#• Davidge Controls

[electronalytics]

Sub-Meters Market Outlook on Key Growth Trends, Factors and Forecast 2032

The sub-meters market refers to the industry involved in the production, sale, and distribution of sub-meters. Sub-meters are electrical meters that are installed on individual circuits within a building, allowing for the measurement and monitoring of energy consumption on a more granular level than traditional utility meters.

The sub-meters market has grown in recent years due to increasing awareness of the importance of energy efficiency and the need for accurate measurement and monitoring of energy consumption in buildings. Sub-meters are commonly used in commercial, industrial, and residential settings to track energy usage, identify inefficiencies, and make informed decisions about energy conservation measures.

Factors driving the growth of the sub-meters market include increasing demand for energy-efficient solutions, government regulations aimed at reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions, and the need for accurate measurement and billing of energy usage in multi-tenant buildings. However, the market also faces challenges such as competition from traditional utility meters and high installation costs for sub-meters in some cases.

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Market Segmentations: Global Sub-Meters Market: By Company • E-Mon • Leviton • Schneider Electric • ABB • Itron • GE Digital Energy • Siemens • Kamstrup • DAE • DOE • Davidge Controls • EKM Metering • Dent • Norgas • nextcenturymeters • Safari • Fineco • ONICON • Gomelong • Eastron Global Sub-Meters Market: By Type • Electric Submeter • Water Submeter • Gas Submeter • Heat & BTU Submeter Global Sub-Meters Market: By Application • Residential Application • Commercial Application • Industrial Application Global Sub-Meters Market: Regional Analysis All the regional segmentation has been studied based on recent and future trends, and the market is forecasted throughout the prediction period. The countries covered in the regional analysis of the Global Sub-Meters market report are U.S., Canada, and Mexico in North America, Germany, France, U.K., Russia, Italy, Spain, Turkey, Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, and Rest of Europe in Europe, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, China, Japan, India, South Korea, Rest of Asia-Pacific (APAC) in the Asia-Pacific (APAC), Saudi Arabia, U.A.E, South Africa, Egypt, Israel, Rest of Middle East and Africa (MEA) as a part of Middle East and Africa (MEA), and Argentina, Brazil, and Rest of South America as part of South America.

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[miniaturemoonheart]

Very good movie. One of DC great movie 🎥 🍿

Push (2009 film)

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For the 2009 film directed by Lee Daniels previously titled Push, see Precious (film).

Push is a 2009 American superhero thriller film directed by Paul McGuigan and written by David Bourla. Starring Chris Evans, Dakota Fanning, Camilla Belle, and Djimon Hounsou, the film centers on people with superhuman abilities who band together to take down a government agency that is using a dangerous drug to enhance their powers in the hope of creating an army of super soldiers.

Push

Pushposter08.jpg

Theatrical release poster

Directed by

Paul McGuigan

Written by

David Bourla

Produced by

Bruce Davey

William Vince

Glenn Williamson

Starring

Chris Evans

Dakota Fanning

Camilla Belle

Cliff Curtis

Djimon Hounsou

Cinematography

Peter Sova

Edited by

Nicolas Trembasiewicz

Music by

Neil Davidge

Production

company

Icon Productions

Distributed by

Summit Entertainment

Release date

February 6, 2009

Running time

111 minutes[1]

Country

United States

Budget

$38 million[2]

Box office

$48.9 million[2]

The film was released on February 6, 2009, by Summit Entertainment and Icon Productions. It was a moderate box office success, though critical reception was mostly negative.

Plot

Edit

In 1945, the United States government sets up The Division, an agency that tracks and experiments on people with psychic abilities. Each psychic is categorized into a group based on what powers they have. Two Movers, teenager Nick Gant and his father Jonah, are hiding from Division agent Henry Carver. Jonah tells Nick about a vision he received from a Watcher about a young girl Nick must help in the future to bring down Division. Nick watches Carver murder Jonah before he escapes.

Years later, The Division has developed a drug that can boost psychic abilities. All of the test subjects died until an unknown female Pusher successfully adapted to it. The woman escapes from The Division and steals a syringe of the drug before fleeing to Hong Kong, a common hiding place for psychics. Nick now lives in Hong Kong as an expatriate, but is in trouble due to the debts he incurred while attempting to use his power as a Mover, which has become blunt due to lack of training, to cheat in gambling. Nick is first visited by two Division agents, who are looking for leads on the escaped female patient, but they find none. Nick is visited immediately after by Cassie Holmes, a moody teenage Watcher, who wants Nick to help her in tracking down the woman who is supposed to have a case with six million dollars inside. While pleading her case to Nick, they are attacked by the Triads at a market, and Nick is severely wounded by a Bleeder before the pair can escape. After being separated, Cassie finds an unconscious Nick in the care of a Stitch named Teresa Stowe who owes a favor to Cassie's mother and was told to be in the market at the exact day and time they were attacked. She heals Nick's wounds to repay her debt to Cassie's mother, while also taunting Cassie about her mother's current captivity. Her mother, Sarah, is considered the strongest Watcher ever born and was detained by The Division to ensure their control over her abilities. Unbeknownst to them, her mother was the patient who directly helped the female Pusher escape. After talking to Cassie about her past and her most recent drawings, Nick realizes she is the girl his father saw in his vision and decides to help her find the woman as well as the briefcase containing the stolen goods.

Nick and Cassie use her Watcher abilities to track down the woman, who is actually Nick's ex-girlfriend, Kira Hudson. Kira hid the case and then had a Wiper erase her memory of its location, protecting it from Division agents. Nick recruits a Shadow, named Pinky Stein, to hide Kira from Carver and other Division agents. Cassie attempts to foresee the case's location, competing with the Triad Watcher, Pop Girl. As Kira begins to get sick from withdrawal, Nick learns that Kira will get sicker and eventually die without more of the drug, which only Carver has, and realizes he must meet with Carver to save her life. Victor, a talented Mover and Carver's assistant, battles Nick and nearly kills him before Cassie convinces Carver to spare him. Cassie then finds a key in Kira's shoe which unlocks a locker atop a construction site where the case is hidden.

