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The $600-million, 14 000km West Africa Cable System linking southern and western African countries with Europe should be in service by 2011.
The cable, which will provide high capacity international bandwidth, will further reduce telecommunications costs on the continent, reports SouthAfrica.info.
A consortium of leading African and foreign telecoms operators signed a construction and maintenance agreement with manufacturer Alcatel-Lucent recently to construct the 8.84-terabit-per-second, fibre-optic submarine cable and its landing points.
Companies that signed the agreement include South Africa's Broadband Infraco, MTN, Tata Communications/Neotel, Telkom and Vodacom, as well as Angola Telecom, Cable & Wireless, Telecom Namibia, Portugal Telecom, Sotelco and Togo Telecom.
"The West Africa Cable System represents a significant telecommunications infrastructure investment through a joint effort of a number of African and global operators," Vodacom Group CEO Pieter Uys said.
The cable system would provide Africa with "faster and better connectivity to Europe and the rest of the world," Mr Uys said.
He said its ample capacity will serve the region's international connectivity needs for many years to come.
Planned landing points for the cable include South Africa, Namibia, Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the Republic of Congo, Canary Islands, Cameroon, Nigeria, Togo, Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, Cape Verde, Portugal and the United Kingdom.


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I just finished painting this formation of Ragnarok tanks for my Epic Imperial Guard force. It’s a lovely model, with a bunch of stowage and nets and sandbags on the sides and the top of the tank – quite unusual in a 40K vehicle generally. I’m also very pleased with how the camouflage scheme turned out, as it’s my first time painting this sort of realistic vehicle colour scheme as opposed to more colourful Space Marine heraldry.
The barbed wire here is from Greenstuff World and the base is made of Milliput which I pressed the front of the tank tracks into repeatedly to make an imprint. I made the shell craters using the end of a paintbrush. Until now I haven’t been basing my 6mm vehicles but I’m so pleased with how these bases look that I’m probably going to go back and do ones for all my Space Marine tanks – or at least I’ll add it to the ever-growing list of miniature projects to work on!

industry_corpus2: Gaming


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Otalgia. Due to acute inflammation of the ear canal skin and subdermis .
Hearing loss. It is a conductive hearing loss due to the otorrhoea and debris within the canal .
Ear fullness and itching. Due to the oedematous skin of the external auditory canal which obstructs the glands .
Tinnitus. It occurs as a result of the inflammatory process extending to the inner ear .
Severe, deep pain. Due to the inflammation extending to the bony-cartilaginous junction .
Ear discharge. It is associated with the eczematous skin reaction which occurs in the external auditory canal .
History of exposure to activities in water (eg: swimming) Cerumen creates a slightly acidic pH that inhibits infection. This can be altered by water exposure. Additionally, several causative organisms are present in swimming pools and similar places .
Regular cleaning of the ear canal. It removes cerumen, which is an important barrier to moisture and infection .
Tenderness on palpation of the tragus or applying traction to the pinna. Due to traction on the external auditory canal, the skin of which has undergone acute inflammatory changes .
Erythema, edema, and narrowing of the external auditory canal with an associated purulent or serous discharge on otoscopic examination. As a result of cellulitis of the ear canal skin and subdermis , with an associated eczematous skin reaction .
Conductive hearing loss during tuning fork examination. It is due to the otorrhoea and debris within the canal .
Inflamed tympanic membrane on otoscopic examination. Due to acute inflammation involving the tympanic membrane .
Preauricular, parotid and cervical lymphadenopathy. The external auditory canal is drained by these lymph nodes. Therefore infection spreading via lymphatics can cause lymphadenopathy in these groups .
Tenderness in the region of the ipsilateral parotid gland and temporomandibular joint. Infection can spread through the fissures of santorini to these regions .
Nerve palsies involving VII, IX, X, XI and XII cranial nerves. Medial spread of infection to the infratemporal fossa leads to involvement of cranial bones and possibly to osteomyelitis of the base of the skull from which these nerves leave the cranium .
Granulation tissue or exposed bone seen on the ﬂoor of the canal at the bony–cartilaginous junction on otoscopic examination. This occurs in malignant otitis externa caused most often by Pseudomonas aeruginosa which produces lytic enzymes, including endotoxin, collagenase, and elastase, causing a necrotizing vasculitis and endarteritis that enable invasion of surrounding tissue. This is later replaced by granulation tissue .
Otitis media. It also presents with otalgia and conductive hearing loss but a tympanic membrane that is draining pus or red and bulging on otoscopic examination in a sick patient is indicative of otitis media .
Furunculosis. Otalgia and otorrhoea is present but the tenderness in localized .
Ramsay Hunt Syndrome. It also presents with severe otalgia, but vesicles on the external ear canal and posterior surface of the auricle, facial paralysis or paresis, loss of taste on the anterior two-thirds of the tongue are other features known to be present .
History and examination is sufficient to come to a diagnosis. Certain hallmark signs such as tenderness of the tragus, pinna, or both, that is often intense and disproportionate to what might be expected based on visual inspection would easily point towards a diagnosis .
Gram stain and culture of discharge. Some researchers have demonstrated the polymicrobial nature of otits externa in one third of patients and the role of anaerobic bacteria in one quarter, emphasizing the need to obtain both anaerobic and aerobic cultures in patients who have otits externa that does not respond to treatment .
Fasting blood glucose levels. Malignant (progressive necrotizing) otitis externa is an aggressive infection that can complicate simple infection predominantly in diabetic patients due to their immunocompromised states so screening for diabetes mellitus in the elderly with infection is useful .
High resolution CT scan. Computed tomographgy can help delineate soft tissue inﬂammation and the extent of infection and bony erosion in necrotizing otitis externa .
Acetaminophen for analgesia. Dose: 325-650 mg 6-8 hourly. It inhibits COX-3 enzyme in the brain and spinal cord, thereby reducing production of prostaglandin, which is an important element in the pain pathway .
Use of earplugs while swimming. Cerumen creates a slightly acidic pH that inhibits infection. This can be altered by water exposure. Additionally, several causative organisms are present in swimming pools and similar places .
Avoidance of manipulation of the ear canal. To avoid irritation and maceration of the skin which are known predisposing factors for otitis externa .
Removal of debris from the ear canal - Gentle cleaning with a soft plastic curette or a small Frazier suction tip under direct vision. To ensure adequate delivery of the topical medication .
Hydrocortisone and acetic acid otic solution. Dose: 3-5 drops to the affected ear 4-6 times per day. Steroids reduce inflammation while acidic solutions lower the pH of the canal, thereby inhibiting growth of organisms which prefer an alkaline environment .
Ofloxacin otic preparation. Dose: 10 drops 4 times a day. Studies prove an increase in causative organism susceptibility and bacteriological cure with the use of quinolones when compared to non-quinolone antibiotics .
Oral antibiotics (eg: ciprofloxacin) When there is spread of infection beyond the external auditory canal such as cellulitis of surrounding structures or lymphadenitis .
IV antibiotics. It is used in necrotizing otitis externa which is a severe variant that usually is caused by P. aeruginosa and is associated with systemic invasion .
Placement of an ear wick. It is used if the canal walls are too swollen to allow penetration of the drug along its length .

industry_corpus2: Health & Medicine


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After receiving an expansion grant, the Center began work on multiple projects. The 507 Third Avenue building was renovated for a third time. The Suffolk Center was renovated and expanded to double its size. And, the Children’s Center began work on a new Early Head Start building in Smithfield at 240 James Street. At the same time, the Center opened Early Head Start classrooms at the Pruden Vocational-Technical Center in Suffolk.
The Early Head Start program expanded again with a federal grant in 2010. The Center now serves 256 Early Head Start children and pregnant women. The Texie Camp Marks Center went through a renovation project in 2011 and the Suffolk Children’s Center completed an addition to add three new Early Head Start classrooms.

industry_corpus2: Subject Education


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DALLAS (April 9, 2015) – Bruegger’s Bagels, known for its authentic New York-style bagels and signature egg sandwiches, launches its new spring menu today. The new breakfast and lunch items bring flavors ranging from spicy to sweet to the classic Bruegger’s Bagels menu.
Bruegger’s Bagels has been known to bring on the heat at breakfast, and the Chorizo Jack breakfast sandwich builds on that reputation. Layering a fresh-cracked egg with chorizo sausage, pepper jack cheese and a dollop of jalapeno cream cheese, the sandwich comes on the Guajillo Bagel, infused with guajillo chili peppers, or guests may substitute any of the bakery’s 15-plus bagel varieties.
The spring menu also will highlight Turkey in the Slaw, a traditional, deli-style lunch sandwich featuring turkey, Muenster cheese, honey mustard and the surprising addition of apple cider coleslaw, all grilled on wheat bread.
Bruegger’s brings back two guest favorites for spring – cool yet zesty made-in-Vermont Cucumber Dill cream cheese, which can be added to any sandwich or purchased in a tub to go, and rich and refreshing Sea Salt & Caramel coffee, available hot or iced.
Guests also can get a limited time offer on the bakery’s popular Herby Turkey sandwich by viewing Bruegger’s Bagels’ “Behind the Taste” video series. The vignettes highlight the people and traditions behind Bruegger’s Bagels’ signature items – the company’s award-winning bagels, 100 percent made-in-Vermont cream cheese, smoked salmon and popular sundried tomato spread.
Bruegger’s Enterprises, Inc. (BEI), a leader in the fast-casual restaurant segment, operates 290 Bruegger’s Bagels bakeries in North America. Renowned for its authentic fresh-baked bagels, the chain also offers a wide variety of freshly prepared breakfast and lunch options made with high-quality, simple ingredients served with its unique brand of hospitality. Bruegger’s Bagels is dedicated to the communities it serves and supports charitable causes locally and nationally. BEI’s parent company, Groupe Le Duff, SA, is the world’s second-largest company in the bakery-cafe sector. Founded in 1983, BEI is headquartered in Burlington, Vermont. For more information, please visit www.brueggers.com or become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/brueggers.

