title: Soft and chewy peanut butter granola

text:
My youngest started college full time this year. He made a request for granola bars to "grab-N-go" for breakfast or as a snack to tide him over till dinner.
Crunchy or chewy? I asked.
Definitely NOT crunchy!
You take one bite and they crumble to a billion pieces.
So my quest began for a chewy granola bar. The search took me to the King Arthur Flour site, where its recipe received high ratings.
Then, lo and behold, I got a package in the mail! Thanks to FoodBuzz and Planters through the tastemaker program, I got the needed inspiration to make these peanut butter granola bars...
The recipe is simple enough ... and versatile. It will take some fun experimenting with seeds, nuts, and other add-ins to get the perfect chewy granola bar that you family will love. Keep in mind: if you add lots of sweets or sweet dried fruit to these bars, you may want to cut back the sugar (leave out 1/3 cup) as the fruit will naturally sweeten the bars. If you only use nuts, seeds, and tangy fruits, you may want to keep in the sugar. It's up to you!
First, line a 9x13 pan with foil and lightly oil. The foil "sling" will help you get the granola bars out of the pan easily. Next time, I would butter the pan for flavor.
Mix dry ingredients: quick rolled oats, brown sugar, salt, granulated sugar, oat flour ...
What? No oat flour? No problem. Grind your oats in a blender or food processor to a fine powder.
Then add 2-3 cups of your favorite dried ingredients. Don't put more than 10-15 oz, or your bars may be crumbly....a scale comes in handy!
It can be any combonation:
(DRIED FRUITS) cranberries, apricots, cherries, or apples.
(NUTS) pecans, walnuts, peanuts
(SEEDS) sunflower, sesame, pumpkin
(OTHER) coconut, chocolate chips, cinnamon
I chose semi-sweet chocolate chips, shredded coconut, and roasted peanuts.
In a separate bowl, combine the wet ingredients: peanut butter, vanilla, corn syrup, honey, water, and unsalted butter. I chose to use unsalted butter because of the peanut butter and the salted peanuts. If you are making more of a fruit type bar, you may want to use salted butter.
Pour the wet ingredients onto the dry and mix well. Spread into the pan, pressing them in firmly.
Smooth the top over with a rubber spatula ... you want an even layer as possible ...
Bake for 20-25 minutes or till brown on the edges. Don't over bake, or the edges will turn hard and crispy. The middle will still be soft. Cool for 10 minutes and run a table knife around the edges.
Lift the bars, using the foil sling, to a cooling rack. Let it cool completely, about an hour.
Use a long serrated bread knife or bench knife to cut into bars. I cut them into 4"x1.25" bars.
Here's a comparison of the homemade granola bar, next to the store bought version.
Which would you rather have?
Hmmm. I thought so.
Chewy Peanut Butter Granola Bars
(4x6 recipe download) (full page printable recipe)


tier: cub

shelf: history-culture

title: Orihuela

text:
Orihuela is the capital of the region of the "Vega Baja del Segura" (natural region of the Segura River); it has been the capital of a province and even of a kingdom. The city was named the first city of the province of Alicante, 11 September 1437. In 576 it was the capital of the Visigothic province of Aurariola, to which it gave its name.
In 713 (5 April) the military man and Count Teodomiro, proclaimed himself King of Tudmir. In 825 the Kingdom of Tudmir, became a dependent kingdom under Ummayad control, and the capital was moved to Murcia. In 910 the Kingdom of Tudmir passed to the Emirate of Cordova. In 1053 the principality of Murcia, part of the Kingdom of Denia, is created.
Orihuela is a beautiful city situated in the province of Alicante and is renowned for being the former capital of the kingdom. Getting to Orihuela is very easy, as the A-7 highway leads you directly there. Unlike many cities situated on the Costa Blanca, it is an inland town, but the coast is very close and easy to reach, so don't worry about problems getting to the beach because you have the Orihuela Costa. The Orihuela Costa is composed of sixteen kilometers of delicate beaches and mild year-round temperatures, so your tan is guaranteed regardless of the time of year when you go to Orihuela.
Orihuela will impress you with its very special Moorish flavor, as the Moors ruled over the city for centuries. It will also impress you and charm you at the same time with the beauty of the surrounding landscape, which differs from one part of the city to the other. Your eyes will be delighted with orange, almond and even olive groves, plus picturesque cotton fields as well as a beautiful palm tree forest. The nearby hills, known as Hurchillo, offer you the possibility of enjoying spectacular views of the entire surrounding landscape, so try not to miss them.
In 1086 the principality of Murcia becomes independent from Denia. In 1212 the area passed to the Kingdom of Murcia. In 1304 Orihuela was considered to be on the border between the kingdoms of Castile and AragggÃn. In 1366 it passed to the kingdom of Valencia. In 1437, it was declared a city and in 1707, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor made Orihuela capital of the province of Orihuela.
In 1737 Alicante, Elche, Monforte, Jijona, Villajoyosa, Agost, Busot, San Juan or Muchamiel became independent from the province of Orihuela, forming the one of Alicante. 1799 Orihuela was part of the province of Alicante. In 1810, Napoleon made Orihuela part of the Department of Segura with the capital at Murcia. In 1822, Orihuela passed to the province of Murcia. 1833 it became part of the province of Alicante. In 1920 nationalistic movements spoke of Orihuela as belonging to the "country of Murcia."


shelf: civic-law

title: Tourism sidelined in plans for visitor levy funds

text:
UKHospitality Cymru has said the current plans for a visitor levy fund in Wales are too broad and include no specific ring-fencing of funds to improve tourism.
The proposed legislation will the Welsh government says enable local authorities to introduce a visitor levy in their areas, which is a priority commitment within the Programme for Government.
The levy will be a contribution made by visitors and applied to overnight stays in visitor accommodation. It will raise additional funds for local authorities to reinvest in the public services and infrastructure that make tourism a success. Each local authority will have the power to decide to introduce a visitor levy in its area, meaning this will be a new, local levy designed in a way that works for residents, businesses, and visitors.
In its response to the Senedd’s Finance Committee consultation on the draft Visitor Levy legislation, the trade body criticised funding plans which include no reference to supporting and improving tourism with the funds raised.
UKHospitality Cymru called for:
• Specific clauses in the legislation that limit local authority spending of raised funds to areas that demonstrably, tangibly and directly benefit the tourism sector.
• The introduction of a displacement principle to ensure that proceeds from the levy are not used to replace existing funding by local authorities.
These changes are critical for Wales as a tourist destination and to offset the impact of this levy, which the Welsh Government’s own impact assessment notes could cause a reduction in the number of visitors to Wales. The same impact assessment highlights that the cost to visitors will be up to £33 million per year.
The legislation should also be amended to exempt children from the levy, which would bring Wales into line with the majority of European nations that implement a levy.
David Chapman, Executive Director of UKHospitality Cymru, said: “Throughout this process, the Welsh Government has made clear to us that it wants this levy to help local authorities and businesses in areas with high tourist numbers. Yet, there is no reference to improving tourism in how the funds can be spent.
“As it stands in this draft legislation, tourism has been sidelined and that is completely unacceptable. We are urging the Welsh Government to rectify this mistake and make clear that levy funds must be used to benefit tourism.
“Crucially, there must also be a displacement principle included that ensures levy funds are not simply used to fill council coffers and top up day-to-day spending.
“The Government’s own impact assessment makes clear the impact this levy will have on tourism – reducing visitor numbers and making trips more expensive for those who do visit.
“This legislation should do all it can to offset that and ringfencing funds to benefit tourism would be a logical place to start. We also need to see them exempt children from the levy, to ensure families, many of whom may already be on tight budgets, can enjoy holidays in Wales, rather than elsewhere.
“Hospitality and tourism businesses want to work closely with the Welsh Government to make this levy as successful as possible, and we hope our recommendations are taken on board so we can work to improve the visitor experience in Wales together.”


shelf: science-engineering

title: Community question will viper fans take solace in the corvette

text:
Way back in 1992, Chrysler decided to get a little crazy. The Corvette had been an established marque for decades, and performance vehicles were on the upswing after the turbulent times of the 1980s. It was the perfect storm for an all-new American performance vehicle.
That vehicle became the Dodge Viper.
The latest news is of the Viper’s imminent defanging, leaving Mopar’s performance brute’s arch-rival, the Corvette, alone in the American sports car segment (until the Ford GT shows up once again…). But will Viper fans take to the Corvette?
As our sister publication, Fiat-Chrysler Authority asks, we turn the question to you as well.
In all due respect, the Viper has always been more of a rough ‘n tough American powerhouse. It’s always been powered by a stout V10 engine, billowing a unique tone the Corvette can only dream of.
But the Corvette is the everyman’s sports car. It’s approachable, forgiving and delightful, just like a humble slice of apple pie a lá mode.
What we’re saying here is it’s more than likely the two cars attract two very different consumers looking for an American performance car. Hell, until the latest iteration of Viper, stability control was a mere twinkle in the car’s fang. The Corvette has had electronic gizmos to allow a novice driver to jump in and produce a hot lap for years.
FCA CEO, Sergio Marchionne, once remarked he wanted the Viper to become more approachable and forgiving in order to appeal to a broader audience. The engineering team made small steps, but the lack of an automatic transmission offering and other small nuances may have kept the Viper from ever standing a chance in today’s modern sports car realm, even though we love a good manual gearbox.
So, what say you? Will Viper fans flock to the Corvette? Or, will those “Mopar or no car” guys and gals scoop up a Hellcat, and call it a day? Vote in our poll, and talk to us down below.


