Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies Are A Dream Mash-Up
by Delish US
Sure, chocolate chip cookies are great. But chocolate chip cookies STUFFED with Oreos? They might sound over-the-top, but trust us; one of these babies and a cold glass of milk = cookie nirvana.
Made them? Let us know how it went in the comment section below.
YIELDS:2 DOZEN
PREP TIME:0 HOURS 10 MINS
TOTAL TIME:1 HOUR 0 MINS
INGREDIENTS
1 1/4 c. (2 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
1 c. packed brown sugar
1/2 c. granulated sugar
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. kosher salt
2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
24 oreos
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 375º and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Slowly beat in vanilla extract and eggs. In a separate bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir into butter-sugar mixture. Fold in chocolate chips. Place dough in the refrigerator to firm up, 30 to 35 minutes.
Scoop about a tablespoon of cookie dough and flatten into a pancake-like circle. Top with one oreo. Form another tablespoon of cookie dough into a flat circle and place on top of filling. Pinch edges together to seal.
Bake cookies for 12 to 15 minutes, or until lightly golden.
The rapidly evolving situation with COVID-19 is raising questions throughout the U.S. As concerns continue to grow about the virus, it is not only wreaking havoc on the stock market, it is causing a significant downturn in the general economy.
But, what about agriculture?
Mark Stephenson and John Shutske with the University of Wisconsin-Madison say there are six specific things farmers, farm families, ag employers, and employees need to be aware of and plan for.
1. Markets and farm prices. As we see growing levels of concern, recommendations for social distancing, reduced travel, avoiding crowds, closures, and other protective practices to slow the spread of COVID-19, consumers will be making tough choices about food, eating away from home, and overall spending. Dairy is prominently featured in out-of-home eating, and there may be some disruptions in food service sales. This will likely have an impact on markets and prices. There have also been bottlenecks at ports in other countries as ships wait to be offloaded with U.S. dairy and other farm products. The Chicago Mercantile Exchange has shut down floor trading of all products until “further notice,” though electronic trading will continue.
Concerns about the impact of the virus on the broader economy are likely to have an even larger impact on dairy prices. Many countries of the European Union were already hovering just above a recession prior to the viral outbreak and this event is likely to push them over the edge. Prior to this event, China was also experiencing slower economic growth. The U.S. has enjoyed strength in the economy, but there have been leading indicators prior to pandemic concerns that suggested that we were past the peak of the business cycle and that an economic slowdown, or perhaps that a recession was coming. A worldwide recession, like the one experienced in 2008-09, would push the previously expected milk price recovery off for at least another year.
6 impacts COVID-19 could have on farming
2. Supply chains slowdows and shortages. As logistics are disrupted and efforts proceed to slow the spread of the virus, multiple connected industry sectors are already being impacted. With some products, “panic buying” is creating additional concern. As an example of supply chain interruptions on farms, the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) suggests the potential for animal pharmaceutical products to be in short supply for at least some of the larger drug manufacturers. If the virus were to spread more broadly in an agricultural state like Wisconsin, we could see issues with farm product delivery and pickup as workers – milk truck drivers for example – stay home due to illness or because they are caring for family members or school-age children. These same concerns would affect processors. Slowdowns could also impact fertilizer, fuel and other input movement and availability as we head toward spring. In an extreme case, we could have concerns with utilities – electricity, natural gas, propane – based on input availability or labor shortages. However, utility companies generally do a good job of contingency planning which helps buffer the impact of unforeseen events.
3. Farmers’ health. Throughout the Midwest, farmers are a relatively older population, as compared to the general worker population. The 2017 ag census shows the average age of farm operators to be almost 58 – at least a full 10 years older than workers in most other sectors. And, unlike other industry workers, farm operators, 26% are age 65 years and up. A full 11.7% of our principal farm operators are age 75 and older. Data from other countries that have done more extensive testing suggest that COVID-19 has a much higher level of severity for those in their 60s and older, meaning that preventive and protective recommendations from the CDC and state (and local) public health experts are critical for our farming population.
4. The farm workforce. Even if the general population infection rate remains relatively low, it is likely that we will see some workers who end up sick. But, perhaps more importantly, even if the infection rate stays low (single digits), it is highly likely that workers will need to be out of work particularly with school closures and/or workers who need to stay home to care for sick or elderly family members. The fear of this event and lack of information may also lead to higher levels of absenteeism.
5. Worker safety and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). There are shortages of PPE and other protective equipment vital for operating a farm safely and keeping workers and animals healthy. As a result of the current demands by the healthcare industry, N-95 respirator supplies are highly limited (likely to be needed this spring for handling dusty grain as a result of last fall’s sub-optimal harvest conditions). There are also reported concerns about availability of protective gloves which have now become commonplace in dairy operations as a protective means to improve milk quality and protect the health of animals and people.
