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Economic turmoil threatens critical real estate development
Home Soundbites Economy Economic turmoil threatens critical real estate development
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Steve Marino, executive vice-president, portfolio management at GWL Realty Advisors, says inflation and interest rates pose special challenges to property investment.
Featuring: Steven Marino
From: GWL Realty Advisors
Steven Marino
(Runtime: 5:00. Read the audio transcript.)
Accelerating inflation is dampening plans for new housing construction, says Steve Marino, executive vice-president, portfolio management at GWL Realty Advisors.
Marino said while interest rates can be a headwind for some real estate developers and investors, that's not the biggest challenge the industry faces.
"Arguably, the more meaningful impact for developers is high inflation and the associated impact on the cost of construction," he said. "We're starting to see some developers pause on plans for new development activity."
Speaking on the Soundbites podcast this week, Marino said economic factors pose a special challenge to home builders who must assess consumer willingness to pay the kind of rents or home costs that would ensure the necessary risk-adjusted returns to justify moving forward with building projects.
Meanwhile, he said, the demand side of the equation is equally ambivalent.
"We're seeing waning investor confidence and more conservative lender underwriting," he said. "Purchasers are concerned about the prospect of potential value erosion, and many are waiting on the sidelines to see where the market settles."
Indeed, the economic current uncertainty is not the only hurdle the industry has faced in recent months. The Covid-19 pandemic changed rental patterns and caused housing gluts and shortages throughout Canada.
Marino pointed out that suburban rental spaces were popular during lockdowns when people were adjusting to working from home and avoiding crowds. But since the pandemic started to wane, tenants have been returning to inner cities.
"If you think about it, the combination of population circulation restrictions, together with the realities of working from home, made larger suburban units with proximity to green space particularly inviting for occupants," he said. "As we've emerged from Covid circulation restrictions, we've seen a significant level of pent-up demand as people are eager to return to living in urban areas, enjoying the vibrancy of our downtown areas."
Cities, he added, are also a popular destination for immigrants to Canada — a key component of Canada's economic development program.
He believes governments may need to step up to support the development of sufficient multi-family housing to meet anticipated needs.
"Canada has a very robust immigration target with a forecast of more than 400,000 people per year over the next three years," he said. "The vast majority of these immigrants will locate in urban areas in pursuit of employment and educational opportunities. To that end, it is critical that all levels of government help support our industry's efforts to meet the supply shortage."
The economic climate has given real estate developers a chance to demonstrate one of the most critical traits for success in a fickle industry: flexibility.
"The ability to be nimble in order to adjust to market conditions offers an opportunity to distinguish yourself from the balance of the market," he said. "That flexibility affords a competitive advantage to be able to respond to market conditions as they evolve and really seek to affect or realize superior risk adjusted returns."
Marino suggested anyone investing in real estate needs to think long-term in order to successfully navigate through cycles, using a disciplined portfolio investment strategy and key risk-mitigation tactics such as diversification and stringent property underwriting practices.
This article is part of the Soundbites program, sponsored by Canada Life. The article was written without sponsor input.
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/*=========================================================================

  Copyright 2004 Sandia Corporation.
  Under the terms of Contract DE-AC04-94AL85000, there is a non-exclusive
  license for use of this work by or on behalf of the
  U.S. Government. Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with
  or without modification, are permitted provided that this Notice and any
  statement of authorship are reproduced on all copies.

=========================================================================*/

/*========================================================================
 For general information about using VTK and Qt, see:
 http://www.trolltech.com/products/3rdparty/vtksupport.html
=========================================================================*/

// .NAME QVTKInteractor - Handle Qt events.
// .SECTION Description
// QVTKInteractor handles relaying Qt events to VTK.

#ifndef Q_VTK_INTERACTOR_H
#define Q_VTK_INTERACTOR_H

#include <vtkRenderWindowInteractor.h>
#include "QVTKWin32Header.h"
#include "vtkstd/map"
class QSignalMapper;
class QTimer;
#include <QtCore/QObject>

#include "vtkTDxConfigure.h" // defines VTK_USE_TDX
#if defined(VTK_USE_TDX) && defined(Q_WS_WIN)
class vtkTDxWinDevice;
#endif
#if defined(VTK_USE_TDX) && defined(Q_WS_MAC)
class vtkTDxMacDevice;
#endif
#if defined(VTK_USE_TDX) && defined(Q_WS_X11)
class vtkTDxDevice;
class vtkTDxUnixDevice;
#endif

class QVTKInteractorInternal;

// .NAME QVTKInteractor - An interactor for the QVTKWidget.
// .SECTION Description
// QVTKInteractor is an interactor for a QVTKWiget.

class QVTK_EXPORT QVTKInteractor : public vtkRenderWindowInteractor
{
public:
  static QVTKInteractor* New();
  vtkTypeMacro(QVTKInteractor,vtkRenderWindowInteractor);

  // Description:
  // Overloaded terminiate app, which does nothing in Qt.
  // Use qApp->exit() instead.
  virtual void TerminateApp();

  // Description:
  // Overloaded start method does nothing.
  // Use qApp->exec() instead.
  virtual void Start();
  virtual void Initialize();

  // Description:
  // Start listening events on 3DConnexion device.
  virtual void StartListening();

  // Description:
  // Stop listening events on 3DConnexion device.
  virtual void StopListening();

  // timer event slot
  virtual void TimerEvent(int timerId);

#if defined(VTK_USE_TDX) && defined(Q_WS_X11)
  virtual vtkTDxUnixDevice *GetDevice();
  virtual void SetDevice(vtkTDxDevice *device);
#endif

protected:
  // constructor
  QVTKInteractor();
  // destructor
  ~QVTKInteractor();

  // create a Qt Timer
  virtual int InternalCreateTimer(int timerId, int timerType, unsigned long duration);
  // destroy a Qt Timer
  virtual int InternalDestroyTimer(int platformTimerId);
#if defined(VTK_USE_TDX) && defined(Q_WS_WIN)
  vtkTDxWinDevice *Device;
#endif
#if defined(VTK_USE_TDX) && defined(Q_WS_MAC)
  vtkTDxMacDevice *Device;
#endif
#if defined(VTK_USE_TDX) && defined(Q_WS_X11)
  vtkTDxUnixDevice *Device;
#endif

private:

  QVTKInteractorInternal* Internal;

  // unimplemented copy
  QVTKInteractor(const QVTKInteractor&);
  // unimplemented operator=
  void operator=(const QVTKInteractor&);

};

// .NAME QVTKInteractorAdapter - A QEvent translator.
// .SECTION Description
// QVTKInteractorAdapter translates QEvents and send them to a
// vtkRenderWindowInteractor.
class QVTKInteractorAdapter : public QObject
{
  Q_OBJECT
public:
  // Description:
  // Constructor: takes QObject parent
  QVTKInteractorAdapter(QObject* parent);

  // Description:
  // Destructor
  ~QVTKInteractorAdapter();

  // Description:
  // Process a QEvent and send it to the interactor
  // returns whether the event was recognized and processed
  bool ProcessEvent(QEvent* e, vtkRenderWindowInteractor* iren);
};

// internal class, do not use
class QVTKInteractorInternal : public QObject
{
  Q_OBJECT
public:
  QVTKInteractorInternal(QVTKInteractor* p);
  ~QVTKInteractorInternal();
public Q_SLOTS:
  void TimerEvent(int id);
public:
  QSignalMapper* SignalMapper;
  typedef vtkstd::map<int, QTimer*> TimerMap;
  TimerMap Timers;
  QVTKInteractor* Parent;
};

#endif

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Careers — Citadel Pacific Ltd.
CITADEL's unprecedented growth through the years has been a product of passion, dedication and service excellence from a diverse team of professionals. While we pursue bigger opportunities across continents, we are always in search for the next qualified individual who can grow with us and help us build not just a highly valued organization but also one that creates social impact to the world.
View our current list of vacancies below.
The Certified Public Accountant will be responsible in handling end to end General Accounting, Sub ledger, Bank/Balance sheet reconciliation, fixed assets, journal entries and variance analysis.
The HR Shared Services Analyst will act as HRIS Administrator for the Shared Services unit, mainly to more complex/strategic modules such as Performance Management, Training, Recruitment, Reporting Analytics, etc.
The General Accounting Analyst will be responsible in handling end to end General Accounting, Sub ledger, Bank/Balance sheet reconciliation, fixed assets, journal entries and variance analysis.
The Accounts Payable Analyst will ensure timely processing of supplier invoices, employee invoices and inter-company invoices in line with company policies and procedures.
The Accounts Receivable Analyst will ensure that all OPCOS customer payments are received at LBU level and fully optimized in terms of collection and appropriate allocation.
The Procurement Analyst will look after the accurate and timely conversion of purchase requisitions to purchase orders.


