Managed Service Provider (MSP) - Global Military Vehicle Engine Manufacturer*

What would it be like to manage over 120 staffing suppliers that specialize in a variety of skillsets and/or locations? How would this decentralized approach negatively affect your organization’s relationships with these suppliers and contract workers? How would you maintain control of your costs, process efficiencies and compliance of these suppliers?  How do you know who your best suppliers are? Are you meeting the goals of your organization’s diversity spend initiatives?

Our customer, a global military vehicle and engine manufacturer, was facing the consequences of these hard questions and their organization was being negatively impacted on a global scale as a result.  Without centralized management of staffing suppliers, the company was experiencing inconsistent processes for vetting suppliers and on-boarding talent and was exposed to substantial risk associated with the use of contingent populations.  Relationships with suppliers that were once strong and mutually beneficial now suffered as a result.  All of these negative factors ultimately resulted in higher costs to the organization. Without automated systems to manage transactions with their suppliers and to ensure timely on-boarding of workers, it was extremely difficult to understand and control the costs associated with using contingent workers.

By truly understanding the impact on their organization, Populus Group was able to customize a Managed Service Provider (MSP) solution for the company.  Because the company also on-boarded a large number of referred and returning contractors, some with sponsorship needs, we also implemented a service-centric solution including immigration expertise to streamline this process through one supplier. By integrating payroll and immigration solutions into the program, the process for hiring managers would be simplified and affected contractors could feel at ease knowing that their livelihood would remain top priority. By utilizing Populus Group as their MSP, the company was able to optimize their supplier base through a streamlined vetting process and is able to track supplier performance and overall costs through increased visibility.  By consolidating all of the company’s suppliers, on-boarding activities and worker assignment management and tracking, the company was able to focus on their core responsibilities and was able to report 100% of the program spend as tier 1 minority spend.  Additionally, Populus Group established a strong partnership with executive-level sponsors within the company through a proven track record as the MSP in addition to providing staffing support to critical projects.

How did this improve and simplify the lives of the hiring managers? By providing significant hard dollar savings through alignment of rate cards and the elimination of maverick spending, additional soft cost savings through increased productivity, process efficiencies and freeing up of resources, improved program productivity with increased fulfillment rates, reduced cycle times and simplifying of processes, improved worker productivity to decreased ramp up times, and automated time and expense entry, reduced risk by ensuring traceable and auditable transactions and guaranteed performance through monitoring of service level agreements and the coaching and management of suppliers. The result? A comprehensive solution for total talent management that allows hiring managers, procurement and HR teams to focus on achieving goals that will help them and their company to be successful.

Want to learn more about MSP Solutions?

*Populus Group has signed confidentiality agreements with this Company so the name is undisclosed.

With a comprehensive talent management approach, we implemented a managed service provider program at a global military vehicle & engine manufacturer


The unique appearance of this egg-laying, duck-billed mammal baffled naturalists when it was first discovered, with some considering it an elaborate fraud. It is one of the few venomous mammals; male platypuses have a spur on the hind foot that delivers a poison capable of causing severe pain to humans.

The body and the broad, flat tail of the platypus are covered with dense brown fur that traps a layer of insulating air to keep the animal warm. The platypus uses its tail for storage of fat reserves, an adaptation it shares with the Tasmanian devil. It has webbed feet and a large, rubbery snout; these are features that appear closer to those of a duck than to those of any known mammal. The webbing is more significant on the front feet and is folded back when walking on land. Unlike a bird’s beak, the snout of the platypus is a sensory organ with the mouth on the underside. The nostrils are located on the dorsal surface of the snout while the eyes and ears are located in a groove set just back from it; this groove is closed when swimming. Platypuses have been heard to make a low growl when disturbed.

Weight varies considerably from 1.54 lb (700g) to 5.3 lb (2.4kg) with males being larger than females: males average 20 in(50cm) total length while females average 17 in(43 cm). There is substantial variation in average size from one region to another, and this pattern does not seem to follow any particular climatic rule and may be due to other environmental factors.
The platypus has an average body temperature of 88″“90 Â°F (31-32Â°C) rather than the 100 Â°F(Â°C ) typical of mammals. Research suggests this has been a gradual adaptation to harsh environmental conditions.

Modern platypus young have three-cusped molars, which they lose before or just after leaving the breeding burrow. The platypus jaw is constructed differently from that of other mammals, and the jaw opening muscle is different. As in all true mammals, the tiny bones that conduct sound in the middle ear are fully incorporated into the skull, rather than lying in the jaw. However, the external opening of the ear still lies at the base of the jaw.

The male platypus has venomous ankle spurs, which produce a cocktail of venom. They are composed largely of defense-like proteins, which is unique to the platypus. Although powerful enough to kill smaller animals, the venom is not lethal to humans, but does produce intense pain. Information obtained from case histories and evidence indicates that the pain developed can persists for days or even months. The venom appears to have a different function from those produced by non-mammalian species: its effects are non-life threatening but nevertheless powerful enough to seriously impair the victim. Since only males produce venom and production rises during the breeding season it is theorized that it is used as an offensive weapon to assert dominance during this period.

Monotremes are the only mammals known to have a sense of electroreception: they locate their prey in part by detecting electric fields generated by muscular contractions. The platypus’ electroreception is the most sensitive of any monotreme.

The platypus feeds by digging in the bottom of streams with its bill. The electroreceptors could be used to distinguish animate and inanimate objects in this situation. Experiments have shown that the platypus will even react to an “artificial shrimp” if a small electrical current is passed through it.

Ecology and behavior

The platypus is an excellent swimmer and spends much of its time in the water chasing for food. When swimming, it can be distinguished from other Australian mammals by the absence of visible ears. Uniquely among mammals it propels itself when swimming by alternate rowing motion with the front two feet; although all four feet of the platypus are webbed, the hind feet do not assist in swimming, but are used for steering in combination with the tail. It utilizes cheek pouches to carry prey to the surface where they are eaten. The platypus needs to eat about 20% of its own weight each day. This requires the platypus to spend an average of 12 hours each day looking for food. When not in the water, the platypus retires to a short, straight resting burrow of oval cross-section, nearly always in the riverbank not far above water level, and often hidden under a protective tangle of roots.

The species exhibits a single breeding season, with mating occurring between June and October, with some local variation taking place in populations throughout the extent of its range. Females are thought likely to become sexually mature in their second year, with breeding confirmed to still take place in animals over nine years old.

Outside the mating season, the platypus lives in a simple ground burrow whose entrance is about 1 ft(30 cm) above the water level. After mating, the female constructs a deeper, more elaborate burrow up to 66 ft(20m) long and blocked with plugs at intervals (which may act as a safeguard against rising waters or predators, or as a method of regulating humidity and temperature). The male takes no part in caring for its young, and retreats to its yearlong burrow. The female softens the ground in the burrow with dead, folded, wet leaves and she fills the nest at the end of the tunnel with fallen leaves and looks for bedding material. This material is dragged to the nest by tucking it underneath her curled tail.

The female platypus has a pair of ovaries but only the left one is functional. It lays one to three (usually two) small, leathery eggs. After laying her eggs, the female curls around them. The incubation period is separated into three parts. The newly hatched young are vulnerable, blind, and hairless, and are fed by the mother’s milk. Although possessing mammary glands, the platypus lacks teats. Instead, milk is released through pores in the skin. There are grooves on her abdomen that form pools of milk, allowing the young to lap it up. After they hatch, the offspring are suckled for three to four months. Initially yhe mother will only leave the burrow for short periods of time. When doing so, she creates a number of thin soil plugs along the length of burrow possibly to protect the young from predators. After about five weeks, the mother begins to spend more time away from her young and at around four months the young emerge from the burrow.

