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The Notre-Dame de Paris is a gothic-designed, Roman Catholic Church which sits on the island of Ile de la Cité in the River Seine. Standing at 69 metres high (226 feet), the construction of the cathedral began in 1163 during the reign of King Louis the 7th and was completed in 1345. Much of the Cathedral was desecrated in the 1790's during the French Revolution - and further damaged during the 2nd World War - however the building was restored between 1991 and 2010
Exploring the Beautiful Notre-Dame Cathedral
Copyright © Go To Travel Guides The Notre-Dame de Paris is a gothic-designed, Roman Catholic Church which sits on the island of Ile de la Cité in the River Seine. Standing at 69 metres high (226 feet), the construction of the cathedral began in 1163 during the reign of King Louis the 7th and was completed in 1345. Much of the Cathedral was desecrated in the 1790's during the French Revolution - and further damaged during the 2nd World War - however the building was restored between 1991 and 2010
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Q: How do i convert a JS object to JSON? How do I convert a JS object to a JSON string?
var o = { name: "a", id:5};
var sz = //???
alert('The json will look like ' + sz);

I would like to do it natively if possible, or using jQuery if not.

A: You are looking for the JSON.stringify method:
var sz = JSON.stringify(o);

This method is part of the ECMAScript 5 Standard, and almost every browser includes it.
For older browsers and IE < 8, you can include the json2.js file.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


King Philippe, Queen Mathilde, Crown Princess Elisabeth, Princess Eleonore, Prince Gabriel and Prince Emmanuel attended a religious service and Military parade on the occasion of Belgian National Day at The Saint Michael and Saintt Gudula Cathedral in Brussels on July 21, 2017. Queen Mathilde wore a flower print dress by Natan.
Beautiful family. The children are growing so fast and are so tall.
I agree completely! Absolutely lovely family! And they're all age apropriate!!!
All three dresses are lovely!
Elisabeth has just almost adult.She is beautiful princess and she will be wonderful queen.
Matylda is smart but she doesn't dazzles.
heel veel op haar moeder ,een hele leuke dame!!!!
wow, Elisabeth - turning into a real stunner! That´s a gorgeous dress for a teenager: simple, cute and innocent and at the same time feminine, elegant and flattering. It´s not easy to dress young girls at that age but this is one of the best takes I´ve ever seen, and matching the king´s order of Leopold to boot.
Elisabeth gets prettier, more graceful and confident each time we see her out and about. A lovely family. Mathilde's dress would be much better without the horizontal seam at the waist which kills the beautiful flower print. And I just cannot stand trumpet sleeves. Almost forgot: Gabriel is going to be the best looking male royal of his generation.
Yes, I think you are right about the queen's dress, Elisabeth and Gabriel. That flower print is a pretty thing but not used as well as it could have been. The sleeves' trumpet is too over-powering in size, and the print would've made a nice peplum on a bodice. Or a little purse made with the print would be cute. The two boys have new suits- good!
Norway: Girl. Correct me, someone, if I'm wrong!
Lizzie, there are Christian of Denmark and Sverre of Norway and as a "minor" Royal Claus Casimir of Oranje Nassau.
Sorry, I did forget about Christian and Sverre - Gabriel is still the most handsome, I think.
Elisabeth looks fantastic. Love the color, simple cut of the dress. Perfect dress for someone of her age. She's going to be a tall woman. Mathilde looks also very pretty.
Beautiful family. Mathilde and Elizabeth look very good.
Lovely dresses. Cute princesses, and Queen Mathilde is beautiful. Prince Gabriel is taken after his Mother, and he is the handsome one in this nice family.
Well chosen colour-combinations here and a talented taylor's help!
I agree, Mathilde has done a much better job than any other royal mother of her generation in dressing the children. Classy but not stuffy (like the Cambridges - in my opinion).
A very lovely and loving family. The boys look smart and the girls look very pretty in their contrasting pink/purple dresses. Elisabeth, in particular, looks stunning. She is growing jato a very attractive young lady.
I like the colour and style of Matilde's dress and think her hat is very elegant - must admit I'm not totally convinced by the splash of flowers on waist and sleeves.
Franny, those were going to be my words - a lovely and loving family! The interaction between the young people is charming.
Mathilde looks great and Elisabeth looks amazing - it's a perfect dress for her age. Elegant but not too sophisticated. I'm very impressed.
The children look lovely, and they are all growing up so fast. Both of the girls are beautifully and appropriately dressed, they look really lovely.
Can't say I am a fan of Mathilde's dress, but I reckon Maxima would love those sleeves!
Unfortunately, Maxima, Mathilde and Maria Teresa love Natan too much.
Woww. Love Mathilde's dress. Very nice.
wow European royals have some very beautigul kids!!


Looking for commercial property to let in a specific area? The property team at Pall Mall are happy to discuss your requirements. Fill in our simple contact form and we'll work to find your ideal property.


29 years might have been too long for most but for me, someone who has been juggling the past few years as a frustrated cartoonist, a newbie fashion designer, a struggling singer and dancer, a wannabe actor, a freelance writer, a rusty instrumentalist, and who knows what else! A whole lifetime wouldn't be enough for me to express the budding artistry which bloomed unexpectedly, in such an old girl as I am. Facing fears, being brave, realizing dreams, who says there's a timeframe for that? It's never gonna be too late. How can I say? Head on and dive into my pensieve: CONFESSIONS OF A LATE BLOOMER.
In this blog, thelatebloomer11 shares to all her readers her confessions about the latest product she tried, the chic makeup look she created, the comfy but cute outfit she put together, the oldest book she read, the most recent movie she watched, the beautiful places she visited, the absurd experiences she had, the amazing people she met, the lovely friends she gained, the bizarre food she cooked or maybe tasted, the wonderful discoveries she made, the unexpected lessons and skills she acquired and the list will just go on as she might be a late bloomer but she's living her life now to the fullest. So join her as she tells the world that being a late bloomer is not at all a bad thing because you'll see through this blog that LIFE has just started.
If you're a company/businessperson and are interested in a partnership or you simply wish to send me your products for review (whether thru a blogpost or a YouTube video), feel free to email me at thelatebloomer11@yahoo.com.


