At baseline, mean level of severity of LBP was rated at 5.3 (Study 1) and 4.9 (Study 2) on a 0–10 scale.
Prevalence of weeks with seven days of bothersome LBP
The results from both groups revealed a U-shaped curve for weeks with 7 days of bothersome LBP, see Fig. 1. At one extreme, 0–10 % of weeks consisting of bothersome LBP each day of the week was reported by 31 % of participants in both studies. At the other extreme, 91–100 % of weeks of pain each day of the week were reported by 25 % in both studies. The spread of data between these values was also very similar between the two groups (Table 2, columns 2 and 3). The participants in Study 2 who provided an answer less than 50 % of the time had a similar profile to the others (Table 2, last column). The main minor exceptions were that somewhat more of the poor responders reported ≤10 % of pain days of the others (40% vs. 31 %), and that they were somewhat less likely to report pain days during at least 91 % of weeks (20 % vs.25 %).
Percentage of weeks with 7 days of bothersome low back pain reported by a) 80 patients with low back pain and Modic changes (Study 1) and b) 209 patients with non-specific low back pain (Study 2) collecting data every week with SMS-Track over 1 year. At the left extremity of this figure, categories with 0 % and 1–10 % have been merged as have categories 91–99 % and 100 % at the right extremity
Percentage of weeks with 7 days of bothersome low back pain reported by participants a) with low back pain and Modic changes (Study 1), b) with non-specific low back pain (Study 2), and c) participants in Study 2 who provided text messages less than 50 % of the time
Percentage of weeks in 1 year where LBP was reported to have been present all 7 days
Study 1: Patients with low back pain and Modic changes
Study 2: Patients with non-specific low back pain
Study 2: Patients who provided text messages less than 50 % of the time
(N = 80)
(N = 209)
This study appears to have been the first to have attempted to determine the extent of truly persistent bothersome LBP, through an analysis of the number of weeks in 1 year that patients with LBP report seven consecutive days of bothersome pain. The distribution of full weeks with bothersome LBP was U-shaped for the two patient groups, one with MRI-defined Modic changes and the other without any pathological explanation for the pain. Thus 31 % of participants reported 0–10 % of weeks with bothersome LBP each day, while 25 % of participants reported 91–100 % of weeks of pain. In fact, the spread of data was almost identical between the two groups both in relation to none, few, some, many, and all weeks over 1 year with 7 days of bothersome LBP.
These results contribute to current knowledge about the "true" persistence of LBP in patients with chronic LBP. A previous study showed that only a small minority of participants experienced a period free of bothersome LBP of at least four consecutive weeks [5]. Surprisingly, in the current analysis, the proportion with truly persistent bothersome LBP was also small, but the pattern of weeks with 7 days of pain "in between" showed considerable variation.
As found previously [5], the pain profiles of our two study populations were similar to each other, possibly indicating that the pattern of LBP is very similar regardless of etiology, or that the supposed etiology (Modic changes in Study 1, non-specific LBP in Study 2) is without relevance for this type of pain pattern. Interestingly, the baseline severity of LBP, measured on a 0–10 numerical rating scale, was 5.3 and 4.9 in Study 1 and Study 2, respectively, indicating that these two groups were also very similar at baseline and not only during the course of the study period.
The major strength of this analysis is its basis on data that were collected every week over a full year, thus removing most of the risk of memory decay and recall bias that would have occurred with traditional retrospective data collection at, for example, 3 and 12 months. Back-filling of information was also avoided, as has otherwise been observed for paper diaries in long-term data collection [10]. This approach of data collection appears not to have been used in other similar studies.
A potential weakness of our analysis is that the data came from two different studies. However, the study subjects in these two studies were recruited from the same treatment centre at the same time, with patients referred from the same catchment area, using the same method of data collection and involved mostly the same researchers. This gave consistency in study design, inclusion criteria, and data collection methods and probably removed some external circumstances that could otherwise have affected the results. However, in the unlikely case that patients referred to this back pain centre had some characteristics that could affect the outcome variable in a biased manner, the results would not be generalizable to other similar clinical populations.
Further, these two studies consisted of trials showing no differences in outcome between treatment and a control group. For this reason, treatment and control data were grouped together in each study and analyzed as two study samples. Theoretically, though, it was possible that there were other, more subtle, differences in outcomes between these groups, which could have made this approach unsuitable.
One of the major differences between the two studies was the procedure for handling patient compliance. In Study 1, more effective information was given to the participants on how to provide answers with the SMS-Track program, resulting in only the occasional missing answer. In Study 2, the same careful procedure had not been used, resulting in some incomplete data that had to be removed from the current analysis. However, for those in Study 2 who were included in the analysis but had replied to text messages less than 50 % of the time, the profile was very similar to that of the others, indicating that their non-response did not really bias the reported pattern of LBP.
Our study results are based on one mode of data collection only, in the form of weekly text messages. A potential problem in our study is that the question on LBP included only the description of "bothersome" pain without any additional clarification on severity or type of pain. Although the concept of "bothersomeness" is expected to capture more severe pain, and not an occasional twinge of short-lasting or mild pain [11], it is possible that patients with, for example, Modic changes or some other subgroup in this study material could have experienced a specific type of pain or a diurnal fluctuation pattern that was not captured.
However, in all, we consider that this simple study brings new and reliable insights into the variations of 'chronicity' through the mere use of trajectory data.
Data were collected at the Spine Centre of Southern Denmark and all authors received their salary from their affiliated institutions. Claire Gudex MD, medical writer, provided language editing of the manuscript.
All authors were part of the original research teams and helped design and conduct the original studies. NW and CLY were supervisors for the original studies within two PhD programs. RKJ was responsible for data collection in Study 1. CLY formulated the research questions of the present study and analyzed the present data. All authors contributed to the manuscript preparation and all accepted the final version.
Research Department, Spine Centre of Southern Denmark, Hospital Lillebaelt, Østre Hougvej 55, DK- 5500 Middelfart, Denmark
Institute of Regional Health Services Research, University of Southern Denmark, Middelfart, Denmark
Sports Medicine Clinic, Orthopaedic Department, Hospital Lillebælt, Østre Hougvej 55, DK-5500 Middelfart, Denmark
Leboeuf-Yde C, Fejer R, Nielsen J, Kyvik KO, Hartvigsen J. Pain in the three spinal regions: the same disorder? Data from a population-based sample of 34,902 Danish adults. Chiropractic & Manual Therapies. 2012;20:1.View ArticleGoogle Scholar
Leboeuf-Yde C, Lemeunier N, Wedderkopp N, Kjaer P. Evidence-based classification of low back pain in the general population: one-year data collected with SMS track. Chiropractic & Manual Therapies. 2013;21:30.View ArticleGoogle Scholar
Lemeunier N, Leboeuf-Yde C, Gagey O. The natural course of low back pain: a systematic critical literature review. Chiropractic & Manual Therapies. 2012;20:33.View ArticleGoogle Scholar
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Leboeuf-Yde C, Jensen RK, Axén I. Absence of low back pain in patients followed weekly over one year with automated text messages. Chiropractic & Manual Therapies. 2012;20:9.View ArticleGoogle Scholar
de Vet HCW, Heymans MW, Dunn KM, Pope DP, van der Beek AJ, Macfarlane GJ, et al. Episodes of low back pain. A proposal for uniform definitions to be used in research. Spine. 2002;27:2409–16.View ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar
Jensen RK, Leboeuf-Yde C, Wedderkopp N, Sorensen JS, Manniche C. Rest versus exercise as treatment for patients with low back pain and Modic changes. A randomized controlled clinical trial. BMC Medicine. 2012;10:22.PubMedPubMed CentralGoogle Scholar
Johansen B, Wedderkopp N. Comparison between data obtained through real-time data capture by SMS and a retrospective telephone interview. Chirpr Osteop. 2010;19:10.View ArticleGoogle Scholar
Axén I, Bodin L, Bergstrom G, Halasz LF, Lovgren PW, Rosenbaum A, et al. The use of weekly text messaging over a 6 months was a feasible method for monitoring the clinical course of low back pain in patients seeking chiropractic care. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology. 2012;65:454–61.View ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar
Stone AA, Shiffman S, Schwartz S, Broderick JE, Hufford MR. Patient compliance with paper and electronic diaries. Control Clin Trials. 2003;24:182–99.View ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar
Dunn KM, Croft PR. Classification of low back pain in primary care: using "bothersomeness" to identify the most severe cases. Spine. 2005;30(16):1887–92.View ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar

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'Becoming Sister Mary Grace' Just Released!
