Film maker, photographer and University of Salford professor, Erik Knudsen was invited to see Cuba 'before Fidel Castro died'. That was in 1998 and Castro (albeit ghosted by his brother Raul) is still, very much, alive. Knudsen's thoughtfully constructed, colour-bleached photographs have been amassed over the last four years and depict a string of poised yet static incidents in bars, paddocks and arenas across Havana Province. While acknowledging the genuine reverence that Castro commands, Knudsen also lays bare the poverty and repression that hold a renownedly educated and energetic people in check. "Everyone"he says, "is waiting for change".
The last element to fall into place in this substantial show of abstract paintings and drawings was the title. Most conceptual artists know exactly where they'll end up before they open their studio door; but when Jo Brown (b. 1945 and a 'Dean Clough artist' for some two decades) starts a painting, she doesn't know what it will be. "This 'not knowing' is very important to me," she says "because of the improvisatory, intuitive way in which I work, which depends on being sensitive to what is happening as a painting unfolds. The natural world is always there somewhere in the background as I explore the feeling of landscape through colour. So, my use of colour is much more about feelings than figuration". The fact that Jo is widely collected (by municipal galleries as much as private collectors) and pays homage to Turner, Matisse, Heron, John Hoyland, Gary Wragg and Paul Tonkin offers a reassuring set of imprimaturs to those made nervous by abstract work. However, all they really need to do is access the paintings in the same disembarrassed spirit that Jo creates them. Here is pleasure, excitement and joy. So it was heartless of us to laugh when she dialled the title through. It reminded us of the remark by 'Yogi' Berra the baseball player – 'When you come to a fork in the road, take it'. "Oh I like that," said Jo. "Can we get it into the invitation?" Almost certainly not, we responded.
Todmorden-based artist Chris Cullen (b. Chorley 1948) has been carrying around Cervante's satire on chivalric conventions – 'El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha' – since 1982. He'd even convinced himself that he'd read it… until in 2010 someone presented him with the full text (the remarkable 2nd volume of which was printed exactly 400 years ago). Since then Chris has been compulsively generating scenes from the book in both paint and ceramics. Given that even Picasso and Dali couldn't dislodge the hegemony of Gustave Doré's 19th C. illustrations, you might wonder what Chris was hoping to achieve. He's the first to admit that his oil paintings owe everything to Doré's imagery and reveals that he found a forgotten copy of Dali'sQuixote in his teenage sketchbooks. And while it is evident that (unlike the many sentimental, theatrical adaptations) Chris has grasped Cervante's uncannily post-modern epistomology; there is no intrusive literary exegesis in this extensive show. "I just had the book in my head. I wanted to elaborate it, to see it in full colour, to get the full tilt of Quixote, to get that roundness… what I really wanted was a pop-up book!". It's an unapologetic celebration, then; and an exhibition as much BY an 'ingenioso hidalgo' as it is ABOUT one.
David Roberts (b. Liverpool, 1970) studied fashion design at Manchester Metropolitan University and recalls working (hyphen-etically) as a hat-maker, shelf-stacker, egg-fryer, hair-washer, film-extra and coffee-maker before illustrating his first book ('Frankie Stein's Robot' by Roy Apps) in 1998. Equally at home with colour as he is with black-and-white, David has gone on to visualise the scribblings of many leading children's authors. Collaborators include previous children's laureates, Jaqueline Wilson and Julia Donaldson, among many others. Roberts cites influences from Heath Robinson, Edward Gorey and Gustave Doré. In this beautifully mounted show (curated by Chris Mould) he displays an impressive aptitude for the monochrome image as he brings Chris Priestley's chilling 'Tales of Terror' to life with a mesmerising array of minutely detailed drawings.
Stephen Weir (b. Ripon 1954) has spent a lot of time in the South of France where he paints abstracts under the Languedoc sun. This exhibition, however, centres on his mixed-media, boxed collages. "My collages are about living in a frenzied, media-dominated 21st Century in the UK where we are constantly bombarded by news through virulent electronic media," he says."…This is the opposite of life in Southern France". Weir (who was tutored by Terry Frost at Reading in the Seventies) admits to being drawn to 24hr news coverage but "watches in bewilderment the absurd events that are revealed". Instead of generating a sense of global inclusion, he argues, the 'media blare' creates a sense of isolation and alienation. "These works are secret documents exhibited for you, the viewer, to decode and unravel".
And for that we need Boffinworld.
Experimental yet economical, Boffinworld is a heady blend of research and recreation. In a holiday camp atmosphere Britons can relax among the rocketry and LEARN from LEISURE. From the Manhattan project to the Bikini Atoll, extraordinary endeavours have always needed luxurious locations and so it is that 'from the Big Bang to the tequila slammer' Boffinworld aims to put the fun back into physics. Realised here is the first Boffinworld project; a response to the L.G.M. question. Its S.E.T.I. project (Send Extraterrestrials Tea Immediately) uses cold war technology to deliver a hot beverage. The 'Brown Streak' projectile will deliver a payload of warm, soothing tea to our neighbours in this universe or beyond.
Now and for the foreseeable furore, we're pleased to announce that the Bradford-based artist Ian C. Taylor (b. Derby 1945) has volunteered to stud the cubic terminus of the Link Gallery with his unique brand of found and occasionally profound art. Ian began working at Bradford School of Art in 1969, was once "a freelance sculptor for TV", claims inspiration from both Gaudier-Brzeska and Fred Astaire and is collected by the likes of Sir Terrance Conran, Andy Goldsworthy, Stephen Frears and Albert Hunt. A geyser-ish celebration of the imagination's fecundity.
A mutual interest in 'The Stereophonics' led to a long-lasting friendship between Sowerby Bridge resident, Irene Murphy, and Monterblanc resident, Gaëlle Favennec. Gaëlle recently became deputy mayor of the Brittany town – which precipitated an exchange of digital photographs between the two locales. "We have a new media library," Gaëlle writes in brave English. "So I thought of my friend, Irene Murphy who paint, and I asked her if she will be interested to exhibit here. She answered me 'why not' and all started at this time. She presented me this project of pictures of Sowerby Bridge and Monterblanc and I found it was a really good idea!". The project is also a welcome chance to celebrate Sowerby Bridge in Halifax; and to reflect on the cultural understanding displayed by Gaëlle who – fortunately – realised that "why not?" is a northern indication of enthusiasm.
1. How do I get to Dean Clough?
2. Can I bring someone else to the Private View?
Yes. Everyone is welcome. The Private Views are a major social event in the regional arts calendar which are typically attended by over 200 people – including children!
3. Are the exhibitions open during weekdays?
Yes. The Dean Clough Galleries are open seven days a week from 9.00am to 5.00pm. Entry is free.
4. Do I have to pay for parking?
You do not have to pay for parking on weekends (so the Private View is 'free') but you do have to pay for parking on weekdays.
5. Why do FAQ's never answer the question I really want to know?
Ha! You're very welcome to email Vic Allen on victorallen@btconnect.com if you have a specific problem.


I'm stuck with this software that I think uses its own type of licensing, it give you a customer code and then the generator creates a license key. I am just having trouble working it out, could someone who knows more help me out please?
The codes are from two different computers. Looking at them I'd assume that the license key might be split into different information sections like a machine Id and a vendor code and a time limit and other stuff but I just don't know that much really.
Without analyzing the serial check function from the target software there's not much you can guess.
I've tried to analyse it myself with little luck, I could put the software on here if anyone wants to take a look?
Post it on Mega. I'll have a look.
Did you use IDA? debugged? What have done so far?
So far I�ve looked at them with IDA and Olly but I�m only an amateur with this software stuff, Ive always been more of a hardware hacker person instead of software.
The link doesn't work. Decryption key needed.
Stuck with CRC or similar check..
All times are GMT -5. The time now is 02:45.


Home Start helps low-income families to prepare their tax returns – for free! This access to Free Tax Assistance can be crucial for families with low-income. The average family tax return can cost about $200 and for a family barely making ends meet, that could mean the difference between groceries for the week or not.
We have 3 locations opened and volunteers should be available to commit to 9 hours of volunteering a month.
Front Desk Liaison: Welcome everyone visiting the site and create a pleasant atmosphere. Screen taxpayers to determine the type of assistance they need and confirm they have the necessary documents to complete their tax returns.
Certified Tax Preparer: Trained and certified as an IRS Tax Preparer and in tax law to assist taxpayers with their income tax preparation.
Certified Tax Reviewer: Review data from tax documents and double check that it has been correctly transferred to the return.
Are you ready to learn how to prepare income taxes, gaining valuable work experience and helping families in need?
Our team has put together resources that will help you learn more about the program and will give you all the details on the assignments, expectations and next steps. Please watch the orientation video below!