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Home / Inspiring / Social CauseInterview: How a Nursery School in Tanzania Fosters a Love of Learning to an Underserved Community
Interview: How a Nursery School in Tanzania Fosters a Love of Learning to an Underserved Community
By Sara Barnes on December 23, 2019
It can be easy to forget that getting to and from school can be a challenge for some children. The kids in the Madale region of Tanzania experience this struggle on a daily basis. They live in an underserved area for education, with over 400 children who reside there but only a couple of schools for them to attend. As a result, there is overcrowding in the classrooms, and many kids have to travel miles to go to school. (Some children just don't go at all.) This is where the Busungu Community Center (BCC) has stepped in. Established in 2016, it is a non-government organization (NGO) that provides learning for up to 100 children who become part of a nursery school that follows the international curriculum for nursery schools in Tanzania.
Ages three through six currently attend the BCC school. There, local teachers and international interns focus on fostering the skills that young children need to help them succeed later in life. Through a variety of activities, they learn to be curious, cooperate with others, be creative, and take initiative.
My Modern Met Store donates 1% of its profits to a charity that benefits children and adults in helping them to experience art in a way that they might not have before. In 2018, our online shop donated money as well as drawing books and rainbow pencils for the children at the BCC school to use.
If you would like to help support BCC, you can do so by becoming a sustaining member. For just $15 a month, you can help fund the school in providing healthy meals, buying supplies, and making renovations and upgrades to their space.
We spoke to three people involved with BCC: Edward Busungu, Co-founder and Director; Danny Kim, Co-Founder and Advisor; and Line Bickmann, Head Administrator. Scroll down to read our interviews with them and learn more about how BCC is helping change the lives of people in Madale.
What inspired you to start the Busungu Community Center?
Danny Kim (DK): In my 20s, I traveled throughout several developing countries in Asia and Africa. At some places, I spent up to 10 weeks volunteering at NGOs. Unfortunately, from my experiences, I realized many NGOs operate for-profit, in which fundraising dollars or volunteer income goes to the owners (who are usually foreigners) so the money ends up going back to developed nations (there is very little legal oversight). I was disappointed by my experiences. In my 30s, I wanted to return to Tanzania to create my own organization with all Tanzanian board members to prevent such occurrences.
Edward Busungu (EB): What inspired me the most was my own background and childhood from where I lived as a boy from a young age. I had to walk very far to go to school—around 45 minutes to the local transport and then on a bus for half an hour. I had to leave home around five o'clock every morning, and if anyone was late they used to get punished.
Before I started BCC, there were only two schools around the area and each school was overcrowded. There were only a few teachers in each class with no proper structure. To get into a proper school, you have to pay a lot of money and go very far from the village of Madale. Most parents cannot afford it because most earn a living by driving motorbikes as taxis and cooking local food in the village for the workers and then working budget construction.
Line, how did you become connected to BCC?
Line Bickmann (LB): I came to Tanzania to volunteer for the first time in 2009, and I have known Edward since then. I remember talking to him in 2015, where he explained to me that they were going to open a school and that I was the one going to run it. By that time, I was living in Greenland, where I was a lecturer at a university college, so that did not really sound like a realistic plan—but somehow it happened anyway. And here I am and have been since the opening.
What are the three key points of the BCC?
DK: To keep it short, our goals are to be Local, Transparent, and Sustainable. In terms of local, aside from myself, our five board members are all Tanzanian and provide their support for free. We also hire local teachers. Being local is important because so many NGOs in developing nations comprise of mainly foreign board members and managers. This creates a divide between foreign and local staff. As a preschool, I think it's important that the children have adults of their own nationalities in the key positions so they look up to people of their own heritage as role models.
Transparency is also very important. Many nonprofits do not open their books or state where their donation money is going to. At the BCC, on our website, we list exactly where donation money is going to (primarily construction projects) and how much we've spent monthly operating our preschool. This ensures that we are operating aboveboard. If people give us a donation, they can have the peace of mind knowing how it's spent. As an organization, I am proud that 0% of our fundraising money goes to administrative fees. 100% goes directly to the project since all our board members are working free of charge.
Sustainability is our last goal and currently our most challenging. We charge a small fee of $15/month for children to attend our school. That money goes to pay staff salaries and operating costs like food and water. Currently, we are losing money some months but our hope is that student tuition can go to running the school and that we can end up near even after each month.
Next: Learn more about the BCC.
Love what this school is doing? Share
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Barnstaple News
Bideford News
Ilfracombe News
North Devon Gazette > News
Former school caretaker jailed for owning sawn-off shotgun
Published: 3:58 PM November 26, 2020 Updated: 9:31 AM December 15, 2020
Robert Mitchell. - Credit: Police
A former school caretaker has been jailed after he kept an illegally held sawn-off shotgun to protect a cannabis plantation in his garage.
Robert Mitchell had the potentially lethal weapon and two shotgun cartridges in a filing cabinet in the same outbuilding he was growing 40 cannabis plants.
The building had metal doors at the front and a side door with a reinforced metal frame and was covered by a CCTV system which Mitchell claimed was to deter intruders.
He claimed to have found the sawn-off and another shotgun in a field after chasing off suspected poachers about three years ago.
He did not report it to the police and kept it apart from his seven other legally held firearms which were kept in a locked cabinet at his home in Westleigh, near Bideford.
He said he was growing the cannabis for his own use and intended to turn it into oil which he could put in has tea to help him sleep.
Mitchell, aged 61, was working as a caretaker at a school in North Devon until police found the drugs and firearms in October last year.
1 Devon's Tiki surf brand is up for sale
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3 Northam murder suspect remanded in custody
4 I'm Still Standing: Ambulance worker's battle against the darkness
5 Barnstaple's The ilab launches iPad appeal to help lockdown home schoolers
6 Council and police step up Covid enforcement in North Devon
7 Roger McGough unveiled as Plough Poetry Prize judge
8 Three more Covid deaths at North Devon District Hospital but cases are falling
9 Man charged with murder of Northam pensioner
10 Terrified shoppers fled Devon city centre attack
He was jailed for five years under Britain's strict firearms laws which impose a mandatory minimum sentence for possession of a sawn-off shotgun.
Judge Peter Johnson imposed the minimum term despite learning that Mitchell's father had very recently passed away, leaving him as a sole carer for his seriously ill mother.
Mitchell, now of Brennacott Road, Bideford, admitted possession of a prohibited weapon and possession of a firearm without a certificate and was jailed for five years.
The judge told him: "You knew this sawn-off shotgun worked and the inevitable conclusion is that you had it there to protect the cannabis cultivation.
"It was a weapon readily to hand, whether to simply defend the cannabis or in the relation to a grievance you had with neighbours or others.
"I reject your account of how it came into your possession, which bore all the hallmarks of a fabrication. It seems it was deliberately kept from any inspection by a firearms officer.
"It would be remarkable if you had found it as you say you did that you did not call telephone the police."
Tom Bradnock, prosecuting, said the sawn-off was found in an unlocked cupboard in the detached garage when Mitchell was caught by police growing 40 cannabis plants in October last year.
He had four shotguns and three rifles which were all held lawfully and were kept in a locked cabinet in a small gunroom at his home in Westleigh.
He was cautioned by police for production of cannabis.
Mitchell gave evidence to the Judge in which he said he found the gun in a field near his home after seeing two men out shooting at dusk three or four years ago.
He said they fled into woodland when he went out with a high-powered lamp and he found the sawn-off and a vintage shotgun. The sawn-off was loaded with a single cartridge, which he fired to make the weapon safe.
He said he took it home and locked it in a filing cabinet in his garage and put the other gun on top of a cupboard. He planned to smash them up with a sledge hammer but never got around to it.
He said he did not report it to the police because he thought they were useless when he reported a burglary in 2004.
Hollie Gilbery, defending, said Mitchell gave up his job as a caretaker at a local school so he could look after his elderly and sick parents.
His father passed away and Mitchell fears that his mother's condition will deteriorate to such an extent if he is not there to look after her that she will not recognise him when he comes out of prison.
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I lost eight stone and an extreme risk of diabetes