industry_corpus2: Hospitality & Catering


text: A wet room is a super stylish and on trend feature for any bathroom. Our wet room former trays and tile backer boards are 100% waterproof, so you can feel confident buying from us. With all the the essential wet room installation items, we can help you create a beautiful new bathroom.

industry_corpus2: Real Estate & Construction


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Have you made Butterscotch Bars?
1. Preparation Time: 20 Minutes Bake Time: None * Peanut Butter chips may be substituted for the Butterscotch Chips.
2. Combine 1/4 cup Butter Flavor Crisco, butterscotch chips, peanut butter and milk in top of double boiler over hot water.
3. Stir occasionally until mixture is melted and smooth.
4. Combine graham cracker crumbs and 1 cup chopped nuts in large bowl.
5. Pour butterscotch mixture over crumbs. Stir until combined.
6. Spread mixture in ungreased 9x9x2 inch pan. ( Hint: If a 9x9x2 inch pan is not available, form a 9x9x2 inch tray by lining a 13x9x2 inch pan with aluminum foil.
7. ) Refrigerate until firm. Cut into bars 3/4 x 1 3/4 inches.
8. Combine chocolate chips and 3 tablespoons Butter Flavor Crisco in top of double boiler over hot water.
9. Stir occasionally until chocolate melts. Place one bar at a time in melted chocolate.
10. Turn with fork. Lift from chocolate on fork.
11. Allow excess to drip off. Place on paper lined baking sheet.
12. Sprinkle top with finely chopped nuts. Return to refrigerator to harden chocolate.
This recipe contains potential food allergens and will effect people with Peanuts, Wheat, Milk, Butter, Gluten allergies.


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Playing FF 13? Nah, I'm playing FF 12!
Dead or Alive 5 on PS3?
They fight with so much style.


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I’ve been contemplating putting together a few field trips for my local group. At first I was excited about it. Remember when we were kids and got to go to the zoo or the post office? But then I thought maybe it wasn’t a good idea because I did remember going and it wasn’t very fun. We just had to stand there and listen to what the docent or worker was telling us. And then they asked if we had questions and I was too shy to ask in front of all those people. Maybe it would be better if homeschooling families just assumed everything was a field trip. Going to the post office for stamps? Kids wonder where the mail goes? Ask! Grocery store? Lot’s of stuff to explore there. We can go to the zoo all day and stay the whole time in front of the zebras watching and asking questions. If we can’t find a docent, my smart phone may have the answer.
Our family has taken advantage of group discounts with other homeschoolers many times over the years. Whale watching on a weekday morning, the zoo, the science center’s new exhibit and IMAX movie, lots of stuff that we might not have done otherwise, we have done because someone has organized a group trip. Many of them have been amazing experiences.
But what about the little field trips like when we were in elementary school? The post office, the pizza place, the grocery store, etc. Could we somehow do these kinds of group activities in a way that would benefit us? I think we can! I was talking to a local pizza shop owner the other day and asked about doing a homeschool field trip. He asked what we would want to know. I mean, any of us can make a pizza, right? He could show us how they do it with their big oven. Then I thought of something. What might our kids want to know? Why did they decide to open a pizza place? What kind of experience did they have? Did they go to college? Was it hard to do? Our older kids might ask questions that us parents might ask. Did they have to take out a loan to start up? Have they started a business before? Bottom line for me would be “What’s your personal story? Why are you here doing this?” He was excited about that! And we’re totally booking the tour.
What other places can we explore? How about the Chinese Restaurant, the health food store, the rock climbing adventure place, the little book store, the local realtor, or the sheriff’s office? All these little places in our town have interesting people and stories. We want to know about them. And I bet we’ll be doing a little homeschooling outreach as well. Some of these people probably don’t know any homeschoolers and I bet they’d be pretty impressed to meet our crazy bunch of kids. I can’t wait to get started!
This entry was posted in Field Trips, Places to go, Planning and tagged field trips, homeschool, planning by Michelle Huelle. Bookmark the permalink.


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At Huaraz Treks and Climbs, we value what our clients have to say about us.
Take a quick look at these real customer reviews about our guide service.
We could not have chosen a better company than Huaraz Trek and Climbs for our honeymoon – the trip far exceeded our expectations and that was largely in part due to the professionalism, superb knowledge of the trek and local area and extreme helpfulness of Rodolfo and his team. This was a 5* trek throughout and I’d like to add that really the great experience started from the moment we came across the company online – every time we contacted Rodolfo with some questions he came back to us with detailed emails which answered our questions down to the last detail and in a very timely manner – really quickly unless he was away on another trek. Rodolfo felt responsible for us from the moment we arrived until the moment we left Huaraz, even though technically this was not part of the trek.
Special mention must go to Bernardo, our cook – absolutely amazing! He cooked up super tasty dishes 3 times a day under a small portable stove and even when we met him for lunch during the longer days hikes. The food far exceeded our expecations – I was expecting pasta and rice with different sauces, however we got gourmet food – trout ceviche (caught in the local river), juicy steak, Peruvian classics like pacha manca and yummy desserts like crème caramel to name but a few.
Our tent was always up and ready by the time we arrived in camp, we had plenty of hot water to wash with, for our tea and hot water bottles at night and really nothing could have been a trouble for Rodolfo and his crew.
We’d be very happy to expand on our experience with any other travellers interested in visiting this beautiful part of the world. And honestly, you need look no further – keep it local and go with Huaraz Treks and Climbs.
Highly experienced. Very professional. They organised everything for us and it was such a pleasure to be on a trip with them. We definitely would use them again.
We had a great time. Whether you are doing a day hike or a multi day adventure I would not hesitate to use Huaraz Treks again and so should you.
This has been by far the best guided trip we have done in South America. The day length was sometimes short but the side trips made up for this & were a good challenge. We will be back!
Rodolfo and his crew were totally professional, knowledgeable and energetic, always willing to help. They could not have made the trip any better.
Hi Rodolfo, just a quick note to say we had a great trek. Scenery was amazing and the walk met all our expectations. Leo was knowledgeable and got the pace right for Bev and myself to make the trek enjoyable. I thought his positioning of the tent to get an early morning view was great attention to detail. Mario was a good cook. His attention to presentation of the food was excellent. Enrique ensured that all the camp was organised by the time we arrived. I also liked that he helped Mario with some kitchen tasks. Most importantly they seemed to work very as a team to make our trip enjoyable.
Everything was great. Rodolfo was able to assess the capabilities of our group and get everyone over the circuit. Food greatly exceeded our expectations.
Staff was terrific and made sure we were safe and comfortable. Equipment was first rate.
The whole thing could not have been better!
I had a great time on the trek! Everything was very professional and the food was amazing. Rodolfo was very knowledgeable about the mountains and the flora/fauna of the area. I like that there were some options on rest days and everyone could go their own pace. Definitely will recommend to friends and family.
Overall an excellent trek and climb of Pisco. Rodolfo and Walter’s guidance was awesome and Emilio’s cooking was superb!
We completed the 13 day Cordillera Huayhuash trek and had the most amazing time! Fantastic views, great food and really experienced guide. Rodolfo is the best guide we have used in South America! Highly reccommend Huaraz Treks and Climbs to anyone visiting the Cordillera Blanca or Huayhuash.
You did a fantastic job – much appreciated. Best wishes to all the staff who were on our trek with us and thanks especially for all the individual support and for following my food request so well.
Wonderful trek. Rodolfo is always there & ready to help and his local knowledge really adds to the trip.
Rodolfo, you did an excellent job and assembled and organized a great crew. Best wishes always.
This was the trip of a lifetime! I will never forget it – one of the hardest things I have ever done – awe inspiring and wonderful.
Thanks to all at Huaraz Treks and Climbs especially Rodolfo for sharing 2 weeks of your life with me!
Trip of a lifetime! Thanks for your expertise and attention to details.
Rodolfo was very accommodating and helpful when our plans were disrupted. His communication was great and he was extremely helpful with every detail of our trip.
The trek and the service provided exceeded my expectations. In particular I was very impressed with the attention given to my dietary needs. I really enjoyed the cheerful nature of the team and the insights into Peruvian life provided by Rodolfo.
Will recommend to everyone I know.
We have had a great experience in Cordillera Huayhuash with Huaraz Treks and Climbs. Everything was extremely organized, the food was amazing and everybody ready to help. It is a beautiful trek with amazing views. We will sure miss Huayhuash!
Rodolfo and Huaraz Treks met and exceeded our expectations in all respects. His lifelong knowledge of the Cordillera Blanca enriched our trip beyond the trek itself, including identification of birds, animals, mountains, and the local villages. He also was helpful in suggesting other activities for our time in the Huaraz area. Bright, personable, excellent English, quick judge of our abilities and interests.
This trip was the second half of our honeymoon, and it was a phenomenal experience. Since we were coming from the USA, Rodolfo’s help in booking our bus tickets to and from Huaraz as well as hotel accommodation were extremely helpful and made organizing this portion of our trip very easy and simple. We have been on guided mountaineering trips in the USA, and the guide on this trip was even more knowledgeable and safe. He tailored the instruction to our abilities and what we wanted to learn. As a teacher, he was very patient and allowed us to figure some things out on our own as he watched and waited to comment. He was efficient in leading during the summit day, and adapted to the snow conditions and weather so as to minimize risk as much as possible. He was also very neat and tidy with his rope work, and anchor building which made me feel more trusting of relying on the anchors he built. Overall, I could not imagine a better guide for the area, and if I get a chance to climb in the Cordillera Blanca again, I would not think twice of choosing Rodolfo as my guide.
It was a very well planned trip, with excellent guiding services, cooking and donkey handling. Rodolfo went out his way to explain or interpret what we were seeing. Very personable as well.
Three of us undertook the Huayhuash Mountains mini trek in August 2013, what an experience and what a place – truly awesome! The trip came together with thanks to Rodolfo; he assisted with pre-trip arrangements and upon us arriving in Huaraz that assistance continued. His extensive local knowledge helped us with acclimatization walks and public transport. Rodolfo’s guidance and pace during the trek was excellent, as was his back up team (donkey driver & cook) who provided a great service!
Rodolfo, I really appreciated your easy going nature. Thank you for a great trip and great service.
Rodolfo many thanks for looking after us so well and professionally during our stay in Peru. We have really enjoyed our trekking, managed to see hidden parts of the beautiful Cordillera Blanca and even tasted all weathers! It’s been a great challenge for us all, amazing experience and we could not have done without your help.
To the Crew, thank you for looking after us so well on our trek and making our trip to Peru so memorable.
Thanks for a wonderful trip. I would certainly recommend you to others.
It has been a great experience in a breathtaking area of the Cordillera Blanca. Rodolfo is an excellent mountain guide. He and his team (cooks and donkey drivers) have provided a first class service to us.
We’ve appreciated the days with Rodolfo and his team. Rodolfo’s knowledge, experience and his care of safety have made our trip very interesting, convenient and memorable.
He also told us a lot about the Peruvian way of life, we’ve really enjoyed talking to him during hiking or having dinner in the eating tent.
Whenever we’ll return to Peru for hiking or climbing we’ll choose him again as our guide.
I just wanted to drop you folks a note and let you know that I had a wonderful time on the Olleros to Carhuascancha trek. Rodolfo did an awesome job from start to finish. The level of professionalism and care that was given each and every one of us was just beyond words.
It was a great trek…. And we were looked after very well.
It was a really wonderful trip, we both enjoyed it tremendously.
For me, the highlights were getting to the top of 2 mountains. I found both ascents quite demanding, but it was exhilarating to reach the top and be rewarded with tremendous views.
The food while camping was really great, the cook Manuel performed miracles! Rodolfo was a really excellent guide, he was very patient with me, he was very good company, and he organized everything extremely well.
I feel that we benefitted the local community in that we added to the demand for professional services in the region (and everyone, from Rodolfo to the cook, porters and donkey drivers, was very professional), and in a small way the payment and tips for these services will help all of these individuals and their families.
Freddy, Manuel & Richard were all excellent! Thank you!.
I had an amazing trip! A once in a lifetime experience, and memories I will cherish forever … the entire experience from booking to climbing was exceptional, I couldn’t expect higher standards.
Rodolfo is a very competent and friendly guide.