Conservation status


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Gavin McGregor Rossdale  (born 30 October 1965) is an English musician, known as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the rock band Bush. Following Bush's separation in 2002, which lasted for eight years, he was the lead singer and guitarist for Institute, and later began a solo career. He continues to perform both Bush and Institute songs during his solo concerts. Rossdale is married to fellow musician Gwen Stefani. Description above from the Wikipedia article Gavin Rossdale, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia
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Clocks, Watches/Emperor grandfather clock pendulum hanging configuration

pendulum hanging configuration for a Emperor standing grandfather clock purchased in 1979 model 201M, 301M, 401M, or 501M.  Based on the emperor website its one of these models but I'll have to confirm it when I visit my mothers.

While moving the clock and taking the pendulum off I believe the configuration was put back on wrong since the clock only works for about an hour before stopping.  The weights are on correctly based on the owners manual.  But it would be helpful to see a diagram of the correct configuraion of the pendulum hanging assembly.

Okay, I'll wait until you can tell me which model it is.  Have you checked for the beat?  Attached is a list of diagnostics for a clock that is not running:

For Floor Clocks   If the clock is in operating condition but not working, I would check the stability of the clock in that it doesn't rock or wobble on the floor.  It should be relatively level.  The level is not critical, as setting the beat (below) will correct for this.

Next, verify that the weights are hung correctly.  On most clocks the weights vary in weight.  The general rule is that if two weights are equal, the third weight, if it is heavier, goes on the right side (as you face the clock).  If the third weight is lighter, it goes on the left.  This most often applies to clocks with a stick pendulum.  If a decorative metal lyre pendulum is used, the center weight usually has to weigh a little more, sometimes as much as the right chime weight.

Is the pendulum hanging configuration correct?  This means that the suspension spring, hanger, verge and pendulum are all connected properly with nothing broken, especially the suspension spring.  When the pendulum swings, it should be "in beat", meaning that when the pendulum swings you hear an even tick....tock....tick....tock.  If it is uneven, like tick..tock......tick..tock, the clock will probably stop.  Most later model movements have an "auto-beat" mechanism.  The beat can be set by holding the pendulum over to one side next to the case and releasing it.  It will automatically correct itself.  If it does not have this feature, the escapement crutch will have to be slipped manually.  If required, I would need a good description of the verge and hanger mechanism or a photo of the back of the movement to give you instructions for that.  Also check to see if the hands are catching on each other or the dial.  Look at the chime and strike hammers to see if they are all in alignment at the rest position.  Sometimes jammed hammers or the drive mechanisms will stall the clock.

For Mantel or Wall Clocks   The clock should be stable and not wobble or rock.  There should be an even beat.  If not, wall clocks can be set in beat by moving the bottom of the clock to one side or the other.  Some wall clocks have the auto-beat adjustment.  Mantle clocks can be shimmed up on one side or the other to obtain an even beat.  These methods work if the beat is not off too much.  If the out-of-beat condition of these clocks are excessive, other adjustments have to be made.

Usually, the first symptom of a clock failing is that the chime and/or strike mechanisms slow down and then fail altogether.  At this point the clock needs to be serviced.  This includes cleaning, inspecting, oiling and adjusting.  In the inspection, the movement is checked for adjustments, broken or worn parts.  If there are any broken or worn parts, we go to the third level. If all parts are okay, a good clock oil and grease is used.  In most cases the movement should be removed from the case to have access to all the lubrication points.  Clock lubricants can be bought from clock suppliers.  Using lubricants for other applications can cause problems, as some lubricants are not compatible with others.  This even applies to different clock oils.  After lubricating, the operation is checked for final adjustments.  I recommend maintenance be performed every 7 to 10 years.

This requires that the movement be broken down and all parts inspected and repaired or replaced, and then reassembled lubricated, adjusted and tested.  I do not recommend this except by an experienced clockmaker.

John Newman
Old Prattvillage
Prattville, Alabama

Clocks, Watches

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John Newman

As much as I would like to offer values of clocks, I am not a certified appraiser and will not venture into giving an unresearched guess. There is very little published information on what I consider to be the value of "modern production clocks". Considerations are what the clock originally sold for, the condition of the case and movement, and particularly the area in which you live, the demand and the economy. ALSO, WATCHES ARE NOT MY FIELD. However, I can advise the clock owner on proper maintenance of a clock to keep it running, small corrections and adjustments and how to move a clock without damaging it. I can also advise on obtaining parts for clocks. It helps if you can send any information on the clock movement which is usually found on the back plate of the movement. I have been a clockmaker for about 35 years and was plant engineer in the mid 90's and later operations and engineering consultant at Emperor Clock Company in Fairhope, Alabama. I now have my own clock shop.

One of my greatest accomplishments was traveling to China to assist a clock factory in building clocks to the standards which we required. With the proper specifications and quality control, some beautiful clock cases were built. The factory people from the wood carvers to the plant manager were very congenial, friendly and I left a lot of wonderful friends when I returned from my trips.

NAWCC (National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors) 30 years Prattville, Alabama Chamber of Commerce

Horological Times, a publication of the American Watch and Clockmakers Instute. Collaberated column author, with Photos and ideas for clock movement conversion article.

Associate of Science Mechanical Engineering Technology Emperor Introductory Clock Repair (Eventually taught a portion of the class after becoming employee)

Awards and Honors
Small Business of the Quarter (Prattville, Alabama) Leadership Class of 2009 (Autauga County, Alabama)

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less excitable and politically more provident than now. Its demagogues who "played to the gallery " would play to a more sensible gallery than at present. We should be better fitted to fulfil our vast imperial opportunities. Lastly, men of an order of ability which is now very rare, would become more frequent, because the level out of which they rose would itself have risen.

The aim of Eugenics is to bring as many influences as can be reasonably employed, to cause the useful classes in the community to contribute more than their proportion to the next generation.

i. Dissemination of a knowledge of the laws of heredity so far as they are surely known, and promotion of their farther study. Few seem to be aware how greatly the knowledge of what may be termed the actuarial side of heredity has advanced in recent years. The . average closeness of kinship in each degree now admits of exact definition and of being treated mathematically, like birth and death-rates, and the other topics with which actuaries are concerned.

2. Historical inquiry into the rates with which the various classes of society (classified according to civic usefulness) have contributed to the population at various times, in


Cranial anatomy, taxonomic implications and palaeopathology of an Upper Jurassic Pliosaur (Reptilia: Sauropterygia) from Westbury, Wiltshire, UK

Abstract:  Complete skulls of giant marine reptiles of the Late Jurassic are rare, and so the discovery of the 1.8-m-long skull of a pliosaur from the Kimmeridge Clay Formation (Kimmeridgian) of Westbury, Wiltshire, UK, is an important find. The specimen shows most of the cranial and mandibular anatomy, as well as a series of pathological conditions. It was previously referred to Pliosaurus brachyspondylus, but it can be referred reliably only to the genus Pliosaurus, because species within the genus are currently in need of review. The new specimen, together with another from the same locality, also referred to P. brachyspondylus, will be crucial in that systematic revision, and it is likely that the genus Pliosaurus will be found to include several genera. The two Westbury Pliosaurus specimens share many features, including the form of the teeth, but marked differences in the snout and parietal crest suggest sexual dimorphism; the present specimen is probably female. The large size of the animal, the extent of sutural fusion and the pathologies suggest this is an ageing individual. An erosive arthrotic condition of the articular glenoids led to prolonged jaw misalignment, generating a suite of associated bone and dental pathologies. Further damage to the jaw joint may have been the cause of death.


Machu Picchu is a 15th-century Inca citadel situated on a mountain ridge formed by a "graben," which is a block of land downthrown between two fault lines. The ridge spans the adjacent mountain peaks of Machu Picchu and Huayna Picchu in the Peruvian Andes' Eastern Cordillera, or eastern mountain range. The citadel was built at 8,000 feet above sea level, but is only 1,640 feet above the valley of the Unibamba River, which passes beneath it. Engineered structures at the site, including terraced agricultural land, water supply and drainage system, occupy 15 square miles.

