text:
Intelligent system for perfect forming
SIMATIC Target 1500S in metalworking. Using smart closed-loop control concepts, Ostseestaal and Hochschule Wismar University of Applied Sciences reduce machining time for forming sheet metal.
We'll be happy to help you find the right customized solution
Efficiently producing complex shapes
Ostseestaal's products are used not just in buildings but also in works of art. The sculptures at Expo Milan and the "Wings" sculpture by American architect Daniel Libeskind at the Siemens headquarters in Munich are clad with individually formed metal plates. The olive tree on the façade of the Doha Exhibition and Convention Center was also designed from individual parts that were specially produced by the company based in Stralsund, Germany.
Ostseestaal produces individual metal parts and shapes for buildings and sculptures
Using an innovative, model-based, closed-loop control system to quickly and precisely form sheet metal
"We produce individual parts according to our clients' requirements, which are very specific in terms of shape and surface quality. We were running up against technological as well as commercial limits with our existing metal-forming systems – which is why we initiated a research project with Hochschule Wismar and Hochschule Stralsund universities of applied sciences to help us efficiently form these complex geometries," explains Harry Schellhorn. He heads the research project at Ostseestaal, where a multi-ram press and an innovative closed-loop control system will reduce machining time and improve the quality of the elements being produced.
In many cases, each individual metal piece is a unique specimen and therefore costly and time-consuming to form, says Schellhorn: "Until now, we've pressed the sheets into shape manually, with correspondingly long setup and machining times. The whole process takes from thirty minutes to an hour. The sheet material, which is usually aluminum or stainless steel, is in itself inhomogeneous, which means that the results of the pressing process are influenced by many parameters. That's why automatic forming requires a more complex closed-loop control system than has existed so far."
Fast, precise control
Ostseestaal's specifications for the Hochschule Wismar project team were complex: A forming procedure in the multi-ram press had to be completed in just five minutes with a precision of +/- 1 mm. The employees also had to install an innovative closed-loop control system in the multi-ram press's open-loop controller that could handle fluctuations in the metal sheets' forming behavior.
Uniform architecture for a complete system
In order to seamlessly integrate the solution into operations, a SIMATIC controller was required. The uniform architecture makes it possible to reduce expenditures for the solution's configuration and maintenance. The automation solution also had to be capable of integrating a measurement system for quality control that operates in a Windows environment. That's why it was important to find an appropriately flexible and open platform for the automation solution.
Easy integration of complex algorithms
Precise forming requires a complex closed-loop control algorithm, which Hochschule Wismar developed in MATLAB and Simulink using a fuzzy controller. It had to be possible to easily implement this algorithm in the multi-ram press's controller. By the same token, the actual values of the ram position, the target values for the process, and the actual values of the measurement system following the forming process had to be available in one system to enable fast quality control.
Ostseestaal and Hochschule Wismar
Innovation for 3D forming
With this research project, Ostseestaal and Hochschule Wismar are continuing a longstanding tradition of cooperation between industry and engineering sciences in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern: Wismar has been a site for applied engineering education for over 100 years.
Innovative, automatic 3D forming of metal sheets is implemented in Stralsund
The right team for efficient, automatic 3D forming of metal sheets
The research being conducted in Wismar also covers automation technology and mechatronics. The combination of industry expertise and development expertise was one of the main factors contributing to the successful creation of the new close-loop control system.
The Stralsund-based company Ostseestaal specializes in the manufacture of complex, three-dimensionally formed components. In recent years the company has established a reputation as an innovative and competitive partner for metalworking, with a focus on products for architecture, ship building, renewables, and industry. Innovation and tradition go hand in hand – including cooperation with Hochschule Wismar.
We need a flexible and efficient solution for the large number of individual shapes that we form from metal sheets.
Harry Schellhorn, Project Manager, Ostseestaal GmbH & Co. KG
Model-based closed-loop controller development with SIMATIC
A Windows-based SIMATIC IPC with an integrated software controller and visualization software functions as an operator panel. This controls the press's 48 hydraulic rams.
The model-based controller is easily integrated into the PLC program using Target 1500S
Automatic generation of complex closed-loop control functions
Because the solution is extremely compact, press operators can monitor and operate both the Leica measurement system and the press from a single device. SIMATIC Target 1500S automatically converts the control algorithm for the Fuzzy Control Toolbox from Simulink to a corresponding function block that loads and executes the functions from the control program.
At the heart of the solution is a SIMATIC IPC Panel PC on which both the Windows operating system and the SIMATIC S7-1500 software controller are installed. A SIMATIC ET200M system connects the analog and digital modules for controlling the press's hydraulic rams, sensors, and hydraulic pumps and the measurement system with the controller. Using the Panel PC's touch display, operators can simply specify the target values and view the status of each individual ram at a glance.
Without closed-loop control, the press's hydraulic rams can be only positioned with centimeter accuracy. To achieve millimeter precision, Hochschule Wismar developed a special closed-loop control algorithm. Because the proportional valves of the hydraulic cylinders have a nonlinear rangeability, and the setpoint must be reached without overshoots, the team used a fuzzy controller. After the closed-loop controller had been generated and parametrized in Simulink, SIMATIC Target 1500S was used to load it into the TIA Portal engineering framework, where a function block was automatically generated that can be retrieved just like any other internal PLC function block.
Thanks to the SIMATIC controller and the fuzzy closed-loop controller, we can position the hydraulic rams with the necessary precision.
Alexander Martens, research assistant, Hochschule Wismar
Customer benefit
Straight to the right solution, no detours
"We're thrilled!" That sums it up for Alexander Martens, doctoral candidate and research assistant at Hochschule Wismar. The controller design could be implemented directly in the PLC and worked immediately with only minor optimizations.
Thanks to the new solution, Ostseestaal is now also able to efficiently form complex shapes
Integrated solution facilitates implementation both in the test system and in operations
Schellhorn is also convinced: "Without the development of the closed-loop control system in Simulink and its combination with SIMATIC Target 1500S, this level of quality and precision could never have been achieved."
According to Dr. Olaf Hagendorf, project manager for Hochschule Wismar, the main benefit of SIMATIC Target 1500S for the project team was the automatic implementation of the controller design in the PLC. "The manual programming of a comparatively complex, closed-loop control algorithm like the one needed for the PLC for this application would require considerable effort – and there's always the risk of error. With SIMATIC Target 1500S, we automatically generate the function block, which is guaranteed error-free. The time savings are tremendous."
For Schellhorn, the results of the project were of primary importance. The hydraulic rams' closed-loop control system operates according to Ostseestaal's precise specifications, and the overall quality also meets expectations. However, he's also already considering the possibility of using the press system in production – and this is where Ostseestaal stands to benefit from the solution's SIMATIC platform: "Here we use SIMATIC controllers practically throughout, and thanks to SIMATIC Target 1500S, we can also implement new, more complex press control using the same technology." According to Hagendorf, Hochschule Wismar will also continue to use SIMATIC Target 1500S. "We use SIMATIC for our work in automation technology and MATLAB and Simulink for our work in closed-loop control engineering. With SIMATIC Target 1500S, we can now strengthen the link between our two main areas of training, which will also improve quality in teaching."
SIMATIC Target 1500S was absolutely essential for implementing our ideas and achieving Ostseestaal's goals.
Dr. Olaf Hagendorf, Project Manager, Hochschule Wismar
Industrial platform for innovative approaches
With SIMATIC Target 1500S and the rugged Simatic industrial PC, Hochschule Wismar was able to develop a solution for Ostseestaal that implements innovative, model-based, closed-loop controller development, state-of-the-art measurement technology, and an extremely powerful controller on a uniform platform. Ostseestaal can now easily apply new approaches to the production of its 3D formed parts based on proven, industry-compatible technology.
Target 1500S for Simulink
SIMATIC Target 1500S for Simulink makes it possible to transfer model-based, closed-loop controller and machine simulations directly from Simulink to the SIMATIC S7-1500 software controller or the 1518 MFP CPU – intuitively, more efficiently, and faster than ever before.
SIMATIC Industrie-Panel-PCs
Siemens' Panel PC portfolio integrates an industrial PC and an operator panel in a compact solution that's valuable for its ruggedness, performance, and brilliant display – making it ideal for visualization tasks directly at the machine or plant.
SIMATIC S7-1500 software controller
A top achievement for PC-based automation: the S7-1500 software controller. Take advantage of the functionality of SIMATIC S7-1500 controllers on industrial PCs, along with high-level languages like C++.
What does your solution look like?
Would you like to be optimally prepared for your everyday industrial requirements with our industrial PCs and automation software? Our experts will be glad to assist you.


Spin Around The World With Karianne: Another amazing Sideshore Kitecamp!
I just came home from another awesome kitesurfing camp with Sideshore at Prassonisi on the Greek Island of Rhodes!
Takk for en fin uke! Men, kommer ikke inn på den linken til bildene... Er det bare meg?