Knowing that Division Watchers and especially Pop Girl, who tracks intents of her targets rather than possible outcomes like Cassie, can see their every move, Nick proposes an elaborate plan to obtain the drug and eliminate their enemies. He creates several envelopes containing instructions for each of his friends, including the Shifter called Hook Waters and the Sniff called Emily Wu. Nick seals each envelope and gives them to his friends before hiring the Wiper who erased Kira's memory to do the same to him. With his memory wiped, the Watchers are unable to see his future, enabling the group to execute Nick's plan. Hook locates the case and creates a duplicate of it and the syringe, while Pinky delivers Kira to Carver as part of the plan. Carver then pushes her into believing she is actually a Division agent and her relationship with Nick was a lie.

Cassie is confronted by Pop Girl, only for the Wiper to appear and erase Pop Girl's memory per Nick's instructions. Nick visits Carver and discovers Kira's brainwashing. They travel to the construction site where Carver unknowingly retrieves the fake case, but the Triads arrive and attempt to steal the case. A battle erupts between all three groups which leads to the Triad Bleeders being killed. Nick uses his newly discovered Mover power to battle Victor. The Triad leader uses his Bleeder powers and kills Victor when the young Bleeder dies. After using the opportunity to kill the Triad leader, Nick seizes the fake syringe and Carver allows him to inject himself with it, apparently dying. After Kira and Carver leave, Cassie appears and reveals Nick is alive. They retrieve the real case and syringe from a dumpster and discuss using it to free Cassie's mother from Division, who might have planned the whole thing years before Cassie was born.

Kira discovers her unopened envelope, which contains photographs proving her relationship with Nick was real. She then pushes Carver and a gunshot is heard.

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Reception

Comic

Home media

Soundtrack and score

See also

References

External links

Last edited 1 month ago by Bearcat

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[marginalgloss]

every rope an end

‘The wake stretched away, as true as a taut line now, and after a while he said, ‘He longed for a daughter, I know, and it is very well that he should have one; but I wish she may not prove a platypus to him,’ and he might have added some considerations on marriage and the relations, so often unsatisfactory, between men and women, parents and children, had not Davidge’s voice called out, ‘Every rope an-end,’ cutting the thread of his thought.’

It’s hard to put my finger on a single thing which, for me, makes Clarissa Oakes the weakest instalment so far in Patrick O’Brian’s series of historical novels. It is in many ways the most typical one yet: the one which bears most boldly every trace of his style. But it’s also where all his deficiencies become most apparent. 

As usual, the story picks up almost exactly where the last book left off: with Maturin getting stung by a duck-billed platypus, and Jack Aubrey sailing away from the grim confines of New South Wales towards South America. Their long-postponed mission to Peru is about to be put off once again, first by a twist of fate and then by a new task. Firstly, Jack discovers that a woman has stowed away aboard the surprise: she is Clarissa Harvill, a fugitive from the colonies in a relationship with one of his officers, Oakes. And then he is given a new task: to visit Moahu, a tiny island not far from what is now known as Hawaii, and to settle a dispute between local rulers in favour of the British. 

For a long time the novel is most notable for its total lack of explicit drama. Jack’s annoyance at the presence of a woman on board is emphasised constantly, but it is never really permitted to boil over. All we get is pages of pettiness: smirks and sniggering behind his back, and once or twice punishments that are modest by the standards of the navy. Even the question of what should be done with Clarissa is somewhat sidestepped. There’s a great sequence where Aubrey makes a sort of show out of pretending to sail up to a deserted island to drop her and Oakes off there; how convenient that their boats cannot find a safe space to land. 

Part of this deception is because he understands that he has to be seen by the crew to be doing something, but to punish them too hard would be regarded as insufferable hypocrisy. As Stephen points out: ‘…the service is a sounding-box in which tales echo for ever, and it is perfectly well known throughout the ship that when you were about Oakes’ age you were disrated and turned before the mast for hiding a girl in that very part of the ship.’ And so he takes the only other honourable option open to him: he marries the couple on board.

Except that this is not the end of the deceit. After many pages of slow and sometimes interminable travel, it becomes increasingly apparent that Clarissa has been sleeping around below decks. The reader is never permitted to see any of this directly. As so often in O’Brian, much of the real action happens off stage. We only hear about it in drips of information — first through Maturin’s suspicions about the strange behaviour of the crew, and eventually through his confidential (but chaste) exchanges with Clarissa. It is not long before a sort of tribalism emerges amongst the officers and seamen; every myth about women acting as a disruptive influence on an all-male crew is proved to be worthwhile.

Clarissa herself is sometimes intriguing but ultimately insubstantial. For too long we know nothing about her, except that she is good looking enough to turn heads. And when she does tell her story, it is tragic, but tragic is all it is: it’s a grim retread of every story of every fallen woman from that era. (That she shares the name with the protagonist of Samuel Richardson’s eighteenth century novel is almost certainly not a coincidence.) She has a certain endearing independence, but none of the stage presence of Diana Viliers or Sophie. For most of the book she is simply a cipher for femininity.  

And I was troubled by the novel’s diagnosis that the root of Clarissa’s promiscuity is in her abusive childhood, where she was so often the victim of rape that sex ceased to have any meaning for her. Here she is describing her later life, working in a brothel: 

‘…it has a certain likeness to being at sea: you live a particular life, with your own community, but it is not the life of the world in general and you tend to lose touch with the world in general’s ideas and language – all sorts of things like that, so that when you go out you are as much a stranger as a sailor is on shore. Not that I had much notion of the world in general anyhow, the ordinary normal adult world, never having really seen it. I tried to make it out by novels and plays, but that was not much use: they all went on to such an extent about physical love, as though everything revolved about it, whereas for me it was not much more important than blowing my nose – chastity or unchastity neither here nor there – absurd to make fidelity a matter of private parts: grotesque.’

Parts of this bring to mind the old idiom that everything looks like a nail when all you have is a hammer. This notion of ‘the world in general’ strikes me as oddly anachronistic for the early nineteenth century: such was the diversity of standards of living at that time that I doubt Stephen would have recognised any such thing. And there’s something dismissive of the actuality of sex about this, I think: the author is not especially interested in what happened to Clarissa, more in looking at her as another example of an alienated soul, living out of time, at large in the world. 

