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How Field Reimbursement Services Help Overcome Coverage Barriers and Improve Patient Outcomes

Today’s guest post comes from Kimberley Chiang, Vice President of Biopharma Commercial Solutions at CoverMyMeds

Kimberley highlghts the crucial roles of field reimbursement managers in removing access and reimbursement barriers. She then identifies the keys to successful implementation of field reimbursement services.

To learn more, register for CoverMyMeds' November 13, 2024, webinar: Specialty Therapies & Field Reimbursement Services: Driving Better Outcomes for Brands and Patients.

Read on for Kimberley’s insights.
Read more »
       




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EMA recommends approval of aflibercept biosimilars Afqlir and Opuviz

<p>On 19&nbsp;September 2024, the European Medicines Agency’s (EMA) Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP)&nbsp;adopted a positive opinion,&nbsp;recommending the granting of marketing authorization&nbsp;for&nbsp;two aflibercept biosimilars:&nbsp;&nbsp;Sandoz’s Afqlir and Samsung Bioepis’s Opuviz.&nbsp;These products are biosimilars of the reference product Eylea, developed by Regeneron and Bayer.</p>




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Bio-Thera and Gedeon Richter partner to commercialize Stelara biosimilar BAT2206

<p>In October 2024, China based Bio-Thera Solutions&nbsp;(Bio-Thera)&nbsp;and Hungary’s Gedeon Richter announced they have reached an exclusive commercialization and license agreement for BAT2206, a biosimilar candidate to&nbsp;Johnson &amp; Johnson’s Stelara (ustekinumab).</p>




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Link Daftar Situs Slot Gacor Gampang Menang Maxwin Terpercaya Hari Ini

Keuntungan besar dan kegembiraan yang ditawarkan oleh mesin slot online membuatnya semakin populer. Namun, dalam lautan situs slot yang ada, bagaimana Anda bisa menemukan situs slot terbaik yang dapat memberikan…

The post Link Daftar Situs Slot Gacor Gampang Menang Maxwin Terpercaya Hari Ini appeared first on Biosimilarnews.




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MRI Sheds Its Shielding and Superconducting Magnets



Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has revolutionized healthcare by providing radiation-free, non-invasive 3-D medical images. However, MRI scanners often consume 25 kilowatts or more to power magnets producing magnetic fields up to 1.5 tesla. These requirements typically limits scanners’ use to specialized centers and departments in hospitals.

A University of Hong Kong team has now unveiled a low-power, highly simplified, full-body MRI device. With the help of artificial intelligence, the new scanner only requires a compact 0.05 T magnet and can run off a standard wall power outlet, requiring only 1,800 watts during operation. The researchers say their new AI-enabled machine can produce clear, detailed images on par with those from high-power MRI scanners currently used in clinics, and may one day help greatly improve access to MRI worldwide.

To generate images, MRI applies a magnetic field to align the poles of the body’s protons in the same direction. An MRI scanner then probes the body with radio waves, knocking the protons askew. When the radio waves turn off, the protons return to their original alignment, transmitting radio signals as they do so. MRI scanners receive these signals, converting them into images.

More than 150 million MRI scans are conducted worldwide annually, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. However, despite five decades of development, clinical MRI procedures remain out of reach for more than two-thirds of the world’s population, especially in low- and middle-income countries. For instance, whereas the United States has 40 scanners per million inhabitants, in 2016 there were only 84 MRI units serving West Africa’s population of more than 370 million.

This disparity largely stems from the high costs and specialized settings required for standard MRI scanners. They use powerful superconducting magnets that require a lot of space, power, and specialized infrastructure. They also need rooms shielded from radio interference, further adding to hardware costs, restricting their mobility, and hampering their availability in other medical settings.

Scientists around the globe have already been exploring low-cost MRI scanners that operate at ultra-low-field (ULF) strengths of less than 0.1 T. These devices may consume much less power and prove potentially portable enough for bedside use. Indeed, as the Hong Kong team notes, MRI development initially focused on low fields of about 0.05 T, until the introduction of the first whole-body 1.5 T superconducting scanner by General Electric in 1983.