The Andes

Machu Picchu is located on the eastern slope of the Andes, near the alpine source of the Amazon River. The Andes run the north-south length of western South America and are the simplest form of mountains: The ranges were built as a continental plate moved over thin ocean floor crust that was subducted, melted and therefore expanded to push an upward bulge into the continent above it. The Andes are actively rising in modern time as the South American plate moves westward over the Nazca plate on the Pacific Ocean floor.

Eastern Cordillera or Cordillera Oriental

Both ranges of the Peruvian Andes are founded on ancient continental crust. The Eastern Cordillera was built within a region of thick black shale, a soft sedimentary rock formed from many thin layers of mud and clay and dating to the Paleozoic Period, which ended 245 million years ago. The Western Cordillera comprises more recently folded volcanic and carbonate rocks. In addition to continental movement, the Eastern Cordillera, where Machu Picchu is located, was also raised when the Altiplano, a valley of soft sediments between Machu Picchu and Huayna Picchu, pushed eastward against it.

Vilcabamba Batholith

Machu Picchu was built on the granite Vilcabamba Batholith, or large magma intrusion. Granite forms when magma from Earth's molten mantle layer intrudes into the crust yet does not reach Earth's surface, so that the magma cools slowly and a matrix of various minerals slowly develops within it. The Vilcabamba Batholith is a 246-million-year-old granite intrusion that was uplifted by mountain building, exposed as softer sedimentary rocks eroded above it, and now outcrops on mountaintops at Machu Picchu and nearby peaks.

Water Resources

In modern times and during the historic period when Machu Picchu was occupied, rainfall of 72 to 82 inches per year made irrigation for the citadel's cultivated fields unnecessary. Rainwater percolates into the degraded and faulted granite located upgrade from the city and feeds a perennial natural spring on the steep north slope. The spring supported up to 1,000 people while Machu Picchu was occupied, and in the 1990s, the spring's capacity was measured at seven gallons per minute in October and 33 gallons per minute in February.

About the Author

Sara Kirchheimer holds a Bachelor of Science in physical geography from Arizona State University and is currently retired from the transportation and travel industry in northern Europe and the western United States. In addition to commercial writing, she has contributed art exhibit reviews to Phoenix Arts and hurricane update articles to New Orleans Indymedia.

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May 18, 2016: Molecular Neurobiology
Jianzhong Hu, Ye Lang, Tao Zhang, Shuangfei Ni, Hongbin Lu
Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ coactivator-1 alpha (PGC-1α) is a crucial neuronal regulator in the brain. However, its role in the spinal cord and the underlying regulating mechanisms remain poorly understood. Our previous study demonstrated that PGC-1α is significantly down-regulated following acute spinal cord injury (SCI) in rats. The current study aimed to explore the effects of PGC-1α overexpression on the injured spinal cord by establishing a contusive SCI model in adult Sprague-Dawley rats, followed by immediate intraspinal injection of lentiviral vectors at rostral and caudal sites 3mm from the lesion epicenter...
July 22, 2016: Neuroscience
Birgit Obermeier, Ajay Verma, Richard M Ransohoff
In autoimmune neurologic disorders, the blood-brain barrier (BBB) plays a central role in immunopathogenesis, since this vascular interface is an entry path for cells and effector molecules of the peripheral immune system to reach the target organ, the central nervous system (CNS). The BBB's unique anatomic structure and the tightly regulated interplay of its cellular and acellular components allow for maintenance of brain homeostasis, regulation of influx and efflux, and protection from harm; these ensure an optimal environment for the neuronal network to function properly...
2016: Handbook of Clinical Neurology
Avijit Dey, Xu Kang, Jiange Qiu, Yifeng Du, Jianxiong Jiang
As a crucial component of brain innate immunity, neuroinflammation initially contributes to neuronal tissue repair and maintenance. However, chronic inflammatory processes within the brain and associated blood-brain barrier (BBB) impairment often cause neurotoxicity and hyperexcitability. Mounting evidence points to a mutual facilitation between inflammation and epilepsy, suggesting that blocking the undesired inflammatory signaling within the brain might provide novel strategies to treat seizures and epilepsy...
June 2016: Trends in Pharmacological Sciences
Alexander Gianaris, Nai-Kui Liu, Xiao-Fei Wang, Eddie Oakes, John Brenia, Thomas Gianaris, Yiwen Ruan, Ling-Xiao Deng, Maria Goetz, Sasha Vega-Alvarez, Qing-Bo Lu, Riyi Shi, Xiao-Ming Xu
Although lipid peroxidation has long been associated with spinal cord injury (SCI), the specific role of lipid peroxidation-derived byproducts such as acrolein in mediating damage remains to be fully understood. Acrolein, an α-β unsaturated aldehyde, is highly reactive with proteins, DNA, and phospholipids and is considered as a second toxic messenger that disseminates and augments initial free radical events. Previously, we showed that acrolein increased following traumatic SCI and injection of acrolein induced tissue damage...
June 21, 2016: Neuroscience
Oak Z Chi, Scott J Mellender, Sylviana Barsoum, Xia Liu, Stacey Damito, Harvey R Weiss
The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway is essential in neuronal survival and repair in cerebral ischemia. Decreases in blood-brain barrier (BBB) disruption are associated with a decrease in neuronal damage in cerebral ischemia. This study was performed to investigate how pre-inhibition of the mTOR pathway with rapamycin would affect BBB disruption and the size of the infarcted cortical area in the early stage of focal cerebral ischemia-reperfusion using quantitative analysis of BBB disruption. Rats were treated with 20mg/kg of rapamycin i...
May 4, 2016: Neuroscience Letters
Avinash Parimisetty, Anne-Claire Dorsemans, Rana Awada, Palaniyandi Ravanan, Nicolas Diotel, Christian Lefebvre d'Hellencourt
First seen as a storage organ, the white adipose tissue (WAT) is now considered as an endocrine organ. WAT can produce an array of bioactive factors known as adipokines acting at physiological level and playing a vital role in energy metabolism as well as in immune response. The global effect of adipokines in metabolic activities is well established, but their impact on the physiology and the pathophysiology of the central nervous system (CNS) remains poorly defined. Adipokines are not only produced by the WAT but can also be expressed in the CNS where receptors for these factors are present...
2016: Journal of Neuroinflammation
M M Tenreiro, R Ferreira, L Bernardino, M A Brito
Endothelial cells are the main component of the blood-brain barrier (BBB), a vital structure for maintaining brain homeostasis that is seriously disrupted in various neurological pathologies. Therefore, vascular-targeted therapies may bring advantages for the prevention and treatment of brain disorders. In this sense, novel methods to identify and evaluate endothelial damage have been developed and include the detection of circulating endothelial cells, endothelial progenitor cells, endothelial microparticles and exosomes...
July 2016: Neurobiology of Disease
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Dictionary Results for orbit

1. orbit - noun

· the (usually elliptical) path described by one celestial body in its revolution about another; "he plotted the orbit of the moon"

Synonym(s): celestial_orbit

Hypernym(s): path, route, itinerary

2. orbit - noun

· a particular environment or walk of life; "his social sphere is limited"; "it was a closed area of employment"; "he's out of my orbit"

Synonym(s): sphere, domain, area, field, arena

Hypernym(s): environment

3. orbit - noun

· an area in which something acts or operates or has power or control: "the range of a supersonic jet"; "a piano has a greater range than the human voice"; "the ambit of municipal legislation"; "within the compass of this article"; "within the scope of an investigation"; "outside the reach of the law"; "in the political orbit of a world power"

Synonym(s): scope, range, reach, compass, ambit

Hypernym(s): extent

4. orbit - noun

· the path of an electron around the nucleus of an atom

Synonym(s): electron_orbit

Hypernym(s): path, route, itinerary

5. orbit - noun

· the bony cavity in the skull containing the eyeball

Synonym(s): eye_socket, cranial_orbit, orbital_cavity

Hypernym(s): cavity, bodily_cavity, cavum

6. orbit - verb

Synonym(s): orb, revolve

Hypernym(s): circle

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Minnesotans choose clever alliteration over a past president in their mascot rankings

Cameron Smith

There is no question that Minnesota has its fair share of one-of-a-kind mascots. According to the general public, the state’s best is named in honor of a clever wordplay connected to the town’s name.