Except in her case it is a dismissiveness that’s consistent with the vague sense of contempt so often evident in O’Brian’s work for the sexual impulse in general. So often in this books there is the sense of passion as something dangerous, even monstrous, in human nature; something that must be controlled at all costs. Maturin is the exemplar of this, whereas Jack is the exception that proves the rule — in moral terms, O’Brian allows him certain urges, even to sleep around on his voyages, so long as it occurs in the wider context of maintaining his life as an officer and a married father. In a certain light he has something of the bearing of a prize steer.

There is still a great deal to enjoy in Clarissa Oakes. The dialogue is frequently delightful — some of the author’s best — and as always, there’s a plethora of interest to be found in the minor details of the text. I especially enjoy the dark joke hidden in the novel’s alternate American title of The Truelove; this is a book entirely without romance, and the ship of that name is only a beat-up old whaler of negligible interest. Yet most of this is incidental. This is the first book in this series where I was expecting something more which never came. 

[mmckenzieport]

By Melissa McKenzie

Updating early 20th century bicycle styles to modern, sleek modes of transportation, Santa Clara’s Vintage Electric draws inspiration from the 1900s to design environmentally friendly, manual-electric hybrids and fully electric bicycles that can be used for weekend adventures and weekday commutes.

Founder Andrew Davidge always had a passion for motorcycles, cars, bikes and hands-on experiences. Growing up, he raced mountain bikes across the United States and, as he got older, looked into the history of Harley Davidson and 1900s racing, which gave him the bug to build his own bike. Quickly realizing his first gas-powered creation was not practical, he began researching batteries, controllers and motors, leading him and Vintage Electric’s Director of Operations Brian Hamilton to produce their first electric-powered bike in Davidge’s parents’ Los Gatos garage.

“We took it out for the first time, and I was just blown away,” he said. “I was, like, ‘this is the perfect way to get around the city.’ There’s no noise; there’s no maintenance; there’s no more moving parts than normal bike. And, that’s when I was, like, maybe we should start a little business out of this.”

With that, Vintage Electric was born in 2013. Early on, Davidge took two prototypes to Monterey Car Week and was quickly overwhelmed by the interest and response from consumers. A handful of marketing opportunities — everything from being featured on Jay Leno’s Garage to customers offering to invest in Vintage Electric’s growth — also helped catapult the business.

“It was just this kind of motley crew of metal shop kids,” said Davidge. “Brian’s super smart, business-wise and operationally. He kept us all in line, and we just started selling these bikes.”

Six years later, Vintage Electric offers two basic bike styles: a thumb throttle Roadster version that can be modified to reach 36 miles per hour on private property (20 miles per hour as sold) and a pedal assisted Cafe bike that can reach up to 28 miles per hour.

And, according to Global Sales Manager Eddie Johnson, there is no average customer. Buyers range from 16-year-olds who finance a bike to use in place of a car to bikers who need to step away from their motorcycles; and weekend warriors to those who want to jump start weight loss.

“We have a customer on the east coast,” said Johnson. “And, when he first reached out to me about two years ago, he said he weighed something like 280 or 300 pounds. He bought the Cafe and he didn’t ride bikes; he was scared to ride bikes. It’s actually such a cool story. I heard from him yesterday; he sent me a picture and he had done 5,000 miles in one year. He has now lost right around 60 or 70 pounds by commuting on the Cafe to work every day. He actually sent us cupcakes and a card.”

Johnson said, in addition to becoming part of the family of Vintage Electric owners, the bikes are easy to maintain. All models plug into a standard wall outlet and are fully charged in between two and four hours. Depending on the bike and battery, a full charge will last a minimum of 20 miles at top speed and a maximum of 75 miles, and each bike comes with a display showing battery life, lifetime miles, average and maximum speed, trip mileage and trip time, allowing owners to get the most out of their purchase.

To further simplify the buying process, Johnson said each Vintage Electric model comes almost completely assembled. Local buyers can opt to have the final assembly steps completed at Vintage Electric. For those living out of the area, Johnson said Vintage Electric will work with a local bike shop to complete the assembly at no additional cost to the buyer. Vintage Electric additionally offers a service allowing owners to easily replace their batteries or upgrade outdated electronics on earlier models without having to make another investment.

“I get so many thrills every day over just seeing the enthusiasm and experience that people have on a product that me and my buddies have created really out of a passion for building something cool,” said Johnson. “It’s an incredible community that we’ve been fortunate enough to foster through like-minded people who appreciate a really well built product. We’re very fortunate — a lot of hard work and a little bit of luck but we’re having a blast.”

Vintage Electric is at 1725 De La Cruz Blvd., Ste. 4 in Santa Clara. For more information, visit vintageelectricbikes.com.

[dramauricaversan]

All About Thyroid Function and its Naturopathic Approaches

How much do you know about your thyroid?

The thyroid is a butterfly-shaped organ that sits in the middle of your neck. In men, it’s situated under the Adam’s apple. The thyroid releases hormones into your bloodstream; it has control over your energy levels and helps regulate metabolism, develop the brain, control muscles, fertility and more.

However, when your thyroid undergoes difficulties, this is a cause for concern. Thyroid dysfunction may lead to constipation, weight gain, unbearable fatigue, weakness, and problems with your memory. The most common thyroid issues are either your thyroid is under functioning (hypothyroidism) or over functioning (hyperthyroidism).

What is Hypothyroidism?

As we mentioned, hypothyroidism is when your thyroid is under functioning (or not creating the amount of hormones it should be producing). The thyroid generates the hormones T3 (triiodothyronine) and T4 (thyroxine). These hormones help regulate cell metabolism; when there’s a low supply of T3 and T4, your metabolic function becomes compromised. Hypothyroidism symptoms may include:

Fatigue

Memory problems

Mood swings

Depression

Weight gain

Muscle cramps

Cholesterol elevation

Changes in your blood pressure and/or menstrual cycle

Blurry vision

Swollen legs

Your voice becomes hoarse

Hair loss

Constipation

Hair becomes course; dry skin

Reduced perspiration

The most common cause of hypothyroidism is Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, an autoimmune disorder in which the immune system works against the thyroid. Within this disorder, antibodies are created by the immune system, which impair the thyroid.

What is Hyperthyroidism?