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History of the Fair Trade Movement
June 11, 2015 Caleb Benadum Story
Empowerment, Forced Labor, Slave Free Lifestyle
A Moral Imperative: Quakers and "Fair Trade" During Historic Slavery
The Fair Trade movement has modest beginnings but is founded in certain concepts. Drawing from a variety of sources—such as religion, organized labor, early human rights, and economic theory—the movement has appealed to a board audience only in the past 60 years. The very first "fair trade" movement can be found in the Quaker Free Produce movement. Offering a non-violent way to combat slavery, an institution that the Quakers considered immoral, the movement boycotted goods that were made with slave labor. At various points in the movement, people tried to source alternative goods that were made with free labor. The movement was formalized in Pennsylvania with the founding of the "Free Produce Society" in 1826. While the movement had some support through the 1830s, it was on the downslide when Levi Coffin got involved.
Levi Coffin, often called the president of the Underground Railroad, moved from the country of Indiana into the City of Cincinnati at the urging of some of his Quaker contemporaries. His express purpose was to manage a storefront that would sell goods made by free labor. For ten years he labored, trying to turn the venture into a profitable business. Eventually, he was forced to give up the store, concluding that he would not be able to make it into a sustainable business. However, his store had made a significant contribution to the idea that consumer behavior can make a difference. He bought cotton from a farm in Mississippi where a slave owner had freed, and then hired as free laborers, all of his once-slaves. He bought other commodities from places where the materials were made or sourced from free labor.
The latter part of the 19th century saw the end of chattel slavery in the U.S. With the end of slavery as it was known, all goods began to be produced by free labor. But as exploitation would expand, so would the movement that advocated for better consumer behavior.
The Re-emergence of Fair Trade: World-shops, Anti-Colonialism, and Labor Rights
The fair trade movement popped back up in the 1940s as a way to combat poverty. The Church of the Brethren founded SERRV, an organization originally dedicated to providing economic opportunities for refugees in Europe after World War II, in 1949. Several years before that, the Mennonite Central Committee founded Ten Thousand Villages, an organization which is still active in the Fair Trade movement today. Ten Thousand Villages was an attempt to support artisans in impoverished countries by selling their wares in developed countries.
However, Fair Trade didn't start to catch on in the United States until after it had caught on in Europe. As colonialism waned, the dominant economic theories, which mostly supported unregulated global capitalism, began to come under critique from trade unions, international organizations, and student groups. The liberalization of trade, which removed state-supported regulations on trade meant to protect local industries, had unintended consequences in allowing private entities to exploit and utilize cheap labor. This was seen as neo-imperialism. In response, organizations began to provide private and voluntary forms of fairly trading with impoverished peoples. OXFAM began to sell handicrafts out of catalogues and out of its UK-based offices. Other groups and organizations sold goods informally throughout the 1960s as alternative trade solutions. A worldshop, the world's first Fair Trade storefront, opened in 1969 in The Netherlands. The movement continued through the 1970s and 1980s, and new types of goods began to be sourced as Fair Trade. These new goods included agricultural products, like coffee, instead of the traditional handicrafts that had been the staple of the Fair Trade movement.
Fair Trade during this time was connected to various social movements. It was advocated as a way to boycott the policies of the Apartheid state in South Africa, as a way to support pro-labor efforts and to protest the perceived capitalist agenda of the WTO, as a way to support workers' solidarity in the 1990s, and as a way to protect against labor abuses including the use of so-called sweatshops. No matter who advocated the use of Fair Trade products, the focus was on fairly trading with impoverished peoples in order to provide economic empowerment.
The Rise of the Certification, and Anti-Slavery
In 1988, a Dutch organization that took its name from a fictional anti-colonial novel, Max Havelaar, began certifying products as fairly trading. This was the forerunner to the modern-day certification which now defines the fair trade movement. The International Fair Trade Association was established in 1989. The Fair Trade Federation was formed in 1994. Fairtrade International was founded in 1997, and brought together a variety of already-existing Fair Trade certifications in order to provide a standardized norm. However, a variety of organizations still exist that certify products as Fair Trade: Fair Trade USA, Catholic Relief Services Fair Trade, Fair Trade Towns USA, Equal Exchange, and others.
And that is how Fair Trade, as we know it, was born. Fair Trade certified products can be found in any major grocery chain or store, and in small 'worldshops.' Ten Thousand Villages still sells artisan products, and other retailers sell Fair Trade products online and in-stores. How did Fair Trade become identified with Anti-Slavery? Simple. The modern Anti-Slavery movement began in the mid-1990s. But the focus was undeniably on sex trafficking, despite some of the impetus for the Anti-Slavery movement coming from the work the CIW was doing with farmworkers in Florida. In the early 2000s, people began to recognize that there were a significant amount of people that were being used in forced labor situations to provide products. People started to realize that those products were ending up in our grocery stores.
Take, for example, Thailand. Unfortunately, the Southeast Asian country has been criticized heavily in the past several months, although not without cause. The shrimp that is caught in the gulf, often with sailors who are enslaved, is sold to companies that ship it all over the world. The shrimp that comes on your shrimp cocktail in a fancy restaurant could have been, and very well may have been, caught by slaves. Another "Fair Trade"-like concept is ethically-sourced goods, or direct sourcing. The latter is what is being done by the CIW with their Fair Food Campaign, which asks companies to commit to paying a penny more per tomato in order to ensure that tomato pickers in Florida receive fair compensation for their work. In our globalized world, how do we ensure that the goods we buy are made with free (as in non-slave) labor? The answer is simple: We become better consumers. Buying Fair Trade products is one way to do that. Another is to press companies to publish their supply chains, or commit to better vetting policies. Another is to source directly from ethical suppliers.
We live in a world that is increasingly without borders. Our products are no exception. If we are committed to modern abolition, to the fight against the modern slave trade, then we must be careful what our money supports. Don't support slave labor, and the crooked economy that allows it. Support people who are paid a fair and just wage for their work. Why? Because you expect to be. Why shouldn't they?
Topics: Empowerment, Forced Labor, Slave Free Lifestyle
Caleb Benadum is the Program Manager for the Trafficking in Persons Report Global Heroes Network, an upcoming web-based project planned for January 2015. He graduated from Capital University with a degree in Philosophy, and the University of Cincinnati Law School with a Juris Doctor degree. Having spent much of his life overseas, he is committed to modern-day abolitionism and the promotion of human rights around the world.
June 25, 2014 Photo Gallery
Combating Child Labor in the Afghan Carpet Sector
March 03, 2015 Caleb Benadum Story
After Aftercare
The question really is this: how do we empower survivors to the level that they can achieve real, long-lasting success and live relatively normal lives?
September 22, 2015 Mariah Long Opinion
Challenges of Running an Aftercare Shelter
She once threatened a trafficker trying to gain information about the women inside her shelter. Monica charged, "I know where I am going when I die; hell is going to eat you alive." Yes. That happened.
Fight Trafficking on Giving Tuesday
Giving Tuesday is a global day of giving. This year, support End Slavery Now and help us educate and empower others to fight human and labor trafficking!
Watch The Fight Against Sex Slavery
Fighting slavery means finding stable employment.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Abstract We update the systematic studies of circular polarization in integrated pulse profiles of Han et al. Sense reversal can occur in either core or cone components, or near the intersection between the components. The correlation between the sense of circular polarization and the sense of position angle variation for conal double pulsars is confirmed with a much larger database. Some pulsars show clear changes of circular polarization with frequency. Circular polarization is marginally different between millisecond and normal pulsars.
GB/T 7714 Xiao-peng You,Jin-lin Han. A summary of pulsar circular polarization[J]. CHINESE JOURNAL OF ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS,2006,6:56-58.
APA Xiao-peng You,&Jin-lin Han.(2006).A summary of pulsar circular polarization.CHINESE JOURNAL OF ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS,6,56-58.
MLA Xiao-peng You,et al."A summary of pulsar circular polarization".CHINESE JOURNAL OF ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS 6(2006):56-58.


Green Party Deputy Leader Catherine Martin, who worked at St Tiernan's Community School for 16 years prior to becoming a TD, said it is very frustrating and disheartening for the staff and students.
She said: "Teachers and pupils in schools like St Tiernan's feel demoralised and rightfully draw the conclusion that at best they are not getting a fair chance, and at worst they are being neglected by a Government that appears not to care.
"The overarching priority for this or any other government should be to support our most disadvantaged schools and vulnerable students as education is key to striving to achieve equality of opportunity.


Inatteso Cafe and its sister restaurant Inatteso Pizza Bar have proudly been serving Battery Park City residents, visitors, and tourists alike since the winter of 2007. The cafe and pizza bar are located along the idyllic tree lined west street esplanade in southern Battery Park City. Just steps away are popular sites such as the Battery, Statue of Liberty ferries, Jewish Heritage Museum, 9/11 Memorial, Skyscraper Museum, The National Museum of the American Indian, and picture-perfect views of the Freedom Tower.
The cafe offers the highest quality espresso, coffee, beverages, hand-made pastries, breakfast, panini, soups, and salads. Inatteso translates into "unexpected" in Italian. Being independently run and operated gives Inatteso Cafe the opportunity to surprise our guest with an ever changing menu of "unexpected" cakes, cookies, cup cakes, pastries, gelato, savories, and hand-made treats and sweets.


