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Supreme Court Says TTD Award Not Immediately Appealable

The Kentucky Supreme Court ruled that an administrative law judge’s order awarding temporary total disability benefits to an injured worker was interlocutory and not appealable. Case: Spencer County Fiscal Court v.




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Assembly Line Worker Gets Benefits Plus Multiplier for RT Injury

The Kentucky Court of Appeals upheld an award of benefits to an injured assembly line worker, plus medical benefits and a three-multiplier. Case: General Motors LLC v. Smith, No. 2024-CA-0367-WC, 07/12/2024,…




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Electrician Doesn't Establish Entitlement to PTD Benefits for Back Injury

The Kentucky Court of Appeals upheld the denial of total disability benefits to an injured electrician. Case: Blaker v. The Kroger Co., No. 2024-CA-0553-WC, 07/26/2024, unpublished. Facts: Robert Blaker Jr. worked for…




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Carrier Not Obligated to Pay Worker's Belatedly Submitted Bills

The Kentucky Court of Appeals ruled that an insurance carrier had no obligation to pay a worker's medical bills that were submitted more than 45 days after the treatments were rendered. Case: Shepherd…




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Supreme Court Says Traveling Worker Suffered Compensable Fall While Souvenir Shopping

The Kentucky Supreme Court ruled that a traveling worker was entitled to benefits for her injuries from a fall while leaving her hotel to go souvenir shopping. Kimminee Costello worked for…




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Court Orders DLI to Decide Reasonableness of Worker's Refusal to Attend Appointment

The Montana Workers’ Compensation Court ruled that the Department of Labor & Industry needed to make a finding as to the reasonableness of a worker’s refusal to attend a therapy…




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DWC Publishes Fee Schedule

The Florida Division of Workers’ Compensation published the state's 2024 medical fee schedule. The schedule of maximum reimbursement allowances for physician and nonhospital services takes effect Jan. 1. The fee schedule is…




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Court Holds Guaranty Association Liable for Worker's Mesothelioma Benefits

A Louisiana appellate court ruled that the state insurance guaranty association was liable for covering the obligations of two insolvent insurance carriers for a worker’s mesothelioma. Case: Ehlers v. Ports America…




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Treating gum disease after heart rhythm ablation reduced risk of AFib recurrence

Research Highlights: Treating gum disease within three months after a heart procedure to correct an irregular heart rhythm, known as atrial fibrillation (AFib), may lower the chances of it reoccurring. Inflamed gums may predict AFib recurrence after...




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Good heart health in middle age may preserve brain function among Black women as they age

Research Highlights: Middle-aged Black women with better heart health were less likely to show a decline in mental function compared with middle-aged Black women with worse heart health. In this study, heart health was unrelated to cognitive decline...




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Brief anger may impair blood vessel function

Research Highlights: When adults became angry after remembering past experiences, the function of cells lining the blood vessels was negatively impaired, which may restrict blood flow. Previous research has found that this may increase the risk of...




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30-year risk of cardiovascular disease may help inform blood pressure treatment decisions

Research Highlights: A comparison of two tools for calculating cardiovascular disease risk found that if only the current 10-year risk thresholds are applied, fewer adults may be recommended for blood pressure-lowering medication. The tools, The...




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Popular home blood pressure monitoring cuff devices may not fit some US adults

Research Highlights: An analysis of at-home blood-pressure monitors estimates that the arm cuffs for 10 of the most popular potentially do not fit up to 18 million adults in the U.S. and nearly 12% of Black adults. To ensure accurate blood pressure ...




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Remote monitoring and pharmacist helped improve hard-to-control blood pressure

Research Highlights: A new study finds that up to 74% of participants with resistant or difficult-to-control high blood pressure, including those with chronic kidney disease, were able to improve control of their blood pressure within 12 months after ...




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Analysis found weight-loss surgery may help people with obesity manage high blood pressure

Research Highlights: In an analysis of 18 randomized clinical trials, people with obesity and high blood pressure who underwent bariatric (weight-loss) surgery were almost three times more likely to achieve blood pressure remission, defined as...




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High blood pressure a concern for adolescents and young adults in U.S.

Research Highlights: In the first study, nearly 23% of young adults (ages 18-39 years) included in the NHANES 2017-2020 datasets had high blood pressure (130/80 mm Hg or greater). In addition, they were more likely to self-report being uninsured, food ...