Hyperthyroidism is when the thyroid overproduces T4, resulting in an accelerated metabolism. As a result, hyperthyroidism can cause inadvertent weight loss and an irregular heartbeat. Some symptoms of hypothyroidism are:

Swollen neck

Low levels of concentration

Diarrhea

Breathing and sleeping problems

Sweating too much

Increase in appetite and bowel movements

Infertility

Mood swings

Low libido

Trembling/shakiness

Menstrual changes

Weak muscles

Hair Loss

Heart palpitations

Frequently urinating

Red palms

Fast weight loss

The autoimmune disorder Graves’ disease is a common cause of hyperthyroidism. Graves’ disease forces the immune system to set target on the thyroid, causing the thyroid to become overactive.

Diagnosing Thyroid Issues

To identify thyroid disorders, a health care practitioner will conduct blood work and/or a thyroid ultrasound. A complete thyroid panel assessment may include these tests: TSH, Free T4, Free T3, Reverse T3, thyroid peroxidase and anti-thyroid antibodies.

TSH: this test measures TSH, a hormone from the pituitary gland; a high level means your thyroid is underactive; a low level means your thyroid is overactive.

Free T4 and Free T3: these tests measure the active form of T3 and T4 and results are usually assessed jointly with other thyroid test results. High totals of Free T4 and Free T3 may specify an overactive thyroid gland; low totals of Free T4 and Free T3 may identify an underactive thyroid.

Thyroid peroxidase and thyroid antibodies: Measuring the levels of thyroid antibodies may help health care practitioners detect an autoimmune thyroid disorder. When the results are negative, this mean the body does not contain thyroid antibodies; however, this shows that symptoms may be caused by something that’s not autoimmune. The higher the number of antibodies in the test, the higher the likelihood that an autoimmune thyroid disorder is present.

Reverse T3: this test measures for Reverse T3 (or RT3), a T4 metabolite. It is postulated that when the human body undergoes severe illnesses, stress or starvation, the body produces RT3 as a way to preserve energy. Increased RT3 levels is a marker for the reduced uptake of T4 into the cell; it’s also a marker for low T4 and T3 levels that would not usually be seen in serum T4 and T3 tests and TSH tests.

Naturopathic Approaches to Thyroid Malfunctions

Many patients have chosen naturopathy (or naturopathic medicine) as a natural way to help recover from a thyroid condition. Once a diagnosis is made, your naturopathic doctor can build a treatment program for your specific needs. Depending on each patient’s health history, Dr. Amauri Caversan, ND, of Dr. Amauri Wellness Centre may recommend the following to help correct thyroid function:

Desiccated Thyroid Replacement Therapy

When a patient is diagnosed with low thyroid function, they are typically prescribed Synthroid or Levothyroxine, respectively the synthetic forms of T4. While some patients find relief from these medications, there are also individuals who continue to feel unwell while using these medications; they may even resume with difficulties losing weight while being administered high doses of Synthroid or Levothyroxine. Why does this happen?

 As we previously mentioned, the thyroid produces T4 and T3 hormones. The synthetic T4 drug must be altered to become biologically active T3; this must happen to incite a metabolic function. If you administer only T4 to the body, it’s assumed that the body is capable of converting it to T3. However, this isn’t true for everyone. If your body has a low conversion of T4 to T3, it is often due to hormonal imbalances (i.e. low progesterone/high estrogen or nutritional deficiencies such as low selenium, B vitamins and even chronic stress).

Desiccated thyroid hormones are considered a form of natural therapy for those who do not want to choose synthetic medications. Desiccated hormone replacement therapy (or desiccated thyroid) may be suitable for those who don’t respond well to conventional medications; it may also be an option for patients with issues converting T4 into T3.

Studies have shown that patients noticed health improvements using desiccated thyroid replacement therapy. In a randomized, double blind study of 70 patients with hypothyroidism, for three months participants were given either desiccated thyroid or T4 (Levothyroxine). Then for the next four months, the patients swapped treatments.

Participants were weighed and had physical/blood tests conducted following each treatment phase. They were asked which therapy they favoured according to the reduction of their symptoms. As per study outcomes, 49% of participants selected desiccated thyroid extract; 19% favoured Levothyroxine. A noticeable trend in this study was that desiccated thyroid extracts were connected to noteworthy weight loss.

Desiccated thyroid is considered a prescription medicine, so assessment by a naturopathic doctor must be conducted prior to receiving your prescription. At Dr. Amauri Wellness Centre, our naturopathic doctor provides complete functional medicine thyroid testing, prescribes desiccated thyroid, and makes dietary and supplement recommendations. A comprehensive assessment and approach is required to optimize thyroid function and to encourage health improvement.

Nutritional Therapies for Optimizing Thyroid Function

When studying Hashimoto’s and several other autoimmune conditions, research has shown that these conditions have a mutual occurrence: their autoimmune responses include gut inflammation and an enduring (chronic) imbalanced microbiome.

Naturopathic practitioners address microbiome dysfunction through nutritional therapies such as probiotics, cultured foods, and diets low in sugar, low on simple carbs and high in fibre. Nutritional therapies may facilitate in decreasing inflammation while balancing immunity. Food sensitivity and food allergy panels may be beneficial in identifying the food triggers of autoimmune responses for either hypothyroid or hyperthyroid diseases.

Take note: patients diagnosed with an autoimmune thyroid disorder should consider being tested for Celiac disease; this establishes whether or not eliminating gluten is necessary.

When patients visit Dr. Amauri Caversan, ND, regarding thyroid function, he builds a customized diet and supplement program for each patient. He may also recommend nutritional IV therapy to help support the body with necessary nutrients for thyroid function and to help offset excessive inflammation.

Herbal Formulas and Nutrients

Adjunctive herbal formulas may be recommended for patients who want to address thyroid function. These therapies are designed to support the proper functioning of the thyroid while maintaining healthy metabolic function. Herbal formulas and/or nutrients, such as iris versicolor, fucus vesiculosus and selenium, may also aid in optimizing body temperature and act as powerful antioxidants to help neutralize free radicals.

Your thyroid function matters in maintaining a healthy well-being. At Dr. Amauri Wellness Centre, our health care practitioners are eager to answer your questions and educate patients about naturopathic treatments. If you want to learn about natural ways to support thyroid function, click here to contact us.

  References:

“Thyroid Tests” by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, posted May 2017, viewed on January 30, 2020.

Fröhlich, Eleonore et al. “Microbiota and Thyroid Interaction in Health and Disease”, Trends in Endocrinology & Metabolism, Volume 30, Issue 8, 479 – 490.