6. Other disruptions. Sparse populations and less frequent travel may provide a natural social distancing for rural communities but there are challenges that may be faced by rural residents. Many gathering places, such as schools and churches, are being closed and told to halt normal routines and events. As a substitute, in some areas and for high school and college students, classes and services are being taught online. This may be difficult for some rural residents as high-speed internet service is not available in some areas of the state including some of our communities with a strong agricultural base.
Only time will reveal the severity of the impacts on agriculture from the novel coronavirus, say Stephenson and Shutske. They urge you to take reasonable precautions to limit the spread of the disease and its influence on your businesses and lives. Both say hoarding of farm supplies is not recommended and could cause even greater problems for the sector and that prudent purchases of necessary inputs might minimize disruptions to your business. Please keep informed, listen to the experts, and follow the recommendations of federal, state, and local agencies and authorities.
Defrost prawns in the fridge, not in the microwave or at room temperature.
Remove packaging and put prawns in a bowl, covered, and leave overnight. If you need a faster defrost, don’t use the microwave; sit the bowl (tightly covered) into a basin of cold water for an hour or so.
If not cooking prawns whole, twist off the head, hold the tail and carefully remove the shell from around the body; the tail can be left on or taken off.
De-vein by making a cut along the top of the body, then use a sharp knife to remove the dark vein-like digestive tract.
Cooking
If you plan to cook your prawns, they are best bought raw. Re-cooking cooked prawns only makes them tough.
Slightly undercook prawns as they’ll keep cooking with residual heat once removed from the pan or grill.
If you’re serving them with barbecued or grilled steak, don’t put the prawns on until the steak is 90% ready – and then only give them a couple of minutes maximum on each side.
Prawns only need a few minutes to cook – any longer and they’ll become tough.
Prawns can be boiled, deep-fried, crumbed and deep-fried, pan-fried or grilled.
Cooked prawns should be springy, sweet and juicy; overdone, they will be dry, tough and have little flavour.
If re-heating cooked prawns, warm over a moderate heat.
Method
Mix together the mayonnaise, tomato sauce and cream. Season with the Worcestershire sauce and lemon juice to taste.
Wash lettuce and shake leaves dry. Shred finely and divide among 6 individual serving dishes or glasses.
Place 4-6 prawns on top of lettuce and spoon on a generous serve of the cocktail sauce.
Decorate with diced tomato, a lemon wedge and a sprig of parsley.
New tool can diagnose strokes with a smartphone
Date : October 22, 2020
Source:
Penn State
Summary:
A new tool could diagnose a stroke based on abnormalities in a patient’s speech ability and facial muscular movements, and with the accuracy of an emergency room physician — all within minutes from an interaction with a smartphone.
FULL STORY
A new tool created by researchers at Penn State and Houston Methodist Hospital could diagnose a stroke based on abnormalities in a patient’s speech ability and facial muscular movements, and with the accuracy of an emergency room physician — all within minutes from an interaction with a smartphone.
“When a patient experiences symptoms of a stroke, every minute counts,” said James Wang, professor of information sciences and technology at Penn State. “But when it comes to diagnosing a stroke, emergency room physicians have limited options: send the patient for often expensive and time-consuming radioactivity-based scans or call a neurologist — a specialist who may not be immediately available — to perform clinical diagnostic tests.”
Wang and his colleagues have developed a machine learning model to aid in, and potentially speed up, the diagnostic process by physicians in a clinical setting.
“Currently, physicians have to use their past training and experience to determine at what stage a patient should be sent for a CT scan,” said Wang. “We are trying to simulate or emulate this process by using our machine learning approach.”
The team’s novel approach is the first to analyze the presence of stroke among actual emergency room patients with suspicion of stroke by using computational facial motion analysis and natural language processing to identify abnormalities in a patient’s face or voice, such as a drooping cheek or slurred speech.
The results could help emergency room physicians to more quickly determine critical next steps for the patient. Ultimately, the application could be utilized by caregivers or patients to make self-assessments before reaching the hospital.
“This is one of the first works that is enabling AI to help with stroke diagnosis in emergency settings,” added Sharon Huang, associate professor of information sciences and technology at Penn State.
To train the computer model, the researchers built a dataset from more than 80 patients experiencing stroke symptoms at Houston Methodist Hospital in Texas. Each patient was asked to perform a speech test to analyze their speech and cognitive communication while being recorded on an Apple iPhone.
“The acquisition of facial data in natural settings makes our work robust and useful for real-world clinical use, and ultimately empowers our method for remote diagnosis of stroke and self-assessment,” said Huang.
Testing the model on the Houston Methodist dataset, the researchers found that its performance achieved 79% accuracy — comparable to clinical diagnostics by emergency room doctors, who use additional tests such as CT scans. However, the model could help save valuable time in diagnosing a stroke, with the ability to assess a patient in as little as four minutes.