shelf: software-docs

title: 2264

text:
This summer, the ZW3D team held a fun design contest to celebrate a global football carnival, the FIFA world cup.
We received many high-quality and creative works from engineers globally. Among them, the football shoe design from Remus Pacis is the most eye-catching with a beautiful shape and fashionable color. You can imagine the fierce competition on the football pitch at once when seeing the design. His work not only perfectly matches the theme of football but also shows the flexibility of ZW3D CAD.
In this design, Remus Pacis expertly used ZW3D modeling function, assembly capability and some advanced features, such as variable fillet, surface tools, and morphing function. We are happy that Remus shares his design tips for users. Let's check!
The product design starts from three view drawing. First, insert two images into sketch as front and top view. Then, follow those two images to draw the main outline of the shoe shape.
Use easy-to-use wireframe commands, add necessary curves for additional outline.
Blend curve is one of the most helpful commands in creating support outline curve, which can easily control the continuity quality for the start and end point.
Then, creating surfaces by using three commands, Curve Mesh, FEM Patch and N-side.
One important thing that needs to remember is to identify which of these commands will fit on the situation. In this way, you can get the best result.
You can use split to add boundary at your surface, then remove or replace the unwanted areas of the surface.
When using FEM, make sure to have a good tangent surface to get a smooth part.
If generated surfaces are still no ideal, it’s better to cut the surface then create a blend curve to attain the required tangent surface.
Once you are able to create the surface, you can use the “Continuity Error” command to check the tangency value on each edge.
Or use Analyze Face Zebra mapping for easily checking the non-tangent surface.
Make sure to have zero open edges by sewing the created surfaces, then you can get perfect closed solid.
Once the part is solid, you can use the command shell to have a uniform thickness of the part.
Create a surface that will complete the shape of the upper part of our shoe.
Then trim the body by using the sheet surface.
Finally, finish other detailed design and render the design to get your own style football shoes.


shelf: health

title: The case of relactation

text:
Baby Jasper weaned himself at 18 months old, weeks after I had surgery to remove a benign tumor in my left breast. That was unexpected. I planned to breast him for at least two years as I did for his big brother. But it hurt badly to breastfeed in the first days after the surgery and my milk supply went down dramatically. He probably sensed how uncomfortable I was and discouraged by my empty breasts, thus chose to the breastfeeding relationship early. That saddened me.
Just like he weaned without warning, he relactated himself unexpectedly. It all happened in the past month.
Jasper is now two years old and hasn’t been breastfeeding for almost half a year. Last month he went on a 3-week-long business trip to Asia with me. For some reason—maybe the 14-hour-long flight, or the time difference, or the —he seemed to some comfort in addition to the e-devices and new toys I packed him. He wouldn’t sit by himself on the airplane. He asked for milk the first night when we were in Taipei. I gave him a straw cup with cow milk inside. He refused; cuddled up to me and tried to suck my breast. He finally latched on, for the first time in 6 months.
After that, he often sought breast for comfort when he was going to sleep and just waking up. That happened often because he woke up often due to jet lag. I let him suck, even though I didn’t have milk. But, I thought, breastfeeding is not just about the milk. My baby needed comfort and bonding when we were away from home.
And then, to my surprise, my body started to make milk again in the second week! I can feel my breast tissue fills with milk around bedtime. By the third week, my boob would leak when Jasper was sucking the other boob. That was fabulous. I never thought my body can make milk again, after the breast surgery and half a year after stop breastfeeding.
I’ve heard about relactation, but this was the first time I actually experienced it. It’s too wonderful an experience not to share. I have to say that a woman’s body is just amazing and relactation really happens! It’s definitely doable! Here is what I learned about relactation from KellyMom:
- Relactation is essentially a two-fold process: One, you will be teaching (or re-teaching) baby to nurse at the breast, and to equate nursing with comfort. Two, at the same time you will be developing (or re-developing) a milk supply. Developing a milk supply requires nipple stimulation (via baby nursing, hand expression, pumping or a combination) and milk removal (once there is milk to remove). If your baby will nurse, regular and frequent nursing sessions (even if baby is just learning in the beginning) will be very helpful.
- If the baby is 4 months old or younger, it will generally be easier to relactate. It will also be easier if your milk supply was well established (frequent and effective nursing and/or pumping) during the first 4-6 weeks postpartum. However, moms with older babies, moms who did not establish a good milk supply in the beginning, and adoptive moms who have never breastfed can also get good results. Your child will get numerous benefits from breastfeeding even if you do not have a full milk supply.
- If baby is willing to latch on, then nurse often (at least every 2-3 hours). What if baby will not latch? Keep working at it – some babies have gone back to the breast after many months of bottle feeding.


shelf: finance

title: 3 meme stocks to buy for their moonshot potential

text:
Based on the latest headlines, figuring out which meme stocks to buy may be the last thing on your mind. Between a continued move to “risk-off,” due to economic uncertainties, along with tragic news related to high-profile meme stock Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ:BBBY), meme mania continues to unravel.
However, while we aren’t likely to see a repeat of the 2021 frenzy anytime soon, that’s not to say that stocks in the meme category are a no-go right now (as long as you focus more on fundamentals and less on Reddit chatter). Top meme plays like AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC) and GameStop (NYSE:GME) continue to trade at valuations well above their underlying values.
As the speculative bubble that sent them “to the moon” continues to deflate, such names are at risk of further declines. Yet in the case of some of the secondary meme plays, following their big drops from their respective all-time highs, one can argue that investors can buy into them today, at a very favorable entry point.
For instance, with these three meme stocks to buy. It may take some time, but thanks to company-specific factors, each one has a shot of making a comeback.
BB | Blackberry | $5.69 |
EXPR | Express | $1.35 |
SNDL | SNDL Inc. | $2.58 |
Whether due to name recognition, or its appeal as a short-squeeze target, traders bid it up BB stock in January 2021. Trading at single-digit prices before the frenzy, it zoomed to as much as $28.77 per share. Unfortunately, shares in the company, best known for its now-discontinued mobile devices, have given back all of its meme gains.
However, this works in your favor. Per InvestorPlace’s Larry Ramer, there’s big potential with its current main lines of business, like its QNX automotive software unit.
While a deal to sell non-core patents recently fell through, it could eventually monetize this portfolio. Even if meme mania fails to return, success with its underlying businesses may make it a moonshot worth considering.
Express Inc. (EXPR)
One of the micro-cap meme stocks, Reddit traders who got in early with Express (NYSE:EXPR) in January 2021 saw stunning gains in a matter of days. The initial meme wave resulted in it going parabolic, skyrocketing around 14x in a matter of weeks.
Flash forward to now. EXPR stock is again back near pre-meme prices and not only because this investing trend has been on the wane. Soaring inflation, alongside growing concerns about a severe recession, have the market very pessimistic about the apparel retailer’s future prospects.
Based on Express’s latest fiscal results, sales growth has slowed down. Earnings have also seen a considerable drop. Add it its levered balance sheet, and fears of a total wipeout are well-founded.
Nevertheless, if it can ride out today’s challenges, or if an economic downturn proves to be milder than currently expected, this penny stock could easily make a triple-digit percentage rebound.
SNDL Inc. (SNDL)
If you can recall, at one point many pot stocks were popular meme stocks to buy. The meme crowd dived into names like SNDL Inc. (NASDAQ:SNDL) at the time, in large part due to high hopes that the “blue wave” seen during the 2020 U.S. elections would result in a fast-track for reforms to America’s marijuana laws.
However, this failed to pan out. In turn, investors soured on Canada-based cannabis purveyors like this one. So, with pot stocks out of favor, why consider it? On a split-adjusted basis, shares have fallen to pre-“blue wave” and pre-“meme wave” prices.
SNDL stock now trades at a discount to its tangible book value ($3.65 per share). Support for reforms is increasingly becoming a bi-partisan issue. Legalization may be only a few years away. Even if federal laws fail to change, other factors could enable it to become profitable.
On the date of publication, Thomas Niel did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.