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Advent Christian Village
Village Lodge
Low Ropes Challenge Course
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Camp Suwannee
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Home > Low-Income Senior Housing: Great Places to Call Home
Low-Income Senior Housing: Great Places to Call Home
By Ann Thompson
No matter our age, we all crave a place to call our own that is comfortable and secure, has friends close by, and affords privacy when we want it. We do not "outgrow" the desire for these things. But, sometimes, after the paychecks stop coming and the savings account dwindles, seniors wonder what's next. How will they afford a place of their own? What are their options?
Over 50 years ago, the Housing Act of 1959 became law. The Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly Program was established by the Act to provide affordable rental housing with supportive services for the elderly, so they can continue to age in place with dignity and independence.
My first introduction to Supportive Housing for the Elderly was in 1972 when my Aunt Mary Jane moved to such a property. My aunt, a retired school teacher with no children of her own and living in a Jacksonville suburb, had been widowed the year before. At the time she announced to me that she was making the move, I was recently out of college and newly married. I could not imagine her moving from her home, the hometown she had grown up in, and her longtime friends. Despite my personal reservations, the move was the right decision for her. In hindsight, I believe that it allowed her to expand her horizons, meet new people, have new experiences, and find a way to stay connected and involved. She volunteered in the community, she joined a travel group and went to many parts of the country she wanted to visit, and she had easy access to arts and entertainment events.
It was her home for 17 years. As she needed additional services, such as housekeeping, help with transportation, home health care, and meals delivered to her home, those services were available there. She was able to remain in a comfortable, safe environment, surrounded by neighbors who had become like family to her.
Over 8,000 Section 202 properties have been developed across the country with over 390,000 units for seniors to rent. These senior communities are located in every part of the country, including such places as rural Dowling Park, Florida and in the heart of downtown Atlanta, Georgia. The properties are developed, owned and operated by faith-based, fraternal, or other not-for-profit organizations.
Some senior communities admit individuals into their 202s who pay fair market rent due to their income, but in most cases, here is how the Section 202 rents are calculated for persons who are eligible:
The 202 program is designed to serve persons of at least 62 years of age with low to moderate income. The average age of residents in 202 housing is 79 and the average income is around $10,000 annually.
The rent that the senior pays is based on their income and assets, minus an allowance for medical expenses. Adjustments are made based on allowances for documented medical expenses and health insurance. The income eligibility limits vary by state and location and are available at www.hud.gov, or by contacting the local housing authority or a Section 202 property where you would like to live.
The rent a senior would pay for a Section 202 property is a figure based on 30% of the adjusted annual income. For example, a person receiving $10,000 a year with $1,200 in medical expenses a year deducted would pay approximately $220 a month for rent.
My chosen career path has always been in service to the elderly. After watching my aunt thrive in her senior community, I became a believer and supporter of the concept of senior community living. In fact, in 1985 I became the Administrator of the community where she lived, and for the next 20 years, served in that capacity, witnessing again and again how that kind of community life promotes good health and involvement, and provides access to services.
Ten years ago, I joined the staff of Advent Christian Village as Vice President for Member Services. Here, I continue to see the positive effects of living in a senior community where quality care, compassion and respect for the individual is the mission of the organization.
If you know of a senior who would benefit from affordable housing with services and amenities designed to meet their needs, I encourage you to consider Advent Christian Village or to check with local organizations serving the senior community in your area.
About the author: Ann Thompson is Vice President for Member Services at Advent Christian Village, a post she has held since 2009. In this capacity, she is responsible for all programs and services for ACV's members, including Social Services. Prior to her tenure at ACV, she spent 20 years as Administrator at Cathedral Residences in Jacksonville, Florida.
Village Streams
1-800-371-8381 Local: 386-658-5200
11057 Dowling Park Dr. Live Oak, FL 32060
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A total eclipse of the moon, a blue moon, the second full moon in a month, a super moon, about as close as it ever gets to earth. Filmed from our front yard in Belair, South Australia, accompanied by our frogs (Crinia signifera) and a neighbour's dog. The apparent movement of the moon is due to the rotation of the earth, here sped up by a factor of 3.
Lunar Eclipse, 31st January, 2018 from Ian Gibbins on Vimeo.
heist: what's going on here?
My video-poem heist was shown recently at the 6th International Video Poetry Festival in Athens and has attracted quite a bit of interest… but what's going on here? It's not really a narrative, at least not in the traditional sense, but it's got something to do with banks and code and presumably illegal activities linking the two.
The video's subtitle, RAID IV, that appears in the credits, is a key clue. A RAID array is way of setting up computer hard drives so that data are written simultaneously to more than one drive, providing a secure form of back-up in the case of disk failure. Hence Drives C, D and E should have copies of the same files, if … Click here for more.
heist and dog daze shown at 6th International Video Poetry Festival, Athens, January 2018.
Very excited to part of the 6th International Video Poetry Festival in Athens, January 19-20, 2018. My video poems heist and dog daze are on the bill.
Heist from Ian Gibbins on Vimeo.
I was guest poet at the 2017 South Australian Poetry Slam final, sponsored by Spoken Word SA. Here's a vid of one of the poems I did: canine.
A video version of this poem was shown at the 2017 Juteback Poetry Film Festival in Colorado.
My video-poem Hexapod was short-listed for the 2017 5th Ó Bhéal Poetry-Film Competition. There were 30 films on the short-list from 186 submissions from 29 countries. The films were shown as part of the IndieCork film festival on 15th October 2017. Click here to see the rest of the short-list.
hexapod from Ian Gibbins on Vimeo.
Click here to read the poem.
My video-poem, canine, was an official selection shown at the 2017 Juteback Poetry Film Festival held in Colorado, USA, 23rd June, and screened again in October, one of only two dedicated poetry film festivals in the USA.


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ПАНАМСКИЕ ДОКУМЕНТЫ
ЛАНДРОМАТЫ
Проект Pegasus
Архив Пандоры
В блоге
Iraq Issues Arrest Warrants Against 21 Top Officials over Graft
Iraqi authorities last month issued arrest warrants against 21 high-ranking state officials, including a current minister, following an investigation that has seen 77 other officials summoned, according to a statement released on Wednesday by a commission that investigates corruption.
New Report Shows the State of Corruption in South Africa
How deep corruption stretches into the South African government was revealed last week, after South Africa's Judicial Commission dropped the first of its three-part report into state capture in the African nation. Deep is the answer.
U.S. Sanctions Bosnian Serb Leader over Graft and for Destabilizing Moves
The U.S. sanctioned on Wednesday the leader of the Bosnian Serbs and a TV station believed to be under his control for his "corrupt activities and continued threats to the stability and territorial integrity" of the Balkan country.
Suspicious Activity Reports May Show a Rise in Wildlife Trafficking
The U.S. authority in charge of fighting financial crimes like money laundering and terrorist financing said on Monday that it's seeing more and more suspicious financial transactions associated with illegal wildlife trafficking.
South Africa: Ex-President Zuma's Imprisonment Called a "Death Sentence"
The South African High Court renewed on Wednesday former President Jacob Zuma's prison sentence, annulling a previous decision that granted him medical parole. Zuma's charitable foundation said that it considers the new ruling a death sentence.
TRACE Publishes its 2021 Bribery Risk Matrix
When conducting business in foreign countries, the likelihood of bribe demands is the highest in North Korea, Turkmenistan, Eritrea, Venezuela and Somalia, while in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and New Zealand chances are low that someone would ask for a kickback, according to TRACE, a globally recognized business association.
Mozambique's Illicit Gemstone Trade: Downward Spiral of Corruption
The opaque nature of Mozambique's illicit artisanal and small-scale mining industry has siphoned millions from the country's economy, trapped its workers in a perpetual state of poverty, and has become a significant source of government and police corruption, according to a Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GITOC) report.
Swiss Authorities Charge FIFA Official, Ex-President with Fraud
Swiss authorities have charged ex-FIFA president Sepp Blatter and ex-UEFA president Michel Platini with fraud over an "unlawful" payment of US$2.18 million sent by FIFA to Platini in early 2011.
U.S. Sanctions Lebanese MP and Two Businessmen
A Lebanese MP and two businessmen were sanctioned by the U.S. on Thursday for their alleged involvement in corruption that has contributed to the "breakdown of the rule of law" in Lebanon.
Saudi Arabia Arrests 21, Mainly Public Officials, for Corruption
Saudi authorities said they have arrested 21 people accused of corruption and fraud, the kingdom's Oversight and Anti-Corruption Authority (Nazaha) announced in Twitter thread titled No_place_for_corrupts_amongst_us.
The Church Blasts the Mafia After Wave of Murders in Italy's Naples
After a wave of murders ripped through Naples, the local archbishop urged members of the Italian city's native organized criminal group Camorra as well as those involved in corruption to change and become "human beings" again.
South Africa Arrests 7 Suspects of Whistleblower Murder
South African police arrested seven suspects in connection with the murder of a woman who blew the whistle on fraudulent contracts made during the pandemic, the provincincial government of Gauteng announced.
After 2015 FIFA Corruption Scandal, FIFA is Amongst its Own Victims
The U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday that it would begin remitting over US$200 million in funds forfeited in connection with the 2015 FIFA corruption scandal which rocked the world of professional soccer.
U.S. Sanctions Corruption Networks Worth Approximately $1 Billion
The U.S. sanctioned three Paraguayan citizens under the Magnitsky Act on Tuesday for orchestrating a series of global corruption schemes totalling approximately US$1 billion.
Malaysian PM Resigns, Says He Won't Work With Kleptocrats
Only 17 months into office, Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin announced his resignation on Monday after losing majority support in parliament following months of political turmoil and apparent pressure from current and former officials accused of graft.
Organized Crime and Corruption: a "Cause and Consequence" of Climate Change
After the U.N. climate panel report called this week for an urgent and drastic cut in CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions, experts told the OCCRP that organized crime and corruption play a significant role in the state of the climate crisis.
U.S. Issues New Sanctions Against the Belarusian Regime
The United States levied sanctions on Monday against 23 Belarusian individuals and 21 entities close to President Alexander Lukashenko's regime, accusing it of repression and widespread corruption.
Leaked data exposes loopholes in Kenya's procurement process, enabling graft.
Credit: Svetlana Tiourina
Criticized Guatemalan Prosecutor Steps in as Anti-Corruption Head
A controversial prosecutor is stepping in to fill the post left vacant by Guatemala's top anti-corruption investigator Juan Francisco Sandoval, who was forced out of office just two weeks ago.
France Charges Former Minister with Corruption
France indicted a former justice minister with corruption, accusing her of accepting a substantial amount of money from the former CEO of the Renault-Nissan alliance Carlos Ghosn as lawyer's fees, but prosecutors suspect the sum could be an illegal form of lobbying.
Обход цензуры
Партнерские центры
История OCCRP
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Sertolijeve celice so podporne celice v modih (testisih) in so izjemnega pomena za njihovo delovanje. Poimenovane so po italijanskem fiziologu in histologu Enricu Sertoliju, ki je prvi opisal njihov fiziološki pomen. Pred rojstvom (prenatalno) se celice razmnožujejo, v reproduktivnem obdobju pa ne več. So zelo odporne proti škodljivim vplivom iz okolja, med drugim tudi proti ionizirajočemu sevanju.

