text:
It was dedicated to the 25 anniversary of the Department “Logistics” in the University of World Economy and profile “Business Logistics”.
In his speech, the head of the Logistics Department inUNWE – prof.PhilipTodorov, expressed his special thanks to the companies that work closely with the department, and presented honorary plaques to representatives of some of the companies. Gopet Trans Ltd. was among the winners.

industry_corpus2: Transportation


text:
TLDR; [This is a short post but anyhow] You can now achieve content negotiation on Domain Model or even Version (levels 4 and 5) in the same ASP.NET Web API controller.
As I explained in the previous post, there are real opportunities in adopting 5LMT. On one hand, semantic separation of all these levels of media type helps with organic development of a host of clients with different capabilities and needs. On the other hand, it solves some existing challenges of REST-based APIs.
In the last post we explored how we can have a Roy-correct resource organisation (URLs I mean, of course) and take advantage of content-based action selection which is not natively possible in ASP.NET Web API.
Content Negotiation is an important aspect of HTTP. This is the dance between client and server to negotiate on the optimum media type to get a resource. Most common implementation of content negotiation is the server-side one which server decides the format based on the client's preferences expressed by the content of Accept, Accept-Language, Accept-Encoding, etc headers.
This basically mean give me HTML or XHTML if you can (q=1.0 is implied here), if not XML should be OK, and if not then I can live with image/webp format - which is Google's experimental media type as I was using Chrome.
This is all well and good. But what if we want to ask for SomeDomainModel or AnotherDomainModel(level 4)? Or even more complex: asking for a particular version of the media type (level 5)? Unfortunately ASP.NET Web API does not provide this feature out of the box, however, using 5LMT this is very easy.
In order to achieve this, all you have to do is to replace your IHttpActionSelector in the Services of your configuration with MediaTypeBasedActionSelector.
Another one which deserves its own blog post, allows for custom versioning.

industry_corpus2: Computing & Telecommunications


text:
In these 3 years many things have happened, I have improved my musicality, my piano skills, I practiced flute more than anything, I learnt to play the harmonica, and I learnt tonight , after 5 months away from my piano (and 8000km away from it) that I still love it and miss it, even though I try to hide it like a love you can't have. I hope to return to it soon.. Music feeds me, and I have been eating the same dish for 5 months.
Why is it that many people are in the search for excellence? who said that excellence is the best flavor? why can't I learn from the not so advanced as well as from the virtuosos? the answer might be that being close to the excellence makes you think you are excellent.
I am friends with my ear now..
Today I tried to delete my first blog, and it was impossible... That makes me think what other things can not be erased in real life... everything needs a beginning.

industry_corpus2: Others


text:
Windows Casino is a licensed online casino playing website that abides by all the gambling laws on fair play and protection of players, as set by the Gambling Association. All the games on offer are powered by Playtech, a well-known top brand name within the software industry.
Numerous slots are available to select from, together with a host of table games such as Baccarat, Blackjack and a variety of Poker games. Inclusive to this are a few variations of video poker games.
To elevate the gaming pleasure, majority of the games at Windows Casino have different set limits for betting, that allow high rollers and beginners to find the most suitable games in tune with their budget. When accessing the casino’s lobby, a player is able to navigate their desired games with ease.
Outstanding and exciting bonuses abound at the casino. New members receive a personalized welcome with a chance to redeem high bonus values on their first two deposits. The initial deposits attract a percentage bonus match, while the second one guarantees another percentage match reward. Returning players are also offered great tantalizing deals.
All of the member players registered with Windows Casino receive a certain percentage of match bonus reload each month, with referral programs that award them with cash awards, when they introduce their friends as cash players on the site.
Disbursing money into one’s account is easy and safe. The casino accepts all the major credit cards of MasterCard and Visa, although most of the players prefer other alternative modes that afford them more security. The best part is that when using payment methods, a player is not required to divulge any personal information.
Windows Casino offers timely customer service that is prompt and of high quality, with player satisfaction being the top most priority for a memorable and rewarding experience.

industry_corpus2: Gaming


text:
When it comes to no frills, simple, and great bar and restaurant in Canton, The Americana is the place to be. This rustic, contemporary Canton establishment provides Baltimore residents and visitors alike with a friendly, neighborhood bar atmosphere accompanied by a vast drink selection, and tasty menu for lunch and dinner.
The Americana works as a comforting, classic American restaurant in Canton when it comes to their food selection. The appetizer menu features an assortment of mouth watering meal starters.
These include sesame crusted tuna cooked lightly and finished with mango sauce; Caribbean Jerk Chicken Skewers with spicy Caribbean chicken and infused pineapple relish; Irish nachos with oven-roasted russet potatoes, chicken or beef, pico de gallo, aged cheddar jack and jalepeno peppers; and more.
The Americana also offers sandwiches, entrees, and an admirable amount of vegetarian and vegan selections.
Menu highlights include a tuna steak sandwich with blackened or grilled six-ounce tuna steak on a fresh-baked kaiser roll with mango sauce; New York strip steak (11 ounces); Maryland lump crab cakes served with a jalapeno tartar sauce, summer vegetable ratatouille, and white bean puree; and blackened chicken penne with cajun spices, sweet peas, tomatoes, and spicy andouille sausage in a light cream sauce.
The Americana also doubles as a great neighborhood bar in Canton with a great selection of beer, wine, and spirits. Beers on tap include Yeungling, Sam Seasonal, Blue Moon, Stella Artois, Guinness, and Natty Boh. The Americana also has a vast selection of imported, craft, and domestic bottles as well as a decent selection of white and red wines.
For more information, visit www.AmericanaCanton.com.
If The Americana sounds like your type of place, head out to Canton and check them out. When you're done, don't forget to give them a rating and review on the Americana 410area business listing.

industry_corpus2: Hospitality & Catering


text:
Discounted prices for transmitters are offered for quantities of ten or more. Contact us for details. To be eligible for a quantity discount, all units must be of the same model, ordered on a single order commitment, shipped to a single address, and delivered on the same date.
For refurbishment prices, please review our Fish Tag Refurbishment Policy first to determine if your transmitter(s) may be eligible for this service.
Microwave Telemetry, Inc. (MTI) warrants all units sold to be fully functional upon arrival at the address designated by purchaser at the time of the order. Units include a one-year warranty (from the date the product is received by the purchaser) against electronic failure (excludes 2g Solar PTT, 5g Solar PTT, Implantable PTT models, potted avian PTT models, and Pop-up Tags). All units must be tested by the purchaser within two weeks of receipt and the test data must be sent to MTI at support@microwavetelemetry.com within the two week period. Units tested within this two-week period, and which MTI, in its sole and absolute discretion, deems nonfunctional at the time of testing, will be replaced or repaired at MTI’s discretion, at no cost to purchaser. The failure of the purchaser to test units within two weeks of receipt voids this Limited Warranty. MTI’s liability for nonfunctional units is limited solely to repair or replacement under this Limited Warranty. MTI assumes no liability for direct, indirect, incidental, special, or consequential damages incurred by the purchaser, or any third party, as a result of the subsequent failure of any unit. No other warranties express or implied, including but not limited to the warranty of fitness for a particular use and the warranty of merchantability, are provided by MTI. By accepting delivery of an order, the purchaser acknowledges and agrees that this Limited Warranty is their sole remedy. MTI does not provide any warranty either express or implied for any refurbished unit. The reverse engineering or attempted reverse engineering of any MTI product or technology is strictly prohibited and, in addition to other available legal remedies, nullifies this Limited Warranty in its entirety.
* Prices shown include data decompression and parsing, together with initial data analysis by MTI.


text:
A replacement order could be issued as early as Tuesday, according to report.
A new version of a Trump administration travel ban will not stop green-card residency holders or travelers already on planes from entering the United States, U.S. Secretary for Homeland Security John Kelly said on Saturday.
U.S. President Donald Trump's initial attempt to clamp down for security reasons on emigration from seven Muslim-majority countries and on refugees snarled to a halt amid a judicial backlash and chaos at airports.
"The president is contemplating releasing a tighter, more streamlined version of the first [order]. And I will have opportunity to work a rollout plan, in particular to make sure that there's no one in a sense caught in the system of moving from overseas to our airports," Kelly said at the Munich Security Conference.
Asked whether green-card residency permit holders would be allowed in, Kelly said: "It's a good assumption and, as far as the visas go . if they're in motion from some distant land to the United States, when they arrive they will be allowed in."
He promised "a short phase-in period to make sure that people on the other end don't get on airplanes. But if they're on an airplane and inbound, they'll be allowed to enter the country."
A draft of the replacement executive order shows that the administration aims to put restrictions on citizens of the same seven Muslim-majority countries covered by the initial order, according to the Wall Street Journal, which cites an internal State Department memo.
The replacement order could be issued as early as Tuesday, the Journal reported, citing a U.S. government official.
The administration would seek to implement the new order a week to two weeks after it is signed, and covers citizens from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, the Journal said.
Trump's original order, which he said was meant to head off attacks by Islamist militants, barred people from those same countries from entering for 90 days and excluded all refugees for 120 days, except those from Syria, who were banned indefinitely.
The abrupt implementation of the order last month plunged the immigration system into chaos, sparking a wave of criticism from the countries affected, and from Western allies and some of America's leading corporations, especially technology firms.