The Winona Winhawks are one of the nation's more positive mascots — Winona State University

As noted by USA Today, the Winona (Mn.) High Winhawks were overwhelmingly selected as the best mascot in the Land of 10,000 Lakes. Clearly the Winhawks are a play on the town’s name, honoring both Winona and the hawks that flutter around the area.

The Winhawks name is clever, but it’s not exactly revolutionary. Still, it was creative enough to inspire voters to choose the Winhawks overwhelmingly when compared to the state’s other stand-out school monikers.

Does it really deserve to be the best? You’ll have to decide yourself after reading about them below.

Other Great Minnesota Mascots of Note:

The Winhawks may be solid, but it’s awfully hard to argue with the Minneapolis (Mn.) Roosevelt High Teddies. There’s no question where the Teddies name comes from, with the school itself named after legendary U.S. President and environmentalist Theodore Roosevelt, whose name was appropriated for the original teddy bear by toy makers.

They may not sound fierce, but the Teddies bear an incredibly clever nickname.

The Jordan (Mn.) High Hubmen weren’t named after a preponderance of hub caps, but they are related to the transportation industry. Rather, Jordan was considered the “hub” of the Scott County, Minn. rail lines. A near historical connection for a mascot in a particularly chilly part of the country.

Minnesota wouldn’t be a true Midwestern state without at least one story of a team being named by a local sportswriter. Enter the Blooming Prairie (Mn.) High Awesome Blossoms. The Blooming Prairie teams were always referred to as "the boys from blossom town," by writers who covered neighboring Austin (Mn.) High, leading to the Blossom half of the nickname. The Awesome segment is just a natural excitable modifier.


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"Chemical scissors" - a shortcut to the low-dimensional world
Abstract [en]

A number of oxo-halide compounds have been prepared and studied. The antimony Sb3+ cation shows great flexibility in adopting coordination numbers of three or four, and, since this ion carries a stereochemically active lone-pair of electrons (E), both coordinations are one-sided. This flexibility, combined with the behaviour of the unshared electron pair, offers the possibility of a wide range of original structures to form.

If late transition metals are introduced into a lone-pair element − oxo-halide system, it is observed that the resulting structure is primarily divided into an oxygen/lone-pair element part and a halogen/transition metal part. In the majority of examples of such structures, the border between these two regions is a non-bonding volume occupied by terminal halide ions and lone-pairs of electrons. Furthermore, the halide ion – lone-pair combination acts as “chemical scissors” to reduce the dimensionality of the structure, and as a consequence the transition metals are usually forced to form chains or layers in the structures.

This thesis studies some previously known Sb3+ − O − X (X = Cl, Br, I) compounds that lack accurate structure solution or their crystal structures remain unknown, and new compounds where a transition metal is introduced into simple antimony oxo-halide system. In all the compounds the structures formed are based on the nature of the Sb3+ cation, the behaviour of its unshared electron pair and how the structures utilize the lone-pair and halide surfaces. These compounds are examples of the concept of “chemical scissors” and the dimensionality of their structures are analysed.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Stockholm: Institutionen för fysikalisk kemi, oorganisk kemi och strukturkemi , 2008. , 66 p.
Keyword [en]
Lone-pair of electrons, Low-dimensional compounds, Antimony oxo-halides
National Category
Inorganic Chemistry
Research subject
Inorganic Chemistry
URN: urn:nbn:se:su:diva-7303ISBN: 978-91-7155-537-3OAI: diva2:198020
Public defence
2008-02-28, Magnélisalen, Kemiska övningslaboratoriet, Svante Arrhenius väg 12 A, Stockholm, 10:00
Available from: 2008-02-06 Created: 2008-01-15Bibliographically approved

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Jim Keen

Jim Keen has won more than 100 regional and national awards for his photographic art. His films have won five Telly awards and three Communicator awards, and his film "Silent Climb" was featured at the Breckenridge Film Festival.


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Preparation For MB2-707 Microsoft Dynamics CRM Customization and Configuration Exam

Skills measured This exam measures your ability to accomplish the technical tasks listed below. The percentages indicate the relative weight of each major topic area on the exam. The higher the percentage, the more questions you are likely to see on that content area on the exam. View video tutorials about the variety of question types on Microsoft exams. Please note that the questions may test on, but will not be limited to, the topics described in the bulleted text. Do you have feedback about the relevance of the skills measured on this exam? Please send Microsoft your comments. All feedback will be reviewed and incorporated as appropriate while still maintaining the validity and reliability of the certification process. Note that Microsoft will not respond directly to your feedback. We appreciate your input in ensuring the quality of the Microsoft Certification program. Manage solutions (10–15%) Plan for customization Define xRM; differentiate configuration, customization, extending, and development; design appropriate customizations; identify documents in the Microsoft Dynamics CRM implementation guide Manage solutions Understand business requirements, understand the benefits of solutions, create solutions, export managed and unmanaged solutions, import solutions, describe default solution, specify a publisher, work with multiple solutions, describe solution components Manage customizations Describe component dependencies; describe customization concepts for entities, fields, forms, views, and charts; publish customizations Manage security (10–15%) Understand security concepts Describe business units, describe Microsoft Dynamics CRM security features, identify privileges and access levels for security roles, describe security role interaction with business units Manage access Create and maintain users, create owner teams, describe owner teams and sharing, manage security roles for users and teams, differentiate owner teams and access teams, create access team templates, add access team subgrids to forms Work with field-level security Identify entities for which field-level security is available, create field security profiles, define field permissions, add field permissions, assign field security profiles to users and teams Manage auditing Enable entity-level auditing, enable field-level auditing Customize entities (10–15%) Create custom entities Describe entity customization concepts; create custom entities; configure display names, plural names, and schema names; configure entity ownership; create custom activity entities; set primary fields Manage custom entities Configure entity properties including display areas, communication and collaboration options, fixed properties, data services options, Microsoft Outlook options, mobile options; modify custom entities; delete custom entities; identify dependencies Customize fields (10–15%) Create and maintain fields Describe field customization concepts, create fields, describe ways new fields can be created, delete custom fields Configure field properties Identify field data types; identify field display formats; configure the requirement level field property; configure searchable, audit, and field security field properties; identify properties that can be changed for existing fields Manage special fields Configure local and global option sets, configure status and status reason fields, describe dependencies, create calculated fields, describe the purpose of rollup fields, create rollup fields Manage relationships (10–15%) Describe entity relationships Identify different relationship types; describe one-to-many, many-to-many, and manual many-to-many relationships; describe special many-to-many relationships such as marketing list members, queue items, and follows; identify supported and unsupported relationships; identify cascading behaviors such as Assign, Share, Unshare, Re-Parent, Delete Manage entity relationships Create entity relationships, map fields, manage connections and connection roles, work with relationship hierarchy visualization Customize forms (10–15%) Understand form customizations Describe tab and section structure; add form fields; add subgrids; add social, activity, and notes controls; add other components and controls; preview form customizations Create and edit forms Copy existing forms or create new forms, configure quick create forms, create nested quick create forms, create quick view forms Manage multiple forms Identify scenarios where multiple forms are useful, specify form order, assign roles to forms Manage mobile forms Describe mobile forms for Microsoft Dynamics CRM for tablets, describe how forms are displayed to the user in the Microsoft Dynamics CRM for tablets app, describe considerations when designing mobile forms Customize views (10–15%) Work with system views Differentiate between system, public, and personal views; describe view columns and view filtering; configure multi-entity search; differentiate between multi-entity, advanced find, and quick find search; identify associated views; configure lookup views; configure quick find views Create and configure custom views Copy existing views, create custom views, build queries, add fields to views, arrange fields, configure field properties, sort fields, set the default public view, share views, disable views, delete views Manage custom views Set the default public view, share views, identify entities for which hierarchical views are available, create hierarchical views Customize charts and dashboards (5–10%) Understand chart concepts Identify design considerations for charts, differentiate between personal and system charts, identify limitations of the chart designer tools in the user interface Create and configure charts Create system charts and personal charts, describe chart types and options, add series and categories, choose chart views for chart preview, identify fields available for use in charts, include fields from parent entities in charts Reuse charts Export and import charts, identify steps to update chart XML, convert personal charts to system charts, convert system charts to personal charts Create, configure, and manage dashboards Differentiate between personal and system dashboards, configure dashboard components, create lists (views), display charts on dashboards, manage security roles for dashboards Configure business process flows and business rules (10–15%) Understand business process flow concepts Describe the purpose of business process flows; differentiate between different types of processes; identify business process flow components including steps and stages, built-in business processes, custom business processes, entities that participate in business processes, and spanning entities Create and manage business process flows Create business process flows, define stages and steps, describe role-based business processes, describe branching logic for guided processes, describe use cases for the client API for business process flows Create and manage business rules Identify use cases for business rules; differentiate between client-side and server-side logic; create business rules; configure business rule conditions; apply AND/OR, IF…ELSE, IF….THEN logic in business rules; identify business rule actions; enable business rules for forms
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Kirsty Spalding's Group