Iz Sertolijevih celic se lahko razvije maligni tumor mod oz. germinalnocelični tumor (GCT).

Morfološke značilnosti
Celice so podolgovate oblike in obdajajo semenske celice, tj. deli celične membrane (plazmaleme) se vrivajo v prostore med semenskimi celicami. En del celic je pritrjen na bazalno lamino na obrobju zvitih semenskih cevk v modih (tubuli seminiferi contorti), drugi del pa moli v svetlino (lumen) semenskih cevk. Citoplazma je eozinofilna, včasih pa so prisotni t. i. Charcot-Bottcherjevi kristali, ki so pravzaprav snopi mikrofilamentov. Blizu obrobja semenskih cevk, nad spermatogoniji, so Sertolijeve celice povezane s tesnimi stiki, ki tvorijo krvno-testisno pregrado (bariero) in tako razdelijo semenski epitelij v bazalni in adluminalni del. Jedro je podolgovato in ima zelo malo heterokromatina ter jasno izraženo jedrce, v celici pa so prisotni tudi številni mitohondriji in lizosomi ter dobro razviti Golgijev aparat, kar vse nakazuje na veliko presnovno aktivnost celic, predvsem na sintezo različnih produktov. Celice so med sabo sicer povezane s presledkovnimi stiki, ki služijo izmenjavi snovi (npr. ionov), verjetno pa v smislu prenosa sekundarnih obveščevalcev pomagajo tudi uravnavanju (regulaciji) prehodnih sprememb tesnih stikov zaradi nenehne proliferacije celic ter koordinaciji same spermatogeneze.

Funkcije
Sertolijeve celice imajo številne funkcije, med vsemi fazami spermatogeneze pa podpirajo od 30–50 semenskih celic. V glavnem imajo tri glavne funkcije:
 zaščitno, podporno in prehranjevalno funkcijo;
 sekrecijsko funkcijo;
 fagocitno funkcijo.

Vse funkcije večinoma vključujejo krvno-testisno pregrado, ki je obenem tudi najtesnejša krvno-tkivna pregrada pri sesalcih. Le-ta je del sistema, ki preprečuje avtoimunske napade, tj. ščiti semenske celice pred protitelesi. Spermatogeneza se namreč začne pri spolni zrelosti, torej dolgo zatem, ko se pojavi imunokompetenca, tj. sposobnost za razvitje normalnega imunskega odziva na antigene. Zaradi tega bi lahko protitelesa prepoznale semenske celice kot tujke in bi jih tako poškodovala, kar pa seveda preprečuje omenjena pregrada. Moški je lahko tako ploden kljub veliki količini protiteles proti tem celicam v krvi.

Krvno-testisna pregrada predstavlja seveda oviro tudi za druge plazemske beljakovine in hranilne snovi, ki so potrebne za rast in diferenciaciji, zato so Sertolijeve celice odgovorne za proizvodnjo ali transport oz. dostavo omenjenih snovi, kot je transferin, skladiščni in transportni protein za železove ione (v feri obliki, Fe3+).

Sertolijeve celice imajo eksokrino in endokrino sekrecijsko aktivnost. V eksokrinem smislu nepretrgoma izločajo tekočino, s pomočjo katere se zreli spermiji prenašajo naprej v spolnih izvodilih, ter hranilne snovi in androgen-vezavni protein ali ABP (), ki veže testosteron in ga koncentrira do stopnje, ki je potrebna za normalni potek spermatogeneze. Izločanje promovira folikle stimulirajoči hormon (FSH). V endokrinem smislu izločajo inhibin, ki po principu negativne povratne zveze zavira sintezo in izločanje FSH iz adenohipofize. Pri plodu (fetusu) izločajo tudi Antimüllerjev hormon (AMH), ki povzroči regresijo Müllerjevih (paramezonefričnih) vodov in s tem onemogoči razvoj maternice pri genetsko determiniranemu moškem spolu.

Med spermatogenezo poleg vsega še fagocitirajo presežke citoplazme.

Glej tudi
 spermatogeneza
 modo

Opombe in sklici

Viri

 Jones, E.R. (1997). Human reproductive biology. San Diego, Boston, New York: Academic Press.

Pregradne celice
Moški reprodukcijski sistem
Sekretorne celice

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Hana Carmichael (19 de marzo de 1989) es una deportista estadounidense que compite en judo. Ganó una medalla de bronce en los Juegos Panamericanos de 2011 en la categoría de –57 kg.

Palmarés internacional

Referencias

Judokas de Estados Unidos


Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Fourth Quarter 2017 Earnings Release And Conference Call Date | Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.
ROLLING MEADOWS, Ill., Jan. 12, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE: AJG) will release its fourth quarter 2017 earnings after the market closes on Thursday, January 25, 2018. A printer-friendly format will be available on the company's website shortly thereafter.
In conjunction with this release, J. Patrick Gallagher, Jr., Chairman, President and CEO, will host a conference call on Thursday, January 25, 2018 at 5:15 pm ET/4:15 pm CT.
Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., an international insurance brokerage and risk management services firm, is headquartered in Rolling Meadows, Illinois, has operations in 34 countries and offers client-service capabilities in more than 150 countries around the world through a network of correspondent brokers and consultants.


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Located in the heart of the Back Bay, Kirkland's Boston office opened in 2017 and includes nearly 50 lawyers focused on sophisticated transactions for private equity firms and public and private companies. Our lawyers in Boston advise private equity sponsors in the city and throughout New England across the entire lifecycle of a fund, drawing on Kirkland's international network and world-class private equity platform to bring to bear the full resources of our diverse practices and experience for clients. In collaboration with local legal, business, academic and civic institutions, our tight-knit team in Boston is committed to contributing positively to the city and surrounding communities.


The Face Lift procedure, also called a Rhytidectomy, is performed to significantly reduce those unwanted signs of aging. Sagging of the skin, deep creases and folds, jowls in the cheeks and jaw, loose skin around the neck, and fallen fat can all be improved through the Face Lift procedure. The Face Lift has been performed on both men and women and is usually performed when other less invasive procedures are not able to achieve the desired results.
The Face Lift is performed under anesthesia. The incision in a Face Lift can vary depending on each individual patient's needs. In a traditional Face Lift the incision begins at temples in the hairline and goes around the end into the lower scalp, sometimes a second incision under the chin may be used. The limited incision Face Lift is performed with a shorter incision at the temples and around the ear only. If you are interested in learning more about the Face Lift procedure and recovery process, and to find out if it may be right for you, contact our office to schedule your consultation today.


Once again, the controversial and largely unwanted proposal to build an enormous incinerator on the fringes of Blantyre raises its ugly head.
Despite losing their application to build an incinerator that would be seen from all parts of Blantyre and Burnbank, Clean Power have decided to appeal against the decision, keeping the subject open for the time being.
South Lanarkshire Council have now received notification to the Scottish Ministers in respect of proposing that the incinerator should go ahead. Clean Power are appealing asking for the build to proceed, intent that the plant should be built at Whistleberry. They wish to process waste by pyrolysis on the site of the former Auchinraith House, just off Whistleberry Road, much to the disgust of local communities.
Many thousands of signatures were collected objecting to the proposals, which were thankfully upheld. The appeal is likely a formality, Clean Power going "through the motions", for one thing is certain, if another campaign is needed to permanently close the matter for good, Blantyre AND Hamilton is well up for task. We hope Clean Power do the right thing, save their money and consider alternative sites in unpopulated areas.
Have your say. Were you involved in the original protests? How do you feel about such an incinerator being built on the edge of Blantyre? Will YOU be taking part in any campaign to permanently get the appeal removed once and for all?


