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New York City is the site of an angry political and communal dispute about its public school system. For those of my readers from outside the United States, many cities in the U.S., in response to failing public schools, have developed what is called a "charter school network" as an alternative to the customary public schools. Charter schools are funded by tax dollars but its teachers and administrators are free, within limits, to design the curriculum according to their best assessment of what children, particularly poor and minority children, need. Some charters are not-for-profit institutions, others are in business to make money while serving children and their parents. They do not have to comply with all of the city's administrative mandates, and more importantly, the teachers they hire need not be members of the major teacher's union. This last provision is particularly attractive to some principals and school executives, since they believe that union work rules constrain their ability to create fruitful teaching settings, for example by extending the school day so that children leave at 5 pm rather than at 2 pm. City residents are free to enroll their children in any charter school, but should there be more children applying than there are seats available, admission is determined by lottery. The "Success Academy," a charter school network, is at the center of the current conflict in New York City. In 2015, 22,000 children applied for 2,688 spots available in the network's schools. Parents want in.
The proximate stimulus for the conflict is a fight over money, space and permits. The prior mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg, gave the Success Academy network of schools free space in current public school buildings. But the current mayor, Bill Deblasio, has threatened to charge Success Academy for the space they use, while also denying it permits to open more schools in the city. The result has been a nasty public fight between Eva Moskowitz, the CEO of the Success Academy and Mayor Deblasio. Moskowitz has been astute in mobilizing her parents to protest any constraints on the network's ability to function and expand. For example, she bussed thousands of parents and children to Albany, the capital of New York State, to protest the Mayor's threatened decisions.
The conflict also provokes some larger conflicts about privilege, social class, power and poverty in New York City, the quintessential global city. The Success Academy, while supported by public funds, also gets some money from two hedge fund billionaires. Community leaders and activists are suspicious of the latter's motives, believing that the two are ideologically committed to "marketizing" public services. This process, activists worry, will undermine a community's experience of itself as a group of people with common interests and resources committed to every member's welfare. Other critics and community leaders worry that these hedge fund executives are exercising arbitrary authority simply because they have the money to influence events, decisions and elections. They seem to be manipulating society to advance their own private ideals or, in one harsh reading, to indulge in a hobby of "doing good" on their own terms and without being held accountable to citizens and the public.
Two YouTube videos (here and here) highlight the political and communal conflict the Academy's expansion provokes. The city's Board of Education held a community hearing to consider the question of whether or not a Success Academy school should be allowed to move into a public school building, thereby taking some space from the public school, called, "P.S. 30," currently housed there. Both proponents and opponents of Success Academy, including many parents, came to the meeting. As one can see in the video, P.S. 30 parents and teachers refer to the Success Academy as an "invader" and "intruder," and as a signal of the city's gentrification. One speaker passionately invokes the history of school segregation, and bemoans the fact that the Success Academy schools are splitting families apart in a form of a "divide and conquer" strategy. "Look at everybody here," he says, "We have black and Hispanic versus black and Hispanic." Parents whose children attend the Success Academy heckle the speaker insisting that they have a right to choose which schools their children attend.
Critics of the Success Academy and its pedagogy believe that its schools are punitive and harsh to both students and teachers. As one journalist reports, "Success has stringent rules about behavior, down to how students are supposed to sit in the classroom: their backs straight, and their feet on the floor if they are in a chair, or legs crossed if they are sitting on the floor. The rationale is that good posture and not fidgeting make it easier to pay attention." In addition, when students take practice tests, to prepare for statewide exams, they cannot go to the bathroom and sometimes wet themselves. Also, "Students who are deemed to not be trying are placed in an 'effort academy' which is part detention and part study hall."
In addition, students are suspended from the Success Academy schools at a rate higher than is the case in regular public schools. At the Success Academy Harlem 1 school, 23% of the 896 students were suspended for at least one day in 2012-13, the last year for which the state has data. At Public School 149, a school in the same building, 3% of students were suspended during that same period. Moreover, students who take practice tests and succeed get prizes such as remote-controlled cars, arts and crafts kits, and board games. "Former teachers said that they were instructed to keep the prizes displayed in the front of their classroom to keep students motivated." In addition, as one journalist writes, "At most schools, if a child is flailing academically, it is treated as a private matter. But at Success Academy Harlem 4, one boy's struggles were there for all to see: On two colored charts in the hallway, where the students' performance on weekly spelling and math quizzes was tracked, his name was at the bottom, in a red zone denoting that he was below grade level." Finally, as the reporter notes, "A teacher complained that she was expected to announce all of her students' scores on practice tests, by asking those who had scored a four to stand up, followed by those with a three and then those with a two. The teacher and her colleagues persuaded their supervisors not to make students with a score of one stand up, but those students were still left conspicuously sitting down, she said." Responding to the claim that the Success Academy schools were unduly harsh, Moskowitz, the CEO, told a reporter, "We cannot let up on them (the students). Any scholar who is not using the plan of attack will go to effort academy, have their parent called, and will miss electives. This is serious business."
Let's accept for the moment that the culture is harsh, though I believe that as a primary descriptor of the setting, this charge is one-sided. Many observers, and more importantly parents, are persuaded that Success Academy's teaching and administrative bring order and calm to what is often a chaotic setting. Conduct that seems harsh and unforgiving may also represent a teacher's total commitment to a student's success and a belief in his or her ability. A reporter for the New Yorker writes, "At Success, the school year is ten months long and the school days stretch from 7:45 A.M. to 5 P.M. for those in fifth grade or higher. Similarly, one parent writes, "As soon as you enter the doors, one senses there is something different. Teachers are on their toes, politely and efficiently directing where you need to go. All are well dressed, well informed and carry themselves with an absolute commitment to providing the best possible education for students in attendance at one of the 14 Success Academies in New York City. This isn't to say one couldn't find this kind of enthusiasm in a different kind of school, but it's rare. Personally, there are only two times I have ever seen it: as a teacher and staff member for Teach for America, and walking through the doors of a Success Academy school." Success Academy students are also exposed to more art, music, chess and physical play than comparable students in public schools. Moreover, they are encouraged to talk as much as possible. "'We're not big on hand-raising here,' Moskowitz said.'"
Most importantly, the Academy's schools are successful. An independent university based evaluation of 3rd graders' achievement in the network's first school in Harlem found that the students did better on tests of math and language competence than students who had applied to the school but had not won a seat through the lottery.
In addition, "Last year, sixty-four per cent of the third grade students at Success Academy Harlem 5 passed the state English exam and eighty-eight per cent passed the state math exam. At Public School 123, the Mahalia Jackson School, which is located in the same school building as Success, only eighteen per cent of students passed the English test and only five per cent passed the math test."
If we grant the Success Academy the benefit of the doubt, that it is successful, the question is what meaning can we make of the sometimes harsh discipline the school imposes on its students. One straightforward hypothesis is that discipline is one vehicle for helping students develop self-control. My readers may recall the famous "marshmallow test" in which pre-school aged children are presented with a challenge: "Sit in front of a marshmallow alone in a room for 15 minutes. If you don't eat it you will get two marshmallows. If you do eat it, you only get the one in front of you." The experiment's originator, Walter Mischel, found that children who passed the test were more successful as adults. As one journalist writes, "Follow-up studies on these preschoolers found that those who were able to wait the 15 minutes were significantly less likely to have problems with behavior, drug addiction or obesity by the time they were in high school, compared with kids who gobbled the snack in less than a minute. The gratification-delayers also scored an average of 210 points higher on the SAT." (An entrance exam for college applicants.)
The link between self-control and achievement is readily apparent. A precondition for achieving any worthwhile goal is the ability to not only delay gratification, but more importantly, to tolerate pain, frustration and difficulty. The pain is a measure of the work required for success. This suggests that Success Academy's disciplined approach would have merit for poor and minority children insofar as they are less able than their middle or upper class peers, to control their impulses. Certainly, many risk factors that shape a child's ability to control their own behavior affect poor and minority children negatively.
For example, "Children whose parents, particularly mothers, have greater formal education are better able to exhibit self-control in social and school settings. Mothers with lower educational attainment have children who perform worse on tests of self-regulation..while other studies have found that higher educational status for both parents positively predicted behavioral regulation. Moreover, "The available literature indicates that minority status may be a risk factor for lower self-regulation. When controlling for a host of risk variables, Sektnan et al. (2010) found that being African American was significantly correlated with lower self-regulation in kindergarten."