The new MRI scanner (top left) is smaller than conventional scanners, and does away with bulky RF shielding and superconducting magnetics. The new scanner’s imaging resolution is on par with conventional scanners (bottom).Ed X. Wu/The University of Hong Kong

Current ULF MRI scanners often rely on AI to help reconstruct images from what signals they gather using relatively weak magnetic fields. However, until now, these devices were limited to solely imaging the brain, extremities, or single organs, Udunna Anazodo, an assistant professor of neurology and neurosurgery at McGill University in Montreal who did not take part in the work, notes in a review of the new study.

The Hong Kong team have now developed a whole-body ULF MRI scanner in which patients are placed between two permanent neodymium ferrite boron magnet plates—one above the body and the other below. Although these permanent magnets are far weaker than superconductive magnets, they are low-cost, readily available, and don’t require liquid helium or to be cooled to superconducting temperatures. In addition, the amount of energy ULF MRI scanners deposit into the body is roughly one-thousandth that from conventional scanners, making heat generation during imaging much less of a concern, Anazodo notes in her review. ULF MRI is also much quieter than regular MRI, which may help with pediatric scanning, she adds.

The new machine consists of two units, each roughly the size of a hospital gurney. One unit houses the MRI device, while the other supports the patient’s body as it slides into the scanner.

To account for radio interference from both the outside environment and the ULF MRI’s own electronics, the scientists deployed 10 small sensor coils around the scanner and inside the electronics cabinet to help the machine detect potentially disruptive radio signals. They also employed deep learning AI methods to help reconstruct images even in the presence of strong noise. They say this eliminates the need for shielding against radio waves, making the new device far more portable than conventional MRI.

In tests on 30 healthy volunteers, the device captured detailed images of the brain, spine, abdomen, heart, lung, and extremities. Scanning each of these targets took eight minutes or less for image resolutions of roughly 2 by 2 by 8 cubic millimeters. In Anazodo’s review, she notes the new machine produced image qualities comparable to those of conventional MRI scanners.

“It’s the beginning of a multidisciplinary endeavor to advance an entirely new class of simple, patient-centric and computing-powered point-of-care diagnostic imaging device,” says Ed Wu, a professor and chair of biomedical engineering at the University of Hong Kong.

The researchers used standard off-the-shelf electronics. All in all, they estimate hardware costs at about US $22,000. (According to imaging equipment company Block Imaging in Holt, Michigan, entry-level MRI scanners start at $225,000, and advanced premium machines can cost $500,000 or more.)

The prototype scanner’s magnet assembly is relatively heavy, weighing about 1,300 kilograms. (This is still lightweight compared to a typical clinical MRI scanner, which can weigh up to 17 tons, according to New York University’s Langone Health center.) The scientists note that optimizing the hardware could reduce the magnet assembly’s weight to about 600 kilograms, which would make the entire scanner mobile.

The researchers note their new device is not meant to replace conventional high-magnetic-field MRI. For instance, a 2023 study notes that next-generation MRI scanners using powerful 7 T magnets could yield a resolution of just 0.35 millimeters. Instead, ULF MRI can complement existing MRI by going to places that can’t host standard MRI devices, such as intensive care units and community clinics.

In an email, Anazodo adds this new Hong Kong work is just one of a number of exciting ULF MRI scanners under development. For instance, she notes that Gordon Sarty at the University of Saskatchewan and his colleagues are developing that device that is potentially even lighter, cheaper and more portable than the Hong Kong machine, which they are researching for use in whole-body imaging on the International Space Station.

Wu and his colleagues detailed their findings online 10 May in the journal Science.

This article appears in the July 2024 print issue as “Compact MRI Ditches Superconducting Magnets.”




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Superconducting Wire Sets New Current Capacity Record



UPDATE 31 OCTOBER 2024: No. 1 no longer. The would-have-been groundbreaking study published in Nature Communications by Amit Goyal et al. claiming the world’s highest-performing high-temperature superconducting wires yet has been retracted by the authors.

The journal’s editorial statement that now accompanies the paper says that after publication, an error in the calculation of the reported performance was identified. All of the study’s authors agreed with the retraction.