“There are millions of neurons dying every minute during a stroke,” said John Volpi, a vascular neurologist and co-director of the Eddy Scurlock Stroke Center at Houston Methodist Hospital. “In severe strokes it is obvious to our providers from the moment the patient enters the emergency department, but studies suggest that in the majority of strokes, which have mild to moderate symptoms, that a diagnosis can be delayed by hours and by then a patient may not be eligible for the best possible treatments.”
“The earlier you can identify a stroke, the better options (we have) for the patients,” added Stephen T.C. Wong, John S. Dunn, Sr. Presidential Distinguished Chair in Biomedical Engineering at the Ting Tsung and Wei Fong Chao Center for BRAIN and Houston Methodist Cancer Center. “That’s what makes an early diagnosis essential.”
Volpi said that physicians currently use a binary approach toward diagnosing strokes: They either suspect a stroke, sending the patient for a series of scans that could involve radiation; or they do not suspect a stroke, potentially overlooking patients who may need further assessment.
“What we think in that triage moment is being either biased toward overutilization (of scans, which have risks and benefits) or underdiagnosis,” said Volpi, a co-author on the paper. “If we can improve diagnostics at the front end, then we can better expose the right patients to the right risks and not miss patients who would potentially benefit.”
He added, “We have great therapeutics, medicines and procedures for strokes, but we have very primitive and, frankly, inaccurate diagnostics.”
Other collaborators on the project include Tongan Cai and Mingli Yu, graduate students working with Wang and Huang at Penn State; and Kelvin Wong, associate research professor of electronic engineering in oncology at Houston Methodist Hospital.
Microneedle-based diagnostic a new platform for many diseases, blood draw not required
Date:
November 2, 2020
Source:
Rice University
Summary:
A test for malaria looks like a bandage, but can diagnose the disease in minutes without the need for medical expertise or specialized equipment.
FULL STORY
Testing for malaria could become as simple as putting on a bandage.
That’s the idea behind a platform developed by Rice University engineers who introduced a microneedle patch for rapid diagnostic testing that does not require extracting blood.
The device detailed in the Nature journal Microsystems and Nanoengineering draws upon protein biomarkers contained in dermal interstitial fluid, what people generally recognize as the fluid inside blisters but surrounds all of the cells in skin.
This fluid contains a multitude of biomarkers for various diseases, such as malaria, which can be used for rapid testing. The disposable patches could be programmed to detect other diseases, potentially including COVID-19, said mechanical engineer Peter Lillehoj of Rice’s Brown School of Engineering.
“In this paper, we focus on malaria detection because this project was funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and it’s a big priority for them,” said Lillehoj, who joined Rice in January as an associate professor of mechanical engineering. “But we can adapt this technology to detect other diseases for which biomarkers appear in interstitial fluid.”
The self-contained test developed by Lillehoj and lead author Xue Jiang, a Rice postdoctoral researcher, delivers a result in about 20 minutes and does not require medical expertise or any equipment.
The sticky patch has 16 hollow microneedles in a 4-by-4 array on one side, coupled with an antibody-based lateral-flow test strip on the other. The antibodies react when they sense protein biomarkers for malaria and turn two readout lines on the strip’s exposed surface red. If the test is negative, only one line turns red.
The needles are treated to be hydrophilic — that is, attracted to water — so the fluid is drawn in and flows through to the test strip. Once the test is complete, the device can be removed like any bandage.
While both microneedles and antibody test strips have been extensively studied, Lillehoj said his lab is the first to combine them into a simple, inexpensive package that will be easy to deploy at the point of need, especially in developing regions where finger-prick blood sampling and the availability of trained medical personnel to diagnose samples may be challenging.
The hollow needles are 375 microns wide and 750 microns long, enough to reach the fluid within skin that is typically between 800 to 1,000 microns thick. The needles are sharp enough to overcome the mechanical stress of entering the skin.
“Xue and I have applied the patch to our skin, and it doesn’t feel painful at all compared to a finger prick or a blood draw,” Lillehoj said. “It’s less painful than getting a splinter. I would say it feels like putting tape on your skin and then peeling it off.”
They think the familiar form factor may provide some comfort, especially to children. “We didn’t intend for it to look like a bandage,” he said. “We started with a rectangular shape and then just rounded the edges to make it a little more presentable. We didn’t plan for that, but perhaps it makes the patch more relatable to the general public.”
He estimated individual patches could cost about $1 if and when they are produced in bulk.
University of Copenhagen The Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences
Summary:
Men in jobs with hard physical work have a higher risk of developing dementia compared to men doing sedentary work, new research reveals. The researchers therefore urge the health authorities to make their recommendations concerning physical activity more specific.
FULL STORY
The muscles and joints are not the only parts of the body to be worn down by physical work. The brain and heart suffer too. A new study from the University of Copenhagen shows that people doing hard physical work have a 55-per cent higher risk of developing dementia than those doing sedentary work. The figures have been adjusted for lifestyle factors and lifetime, among other things.