Just Released!! Join Father Jeffrey Kirby and Margurite Wertz on this journey to religious life with Sister Mary Grace. A follow up to "Becoming Father Bob," this new book is a must have for any Catholic children's library, home, or school! To order your copy today, please visit out Signo Store!
Signo Press is happy to announce "You're Way Too Busy To Read This" as we begin the Advent season!
This booklet by Bryan J. Murdaugh outlines a seven-week, seven-step process for re-centering your life on Christ, family, prayer, and discipleship while maintaining a productive life. The 5″x7″ 20-page booklet will debut at the National Conference of Catholic Youth Ministers and be available online from signopress.com.
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Extra-Special Effects: The New Tech That Brought Krypton to Life in Man of Steel
To re-imagine the Superman universe for Man of Steel, director Zack Snyder looked for new ways to help tell the superhero story, including innovative visual effects for the technology used by the inhabitants of Krypton, Superman's home planet. He got it thanks to Weta Digital. Here's how.
In order to re-imagine the Superman universe for Man of Steel, director Zack Snyder looked for new ways to help tell the superhero story, including innovative visual effects for the technology used by the inhabitants of Krypton, Superman's home planet. These included "liquid geo" displays, which could visualize anything from people to ships to planets and even X-rays. The displays were brought to life by the visual effects artists at Weta Digital in Wellington, New Zealand, and rendered using fluid simulation technology.
"Basically, it's a bunch of silver beads that are suspended through a magnetic field, and the machine is able to control that magnetic field so that the collection of beads behave almost like three-dimensional pixels," said Weta's visual effects supervisor Dan Lemmon.
The "liquid geo" effects were used in particularly striking scene where Superman's father explains the history of Krypton to his son, and the pair are surrounded by animated depictions of major events that unfold around them in slightly embossed style that Lemmon said was inspired by everything from bas-relief from the Rockefeller Center to classical Greco-Roman design. "[We] explored those kind of aesthetic looks but applied [them] to spaceships and alien planets and alien technology," said Lemmon.
Check out the video for more.
TopicsBooks and ComicsMoviesSci-fiSuperman


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News July 9, 2019 12:00 am
Indonesia: Sentenced to jail for an abortion, teenage rape survivor is cleared by Supreme Court
Responding to the decision by the Supreme Court of Indonesia to clear a teenager sentenced to prison for terminating a pregnancy resulting from a sexual assault, Amnesty International Indonesia's Executive Director Usman Hamid said:
"This is a landmark ruling for women in Indonesia. This teenager is not a criminal. She is the one who suffered a sexual assault – and did nothing other than claim her rights over her body. It beggars belief that the courts tried to impose this reckless, vicious and absurd sentence on a teenage victim of sexual violence. She should not have spent a single day in detention.
"We welcome the Supreme Court's ruling. It must send a message to law enforcement agencies and public prosecutors across the country that their role is to protect victims of rape, not aggravate their suffering.
"Authorities in Indonesia must decriminalise abortion in all circumstances. No woman or girl should face any kind of penalty for seeking or obtaining an abortion. Authorities must further ensure access to safe and legal abortion to all women and girls, particularly to victims of rape, sexual assault or incest. These are Indonesia's international human rights obligations."
On 19 July 2018, a 15-year-old girl was sentenced to six months behind bars by the Muara Bulian District Court in Batanghari District, Jambi Province, for getting an abortion after she was raped by her brother. The victim challenged the verdict at the Jambi High Court, which ruled in her favour on 27 August 2018. The prosecutors took the case to the Supreme Court, which has again ruled in the teenager's favour.
Indonesia has a legal obligation under international human rights law to ensure that victims of rape or incest have timely access to a safe and legal abortion. Moreover, denial of abortion services to women or girls who have become pregnant as a result of rape, sexual assault or incest is a violation of the right to be free from torture or cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment.


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Cahn v. Ward Trucking, Inc., 2012 NY Slip Op 08061 [1st Dept., 2012]
In this negligence action, the Appellate Division, First Judicial Department, in accordance with M&H's assertions, reversed the lower court's order and granted summary judgment to Chemtreat, Inc. on the grounds that it owed no duty of care to the plaintiff. The appellate court also embraced M&H's arguments in dismissing all third-party claims seeking indemnification and contribution.
Cahn v Ward Trucking, Inc.
2012 NY Slip Op 08061
Decided on November 27, 2012
Appellate Division, First Department
Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431.
This opinion is uncorrected and subject to revision before publication in the Official Reports.
Tom, J.P., Andrias, DeGrasse, Richter, Román, JJ.
7549 106110/04 590947/05 590446/07 490446/07 590189/09
[*1]John Cahn, Plaintiff-Respondent,
Ward Trucking, Inc., et al., Defendants-Respondents, J.T. Falk & Company, Inc., Defendant-Respondent-Appellant, 460 Park Avenue South Associates, LLC, Defendant. J.T. Falk & Company, LLC, Third-Party Plaintiff-Respondent- Appellant, Chemtreat, Inc., Third-Party Defendant-Appellant- Respondent. J.T. Falk & Company, LLC, Second Third-Party Plaintiff- Respondent-Appellant, Atlantic Coastal Trucking, Inc., et al., Second Third-Party Defendants- Respondents. [And Other Actions]
Mischel & Horn, P.C., New York (Scott T. Horn of counsel),
for appellant-respondent.
Ahmuty, Demers & McManus, Albertson, (Glenn A. Kaminska
of counsel), respondent-appellant.
Pollack, Pollack, Isaac & DeCicco, New York (Michael H.
Zhu of counsel), for John Cahn, [*2]respondent.
Downing & Peck, P.C., New York (Brian E. Gunther of
counsel), for Ward Trucking, Inc., respondent.
Wilson, Elser, Moskowitz, Edelman & Dicker LLP, New York
(Debra A. Adler of counsel), for R.C. Dolner, LLC, respondent.
Law Office of James J. Toomey, New York (Evy L. Kazanzky
of counsel), for Taconic Management Company, LLC and 450
Park Avenue South Associates LLC., respondents.
Quirk and Bakalor, P.C., New York (Debra E. Seidman of
counsel), for Atlantic Coastal Trucking, Inc. and Triangle Trucking,
respondents.
Order, Supreme Court, New York County (Paul Wooten, J.), entered February 16, 2011, which, to the extent appealed from, denied third-party defendant Chemtreat's motion for summary judgment dismissing the third-party complaint and all cross claims against it, and denied defendant/third-party plaintiff/second third-party plaintiff J.T. Falk's motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint against it and for summary judgment on its claims for contractual and common-law indemnification against Chemtreat, and for common-law indemnification against Ward Trucking, Atlantic, Triangle and Bermudez, unanimously modified, on the law, to grant Chemtreat's motion, and otherwise affirmed, without costs. The Clerk is directed to enter judgment dismissing the third-party complaint and all cross claims against Chemtreat.
This is an action to recover damages for personal injuries sustained by plaintiff when he was struck by a barrel (or drum) of cleaning chemicals that fell off of a hand truck in the lobby of a building owned by defendant 450 Park, where plaintiff worked. Third-party defendant Chemtreat, the vendor of the chemicals, which allegedly failed to pack the barrels properly for delivery, was entitled to summary judgment. The claims for common-law indemnification against Chemtreat should have been dismissed, as the record shows that Chemtreat was not actively at fault in bringing about plaintiff's injury (see McCarthy v Turner Constr., Inc., 17 NY3d 369, 375 [2011]). Indeed, it is undisputed that the barrels were unpacked by the independent trucking contractors who delivered them, and that the barrel that hit plaintiff fell after the trucking contractors rocked the hand truck during delivery. Chemtreat also owed no duty of care to plaintiff, who was a third party to the vending contract between Chemtreat and Falk (see Espinal v Melville Snow Contrs., 98 NY2d 136, 140-141 [2002]).
