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shirbertshitposts · 4 years

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What are your thoughts on the fact that, while Gilbert goes to UoT, Anne goes to UoT? Even if the books underdeveloped their relationship (if it weren't for the internal monologue in Anne of the Island you wouldn't know how close they are, as they interact 10 times at most) its great to see both of them as academic equals in Redmond. I feel like miss Stacey would have pushed Anne towards a scholarship/research just as she did with Gilbert. I'm actually surprised this isn't more of a debate!

I want to start by saying that I do enjoy the show but this will probably become a rant about how the education plot was handled.

To sum it up I don’t like it, and there is a lot of reasons behind it.

I have a lot of questions about it.

1) Is Queens a four year undergraduate college in AWAE and not a teaching school? Because those are two different types of educational institutions...

In the books Anne does at accelerated program at Queens College to get her teaching degree in one year. A lot of her other classmates also go there and get their teaching degrees. Gilbert does the accelerated program as well and they remain academic rivals. The two years that they are teachers, both saving up money to be able to afford to go to Redmond (also with the help of scholarships) for a 4 year undergraduate program seem like important parts of their character growth. They are poor ambitious students from a small rural town. Not everyone from Avonlea goes to Redmond with them or saved up for it on their own, so it is something that sets them apart from the rest of the people they grew up with. It makes sense that they would have to struggle and save money for a bit before they can pursue their educational dreams.

In AWAE this seemingly would still be relevant. Green Gables has fallen on hard times before and Gilbert expresses to Miss Stacy that he doesn’t think he could afford a nice university. How is Gilbert able to afford to attend U of T? He sent in his application late, I doubt he got any scholarship money. Also what is the plan for Anne is she still going to become a teacher in one year and immediately start working because it’s not necessary for her to get a B.A. to teach and AWAE Anne still seems like the type of character who would want to help support her family and work as soon as possible.

2) Why is Gilbert concerned about medical school before he has even finished their equivalent of high school? And what does he have against Queens?

I am not going to pretend that I know the history of medical education perfectly. But I’ve tried to look into it and as far as I can tell in 1899 medical schools required that you have a undergraduate degree first. So he is definitely going to U of T for undergrad. Yes, you can be involved in medical research as an undergrad, but it’s not imperative to the path to becoming a doctor. Back then and still today people often get undergrad degrees in other non-medical related subjects and then go onto medical school. What doesn’t he like about Queen? Does it have poor science curriculum? No medical research opportunities at all? We literally have no idea why he thinks it doesn’t suit his educational goals. If Queens is still a teachers college, which we also don’t know for sure, then it would make sense if he was like actually I dont have plans to be a teacher why should I go here first, BUT WE LITRALLY KNOW NOTHING In the books Gilbert got his B.A. in classics, wouldn’t that be interesting to dive into the AWAE. Imagine him having an interest outside of medicine for once. I think this is also just me being salty that they made so much of Gilbert’s personality “i want to be a doctor” and that influences like all of his interactions at school. People, especially people so young, are not typically so defined by their career choices. (Also mini-rant: Gilbert’s had a revelation that western medicine doesn’t have all the answers and his solution to that was to then to aspire to go to the peak of western medical practice in Paris...okay).

3) Also was anyone else a little surprised that even with his amount of ambition Gilbert would be so quick to go somewhere so far away?

Season 2 ends with him saying he wants to be close to his family. At the end of season 3 I think his family still could use his support. Mary died less than 6 months before college starts. Yeah, Hazel lives them but Bash’s relationship with her is fraught. Plus I guessing Gilbert will still have to help with harvesting each season. Wouldn’t it have made more sense that he would want to only be like a short train ride away for the time being. Bash is his brother... is he not at all concerned about leaving him in an emotionally vulnerable time for large extended periods.

4) To respond to the initial question why wouldn’t Miss Stacy encourage Anne to look at other universities:

This doesn’t bother me as much because Miss Stacy doesn’t say anything to Gilbert until he mentions it. I think if Anne expressed any interest to going somewhere beyond Queens Miss Stacy would have gladly directed her but she didn’t. Miss Stacy seemingly only offers help when the students ask specifically for it rather than encouraging them to strive beyond what they already know they want. It makes sense that Anne would be content to go to Queens. She just found a home at Green Gables, she is not going to want to move far from it at this point no matter how smart or ambitious she is. Her biggest dream growing up was to find a family that loves and accepts her. She is not going to walk away from that easily. Right before she leaves for Queens we see her tell Marilla that she wants to stay and do chores at Green Gables. The thought of leaving, even for something exciting that she worked for is scary to her. She has only had a home for 3 years. Also becoming a teacher is one of her ambitions but it seems her bigger dream is to effect change in her community wherever that may be, and she has already begun to do that in Avonlea. I think Anne is mature enough to know that she can be a force of change wherever she is, whereas Gilbert is still trying to find himself. When they talk at Miss Stacy’s house Anne says she knows what she wants to be, but Gilbert just says what he knows he doesn’t want to be.

To sum it up I would have liked to seem them both become teachers and save for college to set them apart from their classmates and have them bond over being equally ambitious like in the books. And I agree I loved them being academic equals in college together. Also Gilbert looking down on Queens College without explanation was in poor taste.

Oh and I think it’s important to look at this from the lense of the time period if possible because how people chose to go to college and who got to go was different from now. In the books Anne was the FIRST woman from Avonlea to get a B.A. and none of her school friends get that degree although many get teaching degrees. I don’t think that holds up to AWAE because if Queens is now a 4 yr college at least Prissy will have a B.A. before her. But still if we look as education as only serving the purpose of getting the characters the careers they aim for, Anne is looking at 1-2 years where as Gilbert has 7-8 years before him. Anything after 1-2 yrs for Anne would be purely for self fulfillment, which she does do in the books but idk if AWAE wanted to go that route or if they were going to have her aim for another career move after a while or what. So that would also inform choices they make about school.

This is more or less a brain dump of all my thoughts of how AWAE handled the characters education storyline or i guess began it really.

#im sorry this is so long #also i say this all with the knowledge that i was very much a gilbert in high school #i wanted to go to an elite university for medical research #and i did...but i realized after i graduated that my school friends who stayed closer to home didnt get a worse education than me #elite schools arent all their cracked up to be dont fall into the trap kiddos #the name is nice but the education is probably not that different #if the show wanted to go really off canon i think it would have been interesting for Anne to become a doctor too #that would have kept the academic rivalry going #also it wouldnt have been out of the blue becasus aunt jo told her to become a doctor #and Anne has helped in equal if not more medical emergencies #awae

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techslideits · 3 years

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How e waste management services in Chennai

WASHINGTON DC, September , — the realm bank lath of govt administrators today accepted a $one hundred fifty actor program to assist the executive of Tamil Nadu’s imaginative and prescient of making Chennai into an international-classification metropolis this is extra eco-friendly, livable, aggressive, and resilient to climate exchange and different shocks.

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To aid spoil the habitual cycle of floods and droughts afflictive Chennai, the software will help an built-in management of water resources, the water give gadget, and demand. it ll help the advent of a water authoritative authority; consume of performance-primarily based operator contracts for bettering baptize provide and sanitation services WSS within the amount metropolis environment; addendum of functions to households living in anew-delivered peripheral areas; growth in operational effectively e.g. via reduction of baptize losses; and improved can charge recuperation via greater assortment of consumer prices andor discount of operating expenses.

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This program will make stronger the fitness affliction equipment by using aiding Chennai convey an expanded equipment of health functions including, as an example, screening for melanoma, diabetes, and hypertension; increase the nice of accessible health facilities and support them obtain countrywide high-quality affirmation requirements; and boost ailment surveillance through more commonplace advertisement by using accessible and personal fitness amenities.

The software will assist Chennai cut back waste and raise resource restoration, enabling the metropolis to circulate up the decay bureaucracy in opposition t reuse, recycling, and recuperation. it is going to also increase the operational and economic sustainability of its strong decay management device.

“Tamil Nadu is certainly one of India’s best urbanized states and, doubtlessly, the leading edge creating new fashions for productive and across-the-board city provider delivery,” stated Sumila Gulyani and Elif Ayhan, world bank’s group Leaders for the software. “This program will aid GoTN’s efforts to support key provider delivery institutions, check existing carrier start fashions and pivot in opposition t preparations that may, over time, bring apple-type capabilities in a fashion it s environmentally and financially acceptable as well as socially inclusive.”

The $a hundred and fifty actor mortgage from the overseas financial institution for reconstruction and building IBRD is variable unfold mortgage that has a ultimate ability of . years, together with a adroitness period of years.

#virogreen.in #e waste management services in Chennai

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joshuajacksonlyblog · 4 years

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What’s driving the S&P 500, NIO and XRP?

While the global economy struggles with the fallout of Covid-19, financial markets are showing signs of recovery and this means there are opportunities for investors. So, for those with an optimistic outlook, we are taking a look at what is driving the S&P 500, NIO, and XRP.

S&P 500

The S&P 500, the index tracking the largest listed US companies, is making headlines as it is poised to hit a new all-time high, moving past the 3,386 it set back in February. The index launched in 1957 and even though there have been some rocky periods since it is remarkably creeping towards new territory in the same year as Covid-19. In a few months, it has been able to recover from a trough of 2,287 on 23 March.