Hedda L. Köhling, Sue F. Plummer, Julian R. Marchesi, Kelly S. Davidge, Marian Ludgate, “The microbiota and autoimmunity: Their role in thyroid autoimmune diseases,” Clinical Immunology, Volume 183, 2017, Pages 63-74, ISSN 1521-6616, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clim.2017.07.001.

“Hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid)” by the Mayo Clinic Staff for the Mayo Clinic, viewed on January 30, 2020.

“HYPOTHYROIDISM: Desiccated thyroid extract vs Levothyroxine in the treatment of hypothyroidism” Angela M. Leung, MD, MSc, Clinical Thyroidology for Patients, vol. 6, issue 8, 2013, page 3.

“The Role of Your Thyroid in Metabolism and Weight Control” by Jacqueline Jacques, ND, for the Obesity Action Coalition, posted Winter 2009, viewed on January 30, 2020.

Thyroid Hormone Transport into Cellular Tissue by Holtorf, Kent, April 1, 2014. Journal of Restorative Medicine, Volume 3, Number 1, 1 April 2014, pp. 53-68(16).

Promoting Healthy Thyroid Function with Iodine, Bladderwrack, Guggul and Iris Stansbury, Jill; Saunders, Paul; Winston, David, September 1, 2012. Source: Journal of Restorative Medicine, Volume 1, Number 1, 1 September 2012, pp. 83-90(8).

Ventura, Mara & Melo, Miguel & Carrilho, Francisco. (2017). Selenium and Thyroid Disease: From Pathophysiology to Treatment. International Journal of Endocrinology. 2017. 1-9. 10.1155/2017/1297658.

The blog post All About Thyroid Function and its Naturopathic Approaches first appeared on Dr. Amauri Caversan

[gobrandrootweb]

Rallies • Re: Anton Rotary Club weekend rally September 1st & 2nd 2018

Considering the area I actually thought the finds I heard about were slightly dissapointing, but there were exceptions with some people having nice finds - the best I saw was a small GOLD Portuguese coin that had been made into a love token (he must have been rich and really loved her to give a gold love token ... if only we could time travel to find out the story behind it). I also see that a certain very well known member of the forum found a Roman dress pin (unless its a Georgian drawer handle ) Best I managed was a George IV 1825 farthing (cleaned up very nicely with a touch of Pepsi (other soft drinks are available) to show it was in good condition) and a nice little watch winder. I also found a pigeon ring that I suspect belongs to somebody I know BUT and its a massive BUT the organisers have NO control over what is found. What they are responsible for is the organisation. I have attended previous Anton Rotary Club weekend rallies and like the previous ones I have attended this one was VERY well organised, and the the people involved very helpful and friendly. At the start Mike said this was the 10th one, and he recognised some faces that had attended all ten - that shows how well run they are. He also said last years raised £4,000 for charity .... I hope this years did as well. It was also great to see faces that I had not seen for ages inclucing Cath (Oxgirl36) and Bargeman (who I owe a massive "Thank you" to for setting up my Nox) and meet forum members that I had not met before including Bob79 and DavidG (both of which I hope post thier finds). So I will make 2 final requests 1) Mike, please work with the rest of Rotary Club to organise another rally next year (and book me in) 2) Forum members to support it. Evan

Statistics: Posted by Saffron — Sun Sep 02, 2018 10:50 pm

Rallies • Re: Anton Rotary Club weekend rally September 1st & 2nd 2018 published first on https://pickmymetaldetector.tumblr.com/

[techscorn]

Booo...I feel bad for these guys. via Electrek

As we’ve reported previously, the Trump administration’s trade war has recently entangled electric bicycles, among other products, in billions of dollars worth of trade tariffs with China.

Now American electric bicycle companies are responding about how this could impact their businesses, generally for the worst.

The goal of the Trump administration’s trade war has been to penalize China for what it considers unfair trade practices that reduce the cost of their products – electric bicycles in this case.

In theory, increasing the prices of imported electric bicycles would allow US companies to better compete, giving them a chance to invest in local manufacturing of the necessary components.

However, there is actually very little US-based e-bike manufacturing as it is, as almost all e-bike dealers in the US import their e-bikes from abroad, mostly China.

So instead of giving US companies breathing room to manufacture their own e-bikes, the tariffs are largely just hurting the US electric bicycle industry by preventing it from importing and selling affordable e-bikes, without solving the underlying reasons causing US e-bike companies to choose not to manufacture their e-bikes in the US in the first place.

To help determine how the new tariffs would impact the US e-bike market, I spoke with a number of e-bike companies about what changes might be in store for the future of their businesses.

A bleak future for the US e-bike industry

As it turns out, the results don’t look good.

Both small and large e-bike businesses in the US are already reeling from the effects of the tariffs.

A representative for Ancheer, a California-based e-bike company that sells some of the most affordable e-bikes in the US, expressed dismay over the tariffs in an interview with Electrek. Ancheer will regrettably be raising prices on their electric bicycles, but intends to try to absorb some of the cost to avoid passing on the entire 25% tariff to their customers.

Rad Power Bikes, another US-based e-bike company, also plans to increase the prices of their electric bicycles. The company already announced that prices would increase by $200 on each of their e-bike models. According to the founders of Rad Power Bikes:

“Manufacturing in China allows us to achieve our quality and affordability standards while meeting a very high demand. We analyzed all of our manufacturing options when we started building e-bikes and continue to do so. It wasn’t, and still isn’t, feasible to manufacture in the U.S. for the price, quantity, and quality to which we are dedicated.”

Before news of the tariffs, Rad Power Bikes had been on track to achieve $50 million in sales this year – quite a feat for a company that started as an Indiegogo project only three years ago.

But with a sudden price increase in an industry that was only beginning to take hold in the US, the future of such explosive growth may be called into question.

Small e-bike businesses could be impacted even worse

But it isn’t just big companies that are hurting. Smaller electric bicycle companies are perhaps hit harder than anyone.

I spoke with Barent Hoffman, the owner of West Coast Electric Cycles, a high performance electric bicycle builder and components dealer, in a conversation about how the tariffs impact his small business:

“As an independent custom e-bike builder, I rely on components that are manufactured in enormous scale in Asia, at prices that cannot be matched by any American supplier.”

Hoffman described to Electrek how despite performing much of the assembly of his custom e-bikes himself in his Bellevue Washington WCEC shop, he is still reliant on parts that come from Asia.