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Two views of the nuclear threat and 'the end times'
Photo by Laurentiu Morariu on Unsplash
In light of the profound fear expressed by some interlocutors, let's be clear about what it means that Vladimir Putin raised the alert level of Russian nuclear weapons.
According to David Manning, a former British ambassador to the US, "this is the first time since the (1962) Cuba missile crisis that anyone has threatened the use of nuclear weapons as a war-fighting method".
What Sir David means is that until now, nuclear weapons were supposed to be a deterrent, not an actual tool. The Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) doctrine, a term coined by strategist Donald Brennan in 1962, assumed that no one would ever be so irrational (or mad) as to employ nuclear weapons to fight a war. After all, to do so would mean self-annihilation, along with the annihilation of rivals and the world.
So, are we really on the point of Armageddon? Three interlocutors – all professional working mothers with young children – recently suggested they were subsumed by a jangling, screaming fear of nuclear extinction. For one, the fear manifest itself as insomnia. For the others, it took the form of don't-speakism of various sorts.
Just how real is the threat they worry about? What kind of nuclear threat might be in the offing?
Gideon Rachman, chief foreign affairs columnist for the Financial Times, recently reported a conversation with Lawrence Freedman, emeritus professor of War Studies at King's College London. The professor inclined to the view that Mr Putin was simply using his nuclear weapons to frighten the West.
This contrasted with the opinion Mr Rachman elicited from Jeremy Shapiro, who once worked at the US State Department with Jake Sullivan, now President Joe Biden's national security adviser. Mr Shapiro said Russia has a lot of tactical or battlefield nuclear weapons and Russian military doctrine plans for these to be used as part of a war-fighting strategy. Mr Rachman writes: "Jeremy does not think it likely that Russia would use these weapons on Ukrainian soil. The scenario he floats is that Russia might use them to attack a concentration of Nato troops in Poland or the Baltic states — believing that these forces might be about to attack Russia."
Mr Shapiro, he said, has previously written: "Nikolai Patrushev, a close adviser of Putin, said in 2009 that Russia might launch a pre-emptive nuclear strike 'to repel an aggression with the use of conventional weapons not only in a large-scale [war] but also in a regional and even local war.'"
What this suggests is a deliberate go-nuclear strategy – a kind of back-pocket plan. More to the point, it indicates a paranoia on the part of Mr Putin, one that overrules the MAD doctrine of mutually assured destruction. If so, the paranoia would outweigh any rational sense that nuclear weapons are a bad idea for our species and our planet.
But Mr Putin's current state of mind is an unknown unknown. We can't presume anything one way or the other.
Author RashmeePosted on March 9, 2022 March 9, 2022 Categories blog, Commentary, European, RussiaTags end times, nuclear threat, Vladimir Putin