Our lab is primarily interested in investigating the origin and turnover of adipocytes, their progenitor cells and lipid stores in lean and obese individuals.

Obesity is increasing in an epidemic manner in most countries and constitutes a public health problem by enhancing the risk for diseases such as diabetes, fatty liver disease and atherosclerosis. Together these diseases form a cluster referred to as the metabolic syndrome.

An important factor behind obesity complications is the fat cell (adipocyte). Adipocytes release large amounts of free fatty acids which regulate insulin action and the metabolism of glucose and lipids in skeletal muscle and liver. They also secrete hormones, inflammatory proteins and other substances with peripheral effects on blood vessels, appetite, energy homeostasis, blood pressure and glucose as well as lipid metabolism. Thus, disturbances in the normal functioning of fat cells have significant consequences on the health of an individual. Despite the importance of the fat mass very little is known about the maintenance of fat cells in humans, how different fat depots are regulated and how, or if, this is altered in obesity.

Lipid turnover and cell age are studied using radiocarbon dating. By studying cell turnover in a variety of different adipose depots (such as various subcutaneous adipose depots as well as visceral depots) we aim to better understand the regulation of the fat mass in humans. Understanding the dynamics of adipocyte turnover may shed new light on potential treatments for obesity.

Group Members

Kirsty Spalding, Senior researcher
Lena Appelsved, Laboratory engineer
Endre Kiss, Research technician
Carolina Hagberg
Firoozeh Salehzadeh, Postdoc
Viviana Kozina, Postdoc
Christina Jones, Postdoc
Qian Li, PhD student
Keng-Yeh Fu, Graduate Student
Debajit Bhowmick, Laboratory technician
Olga Shilkova, Senior lab manager
Maria Kutschke, Laboratory technician
Beatriz Rosón Burgo, Postdoc
Nahida Arifen, Master student

Selected Publications

Dynamics of human adipose lipid turnover in health and metabolic disease.
Arner P, Bernard S, Salehpour M, Possnert G, Liebl J, Steier P, et al
Nature 2011 Sep;478(7367):110-3

Bernard S, Frisén J, Spalding KL (2010) A mathematical model for the interpretation of nuclear bomb test derived 14C incorporation in biological systems. Nuc Inst and Methods in Physics Res B 268(7-8):1295-1298.

Dynamics of fat cell turnover in humans.
Spalding K, Arner E, Westermark P, Bernard S, Buchholz B, Bergmann O, et al
Nature 2008 Jun;453(7196):783-7

Forensics: age written in teeth by nuclear tests.
Spalding K, Buchholz B, Bergman L, Druid H, Frisén J
Nature 2005 Sep;437(7057):333-4

Retrospective birth dating of cells in humans.
Spalding K, Bhardwaj R, Buchholz B, Druid H, Frisén J
Cell 2005 Jul;122(1):133-43

Developmental BiologyObesityStem Cell Biology


Judith Cornell

Judith Cornell, Ph.D. of Carmel Valley, California, is an internationally acclaimed speaker, seminar and retreat leader, and assistant professor of transpersonal psychology at Holos University Graduate Seminary. She is the author of two best-selling books including the award-winning Mandala (Quest, 1994) and Drawing the Light from Within (Quest, 1997).


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Supreme Court Rules That Admissibility Of "Me Too" Evidence Is Case-By-Case Determination

Labor and Employment Update

March 4, 2008

A recurring issue in employment discrimination cases is whether a plaintiff should be allowed to bolster his/her bias claim by using evidence of alleged discrimination against other employees; especially when different supervisors are involved in the adverse action taken against them. Recently confronted with this important question in Sprint v. Mendelsohn, No. 06-1221 (February 26, 2008), the U.S. Supreme Court held that the admissibility of so-called “me too” evidence depends on the specific facts of each case.

In the case before the Court, Ellen Mendelsohn, a 13-year employee of Sprint, was terminated at age 51 as part of a companywide reduction-in-force. She then sued the company, alleging that she was fired because of her age, in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA).

In support of her claim, Mendelsohn sought to offer at trial testimony from five other former employees, who also lost their jobs as a result of the RIF, and who, while not parties to Mendelsohn’s lawsuit, asserted that they, too, had been discriminated against by their supervisors on account of their age. Sprint argued that the evidence should be excluded because none of these former employees had worked in Mendelsohn’s department; none had been supervised by any of Mendelsohn’s superiors; and none claimed to have heard discriminatory remarks by any of her supervisors. Sprint further contended that, under these circumstances, the admission of such testimony would be unduly prejudicial to the company.

The district court in Kansas agreed with Sprint and held that the “me too” evidence was inadmissible. The court stated that for “me too” evidence to be admissible, the employees offering it had to be “similarly situated” to Mendelsohn. Further, to meet this standard, their testimony would have to show that (1) Mendelsohn’s direct supervisor was the decision-maker in any adverse employment action taken; and (2) the adverse action was taken in “temporal proximity” to Mendelsohn’s termination.

Following a jury verdict for Sprint, Mendelsohn appealed. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit interpreted the district court’s ruling as the application of a per se, or blanket, rule that evidence from employees with different supervisors is irrelevant to proving age bias in a RIF case. Rejecting this standard, the appellate court tossed out the jury verdict and conducted its own evaluation of the “me too” evidence. The Court of Appeals then decided that the testimony was relevant and that its admission at trial would not unduly prejudice Sprint. Accordingly, it ordered a new trial where Mendelsohn would be allowed to present her “me too” evidence.

The Supreme Court, granting Sprint’s request for review, ruled that, contrary to the appellate court’s finding, it was “unclear” whether  the district court had applied a per se rule. Stressing that a trial court’s evidentiary rulings are entitled to significant deference by a reviewing court, the Court held that the case should have been remanded to the trial court to explain its decision.  In so finding, the Court further emphasized that if the trial court had in fact applied a per se rule, such action would have been an abuse of discretion. As the Court explained, “me too” evidence is neither per se admissible nor per se inadmissible. Rather:

The question of whether evidence of discrimination by other supervisors is relevant in an individual ADEA case is fact based and depends on many factors, including how closely related the evidence is to the plaintiff’s circumstances and theory of the case.