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Farther Stars Than These
New voices, new flash-length science fiction.
Pilots of the Dawn
By Donal Mahoney
We were pilots of the dawn, launched
from our mother's womb screaming,
flying higher than we ever dreamt.
We sought to navigate the sky
and make the sun our prisoner.
It was just a sinkhole in the path
of everything we had to do.
Now, many decades later,
we've done everything we can
and glide like gulls, aimlessly.
One by one, our planes plummet
back to Earth without a warning
while the rest of us are slowly
running out of fuel.
There's nothing we can do.
We flew for years to get things done
and now it's time to tally up our score
but that's not part of our assignment.
Donal Mahoney lives in St. Louis, Missouri.
Posted by E.S. Wynn at 12:00 AM 0 comments
Labels: Donal Mahoney
Dark Salvage, Chapter 1
By E.S. Wynn
Date: 21st August, 2316. 12:27 (ES/GMT)
Location: Kamm's World, Upsilon Constantinus (HD 126614)
"You were in the war, right?"
Tessa glanced up from her drink. Piercing, sapphire eyes rose to meet the careful stare of the man watching her from across the rough surface of a fiberboard table. His own eyes were sharp and serious, coal black, perched in a face full of heavy lines that seemed to bend under its own weight into a flat, direct expression. In a way, they contrasted perfectly– where she was lean and sleek, his skin was like asphalt, sunblasted to the same dark color as the local brew that sat thick and heavy in their cured leather cups, untouched. Only their hair bore even the slightest resemblance, both shades of midnight, hers cropped back to a short cut, his all but gone, a graying frizz of curlicues clinging like resolute soldiers to a perimeter of smooth and barren brown. When her response came, it was as no-nonsense, as direct and serious as his features.
He glanced at the sheet of silicon in his hands, paused thoughtfully. She studied the neon flowers on his shirt as she waited, bright orchids swaying in some digital breeze with distant ocean stirring quietly behind them. It was unusual, the kind of print you never saw on the frontier, and a sharp contrast to Tessa's own simple outfit of jeans, vest and sleeveless shirt. After a moment he looked up again, ran one finger thoughtfully over the weak stubble on his lip where a mustache was trying to take root.
"Flew Seindrives against the Coralate?"
"For the better part of a decade," she nodded. Her eyes dropped back to her hands, the cup propped reluctantly between them.
"Record makes you out like a real war hero." He looked up at her again, leaned back in his chair and pulled in a deep, considering breath. "Now, I've never been to Earth or Alpha C, but I hear the VFW guarantees a job and luxury living for veterans of the Cygnus War on both of those worlds." He gestured lightly. "Somebody with your record, I figure you'd be flying a desk in some corporate stratoscraper, maybe playing captain on some fancy cruise ship for a legacy carrier like, I don't know," he made another gesture. "Carniva?"
"Yeah," she looked up again. "You'd think."
The man blinked in the long quiet pause, leaned forward. "So then, what exactly is someone like you doing all the way out here, scratching around on the frontier?"
"I guess I'm just not your typical war hero." Tessa shrugged, the barest edge of steel creeping into her voice.
"That's an understatement." The man let his eyes wander back to the silicon sheet. "Your performance record in the war is off the charts. Hundreds of confirmed kills, outlasted your fair share of wingmen–"
"Is there a point to this?" Tessa's eyes hardened.
"There's always a point." He shifted, fixed her with a careful stare. "Why'd you dodge the question?"
"Don't push me, Grant."
"Fine," he paused, cracked the silicon sheet. "We'll come back to that one." Eyes dropped to reading again. "The records I got a hold of say you were given a medical discharge, but I can't track down a reason why for love or carbon bonders. It's like they just..." he made a futile gesture, "let you go. No correspondence, no benefits, nothing but a cut check and a ticket to nowhere that's never been cashed. Just wham, bam, thank you ma'am, and you're out, flying a stint with the Ixion Condottieri." He thumbed an emphatic gesture. "Why is that?"
Eyes never wavered. "I don't want to talk about it."
"And I don't want to bring on crew with secrets," Grant said flatly. "Especially big military secrets that people in government are keen on keeping classified."
"Then don't hire me." She stood up suddenly. "I'll find another ship to fly." She paused, half ready to turn away, glanced back at the cup. "Thanks for the beer."
"Tessa, wait a minute."
She hesitated, eyes finding his again, half ready to walk out on him in that stretching instant. Grant pulled in a careful breath, set down the sheet and steepled his fingers.
"Now, you may walk out that door and you may find another quick job in another dusty, rundown bar on this backwater world, but I guarantee you won't find a ship as clean or reliable as mine." He paused, letting it sink in. "The Junkyard Queen's a salvage freighter, yeah, but she's been modified for speed, so she flies like nanowire through hydrogen fog. She deals strictly in legal finds, floaters and artifacts of possible historical interest– it's the kind of low profile job most pilots would kill a man for, and it's served on an open-ended contract, so the pay starts the moment you sign, instead of after the job's done." He shook his head as she looked away again. "I'd hate to see a pilot of your caliber blow off an opportunity like that just because you don't feel like answering a few sensitive questions." He paused. "Besides, how long has it been since you were able to afford a decent meal?"
Tessa stood silent. When she turned back again, she watched him for a long time, eyes solid, unreadable. Grant gave her his softest smile, gestured to her empty seat.
"I hope you understand that it's nothing personal. I'm just watching my assets here." He hesitated, watched as she turned the chair around and straddled it, slouching forward into the back, arms crossed. "You've got a history of flying real low, doing everything under the radar, disappearing off government networks for months at a time, like a ghost at the edge of civilized space." His hands slipped back to the sheet of silicon. "Sounds like a lot of the people I bring on for jobs, but you're a war hero, and that makes me kind of nervous."
"It shouldn't," she said, tone level. "I like my freedom. There a problem with that?"
"Never had a problem with freedom," came the quick response. "Secrets? That's another story."
"Everyone has secrets, Grant," she shot back. "Especially out here. It's the rim."
"So I tell myself every day," he gave her the edge of a patronizing smile, "but I still can't shake the feeling that if I let your particular secret slide, it's gonna come back to bite me in the ass before this run is over."
She looked away.
Grant blew out a quiet, exasperated sigh. "You know what it looks like to me?" He paused, shot her a questioning stare. "Every time I look at your M.O. over the last few years, it reminds me of this mechanic I brought on for a stint 'bout six months back." His eyes dropped back to the sheet. "Real pretty boy, strong arms, real quiet about his affairs. He had a secret too– turned out he was somebody's pet. A Genetic Construct that had spent a couple years dodging the law. Seems he belonged to some fat duchess on one of the planets as far in as Tau C." He gave her another soft smile. "But that wouldn't be anything like your secret, would it? I mean, the military physical checks for Construct markers as soon as you join up, right? They never would have let you within a hundred clicks of a Seindrive if you were somebody's love doll."
Tessa's hardness faltered– she looked away.
"Least," he paused, eyes making little movements, studying her face. "That's what I've been told."
"Yeah," her eyes met his again, hesitant, untrusting. "That's what they want people to believe."
"But you know otherwise?" He asked carefully.
"I know it's possible for a GMO to get into the system," she managed. "There are... holes– you'd have to bribe all the right people, work with sympathizers in the underground, watch your step...
"There something you want to tell me, Tessa?" She watched him for a long moment, eyes shifting only slightly as his lips spread into a slow smile. "What happened? What did you do, bribe the wrong doc?"
She looked away again. When she spoke, it came quiet, eyes unable to meet the intensity of Grant's gaze. "It's... complicated. I was injured, unconscious, alone. The doctor discovered the tags while I was out. There was nothing I could do."
"So you're a non-person, then. A Derivative." He smiled. "Well, imagine that."
"Yeah," she said flatly. "Imagine that."
"Boy, I bet that rashed some colonel's coolant sleeve," he laughed. "What model are you? Spend any time in brothels before the war?"
She gave him a dark look. "I'm not a clone, Grant." All the steel came back, all the strength, all the resolve. "One of my ancestors was a prototype for a high-performance vatgrown soldier some corporation was developing in the second half of the twenty-second century. She escaped during the pre-colonial upheaval and ended up riding steerage on one of the first ships to head for 'Ceti."
"So you're just unlucky."
"I guess," she said, words coming flat. "Whatever you want to call it, it's enough to justify discrimination as far as most people are concerned."
"Yeah, tell me about it." She fixed him with a careful look. "So do I get the job?"
"With a flight record like yours, how could I say no?"
"You don't care that I'm a 'dangerous hybrid'?" She tried, gestured half-heartedly. "A soulless automaton taking good jobs from hardworking transport pilots?"
"Look, I'm not a racist. As long as what you are doesn't get my ship into trouble, you can hang onto it. Makes you a better pilot in my eyes." He gestured loosely. "But if you're lying to me and we start getting shot at because my pilot's a fugitive or made some dangerous enemy in the military or somewhere else, I won't hesitate to push you out an airlock or hand you over to the powers that be. Clear?"
The faintest edge of grin touched her face. "Crystal."
"Good." He smiled back. "Welcome aboard, then." He stood, shook out stiff legs. "Come on, I know a better place where we can catch dinner." He pulled a grimace. "I can't stand the beer here."
E.S. Wynn is the author of over forty books.
Labels: E.S. Wynn
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Farther Stars Than These | Diseño de: A. Zambrana, adaptando una plantilla de Finalsense

