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Graduate Software Developer, Graduates, Cambridge, UK, Applications Engineering

The SPE (Sales and Partner Enablement) Infrastructure team at Arm is looking for a hardworking and enthusiastic graduate to join our team based in Cambridge with an ambition to become a crucial member of the team.

We combine people, technology and domain specific knowledge to craft tools, services and infrastructure for Arm workforce that improve their productivity. It can be challenging at times, but there are many opportunities for people who take pride in, and enjoy developing these services and systems to make a real difference. 

You will join our established team in working closely with the Sales, Technical Communications and the Arm customer support team to provide them with the tools they need to ensure the success of Arm's partners.

The Role

You will have a chance to work across a range of systems, services and tools, focusing on developing, maintaining, and running the continuous integration and testing infrastructure of our tools. This will include bespoke and third-party solutions. You will be adept at scripting, designing automated tests, and have a track record of picking up and working with different technologies, for example:

  • XML, DITA CMS
  • XSLT
  • XPath
  • JSON, YAML, Markdown
  • Java
  • The Document Object Model
  • Systems integration using REST APIs
  • Jenkins
  • Azure Cloud

Key Accountabilities/Responsibilities

As a key member of a small team of engineers, you will engage with team leadership, project management, and other teams in Arm to deliver high-impact improvements and new functionality to our existing tools and code infrastructure. We use CI / CD pipelines to accommodate auto-generated documentation and varied working practises of our documentation teams across Arm, as well as more traditional CMS offerings. Your primary focus will be on the continuous integration and testing infrastructure, but you will contribute to all aspects of software development within the team; you will get involved in developing / supporting the tools used by the Sales and Application Engineering teams, Linux system administration and technical consulting with other teams in Arm to support requirement and solution definition.




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Graduate Platforms Hardware Engineer, Graduates, Cambridge, UK, Software Engineering

About the role

We are looking for enthusiastic Graduate Electronics or Embedded System Engineer to join Arm’s Hardware Platform team, who are working at the forefront of embedded design based around Arm IP products. We are responsible for

  • Designing and releasing the latest Arm IP technologies in FPGA image, enabling pre-silicon software and ecosystem development, reducing time to market.
  • Creating physical hardware development platforms, based around Arm’s custom system-on-chip (SoC) and FPGAs for software development and validation activities for both our external partners/customers and our internal development teams.

If you’re interested in:

  • The potential to work on all aspects of product development, from specification to customer release.
  • Eager to learn, a willingness to work across disciplines.
  • The challenges of bringing up a new development board.
  •  

Creating and validating Verilog RTL design in FPGA.

  • Gaining a deeper understanding of system architecture and performance.
  • Working alongside many other teams including system architects, CPU / System IP designers, physical chip layout / packaging engineers.
  • Interaction with Arm’s partners and customers both through the support organisation and directly.

Then we have a role for you!

What will I be accountable for?

As a Graduate, you will be placed in a development team at Arm’s offices in Cambridge, UK where you will have a mentor, and be able to get to grips with the problems ranging across many hardware and software areas.  You will be working across all aspects of the product lifecycle whilst being supported by and learning from the rest of the team.




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Graduate Physical Implementation Engineer, Graduates, Cambridge, UK, Hardware Engineering

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and do not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, sex, age, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, status as a veteran, and basis of disability or any other federal, state or local protected class.

Are you passionate about setting new standards in physical implementation? Are you interested in working for one of the most successful IP design companies in the world? Do you want to take part in designing the next groundbreaking GPU?

This is a rare opportunity for you to become a part of the Arm GPU group. The GPU group is at the forefront of advanced GPU IP products for the consumer, wireless and automotive infotainment markets. You will join an international team of hardworking engineers working together to remain on the state of the art of IP and SoC development techniques. This successful team has been central to the development of recent graphics processors.

In this role your directive will be to influence RTL development whilst innovating, crafting and deploying the latest implementation techniques on live projects. You will provide the quality support that our customers desire and collaborate with them to develop the best products that help influence the world, and you will have the opportunity to drive EDA vendors on leading-edge processes (eg. 7nm FinFET) whilst pushing the boundaries of power efficiency and influencing physical library development.

A wide range of learning opportunities and challenges will be available. You will also be given the opportunity, if desired, to travel and work with our other teams.

Location

This opportunity is based in Cambridge (UK)

 




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Graduate Image Processing R & D Engineer, Graduates, Manchester, UK, Research

About the Role
As an Imaging R&D Graduate, you will be joining the ISP team within Arm, which develops and designs image processing technology that is used in a range of applications including automobiles, security cameras, and drones. The algorithm development team is tasked with solving a variety of image processing problems, from denoise to demosaic, auto-exposure to motion compensation. Our algorithms must satisfy the competing demands of high image quality, and efficient, low-power hardware implementation.

This is an opportunity to contribute towards the next generation of imaging systems, for both human viewing and autonomous driving applications.

Why should you apply?

  • You want to work in leading digital imaging technology.
  • You have a keen interest in imaging or image processing, which you would like to develop into a career.
  • You want to see tangible results from your work.
  • You want to have the opportunity to learn from the best engineers and start a career in a leading imaging and vision technology group.

What will I be accountable for?

  • Working with image quality experts to determine requirements for processing.
  • Developing new image processing algorithms, often from early concept phase and typically in a mathematical modelling environment.
  • Implementing novel algorithms, starting from a floating-point model
  • Testing and benchmarking of the results, working closely with our image quality experts.
  • Collaborating with the wider engineering team to arrive at an architecture and fixed-point model of your algorithm, optimized for hardware or software implementation




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Graduate Engineer – CPU Physical Implementation, Graduates, Cambridge, UK, Hardware Engineering

Job Description

Are you passionate about setting new standards in physical implementation? This is a rare opportunity to become a part of the Cambridge CPU implementation team. The CPU group defines, designs and validates Arm's processor IP - the brains inside billions of electronic devices.

As a physical implementation engineer, you will join the successful team that has enabled huge volumes of next-generation high-efficiency processors, including the hugely successful Cortex-A53, the most recent Cortex-A55 through to the smallest and most energy efficient Cortex-M0+ processors.

In this role your mandate will be to influence RTL development whilst innovating, crafting and deploying the latest implementation techniques - from RTL, thorough place and route to STA - on live projects. You will provide the quality support that our customers desire and collaborate with them to develop the best products that help influence the world, and you will have the opportunity to drive EDA vendors on leading-edge processes (eg. 7nm FinFET) whilst pushing the boundaries of power efficiency and influencing physical library development.