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Hand grip strength variability during serial testing as an entropic biomarker of aging: a Poincaré plot analysis
Elena Ioana Iconaru ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-9673-93091 &
Constantin Ciucurel1
The Poincaré plot method can be used for both qualitative and quantitative assessment of self-similarity in usually periodic functions, hence the idea of applying it to the study of homeostasis of living organisms. From the analysis of numerous scientific data, it can be concluded that hand functionality can be correlated with the state of the human body as a biological system exposed to various forms of ontogenetic stress.
We used the Poincaré plot method to analyze the variability of hand grip strength (HGS), as an entropic biomarker of aging, during 60 repetitive tests of the dominant and nondominant hand, in young and older healthy subjects. An observational cross-sectional study was performed on 80 young adults (18–22 years old, mean age 20.01 years) and 80 older people (65–69 years old, mean age 67.13 years), with a sex ratio of 1:1 for both groups. For statistical analysis, we applied univariate descriptive statistics and inferential statistics (Shapiro–Wilk test, Mann–Whitney U-test for independent large samples, with the determination of the effect size coefficient r, and simple linear regression. We calculated the effect of fatigue and the Poincaré indices SD1, SD2, SD1/SD2 and the area of the fitting ellipse (AFE) for the test values of each subject.
The analysis of the differences between groups revealed statistically significant results for most HGS-derived indices (p ≤ 0.05), and the magnitude of the differences indicated, in most situations, a large effect size (r > 0.5). Our results demonstrate that the proposed repetitive HGS testing indicates relevant differences between young and older healthy subjects. Through the mathematical modeling of data and the application of the concept of entropy, we provide arguments supporting this new design of HGS testing.
Our results indicate that the variability of HGS during serial testing, which reflects complex repetitive biomechanical functions, represents an efficient indicator for differentiation between young and older hand function patterns from an entropic perspective. In practical terms, the variability of HGS, evaluated by the new serial testing design, can be considered an attractive and relatively simple biomarker to use for gerontological studies.
The Poincaré plot as a tool for mathematical modeling of data
The Poincaré plot defines a computational graphic tool (scattergram-type plot) for Cartesian representation of a series of data with dynamic nonlinear evolution. The application of the method refers, in particular, to the study of the time evolution of nonlinear phenomena that characterize open physical systems.
The Poincaré plot is based on the concept of constructing a return map (recurrence plot) of a time series of data and quantifies the recurrence, self-similarity, or periodicity of state variables of systems [1]. Practically, such analyses of the behavior of physical systems under different circumstances appeal to the concept of entropy. Entropy refers to the degree of disorder that characterizes a physical system, which can be appreciated in terms of the randomness and predictability of its evolution over time. Thus, greater entropy implies an increased randomness and a lower system order [2].
By analysing the geometric characteristics of the graphs plotted by the Poincaré method, it is possible to extract quantitative variables that help to characterize the dynamics of the systems taken into account [3]. Additionally, through complex statistical calculations, correlations across multiple spatiotemporal scales can be determined, which help to identify fractal dynamics [4]. Overall, using the proposed method, it is possible to achieve an entropy-based analysis of complex time series of data.
In mathematics, the Poincaré plot consists of a geometrical representation in the Cartesian plane of a time data string of the type x1, x2, x3, …, xn. Each value xi, where i = 1 … .n, refers to a time-based state of nonlinear evolution of a defined characteristic of a system. The return map of the data includes a plot for the following pairs of coordinates: (x1, x2), (x2, x3), … (xi, xi + 1)..., (xn-1, xn). Usually, the resulting plot is an ellipse, which can provide two important descriptors for a quantitative analysis of the dynamics of the time series data: SD1 and SD2, which in fact represent the minor and the major axes of the ellipse, respectively [5].
SD1 and SD2 are calculated through formulas that incorporate the standard deviation of the time series. Practically, SD1 represents the standard deviation (dispersion) of the distances of points from the major axis of the ellipse and indicates the short-term variability of the time series of data. SD2 represents the standard deviation (dispersion) from the minor axis of the ellipse and indicates the long-term variability of the time series of data [6].
The formulas for the two parameters are the following [5,6,7]:
$$ \mathrm{SD}1=\frac{\sqrt{2}}{2}\ast SD\left({x}_n-{x}_{n+1}\right) $$
$$ \mathrm{SD}2=\sqrt{2 SD{\left({x}_n\right)}^2-\frac{1}{2} SD{\left({x}_n-{x}_{n+1}\right)}^2} $$
where SD (xn – xn + 1) represents the standard deviation of the time series xn – xn + 1 and SD (xn) the standard deviation of the time series xn.
Another statistical indicator for the analysis of dynamic data evolution is the ratio SD1/SD2, which measures the relative balance between short- and long-term variabilities of the time series of data [8]. For this reason, SD1/SD2 reflects the clarity and linearity of the scatter pattern [9]. For statistical analysis, the area of the fitting ellipse (AFE) has been proposed, which is calculated by the formula AFE = π ∗ SD1 ∗ SD2 [7].
The utility of the Poincaré plot is justified by the fact that the initial qualitative analysis of a nonlinear distribution of data, by tracing the ellipse, can be transformed into a quantitative analysis in terms of linear statistics by calculating SD1 and SD2.
Applications of Poincaré plot in the analysis of the biological systems dynamics
Because living organisms can be assimilated to open biological systems, various forms of their entropic behaviors have been proposed from the perspective of particular dynamic physiological parameters [10].
In this regard, the Poincaré plot has proven to be widely applicable in the field of human biology, for scale entropy analysis of complex physiologic time series [11] and for control systems involved in their complex regulation [12].
Traditionally, Poincaré plots have been used to represent biomedical signals such as heart rate and respiratory pattern variabilities [1]. Most studies of this kind are aimed at studying beat-to-beat heart rate variability in clinical circumstances. In this way, representations of R-R intervals can be extracted from serial electrocardiographic records.
The bivariate segmented Poincaré plot analysis, which is a variant derived from the classic one, is used to study the interactions between beat-to-beat RR intervals and its temporal enclosed systolic blood pressure time series [13].
At the respiratory level, the utility of the Poincaré plot analysis has been demonstrated for the exploration of the breathing pattern variability in terms of total breath duration, tidal volume, inspiratory time, expiratory time, and peak inspiratory flow [14, 15].
The Poincaré plot method was also proposed for the study of blood pressure variability [16], glucose variability from continuous glucose monitoring systems [7, 17], and the variability of some electroencephalographic paths [18, 19], polysomnography paths [9], plethysmography data [20], electromyography or electrohysterography data [6].
A new perspective for developing the Poincaré plot method has been projected for the purpose of comparing dynamical systems concepts and techniques for biomechanical analysis [4]. Thus, it is known that human movement implies entropy changes because body systems are exposed to various forms of stress constraints during locomotion.
In this way, the Poincaré plot analysis was proposed to characterize the mechanical time series fluctuations of gait. More explicitly, it quantified the foot clearance variability of patients in different clinical contexts (older people, neurodegenerative diseases, stroke etc.) [6, 21, 22] or other gait parameters (swing time, step length, and step width) [23]. For gait analysis through the Poincaré plot method, selected gait data signals (stride intervals) have been proposed for recording by some authors using force-sensitive resistors. These authors demonstrated that in healthy subjects, the parameters SD1 and SD2 are lower than in subjects with Parkinson's disease and Huntington's disease [6]. Another biomechanical study regarding the minimum foot clearance variability in the elderly during walking indicated increased irregularities and randomness in the gait patterns for individuals with balance problems and a history of falls, as an indication of loss of gait control mechanism [21]. Additionally, the Poincare indices SD1 (the short-term variability) and SD2 (the long-term variability) of the gait rhythm and the timing of the gait cycle can be readily employed to discern subjects with normal motor control from subjects with neurodegenerative disorder [22].
Another application of the Poincaré plot method is to analyze the center of pressure patterns during various sports-specific movements [24].
In conclusion, the Poincaré plot is used in clinical practice for the analysis of physiological time series, which are usually expressed as lengths, volumes, time intervals, pressures or concentrations of substances [7, 14, 16, 17, 23]. These parameters can be recorded during rest but also during exercise or other stress exposures [25, 26]. Although exercise induces fatigue, the parameters remain useful for the evaluation of human adaptation to physical effort.
The perspective of applying the Poincaré plot for studying hand grip strength variability as an entropic biomarker of aging
From a thermodynamic point of view, the aging of an organism, as an open biological system, can be compared to a slow process with nonlinear dynamics of accumulation of molecular clutches and loss of complexity of repetitive structures (fractals), namely, the growth of whole-body entropy content [27]. Any dysfunction of the body or disease state also leads to increased entropy [28] and possibly to the intensification of the aging rate.
The Poincaré plot method can be used for both qualitative and quantitative assessment of self-similarity in usually periodic functions, hence the idea of the application to the study of homeostasis of living organisms. Therefore, taking into account the entropic nature of the homeostatic equilibrium [29], we consider innovative the proposal to use biomarkers of aging that reflect complex repetitive biomechanical functions that can be quantified by mathematical modeling.
In practice, hand grip strength (HGS) has wide usefulness for the standardized determination of the individual's health and level of functionality, the impact of morbidity/disability, or the appreciation of the dynamics of the aging process [30]. In a recent study, we also demonstrated the applicability of HGS as a parameter for mathematical modeling for the study of the process of aging [31].
Classically, HGS is determined by limited procedures in terms of the number of repetitions (ordinarily, 1–3 repetitions), the highest recorded value of which is taken. Another proposed variant is the determination of the fatigue of the hand during isometric efforts of clamping of the dynamometer in various anatomical positions [32].
Very few studies have focused on repetitive tests of HGS, for example, for the analysis of endurance, muscle fatigue and hand weakness [33, 34].
Premises and aim of the study
From the analysis of numerous scientific data, it can be concluded that hand functionality can be correlated with the state of the human body as a biological system exposed to various forms of ontogenetic stress. Therefore, we considered using the Poincaré plot method to analyze the variability of HGS during repetitive tests for healthy subjects belonging to two age groups (young and old). By comparing the data series, we can draw conclusions on the dynamics of the normal aging process, the new test design having possible worth as an entropic biomarker of the aging process.