Thus, depending on how the trial court interprets this mandate when it reconsiders its initial ruling on the “me too” evidence, Sprint may still face a second trial on Mendelsohn’s age bias claim.

Bottom Line

The Court’s instruction to trial courts to engage in a “fact-intensive, context-specific inquiry” in determining the admissibility of “me too” evidence may ultimately prove advantageous to plaintiffs. Although Mendelsohn had been permitted to proceed to trial even though her “me too” evidence was disallowed, oftentimes, a trial court’s exclusion of such evidence will help an employer win a pre-trial motion for summary judgment. Now, however, trial courts may be reluctant to exclude “me too” evidence and more such cases may proceed to trial. Moreover, the introduction of such evidence often results in “mini trials” within the main trial, allowing evidence not directly involving the plaintiff, but clearly unfavorable to the employer, to become a focal point for the jury.


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The Need for Oil and Gas Insurance in Houston

November, 2013 by

When an investor breaks into a new field, they should know the risks faced by companies in that sector. Every stock carries some general risk, but certain industries face specific risks. Here, we will look at some of the biggest risks faced by gas and oil companies.

Political risks: Politics can affect the oil and gas industry in a regulatory way, but it can have other effects as well. Gas and oil companies are covered under rules that limit how, when and where extraction can occur. The interpretation of these rules varies by state, and political risk greatly increases when companies work abroad.

Most gas and oil companies want to work in countries with a record of long-term leases and stable politics, but others go wherever the deposits are. Many issues can arise here, including political changes that can change the way regulations are enforced. Depending on the extraction country, deals can change from start to finish as governments change their minds.

Some political risks are obvious (such as extracting in nationalistic or unstable countries), or subtle (such as nations which change ownership regulations to favor domestic companies). To mitigate the risk, companies should carefully build and analyze relationships with international partners.

Geological risks: Most easy-to-acquire gas and oil deposits are already being used or are depleted. Exploration is now occurring in less-friendly environments, such as the middle of the ocean. New, unconventional drilling techniques are helping to remove resources in otherwise inaccessible areas.

Geological risk encompasses extraction difficulties and the chance that accessible reserves won’t match up with estimates. Geologists work to mitigate the risks through frequent testing, and use terms such as “probable”, “proven” and “possible” before offering estimates. Metro Allied Insurance can help investors assess the geological risks of a particular project.

Price risks: Other than geological risks, gas and oil prices are the main factor in determining the economic feasibility of a reserve. The more extraction barriers there are, the more costly a project will be. Companies don’t scrap projects automatically because of price risks; rather, they forecast long-term prices.

Investment in gas and oil is growing more difficult, but it isn’t impossible. Despite the many risks, energy demands continue to rise, and gas and oil partly fill that demand. Savvy investors can still find money, but knowing the risks and having oil and gas insurance in Houston is an absolute must.


A Room of One's Own

The image of a room that the woman writer can own and use to write in, away from the demands of traditional womanhood, is a powerful and vivid symbol of the life of intellectual freedom… (read full symbol analysis)


Deutsch Day Competition

NEW KNOXVILLE — Screams of victory, sighs of defeat and the occasional German tune filled the gym at New Knoxville Local School Friday morning, as students in the fourth, fifth and sixth grades competed in the German Olympics.

German teacher Kathy McClain said the annual event is used to promote German culture.

"The idea is to promote German heritage," McClain said, noting that the event is always scheduled during German-American Week. "With New Knoxville being a German town, we try to highlight their heritage."

The New Knoxville German Club puts the event together and this year was led by President Spencer Wolf. McClain said the club is an active group and the members put in a lot of work to put together the event.

"They have a month to put this together," she said, noting that it took dedication from the German club's members. "I appreciate the fact that they're such responsible kids."

Six classes of students competed against each other in several games that each carried a German theme, including a recycling relay, human bowling, a gingerbread house building competition and a round of soccer penalty shots among others. Points were awarded to the first three teams in each game, and at the conclusion of the Olympics, the winning class was awarded a pizza party.

"We try to give them (the students) a highlight of why we're playing each of these games," McClain said, noting that the Germans are a "green" country, which related to the recycling relay and how the country enjoys soccer, which related to the penalty shootout.

McClain noted the German Olympics are a way for fourth, fifth and sixth-grade students to build on what they had already learned about German language and culture.

"First, second and third graders get elementary German lessons throughout the school year from German students," McClain said, noting that there is not time to do the same with the higher grade levels. "This is our way of continuing German culture lessons with them."

Students also learned a German song and dance that they recited for additional points. Sixth-grade student Olivia Dyrness said she had learned the song and dance a few years ago.

"If you’re in the fourth grade, you learn it (the song and dance)," Olivia said. "They refresh your memory if you're in the fifth or sixth grade. They do it every year."

Students described the event as "awesome" and "a lot of fun" and also said they had learned something as well. Samantha Stienecker said she learned about the German language.

"We learned a few German words," she said.

Destiny Schafer said she learned about a German hobby.

"I learned that Germans like to bowl and their bowling is way different than ours," Destiny said.

Of the many games the students participated in, the gingerbread house building competition was a favorite.

"My favorite part would have to be the gingerbread house," Bailey Clark said. "I got icing all over my arms."

At the conclusion of the German Olympics, cheers erupted in the gym as third place was awarded to the green team, second place to the blue team and first to the yellow team. Abby Farley of the winning yellow team enjoyed the end of the event.

"My favorite part was when we won," she said. "We got to cheer on Ms. Bergman."

The teams concluded the German Olympics with a lap around the gym together, showing their team's flag and cheering.

McClain said she enjoys how excited the elementary students get for the event.

"It gets the kids real excited about German," she said.


Social Behavior: Evolutionary Pathways, Environmental Influences and Impairments

by Watson, Paulina

Pages: 207 pages
Publisher: --
Edition: March 2014
Language: English
ISBN-13: 9781631173271

Social behavior has broad implications for the survival and reproduction of an organism. Social behaviors often reflect rather complex mechanisms. Through a variety of interactions, individuals establish social relationships (dominant/subordinate, friend/foe, potential mate/mating partner, kin/non-kin). In some cases this may require aggressive physical altercations and more passive interactions such as ritualistic competitions, behavioral sequences, behavioral postures, and other forms of signaling. Social interactions are dependent on context and environmental influences. Understanding the functional significance and mechanisms driving various social behaviors will require empirical comparative studies with careful consideration of environmental factors. This book provides information on the idea of social behavior in different animals being affected by evolution and the environment.

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Sentence diagram - Compound predicate with one direct object

"There are two competing notions of the predicate in theories of grammar. The first concerns traditional grammar, which tends to view a predicate as one of two main parts of a sentence, the other part being the subject; the purpose of the predicate is to modify the subject. The second derives from work in predicate calculus (predicate logic, first order logic) and is prominent in modern theories of syntax and grammar. In this approach, the predicate of a sentence corresponds mainly to the main verb and any auxiliaries that accompany the main verb, whereas the arguments of that predicate (e.g. the subject and object noun phrases) are outside the predicate." [Predicate (grammar). Wikipedia] The sentence diagram example "Compound predicate with one direct object" was created using the ConceptDraw PRO diagramming and vector drawing software extended with the Language Learning solution from the Science and Education area of ConceptDraw Solution Park.
Sentence diagram
Sentence diagram, modifier,