Insight Employment are recruiting for experienced Class One HGV drivers.
Are you looking for on-going multi drop work?
Do you mind early starts?
Do you have a good geographical understanding of the local area?
Do you have a valid CPC licence?


As a concept, the Tablet PC continues to find itself a niche device, best used for corporate and vertical markets, so it comes as no surprise the Toshiba Portégé M400 (£1350 inc. VAT) heads further down this line with a machine that is solid and robust, but with few frills.
Finished in slate-grey plastic, you'll find magnesium-alloy has been reserved for the back of the 12.1-inch screen as well as the base.
The panel is a digitised display that is used with an electronic pen for writing and annotating notes, as well as a host of other handwriting features using the Windows XP Tablet PC Edition software.
The screen can be rotated 180 degrees and folded to hide the keyboard away, which is something of a shame as the keyboard, while small, is excellent. The keys may be a little close together, but they are firmly mounted and make for a smooth typing action.
Powered by an Intel Core 2 Duo processor, you don't need to compromise on performance for portability, as we found this an impressive machine to use. Even after using it for long periods of time, the chassis remained cool to the touch.
With 1024MB of memory you'll be able to load application with ease and while the 100GB hard drive isn't the largest on offer, it'll hold your important programs and files with ease.
A biometric fingerprint scanner is built into the lid below the screen. Other key aspects of note are the use of a shock-absorbent hard drive, which will notify you if any sudden movements may cause harm to the disk, as well as the use of wireless broadband.
Tablet PC devices are all about portability and the idea that you can connect regardless of location. So what really makes this an impressive device is the inclusion of 3G in the form of a Novetel Wireless Broadband card built into the machine.
Managed by T-Mobile this is a great way to collect and send email when away from the office. If you want to connect using Wi-Fi, you'll find Gigabit Ethernet is installed.
At 2.3kg, it's not the lightest machine we've seen, but we used it for long periods without too many problems. While the tablet mode works well, we found ourselves using it largely as a compact laptop and only resorting to the digitised screen when absolutely necessary.
We were impressed with how versatile the Toshiba Portégé M400 was to use. This version may not be a great leap forward in terms of technology, but the addition of 3G makes it far easier to use away from the office and pushes the Tablet PC concept further ahead.


The essays in this volume set out a vision for new 'city villages' to help meet today's housing shortage.
Britain faces its greatest housing crisis since the aftermath of the second world war. Then, the private sector, proactive local authorities and central government combined to meet the demand. Today, we need a powerful new reforming zeal, promoting new and better models of home building, urban regeneration, and partnership between public and private sectors and local and national government. The challenge is to at least double the rate of homebuilding, and to do so rapidly. This will simply not happen without creative, concerted action by the public, private and not-for-profit sectors, and by national and local government.
City villages are areas of redevelopment and regeneration within the cities, including significantly more and better housing at a broad range of price and rent levels, facilitated by local authorities leveraging their land ownership, particularly their ownership of existing council estates, in partnership with private and voluntary sector developers. Located across Britain, new city villages would comprise socially mixed, multi-tenure housing, planned not just as housing developments but as entire communities with integral and modern commercial, retail and transport facilities.
The collection has a particular focus on London, as a prime location for new city villages, given the pressure of housing demand in the capital. London is a city of villages – including 600 high streets. The challenge is to make them better and to create many hundreds of new city villages, providing significantly more and better housing, and more and better amenities. But the concept is flexible and transportable, and other cities subject to high housing demand can do the same.
The vision behind these schemes is exciting. But the creation of new city villages, based largely on existing council estates, is a highly challenging task, which is partly why so few have been created to date. While the boom in land and house prices has greatly strengthened their viability, village by village a host of practical challenges will need to be overcome, beyond the obvious issues of planning and design. These city villages require a new generation of public masterplanners, radical innovation in design, a wholly new approach to land development, and new forms of partnership between the public, private and voluntary sectors. It is one of the most exciting tasks of the next generation.