The claims for contractual indemnification against Chemtreat also should have been dismissed. The indemnity provision in Chemtreat's contract with Falk was limited on its face to losses arising from the use of Chemtreat's patented devices, processes, materials and equipment. Because the chemicals were not in use at the time of the accident, a properly strict reading of the indemnity clause bars a finding that Chemtreat owes Falk contractual indemnity (Baginski v Queen Grand Realty, LLC, 68 AD3d 905 [2009]). Nor did Chemtreat owe Ward Trucking, which subcontracted the delivery of the barrels to Atlantic/Triangle, contractual indemnity; the contract between Chemtreat and Ward Trucking contains an indemnification clause only in favor [*3] of Chemtreat. There is no basis in the record for finding that Chemtreat is subject to the indemnification provisions in the building manager Taconic's construction contract with Dolner, the general contractor.
The court properly denied Falk's motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint against it. Although Falk did not actually supervise the unloading and delivery of the barrels, issues of fact remain as to whether it had the authority to actually supervise that activity, given the very specific duty in its contract with Dolner to oversee deliveries of materials used in the work (cf. Reilly v Newireen Assoc., 303 AD2d 214, 221 [2003], lv denied 100 NY2d 508 [2003]). Because fact issues exist as to Falk's liability to plaintiff, Falk was properly denied summary judgment on its claims for common-law indemnity.
The Decision and Order of this Court entered herein on May 30, 2012 is hereby recalled and vacated (see M-2632 decided simultaneously herewith).
THIS CONSTITUTES THE DECISION AND ORDER
OF THE SUPREME COURT, APPELLATE DIVISION, FIRST DEPARTMENT.
ENTERED: NOVEMBER 27, 2012
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Fortnite Offical Website
Get Fortnite
Fortnite at E3 2019
By The Fortnite Team
Where we droppin'?
The Battle Bus is en-route to E3 2019 in downtown Los Angeles and the whole squad is coming. Drop by the Fortnite booth #601 in the South Hall of the LA Convention Center or snag a prime seat for the Summer Block Party event featuring your favorite Fortnite creators and celebrities.
Find us on the E3 show floor in the South Hall of the LA Convention Center at booth #601 from June 11 - 13. Play popular Creative games with friends at the Time Trials, Arcade and Player vs Player stations. There are new games to play every day... don't miss out! And there's plenty to explore at the booth, including free snacks to munch on and the chance to win amazing prizes. Bring the whole squad, there's something for everyone. Purchase your E3 Attendee badge here.
The Fortnite Summer Block Party is a two-day event (June 15 - 16) at The Forum in Inglewood, California celebrating the Fortnite community along with your favorite creators and celebrities. Grab a ticket today to meet more than 20 of your favorite Fortnite characters, glide on the island's ziplines, and visit the Durr Burger. You can even complete a real-world Battle Pass to earn collectible swag while watching some of Fortnite's biggest stars on the big screen.
On Saturday, June 15, eight teams of four will face-off in the Fortnite Creative Showdown, the first ever official Fortnite Creative tournament broadcast on the big stage! Fortnite creators and eight qualified players will work together to protect their Celebrity VIP as they battle for the title of Creative Champion.
How can I qualify to play? Complete the Time Trials challenge at the Fortnite E3 Booth for a chance to win a spot on one of the eight competing teams. If your team wins, we'll fly you and a friend to New York City to watch the Fortnite World Cup Finals!
On Sunday, June 16, the Fortnite Celebrity Pro-Am returns. Fifty creators and fifty celebrities will pair up to battle for the ultimate Victory Royale. Check out the full roster here.
Don't miss any of the action! Tune into our official livestreams at 4:30PM Pacific Time on Saturday, June 15 at Time and 4:30PM Pacific Time on Sunday, June 16:
Be a part of the action and grab a ticket here!
The circle is closing… see you in LA!
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Meet the Winners of the 2018 Chemistry of Materials Lectureship and Best Paper Award
Marcus Anderson 2 years ago
Chemistry of Materials and the ACS Division of Polymeric Materials: Science and Engineering (PMSE) are proud to announce Professor Darren Lipomi, Mohammad (Mo) A. Alkhadra, and Samuel (Sam) E. Root as the winners of the 2018 Chemistry of Materials Lectureship and Best Paper Award. The award honors the authors of an article, published in 2017, with outstanding influence across the field of materials chemistry. The award also recognizes the team aspect of research and celebrates the importance of co-authors and their contributions. Lipomi is an Associate Professor of Nanoengineering, Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, and Chemistry at the University of California San Diego, and co-authors Alkhadra and Root are undergraduate and graduate students, respectively.
The winning paper, "Quantifying the Fracture Behavior of Brittle and Ductile thin Films of Semiconducting Polymers," provides critical insights for flexible electronics applications. "Simply because an organic semiconductor film is expected to be flexible is not a guarantee that the electronic properties will withstand this mechanical stress. The work of the Lipomi Group walks us through what happens, at the molecular level, when semiconductor thin films are bent, stretched, and flexed, as they would be in real-world applications," explains Professor Jillian M. Buriak, Editor-in-Chief of Chemistry of Materials.
"Darren has made important contributions to the field of stretchable electronics. The winning paper is a nice piece of work from his group, which provides much-needed quantitative understanding of fracture behavior of ductile polymer semiconductors," says Dr. Zhenan Bao, K.K. Lee Professor of Chemical Engineering and Professor of Chemistry, Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University.
One of the outstanding things about the nomination is the cultural backstory of the co-authors. Root hails from a Jewish family in New York while Alkhadra comes from a Muslim family in Saudi Arabia. Interestingly enough, they both had grandfathers born in what is now Israel. "One of the great pleasures of my job is to nurture relationships that cross racial, religious, national, and cultural boundaries. The ability for scientific research to bring people together is something that ought to be celebrated," notes Lipomi.
Lipomi, Root, and Alkhadra will be presenting their research at a half-day symposium and award ceremony during the 2018 Fall ACS National Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts.
Fun fact: Lipomi has a long history of publishing in Chemistry of Materials, including being the first to publish an "Up & Coming Perspectives" titled "Molecularly Stretchable Electronics." Here is a list of other contributions from Lipomi's group,
Efficient Characterization of Bulk Heterojunction Films by Mapping Gradients by Reversible Contact with Liquid Metal Top Electrodes
Chem. Mater., 2017, 29 (1), pp 389–398
DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemmater.6b04192
[70]PCBM and Incompletely Separated Grades of Methanofullerenes Produce Bulk Heterojunctions with Increased Robustness for Ultra-Flexible and Stretchable Electronics
Chem. Mater., 2015, 27 (11), pp 3902–3911
Mechanical Properties of a Library of Low-Band-Gap Polymers
Chem. Mater., 2016, 28 (7), pp 2363–2373
Methods/Protocols:
Measuring the Glass Transition Temperature of Conjugated Polymer Films with Ultraviolet-Visible Spectroscopy
Awards Chemistry of Materials Materials Science & Engineering
Connect With ACS Publications in Boston This August | ACS Axial: Your Bond With Chemistry Research
[…] Join Chemistry of Materials Editor-in-Chief Professor Jillian M. Buriak in honoring Darren Lipomi, Mohammad Alkhadra, and Samuel Root as the winners of this year's award. […]
Congratulations to the First Chemistry of Materials Lectureship and Best Paper Award Winners!