What things will you be responsible for

Our team is tightly integrated with the RTL design teams and this gives you an unrivalled opportunity to improve your knowledge of CPU microarchitecture. Your wide-ranging set of responsibilities will include:

  • The physical implementation of Arm processors using the entire implementation flow from RTL through Place and Route to STA
  • Investigating the trade-offs involved in CPU design
  • Tackling complex challenges like low power and methodologies for improving the efficiency of implementation
  • To understand, plan and address the life-cycle phases of engineering projects
  • Working with the sales and marketing teams to support the launch of new cores
  • Supporting our customers and enabling them to be successful in the world
  • Collaborating with EDA vendors to extend the best in class results from our processors whilst focussing on the ideal user experience




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Graduate Embedded Platforms Software Engineer, Graduates, Cambridge, UK, Software Engineering

About the role

We are looking for enthusiastic Graduate Electronics or Embedded System Engineer to join Arm’s Hardware Platform team, who are working at the forefront in the following embedded areas:

  • Development and validation of physical hardware platforms, based around Arm’s custom system-on-chip (SoC) and FPGAs.
  • Creating software to test Arm systems both in simulation and in hardware (FPGA & Silicon)
  • Porting existing simulation/emulation RTL validation software to real hardware
  • Create and maintain Build environments & Automation tooling to ensure we supply high quality products
  • Software design and implementation of reference firmware for Arm processors and systems – for example working on the software to enable our cutting-edge CoreLink secure subsystems
  • Software stack development to enable Arm IP. This includes implementing HALs, drivers, connectivity, security, power and control components
  • Board support firmware using STM32 and LPC11 microcontrollers
  • Operating system development (Linux, mbedOS, FreeRTOS, etc)
  • Development of reference software and demos for Arm Partners to use and replicate in their own products.
  • Support and maintenance

If you’re interested in:

  • The potential to work on all aspects of product development, from specification to customer release.
  • Eager to learn, willing to give anything a go.
  • The challenges of bringing up a new development board.
  • How to build, test and debug full software stacks on hardware that hasn’t yet been manufactured
  • Gaining a deeper understanding of system architecture and performance
  • Working alongside system hardware designers to develop the best platforms to support Arm’s partners

Then we have a role for you!

What will I be accountable for?

As a Graduate, you will be placed in a development team at Arm’s offices in Cambridge, UK where you will have a mentor, and be able to get to grips with the problems ranging across many software areas.  You will be working across all aspects of the software lifecycle whilst being supported by and learning from the rest of the team.  You will also be offered the opportunity to explore other teams within Arm during your first 12 months with us, as part of our Graduate Rotation programme.

Whilst a lot of our work does involve Open Source software, many tasks require working with development platforms, or simulated hardware environments where features are being developed and tested before the physical devices have been built, so the problems you will be expected to understand and solve are ones that are yet unknown to the general community.




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Graduate Deployment Engineer, Graduates, Cambridge, UK, Software Engineering

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and do not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, sex, age, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, status as a veteran, and basis of disability or any other federal, state or local protected class.

The Productivity Engineering group (PE) at ARM is responsible for ensuring our engineering teams have the tools and computational resources to succeed. PE is responsible for a range of best in class infrastructure elements for ensuring our designs meet our partners' needs, from maintaining ARM's compute cluster to deploying new design and verification methodologies.

Within PE, the Deployment Team is responsible for enabling all engineering teams with new capability improvements required to achieve the organizational change initiatives.

• Journey to Cloud – moving engineering workflows to cloud and onto Arm architecture hardware
• Machine Learning / Data Science to maximize verification compute efficiency
• Continuous Delivery for Hardware Engineering efficiency
• Machine Readable Specifications for Hardware Engineering efficiency

As a member of the centralized Deployment Team, you will develop expertise with the mechanics such that through a partnership with project teams you can deploy a turn key solution. The Deployment Team members need to be both capable engineers and good at working in partnership with other ARM engineering teams.

The activities for this role demand an enthusiastic candidate from either Computer Science or Electrical/Electronics Engineering background with a strong desire to constantly evolve a cross-disciplinary skill set, in particular:
• Design and development of workflow scripts, with result capture and visualization tools
• Collaboration with RTL design and verification engineers to create new point techniques
• Develop automation and flow abstraction methods to enable project team to focus on the application of new capabilities rather than the mechanics.

As a member of a small and dynamic team, you will be working alongside engineers at all our design centers and contributing to the CPU, GPU and interconnect IP at the heart of ARM's success.




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Graduate Concurrency Architecture Verification Engineer, Graduates, Cambridge, UK, Software Engineering

Concurrency architecture verification engineer

Are you interested in concurrency, CPU design, and verification? Then we have just the opportunity for you.

Arm uses innovative tools [1] for modelling and reasoning about concurrency in our products. 

Those tools serve different purposes, such as: clarifying our architecture specification [2], communicating with our partners, and enabling verification of our CPU hardware designs.

This last point is at the intersection of architectural specification and CPU hardware design, which is where your role would be.

We seek to encourage interaction between those activities within Arm and beyond: by working hand in hand with architects and CPU verification teams to understand their requirements, you will improve our methodology and tools. You will also be in charge of inventing and prototyping new ways to verify pre-silicon designs.

This is an outstanding opportunity if you are interested in:

  • developing open-source tools [3] which benefit the Arm ecosystem and wider communities such as language standard committees, compiler and kernel developers;
  • furthering the understanding of an area that has been the subject of intense research in the last decade;
  • demonstrating the impact of formal models on industrial products.

Our tools are written in Ocaml and C; knowing those languages would be ideal, as well as a working knowledge of Linux, git and RTL.

See also:

[1] https://developer.arm.com/architectures/cpu-architecture/a-profile/memory-model-tool

[2] https://developer.arm.com/docs/ddi0487/latest/arm-architecture-reference-manual-armv8-for-armv8-a-architecture-profile

[3] http://diy.inria.fr

[4] https://github.com/herd/herdtools7/




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CPU Performance –Sr Principal Modeling Architect, Experienced Professionals, Austin (TX), USA, Hardware Engineering

About this role

If you are a technical lead with engineering expertise in CPU microarchitecture, performance-model development, performance analysis, or workload analysis, we would like to talk with you about joining Arm’s highly successful CPU performance architecture team based in Austin.  Our team plays a major role in crafting our next-generation Cortex-A class CPU designs and in enabling Arm partners to use our designs in world-class products. As a senior member of this expert team, you will own substantial and challenging performance projects

What types of projects will you accomplish?
  • Collaborate with other members of the design team - primarily in Austin - to help design our next-generation CPU microarchitecture
  • Lend your expertise across all Performance sub-disciplines: microarchitecture and performance model development, microarchitectural performance analysis, RTL/performance-model correlation, workload analysis, and workload development
  • Engage with key partners at an engineering level to understand their future performance requirements, performance sensitivities, and workload expectations
  • Help develop the team and be a mentor to engineers
  • Interact with customers and other third parties to successfully communicate complex technical ideas, and participate in internal and customer meetings




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CPU Performance Architect, Experienced Professionals, Austin (TX), USA, Hardware Engineering

Arm is the industry's leading supplier of microprocessor technology, offering the widest range of microprocessor cores to address the performance, power and cost requirements for almost all application markets. Combining a vibrant ecosystem with more than 1,000 partners delivering silicon, development tools and software, and over 90 billion processors shipped, our technology is at the heart of a computing and connectivity revolution that is transforming the way people live and businesses operate.

In the role you are a part of the Austin-based CPU performance architecture team, which is part of Arm's worldwide CPU development group. This diverse engineering-centric team defines, designs, and validates Arm processor IP. Arm-based processors are the brains in billions of diverse electronic devices and we collaborate with the world's leading technology companies.

As an authority —think Senior/Staff/Principal type engineer-- on our team of about a dozen senior engineers, you tackle next-generation Arm Cortex-A class CPU microarchitecture design and performance analysis. You will be a part of a growing organization with a validated business model and a strong plan for continued future growth. Your team focuses on engineering using the latest tools and methodologies with an eye for innovation and creative problem solving.




