The lowest score is disregarded to account for possible bias on the part of the judges. Geri's score is the mean of the scores that remain.
What is Geri's score, to the nearest tenth?
The highest and lowest scores are disregarded to account for possible bias on the part of the judges. Donna's score is the mean of the scores that remain.
What is Donna's score, to the nearest tenth?
The highest and lowest scores are removed to account for possible bias on the part of the judges, and each gymnast is awarded the mean of the five remaining scores.
The means - their scores - are equal.
The mean of a data set is the sum of its elements divided by the number of elements. Since in both cases the sum is divided by six, it suffices to compare the sums of the elements.
Since is greater in choice (B) than in choice (A), this sum, and, subsequently, the mean, is greater in choice (B).
Julie's final score in psychology is calculated by taking the mean of the best five of her six test scores. Julie received a final score of 85. Her first four test scores were 85, 98, 78, 80, and 84. Which is the greater quantity?
Since Julie's final score is 85, it can be deduced that Julie's fifth test score was the one that was dropped, so it must have been less than or equal to the least of the first five scores, 78. However, no further information can be determined; the score may have been greater than, less than, or equal to 75.
Sally's final score in economics is calculated by taking the mean of the best four of her five test scores. Sally received a final score of 78. Her first four test scores were 90, 80, 65, and 70. Which is the greater quantity?
Since Sally's mean was greater than this (78), it can be deduced that her fifth score was better than 65, and that the 65 was dropped. Therefore, (A) is greater.
The highest and lowest scores are removed to account for possible bias on the part of the judges.
(A) The mean of the seven scores?
(B) The mean of the five scores that remain after the highest score and the lowest score are removed?
A mean is calculated by takng the sum of the elements and dividing by the number of elements.
In each round, the highest and lowest scores are removed to account for possible bias on the part of the judges, and each gymnast is awarded the mean of the remaining scores.
What is the average of the three numbers in the set below?
The course average for a chemistry class is the mean of five test scores. Anne has scores so far; Barb has scores so far. Which is the greater quantity?
The only real comparison that needs to be made is between the two students' totals; the one with the lesser total needs a greater score to average .
Barb has fewer points so she needs more points to average . This makes (b) greater.


The bubble sort algorithm is a fairly straight forward way of sorting an array of values. The goal of the calculation is to sort the contents of the array. For the purpose of example, lets say we wish to sort an array of integers values with length N so that the lowest values are at the beginning of the array (lowest index) and the highest values are at the end of the array (highest index).
The overall calculation is broken down into several iterations. During each iteration, the array is scanned. Each element is compared against its neighbor. If the two elements are out of order (that is, if the element at the lower index has a higher value than the element at the higher index), then values in the elements should be swapped. This means that any value in the array will only move by at most one index in the array during each iteration. In the worst case, an element will have to move from one end of the array to the completely other end of the array (i.e. move N - 1 indexes). This requires N - 1 iterations to be performed (if no check is done during each iteration to test if the array is sorted; we will not do this check, for now, to keep the code simple).
The first observation to make about bubble sort is that the order of the test/swap operations (that is, if statement in Figure 1) doesn't really matter. It may make a slight difference on the total number of iterations for a value at a particular location to move a certain distance, but this is a minor point. Because the order of these test/swap operations does not matter, each iteration can be broken up into two phases. In one phase, all of the odd elements (that is, elements at odd indexes) will compare their value with their higher neighbor (that is, the element at index + 1). By doing this, each element in the array is involved in at most one test/swap during this phase. In the next phase, all of the even elements (that is, elements at even indexes) will compare their values with their higher neighbor. If it is easier to visualize, in the first phase the odd elements will compare their values with one neighbor (all in one direction, either higher or lower) and then with the other neighbor in the next phase. Figure 3 below, under the Implement It section, has an example array being sorted to help illustrate this idea.
For the sake of simplicity, we will start by only having a single array element (value) per chare object in the chare array. Additionally, we will use an implicit barrier to control progress via communication with the main chare object. Since the chare objects are only involved in a single test/swap operation per phase, there should be little to no state to keep track of.
phase of the bubble sort calculation.
The communication between chare objects within any given phase should be fairly straight forward. Let us consider a single pair of chare objects, chare object at index X and its neighbor at index X+1. One of the chare objects, let's say X, will initiate the test by sending it's value to the other object, X+1. Once the message is received, chare object X+1 knows both values and can perform the test. If the object decides that the order of the values is fine, it can deny the swap by sending a message back to X indicating this. If, however, the values need to be swapped, X+1 can simply replace its old value with the value X sent to it and send a message back to X containing its old value which X will use to replace X's value (completing the swap operation). See Figure 2.
Once the chare object at index X has received a reply from X+1, X will send a message to the main chare object to indicate that this pair (X and X+1) has finished the swap for this phase of this iteration. Once all of the pairs have done this, the main chare object will start the next phase of the computation. For now, this will serve as an implicit barrier which will reduce the number of race conditions that are possible and reduce the complexity of the code for the chare array. However, it should be noted, the presence of this implicit barrier will degrade the performance of the calculation as the chare objects in the chare array are continuously having to synchronize with one another (and wait for the slowest object).
Try implementing the bubble sort calculation using Charm++. See the hints for implementing the parallel prefix program (specifically makefile, initial values, and checking correctness).
Single Value per Chare Object: To keep things simple, start by having one array value per chare object. So, N chare objects each with a single integer value.
Phases: For the sake of simplicity, it may be easier to initially implement the program so that each iteration is broken down into two phases. In the first phase, have each of the odd elements (i.e. each element at an odd index) test for swap (and swap if need be) with their neighbors. Then, in a second phase, of the remaining elements (i.e. each element at an even index) have each test and swap with their neighbors. This will mean that only a single chare object is involved in a single test/swap during any given phase. See the example below. The indexes in ( ) indicate a pair of chare objects that are communicating during the given phase.
Figure 3: Example array being sorted using the parallel bubble sort algorithm.
Barriers: Use implicit barriers between the phases. That is, have the main chare control the progress of the calculation by having each chare object in the array checkin with the main chare after each phase of each iteration. While this is obviously less efficient, it will be easier for the programmer to keep track of what the program is doing for the sake of learning.
A simple solution for this program can be found here (BubbleSort.tar.gz). Please note, this solution does not just run for N iterations. Instead, it exits after there have been two consecutive phases with no swaps occurring (indicating that the array is sorted).
Similar to the extension for the parallel prefix program, try implementing this calculation so that each chare object contains multiple values. Having a single integer value per chare object is inefficient since the amount of computation done in an entry method is quite low and won't be able to efficiently overlap with the overhead of sending messages. With multiple integer values per chare object, the amount of computation done per each message received will rise and likely increase the efficiency of the program.
The presence of the implicit barriers reduces the efficiency of the calculation. The barriers are not actually required though. Try writing an implementation that does not use any barriers. That is, have the main chare start the computation and then only be notified when the array is correctly sorted. Additionally, no single chare object should act as a manager for any of the other chare objects. Instead, they should all be peers, each containing their values and trying to trade values with their neighbors if they find that values are out of order. Once again, it will probably be easier to first implement an barrier-less implementation with each chare object only having a single integer value.
Hint: Each chare object only needs to talk to its neighbors. It should check both neighbors to check if the values (its value and its neighbors values) are in order. If the values are not in order, then the appropriate swaps should take place. If a swap takes place between a chare object and its neighbor, the other neighbor's value should also be rechecked to see if the new value needs to be swapped with the other neighbor. If a chare object checks both neighbors and finds that the values are in order, it is currently finished working (for now). I could be later woken up by a neighbor that received a new value and might have to swap again in the future. When all chare objects decide that they are finished (no chare needs to swap with any of its neighbors) then the overall array is sorted and all the chare objects are no longer sending/receiving any messages or executing any entry methods. Here, something called quiescence detection can be used. Quiescence occurs when all of the following conditions are met: (1) no chare objects are currently processing a message (i.e. executing an entry method), (2) no chare object has a message queued for it by the Charm++ Runtime System, and (3) no messages are in-flight in the interconnect. For more information on quiescence detection, see Section 3.13: Quiescence Detection of the The Charm++ Programming Language Manual. It might be easier to continue on with the tutorial and come back to this version of bubble sort after having become a bit more experienced with Charm++ (specifically after learning more about callbacks).