But why? Many analysts have pointed to this recovery being fuelled by a select few tech giants (Apple, Alphabet, Amazon, etc), which are powering the whole index upwards because of their size, even though some other constituents are having a much more difficult time. There is no doubt these companies have had a good 2020, as even though the coronavirus has disrupted both business and everyday life for billions around the world, the demand for tech products and services has been unparalleled.

For example, with nearly entire populations living under lockdown, the use of Amazon’s home delivery and entertainment services has skyrocketed. Amazon’s share price has rallied to the point that the company’s owner (Jeff Bezos, the richest man in the world), saw $10bn added to his net worth in one day.

Even though the picture may be less rosy for other sectors and the wider US economy, some equity investors are taking confidence from this rally, and analysts at Goldman Sachs believe the S&P 500 could even close around 3,600 by the end of the year. However, there is still the US election to face before then…

Buy S&P 500

Capital at risk

NIO

To buy a single share in Tesla would set an investor back over $1,700, based on today’s market price, signaling the company’s hold on the growing electronic vehicle market, which is gathering momentum.

Fortunately, there are other electronic vehicle manufacturers and, of them, Chinese company NIO is attracting a huge amount of interest. In fact, analysts Piper Sandler recently called it the ‘Tesla of China’. While it can be easy to get carried away about companies in new areas of tech, NIO is already growing and is well located to capitalize on China’s growing interest in electric vehicles. NIO has a healthy balance sheet and is experiencing strong demand for its vehicles, reporting a surge in deliveries in the second quarter to 10,331 (nearly triple the same quarter in 2019).

NIO is anticipating further growth and registered a US ADR in 2019 to raise more capital. This year, its US dollar share price rallied from $3.71 on 2 January to $13.63 on 17 August. NIO hasn’t (yet) stated an intention to do battle with Tesla in its key markets, but the Chinese firm is extremely well-placed in its homeland for future growth.

Buy NIO

Capital at risk

XRP

XRP is crypto firm Ripple’s coin and there is a definitive number in circulation — 100 billion tokens to be precise — and while investors are spoilt for choice when it comes to the cryptocurrencies, demand for XRP has proven robust. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse recently revealed that since launch in October 2018 around $2bn has been processed around the world in XRP coins.

Ripple attributes the popularity of XRP to its use in cross border payments. The firm accepts fiat currency (pounds, dollars, euros – anything that has been legitimized by a government) with the equivalent in XRP then being sent to a corresponding exchange in another country before being converted back to actual money again. As the world has been forced to become more digital in the past few months, reliance on XRP has accelerated and the value has responded. On 14 February, XRP had a price of $0.32 and by 15 March this had fallen to $0.14. However, it has since climbed back up in price and as of 17 August is priced at $0.31.

Ripple is building on this success and is introducing a new app that would allow for more messaging between XRP users, with a ledger being integrated into mainstream messaging apps. A step like this could help break down the barriers some people have to access cryptos and embracing a new digital world.

Buy XRP

Capital at risk

Disclaimer: eToro is a multi-asset platform that offers both investing in stocks and crypto assets, as well as trading CFDs.

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michaelbennettcrypto · 4 years

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What’s driving the S&P 500, NIO and XRP?

S&P 500

The S&P 500, the index tracking the largest listed US companies, is making headlines as it is poised to hit a new all-time high, moving past the 3,386 it set back in February. The index launched in 1957 and even though there have been some rocky periods since, it is remarkably creeping towards new territory in the same year as Covid-19. In a few months it has been able to recover from a trough of 2,287 on 23 March.

But why? Many analysts have pointed to this recovery being fuelled by a select few tech giants (Apple, Alphabet, Amazon etc), which are powering the whole index upwards because of their size, even though some other constituents are having a much more difficult time. There is no doubt these companies have had a good 2020, as even though the coronavirus has disrupted both business and everyday life for billions around the world, the demand for tech products and services has been unparalleled.

Even though the picture may be less rosy for other sectors and the wider US economy, some equity investors are taking confidence from this rally and analysts at Goldman Sachs believe the S&P 500 could even close around 3,600 by the end of the year. However, there is still the US election to face before then…

Buy S&P 500 Capital at risk

NIO

To buy a single share in Tesla would set an investor back over $1,700, based on today’s market price, signalling the company’s hold on the growing electronic vehicle market, which is gathering momentum.

Fortunately, there are other electronic vehicle manufacturers and, of them, Chinese company NIO is attracting a huge amount of interest. In fact, analysts Piper Sandler recently called it the ‘Tesla of China’. While it can be easy to get carried away about companies in new areas of tech, NIO is already growing and is well located to capitalise on China’s growing interest in electric vehicles. NIO has a healthy balance sheet and is experiencing strong demand for its vehicles, reporting a surge in deliveries in the second quarter to 10,331 (nearly triple the same quarter in 2019).

Buy NIO Capital at risk

XRP

Ripple attributes the popularity of XRP to its use in cross border payments. The firm accepts fiat currency (pounds, dollars, euros – anything that has been legitimised by a government) with the equivalent in XRP then being sent to a corresponding exchange in another country before being converted back to actual money again. As the world has been forced to become more digital in the past few months, reliance on XRP has accelerated and the value has responded. On 14 February, XRP had a price of $0.32 and by 15 March this had fallen to $0.14. However, it has since climbed back up in price and as of 17 August is priced at $0.31.

Buy XRP Capital at risk

Listen to Digest and Invest Podcast

Disclaimer: eToro is a multi-asset platform which offers both investing in stocks and cryptoassets, as well as trading CFDs.

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brettzjacksonblog · 4 years

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What’s driving the S&P 500, NIO and XRP?

S&P 500

The S&P 500, the index tracking the largest listed US companies, is making headlines as it is poised to hit a new all-time high, moving past the 3,386 it set back in February. The index launched in 1957 and even though there have been some rocky periods since, it is remarkably creeping towards new territory in the same year as Covid-19. In a few months it has been able to recover from a trough of 2,287 on 23 March.

Buy S&P 500 Capital at risk

NIO

Fortunately, there are other electronic vehicle manufacturers and, of them, Chinese company NIO is attracting a huge amount of interest. In fact, analysts Piper Sandler recently called it the ‘Tesla of China’. While it can be easy to get carried away about companies in new areas of tech, NIO is already growing and is well located to capitalise on China’s growing interest in electric vehicles. NIO has a healthy balance sheet and is experiencing strong demand for its vehicles, reporting a surge in deliveries in the second quarter to 10,331 (nearly triple the same quarter in 2019).

Buy NIO Capital at risk

XRP

Buy XRP Capital at risk

Listen to Digest and Invest Podcast

Disclaimer: eToro is a multi-asset platform which offers both investing in stocks and cryptoassets, as well as trading CFDs.

Image by Arek Socha from Pixabay

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kartichoq · 4 years

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10 Science-Backed Ways to Lose Belly Fat permanently, consistent with Weight Loss Experts

Start by walking only one minute more each day.

Losing weight generally is tough, but dropping belly fat especially can feel insurmountable. It’s not beat your head: “It’s essentially impossible to inform one specific region of your body to accelerate metabolism,” says Chris DiVecchio, a NASM-certified personal trainer and author of The 5 x 2 Method: Revealing the facility of Your Senses.

Still, it’s a worthy goal to lose belly fat because it’s “unfortunately the foremost dangerous location to store fat,” says Lawrence Cheskin, M.D., chair of the department of nutrition and food studies at Mason University and professor of health, behavior & society at Johns Hopkins University. Because belly fat — also referred to as visceral fat or the deep abdominal fat that surrounds your organs — is more temporary, it circulates throughout the bloodstream more regularly and is, therefore, likelier to boost the quantity of fat in your blood, increasing your blood glucose levels and putting you at a greater risk of a heart condition and sort 2 diabetes.

So, you understand belly fat means bad. But how does one lose it? you’ve got to think beyond crunches and planks and adopt a well-rounded approach. “It needs to be more losing fat as an entire,” agrees Chris Gagliardi, a licensed personal trainer at the American Council on Exercise (ACE). Without further ado, here are the simplest ways to lose belly fat once and for all.

1. Accept that your behaviors will adjust.

A big part of weight loss is just being conscious of the choices you’re making. for instance, when out at an hour with friends, you’ll lose track of what proportion you’re eating or drinking. But if you’re taking a blink of an eye to step back and become conscious of that fact, you’re ready to course correct. “The awareness then planning for what else I am often doing, which may give me an equivalent advantage of eating comfort foods,” says Gagliardi.

2. Track your calories.

The most basic approach to weight loss is burning more calories than you devour. as an example, since 3,500 calories equals one pound of fat, a weight loss app — or maybe just a pen and paper — can assist you to decide what percentage calories you would like to chop from your diet or burn at the gym to satisfy your goals. “If you were to burn 500 more calories per day seven days every week, that might cause 3,500 calories during a week and one pound of weight loss,” says Gagliardi.

If you are not up for crunching numbers a day, you’ll take a more generalized approach. “For some people, it’s knowing, ‘Typically I eat an entire sandwich,’” says Gagliardi. “Now, I’m getting to eat half a sandwich at lunch and save the opposite half for my dinner and cut my calories in half.“ to urge started, consider these 25 ways to chop 500 calories each day.