industry_corpus2: Politics & Administration


text:
Glasgow will field an unchanged XV for the under-18 district championship decider against Edinburgh at Livingston on Sunday (2pm).
After victories over Caledonia, by 19-17, and against Borders, by 11-10, the Glasgow boys need only a draw at Almond Park to be district champions.
Glasgow's team for the under-18 district championship match against the Edinburgh at Livingston on Sunday: Martin Yorston (Lenzie); Rory Couper (Ardrossan Academicals), Colin Bartwicki (East Kilbride), captain, Neil Tweedie (Kilmarnock), Stuart Pratt (Kilmarnock); Gordon Burns (Cambuslang), Alan McNamara (Kilmarnock); Euan Murray (Glasgow Southern), Fraser Tannock (East Kilbride), Stuart Caulfield (Dalziel), Stuart Duthie (Kilmarnock), Graeme McQuade (Whitecraigs), Scott McKenzie (Glasgow Southern), Paul Monaghan (Whitecraigs), Gillon Armstrong (Kilmarnock). Replacements - Andrew Henderson (West of Scotland), Steven Duffy (Ardrossan Academicals), Gillon Rand (Strathendrick), Scott Mitchell (Ardrossan Academicals), Euan Robertson (Ayr), Gordon Brown (Kilmarnock), George Hunter (Glasgow Southern).
qSeveral clubs in the Welsh National League have joined forces in an attempt to have Cardiff thrown out of the Welsh Rugby Union.
The clubs, all in the WRU's District E, claim Cardiff's refusal to sign a long-term agreement with the union is costing them money through lost sponsorship and television revenue. Cardiff have so far refused to allow television cameras into their ground.

industry_corpus2: Sports


text:
Fats, grease and oil are among the primary causes of residential pipeline and sewer main clogs, resulting in sewer spills and overflows. Disposal of liquids in the trash is also not allowed. Please do not pour oil down the drain…instead recycle it for use in clean, sustainable biofuel!
Free curbside cooking oil pickup is available – check out the Recycle More page to receive your collection can!
The collected oil is recycled into biodiesel! Please only include liquid cooking oil – solid fats and grease should go in the compost cart.


text:
What is the difference of Viettiles' tiles ?!
Viettiles still keeps the traditional way of old tiles with 2.5-3mm thick glaze when used in your building, life span of over 100 years if you practice in a clean way every day just wipe with clean water, that's it.
Thick enamel protects products persistently over time. Viettiles always offers new designs that are suitable for various trends and colors for many different customers.
Come to Viettiles to feel!

industry_corpus2: Real Estate & Construction


text:
Beautifully renovated from top-to-bottom. 3brm 2.5 ba EOG townhome. Featuring BRAND NEW EVERYTHING! Gleaming floors throughout the main level. New kitchen w/SS appliances and granite countertop. New baths w/ masterful tile work. New carpet. Fully finished basement. MUST SEE!
I was searching for a Property and found this listing (MLS® #MDBA305498). Please send me more information regarding 760 N Grantley St, BALTIMORE, MD, 21229. Thank you!
I'd like to request a showing of 760 N Grantley St, BALTIMORE, MD, 21229 (MLS® #MDBA305498). Thank you!


text:
Kara • Mon, Jan 27 2014 • Trying for baby #1. Ttc for 1 year.
Im afraid I'll get AF tomorrow. :( then I would be going on 1 year! I hope it don't come!! Can someone give me some support n reassurance? Please?


text:
Yes, this is about the 9/11 attacks. Yes, I firmly believe nineteen hijackers drove four planes into three buildings and a field in Pennsylvania. No, I don’t think that’s the whole truth.
Half the people reading left after the first sentence; most of the rest left after the second. Even my saintly mother left after reading the third. If you’re still here, you’re either very intelligent or very bored.


text:
JOHNNY’S ITALIAN STEAKHOUSE IS A SUAVE CHOICE TO IMPRESS YOUR DATE. Inside this upscale, modern Italian eatery you’ll find a 50s era vibe complete with velvet curtains and Rat Pack music – making for one classy evening out. While famous for its award winning steaks, some other favorites at Johnny’s include the salmon, the bruschetta, and the Mounds Bar dessert to share (wink). If you’re of age, there’s an extensive wine list and cocktail menu from which you can choose your drinks. The atmosphere and the food are well worth the price and make the complete fine dining package for you and your date.
I had a nice dinner here with my parents and significant other a few weeks after they opened. Although a bit dark, the atmosphere was very nice. Our waitress was pleasant and very knowledgeable about the menu. The prices were in line with what I would expect at a supper-club style steakhouse. We enjoyed our meal so much that we even ordered dessert, a rare occurrence!
The interior at Mona Lisa’s is mood lit with deep reds and art lines the walls, but almost more impressive is the outdoor patio – a perfect place for drinks and appetizers for a casual summer date. Pasta and seafood options tend to land in the $12-$20 range, but are well worth the price both in taste and presentation. You can also split pizza. It’s more romantic that way (and a bit cheaper).
Stella’s has a killer seafood selection, with interesting cajun dishes and a great atmosphere (including a patio).
Bijou started as a catering business, but has expanded with a gorgeous small dining room with a rotating menu.
YOU WANT TO MAKE A GOOD FIRST IMPRESSION ON THIS ROMANTIC NIGHT?
Bring a little something extra from one of these Eau Claire flower shops.