And with the uncertainty of how long the tariffs will last, he is afraid to order more stock at 25% higher prices and potentially face the prospect of the tariffs being removed shortly afterwards on a whim of the current administration, leaving him stuck with artificially expensive inventory that is much harder to sell.

Hoffman continued:

“The tariffs are detrimental for a small business like mine. I do not have the resources to develop domestic manufacturing, nor do I have the financial capacity to absorb the cost of the tariffs. It’s just an unfortunate situation to be in.”

Another independent e-bike dealership, Adam Solar Rides in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is also feeling the crunch. With essentially zero low-cost electric bicycle manufacturers in the US, Adam Solar Rides imports their entire lineup of electric bicycles from abroad, mostly from China. Like many small businesses owners, they are left with questions about how exactly the unclear tariffs might affect them and other e-bike dealers.

According to the owner, Adam Rossi:

“I’m curious about the definition of ‘manufactured’ too. Can we ship parts to another country, assemble it there, and call it manufactured? Or what is the definition on the tariff, is it just where it’s shipped from?”

The confusion makes it difficult for small businesses to plan and budget for even the immediate future, and nearly impossible to develop their longer term business strategies in the face of a trade war that is constantly developing and shifting.

Kenny Fischer, the founder of Denver-based FattE-Bikes, sent Electrek his views via email:

“The new tariffs that have hit our industry (and so many others) will be difficult to navigate. Not because they will hurt our business but because they hurt the American consumer. If the US were more manufacturing friendly I think most bike companies would be happy to manufacture here. However it is very expensive to manufacture in the US and overseas manufacturing is the only real way to offer the American consumer potentially life changing products.”

FattE-Bikes does hope to mitigate the effects of the new tariffs by moving towards a new model of assembling their e-bikes in the US, even if the parts are originally manufactured in China and thus will still be impacted by the new 25% tariffs.

According to Fischer:

“We may not be “made” in America but we can be built here. In doing so we’re creating jobs, improving quality control, and unlike most e-bike companies that will hike up their prices, we still aim to offer an exceptional product at an exceptional price.”

Larger companies are finding new countries to manufacture in – just not the US

Unlike small companies who can’t afford to open new manufacturing centers in countries outside of China, much less in the US, some large e-bike companies are using this exact strategy to avoid the tariffs by moving production out of China to another country.

Oyama, whose electric folding bicycle we recently reviewed, has production facilities in both China and Taiwan, and are now focused on transferring more production to Taiwan.

According to Ken Fagut, Global Sales Consultant for Oyama and the CEO of Foldaway Solutions:

“Oyama has committed resources to make their Taiwan factory a world class e-bike manufacturing center and is actively recruiting some of the finest minds in the industry to support them.”

Tern, another large manufacturer of electric bicycles, is taking a similar strategy. According to Steve Boyd, General Manager at Tern North America:

“We have multiple manufacturing partners and are working to move these particular models out of China, although that will take 9-12 months due to lead times and production planning.”

In the meantime, Tern will be forced to raise prices on their current electric bicycles, with prices expected to increase by around $500, according to Boyd.

A representative for another large international bicycle company informed me that his company is now shifting its production of their 2019 electric bicycle models to two other Southeast Asian countries to avoid the import tariffs on Chinese e-bikes. The source spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

What about the few companies in the US that build electric bicycles?

For the few US companies that already had some level of US manufacturing, the effects of the new Tariffs will be largely mixed.

Both Vintage Electric and Optibike, two US-based e-bike manufacturers, already build their electric bicycles in the US using a combination of local and foreign-manufactured parts.

Andrew Davidge, the founder of Vintage Electric, feels this distinction is important, even if imported electric bicycle parts are still affected by the increased tariffs:

“Anyone importing ‘parts only’ from China is subject to the same tariffs so it’s a level playing field. We source our parts globally and do not build bikes in China.”

Both Vintage Electric and Optibike build more expensive electric bicycles in smaller numbers that are geared towards wealthier clientele. By focusing on what some would consider “luxury electric bicycles”, these companies might be better positioned to either absorb the cost of increased tariffs on imported parts such as electric bicycle motors, or find customers with enough expendable income that the higher prices of the final e-bikes wouldn’t be as large of a deterrent.

And by manufacturing a portion of their parts domestically, such as Optibike who sources locally built frames for some of their models, the tariffs will have less of an impact on the company.

However, the uncertainty of the new tariffs may still be problematic. According to CEO of Optibike Jim Turner:

“I think if the tariffs were to continue long term it would make building bikes in the USA more likely for other companies, but components would probably still be sourced from overseas. The problem with these tariffs is no one knows how long they will last so probably no changes in production in the e-bike industry will occur in the near term.”

Will the US ever begin manufacturing electric bicycle components?

“Just build them in AMERICA!”

That’s the common refrain, right? And it’s the whole point of these 25% tariffs on imported Chinese e-bikes.

But is it even possible. Will it ever happen?

To get more insight on the possibility of the US becoming an e-bike manufacturing center, I spoke to Nick Drombosky, a consultant for US-based electric mobility startups and owner of multiple e-bike companies including Banker Supply.

With all of Drombosky’s experience, he has tried for years to find a way to build e-bikes in the US. But according to him, it just doesn’t work.

“First, Taiwan and China have been building almost all the bikes for the entire world for the past 30-40 years. They have ecosystems and two generations of tradesmen that result in the best bikes in the world. Look at all the top brands—Giant, Specialized, Cannondale— they all make their top end bikes in China and Taiwan. Even look at the Italian brands and you’ll see they build their frames in China and Taiwan and paint them in Italy.”

While many people ridicule the term “made in China” as being synonymous with poor quality, the fact of the matter is that they’ve spent years honing their skills to build high quality bicycles.

You get what you pay for. Companies who want to pay for high quality e-bike designs get some of the best and experienced bicycle designers in the world. Even the cheapest of the electric bicycles coming out of China are often surprisingly high quality for the price, as we have personally seen in some of our recent low-budget e-bike reviews.

According to Drombosky:

“The United States has a huge gap in education. You can go to China and find all the specialized engineers you need all day. They have been focusing on technical education for men and women for decades that the US has spent getting mad at Chinese people who just want to work.”