by Dr. Mark Filllipi, D.C.
Vision may be the lead system of both the individual and the culture, but posture is its embodied and unrelenting audience. The two systems begin life developmentally far apart and quickly work to become intertwined as both the brain and body become more complex. The eyes are the bridge between the two as sight is converted to vision and posture is transformed into tone. The tapestry of this process is actually a 'trialogue' that anchors different dimensions of what I call our perpetual conversation. Somatics is uniquely equipped to facilitate and augment this trialogue.
Being able to shift our 'dialect' as we naturally transition between these 'worlds' is a function of this constant exchange of images and tension. Over the last 20+ years I've had the opportunity to learn several 'maps' of this subtle terrain. What I'll be doing is pointing out highlights of what Moshe Feldenkrais called the 'elusive obvious.' The aim is to make this hidden world more accessible and ultimately more coherent so we can better connect behavior, biology and go beyond our conditioning.
Let's start this by taking a 'nickel tour' of the developmental aspects of how these two systems create their partnership. Darryl Boyd Harmon, Ph.D, was early pioneer in this arena. He was an educator and a kinesiologist who 'postulated the primary biological function of vision is its role in organizing spatial relationships, rather than image formation.' 1 Here's an overview of how and why vision and posture unify.
The eyes are a matched pair of brightness meters. They are capable of triggering an array of real or symbolic actions in response to significant light patterns occurring within their field of awareness. Before the light patterns to which the eyes are sensitive can become accurate and meaningful sources of information about the environment, the following must occur.
The head which houses the eyes and the neck and the body which responds to what the eyes see, must come to balance both with the light patterns and also with gravity.
Unless the organism establishes a balanced equilibrium with the light patterns, they are likely to be inaccurately organized by the eye's receptors in the retina, and the receptors then are likely to trigger distorted neural signals.
Coming to a balance with the light patterns simultaneously aligns the organism with gravity, thereby providing a stable base from which to respond.
The organism's balanced equilibrium both with light and gravity results in reciprocal feedback among the eyes, neck, and trunk as each tries to equate its activity with the other.
That feedback provides the organism with the opportunity for optimal freedom to perform whatever is required to cope with the task at hand.
That was where the cutting edge was on this topic in 1958. Here's a more contemporary summary from a paper written in 2005. Notice how the description has changed and gotten much more verbose and detailed but the spatial bias is retained.
Now that we've gotten both a historical and current review of the relationship of vision and posture, Let's shift gears and focus on breaking down that trialogue more.
The first thing you need to do when you want to unravel the intricacies of vision and posture is realize we are all experiments of one. When we make assertions about their relationship, it has to be taken with that disclaimer in mind. All we can hope to do is design a good enough map to navigate this mysterious and evolving territory.
The most basic map we can design this simple, anatomical model [right]. It puts the connection between vision and postural development in a form that allows us to relate it to healing. From this template, we can learn how these three distinct domains interact on a somatic, semantic and systemic level. This is the 'square one' we need to be able to access more abstract aspects of an individual and literally step into how they view the world inside-out, which is the core of the somatic paradigm.
Peter's method of derivation was particularly of interest here. He incorporated the fundamental links that connect vision and posture by associating the "thought" of a structure within the eye to his bodily response to that "thought." Peter's work went on say that inhibiting an unconscious thought which corresponded to a specific area of his eye, and then consciously directing this to a certain area of his eye had an effect on the body. How did the brain monitor that conversation?
The visual cortex takes up a quarter of the entire brain and a full 90% of the brain's sensory input comes from visual sources.2 So when an image is processed it impacts the way the eye and body relate functionally by design. Taking a look at the Figure 2 and Figure 3, you begin to view the physical eye as a three-dimensional map of the internal structure of the whole body. That coupled with the fact that the eyes are extensions of the brain anyway and you quickly realize how vision and posture, as a composite system, are tied into the regulatory actions of the individual. In that sense, in order to heal, we must learn to "see ourselves" in a whole new light.
The eyes, visual pathways and visual cortex correspond with analogous areas of the body. Specific visual disorders correspond with specific analogous movements and contractions in the body. Suddenly, our literal eye becomes a living map of the figurative body. This opens the door to eavesdropping on the trialogue even more.
This time we've added the component of interaction among the basic three players in this trialogue. Now we can evaluate the clarity of these connections in the context of each individual's visual limitation as reflected in their postural tone. But we're still not creating a map we can use to get into the dynamic nature what we're decoding.
This existential riddle was first encountered by behavioral optometry. They had create their own portable clinical metaphor to better understand how their work addressed the obstacle of making what is subjective a sharable experience. Their "map" spoke of something called the Four Circles and it went like this ... One caveat, the four circles of Skeffington are not presented as the model of vision. The four circles is just one among many ways through which one may explain vision.
While attending an optometry conference in the mid-1950's, A.F. Skeffington, along with his colleagues, were discussing theories about how the visual process unfolded. Through their dinner conversation he arrived at a method to present his ideas graphically. These overlapping circles you see [right] were the result of a discussion on Boolean logic (just think of a Venn Diagram) and a Ballantine Beer logo (a three-ringed triangle) he noticed at the time. Neat, huh? What Skeffington did was devise specific questions that each circle represented and then correlated them to the clinical experience. Let's review his model of explanation here briefly.
The first circle represented ANTI-GRAVITY activity that related to visual processing. The questions Skeffington attributed to this aspect concerned spatial orientation within and around the body. So the anti-gravity circles answers the basic question of "Where am I?" and that leads to more refined follow-up questions like, "Where am I in space?" and "Where are my body parts in reference to the other parts of me?" which further detail the feedback gained from the initial inquiry. This links the visual process with vestibular activity, bringing top-down and bottom-up processes into one integrated whole body action. This first circle placed vision in a new arena.
The second circle is concerned with CENTERING activity the visual process uses to locate and relate to actual or conceptual objects. It uses the so-called "vergence system," which includes but is not limited to the ciliary muscles and the extraocular muscles. The centering circle is concerned with efficient ocular motion and will engage body movements that work to square the system off to its focus. To Skeffington's way of thinking, the centering circle is assigned to answering the question, "Where is it?", which places it in the role of shifting the focus of the eyes to the target in the inner or outer world. Circle #1 locates "us" and circle #2 finds "them."
The third circle is designed to work on IDENTIFICATION of the objects the individual encounters by integrating peripheral and central vision to optimize foveal positioning. In Skeffington's line of reasoning, the identification circle attempts to answer the question, "What is it?," delineating the figure/ground relationship from the world it perceives. "Current work on magno and parvo cellular pathways of visual control, reviewed by Tychosen, has confirmed this concept."15 Now, recall that the fovea was analogous to the "sit bones" in our discussion earlier. Can you see how shifts in foveal positioning may impact the tension in the ischiums (sit bones) and vice versa? The reason I stopped to mention this now was that while it may appear that this circle is excluding the body, it is in fact, very aware of the macro-correlation occurring. What happens once this material is organized to use? Let's add the forth circle to the mix to complete the picture.
The fourth and final circle deals with SPEECH/AUDITORY which allows the individual to name or label the objects in their environment. This allows the nervous system to encode experiences and recall them as needed. In this way the eyes serve as the conduit for our social-conditioning from a very early age. The question that Sheffington assigned to this circle was "What is its name?" which allows us to capture our experiences and encode them semantically. Clinically, it can manifest in both internal and external dialogue. The key to remember here is that Skeffington took the insights from the four circles, distilled it into a useful clinical application, and reframed the way visual limitations are viewed by both himself and the subject.
With all these maps it can get very confusing if we don't keep the 'big picture' in mind. Stated simply, the aim is to be able guide both our students, clients or patients and ourselves as educators to a more coherent level of visual-postural integration. When we examine the role common eye conditions have on acuity and other features of the standard parameters of optimal sight, we need to include their impact on the inner lives of the individual as well. To do that, we require an analinear approach to the problem. This combines the analog aspects of felt-sense awareness with the digital or linear models we use link cause and effect episodically.
To accomplish that, I designed this equation to give both the practitioner and the subject with a set of testable processes to monitor. This is how it breaks down.
I know it appears complicated. But in reality, the intertwined evolution of the visual and postural dynamic, as a system, no different than other overlapping systems, like circulation and respiration for example. In breaking down any visual disorder developmentally, we must remember to move from the ambient visual process into the focal visual process to understand the intrinsic aspect of the condition. In this way, motor learning drives sensory integration and promotes visual optimization ... our response (localization) is shaped by our receptivity (orientation). Finally, we return to the body from the inside-out, as an experiential template, not a mindless machine. Practitioners must factor in WHO is transforming, not just WHAT is transforming. Keith Holland summed up the essence of vision training in this way.
"The art of arranging conditions so that the patient becomes aware of new relationships in his visual world, and through these new relationships learns to utilize processes that allow him to extract a greater amount of information in a more efficient manner."
Here's a schematic to help you appreciate the 'gravity' of what Holland proposing.
To go full circle, Here's what Peter Grunwald's work offers us about a few common visual conditions. If you take away anything from this article, Harmon's prescient assertion that the priority of vision is to orient us in space. That covers both our inner world and our natural and cultural environment. Most us living in this age of an avalanche of visual stimuli may find it difficult to move our attention within. That's where the somatic community can fill a much needed role as more young and developing brains are drawn into a world of instant replays, HDTV and social media.
This usually develops either in the prenatal development phase, childhood or before the age of 21. It is seldom found later except with extensive near visual tasks ex. computer work or after severe trauma.
The shortening of the midbrain (lateral geniculate body corresponds to the patella) and spinal cord shortens the optic nerve, which results in overlengthening of the eyeball (torso). Light falls too short of the fovea centralis (coccyx) for clear distant vision and does not sufficiently stimulate the entire retina. Only a fraction of the visual cortex (feet) is used, resulting in reduced function.
Shortening of the brainstem and spinal cord causes the head to move back and down, shortening the entire body structure (torso corresponds to eyeball). This affects the bone structure of the eye socket in general. One result may be a tilting forwards and down of the lesser wing of the sphenoid bone where the optic nerve (upper leg) reaches from the brain to the eyeball (lower part of the body to the torso). The main feature in myopia is the shortening of the lumbar region (retina) which affects the pelvis, the head of the femur (blind spot) and the femur bone (optic nerve) as well as the patella (lateral geniculate body) and often the feet (visual cortex).
This is middle aged sight "where the arms are getting too short". It usually begins to affect people after the age of 40 and affects their near vision.
It has similar visual shortening as in myopia (even though this may not have affected the person till age 40) with the addition that the ciliary process and particularly the ciliary muscles become inactive through a lack of fine movement. This tops stimulation of the capsule surrounding the lens (diaphragm). When this occurs the lens calcifies and reduces visual accommodation (breathing mechanism affected). This results in lack of sufficient stimulation of the vitreous humor jelly (digestive and reproductive organs) and the aqueous humor (upper chest). The iris (area of lungs and scapula) is also affected.
The bone structure of the shoulder girdle and scapula (cornea) seems affected, as in the rotation of the upper arms (sclera). This shows mostly as a slumping in the chest area (lower front area of the eye) and narrowing in the upper back (upper front area of the eye). And as this occurs mostly with the postural patterns of myopia add the myopic movement pattern to get the full picture throughout the body.
This may develop at prenatal developmental stages, during birth (forceps delivery or a quick birth, where the occiput was not fully released) or during developmental stages, particularly during crawling. It is often found alongside hyperopia or myopia.
On or both eyes turn inwards or outwards. Visual cortex (feet) dysfunction, affecting specifically the optic nerve (upper leg) and blind spot (head of the femur).
The side of the body with the eye turn is affected primarily by rotation of the upper leg (optic nerve) inwards. The lesser wing of the sphenoid bone is rotated forwards and down, affecting the pathway for the optic nerve. More often than not the child missed the cross-crawling stage of development.