Oakville Christian School (OCS) aims at nurturing excellence in a Christ-centred academic environment. Over the past 34 years, OCS has experienced increasing success, combining Christian faith development with high academic standards.
Oakville Christian School has a vibrant academic program that exceeds Ontario Ministry guidelines with programs in Athletics, French, Music and Art. Following the research-based School-wide Enrichment Model, OCS provides challenging high-end learning that is enjoyable for everyone. Smart Board technology; a computer lab, a mobile laptop lab and two dedicated computers in every classroom support our learning environment. All students have the opportunity to participate in a wide variety of different sports, and OCS competitive teams have developed a high reputation for outstanding sportsmanship and skills in tournaments.
Students are also given excellent opportunity for leadership activities among other students. In addition, participation in musical performances, drama, chapel presentations, interest clubs and community service provides students with the growth necessary to develop academically, physically, spiritually and socially.
Families are attracted to the school because of the Christian environment, high academic standards, strong sense of community and the highly professional, experienced and dedicated teaching staff. Our reputation has grown through word-of-mouth as a result of family satisfaction, student well-being and graduate success in high school and beyond.
Oakville Christian School recently hosted two basketball tournaments in their new gym! The Senior Girls PSAA and the Senior Girls ACSI tournaments were held at OCS.
Oakville Christian School held their annual Science Fair yesterday. This year's projects were amazing! Fourteen projects from Grades 7 and 8 will go on to the regional science fair (BASEF) in March. Great work everyone!
On January 24th, Oakville Christian School had their public speaking competition. Four students from each grade presented, and the top two will go on to the ACSI Public Speaking Festival in March. Congratulations to all who participated!
OCS is a Christian school with high academic standards. We are committed to nurturing students to reach their fullest potential. Amid a student body of 250, coupled with active parent involvement, we enjoy a unique community atmosphere.


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Olympic Entertainment Group Launches Malta's Fourth Casino
A casino that is fourth doors in Malta after it was granted the mandatory license by the nation's Gaming Authority. The gambling location is developed and it is become operated by Estonian gambling operator Olympic Entertainment Group and partner that is local Leisure Gaming.
Casino Malta by Olympic Casino, while the venue is known as, could be the Estonian business's one that is largest and it is located in certainly one of Malta's preferred tourism destinations. The gaming facility spreads over 3,000 square meters and is section of Malta InterContinental Hotel. Gambling customers can be obtained 285 slots, 2 roulette that is electronic, in addition to 29 tables for poker and other popular casino games.
A spacious activities wagering bar is additionally one of the appealing amenities offered at the location. In addition, a large lounge area would provide site visitors with weekly real time activity.
Currently, you will find 175 people used at the brand new casino. They've been trained both in Maltese as well as other European gambling enterprises for the last months that are several.
Casino Malta by Olympic Casino could be the largest one on the area as well as the largest one operated by Olympic Entertainment. Developers invested the amount that is total of million in its establishment. They told news that the casino features the latest slots and the top table games and aims at attracting the attention of both regional and international gambling customers.
Commenting on the casino opening, owners Ian and Kevin De Cesare commented that they are exceptionally pleased to finally introduce their venue. They further noted that their partners that are experienced Olympic Entertainment can certainly make sure that the island's gambling industry will likely be expanded instead of cannibalized by international operators.
The two owners additionally noticed that the casino is situated in a favorite resort and that it's handled by established gambling and entertainment operators will be 'a tremendous winning formula.'
In addition to the recently launched casino in Malta, Olympic Entertainment operates venues that are gambling Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, Latvia, Belarus, Slovakia, and Italy. The business presently employs a lot more than 3,000 people and it is one of the biggest providers of land-based gambling options in European countries. It is also essential to see that the Estonia-headquartered operator is a complete member of the European Casino Association.
IGT Launches Very First GTECH Game on Personal Casino Web Site
Internationally recognized developer of gaming solutions Global Game tech PLC announced on Tuesday that the first game of the legacy GTECH video gaming catalog is launched regarding the company's social casino site DoubleDown Casino and is available nowadays for desktop and mobile.
Treasures associated with the Pyramids is a 5-reel, 40-payline Egyptian-themed slots game who has currently collected quite a complete lot of appeal in land-based casinos. Commenting in the announcement that is latest, DoubleDown Interactive Senior Vice President and General Manager Joe Sigrist stated that introducing this very first GTECH name is an important milestone for IGT since it showcases IGT and GTECH's mixed strength.
Mr. Sigrist further noted that Treasures for the Pyramids is definitely an currently well-known game in brick-and-mortar casinos and leveraging its popularity through IGT's social casino platform would provide players of these kinds of games with a lot more content that is engaging. Therefore, the gaming designer could be able to help establish itself as one of the leaders into the creation and circulation of cross-platform content, the executive added.
Nevada-based Overseas Game tech and lottery that is italian and provider of video gaming solutions GTECH S.p.A. first announced their merger in July 2014. The Nevada Gaming Commission and the Nevada Gaming Control Board gave their approval for the deal after thorough regulatory review. The merger involving the two video gaming giants became effective at the time of 2015 april. Former GTECH CEO Marco Sala ended up being appointed as CEO of International Game tech PLC, since the merged entity had been called.
Following the deal ended up being completed, IGT further established its roles as one of the leaders in the production of lottery and gaming devices plus the provision of varied solutions and options for the gaming and lottery industries.
During the 3rd quarter of 2015, the business posted considerable increases in several key performance indicators. As an example, it created revenue of $1.2 billion, up 30% from the exact same duration in 2014. IGT's adjusted EBITDA increased 21% to $414 million.
Adjusted operating income for the three months finished September 30 totaled $258 million, up 26% when compared with the figure posted for the same duration a year ago. IGT CFO Alberto Fornaro said that the reported outcomes reflected the company's 'disciplined functional management' and variety.
http://4scasino.com/


Have you ever thought music from the Free Music Archive would pair nicely with all that great retro video ephemera in the Prelinger Archives? Here's your chance to show your vision in a contest we're calling "The Past Re-imagined As The Future." Enter before Nov. 4th and help us explore the possibilities of open digital archives.
Do Bad Things Happen When Creative Works Enter the Public Domain? Nope.