The general view has been that physical activity normally reduces the risk of dementia, just as another study from the University of Copenhagen recently showed that a healthy lifestyle can reduce the risk of developing dementia conditions by half.
Here the form of physical activity is vital, though, says associate professor Kirsten Nabe-Nielsen from the Department of Public Health at the University of Copenhagen.
“Before the study we assumed that hard physical work was associated with a higher risk of dementia. It is something other studies have tried to prove, but ours is the first to connect the two things convincingly,” says Kirsten Nabe-Nielsen, who has headed the study together with the National Research Centre for the Working Environment with help from Bispebjerg-Frederiksberg Hospital.
“For example, the WHO guide to preventing dementia and disease on the whole mentions physical activity as an important factor. But our study suggests that it must be a ‘good’ form of physical activity, which hard physical work is not. Guides from the health authorities should therefore differentiate between physical activity in your spare time and physical activity at work, as there is reason to believe that the two forms of physical activity have opposite effects,” Kirsten Nabe-Nielsen says and explains that even when you take smoking, blood pressure, overweight, alcohol intake and physical activity in one’s spare time into account, hard physical work is associated with an increased occurrence of dementia.
One of the study’s co-authors is Professor MSO Andreas Holtermann from the National Research Centre for the Working Environment. He hopes the dementia study from the University of Copenhagen will contribute to shine a spotlight on the importance of prevention, as changes in the brain begin long before the person leaves the labour market.
“A lot of workplaces have already taken steps to improve the health of their staff. The problem is that it is the most well-educated and resourceful part of the population that uses these initiatives. Those with a shorter education often struggle with overweight, pain and poor physical fitness, even though they take more steps during the day and to a larger extent use their body as a tool. For workmen, it is not enough for example to avoid heavy lifts if they wish to remain in the profession until age 70. People with a shorter education doing manual labour also need to take preventive steps by strengthening the body’s capacity via for example exercise and strength training,” he says.
The study is based on data from the Copenhagen Male Study (CMS), which included 4,721 Danish men, who back in the 1970s reported data on the type of work they did on a daily basis. The study included 14 large Copenhagen-based companies, the largest being DSB, the Danish Defence, KTAS, the Postal Services and the City of Copenhagen.
Through the years, the researchers have compiled health data on these men, including data on the development of dementia conditions.
According to Kirsten Nabe-Nielsen, previous studies have suggested that hard physical work may have a negative effect on the heart blood circulation and thus also on the blood supply to the brain. This may for example lead to the development of cardiovascular diseases like high blood pressure, blood clots in the heart, heart cramps and heart failure.
The National Research Centre for the Working Environment continues to work on the results with a view to identifying healthier ways of doing hard physical work. They have therefore begun to collect data from social and healthcare assistants, child care workers and packing operatives, among others, in order to produce interventions meant to organise hard physical work in such a way that it has an ‘exercise effect’.
They thus hope to see companies successfully change work procedures, ensuring for example that heavy lifts will have a positive effect rather than wear down the workers. The results will be published on an ongoing basis.
Kirsten Nabe‐Nielsen, Andreas Holtermann, Finn Gyntelberg, Anne Helene Garde, Sabrina Islamoska, Eva Prescott, Peter Schnohr, Åse Marie Hansen. The effect of occupational physical activity on dementia: Results from the Copenhagen Male Study. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 2020; DOI: 10.1111/sms.13846
It’s a well-known fact that the resources in the world are unfairly distributed and there are regions who can’t rely on the excellent public services, education, medical care and social security most western citizens are entitled to. Less developed regions simply don’t have access to these services and rely on external projects and aid programs for support.
Research shows that the industrialized nations of Europe, Japan and North America consume about 80% of the world’s resources which leaves very little to regions in Africa, Asia and South America.
Community service projects have limited resources and rely heavily on contributions and volunteers to fulfill their purpose, especially in the rural areas of Africa and South America. By volunteering your time, you’ll be helping out these projects in a sustainable way and making a meaningful difference in people’s lives.
You will also be able to combine this with travel within the region your program is located in. Small efforts go a long way and acts of kindness are exactly what our world today needs.
If you are someone who is social, eager to contribute to a greater good and have a strong desire to travel, volunteer for community service programs abroad and you can’t go wrong!
Who can volunteer in community service?
Whether you’re a bubbly social person ready to dive headfirst into the local program and engage in community tasks or you’re a bit more laid back and prefer helping out behind the scenes of a program, it doesn’t really matter. There’s a place for every community volunteer who has a social mindset and wants to contribute to improving the education and medical care in local communities.