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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See an ISS advisor before dropping below the minimum required credit hours. If you are eligible for a reduced course load, you will be required to complete a Reduced Course Load form before dropping your classes.
International students can only take a maximum of 3 credits in online courses to count towards their full course load required by the government.
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ISS staff can provide advising on things like how to register for classes, read your APAS report, use Grad Planner, add/drop deadlines for classes, how your enrollment and academic performance impacts your immigration status, and give advice on successfully navigating the U.S. academic culture. We also serve as secondary academic advisors for undergraduate international students.
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Deals for Shoppers, Help for Kids
Community Room, Fundraisers
Gift card boxes are the hooks for this charity fundraiser.
It costs C$30,000 (US$22,318) to get a guide dog for a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). It's a hefty sum that a Canadian shopping center wants to help raise by offering customers a promotion likely hard to resist: Gift cards at a disco[...] Tactics Subscribers Read More...
This Is What Change Looks Like
SodaStream picks Instagram as its platform of choice to mark International Women's Day.
SodaStream International, the manufacturer of automatic sparkling water makers, is putting up US$10,000 for its social media campaign to celebrate this year's International Women's Day. Until March 8, it's inviting followers to share personal st[...] Tactics Subscribers Read More...
Hillcrest Rolls Out the Welcome Mat
The Canadian center's fall relaunch revealed more than cosmetic improvements.
When Hillcrest (Richmond Hill, Canada) capped off its renovation earlier this fall, Lisa Resnic had two goals in mind: Quickly turn the #HillcrestGlowUp campaign buzz into sales and raise the property's CSR index. The marketing director's path t[...] Tactics Subscribers Read More...
This Catwalk Fundraiser Is for the Kids
Children battling life-threatening illnesses hop on stage and share their stories.
Mall-based fundraisers give charities access to wide audiences and shoppers an easy way to support people in their communities. However, they rarely provide opportunities for contributors and recipients to connect. One American center changed th[...] Tactics Subscribers Read More...
The Palms joins efforts to raise awareness and money for NZ Spinal Trust.
Emma Smith doesn't have a spinal cord injury, but earlier this week visitors at The Palms Shopping Centre (Christchurch, New Zealand) would have seen her getting around the mall in a wheelchair. It was her way of supporting #relievethepressure, [...] Tactics Subscribers Read More...
Feeding Those Who Feed Them
Tweed Mall and Lions Club come to struggling farmers' aid.
It's been the eighth driest winter on record in many regions of New South Wales, Australia. For farmers who raise cattle and grow crops, the bone-dry weather is an ongoing nightmare and the management team from Tweed Mall recently mobilized its [...] Tactics Subscribers Read More...
A Few More Drops in the Bucket
A fundraiser generates US$15k for an officer injured in the line of duty.
A few dollars might not be enough to support a police officer looking at a lengthy recovery after being shot in both legs during a pursuit. That still doesn't seem to have deterred the shoppers who attended The Village at Meridian's Fill the Buc[...] Tactics Subscribers Read More...
Shoppers Step Up for Charity
Westfield Sydney is doing its bit to support people with autism.
Sporty or not, the Sydney Tower Stair Challenge awaits anyone brave enough to tackle 1,504 steps and climb more than 1,000 feet. This year's event, which Westfield Sydney is encouraging its shoppers to enter, is slated for August 24, with partic[...] Tactics Subscribers Read More...
Superheroes of the Road
Marché Central's running team hit the pavement for a four-day challenge.
It took Marché Central's Superheroes team just four days to raise C$14,410 (US$10,964) for charity in the Défi Challenge Québec 800, a road race that took runners on an 800km course across the Canadian province this past May 17-20. The team m[...] Tactics Subscribers Read More...
Alhambra Hosts One Great Day
The fundraising event generated much-needed funds for local charities.
It's the fifth year in a row that Alhambra Shopping Centre rallies the community of Barnsley (UK) to raise much-needed funds for its partner charities. Last Saturday, it hosted One Great Day of family activities to benefit Great Ormond Street [...] Tactics Subscribers Read More...


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MixPoint
Home Breaking News Artificial intelligence offers a faster way to predict antibiotic resistance
Artificial intelligence offers a faster way to predict antibiotic resistance
Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are on the rise all over the world—and Switzerland is no exception. Each year, infections caused by multi-drug resistant bacteria lead to at least 300 fatalities in Switzerland alone. Rapid diagnostic testing and the targeted use of antibiotics play a crucial role in curbing the spread of these antibiotic-resistant "superbugs."
However, it often takes two or more days to determine which antibiotics are still effective against a particular pathogen because the bacteria from the patient's sample first have to be cultivated in the diagnostic lab. Due to this delay, many doctors initially treat serious infections with a class of drugs known as broad-spectrum antibiotics, which are effective against a broad range of bacterial species.
Now, researchers at ETH Zurich, the University Hospital Basel and the University Basel have developed a method that uses mass spectrometry data to identify signs of antibiotic resistance in bacteria up to 24 hours earlier.
"Intelligent computer algorithms search the data for patterns that distinguish resistant bacteria from those that are responsive to antibiotics," says Caroline Weis, a doctoral student in the Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering at ETH Zurich in Basel and the study's lead author. The researchers published their method in the latest issue of the journal Nature Medicine.
The time to optimal therapy is critical
By identifying significant antibiotic resistances at an early stage, doctors can tailor an antibiotic therapy to the relevant bacterium more quickly. This can be particularly beneficial for seriously ill patients.
"The time taken to optimize antibiotic therapy might mean the difference between life and death if an infection is serious. A fast, accurate diagnosis is extremely important in those kinds of cases," says Adrian Egli, professor and Head of Clinical Bacteriology at the University Hospital Basel.
The mass spectrometry instrument that supplies the data for the new method is already in use at many microbiology labs worldwide to identify bacterial types. The device analyzes thousands of protein fragments in each sample and then creates an individual fingerprint of the bacterial proteins. This process also requires bacteria to be cultured beforehand, but only for a few hours rather than a few days.
Huge new data set has been created
The researchers in Basel have developed a new method that extends the uses of mass spectrometry to include the identification of antibiotic resistance. For this dataset, the teams extracted more than 300,000 mass spectra of individual bacteria from four laboratories in northwestern Switzerland and linked these to the results of the corresponding clinical resistance tests. The result is a new, publicly available dataset covering around 800 different bacteria and over 40 different antibiotics.
"Our next step was to train artificial intelligence algorithms with this data such that they could learn to detect antibiotic resistance on their own," says Karsten Borgwardt, professor in the Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering at ETH Zurich in Basel, who led the study together with Prof. Egli.
In order to make their predictive model as widely applicable as possible, the researchers analyzed how the algorithm's performance was influenced by the training data. The different approaches compared in the study included training the predictive model with data from just one hospital and training with data combined from multiple hospitals.
While previous studies in this field of research have focused on individual bacterial species or antibiotics, this new study draws on several bacterial types isolated in hospitals as well as a multitude of associated resistance characteristics. "Our dataset is the largest to date to combine mass spectrometry data with information on antibiotic resistance," Borgwardt says. "It's a great example of how existing clinical data can be used to generate new knowledge."
Model reliably detects common resistances
To gauge the usefulness of the computer predictions, the researchers teamed up with an infectious diseases expert to analyze around 60 case studies. Their goal was to determine the extent to which the predictions would have influenced the choice of antibiotic therapy if they had been available to the clinician at an early stage in the decision-making process.
The research team deliberately chose case studies featuring the most important antibiotic-resistant bacteria, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and gut bacteria resistant to broad-spectrum beta-lactam antibiotics (E. coli).
One reason this case study is so important is that doctors also tend to base their choice of antibiotic on factors such as a patient's age and medical history. The results showed that the new method would indeed have prompted the clinician to opt for an improved antibiotic therapy in some cases.
Planning underway for a clinical trial
Before the new diagnostic method can be implemented in patient care, the team will need to overcome additional challenges, which include the implementation of a large-scale clinical trial to corroborate the benefits of the new method in a routine hospital setting. "The planning for such a study is already underway," Egli says. As an expert in clinical microbiology, he is confident that the project will improve how infections are treated over the next few years.
Borgwardt says that the project also raises many important research questions concerning the use of artificial intelligence in medicine. "This dataset allows us to take a closer look at the changes we need to make at the algorithmic level to further enhance the quality of predictions for data gathered at different points in time and at different locations."
Bacterial viruses: Faithful allies against antibiotic resistance
Caroline Weis et al, Direct antimicrobial resistance prediction from clinical MALDI-TOF mass spectra using machine learning, Nature Medicine (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41591-021-01619-9
Artificial intelligence offers a faster way to predict antibiotic resistance (2022, January 10)
retrieved 10 January 2022
from https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-01-artificial-intelligence-faster-antibiotic-resistance.html
This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no
part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.
antibiotic resistance genes
antibiotic resistant superbugs
antibiotics for bacterial infections
antimicrobial resistance factors
antimicrobial resistance genes
antimicrobial resistant factors
antimicrobial resistant genes
artificial intelligence yields new antibiotic
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text:
#ArchivedNews
Spurs v Villa - team news
Fri 30 October 2015, 13:15| Tottenham Hotspur
It's no change on the team news front as Mauricio Pochettino prepares for Monday night's Premier League clash against Villa at the Lane.
Heung-Min Son (foot), Nabil Bentaleb, Nacer Chadli and Alex Pritchard (all ankle injuries) remain sidelined for the first of a three-match spell in six days next week.
Ryan Mason returned from his knee problem with a 30-minute substitute appearance in Sunday's 5-1 win at Bournemouth.
Mauricio told us earlier today (Friday, October 30): "Yes, the team news is the same at the last game - Nabil, Pritch, Chadli and Son are still out.
"We assess and analyse them every day and hope that they are ready to be in the squad as soon as possible."
After Villa, we face Anderlecht in the Europa League back at the Lane on Thursday night (8.05pm) before the big North London Derby at Arsenal on Sunday (4pm).