industry_corpus2: Travel & Geography


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Indian and Pakistani officials wrapped up a two-day meeting of the Indus Water Commission (IWC). A 10-member Indian delegation took part in the meeting of Permanent Indus Commission (PIC) in Islamabad.
The meeting was to address the conflict between the two countries over the construction of the Kishenganga and Ratle hydroelectric plants on Kishenganga and Chenab rivers respectively.
The two sides also exchanged data on the flow of water from India to Pakistan and discussed the design aspects of Pakal Dul, Lower Kalnai and Miyar hydroelectric plants.
The Indus Water treaty requires annual meetings but none took place since May 2015 as India cancelled last year’s meeting in Delhi following the Uri attacks. Though the Indus Treaty is regarded as one of the most successful international pacts, having survived three major wars and numerous twists and turns in a volatile relationship.
However, it has seeded dissatisfaction and conflicts regarding its interpretation and implementation. Further, the future of the treaty looks bleak as water shortage on both sides of the divide will compel the governments to talk tough.
The Indus Water Treaty (IWT) was negotiated over nine years between India and Pakistan and was signed on Sept 19, 1960. It is a unique treaty simply because it is based on sharing rivers between two countries – not their waters.
According to the IWT, three western rivers – Indus, Chenab and Jhelum – are allocated to Pakistan while the three eastern rivers – Sutlej, Beas and Ravi – flow into India. The Permanent Indus Commission, which includes a commissioner from each country, ensures the smooth working of the treaty. Since then, treaty officials of India and Pakistan have met 112 times.
The IWT also permits India to the restricted use of western rivers for domestic, non-consumptive and hydro-electric with minimal storage purposes. While 80% of the waters of the Indus river system benefits Pakistan, only 20% flows into India.
Pakistan regards India’s decision to build two major hydro electric power stations, the 330 megawatt Kishanganga project and the 850 megawatt Ralte plant in Jammu as breaching the Indus protocol. It wants to take the issue before an international court while India wants a neutral observer.
India maintains that run-of –the river dams are allowed by international law. According to the treaty technical objections by either party are referred to neutral experts if the countries cannot resolve it bilaterally. Only disputes that require interpretation of the treaty are handled by a Court of Arbitration.
The World Bank, which helped in the negotiations, is a guarantor of the Indus Water Treaty, signed in 1960 between Jawaharlal Nehru and President Ayub Khan.
Last year, India threatened to suspend the commissioner-level talks following the Uri attacks. This led India to put its focus on the treaty even as it plans to push the projects proposed across Jammu and Kashmir.
These projects are — Pakal Dul (1000 MW), Ratle (850 MW), Kishanganga (330 MW), Miyar (120 MW) and Lower Kalnai (48 MW) on the River Chenab. Pakistan is opposed to other two projects proposed by India – Kishenganga and Ratle. Under the policy, India has the right to draw waters from the rivers flowing into Pakistan for hydro power generation.
Pakistan also had serious objections to India’s plans to build these plants apart from raising issues over the proposed projects that are planned for J&K.
Under Article VIII of the Indus Water Treaty, the Indus Water Commission must meet once a year alternately in India and Pakistan.

industry_corpus2: Power & Energy


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The 7.62x51 NATO cartridge was introduced in 1954, two years after its physically identical, yet slightly hotter, civilian equivalent: the .38 Winchester. Both bullets were designed with the intent of being more reliable in semi and full automatic rifles as well as with the intention of reducing the weight burden per rounds carried of the typical soldier. The primary incentive of the NATO cartridge, however, was to improve logistics of the military services within the treaty organization. While SAAMI reports indicate both cartridges are safe for the other’s chambers, some shooters may feel better consulting with the firearm’s manufacturer to be sure. The M80 Ball bullet by Magtech exits the muzzle at 2733 feet per second with 2437 foot pounds of energy. This is a service level cartridge suitable for range or target shooting as well as DMC/CMP style competitive matches.
As a munitions provider in the US, Magtech has steadily been building a reputation for quality and affordability. Since then the company has expanded its lines of ammunition to include defense, hunting and military style ammunition for standardized competitions. This 1000 round case is ideal for keeping your service rifle zeroed in for the next big match or for keeping on hand for any “JIC” scenario.

industry_corpus2: Manufacturing


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The start of a PR relationship is the same as the start of any relationship: it requires honesty and collaboration, but ultimately it should be a time to get to know each other. Get the kick-off process right and the relationship with your PR agency should be plain-sailing. Get it wrong, however, and you could both be left walking around in the dark, with nasty surprises along the way and with no results at the end.
… and realised they were the same people you met at the pitch – how refreshing!. This is the team that will be working with you on a day-to-day basis, meeting the deliverables and getting the results. Getting to know the people you’ll be working with is essential, and vice-versa. You need to know who will be on the update calls, who to call if a crisis happens and who will be coordinating meetings, just as much as your agency will need to know who the key spokespeople are and who will be synchronising diaries and managing content approval.
… on both sides! Setting expectations for both parties – the agency and the client – is essential to make sure the relationship runs smoothly. What are the top publications you want to be seen in, and what type of content does your agency need from you in order to get in them? Do you have a disgruntled customer that could decide to go to the press? If so, your PR team needs to know about it.
… and it was a collaborative effort. Both the client and the agency are experts here: the client knows their business inside out, obviously, and the agency knows what is already being written in the press and what opinions are being shared by the CEO of the closest competition. It should be a joint effort to define the messaging that will be used in the campaign, laying the foundations for your PR team to come up with some killer headlines and bold opinion topics to issue to press.
… and it looks bright. You put a plan in place for the next quarter, including thought leadership topics with key spokespeople; you discussed topics that had the potential for news-hijacking opportunities; you talked about which customers could be announced as ‘new wins’ and which would be better suited to a case study. You made sure you both understood the balance between your company’s tone of voice and what was appropriate for each medium, whether it’s social media, a national newspaper or a blog. It’s essential to have a plan in place, mirrored by your sales activity, that will continue to roll through each quarter of the campaign.
… it was just the start of a great relationship. This is potentially the most important part of the process; if the initial kick-off meeting is filled with hopes and dreams and huge plans for front-page news, but it doesn’t actually become fruitful, then perhaps the process wasn’t that successful after all. The first meeting should be followed by an executable action plan – delivered not within a week, but within a day – featuring weekly update calls, reporting and step-by-step activity to get the results you inevitably discussed in the pitch, demonstrating that in fact, it wasn’t ‘all talk’ at all.
What it really comes down to, however, is that the kick-off process should achieve a realisation from the client that they are now in safe hands, and that their PR team will be unburdening them from the work they have tried to do themselves in the past.
If you’re looking for a PR agency to help you meet your business objectives, get in touch – prworks@neopr.co.uk.

industry_corpus2: Media & Journalism


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Full Time and Permanent (no locums).
Seeking BE/BC Hematologist/Oncologist to join a growing team of 10 Oncologists and 8 Advanced Practice Providers.
Established patient base with strong primary care referral base.
Call: 1:10 (will decrease with recruitment).
Only breast center in Northeast Wisconsin to earn the American College of Radiology's Breast Imaging Center of Excellence designation.
EPIC EMR used throughout health system.
Financial Package: competitive compensation with excellent benefits including Signing Bonus, Relocation, Vacation, CME, Health/Dental/Vision, Life Insurance, Short and Long Term Disability, Professional Liability Insurance & WI Patient Compensation Fund, Licensing/Board Fees, 403b and 457b Retirement Plans, Legal Plan Option, etc.
For more information, please contact Molly Krus at or call 1-. JO-1901-31335.
Get Green Bay Healthcare jobs via email.
Medical & Dental Benefits CSR needed.