text:
The PREFORMA Project consortium has elaborated and agreed on the following Glossary of Terms and Definitions to support the project’s research and development and to make clear to any interested user the meaning of the most important concepts that have been introduced in PREFORMA or that are relevant for the project.
The glossary has to be considered a living tool and it will be constantly updated and improved, throughout the project’s lifetime, with the help of the PREFORMA community members and the visitors to the PREFORMA website. If you would like to suggest a new term or a revision of an existing definition please send us an email at info@preforma-project.eu.
Standard created by the National Information Standard Organization that defines a set of metadata elements for raster digital images to enable users to develop, exchange, and interpret digital image files. The dictionary has been designed to facilitate interoperability between systems, services, and software as well as to support the long-term management of and continuing access to digital image collections.
An Information Package, consisting of the Content Information and the associated Preservation Description Information (PDI), which is preserved within an OAIS.
An organization that intends to preserve information for later access and use by a Designated Community.
Generally an Assertion is a boolean expression, i.e. it may be evaluated to true or false, used in software testing. Evaluating the Assertion involves examining some property of the item under test.
The information describing the content of an Information Package.
The essentials TIFF specifications that all mainstream TIFF developers should support in their products.
The order of the bytes that compose a digital word in computer memory. It also describes the order of byte transmission over a digital link. Words may be represented in big-endian or little-endian format.
an input stream read directly from memory.
A particular byte sequence is identified by combining its length in bytes and the SHA-1 Hash (derived from its contents).
Codec Encoding for LossLess Archiving and Realtime transmission, a working group formed within the Internet Engineering Task Force to standardize Matroska, FFV1, and FLAC media formats.
Document which sets forth the overall challenge for long term preservation of digital files to be addressed by the PREFORMA Research & Development actions, i.e. two strategies that empower memory institutions to gain control over the technical properties of preservation files: development of an open-source conformance checker, and establishing an ecosystem around an open source ‘reference’ implementation.
A PREFORMA term that defines a generalised (i.e. not concerned with a particular file format) open source validation toolset for conformance checking of digital files, intended for long-term preservation in memory institutions.
to perform automated fixes for simple deviations in the metadata of the preservation file.
Reports created during examinations. These reports may provide feedback to the Suppliers during the Prototyping files and may be helpful investigating errors and other messages from the conformance checkers. Such use should however be considered as a type of “training”, and consequently, an examination file whose report has been shared with a Supplier can no longer be used as an evaluation file.
The role played by those people or client systems, who interact with OAIS services to find preserved information of interest and to access that information in detail. This can include other OAISes, as well as internal OAIS persons or systems.
A container or wrapper format is a metafile format whose specification describes how different elements of data and metadata coexist in a computer file. See also: Wrapper (format).
In the context of PREFORMA, the information within and functionality of a fixated and delimited information resource, e.g., text using the PDF functionality “transparency” in a PDF/A file with metadata in the XMP format.
The Data Object, that together with associated Representation Information, comprises the Content Information.
A set of information that is the original target of preservation or that includes part or all of that information. It is an Information Object composed of its Content Data Object and its Representation Information.
The information that documents the relationships of the Content Information to its environment. This includes why the Content Information was created and how it relates to other Content Information objects.
A re-interpretable representation of information in a formalized manner suitable for communication, interpretation, or processing. Examples of data include a sequence of bits, a table of numbers, the characters on a page, the recording of sounds made by a person speaking, or a moon rock specimen.
A delivery of media or a single telecommunications session that provides Data to an OAIS. The Data Submission Session format/contents is based on a data model negotiated between the OAIS and the Producer in the Submission Agreement. This data model identifies the logical constructs used by the Producer and how they are represented on each media delivery or in the telecommunication session.
The set of information, consisting primarily of Package Descriptions, which is provided to Data Management to support the finding, ordering, and retrieving of OAIS information holdings by Consumers.
First phase of the PREFORMA Pre-Commercial Procurement. It is intended to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed concepts for new solutions.
An identified group of potential Consumers who should be able to understand a particular set of information. The Designated Community may be composed of multiple user communities. A Designated Community is defined by the Archive and this definition may change over time.
A PREFORMA member subject who has been designated to: receive files from providers, and storing them in the PREFORMA vault, administrate, organize and structure the PREFORMA vault, and dispatching training files from the PREFORMA vault to the PREFORMA repository.
Digital curation is the selection, preservation, maintenance, collection and archiving of digital assets. Digital curation establishes, maintains and adds value to repositories of digital data for present and future use. This is often accomplished by archivists, librarians, scientists, historians, and scholars.
an understanding that full control and responsibility over all aspects of the transfer resides with the OAIS.
An object composed of a set of bit sequences.
Digital preservation is defined by the DigitalPreservationEurope project as “a set of activities required to make sure digital objects can be located, rendered, used and understood in the future”.
Files used for presentation purposes by the PREFORMA Consortium and by the suppliers during the outreach phase or later by third parties for miscellaneous purposes, such as, assessing the PREFORMA Conformance checkers.
An Information Package, derived from one or more AIPs, and sent by Archives to the Consumer in response to a request to the OAIS.
The Dublin Core Schema is a small set of vocabulary terms that can be used to describe web resources (video, images, web pages, etc.), as well as physical resources such as books or CDs, and objects like artworks. The full set of Dublin Core metadata terms can be found on the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative (DCMI) website.
Extensible Binary Meta Language (EBML) is a binary XML format. EBML supports the Matroska file format specification.
A Byte Sequence embedded into the PDF Document such as an image, font, colour profile, or attachment.
A third-party tool which can parse and analyse Embedded Resources, for example a JPEG2000 validator or font validator.
A Machine-readable Report produced by an Embedded Resource Parser containing information about an Embedded Resource.
Files used for testing by the PREFORMA Consortium during the evaluation phase. These files must be different from those that have been used as training files during the prototyping phase, but they need to belong to the same category (i.e. they cannot introduce new failures, challenges and issues that were not included in the training set).
Files used for testing by the PREFORMA members/network during the prototyping phase. The tests can be done locally, “in-house”, or within any other environment. The files can be provided later either for training or for evaluation.
Exchangeable image file format is a standard that specifies the formats for images, sound, and ancillary tags used by digital cameras (including smartphones), scanners and other systems handling image and sound files recorded by digital cameras. The specification uses the following existing file formats with the addition of specific metadata tags: JPEG discrete cosine transform (DCT) for compressed image files, TIFF Rev. 6.0 (RGB or YCbCr) for uncompressed image files, and RIFF WAV for audio files (Linear PCM or ITU-T G.711 μ-Law PCM for uncompressed audio data, and IMA-ADPCM for compressed audio data). It is not used in JPEG 2000, PNG, or GIF.
TIFF extensions to baseline TIFF not recommended for general data interchange. Files that use such features shall be designated “Extended TIFF 6.0” files, and the particular extensions used should be documented. A Baseline TIFF 6.0 reader is not required to support any extensions.
Free open standards markup language that defines a set of rules for encoding documents in a format that is both human-readable and machine-readable.
ISO standard, originally created by Adobe Systems Inc., for the creation, processing and interchange of standardized and custom metadata for digital documents and data sets. XMP standardizes a data model, a serialization format and core properties for the definition and processing of extensible metadata. It also provides guidelines for embedding XMP information into popular image, video and document file formats, such as JPEG and PDF, without breaking their readability by applications that do not support XMP.
FFV1 (FF Video Codec 1) is a lossless intra-frame video codec.
In the context of PREFORMA, computer file storing an information resource in a format, or claims to be in a format, of the type PDF/A, TIFF/A, Matroska, which in turn can contain one or more information resources.
PREFORMA member, PREFORMA network member, or third parties who provides files to the designated PREFORMA dispatcher.
The ground truth determines uniquely which classes a document/file belongs to.
A report generated from a Machine-readable Report in a format suitable for human interpretation (eg. HTML or PDF) and containing messages translated according to a Language Pack.
In color management, an ICC profile is a set of data that characterizes a color input or output device, or a color space, according to standards promulgated by the International Color Consortium (ICC). Profiles describe the color attributes of a particular device or viewing requirement by defining a mapping between the device source or target color space and a profile connection space (PCS).
Data structure used to store an image data information and metadata inside a TIFF file.
Data structure, located in the first 8 bytes on a TIFF file, used to identify the TIFF file defines the byte order and the offset to the first Image File Directory.
The execution of a discrete Validation Test for a particular file.
This module verifies whether a file has been produced according to the specifications of a standard file format.
A characteristic of information that is sufficiently complete to allow it to be interpreted, understood and used by the Designated Community without having to resort to special resources not widely available, including named individuals.
Any type of knowledge that can be exchanged. In an exchange, it is represented by data. An example is a string of bits (the data) accompanied by a description of how to interpret the string of bits as numbers representing temperature observations measured in degrees Celsius (the Representation Information).
The Information Interchange Model (IIM) is a file structure and set of metadata attributes that can be applied to text, images and other media types.
A logical container composed of optional Content Information and optional associated Preservation Description Information. Associated with this Information Package is Packaging Information used to delimit and identify the Content Information and Package Description information used to facilitate searches for the Content Information.
That part of the Content Information as described by the Information Property Description. The detailed expression, or value, of that part of the information content is conveyed by the appropriate parts of the Content Data Object and its Representation Information.
Information structures, metadata, profiles, wrappers and other formats for example text, image, audio, audiovisual, such as fonts, encoding, ICC, XMP, JPEG, PNG, TIFF, WAVE, MP3, Matroska, PDF/A.
An ISO committee managing one or more ISO standards. For example, ISO TC 171 SC 2 WG 5 owns ISO 19005 (PDF/A) while WG 8 owns ISO 32000 (the PDF specification).
A set of information, incorporated by a person or system, that allows that person or system to understand received information.
Files which can be traced back to their original format (if converted) and/or the software that generated the file.
A file or set of files which specify all string constants for a given language as well as additional localisation (such as date format).
A period of time long enough for there to be concern about the impacts of changing technologies, including support for new media and data formats, and of a changing Designated Community, on the information being held in an OAIS. This period extends into the indefinite future.
The act of maintaining information, Independently Understandable by a Designated Community, and with evidence supporting its Authenticity, over the Long Term.
Lossless compression is an algorithm that represent data without losing any information but minimizes file size.
LPCM is a linearly uniform method used to digitally represent sampled analog signals.
A structured report, independent of language and localization, generated for automated processing rather than human readability.
The role played by those who set overall OAIS policy as one component in a broader policy domain, for example as part of a larger organization.
Matroska is an open standard, free container format, a file format that can hold an unlimited number of video, audio, picture, or subtitle tracks in one file.
MediaInfo is an open source program that displays technical information about media files, as well as tag information for many audio and video files.
MediaTrace is a technical report that expresses the binary architecture of a file.
An organization maintaining a repository of public knowledge, a generic term used about institutions such as libraries, archives, museums, sites and monument records, clearinghouses, providers of Digital Libraries and data aggregation services which serve as memories for given societies or mankind.
Metadata standard for encoding descriptive, administrative, and structural metadata regarding objects within a digital library, expressed using the XML schema language of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). The standard is maintained as part of the MARC standards of the Library of Congress, and is being developed as an initiative of the Digital Library Federation (DLF). Depending on its use, a METS document could be used in the role of Submission Information Package (SIP), Archival Information Package (AIP), or Dissemination Information Package (DIP) within the Open Archival Information System (OAIS) Reference Model.
A simple alignment of the file’s internal metadata with the actual validity status (as determined by the Conformance Checker) of the file.
This module performs automated fixes for simple deviations in the metadata of the preservation file, leaving the original bitstream untouched and created a correct copy of the object to be preserved.
A Machine-readable Report generated by the Metadata Fixer containing details of Metadata Fixes carried out and any exceptions.