text:
'I'm just at a loss': This student moved away, but apparently stayed on Indiana Virtual Pathways Academy's rolls
By Stephanie Wang - July 8, 2019
Every couple of days, Holli Stevenson receives an email that her daughter, Abbey, has been put on probation for not showing up to school.
The email threatens that her daughter could be withdrawn from school, lose her driver's license, or get called into truancy court if the family doesn't get in touch within a week.
Stevenson has gotten these emails for five months now — but her daughter has been done with high school coursework for a year. They don't even live in Indiana anymore. And the family has tried to get in touch with the school multiple times about Abbey's diploma.
"As long as she's a student, they're getting paid," Stevenson said.
Stevenson believes her daughter is likely one of the thousands of "ghost" students enrolled at Indiana Virtual School and Indiana Virtual Pathways Academy — inactive students who stay on the rolls and bring in more state funding for the troubled virtual charter schools.
A new report from the state examiner Monday revealed that the two online schools allegedly inflated their enrollments, reporting about twice as many students as they actually educated. The state board of education is expected to decide later this week whether to try to recover about $40 million from the schools.
Indiana Virtual School officials did not explain why they kept thousands of inactive or ineligible students on their rolls over three years. They said that they serve students who have struggled in traditional school settings and might be enrolled at their schools simply to get around mandatory attendance laws.
Rise & Shine Indiana
Start your morning with Chalkbeat to stay on top of the latest education news
"Chalkbeat is the Bible on local education news." — Jeffrey B.
Among the students recorded as attending Indiana Virtual School and Indiana Virtual Pathways Academy were students who had long since moved to another state, a student who had died, and hundreds of students who had been withdrawn from the schools for being inactive.
This is a flaw in virtual charter school accountability, said Gary Miron, a Western Michigan University professor who has studied K-12 online schools. It's easy for students to sign up, and it's just as easy for students to leave, he said: "They just check out. They stop attending."
If students stop going to virtual school but never formally transfer to another school, they don't trigger a sign to the state that the virtual school should no longer be taking money to educate them.
"It could be intentional or unintentional, but [virtual charter schools] have so many students on their rolls who are not in the schools anymore," Miron said. "They're not cleansing their rolls of all the inactive students they shouldn't be receiving money for."
Stevenson's daughter, for example, thought she was supposed to graduate last spring after she finished all her classes. But she missed a test required to graduate. She showed up to take the test but was directed to the wrong place and couldn't find the right location.
Since then, the Stevenson family said they struggled to get in touch with school officials to sort out how Abbey can reschedule the test she needs for her diploma. They've sent emails, made phone calls, and left messages that they say go unreturned or are met with confused responses. Stevenson has missed phone calls from school officials and can't reach them again.
Meanwhile, it appears Indiana Virtual Pathways Academy continues to consider Abbey a student. She moved to Ohio, but she can't start college or have career opportunities without her diploma.
"I don't understand what happened with the school," Stevenson said. "I'm just at a loss with it."
By Stephanie Wang swang@chalkbeat.org
In this story: Charter schools, Indiana virtual school, online schools
Facebook Twitter Email Republish Print
Public dollars
State cuts off funding to Indiana Virtual School and sister school. But will Indiana get its money back?
'How did we miss this?' Indiana officials blast lack of oversight in $40M virtual school scandal
head count
State could seek $40M after probe finds Indiana Virtual School inflated enrollment — even counting a student who had died

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
CENTRE for Trade Policy and Development (CTPD) executive director Isaac Mwaipopo has called for strong political will to address the growing problem of corruption, tax evasion and fraud in Zambia.
In a statement today, Mwaipopo said the findings of the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) and the Auditor General's Report will remain mere academic exercise gobbling tax-payers money with no follow up actions.
Mwaipopo said his organisation remained deeply concerned with the growing trend of illicit financial flows and blatant corruption in the public service as revealed in the latest FIC trends report.
He stated that it was increasingly becoming clear that the levels of corruption in the country are going up instead of reducing so were the cases of tax evasion and money laundering and other financial crimes.
"The latest FIC report just revealed that suspicious transactions reported this year have increased to K6.1 billion from 4.5 Billion reported in 2018. And according to this report, it is evident that almost all that corruption has taken its toll on the country and must be addressed with the urgency that it deserves," he said.
He warned that the economic implications of the illicit financial crimes were so damaging to a country like Zambia saying, it results in many devastating outcomes such as tax revenue losses, deprivation of citizen's access to a decent life as well as underdevelopment.
Mwaipopo expressed his disappointment that in the consecutive FIC two reports, the politically exposed persons were high on the list of culprits using conduits such as law and audit firms.
"These are the people that Zambians have trusted with positions of authority to promote and protect public interest but alas, they are now stealing from the people they are supposed to protect. This is a betrayal of the people's trust which should be condemned by all well-meaning Zambians," he said.
Mwaipopo stated that at a time when the country was in dire need of resources to finance its developmental programs due to several fiscal challenges, such blatant abuse of resources should not be entertained.
He urged government with the support of all law enforcement agencies not to take lightly the matters raised in the FIC report.
"Our Republican President, Edgar Lungu should prevail over the law enforcement agencies to deal decisively with the suspected individuals perpetrating these crimes. If at all the law enforcement agencies are lacking any resources to pursue the suspected perpetrators of the crimes reported in the two consecutive FIC reports, the government should provide the resources in abundance," Mwaipopo said.
He stated that his organisation is extremely concerned because the amounts in question are so huge.
"If safeguarded, the funds will go a long way to help the country in its various areas of need," he said.
Mwaipopo has urged all law enforcement officers at Zambia Police, Drug Enforcement Commission and Anti-Corruption Commission not to relent in their fight against the mentioned crimes.
"They should instead double their efforts and without fear or favour deal with all suspected perpetrators of such heinous crimes against the people of Zambia. This is critical in that it will also help this country serve resources not only for development but also for paying back public debt that has risen uncontrollably in the past few years," he said.


Duane Keiser is an accomplished painter. He has a one-a-day blog of his paintings, and a companion site of movies of the paintings being painted. Half of these look like photographs to me. I can't imagine how to use a paint brush to capture the gooey sheen of a chocolate covered cherry, or the subtle shades of ravioli in marinara sauce. They're good enough to eat, simple, but intimate and sensual.


text:
I Cellador sono una power metal band statunitense originaria di Omaha, Nebraska.

Storia
Chris Petersen e Josh Krohn fondarono la band sotto il nome Apostate.

I Cellador hanno subito diversi cambi di formazione sino ad oggi, tant'è che nessuno degli attuali componenti fa parte della formazione originale del 2003 a parte il chitarrista Chris Petersen.

Bill Hudson ha lasciato la band nel gennaio 2008.

Formazione

Formazione attuale
 Michael Gremio (Michael Smith Jr.) - voce
 Chris Petersen - chitarra
 Mika Horiuchi - basso
 Rick Halverson - batteria

Ex componenti
 Bill Hudson - chitarra, tastiere
 Josh Krohn - basso, voce
 Albert Kurniawan - batteria
 Joey "Necrotic Fleshrot" Cardenas - batteria
 Warren "Andy" Curry - voce
 Sam Chatham - chitarra
 Valentin Rakhmanov - basso
 David Dahir - batteria

Discografia
Album in studio
2006 - Enter Deception
2017 - Off the Grid
Demo
2004 - The Burning Blue
EP
2005 - Leaving All Behind
2011 - Honor Forth

Note

Collegamenti esterni

Gruppi musicali power metal

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Go Safe Cymru
Nominated for Innovation, Science & Technology award
GoSafe Cymru is a partnership between the four police forces, the 22 local authorities and the Welsh Government and their aim is to make Welsh roads safer for everyone by influencing the attitudes and behaviours of all road users.
With dashcams becoming more popular and an increase in cyclists and horse riders wearing helmet cameras, there has been a large increase in video evidence being sent to Wales' police forces.
However, there was no streamlined approach or system to collate and gather the footage and evidence. Operation SNAP was created and implemented to enable a streamlined process for the public to submit footage and to enable the Police to deal with video evidence in a much more efficient and organised way.
The system is live on the GoSafe website and enables the public to upload their video evidence and complete a statement about the offence they have witnessed. The form along with the video evidence is then automatically sent to the Police where officers review the footage and decide if any offences detected can be prosecuted.
Since SNAP came into force, the system now gets over 200 submissions every month from all around Wales with offences ranging from driving through red lights, dangerous manoeuvres, dangerous driving and close passes.
Through the submissions received through Operation SNAP, the Police can deal with offences they wouldn't otherwise be aware of and the offenders can be dealt with before they risk their safety and the safety of others again.
Several other Police forces have now adopted Operation SNAP and GoSafe has offered these forces advice on how to implement this innovative process.
Contact St David Awards


Single/book duo is available ONLY at www.PhoebeLenear.com!!!
Dr. Lenear's music takes the listener on a faith journey, characterizing a faith that prevails as sure, strong, steadfast, and unmoveable.
The book is an encouraging, enduring testimony of unyielding faith in the power of Almighty God, victory through His Word, and the strength, courage and comfort found in the persistent prayers and loving presence of family and friends.
Dr. Lenear takes the reader on a journey through her valley experience with cancer, assuring us all that, with faith in God and His Word, we will prevail in every circumstance, against every challenge, regardless of our condition. God never fails!
© 2019 Dr. Phoebe Lenear. All Rights Reserved. Powered by HostBaby.


