text:
Sometimes the years fall away
Kathleen Felch, left, of Hampstead, works on Jackie Elsmore's nails during a day of pampering.
Felch was one of eight student volunteers who participated in the Day of Caring.
Rae-Ann Iacuzio of Derry puts some finishing
touches on the elegant fingernails of
Norma Helbig of Derry during Monday's
Day of Caring, organized by Pinkerton
Academy and The Upper Room.
DERRY -- OVER COFFEE AND SCONES, Joyce Diemer and Caitlin Harper were just a couple of girls who'd lived in Chester with a mutual love for Siamese cats and well-manicured nails.
The 65-year gap between them was nothing more than time and space.
"I lost my husband a year ago, and I miss him every day. But I'm glad we did so much together," Diemer said to Harper, 17, a student at Pinkerton Academy. The two were paired up for a Day of Caring through Greater Derry Community Caregivers.
Diemer had some advice for Harper: Make the best of everything and cherish every moment with those you love.
"Just before my husband died we went on a cruise to the Maritimes, in 2009. The weather was perfection and the sea was like
Lois Gibbs, right, compares manicure notes
with Dianne Burkinshaw. Both women were treated
to a day of pampering thanks to a group of
volunteers from Pinkerton Academy.
glass. That would be my best advice to you: Go on some cruises and enjoy your life," Diemer said.
Monday morning was planned as a day of pampering and girl talk across the generations, as seven Pinkerton Academy students were matched with seven seasoned citizens for manicures and a movie. They met at Journey Church, a newly renovated factory-turned-contemporary house of worship on Tinkham Avenue.
Seated at tables set up like a coffee house, the multi-generational meet-up began with light refreshments and coffee.
The students were asked to bring along nail polish and lotions, which provided their manicure partners with plenty of colors to choose from.
Shana McKinnon was working on Elaine Duke's nails.
"It's called Hot Sexy Pink," said McKinnon, who mentioned that it was the color Duke had requested by name.
"Yup, I sure did," said Duke, who had already won McKinnon over by mentioning that she'd often regarded her husband of 39 years as "a bit of a pain."
"I love that," said McKinnon, sharing another laugh with Duke, between brush strokes.
"We were double dating when we met. He was going out with my friend, but he kept looking in the rearview mirror and winking at me," said Duke. "He promised me we'd be married at least 57 years, but we didn't make it.
He didn't make it."
Duke met her husband when she was just 17 — the same age McKinnon is now.
"I guess I think about having a family and a husband someday, but right now I'm focused on college and a career," said McKinnon.
Cindee Tanuma, executive director of the Greater Derry Community Caregivers, had a feeling this event would be a hit for everyone involved.
She said she looks forward to the annual Day of Caring because it gives her a chance to orchestrate important moments, like this one.
"After we do the nails we're going in to watch an old movie, 'The Bells of St. Mary's,' and then we're going to have tea sandwiches together," Tanuma said. "I guess you'd say the real mission of this is for intergenerational learning. Sometimes older individuals have a perception about teen girls today, that maybe they're not so sweet or innocent. But they quickly learn that there's something universal about being 16 or 17 — there really is no difference, except their life experiences."
For the past 13 years, Pinkerton Academy instructor Roger Konstant has been putting out the call each spring for student volunteers who'd like to get involved in their community. He connects students with various agencies who assign tasks, including the Caregivers, The Upper Room, Vintage Grace, Meals on Wheels, Camp Carpenter and the Nutfield YMCA.
"I was just thinking about this today while I was driving home, thinking about why we do this every year. It occurred to me that kids in our community get a lot of help through various groups while growing up, like Scouts or Little League or church. A lot of people have helped them along the way, and so this is really just a chance for them to begin to give back," Konstant said. "I don't know if they realize how much support they have as kids growing up here, but they come away from this experience really having a great time and learning something in the process."
Jackie Elsmore was fanning her nails, admiring the handiwork of her hand stylist, Kathleen Felch, 17. Waiting for the movie to start, they'd moved on to small talk.
"Jackie was telling me how she has always loved singing and dancing, and was an entertainer in the USO, and how she beat 10 men swimming once at Lynn Beach," said Felch. "Oh, and, how she was a goalie for her high school's hockey team when she was about my age, and lost two teeth when she got hit with the puck."
"Yeah," said Elsmore. "I stopped it with my mouth.
I was a bit of a tomboy back then, but thinking about it now, it doesn't seem so long ago."
A wake-up Call for 4-H lovers
DISABILITY ACT GETS A MAKEOVER
BEFORE THERE WAS MEMORIAL DAY, THERE WAS DECORATIO...
With a push from Sarah, she rides
History is everywhere -- you just have to look
Endangered Leaders
The Course of History
Pets & People Blood Drive in Nashua helps all kind...
This Land is Their Land
At Chester College: 'Listen to your hearts'
Derry Firefighters test endurance
A COMMUNITY IN BLOOM
A Mother's Day Gift Like No Other
Red's Town Turned Out
Marines Ship Out
An Evening With Honest Abe
MooreMart, Mack's join forces again
SOME WOUNDS NEVER HEAL
Fire officials: Brush fire danger high
Carnival coming to town for good cause
Derry's Shepard led the way into space
Attacking the code of silence


text:
Q: Why is the definition of mass and matter interlinked? In my textbook the definition of matter and mass are:

*

*Matter: Any thing that occupies space and has mass .