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2021 Graduate Software Engineer, Graduates, Cambridge, UK, Software Engineering

Arm has a range of vacancies for enthusiastic graduates with a passion for embedded software development, Open Source software and CPU Architecture. If you have a software background and a willingness to learn, you will be considered for work in one of these areas:

  • Software design and implementation of features for our reference Mali Graphics processors (enabling our next generation Mali mobile IPs for APIs such as GLES, Vulkan, OpenCL, EGL) on Android
  • Compiler development using LLVM for GPGPU kernels
  • Compiler development including open source compilation technology for e.g. Apache TVM targeting Arm's CPUs, GPUs and NPUs.
  • Improvements and performance optimisations for Arm Compute Library and ArmNN.
  • Model Conditioning and sophisticated machine language framework optimisations in frameworks like Tensorflow and Pytorch.
  • Performance analysis of NPUs, GPUs or CPUs
  • Arm Secure Firmware development
  • Software stack development to enable Arm IP.
  • Operating system development (Linux, Zephyr, FreeRTOS, mbedOS, etc)
  • Verification of Arm CPUs using full-stack operating system software
  • Development of Software Tools for CPU Verification using Random Instruction Generation
  • Software optimisation (JIT compilers, Android, ChromeOS, …)
  • Build environments & Automation tooling

If you have an interest in CPU, GPU or NPU architecture and you are passionate about software, whether it’s kernel, driver, application or tools development; If you’d like to know more about how hardware and software interact, then this is an outstanding opportunity for you!

What will I be accountable for?

As a Graduate, you will be placed in a development team at Arm’s offices in Cambridge, UK where you will have a dedicated mentor, and be able to get to grips with the problems ranging across many software areas. You will work across all aspects of the software lifecycle whilst being supported by and learning from the rest of the team.

Whilst a lot of our work does involve Open Source software, many tasks require working with development platforms, or simulated hardware environments where features are being developed and tested before the physical devices have been built, so the problems you will be encouraged to understand and pursue are ones that are yet unknown to the general community.




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2021 Graduate Modelling Engineer - Cambridge, Graduates, Cambridge, UK, Cambridge, UK, Software Engineering

We have an exciting opportunity for a graduate developer in the GPU modelling team, based in Cambridge. We work with software models which are state-of-the-art representations of our products. They are used by several teams within the company and are delivered externally to some of our partners.

We develop in C++ in a UNIX environment. Working in the GPU modelling team, your role will primarily be to model the functional and performance aspects of our GPUs. You will be working with dedicated and talented people across the globe as part of our multi-site development projects. Your work will have a large impact on the design and quality of our GPUs and ultimately on the success of Arm.

If you would like to shape the future of energy-efficient devices, this is the place to be!

 
 




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2020 Graduate in CPU Benchmarks, Graduates, Cambridge, UK, Hardware Engineering

If you consider yourself creative, innovative, a problem solver and you would like to influence and contribute to defining the next-generation CPUs that will be used in billions of devices worldwide, you will enjoy working and developing your professional career with us.

We are looking for graduate engineers who are passionate about understanding the workloads of the future to join our CPU benchmarking team.

Our benchmarking team is in charge of interacting with product managers, partners, CPU leads and performance modelling leads to understand the most relevant applications industry will use in the future and help to characterise and reproduce them on cutting-edge environments ranging from simulation to emulation or FPGA. The team is also responsible for investigating novel techniques to facilitate the utilisation of benchmarks that are relentlessly growing in complexity and make them suitable for the exploration of next generation CPU cores and systems.

As part of the CPU team, we will collaborate to innovate and find engineering solutions to the challenges of tomorrow in areas like IoT, automotive, servers or mobile; we will make devices smarter and more useful to society. Your contributions will help to build new technology that will influence the lives of billions of people!

Graduate on CPU Benchmark Role at Arm

We have exciting opportunities in the CPU group, where you will be part of a highly motivated team that helps define new generations of mainstream processors.

You will have real responsibilities from day one and you will get support and mentorship from specialists that will help you succeed and develop your career. Through teamwork, training, and dedication to personal development, we ensure that every graduate matures to become a specialist in the field.

You will work in a multi-site, multi-cultural environment and will have the opportunity to work on different projects.

What will your role be?

  • You will contribute to the definition of the next generation of Arm’s IP products, identifying and enabling new benchmarks, and proposing new insights on methodologies that could improve current practice in benchmark characterisation and simulation.
  • Together with marketing, technical leads, modelling leads and partners we will align on applications that will represent market requirements for future products.
  • You will propose, develop and maintain innovative ways of making relevant applications and benchmarks suitable for sophisticated simulation platforms.
  • You will collaborate with technical leads, performance modelling engineers and designers while doing performance analysis on existing and future designs.
  • Explore new methodologies and novel software techniques that will improve modelling efficiency.




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2020 Graduate Embedded Engineer for STL, Graduates, Cambridge, UK, Hardware Engineering

Are you creative, innovative, and passionate about new technologies?

Would you like to help us continue deploying billions of successful devices around the world, many of them enabling safety critical environments such as automotive or robotics?

We are looking for outstanding graduates to be part of our STL (Software Test Library) development team within our CPU group in Cambridge, UK. As part of your responsibilities, you will develop safety-critical software (often written in assembly and C) tightly couple with the internals of CPU design. You will also identify and build creative hardware features inside the CPU that improve the effectiveness of our solutions for segments where safety is of paramount importance without negatively affecting the power, performance and/or area of the core.

STLs execute opportunistically when the hardware is not fully utilized and perform continuous in-depth hardware diagnostics while the system is in operation. It identifies and notifies about functional misbehaviors derived from permanent faults triggered by natural hardware wear-out, or other uncontrollable factors before they may translate into catastrophic system failures with undesirable and even dangerous consequences.

If you are passionate about understanding the interaction between hardware and software, have used some HDL language (Verilog or VHDL) and can program on assembly and/or C, this could be an excellent opportunity to start your career with an exciting challenge. We work on a multi-cultural and multi-disciplinary environment that will motivate you to further improve your skills and also contribute and get deep knowledge on Arm CPU designs and development processes. Engineers with large experience in the field will coach you and help you navigate and learn the complexities of the CPU internals and the mechanisms to meet expectations on safety from emerging markets.

STL is a fundamental piece of the development strategy for sectors with strong safety requirements like automotive, health or robotics. Working with us, you are going to deeply influence and interact on the development of successful solutions for this sectors in conjunction with our multidisciplinary team.

We are an equal opportunity employer with an open culture and value diversity. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.

Role Responsibilities

We have exciting opportunities in the CPU group for graduates, where you will become part of a highly motivated team that develops the STLs for Arm CPUs.

You will have real responsibilities from day one and you will get support and guidance from experts that will help you succeed and develop your career. Through teamwork, training, and dedication to personal development, we ensure that every graduate matures to become an expert in the field.

You will work in a multi-site, multi-cultural environment and will have the opportunity to work on different projects.

As a member of the team we will share the following responsibilities:

  • We will define the STL design specifications, verification plan and the safety documents as per ISO26262 and IEC61508.
  • We will build diagnostic software to target CPU sub-units like ALU, pre-fetchers, branch predictors, cache controllers, memory systems, etc.
  • We will envision hardware design features aiming to improve STL effectiveness on ongoing and future CPU developments. We will also get along with the rest of the designers to implement them with minimum impact on area, performance and power.
  • We will prove that the software as well as the STL-specific hardware features meet the specifications and work properly on different CPU configurations.
  • We will generate the safety analysis of the STLs.