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New Spanish language stroke prevention website aims to remove barriers to equitable health

DALLAS, September 9, 2024 — While stroke is the fifth-leading overall cause of death in the United States, it disproportionately impacts Hispanic people. It is the third leading cause of death among Hispanic women and the fourth leading cause of death ...




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Playful Indulgences with Adobe Pixel Blender for Photoshop


Sometimes I just find I have a need to play. Not the sand lot type, even though that might be fun, but more along the lines of creativity with my artworks. With painting I can just slop the wonderful colors around and see what happens but clean-up is more effort. But with photography it's not always as easy.

I could throw my camera up in the air with a timed shutter and see what happens, but I am afraid of dropping it and then seeing a lot on money becoming dust on the ground with a broken camera.

Digital editing allows me that freedom and the only cost is my time. Definitely less risky.

I came across a video that shows the use of an Adobe Labs plug-in for Photoshop CS 4&5 called Pixel Bender. Being also a painter I was more interested in the oil painting effects as demonstrated with the image I 'bent' below. I may take this further as I will need to get rid of those bright white objects at the top of frame to make this image useful.


The above image was run once in pixel bender to give texture in the parrot, but I found that the remaining detail was all too much the same and still too fine in detail for the background. I masked out the parrot, used the blending too to see if this would help. Not much, so I ran pixel bender again on several iterations on just the background to get the final image above. I didn’t realize until later that the smudging of texture actually added to the larger texture in pixel bender.


One again for above image I ran pixel bender to get the effect for the chairs and table and then playing around with iterations on just the background and with the smudging tool to get a less contrasty detail here.
In trying to use other images to see how they worked it became apparent that for it to work well there should be sufficient detail and contrast in image for it to produce better results. I also noticed that image size from 800 to 4,000 pixels each had different effects. The largest brush size was 15 pixels and with the large images the effects became smaller. 


The 2 photos of the fall scene are identical except for image resolution. The above was 1,000 pixels wide and below was 4,000+ wide


It's easy to see the difference in effects. For the smaller image I even had tor reduce the brush size so as not to over-dominate the bending effect.

From the experiments, or is it playing around, I noticed that when areas were smudged in linear or curved arches it increased the detail effects to make them larger as in the parrot's background and with the same fall scene but with smudging on the trees in image below.


These may not be exactly to your taste but if you are digitally creating painting-type images then by combining different effects for areas within the photograph, a more pleasing painting effect can be created. It is important for any effect type that there be variation in texture detail, size and contrast, like a real painting to create harmony and vision flow within the image.

The most important aspect is to create images that you like and not for others and that you have fun doing this. While I was playing around I completely lost track of time which for me is a sign that my creative juices are really flowing and I'm exploring new avenues.

Please send me some links if you have any digital creations that were just fun and you enjoyed the outcome.

Niels Henriksen




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In victory for public health, federal appeals court upholds FDA’s graphic cigarette warnings

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In a major victory for public health, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has unanimously upheld graphic  health warnings on cigarette packs and advertising required under a 2020 FDA rule. This...




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Supreme Court decision to overturn ‘Chevron deference’ threatens to disrupt public health care system

WASHINGTON, D.C., June 28, 2024 — Today, the Supreme Court of the United States announced its decision on the Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo case and its companion case, Relentless v. Dept. of Commerce. The majority’s opinion abolishes the rule of...




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New CDC grants will help fortify nation’s public health system

DALLAS, October 11, 2024 — The American Heart Association has secured awards from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for projects that will increase education and awareness of heart valve disease. The awards, totaling $8.4 million ...




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This is Our Lane - Too: Joint Statement on the Maternal Health Crisis from the Association of Black Cardiologists, American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association

This Mother’s Day and beyond, as cardiologists we care for the fate of all women. The death of a woman during pregnancy, at delivery, or soon after childbirth is an immeasurable tragedy for her family as well as society at large. Urgent action is ...




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Federal spending bill is a net positive for public health

WASHINGTON, D.C., March 8, 2024 — The American Heart Association, the world’s leading voluntary organization focused on heart and brain health that is celebrating its centennial birthday this year, issued the following statement in response to Congress’...