Because the revolution in information technology has made individual criminal history records more comprehensive, efficient, and retrievable, an individual’s criminal history has become an ever more crucial marker of character and public identity. The broad range of collateral consequences of criminal convictions has become a very salient issue for criminal justice scholars and reformers. A single criminal conviction can trigger thousands of potentially applicable restrictions, penalties, or other civil disabilities. There is no better example of this phenomenon than immigration law and policy, where developments in data storage and retrieval converge with opposition to immigration, especially to immigrants who bear a criminal stigma. In debates in the United States over immigration reforms, even those politicians and legislators who advocate more liberal immigration policies generally concede the desirability of excluding those with serious criminal records from eligibility for new benefits or status. In the European Union, by contrast, although a criminal record may impact an individual’s ability to travel to or reside in an European Union country, it is not as readily dispositive of immigration outcomes. As immigration policy evolves on both sides of the Atlantic, a key question for policymakers is whether excluding persons with criminal convictions is justifiable on grounds of public safety or as a criterion for preferring some visitors and immigrants over others. Aliens seek entrance to a foreign country for three (legal) purposes: permanent residency and citizenship (immigrants); temporary visiting (persons traveling for family reasons, tourism, educational purposes, or temporary work); and refugee status (persons fleeing persecution). For the United States, at least, criminality in a foreigner’s home country is relevant to obtaining a visa to enter this country. In both the United States and the European Union, a foreigner’s criminality in the host country can have fateful consequences for being allowed to remain. This Article compares the ways that the United States and the European Union use criminal records (including both conviction records and, in the United States, some arrest records) for immigration purposes. Toward this end, because US immigration policies are exclusively governed by federal laws, regulations, and executive orders, the United States is treated as a single entity. The European situation is more complicated. Understanding the effect of criminal records on immigration requires attention to the laws and policies of both the European Union and individual Member States. Part I documents the ways that criminal records are used in making immigration determinations in the United States. Part II analyzes the role that criminal records play in regulating immigration into (and within) the European Union. Part III concludes with guidance for policymakers in both jurisdictions.

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Using CitectSCADA > Using Labels > Using Arguments in Labels

Using Arguments in Labels

You can define labels that accept arguments enclosed in parentheses (). The following example shows a label that increments a variable by a specific value:

Label Name

Inc(X, STEP)

X = X + STEP

Here, "X" is the variable to be incremented and "STEP" determines the amount of the increment. You can then use this label in a command, as in the following example:

Key Sequence

Inc(SP12, 10);

An operator can use this command to increment the value of SP12 by 10.


Marco Colombino – Night Vibes Ep [No-Attitude]

Marco Colombino's sophomore release on No-Attitude Recordings, Night Vibes EP encapsulates the deeper mood and darker melodies of Marco's London underpinning. The title track hits with a super deep rumbling bassline and eerie high note piano undertones. An atmospheric twinkling takes over the break and sounds of gas mask breaths amplifies the intensity. Night Vibes screams quintessential afterparty track.

Starting off quite minimal and transforming into an echoing rumble baseline, Transition follows the common theme of Night Vibes' darkness. The flavour kicks in once you hear those 808s and heavy high hats. A spoken vocal contemplates the true meaning of music.

Let's be honest, High Street will never be a dance floor mega hit. But then again that's not the goal is it? It's weird. It's strange. And it invokes feeling. Heavy moodiness. Steady vibration. Thickest bassline and trippiest break.

Marco Colombino - Night Vibes (Original Mix)
Marco Colombino - Transition (Original Mix)
Marco Colombino - High Street (Original Mix)


James Stephens

James Stephens, poet and storyteller, was born in Dublin in 1880. From 1915 to 1924 he was registrar of the National Gallery in Dublin. He spent the remaining years of his life in London where he broadcast frequently from the BBC. He died in 1950.


Do Women Make Less Because They Prefer Fixed Salaries?

There has been plenty of debate over the pay gap between women and men over the years. It definitely exists, but different studies show different levels of disparity. Some studies "prove" that it is the result of bias, while others "prove" that it isn't. The latter typically say that when controlling for education, hours worked, etc., pay is almost identical. I haven't looked at it enough to know what's true, but some new research out of Germany implies that women may make less because they prefer the sure thing.

The researchers had worked out a laboratory experiment involving a total of 119 men and 121 women. They were to multiply pairs of numbers together over a ten-minute period. They were able to choose beforehand how they wanted to be paid. Either they could opt for a fixed sum of seven euros, or they could choose to be paid just under 20 cents for each correct multiplication. Alternatively they could also take part in a kind of tournament, where the opponent was chosen at random. Whoever solved the most tasks won 20 euros, with the opponent getting nothing.

'In our experiment only 44% of all the women taking part chose the performance-related options, although many of them could have earned more if they had,' is how the Bonn economist Professor Armin Falk summarises the results. 'By contrast 68% of the men chose this option.' The results correspond to the statistical data of the socio-economic panel, a survey which the German Institute of Economic Research carries out each year. According to this, 33% of all women work in the public sector, a field in which fixed (though relatively low) pay is the norm. In contrast, only 21% of men are employed in this field.

I can add to that the anecdotal evidence that Mrs. Businesspundit had two offers when we moved to Florida in 2000, and she took the one that paid significantly less, because she liked the people more. Money isn't that important to her compared to other things. Of course, this is all just sidestepping the issue of how compensation should work. Is it a push or a pull model? Shouldn't people be rewarded for not worrying so much about pay, instead of the other way around?

Draw: The Best Free to Use Flowchart Software for Small Businesses in 2016

  • I also recently read a study that proved a reason women earn less is that they tend to negotiate their salary less then men do.

  • I’m suspicious of this conclusion. If women are less willing to accept risk-based compensation plans, then why are there so many women in sales? Virtually all sales compensation systems are performance-based.

    I’m also not convinced that women in general negotiate for themselves less aggressively than men…certainly, there have been few shrinking-violet types among the women working for me…

  • Personal experience is helpful challenging the assumptions and results of this type of study, but is unhelpful for validation — unless you have come to personally know a statistically valid sample of working women.

    David’s reply is a good example of this; his objection is coherent and strong, but doesn’t cut across all working women.

    So my first question for David would be, “do the women working for you earn less than the men working for you?” Of course, I cannot and do not expect David to answer, but I think my point is clear.

  • You make a good point Kevin but…

    1) What’s the statistical validity of the original study?

    2) How does the original study “cut across all women, even “all” German women?

    3) What can you learn from the question “do the women working for you earn less than the men working for you?” There are so many possible reasons why the men and women could differ.

    David is (for me and you I think) presenting some intuitions suggesting that we dig further and question this study’s conclusions. That said you are right (as the maxim says) “for example is not proof.”

  • Kevin…notice that the original study was conducted (a)in an artificial environment and (b)in Germany. I’m not sure that decisions made about pursuing an opportunity for 20 Euros can be generalized to real-life career decisions. Also, the problem involved a specific skill (multiplication) so it’s possible that what was really being measured was the person’s perception of his own relative multiplication skills.

    And I suspect that attitudes toward work (and gender roles in work) are somewhat different in Germany than they are in the USA.

  • Laurence and David,

    I have to agree with you both.

    The lack of credibility is precisely why I don’t like “economic experiments”; I believe that the decisions and tasks undertaken in the lab do not OFTEN take into account the way people think about real world decisions. It’s like they’ve isolated people in a bubble for a few hours, and then asked them how much they enjoy the fresh spring air outside…

    I don’t want to denigrate the experimental work too much — it has some very good uses, and some of my best friends are economic experimentalists at GMU. I have been talking about the problems with such experiments for so long, I just wanted to start on a different direction.


Ward Clerk

White Knight Recruitment are currently working in partnership with an NHS Trust based in Winchester, we are looking for a Ward Clerk, for a full time, ongoing basis.

As a Ward Clerk, you will be responsible for:

* To ensure that patients medical records, diagnostic records and X-ray films are available and correctly maintained, on a daily basis, in accordance with the Trust Health Records Policy.

* To undertake filing of all diagnostic reports and other records into the appropriate patients medical records, on a daily basis.