Volunteers at work
We made an overview of personality traits that are highly appreciated in volunteers and may help you decide whether these programs are for you:
a social mindset
good communication skills
the ability to be a part of a team
the capacity to think on your feet and stay calm in stressful situations
adaptability
imagination and creativity
problem-solving ability
good organizational and time management skills
enthusiasm
resilience
a non-judgmental approach and respect for diversity
a professional attitude to engage yourself in tasks
a strong regard for health and safety
eagerness to travel
good physical health
Though it’s not required for a community volunteer to tick all the boxes, it’s a good guideline to take into account while considering whether you want to volunteer for a community service project.
Keep in mind that you will be confronted with some difficult situations during your volunteer adventure. Emotionally sensitive volunteers should be aware that this can be challenging at times and should read some reviews from former volunteers. However, rest assured that the positive emotions will far outweigh the negative ones during this once in a lifetime experience!
Not all projects require specific qualifications but some of them may be looking for a person with experience in the field. You will find a short description of qualifications which could be useful when applying for certain community service opportunities, below:
Childcare and Orphanages
Projects focused on childcare will happily welcome volunteers who have a background in psychology, education or counseling. Volunteers at orphanages need to comply with stricter rules as gender may play a role and it is necessary to provide a thorough background check and sometimes a medical statement before being accepted. We advise you to look at the program details on the program page to know exactly which requirements you need to fulfill for the project.
For projects in South America, it would help if you have a basic knowledge of Spanish prior to going as most locals don’t speak any English. Knowing some Spanish words would definitely help kickstart your volunteer adventure in countries like Peru or Costa Rica.
Culture and Arts and Construction
Volunteers for projects in culture and arts will have the most chance if they have a creative streak or a background in the arts. Art and music teachers are widely sought after for culture and art projects while handy volunteers will be very resourceful for projects focused on construction. For these programs, volunteers need to be of good health as they will be doing physically hard jobs.
Social Work and Women Empowerment
For projects in these fields, volunteers with a legal background or experience with social work would be a great match as both parties could benefit greatly. You can add this to your CV as valid experience while the project gets a trained helping hand.
Language requirements
It is required to speak English to become a community volunteer. Knowledge of the English language is important to be able to communicate with other staff and volunteers on your program. In some cases, like South America, it’s necessary to have a basic understanding of Spanish as English is not as common here as it might be in Africa or Asia.
There is a wide range of projects available and many community service projects are in dire need of helping hands. Many of them will warmly welcome enthusiastic volunteers with a sense of responsibility and a social mindset and will not require specific experience.
What will I do as a volunteer for community service?
There are many facets of community services but the main requirement for every program is that you care about people. Let’s take a look at some of the different fields and the types of tasks you may be doing when you volunteer abroad for a community service program:
Childcare
As a volunteer for childcare, you will spend most of your time getting to know the children and giving them lots of love and attention while teaching them some educational basics. Volunteers will engage with the children in a variety of activities aimed at building self-esteem, learning, and just having fun. As a childcare volunteer your main aims will be the following:
provide essential support to marginalized young children
Teach impoverished children important skills such as hygiene practices
Improve the future prospects of children and aid them to break the poverty cycle by supplying quality early childhood teaching
Expose volunteers, children and their families to different people and cultures
Construction
Another pillar of community service is contributing to construction activities. Many regions rely on these projects to provide impoverished families with the homes they deserve. Volunteers will assist in different areas of construction, like:
Laying groundworks for new community and school buildings
Repairing and renovating existing buildings
Renovating homes of underprivileged families
Fixing sanitary facilities in communal buildings
Improving the infrastructure of small communities
The specific tasks will depend on the local project and schedules will vary accordingly. By contributing your time and effort to the local construction activities, you will literally be building a better future for local families in need of a home. Savor the results of your hard work when you see the look of the people who are moving into the home you have helped to build.
Culture and Arts
Being able to enjoy culture and arts is a privilege often reserved for communities which are better off. Fortunately, there are programs in place which teach and introduce arts to communities in Africa, South America and Asia that simply don’t have the resources to indulge in the arts. The projects available will focus on the introduction of following items to the community:
These initiatives allow communities to learn how to express themselves in a different way and in some cases apply these skills to gain an extra source of income. Volunteers eager to contribute to a culture and art project will naturally be creative souls with a passion for teaching.
Orphanage
So many children in developing countries wind up in orphanages due to parents being too poor to take care of them or growing up in abusive surroundings. Resources are limited and there is always a shortage of hands to help out in the orphanages.
In many cases, the orphanages are single-sex meaning only women are allowed to assist at girls orphanages. Volunteers will be supporting the main caretakers at the orphanages and their tasks will vary depending on the orphanage ranging from:
Interacting and engaging with the children
Assisting with hygiene
Teaching English
Doing arts and crafts
Playing games and sports
Supporting the local staff with maintenance
Social Work
With large numbers of less fortunate people falling victim to unfair treatment such as abuse, domestic violence and discrimination, there’s a strong need for volunteers in social work who are eager to facilitate, provide counseling to these parties or provide legal support.