For example, "Children whose parents, particularly mothers, have greater formal education are better able to exhibit self-control in social and school settings. Mothers with lower educational attainment have children who perform worse on tests of self-regulation..while other studies have found that higher educational status for both parents positively predicted behavioral regulation. Moreover, "The available literature indicates that minority status may be a risk factor for lower self-regulation. When controlling for a host of risk variables, Sektnan et al. (2010) found that being African American was significantly correlated with lower self-regulation in kindergarten."
There are probably several channels through which risk factors, such as poverty and race, shape a young child's capacity for self-control. For example, children in single parent, poor families, may experience their setting as unreliable and untrustworthy. They don't believe, based on their experience, that by delaying gratification and tolerating pain they will garner rewards. In addition, children who internalize their parent's experience of victimhood, one possible result of settings shaped by institutional racism, may feel unworthy. This means that they don't expect to be treated fairly; to be rewarded commensurate with their effort. In addition, surveys document that African American parents use more physical discipline than their white counterparts, partly because they believe that their children live in higher risk settings, where misdeeds and mistakes are more likely to expose them to predators. To be "no-nonsense" parents, they physically discipline their children preemptively to keep them out of a larger harm's way.
But physical discipline tactics can short circuit a child's development of self-control. The child learns to avoid the parent rather than to modify his or her own behavior. The parent is not experienced as a figure to be admired and imitated, but as one to be feared.
Finally, it is a well-established finding that children in poor households are exposed to 30 million fewer words by the time they are three-years-old than children from high-income households. But one way in which children develop self-control is by speaking to themselves, first overtly by talking out loud, and then covertly. For example, two researchers found that, "Children talked to themselves more when they were faced with a difficult task, when working by themselves, or when a teacher was not available to help. They studied the private speech in Appalachian children, (a region of great poverty), as well as middle-class children. They found that Appalachian children's private speech developed at a slower pace than those who were middle-class."
Finally, it is a well-established finding that children in poor households are exposed to 30 million fewer words by the time they are three-years-old than children from high-income households. But one way in which children develop self-control is by speaking to themselves, first overtly by talking out loud, and then covertly. For example, two researchers found that, "Children talked to themselves more when they were faced with a difficult task, when working by themselves, or when a teacher was not available to help. They studied the private speech in Appalachian children, (a region of great poverty), as well as middle-class children. They found that Appalachian children's private speech developed at a slower pace than those who were middle-class."
Psychoanalysis helps round out our understanding of the dynamics of self-control. Certainly one puzzle of human motivation is why people would inflict pain on themselves. The high school athlete who trains to the point of exhaustion, the high school violinist who practices for hours a day are submitting to what at times is self-imposed tedium, discomfort and disappointment. One possible explanation is that they anticipate great rewards. But in fact, unlike the setting of the Marshmallow test, these rewards are far in the future and very uncertain. A different hypothesis is that starting out, as young strivers, they are rewarded by their teachers' and mentors' approval, but that later, as they mature, they internalize this approving voice. The voice becomes part of their psychological makeup, so that they can reward themselves with feelings of self-esteem and worthiness even when their objective achievements are partial or incomplete and their experience is unpleasant.
Psychoanalysis calls this internal voice, the "ego ideal" while developmental psychologists describe it as a process of "moral internalization." Broadly, this process describes how young people are acculturated. Consider the extreme case of a young research scientist who spends a decade on a research question encountering only one dead-end after the other. In this situation the scientist's internalized "voice" has become abstract, represented not by a person, but by the ideals of scientific study and its meaning for human achievement. One way to understand Freud's use of the term 'sublimation" is to envision a developmental movement in the psyche's structure, starting with the "teacher in the flesh," moving through the internalized voice of a mentor, and arriving at an end point where a person subordinates himself or herself to abstract cultural ideals such as the scientific method. When parents use physical disciplining tactics excessively, they derail the moral internalization process.
Psychoanalysis calls this internal voice, the "ego ideal" while developmental psychologists describe it as a process of "moral internalization." Broadly, this process describes how young people are acculturated. Consider the extreme case of a young research scientist who spends a decade on a research question encountering only one dead-end after the other. In this situation the scientist's internalized "voice" has become abstract, represented not by a person, but by the ideals of scientific study and its meaning for human achievement. One way to understand Freud's use of the term 'sublimation" is to envision a developmental movement in the psyche's structure, starting with the "teacher in the flesh," moving through the internalized voice of a mentor, and arriving at an end point where a person subordinates himself or herself to abstract cultural ideals such as the scientific method. When parents use physical disciplining tactics excessively, they derail the moral internalization process.
Psychoanalysis proposes that this developmental movement does not proceed smoothly and without conflict. In this way of thinking, children and adults do not readily relinquish what gratifies them immediately, that is why people under conditions of stress resort frequently to drug use, drinking or sexual acting out. Freud argued that in this sense the process of civilizing the individual creates in its wake conflict and discontent. It is never complete and can create unhappiness, hence the regression. One way then to understand the harsher features of the Success Academy schools, is to posit that the school must become an agent of necessary acculturation, imposing the pain and discipline the child must suffer through, in order to gain the self esteem and sense of self-worth that achievement and approval brings.
But I can well imagine my reader recoiling from such a proposition. There is after all a very vital and powerful tradition of theorizing about schooling, "the progressive education movement," which posits that the acculturation process can be naturalized, so that children, led only by their search for pleasure, their innate curiosity and their wish to play, can acquire all the intellectual and emotional skills they need to thrive as adults. This idea has been expressed in innumerable pedagogical innovations, for example the "open classroom," "whole language teaching," "project based learning," "self-guided instruction," "teaching 'critical thinking skills' (as against a substantive understanding of a discipline)," "child-centered pedagogy," and "constructivism."
I know that I am at some risk of crossing swords with experts, but as far as I understand the history of these innovations, none have been successful when applied to the teaching of young children, particularly children from low-income families, except when seriously modified or implemented by charismatic teachers. One reason that I can say this with some confidence is that the driving impulse behind these pedagogies is the faulty assumption that just as children learn to speak a language and master the social rules of the playground spontaneously, so they should be able to spontaneously learn to read write, figure, and think critically. But our modern understanding of the mind is that it is modular in construction (See, Egan: 2002). The skills for learning language or understanding a social hierarchy are specialized and innate. They do not represent a generalized ability to learn. In this sense, it is useful to see progressive pedagogy as one branch of "utopian thinking," a schema through which adults project onto children the wish that a society could socialize its members so that individuality is never compromised and individual impulses are never suppressed.
There is remarkable piece of social history that is relevant here. From 1967 to 1995, the U.S. federal government launched and sustained, Project Follow Through, which remains still today, " as the world's largest education experiment." "Over the first 10 years more than 22 sponsors, worked with over 180 (educational) sites at a cost of over $500 million in a massive effort to find ways to break the cycle of poverty through improved education." Schools with the support of parents could adopt one of a number of educational models. The reading portion of this study involved over 15,000 students and was designed to test the effectiveness of models of reading instruction by gauging three outcomes; basic skills, cognitive growth, such as critical thinking skills, and the child's affective experience, for example his or her self esteem. Program results were measured by tests that assessed children's academic achievements in math and reading competence, their cognitive skills, and two tests of their affective experiences, --their self-esteem, and their readiness to attribute their successes and failures to their own efforts. Interestingly, a plurality of parent groups and schools, chose a program called, "Direct Instruction," (see YouTube), a highly scripted teaching program that emphasizes both drill, assessment and individual attention. Abt Associates, the premier program evaluation firm of the last decades of the 20th century, conducted the evaluation of Project Follow Through with the following results.
To the embarrassment of progressive education theorists, Direct Instruction, a scripted and teacher guided method of instruction was by far and away the most successful program on all three dimensions, the academic, the cognitive and the affective. Many of the programs in fact reduced achievement. The Harvard Educational Review published a critique of the Abt evaluation methodology and the evaluators countered with a spirited defense in the same issue of the journal. A group of progressive education theorists persuaded the National Institute of Education, to not disseminate the results of the study in part because, "The audience for the Follow Through evaluations is an audience of teachers for whom appeals to the need for accountability of public funds, or the rationality of science are largely irrelevant." In other words, teachers would not care.
There is another piece of this story that helps shed light on the political passions that that the Success Academy network of schools provokes. Some of my readers may recall or may have learned about a visceral and dramatic conflict that took place in New York City in 1968 between the teachers union (UFT), black parents, community leaders and the city's board of education, over who would control the schools. The teachers, wary of local community boards who might decide to fire or remove teachers at will, went on strike, opening up a social and psychological chasm between white teachers and black parents. The conflict also exacerbated tensions between the black community and the Jewish community (many teachers were Jewish) in the city. It was by all accounts a visceral, and an emotionally draining conflict. Some political scientists argue that the historic Black-Jewish political alliance, which was fashioned and strengthened during the Civil Rights movement, never recovered.