Getting updates from the internet without internet access?
You're setting up a new firewall in your datacenter and you're doing your due diligence: configuring your management interface to the right speed and duplex settings, assigning a management IP, preparing the appropriate DNS settings, adding NTP servers so the system runs on standardized time and then comes the time to download the latest software image or grab the latest content package and the connection fails.
Suddenly you realize the management interface is located inside an Out Of Band network with no access to the outside world.
This is the moment when you get out your trusty "black ops" USB stick, find a way around the network restrictions with some creative cabling or simply unrack the whole thing and drag it back to your desk to continue the prep from there.
Normally any service used by the management plane will use the dedicated management port and it's own default gateway to reach a resource. For example a DNS lookup to resolve the updates server and the connection to retrieve the content packages. The dataplane interfaces and Virtual Router never come into play for any connections made by the system.
A service route will direct the services you specify over the backplane fabric onto a socket on a dataplane interface of your choosing.
Under the Device tab > Setup > Services > Service Route Configuration you can opt to customize the service routes and then pick any service you need and change it to a different source.
You can even change the default source for a destination IP address rather than a specific service, in case multiple services (DNS, NTP, ...) are run on the same host.
Just remember to take security policies and NAT rules into account, as now the source IP will be that of a dataplane interface and security policies will be applied to it depending on the source and destination zone.


text:
package com.lightbend.paradox.markdown

import com.lightbend.paradox.ParadoxException

class RefDirectiveSpec extends MarkdownBaseSpec {

  implicit private val context = writerContextWithProperties("page.variable" -> "page")

  def testMarkdown(text: String, pagePath: String = "page.md", testPath: String = "test.md"): Map[String, String] =
    markdownPages(
      pagePath -> s"""
      |@@@ index
      |* [test](${Path.basePath(pagePath)}${testPath})
      |* [withanchors](${Path.basePath(pagePath)}pagewithanchors.md)
      |@@@
    """,
      testPath -> text,
      "pagewithanchors.md" -> s"""
                                 |
                                 |## header
                                 |
                                 |body
    """.stripMargin
    )

  def testHtml(text: String, pagePath: String = "page.html", testPath: String = "test.html"): Map[String, String] =
    htmlPages(
      pagePath -> "",
      "pagewithanchors.html" -> s"""

header

body
""",
      testPath -> text
    )

  "Ref directive" should "create links with html extension" in {
    testMarkdown("@ref[Page](page.md)") shouldEqual testHtml("""
Page
""")
  }

  it should "support 'ref:' as an alternative name" in {
    testMarkdown("@ref:[Page](page.md)") shouldEqual testHtml("""
Page
""")
  }

  it should "handle relative links correctly" in {
    testMarkdown("@ref:[Page](../a/page.md)", pagePath = "a/page.md", testPath = "b/test.md") shouldEqual
      testHtml("""
Page
""", pagePath = "a/page.html", testPath = "b/test.html")
  }

  it should "handle anchored links correctly" in {
    testMarkdown("@ref:[Page](pagewithanchors.md#header)") shouldEqual testHtml(
      """
Page
"""
    )
  }

  it should "handle anchored links to custom anchors correctly" in {
    testMarkdown("@ref:[Page](pagewithanchors.md#custom-anchor)") shouldEqual testHtml(
      """
Page
"""
    )
  }

  it should "throw link exceptions for invalid anchor references" in {
    the[ParadoxException] thrownBy {
      testMarkdown("@ref:[Page](page.md#unknownheader)")
    } should have message "Unknown anchor [page.html#unknownheader]"
  }

  it should "retain whitespace before or after" in {
    testMarkdown("This @ref:[Page](pagewithanchors.md#header) is linked.") shouldEqual
      testHtml("""
This Page is linked.
""")
  }

  it should "parse but ignore directive attributes" in {
    testMarkdown("This @ref:[Page](pagewithanchors.md#header) { .ref a=1 } is linked.") shouldEqual
      testHtml("""
This Page is linked.
""")
  }

  it should "throw link exceptions for invalid references" in {
    the[ParadoxException] thrownBy {
      markdown("@ref[Page](page.md)")
    } should have message "Unknown page [page.md]"
  }

  it should "support referenced links with implicit key" in {
    testMarkdown("""This @ref:[Page] { .ref a=1 } is linked.
                   |
                   |  [Page]: pagewithanchors.md#header
      """.stripMargin) shouldEqual testHtml("""
This Page is linked.
""")
  }

  it should "support referenced links with empty key" in {
    testMarkdown("""This @ref:[Page][] { .ref a=1 } is linked.
                   |
                   |  [Page]: pagewithanchors.md#header
      """.stripMargin) // shouldEqual testHtml("""
This Page is linked.
""")
  }

  it should "support referenced links with defined key" in {
    testMarkdown("""This @ref:[Page][123] { .ref a=1 } is linked.
                   |
                   |  [123]: pagewithanchors.md#header
      """.stripMargin) shouldEqual testHtml("""
This Page is linked.
""")
  }

  it should "throw link exceptions for invalid reference keys" in {
    the[ParadoxException] thrownBy {
      markdown("@ref[Page][123]")
    } should have message "Undefined reference key [123]"
  }

  it should "support variables in link paths" in {
    testMarkdown("@ref[Page]($page.variable$.md)") shouldEqual testHtml("""
Page
""")
  }