Participants and type of study
An observational cross-sectional study was performed on two groups of healthy subjects. The first group consisted of 80 young adults aged 18–22 years (mean age 20.01 years), and the second group consisted of 80 older people aged 65–69 years (mean age 67.13 years). The sex ratio was 1:1 for both groups of subjects.
Young adults were selected from among the students of the University of Pitesti and older people from among community-dwelling people. All participants, at the time of testing, had a good health status, were completely autonomous in activities of daily living (ADL) and did not have a significant pathological history (chronic or acute pathology of the upper limbs, recent injuries, arthritis, neuromuscular disorders or other medical conditions that could interfere with HGS). Subjects were untrained individuals with previous experience with light or moderate leisure physical activity. For each individual, we recorded the informed consent to participate in the study in accordance with the ethics of research on human subjects. Ethics approval was obtained from the Ethics Committee of the Research Center for Promoting Excellence in Professional Training, University of Pitesti (reference number 836/20.04.2018).
The study was performed over 9 months in 2018. Through anamnesis, we collected personal information from each participant regarding the health status and previous medical history. Next, for each of them, we assessed the HGS alternatively for both hands using a hydraulic hand dynamometer (Saehan model, MSD Europe bvba, Belgium). The results were recorded in kilogram-force (kgf). This type of device has good references for clinical use, in terms of validity and reliability, similar to the hydraulic Jamar dynamometer [35].
According to classical recommendations for obtaining maximal HGS results, participants sat on a chair, with feet flat on the floor, with the elbow flexed at 90°, the forearm in a neutral position and the wrist between 0° and 30° of extension [36]. Basically, the goal was to choose a position as comfortable as possible for each subject within the mentioned interval. This fact is in accordance with the recommendations for optimal dynamometer handle position to assess maximal isometric HGS in epidemiological studies and with the recommendations of the American Society of Hand Therapist [36].
As a standard procedure, the dynamometer's base must be applied on the first metacarpal bone (inside the palm), with the handle in contact with half of the last four fingers. To fit each individual's palm size, the dynamometer's handle was adjusted for each subject (the handle allows fine adjustment, from 3.8 cm to 8.9 cm, in 5 steps).
For each hand, 60 successive tests were performed over an 8-min interval in the form of repeated maximal isometric efforts, with a duration of 3 s each, followed by a relaxation phase of 5 s (when the result was read). No other body movement was allowed during testing. The subjects were encouraged to reach the maximal results, this condition requiring a high concentration on the task. Our protocol was designed by starting from the classic recommendations for clinical determination of HGS regarding the duration of maximal isometric effort [37]. For the determination of hand grip endurance with repetitive maximal isometric contractions, some authors have used 2.5 s for contractions and 1 s for rest time [38]. In our case, a higher value of the pause (5 s) was proposed to reduce muscle fatigue. For this reason, the selected number of 60 successive tests is relatively easy for healthy subjects to do and does not cause excessive fatigue.
To ensure a uniform test pace and to assist the subjects, we used a sensory multimedia support with visual and acoustic feedback. Hence, on a digital display (smartphone or tablet), we ran a .gif file to synchronize the testing phases with the rest in the form of a countdown timer. Initially, the dominant hand, considered to be the one preferred for ADL (writing), was tested. Next, the procedure was repeated for the nondominant hand after a 5-min break. Classically, a pause of at least 1 min is recommended between the two tests [37]. In our case, a 5-min extended pause between the measurements with the dominant and nondominant hands was selected to ensure that the fatigue from the measurement of the one hand did not influence the other hand.
Each subject performed a short familiarization trial (4–5 HGS contractions) 5 min before the main testing to familiarize themselves with the procedure. The testing started from the resting state, without a warm-up session. This was motivated by the fact that the increase in HGS due to warm-up could be clinically significant [39].
Common anthropometric measurements (body height, H; body mass, M) were also performed according to standard procedures. All assessments were completed in the morning, between 8 and 11 a.m.
Outcomes and statistical analysis
Data series of HGS were grouped by sex, age (young, older people), and laterality (dominance of the hand). For statistical analysis, we applied univariate descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. Therefore, we initially calculated the mean HGS and the Poincaré indices SD1, SD2, SD1/SD2 and AFE for each subject and for each hand. Starting from the H and W values, we also calculated the body mass index (BMI) for each participant. We defined another parameter, the effect of fatigue, as an average decrease in HGS, as a percentage change between the first and the last evaluation in the set of 60 tests.
Next, we determined the mean and standard deviation (SD) for the young and older groups (men, women, men and women together). As examples, we plotted the Poincaré graphs for one subject of each group.
The data series was checked for normality by means of the Shapiro–Wilk test, and since all of the data presented a nonnormal distribution, we applied the Mann–Whitney U-test for independent large samples (N > 20) to check the statistical significance of the differences between groups (calculation of the U and z values).
To evaluate the magnitude of the difference between groups, we determined the effect size coefficient r with the following formula: r \( =\frac{\mathrm{z}}{\surd \mathrm{n}} \), where n is the number of subjects [40]. The interpretation of the r coefficient is as follows: values greater than 0.5 denote a large effect size, values in the range of 0.3–0.5 indicate a medium effect size, and values smaller than 0.1 indicate a small effect size [41]. Finally, we run a simple linear regression model for the analyzed variables.
The results are centralized as descriptive statistical indicators in Tables 1 and 2. It is noteworthy that the statistical indicators for HGS, in all situations, could be included in normative data according to sex and laterality for the concerned age groups [42, 43]. Interpretations should be made by noting that the mean values of HGS for the study groups refer to the series of values obtained by 60 successive measurements for each participant's hand.
Table 1 Statistic indicators for investigated parameters in the young groups
Table 2 Statistic indicators for investigated parameters in the older groups
Clearly, during HGS serial testing, the HGS values tended to decrease gradually due to the phenomenon of muscle fatigue. Therefore, the maximum values during these successive measurements can be considered representative for each subject as the reference level of HGS. At the same time, the mean values of HGS indicate the fatigue over time and the adaptability to serial testing for the investigated subjects.
For the inferential statistical analysis, a nonparametric test (the Mann-Whitney U-test) was applied to compare the differences between data series with a nonnormal distribution. In fact, the existence of this type of distribution was expected, considering the temporal nonlinearity of the evolution of the parameters derived from the HGS values (Tables 3, 4 and 5).
Table 3 Comparison of recorded parameters between young and older men groups
Table 4 Comparison of recorded parameters between young and older women groups
Table 5 Comparison of recorded parameters between young and older groups
The analysis of the differences between groups revealed statistically significant results for most HGS-derived indices (p ≤ 0.05), with the exception of the ratio SD1/SD2 (for the dominant and nondominant hands), when comparing the groups of young women and older women.
In the case of statistically significant results, the magnitude of the differences between the data series indicated, in most situations, a large effect size (r > 0.5). There were also three distinct situations in which the r values indicated a medium effect size: for the SD1/SD2 ratio of the nondominant hand when comparing the groups of young men and older men and for the SD1/SD2 ratio of the dominant and nondominant hands when comparing the groups of young and older subjects.
Next, we applied a standard linear analysis of the fatigue and the Poincaré parameters. The fact that the variables do not have a normal distribution is not an impediment, and linear regression remains a statistically sound technique in studies of large sample sizes [44]. For this reason, we applied the simple linear regression at the level of young and older groups (n = 80). The results of simple linear regression analysis which was conducted to determine the effect of fatigue (the predictor variable) on the parameters measured (the outcome variables) are presented in Table 6.
Table 6 Results of the simple linear regression analysis for the effect of fatigue on recorded parameters in young and older groups
We found that our regression model is statistically significant in most cases. Therefore, a certain part of the variability of the analyzed parameters is explained by the appearance of the fatigue effect.
At present, biological aging can best be quantified through compound aging scores, and HGS is used as a singular indicator in a classic manner as an approximate predictor of longevity, disability, frailty and/or morbidity [45, 46].
To our knowledge, the present study is the first to consider the biomechanical analysis of repetitive HGS testing through the Poincaré plot method to investigate the aging process in terms of entropy. Although there are a few studies that analyze the HGS variation during serial tests, these included relatively small series of tests, on the order of 10–15 repetitions. In most cited cases, such testing protocols have proven to be reliable [34, 47, 48]. The innovation of our study lies in designing an investigation of the HGS variability during repetitive tests for young and older subjects by using mathematical modeling of the recorded data. Thus, for each participant, a significant number of repetitions of the test was performed (60 successive tests), feasible for data analysis through the Poincaré plot method [49].
Following the dynamics of the HGS values during the serial testing of the subjects, a series of relevant observations can be made. Interestingly, in several cases, the maximum values recorded for HGS were not reached during the first 5 tests in the 60-test series. Hence, the classic recommendation to perform 3 HGS determinations, of which the highest value is selected [50, 51], is not always fully relevant to this biomechanical parameter.
Additionally, for the proposed protocol, muscle fatigue occurred in an atypical way. Thus, a nonlinear descendent trend in HGS values was observed over time, and the HGS minimum values were sometimes recorded prior to the last 5 tests. In addition, there were subjects with atypical individual evolution during the serial testing. In other words, such situations cannot be excluded, a fact already confirmed by other authors [52].
For our testing protocol, we considered the occurrence of muscle fatigue as an inherent phenomenon that decreases muscle strength. The nonlinear character of the HGS during serial testing, however, indicates the variability of the efficiency of the regulation system of the imposed motor task. Essentially, muscle fatigue, as a physiological process, involves complex systems of neuromotor and metabolic regulation and might be measured as the entropy level [53]. Additionally, fatigue is influenced by the aging process, and older adults seem to be more susceptible to fatigue during high-speed dynamic contractions [54].