Volunteers with a legal background would be an asset and volunteering for social work could be an excellent opportunity to gain practical knowledge in the field. Some of the tasks you can expect as a community volunteer are the following:
Supporting on research projects or writing articles about current topics
Court trips
Accompanying professionals to family visits
Organizing Seminars and Workshops
Assisting staff members in their day to day activities
Women Empowerment
Although there’s still a long way to go before we reach equality on a global scale, fortunately, there are already a number of women empowerment organizations and projects in place in the world. Women in many developing countries are still victims of human trafficking, domestic violence and physical and/or sexual abuse on a regular basis. Volunteers who choose to assist in this area can make a difference by:
Teaching important topics like health and hygiene
Teaching business skills
Guarding children while they study within a protected environment where they can work Approach an improved future
Best places to volunteer for community service
The best place to volunteer for community service is basically anywhere! There are so many organizations worldwide who are looking for help and support from enthusiastic, socially aware volunteers. Consider all third world and developing countries but also some developed countries in Asia, Africa, South America and Europe.
If you have always wanted to travel to Africa, there are plenty of programs available in South Africa, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda and other interesting African countries. If South America sounds intriguing to you, how about joining community service opportunities in Argentina, Brazil or Peru? Or what about Asia? There are many programs available in India, Cambodia or Nepal.
Select a culture or region that intrigues you and set out to touch the local people’s lives. If traveling to distant places like Africa or Asia is not your thing, you can opt to aid at a program closer to home. There are community service opportunities in developed areas such as Europe as well that also require your support as a volunteer and are equally important.
Top 5 benefits of community service volunteering abroad
Most people will agree that helping other feels great! Let’s take a look at some of the benefits of community service you may enjoy as a volunteer:
1. Happiness
Research shows that the act of contribution makes people feel happier as it gives them a sense of purpose along with a focus beyond themselves. You’ll be contributing to a greater good if you decide to volunteer for community service opportunities. Rest assured that you’ll be touching more lives than you initially thought!
2. Future Opportunities
Volunteers looking to pursue a career in childcare, social work or law can benefit greatly from being a volunteer in community service. The volunteering experience could count as an internship if it is acknowledged by your university or college. Volunteer experiences are always highly appreciated by future employers as it portrays a willingness to contribute along with a strong social awareness and sense of responsibility.
3. People
You’ll be surrounded by other volunteers from your program and locals who are passionate about the same thing you are. The shared experience is bound to forge meaningful relationships that last even after your time in Africa, Asia or South America has ended.
4. Self Empowerment
Getting out of your comfort zone will give you a sense of empowerment which will push you forward in life. The new experiences will also give you a different perspective on life and you will benefit from them in the long run.
5. Travel
If you’re an adventurer and love to travel, nothing will stop you from discovering your surroundings. Volunteering abroad for services work will lead you to some of the most interesting destinations. Africa, Asia or South America? You decide!
How do I get started?
You’re determined to become a volunteer for a community service project and you’ve found some programs you’re passionate about. What’s next? Let’s take a look at the first 3 steps which will send you on your way to volunteering in a construction program:
Check whether there’s a match between the project and your skills.
Take a look at the location of the project and decide whether it would be a location you are willing to travel to.
Get in touch with the organization and see whether your expectations and the schedule of the program match.
Once you have decided on your project, there are two important steps left:
Make sure you have a valid passport.
Take into account the visa requirements for your destination.
Once this is settled, you are on your way to volunteering for community service programs and ready to embark on a life-changing journey. Travel safe!
woman with e-cigarette on rust background; Shutterstock ID 270520949; Job: GSK
One stop at a local gas station and you’d think that vaping was the best thing to happen to our society since Taco Tuesday. Coming to that conclusion is a little reckless, but not as much as the actual habit of vaping itself.
According to a recent poll conducted by Reuters/Ipsos, about 10 percent of Americans now vape on a daily basis, and almost 70 percent of those users began vaping in the last year alone. There’s no question that vaping is popular, but do you really know everything you need to about the supposed “cigarette substitution”?
Vaping Is Different Than Smoking, but Not Necessarily Safe
When they first came out, a lot of people thought e-cigarettes were a safe alternative to smoking. According to Silvia Balbo, PhD, at the Masonic Cancer Center at the University of Minnesota, that’s not the case. “We don’t really know the impact of inhaling the combination of compounds produced by this device,” Balbo said about the research. “Just because the threats are different doesn’t mean that e-cigarettes are completely safe.”
More research is needed to better characterize the long-term safety of e-cigarettes. According to Balbo, “comparing e-cigarettes and tobacco cigarettes is really like comparing apples and oranges. The exposures are completely different.”
Mixing Flavors Could Be Toxic
While there isn’t a lot of research on the matter, studies are starting to show that the flavoring chemicals in e-cigarettes, as well as in e-liquids without nicotine, aren’t as safe to inhale as previously thought.