United States non-profit standards organization that develops, maintains and publishes technical standards related to publishing, bibliographic and library applications. It was founded in 1939, incorporated as a not-for-profit education association in 1983, and assumed its current name in 1984.
XML schema created by The Library of Congress’ Network Development and MARC Standards Office, in partnership with the NISO Technical Metadata for Digital Still Images Standards Committee and other interested experts, for describing a set of technical data elements required to manage digital image collections. The schema provides a format for interchange and/or storage of the data specified in the Data Dictionary – Technical Metadata for Digital Still Images (ANSI/NISO Z39.87-2006). This schema is currently referred to as “NISO Metadata for Images in XML (NISO MIX)”. MIX is expressed using the XML schema language of the World Wide Web Consortium. MIX is maintained for NISO by the Network Development and MARC Standards Office of the Library of Congress with input from users.
Quality assurance at Ingest, validating (QA results) the successful transfer of the SIP to the temporary storage area.
Generate AIP at Ingest, transforming one or more SIPs into one or more AIPs that conform to the Archive’s data formatting standards and documentation standards.
Archival Information Update at Ingest, providing a mechanism for updating (repackaging, transformation) the contents of the Archive.
Monitor Designated Communities for Preservation Planning, interacting with Archive Consumers and Producers to track changes in their service requirements and available product technologies.
Develop Preservation Strategies and Standards for preservation planning, developing and recommending strategies and standards, and for assessing risks, to enable the Archive to make informed tradeoffs as it establishes standards, sets policies, and manages its system infrastructure.
Establishing Standards and Policies by the Administration of the Archive system and maintain them.
An Archive, consisting of an organization, which may be part of a larger organization, of people and systems, that has accepted the responsibility to preserve information and make it available for a Designated Community. It meets a set of responsibilities that allows an OAIS Archive to be distinguished from other uses of the term ‘Archive’. The term ‘Open’ in OAIS is used to imply that this Recommendation and future related Recommendations and standards are developed in open forums, and it does not imply that access to the Archive is unrestricted.
License enabling that anyone that has adopted the software has the right to freely read, use, improve and redistribute the source code for such software. In the context of PREFORMA, all software developed in the project must be licensed under the two open source licenses “GPL v3 or later” and “MPL v2 or later” and all digital assets produced in the project must be released under the open access license Creative Commons CC-BY v4.0 and in open file formats, i.e. an open standard as defined in the European Interoperability Framework for Pan-European eGovernment Service (version 1.0 2004).
Open Source Software (OSS) is software which as a whole is licensed by one or more licenses approved by the Open Source Initiative, see http://www.opensource.org/licenses/.
Based on the definition of open source software from Kammarkollegiet, the Swedish organisation responsible for all public procurement(Dnr. 96-34-2014, in the document “Allmänna villkor”).
Non-normative implementation. Data actually managed by memory institutions for their preservation duties.
The information intended for use by Access Aids.
The information that is used to bind and identify the components of an Information Package. For example, it may be the ISO 9660 volume and directory information used on a CD-ROM to provide the content of several files containing Content Information and Preservation Description Information.
A Byte Sequence claiming conformance with ISO 32000-1:2008 (for PDF/A-2 and PDF/A-3) or to the Adobe specification of PDF 1.4 (for PDF/A-1).
A programmatic model of a PDF Document created by parsing a PDF. The model encapsulates applicable PDF syntax, any PDF Metadata, plus details of PDF Features. The model can be serialised as a Machine-readable Report.
Any property of the PDF Document or any of its structural elements such as pages, images, fonts, color spaces, annotations, attachments, etc.
A Machine-readable Report containing details about PDF Features including PDF Metadata and other available XMP metadata packages.
PDF document-level metadata stream containing the XMP package and the entries of the PDF Info dictionary.
A software component that reads a PDF Document and constructs a PDF Document Extract.
The PDF Association Technical Working Group attended by industry members to discuss and decide matters pertaining to PDF Validation.
A Byte Sequence claiming conformance to a specific PDF/A Flavour.
Possible PDF/A Flavors are: 1a, 1b, 2a, 2b, 2u, 3a, 3b, 3u.
The part of the XMP metadata in a PDF Document that identifies the PDF/A Part (1, 2 or 3) and conformance Level (b, a, or u) to which the PDF Document claims to conform.
Level a, b, or u conformance as defined by the PDF/A Part.
The process of testing whether the PDF Features of a PDF Document conform to the requirements for a particular PDF/A Flavor. The PDF/A Validation process generates a Validation Report.
A Machine-readable Report containing the results (all errors and notifications) of PDF/A Validation.
Institutional acceptance criteria for long-term archiving and preservation of files and metadata, including requirements beyond those specified in ISO or other 3rd party standards.
The execution of a discrete Policy Test for a particular file. The Policy Checker carries out Policy Tests when enforcing a particular Policy Profile.
This module verifies whether a file matches the acceptance criteria for long-term preservation by the memory institution.
A file that expresses institutional Policy as a set of formal Policy Tests.
Enables the discovery and exchange of Policy Profiles between institutions.
A Machine-readable Report containing the results of Policy Checks performed as defined in a Policy Profile.
A Test Assertion that is evaluated by examining a Feature Report to ensure a file complies with institutional Policy.
Competition-like procurement method, which enables public sector bodies to engage with innovative businesses and other interested parties in development projects to arrive at innovative solutions that address specific public sector challenges and needs. The new innovative solutions are created through a phased procurement of development contracts to reduce risk.
A PREFORMA term for an interactive component: “which allows a conformance checker to interface with other systems, allowing for interfacing multiple conformance checkers at the same time”.
Aim of this module is to ensure interoperability, enabling the integration of different conformance checkers into one single application.
The information which is necessary for adequate preservation of the Content Information and which can be categorized as Provenance, Reference, Fixity, Context, and Access Rights Information.
The role played by those persons or client systems that provide the information to be preserved. This can include other OAISes or internal OAIS persons or systems.
Second phase of the PREFORMA Pre-Commercial Procurement. It is intended to develop prototypes from the more promising concepts delivered by the selected suppliers in the design phase.
Implementation of a standard specification that is to be used as a definitive interpretation for that standard specification. Methodology or objective frame of reference to interpret and implement the standard specifications against the background of the current variations of interpretations and implementations by software vendors, aimed to determine whether a file is what it claims to be, i.e., in this context, what makes a file a valid file that conforms to the specifications of a standard file format.
A template file that defines the layout and format of a Human-readable or Machine-readable report. These are used by the Reporter to transform Machine-readable Reports into alternative formats.
This module reports in human and machine readable format which properties deviate from the standard specification and acceptance criteria.
In the context of PREFORMA, the official logical location where the training and demonstration files are stored and from where the Suppliers and third parties can access and use the files.
The information that maps a Data Object into more meaningful concepts. An example of Representation Information for a bit sequence which is a FITS file might consist of the FITS standard which defines the format plus a dictionary which defines the meaning in the file of keywords which are not part of the standard. Another example is JPEG software which is used to render a JPEG file; rendering the JPEG file as bits is not very meaningful to humans but the software, which embodies an understanding of the JPEG standard, maps the bits into pixels which can then be rendered as an image for human viewing.
The Representation Information that further describes the meaning beyond that provided by the Structure Information.
A cryptographic hash function that creates a digital fingerprint for a byte sequence, referred to as ‘message’ in cryptographic documentation.
File that has been produced according to the specifications of a standard file format, In the context of PREFORMA, the following standard specifications have been selected for inclusing in the Challenge Brief.
ISO (2005). Document management — Electronic document file format for long-term preservation — Part 1: Use of PDF 1.4 (PDF/A-1).
ISO/TC 171/SC 2, ISO 19005-1:2005. ISO (2008). Document management — Portable document format — Part 1: PDF 1.7.
ISO/TC 171/SC 2, ISO 32000-1:2008. ISO (2011). Document management — Electronic document file format for long-term preservation — Part 2: Use of ISO 32000-1 (PDF/A-2).
ISO/TC 171/SC 2, ISO 19005-2:2011. ISO (2012). Document management — Electronic document file format for long-term preservation — Part 3: Use of ISO 32000-1 with support for embedded files (PDF/A-3).
ISO/TC 171/SC 2, ISO 19005-3:2012.
ISO (2001). Electronic still-picture imaging — Removable memory — Part 2: TIFF/EP image data format.
ISO/TC 42, ISO 12234-2:2001. ISO (2004). Graphic Technology — Prepress digital data exchange — Tag image file format for image technology (TIFF/IT). ISO/TC 130. ISO 12369:2004.
MKV: Matroska – Technical Details. http://www.matroska.org/technical/index.html.
OGG: Ogg – Documentation. https://xiph.org/ogg/doc/.
JPEG2000: ISO (2004). Information technology – JPEG 2000 image coding system: Core coding system. ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 29, ISO/IEC 15444-1:2004.
FFV1: FFV1 Video Codec Specification, http://www.ffmpeg.org/~michael/ffv1.html.
Dirac: Dirac Specification Version 2.2.3 (2008), http://diracvideo.org/download/specification/dirac-spec-latest.pdf.
LPCM: IEC (2014). Digital audio interface – Part 1: General. IEC/TC 100, IEC 60958-1 ed3.1 Consol. with am1: 2014.
The Representation Information that imparts meaning about how other information is organized. For example, it maps bit streams to common computer types such as characters, numbers, and pixels and aggregations of those types such as character strings and arrays.
The agreement reached between an OAIS and the Producer that specifies a data model, and any other arrangements needed, for the Data Submission Session. This data model identifies format/contents and the logical constructs used by the Producer and how they are represented on each media delivery or in a telecommunication session.
An Information Package that is delivered by the Producer to the OAIS for use in the construction or update of one or more AIPs and/or the associated Descriptive Information.
Normative implementation. Data created with the specific purpose of pinpointing some specific compliance problem or critical issue for a given preservation format. Synthetic files are synthetic in the sense that they are purposefully created to test a specific functionality of the validator.
ISO Recommendation to optimize the TIFF file format definition for archival purposes. The TI/A recommendation define a subset of standard TIFF tags which are either required, optional of forbidden for the purposes of long term archival. Within this context, the goal must be that; The image can be opened with standard software even in the far future and the image data does not contain features that are not documented and therefore cannot be understood and rendered correctly in the future. Conforming to the TI/A recommendation will guarantee that the essential digital information of a image file always can be read and interpreted correctly. Since TI/A is a subset of the TIFF standard, all current TIFF readers are able to correctly and completely render TI/A just out-of-the-box.
A Test Assertion is a testable or measurable expression for evaluating the adherence of an implementation (or part of it) to a normative statement in a specification.
Third phase of the PREFORMA Pre-Commercial Procurement. It is intended to test the applications developed during the protototyping phase by the memory institutions of the consortium.
Files used for testing by the suppliers during the prototyping phase. These must be distinguished from the evaluation files.
A Digital Migration in which there is an alteration to the Content Information or PDI of an Archival Information Package. For example, changing ASCII codes to UNICODE in a text document being preserved is a Transformation.
Files which are not traceable to a specific origin, that is, it is not known how the files were created.
Label assigned to documents/files according to their characteristics.
In general classes may intersect but the correct class must be separate.
A formal definition of all PDF Document objects, their properties, and relationships between them expressed in a custom syntax.
A structured file describing the set of Validation Tests to be performed during Validation for a particular PDF/A Flavour.
A Test Assertion that is evaluated by examining a PDF Features Report to ensure a PDF Document complies with a requirement expressed in a specific PDF/A Flavour.
In the context of PREFORMA, the logical and physical storage location for all files submitted by a Provider to a designated PREFORMA dispatcher. The PREFORMA vault is only accessible to a designated PREFORMA dispatcher.
The veraPDF application programming interface defines the operations, inputs, outputs, and types that form the protocols for interacting programmatically with the veraPDF Library.
The command line executable(s) providing access to the veraPDF Library API and functionality via a command line interface.
execution config: settings unique to a particular invocation, such as files or URLs to check, names of output report files.
An executable program that provides access to the veraPDF API and Library on a desktop computer or workstation.
A software library that provides a lightweight framework based on open standards for use by Conformance Checker developers.
The software library that provides the functionality and APIs for PDF/A Validation, Policy Checking, Metadata Fixing, and Reporting.
RESTful web service API that provides HTTP access to the veraPDF Library functionality. This is a REST layer on top of the veraPDF API.
Provides the user interfaces to manage and operate the Conformance Checker, handling issues such as workflow control and scheduling.
Browser based HTML user interface that calls the veraPDF Library through the REST API, which in turn calls the veraPDF API.
A container or wrapper format is a metafile format whose specification describes how different elements of data and metadata coexist in a computer file. See also: Container (format).
Description of a type of XML document, typically expressed in terms of constraints on the structure and content of documents of that type, above and beyond the basic syntactical constraints imposed by XML itself.