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Look who's back - back again - ST3K's back - tell a friend.
That's right. ST3K is back. We fixed him! And nothing absolutely went wrong in the process. We didn't accidentally install the voice module. We're still not looking for the right voice module at all.
Just be glad ST3K is back, okay? And to celebrate, this is our longest episode yet, and it's not wasted whatsoever on the beautiful score to NieR: Automata from MONACA, namely Keiichi Okabe and Keigo Hoashi.
As always, be sure to follow us on Twitter @sutekijam, email us at sutekijamradio@gmail.com or leave us a review on iTunes!

industry_corpus2: Film & Entertainment


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Pave Disc Bracelet | Brilliant Inc.
This delicate chain bracelet features ethical Round Brilliant gems pave set in a disc in platinum vermeil. A subtle, sophisticated addition to any outfit.


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“The secular myth continues with a page drawn from the eighteenth-century historian Edward Gibbon: Christianity destroyed classical civilization and brought on a Dark Age. Civilization escaped the Dark Ages only with the rise of the Renaissance man and science. Secular thinking helped shake off the shackles of religion and created the modern world. Today only the vestiges of organized religion prevent humankind from achieving its full potential. Helping “sell” this story is the promise that secularism finally will allow total personal freedom, especially in the area of sexuality. This is a point that [Christopher] Hitchens makes explicit at the end of his jeremiad God Is Not Great.
“. . . The good news for Christian theists is that Hitchens’s story is simple to the point of being simplistic, and they have a better story to tell. The basic story is this: the combination of Greek philosophy and Christianity produced Christendom, which has produced most of the great goods of our world. Christendom provides a home for both reason and meaning. It balances law and liberty. It makes love the central motive for human action and a reasonable God the end of that love.
“While Christians often fail, the basic ideas of Christendom keep pulling humanity back from the brink of utter tyranny or ruinous social chaos. Christian failures create secularists, who often serve as useful in-house critics of Christian inconsistencies. Moderate secularists often make useful and important subsidiary contributions to institutions created by Christians, such as hospitals and universities.
— John Mark Reynolds in Against All Gods: What’s Right and Wrong about the New Atheism, 102-103.

industry_corpus2: Others


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HTC released the One M8 in March 2014. This is the third installment in HTC’s One series. This model is available in gray, silver or gold. It’s also available in 16GB and 32GB model variants; which can be externally expanded up to 128GB. The One M8 has a 5″ Super LCD3 touch screen with Corning Gorilla Glass. It also has a 8MP camera, 1080p video recorder, and a 5MP front-facing camera with a 1080p video recorder. With the One M8, you can create videos, images, and panoramic images in HD. You can also tag your location and let everyone know what you are and what you’re doing! The HTC One M8 operates with a quad-core processor, 2GB RAM, and Adreno 330. This device is ideal for business and pleasure and is a great, comparable, alternative to the Galaxy S series. It also supports Quick Charge 2.0 and Google Drive storage up to 100GB. Once unlocked, this device can be used with compatible GSM networks worldwide.
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industry_corpus2: Computing & Telecommunications


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I was in a South Carolina accident when a car turned left in front of me while I was riding my motorcycle. Who is at fault?
When you have been in a motorcycle accident in South Carolina where a car makes a left turn in front of you, the other driver is almost always liable for the accident and your injuries. Before making any assumptions on who is at fault for your motorcycle accident in South Carolina, you should consult with a Charleston motorcycle accident attorney.
There are many circumstances to consider when you are involved in a motorcycle accident in South Carolina and trying to determine who is at fault.
One of the few exceptions to the near-automatic rule that a left turning car is at fault in a motorcycle accident in South Carolina is when you are found to have violated a traffic law. If you were found to have been speeding or disobeying a traffic signal, you may be found to be at fault for part of the accident as well.
When you need to prove who was at fault in a motorcycle accident in South Carolina, your claim will benefit greatly from the help of Charleston motorcycle accident attorney.
This is because in most scenarios, insurance adjusters will determine fault for the accident. Depending on how much at fault insurance adjusters find you to be, your potential compensation could be impacted accordingly. This is not a situation in which you want to fend for yourself.
A Charleston motorcycle accident attorney can speak up on your behalf after a left turn accident and can handle each and every stage of your claim while you focus on recovery.
The Charleston personal injury attorney team at the Shelly Leeke Law Firm is available to help accident victims cope with the legal implications of a serious injury. Our firm’s focus on personal injury cases includes injury from auto accidents including pedestrian and bicycle injuries, work-related injuries and Workers’ Compensation claims, and injuries resulting from dangerous prescription drugs.
Before you file a South Carolina personal injury claim, request a free copy of our South Carolina injury book. When you’re ready to get started on settling your accident claim, contact a Charleston motorcycle accident attorney for a free information packet and consultation – 1-888-690-0211.

industry_corpus2: Law & Justice


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Bronwyn Harcourt is Victorian Principal of the Year.
“It’s a huge honour”, says Bronwyn Harcourt from Croydon as she is awarded Secondary Principal of the Year in the Victorian Education Excellence Awards at Crown Palladium in Melbourne.
Of all the principals in Victoria, this principal from a small Big Picture school stood out and has been awarded as the best. So, how did she do it?
Big Picture eNews asked Bronwyn about her award, her career and her hopes for the future.
Q: How do you feel about winning such a prestigious award?
A: It’s a huge honour. I think it’s still sinking in just how huge it actually is. I’m just starting to realise the range of opportunities it gives me and how others are feeling it as a sign of greater good too. Coming from a small alternative school and winning it is something that others are commenting on quite a bit to me. How it may wake up ‘the system’ that thinks big is best and that there’s only one way to do things. The opportunity to complete further study or professional learning through use of the award money is quite exciting too. I’m hoping to head off to the USA and visit some Big Picture schools there to learn more about embedding practices at my school.
Q: What do you think has been the key to your success?
A: Persistence … accepting responsibility for the success of every student in my school and setting only the highest of expectations for myself and those around me. I make no apologies for any of that either. Why aim for half measures? I have worked very hard to find the best staff to work in my school but I still expect them to build their skills every year and to always ‘do better’. There’s no way anyone can achieve sustained success and cultural change without the passionate support of the entire staff. But to me, all this must be done under an umbrella of respect, kindness and compassion - lose those values and the rest falls apart pretty quickly.
Q: Tell us a little about your teaching career. Why did you become a teacher?
A: Teaching was not my first choice for career but going to college to play sport seemed like a good idea at the time. I made some bad choices in subject selection that stopped me getting in to the things I’d originally planned on doing. My first choice was to be a paediatrician. My second choice was forestry and my third was to be a hermit and live in a cave on the beach. I still think about that one some days! I’d always played sport so doing PE seemed like a good idea. I got a Commonwealth Teaching Service Scholarship so I spent my final teaching round on Groote Eylandt and as part of that, worked in the Aboriginal settlement school. I didn’t understand a word of the language and felt pretty useless as a teacher there but it did cement my desire to teach. The people around me say that I’ve been teaching since I went to kinder and they can’t imagine me ever doing something else. When I look back at my family tree I think I should just acknowledge that it’s genetic. My paternal great grandfather was Principal at the first ‘industrial school’ in Victoria, my maternal grandmother was a teacher in rural Victoria, my mother tried teaching for a short time and my great-great grandfather ran the first home for inebriates and the mentally ill in Melbourne.
Q: Has Big Picture assisted your teaching, or with student learning? If so, how?
A: Big Picture gives a framework to philosophies and strategies I’ve believed in and lived by in my teaching long before I’d ever heard of Big Picture itself. It creates networks of like-minded people so together you can do more than you could ever do apart. It has a social justice base that I love and it acknowledges people as individuals. It celebrates their diversity and those are things that I felt were missing for me as I was growing up and going to school. It legitimises effective practice and promotes it as the way forward for all schools.
Q: Tell us how the school changed as it explored Big Picture ideas?
A: Our school now has a structure to hold itself against and this has given it increased discipline and form. I mean this in an artistic way, not in a negative way. We are able to dream bigger and achieve more for and with our students, their families and the community. In a data sense we have improved attendance, improved literacy and numeracy attainment, seen a decrease in suspensions and damage to school property, and seen an increase in the respect that students hold for themselves and show towards others. I think staff has even bettered the expectations they hold for themselves and for student achievement.
Q: Can you tell us about any powerful examples you have witnessed with students?
A: When we first introduced Big Picture and the ILPs the kids loved it, spending more time in class working productively. The school got quieter and the yard got emptier during class time. These were huge changes for our school. Then one student came up to me and said, “You tricked us”. I asked her what she meant and she elaborated, “You tricked us into learning”. I just laughed. That’s a pretty good trick! There are many other stories too, like a Year 10 boy who comes to my office every now and then and asks me if he can read to me. He’s been doing the same thing to Mark Heuston, our Campus Principal for a while now so I’m happy to be included too. I’ve seen one boy go from the saddest of sad and completing a disappointing exhibition in term 2 Year 9; to measuring, cutting and building a model plane with Mark; to baking and icing multi-tier cakes with our Youth Worker Aimee Denbesten; to going on work experience organised by his Advisor; to now working in a school-based apprenticeship organised by our VCAL Coordinator, Pauline McNamara.
This term I challenged the school to complete 10,000 acts of kindness in 10 weeks and every Friday in Ciao (last thing we do before the weekend) they write up examples of kind acts they saw during the week. It’s not the end of term yet but we’ve met the challenge already.
Q: What would you say to other teachers and principals about re-engaging students with learning?
A: There’s an old saying, “I don’t care how much you know until I know how much you care”. That sums up engagement and re-engagement for me … build the relationship; develop an understanding of student interests. “Seek first to understand” as Covey puts it. It might take a while but without doing this you will never move to the next step. We expect it will take 2-4 years for us to achieve significant change with each of our students because they have faced multiple challenges and been failed by the system over many years, but the same thing applies in every school with every child. It has always amazed me that teachers understand this when it applies to them (“The Principal doesn’t listen to us”, “Staff meetings are boring – they should make them more interesting”) but these people are often the last ones to consider doing things differently in their classrooms to engage students or build positive relationships. Engage with the individual first, then build that to engage them with learning and then the whole world opens up!
This is a big award for a Big Picture Principal. Congratulations Bronwyn. We all wish you well.