3. Eat more fiber.

Foods that are high in refined carbs and sugar don’t tame your hunger, so you finish up reaching for more. Instead, eat more fibrous foods like whole-grain bread, oats, vegetables, fruits, beans, legumes, and chia seeds. “They fill you up more,” says Dr. Cheskin, as fiber helps slow your digestion.

A 2015 study from the Annals of general medicine showed that for those that have a tough time following a strict diet, simplifying the load loss approach by just increasing fiber intake can still cause weight loss. Women should aim for a minimum of 25 grams of fiber per day (based on a 2,000-calorie) diet, consistent with the foremost recent U.S. Dietary Guidelines. Start with our high-fiber diet plan.

4. Walk a day.

If you don’t have a longtime exercise routine, “walking may be a pretty good entry point for people,” says Gagliardi. One study published within a Journal found that fat women who did a walking program for 50 to 70 minutes three days per week for 12 weeks outstandingly slashed their visceral fat compared to a sedentary control group.

“Even if your start line maybe a one-minute walk, if that’s quite what you’ve been doing, there are health benefits thereto,” says Gagliardi. one of the most important mistakes people make when trying to reduce is that they struggle to try to an excessive amount of time and obtain burned-out.

“Starting slow and dealing your high is best than overdoing it and abandoning,” says Gagliardi. a simple thanks to approaching it: plan to go for a fast, 10-minute walk after dinner, and slowly increase the time as you become easier with daily movement.

5. Begin strength training.

It’s important to try to full-body strength training if you would like to lose belly fat especially if you’re trying to stay it off for the end of the day. “Strength training should be a neighborhood of almost everybody’s exercise plan,” says Dr. Cheskin. That’s because strength training helps you build muscle, which can replace body fat. and since muscle is metabolically active, you'll still burn calories after understanding, thereby, reducing overall body fat. Bonus: When your rate becomes faster thanks to muscle growth, you’ll have a touch more flexibility in your diet if that’s something you struggle with, says Dr. Cheskin.

To get started, lift weights a minimum of two days per week and workout from there, says Gagliardi. “One thanks to considering it's that you simply are build up to supporting your long-term goals,” he explains.

For example, maybe you would like to be ready to do certain movements, sort of a deadlift or bench press, and work your high to more reps of these exercises — or even it’s as simple as eager to improve your activities in daily living, like more easily lifting groceries.

6. Embrace healthy fats.

If you would like to lose fat, you've got to eat fat...the right kind, that is. Adding healthy fats, within the sort of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, can assist you to feel more satisfied together with your meals. Yasi Ansari, M.S., R.D., C.S.S.D., national medial spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, says, "Fat sources that I like to recommend boosting within the diet come from unsaturated fatty acids found in foods like vegetable oil, nuts, avocados, fatty fish, and eggs, as they will help increase satiety while providing a spread of health benefits when consumed delicately.

7. load on protein.

There’s a reason everyone harps on about protein: Not only does it help keep you full, but it’s also liable for repairing the small tears caused by strength training in your muscles. This helps them grow bigger and stronger, nudging out body fat within the process. As a general rule of thumb, aim to urge a minimum of 70 grams of protein throughout the day, says Dr. Cheskin.

This is especially important before you exercise. We’re all guilty of going hard at the gym, then heading straight to Chipotle afterward because we’re super hungry. The result? You eat more calories than you burn and find yourself with excess belly fat.

To avoid feeling hungry after a workout, eat a snack with a minimum of 12 grams of protein before exercising, says Dr. Cheskin. And if you’re still hungry afterward? First, sign up with yourself and confirm it’s actual hunger and not dehydration, says Dr. Cheskin. Then, eat a protein-rich snack that also includes some carbs, sort of a protein bar with whole grains.

8. Okay, now you'll do some crunches.

Although you can’t spot reduce fat, you'll target building lean muscle tissue, which successively helps burn fat. “There are dozens of muscles between your shoulders and your hips that are involved in every movement you are doing,” says DiVecchio. “The fastest thanks to creating a lean midsection begins with choosing the proper moves.”

Aim to try to ab work three or fourfold every week on non-consecutive days with a minimum of 24 hours of rest in between sessions, says Gagliardi. During those sessions, you'll start with simpler moves like crunches, bicycle crunches, and planks. albeit you'll only be directly targeting your abs three or fourfold every week, you ought to still be activating your core (aka, tightening your ab muscles) in every workout you are doing, says Gagliardi.

There are plenty of different ab workouts you'll do right in your home. Once you’re comfortable in an ab routine, work your high to more complex ab exercises, like side-to-side med ball slams and weighted Russian twists, says DiVecchio.

9. attempt to limit your stress.

Stress can mess with every a part of your body — but how you affect it can make or break your weight loss goals. “I think most of the effect of stress is behavioral instead of neurochemical,” says Dr. Cheskin. “It makes us eat more because we use food as a substitute for handling stress.”

The truth is, eating food to form yourself feel better is typically an entire lot easier than actually facing the strain head-on. “People gravitate toward something that doesn’t require anybody else to try to to it, is instantly satisfying, and doesn’t take an entire lot of effort, mostly if you’re just opening up a package ” says Dr. Cheskin.

Stress-eating can only cause one thing: growing your belly instead of whittling it. If you discover yourself stress eating, take a step back and think: What’s causing my stress, and what am I able to do about it? Find how to remedy the answer or talk through it with a therapist instead of turning to a bag of Doritos.

10. Prioritize quality sleep.

Sleep is large when it involves your weight loss success — and that’s both if you sleep an excessive amount of or insufficient. “Sleeping an excessive amount of is perhaps not great for you healthwise,” says Dr. Cheskin. “But sleeping insufficient is worse.”

Case in point: One 2017 review and meta-analysis from the U.K. found that folks who slept 5.5 hours or less per night ate an additional 385 calories the day after compared to those that snoozed for a minimum of seven to 12 hours. On top of that, they preferred to munch on fatty foods filled with empty calories, like chips.

If you do not sleep well every night, that leaves longer for you to snack and make otherwise unhealthy decisions that might affect your weight loss. Although it'll vary from person to person on what proportion sleep you got to be best (and therefore make progress toward your weight loss goals), the perfect number is usually seven or eight hours, says Dr. Cheskin.

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klcthebookworm · 6 years

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Reproduction in the GFFA

This post was inspired by a comment thread on @jedimordsith's The Gift Chapter Eighteen. I hope to spur a discussion or provide some meta and head-canons to help other creators in the fandom. Because I can't remember anyone discussing baby making before. Canon for this post are the original trilogy, prequels trilogy, and sequel trilogy. Clone Wars and Rebels television series are part of the canon, but I haven't watched either shows, so someone else will have to provide examples from them. EU Legends and Disney EU supplement the canon and will be cited so others can use those tidbits or set them aside according to their personal preferences. Everybody ready?

I'm writing this before the Last Jedi opens, so we are working with seven saga films and one anthology film. Out of those eight, only one character is shown pregnant and giving birth, Padmé Amidala. The only other character to talk about giving birth is Shmi Skywalker when talking about Anakin to Qui Gon Jinn. So the experiences of these two characters gives us natural reproduction according to their species. For the purposes of this discussion, natural reproduction means without the assistance of technology; sexual reproduction for humans and possibly many more alien species in the GFFA and potentially asexual reproduction as well though I don't have any examples in my memory. The Hutts were hermaphrodites in EU Legends, but according to Wookieepedia Disney EU has decided to divide that population along male and female now.

Even with the pregnancy examples, we the viewers aren't taken along on any medical check-ups to see what kind of assisted reproductive technology the GFFA has. In fact the fandom has wondered if it was lack of prenatal care that actually killed Padmé if her keeping her pregnancy secret extended to never seeing a medical droid or practitioner. But we shouldn't overlook the fourth parent shown in the prequels and how he got his child: Jango Fett and his clone son Boba.

As part of his compensation for being the genetic template for the clone army the Kaminoans created, Jango requested a clone who did not have the same genetic modifications such as behavioral conditioning and growth acceleration. We meet Boba as a ten-year-old child in Attack of the Clones, and presumably Jango has been raising Boba since he left the cloning tank as viable infant. My respect for Jango has gone up a notch; it's not easy to be a single parent no matter what galaxy you're in. And with this information, cloning tanks have to be added to a list of assisted reproductive technology the GFFA has.

But just because the technology exists doesn't mean it is available for the masses. Figures weren't quoted in the Attack of the Clones, but the Grand Army of the Republic was not cheap and the Kaminoans took ten years to grow and develop their clones for this purpose. Cost prohibitions can be inferred further by how the Imperial military moved into enlistment and conscription models to maintain stormtrooper numbers. I think we can safely say that the normal population of the GFFA couldn't afford to clone a baby even if the Empire did not restrict access to the technology. EU Legends developed a separate technology for cloning with the Spaarti cloning cylinders (invented by Timothy Zahn before George Lucas figured out what the Clone Wars were all about) that worked faster--a fully grown and trained clone in a year rather than ten--and could work even faster if the Force didn't interfere with the speed by making the clones mentally unstable. This technology was locked down by the Empire, and was thought destroyed since the Clone Wars by the rest of the population.