The "nocebo effect" is like the placebo effect, except in reverse. Whereas placebos trick people into feeling better, "nocebos" are things that make people feel worse, even though they don't really exist. They can even kill people! Here's how we can trick ourselves into dying, and how doctors may have found a cure.
Let's begin with a story. A young man who had been in treatment for depression for some time hit a low point after his girlfriend left him. He took an entire bottle of his medication. As soon as he finished the bottle, he realized he'd made a mistake. At the hospital, grievously ill, he lingered near death. He couldn't breathe. His blood pressure was dangerously low. After making inquiries, the doctors found out that he had been in a study for a new antidepressant. That might explain why none of the tests they ran on him was able to indicate what drug was poisoning him. They contacted the doctors coordinating the study.
The man had been given placebos. The placebos had worked, improving his mood and making him sure that he'd been given the active medication. When he overdosed on the sugar pills, the placebo effect he'd been experiencing transitioned into the "nocebo effect." Convinced he was dying, he actually began to die. Once he was told he was in no danger, he recovered.
Not all people do. There are numerous comical instances of the nocebo effect in which people are given what they believe is an emetic and begin to throw up, only to discover that the emetic was saline. Huge swathes of the population rush to the hospital whenever a new virus gets reported on the news. Some secret societies even took advantage of the nocebo effect; they would blindfold their initiates and either run the back of a knife along their skin or cut them very slightly, then pour warm water over the cut, making them feel like they were bleeding profusely and scaring the hell out of them.
In the wrong situation, the nocebo effect can be extremely dangerous. People who expect to die going into surgery are more likely to have delayed recovery and serious complications. At least one man seems to have died of a metastasized tumor that didn't metastasize. He was told he had a given number of months to live, and lived only that long. The autopsy revealed that he wasn't in any danger from the small and isolated tumor they found on his liver. He'd just died.
The nocebo effect and the attempts made to avoid it help explain the exaggeratedly bland hospital language that often exasperates patients. "This is going to hurt like hell," seems charmingly honest, but it's also something that can cause people to hurt more than they would for the comparatively disingenuous "some patients may experience some discomfort."
A few words are effective in causing or preventing pain. Patients with back pain who took a stretch test were more likely to feel pain if the doctors administering it admitted it could hurt. If the doctors just shut up and let them stretch, they tended to report no pain.
This puts doctors in a bind. There's no ethical way to practice medicine without allowing patients informed consent. Informed consent means letting a patient know about everything that could go wrong with them. By mentioning these details, all the things that could cause a patient to feel pain, to regress, or to die, a doctor could be increasing the suffering, or even hastening the death, of a person who would have been fine with less information. This puts doctors in the position of trying to give patients information while simultaneously trying to keep them from focusing on it. The practice leads to some weird quirks. One paper on the nocebo effect and surgery notes "an epidemic that "kills 1,286 people out of every 10,000" is perceived as worse than an epidemic that "kills 24.14% of the population," even though the latter kills almost twice as many people." It advises doctors to give death and complication rates in percentages, rather than numbers per thousand.
Experiments designed to study the nocebo effect are few and far between, as most doctors are loathe to try to create illness in their patients. But there is some hope for those who don't think they can best their own brain in a battle of wills. The nocebo effect seems to follow a specific pathway in the brain, and that pathway can be blocked.
Cholecystokinin (cck) is a hormone found in the gut and in the brain. In the gut cck and its variants regulate the release of bile and other digestive enzymes. In the brain, it's a little different — two versions of it cholecystokinin, cck-a and cck-b, both bind to receptors that dial down the dopamine in the brain when activated. This dials up the level of depression and anxiety that a person feels. Increased relaxation and happiness decrease pain. Increased anxiety and depression alert people to pain, and help them focus on it. When injected with something that temporarily takes out the cck receptors, the nocebo effect lessens, and people have better outcomes.
Which makes me want a meta-experiment. What if people are told they are being injected with something that takes out the nocebo effect, but it's actually a placebo? What will happen to patients in the battle of the 'cebos?
Top Image: Tom Varco Second Image: D Coatzee Doctor Image: Seattle Municipal Archives.


Lady Gaga Addresses Bradley Cooper Romance Rumors The duo had a very intimate Oscars performance on Sunday.
They performed "Shallow" from the film, 'A Star is Born,' which won the Oscar for best original song.
On Wednesday's appearance on 'Jimmy Kimmel Live,' Gaga addressed the real-life romance rumors.
Lady Gaga, via 'Jimmy Kimmel Live' Her response was paired with a dramatic eye roll.
Lady Gaga, via 'Jimmy Kimmel Live' Cooper attended the Oscars with his girlfriend, model Irina Shayk.
He still had to shut down dating speculation rumors after his performance with Gaga.


We know that our universe is expanding, as observed by Edwin Hubble.
Is this expansion spherical, ie radial expansion in all directions?
OR, this expansion is spiral, as if a coiled spring is uncoiling?
It appears to be "radial". Distance galaxies are moving away with speed depending only on distance.
The temperature drop is best seen from the microwave background, which has a temperature ~ 3 deg K, compared to several thousand degrees around 300,000 years after the big bang.
This is very complex. It involves dependence of electromagnetic radiation on temperature, volume and of course the constancy of entropy under adiabatic expansion. Too many assumptions.
Einstein original equations leads to expansion (or collapse) but he proposed static universe with his cosmological constant. Later on Hubble observation could be explained with expansion only, which further on proposed as accelerating expansion based on redshifts observations. This could only be spherical with visible horizon till recession velocity becomes c.
The Observable Universe is a spherical volume. We don't know the shape of the Universe, and it probably has no meaning anyway.
Probably only in intergalactic space where expansion is manifest.
Everything moves away from everything else, on large enough scales.
But don't let that give you the idea that there's a centre that things are moving away from. There was no big bang at a centre, from which everything then moved away. The big bang happened everywhere at once.
That seems to be the case which IMO argues for initial very fast expansion from a small singularity and it does so in a wave like manner. Is there a possibility that our expansion has its own frequency and may be we are caught in one of the frequency cycles and our spacetime expansion will slow or speed up in accordance to this frequency.
I had understood it was very simple: the expansion of space leads to an increase in wavelength, which is a reduction in frequency, which shifts the envelope of the black body radiation towards the red.
So how does temperature decrease with increase in wavelength, decrease in frequency and subsequent shifting towards red ?
Are you asking why the temperature decreases when there is a decrease in frequency, or are you asking the mechanism by which this occurs?
Logically, it should follow, that the universe is cooling, as the energy density is decreasing (fixed value of energy against an increase value of volume, resulting in a reduction in density of energy).
All fine, volume increases but how does temperature decreases in this process?
Please note that I have cautiously stayed away with a caution that it is quite complex and stated the required ingradients, but Exchemist feels that it is pretty simple as increase in wavelength etc will reduce T. How is it so simple?
PS: BTW thanks for starting to follow me. I promise you a great, objective but not necessarily pleasing to authority, learning.
Ok the black body. But in this case who the emission source that with increasing the distance that caused the shift of frequency ?
Can you rephrase? I can't parse that sentence.
If you have a set amount of energy that cannot increase, and the volume said energy is spread out across increases, the energy density will decrease. As a result, the temperature has decreased (after all, thermal emission is just a form of radiated energy).
Conservation of Energy at work, I believe.
As above - it is basic conservation of energy... unless I'm misunderstanding what it is you are questioning?
Look up black body radiation, if you do not now what that is. But in a nutshell, (a) a thermal emitter gives off radiation with a characteristic frequency distribution, and (b ) the relative amounts of the various frequencies emitted depend on the temperature of the object. This is why a heated piece of iron will, as the temperature rises be first red hot, then yellow, and then white hot.
The Wiki article on CMBR, here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_microwave_background has, as usual, a good description.
In the case of our universe, the initial temperature of the CMBR would have been defined at the moment the universe became transparent to radiation for the first time, and it has subsequently expanded with the expansion of space.
Kittamaru, that's very simplistic but actually it is not. The expansion here could be isothermal or adiabatic. Say it is not isothermal, so the next step is to establish that the adiabatic expansion of the universe will decrease the temperature, to establish that for non fluid expansion of this type you have to bring in maths which will involve V and T with some power and related inversely. Can you do it for radiation? Hint : It's complex and will involve entropy too, that's why I said, it's complex.
When the red shift was measured . For us on the earth to se the shift taken place, who was the light source ?


Why Get a Beekeeping Guide?
When beginning a new hobby or activity we may want to get into the least amount of expenses. However, concerning beekeeping, can it be said that acquiring a guide to supplement information gotten from sources like forums will be a waste? Additionally, would it be better to learn from an online beekeeping guide than from a physical book or an experience beekeeper? As you can guess, this article will try to respond to these two questions.
Before books were accessible to the mass, learning a profession or anything else was not necessarily based on reading. Consequently, it can also be inferred that learning beekeeping does not have to be done from a book. In fact, being around beekeepers could give a person more practical knowledge than that of the pages of a beekeeping guide, whether it be online or on paper format.
This being, in case it is not possible to spend a lot of time with experienced beekeepers, having a source of information that is handy can be advantageous. In fact, you might find within a beekeeping guide responses to simple questions you may have. Thus, I would say that while practical knowledge can hardly be replaced with that of a book or a forum, these sources of information can complement what is learned through practice.
In the general sense, I would say that a lot of information can be obtained from forums when it comes to beekeeping for example. However, an issue that can arise from getting your resources from forum is linked to the organization of the information. In fact, you might not necessarily find what is needed to be known about beekeeping in a chronological way. Said differently, a lot of answers to beekeepers concerns can be found but not presented in a way that is beginner friendly. For that reason, I would say that a book can be a better support to understand the basics about beekeeping. Nonetheless, forums can complement with specific answers or details on certain topics.
Answering, this question can lead to look at more than the way the information about beekeeping is presented in a physical beekeeping guide or within a forum. Effectively, while some people may be comfortable reading from a screen, others might prefer to have a book they can read from. So, there are also preferences that come into play when deciding what to go for between a book, and an electronic resource. Because it is also possible to combine, you might not have to choose between the two.
Getting a beekeeping guide appears to be necessary not only because beekeeping involves living creatures but also due to the fact that everyone does not know an experienced beekeeper to learn from. However, when it comes to choose between electronic resources or a physical book, personal preferences can come into play. This being, one should be aware that the way the information is generally presented in forums can lack the chronological structure that could help a beginner.
To find another article about a beekeeping guide, click on the preceding hyperlinked text.