*Mass: The amount of matter  contained in a body.
While defining "matter" we refer to "mass", but the definition of "mass" refers back to "matter".
So isn't this wrong? What will be the right definitions?

A: The word "matter" needs to be used with a great deal of care. In science, the word has definitely passed its use-by date. Some problems with the precise usage of the word are listed on the Wikipedia page for Matter and I quote:

...As such, there is no single universally agreed scientific meaning of the word "matter". Scientifically, the term "mass" is well-defined, but "matter" is not.

Even mass is a word that needs to be used with great care. There are several, in-principle distinct meanings for it. Let's see whether we can untangle this mess.
For me and, I believe, most physicists, if one uses the word "matter" unqualified, it implies something with nonzero rest mass. Rest mass is the total energy of something that you measure when you are in an inertial motion frame that is at rest relative to the object in question (in SI units, you must divide the total rest energy by $c^2$ to get the rest mass).
Inertial mass is the constant in Newton's second law. It is the "stubborness" of the object in question: it measures how quickly or slothfully something reacts when you "shove" it with an impulse. It is always measured from an inertial frame that is at rest relative to the body just before the shove. Whilst it is true that for Newtonian physics any inertial frame will do, in special relativity this frame must be at rest relative to the body and the impulse infinitessimal to get the correct inertial mass.
Gravitational mass is the "coupling strength" of an object to the gravitational field (if you're doing Newtonian Gravity) - how much gravitational force the object exerts on its surroundings and how much it itself is acted on by gravity. In the Einsteinian picture, it is a "source" strength of an object: it's part of what you plug into the so called "stress energy" tensor and so can be thought of as a "source" to calculate the warping of spacetime around the object.
In turn, even the word "energy" which defines rest mass ultimately needs further qualification. In general relativity, it is the $0\,0$ component of the stress energy tensor: the "source" of spacetime curvature. Some people who study general relativity co-opt the word "matter" to mean "source of spacetime curvature", i.e. anything that begets a nonzero stress-energy tensor.
As far as we know, these three kinds of masses are the same. These equivalences are experimental facts (see for example the Eötvös experiment) and the gravitational / inertial equivalence is a beginning point for general relativity. A system with total energy at rest $m$ accelerates in response to a force $F$ at acceleration $F/m$. A system with total energy at rest $m$ experiences (in Newtonian gravity) a force $m\,g$ on it. The last equivalence, in particular, is tested constantly seeking tiny deviations from it in the hope of gleaning experimental data that would allow us to refine Einstein's theory of gravity. Look up, for example, the Nordtvelt effect. Or read up on the simple thought experiment by Paul Davies on quantum tunnelling in a gravitational field that suggests a deviation. The paper is cited in this Physics SE answer here
What are the modern usages? Physicists are most interested in states of the World where the quantum fields that make it up are in excited states. They have more precise names for these excitations, depending on which quantum field is involved: things like electron, photon, quark, muon .... and so forth. Unfortunately in general you need to specify exactly what it is that you're talking about. Also, mass by physicists is almost always taken to mean rest mass - this quantity is Lorentz invariant (independent of inertial observer). Sometimes you'll hear of relativistic mass - this notion has fallen into disfavor for teaching, but it refers to an object's increased inertial mass if it is moving relative to you. An impulse of $I$ will no longer beget a change of velocity $I/m_0$ when the body is initial moving relative to you (where $m_0$ is the rest mass) but rather the body behaves as though its inertial mass has increased to $\gamma\,m$, where $\gamma$ is the Lorentz factor.

As user Ruslan reminded me about the notion of relativistic mass:

Not quite $\gamma\,m$, rather it depends on angle between the force and velocity of the body. See discussion of longitudinal and transverse masses for details.

A: These aren't good definitions. They do help students grasp the concept, but certain students, such as you, will find it silly that one definition depends on the other. Anyway, one definition depending on the other doesn't necessarily mean that a definition is flawed. In mathematics many functions are defined over itself, yet the definition is effective in that it either specifies a family of functions or, when given another defining component, fully define a specific function.
About the proper definitions, mass actually has three, but these are not very proper too:
The inertial mass of an object is its resistance against acceleration by force.
The gravitational mass of an object is the object's tendency to be attracted by a gravitational field.
The relativistic mass is the mass of the total energy stored in a system, where mass is simply defined by the relation $E=mc^2$ to be a physical quantity directly proportional to energy, by a factor of $c^2 = 89875517873681760 m^2s^{-2}$.
Going more hardcore into quantum mechanical definitions, mass becomes the property of a particle that measures/determines how strongly the particle interacts with the Higgs field.
The current best definition of matter is anything that is made up of leptons, fermions and bosons. These three are classes of subatomic particles called the elementary particles. Though everyday matter is only made up of half of these particles, it also encompasses other less "normal" matter such as strange matter. According to recent theories, these particles are merely field excitations and not rigid minuscule balls, so in the end, matter occupies no real space, but they need to stay a certain distance apart according to Pauli's exclusion principle, thus creating the abstraction that matter occupies space.(like ghosts, which do not take up space, but are prohibited from getting too close to each other) This Youtube video may help explain it: https://youtu.be/Fxeb3Pc4PA4 The video draws the conclusion that matter practically takes up space.