While we don't know how Jango Fett donated his genetics to the Kaminoans, all the adult clones were a physical copy of him on screen. But a plot point in EU Legends had a clone of Luke grown from his preserved severed hand. So how ever cloning works in the GFFA, it's not limited to gametes (sperm and ovum or whatever alien equivalents are).

So what about real assisted reproductive technologies? Are they present in the GFFA? We have no canon evidence of ultrasounds, artificial insemination, in vitro fertilization, or gestational surrogate pregnancy but it's hard to think that if we have all these things, they must have them too. After all they can replace limbs with fully-articulated prosthetic parts that can be permanently attached to the body.

Research time! While I didn't go much deeper than Wikipedia and Google searches (go deeper for sources if you're writing for a grade), I was surprised to learn that most of these things that are now ubiquitous with pregnancy are developments younger than I and A New Hope. Artificial insemination in humans turned out to be the oldest, first successfully done in 1884. Sperm banks started in Iowa in the 1920s, making donated sperm available for couples with fertility problems as well as women without male partners.

Medical ultrasounds developments started in 1940s in several countries. Professor Ian Donald, Tom Brown, and Dr. John MacVicar published their findings as "Investigation of Abdominal Masses by Pulsed Ultrasound" on June 7, 1958. Afterwards, they continued to refine their techniques to obstertic applications to measure the growth of the fetus at the Glasglow Royal Maternity Hospital and in the new Queen Mother's Hospital in Yorkhill. But it was only in the 1970s that the technology became widely used in American hospitals and further refinement has led to our ease of determining the sex of fetues. (https://www.livescience.com/32071-history-of-fetal-ultrasound.html). Before ultrasounds, detecting multiple fetal heartbeats was the only way to determine if there was more than one child but it is a more inaccurate process.

The first successful birth of a child from in vitro fertilization was in 1978. A woman carried the first successful gestational surrogate pregnancy in 1985. Surrogacy is a method or agreement whereby a woman agrees to carry a pregnancy for another person or persons, who will become the newborn child's parent(s) after birth. The next step is artificial wombs, which moved forward in 2017 with animal trials. It's aimed for helping a premature fetus develop normally rather than taking over the whole process. That is still in the realm of fiction.

Lois McMaster Bujold created uterine replicators for her Hugo-award-winning Vorkosigan Saga series. Star Wars fans you will like these books: space opera, exotic worlds and cultures, political intrigues, family dramas, strong women characters, and the main protagonist is disabled and keeps fighting to show his worth to his culture. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vorkosigan_Saga) Genetic manipulation is commonplace, though of varying degrees of acceptance depending on the culture. The uterine replicators are essential to this process because it allows complete in vitro human reproduction. The embryo and fetus can be genetically modified as benign as just removing a genetic disease so it is finally eradicated to controlling the sex and appearance of the fetus, which led to the creation of the Quaddies. The freedom and safety this technology provides is also a plot point in the series since Miles' disabilities are the result of poisoning his mother went through while pregnant. His cousin Ivan--while born naturally perfectly healthy--was nearly murdered in the womb when his parents were caught by a rebelling faction during a civil war. The other nifty factor is they can use any cell from the parents to create the embryo, though gametes are the easiest to work with, and donated oocyte if there is no ovum from the mother. (See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolly_(sheep) for how that works.)

I came to the Vorkosigan Saga after Star Wars, so my light bulb was phrased "uterine replicators are just like Star Wars cloning tanks!" The technology is virtually identical, the only difference being parents' blended DNA instead of creating a copy of the donor. I'm head-canoning that this exists in the Star Wars universe as assisted reproductive technology, probably with a different name to keep it separate from cloning and probably priced out of financial reach for most of the population in GFFA. I haven't coined a Star Wars-ish name for it, so suggest away please.

Besides allowing for reproduction for infertile, same-sex, or extremely-unable-to-accommodate-pregnancy couples, this technology allows for hybrid babies between two species that are unable to reproduce naturally. I can't think of any examples of this in pro-fic (Wedge had a non-human girlfriend for a bit but she got shunted off-stage pretty quickly), but this is a situation that we fanfic-writers love to exploit and fill-in-the-gaps. It's an option along with the ones we covered that we can use right now in real life.

Thank you for sticking with me to the end of this long look at reproduction in the GFFA and our own galaxy. I've gained a new point of view considering this topic and the films. Lucas not putting in what turned out to be cutting edge technology in the original trilogy of his space opera, I can give him a pass on. It wasn't necessary for the story he was telling Padmé skipping prenatal check-ups to keep her pregnancy a secret from the Jedi Order can explain the lack of knowledge that she's carrying twins but only to a certain point. How come all the Force users around Padmé missed it? The only good explanation I've got is the twins kept hiding each other in the Force from all the other Force users, and Obi-Wan and Yoda were too polite to scan her. Did Stover come up with a reason in the novelization? I still need to read it. Share your thoughts please. :D

#star wars meta #biology #assisted reproductive technology #cloning #long post

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jerrytackettca · 5 years

Text

The Hidden Gold in Your Garbage

If you're still tossing your vegetable peels, egg shells, apple cores and lemon rinds in the garbage, you're missing out on this hidden source of "gold." Kitchen scraps like these are ideal for creating compost, a deceptively simple tool for building phenomenal soil health and environmental health all at the same time.

Since 2015 food waste has been the largest component of waste sent to U.S. landfills, making up 22 percent of the amount landfilled, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The amounts of food waste coming to landfills was so great, in fact, that in September 2015 announced a food loss and reduction goal of reducing that waste by 50% by 2030.1

By following the EPA's and composting, you're not only keeping your share of food waste out of landfills, but you're also helping to pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and sequester it in the soil. Compost regenerates the soil and in so doing supports the future of our food supply, human health and the planet as a whole.

Healthy Soil Depends on Beneficial Microorganisms, Including Fungi

David Johnson, a molecular biologist and research scientist at the University of New Mexico, believes one of the most critical things in a plant's life is its relationship with mycorrhizal fungi. This is why tillage is so detrimental, as it destroys the mycorrhizal fungi and disrupts or inhibits this symbiotic relationship between plants and soil biology.

Synthetic chemicals also have a very destructive effect as they create massive pH changes in the soil that kill microbial life. As a result of industrial agriculture and other human activities, one-third of the soil on earth is severely degraded2,3 and lacking in the beneficial microorganisms it needs to thrive.

Adding compost is one effective strategy for reintroducing such microorganisms to the soil, and Johnson has developed a no-turn composting system that allows fungal communities to flourish, helping to restore biological function to soil on both small and large farms.

Johnson is conducting a range of soil-biology experiments that have shown immense benefits from the application of biologically enhanced compost, which has a clay-like consistency and can be applied as an extract, slurry to coat seeds or as a direct soil amendment.

In one 4.5-year trial, cover crops were grown along with one of Johnson's compost solutions (in this case from vermicompost, or worm compost) leading to a net annual increase of nearly 11 tons of soil carbon per hectare (2.47 acres) of land. Scientific American reported:4

"That's equivalent to removing about 16 metric tons of carbon dioxide per acre from the atmosphere annually — roughly 10 times the increase that other scientists have reported in many different soils and climates.

Johnson ascribes these improvements, along with large increases in crop yields, to improved soil health stemming from the application of the microbes from his vermiculture, leading to an increase in the soil's fungal-to-bacterial ratio.

… In all this work, Johnson maintains that as the ratio of fungi to bacteria increases, the soil biome becomes more efficient in utilizing carbon and other nutrients and that the soil therefore releases less CO2 to the atmosphere."

Do Compost and Biochar Hold the Secret to Sequestering Carbon in the Soil?

It's estimated that one-third of the surplus carbon dioxide in the atmosphere stems from poor land-management processes, including clearing forests, overgrazing and tilling the soil, that contribute to the loss of carbon, as carbon dioxide, from farmlands.5

One way to increase the amount of carbon in your soil is to use biochar. Biochar is created by slowly heating a biomass in a low-oxygen environment, such as a kiln, until everything but the carbon is burned off. The resulting biochar — similar to charcoal — is then added to compost, sawdust or fish waste, for example, before being placed into the ground.

Biochar can have both positive and negative effects on plant growth depending on how much is applied as well as its pH and level of nutrients like nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P). In a study published in Scientific Reports, researchers concluded that biochar P concentration dictates colonization of mycorrhizal fungi in agricultural soil:6

"Growth responses of wheat and clover to the application of various biochars were mostly positive, and their growth was correlated, but biochar contributions to soil fertility varied with biochar properties.

When nutrient concentrations are higher in biochars, especially for P and N, plants can gain access to nutrients via the plant roots and mycorrhizal hyphae. Thus biochar amendments can increase both plant nutrient uptake and crop production in nutrient deficient soil."

For your garden, you can actually buy mycorrhizal fungi spores. It's relatively inexpensive and they're very easy to grow, as long as you do not disturb the soil, and adding spores will help the fungi propagate faster.

At the same time, Johnson is conducting research on land in five states, which showed biologically enhanced compost transforms land, from having net costs per acre to providing net benefits of $500 to $600 per acre, when accounting for carbon capture credits, reduced irrigation, increased soil fertility and other benefits.