shelf: education

title: Blended learning

text: What exactly is Sticky Learning? Have you ever had a random thought about an experience and just smiled because you knew what it meant to you? Have you ever thought about a joke that applied to a real-life scenario and smiled quietly at yourself? Those were sticky experiences! I know some of those random thoughts were gross as well… 😊 ok I’m done with the jokes. The most important thing is that those experiences stuck. Many organisations cannot afford for their employees to forget the knowledge gotten from training resources so the question ‘how can I get my employees to retain all this information?’, like an old joke, comes to mind. The answer is, make it STICKY. What does sticky learning mean? Sticky learning refers to creating memorable learning experiences that learners remember even after a training session is over. Creating learning that sticks means activating the brain for long-term retention. Institutions and organisations alike agree that ‘stickiness’ is something we all want to achieve. Why? Because sticky learning means learners will: Remember what they’ve learned; they created neural pathway connections that they’ll be able to revisit later. Learning will have a lasting impact. Recognize value in the learning experience; they made an emotional connection with the topic and recognize how the training’s value proposition applies to their work performance. ‘Get it’; they practiced what they learned, and will begin using their new skills and knowledge on the job right away. How do I design sticky learning? Here are a few tips I and the team at Alula learning use. Address motivations with pre-training: Let me explain this with a story. So we started consulting for an organisation and one of the problems was that the employees didn’t really like taking the courses until it was attached to their KPIs. I asked him to show me the eLearning courses they had been taking and wow! I as well would be unmotivated to take such a course. It wasn’t interactive and showed little engagement, it didn’t have good graphics or anything relatable aside from the content. We got the job and I assured him we were going to solve the problem. The first thing we did was to cause a “Buzz”. This is one of my favourite tactics when addressing motivation. We created a short video addressing the course and made a relatable scenario. It was very well-received and the Head of Learning called to tell me how excited the team was for the course. So there you have it. Previews, sneak peeks, announcements and buzz are good to address pre-training motivation. Keep on reinforcing: Our brains learn best by doing. According to the learning pyramid, 75% of what you learn is retained when you do them. Sticky learning builds in the necessary spacing, practice, and reinforcement over time, which adult learners need to build cognition while balancing business needs for effectivity and cost-benefit resources. This is also a reason why we advise microlearning. Microlearning is a sticky learning delivery method. It can be very powerful because the content is chunked, spaced, and reinforced over time. The brain gets boosted and has a chance to recall and build upon the learnings. Reset the forgetting curve (post-training): Learning continues after an online course or physical classroom training. Humans naturally forget more than 70% of what they learned within 24 hours. Transferring only the MOST IMPORTANT information and skills from short to long-term memory is one of the many ways that humans have survived. This means sticky learning needs to reset the brain’s natural forgetting curve after training, to help retain what was learned in long-term memory. You can do this with memory boosts. You can use short quizzes or cognitive ‘nudges’ that strengthen the new connections in the brain, you can also get them to transfer the learning by either teaching a junior colleague or presenting to the larger team. What you do after training is as important as the training. This is why I always advise blended learning so they can have a feel of the training after the training. Utilize social learning: Now to my favourite. We learn by engaging and interacting with others and with the content we’re learning. According to a study done by Degreed, it states that 55% of employees turn to their peers when they want to learn a new skill. This is why many good Learning Management Systems offer social learning functionality, or why a good learning technologist can work with you to integrate your learning delivery platform with other social platforms your company is already using. Knowledge bases and forums are useful online tools that organizations can use to support social learning, but you can also do it in person through internal communications, social committee events, or town-hall events. Many organizations aren’t leveraging the power of social learning. If you have a communications team, intranet, social committee or other groups/interface, use it! Leverage that to support your courses and give learners an opportunity to engage, discuss, and share their insights (and even their dislikes) of a course. There you have it. If you want to learn more about designing sticky learning, kindly send an email to [email protected] or send me a personal mail to [email protected] to discuss how I can make your learning stickier!


shelf: home-craft

text:
This amazing recipe comes courtesy of Chef E a personal chef and restaurant consultant:
Gazpacho recipes can vary greatly in terms of ingredient composition, texture and viscosity. This usually depends on the geographical location as well as family traditions. This bowl of liquid salad originally came from Spain. Cookbook author Anya Von Bremzen says on The Splendid Table that “gazpacho” comes from the word “caspa,” which means “to break into fragments.”
The origin of the word gazpacho is uncertain, but etymologists believe it might be derived from the Mozarab word caspa, meaning “residue” or “fragments,” an allusion to the small pieces of bread and vegetables in a gazpacho soup. On the other hand, it may be a pre-Roman Iberian word modified by the Arabic. One will hear a lot about Mozarab when speaking of historic Andalusia. “Mozarab” is a corruption of the Arabic must’arab, “would-be Arab,” those Hispano- Romans who were allowed to practice their religion on condition of owing their allegiance to the Arab caliph as opposed to the muwalladun, Hispano-Romans who converted to Islam.
José Briz, who wrote a book on gazpacho, also suggests that the word derives from the Hebrew gazaz, meaning to break into pieces, referring to the bread base. Gazpacho was traditionally eaten by workers in the fields, whether they were vineyards, olive plantations, citrus groves, wheat fields or cork farms. Originally gazpacho was nothing but bread, water, and olive oil, all pounded in a large wooden bowl called a dornillo; it was poor people’s food.
Summer Cherry Gazpacho
1 pound good summer, or heirloom tomatoes, cored and roughly chopped
1/2 a small onion, roughly chopped
1 small green pepper, roughly chopped
1 jalapeño, seeds and membrane removed, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon fresh garlic, roughly chopped
8 ounces sweet summer cherries, seeded
1 cup of watermelon pieces
1 slice bread (use any bread with some density)
1 tablespoon blueberry-basil vinegar I purchased in the PNW
Salt/White Pepper to taste
Add all the ingredients to a blender and process until smooth, or just pulsate each ingredient to get a slightly textured gazpacho (hubby likes his to have some chewy texture).
Serve topped with ricotta cheese, smoked shrimp like mine or fresh crab meat.
Cherry BBQ Sauce
1 medium onion
3 garlic cloves
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 cups fresh, seeded/strained crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (about 2 oranges)
1/2 cup tomato paste
1/4 cup light brown sugar
2 cups fresh seeded cherries, crushed
1. In a medium saucepan, cook the onion over medium-high heat, until it softens, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and chili powder and cook 1 minute more. Add the tomatoes, orange juice, tomato paste, sugar, and cherries and cook 5 minutes more, stirring frequently.
2. Transfer the mixture to a blender or a food processor fitted with the metal blade and blend until smooth. Transfer to a plastic container and keep cold in a refrigerator or ice-filled cooler until ready to use or for up to one week (will appear dark).
For more first class recipes check out her blog food, wine, fun http://cookappeal.blogspot.com/


text:
VisArts Exhibition - TLaloC: Los Extranjeros: Curated by VisArts’ 2024 Mentoring Curator Mehveş Lelic
August 23-October 13, 2024
Los Extranjeros (The Foreigners) is an immersive solo exhibition by Baltimore-based artist, illustrator, and designer TLaloC. The multi-sensory exhibition, which features interwoven sights, sounds, and scents, centers around the perceptions, sentiments, and resulting interactions with what the viewer might categorize as foreign, and takes a winding, adventurous road towards revealing that our most basic understanding of the relationship between a person and a place in fact mirrors our own view of the world.
Using stereotypically dystopian elements such as industrial waste and transforming VisArts’ Kaplan Gallery into an Borgesian labyrinth that shifts the viewer’s gears into trying to navigate an eerie space, TLaloC seeks to explore visual and perceptual discomfort that seeks to echo the deepest insecurities a foreigner might feel in a new place and harkens to a sociopolitical reality many immigrants, especially of the global majority, might feel daily.
The interpretation of the word “alien,” which the United States government uses to describe non-citizens, is central to the exhibition: humanoid figures wearing bespoke headdresses and removed from the visitor’s path via chain-link fence, highlight the divisive nature of the word.
However, in the world that TLaloC creates, there are silver linings: through the fog, over the fences, and in the fauna in the gallery is a quiet welcome, thus begging the question, is protection necessary? Breaking the more stereotypical links between signs of danger and anarchy and the threats they might represent and thus making physical barriers dispensable, TLaloC instead asks the viewer to be present with the discomfort they might feel and notice the unlikely havens they may find just at the edge of recognizability – from a set of piano strings to the artist’s bespoke neon symbols that may as well be an alphabet.
Inspired by the signs and scripts of universal cultures, TLaloC highlights that understanding is not always necessary to feel comfort in the presence of someone or something new.
Through a collaboration with composer and musician Miguel Soto, TLaloC provides an audiovisual experience that weaves together dialogues between the two artists and a group of individuals who have, at a time in their life, found themselves to be foreign to a place. The answers reveal the diverse ways the human mind navigates and adapts to the new, delivering representational and abstract accompaniments to TLaloC’s winding paths.
The audience is invited to Soto and TLaloC’s interactive performance, which will incorporate responses from immigrants, at the September 6 opening celebration.


title: Tenreiro secs leading crypto expert appointed as head of agencys litigation

text:
Jorge G. Tenreiro, the top cryptocurrency expert from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), has been named to head the agency’s litigation division. He is known for leading high-profile cases in the crypto sector, including the ongoing lawsuit against Ripple Labs.
3 min read
Jorge G. Tenreiro, a prominent figure in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) cryptocurrency investigations, has been selected as the new head of the agency’s litigation division. Known for his role in various high-stakes crypto litigation cases, including the ongoing lawsuit against Ripple Labs, Tenreiro is now set to spearhead the SEC’s legal battles.
Tenreiro’s Rise in the SEC
Tenreiro joined the SEC in 2012, and his tenure has seen him rise through the ranks due to his expertise in litigation related to complex securities laws and regulations. He has been instrumental in leading multiple enforcement actions against companies for alleged violations of these laws, with a particular focus on the nascent and often controversial area of cryptocurrencies. His role includes the oversight of preliminary investigations, the coordination of enforcement strategy, and the preparation and trial of cases.
Key Crypto Cases Led by Tenreiro
Among the key cases that Tenreiro has overseen is the ongoing litigation against Ripple Labs. The SEC accuses Ripple Labs, the company behind the XRP cryptocurrency, of conducting an unregistered securities offering worth $1.3 billion. The case, initiated in December 2020, has been making significant waves in the cryptocurrency industry and is a key focus for Tenreiro.
Another significant case led by Tenreiro involves Kik Interactive, a Canadian social media company that the SEC accused of conducting an unregistered $100 million token offering. The case ended in favor of the SEC, with Kik Interactive agreeing to pay a $5 million penalty in October 2020.
Expected Impact on Crypto Sector
The appointment of Tenreiro as head of the SEC’s litigation division is expected to have a significant impact on the crypto industry. Given his track record and focus on crypto-related cases, it is anticipated that he will continue to take a rigorous approach towards regulatory compliance in the sector. This could potentially intensify regulatory pressure on cryptocurrency companies, particularly those involved in Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) and other digital asset offerings that may be considered as securities under U.S. law.
As cryptocurrencies gain popularity and start to become more mainstream, the role of regulatory bodies like the SEC becomes even more critical. The appointment of a seasoned crypto litigation expert like Tenreiro to a key position within the SEC is an indication of the increased focus and scrutiny that the crypto industry is likely to face moving forward. This move serves as a reminder to all cryptocurrency companies and investors of the importance of regulatory compliance in the rapidly evolving digital asset landscape.