So, Hey, Is Australia An Example To Follow For Mandating Employer Retirement Benefits?
They are never-ending, it seems: proposals to create a form of nationwide mandatory retirement savings. A recent article at Third Way lists some of the newer ones, and proposes its own. Forbes contributor Teresa Ghilarducci has been promoting what she has alternately been calling Guaranteed Retirement Accounts or the Retirement Savings Plan. I have my own pet solution with mandatory retirement savings as an integrated part of a Social Security reform. Some of these proposals require employees to contribute their own earnings, others require employer contributions, and yet others require both.
And, as it happens, any such program would not have to start from scratch. It would not be innovative or especially unusual -- if you take an international perspective. A year ago, I profiled the retirement system in the United Kingdom. Hong Kong and a number of Asian countries have what they call "provident funds." And Australia has a system they call Superannuation, in which all employers are required to contribute 9.5% of an employee's pay into a retirement fund.
Now, there's a lot to say about this system and other systems outside the United States but I want to focus in this article on one specific issue: how did they get from here to there? 9.5% of income is a lot, and that contribution rate has to be understood in the context of an overall state pension system that's much different than ours. But there is one element of their experience that I think is very useful to consider: what happens when a mandatory contribution (for retirement savings, or a new payroll tax for maternity leave, or something else) appears out of nowhere?
One gets the impression that many supporters of new taxes, especially when directly employer-paid, believe that employers have a secret stash of money somewhere that they'll be persuaded to cough up, or that they'll cut executive pay as needed. The wiser, but more trivial answer to any such tax hike is "it all ultimately comes out of worker pay."
And in the case of Australia more specifically, worker pay increases were effectively directed into Superannuation contributions, with a slow phase in starting at 3% in the program's first year and increasing one percentage point every other year to 9% in 2002. The further increase to 9.5% likewise happened in two steps, to 9.25% in 2014 and 9.5% in 2015.
And again, it was acknowledged that the mandated superannuation contributions were not coming out of employers' pockets but were a redirecting of employee wage increases; so long as those pay increases exceed inflation, workers are no worse off in terms of living standards but accumulate retirement savings they otherwise might not have. Another article, from Australian-based The Conversation, reports that recent renewed discussions around further increases in the contribution rate up to as high as 15% are based on the belief by supporters that employers are unfairly withholding wage increases, so that mandated increases in Super contributions are a way to force employers to grant this increase -- though the author, Brendan Coates, disputes this, since, so long as nominal wages grow due to inflation, employers can implement Super contribution increases out of this nominal pay increase without having to cut pay.
The bottom line is this: if American workers' wages rise above inflation, then mandating that some of that increase be directed to retirement savings might well be a pain-free way to achieve a long-held goal. But that's not a sure thing.
What do you think? (Besides, "hey, write a snazzier title!") Let me know at JaneTheActuary.com!


How Trump will make Obama's Countering Violent Extremism programme into "Countering Violent Jihad".
On January 21, one day after US President Donald Trump was sworn into office, the resistance was inaugurated by way of women's marches across the country. Muslim-Americans were prominent in these marches, with civil rights leaders such as Linda Sarsour organising and addressing the Washington, DC, crowd, and Muslim American women leading offshoot marches. The ubiquitous displays of non-Muslims chanting slogans and holding signs in defence of Muslims was heart-warming.
As Muslim women and men marched, however, the looming perils of Trump's counterterror programme - still largely undefined - raced through their minds. The day before, during his inauguration speech, Trump vowed to completely eradicate "radical Islamic terrorism … from the face of the earth".
Trump is inheriting from President Barack Obama the Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) programme, that was based on the premise that foreign terror threats are tied to Muslim American citizens at home. Like other policies of the Obama administration, this programme was linked to the idea that radicalisation is an exclusively Muslim phenomenon.
Trump has adopted this idea, but unlike the Obama administration, he aims to integrate this conflation of radicalisation and Islam with the belief that the US is interlocked in a war with Islam - and with the eight million American citizens that adhere to it.
Exit Obama and Countering Violent Extremism. Enter Trump and war of civilisations.
In 2011, Obama formally instituted counter-radicalisation as his administration's signature counterterror programme CVE. It was a major departure from the George W Bush's counterterror programme in three important ways.
First, it shifted its concern from foreign terrorists to the "homegrown violent extremists", focusing on Muslim residents and citizens as suspect radicals. Second, CVE relied on a network of informants to monitor subjects of interest within Muslim communities, institutions, and public spaces, in addition to the electronic surveillance model established under Bush. And third, Obama strategically toned down the "clash of civilisations" rhetoric that characterised the Bush administration, in exchange for the language of tolerance that helped in the grooming of Muslim informants.
In five years, Obama built a counter-radicalisation infrastructure and institutionalised the presumption that radicalisation is a purely Muslim phenomenon. The structures and strategy has now been handed over to his successor, Trump, to build upon, as he assembles a counterterror team.
In late December, a Trump administration insider told Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials that the new president was committed to the counter-radicalisaton national security model. However, the racially neutral CVE would likely be renamed to "Countering Violent Jihad" or "Countering Radical Islam" making it fully transparent that Muslims are the specific targets of this programme.
This renaming aligns with Trump's modus operandi of blatant Islamophobia, but it also promotes the worldview that the US must commit itself to an intractable civilisational war with Islam.
Several of the organisations awarded large grants by the Obama administration, with reach into vulnerable Muslim American communities, are financially bound to carry their counter-radicalisation initiatives under President Trump.
Apart from mere rhetoric, Trump has surrounded himself with cabinet members who subscribe to this world view. General Michael Flynn, Trump's national security adviser, wrote that, "The countries and movements that are trying to destroy us … are united by their hatred of the democratic West and their conviction that dictatorship is superior." He also tweeted in February 2016 that "Fear of Muslims is rational" and has referred to Islam as a "malignant cancer".
Jeff Sessions, Trump's nominee for attorney general, referred to Islam as a "toxic ideology". Michael Pompeo, picked to lead the CIA, stated that Muslim American leaders that do not explicitly denounce acts of terror - both in the US and beyond - are "potentially complicit".
One would think that Trump's brazen Islamophobia would shrink the pool of Muslim American informants and interlocutors that could carry his counter-radicalisation programme forward. However, several of the organisations awarded large grants by the Obama administration, with reach into vulnerable Muslim American communities, are financially bound to carry their counter-radicalisation initiatives under President Trump.
Therefore, these organisations will carry forward programming in Muslim communities even under Trump's Countering Violent Jihad strategy.
Such programming will expose Muslim Americans to the heightened suspicion and hardline policing that Trump is sure to streamline in the coming months.
Muslim organisations that have received CVE funding have capitalised on their community's ignorance of counter-radicalisation for cash and have endorsed the state baseline that radicalisation is specific to Muslims.
Looking forward, unless these organisations divest themselves of the CVE grants, they are functionally carrying out the Trump administration's counterterror vision. Until such divestment occurs, community members must not engage with or provide support to these organisations.
The continuous association of Muslim organisations with CVE signals the existence of elements within the broader Muslim-American landscape that will trade off the best interests of the community for their own, and collaborate with the most nefarious administration for cash.
As Trump's counter-radicalisation programme takes shape, displays of solidarity with Muslims will be most needed within Muslim-American communities: in mosques, community centres, student organisations, and households, where the threat of counter-radicalisation will descend with unprecedented intrusion and unseen ferocity.