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Posted on June 16, 2020 January 9, 2021 by PREN ADMINISTRATOR
ELEPHANT MANAGEMENT IN SOUTH AFRICA THE SUBMISSION BY THE EMS FOUNDATION AND ANIMAL LAW REFORM SA TO DEFF HIGH LEVEL PANEL
SUBMITTED ON THE 15TH JUNE 2020
MINISTER BARBARA CREECY AND CHAIRPERSON ADVISORY COMMITTEE HIGH LEVEL PANEL
The submission also relates to the Management, Breeding, Hunting, Trade, Handling and related matters to the ELEPHANT, LION, LEOPARD AND RHINOCEROS
FINAL-SUBMISSION-TO-HLP-EMS-ALRSA_15062020-4Download
EXCERPT FROM THE SUBMISSION:
Component II: Elephants in Captivity – General (page 110 – 117)
Elephants are highly social and have the largest social network of any mammal yet studied other than humans. There is a vast amount of research on elephant biology and behaviour which show that humans and elephants share the same attributes – once thought unique to humans.
The susceptibility of elephants to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder demonstrates that among all species, elephants are extremely vulnerable to suffering in a captive setting.
What we have learned about elephants means that we are confronting very real ethical issues in relation to our current policies and legislation that affects them.
Globally there is huge concern for the well-being of elephants in captivity, particularly in relation to abuses attributable to the captive elephant industry, including:
Capture of juvenile elephants from wild family groups.
Cruel training and controlling methods – which typically involves the use of physical and psychological punishment.
The conditions in which elephants are kept.
The safety of people handling them.
Several high profile cases illustrate these concerns, particularly in relation to 'training'.
The captive elephant industry has a history of cruel, abusive and domination training and deaths of handlers.
The use of elephants in the elephant back safari industry is not only highly detrimental to elephants, but it also increases the risk of injury for personnel as well as the general public.
In SA the training and keeping of elephants in captivity persists without adequate monitoring or control.
As far back as 2005 a number of local and international animal protection organisations warned that South Africa can ill afford a rapidly growing captive elephant industry sliding out of control – but this is precisely what has happened.
Once captured, elephants used in the elephant back safari industry and circuses are subjected to absolute control, social and physical deprivation, and in many cases, psychological and physical violence.
Early trauma, chronic stress, and deprivation are common to elephants in captivity. The added stress and trauma exerted by such practices as beating, negative reinforcement, chaining, physical abuse, and social isolation further undermine elephant well-being that transmits laterally (among other elephants) and vertically (across generations). The experience of elephants in captivity is equivalent to that of many human prisoners and victims of torture.
The elephant back safari industry, circuses and zoos employ a "dominance-based free contact" approach to elephant control. This involves a variety of tools and methods that cause intense distress, pain, and injury and are employed to limit elephant behaviour and movement.
Bullhooks—wooden poles with a curved metal hook at one end—are used to inflict pain on sensitive areas of the elephants for the process of "breaking," which is grounded in physical and emotional coercion to obtain absolute control.
Typically, the breaking process begins with the removal of infants from their family units followed by bodily immobilisation, beating, and starvation/deprivation until the elephant accepts the trainer as his or her "master".
Negative reinforcement techniques are a part of regular training (e.g. bullhook beatings for poor performance, displays of resistance, and/or unapproved socialisation with other elephants).
The power handlers exert over the elephants is psychologically corrosive because they play the dual role of the agent of captivity/abuse and of attachment/survival so the relationship always involves the potential for repeated trauma, fear, and harm.
Well-documented South African insight into the elephant 'training' methods: the "Tuli elephant case", where 30 juvenile elephants, between the ages of 2 and 5, were kidnapped from their families and abused for use by zoos, circuses and the elephant-back safari industry. It showed the weaknesses in the Animal Protection Act, which, for example, does not outlaw the beating and restraining of wild animals. The elephant owner was not barred from owning, handling or selling elephants and the light nature of the conviction sent a message to wild life dealers and elephant 'trainers' that, in South Africa, abuse of animals is encouraged.
As far back as 1999 the magistrate in the Tuli case admitted that the Animal Protection Act was confusing and urged that it be re-drafted to bring it in line with international legislation and best practice relating to animal welfare and protection. This has not happened. WHY?
Almost every elephant in captivity in South Africa, has been taken from the wild as babies or juveniles, kidnapped and forcibly removed from their families.
No legislation exists in South Africa that governs the methods used in training elephants.
In South Africa, the elephants in captive facilities are predominately managed in direct contact systems with only the two zoos managing their elephants in protected contact systems. In short, direct contact management occurs when the elephant and the handler share the same space without any barrier between them whereas protected contact management occurs where the elephant and the handler are separated by a fixed barrier. With direct contact handling, the manner of training or management requires dominance at varying levels depending on the facility, management & handlers. It has been shown that direct contact handling is very dangerous and injuries or deaths to elephant handlers in South Africa occur in direct contact handling. With direct contact handling comes associated risks such as injury and/or death for the handlers and guest. The statistics clearly highlight this risk and when handling elephants in direct contact it is not a case of if an incident will occur, it is, when will it occur. Naturally, the longer that elephants are handled in direct contact the sooner an incident will more than likely occur.
Information about elephants in captivity in South Africa, including statistics, records on individual elephants, their movement, locations, overall audit census, etc. is not known or kept by national or provincial government, including by DALLRD or by DEFF.
In August 2019 the EMS Foundation undertook a census of elephants in captivity in South Africa. There are 95 elephants in 21 captive facilities. Since 2014 there has been an 86% decrease in the number of facilities offering riding of elephants. This is largely due to the dangers involved to clients and handlers and global public pressure.
The captive elephant industry obtains licences for their activities through the Performing Animals Protection Act―i.e. training, display, riding, interaction etc.―through PAPA and permits issued by conservation authorities.
There is lack of clarity in terms of which government department―DALLRD or DEFF―is responsible for the keeping and 'management' of elephants in captivity. Neither the DALLRD the DEFF or the provincial conservation authorities are taking responsibility for the protection and welfare of elephants in captivity or elephants supplied to the industry.
The reality is that government has dropped the ball in terms of the protection, welfare and interests of elephants in captivity.
Component III: Elephants in Captivity – Indaba
On 6 September 2019, an international Indaba and Panel Discussion with national and international elephant behavioural specialists was convened in South Africa, to discuss the issue of elephants in captivity and to develop a framework as well as policy guidelines for dealing with elephants in captivity.
The Indaba was the first consultative gathering of elephant specialists and elephant interest groups in Africa specifically dealing with elephants in captivity, the role Africa has in sending elephants into captivity and what we need to do to get them out of the metaphorical room.
The overwhelming message was that elephants belong in the wild and must be returned to the wild in all cases where this is a legitimate possibility. Given what we know about who elephants are and the conditions under which they thrive, there is no reason to keep them in captivity.
The Indaba and Panel discussion brought together a number of key international and local elephant experts, specifically on elephants who find themselves in captivity or who are captured for captivity. These experts were from diverse disciplines, including natural scientists, ethologists, ecologists, lawyers, researchers, NGOs and practitioners and comprising a body of expertise from scientific, conservation, legal, welfare, protection, rights, social justice, economic and advocacy communities. It brought together a total of some 120 participants including elephant specialists from South Africa, Kenya, Zimbabwe, the USA, Britain and Europe; animal protection organisations, practitioners, management consultants, researchers, students, lawyers, representatives of the captive elephant industry and members of the public.
South African government representatives of the province of the Western Cape, CapeNature, SANParks and the Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries, although invited to attend and participate as Panellists, did not send any representatives. This highlights the dismissive position that state environmental agencies take towards ethical and welfare concerns for the wild animals they have oversight and responsibility for, despite key constitutional and high court judgments which demand that they act differently.
6. The aim of the Indaba was to:
Lend urgency to the issue of elephants in captivity.
Reflect and take cognizance of the shift in public sentiment about elephants in captivity.
Highlight Who elephants are.
Place the plight of captive elephants, including the methods of 'training' into the public consciousness.
Share the findings of an updated review/audit of captive elephant facilities in South Africa.
Discuss the need to rehabilitate and re-wild and the framework and protocol developed in South Africa for this.
Probe the capture and sale of young elephants from Zimbabwe and Namibia to zoos and circuses in China, Pakistan, the USA and others.
Investigate the policy and legislative contexts, including the interpretation of the concept of 'sustainable use'.
Interrogate the convergence of issues coalescing around Africa, elephants in captivity, legislation, CITES regulations and resolutions, including the question of 'appropriate destinations', and loopholes within CITES in relation to the international trade in elephants into captivity.
Examine potential legal interventions in relation to captive elephants.
Topics presented were discussed and debated under the following themes:
a. Who elephants are and why they are not suited to live in a captive environment. b. New scientific paradigms, epigenetics and neuroscience which dictate thetransformation of conservation into self-determination and compel the reframingof how elephants are approached including within the social justice movement.
c. Ecosystems need elephants and elephants need ecosystems: keeping elephants inthe wild, not captivity.
d. Stress experienced by elephants in captivity, including in reserves and whereelephants have been rehabilitated and re-integrated. e. The value of elephants: Rands and sense. f. The value of elephants for society and conservation strategies that reconcile conservation and human wellbeing goals. g. Latest data on elephants in zoos worldwide.
h. Policy contexts including trade, 'sustainable use' and the CITES 'acceptable destinations' issue.
i. An analysis of legal interventions in relation to captive elephants.
j. The policy framework of sustainable use in relation to animal welfare andelephants and legal challenges to it.
k. Challenges and opportunities for animal welfare in Zimbabwe's legal and policyframeworks with regard to the capture and sale of Zimbabwe's young elephants. l. Zimbabwe's live elephant captures for export to Dubai, Pakistan and China.
m. Animal welfare considerations that decision makers need to bear in mind inrelation to keeping elephants in captivity.
n. Current status of captive elephants and the captive elephant industry in SouthAfrica.
o. Reintegration and rewilding of elephants from captivity p. The way forward.
Indaba Summary Conclusions and Recommendations: 1. Elephants are a keystone species and are an essential component of ecosystems. If one takes the keystone out of an arch it collapses. They are ecological engineers upon which many other species depend. Without elephants, the integrity of a dynamic ecosystem disintegrates. Elephants engineer proper functionality in the wild. Elephants also help to mitigate climate change, so the protection of their wild spaces is ever more urgent.
Elephants are sentient beings who live socially complex lives through relationships which radiate out from a mother-offspring bond through families, clans, and sub populations. Independent males form long-term friendships. 'Elephants communicate through more than 300 gestures, complex speech and glandular secretions. They contemplate, negotiate, collaborate, plan and are aware of death. They care about their lives.
Elephants are big eaters and need an eclectic diet. In nature they roam across long distances and different habitats and spend almost three-quarters of their lives acquiring necessary and different nutrients. The physical activity and mental stimulation involved in the search for food items across large landscapes constitutes the very core of an elephant's interest and survival.
Elephants share with humans the same brain, same consciousness and the same vulnerability to trauma. They can experience psychological and social breakdown. Trauma spreads from parent to child, neighbour to neighbour. Symptoms include depression, fear, panic, flashbacks, nightmares, aggression, infanticide and violence against others and self. Trauma also profoundly undermines their immune system and physiological functions.
Human activity, from fencing, noise, to capture, confinement and cruel training is having an increasingly negative effect on the welfare of elephants.
In confinement, captive elephants lack the very foundation of elephant life.
Holding elephants in captivity causes them enormous stress and constitutes cruelty.
The capture of baby and young elephants causes post-traumatic stress (PTSD) that can last decades.
Capturing wild elephants and removing them from their families is totally unacceptable.
Elephants suffer when confined.
In captivity elephants are less aware, move slowly and droop. Those who have worked with elephants have noted depression and sadness.
There is an epidemic of PTSD among elephants in captivity.
Confinement even in the best facilities constitutes cruelty.
Captivity is simply unsuitable for elephants.
There are currently 1770 elephants worldwide in captive facilities, of which 84% are in zoos. Most of these are in the United States, followed by China, Germany and Japan. Just under 100 facilities hold a single elephant.
There is no conservation-education value to the use of elephants in `zoos.
The law has a duty to protect elephants in zoos and in captivity because there are serious welfare concerns.
The way 'sustainable use' of wildlife is used in the SADC region is to focus on the species as a whole and allow for the sacrifice of many individuals. This allows individuals to be objectified and exploited rather than respected and well stewarded.
Conservation decisions cannot be divorced from welfare considerations.
An integrative approach needs to be employed in policies and legislation to properly interpret ecological sustainability and the use of natural 'resources.' This kind of approach will integrate respect for individuals and the whole species thereby advancing their conservation.
Respect for elephants will ensure their long-term survival.
Policies and legislation must be developed that are good for both humans and elephants.
There are already several projects in Africa that are rehabilitating and reintegrating elephants, including captive elephants, back into the wild. Effective and verified protocols and procedures have been developed. These programmes need to be urgently supported and expanded.
Keeping elephants in captivity and reducing them to mere objects is eroding our own humanity.
9. At the close of the Indaba, each delegate was asked to write down the one closing thought or policy recommendation given the science that had been presented. The overwhelming consensus from panellists and delegates was that:
There is a critical mass of indisputable scientific data and research on who elephants are.
Since humans now know so much about them it can no longer be acceptable to allow elephants to be kept in captivity.
No new elephants should be placed in captivity.
Elephants currently in captivity should be reintegrated into the wild wherever possible or, if not, be placed in as free and natural environment as possible.
©2020 The Pro Elephant Network. All rights reserved.
CategoriesDEPARTMENT ENVIRONMENT, FORESTRY AND FISHERIES South Africa
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November 2012 - Acupuncture of Iowa
Acupuncture Could Treat Hypertension
LauraUncategorizedAcupuncture, Chinese, clinic, hypertension, treatment
A recently published study from researchers at USF's College of Pharmacy and the Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine shows that acupuncture could be an effective treatment to regulating high blood pressure.
According the Dr. Shufeng Zhou, pharmaceutical sciences professor at USF and associate dean of international research, the key to regulating hypertension is in the "qi" — the body's free- flow of energy.
"In Chinese medicine the disease of hypertension is an off-balance of qi. When the body is not in a balanced state of qi, illness can occur," he said.
Zhou has practiced medicine all over the world, but while in China, he found that acupuncture may top other forms of treatment for hypertension. The ancient Chinese treatment consists of using tiny needles by stimulating various acupoints on the body that are associated with precise energy pathways.
While the practice is not new, some of its benefits are.
"For the first time, we found that acupuncture could be linked to antioxidant effect," Zhou said.
According to the research reported online last month in PLOS ONE Biomedical Journal, The
seven-day study involved two groups of hypertensive rats that received a daily treatment of acupuncture.
The first group received a needle between the first and second metatarsal bones at the top of the foot, which stimulated the tai chong — an access point commonly used for stress, lower back pain and high blood pressure in acupuncture done on humans.
The other group received a needle insertion as well, but the insertion was not in one of the specific points suggested by acupuncture treatment to lower blood pressure.
While the data revealed the first group had significantly lower blood pressure, the researchers also found that the part of the brain that regulates blood pressure contained an increase of enzyme antioxidants after treatment.
The enzymes involved in processes, Zhou said, can prevent damage to the blood vessel walls caused by the free radicals, which may lead to regulating blood pressure of hypertension.
According to the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC) hypertension or high blood pressure is amongst the most deadly diseases in America today and linked to multiple ailments including heart disease, strokes and kidney disease. The CDC reported in 2011 that one in three Americans live with hypertension and one and five are undiagnosed.
Dr. Yangchong Ou, an integrative medicine specialist in Tampa, has more than 25 years of experience in acupuncture.
His patients receive optimal results from acupuncture, he said, because of its natural ability to encourage healing.
"In acupuncture we don't use drugs," he said. "The needles don't have drugs in them. It's a physical treatment."
But not everyone is an acupuncture enthusiast.
"I am always willing to try new things but I don't like needles," Bashia Guillard, a senior majoring in public relations said.
The discovery led to a partnership between the USF College of Pharmacy and Guangzhou.
Shefung said he thinks global medical development is a fundamental component to understanding illnesses all over the world and hopes to someday see a school of integrative medicine that would give students medical degrees in both Western medicine and Oriental medicine.
In the meantime, Zhou will continue to incorporate global treatment with modernized western approaches.
He plans to conduct another study with Dr. Dong Lin from the Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, who will visit USF on Nov. 30. The study will continue to research the enduring effects of acupuncture and attempt to understand the molecular mechanisms of the treatment.
http://www.usforacle.com/study-acupuncture-could-treat-hypertension-1.2796435#.ULT2x7Rt3Hg
Acupuncture may relieve fatigue in Breast Cancer patients
LauraAcupuncture, Asian Medicine, ConditionsAcupuncture, anxiety, cancer, depression, fatigue
(Reuters Health) – Acupuncture may help relieve fatigue in women who've had breast cancer, a new UK study suggests.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/29/us-acupuncture-cancer-idUSBRE89S15420121029
Researchers found that women who attended six weekly acupuncture sessions had greater improvements in fatigue as well as anxiety, depression and quality of life, compared to those who only received educational materials.
But that still doesn't prove it was the needles, themselves, that boosted women's energy levels, they said. And one cancer and alternative medicine researcher not part of the study team said the acupuncture group only showed a "modest improvement in fatigue – it was not a very remarkable, strong effect."
Still, acupuncture could be "well worth a try" for some people, Dr. Amit Sood, from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, Reuters Health.
"Fatigue is the most common symptom for all cancer patients," said Carol Enderlin, who has studied that topic at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock.
