More than 2,000 color images of Harvard’s architecture are now available to Harvard affiliates free and online through a library partnership with photographer Ralph Lieberman.Lieberman began photographing Harvard’s architecture in May 2012 for a project commissioned by Harvard College Library’s Fine Arts Library (FAL) and the Graduate School of Design’s Frances Loeb Library. The images cover nearly every campus building and are cataloged and accessible through the library’s Visual Information Access (VIA) system. Lieberman, an art historian as well as a photographer, plans to add another 500 images to the database in next few months.The photographer has a long association with Harvard that began in the early 1980s when the Fine Arts Library began acquiring his work. Now, some 15,000 of his black-and-white prints and negatives — principally documenting Italian Renaissance and Baroque architecture and sculpture, but also covering medieval, modern and classical structures — are part of the FAL’s special collections.During a recent trip Cambridge, Mass. to photograph Harvard, Lieberman sat down with FAL Head of Collections Amanda Bowen to discuss his work, his favorite spots on campus and the process of creating art while also teaching it. Read Full Story
With COVID now in more isolated spaces, there’s greater potential for it to take off Related Cellphone data shows Americans moving around at near pre-pandemic rates Primary care sector projected to lose $15 billion Losses threaten practice viability, reducing an already insufficient number of primary care providers in the U.S.
This is part of our Coronavirus Update series in which Harvard specialists in epidemiology, infectious disease, economics, politics, and other disciplines offer insights into what the latest developments in the COVID-19 outbreak may bring.Uncertainty is the currency of pandemics. As evidence on the new coronavirus, how it spreads and who falls ill from it emerges slowly, policy makers and the public have to base their decisions on the best information available. Experts help interpret the evidence, but they may differ on details that can be confusing for non-experts — and filtering out what matters from a rising sea of misinformation has become a daunting task.To help cut through the noise and sometimes conflicting advice, a network of research, policy and public health experts convened by Harvard’s Global Health Institute and Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics launched a Key Metrics For COVID Suppression framework that provides clear, accessible guidance to policy makers and the public on how to target and suppress COVID-19 more effectively across the nation.“The public needs clear and consistent information about COVID risk levels in different jurisdictions for personal decision-making, and policy-makers need clear and consistent visibility that permits differentiating policy across jurisdictions”, said Danielle Allen, director of the Safra Center. “We also collectively need to keep focused on what should be our main target: a path to near zero case incidence.”The new framework brings clarity to metrics that help communities determine the severity of the outbreak they are responding to. A new COVID Risk Level map shows if a county or state is on the green, yellow, orange or red risk level, based on the number of new daily cases. The framework then delivers broad guidance on the intensity of control efforts needed based on these COVID risk levels. It offers key performance indicators for testing and contact tracing across all risk levels, as a backbone for suppression efforts.The framework also allows for a breadth of options for what to do beyond TTSI (testing, tracing and supported isolation) when jurisdictions are at yellow and orange levels. Public officials need to make strategic decisions suitable to their context. Once a community reaches the red risk level, stay-at-home orders become necessary again. The framework also draws attention to the need to focus on suppression at every risk level.“Local leaders need and deserve a unified approach for suppressing COVID-19, with common metrics so that they can begin to anticipate and get ahead of the virus, rather than reacting to uncontrolled community spread,” said Beth Cameron, vice president for global biological policy and programs at the Nuclear Threat Initiative and a member of the COVID-Local.org team. “Unless and until there is a whole of government response, with measurable progress communicated similarly and regularly across every state and locality, U.S. leaders will be left to react to the chaos of the virus — rather than being able to more effectively target interventions to suppress it.”“Robust TTSI programs are key on the pathway to suppression. We need to consistently apply data-driven testing of hotspots, combined with contact tracing based testing, especially in states where case numbers are rising rapidly,” said Ashish K. Jha, director of the Harvard Global Health Institute. “It is what we need to get the virus level so low that we don’t have large numbers of people getting sick and dying and that we can open up our economy.”“The metrics are now clear: we can reopen and keep open our workplaces and our communities,” added Jonathan D. Quick, managing director for Pandemic Response, Preparedness, and Prevention, The Rockefeller Foundation. “But achieving this will require a dramatic expansion of testing and tracing to again flatten the curve and eventually suppress the pandemic to near zero new cases.” Pandemic threatens to veer out of control in U.S., public health experts say Lockdown? What lockdown?