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Contact dermatitis is inflammation of the skin caused by direct contact with something that causes an irritation or allergic reaction. Given these two different causes, the condition can be broken down into two types: irritant contact dermatitis and allergic contact dermatitis. The irritant type is most common, accounting for at least three quarters of all cases of contact dermatitis.
Contact dermatitis is characterized by a red and inflamed skin rash. Contact dermatitis can occur anywhere on the body, but is most likely to appear on the hands and face.
Irritant contact dermatitis occurs when the skin comes into direct contact with - and is irritated by - a particularly acidic or alkaline substance. Some common irritants include detergents, soaps, oils and solvents. These substances would cause inflammation in most people if exposure occurred frequently or over a long period of time.
Perhaps not surprisingly, irritant contact dermatitis occurs frequently on the hands. It is also common among certain types of workers, such as cleaners, mechanics, printers, hairdressers, builders and healthcare workers.
Allergic contact dermatitis occurs when the immune system reacts to an allergen. The immune system mistakenly damages normal tissue in an attempt to remove the allergen. This type of allergy is known as a delayed hypersensitivity reaction, as it takes days to develop. It is not a condition present from birth. Instead, contact with an allergen is required for a reaction to occur. In some cases, the allergy may not develop until years after initial exposure. However, once 'sensitized', the allergy is for life and the skin will react whenever it comes into contact with the allergen again.
Some substances will only cause an allergic reaction after they have been applied to the skin and are then exposed to sunlight. In these situations, the condition is known as photoallergic contact dermatitis.
Having characteristics of an acid, a substance with a sour taste and a pH of less than seven when dissolved in water, such as vinegar.
Having characteristics of an alkali, a substance that can neutralize acids and has a pH of greater than seven when dissolved in water, such as sodium bicarbonate.
Topical medications, such as antibiotics and corticosteroids.
Allergic contact dermatitis is more likely to develop in people with a family history of other allergies.
Contact dermatitis is more likely to occur in people with another skin disorder, such as psoriasis, acne or eczema.
Contact dermatitis is more likely to occur in people who regularly work outdoors, in the heat, or with their skin submerged in water. These environments tend to strip the skin of its protective oils.
Although women are more likely than men to develop contact dermatitis, this is not because of any biological or genetic factor. Rather, it is due to the fact that women more commonly fill occupations that involve exposure to irritants and allergens.
As certain substances only cause a skin reaction once exposed to sunlight, spending time outside may increase the likelihood of developing allergic contact dermatitis.
A harmful, hypersensitive immune reaction to usually innocuous environmental substances.
Contact dermatitis is most common on the hands and often first appears as skin dryness in the webbing between the fingers. However, the condition can develop anywhere on the body that has been exposed to an irritating substance. The signs and symptoms often depend on the cause and whether the dermatitis is due to an irritant or allergen.
Symptoms usually appear within two days of having contact with the irritant and only in the direct area where the contact occurred. Strong irritants usually cause an immediate reaction, whereas reactions to mild irritants may require repeated or long-term exposure.
Blisters that may ooze or crust.
In cases of allergic contact dermatitis, symptoms may not appear until hours or days after contact with the inflammatory substance or material (allergen). While the symptoms generally appear in the area where contact occurred, sometimes the inflammation may occur on other areas of skin.
Visual appearance of contact dermatitis on hands.
A doctor will generally diagnose contact dermatitis by looking closely at the skin and asking about symptoms, medical history and any family members with an allergy or skin condition. To identify any irritants or allergic causes that may be causing the condition, the doctor will probably also ask some questions about lifestyle and occupation.
In some cases, the doctor may swab the skin or take a small tissue sample (biopsy) to rule out other causes of inflammation.
Sometimes, contact dermatitis can be easily recognized and the cause identified without conducting any tests. However, when further investigation is required, the tests focus on applying potential irritants to the skin and observing the outcome.
To test for irritant contact dermatitis, the doctor may apply one or more common irritants to the skin on the forearm or inner elbow. After being left uncovered, the skin is then checked several times in the following days for a reaction. This method of diagnosis is known as open application testing.
In some cases, this process may be repeated on the same area of skin twice a day for 5-10 days, to see how the skin reacts. This is known as repeated open application testing (ROAT). If the symptoms are not too severe, a doctor may also suggest doing a similar test at home with cosmetics or personal care items thought to be causing a reaction.
If an allergic reaction is suspected, the doctor may refer you to a specialized skin doctor (dermatologist) for patch testing. During this test, very small amounts of different allergens are attached to the skin on the back or arms, using special tape. After two days, the dermatologist will remove the patches of tape and look for any signs of an allergic reaction. As most reactions take a few days to develop, the skin is usually examined again four to six days later.
Initial treatment for contact dermatitis usually involves washing the affected area thoroughly with lots of water and then identifying the cause of the inflammation. After this has been done, a doctor may recommend leaving it to clear on its own, or another type of treatment to help ease symptoms.
Applying wet dressings or taking a cool bath may also be advised to provide relief from redness and itching. It may also help to choose smooth clothing and mild soaps without dyes or perfumes. To avoid scratching, some possible measures include keeping the nails short, wearing cotton gloves at night and covering the affected area with a dressing.
Emollients are substances that soften the skin and keep it moist by covering it with a protective layer. As contact dermatitis causes skin dryness and cracking, adding moisture can prevent further irritation and water loss. Common emollients include paraffin preparations, sorbolene, aqueous creams and bath oils. A doctor will be able to suggest an appropriate option, as some emollients may irritate the skin further.
If the skin is particularly inflamed, a topical corticosteroid may be prescribed for application directly onto the skin. Corticosteroids are used to quickly reduce inflammation and are usually suggested in combination with use of an emollient. For mild to moderate cases, hydrocortisone or clobetasone butyrate may be prescribed. For cases that are severe or that do not respond to treatment, a stronger topical corticosteroid might be recommended. In rare cases, corticosteroids may be prescribed in oral tablet form, or as an injection.
Application of cream for treatment of contact dermatitis.
Antihistamines help to relieve itching by suppressing part of the body's allergic response. Some of these medications are known as 'sedating antihistamines' because they also cause drowsiness. The most common type of sedating antihistamine is diphenhydramine.
If contact dermatitis becomes infected with bacteria, antibiotics are usually prescribed in tablet or capsule form. The most common antibiotic for this type of infection is flucloxacillin, a member of the penicillin family of medications. In cases of penicillin allergy, erythromycin or clarithromycin may be used instead. Sometimes a topical antibiotic cream or ointment may be applied directly to the skin.
The most basic forms of light therapy involve exposing the skin to a controlled level of natural sunlight. More advanced options use ultraviolet light (UVA or UVB) to help control dermatitis. Care needs to be taken during these treatments to avoid overexposure to ultraviolet light, a known cause of skin cancers.
Generally, contact dermatitis symptoms can be managed effectively. However, complications may occur, particularly when itching and irritation are severe or ongoing. For example, continued scratching may break the skin or encourage oozing. Once the skin barrier has been broken, infection with bacteria or viruses becomes more likely.
Similarly, excessive scratching can cause a condition known as neurodermatitis (or lichen simplex chronicus). In short, scratching makes the area even more itchy, which leads to further scratching. Eventually this cycle causes the affected area of skin to become thick, leathery and discolored.
For some people, severe or long-term symptoms may affect quality of life or result in psychological issues, such as distress, low self-esteem and embarrassment.
Generally, the outlook for contact dermatitis is quite good, with most cases clearing up within two to three weeks. However, it may return or become a long-term condition if the substance that caused it cannot be identified or avoided. If the cause is linked to employment, it may be necessary to leave that job or career.
On rare occasions, exposure to a substance that causes allergic contact dermatitis may cause a severe immune response, known as anaphylaxis. Urgent medical care should be sought if this occurs.
Contact dermatitis can also be embarrassing or interfere with sleeping, particularly when it is very itchy. Usually though, the condition can be managed by maintaining good skin care habits and avoiding the causes.
The methods for preventing contact dermatitis closely mirror the self-care treatment options, particularly those relating to skin maintenance and avoiding triggers.
Contact dermatitis may be prevented by wearing protective clothing or gloves to reduce exposure in everyday situations. For buttons or fasteners that are attached to clothing, an iron-on patch over the item to prevent contact with skin could be considered. Similarly, if a certain product is causing a reaction, changing to one that does not contain the problem ingredient is usually recommended.
Applying emollients regularly, or using them in place of soap, can also help skin to heal and provide a protective barrier. This can help to prevent infection and worsening of symptoms.