text:
“No Beethoven” chronicles the life and times of drummer Peter Erskine, with the legendary band Weather Report being the nexus to this first-hand account. Erskine was in the midst of the modern American jazz music scene as it underwent its most dynamic change. From the last days of the big band era to the height of fusion…there never was a band quite like Weather Report, and there has never been a more insightful, personal or authentic telling of that band’s story and the musicians — Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter, and Jaco Pastorius — who changed music forever…to the European wave as represented by Manfred Eicher’s ECM label, to the dawning of the age of the musician as entrepreneur and educator…Peter Erskine is a musician of his times with an incredibly rich story to tell. Many stories to tell! He was there…and now you can be, too. With never-before published photographs.
“No Beethoven” includes chapters dedicated to Weather Report and the musicians Joe Zawinul, Jaco Pastorius and Wayne Shorter, plus the bands Steps Ahead, Steely Dan, and artists such as Elvin Jones, Joni Mitchell, Freddie Hubbard, Diana Krall, Steve Gadd, producer Manfred Eicher, composers John Williams and Mark-Anthony Turnage, et al. The book provides a revealing look at the creative process involved in performing music on-stage and in the recording studio, as well as a behind-the-scenes look at how the musical instrument industry operates.

industry_corpus2: Film & Entertainment


text:
Octane is made of Japanese Matcha, almond milk, seaweed extract, vanilla, honey & crystals. This drink is packed with antioxidants, boosts metabolism, burns calories, detoxifies effectively and naturally, calms the mind and relaxes the body, rich in fiber, chlorophyll and vitamins, enhances mood and aids in concentration, provides vitamin C, selenium, zinc and magnesium. This powerful drink prevents diseases, lowers cholesterol and blood sugar. Indeed our very own pride!
Did you know that we have pre-ordered almost 320 bottles of this flavor prior release? Try this and lets all welcome Octane as a new member of your favorite Saguiafins delights juices!
Octane boasts, not only of its delicious taste, but also of its truly detoxifying effects. Read through this Health Benefits page to learn more!


text:
Integrated Labels - 3 1⁄2 x 2"
Print packing lists or invoices and shipping labels on the same sheet.
Combines a paper form and adhesive label into one document.
Works with popular shipping software from PayPal® Stamps.com, UPS, USPS and FedEx®.
LABEL WIDTH x HEIGHT 89 x 51 mm 3 1/2 x 2"
S-21944 - Integrated Labels - 3 1⁄2 x 2"

industry_corpus2: Manufacturing


text:
Grammy97 sent me a load of puns. I know, they can be grrr inducing, but I found these very intelligent.
to be an optical Aleutian.
your kayak and heat it too.
Thanks Grammy. Actually, they really made me laugh!


text:
The Reds are in Emirates FA Cup Second Round action away at Stevenage today (3pm Kick-Off), with a coveted place in the Third Round at stake.
There is the carrot of drawing one of the Premier League big-hitters in the next round, but Futcher knows the importance of not looking too far ahead.
"We're really looking forward to the game," he said.
"It is a really tough tie, they've done well at home this season so we are going to prepare like we do for every away game and we really look forward to it. Hopefully we can get this club through to the Third Round."
Town have found clean sheets hard to come by in recent weeks and have lost their last two games, but Futcher is keen to focus on the overall positive picture.
"We like clean sheets and we stress that to the lads but it is about winning football matches," he added.
"Clean sheets are a part of that and we haven't had enough of them over the last couple of games, the lads know that and we know that.
"We want to get back to that as soon as we can and we've been working hard on the training ground to make sure that happens.
"There isn't any negativity within the squad and it probably comes from outside of the club - we've got two defeats from the last nine games.
"We would accept that over the next nine games. No one wants to lose games but it is part and parcel of football.
"We're right in amongst the Play-Offs, through to the next round of The FA Cup for the first time in six years and we came top of the Checkatrade Trophy group, so it is hardly a disaster in our eyes."


text:
LookOut gets credit for a smooth setup. With three different functions, it could have been a mess, but they quickly walk you through the configuration – mostly by using smart defaults that you can adjust latter if you want.
For virus scanning, Lookout checks your phone for viruses and malware. It will helpfully scan every app or file that you download during the downloading process. You can also set up a schedule for scanning and the options are very flexible.
To use data backup, Lookout requires you to sign up for free with their service at mylookout.com. From there, you can customize whether or not you’d like to backup your contacts, call history and/or your photos.
Finally, by logging into their website, you can view your phone’s location on a map or send a lost phone a “scream request”. Both worked properly in my testing.
Overall, Lookout does a good job of making you feel safer about your phone’s content and whereabouts. Their website also sports a friendly interface and will tell you your phone’s virus status, allow you to view your backup, or check the phone’s location, all with a few clicks.


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I have been told though, to make sure to soak your feet no matter what! Especially if they are heavy heels.
The latest celeb craze is to get botox injected into the soles of the feet which stops the pain. Now, I'd never have it injected in my face...but the idea of being able to wear 4" heels without that burning pain is definitely tempting!
Where the HELL is my chiffon?
as a dancer, i know what you're going through... dancing in heels is not fun. here is a link for little pads for the ball of your foot- you can move them to different pairs of shoes, and shouldn't show.


text:
The heads-up battle in the partypoker.fr Progressive KO Fast: 10 000€ Gtd featured j1o9e2l9 taking on istooeasymonkey. In the end, j1o9e2l9 emerged victorious and cashed for €3 175,59.
j1o9e2l9 participated in 1 similar poker tournaments. j1o9e2l9 was in the money 0 times in total.
j1o9e2l9's place was 89 in previous poker tournament and j1o9e2l9 won €0,00.
The total number of players to cash in this tournament was 84.
The average cash in this tournament was €138,67.
istooeasymonkey, who finished in second place, earned 15,9 % of the prize pool.


text:
The upcoming Christmas Special for Doctor Who now has a name and its: The Last Christmas.
I'm not sure how much we're supposed to read into that name, whether it's meant to be the final episode of Jenna Coleman's tenure on the show or if its meant to be more literal (it is Doctor Who after all).
Regardless, while I'm never quite in love with the show's Christmas Specials, I enjoy the fact that Steven Moffat specifically aims for certain holiday iconography, be it A Christmas Carol, The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, and The Snowman. The Time of the Doctor took a breather from that pattern though the fairytale/victorian Christmas elements were still apparent. But this time around? Just based on the trailer? It almost looks like a Doctor Who version of John Carpenter's The Thing, but with Nick Frost as Santa Claus. Fun!


text:
I have 3.5 years of teaching experience. I have tutored in the college for 2 years and currently I work at the place called Tutoring Club as a tutor and I do private tutoring besides that. I tutor all math up to and including Calculus, CHEMISTRY, SAT/MATH. My rates are very competitive. I am available every day afternoon/evening.
Awards I graduated college with the highest honors (GPA= 3.90).

industry_corpus2: Subject Education


text:
9220 Estero Park Commons Blvd. Suite 7, Estero, FL 33928 Directions?
If you are submitting this form on a weekend (Sat-Sun) your prescription will not be filled until the following Monday. If you need your refill sooner please call our hospital and we will be happy to assist you.
Note: Florida Pharmacy Law requires that all pets have a current doctor patient relationship. Please feel free to contact us with questions.

industry_corpus2: Health & Medicine


text:
Belgian champion Geert Omloop (MrBookmaker.com-Palmans) won the 6th edition of the Grote Prijs Rudy Dhaenens with a solo attack in the final kilometres. Dutch champion Rudi Kemna (BankGiroLoterij) was second, while British champion Roger Hammond (MrBookmaker.com-Palmans) completed the national champions' podium in third place.
"These races in bad weather conditions suit me well," said Omloop after the finish. "I knew I had to ride attentively at the beginning of the race, certainly with the wind. In the finale we started to take it in turns attacking with the team. When Sentjens countered an attack from Hammond, I slipped away nicely."
The race was held in extremely windy conditions and a crash after 20 km took out both Marc Streel (Landbouwkrediet) and James Vanlandschoot (Bodysol). The former abandoned while the latter had to be taken to hospital with a hole in his knee and a sore wrist. A break of 15 riders managed to get clear after 30 km and they stayed away until the end, with a disinterested peloton already 13 minutes behind once the finishing circuits around Nevele began. In the meantime a group of 24 riders tried to mount a pursuit, but they could get no closer than 3 minutes.
In the closing laps, Dutch champion Rudi Kemna started the attacking, but was countered by Geert Omloop. He was caught by teammates Michel Vanhaecke and Roger Hammond, as well as Gerben L�wik (Jacques), Niels Scheuneman and Johan Van Summeren (Relax-Bodysol), Roy Sentjens (Rabobank) and Rudi Kemna (BankGiroLoterij). Omloop kept putting the pressure on but could not break the group. His teammate Roger Hammond attacked and got a 13 second lead, only to be caught by Omloop and Sentjens on the cobbled section in Hansbeke. But the rest of the group closed the gap, prompting Hammond to attack again. This time it was Sentjens who shut it down, only to be countered by Omloop, who finally rode away to win by eight seconds. Kemna beat Hammond in the group sprint for second.