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The FOCX PIONEER Wallet Could Be the Sleekest Compact Wallet Out

Looking for a high-end, compact wallet with modern tech features? The minimalist FOCX PIONEER wallet could be the new wallet for you.





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Twin Cities hip-hop pioneers I.R.M Crew to reunite

The I-R-M Crew -- the first Twin Cities hip-hop group to release an album in the mid-1980s -- reunites for a performance Friday night at the 7th Street Entry in Minneapolis.




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Need a can't-miss wheel of cheese? Try playing it some hip-hop

Researchers exposed cheese to different genres of music for 24 hours a day over six months to find out that hip-hop might create the tastiest cheese.




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Brazilian bossa nova pioneer Joao Gilberto dies at 88

Joao Gilberto, a Brazilian singer, guitarist and songwriter considered one of the fathers of the bossa nova genre that gained global popularity in the 1960s and became an iconic sound of the South American nation, died Saturday, his son said. He was 88.




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Oscar the Grouch Sings ‘All You Need Is Love’

There I Ruined It created a charming mashup that features Oscar the Grouch singing "All You Need Is Love" alongside The Beatles.




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Policast: Nurses say they need more protective equipment

Nurses say they need more protective equipment; Asian owned businesses have been especially hard hit




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Sean Rowe installed as new leader of Episcopal Church; stresses unity, need to ‘finish the job’

The Rt. Rev. Sean Rowe has taken over as the new leader of The Episcopal Church, declaring at his installation service that the denomination must unify and “finish the job” of witnessing to a “hurting world.”




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We are a nation in need of true revival

This is America’s only real hope for a real and positive change.




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Do Ohio High Schools Need To Take A Closer Look At "Pay-to-Play"Model?

It can costs kids and parents several hundred dollars to play a single sport in high school. Could there be big changes to the "pay-to-play" system in Ohio?




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Yevgeny Prigozhin: Ace of hotdog sales, Putin's cook, military leader and mutineer

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of private military company Wagner, was killed in a plane crash on August 23. His Embraer ERJ-135BJ Legacy 600 plane crashed in the Tver region. Prigozhin was 62. Prigozhin was born in 1961 in Leningrad. He lost his father in his early childhood, and was raised by his mother and stepfather. Yevgeny Prigozhin received his first criminal record when he was 18, the second and third one followed soon afterwards. After he was released from prison, Prigozhin decided to open his own business. He and his stepfather started selling hotdogs in Leningrad.




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Russia wonders how the West may to switch to green energy if it needs black coal

The upcoming UN conference on climate change in Glasgow was supposed to show the world the triumph of the United States and the European Union as trendsetters for everything "green". Unfortunately for them, Europe faced an unprecedented energy crisis, which called into question not only the competence of officials from Brussels, but also the feasibility of the strategy to switch to green energy as soon as possible. Russia, which did not want to dive into the whirlpool of decarbonization, found itself in a more advantageous position. Nevertheless, Moscow has something to show in Glasgow on the climate agenda. China, the United States and India altogether account for more CO2 emissions than all other countries combined. Russia accounts for less than five percent, but the anger of Western politicians and journalists, who propagate environmental slogans, is directed primarily at Russia. Such a biased attitude towards Russia is based on the laws of hybrid war: dirty propaganda should keep citizens in good shape, while raising the degree of hatred. EU demonises Russia and wants more Russian gas When European politicians accuse Russia of the gas crisis, their accusations fit into the anti-Russian agenda just as perfectly. Gazprom strictly fulfills all of its contracts, but this argumentation falls on deaf ears in the EU. For example, EU chief diplomat Josep Borrell saw "deep geopolitical roots" in the rise in energy prices. The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, reproached the Russian gas monopoly for "not responding to higher demand" in Europe. Her compatriot from the Green party, claiming the portfolio of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany, Annalena Baerbock, stated that Russia was "playing poker" in matters of gas supplies. She has an ironclad argument: after all, European gas storage facilities are comparatively empty.




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Raw video: Argentine footballer's knee completely dislocated during match

Former Real Madrid defender Marcelo, who now plays for Brazil's Fluminense, broke Argentinos Juniors defender's leg in a Copa Libertadores match in Buenos Aires. The defender, Luciano Sanchez, had his knee dislocated. The player will recover in about a year, Spanish sports website AS said. In the second half of the game, Marcelo, circling Sanchez, accidentally stepped on his leg when Sanchez threw it forward. Marcelo burst into tears because of the shocking incident and was sent off.




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Utimaco research finds a low level of trust for IoT devices, citing work needed to communicate digital safety

Utimaco has released new consumer research that has found a low level of trust around Internet of Things (IoT) devices. This has highlighted the need for more education from industry into how smart devices are secured with the latest digital security solutions.




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Mood Media research finds Shoppers need inspiration

Nearly two-thirds of shoppers step into a store without a specific purchase in mind, looking to be inspired by retailers who can craft the ideal ambience through digital screens and interactive kiosks. 




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3 Reasons Retailers Need a Price Optimisation Strategy

By Adrian Stokes, freelance writer.

In the fast-paced world of retail, simply offering quality products is no longer enough to stay competitive. To thrive, retailers must adopt a strategic approach to pricing. Price optimisation is not just a tool for boosting profits; it's a matter of survival and growth. Here are three reasons why retailers need to embrace price optimisation and the benefits of automating pricing operations.



  • Retail Supply Chain
  • Print and Label

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British retail B2B companies take 42 days to collect and enrich data needed for new product launches, hampering UK productivity, according to Akeneo’s research

British Business-to-Business (B2B) companies take on average 32 days to collect, collate and enrich all the necessary data for a new product launch, significantly impacting UK productivity and go-to-market times, according to research conducted by Akeneo, the Product Experience (PX) Company and leading provider of Product Information Management (PIM) solutions.




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For blood quality and men's health: which vegetables need to be boiled

Margarita Koroleva, a professor at the Federal Medical and Biological Agency of Russia, a doctor of medical sciences and a dietician, shared her recommendations regarding the way of cooking vegetables to get the best of them. Some vegetables should be boiled to extract as many nutrients as possible. For example, boiled carrots are better absorbed by the body than raw ones, which allows us to obtain more vitamin A from this vegetable. When tomatoes and red peppers are thermally processed, lycopene, a wonderful antioxidant that is highly beneficial for tissue and blood health, is activated and better absorbed by the body. The specialist also advised people with digestive problems should consume boiled turnip and radish, as their nutrients are better digested by the human body if those vegetables are boiled.




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What Is a Carburetor and Why Does Your Car Need the Part?

A carburetor regulates the flow of air and gasoline into the engine cylinders. Learn about carburetors and find out how a carburetor works.






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Why Liam Neeson was 'very reluctant' to star in 'A Walk Among the Tombstones'

Liam Neeson stars as Matthew Scudder in "A Walk Among the Tombstones." ; Credit: Universal Pictures

Screenwriter and director Scott Frank has been trying to make “A Walk Among the Tombstones” for more than a decade, but it wasn't until Liam Neeson signed on that his efforts finally came into view.

Based on the Lawrence Block novel, “Tombstones” stars Liam Neeson as Matthew Scudder, an ex-cop working as an unlicensed private investigator. He agrees to help a well-to-do drug trafficker hunt down the kidnappers who have brutally murdered his wife.

 

Frank wrote the screenplay and, after the departures of other attached directors, Frank decided to step behind the cameras himself. 