A: In my textbook the definition of matter and mass is as such: Matter: Any thing that occupies space and has mass. Mass: The amount of matter contained in a body. Why are the two definitions interlinked?
Because it's not a very good textbook. Take a look at Einstein's E=mc² paper, and note this:
"The mass of a body is a measure of its energy-content".
It isn't a measure of its matter content, it's a measure of its energy content. Hence:
"If a body gives off the energy L in the form of radiation, its mass diminishes by L/c²".
When you heat a body, you increase its mass. When you lift it up, you increase its mass. Whenever you do something that adds energy to that body, you increase its mass. Note though that when unqualified, mass means rest mass, so to keep things clear and simple, exclude those scenarios where the body is moving relative to you.
Now if someone while defining matter asks me to define mass I cannot define mass using the terms of the earlier definition.
So define it in a better fashion, as resistance to change-in-motion for a body that's at rest relative to you. The opening paragraph of the Wikipedia article is more or less correct:
"In physics, mass is a property of a physical body which determines the strength of its mutual gravitational attraction to other bodies, its resistance to being accelerated by a force, and in the theory of relativity gives the mass–energy content of a system."
There's "active gravitational mass" and "passive gravitational mass" and "inertial mass", all related to the energy-content. For a body such as a brick, these are the same as the rest mass, but not for a photon. A photon has no rest mass because it isn't at rest, but it does have a non-zero "active gravitational mass", "passive gravitational mass", and "inertial mass". Hence Compton scattering, and hence:
"If the theory corresponds to the facts, radiation conveys inertia between the emitting and absorbing bodies."
That's because things like inertial mass are really a measure of energy, and aren't quite the same thing as rest mass. Note though that when you trap a massless photon in a mirror-box, it's effectively at rest, and it increases the rest mass of the system. The box is harder to move when the photon is inside it, because the photon's resistance to change-of-motion doesn't go away when it's bouncing back and forth. Then when you open the box, it's a radiating body that loses mass. It's all fairly simple once it clicks. But sadly there's a lot of confusion around, and part of the reason for that is that the word "mass" is rather ambiguous.

A:
While defining "matter" we refer to "mass", but the definition of "mass" refers back to "matter". So isn't this wrong? What will be the right definitions?

Circular definitions are indeed undesirable, because they talk a lot but they tell little. The solution is to break the circle by removing the requirement to define the word and refer to experience instead. It ceases to be a mathematical definition, then, which is fine in physics.
In practice there is little problem with using the word matter. There is really no accepted definition, but that is quite alright; the word is similar to a fact, objective thing, which are not to be constructed by definition but accepted by  experience. In other words, you cannot learn what matter is from a textbook. You need to experience it.

A: Most textbooks define mass as the measure of amount of matter in an object which is a joke because that is a very elusive definition. Other books define inertial mass as resistance to change in motion in an object and gives a value equal to force/acceleration. Although the second definition seems rigorous, it is even more confusing because it presumes definition of force which is defined as force = mass * acceleration. A little contemplation will reveal that such definition of mass as force/acceleration is nothing but a circular definition.
As a student of physics I was thoroughly confused by such definitions. To make matters worse, pretty soon I learned theory of relativity only to discover that mass is relative. That means how much matter an object has depends on the observer's frame of reference - great!. This is unfortunately the state of affairs with current physics which entertains itself with exotic theories and concepts like leptons, hadrons, quarks, Higgs Boson but never addresses the fundamentals of physics.
After I passed out from school, I read many books on classical physics and nowhere I could find a definition of inertial mass to my satisfaction - until I came across the book Mechanics by L D Landau. His book gives correct definition of inertial mass which I will try to explain below.
In order to understand what inertial mass is, you have to first understand what an inertial frame of reference is. Again most text books do not define clearly what an inertial frame is. An inertial frame is a frame of reference in which space is homogeneous and isotropic, and time is homogeneous. Space is homogeneous means all points in space are equivalent i.e. laws of physics are same in every point of the inertial frame. Stated alternatively, a translation of an inertial co-ordinate system will not alter the laws of physics for the observers in that system. Space is isotropic means all directions in space are equivalent or a rotation of the co-ordinate system will not alter the laws of physics. Time is homogeneous means all points of time are equivalent. Stated alternatively, that laws of physics will not change with time.  Now that you understood what an inertial frame is, you are ready to understand what an inertial mass is.
Classical mechanics is based on the fundamental principle called principles of least action or Hamiltonian principle. This principle states that any mechanical system with with N degrees of freedom can be represented mathematically by a Lagrangian function of the form L(q1, q2 ... qN, t), where q1, q2 ... qN are variables called the co-ordinates of the system. At a given point in time, the system is completely defined by the values of the coordinates q1, q2, q3 .... qN.  When the system moves from state S1 to S2, the system will follow the path for which the time integral of the Lagrangian is minimum.
Now consider a universe in which there nothing except an inertial frame and a particle moving in that frame. Since space is homogeneous and isotropic, time is homogeneous, it can be shown that such a particle will move at a constant speed with respect to the inertial frame and the Lagrangian of the particle will have the form 1/2mV^2 where V is the speed of the particle and m is a constant. The constant m is called the inertial mass of the particle.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


As in earlier durations, financial constructions, political priorities, and social indicators had been mirrored in patterns of dress and the structure of clothes trades. Mary Quant, a Mod clothier is among the people credited with creating the long-lasting mini-skirt of the mid-sixties. This sample of dress was an adaptation of workingmen's trousers and jacket, an example of the trickle-up effect in fashion.