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India is currently undergoing a rapid transition on economic, demographic, epidemiologic, nutritional and sociological fronts. Vowing to combat the rising levels of obesity, the state of Kerala recently imposed a 14.5% “fat tax” on fast food sold by branded restaurants. The move is hailed as an important decision towards public health by the country as it comes in the light of the WHO’s advocacy of using fiscal methods to curb obesity.
Governments getting involved in a campaign to lead people into living a healthy is not a new phenomenon. Japan was the first to implement the metabo law in 2008 that helped cut obesity by 3.5%. Similarly, a fat tax was levied by Denmark, but it was a failure since government bodies saw it as a funding opportunity for themselves rather than as a way to improve public health. Mexico levied a tax on sugar sweetened beverages two years ago. After an initial dip in their sales, the sales figures are back up.
We need to be clear as to what we are targeting as a result of such legislation. We are the world capital of diabetes mellitus, thin-fat metabolism and atherosclerotic coronary heart disease.
In India obesity is growing at an unprecedented rate and it has been a major factor in the rising burden of non-communicable disease that has affected nearly two-thirds of the population. Surveillance of NCDs and their risk factors should become an integral function of health systems.
In the process of demonizing fast food and blaming it for the increasing obesity and decreasing public health, we don’t realize that trans fats, which are largely responsible for the increased atherosclerotic risk are also present in the everyday Indian snacks and roadside food that we eat. The samosas and pakodas which are easily available in less than ₹10 at every corner and even in locally branded outlets contain 30% transfats as compared to the permissible 1%.
Trans fats raise your bad (LDL) cholesterol levels and lower our good (HDL) cholesterol levels. Eating trans fats increases your risk of developing heart disease and stroke. It’s also associated with a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Health should be the primary agenda for every government. The increasing number of overweight and obese people in the community and the resulting burden of chronic non-communicable diseases (NCD) necessitate systematic nutrition interventions on a massive scale.
With the prices of dal or pulses increasing steeply, people don’t have many options to get balanced nutrition and adequate proteins in their diet. Instead of just levying a fat tax, the revenue collected should be used to subsidize healthier options which will benefit the citizens. We face the prospect of a population that is deprived of protein but suffering from an excess of carbohydrates and trans fats – we may have to face a nutritional paradox of having a “thin-fat, sarcopenic generation” if we do not intervene at the earliest.
This “fat tax”… needs to be enforced universally on all the foods containing trans fats rather than partially towards conventional fast foods.
I would like to complement the national blueprint – SANKALP — for the management of NCDs in India, released by the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease (PFCD). The blueprint emphasized on several specific recommendations to make the necessary shift in social behaviour and begin instilling “healthy living” choices as a norm at a young stage.
Encourage voluntary exercise or yoga across all educational institutions including schools, undergraduate colleges and universities (both public and privately run), and incentivise healthy habits.
Healthy food items and menus to be chalked out by state-identified nutritionists, in line with WHO-recommended sugar, salt and transfat content. These healthy food items should be provided in all school, college and university canteens as an alternate to unhealthy food and beverages. Healthy eating should be incentivised through subsidised or affordable pricing.
Ban alcohol and cigarette shops within a two kilometre radius of all schools and colleges across the country.
Collaborate with RWAs, MCD, municipalities, and build a conducive environment for the citizens to practice a healthy lifestyle: Build and maintain walking/ jogging tracks and parks Construct pavements and safe walking spaces on roads Strengthen public transport system.
a) Mandatory nutritional education and sensitization in schools/college/workplaces/resident welfare associations (RWAs).
b) Encouragement of physical activity in work and home environment.
c) Sensitization, education and legislation supported surveillance of NCDs and their risk factors.
d) Creating mass awareness on the benefit of prompt reporting of symptoms related to NCDs, especially heart disease.
e) This “fat tax” to fight the menace of obesity by making unhealthy foods expensive needs to be enforced universally on all the foods containing trans fats rather than partially towards conventional fast foods. Without universal application, such laws would only reinstate the belief that only certain foods are unhealthy and not actually help in bringing down obesity.
A healthy population will help reduce burden on public welfare. Changing lifestyles of people, both in rural and urban areas will help transform the overall wellbeing of the nation. While a fat tax as a model is a good beginning, for it to be a success in totality, a mindset change to shift to healthier eating patterns is the key.


text:
Mild mannered indoor cat type girl…. spent 10 seconds outside..
Tonight’s stroll around the loch with the camera produced a couple of photo opportunities…before retiring to the common room for a few games of “One Night Ultimate Werewolf”!
Our afternoon activity today was climbing and abseiling…and the forecast was scattered showers! It was going to be interesting. There was a short walk from the centre up to a crag overlooking the site and the loch…and the view from the top was amazing. Most of the group had a decent of the cliff face…and in many cases, personal fears were triumphed. Well done to everyone who had a go – especially Harry and Maddy.
Water, water, a sinking and a canoe!
Our morning activity today was Canoeing. We paired up, grabbed a canoe and headed out across the lake…Jon and Tom now hold the record for the most swims…and Maddy and Holly for the most decorative way to wear seaweed! Our instructor (Ella) almost incurred our wrath…when she duck-napped Mr Duck and dragged him behind her canoe…she seen saw the error of her ways.
There have been many funny moments (and we’re only on day 3)…so please enjoy round 1!
Monday was our turn to do flagbreak…so we decided to combine it with an investiture – our newest leader, Mad Alice. We have enticed her over to Explorer Scouting from the dark side (Cubs Scouts!). Welcome to FreeSpirit.
Following an excellent roast chicken dinner, we commandeered a meeting room within the centre. At this point both Units went into chill mode…the poker school resumed, a Yu Gi-oh game started, onsie’s were worn, cards were underway…and we suffered a shark attack!
The afternoon’s activity was to design and build a raft…then race it across the loch! It was decided that FreeSpirit wanted to compete against Brakestone…a decision that they were to regret later on. FreeSpirit’s design looked compact and safe, whilst Brakestone’s design looked more radical…but would it be stable?
BrakeStone’s design proved more stable and were a clear winner!
Mad man with a bow!
Immediately following Jacob’s challenge…we headed into the archery range, and found that Rob is a mean dude with a bow – don’t mess with this guy!
Following a cooked breakfast and flagbreak, we headed over to the equipment room to kit up in a full harness…our challenge for the next hour and a half, was to get as many of our Unit to the top of the ladder. This was a test of teamwork…and ones ability to come to terms with scary heights!
Stunning achievements by all, but especially tom and Harry.


text:
LONDON (Reuters) - Roger Federer would like the ATP Finals to remain in London beyond 2020 unless there is a compelling case to move the tournament.
The Swiss has won two of his record six titles at the event at London’s O2 Arena where the ATP’s prestigious season-ender has been playing to packed crowds since 2009.
Despite the popularity of the London venue with fans and players alike, the ATP announced in August that it was inviting bids from other host cities for 2021 onwards.
“I think if they stay (in London) it’s definitely a good choice,” the 37-year-old 20-times Grand Slam champion told a new conference on Friday as he prepared for his 16th appearance.
“I don’t know what the options are. But if the O2’s happy and the crowds keep flocking and coming to this venue and the Tour has a good deal, obviously why not stay here?
The ATP Finals, as it is now known, began in Tokyo in 1970 and spent six years on the road before a 13-year stint in New York and a six-year stay in Frankfurt before spells in Hanover, Lisbon, Sydney, Houston and Shanghai.
It has since put down roots in London where a cumulative 2.3 million fans have flocked to the venue for the week-long event.
Novak Djokovic, who returns to the O2 as world number one, won the title in London from 2012-15, and while the venue has served him well, he believes a move away from London in 2021 must now be considered by the men’s Tour.
“I don’t want it to move from London, but I just feel the concept of this event is that it is one that travels,” the Serb told reporters. “It’s the biggest event the ATP owns, the eight best players in a unique round-robin system.
“I think this is a great opportunity to promote tennis all around the world. I just feel 10 years in one place is a bit too much. It’s not anything to do with London or the event.


text:
Though their average size was only 26,500 NSF, the average gross profit was 42.8%, only slightly less than the 45.2% for all shows.
Average revenue per sales person was $1,350,948 vs. $1,087,631 for all shows.
Average verification rate was 80.4% vs. 54.3% for all shows.
The report is available to non participants for $395 till September 1 (SISO members) or for $995 (non members). To obtain the report, go to www.siso.org or call (708)361-0900.

industry_corpus2: Finance & Economics


text: 70 Capitol Yards is designed to reflect the integration of the Capitol Riverfront area's historical industrial architecture with modern design and materials. The building façade is reminiscent of old historical warehouse buildings, such as those found in the Washington Navy Yard, with large windows and brick veneers providing the look of a renovated warehouse converted for modern living. This design concept is carried indoors with open ceilings, exposed ductwork, and other dynamic features that combine to provide a warm, casual, and comfortable living environment.


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This study evaluated the use of a custom-designed course management system in use at a mid-sized public institution in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. While focusing primarily on gathering information relevant to the continued development of the course management system, this study sought to identify the relationship among user characteristics, usability factors, and acceptance of the course management system in order to clarify the application of the Technology Acceptance Model to this unique situation. Additionally, this study sought to identify common usability problems with specific course features encountered by the users. Participants in this study were 308 undergraduate and graduate students who were currently using the online course management system to take an Internet-enhanced or fully Internet-delivered course. The data collected via an online survey instrument indicated that three usability factors, ease of navigation, ease of learning, and visual perception were significant predictors of acceptance of the course management system. No significant difference in usability ratings was detected among users according to academic status, Internet connection speed, computer literacy, or experience with web-based course management systems. The usability of specific course management system features was examined using both Likert-scale items and content analysis of open-ended survey questions. The content analysis of the open-ended items revealed several specific problems that were commonly encountered while using specific course features. Based on these findings, several recommendations are made toward the improvement of the custom-designed course management system and also toward the improvement of the survey instrument for future use.
Abbitt, J.T. The development of an evaluation framework for a Web-based course management system in higher education . Ph.D. thesis, University of Idaho. Retrieved April 22, 2019 from https://www.learntechlib.org/p/121228/.