When he came by The Frame studio, Frank spoke with host John Horn about Neeson's great strengths as an action hero and how he convinced Neeson to sign on to the project.

Interview Highlights:

 

John Horn: Liam Neeson has evolved in a fascinating way as an action hero. When did you start having conversations with him about this movie, and what was it about him as an actor that made it feel like the right fit?

"Well, what's interesting is that Larry Block, the novelist, had always said, going way back to 2003 or something, that the perfect actor for this, after [he saw] 'Michael Collins'...would be Liam Neeson. Chris Andrews, who is Liam's agent, always loved the script and was always trying to find a way to put it together, and he's the one who gave it to Liam back when D.J. [Caruso] was going to direct. So the first time I met Liam to talk about the movie, I was talking to him as the writer, not as the director of the movie. And then when D.J. fell out to go do a different movie at Sony...we had a conversation about directing the movie.

JH: Was this before or after the first "Taken" had come out?

This was well after the first 'Taken,' this was right before the second 'Taken.'

JH: So Liam is...succeeding as a version of that character, and I wonder if that success cuts both ways, that maybe there's a reluctance on his part to not do something that's quite as similar? Or is that part of your conversation that you have with him? 

It absolutely cuts both ways, and that was a huge part of the conversation because there's a kidnapping in this story, and there he is on the telephone for a few minutes at the end of the movie talking to kidnappers, and there are similarities [to 'Taken']. And he knew that was the way to sell the movie, and so he was very reluctant. And I talked to him and I had him watch 'Klute,' and I said, "That's the movie we're gonna make. We're not going to make 'Taken,' we're going to make a movie that's like 'Klute,' or a little bit like 'Dirty Harry,' or one of those old-school '70s films. It's going to feel more like that than an action movie."

 

 

JH: Liam Neeson's not physically imposing, but there's something about him that really kind of makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up. What is it about him as an actor in this kind of part?

Well, there's a couple things. One: you believe him. No matter what he's talking about, it seems authentic and true...he has this thing about him that, whatever he's doing, you believe him. Two: he's one of those actors like Gene Hackman where he can convey exposition and make it feel like character. He can talk pages of exposition and make it all feel like it's character and drama — it's a great thing. The other thing about him is that he has this real gravitas, and it almost borders on sadness sometimes; it's interesting when you watch him and you feel like there's all this other life going on behind him.

JH: That he has nothing to lose, in other words.

Nothing to lose, and he says that at one point in the film, but I think it's those things that are all at work at the same time.




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Engineering Milestone Secures Progress for Key Lithium Project in Brazil

Source: Streetwise Reports 10/23/2024

Lithium Ionic Corp. (LTH:TSX.V; LTHCF:OTCQX; H3N:FSE) has announced the initiation of Engineering, Procurement, and Construction Management (EPCM) services for its flagship Bandeira Lithium Project. See why the CEO Blake Hyland says that the company's momentum towards production is stronger than ever.

Lithium Ionic Corp. (LTH:TSX.V; LTHCF:OTCQX; H3N:FSE) has announced the initiation of Engineering, Procurement, and Construction Management (EPCM) services for its flagship Bandeira Lithium Project in Minas Gerais, Brazil. Globally recognized engineering firm Hatch Ltd. will lead engineering and design services. Reta Engenharia, a leading Brazilian construction management firm, will manage construction. This significant milestone signals the project's progression into the construction and development phase as Lithium Ionic moves closer to production.

Key Highlights from the company press release:

  • Hatch Ltd. has been awarded engineering and design services. Hatch is an internationally recognized engineering firm with extensive global experience in several commodities and a local presence in Brazil, including offices in Belo Horizonte, the capital city of Minas Gerais state. Hatch's involvement will bring world-class expertise and innovative solutions to the Bandeira Project, ensuring a streamlined and efficient development process.
  • Reta Engenharia, a leading Brazilian construction management company, has been selected to provide construction management services for the Bandeira Project. With extensive experience in greenfield mining projects, Reta has supported both junior and large-cap producers, making them ideally suited to drive efficient and effective project outcomes. Their proven track record in managing greenfield projects, combined with their deep regional knowledge, will be instrumental in advancing the Bandeira Project towards production.
  • Growing the Owner's Team: To support this transition to project development and ensure a smooth transition into production, Lithium Ionic is expanding the technical capabilities of its owner's team by bringing in experienced professionals to guide the Bandeira Project through the construction and operational readiness phases.

In the company's news release, Blake Hylands, CEO of Lithium Ionic, noted the importance of this transition, "Our momentum towards production is stronger than ever as we kick off the engineering and construction management phase with our esteemed partners, Hatch and Reta."

The Bandeira Project is advancing through the permitting process at both state and federal levels, with key approvals expected soon. Initial production is scheduled to begin in the second half of 2026, following the approval of the Licença Ambiental Concomitante (LAC) and subsequent Mining Concession and Operating License.

Lithium Sector Gains Momentum Amid Growing Demand

Visual Capitalist reported on September 29 that despite the price drop, lithium-ion battery demand is projected to increase ninefold by 2040. This move is driven by the continued growth of the EV market and broader electrification trends.

Greg Jones of BMO Capital Markets described new drill results from the Bandeira project as continuing to "highlight the exploration potential at the property" and suggested that these results could present opportunities for optimization.

This long-term growth trajectory supports the ongoing development of lithium projects like Lithium Ionic's Bandeira Project in Brazil, which aims to meet this increasing global demand.

As Forbes reported on October 8, lithium prices had fallen by nearly 90% since their peak in 2022.

This is attributed to an oversupply of the commodity and slower-than-expected electric vehicle (EV) sales. Despite these challenges, industry experts indicated that the sector was showing early signs of recovery.

Also, on October 8, Barry Dawes of Martin Place Securities highlighted that "the lithium market is showing strong signs of upturn" and suggested that lithium shortages are likely after 2027, reinforcing the long-term potential of the sector. His comments reflected a growing optimism for the post-2027 period. It is then that demand for lithium is expected to outstrip supply.

Lithium Ionic's Catalysts

Lithium Ionic's Bandeira Project is positioned as a critical development in Brazil's Lithium Valley. According to the company's investor presentation, this project is expected to deliver significant output. A Feasibility Study projects a 14-year mine life, producing 178,000 tonnes of spodumene concentrate annually. The post-tax net present value (NPV) is projected at US$1.3 billion with an internal rate of return (IRR) of 40%.

The company's strategic partnerships with Hatch and Reta, combined with the strong regional infrastructure in Minas Gerais, which includes renewable hydroelectric power and proximity to export markets, are expected to accelerate the development of the project. These factors are key drivers of Lithium Ionic's goal to become one of Brazil's major lithium producers, contributing to the growing global demand for lithium in the electric vehicle market.

Analysts on Lithium Ionic

Analysts have shown optimism about Lithium Ionic Corp., particularly regarding the potential of its Bandeira Lithium Project. Katie Lachapelle from Canaccord Genuity, in her September 10, 2024, research note, highlighted the company's progress in securing approvals for the Final Exploration Reports for the Bandeira and Outro Lado lithium properties.

Lachapelle emphasized that the next major catalyst would be the approval of the Licença Ambiental Concomitante (LAC), which is needed to begin construction at the Bandeira project. She maintained a Speculative Buy rating with a target price of CA$2.50, representing a potential upside of 303% from the price at the time of the report. Lachapelle also noted the company's CA$35 million cash balance following recent financing transactions but indicated that additional funds would be required to cover the estimated US$266 million in initial capital costs.