A 2018 study conducted by researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center found that “cinnamon, vanilla, and butter flavoring chemicals were the most toxic” to immune cells in the human body, but that “mixing flavors of e-liquids caused by far the most toxicity to white blood cells.” he study goes on to say that “while the flavoring compounds tested may be safe for ingestion, these results show they are not safe for inhalation.”
Your Body May Retain Harmful Elements From Vaping
While most people know cigarettes cause cancer, many believe that vaping keeps them safe from cancer-causing chemicals. That’s just not correct. A recent pilot study conducted by researchers at Desert Research Institute (DRI) and the University of Nevada, Reno, found that during an average vaping session, “significant amounts” of cancer-causing chemicals (like formaldehyde) were retained in the respiratory tract.
The FDA Is Cracking Down on E-Cigarettes
In September 2018, the FDA announced it was taking “historic” steps to address e-cigarette use in kids and teenagers. In addition to taking a harder stance with manufactures and retailers who were selling to and targeting the youth market, the FDA is requiring some of the bigger manufacturers to explain how they will help curtail the alarming rise in youth e-cigarette use, and if their answers aren’t satisfactory, may even order them to remove “some or all” of their flavored products from the market. And when it comes to true FDA-approved ways to quit smoking, e-cigarettes are not listed, but smoking cessation products like Nicorette are.
Vaping Actually CAN Lead to Smoking
The common belief about vaping is that, if you vape, you won’t smoke. Sadly, that’s just not the case.
A 2017 study produced by the University of Waterloo and the Wake Forest School of Medicine, delivered a startling truth about vaping and smoking, especially for young adults. According to researchers, “Students in grades seven to 12 who had tried an e-cigarette are 2.16 times more likely to be susceptible to cigarette smoking.”
Problems and Prospects of Community Development In Nigeria
Courtesy : Info Guide Nigeria
INTRODUCTION
DEFINITION AMD MEANING OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
According to the United Nations (1948) community development is viewed as that practice of coming together by Persons in the community to undertake group action and proffer common resolutions to challenges and difficulties facing the community.
It constitutes the action taken by community leaders, advocates, concerned citizens and experts to elevate the standard of life in the community with a view to building a strong and improved local communities. The process of community development is to foster both social and economic development for the entire people in the community through the community’s active involvement and full initiative.
The International Association for Community Development consisting of international network of scholars and community development experts defines community development, as a profession and academic field which enhances people’s collective participation and right, social justice equality, economic opportunity, and sustainable development by the process of organizing, training and empowering people within their communities, in urban and rural locations.
SIGNIFICANCE
Community development plays a special role in overcoming poverty and poor living standard in the community,
It unites the community at the grass root and enhances a strong democracy.
Community development is used as a technique by Agencies ,NGOs etc. as an approach to reach communities for the implementations of their projects Agendas and Programs for the wellbeing ,progress and development of communities
Community Development Exchange defines community development as:
1 The important purpose of community development is to elevate the standard of living of people in communities fundamentally on equality, justice and mutual respect.
2 Community development creates and enhances good relationships between members of the community such as relationship between ordinary people and people
3 It fosters group participation in proffering solution to problems confronting the community
4 It operate on the premise that within any community lies great potentials which if utilized can help build communities
5 Community development experts collaborate and work with people in communities to build relationships and identify common interests.
6 They provides communities the opportunities to learn new skills through various empowerment initiatives
7 Community development experts facilitates social inclusion and equality through building of teams and group action
Community development approaches are recognized internationally. These methods and approaches have been acknowledged as significant for local social, economic, cultural, environmental and political development by such organizations as the UN, WHO, OECD, World Bank, Council of Europe and EU.
PROBLEMS
1 The mechanistic nature of decision taking and non-involvement of the community in decision making process for project initiation and implementation incapacitates the potentials of the communities. According to Musa (1995) and Adefila (1995) top-down approach of decision making and project initiation typifies not only donor-driven, and limited in nature , but tend to undermine the benefiting communities. Particularly communities are hardly involved at the policy design or implementation stage, thereby excluding them as participants and stakeholders in such plans programs and projects
2 The problem of vandalization and abandonment of projects occurs when communities do not understand the project as a result of non-inclusion in the decision making process of initiation and implementation of projects and programs.
3 Problem of loss of control over development process do occur because of lack of understanding and utilization of the project by the benefiting communities
4 Many community development projects are without adequate planning. They lack the needed proper cost estimate and structural designs.
5 Many communities do not understand the socio-environmental consequences or implications of the projects that they initiate. As such many of such projects do not survive
6 The impact of projects on the community is minimal as a result of poorly implemented projects that do not survive thereby leaving the people in excruciating poverty.