One result of the conflict was that a group of parents at Public School 137 in the Ocean-Hills Brownsville section of New York City, -- the epicenter of the communal conflict – decided to bid for participation in Project Follow Through and then chose Direct Instruction as the model they wished to test! As two researchers write, " The well publicized conflict between the administrators and staff at Public School 137 and the United Federation of teachers in 1966-1968 over the issue of community control irreversibly politicized the Ocean Hill Brownsville District and P.S. 137 in particular. Related activities got parents involved in schools in such a way not found in any other poverty-ridden area. Parents learned how to use power. Some used this power to have P.S. 137 chosen as one of the schools in the national Follow Through program and to select the structured Direct Instruction model. Parent support has kept the program going for 14 years, despite cuts due to the New York City budget crisis of 1975 and subsequent reductions in Federal funding." Reporting on an evaluation of this program at the school, the researchers note that Direct Instruction was a success.
I think this bit of social history provides some insight into the raw feelings and conflicts that Success Academy has provoked. Let me speculate on what I believe to be the question that community leaders in the black community are raising. Can the Black community in old inner cities collectively empower itself? Can it, through its own political consciousness, bring will and self control to the aid of its parents and children? Answering this question in the affirmative may be the only route through which the black community can exercise its forcefulness, without succumbing to the kind of street violence we saw in Ferguson Missouri, after a jury acquitted a white policeman charged with murdering a young black man. This self control was also what the Nation of Islam offered Malcolm X, a reprieve from his criminal impulses, so that through rigorous religious practice and faith he could recover his many and extraordinary talents. Or if the answer is "no," will this community become the object of social programs and social experiments that others -- elites, policy specialists, urban planners, shape and lead?
If I am right about this question, I wonder if there is not a deep yearning for recovering what was in fact the greatest exemplification of self control in a political movement -- when the Civil rights movement and its leaders taught its members to respond to beatings, murders and fire-bombings, non-violently. But the distressing issue this yearning raises, is on what grounds can community leaders who hope to build empowerment collectively by building political consciousness, possibly deprive individual children and parents of an opportunity for a better education? This is why in the YouTube video of the community meeting, the opponents of Success Academy must concede to its proponents, parents of children who attend its schools, that they do have the right to choose where their children will study. I believe that this concession undermines the opponents' moral standing and political effectiveness.
Diane Ravitch, a scholar of education and a fierce opponent of charter schools, argues that charter schools undermine the society's commitment to public education. The question is what vision of public education in the inner city is on offer. The reality is inescapably dispiriting. As I write from Philadelphia, the schools are segregated, students are promoted to higher grades without mastering the requisite skills—a form of psychological expulsion -- and parents do not exercise a strong voice in shaping the school's climate. Only the black community can save itself collectively from these conditions. No one else cares enough. Absent that, charter schools are an escape valve for the many children lucky enough to attend the good ones.


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This will be a live stream of a course entitled "Introduction to React and React-Bootstrap", hosted by NY Javscript Meetup Group, and taught by Leo Pelekh. He has been programming in plethora of languages for over 20 years and have seen many languages, frameworks and trends come and go. Facebook frameworks like React and Relay, in his opinion, are very promising and deserve a lot more attention than they get. He has been doing considerable amount of development using these frameworks in the past few years, had a very positive experience and would love to share his experience with others.
NY JavaScript expects all speakers and attendees to follow the JSConf Code of Conduct.
RSVPs for this webcast is $5. There are no refunds or transfers. Proceeds go to ScriptEd, a charity to increase code literacy among NYC youth at under-resourced schools.
To register for this workshop, please visit https://www.crowdcast.io/e/react-bootstrap. This will be espcially useful for those of us that are/will (very soon) be starting Data Visualization Certification!
For those of you that reside in NYC, I highly recommend joining the NY JavaScript Meetup Group!

subset: commoncrawl


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Debunking Common Myths about Translation Services
Constant growth has made the world more fast-paced and busier than ever before. This is especially true in the digital age, as technology has forever changed the way people live their lives. Marketing and advertising is one of the most diverse industries in the world, and it's important that all companies are up to date with linguistic trends. It's highly beneficial for organizations across all sectors to try to appeal to a bigger audience by having their content translated by a professional translator to ensure people all around the world have access to it. The more demographics they reach, the better! To get a more well-rounded understanding of this initiative, let's take a look at some of the most common myths and misconceptions surrounding marketing translations!


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Online Audio Seminars come with 10+ Best Practice guides for easy implementation
Effective Gap Analysis for ISO 17025
With Practical Tools for Easy Implementation
Auditing Computer Systems for FDA and EU Compliance
For Validation and Part 11 Compliance in Pharmaceutical and
Device Industries
Bioanalytical Method Validation
Conduct and Document for Efficiency and FDA and EMEA compliance
Raw Data in FDA Regulated Environments
FDA/EU compliant recording, maintenance and archiving
Solvent Analysis According to USP <467>
Understanding and implementing the revised chapter
Dr. Ludwig Huber
On Nov 17, 2008, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has
announced the availability of a draft guidance for industry entitled
"Process Validation: General Principles and Practices." With this
FDA is revising its guidance for industry entitled "Guideline on
General Principles of Process Validation," which was issued in May
1987 (the 1987 guidance). The revised draft guidance promotes a
"lifecycle" approach to process validation that includes
scientifically sound design practices, robust qualification, and
process verification. When finalized, this draft guidance will
replace the 1987 guidance. The draft guidance can be downloaded from
FDA website.
Several FDA officials gave presentations on process validation.
For example, FDA's McNally gave a presentation on the lifecycle
approach for process validation. The slides illustrate the process
and give details of all four lifecycle steps: Chris Joneckis,
PhD, CBER, gave a presentation on "Regulatory Expectations for
Process Validation". Starting from the 1987 Guide Dr. Joneckis
explains the evaluation of process validation that ends with the
lifecycle approach as recommended in the 2008 draft guide. Barry
Cherney, Ph.D. Deputy Director at CDER gave "A Product Reviewer's
Perspective" with comments on 483's and recommendations such as:
Process validation is an activity that should continue throughout
the entire life cycle of the product. The slides can be downloaded
from the Labcompliance
Scroll down to G-245,247 and G-248. For preview and ordering,
click here.
FDA and other regulatory agencies expect processes used in API and drug
manufacturing to be validated. This became obvious in a recent warning letter
that included several deviations related to process control and validation. For
example "process validation studies have not been conducted for any of the human
drug products manufactured by your firm.". Obviously the company had a
validation plans and templates, but a plan is not enough. The letter stated:
"The response does not provide a timeline, plan, or estimated completion date
for the process validation studies." In addition, the company failed to
adequately clean, maintain, and sanitize equipment and utensils at appropriate
intervals, and to have laboratory records that include complete data derived
from all tests necessary to assure compliance with established specifications.
The warning letter can be downloaded from the
Labcompliance Usersclub. Non members can
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Once an product is in widespread use, unforeseen problems can
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While the FDA is still working on the next Part 11 regulation
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An example is a recent warning letter with citations such as "No
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FDA and ISO 17025 require various routine
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Q&As deal with equipment status identification as part of batch
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drug product is released for distribution FDA's answer is no.
Neither the CGMP regulations nor FDA policy specifies a minimum
number of batches to validate a manufacturing process. As part of
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validation of manufacturing processes.
As a 'Thank You' for our visitors Labcompliance offers every
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SOPs. For titles and ordering, click


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Harley Motorcycle Tour, 12 Must Bring Items
If you and a pal were going to fly out to buy used Harleys and then take a 1,500+ mile back-road adventure tour back home, what would you pack?
Buzz Kanter is planning on doing just that with his riding pal Paul Ousey and follow the adventure in American Iron Magazine. They will fly to Milwaukee to pick up a pair of cheap used, high-mileage Harley-Davidson Twin Cam Ultras, tour across the heartland and then ride them back home.
Their challenge is to pack what they need on the ride, and check their gear at the airport to fly out.
Here are dozen items the feel they must bring on the ride.