Electroencephalography (EEG) concurrently acquired with fMRI provides high temporal resolution information about brain activity as well as subject head movement. We introduced an EEG-assisted retrospective motion correction (E-REMCOR) method that utilizes EEG data to correct for head movements in fMRI on a slice-by-slice basis and substantially improves the quality of the data. To further enhance the usability of E-REMCOR, especially for the large-scale EEG-fMRI studies, we developed an automatic and improved implementation of E-REMCOR, referred as aE-REMCOR.
This user research summary is primarily based on articles [1,2] published as Vadim Zotev, Han Yuan, Raquel Phillips, Jerzy Bodurka (2012) EEG-assisted retrospective motion correction for fMRI: E-REMCOR. NeuroImage 63, 698-712, doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2012.07.031, and Chung-Ki Wong, Vadim Zotev, Masaya Misaki, Raquel Phillips, Qingfei Luo, Jerzy Bodurka (2016) Automatic EEG-assisted retrospective motion correction for fMRI (aE-REMCOR) NeuroImage 129,133-147, doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2016.01.042.
Electroencephalography (EEG) recordings performed simultaneously with fMRI provide high temporal resolution information about ongoing brain activity as well as head movements. A method is introduced for EEG-assisted retrospective motion correction of fMRI (E-REMCOR) that employs the EEG array as a sensitive motion detector during fMRI. EEG motion artifacts are used to generate motion regressors describing rotational head movements with millisecond temporal resolution. These regressors are utilized for slice-specific head motion correction and to improve quality and usability of fMRI data. To facilitate the application of E-REMCOR in large-scale EEG-fMRI studies, an automated and improved implementation, referred to as aE-REMCOR, is described. The aE-REMCOR algorithm, implemented in MATLAB, enables automated preprocessing of the EEG data, independent component analysis (ICA) decomposition, and, importantly, automatic identification of head motion and cardioballistic-related independent components (ICs), which can further improve fMRI data and facilitate utilization of EEG-fMRI in large clinical studies.
E-REMCOR is based on the observation that voltage artifacts induced in EEG leads due to rigid-body movements of the head in the uniform magnetic field of an MRI scanner can be analytically related to time derivatives of real-time rotational head motion parameters. EEG motion artifacts then can be used to generate motion regressors describing rotational head movements with millisecond temporal resolution. These regressors are utilized for slice-specific motion correction of unprocessed fMRI data. Application of E-REMCOR for fMRI motion correction includes three steps. First, after MR-artifacts removal, an independent component analysis (ICA) is performed for the EEG data to identify motion and/or cardioballisitic (CB) artifacts. The identification criteria for random head motion are outlined in. Second, each motion-related independent component (ICk) is band-pass filtered and integrated over time to yield two E-REMCOR regressors, to ensure that short-term effects of rapid head movements are explicitly described by the regressors irrespective of the presence of long-lasting slow motions, having the same temporal resolution as the EEG data. Third, the E-REMCOR regressors are sub-sampled to match the acquisition times for each slice in the fMRI dataset and linearly detrended. Correction of motion artifacts in the unprocessed fMRI data is performed by means of a linear regression procedure applied to each fMRI voxel’s time course. Thus, the E-REMCOR motion correction is performed on a slice-by-slice basis, and can be applied simultaneously with RETROICOR. It is usually followed by the standard fMRI data processing with slice-time adjustment and volume registration to correct effects of slower head motions.
We automated and streamlined the practical use of E-REMCOR for large datasets and/or groups of subjects. An advanced algorithm for automatic identification of head-motion-related as well as CB-related ICs was developed. The algorithm, implemented in Matlab, automatically characterizes and recognizes the special features of the artifacts imposed on the mean power spectral density, topographic map, and EEG signal contribution of the ICs. The aE-REMCOR automation algorithm is illustrated in Fig. 1.
Fig. 1: The sketch of automatic identification of ICs through the analyses of the mean power spectral density, topographic map and contribution to the EEG signal. Possible blink and saccade ICs are removed from the motion ICs selection. Reproduced from Wong et al. (2016) NeuroImage .
ICs related to rapid head motion and cardioballistic motions are recognized when the criteria in the analyses of mean power spectral density, topographic map, and EEG signal contribution are simultaneously satisfied. Eye blink ICs and saccadic ICs are also identified in addition to the head motion ICs to ensure proper separation of head movement and eye movement artifacts.
Subjects provided IRB-approved written informed consent. Subjects wore an MR-compatible EEG cap (BrainCap MR from EASYCAP GmbH; 32 EEG, 1 ECG electrodes, 10-20 system).
For fMRI, a single-shot gradient echo EPI sequence was used. Concurrent EEG recordings were performed using a 32-channel BrainAmp MR plus amplifier (Brain Products, GmbH). The superb temporal stability of pulse sequence parameters provided by the GE MR750 scanner enabled EEG-fMRI recordings with high measurement resolution (0.1 μV). The EEG system’s clock was synchronized with the 10 MHz MRI scanner’s clock using Brain Products’ SyncBox device. Additionally, the EPI sequence was custom-modified (to achieve 1μs TR accuracy) for accurate correction of MRI artifacts in the EEG data.
The study included three EEG-fMRI scanning sessions. Each session lasted for about two hours and was separated by approximately one week. In each session, there were five real-time fMRI neurofeedback (rtfMRI-nf) training scans and two resting scans immediately before and after the rtfMRI-nf training scans. In total 305 EEG-fMRI scans were processed in the analysis, which includes 219 rtfMRI-nf training scans and 86 resting scans.
MATLAB® and EEGLAB were used for EEG preprocessing and ICA. fMRI data analysis was done in AFNI. The correction performance of aE-REMCOR on the fMRI dataset was examined using temporal signal-to-noise ratio (TSNR), motion parameters of the brain voxels, and improvement in the resting state fMRI (rs-fMRI) connectivity analysis[10-11].
Figure 2 shows the automatic results of aE-REMCOR with identified motion ICs from scans with example of significant rapid head movements. Five motion ICs are identified (Fig.2a-c).
Fig. 2: The automatic results of aE-REMCOR with identified motion ICs in a scan with severe rapid head movements. (a) The time courses, (b) spectra, (c) topographic maps of identified motion IC. (h) The close-up of the red box in (a). Reproduced from Wong et al. (2016) NeuroImage .
The 1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th IC (F1(t), F2(t), F4(t), F5(t)) are identified as the rapid head movement ICs, and the 3rd IC (F3(t)) is identified as the cardioballistic motion IC.
Figures 2(d)-(f) show the maximum displacement of the voxels for each brain volume (D), the root mean square difference between an fMRI volume and the 1st volume (rms), and the motion parameters (roll, pitch, yaw, dS, dL, dP) calculated by AFNI 3dvolreg.
Fig. 2 continued: The automatic results of aE-REMCOR with identified motion ICs in a scan with severe rapid head movements. (d) The maximum displacement of the voxels (D) for each brain volume. (e) The root mean square difference (rms) between an fMRI volume and the 1st volume. (f) The rotation angles roll, pitch, yaw and the displacements along the superior (dS), left (dL) and posterior (dP) directions calculated by AFNI 3dvolreg. (g) The ∆TSNR plots on the slices of the brain along the axial direction without volume registration (upper plot) and with volume registration (lower plot). In (d) – (f), the results with and without aE-REMCOR are respectively plotted in red and black lines. Reproduced from Wong et al. (2016) NeuroImage .
The spikes in D, rms and motion parameters indicate the occurrences of the rapid head movements. With the application of aE-REMCOR, the spikes in Fig. 2(d)-(f) are significantly reduced. The aE-REMCOR improvements in resting state fMRI functional connectivity are shown in Fig. 3.
Fig. 3: Resting state connectivity of the default mode network (DMN). (a) – (b): Group correlation map without and with aE-REMCOR for all 86 resting scans. (c): Group correlation difference for all the resting scans ((b) – (a)). The centers of the ROI in PCC (0, -52, 22), mPFC (0, 49, 2), LatPar-L (-45, -60, 32), LatPar-R (43, -60, 29), HF-L (-22, -19, -15) and HF-R (22, -19, -15) of the DMN are respectively marked with green, white, maroon, pink, purple and yellow crosshairs. Indicated next to each slice image is the z-coordinate of the slice. For the group analysis in Figs. (d) – (i), uncorrected p < 0.001 is used. Reproduced from Wang et al. (2016) NeuroImage .
The group correlation maps of the default mode network (DMN, seed PCC) for all resting scans are plotted in Figs. 3(a) and (b). The corresponding group correlation difference ((b) – (a)) is shown in Fig. 3(c). When all the 86 resting scans are considered, the motion-induced connectivity artifacts (Fig. 11(c), in) disappear. This shows the reduced significance of motion artifacts on the DMN connectivity when sufficient scans with little head motion are considered. Nevertheless, when the entire group of subjects exhibits significant rapid head movements, slice-by-slice fMRI motion correction is particularly important to improve the accuracy of the rs-fMRI connectivity analysis.
An EEG-assisted retrospective motion correction (E-REMCOR) method and its automatic extension (aE-REMCOR), which utilize EEG data to correct for head movements in fMRI on a slice-by-slice basis, are reported. The aE-REMCOR automatically preprocesses and analyzes the EEG data, identifies the independent components (ICs) corresponding to head motions, and constructs EEG-based regressors with the identified motion ICs. The entire automatic procedure is carried out in MATLAB. The motion artifacts in the fMRI images are corrected with the motion regressors in AFNI. The automatic identification of the motion ICs is achieved by recognizing the special features of the motion artifacts imposed on the mean power spectral density, topographic map, and EEG signal contribution of the ICs. An automatic algorithm for motion IC identification was developed. The algorithm is shown to be capable of identifying the ICs related to rapid head movements and cardioballistic motions as well as the dominant component in the mixture of them when the ICA fails to separate the different motion components completely. The aE-REMCOR does not require any specialized equipment beyond the standard EEG-fMRI instrumentation and can be applied retrospectively to any existing EEG-fMRI data set, which can substantially benefit fMRI analysis. In addition, the aE-REMCOR can be conveniently and efficiently used to improve fMRI motion correction in large clinical EEG-fMRI studies.
 Zotev, V., Yuan, H., Phillips, R., Bodurka, J., 2012. EEG-assisted retrospective motion correction for fMRI: E-REMCOR. NeuroImage 63, 698-712.
 Wong, CK., Zotev, V., Misaki, M., Phillips, R., Luo, Q., Bodurka, J., 2014. An automatic EEG-assisted retrospective motion correction for fMRI (a-EREMCOR). NeuroImage 129, 133-147.
 Allen, P.J., Polizzi, G., Krakow, K., Fish, D.R., Lemieux, L., 1998. Identification of EEG events in the MR scanner: the problem of pulse artifact and a method for its subtraction. NeuroImage 8, 229-239.
 Bell, A.J., Sejnowski, T.J., 1995. An information-maximization approach to blind separation and blind deconvolution. Neural Comput. 7, 1129-1159.
 Glover, G.H., Li, T.Q., Ress, D., 2000. Image-based method for retrospective correction of physiological motion effects in fMRI: RETROICOR. Magn. Reson. Med. 44, 162-167.
 Zotev, V., Krueger, F., Phillips, R., Alvarez, R.P., Simmons, W.K., Bellgowan, P., Drevets, W.C., Bodurka, J., 2011. Self-regulation of amygdala activation using real-time fMRI neurofeedback. PLoS One 6, e24522.
 Delorme, A., Makeig, S., 2004. EEGLAB: an open source toolbox for analysis of single-trial EEG dynamics including independent component analysis. J. Neurosci. Methods 134, 9-21.
 Cox, R.W., 1996. AFNI: software for analysis and visualization of functional magnetic resonance neuroimages. Comput. Biomed. Res. 29, 162-173.
 Bodurka, J., Ye, F., Petridou, N., Murphy, K., Bandettini, P.A., 2007. Mapping the MRI voxel volume in which thermal noise matches physiological noise – implications for fMRI. NeuroImage 34, 542-549.
 Van Dijk, K.R.A., Sabuncu, M.R., Buckner, R.L., 2012. The influence of head motion on intrinsic functional connectivity MRI. NeuroImage 59, 431-438.