title: Cold rolled carbon steel sheet

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Cold rolled carbon steel sheet is one such incredibly valuable material that is widely featured across a number of different jobs and industries. Cold rolled steel is formed from carbon steel which is rolled at room temperature. This unique process strengthens the steel, making it more effective for different purposes. Ehongsteel also has a reputation for offering premium quality cold rolled coil. They are committed to providing customers with the exactly needs material. In this article, we will discuss the characteristics of cold rolled carbon steel sheet, as well as details about the cold rolling process and its application in various fields.
Cold rolled carbon steel sheet has many advantages over hot rolled carbon steel sheet Its strength is one of the most significant benefits. The steel is tightly pressed down when it is rolled at low temperature. This process tightens up the steel and makes it harder, so it can take more stress without snapping. Besides, it makes the surface of the steel smooth, which looks beautiful and is crucial for jobs that require measurement and precision.
It has higher tensile strength than hot rolled carbon steel sheet, which is another major advantage. That means it can take more pressure without getting compromised. Cold rolling also removes any residual stress so that the material does not warp or deform or buckle when under pressure. Cold rolled carbon steel sheet has a lot of applications due to this.
Cold rolling is a process that squeezes a material at low temperatures between a pair of rollers. Its process does not only promote the enhancement of carbon steel sheet but also beautifies the sheet. After that it goes to the cold rolling process where the carbon steel sheet is compressed and stretched. This allows the small crystals to align inside the material, creating a more uniform material. Hence, this benefits the mechanical properties of the steel like its strength or hardness.
Cold rolled carbon steel sheet has a diverse range of applications, from automotive parts to construction materials. It is used in heavy machinery and equipment, owing to its high strength and durability. Commonly used in the manufacturing processes of cranes, trucks, tractor trailers, and other machines that require durable materials to perform efficiently.
Additionally, Cold rolled carbon steel sheet is widely used in the construction sector. As such, it is put to use in making all sorts of building material, including roofing, siding, and gutters. Cold rolled carbon steel sheet is excellent for outdoor applications due to its corrosion resistance and durability, which enables it to endure extreme weather and last longer.
There are a number of advantages of using cold rolled steel sheet instead of hot rolled carbon steel sheet. The main reason is its increased strength. Cold rolling compresses the raw material, making it thicker and stronger. This further provides strength, making it great for heavy machinery and equipment which must withstand a great deal of stress.
Our company has more than 17 years of experience in exporting steel We can provide an extensive range of cold rolled carbon steel sheet and profiles. We also have a group who specialize in foreign trade, and we can offer fast quotes and provide you with the most efficient solutions. The more you order, the cheaper the price will be!
Our team of highly skilled foreign trade cold rolled carbon steel sheet is highly skilled in their product offerings and provides prompt quotes along with top-quality customer service We also have an experienced sales team to meet the needs of customers We are available 24 hours a day to answer any queries concerns solutions and requirements We're confident that we'll be a trustworthy business partner to you
Each product is inspected before being shipped. It is guaranteed that the product will be of high quality. The main products are all kinds of steel pipes (ERW/SSAW/LSAW/ galvanized/rectangular pipe/seamless pipe/stainless steel pipe), profiles (American standard, cold rolled carbon steel sheet, Australian standard H-beam steel), steel bars, Angle steel, flat steel, steel sheet piles, various specifications of steel plates and steel coils, strip steel, scaffolding, steel wire, nails, etc.
We can supply American/British/Australian standard H-beams cold rolled carbon steel sheet sheet piles and provide deep processing services such as punching and cutting Our products are currently exported to Western Europe and Oceania They've also been shipped to South America Southeast Asia Africa the Middle East and Africa


title: Reimagining hr function in india

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The world around us is rapidly changing and HR function in India is changing with it. However, this relentless sea change is most perceptible across two fronts: technology and society. With the exponential advancements in technology, a whole new dimension of possibilities has been unraveled, which allows for systemic developments in existing business models besides being cause for disruption in industries. Moreover, society has substantially evolved over the years, leading to a paradigm shift in people’s attitudes and motivations. But the most important assets at the core of these changes are organization and people. And that is where the HR function comes in. It will be absolutely critical in harnessing and driving these tectonic changes.
With the human resource management sector pitched to hit an estimated $30billion by 2025, the advancements in technology, particularly across the realms of machine learning and artificial intelligence, will inadvertently be of great use in enabling HR function to perform its practices with far greater ease and significantly higher efficiency. However, this does come with its own set of challenges. With companies investing more and more in emergent technologies, concerns about their optimal use are bound to emanate as well.
According to a report by KPMG, nearly 50% of HR leaders feel uncomfortable in fully making use of the existing technology available to them. Therefore, there will be a requirement for the HR function to upskill employees, in addition to hiring already skilled workers, to fully capitalize on the technological surge. Particularly, the HR function will have to develop more stringent policies that will embrace and encourage the use of automation and other technological advancements to maximize growth and enhance performance.
You might also be interested to read: 4 Types of Human Resources Leaders
It has been theorized by researchers that successful automation is impossible without a human-centric approach. It relates the involvement of people with the design and implementation of automation as well as their freedom to use elements of automation directly with the success of the adoption of automation procedures. And so, in planning for the advent of automation in the workplaces of the future, we must incorporate the human elements of the workforce first and foremost. The rapid rate of escalation of technology will be different in the next ten years compared to the transitions of previous eras. And with the growth in the ways of the workplace, the functions of the HR managers will evolve in tandem.
Employment relations evolved over time from formal contracts, which entailed job security, collective bargaining, pay equity etc. to a more psychological approach that focused on employability, engagement, and rewarding human capital. Furthermore, with the growing prevalence of independence within the workforce and gig working, we may see a shift from psychological contracts to entrepreneurial contracts that involve risk sharing, return of investment and value creation, and appropriation dynamics. With this a new HR paradigm will emerge that will allow organizations to utilize the benefits of technology while keeping the individual in the focus and making the best use of their potential.
Shifts in the HR function
In the evolving landscape of the workplace, the HR function will have to engage its employees by defining their purpose within the organization and outlining the purpose of the organization itself in a way that is relevant to the employee. Additionally, the skills developed by the employees will add more value to them. As a result, human resource activities will have to indulge in providing the employees the opportunities to constantly develop their skills and reinvent themselves.
And as employees generate a more fluid skill set, it will inadvertently lead to a more flexible job structure. Resultantly, the future HR professional will indulge in job crafting that would accommodate more unique roles for employees.
With the progress in AI technologies, organizations will be able to make better managerial decisions when it comes to selecting people, owing to the right analytics powered by AI. These analytics will lend a unique insight and aid in making objective, data-based decisions specifically with regards to performance management and talent management.
All the aforementioned changes will eventually lead up to a place that will afford greater autonomy and influence for individual managers. In effect, this will cause the current HR function to diminish and make the organizations empower their managers while also inculcating a culture that is conducive for the same.
The HR Leader of the future
As these changes in the work environment take root, a new avenue of leadership will be emergent; one that will manage the entrepreneurial contracts and navigate the amorphous patterns of expertise and knowledge. This will be the CHRO of the future, who would be responsible for developing a network of diversified and proficient individuals while being aware of the business-technology-consumer-society nexus and creating value through enterprise.
Consequently, this new HR function will require an awareness of the drivers of business strategy as well as a grip on its finer nuances. A successful HR leader will be one who can utilize eclectic knowledge in an interdisciplinary fashion to leverage value from unexpected quarters for more sustainable decisions.
Moreover, the HR’s core functionality will also mutate from merely being a support system for employees to actually facilitating a culture that engenders a sense of inclusivity and respect for all employees and helps them find purpose and realize their potential. This culture of inclusivity and diversification will inevitably become a priority. And as businesses rapidly ramp up, change and transformation will be the only constant, enforcing the HR function to drive said transformations by keeping an ear to the ground with regards to external changes and implementing them within the microcosm of the organization.
In summation, the overarching theme of these megatrends in HR is the necessity of developing a more human perspective within organizational processes and decision-making. And coupled with the strides in automation and technology, this human-centric approach will be the key to making the best use of technological resources as more and more organizations will focus on the ‘human’ aspect of human resources function.
- “The HR Function in India in 2030 and The Future CHRO” | National HRD Network
- “The future is now: The changing role of HR” | Prakash Rao | The Economic Times | March 2, 2019
You might also be interested to read:


title: Live inspired convention swap card

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I hope you all enjoyed the July SOTM Blog Hop yesterday. If you haven't had a chance to do so, the information for it and my card is in the post before this one.
Well, I finally did it. I got 35 swap cards made and THREE days left to make more. Yeah right!!!
I told my team months ago that because of the chronic pain I've had for more then a year, that I was not making swap cards this year. Well, they sort of talked me into it and said how much fun I'd miss. But honestly, after 13 years of convention swap cards, it seemed like more of a chore then fun. The pain did not allow me to make them anyway so I gave up on the idea. Then a wonderful thing happened to me last Wednesday. I went to the Hospital for an Epidural. Well, they shot steroids into my spine and 95% of my chronic pain is gone. So, last night after the kids went home I started on some cards. I expect to have 35 of them done by this evening. I have to send the grandbabies home first because having a 1 year old and a 3 yr. old with me all day does not make a very productive card making day.
This card was inspired by a sketch from Card Patterns Sketch #70
The paper pack used is called Top Stitch.
The Main Stamp set is "Live Inspired" - C1408.
I also used the little butterflies from "A Flitter" - A1108
Other challenges using this card:
Incy Wincy - Things with Wings
If the Shoe Fits Scrap It - Wings