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Barrels Sports Pub in Majestic Hotel Tower Bur Dubai Dubai – Don’t miss a single game! Barrels Sports Pub is a household name in Dubai, a well known sports bar with large widescreen TVs so you can enjoy the excitement of live matches and much more. The traditional pub-style menu offers great options for any time of the day.
We believe no trip is complete without a great meal. That’s why our team of chefs put their heart and soul into our menus. Their diverse cultural backgrounds and rich experiences are reflected in the varied food and beverage offerings in Majestic Hotel Tower .
We want you to succeed as much as you doBook one of our meeting rooms for your corporate event. Our in-house events team will gladly assist with room setup, equipment requirements and any food and beverage arrangements. These halls can be set up to suit U-shape; theatre style; cabaret style or classroom and our talented F&B team will gladly put together a selection of nibbles for your guests’ breaks.
Majestic Hotel Tower, located in the heart of Bur Dubai, Bur Dubai which literally means Mainland Dubai is a historic district, located on the western side of the Dubai Creek. It historically consisted of all districts between the western bank of the Creek and Jumeirah.
Open daily from noon to 3am.


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There have been a lot of movies showing how fracking is polluting our groundwater. Giving people cancer. Causing fire to blow out of people’s water faucets. Makers of movies appear on The Daily Show and The Colbert Report talking about how horrible and dangerous fracking is. So the evils of fracking are all around us. But, strangely, these dangers are conspicuous by their absence in one area. Actual news stories.
We hear about how global warming is getting worse. We hear example after example of how Republicans hate the poor and women and want to take away health insurance from everyone. We are bombarded with news about how the rich aren’t paying their fair share and how Republicans are trying to buy elections. But we don’t see reporters filming fire shooting out of a water faucet. And we don’t see the CDC in fracking areas responding to soaring cancer rates. Or fracking fields being turned into superfund cleanup sites.
It’s odd because when Malaysian Airways Flight 370 went missing 4 weeks ago CNN covered the missing airplane 24/7. Even though they had nothing to report. They just brought in experts (and a physic) and theorized about what might have happened. The other news channels covered the non-news with nearly the same fervor as CNN. So you would think that if fracking was causing fire to shoot out of water faucets and was giving everyone cancer they would be covering that 24/7. For most of these news channels are liberal. And liberals hate fracking. But they don’t go to North Dakota to report the abject misery fracking has brought them. Probably because they don’t want to show the economic boom going on in North Dakota. Where people are going to for jobs. Where the unemployment rate there (2.6% as of February 2014) is the lowest in the nation. Perhaps that’s why they don’t report the abject misery fracking is causing in North Dakota. Because there is none.
So if the media isn’t in North Dakota is the government? Is the EPA documenting the abject misery fracking is causing the good people of North Dakota? No. Instead, they’re purposely trying to give people cancer (see What’s more dangerous to your health than fracking? The EPA, apparently by Ashe Schow posted 4/2/2014 on the Washington Examiner).
So the EPA asked people to expose themselves to dangerous pollutants — some at levels 50 times greater than what is safe — but didn’t tell them about the dangers.
Why would the EPA, which supposedly cares so much about the public’s health, do this, especially to people who already had health problems?
To justify more regulations and funding, of course.
This is what the federal government thinks is good. Not a 2.6% unemployment rate. Like they have in North Dakota. Thanks to fracking. Which the people living there don’t seem to mind. As the people moving there don’t seem to mind. Interestingly, the blue states with higher concentrations of liberals aren’t enjoying such economic prosperity. The unemployment rate in New York is 6.8%. In Illinois it’s 8.7%. And in California it’s 8%. So they’re doing something right in North Dakota. And something very wrong in New York, Illinois and California. Perhaps committing too many resources on liberal policies. Instead of creating an economic climate that will give people the thing they want most. A job.
The Federal Reserve has failed to bring down the unemployment rate. So the Fed will continue to devalue the dollar. In their fervent Keynesian hope that it will actually do good. While it continues to do a whole lot of bad (see STOCKS EXPLODE, RATES COLLAPSE AFTER FED SHOCKER: Here’s What You Need To Know by Sam Ro posted 9/18/2013 on Business Insider).
Markets went nuts. The Dow and S&P 500 surged to new all-time highs. Interest rates collapsed, the dollar tanked, and gold surged.
During the press conference, Bernanke said that the tightening of monetary policy (i.e. raising the Fed’s benchmark rate) may not begin until the unemployment rate is considerably below 6.5%. He also said that an inflation rate floor could be a sensible modification to its forward guidance policy.
The only thing lowering the unemployment rate is people leaving the labor force. The labor force participation rate is at record lows. Which means more and more people who can’t find work have just given up trying. And because they have the labor department doesn’t count them anymore as unemployed. Which brings down the unemployment rate.
So for the Obama economic policies to lower the unemployment rate below 6.5% will require bringing the labor force participation rate lower still. Because the Obama economy is not growing. Obama’s policies, especially Obamacare, are the greatest job killers to ever come down the pike. If the unemployment rate drops below 6.5% in this jobless ‘recovery’ we’ll have Great Depression unemployment. Tens of millions of real people out of a job despite what the official unemployment rate says.
And you know it’s bad when “interest rates collapsed, the dollar tanked, and gold surged.” They’re printing so much money ($85 billion each month) that massive inflationary pressures are building up in the pipeline. There’s so much money out there that there is more than people (other than Wall Street investors) want to borrow. Hence the low interest rates. Because they’re printing so much money each dollar is worth less and less. Which is why the dollar tanked. Because the Fed is going to continue to devalue it. And when inflationary pressures are building and are just waiting to explode people want to protect their assets with gold. So when inflation explodes and our money becomes worthless gold will hold its value. Why? Because you can’t print gold. That’s why Keynesian economists hate it. It forces governments to be responsible. Something anathema to a Keynesian.
The economy under the Obama policies is now just a train wreck waiting to happen. And when it does the fallout will be Great Depression bad. Because of Keynesian economics. The worst and most destructive theories ever to be implemented by government. In fact, everything wrong in government finances today can be traced to Keynesian policies. Expanding the money supply to stimulate the economy has only made recessions worse. And increasing government spending (to replace private spending during recessions) has burdened governments so much that they are flirting with bankruptcy throughout the world. Even a city in the United States. The City of Detroit. A harbinger of what is to come.

industry_corpus2: Petrochemicals


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Easy Repairs offers same day TV mounting and installation. Brick wall? No plug nearby? No problem! Our flat screen TV installation pros can handle it.
Easy Repairs can professionally install your home or office security camera system. Our Security Specialist Techs help you install a system you already purchased or help choose a system to meet your security needs.


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After the happy day I had today (following the rest happy days I’ve had prior to today), I was suddenly taken back to one of my favorite Lils’ entry which is on “Every couple has their own story.” :) So today, I want to share our story.
Second of all, we don’t SMS each other constantly because what can you say every few minutes? I admit, at first I found it weird because I WAS used to SMS-ing whoever I’m currently close with every few minutes/seconds. But then again I see my parents and also any other married couples out there (I’m taking examples of married couples because they already stood the test of time) and they don’t need to ask “Have you eaten?” every few hours. But when I do receive an SMS message from him, it would totally make my day and nobody can take my goofy smile away.
Lastly, talking about world events? I don’t see anything wrong with it. It just shows our character and it is coincidental that our passion is on the same thing. Every couple needs to have that common ground, no? Plus, we save our cute-sy talk only when nobody’s around.


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Trackmobile’s design philosophy is to build the best machines that efficiently and safely move our customer’s railcars, so all Trackmobiles come equipped with a certain set of standard features.
Train air braking can be managed from the operator’s seat with a convenient armrest control to deploy train air in increments of 10 psi. The Train Air Hold feature can also be used to apply brakes in smaller intervals, allowing multiple railcars to be braked more gradually.
Trackmobile also offers an optional on-board train air charge indicator that monitors the brake pipe air flow when charging railcars and can be viewed directly from the operator’s seat. When the number on the gauge drops to zero or levels off, the brakes are fully charged and capable of braking at their fullest capacity.
The tractive effort of a rail vehicle is dependent upon its weight, so Trackmobile maximizes tractive effort through the process of weight transfer, a simple means of increasing the weight of the downward pressure on the railwheels by borrowing weight from the railcars coupled to it. This is done by coupling to a railcar and using an easy, finger-tip control to raise the coupler. This process can add up to 99,000 lbs. (44,905 kg.)* to the Trackmobile’ s weight, effectively increasing its tractive effort.
The Safe-T-Vue system is a patent-pending camera system that provides a 360 degree virtual view surrounding the machine that eliminates blind spots. Safe-T-Vue offers unparalleled visibility during the railing of the Trackmobile and coupling and uncoupling railcars through the use of its proprietary video image support. The surround view function allows the operator to immediately recognize potentially dangerous traffic or pathway situations. Operators get an enhanced view of areas that would normally be difficult to negotiate – this means better, more efficient maneuvering and better ground crew spotting around the machine and between the machine and railcars, increasing safety and saving both time and money.
For quicker response time and control when moving many cars, our long life 100 CFM Rotary Compressor provides 100% duty cycle at maximum RPM even at low temperatures. Our railcar movers provide everything you need to keep crews productive.
Industrial grade Airend design built for 100% duty cycle, 24 hours per day, 365 days per year at maximum rpm.
Standard on T4 Atlas, Titan and Hercules models.
Heavy-duty 2” [51 mm] thick rotating mainframe oscillates up to 10° assuring 4-wheel rail contact. Standard on Titan.
Heavy-duty 6” [152.4 mm] thick split pivoting maingrame with 8” [203 mm] mounting plate with oscillating bearing that pivots up to 10° assuring 4-wheel contact at all times and extends axle life. Standard on Atlas.
Expanded seating for additional crew members, training purposes, or inspectors. This wall mounted, padded seat is spring loaded and includes a seat belt for safety. For additional 3rd crew member seating, the seat can be mounted on the engine side cab wall of the Titan model.
Neutral braking is a feature that gradually applies the Trackmobile’s service brakes after 5 seconds when the transmission is shifted into the neutral position on the joystick. It is important to note that this applies the Trackmobile hydraulic service brakes. The park brake is another independent brake applied by the park brake switch on the instrument panel.
Neutral braking occurs when the transmission is moved to the neutral position and the joystick is released, allowing it to return to its resting position.