Overall, in the young men group, we found a fatigue effect of 15.89% for the dominant hand and 16.87% for the nondominant hand. For the young women group, the mean values were 24.53 and 26.7%, respectively. In the older men group, the recorded mean values were 34.74 and 38.61%, and in the older women group, they were 48.09 and 53.84%, respectively. Clearly, the muscular fatigue of the hand during testing was of a general nature among the subjects, being more noticeable in women, regardless of age. Moreover, the described phenomenon was much broader in older people than young subjects, which could be explained by the decline in neuromotor functions associated with the aging process.
Analyzing the values for R squared from Table 6, we observe, as expected, that the fatigue influences more strongly the mean HGS in all situations. In the case of the parameters derived from the Poincaré plot method, there are similarities, but also differences in the relations with the fatigue, as the predictor variable. Overall, the effect of fatigue is more evident at the level of SD2, SD1/SD2, and AFE and lower at the level of SD1, for both hands and age groups. Things are plausible because SD2 reflects the long-term variability and SD1 the short-term variability. The fatigue effect mainly induces the change in the long-term variability of HGS. Also, the maximum effect of fatigue was identified in the case of SD1/SD2 for the dominant hand of older people, when 46% of the variation of the parameter is explained by the regressor fatigue.
The serial testing of the HGS determined the appearance of nonlinear oscillations of the motor performance of the subjects' hands, with a decreasing tendency. This phenomenon can be explained by the gradual appearance of muscle fatigue and by the variability of the efficiency of the neuromotor and metabolic control mechanisms. Moreover, muscle fatigue itself reflects a failure of neuromuscular regulation and muscle metabolic adaptation in response to exercise [55]. In other words, a complex motor task (such as HGS) can be performed successively over time with a certain constant rhythm as long as the processes described above involve adaptive capabilities of the movement system. During aging, the human body, as an open biological system, manifests limitations of metabolic and functional adaptation to stress factors, which is also reflected in the decline in skeletal muscle performance and physical performance [56].
The decrement in HGS performance has been reported in other studies that have focused on identifying HGS endurance during dynamic evaluations [34, 48, 57]. Other authors consider that, at least for repeated series of 10 consecutive HGS tests, the performance in the test is quite stable over trials, although there is the expected fatigue effect, especially for men [47]. However, the literature on this topic is inconsistent when it comes to small series of repeat tests [50]. Obviously, the gradual decrease in HGS by successive testing is generally conditioned by the number of repetitions and by the intervals between them [58].
A dynamic protocol, for example, of 12 repeated maximal repetitions, is recommended for the evaluation of dynamic HGS endurance, using as reliable indicators the maximal HGS and the percentage change [59]. In our study, the objective of the data series analysis was to collaterally target the evaluation of HGS endurance, which was anticipated to occur in the proposed protocol. Instead, from an entropic perspective, we found that the mechanical time-series fluctuations of the HGS differed between the young group and the older group, regardless of sex. The obtained indices of variability, highlighted by the Poincaré plot method, were significantly higher for the older group than for the young group overall, and this difference held in the subgroups of men and women (p ≤ 0.05).
The results can be interpreted in a more refined manner by taking into account one at a time the SD1, SD2, SD1/SD2 and AFE indices. As examples, the pattern of HGS fluctuations (dominant hand) of representative subjects from the groups of young and older subjects can be observed in Figs. 1 and 2. The subjects were chosen according to the mean values of the SD1 and SD2 indices of the groups.
Typical sample of Poincaré plot of HGS fluctuations (dominant hand), for a young subject (man). HGS: hand grip strength; AFE = area of the fitting ellipse
Typical sample of Poincaré plot of HGS fluctuations (dominant hand) for an older subject (man). HGS: hand grip strength; AFE = area of the fitting ellipse
The decrease in HGS force for the young participant was 18.37% and for the old participant was 41.46%. Clearly, muscular fatigue was present in both cases and affected the old subjects more but appeared to be a nonlinear phenomenon. From the entropic perspective, fatigue was associated with greater variability of HGS in older subjects. As a consequence, the values SD1, SD2, and AFE were significantly smaller for the younger subjects than for the old ones. Mainly, the mechanisms of neuromuscular and metabolic control involved in supporting the process of achieving the imposed complex motor task, which also implies the onset of muscle fatigue, are more deficient in older people.
At the group level, the analysis of SD1 and SD2 indices argues that performance in HGS is more stable in young subjects, despite the expected fact that muscle fatigue occurred for all participants. In fact, the more noticeable changes occurred in SD2 than in SD1, which reflects the long-term variability of the time series of data.
The differences between the means of the SD1/SD2 ratio were less extensive and more difficult to interpret, but they can be presented in terms of the relative uniformity of the balance between short- and long-term variabilities of the time series of data.
Finally, significant differences between groups of young and older people, regardless of sex, were found in the AFE values. Generally, an elliptic plot indicates an oscillating system, and as the ellipse area gets smaller (the data become more concentrated), the greater the stability of the system and the lower its entropy is [60]. Conversely, as the ellipse area becomes larger (the data are more scattered), the tendency to irregularity is more pronounced, and the system has more variable behavior and higher entropy.
We demonstrated that the AFE mean values of the older people were higher than those of young individuals, both for men and women, as well as for the combined groups of men and women. In other words, the behavior of the organism during HGS testing, as a biomechanical system, signifies a lower level of entropy in young subjects compared to the older subjects. This implies the existence of more marked features of repeatability, uniformity, predictability and homogeneity of the data series in young adults, which means the system is functioning in a regime of maximum efficiency and resistance. Instead, the manifestation of the aging process involves a reduction in system performance in terms of focus on the task, coordination of movements, steady rhythm of HGS development, and earlier occurrence of muscle fatigue. In brief, overall, the degree of disorder of these elements in the context of achieving the required task signifies higher entropy in the older organism.
From the entropic perspective, hand sensorimotor function has been studied by other authors, for example, in the case of diabetes mellitus. In these patients, there was a reduced force structural complexity of the hand (lower approximate entropy values) than in healthy subjects when producing grip force during submaximal force production tasks [61]. Additionally, in other pathologies, such as stroke, the increased force variability constitutes a hallmark of arm disabilities [62]. In multiple sclerosis, the fatigability of repeated hand grip strength is correlated with disease progression [57], and aging causes an increase in the motor output variability during rapid discrete isometric contractions [63].
Clearly, in terms of entropy, the pathological and aging systems are less complex than healthy systems, and this finding has been attributed to the degraded physiological control processes [64]. The interpretation of our results converges to the same idea, showing that the proposed repetitive HGS testing evidences statistically significant differences between young and older healthy people. Through the mathematical modeling of data and the application of the concept of entropy, we provide arguments supporting this new design of HGS testing.
Limitations of the study
This study has some limitations. First, the proposed test is more complex than it seems, and the collected results can be considered significant only to the extent that the premises of rigorous testing are provided. Practically, interindividual differences can be reported regarding the participant's involvement in meeting the requirements of the testing methodology. Second, the number of successive tests and proposed timeframes can be resized, depending on the objectives of the study and the resources of the subjects being tested. Last but not least, we did not consider variables such as the participants' comorbidities or lifestyle that could interfere with HGS assessment. An extrapolation of the experimental design for other types of individuals, with functional limitations, should be reconsidered through a reduction of the number of serial tests and/or an increase in the pauses between contractions. In the future, by studying large samples of participants in several age groups and taking into account composite variables, the possible procedural errors can be mitigated.
Our results indicate that the variability of HGS during serial testing represents an efficient indicator for differentiation between young and older hand function patterns from an entropic perspective. The fatigue effect is present at the level of the dynamics of the recorded entropic parameters and should be considered as an important factor for data interpretation. Obviously, aging is manifested in the level of hand functionality through the time performance fluctuations of the task of achieving repetitive HGS. This fact can be interpreted in the sense of the functioning of the senescent organism as a system characterized by irregularity and oscillation, and therefore with the tendency to increase entropy.
In practical terms, the variability of HGS, evaluated by the new serial testing design, can be considered an attractive and relatively simple biomarker to use for gerontological studies. The method of analysis of HGS time series according to the Poincaré plot technique has the potential for development and refining in the future for extensive clinical applications as well as for the delimitation of normal and pathological aging.
The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
AFE:
Area of the fitting ellipse
BMI:
HGS:
Hand grip strength
Body mass
ND:
Non-dominant
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There are no sources of funding.
Department of Medical Assistance and Physical Therapy, University of Pitesti, Pitesti, Romania
Elena Ioana Iconaru
& Constantin Ciucurel
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Conception and design of the research: EII, CC; acquisition of data: EII, CC; analysis and interpretation of the data: EII, CC; statistical analysis: EII, CC; drafting of the manuscript: EII, CC; critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content: EII, CC. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Correspondence to Elena Ioana Iconaru.
The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Research Center for Promoting Excellence in Professional Training (reference number 836/20.04.2018), University of Pitesti. Participants gave written informed consent before inclusion in the study.
Iconaru, E.I., Ciucurel, C. Hand grip strength variability during serial testing as an entropic biomarker of aging: a Poincaré plot analysis. BMC Geriatr 20, 12 (2020) doi:10.1186/s12877-020-1419-1
Nonlinear dynamics
Poincaré plot