On October 8, 2024, Greg Jones of BMO Capital Markets provided further positive insights into Lithium Ionic's development. He described new drill results from the Bandeira project as continuing to "highlight the exploration potential at the property" and suggested that these results could present opportunities for optimization. Jones maintained an Outperform rating on the stock, with a target price of CA$1.25, reflecting a 40% potential return. He also emphasized that the company traded below the peer median, with its lithium carbonate equivalent valued at US$40 per ton, compared to US$60 for peers, marking it as undervalued. He further pointed out that Lithium Ionic was one of BMO's preferred lithium developers. [OWNERSHIP_CHART-11098]

Ownership and Share Structure

According to the company, management and insiders own 20% of the Lithium Ionic.

One of the insiders, President & Director Helio Diniz, owns 5.52%, Director Michael Lawrence Guy owns 5.10%, Director David Patrick Gower owns 2.56%, and Andre Rezende Gumaraes owns 2.52%, according to Reuters.

30% is held by institutional investors. Reuters reports Waratah Captial Advisors owns 7.01%, JGP Gestao de Recursos Ltda owns 2.69%, RBC Global Asset Management Inc owns 1.94%, Sprott Asset Management LP owns 1.55%, BMO Asset Management owns 1.30%, and IXIOS Asset Management SA owns 1.20%. The rest is retail.

Lithium Ionic has 158.58 million shares outstanding and 131.15 million free-float traded shares.

The company's market cap is CA$135 million, and it trades in a 52-week range of CA$0.41 - 2.24 per share.

Sign up for our FREE newsletter at: www.streetwisereports.com/get-news

Important Disclosures:

  1. Lithium Ionic Corp. is a billboard sponsor of Streetwise Reports and pays SWR a monthly sponsorship fee between US$4,000 and US$5,000.
  2. James Guttman wrote this article for Streetwise Reports LLC and provides services to Streetwise Reports as an employee.
  3. This article does not constitute investment advice and is not a solicitation for any investment. Streetwise Reports does not render general or specific investment advice and the information on Streetwise Reports should not be considered a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Each reader is encouraged to consult with his or her personal financial adviser and perform their own comprehensive investment research. By opening this page, each reader accepts and agrees to Streetwise Reports' terms of use and full legal disclaimer. Streetwise Reports does not endorse or recommend the business, products, services or securities of any company.

For additional disclosures, please click here.

( Companies Mentioned: LTH:TSX.V; LTHCF:OTCQX; H3N:FSE, )




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Pfizer's COVID Vaccine In Teens And Myocarditis: What You Need To Know

A teen gets a dose of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine at Holtz Children's Hospital in Miami on May 18. Nearly 7 million U.S. teens and pre-teens (ages 12 through 17) have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, so far, the CDC says.; Credit: Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Joanne Silberner | NPR

It's been a little more than a month since adolescents as young as 12 became eligible in the United States to receive the Pfizer vaccine against COVID-19, and nearly all reports have been positive: The vaccine is very effective in this age group, and the vast majority of kids experience mild side effects, if any — the same sore arm or mild flu-like symptoms seen among adults who get the shot.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended that everyone 12-years-old and older get vaccinated against COVID-19, and the rollout is well underway: According to the CDC, nearly 7 million U.S. teens and pre-teens (ages 12 through 17) have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, so far.

Still, soon after the FDA authorized the use of Pfizer's vaccine in young people, federal agencies began receiving reports of mild chest pain or other signs of possible heart inflammation (known as myocarditis) in a very small percentage of recently vaccinated teens.

CDC director Rochelle Walensky said at a White House briefing Friday that there have been more than 300 cases of heart inflammation reported among more than 20 million teens and young adults who have received one of the vaccines made by Moderna or Pfizer. She said that in the "vast majority" of cases, the inflammation went away.

An expert advisory committee to the health agency is expected to review the cases in more depth at a meeting Friday.

So, in the meantime, should parents of teens hesitate to have their kids vaccinated against COVID-19? Vaccine experts and the American Academy of Pediatrics say no, don't hesitate. It's good for doctors and patients to be aware that there might be a connection between the mRNA vaccines and heart inflammation, and to report to their pediatrician anything they see in that first week after vaccination. But it is also important, the CDC notes, to recognize that even if this does turn out to be an extremely rare side effect of the vaccine, "most patients who received care responded well to medicine and rest and quickly felt better." And the serious risks of COVID -19 — even for young healthy people — outweigh the risks of any possible side effects from the vaccine. Here are some questions you may have, and what's known:

What exactly is myocarditis?

Myocarditis is an inflammation of the heart muscle, and pericarditis, also being investigated, is an inflammation of the sac around the heart.

Long before the pandemic, thousands of cases of myocarditis were diagnosed in the U.S. and around the world each year, often triggered by the body's immune response to infections. SARS-CoV-2 can trigger it, and so can cold viruses, and staph and strep and HIV. Other causes include toxins and allergies.

Symptoms include chest pain and shortness of breath. It's often mild enough to go unnoticed, but a full-blown case in adults can cause arrhythmias and heart failure that require careful treatment with multiple medications, and several months of strict rest. In a case study of seven teenagers who got myocarditis following vaccination published last week in the journal Pediatrics, all seven got better after routine treatment with anti-inflammatory drugs.

Pediatric cardiologist Dr. Stuart Berger of the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, a spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics, says vaccine-related myocarditis in teens is not all that worrisome. "Although they appear with some symptoms of chest pain, and maybe some findings on EKGs, all of the cases we've seen have been on the mild end of the spectrum," he says.

So, what's the concern?

Several hundred reports about the inflammation have been filed with the federal government's Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS); that's a repository of reports sent in by health professionals and patients about any health events they spot in the hours or days after vaccinations. Many of the events reported turn out to be coincidental — not caused by a vaccine. The database is just meant as a starting point for further investigation and not proof of cause and effect. But as NPR's Geoff Brumfiel noted this week, "when millions of people are vaccinated within a short period, the total number of these reported events can look big."

That said, anecdotes reported by doctors in medical journals and reports to VAERS suggest that both of the mRNA vaccines authorized for use in the U.S. — the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines — might slightly increase the incidence of myocarditis in young people. In 2003, a report in the New England Journal of Medicine estimated the background incidence of myocarditis to be 1.13 cases in 100,000 children per year.

Paul Offit, professor of pediatrics at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and a member of a Food and Drug Administration vaccine advisory committee says there likely is a causal link between the heart inflammation some doctors are seeing in these teens and the second dose of vaccine. "I think it's real," he says, but hastens to add that the effect is exceedingly small – based on the data collected so far, maybe one in 50,000 vaccinees between the ages of 16 and 39. "And the good news is at least so far it looks to be transient and self-resolving."

Still, maybe I should wait to get my teen vaccinated and see how this plays out?

Uhm, no, according to several vaccine experts contacted by NPR. And this is where a little math comes in handy.

"Take a stadium full of 100,000 people between the ages of 16 and 39, which is the subset that appears to be at greater risk," Offit says. "Vaccinate all of them, and two might get myocarditis." But if you don't vaccinate any of the 100,000, he estimates that about 1,300 would eventually get COVID-19. And those numbers are likely to increase this winter.