Meet the Winners of the 2018 Langmuir Lectureship Award
Conversations with the 2018 ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering Lectureship Award Recipients
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SEHAJ + CHRIS | Kawela Bay, Hawaii
February 19, 2018 davina palik
There is one thing I learned very quickly about Sehaj and Chris, and it also happens to be my favourite thing about them: they are unapologetically and comfortably themselves. Their authenticity shone from the second we met them, a year prior in New York city. Sehaj had my heart the moment she told me she didn't want to look perfect in her wedding photos - she wanted to look like herself. I anxiously awaited their big day since our meeting, knowing that it was going to be particularly special... and it was! Fast-forward to the Sangeet on first night of their wedding weekend in Oahu, Sehaj confirmed my impression by publicly revealing to Chris the number one reason she loves him: he makes her love herself for who she is. Chris, in his own quiet way showed his love and devotion for Sehaj over an entire year to grow an epic beard in time for their wedding to honour her Sikh roots. His dedication to honouring her culture went even further, as we learned at the wedding reception, but we'll get to that later!
With a day off between the Sangeet and the actual wedding day, Sehaj and Chris requested a "day-prior" portrait session in casual outfits instead of our usual day-after session in formal wedding getup, allowing them to have photographs of themselves in clothing that holds personal significance. Their casual attire complimented our laid-back approach to their portrait session, taking them on a tour of the most scenic spots surrounding Turtle Bay Resort as they simply explored the ocean-front lava fields, laid on the beach, and took in the breathtaking sunset. The best compliment came from Chris who said he was kind of dreading the idea of posing for photos but actually really enjoyed himself (success!).
By the time the wedding day rolled around the anticipation had built up and we were all excited to jump in and witness these two officially tie the knot. Sehaj and Chris planned a Sikh wedding but with their own personal twists. For instance, Sehaj participated in the Barat, which is traditionally reserved for the groom only, because she didn't want to miss out on the horseback ride or the dancing. Their Seik ceremony was officiated by Sehaj's father, a guru, and was followed immediately by a Christian ceremony officiated by Chris' sister, a minister. It was a beautiful way to pay homage to both of their backgrounds.
Chris, embraced the Sikh traditions every step of the way, donning not one but two traditional outfits (and pulling off a turban like a pro!). But perhaps the greatest show of dedication was an actual show... unbeknownst to anyone, he had been taking secret Bhangra dance classes for months just so he could pull off an epic surprise! If Chris looks like he's enjoying himself during the shoe negotiations (the tradition where the groom's shoes are held ransom by the bride's side), it's because he cleverly used this secret as bargaining leverage! And the dance most certainly did not disappoint - Chris gave it his all and his bride (and the entire crowd) loved it!
A huge thank-you to Sunny Mathur who travelled all the way from DC to lend us a hand an eye (some of these images are his). And of course, a huge thank-you to Sehaj and Chris for choosing us and trusting our vision to capture this really special celebration.
In Weddings Tags backyard wedding, destination wedding, Hawaii, indian wedding, Oahu, Oahu wedding, outdoor wedding, sihk, travel, wedding


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Fifth Street Brewpub: How Neighbors Started a Co-Op Brewery
Fifth Street Brewing was founded in a historic building in Dayton, Ohio. (Credit: Fifth Street Brewing)
Fifth Street Brewpub is one of 14 breweries to spring up in the Greater Dayton area within the last five years, but it's Ohio's only co-op brewery, and one of only a handful of such cooperatively owned breweries like it in the country. Started in 2012, Fifth Street Brewpub differentiates itself from other local brewpubs by being 100 percent member-owned.
What makes a co-op brewery different? On the surface, not much, says General Manager Tanya Brock. "Anybody who's just going to stop and have a drink, they are none the wiser."
Fifth Street's Darren Link, Crooked Handle's Jason Moore, Neil Chabut from Eudora Brewing Company and Fifth Street's David Jennings making a collaboration beer. (Credit: Fifth Street)
Yet, dig deeper and you find an organization that is responsive to the community. Being a co-op, Brock explains, "makes us listen more to the patrons that come in and be more cognizant of getting to know them."
(MORE: Brewers Association Announces SAVOR 2017 Brewery List)
Building Fifth Street Brewpub as a Co-Op
This responsiveness is rooted in the pub's origins, which started as a neighborhood initiative to save a historic building. The brewpub, located at 1600 E. Fifth Street, is in a downtown residential neighborhood known as St. Anne's Hill. The architectural features of the neighborhood's Victorian homes landed St. Anne's Hill on the National Register of Historic Places in the mid-1980s, but until recently, economic recovery has been slow to come to post-industrial Dayton.
Residents of the city that birthed the Wright Brothers and Guided By Voices have found that innovation and growth most often come through DIY bootstrapping. In 2010, a group of 34 St. Anne's Hill residents invested to restore the local landmark at 1600 E. Fifth Street.
The initial plan was to fix and sell the building to a business, but post-renovation, the building sat empty. The group realized that if they wanted a business in the building, they'd have to build one themselves. After a meeting with Jeff Black, brewer and a founding member of Austin, Texas' Black Star Co-Op—America's first cooperatively owned brewery—the St. Anne's Hill neighbors decided to emulate Black Star's model.
The co-op brewery is in a historic district of Dayton. (Credit: Fifth Street Brewpub)
(MORE: 9 Brewery Couples On Their Strong Relationships and Successful Breweries)
Co-Op Membership and Management
Membership is open to anyone with $125 and the pitch for membership was, and still is, simple: One share, one stake. Member-owners get to claim that, "I own a brewpub," a slogan that dominates the brewery's marketing campaigns. And Dayton has responded enthusiastically, immediately purchasing more than 800 memberships. Five years later, membership tops 3,300.
Membership draws from the surrounding community, with a heavy tilt towards those in the neighborhood. "We're a real life version of Cheers," Brock explains. "The majority of people who come here two, three, four, five times a week. This is their watering hole; this is a place that they rely on for dinner, or lunch or breakfast."
Many employees are members, but membership isn't required to work at Fifth Street Brewpub. "We leave it up to the individual employee," says Brock, although she notes that there is a "strong nudge" for management to join. "[It's] self-beneficial that we're members because members have a voting right."
With so many owners, how does anything get done? Brock runs the day-to-day operations and members elect a Board-at-Large, which advises, and a Board of Directors, which oversees operations. There are four officers: the president, vice president, secretary, and treasurer.
"Those four are my direct supervisors," Brock explains. "They're the ones that I work very closely with on figuring out the business management and the larger goals of what we're doing."
Brewing Classic Beer Styles
Darren Link, Fifth Street's brewmaster, manages the beer for Brock. Link's seven-barrel brewhouse is located across a paved biergarten from the main pub, in an outbuilding restored and retrofitted for the brewing equipment.
Link's beer list is peppered with classic styles — a German-style Kolsch and a Scottish Wee Heavy sit alongside English-style pale ales, browns and stouts. Link is a prolific brewer who plays with expectations.
"I like to challenge myself mentally, challenge my skills by throwing the curve balls in there," he explains. One of his signature beers is Herbavore #1, a pale ale with honey and basil.
A homebrewer turned pro, Link's homebrewing experience has allowed him to make beers that are different without being gimmicky. Expect Link to push the envelope, but not chase trends: "I'm going to have to be pulled kicking and screaming into the Northeast IPA," he jokes. And barrel aging? It's pretty limited. "We have a whopping four barrels," laughs Link.
(MORE: Mark Your Calendars for American Craft Beer Week 2017)
A Decision to Distribute
Fifth Street initially planned to limit distribution to on-premise sales, but in the last year, Link has expanded to nearly three-dozen outlets throughout Dayton. Although the brewpub produced less than 400 barrels last year, Link sees distribution as necessary because it allows them "to increase production, increased our perception in the market, and use that distribution as an advertising tool and an additional source of income."
And that visibility brings this co-op brewery full circle to its roots: building community. The pub and its members continue to invest in community, be it through an annual homebrew competition where the winner brews his or her recipe on Link's system, or the popular Monday night Guest Bartender program that allows local non-profits to sling beers in exchange for a portion of the sales.
Brock and Link work together to find additional outreach, often at the suggestion of members, and look forward to projects like creating a commemorative anniversary brew for Link Dayton Bike Share, a non-profit organization with self-serve bike rental locations throughout town. These actions are a way to give back to the neighborhood that gave life to the brewery.