The researchers were first alerted to the issue by Evgeny Talantsev at the Mikheev Institute of Metal Physics in Ekaterinburg, Russia, and Jeffery Tallon at the Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand. In a 2015 study, the two researchers had suggested upper limits for thin-film superconductors, and Tallon notes follow-up papers showed these limits held for more than 100 known superconductors. “The Goyal paper claimed current densities 2.5 times higher, so it was immediately obvious to us that there was a problem here,” he says.

Upon request, Goyal and his colleagues “very kindly agreed to release their raw data and did so quickly,” Tallon says. He and Talantsev discovered a mistake in the conversion of magnetization units.

“Most people who had been in the game for a long time would be fully conversant with the units conversion because the instruments all deliver magnetic data in [centimeter-gram-second] gaussian units, so they always have to be converted to [the International System of Units],” Tallon says. “It has always been a little tricky, but students are asked to take great care and check their numbers against other reports to see if they agree.”

In a statement, Goyal notes he and his colleagues “intend to continue to push the field forward” by continuing to explore ways to enhance wire performance using nanostructural modifications. —Charles Q. Choi

Original article from 17 August, 2024 follows:

Superconductors have for decades spurred dreams of extraordinary technological breakthroughs, but many practical applications for them have remained out of reach. Now a new study reveals what may be the world’s highest-performing high-temperature superconducting wires yet, ones that carry 50 percent as much current as the previous record-holder. Scientists add this advance was achieved without increased costs or complexity to how superconducting wires are currently made.

Superconductors conduct electricity with zero resistance. Classic superconductors work only at super-cold temperatures below 30 degrees Kelvin. In contrast, high-temperature superconductors can operate at temperatures above 77 K, which means they can be cooled to superconductivity using comparatively inexpensive and less burdensome cryogenics built around liquid nitrogen coolant.

Regular electrical conductors all resist electron flow to some degree, resulting in wasted energy. The fact that superconductors conduct electricity without dissipating energy has long lead to dreams of significantly more efficient power grids. In addition, the way in which rivers of electric currents course through them means superconductors can serve as powerful electromagnets, for applications such as maglev trains, better MRI scanners for medicine, doubling the amount of power generated from wind turbines, and nuclear fusion power plants.

“Today, companies around the world are fabricating kilometer-long, high-temperature superconductor wires,” says Amit Goyal, SUNY Distinguished Professor and SUNY Empire Innovation Professor at the University of Buffalo in New York.

However, many large-scale applications for superconductors may stay fantasies until researchers can find a way to fabricate high-temperature superconducting wires in a more cost-effective manner.

In the new research, scientists have created wires that have set new records for the amount of current they can carry at temperatures ranging from 5 K to 77 K. Moreover, fabrication of the new wires requires processes no more complex or costly than those currently used to make high-temperature superconducting wires.

“The performance we have reported in 0.2-micron-thick wires is similar to wires almost 10 times thicker,” Goyal says.

At 4.2 K, the new wires carried 190 million amps per square centimeter without any externally applied magnetic field. This is some 50 percent better than results reported in 2022 and a full 100 percent better than ones detailed in 2021, Goyal and his colleagues note. At 20 K and under an externally applied magnetic field of 20 tesla—the kind of conditions envisioned for fusion applications—the new wires may carry about 9.3 million amps per square centimeter, roughly 5 times greater than present-day commercial high-temperature superconductor wires, they add.

Another factor key to the success of commercial high-temperature superconductor wires is pinning force—the ability to keep magnetic vortices pinned in place within the superconductors that could otherwise interfere with electron flow. (So in that sense higher pinning force values are better here—more conducive to the range of applications expected for such high-capacity, high-temperature superconductors.) The new wires showed record-setting pinning forces of more than 6.4 trillion newtons at 4.3 K under a 7 tesla magnetic field. This is more than twice as much as results previously reported in 2022.

The new wires are based on rare-earth barium copper oxide (REBCO). The wires use nanometer-sized columns of insulating, non-superconducting barium zirconate at nanometer-scale spacings within the superconductor that can help pin down magnetic vortices, allowing for higher supercurrents.