}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Path Naija News » Africa » African carriers experience $636 million in losses in 2022 due to capacity crunch
African carriers experience $636 million in losses in 2022 due to capacity crunch
by Iken
in Africa, Business
African airlines are predicted to report a combined loss of $636 million in 2022, which is predicted to be another tough year for the continent.
Although the trend of losses is not unique to Africa, airlines will experience additional losses of $213 million in 2023, the first year that worldwide air travel is anticipated to generate a profit since the COVID-19 epidemic.
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In a fresh assessment released yesterday, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) revised its forecast for 2022's global airline net losses from $9.7 billion to $6.9 billion. This is much better than the losses that were reported in 2021 and 2020, which were $42 billion and $137.7 billion, respectively.
Airlines are predicted to generate a meager $4.7 billion net profit in 2023, or a net profit margin of 0.6%. It will be the industry's first profit since net earnings of $26.4 billion were recorded in 2019. (3.1 per cent net profit margin).
In 2023, African carriers anticipate that a growth in passenger demand of 27.4% will surpass an increase in capacity of 21.9%. The region is predicted to meet 84.3% of pre-crisis demand levels throughout the course of the year with 83.9 % of pre-crisis capacity.
Macroeconomic headwinds have made numerous economies more vulnerable and complicated connectivity, and Africa is particularly exposed to them.
Willie Walsh, the director general of IATA, claimed that the COVID-19 situation has typified how resilient airlines are.
"As we look to 2023, the financial recovery will take shape with a first industry profit since 2019. That is a great achievement considering the scale of the financial and economic damage caused by government imposed pandemic restrictions.
"But a $4.7 billion profit on industry revenues of $779 billion also illustrates that there is much more ground to cover to put the global industry on a solid financial footing. Many airlines are sufficiently profitable to attract the capital needed to drive the industry forward as it decarbonises.
"But many others are struggling for a variety of reasons. These include onerous regulation, high costs, inconsistent government policies, inefficient infrastructure and a value chain where the rewards of connecting the world are not equitably distributed," Walsh said.
Prospects are expected to be better in 2022 thanks in large part to higher yields and solid cost control in the face of rising fuel prices.
Passenger yields are forecast to increase by 8.4%. (up from the 5.6 per cent anticipated in June). Passenger revenue is anticipated to increase to $438 billion (from $239 billion in 2021) thanks to this strength.
The Peter Obi Factor and the 2023 General Elections
With estimated revenues of $201.4 billion, air cargo revenues were crucial in reducing losses. Compared to the June prediction, that is an improvement. It is also roughly constant from 2021 and more than quadruple the $100.8 billion earned in 2019.
In comparison to 2021, overall revenues are predicted to increase by 43.6%, reaching an estimated $727 billion.
Cost-wise, jet kerosene prices are projected to average $138.8 per barrel for the entire year, a significant increase from the $125.5 per barrel anticipated in June. That reflects rising oil costs made worse by a jet crack spread that is significantly greater than historical averages. This increased the industry's fuel bill to $222 billion (much more than the $192 billion predicted in June), despite lower demand resulting to lower consumption.
"That airlines were able to cut their losses in 2022, in the face of rising costs, labor shortages, strikes, operational disruptions in many key hubs and growing economic uncertainty speaks volumes about peoples' desire and need for connectivity. With some key markets like China retaining restrictions longer than anticipated, passenger numbers fell somewhat short of expectation.
"We'll end the year at about 70 per cent of 2019 passenger volumes. But with yield improvement in both cargo and passenger businesses, airlines will reach the cusp of profitability," said Walsh.
Ajaokuta Steel And Buhari's Renewed Pledge
He further stated that the projected profits for 2023 are extremely slim. But the fact that we have reached profitability is incredibly important. Despite their complexity, the challenges that airlines will face in 2023 are within our areas of expertise.
The sector has developed a strong ability to adapt to changes in the economy, significant cost factors like fuel costs, and passenger preferences.
"We see this demonstrated in the decade of strengthening profitability following the 2008 Global Financial Crisis and ending with the pandemic. And encouragingly, there are plenty of jobs and the majority of people are confident to travel even with an uncertain economic outlook," he said.
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text:
Wednesday, 1 February 2023 9:39:04 am
Svet.SlajderWorld
As Biden exits climate summit, pleas for bold action go unheeded
With no global consensus reached on how to quickly curb rising temperatures, US President Joe Biden sought other avenues of progress on his last day at the United Nations climate summit, forging narrower agreements to cut methane emissions and save the world's forests.
Magdalena Reed3 November, 2021 08:55
epa09559515 US President Joe Biden delivers a speech during a session on clean innovation and technology at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, Britain, 02 November 2021. EPA-EFE/ROBERT PERRY
Glasgow, Scotland, 3 November 2021 (tca/dpa/MIA) — With no global consensus reached on how to quickly curb rising temperatures, US President Joe Biden sought other avenues of progress on his last day at the United Nations climate summit, forging narrower agreements to cut methane emissions and save the world's forests.
The patchwork of announcements generated a flurry of positive headlines despite environmental advocates' doubts that the convention will provide the momentum necessary to curb climate change. The summit will continue for another 10 days but without most countries' top representatives.
World leaders announced Tuesday that nearly 100 countries had joined a global pledge to limit emissions of methane, a planet-warming gas more potent as a polluter than carbon dioxide.
They signed a pact to prevent further deforestation by 2030 — a promise that Britain hailed as the summit's first major achievement, but that experts said would be difficult to accomplish.
And leaders hinted that wealthy countries might be closer to fulfilling their promise of providing 100 billion dollars a year in aid to help poor countries adapt to climate change and transition to cleaner sources of energy.
Before the summit began, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson described the fight against climate change as a football game in which humanity was losing 5-1. On Tuesday, he said humanity has scored a goal or two since then, and, "I think we're going to be able to take this thing to extra time."
"There's no doubt that some progress has been made," he said during a news conference.
But with the leaders of China and Russia, two of the top polluting countries, absent from the conference and refusing to accelerate their plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the stated goal of preventing average temperatures from rising more than 1.5 degrees Celsius remained only a symbolic gesture. Beyond that threshold, scientists say heat waves will become deadlier, wildfires more frequent and floods more damaging. Some parts of the world, including much of the Arctic, have already warmed by 2 degrees Celsius from preindustrial levels with catastrophic consequences.
Other countries that the US had hoped to pressure into accelerating their transitions away from fossil fuels offered only distant promises.
India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that his country would become carbon neutral by 2070, missing by about 20 years the summit's goal of zeroing out carbon emissions by midcentury. Modi's country is the third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world.
Shortly before the conference, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman set a new carbon neutrality date of 2060 — also far off the summit's target. And Australia's prime minister, Scott Morrison, announced his country would reach net zero emissions by 2050 but set no more ambitious goals for 2030. This earned the ire of Britain's climate change adviser, who told a BBC panel that this commitment had been "squeezed out of" Morrison, but was so vague as to be meaningless.
US climate envoy John F Kerry has repeatedly stressed over the past two days that the talks in Glasgow are not final and that opportunities remain to correct course. Negotiations with the biggest polluters around accelerating the transition away from fossil fuels will continue, he said.
David Victor, a professor of innovation and public policy at the School of Global Policy and Strategy at the University of California, San Diego, said China's "general disengagement" from the summit does not bode well for these or future talks.
He said it's "pretty hard to make progress on collective action when the world's two biggest economies don't get along with each other."
Given the geopolitical divides, Victor said initiatives like the methane pledge may become more common and productive avenues for reducing emissions.
"It's about working sector by sector in small groups to demonstrate progress through changing facts on the ground and then making it easier for the rest of the world to follow," he said.
Environmental advocates praised the international methane agreement Tuesday as one of the fastest ways to lower average temperatures relatively quickly.
Scientists have estimated that methane is responsible for about one-third of human-caused global warming, or 0.5 degrees of the nearly 1.1 degrees Celsius of warming that has taken place since the late 19th century. The pledge, brokered by the U.S. and the European Union, commits nations to cut emissions from methane by at least one-third by 2030.
As part of that commitment, Biden and Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, announced plans to strictly curtail emissions from the oil and gas industry — the leading source of industrial methane emissions.
Biden also held an event Tuesday with Johnson and Von der Leyen to promote an international effort to finance infrastructure investments in poorer countries. Called Build Back Better World, or B3W, the initiative is intended to be an alternative to China's Belt and Road Initiative, which has funded the construction of coal-fired power plants, highways and rail lines in developing countries and increased the country's influence.
The meeting served as a reminder of how Biden has tried to increase pressure on China during this conference and throughout his presidency.
He promised to work closely with other countries — an implicit reference to how China has been viewed as a predatory lender in developing nations — and said that "democracy is still the best way for delivering results."
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Astronomic calendar
1 February, 2023 07:40
Traffic: Partly wet roads, no delays at borders
Weather: Sunny with some clouds; high 10°C
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text:
COMICS • MOVIES • MUSIC • TELEVISION • GAMES • BOOKS
MP3 Album Deal: Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' For $4
By Empress Eve | @ | Sunday, February 26th, 2012 at 8:53 am
The MP3 album deal of the day over at Amazon today is Michael Jackson's Thriller for only $3.99.
This album contains 9 songs from the late singer and spawned many hits like "Beat It," "Billy Jean," "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'," and "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)," not to mention the awesome horror-themed title track complete with voiceover by horror icon Vincent Price.
If you'd like a physical copy of Thriller, there's the original recording on CD and the remastered CD with bonus tracks, as well as the 25th Anniversary CD+DVD.
Thriller is one of the most popular and best-selling albums of all time (it's gone 29x Platinum in the United States alone!). The five aforementioned songs already make the album worth grabbing for the discounted price of $4. (If you were to buy the songs separately, it would be $1.29 each.) I can't stress enough how great this album is – my favorite song on it is "Beat It," thanks in part to the guest guitar solo by Eddie Van Halen. Do I need to go on? Is there anyone on the planet that isn't already familiar with Thriller? Seriously, if you don't already own this album, jump on this deal immediately before it ends (either tonight or tomorrow night).
1. Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'
2. Baby Be Mine
3. The Girl Is Mine (w/ Paul McCartney)
4. Thriller
5. Beat It
6. Billie Jean
7. Human Nature
8. P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)
9. The Lady In My Life
Note – when you purchase MP3s through Amazon, it stores your purchases to Amazon's Cloud Drive; from there you can stream the music right from their online player. Also, if you have a Kindle Fire, your MP3 purchases will automatically be available for you to stream on your device. All your purchases are backed up and available for you to download at any time. You can download the files to your computer to load to an MP3 device and to your iTunes account if you have one. If you'd like to gift these MP3 purchases, you can – just click the "Give album or song as gift" button on the right on the product page. From there you enter the recipient's email address and then select either specific songs to gift or the entire album.
Topics: Deals, Music, News
Tags: Michael Jackson, Thriller
Deal: 'Lord of the Rings' Extended Edition Trilogy Blu-ray For $50!
Comics Deal: Captain America: Man With No Face
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海滩距离住宿有1分钟步行路程。 Located in La Playa Calera, Apartamentos Playamar features free Wi-Fi. All rooms feature a kitchen, a flat-screen TV with satellite channels, and a private bathroom.
Located in La Playa Calera, Sol y Playa features accommodation with seating area.