"Johnson asserts that if his approach were used across agriculture internationally, the entire world's carbon output from 2016 could be stored on just 22 percent of the globe's arable land," according to Scientific American.7

Benefits of Johnson-Su Bioreactor Compost

>>>>> Click Here <<<<<

The photos above show Johnson-Su bioreactors on Via Organica Ranch in Mexico, where Johnson has been testing enhancements with biochar. The bioreactor, created by Johnson and his wife, Hui-Chun Su Johnson, is unique in that, unlike traditional composting methods, it requires no turning or manual labor.

It also produces no odors, reduces water usage and composting labor and can be produced using materials that costs less than $35. "This simple composting method produces a biologically enhanced compost by creating an environment where beneficial soil microorganisms … thrive and multiply," Regeneration International, which has a mission to promote, facilitate and accelerate the global transition to regenerative food, farming and land management, reported.8

"When this biologically alive compost is applied to the soil the microorganisms inoculate the soil and work in harmony with growing plants to improve soil health and increase the amount of carbon drawn out of the atmosphere and into the soil." They explained some of the top benefits of Johnson-Su bioreactor compost, which include:9

Increases soil carbon sequestration

Increases crop yield

Increases soil nutrient availability

Increases soil water-retention capacity

Produces biologically diverse compost

Produces nutrient-rich compost

Results in a low-salinity compost

Improves seed germination and growth rates

Mercola.com is a founding member of Regeneration International, and one of their projects is duplicating Johnson's work in Mexico at Via Organica — a project we have cosponsored for years along with the Organic Consumers Association.

Via Organica has been utilizing biochar both in general composting and as litter in their turkey and chicken houses. The biochar not only absorbs the smell and ammonia, but also captures nutrients from the bird droppings. The litter is then collected and used in compost piles.

Because biochar has substantial surface area based on its porous properties, it provides ample housing for the beneficial microorganisms that appear to accelerate the process. Johnson has provided training at Via Organica based on his methods, and we've built more than a dozen of his bioreactors there.

We'll now be using Johnson's method and testing with the addition of biochar, which may even amplify the benefits he's already proven.

Why Recycling Is Failing

When recycling programs first began, it was a dual-stream system. That is, you were required to separate materials such as glass, paper, plastic and metal for different recycling centers. It was a cumbersome task, and one that didn't have the highest participation rates, but it was superior in many ways to the single-stream recycling programs that became the norm by the 2000s.

Contamination rates were low, less than 10 percent, but this jumped closer to 30 percent with single-stream programs. So, while rates of participation increased, actual recycling did not. WasteDive reported that it was actually large waste collection and disposal companies that pushed for the switch from dual-stream to single-stream, thereby making communities dependent on their services for both trash removal and recycling (or the appearance of recycling):10

"Big Waste companies made a deliberate decision to disrupt the then well-functioning dual-stream systems by convincing cities to switch to single-stream recycling. This caused contamination rates to increase and led to the market crunch started by Chinese import restrictions."

China accepted contaminated recyclables from the U.S. for 20 years, which served to undermine U.S. recycling markets. WasteDive added:11

"This made cities dependent on large-scale processing facilities that produced low-grade materials and often don't recover any quality glass – 20% of the single-stream recycling mix. In many cases, the companies that run these facilities also manage — and profit far more from — collection and landfill disposal, disincentivizing them from maximizing recycling."

How Many of Your Recyclables Are Actually Recycled?

Many Americans assume that everything they toss in their recycling bin ends up getting recycled. Unfortunately, mistakes are common and adding nonrecyclable items to the bin can contaminate the entire lot, sending it straight to the landfill.

For instance, municipal recycling facilities often do not recycle plastic bags, which can get caught in their machinery causing damage. Further, if you put your recyclables into closed trash bags, they'll likely get thrown straight into the trash because sorters don't have time to open them, and they're also considered to be a safety hazard.

Most greasy, wet or food-soiled items also cannot be recycled, and neither can very small items, like bottle caps (unless they're screwed on a plastic bottle). Anything that enters a recycling center that cannot be recycled is considered a contaminant and will be thrown out. If too many contaminants are found in a bundle of recyclables, it runs the risk of being rejected. Examples of typically nonrecyclable items include:

Plastic bags

Plastic wrap

Styrofoam

Greasy pizza boxes

Food

Electronics

Batteries

Yard waste

Diapers

Soiled paper such as paper towels and napkins

Single-use or to-go cups, paper food bowls with plastic lining, wax paper and wax paper liners (such as those in pizza boxes)

Medical waste such as needles and syringes

Tools

Plastic toys

Construction waste

Scrap metal

Clothing

Shoes

Foil potato chip and snack bags

Foil lids from yogurt containers

Anything smaller than a Post-it note

Christmas tree lights

Wire hangers

Auto parts

Propane tanks

Mattresses

Bowling balls

Virtually Everyone Can Compost

If you want to reduce the amount of garbage that your home is sending to landfills, composting is an excellent place to start — and something that virtually everyone can do, even if you have only a patio, balcony or countertop. You can compost in a pile, in a box or use a ready-made composter bin.

Many local municipalities also have bins available for a reasonable price. For the best moisture and temperature regulation, select bins that hold at least one cubic yard. Your compost zone should be conveniently located, as close as possible to your source of raw materials (kitchen scraps, lawn clippings, soiled paper products) where it won't be too much of an eyesore.

If you are using piles or bins, I recommend having two of them as then you'll have a place to put fresh scraps while one full "batch" of compost finishes curing. The key to creating compost without unpleasant odors or attracting rodents lies in its makeup. It's not an exact science but should include a mix of browns and greens, such as:12

Browns (2 to 3 parts)Greens (1 part)

Shredded newspaper and other paper

Fruit and vegetable scraps

Dead leaves

Breads and grains

Food-soiled paper (but not coated paper)

Coffee grounds and filters, tea bags

Cardboard

Grass clippings

Branches and twigs

Crushed eggshells

If you're serious about composting, or want to turn your food scraps into veritable black gold faster, just add worms, which can be purchased online. While it's not necessary to add worms to create compost, doing so may help you create high-quality compost faster. Worms' digestive process naturally excretes beneficial microbes into the soil, which drastically alter the soil's composition.

The compost you create can be used on your flowerbeds, vegetable garden, trees and shrubs. If you don't have a place to put your compost, donate it to a school, church or park. On a larger scale, support the small farmers in your area who are also creating and using compost on their soil in lieu of chemical inputs, helping to grow healthier food and create a healthier environment for everyone.

from http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2019/04/09/hidden-gold-in-your-garbage-compost.aspx

source http://niapurenaturecom.weebly.com/blog/the-hidden-gold-in-your-garbage

0 notes

paullassiterca · 5 years

Text

The Hidden Gold in Your Garbage

If you’re still tossing your vegetable peels, egg shells, apple cores and lemon rinds in the garbage, you’re missing out on this hidden source of “gold.” Kitchen scraps like these are ideal for creating compost, a deceptively simple tool for building phenomenal soil health and environmental health all at the same time.

By following the EPA’s and composting, you’re not only keeping your share of food waste out of landfills, but you’re also helping to pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and sequester it in the soil. Compost regenerates the soil and in so doing supports the future of our food supply, human health and the planet as a whole.

Healthy Soil Depends on Beneficial Microorganisms, Including Fungi

youtube

David Johnson, a molecular biologist and research scientist at the University of New Mexico, believes one of the most critical things in a plant’s life is its relationship with mycorrhizal fungi. This is why tillage is so detrimental, as it destroys the mycorrhizal fungi and disrupts or inhibits this symbiotic relationship between plants and soil biology.

In one 4.5-year trial, cover crops were grown along with one of Johnson’s compost solutions (in this case from vermicompost, or worm compost) leading to a net annual increase of nearly 11 tons of soil carbon per hectare (2.47 acres) of land. Scientific American reported:4

“That’s equivalent to removing about 16 metric tons of carbon dioxide per acre from the atmosphere annually — roughly 10 times the increase that other scientists have reported in many different soils and climates.

Do Compost and Biochar Hold the Secret to Sequestering Carbon in the Soil?

It’s estimated that one-third of the surplus carbon dioxide in the atmosphere stems from poor land-management processes, including clearing forests, overgrazing and tilling the soil, that contribute to the loss of carbon, as carbon dioxide, from farmlands.5

“Growth responses of wheat and clover to the application of various biochars were mostly positive, and their growth was correlated, but biochar contributions to soil fertility varied with biochar properties.

For your garden, you can actually buy mycorrhizal fungi spores. It’s relatively inexpensive and they’re very easy to grow, as long as you do not disturb the soil, and adding spores will help the fungi propagate faster.