With the new semester underway, leaders of Saint Mary’s Student Government Association (SGA) have begun their work for the academic year. Senior Terra Nelson, student body president, said in an email the planning for first-year student programming began over the summer.Nelson said she and student body vice president Olivia Allen, senior, wanted to get an early start of promoting community, the College’s core value for this year. Accordingly, they started with making changes to Belles Beginnings, the orientation programming for new Saint Mary’s students.“Our first order of business was helping to restructure Belles Beginnings,” she said. “Enhancing Belles Beginnings was something we were passionate about, and our community committee co-chairs worked hard this summer to make that come to life. … We believe that community is what makes Saint Mary’s home, and we want to welcome Belles with open arms,” Nelson said. “Through fostering a stronger community, we hope to increase college retention as well.”Another of Nelson and Allen’s planned initiatives is increasing transparency within SGA.“We plan on opening our Student Government Association weekly meetings to all students as to enhance College transparency,” Nelson said.With the recent hiring of a director for the Belles Against Violence Office (BAVO), Nelson said SGA looks forward to the two organizations working together.“We applaud the administration for taking action in hiring a new [BAVO] director,” Nelson said. “All SGA members met with the new director and were able to have a discussion about the safety of our students. … The safety and well-being of our students is one of our greatest concerns, and it is such a relief to have that [director] position filled.”Along with the student body president and vice president, other members of SGA have begun discussing future events.Junior Giavanna Paradiso, chair of SGA’s food committee and co-chair of the community committee said Nelson and Allen have encouraged the various committees to work together to host monthly events. Examples include programming centered on the beginning of school and holidays.“We’re planning a back to school brunch and a Thanksgiving event as well as some giveaways,” Paradiso said.She said SGA wants to make sure Saint Mary’s has plenty of options for students to be involved on campus, particularly given recent policy changes related to transport.“We want to keep people on campus as much as we can, especially because of the changes in transportation,” Paradiso said. “If you have to pay for your own transportation, that becomes costly.”Tags: Belles Beginnings, Community, saint mary’s, Student Government Association


Don’t wait until it’s too late.by: Laurie J. Maddalena, MBA, CPCC, PHRHave you ever been blindsided when one of your best employees gives their two-week notice? You were sailing right along thinking everything was fine, and then your employee decides to leave. You can’t imagine how you will get along without her, and most of the other employees on your team don’t measure up.One of my clients told me recently that his best employee, who had worked for him a long time, decided to leave. He was completely surprised, and was struggling to imagine how he would fill the gap. When he asked her why she wanted to leave, she said she felt overworked and wanted a fresh start.Sometimes we take our best employees for granted because we can count on them to get things done with little guidance. We know they will step in when needed, and they often pick up the slack. In our minds we really appreciate our top employees, but we don’t always find the time to connect in a meaningful way and check the temperature of the relationship.Many leaders spend more time with struggling employees than they do with their best employees. Sure, a struggling employee may need more direction and guidance, but our best employee needs to feel appreciated and valued. continue reading » 10SHARESShareShareSharePrintMailGooglePinterestDiggRedditStumbleuponDeliciousBufferTumblr
“The whole island is without power,” said Jeanne Kucey, president/CEO of JetStream Federal Credit Union. JetStream FCU, headquartered in Miami, Fla., has a branch located in Carolina, Puerto Rico which is just east of San Juan.Hurricane Maria made landfall on the southeastern coast of Puerto Rico early Wednesday morning as a Category 4 storm with winds of 155 mph.CU Times has been reaching out to credit union officials and sources, but has received very few updates and details from the island regarding credit union employees, damage to branches and the status of recovery efforts.Officials from WOCCU and CUNA are equally in the dark and they do not expect to have an update from the island for another day or more. continue reading » 6SHARESShareShareSharePrintMailGooglePinterestDiggRedditStumbleuponDeliciousBufferTumblr
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The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals issued an opinion today upholding almost all portions of the NCUA’s field of membership (FOM) rule, which had been challenged by American Bankers Association.“Today’s opinion by the D.C. Court of Appeals is a resounding victory for credit unions, their members, and communities across the country,” said CUNA President/CEO Jim Nussle. “That the court has recognized the benefits of an expanded field of membership speaks to the important role credit unions play in advancing financial inclusion. This is the second major recent legal victory for credit unions in the face of ill-conceived bank attacks, and speaks to the power of cooperation between CUNA, NAFCU, and CUNA Mutual Group.”In today’s ruling, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a previous opinion by U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, thereby allowing allowing credit unions to serve Combined Statistical Areas of up to 2.5 million people and rural districts with up to 1 million people. The circuit court left intact the lower court’s holding that allowed credit unions to serve adjacent areas, but asked the NCUA to provide additional explanation for the removal of a requirement to serve the “core” of a Core-Based Statistical Area, which NCUA should be able to remedy by providing additional information to the District Court.