SCHNEIDER-Irving Steven. Devoted son of Max and Pearl Schneider. Died July 25, 1998. He was a uniquely charitable individual, proprietor of Far Rockaway Liquor Corp., Executive Director of the Chamber of Commerce of the Rockaways, accountant, business consultant and real estate investor. Having served in the Army and attended NYU, Irving was also a 32nd degree Mason. He founded and was an active Board member of Congregation Beth Emeth, Hewlett, N.Y. Irving leaves his loving wife of over 49 years, Audrey (nee Salzinger), children Barry, Stanley, Sandra, son-in-law Bill, grandchildren Paula and Joshua and a large ''extended'' family of friends. His humor, kindness, smile and joie de vivre will live on. He touched many with ''I think I love you.'' In lieu of flowers, the family asks that contributions be made to charities.


Joseph, the eldest son of Jacob & Rachel, was bought from the Ishmaelites by Potiphar who made him the steward of his household. After being refused by Joseph, Potiphar's wife clutched at his robes pleading with him. At this Joseph fled abandoning his cloak. She then avenged her humiliation by accusing Joseph of trying to violate her, using the cloak as evidence which led to the imprisonment of Joseph.


'Otherhood' will not be released on April 26 as planned.
Netflix has shelved, at least for the time being, a film starring Felicity Huffman. This news comes after the actress entered a guilty plea in the ongoing college admissions scandal.
As The Guardian reports, Netflix was to release the original romantic comedy Otherhood, starring Huffman — as well as Patricia Arquette and Angela Bassett — on April 26. However, following the actress's guilty plea, Netflix has withdrawn plans to release the film until further notice.
No new release date for the film has been announced, according to Refinery 29. Netflix users who attempt to access the movie's page on the platform are redirected back to the home page.
On Monday, as reported by CNN, Huffman pleaded guilty to charges that she paid $15,000 to a bogus charity associated with Rick Singer. She was charged with facilitating cheating on her daughter's behalf on the SATs, in order to get said daughter into an elite university. Under federal sentencing guidelines for such a crime, she faces up to 20 years in prison, and a fine of up to $250,000. However, prosecutors are believed to be advocating for a "low end" prison sentence of somewhere around two years instead, in addition to a fine of $20,000.
Huffman, along with actress Lori Loughlin, were the two most high-profile individuals caught up in the college admissions scandal. The scandal surrounds largely wealthy parents who stand accused of bribes, payoffs, and of employing other illicit means in order to get their children into elite universities.
Loughlin, like Huffman, also has a connection to Netflix. Specifically, she starred on Fuller House, Netflix's sequel to the late '80s/early '90s series Full House. However, as Vulture reported at the time, the streaming service and Loughlin parted ways in March, following the news of the scandal. Similarly, Loughlin was let go from the Hallmark Channel, and will no longer appear in any of its movies or shows, according to Refinery 29.
Huffman, for her part, insists that her daughter had nothing to do with her crimes, and that her daughter should not be held accountable.


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Media Center » Emary Brings Career to Close at Hornady®
Emary Brings Career to Close at Hornady®
Grand Island, NE — Ask Dave Emary what he liked best about his job as senior ballistics scientist at Hornady, and he'd tell you that it was finding better ways to do things.
"At the heart of me, I'm a tinkerer," Emary said.
To borrow an expression from aeronautics, this Air Force veteran is inclined to "push the envelope," to think outside the box.
"I'm not one willing to just go with the status quo," Emary said.
Over his 24-year tenure with the company, Emary's tinkering and envelope pushing helped accomplish some of the biggest breakthroughs at Hornady. Although Emary said he was merely in the right place at the right time, the list of projects he influenced in one way or another is a long one.
"Dave has been an integral part of the innovation that Hornady Manufacturing is known for," said Steve Hornady, company president. "His vision, inquisitiveness and determination have led us, time and again, into new frontiers of ballistics achievement."
Fans of Hornady products will quickly recognize the names of ammunition lines such as Critical Defense®, Precision Hunter™ and LEVERevolution®, or cartridges like the 6.5 Creedmoor and 17 HMR, but those are just a few of the dozens Emary worked on after being hired as bullet/ammo lab manager in 1994.
Emary came by his interest in ballistics naturally, growing up on a farm near Wakeman, Ohio, where he began shooting when he was 10 years old. His dad had a .22, and he shot a lot of small game, rocks and other targets of opportunity.
After earning his Bachelor of Science in physics from Bowling Green State University, he worked for a year at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory's Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array in New Mexico before joining the U.S. Air Force.
In the Air Force, he earned a second bachelor's degree, in aeronautical/astronomical engineering. He served for six years, rising to the rank of captain.
After the Air Force, Emary worked at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology's Energetic Materials Research and Testing Center (EMRTC), the largest ordnance-testing facility in the U.S. outside the government.
"That's where I really got into the ballistics side of things," Emary said. Among other things, research by Emary and his colleagues led to the development of the electromagnetic railguns now being used by the U.S. Navy that launch projectiles at 4,500 mph.
From there, he went to work for St. Marks Powder in Florida, the largest gun propellant producer in America. There, his work caught the attention of Steve Hornady, who offered Emary a job.
"Dave had built a reputation as an innovative thinker and problem solver, and I wanted those qualities for our team," Hornady said.
For his groundbreaking work, Emary was honored as one of Outdoor Life's Top 25 for Innovation in 2007.
Emary described his job at Hornady as a mix of problem solving, keeping production going and researching new products. Although he has retired from Hornady, he's still using many of those skills in a new job at a familiar place — as director of engineering at the Energetic Materials Research and Testing Center.
EMRTC is internationally recognized and has over 60 years' experience in explosives research and testing. For Emary, it's just his way of easing into retirement.
"I feel incredibly blessed to have been able to be a member of this industry, Hornady Manufacturing and to have been afforded the opportunities I have been given," Emary said. "I thank the Lord every day for the success I have had, which has been enormously aided by many other people."
Although retiring from Hornady, Emary will continue to work for Hornady as a consultant.
Founded in 1949, Hornady® Manufacturing Company is a family owned business headquartered in Grand Island, Nebraska. Proudly manufacturing products that are made in the USA, Hornady® Manufacturing is a world leader in bullet, ammunition, reloading tool and accessory design and manufacture.


Song World Wedding, a wedding agency in Hong Kong, developed wedding products in Daegu in June, and will promote and sell the product on the spot to would-be couples at the Hong Kong Wedding & Wedding Gifts Expo 2010 from July 16-18, 2010.
○ Hong Kong Song World Wedding contacted Daegu City in March and conducted advance due diligence to gather information and develop wedding products in Daegu. The company visited wedding agencies in the city jointly with the municipal government and consulted with them to develop products.
○ The Hong Kong company completed promotional materials advertising the products in June, and placed ads in various Hong Kong magazines. It will sell the products at the site of "the Wedding & Wedding Gifts Expo 2010," one of the larger wedding fairs held in Hong Kong, from July 16-18, working jointly with the Hong Kong branch of the Korea Tourism Organization.