title: Tesla stock looks electrifying at this price despite split opinions

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Electric vehicle producer Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) has been one of the most analyzed stocks on Wall Street since its public debut over a two-year period in March 2010. The stock has been dominated by a few significant names, such as Tesla Motors and Tesla-Coop, along with a few other market leaders. A few notable names are Tesla and Cointee Bank, which is led by Mark Cuban. While many of the aforementioned stocks have been widely seen by investors this year, they are also being seen by the average person on the market this month.
Tesla shares had fallen over 80% in the last quarter, down 8% from the previous year, and as much as 10% in the previous quarter. We’ve seen a trend in the performance of stocks that have been trading well in recent sessions since its inception a few years ago. Tesla is not the only maker that has shown a strong performance this year.
Tesla shares rose 7%, to $0.12. The most notable move from last quarter, was the price increase. The shares were down $4.08 and a bit more to $0.02.While the cars have a sleek aesthetic and the underlying technology powering the vehicles seems like something out of the future, it’s really the company’s charismatic, albeit polarizing, CEO, Elon Musk, that has been at the nucleus of a lot of this year’s big tech.
Musk has led the company to be the leader in the design and development of futuristic consumer products. He has been a highly respected and admired analyst since his days of working for Google. He has been invited to talk with Musk in the context of the Google+ campaign, as well as the company’s ongoing business-to-business partnership with Twitter and Facebook.
Musk led the way into his role in the start of the startup, creating the concept of a Google car that would compete with Google cars on the roads. His concept is one of the key innovations in how a car uses the computing technology (CPU) and is designed to be used as a smart device, rather than as a vehicle.With that said, here’s a closer look at Tesla’s third-quarter 2022 earnings report, the current valuation of the company, and what long-term investors should be focusing on this year. You’ll note that the earnings report is based on sales of the Tesla Model T, and its first day of service. If you’re in a Tesla’s first-quarter earnings forecast area, you may want to take a look there.
We’re talking about a vehicle that’s just as good as the Tesla Model 3 and even better than the Super-Chrome. It’s just as good as the Super-Chrome. It’s not like I’m buying to buy anything right now, and I get it for free. But it’s still a pretty good car, a lot better than the Super-Chrome. (Thanks for the info, Tesla!) The best part about this car is that it’s a lot better than the Super-Chrome. The real winner here is the Super-Chrome, which has far more money in it than you may know. That’s a good thing.


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Online Executive Coaching Certification Courses in Indonesia
Become part of Global Online Coach Community
Become Professional & Certified Executive Coach
Join Our Certified Coaching Courses for Coaching Certification Become Certified ICF Coach
Start Your Practice As Life Coach, Executive Coach, Career Coach or a Business Coach
Coach Transformation Academy is an ICF approved coach training organization, offers online executive coach certification program to working professionals and aspiring coaches of Indonesia. This course is offered as 60 hours of coaching training program followed by 10 hours of mentor coaching, as per ICF guidelines this mentor coaching is covered in 7 hours of group mentor coaching and 3 hours of individual mentor coaching. There is also a specialization module approved from ICF for this program, this module is covered in 5 hours of coaching training and 5 hours of assignment to master your coaching skills into executive coaching skills in order to become a certified professional executive coach in Indonesia and globally. Aspiring coaches can undergo our business builder module which is a module of 5 hours of coaching training with 5 hours of assignment; this module makes coaches ready to launch their career as an executive coach on a global level. After you completed all the modules, you will undergo a final performance evaluation to ensure the learning effectiveness and application of learning, and after successfully completing the performance evaluation, you will be awarded with Coach Transformation Academy’s Certified Executive Coach certification. This certificate is valid with ICF and will need to submit to ICF to get ICF ACC Level credentials.
This course is the most demanded coaching course of CTA (Coach Transformation Academy) in Indonesia. We are proud to be the world recognized best online coach certification training institute, we welcome people to join our community to learn coaching skills to become an executive coach. We are an ICF approved executive coach certification training organization, and we offer this course globally to experience the skills of executive coaching and other tools and techniques that are required to become a certified professional coach. We always recommend this course to working professionals from HR, training, L&D, OD specialism and senior corporate individuals. It is one of the best selling courses of Coach Transformation Academy for aspiring coaches who look forward to becoming an executive coach and make their career as organizational development specialist coach.
During this program you will learn organization development models, change management models and tools, team and group coaching models and the other important executive coaching tools and technique, ICF coaching competencies and you will also practice core competencies of coaching and apply them in your executive coaching practice sessions.
Click here to check our training calendar and to join online.


title: Pallet garden with pots diy ideas

text:
Here’s a couple of ideas you can use in your garden.
Table of Contents
Why Use Pallets In The Garden?
Pallets are a great way to bring structure to your garden. They are inexpensive, fun, and flexible, and they save a huge amount of time because you won’t need to do a lot of sawing to make them work for you. They should also last well in outdoor conditions.
You might be able to get pallets for free with deliveries or from local businesses, or you may find people giving them away for free online. Even if you end up having to buy pallets, they are usually cheap and readily available, so they’re perfect for use in the garden.
Idea 1: Pallet Planters
If you’re a keen gardener, you’ll know that there’s no such thing as too many places to put plants, and garden planters from pallets are reasonably easy to make. They look pretty, too!
They are a particularly good way to use up scraps of pallets leftover from other projects, and you can make them any size that you want to.
Simply cut across two struts of the pallet, leaving a join in between them so that you have a box.
The plant will go in the gap in the center, although it is a good idea to line this with some heavy-duty plastic or some thick garden sacking first, to protect the wood from the damp of the soil when you water the plants, and to keep the soil in.
With this done, you’ve got great rectangular planters that can be positioned anywhere. This is perfect if you want to grow lots of herbs, and it saves on the space wasted with circular pots.
Idea 2: Vertical Gardening Space
For those who are short on space but do have a free wall, this is a perfect opportunity to make use of it. You can simply screw your pallet onto the wall with some strong screws, and then use it to hang things on.
Attach hooks to it and things like tools can be hung up neatly out of the way. You can also cut away some of the boards and add flat shelves to the pallet if you want to put pots up out of the way. Hang a little jar with a candle up, or add some ribbons, streamers, or even a bird feeder for some extra beauty.
Idea 3: Pallet Potting Bench
If you need a good space where you can pot up plants, a potting bench is reasonably easy to build and it makes gardening so much more straightforward.
Simply place a board on top of the pallet to give yourself a flat working surface (or you will lose things through the gaps) and add some legs to the underside. The pallet will provide the strength needed, and if you cut one in half, you can use the other half to make a back and stop things from falling off.
You can even hang some little hooks along this back so that trowels, seed packets, bits of string, labels, and other potting essentials have a place to live. Add some mini buckets for anything that won’t hang up easily, and you’ve got the cutest potting station on the block.
Idea 4: Raised Bed Pallets
Those who want raised beds but feel a bit daunted about the idea of actually building them may find that pallets are the perfect solution. Simply layer some card beneath the pallets to stop weeds from coming up underneath, and then fill the slots between the pallet struts with rich compost and soil.
You can add sides to the pallets if you need to, keeping the soil in. All you have to do next is plant them up. The structure of the pallet should keep the plants nicely spaced out and make it easy to tell what’s what.
Idea 5: Garden Bench
You can whip up a beautiful rustic bench out of pallets with just a few screws and a lick of paint. All you need to do is paint some pallets and screw them together until they reach the desired height, and then use another pallet for the back.
Add an armful of cushions and perhaps a rug, and you’ve got a great garden sofa for very little money. You can even add a matching pallet to serve as a coffee table for the best garden lounging experience ever.


tier: polar

text:
Pan Am Is Bringing Back the Golden Age of Air Travel
More than three decades after commercial aviation icon Pan American Airways closed its doors, the luxury air travel experience is set to return in 2025 with a commemorative Europe journey—and more to come.
In 1945, Pan American Airways helped usher in a modern era of commercial jet travel by being the first airline to introduce an economy class. And while it made air travel more affordable, the Pan Am name is still synonymous with luxury thanks to the gourmet meals, fashionable flight attendants, and spacious seating featured in its original airplanes. Sadly, the cultural icon shuttered in 1991.
Now, Pan Am is set to take to the skies once more. An exclusive 12-day trip harking back to the early, more glamorous days of air travel, will retrace the original Pan Am southern and northern transatlantic routes. The trip was forged by Pan American World Airways, which launched in February 2024, along with the Pan Am Museum Foundation, and is officially licensed by Pan Am Brands.
“Since 1927, Pan Am has left an indelible mark on the world. From humble beginnings as the first commercial carrier for the U.S. Air Mail, Pan Am’s founder Juan T. Trippe went on to create a vast aviation empire across the globe, literally bringing the world closer together one flight at a time,” Craig Carter, CEO of Pan American World Airways and host of the commemorative flight, said in a press release.
Pan American World Airways acquired the iconic Pan Am brand earlier this year, and this journey is part of a larger effort to relaunch and reintroduce the Pan Am name into the travel space. Carter stated that the company sees “unlimited opportunities to further leverage the Pan Am brand,” including with exclusive airport lounges and branded merchandise featuring the iconic Pan Am logo, among other initiatives.
The journey will start with 50 passengers on a chartered Boeing 757 aircraft configured with all-business-class seating in New York City on June 27, 2025. From there, the flight will stop in Bermuda; Lisbon, Portugal; Marseilles, France; London, England; and Foynes, Ireland, before returning to New York on July 8.
At a time when “we are becoming more accustomed to travel being a commodity, usually a way to get from point A to point B at the most economical price,” Criterion stated on its website about the forthcoming Pan Am journey, the trip is meant to serve as a reminder of the “Golden Age” of travel—”a time when the travel itself was a glamorous experience, and when the journey was as important and special as the destination.”
According to Criterion, passengers can expect upscale catering, an open bar, the ability to stream in-flight content on their personal devices, and a handpicked crew that will stay with them for the duration of the trip while in the air.
On the ground, guests will stay in some of the most luxurious hotels in the world, including the Rosewood in Bermuda, the Four Seasons Ritz in Lisbon, the Savoy in London, and Dromoland Castle in Ireland (the accommodation in France has not yet been announced). The trip also includes some special events, such as an evening of fado music in Portugal and an exclusive dinner at the Flying Boat and Maritime Museum in Ireland, which houses the only Boeing 314 Clipper replica in the world. (The Clipper aircraft could land on water and Pan Am primarily used it in the 1930s.) There will also be gala evenings at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City before and after the trip.
The price for the 2025 Pan Am Airways commemorative journey is $59,950 per person based on double occupancy, or $65,500 for single occupancy, and includes flights, accommodations, most meals and beverages, and a branded swag bag. Tickets are bookable on the Criterion Travel website.
As for whether there will be additional Pan Am journeys, Carter stated that the 2025 voyage is “the first of many exclusive themed flights back into the luxury travel space.”
He said, “Relaunching Pan Am requires a careful balance of honoring its storied past while innovating for the future,” adding that the objective is to recognize the nostalgia the brand evokes while also updating the product with modern amenities “so that it resonates with both our longtime fans and new customers.”
Although the new Pan American World Airways hasn’t revealed many specifics about additional departures yet, the company has said that it plans to develop an exclusive around-the-world private jet journey in 2027 that will celebrate the 100-year anniversary of the founding of Pan Am.