A federal studyreleased in July by the DOE's National Energy Technology Laboratory, did find no evidence that chemicals from the fracking process had contaminated groundwater at one Pennsylvania drilling site.
States, tribes, and some local governments have primary responsibility for adopting and implementing programs to ensure proper management of these wastes. The estimated amount of oil in the Bakken Shale Formation is said to be billion barrels. For the Obama administration, energy independence is a dear goal, the pursuit of which must be realized through renewable energy.
It Oil fracking mostly water, though it Oil fracking can contain a wide range of additives and chemicals that serve an engineering purpose. And, we are yet to know the effects of fracking in sensitive zones. YES, many spills have ended up in drinking water sources. In reality the state was shielded from Washington influence thanks in part to private oil interests.
Earlier the smaller quakes in Oklahoma, Colorado and Arkansas have been linked to hydraulic fracturing.
Together with Horizontal drillingfracking has made the North Dakota dream a possibility. According to the U. In addition, 1, permits were issued last year, and have been issued so far this year.
One cubic meter of water is Guess what the right answer was? According to the U. Benzene, for example, is a known carcinogen, according to the American Cancer Society. Advocates insist it is a safe and economical source of clean energy; critics, however, claim fracking can destroy drinking water supplies, pollute the air, contribute to the greenhouse gases that cause global warming, and trigger earthquakes.
Another equally potent dampener would be unnecessary rules-this doesn't mean that the oil companies should be given a lease to pollute as they wish. Sept James C. EPA attributed this improvement to reductions in emissions from associated gas venting and flaring.
Geological Survey too acknowledges seismic disturbances with the waste water injection. But bythat number had almost doubled toaccording to the U. Induced seismicity is a complex issue, and the knowledge base surrounding it is rapidly changing. For the sliding sleeve method, wireline is usually not required.
The population has grown phenominally-an increase of 13 percent from to but the infrastructure lacks behind the boom.
Earlier the smaller quakes in Oklahoma, Colorado and Arkansas have been linked to hydraulic fracturing. Guess what the right answer was? Hydraulic fracturing itself is not the issue here. Alternating layers of cement and steel casings are designed to ensure well integrity as it passes through groundwater levels thousands of feet down to the energy-holding layers of rock.
You will sing a different tune.
Oh me oh my So what is the next step? The trick is to deftly manoeuvre the resources and not kill the goose for one egg. North Dakota created jobs where Obama didn't.
How fracking works Most fracking wells in use today rely on two technologies:The fracking frenzy in North Dakota has boosted the U.S. fuel supply—but at what cost? Hydraulic Fractured Well Listing. Changes for 20 AAC (f) adopted on 02/10/ Hydraulic Fracturing Permit Applications. Snake Oil: How Fracking's False Promise of Plenty Imperils Our Future [Richard Heinberg] on agronumericus.com *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers.
The rapid spread of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) has temporarily boosted US natural gas and oil production and sparked a massive environmental backlash in communities across the country.
The fossil fuel industry is trying to sell fracking. Hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling are safely unlocking vast U.S. reserves of oil and natural gas found in shale and other tight-rock formations. Developing energy from shale is an advanced process that uses the latest drilling technologies and equipment.
As for what fracking means to the United States – the answers are security, economic growth and jobs, jobs, jobs. U.S. oil and natural gas is on the verge of transforming the world's energy markets for a second time, further undercutting Saudi Arabia and Russia.
The widespread adoption of fracking in the U. Overview. Between the years –, there was an average of 25 earthquakes of magnitude three and larger in the central and eastern United States.


text:
Fox River Mall Collectibles, Toy, Comic, Sports Memorabilia and Pop Culture Show (Green Bay, Wisconsin)
February 9, 2023 - February 13, 2023
« Bristol Anime & Gaming Con (UK)
Milwaukee Comic Con (Wisconsin) »
You may find a wide variety of vintage, collectibles, sports memorabilia, coins, old toys, pop culture, anime, console gaming, nintendo, comics, action figures, tv/movie memorabilia, and a host of unique treasures!
At Wisconsin's Finest – Iconic Fox River Mall, Appleton, Wisconsin
Hours: Thur. 10-8, Fri. & Sat. 10-8, Sun. 11-6
Free admission and Free parking.
Comic Con, Toy Conventions Schedule
https://collectorabiliacon.com/event/fox-river-mall-collectibles-toy-comic-sports-memorabilia-and-pop-culture-show/
Fox River Mall
4301 W Wisconsin Ave
Appleton, WI 54166 United States + Google Map


text:
\section{Population and Public Health}\label{intro}
Population and public health are approaches to health research and practice which aim to to understand what makes and keeps people healthy \cite{rose1985sick}. The major underpinning principle for this approach is that of \emph{health equity}, defined as \emph{``Minimizing avoidable disparities in health and its determinants -- including but not limited to health care -- between groups of people who have different levels of underlying social advantage or privilege, i.e., different levels of power, wealth, or prestige due to their positions in society relative to other groups''} \cite{braveman2006health}. Thus this guiding principle necessitates a focus on determinants, antecedents and other factors related to health outside the hospital. As further described by the socioecological model of health (Figure \ref{fig:socio}), a cornerstone of these domains which provides a conceptual model to illustrate how the health of an individual is affected by multiple factors operating at different levels in a hierarchy, these multi-level factors include public policies at the national and international level, availability of health resources within a neighborhood, community behavior, and ultimately the habits and behavior of individuals \cite{bronfenbrenner1977toward}. Understanding the complex interactions between individuals and their environments is crucial to realize not just how the health of the high-risk individuals, for example, those suffering from cardiovascular disease risk, can be improved but also what policies would benefit the community as a whole, such as will introducing healthier food options in a neighborhood help people to improve their diet \cite{stern2016people}?

\begin{figure}
    \centering
    \includegraphics[scale=0.3]{Figures/socio_ecological.png}
    \caption{The socioecological model of health.}
    \label{fig:socio}
\end{figure}

\subsection{Potential impact}
Realizing these complex interactions and identifying their effect on health outcomes remains one of the most prominent challenges as impact of doing so would be very large. For example, the inequalities in life expectancy for women with different income levels in the United States are large and growing \cite{national2015growing}. As well in the United States, social factors account for 25-60\% of deaths in any given year according to results from various meta-analyses \cite{heiman2015beyond}, and these factors play a significant role in prevention of the five leading causes of death (diseases of the heart, cancer, unintentional injuries, cerebrovascular diseases, and chronic lower respiratory diseases) \cite{centers2014up}. Worldwide, 80\% of the growing burden of noncommunicable diseases could be prevented through modifying behaviors such as reducing tobacco/alcohol or fat and salt consumption, promoting physical activity and improving environmental conditions such as air quality and urban planning \cite{world20092008}.\\

\par
Although in the past decade statistical and machine learning approaches have made considerable progress in automating clinical tasks, here we aim to illustrates where and how such techniques can be useful in a more holistic view of health. Towards this, we summarize existing challenges in public and population health and related opportunities. The outline of the document is as follows: we introduce the data used in population and public health studies in Section \ref{data}, followed by approaches for analyzing risk factors and disparities in Section \ref{equity}, and finally, present some directions for future work that leverages synergies in machine learning and population and public health in Section \ref{conclusion}.

\section{Data in public health}\label{data}
Considering that health is affected by individual-level and community-level attributes, a large focus of work is on identifying and understanding all of these potential factors and how they affect health outcomes. Naturally, this involves assessing not just biological factors but also social factors such as income, education, and socio-economic status (SES). The World Health Organization (WHO) defines these social determinants of health (SDoH) as \emph{``conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age'', such circumstances are shaped by the distribution of power, money, and resources, not just at the local level but also global and national levels} \cite{who2008closing}. It is important to note that these factors can come into play and have effect throughout the life course or across generations \cite{cable2014life}. For example, adverse childhood experience of parents was found to be associated with higher odds of poor health of the child \cite{le2018intergenerational}. Thus it is paramount to look beyond the individual's immediate risk factors and assess such inter-generational effects as well as the social, economic, and cultural environments that an individual identifies with. We next present some of the approaches to identifying and assessing social factors. Following we describe, through the deep literature on social determinants, common approaches for their measurement, and we distill challenges which can illuminate potential opportunities for machine learning.