* To check and maintain the daily 'bed state', updating the patient administration system eCaMIS regularly, in keeping with the Trust Admission, Discharge and Transfer (ADT) Policy, to allow maximum and efficient use of bed space within the Trust.

* To check and complete patient identification data on all relevant documentation, utilising the eCaMIS computer system to update information, as necessary, and ensure that sufficient patient identification labels are available.

* To ensure that any documentation relating to patients who are no longer on the ward, is despatched to the relevant area for filing, where appropriate.

* To receive patients, relatives and visitors onto the ward, to ensure that they are appropriately orientated, and to advise of visiting hours.

We can fully train on eCaMIS prior to start, please note, a DBS will be required for the role.

If you have previous experience in a similar role please send your CV to charlotte.culhane@whiteknightrecruitment.com or call the office on 01962 841917

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Republic, Paperback
4.5 out of 5 (3 ratings)

Republic is the central work of the Western world's most famous philosopher. Essentially an inquiry into morality, Republic also contains crucial arguments and insights into many other areas of philosophy. It is also a literary masterpiece: the philosophy is presented for the most part for the ordinary reader, who is carried along by the wit and intensity of the dialogue and by Plato's unforgettable images of the human condition.

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Interesting and wordy. I'm pretty sure that Plato came up with the first dystopian society in history, as his ideal community sounds like the basic form of any futuristic world. Emotions are weeded out, the "best" are exalted while everyone else works, love is regulated, there are no such things as families... etcetera etcetera.One thing I'm not sure I like is that Plato writes as Socrates, but we'll never know if Socrates would've agreed with all these things. What if Plato is just putting things in Socrates's mouth? But I guess that's what you get when you don't write anything down (geez, Socrates).

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Just to be clear, my rating is for the edition of the Republic I read- the Oxford World's Classics text translated by Robin Waterfield. Giving stars to the Republic is so flagrantly stupid that I can't even come up with a suitably stupid analogy. Giving stars to the Mona Lisa? Not even close. Giving stars to Dante? Not the same, because that deserves five stars. The Republic simultaneously deserves five stars, for kick-starting Western philosophy, social science, aesthetics, theology, and political thought. It poses a bunch of difficult questions in a way that no book before it does. That said, the arguments it uses and the answers it reaches are ridiculous and ridiculously flawed. That's okay. If you're smart enough to ask questions that keep people talking for over two millennia, you're allowed to airball the answers. You can tear the arguments of this book apart in more ways than any other work of respectable philosophy: Aristotle is way more internally coherent, even the most moronic contemporary popular 'scientist' has less absurd assumptions.

Anyway, really I wanted to review the edition. It's great. Waterfield jettisons the random 'book' divisions of the Republic. Ideally, I guess, you'd just publish the thing as one long rant, but in the interests of user-friendliness Waterfield's split the text up into chapters, each one of which more or less features one argument. This makes the flow of the dialogue much easier to follow. He also breaks up steps in the arguments of the longer chapters, so you don't get lost even if you're kind of half-arsing your reading. For that alone, he'd get four stars, but his notes are *brilliant* too. Philosophically engaged, historically aware, never willing to play cheerleader to Socrates' more obvious gaffs, but willing to go out on a limb to defend something that initially seems implausible. Waterfield's guiding thread is that you really should read the book as what it says it is: an investigation into morality (often translated as justice elsewhere), which proceeds by way of analogy. The political stuff is secondary; the real goal is to defend the idea that the moral person is happier and better in the long run. I say all this despite disagreeing with Waterfield's argument that the forms aren't metaphysical. I know why philosophers say that; the idea that Plato thought there were real Divine Bedframes floating somewhere in the fifth dimension is ridiculous. But he pretty clearly thought that ridiculous thing. Not because he was an idiot, though: he wanted to anchor truth is something which actually existed, but acknowledged the real lack of truthiness/justice/morality in the world as he found it. Good for him.

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Plato's Republic is one of the world's most famous thought experiments. It is usually described as a treatise on justice in an ideal State, and while that is not incorrect, it is not the whole story. While the work is certainly of interest to students of philosophy and political science, it might also appeal to anyone interested in psychology and literature in general.The first thing one notices right off the bat is what a great writer Plato is. This great work of philosophy is presented as a conversation — seemingly without end! — which like other dialogues of Plato, engages the reader and draws him or her in with a surprising degree of wit and flare. We who are not philosophers per se might tend to think of philosophy as a dry and lifeless subject, but in Plato's hands, it can be quite fascinating and certainly never dull.The Republic is not an easy place to begin with Plato because of its sheer length and the scope of ideas it covers, but with some patience it is not an entirely bad place to begin, either.For whatever reason, reading ancient Greek literature in English translation seems to be fraught with difficulties. It may be because of the limited vocabulary available within the ancient language as compared to a polyglot language such as English with its agglomeration of words from literally everywhere. But word choice can make a huge difference in the tone and feel of the material.For example, as mentioned above, most modern translations of the Republic are concerned with "justice" in an ideal "state," which sounds rather remote, abstract and high-minded, leaving a perception of difficulty. Robin Waterfield has tried to be more precise in his translation. The Greek word dikaiosune is usually translated as "justice," but Waterfield says the word "refers to something which encompasses all the various virtues and is almost synonymous with 'virtue' in general." In his translation the Republic is about "morality — what it is and how it fulfils one's life as a human being." Also, instead of "state," Waterfield has substituted the word "community." In combination, the idea of morality in the community brings the whole discussion down to a more personal level. I appreciated the change and the more personal tone of the entire work.At any rate, philosophy aside because I am singularly unqualified to utter even platitudes on the subject, I enjoyed reading Plato's Republic. It was a much different book than I was expecting. Of course, having recently read Eric Havelock's [Preface to Plato], I was reading with an agenda — namely, to see whether his assessment of the Republic was correct, and while I appreciate his perspective, I feel his agenda got in the way of presenting a complete picture. I also came away from this reading believing that many critics and commentators attribute more dogmatism to Plato than was really intended. The notion that he, through his mouthpiece Socrates, was setting up an ideal state, a sort of communist utopia, is an overstatement. While he did conclude that in his so-called ideal state the rulers would have no personal property and that they would be philosopher kings (and by implication queens), he also admitted many times throughout the discussion that "the community we've just been founding and describing can't be accommodated anywhere in the world, and therefore it rests at the level of ideas." Thus my initial suggestion that the Republic is a thought experiment, and the ideal state or community is a notion to be thought about and discussed but never to be realized. Something called "human nature" will prevent anything like it ever working in the real world. The ideal was created as a paradigm within which to explore the subject of whether a just or moral person is happier than an injust or immoral person, and incidentally, to try to define the nature of goodness. Socrates was only able to come up with various allegories to illustrate his points about what constitutes goodness, but he never delivered a definition as such.But that is in the nature of Plato's dialogues, which consist of many questions and few definitive answers. The pleasure in reading comes from the plethora of ideas that arise out of the conversations between Socrates and his interlocutors.In addition to the political level, Plato constantly reminds us that "We should bear in mind the equivalence of the community and the individual," and that a just society reflects the just or moral character of the individuals of whom it consists. What works at the community level he also tries to apply to the individual, not always successfully. The success of the community is dependent upon the education of its people and adherence to its customs. Education as discussed in the Republic applies to the rulers or "guardians," but in an open democratic society it must apply to everyone.The Republic is not by any means a quick read, and the more time spent, the more one will get out of it. Robin Waterfield's translation in the Oxford World Classics series is excellent in addition for its introduction and extensive notes which help to guide one through the many digressions and to pinpoint the salient ideas.

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How do LADWP power rates compare to other utilities?

Historically, LADWP’s electricity rates have been lower than similar power utilities in the region and state. LADWP electric rates will remain competitive after the new rates take effect.

Electric rate comparison before and after LADWP proposed rate changes

Rates information not available for subsequent years for these utilities.