About one in 1,000 children who get COVID-19 have gone on to develop a condition called MIS-C (multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children), says Offit, and most of those kids have had some level of myocarditis. In addition, the new coronavirus has directly caused myocarditis in some children and adults. Which of the two stadiums in Offit's metaphor would have more cases of myocarditis — the vaccinated children or unvaccinated kids — is not known precisely. But Offit says he suspects it would be the unvaccinated group. And there's no doubt that 1,000 unvaccinated children would suffer more COVID-19-related illnesses. "A choice not to get a vaccine is not a choice to avoid myocarditis," he says. "It's a choice to take a different risk — and I would argue a more serious one" — of developing a bad case of COVID-19 or long-COVID or COVID-caused myocarditis.

Are the experts advising their own kids in this age group to get vaccinated?

Yes. "I understand people having concerns," says Dr. Judith Guzman-Cottrill. She's a parent and professor of pediatric infectious diseases at the Oregon Health and Science University, as well as the senior author on a small study that came out this month in the journal Pediatrics. In the report, Guzman-Cottrill and her colleagues analyzed the cases of seven boys around the country who developed myocarditis within four days of receiving the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

She and her family recently faced the vaccination decision for her own 13-year-old daughter — and said a whole-hearted yes to the shot.

Guzman-Cottrill suspects there may turn out to be a slightly increased risk of heart inflammation from vaccination in young people, but she and her co-authors note in the Pediatrics report that a direct cause-and-effect connection — even in these seven cases — has yet to be established. And she's impressed that despite the millions of doses that have so far been delivered to teens, no clear and serious post-vaccination problems have shown up. "The emergency departments and urgent care clinics are not filled with teenagers complaining of chest pain," she says.

She's treated unvaccinated teens who developed severe myocarditis from an infection with the COVID-19 virus, and others who developed COVID-19 pneumonia and respiratory failure. Seeing those teens struggle — teens who lacked the powerful immune protection the vaccine provides — was enough for her to suggest vaccination to her daughter, who got her second vaccination earlier this week.

"She saw it as a pathway back to a normal post pandemic life," Guzman-Cottrill says.

And that's where public health comes in. "We really need a highly vaccinated student body when kids return to the classroom this fall," says Guzman-Cottrill, "so we don't see surges in COVID-19 cases."

Joanne Silberner, a former health policy correspondent for NPR, is a freelance journalist living in Seattle.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.




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USGS Releases New Topographic Maps for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands - Updated Maps for Essential Needs

The USGS is pleased to announce the release of new US Topo maps for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. These updated topographic maps offer valuable, current geographic information for residents, visitors, and professionals, providing essential resources for communities in these areas.




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Engineering Milestone Secures Progress for Key Lithium Project in Brazil

Lithium Ionic Corp. (LTH:TSX.V; LTHCF:OTCQX; H3N:FSE) has announced the initiation of Engineering, Procurement, and Construction Management (EPCM) services for its flagship Bandeira Lithium Project. See why the CEO Blake Hyland says that the company's momentum towards production is stronger than ever.



  • LTH:TSX.V; LTHCF:OTCQX; H3N:FSE

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Need Aid For Your Shuttered Venue? End Of May Is The Earliest You Might Get It

Live-event spaces, like the Sound Nightclub in Los Angeles, have been waiting months for emergency relief.; Credit: Mario Tama/Getty Images

Andrew Limbong | NPR

Owners of live-music venues, theaters, museums and other businesses covered under the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant, or SVOG, can expect to see money by the end of May. This is according to an update from the Small Business Administration, which has been handling the SVOG program's bumpy rollout.

An SBA spokesperson said in an email that since the portal to apply for these grants opened a week ago, 10,300 applications have been submitted (another 12,000 have been started but not completed). The vast majority of those applications were from "Live venue operators or promoters," followed by performing arts organizations and then movie theaters.

The SBA has been reviewing applications and said in a statement that "applicants will receive notice of awards this month," with disbursement by the end of May if the applicant responds in a "timely manner to the notice of award."

The SVOG program is a $16 billion emergency relief program that then-President Donald Trump signed into law in late December 2020. It was a bipartisan effort to get aid money to struggling music venues and other arts and live-event spaces that have been hit hard by the coronavirus struggles. But for an emergency relief program, it has taken months to get money in the hands of business owners holding off landlords, insurance companies and other creditors. Those owners spent early 2021 waiting on an official announcement of when they could apply for the grant money while compiling any documents and paperwork they thought they might need. Then once the application site was up and running, it crashed and was closed.

Even as large festivals roll out throughout the U.S. and bands announce tours for later in the year, many small live-event spaces are still at risk of closing. The National Independent Venue Association, one of the most vocal groups lobbying for support for live-music venues, has long stated that 90% of its members would be forced to close without any aid — which would hurt nearby bars, restaurants and shops, not to mention the large apparatus that is the live touring-arts industry.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.




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Planning to meet an emergency is especially important for persons with special needs

As it continues to note National Emergency Preparedness Month, Catawba County Emergency Services reminds citizens who have family members with special needs, and caregivers of those with special needs, that it�s very important to be prepared in advance to help those with special needs cope with an emergency or disastrous situation.




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Program available for persons working at least 20 hours a week but need assistance with car repairs or insurance

The program of the North Carolina Department of Transportation provides limited funds for low-income persons who need to maintain or insure their car so they can continue working. It is administered by Catawba County Social Services




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Catawba County Dir. of Utilities & Engineering wins Energy Leadership Award from Business Journal of Charlotte

Catawba County Director of Utilities and Engineering Barry Edwards has been named one of the winners of the 2013 Energy Leadership Awards by the Business Journal of Charlotte.




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'We Need To Be Nurtured, Too': Many Teachers Say They're Reaching A Breaking Point

; Credit: /Ryan Raphael for NPR

Kavitha Cardoza | NPR

To say Leah Juelke is an award-winning teacher is a bit of an understatement. She was a top 10 finalist for the Global Teacher Prize in 2020; she was North Dakota's Teacher of the Year in 2018; and she was awarded an NEA Foundation award for teaching excellence in 2019.

But Juelke, who teaches high school English learners in Fargo, N.D., says nothing prepared her for teaching during the pandemic.

"The level of stress is exponentially higher. It's like nothing I've experienced before."

It's a sentiment NPR heard from teachers across the country. After a year of uncertainty, long hours and juggling personal and work responsibilities, many told NPR they had reached a breaking point.

Heidi Crumrine, a high school English teacher in Concord, N.H., says this has been the most challenging year she's ever encountered in her two decades of teaching.

"And I say [that] as someone who started her first day of teaching on 9/11 in the Bronx in New York City."

Teaching is one of the most stressful occupations in the U.S., tied only with nurses, a 2013 Gallup poll found. Jennifer Greif Green, an education professor at Boston University, says the additional stress teachers are reporting during the pandemic is worrying because it doesn't only affect educators — it also affects students.

"The mental health and well-being of teachers can have a really important impact on the mental health and well-being of the children who they're spending most of their days with," Green explains. "Having teachers feel safe and supported in their school environments is essential to students learning and being successful."

Lisa Sanetti, a professor of educational psychology at the University of Connecticut, says, "Chronically stressed teachers are just less effective in the classroom."

All that stress can also lead to burnout, which leads to teachers leaving the profession, Sanetti says. "And we have a huge teacher turnover problem in our country."