industry_corpus2: Transportation


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This is my third post about women in leadership and the biases women have to encounter at work which make it hard for women to reach a leadership position. This post is about the maternal wall. When I first heard the term "maternal wall", the first thing that came to mind was another metaphor "glass ceiling" which also describes an invisible barrier through which women can see elite positions but cannot reach them. In this case, the term glass ceiling also applies to ethnic minorities, who also find it difficult to secure leadership positions in the workforce. In the case of the maternal wall, women with children encounter assumptions that they are no loner committed or competent at work - or that they shouldn't be.
When I had both my children I was living in Holland. Although people's views of Holland are that it is a modern, forward looking country, 27 years ago when I had my son many people were shocked that I decided to return to work when he was 6 months old. People would say to me, "You're going back to work?". Some of the kinder people added another word to this: "Already?" At that time in Holland maternity leave was 16 weeks. As my son was born in February, this meant I was due to return to work right as the schools were breaking up for the summer, so I postponed this return until the new school year. At that point, an emergency appendectomy, followed by peritonitis and septicaemia meant that I could not return until October, by which time my son was actually 8 months old. I returned to part-time work, and my husband also took parental leave - he was the first person in his company ever to do this. Holland was a country where in the early 1990s women with children stayed home - in fact children were sent home from school to eat lunch at home, so having a parent at home was the only option. Even though I worked for an international company, when I returned to work I was definitely seen as less committed to my career. If I had chosen to stop work at this point, I very much doubt I would have been re-hired, and would probably not be an international educator today.
In the video Joan Williams talks about how the assumption that women can't be committed both as workers and mothers has a huge impact on women's careers. Statistics show that women with children are 79% less likely to be hired and only half as likely to be promoted. At one point, when my son was young, I was forced to leave a faculty meeting that had run over its time, in order to collect my son from his daycare before it closed. The following day I received an email from the head of school saying he noticed I left the meeting "early" and wondered what was wrong. Williams points out that this is typical: women with children are actually held to higher performance and punctuality standards than women without children. And when women do perform well, they are often judged as being "not maternal enough".
Women with children are often not offered new assignments or promotions because it is assumed that they don't have the time or the inclination for extra work. Even younger women, who do not have children, report that they are being passed over for promotions because it is assumed that they will eventually have children.
Williams has the following strategies for dealing with the maternal wall bias.
If you need to be out of the office, be explicit about your reasons - otherwise people will assume you are taking time off because of your children.
Here's the third video. Have you experienced the maternal wall bias? What have you done to show you are committed to your work as well as your family?


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Candy Crush Saga follows the traditional match-three formula, where you match three or more like-colored objects to remove them. It's very easy to pick up, and will keep you playing for hours.
Candy Crush mixes up the levels with differently shaped game boards and jelly--which are squares that can only be cleared by candy crushing.
Several of the boosters in Candy Crush Saga can be unlocked for free, but others will cost you real money.
You start Candy Crush with five lives, and lose one life each time you fail to complete a level. Lives refresh every 30 minutes, but you can pay a hefty sum to up your total number of lives.


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"What do you think caused that dead circle of grass in the backyard?" Gloria asked.
"I'm guessing satanic rituals," I said. "Some sort of undead revival. There may be corpses."
"I was thinking a trampoline," she said.
"OR A TRAMPOLINE," I said. "Also possible."


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Get daily notifications and updates about the latest Elizabeth Craft Designs discounts, special offers and promotions on our website by subscribing to our email updates regarding Elizabeth Craft Designs Coupons codes. You can also follow official Elizabeth Craft Designs social media pages. If you are looking to save money on Elizabeth Craft Designs Discount codes, look no further as you will find all the latest Elizabeth Craft Designs Coupons codes available on the internet, which also includes Delivery off Elizabeth Craft Designs promo codes and free delivery on Elizabeth Craft Designs.com discount deal. You can find all deals of Elizabeth Craft Designs listed on our website which is updated regularly to provide you the active discount offers from Elizabeth Craft Designs. DealsNado.com is free to navigate and use the latest lists of both expired and active Elizabeth Craft Designs coupons for Apr 2019. Our team manually checks available Elizabeth Craft Designs.com Coupons codes. Make sure to use our active Elizabeth Craft Designs discount codes while checking out so you can get amazing savings on your next Elizabeth Craft Designs purchases.
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How many times have you found yourself in need of a locksmith service that heeds your call and charges you reasonably? Perhaps, one too many! With our foray into the industry, no one in Los Angeles, CA 90020 has to face a tough time looking for reliable services anymore. Observing the sheer lack of quality services in the community, we decided to do something about it and first established our firm over a decade ago. Since then, we’ve dedicatedly served the local community and have swiftly made our way to the top to become the #1 locksmith service company in the region.
True, locksmithing dates back several centuries, but today, it dons a completely different façade. No longer are the locks and keys of yesteryears relevant. Technology has prompted the industry to take great strides, and we’ve evolved with it. From stocking the latest tools and equipment to providing the best of locks, we’re always a step ahead of the times. We also run mobile operations in zip code 90020 comprising a huge fleet of vans loaded with locksmithing equipment.
If it’s a blend of quality and affordability you seek, then that’s exactly what you get when you call Los Angeles Lock & Door. Give us a call now on 310-359-6637 to avail our superior locksmith services in zip code 90020!


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With hurricane season in full swing, many people are starting to turn their attention to getting prepared for the bad weather to come. There is a variety of different tools that you can use to get prepared for the effects of a hurricane, but none are more effective than a generator. When the lights go out due to bad weather, a generator will allow you to keep the power on in your home and run the necessities that you need to ride out the storm. Here are a few of the benefits of Generator Rental in Harrisburg PA.
One of the biggest benefits that comes along with renting a generator is that it will allow you to get the generator that you need when you need it. You will not have to worry about waiting until you have the money because in most cases all you have to do is put down a security deposit on the rental. This means you will be able to bring the generator home and use it in no time at all. The only thing you need to do in order to rent the generator that you need is to find a supplier and pay the rental fee, which is much easier than purchasing one.
Another benefit that comes along with renting a generator is that it will allow you to save a lot of money in the process. Purchasing a generator can be very expensive and many homeowners do not have the budget to facilitate such a purchase. In order to make sure you get the best rental price on your generator, you will need to call around to the suppliers in your area. The more you know about what is available, the easier it will be to choose the right company.
If you are in need of a Generator Rental in Harrisburg PA, then be sure to contact the team at The Slaymaker Group. They have the generators that you need at the price you can afford. You can call them or visit their website at for more information.
Buying Your First Car	 One of the most exciting rites of passage is purchasing your first car.


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Many times during his life, the village of Arthabaskaville would become a place of rest for the politician. The village was quiet, the air pure and it offered the much needed space for Laurier to rest. City life undermined his health. Wood and coal heating caused air pollution, refuse was managed poorly and crowded housing contaminated the air.
Although he was a Member of Parliament in Ottawa, he returned to Arthabaskaville for peace and for rest. His entire life would be divided between the intense political life of Ottawa and the serenity of his home on Rue de l’Église.
Arthabaskaville also provided the private circle of his colleagues, Lavergne and Pacaud. Evenings spent at the Lauriers were commonplace, although Wilfrid was far from fond of the niceties required by his status. He surrounded himself with artists such as Marc-Aurèle de Foy Suzor-Coté, Roméo Poisson and a few others. Some artists even created pieces for him.