Overall not much more is known about it, no other Wifi, BT, FCC certificates. The only hint we get is screen size of 480×800 delivered by User Agent. Could it be the device TBA in Frankfurt October 11st ? Well firmware development is on a full throtle, with latest version I8190XXALJ4/I8190OXAALJ4/I8190XXLJ4 at the moment compared to absolute nothing developed for GT-N5100 we covered today.
We will update the article if anything new surfaces.


text:
New 'Wallace & Gromit' Film in Works From Aardman/Netflix; 'Chicken Run 2' Cast and Title Unveiled
Discovery Networks International Orders Special on Malaysia Flight 370
The one-off documentary will examine unanswered questions about how, in this day and age, it is possible for an airplane to disappear.
By Stuart Kemp
Stuart Kemp
More Stories by Stuart Kemp
'The Look of Love' Director Michael Winterbottom (Q&A)
Niall Tóibín Receives An IFTA Lifetime Achievement Award From The Irish Film & Television Academy
AFM 2011: Paddy Considine Returns To Acting To Lure Buyers
April 2, 2014 8:19am
AP Photo/Vincent Thian
Discovery Networks International has commissioned a special one-hour documentary about the mysterious disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370.
Entitled Flight 370: The Missing Links, the doc will gather the foremost thinkers in aviation and security to explore key questions surrounding the missing plane, which has garnered worldwide attention and generated widespread speculation.
STORY: Hollywood Already Exploring a Malaysia Airlines Movie
The Discovery Communications unit commissioned the show to ask industry experts to account for just how it is possible to lose track of an airliner – analyzing evidence, deliberating the global frailties of aviation and divulging potential solutions to prevent the disappearance of an aircraft from ever happening again.
Flight 370: The Missing Links is produced by ITN Productions and will air in more than 220 countries and territories worldwide on Discovery Channel from early April.
Tom Gorham, exec producer for DNI, said: "The mystery of Flight MH370 serves as a tragic reminder that technology is indeed fallible. With the help of seasoned aviation, tracking and satellite industry experts, Flight 370: The Missing Links explores the events which have unfolded, focusing on just how this could have happened, and examining the inherent flaws in the eco-system of modern international travel."
ITN Productions factual and features chief Emma Read added: "The disappearance of Flight MH370 challenges everything we know about modern aviation technology. This documentary reveals what every passenger should know and the technology being developed now to protect us in the future."
STORY: Peter Jackson Lends Private Jet to Search for Malaysia Airlines Flight
The documentary is commissioned by Elizabeth McIntyre for DNI.
In an age when we can use apps to locate handheld devices, the special also looks at how a state-of-the-art airliner and its 239 passengers and crew can simply vanish.
Since Flight MH370 went off the grid on March 8, 2014, questions about flight safety have once again taken center stage.
In an attempt to answer some of these questions, the documentary will address seven missing links: airport security, air traffic control, on-board communication systems, mechanical failure, tracking – both radar and satellite – international cooperation and the black box.
Hollywood Already Exploring a Malaysia Airlines Movie
Chinese Celebrities Lash Out at Malaysia's Handling Of Missing Aircraft
USC Scripter Awards: 'Passing' Among Film Nominees; 'Station Eleven' a TV Finalist
The Queen of Basketball
Lusia Harris, First Woman Drafted by NBA and Subject of 'The Queen of Basketball,' Dies at 66
Kaepernick Publishing to Release Autobiography of NBA Star Who Protested Anthem by Praying
New Sandman Universe Comic to Be Written by James Tynion IV (Exclusive)
Wack 100 Argues Master P Is 'Broke' On Clubhouse

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Serco awarded satellite operation services by ESA
Tags: ESA, European Space Agency, satellites, Serco Germany
Serco Germany has been awarded a new contract by the European Space Agency (ESA) to provide support services for the European Space Operation Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany.
The five-year contract will start with a six-month phase-in followed by 4.5 years of full service provision, which will be funded by the European Commission following the successful implementation of the phase in and confirmation of the European Commission budget availability.
Contract includes routine operation of Sentinel satellites
Under the contract, Serco will be responsible for supporting space operations of the Copernicus satellite family, the world's largest and most ambitious Earth observation programme. These services will include routine operations of the Sentinel satellites and supporting launch and early operations. This will enable the entire European Earth Observation community to receive vital information from the Sentinel satellites.
Serco will lead a consortium consisting of Telespazio Germany, Elecnor Deimos Spain, CS Communications and Systems Germany to deliver the contract, putting in place a team of engineers and technicians.
The new contract is an example of the collaboration between Serco and the European Space Agency and widens the scope of services provided by the company within the Copernicus programme. Serco is also involved in the collection, management and dissemination of Copernicus data as part of other services provided to the European Space Agency.
Major step forward for Serco's German business
Nathalie Rooth, Managing Director of Serco in Germany, said: "We look forward to starting to deliver these key services to ESOC. We are proud to have been selected as the European Space Agency's trusted partner in supporting the Copernicus satellites' operations. This new contract marks a major step forward for Serco's German business in terms of our ability to propose, design and operate complex service solutions and I am confident that our long-standing experience and proven expertise will ensure successful delivery of these services for ESOC."
Serco has been providing services to the European Space Agency for more than 40 years, supporting many of their significant Interplanetary, Earth Observation and Astronomical space missions.
Russian Helicopters Ka-226T unveiled at MAKS-2021
Rolls-Royce installs generator for hybrid-electric propulsion system