- Modular full face helmet
- 3-season riding jacket
- Warm weather gloves
- Good pair of riding boots
- Good quality rain suit
- 2 pairs of jeans
- T-shirts
- Long sleeve shirts
- Socks and underwear
- Basic tool kit and sparkplugs
- Smartphone & charger
- Chain and lock for the bike
What else can you think of? Please send you reactions and suggestions to email@example.com


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OWL is a compilation of citations and abstracts from the worldwide scientific literature that pertain to the science of ornithology. A major attraction is its coverage of the 'grey' literature, which are not abstracted by commercial databases such as Zoological Record or the Science Citation Index. OWL deals chiefly with serial publications such as periodicals but also announces new and renamed journals and provides abstracts of other serial publications, conference proceedings, reports, and doctoral dissertations. Papers dealing exclusively with domestic and pet birds and their husbandry are excluded unless they are applicable to non-domestic birds. OWL was previously known as the Recent Ornithological Literature (ROL) or as Recent Ornithological Literature Online (ROLO). The scope of OWL will be more than just the "recent" literature of ornithology. Eventually, the online database will go back 50 or more years to acquire citations to the serial literature. OWL will proceed well into this century with a database of the current worldwide literature that would be of interest to ornithologists. ... [Information of the supplier]
The SORA project is an open access electronic journal archive and is the product of a collaboration between the American Ornithologists Union, the Cooper Ornithological Society, the Association of Field Ornithologists, the Wilson Ornithological Society and the University of New Mexico libraries and IT department. This archive provides access to an extensive Ornithological literature of international scope, and detailed material documenting the history of Ornithology in North America over the last 120 years. The content of this site includes the following titles: The Auk (1884-1999), The Condor (1899-2000), The Journal of Field Ornithology (1930-1999), The Wilson Bulletin (1889-1999), Pacific Coast Avifauna (1900-1974) and Studies in Avian Biology (1978-1999). The North American Bird Bander will also be available in the near future. The content is available in searchable and browseable formats and documents can be downloaded as pdf or djvu files. Djvu files rely on an "acrobat" type browser plug-in (www.lizardtech.com) for viewing and are approximately 1/4 the size of pdf files for faster downloads. Web browsers must have the ability to read java script (make sure it is turned on). The site is still under development and additional features and journals (JFO browse feature and NABB for example) will be added as the materials become available and the programming is completed. ... [Information of the supplier]
This site contains a list of links to on-line books (ca 275) in various formats, concerning birds and ornithology. The books are separated into two categories Classics, and Modern books. Books have been included without regard to language, and at the moment the list includes works in nine languages. The majority of these books are in PDF format. ... [Information of the supplier, modified]
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Webcam consultations for diabetes: findings from four years of experience in Newham
Newham diabetes service supports an ethnically diverse population in a deprived urban area and exemplifies challenges faced throughout the NHS with rising demand, high outpatient 'did not attend' (DNA) rates (33–50% depending on age) and poor health outcomes.
With funding from the Health Foundation, we aimed to provide more accessible and cost-effective care by replacing selected follow-up outpatient appointments with webcam consultations. This paper reports a mixed methods evaluation comprising attendance and biomarker data, and patient and staff interviews.
Consultations were offered to clinically suitable adults aged over 18 and supported using everyday technology available in most people's homes (computer or smartphone, Wi-Fi connection).
From 2011–2014, 480 online appointments were scheduled by one consultant and one diabetes specialist nurse. Overall, the DNA rate was 13% (compared to 28% for all outpatient appointments for the same patients). There were an additional 152 'patient-initiated' webcam appointments (in which patients made contact for a Skype consultation in between their scheduled appointments).
Quantitative data were inconclusive, although an improvement in HbA1c levels (though not statistically significant) was evident for those using the webcam service. A&E attendance data showed greater uncertainty, partly due to the relatively small number of A&E events.
Qualitative data indicated that patients found the service convenient, empowering and dependent on a pre-existing relationship with their clinician, and delivering as good a quality of care as face to face. Patients and staff felt that webcam appointments were not appropriate for all encounters, but could be interspersed with traditional clinic visits. No critical incidents occurred.
Modest efficiency savings were identified, through a decrease in DNAs and increased productivity – with clear savings for patients. Further work is ongoing to understand system-wide changes required to embed this intervention longer term.
Background and introduction
Local problem
This project was based in Newham, an ethnically diverse borough in East London with high rates of deprivation and poor health outcomes.
Newham exemplifies challenges faced elsewhere in the NHS, with a high and rising prevalence of type 2 diabetes, currently approximately 9.4% (twice the UK average), placing increasing demands on busy services. The diabetes service has a particularly high 'did not attend' (DNA) rate (33–50% depending on age) reflecting the complex lives and access challenges of many local patients, who are largely from minority ethnic groups. Newham Primary Care Trust commissioned an in-depth qualitative study, by Ipsos MORI, in 2009 to better understand the complex issue of non-compliance; findings revealed that perceived lack of control, poor engagement with services and lack of flexibility of services contributed to poor patient self-management.1
(Figure 1 shows the location of Newham in London.)
Figure 1. Map of Greater London showing the location of Newham
Alternatives to face-to-face consultations: video solution
There is strong policy pressure to reduce unnecessary outpatient attendance, especially for the routine monitoring of chronic conditions (for which such a model is both expensive and inconvenient for patients). As part of a much wider policy push to harness the potential of new technologies to improve efficiency and take care 'closer to home', alternatives to the traditional face-to-face diabetes review are being introduced and piloted.
Video consulting via webcam has been used for a diverse range of conditions, including the management of chronic diseases, such as diabetes, and supporting patients with complex health needs and their families.2–4 However, typically, video has been an 'add on' to more complex telemedicine systems; there is limited evidence on the use of webcam consultations in isolation.
Verhoeven et al.5 reviewed the findings of 17 studies of video-conferencing to connect diabetes patients with health care professionals, in some cases with the patient at home and some with the patient in a local or regional facility. Studies were small and inconclusive but overall suggested that video could be a practical, cost-effective and reliable way of delivering the service. None of these studies was conducted in the UK.
A qualitative study by Pols6 of webcam consultations in a COPD rehab clinic in the Netherlands focused on changes in the dynamics of consultations; she concluded that for webcam consultations to 'work well', there should a pre-existing 'personal and supportive relationship' between patient and clinician.
Greenhalgh et al.7 summarised wider literature relevant to this study, including a review of 27 studies looking at the use of Skype in clinical care.8 Relevant studies appear sparse but broadly positive; however, 'the small sample sizes and high losses to follow-up in many studies call into question any unqualified conclusion that the technology is "effective" and the lack of negative studies raises the issue of publication bias'.7 There remain important questions about changes in the clinician-patient dynamics,6 patient empowerment9 and cost-effectiveness.10,11
No previous studies identified have specifically addressed the socio-economically disadvantaged areas of major cities. Indeed, many studies of webcam services have been in rural or remote areas. However, there is known to be considerable appetite for webcam services even when the patient is located relatively close to the clinic.4
A webcam video solution was thought particularly timely given the changes in lifestyle of patients and the ever-increasing access to broadband now in people's homes, enabling a cost-effective solution. A 2013 household panel survey (1019 residents aged 16+), conducted by the London Borough of Newham, revealed that 79% of households had access to broadband, an increase from 70% in 2010.12
Aims/intended improvement
This project aimed to explore how, to what extent and in what circumstances webcam video consultations can provide accessible, cost-effective and person-centred care, while maintaining clinical quality, using readily available video-conferencing technology. We sought to replace routine follow-up outpatient appointments with web-based consultations where clinically appropriate (e.g. when the patient did not require physical examination).
We anticipated that if the service proved feasible and acceptable, it could improve efficiency of the outpatient process, improve continuity of care and enhance patient self- management skills with an impact on health outcomes.
Suitable patients attending routine follow-up diabetes appointments with one consultant physician and one diabetes specialist nurse (DSN) were offered webcam consultations, using readily available video-conferencing software, where the patient was considered clinically suitable and in particular where a physical examination was not anticipated. In the consultant clinic, webcam consultations were interspersed with face-to-face appointments within the existing clinic structure; patients therefore had the option to change their appointment back to a face-to-face one at any point. As the service was taken up, patients began to initiate their own appointments with the DSN (for example when the nurse had invited the patient to contact her to report if a change in management had led to further problems they wished to discuss).
Data collection and analysis
Quantitative outcome data included recruitment figures and before and after measures of: DNA rates, duration of appointments, HbA1c levels and A&E attendance. Twenty-eight online questionnaires were also completed with a mixture of quantitative and qualitative responses.
Qualitative data included 43 semi-structured patient interviews (19 of which were conducted over the phone), three semi-structured staff interviews, four patient focus groups, and one staff focus group.
Questionnaire and interview respondents were broadly representative of patients taking up the webcam service in terms of age, ethnicity and gender.
Data collection tools were developed with input from a service user and the clinical team. Data was analysed by two researchers independently and results compared.
Formal statistical analysis of A&E attendance data was performed using a Normal-Poisson mixture model by an independent statistician.