7 The income level of people in many communities is low .As a result the ability of the people to generate funds to sponsor projects is greatly affected. Thus many envisioned community projects remain unattainable.
8 Sometimes Leadership crises exist in certain communities such as, fund misappropriation thereby impeding the progress and further development of community projects.
9 The lack of expertise in maintenance services often renders some community projects diminished in value and dead. Thereby leading to a waste of resources.
10 Political considerations often affect the siting of some public projects and also affect public support for some community projects. The Implementation of the development programs itself is also affected by politics.
11 The problem of implementation. Arising from poor supervision also exists and constitutes one major problem to community project execution. Obot (1989) asserts that many development policies are poorly implemented due to poor supervision. Thus some water taps project in many communities remain unfunctional since after their installation.
12 Armed conflicts in certain communities ranging from ethnic, communal, and religious issues also hinders many community projects .It creates the absence of an enabling environment sustainable development in such communities .
PROSPECT
Community development cannot be achieved in isolation. In view of the importance of the people it is essential that the community be involved in every phase of the project ranging from the initiation, planning, decision and execution phases of the project. They must be deeply involved in their community development.
The government should provide Community education holistically for the development of communities rather than concentrate only on rehabilitation of physical structures in such area as agriculture, , health, adult education, environmental , cooperative and enterprise development.
The provision of empowerment to the people is essential through skill acquisition, etc. to enhance the growth in people’s capabilities and productivity.
Government must provide a good communication network with the communities’ .Such as communication channels with town and village unions, women and men groups, youth groups, cooperative societies and other community organizations etc. This will promote fast and effective spread of information regarding community programs and project between it, the community and external agent.
A Bottom –Up Strategy such as Participatory Rural Appraisal should be employed to enhance the full participation of communities in problem identification, solution, planning and implementation in identifying communities‟ problems and proffer appropriate solution to facilitate sustainable development.
For community development to be attained it is essential that community projects generate employment and fair income distribution. Therefore, each project should provide for the effective use of the manpower of the community so as to provide the people the power to earn good living and improve their living standard.
The environment of the community should also be protected from harmful waste and pollutions so as to avoid the degradation of the community as a result of community project implementation.
NOTE : All the contents above are found to be true. The Publisher of this magazine platform has been the Chairman of a Community Development Association in Nigeria for more than five (5) years and knows many of the bottlenecks encountered in carrying out community development projects.
Leidanett was living a life of almost unfathomable despair a year ago no one knows (1995)
1. CHINA-AFRICA BILATERAL TRADE DATA OVERVIEW
China-Africa bilateral trade has been steadily increasing for the past 16 years. However, weak commodity prices since 2014 have greatly impacted the value of African exports to China, even while Chinese exports to Africa remained steady. Our data includes North Africa.
The value of China–Africa trade in 2018 was $185 bn, up from $155 bn in 2017.
In 2018, the largest exporter to China from Africa was Angola, followed by South Africa and The Republic of Congo.
In 2018, South Africa was the largest buyer of Chinese goods, followed by Nigeria and Egypt.
2. CARI TRADE DATA COMPILATION
While U. N. Comtrade and Chinese government sources do not report the exact same trade figures, the two sources are very close. For consistency, we provided all Comtrade data for users to download. We also included U.S. trade with Africa for comparison. CARI only provides data as reported by the Chinese government in order to maintain consistency. Trade reports from African governments are less consistent in both their frequency and reporting standards.*
3. DATA
3.1 Official data
The General Administration of Customs of the PRC compiles and reports quarterly and annual bilateral trade statistics on their website. The Customs is the first to report the most updated trade data, and usually does so in both English and Chinese. However, there are several caveats to using their data. First of all, while the figures reported are denominated in US$, they are either in ten thousands of US$ or hundreds of thousands of US$ (wan or yi), instead of the more familiar millions. Secondly, the reports are only available in PDF instead of data-friendly formats such as comma separated values file. Finally, the China Customs’ data only goes back 2 years.
China Statistical Yearbook (CSY) is another source for trade data. CSY receives their information from the China Customs, and their records go back further. Since it is published annually, there is a one year lag in their data, and their data cannot be retroactively updated. Though most of their files are available for download in Excel, the formats of the datasets vary from year to year, including the order of countries.
U.N. Comtrade’s trade data are based on reports made by individual countries or downloaded by Comtrade from official sources. Comtrade data closely matches that of China Statistical Yearbooks and China Customs. Comtrade data is continuously updated.
3.2 Other data sources
Currently there are no other sources that are more reliable than those provided by the Chinese government and the U. N.
*Note: Figures for Chinese imports from South Africa as reported by the Chinese government are much larger than those reported by the South African government. It is believed that this disparity is caused by differences in valuing mineral goods. For Chinese imports from South Africa, CARI uses figures as reported by the South African government. Please be aware of this if you are using the dataset for research purposes, and please contact www.sais-cari.org if you have any questions.
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