Fifth Street Brewpub: How Neighbors Started a Co-Op Brewery was last modified: March 1st, 2017 by Kevin Gray
Kevin J. Gray is passionate about exploring how craft beer impacts communities. Located in Dayton, Ohio, Kevin helps organize three beer festivals, all of which benefit local non-profits (Montessori School of Dayton's Brew Ha-Ha, Diabetes Dayton's Big Brews and Blues, and the Resident Home Association's Big Beers and Barley Wines). As a freelance beer journalist, Kevin contributes articles to a variety of local and national publications. When not exploring breweries, Kevin can be found playing in the woods—hiking, biking, or kayaking.


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Research Papers Examples
Home Research Papers ➞ The find an equilibrium of supply and demand and
The find an equilibrium of supply and demand and
admin December 4, 2019 0 comment
The Invisible Hand: an economic phenomenon driven by self- interest that results in unintended beneficial consequences to the economy. It is how unregulated markets naturally find an equilibrium of supply and demand and how business' competition regulates the free-market. First observed and written by Adam Smith in "An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of The Wealth of Nations," this effect became a defining factor for the modern day capitalist economic system. In "The Invisible Heart," by Russell Roberts, the concept of the Invisible Hand is a recurring and important theme throughout the novel. A romance story of a pro-capitalist man, Sam Gordon, and a conservative woman, Laura Silver, Russell Roberts beautifully explains major economic theories and how they are driven by an Invisible Hand that benefits all in a free-market economy. Sam Gordon is a tall, thin teacher at the Edwards School who teaches the course "The World of Economics." He had a master's degree in economics and has a passion for capitalism and the free-market system. Therefore, when Sam met Laura Silver, a conservative woman that was for strict government regulation, at the metro station, conflict emerged. Laura was also a teacher at the Edwards School and taught an English class there. Throughout the novel, constant discussion and disagreement between the two characters helped visualize economic issues and connected the two. While Sam and Laura discuss the economy, there is a parallel story about a television show starring Charles Krauss and Erica Baldwin. Charles Krauss was the CEO of HealthNet, a major company, and was accused of being ruthless and exploiting his customers for profit. Erica Baldwin, the director of the Office of Corporate Responsibility, leads a group to destroy Krauss and his alleged "corrupted" business. Through Sam, Laura, and the television show, the goal and meaning of economics are unearthed. The first important economic theory introduced in the novel is the basic idea of scarcity. Sam teaches his class economics, the study of allocating scarce resources, with a unique twist. Sam explains to his class that the world would never run out of oil because as oil gets more scarce, the opportunity cost of producing oil increases. Thus, before oil reserves run out, companies would find it more profitable to use different energy sources than trying to find more oil reserves. Sam makes an analogy to a room full of pistachios: each time someone eats a pistachio, they have to leave the shell within the borders of the room. In the end, one would find it more effective to buy a bag of pistachios rather than spending hours on it to find a single pistachio. Sam explained that every resource is scarce and that every decision has a cost, which is, in economic terms, the opportunity cost. When Sam Gordon and Laura Silvers, two contradicting characters, met for the first time, a dispute arose quickly. It was over safety laws regarding motorcycle helmets and seatbelts. As Laura spoke for the safety of civilians, even at a higher cost, Sam thought not. He argued that even though people know that helmets and seatbelts add for safety, they are acting upon self-interest. Sam emphasizes the fact that people's "values of the costs and benefits are not the same as yours" (Roberts 25). Sam believes that without seatbelts, people would be more His perspective is that while one may pay for the extra safety, another may use the money on college tuition- safety comes with a price. In addition to Sam's argument, there is an effect called the Peltzman Effect, that theorizes that people are more inclined to drive less safely with seatbelts, and vice versa. All in all, Sam's perspective is that seatbelts, helmets, and safety laws always comes with a price. As many economists often declare, "There is no such thing as a free lunch." In addition, the concepts of supply and demand are discussed when Sam and Laura meet in the teacher's lounge. Laura explains that she is unsatisfied with her annual salary of $23,000, and doesn't understand how famous basketball players earn millions of dollars. Sam explains that while teachers educate 150 people a year, a basketball player could entertain millions. Sam indirectly emphasizes the forces of supply and demand, where very low supply leads to higher wages. Sam visualizes the consequences of raising the wages for teachers, which he explains that the demand for teachers will be much greater than the supply: the theory of surplus. The government finds itself not employing many teachers, as the pool of unemployed grows. This effect is similar to the consequences of minimum-wage laws. With higher wages for workers, firms are discouraged from hiring more workers, and therefore, increasing unemployment. In this case, government regulation is leading to an unintended negative consequence. Similarly, Sam outlines the benefits of business competition when Laura complains about the prices of her dry cleaning service. Laura believes that the dry cleaner is greedy and wants a regulation that lowers the cost of service. While Laura is disappointed that the dry cleaners are only concerned about profit, Sam believes that consumers should encourage profits for businesses. Sam emphasizes the fact that competition drives businesses to make businesses, which in turn, benefits the consumer. With more competition and potential for profit, businesses compete to attract customers with low profits or higher quality. Unless a good or service would be a monopoly, firms compete to please their customers and gain profit, where market prices are barely over production costs. However, Laura points out that general prices are increasing even though firms try to lower prices to attract consumers. Sam emphasizes the fact that "the effects are masked by inflation" (Roberts 70). Over periods of time, the general prices of goods rise at the rate of inflation. In a real sense, adjusted for the effects of inflation, the goods and services may be much cheaper compared to years before. Even then, the real prices of the goods and services are understated. This is due to the fact that the variety of goods produced and the quality of the goods increased over time, as well. Sam preaches that for businesses, profits are secondary to good products and service. And with the invisible hand, the business' self-interest for profits leads to better products for the consumers. While Sam continued to present Keynesian economics to Laura, Sam was under investigation by the school board. Senator Hunt was a senator that possessed opposite views of Sam and was a major figure in the government. It happened to be that his daughter, Amy, was in his class of economics. And when Amy was being taught a liberal form of economics, Senator Hunt, who has large power over the school system, sought to remove Sam from the Edwards School. Alongside the storyline between Sam and Laura at the Edwards School exists a parallel story of a television show starring Charles Krauss and Erica Baldwin. Charles Krauss is believed by many to exploit his customers for his business, HealthNet. Many, such as Erica Baldwin, a director of the Office of Corporate Responsibility, question the medical safety of HealthNet's products. Erica wants to expose HealthNet and put an end to Krauss and his company once and for all. While Erica is planning to uncover HealthNet, Krauss decides to close a major factory of HealthNet located in a small town in Ohio, Matalon. The components of the factory were to be sent to Mexico immediately. Because the factory in Matalon was unionized, Charles Krauss emphasizes the fact that the company could add "20 million to the bottom line over the next five years" (Roberts 58). Watching the news coverage of distressed workers in Matalon, Erica Baldwin is more inclined to implement a formal investigation to exploit Healthnet and bring an end to Charles Krauss. Like Erica Baldwin, one was looking at the same news coverage that Baldwin had watched: Heather Hathaway. Hathaway was a HealthNet employee that worked directly in the presence of Charles Krauss. Watching citizens' concerns about their mortgage from the night before, she is infuriated of her company to close the factory in Ohio. While Krauss went outside of his office, Hathaway decides to take some confidential papers and send it through a copying machine to gain a copy of her own. Hathaway then dialed the Office of Corporate Responsibility and sent the copies at a perfect timing for Erica Baldwin. The copies were full of rows and columns of numbers. As Erica Baldwin and her investigation team research the series of documents, they realize that the papers were data from mandatory clinical trials for the Food and Drug Administration. The medicine from HealthNet was a drug designed for fighting cancer. And the results from the papers received have consistently indicated towards tumor growth. To complete her investigation, Baldwin scrambles to track down the anonymous sender of the documents. However, it is already too late. HealthNet has heard, and Hathaway is dead. Watching the television show with Laura, Sam is agitated that the businesses are portrayed as disastrous and relentless. Laura was from a high class and had a brother that had contradicted many views of Sam's a few weeks before. Sam was also annoyed with the fact that Laura had favored Erica Baldwin and loved the television show. While it is true that many CEO's have to close down factories, Sam explains that they have a legitimate reason. Sam points out that competition drives out those companies and leads them to close factories. Additionally, he explains that Krauss realized he could make more profit with a factory in Mexico while giving workers better wages than they used to have. Krauss' self-interest for profit leads him to produce what satisfies the customer's needs and makes better products. And besides, without a self-interest for profit, a business is bound to collapse due to competitors forcing the company out-of-business. In addition, Sam emphasizes the fact that even the people in the company that was destroyed by Charles Krauss may be better off in upcoming generations. In a small town in Ohio, where HealthNet was the dominant factory, many children were destined to work in the factory. However, with the factory gone, those children would be able to invest in different skillsets. The leaving of Healthnet from Matalon Ohio lead to more jobs and more opportunities for future generations.