Paris, le 7 Februarij 6.
Gisteren ging ik naar eene Engelsche kerk hier, het was mij eene aangename gewaarwording die Engelsche dienst, die veel eenvoudigs en moois heeft, weer eens bij te wonen.
Today I received a letter in reply to one of mine; they asked whether I could teach French, German and drawing, and also requested a portrait. I'll answer today;5 if I hear more I'll write to you directly.
Yesterday I went to an English church here, it was a nice experience to attend such an English service again, which has much that is simple and beautiful.
1. Vincent is referring to the so-called 'text of the day' (a lesson), an edifying text printed on calenders and in booklets for the pious to reflect upon.
5. This refers to Vincent's application for a position in Scarborough (Great Britain), which he mentions in letter 70 (cf. FR b2233).
6. In his last letter Vincent had asked Theo for a copy of Andersen's Vertellingen van de maan (see letter 68).
7. It is not known to whom this refers, though it is possibly the person mentioned in letter 43, ll. 12-13.
8. Ps. 23:6; the text differs in a number of places from the King James version.
9. Tersteeg will have discussed Vincent's dismissal with his parents in Etten. Mrs van Gogh had already informed Theo: 'You know that Mr Tersteeg has been here, I believe he also knows a great deal about it, about Vincent. We were pleased to see him' (FR b2231, 5 February).


1. Order the product and upload your image file or email us with your order number, photo, text, special instructions, etc.
3. Once we have all your info, we will send you a mock-up of your product & you can request for changes or approve.


The end of a panic attack is a part of a panic attack, just as much as the start of one is a part of it. It's not something you need to supply or make happen. The panic attack will end no matter what you do. Even when you don't believe it will end, when you have the fearful thoughts that it will last forever, it still ends.
When it comes down to it, you shouldn't really try to stop your panic attacks. In fact, you shouldn't be having any panic attacks in the first place.
Are you wondering how to stop a panic attack? Let me tell you what to do during a panic attack so that you can learn how to control panic attacks instead of them controlling you. Let me tell you what to do during a panic attack so that you can learn how to control panic attacks instead of them controlling you.
Funny; you know, of all the medical professionals that I have been to over the years, alternate and mainstream, not one of them suggested your approach to the problem, yet it is so simple!


Crude prices jumped nearly 12% between 1st and 25th September to reach $59 a barrel before slipping to $56 on Monday.
NEW DELHI: Diesel prices have soared to an all-time high in Delhi and close to their peaks in other cities as strong international demand along with prolonged refinery shutdown due to hurricanes in the US belied previous expectations of a decline.
Rising prices means hardship for diesel vehicle owners as well as farmers and consumers dependent on diesel-generated power.
Prices are highest since May and January this year in Mumbai and Chennai, respectively. Diesel prices had touched their life-time peak in August 2014 in Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai. At Rs 79.94/litre, price of petrol was highest on Monday in Mumbai since August 2014.
Petrol prices in Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai were highest since January this year. Due to local levies, prices of petrol and diesel vary from state to state.
t of the rise in a little more than a month was linked to spike in international rates after two successive hurricanes shut significant refinery capacity in the US.
After big increases in fuel prices led to public uproar in the country mid-September, oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan said he expected prices to ease soon. But prices haven't dropped.
A prolonged refinery shutdown and higher diesel demand have pushed up crude prices.
Indian consumers have to pay a fuel price that is linked to international rates and topped with heavy central and state taxes. Prices are revised daily and are the average of the preceding 15 days' international rates.
Several policy measures, a booming domestic demand and softer crude prices in the last three years have helped revive investment in the oil and gas sector.


text:
Buhari presides over FEC, leaves for Turkey
By Funmi Akinbolu	 On Oct 18, 2017
President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday presided over the meeting of Federal Executive Council (FEC) at the presidential villa, Abuja.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the meeting which started at about 10 a.m., was attended by the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, acting Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Habiba Lawal, and cabinet ministers.
The president was scheduled to leave Abuja for Turkey immediately after the council's meeting.
A statement by the president's Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, on Tuesday, said Mr. Buhari would participate in the ninth D-8 Summit in Istanbul, Turkey, on Oct. 20.
Mr. Adesina said prior to the summit, Mr. Buhari, at the invitation of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, would be on working visit to Ankara, the Turkish capital.
He said the president would during the visit have a private discussion with his Turkish counterpart, while delegations from both countries would hold discussions in various fields including defence cooperation, security, educational and migration issues.
According to the presidential aide, the Nigerian leader will also visit the Grand National Assembly of the Republic of Turkey in Ankara, where he will meet with the Turkish Speaker, Ismail Kahraman.
Mr. Adesina said Mr. Buhari would also use the occasion to bolster warm and growing ties across broad range of areas of cooperation with leaders of the D8-member countries.
The D8-member countries include Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Pakistan and Turkey. (NAN)
GEJ, IBB in closed-door meeting in Minna
Atiku's son remanded in cell