That isn’t to say the US doesn’t have their own great engineers. Of course they do, even if they don’t have the same relevant industry experience as Chinese engineers and designers. But it takes more than just quality designs to sell US-made electric bicycles.

“Second, even if you do make bikes in the US, they will be multiple times more expensive than their overseas counterparts and 99.9% of consumers won’t pay that price. When my shop tried selling a US-made bike next to a Chinese bike, with signage that explained why the US-made bike was more expensive, we couldn’t even sell one. Customers would stand there and talk about how they want American-made goods, then they would buy the Chinese bike.”

And even if companies could convince customers that paying 2-4x the price for an e-bike was worth it, that wouldn’t be their last obstacle. As Drombosky explained:

“Third, if you did make bikes here, at least if they are of high quality, you would still have to import the tubing because no steel or aluminum manufacturer in the states makes the specialized butted or hydro formed tubing that modern bikes need.”

Ironically, not only would a US e-bike manufacturer need to import the raw materials for their frames, but they could still be subject to import tariffs that the Trump administration has placed on imported steel and aluminum from China. Thus, the e-bikes could end up even more expensive than just US-built e-bikes, as customers would also have to pay for the higher cost of the imported raw materials.

But it doesn’t even end there.

“Even if you deal with the tubing supply chain and consumer retail price tolerance, there is no supply chain here for the cables, shifters, crank sets, chains, saddles, and every other part. It would take decades to set all of this up, but you would first have to get consumers to the point where they will pay $1,800 for the bike that they could get for $400.”

And then add in all of the other e-bike parts including motors, batteries, throttles, speed controllers, etc. All of these parts are mass-produced in China. They simply aren’t available in the US and no one is designing them or manufacturing them. The US would likely have to start by reverse engineering the Chinese products and learning how they produce them. How’s that for irony?

Electrek’s Take

So what does the future hold?

If talking with so many e-bike companies has shown me anything, it’s that no one really knows what will happen. In fact, I’m not even sure the White House knows what the future of these tariffs will be.

But it is not complicated to see the detrimental effects that these policies very likely could cause. Simple high school AP Economics taught me that this won’t be good for either China or the US in the long-term. Even if a country can produce multiple items better or cheaper than another country can produce them, it is always in both countries’ best interest to focus their resources on their most skilled areas, and trade with other countries for the products they can’t produce as well domestically.

That’s not my opinion, that’s the basic principle of Macroeconomics, and was explained well by the New York Times recently in relation to the current Trump trade war.

Those who mess with free trade are usually the ones who don’t understand it. And in the end, it won’t be the governments that pay the price. It will be citizens.

[sagarreports1-blog]

Global Sub-Meters Market to Perceive Substantial Growth During 2025

This report studies the global Sub-Meters market status and forecast, categorizes the global Sub-Meters market size (value & volume) by manufacturers, type, application, and region. This report focuses on the top manufacturers in United States, Europe, China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan and other regions. The global Sub-Meters market is valued at million US$ in 2017 and will reach million US$ by the end of 2025, growing at a CAGR of during 2018-2025.

 Request Sample @   https://www.reportsintellect.com/sample-request/32581 The major manufacturers covered in this report E-Mon Leviton Schneider Electric ABB Itron GE Digital Energy Siemens Kamstrup DAE DOE Davidge Controls EKM Metering Dent Norgas nextcenturymeters Safari Fineco ONICON Gomelong Eastron Geographically, this report studies the top producers and consumers, focuses on product capacity, production, value, consumption, market share and growth opportunity in these key regions, covering United States EU China Japan South Korea Taiwan We can also provide the customized separate regional or country-level reports, for the following regions: North America United States Canada Mexico Asia-Pacific China India Japan South Korea Australia Indonesia Singapore Rest of Asia-Pacific Europe Germany France UK Italy Spain Russia Rest of Europe Central & South America Brazil Argentina Rest of South America Middle East & Africa Saudi Arabia Turkey Rest of Middle East & Africa On the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split into Electric Submeter Water Submeter Gas Submeter Heat & BTU Submeter On the basis of the end users/applications, this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, consumption (sales), market share and growth rate for each application, including Residential Application Commercial Application Industrial Application The study objectives of this report are: To analyze and study the global Sub-Meters capacity, production, value, consumption, status (2013-2017) and forecast (2018-2025); Focuses on the key Sub-Meters manufacturers, to study the capacity, production, value, market share and development plans in future. Focuses on the global key manufacturers, to define, describe and analyze the market competition landscape, SWOT analysis. To define, describe and forecast the market by type, application and region. To analyze the global and key regions market potential and advantage, opportunity and challenge, restraints and risks. To identify significant trends and factors driving or inhibiting the market growth. To analyze the opportunities in the market for stakeholders by identifying the high growth segments. To strategically analyze each submarket with respect to individual growth trend and their contribution to the market To analyze competitive developments such as expansions, agreements, new product launches, and acquisitions in the market To strategically profile the key players and comprehensively analyze their growth strategies. In this study, the years considered to estimate the market size of Sub-Meters are as follows: History Year: 2013-2017 Base Year: 2017 Estimated Year: 2018 Forecast Year 2018 to 2025 For the data information by region, company, type and application, 2017 is considered as the base year. Whenever data information was unavailable for the base year, the prior year has been considered. Key Stakeholders Sub-Meters Manufacturers Sub-Meters Distributors/Traders/Wholesalers Sub-Meters Subcomponent Manufacturers Industry Association Downstream Vendors

 Request for buying copy of Report @  https://www.reportsintellect.com/inquire-before-buying/32581 Available Customizations With the given market data, Reports Intellect offers customizations according to the company's specific needs. The following customization options are available for the report: Regional and country-level analysis of the Sub-Meters market, by end-use. Detailed analysis and profiles of additional market players.