Effects of Low Iron: Can Low Iron Cause Muscle Pain and Soreness?
The effects of low iron in the body are widely varied from one person to another because this essential nutrient has many different roles in bodily functioning.
For example, there's a strong connection between iron deficiency and muscle pain because iron is needed to help the muscles grow, develop, and function properly.
Here is some information about why low iron levels can lead to muscle aches and when the aches could be one of the effects of low iron or due to something else. This article will also provide tips for athletes to prevent sore muscles due to a lack of iron.
The brain stem is the part of the body where pain is registered, and research shows that the brain stem needs iron to keep pain sensations in check. When the body doesn't have the iron that it needs, the structure and functioning of the brain stem and associated nerves are altered in an adverse way. Low iron levels are commonly found in individuals who have fibromyalgia, restless leg syndrome, and chronic muscle pain.
The American Society of Hematology has suggested that people with iron deficiencies may experience trigger point pain in their muscles that results from a lack of oxygen being delivered to them. This is because iron helps to deliver oxygen to the various parts of the body, including the muscles.
When an inadequate supply of oxygen is delivered to the muscles, iron deficiency muscle spasms may occur. In addition to muscle spasms caused by low iron, other common symptoms may be present as well, such as fatigue, brittle nails, and pale skin. However, muscle spasms can also be caused by many other conditions and deficiencies too, including low potassium, heat cramps, and muscle strain.
Athletes who increase their training or intensity without properly stretching and warming up may experience muscle spasms even if a nutrient deficiency isn't present. The aches may be signs of something more serious than just iron deficiency muscle spasms if a person is experiencing a blood clot or rare conditions like hypoparathyroidism, Chagas disease, or pseudohypoparathyroidism.
If it is determined that low iron levels are to blame for muscle pain and soreness, then the first step to treatment is to increase the amount of iron consumed on a daily basis. This can typically be done by taking iron supplements, like Fergon, and eating iron-rich foods in meals.
Once iron levels are restored to a healthy level, it is a smart idea to switch up workout routines so that all muscles are worked on a more equal basis. Eating protein-rich foods, wearing compression garments, staying well-hydrated, and thoroughly stretching before and after exercise can help prevent muscle pain and soreness as well. Once muscles become sore, it may help to take a soak in an Epsom salt bath, take a rest day from the gym, use a topical cream on sore areas, and use a foam roller to stretch out painful muscles.
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Our"We Are DocuSign" blog series places the spotlight on employees from a variety of departments and provides a peek into what it's like to work at DocuSign. This week, we sat down with Leah, Sr….
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LORDI!!!!
By offense74,
May 22, 2006 in General Discussion
offense74
Lordi won the Eurovision Song Contest. It's so awesome and, of course I voted for them. Not only is it fun becaause of their cool oufits but it's the first time Finland won it. Next year the contest will be held in HELL-sinki!!!
For you who don't know the contest is usually won by numbed down country-like music but a lot of new styles have been successful since the public (instead of jurys) decides who will win. The contest is a big thing in Europe and a HUGE thing in Sweden.
Eurovision song contest for dummies.
I love Lordi!! They rock, here in London a radio station (xfm 104.9) promoted them weeks before the contest and they came top of the UK vote. They also interviewed the lead singer who was great!
I managed to catch the final part of the contest and it was cool to see Lordi triumph ahead of cheap pop-dance morons!
Hard Rock Hallelujah!
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y248/Rossella05/Lordi_avatar_by_Hofling.gif
French song is one of my research/teaching interests, so I know about Eurovision. Funny thing, the vast majority of songs that are presented (at least French ones) are never heard again after the contest.
And it's odd that Celine Dion once sang as the representative from either Switzerland or Belgium (can't remember what not-her-own francophone country it was).


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Lauren Appelbaum
Neurodiverse Actress Kayla Cromer Breaking Barriers in Authentic Representation
Lauren Appelbaum Jan 16, 2020 Hollywood Inclusion, Press Releases 0 comments
Everything's Gonna Be Okay premieres on Freeform on Thursday, January 16 Los Angeles, Jan. 16 – Newcomer Kayla Cromer is breaking barriers in the entertainment industry as one of the first people on the spectrum to play a character on the spectrum in a lead role. A neurodiverse actress and activist, Cromer stars as Matilda, [click to continue...]
Super Talent Sneha Dave Sets Standards for the Future
Lauren Appelbaum Jan 15, 2020 #RespectTheAbility, Fellows Blog Series, Press Releases 0 comments
Fellowship Alumna Sneha Dave Creates Network for Teens and Young Adults with Chronic Health Conditions Rockville, Maryland, Jan. 15 – Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa, was just another obstacle in the road for Sneha Dave. But reaching the summit – more than 16,000 feet above the plateau – was all the more challenging [click to continue...]
Reporters on Autism Spectrum to Cover Democratic Presidential Primary Debate
Lauren Appelbaum Jan 14, 2020 #PwDsVote, Press Releases 0 comments
Des Moines, Iowa, Jan. 14 – While many of the presidential candidates are focusing on how to help people with disabilities, several self-advocates currently are in Iowa showing that people with disabilities are capable of doing the work, if only they are given access to do so. Eric Ascher and James Trout, both on the [click to continue...]
Netflix's Newest Series Takes Disability Inclusion to a New Level
The Healing Powers of Dude Premieres on Netflix, Jan. 13, 2020 Los Angeles, Jan. 13 – With one-in-five people having a disability in the U.S. today, the lack of representation – just 3.1 percent on screen and even less in children's television (less than one percent) – means that millions of people are unable to [click to continue...]
Golden Globes Awards Disability-Inclusive Content "Ramy", "Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood" and "Missing Link"
Lauren Appelbaum Jan 9, 2020 Hollywood Inclusion, Press Releases 0 comments
Los Angeles, Jan. 9 – During Sunday's Golden Globes awards show, both host Ricky Gervais as well as various award winners pointed out the lack of racial and gender diversity among the nominees. While these are very important conversations, no major outlet has examined disability representation on screen – or behind the camera – of [click to continue...]
Finding Connection in The Parts You Lose: Framing Deafness in Visual Detail
Lauren Appelbaum Dec 19, 2019 Hollywood Inclusion, Press Releases 0 comments
Los Angeles, Dec. 19 – In the newly released The Parts You Lose, a young deaf boy named Wesley faces bullying at school and a father who cannot accept that his son cannot hear. He finds a father-figure in an injured fugitive (Aaron Paul) that he rescues, helping him recover in an abandoned barn. A [click to continue...]
Los Angeles, Dec. 17 – After four seasons, the multiple-Emmy Award-winning A&E docuseries Born This Way will conclude with a holiday special on Wednesday evening. Ahead of the finale, Good Morning America will be featuring a segment on Born This Way Wednesday in the 8:00 a.m. hour. What people view on television influences how they feel [click to continue...]
Emmy Award-Winning Docuseries to End with Series Finale Christmas Special, December 18 Washington, D.C., Dec. 5 – What people view on television influences how they feel and and believe, leading to how they act. And shows like Emmy Award-winning Born This Way, which follows the lives of seven diverse young adults with Down syndrome as [click to continue...]
Washington, D.C., Dec. 3 – On Wednesday, reality television star, small business owner and disability employment advocate Sean McElwee will deliver a powerful message about entrepreneurship and jobseekers with disabilities. In remarks to be delivered to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Small Business, McElwee will speak about his personal "mission to show the [click to continue...]
Washington, D.C., Dec. 3 – From Capitol Hill to Hollywood to Canada, the entertainment industry is joining celebrations of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. Individuals and organizations have been working with the entertainment industry to help them realize their potential in helping to influence how the public views people with disabilities. As the [click to continue...]
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Video interview with Esfira Maiman
Robert Hans Olschwanger - Esfira's cousin
This is the remarkable story of two women who came from different backgrounds. Stanislawa Slawinska was a Polish Catholic woman, from a modest family, who up to the breakout of WWII lived a peaceful life in the quiet town of Grodzisk Mazowiecki. Esfira Maiman was also born in Poland, but unlike Stanislawa, she is Jewish. She grew up in a big city – Lodz, to a well-to-do family. The tragic circumstances of war created a sisterhood between the two of them, that lives on 60 years later.
Back in April, 2008, our Israeli offices were approached by Michele Yankelevich. She wanted to share with us the wonderful story about her 94-year old mother, Esfira Maiman and looked for our help.
Esfira survived the Holocaust thanks to a noble Polish Catholic woman who risked her own life in order to save her, as well as several other Jews.
Michele and her brother Yossi Maiman (one of the most prominent businessmen in Israel), have heard their mother's story for as long as they could remember.
Esfira managed to escape from the Warsaw Ghetto and found shelter in the nearby Grodzisk Mazowiecki, at the house of Stanislawa Slawinska, at 3 Maja Street. There she stayed from 1943 till the end of the war, together with other Jews who had also found shelter at Stanislawa's place.
The house at 3 Maja Street – Grodzisk Mazowiecki, where Stanislawa Slawinska hid the fleeing Jews.
Esfira lost contact with Stanislawa, or "Stacha" as she refers to her, back in 1948, when the former emigrated from Germany to Peru.
Dozens of letters with money that were sent by Esfira, seem to have gone lost (or most likely intercepted by the Communist regime in Poland).
As far as Esfira was concerned, the lost touch was an open wound. Despite her advanced age, Esfira's mind is completely lucid. She knew very well that the chances of Stacha still being alive are very slim but she remembers that her rescuer, who was childless, had a little nephew by the name of Roman Slawinski (better known as Romek). According to her calculations, if he is still alive, he should be in his late seventies.
Romek himself was a heroic child. He helped the Polish anti-nazi resistance, running errands for them and he also knew the terrible secret of his aunt and knew to keep it for himself. That was an incredible burden for a small boy.
Roman Slawinski (in the center of the photo),
as a young man, in the 50's
Esfira had a yearning. To get in touch again with Romek and to have Stacha recognized by the world for what she was: an heroic rescuer.
Michele told us that back in 2006, with the help of her daughters, Esfira wrote to Yad Vashem, asking them to recognize her rescuer as Righteous among Nations, but no significant reply was ever received.
Esfira's original handwritten testimony in Polish.
Roman Slawinski - Recent photo.
A few days after our conversation with Michele, she organized for us a personal interview with her mother.
During three hours, Esfira related to us her breath-taking story.
She was born in Lodz, in 1914, to a relatively wealthy family. Her mother, Fanny Olschwanger was the cousin of Robert Hans Olschwanger, a brilliant caricaturist who managed to flee Nazi Germany. Coincidentally, our Foundation opened in May 2008 a special Exhibit in Berlin, together with the Vaterunse Gemeinde Protestant Church, featuring the anti-Nazi caricatures of Olschwanger.
This website was set-up by Casa Argentina en Israel - Tierra Santa and The International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation, which conducted the research into the life-saving actions of Stanislawa Slawinska and made possible the reestablishment of the connection between Esfira Maiman and Roman (Romek) Slawinski (Stanislawa's nephew).
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© 2008 The International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation & Casa Argentina en Israel- Tierra Santa.