She said cancer and cancer treatments can cause chronic pain, psychological stress and anemia – a decrease in healthy red blood cells – all of which contribute to fatigue. In addition, people who are nauseated after chemo might not be getting the most nutritious diet for maintaining energy levels.
Enderlin, who also wasn't involved in the new study, said acupuncture may help as an add-on therapy for women who've had their fatigue checked out by a doctor and tinkered with their physical activity and diet – but are still frequently tired.
Approximately one in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer at some point in her life.
For the new research, Alexander Molassiotis from the University of Manchester and his colleagues tracked 227 women with moderate or severe cancer-related fatigue treated with acupuncture and another 75 fatigued women who didn't get acupuncture.
The women had all received chemotherapy for breast cancer in the five years before the study, and most had felt chronically tired for a year or more. Participants were given a booklet about cancer-related fatigue when they started the study.
The researchers found that after six weeks, general fatigue had dropped by almost four points on a 0-20 scale among women who had acupuncture, compared to a less than one-point decline in the comparison group. That is "mild to modest" improvement, according to Sood – not enough to allow someone who is stuck in bed to start walking, but maybe enough to get people who are too tired to exercise to start doing some activity.
Anxiety and depression scores, measured from 0-21, dropped by two additional points post-acupuncture, compared to scores in women given educational materials only. Emotional and physical well-being got a greater boost with acupuncture therapy as well, Molassiotis's team found.
The researchers couldn't tell how much of that benefit might have been due to the "placebo effect" – women who felt better because they expected to benefit from acupuncture.
In an ideal trial, participants would get either real or fake acupuncture, without knowing which. But it's very hard to design a convincing but ineffective fake acupuncture treatment to use for comparison, researchers noted.
According to an editorial published with the study in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, close to one-third of cancer patients have persistent fatigue that may continue for years after treatment. Doctors typically encourage moderate exercise and talk therapy to improve their energy, wrote psychologist Julienne Bower, from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Still, she added, it's unclear how well any therapies work over the long term in people with severe fatigue.
Enderlin said people who've been treated for cancer should make sure they're not at high risk of bleeding or infection before considering acupuncture for fatigue.
But if they're medically cleared, she said the alternative therapy "looks really intriguing."
Enderlin recommended "maintaining activity to tolerance, unless there are other problems with that, good nutrition, getting adequate sleep, and if the fatigue continues, considering there might be an alternative that could complement (those things)."
SOURCE: bit.ly/gPtMdm Journal of Clinical Oncology, online October 29, 2012.
Acupuncture for Multiple Sclerosis – New Findings
LauraAcupuncture, Asian Medicine, ConditionsAcupuncture, Health, multiple sclerosis, Qi, treatment
New research concludes that acupuncture "significantly improves the quality of life" for multiple sclerosis patients. Multiple sclerosis is an inflammatory disease of the brain and spinal cord that causes a wide range of symptoms including pain, numbness, visual problems, speech problems, cognitive impairment, muscle spasms and depression. Acupuncture was shown to reduce both pain and depression. In addition, acupuncture significantly improved mobility in the eyes.
Acupuncture at Yintang
Another group in the study received sham acupuncture, which only simulates acupuncture therapy. The sham acupuncture group did not show sustained improvement in pain, depression and eye mobility. By contrast, the true acupuncture group showed improvement in all three areas and also demonstrated an overall improvement in the quality of life. Other notable improvements in the acupuncture group included improved sleep and appetite. Acupuncture also reduced incontinence, constipation and leg spasms.
All participants in the study, in both the sham and true acupuncture groups, were receiving care under a doctor including the immunomodulatory drugs interferon-beta and glatiramer acetate. No subject in the study received acupuncture prior to the investigation and all subjects were randomized into a true acupuncture group and a sham acupuncture group.
The true acupuncture group received treatment at acupoints ST36 (Zusanli), SP6 (Sanyinjiao), LI4 (Hegu), LI11 (Quchi) and Yintang (EX-HN3). Electroacupuncture was applied to all points, except for Yintang, at 4 Hz with a pulse width of 0.5ms. The sham acupuncture group was needled one centimeter laterally to the true acupuncture points at a superficial needle insertion depth of less than 0.2cm with no electrical stimulation.
An interesting clinical result presented during the investigation. The sham acupuncture group showed temporary pain reduction. However, only the true acupuncture group demonstrated pain reduction measured at six months following the acupuncture treatments.
Impact of electroacupuncture on quality of life for patients with Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis under treatment with immunomodulators: A randomized study. Juan G Quispe-Cabanillas, Alfredo Damasceno, Felipe Glehn, Carlos O Brandão, Benito P Damasceno, Wanderley D Silveira and Leonilda M Santos. BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine 2012, 12:209 doi:10.1186/1472-6882-12-209. Published: 5 November 2012.
http://www.healthcmi.com/index.php/acupuncturist-news-online/643-acupunctureceumultiplesclerosispaindepression
Cancer Patients May Benefit from Acupuncture to Relieve Fatigue, Anxiety
LauraAcupuncture, Asian Medicine, ConditionsAcupuncture, acupuncturist, anxiety, Cancer Support, clinic, fatigue, Health, Qi
By Denise Reynolds RD on November 5, 2012 – 12:30pm for eMaxHealt
Cancer-related fatigue is one of the most common side effects of both the disease and its treatments. The sometimes disabling lack of energy can be caused by many factors, so in cases where the underlying cause cannot be eliminated, acupuncture may provide patients some relief.
According to the 2007 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), more than one-third of all adults (about 38%) had used some form of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). A special analysis of the data shows that CAM use is more prevalent in patients with cancer. About 40% of cancer survivors use a complementary health practice as they want to do everything they can to combat the disease, manage its symptoms and cope with the side effects of treatment. The most popular practices among cancer survivors were herbal and other natural products such as dietary supplements (20%), deep breathing (14%), and meditation (9%).
Acupuncture, though an ancient Traditional Chinese medicine, is today often used in cancer care for pain reduction and to improve nausea for those receiving chemotherapy. The technique is believed to boost the activity of the body's natural painkillers and increase blood flow.
The latest study, conducted on patients with breast cancer, found an improvement in feelings of fatigue and anxiety as well. Alex Molassiotis RN PhD of the University of Manchester in England recruited 302 volunteers diagnosed with breast cancer. Seventy-five of the patients received the standard care, while the remainder received acupuncture in addition to their regular medical treatments. Treatment was delivered by acupuncturists once a week for six weeks.
At the end of the study, the patients who received acupuncture showed improvements in the "General Fatigue" score on the Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI). They also reported less pain, less anxiety and depression, and an improved quality of life.
"I am quite excited with these results. They provide some good evidence of an effect of acupuncture for the management of a very debilitating and burdensome symptom for patients," said Dr. Molassiotis. "Acupuncture is a complementary therapy that not only can have direct effects on the symptom experience of patients, but also … provide the opportunity [for] patients to be more involved with their symptom management and empower them more.
Complications from acupuncture are very rare, as long as the acupuncturist uses sterile needles and proper procedures. Because chemotherapy and radiation therapy weaken the body's immune system, cancer patients who are undergoing these therapies should be sure that the acupuncturist follows strict clean-needle procedures and he or she should use new disposable (single-use) needles for each patient.
A. Molassiotis et al. Acupuncture for Cancer-Related Fatigue in Patients With Breast Cancer: A Pragmatic Randomized Controlled Trial. Journal of Clinical Oncology. Published online before print October 29, 2012, doi:10.1200/JCO.2012.41.6222
http://www.emaxhealth.com/1506/cancer-patients-may-benefit-acupuncture-relieve-fatigue-anxiety
Acupuncture for Aging Dogs
LauraAcupuncture, ConditionsAcupuncture, arthritis, clinic, dogs, swelling, treatment, veterinary
Acupuncture a growing treatment for aging dogs
by MICHELLE BOUDIN / NBC
Posted on November 1, 2012 at 7:20 PM
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Most of us would do anything for the family pet. But acupuncture? Yep, it's becoming more and more popular as a way to treat animals.
Like most dogs, Henry is almost always up for a game of catch. Just a few days ago, though, his owner says he wasn't up for much.
"It's heartbreaking but he's doing well, like I said, he's 14 and he still walks a mile-and-a-half every week. But when he starts to slow down I bring him in. I jokingly call this a tune up," said Lisa Johnson, Henry's owner.
The tune up? Doggie acupuncture.
Dr. Kim Hombs has been doing acupuncture on pets for years and says it's becoming more and more common. She spends a few minutes inserting strategically placed needles in the patient.
"For instance, there's one that is two behind the ribcage called the kidney points, which doesn't sound like it would have to do with the back but in Chinese medicine kidney meridian has to do with bone strength back strength," Dr Hombs said.
She says the ancient Chinese medicine can be used to treat all kinds of issues, from anxiety to hip and bone problems.
"We let those needles sit for 20 minutes then we come back and take them out," she explained.
And though it looks like it hurts, she says it really doesn't.
Charlene Mangione actually gets acupuncture for herself and for her cocker spaniel Tigger.
"He's like a different dog and he's almost 13 years old," Mangione said. "He's an old man."
She said the effects are almost immediate.
"When I get home today he'll want to drag me around the neighborhood."
Kind of like Henry.
"The goal is quality of life," Henry's owner said. "We want him to be as happy and healthy as long as he can."
http://www.king5.com/news/pets-and-animals/Acupuncture-a-growing-treatment-for-aging-dogs-176890321.html