\subsection{Measuring social determinants of health}
Traditional approaches to data collection in public health involve aggregation across multiple levels. Individuals often report data to public health practitioners and healthcare workers, which is then aggregated by local officials and forwarded to health ministries at the national level and finally analyzed at the international level by organizations like World Health Organization, United Nations. This results in robust, denominator-based data available from public health or governmental organizations, such as the national health and nutrition examination survey (NHANES) \cite{national1994plan} or the behavioral risk factor surveillance system (BRFSS) \cite{stein1993behavioral}.  These types of data systems also aim to capture different indicators which compose each construct (e.g. housing quality can be measured through data on rental status, sanitation status, crowding, indoor air quality, etc.) \cite{kusnoor2018collection}. However, there is also a loss of critical information at an individual level due to aggregation as well as temporal delays in the process. Accordingly, the rising ubiquity in technologies such as smartphones and social media sites like Twitter or Instagram has come to the forefront, making it possible to access high-resolution data that does not suffer from recall or information biases, and to capture information across daily behavioral patterns \cite{mhasawade2020role, chunara2017denominator, zhan2018using}. \\

\noindent These new data sources provide opportunity for measuring social determinants, but also come with their own challenges. After over a decade of their use in health studies, it is now possible to distill common challenges. Beyond data privacy, which we highlight but do not discuss here at length as there are several other reports which focus on it \cite{o2011informational, mooney2018big}, one of the most prominent issues is understanding the study's denominator, i.e., who all were included in study \cite{chunara2017denominator}. Moreover, since studies are often focused on specific groups in the community, this raises internal and external validity issues. First, it is important to understand what the measured variables are indicative of, and what constructs they represent. For example, recent work on how individual-level syndromic reports or passive data from individuals relates to microbiologic confirmation \cite{daughton2020comparison}, aims to address early challenges highlighted in using data such as Google searches to predict influenza \cite{lazer2014parable}. Research on the data generating process of new digital data sources is also imperative to understand what the data represents, and why data is being shared by individuals \cite{mhasawade2020population}. Second, can the results be extended to other situations, groups, or events; which sub-populations are representative of the hypothesis \cite{mitchell2004research}? To understand this phenomenon, a recent study analyzed the characteristics of different surveillance approaches (such as the questions asked, time of data collection) for influenza and their effect on predictive performance. Even if similar syndromic data is collected across all the approaches, there are considerable differences in the predictive value of the syndromic data \cite{chunaradiversitysur}, highlighting that the same type of data can represent different factors across studies (in this case the mode of data collection can affect the specificity/sensitivity of respiratory infection syndromic data). Although there are significant differences in sample representation and predictivity across studies, it is crucial to understand external validity as it provides a way to understand population-level characteristics that remain invariant across studies \cite{chunara2017denominator,mhasawade2020population}.\\

\noindent Challenges in measuring social determinants echo recent work in the computer science literature. Holstein et al. interviewed data scientists and synthesized findings around the importance of better data for improving the performance of machine learning models opposed to model development \cite{holstein2019improving}. Further, mapping from the construct to the observed space can itself be a place where bias can enter \cite{friedler2016possibility}, and thus special attention to which data and from whom it is gathered, should be highlighted in health research.

\subsection{Integrating social determinants of health in machine learning models}
\noindent
Beyond work capturing social determinants using machine learning from person-generated sources \cite{akbari2019using, quisel2016intra}, a recent systematic review analyzed how social determinants have been used to study the risk factors of cardiovascular diseases \cite{yuan2020machine}. While common social determinants like age, gender, race, income, and education have been analyzed for estimating cardiovascular risk, most commonly the factors considered are at the individual-level even though research has clearly shown that community-level factors such as a person's neighborhood's overall income can also affect their disease risk.
\cite{yuan2020machine}. Moreover, most studies to-date using machine learning models have involved associative studies. However, it is essential to understand the complex causal pathways between the social factors and the health outcomes in order to design effective interventions. Thus, there is a need to look beyond familiar data sources such as electronic health records (EHR), and develop approaches for evaluating the causal underpinnings in the data that captures these multi-level factors. Recognizing and understanding these social determinants of health across high dimensional multi-modal sources is an area which may benefit through the use of machine learning.

\subsection{Are social variables intervenable?}
Sometimes the use of social variables in causal models is restricted, under the premise that they are non-manipulable, or not intervenable \cite{glymour2014commentary}. Moreover, causal methods often assume stable unit treatment value (SUTVA). This implies that there is no interference and only one version of treatment, but this is often impossible with the complex interaction between social determinants. One proposed solution for this is to manipulate downstream mediators, such as encouraging children to read in order to increase their cognitive ability. But in order to make structural changes, we still need to address the root cause of disparities, and also aim at intervening on upstream social determinants, such as improving SES \cite{lehman2019addressing}.

At the same time, quantitative health researchers have aimed to understand how structural factors relate to health while also keeping in mind what is possible to intervene. One example of this is a simulation study aimed at understanding factors related to reducing the prevalence of chronic illnesses. While it was postulated that multiple social factors like social cohesion, jobs/income, education level, individual behavior, housing and healthcare interventions can lead to reduction in chronic illness, the simulation study narrowed down which factors were related based on data from their setting. They were also able to quantify the intervention needed for each social factor in order to lower chronic illness prevalence \cite{mahamoud2013modelling}.

\section{Types of health tasks}\label{equity}
Guided by the principle of health equity defined above, we see that a broad focus on multi-level aspects related to health in order to understand as well as intervene on is essential. Accordingly, we developed a taxonomy to consolidate types of tasks. We provide examples of where machine learning has been used in each type of task, and where further innovation in each of these is possible as well. The taxonomy includes: 1) identification of factors (biological, environmental, social, etc.) and their relation to health, 2) design/evaluation of interventions and policies on health, 3) prediction of outcomes, and 4) allocation of resources at the individual or group level. We briefly describe examples of such tasks below, full discussion on the health taxonomy can be found at \url{https://chunaralab.github.io/MLPH}.
\begin{enumerate}
    \item \textit{Identification of factors}. Learning what contributes to health outcomes is a common theme across biological, social and other factors, and a good opportunity for learning from data which is a fundamental aspect of machine learning. The concept of identification comes into play across a broad range of studies in health, from learning biological mechanisms \cite{burgess2018inferring}, assessment of treatment effects \cite{lodi2019effect} to epidemiological studies of spatial factors \cite{bhatt2013global}.
    \item \textit{Design of interventions}. Interventions can occur at multiple levels and through different mediums, providing diversity in this category as well. For example, group based intervention programs are one of the means for reducing substance abuse by reinforcing positive behavior. With the advent of digital data available, social networks can be used for designing interventions and targeting high risk individuals in proximity with already exposed users. For example, \citet{rahmattalabi2018influence} present an influence-based partitioning of social networks to identify high impact intervention groups.
    \item \textit{Prediction of outcomes}. While predicting treatment effectiveness \cite{kreif2015evaluation}, mortality risk \cite{rajkomar2018scalable}, hospital readmission \cite{galiatsatos2019association}, and disease prognosis \cite{dugan2015machine} are some tasks well studied in machine learning, predicting risk scores with clinical algorithms while mitigating health disparities as well as prediction of outside-hospital events are still crucial challenges \cite{vyas2020hidden}.
    \item \textit{Allocation of resources}. Resource allocation is a well studied problem in artificial intelligence. For example, in order to ensure equity in access to resources \citet{snyder2018organ} suggest an allocation system combining a medical priority score and a geographic feasibility score to facilitate organ allocation across geographical boundaries. However, there is further opportunity to consider the types of resources and attributes which are considered in allocation, with a health equity lens.
\end{enumerate}

\subsection{Causal approaches to understand mechanisms between social determinants and health}
Causal approaches are critical for understanding the mechanism between different social factors and health outcomes. Causal methods provide a way to incorporate prior knowledge about mechanisms into modeling, and also to identify what is intervenable. For example, it is known that the social construct of `race' has direct effects on the health of individuals belonging to the disadvantaged group. To improve the health of the marginalized individuals, it may be argued that \emph{race} cannot be intervened upon and there is nothing that can be done to \emph{race} to improve the existing scenario. However, the social construct can be decomposed into several interacting factors like parents' genetics, family culture, social perspectives about appearance, the early life socio-economic conditions, and late-life socio-economic conditions. While some of the factors like parents' genetics cannot be intervened upon, it is still possible to mitigate health disparities by focusing on intervenable factors like socio-economic conditions \cite{vanderweele2014causal}. \\