Quantitative findings
In all, 104 patients were recruited to webcam appointments over the four years, with a total of 480 scheduled and 152 'patient-initiated' webcam appointments. On average, approximately one-third of appointments became webcam appointments for these patients.
Recruitment was quickest in the first year, with 89 patients enrolled; an acceptance rate of 62%. (See Table 1.) Approximately 80% of the patients considered for webcam appointments were deemed suitable for this service. Reasons for classifying a patient as 'unsuitable' included: complex comorbidity, the need for a physical examination or lack of familiarity with the patient. This was a clinical decision taken by the clinician.
Table 1. Uptake of the webcam service by patient age
Table 1 shows the uptake of the webcam service by age, during the first year. Uptake was very high in those under 60 but much lower in the over 70s. The main reasons given for declining the offer of a webcam appointment were: no access to the internet at home (52%), just 'prefer face to face' (18.5%), not confident with the internet/computer (9%).
The DNA rates for scheduled webcam appointments was 13% and for patient-initiated webcam appointments it was nil (all appointments initiated by patients were kept). This compares with a DNA rate of 28% for all outpatient appointments for the same patients (during the same time period, 2011–2014).
The DNA rates appeared to be influenced by the reliability of the technology. We initially used a more sophisticated commercial package (rather than Skype) but we experienced frequent technical problems as the bandwidth requirements were too demanding for most home computers. Since using Skype, the technical problems have mostly been resolved and DNA rates have dramatically improved.
The duration of appointments is shown in Table 2. While appointments were significantly shorter in webcam consultations, clinical case mix was different due to the exclusion of patients who needed a physical examination. Overall, however, there was increased productivity in the clinics as measured by the fact that the consultant found she could book one to two additional patients per clinic.
Table 2. Mean duration of appointments
Before and after measures of HbA1c levels and A&E attends were inconclusive. This pilot study was not sufficiently powered or controlled to look at these variables with any certainty. However, there were some promising results: mean HbA1c pre-webcam appointments was 70mmol/mol and post-webcam appointments 65mmol/mol. Complex modelling of raw data suggested that diabetes-related A&E events were lower for patients using webcam appointments (approximately one-third, depending on how the model was constructed). However, these findings need to be treated with extreme caution; numerous confounders could have accounted for the difference so, in the absence of a control group and randomisation, we cannot be confident that this is a real finding.
The questionnaire response rate was 51%, which compares favourably with surveys carried out in black and minority ethnic groups, and with young people.13 Questions relating to cost revealed that, while using webcam appointments, the majority of patients saved money from travel and parking costs and a quarter of patients saved income by not having to take so much time off work.
Qualitative findings
Almost all patients commented that webcam appointments saved them time and greatly enhanced flexibility so they could fit consultations around their everyday lives, e.g. in between lectures for students, lunch breaks or while at home. Patients said they could keep appointments even when on holiday or travelling, hence missed appointments were fewer. Several patients who forgot their appointment also attended at the last minute after being sent a remote reminder, and a patient who was feeling unwell on the day attended when they would otherwise have cancelled.
Patients perceived shorter waiting times and, if they had to wait, the advantage was they could use the waiting time more effectively (for example getting on with their work).
Some patients said that they felt more connected to the service and that the consultation felt more equal:
'You are in the comfort of your own home. Sometimes in hospital I've felt like the doctor was in control and you don't want to waste their time… You feel liberated in your own home, it's on your terms.'
Because it was easy to request a call-back appointment with the specialist nurse via a 'Skype' message, they were more likely to seek guidance or clarify issues between appointments:
'The other advantage of Skype is when I have an issue I might have a tendency to put it off a bit but if I see her, it's easy to send her a quick message.'
'I think with diabetes particularly immediate is important; generally when you want to know something you want to know it now, or in a couple of hours.'
Even when patients were not actively using the webcam appointments service, the fact that it was an option provided reassurance:
'There's a big safety net because you know if I've got a problem I can just look online and see oh she's on and quickly either give a call or Skype in.'
Questionnaire respondents reported saving money (18 out of 24 respondents), mostly from travel costs and some parking costs. For six respondents, taking time off work to attend appointments had impacted on their pay; others had to ask for sick leave or holiday. This was particularly significant for one older patient whose daughters reported having to take a half-day's leave to accompany the patient to each appointment.
When asked about quality of care, patients were consistently positive, though they felt webcam would not be appropriate for every consultation:
'The same. Completely happy… I couldn't feel any different whether I was sitting next to her or not.'
One daughter speaking about her elderly mother said: 'Better. The quality of care for her to be in her own environment is much better.'
Patients highlighted how video (unlike the phone) can support dialogue about their condition through visual and non-verbal cues, both explicit (e.g. showing them physical marks/symptoms on the body) as well as more implicit indicators of their wellbeing (e.g. mood, tiredness, skin complexion, weight).
'If you are not well and you are Skyping they can see you are not well, if you are looking a bit rough or whatever.'
The clinicians also felt that the quality of consultations online was, overall, as good as face to face when used 'appropriately' and when the technology was working effectively. On 11 occasions (out of a total of 127) clinicians reported that the technology was ineffective to support the consultation and most of these occurred in an early pre-pilot phase when a commercial package was used instead of Skype.
There were mixed views about how 'comfortable' patients felt when using the webcam. Some patients felt that an element of 'reality' in the face-to-face consultation was missing – or at least heavily compromised – by the use of webcam. They commented that physical presence was important for meaningful emotional support. Initial unfamiliarity with webcams contributed to this in some cases (one patient reported that it felt 'a bit strange' at first but 'by the third one it was fine'). Some patients still felt a lack of 'presence' even after repeated webcam appointments, and others felt there was no issue about 'presence'. Indeed, one patient talked about how she felt more relaxed in her own home than when she was 'in the doctor's office'.
Participants attributed the quality of the conversation via webcam to the quality of their existing relationship with their clinician. Hence, webcam was not considered suitable for someone newly diagnosed or if the doctor or nurse changed.
'I'd be uncomfortable, only because I don't know this person, it's the first time I'm meeting him and it's just awkward.'
Patients' confidence in using webcam seemed to stem from their trust in the clinician to pick up any concerns and act in their interests. For example, they trusted that the clinician would maintain the same level of privacy during a Skype consultation:
'She always lets you know and when someone does come in [to the room] she kind of stops and says I'm in a consultation right now and they usually go away.'
Patients who had a prior relationship with their clinician appeared happy for aspects of their home to be apparent over the webcam. Indeed, the DSN described how several young people had 'shown her around their bedroom' using their webcam, which added a personal element to the interaction. An older patient happily had a consultation with the doctor from her bed:
'She sat in bed and talked to Dr V–. They waved goodbye to each other at the end.'
In contrast, one of the nurses (a young Asian woman) reported feeling uncomfortable seeing patients at home if she hardly knew them, especially men from a different social or ethnic background.
Despite some patients feeling less 'comfortable' with the technology, many patients talked about an improvement in the level of engagement they perceived from their clinician. In particular, they felt that the clinician spent a greater proportion of the consultation looking at them and focusing on what they were saying. Patients compared this to a face-to-face encounter, in which the clinician would need to look down or away from them to view relevant medical records, or a phone consultation in which they felt they had even less attention and the clinician might even be doing other things.
As well as physical examination, patients felt that face-to-face appointments were sometimes needed when they wanted hands-on practical assistance (e.g. how to operate an insulin pump) or problem-solving that required the sharing of numerical or visual information:
'If I was to come to show her my pump she'll get some readings and put it up on a graph on the computer, so with Skype I don't think I'll feel more comfortable… it makes it so much easier if I'm there in person.'
Some patients signed up for the webcam service but abandoned it after one or two consultations. Several of these found the process of using Skype intimidating (meaning they had difficulties in operating the technology), or simply far too removed from their usual patterns of technology use.
This pilot of webcam consultations for adults with diabetes has shown high uptake (except for the elderly). Patients perceived the service as convenient and accessible, and perceived the clinician as more 'focused', which they enjoyed. Appointments were shorter and DNA rates fell significantly. Importantly, in nearly 600 webcam consultations there were no critical events and the service interfaced well with the existing outpatient clinic, with staff being able to recommend (or patients request) a face-to-face appointment when needed.
Others have shown that for patients with busy and often complex lives, or for patients with mobility issues, convenience is a significant factor in improving access.14 Not surprisingly, uptake was high in the 20–60 year-old group; these patients often have the most significant competing demands (e.g. family, work etc), and particularly value convenience. Younger patients are typically the most IT literate, with the highest DNA rates, and they often live more transient lives (travelling, studying away from home) where maintaining contact remotely with a trusted clinician may be important. Relationship and continuity of care is something patients value but don't always receive.