tier: kodiak

title: What is Transit Priority?

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What is Transit Priority?
Lanes dedicated exclusively for transit vehicles, either full-time or during days/times with peak traffic congestion.
High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) Lanes
Lanes dedicated to transit vehicles and other high-occupancy vehicles, either full-time or during days/times with peak traffic congestion.
Transit Signal Priority (TSP)
Modified traffic signal timing so transit vehicles encounter a green light or reduced wait times at intersections with traffic lights/signals.
Queue Jump Lanes
Lanes exclusively for transit vehicles and HOVs to bypass traffic queues at intersection approaches or freeway on-ramps. Queue jump lanes are often paired with Transit Signal Priority.
A policy – plus supportive infrastructure and ongoing maintenance – that allows buses to use shoulders on limited-access highways as transit lanes, either full-time or during days/times with peak traffic congestion.
Transit Stop Placement & Spacing
Locations for transit stops that minimize delay and optimize stop frequency (to balance convenient stop access with efficient operations). Examples of improved locations might be the far side of intersections with traffic lights, or the near side of intersections controlled by a stop sign.
Transit Stop Design
Designing stops to reduce delays to transit vehicles (such as using boarding islands or bus bulbs/curb so buses do not have to pull in and out of the traffic lane during passenger loading/unloading).
Traffic/Parking Regulations & Enforcement
Regulations to speed transit travel (including turn restrictions for non-transit vehicles, tow-away zones and other curb management along transit routes), paired with automated or manual enforcement to ensure effective transit priority (such as on-bus cameras that can cite vehicles blocking transit-only lanes or bus zones).
Boarding/Fare Payment Policy
Practices such as off-board fare payment and all-door boarding, which speed up passenger boarding/exiting, thereby minimizing the amount of time needed for transit to serve stops.
See the latest on Transit Priority efforts in the Bay Area.


text:
NASA Moves Early To Store Asteroid Samples Board OSIRIS-REx
NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft successfully touched down briefly on asteroid Bennu to retrieve samples to return to Earth. The spacecraft captured so much in its collector head that it was overflowing with the material, allowing some material to escape. NASA says that it collected well over the two-ounce mission requirement, meaning that even though some material is escaping, it still has plenty for a successful mission.
To keep any additional material from escaping from the spacecraft, NASA has announced it is moving to store the collected material currently in the Touch-And-Goal Sample Acquisition Mechanism early. The Science Mission Directorate has given the mission team the go-ahead to expedite sample storage, initially set for November 2, to begin today. The material will be removed from the collection head to the spacecraft Sample Return Capsule to minimize sample loss.
Dante Lauretta, OSIRIS-REx principal investigator at the University of Arizona, Tucson, says that the abundant material the spacecraft collected from the asteroid has made it possible to expedite the decision to store the material. His team is currently working around the clock to accelerate the stowage time to protect as much material as possible. OSIRIS-REx is different from many spacecraft in that it runs autonomously through an entire sequence with stowing of the sample material done in stages.
The team is sending preliminary commands to the spacecraft to kick off the stow sequence. The spacecraft sends telemetry data and images back to mission controllers during each step of the sequence and waits for confirmation from the team to proceed to the next step. The spacecraft is currently far enough away from Earth that it takes 18.5 minutes for signals to travel between the spacecraft and our planet. That means each step of the process has a 37-minute delay.
NASA did add a new imaging sequence to the stowage process to monitor the amount of material leaking out of the collection head. The entire stowage process will take multiple days and result in the sample being sealed in the Sample Return Capsule.


title: Clickety Clack to Tap, Tap Tap

text:
Clickety Clack to Tap, Tap Tap
Notes from the Lampert Library
As many of you know, I’ve been the librarian at Shomrei for many years. I started as an untrained volunteer, learned a lot, earned a graduate degree in library science, and worked as a library professional in several venues.
Library computerization paralled my career. However, due to budgetary constraints, the Lampert Library has remained way back in the 20th century. Yes, we have a computer and it’s fast. But I still type cards to file in the card catalog.
For years, I’ve wanted to do a simple computerization of our library. I think of the time that computerization would save: no typing cards, no filing cards, no pulling out old cards. Each of us—clergy, congregants, teachers—could look online for items in the Lampert Library. Keeping track of the books we own and loan would be streamlined. Congregants could reserve books exactly as you do at the public library.
Just in time for a new year, we have a couple of angels who are willing to help support the computerization project. It’s not terribly expensive. Annual support is under $400. And a value cannot be put on the time saved. If we do the database conversion ourselves, there is no further expense.
It’ll take a lot of time. Ideally, some of the work could be done by students want to do community service or congregants who might be willing to help in the conversion process. Even better would be to raise funds to pay someone to do part of the work.
My plea to all of you is to use this new project as an opportunity to fund the Lampert Library into the future. Once we are computerized, we have a commitment to continue to support this project.
Please help the Lampert Library move forward. Remember that the Library is self-supporting with donations from YOU. Any donation earmarked for computerization will go into the Computerization Fund of the Lampert Library and will be used only for that purpose.


title: Medical cannabis for inflammatory bowel disease new findings from the uk medical cannabis registry

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Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) affects around 1 in 123 people in the UK. It includes conditions like Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. If you have IBD, you might experience abdominal pain, diarrhoea, and bloody stools.
Current treatments, like medications and surgery, can help many people, but they don’t work for everyone. That’s why many IBD patients are turning to alternative therapies, including medical cannabis.
Medical Cannabis and IBD
Cannabis-based medicines can now be prescribed in the UK for many conditions, including IBD, if first-line treatments have not been successful. It is important to note that medical cannabis is only prescribed to address troublesome symptoms and not to treat underlying inflammation in the gut.
Our bodies have cannabinoid receptors (CB1 and CB2) throughout the gut. Cannabinoids like CBD and THC interact with these receptors, and scientists believe this may help regulate digestion. However, clinical research in this area remains limited.
Previous Findings from the UK Medical Cannabis Registry
Researchers have previously analysed patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) in IBD patients prescribed cannabis-based medicinal products (CBMPs) using data from the UK Medical Cannabis Registry (UKMCR). This data demonstrated a change in IBD-specific, anxiety-related, and general health-related quality of life (HRQoL) outcomes up to three months.
An updated analysis of these outcomes aimed to evaluate differences in PROMs for patients prescribed CBMPs for IBD over 18 months.
Key Findings from the UKMCR
The current study analysed self-reported PROMs from baseline and at 1-, 3-, 6-, 12-, and 18 months. PROMs included Short Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire alongside three GRQoL PROMs: the EQ-5D-5L, Generalised Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), and Single-Item Sleep Quality Scale (SQS). Patient Global Impression of Change (PGIC) values and adverse events were also recorded. A total of 116 IBD patients were included in the present analysis.
Key findings from this most recent analysis include:
- Changes in IBD-specific PROMs: Sub-group analysis based on primary diagnosis showed changes in IBD-specific measures in both Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis patient groups; however, improvements in anxiety and general HRQoL were only seen in the Crohn’s disease group.
- Other improvements in PROMs: There were also changes in the mobility, self-care, and usual activities domains of the EQ-5D-5L at various time points.
- CBMP dosing: Patients treated with above median doses of THC and with severe baseline anxiety were more likely to achieve minimal clinically important difference in the SIBDQ.
- Adverse Events: Twenty patients (17.24%) reported 155 adverse events which were largely mild; the most common were fatigue (n = 15, 12.93%) and dry mouth (n = 11, 9.48%).
These findings suggest that medical cannabis treatment was associated with changes in HRQoL and IBD-specific PROMs; however, as a case series without placebo control or operator arm, there are limitations to this study. Furthermore, while these findings are promising, causation cannot be proven.
Nonetheless, this study had a relatively large sample size and is the longest-known longitudinal assessment of the effects of CBMPs in IBD patients. This study adds to previous research in this area, providing valuable real-world evidence of medical cannabis in the treatment of IBD. Yet, double-blinded randomised controlled studies are needed to fully understand this potential in a clinical setting.