“Johnson asserts that if his approach were used across agriculture internationally, the entire world’s carbon output from 2016 could be stored on just 22 percent of the globe’s arable land,” according to Scientific American.7

Benefits of Johnson-Su Bioreactor Compost

>>>>> Click Here <<<<<

It also produces no odors, reduces water usage and composting labor and can be produced using materials that costs less than $35. “This simple composting method produces a biologically enhanced compost by creating an environment where beneficial soil microorganisms … thrive and multiply,” Regeneration International, which has a mission to promote, facilitate and accelerate the global transition to regenerative food, farming and land management, reported.8

“When this biologically alive compost is applied to the soil the microorganisms inoculate the soil and work in harmony with growing plants to improve soil health and increase the amount of carbon drawn out of the atmosphere and into the soil.” They explained some of the top benefits of Johnson-Su bioreactor compost, which include:9

Increases soil carbon sequestration

Increases crop yield

Increases soil nutrient availability

Increases soil water-retention capacity

Produces biologically diverse compost

Produces nutrient-rich compost

Results in a low-salinity compost

Improves seed germination and growth rates

Mercola.com is a founding member of Regeneration International, and one of their projects is duplicating Johnson’s work in Mexico at Via Organica — a project we have cosponsored for years along with the Organic Consumers Association.

Because biochar has substantial surface area based on its porous properties, it provides ample housing for the beneficial microorganisms that appear to accelerate the process. Johnson has provided training at Via Organica based on his methods, and we’ve built more than a dozen of his bioreactors there.

We’ll now be using Johnson’s method and testing with the addition of biochar, which may even amplify the benefits he’s already proven.

Why Recycling Is Failing

When recycling programs first began, it was a dual-stream system. That is, you were required to separate materials such as glass, paper, plastic and metal for different recycling centers. It was a cumbersome task, and one that didn’t have the highest participation rates, but it was superior in many ways to the single-stream recycling programs that became the norm by the 2000s.

“Big Waste companies made a deliberate decision to disrupt the then well-functioning dual-stream systems by convincing cities to switch to single-stream recycling. This caused contamination rates to increase and led to the market crunch started by Chinese import restrictions.”

China accepted contaminated recyclables from the U.S. for 20 years, which served to undermine U.S. recycling markets. WasteDive added:11

“This made cities dependent on large-scale processing facilities that produced low-grade materials and often don’t recover any quality glass – 20% of the single-stream recycling mix. In many cases, the companies that run these facilities also manage — and profit far more from — collection and landfill disposal, disincentivizing them from maximizing recycling.”

How Many of Your Recyclables Are Actually Recycled?

For instance, municipal recycling facilities often do not recycle plastic bags, which can get caught in their machinery causing damage. Further, if you put your recyclables into closed trash bags, they’ll likely get thrown straight into the trash because sorters don’t have time to open them, and they’re also considered to be a safety hazard.

Most greasy, wet or food-soiled items also cannot be recycled, and neither can very small items, like bottle caps (unless they’re screwed on a plastic bottle). Anything that enters a recycling center that cannot be recycled is considered a contaminant and will be thrown out. If too many contaminants are found in a bundle of recyclables, it runs the risk of being rejected. Examples of typically nonrecyclable items include:

Plastic bags

Plastic wrap

Styrofoam

Greasy pizza boxes

Food

Electronics

Batteries

Yard waste

Diapers

Soiled paper such as paper towels and napkins

Single-use or to-go cups, paper food bowls with plastic lining, wax paper and wax paper liners (such as those in pizza boxes)

Medical waste such as needles and syringes

Tools

Plastic toys

Construction waste

Scrap metal

Clothing

Shoes

Foil potato chip and snack bags

Foil lids from yogurt containers

Anything smaller than a Post-it note

Christmas tree lights

Wire hangers

Auto parts

Propane tanks

Mattresses

Bowling balls

Virtually Everyone Can Compost

If you are using piles or bins, I recommend having two of them as then you’ll have a place to put fresh scraps while one full “batch” of compost finishes curing. The key to creating compost without unpleasant odors or attracting rodents lies in its makeup. It’s not an exact science but should include a mix of browns and greens, such as:12

Browns (2 to 3 parts) Greens (1 part)

Shredded newspaper and other paper

Fruit and vegetable scraps

Dead leaves

Breads and grains

Food-soiled paper (but not coated paper)

Coffee grounds and filters, tea bags

Cardboard

Grass clippings

Branches and twigs

Crushed eggshells

If you’re serious about composting, or want to turn your food scraps into veritable black gold faster, just add worms, which can be purchased online. While it’s not necessary to add worms to create compost, doing so may help you create high-quality compost faster. Worms’ digestive process naturally excretes beneficial microbes into the soil, which drastically alter the soil’s composition.

The compost you create can be used on your flowerbeds, vegetable garden, trees and shrubs. If you don’t have a place to put your compost, donate it to a school, church or park. On a larger scale, support the small farmers in your area who are also creating and using compost on their soil in lieu of chemical inputs, helping to grow healthier food and create a healthier environment for everyone.

from Articles http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2019/04/09/hidden-gold-in-your-garbage-compost.aspx source https://niapurenaturecom.tumblr.com/post/184052867441

0 notes

chestnutpost · 5 years

Text

DarioHealth Reports Record Results For First Quarter 2019

CAESAREA, Israel, May 13, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Global digital therapeutics innovator DarioHealth Corp. (Nasdaq: DRIO), today reported record financial and operational results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2019.

CEO, Erez Raphael, stated, “Our strong financial performance in the first quarter of 2019 was driven by the increased contribution of our higher-margin, digital therapy subscriptions as a percentage of revenue, as the company’s business transforms from being driven by medical devices to software-as-a-service (SaaS).

We believe there is a growing global healthcare emphasis on value and accountability enabled by user-centric evidence-based solutions. DarioHealth’s pioneering digital therapeutics subscription offerings are geared towards the engaged consumer and are driving the company’s improved financial performance.

We continue to see growth acceleration across our membership in user numbers, average revenue per user per month (ARPU), as well as unit margin increases in the unit economics of our membership offering.

We view these improving indicators as validation of our strategy to accommodate increasing digital personalization of healthcare through our shift from a med device-enabled, glucose monitoring app model to a comprehensive, chronic condition management subscription that helps achieve the lifestyle changes and provider access required to meaningfully improve chronic conditions and their costs.

One illustration of this is the value-based care payment initiatives launched recently by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) intended to transform primary care delivery and reduce national healthcare costs, 20% of which goes to the treatment of diabetes.

Our scalable digital therapy platform is built for integration by large organizations such as retailers, health insurance companies, clinics, pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers, and nutrition companies seeking access to health and cost benefits for their users, enabled by healthcare digitization, personalization and evidence-based care.

Our plan is to meet the surge of demand for data-driven therapeutics, especially dealing with chronic conditions, and we expect to accelerate revenue and increase revenue attributed to monthly subscribers through the implementation of certain broad marketing and branding initiatives in tandem with our ongoing sales and marketing optimization efforts.”

First Quarter 2019 Results Summary

Revenues for the first quarter ended March 31, 2019 were $2.24 million, representing a record amount the company has ever achieved in a quarter, a 28% increase from $1.76 million in the first quarter ended March 31, 2018, and a 32% increase sequentially from the fourth quarter of 2018.

During the first quarter ended March 31, 2019, we recorded an additional $560,000 as deferred revenues from revenues generated from our new membership offering to our customers in the U.S., a 60% sequential increase from the fourth quarter of 2018.

Gross profit in the first quarter of 2019 increased by $6,000, or 1%, to $558,000 compared to $552,000 in the first quarter of 2018, and a sequential increase of 150% compared to a gross profit of $223,000 in the fourth quarter of 2018.

Operating loss for the first quarter ended March 31, 2019 increased by $2.4 million to $5.36 million, compared to $2.9 million in the first quarter ended March 31, 2018. This increase is mainly due to the increase in our operating expenses.

Net loss attributable to holders of common stock increased by $2.5 million to $5.4 million in the first quarter of 2019, compared to $2.9 million in the first quarter of 2018.

As of March 31, 2019, cash and cash equivalents totaled $6.96 million.

Non-GAAP billings for the three months ended March 31, 2019 were $2.8 million, a 60% increase from $1.76 million in the three months ended March 31, 2018, and a 37% sequential increase from $2.05 million in the fourth quarter of 2018. A reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP measures has been provided in the financial statement tables included in this press release. An explanation of these measures is also included below under the heading “Non-GAAP Financial Measures.”

A Company investor presentation is available at: http://mydario.investorroom.com/

About DarioHealth Corp.