Chapter IV OPEC's Strategy towards Non-OPEC Shale________________________________________ The oil market had been performing well in the global market after the financial crisis of 2008
The Effects of Health and Safety Practice on Productivity in Temporary Works Construction AUTHOR FirstCap MERGEFORMAT Nadine Jeftha 209028696 A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Engineering
IMPACT OF SERVICE QUALITY ON CUSTOMER SATISFACTION IN INSURANCE COMPANIES IN WOLAITA ZONE MBA Thesis BY Dawit Dalga May 2018 Wolaita Soddo University IMPACT OF SERVICE QUALITY ON CUSTOMER SATISFACTION IN INSURANCE COMPANIES IN WOLAITA ZONE A Thesis Submitted to Department of Management
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NASA Learns More About Interstellar Visitor 'Oumuamua
How NASA Will Know When InSight Touches Down
News | November 15, 2018
The Most Luminous Galaxy Is Eating Its Neighbors
This artist's impression shows galaxy WISE J224607.55-052634.9, the most luminous galaxy ever discovered. A new study using data from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) shows that this galaxy is syphoning dust and other material from three of its smaller galactic neighbors. (NRAO/AUI/NSF) S. Dagnello
The most luminous galaxy ever discovered is cannibalizing not one, not two, but at least three of its smaller neighbors, according to a new study published today (Nov. 15) in the journal Science and coauthored by scientists from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. The material that the galaxy is stealing from its neighbors is likely contributing to its uber-brightness, the study shows.
Discovered by NASA's space-based Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) in 2015, the galaxy, called WISE J224607.55-052634.9, is by no means the largest or most massive galaxy we know of, but it radiates at 350 trillion times the luminosity of the Sun. If all galaxies were positioned an equal distance from us, WISE J224607.55-052634.9 (or W2246-0526 for short) would be the brightest.
New observations using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile reveal distinct trails of dust being pulled from three smaller galaxies into W2246-0526. The trails contain about as much material as the smaller galaxies themselves, and it's unclear whether those galaxies will escape their current fate or will be completely consumed by their luminous neighbor.
This image, created using radio data from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), shows W2246-0526 as it syphons material away from three smaller galaxies. W2246-0526 and one of its companions are in the center; the second galaxy is above them; the third is to the lower left. Image Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO); S. Dagnello (NRAO/AUI/NSF)
Most of W2246-0526's record-breaking luminosity comes not only from stars, but also a collection of hot gas and dust concentrated around the center of the galaxy. At the heart of this cloud is a supermassive black hole, recently determined to be 4 billion times more massive than the Sun. In the intense gravity, matter falls toward the black hole at high speeds, crashing together and heating up to millions of degrees, causing the material to shine with incredible brilliance. Galaxies that contain these types of luminous, black-hole-fueled structures are known as quasars.
Like any engine on Earth, W2246-0526's enormous energy output requires an equally high fuel input. In this case, that means gas and dust to form stars and to replenish the cloud around the central black hole. The new study shows that the amount of material being accreted by WJ2246-0526 from its neighbors is enough to replenish what is being consumed, thereby sustaining the galaxy's tremendous luminosity.
"It is possible that this feeding frenzy has already been ongoing for some time, and we expect the galactic feast to continue for at least a few hundred million years," said Tanio Diaz-Santos of the Universidad Diego Portales in Santiago, Chile, lead author of the study.
In the new study, the scientists used images from ALMA - a collection of individual radio antennas that work together as single telescope - to identify the dusty trails of material. The position of the accretion trails strongly suggests they contain material flowing between W2246-0526 and the other galaxies. In addition, the trails exhibit the right morphology - that is, the shape of the trails is consistent with how the material should flow if it is being pulled from one galaxy into another.
This annotated image made using radio data from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) shows how W2246-0526 is being fed by three companion galaxies (C1, C2, and C3). A large tidal tail connects C2 with the main galaxy; dust bridges connect the other two galaxies to W2246-0526. Image Credit: T. Diaz-Santos et al.; N. Lira; ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)
This kind of galactic cannibalism is not uncommon. Astronomers have previously observed galaxies merging with or accreting matter from their neighbors in the nearby universe. For example, the pair of galaxies collectively known as "the Mice" are so named because each has a long, thin tail of accreting material stretching away from it.
W2246-0526 is the most distant galaxy ever found to be accreting material from multiple sources. The light from W2246-0526 took 12.4 billion years to reach us, so astronomers are seeing the object as it was when our universe was only a tenth of its present age of 13.8 billion years. At that distance, the streams of material falling into W2246-0526 are particularly faint and difficult to detect. The study relies on 2.5 hours of observation time using 40 of ALMA's 12-meter radio dishes.
"We knew from previous data that there were three companion galaxies, but there was no evidence of interactions between these neighbors and the central source," said Diaz-Santos. "We weren't looking for cannibalistic behavior and weren't expecting it, but this deep dive with the ALMA observatory makes it very clear."
W2246-0526 falls into a special category of particularly luminous quasars known as hot, dust-obscured galaxies, or Hot DOGs. Astronomers think that most quasars get some of their fuel from external sources. One possibility is that these objects receive a slow trickle of material from the space between galaxies. Another is that they feed in bursts by eating up other galaxies, which appears to be occurring with W2246-0526. It's unclear whether W2246-0526 is representative of other obscured quasars (those with their central engines obscured by thick clouds of dust) or if it is a special case.
"This galaxy may be one of a kind, because it's nearly twice as luminous as any other galaxy we've found with WISE and it formed very early in the universe's history," said Peter Eisenhardt, JPL project scientist for WISE and a coauthor on the new paper. "But we've discovered many other galaxies with WISE that are similar to this one: distant, dusty and thousands of times more luminous than typical galaxies are today. So with W2246-0526, we may be seeing what goes on during a key stage in the evolution of galaxies and obscured quasars."
Ultimately, the galaxy's gluttony may only lead to self-destruction. Scientists hypothesize that obscured quasars that gather too much material around them end up vomiting gas and dust back out through the galaxy. This onslaught of material halts the formation of new stars, essentially pushing the galaxy into retirement while other galaxies continue to renew themselves with the birth of new stars.
A companion study about W2246-0526, published on Nov. 14 in the Astrophysical Journal, provided the mass measurement for the supermassive black hole at the galaxy's center - 4 billion times the mass of the Sun. This mass is large, but the extreme luminosity of W2246-0526 was thought to require a supermassive black hole with a mass at least three times larger, according to the paper authors. Solving this apparent contradiction will require more observations.
The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), an international astronomy facility, is a partnership of the European Southern Observatory (ESO), the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Natural Sciences (NINS) of Japan in cooperation with the Republic of Chile. ALMA is funded by ESO on behalf of its Member States, by NSF in cooperation with the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) and the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) in Taiwan and by NINS in cooperation with the Academia Sinica (AS) in Taiwan and the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI).
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, managed and operated WISE for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The spacecraft operated until 2011. In September 2013, WISE was reactivated, renamed NEOWISE and assigned a new mission to assist NASA's efforts to identify potentially hazardous near-Earth objects.
News Media Contact
Calla Cofield
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
calla.e.cofield@jpl.nasa.gov
Charles Blue
NRAO Public Information Officer
cblue@nrao.edu
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The Droga Architect in Residence describes herself as a designer, urbanist and social innovator, but perhaps game changer is a better title.