Our findings emphasise the importance of a prior relationship and resonate with those of Pols6 who stated that the webcam experience 'magnified the existing characteristics of the social relationship between the webcam users, i.e. a stranger became even more strange, a friend or trusted carer became even closer.' Maintaining this relationship over webcam is also needed and is one reason for an appropriate mix of webcam and face-to-face appointments. Some patients felt that at times they needed to see their clinician in person for 'meaningful emotional support'. Face-to-face appointments also continue to be important for an annual review, when a physical examination is required and for hands-on practical assistance. On average we found that about one-third of face-to-face appointments were converted to webcam for webcam patients.
Similar findings from other authors have also found webcam consultations to be more focused15 or intense, with a greater percentage of time gazing at the screen (92%) compared to eye gaze in direct face-to-face conversation (50%);16 and overall providing increased patient satisfaction.17
The increase in 'focus' over webcam may, in part, explain why consultations were shorter. However, various other factors must also be considered: change in clinical case mix, lack of physical examination, differences in patient attitude and control (over webcam, patients have reported that it feels like 'their time' is being used rather than the 'doctor's time'). Such changes in dynamic are being further studied as part of the VOCAL study.7
An unanticipated effect of introducing the webcam service was the high, and increasing, proportion of patient-initiated appointments with the specialist nurse, which were particularly valued and always kept. The immediacy of these appointments allows patients to address problems as they arise and gain reassurance at what may be a frightening time, in a way that is not possible over the phone. Some patients would initiate a large number of appointments when experiencing a crisis and then be out of touch for long periods of time. Such appointments could be particularly significant for engaging 'hard to reach' patients. Although the overall number of contacts for the nurse may have increased, the pattern and duration of appointments changed and there was no impact on overall workload.
Savings for patients are easier to identify than savings to the health service.18 The impact on pay reported by patients could have significant consequences for individuals and their families, particularly where patients rely on casual work or are self-employed. There are also significant savings for employers, with staff taking less time off to attend appointments.
Initial savings for the health service appear to be modest, and relate to increased efficiencies and productivity. Previous authors have reported health care savings mainly where staff have saved travel time, such as from a reduction in the number of home visits,19,20 or visits to remote clinics.21 However, it is anticipated that improved access to services will, in time, lead to fewer diabetes complications and a related reduction in avoidable A&E admissions. Such a reduction in A&E admissions, especially those for diabetic ketoacidosis, would massively impact on the economic argument for webcam appointments. It has been suggested that about half of diabetic ketoacidosis hospitalisations could be avoided with better outpatient and self-delivery of care.22,23
Our experience with the software demonstrates that reliability of the technology is vital and sometimes a simple solution is best.
This project has demonstrated that in this busy inner city environment, video-mediated communication tools can provide more accessible, efficient and person-centred care, while maintaining quality and improving patient experience. We hope that, in time, associated health benefits will follow with knock-on benefits for services, such as A&E.
Further work is ongoing, as part of the VOCAL study,7 to understand the changes in dynamics within the webcam consultation itself, the potential to positively impact on self-management behaviour as well as local and system-wide changes required to embed this intervention longer term.
We would like to thank the following for their involvement in this project:
– The patients who gave their time to provide the insights reported here.
– The Health Foundation for generously funding this work with two grants; firstly as part of the SHINE programme.
– Springfield consultancy for their support.
– Professor Stephen Senn and Francois Fays for their statistical analysis.
– Helen Turner for involvement in the early data collection, and analysis, as an independent qualitative researcher.
– Isabel Hodkinson, Tower Hamlets Clinical Commissioning Group, London, UK.
– Staff in the Diabetes Department at the Shrewsbury Road clinic who gave freely of their time to support this project.
– The National Institute for Health Research for funding the continued research.
– Barts Health NHS Trust for hosting and enabling the research.
Declaration of interests
There are no conflicts of interest declared.
1. Ipsos MORI. Newham PCT. Understanding diabetes and service needs in Newham. 2009. (Private communication, Newham CCG.)
2. Izquierdo R, et al. School-centered telemedicine for children with type 1 diabetes mellitus. J Pediatrics 2009;155(3):374–9.
3. Guest A, et al. Telemedicine: helping neurologically-impaired children to stay at home. Paediatric Nurs 2005;17(2):20–2.
4. Cady R, et al. Home telehealth for children with special health-care needs. J Telemed Telecare 2008; 14(4):173–7.
5. Verhoeven F, et al. The contribution of teleconsultation and videoconferencing to diabetes care: A systematic literature review. J Med Internet Res 2007;9(5):e37.
6. Pols J. Wonderful webcams: About active gazes and invisible technologies. Sci Technol & Human Values 2011;36(4):451–73.
7. Greenhalgh T, et al. Virtual online consultations: advantages and limitations (VOCAL) study. BMJ Open 2016;6:e009388.
8. Armfield NR, et al. The clinical use of Skype – for which patients, with which problems and in which settings? A snapshot review of the literature. Int J Med Inform 2015;84:737–42.
9. Samoocha D, et al. Effectiveness of web-based interventions on patient empowerment: A systematic review and meta-analysis. J Med Internet Res 2010;12(2):e23.
10. Brebner JA, et al. Accident and emergency teleconsultation for primary care – a systematic review of technical feasibility, clinical effectiveness, cost effectiveness and level of local management. J Telemed Telecare 2006;12(1):5–8.
11. Viers BR, et al. Efficiency, satisfaction, and costs for remote video visits following radical prostatectomy: a randomized controlled trial. Eur Urol 2015;68:729–35.
12. London Borough of Newham. Findings from the Newham Household Panel Survey (Wave 7): Final report 'Understanding Newham 2013', June 2014.
13. Sheldon H, et al. Increasing response rates amongst black and minority ethnic and seldom heard groups. A review of the literature relevant to the national acute patients' survey. 2007. Picker Institute Europe. Available from: http://www.nhssurveys.org.
14. Levy S, et al. Growing up with confidence: using telehealth to support continence self-care deficits amongst young people with complex needs. Inform Prim Care 2014;21:113–7.
15. Choi NG, et al. Telehealth problem-solving therapy for depressed low-income homebound older adults. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry 2014;22:263–71.
16. Sävenstedt S, et al. Establishing joint attention in remote talks with the elderly about health: a study of nurses' conversation with elderly persons in teleconsultations. Scand J Caring Sci 2005;19(4):317–24.
17. Bohnenkamp SK, et al. Traditional versus telenursing outpatient management of patients with cancer with new ostomies. Oncol Nurs Forum 2004;31:1005–10.
18. Biermann E, et al. Are there time and cost savings by using telemanagement for patients on intensified insulin therapy? A randomised, controlled trial. Comput Methods Programs Biomed 2002;69:137–46.
19. Finkelstein SM, et al. Home telehealth improves clinical outcomes at lower cost for home healthcare. Telemed J E Health 2006;12:128–36.
20. Johnston B, et al. Outcomes of the Kaiser Permanente Tele-Home Health Research Project. Arch Fam Med 2000;9:40–5.
21. Ruskin PE, et al. Treatment outcomes in depression: Comparison of remote treatment through telepsychiatry to in-person treatment. Am J Psychiatry 2004;161(8):1471–6.
22. Kaufman FR, Halvorson M. The treatment and prevention of diabetic ketoacidosis in children and adolescents with type I diabetes mellitus. Pediatr Ann 1999;28(9):576–82.
23. Curtis JR, et al. Recent trends in hospitalization for diabetic ketoacidosis in Ontario children. Diabetes Care 2002;25(9):1591–6.
Webcam consultations for diabetes: findings from four years of experience in Newham


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Pharmaceutical Process engineers are involved in the planning, conception, design, construction/Execution, management, operation of research facilities, pilot plant for scale up, manufacturing plants and labeling & packaging processes in the conversion of chemical and biological materials into valuable pharmaceuticals and pharmaceutical therapies. They have to implement FDA regulations, validation assurance, quality control, and maintain Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) compliant facilities. In addition to the safety of the end product, they have to maintain a level of personal and environmental safety. The processes that they come up with are used to create products ranging from oil, gas & drugs to food and drink.
This course will provide a thorough understanding of Process engineering in API and in formulation for develop and design new process and modify existing ones in very cost effective way with safety, increase productivity in existing system, engineering calculations for taking decision at spot etc. This course provides professionals with the skills and knowledge to allow them to participate effectively in the creation and growth of high impact pharmaceutical business ventures. The development of this course is in direct response to the demands of industry and its professionals will be highly competitive in the global jobs market.