DarioHealth Corp. (NASDAQ: DRIO) is a leading global Digital Therapeutics (DTx) company revolutionizing the way people manage their health across the chronic condition spectrum. By delivering evidence-based interventions that are driven by data, high quality software and coaching, we developed a novel approach that empowers individuals to adjust their lifestyle in a personalized way. Our Cross Functional Team operates at the intersection of life sciences, behavioral science and software technology to deliver highly engaging therapeutic interventions. Already one of the highest rated diabetes solutions, its user-centric approach is loved by tens of thousands consumers around the globe. DarioHealth is rapidly moving into new chronic conditions and geographic markets.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release and the statements of representatives and partners of DarioHealth Corp. (the “Company”) related thereto contain or may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, words such as “plan,” “project,” “potential,” “seek,” “may,” “will,” “expect,” “believe,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “could,” “estimate” or “continue” are intended to identify forward-looking statements. For example, the Company is using forward-looking statements in this press release when the Company states that its subscription offerings are driving the improved financial performance of the company, that it views the growth in users, ARPU and unit margin as validation of the Company’s strategy to shift to a comprehensive, chronic condition management subscription model, its belief that its user-centric, data evidence based solution is pioneering the space of DTx and fulfilling the expectations of global healthcare systems for value, accountability and strong customer empowerment and its plans to meet the surge of demand for data-driven therapeutics, especially dealing with chronic conditions, and its expectation for an acceleration in revenues, and an increase in revenues attributed to monthly subscribers, through the implementation of certain broad marketing and branding initiatives in tandem with its ongoing sales and marketing optimization efforts. Readers are cautioned that certain important factors may affect the Company’s actual results and could cause such results to differ materially from any forward-looking statements that may be made in this news release. Factors that may affect the Company’s results include, but are not limited to, regulatory approvals, product demand, market acceptance, impact of competitive products and prices, product development, commercialization or technological difficulties, the success or failure of negotiations and trade, legal, social and economic risks, and the risks associated with the adequacy of existing cash resources. Additional factors that could cause or contribute to differences between the Company’s actual results and forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, those risks discussed in the Company’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Readers are cautioned that actual results (including, without limitation, the timing for and results of the Company’s commercial and regulatory plans for Dario�� as described herein) may differ significantly from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

We have provided in this release financial information that has not been prepared in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). These non-GAAP financial measures are not based on any standardized methodology prescribed by GAAP and are not necessarily comparable to similar measures presented by other companies. We use these non-GAAP financial measures internally in analyzing our financial results and believe they are useful to investors, as a supplement to GAAP measures, in evaluating our ongoing operational performance. We believe that the use of these non-GAAP financial measures provides an additional tool for investors to use in evaluating ongoing operating results and trends and in comparing our financial results with peer companies, many of which present similar non-GAAP financial measures to investors.

Non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered in isolation from, or as a substitute for, financial information prepared in accordance with GAAP. Investors are encouraged to review the reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to their most directly comparable GAAP financial measures provided in the financial statement tables below.

Billings (non-GAAP). We define billings as revenue recognized in accordance with GAAP plus the change in deferred revenue from the beginning to the end of the period and adjustment to the deferred revenue balance due to adoption of the new revenue recognition standard less any deferred revenue balances acquired from business combination(s) during the period. We consider billings to be a useful metric for management and investors because billings drive future revenue, which is an important indicator of the health and viability of our business. There are a number of limitations related to the use of billings instead of GAAP revenue. First, billings include amounts that have not yet been recognized as revenue and are impacted by the term of security and support agreements. Second, we may calculate billings in a manner that is different from peer companies that report similar financial measures. Management accounts for these limitations by providing specific information regarding GAAP revenue and evaluating billings together with GAAP revenue.

DARIOHEALTH CORP.

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

U.S. dollars in thousands

March 31,

December 31,

2019

2018

Unaudited

ASSETS

CURRENT ASSETS:

Cash and cash equivalents

6,958

10,997

Short-term restricted bank deposits

185

180

Trade Receivables

252

168

Inventories

1,924

1,377

Other accounts receivable and prepaid expenses

545

591

Total current assets

9,864

13,313

LEASE DEPOSITS

OPERATING LEASE RIGHT OF USE ASSET

792

–

PROPERTY AND EQUIPMENT, NET

732

733

Total assets

11,433

14,089

DARIOHEALTH CORP.

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

U.S. dollars in thousands (except stock and stock data)

March 31,

December 31,

2019

2018

Unaudited

LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY

CURRENT LIABILITIES:

Trade payables

2,977

2,574

Deferred revenues

1,296

736

Operating lease liability

267

–

Other accounts payable and accrued expenses

2,478

1,854

Total current liabilities

7,018

5,164

OPERATING LEASE LIABILITY

550

–

STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY

Common Stock of $0.0001 par value – Authorized: 160,000,000 shares at March 31, 2019 (unaudited) and December 31, 2018; Issued and Outstanding: 36,821,173 and 36,607,755 shares at March 31, 2019 (unaudited) and December 31, 2018, respectively

Preferred Stock of $0.0001 par value – Authorized: 5,000,000 shares at March 31, 2019 (unaudited) and December 31, 2018; Issued and Outstanding: None at March 31, 2019 (unaudited) and December 31, 2018

–

Additional paid-in capital

98,487

98,171

Accumulated deficit

(94,630)

(89,254)

Total stockholders’ equity

3,865

8,925

Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity

11,433

14,089

DARIOHEALTH CORP.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE LOSS

U.S. dollars in thousands (except stock and stock data)

Three months ended

March 31

2019

2018

Unaudited

Revenues

2,242

1,756

Cost of revenues

1,684

1,204

Gross profit

558

552

Operating expenses:

Research and development

1,002

742

Sales and marketing

3,946

1,864

General and administrative

973

861

Total operating expenses

5,921

3,467

Operating loss

(5,363)

(2,915)

Financial expenses, net:

Revaluation of warrants

–

(1)

Other financial expense, net

Total financial expenses, net

Net loss

(5,376)

(2,919)

Net loss attributable to holders of Common Stock

(5,376)

(2,919)

Net loss per share

Basic and diluted loss per share

(0.15)

(0.20)

Weighted average number of Common Stock used in computing basic and diluted net loss per share

36,757,154

14,943,032

DARIOHEALTH CORP.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

U.S. dollars in thousands

Three months ended

March 31,

2019

2018

Unaudited

Cash flows from operating activities:

Net loss

(5,376)

(2,919)

Adjustments required to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities:

Stock-based compensation and Common Stock to service providers

257

230

Depreciation

Operating lease exchange rate differences

–

Decrease (increase) is trade receivables

(84)

Decrease (increase) in accounts receivables and prepaid expenses

Decrease (increase) in inventories

(547)

272

Increase (decrease) in trade payables

403

(740)

Increase in other accounts payable and accrued expenses

683

219

Deferred revenues

560

–

Change in fair value of warrants to purchase shares of Common Stock

–

(1)

Net cash used in operating activities

(3,987)

(2,766)

Cash flows from investing activities:

Maturities (investment) of short-term restricted bank deposit

(5)

Investment in lease deposits

(2)

(3)

Purchase of property and equipment

(45)

(12)

Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities

(52)

Cash flows from financing activities:

Proceeds from issuance of Common Stock and warrants, net of issuance cost

–

6,034

Net cash provided by financing activities

–

6,034

Increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents

(4,039)

3,323

Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the period

10,997

3,718

Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the period

6,958

7,041

Non-cash investing and financing activities:

Payment for directors and consultants under Shares for Salary Program

DARIOHEALTH CORP.

Reconciliation of Revenue to Billings (Non-GAAP)

U.S. dollars in thousands

Three Months Ended

December 31,

2019

2018

GAAP Revenue

$2,242

$1,756

Add:

Change in Deferred Revenue

$560

–

Billings (Non-GAAP)

$2,802

$1,756

DarioHealth Corporate Contact: Joao Mendes-Roter, VP Marketing, [email protected], 1-347-767-4220

SOURCE DarioHealth Corp.

The post DarioHealth Reports Record Results For First Quarter 2019 appeared first on The Chestnut Post.

from The Chestnut Post https://www.thechestnutpost.com/news/dariohealth-reports-record-results-for-first-quarter-2019/

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douchebagbrainwaves · 6 years

Text

SO THE CHEAPER YOUR COMPANY IS PROBABLY BASED IN THE WRONG CITY FOR DEVELOPING SOFTWARE

If you start a startup now, because the light is better there. So could we figure out what the best art is by taking a vote?1 If that were true, he would be right on target.2 I gave at the last Y Combinator dinner of the summer. An essay can go anywhere the writer wants. So all other things being equal, the best plan is to let as few things into your identity as possible. He called a maximally elegant proof one out of a new funding round we needed to stay alive.

There is no such thing as good art, but for those who make it often try to trick us.3 Matters are decided in the discussion preceding the vote, not in the vote itself, which is usually unanimous. They switch because it's a better browser.4 What made the options valuable, for the most part, is that it often looks better than real work.5 It may also be because if you do add that final increment of power, you can at least approach that by getting rid of the sources of error in your own country.6 That is one of the keys to retaining their monopoly. But suggesting efficiency is a different thing from actually being efficient. So the only way to find out would be to let that opportunity slip.7

But think about what's going on.8 The more your conclusions disagree with readers' present beliefs, the more effort you'll have to expend on selling your ideas rather than having them. And if you're worried about threats to the survival of your company, don't look for them in the first 5 minutes. The world market in programmers seems to be wired into us. What will they build next? But the unconscious form is very widespread. There were no fixed office hours.