industry_corpus2: Politics & Administration


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Learning To Deal With Disasters!
In the late 18th century, Indian raids became common until their defeat in the Battle of Fallen Timbers. The Treaty of Greenville that followed opened the floodgates for thousands of settlers who came to the region and soon Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dayton, and Youngstown were established. Ohio thus became the 17th state on March 1, 1803 and by the middle of the 19th century it was well on it’s way to becoming a major industrial state. Canals and railroads, which had created a much faster trade route, played a major role in Ohio’s progress.
After the civil war, industry expanded rapidly with Benjamin Goodrich opening a rubber plant in Akron and John Rockefeller founding the Standard Oil Company in Cleveland. Ohio became a top manufacturing state of machinery and furniture.
During the great Depression, the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a federal agency, was formed. It provided hundreds of jobs and also came to the rescue of the thousands who were marooned when the Ohio River overflowed its banks. The WPA helped in creating many flood-control dams and reservoirs throughout the state. This DVD provides a fascinating peek at the northeastern corner of the prosperous state of Ohio and explains why it clamis to be the "best location in the nation".
This historic documentary describes the work of members of the Works Projects Administration (WPA) in how they helped refugees and victims of a winter flood of the raging Ohio River. Scenes of total devastation are shown, with homes and other establishments submerged under the icy-cold waters. The film also focuses on the relief work done by the WPA and the fire brigade, damming up rivers, building sidewalks, building refugee shelters, providing essentials such as food and medicines and generally cleaning up.
Produced by the Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company, this documentary provides a delightful tour of the company and its manifold activities. It shows how the company keeps the North Eastern corner of Ohio supplied with electricity round the clock and explains why this is the best place in the United States.
Sponsored by the Ohio State Highway Patrol this educational film is intended to warn citizens of the grave dangers of ignoring traffic regulations. It contains graphic images of accident sights. The heart-rending footage was shot just minutes after the tragedies in which many careless drivers and their unfortunate co-passengers were maimed or killed. The producers single out carelessness as the most common cause of these accidents.
Producer: Highway Safety Films, Inc.
This fascinating DVD showcases three amazing facets of the State of Ohio - its resilience and uncanny ability to face and bounce back from grave disasters, its relentless pursuit of progress and its deep concern for the safety and well being of its citizens.
Each of these aspects is dealt with in an insightful manner in the three magnificently preserved films that you will witness in this historic DVD. Excellent footage of the floods that ravaged the state in the 30s demonstrates the severity of the situation and also highlights the state’s preparedness in facing such disasters.
The Jam Handy produced documentary on the Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company is a fabulous discourse on the company’s activities. Characterized by Handy’s obsession for detail and professional handling, the film acquaints you with the Company and its workers through graphic shots and charming narration.
The gruesome images of road accidents in the clip "Signal 30" should melt the hearts of even the staunchest detractors of safety regulations. While the scenes themselves may be disturbing, the message they convey is a significant and strangely comforting one - observe traffic regulations and your safety is guaranteed.
Yes, Ohio, has always been one of the most ‘happening places’ in the country and this DVD provides a fabulous insight into the lives of people who have made it their home. Thrilling, edifying and shocking, this DVD is a collector’s delight and is certain to enthrall viewers with invaluable historic facts.
"While all the three films on this fascinating DVD are outstanding in their own right, the one entitled "Signal 30" especially touched me. I am sure it wasn’t an easy decision to include those ghastly scenes of fatal accidents in the film, but as they say, the ends justify the means. I now keep a careful eye on my speedometer these days and I am quite certain that many like me, have started taking traffic regulations more seriously after seeing this wonderful and thought provoking documentary. Thanks everybody at a2zcds for this wonderful reminder of how important it is for all of us to follow traffic regulations while driving."
"Ever since I placed my first order for a DVD from a2zcds, about six months ago, my collection of CDS and DVDs from this wonderful producer has grown steadily as has my satisfaction with their services. Not only do they select relevant titles, but they also back these up with wonderful customer care services. I will not hesitate one bit in recommending this professionally managed source of innovative DVDs to any of my friends."
Historic Travel US - Ohio Surges On DVD today!


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Please complete the following 2018 OPSSA Membership Details update form.
This will help ensure the committee can keep your school informed and up to date with OPSSA events.
The details you provide will form the basis of how OPSSA will contact your school so accuracy is important.
The information collected will only be used by OPSSA and will not be passed onto any other parties.
The 2018 OPSSA Cross Country Event will once again be held at Kaikorai Valley College in September.
Regrettably we have had to cancel the Otago Championship Athletics Meet.
make for an enjoyable and rewarding day for competing Students, Officials and Supporters.
Thank you for all your efforts in preparing for the Otago Championships Athletics Meet. We look forward to seeing you in 2019.
Unfortunately the Central Otago Athletics meet has been cancelled for 2018.
likelihood of them drying out sufficently in time for tomorrow.


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In the last few years, Brands like Xiaomi are ruling the budget smartphone segment, taking over Samsung’s number one market share position. Despite, Samsung has tried to respond in several different ways over the years. Unfortunately, there are very few of its recent low-cost offerings have been competitive enough.
Finally, The Brand makes a major comeback in this segment with its Galaxy M-series. Here’s the Samsung Galaxy M20 review, which gives you many reasons to buy the device.
Samsung Galaxy M20 is the affordable phone with great battery life, display, and average performance. However, Camera performance is a mixed bag. Serious gaming is not recommended.
Design And Display: Whenever we are looking for a smartphone, the first thing we consider is the way how a device looks. There is nothing wrong in it though. No one would like to carry a bulky and ugly looking device. Worry not, I am not pointing Samsung M20. It’s the first time, the Company features a notch display, which gives it a premium look. Coming on to the rear panel, the smartphone comes wrapped with almost plastic. Although it gives a clean look, plastic feels quite cheap in this segment. Looking at Honor 10 Lite, I feel Samsung should have gone with better quality.
Performance And Software: The device gets latest Exynos 7904 chipset by the brand. It is an octa-core chipset based on a 14nm process and is equipped with two Cortex-A73 cores that run at 1.8GHz, and six Cortex-A53 cores that run at 1.6GHz. You should not expect intense multitasking capabilities. You can go with 4GB variant if you spend a lot of time on your phone. This doesn’t mean that you can play highly-intensive games.
For now, It runs Android 8.1 Oreo with Experience UI 9.5 on top, which is disappointing. Anyways, Samsung has confirmed to roll out the Pie update for M10 and M20 in August.
Battery Life: It is one of the best feature shared in the Samsung Galaxy M20 review. The device packs an impressive 5000mAh battery. Alongside, It includes USB Type-C port and 15W fast charger. With this, the phone gets full charged up faster as compared to the rest of the competition.
Camera: The camera feature may disappoint the users who are photo freaks because it does not offer a great set of cameras. However, it has an ultra wide-angle camera, which makes it unique amongst its competitor. The camera will turn out to be decent in daylight but do not expect much in low-lights.
Among the current competitors in this segment, Samsung’s immense brand power will help it regain a lot of the customers it has lost. Galaxy M20, A device with a standard design has a decent display. Overall, It carries a mixed bag of features, as mentioned above.


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So what does “Power Plant as a Service” look like? It features an off-the-shelf biomass power plant called the E3 50 within a 20-ft (6-m) container, at a cost of around £500 ($704). The system is aimed at companies with medium to high power demands. Customers that invest in the service sign up to one of Entrade’s two power packages: £4.95 ($7) a month without fuel, or £12.95 ($18.25) with fuel provided. Compared to buying electricity from one of the country’s main providers, Entrade estimates that its customers can save around 20% on annual power costs.
Installation, operation and ongoing maintenance are also included in the package, but one of the best things about the E3 50 is that, as well as burning the traditional wood pellets used in biomass energy production, it can also burn food waste and nutshells. Add to that the ease of managing everything online, and that it qualifies for a rebate under the UK’s Renewable Heat Incentive, and it seems that “Power Plant as a Service” really could be set to transform the future of energy generation for many of the UK’s businesses.
Production at the company’s German manufacturing facilities is ramping up. By the end of 2016, there should be more than 500 off-the-shelf biomass plants ready to ship to customers all over the world.
Is energy the new cash?


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When you have a cold, you dread the misery of feeling blocked up and unable to breathe freely. Now there is a remedy that will provide temporary relief – Olbas Oil.
Olbas Oil contains a unique blend of six pure plant oils combining the essential oils of peppermint, eucalyptus, cajuput, clove, juniper berry and wintergreen with menthol (natural extract from the peppermint plant). Each ingredient has value of its own, but the real secret which makes Olbas Oil special is the way the oils have been blended together.
The essential oils have a strong, pleasant odour. When exposed to the air, they give off a powerful vapour. Inhaling this vapour gives temporary relief from nasal congestion and sinus trouble. Essential oils applied to the skin produce a feeling of warmth and a local anesthetic action. They are effective in providing temporary relief from muscular discomfort and rheumatic pain.
What relief will I get for my congestion?
Olbas Oil will temporarily loosen the mucus, relieve congestion, making breathing easier and bring temporary relief of sinus pain.
To use the inhalant simply sprinkle a few drops on to a handkerchief of tissue and breathe in the vapours. Or put two to three drops on the palms of your hands, cup your hands and breathe deeply. At night, sprinkle a few drops on the sheet or pillow, or rub it into the upper chest. The penetrating vapours will provide temporary relief from congestion.
Can children use Olbas Oil?
Olbas Oil is really effective and can be used for children aged two and over. Just put a drop on the sheet or on a tissue fastened to the end of the bed. Or place a few drops in a jug of warm water at a safe distance away from the bed. Your children will breathe freely.
I’ve heard I can use Olbas Oil on muscular pain?
Olbas Oil is easily absorbed when applied to the skin. This produces a feeling of comfortable warmth. Olbas Oil should be gently and thoroughly massaged into the affected part.
Available in 10ml and 25ml sized bottles.
Each bottle has a special dropper so that the correct dose can be readily obtained without mess or waste. It is non greasy and non-staining. However care should be taken to avoid contact with polished and delicate surfaces.
Olbas is also available as an Inhaler.


text: Mini Hand Carved Calabash Meerschaum Pipe & Hard Case - This Mini Meerschaum Pipe is made from Turkish Meerschaum and Natural Minerals. The mini pipe is a perfect size for a quick smoke. The bowl is guaranteed to never burn out as what happens with some wood or Briar Pipes. Every mini Meerschaum Pipe is hand finished and each pipe is inspected for consistency in design and quality.


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Another year, another metric, another great result for the students of Oconee County Schools! Last week, the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) released the new College and Career Readiness Performance Index (CCRPI). This index replaces the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) model that has been utilized to measure schools since the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. The CCRPI places all schools and school systems on a scale equaling a total of 100 points. The overall score is made up of three major areas: Achievement (70 points), Progress (15 points) and Achievement Gap (15 points). In addition to these three major areas, schools can also receive up to ten “Challenge Points” to add to their score. So, how did our students and schools do?
Oconee County Schools, once again, proved to be a leader in the development, growth, and achievement of students in the state of Georgia. Our high schools led the way and helped OCS earn the right to say that we are the number one high school system in Georgia! Our high school system score was 92 points compared to a state average score of 72.6 points. Our middle schools performed admirably as well with a middle school system score of 93.2 points compared to a state average score of 81.4 points – ranking our middle schools 11th in the state. Finally, our elementary schools demonstrated tremendous achievement with an elementary system score of 93.4 points compared to a state average score of 83.4 points. This score was good enough to rank our elementary schools 14th in the state of Georgia.
Are you still wondering why these scores matter to our students, schools, and stakeholders? Simply stated, the CCRPI measures whether the students of Oconee County Schools are being prepared at a rigorous level that will enable them to successfully enroll in a college or university without remediation, and complete their chosen degree and career.
The implementation of this index is a step in the right direction for the state of Georgia, as it continues to focus on preparing students for life through successful educational practices. The CCRPI differs from the AYP measurement method. AYP focused solely on test results from students on a state assessment one day out of the year. The CCRPI utilizes test results as a measure, but also applies a much more comprehensive methodology to the evaluation process.
The bottom line for Oconee County stakeholders is that our students are achieving at a high rate no matter how you measure it. The CCRPI is providing our schools and system valuable data on this success and insight on how we can work collectively to assist our students with even greater gains. Please join me in congratulating the students and teachers of Oconee County Schools. Their hard work is paying off and is being recognized in our state and beyond.