This short term programme has been designed mainly to provide brief of Pharmaceutical Process Engineering. The programme provides collecting, linking, and manipulating different types of biological information to discover new biological insight. Thus it works as re-fresher course for those already in the industry and an insight or practical guide for those planning to enter into this sector. You can complete this course from your own city.
Module 1: Process Engineering in the pharmaceutical industry: An Introduction
Module 2: Regulatory aspects (India & International): FDA regulations and ICH guidelines, safety aspects, Policy, Legal and statutory framework on industrial safety and health.
Module 3: Technology Transfer by Process Engineer in pharmaceutical Industry and Various Functions of departments of industry
Module 4: Stoichiometry & the Role of Chemical Engineering in Pharmaceutical API Process R & D.
Module 5: Industrial Processes for Reactions, Reactor types & Design with accessories.
Module 6: Heat and mass Transfer Operations
Module 7: Process Engineering Package & Designing with material and energy balance, Process diagrams and project costing.
Module 8: Fluid handling - Fluid flow, Line sizing, Pressure drop calculation, Pipe network analysis, Pumps & Compressor, Steam, compressed air, ETP, refrigeration & HVAC system.
Module 9: Industrial Unit Processes - Air conditioning & Humidification, Various separation process - Distillation, Evaporation, Crystallization, Filtration & Drying.
Module 10: Particle Size, Reduction and classification, Mixing
Module 11: Process Engineering role in Clean Room Management, solid dosage formulation, Sterilization and Bio-processing
Module 12: Pilot Plant - Scale up and HAZOP study
Module 13: Material packaging and quality principles.
Module 14: An Introduction to CHEMCAD
Module 15: Industry based Case Studies
Graduation in Pharma/Medical/Biomedical/Biotechnology/Microbiology/Science and Candidates appearing for the final year of Bachelor's degree/equivalent qualification exam or awaiting their results, are eligible to apply.
Minimum duration to complete this program is 6 Months while a maximum of one year is allowed to complete the course.
The registration dates for this bi-annual executive program run by the institute are updated timely on the webpage. The Training sessions and webinars are scheduled preferably on weekends depending on the availability of visiting faculty. Effective E-learning tools incorporated into the design of the webpage make the course lectures, videos and study material easily accessible. This gives huge window of self-regulated and self-paced performance to the participants.
IGMPI follows a credit system based on all learning activities involved in studying for all PG Diploma, Executive Diploma and Certificate Programmes. Each of your modules is equal to 4 credits. To successfully complete the programme, you will have to earn all the credits assigned to your programme.
All the participants are expected to appear for an online exam and are also obliged to submit assignments after each module. After successful completion, the participants will be awarded Executive Diploma in Pharmaceutical Process Engineering by Faculty of Product Management, IGMPI. For all the above mentioned modules elaborate course material, self-assessment assignments and project work details would be provided by the Institute from time to time. Details get updated on the webpage as well.
Pharmaceutical Process Engineering provides a strong focus on problem solving, Technical, conception, design as well as managerial and practical application of knowledge to particular fact scenarios through a number of advice drafting exercises. The Process Engineer professionals will execute the process development experiments and process optimization of API & formulations, Scale-up of API & formulations from lab scale to pilot/commercial scale, execution of submission batches and validation, Preparation & review of batch documents & protocols. Process Engineering is important in extending benefits of R&D, Production and engineering to the society at a large, especially in developing countries. Technology Transfer is important for commercialization especially, in the case of developing and underdeveloped countries.
Technology Transfer is important in extending benefits of R&D to the society at a large, especially in developing countries. Technology Transfer is important for commercialization especially, in the case of developing and underdeveloped countries.
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We hope you enjoyed our previous article on The Instagram Effect on Travel! Today, we will be exploring its effects on FOOD!
Don't we all love eating? But won't the food taste so much better if it was Instagram worthy?
Do you share these thoughts? Well, its not surprising given how vastly Instagram has affected our food trends. We've all probably been guilty of the Instagram effect without realising it. Let's take a look and see exactly how Instagram has affected food.
Our Eating Preferences
You chance upon a picture of a mouth watering cheesy pizza while scrolling through Instagram, the cravings act up and in the next minute you're on your way to the nearest pizza joint. Does this sound like you? The nature of the quick and easy photo sharing platform has allowed itself to gain control over our food choices. The F&B industry recognises this, and uses this tool as an advantage to attract customers.
To further emphasise this, the Vegan community saw a growth in population by 360% over the last year. The sight of the leafy, bright and colourful, photogenic vegan meals began to appeal to the masses. A diet we thought was bland and boring actually seemed like it could be tasty and enjoyable – and not forgetting the exciting factor of health!
Bingsu, Mentaiko sauce, Salted egg snacks, and now brown sugar. Sounds familiar? Did you happen to purchase any one of these foods before? These are just some food trends that broke the internet over the past few years. Instagram food bloggers and celebrity chefs do seem to have an amazingly strong impact on us.
The Aesthetics of Food
Instagram food ranges from rainbow coloured, chocolate dripping 'freakshakes' to green, leafy, carb-free salad bowls. Well, most of these "Instagrammable" foods can be classified under food-baits that restaurants use to entice us – they don't necessarily taste good and can be extremely unhealthy, but they definitely look good! Or should I say – Insta-worthy?
Well, food has certainly become more photogenic since posting food pictures on Instagram became a thing. Chefs are now deliberately putting in extra effort into their food to ensure that their food makes it online.
On the other hand, restaurants also seem going in for a serious debate. As much as they love attracting new customers, they don't just want customers coming in just to tick a photo off their list. Chefs want to be known for making it to Instagram because their food was seriously delicious, not because it looked great on Instagram. I guess in reality, most of us would pick substance over appearance for that matter.
Snapping a picture of our food has become a normal habit in our daily lives. In some ways, it might have improved the overall aesthetics of ourselves, but has it also ruined our dining experiences?


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That shoreline where the island of knowing meets the unfathomable sea of our own being is the landscape of myth.
It is not enough to raise consciousness. One must lower the spirit into the earth to embody a change in things as basic as food, shelter, and livelihood.
The conscious process is reflected in the imagination; the unconscious process is expressed as karma, the generation of actions divorced from thinking and alienated from feeling.
The conscious purpose of science is control of Nature; its unconscious effect is disruption and chaos.
For the first time in human evolution, the individual life is long enough, and the cultural transformation swift enough, that the individual mind is now a constituent player in the global transformation of human culture.
With the emergence of civilization, the rate of change shifted from hundreds of thousands of years to millennia. With the emergence of science as a way of knowing the universe, the rate of change shifted to centuries.
The teacher of history's work should be, ideally, not simply a description of past cultures, but a performance of the culture in which we live and are increasingly taking our being.
The more chaos there is, the more science holds on to abstract systems of control, and the more chaos is engendered.
Not all intelligence can be artificial now, so if we make a mistake, the consequences are no longer simply located within an institution or a national culture.
Catastrophes are often stimulated by the failure to feel the emergence of a domain, and so what cannot be felt in the imagination is experienced as embodied sensation in the catastrophe.
One way to find food for thought is to use the fork in the road, the bifurcation that marks the place of emergence in which a new line of development begins to branch off.
In the domain of cops and robbers, an interdiction serves to structure a black market and a shadow economy.
Hominid and human evolution took place over millions and not billions of years, but with the emergence of language there was a further acceleration of time and the rate of change.
Idealistic reformers are dangerous because their idealism has no roots in love, but is simply a hysterical and unbalanced rage for order amidst their own chaos.


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Croatia, the War, and the Future
For the people of Dubrovnik (Croatia), Morinj is a symbol of horrendous sufferings endured by the Dubrovnik's residents who ended up in Morinj (near Kotor, Montenegro) concentration camp. From the total of 440 Croats from Dubrovnik who suffered torture at the hands of Serb and Montenegrin camps 300 of them endured the horrors of Morinj camp; some 200 of these suffered abuse of unimaginably cruel proportions. In Morinj camp most were tortured in the most horrible and insufferable ways, many are to this day suffering chronic Post Traumatic Disorder as one of the nightmarish consequences of utterly horrific tortures and trauma.
Pobjeda news portal (Montenegro) reports that four out of six men originally indicted and now retried on charges of war crimes (against Croatian civilian population between October 1991 and August 1992) and relating to concentration camp Morinj have been convicted Wednesday 31 July to a total of 12 years…
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by Lillian Csernica on February 23, 2014
It's generally understood that being a parent is a lot of work. People tend to focus on the early stages, from infancy to grade school, because in that span of time come the stages of early childhood development which tend to involve the most work by the parents. This is true, and I give all parents of all mainstream kids due credit for their labors.