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Nueva guía: Prevenir un primer derrame cerebral puede ser posible con una prueba de detección y cambios en el estilo de vida

Aspectos destacados de la guía: Cada año en los EE. UU., más de medio millón de personas sufren un primer ataque o derrame cerebral; sin embargo, hasta el 80% de ellos podrían prevenirse. La nueva guía de prevención primaria de derrame cerebral de la...




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Hablemos de sexo: los pacientes cardíacos quieren recibir orientación por parte de los profesionales de la salud

Puntos destacados de la investigación: Una pequeña encuesta de adultos de entre 30 y 89 años (de una edad promedio de 65 años) en Suecia que tienen afecciones cardíacas determinó que existe una diferencia significativa entre la información sobre salud ...




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AI-powered tool may offer quick, no-contact blood pressure and diabetes screening

Research Highlights: A preliminary study combining a patent-applied, AI-powered algorithm with a high-speed, 5-to 30-second video of skin on the face and the palm of the hand detected if someone had high blood pressure as well as using a blood ...




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La American Heart Association proporciona kits comunitarios para medición de la presión arterial y monitores en las ubicaciones de la biblioteca Stark Library

STARK COUNTY, 28 DE OCTUBRE DE 2024 – La American Heart Association (la Asociación Americana del Corazón), que es la principal organización sin ánimo de lucro del mundo dedicada a la salud del corazón y el cerebro para todos, cuenta ahora con centros de...




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Why Technology Alone Can’t Solve Problems: The Importance of Human-Centred Design

In an era where technology is rapidly advancing, it is tempting to view it as a universal remedy for a myriad of challenges. However, while technology has immense potential, it cannot solve problems by itself. The effectiveness of technology as a solution is influenced by...

The post Why Technology Alone Can’t Solve Problems: The Importance of Human-Centred Design appeared first on Design Sojourn. Please click above if you cannot see this post.




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Artist Duo Creates Absolutely Amazing The Beatles Collectable Toys

London-based creative duo Joseph Lattimer and Caitlin Derer, founders of Collectable Cities art toy studio and veterans of the creative agency Fancy Lamp, have channeled their love for travel and storytelling into creating figures that celebrate iconic moments in pop culture. Their latest project is a vibrant tribute to The Beatles, featuring two collections inspired […]




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Blockbase: A parent theme for block themes

Phase 2 of Gutenberg introduces Full Site Editing to WordPress; to make this possible, we need a new way of building themes – using blocks. How do block themes work? Block themes use templates made entirely of blocks. The layout is configured using a combination of theme.json and CSS. The settings in theme.json are used […]





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Resources for block theme development

With WordPress 5.8 launching on July 20th, it seems like a great time to round up some resources to help theme authors prepare for the future. By now, you’ve probably heard about block themes and the upcoming future of full site editing. Perhaps you have even begun to explore creating a block theme or adapting […]




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Create A Blockbase Child Theme

We have been working on a plugin to help you create a Blockbase child theme. The idea is that you can use the existing tools to make changes to a Blockbase theme, and then export a bundle of templates and theme.json as a new child theme. I tried to create a new theme called “Typewriter” […]




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Block Theme Building Tips

When building block themes there is often more than one way to achieve the same thing. It’s often not clear which of these options is preferable. Below I outline some tips and guidelines that I find helpful. The guiding principle here is to remove as much complexity as possible from the theme; instead block themes […]




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How to add typographic fonts to WordPress block themes

The easy and compliant way that every theme developer should know.




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Why Every Entrepreneur Should Start a Blog

As an entrepreneur, you have to be willing to self-promote and build your own personal brand (alongside that of your business brands, of course). And while there are hundreds of ways to do this, blogging is still one of the best. The Perks of Building Your Own Blog As an entrepreneur, you have lots of...

The post Why Every Entrepreneur Should Start a Blog appeared first on noupe.




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WordPress is the right choice for Business websites or blog – Facts and Figures

About 3 years back we as a Web Design and Development Company, decided to chose WordPress as the only platform we will develop blog/websites on. The progress since then proves that our decision was right. Some of the achievements of WordPress as underlined by Matt in the recent Wordcamp in San Francisco and what it […]




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Anonymity in Blogging

I had been considering whether to start up a personal newsletter. I subscribe to friends’ letters, in which they describe the various goings on in their life—family, house projects, travel, etc. As an email, it feels more intimate.