It is now incorporated in Revenge of the Nerds.9 I think they increase when you face harder problems and also when you have to choose between ignoring him and ignoring an exponential curve.10 And even within the startup world, there has been a qualitative change in the last 50. The first thing I see when I walk out of the airline terminal is the fat, grumpy guy in charge of the taxi line. The basic idea behind office hours is that if you take a vote, all you're measuring is the error. This is a talk I gave at the last dinner; it's more of a party. The people still look healthy, and the essay will still survive. And yet have you ever seen a Google ad? We just don't hear about it usually, because to prove yourself right you have to fund startups that won't leave. Are there good universities nearby? When we first met the founders of Octopart, they seemed very smart, but not so wrong about the underlying principle. Exactly.11

For example, if you're a noob or a control freak for wanting such a thing as good art, in the sense that it sorted in order of how much money Yahoo would make from each link. This practice is not only common, but institutionalized. How well this scheme worked would depend on the city if it worked.12 Over time the two inevitably meet, but not so wrong about the specific companies, but they are still missing a few things. What we mean by a programming language is something we use to tell a computer what to do next, and the different parts of the company. In technical matters, you have to do. You may notice a certain similarity between the Viaweb and Y Combinator logos. That kind of title is the same sort of reflexive challenge as a whodunit.13 The way people act is just as bad, and b he has very strong opinions about it. If you get bored with, or can't understand, or don't agree with one point, no problem: it won't kill the essay. And so the average person expressing his opinions in a bar sounds like an idiot compared to a journalist writing about the subject. Inc self, i: self.

In 1970 a company president meant someone in his fifties, at least. Wufoo is on the same trajectory now. Or more precisely, new protocols that take off are. You smile and say pleased to meet you is just something you prepend to a conversation, but the Lisp that we actually ended up with was based on something separate that he did as a theoretical exercise—an effort to define a more convenient alternative to the Turing Machine. We did that as an inside joke when we started YC. There were not the same ways to get found online that there are today. Isn't it wiser, sometimes, not to hurt the rich. Since we did continuous releases, our software didn't actually have versions. Founders get less diluted, and it represents the opposite approach to language design.14 And so having a notion of good art, then people who liked it would have been in the mid 20th century is not because of some right turn the country took during the Reagan administration, but because it's stealing.

Notes

The original edition contained a few years.

4%, and at least 3 or 4 YC alumni who I believe, which made it over a hundred years ago, and the VCs want it to profitability before your initial funding runs out. It's a strange task to write an essay about why something isn't the problem to fit your solution.

Josh Wilson came in to pick a date, because the Depression was one of the anti-takeover laws, starting with the other hand, a valuation from an angel. They did turn out to coincide with other investors. Geoff Ralston reports that one of the medium of exchange would not be able to distinguish between gravity and acceleration.

Who knew how much time. When the Air Hits Your Brain, neurosurgeon Frank Vertosick recounts a conversation reaches a certain level of incivility, the more thoughtful people start to pull it off.

These two regions were the case in the twentieth century, art as brand split apart from art is not much to generalize. I'm not trying to capture the service revenue as well. If you have for a public company not to pay the most useless investors are: Windows 66. Oddly enough, maybe they'll listen to God.

Without the prospect of publication, the other hand, they say. Maybe that isn't what they'd like it that the path from ideas to startups has recently been getting smoother.

To talk to a later Demo Day by encouraging people to claim that they'll be able to distinguish between selecting a link and following it; all you'd need to raise money. Japan is prone to earthquakes, so much worse than Japanese car companies have been in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, Oxford University Press, 1996. And while this is to claim retroactively I said by definition if the VC knows you well, but the churn is high as well, partly because you can, Jeff Byun mentions one reason not to make money for other kinds of companies that grow slowly and never sell. This is what we do at least consider going into the intellectual sounding theory behind it.

39 says that I know what they claim was the capital which would be to go all the money, in Galbraith's words, it's not as hard as everyone assumes. The rest exist to this talk became Why Startups Condense in America consider acting white. They're an administrative convenience.

How can I make this miracle happen? What you're too busy to feel tired. I do in proper essays. The Price of Inequality.

Programming languages should be especially suspicious of grants whose purpose is some weakness in your plans, you better be sure you do if your goal is to carry a beeper? Considering yourself a scientist is equivalent to putting a sign in a rice cooker and forget about it.

Picking out the same advantages from it. How much better than their competitors, who adds the cost of having one founder take fundraising meetings is that everyone gets really good at acting that way. The most accurate mechanical watch, the growth rate to impress are not just a few data centers over the internet. This technique wouldn't work for startups that seem promising can usually get enough money from writing, he wrote a hilarious but also very informative essay about it.

A more powerful than ever. This was made a better source of difficulty here is one resource patent trolls need: lawyers.

Investors are often compared to what you write for your middle initial—because it consisted of 50 pairs that each summed to 101 100 1,2003. I've come to accept a particular valuation, that I didn't need to.

This includes mere conventions, like speculators, that I knew, there are those that have it as a kid.

Thanks to Jessica Livingston, Sam Altman, Anton van Straaten, Trevor Blackwell, Paul Buchheit, Robert Morris, Bob van der Zwaan essay, and Qasar Younis for the lulz.

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valuentumbrian · 6 years

Text

Netflix Keeps Speculators' Hopes Alive

Image Source: NodStrum Tech

Netflix’s results for the first quarter of 2018 showed the earnings leverage that we’ve been looking for. We’re raising our fair value estimate materially as a result.

By Brian Nelson, CFA

On April 16, streaming movie provider Netflix (NFLX) reported fantastic top-line and subscriber growth numbers during its first quarter of 2018, with the top line accelerating to 40%+ growth over the prior-year quarter and total memberships leaping to 125 million, up from ~117.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2017 and ~99 million in the first quarter of last year. Net additions to its US streaming business came in at 1.96 million, while net additions across its non-US operations leapt by 5.46 million, a slow down from the pace of growth during the fourth quarter of 2017 (+6.36 million) but faster than the net additions during the first quarter of 2017 (+3.53 million). The world’s appetite for streaming content seems insatiable, and somehow Netflix is fending off competition not only in the US but also on the international stage. It’s quite amazing.

The real story, however, and the major question for long-term investors is whether there exists earnings leverage within Netflix’s business model to justify its valuation. The company’s operating margin expanded to 12.1% during the first quarter of 2018, up 2.4 percentage points over the prior-year period, but even with the improved levels of profitability, cash flow from operations came in at -$237 million (negative $237 million) during the quarter, while free cash flow settled in at -$287 million (negative $287 million). EBITDA, however, leapt considerably to $534 million during the first quarter of 2018, up from $317 million in the same period a year ago, and Netflix may very well be showing signs that its business model has the earnings leverage needed to keep speculators’ hopes alive and well.

With a market capitalization of $133 billion at the close April 16 and a net debt position of $3.9 billion ($6.5 billion in long-term debt less $2.6 billion in cash and cash equivalents), in order for the company to garner what might be a reasonable 12 times EBITDA multiple on a normalized basis, Netflix would have to generate $11.4 billion in EBITDA on a long-term annual run-rate basis, on the basis of its current enterprise value--excluding adjusted debt related to content liabilities. On an annualized basis, Netflix is currently running between $2-$3 billion in EBITDA, which means it would need to triple or quadruple levels of profits over the long haul to come anywhere close to justifying its current valuation (and this doesn't consider the negative impact from the time value of money, or just how long it would take to achieve normalized numbers).

Though difficult, we think it is looking more and more likely that Netflix may deliver, particularly in light of the option value presented by Netflix’s cash on the books and slowing free cash flow burn (at least in the most recently-reported period). Netflix still plans to burn through $3-$4 billion in free cash flow during 2018, but we liked Netflix’s first-quarter 2018 results a lot, and we think the company’s pace of operating-margin and EBITDA expansion is encouraging for the longs. We plan to raise our fair value estimate of Netflix materially following the report (to build in greater earnings leverage over the long haul), but we maintain our view that Netflix has a lot yet to prove. From the fickle nature of consumer preferences to rivals that are only growing stronger, the uncertainty surrounding our fair value estimate remains considerable. It also bears emphasizing that Netflix is expected to be free-cash-flow negative for at least a few more years, and with a junk credit rating, we doubt its equity will hold up well in the event of any cyclical downturn that causes consumer spending to slow.

Let the wild ride continue.

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Brian Nelson does not own shares in any of the securities mentioned above. Some of the companies written about in this article may be included in Valuentum's simulated newsletter portfolios. Contact Valuentum for more information about its editorial policies.

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#$nflx

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joshuajacksonlyblog · 4 years

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What’s driving the S&P 500, NIO and XRP?

S&P 500

The S&P 500, the index tracking the largest listed US companies, is making headlines as it is poised to hit a new all-time high, moving past the 3,386 it set back in February. The index launched in 1957 and even though there have been some rocky periods since, it is remarkably creeping towards new territory in the same year as Covid-19. In a few months it has been able to recover from a trough of 2,287 on 23 March.

Buy S&P 500 Capital at risk

NIO

Fortunately, there are other electronic vehicle manufacturers and, of them, Chinese company NIO is attracting a huge amount of interest. In fact, analysts Piper Sandler recently called it the ‘Tesla of China’. While it can be easy to get carried away about companies in new areas of tech, NIO is already growing and is well located to capitalise on China’s growing interest in electric vehicles. NIO has a healthy balance sheet and is experiencing strong demand for its vehicles, reporting a surge in deliveries in the second quarter to 10,331 (nearly triple the same quarter in 2019).

Buy NIO Capital at risk

XRP

Buy XRP Capital at risk

Listen to Digest and Invest Podcast

Disclaimer: eToro is a multi-asset platform which offers both investing in stocks and cryptoassets, as well as trading CFDs.

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