May 11, 2007 (CIDRAP News) – The city of Edmonton, Alta., recently announced that it was stockpiling an herbal supplement in the hope of boosting the immunity of police, firefighters, and other essential workers during an influenza pandemic.By buying a ginseng product from CV Technologies, Inc., a company based in Edmonton, the city has become the first in North America to add an herbal supplement to its pandemic stockpile, according to media reports.The supplement, COLD-fX, is a proprietary extract of North American ginseng that contains what the company calls unique polysaccharide components. It is Canada’s top-selling over-the-counter cold and flu remedy, according to an Apr 23 company press release. Warren Michaels, CV Technologies’ vice president of media relations, told CIDRAP News the company launched COLD-fX in the United States in October 2006 and that sales have been modest.City says decision took timeBob Black, Edmonton’s director of emergency preparedness, said in the CV Technologies press release that COLD-fX is another tool the city can use for pandemic preparedness. “There are so many unknowns in planning for a possible pandemic that anything we can do to be prepared makes sense,” he said. “We need to take every reasonable precaution to help our emergency personnel stay on the job, so they can help others.”The stockpile will be used to treat 5,000 key city employees, such as police, firefighters, paramedics, and waste disposal workers. It consists of 600,000 pills, an 8-week supply, according to an Apr 25 report by the Toronto Globe and Mail.CV Technologies, which pitched the stockpiling idea to Edmonton’s pandemic planners, said it would split the $250,000 cost of the program with the city as part of the company’s social responsibility program. Black told CIDRAP News that the agreement stipulates that Edmonton will pay $30,000 up front to secure access to a stockpile of COLD-fX and will be required to pay its remaining share only if and when the city needs the remedy in a pandemic setting.The product has a 5-year shelf life, but the company said it would make sure the city has access to a fresh supply regardless of when it uses the stockpile.Jacqueline Shan, PhD, DSc, CV Technologies’ chief executive officer and chief scientific officer, said that in a pandemic, “COLD-fX may help provide additional protection to front line workers by enhancing their immune systems” until an effective vaccine becomes available.Black said the city spent more than a year considering if it should stockpile COLD-fX. Senior officials and an epidemiologist from the city’s occupational health and safety office were involved in the discussions. “It wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment decision. On the balance, it seemed like a prudent thing to do” he said.Emergency preparedness officials are faced with tough questions about whether workers, particularly those in health and public safety jobs, like paramedics, firefighters, and police, will come to work during a pandemic, Black said. Having an herbal remedy on hand that might boost immunity could potentially make employees feel more confident about showing up for work, he said.Canadian health officials may have a heightened sensitivity about protecting workers during a public health emergency because of their experience with SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) in 2003, Black said. A final report on the outbreak that was issued in January faulted hospital officials for not doing more to protect their workers; nine hospital workers in Toronto contracted SARS while caring for critically ill patients.Studies suggest possible benefitsSome randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled studies have suggested that COLD-fX can help people reduce their number of colds and the duration and severity of symptoms.Two controlled trials were described in one report in the January 2004 issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. The researchers evaluated the effect of COLD-fX on the number of laboratory-confirmed acute respiratory illnesses in 198 nursing home and assisted-living residents (average ages, 83.5 and 81) in the 2000 and 2000-01 flu seasons.Ninety percent of the subjects had received the influenza vaccine. Half received a 200-mg COLD-fX tablet twice a day, while the others received placebo tablets.Investigators found that more people in the placebo group (9 of 101 subjects) than in the treatment group (1 of 97 subjects) were diagnosed with flu or respiratory syncytial virus. They calculated that the overall risk was reduced by 89% in the treatment group and concluded that COLD-fX was a safe, well-tolerated, and potentially effective treatment for preventing acute respiratory illnesses.During the 2003-04 cold and flu season, another research group, headed by Gerald N. Predy of the regional public health agency based in Edmonton, studied whether the ginseng supplement could prevent colds in a group of 323 Edmonton adults aged 18 to 85 who had not received seasonal flu vaccination. Their findings appeared in the October 2005 issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ).The volunteers, who had a history of at least two colds the previous season, randomly received two COLD-fX capsules or a placebo daily for 4 months. Colds were verified by a symptom scoring system and graded on a 4-point severity