\noindent Another aspect of modeling social determinants apart from decomposing social constructs into interacting factors is realizing the different pathways and interaction effects (i.e. learning the data generating process). For example, an analysis of the health behavior of individuals on social media website Instagram revealed that the immediate environment comprising of the food resources in the neighborhood as well as the social network of an individual (the profiles being followed and interacted with) affect what individuals post on Instagram about dining \cite{mhasawade2020role}. What is interesting here is the focus on learning the mechanism through which the social environment has an effect on the health behavior, more broadly than existing public health knowledge. While existing work in public health has shown there is a direct effect of the availability of resources in the proximity of an individual and their health \cite{morland2009obesity}, this work augments current understanding to include factors from the online environment and understanding the mechanism between the online and social environment and in turn its effect on what an individual posts online.\\

\begin{figure}
    \centering
    \includegraphics[scale=0.3]{Figures/education_cvd.pdf}
    \caption{Conceptual model linking educational attainment level with cardiovascular disease (CVD) \cite{hamad2019educational}.}
    \label{fig:education_cvd}
\end{figure}

\noindent Causal methods are critical in models, including when considering social variables. A natural experiment across various states in the United States (with varying compulsory education laws) analyzed the impact of education level on cardiovascular disease risk. A postulated causal graph with multiple pathways from education level to cardiovascular disease risk is represented in Figure \ref{fig:education_cvd}. A simple association method concludes that education level decreases cardiovascular disease risk across all risk factors such as BMI, cholesterol, smoking, and depression. On the other hand, a causal approach, known as instrumental variables (IV), presents that education does not improve BMI and cholesterol risks \cite{hamad2019educational}. This can be attributed to the sedentary lifestyle resulting from improved income sources correlated with increased education levels. It is thus essential to identify the various interacting factors comprising a social construct and estimate the effects of social determinants via appropriate causal methods.

\subsection{Pitfalls with `proxies' in health modeling}
Although it is necessary to include and analyze the several comprising factors of social constructs like `race,' it is often unknown what the comprising factors are, how they interact, and how to model them. An inaccurate understanding of variations within and between groups, along with difficulty in attaining the relevant social factors have lead to the use of \emph{known} social constructs like race as \emph{proxies} for these unknown, unmeasured factors. A recent study highlighted several clinical tools across cardiology, nephrology, obstetrics, and many other specialties, which all use race while estimating risk factors, and how this use severely compromises the health of marginalized individuals \cite{vyas2020hidden}. A specific example of this is in the common way that kidney function is estimated using glomerular filtration rate (GFR) (estimated glomerular filtration rate) which uses serum creatinine levels and the race of the individual. Serum creatinine is the waste product in the blood resulting from muscle activity, is absorbed from the blood by the kidneys. However, under abnormal kidney function, the level of serum creatinine increases in the blood. Another reason for the increased serum creatinine level is higher muscle mass, which is attributed as the reasoning for considering the race factor. However, further research and understanding of the construction of this equation have illuminated that the use of race is not appropriate. It is not an accurate measure of the proxy, and furthermore results in delayed and disparate treatments to patients identifying as \emph{Black} individuals \cite{eneanya2019reconsidering,levey2020kidney,grubbs2020precision}. Discussion of these issues has led to the elimination of race considerations in calculating eGFR in several hospitals around the United States \cite{raceAKI,raceAKIdrop}. How any relevant genomic variation can be assessed and reported without stratifying populations based on factors like race and ethnicity is a challenge to be addressed \cite{bonham2018examining}.

\subsection{Multiple axes of disparities and intersectionality}
A health disparity/inequality is a particular difference in type of health where disadvantaged social groups like women, poor, racial/ ethnic minorities experience greater health risks \cite{braveman2006health}. Such disparities are reflective of social oppression and its influence on the health of disadvantaged individuals. It is essential to identify what leads to disparate health outcomes in order to design interventions to mitigate disparities and improve the health of high risk populations. This involves multiple tasks involving what factors affect health including both individual-level and social factors as mentioned before \cite{mhasawade2020role,mccradden2020ethical}, measuring the health outcomes \cite{chen2020robustly,obermeyer2019dissecting}, measuring disparities across social groups \cite{braveman2004approach,penman2016measurement,rajkomar2018ensuring}, and finally designing policies to mitigate the disparities \cite{rajkomar2018ensuring}. The steps towards mitigating disparities are summarized in Figure \ref{fig:pipeline}.\\

\begin{figure}
    \centering
    \scalebox{0.8}{\input{Figures/pipeline}}
    \caption{Pipeline for detecting health disparities}
    \label{fig:pipeline}
\end{figure}

\noindent We now present a specific challenge in measuring disparities across groups of people. Health disparities are often measured by considering the average health outcomes of individuals identifying to a specific social construct say \emph{race}. For example, is the psychiatric readmission rate the same across racial groups \cite{chen2020robustly}. However, measuring health disparities as averages is not enough to identify the narrower sub-populations still suffering from the burden. A longitudinal study of prenatal care access for childbearing women in California across 1994-1995 and 1999-2001 reveals that the federal and state policies within these periods, on average, improved the health of pregnant women. However, disparities continued to exist across income groups even with the introduction of policies \cite{braveman2006health}. Thus, it is vital to measure differences across multiple social axes such as race, income, and education and primarily focus on individuals existing at the intersections of social disadvantages \cite{crenshaw1989demarginalizing}.\\

\noindent  One approach for addressing the disparities at intersections of social factors is a multilevel approach known as MAHIDA (Multilevel Analysis of Individual Heterogeneity and Discrimination Accuracy) \cite{evans2018multilevel}. It involves decomposing the total variance into a) between-strata variance focusing on identifying and assessing disadvantaged social groups, and b) within-strata variance which aims to identify individuals within a social group that are at added disadvantaged as compared to other members of the group. The approach presents several advantages over fixed-effect models that include interaction terms for multiple sensitive attributes. These include restricting the parameter growth to linear compared to geometric and adjusting for the sample sizes of the intersectionalities. The approach is consistent with the field of eco-epidemiology that cautions against aggregation. Studies have also focused on incorporating information across multiple environments to learn population-level characteristics, especially when subgroups are underrepresented across individual studies \cite{mhasawade2020population}.

\subsection{Health disparities and algorithmic fairness}
The growing use of machine learning methods in healthcare has raised the question of whether the model outcomes are discriminatory based on variables like race and ethnicity that are often used in constructing predictions \cite{chen2020robustly,mhasawade2020population}. A recent literature in machine learning and statistics aims on ensuring that model outcomes are not discriminatory towards individuals who have the same \emph{merit} \cite{kasy2020fairness,mitchell2018prediction}. For example, multiple fairness definitions like equality of opportunity, demographic parity have been suggested as approaches to restrict model outcomes to ensure fairness. However, given the complex causal relationships between the biological, social and environmental factors that lead to disparities in health outcomes \cite{mccradden2020ethical} outlined here, questions remain regarding such advances in algorithmic fairness and how they may interface with health disparities \cite{mccradden2020ethical, kasy2020fairness,friedler2016possibility}. Moreover, assessing disparate health outcomes becomes challenging when the underlying causal mechanisms are not known. We briefly outline specific challenges regarding algorithmic fairness and health disparities. \\

\noindent \textbf{Algorithmic design goals.} First, it is crucial to ensure that the algorithm design supports the goal of \emph{health equity}. For example, \citet{obermeyer2019dissecting} present that racial disparities in risk scores are a result of considering financial cost expenditure as a proxy for health care needs. It is therefore essential to be aware of such proxies and also assess disparities through different causal pathways, namely 1) direct, where the social construct has a direct impact on the outcome, and 2) through indirect causal pathways which provide an opportunity for performing interventions \cite{wu2019pc}.