Heart Disease in Women: The Heart Does Not Discriminate - Rochester Health Get Connected.
Contrary to popular belief, diseases that affect the heart and blood vessels (cardiovascular and vascular disease) affect men and women in nearly equal numbers.
Many people believe that men are more prone to heart attacks and heart problems, while women are relatively immune to these problems. This misconception is partly due to the fact that women are relatively protected in their younger years. In general, women begin to exhibit the symptoms and signs of heart disease about 10 years later in life than men. Even though the risk of heart disease increases with aging in both men and women, this increase is far more dramatic in women.
Most females are well-informed, and appropriately concerned, about such health issues as breast and uterine cancer. However, in truth, the incidence of heart disease in women is much greater. For example, recent estimates are that, between the ages of 45-65 years, 1 in 10 women have some form of heart disease. With further aging, the ratio increases to 1 in 4 (over the age of 65 years). In fact, people are often surprised to find out that cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death and disability in women in the U.S.
Many of these factors can be modified to reduce your risk. Modifying risk factors is one means of taking control of your health status, and decreasing the risk of cardiovascular disease. As a bonus, this will also lead to an increase in your overall sense of well-being. For more information on reducing risk factors, go to our articles on High Blood Pressure, Diabetes, and Nutrition, under Healthnotes at RochesterHealth.com.
It is estimated that cigarette smoking is associated with about half of all heart attack events in women. In a large study, the incidence of heart attacks was increased six-fold in women who smoked (compared to non-smokers) . In addition, The Nurses' Health Study  reported a strong relationship between cigarette smoking and stroke (among young and middle-aged women). Despite these disturbing findings, smoking rates have declined less for women (as compared to men) in the U.S.
Diabetes is also a significant risk factor in women, increasing the risk of coronary heart disease several times. Among people with diabetes, cardiovascular disease is a major complication and the leading cause of premature death. Obesity, and associated diabetes, are becoming epidemic in our society.
In the face of this evidence, what can the average person do? Part of the answer lies in "an ounce of prevention". Partner with your healthcare provider to assess your personal risk factor profile. This only requires a medical history and physical exam, along with some simple blood tests. Once you know your risk profile, then you can devise a realistic plan to modify your health behaviors in order to reduce your personal risk of heart disease. Of course, this should be done in conjunction with your healthcare provider.
Decreased risk of developing diabetes and hypertension.
Helps control weight and reduce body fat.
Increases good (High Density Lipoprotein) cholesterol.
Promotes your sense of well-being by improving mood and reducing anxiety/tension.
Helps to manage diabetes, particularly in diabetics who are overweight.
Helps to reduce blood pressure in those with hypertension.
This is one example of risk factor modification. Public Health initiatives such as the AHA "Go Red for Women" campaign help to inform and educate women to be pro-active about their risk of heart disease, and how relatively simple modifications in their health behaviors can reduce their chance of developing heart disease. Other initiatives, such as the growing fields of Women's Health and gender-based biology, hold great promise to promote the health and well-being of women in the new millennium.
1, Haakan, Meyer, et.al. Tremendous Impact of Smoking on Mortality. Presented at EuroPRevent meetings of the European Society of Cardiology, 2009.
2. Colditz GA, Bonita R, Stampfer MJ, Willett WC, Rosner B, Speizer FE, Hennekens CH. Cigarette smoking and risk of stroke in middle-aged women. N Engl J Med. 1988 Apr 14;318(15):937-41.
3. I-Min Lee, MBBS,ScD; Kathryn M. Rexrode, MD; Nancy R. Cook, ScD; JoAnn E. Manson, MD,DrPH; Julie E. Buring, ScD. Physical Activity and Coronary Heart Disease in Women. JAMA. 2001;285:1447-1454.
Thomas A. Rocco, Jr., MD, F.A.C.C., F.A.H.A. is a Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center and a Consultant in Cardiology and Cardiovascular Research at the Veterans Administration. He formerly directed the departments of Cardiology at Highland Hospital and Unity Hospital. His clinical and research interests include Preventive Cardiology, Hypertension, Congestive Heart Failure, and Geriatric Cardiology. He is the Principle Investigator on several clinical research projects, has lectured and published extensively, and has served on numerous community boards and agencies.


How do I update my address in the student system?
Current students can update their address information in Athena. Former students can update their address information by completing the Change of Address form (PDF) and mailing, emailing, or faxing the completed form to the Office of the Registrar or by sending a letter to the office indicating the change of address information. Letters should include the student's full name, date of birth, and indicate whether the new address replaces the Current, Permanent, or Emergency Contact information.
Emails should be sent to reghelp@uga.edu and must be sent from a UGA email account.
My name has changed. How do I update it in the University's records?
Students needing to make changes to their names as listed on their academic records will need to present the appropriate documentation to the Office of the Registrar.
Change of name due to Marriage requires a copy of a marriage certificate or current Social Security card and a government-issued photo ID reflecting the new name.
Change of name due to Legal Change requires a copy of a court order or current Social Security card and a government-issued photo ID reflecting the new name.
Change of name due to Divorce requires a copy of divorce decree or current Social Security card and a government-issued photo ID reflecting the new name.
Change of name due to Adoption requires a copy of court order or current Social Security card and a government-issued photo ID reflecting the new name.
Change of name due to Gender Change requires a copy of court order and a government-issued photo ID reflecting the new name.
Change of name due to Spelling Error normally requires only a government-issued photo ID containing the correct spelling. At times, the student's current Social Security card may be required.
Students may bring all appropriate documentation to the Office of the Registrar in the Holmes/Hunter Academic Building, send the documentation fax to 706-583-8162, or mail to: Office of the Registrar, Holmes/Hunter Academic Building, Athens, GA 30602-6113.
Name Change Forms and documentation will not be accepted via email.


Is there anyway to remove the bevel on the GUI box?
I am creating a mini-map that can zoom in and out but I am having a problem with the size of the icons. As the GUI boxes get smaller, the bevel stays the same forcing the textures inside to change size disproportionately. Does anyone know how to fix this or create a custom box or something? Thanks.
You have to use a custom GUI skin. Create a new GUI skin and assign the right image to the Box style. You could just select the default box image for that. Then, you need to change the Border values. This will make the outer parts of the image be more or less influenced by the total element size. If you set the Border values to 0, the whole background image will be affected and thus the rounded corners will get smaller the smaller the total element is.
Anyway, once you have set the GUI skin up, make your script use it by declaring a GUISkin variable, assigning your custom skin to it, and putting "GUI.skin = customSkin;".