Based in America but working internationally, Ogbu is an architect who has collaborated with some of the world's leading public interest design non-profits, including IDEO.org and Public Architecture, before setting up her own multidisciplinary consulting practice Studio O. Using design and innovation to tackle systemic problems within socially challenged communities, she has worked with non-profits, local councils, and independent companies to do some pretty incredible work for a great deal of people and communities in need, making it her mission to make a difference where it is most required, one step at a time.
What Ogbu describes as an "architecture identity crisis" has become the catalyst for a career delivering powerful projects to create significant social impact. One of the first projects that defined the direction she took was the design of 'Day Labour Stations', created as an adaptable space to service the huge numbers of American day labourers occupying street corners and car parks in the hope of a day's work, providing them with shelter, water, restrooms and meeting spaces while they wait.
And do it differently she does. Ogbu describes what she is doing as 'placekeeping' – a beautifully meaningful alternative to the over-used term placemaking. Defining this expression, she talks about the synonymous relationship between placemaking and gentrification, and the resulting displacement of the original community. "If you ask these people about their reaction to placemaking, their response is 'this is already a place'… it wasn't a great place, but it was a place, with a lot of strong ties and memories and a community fabric." For Ogbu, this led to a placekeeping approach, which for her is about honouring and acknowledging what is already there, but also about setting a mandate for responsible development. "We need to ensure that the existing community has the capacity to shape the change for the place, even as new people are coming in", she says.
Liz is currently located in Sydney as the Droga Architect in Residence, and education and skills-transfers will play a major part of her work while she is here. The Droga Residency is an initiative run by the Australian Institute of Architects Foundation that enables architects from across the world to be immersed in the Australian architectural community, learning from and contributing to the advancement of our sector. The goal of the program is to 'promote, support and communicate the value of architecture as design which benefits the Australian community, culture, economy and environment, now and into the future'. While here, Liz is exploring the Australian condition, our marginalised populations, and the opportunities for impact in this space, as well as presenting lectures, running workshops to impart skills, and engaging with the local industry, communities, councils, government, business, universities and academics.
Her particular focus is on tactical urbanism, but she has concerns over the way this strategy often fails to represent the socially challenged communities it is intended for. Asking, "Can we really be happy about tactical urbanism if it isn't impacting the highest need population?" she wants to impart an understanding of how tactical urbanism can be used as a community development tool, challenging architects to question how we can seed long term change.


Join Ginger Harrington in discussing March's leadership trait about Peace.
We are identified as leaders with the risen and enthroned Lord Jesus mentioned in Colossians 3. We're told to put off the old and put on the new. What we do is not nearly as important as how we lead in those things. Consider these character traits from Colossians 3 as an emphasis each month with your Board. Talk about them, blog about them, pray about them, train with them, etc. each month as an opportunity to grow in these traits together.
You can find more Leadership Traits on our YearRound Leadership Page.


The Young Agrarians are hosting a workshop on the nuts and bolts of land linking.
If lucky, you may meet your future farmer, or find the right landowner with a great piece of land to farm on!
Everyone welcome – farmers, landowners, veggie growers, orchardists, apiarists, livestock farmers – if you can grow it, they want to help you find land!


AUSTIN, Texas, April 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Tennis elbow, the painful chronic condition that affects up to 3 percent of the U.S. adult population, can be effectively treated through transcatheter arterial embolization (TAE), an image-guided, non-surgical treatment that decreases abnormal blood flow to the injured area to reduce inflammation and pain, according to research presented at the Society of Interventional Radiology's 2019 Annual Scientific Meeting. The condition, known as lateral epicondylitis, stems from repetitive stress from activities such as sports, typing and knitting, and the injury impacts basic tasks that affect job performance and quality of life.
"Tennis elbow can be difficult to treat, leaving many patients unable to perform the simplest tasks. With this frustration, many patients turn to invasive major surgery after years of failed physical therapy and medication use," said Yuji Okuno, MD, PhD, founder of the Okuno Clinic in Japan and lead author of the study.
The team conducted a prospective study in 52 patients with tennis elbow who did not find relief from other forms of treatment. The patients received TAE between March 2013 and October 2017. The researchers found statistically significant reductions in pain-rating scores, using methods including the Quick Disability of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand scores; visual analog scale pain rating scores; Patient-rated Tennis Elbow Evaluation scores; and pain-free grip strength. Additionally, images taken in 32 patients two years after undergoing TAE showed an improvement in tendinosis and tear scores.
The treatment takes approximately one hour and requires only a needle hole to access the radial artery in the wrist under local anesthesia. A catheter is moved through the wrist to the elbow where the inflamed blood vessels are embolized, preventing excessive blood flow to the affected part of the elbow. The treatment is safe and effective and doesn't require physical therapy. No adverse events were observed and no patients experienced negative effects to the surrounding bones, cartilage or muscles.
While pain is a hallmark symptom, chronic tennis elbow can cause loss of grip and arm strength, limited use of the arm, and burning sensations on the outer portion of the arm.
Abstract 25: Midterm clinical outcomes after transcatheter arterial embolization for lateral epicondylitis resistance to conservative treatment.


In my previous blog, I proposed a key to help kids get a top score in the Writing section of EIKEN 3.
Here is another key. This one prepares kids to obtain a top score for Q1 in the Speaking section, not only EIKEN 3, but pre-2. We have been using this method for many years. It is a tried and tested thus far infallible method.
1 Find a clause before a comma (especially of it precedes 'so').
2 Change the noun to its pronoun and read the clause aloud.
1 Find a clause before a term that can be replaced with 'therefore'.
The instructions above are just a short cut to a 'Top Score'. To fix this in the students' skill set they need to practise, so teachers need to obtain or make materials that simulate EIKEN test materials.
The method above 'teaching to the test' should only be used as a last-ditch approach. To improve student ability among all five domains of Listening, Reading, Writing , Speaking, and Knowledge of grammar; for JHS kids we make dialogue worksheets that are delivered in different ways according to student needs. They may be used in a teacher-centered approach, which means instructing students by including listen and repeat and pattern practice drills etc., or provided as a path for student-centered learning, such as allowing students to work in pairs to model the dialogue and research the vocabulary then complete an exercise with the teacher used only as a resource. We also try to personalize the materials to facilitate motivation and learning ownership in the students. By keeping a master generic file, we can change the names of students and other contents in a worksheet on a lesson by lesson basis to reflect current events. Below is a copy of a worksheet complete with the student's own notes, which was this week used in a student-centered approach to teach the above skill for EIKEN 3.


text:
Unmarried father should have been included in child's hearing in Scotland, say Supreme Court
15 December 2010 by Adam Wagner
Principal Reporter (Respondent) v K (Appellant) and others (Scotland) [2010] UKSC 56 – Read judgment / press summary
The Supreme Court has ruled that Scottish law, which previously did not give unmarried fathers the right to take part in a hearing relating to a child with whom they have established family ties, is incompatible with human rights law.
The statutory provision which defines the categories of people who have a right to take part in the hearings must be read to include anyone who has established family life with the child. The Human Rights Act empowers courts to "read" legislation in such a way as to give effect to the European Convention on Human Rights.
The decision was unanimous and a single judgment was given by Lord Hope and Lady Hale. The following is based on the Supreme Court press summary. Our analysis is to follow:
This is a case about the rights of unmarried fathers to take part in children's hearings under Part II of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995. It raises two distinct issues. The first concerns the kind of order made in the sheriff court which would be effective to give a father the right to take part in the children's hearing. The second concerns the compatibility of the statutory scheme for participation in the children's hearing with the rights of the father (and indeed the child) under the European Convention on Human Rights.
The appellant K is an unmarried father. He formed a relationship with JR. They cohabited and had a child, L, born in May 2002, whose birth they registered together. Their relationship subsequently broke down. After the separation, K continued to have contact with L, and was involved with her hospital appointments until at least September 2003.