Districts are trying to help — with yoga classes, counseling sessions and webinars on mental health. Some teachers have organized trivia nights or online happy hours where colleagues can just vent. Teachers told NPR they force themselves to take breaks and go for a bike ride or call a friend. Some have started therapy.

But most of the educators NPR spoke with say they're so exhausted, that even self-care feels like one additional thing to do.

"The reality is, when you're living it, you're just trying to get to the end of the day successfully and try again tomorrow," Crumrine says.

"It feels like we're building the plane while we're flying it"

In March 2020, when schools moved online, teachers across the U.S. had to completely reimagine their approach to education, often with no training or time to prepare. For many, it was a rough transition.

Teachers told NPR they've spent the past year experimenting with different methods of online and hybrid teaching, while also providing tech support for their students and families. Many say they routinely work 12-hour days and on weekends, yet struggle to form relationships with children virtually. Answering emails can take two hours a day.

Rashon Briggs, who teaches high school special education in Los Angeles, spent a lot of time worrying about his students during remote learning (his district only recently started offering in-person options). "One of the biggest challenges is knowing that the kids were not getting the same level of service that they were getting in person," he says.

Teachers in districts that opened earlier for in-person learning say they have additional responsibilities now, such as sanitizing desks between classes, making sure children follow school safety protocols and keeping track of students who have had to quarantine.

"I have a calendar and it says who's quarantined, who is cleared to return on what day, who was absent," explains Rosamund Looney, who teaches first grade in Jefferson Parish, La. "Then I follow up with those families to see: 'Are you OK?' So there's just so much space taken up by that monitoring."

Looney also worries about her students' learning. Everyone in her district has to wear masks in class, which she says she completely agrees with. But those masks mean she can't see her first graders' mouths as they learn phonics.

"You are watching your teacher sound out words and then figuring out how to do that. And it's really hard for me to gauge what they are and aren't able to say." She says she's especially concerned about students who are more at risk of falling behind academically, like English learners.

In New Hampshire, Crumrine says quarantines and positive cases among school staff have led to a constant shifting between fully online and hybrid classes. The fluctuations have been exhausting for her. "We started the year remote. Then we went back to school in October, then we were remote again in November, December. We went back to hybrid [in early February]," she says. New Hampshire's governor has now ordered all schools reopen for full-time, in-person classes by this week.

"It feels like we're building the plane while we're flying it and the destination keeps changing on us," Crumrine says.

Balancing work and home life

In addition to worrying about their students, many teachers are also concerned about their own children. Crumrine, whose husband is also a teacher, has three children and says she feels pulled by competing demands.

"I feel this sense of guilt that I'm not a good enough teacher for my students and I'm not a good mother for my own kids. It just feels like a constant wave of never feeling like I can do what I know I'm good at."

Juelke, in North Dakota, is a single mom with a 9- and 3-year-old. "I'm juggling the children and making sure my daughter is in her class and my 3-year-old is entertained. And that is definitely taking a toll."

Many teachers say they are eating and drinking more, and exercising and sleeping less.

Briggs, in L.A., says his sleeping patterns are completely off. "Being awake all hours of the night, going to bed at 2, 3 a.m., drinking coffee late at night and try to finish work so I can be more prepared the next day."

He's stressed, in part, because there are no clear work-life boundaries anymore. "When you're waking up in the same space that you're on Zoom, that you're grading papers, that you're watching Netflix, those lines are blurred very easily."

Others say they're not as active at home, and they're eating more junk food and putting on weight. The tight schedules means they don't always move between classes, or even remember to drink water.

"There are a lot of dehydrated teachers out there," says Looney.

Many, like Juelke, say they miss having personal time. "That time where I could sit in the car and drive to work and just kind of relax a little, or my prep time at school alone. That's gone now. And so I feel like my mental health has struggled in that way."

She says even though it breaks her heart, she's started looking for another profession.

Leonda Archer, a middle school math teacher in Arlington, Va., says she's usually a very upbeat person, but the pandemic — coupled with the racial turmoil in the country — has taken a toll. She's African American, and says reports of Black men and women being killed by police makes her fear for her husband's safety.

"There were some points of lowness that I hadn't experienced before. There are some days where I feel like it's hard to keep going."

Archer says she has had difficulty sleeping, and doesn't have an appetite. "And right when I get into a groove, another traumatic experience happens."

Briggs says it was hard not being able to process events like George Floyd's death and the Black Lives Matter protests with his colleagues. In the past, those conversations informed what he would say in the classroom to help his own students make sense of the news.

"The teachers were not able to talk to each other about 'How do you talk about this? How do you present that?' " he says. "There was a lack of ability for us to communicate a message about social justice and rights and the wrongs."

Crumrine says she misses the social aspect of being with her students, and other teachers. "We're not eating lunch together. We're not popping into each other's classrooms. We're all in our little silos."

The school reopening divide

Teachers told NPR they feel a growing chasm in their communities: Parents want schools to open, but teachers first want to make sure it's safe. Many feel they are not being included in these conversations, and their concerns aren't being taken seriously.

Crumrine says it's been devastating hearing elected officials and parents criticize teachers, insisting that schools need to open, even though teachers are concerned about their own health. She says some community members acted like online classes meant teachers weren't working at all. In fact, she says, they were working harder than ever. "It just makes it feel so much worse when you read these horrible things that people say about us or these assumptions that they make about what we are or are not doing."

She says many states, including her own, didn't prioritize vaccines for teachers, which to her revealed just "how deep that lack of value of educators is."

Sarahi Monterrey, who teaches English learners in Waukesha, Wisc., says she's felt a "huge divide" in the community. "It almost seems like us against them." She was in a Zoom school board meeting where parents and students were present, and a teacher testified that her husband had COVID-19. "And a parent in the room said, 'Who cares?' And I was blown away. Just blown away."

In Virginia, Archer says, at the beginning of the pandemic, "We were seen as angels. Like, 'Oh my God, I've been home with my child for two months, how do teachers do it?' And now the narrative has totally flip-flopped."

She says she also misses "the vibe of school, the energy, all of that. But I don't want people to be sick."

Archer works 12-hour days, and says people need to remember that teachers are people too. "Our profession is a nurturing one, but we also are humans that need to be poured into. We need to be nurtured, too."

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.




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National Campaign Needed to Fight The Hidden Epidemic of Sexually Transmitted Diseases

A bold national initiative is needed to reduce the enormous health burden of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in the United States, according to a new report from a committee of the Institute of Medicine.




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More Effort Needed to Avoid Problems Associated With New Flight Control Systems

More targeted aircraft testing and simulation should be conducted to uncover design characteristics in new flight control systems that -- in rare circumstances -- may mislead pilots and result in unstable or dangerous flight conditions, says a new report by a National Research Council committee.




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Reforms Needed to Improve Childrens Reading Skills

Widespread reforms are needed to ensure that all children are equipped with the skills and instruction they need to learn to read, according to a new report from a committee of the National Research Council.




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Adults Need to Increase Intake of Folate - Some Women Should Take More

Women who might become pregnant need 400 micrograms of folic acid per day to reduce their risk of having a child with neural tube defects, according to the latest report on Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) from the Institute of Medicine.




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Science-Based, Unified Approach Needed To Safeguard the Nations Food Supply

Outdated food safety laws and a fragmented federal structure serve as barriers to improving protection of the nations food supply from contamination or other hazards, according to Ensuring Safe Food From Production to Consumption.