text:
Vic's Statehouse Notes #162 – December 19, 2013
Letter grades for Indiana schools are scheduled to be issued this Friday, December 20th, using Dr. Bennett's flawed formula that the General Assembly rejected and thought that they had voided. HEA 1427 passed last April says, "Not later than November 15, 2013, the state board shall establish new categories or designations of school performance under the requirements of this chapter to replace 511 IAC 6.2-6. "
It didn't happen.
The new letter grades to be announced Friday for 2012-13 will be based on the old failed formula. To speed up the change, the State Board would have needed to pass emergency rules which they showed no interest in doing. In the October State Board meeting, Board Secretary Dan Elsener praised the current A-F system and called for the employment of the consultant who helped Dr. Bennett with the formula. The Governor's State Board staff attorney stated in the same October meeting that the old formula should be used two more times for 2013-14 data and 2014-15 data before ending it. That remains the current plan.
Meanwhile the battle for control of education policy rages on. Indiana taxpayers are now funding three different systems of schools, and Governor Pence's 2014 legislative agenda does nothing to relieve the funding agonies of the biggest and largest of the three, Indiana's community public schools.
School Letter Grades
The flaws of the current A-F system have been ignored in the news about State Board members trying to speed up letter grade announcements. In their controversial October 16th email action, now the subject of a lawsuit in Marion County filed by Bill Groth saying that State Board members violated the Open Door law, ten members asked legislative leaders to have the Legislative Services Agency calculate the letter grades without notifying their chair, Superintendent Ritz. The fact that this is all about a flawed and discredited formula has been ignored in the media.
No one should forget that the members of the General Assembly heard so many complaints about the unfair A-F system unveiled in 2012 that they voided it, or at least thought they did. The inadequacies of the system are fourfold:
Flaw #1: It is based primarily on the percent passing, rather than on improvement as PL221 called for.
Flaw #2: The bonuses for growth are anemic compared to the weight given to percent passing.
Flaw #3: The growth model used for bonus points is based on peer comparison statistics. This leads to capricious and unpredictable results about low-growth and high-growth students.
Flaw #4: In the final analysis, the current A-F system was badly miscalibrated. Many good schools received low grades, damaging the economic development efforts of communities all over Indiana as they try to explain to prospective businesses why their strong local schools ended up with a low grade using a flawed grading system. The current system is not fair to Indiana's schools.
I presented details on these four points in public comments to the State Board meeting on November 8th. My comments on that day are attached for those who want a one-pager on the problems of our current system and the reasons the General Assembly lost confidence in it. Yet the members of the State Board apparently want to use it this year and for two additional years to grade our schools.
That makes no sense and challenges the rule of law. I wonder if any members of the General Assembly have noticed that the members of the State Board have somehow found a way to deny their legislative intent in HEA 1427.
Legislators heard your outrage about this letter grade system in 2012. I hope they will do so again this year.
I would hope that all public announcements about school letter grades by state or local officials will include a reminder to the public that this current system has been voided by action of the General Assembly and is in the process of being replaced with one that could deserve public confidence.
Three Different and Competing School Systems
In August, Governor Pence created the Center for Education and Career Innovation, a $5 million duplicative education bureaucracy, to divert control of Indiana education policy from Superintendent Ritz to his office. He was willing to do this, risking his national reputation for efficiency and small government, because of deep differences on educational policy.
As a result of seismic changes in the 2011 General Assembly, Indiana taxpayers are now funding three school systems which compete in a marketplace of schools:
1) Community Public Schools, established in Indiana's 1851 Constitution, serving 291 communities or geographic areas, open to all students, tuition free, governed by a school board which is in most cases elected, non-sectarian and non-partisan, unionized under Governor Bowen's collective bargaining law passed in 1973 which was revised in 2011, serving over 1 million students in over 1800 schools.
2) Charter Public Schools, established by the General Assembly in 2001, not linked to a geographic area and open to any student in the state, tuition free, governed by an authorizer and an appointed school board, non-sectarian, non-unionized, serving about 30,000 students in about 80 schools.
3) Voucher Private Schools, established by the General Assembly in 2011, not linked to a geographic area, open to students whose application is accepted by the private school, tuition paid or subsidized by taxpayer funded vouchers and by taxpayer subsidized scholarships from Scholarship Granting Organizations, governed by appointed school boards, primarily sectarian religious schools (98%), non-unionized, serving about 100,000 students with about 20,000 receiving vouchers.
In the deep controversy between Governor Pence and State Superintendent Ritz which has now reverberated to the pages of the New York Times, each official is identified with different elements of this tripartite system.
Superintendent Ritz was elected as an advocate for community public schools, the largest of the three systems. She has said she supports community-based charter schools but not the efforts to bring to Indiana large scale for-profit charter school networks. She has in the past opposed the use of public dollars to subsidize tuition with vouchers for private schools, although after her election she resolutely pledged to enforce all voucher laws enacted by the General Assembly in 2011 and 2013.
Governor Pence was elected as an advocate for voucher schools and for charter schools. He put his power behind a major expansion of vouchers in the 2013 General Assembly which raised the voucher count to 20,000 this past fall. In his 2014 legislative agenda, his "Roadmap", he has singled out charter schools for help, such as a plank to strengthen the state's hand in taking underutilized buildings from local school boards for use by charter schools. Another plank would give state money to pay the differential to excellent public school teachers who want to transfer to low-performing charter schools that now pay teachers on average $12,000 less. Needless to say, this is not a hit with public school leaders who would lose excellent teachers from their schools due to this state incentive. Even an internal memo from his new education agency, the CECI, says that "the program has the appearance, rightly or wrongly, of showing favoritism towards charter schools."
There is the word: favoritism. Since his election, the Governor has favored voucher schools and charter schools over community public schools. His new 2014 agenda contains nothing to help community public schools. His first budget gave a 2% increase for public school funding in the current year 2013-14 and only a 1% increase in 2014-15, the lowest non-recession funding increases since I started watching the General Assembly in 1997. Low funding levels have led to community-shaking agonies in Muncie, Carmel, Fortville (Mt. Vernon Schools) and others. Several districts face the loss of bus transportation funding due to property tax caps. The Indianapolis Public Schools, facing a $30 million deficit, has seen layoffs for three years in a row threaten the stability of remarkably improved programs such as the Harshman Magnet Middle School, recently highlighted in the Indianapolis Star.
In the intense conflict among these three competing school systems, the Governor is taking every legal edge to take policy control away from Superintendent Ritz and to maintain the growth of the two new systems at the expense of community public schools.
Governor Pence vs. State Superintendent Ritz
The Governor has all the power in this dispute with the State Superintendent. He has appointed State Board members who vigorously pursue his positions and join in his steady campaign to reduce the influence of the State Superintendent. If any vote is held, he will win. It is not surprising that a CECI memo discussed a plan to seek legislative changes to remove the State Superintendent as chair of the State Board. It is also not surprising that Superintendent Ritz reacted strongly to the CECI spending state-funded time outlining options for her demise as chair.
These are high stakes battles. The outcomes will shape the future of education in Indiana. The Governor has taken the lead in supporting charter schools and voucher schools while diminishing the funding for community public schools, just the opposite of the positions taken by Superintendent Ritz on this tripartite school mixture.
In the long run, however, the power is in the hands of the people. It is not yet clear that the people of Indiana want to let community public schools slowly disintegrate due to poor funding and high class sizes, leaving them to students of poverty and disability, while parents flee to voucher schools and charter schools.
The Future of Community Public Schools
Public schools have served Indiana well for over a hundred years. They are non-partisan and non-sectarian forums that bring whole communities together in ways that a fragmented system of private and charter schools could never do. Voting citizens are just waking up to the depth of this issue for our democracy and for the future of our communities. The final analysis in a democracy will be made by the voters, a very slow process.
Actually, the process began in 2012 when the voters chose Glenda Ritz over Tony Bennett. Without the voters, there would be no "Governor vs. State Superintendent" controversy, and Indiana would be rolling faster down the road to more vouchers and weaker community public schools in the vision of Governor Pence.
The people are deciding now which of the three school systems they want to support. Instead of taking politics out of education, as the Governor has said he wants to do, he has put it on the front burner. For advocates for public education, it needs to be on front burner to reverse the hard times that continue for too many of our community public schools.
The fact is that Indiana doesn't have enough money to appropriately fund three different school systems. As one system is given preference, another system is diminished.
The voters will soon have a turn in 2014, this time in the form of legislative races for the Indiana House and the Indiana Senate. What priority will candidates give to the three different systems in Indiana? Will they back community public schools, charter public schools or voucher private schools? Will they support Governor Pence or Superintendent Ritz on education policy? The stakes in Indiana have never been higher.
I urge you to keep your legislators informed about the problems with school letter grades and the obvious policies of favoritism that are undermining and diminishing community public schools. Your participation in this generational battle on behalf of community public schools is greatly appreciated!
ICPE is working to promote public education and oppose the privatization of schools in the Statehouse. We are preparing for the next session of the General Assembly beginning January 6th. Joel Hand will again serve as ICPE lobbyist for the session. We need your membership to help support his work. Many have renewed their memberships this fall, and we thank you! If you have not done so since July 1, the start of our new membership year, we urge you to renew by going to our website.
We need additional memberships to pay for our lobbying efforts which begin in January and to carry on our advocacy for public education. We need additional members and additional donations. We need your help!
Go to www.icpe2011.com for membership and renewal information and for full information on ICPE efforts on behalf of public education. Thanks!
I am a lifelong Hoosier and began teaching in 1969. I served as a social studies teacher, curriculum developer, state research and evaluation consultant, state social studies consultant, district social studies supervisor, assistant principal, principal, educational association staff member, and adjunct university professor. I worked for Garrett-Keyser-Butler Schools, the Indiana University Social Studies Development Center, the Indiana Department of Education, the Indianapolis Public Schools, IUPUI, and the Indiana Urban Schools Association, from which I retired as Associate Director in 2009. I hold three degrees: B.A. in Ed., Ball State University, 1969; M.S. in Ed., Indiana University, 1972; and Ed.D., Indiana University, 1977, along with a Teacher's Life License and a Superintendent's License, 1998.
Labels: A-FGrading, IN BOE, Pence, Ritz, VicSmith
Letters: Testing takes away from time for learning
Letters: Pence Obtuse on School Performance
Letters: Parents remain best gauge of what's best ...
Letters: Bring Back the Joy of Learning
Letters: Impressions of Pence
Letters: NEIFPE Member Responds to Oliver
Educators for Freedom Sign on Letter
Vic's Statehouse Notes #161 – December 6, 2013
Synopsis of the CECI Document
CECI Plans to Remove Superintendent Ritz as chair ...