\noindent \textbf{Unexplained variance resulting from proxies}. Consider the scenario represented in Figure \ref{fig:un_variance} where we are concerned with predicting the health outcome, say risk for cardiovascular disease using the protected attribute, and clinical conditions. We also want to restrict models outcomes to be fair using some fairness metric like demographic parity. Even if we are successful in ensuring that the risk is fair with respect to the \emph{racial identity}, we are still left with unexplained variance for the social components of race. As we illustrate above, race is a social construct, and it would be unclear if such a model accounts for variances in the true mechanisms which race is acting as a proxy for. For example, do equal risk scores for Black and non-Black patients also ensure that there is no disparity across, say lower-income Black patients vs. higher-income Black patients. Thus, there is a need to both identify intersectional social groups as well as underlying causal mechanisms, and ensure algorithmic fairness for the same.

\begin{figure}
    \centering
    \scalebox{0.9}{\input{Figures/distill}}
    \caption{Perceived protected attribute $P$ is composed of several social factors such as education $E$, income level $I$, and neighborhood characteristics $N$. Health outcome $H$ is to be predicted using the clinical variables $C$, and protected attribute $P$ while ensuring that the model prediction is fair with respect to $P$.}
    \label{fig:un_variance}
\end{figure}

\noindent \textbf{Equity vs. in-sample fairness}. \noindent Since data input for the algorithms may not be representative of the population for which decision might be made, it is crucial to be aware of the sub-populations included in the study \cite{yang2020causal,nishtala2020missed}, and mitigate disparate outcomes for under-represented sub-populations \cite{mhasawade2020population}. Figure \ref{fig:insurance} represents a common case in healthcare where different individual factors are used to make algorithmic decisions for patients. A fair algorithmic restricting the model decisions in favor of $P$ still suffers from population unfairness even if it achieves in-sample fairness. This is worsened by considering the insurance type of the individual, which leads to an association between the said insurance and health outcomes. It is important to note that often individuals are unable to access care, and remain at higher risk. Thus, it is imperative to consider if the aims of our efforts will alleviate and not exacerbate health inequities.

\begin{figure}
    \centering
    \scalebox{0.9}{\input{Figures/insured}}
    \caption{Perceived protected attribute $P$, clinical variables $C$, and the insurance type $I$  used to determine the treatment $T$, and ultimately assess the health outcomes $H$.}
    \label{fig:insurance}
\end{figure}

\section{Conclusion}\label{conclusion}
Health equity is a vast concept, and one that requires understanding and assessment in an ongoing manner, as factors related to health are shaped and change. Through the summary of existing work in population and public health, specific discussion of the importance of social determinants and challenges in their measurement and incorporation into causal models, we have synthesized the many open areas for \emph{machine learning}, to advance and build on research and practice in this area. The taxonomy helps lay out different areas in health where machine learning has and can play an important role; identifying factors related to health outcomes, design/evaluation of interventions and policies, prediction of outcomes and allocation of resources.
Finally, we also discuss how the important growing research on algorithmic fairness interfaces with health disparities. Full discussion on the health taxonomy and related topics can be found at \url{https://chunaralab.github.io/MLPH}. In sum, there are many opportunities to build on the deep body of work on health equity. We hope that this work serves to inform and activate the machine learning community on these critical topics.

\section{Acknowledgments}
We thank Dr. Stephanie Cook and Harvineet Singh for helpful discussions on this topic. The work was partially supported under National Science Foundation grant 1845487.

\bibliographystyle{abbrvnat}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaArXiv


text:
Q: Forcing a language change notification iOS my app is being localized and we are concerned with dialects.  (ie.  difference between spanish and spanish in peurto rico)  I notice that just changing the region doesn't push a notification to the app that will trigger the localization.. only changing the language triggers this notification.
In my app delegate i would like to check to see if the region has changed in my applicationDidBecomeActive method and if it has, i'd like to push the notification that iOS would have pushed if the language had changed.. is that possible?

A: Each time your app returns to the foreground (not when it becomes active), get the current locale. Compare the latest locale to the previous locale. If the new and previous locale are different enough for you, post the notification.
Example - going from Spain to Mexico should change the locale from es_ES to es_MX.
Edit:
To post the notification you can do:
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] postNotificationName:NSCurrentLocaleDidChangeNotification object:nil];

A: To programatically post the notification:
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] postNotificationName:NSCurrentLocaleDidChangeNotification object:self userInfo:nil];

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Submitting a support ticket says I need some VIP service, I thought support tickets were free to use? Perhaps something in my account got corrupted?
"You must have the "Live Phone Support Service" to speak with a FreedomPop representative by phone. However you can submit a ticket, and speak with a FreedomPop representative by email for free. "
We apologize for the lack of response.
Please be aware that phone support and to submit a ticket online, the services are only available to Premium Support subscribers. You can add Premium Support subscription from your online profile to be able to contact them at 888-701-1353.
You could also visit one of our Basic support options such as forums.freedompop.com, support.freedompop.com, or on Twitter via Direct Message.
If you would like us to give you more assistance over this channel, provide us with your with a description of your issue as well as confirm the email address your account is under.


text:
Posted by Stephen H. Smith July 14, 2014 May 14, 2017 All Posts, Buildings, Maps, Pennsylvania, Roads, Schools, Springettsbury Township, York County4 Comment
Miller's One-Room Schoolhouse (~1860-1952)
Miller's One-Room Schoolhouse in Springettsbury Township (From Collections of York County Heritage Trust; Photo by Scott W. Knaub in 1941)
This is a photo of Miller's One-Room Schoolhouse as it stood along Heindel Road during 1941 in Springettsbury Township. The photo was taken by Scott W. Knaub and is from the Collections of the York County Heritage Trust. Following the 1951-1952 school year, it was one of the last five One-Room Schoolhouses that closed in Springettsbury Township.
Students received an education in this schoolhouse from about 1860 to 1952. Through, and including the 1950-1951 school year; students, spanning eight grades, were taught in this one-room. During the final year as a schoolhouse, it was used for students spanning grades 1 to 6.
In terms of the present surrounding landmarks, I've indicated the location of Miller's Schoolhouse on the following Bing.com Aerial Photo. I've crossed out Concord Road and Davies Drive, since they did not exist at present locations when Miller's was a schoolhouse. The yellow lines indicate the location of early roads in the area.
2014 Bing.com Aerial Photo over a section of Springettsbury Township, York Co., PA (Annotations by S. H. Smith, 2014)
In 1856, a tiny 0.08-acre lot was set-aside at a "T" intersection for a school building. This lot was distinctively in the middle of a farm lane, on the boundary between John Miller's and John Stricker's farms. Today that building still stands as a private home at 3565 Heindel Road; as seen in the following photo. It is still uniquely located, as if it was originally placed in the middle of Heindel Road.
I've seen various years stated when this building was first utilized as a schoolhouse; among them are 1856, 1860 and 1861. Since a schoolhouse does not appear at this location on Shearer's 1860 Map of York County, circa 1860 is probably the best way to state the starting year for Miller's One-Room Schoolhouse.
The building ceased being a schoolhouse on September 6, 1952, when the School District of Springettsbury Township sold the building on the 0.08-acre lot to Reginald H. Heindel and Alverta S. Heindel, his wife. There have been a number of private owners since that time.
Look for my post on Friday for memories of Miller's One-Room Schoolhouse and the surrounding area by a former student. Continue reading for related posts and a compilation of the teachers that taught at Miller's:
I've utilized the York County Heritage Trust collection of Directories of the Teachers and School Directors of York County to compile a list of Miller's One-Room Schoolhouse teachers. The York County Heritage Trust collection of directories, for York County schools, start with the 1923-24 school year and no directory for the 1931-32 school year is available.
School Year . . . . . Teacher
1923-24 . . . . . A. H. Throne
1925-26 . . . . . Margie Paules
1926-27 . . . . . Erma Throne
1932-33 . . . . . Alice E. Saylor
1935-36 . . . . . Erma S. Throne
1941-42 . . . . . Mrs. Erma Throne Daron
1951-52 . . . . . Lois M. Price
Related posts include:
Springettsbury Township closed their last five One-Room Schoolhouses in 1952
Memories of Miller's One-Room Schoolhouse and the Surrounding Area
Widespread One-Room School names in York County
Locations of five One-Room Schoolhouses that closed in 1952; and The Avalong Connection
Stony Brook One-Room Schoolhouse (1913-1952)
Photo of Students that attended Stony Brook One-Room School in 1949
Witmer's One-Room Schoolhouse (1889-1952)
Witmer's One-Room Schoolhouse named for Preacher David Witmer
Lefever's One-Room Schoolhouse impacted York Suburban
Pennsylvania Governor Wolf on the cover of the Directory of the Teachers and School Directors of York County
Reading the HEADLINES; A Quick Index to ALL YorksPast Posts
Tractor Seat Chair or Modern Art; You Decide


Did You Know Jimi Hendrix Was In Seventeen Magazine?
In 1969, the iconic rock legend appeared in a fashion spread in the venerable teen magazine. And yes, it was kinda weird.
In the Feb. 1969 issue of Seventeen, Jimi Hendrix participated in a fashion photo shoot -- which I only assume was about how to coordinate T-shirts, handkerchiefs, and skirts.
In 1969, Jimi was one of the world's highest paid performers; six months after he appeared in the magazine he headlined Woodstock.
And he brought along his band members Noel Redding (bassist) and Mitch Mitchell (drums) to participate in all the fun.
Jimi was clearly thrilled to be there.
But not a thrilled as this model.