What Is Earth Potential Rise and Earth Potential Rise?
Earth Potential Rise (EPR) or Earth Potential Rise is a phenomenon that occurs when large amounts of electricity enter the earth. This is typically caused when substations or high-voltage towers fault, or when lightning strikes occur (fault current). When currents of large magnitude enter the earth from an earthing system, not only will the earthing system rise in electrical potential, but so will the surrounding soil as well.
The voltages produced by a Earth Potential Rise or Earth Potential Rise event can be hazardous to both personnel and equipment. As described earlier, soil has resistance known as soil resistivity which will allow an electrical potential gradient or voltage drop to occur along the path of the fault current in the soil. The resulting potential differences will cause currents to flow into any and all nearby earthed conductive bodies, including concrete, pipes, copper wires and people.
A Earth Potential Rise Study is the process of automated timed and/or continuous resistance-to earth measurement. These dedicated systems use the induced frequency test method to continuously monitor the performance of critical earthing systems. Some models may also provide automated data reporting. These new meters can measure resistance-to-earth and the current that flows on the earthing systems that are in use. Another benefit is that it does not require interruption of the electrical service to take these measurements.
Earth Potential Rise (as defined in IEEE Standard 367) is the product of a earth electrode impedance, referenced to remote earth, and the current that flows through that electrode impedance.
Earth Potential Rise (as defined by IEEE Standard 80-2000) is the maximum electrical potential that a (substation) earthing grid may attain relative to a distant earthing point assumed to be at potential of remote earth. This voltage, GPR, is equal to the maximum grid current times the grid resistance.
Earth Potential Rise events are a concern wherever electrical currents of large magnitude flow into the earth. This can be at a substation, high-voltage tower or pole, or a large transformer. In cases where an Earth Potential Rise event may be of special concern, earthing precautions are required to ensure personnel and equipment safety. Electrical potentials in the earth drop abruptly around the perimeter of an earthing system, but do not drop to zero. In fact, in a perfectly homogeneous soil, soil potentials are inversely proportional to the distance from the center off the earthing system, once one has reached a distance that is a small number of earthing system dimensions away.
Where Earth Potential is in volts, Soil Resistivity is in ohm-meters, Current is the current flowing into the soil from the earthing system, in amperes, PI is 3.14159… and Distance is in meters.
Probably the most commonly noted Earth Potential Rise event involves the death of cows in a field during a lightning strike. Imagine lightning striking the center of an open field where cows are standing. The current injected into the earth flows radially away from the strike point, in all directions, creating voltage gradients on the surface of the earth, also in a radial direction. All the cows facing the lightning strike would have their fore hooves closer to the strike point than their rear hooves. This would result in a difference of potential between their fore and rear legs, causing current to flow through their bodies, including the heart area, and killing the cow. On the other hand, those cows with their flanks turned towards the lighting strike would have a greater chance of surviving, as the distance between their fore legs and therefore the voltage applied between them, would be relatively small, resulting in a lesser current flow.
An Earth Potential Rise Study is typically conducted on substations and high-voltage towers to measure Earth Potential. Substations have relatively large earthing areas, especially when compared to high-voltage towers and poles. Towers and poles represent by far the most potentially dangerous and difficult Earth Potential Rise situations to handle and are often not protected, unless they are located in high exposure areas or have equipment installed at earth level at which service personnel might be required to work.
The primary purpose of an Earth Potential Rise Study is to determine the level of hazard associated with a given high-voltage location for personnel and/or equipment. When the degree of hazard is identified, the appropriate precautions must be made to make the site safe. To do this, the engineer must identify what the minimum earthing system for each location will be. The engineer must also take into consideration all local and federal guidelines, including utility company and other requirements.
For example: Many utility companies require at a minimum that a simple earth ring be installed at least 18 inches below earth and 3 feet from the perimeter of all metal objects. This earth ring is also referred to as a counterpoise.
Once the minimum earthing system is identified, the engineer can run a Earth Potential Rise or Earth Potential Rise Analysis and identify the extent of any electrical hazards.
Typically, items reported in a Earth Potential Rise Study will include the following: the square footage, size and layout of the proposed earthing grid, resistance-to-earth of the proposed earthing system, the estimated fault current that would flow into the earthing system, Earth Potential Rise (in volts) at the site, 300 Volt Peak line, the X/R Ratio, and the fault clearing time in seconds. Step and touch potential voltages are usually computed as well, as these are the primary indicators of safety.
The soil resistivity test data should include apparent resistivity readings at pin spacings ranging from 0.5 or 1 ft to as many as three earthing grid diagonals, if practical. Touch and step voltages represent the primary concern for personnel safety. Understanding the characteristics of the soil at depths ranging from immediately underfoot to one or more grid dimensions is required for a cost-effective and safe earthing system to be designed.
The proposed site drawings should show the layout of the high-voltage tower or substation, and any additional construction for new equipment that may be occurring on the site, including fencing and gate radius. Incoming power and Telco runs should also be included. In the case of high-voltage towers, the height and spacing of the conductors carried on the tower, and any overhead earth wires that may be installed on the tower, need to be detailed during the survey. This information is needed to properly address all the touch and step voltage concerns that may occur on the site.
The electric utility company needs to provide electrical data regarding the tower or substation under consideration. This data should include the name of the substation or the number of the tower, the voltage level, the subtransient X/R ratio, and the clearing times. In the case of towers, the line names of the substations involved, the amount of current contributed by each substation in the event of a fault, and the type and positions of the overhead earth wires, if any, with respect to the phase conductors installed on each tower or pole. If overhead earth wires are present, tower or pole earth resistances along the line are of interest as well, be they measured, average or design values.
This information is important, as high-voltage towers have small earth area, yet handle very large amounts of electricity. Knowing if a tower has an overhead earth wire is important, because the overhead wire will carry away a percentage of the current, which will depend on the overhead earth wire type and earth resistances of adjacent towers, to other towers in the run, reducing the GPR event. Additionally, towers with overhead earth wires tend to have shorter clearing times. The same holds for substations: overhead earth wires on transmission lines and neutral wires on distribution lines can significantly reduce the magnitude of fault current that flows into the substation earthing system during fault conditions.
As-built drawings are often acquired and are useful for towers with existing earthing systems. They are also useful in the case of modifications and upgrades to existing substations, which will have extensive earthing systems already installed.
The earthing engineer will be required to develop safety systems to protect any personnel working where Earth Potential Rise hazards are known to exist. Federal Law mandates that all known hazards must be eliminated from the work place for the safety of workers. It is the engineer’s choice on which voluntary standards to apply in order to comply with the law. Federal law 29 CFR 1910.269 specifically states that Step and Touch Potentials must be eliminated on transmission and distribution lines that include any related communication equipment.
Substations are always considered workplaces and Step and touch Potentials must be eliminated. Transmission and distribution towers or poles are not always considered work places and therefore are often exempt from these requirements. Take, for example, a lonely tower on a mountain side or in the middle of the desert: these towers are not typically considered workplaces. However, any high-voltage tower or pole becomes a workplace as soon as equipment is installed that is not related to the electric utility company and requires outside vendors to support the new equipment. Cellular telecommunications, environmental monitoring, and microwave relay equipment are good examples of equipment that, when installed on a high-voltage tower, turns the tower into a work place. This would make the elimination of Step and Touch Potentials required.
Fibrillation Current is the amount of electricity needed to cause cardiac arrest, from which recovery will not spontaneously occur, in a person and is a value based on statistics. IEEE Std 80-2000 provides a method to determine the pertinent value of Fibrillation Current for a safety study, along with a good explanation of how it is derived. Many different methods exist for calculating Fibrillation Current; however the 50kg IEEE method is the most commonly used in North America. The formula used shows that the Fibrillation Current level is inversely proportional to the square root of the fault duration; however, it must be increased by a correction factor, based on the subtransient X/R ratio, which can be quite large for shorter fault durations. If personnel working at a site during fault conditions experience voltages that will cause a current less than the Fibrillation Current to flow in their bodies, then they are considered safe. If a worker will experience a greater voltage than is acceptable, additional safety precautions must be taken.
The subtransient X/R ratio at the site of the fault is important in calculating the acceptable Fibrillation Current and to determine the maximum allowable Step and Touch Potentials that can occur at any given site.
Fault Duration is a very necessary piece of data for properly calculating maximum allowable Step and Touch Potentials. The Fault Duration is the amount of time required for the power company to shut off the current in the event of a fault.
Each site will have different levels of voltages for both of the above. Unfortunately, we cannot simply say that a human being can withstand X-level of voltages and use that value all the time, since this voltage is determined by the surface layer resistivity, the fault duration and the subtransient X/R ratio. Additionally as each site has different fault durations and different soil conditions, it is critical that calculations be made for each and every possible fault location.