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'Night of the Living Dead' will get a sequel from original creators' script
By Rick Marshall	 November 6, 2018
Barbara, they're coming to get you … again.
Fifty years after Night of the Living Dead first terrified audiences and broke new ground for both Hollywood and the horror genre, a direct sequel to director George A. Romero's 1968 film is now in the works based on a script penned by Romero and franchise co-creator John Russo.
According to horror movie news site Bloody Disgusting, Night of the Living Dead Romero and Russo wrote a script for a film that would be a direct follow-up to the events of Night of the Living Dead, but it was never brought to the screen. Instead, Night of the Living Dead was followed by Dawn of the Dead 10 years later, which Romero wrote and directed without Russo.
The original sequel's script will now reportedly find its way to the screen in 2019 as Night of the Living Dead, Part II.
"Unknown to most is that in the 1970s, the original writers and producers of Night of the Living Dead penned a sequel to their masterpiece. A sequel that inexplicably has gone unproduced for over 40 years — until now," states the announcement of the sequel on NightOfTheLivingDead.com. "Living Dead Media has brushed away the dirt from this amazing follow-up to a classic and brought together a great team to produce the new film."
While the quick turnaround for the sequel might seem a little questionable, it certainly echoes the indie-filmmaking environment that brought the original Night of the Living Dead to the screen. Romero shot the 1968 film outside Pittsburgh on a $114,000 budget — extremely low by Hollywood standards at any time, let alone in the late '60s.
Night of the Living Dead followed a group of strangers who seek refuge in a remote farmhouse after flesh-hungry zombies begin rising from the grave and terrorizing humanity. The film was particularly noteworthy for casting a Black actor, Duane Jones, as the film's male lead. According to Romero, Jones simply had the best audition of all the potential actors.
The film earned nearly $30 million worldwide and despite early criticism for its gore — tame by today's standards — it eventually received critical acclaim for its clever blend of horror elements and social commentary and was later selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry. Romero and Russo parted ways after the film's success due to creative differences on where the story should be headed, with Romero going on to write and direct five more Living Dead films in subsequent years. Two remakes of Night of the Living Dead were also produced.
Romero died in July 2017 and reportedly left behind a significant amount of unproduced scripts, literary works, and other projects. There's no word on which, if any, additional direct connections the sequel will have to Night of the Living Dead.
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ThemesSociety and Development
The Mascarene Islands, identified as an Important Marine Mammal Area
By Violaine Dulau
Violaine Dulau, PhD, Executive Director, Globice & Associate Researcher, Université de La Réunion
Lana Barteneva, Biologist, MMCO
Since early 2020, the Mascarene Islands have been identified as an Important Marine Mammal Area (IMMA). In this week's article Violaine Dulau and Lana Bartheneva review the importance of such demarcation for biodiversity preservation but also as a tool for policy makers and private decision makers to mitigate the impact of their activities in the demarcated areas. Already several important research projects are under way, both in Mauritius and la Reunion, on the population of endangered marine mammals in the area.
In early 2020, scientists announced the approval of 37 new "Important Marine Mammal Areas" (IMMAs) in the Western Indian Ocean and Arabian Seas. These IMMAs identify key habitats for marine mammals, including several endangered species such as the Indian Ocean humpback dolphin and the dugong. The delimitation of these IMMAs constitutes an important first step for the conservation of these species. In particular, they could serve as a basis for the implementation of management measures, such as the creation of marine protected areas.
The identification of IMMAs is based on scientific knowledge and represents the most complete and exhaustive review possible of the distribution of marine mammals and the use of their habitat in the region. Each area of interest is evaluated by the experts on the basis of (1) Vulnerability of the species or population, (2) Distribution and abundance (small resident population, aggregation), (3) Life cycle (breeding habitat, feeding habitat, migration routes), (4) Special attributes (distinctiveness, diversity). Areas that are valued as IMMAs are published on an online eAtlas and can be used to guide effective conservation measures by a variety of stakeholders.
It is hoped, for example, that industry will be able to use this information to effectively mitigate the impact of their planned activities in these areas, and that governments will be able to use this information to help guide their deliberations on the location of marine protected areas or other coastal zone management efforts.
As such, the Mascarene Islands (Reunion and Mauritius) and the associated underwater seamounts and banks have been identified as an Important Marine Mammal Area. The area meets several IMMA criteria. It hosts a high diversity of cetaceans, with 22 species of whales and dolphins reported. The inshore waters of Reunion and Mauritius islands sustain small resident populations of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins and spinner dolphins that might be threatened by increase interactions with human activities and coastal habitat degradation. The coastal waters also represent a breeding habitat for humpback whales. Each year, from June to October, humpback whales are migrating into the area to calve, nurse and mate, using the shallow waters around the islands, but also Le Perouse seamount and Saint Brandon shoal. Further offshore, the insular slope of Mauritius also sustains an important concentration of sperm whales, with groups of resident females and their young being observed year-round.
Map showing the Important Marine Mammal Areas identified in the south-west Indian Ocean.
The identification of the Mascarenes as an IMMA has been made possible thanks to the research conducted over the last decades by local organizations, such as Globice in Reunion and Mauritius Marine Conservation Society (MMCS) and Marine Megafauna Conservation Organization (MMCO) in Mauritius, and a large-scale aerial survey conducted in the region (REMMOA). Collaborative research programs are ongoing to further assess species diversity in the oceanic waters of the Mascarene which are still largely unexplored.
In Réunion, GLOBICE is leading a regional program on humpback whales with the aim of increasing our understanding of their movement within the south-western Indian Ocean breeding ground, and their migration routes to their feeding ground in Antarctica. This research program involves the deployment of satellite tags to track individual movement over serval months. Among the main findings of this program, the results have shown that some whales from Reunion are travelling to the Mascarene Plateau, using Saint-Brandon shoals as a breeding habitat. A photo-identification catalogue is also being maintained to identify individual humpback whales and assess their sighting history at the basin scale, based on photographs of their fluke. Research on humpback whale connectivity involves the long-term deployment of acoustic recorders in several locations of the Indian Ocean (Reunion, Madagascar, and along the African coastline) to detect humpback whale song and assess possible exchanges between breeding sites. In 2021, a hydrophone has been deployed in Mauritius waters for the first time, in partnership with Drop of Blue and the Marine Discovery Center, to contribute to this program and further assess connectivity within the Mascarene islands.
Humpback whale from Réunion (Photo by Violaine Dulau, Globice)
In Mauritius, under MMCO leadership the MAUBYDICK Project has been carried out for about 10 years. This Project is aimed at preserving the local population of sperm whales by population estimates, its dynamics, and trends, identifying important habitats. The movement of sperm whales using satellite telemetry and the social structure of the local population are being studied in collaboration with French partners (MEGAPTERA, Longitude 181). The results of the project showed that the resident population of sperm whales is less than 40 individuals, and although the population has a high growth rate, there are signs that the population is very vulnerable. Resident sperm whales spend most of the year in Mauritius waters, time to time visiting the neighboring islands of Rodriguez and Reunion. Migrating sperm whale pods and adult solitary males also visit Mauritius waters. A constantly updated ID-catalog of both resident sperm whales and migratory individuals has been created. Another ongoing MMCO Project, "Whales of Mauritius", aims to study the species composition of all cetaceans in Mauritius waters and identify important habitats for integration into Marine Spatial Planning and the introduction of mitigation measures. Within the framework of this Project, the mapping of species and their habitats is being carried out, as well as the creation of ID catalogs of small cetaceans, in particular melon-headed whales. In addition to biodiversity conservation, both projects will allow to expand knowledge about cetacean populations and movements in the south-western Indian Ocean through interregional cooperation.
Main Photo by Hugues Vitry, MMCO
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More than 7 million accidental poisonings occur each year, with more than 75% involving children under the age of 6!
"Great! These crews are the best!"
Indoor air can be 100 times more polluted than outdoor air.