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Coatsink Talks Gangs Beasts VR, Esper 2 and Esper on Oculus Rift
Coatsink Software has a lot going on in the virtual reality (VR) realm right now. The UK-based indie developer has already released its first VR videogame, Esper, onto the Gear VR mobile head-mounted display (HMD), and plans to release a port for the Oculus Rift come its consumer release next year. Meanwhile the team is already working on a sequel, Esper 2, which has been expanded with new puzzles, locations, and some impressive voice talent. Finally, the developer is helping Boneloaf bring its ever-popular multiplayer brawler, Gang Beasts, to the Oculus Rift. That's a lot of VR for one studio.
VRFocus recently got to chat with Coatsink Software Designer Jonathon Wilson about the team's VR slate. Touching upon each of these projects, Wilson talks about the decision to jump straight into the Esper sequel, and how it got started on the Gang Beasts support. He also looks at the position of the Gear VR against the Oculus Rift, and while the mobile HMD could well prove to be just as relevant as its PC-based brother over the next year.
VRFocus: It's a big time for Coatsink Software. Let's start with something we already knew about: Esper on Oculus Rift. How's that progressing?
Jonathon Wilson (JW): So we had a demo at E3. That was like an example of our pipeline of how we'll do the uprezzing and up-scaling. We're not redesigning the game in any huge way. It will look nicer and it will take advantage of the positional tracking. What a lot of people we found taking away from E3 was being able to look under the table, looking over the table. That was a big benefit for a lot of people. They seemed to enjoy that.
VRFocus: And you're still aiming to be a launch title for the Oculus Rift?
JW: Yeah, we're hoping to hit Q1 2016 and launch alongside the CV1.
VRFocus: Talk about the decision to dive straight into Esper 2.
JW: So following on from the success of Esper. It proved popular on the Gear – it's only finally been confirmed that it will be available with Gear VR when it launches [for consumers]. Like you know yourself it's been a bit of a long time that we've had a Gear. But it went down really well. We've had a lot of interest and it went down really well with Oculus, they liked the idea, they liked the game. So we pitched them the sequel and they said "Okay, we're happy to get on board with this".
We've got a little bit of a bigger budget with this one, which is kind of reflective especially in the voice acting talent we've hired this time around. That's also allowed for a little bit more of a bigger team therefore a little bit more development time too.
VRFocus: So how do the concepts of the original game evolve in this one?
JW: So it's still a first-person puzzle game at its core, that's never going to go away. This time around you aren't just trapped in a room. If you've seen some of the concept images we've put online you'll notice there's ruins there, there's water levels and things. You will move throughout. Like, throughout the chapter you won't just be locked to one room per chapter, you'll get to move throughout the environment. It's not free-form movement; you will still move to a position. So it is interesting, it allows us to create more elaborate environments and tell a bit more through the environment and get a bit more intricate with the puzzles too.
VRFocus: You've already mentioned the expanded cast. Who will these actors be playing?
JW: I don't really want to give too much away about the characters. But you know Eric Meyers is coming back. So if you've played the first one you know he was kind of the narrator. So this time around the little synopsis that we've given so far is you are an agent this time. And you will go on a little globe-trotting adventure as you do.
And these voice actors are important to us purely because the voice is everything. You don't see the characters in the game, so we kind of needed a cast of characters that could bring these roles to life. They could convey action. So if you can hear like a disturbance off-screen it's like you can't see it but you need to know what's going on at the same time.
VRFocus: If we don't see them throughout the game do they play a similar role as to the narrator?
JW: Kind of but it's more predominant this time. So they will follow you on your journey and it kind of feels more as if they've undergone the same things as you like they are actually with you. They're more than just being someone who's testing you all the time like there was in the first one.
VRFocus: How is the game progressing visually? You're not really working on strictly new hardware.
JW: So yeah, it is a little bit of a visual improvement. Like you said, it's the same hardware, it's a locked hardware, it's not a PC by any shot. But it is a [Galaxy] S6, which is bump up. Like, we originally developed on S5s. Esper 1 obviously does still run on an S6. The S6 is only marginally more powerful, so we do get a little bit more texture data but we are looking to improve the resolution of texture so they we can convey more of the detail in the environment. And, having the style that Esper does, it's not super photorealistic, so we might get away with a lot more on that side of things and we're stylising a lot more things too.
VRFocus: You've mentioned some of the sacrifices you have to make by being on Gear VR and you mention the lack of positional tracking. Is it a challenge to still developer VR games that lack these features?
JW: It is a challenge but Esper 1 never had positional tracking. Like you say, we didn't build any features on that and we didn't do it in Esper 2 either because we knew the primary lead platform was going to be the Gear, we didn't know is the consumer version would or wouldn't have it. There were rumours everywhere but we now know it doesn't have it. So once again in Esper 1 in the Oculus Rift version of it you will have positional tracking but there's no gameplay processes involved around it.
VRFocus: Why are you sticking with Gear VR at that lead platform when we're so close to the main HMDs coming out?
JW: So when we started development we didn't know how close CV1 would be. That's one of the main reasons, but we believe there's a lot of potential in the Gear VR. It could—it has probably a bigger opportunity to expand into a wider VR audience. It's an accessory for your phone, a lot of people are going to see this as, which could then draw them into more VR. Like, people who want to use it more often and then develop into Rift.
So to stick with Gear for now is where our original decision was and it was the platform we were familiar with.
VRFocus: Looking at how the original Esper worked, one could assume Esper 2 would find its way to Rift at some point. Is that something you're thinking about?
JW: It's a possibility. It'll probably depend on how well Esper 1 does. And then we'll see what the timescale is and if it's something that Oculus are interested in it's definitely something that we'd interested in.
VRFocus: You mentioned timescale there. Is Esper 2 out in the near future or have you announced it far ahead of what it comes out?
JW: So it doesn't have a fixed release date but we would like to target launch window for the Gear VR.
VRFocus: That's very ambitious. That's 2 months away.
JW: Yeah. It's going to be a busy couple of months.
VRFocus: What's it like having those not necessarily pressured but shorter development cycles? 2 games in a year is something.
JW: So if you've experienced Esper in any way, you've seen the puzzles and things, Esper 1 is a shorter experience where Esper 2 has grown but having a bigger team has allowed us to do more in a shorter space of time. And also we have more budget so you get more experience in which helps and speeds up the development time that you need.
Having 2 games out within a year of each other is good and there's building skills that encourages you to work harder and work more and more all the time as well.
VRFocus: The last project there is to talk about is the very surprising announcement that you guys are working with Boneloaf on Gang Beasts on Oculus Rift. Can you explain how that relationship is working?
JW: So obviously we've known Boneloaf, the guys that do Gang Beats, for a while. And we've spoken to them at length a lot. At the minute we are primarily going to help them bring it to VR. What that experience entails we're not really going to discuss that quite yet. It will be more of a multiplayer component. Obviously you don't want to be getting punched in the face in VR, we're sure that could be quite jarring. But you will kind of get to see it from a new perspective and manipulate players in a different way.
VRFocus: With all these projects Coatsink really seems like a VR flag-waver at the moment. Is that how you see yourselves?
JW: I suppose it looks that way from the outside, but it's mainly just the success that Esper's had. VR's going down really well right now and it's going to come out in a big way next year. By the end of the first quarter next year we should have every headset on the market – we'd certainly like to think so – everybody seems to be targeting either the end of this year or Q1 next year. It would be very interesting to see how many more VR studios pop up, but at least we're going to hit the ground running, we're going to be there from the start. We're going to be one of the early adopters and hopefully that will pay off in the long run.
VRFocus: You've had tremendous support for Oculus itself. What about Valve and Sony? Do you have a relationship there?
JW: Obviously Coatsink also developed Shu which was a partnership with PlayStation. So yes we do talk to them, we have experimented with PlayStation VR and a couple of the guys from the office have tried Vive. We're currently waiting on getting the Vive in the office ourselves but, once we get them in and we play about with them who knows what could come up one day.
The post Coatsink Talks Gangs Beasts VR, Esper 2 and Esper on Oculus Rift appeared first on VRFocus.
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UNC grabs ACC Coastal by the Blue Devils' horns
By Kevin McGuireNov 7, 2015, 3:30 PM EDT
It is well beyond time to start recognizing the good work being done this season by the North Carolina Tar Heels (8-1, 5-0 ACC). After picking up two pivotal wins against Pittsburgh last week and Duke this week, UNC is now in the pole position in the ACC Coastal with a chance to play in its first ACC Championship Game at the end of the season. That has become the reality of the situation after UNC pounded rival Duke 66-31 today on Chapel Hill.
This was a total beatdown from start to finish by UNC, a week after Duke was snakebitten by Miami (and the ACC officials). The Tar Heels clobbered Duke in the first quarter (21-3), outscored them in the second (17-7) and edged them in the third (21-14). UNC quarterback Marquise Williams completed 23 of his 35 pass attempts for 494 yards and four touchdowns before getting an early rest in the second half. Mack Hollins and Ryan Switzer each went for at least 100 yards and four different Tar Heels players caught a touchdown pass. There was simply no slowing down UNC's offense for Duke's defense. Duke's offense did itself no favors either with three turnovers in the game.
UNC has now won eight straight games, with the lone loss coming in the season opener against South Carolina. In that game, Williams was picked off twice in the end zone. Since then, Williams and UNC have been on a roll. UNC has scored at least 40 points in five games in this eight-game winning streak and each win has come by a double-digit margin all but twice. IF UNC manages to get to the ACC Championship Game, they could be talented enough to give Clemson or Florida State a good scare if they keep playing this way down the stretch.
The final games of the season are none to take for granted for UNC of course. Next week Miami comes to town, which is followed by a road trip to Virginia Tech and a regular season finale at home against North cArolina State. There is still work to be done, but right now it is all in front of them, along with some serious momentum.
Tags: Mack Hollins, Marquise Williams, Ryan Switzer, Marquise Williams, Ryan Switzer