title: The benefits of using the franchise registry

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If you haven't heard about The Franchise Registry it's important that you do, especially if you're thinking about applying for an SBA-approved loan to acquire a franchise opportunity. Approximately 1,000 franchise brands (which is maybe a third of the franchise companies in North America) appear on the registry. For brands that do not appear, you probably will not get your SBA loan approved.
Even if you don't plan on securing an SBA loan to buy a franchise, The Franchise Registry is a good way to check out a franchise opportunity.
Checking Out The Franchisor's Operations
Prior to guaranteeing a loan for a franchisee, the SBA wants to be familiar with the franchisor's operating procedures. With nearly 3,000 franchisors operating in the USA, and changes occurring randomly to their operating procedures, it's a chore for the SBA to review all of those companies.
Some years ago, the SBA contracted with FRANdata, a company that provides objective information about franchising, to maintain the registry, conduct the ongoing reviews, and negotiate, as needed, with franchisors to help them comply with SBA's regulations. To be considered for the registry, franchisors pay $2,500. Some companies may balk at that, or simply not have the funds. However, it's a small price to pay to gain access to prospective buyers who need SBA funding.
Benefits Of The Franchise Registry
According to Darrell Johnson, president of FRANdata, the registry provides several benefits:
- It "comforts" lenders. The registry provides a risk-reducing factor to lenders and saves them time. If a franchisor appears on the list, the lender knows that the franchisor's documents have met the SBA's standards.
- It's a marketing tool for franchisors. The franchisors that appear on the registry can tell their prospective franchisees that their documents comply with SBA's lending criteria.
- It "comforts" prospective franchisees. When a franchisor appears on the list, it tells the prospective franchisee that the franchisor's franchise agreement isn't onerous. The SBA has reviewed the document and it's acceptable.
Is Your Franchisor Registered?
Take a moment to review the registry to find out which franchisors are listed. If you're considering a franchise that's not listed on the registry, and you know that you'll need an SBA loan to become a franchisee, your first step should be to tell the franchisor to get on the list. If you're not seeking an SBA loan, but your franchise opportunity of choice is not on the list, ask why!


title: What lies within us

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Attending so many conferences, there is a common theme that you will hear from most.
How do we get our students better at school?
They might not say that straight out, but it is the underlying narrative.
What I do not hear enough is, “How do we start to find the brilliance and talents in each of our students?”
Here is an easy solution to the latter question.
If you start by looking for the strengths and talents of each of your students, the “school” part will get much easier. Too often I hear about “response to intervention” meetings and how they constantly focus on how to fix the weaknesses of the students they serve. This is not a good way to start a conversation.
Look for the strengths first. If people know they are valued, the other “stuff” will come. But, let’s just say it doesn’t. Then we will have students who might not be “awesome at school”, but will walk out knowing what they are strong at and it has been developed because of school. Do we want our students to walk out being good at school or help them become and continue to be good at life?
This quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson resonates:
“What lies behind us, and what lies before us are tiny matters, compared to what lies within us.”
Are we helping students discover what lies within themselves?
I am not saying “ignore the weaknesses”. I am just saying that it is a horrible place to start.


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You'll have fresh blueberries for pies, preserves or simply eating alone with The Complete Blueberry Collection!
Comprising of three different varieties, you can now grow an abundance of delicious berries, packed full of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants for months. Comprising of ‘New Hanover’, the earliest cropping and a heavy cropper with fruits of a good size but with a delicious wild blueberry flavour, the mid-season 'Blueray' with big crops of juicy, sweet, and tasty blueberries, and lastly, 'Ozark Blue', which is the latest cropper in the collection, for yields of delicious berries - particularly loved by chefs!
Get everything you need to plant, grow, and enjoy a long cropping season of mouth-watering blueberries from the comfort of a patio, balcony, or terrace! You’ll receive a 60L bag of ericaceous compost, which is perfect for growing acid-loving plants like blueberries, plus three rounded plastic planters, each with a clay-effect style and made from a heavy-duty plastic that is both UV stable and weather resistant, with pre-inserted drainage holes. Each planter is 20cm in diameter.
Supplied as a set of three established plants in 9cm pots, plus three 20cm decorative plastic containers, and a 60L bag of ericaceous compost.
Please allow us 3-5 working days to dispatch your order. Pre-ordered items will be sent as soon as possible after the date quoted and we'll generally ship your entire order with your pre-ordered items. When your order is dispatched, we'll send you another email with details of how to track it.
Most orders are sent on a fully-tracked courier service with Yodel. To avoid perishable items being stuck at depots and deteriorating, no signature is required, and our courier is asked to leave your order in a safe place on your property.
We'll send a tracking link when we dispatch your order, so you know when its due to arrive. Please note, once delivered we cannot be held responsible for loss or theft from your property. If you have any specific delivery instructions, please let us know - there's an option to enter a short message for the courier at the checkout.
Smaller, lighter, single-item orders may be sent through the post with Royal Mail - in which case no tracking is available.
Our experienced nursery team will always send your plants nursery fresh in the perfect condition to thrive when you plant them, so although most plants are very tough and will not be affected by all but the most extreme frosts or heatwaves, we avoid dispatching the most perishable plants if extreme weather is forecast, or over Bank Holiday weekends.
Please note, we cannot guarantee delivery on a certain day or time. Delivery to outlying postcode areas may take 1-2 days longer, dependent on your location.


title: Alphonse puthuren wishes to meet thunivu actor ajith before he turns older

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With the bilingual drama “Neram,” which he directed in 2013, Alphonse Puthuren, who is well known for his work in Malayalam films, also made his debut in Tamil. In his ten years in the film industry, Alphonse Puthuren has only ever directed four films, and he frequently reserves his best work for the most fascinating projects. The filmmaker has been asked to make a movie starring Tamil actor Ajith by a supporter of Alphonse Puthuren. In response to the inquiry, Alphonse Puthuren disclosed something that shocked everyone.
Alphonse Puthuren has never personally met Ajithkumar, although he learned of the latter’s acclaim for his film “Premam” from star Nivin Pauly. Ajith personally contacted Nivin Pauly to thank him for playing his favourite character in the movie. In the ensuing eight years, Alphonse Puthuren has made 10 attempts to connect with the actor through his manager Suresh Chandra and another close acquaintance. However, he hasn’t been able to meet the actor yet, and he hopes to do so before he ages.
Alphonse Puthuren has further said “I would ensure that any movie I do with Ajith Kumar sir runs for at least 100 days in all theatres, including Hollywood theatres. The same is true for Thalapathy, Superstar, and Ulaganayagan. I must be allowed the freedom to do my movie how I want, with the resources and the passion that great movies demand. You may then decide if I’m mistaken.”
Since the filmmaker was not permitted to see Ajith 10 times in eight years, Alphonse Puthuren’s response to the fan has generated controversy.
On the professional front, Alphonse Puthuren most recently produced the Malayalam film “Gold,” which stars Prithviraj and Nayanthara in the major roles. The movie is currently streaming in several languages on a well-known OTT site.


title: Fairness hearing to begin for flint water civil settlement

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Fairness Hearing to Begin for Flint Water Civil Settlement
July 12, 2021
LANSING - The hearing to determine whether the State's $600 million Flint water civil settlement will be officially approved begins today in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
In January, Judge Judith Levy gave preliminary approval to the settlement, which established the process through which Flint residents could indicate their intention to file eligible settlement claims that will be processed and paid by the claims administrator.
Attorney General Dana Nessel and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in August announced the State's portion of the preliminary agreement to settle the lawsuits filed against the State after the City of Flint switched its public water supply to the Flint River in 2014.
Defendants that ultimately joined the settlement include the City of Flint, McLaren Regional Medical Center and Rowe Professional Services Co.
The fairness hearing begins at 10 a.m. this morning, Monday, and is scheduled to take three days, with no court scheduled Wednesday. The final day, instead, is planned for Thursday, July 15.
During the hearing, Judge Levy will listen to arguments and objections to determine whether the settlement is fair, adequate and reasonable. A final ruling is anticipated to be entered later this summer.
If the settlement is approved and funds are distributed to claimants, the State will have contributed over $1 billion to the city's relief and recovery efforts. Past contributions include a settlement agreement whereby $97 million was made available to replace all of the city's lead service lines in its water system. To date, the State has spent nearly $423 million in response to the Flint water emergency.
ADDITIONAL SETTLEMENT BACKGROUND
Following the preliminary approval in January, Flint residents had 60 days to register to participate in the settlement program. That period closed at the end of March. About 85,000 registrations were filed. A data review is now underway to verify registrations are authentic and no duplicates exist.
The next step is the claims period, which can open before final approval is granted and is expected to commence by August. Once the claims period begins, registered Flint residents will have 120 days to file the documents necessary to support their claims.
Detailed information will continue to be available on the claims administrator website.
The preliminary agreement specified that about 80% of the net settlement fund will be spent on claims of children who were minors when first exposed to the Flint River water, with a large majority of that amount to be paid for claims of children age six and younger, and earmarking 2% to go to special education services in Genesee County. Another 18% of the net settlement funds are to be spent on claims of adults and for property damage. Roughly 1% will go toward claims for business losses.
The amount of money to be paid to individual claimants won't be determined until the claims process proceeds as it depends, in part, on the number of claims submitted and found to be eligible.