scale.Researchers found that those who took COLD-fX had fewer colds and the colds they did have were milder and less persistent. The authors concluded that the treatment appeared to reduce the number of recurrent colds by almost 13%, the severity of colds by 15.4%, and the average duration of colds by 2.4 days.In a commentary published in the same issue of CMAJ, Ronald B. Turner, MD, professor of pediatrics at the University of Virginia School of Medicine in Charlottesville, wrote that problems with natural remedy studies typically include a lack of information about the active ingredients they contain, lack of a clear understanding of the mechanism of action, and lot-to-lot variability in the products. However, he said the COLD-fX was standardized to reduce such variability.Turner wrote that it was not clear how the effects of North American ginseng relate to viral respiratory infections. “Enhancement of interferon-gamma activity might be expected to reduce the severity of symptoms, but enhancement of the elaboration of inflammatory cytokines might be expected to increase the severity,” he wrote.Few rigorous, reproducible studies have shown either conventional or alternative cold treatments to be beneficial, Turner wrote. Further studies involving well-characterized and standardized ginseng preparations were needed to confirm the results of the CMAJ study, he stated.Public health experts weigh inPaula Steib, communications director for the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) in Washington, DC, told CIDRAP News in an e-mail that it’s not surprising to see a metropolitan area like Edmonton stockpile a natural remedy. Canada, along with Australia, Britain, and other European countries, has a long tradition of using homeopathic and herbal remedies, which are available in pharmacies and often prescribed by physicians, she said.”The situation is very different in the US where most homeopathic and herbal remedies are scoffed at by the medical establishment,” Steib said. “ASTHO is unaware of any state that is stockpiling remedies that are not part of the CDC’s strategic national stockpile program.”Jeffrey Duchin, MD, chief of communicable disease control for Seattle King County Public Health in Washington, said Edmonton’s plan to stockpile COLD-fX for its essential employees sounded interesting, but he said it was unclear from the studies whether the remedy would be of value.”It appears safe and inexpensive, but it shows how little else people feel they have to turn to,” he said.Communities that consider adding an alternative remedy to their stockpiles should weigh the costs and benefits, Duchin said. If they have met other stockpiling needs, such as having adequate supplies of oseltamivir (Tamiflu) and personal protective equipment, and still have money left in their pandemic preparedness budgets, then it might be reasonable to consider adding something extra, he said.Black said the city has increased its supplies of personal protective equipment and other items its employees would need and noted that other public health functions, including stockpiling vaccines and antivirals, are handled by the province and its health authorities.NIH says ginseng may have potentialThe CMAJ study caught the attention of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), which in September 2006 included it in its annual bibliography of significant advances in dietary supplement research. “These findings suggest that North American ginseng may be an attractive natural prophylactic for upper respiratory tract infections,” the NIH said. “Additional studies are needed to confirm these findings.”In January, the Nutrition Action Health Letter, a publication of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a health advocacy group, included COLD-fX in a review of eight popular over-the-counter cold remedies. The publication said that more studies are needed to confirm that COLD-fX can shorten or prevent colds or flu. “Even so, COLD-fX is the only remedy we found with any evidence that it might improve your chances of getting through the cold and flu season without coming down with something,” the article said.Michaels said CV Technologies doesn’t want to overstate COLD-fX’s potential in a pandemic situation, but he said the company believes the product has merit and is a legitimate candidate for incorporation into pandemic plans.The company is exploring the possibility of applying for US Food and Drug Administration approval to market COLD-fX specifically as a preventive for colds and is conducting a phase 3 clinical trial for that purpose. The company also recently launched a trial to see if COLD-fX improves the immunity of healthcare workers and is investigating the precise biochemical pathways by which the product affects the immune system, according to information on the company’s Web site.See also:McElhaney JE, Gravenstein S, Cole SK, et al. A placebo controlled trial of a proprietary extract of North American ginseng (CVT-E002) to prevent acute respiratory illness in institutionalized older adults. J Am Geriatr Soc 2004 Jan;52(1):13-9 [Abstract]Predy GN, Goel V, Lovlin R, et al. Efficacy of an extract of North American ginseng containing poly-furanosyl-pyranosyl-saccharides for preventing upper respiratory tract infections: a randomized controlled trial. CMAJ 2005 Oct;173(9):1043-8 [Full text]Turner B. Studies of “natural” remedies for the common cold: pitfalls and pratfalls. (Commentary) CMAJ 2005 Oct 25;173(9):1051-2 [Full text]CV Technologies news releaseSARS Commission final reporthttp://www.ontla.on.ca/library/repository/mon/16000/268478.pdfNIH press releasehttp://www.nih.gov/news/pr/sep2006/od-21.htmNIH bibliographies of dietary supplement research advanceshttp://ods.od.nih.gov/Research/Annual_Bibliographies.aspxSchardt D. Un-catching colds: do popular remedies work? Nutrition Action Healthletter 2007 Jan/Feb;8-11 [Full text]