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William Brownfield: Russia's, U.S.' objectives are exactly the same on drugs in Afghanistan
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs William Brownfield has given an interview to Interfax in which he speaks about the problem of opium poppy eradication in Afghanistan, about why the U.S. is not involved in the CSTO-led Channel operation, as well as Russia's domestic anti-narcotics initiatives. more
Catherine Ashton: EU-Russia "absolutely agree" Syria should stop violence and move forward on reform
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton has given an interview to Interfax on the sidelines of the Russia-EU summit in Nizhny Novgorod in which she speaks about the resumption of talks on the Iranian nuclear program, a draft UN Security Council resolution on Syria and Palestinian-Israeli settlement. more
Giampaolo di Paola: We hope that Russia will trust us the way we trust Russia
NATO Military Committee Chairman Adm. Giampaolo di Paola has given an interview to Interfax ahead of a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council (NRC) at the level of defense ministers in which he in particular spoke about the importance of good climate for the resolution of the missile defense issue. more
Anders Fogh Rasmussen: Path towards greater trust is more discussion rather than complicated legal formulas
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has given an interview to Interfax ahead of the NATO-Russia Council meeting at the level of defense ministers due in Brussels on June 8 in which he speaks about pressing issues on the Russia-NATO agenda, in particular missile defense, Afghanistan and NATO eastward expansion. more
Patrick Leahy: If U.S. were to breach New START with offensive weapons, Russia has right to quit it
U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy, chairman of the State and Foreign Operations subcommittee in the U.S. Senate's Appropriations Committee, who visited Russia this week has given an interview to Interfax in which he speaks about U.S.-Russian bilateral relations, in particular the New START treaty and cooperation on Afghanistan, as well as the Middle East situation, the elimination of Osama Bin Laden and support to civil societies in Russia and Georgia. more
Kathleen Sebelius: Research component can be very helpful for Russian-U.S. health cooperation
U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, one of the key figures in the Barack Obama administration as she is in charge of health care reform, has spoken with Interfax about Russian-U.S. cooperation on health issues, as well as the U.S. health policy. more
Fukushima: confusion or secret work to create bomb?
Alexander Kovalenko, who served as deputy director of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant and head of the department of information and international relations of the government commission for the liquidation of the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant disaster following the 1986 accident at the plant, said in an interview with Interfax' Vyacheslav Terekhov what the large amounts of radioactive waste located at the Fukushima-1 nuclear plant may mean and whether the rumors that there could have been a secret military laboratory in the station could be grounded. more
Alexander Kovalenko: Japanese authorities ignored organizational and technological lessons of Chernobyl at Fukushima NPP
Alexander Kovalenko, who served as deputy director of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant and head of the Department of Information and International Relations of the Government Commission for the Liquidation of the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant disaster from 1986 to 1988, has given an interview to Interfax' Vyacheslav Terekhov in which he speaks about the Fukushima disaster. more
Gil Kerlikowske: Alternative crops in Afghanistan can lead to significant reduction in drug production
U.S. National Drug Control Policy Director Gil Kerlikowske has visited Moscow for talks with Russian Federal Drug Control Service (FSKN) Director Viktor Ivanov within the framework of Russian-U.S. presidential anti-drug working group and has given an interview to Interfax in the wake of the meeting. more
Robert Gates: U.S. will very soon recede back into supportive role in Libya
U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates during his visit to Russia has given an interview to Interfax in which he speaks about a scenario of the Libyan military operation and U.S. desire to build European missile defense system along with Russia. more