The researchers made these gains after a few years spent optimizing deposition processes, Goyal says. “We feel that high-temperature superconductor wire performance can still be significantly improved,” he adds. “We have several paths to get to better performance and will continue to explore these routes.”

Based on these results, high-temperature superconductor wire manufacturers “will hopefully further optimize their deposition conditions to improve the performance of their wires,” Goyal says. “Some companies may be able to do this in a short time.”

The hope is that superconductor companies will be able to significantly improve performance without too many changes to present-day manufacturing processes. “If high-temperature superconductor wire manufacturers can even just double the performance of commercial high-temperature superconductor wires while keeping capital equipment costs the same, it could make a transformative impact to the large-scale applications of superconductors,” Goyal says.

The scientists detailed their findings on 7 August in the journal Nature Communications.

This story was updated on 19 August 2024 to correct Amit Goyal’s title and affiliation.




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Noel Kempff Mercado Climate Action Project: The Promise and Peril of High-Potential Environmental Partnerships

In the first comprehensive post-mortem analysis of the Noel Kempff Mercado Climate Action Project (NKMCAP), Reine Rambert and Amanda Sardonis examine how NKMCAP failed to live up to its potential, by focusing on three different dimensions of partnership effectiveness: 1) the sustainability of the partnership, 2) the effectiveness of the collaboration process itself, and 3) the achievement of the planned objectives. Rambert and Sardonis extract several transferable lessons from the challenges faced by NKMCAP that are highly consequential to partnership effectiveness.




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When Actions Speak Louder Than Words: Adversary Perceptions of Nuclear No-First-Use Pledges

Would the world be safer if the United States pledged to never use nuclear weapons first? Supporters say a credible pledge would strengthen crisis stability, decrease hostility, and bolster nonproliferation and arms control. But reactions to no-first-use pledges by the Soviet Union, China, and India suggest that adversaries perceive pledges as credible only when the political relationship between a state and its adversary is already relatively benign, or when the state’s military has no ability to engage in nuclear first use against the adversary. 




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Is Fusion Commercialization in Sight? Not Yet, Says John Holdren

Great progress on nuclear fusion has been made, but commercialization of the technology before 2050 is unlikely, said John Holdren during a United States Energy Association press briefing. 




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In Honor of Its One-Year Anniversary, Barclaycard Arrival Improves Travel Rewards and Benefits Program and Introduces Barclaycard Arrival Plus™ World Elite MasterCard® - Barclaycard Arrival Plus now with EMV

Barclaycard Arrival Plus now with EMV




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Ulmart's Hybrid Approach Continues to Disrupt Russian E-commerce: Sales Grow by 30% - Video

Ulmart�s stunning growth continues unabated as sales for the first six months of 2014 were up 31% in a year-on-year comparison. Sequential quarterly growth increased by 47%.




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PNC Christmas Price Index Up A Tame One Percent In 2014; Is This The Year True Loves Make The Splurge? - Presenting The Great Carol Comeback.

Presenting The Great Carol Comeback.




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San Diego Padres And Mercury Insurance Host Second Annual Event To Assemble 1,000 Care Packages For Marines And Sailors Overseas - Mercury Packing Party for Troops

Mercury Packing Party for Troops





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Barclaycard Arrival� MasterCard� Launches #IHAVEARRIVED Social Campaign - Share Your #IHAVEARRIVED Moment

Barclaycard Travel Community presents the #IHAVEARRIVED contest. Sign up and tell us your most memorable travel story for a chance to win an unforgettable vacation experience!





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Denny's Announces Commitment To Serve 100 Percent Cage-Free Eggs - Cage-Free at America�s Diner

Denny�s extends food quality commitment with cage-free eggs.




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Henkel's Persil� ProClean�, Releases First-Ever Super Bowl� Commercial - Persil ProClean�#1 Rated� Super Bowl Commercial

A leading consumer testing publication recently tested the top laundry detergent brands in America. Persil ProClean 2in1 didn�t only beat Tide, it beat every single detergent tested.




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NASCAR Icons Goodyear, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Expand Relationship - Goodyear�s �Made� Commercial

When it comes to performance under pressure, Dale Jr. and Goodyear are forged from the same fire. Like Goodyear, the Earnhardt name has a long history in NASCAR and we�re proud to say we�re Driven Like Jr.