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Cryopreservation of cleavage and blastocyst stage embryos has become a necessity with patients who have a greater number of high quality embryos than those transferred. Freezing of all embryos is recommended in cases of Ovarian Hyper-stimulation Sydrome (OHSS) as the risk of OHSS severity is significantly reduced if pregnancy does not occur. Additionally cryopreservation of all embryos is applied in cases where there are no optimal conditions for the implantation of embryos thus lowering the probability of a successful pregnancy.
“Vitrification” is the rapid and simple cryopreservation method where the solution is solidified at low temperature with no ice crystal formation. This is achieved by increasing the viscosity of the solution by using high cooling rates. This rapid cooling rate would minimize any potential chilling injury and osmotic shock to the embryos. Vitrification has proved to be of clinical value because of achieving better outcomes such as survival and pregnancy rates compared to the slow freezing method that was firstly established.
Culturing the embryos to the blastocyst stage allows a better optimization of embryonic selection thus maximizing pregnancy and implantation rates. This selection process has simultaneously reduced the number of embryos transferred per cycle and therefore blastocyst cryopreservation has become an important procedure in the IVF field.
It has been reported that expanded blastocysts exhibit poor survival rates after vitrification.
This is related to the presence of fluid in the blastocyst cavity (blastocoele) that causes intracellular ice crystal formation after vitrification. To prevent ice crystal formation and reduce the additional time of cryoprotectant exposure time for adequate dehydration of the embryo blastocyst undergo assisted shrinkage with the use of a laser shot prior to vitrification that is been reported to improve survival rates of blastocysts.


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Make a date with the Gigolos. Showtime presents an extremely rare and uncensored look into the personal and professional lives of five hot guys in Vegas who like to hang out, have fun and get girls, but in their case they get paid for it. They find themselves in some unexpected positions as they balance relationships, friends and family with the demands of their female clientele. A reality series like no other, Gigolos is not only provocative but also surprisingly heartfelt. It's a wild ride for these real-life escorts who never miss a trick.
Brace Starts to Bond with his "Little Monkey Buddy"


text: Medium tipped writing pen with gold coloured accents features a collage of Collie dog artworks by artist Ruth Maystead. Black ink. Refills available.


text: BARRIE, Ont. — In celebration of Earth Day, Topper’s Pizza pledged to donate $1 towards tree-planting projects with the purchase of any of its Traditional Pizzas. The initiative collected $1,000 for Forests Ontario, which will plant approximately 250 trees.


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This Advent, City Square Church will be featuring a piece of locally made art, each week in worship, representing that particular week’s Advent theme.
This first piece is “Hope” and was created by Ramon Aguirre.
Csq Advent Final from PJ Szabo on Vimeo.