“The current level of sales from the German market is higher than last year, which makes us extremely happy. Air connectivity has a great influence on the growth of tourist traffic, so this year we expect the continuation of the establishment of additional airlines from Germany. The tourist market is changing more and more, so an increasing number of German tourists are turning to sustainability, ie products and offers with a built-in nature conservation component. Therefore, it is in this segment that we see great potential and opportunity to strengthen our position in the future in this extremely important market for us. “, said State Secretary at the Ministry of Tourism Tonči Glavina. CNTB Director Kristjan Staničić is in Munich to meet with Michael Hinterdobler, Bavarian Government Envoy and Assistant Minister for International and European Affairs, Prince Leopold Von Bayern, Konig owner Ludwig Kaltenberg, who owns the Kaltenberg brand, and Evelyne. Menges, a member of the City Assembly of Munich. The fair was visited today by State Secretary at the Ministry of Tourism Tonči Glavina and President of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce Luka Burilović. The head of the CNTB Branch Office in Munich, Nera Miličić, pointed out that she was especially honored to host the Sinj Alkars in Munich and the promotion of the Sinj Alkars at the largest Bavarian tourist fair, f.re.e. A special novelty at this year’s fair is the refreshed visual appearance of the CNTB stand, which, on the eve of the upcoming European Football Championship, has been enriched with elements of red and white squares. Visitors to the fair taste the occasional cocktails Alkar and Srce Jadrana, while the Croatian Chamber of Commerce and the Croatian Tourist Board, under the brand “Vina Croatia – vina mosaica”, also serve top Croatian wines. This year, from 19 to 23 February, the Croatian National Tourist Board will present its domestic tourist offer at the f.re.eu fair in Munich, one of the most important fairs on the German market. On the eve of the fair, a large tourist delegation from Central Dalmatia, more precisely about 70 Alkars, Alkar boys and members of Sinj city music, paraded through the city center on Marienplatz and aroused the enthusiasm of many passers-by in the Bavarian capital. We remind you that last year a record 3 million tourist arrivals and more than 21 million overnight stays were made from the German market, which is an increase of 3 percent in arrivals compared to 2018.
“Alka is a symbol of patriotism and I am proud that we presented a part of Croatian culture and tradition included in the UNESCO list of intangible heritage to the Bavarians, who are our most numerous guests. The solemn procession of Alkar and Alkar boys together with Sinj city music, between the three medieval gates of Munich were a special attraction for residents and visitors of Munich, but also the pride of many Croats living in Bavaria., pointed out Miličić, adding that the Sinj Alka and the Bavarian Kaltenberg Knights’ Games are part of the European cultural heritage, so the agreed cooperation between the Sinj Alkars and the Knights of Kaltenberg is all the more gratifying. Within the stand of the Croatian Tourist Board, a total of 24 co-exhibitors present their offer at the fair, including the Dubrovnik-Neretva, Split-Dalmatia and Vukovar-Srijem counties (Slavonia cluster), the Zagreb and Dubrovnik tourist boards, as well as numerous business and tourist entities. Sinj’s alkari are a special attraction at the fair and the main town square in Munich. After the Alkar parade in the center of Munich, the fair hosted the program of the Knights of Alkar Society and City Music of Sinj, through which the Split-Dalmatia County was presented, with the aim of popularizing the UNESCO protected knight competition, but also Central Dalmatia and Croatia as a tourist destination. “Presentation at the fair in Munich is extremely important to us because the Germans, and especially the inhabitants of the southern provinces such as Bavaria, have been the largest share in the total tourist traffic of Croatia for years. This year’s performance at the fair was enriched by a large presentation of Alkar and our 300-year-old unique event Sinjska Alka, and we also met with key strategic partners such as FTI Touristik, the third largest tour operator in Europe and IDRiva Tours, a tour operator specializing in bringing of German guests to Croatia who forecast growth in demand for Croatian destinations “, said the director of the Croatian National Tourist Board Kristjan Staničić, adding that in the current part of 2020 the German market has grown by 25 percent in arrivals and 18 percent in overnight stays compared to the same period last year, while in 2020 it is expected total turnover growth from the German market ranging up to 3 percent.