In about May 2004, K raised proceedings in the sheriff court seeking full parental responsibilities and parental rights and a contact order. An interim order for weekly overnight stays was made. In December 2005, JR alleged that K had abused L. In March 2006, the local authority's social work services department referred the case to the Principal Reporter on the ground that L was in need of compulsory measures of supervision.
There were children's hearings in June and July and in August the sheriff deemed the grounds of referral proved and remitted the case to the children's hearing.
Not a "relevant person"
K, however, was not entitled to attend any of these hearings as he was not a 'relevant person' within the meaning of section 93(2)(b) of the 1995 Act. At a child welfare hearing on 27 October 2006, the sheriff made an order granting K "parental rights and responsibilities to the extent that he becomes a relevant person in the children's referral". Thereafter K attended the children's hearings. In August 2007, the hearing imposed a condition of no contact between K and L. In January 2009 K appealed against the continuation of this condition. The Principal Reporter then challenged the sheriff's order in the Court of Session on the ground that it was incompetent.
On 27 March 2009, the Lord Ordinary suspended the sheriff's order of 27 October 2006. On 21 January 2010 the First Division refused K's appeal and his application for a declaration of incompatibility with the European Convention on Human Rights.
Section 11(1) of the 1995 Act provides that the sheriff court may make an order in relation to parental responsibilities and parental rights. Subsection (7) provides that in considering whether to make an order under subsection (1), the court shall regard the welfare of the child as its paramount consideration, shall not make an order unless it would be better for the child to do so, and, where practicable, shall ascertain the child's views. These considerations are referred to as the 'overarching principles'. Section 93(2)(b) defines 'relevant person' as a person (including a parent) with parental responsibilities or parental rights or who appears to be a person who ordinarily has charge of, or control over, the child.
Unanimous decision to allow K's appeal
The Supreme Court unanimously allowed the appeal. Lord Hope and Lady Hale give the judgment of the Court. The Court holds that the sheriff's order of 27 October 2006 was not incompetent and so recalls the First Division's interlocutor and dismisses the petition.
The Court also declares that section 93(2)(b)(c) of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 should be read so as to include the words "or who appears to have established family life with the child with which the decision of a children's hearing may interfere". The Court makes a finding that K is a "relevant person" within the meaning of section 93(2)(b)(c) as so read.
Reasons for the judgment
The Court notes that the case raises a fundamental issue about fairness. Neither in July nor in August 2006 did K have the opportunity to refute the allegations in the grounds of referral. This is contrary to one of the fundamental rules of natural justice, the right to be heard. [14]
The order of 27 October 2006 was competently pronounced. The order was one which the sheriff had power to grant under section 11(1) of the 1995 Act. The defect in the order is one of specification, not of substance. While it would have been better if the sheriff had expressly referred to the relevant provisions of the 1995 Act and to the relevant parental responsibilities and rights, and to the fact that participation in the children's hearing set the limits for the exercise of those responsibilities and rights, the order was not incompetent because he did not do so. [24] – [28]
There was not a sound basis for the First Division's view that the sheriff failed to apply the overarching principles. Such evidence as there is suggests that the very experienced sheriff had these principles in mind throughout the hearing. In any event, failure to apply the correct principles when making an order, while it may be a ground of appeal, would not normally render the order incompetent. [31]
A parent (or other person) whose family life with the child is at risk in the proceedings must be afforded a proper opportunity to take part in the decision-making process. As currently constituted the children's hearing system violated the article 8 rights of K (and indeed of L) and risks violating the rights of others in the same situation. The children's hearing has to have the best and most accurate information that it can in order to make the best decisions about the child. The only justification advanced for excluding a father unless and until he secures a parental responsibilities and parental rights order from the sheriff court is to ensure that only persons who can make a meaningful contribution to the hearing are present. However, it is difficult to see how excluding a father such as K can possibly be proportionate to that aim. All fathers registered since 4 May 2006 are entitled to be present. Further, when the alleged grounds for referring the child consist almost entirely of allegations against the father, it cannot possibly be legitimate to exclude him for the purpose of restricting the numbers. [39] – [48]
The incompatibility with Article 8 can be cured by inserting the words "or who appears to have established family life with the child with which the decision of a children's hearing may interfere" into section 93(2)(b)(c) of the 1995 Act. [69]
Previous posts on family law
Top judge says legal aid in family cases may disappear
Fathers' rights on the agenda for upcoming family justice reform
1 comment;
scottish lawyer says:
As a Scots Law solicitor dealing with Children's Hearing cases on a daily basis, I am delighted with the decision.
It has long been a concern that an unmarried father who is without parental responsibilities/rights was not considered "a relevant person" when proceedings commenced in the Children's Hearing. Not only was there no right to attend a hearing which had the power to remove the child into foster care, there was no right of appeal against any decision, including one to deprive the father of all contact with the child.
As examples of the difficulties: A drug addict/sexually abusive mother who had not seen the child for years had the right to attend hearings and appeal decisions.
A father imprisoned for murdering his wife (the mother) and attempting to murder the child would have the right to attend and appeal.
An unmarried father who had cared well for a child for many years had no right to attend or appeal if he was separated from the mother at the time of the hearing (even if exercising residential contact). This would be so even if the reason for child protection concerns related to the failings of the mother.


text:
White House Announces $10 Billion For COVID-19 Testing In Schools
By Laurel Wamsley
A student gives her coronavirus swab to Helenann Civian, the principal of South Boston Catholic Academy in Boston in January. The White House announced $10 billion to expand testing in K-12 schools.
The Biden administration announced Wednesday that it will spend $10 billion to expand testing for schools, to aid in the president's goal to get schools open once again.
The funds will come from the American Rescue Plan, the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package President Biden signed last week.
"With this funding for testing, every state in America will have access to millions of dollars to set up screening testing programs, to add a layer of protection for schools, teachers and students," Carole Johnson, the White House COVID-19 Testing Coordinator, said at a news briefing.
Allocations for each state were announced, ranging from $17 million for Wyoming to nearly $888 million for California. The District of Columbia and U.S. territories will receive funding, as will New York City, Los Angeles County, Chicago, Houston and Philadelphia.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will provide technical assistance to state and local health departments to set up school testing programs where they don't yet exist.
CDC Director Rochelle Walensky noted that due to limited capacity, until now testing in the U.S. has largely been used diagnostically — that is, when a person has symptoms or a known exposure. In addition to diagnostic testing, the new funding will enable schools to use frequent testing as a screening tool, which can "identify asymptomatic disease and prevent clusters before they start," Walensky said.
The CDC released additional guidance that focuses on testing in specific settings, including correctional and detention facilities, non-health care workplaces, higher education institutions, and homeless shelters and encampments.
Andy Slavitt, the White House Senior Advisor for COVID Response, said the investments and guidance are intended to clear the way toward schools opening.
"The question I think for the administration, and for schools in the country, is not whether they can open, but how," Slavitt said. "I think with this roadmap, with this testing resources, with these vaccinations, there is a clear path there."
Laurel Wamsley is a reporter for NPR's News Desk. She reports breaking news for NPR's digital coverage, newscasts, and news magazines, as well as occasional features. She was also the lead reporter for NPR's coverage of the 2019 Women's World Cup in France.
See stories by Laurel Wamsley


There is a continuing and growing interest in the former Soviet space in both the area of security studies and foreign policy/international relations. While many issues are examined and written about from an 'out of area' perspective (e.g. energy; terrorism; regional security relations), there is a need to focus on cross-linkages between regional and global issues (e.g. Central Asia-Afghanistan-the 'West'; Russia-Ukraine-NATO/EU) in order to bring together disparate expertise in one forum. Valuable expertise on the subject-area can sometimes be lost to area studies, but we believe this energy should be harnessed to broader disciplinary areas of security studies and foreign policy analysis/international politics. BISA represents an opportunity to gain a higher profile for the study of the former Soviet Union (not just Russia) and to position this in the context of the broader field.
The aim is to bring together academics, but also practitioners to examine both theoretical and empirical issues relating to post-Soviet foreign and security policies broadly defined, although the focus would be mainly on contemporary developments. We envisage holding workshops a few times a year and hope to involve practitioners as well as academics.