title: Leica rugby 640 640g

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Offering high versatility in general construction and interior applications, the Leica Rugby 640 universal laser allows contractors to perform horizontal, vertical and simple slope tasks quickly and reliably. For easy beam detection, use the simple Leica Rod Eye Basic laser receiver. For extended range and performance, upgrade to Leica Rod Eye 140 or Rod Eye 160 digital receivers.
Increasing functionality and application flexibility, the Leica RC400 remote control allows contractors to:
Effortlessly perform slope and plumb applications
Easily move scan lines
Simply change rotating speed
Save on battery power whenever needed.
Moreover, drywall contractors benefit from extremely easy and accurate layout and alignment of drywalls with Scan 90° function, automatic plumb down and 90° reference beam.
Long working times
Ensuring no downtime due to low battery status, the Rugby 640 construction laser comes with the long-lasting, rechargeable Li-Ion battery. Charge this long-lasting battery during operation, in the car with the car charger (optional accessory), and from any battery with the 12V battery cable (opt.).
For even more environmentally-friendly battery management and increased efficiency, the RC400 remote control puts the laser to sleep during your break, saving the battery and assuring that the setup is the same when you are back.
Best price/quality ratio
Rugby 640 multipurpose laser offers contractors a professional solution with an outstanding price-to-quality-ratio, allowing quick and easy levelling and aligning for general construction and interior applications. Contractors benefit from the extremely robust Li-Ion battery with versatile charging options. You can also take advantage of the extended functionality and application flexibility with Leica Rod Eye laser receivers and Leica RC400 remote control. The strong service offering PROTECT by Leica Geosystems, includes the Lifetime Manufacturer's Warranty and three year No Cost period for the Rugby 640 rotating laser.


title: Aiida

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- Contact us
AiiDA (Automated Interactive Infrastructure and Database for computational science) is a Python materials’ informatics framework to manage, store, share, and disseminate the workload of high-throughput computational efforts, while providing an ecosystem for materials simulations where complex scientific workflows involving different codes and datasets can be seamlessly implemented, automated and shared.
AiiDA is designed around the four ADES pillars of materials informatics  and, complemented by the Materials Cloud website , it enables and facilitates compliance with the FAIR Guiding Principles for scientific data management and stewardship. At the low-level, AiiDA takes care of Automation and Data storage for the management and safeguarding of calculations, data and workflows. At the user level, it provides an advanced and intuitive research Environment for accelerating scientific discoveries, and Sharing capabilities to enable collaborative research.
Moreover, while managing the pipelines of simulations, AiiDA keeps track automatically of the full provenance of all data and calculations, guaranteeing reproducibility not only of single calculations, but of full simulation workflows. The provenance is stored in the form of a directed graph in a database, allowing fast and efficient queries by the user.
The figure on the left shows the schematic representation of a very simple toy-model workflow that consists of taking 3 input numbers and performing two processing steps (adding two of them first, and then multiplying the result by the third one). The figure on the right shows the same types of connectivity (in a different style) but for a real high-throughput study, consisting of thousands of advanced workflows and calculations.
AiiDA is designed with a plugin interface, supporting many different types of data and simulation codes (including all the MAX flagship codes). The list of existing plugins for AiiDA can be found on the AiiDA plugin registry.
Performance as HTC platform
AiiDA is designed to run high-throughput jobs, each of them ranging from small post-processing steps to very large HPC jobs scaling on thousands of nodes on large supercomputers. As such, the combination of the automation and high-throughput capabilities of AiiDA with the optimised performance of the MAX HPC simulation codes makes it possible to efficiently use pre-exascale and exascale machines for the simulation of advanced materials properties.
After the latest re-design of the engine [3,4] AiiDA has proven capable of handling tens of thousands of simultaneous calculations. This was demonstrated during the “LUMI hero run”: an extreme high-throughput test that was possible thanks to being granted exclusive access to one of Europe’s newest pre-exascale infrastructures . During these, AiiDA managed to orchestrate over 55,000 Quantum ESPRESSO calculations to optimize the geometry of more than 15,000 inorganic compounds, completely filling the full supercomputer for 12 hours (corresponding to a record number of Epyc cores exceeding the 196,000).
G. Pizzi et al. Comp. Mat. Sci. 111, 218-230 (2016)
S.P. Huber et al., Scientific Data 7, 300 (2020)
M. Uhrin et al., Comp. Mat. Sci. 187 (2021)
AiiDA aims to help researchers with managing the complex workflows of high-throughput research and making their results fully reproducible. It does so by providing the following key features:
Workflows: Write complex, auto-documenting workflows in python, managing both simple user-defined functions and external executables on local or remote computers. The AiiDA workflow engine enables users to encode their workflow logic in functional building blocks and combine them in sophisticated simulations. The event-based engine can deal with demanding high-throughput workloads, supporting tens of thousands of processes per hour with full checkpointing.
Data provenance: Automatically track inputs, outputs & metadata of all calculations and data in a provenance graph for full reproducibility, which means being able to reconstruct the complete history of each calculation or scientific result. Perform fast queries on graphs containing millions of nodes.
HPC interface: Move your calculations to a different computer by changing one line of code. AiiDA is compatible with many schedulers, including SLURM, PBS Pro, torque, SGE or LSF. The daemon prepares the necessary input files, sends them to the cluster, submits a new job to the scheduler, and continues monitoring the status of calculations, retrieving and parsing the relevant files as soon as the job finishes.
Plugin interface: Extend AiiDA with plugins for new simulation codes (input generation & parsing), data types, schedulers, transport modes and more. The public AiiDA registry is the central place to find AiiDA plugins, listing plugins, authors, installation instructions and which extensions they provide.
Open Science: Export subsets of your provenance graph and share them with peers or make them available online for everyone on the Materials Cloud. When uploaded to this platform, peers can browse the graph interactively, download individual files or the whole database, and start their research right from where the original author left off.
Open source: AiiDA is developed publicly on the aiida-core GitHub repository and is released under the MIT open source license, making it suitable for use both in academic and commercial settings. We are strong supporters of open source software; nevertheless, AiiDA plugins can connect both to open source and commercial codes, and plugin developers can make the choice to develop their plugin privately or under different licenses if they want to.
AiiDA is an open-source Python infrastructure to help researchers with automating, managing, persisting, sharing and reproducing the complex workflows associated with modern computational science and all associated data
DATA STORAGE AND QUERYING
By default, data are stored both in a file repository and in a PostgreSQL database for efficient querying. The data does not only contain the raw and parsed inputs and outputs, but also the whole provenance graph. Sharing is enabled by export functionalities to export the full provenance graph or parts of it in the form of archive files, and then reimport it in a different AiiDA instance.
The directed graph is stored in the SQL database; AiiDA provides a QueryBuilder engine to express general graph queries with filtering and projections in a simple and uniform python-like syntax, without the need to know SQL or the underlying design of the database. The AiiDA ORM leverages the SQLAlchemy python ORM for the connection to the PostgreSQL database.
Moreover, the data management backend has been completely abstracted and modularized in the last major 2.0 release. This means not only that exported archive files can now be accessed and explored directly without needing to import them into AiiDA first, but also that the backend classes can be extended and alternatives to the default file repository + PostgreSQL could be developed in the future (for example, to use remote resources such as cloud object stores).
AiiDA defines a rich and powerful workflow language that allows declarative definition of inputs, outputs, error codes and the outline of the code, making it self-documenting, and enabling automatic input and output validation and automatic documentation generation features. In addition, AiiDA provides python decorators that make it straightforward, by just adding one line of code, to convert any python function (used e.g. for pre- or post-processing) into an AiiDA process, that gets automatically tracked in the AiiDA provenance graph along with links to its inputs and outputs.
The engine that automates the simulations and the workflows is based on an event queue (using RabbitMQ as the queue manager) to enable "real-time" instantaneous reaction to events, like submission or completion of a calculation. It is also empowered by advanced algorithms to provide sustained throughput on HPC resources with automatic rate-limiting and batching of connections to avoid overloading. Additional algorithms ensure robustness to downtimes and temporary failures, with an exponential backoff mechanism and the possibility to pause and restart any process.
The engine is run by a multi-slot, multi-process daemon managed via the Circus python library. Control of the workflow is maintained centrally, allowing for stopping and restarting/rebooting the AiiDA server without any data loss; the engine will pick up the workflow and continue execution from where it was left off (while e.g. simulations continue to run on HPC supercomputers).


title: Article: Sydney Star Observer

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Article: Sydney Star Observer
Australian HIV advocates are celebrating the news that scientists working on a cure for HIV infection in the UK have had a massive breakthrough in their research after a 44 year old male patient in the study showed no signs of HIV after treatment.
Fifty patients are part of the trial being run by five British universities, which “combines antiretroviral drugs with a drug that reactivates dormant HIV and a vaccine that induces the immune system to destroy the infected cells” according to reports in The Guardian.
“Huge breakthroughs are rare in science and the cure for HIV, if one is ever discovered, will likely come in small but significant steps forward,” said HIV activist, Paul Kidd.
“If the results being reported from this trial are sustained, this might be one of those small steps. But it will take a great deal of work to get from here to the ultimate goal of a treatment that eradicates HIV.
“An affordable and effective cure for HIV would be one of the greatest breakthroughs in the history of medicine and would save countless lives.”
Previous attempts at curing people of HIV have not always been successful, as the virus can reappear in patients, but this news is a step in the right direction.
“This is one of the first serious attempts at a full cure for HIV. We are exploring the real possibility of curing HIV. This is a huge challenge and it’s still early days but the progress has been remarkable,” Mark Samuels, the managing director of the National Institute for Health Research Office for Clinical Research Infrastructure, told the Sunday Times.
The Guardian reports the new trial attempts to trick HIV from coming out of its hiding places where the body’s immune system is able to recognise it and attack it, an approach that has been called “kick and kill”.
“It’s a very early but promising result from a trial of a method of eradicating HIV that we have a lot of hope for. ‘Kick and kill’ represents our best hope of a cure at this time, and there are many studies, including this one, looking to see if it is feasible,” said Kidd.
“For people living with HIV, this is a sign that a cure is possible. For those of us living long-term with the virus, we spent most of our positive lives not daring to dream of a cure.
“Today, through studies like this one, we can see there is hope that we might one day be free from HIV, as individuals and as a community. That’s a wonderful thing to hope for.”