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Mercury Insurance Launches 'Drive Safe Challenge' to Teach Teens the DOs and DON'Ts of Getting Behind the Wheel - Mercury Teen Driving B-Roll :45s

Forty-five seconds worth of clips from the inaugural Mercury Insurance Drive Safe Challenge at Honda Center, including driving shots and classroom activities





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59 Percent of Car Seats Are Misused and One-Third of Children Killed in Car Crashes Were Completely Unrestrained at the Time of the Crash - Their Future: TV PSA

Their Future: TV PSA





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Holiday Inn Express� Brand Reunites With Actor/Comedian Rob Riggle For Latest Stay Smart� Campaign - Coffee Tasting Commercial

With a Keurig� in every room at Holiday Inn Express� hotels, smart travelers � like actor/comedian Rob Riggle � can get a great cup of coffee with just the push of a button.




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Thirty Percent of Americans Have No Plan to Pay off Their Debt - eBus

Fifth Third's eBus travels nationwide, armed with Fifth Third bankers to help customers in underbanked areas with all their financial needs, including budgeting tips, personal counseling and more.





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The Holiday Inn� Brand Partners With Small Business Owners In Next Evolution Of Its Journey To Extraordinary Campaign - Sword & Plough Commercial

When traveling, the hotel becomes Sword & Plough�s mobile office, and Holiday Inn� hotels have become an integral extension of their team while on the road.





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NEW DATA EVALUATING THE BOSTON SCIENTIFIC ELUVIA� DRUG-ELUTING VASCULAR STENT SYSTEM DEMONSTRATE 94.4 PERCENT PRIMARY PATENCY RATE AT NINE MONTHS - Hear from Professor Stefan M�ller-H�lsbeck, M.D., PhD, M

Hear from Professor Stefan M�ller-H�lsbeck, M.D., PhD, MAJESTIC trial principal investigator




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New Study Shows Inner-City Asthma Care Program Reduces Student Absenteeism by up to 20 Percent - Building Bridges for Asthma Care

Building Bridges for Asthma Care is a GSK-funded school-based collaboration that addresses the risk of asthma-related absenteeism and its impact on academic achievement for inner city students.




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American Association for Cancer Research National Survey Shows 74 Percent of Voters Want More Federal Funding for Cancer Research - AACR Survey and Cancer Progress Report 2015 Video

AACR Survey and Cancer Progress Report 2015 Video






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New study suggests more than 8 percent of children with cancer have genetic predisposition - Discover Why Children Get Cancer Video

A landmark study helps to explain the genetic roots of cancer risk in children and how this may ultimately change patient care in the future.





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Schlock Mercenary and 2024

We have a lot going on this year, but most of it isn’t happening here on this site. Yes, some of our plans involve additional content here at schlockmercenary.com, but the biggest plans revolve around finally getting the entire series into print.

I’ll try to do better about posting things here. Until then, you might consider checking out our Discord community server, “Hypernode Connect,” where I’m quite a bit more active. This invite link should be good through January 17th.

(If you miss the window, you can request a fresh link by emailing schlockmercenary@gmail.com.)




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RCM - commercial rent paid to URP under GST

Dear Sir,

We have a godown in Porur, and we pay rent every month after TDS is deducted. Recently, my friend mentioned that RCM is applicable for commercial rent payments to an unregistered person (URP). Could you please clarify my doubts?




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First Commercial Moon Landing Returns U.S. to Lunar Surface

Intuitive Machines’ IM-1 mission is the first U.S. soft landing on the moon since Apollo 17. It’s also a sign of private industry’s growing role in space




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War of the Rohirrim merch lands at Hot Topic

Eagle-eye fans in Discord spotted new tshirts and sweaters for the anime feature film coming in December.

Over at Hot Topic you can now order (or buy at the mall) new apparel and merch for The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, which just had a big kickoff at NYCC weekend of Oct 18-20. We previously reported on new Rohirrim Warhammer sets and other movie tie-in merch.

More LOTR Merch now available

There are even more Rohan inspired options at WB Shop!