I'd like to give a particular shout-out to all single parents. I don't know how you do it. My admiration for your strength and determination is huge and sincere.
Then you have us, the Special Needs parents. For you, my sisters and brothers, I offer this salute:
Many of you Special Needs parents have younger children. Some of us have been at this a while. In April my son Michael will turn 18, making him a legal adult here in the U.S. When I first saw the above meme, this was my immediate response:
I've been changing diapers for almost 18 years!
By now I should have my own galaxy to rule!
So I say to you, Mainstream parents, Special Needs parents, nurses, caregivers, aides, and all those people who have participated in the diaper-changing process:
It's easy to see everything we don't do, everything we wish we did, everything we wish we could do. Take a moment to think about everything we DO accomplish over the course of a single day. I once saw a commercial for one of the armed forces. The motto at the time was, "We do more before breakfast than most people do all day." That describes a lot of us, doesn't it?
So take a moment. Raise a glass of whatever you like to everything you've done right for your kids. Without even knowing you personally, I can guarantee you've done a whole lot more than you realize. Again, I'm speaking to every parent. We want to do what's best for our children. We want to do our personal best for our kids. Some days we do better than others. That's OK. We don't want to teach our children a standard of perfection that simply isn't attainable. That's unreasonable and unfair to everybody in the situation. Do the best you can do today. That's an excellent motto for all of us, parent or child, Mainstream or Special Needs.
Godspeed to us all.


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They will begin seeing patients at their new location inside the Chambersburg Hospital Medical Office Building, 112 North Seventh St., Chambersburg, on April 23. Both practices are currently housed in the Summit Health Center, Building 2, 12 St. Paul Dr., Chambersburg. The practices will not see patients from April 20-22.
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He read the obituary over breakfast – it was the same kind of bullshit they wrote about everyone: it bore no relation to John. Perhaps if people didn't lie about what you had been when you were alive and people were allowed to admit that they were glad you were dead because of what you had done and what you meant to the world, then the world might have benefited. If that was how the world worked then he knew there would have been people queued up around the block to condemn John; he smiled when he thought of how many people would be there to put the boot in when he passed on.
The coffee tasted like shit. The breakfast was too greasy and too salty. He squinted his right eye, looked down the length of his arm and along his finger – bang – the cook would have fallen backwards into the fryer. Grit needed some work to take his mind of the bullshit with Terry. Terry was unavoidable – he was not the kind of problem that you could ignore; he was a loud-mouthed prick that was going to drag as many people into this as he could to make as big a stink as was possible. Grit had never like Terry.
Pinstripe sat down opposite him and smiled. Pinstripe was a grass – he tried hard to convince you that he was some kind of esteemed member of the Intelligence Community but scarpe through the thin veneer of badly applied bullshit and you saw him for exactly what he was – someone not to be trusted.
'So, Pinstripe, what can I do for you, you fucking tapeworm?'
'That ain't very friendly, Mister Grit – I never did nothin' to you, so why are you sore at me? Especially when I know somethin' that might be able to help you.'
'If I have to pay for it Pinstripe then you aren't helping me you're doing business with me. I have limited patience for shitheads so get to the point before I take out the considerable amount of frustration I have at the moment on you.'
'Ooh, touchy.'
Grit had warned him once so he reached across the table, grabbed Pinstripe by his tie, pulled him a little closer, and punched him in the nose: it spread in a bloody mess.
'Now, you stupid cocksucker, you are going to tell me for free. Next time you'll know that when I warn you I mean it. What do you know? Even think about lying to me and I am going to stick a knife in your eye.'
A darkening patch of dampness spread across the front of Pinstripe's pinstripe. Pinstripe was stupid but he wasn;t stupid enough not to believe the threat.
'Terry has put a bounty on your head. Two people are already here to claim it – Jeffers and Hunt as I heard it.'
'Thank you,' Pinstripe,' he said, stabbing the aforementioned knife through the end of the man's tie, pinning him to the table.
Terry was a stupid bastard – a bounty? Where the fuck did he think he was? The wild fucking west? And who in the hell did he think he was dealing with? It looked like Grit's family tree was going to be losing a few branches very soon.
Filed under: Crime, flash fiction, Prose, serial, Short Story, update | Tagged: crime story, fiction, Grit Fanily Matter 3, muse hick, musehick, paul grimsley, Prose, serial, skull cull, story, tale, writer, writing |


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Hold On, Holden: Next Year's Chevy SS is Not Just another G8
Chevrolet's plans for its rear-wheel-drive 2014 Chevy Super Sport launching early next year on the NASCAR circuit are becoming clearer by the day. We'd previously assumed it would be the car Bob Lutz wanted to import from Australia after General Motors pulled the plug on Pontiac in 2009 (the 2009 Pontiac GXP is pictured). But as it turns out, the Chevy SS will instead be Zeta II transition car, with some high-strength steel, aluminum, and new sheetmetal.
The reason? Holden's present VE Commodore is due for a major refresh next year. The Chevrolet version will get that new sheetmetal, and because Holden produces a variety of models off the basic Commodore line, including the HSV high-performance models, the Chevrolet's design is bound to have more exclusivity than a bowtie grille. Chevrolet launches the Super Sport in NASCAR next year, then as a 2014 model passenger car late in '13.
The Commodore line includes the mainstream, popularly priced Acclaim and Commodore trim levels, plus the upmarket Berlina and Calais, plus HSV models. Considering the high-performance image of the SS, launching with a 400-plus horsepower 6.2-liter V-8 as the only engine choice, the Chevy could have aggressive HSV-sourced front quarter-panels, and front hood and rear deck panels off other models. Expect a high-output 3.6-liter V-6 later in the SuperSport's lifecycle.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. Holden typically performs major refreshes on its models halfway through their lifecycles. It's more akin to what Ford Motor has been doing with everything from the Mustang to the Taurus and Lincoln MKS to the Fusion and MKZ since Alan Mulally became CEO.
So Holden's VE Commodore is scheduled to become the updated VF Commodore in calendar 2013, just in time for the new Chevy. While Holden concentrated on crash protection for the VE Commodore, resulting in a porky car, the VF is expected to get a heavy infusion of aluminum and high-strength steel to balance its safety with decent fuel mileage and performance. If GM pulls this off, the Chevy/Holden with the shorter 114.8-inch wheelbase could equal the 6.2-liter Camaro SS in weight, or even be a bit lighter, until the '15 Alpha platform Camaro arrives a year after the SS.
The new VF Holden and Chevy SS in effect become the first cars off the new Zeta II RWD large car platform. This fits GM's platform strategy going back at least to the current Chevy Malibu, which had an evolution of the Saturn Aura's Epsilon platform, and led to Epsilon II. Because GM can't afford to launch all new cars off the same platform in the same year anymore, this is the new cadence. Zeta I evolves into Zeta II just as Epsilon I evolved into Epsilon II.
If VF's shorter of two wheelbases is any different from the VE Commodore's and the 2008-09 Pontiac G8, it will be fractionally due perhaps to new control arms, so expect the Chevy SS wheelbase to come within 0.1 inches of the G8's 114.8 inches.
The Chevy SS's interior will be all-new, however, and should follow GM's recent success with upgrading interiors across all its car lines. Here's hoping GM spent the money to move window and mirror controls from the center console to the doors, for both left- and right-hand-drive cars.
As for the styling, I'm going to go out on a limb and say it will look more like a Chevrolet than a Holden. After all, GM North America President Mark Reuss, who spent a few years fixing Holden just prior to the '09 bankruptcy, owns a 1959 Holden FC Special, which was designed with junior-'55 Chevy styling. Holden is adding two North American Chevys, the Holden Volt and Holden Malibu, to its lineup.
It looks to me like GM has figured out the synergy between Chevrolet and Holden design, just as it did for Buick and Opel a few years earlier. GM is developing a global car line in the one area where One Ford has not yet gone; in full-size cars.
What about the El Camino-esque Holden Ute and the hatchback/wagon? Anxious as we are to get them, they're niche models at best in North America. They would add some capacity demand and flexibility to a North American assembly plant, so I'd guess those two bodystyles will be added only after GM moves Chevy SS production to a North American plant, if at all. Keep in mind, too, that Holden typically introduces a new Commodore first, with the Ute and wagon coming later. There has been no consistent pattern for how much longer it takes to get the new variants.
Question is whether Chevy SS production moves to North America before the typical three-year cycle of the Holden update is up. GM certainly wants to move it here, soon, to sell the Caprice PPV version to police departments in the U.S. that are not allowed to buy non-NAFTA-built vehicles.