WASHINGTON (CNN) - On the campaign trail, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is becoming the GOP's version of Nancy Pelosi: He remains a powerful force, but no one wants to stand too close to him.
The latest evidence of McConnell's toxicity among Republican voters came in a West Virginia Senate debate this week. All three Republican candidates were asked to raise their hands if they supported McConnell for majority leader. None did.
"I'm not the product of the liberal establishment," state attorney general Patrick Morrisey said. "I think that's why you're seeing all the conservatives come out for me. I'm going to make the right decision after we get through the general election."
Rep. Evan Jenkins praised McConnell for shepherding Neil Gorsuch's Supreme Court nomination through the Senate but said: "Mitch McConnell hasn't even asked for my support. I think it's way too premature."
Don Blankenship, the coal baron who spent a year in prison on charges connected to a mine accident that killed 29 people -- and who this week labeled McConnell "Cocaine Mitch" in a shot at McConnell's father-in-law's shipping company -- ducked behind his podium.
"He interferes with elections all over this country. He's interfering with this election," Blankenship said, complaining about groups with ties to McConnell spending against him ahead of Tuesday's primary.
The balks by Jenkins and Morrisey were the latest evidence that mainstream Republicans -- not just anti-establishment crusaders -- don't want to get too close to McConnell.
"I think it's a little premature to say who I would and wouldn't vote for. I'm not committed to voting for anybody for any leadership position," Missouri attorney general Josh Hawley, the candidate recruited by McConnell and his allies to face Sen. Claire McCaskill, told The Washington Post in March.
Asked about how Republican candidates should approach McConnell, his allies often point to a McConnell interview with Fox News last year.
"Look, I'm not going to be on the ballot on any of the states, and I don't think the candidates who are running need to take a position on me," he said at the time.
Republicans in McConnell's circle said supporting the Kentucky Republican won't be a prerequisite to get the financial backing of McConnell-aligned forces -- the National Republican Senatorial Committee and the Senate Leadership Fund super PAC -- this fall.
The answers are almost identical to Democrats' responses when asked about House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.
Pelosi's allies frequently point to the inclusion of candidates who have pledged to oppose her for speaker -- a job she told The Boston Globe this week she still wants -- in the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's "Red to Blue" list of top recruits as evidence that she doesn't mind being thrown under the bus.
In both McConnell and Pelosi's cases, aides and allies appear to have decided that keeping or winning a majority is the only priority -- and everything else can be sorted out after November's midterm elections.
McConnell began emerging as a flashpoint in last fall's Alabama Senate special election, when the Senate Leadership Fund -- the McConnell-aligned super PAC that spends tens of millions of dollars to elect Republicans -- pumped millions into the race in an attempt to keep Roy Moore from winning the primary.
Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon saw Moore as the first of an insurgent slate of anti-McConnell candidates that would defeat the establishment's preference across the map in 2018.
But Bannon's maneuvering came at a time the GOP base was furious over its congressional majorities' failure to repeal former President Barack Obama's signature health care law. Since then, McConnell has delivered victories on tax reform and in difficult confirmation battles. And Bannon has faded from the political forefront after the publication of a book in which he made critical remarks about Trump and other members of the administration.
Still, McConnell has remained the chief target of conservative outsiders challenging establishment-backed candidates in several Senate primaries.
In Wisconsin, a super PAC backing Kevin Nicholson in the GOP primary to take on Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin called on Nicholson's opponent, state Sen. Leah Vukmir, to oppose McConnell.
In Arizona, former state Sen. Kelli Ward has used Rep. Martha McSally's support from McConnell-aligned forces to label her out of touch with the GOP grassroots.
In Mississippi, state Sen. Chris McDaniel's campaign to unseat newly-appointed Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith in a November jungle contest slammed McConnell in a March statement announcing he was entering the race.
"Mitch McConnell wants to hand-pick our next senator. I understand why," he wrote on Facebook. "It's because they know that I won't be answering to Mitch McConnell."


Vision, Mission, Values: What about behaviors?
Tactics to improve the impact of your value statement on corporate culture.
Very often, Vision/Mission/Value development is done out of the context of what the company wants to achieve. In a worst-case scenario you end up with three separate entities: 1) your Vision/Mission/Values statement, 2) your strategy, and 3) your company. The old adage, "Corporate culture eats strategy for breakfast" is true for 80% of the strategies that fail.
The key to overcoming these issues is how you deal with values.
Tactic #1. Define values in a way that that resonates emotionally with people from different cultures.
Words like "Customer-Centric", "Ethics", and "Integrity" are different in different parts of the world. In some cultures there is no word for "Integrity." In others, the closest word is more about how a person appears to others than it is about how closely they hold their internal values. If you choose values, you'd better make sure that everyone in the company has the same understanding of them, and feels that they can embrace them.
Tactic #2. Define your values with behaviors.
Instead of defining your values with a list of words that describe the value, which can be impossible to make emotionally relevant to all of your staff, define your values with behaviors. Ask every one of your staff a simple question: "If I followed you around for a week or two, what behavior would I need to look for that would prove to me that you are living out this value?" Then work with them to make sure that the value gets drilled into their behavior.
That doesn't mean just writing it down in your "Policy & Procedures" file or including it in your "Employee Handbook." You have to allow the staff, with all the cultural variety that you have on board in multi-national organizations, to define what the values mean, and have to have a system to reinforce that behavior on a regular basis.
The desired behaviors have to be built by the whole organization. They has to be celebrated, and reinforced by the whole organization through different forms of media, different creative processes, and through 'celebration time' to reward and celebrate those that have lived out those values.
The outcome: a value statement that influences behavior, enables decisions and creates boundaries.
Companies would be wise to take at least three years to build these values into the organization. Then these behavioral statements become decision-enablers that create boundaries around what is acceptable and unacceptable in the organization. Once that happens, your staff will start to say "This is the way we do things around here," and your value will be integrated into your company culture and ready to support strategy.
This is hard to do, but once achieved, it creates a lot of positive innovation, creativity, energy, and belonging in the organization. Through that, it tackles issues that are essential for a healthy inter-cultural corporate environment: a common purpose, social capital, clear communication, and trust.
Contact us to learn more about how to build your corporate culture and use your vision and mission to impact behaviors.


CRYPTOCURRENCIES are "pump-and-dump" schemes being promoted by "scamsters", according to the real-life Wolf of Wall Street who made his money swindling investors in pump-and-dump schemes.
In an interview with The Street, Jordan Belfort predicted the crypto craze would come to a bad end and millennial investors would be "left holding the bag". "They're all [pump-and-dump schemes]," he said.
"At this point in time the money's been made in bitcoin already. If you're in the crypto game right now and you're looking to make money - the guys that are really committing the fraud - the only way to do it is, you need to issue a new currency at the bottom and ride it up."
The founder of stockbroker Stratton Oakmont, whose memoir was adapted into the 2013 biopic starring Leonardo DiCaprio, defrauded investors out of an estimated $US200 million through "pump-and-dump" schemes.
They involve buying and then artificially boosting the price of cheap "penny stocks" through misleading statements before cashing out. Belfort, now a motivational speaker, served 22 months of a four-year sentence after being convicted of securities fraud and money laundering in 1999.
He told The Street that the only way to keep issuing new cryptos was to "keep bitcoin up high enough so people still believe in cryptocurrency so they create the illusion of prosperity". "This is what I did, I'm sad to say, at Stratton," he said.
"The days of bitcoin making money are over for the scamsters. Where's it going to be? It's $US8000, it could go up to $US10,000, down to $US2000, I think it's going to be zero pretty quickly, but besides that, the only way to make money is to create a new supply of some new cryptocurrency, and then by keeping the old ones high enough people will dump even more money into the new ones and they make their money on that.
"It's pure fraud and I feel so bad, because the millennials, these kids, they're not breaking the law, they're not trying to commit fraud, they're being taken for a ride right now, they've been sold a bill of goods."
Belfort said he was "trying to wake a lot of them up". He cited the growing concerns about controversial cryptocurrency tether, a so-called "stablecoin" which claims to hold US dollar deposits in a one-to-one ratio. Critics have alleged that tether is being created out of thin air in order to buy bitcoin, artificially inflating the price.
"They hate me right now but they're going to love me in a few months when the crap really hits the fan, when it's [found] out that tether doesn't exist, or half of it's missing, and then the FBI's going to swoop in, SWAT teams, it's going to be really bad stuff," he said.
"You're going to find out that it was even worse than I ever imagined, because that's how these things [are] in an unregulated market - it attracts the worst people. So all these millennials, I love them, it's not your fault, but there's a lot of really bad people at the centre of this thing that are setting you up and you're going to be left holding the bag. They call them 'hodlers'."
Belfort said it was "not just a matter of saying, if there's not as much tether we have to subtract $US3000 out of bitcoin". "It's not that, it's much worse than that," he said. "Because what you'll see is that they used tether to artificially support the market of bitcoin, thereby dragging more suckers into the game.
"It's maintaining the illusion of prosperity, not allowing something to go down that should be going down, and by keeping it up they bring more people into the game."
He predicted that "when that comes out", regulators would be swift to act. "You see it happening right now, the first step is there's been a sort of industry-wide co-ordination of all the banks around the world to de-link their system from bitcoin," Belfort said.
"That's step one, isolate the virus. Step two is going to be, crush it. And that's my problem with bitcoin - I don't think bitcoin itself is a fraud, it never was a fraud, it's what people do to bitcoin that's a fraud. It lends itself to being manipulated."
He added that there was a "major disconnect between reality and fantasy" when it came to bitcoin, cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology, for which there are "major applications" inside and outside the financial sector.
"That has nothing to do with cryptocurrencies, though," Belfort said. "This current crop of cryptos, bitcoin and its babies, I think they all have zero value and they're going to zero."
It comes in the wake of another cryptocurrency theft, with nearly $190 million worth of nano, or "XRB", swiped from Italian exchange BitGrail. Last month, Japanese exchange Coincheck lost around $675 million in the biggest heist in history.
Since peaking at nearly $US20,000 in December, bitcoin has lost more than half its value to trade at around $US8800 at the time of writing, according to Coinmarketcap.
On Tuesday, a report by investment bank JP Morgan said there was a "fairly high risk" of the currency dropping further to $US4605. Bloomberg Intelligence commodity strategist Mike McGlone was even more bearish, saying there was a "strong gravitational pull" towards $US900, bitcoin's average price since inception.
After a brutal sell-off sparked by a wave of negative news since the start of the year, cryptocurrencies rebounded somewhat last week following US Senate testimony by the heads of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
SEC boss Jay Clayton and CFTC chair J. Christopher Giancarlo, while addressing the risk of fraud, were widely seen as striking a positive tone on the future of cryptocurrencies.