Looks like the studio merch machine is ramping up like the days of old, which for many fans is a sign of confidence in the movie which is coming to cinemas in December. You can chat with fans in our dedicated Rohirrim channel on Discord.




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25 Pawsitive Energy Meowtivation Memes of Fierce Felines for Fending off Fall Fatigue

Unfortunately, life offers a myriad of buzzkillers throughout the day. Sometimes they pounce on you with some alarming news, but most of the time they creep in, luring you to slouch on the couch like snoozy sirens, and you can't find the will to fight back. 

It can be the cold weather, a grouchy boss, or even current events - negative thoughts and low energy tend to spread like a bad odor.  
 

Well, that's just not going to happen, fellow I Can Has-ers! We got your back. All you need is an energy boost of fierce feline funnies, furrociously pumping their paws. True, there are plenty of meownching photos in our content menu. We don't deny it! For everything, there is a season, a time to munch, and a time to crunch. 
 

For days of gloomy clouds, boring work, or just when your boss doesn't get your priorities (cats first, obviously), our Paw Power Practice is just the thing for you. The method we developed is both refreshing AND as old as time: the secret is to laugh until your abs strengthen, and your frown is upside down. Feline Fitness Fun, Try it! Fending off fall fatigue has never been so easy.




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Melonbooks Dōjinshi Store Chain to Halt Visa/Mastercard Payments on December 19

Chain will still accept payments via JCB/American Express cards or other means




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The End of Ondsel and Reflecting on the Commercial Prospects for FreeCAD

Within the world of CAD there are the well-known and more niche big commercial players and there are projects like FreeCAD that seek to bring a OSS solution to the …read more




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On Art and Commerce and Pseudo-Activism

Let’s talk about art and commerce. To get the obvious stuff out of the way, first, I am using here a very broad definition of art, so we can simply skip the arguments about what is and isn’t art. Second, those of you who want to make Garfunkle jokes, or any of the other oh-so-original … Continue reading On Art and Commerce and Pseudo-Activism




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'A masterclass in how not to get hired': 18-year-old writes unflattering pitch for themself on social media job page

This person is young and aspirational, but their methods of finding a new job could use some fine-tuning. 

Creating your very first resume is both intimidating and kind of embarrassing. Because you have zero job experience, you have to write about the clubs you participated in school, or your hobbies where you have leadership qualities, or even just the classes you're currently taking. None of that life experience is going to wow a hiring manager. But that's why kids start small, picking up jobs at fast food chains or clothing stores and working for minimum wage. 

This 18-year-old had a different idea of how they think their first jobs should go. They wrote in to a Facebook group for job offerings with an interesting paragraph about their own experience. Instead of highlighting their best attributes, they insisted on avoiding jobs where they have to work with customers (even though they claim to be outgoing in the same breath). The internet found this all very funny, and had some notes for this kid about better ways to find a job. 

Up next, have a laugh at some employees who got fired after getting petty with their most entitled customers, like one who informed a customer that, "If I have to talk to you again, you have to sit in time-out for 10 minutes."




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GB draw on Petitclerc experience

Canadian star helps Paralympic hopefuls




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India Nature Watch - Bull horns! Gastercantha dalyi Spiny orb weaver




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Tax-News.com: OECD Releases E-Commerce VAT Toolkit For Asia-Pac States

On March 10, the OECD released a new VAT Digital Toolkit for Asia-Pacific (APAC) nations. The toolkit is intended to support local tax authorities to better collect value-added tax on e-commerce activities.




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Tax-News.com: EU Defers E-Commerce VAT Package In Light Of COVID-19

The EU will postpone the entry into force of its VAT e-commerce package and will defer certain filing deadlines under the Directive on Administrative Cooperation due to the coronavirus pandemic.




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Tax-News.com: UAE Issues Guide On E-Commerce VAT Obligations

The United Arab Emirates' Federal Tax Authority has released a new guide on the value-added tax rules for e-commerce and the digital economy.




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Tax-News.com: UAE Clarifies VAT Rules For E-Commerce

The United Arab Emirates' Federal Tax Authority has clarified the value-added tax rules that apply to e-commerce transactions.