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Do you know the owner of Kilimanjaro? Prince Uche Secondus who is the National Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). Yes, the Kilimanjaro you know and eat flashy foods with . The 2019 general election is about progress, posterity, a departure from the past and the consolidation of the last 4 years by President Muhammadu Buhari and his team. You wonder why I was supporting Atiku; this is it here and it is contained in the book I wrote because of the lack of information coming from the ruling party, All Progressives Congress (APC). Let me add that I am a card-carrying member of the APC and that has been since 2015. However, along the I became embittered with the loss of jobs and opportunities forgetting that the cost of change can be tough, temporary and comes with sacrifices but the PDP cannot understand this because they are used to stealing and embezzling money.
The campaign for Atiku Abubakar was because of his businesses and how did he make his money? I argued that he worked as public servant but public servants do not make such amounts and after seeing the numbers, I can say that he is actually a smart thief. His principal and mentor Olusegun Obasanjo who has consistently called him a thief has now turned to call him a saint or better than President Buhari who has never been in public service after leaving the government of Sani Abacha. Why is this so? Was he (Obasanjo) blackmailed with their common atrocities in Transcorp Hotel, NITEL, Ota farm and all the privatizations that took place between 1999 to 2007. What changed about the Atiku of 2007 and now? Nigerians need to ask questions regarding what pertains in the media and what these politicians tell their publishers to print and share for us to see.
I will be sharing an article I wrote about a year ago about President Muhammadu Buhari and his achievements since 2015 to about 2017 and leave you to read and understand. The change he promised was going to be cut short by the illness that came but God and the prayers of Nigerians preserved him and we are grateful for that.
The year 2015 and the months leading up to the polls of March 2015 is one that many Nigerians will continue to remember and the stories told to generations unborn. The story of how a man that was rejected three times in previous elections in 2003, 2007 and 2011 turned out to be the messiah of this generation of Nigerians. He has been described figuratively as the Abraham Lincoln of modern Nigerian politics. It is the story of how the integrity and history of a man 30 years ago was able to bring him back to power, transcending the records of contemporary politicians including the unpopular government of President Goodluck Jonathan.
The campaign of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s ascendancy to power was run on the platform of change that was highlighted under three categories; Security, Anti-corruption and the Economy with emphasis on Job creation. With the rot that was already witnessed under the People’s Democratic Party-led government especially the last government and many allegations of corruption, this was going to be a daunting task. However, within over 2 years of this government, great gains have been made economically for Nigeria while President Buhari holds the fort. In this piece, I will be sharing on how the second coming of President Buhari has brought many gains economically for the Nigerian people.
Though the government of President Buhari faced much criticisms especially with the government slipping into recession; the APC-led government has made gains that will go a long way to shape future generations. The recession which brought untold hardship for middle and low-income Nigerians was caused by the wasteful spending of the last administration despite a windfall in oil production (2.2 million barrels per day) and over $100 per barrel in the international oil market.
Treasury Single Account (TSA): This was one of the first major decisions of President Buhari to implement the collection of government revenues into a single account domiciled with the Central Bank of Nigeria. The old order in previous governments was the proliferation of various accounts in various states with individuals signing and doling out money. The introduction of this TSA monetary policy saved 3 trillion naira for the government, increased accountability, remittances and blocking of leakages and waste.
Restructuring of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC): The NNPC which is the country’s major marketer of the nation’s oil wealth was a huge mess with a structure encouraging corruption and a lack of transparency. With the restructuring of the board and leadership of the corporation, a monthly publication of revenues was initiated and that has been on till date.
Oil Scandals, Deals and Swaps: The regime of subsidy payment that characterized the Nigerian Oil industry experienced a rebirth under President Buhari. The few businesses that felt they could hold Nigerians to ransom were tamed by the reforms in the industry while still maintaining ethical and professional standards.
Agriculture and Solid Minerals: Agriculture formed a major part of the campaign of the All Progressives Congress and despite the country’s slipping into a recession, this sector experienced growth with the many programs (discussed below) initiated by the President Buhari’s administration. The Ministry of Solid Minerals which being manned by Dr Kayode Fayemi equally is experiencing unprecedented growth more than we have had in many decades and after return to democratic rule in 1999. These two major sectors of Agriculture and Solid Minerals have had half of the different sub-sectors move from negative growth to positive growth (29 subsectors) in 2016 to 16 in the Q1 of 2017. After 5 quarters of negative growth, the manufacturing sector has come back to positive with -7% growth in 2016 and a growth of 1.36% in Q1 of 2017. As priority sectors of the Buhari government, Agriculture and Solid Minerals grew by 4.11% in 2016 and 7% respectively. The Ministry of Solid Minerals tripled their remittance to the Federation Account from 700 million in 2015 to 2 billion in 2016.
Savings in this Government: This government did what the last government could not do (despite high oil prices) by saving and increasing foreign reserves, Excess Crude Account and our Sovereign Wealth Funds. The External Reserves has grown by US$7 billion since October 2016, the Sovereign Wealth Funds had an inflow of US$5oo million in 2016 and 2017 and this was the first inflow since its creation in 2012 with US$1 billion. The Excess Crude Account has had an inflow of US$87 million in 2017.
The Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP): This was an initiative of the Central of Bank of Nigeria (and supported by President Buhari) that developed new soil mapping that aided fertilizer application which raised grain production substantially. Grain production increased from 2 tonnes per hectare to about 7 tonnes in some States which produced a model collaboration in agriculture between Lagos and Kebbi States. It will interest you to know that the importation rice (which is consumed most in Nigeria) fell from 580,000 MT in 2015 to 58,000 MT in 2016.
Presidential Fertilizer Initiative: This was developed as a partnership between the Governments of Nigeria and Morocco to supply phosphate to the country and the resultant effect was the revitalization of 11 blending plants in the country. Some of the benefits are the annual savings of US$200 million in our foreign reserves and N60 billion for annual budgetary allocation in fertilizer subsidies. Farmers are now able to get fertilizers at a rate that is 30% cheaper than what it used to be.
Huge Support for Micro, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises: This timely initiative was to develop to provide different support in small funds to small enterprises across the country. Some them include; the introduction of a new Development Bank which will receive an initial support of $1.3 billion (from the World Bank, German Development Bank, the African Development Bank and Agence Française de Development) for medium and long-term loans to MSMEs, the MSME Clinic that will bring small enterprises and government agencies together across the country to better understand the plight of these small businesses, the Ease of Doing Business and the Government Enterprise and Empowerment component (GEEP) of the Social Intervention Programme (SIP).
Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) e-payment solution has been integrated with the CAC portal to facilitate e-stamping.
New Arrival and Departure forms for use at our International airports. The new forms are shorter and have also consolidated a number of previously separate forms into single documents.
Imports into Nigeria now required to be placed on pallets to facilitate quicker physical examination.
Minimum container placement notice time needed by Terminal Operators for examination reduced from 24 hours to 12 hours.
This National Action Plan was followed through when Acting President Yemi Osinbajo in May 2017 signed Executive Orders on Improving Efficiency in the Business Environment, and on Promoting Local Procurement by Government Agencies.
New Social Housing Scheme: This was kicked in 2017 and tagged Family Homes Fund with an initial N100 billion provided for in the 2017 Appropriation Bill. A pilot scheme has already kicked off and the government has taken steps to collaborate with the private sector for partnership funding.
Historic Allocation on Capital Projects: For the first time history, Nigeria had a government and President who prioritized investment in infrastructure with the allocation of N1.2 trillion for 2016 budget. This caused a rapid resumption of work on various projects that were left unattended to and abandoned. Many contractors went back to work.
Foreign Investment and Partnerships with China and Morocco: The President visited the People’s Republic of China on an economic and state visit with a number of agreements signed for infrastructural partnerships. This unlocked many projects across the country and this includes the 150 km/hr rail project between Lagos and Ibadan.
Local Refinery Capacity: The amount of crude oil refined by the NNPC (in Warri, Kaduna and Port Harcourt) increased from 8 million barrels in 2015 to 24 million in 2016 and 10 million barrels for the Q1 of 2017.
The SIP is the largest and most ambitious social safety net programme in the history of Nigeria, with more than 1 million beneficiaries so far — 200,000 N-Power beneficiaries (160,000 of them have had their details validated and are now receiving the monthly N30,000 stipends, while the rest are undergoing verification.
3,162,451 people belonging to 26, 924 registered cooperatives have been registered for the Government Enterprise and Empowerment (GEEP) Scheme. 57,234 interest-free (except a one-time low administrative fee) loans have been issued, across 28 States and the FCT. 56% of loans so far disbursed has gone to female beneficiaries.
1,051,000 Primary School Pupils are currently benefiting from the Homegrown School Feeding Programme (HGSFP), in 8,587 schools across seven States. More than 11,000 cooks have been employed for the HGSFP.
No vision can see the light of the day or be implemented without a detailed plan that is strategic. The government of President Buhari understands this and in April 2017 launched a document called the National Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (NERGP) as the Federal Government’s Medium-term economic plan for Nigeria between 2017 and 2020.
Driving industrialization primarily through SMEs.
The unveiling of this plan also caused the oversubscription of the Eurobond in excess of US$7.8 billion far more than the pre-issuance that targeted only US$1 billion. This trend proved the confidence in the Nigerian market by local and international investors created by the good initiatives of this government under President Muhammadu Buhari.
The government of President Buhari though was characterized by a recession that caused widespread criticism, it is well understood that changing Nigeria will require tough and hard choices and decisions to be made. There will be sacrifices in different ways but the programmes initiated are designed to move Nigeria towards an era of positive over the next decade or two. The vision is not for two tenures of government but for the next generation of Nigerians who will hold the fort when the old goes into retirement. President Buhari and his team are clearly laying a foundation for a strong and prosperous future of the New Nigeria.
All these are policies initiated and some adopted by the President Muhammadu Buhari administration and the PDP and Atiku will tell you that the dollar is not back to $1 to N1 as he promised but let’s see the numbers. In 2014, before he came the dollar was around 190 naira and it was not floated. There were fears about floating by the Goodluck Jonathan government and President Buhari had the same fears. But after due consultations, he decided to float the naira and that led to 450 naira to the dollar. From the time of floating in 2016 to today, the dollar has improved from 450 to 360 for black market prices and for the official prices it is at 305. This means that President Buhari has made the naira to drop by #100 to the dollar and the PDP could not achieve this from the fixed rate or control regime at #190.
Do you understand? If you don’t please comment below and I will answer you expressly and explicitly.
The man Muhammadu Buhari has over the years proved to be a man of integrity, probity, accountability and prudence in the administration of his affairs whether in government or as a family man. This is a principled he built as a military officer, a General, administrator, public servant and now as President of a democratic Nigeria, he is pushing more for sanity and probity in our polity. While on the campaign trail, Mr President made it clear that if we don’t kill corruption, it will kill Nigeria. Little wonder why the revelations of corruption in the PDP government, plunging oil prices, militancy in the Niger Delta plunged the country into a long-predicted recession.
That today is a history of deliberate and successful economic policies recognized by the International Monetary Fund. In this piece, I will reveal the many policies, initiatives that the Buhari administrative has adopted to tackle corruption using acceptable global standards.
The Presidential Initiative on Continuous Audits (PICA): This was done to check the activities of Ministries, Departments and Agencies particularly with regards to their payrolls. Government agencies now undergo continuous auditing of their records to ensure transparency in the system. Since inception, this program has discovered leakages from over 50, 000 wrong payments and payroll savings of about N198 billion in 2016. The Federal Ministry of Finance in this administration has equally set a target to ensure that the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS) reaches up to 100 percent of MDAs by the end of 2017.
Reforms to the Budget Process: A presidential order was signed mandating all government agencies to be prepared to adopt the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) template for budgeting. The 2017 budget was prepared using a web-based application created by the Budget Office of Nigeria making it the first time this is happening. This was a departure from the usual old practice of submitting hard copies to uploading them on web portal by every government agency. The replacing of the budget process brought systems that can audit and track the process online without any unauthorized alterations. Each agency is simply expected to upload their budgets for the Budget office to review, give feedback, collate and approve. Personnel totalling more than 4,000 staff of various MDAs were trained across the nation to run these new systems and processes. The budget office now has a helpdesk office for any complaints either through phone calls or emails.
Widening the Scope of the Treasury Single Accounts (TSA): On the 7th of August, 2015 President Buhari gave a directive to all Ministries, Agencies and Departments to close all their accounts in Deposit Money Banks and remit their balances to a single Treasury Account domiciled with the Central Bank. They had a deadline of on or before 15th September 2015 to do this. This laudable initiative resulted in the consolidation of over 20,000 accounts run by various government agencies resulting in the monthly saving of N4.7 billion. By the 10th of February 2017, the TSA has had a cash inflow N5.244 trillion making it possible for the Ministry of Finance, Accountant-General of the Federation and other relevant offices in government to monitor the inflow and revenue sources for government. With this, they have a comprehensive overview of government revenues. The TSA encouraged transparency and accountability in public finance; the old culture of having some MDAs having excess funds while others go borrowing is now a thing of history. No agency head or signatories will make unmonitored withdrawals that cannot even be accounted for or questioned. The Treasury Single Account initiative was launched in 2012 but it never got traction or compliance until President Buhari’s Executive Order in August 2015. As at December 2016, 766 MDAs were found to be TSA-compliant. It is undergoing constant fine-tuning by the Federal Ministry of Finance and audits are carried out to ensure all funds meant for the TSA are remitted.
The Use of the Bank Verification Number (BVN) for Payroll and Social Investment Programmes: Expenditure on personnel happens to be one of the majors high-cost implications on the government and to check any wastages the Buhari-led administration adopted the Bank Verification Numbers (BVN) for payroll and pension audits. For the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS) the use of BVN has detected over 50,000 error/fraudulent entries of payroll. The BVN was equally initiated for the verification and disbursement of funds to beneficiaries and vendors for the Social Programmes like N-Power and the Home School Feeding Programme.
Adoption of Accrual-Based Accounting System: The old system that was in place was the cash-based system which did not determine the liabilities of different decisions of government like expenditure and the benefits of an asset acquired or built. This cash-based did not also capture the liabilities in the public sector and this is at the risk of future fiscal sustainability. The accrued-based accounting shows the real financial position of the government with the assets and liabilities identified. This has helped the government of President Buhari to take decisions that will benefit Nigerians when it comes to asset and liabilities disposal, improvement and management. With the accrued based system of accounting, the government is able to have a comprehensive nature of cash flow and projection for better cash management.
Joining the Opening Government Partnership: In May of 2016, President Buhari attended a summit on Anti-corruption organized by the UK government and after the summit, he pledged Nigeria’s commitment to join the OGP, an international initiative for transparency, accountability and civic engagement. By July 2016, Nigeria became the 70th country to be part of the Open Government Partnership and a National Steering Committee was initiated after which they came up with an Action Plan for 2017-2019 for more transparency in government and the management of public resources. The Action Plan for Nigeria was submitted at the OGP Global Summit in Paris, France in December 2016.
Enforcement of Conditionality of Fiscal Support to States: The Fiscal Sustainability Plan (FSP) was developed to outline the conditions for which the states are qualified to have access to the N510 billion Budget Support Facility by the Federal Government. The FSP was developed primarily to ensure accountability in public expenditure across the Federation in the states. 35 states signed up to this. 8 accounting firms were employed to carry out independent auditing of the states to ensure that they meet the FSP conditions. The states were also required to meet all the conditions and failure to do so leads to removal from the budget support facility. The Fiscal Sustainability Plan is part of the many initiatives of the APC government to reform the Public Financial Management Systems nationwide.
Creation of an Efficiency Unit: with the responsibility to ensure best practices in the management of government resources, procurement issues, reduce wastage and equally reduce costs on recurrent expenditure. The unit has so far achieved a major feat of saving N15 billion naira from various sources like sitting allowance, travels and souvenirs. There is also a potential to save up to N7 billion from expenditure lines where the will be controlled using circulars. There is also an ongoing initiative to start price-checkers and debit cards for payments.
Reforms in Asset Recovery: The Buhari government also constituted a Presidential Committee on Asset Recovery (PCAR) that was headed by the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo to bring together all relevant agencies involved in recovering these assets of the Nigerian people. An account was also designated in the Central Bank of Nigeria to monitor remittance and revenues from these assets and transparency.
The New Whistleblowing Policy: Within the first two months of creation, the whistleblowing policy raked in $160 million and N8 billion naira in stolen government funds that were recovered. This policy equally made Nigerians determined to tackle corruption and be a part of the process as well.
Now those articles were written in 2017 when I was still writing for people and I was contracted to write that while still supporting the PDP but today, I realize that President Muhammadu Buhari might not be eloquent enough or speaking to us but he is working.
So Why Did I go to Atiku After knowing all these about President Muhammadu Buhari?
It is simply because the government lacked a good communication strategy and all that is captured in this book. Written at the end of 2017, this book espouses the initial frustrations with the APC under President Buhari. In real indices, the economy in dollars terms have grown more than it did under the 16 years of the PDP. Dollar to the naira was pegged at 190 naira while in the time of Buhari after it was floated, it went 405 and has dropped to 305 on its own. This is progress is about 117 naira more than that of PDP that remained at about 18 naira for 16 years.
Disclaimer: This article and the part on Economy and Anti-Corruption was written in 2017 and was never published.