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The Bidens are about to be hit with multiple stories from multiple media sources
seedysnuts October 18, 2020 Uncategorized
Steve Bannon Had Some Interesting Things To Say To The Revolver…
Last week the NY Post took the political world by storm with its release of shocking material from Hunter Biden's hard drive indicating corruption, sexual depravity and more. The Post reported that a lawyer for former NY Mayor Rudy Giuliani obtained the hard drive from a computer repairman, and that former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon had alerted the Post to the existence of the hard drive in July.
But before turning over the gear, the shop owner says, he made a copy of the hard drive and later gave it to former Mayor Rudy Giuliani's lawyer, Robert Costello. Steve Bannon, former adviser to President Trump, told The Post about the existence of the hard drive in late September and Giuliani provided The Post with a copy of it on Sunday. [NY Post] Steve Bannon has since clarified to Revolver News that he was brought into the project based on familiarity with corruption in corporate America, on Wall Street, and within the Chinese Communist Party and America's political class. Mr. Bannon revealed that he "worked up and executed the roll out plan" of the information contained in the Hunter hard drives. Given his close knowledge and familiarity with an issue of such explosive importance to the election, Revolver asked Mr. Bannon a few questions pertaining to the contents of Hunter's hard drive and the political implications of their release.
Revolver: What is the most incriminating thing on the hard drive? Rudy has suggested illegal things, and as Revolver reported the FBI person tasked with the hard drive is associated with the child pornography division. Could you give more insight into how bad it is we're talking about?
Mr. Bannon: Joe Biden is a liar, a fraud, and compromised by Chinese cash. In short, he is a national security crisis. The hard drive combines emails and text messages that show a massive involvement with companies controlled by the Chinese Communist Party. Also, there are 25,000 images that show a drug-addled, depraved lifestyle — one that decent hardworking Americans will not want near the White House.
Revolver: The FBI has been holding onto the hard drive for almost a year? Any sense of why? Was there any indication that they were seriously interested in criminal case, assuming that there is, in fact, illegal material on there? If not, why would the FBI simply hold onto information like that?
Mr. Bannon: The President must confront the director of the FBI on why the information housed on this hard drive was not moved on immediately. If the content of the hard drive had been released when received in November 2019, there would have been no impeachment of Trump, and Bernie Sanders would be the Democratic Party nominee. This confrontation should take place this weekend in the Oval Office. If Wray doesn't have a bulletproof reason he should be fired in the room.
Read More at Revolver News
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text:
from distutils.core import setup

setup(name='kao_listdict',
      version='0.0.1',
      description="",
      author='',
      author_email='',
      packages=['kao_listdict'],
      install_requires=['kao_decorators>=0.1.2']
     )


With a title that sounds like a self-fulfilling prophecy, Populaire (which literally means popular) is a promising debut for the newcomer director Régis Roinsard. Perfectly mastered, this fresh and colourful vintage romantic comedy, somewhere in between My Fair Lady and Mad Men, is an excellent feel-good movie, a delightful and ephemeral moment of pleasure.
Everything starts in spring 1958. Rose Pamphyle, 21 years old, in the manner of Flaubert's Madame Bovary, dreams of leading another life. She would like to leave her suffocating routine as she lives alone with her widower father in a small village in Normandy, and aspires to become a modern woman. And there she is, flying off to Lisieux, where Louis Echard, a charismatic insurer, is looking for a secretary. The interview is a daunting fiasco. But there is just one thing for which Rose is gifted, she can type extremely quickly. Rose gets the job under one condition: taking part in a dactylographic speed competition. Louis feels the need, the need for speed, and nothing will stop him now to make her the quickest woman in the country or even in the world. But love will interfere with their plans.
But Populaire is also all about adrenaline and a passion for success. And the suspense generated by the competition is exacerbated by the dazzling rhythm of the typing machine and the beat of the rockabilly music. It was worth pointing out that Deborah François trained for 6 months to get her typing up to speed. But what makes you hold your breath until the end is definitively the burgeoning love affair between Louis and Rose. And who better than Romain Duris, Déborah François and Bérénice Béjo could deliver this sentimental imbroglio?