The primary purpose of the clinical study is to determine the safety of a modified stem cell SB623 when administered to chronic, stable ischemic stroke patients. A second purpose is to determine whether SB623 might improve stroke symptoms. Chronic, stable ischemic stroke patients must be between 6 and 60 months after their stroke, and with only this one prior stroke, and and with no further improvement from physical therapy.
Chronic, stable stroke patients have no existing alternative treatments after rehabilitation therapy. SB623, a modified stem cell preparation, has been shown to improve motor function when administered in animal models of stable stroke. Safety studies in animals have shown no adverse events attributed to SB623. Patients who meet the entry criteria for this study will have regular examinations, radiological evaluations (CT, MRI, PET), and be followed for two years. Regular neurological evaluations will also be done using standard questionnaires, with occasional video recording if improvements are evident. Key entry criteria for this study, in addition to 6-60 months post-ischemic stroke, include moderately severe symptoms--e.g., difficulty standing or walking, and/or difficulty using arms or hands, and/or speech impediments.
SB623, a modified stem-cell product, will be administered at 3 dose levels. Each patient in one of three groups will be given a dose of 2.5, 5.0, or 10 million cells once. Each group will be completed before going to the next higher-dose group.
Possible improvement in stroke symptoms will be determined by a variety of neurological assessments: European Stroke Scale, NIH Stroke Scale, Modified Rankin Score, and Fugl-Meyer assessment. Possible improvement in brain metabolism will be assessed using FDG-PET scans.
Steinberg GK, Kondziolka D, Wechsler LR, Lunsford LD, Coburn ML, Billigen JB, Kim AS, Johnson JN, Bates D, King B, Case C, McGrogan M, Yankee EW, Schwartz NE. Clinical Outcomes of Transplanted Modified Bone Marrow-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Stroke: A Phase 1/2a Study. Stroke. 2016 Jul;47(7):1817-24. doi: 10.1161/STROKEAHA.116.012995. Epub 2016 Jun 2.


Identifier 88696493 This number locates the particular value within the data table; it is like an accession number in a conventional library.
Value 8,181 This is the data value itself.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, Vision of Britain | Context for data value | The meaning of 8,181, A Vision of Britain through Time.