Couldn’t what I say in an email also be said on the blog? Which led me to consider a number of things…

With social media, we can see who follows us. Sure, there’s no guarantee our posts will make their way into their algorithm. Maybe they’re not online this week. Yet, we can see their names and know that they have a likelihood of seeing them.

A newsletter is quite similar. There’s a subscriber list and we can see every name that’s on it. Sure, they can be busy and archive it without reading it. The email can get caught in a spam filter. Yet, people want to fill their already busy inboxes with what you have to say and are likely to read it.

For anything impersonal, like brand marketing, promotions, or sales, it makes sense and is highly advantageous to know who your audience is. When I sold a book, it was useful to be able to market to those who bought the book to buy the workshop. It was useful to market to those to come to a conference.

Blogging feels detached from the audience. I can write knowing that nobody or anybody might be reading it. I can write for me and hope the words resonate. And having taken analytics off, I have absolutely no idea if anything resonates. It’s like putting artwork up in a museum. Each person gets to enjoy it in their own time and in their own way and the artist is likely never to know. Unless you say something to me, I have no idea if you’ve read these very words. [People would approach me at conferences and mention something going on in my life and I would briefly think, “How do you know about that?!” Only to remember that I had written about it publicly.]

What’s likely evident based on the mere title of this post is the conclusion that blogging is to an anonymous audience. I can guess who my audience is but I will never truly know. Not only will I not know who my audience is when I initially post, I won’t know who my audience might be at some point down the road.

I might still start up a newsletter but in the meantime and until then, I’m enjoying the process of writing to an unknown audience.


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INDONESIA Landscapes & Culture Published!

More information about Rick's Photography:
Photography website
Official Portfolio
Rick's Flickr Photostream


INDONESIA
Landscapes & Culture


INDONESIA Landscapes & Culture is a book devoted to Indonesia and its breathtaking landscapes, the warm people, and its rich and diverse culture.
Rick Wezenaar was born in 1968 in Utrecht, The Netherlands. At the early age of 11 he started with photography and has never stopped since.
In 1989 he started making professional photography. One of the things Rick really likes is travelling. Especially Indonesia has caught his photographic eye. Therefore, during a 4 year 'quest', Rick has travelled the countryside, villages and cities of Indonesia, capturing its beauty and culture. A small part of all these photographs taken during those journeys have found their way into this book. We really hope the viewer will enjoy this publication of Rick's stunning and breathtaking photography!

Book information:

INDONESIA Landscapes & Culture
ISBN: 978-0-557-11430-6
Publisher: Lulu
Copyright: (c) 2009 Rick Wezenaar
Language: English
Paperback, 102 pages, 8.5" x 8.5", perfect binding,
white exterior paper, full color exterior ink,
white interior paper, full color interior ink.

This book will be carried by Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bol, Ingram, Bowker,
Nielsen, and Lightning Source.

Order a copy of this stunning book here !

Rick




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Dublin, Southern Ireland





Dublin, Southern Ireland, a set on Flickr.

Photos from my weekend trip to Dublin, southern Ireland.




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Minimalist Black and White Photography by Gavin Dunbar

We featured many black and white photography articles in past but never something related to minimalism. This post presents some truly excellent examples of beautiful minimalist black and white photography by Gavin Dunbar.

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20+ Remarkable Dark Websites For Inspiration

Colors are always so fun and interesting. Present your website in a darker theme is not bad though. It could attract more traffics than what you thought. It could emphasize and focus readers on the right things.

View and Vote




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Female athletes may be more susceptible to concussion and have prolonged symptoms after concussion

Female athletes are more susceptible to sport-related concussions (SRCs) and experience worse outcomes compared with male athletes. Although numerous studies on SRC have compared the outcomes of concussions in male and female athletes after injury, research pertaining to why female athletes have worse outcomes is limited.




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WPCandy Roundtable #3: WordPress Meetup Discussion with 4 co-organizers

Let’s talk about WordPress meetups! On this episode of The WPCandy Roundtable Podcast, I asked four awesome WordPress meetup co-organizers to chat about what makes a quality meetup and how they do what they do. We also went over what they would recommend to new WordPress meetup organizers. Joining me on the podcast are Angie […]

The post WPCandy Roundtable #3: WordPress Meetup Discussion with 4 co-organizers appeared first on WPCandy.