[romeodeltabravo]

Halo 4 is a somewhat divisive game among the fan base. Released in 2012, this was the first complete effort from new studio 343i after being handed control of the franchise, and I find it still captures the adventurous spirit of the games that came before it, only really missing the mark with a few gameplay elements (quick time events, messy AI for the promethean enemies) and the Forerunner design not flowing as well as it did in earlier games. It’s a deeper dive into lore, and a more personal story that most didn’t see coming, and the multiplayer feels a little too inspired by call of duty (fun, but it’s not Halo), so o c can understand why some are turned off by it. The soundtrack from Neil Davidge is one of the more interesting factors in it. While still true to the aesthetic of he universe, it feels far more inspired by late 20th century science fiction and electronica, which gives it a unique identity that really fits the game. Available to play on Xbox 360 and One (via MCC), soundtrack available on iTunes and Spotify. This arm/back/core session was good, surprised by the energy level this late in the week to be honest. #gym #health #fitness #fit #beard #ink #tattoos #thursday #armday #backday #coreday #comewithmeifyouwanttolift #irontherapy #halo #halo4 #soundtrack #neildavidge #xbox360 #xboxone #xbox #microsoft #orchestra #electronic #2012 #itunes #spotify

[fecompare]

Fall in apprenticeships may force ‘radical rethink’ of UK policy

The government is under renewed pressure to implement a “radical rethink” of apprenticeships after a near 27% fall in the number taking up trainee posts in the last quarter of 2017.

The number starting apprenticeships dropped to 114,000 between August and October, down from 155,700 in the same period in 2016. That followed a 59% drop in the previous three months after the introduction of the apprenticeship levy in April last year.

The biggest drop came in “intermediate” apprenticeships, the basic level, which dropped 38% to 52,000. The highest level of apprenticeships – known as degree apprenticeships – rose nearly 27% to 11,600. Schemes for adult apprentices were worse affected than for those young people, falling by just over 30% compared with 20%.

Critics say employers are being deterred from creating apprenticeship posts because of the increased costs and complexity of the new scheme.

Businesses with a payroll of more than £3m are charged 0.5% of their payroll towards the apprenticeship levy. A fifth of training must be carried out away from the workplace and employers with 50 or more staff must contribute 10% of the cost.

Seamus Nevin, head of policy research at the Institute of Directors (IoD), said the government risked failing to meet its target of 3 million people starting apprenticeships by 2020.

“Clearly the new system has failed to take off,” he said. “The levy can be difficult to navigate and many employers still struggle to comprehend how the system is meant to work.”

The IoD said more than one in 10 of its mostly smaller company members paying the levy now viewed it as an extra tax and could no longer afford to offer any apprenticeships.

The government is no longer fully funding apprenticeships, particularly for young people. The cuts have been heavily criticised. Mark Dawe of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers said: “For a government committed to improving social mobility, ministers have to be really concerned about the continued drop in starts for both young people and at lower levels.”

The association wants all apprenticeships for 16- to 18-year-olds to be fully funded by the government.

Verity Davidge, head of education and skills policy at EEF, the manufacturers’ organization, said: “Today’s figures should act as a wake-up call to the government which has failed to act on industry’s growing concerns around the apprenticeship levy.

“This worrying trend is not just hampering employers’ ability to get the skills their business needs, it is taking away invaluable opportunities for the next generation to undertake training and secure a future job. It is clear the apprenticeship levy and wider reforms aren’t working and need a radical rethink.”

Neil Carberry, managing director of people policy at the CBI, said it wanted the levy to evolve into a “flexible skills levy” that would fund a broader array of training courses.

“Today’s drop in apprenticeship starts remains alarming and proves again that the apprenticeship levy isn’t yet working for businesses, apprentices, and the economy. A fresh approach is needed to make skills reforms work,” he said.

The government said it remained committed to 3m apprenticeships after signing up more than 1.2 million new trainees since May 2015.

Anne Milton, the minister for apprenticeships and skills, said: “The last year has been a period of significant change. It will take time for employers to adjust.

“But we must not lose sight of why we introduced our reforms in the first place – to put quality at the heart of this programme, and put control in the hands of employers.”

Workers’ rights groups have suggested that the number of apprenticeship starts is falling because the levy is weeding out the use of low-quality apprenticeships. They believe employers were offering minimal training as a way to source cheap labor because the minimum wage for apprentices is below the national minimum wage. The Unite union has raised concerns about the lowest grade of apprenticeships and whether they are beneficial.

First seen here.

The post Fall in apprenticeships may force ‘radical rethink’ of UK policy appeared first on feCompare.co.uk.

from feCompare.co.uk https://fecompare.co.uk/fall-apprenticeships-may-force-radical-rethink-uk-policy/

[neptunecreek]

EFF Sues Justice Department to Shed Light On FBI’s Use of Best Buy Informants

Washington, D.C.—The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the Justice Department to obtain records about the FBI’s training and use of Best Buy Geek Squad employees to conduct warrantless searches of customers’ computers.

The records request aims to shed light on how the FBI co-opts Best Buy repair technicians in criminal investigations, and whether the computer searches they conducted were in effect government searches. The U.S. Constitution generally requires federal agents, or those acting on their behalf, to first obtain a warrant before searching someone’s computer. If the Best Buy informants were acting as government agents, the warrantless computer searches they conducted would be illegal.

Court records in a child pornography case against a California man who sent his computer to Best Buy for repair showed a long, close relationship between company technicians and the FBI, according to media reports. Informants at Best Buy’s “Geek Squad City” repair facility in Kentucky received $500 and $1,000 payments from the FBI, and agency documents said the Best Buy informants were “under the control and direction of the FBI,” media stories revealed. FBI agents were seeking training of the Geek Squad technicians to help them identify what type of files and images should be reported to the FBI. 

“Informants who are trained, directed, and paid by the FBI to conduct searches for the agency are acting as government agents,” said David Greene, EFF Civil Liberties Director. “The FBI cannot bypass the Constitution’s warrant requirement by having its informants search people’s computers at its direction and command.”

EFF sent a FOIA request to the FBI in February seeking agency records about the use of informants, training of Best Buy personnel in the detection and location of child pornography on computers, and policy statements about using informants at computer repair facilities. The FBI denied the request, saying it doesn’t confirm or deny that it has records that would reveal whether a person or organization is under investigation.

“The public has a right to know how the FBI uses computer repair technicians to carry out searches the agents themselves cannot do without a warrant,” said David Sobel, EFF Senior Counsel. “People authorize Best Buy employees to fix their computers, not conduct unconstitutional searches on the FBI’s behalf.”

For EFF's complaint: http://ift.tt/2qB0SBw

Tags: 

FOIA

Contact: 

David

Greene

Civil Liberties Director

davidg@eff.org

David

Sobel

Senior Counsel

sobel@eff.org

from Deeplinks http://ift.tt/2rUVSas