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GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (Dec. 21, 2018) — Van Andel Research Institute-affiliated scientists Peter W. Laird, Ph.D., Stephen B. Baylin, M.D., and H. Eric Xu, Ph.D., are included in this year’s Highly Cited Researchers list, which identifies scientists who have published multiple papers ranking in the top 1 percent of citations by field and year worldwide.
Citations of one’s published work by other researchers is universally considered to be a measure of influence and impact in the scientific community. This list, published annually for the past five years by Clarivate Analytics, includes more than 4,000 scientists across 21 fields.
The rankings are based on Clarivate’s Web of Science, the world’s largest publisher-neutral citation index, which includes more than 1.4 billion cited references going back as far as 1900.
Laird is a world-leader in cancer epigenetics, a growing field that explores how changes to the way genes are regulated give rise to cancer. He played a major role in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), a National Cancer Institute-led effort that molecularly mapped 33 different types of cancer, providing a powerful resource for scientists seeking new ways to prevent and treat these devastating diseases.
He joined the Institute in 2014.
Baylin is a leading cancer scientist who holds an appointment at the Institute in addition to his primary affiliation at Johns Hopkins University. He, along with VARI Chief Scientific Officer Peter A. Jones, Ph.D., D.Sc. (hon), serves as co-leader of the VARI –SU2C Epigenetics Dream Team, a multi-institutional, collaborative effort to move promising new combination therapies in to cutting-edge clinical trials.
Baylin accepted a joint appointment at the Institute in 2015.
Xu is one of the foremost experts on a group of molecules called G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), which are targeted by approximately 30 percent of medications currently available in the clinic. As a structural biologist, he seeks to determine the architecture of these important molecules in order to develop new therapies for a host of diseases.
Xu joined the Institute in 2002.
When scientists make a discovery, they publish it in peer-reviewed journals (after their work is reviewed and vetted for by a group of experts in the same field). Other scientists can then build on these findings and, when they publish their own discoveries, they include a reference list of citations detailing ever scientific article that informed their own work. These lists often comprise dozens and, sometimes, more than 100 other scientific articles.
To be highly cited means that many other researchers use work from a particular scientist to conduct their own investigations. It is widely considered to be a strong indicator of scientists’ contributions to the research community.

industry_corpus2: Biopharmaceuticals


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The characters have finished comparing notes, but Spencer isn’t telling everything he knows. Next scene: action and a deepening mystery at the old farmhouse.
I’m getting closer to the meat of the story, and Maggie eats brisket instead of donuts.

industry_corpus2: Literature & Emotions


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Georges Casamatta, scientific director of ECOPA, presented a seminar on impact assessment on 14 February 2019 at Toulouse School of Economics (TSE). This presentation uses ECOPA’s approach and case studies.
Our evaluation for IFC of the OHADA Initiative, a first since the creation of that organization in 1994, has been officially published.
To evaluate the impact of public programs and policies, ECOPA implements econometric methods to generate counterfactual scenarios and compare them with observed outcomes. These tools are combined with qualitative techniques (case studies, focus groups) to provide balanced evaluations with practical lessons on policy and program design.
To help governments improve the attractiveness of tax systems and enhance revenue mobilization, ECOPA combines its international experience of best practices with the appropriate use of up-to-date data modeling.
ECOPA helps governments improve the business climate and Doing Business indicators.
ECOPA analyzes the impact of trade and regional integration agreement by combining advanced modeling techniques with practical experience of institutions and policies.

industry_corpus2: Finance & Economics


text: We’ve preserved one of the purest, most fleeting joys of summer - your sipping 1/4 - 1/3 lb. of these sun warmed, sweet black raspberries in every bottle. Pure clover honey adds a floral scent to the bouquet. Try this jewel of a shrub in seltzer or white wine, drizzle on pancakes, yogurt, or ice cream or use in a vinaigrette.

industry_corpus2: Agriculture & Fisheries


text: The state of Florida is loaded once again on the prep side, as the Jacksonville-based Callihan has an argument to be one of the top hitters in the class. He has a quick lefthanded swing with lots of strength in his 5-foot-11, 211-pound frame. Callihan routinely hits deep, towering fly balls in batting practice and also showed off his raw power during USA Baseball’s 18U trials, homering against an elevated 90 mph fastball. Defense will be the biggest question with the South Carolina commit. He has a chance to stick at third base, but plenty of work needs to be done in terms of improving his hands and footwork for the position.

industry_corpus2: Sports


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Though small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are the mainstay of economies around the world, they can struggle to access the business insights they need to flourish. 9 Spokes developed a dashboard of business performance management tools hosted on secure, robust and scalable IBM® Cloud™ infrastructure. Provided to SMBs by their own banks, these tools power better decision-making while mitigating business risk.
Traditionally, enterprise-class business tools have only been accessible to relatively large companies. 9 Spokes International Ltd. saw an opportunity to close the gap by offering more economical solutions in the cloud.
9 Spokes chose to work with IBM Cloud bare metal servers to host its dashboard for business apps. Provided to SMBs via their own banks, the solution gives both parties deep insights that enhance decision-making.
9 Spokes, an innovative New Zealand-based cloud services provider, recognized an irresistible opportunity and an unserved need: the delivery of enterprise-class business tools to SMBs. Millions of SMBs form the backbone of economies across the world, and yet the technology that can level the playing field with bigger players is often out of reach due to lack of scale and access.
The founders of 9 Spokes wanted to upset the status quo by providing the same IT firepower to smaller companies that larger corporations enjoy. In one simple, curated marketplace, users can find all the applications they need to run their businesses, including accounting, marketing, sales, stock management, human resources and more.
9 Spokes extracts data from the applications using APIs and presents key metrics to companies via an intuitive dashboard, providing clients unprecedented insight into their business performance. At the same time, 9 Spokes gains visibility into users’ businesses—a valuable source of data that forms a key part of the 9 Spokes business model. This gives the company opportunities to provide industry benchmarking utilizing anonymized data from across a large footprint of businesses globally.
To deliver this innovative solution to SMBs, 9 Spokes required a secure and robust technology platform that could scale rapidly.
Working with IBM, 9 Spokes identified the banking sector as the ideal initial route to market. By white-labeling its solution so that banks can deliver it directly to their own customers, 9 Spokes reaches a large ready-made SMB client set. For banks, the deep visibility into their customers’ businesses offered by the 9 Spokes platform can help improve engagement and identify lower-risk opportunities to sell additional services and service their customers.
To give banks the confidence to invest in the 9 Spokes solution, the company opted to host its solutions on highly secure, robust IBM Cloud bare metal servers. The fully virtualized solution runs on infrastructure in IBM Cloud data centers in London and Amsterdam. The company’s default stack is 12 virtual machines per bare metal server and one server per bank, running microservices-based applications for flexibility and short time-to-market.
Utilizing IBM Watson® technology on the IBM Cloud, 9 Spokes can help banks explore and enrich clients’ data sets to enable value-added services, providing new AI-powered capabilities for its smart dashboard. For example, 9 Spokes is creating a forecasting tool to give users insight into current cash flow, with 30-, 60- and 90-day outlooks, as well as longer-term views. The company plans to augment this feature using Watson solutions to incorporate insight into seasonality and related buying patterns.
Through a planned deployment of IBM Watson Campaign Automation software, 9 Spokes would also gain the ability to analyze the journey of individual SMB customers beginning with their first steps on the solution’s dashboard. With the resulting insights the company would have the ability to create and deliver highly personalized marketing content automatically, and to ensure that customers get the most benefit from the 9 Spokes dashboard solution. 9 Spokes is designing a Marketing as a Service (MaaS) offering, to complement its business insights platform, based on Watson™ Campaign Automation software. The intention is to give banks the same capabilities in personalized marketing.
9 Spokes offers SMBs clarity around current and predicted business performance and how they compare to competitors, giving them the information that they need to make decisions that increase sales and profitability. Banks can monetize their new visibility into clients’ businesses by gaining the intelligence to offer the right services at appropriate times, while mitigating their exposure to risk.
“Our solution enables bank client relationship managers to move on from simple conversations about credit cards and loan facilities to ongoing discussions about stock levels and sales pipelines that introduce trust and value to the relationship,” says Estall.
As 9 Spokes continues to augment its platform, the company recognizes the potential for substantial additional revenue streams, including a new MaaS offering. Going forward, the company plans to incorporate weather data and predictive analytics into its solutions through new Software as a Service (SaaS) capabilities. 9 Spokes also intends to draw on the strengths of IBM in AI and blockchain to provide value-added services to clients in areas such as compliance with anti-money laundering policies.
About 9 Spokes International Ltd.
9 Spokes provides enterprise-class technology and insights to SMBs via the power of the cloud. Founded in 2011, the company is headquartered in Auckland, New Zealand.
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The 9 Spokes dashboard is not an IBM product or offering. The 9 Spokes dashboard is sold or licensed, as the case may be, to users under 9 Spokes’ terms and conditions, which are provided with the product or offering. Availability, and any and all warranties, services and support for the 9 Spokes dashboard is the direct responsibility of, and is provided directly to users by, 9 Spokes.